Weekly expositor. (Brockway Centre, Mich.) 1882-1894, 1894-01-26

Democracy, and on the other side Re-
publicanism. and the one that kisses
the cancerous and gangrened foot OF
this despot the oftenest gets the most
benedictions. There is a Hudson
river, an Ohio, Mississippi of strong
drink rolling through this nation, but
as the rivers from which l take my
figure of speech empty into the Attain
tic or the Gulf, this mightier food of
sickness, and insanity, and domestic
ruin, and crime, and bankruptcy, and
woe, empties into the hearts, and the
homes, and the churches. and the time
and the eternity of a multitude beyond
all statistics to number or describe.
All nations are mauled and scarified
with baleful stimulus or killing mar
cotic The pulque of Mexico, the
cashew of Brazil, the hasheesh of Per-
STA, the opium of China, the guavo of
Honduras, the wedro of Russia, the
soma of India, the aguardiente of Mo-
rocco, the arak of Arabia, the mastic
of Syria, the ral1i of Turkey, the beer
of Germany, the whisky of Scotland,
the ale of England, the all-drinl1s OF
America are doing their best to stupety,
inflame, dement,, impoverish, brutahze
and Stay the human race. Human power
unless reinforced from the heavens can
never extirpate the evils l mention.
Much good has been accomplished by
the heroism and fidelity of Christian
reformers, but the fact remains that
there are more splendid men and mag
nifcent women this moment going
over the Niagara abysm of inebriety
than at any time since the first grape
was turned into wine and the first
head of rye began to soak in brew
cry When people touch this subject
they are apt to give statistics as to how
many millions are in drunkards'
graves, or with quick tread marching
on toward them. The land is full of
talk of high tariff and low tariff, but
what about the highest of all tariffs
in this country, the tariff of 5000, 600, coo
which rum put upon the United States
in 1891. for that is what it cost us
You do not tremble or turn pale when
say that The fact is we have be-
come hardened by statistics and they
make little impression. But if some
one could gather into one mighty lake
all the tears that have been wrung out
of orphanage and widowhood or into
one organ diapason all the groans that
have been uttered by the suffering
victims of this holocaust; or into one
whirlwind all the signs of centuries
of dissipation; or from the wicket of
one immense prison have look upon us
the glaring eyes of all those whom
strong drink has endungeoned, we
might perhaps realize the appalling
! desolation. But no, no, the sight
would forever blast our vision; the
sound would forever stun our
souls Go on with your tenn
pcrance literature; go on with your
| temperance platforms; go on with
your temperance laws. But we are
all hoping for something from above,
and while the bare arm of suffering,
and the bare arm of invalidism, and
the bare arm of poverty, and the bare
arm of domestic desolation, from
which rum hath torn the sleeve, are
lifted up in beggary and supplication
/ and despair, let the bare arm of God
strike the breweries, and the liquor
stores, and the corrupt politics, and
| the license laws, and the whole in
ferno of grog-shops all around the
world. Down, thou accused bottle,
| from the throne! Into the dust, thou king
of the demijohn! Parched be thy lips,
thou wine cup, with fires that shall
never be quenched!
But have no time TO specify the
manifold evils that challenge Chris
| tianity. And / think l have seen in
some Christians, and read in some
newspapers, and heard from some
! pulpits, a disheartment, as though
! Christianity were so worsted that it is
! hardly worth while 10 attempt TO win
this world for God, and that all Chris
tian work would collapse, and that it
is no use for you to teach a Sabbath
class or distribute tracts, or exhort in
prayer meetings, or preach in pulpit,
as Satan is gaining ground. To rebuke
! that pessimism, the gospel of smashup,
/ preach this sermon, showing that
you are on the winning side Go
ahead Fight onl What / want TO
make out to-day is that our ammuni-
tion is not exhausted; that all which
has been accomplished has been
only the sllirmishing before the great
Armageddon; that not more than one
of the thousand fountains of beauty in
the kings park has begun to play; that
not more thar one brigade of the in
Vulnerable hosts to be marshaled by
the rider on the white horse has yet
taken the field; that what God has done
yet has been with arm folded in flow
ing robe; but that the time is coming
when he will rise from his throne, and
throw off that robe, and come out of
the palaces of eternity, and come down
the stairs of heaven with all conquer
ing step, and halt in the presence Of
eXpectant nations, and flashing his ON
niscient eyes across the work TO be done,
will put back the sleeve of his right arm
to the shoulder, and roll it up there, and
for the worlds final and complete
rescue make bare his arm. Who can
i L.