The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 18??-1935, 1898-04-08
A SERMON ON
TEMPERANCE.
Delivered by Rev. George
r. Stuart,
COWORKER OF REV. SAMP. JONES,
At the Recent Jones' Meeting in the Tab
ernacle at Nashville.-A Fearful Ar
raignment of the LiquOr Traffic.

ernacle at NashYllle.-A Fearful Ar
raignment of the Liquor Traffic.
AT the recent Jones' meeting in
the Tabernacle at Nashville, Rev.
George r. Stuart, co-worker of Sam
Jones, delivered the following SER
mon on Temperance" which is re-
garded by many as one Of the strong
est presentations of the subject now
extant. Owing to the length of the
sermon, it will have to be given in
three weekly installments:
/ hold in my hand the Word of
God, and it is the source of the wis
dom of God on all subjects; moral,
social, business, and political. ]
shall take from this book tonight
the statements of God concerning
our nation. Two thousand years
before the United States was dis
covered, before our nation was born,
the great God made the statements
of my text. VIII you hear it?
read from the second chapter of
Habakkuk, verses IL, 10, l6, and II:
"Woe to him that buildeth a town
with blood, and establisheth a city
by iniquity! Woe unto him
that giveth his neighbor drink, that
puttest thy bottle to him, and
max est him drunken also. 4.
The cup of the Lords right hand
shall be turned unto thee, and
shameful spewing shall be on thy
glory. For the violence of Lebanon
shall cover thee, and the spoil of
beasts, which made them afraid,
because of mems blood, and for the
violence of the land, of the city, and
of all that dwell therein"
Many people think it wrong to lie
because God said "Thou shalt not
lie." A great many people think
it wrong to steal because God has
said: Thou shall not steal" All
Bible truth runs parallel with the
existence of God. 1t has always
been wrong to lie. 1t has always
been wrong to steal. Woe and sor-
row do not come upon people who
build their towns with blood and
give their neighbor drink because
God says, "Woe unto them;n but il
is the warning of God because the
all-wise Being knew what would be
the legitimate fruit of such doings
Woe and sorrow come naturally
from the liquor traffic, like fruit
grows on tree. Two thousand
years since God spoke these awfu
truths it turns out that every city in
the United States has laid her pave
ments in the blood of her people
and that the United States has put
her stamp upon her liquor bottles
and pressed it to her neighbours lips
And to-day God Almighty's truth il
verified upon us, and woe and sor
row are upon us. If should name
the things that are most hurtful tC
American peace, happiness, anC
prosperity, and trace them back tC
their legitimate sources, l woulC
locate them in the liquor barrels
and beer-kegs of America.
What are the troubles that threat
en- us to-day? Says one, the spiri
of anarchy, now so prominently
mentioned in the press of our ma
ton. Only a short time ago, this
spirit was so dominant in the city o
Chicago that three hundred armec
policemen were called upon to dis
pei the meetings of anarchists, anC
every time they were round assem-
bled in the upper rooms of the sa
loon. And that spirit is born in the
saloon Another great trouble il
our country is our strikes and mobs
and when they become uncontrol
liable in any city the first thing tn,
mayor does is to order every salOol
closed. He goes to the fountain
from which the mob springs, anC
,le only hope for life and safety il
to stop the fountain. Again, WI
look to-day in the face of the mos
heinous and wicked corruption il
our political life, and every maj
knows that the Internal liquor bust
ness is back of all the political cor
ruptiou, corrupting our officials anC
substituting our American ballot
The significant fact of closing the
saloons on election day shows how
| dangerous they are, but why tie the
mad dog after all are bitten? 1t il
folly to talk of free ballot and
fair count, when the brewers anC
distillers of the United States have
: throttled the country, and literally
bought our political leaders. zap
plause.l [Sam Jones: II want yol
reporters to put down that cheer
ing
Again, a wall of woe, sad and pa
thetic, comes up from the poverty
! stricken common people of ou
country. Never, since the tim,
when that little vessel landed OF
the American shores, has ther,
been such poverty and distres
among the common people of ou
country. Ninety per cent of thi
poverty is traceable to the liquo
; traffic.
Again, wall of woe comes ~
from the widowhood and orphanag,
of our land. These widows anC
orphans are the legitimate work o
the barrOom, to say nothing of tn
husbands and fathers murdered ant
ruined by the liquor traffic. Ninety
per cent of the divorces of America
, are traceahle to the saloon. 1t /
= unnecessary to recount the sorrow
, woe, poverty, beggary, misery, dis
tress, and blOodshed that have beel
the topics of the temperance speech
as for the mast century Ii is need