The record-union., 1898-12-13

lost fortunes. ruined characters, crushed
virtue, blighted hopes. imbruted man
hood, despoiied womanhood-the pro-
duct of one Years business, what a
chamber of horrors it would be. Not
one man in ten thousand would have
the heart or courage to witness it. Woe
unto him that giveth his neighbor
drink and makest him drunken. To
make man drunken is to do him the
greatest injury that man or devil can
infiict on him. That word drunkard
is the saddest, blackest, most hopeless
word in our language. 1t means rea-
son dethroned, virtue expelled, affec-
tions imbruted and manhood buried.
When the curse of drunkenness has
fastened itself on a man there has come
upon him the foulest, deadliest viper
that ever crawled from the Shiny cav
erns of perdition You cannot eXag-
|gerate the awful curse of drunkenness.
From boyhood days I have seen this
curse take all the roses out of the young
Wlfe's cheeks, all the sunshine out of
the fond mothers heart. l have seen
1t take the minister from the pulpit and
throw him into the gutter. have seen
1T take the statesman from the highest
throne of honor and hurl him into low
est infamy. / have seen it lay its
1oul hand on the fair form of maiden
and drag her into q brothel of shame.
have seen it turn a merchant into a
maniac and drive the Judge to suicide.
AS Father Matthew said: through
drink l have seen the stars of heaven
fall and the cedars of Lebanon laid
low" I believe it has robbed of their
honor more pure women, degraded to
the ditch more young men. brought
hairs, and sent to Judgment more un-
shriven souls than all the sins of the
ten commandments rolled into one. 1t
is the blackest, foulest, dealiest curse
that ever fell on human heart or home.
What should be the attitude of the
church to the traffic? When the great
church of God sees this traffic in the
white light of Redemption truth, it
will declare to the world that it is a
sin to legalize the traffic. BY her voice
and vote she will outlaw it. 1t will one
day be criminal offense to make or sell
strong drink The Church of God will
one day mass her forces and march in
solid column against this demon of the
bottle and the barrel Then will be
sung hallelujah chorus that will gir-
Ole the earth with joy, and gladden. the
angels about the throne.
The church and traffic are diametri-
cally opposed. The work of the church
is divine. 1t saves men. The work
of the traffic is demonic. 1t damns
RI s,ro 90
us not into temptation" The traffic
opens doors of temptation night and
day and every day in the year. The
traffic is the most persistent enemy the
church Of God has to-day. 1t stands
In the way of the Kingdom of God and
must be cleared out of the way. DR..
Guthrie spoke the truth when he said
that the church will make no progress
against the vice and ungodliness of the
land until she faced in right earnest
the drink problem. This battle is one
development of the war between heav-
en- and hell.
1 am glad that the Roman Catholic
Church in this country is taking strong
ground against the drink traffic.
saw a cartoon that put the situation in
clear light. Mgr Satolli is represented
as the new Richilieu, defending society
represented by a maiden, against the
traffic represented by a typical saloon
keeper. The mouthpiece of the church
says to the traffic: Mark where she
stands! Around her form I draw the
sacred circle of the church, step out
within that space and 'gainst thy head
yea. though it wear a crown, I'll launch
4 hOn 90 IL
church, Catholic and Protestant alike,
everywhere and always, would launch
against the traffic, not the curse of
Rome, merely, but that tenfold greater
curse, the woe of Almighty God Woe
unto him that giveth his neighbor drink
and makest him drunken.
What should be our personal attitude
toward the traffic? AS I believe that
prohibition is our governmental duty,
so l hold that total abstinence is cur
personal duty. Let me plead with you
to become total abstainers. For your
own sake, for your family's sake, for
your neighbor and nations sake re-
solve to- be free from this awful curse
that darkens our fair young republic.
There are only two camps in this cam
paign, the temperance camp and the
drink camp. One is against, the other
is for the traffic. The liquor Dealers
confirmed drunkards, habitual drinkers
and occasional drinkers constitute the
drink. force of the land. The total alb
stainers constitute the temperance force
of the land. No man can be consist
emily counted on the temperance force
who is not a total abstainer
If you are not a total abstainer you
cannot consistently rebuke or oppose
the traffic. In the great battle against
this enemy, the occasional drinker
must be counted out. At least he can
not be counted on. No man can serve
two masters. If those who are occa-
sional drinkers would come out to the
side of total abstinence, the traffic
would lose mighty aid and victory for
the right would soon be secured. No