The News-Herald. [volume] (Hillsboro, Highland Co., Ohio) 1886-1973, 1899-11-23
WOES OF INTEMPERANCE.


GOLDEN TEXT.-Wine Is mocker,
strong drink is raging: and whosoever is
deceived thereby is not wise.-Prov. 20: l.
LIGHT FROM OTHER SCRIPTURES
Drunkenness.-Deut. 81: 20, 2l; Prov. 20:
1; 21 II; 23 20, 81; 81 4, s. lisa. 8: H. %: Hosea
4: IL; Hab. 2: 10; Matt. "a: ~, 80: Luke q
Si1 Cor. III Gal. 5: q. Temperance.-Rom.
13: 13; Cor. o. 25-27: Tim. 3: 2, 3, 8; Tit 2:
IL; Pet. 4: Z; 5: s; Pet. 1:6.
EXPLANATORY.
/. First Picture. The Portrait of II
Drunkard.-Note the main features in
this portrait. Woes. pains, diseases,
troubles, quarrels, passionate dispo-
sition, grumblng, bodily injuries, bad
vision, both natural and spiritual-all
proclaimed to every locker on. The
marks that distinguish the drunkard
from others are first described as a
sort of prison costume, by which pris-
oners are known. or as the brand +
(fur, thief on the face of Roman
thief.
v. 90: who hath woe? who ha tn sor-
row." The words corresponding to the
two substantives are, strictly speak
ing, interjections, as in the margin:
Who hath Oh2 Who hath Alas? The
woes are too great and too many to
name separately. They are woes of
body and woes Of mind woes in ones
self, woes in his family; pains, disease,
poverty. A man sick on account of
his sins suffers very differently from
one sick in the providence of God. A
prison. cross, may be a glory, or It
may be a shame. "Who hath conten-
| tions?" may mean the conflict between
desire and conscience; more probably,
| quarrels and chickering's. "Who hath
babbling?" Foolish talking, vile conver-
sation. noisy demonstrations, revela-
tion of secrets. "Who hath wounds
without cause:" Wounds received in
careless or wholly improbable dis
| putes. wounds and stripes such as come
of the brawls of drunken men.-Lange.
without cause:" Upon very slight
provocation, which men infiamed with
wine are very apt to take.-Pool. "Who
hath redness of eyes?" The word does
not refer to the reddening, but the
dimming Of the eyes. and the power of
vision"
III. Second Picture. A Portrait of
the Artist Who Made the Drunkard's 8
Picture.-v. 30. ''They that tarry long
at the wine:" The tendency Of strong
drink is to continue drinking, to spend
hours. often the whole night, in carou-
sails. ''They that go to seek mixed
wines" They go to the wine house, the
place Of revelry. Septuagint, those who
hunt out where carousals are taking
place. mixed wine undoubtedly here
signifies spiced, drugged, medicated
wine. the intoxicating power Of which
is increased by the infusion Of drugs
and spices. s."-Muenscher. Such men
drink the cup of a costly h."-Ten-
nyson. Here are indicated four dan
gerous passes. Who does not enter the
first will not be waylaid in the fourth.
O Keeping bad company. (2) Slipping
the wine. (3) Drinking to excess. ~
Drunken carousals.
III. Third Picture. A Section of the
"Black Valley Road" to the drunkard's s
condition, with its snares. and traps.
and pitfalls.-V. 81. Look not thou
upon the wine" Do not put yourself
in the way of temptation. when ii is
red:" Red wines were most esteemed in
the east. The wine of Lebanon is said to
be of rich golden color, like Malaga.
"When it giveth its color" Literally,
it's eye, the clear brightness. or the
beaded bubbles on which the wine
drinker looks with complacency.-
Plumptre. I'm the cup" Sparkles or
bubbles when poured out or shaken
"carries a bead" which is regarded to
be an indication of the strength and
quality of the liquor. Some wines are
celebrated for their brilliant appear
ance.-W. Hunter. when it moveth it.
self aright:" Better as in II. ". when
1t goeth down smoothly" This does not
refer to the sparkling of the wine; but
rather it describes the pellucid stream
flowing pleasantly from the wine-skin
or jug into the goblet or the throat
Plumptre.
w. Fourth Picture. The Drunkard's
Harvest Field. In this great gallery
we pass through many rooms till we
come to the last one lighted with lurid
blaze. and we gaze on the saddest pic
ture Of all. 80. AT the last It biteth like
serpent" Like a serpent it will be
brilliant of color, and glide with easy
| ino'ioH' anu ike d serpent IL VIII DlNe
adder" The second word. adder
is the more specific. and is said to be the
Cerastes. or horned snake. the first
more generic.-Cook. The Cerastes is
exceedingly venomous. 1t turks in the
sand. coiIed up perhaps in a camel's
footprint, ready to dart at any passing
animal.
The Serpent and the Adder. The east
is woefully cursed with poisonous rep
tiles of all kinds. The special point to
be observed in the present instance
however, is that the comparison of wine
to the serpent begins in the thirty -firs,
verse rather than in the thirty y-second
. This may be better in the following
, rendering of the two verses: Look no,
. on the wine when it reddeneth, when il
showeth its eye in the cup - glidetl
smoothly. After that. it biteth like the
serpent and stingeth like the kissing
1