The Farmville herald. [volume] (Farmville, Va.) 1890-1934, 1899-07-14
STRONG DRINK.


DAY. OF more import than expansion,
and volving more TO the human fam
lis tan war, pestilence and famine
cont ned. That the army of drunk
ards Increasing is admitted, and that
eIor To control the evil have been so
FIR Intellectual. must be confessed.
That IN the white people Oflthis section
there has been marked improvement
in this regard Of late years. Our faith
ers kept the decanter on the side-board,
and eye-Openers, might caps" and
"stirup cups" were the order of the
day. Few side boards in Prince Ed
ward contain a decanter nowadays,
and 10 is not thought to be a part of
social duty to "set 'em up" to coming
or going guests.
The negroes, no doubt, drink much
more than they did as slaves, and this
fact may keep up the average for this
section.
~ llfu Jul lbAitl0 AtANlulh AAAnhtA-
land court, in "ye olden times" and
took dinner with "mine host" Foster,
pitchers Of toddy were sure to be on
the table, and the diner who didn't
drinl more than one glass Of tOddy
was q rare exception. And so at all Of
our county capitals, an immense
amOi mt of liquor was consumed on
court days. And the same was true
Of General muster" days, and fish
fries, and social gatherings generally
All this is changed now, and pitchers
Of tOddy are as unknown well-nigh as
frost IN July.
Now and then some one remarks
that he liquor Of those days was pure,
and therefore did no particular harm
but the trouble with pure liquor has
alwar been, and ever will be that it
makes men drunk, aud the liquor that
will rot do that Is the sort that tenn
peral &c people would love to have in
tOdueed into general use. We always
entertained a tender pity for the temper
ance advocate, especially the minister
Of tn gospel, who undertook to prove
that he wine of the Bible was not
stimulating. From the time of Noah
to the day Of PentecOst it is evident
to the humblest reader Of the Word Of
God hat the wine spoken of therein
was Intoxicating. 1t is utter folly TO
deny this. He who runs may read it,
And IN this connection, when we re-
member the ravages Of strong drink,
we always wonder that it was not as
positively prohibited by the God Of the
Decalogue as the sin Of murder or steal
ing. That the Christ made wine for a
social entertainment we do not pretend
10 understand. He was infinite and
We finite.
Some years ago a friend of ours was
dining with a number Of distinguish
ed guests, among them two ID DIS.
The vine was flowing freely when one
Of the laymen asked one Of the D. D.'s
his thOrity for the use Of wine, when
he promptly referred him to Psalm
lOi; verses 10, IL, 10, where we read:
"He endeth the springs in the valleys,
whic run among the hills. They give
drink to every beast Of the field the
wild asses quench their thirst.
. And wine that maketh glad
the heart Of man, and oil to make his
face to shine, and bread which
siren stheneth mans heart" and adj
ded: 81 drink that which God made
for an and not for asses" OF course
he WIS not drunkard, nor was he
prOhiOitionist He found no warrant
for that in his Bible, and that was his
guide book.
An advocate of woman suffrage said |
in a speech in Washington not long
since, that if the Bible opposed woman
suffrage, she for one, would be for
stamping it under her feet. Poor de-
ludeo woman She would in her mad
ness, destroy her best friend She
simply doesn't know, and therefore
doub's. So with others Of Us. Mystery
all about us. The mystery Of the drink
habit one Of them. We know this
much, however, that it is better to be
sober than drunk, and that no man
ever rot to be a drunkard who didn't
take he first drink.