Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1899-05-05

throne and announced that there was
no danger Of the earth's redemption so
long as these four fends could pay such
tax to the diabolic. And then all the
demons and all the sprites and all the
fends filled their glasses and clicked
them and cried "Let us drink-drink
10 the everlasting prosperity of the liq-
nor traffic. Here's to woe and darkness
and murder and death Drink Drinkp'
The PIaRue of Drink.
But whether by allegory or by ap-
palling statistic this subject is present.
ed you know as well as l that it is i'm
possible to exaggerate the evils Of strong
drink. A plague a plague In the first
place the inebriate suffers from the loss
Of a good name. God has so arranged it
that no man loses his reputation except
by his own act. The world may assault
a man, and all the powers Of darkness
may assault him-they cannot capture
him so long as his heart is pure and his
life is pure. All the powers Of earth
and hell cannot take that Gibraltar. If
a man is right, all the bombardment Of
the world for 5, 10, 20, 40, years will
only strengthen him in his position. So
that all you have to do il to keep your
self right. Never mind the world. Let
1t say what it will. 1t can do you no
damage. But as soon as it is whispered. /
"He drinks, and it can be proved, he |
begins to 90 down. What clerk can get |
position with such a reputation !
What store wants him? What church |
of God wants him for a member? What |
| dying man wants him for an executor Z |
"He drinksv' | stand before hundreds |
of young men-and | say it not in fiat
tery-splendid young men who have
their reputation as their only capital. |
Your father gave you good education,
or as good an education as he could |
afford TO give You. He started you in |
city life. He could furnish you no
means but be has surrounded You with |
Christian influences and good memory |
of the past. Now, young man, under
God you are with your own right arm |
to achieve your fortune and as your
reputation is your only capital do not
bring upon it suspicion by going in and |
ont Of liquor establishments or by an |
odor Of your breath or by any glare of
your eye or by any unnatural flush Oh
your cheeks You lose your reputation
and you lose your capital.
The Inebriate's Degradation.
The inebriate suffers also in the fact
that he loses his self respect. and when
you destroy mans self respect there
is not much left Of him. Then a man
will do things he would not do other
wise, he will say things be would not
say otherwise The fact is. that man !
cannot stop or he would stop now. He
is bound hand and foot by the Philis
tines and they have shorn his locks and
put his eyes ont and made him grind
in the mill Of great horror. After he
is throe-fourths gone in this slavery the
first thing he will be anxious To impress
you with is that he can stop at any
time he wants to. His family become |
alarmed in regard to him, and they
say: Now DO stop this. After awhile
it will get tho mastery Of you. - "Oh.
mol" he says. Il can stop at any time. /
| can stop now. can stop tomorrow.
His most confidential friends say: |
"Why, I'm afraid you are losing your
balance with that habit. You are going |
a little further than You can afford to
go You had better stop" "Oh, no."
he Gays. al can stop at any time. l can
stop now" He goes on further and fur |
ther. He cannot stop. | will prove it. |
He loves himself. and he knows never |
theless that strong drink is depicting |
him in body. mind and soul. lie knows
he is going down; that he has less self
control, less equipoise Of temper. than he |
used to- Why does be not stopg Because !
he cannot stop. Twill prove it by going
still further He loves bis wife and
children. He sees that his habits are
bringing disgrace upon his home The
probabilities are they will ruin his wife
and disgrace his children He sees all
this, aud be loves them. Why does he
not stop2 He cannot stop.
had a very dear friend, generous to
a fault He had given thousands and
tens Of thousands of dollars to Bible So
cieties, tract societies. missionary soci-
eties, asylums for the poor, the halt
the lame the blind. the imbecile do
not believe for 20 years anybody asked
him for a dollar, $780, or 500 for char
ity but he gave it. l never heard Of
anybody asking him for help but he
gave it, But he was under the power OF
strong drink, and be went on down,
down, down. His family implored him,
saying: "You are going too far in that
habit. You had better stop. He re-
| piled: 81 can stop any time. l am my
own master. can stop" He went ON
down. down. His friends advised and
cautioned him. He said; Don't be
afraid of me- am my own master.
can stop now. | know what l am do
ing" He went on down until he had
the delirium tremens On down until
he had the delirium tremens twice. Aft
er the second time the doctor said; "lf
you ever have an attack like this again,
YOU will die. You had better stop" He
said: Il can stop any time. l can stop
now" He went on down He is dead.
What slew himI Rum, ruml Among
the last things he said was that he
,oAd stop any time. He could not stop.
Power of the Rum Dragon.
Oh, my young FRIENDS, | want to tell
you that there is point in inebriation
beyond which if man 20 he cannot stop
But sometimes a man will be more
kShk than that A victim of strong
drink said to a reformer: ut is impos-
sible for me to stop lrealize it. But if
YOU should tell me l couldn't have a
drink until tomorrow night unless had
all my fingers cut off, l would say,
Bring the hatchet and cut them off.
l had a very dear friend in Philadelphia
whose nephew came to him and was
talking about his trouble and confessed
it. He confessed he could not stop My
friend said, "You must stop" He said