The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1899-05-10

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t.eac out their hair o5 the handful, sc3
thay bite their nails into the quicl;
This is no fancy picture. It is trans
pirirg in hospital at this moment. |:
went on last night while you slept, and
more than that, that is the death some
of you will die unless you stop | see
it coming. God help you to stop be-
fore you go so far that yen cannot
stop.
But it plaques nan also in the loss
Of home. do not care how much he
loves his wife and children, if this hab-
it gets the mastery over him he will do
the most outrageous things. II need
be, in order to get strsng drink he would
sell them all into everlasting captivity.
There are hundreds and thousands Of
homes that have been utterly blasted
of it. | lam speaking of no abstraction
Is there anything SO disastrous to
man for this life and for the life to
come: Do you tell me that man can
be happy when he knows he is breaking
lis wife's heart and clothing his chill
dren with rags? There are little chill
dren in the streets today barefooted un-
kempt, uncombed, want written GA
every patch of their faded dress and on
every wrinkle Of their prematurely old
countenance. who would have been in
the house of God this morning as vel!
clad as you had it not been that strong
drink drove their parents down into
the grave. Oh, rum, rum, thou de-
epoiler of homes, thou foe of God, ihou
recruiting officer Of the pit, hate
thee
But my subject takes deeper tone
wnen it tells you that the inebrlate
suffers the loss Of the soul. The Bible
intimates that if re go into the future
world unforgiven the apnetites ana pas
sions which were rcgnant here will tor
ment US there. suppose when the in
ebriate wakes up iu the lost world there
will be an infinite thirst clawing upon
him. In this world he could get strong
drink. However poor he was in this
world. he could beg or he could steal .
cents to get drink that would for
little while slake his thirst, but in eter
nifty where will the rum come from?
Dives wanted one drop CT water, but
could not get it. Where will the inc
briate get the draft he so much requires
so much demands? No one to brew it.
No one to mix it. No one to pour it.
No one to fetch it. Millions of worlds
now for the dregs that were thrown on
the sawdusted floor of the restaurant.
Millions of worlds now for the rind
flung out from the punch bowl of an
earthly banquet, Dives called for w.
ter. The inebriate calls for rum.
Ifa fend from the lost world sh u.
come up on a mission to a grogshop ID.
having finished the mission in the cog
shop, should come back, taking or The
tip Of his wing one drop Of alcoholic
beverage, what excitement it would
make all through the world of the lest,
and, if that one drop Of alcoholic Aev-
erage should drop from the wing Of the
Hend upon the tongue of the inebriate,
how he would spring up and cry:
''That's It'll That's it! Rum! Rum!
That's itr' And all the caverns Of the
lost would echo with the cry: Give it
to me! Rum! Rum" All, my friends
the inebriate's sorrow ia the next world
will not be the absence Of God or holi-
ness or light 1t will be the absence
of rum. "Look not upon the wine when
it is red, when it moveth itself arig ght
il the cup, for at the last it biteth like
serpent, and it stingeth like an adder. ;"
When I see this plague in the land
and when I see this destroying angel
sweeping across our great cities | am
sometimes indignant and sometimes
humiliated. When a man asks me,
"What are you in favor Of for the sub
jugation of this evil?" I answer, Il am
ready for anything that is reasonable. y
You ask me, Are you in favor Of Sons
of Temperament" Yes, "Are you in ia
vor of good Samaritans?' Yes, Are
you in favor of Good Templars?' Yes.
''Are you in favor Of prohibitory law
Yes. "Are you in favor Of the
pledge?' Yes. Combine all the indu-
ences, O Christian reformers and phil.
anthropists Combine them sll for the
extirpation Of this evil.
Thirty women in one Of the western
states banded together, and with an es-
pecial ordination from God they went
forth to the work and shut up all the
grogshops Of large village. Thirty
women, with their song and with their
prayer. And if 1000 or 2,000 Chris
tian men and women with an especial
ordination from God should go forth
feeling the responsibility Of their work
and discharging their mission they
could in any city shut up all the grog-
shops.
ButI must not dwell on generalities.
l must come to specifics. Are you
astray? If there is any sermon dis
like, it is sermon on generalities |
want personalities. Are you astray?
Have you gone SO far you think you
cannot get back? Did I say few mo-
ments ago that a man might SO to a
point in inebritatior where he could not
step? Yes, l said it, and | reiterate it.
But l want you also to understand that,
while the man himself Of his own
strength cannot stop, God can stop any
man. You have only to lay hold Of the
strong arm Of the Lord God Almighty.
He can stop you. Many summers ago |
went over to New York one SABBATH
evening, our church not yet being open
for the autumnal services | went into
room in the Fourth ward, New York,
where religious service was being held
for reformed drunkards, and | heard
revelation that night that | had never
heard before-15 or 20 men standing up
and giving testimony such as had
never heard given. They not only tes-