Iowa state bystander. [volume] (Des Moines, Iowa) 1894-1916, 1900-03-09
IVI'EMioERANCE
AND PROFANITY

I will endeavol to touch upon few OF
the crimes that are the outcome Of intem-
perance, either directly or indirectly. In.
temperance in itself is crime, insomuoh
that it robs SO mauy families OF their sup
port and homes; next to that comes false
hood, profanity, gambling, robbery, ar
son, suicide, and adultery.
These are only few of the many vices
and crimes that are committed daily
through the influence Contemporaries.
A drunkard is moral lighthouse, serv-
ing as warning to the young to avoid
the wreck of all that can bless humanity,
or endear one to those around him. Heis
a constant ILLUSTRATION Of the tremendous
power Of the appetite and of its degrading
influence, when the intellectual nature
and the sentiment are brought under the
tyrannical control of the lower instincts
When the manor woman witha mind
capable of unlimited development, and
a soul of vast capabilities and noble as
priations, the noblest specimen of the
handiwork of the Creator is made an alb
slave thrust down from her high posslbil.
tiles to o situation far below the brute;
transformed from an Immortal being in
the image of his Maker into fallen spir.
it, demon. q fit inhabitant of the reg
ons of darkness and despair; how utter
is the ruin, how great the condemnation
Be temperate, whatever man might
have been, let him yield to the demon OF
strong drink and it requires no prophet to
tell what be will be. He inevitably goes
down, manliness fades out of his nature,
the token of honor, intelligence and in
terity vanish from the face that is flushed
from excessive debauchery, and with e.
lectric speed hastens on the downward
path. In his sober moments he often cul-
ses the instruments of lis ruin. but he is
powerless to escape the evils that encom-
pass him becomes worthless idler miser-
able cumber Of the ground. In the busy
hive of human toll there is little indeed
that he can do, and has little inclination
or ambition to do even that. An outcast
from all that is pure, high and holy, he
may sometimes turn solemn thought to
the grave where slumbers those whom he
once loved and whose love for him endur-
ed while life remained, bua memory stings
him as viper's deadly fangs. Reflection
is bitter to his soul; his brain benumb-
ed with poison no longer thrilled with
thoughts that wander through eternity;
and he, whose genius once irrldated the
land and whose eloquence charmed the
listening multitude. cracks his maudlin
jokes, moistens bis lips with the burning
draught andI stupefes himself until his
pain and sorrow is forgotten.
Oh, it is a fearful thing to see men and
women on whom God has set, as with his
own siguet, the impress Of intellect and
genius, debase themselves TO this hell Of
sin, shame and misery, and yet men laugh
and dance asttthey tread this downward
path. and only waken to their danger
when they find themselves iettered with
bonds they carnot break, and sunk into
Indebtedness from which they cannot
escare. Let those who have not entered
upon this dangerous road flee for their
lives from path so full of peril. and
let those who already find themselves en-.
tangled in the terrible snare, cry to the
Mighty God for deliverance, and hasten
to escape, ere it becomes impossible. So
much for the drinking man * woman.
Now FOR PRoFAITY.
Profanity is brutal vice. He who in
dulges In it is no gentleman. care not
what his stamp may be in society. what
clothes he wears, or of what culture he
boasts. Despite all bis refinement, the
light and habitual taking of Gods name
betFays q coarse nature and brutal will.
Protaneness is an uumanly and silly vice.
1t certainly is not grace in conversation,
and adds no strength TO il. There is