The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1901-07-15
A STIRRING
SERMON
WooIIey's Address
at Central
Union.
"A SOWER WENT
FORTH TO SOW"
Duties Of Christian Citizenship Ef.
IectiveIy Defined With Pointed
Wit and Humor.

Central Union Church yesterday after
noon, has been for long time in the
front ranks of temperance work and
is regarded as the most influential and
effective prohibition speaker on the
American platform. He was the Pres
idential candidate on the prohibition
ticket last election and ras been wide
ly known as an enemy of the liquor
traffic for over fourteen years.
Revs. A. E. Cory ana G. L. Pearson
and Mr.. Theo. Richards were seated on
the platform with the lecturer, and aft
er prayer by Rev. Mr.. Pearson, Mr..
Richards introduced Mr. Woolley to the
audience.
Mr.. Woolley took for his text the sim
pie words "A sower went forth to SOW"
and under the head of Christian Citi-
great point for nearly two hours, keep
ing the untiring interest of his audience
and calling forth cordial applause. He
speaks with splendid fairness and
brightens his logic with witty and NOR
al-freighted anecdotes.
He referred first to the apparent hope
lessness of the prohibition fight, dwell
ing at some length upon the subject.
The situation in prohibition matters,
he said, was largely due TO lack of the
right kind of citizenship among Chris
tians, nasmuch as Christians had not
the courage of their convictions to the
extent of the ballot box. His conclu-
sion was that though the prohibition
fight might be hopeless for many years
to come, those who now cast their vote
against the saloon freed themselves of
the responsibility of the present intern
perance evil.
In explaining the task of the ''sower
wko went forth to SOW" Mr.. Woolley
said: Just slip the halter off your
| ina gina tons and read between the
| lines. There was just a barren, rocky
| farm before that sower; dull, fat,
undressing landscape; no color, no
perspective, no beauty; just dull fat,
| pancake farm, overrun with weeds and
briars crawled over the land like giant
vegetable spiders; a dreary, weary,
heavy-shouldered man, in old butternut
colored Overalls and maybe only one
suspender; a grain bag over his Shout
der going forth to SOW; no sign of a
| crop except birds; back of him a
flock of gulls, gobbling up the grain as
fast as he could SOW it. Why, his task
was as hopeless as the prohibition par
ty. And then along comes some smooth
agriculturist and climbs UP on the
fence and begins to talk to the sower.
He says. You are sowing out of sea
son; you are sowing when the moon IS
lLnfavorable and the winds in the
wrong quarter: there are birds, lots OF
birds. eating up your grain; why, you
are throwing away your strength.
That's just the way they talk to tenn
perance workers; they say we are SOW
ing in advance of public sentiment and
wasting our efforts. That's the very
advice some of you good Christians are
giving us. and that's the reason you
give for not voting against the saloon.
You don't chde US for sowing in the
abstract: you say that we can't get a
lcror without sowing but you think we
ought TO he dead sure of getting a
crop out of the ground when we SOW
and therefore we must watch the pro-
Icession and SOW when the rest put in
their crops We must not do any fool
ish thing; az must not sow whep there
are any birds, nor when the wind is IN
Favorable, nor when the moon is wrong
You say the prohibitionist is sowing 10(
years ahead of time; that to get croI
we must exercise political sagacity
There are lot of you who really dom
want the saloon. and are ready, wher
you think it will do any good, to vote
against the liquor traffic, but you have
noticed that where the crowd is, there
you will find people going and you pro
pose to go with the crowd because yor
think II is useless to go any way else
That is why my friends, that Is why
there are licensed saloons wherever Ole
Glory floats
You think that you can't clean these
Islands of liquor and saloons by YOU
vote, because other people are going t
vote the other way. Therefore you dom
want to throw your vote away and yoJ
deprive yourself Of the privilege OF say.
ing The responsibility Is not mine,
when you see a family broken UP b,
intemperance. You will not go on ant
SOW your crop according to your con.
science.
Now that man was only a sower
He knew 1t. Perhaps he would have
liked to have been a foreign minister o.
a judge of the Supreme Court or a pre-
siding elder or something, but h.
wasn't; he realized his position. There
are lot of US that need to do that. W.
say, Oh, II / were the minister. there'C
be different sermons preached or IF
were the leader of the society the worl
would be done differently or oh, if
were that mans wife he'd have 4
stand aroundi' That's It. you sect Yol
are always planning what you'd do i
you were somebody else. and no doub
If you were somebody else there woult
be great things accomplished: but vol
see, you are not somebody else; you ar
only you. The question is not what yo1
would do II you were somebody else
but what are you going to do yourself