Virginia citizen. (Irvington, Va.) 1891-1921, 1902-10-03

scrpents In the palace OF the Inferno Z
Shall we not. one ana all. fight the ser,
| pents OF intoXication. which can and
| do destroy happiness the other side Of
the grave as well as that Of the life
which is on this side?
The Druni<ard,- Curse.
The Solomonic evil cannot only de-
stroy fathers or mothers tenn
poral and eternal life, but IL ruins
their children also. because the drunk.
ards evil habit is Unbeatable. The
drunkard's curse. which rests upon the
parents life. can be transmitted by
the law OF blood into the veins OF the
! fathers children and his children's
children. Every physician Is ready to
testify thar IL is far easier for n
drunkard's son 10 become drunkard
than for a child whose parents have
never been cursed by the sting OF the
fatal adder of intoxicatisn. SO. my
brother. as the Mohamnptlan mothers
look upon the serpent as sacred and
allow tue veuomous cobra 10 crawl in.
to their cradles and sting their little
ones TO death. you. IL you are addicted
10 the curse of drink. are not only de
stroying your own souls. but you are
also destroying the immortal lives of
the unborn generation. BY looking up
on the wine cup when IL Is red you
are preparing the way TO look into the
bloodshot eyes and TO listen TO the
disappearing tongues of your children's
children. who shall meet you at the
judgment seat OF Christ to arraign you
as the cause of their evil inheritance
and TO curse you and to curse the day
you were born.
But my subject Is vast must fore
20 much OF what I would like to say
in arraigning this serpentine monster
and pass on TO briefly discuss the
means with which. by the grace Of
God. we can destroy It. And I'm this
discussion l shall not touch on the
power of the ballot box. That is n
theme i'm itself
The sure antidote for the poison OF
the adder OF intoxication must be
found for Christians, first and last and
oil the time 10 the blood OF Jesus
Christ. 1t is right to use human agep-
eies for the cure OF inebriety, but I be-
lieve human agencies win always fail
unless they are blessed by the divine
poverty the power of the Holy
| Ghost As a pastor and preacher and
temperance worker / have personally
tried to aid III the rescue of many
drunkards. l have helped send some
TO the reformatory Institutions. 1 have
taken them into my own home and
bought them medicines from the drug
stores. am free to confess that all
these human agencies failed except
when those victims of strong drink
have thrown themselves into the arms
OF God and chung to Jesus Christ as
their only Saviour.
Oh, We victims OF the Wine cup. oh.
we helpless men and women whe have
long struggled in the relentless coils OF
the Satanic serpent. which are stronger
and more merciless than Nso~e OF Aha
great serpent, l20 feet long. OF which
Piiny once wrote! i beg and plead
with you 10 seek rescue from your
besetting sin in the blood OF Jesus
Christ Divine re-cpforcements saved
John II. Cough Divine re-enforce-
meut saved Francis Murphy. Divine
reinforcement saved Captain Barbour
| or Pittsburg. Divine reinforcement
can save you If you will live SO close
TO Christ that Christ can and will live
! close TO you. Divine reinforcement
alone can save the drunkard who is
heading toward drunkard's grave.
The Only Sure Antidotc.
This premise being true. that Jesus
Christ alone is the only sure antidote
for the suicidal thirst OF strong drink.
the next step i'm our temperance reSor.
nation should be TO open all the
churches In our Christian land for
great temperance meetings. Every
minister OF the gospel should preach
and continue to preach the gospel of
teetotalism. Every pulpit OF every
church should he broad, white desk
before which the victims OF strong
drink could bow at the throne OF grace
Tor mercy and then arise and with
trembling hand sign the temperance
pledge and blot II then and there with
their falling tears OF penitence. The
church OF the Lord Jesus Christ must
and shall lead in this successful tenn
perance reform. The church OF the
Lord Jesus Christ can destroy the 81
loon II she does her fun duty, as the
prayer meetings OF the country meet
Ing destroyed the political candidacy
or Robert G. TngersoIl for the govern
orship OF Illinois. The temperance
movement Will fail, and surely fail. II
1t Is carried on purely as n secular
movement 1t Will win. and surely
win. IL it Is carried on as divine
movement in which is enlisted the
strong arm OF church inspired of the
Holy Spirit. Ii is by you that the call
Tor a gospel charge against the gros-
shops must first be sounded.
Lastly, and most important OF all.
with the help OF the church or God. we
should try to kill the adder OF strong
drink by making our civil laws so
stringent that the young should find IL
almost impossible to get at the wine
cup even II they would. 1t is easier TO |
keep 100 young men from acquiring |
the evil habit OF strong drink than IL |
is TO reform one debauched drunkard. |
1t Is easier to prevent than to reform |
sin. 1 suppose the chronic drunkards |
who have been drinking for twenty or |
thirty years viii find their poisonous |
serpent or the wine cup no matter |
where they may be. But Ii Is possible
by law to protect the young. 1t is pos
slbie by law to keep liquor away from |
the young men and the young women.
1t is possible to protect the rising gen.
Grafton so that they may not be able
10 ma this adder's lair and to feel his
foul breath or his poisonous fangs.
And not only by stringent laws should |
the destroying wine cup be kept from
the young. but the young should also
be taught why the debauching infiu-
ence of strong drink is kept out OF their
reach. The evil results of indulgence
In the wine cup should be taught In
our public schools as well as In our
Sabbath schools. They should be taught
upon the public platfazers NJ well az
In the private home. The evils Of
strong drink should be presented so
clearly and vehemently to the young
that the rising generation should some
day by the grace OF God be able to
stand up In their might and declare