The Farmville herald. [volume] (Farmville, Va.) 1890-1934, 1902-12-19

to be as nothing compared to the utter
astonishment with which he sees The
huge meal which the serpent OF in
toxication can swallow after the brain
Of its victim has been wrecked by
strong drink. Without any apparent
effort 1t can swallow down the mer
chants store the minister's pulpit, the
lawyers office. the surgeons operating
table, the mechanics bench, the en-
eineer's engine, the sea captains ship
And, mark you, in order that the Sol
omonic serpent may accomplish this
gastronomic feat its victim does not
have to be intoxicated all the time.
All that the minister has to do to lose
his pulpit Is to reel as a drunkard-
just once. All that the engineer has
to do to wreck his train is to be drunk
just once. All the physician has to
do to make a wrong diagnosis and kill
his patient is TO be drunk-just once.
On account, therefore, Of the becloud-
ment of a mans intellect and the un-
seating Of the human reason through
the influence Of the wine cup | hate
the Solomonic adder with an intense
hatred. l hate it with unutterable
loathing 1 hate it as God wants ev-
cry Christian to hate sin.
A drunkard's heart through the touch
Of the adder Of intoxication not only
becomes a poisoned heart, but the mer-
ciless heart Of an inhuman monster.
In order to drink drunkard Is willing
practically to 90 to any extreme. He
is ready to let wife and children starye.
have known two drunkards who
were willing to sell their own flesh and
blood into life Of crime in order that
they might get liquor with which to
satisfy their dlabolical thirst. These
two drunkards were not men Of the
lowest social rank. They were men
who were born in as good families as
yours or mine. But why continue in
this strainl Is there any need Of my
longer describing how the serpent of
intoxlcation can destroy a mans love
for his wife and his children? No. In
the rags OF the factories we see It; in
the scandals Of the divorce courts we
read It; in the horrors of the reforma-
tory schools we can prove It. Let us
pass on In our indictment Of this coil
ing serpent Of the wine cup.
The Solomonic serpentine evil de-
-stroys a mans soul as well as the tenn
pOral usefulness Of his brain and the
loving power Of his heart This is not
a pleasant subject to touch. 1t is not
pleasant because many of us have had
friends, dear friends, who have met or
are today on the way to meet drunk
ards doom. But, my brother. we must
be true to the living as well as TO the
dead. If you had a loved one who
was contemplating the commission Of
a heinous crime, what would you dof
Why, you would 90 to that friend and
say: Brother, If you do this you will
have to pass many years in jail. If
you allow your angry passions to rise
and commit murder, you will have to
sit In the electric chair or stand under
the hangmans moose. That is the law.
That is the law which has been car
rled out in many instances in the past
and will be carried out in many in
stances in the future"
Now. my friends, what is the divine
punishment that will be meted out to
all who have been slain by the sting
Of the Solomonic adder? Let me read
part of just one verse from the divine
criminal code. Shall the drunkard in
herit heaven? What says the epistle
Of First Corinthians? BE not deceived;
neither idolaters, adulterers nor thieves
nor drunkards shall inherit the king
dom of God" There is no need Of
reading further. That simple Pauline
sentence covers the whole ground. 1t
seems to harmonize with the Iceland
er's idea of hell, which is to be a great
ice palace, the walls Of which are COW
cred with a huge mass Of swaying,
swinging serpents.
The Solomonic evil cannot only de-
stroy a fathers or mothers tenn
poral and eternal life, but It ruins
their children also, because the drunk
ards evil habit Is inheritable. 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 that it is far easier for a
drunkard's son TO become a drunkard
than for a child whose parents have
never been cursed by the sting Of the
fatal adder Of intoxlcation. SO, my
brother. as the Mohammedan mothers
look upon the serpent as sacred and
allow the venOmous cobra to crawl in
to thcir cradles and sting their little
ones y death, you. II you are addicted
TO the curse Of drink, are not only de-
stroying your own souls, but you are
also destroying the immortal lives Of
,he unborn generation. BY looking up
on the wine cup when It is red you
are preparing the way to look into the
bloodshot eyes and to listen to the
blasrheming tongues Of your children's
children. who shall meet you at tn,
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 would Ike TO say
in arralgnlng this serpentine monster
and pass on TO briefly discuss the
means with which, by the grace OF
God. we can destroy it. And in this
discussion l shall not touch on the
power Of the ballot box. That is a
theme in itself.
The sure antidote for the poison OF
the adder Of intoxication must be
found for Christians, first and last and
all the time, in the blood Of Jesus
Christ. 1t is right to use human agen-
cies for the cure OF inebriety, but be-
lieve human agencies will always fail