Virginia citizen. (Irvington, Va.) 1891-1921, 1906-10-19


termlned, persistent, prayer-life. Says
a deep thinker, in a recent book: (:
"Behind the drink traffic is mammon,
the love of gold; and behind that,
using and manipulating it, the devil
sits upon the throne of power"
Brethren, to meet such a material
force as mammon, that love of gold
that Is cursiug our country today
and cheapening it, we need all the
material wisdom that we can lay hold
OF; to meet such spiritual force as
Satan, who. is operating through the
mammon of gain, we need all the
spiritual power that we can COM
mand. And the only source Of that
spiritual power Is God.
might, with truth, characterize
the drink habit as the key TO all that
is unclean, evil, and unholy. Read
that awful catalogue of crime that
formed part of our study in the Sab
bath school lesson of last Sunday a
week ago. Nov the works of the
flesh are manifest, which are: forni.
cation, uncleanness, lasciviousness.
idolatry, sorcery, enn,ities, strife,
lealousies, wraths, factions, divisions,
parties (or heresies), envying, drunk.
enness, revelllngs, and such like"
Were this the time and the place for
it, | could show how all of these
works of the flesh are consequent
upon the one evil of liquor indul-
gence; how drink leads to the perpe-
tration of every sin mentioned in the
whole black catalogue-so closely
related Is all sin. But a few illus
trations will suffice.
We read in the book of Genesis
that Noah "found grace in the eyes
OF the Lord" that be "was a lust
Cor righteous) man and perfect Cor
upright or blsmeless) in his genera
ton, and Noah walked with God"
And yetin the 9th chapter of Genesis
we read that "he planted vineyard,
and drank of the wine, and was
drunken" Now notice the result.
"And he was uncovered within his
tent" so that his sons had to cover
his nakedness, averting their eyes a,
the same time for very shame. Was
that shameless old man, lying naked
In his tent, the same 'blameless" one
to whom God had spoken and who
was chosen by God to repeople the
earth because of his uprightness?
The very same; but oh, how fallepl
Aud strong drink caused his down
fall. And that drink wasn't our
modern mixture either, which de-
grades even more.
bring you modern parallel TO
that ancient story-a brilliant musi-
clan, a genius if one ever lived, Vir-
ginia gentleman of the old school.
| have heard him play, and it was as
the music of angels. One moment
he held you spell-bound, almost
afraid to breathe lest you should miss
some of the melody. Again the
great organ thundered forth in terri
flying bursts of storm and passion,
while the slight form of the player
qnivered with intensity of feeling.
l have passed him on the crowded
street, and beheld the deep-set eyes,
luminous with the light of genius,
looking out from under heavy brows,
over which the loug hair fell care.
lessly. Those eyes haunt me still.
They spoke of the burning fires of
genius; they told also of the fires of
appetite. He sank so low that he
played for drink of whiskey, then
played for another, until he became
almost crazed. Not long ago he died,
and now fills drunkard's grave.
Or could tell you of a statesman
of our own commonwealth, to whose
silvery eloquence l have oftened
listened, who has charmed alike the
high and the low, the cultured and
the masses-and whom / have seen
leaning halfway out of his carriage
under the influence of strong drink.
could tell you of great orator and
lecturer, who lectures upon the
noblest theme upon which men can
speak-Jesus Christ-and who has
to travel with body-guard of friends
while delivering his great lecture, to
keep him by force from the tyranny
of drink.
Tell me that we can lightly
regard that which debauches the
glory of manhood like this? Drunk
enness is O great crime. 1t may
become a disease, and doubtless does.
That disease can be cured only by
the Great Physician. But drunken
ness Is fundamentally sin, crime,
and very great one.
| What is all this that we read in
almost every newspaper that we pick
up, of heartless crimes? An limo.
cent babe, her infant cheeks dimpling
with smiles, runs out to meet her
father as he returns from his work.
The father lifts thechild in his arms,
higher and higher, then with insane
fury dashes her to the stony ground.
A mother leans affectionately over the
little cradle in which lies her infant
Of few months. The baby lips are
parted in smile as she sleeps, the
little chubby hands are closed tightly
over toy, and the mother in her
heart breathes prayer, thanking the
, Lord for life so sweet. An unsteady
step falls upon the threshold. In
an instant there is a threefold mur-
der. as the drunken father sends a
pistol shot through the brain of the
| oh ka- L