Morgan County republican. (Versailles, Mo.) 1906-1914, 1907-07-11
On Vices That Kill.
REV. 4. y. DAVIDSON.


"The record Of earth's slain by the
ravayes Of vice and intemperance has
not vet been written On the pages Of
human history. We have correct rec
ord of the number Of those who have
been killed or wounded on earth's great
b%attlefelds. Take the battle Of Bunker
Hill. Of Gettysburg, Of Waterloo, OF
Manila and all the battle, that have been
fought between the great armies OF earth
and you can get, comparatively, a true
record OF the number of those who have
fallen. But the history Of LIES greatest
battles betweon right and wrong have
not yet been fully written by the pen Of
man. The record of those who have
been slain not with the sword nor by
%musketrv. nor at the mouth OF the can.
non, is still unknown.
The sins and vices Of people do more
to iinpoverish the nations of earth and
have wrought more ruin and devastation
then a ! the battles combined. We have
no way Of getting the correct number OF
those who have been and are still being
slain in the battles Of life. Multiplied
thousands are being slain daily by the
sins and vice. q. socity. More children
are slain by this demon called 'idlcness'
than we half suppose. We will mention,
however, only three Of the most danger
Gus sins Of our day, the most common
sins, sins that weaken humanity and de-
bauch our SONS and daughters, and hat
strike at the foundations of our Govern
Incnt. which are a constant menace to
the home, the church, the State and
society; dram-drinkiug. impurity, and
gambling. Impurity. dram.drinking and
gambling form a triple link in the great
chain that is doing more to drag the
souls of men down to eternal woe and
darkness than all the other vices
combined
1t may be said that these three sins
are the prevailing sins; the most common,
most degrading and most ruinous OF all
sins. They strike at truth. and right
business, and all virtues. Yellow fever,
smallpox and leprosy are great plaques
and:are to be feared, but drinking, ganIb.
ling and impurity are plaques more awful
and more to be dreaded. These are
serpents found in many lands. The
rationale il found in America, hut no,
in England and other countT es. Tn.
cobra is found in Asia, but not in THU
country. But these poisonous. deadl,
serpents of which l have spoken, are tt
be found everywhere. Those who ar,
bitten and poisoned by them far exceed
in number those who are slain by yellow
fever. smallpox and leprosy.
"Tlie second sin in the triple link O
! death, which is being forged by the devi
! is internpcrance. ! mean drinking
{ Whiskey. wine and beer drinking all &
, together. This is the twentieth centur
and yet less than 5 per cent, we are told
, ever darken a church door Who i
responsible for this awful state of affair
$ The home. first is the cause, In par,
Home. where by our defective system
family government and lack of prope
sense of moral responsibility, we stat
our children out into the world wit
9 defective moral characters. In the .ies
place. the great cause is found at tn
= door of the open saloon. You plac
more saloons in the way Of your childre
: than churches. more saloon keeper
! and b%artenders in their way tina
preachers and Sunday school teachers.
"The gambling mania is the grea
, enemy of t c church, the Kingdom ,
\ God. the home and our Government.
X "What the world is dying for today
r another Pentecost. We need a relisio.
). awakening. We have had all kinds
:. awskeninss HUT the one awakening v
need is a religious awakening 7.
! public conscience and the imdividu
. conscience needs TO be startled al
= awakened i.ecky says England W,
saved from moral decay by the preachir
and the REVEALS Of the Wcsley's al
WhitcGeld. God give us a revival Q
over this land, q revival OF Pestecost
power"