The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1907-05-15

SOME STARTLING FACES ABOUT
TIE VICE OF INTEMpEI;ANCE.
Strong Drink a CuIse-It Robs q
Man of All Which Makes Him a
Man in Contrast With a Beast
Builds Moral Monsters.

buIluS V1OIll NlOUSlcrS,
The heart, according to the diction.
airy, is the inner part of anything;
the chief or vital part; the seat of the
affections and the passions; the seat
of the understanding and will; the
moral sense; love; courage; DISPOSE.
ton of mind And immortality and
drunkenness rob man of all this
which makes him a man in contrast
with a beast. What is a man with.
out the inner part, the inner man OF
the heart in that which is not cor.
r%uptible?" He is a beast and worse;
for a living creature which is desti.
tute of this inner consciousness, takes
no high place in the animal world;
and such is the miserable drunkard.
A man destitute of his chief and
vital part"-that part which can
know, understand and respond tc
God, and which can edify, help, love
and serve his fellow-creatures-is .
moral monster; and such is the mis-.
cradle drunkard or opium slave. A
man without this vital part, is a la
half dead, a blighted creature; his
affections are paralyzed; he treads
on wife and children to crafty his
self-indulgence, the man is without
heart. And he is without under.
standing. Again and again the phys.
ical suffering which is caused by his
self-indulgence in strong drink, has
told him the effect which Intoxicating
liquors have upon him. But the com
paratively short time of pleasure is
all he thinks Of; he is without under.
standing even of that which his ex.
b~lindfolded, by the demon into whose
charge the devil has committed him.
and he cannot help himself. He has
sold his will and his understanding
to his greatest enemy for .short-lived
pleasure-the miserable creature is
without heart. , :
Who knows how many may have
passed out Of this world into a hope.
less eternity with a heart taken away
by Gods great enemy, whom they did
not resist that he might flee from
them! And they have chosen an un.
speakably terrible hereafter, a lot
prepared, not for them, but for the
devil and his angels" Matt. 25:41),
Drunkards and sorcerers are often
linked together in Scriptures. And
drunkenness, including slavery to
opium and other sedatives, immoral.
ity, in all it's terrible forms, and spir.
itualism, which is a mental drunken.
ness, make men heartless and cruel
towards their fellow-creatures, as
they are wicked towards God, n thei1
rejection of and disobedience to Him.
In the days of the prophet Isaiah,
and of Hezekiah, king of Judah, Eph-
rain, which stood for the ten tribes
of Israel as distinct from Judah, had
attained an u%nenviable reputation for
drunkenness. Woe to the crown Of
Judah, to the drunkards of Ephraim.
The state religion of Israel or Eph-
rain was the worship of the golden
calves Of Bethel and of Dan, insti'
tuted by "Jereboam, O of Nebat,
who made Israel to SIM" Drunken.
ness and immortality are the accom-
paniments of idolatry. When Aaron
made the golden calf, and God told
Moses, who was on the mount, alone
with him, about it, Moses went down
to find his people engaged in the
horrible rites of immortality and
drunkenness which always attend an
idol feast. 1t almost broke the heart
Of Moses. On the one hand, the
name of his God was compromised
and dishonored, and on the other, his
people had deeply fallen, and these
sins of immortality and drunkenness
among the people whom God had
elected to be His special treasure, so
burdened this man of God that he
cried in his agony of soul: Now,
Lord, if Thou wilt, forgive their sin,
and if not, blot me, i pray Thee, out
of Thy book which Thou hast writ
ten" Exodus 32:22).
And drunkenness and immortality
are the essence Of Selfishness. The
drunkard, maddened by the thirst Of
hell, which Satan has made to burn
in his body, will leave wife and chill
dren, or husband and children, un-
cared for, without food or fire, bed
ding or proper clothing, to indulge in
the temporary satisfaction which the
stupefaction of in~toXication brings
with it.. Oh. how truly, wine and
new wine take away the heart!" The
power to reason, the power to reflect,
the power to have compassion, the
power to consider responsibility-all
is gone, drowned by the miserable
drink, the horrible, devilish self-in-
diligence, regardless of what others
suffer. And truth, honor, honesty
| all which raises a man-depart when
the drink, or opium, or immortality
lay hold Of him; he has, like Ahab,
sold himself to the devil in the sight
of the Lord" Il. Kings, 21:25).-
Mrs. M. Baxter, in Christian Herald.
North Carolina Logic.
1.-THE liquor traffic is a giant and
has walled cities within which to
fight, but if we. would possess the
whole land of North Carolina, we
must drive them from these cities.
Let the good country people of North
Carolina get at it at the ballot box,
and it will be goodbye saloon. And
why not? Shall we fear to fight this
enemy of ours?
ITO license the saloon is wrong,
whether by high license or low Ii
cense, legislative enactment or local
option. A thing that is inherently
wrong cannot be consistently licensed.
Therefore, the State does wrong to
provide for the license of the liquor
traffic in any form. The only proper
{ course is State prohibition. This
classes the traffic where it ought to
be. This is consistent. The North
Carolina Baptisr.