Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1911-08-23
HELPS FROM HEAVEN.
Moral Suasion and Legislative Enact
ment IN Temperance Question.

The temperance cause has advanced by
means of two principal methods of work,
moral suasion and legislative enactment.
In the beginning Of the great temperance
movement, two g"ner9;ions ago, the ap-
peal was mainly 10 the Individual con-
science. In the present generation. the
efforts of the temperance forces have
been concentrated almost entirely on
legislative reforms and constitutional
prohibition Both lines of effort are
proper And they must 90 hand in hand
if the temperance cause IS To be vetori- |
Gus.
1t is right to abolish by law business
which is Breeder q the foulest crimes |
the devil can invent. and which casts its
helsh shadow over home and country. |
If it is within the province Of civil gov
,, ernment to enact sanitary laws for the
preservation Of the public health. as sure
~ as the moral IS greater than the ply
steal it is right to abolish by law any in
stitutlon or business whose chief product
is immortality and crime. If il Is proper
to protect ourselves by statute against
adalterated foods, and to quarantine
against deadly germs of contagious dis
ease. IL Is surely the duty of the state to |
protect the innocent against this moral |
leprosy of mankind. Truly this line of |
effort appeals TO all good and thoughtful |
men. 1t appeals even to the slaves of In |
temperance who realize that they must |
have the help of some power outside |
themselves to save them from the curse. |
But the greatest and most effective |
temperance reform-without which poliu- |
cal effort can not succeeds the moral
and spiritual reformation of the indivi- |
dual which locks the door from within.
said Lincoln: THE man who molds pub
lie sentiment Is greater than he who
enacts laws or enforces statutes. For
| without an enlightened public opinion,
laws viii never be enacted nor will they
be enforced" With the danger of reae-
ton. especially where drastic laws are
going into effect, and with the necessity
of a mighty forward movement before
us, surely the times demand return TO
the old time temperance evangelism In
this way only can We hold what has been
gained and go on TO perfection.
/ This temperance evangelism must not
be merely a campaign of education. That
is good. but many men and women
though intelligent as to the awful results
of drink have fallen beneath its power,
Many brilliant minds, with the fairest
prospects in life. have been ruined by this
awful curse. After all, the temperance
issue is one of moral fiber. Temperance
/ is self-control A writer, in the North
western Christian Advocate, truly said:
"Apart from this indweling of Jesus
Christ, there is no hope for the subju-
CATION of the drink curse Whatever our
theory of salvation may be. 1t remains
true that only as Jesus reigns in the cita-
1T
Willis there assurance of complete VIC
tory" For there is none other name
under Heaven given among men. whereby
We must be saved" Acts Alp. The only
safety of any man or woman from the
power of evil passion or perverted appe-
lite. is to trust in the power of that
Name.
you talk about my drinking" said the
drunkard, but you say nothing about
my thirst" That thirst 1t is that drives
him TO despair. His promises and reselu-
tons are like ropes of sand, and the
knowledge of his forfeited pledges causes
the loss of all confidence In himself
Never" said John b. Cough 'dld
hate LIQUOR more than when l was its ab-
ject servant" Many a slave to lhtem-
perance has cried out, with Pau, %
wretehed man that l am who shall de-
liver me from this body of death:
Rom 7.24. margin. Would that every
one might learn as Paul did, that the
mower of the divint-human Son OF God
can sci MS free, Il can do all things
said ne "fbrough Christ which strength
onath mo Phn. 4:l3. The finite is mas
tarad h, the infinite. Men have learned
N e,neet no mastery in the physical
world exeept as they yield TO the God of
rst,Ire No one endeavors to make
bniIdlng stand except by yielding to Gods
law Of gravitation, nor an engine move
without applying his law of expansion.
Neither can we control our own spirits
except as we yield TO the law of the
spirit OF life
Is there hope for the tempted? Is there
help for the downtrodden2-O, yes, there
is hope! Hope in God! Help from
/ Heaven.
Francis Murphy, the drunken keeper of
a grog-shop. found help behind prison.
bars, where he had been cast for man
slaughter. On the cold floor of his prison
cell lie found God. and became a new
man. And he Became one of the most
powerful temperance advocates of our
/ time.
/ The temperance cause is the cause of
Christ Then let the church of the living
God occupy her place in this warfare.
lending her influence to every good work,
and heralding the gospel of righteous
ness. temperance. and judgment to come"
M. +. Kern In Child's Instructor.
Children Crv