Morgan County republican. (Versailles, Mo.) 1906-1914, 1911-05-18
SONG OF THE
VINEYARD
Sunday School Lessen fss May Fl, 1911
Specially Arranged for This Paper
LESSON TExT-Isaiah 6:1-l2.


GOLDEN TExT-"Woe Unto Them
That Are Mighty to Drink Wine, and
Men Of Strength to Mingle Strong Drink"
lisa. 5:22.
TIME-Probably near the beginning OF
Isaiah's long life as a prophet, which was
~inaugurated in tho year when King Uz-
Eiah died, b. c. 755 (Beecher), or b. c. 749
(Hastings).
PLACE-Isaiah prophesied in Jerusalem.
kINGS-In Israel, Menahem; in Assyria,
Asshur-daan III.
PROPHETS-Hosea, Micah.
Isaiah, like all great teachers, vas
obliged to speak many stern warnings.
Individuals and nations are best
pleased with leaders hat praise and
flatter them; but such men are ene-
mics rather than friends, demagogues
rather than statesmen. In our own
nation we have many braggarts, and
many easy.going, over-sanguine citi.
zens; but the wise men are like Isaiah,
clear-eyed to perceive national and
personal sins. Vigilance against
these is the only price Of liberty in q
nation and peace in an individual. The
old Greek maxim, know myself" is
still the foundation of true knowledge
and wisdom. In our lesson the great
prophet warns his nation against three
national evils: National %ingratitude to
God; the nae of ungodly and IN
philanthropic wealth; intemperance
the great peril Of the nation.
We can look back over a history full
OF deliverances. America vas settled
by men escaping from civil and rell-
gious oppression. The colonists had
many marvellous d~eliverances from the
Indians and other foes. The Union
has been saved by the greatest civil
wal in all history. We have had
among our leaders some of the worlds
chief men-Washington, Lincoln.
Grant, Jefferson, Franklin. The worlds
greatest oceans preserve our country
from attack. We have a vast territory,
wonderfully rich In minerals and pro-
duclrg harvests abundant enough for
us and for other nations.
The natural fruit of a vineyard,
carefully prepared-fne, cultivated
grapes. and a full crop; that is, he ex-
pected obedience to his commands,
and love and gratitude and worship.
Instead, he got nothing but wild
grapes, small, sou and hard-such re-
suits as a nation might show that had
received no special benefits from Je-
hovah.
Isaiah next comes to particulars
the two great fundamental sins Of his
people, and of all nations. 1t is with
remarkable persistence that in every
civilization the two main passions Of
the human heart, love Of wealth and
love of pleasure, the instinct to gather
and the instinct to squander, have
sought precisely these two forms de-
nounced by Isaiah in which to work
their social havoc-appropriation OF
the soil and indulgence In strong
drink. Every civilized community de-
velops soone or later its land ques-
ton and its liquor question.
Is the land question an American
question also? In it's essentials, yes.
But what, back Of the land question,
is the fundamental difficulty? The
menace of ungodly and unphilanthropic
wealth, In any form-land. or rail
roads, or mines, or mills, or houses to
rent. or stocks and bonds or money to
lend. There is more than n Ameri-
can whose income is more than a mil
lion dollars a month.
What is Isaiah's second "Woe?"
Against drunkenness and its accom-
panying evils, and the irreligion that
goes with them.
Would Isaiah pronounce this woe
upon our nation. II he were living to-
day? He certainly would. To be sure,
there is the most drinking late at
night, especially after the theater per-
formances are over; and for that rea-
son the temperance reformers try
everywhere to pass laws closing the
saloons by II o'clock at night. Still,
II Is very common, In our cities, to see
drunken men staggering around the
streets in the morning, In the midst
of q spree" that may last for days.
Modern men drink many fiery, dis
titled liquors unknown to the a%ncients.
They have added the common use Of
many drugs, such as opium and CO.
caine, whose physical and mental ef-
fects are more terrible and swift even
than those of alcohol. And still the
saloon Is the center Of all other sins
against observation-disclosures, muir.
der, gambling. graft. political m~isrule,
all are closely connected with the
saloon.
II our public schools are to give the
scholars a practical preparation for
life. certainly no subject is of greater
Importance than temperance. Laws
ranuirin1 scIanfihc femneranca In