The Red Cloud chief., 1911-05-18
SONG OF THE
VINEYARD
Sunday School Lessen for May II, 1911
Specially Arranged for This Paper
LESSON TENT Isaiah O:I-l2,

TIME Probably near the beginning of
tsatah's long life as a prophet which was
.nauSurated in tho year when King W.
tiah died, II. g, ,55 tBccchcD, or II. G. 1l9
lllastings).
PLACE Isaiah prophesicd In Jerusalem.
KINGS In Israel, Mcnahcm; in Assyria,
Asshur duau an.
PROPiETS--llosea, Micah.
Isaiah. like all great teachers, was
Obliged to speak many stern warnings
Individuals and nations are best
pleased with leaders that praise and
Halter them: but such men are enc
mics rather than friends. demagogues
rather than statesmen. In our own
nation we have many braggarts, and
many easy-going, over.sanguinc citi.
gens, but the wise men are like Isaiah
clear.eyed to perceiye national and
personal sins, Vigilance against
these is the only price Of liberty In a
nation and peace In an individual The
old Greek maxim, Know thyself," 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 menace Of ungodly and un-
philanthropic wealth; intemperance
the great peril OF the nation.
We can look back over history full
OF deliycrances. America was settled
by men escaping from civil and reli.
gious oppression. The colonists had
many marvellous dcliveranccs from the
Indians and other foes. The Union
has been saved by the greatest civil
war in all history. We have had
among our leaders some of the worlds
chief men--WashiDgton, Lincoln.
Grant, Jefferson Franklin. The worlds
greatest oceans preserve our country
from attack We have vast territory,
wonderfully rich in minerals and pro
ducing harvests abundant enough for
US and for other nations.
The natural fruit of n vineyard,
carefully prepared-finc, cultivated
grapes, and 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, sour and hard-such re-
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
- Al 10, ha,
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 sooner or later its land ques
tion and It's liquor question.
Is the land question an American
question also? In its 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 one Ameri-
can whose income is more than a mil
lion dollars a month.
| What Is lsaiah'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 relormers try
everywhere to pass laws closing the
saloons by II o'clock at night. Still
Il is very common, in our cities, to sec
drunken men staggering around the
streets in the morning, in the midst
OF spree" that may last for days
Modern men drink many fiery, dis
titled liquors unknown to the ancients
They have added the common use OF
many drugs, such as opium and co
caine, whose physical and mental eff
fects are more terrible and swift even
than those OF alcohol. And still the
saloon Is the center of all other sins
against ciety-licentiousness mur
der, gambling. graft. political misrule
all are closely connected with the
saloon.
II our public schools are to give the
scholars a practical preparation fol-
life. certainly no subject Is Of greater
Importance than temperance. Laws
requiring scientific temperance In
struction have therefore been passed
in all the states anc by the national
government, and more than forty tenn
perance physiologies. for all grades
have been written. Nearly millior
essays on temperance themes are writ
ten every year by school children
The universities, colleges and norma
schools are taking up the study.
1t Is never enough to pass tenn
perance measure. The open saloon al
once becomes secret saloon, blind
tiger" "Near-beers" and other drinks
are concocted, containing just enough
| alnphnI IN nccann thn la" anH cold