The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1914-09-14
YOUTHS ARE SUFFICIENT REASON
AND UNANswERABLE ARGUMENT.
SAYS PASTOR.
SHOULD CONSIDER THEM
REV. J. II. EG<sLESTON, OF SOUTH
RICHMOND, DELIVERS SERMON
AGAINST THE LIQUOR
TRAFFIC..

i ne boys OF NlrElDll are lUe suII-
Client reason and unanswerable argu-
ment for Statewide prohibition" de-
clared Rev. ]. r. Eggleston last night
from his pulpit in Asbury Methodist
church, South Richmond. Taking for
his subject The All Sufficient Reason
and Unanswerable Argument" Mr.. Egg
gleston told his hearers why they
should cast their vote to sweep the
saloons out of existence. If only for
the sake OF the young boys growing
up. The pastor said in part:
"A chubby boy has come to grace
and gladden. the evening OF the old
priests life and home There Is enough
divine mystery about 1t TO excite curl
osity and TO call forth speculation as
to the future of this child.
There Is the seniority of Elizabeth,
the mother, the dunbness and return
ing speech of Zachariah. the father,
and the prophecy of the angel con-
corning the child. SO the question of
the text Is "A natural ono.
This instance, but illustrates that
sufficient mystery clusters about the
infancy of every child, and especially
the boy as he Is the burden of our
thought today. to make us very solicit
tous about the future. AS we ask the
question of our text today In refer
ence to your boy and mine. the answer
is not found so much in the fact that
we Will try to provide for them, the
comforts of life, opportunities. educa-
ton and religion, but more in the fact
whether We shall give them n saloon
less or license liquor community to
live In. This may sound unreasona-
BILE to you. but this know that liquor
has oftentimes stolen the comforts.
crushed the opportunities. converted
education into vagrancy and erased
every religious Instinct which were
possessed by the boy. This leads me to
the subject I wish to discuss this even
inf. The All Sufficient Reason and I'm
answerabie Argument For Statewide
Prohibition" The boys Of Virginia are
the sufficient reason and unanswerable
argument.
The Greatest Consideration.
The greatest consideration in this
Statewide contest are the boys of Viz
ginia. What is Il boy worth any way?
From money standpoint he Is worth
more than you can pay. 1t cost about
one hundred and fifty dollars per year
to board and clothe a boy from twelve
to fourteen years Of age. This is
about the interest on two thousand
and five hundred dollars at per
cent. This might seem A fair va1ua-
/ ton TO some, but when Willie Whitla
was stolen in Cleveland his father
offered Il reward of ten thousand dol
lars for his return. | want TO say
there IS not a father among us. high
or low, rich or poor. worthy Of the
name, who would part with his boy
for all the money Richmond contains.
We may place the values of real estate
and measure the stars and weigh them
in balances, but we can never estimate
the worth OF a boy.
There In that little life in the old
/ priests home lay the making of God s
( messenger, and the forrunner OF His
/ son. Hence every child is the emhro
! of something greater and more potent
/ Gus German schoolmaster, never went
] before his class of boys, without a
/ feeling of a most profound reverence
/ and his head uncovered. hut as he look
ed upon them he said to himself:
/ "Who can tell what yet may arise up
among these y0uths?" There may he
/ those among them who shall herafter
I he learned doctors, sage legislators,
( nay princes Of the empire AS we
/ think of our boys and the boys Of Vir-
ginia today, we are Impressed with
i grand possibilities wrapt up in their
/ lives. There may be some among
! them who will grow up to possess the
! stateaIna Dshin- Jefferson and Mon
1 roe: the generalshlp of Washington
and Lee: the eloquence of Webster
and Clay; the religious fever of Moody
aud the pulpit ability of Beecher