Year: 1870

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TEMPERANCE.


In the perilous times in which We have
fallen. I would like to enquire what is the
duty of christians in regard to this sub
ect-temperance. One, if left to judge
from observation alone, would be apt to
conclude that it was of no Importance to
them whatever. But as judgment based
On observation alone is not conclusive, we
will inquire further:


Is it right for those protesting godliness
to indulge the appetite in those things
that are manifestly hurtful and productive
Of disease, not only to themselves, but to
their offspring; and by example hurtful
to observers There are many things
that we can use intemperately. But the
most alarming feature of intemperance al
the present time is the use and abuse Of
alcoholic drinks. 1t is of this we wish to
speak.


It would be waste of time to enter
upon an investi cation of the proof that al.
coholic drinks are hurtful, either physi-
cally or spiritually. The facts are too ap-
parent to need confirmation, and it would
be madness to deny them. It is the ex-
perience of every one who has arrived tc
The years of understanding, that example
has been one of their greatest teachers.


This being SO, it follows that we are
teachers by example. How necessary it
is, then, that our example be such as be-
,ometh holiness. And are we teaching
in accordance with the apostle Paul, when
we present the damning cup to the lips
Of our friend, our brother, sister, wife, OF
child? And if it is wrong for them to
taste, lest they be led away, is it right fol-
US to indulge, and thus give them occa-
sion to stumble over US? I tell ~ nay


Hear the apostle (Rom. IA: 21): 1T
is good neither to eat flesh, nor drink
wine, nor anything whereby thy brother
or is made weak" Let me
show few Of the evils that attenaashis
lemon alcohol. I quote from tract:


"Statistics Of Intemperance. Careful.
y compiled statistics show that sixty thou.
sand lives are annually destroyed by in.
temperance in the United States; one
hundred thousand men and women are
yearly sent to prison in consequence o1
strong drink; two hundred thousand chill
lren are sent to the poor-house; three
hundred murders are committed; four
hundred suicides; two hundred thousand
orphans are bequeathed to private and
public charity; two hundred millions Of
dollars are spent to produce this shocking
amount Of crime and misery, and as much
more is lost BY the same cause"


Judge Patterson, of Norwich, Eng.
addressing grand jury: IF 1t aoere moi
for this drinking, you and I ,oo,ad haze
nothing to do" Mr.. Wakely, coroner o1
Liverpool, said: "Gin may be thought the
best friend I have; it causes me to hold
one thousand more inquests than
should otherwise hold. But besides
these I have reason to believe that from
ten to fifteen thousand persons die in this
metropolis annually from the effects of gin
drinking, upon whom no inquests are
held"


With results like these before US, what
is our duty? Let your inmost sense Of
right decide, and venture to say that to-
tai abstinence will be the result. In sight
Of the civil law, I blush to say that we
have right to drink if we damn our souls
by the act; but in the sight of Gods law,
we have no such right. I can do no bet.
ter than to close with an extract from the
writings Of Rev T. L. Cuyler:


''We lay down, then, the proposition.
that no man has moral right to do any
thing the influence of which is certainly
and inevitably hurtful to his neig ghbor.-
[ have q legal right to do many things
which as christian I cannot do. I have
a legal right to take arsenic or swallow
strychnine; but I have no moral right to
commit this self-destruction. [ have a
legal right to attend the theatre. No po-
|iceman stands at the door to exclude me,
Or darcs to eject me while my conduct is
orderly and becoming. But I have nc
moral right to go there; not merely b.
cause I may see and hear much that may
soil my memory for days and months, but
because that whole garnished and glitter
ing establishment, with its sensuous at
is to many young person the
yawning mael storm of pcrdition. The
dollar which | give at the box Office is my