TEMPERANCE SERMONS
DELIVERED
IN RESPONSE TO AN INVITATION
THE NATIONAL TEMPERANCE SOCIETY
PUBLICA TION HO USE.
NEW YORK:
* -The National Temperance Society and Publication House,
No. 58 READE STREET.
1873.
.,.;. I
OF
AND 
Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1873, by
J. N. STEARNS,
In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington, D. C.
JOHN ROSS & Co., PRINTERS, 27 ROSE STREET, NEW YORK.
* I
. o         v 
CONTENTS.
COMMON SENSE FOR YOUNG MEN,...                  
By Rev. HENRY WARD BEECHER, Plymouth Church, Brooklyn.
II.
MORAL DUTY OF TOTAL ABSTINENCE........
By Rev. T. L. CUYLER, D.D., Lafayette Avenue Church., Brooklyn.
III.
THE EVIL BEAST,............
By Rev. T. DE WITT TALMAGE, D.D., Brooklyn Tabernacle.
IV.
THE GOOD SAMARITAN,..........
By Rev. J. B. DUNN, Beach Street Presbyterian Church, Boston.
V.
SELF-DENIAL: A  DUTY AND A PLEASURE,...
By Rev. J. P. NEw.IAN, D.D., Chaplain of the United States
Senate.
VI.
TIlE CHURCH  AND TEMPERANCE,.....
By Rev. JOHN W. MEARS, D.D., Professor at Hamilton College,
New York.
VII.
ACTIVE PITY OF A QUEEN,......... 
By Rev. JOHN HALL, D.D., Nineteenth Presbyterian Church,
Fifth Avenue, New York.
VIII.
TEMPERANCE AND THE PULPIT,.....                                
By Rev. C. D. Foss, D.D., St. Paul's M. E. Church, Fourth
Avenue, New York.
-' r
O/  A?,
1.
PAGE.
9
35
57
73
101
121
I47
i6g 
Conteints.
THE EVILS OF INTEMPERANCE,........
By Rev. J. Ro.iEY~N BERRY, D.D., Mont Clair, New Jersey.
x.
LIBERTY AND LOVE,...........
By Rev. HENRY WARD BEECHiER, Plymouth Church, Broollyn.
XI.
THE WINE AND THE  WORD,..........
By Rev. HERRICK JOHNSON, D.D., First Presbyterian Church,
Philadelphia.
XII.
STRANGE CHILDREN,............
By Rev. PETER STRYKER, D.D., First Presbyterian Church, Rome,
N.Y.
I XIII.
THE IMPEACHMENT AND PUNISHMENT OF ALCOHOL,.
By Rev. C. H. FOWLER, Centenary M. E. Church, Chicago, 111.
XIV.
DRINKING FOR HEALTH,..'....
By Rev. H. C. FISH, D.D., First Baptist Church, Newark, N. J
XV.
SCIENTIFIC CERTAINTIES (NOT OPINIONS) ABOUT ALCOHOL,
Containing Dr. Sewall's stomach plates. By Rev. H. W. Warren, I
D.D.,Church Street M. E. Church, Philadelphia.
XVI.
MIv NAM.E IS LEGION.............   35I
By Rev. S. H. TYNG, D.D., St. George's (Episcopal) Church, New
York.
XVII.
TIiE C'RISTIAN SERVING HIS GENERATION, -...
By Rev. WM. MS. TAYLOR, D.D., Broadway Tabernacle (Con      gregational), New York.
ix.
PAGE.
igr
2I3
227
249
269
297
329
377 
COMMON SENSE FOR YOUNG MEN
ON THR
SUBJECT OF TEMPERANCE.
"There is a way which seemeth right unto a man; but the ends t~rc~f
Itre the ways of death."-Paov. XiV. 12.
HIS is peculiarly applicable to those who
are young, who are going, as it were, along
unknown paths, and who see, branching out to
the right or to the left, roads planted with flowers,
overhung with vines, and full of tempting sights
and beckoning pleasures, all of which look to
them secure and most joyful. But these roads,
once entered upon, are difficult to leave; and the
sights that tempted them, and the pleasures that
beckoned them, are gradually exchanged for harder and harder fates. The smooth road soon becomes precipitous, the easy and apparently safe
course soon becomes full of peril, and at last
they are plunged into remediless destruction.
This is the career of thousands. They enter
upon ways which are enticing, which are covered
with beauty, which promise great remuneration. 
Io    Common Sense for Young Affen
which fulfil only in part the things promised, anc
which, having deluded them, at last destroy theim.
There are a great many such ways, but there is
only one of them which I propose to speak upon,
to-night, and that is the way of the drinker.
It is a part of every Christian minister's duty
to keep his congregation instructed on the subject
of temperance from the Christian point of view.
It is especially my duty, because this church has,
from its very foundation, reckoned the cause of
temperance as a part of the great Christian movement of the world. It is my duty, because in
many ways a generation has come up in our midst
without that special and sedulous training which
we had in our youth. Those who are at about
my time of life remember the beginning of this
education, and how strong and various were the
influences and impulses and instruments by which
the attention of the community was aroused.
There was, first, novelty; and then, at last, fashion
and public sentiment concurred. This movement
has run through one generation, and also has run
through a kind of moral period, and a reaction
has come on, and a generation of young persons
have arisen who are less informed, perhaps, on
this subject, than those who immediately preceded
them.   It becomes  important, therefore, that
churches and ministers should renew the instruction of the young on the dangers of drinking.
I do not propose to go into a denunciatory tirade
against liquor dealers, or against dram-shops, or
against the drinking usages of society. I propose, 
on the Subject of Temperance.
to-night, to speak to the young men of my charge,
and to the community, in so far as my words may
be borne out to them; and I propose to speak as
an elder brother, and to address this subject, with
all moderation, and yet with all earnestness, to
their best judgment. I do not propose to carry
you away by exciting your feelings; but I propose,
if possible, to convince you through your reasoning faculties. And I ask you to consider the subject of entire abstinence from all that intoxicates,
from motives which bear upon your personal welfare, from motives which bear upon the welfare
of the society in which you live, and from motives
which spring from religion itself. And I remark,
I. A healthy nature never craves intoxicating drinks.   Men are not drawn  to the use
of intoxicating drinks as they are drawn to the
use of food, or ordinary drinks. I suppose that
ninety-nine in a hundred of the men that drink,
learned, and had to learn, to love intoxicating
beverages; and I suppose that those who indulge
in them most, and most ruinously, have to do it
with a testimony that they are not palatable. You
are not, therefore, called to follow any great instinct in drinking. The sin of indulging in intoxl.
cating drinks is not like a passional sin; it is not
like obedience to some master-passion that lies
within demanding gratification. There is no such
excuse for men who drink as that of natural huncer or thirst. MAlen may be naturally hungry or
thirsty, but men are not by nature thirsty for
wine, nor for whiskey, nor for brandy, nor for any
I! 
12   Common Senzse for Younzg Men
other compound; so that in drinking there is no
obedience on the part of men to any radical instinct or radical impulse.
Hence, the use of intoxicating drinks is not
necessary. It is not prompted by anything that
is natural in yourself.  If you say: "Yes, I have
a natural craving for it," then to you I say: That
is the very reason why you should not take it.
If you have no craving for it, why should you
cumber yourself with it? And if you have such
a craving, surely, if you are wise, you will not put
yourself in peril by indulging it. If you have
the appetite in you, then by all means, unless you
are utterly reckless in regard to your own welfare, you will take warning, and shun the danger
which threatens you.
2. Alcoholic stimulants are not needful. Not
only does a desire for them not spring from any
constitutional impulse or necessity, but experience
has shown that they are not needful as elements
of diet. I do not undertake to say that they have
no place medicinally. I express a well-matured
judgment when I say that I think they have been
employed medicinally in a manner that is very
rash, and that is not scientific; but I do not propose to interfere with the doctors' sphere, except
to express the wish that they might study the
moral interests of their patients as much as they
do their physical well-being, and as little as possible put men under temptation by prescriptions
which require the continuous use of alcoholic
stimulants. That they are to be excluded wholly 
on tlie Szibjcci of  Teizperance.
from the range of medicine, I do not undertake to
say; that I would not employ them under medical
prescription, I do not undertake to say; but I do
undertake to say that, except as medicine, they
are not necessary.   They are not needful for
health, and they are not needful for strength.
They are not a part of a man's normal diet. You
are not, therefore, required to indulge in them for
the same reason that you are required to indulge
in meat, or in bread, or in milk, or in water.
3. Alcoholic stimulants are not usually palatable.   Young men who drink seldom love at
first what they drink. They serve an apprenticeship to a bad habit. I have alluded to this already; but there is in it a still further point to be
developed. There are many things that men do
which they do not like to do, and for which they
have no natural appetite; but then, they gain
something by doing them that is worth the toil
required to overcome the barriers that surround
them. Very few there are who like the methodical industry which is required to master a trade.
So young men are obliged to do what they do not
want to do, and are kept from doing what they
want to do. The result is that, at the end of five
or seven years of apprenticeship, they have learned
what is equivalent to the labor which they have
performed during those years.
The young man who studies a profession, studies
against his wsill a great deal of the time; or rather,
he obliges himself by his will to study for the sake
oi that which hle will gain by study.
I 3 
J4     Conmmioni Sense for  Younzg Mfen
And so we are continually, in one sense, going
against nature; that is, we are continually going
against the lower nature for the sake of the higher.
There is an upper or spirit nature, and there is a
lower or flesh nature; and the upper demands the
denial of the lower. When, therefore, men study
long for a professional life, or practise long with
the hand for an artist or artisan life, they go
against their natural tendency. And they gain
something that is worth all the self-denial and all
the painstaking to which they subject themselves.
But when men learn to love drink, for which they
have no natural appetite, what do they get in
return, but habits that are fraught with danger?
They gain no equivalent for what  they give.
They force nature, and force natlure for the purpose of bringing themselves into a condition in
which their whole life will be full of peril.
4. Drinking habits are not economical. And
economy, though it is a very homely virtue, and
is not reckoned among moral virtues, and is
spoken of as a commercial virtue, hais a most
important relation to a young man's prosperity,
regarded not only commercially, but morally. I
need not speak of it as a matter of co)mmerce.
Great moderation in the expenditure of moneygreat frugality in the early part of a man's life-is
a part of that education which every man is ex
pected to gain who means to acquire a fortune,
and become a responsible and influential mr) ini
the community.
Now, the administration of one's wealt.h, oi of 
oa  n7:e ozf.,jcci  f Tczlcrai-,ce.
one's affaiirs, in a close, careful, and successftil
way, is morally beneficial, inasmuch as it means
self-denial, forethought, arrangement, with a purpose, followed by a definite action of the will.
All these things are self-governing elements.
Self-government may begin with pecuniary matters, as well as with other affairs. And thousands
of men take their first step in moral life through
the drill which economy requires. And no young
man, whatever his situation in life may be, has a
right to despise economy, or has a right to be
careless or profuse in the expenditure of his
means. No matter if a man's hands are in mines
of wealth, he has no right to make a wasteful use
of that wealth. No man has a right to go from
youth to manhood without having formed rigid
habits of economy. If you are poor, then the way
out of poverty into wealth is through economy;
if you are rich, then you should administer your
riches so that your example shall be a blessing and
not a curse to the community. You are God's
steward, and you have no right to recklessly spend
money that you did not earn-though young men
seem mostly to think that they. have a right to
scatter all the money that they can lay their
hands on!
The majority of young men, when they enter
upon life, have but little at the beginning. MAlore
than half-yes, more than two-thirds, probablyof the young men who come to New York to seek
their fortune, come with a very slender pittance.
They are obliged to live upon a very small inr.
I 5 
i6     Co;i;zolz Sense for Yoeuo   Jfen
come.  And it ought to be a matter of pride with
every young man to be able to live on his income,
however small it may be, and inside of it. It is
not necessary that you should live here as you
lived at home. It might be more agreeable, but it
is not necessary. There is something higher than
living at a first-class boarding-house, or at a hotel.
There is something better than having a luxurious table. It is not necessary that a young man
should go to a boarding-house at all. If your
means will not allow it, it is not necessary that
you should go any higher than to buy your loaf
and eat it in your own room.
"But," you will reply, " what sort of a life is
that, where a young man works all day, and then
goes like a dog to his kennel at night, and gnaws
his loaf, and drinks his cold water, and creeps
under his straw, and gets up in the morning, and
gnaws his loaf again, and then drags himself out
to work once more?" I think there should be
provision made for a more respectable method of
cheap living; and yet, until that provision is made,
even such a life, voluntarily assumed, is nobler
than for a young man to live at a higher rate, and
steal the difference between his salary and his expenses, as you are not ashamed to do, often! It is
better for a young man to feel so proud that he
will not go one penny beyond what he lawfully
owns. And even if a young man is wealthy, it is
noble for him to live on a moderate allowance.
But when young men come to the city, and have
but a small pittance of salary to live on, how often 
on  lie Subjecl of Tempera;nce.
do they split up and divide that pittance, and
waste a large portion of it on tobacco and drink!
I shall not now enter upon a crusade against
the use of tobacco, though I think it is entirely
needless. The most self-indulgent and the most
selfish of luxuries is that of tobacco. I never
knew a dozen men that used tobacco that cared
anything about whether they smelled agreeable
to other people, or whether they carried them
selves so that other people were happy, or not.
They will foul the house, they will foul the boat,
they will foul the car, if they are not arbitrarily
restrained. They forget father and mother, and
wife and children, and all others, and go through
life smoking, stenchful and disagreeable; and
when they are expostulated with, they laugh!
The use of tobacco does not make a man a monster: it only makes him selfish in respect to the
comfort of people round about him. Though
1 consider this to be a most disagreeable and
selfish habit, I do not look upon it as being at all
equal to drinking in its evil effects; but it is a
very wasteful habit. There are few young men
that are beginning life who can afford to smoke.
And, much more, there are few young men that
can afford to drink when they are beginning life,
for, if you drink cheaply, you drink meanly. If
you drink wholesomely, you drink dearly. Drinking involves an expense that very few at the beginning of life can afford to incur.
Drinking habits take hold indirectly upon the
whole framework of a man's prosperity   They
I7 
i     Commnon Sense for Youzng.Men
lead to very many expenses besides the daily ex.
pense of the cup. They bring one into society,
and introduce him to customs which are constantly a levy and a tax upon him. They place
him in a position where he is subjected to a great
many expenditures which, under other circumstances, he might avoid. For they who come together for drinking purposes are seldom persons
who are careful to engineer their way, little by
little, and step by step, up to a strong and safe
manhood. Out of the circle where drinking is
carried on for purposes of pleasure there open,
day by day, hundreds of doors that never open
without a fee; and a young man who forms the
habit of drinking takes on an expense that wastes
his patrimony, and will continually keep him
down.
This may not be the case with all, and it will
be the case with some more than with others; but
I think that, with the majority, reasons of economy
should be sufficient to dissuade them from formng drinking habits.
5. Drinking habits open the door to many temptations which no man has a right to encounter.
Vices come with drinking habits. Young men
who are susceptible, wide-awake, and unformed
in their habits, are inclined to smoke a little, and
drink a little, and gamble a little, and "see life"
a little; and this group of little vices are very apt
to invite the company of larger vices. Drinking
habits throw young men into associations, and
under cricumstances, whe,re it is far more likely 
on the Subject of Temrperance.
that their lower nature will be solicited than that
their higher moral nature will be solicited.
We see in the poets much about the cup-much
about its generosity. Many glorious things are
said and sung about "the wine in the cup;" and
yet, after all, it is the beast that drinks the cup.
In nine hundred and ninety-nine cases in a thou sand, it feeds the lower nature wholly, and not the
higher nature at all.
Now, there are many that are-frail in the hour
of temptation, and that must needs utter that peti tion of the Lord's Prayer, "Lead us not into
temptation "-as if we should go down if we came
into its presence, as we should, many of us. The
majority of us are so weak that we have no right
to bring ourselves into temptation by forming
habits of drinking.
6. There cannot be a doubt as to the fact that
habits of drinking withdraw from a young man
the confidence of those who watch and gauge
young men. Young men who are preparing
themselves for life, by drinking lose the confidence of those who desire to employ respectable
and trustworthy men. The knowledge that a
young man drinks, destroys his reputation for
trustworthiness.
I do not say that that is the case in every country. If a man is born under a vine in Italy, and
is accustomed, from his youth up, to participation
in the wine-cup, I do not say that he will not be
considered trustworthy. We are very much creatures of the institutions and habits of the country
I9 
20     Cornmzolz Sense for Young _ffen
where we are; but in this country, where Lou
are, ald where I am speaking to you, it is not the
habit of the population to indulge in the use of
wine or strong drink, and it is so far opposed to
an intelligent, correct public sentiment among us,
that it unquestionably leaves a mark upon a young
man who indulges in it.
If you were looking out for a confidential clerk,
and two young men presented themselves, in al
respects equal, except that one of them was ac
customed to indulge gently in drinking, and the
other was not at all accustomed to it, you would
not hesitate in your choice. Even if you did not
scruple at putting wine on your own table, you
would take the young man that was temperate.
Many a man who is vicious, wants his wife to be
pure; and many a man who drinks, will not allow
his clerks to drink. And if young men are addicted to even a mild indulgence in drinking
habits, it is prejudicial to their good name and to
their chances of success.
This is a habit which is not required by any
natural impulse, which is not necessary to your
health, which is full of perils, which exposes you
to various temptations, and which throws a shadow
over the threshold of your business life. And
why should you voluntarily form such a habit, or
place yourself in such a position that you will
almost inevitably fall into it? What reason is
there for your entering upon such a course? 
7. Drinking may either develop a tendency
which lies dormant in you, or it may create a 
on  lize Suzbjec  of Teszperance.
tendency which does not already exist in yout
system.  As a matter of fact, it is certain that
there are many persons who inherit such an ab normal condition of the nervous system that, on
suitable provocation, there spring up in them pa roxysms which are almost as ungovernable as are
convulsions or the paroxysms of neuralgia. There
is such a thing as a latent tendency of the consti tution that will slumber all one's life, if it be let
alone, if those things which excite it be rigidly
withheld, but that, if it be once roused up, will
assert itself with a force that is well-nigh omnipo tent. And there is many a man who, by taking
alcoholic stimulants early in life, arouses that
hereditary tendency in himself; aid, once being
aroused, tiger-like, it destroys its victim.  And
thus thousands are destroyed irremedilessly.
But if there is no such tendenrcy in you; if your
father, and his father, and his father, or if your
ancestors on both sides, h?.Te sent down to you a
constitution unimpaired, it may nevertheless be
the fact that, from other causes, there is a condition of your system whi(h predisposes you to that
tendency which, if creat( d in you,-you will transmit
to your posterity. And I cannot think of a cruelty
greater than that which shall lead a parent, from
reasons of mere self-indulgence, to roll down on his
posterity, to many generations, a tendency which
shall be one long and terrible curse to them,
And yet there are multitudes that are doing it.
Whoever consumes his own nervous system by
excessive indulgence in any manner, prepares the
21 
22    Common Sense for Young Jfen
way for those who come after him to be blighted
in their whole nervous constitution.   And if, in
the use of intoxicating drinks, you drive up your
jaded faculties; if you, for the sake of fulfilling
tasks that are beyond your power, resort to unnatural stimulation, you prepare yourself to hand
down to your posterity the blight of intemperance, if ever they shall touch the intoxicating
bow l.
8. No man has a right, under all the conditions
that I have mentioned, to put himself in peril by
either or all of these mischiefs. No man has a
right to buy a ticket in this lottery of death. If a
lottery should be started, if the wheel should be
opened, and if you knew that there was one in
each hundred of the tickets that would bring death
and destruction to the person who should draw it,
you would not have anything to do with that
lottery. You never would run the risk of losing
your life, where the chances of death were one to
a hundred, even if one of the tickets was marked
ten thousand dollars, another two thousand, and
another one thousand.  Who would patronize
such a lottery? Who would not say that a man
who did it courted death? But here is a lottery
in which the death-bearing tickets are more than
one in every hundred. And what earthly reason
is there that should induce a man to put in a venture where the risk is so great? What great good
ig there that he can hope to gain? There is none.
What great happiness is there that he can
reasonably expect to obtain?   There is none. 
on the Szubject of Temnperance.
What customs impose on him the necessity of thus
placing himself in jeopardy? None that are not
better broken than observed. What inward need
impels him to it? None.
Thus far, I have argued this question on the
lower grounds of expediency.   I present, now,
higher motives for the young to live a temperate
life.
I. Every man is bound to present himself to his
age and country as noble a specimen of manhood
as is possible to him. Every man is bound so to
develop every part of his nature-his physical
vigor, his intellectual strength, his moral powersthat when he presents himself to his country he
shall be worth that country's accepting.
It was the custom among the Greeks, when
a man had done well, when he had made great
achievements, to have a statue of him in some
temple of the gods; and their temples became
museums, filled with statues of those benefactors
of the state, who were able to buy statues of themselves, which had been voted a place there. These
statues were ranged in long successions about the
temples. And every man is bound to case himself, not in marble, but in flesh and blood, in mental powers, and in the higher attributes of the soul,
and present himself, a living man, to the state, that
he may be, not a mere lifeless simuizacr?z(n, but a
man of life and vigor, and an instrument of good,
in the age to which he belongs.
I love to see young men with a noble carriage,
and with bloc ming health. I cannot bear to see
23 
24      Coimzioit Senzse fo   Yo7lotg AMen
young men, that have every reason for building
up a noble manhood, walking with a discolored
face and an unwholesome skin, which are signs of
intemperance. Perhaps there is nothing more disreputable than for a young man to present himself a miserable wreck of what he might have
been, and a burden, to the state and to the age in
which he lives; and perhaps there is nothing more
creditable to a young man than to present himself
to the state and to the age in which he lives a
monument of health and vigor and true manliness. Temperance brings you to this higher and
nobler condition of manhood, and intemperance
takes you from it.
2. No man has a right to sport with all the interests that are centred in a moral being, and to
put himself in peril for such reasons as mostly induce young men to drink. As I have said, there
is no natural appetite in you for intoxicating
beverages. There is nothing in your normal condition which leads you to want them. There is a
curiosity that many young persons feel in regard to
them. I remember that, from what I had read in the
Bible and other books about wine, I had the impression that if [ tasted it I should be lifted up to
the seventh heaven, and I had a great curiosity to
know how wine tasted.  And finally I did taste it.
But I was not lifted up by it as I expected 1
should be.  And since this curiosity exists, I cannot say that if my child had heard of champagne,
and wanted to taste it, I never would let him taste
it. I think it very likely that if I did not he would 
on /ie Sibijct of Temperance.
gratify that curiosity, that abnormal desire, by
stealth; and it seems to me that if he is going
to know what it is, the knowledge had better be
conveyed to him by parental revelation and teachin, mostly. And a child that has had one taste of
it, usually wants no more.  And when young men
have once tasted wine, and satisfied their curiosity
about it, why should they continue taking it?
Though they do not like it, they are ashamed
among their companions not to hold up their
heads, and toss off a drink, just like any other
man.  They are ashamed to be deficient in so
manly an accomplishment! They are ashamed to
stand up and say, " I do not relish it; I do not
need it, and I will not have it." They cannot
bear the ridicule which such a declaration would
subject them to. They are ashamed to have it
thought that they cannot afford to have what rich
and fashionable people have; and yet they cannot,
and it is a lie for them to pretend that they can.
You drink because great men around you drink.
The head of that firm up there drinks, and so you
poverty-stricken clerk down there drink.  And
you are going to drink what fashionable people
do-you, that have not a rag of fashion, an(l willy
not have for years to come. And you will do it
knowing that it is beyond your means, that it is
contrary to good health, and inconsistent with
manliness. For miserable, unmanly reasons of
pride and vanity, you drink. You do not dare,
going out at one o'clock at night, with half a
dozen young fellows that have "the flesh of
25 
26     Common Sense for Souing lren
health" on their faces, when they ask you to step
in and take some "bitters " with them, to refuse.
You do not dare to meet their taunts and gibes,
You do not dare, when you hesitate and draw
back, and they say, " Wrhat! afraid? You are probably one of the virtuous young men that came from
the country," to say, "Yes, I am; and I intend to remain so a good while." How many men are there
that, in a matter vital to their virtue, vital to their
good habits, and vital to their manliness, flinch,
and go down before their companions, and drink
what they do not like, and what they know is
damaging to them, putting everything in peril, because they have not the manliness to say " No "!
You go to a wedding, and the fair hands of the
entertaining company present the cup to you; and
you say, "Of course, I must drink here."  Oh!
that it were only just here; but there are so many
just heres! Soon after comes the convivial entertainment; and the same hands again present you
with the cup; and you drink again. Temptations
follow at frequent intervals, and on each succeeding occasion you yield more easily than at the
previous one.  It does not make you a drunkard,
but it weakens your power of standing on your
conscience and manly independence, and saying,
"Such things I disallow, and will not do."  It is
the beginning of that inclined plane down which
you are preparing to slide. It is one of those ways
which are pleasant, and which seem to be safe, but
the ends of which are death. To stand in the
blooming presence of beauty, and to be smiled 
on the Subject of Temzfperance.
upon, especially if the persons that smile upon
you are a little higher in society than you are,
they standing on five thousand, while you stand
onI five hundred, is very flattering to your vanity.
And if, having invited you, they offer you wine,
and say, "You certainly will take it from me," you
cannot refuse. You think,"  If I am admitted into
that family, my prospects will be bright; my for tune will be made."
What a casuist the devil is when he wants to get
people in his power! How delicate he is! How
he makes the road to sin smooth and delightful!
So, under such beguiling influences, young men
take the cup, and drink, and drink again, and drink
many times. And many, under such circumstan ces, are ashamed of themselves; they rebuke
themselves; they go home with an unquiet con science; they feel humbled; and yet, they repeat
the same round of dissipation again and again.
And I put it to any man who has any self-respect,
whether he ought to be cajoled or dragooned into
using what he does not like, what does not
like him, what exposes him to all possible perils,
what is unfitted to his circumstances, and what is
subversive of all his thoughts of manhood?
I am ashamed of a young man who cannot
resist the temptation to drink; or, rather, I am
sorry for him. I think very likely that I should
feel embarrassed, and blush, and submit, as you
do. But it is no less a peril; and I warn every
young man not to allow the customs of society
to seduce him from a sober and matured pur
27 
28   CComm;on Sense for Young Men
pose, to stand utterly clean and clear of this mischief.
3. This is the great social battle of the age which
we are fighting between the flesh and the spiritbetween the animal and the man. We are living
in a time when nothing can save us but moral
principle in the individual. Our government is
an equal government, as such.   We have cast in
our destiny on this great principle of popular
government, and we must go up with it, or go
down with it. It is for us to maintain our institutions, if they are maintained at all; and unless
we can teach individuals and the masses selfrespect and self-control, we are utterly ruined. It
is a mere matter of time. There is no salvation for
institutions like ours except in the principle of
self-control. And there is no single evil, social or
political, that strikes more at the foundation of
such institutions than the drinking habits of society.
If you corrupt the working-class by drink; if you
corrupt the great middle-class by drink; if you
corrupt the literary and wealthy classes by drink,
you have destroyed the commonwealth beyond
your power to save it. And we are making battle
for the preservation of this moral principle.  It
is the great patriotic movement of the day.
Therefore, we must have clear heads; we must
have right consciences; we must have all the manhlood that is in men, or that can educate them to
it. The good that is in society will not be a match
for the evil that is continually pulling it down.
Now, young men, which side are you to take in 
on 1/e SutbjecI of Temperance.
this gi eat struggle?   Will you go for license?
\Vill y-,u go for passion? Will you go for corruption? (':- will you range yourselves on the side of
those who are attempting to lift men up toward
spirituality; toward true reason; toward noble
self-control? You can afford to go but one way.
Every young man who has one impulse of heroism, one generous tendency in him, ought in the
beginning to take his ground beyond all controversy, and say, "I work for those who work for
the good and beautiful and true."
4. You have no right to allow your example to
seduce the weak. I have spoken of the effects of
drinking habits on yourselves.   Now comes an
auxiliary consideration. Even if you are not yourselves personally injured by drinking, your exam)le injures others.
I am aware that men oftentimes revolt from the
application of this thought in regard to example,
sayiing, "M an is independent.  I am not bound to
conform to the vulgar opinions of ignorant men.
I am not bound to take the pattern of my development from the undeveloped and uneducated below
me.  They must come to me.  I shall not go to
them."
A man has a right to shock public opinion
whenever  he  is endeavoring  to  bring in  a
hilgher morality; whenever there is a greater
degree of refinement after which he is seeking;
whenever custom is to be set aside, and a iew
and better state of things instituted. He is a
moral coward who fears to do it under such ci.
29 
30    Cnrmnon Sense for Youing Afett
cumstances. But you have no right to be content
with simple conformity to custom, and to be indifferent to the effect of your example on those beneath you. There are many persons who are apt
to consider themselves exempt from this duty of
taking care that their example shall not be a
stumbling-block, but a safe guide, to others.
Those who are influential by reason of wealth, or
position, or culture, are wont to throw off the
responsibility of their example;  but none mrnore
than they should watch their example with a coInscientious regard for any who may be affected by
it. In proportion as God has made you strong,
either in your mental attainments or in your outward circumstances, he lays on you the responsibility of the example which you set for those who
are not so fortunate as you are.
A man cannot help being influenced by the example of those who occupy elevated positions in
society. A man will inevitably be affected by the
example of those who are high in station. If a
man is rich, and lives in splendor, his example
will surely influence those by whom he is surrounded.   And it is the duty of all that are
endowed with the power of benefiting or injuring
others by their example, to see that that example
is beneficial, and not injurious.  Those who are at
the top of society are largely responsible for the
ideas of those who are at the bottom. And if God
has advanced you among men, it is not to give
you more license, but to make  you more careful
of your example before others.   No man has a 
on Ifie Subec.c of Temierance.
right to let his example work mischief upon thlosc
in the mic?st' of whotn he moves. And the unfeeling indifference of men (and more, perhaps, in this
matter of drinking than in any other) as to the
welfare of their neighbors, shows that their hearts
have become seared by prosperity, and degraded
by the things which should, in the providence of
God, have made them more tender and considerate.
5. No man has a right to be neutral in the great
work of temperance, in this age, and in this country. Every man, from considerations of personal
safety, from moral considerations, from considerations of his relations to his fellow-men in social
life, and from considerations of patriotism or of
state, ought to take sides in this matter, and let
his position be  known of all men.  It is too
notorious to require any proof, that, to a very
great extent, especially in the cities, our legislation begins in the grog-shop. Tile seed of judges
is planted there. Our administrations spring out
of the ooze and mud of drinking holes. Our na
tional councils are begun there. The machinery
of government is arranged there.  There is no
part of the community so active as that which lives
in the indulgence of the animal appetites; and
there is no part of the community which
should be watched over with such sleepless vigilance by those who, by sound morality and superior
judgment, are fitted to wisely administer the
affairs of the nation.   And the time has come
wheni all good men, who have so long staid at
3 1 
32     Commont Sense for Young Iklen
home, and left the management of political affai.rs,
in the hands of dissipated and unscihpulous meri.
should come together, and take the side of purity
and temperance.   WVe must produce a radical
change in the public sentiment of the country on
this vital question, or we shall be destroyed by
the overwhelming deluge of the drinking habits
of society.
Now, I have purposely avoided exaggerations
in the discussion of this subject to-night. I have
avoided the presentation of extravagant views. 1
have attempted to address myself to your reason.
And, in closing, I desire to ask you two questions:
First: Have I not presented considerations
sufficient to make it every man's duty to think
about this subject?  If you have indulged yNcrself hitherto thoughtlessly and carelessly in drinking nabits, is it not your duty Lto consider seriously
whether it is not best for you to become a total
abstainer from everything that is intoxicating? If
your example in this matter has been such as to
lead others into temptation, ought you not to consider the propriety of reviewing your course, and
so rectifying it that it shall be a blessing, and not
a curse, to your fellow-men?
The second question which I desire to ask, is,
whether it is not your duty to decide this question on strictly moral grounds? I do not say to
men, "You  shall never drink wine or ardent
spirits."  I say to them," Ought you not to make
a decision on this subject?   And ought you not
to r,.ake that decision on mnorai grounds? ls not 
on Ilie Subject of Temzpcra'ice.
this a matter that you ought to consider, not only
in the light of your own personal welfare, but also
in the light of your relations to individuals with
whom you come in contact, to the community in
which you live, and to the nation to which you
belong?"
I can well understand how a man may, on his
death-bed, look back upon his career in life, and
say, "I am sorry that I ever touched the cup;"
but I cannot understand how any man can, on his
death-bed, look back and say, " I am sorry that I
have always been abstemious of the cup."  There
is one way that you know is safe, and honorable,
and proper as regards others; but the other way,
even if it is possible for it to be safe, is one in
which there are a hundred chances to one that,
directly or indirectly, it will be mischievous-if
not to you, to others.
Can you form a decision on such a subject as
this, and not take into consideration these great
verities?  And are you that are safe justified in
taking the first steps in a course which is so full of
peril?  How much wiser and better it will be for
'Iou, whose lips are still clean, to go through life
with them undefiled! Do this, and you will have
reason all through your life to thank God that in
your early days you were induced to take a stand of
strict, invariable temperance. Temperance will do
you no harm. In a thousand ways, it will do you
good. Even occasional drinking will do you no
good; and entire abstinence from drinking will
do you no harm.
33 
3,     Comzmzon Sen)se for Youztg,fen.
Tare the right side; the manly side; the patri
otic side. God help you and keep you. And
by-and-by, may there conie from the lips of many
a man who hears me to-night this testimony:
"I thank  God  that  I heard  that sermon  by
MAr. Beecher on that Sunday night.  It saved me.
It made me live a bettier life all the waythrough." 
THE MORAL DUTY
OF
TOTAL ABSTINENCE.
"Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging: and whosoever is deceived
hereby is not wise."-PROVERBS xx. I.
I PROPOSE to discuss the very important
question, What is the duty of every Christian in reference to the use of intoxicating drinks?
No question is, at the present moment, agitating
more minds than this one.   None has a better
rilght to enter the pulpit on the Sabbath; to no
other moral question can a minister of Jesus
Christ be more imperatively required to return
a candid, careful, and most unmistakable answer.
In every domain of practical Christian morals, the
pulpit ought to make the path of duty so clear
that " the wayfaring men, though fools, shall not
err therein." A minister should carry no darklanterns.
During the past week, I have found my mind
disturbed afresh, and deeply, too, by the state of
thiings around us.  To the outward eye, the business and the social life of this city have gone on as
aforetimes.  But the eye of God, looking into the
interior moral life of this community, has seen 
36       God's Law owt lie Body anzd
strange and sorrowvful things.  He has seen struggles with terrible temptation that you have little
dreamed of.  He has seen several thousands of
people strongly tempted to do that which inclination or custom prompted them to do, and yet the
very doing of it might be fatal to the body and
damning to the soul. He has seen some young
man stretching forth his hand, with anxious misgiving, for his first glass of strong drink; and
some aged hands reached out to clutch the glass,
which should be almost their last.  He has beheld
thousands of our neighbors entering the door of
the drinking-saloon without even heeding that
awful inscription written over that door by the
hand of Truth-" Whosoever is deceived here, is
not wise.  Here rich men are made poor; thrifty
men are made idle; healthy men are poisoned
with deadly disease; parents are made childless;
wives are made widows; and immortal soughs, for
whom  Jesus bled, are  dooming  themselves to
the outer darkness of eternal despair!" The Omniscient eye has seen some parents setting the
sparkling cup (which "biteth like a serpent")
right before their own children; and even churchmembers have orffered that ensnaring cup at their
hospitable boards to guests, who have been confirmed in dangerous halbits by the example of professed Christians! The eye of God has seen the
woes, and the ear of God has heard the wails, of
the drunkard's home. Beneath all this smnoothl
surface of society, God has witnessed the most
terrible passions of lust, sensuality, anger, cruelty, 
His Lawd  is ile Book.
and often of red-handed murder-all fomented
and kept in hot fury by the monster curse of the
intoxicating bowl. And now, up from this seething
caldron of misery and sin, marclhes the question
to-day to every Christian conscience, "VWhat is
my ditty in regard to using or offering these deceitful and destructive drinks?" Surely our Allwise and IHeavenly Father has not left us in the
dark on so momentous a question of Christian
duty. If our Father has made known to us his
will in regard to alcoholic intoxicants, where
shall we discover it?
I reply that we shall discover it in two clearly
legible laws: the one is the law written on our
bodiy coizstizutioizs; the other is the law written
in this blessed book, the Bible.  God is the author of both the body and the book. WVhat
he has wvritteni on the one never contradicts what
he has written in the other.  Truths never conflict. An established truth of science never contradicts an established truth of revelation. And
when any man or any minister attempts to prove
that the WVord of God justifies and encourages the
use of intoxicating beverages, he puts a fatal weapon into the hands of the infidel. For the shrewd
sceptic quickly retorts, "I know that alcoholic
stimulants are deadly poisons to the human body
and mind; if, therefore, your Bible justifies and
encourages their habitual use, then your Bible
must be false. I prefer to stick to what I know,
rather than believe what you make your Bible to
say." So reasons the cunning sceptic. But you
37 
3s         Goi's Law oiz Mle Body a;zd
may be sure, good friends! that I am not going
to put such a logical bludgeon into the hands of
the infidel; neither shall I put into the mouth of
the Christian any excuse for violating God's law,
whether written on the human body or in the
heaven-sent book.  Our bodies, so "wonderfully
made," were created to be temples of the Holy
Spirit, and not to be dens of debauchery. We are
commanded to "glorify God in the body," and
every Christian is bound to pray that his "spirit
and soul and body be preserved blameless unto
the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ."
I. Now  let us enquire what law in regard to
the use of alcoholic intoxicants, God has written
on our bodies?
To this question, both science and universal
human experience give answer in a voice as distinct as the thunder of Niagara.   Science has
made long and patient investigation of the statutes which the Creator has written on the human
organism, and has established the fact that alcoholic intoxicants are a poison. Science holds her
inquest over the bloated, disfigured body of the
man who is drunk, and brings  in her verdict,
This man is poisoned!" Alcohol poisons the
blood in every vein. It assaults the very throne
of our manhood and poisons the brain.  It produces such a subtle derangement of the very texture of the brain, that the drinker is tormented by
recurrences of thirst for strong drink long after he
has broken off the indulgence. There is not a reformed inebriate who does not carry in his braiin 
His ~aw i;, Jic Book.
a powder-niagazine ready to ignite at the touch
of one drop of strong drink. Alcohol is one of
the most malignant of all poisons, for by its horrid
sorcery it strikes through, and poisons the imrnmor tal soul! Yet, like other narcotic poisons, alcohol
has the magical power to deceive its victim by
making him absolutely believe that it is doing him
no harm! The "father of lies" never made such
a liar as alcohol.   Even if we never had any
Bible, science would inscribe on the forehead of
every habitual drinker of intoxicants, " VVine is
a mocker, strong drink is raging: whosoever is
deceived thereby is not w.ise."
2. Science has a second testimony to furnish.
She declares incontestably that alcohol is not a
"good creature" of the God of love; for it is nowhere to be found in the whole domain of nature.
WVhile the Almighty has created innumerable
fountains of sparkling water, he never created one
gill of alcohol! It is the simple product of the
fermenting vat and the distillery. It is born of
vegetable decay. God made the golden corn to
nourish and sustain his mighty family; but distillation throws the golden grain into a vat of rottenness, and presses out of the rotting mass the
fiery juice of alcohol. God hung the purple clusters on the vine to gladden the human eye and
the palate; but fermentation turns the pure blood
of the grape into a maddening intoxicant.  Even
if we never had an inspired Bible, yet science
would have written on the rosy-huLed decanter,
"Look not on the wine when it is beautifully
39 
God's Law ozn the Body and
red, when it sparkleth in the cup, when it goeth
down smoothly; for at the last it will bite like the
serpent, and sting like the adder."
3. But science and human experience hlave a
third testimony to offer, and it is the most convincing of all.  They reveal to us that God has wvritten on every human body a law of abstinence from
intoxicating beverages, by decreeing that alcohol
shall lessen the muscular power, and diminish the
animal heat, and derange the digestive organs of
the human body.  All these laws are as immovably true as the law of gravitation. Alcohol is
not food. It positively interferes with alimentation. Alcohol, instead of helping digestion, tends
to destroy the digestive organs. Yet thousands
of deluded people are swallowing doses of gin and
-whiskey and wines every day, under the ignorant
infatuation that these draughts will aid them to
digest'their dinners.  MIen will even cling to this
delusive lie long after their stomachs have been
burnt out by their fiery potations.
If alcoholic drinks do not feed or warm or aid
the digestive fuLnctions of our bodies, then "surely," says the drinker, " they wvill strengthen me."
No, sir! your "mocker" is lying to you again.
Intoxicating drinks actually lessen your muscular
power.  They waste your vital forces.  And they
waste them to such a damaging extent, that no
sane life insurance company will take a risk on
your lives if you are habitually addicted to the use
of alcoholic drinks.  \When the most famous of
modern pLugilists was asked if he did not use plenty
4.0 
His Law in thge Book.
of ale and porter while in training for his brutal
prize-fights, he replied, "When I have business on
hand, there is nothing like cold water and the
dumb-bells." The shameless bully cared nothing
for God's law written in the Bible; but he knew
too much about God's law written on his body to
weaken his giant strength by using alcoholic poisons.  I was once told by the most famous American pedestrian, that nothing was so fatal to his
success when engaged in a great feat of walking, as
even the moderate use of wine or of whiskey.
Science and human experience do not halt at
these two individual examples.   They point us
to the whole mighty and innumerable array of
noble feats of the hand, and feats of the muscle,
and feats of the brain, and feats of the giant intellect, which have been wrought by men who were
clean from the taint or touch of alcohol, and they
defy you to match those feats by any performances of bodies or of brains which were poisoned by
strong drink.  Science and experience point to
the fact that every healthy human frame instinctively recognizes alcohol as its enemy, and tries to
expel it. Science and experience testify that alcohol does not feed a human body, but impoverishes it; instead of warming the body, it first
scorches, and then leaves it to freeze; instead of
building it up, it tears it down; instead of prolonging life, it breeds a legion of diseases; and,
with the smile of pleasure on its face, it wields the
red dagger of the assassin! Science and experience invoke before us to-day the millions of human
41 
42      God';s Law on the Body and
forms that are scarred, and defaced, and disfigured,
and diseased by strong drink; and summoning from
their putrid graves the myriads upon myriads who
for forty centuries have been murdered by strong
drink, they propose to them the question, "What
is God's law written upon your bodies?" And
from the whole mighty multitude of living bodies
and of the dead, comes back a voice loud as the
seven thunders of the Apocalypse-TOTAL ABSTINENCE! TOTAL  ABSTINENCE!!
II. We have been reading the law of the Creator written on the human body; now let us read
and interpret the law written in this inspired book.
\What saith the Lord?  In approaching the Word
of God to receive its testimony, we must come to
it in the spirit of devout candor, and with no disposition to seize upon certain isolated texts, and
twist them into hooks to hang our pet theories on.
We must study each passage in the light of the
whole book. We must look fairly at the general
aim and scope and spirit of the entire volume.
What is the general aim and spirit of God's glorious \Vord?  No one will dare to deny that the
aim of this book is to elevate man, and not to degrade him; to purify him, and not to poison him;
to keep his soul and body undefiled, and not to
make either body or soul a den of uncleanness.
The whole trend of the Bible is towards sobriety and self-control. It enjoins watchfulness and
"keeping the body under," and crucifixion of all
sensual lusts. It commands us to be holy even as
God himself is holy. No virtue was more persis 
His Law in tile Book.
tently preached by our Divine Redeemer and his
apostles, than the beautiful virtue of self-denial.
No sin is more condemned than the sin of self-in  dulgence. Our Father sent this blessed book to
lead his'frail, sinful children up toward heaven,
and not to mislead them towards drunkenness and
damnation. I therefore assert, without fear of suc cessful contradiction, that from the first syllable
in Genesis to the last love-note of Revelation, the
whole spirit of God's WVord is in favor of entire
abstinence from every practice which tends to de grade and destroy the human body or soul!  The
divine law in the book confirms the divine law
on the body.   All attempts to dragoon the Scrip tures into a support of the modern drinking cus toms-like all similar attempts to dragoon them
into a support of modern slavery-only end in
making scoffers and sceptics.
Our opponents wvill say that this is dealing too
much in generalities. They demand an examination of particular texts. Their demand shall be
gratified.  We have no fear of the result.  "Let
tr:uth and error grapple; vlwho ever knew truth to
be worsted in a fair encounter?"
\We affirm that the holy \WVord of God enjoins
the duty of abstinence from alcoholic intoxicants.
Before this assembly, as before a court, we shall
summon  witnesses from the inspired record to
prove this declaration. First of all, we summon
the ancient patriarch Noah, who "planted a vineyard, and drank of the wine, and was drunken!"
As we gaze upon the poor old man lying in his
43 
4-4    God's Law on ithe Body and
debauch, we discover plainly that the grace of
God never will protect even a good man from the
consequences of sin, while he is breaking God's
law written on the body.  Had Noah been a "teetotaler," he never would have been drunk. The
very "preacher of righteousness" who  could
withstand a world of scoffing idolaters could not
withstand the wine-cup. What member of Christ's
church will dare to tamper with a tempter which
laid even Noah on his back?
I next summon Moses, the man of God, who
has recorded Jehovah's solemn prohibition of the
priesthood from touching wine when engaged in
their sacred duties: "Do  not drink wine nor
strong drink, thou nor thy sons with thee, when
ye go into the tabernacle of the congregation, lest
ye die." Even that one passage, in the fourteenth
chapter of Deuteronomy, which is often claimed
as a warrant for tippling, I am not willing to
surrender.   In that passage, MIoses records this
permission of God to his people on festal occasions,
"Thou shalt bestow that money for oxen, for
sheep, for wine or strong drink, or for whatsoever
thy soul desireth, and thou shalt eat there before the
Lord thy God."  This word "strong drink" has a
very ominous sound; but it is the incorrect translation of the Hebrew word sliakar, which signifies a
sweet drink expressed from fruits, and often drank
in an unfermented state. It is the root of our Englislh word siugar. This passage gives no warrant for
the use of alcoholic poisons, even on the most in.
nocent occasions of festivity. 
His Law iz tie Book.
Here let me remind you, once for all, tnat the
V.)rd of God speaks sometimes of certain drinks
as a " blessing," as innocent in themselves, and
as a symbol  of spiritual blessings.   In other
passages, God's book condemns certain drinks
as dangerous and deadly. Most unfortunately
and ignorantly, our English translators of the
Bible often translated both the innocent and
the hurtful beverages under the common
name of " wine" and of " strong drink."   That
acute and profound scholar, Professor Moses Stuart, of Andover, has wisely said, "My final
conclusion is, that wherever the Scriptures speak
of wine as a comfort, a blessing, or a libation to
God, they can mean only such drinks as contained
no alcohol; but in those passages in which they
denounce wine and prohibit it and connect it with
drunkenness, they can mean only the alcoholic intoxicant." Facts show that the ancients not only
preserved wine unfermented, but regarded it as
of a higher flavor than the fermented wine.  This
unfermented wine, or blood of the grape, could
be used without any inebriation whatever. Wlhy,
then, shall we not take the sound and safe position
that only the harmless and innocent beverages are
commended in the Bible, and that it is the alcoholic intoxicant which is there denounced and prohibited?
My next witness is Samson, the stalwart deliverer of Israel; the " muscular Christian," for whom,
when he was' sore athirst," God wrought a miracle to give him drink. And that drink was not
45 
God's Law on /ie Body and
wine or whiskey, but pure cold water. As this
man of giant strength comes on the witness-stand
before us, he testifies that he never touched wine
or strong drink, nor even ate of anything that
cometh of the vine! Nor did his mother do so
before him. He thus escaped the danger of an
hereditary appetite for strong drink, which is the
fatal secret of the drunkenness of thousands.  Fathers! mothers! if you would have sober and healthful children, keep the virus of this accursed appetite out of your blood!
Now, what saith the wise man?  Let us call up
Solomon, to whom God gave an understanding
heart, so that there was none like unto him.  I
will read for you his testimony in close and literal
translation from the original Hebrew.  Hear his
inspired words! "\Who hath woe? WVho hath
sorrow?  Who hath strifes?  WVho hath wounds
without cause? Who hath blurred eyes? Those
who tarry long over the wine; those who enter in
to try mixed drink3. Look not on the wine when
it shows itself ruddy, when it sparkleth in the cup,
when it goeth down smoothly. For at the last it
will bite like a serpent, and sting like a viper." Is
there any one in this house who can possibly theist
this passage into an apology for "moderate drink.
ing"? Then you might as well say that Solomon
believed in a moderate playing with snakes, or in
being moderately stung by a nest of adders.
I might summon before you the prophet Hosea,
with his solemn declaration, "Whoredom and wine
and new wine, take away the heart."  And sublime
46 
His Law is lie Book.
Habakkuk, too, with that terrific word of warning
to every one of us, " Woe unto him that givethl
his neighbor drink, that puttest thy bottle to him!"
I wish that this thrilling passage of God's WVord
coild be posted, not only over every dramshop
door, but also over every table on which false hos pitality ever places a decanter.
IManly other Bible witnesses, too, I might sum mon. But let us make room for Paul, the heroic,
self-denying apostle, who strove to "keep his body
under," and who exhorts us all to present to God
even our bodies as a "living offering."  He it is
who was inspired to utter that fearful announcement, "Nor drunkards shall inherit the kingdom of
God."  We may reasonably expect, therefore, that
he will give his fellow-men no excuse for tampering with that which leads to drunkenness.  We
are not disappointed. Paul is most emphatic in
his counsels to entire abstinence. In his first letter to the Thessalonians, he says: "Let us watch
and drinzk Z0ot." This is the honest reading of the
Greek word, which our translators have rendered
"sober."  In describing the qualifications for a
Christian minister, Paul says: " A bishop [i. c., an
overseer of souls] must be abstemious, sober-minded, not sitting by the 7wise! "  I translate this vitally important verse thus by the authority of the
late Dr. Edward Robinson and other profound
scholars. I could not ask for a stronger command
to total abstinence on the part of every Christian
minister.
So rigid was Paul in his-total abstinence princi
47 
God's Law oln lie Body and
pies that, when he writes to his abstaining brother
Timothy, he does not recommend him to use wine
as a beverage.  He carefully says, "Do not drink
any longer water only, but use a little wine for thy
stomach's sake."  HIe prescribes "wine" only as
a medicine, and but "little" at that.  (WVill some
one here please to prove to me that even that little
wVine was an intoxicating drink?)  But lest Paul's
position could be possibly misunderstood, he has
left to us that memorable utterance so redolent of
Gospel philanthropy: "It is good not to eat
flesh [i. e., meat offered to idols], nor drink
wine, nor anything whereby thy brother stumbleth." It is claimed that this passage enjoins
total abstinence on the ground of "expediency."
Well, you may use this word if you choose, but I
maintain that it is an expediency that has the tremendous grip of a moral duty. For if my obligation
to do anything which is required to save a fellowvcreature from ruin be not a duty, I should like to
know where, under the broad heavens, there is a
duty?  My Bible teaches me that a pernicious
example is a sin against the law of love for my
neighbor.
We have now briefly examined the testimonies
of the chief Bible witnesses on the great question
before us. Are there any witnesses to be summoned on the other side? We wait for any to
appear.  But stop!  Here comes an expounder
of God's Word who brings forwvard the example
of his ineffable Lord and Saviour, and asserts that
Jesus Christ actually manufactured, by miracle, a
48 
His Law izn the Book.
large quantity of alcoholic intoxicants to be drunk
at a wedding-feast!
If we had not heard this portentous assertion
made ten thousand times already, we should be
horrified. But let us look it squarely in the face.
Our opponents will admit that our divine Lord
"knew what was in man."  He certainly knew
also the nature of an alcoholic drink, its temptations, its woes, and its viper-sting.  He certainly
could have created a perfectly innocent unintoxicating wine, similar to the pure blood of the grape.
In view of this perfect knowledge and sovereign
power of our loving Lord, we defy any man to
prove that he actually created and gave to his own
children a draught of alcoholic poison. If the Son
of God then and there created alcohol, then was it
the first time and the only time in human history
when divine power ever made what nowhere else
exists in nature!
" Thou hast kept the good wine until now," said
the governor of the feast. when he tasted of the
beverage which Jesus had made. Was that wine
"good" which ministered to drunkenness? WVas
that wine "good" which contained beneath its
ruby sparkle the fang of the viper and the sting of
the adder?  What were considered the best wines
in Palestine?
A pertinent answer to this last question is given
by the late Moderator of our Presbyterian General Assembly, who declares, in his learned comment on this passage, "All who know of the
wines then used well understand the unfermented
49 
God's Lazw on thze Body and
juice of the grape. The present wines of Jerusalem
and Lebanon, as we tasted them, were without intoxicating qualities such as we get here in liquors
called wines. Those were esteemed the best which
were least strong." IHe is firm in his judgment
that the wine at Cana was not alcoholic.
This satisfactory opinion of the learned Profes
sor Jacobus is also maintained by such eminent
scholars as Professor Moses Stuart, the lamented
Albert Barnes, Professor Owen, President Nott,
Dr. Lees, and scores of careful students of the inspired Word. Our divine Lord never made an
alcoholic intoxicant! To this firm conviction I
have always stood, and shall stand until I meet
him on his throne in the day of his glorious appearing.  It is even a profanation to couple his
holy name with the fiery potations of our times.
I trust you have not been wearied by this brief
review of the teachings of God's inspired book.
Those teachings may be summed up in four distinct affirmations. Observe each one of them
carefully:
I. The Bible, in various passages, points out
the evils and the perils of intoxicating drinks. It
never pronounces a blessing on an intoxicant, and
often warns men against its use. Several passages
forbid such use.
2. The Bible, in several passages, approves and
commends abstinence from intoxicating beverages.
There is not a single verse in this boo(k which
condemns total abstinence.
3. The whole spirit of the Word of God teaches
50 
His Law in ilze Book.
self-control and self-denial, both for our own sakes
and for the good of our fellow-men. The only
passage in which the word "moderation" occurs
has no reference whatever to "moderate drink ing."
4. Lastly and chiefly, I find that God's LAW
against intoxicants written on the human BODY is
not contradicted by his LAW written in this
blessed BOOK. Each one sustains and confirms
the other.
Here I might rest this argument. I trust that
it has been made clear to you that total abstinence
from these deceptive and deadly intoxicants is safe
and sound and Scriptural.  But, before closing,
let me speak frankly, though briefly, in protest
against certain views advocated by beloved brethren from whom it pains me to differ.
It has been asserted that the use of intoxicating
beverages is in itself neither morally wrong nor
morally right, but is a "matter of indifference."
A man may drink alcoholic liquors without doing
any wrong, or hle may let them alone without any
virtue in the act of refraining. The question of
drinking or not drinking, often involves no more
guilt or goodness than the question of getting up
before sunrise or after sunrise in the morning!
Brethren, I solemnly protest that a question
which practically involves the salvation or the
damnation of millions is not to be "whistled down
the wind" in this summary fashion. I ask you,
is it an indifferent matter whether you violate
God's law against intoxicants written on your
5I 
God's Law on the Body and
bodily constitutions? Is it a matter of indifference
to go against the whole tenor of God's \Vord? Is
it a matter of indifference to partake of that which
doth bite like a serpent and sting like an adder?
Is it a matter of indifference for you, fellowChristians, to give your sanction and examiple
in favor of those drinking-customs which are
cursing society and crowding hell with their victims? The proposition that the drinking of a
glass of alcoholic intoxicant involves no moral
right or moral wrong, strikes directly at God's
law written on our bodies, and the law of selfdenial written in his book. There is not a grogseller in Brooklyn who would ask to have his
dramshop-door set open wider than that proposition!
Again, it is often said that as the use of
alcoholic beverages is intrinsically a matter of
"indifference," it may be left to every man's conscience to decide.   Individual conscience then
becomes the arbiter. In reply to this postulate,
I affirm that it is as much the duty of every man
to regulate his conscience by the teachings of
God on our bodies and in his book, as it is to regulate his watch by the movements of the sun.
But suppose that a man's conscience allows him
to use habitually the deceitful glass, will a conviction of conscience save him from the consequences
of his acts?
Sixty years ago, there was an eminent clergy
man in New Jersey who used wine in order to
arouse his nervous sensibilities while in the pul
52 
His Law iii tie Book.
pit He conscientiously believed that he could
pre,,,h more eloquently and impressively while
under the influence of alcoholic stimulant  But
he soon found that he must increase the amount
of his dram in order to quicken his jaded powers,
and, before he was  aware, he had fallen into
drunkenness and public disgrace! He afterwards
repented in dust and ashes, and was restored to
his ministerial office as a total abstainer. Now,
this Christian minister followed the guidance of
his deluded conscience until it threw him
squarely against a divine law as immutable as
the law of gravitation. And this may be the
wretched fate of any man who does not enlighten
his moral sense by the clear teachings of God
and of human experience. WVoe unto them that
call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness
for light, and light for darkness! "There is a
way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end
thereof are the ways of death."
A third proposition is laid down by those who
hold to the "liberty" of using intoxicating beverages, which reads thus: "I may use wine in moderate measure, but if I should at length find the
appetite for it uncontrollable, I would never toucli
it again." We would smile at the verdant simplicity of this idea if it were not too sadly serious
for laughter. Mlillions of drunkards now in perdition have lulled themselves at first with this delusion until they found it as deceptive as the liquors which they drank.   When the appetite
becomes "uncontrollable," it is too late. Witlh
53 
54      God's Law on tIle Body and
millions of inebriates, the awful appetite becomes
their master before they suspect it.  For "wine is
a mocker." WVhoso tampers with it must and
will be "deceived thereby."  This seductive and
blinding quality inheres in the very nature of
alcoholic stimulants.  And upon this serpent-quality of strong drink we base a moral duty to let
the adders' nest alone. No man has a moral right
to thrust his finger into the cockatrice's den.
Finally, it has been affirmed that this beneficent
total abstinence reform-which has been so nobly
defended by the Lyman Beechers and the Albert
Barneses among the dead, and by the John Halls
and the Newman Halls among the living-has no
other basis to rest on than the principle of "expediency."   Let me here say that I rejoice to
welcome to our ranks all good men and
women who forswear the intoxicating cup because they believe it expedient to do so.  But
for one, I practise total abstinence not only because it is expedient, but because it is right.
The longer I live, the more suspicious I grow as
to the use of that word "expediency."   It is
rather too elastic.  It often lacks "bottom" and
backbone. As a principle of moral obligation, it
will not always " hold water."  Nay; I have even
known it to be made to hold several gallons of
exceedingly bad liquor.   I have caught it tippling slyly behind the door. I have seen it
tripping up even some good men's heels, when a
strong conviction of moral right would have held
them as firm as the everlasting hills. 
H's Lzaw iot ile Book.
To-day I advocate a total abstinence fronr ilcoholic poisons as a duty towards our God,, duty
to ourselves, and a duty to our tempted and suffering fellow-creatures. If the use of intoxicating
beverages is forbidden by the law of God written
on our bodies, and also by several direct prohibitions in God's Word; if such use is opposed to
the well-being of man and to the glory of Jehovah, then is it our duty to let them alone.
I therefore set before you the clear, straight path
of total abstinence from all intoxicants. It is the
safe path. It is the true path. It has led thousanids to that cross of Jesus Christ which is the
entrance to everlasting life and heaven's unfading
glories.  It is a path which has no ambushes, or
pitfalls for the unwary footstep.
This is the way, stalk ye in it! And remember
that no man was ever yet lost in a straight road!
55  
THE EVIL BEAST.
"IT is my son's coat; an evil beast hath devoured him."-GEN. xxxvii. 33.
OSEPH'S brethren dipped their brother's coat
in goat's blood, and then brought the dabbled
garment to their father, cheating him with the
idea that a ferocious animal had slain him, and
thus hiding their infamous behavior.
But there is no deception about that which we
hold up to your observation to-night. A monster
such as never ranged Afi-ican thicket or Hindo stan jungle hlath tracked this land, and with bloody
maw hath strewn the continent with the mangled
carcasses of whole generations; and thereare tens
of thousands of fathers and mothers who could
hold up the garment of their slain boy, truthfully
exclaiming, "It is my son's coat; an evil beast
hath devoured him."
There has, in all ages and climes, been a tendency to the improper use of stimulants.  Noah;
as if disgusted with the prevalence of wvater in his
time, took to strong drink. By this vice, Alexander the Conqueror was conquered.  The Romans
at their feasts fell off their seats with intoxication.
Four hundred millions of our race are opium-eaters.  India, Turkey, and China have groaned with
the desolation; and by it have been quenched
..  
Tze E ~vil Beast.
such lights as Halley and De Quincey.  One hundred millions are the victims of the betel-nut,
which has specially blasted the East Indies. Three
hundred millions chew hashish, and Persia, Brazil2
and Africa suffer the delirium. The Tartars employ murowa; the Mexicans, the agave; the people at Guarapo, an intoxicating quality taken from
sugar-cane; while a great multitude, that no man
can number, are the disciples of alcohol. To it
they bow.  Under it they are trampled.  In its
trenches they fall. On its ghastly holocaust they
btlrn.
Could the muster roll of this great army be
called, and they could come tip firom the dead,
vwhat eye could endure the  reeking, festering
putrefaction and beastliness?  \Vhat heart could
endure the groan of agony?
Drunkenness:  Does it not jingle the burglar's
key? Does it not whet the assassin's knife? Does
it not cock the highwayman's pistol? Does it not
wave the incendiary's torch?  Has it not sent the
physician reeling into the sick-room; and  the
minister with his tongue thick into the pulpit?
Did not all exquisite poet, from the very top of
his fame, fall a gibbering sot, into the gutter,' on
his way to be married to one of the fairest daughters of New England, and at the very honr the
bride was decking herself for the altar; and did
he not die of delirium tremens, almost unattended, in a hospital?
Tamerlane asked for one hundred and sixty
thousand skulls with wh-ich to build a pyramid to
58 
The Ef vi']B3e7st.
l)is own honor.  IHe got the skulls, and built the
pyramid.  But if the bones of all those who have
fhllen as a prey to dissipation could be piled up, it
Nwould make a vaster pyramid.
\Who will gird himself for the journey, and try
vith me to scale this mountain of the dead-going up miles high on human carcasses to find still
other peaks far above, mountain above  mouLntain, white with the bleached bones of drunkards?
I will begin at our National and State capitals.
Like government, like people.   Henry  VIII.
blasted all England with his example of uncleaniiess.  Catharine of Russia drags down a whole
empire with her nefarious behavior.  Nc Chlristian man can be indifferent to what, every hour of
every day, goes on at \Washington. WVhile the
Presidential Impeachment Trial advanced, some
of the men who were to render their solemn verdict on the subject were reeling in and out of the
Senate Chamber-the intoxicated representatives
of a free Christian people. It was a great question whether several members of that high court
could be got sober in time to vote.
Only recently, a senator from New England
rises up with tongue so thick, and wvithl utterance
so nonsensical, that lie is led into the ante-room.
He was a good Republican.
One of the Middle States has a representative
who very rarely appears in his seat, for the reason
that he is so great an inebriate that he can neither
wvalk nor ride.  lie is a good Democrat.
59 
T,ze Evil Beast.
As God looks down on our State and National
Legislatures, he holds us responsible. WVe cast
the votes. WVe lift up the legislators.
WVill the time never come when this nation
shall rise up higher than partisanship, and cast its
suffrage for sober men?
The fact is, that the two millions of dollars which
the liquor dealers raised for the purpose of swaying State and National legislation has done its
work, and the nation is debauched. Higher than
legislatures or the Congress of the United States
is the Whiskey Ring!
The Sabbath has been sacrificed to the rum
traffic. To many of our people, the best day of
the week is the worst. Bakers must keep their
shops closed on the Sabbath. It is dangerous to
have loaves of bread going out on Sunday. The
shoe store is closed: severe penalty will attack
the man who sells boots on the Sabbath. But
down with the window-shutters of the grogshops!
Our laws shall confer particular honor upon the
rum traffickers. All other tra4es must stand aside
for these. Let our citizens who have disgraced
themselves by trading in clothing, and hosiery,
and hardware, and lumber, and coal take off their
hats to the rum-seller, elected to particular honor.
It is unsafe for any other class of men to be allowed
license for Sunday work.   But swing out your
signs, O ye traffickers in the peace of families, and
in the souls of immortal men! Let the corks fly,
and the beer foam, and the rum go tearing down
the hlalf-consumed throat of the inebriate. God
60 
Tle Evil Beast.
does not see! Does he?  Judgment will never
come! Will it?
People say, "Let us have more law to correct
this evil."  WVe have more law now than we exe cute. In what city is there a mayoralty that dare
do it? The fact is,-that there is no advantage in
having the law higher than public opinion.  VWhat
would be the use of the Maine Law in New York?
Neal Dow, the Mayor of Portland, came out withl
a posse, and threw the rum of the city into the
street.  But  I do not believe there are three
mayors in the United States with his courage or
nobility of spirit.
I do not know but that God is determined to let
drunkenness triumph, and the husbands and sons
of thousands of our best families be destroyed by
this vice, in order that our people, amazed and indignant, may rise up anld demand the extermination of this municipal crime. There is a way of
driving down the hoops of a barrel so tight that
they break.
We are, in this country, at this time, trying to
regulate this evil by a tax on whiskey.   You
might as well try to regulate the Asiatic cholera
or the small-pox by taxation. The men who distil liquors are, for the most part, unscrupulous, and
the higher the tax, the more inducement to illicit
distillation.  New York produces forty thousand
gallons of whiskey every twenty-four hours, and
the most of it escapes the tax. The most vigilant
officials fail to discover the cellars, and vaults, and
sheds where this work is done.
6i 
Thze  Evil  Beast'.
Oh! the folly of trying to restrain an evil by
government tariff!  If every gallon of whiskey
made-if every flask of wine produced, should be
taxed a thousand dollars, it would not be enough
to pay for the tears it has wrung from the eyes of
widows and orphans, nor for the blood it has dashed on the Christian church, nor for the catastrophe of the millions it has destroyed for ever.
I sketch two houses in this street. The first is
bright as home can be.  The father comes at
nightfall, and the children run out to meet hini.
Luxuriant evening meal.  Gratulation, and sympathy, and latiughter.  Music in the parlor.  Fine
pictures on the wall. Costly books on the stand.
\Vell-clad household.   Plenty of everyvthing to
make home happy.
House the second: Piano sold yesterday by the
sheriff. WVife's fuirs at pawnbroker's shop. Clock
gone. Daughter's jewelry sold to get flour. Carpets gone off the floor.  Daughters in faded and
patched dresses. WVife sewing for the  stores.
Little child with an ugly  woutnd on her face,
struck in an angry blow. Deep shadow of wretchedness falling in every room.   Door-bell rings.
Little children hide. Daughters turn pale. Wilfe
holds her breath.  Blundering step in the hall.
Door opens. Fiend, brandishing his fist, cries,
"Out! out! What are you doing here?"
Did I call this house the second? No; it is the
same house. Rum transformed it. Rum embruted the man. Rum sold the shawl. Rum tore
up the carpets.  Ruin shook his fist.  Rum deso
6  
The EJvil Bcasi.
lated the hearth.   Ruiis changed that paradise
into a hell!
I skeicn two men that you know very well.
The first graduated from one of our literary insti tutions. His father, mother, brothers, and sisters
were present to see him graduate. They heard
the applauding thunders that greeted his speech.
They saw the bouquets tossed to his feet. They
saw the degree conferred and the diploma given.
He  never  looked  so  well.   Everybody  said,
"WVhat a noble brow!  What a fine eye!  What
gracefull manners! What brilliant prospects!," All
the world opens before him, and cries, " Hurrah!
hurrah!"
I\Ian the second: Lies in the station-houtse tonight. The doctor has just been sent for to bind
up the gashes received iii a fight. His hair is
matted, and makes him look like a wild beast.
His lip is bloody and cut.
Who is this battered and bruised wretch that
was picked up by the police, and carried in drunk,
and foul, and bleeding?
Did I call him man the second? He is man the
first! Rum transformed him. Rum destroyed
his prospects. Rum disappointed parental expectation. Rum withered those garlands of commencement day. Rum cut his lip. Rum dashed
out his manhood.  RUM, accursed RUM!
This foul thing gives one swing to its scythe,
and our best merchants fall; their stores are sold,
and they sink into dishonored graves.
Again it swings its scythe, and some of our best
63 
The Evil ]east.
physicians fall into sufferings that their wisest prescriptions cannot cure.
Again it swings its scythe, and ministers of the
Gospel fall from the heights of Zion, with long
resounding crash of ruin and shame.
Some of your own households have already
been shaken. Perhaps you can hardly admit it;
but where was your son last night? WVhere was
he Friday night? Where was he Thursday night?
Wednesday night?  Tuesday night?   Monday
night?
Nay, have not some of you in your own bodies
felt the power of this habit? You think that you
could stop?  Are you sure you could?  Go on a
little further, and I am sure you cannot.  I think,
if some of you should try to break away, you
would find a chain on the right wrist, and one on
the left; one on the right foot, and another on the
left. This serpent does not begin to hurt until it
has wound round and round. Then it begins to
tighten, and strangle, and crush, until the bones
crack, and the blood trickles, and the eyes start
from their sockets, and the mangled wretch cries,
" O God! O God! help! help!"  But it is too
late; and not even the fires of woe can melt the
chain when once it is fully fastened.
I have shown you the EVIL BEAST. The question is, \Who will hunt him down, and how shall
we shoot him?  I answer, First, by getting our
children right on this subject. Let them grow up
with an utter aversion to strong drink. Take care
how you administer it even as medicine.  If you
64 
The Evil Beast.
find that they have a natural love for it, as some
have, put in a glass of it some horrid stuff,
and make it utterly nauseous. Teach them, as
faithfully as you do the catechism, that rum is a
fiend. Take them to the almshouse, and show
them the wreck and ruin it works. Walk with
them into the homes that have been scourged by
it.  If a drunkard hath fallen into a ditch, take
theni right up where they can see his face, bruised,
savage. and swollen, and say, "Look, my  son.
Rum did that!" ILooking out of your window at
some one who, intoxicated to madness, goes
through the street, brandishing his fist, blasphem
ing God, a howling, defying, shouting, reeling,
raving, and foaming maniac, say to your son,
" Look; that man was once a child like you."  As
you go by the grogshop, let them know that that
is the place where men are slain, and their wives
made paupers, and their children slaves. Hold
out to your children all warnings, all rewards, all
counsels, lest in after-days they break your heart
and curse your gray hairs.
A man laughed at my father for his scrupulous
temperance principles, and said: "I amn more liberal than you. I always give my children the sugar.
in the glass after we have been taking a drink."
Three of his sons have died drunkards, and the
fourth is imbecile through intemperate habits.
Again, we will battle this evil at the ballot-box.
How many men are there who can rise above the
feelings of partisanship, and demand that our officials shall be sober men?
65 
The Evil Beasl.
I maintain that the question of sobriety is higher
than the question of availability; and that, however eminent a man's services may be, if he have
habits of intoxication, he is unfit for any office in
the gift of a Christian people. Our laws will be
no better than the men who make them.
Spend a few days at Harrisburg, or Albany, or
Washington, and you will find out why, upon
these subjects, it is impossible to get righteous enactments.
Again, we will war upon this evil by organized
societies. The friends of the rum traffic have
banded together; annually issue their circulars;
raise fabulous sums of money to advance their interests; and by grips, pass-words, signs, and strat-agems set at defiance public morals. Let us confront them with organizations just as secret, and,
if need be, with grips, and pass-words, and signs
maintain our position. There is no need that our
philanthropic societies tell all their plans. I am
in favor of all lawful strategy in the carrying on
of this conflict.  I wish to God we could lay under the wine-casks a train which, once ignited,
would shake the earth with the explosion of this
monstrous iniquity!
Again, we will try the power of the pledge.
There are thousands of men who have been saved
by putting their names to such a document. I
know it is laughed at; but there are some men
who, having once promised a thing, do it. "Some
have broken the pledge." Yes; they were liars.
But all men are not liars.  I do not say that it is
66 
Thze Ezvil Beasl.
the duty of all persons to make such signature;
but I do say that it would be the salvation of
many of you.
The glorious work of Theobald Mathew can
never be estimated. At his hand four millions of
people took the pledge, and multitudes in Ireland,
England, Scotland, and America have kept it till
this day. The pledge signed to thousands has
beeni the proclamation of emancipation.
Again, we expect great things from inebriate
asylums. They have already done a glorious
work.  I think that we are coming at last to treat
inebriation as it ought to be treated, namely, as an
awful disease, self-inflicted, to be sure, but nevertheless a disease. Once fastened upon a man, sermons won't cure him; temperance lectures will not
eradicate it; religious tracts will not remove it;
the Gospel of Christ will not arrest it.  (r,ce under the power of this awful thirst, the man is
bound to go on; and, if the foaming glass were on
the other side of perdition, he would wade through
the fires of hell to get it. A young man in prison
had such a strong thirst for intoxicating liquors
that he cut off his hand at the wrist, called for a
bowl of brandy in order to stop the bleeding,
thrust his wrist into the bowl, and then drank the
contents.
Stand not, when the thirst is on him, between a
man and his cups.   Clear the track for him.
Away with the children; he would tread their life
out. Away with the wife; he wvould dash her to
death.  Away with the cross; he would run it
67 
Thye Evil Beast.
down.  Away with the Bible; he would tear it up
for the winds. Away with heaven; he considers
it worthless as a straw.  "Give me the drink!
Give it to me! Though hands of blood pass up
the bowl, and the soul trembles over the pit —the
drink! give it to me! Though it be pale with
tears; though the froth of everlasting anguish
float on the foam-give it to me! I drink to my
wife's woe; to my children's rags; to my eternal
banishment from God, and hope, and heaven!
Give it to-me! the drink!"
Again, we will contend against these evils by
trying to persuade the respectable classes of society to the banishment of alcoholic beverages.
You who move il elegant and refined associations; you who drink the best liquors; you who
never drink until you lose your balance, let us
look each other in the face on this subject. You
have, under God, in your power the redemption
of this land from drunkenness. Empty your cellars and wine-closets of the beverage, and then
come out and give us your hand, your vote, your
prayers, your sympathies.  Do that, and I will
promise three things: First, That you will find
unspeakable happiness in having done your duty.
Secondly, You will probably save somebodyperhaps your own child. Thirdly, you will not,
in your last hour, have a regret that you made the
sacrifice, if sacrifice it be.
As long as you make drinking respectable,
drinking customs will prevail, and the ploughshare of death, drawn by terrible disasters, will
68 
Thze Evil Beast.
go on turning up this whole continent, from end
to'end, with the long, deep, awful furrow of
drunkards' graves.
Oh! how this rum fiend would like to go and
hang up a skeleton in your beautiful house, so that,
when you opened the front door to go in, you
would see it in the hall; and, when you sat at your
table, you would see it hanging from the wall;
and, when you opened your bedroom, you would
find it stretched upon your pillow; and, waking
at night, you would feel its cold hand passing
over your face and pinching at your heart.
There is no home so beautiful but it may be devastated by the awful curse. It throws its jargon
into the sweetest harmony. What was it that
silenced Sheridan's voice, and shattered the golden sceptre with which he swayed parliaments and
courts? WVhat foul sprite turned  the sweet
rhythm of Robert Burns into a tuneless babble?
What brought down the majestic form of one who
awed the American Senate with his eloquence, and
after a while carried him home dead-drunk from
the office of Secretary of State? WVhat was it
that swamped the noble spirit of one of the heroes
of the last war, until, the other night, in a drunkeil
fit, he reeled from the deck of a Western steamer,
and was drowned?  There was one -whose voice
we all loved to hear. He was one of the most
classic orators of the century. People wondered
why a man of so pure a heart and so excellent a
life should have such a sad countenance always.
They knew not that his wife was a sot.
69 
Tile ~vil Beast.
I call upon those who are guilty of these indulgences to quit the path of death.  Oh! what a
change it would make in your home! Do you
see how everything there is being desolated?
Would you not like to bring back joy to your
wife's heart, and have your children come out to
meet you with as much confidence as once they
showed? Would you not like to rekindle the
home-lights that long ago were extinguished? It
is not too late to change. It may not entirely obliterate from your soul the memory of wasted
years and a ruined reputation, nor smooth out
from your anxious brow the wrinkles which trouble has ploughed. It may not call back unkind
words uttered or rough deeds done; for perhaps
in those awful moments you struck her! It may
not take from your memory the bitter thoughts
connected with some little grave. But it is not
too late to save yourself, and secure for God and
your family the remainder of your fast-going
life.
But perhaps you have not utterly gone astray.
I may address one who may not have quite made
up his mind. Let your better nature speak out.
You take one side or the other in the war against
drunkenness. Have you the courage to put your
foot downright, and say to your companions and
friends, "I will never drink intoxicating liquor in
all my life; nor will I countenance the habit in
others "? Have nothing to do with strong drinlk.
It has turned the earth into a place of skulls, and
has stood openiing the gate to a lost world to let
70 
Tze Evil Beast.
in its victims, until now the door swings no more
upon its hinges, but, day and night, stands wide
open to let in the agonized procession of doomed
men.
Do I address one whose regular work in life is
to administer to this appetite? For God's sake,
get out of that business!  If a woe be pronounced
upon the man who gives his neighbor drink, howxv
many woes must be hanging over the man who
does this every day and every hour of tlhe
day!
God knows better than you do yourself the
number of drinks you have poured out. You
keep a list; but a more accurate list has been kept
than yours. You may call it Burgundy, Bourbon,
Cognac, Heidsieck, Hock:  God calls it strong
drink. Whether you sell it in low oyster cellar
or behind the polished counter of first-class hotel,
the divine curse is upon you. I tell you plainly
that you will meet your customers one day when
there will be no counter between you.  When
your work is done on earth, and you enter the reward of your business, all the souls of the limenl
whom you have destroyed will crowd around you,
and pour their bitterness into your cup. They
will showv you their wounds, and say, "You made
them"; and point to their unquenchable thirst,
and say, "You kindled it "; and rattle their chain,
and say, "You forged it."  Then their united
groans will smite your ear; and, with the hands
out of which you once picked the sixpenices and
the dimes, they will push yout off the verge of
PI 
Thze Evil Beast.
great precipices; while rolling up from beneath,
and breaking among the crags of death, will
thunder:
"Woe to him.n that givet1i his neighbor drink!"
72 
THE GOOD SAMARITAN.
"A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho," etc.-LuKE x. 30.
LL are familiar with the circumstances which
called forth this parable.  A certain lawyer,
not a lawyer as comrmonly understood by us, but
rather what in our day would be denominated a
divine, or expounder of the Scriptures.  This man
belonged to a class who among the Jews made the
Bible their peculiar study, and who were therefore regarded as authorities on all questions connected with the laws of Moses.  Having heard
of him whose fame filled the land, this lawyer,
with a desire perhaps to ascertain whether Jesus
was as great a Teacher as reported, put this
question to the Saviour, "M aster, what shall I do
to inherit eternal life?" Knowing who it was
that asked the question, and his motive in so doing, Jesus replied by asking a question directly in
the line of the interrogator's profession, "W hat is
written in the law? how readest thou?"  To this.
the lawyer replied by reciting the sum of the ten
commandments.   "This do," said Jesus, "and
thou shalt live." Conscious that all this he had not
done, yet unwilling to acknowledge it, and thinking he sees a door open through which he can
escape from the dilemma into which his own
question has brought himself, he asks, "Who is my 
7'ze Goodi S;aviariLan.
neighbor?" hoping that if the term neighbor can
be kept within narrow limits, he may yet be all
right.  In reply, our Lord narrates the beautiful
and touching story of the Good Samaritan, thn
parable which we have chosen as the theme of
our mornino-'s discourse.
TIlE SCENE
is laid in a wild and rocky district of country lying between Jerusalem and Jericho, whose mountain caves furnish hiding-places to men as savage
as the scenes they infest. The testimony of the
Jewish historian, Josephus, as well as that of
Jerome and others, confirms the Gospel narrative
as to the dangers which beset travellers journeyimg between these two large cities; yea, so many
murders had been committed at one particular
part of the road that it was called the Red or
Bloody Way; and so unsafe had it become for
travellers, that Jerome states the Romans found
it necessary to erect a fort there for their protection.  It was somewhere among the rocky
defiles of this road that the traveller was waylaid
by robbers, wounded. stripped, robbed, and left
half-dead.  Now, if there be a traveller robbed
and wounded on the journey of life, it is the
drunkard; and, if there be a bloody path in the
journey of life, that path is the way which the
drunkard pursues; and if there be a class of men
to be met with who, answering to the description
of- tl-ose who inifcstedtfor the purposes of plunder
and murt-der —thec road between Jerusalem and
74 
Tze Good Samtaritan.
Jericho, is it not that class who waylay the unwary at every turn, and prey upon the vices,
weaknesses, and excesses of the thougchtless
drunkard?
TIHE OBJECT.
(I.) I?i the injzuries he received-This traveller
was wounded and left half-dead; loss of blood and
exposure would doubtless, if help had not been
rendered, have speedily deprived him of life. Does
it fare any better with the victim of strong drink?
(a.) There are the physical injuries he receives.
I need not prove to you that alcohol from its very
nature cannot be received into the human system
without doing it violence. The drunkard does
not need a doctor's certificate with 2,000 names
attached to convince him that intoxicating drink
is his enemy. \What are his feelings subsequent
to a debauch? His head aches dreadfully, the
skin is dry, the mouth is parched, and thirst ex cessive. Look at his eyes-where is their wonted
fire? Listen to him when he speaks-his very
voice is changed.   There is not a blood-vessel
that does not suffer from the scorching liquid.
Every vein in his body is made a highway for
torture to travel on. There is not a nerve in the
whole animal economy escapes the withering influence.   The heart, the lungs, the liver, the
stomach,  all suffer.   Their  natural action  is
destroyed, and tlhe train is laid for a variety of
diseases.
(b.) There are menztal injuries.  It is not the
body alone which suffers.  The wound reaches
75 
The Good  Samaritan.
back to that mysterious nature which sits modestly
concealed behind its veil of clay. Alcohol, though
affecting more or less the whole system, is peculiarly a braiin poison. Now, as the brain is the organ
of the mind, you cannot injure, alter, or poison
the brain, without equally injuring, altering, and
poisoning the mind.  A few doses of laudanum
will at once convince the greatest sceptic of this
fact. But alcohol not only attacks the brain and
mind; it affects particular portions of the brain,
and hence particular faculties of the mind, in
different ways. Thus all observation proves that
it weakens and subverts the will, confuses and
perverts the intellectual powers, diminishes and
lowers the consciousness and other moral sentiments, whilst it, at the same time, intensifies the
imagination and other aesthetic faculties, and goads
on the mere animal faculties and propensities to
mastery and dominion over all. You may tell me
that these results only follow excess; if only enough
be taken to produce "exhilaration," "pleasurable
excitement," no such effects are produced. No
doubt this exhilaration, by heightening the esthetic faculties, produces a greater flow of language,
eloquence, and wit. But is it not the fact that,
when people are thus exhilarated by drink,
they will say and do improper things they weuld
otherwise have left unsaid and undone; they will
tell secrets, are more lash and venturesome, and
oh! how often is "the wine-strong  Hercules
struck down by his own club"-his strength gone,
he reels, and babbles, and falls, as if affected by
7(, 
The Good Sa?miaritan.
the paralysis of the insane; yel, how often does
the scene close in insanity.
(c.) There are the moral injuries.  Who can
drink without a deterioration of the moral faculty,
a deadening of conscience? What is the meanness
and dishonesty to which a drinker will not con
descend; and from which he would recoil but
for the depraving influence under which he has
placed himself? Like a hot-blast furnace, alcohol
intensifies a man's natural depravity, and develops
principles of evil which might never have reached
maturity but for the vigor which it imparts to them.
2. The Szifferings Endured.-Vhat must have
been the mental anguish of this poor man when
left by the robbers? Even at the present day, travellers tell us that of all the roads travelled, this
between Jerusalem and Jericho is the most dangerous, and that travellers are rarely allowed by
the Governor of Jerusalem to proceed to Jericho
and the Dead Sea without an escort, so thickly
is it infested with robbers.  How did this poor
wounded man know but that his assailants might
return and complete their work of blood, or that
others as merciless might finish what they had
begun; or, if let alone by man, there were vultutres and wolves who might sweep down upon
him at any moment? Oh! the anguish of mind as
hle there lay to die thus; the thought is agonizing,! And it is when we consider the mental anguish of the poor victim of intemperance we
realize somewhat of the curse and climax of his
sorrows.   The mind has capacities of suffering
77 
Tae Good Samaritan.
of which fewv but drunkards know aught.  While
the low and ignorant drinkers are not strangers
to this mental anguish, how dreadful must the
sufferings be in the case of those of superior
minds and cultivation. A man may deny the
Bible, he may argue himself into the disbelief of
eternal realities, and yet, without the ministry of a
Nathan, the hour will come when conscience will
be more dreadful than the voice of any earthly
prophet, as it peoples the scene around him with
the remembrance of unforgiven sins and  the
ghosts of murdered joys. The inebriate awakes
from his delirium delight to find himself in a very
hell of agony. Others can gather joys from the
past, but not he. What memories can he call up
that he would not rather have buried for ever?
"Oh! the agony! the agony!" said one to me,
the other day-a gentleman known throughout the
whole land, endowed with as fine a mind as ever
God gave to mortal, and whose sympathies and
affections are as tender and loving as his intellect
is great and noble, but who, yielding to temptation,
became a victim to the "cup "-" oh! the agony!
the agony of these few days! All the trials and
sorrows and griefs of my past life (fifty years), rmd
they have been neither few nor light, are not to
be compared to the suffering of these few days.
For," he added, "in these I have had consolations
and alleviations, but in this none.  The essence
of my misery is, it is self-procured."  No wonder,
rather than endure such agonies, many seek refuge in tlhe death of the suicide.
Is 
TIye Good  S3bm(zarilaze.
3. Tlicre is the Ioss Suzstaincd.-The  thieves
stripped the poor traveller of his raiment, robbed
hliim of his money, his time, and his strength.  All
this and something worse befalls the drunkard:
he is robbed of that which is dearer to him than
all —character. WVhen character is gone, all that
gives to human existence its worth and signifi cance is gone, and man becomes no better than
the brute, no better than a graven image; he
sinks to a level with the beast hie drives, or the
acres he ploughs.  Now, of ail the causes which
contribute to ruin character, tile most formidable
is intoxicating drink.
I have seen, and you have seen, men in every
department of human pursuit, ot the noblest natures and highest attainments, sacrificed to rum.
I have seen, and you, too, perhaps, ladies of high
birth, of generous affection, of accomplished manners and cultivated mind, excluded from the very
society in which they were made drunkards, pensioned off in some cases, and doomed in the private asylum to a life of ignoble restrictions; and
in others, cast out for children to hoot at, and passers-by to sigh over in sentimental pity.  Oh!
what has not this accursed vice wrought in the.
w-ay of ruining character? \What character so
nloble and so sacred that it has not blasted?
Touched by its hell-fire flames, I have seen, and
you have seen, the laurel crown  changed into
ashles on the head of morning genius, and the
ving's of the poet scorched by it, and they who
Dolce played in the light of sunbeams and soared
79 
oThe Good Samritan-iiz.
to Alpine heights of fame basely crawling in the
dust-the finest mind paralyzed, and the noblest
intellect turned into drivelling idiotcy.
Statesmen of no mean fame nor talents we have
helped to lift out of Boston gutters. The ermine
of the judge and the sacred robe of the divine we
have seen sweeping the polluted floor of the barroom. In all this, I speak what I know, and testify to what I have seen. M\len of God! in whose
pulpits we have spoken, and under whose preaching we have sat, and from whose hands wve have
received the communion elements, we have seen
dragged from the altar, deposed from the ministry, and degraded before the world as drunkards,
and sent, blasted in character and reputation,
with quivering lips, and a hell burnini within the
breast, to homes where once nestled loved ones,
but whom they have beggared and  disgraced.
And these men-whom once I would have as little
expected to fall as some of you-as you believe it
possible that this vice shall yet degrade me from
the pulpit, and cause my boy to blush at mention
of his father's name-some of them lie in dishonored graves, some are teaching school, while
others are seeking to eke out a living as pedlars
of stationery and canvassers for books, and one, as
common hostler in a public livery-stable of Boston, has more than once curried the speaker's
horse.  Oh! the tales we could narrate.  Away
down in the lowest stratum of human misery and
degradation, how many formerly opulent merchants and prosperous tradesmen have wve found
So 
The Good  Sam/ri1,'t.
in our explorations! But is the drinker the oily
sufferer? No, no! WVho has not heard a thiousand times repeated the story of the drunkard's
home and the wrongs of wife and children. Oh!
the domestic sorrows, the miseries caused by
drink!  Who shall tell of the tears of deserted,
starving, wretched, bruised, bleeding, dying
women produced by the drinking habits of husbands who once loved them, but who are now
dead to every humane feeling, who have violated
every sacred  vow, and  sundered every  holy
bond? WVho shall tell of children trembling at
their own father's footsteps, and hiding from his
violence?  Who shall tell how scenes of domestic
bliss have been embittered and converted into
scenes of the blackest, saddest misery and woe?
The history of these broken-hearted wives,
starved, murdered children, like Ezekiel's roll,
is written within "with lamentations and weep
ings and woe."
Nor in all this do we refer only to the homes
of the poor, though scenes in such homes we
have witnessed enough to make a man exclaim
with Jeremiah, "0 that mine head were waters,
and mine eyes a fountain of tears, that I might
weep day and night."
One man, a fine mechanic, earning the highest
wages, was once the head of a happy family, but
drink entered, and happiness fled. His is the old
story of descent. One night, I remember it well,
this man came to his wretched home, as usual, a
reeling drunkard; his wife, Nwho had been sick for
Si 
7The  Goo(I Saniari-ian.
some days, was at this time very ill indeed. T'he
sight of her sobered to some extent the husband,
and he acceded to her request to go and get some
medicine.  Taking the prescription in his hand,
he went to the druggist, got the medicine, but on
his return was met by some of his associates, who
urged him to go and take just one drink with
themn.  He yielded, drank, and forgot his errand
and his suffering wife, and only left that bar-room
when he was driven forth by its landlord. On
reaching home he was too stupefied to help either
himself or his wife.  So he rolled himself over op
the bed beside the suffering one.  During the
night the poor woman died but terrible was that
nighlit.  The heavens seemed on fire, the lightnings flashed, and the thunders roared.  The terrific storm awoke the sleeper; and on opening his
eyes he saw beside him the corpse of her whom,
before the speaker, at the altar of God, he had
sworn to protect and cherish until death. Talk
of the refined cruelty which the savage Indians
of this land formerly exercised towards their victims! Oh! what prolonged torture did that unhappy woman undergo, week after week, at the
hands of her husband! And drink did all this.
A  kinder  husband, when  hle let drink alone,
never lived.
Done! Oh! what could we not tell?  The
money we have given to the girl, that the mother might buy a coffin in which to lay the
form of her dead child, has been taken from
that girl  by the  father  in sl)ite of  the en 
TI,, Good/ Salz/, z.
tr(eaties of the suffering mother, and, leaving the
leked corpse of his child lying upon the table,
Gv,sclre we found it, hle has gone and spent the
n-oney for drink!  But there are homes never
visited by the police in search of crime or to stay
;i,)icnce, nor by the missionary to feed the hun,i or clothe the naked-homes of the outwvardly
respectable and even affluent, where there are
ruined  means, broken  hearts, careworn  ftrces,
blasted reputations, untold sorrows;  and drink
has done all! Did time and delicacy permit, I
could detail, at length, cases which have come
under my  own observation, and in which my
advice has been sought, during my short residence in Boston, saying nothing of my longer
experience in New York, which would call forth
your deepest commiseration on behalf of the victims, and rouse your just indignation against that
which produces such misery.
But you say we exaggerate. Exaggerate?  Impossible!  As there are grand, bold, beautiful
scenes in the physical world which no flight of
fancy, no bold strokes of painting, no graphic
powers of language, can accurately describe, so,
in the moral world, there are scenes of sorrovw,.
and starvation, and disease, and vice, and cruelty,
and death, of which we can give no adequate idea.
Let no one fancy we select the worst cases or present the worst side of the picture before them.
Believe me, it is impossible to exaggerate; impossible even truthfully to paint the effect of this
vice either on those who are addicted to it or
,S,
I I 
Tze Good S(zazariian.
those who suffer from it. Are there not many
here who can testify to this? Ah! few indeed
are the families amongst us so happy as not to
have had some one near and dear to them either
engulfed in this vice or hanging over the preci
pice. I have read of a mother who saw her only
son drowned before her eyes. Years came and
went ere she could calmly look upon the ocean or
hear, without pain, the roar of the billows where
her son was lost.  How many of you have greater
cause for hating the sight of the cup that intoxicates!  Take your family record; examine the
roll. Is there not one name there that fills your
heart with anguish?  Oh! what memories are
associated with that name! What struggles with
temptation it recalls!  What mingling of joys and
sorrows, of hopes and fears! What solemn vows
made and violated! what resolutions formed and
broken! and what a sad, sad end!  Oh! the beggars, the widows, the orphans, the crimes, the
woes caused by these drinks! Truly might they
be called the seven vials of his wrath, more destructive in their consequences than war, plague,
pestilence, or famine-yea, than all combined;
slow, it may be, in their march, but oh! they are
sure in their grasp, consigning the body to the
tomb and the soul to hell! Yes, the soul; for "no
drunkard shall inherit tlhe kingdom of God;" and
what standards, scales, or calculations can we command to give us even a faint conception of the
worth of onze soul?
Z4 
The Good Samaitan.
II.-THtE INDIFFERENCE AND  NEGLECT  WITH
WHICIHI THE TRAVELLER WAS TREATED.
While the poor man lay in his wretched condition, a priest and a Levite came that way. So
soon as the priest got his eye upon him, he kept
as far off as he could; and the Levite did little
more, for, although he halted a moment and
looked at him, he grudged the aid demanded
and hurried away. Here are representative cha
racters of many who treat the drunkard with similar indifference and neglect.
The priest did not so much as stop to look at
the victim.  It was by chance he came that way.
Had he known of this case of bleeding humanity,
he would doubtless have gone another way. Also,
how many are there who care not to look upon
the victims of intemperance-who will not hear
of them! They never read a temperance tract,
never hear a temperance sermon, nor attend a temperance meeting.  They have no sympathy with
any of this preaching temperance. Strange that
there could be such inhumanity, and that, too, in
the church! "Thou shalt love thy neighbor" is
a divine command.  And "who is my neighbor?'"
Every man is your neighbor, no matter what his
condition, his clime, his nation. If he who could
say, "I am a Roman," could rouse in his behalf the
sympathies of a whole mighty people, hlie who can
say, "I am a man," should touch the hearts of all
mankind. The nature which is endowed with
reason and destined for immortality, is not to be
85 
Tlze GUoodi Sa;ilitiiaii.
passed by as an ordinary thing; and what a pIicture of a glorious nature in ruins!  You may measure the height from which it has fallen by the
depth to which it has sunk. The miserable drunkard that reels along your streets carries beneath
his tattered rags a soul which kingdoms could not
purchase-a wronged, a crushed, a ruined soul,
but still a soul; and if God's Son could die for it,
who may not care for it? Such, alas! there are.
It was a "priicst" that would not look upon the
wounded traveller-a man who, by his profession,
was bound to help him; and, O  God! tell it not
in Gath that professed disciples of hiliz who found
Lus in our blood, more than half-dead, robbed by
sin, and sinking into death eternal, and died to
save us, will pass by the poor victims of intemperance and put not forth a hand to help to save
them, but will themselves use the drunkard's drink
and thus delude others to drink and become victims!
Not much better are they who are represented
by the Levite. The Levite stopped and looked
on the spectacle. but offered no relief.  So thousands there are who thus treat intemperance and
its victims. They may nowv and again read some
temperance periodical, or occasionally listen to a
temperance sermon, or give a dime or a dollar to
help on the cause of temperance, but beyond that
they do nothing. As to putting forth any effective
effort to save the drunkard or to prevent others
firom becoming drunkards, they must not be asked.
They would be benevolent, bitt it costs too much.
Neither the priest nor the Levite would have
86 
7Z/c Good  Saei/izz-/al.a.
passed by the wounded man if they could have
helped him at no expense of trouble or sacrifice.
And so many would have no objection to help
save the drunkard and stay the ravages of intemperanice, were it not for the sacrifices they would
be called to make.  They would have to give up
their own favorite beverage, would be laughed at
by some of their associates and ostracised by
othl ers.
Yet why should Christians hesitate?  In every
enterprise undertaken for the benefit of mankind,
the Christian public have a part to perform; but
more especially when that enterprise aims at the
moral improvement of the world.  In questions
of government, or matters of mere temporal concern, perhaps the Christian may find an apology
for his neutrality, as being engaged in objects of a
higher and more sublime benevolence.  But when
vice is to be put down and virtue promoted, he is
called upon by a voice which he cannot disregard
-by the voice of religion and the voice of Godto take an active and a zealous part. There is no
neutrality in this war.  \\ hen vice prevails, he is
an enlisted soldier, and should ever be found in
armor. His sword should be always drawn and
ready for the conflict.  To do good is, and should
be, his employment the business of his life.
That intemperance is a vice we have already
seen. Can Christians be indifferent spectators of
the desolations of this fell destroyer?  Can they
view  with  apathy its ravages,  and  be  guilt.
less?
87 
Tze Good Samzaritan.
III.-TIlE I-IELP RENDERED.
After the priest and Levite had passed on and
left the unfortunate traveller to die of his wounds,
one of a more generous nature drew near. He
looked upon the sight; it touched his comnpassionate nature. And what though the wounded
man may be a Jewish merchant and he a Samaritall with whom the Jews have no dealings, but
towards whom they cherish a bitter hatred?-he
was a needy, suffering man, and he has the means
of helping him. So, instantly dismounting, he
spoke kindly to the sufferer, examined his wounds,
anointed thein with oil, bound them up, gave him
of the wine he had with him, placed him upon his
beast, and, regardless of trouble and expense, conveyed him to an inn, nursed him till the morning,
and, when his business would not allow of his
remaining longer, paid all the expenses, and gave
his pledge to meet all subsequent charges, and
then left him. Go thou and do for the drunkard
what this Samaritan did for the man who fell
among thieves.  And what was this?
(i.) He sacrificcd his TViie.-Some there are who
would give up the stronger drinks, but would re
tain the lighter, or they would contribute of their
means and sympathy towards relieving the drunkard or his family, but you must not ask them to
give up their own beverage, whatever it may be.
Of course, they will take it moderately!  This is a
very easy kind of temperance help, yea, it is the
very thing that keeps the stream of intemperance
Sss 
The Good Samaritan.
flowing.  I have not time now-I wish I had-to
speak of the evils of this moderate drinking.  I
wish I had time to show you that every reeling
inebriate was once a moderate drinker, with as
little thought of becoming a slave to this vice as
any of you have to-day. I wish I had time to
show you how moderation can never cure inteimperance, because it is the very cause of intemperance, and no cause of an evil can ever be its
own remedy.  I wish I had time to show you that
excess is not, as some imagine and argue, the cause
of intemperance, because it is intemperance itself,
the effect and not the cause. I wish I had time to
show you, my dear hearers, that iiot any of you
are safe if you take intoxicating drinks at all.
You need not tell me you have used them for years
and no harm comes fiom it; thlat you take but
very little; that you are educated, refined, cultivated, even Christian.  Ah! let him that thinketh
he standeth take heed lest he fall. I have already
shown you that no station, profession, or pursuit
is proof against his attacks if indulged in at all.
Oh! the secrets locked in this breast of the temptations and struggles of some of the noblest men
and women, who had placed themselves by the
first glass within the power of the enemy.  Dr.
Albert Day, who has made a specialty of alcoholic
inebriation for years, informed me yesterday that
during the last fourteen years over four thousand
inebriates have been placed under his care for reformation.   Three-fourths of that number were
men of position, education, and culture-senators
89 
Alic  Good  Seiiai-ilal.
judges, presidents' sons, professors in colleges,
doctors of divinity, doctors of medicine, lawyers,
authors, artists, and merchants. How the fine
gold has become dim; the voice of the lute and
the harp which delighted all been silenced! And
who made these men drunkards? WVhere did
iiien of education and refinement acquire the tippler's appetite? WVhere but at the elegantly furnished tables of moderate drinkers, many of them
moderate-drinking religious professors!   Why,
then, think yourself safe?  But apart from this,
intemperance is a monster you cannot kill as long
as you feed it.  All the weapons on earth fall
harmless at its feet as long as you give it food.
You may as well try to arrest the lightning in its
course as stop that mighty stream of intemlperance which at this moment flows over this land, as
long as you supply the spring from  which it
issues.  And mark you, all who help supply the
fountain are partakers of the guilt! Oh! what
a large proportion of the respectable and Christian
community are at this moment engaged in the
spread of intemperance. The more respectable
his position, the more religious his character, the
more pernicious and extended the influence of-the
Christian who uses it. It is the countenance
which the respectable religious moderate drinkers
give that upholds the traffic and enables the dealer
to sell to the drunkard.  Who but the vilest of the
vile would engage in a trade for which drunkards
we e the only customers?
Ajgain, how can you seek to reclaim the inebri
00 
Thle Good Samarat'an. 
ate from his cups, and get him to abstain, while the
bottle is in your closet or the decanter on your
sideboard?  But I pass to speak of the Samaritan
who gave
(2.) Ilis mio,y.-IHe gave his oil and money.
Compared with the rescue of a poor wounded
traveller, what was money to him?  I say it, and
say it without fear of contradiction, I know of no
cause to which the benevolent ought to contribute
more liberally.  It is short-sighted charity that
aims at the alleviation of drunken poverty merely,
and yet nine-tenths of our poverty is nothing else.
A better service cannot be rendered the commu nity in the present day than the promotion of the
Temperance cause. But to its promotion money
is required; and were the National Temperance
Society, in whose behalf I this day plead, supplied
with ample funds, the good accomplished might
be indefinitely increased.
(3.) This Samaritan sticrificcd hzs tihnc and labor.
-The Samaritan took the wounded man to an inn
and watched over him.  Now, to save the drunkard
similar help is needed.  Yea, to prevent the children and youth from becoming drunkards, time
and labor are necessary.  I rejoice to know that
hundreds of young men and young wvomen of this
church are daily doing that very work. God bless
them, and all associated with them, in their noble
efforts. In one of our large cities, a fire broke out
in a lofty dwelling.  It was near midnight, and the
flames had made headway before they were discovered. The fire companies rallied; the iIInmates
91 
The Good Samaritan.
escaped in affright; anid the firemen worked with
a Fvill to subdue the flames.  The smoke had become so thick that the outlines of the house were
scarcely visible, and the fiery element was raging
with fearful power, when a piercing cry thrilled
all hearts, as they learned that there was one person yet unsaved within the building.
In a moment a ladder was swung through the
flames, and planted against the heated walls, and
a brave fireman rushed up its rounds to the rescue.
Overcome by the smoke, and perhaps daunted
by the hissing flames before him, he halted, and
seemed to hesitate. It was an awful scene. A life
hung in the balance, and each moment was an age.
"Cheer him!" shouted a voice from the crowd;
and a wild " Hurrah!" burst like a tempest from
the beholding multitude. That cheer did the
work; and the brave fireman went upward, amid
smoke and flame, and in a moment descended with
the rescued man in his arms. When you see those
sons and daughters of temperance battling with
temptation, struggling with the difficulties and
circumstances they must encounter in their work
-when, I say, you see them thus endeavoring to
rescue the tempted and the fallen, and yet il an
hour of weakness discouraged and about to retire
from the work, then "cheer them!"  Who knows
but your words of sympathetic kindness may
encourage fainting hearts, strengthen feeble knees,
and fix the wavering purpose for nobler deeds?
So niuch, dear friends, as to what we should do
for the drunkard.  What shall we do with the
92 
Thie Good Samnaritan.
DRUNKARD-MIAKERS?
In other words, How is the way of life to be
mnade safe for travellers?  If robbers on the highway, who strip their victim of his clothes and
treasures, and leave him half-dead, are not guiltless, how can those who strip their victim not only
of his clothes and treasures, but of character and
manhood and all noble virtues-and who, wlhen they
bring their victims to the ground, leave them not
half-dead merely, but twice dead-dead in body
and in soul-be held guiltless? and if we would
clear society of the one, why not of the other
class? That the liquor stores are at the root of
the evil, who doubts? Here is kept the food of
drunkenness! Here is found the poison that initiates the temperate and finishes the intemperate.
They are the schools of intemperance, and as long,
as they are permitted, the land will be infested
with drunkenness. These are the Aceldamas of
human blood, the shambles where thousands of
lives are annually slaughtered, the licensed machinery which turns health into disease, decency
into rags, love into hatred, young beauty into
loathsomeness, mother's milk into poison, mother's
hearts into stone, and the image of God into something baser than the brute. And can any one be
engaged in this traffic and not know the mischief
he is doing? Can he supply the lava which scorcht s
the land and be innocent?  Does he not know the
effects of that in which he trades? Does he not
know  that of those who drink  maniy  will be
93 
bTle Good Samaritan.
drunken? and can he supply the cause, and detach
himself from the effect? Can he hurl firebrands
through the city and witness the conflagration,
and claim exemption from blame? Can he spread
contagion through your families, and, when he
hears the dying groans and sees the ftineral, tell
you that he is innocent? He may tell you that he
frowns upon intemperance, and sells not to the
drunklard-so perhaps he may.  He will sell till
the wretch is made drunk, and then refuse him, till
he is made sober again.  But it is too late to talk
about denying him now.   The man is rinzed, and
the dealer puts the instrument in his hand with
which he struck the blow. Do not sell to drunkards! Is it a less evil to make drunkards of sober
men, or to kill drunkards?  Ask that widowed
mother zseJ'o did her the greatest evil-the man
who only put her drunken husband in the grave,
thus freeing her of his cruelties, or the man who
madcle a drunkard of her only son?   Ask those
orphan children who did them the greatest injury-the man who made their once sober, kind,
and affectionate father a drunkard, and thus
blasted all their hopes, and turned their sweet
home into the emblem of hell; or the man who,
after they had suffered for years the anguish, the
indescribable anguish of the drunkard's children,
and seen their heartbroken mother ill danger
of an untimely grave, only killed their father,
and thus brought peace and quietness to their
home, which of those two men brought upon the
children the greatest evil?  Can you doubt?
94 
Tl.e Goo~t S,;aneai,an.
Now, what is to be done to close up these pesthouses-to seal utp these fountains of desolation?
Do? WVhy, persuade the keepers of them to leave
their trade, w%e are told! Persuade themn?  Have
you ever tried it?  I have, and must confess with
poor results. Wvhen you can arrest the lightning,
still the thunder, and turn back the sea, then you
mnay hope of success.  Persuzade men to give tup
their nefarious traffic!  lVhy  not endeavor to
check the evils of lottery, gambling, and prostitution by appeals to the consciences of the keepers
of lottery and gambling houses and dens of infamy?  Pcrsuade men!  There are men —unprinicipled men-so actuated by selfishness that they
will sell till the iron grasp of the law seizes themn
and compels them to stop.  Anxious neighbors
may reason with them; wives in rags and tears
may entreat them; barefooted, hunger-bitten children may appeal to them, and still they will sell.
As  long as money can be made by the traffic,
there are men who would build their groggery in
the crater of a volcano; they would sell rum amid
the heavings of an earthquake; and as the drunkard steps down the bank and hangs, suspended by
a single twig, over the bottomless pit, they wvould
put between his chattering teeth the draught that
would unnerve his arm and plunge him into anI
eternal abyss. And shall we talk of moral suasion
to such men, and let them continue their damniing
work because they will not be persuaded?
What, then, would youL do? Do wAith them as
vot would -with every foe to socicty).  If the traf
91, 
Thze Good Samar;itan.
fickers in rum a le engaged in a calling that is
inimical to every interest of humanity and religion, then treat them as you would those similarly engaged.  Suppose a class of men should
advertise themselves as men who had for sale
consumptions, and fevers, and palsies, and apoplexies, and deliriums, and death, what would the
public say? WVhat the Christian public? Yea,
what would our authorities feel called upon to
do? The public voice would call for punishment
to be meted out to suclh foes of humanity; and
the rutlers that would not take speedy vengeance
would be execrated and removed.  Should a class
of persons attempt to dig pitfalls in our public
streets to ensnare passengers, or should they
make use of bloodhounds to tear and devour our
useful citizens, or hire a company of cut-throats to
drag out our young men from  their peaceful
homes and murder them in our streets, what
would our authorities do?  Tell me where, in the
eye of eternal justice, is the difference between
him who strikes the blow of death and him who
kniowingly maddens the brain and  tempts and
fires the soul to strike it?
The very worst that has been said against the
devll is, that he first tempts his victim, then betrays and punishes him through time and eternity.   WVhat better are our so-called Christian
lawns and the liquor-dealers in the traffic in drink?
For money, they tempt and betray and punish
the weakest of our race, and but too often send
them to an eternity of woe! If we have no ob
96 
Tze  G(oo   Saza                       97aita.
jections to passing laws against robbery, why ob  ject to passing laws against liquor-selling,?
As long as these shops of temptation are open,
who are safe?  You, or your children?  None!
And what shall become of our weaker brother,
whom   we  have  reclaimed, when  temptation
tracks his steps, and drinking companions are
on the alert to drag him into one or other of
the numerous dram-shops open on  every side
to allure and destroy?  No wonder so few re claimed men are permanently saved.
Less than two years ago, there died in his early
prime a minister of the Gospel, who was first the
victim, and at last the conqueror, of drink. Some
years ago, after a severe illness, he stimulated by
medical advice. When he had fairly recovered
from his sickness, he found himself in the coils of
a serpent.  It was the old story, alas! more than
"twice told!" Hle fell, struggled to rise, stum
bled, and fell again. He resolved, and resisted,
prayed, and  then  in exhaustion yielded.   At
length, he was induced to enter an inebriate institution, where for a year he remained, beloved and
respected by all the officers. When his cure was
supposed to be complete, he left to accept a call
to a vacant pulpit, his heart still yearning to be
engaged in his Lord's work. On entering flliat
church, he frankly told the people his weakness,
and the terrible temptation to which he was subject, and threw himself upon their sympathies
and their prayers. The people rallied round him
and nobly worked with him. Immensely popular
97 
7The Good Samzariltzan.
in the commnunity, he labored with untiriing zeal
for the salvation of souls. His labors God richly
blessed, but at the close of one year his strength
gave way.  Again was he tempted to stimulate
and-resisted.  By the help of divine grace and
human sympathy, he stood. But he died-died a
hero! for he conquered the foe which conquered
Alexander the Great, and by which many strong
men have been slain.
At his funeral, his wife seemed unusually composed.  Wondering at this, the officiating clergyman enquired of her about her apparently happy
feelings.  "Oh!" said she, " IIE'S SAFE!  You
don't know anything about what we have passed
through.  For years he and I have been standing
on the brink of a precipice, trembling withl apprehension that, at any time, he migiht go over.  But
now he's safe!"
"Safe, indeed," says one; " but  what a danger
is that from which death is the only escape an(-l
the g —ave the only refuge!"  What an evil must
that be which, when a man takes it into his bosuin,
becomes a "slimy, gliding, writhing, biting, sting, ing adder, which winds itself around him, hisses
its venom in his ear, and, when hle hurls it from
him and treads it under foot, pursues its fleeing
victim to his death, and thrusts its forked tong,rue
against the iron gateway of the sepulchre, until
the loving wife exults to hear the clanging of
deat'is gloomy doors, which none but Christ can
open; and the anguish of widowhood is forgotten
in t'e,c,iought that the loved one is SAFE at last I
98 
The Good Samailan.9
Brethren, if ever a cause demanded devotedness
and sacrifice and energy, temperance is that cause.
The interests at stake are the most momentous.
Youthful hopes are at stake; female virtue is at
stake; domestic happiness is at stake; the churchl's
piety is at stake; the salvation of souls is at stake.
And who is to do this work if not the lovers of
God and humanity? Come, then, "to the help
of the Lord-to the help of the Lord against the
mighty!"
99
:     e  *  
$~tf- enial for  i   Promotion  of    cmprkange
A DUTY AND A PLEASURE.
"It meat make my brother to offend, I will eat no flesh while the world
standeth."-x CoR. viii. x3.
UCH is the noble sentiment of the noblest of
men. Some of the Corinthian believers had
been converted to Christianity from idolatry;
others from Judaism. The Jews abhorred whatever had been offered in worship to an idol; but
the Gentiles had not been thus educated. Some
of the latter had eaten of the meat which had
been offered to an idol, and having been instructed that an idol is nothing, thought it no10
harm to eat the sacrificial meat. But there were
other Gentile converts who had not been so far
enlightened, and, not knowing the superior education of their brethren, were in danger of being
led astray by their example. St. Paul appeals to 
Io2      Self-Dential for the Promotion of/
the former in behalf of the latter. He concedes
that an idol is nothing; that meat offered thereto
in worship is not thereby necessarily defiled; that
to eat thereof was not sin per se; but because the
eating thereof was a bad example, and tended to
the spiritual injury of those for whom Christ
died, he therefore appealed to them to desist
from the practice.  It was an appeal to Christian magnaimity, to philanthropy, to self-denial.
Himself the example of self-denial to all, in the
fulness of his own great soul he assures them,
in the language of the text: "If meat make my
brother to offend, I will eat no flesh while the
world standeth."
This incident in apostolic history suggests the
line of thought of the present discourse on the
subject of temperance.   I propose to appeal to
the magnanimity of the better classes in society
to discontinue the moderate use of wines and
liquors, for the benefit of those who are in danger of becoming confirmed inebriates. And in
making this appeal, I propose to make certain concessions; to consider the efficaciousness
of this proposed self-denial; and then to enforce
the duty by a variety of motives.
I. I think we may concede three things. First,
that wines and liquors have their legitimate uses.
I do not say that they are indispensable, and have
no substitute; but it may be safely affirmed that
they may be used beneficially. I am sure that 
Temperance a Duty and a Pleasure.
every unbiassed man will feel with me bound to
concede this much, and hence those ultra views,
consigning wines and liquors to perdition, placing
them under the ban of the Almighty and society,
cannot find favor with calm and reflecting men.
IHad I time this morning, I could establish the
fatct beyond peradventure, beyond the shadow of
a doubt, that there are two kinds of wine designated in the Bible. On some future occasion, it
may be our happiness to discourse on this very
thought, and thereby relieve the Lord Jesus
Christ, by whose power
" The modest water, awed by power divine,
Confessed its God, and blushing turned to wine,"
and thereby relieve other persons whose history
is recorded in the Bible, and relieve many passages of Scripture, from misapprehension, by
showing the distinction between the good wine
and bad, as recorded in the Bible. It is the
utmost folly for any man to attempt to explain
away certain passages of Scripture on any other
hypothesis than the one just mentioned.
Secondly, we are bound to concede that the
man who drinks wine and liquor moderately is
not a drunkard as denounced in the Holy Scriptures. By no fair interpretation of language, by
no proper use of ideas, can such a man be
brought under the ban of drunkenness as described
inl that passage, "No drunkard slhall enter the
I03 
104      Self-Denzial for the Promotlion of
kingdom  of  heaven."    Evidently  Scriptural
drunkenness implies a ruling passion, a degrad ing slavery, and a power that has gained the
mastery, which is superior to the man  him self.
In the next place, I think we are bound to
concede that all moderate drinkers do not become
confirmed inebriates. You and I can recall per sons who, through a series of many years, have
been moderate drinkers, and yet are not confirmed drunkards.  The reason may be found in their
physical organism, which is not susceptible to
such influence in their case as in that of other
persons.  They may drink as much and even
more per day than those who are more sensibly
affected by the same or less quantity. One inhalation of chloroform will put this man to sleep,
while the same quantity will set another man
wild. The difference is found in the difference
of organic susceptibility. Hence some men may
drink and not become confirmed in habits of inebriation, because of the peculiarity of their
organism. That they are not drunkards is no credit to them; it is to be placed to the credit of the
Creator, for that which does not intoxicate them
would and does intoxicate others. Therefore, no
argument in favor of the free use of liquors can
be drawn from those men who, in despite, as it
were, of nature, thus practise moderate drinking
through a long series of years.  Let us, therefore,
remove this old sophlistry, and make this point 
Temtperance a Dut/y and a Pleasure.
plain and emphatic, and give the credit to God
and not to man.
With these concessions freely admitted, let us
iiow pass to consider the question: WVere the
l)(tter classes of society to discontinue the mode liate use of wines and liquors, would that tend to
diminish the habit and evils of intemperance?
If so, how?
I. It would be the expression of apprehension
that confirmed inebriety might follow.  It would
be the tocsin of alarm. It would imply dangel
ahead. It would be the reassertion of two facts,
viz., that all confirmed drunkards were once
moderate drinkers, and that all moderate drink ers may become confirmed inebriates.  Hence
comes the law that absolute safety is in total
abstinence. There is safety in that for all. This
would be an example and a warning.
2. It would render the trade in wines and
liquors, including the manufacture and salewholesale and retail-of the same, less profitable,
and lead to its abandonment.  I suppose it;s true
that the larger profits of the trade are derived
from the sale of such wines and liquors as are
used by the higher classes of society; that the
proprietors of our splendid saloons and hotel barrooms derive a larger profit from fancy drinks
than from "; whiskey straight." The logical effect
of the discontinuance of the use of such drinks
by such persons would be the closing up of nineteniths of all our fancy saloons and hotel bar
105 
io6      Self-Denial for the Promotion of
roomns. This, in turn, would affect the wholesale trade, and this the manufacturer; and cutting off the supply of drunkards from the ranks
of moderate drinkers and rendering the article of
intoxication itself scarce, the end would be
gained, and intemperance would soon cease to
exist. Many a man engages in the wholesale and
retail busines of selling liquor not so much from
the love of liquor as from his cupidity. And
just as soon as these citizens find that their
business has ceased to be profitable, they will
abandon it and go into something else. If these
are facts, are we not justified in the assertion that
a grave responsibility for the evils of intemperance rests upon the moderate drinker and upon
those who indulge in fancy drinks?
3. WVere the higher classes of society to discontinue the moderate use of wines and liquors,
the effect would be to render the custom of
drinking unfashionable. Fashion is only another
term for public sentiment. Acknowledged evils
are tolerated by common consent. Public sentiment is the energy of law. There were laws
against duelling prior to the duel between
Hamilton and Burr, but for lack of public sentiment they were dead. The death of Hamilton,
however, changed the public sentiment, and the
duellist is now considered a barbarian. Fashion
is at once a master and a monster: a master in
the supremacy of power, a monster in the cruelties inflicted upon mankind. What and how we 
Tenmperatnce a Duty and a Pleasure.
eat, our style of dress, the construction of our
dwellings, our modes of travel, are all governed
by fashion.   Fashions rarely come up.  They
almost always go down, till, in the last modified
form, they touch the bottom of society.  Extra vagance in the rich begets extravagance in the
poor.  Many a clerk has ended his days in the
penitentiary because he lived beyond his means.
Many a daughter has forsaken the God of her
youth, and gone with her whose ways take hold
on death, because she coveted the pleasures of
dress.  What we want, therefore, is to render
the custom of drinking unfashionable, so that
those in the lower grades of life will not think
that they are out of the world if they do not
imbibe from the intoxicating cup. For the lower
classes of society have just reason to complain
that the custom has been set them iil high
places.
4. Then the plan I propose involves another
thought. It would increase the power to persuade. Example is the inspiration of language.
The life of Christ is of more value to the world
than his teachings. Without his lofty, symmetrical character; without his life of unparalleled
purity and benevolence, his most wise and most
beautiful lessons would be to mankind "as sounding brass and a tinkling cymbal." Here is a father
on whose dinner-table the wine sparkles; he seeks
to reform an inebriated son. He pleads, he argues,
hle prays; but all his arguments are paralyzed by
107 
Self-Denial for lthe Promotion of
his own  moderate drinking.   "Physician, heal
thyself," is the son's withering reply. The wise
must educate the ignorant; the strong must
strengthen the weak; and only the pure can save
the guilty. " What is good for the father is good
for the son," is a satisfactory argument for the
latter's use. The persuasive power of example
is the greatest. The pledge, societies, asylums,
and law are proper, but impotent without
it.
But against this, our personal liberty may be
urged as a valid objection. Personal liberty is a
natural right, and the freedom to exercise it is
one of the noblest achievements of the age. Each
man has a right to himself; to the results of his
mental and physical labors; to eat and drink and
rest; to pursue happiness. All this should be
conceded, and is. Yet there is not in all this
universe absolute liberty. The highest form of
personal liberty is bounded by the law of limitation. You can grow only so high. You can eat
only so much. You can sleep only so long. Conceding this, may we not enquire whether there is
not another law of limitation or a further limitation to this personal liberty-the law of Chris
tian self-denial which has its formal expression in
the Golden Rule," Whatsoeverye would that men
should do unto you, do ye even so to them: for
this is the law and the prophets"? And the same
thought is expressed in those words of Paul to
the Romans: "Let not your good be evil spoken
loS 
Temiperance a Dzity anId a Pleasure.
of." Doubtless, too much is often demanded of
Christian men. The world is hawk-eyed. It is
rigorously exacting.  Yet it is better to suffer
wrong than do wrong.  There are many things
innocent in themselves, but the true man prefers
to sacrifice them-to deny himself of that which,
though in itself innocent, may be abused by others,
and innocent pleasures be converted into criminal
passions. You and I have a fast horse; made for fleet
ness; made by the Almighty- and the Almighty
only can make a fast horse. WVe are on the same
road, and try their speed, whatever it may be-2.50
or 2.20. There is nothing wrong in that per se.
Those horses were made by the Creator for fleet ness, and what is more delightful than to ride be hind that noble creature? But young men ob serve us on the road; they propose to try their
Iest horses, and, in addition to the trial, bet a hundred dollars on the result. They transfer their
habits from the road to the race-course. and we
see before them the gambler's end. Self-denial,
philanthropy, magnanimity, should induce us to
forego our pleasure for the good of the others.
The same thing is true in regard to games of
chance. There is nothing wrong per se in our
playing a game of cards. But the habit may become an example to others who will abuse it.
Doubtless you and I could behold some tragedian
or comedian on the stage in some of the grand
creations of the Bard of Avon, and there would
be no sin in it per So, for God made Shakespeare
Io9 
110      Self-Dcenial for the Promotion of
and gave him his marvellous genius; and may
not the day come when men may behold these
things without deleterious results?  But take
the associations of the drama; the associations of
those connected with it, and their influence upon
society, and the good man foregoes the pleasure
that he may save others from consequences that
may be traced to the drama. It is a higher pleasure to know that by our self-denial we have saved
others from sin and death than to enjoy the pleasures of which we have denied ourselves. Perhaps the noblest question a man can put to himself is, "How may  I suffer and thereby save
others?" and he only has reached the true humanity who can answer that question by deeds
of philanthropy and self-sacrifice.
II. But let us look at the motives which should
induce you to this self-denial. Let us remember
that nothing great or good is accomplished in any
department of life without the practice of self
denial. Enter yon college, where are two young
men of equal endowments and equal promise.
Impatient of college restraint, preferring the
song,, the dance, the race, one lags in his studies,
and with difficulty receives his diploma. The
other is rarely seen where wit sparkles, beauty
glows, or fashion shines. Pale, thoughtful, studious, his clear eye is dreamy; visions of the future
rise up  before him.  Charmed with  the  languages, ne hopes one day to speak in other 
Temperance a Dilty and a Pleasure.
tongues, in which great men speak, in which
great thoughts are found; or before him are long
tables of figures, and he is now competing with
the older mathematicians for the prize of honor.
Or, like Bacon, he has marked out for himself a
new course of scientific investigation. This is the
difference between Bonaparte and Washington;
between Frederick the Great and John Howvard;
between Chesterfield and Sir Philip Sidney. Our
forefathers were British freemen. They could
have lived in comparative ease and freedom, but
they preferred to deny themselves wealth and
ease that they might achieve for us a better
civilization.
The Son of God enjoyed a glory with the
Father before the world was.  Enthroned in glory,
worshipped by angels, the Ruler of the universe,
he might have remained amid the beatitudes of
Paradise. But he laid aside his crown; he withdrew from the society of angels; he came to
earth "a man of sorrows and acquainted with
grief," to save a lost world.  "For ye know the
grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he
was rich, yet, for your sakes, he became poor,
that ye through his poverty might be rich "
(2 Cor. viii. 9).
Take the whole history of the world from
Adam to this day, and whatever has been attained
that is beautiful in art, beneficent in science, salutary in law, noble in charity, God-like in religion,
has been achieved by self-denial. Is the sparkling
II I 
I12       Self-Deiial for the Promotioin of
wine so sweet and the animating draught so fascinating that you cannot abandon them to save
millions from the drunkard's woes? You should
be prompted to this duty of self-denial by the
safety of yourself and your family. Some of you
may drink moderately through a long series of
years and not become confirmed inebriates. You
may be exceptional cases, but from your ranks
will go the majorities to swell the vast army of
drunkards.
The great massacre in Damascus, in I86o, in
which hundreds were slain and millions of property destroyed, had its origin in the quarrel of
two school-boys, one a Mohammedan, the other a
Christian. The great fire which a few years since
reduced to ashes the finest portion of Portland,
had its origin in the careless discharge of a firecracker thrown from the hand of a boy. Total
abstinence is the only safety of some-the sure
safety of all.  Every career of crime had its
starting-point in some small offence, and then the
career widened and lengthened like the Mississippi. - Every drunkard can retrace his life of sin
and shame back to TIlE FIRST GLASS.
According to Grecian mythology, Jupiter commanded Vulcan to make a beautiful woman, who
was dressed by Minerva, adorned with charms by
Venus, and endowed with a deceitful mind by
Mercury. In her hand she held a casket, beautiful without, but within were all the miseries of
mankind. When admitted among men she opened 
Temfperaizce a Duty and a Plcasure.
that fatal box, and forthwith stalked abroad, by
day as well as by night, all the maladies and woes
which now curse the human race. The first glass
is Pandora's casket, beautiful to look upon, but
within are health in ruins, hopes destroyed, affections crushed, prayer silenced, grief sitting on
the vacant seats of paternal care, of filial piety,
of brotherly love, of maternal devotion; crimes
of every name and hue, from broken vows to
ghastly murders; home deserted; prisons whose
horrid doors open inward; poverty and vice, twin
companions; shattered forms, tormented souls, a
cheerless grave, a burning hell, a dishonored life,
an offended God.
Where is woe? where is sorrow? where are
contentions? where are babblings? where  are
wounds without cause? where is redness or eyes?
In the FIRST GLASS!  O  parents! O  children!
touch not the first glass!
Be induced to this self-denial by the happiness
which will accrue thereby to society at large.
WVe shall infer the happiness by contemplating
the misery. Shall we call to our aid the sublime
science of numbers in forming our estimate of
this misery?  Statisticians, whose learning and.
research command our confidence, inform us that
in the United States there are not less than
133,000 places licensed to sell intoxicating liquors,
employing 390,000oo persons. And if to this number we add those engaged in the manufacture and
wholesale traffic, the total number  will reach
I I3 
114      Self-Denial for tke Promotion of
570,000oo persons, or one man to every 75 inhabi
tants. But the whole number of clergymen and
teachers in our land engaged in the benevolent
work of religion and education is only I50,000, or
about one-fourth the above number. It is esti
mated that the total cost of intoxicating liquors
used each year in our country is $700,000,000, to
which must be added $40,000,000 for criminals,
while the entire clergy of the country does not
cost $30,000,000. It is estimated that every year
intemperance sends to prison I00,000ooo persons,
reduces 200,000 children to worse than orphanage,
adds 6oo0,000ooo to the long list of drunkards, and
sends 6o,ooo citizens to premature graves.  It is
also estimated that while fewer women drink than
men, yet a larger proportion of those who do
drink become habitual drunkards. In New York,
within the last ten years, out of I33,000 persons
arrested for intoxication, 66,ooo were women!
Alas for a woman drunkard! How our thoughts
are roused to pity and our words to complain
when we think what might have been the result
to us if our mother, our wife, our daughter, our
sister had gone in the paths of intoxication!
Could I speak to women high in social position
to-day, and speak plainly, I would speak with
earnest emphasis. To me it is absolutely appalling as I mingle in society, here and elsewhere, to
see with what readiness those who are worthily
called ladies-called so from their virtue, their
intelligence, their education, their acknowledged 
Temnperance a Duty and a Pleasure.
refinement-drink the sparkling champagne when
"it stirreth itself in the cup."
O women! will you not lift your hands to heaven to-day, and swear that never in the future
shall the sparkling wine touch your lips; never
again shall your example be against total abstinence?
Intemperance is the scourge of the world.
There is no evil written in the long catalogue of
moral and political woes  attended with  more
harm to individuals or to society than inebriation.
Profanity, larceny, lying, murder, are the offspring
of intemperance. To substantiate this no elaborate argument is necessary; for the records of
our penitentiaries, the inscription on the solitary
prison wall written by the pen of time and the
ink of tears, and the pauper's grave, are all proofs
in support of  the allegation.  O  inebriation!
thou habit of folly, thou hast dimmed the brilliant
genius of the legislator, philosopher, and orator,
sealed the mouth of heaven-commissioned ambassadors, torn the royal diadem from the monarch's brow, and robbed the chieftain of his hardwon laurels.
But it would be more tolerable if the evils
resulting from this pernicious habit were confined
to the drunkard himself. Yet it is not so; for the
lovely and intelligent women of our land are the
victims of his misery. They drink in secret the
cup of sorrow to its dregs  and, while we co.mmiserate the condition of the unhappy man, let us
I 15 
I ]6     Self-Denial for the Promotion of
lift the curtain and behold the disconsolate, weep ing, heart-broken wife.  Perhaps he won her in
the morning of life, when the bloom of youth,
health, and sobriety glowed upon his cheek, and
the light of genius animated his bewitching coun tenance.  They went to the altar with hearts of
tenderness and love. Heaven smiled upon the
union. The happiness of her coming years lay
like an ocean of pearls and diamonds in the em brace of the future. Hope sat, like a bird of aus picious omen, high in the green leaves of fancy,
and poured into her bosom the sweet harmony of
a terrestrial elysium. But her husband, in an unsuspected hour, forgets his bridal pledge. The
sparkling bowl of friendship steals upon the
hours of domestic enjoyment; his noble nature
yields to the bright eyes of the charmer; and,
alas, he becomes, step by step, a daily drunkard.
What scenes follow?  Night after night finds him
in the midst of his family brimful with spirits
and passions; his wife meets him with a trembling
hand, an aching heart, and a tearful eye; his dear
children retreat from corner to corner as if an
evil spirit had made its appearance; and even his
faithful dog skulks away with the growl of anticipated blows.   The little homestead becomes
the theatre of family broils and angry blows, and
neither his wife nor his children are secure from
the fury of his drunken madness. Wihere the
sacred anthem should bear aloft the sweet music
of the family, the wild song of the drunkard is 
Temiperance a Duly a;zd a Pleasuzre.
chanted to the impious orgies of vice. Where the
grateful breath of prayer like incense should waft
to heaven their wants and woes, he pours forth a
torrent of curses upon their devoted heads.
Where the holy Bible should spread its banquet
of wisdom and love, he opens the tablets of a
heart on which are written the history of wretch edness and woe.
Who does not shudder at this mournfuil pic ture of desolation and ruin?  But mark  the
condition of his wife; the cries of her half-clad,
starving children ring in her ears daily, and the
hectic flush of premature death dries up her
briny tears as they trickle down her cheeks; her
heart is a little city of ruins-hope, pride, fortune,
and happiness, all have departed; and even while
she binds up his wounds, his gross ingratitude
sends keenest pangs to her heart. While she
sheds tears of sympathy over his wayward conduct, his cruel treatment freezes them into icedrops before they reach his bosom.   While she
would entwine her affections around him as the
virgin bowers enfolds tie sturdy oak, his swelling
anger and feverish passions snap the gentle cords
and spurn her proffered tenderness. But still the
doting wife gra,sps the hand that withers her
hopes of earthly happiness, and leans tenderly
upon that cheek that consumes the sweetness of
her youth, her health, her beauty. But why are
these things so?  Why this self-ruin and  selfdegradation? Why this prodigality and penury?
1I7 
Self-Dcnial for the Promotion of
Wihy this personal and domestic suffering and
misery? I answer these interrogations calmly.
Intemperance is supported and perpetuated by
fashion and law. Fashion-criminal, nefarious,
diabolical fashion-sanctions with its unknown
power moderate drinking.  In this cold world
whatever is fashionable is right. No matter how
injurious to health, corrupting to morals, or molesting to society the practice may be, if it is only
fashionable, it is all right. It is fashionable to
drink that social glass; hence, people think they
must drink. But let the world remember that in
our splendid saloons and fashionable circles the inebriate's career begins, and that Bacchus manufactures drunkards out of moderate drinkers.
This is but a mere outline of the picture of the
great scourge, which picture, in the fulness of
awful detail, God alone can paint. What, then,
is the logical, philosophical conclusion, founded
on truth and common sense? It is this: That the
race can be saved from these woes by the selfdenial of the higher classes of society; it is, that
total abstinence is the safety of all; that, whilst
some who moderately drink may escape inebriety,
yet total abstinence will be the safeguard, not
only of them, but the safeguard of all. Then, in
sentiment with that glorious man, St. Paul, let us
say, "If wine make my brother to offend, I will
drink no wine while the world standeth."  Doing
this, you may be imitators of him who, though
II8 
emperance a Dutty and a Pleasure.
he was rich, became poor, that we through his
poverty might be made rich.
It awaits your decision. Recall the self-denial
of Christ for the benefit of mankind, then follow
his example.
II9  
THE CHURCH AND TEMPERANCE.
BY JOHN W. MEARS, D.D.
TExT-Ecclesiastes i. 5; Revelartion xxi. S.
"'That which is crooked cannot be made straight: and that which is want
ig cannot be numbered."
~' And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And
he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful."
OR a period very closely corresponding with
that of the division of the Presbyterian
Church in America, the struggle against intemperance upon the principle of total abstinence has
been going forward.  It was at Saratoga, in I836,
that the American Temperance Union took its
stand upon that principle, and from that date we
count the more than thirty years' war for national, social, legal, and ecclesiastical reform in the
use of intoxicating drinks. In this era of church reunion, reconstruction, and revision, when the humble enquiry, "Lord,'what wilt thou have me do?"
is rising \vith fresh interest and earnestness from
millions of reconsecrated sotl Is, it seems proper to
notice the coincidence of dates, and to glance at
the relation of the Temperance cause to the church,
aied to enquire what may be our duty in this particular juncture, as officers and members of a
branch of ChrisLt's church, always among the most 
7Tone Clhiurche ani  7fc;iipcarazcc.
inifluential, but now assuming a position of eminence and responsibility before the public more
exalted than ever. Besides, the fluctuations in the
history of the Temperance reformation have beei
so great and so far from encouraging that just at
this time there has arisen, in the minds of the great
mass of persons favorable to the reform, the conviction that permanent success and a final triumph of
its principles must be looked for from the active
co-operation of the church of Christ alone. Out
side organizations,  Washingtonian  movements,
pledges, public meetings, restrictive legislation,
the example of public men, the distribution of an
appropriate literature, secret beneficial societies,
have had their place, and have done their work
with greater or less efficiency, and most of them
still remain among the accredited agencies of the
reform. But none of them, nor all of them together, have been found able, after a generation
of experiment, to achieve the work for which they
were put in operation. I\More than ten years ago,
Temperance men acknowledged themselves to have
suffered a "Waterloo defeat," and since the time
of that utterance, especially ~uring the war, the
state of things became even worse; and now,.although we have unquestionably made up some of
the lost ground, have recovered from the panic,
which we now see to have been rather discreditable, have infused financial strength into our national publishing operations, and are resuming our
efforts at thorough legislative reform, and have
secured the cordial and zealous co-operation or
I'-! 2 
The Cliurch  and Temperance.
silent example of men in the highest political and
military positions in the state and nation; yet the
evil of intemperance is still so monstrous and so
rampant; the reaction from the earlieradvances
of the cause is still so marked even in respect able society; the work to be done is so vast, that
the minds of men are turning, in a kind of despair,
in this direction for means of successfully carrying
on the Temperance reform. The appeal is made
with unusual  emphasis to the  church.   More
plainly than ever, it is felt that the fate of the Temperance reform is to be decided here. The great
advocates of the movement knock at her doors, and
wait in her courts to learn the doom of their
cause.
"That which is crooked cannot be made
straight: that which is wanting cannot be numbered." Coarse animal appetite, backed by covetousness and played upon by gambling politicians, is too
strong for them. They turn to that kingdom which
is not meat and drink, but righteousness and peace
and joy in the Holy Ghost; they look to the society
founded by the world's Redeemer, who maketh all
things new; they recognize in the church those
spritual and supernatural powers, by the side of
which their pledges and orders and degrees and
mysteries are the mere clap-trap of nature's jour
neymen, nine hundred and ninety-nine of whom
cannot mniake or remake a man.
Hon. Henry  Wilson, in a recent newspaper
article, speaking of the importance of enlisting the
American people more generally in the Temper
I23 
I24        The Clizirch anzd Temperance.
ance cause, says: " Can it be done? If so, how?
In my judgment, there is but one way in which
this great result can be reached.   THE CHURCH
MUST TAKE UP THE MATTER.  It must become one
of the living issues of the moral warfare in which
it is engaged."
We believe this appeal is fairly taken.  We believe the specific work and objects of the Temperance reform may be reckoned as among the legitimate concerns of the church in our day. We
believe that there is a responsibility resting upon
the church for the success of the Temperance cause
which has been but partially met.  We believe
that the failure in carrying any great moral reform
points naturally to the great instrumentality for
man's good on the earth; and the appeal of men in
despair of other means to the church is not more
a compliment than a serious charge of dereliction
iR the actual performance of its duty; and while
it is clear that in every stage of the Temperance
movement the ministry, members, and newspaper
organs of the church have been its most efficient
allies, and that at all times the cause has depended
upon these for whatever measure of success it has
enjoyed, nevertheless, we believe the church. is
disposed at this time to reconsider the whole
question; to take enlarged views of her own responsibilities; to acknowledge frankly her shortcomings; to gird herself anew for the work, and
thus to respond to the appeal in this critical period
of the cause.
In arguing, therefore, that the church should
I 
lte Chluzrch and Tecmperance.
maintain and advance upon her present position
on Temperance, reckoning it more positively
among the objects of her stated and regular activi ty, and not contenting herself with judicial deliverances or with occasional sermons, I maintain:
First. That the ground of the Temperance reform is that of the plain requirements of Scripture.
It is not based upon results of the highest merely
human wisdom. Its roots are not in the vague
aspirations of the unrenewed heart. It does not
belong to the brood of ideas generated in the
brains of mere philosophers and social philanthropists, such as communism, abolition of capital
punishment, and woman suffrage. It is a thoroughly Christian and Scriptural idea. The ground
has long ago been cleared of misapprehension in
the view of intelligent believers.  We do not rest
the Temperance reform on such arguments as are
ascribed to it by one of the highest literary authorities in the country ("Appleton's Cyclopedia"):
"The demand for prohibition, according to its
advocates, logically rests on the assumption that
alcohol is essentially poison-precisely as arsenic,
opium, and nicotine are poisons-that the difference between wine and brandy, beer and gin, is.
one of degree merely, not of kind, at least so far as
poison is concerned. They also argue in support
of their positions that a4cohol is a product of vegetable decay and dissolution, and hence necessarily
hurtful; that there can be no temperate use of it
as a beverage any more than there can be temperate theft, adultery, or murder; that if much strong
:125 
The Church and Tem-perance.
drink does great harm; a little weak alcohol drink
must do some harm; and that there can be no
temperate use of such beverages but their total
disuse."
That some temperance men regard these extreme positions as fundamental, we do not question.
Nor do we intend to deny their correctness: we
only express our strong doubt whether they can
be maintained from the Word of God with such
clearness as to put them among the axioms of
Christian duty. The Christian church may not
commit herself to them as established guides of
her conduct. We cannot take the extreme position that the use of all intoxicating drinks as beverages would be, under all circumstances, and
absolutely, a sin; or that the Scripture anywhere
absolutely condemns all such use of them as a sin,
or anywhere enjoins total abstinence from intoxicating drinks as a duty. We do not hold it
necessary even to prove that the Bible nowhere
allows the use of strong drink as a beverage. We
do not think it indispensable to show, as has not
unfrequently been attempted, that the score of
passages in the Bible which seem to approve of
the use of wine do not approve of it. There is
more or less of what we might call exegetical
finesse in these interpretations. They may be correct, but we cannot afford to put the whole stress
of our cause upon them. Without doubt, the
weight of the specific passages of Scripture on the
subject is enormously on the side of total abstinence. And a careful and scholary enquiry may
126 
The ChIurchb aid 7meiperance.
yet make it clear that " there is not a single passage
in the Bible that contains an explicit approbation
of intoxicating wine" (Ritchie: "Scripture Testi mony," page 1 5 5). But there is no need of waiting
for a final settlement of this point; not a whit
more than in getting a Scriptural position against
slavery, polygamy, or the dancing and worldly
amusements of modern society.
The argument that touches the rock of duty and
that remains immovable, whatever becomes of the
others, is the grand and most Christian principle
of self-sacrifice for the good of our neighbor, the
lawv of Christian charity to the weak. It is Christlike condescension to man, to society, in a state of
great moral necessity. Paul, the great casuist of
the new dispensation, has announced the principle
in the fourteenth of Romans: "It is good neither
to eat flesh nor to drink wine, nor anything whereby thy brother stumbleth, or is offended, or made
weak;" and again, in I Cor. viii.: "If meat make
my brother to offend, I will eat no flesh while the
world standeth, lest I make my brother to
ofifend."
The application of this rule to the evil of intemperance is perfectly easy -id universal.  Those
who question or deny every other position taken
by temperance men, must feel the force of this.
Alcohol may or may not be poison.  Any use of
alcoholic drinks may ormay not be sinful. But the
enormous evils flowing from their use or misuse
are among the everyday facts of our life.  The
weakness of the mass of men under the appetite for
127 
The Czhurch and Temperance.
strong drink is a settled physiological principle.
No matter, according to Paul, how strong we feel
ourselves to be, and no matter how silly and weak
our brother may appear in our eyes, we are bound
for example's sake to deny ourselves of meat as
well as drink, " while the world standeth," in
order to avoid all responsibility for the fall and destruction of our brother, and to promote his welfare as a mnoral and spiritual being.
In the case mentioned by Paul, the offence arises
from a morbid imagination and an oversensitive
conscience. Eating meat offered to idols was altogether an artificial sin. But lest a weak brother
should be led even into such a sin, Paul enlljoined
abstinence from the practice of eatingi meat offered
to idols on the part of those who, like himself, knew
that an idol is nothing in the world. But here is
danger of a sinful excess of the worst sort. \We
are asked to practise and proclaim the Pauline
principle of total abstinence, not to save a brother,
as he proposed, from the evil results of a foible, but
to rescue him from his downward path to a dishonored life, a grave of infamy, and a dreadful hell;
to avert the doom of drunkenness from a rising
generation  to bind up innumerable wounds and
bruises and putrefying sores of the body politic,
and to uphold the dominion of reason and of truth
in the church and the world. The Bible, indeed,
contains no explicit rule of total abstinence, simply
because its law of charity is far wider than that
laid down by the advocates of temperance alone.
We must abstain from c-,erthziizg that can give
I26 
The Cizurch  and Temiperance.
serious offence. We must array the whole force of
our example in the support of our weak and tempted brother; we must enter upon a life-long course
of self-denial, if necessary to his substantial interests. Do not jeopardize the souls for whom Christ
died for the sake of a little tickling of the palate
or glow of the nerves. If we are not, in so many
words, commanded to organize total abstinence
societies and to establish the principle of total abstinence in social and church life, we certainly have
a Scriptural charter covering the whole ground
on which such movements stand.  And  we may
rightly hold that the total abstinence movement
of modern times is as truly a legitimate outgrowth
of Christianity as the movement for the abolition
of slavery, beginning with Clarkson and Wilberforce and ending in the proclamation of the Fifteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the
United States, although no such phrase as "human
rights" is found from one end to the other of the
Bible.
There is an objection to the direct and active
interest of the church, as such, in the temperance
movement, which still has weight with not a few.
It is supposed to conflict with the spiritual character
and object of the church. We aim, it is argued,
at the conversion of men; at the implanting of a
wholly new principle of living through the power
of the Holy Spirit. The Temperance reform, and,
indeed, moral reform in general, treats only of specific sins, which are but symptoms of the real malady.  Why distract the church in dealing with
t29 
The Churchi and  Teiimperance.
the malady itself, by your quackery about the symp.
toms? Do you not see that, if you once truly convert the man, you have morally reformed him, and
that conversion is the only real and lasting moral
reform after all?
WVe answer, that while the church on earth, in
its supreme and final objects, is certainly spiritual
in its character, it is not and cannot be a pure spiritual institution. It is partly human, partly divine.
It is for man as he is, mind and body, belonging to
time and to eternity. It is adapted to the facts of
man's condition as a sinner, and as suffering for
his sins. It contemplates sin as an evil and a curse
as well as a crime. It pours out its Godlike sympathies and blessings on the suffering men and
societies whom it does not specifically labor to
convert. Surely it is safe for the churchl to mould
its policy in accordance with the example of its
divine Master.   And howv large a part of his recorded activity was directed to alleviating the
woes of mankind! Iowv he confronted sin as an
evil with the majesty of his miracle-working power,
often without even so muchl as hinting at his high.
er calling as the physician of the soul.  And the
prophetic description of the last judgmcenit, with
the Son of Mani sitting on the throne of his glory,
shows in a remarkable mannier how closely he wvill
hold his people accountable for a failure to carry
out his own beneficent policy to a suffering world.
And the church has never failed to recognize her
duty of charity to the poor and suffelriing. It has
not been held to be enoLugh even that her elders
110 
The Chzziuci and Yepcrance.
and deacons should dispense the charitable contributions of the members. Organizations must be
formed within and about tl)he churches more effectuially to meet these specific wants, and no one
!i,ts foi)Lid fault with them as inconsistent with the
s,)iritual aims or internal completeness and sufficiency of the church for all its legitimate work.
What is the difference in principle between
making a sewing society for the poor a part of
the regular work of the church and establishing
a weekly church Temperance meeting? If either
of the two is shallow  and remote from the profound idea of the church, it must be the effort for
the relief of the poor-; for the Temperance movement strikes at the root of thlree-fourths of the
poverty to which your Dorcas societies are but
salves and poultices that must be renewed every
season at least.  In fact, direct relief is the least
satisfactory of all charity to the poor. It is often
waste and mischief combined-money worse than
thrown away.  The true relief to an individual
and a neighborhood is to raise their character, to
r,-nove their bad habits, to put them in the way
ol valuing and diligently using their opportunities
of gaining a living. And almost the highest manifestation of the benevolent spirit of the Master
towards the poor which the church in our day
can give is to engage in active efforts to promote
the Temperance reform.
But it is asked, Why should the church make a
distinction among the evils and sins of the times?
Are there not others abroad in the land equally
131 
132         The Cliurchi and Temiperance.
demanding herzeal? Are not corruption and fraud
practised on a gigantic scale, making a mockery
of legislation, and converting business of almost
every kind into mere gambling? Are they not
"poisoning the very fountains of business morals in
the metropolis of our country?" (Spalding's tract,
"Rational Temperance"); and have not legislators almost ceased to blush at the imputation of
bribery, or to deem it longer necessary to hide the
hand that receives the price of their influence?
WVe answer, that the sin and evil of fraud and corruption are too clear to need special denunciation.
They are against the plainest statutes and letter
of the moral code. The position of the church
in regard to them has never been doubtful. Her
testimony is explicit and unwavering. Tlhere is
no question of Christian expediency here. It is
one of the radical and open violations of knogwn
fundamental  law.  Besides,  the  sin  and  its
results, although enormous, are comparatively
subtle; they cannot easily be attacked by that
class of personal efforts which we understand by
moral reform. But intemperance is quickly fol.
lowed by such a train of gross evils; it is so de..
structive of reason, so crippling to the right exercise of the faculties in the daily walk of life; it-so
ravages the bodily system, shattering the nerves,
draining the vital force, arresting the natural processes, and exposing the system to every form of
disease and to premature and disgraceful death;
it so robs a man of the respect of himself and
neighbors; it so quickly hurls him into poverty 
The ChziurcJ  and Temperance.
and disgrace; it opens the pores of his moral
system so widely to every kind of criminal soli citation; it gives him such a pre-eminence-almost
a monopoly-of our police and criminal courts,
prisons, gallows, poor-houses, and lunatic asylums;
it makes him such a vast charge upon our pockets
in the shape of taxes; it makes him the centre
of such pestilent, lrwv-defying, Sabbath-breaking
traffic; it bands hill. and his associates into such a
powerful and dangerous element in politics, that it
has become THE curse of our time, the demon that is
to be cast out of modern society. And the church,
which sees her relations to bribery and fraud in
the light of the eighth commandment, must see her
duty towards intemperance in the light of the law
of charity, which covers all the commandments in
the Second Table of the law. In a word, it is the
use of a beverage which narcotizes the moral sensibilities and the intellect, and which stimulates the
sensual brute nature of man, which dislodges him,
for the time being, from his position as made a
little lower than the angels, which removes and
defaces the image of God in his soul, and turns the
temple of the Holy Ghost into a lodging-place of
demons; it is this enemy put into the mouth, which.
steals away brain and heart alike, that we may
well summon the church of our day to aid in
overthrowing, by special means anci activities.
\We challenge every other specific form of vicious
indulgence, or openly wrong practice, or accessible
evil that afflicts the children of men, to match such
a record as the followiing: "The annual amount of
I 3 31 
The Chzirch abz! 7ezmperance.
fermented and distilled liquors used in the United
States would fill a canal four feet deep, fourteen
feet wide, and one hundred and twenty miles long.
The places where intoxicating drinks are made
and sold in this country, if placed in direct lines,
would make a street one hundred miles long. If
all the victims of the rum traffic were gathered
before our eyes, we should see a thousand funerals
a week from their number. [Think of twvo-thirds
of the city of Philadelphia furnishing one thotusand funerals a week!] Placed in a procession five
abreast, the drunkards of America wvould form an
army one hundred miles long, with a suicide occurring in every mile.  Every hour in the night the
heavens are lighted with the incendiary torch of
the drunkard. Every hour in the day the earth is
stained with the blood of drunken assassins.  See
the great American army of inebriates, more than
half a million strong, marching on to sure and
swift destruction, filing off rapidly into the poorhouses and prisons and up to the scaffold, and yet
the ranks are constantly recruited from the moderate drinkers!  \Tho can compute the fortunes
squandered, the hopes crushed, the hearts broken,
the homes made desolate by drunkenness?" "
If, again, it be objected that total abstinenceand
prohibition are extreme measures; that the temperance of the Bible is moderation, not abstention;
that the misuse of an object is no good ground for
setting it aside altogether; that the Christian is
one who of all others has a right to rational enjoy.
ment, and may expect divine aid in the moderate
l.')4 
Tze Clziuich atd Temperanrce.
use of every good; in fine, that true reform, by
divine grace, should make a man capable of manly
self-control, and that little or nothing is gailed for
the character by abstaining from that which a man
ought rather to be able to use in moderation, we
can only answer by pointing to facts.  Moderation
has been tried long ago and found wanting.  The
fascination of strong drink is too great; the phlysiological effects of alcohol in creating a morbid
thirst and craving, futrious and insatiable as a wild
beast, are too well ascc!'tained.  Whatever may
have been the case in Bible lands and eras, whatever may be the case in otherI countries to-day, in
America the downward way of the drinker from
moderation to excess is too steep and slippery to
allow the trifling of moderate indulgence.  It is a
whirlpool, which  draws in swift and dreadful
sweep from the outermost circle to the central
abyss. The alcoholic drinks of our day are so far
from being the genuine juice of the grape or the
product of noble grains and fruits, that they might
well have come from the caldron of Mlacbeth's
witches. "Deacon Giles's Distillery" was a healthyl
place, and the scene of an honest traffic, compared
with the enormities of fraud, adulteration, and poisoning now going on under the name of liquor
manufacture, even among the vineyards of California and Ohio, as well as in cellars hidden under
coffin warehouses in Brooklyn. A worse sort of
devils than those which wrote " Death and Damnation" upon the drinks of forty years ago, are
employed in producing the horrid mixtures of
135 
Thle Church and Teipcrance.
to-uay, whlich find their way to our sick-chambers
and even spread their unwholesome ftilmes around
our communion tables.  Do not talk of moderation
in the use of these vile compounds;  give us a
tincture of arsenic at once, and call it by its right
name of poison. Into the question of a moderate
use of a possible pure alcoholic drink we cannot
now enter.  It is not before us.  Such an article
can hardly be said to have an ascertainable commercial existence. As well attempt to argue about
the propriety of a Christian attending in moderation upon pure dramatic or operatic representations; such things do not exist in any degree sufficient to become a real element in a question of
duty; and if they did-if pure liquors and dramatic
entertainments wvere an appreciable item of traffic
and amusement, they are so sure to become the
snare and ruin of others that, even granting ourselves to be entirely clear of peril, it is our Clristian duty, under the principle already referred to
as laid down by Paul, to turn our backs upon
thieatre-going and wine-drinking, and to set the
whole force of our example as total abstainers upon
Christian principle against such perilous practices.
And if the objector persists in saying: There. are
terrible excesses and frauds in business, there is
endless corruption in politics and legislation, there
are wrongs of the sorest kind in the family relation
-following in the line of total abstinence and prohibition, we must abolish business, shut up our legislative halls, and break up the family relations-we
answer: The cases are in vwholly different spheres,
136 
The Chur.ichi and Temperance.
and not amenable to the same laws of procedure.
Show us that we can dispense with business, law,
and the family as readily as with a mere matter
of indulgence; put, if you can, the fundamental,
indispensable arrangements of society uponi the
same footing with just one of the thousand ways
in which we may gratify appetite, and which, if
denied, would leave nine hundred and ninety-niine
others open to us; rank the use of initoxicating
drinks as in dignity and importance comparable
with business, with law, and with the family institution, and you may well imagine that you have
put a barrier in the way of church action for its
abolition, and raised a great argument for the
effort simply to correct its abuses.
The argument is too idle, not to' say wicked, to
be put into shape.  Yet we fear that there are
those in and out of the church acting, or refusing
to act, with a secret feeling that total abstinence
anrd prohibition belong to revolutionary measures;
and perhaps in the ministry there are those who
would hold back the church from the charitable
Pauline policy of total abstinence, pretty much as
they would hold it back from an assault on the
social structure itself to rid it of its abuses. WVhat
an amazing, unwarrantable, unscriptural exaggeration of the value of a single animal indulgence!
MIan's capacity of enjoyment through strong drink
is to be reckoned among the sacred privileges of
his being which the church dare not invade!
Just the reverse of all this is the true view of the
case.   In issuing her rule of total abstinence,
137 
aThe Churchz andf Tomncraince.
the church would be acting in that well-recognized sphere of morals comprehended in keeping
the body under.   It is in this very  region of
appetite and indulgence that the Christian's first
opportunities of self-denial and cross-bearing are
found.  So far from appetite and habit being privileged, we know that they are the strongholds
of self and of sin; and if a monstrous, soul-destroying, and inevitable abuse is connected with
some one appetite which can show no special reason for indulgence save the very universality that
makes it so terrible, is not that just the very spot
on which to lay the cross of absolute self-denial?
Against that should not the church feel specially
summoned to direct its most energetic and radical
opposition? Do not Christian integrity and fidelity
require the church to take the ground of total abstinence against so worldly, so selfish, so carnal, so
perilous a course to one's self and others as the
use of alcoholic drinks in any degree or form?
Mlay she not arm herself with the words of inspi
r-ation, and cry: "Look not thou upon the Wvine
when it is red, when it giveth his color in the cup,
lwhen it rmoveth itself aright.  At  the last, it
biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an adder."
To give a more practical turn to our discourse,
let us for a few moments enquire what there is that
she church can do, more particularly at the present
juncture, to promote the Temperance reformation.
Not forgetting the great service it.has already
rendered, by sermons and addresses from the pulpit, and by the zeal of many of its members. and not
1 3 Is 
The Chzirch  and Temperance.
doubting for a mnoment that the degree to wvhich
the principle of total abstinence has gained a lodg ment in the moral convictions of the community
is almost wholly due to the church, we are yet
brought to a point where we may be conscious of
grave omissions and of more serious responsibilities
than ever.  We have done much.  We have lifted
the ponderous pillar from the ground. Christian
and moral persons in the community, joining their
efforts, have nearly straightened it upon its base.
The ropes seem to be taut; the last possible turn
has been given to the windlass; yet the column
slants and bears heavily upon its su'pports. Some thing remains to be done without which all our
past efforts will be in vain.  It may be just the
simple act of wettii,f- the ropes that is needed, and
with that slight additional strain the work may be
completed; the shaft may swing upright, and sink
firmly into its place.  Oh! that the dews of the
Holy Spirit may fall upon all our Temperance machiniery.  It is for these that we wait.  This will
bring our work to a joyful completion.   With
diffidence, and in the way of mere suggestion, we
propose such measures as the following:
I. Let the individual church constitute itself in
some definite form a Temperance organization, so
tha*. its whole character, influence, and activity
shall be publicly upon the side of total abstinence.
Let regular Temperance meetings be held tinder
the guidance of officers of the church, to which as
much care shall be given as to any other weekly
service.  Let the reclamation of drunkards and
139 
Thze Chlurch and Temperance.
the conversion of moderate drinkers, and tile
pledging of the community to a policy of total
abstinence, be recognized as regular parts of
church work.   My hearers are aware that this
plan has been thoroughly tested in some quarters
of our church, particularly in the largest church
connected with our body, and the largest Presbyterian church  in America-that  of Lafayette
Avenue, Brooklyn, Rev. Dr. Cuyler, pastor. Of
this, Dr. Cuyler writes in a recent newspaper
article:
"In this church (Lafayette Avenue, Brooklyn),
we have had for several years a prosperous society,
which is as fully recognized by the church as is its
Sabbath-school. It numbers several hundreds of
members, and affiliated with it is a Band of Hope
among the Sabbath-school children. It has a very
simple constitution and by-laws, a zealous president
and secretary, a treasurer, and a dozen members
of an executive committee. The only title to
membership is a signature of the total abstinence
pledge.  Public meetings are held during the fill
and winter in the church, and attractive music is
always provided. Vast audiences have been addressed by such men as Mr. Beecher, Newman
Hall, Mr. Greeley, Gov. Buckingham, Dr. John
Hall, William E. Dodge, Mr. Gough, Mr. Barnum, Dr. Jewett, and many other powerful advocates of the reform. The expenses are met by a
public collection at each meeting; and, with the
exception of Mr. Gough's lectures, tickets are
never sold at the door.  At the close of each
140 
The Ch~urcli and Tempiera;zce.
meeting the pledge is circulated.  This is a vital
feature in all effective Temperance work."
One of the best-appointed churches in the Fourth
Presbytery (Buttonwood Street, Dr. Shepherd's)
has carried on a similar movement, with entire
success, for eighteen months past, having secured
a thousand signers to the pledge in the first
twelve months, including some most affecting in stances of reformation. At the meeting, April 8,
although the pastor and the elder who manage
the meetings were both, for the second time, absent
from sickness, the lecture-room was full, the services were deeply interesting, and a dozen or more
new signatures to the pledge  were obtained.
Other churches in our own and other denominations are engaged in the work on the same
general plan, and the results thus far warrant us
in predicting the most extensive overturning that
intemperance and the rum traffic have experienced
since the early days of the Reformation, as a result of the general adoption of such a line of policy
by the great body of the Evangelical churches.
2. The church  might  considerably  clear itX
position and strengthenl its influence on the subject, by banishing from the communion table the
wretched article of commerce called wine; and,
indeed, by refusing to employ anything but the
pure unfermented juice of the grape at that most
solemn service. It cannot be doubted that there
arc real perils to not a few persons connected
with any use of alcoholic drinks, any and everywhere, including- the Lord's table.  Cases have
141 
The Cizuirch  antc  7emnperance.
occurred, and are occurring, of reformed drinkers, whose appetite still lingers like a chained but
chafing wild beast, which the first taste may set
free in all its original wildness, and who dare
scarcely smell the cup as it passes. WVe cannot
see how any church, thoroughly pledged to the
Temperance reform, can continue to subject themi
to this ordeal, or keep them away from the communion table. And if it is urged that our Saviour
must have used a fermented article at the institution of the Eucharist, we reply, that in using
leavened bread, the modern church has for mere
convenience departed from the precise form of
the original ordinance; why, then, for an object
of far higher importance, refuse to make anothei
change as little affecting the essence of the observance as in the other case? She does not hesitate to introduce leaven into the bread; why may
she not withdraw the same principle from the
wine? But, further, we think it quite unlikely
that there was any fermented principle in either
of the articles used by our Saviour at the Lor-d's
Supper. That Supper is founded on the Jewvish
Passover, andl the religious and rigid exclusion of
ferment fromn the bread used on that occasion
would naturally be extended to the wine, when
that, in process of time, came to be added to the
feast.  It was, we should suppose, just as improper to use leaven, "the symbol of corruption," in
drink, as in food. (Thayer.) At all events, the
almost universal custom of modern Jews, as we
read (Thayer), is to exclude fermcntecl wine from
142
i 
The ChzurcIh  and  Tcii'pcirance.
their celebration of the Passover. And in the
words of institution of the Lord's Supper it is
noticeable that "wine" does not occur.  The
word "cup" appears in its place, and our Saviour
speaks not of drinking wine, but of drinking the
fruit of the vine, new in his Father's kingdonm.
The unfermented juice of the grape might well
enough be designated by this general language.
There is nothing, then, in the requirement of the
original institution which would oblige the mosrigid literalist to use fermented liquor at the
Lord's Supper; why, then, make that blessed ordinance a possible occasion of stumbling to anv,
which ought to be one of the highest edification.
In the strong language of Dr. Duffield: "Shall
the cup of salvation become the cup of damnation
-shall the cup of the Lord be made identical'
with that of devils?" Until the church guards
effectually against the possibility of such a profanatio-n, she fails in a most conspicuous manner
to give her whole influence upon the side of Temperance.
Finally, the whole church of Christ should be
recognized as a solid pledged body against the
use of all that intoxicates.  She alone is the true
inimortal order for the redemption of man, soul
and body.  Why should she hold a lower moral
position than the human orders around her? She
ought to point to man standing on the slippery
places of appetite, the true path of entire self
denrial. Crucified herself to the lusts of the flesh,
purified from carnal and worldly compliance, with
I43 
T The Chiur-ck azid Tc,mpcirance.
the light of a saintly heroism on her brow, she
should stretch forth her hand to rescue the perishing. \Vith a weary sense of the inefficiency of
all merely human means of staying the misery, the
woe, the wretchedness, the heaven-daring crime,
and the frightful waste of intemperance, the
orders and societies and public men and press of
the land are turning to the church. WVith her is
the residue of the Spirit. The dreadful hardness
of men's hearts, the immeasurable power of their
appetities, the cruel tyranny of custom, the insatiableness and uscrupulousness of avarice have defied all lesser assaults.  The monster is abroad
again, with half-a-million yearly victims in our
own country alone in his train. The accursed
traffic is thriving, melting the hard earnings of
the poor into a lava-stream of desolation. The
foundations of our political life are honeycombed
by the sottishness of a large part of our wirepulling and office-seekiing politicians, who control
the situation.  Laws regulating the traffic are
defied. Women are not merely claiming  man's
right to vote, but exercising what heretofore has
been man's privilege-to drink to inebriety away
from home.  The very structure of society trem.
bles. The church, God's chosen instrument foi
man's regeneration, must take order to meet the
emergency.  She is come to the kingdom  for
such a time as this. WVoe unto her if help arises
from another quarter, and if the unbelieving
world can strengthen itself in the opinion that
man can got r-id of his worst evils in spite of the
144 
The  CuttrchI  and  Temperance.
indifference or open opposition of a blind and
conservative church! On the contrary, we believe
that all Christian grace will be multiplied; all
Christian life will be animated, joyful, and effective; and all converting influences will be granted,
in those churches which throw  themselves with
generous enthusiasm into this wide and needy
field of Christian effort.
I45  
THE ACTIVE PITY OF A QUEEN'*
(Re.orted for tie ocielty by IVilliamn A nderson.)
"For how can I endure to see the evil that shall come unto my people?
or how can I endure to see the destruction of my people?"-ESTHER 8: 6.
HE  portion of God's WVord to which, in con    nection with the subject of Christian temperance, I propose to call your attention this afternoon, is in the Book of Esther, the eighth chapter.
WVe had better read from the fourth verse: "So
Esther arose, and stood before the king, and said.
If it please the king, and if I have found favor in
his sight, and the thing seem right before the king,
and I be pleasing in his eyes, let it be written to
reverse the letters devised by Haman the son of
Hammedatha the Agagite, which he wrote to
destroy tihe Jews which are in all the king's provinces: for how can 1 endure to see the evil that
shall come unto my people? or how can I endure
to see the destruction of my kindred?"
In conversing with a brother minister, in Canada, during the summer, upon the subject of
preaching on temperance, he mentioned this text
to me as one upon which he had preached. It
* This sermon is printed from a very admirable report, and not from the
preacher's manuscript, a circumstance which accounts for its colloquial style.
J.  1.
o -o 
Thle Active Pity of a Qzeen.
has many times been present to my mind since
then, and I gladly take the opportunity of being
invited by our National Society to bring this matter before the people, to introduce the whole subject
in connection with the sentiment of the verses that
I have now read.
One cannot preach from this Book of Esther
without glancing at some of the peculiarities of
the book itself.  The word-critics have been at
work upon the book, applying to it the child's
test of a proper Sunday book, and, not finding the
namne of God in it, they have been ready to question its inspiration. The fact that there has been
such an imputation as this is sufficient reason for
our ascertaining what can be said upon the sub
ject. We should all of us know what is to be
thought generally in relation to the authority of
this book, because, although we may be a long
way on this side of sheer unbelief, yet we may
have such a feeble belief, accompanied by so many
misgivings, that it shall have but little power in
regulating our conduct; and we could not have
very much confidence in speaking or in hearing
words about the authority of which there is some
doubt in the mind at the beginning.
When we look at this book in itself, it has certain
peculiarities that attract the attention. It is, for example, a very faithful transcript of the general habit
and character of Eastern rulers and of Persian
courts; and, in this respect, it is thoroughly borne
out by all that we know regarding those kings and
courts from other sources. In so far it is confirmed
in every detail that it touches by profane histo
T48 
T1le Active Pity of a Quteen.
rians, and although the lights we have from his tory on this period are comparatively dim and
obscure, yet, so far as they do shed any light, it is
of such a kind as to increase our confidence in the
statements of this book. The style of the book is
substantially the same as that which we have in
Ezra, the Chronicles, and other books written
about the time which it purports to have been
written.  It has just sufficient flavor of the lan guage of the Chaldee and Persian to suggest to us
that the book was prepared in the region of Persia.
If it be alleged that it was written by MIordecai, a
Jew, away from Judea, and in the service of a
monarch elsewhere, that is only in harmony with
God's method in relation to other books, Ezra,
Nehemiah, and Daniel-who were all in the service of foreign kings-having been employed by
the Holy Spirit to leave written memoirs of the
times and of the events in which they themselves
had some share. On all these grounds it is obvious enough that the presumption is in favor of
this book being historically true.
But we are not left to presumptions of this
kind.   Many  of you  are  aware  that  there
is a feast of Purim among the Hebrews, observed to this day, with very great care, over
the world  generally.   Now,  that feast, it is
capable of proof, has been continuously observed from the time when this book purports to
have been written.  There is no authorization for
that feast anywhere in the Bible but in the Book
of Esther; and it seems to be impossible to explain the origin and continuous history of that
I49
I 
Thze lActive Pity of a QCueet.
feast among the people except upon the assumption that this book is historically true. We are
told of the hissing, and spitting, and other indications of scorn, hatred, and contempt that are
seen in some synagogues when this book is being
read at the feast of Purim, showing clearly enough
how real and historical the narrative is to them.
But, then, a book might be true and yet
not  be  inspired.   And  so  we  have  to look
at that part of the question also.   We  know
explicitly what constituted the Hebrew canon
in our Lord's time, and he accepted that Hebrew canon as the Scriptures.   He  had occasion to find fault with the Hebrew people upon
many a score, but he never did blame them as unfaithful custodians of the writings God had placed
in their hands.  We know they held this book in
such high esteem that they placed it by the law;
and there was a proverb among them that there
might come a time when all the books would be
lost but the law and the book of Esther. Now, if
he put his seal upon it and endorsed it, we are
constrained to receive it in precisely the same way
as we receive other portions of the Old Testament
record, as given us by the inspiration of God, and
profitable for doctrine, correction, and instruction
in righteousness, that the man of God might be
perfect, thoroughly furnished unto every good
work.
But if the name of God be not in the book
-a circumstance which perhaps might be accounted for by the consideration that it was possibly written for the benefit of people outside of
W5o 
Thc Active Pity of a Queen.
the Jewish kingdom, and that, therefore, it was
thought wise to leave the being and attributes of
the God of Israel rather to the inference of intelligent men than to explicit statement-it is impossible for any candid reader to deny that the
hand of God is in the providences it records.
It is a series of providential wonders from beginning to end; and I am not surprised that Dr.
Carson, one of the ablest divines of the Baptist
or any other church, when he wanted to write
something about the particular providence of God,
selected this Book of Esther to be the subject of
commentary, statement and illustration at once
of the truth he wished to present. It is strange
enough that Vashti, by an assertion of her womanly independence, should have been driven
from the throne; but it is stranger still that Esther, a young Jewish captive maiden, not much
above the rank of a slave in the country, should
have been raised to the place thus vacated; not,
perhaps, to the place of first wife and equal, but to
a place dignified by the name of queen. The won
der grows when we find that her cousin MIordecai
becomes so implicated in her history and in the
history of the king, whose wife she has become,
that he should be the detecter of the plot against
the king's life; that he should be the means of
saving the king's life from the conspirator: that
he should be in such a relation to the queen as to
be able to communicate freely with her when the
time of danger came; that he should be, at the
same time, the occasion of the scheme for the
comlplete destruction of the Jewish people. All
I5 1 
5Tze Active Pzty of a.Otccn.
these things, surely, are matters of very great
surprise. Then consider how many things have
to combine in order to bring about the result.
Had not the king been awake on one particular
night; had not the reader turned to one particular portion of the Medo-Persian record; had not
attention been called at the right time to MIordecai; had not Esther been in a position to influence
the king-any one of these things being wanting
must have affected the great result. I admit that
one combination of these things might be a coincidence; but I submit, brethren, that here is anI
accumulation of coincidences which it is impossible to explain upon any other theory than that,
the hand of God is here. 1 would just as soon,
by the laws of my own mind, believe that one of
our ocean-going steamers had made itself and
furnished itself for sea by a fortuitous concurrence
of atoms, by an accidental coherence of all the
parts that compose it, as to believe that the events
that are recorded in this book have happened in
any other way than by the designing, controlling,
and infinite Mind that worketh all things according to the counsel of his own will; that uses all
the complicated forces of human goodness and ot
human badness, of malice, ambition, pride, greed,
and revenge, as well as patriotism and love of
kind, for the accomplishment of his great purposes; that employs even the wickedness of the
wicked, and yet that is not wicked, but is most
holy, wise, and powerful to the end. WVe need
not, therefore, brethren, have any kind of scruple
or misgiving in our miinds when considerllg, a
152 
The A ciive Pit' of ta uCeen..
passage like that which falls under our consid eration.
Esther herself is the central figure through this
book, and a very interesting figure she is.  Timid
fled gentle as a woman, enduring of the repres sioil to which her sex is subject and has always
been subject in the East, and yet with strong
natural feeling, capable of exerting herself in a
very high degree when a strain is put upon her
nature, she is cool and calculating when neces sity demands. There is everything about her
to surround her with interest, and attract to her
miuch of our sympathy. But, best of all, she is not
unmindful of that source whence men and women
alike have to receive strength, comfort, and guidance-that God of Israel who hears the prayers
of his people, and who has taught us that, if any
man lack wisdom, he is to ask of God.
I. Let us look at the calamity that was before
her, in the contemplation of which she makes
an appeal to the king, of which this text is a
part: "How can I endure to see the evil that
shall come  unto  my  people? or how  can  I
endure to see the destruction of my kindred?"
MIordecai, a Jew, sitting in the gate of the kinig's
palace, had been less subservient and respectful
than was expected toward the prime minister
of the king.  Why he was so we are not told.
It may have been that there still remained in
his Jewish-heart some of that hereditary scorn
with which Hebrews were wont to look upon
the Amalekites; but, however it was, his act
aroutsed the malice and revenge, and perhaps also
1 5 3 
Thle Active Pity of ao Qucen.
the greed and covetousness ultimately, of Haman,
the prime minister of the king. iHe scorns to take
revenge on one man; his burning wrath will be
satisfied with nothing less than the sacrifice of a
people. So he schemes and plans for the destruction of all the Jews that are captives and exiles in
the land. It is no bad illustration, by contrast, of
the blessings of our freedom; it is no bad illustration of the evils and powers of despotism that the
order for this wholesale murder is given with such
promptness by this reckless Eastern king, and that
it is put with such promptness into the hands that
are to execute it. Esther is made aware, through
Mordecai, of what is impending, and she comprehends the whole situation.  If she did not, the
timely  warning  of her kinsman  would  have
shown it to her. She adopts the requisite measures; she takes all the proper steps to enlist the cooperation of others; she enlists the religious feelings of her compatriots; she gives directions that all
the Jews in and about the place shall fast, which was
her way, and the way of the time, of supplicating
Almighty God; she engages herself in all this
work of calling upon the Lord: "I and my maidens
will fast also."  Besides, she takes proper means,
after approaching the king, of influencing his mind,
she elaborates with care and pains all the plans by
which it may be confidently expected she will
secure his approbation, and be enabled to counteract the devices of this wicked Itaman. That she
should have to adopt means like these, thlatit should
be inecessary to scheine and plan for getting the
ear of her husband, that she should have to resort
I54 
Thte Active Pity of a QOueen.
to these roundabout devices to conciliate his favor,
may seem to us, with our brighter light and our
happier Western home-life, strange and inexplica ble; but there can be no doubt that, in doing all
this, she was acting in perfect harmony with the
arrangements of the court in which she lived, and
adopting the means, strange and, in some respects,
doubtful, as it would seem to us, that were best
adapted to accomplish the result and to secure
a favorable reception of her request on the part
of the king, whose vassal she was.
And  now, brethren, should we be able, any
more than Esther, to contemplate the destruction
of our people and our kindred-not threatening
nor impending, but a destruction that is actually
going on round about us every day and every
year-should we be able to look on with unmoved hearts?  It is a destruction, I admit, that
has come in a very different way and by a very
different set of agencies from that by which it came
in this narrative. For the revenge and greed of
Haman, substitute that love of gain that prompts
men to embark in the liquor trade; for the usages
of a reckless, oriental, dissipated court, substitute
the common social customs of our time; for the
destruction of those thousands, be the same more
or less, of the Hebrew exiles in the domain of
Persia, you may substitute the destruction of the
multitudes of men and women, ay, and children,
that is in progress continually round about us.
When a man tries to take in all the horrid situation at a glance, he is apt to fail altogether, from
the very expanse of the dreariness that is before
i,15 
The Active Pit)' of a  Queen.
him. It is better, therefore, not to try to take in
all the situation, but to fix one's attention upon a
limited department of the great waste that is
being made by intemperance over the world.
Take our own city. We have here four hundred
and seventy places in which worship of some kind
or another is being addressed to the Almighty
among our million of people. I am told-the
statement is almost incredible-but I am told that
we have seven thousand temples where Bacchus
is worshipped with a homage quite as sincere as
that we have in our churches, and far more costly
to the community, for I am assured that two millions of dollars a year are paid as a simple tax in
the first place upon the spiritu)us liquors that are
consumed among us.  What are tile fruits of this
widespread heathenish worship?  They are to
be found not in the thirty-four thousand people
that are taken up in a year for drunkenness and
disorderly conduct upon our streets-about onehalf of all the arrests that are made by the police;
they are to be found not simply in the eight
thousand people that are being kept at the public
expense in our prisons, asylums, and hospitals: but
they are to be found, dear brethren, in the ruin
and waste of life in many private dwellings, of
which the police can take no cognizance; they
are to be found in the blighting of so many hopes,
in the ruin of so many prospects, in the untimely
end of many lives all over the city, and all over
the land, so widespread are the ramifications of
the evil that has thus come to be established
among us.  There is a way of making this subject
I56 
The  tlcti-,e Pil)  of   z Q_ultcn.
practical to you, dear brethren. Hlow few circles
are there into which some loss has not come
through this prevalent sin!  How  few families
there are in this church this afternoon that have
not been touched more nearly or more remotely
through this vice in some one of the circles in
which they themselves move, if not, indeed, in
their own immediate circle!
It is impossible for us, brethren, to exaggerate
and overstate the evil and mischief that are being
continually done in the ruin of men and womentheir ruin in soul, body, and estate-through their
indulgence in the sin of intemperance. In the
case of Haman and his intended victims, if he
had been able to accomplish  his designs, the
property and the lives of those thousands would
have been sacrificed at a single blow. It would
have been a sharp and severe blow; it would have
been a thing done and done with. But that is not
so with our social proscription that issues in the
destruction of such multitudes. It is a long, wasting agony; it is a slow process.  The victim dies
by inches, so to speak; and not merely that, but
he dies amid declining regard, lost self-respect,
ruined means, weeping women, and sometimes degraded children. Fires burn themselves out; but
this fire has the peculiarity of finding fuel for itself;
for how often has it happened that the drunken
wife  has driven the husband to despair and to
cldrunkenness, and how  often  has it happened
that the drunken father and mother have corntmunicated to the very physical nature of their
children the diseased and self-destroying appetite!
I57 
TI,e Actizve Pity of a Qucen.
How often has it happened that a family of social
position and attractive manners has succeeded in
inoculating a whole  circle-perhaps  a whole
neighborhood-with a love of drink! How inevitably does it happen that, when a man has once
embarked his means in the trade, his interest and
his prosperity will grow with the growing love and
passion for drink among his hapless neighbors
round about him! Our fire does not consume
itself for lack of fuel; it makes the fuel by which
it is sustained and upon which it feeds. Brethren,
if you think that I overstate the case, you can correct my estimate; but I do not well see how you
can correct it, if you have been going through life
with your eyes open to the actual facts that are
continually transpiring around us. I think you
will be compelled to admit that, looking at it in
any point of view, not only in a social but in a
spiritual point of view, this evil is so gigantic that
our tongue gives no words that can overstate its
wicked and atrocious characteristics.
Brethren, I am not speaking of some remote and
distant era; I am not talking to you about the
opium-eaters of China; I am speaking here, as
Esther spoke before the king, of your own people
and your own kindred.   These drunkards that
are round about, when they become paupers, you
must support them; when they become criminals,
you must detect their crimes, and then confine
and punish theni. And to what cost you are
necessarily put in protecting yourself against
them! As you take up the Monday morning
papers, anc glance over the crimes and casualties
I 55, 
The Ac Pivc Pity of a Qliccn..
of the twenty-four hours that have gone before,
and as you look at the poor, besotted, degraded,
and animalized wretches that have been suddenly
flung into eternity by the pistol or the knife of
their assassin companions, you may get a momentary view  of the horridness of this tlhing.  But
you see only a part of it there.   You  have  to
look at all its ramifications; you have to think
how it affects homes; how it affects religion; how
it affects relations to God; how it sears conscience;
how it blinds human spirits to all the interests of
time and of eternity-these you have to take into
account in making a correct estimate of the magnitude and frightful character of the evils intemperance entails. No wonder that any good man, as
he looks at this state of things, should say, " How
can I endure to see the evil that shall come upon
my people? How can I endure to see the destruction of my kindred?"
II. Pity is a sentiment. It is a fine sentiment.
Sometimes it is a mere sentiment.  Sometimes
it evaporates in a little sigh; or it distils in a
casual tear, and falls ineffectually to the ground.
Pity of that kind is worthless; it is worse than
worthless, it is mischievous.   To  have  these
pities that come to nothing does us harm-they
weaken our character; they absolutely corrupt
our nature, and they flatter us at the time
that we are being good.  That was not the pity
of Esther; it was active pity; it was practical
sympathv.  I do not need to rehearse the steps
that she t()o;:, and at which we have glanced al
I 59 
Tihe Acteiv  PiJy of a Qaecn.
ready, which you can read for yourselves, if you
take interest enough in the book to follow its successive incidents. It is enough to say that her
aim and object, under God, were realized; it is
enough to say that the tables were completely
turned; it was Haman, and not Mordecai, that
was hung on the gallows;  Haman's kindred,
and not her own, perished. The decree that he
would have to go forth against the Jews was executed against his own people, with great severity
I admit, but not with more severity than was
natural and common in the times. The wicked
was snared in the work of his own hands.
Now, my beloved brethren, from the example
of this Jewish woman I would borrow a lesson for
you and a lesson for myself. I would stir up in
myself, and I would urge upon you, practical sympathy and active pity, like that exhibited by
Esther. First of all, let us seek co-operation in the
war that we would wage with this great vice.
Strong evils, many times, can be best met by
associated effort. The individual is weak, where
the company or the multitude is often strong.
There is strength in union, and there is a manifest
advantage in Christian people being banded together in societies for dealing with this state of
thlings. Information is collected, and then it is
diffused; the weak are strengthened; the zealous,
who have not always wisdom, are directed, and
there is concentration given to the effort put forth.
The human imagination-no small matter in a case
of this kind-is impressed. I say, no small matter,
for in a matter of this kind it is a great thing that a
I60 
Thte Active Pity of a QO,cen.
young man, for example, with principles unsettled,
and too weak to stand straight up upon his own
convictions, seeing these societies, their organiza
tion and results, should be able to say, "I see I
can refuse drink and not be despicable. I see I
can put away the glass and not be counted mean.
There are most respectable men publicly banded
together against this thing, and no man dare call
them sneaks because they pursue this particular
course of conduct."
It is something to have societies organized and
maintained for the enunciation of right principles,
and the organization and extension of effort in this
reforming direction. Young men who are here
do not despise the aid which these societies can give
to you. If you think that you yourselves do not
need them, recollect there are many other young
men that do; recollect that there are many who
have been wounded, and have fallen down, andl
they are trying to stand up again, and recover
themselves, and they need a great deal of help.
It is very lhard for some of them to pass by
the door of the "sample-room," the decoy that is
cunningly arranged for those who have still left
sufficient self-respect to keep them from going to
a place that is palpably and indubitably for mere
drink.
Young men! do not despise these agencies and
societies, but go into them and help them along;
and if it should seem to you that some of the
agencies are not the best, that some of their argulments are feeble, why, do you find better agencies,
and put into their mouths better arglttments, and
j6r 
i162         The A ctivc Pity of a  -0tccn.
work this thiag as it ought to be worked, for the
benefit and recovery of your fellow-creatures.
MIen and brethren, strong men, do not you look
lightly upon these organizations. You may say
to yourselves, quite truly, "I have no need to
be sheltered and protected in such ways as this."
It is true, perhaps, of you, that your characters are
formed, and your habits are made; your physical
system is consolidated, so to speak; your heads are
strong, and you can say to yourselves with perfect truth, and you sometimes do say to others, "I
can take this thing or leave it; I can do with it or
without it." Then, my brethren, if you can do
with it or without; if your minds and tastes are in
this state of equilibrium in relation to it, do without it for the sake of those who are in danger
tli rough the means of it.
Fathers! do without it for the sake of your
young sons, if for no other reason.  How can you
tell but that their youthful steps may trip to that
destruction on this side of which your slower feet
have been able to halt? Think of them; pity them;
care for them. I do not say, deny yourselves, for
youL say there is no self-denial in the matter.
Then, for their sakes, put that thing away which
you cannot but see is the slope down which such
multitudes run swiftly into the sea and are
drowned.
I make my appeal to Christian women, to
mothers and sisters. Mlothers and sisters! whom
our love and devotion have crowned queens in
our homtes, whose influence and whose tastes do
so much to form our habits and to determine the 
T,'c            Pithi'e ~ity  of  a  0)liC/1Z.
character of our lives, to whom all manly gallantry
accords at least the show of respect and of devo tion, I make my appeal to you.  Mothers, your
sons may not be in any danger, you fondly think;
but there are others with hearts as ten(ler as yours,
and they are being broken, slowly broken, by the
ruin of their sons.
Sisters! it seems to you as if those proud
and manly brothers of yours never could be se duced to ruin; but there are other brothers as
brave and as manly as yours; and to-day, while I
am preaching in this church, they are in haunts of
unnamn.able vice, and they are crushing out the
lives of their sisters, because they have thus been
lured to Qui,.O  I make my appeal to you, mothers
atnd sisters; if these poor shattered remains of
hunmanity co,tld be arranged in rows before you,
h(\wv wvould.yotu like to stand up in the presence
tf their ml)iher-s and sisters, and say, "I helped
to p-rodulce these results.  I put the wine-glass
to their 1i1es.  I made it fashionable and manly
for them to drink.  I urged them to the begiinningi, of their course, of which this is-God forgiv\e me!-the melancholy and miserable result "?
Nor do I plead with you simply on  mnan's ac-.
count.  Mlothers and sisters! this is not a man's
sin only; for, as 1 see it, this is a woman's sin
too, and in far greater measure than many people
are ready to suspect.  I dare not trust myself to
describe the things I have seen with women, young
and tender, and sometimes beautiful, upon whose
more impressible temperament and finer organization the destroyer had taken firmer hold, and
i63 
Thie Active Pity of a Oiiccit.
with women 1no longer young, but whose soul and
sense were dead long before their eyes were
closed. For woman's sake, for your own sister's
sake, I make my appeal to you. Mothers and
sisters, discourage and discountenance the usages
that make it so easy to learn to depend upon the
excitement that is given by the kindly glass of
wine; and, when you see that wine resorted to to
give lost fires to the eye, to give lustre to the
cheek, and to give fluency to the tongue, let me
beseech you to see in these things unconscious
prophecies of the time that shall come  when
destructive fires shall be kindled in the soul,
when the hectic of disease shall burn upon the
cheek, and when the incoherent mumblings shall
indicate the confirmed and helpless drunkard;
and, thinking of these things, I bespeak your
pity, your sympathy, your active pity, your
practical sympathy.  "How  can you endure to
see the destruction that comes upon your kindred?"
Let not the church turn away fromn this thing;
let not any one say to himself, "This is a mere
platform theme. It is a sore upon the body politic,
but it is a sore that ought to be handled only by
professional men, and not rudely put before us."
Do not say that, dear brethren, when the ruin is
so obvious and so dreadful.  When men are robbed, and wounded, and stripped in their helplessness in your way, do not make your mnodel
the priest or the Levite, but the good Samaritan. Stop, my brethren; come down; do vlwhat
you can to lift that robbed and woun-ded man
I 64 
Tile Active Pity oj a Queetn.
who is still your brother, and do what you can
in all proper ways to break the power and to
scatter the influences that culminate in results
such as now claim your pity.   How shall the
church act about this thing? Had Esther stood
still in the safe elevation of a Persian palace, in
unthinking indifference about the destruction of
her kindred, who would not condemn such base
heartlessness? And how is it to be with the
church of Christ, his spotless spouse, herself re   claimed and won and saved, and lifted up to sit
to,-ether in heavenly places in Christ-how shall
it be with her if she has no eye to pity and no
heart that yearns to save, and no hand to stretch
forth relief, when such sin, misery, and wholesale
destruction are before her everywhere?   So  I
make my appeal to you, my brethren of the Church.
There are queens of society; would that I could
make my appeal to those queens of society all
- over these  United  States!  I would  say to
them, Catch the spirit and copy as far as you
can the active sympathy and pity of this He  brew  woman-this patriot of the olden  time.
\Vhen two weeks bring round the genial Thanks  ivintg Day,  and  when  the young  and  old
gather round the family board, ye queens of
society, ye queens in our homes, do not put the
w-ine-glasF in their hands, do not put the poison ous beverage to their lips.  In that clear crystal
of pure water, believe me, is betterfar than the
w\ine, rosy though it be; for at last it biteth like
, serpent, and stingeth like an adder.  And wheia
thfe New Year's Day comes round. and  when
i65 
Thie Acthl,e Pity of a Qeien.
your fiiends are gathered in your parlors, let
there be the freest interchange of all kindly
good-will; let there be unhindered flowv of soul;
but, 0 woman! do not, I beseech you,  tempt
man again by putting the forbidden fruit to
his lips. It may be good-nature and kindliness
in you, but, oh! recollect it may be death to
him.
I can hardly think of any one of the causes
that we are in the habit of pleading from our
pulpits, the arguments for which have not some
application to the case of the intemperate.   I
can hardly think of an argument for foreign or
home missions that has not some appropriateiess in the connection in which I now speak to
you.   I would  have  you  look with interest
upon these temperance organizations, and help
:hem. Do not trouble yourself about certain
differences of opinion among those who are intent
upon reform in this direction.   Perhaps from 
some constitutional incapacity to follow it, I am
conscious of a kind of impatience of minute
argumentation on subjects where  broad  and
sufficient and unquestioned views exist on which
we are all agreed that we ought to act. It is here
precisely as it is among men who are seeking
political reform. Good men have said to themselves, and I hope will continue to say it to the
end, " Why, this is not a question as between one
party and another party; it is a question between
men of whom we hope the best, and men who are
evidently and undeniably bad." One man has one
view of the method in which this thing ought to
i 66 
Tlie'  r(/, ie Pity  of a        iiuen.
be  antagonized, and  another  has a soInewvlat
irodified viewv; but, brethren, there is substantial
agreement among us that the thing is bad, "only
evil, and that continually."  Let us, with such
light, views, and convictions as we have, contend
against it, until the causes of the waste and destruction of so many of our people and our kindred be
swept utterly away.
If there is any people on the face of the earth
that ought to be in earnest about this thing, it is the
American people.  If there is a land upon the face
of the earth that ought to be intent upon haviing
thiings right in society, in law, and in fact upon
this matter, it is this.  Only think,  with our
universal suffrage, your property, your liberty, and, withl our elective judiciary, your  very
lives, may be bought and sold for rum.  In view
of the things that have transpired within these
y'ears past, I should not have wondered any day
if I had seen an indignant and injured community
spring to its feet, and say, in the presence of the
nation, to these tools of corruption: "When our
fathers decided  upon  manhood  suffrage, they
meant the ball'ot for mcn, not for imbruted, not
for ignorant men, not for savages, but for \IEN..
And we must take care in future that this dreadful power for good or for evil be kept only in the
hands of men."  But there is no use in plyingi
with an argument like this these tools of corrulption themselves.  It is from a sphere to vwhich
they do not rise; it has to do with interests of
whichl they take no cognizance.  IMen  lwho are
lost to all sense of whlat they owe to God and te
i67 
Thze AIctive Pity of a Queen.
mani are not likely to care about great political
principles: they are above their pursuits and
above their perceptions.
I leave this with you, Christian people, for,
after all, you must bear the great burden and
weight of this great work in the world. You
know the value of immortal souls, for Christ has
saved you; you know the deceitfulness of sin,
for you are continually on your guard against
the destroyer.   Divine grace has reached you
and redeemed you; divine pity awoke its echoes
in. your soul, and led you to trust and love Almighty God. Under the influence of that kind
of pity, you, Christians, must look upon your
suffering fellow-creatures; and, having a clear and
distinct perception of all the issues in time and
eternity, you can say with an intelligence that
others do not feel, "How can I endure to see the
destruction of my kindred?"  May God help all
of us to be faithful in our place, and to exhibit
always that active pity and practical sympathy
of which the text gives  us such a  beautiful
example!
I68 
TEMPERANCE AND. THE PULPIT.
BY REV. C. I). FOSS, D.D
"If the watchman see the sword come, and blow not the trumpet, and tha
people be not warned; if the sword come, and take any person from among
them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at the
watchman's hand "-EZEKIEL xxxiii. 6.
PURPOSE to preach, this evening, a sermon
on the subject of temperance; not on temperance, in the general sense of the word, as referring to all the appetites and passions of our complex nature.  I use the word in that restricted
sense which custom has put upon it, and the fact
that the word has become specific emphatically
indicates that the chief of the foes with which this
victim has to contend is not avarice, nor gluttony
nor amusement, but the intoxicating cup.
There are reasons, very numerous and very
weighty, for which this theme should be urged
on the attention of men from the pulpit. The
statement of some of these reasons will serve, I
trust, to give to the doctrine of total abstinence
the grip of a moral obligation on the consciences
of my Christian auditors, and especially of the 
.7 dY'zn Ip'-    the P/          l pit.
young men of the congregation, whom I shall
more directly address at the close of this discourse.  I dwell on this point, not at all by way
of apology for the presentation of this theme.
The cause of temperance is the cause of suffering
humanity and of God. Those men, therefore,
ought pre-eminently to be its advocates who are
specially set apart to advance the glory of God
by preachinig good tidings to fallen man.  If I felt
that I needed any vindication for making temperance the theme of frequent discourse from the
pulpit, I might find it in the fact that 1 belong to
a church which has a total abstinence Discipline,
and to a Conference of ministers, numbering two
hundred and seventy, which years ago resolved
itself into a total abstinence society, without a
single dissenting voice, and whichl has repeatedly
enjoined on all its ministers tihec duty of preaching
specifically on this subject.  Among the things
forbidden by the " General IRules" of the Metlhodist Episcopal Church, immediately after profanity and Sabbath-breaking, we find these wvords:
"Drunkenness, buying or selling spirituous liquors,
or drinking them, unless in cases of extreme necessity."
Siy object in showing you the intimate relations
of this theme to the Christian pulpit is to intensify
your conviction that it has imperative claims on
thle attention and sympathy of every philanthropic
man. If it is my duty to help forward this chief
among the moral ref)rms of the age, it is your
i-o 
Tl'mcprance and iige P?lpit.
duty also. That it is my duty, and the duty of
every pastor, who can doubt? If drink, accursed
drink, be not a devouring "sword," by which
many a wretched, self-destroyed victim "is taken
away in his iniquity," then let "the watchman"
"blow not the trumpet"; but if it be the archdestroyer of men, even of the strongest, more fatal
than the sword of Alexander or Napoleon, then
let the trumpet everywhere lift up its note of
alarm, and nowhere "give an uncertain sound."
I. The pulpit siouitt set itsclf  a-aiiist ithe sin of
i;temzperazice and the causes of inteiiiperance, because
of thei uiinnumbered and itcoimputable evils which flow
from it. I will not shlock your sensibilities by a
protracted recital of these evils, and, alas! I need
not. They are so widespread as to be well-nigh
omnipresent; they thrust themselves before all
our eyes, and strain almost all our heart-strings.
There are btit few families which have not been
befouled by the slime of this serpent and pierced
by the sting of this adder. If not in the immediate
circle of the home, then in the next larger circle
of near relationship, the curse has falleni. How
many times, in the discharge of my pastoral functions, have I visited homes in which there has
been an ominous silence concerning some one
member of the family-perhaps a husband, a brother, or a father!  By-and-by, without any inquiry, the sad truth which I feared has come to
my knowledge. He is a drunkard-a voluntary
I7r 
Temzperanzce atd the Pulpit.
victim of that accursed appetite which has wrought
more various and blasting evils among men than
any other of those " fleshly lusts which war against
the soul."
Lord Bacon says: "All the crimes on earth do
not destroy so many of the human race nor alienate
so much property as drunkenness." Take the bald
and terrible fact that every year 6o,ooo human
wrecks are buried in drunkards' graves in the
United States alone; 1,200 psolluted souls go howling forth into a drunkard's hell every week; I70
per day.
This annual contribution comes from the ranks
of an army of drunkards 6oo00,000ooo strong. But the
death of so many inebriates is the least of all the
evils of intemperance to the community at large.
To the victims themselves, it is indeed the sum of
inconceivable woes, the fulfilment of that divine
warning often sounded in their ears: "At the
last it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an
adder"; but to the community their exit is a
gain. Their loathsome bodies and ruined intellects and corrupted souls were an offence to men,
and the hopeless agony of broken-hearted love
had long wished them gone. The loss to the co!nmunity dated back long before the final catastrophe, to the time when the hand began to
tremble, and the brain began to be clouded, and
the freeman began to be a slave.
ake the facts, that intemperance in this nation
has actually cost it more money than all its
I72 
TemiperI-an ce oazd the P~ulpit.
schools, colleges, and churches, and all the expenses of the government before the war; and
that of all the murders, robberies, and other
crimes, four out of five are directly chargeable
to drink. In Potter County, Pa., where no liquor
was sold in I865, not a single case was brought
forward for trial at the autumn session of the
court.
But you must not look simply at drunkards.
Intemperance begins long before the point of
visible inebriation. Drunkenness is only the sign
which intemperance hangs out to the world in its
later stages. MIany of its worst evils are produced
before a stranger would surmise anything wroi,ng.
That heroic man who delivered such telling blows
against this sin when he stood almost alone, Lyman
Beecher, put before the people, more than forty
years ago, these memorable words: "A multitude
of persons, who are not accounted drunkards,
create disease and shorten their days by what
they denominate a'prudent use of ardent spirits.'
Let it therefore be engraven on the heart of
every man THAT THE DAILY USE OF ARDENT
SPIRITS, IN ANY FORMI OR IN ANY DEGREE, IS INTEMIPERANCE. Its effects are certain and deeply
injurious, though its results may be slow, and
never be ascribed to their real cause. No person
probably ever did, or ever will, receive ardent
spirits into his system once a day, and fortify his
constitution against its deleterious effects." Dr.
Beecher also speaks, in the same connection, of
I73 
Temperance and the Pilpit.
that well-known "state of experience when the
empire of reason is invaded, and weakness and
folly bear rule; prompting to garrulity or sullen
silence; inspiring petulance or anger, or insipid
good-humor and silly conversation; pouring out
oaths and curses, or opening the storehouse of
secrets, their own and others."  It is now a well
established fact that, long before the goal of
drunkenness is reached, real intoxication occurs;
and there are incomputable evils of intemperance
before the tongue begins to falter or the feet to
trip.
Add to the manifest and disgusting effects of
drunkenness, which we must see wherever we
turn our eyes, this immensely larger catalogue of
the evils which flow from intemperance in its earlier stages; remember that the ministers of religion are called to imitate the example and carry
forward the work of him whose biography is written in these five words, "who went about doing
good," and that his doing good consisted in overcoming evil, and then tell me whether the pulpit
has or has not a mission against the greatest
aggregation of evils under which Christendom
groans.
II. The pulpit should make war on rum, because
rum mnakes war on the piulpit.  Intenmperance is one
of the hugest obstacles in the way of the Gospel. The
reign of King Jesus and the reign of King Alcohol
are always in inverse ratio. Wherever rum-shops
174t 
Te'm pcra,znc an/t,     i the ]'ii/pi t.
are the great centres of attraction, there churches
are deserted. The assertion of Paul is proved
true: " Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord and
the cup of devils."  If the tables of drunken
revelry are numerously surrounded, the sacramental table is neglected.  Satan has no more
efficient batteries planted over against our citadels of virtue, our homes and school-houses and
churches, than those temples of his where the
incense of XXX  ales and wines and liquors perpetually fills the air. He has Ino better infantry
and cavalry than the multiform drinking customs
of society.
As a Christian minister, I oppose drink, because
it opposes me. The work I try to do, it undoes.
My charge against it at this point is single and
simple: it is an obstacle to the spread of the
Gospel; nay, it is an enemy which assails the
Gospel, and vwhose complete success would drive
the Gospel from the earth.  The chains it forges
are the strongest and most galling ever fastened
on the human body or the human soul. There is
not a sinner on the face of the earth so unlikely
to be savingly affected by the influences of the
Gospel as the habitual drunkard. Hie may be a
man of delicate sensibility, of lofty purpose, and'
of towering intellect; be may have qualities which,
untainted by alcohol, would adorn any character;
but, if he is addicted to his cups, his destination
is almost inevitably the bottomless pit. The salvation of a thorough drunkard is one of the might
17  
Temnperanzce acd the Pulpt.
iest miracles of Almighty grace. I know men who
are frequently convicted of their need of experimental religion, but who are held back friom a
single step towards it by the charms of rum.  All
other fetters would be as gossamer in the way of
their urgent longing; this holds themn. MAany 
poor, broken-hearted wretch has staggered up to
the altar for prayer, and cried earnestly for mercy,
and reeled away again to drown his sorrows in
the bowl which caused them, and  vlwhich will
aggravate them, until they culminate amid unquenchable flames.
So far as the probability of success in the proclamation of my message is concerned, let me go
to the brazen blasphemer of the name most dear
to my heart; let me go to the forger, who for
long years has been using satanic ctlinninig to(
defraud his fellowv-men; let me go to the inurderer, who lies in felon's chlains awaiting the execut-on of the law's supreme penalty; but send mc
not to the pitiable object in human shape, wvhose
spirit is beclouded, and whose flesh is reeking
with the fumes of rum.  And why? Because his
will is enthralled by the direst bondage conceivable. His manhood is in the dust, and a demon
sits on the chariot of the soul, lashing the fiery
steeds of passion. No possible motive, or combination of motives, can be urged upon him which
will stand a moment before the infernal clamorings of his appetite. One of these unfortunate
beings (for I know not but they are to be pitied
I76 
Temperantce and the Pulpit.
as much as blamed) once said that, if he were
placed in one corner of a room, with a jug of rum
in the opposite corner, and a cannon firing balls
across the room every instant, he should start for
the rum. No other habit has such power. It is
inot so with the swearer or the forger or the mur derer. The Gospel can be presented to either of
them from a more advantageous standpoint.
The truth here insisted on stands out with
fearful vividness, if you compare a drunkard's
death-bed with that of other sinners.  Take the
case of one who escapes death by his own hand
or by accident (a multitude of them are carried off
in these ways), but who stands on the verge of a
dishonored grave, brought there by his own excesses.  It seems as though the good influences
which linger round all other death-beds, as long
as life remains in the body, have deserted him.
You need not repeat in his ear the fearful assurance that "no drunkard shall inherit the ki'igdom
of God."  He feels it in his inmost soul.' Hell
from beneath is moved to meet him" at his coming. The devils are so sure of him that they cannot wait for the spirit to leave the body. They
come up and fill the room. His eyes see themjust as distinctly as they see the terror-stricken
relatives that stand around his bed.
Listen to a brief account of this dreadful condition, extracted from the writings of one who has
experienced it, and has since become an eloquent
advocate of temperance:
I77 
Te17mperarancc a/id /thc Pupit.
" Who can tell the horrors of that hornible mala
dy, aggravated as it is by the almost ever-abiding
consciousness that it is self-sought?... Hideous
faces appeared on the walls and on the ceiling and
on the floors; foul things crept along the bed
clothes, and glaring eyes peered into mine. I was
at one time surrounded by myriads of monstrous
spiders, which crawled slowly, slowly, over every
limb, whilst the beaded drops of perspiration
would start to my brow, and my limbs would
shiver until the bed rattled again.  Strange lights
would dance before my eyes, and then suddenly
the very blackness of darkness would appall me
by its dense gloom. All at once, wvhilst gazing
at a frightfull creation of my u'istempered mind,
I seemed to be struck with sudden blindness.  I
knew a candle was burnting in the room, but 1
could not see it-all was so pitchy dark. I lost
the sense of feeling, too, for I endeavored to grasp
my arm in one hand, but consciousness was gone.
I put my hand to my side, my head, but felt nothing, and still I knew my limbs, my fiame, were
there.  And then the scene would change.  I was
falling —falling swiftly as an arrow-far down into
some terrible abyss; and so like reality was, it
that, as I fell, I could see the rocky sides of the
horrible shaft, where mocking, gibing, fiend-like
forms were perched, and I could feel the air rushing past me, making the sweat stream out by the
force of the unwholesome blast. Then the paroxysm sometimes ceased for a few moments, End I
178 
TeIImpeCIraice a(td Athe Pulpit.
wlould sink back on my  pallet drenched  with
I)cerspiration,  utterly  exhausted,  and  feeling
a dreadful certainty of the renewal of my torI,,CI]ts."
Nonv, with what prospect of success could the
misister go to the bedside of such a fiend-haunlted
oaan, to pour into his ears the consolations of the
Gospel?  Far be it fi-om me to say that the occupant of such a bed cannot possibly pass from it to
Abr-aham's bosom. I am ready to preach Jesus
to any man as long as the blood courses his veins,
but I will say I am utterly unable to conceive a
case more hopeless.
It is not surprising that the great apostle of
temperance, who had twice suffered all the horrors above described, should breathe forth, as I
have heard him, with thrilling effect, the following
prayer: "Almighty God, if it be thy will that man
should suffer, whatever seemeth good in thy sight
impose on me. Let the bread of affliction be
given me to eat. Take from me the friends oi
my confidence.  Let the cold hut  of poverty be
my dwelling-place, and the wasting hand of disease inflict its painful torments. Let me sow in
the whirlwind and reap in the storm.  Let those
have me in derision who are younger than I. Let
the passing away of my welfare be like the fleeting of a cloud, and the shouts of my enemies be
like the rushing of waters. WVhen I anticipate
good, let evil annoy me; whlen I look for light,
let darkness come upon me.  Let the terrors of
179 
Tem-peranzce and the Pil/pit
death be ever before me....   Do all this, but
save me, merciful God, save me from the fate of a
drunkard."
Now, shall the pulpit, or shall it not, utter its
emphatic and reiterated protest against men's
needless haste in rushing into evils so enormous?
Shall it or shall it not warn the young against
those threads of gossamer, which are scarcely felt
until they grow into chains of steel, unbearable
and unbreakable? Shall it or shall it not jealously
guard itself against the assaults of this wily foe?
For there is no other temptation which has been
so destructive to the character of Christian ministers. God's command to Aaron and his sons was,
"Do not drink wine nor strong drink... lest
ye die." If all their successors had heeded this
warning, religion would have been spared many
a severe reproach. What a proof it is of the insidious and awful power of this temptation, that
any minister of Christ should be lured on by it
to destruction, in spite of all the seemingly resistless motives which cry out against the monstrous
folly and sin! His position, his reputation, his
family, his church, his Bible, his Saviour, all protest; but the enchanting cup meets him at every
turn, and down he goes.  Oh! what a fall-fromn
the pulpit into hell!
III. There is another thought, which makes
me feel that this theme should be earnestly and
plainly discoursed upon from the pulpit. It its
I80 
Tenipe-ance and the Pitlpit
manifestly God's order that the church should take the
lead in every &reat moral reform.
Slavery was not abolished, and never could
have been, by any band of voluntary reformers,
following in the wake of infidels and open revilers
of Christ and his church.  I once heard from the
lips of that silver-tongued orator, whom I never
hear without coveting him for Jesus, this declaration: "If all the churches in this country had
been sunk through the earth forty years ago, the
cause of human freedom would have been further
forward." Over against such insane folly put the
words of that great, good man lwho guided the
ship of state into the port of universal freedom,
and whom posterity will call not only patriot, but
sage: "The government has been nobly sustained
by all the churches; God bless the churches; and
blessed be God, who, in this our great trial, giveth
us the churches." The mightiest of human forces
is the aroused conscience of a great people, and
the chief quickener and educator of the conscience
is the pulpit. Therefore,
"I say the pulpit, in the sober use
Of its legitimate, peculiar power,
Must stand acknowledged, while the world shall stand,
The most important and effectual guard,
Support, and ornament of virtue's cause."
One great error of the Washingtonian movement was, that it did not ally itself with religion,
but often threw contempt upon the church. A
I8I 
Te;miperanzce arid Ihe P?lpit
popular and eloquent temperance speaker, during
that campaign, said, as he arose to speak at a
meeting which had been opened with prayer, " 1
never can bear to be prayed over when I am
going to talk temperance." Gough has no objection to being prayed over, nor Dodge, nor Colfax.
One of the most hopeful features of the great reform is, that it is at length chiefly in the hands of
religious mene, and that its promoters feel the
urgent need of enlisting the hearty co-operation of
the ministry and the church.
'Christmas Evans, the great Welsh preacher,
met with much trouble in his temperance efforts
from his brother ministers who were not willing
to make the entire sacrifice of their cups. One in
particular,  Ir. W, of A, was obstinately
opposed.   Evans prepared to meet him.  He
polished an arrow, and put it in his quiver. On
one occasion he was appointed to preach, and, as
usual, there were gatherings firom far and near to
hear him.  MIr. W, of A, was there also;
but, as in anticipation of an attack, he at first said
he should not be present while Evans preached;
yet such was the fascination that he could not stay
away. By-and-by he crept up into the gallery,
where the preacher's eye-for he had but onewhich had been long searching for him, at length
discovered him. All went on as usual until the time
came when the arrow mighit be drawn, which was
done slyly and unperceived.  "I had a strange
dream the other night," said the preacher.  "I
I l 
TellperaIice aZnfld the Puilpit.
dreamed that I was in Pandemonium, the councilchamber of Hades.  Howv I got there I know not,
but there I was.  I had not been there long before
there came a thundering rap to the gate.' Beelzebulb, Beelzebub, yout must come to earth directly.'
' WVhy, what is the matter now?''They are sending out missionaries to preach to the heathen.'
'Are they?  Bad news this.  I'll be there presently.'  Beelzebub came, and  hastened to the
place of embarkation, where he saw the missionaries, their wvives, and a few boxes of Bibles and
tracts, but, on turning round, he saw rows of
casks, piled up, and labelled' gin,"' rum,''brandy,,'
etc.' That will do,' said he'no fear yet. These
casks will do more harm than the boxes can do
good.'  So saying, he stretched his wings for hell
again.   After a time came  another loud call:
'Beelzebub, they are forming Bible Societies.'
'Are they?  Then I must go.'  He  went, and
found two ladies going from house to house, distributing the Word of God.'This wvon't do,'
thought he,'but I will watch the result.'  The
ladies visited an aged female, who received a Bible
with much reverence and many thanks.  Satan
loitered about, and, when the ladies were gone;
saw the old woman come to the door and look
around to assure herself that she was unobserved.
She then put on her bonnet, and with a small parcel under her apron, hastened to the next publichoulse, where she pawned the new Bible for a bottle of gin.'That will do,' said Beelzebub,'no
183 
I4Tcmpcrance and the Pulpit.
fear yet'; and back again he flew to his own place.
Again came a loud knock and hasty summons,
'They are forming Temperance Societies.'' Temperance Societies! what's that?  I'll come and
see.'  He came and saw, and flew back muttering,
'This won't do much harm to me or my people,
they are forbidding the use of ardent spirits; but
they have left my poor people all the ale and porter, and the rich all the wines; no fear yet.'
Again came a louder rap, and a more and more
urgent call,' Beelzebub! you must come now, or
all is lost; they are forming teetotal societies.'
'Teetotal! what in the name of all my imps is
that?''To drink no intoxicating liquors whatever.  The sole beverage is water.''Indeed;
that is bad news! I must see after this.'  And he
did, but went back again to satisfy the anxious
inquiries of his legions, who were all qzii vi,e
about  the matter.'Oh!' said he,'don't be
alarmed.   True, it's an awkward affair, but it
won't spread much  yet, for all the parsons are
against it, and MIr. W,of A      (sending up
an eagle glance of his eye at him), is at the head
of them.'"  "But I won't be at the head of them
any longer," cried out Mr. WV, and walking
calmly down to the table-pew, signed the pledge
amid loud cheers.'
It remains only to ask what is the general plan
of resistance to be employed against this stupendous evil?
184 
Tcnizei-ancc and zIthe Pul/pit.
I am persuaded the youth before me would be
glad to know what they ought now to do, and
what they ought to plan for the future against an
evil which the most strenuous exertions of our
generation will not suffice utterly to abate. I
know the heart of a young man.  I knowv his jeal outsy of any influence which can interfere with the
fullest and most symmetrical development of his
mind and heart.  I know his generous impulses
to reclaim the erring and inspire them with the
same noble sentiments which] thrill his ownvi b-reast.
Ana with regard to this pitiable weakness and
shameful sin of intemperance (for it is both), I now
say to every young man before me, " Do tlhy self
no harm," and " Love thy neighbor as tlhyself."
MIany of the most intelligent, philanthropic, and
religious men in the world have been giviug earnest attention to this subject for ages, and especi.
ally during the last thirty or forty years. I submit that their deliberate judgments are entitled
to great respect. There have been and are among
them men of profound scientific attainments,
chemists, physiologists, physicians, able lawyers
and judges, governors and senators, philanthropists, scholars, divines. They have met and consulted.  They have brought to their aid all the
discoveries of science, all the principles of human
action, all the power of prayer.  They have framed
their theories, and put them to the test of experience and public criticism, and then have improved
them. They have done all this under the solemn
I S!. 
Tempec;rance an'?   PIet /pi!.
pressure of an abiding conviction that the chief
foe to our social happiness and national securit
is strong drink. The conclusions they have reache(
are that, first of all, nothing but sleepless activit}
can carry forwvard this noble reform or save ii
from disgraceful and disastrous wreck. They assert the need of contributions of influence from
the purse, the pen, the tongue, and the conscience
-the four powers which control society. The
evil they seek to overthrow is founded on those
two mighty forces of evil, appetite and avarice,
and has for its chief body-guard social usages and
political corruption.
The advocates of the temperance reformation
are thorotughly agreed in another thing, viz., that
tie chief hope and zzdis esab/e condition of the sutccess of thizis ioz'emnizt ies int total abstinecce. Up
to this point, I think it likely no person present
has dissented from any position 1 have taken.
Grant me now a candid heal-ing while I attempt,
in a few words, to vindicate this vital principle.
I desire to place it on a foundation viwhere you
can all stand firmly with me.  So I neither affirm
nor deny anything concerning several positions
which are confidently held by many able adyocates of total abstinence. I do not assert that all
intoxicating beverages are essentially poisonous,
thlough this is cogently argued by many learned
physicians and chemists; and though it is generally conceded that they have no nourishment in
them, but are simply excitants. I do not say thlat
they are in every instance positively injurious. I
I86 
TemJe;ralice and the/ Pii/pir.
do not say it is a sin for any man, under any circumlnstances, to drink a glass 6f wine. Let the
twofold basis on which I nowv rest the argument
for total abstinence be distinctly understood:
I. It is the only ipe;-soial securit)y.
2. It is I/ie o'ily effective exaimple.
Hencce every young man should adopt it as one
of the rules of his life, and make it like a " lawv of
the IMedes and Persians, which altereth not."
Bear in mind the truth already announced, that
the sore evils of intemperance begin far back of
the point of visible inebriation. The simple item
of exposure to disease will serve as an illustration.
In Albany, in 1832, there were 396 cases of cholera; all but I6 terminated fatally.  Of these, 140
were drunkards; 38 free drinkers; I31 moderate
drinkers; and 5 total abstainers. In St. Louis, in
I849, out of a population of 75,000, there were
about I0,000OOO deaths by cholera-I3 per cent.
Among the victims, there were only i0 out of the
2,000 Sons of Temperance there-one-half of one
per cent. So total abstinence had the advantage,
26 to I.
But I will not dwell on secondary matters.  I
declare my conviction that total abstinence is the
only complete security against the disgrace and
the doom of drunkenness.  I know how hard it is
for any man to realize this for himself. I know
how prompt the almost indignant response: "1
have too much self-respect to admit the insiinulttion of such weakness; I can stand."  I confess
to no little sympathy wvithl such feelings.  But let
1 017 
Te'iperi-aice and te PlPu/pit.
such overwveening, self-confidence be sobered by
facts. Who of all the sixty thousand whom drink
tumbles into the most dishonored of graves in
this country every year ever expected to go there
when the cruel habit began?  Who of them all
did not say, as you and I are ready to say ton;ght: "I know my strength; I have too much
manhood in mne to become a slave"?  Ah! there
comes a voice from the grave of many a brilliant
son of geniuls-many a once holy minister of the
Gospel-saying to you, young man, and to me:
Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed
lest he fall."
I do not hesitate to say that a personal religious
experience is no sufficient safeguard against the
demon of drink, unless it be girt about with the
bulwark of total abstinence. If a Christian plays
with a serpent, he may be bitten to death. God
promises no miracles. The Sunday-schlool is one
of the safest havens on earth; yet from its sacred
precincts thousands of teachers and scholars have
been swept into ruin by this fell destroyer. The
Rev. Dr. Guthrie, in his book on " The City, its
Sins and Sorrows," cites many facts, which almost
pass belief. I give a few specimens. Among.the
prisoners tried at the Glasgow assizes in September, I848, sixty-two had  been connected withl
Sunday-schools; and of these, fifty-nine admitted
that drinking and public-house company had lea
them away from the Sunday-school, and into
crime. At Launceston, out of one hundred boys
in a Sunday-school,  forty were overcome  by
I88 
Temperance and thie ~,piit..
drink.  " At Ipswich, out of fifteen young men
professing piety, and teachers in the Sabbathschool, nine were ruined through drink."  Such
frightful statements would be instantly rejected
if they came on any inferior authority.  Tlhey
only show the power of the rum-fiend where the
temperance reformation has but little foothold.
Religious youLth! listen to me.  I appeal to you
to say wvhetlher if, in the faee of such facts, any
man plays with this adder, and is stung to death,
his rutin is not deserved?
I have one mnore argument.  It is one wNhich
addresses itself to every noble  sentiment and
c ene-ro,,s iniputlse of our nattlres.  "It is good
neithei t) eat flesh [offered to idols], nor to drink
-vine, nior a,yt hing wherebr thy brother stumsletlh, or i, offended, or is made wveak."  O  that
stumbl1ing b,(^ther, that stumbling brother! What
can I do-) to ise himn?  I must not pass him bv.
I am my brh-)tle's keeper.  It was the first deist
and imur-de-rer wvho denied  this plainest maxim at
once of social ethics and of religion.  "No man
livet!h unto himself."  VWe are each in a network
of influence, and our every movement affects
others.  \Ve are bound to r-ecognrize this fact;
and we must share the responsibility of the results
of our action.  It will not do to say, "If I drink
only one glass of wine at a party, my neighbor
oug,ht not to be led by my example to drink five,
and go home  drunk."  Very likely hle will be.
Yo)u knowv he may be; and if hle is, vlwhat will vou
aniswer at the jud-gment-bar?
189 
Teifmperance and  the Pulpit.
The principle is that things not wrong per se
are to be given up if our use of them hurts others.
This principle mniade Paul the man he was. It wvas
the key-note of his sublime career. He was e-ver
ready to surrender anything personal for the good
of men.  "I am made all things to all men, so
that by all means I might save some."  "I could
wish myself accursed from Christ for my brethren."  "The love of Christ constrainieth me, because I thus judge that if he died for all, then
were all dead; and that he died for all that they
which live should not henceforth live unto themselves."   The same  spirit of self-sacrifice for
others' good gave Christ his fame.  " He humbled himself and became obedient unto death;
w..  herefore God hath highly exalted him,
and given him a name that is above every name."
Oh! if this grand principle of self-sacrificing
love to men for Jesus' sake could become universally operative in the church, wvlat magnificent
results it would achieve!  It would set evernarrowing, bounds to the tide of drunkenness,
and throttle the demon of drink; it would untie
the purse-strings of many a rich man, and move
him to lay all his net income and half his estate
on the altar of God; it would loose many a tongue
that now finds no words to plead Chlrist's cause
with the perishiing; it would make every disciple
an unceasing laborer together with God; it would
bring in the millennium in our lifetime; it would
soon present this world a spotless jewel unto
Chlirist.
Igo 
HE EVILS OF INTEMIPERANC~.
'W lho hath woe? who hath sorrow? who hath contentions? who  hath
babbling? who hath wounids without cause? who hath redness of eyes?'I'They
that tarry long at the wine; they that go to seek mixed wine.  Loo)k not thou
upon the wine when it is red, when it givcth his color in the cup. when it
moveth itself aright.  At the last it bitetis like a serpent, and stingeti, like an
adder.'J'hine eyes shall behold strange women. and thine heart shall utter per —
verse things.  Yea, thou shalt be as he that lieth down in the miilst of the
sea, or as he that lieth upon the top of a mast.  They have striciken me, slhalt
thou sa,y. and I was not sick; they have beaten me, and I felt it not: whlen
shall I awake? I will seek it yet againi."-PROVERBS xxiii. 29-33.
EVER in the history of this cominmonwealth
wvas there an hour lwhen the subject of intemperance needed a more serious and thlorou,gh
consideration than the present.  Duritng the last
forty -ears lighlt has been poured upon it such as
it neve-r lad before.  Science, experience, reason,
philanthropy, religion; all the powers of the wvise
and good have combined in the work of examiining and exposing  the enormous crime andc ruin
whichl attend the use of intoxicating drinks.  The
"former times" may have been, in some respects,
"the times of ignorance," which God  compar-atively " winked at."  But nowv that darkness is all
past.   The true lighlt shineth.   No  intelli,gent
man needs to take, or has a rlight to take, ainy dubious or hlalf-vway viewNs ni)on this subtject.  Thlere
b* i 
Ti9e EfZ/ls of  J/tci LcP a/zcc.
is no reasonable doubt in regard to the crime and
curse of intemperance.  Its immorality, its historv, its influences, could be made no clearer if
written by an "angel standing in the sun."  We
come to you with no faltering faith or ambiguous
words in regard to this matter.   We do not say:
We thick "-"  we bclicze "-" we suppose" that
the matter stands so-and-so.   We KNOW, We ARE
SURE, that intemperance is one of the most tremendouts crimes and cutrses that man ever felt or
Satan ever gloried in.
Probably intemperance never  raged  in our
country more than now.  The devil has availed
himself of the present wrectclhecd state of things, as
a sort of truce, in which to build up his fortresses
anid enlarge his forces withl immeasurable industry
and success. Political legislation has generally
been in the interest of strong drink.  Some reformer-s have grown weary of the struggle.  IMen
who  have stood beside the graves of drulnken
fathers, or brothers, or soIns, still take no interest
in the temperance cause.  In the meantime, the
great  comimander-in-chief of drunkenness  has
erected immense fortifications of brevwer-y, distillery, and wvarehlouse on many a hilltop and wharf,
and has lined every city street, and every country
roadside, with rifle-pits of bar-room and saloon.
Never did any other chieftain so sklillfully arrange
his forces to sweep every neilghborhlood in all the
country from end to end.
And what is the commrunity d(:ing all this time?
102 
TIhe Evils of Intemperance.
More than one-half of them are sleeping or indif ferent, while tens of thousands are continually
being captured or destroyed. Among those tens
of thousands is an appalling multitude of the
young. The cry comes up to us on every side
that the young are becoming drunkards. You
cani see it everywhere for yourself. In the barroom, in the restaurant, by the beer fount, on the
steamboat, in the car, you can see young men
drinking, or manifesting too plainly the effects of
drink. A few years ago, it was accounted a deep
disgrace, and was practised only in secret. Now,
it is done openly, as a thing of bravery and glory
-the glory of their shame.
This state of things calls upon every generous
and virtuous young man to take a proper and decided stand upon this subject. If you are radically wrong here, there is tremendous danger that
you will come out wrong everywhere.
I shall confine myself at this time to one single
department of the subject, namely, Thze evils of
inltemperance.  This is the great basis on which we
build our opposition. Our antagonism to strong
drink is not a mere sentiment or theory; it is
based on dark, dreadful, unquestionable factsthe actual evils-of intemperance.
It is to these evils, you will observe, that those
sentences of Solomon refer which I have read to
you; and what a picture is that!   Look at it
again. It was taken nearly three thousand years
ago; but what a perfect photograph is it of the
I93 
Th /iz Evils of  It teiiipcranicc.
drunkard  still!  His woe - his babbling - his
wounds-his redness of eyes-the biting serpent
-the strange women-the reeling-the stupidity
-the insatiate thirst. Why, it is perfectly lifelike! It has a thousand counterparts every day.
I shall divide the evils of intemperance into
three classes-namely, Persona4l, Social, and Cizvil.
I. In attempting to speak of the personal evils,
a formidable multitude appears before me, from
which I can select only here and there a repulsive
cluster. Let me allude first to
(a) The phlysical evils of intemperance. Alcohol is a poison. WVho says so? Science. It is
no bugbear of temperance men, as such. Chemical tests, and the witness of men of the highest
scientific character, put it high on the list of vege,
table poisons. Upon this subject, any number of
names and testimonies could be given. Let mo
give a sample or two:
One physician says: "We hav-e incontrovertible
proof that spirit is a poison of the same nature as
prussic acid, producing the same effects, killing
by the same means, paralyzing the muscles of respiration, and so preventing the necessary change
of black into vermilion blood."
The name of Sir Astley Cooper is a lofty one
in medical science, and this is his testimony: "No
man can have a greater hostility to dram-drinking
than myself, insomuch that I never suffer any
I94 
The Evils of Intemperance.
ardent spirits in my house, thinking them evil
spirits. And if the poor could witness the white
livers, the dropsies, the shattered nervous systems
which I have seen, as the consequences of drink ing, they would be aware that spirits and poisons
are synonymous terms."
Another physician says of the drunkard's corpse:
"Every tissue proclaims but too distinctly the
injury it has received. There are no marks of
weakness or decrepitude, as the result of natural
decay and advancing age; but all the organs, in
accents awfully impressive, speak of poison, of
madness, of self-immolation. The anatomist turns
away in horror."
Such are simply samples of the testimony
which men of science give upon the subject. All
that is needed to produce death in the case of
alcohol as of any other poison, is that one takes
sufficient quantity. It is possible, in a single
draught, to take enough to kill a man at once;
and this has been done. Its effects upon brute
animals are similar to those on the human species.
Dr. Percy, a British physician, tried the experiment of injecting two and a half ounces of alcohol (about one-third of an ordinary tumblerful)
into the stomach of a dog, and the animal dropped
down dead very much as if he had been struck
with a club.
You may tell me that some persons do use
spirituous liquors many years, and yet they live.
But does that prove that they are not poisonous?
195 
Thle Evils of Intemperance.
In Germany, it is quite customary, in some places,
for the ladies to take a mild solution of arsenic to
improve their complexions; and the men sometimes take small quantities pure as tonics, and
think they cannot do without it; and these persons may live many years. But is not arsenic
a poison for all that? And do not physicians testify that such persons' lives are shortened by such
habits?
Nature does indeed fight bravely and long to
resist and repair the damage of some of the poisons forced upon it, whether by arsenic, or
opium, or alcohol; but the poison is there nevertheless, and it does shorten even the longest life,
while it cuts the most of its victims down in the
very beginning of their race.
In all this, I have spoken only of the real nature
and legitimate effects of g,enuine alcoholic liquors.
But if these things are so with the genuine arti.
cles, how much more deadly must be the poison
of those vile compounds, colored, and flavored, and
sold all over the land under the fictitious names
of "brandy," "gin," and " champagne"?  Oil of
vitriol, oil of almonds, oil of turpentine, lime-water, sub-acetate of lead, sulphate of lead, strychnine, logwood, tannin, fusel oil, and cockroachessuch are some of the delicious elements which
help to make up more than nine-tenths of the
delightful beverages which young men, and fashionable men, and poor men, and rich men, and all
kinds of drinking men, claim as their privilege and
I96
I I 
Thc Evils of hIztcmpcrance.
joy to use.'What fine elixirs of life, in which
friend may pledge the health of friend!
The late Dr. Nott said: "I had a friend who
had been once a wine-dealer, and, having read the
startling statements made public in relation to the
compounding of wines and the adulteration of
other liquors generally, I enquired of that friend as
to the verity of those statements. His reply was:
' God forgive what has passed in my own cellar,
but the statements made are true, and all true, I
assure you.'"
Professor Draper, of New York, two or three
years ago made an examination of the brandy at
some of the principal hotels on Broadway, where
it was retailed at fifty cents a glass, and in every instance it was a mere compound of villanous poison.
I knew a landlord whose "brandy" was discovered to have cost him thirty-seven cents a gallon.
I knew a druggist who paid two hundred dollars
for a recipe to make these liquors. The liquor
inspector of Cincinnati, a few years ago, after a
careful examination, declared that he did not think
there were twenty gallons of pure brandy in the
whole city.
If you choose to turn from brandy to beer, I
can only commend you to the testimony given in
the city of Albany, in the famous trial of Taylor
against Delavan-a testimony of facts in regard to
the manufacture of beer in that day too loathsome
to bear a repetition in the pulpit.
Is it not, then, most amazing that we must plead,
I1I
I97 
The Evils of Intemnperance.
and so often plead in vain, to prevent men from
pouring such disgusting poison into their vitals?
Do you wonder that the habitual drinkers of these
things should put on such dreadful tokens of disease?  Do you wonder at the bloodshot eye, the
burning skin, the horrid breath, the bloated form,
the unquenchable thirst, the staggering pace, the
delirium, the death?
(b) We pass now to the mental evils which
proceed from the use of alcoholic drinks.
The immediate and inevitable effect of these
things is to stimulate the brain. The brain being the great instrument of the mind, whatever
affects the brain injuriously must affect the mind
in a similar way. In some cases, the stimulus
creates an increased brilliancy at first, but it is a
temporary and suicidal flash, only burning out
swiftly into the ashes of an utter ruin. I need
not repeat to you here the names of men, once
renowned for intellectual magnificence, but afterward degraded by strong drink to the stupidity
and loathsomeness of a sot. Every year has its
sad wrecks from this cause, in which the state,
the ranks of literature, the legal and medical professions, and the pulpit mourn, in sadness and
shame, the loss of some of their brightest ornaments. The Senate of the United States has no
loftier names upon its roll than those of some
who in after-years went down to their graves
beclouded or utterly ruined by intemperance,
The medical profession has seen, in its own ranks,
x98 
The Evils of litemnperance.
how powerless are the finest genius and most accu rate knowledge of disease to prevent men from
yielding to that beastly habit, whose inevitable
end is the foulest disease and the meanest death.
The Gospel ministry has blushed for shame as it
witnessed some of its most distinguished preach ers degraded from their high office by the drunk ard's curse. It has even mourned an instance,
only a very few years old, when one of its most
gifted and tender messengers of grace was seduc ed, by the demon of the wine-cup, to exchange the
sacred desk for a seat on the curb-stone, with a
drunkard's tongue belching forth obscenity and
oaths.
Oh! how unspeakably painful and disgusting is
this brutal degradation  of godlike intellects
WVhat is more horrible in any human being than
the vacant stare, the babbling, the nonsensical muttering, the wild and profane yells of the inebriate? What an outrage on a being once created
in his MAaker's image! Devils are the synonym
of every moral evil, but devils never become drunkards. WVith all their depravity of heart, they keep
the intellect clear. This vile disgrace is peculiar
to humanity alone.
(c) I now proceed to speak of the moral evils
of intemperance. Vice loves to grow in clusters.
But there is no other vice around which such
gigantic clusters grow as intemperance. There
is not a commandment of the Decalogue to the
violation of which intemperance does not natu
I99 
The Evils of Iztemnperance
rally lead. Try them, one by one, beginning with
the first table of duties to God. How is it in
regard to the true love and worship of God —the
honor of his name-the observance of his Sabbath? Does not intemperance break this table
of the law into ten thousand pieces every week?
Then apply it to the second table of duties to
man, and is it not notoriously the most infamous
patron of disrespect to parents, of murder, of
impurity, of dishonesty, of lying, of covetousness,
Is it not accursed by every law on the statute
books, both of God and man-by the whole his
tory of human crime?
Statistics gathered through several years, both
in this country and elsewhere, show that not far
from six-sevenths of the crimes committed and
brought to trial can be traced to the use of intoxi
cating drinks. This does not include that vast
world of hidden immorality which reeks with the
fumes of drunkenness, but is not brought out
to public view. Go to your grand-jury rooms, go
to criminal courts, go to county jails and state
prisons, go to brothels, go to gibbets, and everywhere you will be confronted with the awful fact
that intemperance and crime go hand in hand..
I need not carry our discussion of this matter
up to the higher plane of Christianity. It is i(dle
to speak of Jesus and his Gospel to one who is
wedded to his cups. You might as well preach
to a maniac as to a drunkard as long as he yields
to his appetite. No man can possibly become a
200 
The Evils of InitcCperance.
Christian until he first becomes a sober man. A
drunken Christian is as great an anomaly as a
swearing Christian or a thievish Christian.
In speaking of the personal evils of intemper ance, we have now noticed the physical, mental,
and moral aspects of the case. There is yet
another view more terrible than all. It is:
(d) The eternalevils of intemperance. Beyond all
the degradation and woes of the present does this
dark curse cling to its victim. Not even when
the bloated and burned-out body staggers into the
grave has the end come. The drunkard's curse
lives throughout a dark and hopeless eternity.
Be not deceived," says the Apostle Paul, "no
drunkard shall inhierit the kingdom of God; " and
in saying so, he classifies drunkards along with
idolaters, and adulterers, and thieves, and other
classes of guilt and shame (I Cor. vi. 9, Io0). It is
a noticeable truth that the Holy Scriptures do
not speak of drunkenness with that mild and sentimental sympathy which is manifest so often nowadays.  Modern humanitarians are teaching the
world only to pity crime, not to punish it. In
like manner, drunkenness is regarded by this class
as almost exclusively a weakness, not a sin.  But
the \Vord of God uses very different language.
There it is regarded only as a crime, which, if unrepented of and unforsaken, will inevitably debai
the soul from the blessedness Df everlasting life.
It is one of the abominations and defilements witll
20I 
Thze Evils of Ilteiemperance.
whi(cl- no man can enter through the gate into the
neavenly city.
! A more brief consideration shall now be given
to:
II. The social evils of intemperance.
If any of you were asked to name that evil
which, more than any other, or even more than
all others combined. had destroyed the happiness
of families; had broken the hearts of loving wives;
had blasted the affections, characters, and prospects of childhood; had turned homes of cheerfulness and comfort into prisons of despair; had
substituted rags for garments of taste; and had
brought every conceivable amount of cruelty on
beings of innocence and love-what would you
name? How lonlg could you doubt? Would not
every man, woman, and child be compelled to
say that, of all the curses ever inflicted on families
and communities, there is nothing so unmitigatedly hellish as intemperance? It has turned the
once faithful husband into a compound of beast
and fiend; it has nerved the hand that once gave
the wedding-ring to deal the deadly blow; it has
inspired the lips that once spoke only of love to
belch forth the foulest curses of the pit; it has
made children fly from a father's approach as they
would from a devouring monster.
One of the most horrid sights that God looks
down upon is a drlunkard's home, and one of the
202 
T7he Ez~iI pfo. Ioftemprac de
most pitiable objects in all his universe is a
druLnkard's wife. I know not what language to
utse to express the deep wretchedness of her lot.
Tlhe most terrible punishment spoken of in an tiqutity was that devised by Mezentius, who some timnes put a person to death by chaining to him a
corpse face to face, whose putrefaction should
gradually kill the living man. I can only think
of the drunkard's wife as chained in this way to a
loathsome horror; chained for months and years;
chained with no hopes of release, save that which
the grave may bring to one or the other, or to
both.
Nor is even that hope unmixed with the saddest
fears; for that foul corruption dies not with the
wretched forms  in which  it first arose.   The
drunkard is the embodiment not only of a crime,
but also of a disease, and that disease is hereditary.
The most careful investigation has confirmed this
fact. Physicians testify that " diseases from drinking spirituous or fermented liquors are liable to
become hereditary to the third generation, gradually increasing, if the cause be continued, until
the family becomes extinct." Children of drunkards come into the world with the disease of intemperance in their blood, and the marks of it on
their vitals.  They have been subjected to the
most catrefuil examination after death. Dissection
and the microscope have revealed precisely the
same marks of disease in them as in the confirmed
20'2
i 
Thle E/~i/s of IntmlICranc/.
inebriate. Dr. Riggs, of London, once stated that
"one-half of the deaths among children in that city
was produced by hereditary inebriety."
And what is the case of the children who do
not die? Their physical systems are in the same
morbid state as that of a reformed drunkard.
They may grow up and get along well enough if
they entirely abstain.  But let them beware how
they touch the first drop! There is a latent appetite in them, like the love of blood in the young
lion, which the first sip will make ravenous. This
explains why so often the children of inebriates
become inebriates themselves, and that so suddenly. It is not merely the force of example, but
the development of hereditary thirst, which only
awaited the occasion of a beginning to spring at
once into a full-grown habit.
Nor is it only in this form that the disease is
transmitted from parent to child, but the delirium
tremens, or mental decay, or even temporary intoxication of the parent, often leads to the insanity
or idiocy of the child. It is said that this cause
produces forty per cent. of all insanity, and fifty
per cent. of all idiocy.
What a heritage is this to transmit from generation to generation; sometimes overleaping the
one immediately succeeding and striking on the
third! What a demon of the blood and of the
brain must intemperance be, thus to poison the
sweet current of life both in the body and the
204 
The  Ev~ils of If l/elmperanlce.
soul! How emphatic the inspired declaration:
"\Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging, and
whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise."
III. I promised to say something of the evils
of intemperance in its civil relations, or the evils
which it inflicts on the state.
In no other form of government ought the
purity of the state to be a matter of such anxious
interest as in a republic like ours.  Whatever
touches the honesty of the ballot-box or the
moral integrity of our halls of legislation ought
to be watched by every patriot as the brave and
sleepless sentinel watches the slightest token of
an enemy's approach. Each of these should be
regarded by freemen as almost as sacred as the
Sanctuary of the MIost High.  Yet how has the
demon of intemperance disgraced the legislative
halls of our land, both state and national! What
deeds of shame have gathered round our ballotboxes! The fearful testimony which comes to us
from every quarter is that intoxicating liquors,
in the interest of their manufacture, traffic, and
use, and in the legislation which they seek, are
among the most powerful controllers of our elections. The result of all this is that the great majority of our public men are not sincere friends
of total abstinence.   Some of them are as far
from that
"As from the centre thrice to the utmost pole."
Jefferson is reported to have said that "no man
I! i
205 
The Evils of Itiemperzance.
ought to be trusted with office who drank." If
that rule were strictly applied to many a legisla
tive body, there would not be a quorum left.
The matter of taxes comes up sometimes for
discussion in connection with the subject of intoxicating drinks. Various tables of statistics, compiled before the war, agreed in the general fact
that about two-thirds of ordinary county taxes
wvent for pauperism and crime, and of that pauperismt and crime six-sevenths were produced by
intemperance. This would show that about foursevenths of ordinary taxes, before the war, were
exacted by alcoholic drinks.  These tables of
statistics are, of course, not absolutely exact.
With the utmost care, they can only be approximations to the truth.  Yet, gathered as they were
in different years, and in places far remote from
each other, they present a very significant agree
ment in the result to which they come.  We need,
however, no precise details. We need only look
at our poor-houses, and court-houses, and jails
at the long list of officials, from policeman to
judge, whose chief concern is the prevention and
punishment of crimes growing out of intemperance, to satisfy even the most incredulous how
outrageous is the extortion which strong drink's
exacting from the taxpayers of the land.
But I am not willing to dwell upon this aspect
of the case.  The great question before us rises
infinitely above the measurement of dollars and
cents in our tax bills. So far as the state is con
206 
The Evils of Itiemperance.
cerned, even if there were no taxes connected
with this vice; if it was a source of princely rev enue; if every drunkard's corpse could be trans muted into solid gold, and every dram-shop was a
public mint; if the whole cost of liquor in the
United States (six hundred millions of dollars a
year) could be poured directly into the national
Treasury to pay the public debt-even then the
state could not afford to encourage habits of intoxication. No amount of gold and silver can be
weighed against the loss of public virtue. The
question of morals, of happiness, of present and
eternal welfare, cannot be ciphered out in tables
of currency or coin. No state can possibly become so rich but that, if intemperance generally
prevails among its citizens and rulers, every true
patriot may well repeat, with anxious heart, the
dying words of the great William of Orange:
"God have mercy on my poor country!"
In the course which I have taken to-day, you
perceive I have limited your view to a single feature of the subject of intemperance, viz., its evils.
I have endeavored to give you, as far as I could,
reliable facts and statements. I have felt that
such a course was necessary for every one who
desired to know on what basis a strong, reason.
able, and Christian opposition against intemperance may be impregnably established.
And now I feel warranted in asking you, every
man, woman, and child:
207
7i 
The Evils of Intemperance.
Is it right, or is it wrong, to be the patron of in.
toxicating drink as a beverage?
Is it right, or is it wrong, to encourage the traffic
in it?
Is it right, or is it wrong, to put the bottle to a
neighbor's lips?
Is it right, or is it wrong, to set an example, even
in a "moderate" or fashionable way, by which a
weaker brother or a child may be ensnared and
ultimately ruined?
These are questions of practical morals which I
imagine not a single judgment or conscience
now present will have any difficulty in answering.
Now, on the other hand, let me ask a few questions of general fact. How does the community
practically regard this thing? Is it not under the
ban of public opinion? Does not the law crush
it? Does not philanthropy exterminate it? Do
not young and old fly from it? Is it not quarantined like a ship loaded with pestilence?  Do no.
men walk far away around it as they do from a
yellow-fever district?
WVhat is the answer to these questions? The
answer is that the horrible monster is caressed
and pampered to an extent like this: "There is
a sufficient quantitv of fermented and distilled
liquor used in the United States to fill a canal
four feet deep, fourteen feet wide, and one hundred and twenty miles in length" (_Aat. Temp.
Al,iaiac, I870).  The National Beer Congress, at
208 
Thc Evils of Inic~ipcrance.
its session in Newark, N.J., June, I869, estimated
the amount of beer manufactured in the United
States at over five and a half millions of barrels,
and the capital employed, directly and indirectly,
at one hundred and five millions of dollars
($Io5,ooo,ooo).  The lowest estimate of actual cost
ot spirituous and fermented liquors consumed in
the United States annually is six hundred millions
of dollars ($600,000,000ooo). This is an annual expenditure equal to one-quarter the amount of our
present national debt, or nearly two millions per
day.  Some of this, we know, is used for chemical
and mechanical purposes, but the greater part is
the deadly drink of infatuated human beings.
And what is the fruit of all this?  What a harvest of drunkenness and death! It is estimated
that sixty thousand go down to drlunkards' graves
every year. These represent a quarter of a million of wives and mothers, and sisters and childclren, overwhelmed with shame, sorrow, and often
poverty, by the untimely ruin of husbands, fathers, brothers, and sons.
But where, my young friends, does this vast
evil begin?  Always in the first glass.  Always in
the " moderate use."  Always in the hollow soph
istry that temperance does not mean total abstinence. Always in the vain confidence of being
able to control the appetite and to stop just at the
proper time. Of the sixty thousand drunkards
who die every year, probably not one expected
to come to that end. But the mighty deceitful
209 
Thf EL'ils of Inrlmiecral c.
ness of that deadly appetite sweeps its victim into
helplessness and ruin before he is aware. It was
only in the past week that we read the telegram
of three men who were drawn into the rapids of
Niagara. They expected, of course, to cross the
stream in safety, but the current soon became too
strong. Their oars were too feeble for the tide.
Their boat was tossed and broken in the rapids.
Two of the men sank quickly. The third, being
an expert swimmer, tried to reach a little island
in the stream. He came within six feet of it, but
the rushing waters swept him past. In despair,
he threw his arms upward and sank. It is the
picture of daily scenes on the mad stream of intemperance. So they venture out; so they are
swept away; so the most of them sink in speedy
ruin; so here and there a resolute one makes a
desperate effort to save himself, and almost succeeds; but the infernal tide is more than a match
for his exhausted powers; he abandons the effort
in despair, and sinks into eternal death. Your
safety, my young friends, is to let that dangerous
indulgence alone. What is fashion to you? What
the bantering of reckless comrades? What even
the invitation of female beauty, if it would entice
you into the drunkard's patlh? In that sparkling
wine-glass there is an adder, and, if you trifle with
it, it will sting you unto death even as it has stung
millions. Then, when the hopes and promises of
your life shall all have been blasted, your habits
ruined, your character destroyed-when we shall
210 
Thze Evils of liz-emperance,
have carried your poor, besotted corpse to the
grave, what will it then avail that once foolish
companions encouraged you?-once even thoughtless woman asked you to indulge the demon
which every day makes ten thousand brokenhearted women weep?
God grant you grace, my young friends, whenever tempted to taste the intoxicating beverage,
to say: In the name of health-in the name of
wealth-in the name of friends-in the name of
honor-in the name of virtue-in the name of example-in the name of everything I hold dear
in this world-in the name of my immortal soulin the name of heaven-in the name of GodNo!
2II  
LIBERTY AND LOVE.
IMUST express my great sorrow that there is
so large a division of sentiment on the subject
of temperance, and that this division of sentiment
is inclined, in many parts of our land, to take on
so acrimonious a form as it does. There are hundreds and thousands of men who not only are
themselves temperate, but are anxious to spread
temperance principles and practices throughout
the community; but they differ as to the measures
which it is best to employ.
Some men differ as to the number of elements
that are to be included. There be many who
say that all alcoholic and distilled liquors should
be excluded, but that vinous and fermented liquors
should not. There are others who say that these
last should be included in the exclusion. But
there are still others who say that tobacco ought
to be excluded. And there are others yet who
say that you ought to exclude all intoxicating
drinks and narcotic stimulants-tea and coffee as
well as the others. Still others say that you
ought to go on to vegetable diet strictly, and not
take away the life of any creature. It is held
by some that there can be no true temperance
0 0  4  -, 
Liberty and Love.
until men become farinaceous. I do not propose
to discuss any of these questions.
Then, there is a division of men in respect to
the measures which should be taken to promote
temperance. Some people think that the cause
ought to be carried forward by the churches
alone, and that there should be no temperance
societies. Others think that the work ought to
be done by temperance societies simply. Others
again think that there ought to be temperance
laws-license laws. Still others think that there
ought to be laws which should preclude the manufacture and sale of intoxicating drinks. Besides
these, there are thousands who think that moral
suasion is the only influence that should be resorted to in this matter. There is a great conflict of
judgment among men on this subject.
Now, in regard to it all, it is a great misfortune
that there should be this division of opinion; and
it is a still greater misfortune that this division of
opinion should lead to uncharitable judgments,
and to the want of faith of man in man. A hightoned temperance man-a man who, as it is said,
"goes the whole figure," and wants to sweep away
by legislation the evils of intemperance-is apt to
look with contempt upon the man who, although
he is abstinent, says: "I think we had better be
moderate, and not undertake any more than we
can carry out, doing what we can for temperance
by quietly talking in our own  neighborhood."
And I see that in an adjoining State there is a
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Liberty and Love.
painful feeling of acrimony existing among men
who are avowed friends of the temperance cause.
I affirm the right of a man to form his own
judgment about these things, and to stand by that
judgment without detriment or harm. You have
no right to take away a man's reputation for tem perance principles simply because he does not
come on to your platform, nor adopt your mea sures. You have a right to your views, and you
have a right to advocate them: and nobody has
a right to take away your peace, or comfort, or
good name because you do not agree with him.
Discord of views prevails also as to the use of
distilled and fermented drinks. First, I affirm and
defend the liberty of men to form their own judgments, and thereby their own consciences, as to
what is right and expedient in this particular. If
a man says: "I have carefully read every treatise,
and I have considered deliberately all the arguments for and agaiast absolute temperance, and it
is my sober judgment that the use of mild wines is
especially favorable to health and to temperance,
I say two things to him: " First, I differ with
you; but, secondly, I recognize your right to form
your judgment on that ground as much as I recognize my own right to form my judgment on
that ground. I am not of your way of thinking, and I wish that you did not think as you
do; but you are an honest man, and I defend
your liberty of judgment and your liberty of conscience." You have a right to judge his conclu
215 
Liberty anzd Love.
sions; but you have no right to judge his consci
ence. You have a right, as much as you please,
to multiply arguments, and views, and statements,
so as to induce him, if possible, to change his
judgment; but so long as his judgment is not
changed, he must be allowed to stand upon it; and
he must be counted no less honorable in standing
on his judgment than you are in standing on yours.
Are not these men who differ from you as honest
as you are? Are they not as sincere as you are?
Are they not as conscientious as you are? 71ho
art thou, theen, that judgest another iman's servant.?
To his own miaster he shall stand or fall.
But now, ori the other hand, while I boldly and
clearly affirm the liberty of men on this subject, I
have a right, most solemnly and earnestly, to appeal to all right-thinking men as to whether they
use their liberty charitably or not. The Apostle
puts this argument very distinctly: Use your
liberty charitably, amiably, according to the law of
love. Your rights are yours; but they are not
yours for a selfish purpose. Your personal right
or liberty is to be administered under the great
charter of love. And I have a right to ask every
man to consider attentively this whole matter of
temperance in the community in which he lives,
and in the day in which he lives.
I ask, first, Is there any other single source from
which comes so much danger or so much distress as from the drinking habits of society? Is
not intemperance the paramount mischief, as well
2i6 
Liberty ard Lovze.
as the fountain of almost all the other mischiefs
which exist among us?  Does it not stimulate the
worst part of men?  Does it not lead to an im mense variety of vices?  Your own observation
of what is taking place in society at large, and the
vast accumulation of statistics and facts such as
we ordinarily find in temperance documents, must,
it seems to me, have convinced you that the evils
with which we have to contend in the community
may be mainly traced to this cause. I ask every
young man here, and every man of any considerable experience, if he does not know thousands,
or if not thousands hundreds, or if not hundreds
scores, certainly, of cases of overtaxed business
men in our large cities, who have run themselves
into absolute ruin by the habit of using intoxicating drinks to keep up their strength and their
fire? Has there not been a vein of mischief of this
sort running through the business community?
I-Have you not seen it?  Have you not known men
that w\ere discouraged, and badgered, and pressed
in their business, who, for the sake of abating
their suIffering, have taken away the keen vitality
.)f their life by resorting to the cup? And has not
til1e habit thus formed finally led to their downfall?
s not this going on all the time?  Are there not
hundreds and thousands of cases, almost in our
very midst, of persons who have in some such
Wlay- become victims of this terrible scourge?
If a ship comes into the harbor with cases of
yellow fever on board, there is a great clamor,
217
I 
Liberty and Love.
and we expect that the ship will be stopped, and
that the quarantine officers will do their duty, and
prevent the infection from spreading to the adjacent shores. And if through any neglect on the
part of these officers there are cases on shore,
everybody in the city is up in arms about it.
Now, I tell you that there are, to-day, hundreds
and thousands of persons in our midst who are infected with this terrific fever of drink. Their
neighbors know it; their partners know it; you
and I know it. It is a matter of common observation. Almost any one of us could put down the
names of scores of these men. The habit of indulging in intoxicating drinks is eating out the
lives of multitudes of otherwise worthy and most
desirable citizens. Especially is this the case in
New York, where this evil is aggravated by the
conformation of the city. The island being long
and narrow, men's business is thrown far from
their residences, and they are compelled to resort
to restaurants for their noon meal.   And here
they are brought under bewitching temptations
to drink. I think the restaurant system may have
laid to its credit more temptation to drink than
any other circumstance. Men go into restaurants
where liquor is kept for sale. One man opens a
bottle of claret, and another man thinks he must.
If one is invited by a friend to drink, he does not
like to refuse, and he feels under obligation to return the compliment. And the scruple which he
lhas against drinking gradtually wears off. Ile
218 
Liberty and Love.
does nrt know how, but little by little he slides
into the habit of drinking. At length he loses the
repulsion from it which he experienced at first.
And, finally, he finds himself regularly indulging,
from day to day, in drinking-not as medicine,
but as a matter of luxury or enjoyment. And
how many men, beginning so, find, after months
or years, that the necessity of indulgence has
grown on them, or that a latent tendency in that
direction has been fired in them, so that they can not get over it! How many are thus led to pur sue the drinking customs of society through the
influence of restaurants in New York!  Myriads
of young men who are full of blood, and full of
fire, and full of imitation, are led into intemperance
by the example which is set before them in these
places by their elders.
I have been informed that there is an immense
increase in the drinking habits of what are called
respectable young men in these cities.  I am told
that, quite generally, when an enterprise is taken in
hand, they step out to drink; that when they have
a fortunate stroke of business, they step out to
drink; that they drink when they are going over
to business, and drink when they are coming back.
There is undoubtedly a great deal more drinking
than there used to be. And it means business.
It is not altogether drinking from courtesy, or
from compliance: it is drinking deep and drinking
often for a purpose. And this excessive drinking
is accompanied by manifest and growing effects
2I9
i,, 
Liberiy and Loze.
upon these young men. And, from excitability,
from compliance with social customs, from the
example of the fashionable classes, from the
facility with which men are enabled by this means
to reach the feelings of their fellow-men, and from
a hundred other considerations, the drinking teindencies of society'are increasing.  And there is
no other thing that so takes down the health, and
blunts the conscience, and deadens the sensibility,
and prematurely prepares the young for disease
and suffering and disgraceful death, carrying
terrible blight to the household, and immeasurable woe to many souls, as this very practice of
drinking for luxury and for diet.
Now, I appeal to Christian men, I appeal to
moral, right-thinking citizens, is there any just
end to be gained that should lead you to persist in drinking?   Have  I not said that, abstractly considered, you have a right to form
your own judgment in this matter? And now,
having guarded your liberty, I ask you, was there
ever a case where a man might better bring his
liberty to the altar of love and humanity? WVas
there ever a case which more strongly appealed
to a. man in this direction than this very one?
Was there ever an instance in which a man might
more appropriately say: If rzeat and drink mnake
viy brother to offend, I will eat no fesl and drink no
vinze while the world standeth?
Have you a right, for the sake of the indulgence
of your own pleasure, which is momentary and
220 
Liberty and Lovec.
transient, to set such an example, and to lend the
whole force of your personal influence in such a
way as will lead young men into a habit which
will be to them damnation?  Though you may
be cold and conservative, and though you may be
so far advanced in life that you can indulge
moderately in the use of intoxicating drinks
without being drawn into excessive indulgence,
have you any right, either for pleasure or profit,
to throwv the pall of your example over young
men, and solicit them, and ratify their erratic
desires? I appeal to you because, though you
have a right to your own opinions in this matter,
and though I accord to you that right, I believe
that you have at heart the welfare of the youing,
and that if it were made plain to you that a
little sacrifice of personal indulgence on your part
would be the salvation of scores and hundreds
of men, you would make the sacrifice. And was
there ever a case where a man  might use his
liberty for the welfare of others, if this be not
one?
I appeal to all men to avoid setting an example
of drinking at public dinners or in any public
places.  Totu may say: "If am going to drink at
all, I will drink openly." No, no, no! That is
not right.  If your physician says you must drink,
I say about drinking as the Apostle said about
faith-" Have  it to thyself."   And  when  you
attend a New England dinner, or a Historical
Sociclty dinner, ac- a k(eographical Society dinner,
221
I I 
Liberty and Love.
or an), great dinner, do not drink. There are
very few men who could sit at the head of the
table on such an occasion, as I saw one of the
chief and most honored poets of America sit, and
press away the glasses, and say to the servants as
they came round: "None, none."  That venerable
man, as he sat there, quiet and unostentatious,
was reading a lesson which, I am afraid, but few
understood. As I recollect it, it was a noble
testimony and a noble example. And I would
say to every man who will allow himself to be
influenced by my persuasion: I beg of you, in
hotels, in restaurants, at public dinners, in public
places everywhere, even if you think you have
impunity in the matter of drinking yourself, forbear. Do something for the good cause. Do
something that will help men. We need an example; and you do not know how many eyes may be
looking upon you. You do not know how many
men, if you lift your hand with the cup, will lift
theirs, and perish.
May I not urge parents to consider the effect upon their children of the use at home, as
a luxury, of intoxicating drinks? I do not say
that a parent shall never drink wine; but it does
seem to me that it is wise to have an emphatic
understanding in the household on this subject.
It seems to me that parents, bringing up their
children in the midst of the perils of this day and
community, might emphasize their example on
the subject of temperance at their tables. I have
222 
Liberty a;d Jove.
known good men to pour out wine and give it to
their boys, because, as they said, they would not
take anything that their boys might not take.
That is a reason why you should not take wine
yourself, but it is not a reason why you should
give it to them. And for the sake of the sanctity
of the household in this day and in this country,
1 beseech you to think well about this matter.
And if with your conscience you have gone over
the ground, may I not ask you to go over it again?
May I not ask you, as in the presence of God and
with the solemnities of the eternal sphere upon you,
to carefully consider the subject once more, and
ask yourself whether you ought not to exclude
wine from your board? May I not say to every
one who calls in his friends, and hospitably spreads
his table, and opens his saloons: You may be able
to stand; but is your conscience or your strength
to neglect the weak, the tempted, and the temptable? Ought you not to have a consideration for
those whose consciences come under your influence?
There is nothing more painful to me than to see
how beauty, and politeness, and courtesy seduce.
A young man comes to the city from the country.
It is a great thing for a young man who has been
brought up in a village to come to New York.
He is occupying a humble position as clerk in a
store. He is a young man of promise; and this
fact does not escape his employer's attention. He
has been there two years, and has improved in
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Liberty and Love.
many respects. He is dressing better; he has
dropped off his uncouth manners; he has many
mnarks of courtesy about him; he has savoirfaire,
and many other virtues, and his employer is
pleased with him; and on going home some
night he says to his wife: " I think Thomas is
very promising; he is turning out finely. And 1
do not know as it would do any hurt, nowv that we
are going to have these little parties, and as our
girls would like some beaux, to ask him over. I
believe there is the making of a man in him, and
nobody can tell what may happen."
He is asked over, and he feels that it is a great
compliment. When he came to the city he did not
know what was before him, but fortune seems to
have smiled upon him. Hie has had pretty hard
work, but he has browbeaten and overcome a
great mlany difficulties, and things are now going
more smoothly with him. And in his exultation
he says: " I have got it in me, and I am going to
succeed." And then comes this sweet invitation
from his employer-one of the first men in the
community-a man who stands among the very
highest in business circles.   And this young man
who has been brought up with a religious horror
of drinking, and who has been able to resist all
the temptation which has been brought to bear
upon him in restaurants, in drinking-saloons, and
among his companions, goes to the hospitable
mansion of his employer, and there in a side-roomi
is a bowl of champagne punch (I believe that is
')4 
Liberty and Love.
what they call it), or something of the kind; and
all the other young men go in there to brace
themselves up and get ready to be brilliant.  It is
the custom of the house, and his companions say:
"You are not going to take on airs in this way.
Besides, you are not going to insult the man in his
own house, and tell him that he had no business to
put that bowl there." And in an ill-advised moment this heretofore religiously temperate young
man yields, and drinks the first cup.
Now, 1 do not say that that first cup is going to
destroy him; but I do say that he has been grievously wounded. That cup may be of little consequence; but if a young man consents to do
what his conscience tells him he has no business
to do, he has taken the first of a series of steps
downward.  When a man begins to act contrary
to his moral convictions, his power to follow those
convictions in the midst of temptation is materially weakened. And when you, by your example
in the household or elsewhere, lead a man to do
that which his conscience condemns, you have
done him an injury from which he can never
wholly recover. So take care that you do not
destroy men by your example.
I beseech of you who are looking forward to the
approaching festive season of the holidays-Christmas and New Year's Day-to take high ground
on this subject of temperance. I make my annual
solemn and affectionate appeal to every young man
in this congregation, to maintain a conscience
void of offence.  If your conscience says that
2 2 
Liberty and Love,
drinking is bad, and ought not to be allowed,
stand by your principles, no matter if you be
tempted by an angel of light, with a devil ini him.
I make my appeal, also, to every young woman. Since drunkenness comes first and hardest
upon woman, since it is to her what a swine is to
a garden, rooting up every sweet blossom, and
destroying every fruit, and making a wilderness
of the garden of the Lord, I have a right to say to
every young woman: By your look, by your
word, and by your act, bear testimony and exert
your influence against intemperance. Let not
your fair hand, that yet one day shall go out in
pledge, convey to another that cup which shall
desolate and destroy the household. If there be
one thing that woman should stand for, it is temperance.
I beseech of you who are hospitably disposed,
whatever have been your old customs, your Old
World customs, or your old country customs,
think this matter over again.   Men, brethren,
fathers, you who have never thought of taking
this ground, am I unreasonable? Have I not put
your liberty on the right ground, and defended it?
and am I wrong in begging you to use that liberty so as not to destroy men with it? May I not
beg of you now, many of you, before you leave
this house, to say: "By the help of God I will use
my reason, I will use my conscience, I will use
my money, I will use my house, 1 will use my
table, so as to make sure that no man shall stumble upon my example and end in destruction "
226 
THE WINE OF THE WORD,
AND
THE WORD CONCERNING WINE.
"All things indeed are pure; but it is evil for that man who  eateth with
offence."-ROM. sxv. 20.
NE  of the questions of the hour is the wine
question.   On  its settlement hangs the
use or disuse of all light alcoholic stimulants;
and whether these shall be banished from the sideboard, the dining-table, and the circles of social
and festive life, will go far to settle the status of
the temperance cause, and its success in staying
the monster evils that come from indulgence in
the more fiery liquors. It will go far to settle the
temporal and eternal welfare of tens of thousands,
many of whom are growing up in Christian homes
and in attendance upon the church of God. If the
Christian conscience cannot be secured on the side
of abstinence, we must despair of securing the
worldly conscience. If over the wine-cup and other
intoxicants men stumble to perdition, and the practice of God's people is nevertheless in favor of the
wine-cup, then men will continue to stumble to
__0  
T,'re  U;   of  the  WVord,
the end of time. With a drinking church behind
us, we can do little or nothing with a drinking
world before us.   The ruin from  intemperate
drinking can scarcely be overestimated. There is
no such other one source of woe and crime in the
world as the excessive indulgence in alcoholic
drink. And this excess of indulgence comes in a
vast majority of cases from indulgence in moderation. There is that in the very nature of alcohol
which tends to excite thirst for deeper draughts
of it.  If we stop the moderation, therefore, we
are sure of arresting a large amount of the excess.
If we lend our influence and example to moderation, effort to prevent excess will be largely spent
in vain.  There are thousands upon thousands
who are weak, of excitable temperament, easily
tempted, strong passioned, and to whom moderation in the use of alcoholic stimulant as a beverage
would almost inevitably lead to dissipation and
ruin. These ought to abstain entirely, all will
concede.   But do not those  who  love Jesus
Christ, and who profess to be actuated by the
Gospel law of love, owe a duty to them that are
weak?  Are we not bound to help them to abstain both by our precept and by our example?
Should example and, therefore, approval be given
to a practice that, though possibly not sinful in
itself, is known the world over to be a stumblingblock and an occasion to fall for multitudes? And
if so given, will not the multitudes keep on perishing? Surely, therefore, this wine question is of
2,210 
andtI t!,le Yord conccrnilz I  Vzig
incalculable consequence. And the right settlemient of it must begin at the house of God.  WVhat
is the great law by which God's people should be
governed in this matter of wine-drinking?
Some assert their Christian liberty, and say,
',There is no sin in drinking a glass of wine. It is of
no personal harm. It is lawful, therefore I will drink
it." Now, the apostle distinctly recognizes, in the
fourteenth chapter of his Epistle to the Romans,
this law of liberty.  And in view of it he makes
some frank and manly concessions. He says Christian liberty may be freely exercised with reference
to all those things that, in themselves considered,
have no permanent moral ground for their prohibition; in other words, things that are not in their
essential character either right or wroing. Speaking of meats and drinks, and holydays and ceremonies, his noble avowal is, "I know and am persuaded of the Lord Jesus there is nothing unclean
in itself," i.e., there is no essential moral pollution
in any of these things. Participation could be
had in them without contamination. To touch
them is not necessarily to besmear ourselves with
the pitch of sin.
But, he adds, take heed how you use your
liberty. There is a higher law of love which
limits the law of liberty, and this law of love has a
law's obligations just as binding as those of any
1wv on God's statute-book.  Under this law, a
thing in itself lawful becomes not only not expedient, but it ceases to be lawful, and becomes a
~-29
I 
The ['Vize of the  lVord,
sin-a double sin-a sin against a brother, and a sin
against Christ.  The law of love as laid down by
the apostle demands" that no man put a stumblingblock or an occasion to fall in his brother's way."
It is not right, he says, to eat flesh or to drink
wine, or to do anything whereby a brother stumbleth. All things indeed are pure, but it is evil
(KaK6v, not merely hurtful, but wrong, evil in a
moral sense, sin) for that man who eateth with
offence, i.e., so as to be an occasion for a brother's fall. Liberty to do that God never gave
any man. It is not, therefore, by the unauthorized dictum of a church court, or by the unreasoning zeal of an enthusiast in temperance reform,
that the liberty of Christ's people is sought to be
restrained.   God  himself, by his unmistakable
Word, undertakes to restrain it. Hence, if there
be any impeachment of the divine wisdom in
this matter, as has been charged, it is by those
who advocate a liberty which God has expressly
denied.
Now, there are those who recognize and acknowledge the sinfulness of so using our liberty of
action as to injure our fellow-men, yet whose reasoning on this wine question seems to be in favor
of the largest liberty. They argue that the Scriptures authorize the use of wine and other fermented drinks, provided they be used within the limits
of strict sobriety. And they say these are the
limits allowed of God, and this is the liberty given
to every man.  It is asked, "If God permits a man
230 
anid the  [Vord coizccrft~izg  TVine.
to use alcoholic drinks temperately, who will dare
take upon himself to say that he shall not do so?"
And it is argued that to press the obligations of
law here is to take away that liberty which God
has given whereby every man to his own master
standeth or falleth.
This seems like putting the whole grand doctrine
of Christian expediency within the domain of a divinely allowed liberty, which is simply to take wholly away from the law of love its grip of oughtness,
and to sink it to the level of a thing indifferent of his duty in respect to which every one must
judge for himself." But in this matter God has
taken judgment out of our hands. He says the
violation of this law, or the imperilling a weak
brother in the exercise of our liberty, is a sin.
When it comes to that, no man has a right to
judge for himself. His drinking wine, then, is not
"a simple question of expediency." He is brought
face to face with "an  offence against Christ,"
and what liberty has he for that? Not any, it
certainly would be fair to conclude, that any
Christian man would care to maintain.
This, then, is the great law. A thing pure is
evil for that man whose indulgence is an injury to
others. It is morally wrong to put an occasion to
fall in a brother's way-a Christian sins against his
Lord when he so uses his liberty that it becomes a
stumbling-block to them that are weak. Thus every
man is clinched with a moral obligation-bound
by an imperative "ought."  It is not a matter of
231 
Y'he Wine of the ['Vo-d,
li)berty at all. It is a matter of' law and a lawv's
obligations.  Because the law pertains to a thing
indifferent-ie., neither right nor wrong per seobedience to the law is not a thing indifferent, but a
clear and demanded duty.
Now, on the supposition that wine-drinking is
not wrong in itself, does this law of love bind us
to let the wine-glass alone? Is abstinence fromn
all alcoholic beverage a Christian duty?   By
some it is emphatically answered, "No!  God
has clearly and repeatedly, from end to end
of his Holy Word, by precept and example,
authorized, approved, and sometimes even enjoined, the use of intoxicating wine and strong
drink as a beverage."   Through column  after
column of our public prints, men have recently labored to prove this-to prove that such
wine is the only wine of Scripture; that God directed the Jews to indulge in its use at their religious festivals; that Christ made this intoxicant
in large quantity at a marriage feast; that he freely drank it on various occasions. And all this tremendous sweep of argument and wholesale Scriptural endorsement of wine-drinking has been accompanied and modified by only this mild disclaimer: "It may be one's duty, notwithstanding
the truths here set forth, to abstain in given circumstances from all use of wine and strong
drinks." This is certainly very softly put, as if
even this were a doubtful matter.  And doubtful
it is if the above Scriptural argument be true.
232 
anzd  the H4ord conzceriinig   Vinse.
Doubtful it is if God has so often, and so publicly,
and in such variety of circumstances, sanctioned
the use of the intoxicating cup. Once admit the
argument, and the mild disclaimer is swept to the
winds.
" It may be one's duty in certain circumstances
to abstain!"  In what circumstances?  Try to
conceive of any that could call for abstinence more
imperatively and bindingly than those in which
the fearful woe was pronounced upon Ephraim
for drunkenness, and  when  all Judah "erred
through strong drink," and priests and prophets
"were swallowed up of wine."  Such a state of
things has no parallel even in this day of dissipation and excess. But it was not only then that
men stumbled so fearfully by wine. From the
time that Noah drank of the wine and was drunken, the brink of the wine-cup has been the brink
of ruin. Hundreds of thousands have been swept
to perdition by the alcohol of the cup. It is not
Luy any means a desolating and dreadful ruin peculiar to our own day and land.  The woe and
the curse of this thing scarred Israel all along her
history, and the record of Israel's folly is heavy
with the sounding retributions of God  for it.
Drunkenness was a common sin in the time of
Christ.   So  he warned  his disciples, saying:
"Take heed lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with drunkenness."  And at the wedding
in Cana, the governor of the feast, speaking of the
general custom of such feasts, said: " Every man
23I 
Thze TWine of the Word,
at the beginning doth set forth good wine, and
when men have well drunk "-drunk freely, to inebriation-" then that which is worse."   Here is
proof of the habit of excess at feasts, whether true
at Cana or not.  So "drunkenness and revellings"
are among the works of the flesh named by Paul,
and he enjoins the saints at Rome not to walk "in
rioting and drunkenness." He counsels the Corinthians to avoid the company of the drunkard,
thozugz he be called a brother.  Among gross offenders he names drunkards, adding," Such were some
of you." In almost every letter he wrote, he
sounded out some warning against the sin of
drunkenness. And Peter, too, recognizes the prevalence of the evil, and speaks of the saints to
whom he wrote as having in the time past of their
life " walked in excess of wine, revellings, and banquetings." These passages certainly prove the
commonness of intoxication in the East in the
time of Christ. And as distilled liquors were
unknown, the intoxication must have been largely
from wine.
Now, we are asked to believe that God gave
his sanction to the use of alcoholic wine and
strong drink in all these circumstances-that his
personal divine warrant for drinking intoxicating
liquors was given publicly, repeatedly, at various
times and in various conditions-given to a people
who were swept to the fearfullest excesses of intoxication, so that the Word of God says even
their priests and prophets reeled and staggered
234 
and thze Word concernizg  Weine.
through strong drink, erring in vision and stum  bling in judgment. And it was not a divine per mission simply because of the hardness of their
hearts; but it was a clear and repeated divine
sanction, God approving the use of alcoholic wine
and directly enjoining it, and this, too, when the
same terrible excesses accompantied its use as now/
We are asked to believe, also, that the Saviour
made the intoxicating beverage on a public fes tive occasion, and drank it and sanctioned its use,
when it would be known all over Judea and all
over the world that he did it-made it for guests
who had already indulged freely, and who were
" well drunk" (whether to satiety or to inebria tion, it matters not)-made a deceiver, and placed
it before men for their free use, knowing it to be
a constant and fatal lurer to ruin, having in its
very nature as an intoxicant the element that
gives it its deceitful power, and which God had
therefore solemnly called "a mocker."
If this be all true, where, then, are the circumstances in which abstinence for the sake of others
may be one's duty? I say it, fearless of sustainable contradiction, they are not conceivable. Here
is a liberty given again and again of God, in the
very circumstances in which it is said we oiught not to
exercise it! But surely, if God approved and enjoined the use of the fermented juice of the grape,
and told his people to drink it openly and publicly within the limits of sobriety, notwithstanding
the frequent and sometimes awful prevalence of
235 
Thze  /ifinie of the  WVord,
rntemperance among them, and even though the
consecrated stewards of religion tripped and
stumbled and were swallowed up of wine, we
need not be afraid to go and do likewise. If
Christ used alcoholic wine and gave it to others
to drink, we need not be afraid to follow his example.  So will reason every wine-drinker in the
land. So, I grieve to say it, they do reason. They
welcome and applaud the efforts made to prove
that the Bible sanctions the use of alcoholic wine
and strong drink, and that there is no ground for
the division of the wines of Scripture into intoxicating and non-intoxicating. They placard their
saloons with "the wine of expediency," and they
quote the Biblical endorsements with an ill-concealed gratification. They say, and they have a
right to say, "If this be true, the divine warrant
and the divine example in the recorded Scriptural instances leave us at full liberty to use wine in
any circumstances, little or much, habitually or
occasionally, provided we use it within temperate
limits." They laugh at the talk of possible circumstances calling for abstinence.   Panoplied
about with the Scriptural argument, they are
bomb-proof. They are fortified and upheld in
their moderate drinking by all such logic, and all
the "grip" of obligation is utterly gone from the
Christian doctrine of expediency in its application
to the wine question.
But rather than lose the clinch of this great law
of love, where, certainly, if anywhere in the wide
2236 
and lite  Utord concernzn,  1Vi.,c.e
world, and concerning any one thing, application
should be made of it and men's consciences should
be bound by it, let us see if something cannot be
said in favor of the division of the wines of Scrip ture into intoxicating and unintoxicating.   We
are told that "the reasoning by which such a di vision is sought to be established is perfect/y ab surd."  Let us hazard the absurdity.  The point
is worth the risk.
"Wine is a mocker."  This is God's word.  No
one doubts that the reference here is to intoxicating wine.  Why is it called of God a mocker?
Surely not because when used to excess it is hurtful. Beef is hurtful when used to excess. Is beef
a mocker? We must all be agreed, I think, that
wine is a mocker because of its inherent quali/y-a
somzethinc in tze wine itself, by which its users are
lured into excess. A thousand other things are
occasionally used to excess, but the use of intoxicating wine, frequently, naturally, and, alas! often
fatally, leads to excess: the tendency is that way.
Somehow the current sets in the direction of overindulgence, and so seductive and subtle is this tendency that some of the noblest and the best of men
trip and stumble before they are aware. This is
the mocker power of wine-this power of deceit
-which is in the very nature of alcoholic wine as
an essential element. It gradually wakens desire
in a man as indulgence goes on, until he and the
desire change places, and he is no longer the master of the desire, but the desire is master of him.
2 ") 7
I 
The Wi'ie of the Word,
Therefore, of this mocker it is said, "Whosoever
is deceived thereby is not wise." So it deceived
Noah when he drank of the wine and was drunken. So it deceived Ephraim and Judah, priest
and prophet, when they were swallowed up of
wine.  tHence the Scriptural injunction," It is not
for kings to drink wine, nor for princes strong
drink, lest they drink, and forget the law, and pervert judgment "-words that mark and prove a liability, a proneness, a natural tendency. Hence, also,
the command, "Look not upon the wine "-when?
"When it is red, when it giveth its eye and goeth
down smoothly." The very quality is here described that gives to wine its deceitful power. These
are signs of the presence of alcohol.   No one
doubts that alcoholic wine is here referred to; and
it is this kind of wine that we are solemnly commanded not to look upon, for this kind is a mocker. The insidious subtlety and venomous guile
of the "serpent" are in the mixture, and at the
last it giveth the serpent's "bite."
Now, is this the wine used to symbolize the feast
prepared by divine wisdom, and to which the Son
of God invites the church, saying," Eat, O friends,
drink, yea, drink abundantly, O  beloved "?  A
wine that deceived and disgraced Noah, that
swept a whole nation, including its holy men of
God, into the sin of intemperance, that kings and
princes are forbidden to drink lest they pervert
judgment-is this what Christ summons us in
figure to drink "abundantly "-a mocker, a decei
238 
and the  IH7ord conccrniiig,, Viiie.
ver in its essential nature, and because of the in toxicating element in it? Is this thie kind of wine
that the Jews were enjoined to drink freely as an
act of worship before the Lord in the temple? Is
this what Jesus made and gave freely to others the very same wine so minutely described by the
Word of God as giving its eye and moving itself
aright, a mocker, with the bite of a serpent and
the sting of an adder? Surely the proof must be
overwhelming, and there must be no alternative
consistent with the Word of God, before we can
believe that. It is not a question, you see, as to
the use of wine as an emblem, whether of mercy
or of wrath. The gravelling difficulty is, Would
God call a thing a mocker, and then press the
mocker to men's lips? Would he tell men not to
look upon it, and then give it to them to drink?
I grant this is yet only presumptive and inferential as to two kinds of wine.  But what might
there is in it! How naturally and inevitably, in
the absence of proof either way, the presumption
and the inference carry both our judgments and
our hearts. Who that loves Christ does not desire that this may be true?
Now, what if there is another kind of wine
spoken of in the Word of God that cannot possibly
be intoxicating-where fermentation and the consequent presence of alcohol are out of the question
-what then? Why, is it not reasonable and consistent, the demand alike of common sense and
common conscience, to regard this as the wine
239 
Tlze lVine ofj the  IVeorc,
commended in Scripture as a blessing, making
glad the heart of man? To the law and the testimony.
God, threatening Moab with desolation, said
(Isaiah xvi. Io): "In the vineyards there shall be
no singing and shouting: the treaders shall tread
out no iuine in their presses.  I have made their
vintage shouting to cease." And again (Jeremiah
xlviii. 33): "I have caused wine to fail from the
wine-presses; none shall tread with shouting."
Again: Gedaliah, made governor by the King of
Babylon over the cities of Judah, thus commanded
the Jews (Jeremiah xl. Io): " Gather ye wize and
summer fruits and oil, and put them in your vessels."  And the record is, "They gathered wine
and summer fruits very much." The Bible also
speaks of "presses bursting with new zwine," of
wine found in the cluster;" and it says of this
wine, and of this only, and in this very connection, "A blessing is in it."  Here, then, is frequent reference to the pure, unfermented juice of
the grape, just trodden out of the presses, just
gathered for the vintage, even found in the cluster.
And here this ga raje-z ice is repeatedy, and by i/e
yews themselves in their own Scriptzres, callcd WINE,
both yayin and tirosh.
Now, by no possible device of reason or fetch
of logic can this be made the wine that is "a
mocker." Wine fresh from the cluster or the
press mocks or deceives no man. The guile of
the serpent has not yet entered it, for alcohol
24to 
and the Word concerning Wine.
requires time and a process for its formation. It
is the simple, unfermented juice of the grape, just
as cider, right out of the press, is the simple, un  fermented juice of the apple; and as such, God
says a blessing is in it. Here, then, is the Scrip  tural distinction between wine and wine.  It is
not made to suit a modern exigency.   God's
Word  makes it.  Is it only "a hair-breadth"
distinction? Is there nothing more than that
between "a blessing" and "a mocker"? Each
was called wine by the Jews, because wine (yayin)
Ys a generic word applied to the juice of the grape
in all conditions, whether sour or sweet, old or
new, fermented or unfermented.  But it is still
held that "the word wine, unless used figuratively
or qualified by some other word or phrase, always
means the fermented juice of the grape." How
do we know that?  There are, indeed, passages
where the case is clear, the context plainly showing that the wine spoken of is intoxicating. There
are other passages, such as those quoted above,
where the case is equally clear, the context plainly
showing that the wine spoken of is unintoxicating.
There are still other passages where God approves
of wine and sanctions its use, with no proof whatever that the wvine is intoxicating but the bare word.
What else than "perfectly absurd" reasoning is it
that would carry all these passages bodily over to
the side of fermented wine?  Why must we hold
that intoxicating wine is necessarily meant in all
such cases? Without the shadow of a shade of
24r
l1l  
Thle WVine of the [Vord,
proof, must God's approval be tied, riolens volens,
to the i't/oxicating vit'aniing of a doubtftl word?
Common sense is affronted at the suggestion of any
such reasonless necessity.  The origin and, therefore, the original meaning of yayin is in dispute..
Philologists are not agreed as to its derivation.
Some half-dozen possible roots are assigned it.
Parkhurst, in his old Lexicon, says it is from a
Hebrew word signifying "to press, squeeze; as
being the expressed juice of grapes."  Dr. Ralph
Wardlaw says the word is from a verb signifying
to press or squeeze. Webster gives a similar derivation.   There is not one philological reason,
therefore, why we should hold that the word
3ayin means an intoxicating wine  unless it is
otherwise  stated.   There  are abundant moral
reasons why we should not so hold. The word
is certainly applied to unintoxicating wine, was
so applied by the Jews, and the proof of it is the
Word of God. To such wine, unmistakably such
as shown by the context, divine commendation is
expressly given. When the same word is used
elsewhere, coupled with the same divine sanction,
we are bozund to believe the same wine is vmeant unless
it is otherwise stated.
Let one thing more be now proved, and the
whole case is too clear for question.  Were the
ancients in the habit of using the unfermented
juice of the grape, which they called wine, and did
they understand the art of preserving it free from
fermentation?  The  admissions of those  lwho,
242 
and the  YVord concerninig Wi;ze.
nevertheless, claim a Scriptural endorsement for
the use of intoxicating wine, are sufficient and
conclusive answer.  The article in Smith's "Bible
Dictionary" on wine says: "Sometimes it" (wine)
"was preserved in its unfermented state, and drank
as must."... "It may be at once conceded
that the Hebrew terms translated'wine' refer
occasionally to an unfermented liquor; but, inas much as there are frequent allusions to intoxica tion in the Bible, it is clear that fermented liquors
were also in common use." Dr. Maclean, in
the Repertory for I84I, says: "That, in treating
of wines, these" (classical) "writers have men tioned modes of preserving the juice of the grape
other than by fermenting it, we without the least
hesitation admit; and that this unfermented juice,
whether inspissated or not, was sometimes used as a
drink, we do not question." Rev. Henry Holmes,
missionary at Constantinople, says ("Bibliotheca
Sacra," May, I848) of the boiled juice of the grape,
which he kept for two years without its undergoing any change: "Here is a cooling grape liquor
which is not intoxicating, and which, in the manner of making and preserving it, seems to correspond with the recipes and descriptions of certain
drinks included by some of tze ancients under tzhe
appellation of wine."  Dr. Laurie, in the " Bibliotheca Sacra," while contending that all the wines
mentioned in Scripture were fermented, nevertheless admits we can " find traces of an unfermented
wuine in a few classical writers."
243 
Thze WVine of the Word,
Now, some of these concessions are perfectly
clear with reference to the preservation and use
of the unfermented juice of the grape among the
ancients, and others are just as clear with
reference to the application of the word  wzine
to this unfermented liquor. Taken together,
therefore, they constitute the very best evidence
of the only point that remained to be established,
viz.: Did the ancients preserve and use unfermented grape-juice, and call it wine? For they
are admissions forced by classical and historic
record for those who stoutly controvert the position that there are two kinds of wine, intoxicating
and non-intoxicating, mentioned in the Word of
God. And how could these concessions be honestly avoided in the face of the following, among
other, evidences of ancient usage?
Aristotle says of sweet wine that "it is a wine
in namze, but not in fact-it does not intoxicate."  It
had the name, therefore, even in his day. Josephus, the Jewish historian, paraphrasing the dream
of Pharaoh's butler, who dreamed that he took
clusters of grapes, and pressed them into Pharaoh's cup, and gave the cup to Pharaoh, repeatedly calls this grape-juice wine.  Bishop Loyvth,
1778, in his "Commentary" (Isaiah v. 2), says,
"The fresh juice pressed from the grape" was by
Herodotus styled oinos ampelinos, i.e., wine of the
vine.
The ancient custom of squeezing the juice of
grapes into a cup has had corrobation in a figure
244 
and the Word concernzing Wine.
of Bacchus exhumed at Pompeii, represented as
thus engaged.
Pliny, book xiv., speaking of a wine called
Aigleuces, always sweet, gives this method of pro ducing it: "They plunge the casks immediately
after they are filled for the vat into water until
winter has passed away, and the wine has acquired
the habit of being cold." Columella says, book
xii., "That your must may always be sweet, thus
proceed," and he then gives the process of putting it into a new amphora, carefully excluding the
air, and placing it in cold water for a month or six
weeks, when it will remain sweet for a year.
Athencus says, vol. i., book i.: " They often used
boiled wines." Virgil, in his Georgic, book i., refers to this boiling process, the object of which
was to concentrate the wine by evaporation, and
so prevent fermentation.   Alexander translates
this line in Virgil: " Or with the fire boils away
the moisture of the sweet wine." But why multiply proof of a position which Anthon, in his
Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities,"
Archbishop Potter, in his " Grecian Antiquities,"
Smith, in his" Dictionary of the Bible," and many
other scholars of acknowledged competency, confirm and support? Moses Stuart, that prince of
philologists, says: "Facts show that the ancients
not only preserved their wine unfermented, but regarded it as of a higher flavor and finer quality
than fermented wine."
There were, therefore, two kinds of wine in
245 
Thze Wine of the Word,
ancient use. The one was sweet, pleasant, refreshing, unfermented. The other was exciting,
inflaming, intoxicating.   Each was called wize.
How natural, now, to say of the one, A blessing is
in it, and it maketh glad the heart! How natural
to say of the other, Woe and sorrow are the fruit
of it-it is a mocker!  There is no difficulty now
in the reconciliation of Scripture with Scripture.
The Bible is not a wholesale endorsement of the
use of the intoxicating cup. It puts no weapon
into the hands of the wine-drinkers. And the
binding obligations of the law of love in its application to the wine question may be pressed home
upon the conscience and the heart, unweakened
by any opposing plea of divine precept or example.
I do not believe that the drinking of wine is a
sin per se. I do not believe that a church court
should make it a matter of discipline. But I do
believe that the Christian who is known by precept or practice to be an advocate of the use of
the cup takes upon himself a fearful responsibility. The effect of such precept or example is felt
far beyond the circle of those with whom such
Christian comes in contact. The higher the position of the man, the wider will be the influence
of his word or deed.  And influence and responsibility go together. Wherever he is known as an
advocate of the use of wine and strong drink, his
influence is felt as such. And who is gifted with
the power to see and say whether, among the
246 
and the WVord concernin6t  Wiie.
thousands yearly swept to ruin by alcohol, there
may not be those to whom his example has been
a stumbling-block, on account of which and over
which they have gone to perdition? It is not
needful that we proffer the wine-glass, directly or
personally, with our own right hand, to some one
that is weak in order to be the occasion of that
brother's fall. Before God we are responsible for
our influence, whether it extend to those whose
palms we touch in the grasp of friendship, or to
those into whose eyes we have never looked.
Destroy not him with thy wine for whom Christ
died.  It is not right-it is wrong-it is sin-sin
ag,ainst a brother, and sin against Christ-to put a
stumbling-block or an occasion to fall in another's
way. Does it not become every Christian, therefore, in view of the conceded perils of wine-drinking-in view of the awful record of lost souls connected with the use of the cup, and in view of the
obligations of God's Gospel law of love, to let the
wine-glass alone? Why this stout assertion of
lawzfulness-this vigorous and vehement defence
of liberty?  As if liberty were endangered!  As
if any possible evil could by any possibility result
from the self-imposed restraint of total abstinence,
that could for one moment be compared with the
sad and woeful evil of being the occasion by indulgence of a brother's fall! Oh! let us have a care
that our good be not evil spoken of-that our
liberty be not vindicated at the expense of charity.
Certainly love is a diviner, more Christ-like thing
247 
The WYine of the Word.
than lawfulness.  Self-sacrifice for the sake of
others is a far higher level of spiritual life than
the mere doing right. And to fortify a custom so
indissolubly connected with evil consequence as
wine-drinking, by building Scriptural bulwarks
about it, is certainly to impair and fatally weaken
any pressure of the claims of Christian benevolence alone. We may win from the chief patrons
of the intoxicating cup hearty applause for such
building work, but we shall not be making straight
paths for the stumblers.
God speed the time when Scriptural arguments
in behalf of wine drinking shall be buried in a
grave as deep as that where now lie the arguments by which the Word of God was once marshalled to the support of slavery! God speed the
time when alcoholic wines and strong drinks shall
be swept from every Christian sideboard, and
table, and social feast; every member of every
Christian church in all our land, in the spirit of
a pervasive, abounding, all-embracing charity,
saying,." Wine inaketh my brother to offend; slumbiers by the alcoholic cup are on every side of nme:
therefore I will drink no wine while  the world
standeth."
248 
STRANGE CHILDREN.
"Rid me, and deliver me from the hand of strange children, whose mouth
speaketh vaaity, and their right hand is a right hand of falsehood: that our
sons may be as plants grown up in their youth; that our daughters may be
as corner-stones, polished after the similitude of a palace."-PSALM cxliv. II,
I2.
HE  strange children in David's time were
the idolatrous heathen. Their influence
upon the chosen people was most pernicious.
Not only was their conversation vapid, but their
actions were deceitful.  In token of friendship
they stretched forth the right hand, but the salutation was insincere and the heart treacherous.
To turn from such a deceptive race was a duty
solemnly enjoined upon those in covenant with
Jehovah. To avoid them would be the first impulse of wisdom, for their influence could not but
prove baneful, especially on the susceptible minds
of the young and unwary. And while, in accordance with divine command and human reason,
the king was endeavoring to exterminate these
strange and wicked heathen, it was highly proper
for him to direct his prayer to the Almighty, and
- 0 6 
Strang,e Chzildren.
entreat him to afford the much-desired deliver.
ance.
Could this result be accomplished-could these
unhallowed children of Satan be removed, and
their corrupt influences stayed, what a happy
people would Israel be with Jehovah for their
God! Not only would they be blest with full and
plenty, but their sons would be "as plants grown
up in their youth "-springing up numerously
and coming to early and beautiful maturity-the
support of the land; and their daughters would
be " as corner-stones polished after the similitude
of a palace "-like the caryatides, or columns
representing female figures, elegantly sculptured,
and placed on the corners of noble edifices by
Egyptian architects, the pride and glory as well
as the support of the temple of state.
Time has wrought great changes since David
sat on the throne of Israel. The Holy Land has
long been desecrated by the tread and rule of infidelity and heathenism; and the once holy people, having rejected Messiah, have lost the divine
favor, and, scattered over the wide world, have
become a hissing and a by-word to their fellowmen. They in turn are now the strange children
-strange in their stubborn rejection of holy truth
and in their alienation from the God of their
fathers.
The partition wall once excluding the Gentiles
is now demolished, and "the chosen of the Lord"
may be found in every land and among every
2<o 
Strang,e Childreln.
people.   And  where  are they congregated in
greater number and influence than here? Rescued
from foreign oppression and domestic treason;
a free and independent people, with wise rulers
and an equitable government; better than all be side, having in our custody the oracles of God,
the institutions of the church, and enjoying the
influences of the Spirit and all the means of grace
in great profusion-certainly we people of these
United States, while we do not claim the exclusive blessing, may regard ourselves as among the
most favored, and believe that God speaks to us
from his high abode, saying, "This people have I
formed for myself; they shall show forth my
praise."
I need not tell you there are among us also
strange children "-"men  of Belial"  " whose
mouth speaketh vanity, and whose right hand is a right
hand of falsehood"; who are corrupt themselves,
and secretly conveying their vile influence into
the minds of our youth, thereby undermining the
foundations of holy truth, and threatening us withl
general demoralization and material ruin. Against
every such endeavor we should contend with all our
might; and, while we labor, we should appeal to
our God, and cry out earnestly, " Rid and deliver
us." This is the duty of patriotism, philanthropy, and religion.  It is more: it is the dictate of self-interest, if not self-preservation.
Upon this watchfulness, effort, and prayer depends not only the welfare of the community and
2 5 I 
Strang, e  Childreni.
republic, but also the character, condition, and
future prospects of our children, and, as a consequence, our own comfort, the glory of God, and
the good of countless souls.
Concerning the corrupt politicians of both parties, the gamblers, the profane swearers, the swindlers, and many other strange children who infest
our land, we may not now particularly speak. But
there is one monster sin, alarmingly prevalent, to
which we wish to call your attention.  Intenmperance is spreading desolation everywhere.   There
is hardly a community or a family free from its
terrible ravages. Like the horse-leech, it drives
its fangs into the flesh of every victim it can
reach, and with insatiate thirst cries out more
greedily than ever, "Give! give!"  More than
any other vice it impedes the progress of piety.
It opens the way to every species of crime, and
leads down to infamy and death.
This is an old and threadbare subject, yet it
constantly presents new phases and illustrations,
and is, therefore, fearfully interesting as well as
vitally important. There is just one thing for us
to do with this evil.  We  must fight it, as we do
that old deceiver, Satan, to the bitter end. We
must contend with the demon of the bottle in
every form, giving him no quarter, and driving
him absolutely from our coasts. Nor can we
admit this is only a social or a political evil, and,
therefore, should be corrected only by the press
or the platform or the ballot. It is a sin. Drunk
2512 
Straiig   Cliildren.
enness, and whatever leads to it, is a sin.  They
who become intoxicated commit a crime against
God and the state, and it requires no profound
argument to prove to any reasonable person that
they who, in any way, by example, or persuasion,
or traffic, induce others to indulge their wicked
appetites, are also guilty.
Just look at the folly and criminality of some
people who claim to be models of morality and
piety. They know the tendency of appetite.
They behold how the love for strong drink usually increases until the occasional sip becomes a
regular beverage, and the small glass is exchanged for the large goblet; until the taste becomes a draught, and the draught a flood; until
the tippler is transformed into a toper, and the
toper into a sot. They see the poor victim little
by little drawn into the net of the destroyer
They stand upon the shore of this Niagara with
folded arms, watching the boatman gliding down
the current, pulling away lustily at the oars.
And thus they gaze until at length, with demon
yells, he cries out, " Too late! too late! my soul
is lost," and then leaps over the cataract into the
yawning abyss. And yet, strange to say, while
this fearful tragedy is repeated in this country
two hundred times every day and oftentimes happens before their eyes, there are peole who apologize for the custom of drinking; who claim it is
a good thing, and should be perpetuated; who
battle the advocates of total abstinence as if they
253 
Strazitge Chzildren.
were either knaves or fools; who go on drinking
and selling, risking their own souls and the souls
of their children and friends, and helping by their
influence, directly or indirectly, to fill earth with
drunkenness and hell with victims.
Ancestral  education  may   influence  these
"strange children"; but appetite and covetousness have more weight with them. The love of
spirituous liquor and the craving for money,
these are the potent causes of intemperance, and
never did the devil discover better agencies than
these for the accomplishment of his diabolical
purposes.
What can be done to arrest this evil and prevent its future ravages?  This is a great question,
which we propose to consider and, if possible,
answer.   He  is a skilful practitioner who can
make a good diagnosis; but he does better who
prescribes a successful remedy.
Much has been said and much been done in regard to this matter in the ages past, and especially
within the last thirty or forty years. The friends
of temperance should not be discouraged, or for a
moment slacken their efforts. Their labors have
not been in vain.
Yet it is evident we have made but little headway.  With all our preaching and lecturing; in connection with all our organizations, local and national; by our moral suasion and our legislation, what
have we accomplished? The most we can say is,
we have stayed the flood, and prevented it from
odd 
St/range Chzildren.
overwhelming us. We have not as yet been able to
turn the tide up-stream, and force the flood back ward.  While we have been working, the enemy
has not been idle. Satan has been more cunning
and ardent than ever. He has stirred up opposi tion where it should never have been manifested.
He has arrayed against this movement to save
men from drunkenness a part of the church, and
put his false arguments in the mouths of those
who love Jesus. He has produced controversies
and divisions and diversions in the temperance
ranks.   He  has inflamed the  lovers of strong
drink with an increased appetite, and he has stimulated the guilty vendors to a greater thirst for
gain. He has taught his willing and skilful agents
how to drug their liquors, so as to cheat their silly
customers out of their money and sobriety in the
quickest manner possible, and send them most
directly and rapidly down to infamy and ruin.
And  when sober, thoughtful people have ventured to dispute his influence, he has met them
with intrigue and ridicule and falsehood and
threats. Temperance reformers and advocates
have been obliged to contend against prejudice,
appetite, moneyed interest, and all this backed up
by diabolical machination.   What wonder they
have succeeded no better!
It is a matter of surprise and congratulation
that they have stood their ground so well, and accomplished so much.  Had it not been for their
zealous efforts, instead of an army of 6oo,ooo
255 
Strange Children.
drunkards which now reel around our streets, no
doubt the victims of intemperance might be
counted in this country by millions. The cause
has had some degree of success.
But we believe a brighter day is dawning upon us.
The legions of the enemy have been kept in abeyance; but now comes the cry of victory. Already
we hail the final triumph of truth and righteousness, although it may be afar off. God's people are
coming to the rescue, and like Cromwell's troops
they go into the battle with the Word of God in
their hands and the voice of prayer upon their
lips. We shall prevail, for God is our Leader,
and the success of our cause is promotive of his
glory.
But, fellow-workmen, we must toil on, and
from our past defeats learn useful lessons. One
grand mistake which has been made by temperance reformers is, they have attempted to breast
the river at its mouth, rather than at its source.
In preaching and lecturing, they have addressed
themselves almost exclusively to inebriates and
moderate drinkers of mature minds and fixed
habits. Would it not be better to begin with the
children, who are easily influenced, and educate
them to total abstinence principles? A speaker
once asked a company of boys whether they had
ever thought, if they never tasted intoxicating
liquors, they  could never become  drunkards.
One little fellow, in the simplicity of his heart, replied, "Nlo."  And it really seems as if the mass
2o56 
Strange Chzildren.
of well-meaning, Christian people are like that
child-they do not recognize the plain truth, that
if their children never taste the poison, they can
never be ruined by it.
Temperance friends, we need not retrace our
footsteps. Our path is in the right direction. It is
not required that we change our tactics. They
are reasonable and effective. It is only requisite
that we add to our plans and efforts. The vilest
sot is still a man, our fellow-man; and while there
is breath in his foul body, we should labor and
pray to reclaim him to sobriety and holiness.
The man or woman who indulges only moderately
in the dangerous drink, we should-warn, persuade,
and by every proper influence try to save from
destruction. Let inebriate asylums be multiplied.
God be praised for what has been accomplished
by medical treatment and careful nursing! Let
philanthropy do her best to ameliorate the sin and
suffering which exist on account of indulgence in
strong drink. Let us enforce the laws now on the
statute-book with reference to this unhallowed
traffic, and  increase their stringency.  Let us
steadily, judiciously work for a prohibitory law.
The poor drunkard himself clamors for it when he
is in his sober senses. It is puerile to say it is
unconstitutional and unreasonable. As well say
a law against arson or burglary, or the free sale
of strychnine or laudanum, is unconstitutional.
With equal reason it might be argued that a law
prohibiting the location of a powder-mill in the
257 
Strange Children.
very heart of this city is unconstitutional. One
thing is certain, it is unconstitutional for the inebriate to drink, very unconstitutional, and it ought
to be unconstitutional for any one to put the bottle
to his mouth, or even permit him in his weakness to take what he knows to be for his injury. I believe in prohibition, that it is both
feasible and equitable; and have no doubt
that the lawlessness and political corruption
which grow out of the free use of intoxicants, and
which are fearfully on the increase in our large
cities, will drive the mass of law-abiding and lawloving citizens to the same conclusion ere long.
We cannot afford the free sale of impure and
drugged liquors, and this is about the result of a
license law which provides a community of Io,ooo
inhabitants with fifty drinking places-one for
every 200 people.
But there is another method of reaching the
source and cutting off the supply of drunkenness.
If we would, like the prophet of old, put salt in
the spring, and thus heal the impure waters of
Jericho, we must operate on the minds of the children. Let there be a general and efficient movement in this direction, and it will tell upon the coming generation. Our eyes will not behold so many
filthy spectacles as now appear on every hand; and
our feet will not be compelled to follow to the grave
so many persons who, on account of wicked indulgence, have not lived out half of their days.
Do we wish our sons to escape the influence of
258 
Strange Children.
the strange children, who would entice them to
ruin, and become as plants grown up in their
youth? Look at the gardener. He watches the
sprig as it emerges from the ground. He keeps
the weeds from choking it and stealing its nourishment from the soil. He sees it is not so surrounded with trees and foliage that it is deprived
of the warm sunbeams. He waters it, and manures it, and prunes it, and drives the bugs from
it, and thus he brings it to a quick and healthy
maturity. WVe must do this with our children.
Can we expect, when so many adverse influences
are at work, that our sons will grow up to be
strong, virtuous, holy men, if we neglect them in
their infancy and childhood? Do you imagine,
intelligent parents, if you permit your boys to
form their own habits, or permit Satan to fill their
minds with evil thoughts and lead them in sinful
paths, you can, after they attain manhood, and
perhaps have gone astray, influence them to become sober and godly men? Surely you could
not reasonably expect such a result from such a
course of treatment. If, after your neglect and
indifference, they should do well, it would be
almost a miracle, for which you might well praise
God.
Do we wish our daughters to be as cornerstones, polished after the similitude of a palace?
We should remember the stone-cutter does not
produce his beautiful columns by one stroke of
has chisel or hammer. He applies water to soften
259 
Strange Children.
the hard material. He nicks and nicks, and rubs
and rubs, early and late, to present the smooth
surface and the graceful carving to the eye. He
is active and earnest, prompt and persevering
and this makes him successful.  We must be like
him. We must be diligent. We must cut off ahl
the rough edges of nature. WVe must carefully and
constantly rub down the coarse surface of sin.
And we have this advantage over the stone-cutter. We can begin our work before the stones
are hard. When these precious blocks of marble
come to our hand, they are quite soft and pliable,
and we are very foolish workmen if we wait to
operate upon them until they become repulsive to
impression.
The command of God and the dictate of reason is, "Train up a child in the way he should
go," and the promise given us for our encouragement is, "When he is old, he will not depart from
it." Why not consider that these words apply as
well to the subject of temperance as to any
other? If we could raise some heart-broken parents from their graves, and by a magic touch put
them, and others who still live to mourn over
their children destroyed and hopes wrecked, back
a generation; if, retaining their bitter experience,
they could retrace their steps, and have their
innocent offspring again to train-how early
would they listen to the voice of wisdom, and not
put off until to-morrow the work which should be
done to-day!
260 
Strainge Chtildren.
Do you see that drunkard reeling through the
street or rolling in the gutter? He is in tatters.
His eyes are bloodshot. his features are distorted. His breath is hot and pestilential. His
touch is pollution. From him the brutes turn in
loathing and disgust. Parents, that forlorn remnant of mortality was once a sweet and pretty
child. He was as fair and lovely as the infant you
left to-night sleeping in his cradle. His mother
washed, and dressed, and nursed, and kissed him,
and played with him, and hung over him with
maternal affection when he lay in placid sleep,
just as mothers do now. His father took him in
his arms, and with pride and hope folded him to
his bosom. Friends came to that pleasant home
and petted the child, and congratulated the happy
parents on their promising  boy.   Who  then
thought he would come to this? Who for a moment fancied he could ever be in such a plight as
that in which we now soe him?  And yet this is
the history of hundreds of thousands now cursing
our land, filling our asylums and prisons, mortifying and impoverishing their friends, and ruining
themselves for both worlds.
Can you not learn tire lesson?  If you would not
witness your children transformed into such
loathsome objects; if you would have them grow
up like thrifty plants, and stand as symmetrical,
polished, substantial columns in the temple of
state and the sanctuary of God, you cannot
begin too early to instruct and influence them.
26i 
Strange ChIildren.
You must educate them to be sober men and
women.
Do you ask how this work, the education of
the dear children to habits of temperance, is to
be performed?
We reply, first of all, parents, teachers, and
friends should give to the young the benefit of
their exampiple.  We will suppose that a man in
mature life can withstand temptation, and cannot
by any intrigue be drawn into the devouring
whirlpool (which is, as you well know, an hypothesis not always realized). Do you think, with the
cup to his lips frequently or even occasionally, he
can deter his children from a like indulgence?
Exceptions there are to the rule; but the swearing
father may expect to have swearing boys; the
lazy mother will usually have lazy girls; the
careless instructor will be surrounded as a general thing with careless pupils. And so, if you
will drink intoxicating liquors, my friends, you
may reasonably expect to be imitated in this as
in other habits.  You perpetuate if you do not
create the fashion. The sparkling young eyes
are upon you when, it may be with a gusto,
you imbibe your glass of wine at dinner,.or
smack your lips over your beer with a friend
who happens to come in to spend the evening.
Very naturally, the young people conclude what
is good for the parent is good for the child, and
that such a grand old custom, so promotive of
sociability and good cheer, should be kept in the
262 
S/trange  Ciilhrhc'.2.
family and handed down from generation to
generation.
If, then, you sincerely wish the rising race, and
especially those dear youth under your care and
influence, to be sober and thrifty men and women,
you should give them the benefit of your example. Is this a hard thing? Not half so hard as
many things you willingly and cheerfully do, kind
parents, for the benefit of your offspring. No
harder than to spend sleepless nights and painful
days with your sick ones. No harder than to
tug and toil in order to obtain a competency for
the support and education and outfit of your
children.   Not so hard by a hundredfold as it
may be in after years to watch your sons and
daughters drinking to excess; to witness them
the slaves of appetite; to hear their reproaches
heaped on your heads, and to follow them to the
drunkard's grave. You may be paying very
dearly for your occasional glass, my friend.
Pause and consider!
Next to a good example is thie positive inJfucnce
in favor of temperance. You may find it difficult
to operate upon the minds of those who are advanced in life. People are as a general thing very
fearful of reforms.   They pride themselves on
their conservatism, on their individual force of
character, on their genteel habits.  It requires a
miracle to move some, and nothing short of the
millennium will influence others who are set in
their way. They are like a conceited old wine
263 
Stranzge Children.
cask, determined to be nothing but a wine-cask, and
which at length, full of emptiness and vanity,
falls to pieces from advanced age and decay.
But the young are usually pliable. They are
easily reached and easily influenced. What shall
we do to interest them in this cause, thereby saving them from dissipation and ruin, and securing their co-operation with us in efforts to save
others?
An excellent thing is the family pledge. Many
years ago, when total abstinence was in its infancy,
a Christian minister called together his household,
and explained to them the dangers of intemperance, and proposed that parents and children
should then and there agree to abstain from all
that will intoxicate.  The proposal was agreed to.
The parents signed their names. The older
children followed. And one little boy, too young
to write his own name, was enrolled by his father.
Forty years have passed away since that occurrence, and that boy who understood the subject
well, but was not old enough to sign his name,
stands before you now to recommend the family pledge.
Children's temperance societies may be made
very effective. The Band of Hope is very popular, and this very properly pledges the youth
against the low and wicked habit of profanity
and the use of tobacco as well as indulgence in
intoxicants.   Juvenile societies are often  connected with Sabbath-schools, meetings being held
264
i 
Strange Children.
on week evenings once a week or once a month,
at which dialogues are spoken, addresses de livered, songs sung, and the pledge circulated.
By these efforts thousands of children have been
kept from the paths of the destroyer, and if Chris tian parents and teachers entered more generally
and heartily into the work, much larger results
would be accomplished. In the year I847, a Sab bath-school teacher visited a city jail.  In one
ward he found seventeen young convicts, and to
his astonishment learned that fifteen of the number had been Sabbath-school boys. One of them
said, alluding to his early instruction, "If I had
remembered what I learned, and kept from drink,
I should not be here." The question was asked,
"Did not your teacher, with other good advice,
urge you to abstain from intoxicating drinks?"
The reply was, "No "-and this was the testimony
of the others. Upon reviewing his own Sabbathschool work, this teacher felt condemned for his
negligence in this particular, and standing in the
cell of that prison, he made a solemn mental promise that no child should in the future come under his care without being warned against the
dangers of intemperance, and advised to a course
of total abstinence.
Christians, you are all interested in the children.
Then come and join us in our efforts to save the
coming generation from the experience of the
past.   Help us in trying to reach the outcast
youth, who in a few years will be besotted and
265 
Strait,,e  Czilhrcln.
desperate characters, destroying the peace of the
community, and filling our houses of refuge and
penitentiaries, unless we bring them  under a
wholesome influence. It is in vain to talk of saving the soul when the body and the habits of the
mind are neglected. If the demon intemperance
once gets hold of the rising race, it will be useless
to tell them of a Saviour and try to woo them into
his kingdom. It will probably be too late-too late.
Thousands now near will be beyond the reach of
your voice, and in infamy they will go down to
premature death and eternal anguish.
WVe shudder at the thought. Are our children
in danger? Are the most likely youth of our age
liable to fall? Is it almost certain that the many
children who have drinking parents and unhallowed homes will grow up to be pests in society, and
die in sin and shame? Merciful God, have compassion on us! Rouse, fellow-Christians, and
help! Fathers, mothers, philanthropists, patriots,
come to the rescue! The country calls you.
Humanity calls, God calls. Jesus, who died to
save sinners, bids you enlist in this cause, because
it is auxiliary to the great work of redemption.
WVe plead for the soul; for, remember, the Bible
declares no drunkard shall inherit the kingdom of
God.
We have great encouragement in engaging in
this great work.  If we go forth as Christians,
with earnestness and faith, we may find to our
rejoicing, as the seventy disciples of old did, the 
S/tange Chtildrenz.
very devils subject to us. We may behold Satan
fall like lightning from heaven. Perhaps we will
have given unto us power to tread on serpents
and scorpions.  We believe our cause is of the
Lord, and he will help us.  And therefore we
labor in hope, and, applying the lever of prayer
to the fulcrum of divine truth, we cry out, "Rid
and deliver us from the hand of strange children,
whose mouth speaketh vanity, and their right
hand is a right hand of falsehood; that our sons
may be as plants grown up in their youth; that
our daughters may be as corner-stones, polished
after the similitude of a palace."
267  
THE
IMPEACHMENT AND PUNISHMENT
OF
AL COHOL.
" I,OOK not thou upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth his color in
the cup, when it moveth itself aright. At the last it biteth like a serpent, and
stingeth like an adder."-PROV. xxiii. 3I, 32.
E are here to confront the great enemy of
our time; to handle the greatest living question.  This monster has "the world" for a home,
"the flesh" for a mother, and "the devil" for a
father. He stands erect, a monster of fabulous
proportions. He has no head, and cannot think.
He has no heart, and cannot feel. He has no
eyes, and cannot see. He has no ears, and cannot hear. He has only an instinct by which to plan,
a passion by which to allure, a coil by which to
bind, a fang with which to sting, and an infinite
maw in which to consume his victims.
I impeach this monster, and arraign him before
the bar of the public judgment, and demand his
condemnation in the name of industry robbed and
beggared; of the public peace disturbed and
broken; of private safety gagged and garroted;
of common justice violated and trampled; of the
popular conscience debauched and prostituted; of
...  
270  Inpeachzment and Pinishment of Al cohol.
royal manhood wrecked and ruined; and of helpless innocence waylaid and assassinated.
In examining this case, we shall appropriate
whatever we can find of service in the labors of
chemists, jurists compilers, scholars, in every
branch of the subject.
We  now approach to-night the most difficult
part of this subject-The Correction of the Evil.
Even a child may accurately determine when it is
sick, while the most skilful practitioner may
utterly fail in his prescription. Your stable-boy
may know that your horse has been stolen, though
Pinkerton and all his band may not recover him.
The public mind has only to glance at this criminal to be certain of his guilt. For he goes about
armed with all malignity, concealed behind all
craftiness, seeking with infinite cunning to entrap the unwary and destroy the feeble. Like a
blood-hound, he scents his victims afar off, tracking them with patient and infallible instinct across
fiery sand-fields and over the barren rock-waste.
Once on a young man's track, with one sniff of his
heel, nothing but the running stream of living
water can check his pursuit and give the fugitive
rest. In dark rooms and dingy cellars, in secret
conclave, he devises his plans and mixes his drugs.
By night and by day he draws out the catalogues
of crime. With hands polluted with blood, and
locks that wriggle and crawl and hiss; with purpose fixed for slaughter, and with heart unpitying
and unrelenting, he presses his infernal work.
With the gold his crimes have brought him, he
IA 
Impeachiiennt  and PJunishincztn  of Alcohol.  271
seeks to secure friends in the halls of legislation;
to put his judges upon the bench, his advocates
at the bar, his witnesses on the stand, and, to
make surety doubly sure, his views in the public
mind. He would control, if he could, not only
our almshouses and prisons, but also our legislative halls and our public presses. He would fill
not only our cells and graveyards, but also our
judgment-seats and our police commissions. This
is our foe-cunning as a fox, wise as a serpent,
strong as an ox, bold as a lion, merciless as a tiger,
remorseless as a hyena, fierce as the pestilence,
deadly as the plague. To condemn and correct
such a criminal is not the pastime of an hour, but
the manaly, hero-born, imartyr-bred work of a lifetimne.
The Legislature of Illinois has given us a law
with which we can handle this monster.  I will
read the distinguishing features:
SECTION I. Be  it enacted by the Peo2ple of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly, That it shall be unlawful for
any person or persons, by agent or otherwise, without first having
obtained a license to keep a grocery, to sell in any quantity, intoxicating liquors, to be drunk in, upon, or about the building or
premises where sold, or to sell such intoxicating liquors to be
drunk in any adjoining room, building, or premises, or other place
ofpublic resort connected with said building: Provided, That no
person shall be granted a license to sell or give away intoxicating
liquors, without first giving a bond to the municipality or authority authorized by law to grant licenses; which bond shall run in
the name of "The People of the State of Illinois," and be in the
penal sum of three thousand dollars, with at least two good and
sufficient securities, who shall be freeholders, conditioned that
they will pay all damages to any person or persons which may be 
272  Imipeachment and Punishmzentt of Alcohol.
inflicted upon them, either in person or property, or means of sup.
port, by reason of the person so obtaining a license selling or
giving away intoxicating liquors; and such bond may be sued
and recovered upon for the use of any person or persons, or their
legal representatives, who may be injured by reason of the sell.
ing intoxicating liquors by the person or his agent so obtaining
the license.
SEc. 5. Every husband, wife, child, parent, guardian, employee,
or other person, who shall be injured in person or property, or
means of support, by any intoxicated person, or in consequence
of the intoxication, habitual or otherwise, of any person, shall
have a right of action in his or her own name, severally or jointly,
against any person or persons who shall, by selling or giving intoxicating liquors, have caused the intoxication, in whole or in
part, of such person or persons.
SEc. 8. For the payment of all fines, costs, and damages, assessed against any person or persons, in consequence of the sale
of intoxicating liquors, as provided in section five of this act, the
real estate and personal property of such person or persons, of
every kind, except such as may be exempt under the homestead
laws of this State, or such as may be exempt from levy and sale
upon judgment and execution, shall be liable, and such fines,
costs, and damages shall be a lien upon such real estate until
paid; and in case any person or persons shall rent or lease to
another or others any building or premises to be used or occupied, in whole or in part, for the sale of intoxicating liquors, or
shall permit the same to be so used or occupied, such building or
premises so used or occupied shall be held liable for and may be
sold to pay all fines, costs, and damages assessed against any person or persons occupying such building or premises.
SEc. Io. In all prosecutions under this act, by indictment or
otherwise, it shall not be necessary to state the kind of liquor
sold, or to describe the place where sold.
WVe urge the maintenance of this law because it
is the only available system that will reach the case.
I can see but five possible courses of action, one
of which must be followed. The first and easiest
in seeming, but not in fact, is to sit still- the do 
Impeaclmnent and Punishment of Alcohol. 273
nothingfpolicy. I need not argue this case. It is
not admissible. Indeed, it is not long possible.
We cannot sit still if we would. We are on the
crusted crater of Vesuvius.  Its eruption is only a
question of time. Soon it will belch, and we shall
find such a grave that no future antiquarian will
more than dream of our existence. The tiger is
at our throat. Sit still and we are dead. We
foust act; we must move.  All that sin ever wants
is to be let alone. The thief has his hand in your
pocket, and asks you to hold still. If you move,
you may put him to more trouble or disappoint
him of his gains. The assassin is in your chamber,
stealing, with clinched dagger, up to the crib
where your child slumbers. All he wants is time.
The work of reform is always aggressive, and
wearisome, and dangerous. It must have its convictions from above, be in league with God, move
by a command so supreme that no human veto
is heard. It can have no fellowship with conservatism. Cautious it may be, but never cowardly.
It takes bold and strong strokes to liberate an
angel from a block of marble. Every advance is
fatal to the old forms. Even the serpent's wornout skin creaks and rustles when the inhabitant
moves out. Like cinders, it is crisp and crotchety
while it lasts. God sent his Son into the world
not to bring peace, but a sword. It is an old war
against an aggressor   sin.  He must be driven
out of the world, and this means conflict, and
struggle, and woe. The sooner we settle down to
the conviction that we are to endure hard 
274  Ipeachliment and Punishment of Alcohol.
ness like good soldiers, the better it will be
for us.
Another line of action that has been presented,
tried, and exploded, is just now practically
brought forward as an amendment to this lawto except wine and beer. It is the substitution of
wines, lighter drinks, in the place of alcohol or strong
spirituous liquors.  To pave the way, it is stated by
Ex-Governor Andrew, of Massachusetts, in his
pamphlet for which he received $io,ooo from the
Liquor Ring, that all peoples that have arrived at
any degree of civilization have been drinking
peoples, have invented some kind of intoxicating
drinik. It is, therefore, most bravely concluded
that strong drink is a civilizer. A grog-shop,
then, is a centre of civilizing power.  Need one
argue against such a statement?  It reminds one
of Lord Brougham's case concerning Tenterton
Steeple and Donneby Sands. In former times,
there was a harbor at Donneby; the sea filled the
channel. Meantime, a church with a steeple was
built at Tenterton. A meeting was called to
consider what should be done about the channel,
when one man said that he noticed that, as soon
as they built that steeple at Tenterton, the channel filled up, and moved that they tear down the
steeple. All peoples that have become civilized
have drunk strong drink: therefore, strong drink
is a civilizer. Mark another fact. All peoples
that have become civilized have stolen, been licen
tious and adulterous, and have lied; therefore, stealing, licentiousness, adultery, and lying are civilizers. 
Imipeachicizte a~nd Punlhmiseint of Alcohol. 275
Now, let us look at the facts concerning domestic wines and their influence upon drunkenness in
the countries where they are raised and made.
This will be a fair putting of the case, to put it at
its best.  Paris, the city of wine, where the light
wines abound, where more wine is consumed than
in any other city in the world, in I863 consumed
seven gallons distilled spirits for each  maln,
woman, and child.  That surpasses us.  She produces i,089,ooo000,000ooo gallons of wine in i865, yet
consumes more brandy and other distilled liquors
per head than any other nation on earth. This
indicates that wine does not wean men from
strong  drink.   If it does, they  had  better
not be weaned, judging by the poverty,
wretchedness, and godlessness that characterize France, especially the wine-growing sections.
There is an impression that France is a temperate nation. Men ride through the country in
the better class of cars and see little of it, because
the matchless police remove the nuisance; but let
them live there, and live with the people, and
they will change their minds.   Listen  to  the
witnesses:
Our author, J. Fenimore Cooper, says: "I
came to Europe under the impression that there
pas more drunkenness  among  us (Americans)
than in any other country. A residence of six
months in Paris changed many views entirely. I have
taken unbelievers about Paris, and always convinced them in one walk.  I have been  moro 
276  Impeachiment a'zd Pitnishment of Alcohol.
struck by drunkenness in the streets of Paris than
in those of London."
Horace Greeley wrote from Paris: "That wine
will intoxicate, does intoxicate, that there are confirmed drunkards in Paris and throughout France,
is notorious and undeniable."
MI. Le Clerc says: "Laborers leave their work,
derange their means, drink irregularly, and transform into drunken debauch the time which should
have been spent in profitable labor."
A French magazine says: "Drunkenness is the
beginning and end of life in the great French
industrial centres. At Lille, twenty-five per cent.
of the men and twelve per cent. of the women
are confirmed drunkards."
The Count de Montalembert, Member of the
Academy of Natural Sciences, said in the National Assembly of France: "Where there is a
wine-shop, there are the elements of disease, and
the frightful source of all that is at enmity with
the interests of the workman."
M. Jules Simon: "Women rival the men in
drunkenness. At Lille, at Rouen, there are some
so saturated with it that their infants refuse to
take the breast of a sober woman."
Hon. James M. Usher, Chief Commissioner of
Massachusetts to the World's Exposition in Paris,
in I867, says: "The drinking habit runs through
every phase of society. I have seen more people
drunk here than I ever saw in Boston for the
same length of time. They are the same class of
people, too." 
Imiipeachlicznt and Pun ishmenict of Alcohol.  277
Hon. Caleb Foote, of Salem, Mass., writing
from Paris, after large investigations, " denies, in
toto, the theory that the people of the wineproducing countries are sober."
Dr. E. N. Kirk, of Boston, says: "I never saw
such systematic drunkenness as I saw in France
during a residence of sixteen months. The
French go about it as a business. I never saw so
many women drunk."
Surely there is no lack of testimony. Look at
other wine-growing countries:
Rev. E. S. Lacy, of San Francisco, six months
in Switzerland in a wine-growing section, says:
"Here more intoxication was obvious than in any
other place it was ever my lot to live in."
Before the Legislative License Committee of
Massachusetts, Dr. Warren, of the Boston Biblical School, seven years a resident in Germany,
says: "Drunkenness very common; every evening drunken people stagger by my house."
Rev. J. G. Cochran, Missionary to Persia,
says of a wine-producing section: "The whole
village of male adults will be habitually intoxicated for a month or six weeks."
Rev. Mr. Larabee, another missionary to Persia,
confirms  the statement.   Even  priests coolly
excuse their own irregularities by the plea of
drunkenness.
How in Italy? Cardinal Acton, Chief Judge
of Rome, says: " Nearly all the crime in Rome
originates in the use of wine."
Thirty —five or forty years ago, England at. 
278  Impeachimenth anid Pii'ishmeAi    of A lcohol.
tempted to suppress drunkenness by licensing ale
and beer.  More distilled liquor per head now
than then. The consumption of distilled liquors
has increased in the last fifty years one hundred
and seventy-five per cent.
Turn to America.  How fares it in California?
The experiment fails. A State convention of the
friends of temperance, in October, I866, resolved
against wine-growing. Conventions of Congregational ministers and lay delegates, same month,
reached the same result. They are fully convinced that the hope of temperance based on
wine is delusive. This case has been tried till the
State exceeds, perhaps, all others in corruption.
Com. Wells:" California, with her cheap wines
for temperance, in the year ending June 30, I867,
sold fourteen times, per head, as much alcoholic
stuff as Maine did, and more than any other
State."
These are the facts concerning the wine-growing countries.  The idea of a substitute of wine
for alcohol in the interest of temperance is absurd.
I have protracted this part of the argument because the enemies of this law are seeking to have
wine and beer excepted from the law. But do it,
and you kill the law; and this is what they seek.
Beware!  If you make wine and beer abound,
drunkenness will much more abound.
Against this evil plan we can only thunder the
facts that the countries that manufacture and
drink most wine use most distilled liquors, and
have the largest per cent. of beastly, wife-beating, 
IJmpcachmcnt aid Pl,zzshizmelt of Alcohol.  279
child-beating drunkenness.  Husbands may tell
their ragged and pleading.v wives that they can
stop. They guess they know who drives. They
can stop if they will, but the fact remains.  The
6o,ooo drunkards that annually die were all mode rate drinkers before they settled down into old
tubs. They all tippled a little before they guzzled.
There is no disguising the fact: once drinking,
there is no way out but to face about and let it
alone, or go through into hell. WVhen a pair of
dice are thrown, and 999 out of I,ooo turn double
sixes, you are bound to believe the dice loaded.
This awful game of perdition turns up death
6o,ooo times a year.  Are you willing to believe
that any dose is safe?  Will slow scuttling keep
a ship afloat better than no scuttling?  You who
tipple are the ones that need to be alarmed.'Tis
not the worthless sot that desolates the land; it is
the respectable drinker. This is where the evil
is conceived and born. Beware of the beginnings
of evil. WVines can never advance the temperance cause by being substituted for distilled
liquors.
The third mode of treatment is that practised
in Illinois and many other States. It is the LiCENSE  SYSTEM.   This justly assumes that the
traffic is wrong, and must be controlled. I am
bold to say that this is the chiefest if not the only
virtue in the entire system.  I object to the licenise system, that it does not control the trade.  It
does not limit the sale of liquor. Do you ask for
proof? You can have it on this very block, within 
280  Impcachment and Punishiment of Alcohol.
a stone's cast from this spot. There is not a section of this city where there is any dearth of
saloons. There are in Chicago two thousandone for each one hundred and fifty people. There
is not a man living in this city whom the law has
restrained from drink. It does not restrain the
business.
Again: It helps to make this systematixed murder
respectable. Good citizens do not engage in killing
their fellows. Reputable men do not go into this
work of making criminals and paupers. This
awful work is disgraceful. License legalizes it,
and cloaks it with public sanction. They become
public servants, doing the public will.
Again: It is an uijust mnonopoly.  If it is right
for one man in one hundred and fifty to sell
liquor, the other one hundred and forty-nine have
the same right. If it is wrong for the one hundred and forty-nine, it cannot be right for the
one. Legislatures have no power to make rights.
Rights are as old as God. And no conclave,
no Congress, no Parliament, no Sanhedrim, can
give a man a right to murder his fellow for
his money, even though he does drop a part of
the price of his crime into the public coffers.
Again: It involves the right to license gamblinghouses and houses of ill-famze.
Again: It becomes itself a school of vice. The
law is a public educator. If it proscribes a crime,
it puts the fatal seal upon that crime, and the
children grow up with the conviction of the evil
of that crime. Establish the prize-ring by law, 
Imzpeachiment and Punishlzient of Alcohol. 281I
and your sons will be more apt to be bruisers.
This is fearfully true of the license law. Therefore, for these reasons, the license law fails, and
must for ever fail.
The fourth course is by pr6hibition.  I will not
discuss this, for it is not now within our reach.
But allow me to say, I believe in prohibition.
We have the right by the law of self-preservation.
Again, the Supreme Courts of some of the States
have decided in its favor. The safety of the
State is the supreme law. f~oreover, it is not a
failure.  It actually empties jails, almshouses,
and poor-houses.   It stops the sale of threefourths of the liquor, and stops nearly all the
crime. Take the general statistics. Maine, Vermont, and Massachusetts, with 2,250,000 population in I86o, sold, under prohibitory law, $43,022,754 worth of liquor during the year I867.
New Jersey, Rhode Island, Maryland, and Wisconsin, with 2,225,000 population, sold the same
year, under license-law, $I37,886,445 worth  of
liquor.  Prohibition is not a failure.
We now approach the last experiment as embodied in the new law. Three questions arise.
First, Is it right? Second, Is it wise? Third, Is
it possible? Let us answer in detail. It is right,
because all that favors prohibition favors this, as
the greater includes the less.  The first fact is
this. Intemperance is an evil, therefore this restraint can do no harm. The experiment is safe.
It is the case of a man on a burning vessel-it is
entirely safe to take to the landing. Whatever 
282  IJniPeachziient and Punishiimzcnt  of Alcohol.
comes, to stay is to die. The change here can do
no harm; we take no risk. Again, we have the
right. This inheres in us; we have the right to
protection. A man tries to bring his cattle from
Texas to our market; we stop him, because they
infect and damage our herds. A man tries to
bring the quintessence of ruin into my home to
infect my sons. I have a right to stop him; are
not my sons as sacred as my oxen? An assassin
crawls into my room and raises his dagger above
my wife. He dies, if God gives me grace and
strength to kill him. A wretch crawls up to my
brother and undertakes to poison him. Have I
not a right to stop him? A man comes to my
hen-coop to steal my  chickens.  The law says
yo!iet.* He comes to my angel-coop to steal my
angels.  Have I not a right to protect them?
Have I not as divine a right to defend my children as I have to defend my chickens? More
than this, the Supreme Courts of many of the
States declare this right. The people are sovereigiz.  They have supreme right to stop crime.
Prohibition is an old right: China forbade the use
of wine eleven hundred years before Christ, and it
is a stranger there yet as a beverage. Carthage
banished it from the camp. Plato approved this
law. Lycurgus made it shameful to use it; slaves
were intoxicated and exhibited to the youth.
Romulus sentenced women to death for intoxication as the beginning of adultery. Mohammed
* State prison. 
Imzeachmzent andt Punzishmlnet of A lcohol.  283
prohibited it twelve hundred and fifty years ago.
Governments have always had the right to punish
and prevent crime.
This is not all vague generalities. This law is
based on the principles of common justice and
common law. A leading jurist of this city, Hon.
Judge Goodrich, has given me his opinion of this
law since its enactment.
He says: "It is justified upon principles fundamental to all social and governmental organizations. In entering into society, every individual
surrenders certain of his natural rights, such as
the vindication of his wrongs, the protection of
life and of property, in consideration that society
will insure to him the peaceable enjoyment of his
unsurrendered rights, and indemnity for all
wrongs done to him.
"One right surrendered is the privilege of doing
anything, though personally beneficial, or pursuing any occupation, the natural or probable r-esults of which are, or are likely to be, injurious to
other members of society; and society in return
is bound to prevent such acts, and provide for remuneration for all damages occasioned by such
acts. This right and remedy should be extended
to  wives,  mothers,  minors,  as  well  as  to
men  and adults.   Unless  society afford this
protection and these remedies, it cannot be
maintained, for it fails to keep its terms of the
compact.
"Hence, if a man erect on his premises a dangerous or unhealthful business, or nuisance 
284   Iitpeacimznztc      and  I]Iunishiiient of  Alcohol.
society can remove it, and the injured party can
recover damages resulting directly from the
same.
"So we say, If the natural result or probable
result of the sale of intoxicating liquors to minors, or persons liable to intoxication, is to inflict
any injury upon the person purchasing it, or other
persons, society is bound to prevent it, or afford
to the parties damnified adequate compensation
for the injury sustained.
"If it takes away the means of maintenance
from those dependent upon the party to whom
sold, or maddens his brain so he inflicts injury
upon others, society is bound to give them a
remedy of compensation.
" This law is just to the vendor, and is founded
on well-established principles of the common law.
"The law holds a man responsible for the consequences of an act which he had reasonable
ground to know would be the result of the act,
and, doing the act with such knowledge, is held to
have intended the consequences; therefore, as a
vendor of intoxicating drinks knows its sale to a
minor or habitually intoxicated person usually
produces acts of violence, pauperism, etc., he
should be regarded as having intended to produce such results, and liable for the injurious results."
This is definitively stated, vol. i., " Starkie on
Evidence," p. 5I: "In case of crime, it is reasonable to infer that a man intended and contemnplat
ed that end and result which is the natural and 
Imnpeachiment and Pitntishizent of Alcohol.  285
immediate consequence of the means which he
used."  Tzherefore, for the foregoing reasons we con clude that the lawzu is right.
Next, Is it wise?  Is it a law that, enforced, will
reach the object aimed at? In my judgment, it is
wise, because it treats the business like any other
crime. It does not dignify it by the name of law,
nor protect it by the arm of the government.   It
does not turn the rumseller loose in society as a
teacher on the footing of public approval to mould
and educate our children. It brands him as an
enemy. It does not let him lift a hand or foot till
it takes hostages from him for good behavior; and
thus it says, "This monster must be watched.  He
may slay or ruin somebody. Beware!" It looks
on him as a mad dog in the highway. It runs
after him, crying, "M Iad dog, mad dog."  This
puts a sort of Cain-mark on him to start with.
Society says, "I am not able to slay him, but I
will cry after him, wherever he goes, Murderer!
murderer! so the youth in the land may not be
deceived." It is like a certain old English liverystable, in which a police-officer was stationed. Of
some gentle horses he said to the owner, "Hire
them, and make a living, and be blessed."  Of one
black, untamed beast he said, "If you hire him
out, you shall pay damages." It discriminates
against the black beast. A man can sell groceries, and the law says, "Amen, good citizen;"
but if he sells alcohol, it says, "Dangerous! beware of the black beast."
It is wise, because it strikes the rumseller wzhere he 
286 Imnpeachment aind Punishmnt of Alcohol.
lives-ini the pocket. It wastes no strength in sentimentalism.   It moves to conquer.   It means
business. It comprehends the character of the
enemy. Nothing but striking the profits can be
understood, so it aims low; and, if I mistake not,
it will slay these things, rumsellers, by the thousand. The law accepts the situation, admits that
every sentiment of humanity is dead, that moral
obligation has lost its power, that honor has long
been forgotten, that common justice is only a
myth of the past, that there is no footing in such
a soul but in the low sense of loss of the bloodstained gains.
So the law is wise in striking the rumseller
where he lives-in his pocket. Touch the profits,
and he feels; make it unprofitable, and it will cease.
It is not a missionary enterprise, it is all for gain.
It is wise, because it applies the recovered mHoney to
the inj'ired. It does not put this money into the
public pocket. I have little faith in the policy
that will allow a man to destroy a whole neighborhood, send a hundred men to jail and a hundred
families to the poor-house, and stop a score of factories, for the small income the murderer pays on
his booty. Nor do I see how the Sate can innocently barter the blood and health and character
of my brother or son for a few dollars for the
treasury. I have more faith even in the poor
wretch who, in the confessional, while confessing
and paying a few pence for absolution, was stealing the priest's watch and purse. It is here a
penny in, and a thousand dollars out. 
InipcaclinmenAt and Pu nish/ccnt of Alcohol.  287
But this law gives its recovered plunder not to
the State, which has but doubtful right to it, but
to those who suffer the wrong and need the help.
It keeps that mother from pauperism. It feeds
and schools those helpless, innocent, wronged, and
robbed children. It applies the funds exactly
where they are most needed, and, therefore, we
conclude that it is wise.
It is wzise, because it zcuts downz through all szubter fuges, and miakes good its securities. Wherever it is
possible to sell or give away this deadly drug,
there it can seize the very soil for damages. It
stops not at the cat's-paw, but it reaches all the
parties. The landlord who divides the profits in
rents must now divide the responsibility and damages as he has always shared the guilt.  Nothing
can be clearer than that the mail who furnishes
the den is a particeps criminis, and should be so
held. Some men rent their buildings for dead
falls, and fancy that they are firee from guilt.  But
I can see no moral difference between your letting
a saloon into your building and your tending the
bar yourself. In both cases you pocket the profits, and your hiring some widow's son to dose
out the poison for you does not lessen your guilt.
The victims sinking into a drunkard's hell may
fasten their frenzied hands upon you, and, crying,
"Thou art the man," drag you into the same condemnation. This law recognizes this great fact,
and holds the property liable, and so is wise.
Afgain, it is wise int making no distinctions in
liquor.  Chemists are not needed to define  the 
288  Inpeacliment and Pzinishiment of Alcohol.
various kinds. It is one simple question: Did
the man who drank your liquor do any damage?
If beer and wine do no harm and do not intoxicate,
then there will be no damages. If the man who
drinks beer does not break down my fence, you
will not have to put it up again. Why do these
men resist? It is because they know that wine
and beer are dangerous and ruinous, and ought
to be held responsible.
Again, it is wise in touching off this shell with a
six mzontths' fuse. It gives its friends a chance to
rally against a foe already in the fort and always
ready.
Is it possible? Can it be enforced? This is the
leading question.  I wish to answer that it can and
zmust be enforced, because it receives the support of
the good men of allparties.  It was introduced into
the House by one party, and into the Senate by the
other. Sometimes party spirit carries men over
into opposition to a good thing, because it is of
the opposite faction. But in this case it breaks
into all the old party lines and makes a party for
itself, and comes to the people with a tremendous
endorsement from the strength of the State.
The fact that it is a law of the State must be its
surety. It is purely a question of public sentiment.
If the people are convicted for the law, all the
powers of lager and whiskey and of darkness
cannot resist it.  Awaken  the people, impress
them with the majesty and authority of law, set
them for its defence, and its victory is inevitable.
I think we need a revival on this Question of law. 
Impeachment and Punishment of Alcohol. 289
The way to despotism is through anarchy. Law
is our only safety. Let me sail on a sea of fire
rather than on the sea of chance and chaos. VWe
are drifting toward the breakers. In the home
there is a letting down of authority. Children
are certain they know more than their parents,
and, by the pulseless hand with which the parents
guide them, I think the children are right. God
has put you in charge.   They are not your
guardians. They resent correction as an insult.
All this must be cured. In the home must be
laid the foundations of law and authority.
The best thing a people can have as insurance
for the future is a solid conviction of the authority
of law.  It is not a question whether my personal
rights can be served, but what is the demand of
the public good. My sidewalk may hold me, but
it must hold also the public. My cellar-way may
be sufficiently guarded for me, but it must also be
safe for the stranger. The public good is the supreme law And enacted law is the judgment of
the majority as to what is the public good. So
the individual can have no alternative but to obey
the law while it is law, or suffer the penalty. Let
this be instilled into every mind, and there will be
no difficulty in enforcing the law on temperance
or on any other subject. It is purely a question
of public opinion.   This is always resistless.
Government is always the creature of the public
will. The government of the Celestial Empire
would last in America about one-sixteenthi of
one  second-just   long   enough  to  touch 
290  Impeachients  and Piinishmcnt of Allcohol.
ground. It would hold this Yankee nation about
as long as a sheet of tissue paper would keep
down an eruption of Vesuvius. The public sentiment is absolute. No law can be valid without
this support.  Let the mayor issue a proclamation forbidding Christian people from assembling
to worship next Sabbath morning, because he was
opposed to it. WVhat would happen? I can tell
you what would happen. Unless such action was
demanded by the public good, on account of som
plague or peril, and so had the approval of the
people, next Sabbath would see us all in our
places, and such a mayor in his place in Jacksonville or at Elgin. The public will is supreme.
This is always the final arbiter. This makes the
people invincible.  "You may destroy the cities
to tl.e last hamlet, desolate the country to the last
cabin, wipe out the press to the last page, and
you have done nothing.  There still remains the
human mind, pure as the light and unapproachable as the sun." And in its supreme decisions
are the decrees of destiny. Thus you may burn
thle buildings from Jefferson Street to the Lake, and
fromn De Koven Street to Fullerton Avenue, and
you have not burned Chicago. All that is. not
Chicago.  Chicago is in the heroic bosoms of the
heroic people, in the everlasting purpose, in the
almighty energy that camped like savages on the
prairie, without stool or tent-planned by the
light of the burning fortunes new railroads, new
depots, new elevators, new hotels, new churches,
a new city, and a lnew civilization. Fix this senti 
inmpeachIment and PunishImen1t of Al cohol. 291
ment for this law, and then the gates of hell shall
not prevail against it. The whole question is one
of public opinion. This, I think, is right, or can
be righted by the first of July.
Suppose I indicate how I think it can be done.
First, on the general question of respect for law
for the long future.  Teach your children to re  spect it, teach them to respect your authority,
and teach them to respect the law  while  in
school.
Again: Let your ibifluence be solid against excus ing great crininals.  These local aldermen that
have sold themselves and the public trust should
have fair trial and fair chance like any other
thieves, and, if convicted, suffer the extreme
penalty of the law.  They have nominally served
the public for nothing, now make them do it
actually. This is not so harsh. If it seems harsh,
that seeming is proof of its necessity. This poor
day-laborer is sick, and so without income, and
his babes are hungry, and in desperation he
snatches a man's money, and runs. He is dogged
into the penitentiary. These scoundrels steal the
city poor, and take away public confidence, and
breed contempt for law.  I say, in God's name, do
not shield them, but send them to their reward.
To secure this, let men in trying places know that
they have your sympathy and support. Without
regard to party, let honest men say to the faithftLl judges and officials, "God bless you," and
"WVe will support you."
The press have a large share of respons'bil[ty 
292  InpeacImient and Punzishrment of Alcoliol.
in this matter of public opinion. There is great
hope in the general tone of the press on this law.
Some editorials have been clear and manly for
the law. These forces mean victory in July.
The Press is the Third House, but the people are
the Fourth House.
Another fact: You come in contact with large
numbers of laboring men.    You meet them in
their shops and at their work. A few words judiciously spoken will prepare them for right action
when the time comes. If the law is to be resisted,
men must be found to leave their work, and mass
and combine against it. Now, you can prevent
many from doing this. If the great working-class
say that the law shall not be enforced, its execution will be difficult, if not impossible.   But if
they say, "It must be obeyed," or even keep out
of the crowds and at their work, its enforcement
will be as certain as destiny. Every man do his
duty like a man, and this benign and equitable
law will hedge this awful traffic with mortal and
fatal disabilities.
Mobs may threaten, but they must finally obey.
I would put deliberate emphasis upon this. If
men cannot obey the law, the way is open. They
can return to the old despotisms, and they can go
without passports too; and they can take the
fortunes they have made here.  But if they stay,
they must obey the law. I had rather be a thousand years longer in reclaiming the wilderness,
than see it seized by brutality, and beastliness, and
crime. 
Impeachimentz  agd Putzishtmeizt of Alcohol.  293
Possibly some of you are saying, "I approve
the law, but my family is safe, and I will not take
any risks of ill-will by taking sides. Let those
who are exposed enforce the law."  Brother, you
are exposed. This traffic is an infernal machine
stored under your bed.  Your thoughtless boy
may light the fuse when you least expect it.
There is no safety with the thing about the
premises. Is it just the fair play which we all
approve and demand to ask our representatives to
take the chances of defeat or censure in enacting
a good law, which we approve and the public
safety demands, and then we ourselves shirk the
responsibility and leave the law unenforced?  Is
it manly for us to send them out on the forlorn
hope, and then, when they have made the breach
and hold it, we desert and refuse to march in with
the main army?  All honor to the men who have
breasted the storm and secured such advantage
to the cause! Blessings from many a humble
widow whose son shall be saved to her, and from
many a poor orphan thus furnished with protection
and possible schooling, shall come upon their heads.
In the humble homes of poverty, where piety and
virtue struggle against want and  degradation,
where God's tall and tender-footed angels keep
nightly watch, there their names shall be mentioned. And yonder, when the reckoning comes,
think you this vote shall be forgotten? I tell you,
nay. The Judge himself shall say, "Inasmuch as
you have done it unto the least of these my little
ones, you have done it unto me." I had rather
p 
294  lmpcachientz and Punisiment of Alcoaliol.
have my name on that affirmative vote than be the
representative of a compromised and drunken
constituency for a thousand years. All honor to
the men who enacted the law, and let us show
ourselves worthy of such representatives.   To
night, brothers, after this long survey of this
momentous subject, I call upon you, in the presence of this great criminal-in full view of his
malignant character; of the vileness that stamps
the poison itself; of the frauds that are practised
in its manufacture; of the deadly counterfeits that
deepen its malignity; of the insanity that makes
its victims fairly fly to ruin; of the i,000,000ooo
wrecks that stagger, and ooze, and leer, and bloat,
and fester, and fall downward; of the 60,ooo poor
creatures that yearly fill drunkards' graves on
their way to the drunkard's doom; of 2,000,000
children that are left worse than orphans, cursed
with an inheritance of rags and shame; of the
3,000,000 of women who have millstones tied about
their necks and are thus cast into the social sea;
of the 2oo00,000 broken-hearted ones that yearly
march to the poor-house; of the 200,000 convicts
that are annually sent to jail; of the 200,000 orphans annually bequeathed to public charity; of
the 450 suicides that are caused by this evil spirit;
of the 700 murders that horrify the year; of the
1,350 rapes that are committed by this demon; of
the I2,000 lunatics that are made in this fire; of the
great company of idiots that are spawned by this
monster; of the millions of homes ruined and all
the homes threatened by this invader; of the pub
10 
lzpcach/mc;zt and P'/is/lhz'et-z   of Alcohol.  295
tic schools, robbed of 2,000,000 children; of seveiin
eighths of all the crimes of the land committed by
this evil inspiration; and of the enormous sum of
$2,6o7,491I,866 annually taken from the public
comfort and expended in wretchedness and crimne
-in the presence of all these fearful facts, I call
upon you, in this day of probation, in this house
of God, by the absolute need of prompt action, by
the utter failure of indecision, by the worse than
failure of many substitutes, and by the right of selfpreservation; I call upon you, in the name of the
countless victims who are bound in this wretched
habit, in the name of the wearying, watching mothers whose sons are imperilled, in the name of some
young men here to-night who may yet wreck all
beauty for time and all hope for eternity, in the
name of some fair and hopeful maidens here tonight who may yet mourn and pine in the squalor and misery of the drunkard's hovel, in the
name of earth desolated and heaven forfeited by
this crime, and in the name of Almighty God,
whose eye is upon us, and at whose judgment-bar
we must shortly stand-I call upon you to maintain
and enforce this law at all costs! Out of these
awful responsibilities we cry from our hearts for
ever and for ever, "Everlasting war against rum,
and eternal death to alcohol!"  
DRINKING FOR HEALTH.
"DRINK no longer water, but use a little wine for thy stomach's
sake and thine often infirmities."-i TIM..V. 23.
TIMIOTHY  was  a  temperance  man.   He
'would  not use anything in the shape of
liquor, from fear of self-injury and hindering the
Gospel he preached. So abstemious was he that
it required a positive command from his spiritual
father to induce him to touch even wine.
Paul was a temperance man. He was so carefil as to his example that he would refrain from
eating "meat" if it caused a weak brother to
stumble. And, no doubt (so anxious was he that
Timothy should be "blameless "), he had enjoined
upon his son in the Gospel the strictest temperance. But now, as his health was giving way, he
exhorted him to use "no longer water [only], but
a little wine."
And what was this "wine "?  Was there alcohol
in it? Probably none at all. Investigation has
of late been very thorough as to the wines of the
Bible; and the conclusion reached is that they
may be divided into two distinct classes-the
harmless and the pernicious, or the unfermented
and the fermented. 
Driznkizg for Health.
All the principal Biblical critics who have
made the study of this subject a specialty, have
reached the result expressed by Professor Moses
Stuart: "My final conclusion is this, namely, that,
whenever the Scriptures speak of wine as a comfort, a blessing, or a libation to God, and rank it
with such articles as corn and oil, they meanthey can mean-only such wine as contained no
alcohol that could have a mischievous tendency;
that, wherever they denounce it, prohibit it, and
connect it with drunkenness and revelling, they
can mean only alcoholic or intoxicating wine. If
I take the position that God's Word and works
entirely harmonize, I must take thle position that the
Bible before us is such as I have represented it to be.
I cannot refuse to take this position without
virtually impeaching the Scriptures of contradiction or inconsistency."
Now, would Paul have advised the use of fermented and intoxicating wine? Did he not know
what Philo, Aristotle, Pliny, and other credible
authorities, nearly contemporary with himself, tell
us, namely, that "intoxicating wines were deleterious to health, and produced headaches,
dropsy, madness, dysentery, and stomach complaints; while other wines were salubrious arid
medicinal, and particularly commended for enfeebled and diseased stomachs"? How absurd
to suppose that Paul would recommend Timothy
to use poisonous wines, when the unfermented and
harmless were every way better! In any view
of the case, however, here is cold comfort for
298 
Drinzking for Iealth.
wine-bibbers; for even if there were a moiety of
alcohol in the drink recommended, yet it was
to be used strictly as a medicine, and Timothy was expressly ordered to take it by an inspired apostle.  I agree with another, that "as the
recommendation here was not for gratification,
but for medicine, and to Timothy personally, a
sick man, and only a little at that, it gives no
more countenance for the beverage use of wine
for any one, and especially for those in health,
than does the prescription of castor-oil by the
physician for the beverage use of that article."
But what shall be said of the drinkingfor health
which is now so common? Few are aware of its
prevalence.   The use of "pure wine," as it is
called, has been put forward as a preventive
of intemperance;  and  "mild stimulants" and
"healthful tonics" are dabbled with by thousands
to-day who a few years ago knew nothing of
their use
Our homes are becoming fountain-heads of
drunkenness.   Wines and other drinks are on the
tables, not only on special occasions, but regularly;
and wives, mothers, and sisters, instead of frowning upon their use, encourage it by their example.   Indeed, the increase of intemperance
among women themselves, both in England and
America, is becoming alarming. A recent article
in one of our secular papers says:
"It is worth our while to see how this matter
stands. There is such a sense of chivalry towards
the weaker sex and faith in their purity among
299 
Drinking for Health.
Americans, that a statement that drunklenness existed to any appreciable amount among educated
women would be received with disgust and
incredulity. Yet there are certain facts which it
is high time should be taken at once into the
gravest consideration by both the pulpit and the
press. To physicians they are, unfortunately, but
too familiar. Among these is the too large proportion of female patients in insane asylums who
have become so from the use of stimulants. The
American fashionable woman, as we all know,
drinks often, at her own table, wines of a strength
which her European sister would not dare to
touch. She' mixes her liquors,' too; in her teens
is a connoisseur of champagne, delicately sips
sherry-cobblers and Roman punches; and all
this with her in-door life, her limp constitution, her bilious habit, and under climatic influences which, to the strongest man, make alcohol a poison. There are certain quiet'ladies'
restaurants' in all the seaboard cities, so quiet
and modest in appearance that gentlemen are no t
tempted into them, where respectable women
resort for the stimulant which is probably inaccessible at home.  Deaths from mania apotu haye
occurred this winter, and that not in the debased
lower classes, but among cultured, delicatelyreared women; some of them young, generous,
lovable girls. The baby at the breast is dosed
nightly with soothing syrups; the sickly schoolgirl has her'drops' night and morning; while
for the innumerable ailments of the married
300 
Drinzkitn for Health.
woman there is a mantel-shelf full of tonics,
elixirs, and bitters, German and native, all warranted' free from a drop of alcohol mixture.'"
I wish that church-members and so-called temperance people were not among these tipplers.
But many such are tampering with strong drink.
How common it is for gentlemen in the chophouses and restaurants to call for liquor at lunch,
while at home they daily use wine or ale "as a
mnedicine "-of course! Not a few pastors must say
with one, " The deepest anxiety I feel for several
of my flock is, lest they fall under the dominion of the cup, which is a mocker, and which
upsets a Christian's brain just as soon as any
one's."
Now, what is the cause of this drift towards
drinking for health? And who is directly responsible for it? Three parties are chiefly blamable;
viz., the regular medical profession; the irregular or "quack" medicine venders; and the
people themselves.
I. Heavy blame attaches to authorized medical
practitioners.-The great Dr. Rush declared
that "no man should be able to say that he made
him a drunkard by recommending spirits."
Would that this could be said generally by physi
cians! The medical profession enrolls great numbers of self-denying, philanthropic, learned, and
conscientious men-never so many as now; and I
am glad to say many of them are among the
stanchest advocates of temperance, both in theory
and  practice.   But still  beyond question, the
3oi 
Dinblkinz,g for Health.
injudicious and indiscriminate recommendation
by physicians of alcohol as medicine and a beverage is a principal source of prevailing intemperance. Forty years ago, Dr. Pye Smith said that
"the permissions of some medical men, too careless
of physical and moral results, have given great impulse to spirit-drinking, and have caused an estimate to be attached to spirituous liquors beyond
their value as a medicinal drug."    Since then
the evil has gone on increasing, until we have
a sort of medical epidemic in spirit-drinking
for sanitary purposes.  MIr. Beecher's statement
of the case is scarcely extravagant:
"Doctors, like every social body, are subject to
tides of fashion; and just now the tide sets very
strong in the direction of alcoholic stimulants
-particularly of Bourbon whiskey. Everybody
has, first or last, one of three complaints. Everything is either neuralgia, or heart-complaint, or
dyspepsia, with the doctors; and Bourbon whiskey
seems to be the great wholesale stimulant. The
minister whose nervous system is deranged by
too close application to his professional duties
drinks Bourbon whiskey-the doctor told him to.
The merchant who has overtaxed his powers of
body and mind by confining himself night and day
to his business drinks Bourbon whiskey-his
physician told him to. The lawyer whose brain
is perpetually at work, and intensely at work,
drinks Bourbon whiskey-his doctor told him to.
EzierNobody that feels bad is drinking Bourbon whiskey
under m:ecdical prescription!   The indiscriminate
3c2 
Drinkinzg for Ifealth.
and almost universal prescription of it, I know,
cannot be right. I think that matter has gone
full as far as fatshion will justify, and that physicians should begin to hold back, and to discriminate, and to make fewer cases in which this allhealing remedy is applicable. Otherwise, under
the cover of a medical prescription, we are going
to have a deluge of whiskey on the land again;
for as soon as it is found out that the physician
prescribes whiskey for everything, men will not
go to him any more, but will buy it in large quantities and at wholesale rates, and administer it
themselves!"
At a late annual meeting of the Pennsylvania
Medical Society, Doctors H. Carson and WV. VW.
Townsend, in a written report to the society, said:
"Every physician whom we know personally,
and all of whom we have heard, use and recommend the use of alcoholic liquors in some form in
their practice.   The great majority use them
freely, in trifling as well as in grave cases; in the
cases of drunkards as well as total-abstinence people; on the child of a day and the parent of threescore and ten. They prescribe them in diseases
of the kidneys, lungs, heart, brain, stomach, and
every other organ, and yet they know full well
that diseases of those organs have been produced
thousands of times by those very agents. They
recommend them to the weak and the dyspeptic; the aged because they are aged, and the
young  because  they are young; the nursing
mother because of the drain onI her system
303 
DrIrizkin,g for Health.
(natural though it be and healthful); to those
who are given up as hopeless because they
are dying, and to the convalescent because they
are convalescing, and they annot forego the
opportunity to show them  hos  porter, ale, or
whiskey will' build them up.' The effect of such
a course is to impress the community with a high
opinion of the valuable medicinal, life-giving properties of alcoholic liquor."
It is well for all to know that by eminent physicians this dosing with stimulants is thoroughly discountenanced and denounced as an outrage. I
could readily bring forward a long list of high
medical authorities who hold that prescription
here ought to be proscription!  If your doctor
orders you to take stimulants, it is of no disadvantage to you to be aware that other physicians
would order you to throw  them into the fire!
There is not such uniformity of opinion here as
to justify your blind adherence to medical advice.
Hear what physicians themselves say.   I give
you a few quotations from their written testimonies. Beginning at home, listen to what one of
your own townsmen has said: " I am a physician. Medical men, you say, occupy towards the
subject of temperance a position that is professional and peculiar. Doubtless this is so. Knowing what they do, there are responsibilities resting upon them solemn as death. I shudder almost to think what mischievous potency there is
sometimes in a mere touch of their finger.  Many
a credulous wretch, tottering on the verge of the
0o4 
Drinkiitg for ]Iealth.
abyss, has thereby been pushed headlong. The
crude utterance of some rash oracle of medicine
has dug many a grave, and kindled many a fire,
unquenchable as hell." *
Says Dr. Charles Jewett: "A  fruitful source
of error, and often, it is to be feared, of fatal
mischief, is the almost unquestioning credence
given by the masses to the opinions of their family physician, without stopping to consider how
far those opinions may be influenced by his
habits, associations, and unreasoning prejudices.
Personally, I have no doubt but that tens of thousands annually in this country are hurried out of
existence by the uncalled-for and mistaken use
of wine and brandy. No one but a physician of
pretty extensive observation, and one personally
free from the influence of alcoholic liquors, can
fairly estimate the amount of mischief caused by
the almost indiscriminate prescription of such
liquors under the general but false notion that
they are tonic or possessed of supporting power."
Dr. Carpenter, an eminent physiologist and
physician,  says:  "Nothing  in  the annals of
quackery can be more truly empirical than the
mode in which fermented liquors are directed or
permitted to be taken by a large proportion of
medical practitioners."
A physician in Edinburgh, alluding to the
frequent cases of forming an appetite for strong
drink by its prescription, says:  "No man who
* Dr. Abraham Coles, Newark, N.J.
305 
D i-izkiz~g for  Hieal/t.
knows the effects of this liquor, as they are now
in thousands of cases existing, can possibly
doubt that multitudes had better have died a
hundred deaths than been ensnared as they have
been by means of it."
You see, then, that there is ground for hesitancy before you accept the advice and follow
the prescription of a physician recommending
wine, ale, or brandy for yourself or a dependent.
Believe me, the remedy in this case is oftentimes worse than the disease; and you may well
imitate that young American soldier who, when
exhausted and shivering, was presented by his
officer with a glass of wine, but said: "No, sir,
thank you; I would rather face all the cannon of
the enemy than take that liquor."
And, if I here address a physician not thoroughly "booked," let me ask him to consider a few
facts bearing upon this subject. Dr. Gairdner,
of Glasgow, speaking of the cases of young persons afflicted with typhus fever, and treated altogether without alcohol, states that out of I89
cases only one died, and that one was in a dying
state when admitted to the hospital. If those
cases had been treated with a small amount of
alcohol, as practised in Glasgow in the years
I86I and I 862, he shows that six or seven would
have  died.    Had  they  received the greater
amount of alcohol given in Glasgow in 1847, nine
would have died.   Had they received the still
larger amount of this poisonous liquor given in
the London Hospital, nearly twelz,e would have
3o6 
Drizking, for Health.
died. Had they been in the hands of Dr. Todd,
"who advocated alcohol in typhus in the highest
degree," Dr. Gairdner shows that not less than
thirty to thirty-five of them would have gone to
their graves!    This is a fair specimen of Dr.
Gairdner's carefully and far too cautiously stated
results, as demonstrated in his tables of statistics
and his reasoning on them. Instead of really no
deaths among I88 patients treated without
alcohol tltogether, you have at least thirty
young  persons   sent  into  eternity  by  its
use!
In I864, the venerable surgeon of Nottingham,
England, Dr. Higginbottom, published a resumze
of his experience, in which he says:
"For about thirty years I have not once prescribed alcohol as a medicine; so that I have now
fully tried both ways, with and without alcohol;
and I am now fully of opinion that a more dishonest or cruel act cannot be inflicted on a
patient than to prescribe or order alcohol as a
medicine. So strongly am I convinced, that I
should consider myself criminal if I again recoinmend alcohol, either as food or medicine."
He adds:" During my long practice, I have not
known or seen a single d(isease cured by alcohol;
on the contrary, it is the most fertile producer of
disease, and may be considered the bane of medicine and the seed of disease. It is destitute of
any medicinal principle implanted by the Creator
in genuine medicines.   "I have found  acute
disease sooner cured without alcohol, and chlro
3o7 
Driznking for Health.
nic disease much more manageable.   "I  have
never seen a patient or any person injured
by leaving off alcohlolic fluids at once.  I should
as soon expect, as a Dr. Scott has said,' killing a horse by leaving off the whip and spur.'
I have not heard from my professional brethren, or
from any of my patients, that my non-alcoholic
treatment of disease has occasioned a single death.
My greatest trouble has been, for many years, in
preventing patients from being destroyed by the
use of it. I do not say the abuse, for I consider the
use the abuse. "No person can form any idea,
except from experience, of the superiority of
the practice of medicine and surgery when alcohol is banished from it."'
Dr. L. M. Bennet, M.R.C.S., says:
"I believe there is no curable disease (chronic
or acute) but what may be treated and cured
better without alcohol than with it.... During
the last tweznty-five years, I have not once used it as a
medicine or recommended it as a beverage,; and, although I have had great experience in the treatment of dyspepsia, fever, exhaustion from the loss
of blood, and profuseness of purulent discharges,
I have found all those complaints and conditions
much more easily removed without alcohol...
From all the observation and experience I have
had for a period of thirty years, I have come to
this conclusion-that intoxicating drinks in any
quantity, however small, are unnecessary to maintain health; that they are neither necessary nor
desirable to support the frame under excitement,
308 
Drinking for Health.
nor to recruit it when exhausted; that, when a ne cessity exists for the use of a stimulant in the treat ment of disease, a safer, inoricertain, and effectual
substitute can be found; that the mortality in disease will always be in proportion to the amount of
alcohol used in the treatment, and that the entire
disuse of it as a medicine would prove highly
beneficial to mankind."
My limits forbid reference to other authorities
to the same effect.
2. Passing from the medical profession proper,
I speak of the irregular or quack doctors as responsible for the tippling habits of the day. They
have flooded the country with their decoctions
uinder the names of Cordials, Tonics, Strengthening Bitters, Buchu, Plantation Bitters, Schiedam
Schnapps, Liebfrauenmilch, Lachryma Christi,
Santa Cruz, Golden Bitters, and the like, which
they blazon forth everywhere with a prodigal
waste of money. Almanacs and other pamphlets
are thrust under the door-sills, and distributed
firom country-stores, filled with glowing descriptions and certificates of"  remarkable cures "; and to
read of these "scientifically prepared stimulants,"
" wholesome cordials," "tonic alteratives," "lifereviving bitters," "pure and genial restoratives,"
and the catalogue of the ills for which they are a
sure remiedy, one would almost wonder why men
ever dclie with such "elixirs of life" within their
reach!
Nowv, the simple truth is, the entire catalogue
of these so-called remedies and restoratives sought
309 
Dri'zklig for Health.
to be palmed off upon the innocent public are vile
compounds. In many cases they are chiefly bad
whiskey, and in all cases it is alcohaol (without
being so-called), which the purchaser swallows;
and this is the reason WHY it is swallowed.  Though
often advertised as "temperance bitters" with
but "just enough spirits to preserve them,"
they were inert without liquor, and would lack
consumers.  People buy them because they like the
brandy that is i'z them!
The quantity of these bogus remedies that are
sold is almost fabulous; and untold multitudes
have found their bitters to be biters! The epitaph
upon their tombstones might be written (as with
one poor victim): "I was well; and I would be
better; and here I lie!"  Or living, they have
found an acquired appetite for strong drink fastened upon them, which is often worse than
death.
I agree with another, that these preparations,
whose names are paraded on every picturesque
rock along our great thoroughfares by pandering
scoundrels, are rum, rum, RUNf, with a little something added to disguise it. To advertise these
things is to encourage intemperance; and'to
suffer them to go unexposed is to leave the
community the prey of a subtle and most damaging evil. All these promises of rejuvenation, all
these pretences of ability to revitalize worn-out
men, are miserable shams.  All these pr-eparati()ons fo)r men and women that claim the power to
dcO) suc VonIder-tul thlings, are scarcely disguised
3Io 
Drinkiklg for  Ilcalth.
abominations of intemperance, are fit only for deception, and are a shame and disgrace to any
respectable store or respectable family. And it is
high time that this outraceous hzypocrisy, under the
color of medicine, should be exposed, and trodden into the ditch from which it came, and to
which it belongs.
3. But, after all, the people themselves are chiefly
responsible for this growing custom of drinking
for health.    They acquiesce in alcoholic prescriptions by the medical profession, and support
by  their patronage  the villanous  compounds
which would otherwise prove profitless.   Mlothers are knowingly giving liquors in some shape
to their infants (besides taking it themselves), and
tens of thousands of otherwise sensible people
have come to believe that they must have some
strong drink.
A little must be taken for "weakness of the
stomach," and a "faintness" and "goneness" of
feeling when they get up.   It must be sipped
wth the lunch and drunk after dinner to "'help
digestion"; and they must have "a night-cup
before they go to bed! It would be a curious spectacle if the cellars, vaults, closets, and garrets
of all the houses around us were to disgorge
the filled and empty bottles that they contain,
marked with some inscriptions of porter, ale, wine,
tonics, bitters, and the like!
Now, assuming that I am speaking to some xvlwho
have not much considered this matter, let me ask
two questions:
" I I 
Drinkintg for Health.
I.  WYlzat are you drizkiing?  I have answered
the question as to the compounds sold for
strengthening and remedial purposes.
But how about lager-beer, which has become
so much of a beverage? Possibly in its use you
think you are taking nothing intoxicating. That
is a mistake.  There is alcohol in lager.   The
percentage is small; but yet it is sufficient to induce an appetite for something stronger, and to
do directly an injury to health. A glass of this
beverage is not as injurious as a glass of whiskey
or gin, because it contains a far less quantity of
alcohol; but an ounce of alcohol is just as hurtful
when diffused through six glasses of lager as
when imbibed in two glasses of rum or brandy.
Says a competent authority: "The question
'Does lager-heer intoxicate'? is a thing not to
be argued.  I might as well attempt to prove that
two and two make four. It is gross and palpable
to sense.  I am  amazed  at the  effrontery-I
scarcely know a parallel to the audacity-of those
who deny it."
Perhaps you say, "I use a little zwine."  Very
likely it is pire wine that you think you are
using. Are you sure of it? Did not Addison long
ago tell us of philosophers "daily employed in ithe
transmuzztation of liquors, and, by the pozser of vzagical drugz,s and incantations, raisinzg, under the streets
of ~onloni, the choicest products of the hills and valleys of France, and squccze claret out of tile sloe, and
dram ciampagne out of au app/ "?  Who does not
know that nine-tenths of the wine consumed is
3I2 
Drinking for Health.
but brandy (or something worse) under another
name? In France and other European countries
are extensive establishments for the manutfacture
of all the choicest varieties of wines; and you may
as well know that, when you have paid a round
price for wines i'ported direct from the wine-grow ini districts, and in orz,iginalpackages, you are yet
most likely paying for what never smelt a grape!
I do not say that there are no pure wines; but I
say that adulteration is the law, and purity the
exception; and that wines are so skilfully "doctored" with well-selected drugs as to escape even
chemical tests as to their quality. An able writer
goes so far as to affirm that "wine has become a
myth, a shadow, a very Eurydice of life.   There
is no suck thatg, we verily believe, as honest grapejuice wine remaizzing-nzothiing but a vile compound of
poisonous drugs and inpurely obtained alcohol; and
all our beautiful Anacreontics are merely fables
like the rest; for wine hath died out from the
world, and the LABORATORY IS NOW TIIE VINEYARD."
There is perhaps nearly a hundred times as
much "PORT" wine (so called from Oporto) sold
and drank as can be made from all the grapes
raised in the region of Oporto, including the
whole Douro Valley.
Says a writer:" If the Douro River were a thotusand miles long instead of only sixty, it could
not furnish grapes enough to make all this ocean
of' port' wine.  The whole world of fashionable
topers, and invalids, and imbeciles are drinking
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Drinking for Health.
wine made out of the little handful of grapes
grown on the banks of a small creek in Portugal!
The miracle of feeding five thousand souls from
'five loaves and a few small fishes' is as nothing
compared to this!"
I spoke of the manufacture of wines abroad;
but it should be known that our own country is the
largest "wine-growing district" in the world!
Here are furnished a million times more baskets
of champagne [with exact imitation of foreign
brands!] than are put up of the pure juice in all
the champagne districts of Europe! By passing the
oil of whiskey through carbon, a Madeira is made
at a profit of 500 per cent. which few can tell from
the genuine. With neutral spirits, or even with
whiskey, vinegar, sulphuric acid, beet-root, alum,
lead, logwood, potash, cider, copperas, and the
like, are produced wines at trifling cost.  Of
these and other wines, New York City annually
manufactures to the value of $8,ooo,ooo: all of
which are admirably adapted to Timothy's weak
stomach!
"It is a notorious fact," says one of our daily
journals, "that even the California champagnes
have been driven from the market by'doctored
wines,' or have themselves been'doctored' to
meet the popular demand. Madeira growzes 30,000
barrels of wine yearly; and America alone drinks
50,000ooo barrels of' Madeira' wine!
Perhaps you drink the "best brandy"; but
very unlikely! A chemist lately analyzed a bottlc of pure brandy [as was alleged], and found in
314 
Drinking for HealtAh.
it alum, iron, sulphuric acid, essential oil of some
kind, tannic acid, Guinea pepper, burnt sugar,
lead, and copper, with a nitric ether, basis of
whiskey. This is the delicious mixture which,
by the aid of a pretty label and a little sealingwax on the cork, passes for Old Hennessy, London Dock, Martel, or Seignette brandy.
Is it whiskey that you take?
Some whiskey seized a few days ago in Newton, Mass., was found to be thus compounded:
Ten gallons of kerosene, three pounds of potash,
one ounce of strychnine, mixed with soft water.
Promising stuff to drink for health! Twenty-five
per cent. of the alcoholic strength you get in
whiskey is often but stryclhnine strength.
Are you a drinker of porter, alte, beer?  Would
you could see what becomes of the thousands of
bags of cocculis indicus [the rankest poison,
without any known antidote] imported into this
country to be used up in breweries!  Would you
could see the Brewers' Guides and various recipes which the liquor manufacturers keep hidden away! They would read something like this:
Ingredients of  a  Warming  Vature.-Pepper,
capsicum, cloves, ginger, spice, vinegar, acetic
acid, tartaric acid, citric acid, butyric acid,
cream of tartar, nitric acid or aquafortis, stilphuric acid, prussic acid, sulphuric ether, nitric
ether, acetic ether, spirits of nitre, oil of vitriol,
oil of turpentine, oil of cassia, oil of caraway, oil
of cloves, extract of japonica, extract of bitter
almonds, extract of orris root, extract of angeli
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Drinking for Health.
can root, grains of paradise, multum, poppy seeds,
juniper berries, aloes, cochineal, black ants, and
Spanish juice.
To give Taste and Astrinzgency.-Bruised  raisins, dried blackberries, dried peaches, dried
cherries, orange-peel, coriander seed, white oak
bark, tannic acid, kino, rhatany, catechu, caraway seed, cardamom seed, fennel seed, wormwood, alum, copperas, sulphate of iron, and sulphate of copper.
For  Beers without Malt  or  lops.-To  prevent sourness, use sugar, honey, molasses, licorice, alum, opium, gentian, quassia, aloes,
cocculus indicus, amara, tobacco, and nux, for
hops;  saltpetre,  jalap,  salt,  maranta,  green
copperas, marble dust, oyster-shells, egg-shells,
sulphate of lime, hartshorn, shavings, nut-galls,
potash, soda, etc.
To correct Unnatural Tastes.-Lime-water, carbonate of lime, carbonate of soda, nitrate of potash, caustic potash, pearlash, saleratus, sugar of
lead, and litharge.
For Coloring Matters.-Burnt sugar, beet-juice,
dried apples, dried peaches, elderberries, molasses,
red saunders, logwood, and sulphuric acid.
A pretty list indeed!
These facts convey some idea of what it is that
you are most likely drinking if in the use of
liquors: — a "heterogeneous conglomerate of poisons, drugs, and dye-stuffs"!
I proceed to another question:
2. W'hy do you drink? let me  ask.   Have you
3i6 
Drziikzn, for Healt/h.
investigated and properly considered the effects of
liquor driikinzg ipon health?
Think of introducing into the stomach, and into
all the delicate ramifications of that frame-work
so fearfully and wonderfully made, the "poisoned
poisons" and the "fluid nastiness" which I have
described! Nor flatter yourself that your liquors
are pure, for adulteration, as I have said, is all but
universal; and the cry of one is well founded, that
"the people ask for pure spirit, but nauseating and
maddening and death-dealing stuffs are sold in its
stead. They ask for stimulants, and are given
strychnine. They seek exhilaration, and are treated to insanity. They crave refreshment and inspiration, and are mocked with inebriety and
madness."
But passing this by, what is alcohol itself?-for
you will bear in mind that this ingredient is in all
spirituous liquors [including wine, porter, ale, beer,
cider, etc.]  This makes them spirituous.  And
this alcohol is a poison. It is a poison produced
by fermentation, i.e. a process of decay, or rottenness.  Dr. Munroe, of England, says: "Alcohol is a powerful narcotic poison; and, if a large
dose be taken, no antidote is known."  And again
he says:'A small quantity of pure alcohol, injected into the veins of an animal, has caused
immediate death; showing alcohol to be a dangerous and deadly poison."
There is not a medical or chemical authority in
the world that does not pronounce alcohol to be
a poison, and one of the deadliest known.
317 
Drinkini for IHealth.
But you say, " Are not poisons sometimes useful
as medicines [which is granted], and may not anmy
health be promoted by its use?" I have already
shown that many learned and skilful physicians
never use it, even as a medicine, and do not consider that under any circumstances it is necessary
to health. But let me ask, In what respect are
you benefited by strong drink in any form?
It does not give strength. If you are stronger
for taking it, it is but excitation for the moment.
You have irritation, not strength, and you consume to-day the capital for to-morrow-you run in
debt to nature:
"Prodigal of life, in one rash night
You lavish more than might support three days."
You are strengthened just as the whip strengthens the horse. As if you would give your horse
the spur that irritates for the corn that feeds!
Certainly there is no food in pure alcohol; no
one pretends it. How much is there in the beverages supposed to build up the body and increase
vitality? The following are some of the analyses,
by chemists, of drinks in common use:
grs.                     oz.
o Water..............  i6
o Alcohol.............4
I36  Sugar............... I
57  Tartaric acid........   o
318
STRONG ALE.
PORT.
OZ.
Water.............. 8
Alcohol............. 2
Sugar............... 2
Acetic a~d........... o
grs.
O
O
2
80 
Dril,kifio for Ifaetlih.
MILD ALE.
Water.............. 912/
Alcohol  Alc oho.......... Io'2
Sugar............... o
Tartaric acid........  o
OZ.
Water............... I8,4/
Alcohol............. I 2/
Sugar............... o
Acetic acid........... o
PALE ALE.
Water................i8                 I
Alcohol............. 2
Sugar............... o
Acetic acid.......... o
Water............. i6
Alcohol............ 4
Sugar............... o
This must be very nourishing!
There is more food in one bushel of barley
than there is in I2,000 gallons of the best beer.
So says Baron Von Liebig.  He adds:  "Beer,
wine, spirits, etc., furnish no element capable of
entering into the composition of blood, muscular
fibre, or any part which is the seat of the vital
principle." And Dr. T. K. Chambers, who is
physician to the Prince of Wales, the heir-apparent to the throne of England-and therefore supposed to be the first-class physician, says, "It is
clear that we must cease to regard alcohol as, in
any sense, an aliment (a food), inasmuch as it goes
out (of the body) as it goes in."
Dr. Lees says: "There is more real nourishment in a threepenny brown loaf than there is to
be found in a barrel of Allsopp's ale, containing
three hundred and sixty-five gallons, and costing
$175!"
Liebig says: "We can prove, with mathematical certainty (as plain as two and two make four),
that as much flour or meal as can lie on the point
3T9
BRANDY.
gr.
0
0
280
38
g,-.
0
0
8o
I20
GIN
0
0
38
40
0
0
0 
DI r'znkitng for ]IAal1th.
of a table-knife is more nutritious than nine quarts
of the best Bavarian beer; that a man who is able
daily to consume that amount of beer obtains
from it, in a whole year, in the most favorable
case, exactly the amount of nutritive constituents
which-is contained in a five-pound loaf of bread
or in three pounds of flesh."
"It is a mistaken notion," says Dr. O'Sullivan,
"that ale, wine, or spirits communicate strength,
and it is disgraceful to see medical men endeavor
to propagate the error."
Says Mr. Parton: " When we have taken from
a glass of wzine the ingredients known to be innutritious, there is scarcely anything left but a
grain or two of sugar. Pure alcohol, though a
product of highly nutritive substances, is a mere
poison-an absolute poison —the mortal foe of life
in.every one of its forms, animal and vegetable.
If, therefore, these beverages do us good, it is not
by supplying the body with nourishment."
Possibly you are of the opinion that alcohol is
a heatp-producing fluid, and you use it for that.
But this is a fallacy. Says Dr. Lees, "Alcohol
cannot possibly yield a single unit of heat to the
blood. Everybody must see that, as the coals and
chips that fall out of the grate are not the fuel
that actually boils the kettle, so a substance like
alcohol, which is constantly cast out of the bodily
furnace, cannot contribute to the warming of the
living house."
Dr. E. Smith says:" The action of the skin
is lessened. It neither warms nor sustains the
320 
Drinking for Healty.
body, [though] the sensation of warmth is increased. In other terms, alcohol burns the nerves, but
casts a wet blanket over the vital fire."
A  "drink," then, to keep off the cold, and the
"warming of the stomach" which tipplers speak
of, are pleasing delusions. Insensibility for the
time being to external influence is all that is gained-not a particle of real warmth.
Dr. Rae, who made two or three pedestrian
tours of the polar regions, and whose powers of
endurance were put to as severe a test as man's
ever were, is clear and emphatic upon this point.
Brandy, he says, stimulates but for a few minutes,
and greatly lessens a man's power to endure cold.
But you say, "I take a little stimulant to help
dzi,estion." Then you are behind the day-you
are not posted-for the popular fallacy you hold
is now thoroughly exploded. Do you not preserve things, that is, keep them from dissolution,
by alcohol, as when you preserve a piece of meat
or an animal or a reptile in it? But the digestion
of substances taken for food is the dissolving, of
them by means of the pepsin or gastric juice furnished in the stomach for that purpose. And how
can a thing at the same time prevent and promnote
decomposition or dissolution; or, if you so call it;
digestion? This is absurd, and the truth is, that
stimulants hinder digestion.  The stomachs  of
men dying after two days' steady drunkenness
have been opened, and the food was found wholly
undigested-preserved, as snakes are, in alcohol!
Mix gastric juice into crushed meat, and it readily
32I 
2Drizkiizg for Health.
dissolves; put in beer or-wine instead, and it dis
solves but little; put in alcohol, and you preserve it!
This tells the story.
If you say a glass of brandy or light wine gives
relief after an excessive meal, I will tell you why:
not because digestion is aided, but because the
stomach is narcotized or stupefied.  The nerves
are deadened for the time, and, therefore, you do
not feel pain. The same is true when a sense of
hunger and exhaustion from want of food is
relieved by a drink of spirits. In both cases, a
few drops of laudanum or a small dose of morphine
would produce a precisely similar effect; that is,
narcotize the gastric nerves, so that oppressive
cravings, or pain, is not felt.
In the words of Dr. McCulloch, then, "how
mischievous is the drinking of alcoholic drinks,
particularly during or after meals!  How absurd
the popular, and too often medical, delusion that
they assist or promote  digestion!  And  how
atrocious the quackery of prescribing these drinks
for such a purpose! So far from truth is all this,
that Professors Todd and Bowman, in their great
standard work on' The Physiological Anatomy
of Man,' declare that,'were not these drinks
rapidly absorbed from the stomach, it would be
utterly impossible that digestion could go on in
those who use them.'"
Even Mr. James Parton says: "WVith regard to
this daily drinking of wine and whiskey, by ladies
and others, for mere debility, it is a delusion. In
such cases wine is, in the most literal sense of the
3'2 
Drzfkiiug for ]Health.
word, a' mocker.' It seems to nourish, but does
not; it seems to warm, but does not; it seems to
strengthen, but does not. It is an arrant cheat,
and perpetuates the evils it is supposed to alleviate."
I know it will be said by some to all this, "But
I look better, healthier, and am more fleshy for my
wine, or beer, or whiskey." Ah! that may be the
very thing that should alarm you. Do you know
of a disease called' fatty degeneracy'-solid
muscle turning to fat? The blood and the walls
of the heart get loaded with fat, and death is
imminent. It is asserted by a high authority,
that three-quarters of the chronic diseases in
England, and a large proportion in America,
are in some way combined with fatty degeneracy, and chiefly with those who use ardent
spirits.
Settle it in the mind, then, that no spirituous
liquors can be conducive to good health. They
do not give strength; they do not add warmth to
the blood; they do not assist digestion. The best
trainers strictly forbid their use to those striving
for the highest physical development; and the
brute creation are healthy without them. As
says Dr. Cummings: "In the natural world, the
blackbird, thrush, canary, and nightingale drink
nothing but water, and smoke nothing but fresh
air. A grove or wood in spring echoes with
feathered musicians, each a teetotaler, ever singmg and never dry."
Preposterous is it to imagine that men will
323 
Dritnking for Health.
thrive on what no other living thing can be made
to touch!
"Oh! madness to think use of strongest wines
And strongest drink our chief support of health;
When God, with these forbidden, made choice to rear
His mighty champion strong above compare,
Whose drink was only from the limpid brook."
I go further, now.    All alcoholic drinks are
positively injurious.   Says Mlr. Parton (whom I
quote simply because he is not, technically socalled, a temperance man, and therefore with
some his testimony may have more weight):
"All that has yet been ascertained of the effects
of alcohol by the dissection of the body favors the
extreme position of the extreme teetotalers. A
brain alcoholized the microscope proves to be a
brain diseased. Blood which has absorbed alcohol is unhealthy blood-the microscope shows it.
The liver, the heart, and other organs, which
have been accustomed to absorb alcohol, all give
testimony under the microscope which produces
discomfort in the mind of one who likes a glass of
wine, and hopes to be able to continue the enjoyment of it. The dissecting-knife and the microscope so far have nothing to say for us - nothing
at all; they are dead against us."
Forty-five physicians of Cincinnati have stated
as follows: " Ardent spirit is not only unnecessary, but absolutely injurious in a healthful state
of the system. It produces many, and aggravates most, of the diseases to which the human
324 
DrznkinZ  foar Health.
frame is liable.  It is equally poisonous with
arsenic, operating sometimes more slowly, but
with equal certainty."
"Time would fail me," says Dr. Sewell, "were
I to attempt an account of half the pathology of
drunkenness. Dyspepsia, jaundice, emaciation,
corpulence, dropsy, ulcers, rheumatism, gout,
tremors, palpitation, hysteria, epilepsy, palsy,
lethargy, apoplexy, melancholy, madness, deli rium tremens, and premature old age, compose
but a small part of the catalogue of diseases pro duced by ardent spirit. Indeed, there is scarcely
a morbid affection to which the human body is
liable, that has not, in one way or another, been
produced by it."
I know that some habitual drinkers live to old
age, but it is because they have remarkable con stitutions, and ver)' often those who seem to be
well are fearfully unsound. Were their bodies
transparent, they would see the footprints of the
enemy inside long before they are discovered outside.
And now, let not any one oppose against these
stubborn facts of modern science the flimsy pleas
for drinking which were urged in the days of the
former ignorance which God winked at.
It hath been said by them of old time, we may
use all "the good things of God."  But investigation shows that alcohol is not a thing of God. The
Creator never made it! It is not found in all the
fields of nature.   Sir Humphry Davy says of
alcohol, "It has never been found ready formed
325 
Dri;zking for Ifecaltli.
in plants."  Chaptal says: "Nature never forms
spirituous liquors; she rots the grape upon the
branch, but it is art which converts the juice into
wine."  And if God had made it, it were a "good
thing" of his only in the sense that arsenic and
other rank poisons are. Adders and lizzards are
"good things" of God; but shall we eat them?
It hath been said by them of old time:" The
Saviour made wine at the marriage at Cana, and
used it at the institution of the Lord's Supper."
But it never has been proved that the wine which
Christ made was intoxicating, and never can be.
It was " good wine," because it was pure and sweet,
nutritious and harmless.   Pliny expressly says
that a "good wine was one that was destitute of
spirits." It was the pure juice of the grape. And
this was the character of that used at the Supper.
It is a shame that any intoxicating wine is ever
brought to the table of the Lord.
Again it hath been said by them of old time:
"It is not the moderate use, but the abuse of a
thing that is to be deprecated."   But, as Dr.
Alden says, "to a man in health there is no such
thing as a temperate use of spirits.  In any quantity they are an enemy to the human constitution."
And besides, what is "moderate use "? How hard
a thing to define! More yet, "moderate" use is
almost certain to become immoderate. A slumbering appetite may be awakened; and you may
go on from bad to worse. \Vell said old Augustine: " Drunkenness is a flattering devil, a sweet
poison, a pleasant sin, which whosoever hath, hath
326 
Drinkibtg for Ieallth.
not himself-which whosoever doth commit, committeth not a single sin, but becomes the centre
and slave of all manner of sin."
What unnumbered millions, from simply saying,
"A little will not hurt one," have come to ruin!
The only safe course is total abstinence.   More
yet, your temperate drinking is the chief support
of drunkenness.    0  "respectable" men  and
women!-and professed followers of Christ!-your
brother's blood cries to you from the ground!
"From east to west
A groan of accusation pierces heaven.
The wretched plead against you; multitudes,
Countless and vehement, the sons of God
Your brethren."
Granted that you can drink with safety to yourself, yet you must meet and answer this question:
Can you do it with safely to your neighbors? You
know you cannot! And I tell you there is an
awful accountability incurred by those who by
the manufacture, license, sale, or use of liquors
keep alive the fiend INTEM.PERANCE, filling this
world and the next with woe, and
"Fierce as ten furies-terrible as hell 
Let us be rid of such responsibility. I call
upon yozung men to be pled,ed to temperance, and
to aid in every way in advancing the cause.   I
call upon professing Christians to take high ground
against that evil which leads to the fall of more
ministers and ch urcli-members than all other causes
327 
Dribzkini- for Heal/th.
combined.  I call upon physicianis (in the words
of an honored member of that profession) "to put
forth their utmost power to induce a healthier and
happier relation between temperance and hygienic
philosophy than nowv exists. Let them speak ozit,
and first put down the quackery wzithin their profession, and then they will find that they have
more power to put down that which is withiout."
I call upon the rich and the influential to
beware of the decanter on their tables and sideboards. It is a startling fact that nearly 2,000 ofthe
applicants for admission to the Inebriate Asylum
at Binghamton have been rich men's dauzhtizers!
I call upon woiman to exert in this behalf her
holy influence.   0 wives, mothers, sisters, forget not the misery of your sex from strong drink,
and frown down this curse upon the horn e and the
social circle.
And, finally, I call upon every one to forswear
for ever all that intoxicates, and to help uplift
everywhere the white banner of temperance,
remembering that word  of inspiration:  "NOR
TIIIEVES, NOR COVETOUS, NOR DRUNKARDS, NOR
REVILERS, NOR EXTORTIONERS, SHALL INHERIT
TIlE KINGDOM OF GOD."
328 
SCIENTIFIC CERTAINTIES
(NO T OP2INIONS)
ABOUT ALCOHOL.
"It biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an adder."Prov. xxiii. 32.
WIHAT I know about alcohol by experience
would make a very short chapter. It would
be only one word. And that word would be
nioShizg.  A pledged abstainer from my boyhood, I
have kept my pledge; through college; at those
enormous feeds called public dinners; in the West,
lwhere the only use for water is to run steamboats; amid the solvents of all restraints in foreign
lands, where many forget their morals, and remember that the land flows with wine and lageramid it all, I have kept my pledge, and am not
sorry.  "Where ignorance is bliss,'tis folly to be
wise."
But we have other sources of information than
experience, viz., observation and evidence of
others. And what we learn by evidence, and
thus accept by faith, is, to what we know by experience, as a thousand to one.
I propose to put science on this stand to-night,
0 0  
330        Scicizific Ccriainitics cibout AXlcoiol.
and let it tell us something about the effect of
alcoholic drinks upon the human body. I do not
propose to speak of the unwordable horrors of
delirium tremens, nor of the nauseous loathsomeness of drunkards, nor of the hopeless slavery of
men who feel that there is a law of habit, reinforced by desire, in their members stronger than
their power of will, imposing a servitude under
which they groan and burn, but from which they
cannot break. These men are not here to be
benefited by the recital of their woes.   They
know them infinitely clearer than we can tell
them. And if their sorrow could be put into
words, it would be useless; for it is a well-established fact that very few of them can be permanently reformed. All men of experience in temperance reforms testify that an exceedingly small
percentage of cases supposed to be reformed can
be regarded as permanent. They have an unquenchable fire within them, and, cover it as you
may, it breaks out with volcanic energy. There
is no hope for man in the thickening meshes of
this habit but in one of two things: the first is
the converting grace of God, making him a new
creature: the second is six feet of gravel.
Neither do I propose to speak of those abominable compounds of poison and filth that are
perfectly solvent death insurance agencies. Nobody ever endorsed, much less drank them.
None of us ever saw a man who drank any port
wine that was not made in Oporto. Oh! no.
He was confidentially assured of its genuineness 
Scientzfic Ccrtaintics abolt Al colhol.
by the highly respectable dealer, who was induced
to part with his rare treasure, not for the man's
money, but by his needs.
It was said in England, forty years ago, that
the only way to get pure port wine was to go to
Oporto yourself, raise the grapes, press the wine,
put it into the cask yourself, and ride on it all the
way home. But the age has grown so much in
honesty,\ especially in reference to alcoholic beverages and the men who deal in them, that one
can now have full assurance of the purity of wine,
from the simple word of its respectable dealers.
The question we wish to consider is, what alcohol does in the living body-alcohol in any wine
really from Oporto, or innocent of any grape; in
any whiskey really from Bourbon County, or,
having made a voyage to France and back, has
"suffered a sea change into something rich and
strange," and is called brandy-what this does in
the living body.
If I were to call human witnesses upon the
stand, and question them, I could get any number
of opinions, endorsing any number or order of
theories. There are plenty of advocates for the
use of arsenic-men, and possibly women, who
declare it to be essential to the highest civiliza
tion. Some take enough every day to kill several
men unaccustomed to its use.  But these are
only individual opinions, and they are worth next
to nothing.
Can we produce an unquestionable authority,
m?,suring by a reliable standard, drawing con
I..
33 I 
332       Scientific Certaiht/ies about Alicohol.
clusions no man can gainsay, uttering judgments
that will be law, though one hundred men who
feel the halter have no good opinion of it, declaring perfect truth, though a thousand men's experience declare the contrary? Yes, indeed. After
one hundred men have guessed at the weight of
a stone, according to their ignorance or wisdom, weakness or strength, put it on the scale,
and silence every one of them. Never ask a man
who has the shakes, or who has got out of them
into fever, what is the temperature. Look at the
thermometer.  And when a man says of wine, "I
like it, it does me good, could not get along without it," tell him what he thinks is of little consequence.  What says the standard?  "For there is
a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end
thereof are the ways of death."
So we turn to Science, and ask her if she can
give us a true answer. She says, Yes. I believe
it. Science is accustomed to exactness. It measures to a ten-thousandth of an inch. Astronomi
cal measurements are worthless that allow so
much error. It measures to a millionth of a second. It detects a ten-millionth of a grain diffused
through a dozen pounds. It can make solid silver
float invisibly in a transparent fluid, yet its eye
sees every atom of it, and gathers it to a solid
again, no particle being lost.  As  easily  can
science see every particle of alcohol in a living
body. It tells what the far-off stars are made of;
much more what is right under its eye. Science
is the realm of-certainties, not opinions. Theories 
Sczenzific Certainties about  Alcohol.
are not science. It is not a theory that water is
composed of oxygen and hydrogen: it is a fact.
And men hang their all and shape their conduct
from these certainties, in defiance of opinion, their
own  or  that  Qf others.   Science  says,  the
world spins like a top, flies like a rifle-ball, and
men believe it in defiance of every  sense.   It
says water will explode by fire terrifically, and
men  believe it.  The captain drives his ship at
full speed in the blackest night and thickest fog,
thousands of lives besides his own hanging on his
act, because science told him at sunset that the
land would not be reached before morning.  And
if he rushes on ruin, no man blames science, but
that man's interpretation of it.
Now, if science can give us any certainties
about the effect of alcohol on the living body, we
will depend on them. If it says use it, we will
use it, in spite of all temperance advocates, teetotal societies, dictates of fashion, and thunders of
pulpit or press.  If it says refrain, we will refrain,
spite of the power of habit, the calls of a clamoring appetite, the interest of innkeepers, the demands of distillers, the necessities of political machinery, the quibbles of quacks, the delusions of
those doctors who are willing to throw  physic at
us if we throw fees at them.  Yes, in spite of the
charms of Circe and the devices of the devil, we
will refrain.
It makes no difference what our experience is.
That experience is not long enough to make up a
full account. Something may seemn to stand to
333 
334        St ieijfic Ccrtaz'nies about  Alcohol.
the credit of alcohol, but the debit side cannot be
made up till we are underground. That is too
late to be of any use to us.  It may serve as a
terrible example to others. But none of us wants
to put all our sum total of possibilities into the terrible example business. \Ve have better use for
our capital. As was said before, there are plenty
of men whose experience, in their estimation, tells
in favor of the daily use of arsenic, opium, and
absinthe. But we know that experience is not
ended yet.  And when it is, there will be a terrible balance on the wrong side of the ledger.
They may be feasters at a royal banquet to-day:
they will be swine to-morrow.  No, neither your
experience nor mine is the standard. Science is.
Anid we now lift up the hand, and vow, God being
our helper, to bring opinion, influence, and pr-actice to the true standard.
Now, what certainties has science on this subject? King Alcohol, you have practised at )-our
bar a great while: now stand up at the bar of
Science, and be acquitted and welcomed, or convicted and banished, according to the evidence.
Science assures us that alcohol is never chlanged
into any other compound  in the living  body.
Hience it can never be food or fuel. It is never
appropriated by any organ for its sustenance.  It
remains alcohol everywvhere and alway)s.  It is
alcohol when it goes in, while it stays, and when
it comes out. The theory that it is in any sense
food is distinctly disproved, and has been everywNhere abandoned.  The theory that it acts as 
Scicnztific Ccrtainztics about Alcoohol.
"respiratory food "-proposed by Liebig as a mere
theory, but never experimented upon by him, the
theory defended by Governor Andrew for hire,
long after it had been disproved has been aban doned.   The theory of MMI. Bouchardat, San dras, and Duchek has been routed, horse, foot,
and dragoons, by Buckeim's little army of facts.
The simple truth remains, that alcohol is never
appropriated to any use in a living organism. It
goes in an enemy, it remains an enemy, it is cast
out as an enemy, or, too strong, it conquers the
citadel and destroys the life.
When a country is invaded, its commerce and
varied industries must stop, that the invader may
be cast out. When alcohol invades the kingdom
of man, digestion, assimilation, and growth nearly
or wholly stop, that the foe may be routed.
Swallowv a needle, and the system puts it out the
nearest way; between the ribs, if it point that
way; through the foot, the furthest vway, if it point
thither; but it puts it out.  Swallow  alcohol, and
the system puts it out by every possible way to
void it. The blood carries it to the lungs, and
scents the surrounding air for hours with pure
alcohol. It goes to the kidneys, and they throw
it out. The whole skin exudes it. The whole
man smells like a distillery. What cannot be immediately thrown off is deposited in liver and
brain, the blood actually refiusing to carry it
when a place of deposit can be found. Pure alcohlol that will burn can be collected from liver and
brain.  If more alcohol is forced upon a systeni
335
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336       Sciezntific Certainties abozit AlcohIol.
than can be expelled, it puts the system into a
state of inflammability, that only requires to be
ignited to be consumed.
Neither can it be urged that it is only the excess, over and beyond what the system can assimilate, that is thus thrown off, as in the case of
food. Not a particle is assimilated, because it
cannot be found in stomach, blood, breath, urine,
perspiration, liver, or brain, in any changed condition: it is alcohol always. If it is only the excess that is thrown off, we ask what an appropriate amount might be; for a single ounce of
brandy will set a man exuding alcohol from
every excretory organ in half an hour. An ordinary bottle of weak, French wine will keep the
lungs at work eight, and the kidneys fourteen,
hours to void the excess. Of course it is impossible to collect and measure every atom thus discharged, but the amount actually collected has
so nearly equalled the amount drank as to justify
the conclusion that no particle was appropriated
to permanent use.
If, then, men will insist on paying from five cents
a glass to fifteen dollars a bottle for compounds
to pour on the ground and into the air, it becomes
important to inquire whether he had better make
a filter of his body through which to do it.
The fact, that two and a half ounces of alcohol
injected into the stomach of a dog will kill him
about as quick as a rifle-ball, and a pint of its
dilution, called rum, has about the same effect on
a man, adds interest to the investigation. 
Scientfic Certaintit-s about Alcohol.
We now invoke science, that seems to have an
almost omniscient eye tracing matter through
all its protean changes, through solids, liquids,
gases, visible and invisible, ponderable and im ponderable, to tell us what alcohol does in the
living body.   It responds, first, negatively.  It
has no power to digest food.  Put a pound of
raw beef into alcohol for twelve hours, and it
loses four ounces of water, but the beef is simply
hardened, and no approximation made  toward
digestion. So well known is this fact, that fishes
and snakes are put into alcohol to preserve them
indefinitely from decay. A cask of snakes, toads,
etc., was forwarded, a few years ago, from Oregon
to the Smithsonian Institute at Washington. On the
way, the sailors, who were very fond of grog and
not very delicate about its previous associations,
drew off the liquor and drank it. A deceased
Eng,lish admiral was once returned home in a
cask of spirits. On the way, the sailors were
constantly drunk. The utmost vigilance of the
officers failed to discover their source of supplies.
At length, one of the tipsy sailors let out the secret by saying, "We have tapped the Admiral."
Do not shudder at that; for, if the published
receipts of liquor manufacturers have any
truth, such liquors are clean, compared with that
which is set before men and women in the homes
of elegance to-day.
Now, who supposes that the fluid which would
prevent snakes and men from digestion in the
cask would digest food in men?
337 
I') 33S  Scientific Certainties about Alcohol.
Neither does alcohol ever assist digestion by
causing a greater flow of gastric juice, or by any
other means.  You have all heard of St. Martin,
the man with an extra hole in his stomach, and of
Dr. Beaumont, who peered in through this hole
upon some of the most secret operations of the
inner man. It was then seen that even the small
amount of alcohol in a glass of beer retarded digestion. The flow of gastric juice was arrested,
and the organ sought to protect itself against the
liquid fire by exuding an enlarged supply of
mucus as a sheathing. He saw the stomach give
immediate evidence of inflammation on the introduction of spirit. It flushed fiery red like the
tell-tale face of an angry man. Possibly the stomach was vehemently angry at such treatment.
He says, after drinking hard every day for eight
or ten days, the stomach would show alarming
appearances of disease, and yet the man would
only feel a slight headache, and a general dulness and languor. Were the stomach as able to
report its condition as the inflamed eye, few men
could endure many glasses of spirit. But feeling
is no guide.
These observations of his have been signally
confirmed by  posthumous  examinations.   We
herewith present representations of the stomach
in health and in disease.
The opening in the first shows the inside with
a delicate peach bloom, like the cheek of beauty
and health. The second shows a section of the
same inside suriace, after moderate  drinking. 
~
~
~                                  1;           ~
~    ~
~
~                                                          ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~i
I1-1j;:~
~~____                 __l____ l 
i
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I
rI
1
I
I
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I
i  
Scientific Certainties about Alcohol.
Every vein is inflamed and injected with blood
like a blood-shot eye.   The third  shows  the
greater inflammation of the drunkard, with dead ened blue spots of incipient ulcer. In the fourth
we observe the veins have been covered with
ulcerous exudation. The fifth shows a surface
torn, as it were, by violence, and partially repaired
by vital energy. It looks like the volcano-rent
surface of the moon, or the cicatrices of halfhealed wounds. The sixth has the blackness and
putrefaction of death before death comes.  "An
enemy hath done  this."  Who  could  expect
efficient work from an organ thus abused? Not
only can it not freely yield gastric juice, but the
least degree of alcohol mixed with gastric juice
diminishes its digestive power. Some dogs have
made themselves valuable by laying down their
lives in the cause of science   One was killed
some hours after taking five ounces of meat and
one and one-fourth ounces of proof spirit.  The
meat had not begun to digest.  Dr. Figg found
that the process of digestion had not commenced
twenty-four hours after the reception of food in
people who had kept themselves drunk during
that time. It is impossible to nourish the body
till this enemy is cast out.
Neither is alcoholic drink a source of strength.
Trainers of men for feats of strength invariably
forbid all kinds of ale, beer, porter, wine, rum,
brandy. They cast out the whole legion of devils
at once.  Dr. Brinton says, "A moderate dose of
beer or wine would, in most cases, at once dimin
339 
340      Scientific Certainties about Alcohol.
ish the weight which a healthy man could lift below his teetotal standard."   Milo, the Samson
of Italy, and his forerunner, the Samson of Judea, were both total abstainers. This is small
comfort for weak backs and weak heads that try
to strengthen themselves with bitters, cordials,
and wines. The only use for them is when one
has too much strength and can find no possible
use for it. Then alcohol may be safely recommended to reduce it with rapidity truly astonishing.
Neither is alcohol a producer of heat. I might
quote volumes of testimony from experience in
Canadian and Russian winters, from travellers
on Arctic and Antarctic ice, to show that alcohol is
death to men exposed to a temperature ranging
toward Ioo~ below zero. But that would be experience, and we are not willing to take anything
that has a shade of uncertainty about it just yet.
WVe have too huge a pledge pending to take any
body's experience or opinion. What is fact? 
Here comes Science, thermometer in hand, and
she shows that alcohol actually reduces the temperature of a body receiving it. That is what we
wanted to know. And now we know it. If we
were receiving testimony and not mathematical
certainties, we would produce the testimony of
Sir Charles Napier, and a host of surgeons in
the East Indian army, that alcohol is equally
death for men who have to face the heat of a
tropical sun.  But since we are not willing to introduce anything that any man can gainsay or 
Scien/lifc Certainzties about Alcohol.
pretend to contradict, we will return to our certainties.
Let any constant abstainer draw off a little of
his blood, and microscopically compare it with
the blood of the recent drinker, and he will be
confirmed in his abstinence. The one is full of
bright, round, electric disks of life. The other
has bedraggled fibres, pale in color, shapeless in
form, deprived of power to absorb oxygen and
eliminate carbon-a devitalized condition of the
life-giving fluid that must result in a devitalized
condition of the tissues it feeds. The pipes that
supply the city with water are no longer filled
with bright, sparkling water from the sky-kissing
hills, but a turgid stream from the dye-houses,
distilleries, slaughteries, and the sewers of the
cities above us is offered to our lips.
Another  certainty.   Lallemand  and  Perrin
proved that a small dose of alcohol would cause
globules of fat, clearly distinguishable by the
naked eye, to float in the blood. The result is
another clear change in the constitution of this
vital fluid. This fat is deposited instead of real
muscle, producing what is called fatty degeneration. Take your microscope again, and examinea very fine section of a temperate man's muscle.
It is firm, elastic, of bright-red color, in parallel
fibres, with beautiful crossings.   That  muscle
means business, and is able to do it. Now, take a
similar section of a man who indulges in intoxicating drinks, and you see at once a pale, inelastic,
flabby, oily aspect. Fat has displaced fibre. This
341
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342      Scientific Certainties about Alcohol.
especially takes place in the involuntary muscles,
such as the heart and those concerned in breathing. After such degeneration, it is not strange
that the heart should stop its work mid-beat and
never act again. It requires no excitement, no
sudden shock, for that mass of fat, that ought to
be muscle, to cease responding to nervous influence, and so cease working. It may be in the
street, in quiet conversation, and especially in
sleep, this man, a picture of health, suddenly dies,
and men say, "What a mysterious dispensation
of Providence!"  We  had better say, "What
a dispensation of-the other one!" Or better
still, "What an inevitable result of taking intoxicating drinks!"
Let us continue our consideration of certainties.
By actual measurement, it is found that alcohol
has twice the tendency to the brain that it has to
any other organ. You can tell the brain of the
drinker the instant you put knife to it. Alcohol
and alcoholic induration are found in different parts
of the brain in different individuals. Now, a brain
is divided into-I. A cerebrum, by which man perceives, remembers, judges, wills, and dictates
movements;  2. A  sensorium, which takes note
of all impressions on organs of sense; 3. The
cerebellum, which regulates and equilibriates
locomotion.   And,  4.  The  medulla  oblongata,
which directs and excites respiration. Now, man
shows incapacity from the lowest degree up to
absolute stupefaction, according as one or more
parts of the brain are congested and incapacitated
A-, 
Scientific Certainties about Alcohol.
by the deadly agent.   Some are clear-headed,
when an affected cerebellum refuses power to
walk; some have an unconquerable desire to burn
houses, steal, or murder, according to the organ
affected.  Indeed, "mental acuteness, accuracy of
perception, and delicacy of senses are so far op posed by the action of alcohol, that the maximum
efforts of each are incompatible with the inges tion of  any moderate  quantity  of fermented
liquid." WVhich is Dr. Brinton's elaborate English for, You can do nothing nice when drunk,
even in the least degree, and you are terribly
liable to commit murder, arson, robbery, libel,
etc., which are far from nice.
Again, a proper dose of alcohol brings instant
death by its action on the nerves. That is a cer
tainty. You can try it, but never will try it but
once. Now, smaller doses have a proportional
effect on the nerves. If you only want to tremble
with palsy-to feel every nerve a line of fire, take
only wine cordial. If you want to "see more
devils than vast hell can hold," try something
stronger, and oftener. It will come, and may last
for ever.
I here close my  certainties about alcohol.  I
allow no man to dispute one of them, They are
all sure as a two-foot rule, ponderable as pig-iron,
inevitable as the tax collector. We make no
allowance for varieties of constitution, peculiarities of temperament, diversity of habit, differences
of alcoholic concomitants.  These conclusions are
sure as fate, viz.:  Alcohol never digests food,
343 
344       Scientific Ceirtainties aboul Alcohol.
nor helps digest it; never assists the body to
permanently resist cold; brings no increase of
strength; vitiates the blood; emasculates the
muscles; indurates the brain; harms the nerves;
never acts as food, either alimentary or respiratory, but is always and everywhere a poison, in
sickness, and in health, and the vital powers try
their utmost to throw it off, even to the extent of
perishing in the attempt. Now, these are facts,
not opinions; certainties, not deductions.  No
man can gainsay them. Neither are there any
counter-facts.
Do you ask me if there is no room for alcohol
as a medicine? That is quite beyond my ability
to answer.   Every imaginable thing has been
crammed down human throats under the delusive
idea that it is medicine. I have a receipt for
"A famous spirit made out of human skulls," warranted to cure every ill that flesh is heir to. But
the inventor of it died two hundred years ago.
And we have all known of famous spirit that has
been distilled into human skulls that proved a
panacea for every good that flesh is heir to.
Since there are no certainties about the possible
usefulness of acohol as a medicine, we will examine the most recent opinions of doctors.   The
most trustworthy of them have given up its usefulness, except in two instances.
It seems to be proved, by the history of the
Parker family in Massachusetts, that a tendency
to pulmonary consumption is checked by keeping
a man always intemperate, and often drunk. I 
Scientific Certainties about Alcohol.
presume that would be the case. He would be
preserved in spirit. Alcohol is confessedly an
"arrester of metamorphosis."  But my opinion
is, that the man had better get ready and die. I
should prefer it for myself and for my friends.
The other instance is that of a man who has
had an intermittent fever. The disease is spent.
The vital forces will go down to zero at six
o'clock, and the man die; but if he escape dying
at six o'clock, his vital force would be two above
zero at seven o'clock. In that case, alcohol, as a
stimulant, may be given at six o'clock, thus bor  rowing one from the vital force at seven o'clock,
and so escape utter bankruptcy of life by heavily
discounting the future. Well, perhaps we might,
but it is only an opinion,' and no certainty after
all.
What we especially desire you to observe here
is, that, from calling spirit "the water of life," one
hundred years has proved it to be the fire of
death, and physicians confess it in all but these
two instances. If we will be content to wait till
such an exigency arises, few of us will know the
power that biteth like a serpent and stingeth like
an adder.
Having thus admitted a brace of opinions,
allow me to come down from things mathematical,
sure, and minutely measurable, and introduce a
single deduction on the other side, which has,
nevertheless, all the force of a demonstration.
That drinkers of all grades are a terribly vitiated
lot of humanity is seen in the sureness with which
345 
346      Scieztific Ceritaizties about Alcohol.
contagious diseases smite them down.  "Fourfifths of those who were swept away by the
dreadful visitation of the cholera, in I832, were
addicted to intoxicating drinks." Drunkards and
tipplers were searched out with such unerring
certainty as to show that the arrows of death
were not indiscriminately flung. In St. Petersburg and Moscow, the whole population ceased
to drink spirit, so sure were they that they drank
death. Out of 1,2oo00 attacked in Montreal, not a
drunkard recovered. Out of a thousand deaths,
only two were members of a temperance society. And at that time every temperate person
was a member.  Of 30,000 victims in Paris, nearly every one was a user of intoxicating liquors.
Nine-tenths of those who died in Poland were of
the same class. In some towns every drunkard
was swept away.  Monsieur Huber saw 2,I60 persons perish in twenty-five days in a town in Russia.
He says: "Persons given to drinking were swept
away like flies." In Tiflis, containing 20,000 inhabitants, every drunkard fell. Dr. Sewall stated
that, of 204 cases of cholera in the Park Hospital,
New York, there were only six temperate persons, and they recovered. Out Of 366 who died
in Albany, 326 were habitual drinkers, while of
those who drank no spirit whatever there were
only seven. If you want to be insured against
the cholera, you can find plenty of offices that
will do it, not societies to pay you something
after you have died of it, but to insure you against
having it.  You will find these offices anywhere 
Scientizfic Certainties abozut Alcohlol.
they give you a chance to sign the pledge. And
if you want to be insured to die of it, there are plen.
ty of offices glad to do it. And they will insure
you, if you don't want to die of it, if you go there.
You will find the office easily. There is one in
any   liquor-store.   It  makes  little  difference
whether it be Bedford Street or Chestnut Street,
the insurance is about the same.
Having thus considered the indisputable certainties about alcohol (not including the last two
items), it is time to determine our future line of
conduct, for consideration is vain without determination. Surely, knowing that alcohol is evil,
only evil, and that continually, what shall we do
about it?   Why, for every one who  has seen
these certainties, there are but two things possible. First, banish the wine-cup, dash it away at
once and for ever. And that is just what you and
I now do, my friends. And let all the people say
amen.  The only other way is to say, "I confess
the certain injury, but I like the rare exhilaration,
and mean to indulge in it." Very well. That is
your matter-and God's. Say then frankly, not " I
take it for my health, or for my brain "-if your
brain had not a felt deficiency, you never would.
want it; but say," I take it for the fine exhilaration,
for the ecstatic thrill of nerve, for the airy fancies
that troop the brain, for the winged lightness that
could let me walk on flowers, for the sense of
kingliness that takes the place of carking care."
Then say, "For this, I'm willing to take what follows: the real pain that succeeds champagne,
347 
348      Scientific Certaijuties about Alcohol.
headache, nausea, induration of brain, trembling
of nerve, weakening of muscle, vitiation of tissues,
gloomy thoughts for my airy fancies, unutterable
loathing of self for my fancied kingliness of a moment, black horrors, delirium, and-hell, if I go
too far."
But there are some of you who are not influenced  by  these  certainties.   You  would  not
believe the multiplication-table if it were now
presented as a new thing, and it went against
you interests and tastes. You insist on putting
your experience against the fact of the earth's
revolution.   What can be done for you?   Not
much. Nevertheless something. Weigh probabilities fairly. Never incline the beam with the
weight of your own inclination.   And  if you
really conclude that alcoholic drinks are best for
you, do not conclude that they are best for everybody else. While you insist on the usurped rights
of rum, take care that you are not trampling on
the rights of men. Rum has long asserted that
one insults a man to refuse his invitation to drink.
Let us remember that the one invited has a right
to decline. An officer of the crown of England
once sent me a glass of wine, at a public dinner.
I acknowledged the gift, and never touched it.
While explaining my course to him afterward, I
could see that I had risen one hundred per cent. in
his estimation. If I had not seen it, he would have
sunk two hundred per cent. in mine.
A member of this church called upon some
government officials with the expectation of 
Scientific Certainties about Alcohol.
making large contracts for goods. They immediately invited him to drink. He declined. They
insisted with oaths that he must drink.   Then he
refused. Thereupon one of the half-drunken fools
tried to force him, declaring that he would buy
no goods of him if he did not drink. Then said
the other, "You buy no goods of me," and walked
away. The next morning, the fiery madness having been slept off, the officers made most unexpectedly large contracts, because they had found,
to their surprise, a man true as steel, a man that
could be trusted.
It is claimed to be a breach of politeness not to
partake of the punch on the side-board of your
liost. It is a contempt of his providence, an insinuation against his good taste. Not so. A host
always provides a scraper outside the door. But
it is no breach of politeness, when I come cleanfooted from the carriage, that I do not stop and
rasp for five minutes on that scraper. I do not
need it, nor his punch-bowl either. Guests have
rights as well as hosts, and, if hosts will
drink, let them never tempt the guest whom
hospitality binds them to protect.
We have had a subtle influence of death in our.
midst the past winter. It has spread its dark
wing over our city, and men feared as they passed
under the cloud. This awful influence has penetrated all sorts of homes. Satin damask curtains
can no more keep it out than the broken windows
of poverty. It climbs up high marble steps, as well
as pours down the passages of underground dens.
349 
35o      Scientific Certaitties about Alcohol.
There is another subtle influence of death in
our midst all the time. It puts more in the grave
every year, in our city, than the plague referred
to. It penetrates the palace as well as the hovel.
It takes daughters and wives as well as husbands
and sons. It leaves a darker shade of sorrow, and
a worse inheritance for children. It is death, but
that is a small part of its horror. It is sad to
mourn a dead friend, but tenfold worse to mourn
a living friend. And yet it spreads and spreads.
New graves are opened for its victims every day.
New homes are invaded with its foul breath and
blasted every day.  And-O amazement beyond
words!-we have eight thousand shops in this
city devoted to this deadly plague's perpetuation
and spread. 
MY NAME IS LEGION.
"He said unto him, Come out of the man, thou unclean spirit. And he
asked him, What is thy name? And he answered, saying, My name is Legioa:
for we are many."-ST. MARK V. 8, 9.
T is announced to us, by divine authority, that
" for this purpose the Son of God was manifested that he might destroy the works of the
devil." For the accomplishment of this result,
not only was his own personal ministry designed,
but also the ministry of his Gospel. and the maintenance of his church and people through all the
ages of their history upon the earth.
The Saviour's purpose is to break up the whole
dominion of Satan over the souls of men, and to
annihilate his power, however exercised, and by
whatever instruments maintained.  He illustrated
this purpose, and his power to accomplish it, in
many instances of hiis personal ministry. The incident here before us is but a single instance of
this beneficent design and action. This illustrates
the subject which I have in hand, and gives an encouraging view of the Saviour's power and the
Christian's duty.
The case presented to us here was an unusual
demonstration of fierceness and power in the evil
spirit, and of melanchloly suffering in the poor 
.JIy Name zs Lcgian.
victim of his rage.  It is said of the latter that
"hle had been often bound with fetters and chains,
and the chains had been plucked asunder by him,
and the fetters broken in pieces. Neither could
any man tame him. And always, night and day,
he was in the mountains and in the tombs, crying
out, and cutting himself with stones." A legion
of devils had taken possession of him; and they
exercised their malice and their strength for his
destruction.
Jesus met this wretched victim of Satan, and
his gracious salutation of authority sounded instantly for his relief —" Come out of the man, thou
unclean spirit." "And he that was possessed with
the devil, and had the legion, was found sitting,
and clothed, and in his right mind."
This was the stand of Jesus.  This was his relation to the works of the devil, and to the miseries
of men suffering under his power.  May wve not
see in it, the duty of his servants and disciples, and
the relations in which they should be arrayed, in
reference to similar spirits of evil which are oppressing and enslaving the souls of men? May
we not here learn the responsibility and obligation
of the Christian Church, in regard to those who
are destroying the earth?
Surely they are not to participate in the works
of the devil.  They are not to miake their gains
by trafficking on his side in human suffering and
blood. They are not to cover up, conceal, excuse,
apologize for, the cruelty of his dominion over
men corrupted and enslaved by his power. Still
352 
Aly Aamce is Legzon.
less can they be permitted to offer themselves and
their children as victims upon his altar.
They are bound by every relation in which
they stand to the Lord whom they profess to
serve, to set themselves aga-inst every evil work,
both in abstinence from its temptations, and in
hostility to all its attempts. They are willingly
arrayed on the side of the Captain df their salvation, as pledged to the utmost extent of their influence, to break down and destroy, all the instruments and means by which this enemy to man
prevails for the destruction of mankind.
To trace out this destructive dominion of Satan
in all its branches, in a discourse like this, would
be impossible. There is, however, one grand
agency of his for evil and ruin to man which may
well be called LEGION. All the miseries and
madness of human life are seen flowing from it
and produced by it. There is no shape of suffering or sorrow for man which it does not habittua!ly create. This mighty power of destruction is
seen ruling in the land in which we dwell, and
dragging down to a dark and hopeless grave, more
victims perishing in their guilt, than all other
agencies of evil combined.
This is the EVIL SPIRIT OF INTEMPERANCE-the
Moloch of our age and nation.
The character and influence of this spirit of
evil I would attempt to display in some of the
,esults of 1his work, some of the abodes of his labor,
and some of the victims on whom he preys.  The
view is so extensive that it will be impossible to
3;3 
JAy Niame  is Legion.
do more than to recount some of the conceded
facts of its immense exterior. The fearful catalogue of personal details of individual and domestic sorrows it would be beyond our power to
enumerate.
I. Consider some of the RESULTS of this evil
work.
Behold the establishments in our land for the
shelter of absolute pauperism, containing more
than 3oo00,000ooo persons supported at the public expense as an inevitable burden. Remember that
at least one-half of this vast number of paupers
have been driven there as the direct victims of
intemperance. Then realize that you cannot compute the wandering poverty in this nation, at less
than a similar amount, or varying from a similar
division; and you have as the result, in this land
of intelligence and self-government, 300,000 persons reduced to absolute beggary, and in most
cases to hopeless beggary, and laid as an immovable charge, and burden, and tax, upon the industrious and temperate remainder of this people by
this legion of destruction.
Go look at more than 20,000 lunatics as they
appear before you, either sheltered by private
kindness, or confined by self-defending cruelty, or
wandering in sorrow, and learn that more than
one-half of these have lost the reason with which
they were endowed by a gracious Creator, under
the tyranny of this demoniac oppression.
Go examine more than 30,000 criminals confined
I54 
S~y iVamie is Lcgion.
in your public prisons, under various sentences of
guilt and violence against their fellow-mien, and
hear that more than 25,000 of these prisoners of
public justice have been directly brought there
by this cruel demon of intemperance.
Go hear 95 out of every Ioo wretched beings
who are convicted and sentenced under charges
of capital crime, acknowledge for themselves, in
the despair of their condition, that they have been
stained with blood because they had first been
stupefied with rum.
Go calculate, if you can, the amount of taxes
and pecuniary burdens which have been brought
upon the community who are peaceably and soberly laboring for their own and for the public
welfare, by all this array of violence, of poverty
and crime. Not less than fifty millions of dollars
are annually expended in the direct payment for
the poison which has produced this work of ruin.
Mlore than thrice that sum is annually paid to
guard the community from the effects produced
by this direct expenditure for the gratification of
crime; to remedy the evils which it has produced,
and to shelter the wretched beings who have been
ruined by it.
Remember that all this immense sum has been
paid, and all these enormous burdens have been
borne, by the toil, the labor, and the self-denial
of the sober and industrious remainder of our
population.
In this limited calculation, which every serious
investigating mind will acknowledge  comes fiar
3,,5
I 
gly'V~ziie is Legoion.
within the truth, every laborinug, temperate father
of a family is compelled, by direct and indirect
taxation uponi his toil and self-denial, to support
at least one other family rendered vagrant, idle,
impotent, and hopeless, by this fearful traffic in
RUM.
Thus does this demon of intemperance grind
downi honesty to pay for crime; make labor in the
uipright become the slave of guilty idleness in the
corrupt; and compel the prudent and  faithful
servant of God and friend of man, to bear a tax
for the support of the victims of his rage and
power; a tax which eats into the heart and consumes the very vitals of honorable and industrious
effort, for those whom  God hath committed to
its rightful charge.
Yet again, go look at the results of this power
of destruction upon the immediate victims of this
cruelty. There are more than five hundred thousand-it may be more than one million-of drunkards in these United States. Of these at least
thirty thousand in every year go down to the
darkness, gloom, and eternal despair of a drunkard's grave. An average of more than three in
every hour pass from time into eternity, with all
this load of hopeless guilt, to meet a God whom
they have despised and a judgment which they
have defied. Within the single hour of one meeting for the public worship of God, the open grave
has received three immortal victims of this demon
of intemperance.  Since this century began, more
than two millions of drunkards in this land of
356 
afy Name is L~cioit.
boasted liberty and refinement have been driven
by this enemy of man down this dark abyss.
All of these were once the objects of human ten derness and love.  Thley were bedevwed by a moth er's tears of joy, and bathed with a mother's kisses
of affection. They were a father's hope, and the
anticipated props of a father's age and weakness.
Life to them opened as sweetly, promised as fairly,
and was looked upon as eagerly as for any others
of their race.  Their youthful blood was as fresh,
their infant blush as innocent, and their appetites
as docile, as others around them.
Thley lhave been driven awvay before this demon
of intemperance, since these eyes of ours have
seen tlhe light, from the very soil which we inhabit
-if there be truth in God-to a hopeless and dark
eternity.  Could tyou see this vast multitude of
wr-etcihedl beings, separated from the residue of
tihe communiity, congregated together in some
great common field of blood and sorrow, what a
spectacle of horror  would  they present!  But
could you see them individualized and separate,
dispersed among their friends and kindred, each
united in his vileness by ties tender and indissoluble to other beings-often to beings of the
purest virtue, of the liveliest senisibility, and of
the loftiest hopes-what gauge could measure the
extent, what arithmetic could sum up the amount,
of the misery comprehended within your field of
vision?
Could you number the concealed tears which
have flowed from so many sleepless eyes, as God,
.')")'7 
J-,y  A7tziie is Lcgzoiz.
in his watchfulness, numbers them; could you
hear those stifled sighs which escape from such
sorrow-wounded hearts, as God hears them
could you bring into  our view the despairing
anguish of their own eternity, as the wages of their
sin are measured out to them, you might thlen,
but not till then, estimate something of this one
portion, of the fearful amount of evil which this
demon of intemperance has accomplished for mankind.
But you must return from the grave where you
have left these victims of a hopeless sorrowv, and
sit down with broken-hearted widows, whose life
of sadness, almost worn out by the violence, and
exhausted by the waste of the living drunkards,
has been rendered finally incurably wretched, by
the despair which has settled upon their ignominious graves. You must look upon the orphans
whose poor hearts have been so early taught to
fear the cruelty of those whom they were made to
love, and who must now struggle with a load of
want and anguish which has been bound upon
them by the very hands formed for their support.
You must look upon parental hopes all blighted,
upon family honor stainied and gone, in the.furrowed aspect of fathers whose hearts have been
broken in their age by the very ones vwho were
given to them to hold up their declining steps and
to cheer their feeble, sinking years; and of mothers vwhose tenderness, never dying, cannot repress the secret cry, " \Vhat, my son!  VWhat,
the son of my womb! What, the son of my
.8 
Aly iVamc is L(4ioeI.
vows!  Would to God I had died for thee, my
son, my son!"
You must multiply these Bochims, these val leys of weeping, sometimes by this whole number
of buried drunkards. You must go further:
you must go look at the youthful female victims
of unholy lust-daughters who were once as in nocent and as free firom guile as the purest of their
sex, and who have been sacrificed in that hor rible immolation which buries them in oblivion,
and darkness, and unchanging sorrow, ere yet the
youthful period has been exchanged for the full
years of maturity.
You must multiply these wretched victims, as
we have thus considered them, to an extent of
which I dare not speak.  My soul sickens at the
thought. Sly weary heart turns off with shuddering from the view.  You must go forward and
stand with all these at the judgment-seat of t,he
living God, where  the  whole tale of  secret
wickedness shall be told, and the whole recompense of its varied iniquity shall be br-ought out
to public gaze and to open light.
You must look into the horrors of the second
death,  where  the enemy and  his victims are
bound together in everlasting despair, and God
is known in his consuming holiness as taking vcingeance on the ungodly, and in destroying those
who have destroyed the earth. All these fea-rfil
r-esults must be considered beforie you can fully
estimate the results which hlive been accomipisi~ed by this demon of irtemiperaniie, \whose niqmce
3.')' 9 
N~A'    ei' ie is Lc,ioit.
is Legion, even within the limited space of earth
included in your ownv  country, and the short
period of your single generation.
You must then consider the world in its extent
and its history, and the conclusion will be forced
uLpon you, as with the thunder of overwhelming
truth, that all other agencies and instruments
of Satan combined, WAR, PESTILENCE, FAMINE,
and DISEASE, have not more effectively cut off
the life of man. and crowded the dark chambers of
eternal woe, than this single demon of intemperance, the spirit which may well adopt this comprehlensive title, " IY M A.NIE IS LEGION."
II. WVe will proceed to consider some of the
ABODES of his labor, the residences which this evil
spirit has chosen upon the earth, in which to
establish the operations of his power, and the
machinery by which hle labors to destroy mankiLnd. In this viewv, you may begin at the bottom
of the scale, but you cannot stop there. If you
ask him, " Legion, where dwellest thou?" hle will
answer you, "Come and see."
He will lead you to those low and filthy haunts,
in your vilest quarters, whe-re beggary and vice
are eintwined together; where the most depraved
and brutish of their species mete out the destructive drug to hlaggard want and tattered wvickedness,
for the poor price which hlas been snatched by theft,
or for the last remnant of the recompense of stinted labor, plucked from the mouthtls of children
famishing for bread and starving in the cold;
36o 
Afy AVame is Legion.
while this infernal demon sits in the bosom of the
guilty seller, and scornfully laughs over a traffic
in which both the appetite of the buyer and tle
gain of the seller are equally dedicated to him
and directed by his will-and says, "See vwhere I
dwell!"
He  will take you to his higher courts, in your
gilded bar-rooms, and your lofty and fashionable
hotels, where men  are willing  to pay extrava gantly for the pedigree of his craft, and give
of their substance in proportion to an imaginary
excellence and rareness of his provision; where
he has so calculated his dealings with his agents
and his victims, that he makes the often enormous
rent of his glittering habitation arise from the
clear profit of the crime which he has thus taught.
An infidel philosopher once said: "Vice, deprived of its grossness, loses half of its guilt."
So this spirit has taught in these higher halls of
his display. Here hlie contrives to combine every
possible element which may make this trade of
soul-killing which he teaches, in the highest degree attractive and effectual. There you see the
demon again at home, amidst the glitter of reflecting plate and the glare of many-colored glass;
and rearing hundreds of souls deluded and
destroyed, for his own abode; compelling many
strong men to bow down beneath his power and
to wear his livery and his yoke for ever.
Between the objects seen in these two visits
writh this spirit of evil, in the mere elements
of adornment, the apparent difference is great.
36I 
.if)' I   t//1   is L(:g'ion.
Is there any real difference in the guilt, the
crime, the ruinl, wvhich  mark them and attend
upon them? Do all these vast contrasts in the
furniture and vessels which are severally employed, establish any unlikeness in the work to which
they are devoted?  Pe-lrhaps! But not in the
line proposed.  If there be any, grade in the degree of guilt, beyond all question, its highest is
there  where the larger quantity of the poison is
dispensed, and where the nobler selections of the
human family, doomed and drugged, are betrayed
and destroyed.
There would be but little difference of judgment  among good  men  upon this point.  Tile
immediate  personal retailing of this poison for
man's destruction, is acknowledged to be guilt.
One individual man reaches it to another, and is
instantly connected with the effect which it produces. There is no intermediate agent to divide
the responsibility. There is no concealment of
the deed effected. He has a single victim before
him, and he plunges his pointed weapon into the
open breast of the victim whom he destroys. And
whether it be a jewelled sword, a silver-mounited
stiletto, or a rusty butcher's knife, there is no
moral difference to be discovered there.
The trade is altogether everywhere a trade of
blood.  Its effects are written in blood.  Its gaiins
corrode in blood.  And there is a voice in this
blood which reaches to the skies. And there is
tlcre an Ear that listens to every wailing which
that voice lifts up.  And there is a day coming
36, 
dily _'amc  ) is,      toio.
when all these accusations and groans slhall be
brought out as they are recorded; and God shall
judge, not by gains alleged, nor by excuses made,
nor by palliations imagined, but in infinite holi ness and with uLnerring justice, the guilt of those
who have filled the earth with sorrow, with crime,
and woe.
But will Legion stop with these  contrasted
homes when making the tour of his dwellings?
Are these retailing-shops his only abodes among
men? Nay, he dwells far more respectably and
gainfully than there. If there were not other
agents, the trade of these servants would soon
conclude.   If there were elsewhere  no  living
flowing fountains, these shallow ponds would
soon dry up. And there can be no difference
in the moral responsibility and obligation of
stages beyond these, except the absolute and
undeniable  principle, that as you increase the
quantity, and of consequence the projected results of the evil distributed, you advance  tihe
responsibility and the guilt of its distribution.
Will you tell me that the man who shoots a
single man with a pistol, that he may strip him for
gain, is a murderer; but that the man who discharges a cannon loaded with grape-shot into the
midst of a multitude assembled, that he may reap
the spoils of many by a single act, is not so?
Will you tell me that the man is justly punished who is found clothed with the garments and
the watch of the lonely travellerwhom he has enticed to a secret death; but that another, whose
363
l~ 
A'y A.'7mr  is LiG,'oii.
gains firom the multitude of deaths inflicted by
him have been so great that he is obliged to build
new houses to contain the spoils which he has
gathered from his slain thousands, is innocent?
Legion laughs at the folly of your reasoning.
He  sees that you could in no way more completely edify and sustain the kingdom of ruin for
man, which he is laboring to exalt. No; he will
take you where the man, elevated in human coinputation, has treasured this flood of death in
unlimited quantities, has ripened it for years, and
parts with nothing but the largest measures at
the highest prices; where the smothered conscience, or the sensibility to remark, has lifted the
poison out of sight to the very attic of his immense warehouse, or buried it deep in cellared
vaults beneath; and the man himself, ostrichlike,
has hidden his own eyes beneath the veil, and
imagines himself unseen and safe; and will say,
"Here have I a home, guarded and unassailable
by feeble man."
He will take you where the merchant welcomes
with joy the safe arrival of his ship-loads of these
instruments of death; or where the manufacturer
has invested his millions of wealth, and has famished
the bread of thousands in.the products of his still.
And though he enables the agents of his employ
to ride in charioted splendor, or to dwell in palaces which Moorish pride might envy, he will
claim the work as all his own. The demon has
domesticated himself completely in these extensive haunts of gain. Like the spirit of the storm,
364 
AIy A7zzmz  is LC,io'..         i    s
he nestles among these original fountains of the
flow of death, and declares, with a pride which
cannot be rebuked, that his home is there.
Far rather would he that you should nail the
doors, and oust the inhabitants of the flaunting
taverns along your streets, than shut up one of
these great repositories of his instruments of war fare upon the souls of men. The more respect able he can make the trade, the more he can screen
his agents from reproach and arrest, the more
really and effectually he accomplishes his ends, of
destruction to many, and of apparent triumph
over the goodness and power of God.
But does this spirit of intemperance even here
limit his abodes with men? Legion will lead you
further than this. He has respected, guarded,
and attractive nurseries for his victims, as well as
highly honored agents in his employ. He will go
with you to the luxurious tables; to the social entertainments of your highest ranks of society; to
the peaceful private abode of many a family circle, dwelling in the wealth and cultivation of
earth; where the sweetened poisons of every description, wines of every age and name, are richly
gathered and freely and habitually used; where
the father puts the bottle to the mouth of the son,
and the mother sees, without aversion or reproof;
her blooming daughter enticed to taste the poisoned cup; where family habits and the inheritance of age and station have dignified and consecrated the moderate use, as it is called, of these
instruments of death.
365 
3fy  Na,ze  is  L,cgiotz.
Hiere this destructive spirit loves to dwell.
These are like the distant, quiet, sylvan shades of
the land he rules-a peaceful, flowery, attractive
abode, where he gathers the treasures which he
robs without suspicion; where he plucks the lambs
for his sacrifices, far distant from the altar on
which he means finally to consume them. Could
he be driven from these deceitful haunts, his work
would stop and his power would end. These
armies of moderate drinkers are his reserved
corps, to be thrust forward in their turn, as the
reeling platoons in the distant van of his unfailing
hosts fall and perish in death.
Who can see the wine-cup circulated, and
youth enticed to contract a taste perfectly unnatural to the human constitution, but fixed and
certain in its process when it has taken possession
of its victim-a taste which presses on to his ruin
with a certainty which a divine power alone can
arrest-who can see this without a secret shuddering at the sight, from the perfect consciousness of feeling and conviction of certainty that
LEGION is establishing his dwelling and his ruling
there?
It is pitiable to hear him deride the victims of
his deception for their weakness, and laugh in
scornful triumph, over the victory which he has
obtained, when they have been persuaded, themselves to defend the very tyranny by which he is
holding them in an oppressive subjection, and
leading them onward to a final despair. Nor can
all the anacreontic songs of human giddiness and
366 
.'zy A7ta7ci is L~,cio-n.i
degradation, nor all the perverted influence of
past generations, too inconsiderate upon this solemn subject, nor all the flimsy attempts to drag
the reason of man, and even the Word of the living
God to their defence to sanctify these destructive
temptations, blind us to their results.
Whereunto will these things grow? These are
LEGION'S choice abodes.  You will never drive
him from the dark holes and hovels which we
have just considered until you force him to leave
these earlier honored walks. Banish the winebottles from your tables, as the chosen refreshment
for your friends, and resolve to meet your children and your fellow-men in judgment, without the
opportunity for a single perishing drunkard to
say, that your example and your invitations first
started him on the road to eternal death.
III. From these two wide and comprehensive
views we will proceed to recount some of the
VICTI.NIS of the demon's power. And here you
must take a far earlier view of this course of certain ruin than the agents or patrons of the evil will
readily concede.
You cannot, must not, confine yourselves to a
view of the carcasses of these slain, when in the
final beggary of hopeless drunkenness they are
cast out from men, loathsome, despised, and perishing. A field of battle, when the fight has
passed, and blood, and brains, and mutilated limbs
are scattered in confusion round, is an awful,
shocking sight. None can walk there and see
367 
An~y NAatie is Legiont.
the hundreds of healthful, youthful forms, pallid
in death, torn by dogs, the food of vultures, without a fainting of his heart within him, in remembrance of the men who lie before him. But how
many more hearts bleed than those which have
beat their last pulse on this field of woe!  What
anguish is elsewhere felt, far distant from this
fearful scene! What lifelong anguish will be felt
by multitudes who will never actually behold itby hearts which were bound to these sons, and
husbands, and fathers, by the sweetest ties of
earthly life!
But if war has slain its thousands, intemperance
has slain its tens of thousands. And where is the
father who would not prefer to see his son shot
down before his face, than to behold him poisoned
to a degrading death by these foul harpies whom
LEGION has employed?
And who are the men whose fate has thus been
sealed in hopeless ruin?
They are young. They were seized and bound
while young. Hardly one in hundreds has passed
the maturity of his earthly days. Did they begin
as purposed, willing drunkards? Nothing was
further from their thoughts or their desires. They
have waded out most gradually, almost imperceptibly, into the deep. They then looked down
upon the inebriate sot with sorrow and contempt,
as others now look down upon them. They
started with the drop which their fathers gave
them, or with the offered glass of friendship, at
noon or night, when they lacked the courage to 
~j{y NAanze is Legion.
refuse.  The demon seized them when they were
sheltered, as they thought, far from his abodes,
and led them on, his purpose fixed, though yet
unknown to them, for their final ruin.
Where did this work of ruin begin?  Do not tell
me at the tavern or in haunts like that. What
gave to pure and innocent youth that taste for
taverns?  Where did they get the appetite which
sought its objects and its pleasures there? You
will be compelled to look back far beyond this
final limit, and to feel and to acknowledge the re sponsibility often coming far nearer home. The
moderate drinker is but an indentured apprentice
to the drunkard. A gracious divine Providence
may cripple his ability in his youth, and he may
not thoroughly learn his trade.  But the habitual
glass, however apparently refined, signs his indenture. And no one who starts in the imitation
of the craft, or who leads-another, to take a single
step in its clearly marked line, has power to define the limits of the course.
These victims of ruin are often, I might perhaps justly say are habitually, selected from the
most promising, generous, social, and affectionate
of our young men. Genius, education, family,
profession, friends, furnish no abiding obstacle or
sure defence. When the degrading appetite has
been formed and whetted, it bursts through all
these bonds. The noblest and most cherished
sons of our best connections are here cast out
to perish with the vilest and the basest of mankind.
369 
0ley'  A',Z~ii  is ~t'g,ion.
No one who has mingled long and intelligently
with men, especially with young men preparing
for active life, can be ignorant of this fact.  Our
colleges are living records of the frequency of
this destruction.  Our congregated business establishments in large cities present an enormous
catalogue of victims.
The  venerable Dr. Nott said: "A  friend of
mine once gave me the number and the names
of a social club of temperate drinkers, which
existed in the city of my residence, and of which,
lwhen young, he was himself a member. And I
have since remarked how, bereft of fortune, of reputation, of health, and sometimes even of reason,
they have descended, one after another, prematurely to the grave, until at length, though not
an old man, that friend alone remains, of all their
number, to tell how he himself was rescued from
a fate so terrible, by the timely and prophetic
counsel of a pious mother. And I have remarked
also, how those pupils of my own, who, in despite
of warning, admonition, and entreaty, have persisted in the use of intoxicating liquors while at
college, have, on entering the world, sunk into
obscurity, and finally disappeared, from amomig
their rival actors, once their companions, rising
into life. And, when searching out the cause, I
have, full of anxiety, enquired after one, and
another, and another, the same answer has been
returned —" He has become a sot"; or, " Gone a
sot into the grave."
Such testimony as this could be corroborated
370 
.ily iVzziie  Ai Lestl.
by a thousand  similar recitals.   Such  deathbeds, where genius has been sacrificed, professional character thrown away, and  early virtue
trodden down, by this demon of evil, have been
heard in groans of anguish, and in curses of tlhe
most fearful character, upon the early tempters to
the ruin, and upon the early indulgence in the
temptation, as the source of all the misery produced. Such scenes as these might be summoned
in vast numbers to testify that this agent of
destruction spares no station, and has bound his
victims with cords which are rarely broken, when
the habit of drinking has once been formed, or
the confirmed desire for the poison has been
acquired.
God grant that we may never live to see our
solns and daughters, so precious in our sight, cast
out to perish under the destroying power of this
L,egion demon! But if we would avoid this terrible sorrowv, let us avoid all connection with the
habit or the trade.  Let us remember that he
plucks the lambs from the flock at home, and
selects the victims for his holocausts when they
and theirs least expect his approach.  I can but
say earnestly to those who hear me: " If you wvill
save the souls of your children from the destruction, or yourselves from all participation in the
ruin, banish tlhe' accursed thing' from your
habitations; lock up the tempting bottles from
their sight; and neither have, nor use, nor ofil'er
uponi  your tables, this unnecessary inducement
to vice, this direct provision for impoverishment
.1 " I 
-'ly  Ne~me is Lgioln.
of the health, poison to the bodies, and destruction of the souls, of yourselves, and your children,
and your friends."
WVe have thus taken a survey of some of the
results, some of the abodes, and some of the victims
of this Legion spirit of evil. Allow me now to
ask, what is the duty of the servants of Jesus
Christ, our Lord, in reference to this awful system of destruction for man? WVhen this gracious
Saviour met the legion that had taken possession
of the poor victim of his tormenting power, his
instant attitude was opposition; his immediate
language was rebuke; his command, clothed
with resistless power, was, " Come out of the man,
thou unclean spirit."
Jesus did not participate with him, unite with
him, apologize for him, compromise  wvith hiim.
LHe would "have no fellowship with the unfruitful
works of darkness."   VWhat, then, should be the
stand of his ministers and servants now?  We can
give no other answer, with a clear conscience, than
just the stand whlichl the Lord himself assumed
have no connection with the demon of intemper
ance in any shape, but to oppose, to resist, to re.
buke him.
Would that gracious Lord, were he now upon
the earth with us, unite in making or drinking that
fiery liquor which his own Word had declared to
be "a mocker," against which he had solemnly
warned the children of men when it displayed
"its color in the cup "; to the effect and operation of which he had assigned " vomiting,   " fil
372 
Aly Nam;e is Leion.t.
thiness," "redness of eyes," "woes," " babblings,"
and " wounds without cause"?
How awful is such a thought! Would he par take with men of this world in draughts like these?
Could he walk among the perishing thousands of
our people who have been degraded and slain by
strong drink, and give the sanction of his example
to the pleasurable use of this instrument of death?
Would he furnish the shelter of his name and his
authority to this fearful trafficking in human blood
and the souls of men? Let us not be deceived.
The followers of Jesus must take another stand
than this.
Their own character and influence on earth de mand an entire separation from the traffic in in toxicating liquors, and a total abstinence  from
their use. The Christian minister or the Christian professor in uniting with either cuts off immediately, and justly, his influence forgood among
men, and takes upon himself a responsibility which
he will find it hard indeed to bear.
There is so much knowledge upon this subject,
and so much suffering has been endured in connection with it, that no man can now plead the excuses, or the ignorance of former days. The effects
of the drinking of intoxicating liquors are known
to be only evil, and immediately evil. No man is
ignorant of this. The man who aids the circulation of these poisons well knows that the streams
which he sends forth can only operate in their
measure and degree to destroy mankind. A venerable Chancellor of the State of Newv Yoirk
373 
2fAy Name is Legion.
said years ago;  "The  time will come when
men will as soon be found engaged in poisoning
their neighbors' wells as in making or vending
intoxicating liquors to be used as a beverage in
health."
I would appeal to all who read what I have
written:  Separate yourselves from this whole
system of sin and human misery. Banish the
temptation from your families. WVash your hands
from all the gains of the traffic. Give your unchanging countenance and aid to the efforts which
are made to arrest the power of this ruin, and to
rescue the victims of its dominion. Then the remembrance of the stand which you have taken will
awaken no sorrows, no misgivings, in the retrospections of your coming hours. The thought
that you leave behind you an example and a witness, a family trained to temperance, and encouraged and pledged by the whole weight of
your own influence in the line of a total abstinence from strong drink, will plant no thorn in
the pillow of sickness and add no pang to the
trials of your departure.
There is no stopping-place in this path of intemperance but this-TOTAL ABSTINENCE. The
movement in the indulgence once commenced is
ever onward and downward. The thirst created
is quenchless. The appetite produced is insatiable. You may not be permitted to complete the
whole process; but never forget that it is an unceasing, accelerating progress. Your own safety
is in withholding yourself entirely from its power
374 
Afy Nanme is Legion.
Your usefulness is in setting yourself unfliLnchingly against it.
If this LEGION DEMON must rage and will rage,
let him never be permitted to charge you with
the degrading, responsible fact of your willing
countenance, or your cowardly silence or indiffer.
ence.
375  
TIlE
CHRISTIAN SERVING ItlS GENERATION.
"David, after he had served his own generation  by the will of God, fell
on sleep."-ACTS xii.. 36.
H E great stream of human  history, as it
flows down through the ages, is fed by the
tributaries of individual lives, which differ in character in each particular case. Some rise almostat
the very margin of the river into which they run,
and, after a short course, lose themselves in its
waters.  Others flow on with even and gentle current, through banks of rich fertility and luxuriant
beauty, and at length emerge into the common
stream, in a vale of peace and loveliness, like tle
sweet "Avoca " of which the poet sings; while
others still, rising far up on the mountain hei,lghts,
come tearing down through the valleys, breaking
themselves continually into foam as they  leap
from rock to rock, and at last, all panting and out
of breath, as if in haste to run theircourse, rush
into the general current. And some there aire
which in their one career pass through many of
these different phases.  Away up in some mountain moorland they begin their course in lonely
grandeur; then, coming down into the plain beneath, they are broken by many a fall, seething
like a caldron as they roll over rough and rocky
beds, and between rugged and precipitous banks;
- 0 - 
378    The Ciristhitz i'ri inz his Gcneratiozn.
thence they come out into some broad and level
table-land, where they rest themselves awhile in
calm and quiet flow; but out of this again they
rush, and anew they tumble, and toss, and are
broken, until at length, just before they join the
great primeval river, they resume their placid current, and at the meeting of the waters there is no
sound of strife, but, instead, a quiet hush of melody whichl sings of peace.
Of this last kind was the life-course of that
illustrious man of whom mention is made in
my text-the inspired poet-king of Israel, David. Its opening hours were spent in the pleasant solitude of shepherd life; and who among
us has not often had before his eye a vision of
that fair-haired boy, of ruddy countenance, waking with his reed the echoes on the slopes of
Bethlehem, or singing as he passed on before his
flock and led them to the quiet water's edge,
" The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want"?
Then the scene is changed, and we find him at the
court, seeking to " minister to the mind diseased
of Saul, and calming, for the time, his troubled
soul with the soft strains of skilful music. Again
the curtain rises, and this time we behold him in
the mniidst of Elah's valley, with a bannered host on
either side, and before him the giant Philistine,
taunting him with his youth, and boasting that he
would give his flesh to the fowls of the air; there
he stands, the youthful hero, clad in the unseen
panoply of God, and, with a pebble from his shepherd's sling, he fells his haughty adversary to the 
Thc Czri-stiain  Scrvini A- s G enration.    379
dust. Next time the scene is in the cave of dark
Adullam, whither he has fled through fear of
Saul; fierce, cruel, and unprincipled men sur round him, and they have made him their captain;
yet, in the midst of all their revelry and riot, behold him sitting by the dim light of their watchfire, inditing one of those divine odes which the
church even yet delights to sing. And now a new
act of this great life-drama begins, and the scene
opens in a royal palace; there are corridors and
passages glancing with cedar wood, and there, in
the foreground, are companies of warriors, telling
each of the martial prowess of their lord-swhen
lo! the door of an inner chamber opens, and we
behold the king himself, with the book of the law
unrolled before him, and, as he rises reverently to
lay it past, we hear him say in the rapt fervor of
devotion: "Ohl, how love I thy law! it is my study
all the day." But a darker change comes over the
palace; a man of God is seen before the king; he
tells a simple story, drawn from that shepherd
life in which the royal heart is yet so deeply interested-a story which unfolds a wrong of the
deepest and most wanton kind; and when, with
righteous indignation moved, the king pronounces
a most terrible sentence, the stern prophet answers: "Thou art the man."  In a moment the
fountains of that great heart are broken up-the
monarch falls upon his knees, and with a cry of
penitence, which has come sobbing down through
the centuries to us, he says, "Have mercy upon
me, O God; have mercy upon me." But now
ii 
38o    Tube Christiant Serving his Generation.
again the scene is changed. He has fled before
an unnatural and rebellious son, and stands at MIahanaim's gate; his faithful friends insist on fighting in his cause, but they will not have him
exposed to the dangers of the field; and as rank
after rank passes on before him to the deadly strife,
he says, " Deal gently, for my sake, with the young
man "; but ere that day departs, we see him in the
chamber over the gate, pacing the floor with agony,
and crying in grief of the wildest kind, " 0 my
son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom! would
God I had died for thee, 0 Absalom, my son,
my son!"  And now, "last scene of all," we behold him lying on his death-bed, and having placed
the crown upon the head of Solomon, and given
him a solemn charge, he takes once more the harp
he loved so well, and tunes it to this touching
strain: "Although my house be not so with God,
yet he hath made with me an everlasting covenant,
ordered in all things, and sure; this is all my salvation and all my desire;" and so he fell asleep,
and was gathered unto his fathers.
Such are the main features of that life which is
so briefly summarized in the words of my text:
David served his own generation."  It is.not,
however, my intention to dwell further upon the
incidents of the Psalmist's history, but rather to fix
your minds for a little on the principle which
underlies this description of his career, and on its
particular application to the great cause which I
mean to-night to advocate.  It will be evident at a
glance that there is here established a connection 
The Ch'ristian Serving his Geteration.    38I
between a man and his generation, such that the
nature of the duties which he is called on to per form is determined by the character of the age to
which he belongs, and the circumstances in which
his lot is cast. It may indeed be said that the age
in which a man lives has fully as much influence
upon him as he can have upon it, and in a sense
that is true; but it is also true that the character
of a man's times fixes, to a very large extent, the
form of that service which he is required to render
unto his God, so that thus the service of God, and
the service of our generation, rightly understood,
must be for us identical.  The moral law, indeed,
in its great essential principles of love to God and
love to our neighbor, continues unalterable, but
the modes which our obedience to that law
assumes must be settled by the circumstances in
which we are placed. The priest, the Levite, and
the Samaritan, had they been brought together
into conclave, might all have agreed as to the
abstract meaning of the command, "Thou shalt
love thy neighbor as thyself"; but for the Samaritan, the fact that the poor traveller lay before
him half-dead, interpreted the law to mean," Help
that suffering one as you would wish to be helpcd
if you were in his place," whereas to them it
seemed to say, " Pass by on the Qther side."  He
read the law through the circumstances in which
he was placed; they read it abstractly, and without any reference to the case before them.  He
served God by serviing the unfortunate man; they
were neither serving him) nor serving God.  Duty 
382    Thze Christianz Servinig his Generation.
thus comes to be the application of the unchlanging principles of the Gospel to the ever-varying
circumstances of society; hence, it can never be
stereotyped, but must be altered in its outward
form, ever as the changing character of the time
requires. Thus, it is always the Christian's duty
to "hold fast that which is good," and "earnestly
to contend for the faith once delivered to the
saints"; but in the case of an Athanasius, that
duty meant to defend the doctrine of the Trinity;
while in the days of Luther, it signified to hold up
the doctrine of justification by faith. Both of
these men held the same great gospel truths, but
the circumstances of their times called upon each
especially to hold fast that with which the name of
each has become identified. Now, the same thing
holds in regard to efforts for the moral and spiritual
well-being of mankind. It is always the Christian's duty "to do good unto all men," and to seek
"to have compassion on the ignorant, and them
that are out of the way "; but the particular form
which his performance of that duty assumes must,
of course, depend on the circumstances of those
whose good is especially sought. The path I take
in going after him who is out of the way must, in
the very nature of things, be regulated by that
which the poor wanderer himself has chosen,
otherwise I may as well not trouble myself about
him. I must go after him, if I would overtake
him; bitt if I take another direction altogether,
there is no likelihood that I shall ever benefit him.
Hence, if I really mean to carry out the principles 
The Ciristiant Serviig ihis Gcnerationz.   383
of the Gospel at all, it is incumbent upon me, not
only to understand what they are, but also to consider what are the special evils of my generation,
and by what special application of these principles
I am to meet them. Even as, in perfect consistency with the general principles of medical science, the remedy is changed to meet the disease;
so our efforts of practical benevolence, if they
would be of any avail, must take their shape and
direction from the evils that are rampant in the
land. The traditional things of the past, therefore, will not avail for the exigencies of the present; the kind of instrumentality which was called
into existence by the evils of a hundred years ago,
will be utterly useless in meeting those of to-day
and things which might then be safely enough left
undone, may now be, yea, are, imperatively demanded of us. Here, then, is the problem which we
have each to solve, if we would really serve the
present age; we must ask," \VWhat interpretation is
given to God's law by the requirements of our
time?"   VWhat does  the " Go-thou-and-do-likewise" of our Lord to the lawyer mean now for
me?  Where shall I find for myself in these days
the counterpart of that poor half-dead traveller?
and what for me corresponds to the oil and the
wine and the money which his benefactor gave?
Where shall I find him?  I discover himn in that
little ragged Arab prowling about the streets of
the midnight city, his hand against every man's,
and every mian's hand against him-a waif of humnanitv floating all uncared-for down the dark river 
3Q4     Tlic Ciris/inzi Scrvziig  his Gen'ratioii.
of iniquity; and I open for him a ragged school.
I discover him in that dowvn-trodden sister standing, at the corner of the streets, with the mark of
infamy on her brow, and the scorpion-sting of
misery at her heart, an outcast from society, an
object of loathing even to herself, compelled to
sin for bread: I open for her a home of safety,
and go forth at night to bid her come and welcome
to its comfort. I discover him in the tenant of that
filthy room, the air of which, poisoned by noxious
impurity, is eating out the strength of his manhood, and sinking him at once into physical and
spiritual degradation; and I seek to raise for him
a more comfortable and better ventilated abode.
I discover him in that poor besotted drunkard in
his cheerless home-if home it can be called-whence peace, and happiness, and love have long
ago departed. I discover him in that drunkard's
Nwife, whose pale, careworn face declares how the
canker-worm of sorrow is eating at the heart, an(l
bringing her down with sadness to the grave. I
discover him in that drunkard's child for whose
poor diseased and sickly body the grave is already
opening wide; and I become a total abstainer,
and gird myself to do battle with the causes which
have produced such dire results.
In this service of our generation, however,
lwhere there are so many evils to contend against,
it is expedient that there should be division of
labor.  Accordingly, as temperance reformers,
the special department which we have chosen is
that of dealing wiitl) drunkenness and its causes; 
Thze Christian S erving his Gcncration.   385
blt, while this is the case, we must not be understood as disparaging or in any way underrating
the importance of those other spheres in which
our excellent friends are working. Whatever be
the particular object for which they are strivingwhether it be sanitary reform, or the building of
a better class of houses for the working-classes, or
ragged-schlools, or midnight meetings for the reclamation of the fallen, or the promotion of a better system of holidays and recreation, or the bringing about of more thorough understanding between
employers and employed, or the improvement of
our commercial morality, we regard them as fellow-wvorkers with us, and ourselves as fellowlaborers with them. We are working to each
other's hands; their success will strengthen us,
and our success will strengthen them. We have
selected intemperance simply because it so constantly confronts us, and because we find it allied
to all the other evils of our time; but, far from
being jealous of their movements, we wish them
all success, and bid them cordially God-speed.
WVith this explanation, then, I proceed to show
how we seek, as temperance reformers, to serve
our generation and our God.
I. We seek to do so, in the first place, by
reclaiming the drunkard. It will not be disputed
by any Christian that we should endeavor to save
the drunkard; nor will it be denied that there is
an urgent call upon us to use all the means in our
power for this purpose, from the immense number
of those who are addicted to intemperance. The 
386     The  ChIristian ServiinZ   his  Gencration.
only question is as to how to do it.  Now, there
are here a few plain principles which have always
been very satisfactory to my mind, and seem to
settle the case. Abstinence is for the drunkard a
physical necessity, if, at least, he would conquer
his habit.  For his habit is an appetite as well,
having this peculiarity, that the least quantity of
ardent spirits taken by him will act as a spark on
gunpowder, and set the whole man on fire with the
desire for more.  Hence, if I wish to deliver him,
I must endeavor to get him never to touch strong
drink. But before I can prevail on him to be an
abstainer, I must make his position, as such, an
honorable one. He will never assume it if his doing
so be cast up to him as a disgrace.  He will rather
die in his intemperance than become an abstainer
to be pointed at by the drunkard and the moderate
drinker alike, and to hear it said regarding him:
"That man had to give up tasting strong drink to
save himself from drunkenness." As Lieutenant
Blackmore discovered that the poor fallen woman,
much as she loathed her degradation, loathed still
more the prison system that prevailed in the
penitentiaries, and preferred to die in her sin rather
than to be saved in such a way, so have we found
it to be with the drunkard. If we mean to save
him, therefore, we must stand on the same platform with him. Just as the Son of God, when he
wished to save men, stooped himself to be a man,
yet without the sin of man, so-I speak it in all
reverence-we, if we mean to deliver the drurkard, must stoop to pl,t ourselves on a level with 
The ClIristian  Servinzg his Gencration.    387
him, while yet we are not partakers in his sin. We
must make  abstinence respectable by ourselves
joining with him in his abstinence.  We must do
with him what we ask him to do for himself.  The
old temperance societies of thirty years ago failed
because the drinks they permitted fed the appetite
they wished to destroy. But, in like manner, the
moderate drinker of our day will also fail to cure
the drunkard by asking him to abstain, if he do not
so far identify himself with him as to abstain along
with him.  Somewhere about thirteen years ago,
the Sailors' Home, one of the noblest institutions
in Liverpool, was discovered to be on fire. It was
past midnight; all the inmates had retired to rest,
and were startled out of their slumber by the terrible alarm.  The flames spread rapidly through
out the building, and from every door and window
volumes of smoke streamed forth, so that, when
the fire-brigade appeared upon the scene, it was
at once apparent that nothing could be done to
save it, and the whole energies of the force were
directed to the rescuing of those who were as yet
within it. A dense crowd of onlookers had already gathered round, and many stout-hearted
men came forth and volunteered their services in
the perilous enterprise. A company of marines
landed from a man-of-war at anchor in the Sloyne,
and gave themselves right earnestly to the same
noble work, until at length ninety-seven souls had
been snatched by them from the jaws of death, and
it seemed as if the whole were saved. And now
men breathed fireely as they looked upon the gor 
38S)     The  C'rz;itznriaii Scrz,iiig IIs Generation.
geous spectacle of that massive building wreathed
in fire; but hlark! a piercing shriek is heard high
over the shouts of the multitude; and yonder, on
one of the upper ledges of the building, five men
are seen calling for help.  As soon as possible, the
longest ladder on the spot is placed against the
wall, right underneath where they are standing;
but, alas! it reaches only to a point some twenty
feet below the parapet whereon they are. An
agony of disappointment wrings the heart of every
onlooker as hope for their deliverance is sinking
faist into despair.  " Stand back," cries a resolute
and courageous man, as, with another ladder on
his shoulder, he places his foot upon the lowvest
round, and prepares with it to ascend to their relief.  On him now all eyes are fixed.  They watch
him until he has reached the top of the long ladder, and there he joins to it the one which he has
borne with him. But, ah! how bitter the disappointment again! it also is too short.  WVhat'i now
is to be done? There is no time to lose; so taking, the ladder up, he raises it until it rests upon
his shoulders, and there, at the height of well-nigh
fifty feet from the ground, standing on the one
ladder, and addiiiog his own leizgth to the other which
he carried, he calls to them to come down over
him. The multitude beneath hold their breath in
astonishment, afraid to utter a sound, lest they
should mar the self-possession of the men; but
when, one after another, they have descended in
safety, the air is rent with a most deafening cheer
which makes the welkin ring. Thus, brethren, thus
4 
Thze Che      risti aii Srz',ig zhis Gcneration.    S89
must we save the drunkard from the devouring fire
-the ladder even of abstinence will be too short
unless we add ouzrsclz,es to it, and make over ourselves a pathway for him into safety.
II. But, in the second place, we seek, as temperance reformers, to serve our own generation
by endeavoring to do away with the drinking customs of society. No one can deny that the drunkar-d's appetite is at once created and strengthened
by practices that are still, to a large extent, common and fatshionable in the land.  It is not quite
by accident, therefore, that there are so many annually ruined by intemperance among us: it occurs as the natural and inevitable consequence of
customs to which the great majority do wvillingly
conform. When we examine into those dreadful catastrophes which are perpetually occurring in the
midst of us, and which we write down to the account of strong drink, we find that they are connected with an undercurrent in society, and that
they are but the outgrowth and development of a
system of things which is upheld and encouraged
by all classes alike. At the critical turning-places
of life, we meet these drinking customs as invariably as in our large towns we see a gin-shop at the.
corners of the streets; and though a young man
enter upon the world untainted with the drunkard's appetite, he is gradually habituated to the
use of strong drink by the very frequency with
which it forces itself upon him.  It dogs him fromt
his cradle to his grave; it haunts him at home and
abroad; it presides in the workshop and in the 
3Do0      l Thc Cli ristiai Scrz,ii.g his Gcnoration.
market-place; business cannot be transacted without it; pleasure cannot be enjoyed without it;
wherever hlie goes, the bottle is the central object
of attraction, and so he becomes enamored of it
before he dare confess it to himself; he is on the
outermost edge of the whirlpool before he is
aware, and once there
"Vain! vain is his struggle, the circle now wins him,
Round and round in its dance the mad element spins him."
Do I speak what is not true, my brethren, in all
this?  I ask every one of you to look back, for a
few moments, to the beginning of his own career.
Think of those who lived with you, long ago, in
the same street of your native town; of those who
played with you in the games of your childhood;
of those who sat with you on the same form at
school; of those who wrought with you in the
same workshop, studied with you in the same class,
or entered with you on the same profession. Trace
out their after-history as far as you are able; how
many of them have fallen before this dreadful
drink-and how did they fall? Not from any inherent liking for it at first-not from any want of
intellectual ability-not from any original deficiency in moral training- but because they were
caught in the meshes of these abominable customs,
and ensnared before they knew they were in danger. WVho has not known even ministers of the
Gospel, who, in the outset of their labors, gave
high promise of usefulness and success, but were
ruined by nothing else than conforming to the
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Tue Clrisit{zi Stcrviig his Generation.    391
drinking customs of their congregations, and at
length thrown off, as worthless and dissipated
wretches, by the very individuals who had helped
to make them so? To attempt, therefore, to put
a stop to drunkenness without dealing with these
customs is very much like trying to cure the disease by simply treating the symptoms, while nothing is done to reach the seat of the evil. When a
man is all covered with blotches and blains, his
physician does not simply try to close up these by
external applications, for as soon as one disappears
another forms; but he finds that the whole system
is deranged, and sets himself principally and especially to put that right; well knowing that the
healing of the ulcers must follow as a thing of
course. Now, the drunkenness of our times is just
analogous to such ulcerations on the human body;
it betokens that the entire system of society is diseased; and, if we mean to do any good to our generation, it is to that we must strenuously apply
ourselves.  And how are we to do it?  Personal
abstinence may accomplish much; and we will
not undervalue it, for we know that wherever one
such abstainer appears at a dinner-table or in
company, the drinking proceeds slowly; the
wheels of the bottle drag heavily; there is a nonconductor at the feast, and the glory of it forthwith departs. It is something thus to put the
moderate drinker on the defensive, and force hinm
to apologize for his position, but still, mere individual abstinence will not here suffice; we must
bind ourselves to have neither part nor lot in the 
392     Tihe Christiait Scrvizg his  Generathi'i.
matter; we must give no countenance whatever
to these pernicious practices, and publicly declare
that we will neither give nor take strong drink as
an ordinary beverage. This is the position abstainers have taken up, and, as it seems to me, it is
the only one which can enable us to say that we,
at least, are no longer responsible for the intemperance of the country. In this way alone shall
we be able to elevate the moral tone of the community, and cure that diseased state of the social
system out of which intemperance has sprung.
And surely, in a land whose fields have run red
with the blood of those who laid themselves on
the altar for the cause of liberty, there can be no
valid objection raised against the bond of this our
covenant, for slavery was not more detrimental to
the interests of the nation than intemperance is to
its moral and spiritual well-being. But why need
we argue this point? Have not the effects already
produced by the temperance movement clearly
proved that, in this department of our labors, we
have taken the proper course? Let any one contrast the public sentiment, in the matter of these
customs, in these days, with the views which were
held and acted on thirty, or forty, or fifty years
ago, and he will at once discover how much progress we have made. It may be said, indeed, that
all this is due to a higher tone of religion existing
in the midst of us, and I admit it; but then, I contend that this higher spirituality has taken shape
and form in the action of our temperance societies,
and that through them, mainly, its influence has
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The Chiristia;zt Scrvinzg Jhis Gcncration.   393
been exerted.  Nowv, in all this there is certainly
much to encourage us; but "there remainlethl yet
very much land to be possessed." God, by this
partial success, is only showing us that we are
working in the right direction, and by the right
instrumentality; therefore let us work on. Time
was when the work had to be done in the face of
the bitterest opposition, the most biting sarcasm,
and the most withering scorn; but now that we
have silenced all these batteries, shall we think of
giving over, and resting on our guns? Nay, verily, let us not slacken our exertions until these
practices shall be numbered among the things that
are obsolete and effete, and the bottle and the glass
shall be labelled, and laid by on the shelves of our
museums, as the relics of a bygone age. We may
not, perhaps, live to see this time, but "it's coming
yet for all that," and ours shall be the satisfaction
of having done our part to hasten its approach;
if we may not, like Solomon, build the temple of
temperance,'tis ours, like David, to fight the battles by which are to be obtained the mnaterials for
its construction.
III. But, thirdly, we seek, as temperance reformers, to serve our generation by dealing with
the traffic in strong drink. The traffic and the
customs are closely interlinked. They act and r-eact upon each other-the customs feed the traffic,
and the traffic perpetuates and increases the custotns; hence it would be useless to attempt to do
away with the one without ldealing wAithl the other.
And it is in this departtment of our labors that iwe 
394    Thze Christiafn Scrz'ii,- Ais Gccncration.
have the greatest difficulty to contend with, for
here we have the lawv of the land coming in and
giving its sanction and protection to the dealers in
strong drink. The readers of John Bunyan's " Pilgrim's Progress" will remember the scene in the
house of Interpreter, where Christian is shown a
fire which continues to burn brightly in spite of
the efforts of an individual to extinguish it by constantly pouring water into it; and, when he can
give no account of this apparent anomaly, he is
taken to the other side of the wall, where he beholds another man perpetually supplying it with
oil. That scene has a sacred significance in the
experience of the Christian; but, ah me! it has its
counterpart, too, in the devil's edition of his pilgrim's  progress.   Behold it here! policemen,
magistrates, judges in their several departments,
and temperance reformers, by their special efforts
are all seeking to throw water on the devouring
fire of intemperance which is burning constantly
in the land, but all seems to be in vain.  Why?
Because, when we look on the other side, we discover licensing bureaus pouring in oil to perpetuate the flame. Was there ever a more palpable
instance of building up with the one hand what we
are seeking to pull down by the other-of undoing
by one act what is sought to be accomplished by
another?  One can have some admiration for
Penelope, as we see her sytematically unweaving
by night the web which she has woven in the day,
for it was her constancy to her absent lord that
prompted it; but whien men's temporal and eter
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The Christiazi Serving his Gcay r-ttioit.   395
nal interests are at stake, and when we see indi viduals in authority making thus a playthingi of
the souls of men, it is impossible for us to restrain
our indignation, or to forbear asking the question:
"Shall the throne of iniquity have fellowship with
us, which frameth mischief by a law?"  How
loing, then, is this state of things to continue? So
long, and only so long, as the people of the land
permit it. Let us rouse them, therefore, from their
indifference; let us endeavor, by every means in
our power, to awaken them to a right idea of their
duty in the matter, and stir them up to demand  a
general lawv which shall make it illegal to traffic in
the souls of men by dealing in strong drink.  This,
and nothing, short of this, is the aim we have set
before us.  This is the "Sabbath and port of our
lal)or-s," and till this be accomplished we are determined not to slacken our efforts, nor "to bate a
jot of heart and hope, but still bear u1p, and steer
right onwarid.'  Each point we gain shall become
a battery, from which we shall assault another outwork; and thus, by ever-narrowing parallels, we
shall press in and in, until we breach the very citadel of drinkdom, and plant upon it the standard of
our victory. We seek no easy and superficial success; we have learned to labor, but we have also
learned to wait; we are content to make haste
slowly, if only we may thereby keep what we have
gained; we do not want a victory which shall be
worse than a defeat.  And when those vlwho will
not work with iis act the part of Sanballat, and
mockingly say, "What do these feeble Jews —will 
396    The Christtitz  Servini  his Generation.
they make an end in a day?" we make reply withl
Nehemiah: "We are doing a great work, and we
cannot come down; why should the work cease
while we leave it and come down to you?"
But in prosecuting this arduous work, we are
met with many objectors.  "You cannot make
men moral by legislation," says one.  "WVe can at
least insist that they shall not be made immoral by
it," we reply; and so, as far as that goes, we are
on an equality. " But the law will be broken," say
others, " and y ou will have shebeens and lore drinking-places without end."  " Not at all," we say,
"provided the law rest upon and rise out of the
convictions of the people, and do not go before
thcm.  Let the people be thoroughly in earnest in
the matter, and then we shall see the law thoroughly
enforced. But even if it should be disobeyed, what
then? Is God to repeal the Seventh Commandment
because there are so many houses of bad fame
among us?  Or are our legislators to relax the
vigor of our criminal law because there are so
maniy dens of thieves in the land?  Away with
all these subterfuges! If you were but in earnest,
you would brush them from your path as easily as
you do the gossamer of the morning.  "But," exclaims another, " it is an interference with trade,
and it is cruel to the publican."  Now, while we
hate the traffic, it by no means follows that we
hate the men, arid I honestly believe we shall be
doing them a deed of loving-kindness by compellini, them to seek another occupation.  I have
lately gone oxver in, niy nindcl the histories of all the
~'
I
k 
Tize ChGristizaz  Ser-'iiin, his  Gcncrationt.    397
spirit-dealers who were in a provincial town in
Scotland of about 20,000 inhabitants, some ten
years ago, and, so far as I can remember them,
there are only three or four of the whole number
who have not themselves, or their wives, or their
sons, or their daughters, fallen under the curse of
strong drink. And in Liverpool, as I was informed
by a medical man there, the average duration of
life for a man after he begins to keep a gin-shop is
not much over seven years. Now, is it cruel to
take men out of a trade like that?  But even supposing there were no such risks in it to the men
themselves, are the interests of the community, I
ask, to be sacrificed to the aggrandizement of one
class in it? In this matter I am not ashamed to
avow myself a protectionist, and I ask the law
to give me its assistance.  I can prevent a man
from storing up gunpowder in the same street with
me, and no one calls that an undue interference
with trade; but I confess that I would rather live
next door to a powmder magazine than to a ginshop; for, in the one case, every precaution would
be taken to avoid all danger, while, in the other,
every means would be employed to make it
greater. I demand, therefore, as a Christian mninister, that my flock be protected from the contamination of such places. I claim, as a Christian
parent, that my children shall not be everlastingly
ruined by the flaring temptations of those gilded
gateways into hell.
But now I must conclude, and it shall be with
a word 
398     The Chiristian Scrztinog his Gencrttion.
I. To those who are working with us in this
cause. To you, my brethren, I would say, labor
religiously in the work.  It is God's cause, therefore engage in it as such, and ask his blessing on
it. One of the most pleasing features of the Scottish Temperance League, with which I was long
connected, was that it took this decidedly religious stand upon the question of intemperance, and
sought, in all its movements, thoroughly to acknowvledg,e God. To this I trace all that prosperity which has made it the foremost temperance
organization in the world. Let us imitate this,
and to this end let there be unity and peace in the
midst of us; for as the electric wires will not work
in a thunder-storm, so no prayer-message ascends
to the ear of God from a disunited and contentious company.
2. And now a word to those who are not working with us. Permit me to ask you why you have
not joined us?  "Because," you reply, "you put
total abstinence in the place of the Gospel." But
we do not.  I will appeal to yourselves if those
ministers who are most prominently identified with
this movement are not also as well known for their
earnest, faithful preaching of the Gospel.  It is the
very earnestness of their Christian convictions
that has made them abstainers, and, so long as intemperance continues to rage among us, it will
always be found that a revived piety develops
itself in this direction. Need I appeal to the consequences of recent revivals in proof of this?
WVhy, then, should we be so misunderstood? I
I
I
I
I, 
The Ciristi{zn Serving his Generation.   399
would that men would only look on abstinence as
they do on other things. Take, for example, the
efforts for maintaining a house of refuge for the
fallen. Why don't you go to the promoters of
that scheme, and say, "We cannot help you, for
you are putting your homes in the place of the
Gospel "? "No," you answer, "they put them in to these homes, in order to bring them under the
influence of the Gospel."  And what else are we
doing with the drunkard? I believe there is not
an abstaining minister who has not in his church
members who formerly were drunkards, but were
first led by him to abstinence, and then from abstinence to Christ. Behold yonder vessel labor;ing amid the breakers, and going to pieces upon
the rocks; wave after wave is dashing over her,
and the crew have taken to the rigging, and are
in momentary peril of a watery grave.   Whl'at
means that spirit-stirring cheer rising from the
shore? It is the crowd encouraging the gallant
men to launch the life-boat, and put out to their
relief. But why does no one run to them, and expostulate with them thus:" They will not be perfectly safe in that boat; they cannot be cut of
danger until they are on shore, and you are putting the boat in the place of the shore "? Oh! how
like drivelling idiocy does your argument sound
in such a case as that; but that case, my brethren,
is ours. Yonder, stranded on the rock of intemperance, is a gallant vessel, and fathers, mothers,
brothers, sisters, neighbors, are on board, with destruction yawning underneath them.   Here, in 
400    Thze C'1ristiaii Serving zhis Generation.
Christ, is the true and only shore of safety; but
how shall we get them brought to him? how, but
by this our life-boat of abstinence? Our cry to
you this night, therefore, is, " Man the life-boat!
Man the life-boat!" and if you be men, not to say
Christians, you will give a hearty response thereto. But, oh, if you do not, then come with me to
Calvary, and see how your indifference appears in
the light of that sacrifice which Jesus made upon
the cross for you; yea, come with me to the judgment throne, and see how it will look when the
Lord, the Judge, shall say, "Inasmuch as ye did
it not for one of the least of these, my brethren, ye
did it not for me."
l 
PUBLICATIONS
OF THE
ational Tmperance Society
-AND fUIBLICATION J4OUSE.
THE  NATIONAL TEMPERANCE SOCIETY, organized in x866 for the purpose
of supplying a sound and able Temperance literature, have already
stereotyped and published two hundred and seventy-five publications of
all sorts and sizes, from the one-page tract up to the bound volume of 5oo
pages. This list comprises books, tracts, and pamphlets, containing
essays, stories, sermons, arguments, statistics, history, etc., upon every
phase of the question. Special attention has been given to the department
For Sunday-School Libraries.
Over forty volumes have already been issued, written by some of the best
authors in the land. These have been carefully examined and unanimously approved by the Publication Committee of the Society, representing the various religious denominations and Temperance organizations of
the country, which consists of the following members:
PETER CARTER,                      REV. J. B. DUNN
REv. W.  M. TAYLOR,                REV. A. G. LAWSON,
A. A. ROBBINS,                     REV. ALFRED TAYLOR,
REV.  M. C. SUTPHEN,              R. R. SINCLAIR,
T. A. BROUWER,                     REV.  C. D.  FOSS,
J. N. STEARNS,                    JAMES BLACK,
REV. WILLIAM HOWELL TAYLOR.
These volumes have been cordially commended by leading clergymen
of all denominations, and by various national and State bodies, all over
the land.
The following is the list, which can be procured through the regular
Sunday-School trade, or by sending direct to the rooms of the Society:
Rev. Dr. Willoughby and his Wine. x2mo, 458 pages. By Mrs. MARY
SPRING WALKER, author of " The Family Doctor," etc,... $1 50
This thrillingl interesting book depicts in a visid manner the terrible influence exerted by
those who standas the servants of God, and who sanctio the social custom of wine-drinking
It is fair and faithfult t t  ruth. It is not a bitter tirade against the church or the minist.ry
On the contrary, it plainly and earnestly acknowledges that the ministry is the friend of morality,
and the great bulnerk of practical virtue.
At Lion's Mouth.  02mo, 4-o pp.  By Miss MARY DWINELL CHELLIO, author
of "Temperance  Doctor,"  "Out  of the  Fire,"  "Aunt  Dinah's
Pledge," etc.,...................    $1 25
This is one of the best books ever issued, written in a simple vet thrilling and interesting style. It speaks boldly for the eutire suppression of the liquor traic, depicting vividly the
misery and wrongs resulting from it. The Christis tone is most excellent showing the ne
sitv of God's grace i   rt  to overcome temptation and the power o appetite, and thew    pp
influence which one zealous Christian ca exert upon his companions and the eommuaity. 
The Nattonal Temperance Soae?ty's Books.
The Old Brown Pitcher.   12mo,
222 pages.    By        the  Author  of
" Susie's  Six  Birthdays,"   "The
Flower of the Family,'  etc., $1 00
Beautifully illustrated.  This admirable volume for boys and girls, containing  original
s tories by some of the most gifted writers for
the young, will be eagerly welcomed by the
children.  It is adopte,l alike tor  the family
circle And the Sabbath-school library.
Aun t  D inah's Pledge.                                             a tmoo 3l8
pages. By Miss MARY DWINELL
CHELLIS, author of " Temperance
Doctor," "Out of the Fire,"
etc.,.....$1 25
Aunt Dinah was an eminent Christian womtan. Her pledge included swearing and smokinz, as well as drinking. It saved her boys.
wh~o lived useful lives, and died happy;* and
by quiet, y et loving and persistent work, names
of many others were added who seemed almost
beyond hope of salvation.
Our Parish. x8mo,%22 pages. BTo
Mrs. EMILY PEARSON,.. $0 7o
The manifold evils resulting front tile" still "
to the owner's family, as well as to the i amilies
of his customers, are truthfully presented. Tise
characters  introduced, such  as are  found il
almost every good-sized village, are well portrayed. VV'e can unlhes:.tatinglycommllend it,
and bespeak for it a wide circullationl.
The Temperance Doctor.  12mo, 370
pages. By Miss MARY DWINELL
CHELLIS,........$1  2~
This is a true story, replete with interest,
and adapted to Sunday-school and family reading   In it we  have graphically depicted the
sad ravages that are caused by the use el intoxicating beverages; also, the blessings of Temperance, and what may be accomplished by on e
earnest soul for that reform.  It ought to flnd
weader~ in every household.
Out  of the  Fire.   I2mo, 420 pages.
By Miss MARY OWlNELL CHELLIS,
author of " Deacon Sim's Pray  ers," etc.,.......$1 PA
It is one ot the most effective and impressive
Temperance books ever published.   The evils
of the drinking customs of society, and the
blessings of sobriety and total abstinence, are
str ikingly developed           in t he h   istory of various
f       amili       es in the community.
History of a Threepenny Bit. i8mo,
2i6                             pages,..B..B.R..                                 $0 75
This         is a thrill ing  stor y, b eautifully  illustr ated with five te wood               engravings.  The
s tory of    little Peggy,  the  d runka rd's d aughter,
is told  in such a        simple  yet  inte resting  m anner
that no one can read it without realizing more
th       an  everb efor      e                  tye nature and  extent  of intempe    ra      nce, and sympa thizing more than ever
with the patient, suffering victim. It should
be in every Sunday-school library.
Adopted. x8mo, 236 pages. By
Mrs. E. J. RICHMOND, author of
" The McAllisters,"... $0 6O
This book is written in an easy, pleasant
yle, seems to be true to nature, true to itself,
and withal is full of the Gospel and Temper ance.
The Rted Bridge.,smo, 32I pages
By THgACE TALMAN,..~09
We have met with. few Temperance stories
containia so many evidences of decided ability
and high ~terary excellence as this.
The Hard Blaster. x8mo, =78 pages
By Mrs. J. E. McCCoNAVGgV au  thor of"i One Hundred Gold Dol  lars," and other popular Sunday  School books,.....$0  85
This interesting narrative of the temptations,
trials, hardships, and fortunes of  poor orphan
boy  llustrates in a most striking manner the
value  of " right  principles,"  especially  of
honesty truth iuln ess, alld T EMPERANCE.
Echo Bank. xSmo, 269 pages. By
ERVIE,.........  $0 85
This is a well-written and deeply interesting
narrative, in which is clearly shown the suffering and sorrow that too often follow and  the
dangers  that attend boys and  young men at
school and at college, who suppose they can
easily take a glass or two occasionally, withlout fear of ever being aught more than a moderate drinker.
Rachel Noble's Experience.  x8mo,
325 pages. By BRucED EDWARDS.
This is a story of thrilling interest, ably andi
eloque ntly  told, and  is all  excellent book ito
Sunday-school libraries.  It is just the book for
the home circle, and cannot be  read without
benefitin the reader and advanciig the cause
of Temperante.
GEertie's Sacrifice; or Glmpses at
Two Lives. I8mo, 089 pages. By
Mrs. F. D. GAGE,.... $F016
A story of great interest and power, giving a
" glimpse at two  lives,"  and showing how
Gertie sacrificed herself as a vietim of fashion,
custom, send law. 
T[le National Temp,rcince Societ's Books.
Time will Tell.  I2mO, 307 pages.
By Mrs. WILSON,.... $. 00
A T.,,perance tale of thrilling interest and
uiiiexceptioiable  isoral and religious tone.  It
is fulll oftulcidents and characters of' everyday
life, while its lessons  are plainly and forcibly
set before the reader.  The pernicious results
of the drinking usages in the family and social
circle are plainly set forth.
Philip  Eckert's  Struggles  and
Triumphs. S8mo, 2I6 pages. By
the author of "Margaret Clair,'
$0 60
This interesting  narrative of a noble, manlyl
bho, in al intemperate home, fighting with  the
wrong  and  battling for the right, should be
read by every child iu the land.
Jug-Or-Not.  "2mo, 346 pages.  By
Mrs. J. iIcNAIR WRIGHT, author
of "John and the Demijohn,"
"Almost a Nun,"  " Priest and
Nun,"etc........$1 25
It is oneof her best books, and treats  of the
phs sical and hereditaiy effects of drinking in a
lear, plainl, and  familiar style, adapted  to
p)opular   eaiung, anlo w hich should       b       e            read  by
all esss  in te com unity,   d find a place
il every.i     3day-school library.
The Broken Rock.  s8mo, I39 pages.
By  KRUNA, a            uthor of "            Lit a
Little," etc.,...... $0  50
i t  beautipully illus trate  t   he silent  and holy
inlence of a mee   and  lowly spi             fri t u pon  th e       r
hea rtless  rumseller until  th         r     e   rocky heart was
A        ndr ew Douglass.  s8mo, 232 paoge                                      s
A   e  Teperae   story for Sund      ay-schools,
vritten in a lively, energetic,  and  popular
stye,adapte,d to the Sabbath-school and the
famllily circle.
Vow at the Bars..8mo, xo8 pages.
$0 40
'I conltains four short tales, illustratingt'our
ilportault principles connected with  the Temperaence movement,  ld is well adapted for the
ltmllily circle and Sabbath-school libraries.
Job  Tufton's  Rest.    x2mO,  332
pages...... $1..
A  story of life's struggles, written by  the
gifted author, CLARA LUCAS BALFOUR, depictm  mrlost skilfzll y and truthfully   any a  lif,stnltggle with the demou of intemperance  occurring all along life's pathway. It is a finely
written story, and full of interest fro. the beginning tothe end.',
Frank'51dfeld; or, Lost and Found.
x2mo, 408 pages..... $1 50
This excellent  story received  the  prize of
~e100 in Ellglad, out of eighty-th reemanu  iscripts submitted   and by  an arrangement
aith the publishers we publish it in this coun  try with all the  original illustrations. It is
admirably adapted to Su nday-school libraries.
Tom Blinn's Temperance Society,
and   other Stories.            x2mo       3x6
pages......B. l1 25
This  is the  title of a new book written by
T. S. ARTH.R, the well-known author of "  Tel
Nights in an Bar-room," and whose fame   as an
author should bespeak for it A wide circulation.
It is written in Mar. ARTHUR'S best style cor
posed of A series o  tales adapted to every thmill
and library in the land.
The  Harker Family.  x2mo, 336
pages.  By EMILY THOMPSON,$  2
$1 25
A simple, spirited, and interesting narrative,
written  in a style especially attractive, depict ing the evils that ar.se from intem.perance,and
the blessings that followed  the earnest efforts
of those who sought to win others to the paths
of total abstinence.  Illustrated with three en gravings. The book will please all.
Come   Home, Mother..8mo,  I43
r pages.  By NELSIE BROOK.  II   lustrated with six choice engrav   ings...0 50
A most effective  and interesting book, deht scribing the downward course of the mother,
ron.and giving an account of the sad scnes, bht et t'ectual endeavors, of the little one ill bringing
p her mother back to friends, and leadilg  her to
God.  It should be read by everybody.
Tim's Troubles.  -2mo, 35o pages.
By MissM. A. PAU LL,.. $  50
This is the second Prize Book of  the United
Kingdom Banl of Hope Union, and which has
been reprinted in this country with all the original illnstrations. It is the coimpaniosi of
" tFrarnk Oldfield," written in a high tone, anil
will be found                          1 valuable addi tion to our Teiperance literature.
The Drinking Fountaini Stories,
I.mO,.92 pages,....  $1 00
This  book of illustrated stories for chilren
coAtains articles  frose   the pens of some of the
best writers  for children il  Aismerica, and  is
beautifully  illustrated with  forty choice wood
ewgravings.   Itisinterspersed eithishortstoriei
and anecdotes, and should be in every Sundatschool library and in the hands of every child
in the land.            -
3 
The Iational emnperance Society's Books.
The  Pitcher  of Cool  Water.  s8mo,
i8o pages.    By  T. S.  ARTHUR,
author of" Tom  Blinn's Temper  ance Society,"  "Ten Nights  in a
Bar-room,' etc.,.... $0 50
This little book consists of a series of Temperance stories, handsomely illustrated, written
in Mr. ARTHUR'S best style, and is altogether
one  of the best books which can be placed in
tile hands of children.  Every Sunday-school
library should possess it.
Hopeda         l     e Tavern,   and   What   it
Wrought..2mO, 252 pages.  B
J. WILLIAM VAN NAMEE,. $1 00
Itshows the sad results which followed the
introduction of a Tavern and Bar in A beautifa1 and quie     t country town, whose  inhabitants
had hitherto  lived in peace and enjoyment.
The contrast is too plainly presented to fail to
produce An impression on the reader, making
all more desirous to abolish the sale of all intoxicaots
Roy's Search; or, Lost iii the Cars.
52mo, 364 pages. By HELEN C.
PEARSON,....... $1  25
This new  Temperance  book is one  of the
mat interesting ever published-written  in a
fresh, sparkling  style, especially adapted  to
please the boys,  anti  contains  so much that
will benefit as  vell as amuse and interest  that
we wish all the boys in the land might read it.
Little Girl in Black..2mo, 2.2
pages.  By MARGARET E. WIL  MER.........                $0 90
Her strong faith in God, whoshe believes
Evill reclaim an erring father, is a lesson to the
reader, old as well as young.
Temperance Anecdotes. x2mo, 288
pages............                   $1 00
This new book of Temperance  Aniecdotes,
edited by G.o.GE W. BUNGAT, contains nearly four  hund red  Anecdotes, Witticisms, Jokes,
Conundrums, etc, original and  selected, and
,will meet a want long felt and often expressed
by a very large number of the numerous friends
ot the cause I  the land.  The book is handsomely illustrated with twelve choice food
engravings.
H    ow Could H       e  Escape  t    f2mo,  3        N4
prages. By  MRS.  J.  NCNAIR
WRIGHT, author of              "Jug-Or  Not."    Illustrated  with  ten  en  gravings, designed by the au  thor,........$1 25
This is a true tal, ad one of the writer's
best productions.  It shows the terrible effects
of even one glass of intoxicating liquor upon
the system of one unable to resist its influences,
and the necessity of grace in the heart to resist
temptation and overcome the appetite for strong
drink.
T           he Temperance  Speaker. c By  J.
N.  STEARNS,.....  $   75
The book contains 288 pages of Declamations
and Dialogues suitable tor  Sunday and DaySchools, Bands of Hope, and Temperance  Organizations.   It consists of choice selections
of prose and poetry, both new.anl old, trom
the  Temperance orators and  writers of  the
country, many of which have been written  expressly for this work.
I
The Best Fellow in the World.
12mo,  352  pages.           By   Mrs.   J.
McNAIR WRIGHT, author of" Jug  Or-Not," " How Could He Es  cape?" " Priest and Nun," etc.,
'   $1  25
"The Best Fellow," whose course is here
portrayed, is one ofa very large class who are
led astray and ruined simply because they are
such" good fellows."  To al such the volume
speaks in thrilling tones of warning, shows the
Inevitable consequences of indulging il strong
drink, and the necessity of divine grace in the
heart to interpose and save from         ruis.
Frank Spencer's Rule of Life.
I8mo,.8o pages. By J OHN W.
KIRTON, author of "'Buy Your
Own Cherries," "Four Pllars of
Temperance," etc., etc.,. $0 50
This is written in the author's best style,
making an inletesting aod attractive story tor
children.
The McAllisters. x8mo, 231 pages.
By Mrs. E. J. RICHMOND,. $0  50
It shows the ruin brought on a fami ly b y the
father's intempierate habits, and the strong
faith and trust of the wife  in that Friend above
who alone gives strength to bear our earthly
trials.
The Seymours.   x2mo, 231 pages.
By Miss L.   BATES,... $][06
A simple story, showing how a refined and
cultivated family are brought low through the
drinking habits of the father, their joy and sorrow  as he reforms only to fall1 again, and his
final happy release In a distant city.
4
r 
The NaItonal Temperance Society's Books.
Eva's Engagement Ring. temo, I89
pages. By MARGARETr E. WIL   MER, author  of  "The  Little Girl
in Black,"...... $0 90
In this interesting volume is traced the career
of the moderate drinker, who takes a glass ill
the sameoffriendship or courtesy.
Packington Parish, and The Dives
Daughter. 12mo, 327 pages. 1B~
Miss M. A. PAULL... $1  2Y
In this volume  we see the ravages which
the liquor traffic caused when introduced in a
hitherto quiet village, and how a minister's eyes
were at length opened to its evils, though he
had a iwavs declared  wine  to be a' ood 
creature o(f God," meant to be used in moder.
tions.
Old Times.  x2mo.  By Miss M.D.
CHELLIS, author of "The Tem  perance Doctor,"  "Out of the
Fire," "Aunt Dinah's Pledge,"
"At Lion's Mouth," etc.,. $1 25
It d            iscusses the whole subject of moderate
drinking in the history of a New England village.  The incidents, various and amusing, are
all facts, and the characters nearly all draw           n
from real life.  The five deacons which figure
so conspicuously actually lived and acted as represented.
The Fire Fighters. I2mo, 294 pages.
By  Mrs. J. E. MCCONAUGHY, au  thor of" The Hard  Master,           1 25
$1 2i-i
tAn admirable story, showing hov  a snumsber
of yo ung lads banded theselves into a society
to fight against Alcohol, and the good they did
ill the community.
The Jewelled Serpent.  12mO, 27r
pages.  By Mrs. E. J. RICHMOND,
author of " Adopted," "The Mc  Aisters," etc.,.....          $1  00
The story is written earnestly. Tle characters are Nell delineated,an,d taken  from  the
wealthy and~ ltkshionlable portion ofra l;urge city.
The evils which flow       fro. fashionable drinkin1g are well portrayed, and also tie danger
arisingLS  froa h   the use of in toxicants wihen  lased as
medicine, forming an appetite which lastens
it,        h adeadlyholduponits victim.
The Hole in the Bag, and Other
Stories.   By  Mrs.  J. P.  BALLARD,
author of "The Broken Rock,
" Lift a Little,"  etc.   i2mo, $1 on
A collection of well-written stories by this
most Popular author on the subject of temperance, inculcating mangy valuble lessons ha the
minds of its readers.
The Youth's Temperance Banner.
The National Temperance Society and Publication House publish a
beautifully illustrated Monthly Paper, especially adapted to children and
youth, Sunday-school and Juvenile Temperance Organizations   Each
number contains several choice engravings, a piece of music, and a great
variety of articles from the pens of the best writers for children in America.
It should be placed in the hands of every child in the land.
TERMS-IN ADVANCE.
Single copies, one year,.. $0 25   Thirty copies to one address, $3 75
Eight copies, to one address,  1 00   Forty   "        "      "      5 00
Ten      "       "      "     1 25   Fifty    "        "       "     6 25
Fifteen  "       "      "     1 88   One Hundred   "          "    12 00
Twenty "'      "     2 50
Children's Tracts.
A series of forty-live illustrated children's tracts have been published,
adapted for circulation in Sunday-schools.  Per thousand, $3.
Packet of Pictorial Tracts for Children,......... $0 25
A valuable packet of 72 of the above Tracts for the Children, suitable
for distribution in Sunday-Schools, B3ands of Hope, and other Juvenile
Temperance organizations. 
The National Tenmperance Society's Books.
Miscellaneous Publications.
Delavan's Consideration of the Tem  perance Argument and History
$1 i0
This condensed and comprehensive work cont ains Essays and Selections from different ant tied hors, collected     d edited by EDWARD C. D.LAVAN, Esq., and is one of the most valuaible
text-bo oks on the subject of Temperance  ever
issued.
Bible Rule of Temperance; or,
T otal Abstinence from all intox  icating Drinks. By Rev. GEORGE
DUFFIELD,  D.D.,.... $0 60
Tlsis is thie ablest and  nost  reliable work
which has been issued on the subject.  The imoorality  f the  ise, sale and( mtaiufacture  of
intoxicating liquors as a beverage is considered
hin   ther  light of tie Scriptures, and the will  and
law of Good clearly presented.
Alcohol:  Its Nature and Effects.
By CHARLES A. STOREY, M.D.
$090
This is  a thoroughly scientific  work, yet
written in a fresh, vigorous, and popular style,
i:I language  that the masses can understand.
It cosists of te  lectures careflly prepared,
ap e   is al$ en0tirely  ves  work by O.e amply competent to present the subject.
Four Pillars of Temperance. By
JOHN W. KIRTON,... $0  5
The Foonuv lr Pillars are, Reasost, Sciesice, Scriptureree Tt, and Experience.  The book is argumentalive, historical, and statistical, and the  facts,
appeals, and arguments are presented in a most
conwnclving and masterly manner.
Communion Wine; or Bible Tem  perance  By Rev. WILLIAM M.
THAYER.   Paper, 20 cents; cloth,
$0 50
Forty Years' Fight with the Drink
Deimion. x2mo, 4oo pages. By
CHARLES JEWETT, M.D).,.$1 50
T              his volume  comprises the history of Dr-.
Jewvett's public and private labors from 1826 to
the present  time, wit       h sketches of  the mnost
popular and distinguished advocates of the
cause in its earlier stages. It also records the
results of forty years' observation, study, and
refletiois upono the  use  of intoxicatingdrinks
and drugs, and  suggestions  as  to the best
methods el advancing the cause, etc. The book
is handsomely bound, and contains  illustrated
portraiL of early champions of the cause.
Drops  of Water.    x2mo, x33 pages.
By Miss ELLA WHEELER, $0 7ii
A new   book of fifty-six Temperance Poems
by this voing and talented authoress, suitable
ior readis  in Temperance  Societies, L                odg  e
Rooms, Divisiocs, etc. The simplicity of manner, beauty of expression, earnestness of
thought, and  noble ness of sentiment running
throug h all of them    make  this book a      real
gem, worthy a place by the side of any of the
poetry ll the country.
Bound  Volume of Tracts.
pages..    $1I00
This olume contains all the four, eight, and
twelve page tracts published by the Nati1onal
Temperan ce  Society, including all the prize
tracts issued the  last         two y ear s         Th e book
comprises Arguments, Statistics, Sketches, and
Essays, wkhich   m ake   it an invaluable Iollection
fo,r e~'ery friend of the Temperance Reform.
Scripture   Testimony   Against  In  toxicating Wine.  By Rev. WM.
RITCHIE, of Scotland,.. $0 60
An unanswerable refutation of the theory
that the Scriptures favor  the idea  of the
use of intoxicating l;ine as a beverage. It
takes the different kindsi of wines mentioned in
the Scriptures, investigates their specific.ature, and  hovs wherein they differ.
Alcohol: Its Place and Power, by
JAMES MILLER; and The Use and
Abuse of Tobacco, by JOHN LI  ZARS,........ $1 00
Zoological Temperance Convention.
By Rev.  EDWARD  HITCHCOCK,
D.D., of Amherst College, $0 7.x
This fable gives an interesting and entertaining account of a Convention of Animals held
in Central Africa, and reports the                 ce   oes
made on the occasion.
Al unanswerable argument against the use
of intoxicating wine at Communion, ald preseiting tlhe Bible argument in favor of total
atbstinlence.
Laws of Fermentation and Wines
of the Ancients..2mo, x29 pages.
By Rev. WM.  PATTON,  D.D.
Paper,  30  cts.; cloth,.. $0  60
It presents  the  whole matter ofBible Tem.,perance and the wines of ancient times il a
new, clear, and satis actory manner,  dIevelopissg the laws of fermentation, andgivisng a large
number of references and statistics never before
collected, showing conclusively the existence of
unfermented wine in the olden time.
6
i 
The National Temperance Society's Books.
Text-Book  of Temperance.    By   gatherings, Glee Clubs, etc., together with the
Dr. F. R. LEES....             Odes of the Sons of Temperance and Good
We can also furnish the above book, which is  Teplatrs.
divided into the following ports: 1. Temper  ance as a Virtue. S. The Cheicl History o f  Temper ance Chimes.    Price,  in
Alcohol. 3 The Dietetics of Temperance. 4.    paper  covers,  30  cents, single
The Pathology of lotemper.n,-e. 5. Tile Medi-    copies;  $25 per hundred.  Price
calQuestion. 6 Temperance in Relation to    *rice,
C.1 Q.ti..    Te~pr.,,,!in be~to~it ard covers, 35 cents: per
the Bible. 7. Historical.  8. The National  n  oar  covers,        cents   per
Question and the Remedy. 9. The Philosophi  hunIdred............ $0 00
of Temperance.                           A Temperance Ilymn n(l Tulle-Book o f 128
pages, comprising a great variety oi Glees,
Bugle  Notes for the Temperance  Songs, and Blyins designed for tie tise ofTer   Army.  Price, paper covers, 30  perance Meetings and Ornaoizations, Basds of
cents;* boards........   o 35r;  Hope, Glee Clubs, and the Holsie Circle. Many
cents; boards,...... 035                             th~e      ~ -
Xof the Hymns have been written expressly for
A new collection of Songs, Quartets, and  this book by some of the best writers in the
Glees, adapted to the use of all Temperance  country.
Pamphlets.
John Swig.  APoem.  By EDWARD   Bound and How; or, Alcohol as a
CARSWELL.   2mO, 24 pages.  Il-        Narcotic.  By  CHARLES JEWETT,
lustrated with eight characteristic     ID.    2mo d24 pp...$0 1
engravings,  printed  on  tinted, 24 pp                             $0
paper........ $0 15  Scriptural Claims of Total Abstin                                         eiee. By Rev. NEWMIAN HALL..
The Rum Fiend, and Other Poems.            2mo, 62 PP...... $0  15
By WILLIArI H. BURLEIGH..2M O   Buy Your Own Cherries.  By Jo
46 pages.  Illustrated with three
W. KIRTON..2mo, 32 pp., $0 20
wood  engravings,  designed  by             KIRTON.   2m   32 PP., $0 2
EDWARD CARSWELL.... $0 20  National Temperance Almanac and
Suppression of the Liquor Traffic.        Teetotaler's Year Book for 1873,
A  Prize Essay, by Rev. H.  D.                                       $0 10
KITCHELL, President of Middle-   Illustrated Tenmperance Alphabet
bury College. 52mO, 43 pp., $0 10                                    $0'5
Twenty-four Page Pamphlets. (With Covers.)
Five Cents each; 60 Cents per Doz.
Is Alcohol Food I By Dr. F. R. LEES.
Physiological Action of Alcohol. By Prof. HENRY MUNROR.
Adulteration of Liquors.  By Rev. f. B. DUNN
Will the Comining Man Drink Wine' By JAMES PARTON, Esq.
History and Mystery of a Glass of Ale.  By J. W. KIRTON.
Bible Teetotalism. By Rev. PETER STRYKER.
Medicinal Drinking. By Rev. JOHN KIRK.
Drinking Usages of Society. By Bishop ALONZO POTTER.
Fruits of the Liquor Traffic.  By SUMNER STEBBINS, M.D.
Is Alcohol a Necessary of Life I By Prof. HENRY MUNROH.
A High Fence of 15 Bars.  By the author of" Lunarius."
Packet of Assorted Tracts, No. 1.  Comprising  Nos.  2 to 53 put u  in
strongpaper covers, making 250 pages,.                        $  25
Packet of Assorted Tracts, No.2.   Comprising  53 to             makin  2o
pages,..................
'I  
The National Temperance Society's Books.
Temperance Sermons.
The National Temperance Societv are publishing a series of Sermons upon arious phases,r
the Temperance Question by some of the leading clergymeoi ill Asmerica. The following are
already published:
1. Common Sense for Young Men.   By Rev. H. W.  BEECHFR,. $0 15
2. Moral Duty of Total Abstinence.   By Rev. T. L. CUYLER,..    15
3. The Evil Beast.  By Rev. T. DE W ITT TALMAGE,.       15
4. The Good Samaritan.   By Rev. J. B  DUNN,...    15
5. Self-Denial: A Duty and a Pleasure.   By Rev. J P. NEWMAIAN,
D.D., Chaplain of the United States Senate,..    15
6. The Churchl and Temperanee.  By JOHN W. MEARS, D.D., Pro      fessor of Hamilton College, New York...    15
7. Active Pity of a Queen.  By Rev. JOHN HALL, D.D...    15
8. Temperance and the Pulpit.   By Rev. C. D. F oss, D.D.,..    15
9. The Evils of Intemperance.  By Rev. J. ROMEYN BERRY,..    15
10. Liberty and Love.   Bv Rev. HENYv WARD BEECHER,..    15
11. The Wine and the Word    By Rev  HERICIK JoHNsoN,.    15
12. Strange Children.  By Rev. PETER STRvKER,...    15
13. Impeachment and Punishment of Alcohol.  Rev. C. H.FOWLER,                   15
14. Drinkinig for Health.  By Rev. H. C. FISH,....         15
15. Scientific Certainties (not Opinions) about Alcohol.  By Rev.
H. WV. WARREN,.......                        15
Example and Effort.  An Address by lion. SCHUYLER COLIFAX.    15
The  Total Abstainer's  Daily  Witness and Bible  Verdict.   75  Cents.
This is a series of Scripture Texts printed on thirty-one large sheets, arranged so that one cau
be used for each day in the month. The size of each sheet is 19 by 12 inches, al fastened together
vith roller and cord, so as to be easily hug up in room, office, workshop, etc.; anid turning over
a sheet day by day as desired.
New Temperance Dialogues.
The First Glass; or, The Power of Woman's Influence.
The Young Teetotaler; or, Saved at Last.  cents each. Per dozen,             $1 50
Reclaimed -or, The Danger of Moderate Drinking.  10 cents. Per dozen,   -   -  -    1 00
Marry No Ian if He Drinks or, Laura's Plan, andI How it Succeeded. 10 cts. Per doz.,   1 00
Which Will You Choose? 36 paes. By Miss M.D. Chellis. 15 ceats. Per dozen, -  -    1 50
Aunt Dinah's Pledge. Dramatized from  -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -             15
The Temperanse Doctor. Dramatized from the Book,,   - - - - - - -               1
Wine asa Medicine.  10 cents. Pe dozen, -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -  -    00
The Stumbling-Block. 10 cents. Per dozen,   - - - - - - - - - -                 00
Trial and Condemnation of Judas oemaker. 15 cents. Per dozen,    - - -  -      1 50
Temperance Exercise, -   -   -   -   -  -    10
Band of Hope Supplies.
Band of Hope Manual. Per doz.....                                        $0 60
Temperance  Catechism.   Per doz.,.......                60
Band of Hope Melodies.  Paper.......              10
BaRd of Hope Badge.  Enamelled, $1 25 per doz.  12 cents singly.
Plain, $1 per dozen; 10 cents singly.  Silver and Enamelled,
50 cents each.
Juvenile Temperance Speaker......25
Illuminated Temperance Cards.  Set of ten,..35
Juvenile Temperance Pledges.  Per hundred,...       3 00
Certificates  of  Membership.   Per hundred,..3 00
7he  Temperance Speaker,..........                75
Sent by mail, post-paid, on.,e_lt of price Address
J. N. STEARNS, 58 Reade St., N.Y.