The Sin of Drunkenness

[…] Be courteous, cleanly, humane, capable of faithful friendship and ardent affection, and too honest or too proud to steal; but a drunken man never can be either of these. In his drunken moments he is rude, unclean, brutal, prone to insult or injure friends or wife or child, and he will descend to the lowest depths of baseness and dishonesty. So, again, a thief may have all those virtues which are possible with a liar, and may in addition despise lying; but the drunken man, having no capacity for any virtue and attracting to himself every vice, finds it easier to lie than to speak the truth. Proverbially, no one places any reliance on his word or even upon his sworn testimony.

It is even worse with religion than with the merely moral virtues. A man has no conscience when he is drunk; his spirituality is extinguished absolutely; he cannot either fear or love, pray, worship or adore; he is unable to see his sin, and, therefore, cannot be truly penitent for it, or repent of it; the example, the sacrifice, and the resurrection of his Saviour can make no impression on his bestialized soul, nor will the Holy Spirit enter that unclean dwelling; it is impossible for the love of God to find room in his heart, and we have the inspired word of the Apostle that none who are like him "shall inherit the kingdom of God."

There is another and a very tragical aspect of this terrible vice. It is perhaps the most difficult to conquer of all vices. No other sin stretches its roots down so deep into or intertwines its tendrils so insidiously and widely with every part of our moral nature. So that, commonly, the confirmed drunkard is in a condition of almost abject hopelessness; and, humanly speaking, is considered past remedy or cure. His will is so utterly prostrated, his conscience so blunted, his sense of shame and self-respect so obliterated, his whole better nature so paralyzed or brutalized, that effort expended upon him is felt often, alas! too truly to be labor in vain.

While we would be the last to discourage Christians from laboring with those who are the victims of this monster vice, but would rather encourage them to redouble their exertions to snatch them as brands from the burning, the lesson that we desire specially to enforce is the importance of early culture to prevent its implantation and growth in the young. Let children be shown from their tenderest years how hideous and dangerous a thing it is. Let them be assiduously taught to regard it, not as an infirmity or a disease, but as a sin — something to be hated and feared rather than pitied. And let them be directed, also, to the only thing which can be a sure preventative against it — namely, the grace of God, leading to a pure and holy life. If mothers and fathers would bring up their children in the fear of the Lord, or as the Apostle puts it, "in the nurture and admonition of the Lord," there would be an end of this vice in our land. — Christian Intelligencer.