“Blessed art thou, O land, when thy king is the son of nobles, and thy princes eat in due season, for strength, and not for drunkenness!” —Ecclesiastes 10:1717Blessed art thou, O land, when thy king is the son of nobles, and thy princes eat in due season, for strength, and not for drunkenness! (Ecclesiastes 10:17).
SOLOMON extols the land whose leaders set an example to the generality of the people by using God’s gifts temperately, not in giving way to gluttony or inebriation. It means much to any country when those in high station refuse to be parties to the use of intoxicants. Frivolous worldlings sneered when the Hon. William Jennings Bryan turned down his glass at a banquet, or drank the pure juice of the grape instead of wine, but his example meant a great deal to uncounted thousands who realized something of what it cost one in his position at that time to stand firmly against one of the most outstanding evils of the times.
To do as one may please is not
True liberty though men awhile
May think it so, and find delight
In self-indulgent way, and smile
Derisively at those who walk
With vital conscience for their guide.
These live in arrogance and scorn
Of others’ rights and welfare, chide
Those who believe in self-control
And sacrifice. These will not pay,
In peace or battle, freedom’s wage,
But yield unto a tyrant’s sway.
Real freedom is the liberty
To do as one believes he must,
In justice and in mercy, do.
The men who has it puts his trust
In God’s eternal verities;
And, knowing well what freedom is,
Will give his service and his strength,
His life, his all, to keep it his.”
—Clara Aiken Speer.