Hardly an Exoneration by G.

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · May 13, 1903

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 29, No. 19.

Hardly an Exoneration.

By G.

A correction that is rather an extension of the charge, is noted in the Sacramento Record-Union as follows:—

The declaration by the Rev. S. G. Adams, at a session of the Sacramento Women's Christian Temperance Union, that fashionable women of Sacramento are too much addicted to liquor drinking—that the habit is on the increase, has aroused the indignation of Mrs. William Beckman, who declares that the minister is mistaken; that the punch used at receptions in this city usually has no more wine than is necessary to make the potation palatable. “At any rate,” the lady declares, “the ladies of Sacramento do not smoke cigarettes at their social functions, as the ladies of the San Francisco 400 do.”

That somebody else does worse is not a clear vindication; it would not be ground for acquittal in an ordinary court. And in the infallible court of Heaven each case must stand on its own merit—or demerit. The “deeds done in the body” are “judged by the law,” and not by the conduct of others. “The soul that sinneth, it shall die.” The only vindication is found in the exercise of faith in Him who never violated the law, whose merit is accepted in behalf of all who accept Him as a Redeemer. It is no longer a secret that the strong-drink habit is growing among women, and it is equally true that too many men are inclined to make this fact a ground of apology for their own indulgence. But it is no excuse. There is but one example that may be safely followed, and that is the example of the perfect One. His command is, “Follow thou Me.”