West Virginia freeman. (Parkersburg, W. Va.) 1881-1886, 1882-11-01
Reu. T. Deaoitt Talmage, IN Brooklyn
Tabernacle, tao aceeks ago.

SUBJECT: 1.-THE RED DRAGON"
Text: Revelations xii. 3 :2"Be-
hold a great red dragon having sew
en- heads and ten horns and seven
crowns on his head. And his tail
drew the third part Of the stars of
heaven"
Some Interpreters take this red
dragon of the text to be che thing
and some another, and as there
seems a wide difference of opinion,
| feel at liberty to take it as sug-
gestive of the great monster Of In
temperance, wide-jawed and iron
hoofed, fiery, all-devouring, with
at least ten horns to hook and
pierce and wound, and by taking
possession of many governments it
may be said to have seven crowns,
and by the number of kings and
queens, and orators and poets and
other illustrious persons whom it
has brought down from the firm
ament Of power it may be said to
have drawn the third part of the
stars of heaven after it. Alcohol
ism, worst of all red dragons. In
my sermon Of last Sabbath while
experimenting the political parties
of this day for their present degra-
dation, said that the two great
political parties had done their
work and that we should before
long
HAVE A NEW PARTY.
The Republican party was
formed to kill slavery. Slavery is
dead and damned. The Republi-
can party having achieved What it
started for, had better pass out Of
existence. The Democratic party
was founded by Thomas Jefferson
to oppose the adoption of laws of
primogeniture, by which the oldest
son got all of the inheritance, and
to drive out of the land all foreign
titles, and to give equal rights to
all classes Of people. Having fully
accomplished that work, its mis-
sion seems ended. We are now
ready for a party organized for a
new, particular, supreme, God Civ
en- work. l showed you last Sab
bath that such a party must first of
all acknowledge God in its plat
forms, in its ensigns, in its plans
and purposes; that it must also be
the foe of national wastefulness and
the friend of national economy. |
come now to say that it needs not
only to whisper, but to thunder
against the curse of curses, the
abomination of denominations, the
infernalism of infernalisms-the
INTEMPERANCE OF THE LAND
and by national prohibition go
forth to slay the red dragon of al
coholism. If you think that the
triumph of Prohibition in Iowa
and Wisconsin and Kansas is fa-
natical paroxysm, you are greatly
mistaken. In six years the Pro-
hibition Party will hold the bal
ance Of power in every State of the
American Union, not perhaps hav-
ing the majority of votes. but the
balance Of power, SO that no man
can be Governor, or Lieutenant
Governor, or Secretary of State, or
Judge of the Court of Appeals I'M
til he be pronounced against the
red dragon, and in twelve years it
will have its President in the
White House. No party ever rose
as rapidly as this party is rising.
The anti-slavery party, which f.
nally rose under a mountain of
scorn and contempt till it took pos
session OF the Presidential chair
and both houses Of Congress, made
not one-fourth the speed of this
anti-rum crusade. Why, slavery
was pet lamb compared with this
red dragon.
All the families which have by
been robbed of faith
ers, sons and brothers, and all the