The Russellville Democrat., 1889-08-22
TALMAGE'S SERMON.
Drunkenness the Nations Curse,"
 Eloquently Discoursed Upon.
The Drunkard's Downward Course, Ills Blasted Home, His Inevitable Doom and His Hopeless Death Yiv-
 Idly Portrayed.

Rev T. Dewitt Talmage delivered the following sermon at Helena, Mont, dur ing his recent visit to that city. His suh- ject was: "Drunkenuess tthao z;stion's Curse" and his text:
 Who slew all thesef--II Kings, K, 10.
 l see long row of baskets coming up toward the palace of King Jehu. am somewhat inquisitive to find out what is in the baskets. I look in and find the gory heads of seventy slain Princes. As the baskets arrive at the gate of the pal ace the heads are thrown into two heaps, one on either side the gate. In the morn ing the King comes out, and he looks upon the bleeding, ghastly heads of the mastered Princes. Looking on either side the gate, he cries out, with ringing emphasis: "Who slew all thes e?o
 We have, my friends, lived to see Q more fearful massacre. There is no use of my taking you time in trying to give you statistics about the devastation and ruin and death which strong drink has wrought in this country. Statistics dc not seem to mean any thing. We are SC hardened under these statistics that the fact that fifty thousand more men are slain, or fifty thousand less men are slain, seems to make TO positive impress . sion on the public mind. Suffice it to say that intemperance has slain an innumer- able company of princes-the children Of Gods royal family; and at the gate of every neighborhood there are two heaps of the slain; and at the door of the house. hold there are two heaps of the slain; and at the door of the legislative hall there are two heaps of the slain; and at the door of the university there are two heaps of the slain; and at the gate oi this Nation there are two heaps of the slain. When look upon the desolation I am almost frantic with the scene, while l cry out:
 "Who slew all these?"
 I can answer that question in haH a minute. The ministers of Christ who have given no warning, the courts of law that have offered the licensure, the wom- en who give strong drink on New ears Day, the fathers and mothers who have rum on the sideboard, the hundreds of thousands of Christian men and women in the land who are stolid in their indif ference on this subject-they slew all these.
 propose in this discourse to tell you what I think are the sorrows and the doom of the drunkard, so that you to whom speak may not come to the tor ment Some one says: ''You had better let those subjects alone." Why, my brethren, we would be glad to let them alone if they would let us alone; but when l have III my pocket now four re- quests saying: 'Pray for my bus band, pray for my son, pray for my brother, pray for my friend, who is the captive oi strong drink" I reply: We are ready to let that question alone when 1t is willing to let us alone; but when it stands block ing up the way to Heaven and keeping multitudes away from Christ and Heaven dare not be silent lest the Lord require their blood at my hands.
 I think the subject has been kept back very much by the merriment people make over those slain by strong drink. l used to be very merry over these things, hay ing a keen sense of the ludicrous. There was something very grotesque in the gait of a drunkard. It is not so now; for saw in one of the streets of Philadelphia a sight that changed the whole subject to me. There was young man being lee home. He was very much intoxicated he was raving with intoxication. Two young men were leading him along. The boys hooted in the street. men laughed women sneered; but I happened to be very near tho door where he went init was the door of his fathers house. Isaw him go upstairs. I heard him shouting, hooting and blaspheming. He had lost his hat, and the merriment increased with the mob, until he came up to the door, and as the door was opened his mother came out. When 1 heard her cry that took all the comedy away from the scene Since that time, when l see mau walking through the street, reeling, the comedy is all gone, and it is tragedy ot tears and groans and heartbreaks. Never make any fun around me about the gro- tesaueness of drunkard. Alas for his homel
 The first suffering of the drunkard is in the loss of his good name. God has SC arranged it that no man ever loses his good name except through his own act. All the hatred of men and all the as saults of devils can not destroy mans good name if he really maintains his in tegrity. If a man is industrious and pure and Christian God looks after him Although he may be bombarded for twenty or thirty years his integrity Is never lost and his good name is never sacrificed. No force on earth or in hell can capture such Gibraltar. But when it is said of a man: He drinks" and Il caR be proved, then what employer wants him for workman? What store wants him for a clerk? What church wants him for member? Who will trust himy What dying man would appoint him his executor? He may have beeE forty years in building up his reputation it goes down. Letters of recommenda' ton, the backing up of business firms, c brilliant ancestry can not save him The world shies of. Whyi It is whispered all through the community: "He drinks he drinks"
 That blasts him. When man loses hi reputation for sobriety he might as wei be at the bottom of tho sea There ar' men here who have their good nane al their only capital. You are now ackiev ing your own livelihood, under God, by your own right arm. Now look out tha there is no doubt of your sobriety. Do not create any suspicion by going in an' out of immoral places, or by any odor O your breath, or by any glare of your eye or by any unnatural flush of your cheek You can not afford to do it for your good name is your only capital, and wheI that is blasted with the reputation o taking strong drink all is gone.
 Another loss which the inebriate sui fers is that of self-respect. Just as sool as man wakes up and finds that he i the captive of strong drink he feels de meaned. do not care how reckless h. acts. He may say: "I don't care" H does care. He can not look pure mai 4u fha ava unlasa it is with pOEitfve fOrc of resolution. Three fourths of his nat ure is destroyed. His self-respeet gone he says things he would not otherwis say; he does things he would not other wise do. When a man is nineteenth gone with strong drink, the first thing h. wants to do is to persuade you that h. can stop any time he wants to- He cal not. The Philistines have bound hin hand and foot, and shorn his locks, apt put out his eyes, and are making hin grind in a mill of great horror, He cal