Abilene weekly reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1888-1935, 1889-08-22
THE NATIONS CURSE.
DR.. Talmage on the Evils Of In
temperance.
The Ruin and Death Caused BY Strong
Drink-It Leads to Loss of Good Name,
seIf-Respect and Ultimate
Wreck.

OTuHheHheSS the N2ilOn'S OuTSe. DIS
text was; ''Who slew all these:"2 Kings,
(. 10. The eloquent speaker said:
see a long row of baskets coming up
toward the palace of King Jehu. am
somewhat inquisitiYe 10 find out what is
in the baskets. 1 lcok in and find the CORY
heads of seven princes. As the baskets
arrive at the gate of the palace the heads
are thrown into two heaps, one on either
side of the gate. In the morning the King
comes out and he looks upon the bleeding.
CHASTITY heads of the massacred princes.
Looking on either side the gate he cried
out with ringing emphasis: ''Who slew
all these!"
We have. my friends, lived to see q
more fearful massacre. There is no use
Of my taking your time in trying to give
statistics about the devastation and ruin
and death which strong drink has wrought
in this country. Statistics do not seem to
mean any thing. We are so hardened under
these statistics that the fact that fiftythou-
sand more men are slain. or fifty thousand
less men are slain, seems to make no posi-
tive impression on the public mind. Suf-
flee it 70 say that int temperance has slain
an innumerable 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 household 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 of this
Nation there are two heaps of the slain.
When look upon the desolation, am al
most frantic with the scene. while l cry
out: who slew all these:" lean answer
that question in half minute. The min
isters of Christ who have given no warn
ing the courts of law that have offered
the liccnsure, the women who give strong
drink on New Years 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 Indifference on this subject-they
slew all thesei
L propose in this discourse to tell you
what think are the sorrows and the doom
of the drunkard, so that you to whom
speak may not come to the torment.
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 have in my
pocket now four requests saying, "Pray
for my husband, pray for nv son, pray
for my brother, pray for my friend, who
is the captive of strong drink" reply,
we are ready to let the question alone
when it is willing to let US alone, but when
1t stands blocking up the way to Heaven
and keeping multitudes away from Christ
and Heaven l dare not be silent, lest the
Lord require their blood at my hands.
l 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, hav-
iAg keen sense of the ludicrous. There
was something very grotesque in the gait
of drunkard. 1t is not so now, for l saw
IN one of the streets of Philadelphia a
sight that changed the whole subject to
me. There was a young man being led
home. He was very much in, n,oxicated-
he was raving with intoxication. Two
Young men were leading him along. The
boys hooted in the street, men laughed,
women sneered; but 1 happened to be
very near the door where he went init
was the door of his fathers house. saw
him go up stairs. Fheard him shouting,
hooting and disappearing. 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 l heard her cry, that took all
the comedy away from the scene. Since
that time when 1 see a man walking
through the street reeling the comedy is
all gone and it is tragedy of tears and
groans and heart-breaks. Never make
any fun around me about the grotesque-
Of 6r1Y II e. &.
The first suffering of the drunkard is in
the loss of his good name. God has so
arranged ir that no man ever loses his
good name except through his own act
All the hatred of men and all the assaults
of devils can not destroy a mans name.
if he really maintains his integrity. Ii 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 Gibral-
tar. But when it is said of such man,
He drinks" and it can be proved, then
what employer wants him for workma /?
What store wants him for a clerk? What
church wants him for ms mber? Who
will truss ~? What diving man would
appoint him his executor! He may have
been forty years in building up his repu-
tation--it goes down. Letters of recon-
mendation. the backing up of business
firms, a brilliant ancestry can not save
him. The world SHES off Why. It
is whispered all through the commu-
nifty, He drinks; he drinks" That
blasts him. When a man loses his reputa-
ton for sobriety he might as we'll be al
the bottom of the sea. There are msE
here who have their good name as ther
only capital You are now achieving.
your own livelihood, under God, by your
own right arm. Now look out that there
Is no doubt OF your sobriety. Do not cre-
ate any suspicion by going in and out Of
immoral places. or by any odor of your
breath, or by any glare of your eye, or by
any unnatural flush of your cheek. You
can not afford to do If, for your good
name is your only capital, and when that
is blasted with the reputation OF taking
strong drink. all is gone.
Another loss which the inebriate suffers
is that of self-respect Just as soon as q
man wakes up and finds that he is the
captive of strong drink he feels demeaned.
do not care how careless he acts. He
may say: ~ don't care;" he does care.
He can not look a pure man in The eye,
unless it is with positive force of resolu-
tion. Three-fourths of his nature is de-
stroyed; his self-respect gone; he says
things he would not otherwise say; he
does things he would not otherwise do.
When a man is nine-tenths gone with
strong drink the first thing be wants to
do is to persuade you that he can stop any
time he wants to. He can not. The Phil
istines have bound him hand and foot,
and shorn his locks. put out his eyes and
are making him grind in the mill of
great horror. He can not stop I will
proVe il. He knows that his course is