The enterprise. [volume] (Wellington, Ohio) 188?-1899, 1890-07-30
AN EVIL BEAST.
Rev. DR., Talmage breaches About
the Curse of Intemperance.
How the Rum Power HAS RnInci Homes
and Wrecked Thousands OF Bril-
liant LIves-The Way TO Fight
tho Bloody Monster.


Brooklyn Academy Of Music was devoted
to the curse Of intemperance. The elo-
auent divine drew in vivid colors the
appalling tragedies which this remorse-
less demon has perpetratedl His text
was Genesis xxxvii. 8S: "It is my sons
coat; an evil beast had devoured him."
Following is the sermon:
Joseph's brothers dipped their broth
erscoatin goats blood, and then brought
the dabbled garment to their father,
cheating him with the idea that fero-
cious animal had slain him, and thus hid
ing their infamous behavior. But there
is no deception about that which we
hold up to your observation to-day. A
monster such as never ranged African
thicket or Hindostan jungle hath
tracked this land, and with bloody nav
hath strewn the continent with the
mangled carcasses Of whole generations;
and there are tens Of thousands Of
fathers and mothers who could hold up
the garment Of their slain boy, truth
fully exclaiming, 'It is my sons coat;
an evil beast hath devoured him."
There has, in all ages and climes, been
tendency to the improper use Of stim-
ulants. Noah, as II disguised with the
prevalence Of water in his hlhe, took to
strong drink. By this vice, Alexander
the Conqueror was conquered. The
Romans at their feasts fell of their seats
with intoxication. Four hundred mill
ions Of our race are opium eaters. India,
Turkey, and China have groaned with
the dasolation; and by 1t have been
quenched such lights as HALEY and De
Quincy. One hundred millions are the
victims OF the betelnut, which has
specially blasted the East Indies. Three
hundred millions chew hasheesh, and
Persia, Brazil and Africa suffer the de.
lirium. The Tartars employ murowa;
the Mexicans, the agave; the people at
Guaraparo, an intoxicating quality
taken from sugar-cane; while great
multitude that no man can number, are
the disciples OF alcohol. Toit they bow.
Under it they are trampled. In its
trenches they fall. On its CHASTITY holo-
caust they burn. Could the muster roll
Of this great army be called, and they
could come up from the dead, what eye
could endure the rocking, restoring
putrefaction and beastliness? What
heart could endure the groan of agony?
Drunkenness: Does 1t not jingle the
burglars key? Does 1t not whet the as
sassin's knife? Does II not cock the
highwaymen's pistol? Does 1t not wave
the incendiary's torch? Has IL not sent
the physician reeling into the sick room,
and the minister with his tongue thick
into the pulpit? Did not an exquisite
poet, from the very top Of his fame, fall
gibbering sot into the gutter on his
way to be married TO one Of the fairest
daughters Of New England, and at the
very hour the bride was decking herself
for the altar; and did he not die Of do
lirium tremens, almost unattended, in
hospital? Tamerlane asked for one hun
dred and sixty thousand skulls with
which to build pyramid TO his own
honor. He got the skulls, and built the
pyramid. But II the bones of all those
who have fallen as prey to dissipation
could be piled up, II would make q vast
or pyramid.
Who will grid himself for the journey,
and try with me to scale this mountain
OF the dead-going up miles high on
human carcasses 10 find still other peaks
far above, mountain above mountain
white with the bleached bones Of drunk
ards?
The Sabbath has been sacrificed 10 the
rum traffic. To many OF our people, the
best day of the week is the worst Bak-
ers must keep their shops closed on the
Sabbath. 1t is dangerous to have loaves
Of bread going out on Sunday. The shoe
store is closed; severe penalty will at
tack the man who sells boots on the
Sabbath. But down with the window
shutters Of the grog shopsl Our laws
shall confer particular honor upon the
rum trafickers. All other trades must
stand aside for these. Let our citizens
who have disgraced themselves by trad
ing In clothing, and hosiery, and hard
ware. and lumber, and coal, take on their
hats TO the rumseller, elected to partic-
uisr honor. II is ynsafe for any other
class OF men to be allowed license tor
Sunday work. But swing out your signs,
o 20 traffickers inthe poace Of families
and In the souls Of immortal fneni Let
tho corks ny, and the beer foam, and the
rum 90 tearing down the half-consumed
throat OF the inebriate. God does not
seei Does He2 Judgment Will never
comei win itp
do not know but that God is deter
mined TO lot drunkenness triumph, and
the husbands and sons'p thousands Of
our best families DO destroyed by this
vice, in order that our people, amssed
and indignant, may rise up and demand
the determination Of this municipal
crime. There Is way Of driving down
the hoops Of barrel so tight that they
break. We have, in this country, at
various times tried 10 regulate this evil
by tax on whisky. You might as we'll
try 10 regulate the Asiatio cholera Or
the smallpox by taxation. The men
who distil liquors are, for the most part
unscrupulous, and the higher tax the
more inducement 10 Illicit distillation.
OIL the folly Of trying TO restrain an
evil by government tariff II every gal
lon Of whisky made-if every flask Of
wine produced should be taxed thou
sand dollars II would not be enough to
pay for the tears II has wrung from the
eyes Of widows and orphans, nor for the
blood 1t has dashed on the Christian
Church, nor for the catastrophe OF the
millions 1t has destroyed forever.