Democratic Northwest. [volume] (Napoleon, Ohio) 1869-1894, 1890-07-31
TABERNACLE PULPIT.
SERMON ON INTEMPERANcE BY
DIR. TALMAGE.

Devoured Him" the Text Vivid shape
ofthe Evn Beast Of Drunkenness That
Destroys Souls.
BRoonYE. July N.-Dr. Talmage's SER
mon to-day was devoted 10 the curse OF in
temperance. With the hand OF a master he
drew In vivid colors the appalling tragedies
which this remorseless demon has perpe-
trated. His text was Gen. xxxvii. 50: 1t
is my sons coat; an evil beast hath de-
voured him."
Joseph's brethren dipped their brothers
coat in goats blood, and then brought the
dabbled garment to their father, cheating
him with the idea that ferocious animal
had slain him, and thus hiding their infa-
nous behavior. But there is no deception
about that which we hold up to your obser-
walton 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 man
gied carcasses Of whole generations, and
there are tens OF thousands of fathers and
mothers who could hold up the garments Of
their slain boy, truthfully exelaiming. 1T is
my sons coat; an evil beast hath de-
voured him." There has in all ages and
climes been tendency TO the improper use
Of stimulantsl Noah, as II disgusted with
the prevalence Of water in his time, took to
strong drink. By this vice Alexander the
Conqueror was conquered. The Ro-
mans at their feasts fell off their seats with
intoxication. Four hundred millions of our
race are opium eaters. India. Turkey and
China have groaned with the desolation, and
by it have been quenched such lights as Hal
ley and De Quincy. One hundred millions
are the victims of the betel nut. which has
specially blasted the East Indies. Three
hundred millions chew hashish, and Persia,
Brazil and Africa suffer the delirium. The
Tartars employ murowa. the Mexicans the
agave, the people at Guarapo an intoxicat-
ing quality taken from sugar cane, while q
great multitude that no man can number
are the disciples Of alcohol. To it they bow.
Under it they are trampled, In its trenches
they fail. On its CHASTITY holocaust 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
reeking, fostering putrefaetion and beastli-
ness2 What heart could endure the groan
ofagony?
Drunkenness. Does it not jingle the
burglars key? Does it not whet the assas-
sins knife2 Does it not cock the highway
mans pistol? Does it not wave the in
cendiary's torch2 Has it not sent the
physician reeling into the sick room. and
the minister with his tongue thick into the
pulpit2 Did not an exquisite poet, from the
very top Of his fame. fall a gibbering sot
into the gutter on his way to be married to
one of the fairest daughters of New En-
gland. and at the very hour the bride was
decking herself for the altar. and did he not
die of delirium tremens. almost unattended.
in q hospital? Tamerlane asked for one
hundred and sixty thousand skulls with
which to build a pyramid to his own honor.
He got the skulls and built the pyramid
But If the bones OF all those who have
fallen as prey todissipation could be piled
up it would make vaster 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 car
casses to find still other peaks far above,
mountain above mountain white with
the bleaehed bones Of drunkards.
The Sabbath has been sacrificed to the
rum traffic. To many of our people the
best day OF the week is the worst. Bakers
must keep their shops closed on the Sab
bath. 1t is dangerous to have loaves Of
bread going out on Sunday. The shoe store
is closed; severe penalty will attack the
man who sells boots on the Sabbath. But
down with the window shutters of the
grog-shopsi Our laws shall confer particu-
lar honor upon the rum trafflckers. All
other trades must stand aside for these.
Let our citizens who have diSgraced them
selves by trading in clothing and hosiery
and hardware and lumber and coal take off
their hats TO the rum seller elected to par
ticular honor, 1t is unsafe for any other
class of men to be allowed license for Sun
day work. But swing out your signs, oh ye
traffickers in the peace of families and in
fly, and the beer foam, and the rum go tear
ing down the half consumed throat of the
inebriate. God does not seel Does He?
Judgment will never comei Win it?
L do not know but that God is determined
to let drunkenness triumph. and the hus-
bands and sons of thousands Of our best
families be destroyed by this vice, in order
that our people, amazed and indignant,
may rise up and demand the determination
Of this municipal crime. There is a way of
driving down the hoops Of a barrel so tight
that they break. We have in this country
at various times tried to regulate this evil
by tax on whisky. You might as well try
to regulate the Asiatic cholera or the small
pox by taxation. The men who distil liquors
are for the most part unserupulous, and
the higher the tax the more inducement to
illicit distillation.
Oil the folly Of trying to restrain an evil
by government tariff If every gallon of
whisky made. If every flask Of wine pro-
duced. should be taxed a thousand dollars
1t would not be enough to pay for the tears
it has wrung from theleyes of widows and
orphans, nor for the blood it has dashed on
the Christian church, nor for the catastro-
phe of the millions it has destroyed for
ever.
| sketch two houses in this street. The
| first is bright as home can be. The father
comes at nightfall, and the children run out
to meet him, Luxuriant evening meal.
Graduation and sympathy and laughter.
Music in the parlor, Fine pictures on the
wall Costly books on the stand. Well
clad household. Plenty of everything to
House the second. Piano sold Yesterday