The Red Cloud chief., 1891-03-20
THE THIRD PLAGUE.
Dr.. Talmage Discourees on the Evils
Of Bad Literature.
Had Papers and Nossls Iikened - the
Plague of Frogs in EGyptLThs Law
Evoked-Power Of Good and had
] Books Illustrated.

The plague Of pernicious literature
was the subject of the third discourse
OF DIR. Tslmage at Brooklyn on the
Ten Plaques of the Cities" His text
was from Exodus, vii. CT: "And the
frogs came up and covered the land OF
Egypt. And the magicians did so with
their enchantments, and brought up
frogs upon the land 81 Egypt" Follow
ing is the sermon.
There Is almost a universal aversion
20 frogs, and yet with the Egyptian
they were honored. they were sacred,
and they were objects of worship while
alive, n after death they were en-
balmed, and to-day their remains may
Ice found among the scpulchres Of
Thebes. These creatures, so attractive
once TO the Egyptians, al divine behest
became obnoxious and loathsome, and
they went croaking and hopping and
lcaPing into The palace of the king, and
into the bread trays and the couches of
the people, and even the ovens.
which now are upliftcd above the earth,
and on the side Of chimneys, but then
were small holes in the earth with
sunIsen pottery, were filed with frogs
whcn the housckeepers came TO look at
them II a man sat down 10 eat. a frog
alighted on his plate. II be attempted
to put on a shoe, it was prcoccupied by
a frog. II he attempted TO put his head
upon a pillow. it had been taken posses
SION of by "A frog. Frogs high and low
and everywhere; loathsome frogs, Shiny
frogs, besicging frogs, i~nnumerable
frogs, great plague of frogs What
made the matter worse, the nagicians
SAID, there was 40 miracle in this, and
they could by straightforward produce
the AaIne thing, and they seemed TO sue
coed, for 10y straightforward wonders
may Toe wrought
After Moses had thrown down his
staff and by miracle il became a SER
pent, and then he took hold of IL and
toy miracle IL again became a staff, the
serpent charmers initiated the same
thing, and knowing that there were
serpents in Egypt which by "A peculiar
pressure on the neck would become as
rigid as "A stick of wood they seemed TO
change the serpent into the staff, and
then throwing it down the staff became
the serpent So likewise these magi-
cians tried to initiate the plague OF
frogs. Frogs came up and covered
the land of Egypt, and the magicians
Ii 80 with their enchantment and
brought up frogs upon the land of
Egypt"
Now that plague Of frogs has come
back upon the earth. II is abroad TO-
day. IL is shifting this nation
II comes in the shape of cor
rupt literature. These frogs hop
into the store, the shop, the Office,
the banking house, the factory
into the home, into the cellar, into the
garnet. on the drawing room table. on
the shelf of the library. While the lad
Is reading the bad book the teachers
face is turned the other way. One Of
these frogs hops upon the page. While
the young woman is reading the for
hidden novelette, after retiring at night
reading by gas-light- one of these frogs
!. leaps upon the page. Indeed, they have
> hoped upon the news stands of the
country. and the mails ut the post Office
shake out in the letter trough hundreds
Of them.
The plague has taken, at different
times. possession of this country. 1t is
one OF the most loathsome, one Of the
most frightful, one of the most CHASTITY
of the ten plaques of our modern cities.
There is "A vast number of books and
ncwspapers printed and published which
ought never 10 see the light They are
filed with "A pcstilcnce that makes the
land swelter with IA moral epidemic.
The greatest blessing that ever came
& this nation Is that Of an elevated
literature. and the greatest scourge has
been that of uncloan literature. The
last has it, victims in Nil occupations
and departments. IL has helped 10 FL
insane nsvlums and pcniicntiarics and
almshouses and dens of shame. The
bodies Of this infection lie in che hos
pitfalls and in the raves while their
souls are being tossed over into a lost
eternity. an avalanche Of horror and
despair. The London plague moth
ing - IL That counted its victims 10y
thousands. but this modern pest has
already shuvcled its millions into the
charnel house Of the morally dead. The
literature of "A nation decides the fate ot
a nation. Good books, good morals.
Bad books. bad morals
J begin with the lowest of all the
literature. that which does not even
pretend - be rcspcctable-from cover
- cover q blotch OF lcprosy. There ART
many whose entire business j. 20 dis
poSe-uf tina, Sind OF literature They
display II before the schoolhny on his
Way home. They get the catalogues of
-. - 49, I'll. .fa v.,a.
aud post Office addresses and send THEN
advertisements and their circulars and
their phAmphlets and their books Il
every one 90 them.
In the possession Of these dealers IN
had literature were found 900. 600 nanes
and post Office addresses u whom il
was thought it might be profitable u
rcBd these corrupt things In the year
ISIS there were i63 establishments en-
gagged in publishing cheap currupi
literature. Prom one publishing house
;here wen; out twenty different styles
% corrupt books Although over thirty
tons Of vile literature have been des-
truyed by the society for the suppress
sion ~ vice, still there i enough of il
left in this country ~ bring down upon
Us the ttilIICE bt4N> % Su RsNSsNSSN SNN-
In the year 1858 the evil had become
- grca, in this country that the con
Crcss Of the United States passed a law
furbidding the transmission Of bad lit
craturc through the United States
mails. but there wer- large loops in
tina, law through which criminals
might crawl L and the law was q
dead failurS-sha; law Of 1865 But IN
lsss another law was passed by the con
gress Of the United states against the
transmission Of corrup; literature
through the mails-a grand law, Z
potent law, . Christian law-and under
;ha; law mnltitudes Of these s~coundr~ls
has been arrested. their property con
hscateS and they themselves thrown
into the peniientiaries where they be-
longed
Now. NV friends how are we 20 WAY
q against this corrupt literature and how
are the frogs Of this Egyptian plague 10