The Progress., 1897-01-16

THAT Is not sufficient yet, RESPONDED Ca
briel. He must have two-thtrds and thou
one, and when thy wine shall have boiled
on the fire until two-thirds are gone the
remainder shall be assigned for thy use
A fable that illustrates how the vine has
been misappropriated.
1t Is An Old Song.
Benhadad and 80 allied kings. rioting in
a pavilion, took up the same bacchanaL
Nabal was rendering that drunkards' song
when his wife, beautiful Abigail, came
buck from her expedition to save her hus-
band, Herod was singing that song when
the daughter of Herodias wheeled in the
dance before him. BelshaZzar and n thou
sand lords renewed that song the night the
handwriting came out on the plastering OF
the wall and the tramp of the besiegiEg
host was heard on the palace sta1ra
AhasuerUs sang that song when, after
seven days of carousal, he ordered Vashti
to come into the presence of the roaring
guests without her veil on--a January
storm trying to command a June morning.
Oh, yes, the song Of tho drunkards As an
old song. King Cyrus boosted that he
could drink more wine than his brother.
Drunkenness was so rife among the Lace
damonians that Lycurgus had all the
vines of the vineyards destroyed. Paul
excoriates the Corinthians for turning the
communion OF the Lords supper at church
into carousal Isaiah mentions the
drunkards of Ephraim. So much were
the A thenians given to wassail that = law
was passed giving n man double punish
ment for crime while intoxicated, the first
punishment for the crime, and the other
for the Intoxicated. It was a staocatO
passage in that song when Alexander the
Great arose from q banquet and struck
spear through the heart of Clitus while
putting up the curtains. and, Mortified at
what was done, withdrew the sword from
the dead body and attempted to take his
own life In the time of Oliver Cromwell
the evil was so great that offenders were
compelled to wear what was called "the
drunkard' IS cloak''-namely, a barrel with
one end of it knocked out and q hole in
the opposite end, the arms thrust through
holes at the sides of the barrel Samuel
johnson made merry of his own inebr1acy.
Oh, this old song! All the centuries have
joined in. Among the first songs ever sung
was the song of the drunkards.
1t Is Expensive.
Again, this song of the t..unkards Is
an expensive song. The Sonntags and
the parepa Rosas and Missions, and the
other rendcrers of elevated and divine solos
received their thousands of dollars per
night in coliseums and academies OF muslo
Some of the people of small means almost
pauperized thsnsel,e s that they might alt
a few evenings under the eEchantment OF
those angels Of sweet sounds l paid 81 to
hear Jenny Lind sing when it was not
very cusy TO afford the 81. Very expensive
is sIoh music, but the costlfest song on
earth is the drunkard's song. 1t costs ruin
of body 1t costs ruin of mind. It costs
ruin Of soul. Go right down among the
residential streets of any city and you can
find once beautiful and luxurious home
steads that We're expended in this destruo-
tive music.
The lights have gone ont In the drawing
room, the pianos have ceased the pulsation
of their keys, the wardrobe has lost its
last article of appropriate attire The
Belshazzarean feast has left nothing but
the broken pieces Of the crushed chnlices.
There it stands, the ghastliest thing on
earth, the remnant of drunkard's home
The costliest thing on earth Is sin. The
most expensive of oil music Is tho song OF
the drunkards. 1t is the highest tariff OF
nations-nor n protective thrift, but q tariff
of doom, n tariff of woe, tariff of death
This evil wbets the knives of the nssassins