The united opinion. [volume] (Bradford, Vt.) 1881-1970, 1897-08-06


of God-HOpe For the Prodigal.
WASHINGTON, Aug. DIR. Talmage
In his sermon depicts the insidious
modes by which evil habit gains su-
premacy and shows how splendid men
are cheated into ruin. Text, Isiah v, 18,
"Woe unto them that sin, as it were
with a cart rope. "
There are some iniquities that only
nibble at the heart. After lifetime of
their work the man still stands upright,
respected and honored. These vermin
have not strength enough to gnaw
through mans character, But there
are other transgressions that lift them
selves up to gigantic proportions and
seize hold of a man and bind him with
thongs forever. There are some iniqui-
ties that have such great emphasis of
evil that he who commits them may be
said to sin as with a cart rope. l sup
pose you know how they make great
rope The stuff out of which it is fash
toned is nothing but tow which you
pull apart without any exertion of your
fingers. This is spun into threads, any
great many of these threads are inter
wound-then you have a rope strong
enough to bind an OK or hold ship in
tempest.
speak to you of the sin of gambling.
A cart rope in strength is that sin, and
yet wish more especially to draw your
attention to the small threads Of inf1u-
ence out of which that mighty iniquity
is twisted. This crime is on the ad-
vance, so that it is we'll not only that
fathers and brothers and SONS be inter
ested in such a discussion, but that
wives and mothers and sisters and
daughters look out lest their present
home be sacrificed or their intended
home be blasted. No man, no woman
car stand aloof from such a subject as
this and say, 1T has no practical bear
ing upon my life" for there may be in
a short time in your history an expert
ence in which you will find that the
discussion involved three worlds-earth,
heaven, hell There are gambling estab-
lishments by the thousands.
Thousands of Gamblers.
There are about 5, 500 professional
gamblers. Out of all the gambling es-
Establishments how many of them do you
suppose profess to be honest? Ten
these ten protesting to be honest be-
cause they are merely the antechamber
to those that are acknowledged fraudu-
lent. There are first class establish
ments. You step a little way out of
Broadway, New York. You go up the
marble stairs. You ring the bell The
liveried servant introduces you. The
walls are lavender tinted. The mantels
are of Vermont marble. The pictures
are 'Jephthah's Daughter" and Dore's
"Dante" and Virgils Frozen Region
of He'll, a most appropriate selection,
this last, for the place. There is the
roulette table, the finest costliest, most
exquisite piece of furniture in the Unit
ed States. There is the banqueting room,
where, free Of charge to the guests, you
may find the plate and viands and wines
and cigars sumptuous beyond parallel.
Then you come to the second class
gambling establishment. TO it you are
introduced by a card through some
Trooper in" Having entered, you must
either gamble Or fight, Sanded cards,
dice loaded with quicksilver, poor
drinks mixed with more poor drinks
will soon help you to get rid Of all your
money to tune in short meter with
staccatO passages, You wanted to see.
You saw. The low villains of that place
watch you as you come in. Does not
the panther, squat in the grass, know
calf when she sees it? Wrangle not for
your rights in that place, or your body
will be thrown bloody into the street or
dead into the river.
An Appropriate Door.
You go along a little farther and find
the policy establishment. In that place
you bet on numbers. Betting on two
numbers is called a saddle; betting
on three numbers is called gig" bet
ting on four numbers is called a
HORSE" and there are thousands of
our young men leaping into that sad
die" and mounting that "gig" and be-
hind that "horse' riding to perdition.
There is always one kind Of sign on the
door, Exchange, most appropriate
title for the door, for there in that
room a man exchanges health, peace
and heaven for loss of health, loss of |
home, loss of family loss of immortal l
soul. Exchange sure enough and in 6
finite enough. l
Now you acknowledge that is cart I
rope of evil, but you want to know I
what are the small threads out of which t
It is made. There is in many DISPOSE L
lion to hazard. They feel delight in t
walking near a precipice because of the {
sense of danger, There are people who
90 upon Jungfrau, not for the largeness
If the prospect, but for the feeling that T
hey have of thinking, What would O
happen if should fall off?'' There are {
PERSONS who have their blood filliped t
md accelerated by skating very near an u
lirhOle. There are men who find a v
positive delight in driving within two a
inches of the edge of bridge. 1t is this Il
disposition to hazard that finds develop il
nent in gaming practices. Here are Il
500. 1 may stake them. If 1 stake {,
hem, may lose them, but 1 may win Il
Is, 900. Whichever way it turns l have n
he excitement. Shuttle the cards. Lost o