The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1899-05-12
PLAGUE OF ALCOHOL
REV. DR.TALMAGE DISCUSSES TIL
LIQUOR TRAFFIC

I'm nm EIoaue tsermon He Depicts the
Druukard,s woe-The Rum Ffend's
Mission fs to Destroy all Cood-A Call
to Christians
Copyright, Louis Klopsch. 1892
At this time, when the evils of the
drink traffic are being widely discussed
and the movement for the abolition oi
the degrading and brutaizing canIeeh
in our military camps is gaining many
sr1pporters. this sermon by Dr. 1A-
mage dealing with the broader aspects
of the plague of dntemperance' snouiu
cheer and inspire the friends OF tenn
nerence everywhere. His text Is EXODUS
vi & "And there shall be a great cry
throughout all the land OF Egypt
This was the worst OF the ten plaques.
The destroying angel at midnight Hap
ned his wing over h land, and there
was one dead in each house. Lamenta-
nfon and mourning and woe through all
Egypt. That destroying angel has ned
the earth, but a far worse has come.
He sweeps through these cities II Is
the destroying angel Of strong drink
FAR worse OEN dSCjLIOLl
second than by the first. The calamity
in America worse than the calamity IN
Egypt. Thousands of the CLAIM, millions
of the slain. No arithmetic can caIcu-
late their number.
Once upon a time four fiends met in
the lost world. They resolved that the
people Of our earth were TOO happy,
and these four INTERVALS came forth 70
our earth ON embassy Of mischief. me
one fiend said, "In take charge OF the
vineyards" Another said, "Iu lake
charge of the grainfields." Another
said. I'll take charge Of the diary.
Another said, iii take charge OF the
music" The four fiends met in the
great Sahara desert, with skeleton mn
gers clutcheI each other in handshake
of fidelity, kissed each other goodbye
with lip Of blue flame and parted on
their mission.
The fiend of the vineyard came in n
bright morning amid the grapes and sat
down on a root of twisted grapevine in
sheer encouragement. The fiend knew
not how to damage the vineyard, or,
through it, how to damage the world.
The grapes were so ripe and beautiful
and lucious. They bewitched the air
with their sweetness. There seemed to
be so much health in every bunch, and
while the fiend sat there in utter indig-
nation and disappointment he clutched
a. cluster n squeezed 1T in perfect
spite, and, 10! his hand was red with the
blood of the vineyard, and the iend
aid That reminds me of the blood Of
broken hearts. I'll strip the vineyard,
and FL squeeze out all the juice OF the
grapes, and I'll allow the juices of the
grapes to stand until they rot, and III
call the process fermentation And
there was a great vat prepared, and
people came with their cups and their
,~Gtoharc ovid hhau dipnQd IN fthp h1nOd
of the grapes, and they drank and
drank and went away drinking, n
they drank until they fell in Tong ines
of death, so that when the fiend Of the
vineyard wanted to return to his home
in the pit he stepped from carcass to
carcass and walked down amid a great
causeway OF the dead.
LAUGHTER OF THE FIEND.
Then the second fend came into the
g~rainfeld. He waded chin deep amid
the barley and the rye. He heard all the
grain talking about bread and prosper
Gus husbandry and thrifty homes. He
thrust his long arms into the g%ralnfeld
and he pulled up the grain and threw it
into the water, and he made beneath it
great fires-fres lighted with a spark
from his own heart-and there were a
grinding and a MASKING and "a stencil,
and the people came with their bottles,
and they dipped up the fiery liquid, n
they drank, and they Ib1asphemed, and
they staggered, and they fought, and
they rioted, and they murdered, n
the fiend of the pit, the fiend OF the
%grainfield, was so pleased with their be-
havior that he changed his residence
from the pit to a whiskey barrel, and
there he sat by the door of the bung-
hole laughing in high merriment at the
thought that out of anything so harm
less as the grain of the field he might
t1Irn fhic wnr11 into a cparoinor nan6p-
monium.
The fiend of the dairy saw the cows
coming home from the pasture field,
full uddered, and as the maid MIXED
he said, "IH soon spoil all that mess;
I'll add to it brandy, sugar and nut
meg, and I'll stir it into a milk punch,
n children will drink it and some Of
the temperance people will drink 1t, and
if I can do them no more harm III give
them a headache, and then I'll hand
them over to the more vigorous fends
of the satanic delegation" And then
the fiend of the dairy leaped upon the
shelf and danced until the long row Of
shining milkpans almost quaked.
The fiend of the music entered a
grogshop, and there were but few Gus
toners. Finding few customers, he
swept the circuit of the city, and he
gathered up the musical instruments
and after nightfall he marshaled a
Do@AAu dLlu AlC 1ollLOOllCS p1CW In t1lC
cymbals clapped and the drums beat
and the bugles called and the people
crowded in, and they swung around in
merry dance, each one with a ~wineglass
in his hand, and the dance became
wilder and stronger and rougher, until
the room shook and the glasses crack
ed and the floor broke and the crowd
dropped into hell.
Then the four fiends-the fiend of the
vineyard and of the grainfield and of
h dairy and of the music hall-went
back to their home, and they held high
canival because their work had been
so we'll done, and satan rose from his
throne and announced that there was
no danger of the earth's redemption SO
long as these four fiends could pay such
tax to the diabolic. And then all the
demons and all the spirits and all the
hends filled their glasses and clicked
them and cried: Let us drink-drink
to the everlasting prosperity of the liq-
uor traffic! Here's to woe and darkness
and murder and death! Drink DRINK
THE PLAGUE OF DRINK.