Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1899-05-04
WOES OF DRUNKARDS
DR.. TALMAeE's STRONG DENUNClA-
TON OF lNTEMPERANCE.
Worse Than Any of the Ten Plaques
Tint BcfeIl Egypt-Its victims Arc
Countless Gods Grace the Sure
Remedy.
copyright, Louis Kiopsch, 1891

copyright, Louis Klopsch, 1891
WASHINGTON, April 30.-At this time,
when the evils of the drink traffic arc be-
ing widely discussed and the movement
for the abolition of the degrading and
brutalizing canteen in our military camps
is gaining many supporters, this sermon
by DIR Talmage, dealing with the broader
aspects of the plague of intempcrancc,
should cheer and inspire tho friends of
temperance everywhere His text is Ex-
odus XII, 8, "And there shall be n great cry
throughout all the land of Egypt"
This was tho worst of the ten plaques.
The destroying angel at midnight tapped
his wing over the land and there was one
dead in each house. Lamcntation and
mourning and woe through all Egypt.
That destroying angel has fled the earth,
but far worse has come. He sweeps
through these cities. 1t is the destroying
angel of strong drink. Far worse dcvas-
tation wrought by this second than by the
first. Tho calamity in America worse
than the calamity in Egypt Thousands
of the slain, millions of the slain. No
arithmetic can calculate their number.
Once upon u time four ficnds met in the
lost world They resolved that the people
four Intervals came forth to our earth on
embassy of mischief. The one ficnd said,
"I'll take charge of the vineyards " An
other said, I'm take charge of the grain
fields l." Another said, I'm take charge
of the dairy" Another said, "I'll take
charge of tho music. F" The four flends met
in the great Sahara desert, with skeleton
fingers clutchcd each other in handshake
of fidelity, kissed each other goodby with
lip of blue flame and parted on their mis-
sion.
The fend of the vineyard came in one
bright morning amid the grapes and sat
down on a root of twisted grapevine in
sheer discouragement The ficnd knew
not how to damage the vineyard or,
through it, how to damage the world
The grapes were so ripe and beautiful and
lusciousl They bewitchcd the air with
their sweetness. There seemed to DO so
much health in every bunch! And while
the fend sat there in utter Indignation
and disappointment he clutched a cluster
and squeezed it in perfect spite, and, To-,
his hand was red with the blood of the
vineyard, and tho ficnd said: "That re-
minds me of the blood Of broken hearts.
| I'll strip the vineyard, and I'll squeeze
| out all the juice of the grapes, and I'll al
| low the juices Of the grapes to stand until
they rot and I'll call the process fermen-
tation." And there was u great vat pre-
pared, and people came with their cups
and their pitchers and they dipped up the
blood of the grapes, and they drank and
drank and went away drinking, and they
drank until they fell in long lines of death,
so that when the f1end of the vineyard
wanted to return to his home in the pit he
stepped from carcass to carcass and walk
ed down amid n great causeway of the
dead
Then the second fiend came into the
grainfeld. He wadcd chin deep amid the
barley and the rye. He heard all the
grain talking about bread and prosperous
husbandry and thrifty homes. He thrust
his long arms into the grainficld, and he
pulled up the grain and threw it into the
water, and no made beneath it great fires
fires lighted with spark from his own
heart-and there was a grinding and a
MASKING and stencil, and the people came
with their bottles, and they dipped up the
fiery liquid, and they drank, and they
blasphemed, and they staggered, and they
fought, and they rioted, and they murder
ed, and the ticnd of the pit, the fiend OF
the graintield, was so pleased with their
behavior that he changed his residence
from the pit to a whisky barrel, and there
he sat by tho door Of the bunghole laugh
ing in high mcrrimcnt at the thought that
out of anything so harmless as the grair
of the field he might turn this world int
seeming pandemonium.
The Fiend of the Dairy.
The fiepd Of the dairy saw the COW:
coming home from the pasture field full
uddercd, and as the maid MIXED he said
IN soon spoil all that mess. I'll add tC
it brandy, sugar and nutmeg, and I'll stil
it into milk punch, and children viii
drink it, and some of the temperance peo
pie will drink it, and If I can do them nc
moro harm III give them headache, ant
then I'll hand them over to the more Wig
orous fiends of the satanic delegation. .
And then the fend of the dairy lcapcd
upon the shelf and danced until the Ions
row of shining milkpans almost quaked.
The fiend of the music entered grog
shop, and there We're but few customers
Finding few customers he swept the cir
cult of the city, and he gathered up the
musical instruments, and after nightfal
he marshaled band, and the trombone'
blew, and the cymbals clapped, and thu
drums beat, and the bugles called. and thu
people crowded in, and they swung arount
in merry dance, each one with u wine
glass in his hand, and the dance becam,
wilder and stronger and rougher unit
tho room shook, and the glasses cracked
and the floor broke, and the crowd drop
ped into hell.
Then the four fends-the flend Of tn,
vineyard and Of the grainfield and of TIN
dairy and of the music hall-went bacl
to their home, and they held high carniva
because their work had been so well done
and satan rose from his throne and an
nounced that there was no danger of tn
earth's redemption so long as these fou
: flcnds could pay such tax to the diabolic
, And then all the demons and all tn
fends filled their glasses and clicked then
and cried: LET us drink-drnk to tn
; everlasting prosperity of the liquor traffic
Here's to woe and darkness and murde
and death Drink! Drink"
But, whether by nllegory or by appalling
statistics this subject is presented yo,
know as we'll as 1 that it is impossible t
1 exaggerate the evils of strong drink.
+ plagued A plague! In the first place. tn
y inebrate suffers from the loss Of goo
!, name. God has so arranged 1t that n
o man loses his reputation except by hi
a own act. The world may assault MAJ
!, and all the powers Of darkness may a.
d sault him-they cannot capture him s
IS long as his heart is pure and his life
: pure. All the powers of earth and hell can
not take that Gibraltar. If a man is right
all the bombardment of the world for {
v 10, go, 40 years will only strengthen hir
lnbE RuAIn