^ ^' -^
IMAGE EVALUATION
TEST TARGET (MT-3)
1.0
I.I
'' 1132
,z m
22
12.0
1.8
1.25
1.4
1.6
«l 6" -
►
V}
<9
/}.
'el
e.
VI
t out Heiiy inventions." The uprightness of that
passage refers to man's moral nature. That is to say, t'lat when
, '
which in character corresponded to the outward action.
Now the great question before m to-ni>(ht is, doas intoxicating ',
liquor influence men to do right or wrong? Does it exercise any i
power inwardly, that afleets a man's conduct outwardly ? Dojs it
iielp to make a man morally good or morally bad ? Let us look at
the man in the text. What was the relation between the wine ,
I'lin and his morals? Did the liquor which he drank inwardly .so I
influence him, that outwardly he acte I more nobly, more wisely, :
and more king'y ? VVhen the liquor was not in him how did he !
act? When sober he ruled like a king. When drunk, h ■ com- i
niitted an act, which was a great insult to the (iod of heaven. His j
father Nebuchadnezzar brought from the Holy Tem;»le at Jerusalem I
the golden vessels which were usjd by the priests in the services of
the Sanctuary. Nebuchadnezzar had too much reverence for the
holy vessels to use them for anything, and kept them carefully
guarded in his treasure house. Yes, and si did his son when he i
vra,^ sober. Hut there cr.ino an hour when Belshazzar sat down in I
the banqueting house, surrounded by a thousand of his lords, each
arrayed in court robes bejewelled and costly. The tables groaned
beneath the weight of the suiierbly prepared viands, and the silver
tankards glistened, and the golden bowls dazzled as they reflected
the brilliant, lights of the Candelabra. By the liveried servitors, the
ruby liquor was poured from the vessels into the cups, then lifted to
the lips of king and courtiers, then of its own free will it crept
upward and brainward, till it made the king jolly and jocular.
Half drunken men generally like to have some fun, and in tliis state
of rollicking frenzy the king thought it would b3 great fun to briny
those. Jerusalem vessels, and drink out of them, and pmise his
idols And in a fatal ra^miat he jfuve the order to bring those
vessels of gola onto the banquet table. With trembling hands the
si>rvants place them before the king, and then fliled them with the
fire-w.iter ; then the jolly king lifted them to his lip? and quaffed
the mocking wine. HA h mded them to his princes, and wives,
and his concubines, and all drnnk the health of his gods. That
action was a great s.u:rile(j'e ; it was morally a bad dead for it was
sinning against the God of heaven, thus to prostitute what He had
sanctified, to the low purpo.^es of the debauching banqueteers.
When Biflshazzar was sober he would never have thought of using
those sacred vessels for suuh a purpo« . With a brain free from
the blighting pjwer of strong drink, ha would no more have thought
of drinking out of those consecrated cups, than of cutting oft' his
right hand. While the carousing monarch was having some "fun"
in making a breach in the moral law, the God of the moral law was
preparing to execute the penalty on the guilty king. Like a flash
of lightning there " appeared the Angers of a man's hand and wrote
over against the candlestick upon the plaster of the wall of the
kind's piUcj." •' MEN'E, MK.NE, TEKKL. UPHAllSIN.'
" God hath nun-.bered thy king lorn and finished it." " Thou art
weighed in the balances, and art found wantim;." " Tiiy kingdom
is divided'and givien to the Medes and Persians." The king saw
the hsiiid that wr Ue : his couiitjiiance changed ; and his thoughts
troubltj-.l him ; for he awoke fr.).n his drinking i-everie to a sense of
the awfulness of that (lod whom he had so basely insulted, but too
late to avoid the doom he merited. Listen to the grand charge
which the jzreat Daniel brings against him while translating the
mysterious writing. Ueferrin^ to his father's exaltation and hum-
iliatio'i, he says to the olfendin.^ king, " .\i)d thou, his son, Bel-
sh-.izzar, hast not humb'ed thine heart, though thou knewe.st all
this : but hast lifted up thy.self ajrainst the Lord of heaven , and
they have brought the vessels of liis House before thee, and thou
and thy lords, thy wives, and thy concubines, have drunk wine in
them ; and thou hast praised the gods of silver, and gold, of bmss,
iron, wood, and stone, which see not, nor hear, nor know : and the
(}od in wlio.se ha id thy breath is, and whose are all thv wavs,
HAST THOU NOT" GLORIFIED." "IN THAT NKJflT
WAS IJELSHAZZAR THE KIN(i OF THE CHALDEANS
SLAIN."
Now, sirs, what is tlie rolatio.i between intoxicating liquor and
man's morals ? Is it not the same relation as that which exists
l)etween a fiend and ,in angel : between Christ and Helial : between
Heaven and hell ? 'Vho murdered Uelshazzar on that memorable
night? D.vrius ? NO. According to the reasoning of a common
scliool boy, any one can see that strong drink did it. He was a
great man, a mighty man, but the ruby wine laid him low. He
was an intelligent man. surrounded by culture and refinement, but
the mocking draught turned him into an idiot, and under the spell of
its frenzy wrought an evil deed, that like the boomerang returned
in destructive force on his own head. But say you, '' He chose to
drink the liquor, and therefore he was respo.isible for its ettects on
his brain and consequent death." I grant you the correctness of
your argument. I never said that Beisha/.zar was not responsible
for taking that which he knew would stupify him. 1 know that
he who drinks liquor is a suicidisf, while the alcohol is at the same
time a murderer. Belshazzar's death was a joint work between
his wilt and the wine. What I assert and have proved is this, that
liquor so afl'ects a man's brain, that mighty organ of thought, that
under its mudling influence, he loses his maiiTiness and all control
of his passions, and gives expression to words of the vilest character,
conducts himself more like a devil than a man. What I assert and
have proved is this, that when u man voluntarily becomes a slave to
alcohol, that like a mighty tyrant it lowers the moral tone of his
heart, forces his moral trend downwards, and so thoioughly DE-
MORALIZES him, ns to move his tongue and handw to Hay and do
what we all call IMMO UAL
Now I havo proviid n\y raw) wo will illustrate it. In yonder fity
of Halifax is a motherless family. Never again will those dear
children see their young mother's fane unlesK it be for a moment at
the Judgment Bar ofciod. Oaze for a moment on the rountennnce
of a once fair girl in her colfin. and with tears streaming down your
cheeks, lift up a prayir t) Almighty Ood, that no child of yours
may drop into a druiikiird'sgnne, as did poor Kliza Ni.\i>n. What
an awful epitaph will he written on her past, "SIIK DltANK
HKKSKLF Tt) DKATII," so said the Yarmouth Times olWednes-
day last. What is the relation l)etween strung drin!< and the morals
of Kliza Nixon Y It robbed her of her womnnhood : it crushed out
all the noble instincts of a .Mother ; it withered mid Idi^flited. and
blasted all the prospects of that little home, and hin'ed wiiii pitiles.-*
tyranny those poor little darling ciiildren on to a cold cold world, to
sink or swim in the struggle for existence.
There lies in a culprit's cell a man who had a brave biilisli heart.
Whoever fled from lield of battle, he never. No danger withered
up his courage, before no foe could his martial spirit cower. IjiU'
a great -huart he strode the Held intent on victory to the britisharms.
IJut when well directed shot mis.'^ed his heart, and tlie tiashing
sword could not Huccetd, a glass of liijuor, overpowered his once
heroic spirit and turned the british hero into a briti.sii devil. Be,it
his poor hard working wife, bruised hi.-* half-starved children, and
wound up witii the murder of l-'iank Norgraine. As yon gaze
upon that poor victim of strong drink in his cell, anil outline with
your mind's eye the scatl'old Irom wliich lie may swing. I iisk you
in the name of heaven wiuit is tiie relation between intoxicating
liquor and the morals ot William Summers!-' Let the silent corpse
of Frank Norgiaine answer.
Come with me to Judge Hilton's ollice. In comes the Lawyer,
Prosecutor, Witnesses, and the accused, tf iidge reads the cliaige
which is that of unlawfully selling intoxicating liquor on or about
such and such a date. '' What iiave you to say^ ' asks the .ludfje of
the accused, ' I>o you plead guilty or not guilty :-'' Dofemhint says
" 1 gave some." " Hut." says tiie .luil;.^'. " Do you plea:h the hall door. What witli ? Liquor, nothing
else. Oambling is carried on nearly every night, in that siinie
hotel until nearly dav-hreak. S',i ne of our fi lest youua: men are
going to hell rapidly just THROUGH THIS COURSE, and I
think it is about time that some oni' said soiujlhing "
Men and women, fathers an I mothers, 1 appeal to you and ask
what is the relation between .strojig drink and that hotel-keeper's
MOUALSJ' Under the spell of the lire-water and its revenue, he
has turned what might to be a pleasant temporary home for travel-
lers, into a pimbling den. Snared by the money advant^ige con-
nected with liquor, his morals have become so debased that he has
made his ottice a gateway to hell. Under the fascination of this
cruel monster rum. he ha» become so demoralized as to daringly
bre.k the laws ol the country, tlnit pr )hil)it ganbliug. His in-
ward sense of right in the sglit of Almighty (Jod, has iMicome so
callous by this iniquitous trallic. that he is regardless oi'iiow many
parents hearts, ana wiv^s hearts are racked with agony, as they see
their belovoa sons and husbands going to ruin, wlioni his infernal
DICE .\NU LK^UOH have damned. F"'ather8 and mothers, men
and women, in the light of the disgrace which to-day rests on that
hotel, I ask you what ia the relation between strong drink and
man's morals ? It is the same relation that exists between heaven
and hell ; between Christ and Belial.
On Sunday evening Novenilier the 11th, I preached a sermon to
unconverted young men. In the course of my add of it b», who einergi^" from the rum holes of water street. T'ls true,
the evil is more dis;;ui.sed by the upper class, for some of them go
to chiiirh, ha\e a Inisiness standing, and il THEY get drunk, tlieir
compaMions see them home safely in a carriage after dark ; but if
the pour niiui ^cts drunk, he is sprea I out on a truck, and hauled
home i 1 broail divlight. Bit the effects on the moral nature of
both rii'li and poor are tiie same. Who has not seen men coming
out of 1 he niaiii entrance of a block as we were returning home
from Sunday School ^ What do men want in that building on the
Lord's L)ay ? Are they not content with six nights dissipation,
without desecrating God's Sabbath Y Surely they do not board and
lodge ill that billiard hall !-'
.N'ow if you take the trouble you can find the same card-playing
carried on in the back otllctis of some of our strnvs among a
number of our young men. Imagine clerks taking their chums into
their eiu;)loyer's olHce and gambling night after night. I suppose
this is (lone without the employer's consent, but if he winks at it.
he must lie rather generous to afford them fire and gas till two and
three in the morning. Now what kind of morals are those young
men cultivating under the exciting intliuuice of cards and liquor !'
What destinies are their lives going to influence for the great eter-
nity Y II )w are they going to fullill the great mission of a human
being ? .Vow what is the relation between stiong drink and the
morals of our young men ? Look at them. Study them and what
do you iwe Y Vea, I might almost say, " what do you smell F"
You pur 'eive a studie effort to conceal the EFFECTS of their
dissipation, but to a practised eye, accustomed to read men it is clear
that thi're are uudisguisable evide ices of their downward trend.
O 10 can see that their manhood is fast ebbing away ; the eye droops
for an inward unquenchable sense of degradation, is stealing from
tlieiu the once pure strAight-outlooking u;lance. They are unstable,
for dissipation is frittenng away their old power of will. The
blessed habit of nightly praying taught them in boy-hood days, is
no longer observed. ti\it creeping upstairs at mid-night in tlieir
stocking, feet, they roll into bed like a poor degraded heathen,
ashamed of themselves and cursing their lot. The relation between
strong drink and the morals of our liquorous " boys," is the same
as between heaven and hell, Christ and Belial.
dtaM
iM lue here utter a wnrniiig voice to pareiitM who hih in the ha-
bit of (pving pHrtiea, and tlio awful danger to which they are «x-
posinif their dfau^hters. I have two witnenges who will swear that
they Know of young men who fi;o to parties, and take «tronjf drii k
with them in their piM-ketn, and who butween the da'ice^ '^tt out of
the room, and coax (pria to follow them, and ^et them to unite in
einptyinu; the contents of the bottle. *' Where" nay yoii, " did they
>|fet the fifjuor from P" Perhaps they coaxed a doctor to x:ive tiiem
a bo^'UH certificate for 1^ cents, but more likely >jot it from one of
the thirty nine porsons in Yarmouth who are selling it on the sly
ill violation of the law of the country. Where did thoi>e two
drunken boys get it frcin as> they came up from the steainbont
wharf the other .Sabbith P I know where they got it fioiii and I
will tell you soon. Fathers and mothers, if you have any rejjard
for the MUU.-\LS of your ^irls, you had lietter discontinue parties
for a .season, or one day ^ou may meet your once fair dHu^iitt-r
on Boston's str.'et corners the first step to which, was taken at your
last dancing party.
All through the ptst summer that steamship " Alpha " has been
a veritable curse to this town. Three of its crew liave been flood-
ing the place with licjuor on (fod's holy day, and only lately havn
we succeeded in convicting the boys, and fined each one
fifty dollars and costs. I was present at the trial, and was amazed
at the revelations ol this iniquitous trallic, but especially of the fact
that whoever touches the liquor business is irrisistably drawn
into the whirl -pool of iniquity. I there saw that strong drink I))']-
.M()R.\[j|ZES a man, however high lie may bo in othce. It dart s
Its venomous sting into his heart mid poisons his whole soul, for it
makes a man me, and chkat, and himself with murderers (Ke v.
21. H. ) in the world ttp come, what a lieiidish influMtce licjtior must
have over his ninral.o.V And knowing this effect on their conduct
what a blinding fascin#tio:i the accursed stud must e.tei'cisu over
tliem, when they knowingly cling to it as if it were their life.
IVople say the chuiches me not doing inuch to sweep this abom-
ination from our midst. I a(\mit that they are not doin^; all thev
ought or all they might. But dirve our homes from
I the inroads of this great demoralizing curse p They have the
I power to do more gixMl and' more harm than any men in this town,
in relation to the liquor traHic. I)y a dash of the pen they can
I sign the death warrant of the best society young man in town. Or
by withholding it, ctn syiiig the letter ot the law P One
of the ways of finding out answers to these que', for having
done in relation to the licjiior traffic, that for which the damned in
hell will have to sutler for ever.
What is the relation IxjtwecMi the licjuor tralRc and the morals of
our medical men P List year the .Vgent s)ld twelve liundr.;d dol-
lars worth, of s;)irituoiis and iiiiill liquors.* I).>es any medical man
mean to asseit that all that w.n absolutely necessary for medicintl
purposes P If such an one dares ti) s.»y so, I will prove from medi-
cal autlioritie.^^d' the highest scientitiv- tvpo, that he is profoundly
ignor.int of the c?iarrtcter ol strong drink, and of its real power to
1 aid in the restoritio i of diseased bodies. If the best medical opin-
ion proiioiiiice ^120i>.0(J worth of lifjuors twelve times nim-e than
"' were absolutely necessary for medicinal piirpo.ses in a small locality
like this, then it follows as a logical sequence, that some one or
more of our doctm's are guilty of aiding the extension of diunken-
iie.ss, the violation of our local law, of making blood money out of
the nefarious trallic. or tliiit siicli are nothing more ikm* less than
' profound quacks. Oiie doctor in this town lately said that, " If he
did not write a prescription for the drinkers, some one else would,
and that he mig'it as well have the fee as another doctor." Now I
say that medical man is demoralized by the liquor traffic, and ought
to b.> proceeded ag.iinst by our local authorities, and if he will not
obey our law, but is determiiii'(l to give bogus prescriptions for the
sake of the fee, he ought to lie driiinined out of the town. Do our
local authorities menu to tell me that they do not know of a doctor
who is deluging the town with lying prescriptions P Who is mak-
ing hii otHct? a gatew.iv to hell for sum! of the kindest, and when
sober, most considerate I'atliers and husbands in town P If they all
declare them.selves innocent ot this fact, all I can say is that they
tell a falsishood, for there is circumstantial evidence in the posses-
sion ol a hundred peo;>le, that will prove that they must and do
know there i,« such a man.
.■\re the driii^gists demoralized by the liquor traffic P If there is
a business in town that ought to assist in keeping our Law concern-
I ing this liquor traffic, it surely is that of a druggist. I understand
from a chemist's assisttnt that the frofit on things sold by a drug-
: gist is 8) large, that some chemists do not caie to sell things on
which the profit does not range from .50 to 100 p !r cent. If this be
so, surely they are the last in this town who are tempted by the
profits on liquors to sell them. But are they all satisded with tli«t
enormous profits their legitimate business brings them P When I
have seen a poor ragged fellow charge! with selling liqujr, one is
tempted to pity him, and I truly felt sorry for one the other day.
when 1 heard the judge say, "Sir, you are fined $.")0.00 and costs."
But n ) such feelings can enter a man's heart when he hears of a
druggist being fined $-50.00. Poi a man to turn his store intj a sa-
loon, who is in a business that makes the largest profit of any in
town, deserves the severest public reprimmd, and six months in
gaol. Now I ask are any or all of our druggists demoralized by
the liquor traffic. Are they violating the S3ott Act P Are they
• This was the first year the present agent, but I am informed in
correction of the above that last year his sales were $S93.40;
^uiltv of aidinpr the distillern nnd hrowera in tlin innniifnrtiire nf
(IrunkardflP Are they m'crutly Rupplying' liquora tn iiioii who nro
the fathers nnd hugbaiidi ot our lioiiiea^ Have they no ret^ard for
the dear cliildren who xeu their father rome home full of the fiend-
ish fire-water? Flavp they bt'ronie rallous to tlie interestH of lliom'
noble women, who have Ijeen bruiiied ui'd battered by tiieir drunliun
husbands P Have their souls jjeconie so j^frcody for the Aluiifrhty
dollar that tiu^y rare not a fl^ what home ^oes to pieces so lonff as
theirs is sumptuously furnished, and that with " blood mimi-y P" If
it ran be proved tliat thoi"e men whom 1 hav« seen wipiuff their
moustache as they have come out of certain drutf stores, have iKiught
strong drink in there, then it is one of tht> Haihiest lacts of the iiis-
tory of our town. And it in high time that we bet-tirrt'd ourwdves to
use the means nececsary for tlie suppression of such pseudo-drug
stores.
I now nsk are the well-to-do people doing their duty in helping
forward the temperance reform P You " gtuitlemen '' who can tide
in your carriages, who have lieautifully furnished lionies, well
clothed and highly educated sous ami daughters, are YOU demor-
alized by this awlul power P or are you bv precept tind example and
money aiding the advance of the coming tide of temperance reform P
I fear tliat some of you are verily guilty of tipling on the sly. Is it
true that such respectable men as you go into certtiiii places, nnd
wink at the proprietor, ns a sign that you want a drink P ('an you
Iw so unmanly ns to do in a dark dirty rum hole, what you woulil
blush to do before your family P Can it Iw that men of high com-
mercial standing, as s«ime of yiui are enrournge the sale secretly of
that whieh you would not have voiir dnugliter diink for a thousand
dollars? lias it come to jass, tli-it when a man is tried for the illi-
cit gale of rum, that you look -m with sympathy for the culprit, and
chuckle if the defendant catt by some flaw in the law or the accusa-
tion, gain the day P Is it true that at the drunken brawl last even-
ing, some of you sided with the drunkard, and oppo8»>d the ollicer
of the law P Is it true that you well-to-do tipplers laughed in your
sleeve when Joseph Hurrill's windows were suuisheil nnd his horse
cruelly disfigured, be^'ause of his faithlulness to his ofhce P Is it
true tlint many ol you iniport cnses of liquor, which you keep under
lock and key u\ your house, and drink it on the sly when neither
wife <«• childri'n (ire near ? If this be so, then I h -'e almost Ipst
faith in humanity. When tlie ru'.i uml the poor lire banded to de-
feat the one object of the Scott .\ct, one is aptVo lose hear,' and
give up the struggle, and let sin work out its own ^destruction.
And now ye wnini'u, htvo i/"t bjeoiui' de norali/.'d by the liquor
frallic? True there are Rome wiio like, and wlio take a glass of
wine occasionally, but I hope these are vtry few. I do not know
much of the drinkiirg habits ol womi>n here, but I know of some
lovely noble christian wives who have sutlered martyrdom at the
hands of drunken husbands and the scars of the sorrows will never
be erased in time or eternity. As a whole, I think our women must
bear a little blame, not for encouraging the sale of the accursed
thing, but for doing so little to hinder it. You might do much more
individually. Did you ever know where your husbands get liquorP
On discovery could you not have done something to arrest the man
who sold itP Come, do not fold your h.mds in utter helplessness,
but in the strength of your God. band together and form a bi-anch
of the " Women s Christiari Tempei-ance Union," and help Joseph
Burrill, and Judge Hilton and Lawyer Pelton to chase this vile
thing out of town, and make it a lasting disgrace to sell this body-
killing and soul-damning fire-water.
Finallj'. The outlook for the future of our homes and children
is cloudy. When Hotel-keepers vie with druggists as to who shall
get most " blood nroney," when some of the crews of the " Alpha "
and the "('ity" have In'en competing in landing thelurgest ({uantity of
rum ; when the council are inditTerent, and gentlemen import it to
keep in their cellars, and borne of the most respectable men will lie to
shield the sellers of it, one must admit that the hori/.on is very dark.
Tliank Ciod for a band of youiiK christian men and women who are
pledged to op)Kwe the enemy through thick .tnd thin. To these Wi-
must look. They are the hope of tlie church and the li ope of our
town. I think the time has come for the banding together of ALL
our temjK'rance people, and temperance workers, and our tennnu--
ance lodges into OS'L great LKNTHAL temple or lodge, with
simple and uiutbjectionalile ceremonies of admission that are within
the reach of all wiro desire to unite. The kMlges have done a grand
wtu'k in the past, but there seems to me just now the need of a little
diflenuK kiiiil of work fnuii thnt which they are now doing. And
so I think the true-hearted teniprnnce lenders ought to call a graiul
iiH'eting to discuss the present situation, and move onwards to do
something more practical, and mure substantial than simply nieet-
injr in session once a week. A word to the wi.-c; is sutlicient.
Any man who dari-H to impute B>ltish motives to the preacher
for delivering this stu'iumi, is doing him a )>reat injustice. Before
(itod and this largo assembly ol persoi.s, I jieieby declare that this
sermon has been preached for the sole purposes of awakening men to
si'rions thought fulness over the downward trend of our town. To
arouse in drinking husbands a degree of respect fur that Milemn vow
which they made, when they declared that they would " Lo\e her,
comfort her. a-id honor her,' whom they have so shamefully treated
in their dru iken bouts. To warn {larents of the inevitable ruin
their song and daughters niU't c(nne to, if they do not exerciser mine
diwretiim and pruden?e in the degree of liberty they allow them
afler supper time. .\nd to urge upon every christian man the ini-
fiortance ot encouraging by precept, example, and money the abso-
ntely necessary reform amonj^ the illicit venders in liquors. I'lay-
ing is not much good in this work, if you will not put money into
the prosecutor's hands to clinse these disguised saloonists from our
beautiful towi:. It any of the runisellers or rumdrinkers think me
their enemy they are greatly mistaken. When I lead that the
Word of (jod pronounces a curse on him who " putteth the bottle
to his neighbour's lips," I am doing a kindness in seeking to save
the vendor of liquor from the awful eternity, which awaits the im-
penitent saloonist. When I read that no " il'runkard shall entnr in-
to the kindoii) of heaien," surely [ nui rcDiMriiig nn I'li.iue-ti'i".''' '
favor to any drinker, wiien I strive to diavi him awuy from that
8t«ite, which debars from entrance into eterr.hl blessedness. I know
men who have cursed my name, because I am an enemy to their
own greatest foe. But sirs, you curse a friend, whom you may yet
have to thank God for in days of your future reform. Dear young
men, do not gnash your teeth on me because 1 have exposed the
many-sided evil of the liquor traflic. You know in your inner-
most heart that I love you, and have proved it again and again, btith
by my heart and my purse. And believe me, many of yon will yet
call on me with tear-filled eyes, and thank me for uttering a warn-
ing voice to you in the hour ol your weakness and folly. Hut —
but, and if, any man thinks he is doing his town a service by injur-
ing me for my faithfulness to my God and my conscience ; it any
thinks that my life is not worth anything to this town and this
world, he is welcome to take from me the little spark of life, that is
roluctantlv lingering in this feeble frame, ONLY HEMEMBEH
I SHAtL MEKT YOU AGAIN AT THE JUDGMENT
SEAT OF THE ALMIGHTY' CHRIST.
P. S. — At close of this sermon, a second collection was taken,
araouutiag to twenty dollars, for Scott Act prosecutions.
CAREY, PRINTER, YARMOUTH.
tfi
iH