Ch 11. - By a Great DeliveranceCh 11. - By a Great Deliverance
Dry Dock of a Thousand Wrecks, The by Philip Ilott Roberts (1872 - 1938)
Edwin C. Mercer recounts how social drinking at university grew into severe alcohol addiction, costing him work, family trust and dignity. He then describes his turning point at the Water Street Mission and his later efforts to share a preventative message with college men across America.
14:21•1 Apr 2026
From College ‘Good Fellow’ to Great Deliverance: Edwin C. Mercer’s Story
Episode Overview
- Social pressure at college can push people into drinking against their own instincts, planting the seeds of addiction.
- Most drinkers, in Mercer’s view, cultivate the taste for alcohol rather than inherit it, often to seem popular or manly.
- Good intentions and human willpower alone proved insufficient for him once the drinking habit had taken hold.
- Hearing testimonies at the Water Street Mission and surrendering to Christ marked the turning point in his life away from alcohol.
- Mercer now shares his story with thousands of college men as a preventative warning against the path that nearly destroyed him.
“The very drink which was at first repulsive to me afterwards became my bread and meat. My God, what would I not do for it?”
What makes a recovery story truly hit home for people who are still in the struggle? This chapter from *Dry Dock of a Thousand Wrecks* centres on Edwin C. Mercer, a bright young Virginian whose first drink at university quietly opened the door to years of devastation.
Readers hear Mercer’s story in his own words, from that early peer pressure moment — taking a drink he found “repugnant and repulsive” just to avoid being called a “sissy” — through to the slow collapse of his morals, work, marriage and self-respect. He spells out how a social habit hardened into addiction: “The very drink which was at first repulsive to me afterwards became my bread and meat.
The turning point comes at the Water Street Mission in New York, where, after hearing other former drunkards speak, he finally kneels at the mourner’s bench and repeats, “God be merciful to me, a sinner.” He describes rising with a quiet sense that “some great event had happened,” later summed up in his line: “The Lord has saved me by a great deliverance.” The chapter finishes with Mercer’s later work among American college students, sharing his story as a warning and a way of pointing others toward a different path before alcohol takes hold.
My God, what would I not do for it?” The episode has a direct, almost conversational style that suits anyone who wants a clear, faith-centred account of alcohol addiction and change. There’s no romanticising: Mercer talks about pawning his clothes, losing jobs, sleeping on benches, and watching his family’s hearts “bleeding” over him. You’ll also hear his view on heredity versus habit, and how much damage is done simply by wanting to be “a good fellow”.
If you’ve ever wondered how one man’s collapse can become someone else’s cautionary lifeline, this account gives you plenty to think about. Could Mercer’s story help you rethink the power of “just one drink” and the kind of life you actually want?
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