Edwardsville spectator. [volume] (Edwardsville, Ill.) 1819-1826, 1824-05-25
not be tied down TO SET Of rules made !

brethren for SO doing. And IL is plaguy
hard il /, who belong to no church, may
not drink when l please. | believe, sir,
that three lourlhs of the religious people
in the nation are IN favor OF max ing, SELL i.
ing and drinking whiskey, and this, 10,
me, is strong proof that il is right.
Quaker. Let me ask thee one ques-
ton. Whether whiskey, as it is now
used, produces more good than evil in
sociely?
Drinker. There is no doubt, sir, but
that II does ten times as much harm as
good but this is not the fault OF the
whskey. Whskey itself is good. Il
was intended by The Creator for the be-
neht OF man.
Quaker. | will now take thee at thy
word, and do wha, can TO shew thee
the FOLLY Of thy arguments. Thou hast
| said that with thee there is no doubt but
that whiskey, as il is commonly used,
produces more harm than good. What
| good does it do? Did il ever save a
MATS life Perhaps it has saved the
| lives OF more than one. Did IL ever
make a man rich | presume it has
made more than thousand rich. Did
it ever make man wise No. D,d II
ever make a man religious No. Has
ii tendency to make men more hu
name and useful No. Does IL refine
ard polish the manners of the people
No. What harm, hen, does il do Dr.
II ever destroy the lie OF a man; YEA. II
can well boast OF having destroyed the
lives OF hundreds and thousands. Did
has, thousands have become by it wre;c CHI
ed in poverty. Did it ever make
man frol F? Yea, the drunken man is a
fool indeed. Has j, any tendency to PIE
vent men from embracing the gospel
| presume there are few vices, if any,
tina, go farther IN hardening the hearts
and b!indus the minds OF men than in
| temperance. Does it make man o
useless member of society Surely II
does. No living creature can be more
useless, loathsome, and abominable, than
drunken man--except il be drunken
woman. These things, friend, thou must
know to be true. Then what are thy
good Christians about, those worthy men
that think for themselves, vino thou say
es, keep dstilleFies and tipping shops;
who desplse church rules, because they
oppose their money-makIng schemes
and those pralse-worthy Presby.erians
who commend their brethren for making
whiskey, because they love it themselves!
| say, what are these men doing will
| 4 hoo b,t u ., 'EI,.,, a
doing ali they can TO destroy the health
and wealth OF their fellow men; all they
can to destroy their character, peace, and
usefulness; all they Can 10 destroy their
souls.
Drinker. But believe, sir, that
| have known men who loved God and
heir neishbors TOO, who yet have made
| 1nd sold whi,key.
Quaker, Friend, have no doubt but
hat many men who engage In this busi
ness appear 10 be very re llglous, espe-
tally al camp-mcelinss and sacramental
occasions. But if you will examine
them closely, you will find that family
religion is sometimes neglected the
world has enyrossed their hearts; they
are too tired a, night, and in the NOR
ming they are sometimes SO hurried that
they cannot take time. But upon the
Sabbath, when there are religious friends
about, or during leisure time, when
nothing else Can be done, the family will
be mustered, form of worship attended
To, when, in all probability, their hearts
are IN their stills or their whiskey-bar-
rels. Nov, il we Judge of these men by
their conduct, think We shall see tina,
Notwithstanding the great love they have
Tor God and their neighbors, il is nothing
when compared with their love for mu-
ney. But II is evident, and almost uni
versally acknow lodged, that the whlskcy
raffic does more harm than good: this
is sufficient for an homes man to abstain
from 1t. 1t the good derived from its
use, was ten times as much as il is, the
evil being incomparably greater, is a
sutiic lent reason Tor a Christian TO f1y
from It. II can never be the dutu Of
any man to engage in a business, (which
he knows cannot but be preiudicial 10
the public good. A savage, armed with
rifle and tomahawk, determined, with
all the rage Of furious, passion, to destroy
"hpmsoevcr he meets, is moi SO danger
Gus toe TO a new settlement, as the
maker and veDder OF ardent spirits -
Inns depopuiatmg, soul destroying
plague" is yearly staying its thousands;
lis volaries are rushing on the down.
ward road to destruction. Ppveriy, ig-
norance, quarreling aid sickness, prevail