Lynchburg Virginian. [volume] (Lynchburg [Va.]) 1829-185?, 1838-09-27
ME MORTAL.

Ed. Ti,ginian
MEMORIAL.
The undersigned citizens Of
ask leave tn call the attention Of Your honorable body
10 the laws now existing in our commonwealth,
licensing the sale Of intoxicating liquors. for drink,
10 The injury. as your momorialisis conceive, OF the
ipdiyidual.-both buyer and seller. aud to tie
serious deifiment OF the best interests ri the state.
Ii is not The purpose Of your memoriaiisls To call
into question the patriotism Of those men, b, whom.
in former DAYS, those laws were frst made, or oi
those bv whom they have since been modified. In
their dav. lley doubtless acted according 10 thu
licht. We wish that they who come alter MS may
be able to bear witness Ion us that We lave acted ae-
cofding to ours.
We do not propose 10 exhibit 10 your body a pie
tnre of drunkenness, in any of lis degrees, ~ al lis
effects upon the miserable victim, 81 upon the often
more miserable ones who are bound 10 hun by the
ties of family. OF of society. Your own eyes, when
directed TO the subject of human misery, IN this
community, To its objects, and its sources. VIII be
struck nv more app ling scenes dian any thai we
could paint nor when YOU see and consider them,
nill YOU ask ms for evidence that, With comparatively
lew exceptions, misery flows, directly or by nrcessa-
~ consequence, from intoxicating drinks these
the laws ul oui commonwealth allow Ia be sold lot
The cxpess purpose of heing drunk aud Tins loo,
now tlat We know, as Our fathers did not, that they
are aim avs poisonous To the human system, aud tihi
in last the degree IN Which they are drunk, are de-
slfueiiye 10 the bedy aud mental energies, The moral
III n lils NJ ilEHNNl I'M l'N' " '''' ' 49,
drinks them. Can it. then, be for the best interest oi
ihe community that they should be- DRUNK tah
IL consist with Ihe character 81 a highly moial com
munity that they should be sold by PERMISSION AMI
under the protection OF lis laws that Il priesthood
should be ordained for The very purpose OF pouring
tins poison into the VEINS Of the p0dy polite n
priesthood, whose only office, 50 far as II IS reoog-
nizcd by the law, IS exclusively a work Of destruction,
without one healing tendency, oLc salulary influence,
a priesthood who Is engaged ~ tins wotk, and not Ia
boring "ior the public good IN tbs way, are faith
less 10 the ministry TO which they ao elected and
nnoinlod by the law.
Werespcc'lully ask-ls II right to license man
thus to mar the image Of God in his brother man :
Right TO give him authority thus ITO sell insanity
aud deal out sure destruction lit IS right, why
should any man be forbidden To do ~ II not IielI,
why should any be pcImitrdi WHY forbid all but
men Of sober life and conversation To do II, II II Is
wrong! VIII The poison be less active. or less la'al,
II il is dealt out with Il steady hand Wl!ltie buy
cr be less a dmnkard, because the seller Is n sober
man! May tins pollution be poured Out upon So
riety ouly by clean hands /! Or Is the resumption
Of The law that ia such hands, II will do no harm ;
that n man "oi good mulul character" Will sell, not
10 dfunkards, but TO sooef men like himself! l. II
then more FOR the public good that The sober men
OF the commonwealth should be made dluukards,
than that they who are already dtunkmds, should re
MAN such! Can that which ALWAYS works private
evil conduce to public good Can hat which IS bad
Tor all the parts, be good for The whole 3! Can evil
be converted lnlo gnuu by multiplication ! tan
wrong be leglslated into right Under the laws nj
the eoInnIonwe ath, the body of the ciilzen, unless
indeed lie be poor and IN debt, is zealously protected.
Not a lair 81 his head can with IMMUNITY be harm
cd. Tie law lifts up lts trumpet voice against per
sonal injury, so long rs IL is merely physical. But
when the physical evil becomes linked in with motai.
when the destroyer takes bold OF soul and body to-
gc,hcr, to drag them into the PIT, then the arrows
OF the law are returned into lleir quIyer-its thun-
deIs are laid aside; and IT'S shield is spread over the
pit into which The, both go down 1t may be TOO
much To expect from human laws, that they protect
the morals OF society from corruption, aud even
from temptation. But is IT too much 10 ask that
ahey will not throw open the doors Of temptation and
hold them open, that the ''simple ones" may 20
down through them into the chambers Of death /!
Is IL Too much TO ask that the sale Of intoXicatine
drinks may be prohibited Ly penal laws? 1t is sand,
we are aware, that THIS will be an Infringement upon
the citizen's nights, We answer hen those rrh,sare
already intringed. All, but few, are alread, forbid
den by penal statute, TO retail ardcrt spirits. Is it a
greater infringement of rights or a holder stretch Of
power, 10 restrain a few OF good moral character
than II is TO restrain the many OF an opposite de
scriptIon?
AgaIn-may not onr neighbors, our children, be
projected by penal statute from " practices against the
health and the life, rs well as The lower orders of
creation ! BY penal statute, We protect our fish from
poison, why not our men ! BY penal statute, by a
thopsand dollars fine. and a years imprisonment IN
'he county jail, we punish the man who shall Z" ex-
iD0S "E POISONOUS substance with The intent that
the same should be taken and swallowed by a neigh
boris cattle" Why not, then, if /" with The intent
t"at II may be taken and swaliowed' by the neigh
oof hiihsth 30 ihai sickness, delirium, death en-
sue, What matters itby what uamc the draueht be
Caicd 10 The sufferer, or to soclely. is the iniu-
~ the less, because HE deliiium is lonopr coutinued
and the death pains more protlacted1 If h.,
willing accessory TO my brothers death, by a p,stol
or cord, the law holds me guilty but pnil,less if
mix his death in a cup. The halter is my reward if
j bring hin his death I'M bowl of hemloek if i, ,
glass OF splr1ls, ] am rewarded with ms purse We,
who would not rather die, who would not rather see
his child die. by hemlock than by rum , The law
raises me a gallows If set fire to my ueighbor's house.
though not a soul perish IN the flames. But | may
throw = torch into his houselold-i may lead his
Children through q fire more Consuming than Mo-
I0ch's-I may make his whole family a burnt
onerlng upon the altar OF namInon, aud the same
Law holds its shield between me and harm. Ii has
Installed NE III my office, and IL comes in TO protect
alike "ube priest, The altar and The God" For the VIC
inns II mas no sympalbies. For them 1t provides
nelther ransom nor avenger.
But there is AN ayensrr. While those s,cyiGees
are smoking on lhelr Thousand affairs, through the
length and breadth Of our land. The Ruler of The |
NATIONS Is bringing upon US the penalties of his laws
~ the consequences OF breaking them. Even nav.
ne "ho renders' TO every man, according TO his works.
u showing US That he Is as strict 10 visit with SUFFERING
inose who violate his organic and moral iays as he
y ready 10 accumulaie good upon those who
observe them. The fields OF our country. wl;cI,
nc mas Charged With elements Of pienty.-mhicb are
sseiy year waiting TO be bonntifuI.-which he waters
.na' 'hey may bud and briue forth, and give seed
~ '"e so"ef aud bread TO The cater" are becoming like
lhe field OF the sIothful6 man of old.