Litchfield enquirer. [volume] (Litchfield, Conn.) 1829-current, 1846-02-19
CAN A MAN BE A DISTILLER AND A
CHRISTIAN

From communication in the Daily Jour
nal of January 10, one would suppo.e that
was engaged in personal quarrel with Mr.
G. G.. w. Comegys; misconception ari.
sing from his infelicitOHs manner of tellins
the truth. The whole matter between him
and myself is simply this, Can consistent
Christion and temrerGnce man conduct q
sohisky diseiliery and nsaintoin his charac.
ter? 1t is not with him, but with his Bust.
ssss, that have anything to do.
Mr.. Comogys formerly resided at Indian
ap0lis, and was esteemed as an able and up-
right young man. He was member of a
Christian Church and an officer in it. He
was favorably known as an active, devoted,
enterprising temperance man he was Presi-
dent Of thg' Young Mems Temp. Society,"
On his ferzovalto Lawrenceburgh,w where for
a time A. II - A1ss assonss0aS &ho dntiec
of Cashier to the Bank, he stood high, very
high, in the regard both of the Christian
which he leit, and of that to
which he came, and he assumed, as he al
ways had been accustomed to do, an active
part in their benevolent labors, and occupi-
ed the responsible post of Superintendent of
the Sabbath School. Under these circum-
stances it was, that to the grief and amaze
ment, not only of his friends, and he had
not few, but of the community generally,
he embarked his capital largely in the uni
versally disreputable business Of distilling
whisky. Let every person, now, refer to
Mr.. COmegys' article in the Journal
of the 10th, and mark the reasons by which
he justifcs himself. There are bat two ::
first, that he had legal right TO do it; Sc
cond, that he could not on account of sharp
competition, make money without so doing.
Here is atemperance man, Christian pro-
lessor, moral instructor of youth, whose
only justification for engaging in business
prolific of every evil that aftlicts humanity,
business WHICH repitomizes in itself the
miseries cdnd woo6house, the Jail, and the
gallcIn b;eh state juld make money by it
and the law allcS1s.it. Iforget. There is
another argur Mt, viz: that if do not let
the matter alone, he will thrash me I'm.
der these circumstances, this must be per-
sonal question with Mr. =. bat mere ques-
ton of public and Christian morals to me.
As such was never afraid to express my
views upon it, and should still do he same
were it not for fear Of personal chastise-
ment! / think, indeed, that Christian
minister, soundly whipped by Christian
distiller, would be spectacle Of ediGcation
seldom vouchsafed to the church or the
world. While, then, my unfeigned regard
for his courage In thrashing a minister,
win make me very prudent in my language,
/ must inform him, that il worst comes to
worst, i shall engage Quaker, and wo-
man to stand BY, and fight for me in that
disastrous hour; and If he vanquishes the
three-a Quaker, preacher and a woman,
the scene shall be engraved, and, If might
suggest, it should go with the distiller's
mark upon the head Of each whisky barrel,
reminding every beholder, both of what
that manufacturer has done, and what the
contents of the barrel will enable others to
do.
Mr.. G. is mistaken in supposing that
ever devoted o whole sermon 70 him. Some
two years ago, in discourse designed to IL
lustrate how often a mans heart entirely
deceives his head, it occurred to me, thai
one Of the ways might receive pertinent
illustration by the case of Christian tenn
perance-man turned distiller.
] should be ashamed to have occupied Al
hour on such q matter it did not take nv
minutes to satisfy every sober mind, tina
only the proloundest self deception coul'
lead man suppose that he was christian
while daily manufacturing whisky. Blu
if there was = person Who doubted at tina
time, whether an immoral business coul
be fool and blind the understanding, the
will no longer have = doubt II they hsv
read Mr. Comegys' article. call on ever
right-minded man to notice the extraordi
nary language Of Il AZ document-'If tn
business is wrong let the law account IL
that wrong; lift carries ruin to weak mel
let the Law answer for i'll This Is the lar
; guage Of . hitherto strong temperance maj
) whose only public Fecantation of tempe
; ance doctrine is the erection Of distiller
. Did the law build that distillery. OF did NJ
Comeeys bpiA itS Does the law Ply tho
: Arss, or does this Christian professor do i
a Does the Law send out from this hideous c
aahlisAwest oAsOf he bead quarters and