The Sumter banner. [volume] (Sumterville, S.C.) 1846-1855, 1851-04-23

TO avoid, and SO ! referred 10 another
place. There rend....
q "Who bath woc2 Who hntb sorrow?
Who hath wounds2 Who hath
babbling7 Who hath redness Of oyes2
They thut tarry long at tho wine. AT
last it bilcth like serpent, it s,ingelh
like an adder
! felt like throwing the book from me;
but once more turned the lenves. and
my eyes rested upon these words....
"Woe unto hlm that giyeth his
neighbor drink; that pu,tos, the bottle
TO min and makcst him drink
] closed the book suddenly, and
threw it down. Then, for hnlf nn
hour, paced tho room backwards and
forwards in q state Of mind never
before experienced. had become
pninfnlly conscious Of tho direful evils
resulting from in,empernnce. and still
more painfully conscious, TINT ] had
been willing instrument in the spread
Of these evils cannot tell you how
much suffered during tha; day and
night, nor describe the fearful conflic,
that took place in my mind, between
selfish love Of the gains Of my calling,
and the plain dictates OF truth and
humanity. !, wns about nine o'clock,
| think, on tho same evening, that ]
opened tho Drunkard's Bible again,
with kind Of desparing hope that
should meet there with something TO
direct me. opened al the Psalms and
rcud two or three chnp,ers. As | read
on, without finding any thing directly
10 my case, fel, m increasing desire
TO nbandon my calling, because i, was
| injurious 10 my fellow. mcn.
Alter had read the Bible, I retired to
bed, but could not sleep. am sure
that during that night thought of
every drunken man 10 whom had sold
liquor, ind Of all their beggnrcd
famlies. In the brief sleep ,ha, | OBJ
tanned, ] dreamed that saw long line
Of ,ol,ering drunkards, with their wives
and children in rags. And loud
voice said:
who hath done ths?'
! The answer, in n still louder voice,
directed felt, 10 nc. smotc upon my
car like n peal of thunder
Thou art the mani
From This troubled slumber I woke
10 sleep no more that night. In the
morning, the last and most powerful
conflict came. The question TO be dc
cidcd. was
'Shnil | open nv tavern. or at once
abandon the dreadful traffic in liquid
poison2
Happily, decided never to put 10
any mans lips the cup Of confusion
My next step was 10 turn the spickci
of every kcg or barrel OF spirits, wine
beer, or cider, and let the contents
cscnpc on the floor. My bottles aud
dccantcrs were likewise cmptied. -
Then | came and signed your Total
Abstinence Pledge; nnd what is better
never rested until had persuaded tho
nlnlltgvkosc Bible had beer of so MUCH
~ aSsgsa 81 Eit 10 sign the Pledge likewise
Ahu i,uW, lii: n reside 1essiissllee.,, }siSs IN ,i5llty
ing n Temperance Grocery, and am
making restitution as fast as possib C.
There are nj lens, half dozen fnrn-
lies, 10 whom furnish small quaint.
~ Of groceries every week, in many
cases equal 10 the amount that used to
be spent n, ny bar for liquor Four
ofmy oldest and best customers have
already singncd the pledge by my per.
suasion, aud ] am no, going 10 rest, un.
til every man ] helped to rum, is rcslor.
cd 10 himself, his family, and society.
a round of hearty applause followed
this address, and then another of the
rciormeJ drinkers took the floor.
| The London Times thus describes
what is 10 be the result Of the Union lc
the South, if it goes on ms it has beer
doing. Whether true or false we leave
our readers to Judge:
Slavery is but a question OF time. -
II is scarcely possible 10 conceive that q
hundred years hence there will be one
slave in the United States, not 10 sny
IN the whole continent Of American
The slave owners see the ramparts rs
ing, the trenches opened, The communi
cations established. and The blocnde
closing round them, that is one dny
to reduce them TO unconditional Surren
der. We doubt not for an ins,nn, tina
our chi.lrcn's children, will see The
chains drop in one hour from The limb:
tot three million slaves. The Fugitive
Slave bill is only last legislative cnor
ngnir st that which is more powerful
than legislatures the progress OF hu
man affairs. Every acre added to the
territory Of ihc Union, every frcebort
child added TO its population. and every
rmigran, that lands on lis shores, is an.
other weight to The scale Of abolition. -
Then why, except because they arc
dcncn,cd and doomed, do the slave
owners take no steps whatever to pre-
pare nr the great day Of reckoning!
Why do they assume The perpetual sta.
| bilily Of an institution at variance with
the whole tenor md course Of modern
civilization? We do not hesitate to adj
wise them to set their house in order
II il is harder 10 do so now than il was
seventy years hack, instead of being
ensicr, as the great statesmen Of that
day hoped and cxpectcd--if time has