Spirit of the age. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1849-1865, 1851-06-06
FANATTcTSM. 90,

InOSe VINO speak out DOldIy, nOnestly ana
against liquor selling, are called fa-
naiics, ultra men, enthusiasts. Missionaries, &c. J
Fanatics, says a writer of ability in a recent !
paper, are those who are under the influence :
of a religious ~frenzy-ultra men are those who
are disposed to 60 to extremes, overlap the
boundaries Of truth and propriety-enthusiasts
are those whose Incorporate zeal disqualify
them for a calm and dispassionate view of
things-yisiOnaries are such as deal only in
fanciful speculations. Addison says, 'the sons
Of infamy ridicule everything that comes in
competition with their present interest, and
treat those persons as visionGries who dare to
stand up in a corrupt age for what has not its
immediate reward joined to it" These terms
have always been applied by those who are
behind the age to such as are advocating the
progress and advancement of the race. When
Paul was speaking the words of truth and
soberness," he was denominated a mailman,
by a cold and wicked world. The advocates
of temperance are not properly obnoxious to
any of these charges. The ablest and most
enthusiastic and imaginative among them have
never been able to delineate the superlative
wickedness, the consumate villainy of the Ii
quor traffic. Strong language has been en-
ployed, but we have never yet seen an ex-
preston so severe, that truth would not war
rant its employment in a delineation of the
character of this accursed business. The Eng
fish language is wanting in terms to convey a
Just and full idea of its baseness. The time is
approaching when those who are now denom-
mated fanatics, enthusiasts, Missionaries, &c,
will be regarded as wise, sober philosophers
! John Wesley was no doubt, in his day, thought
! insane on the subject of liquor selling, but we,
of this generation begin to appreciate the truth
of what he uttered. Hear him: GThe men
who traffic in ardent spirits, are PRISONERS gen.
eral; they murder his majesty's subjects by
wholesale; neither does their eye pity or spare
And what is their gain? Is it not the blood o
these men! Who would envy their large es
tates and sumptuous palaces? A curse is il
the midst of them. The curse Of God is OF
# their gardens, their walks. their graves. Blood
: blood is there; the foundation, the floor, tn
walls, the roof, are stained with blood. AM
canst thou hope, o man Of blood, though tho
art clothed in scarlet and fine linen, and fares
sumptuously every day, canst thou hope +
deliver down the fields Of blood to the thir
r generation? Not so-there is a God in HEAVIER
t. therefore, thy nam shall be rooted out Lik
as those whom thou hast destroyed, both bod
and soul, thy memorial shall perish with thee
: Such were the insane rGriRgs of the great an
!, good Wesley. Is there an intelligent, observ
ing man in Christendom who has considere
this subject and seen its influence, both upo
Of those engaged in the traffic and the comml
bo nifty, that can gainsay thetruth of what he pul
70 lished to the world.
no DR.. Justin Edwards said many years ag
q believe the time is coming when the gam
r. Ter and the rum dealer viii be classed toget
er. And ] care not how soon that time a
re- rives. would pray for it as devoutly as f
IS the millennium. And when it comes, as con
~ it will, it should be celebrated by the unit
lar band of philanthropists, patriots and christie
I'm throughout the world, as a great and nc
ne glorious jubilee" There are those who W
ur consider it fanaticism to class the gambler Al
dealer in liquors together But is this fans
cism? Is the gambler one half as dangerou:
nto man in any community as liquor sellers
lid Would not the vice Of gambling itself lc
tia nine-tenths cfits ~malignity, if the liquor sci
: was banished! The liquor seller enters I
sanctuary of Home, robs the wife of her pr
NAT tector, the children of their bread, strikes dol
ion every hope that can cheer, wrings every fl
ere that can feel, takes away health, property, CHI
rest acter and reputation. There is no fanatics
on in this assertion, it is sober, honest truth a
ma the truth is not half told. The day is not q
tant when this traffic will be regarded as
60 sum of all villainies, the greatest of all Grim
lck-