Spirit of the age. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1849-1865, 1851-08-01

and opposition lessons its true merits, and
just consequence. One Of the grand OBJ
stacles to the perfect success of the great
Temperance Reform is ironside theology
Whether it emanates from copperas home
spun, or embroidered slippery, or silk-stock-
ing ministers of the Gospel, it is the self
same error. That error consists in decry-
ing any reform that they do not lead or sane
ton. 1.-THE church is in danger !" they cry
80 human agency" Secret societies Of
the pious and impious Tendency to In
fdelityl'' But surely there is no danger
to the church, in making society sober, NOR
al, humane and prosperous in business
Drunkenness IS a disorder of the understand
ing, and of the scil, induced By Intoxicating
liquors. Thousands fall under its baneful
and blasting influence. We aim to reclaim
them. We do il. A sober community is
the very field forthe extension ofthe Church. :
Thousands of the present members Of the
church learned first to drink cold water, be-
fore they drew the living water from the
wells of Salvation (!
But human agency is called In question.
The Order processes not to deliver from the
second death! But is it nothing to deliver
from the trst-a drunkard's life-nay, a
drunkard's grave ! All ironside divinity
d~enounces any human efforts to reform the
outward conduct, in spite of the thousands
of facts, that every day go to prove that a
man may become moral. sober and amiable
without becoming a christian ! Divine pow
er alone, can make a christian-human effort
can restore the image of manhood, although
it cannot renew the divine image in the soul.
But if we cannot convert men for Heaven,
can we not restore them for earth, lead them
to the sanctuary, and place them, SO far as
we can, in the reach of mercy and truth,
and the grace of salvation
But these societies of the Pious and I'M
pious are a school for inidelityP % Then
church congregations, the State and Gene
raj Governments, Colleges and Seminaries,
nay all associated bodies of men, are grand
schools Of infdelity For they consist o the
pious and impious. Such an argument would
dissolve all social compact on earth, where
virtue and vice must exist together, until n
or the other is extirpated
But why should you have seeretsg con-
tinues the objector. The very existence and
permanence of the Order requires it. The
strength and stability Of all human a~ssOcia-
tons for increase and government. depend
on unity of counsels, secrecy of deliberations,
, and dispatch Of the measures on which the
, body resolves. Why do State Legislatures
t and church Conventions sit with closed doorss
7 Why does Congress appropriate a fund Of
secret service money! Look at the Temper
? ance societies and Washingtonians /; they
were public, and their failure is equally no
%torious. As a debating society, the Order
of the Sons is equal to any secret society
in our Colleges, and every one knows it is
I dishonorable to divulge any Of their secrets
In a word, there is no tendency to infdelity,
or any vice, in our Order, but entirely the
contrary. Religion. law, sobriety, broth
! erly love, honor and pure morals, are cardi-
t nal principles in the estimation of every true
t Son of Temperance. The Order encourages
love and respect for every thing good in
e church, and civil society.
I But, methinks, l hear the voice of some
r malcontents, ike the cry of Beef" Beef"
/ "Beefp so powerfully rebuked by the i'm
mortal Patrick Henry, for disturbing the
4 shouts of the champions of American free
E dom, while arming for another victory! It
$ is the voice of the narrow-souled bigot, conn
5 planning, "you are trying to do good, out
5 of the church! you are e~levating your Order
b above the Ministry ofthe Gospel" Not so!
e Reverend gentlemenl We keep our sphere,
b as Moral Reformers, and American patriots.
d We throw all the responsibility of feeding
s the flock, upon You, alonel But may we
not clear the pasture grounds of deadly herbs,
i and shrubs, and turn into them, streams of
$ pure, refreshing, cold water? Temperance
is a social, and moral, as well as christian,
d virtue. We educate, polish, and refine men
in schools and colleges, in the hope, that,
thus, they will be better fitted to serve God,
y and their country. Is it nothing to reform,
and humanize men, and bring them to the
d porch of the Temple, that you may take them
f by the hand, and lead them to the atari
If we cannot ourselves carry them into the
g promised land, may we not guide them safe
through the wilderness, shield them from
1t fiery serpents, and bring them to you, that
they may be pointed to the glories beyonde
d Many efforts have been made to win the
inebriate from his dissolute habits, and here
is one which was enacted to some purpose /:
at A Norfolk (Va) paper says that a man
m not fifty miles from there, VIGOROUSLY addic-
st ted to this vice, hearing an uproarin his kiteh-
ne en- one evening, had the curiosity to step,
a without noise, to the door, to know what was
eff the matter, when he beheld his servants in
OF dulging in the most unbounded roars Of
a laughter at a couple of his negro boys, who
to were mimicking himself in his drunken fits
showing how he reeled and staggered-how
1t he looked and noded-how he hiccuped and