Spirit of the age. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1849-1865, 1852-11-03

I
are the ministers of God. They are the men
who are held to a special responsibility for
the peace and good order of society. With
them is lodged the right and the power to
stay the tide Of ruin in the land. And the
honored official, who lodges the responsible
ity Of his honorable place, by skulking wit
tingly away from his official task, and hides
himself in the ranks of the vicious, may in
deed quiet bribed conscience behind the
perverted appetites of the vitiated rum-loyer
and his licensed murderer. and assume that
public sentiment iusti6es his unfaithful
course But God will fud him out, and
will hold him to a fearful accountability for
the mischief and ruin which may result from
tl.i@as 6 say- he General who
has it IN his power to save his country In
the day Of danger and refuses to set his ar
my In motion to achieve the object, is regar-
ded Judas to his country's cause, and
worthy of traitors fate And we submit
it to the candid, and especially to those most
deeply concerned, whether the officer of the
civil code, whose official acts place him in
position not dissimilar to that of the traitor
ous General, is any better than he Does
he not sustain very similar relations both to
earth and heaven?
But another cause comes up 10 view-it
also is a class case. The genteel dram-drink-
er,-the moral and church loving liquor
drinker, who only drinks in moderation,
may wipe the lingering drop from his liquor
Redeemed lips, and lay to his soul the sooth-
ing lotion that he is not drunkard. But
he cannot so conveniently wipe from his con-
science the polluting effects of his dangerous
habits for God will hold him to strict
account for the injury inflicted upon society
Uy tie 1nflutncs d - =,
for omiting the good he might have done
by throwing the weight Of his influence into
the opposite scale.
There is no excuse for such beverage.
A medicine which kills in two out Of three
cases, would be taken with reluctance if
it be known to kill in nine cases out Of eve
ry ten, none would take it but drug
which kills all who come fully under its in
fuence, and remain there, ought to be
secuted as beverage, and shut up to its
technical uses.
The object at which We aim, however, is
work quite too large for party it is a
work for all Lit is the work Of all; work
in which all car join, ought to join, will join.
The order Of Sons of Temperance, does not
oxpect to reap and gather this glory to them
selves. They present themselves, it is true,
as an advanced phalanx or tangible nucleus,
around which the rrusrr- vaaral forces of the
great people do the mighty deed. The peo-
pie bear rule in these lands. The people
the omnipotent people can do (under God)
what they please. The people build prisons
for felons, asylums for maniacs, and hos
pitfalls for the destitute. And if there be a
method-a method which addresses itself to
the good sense Of all men, by which the peo
pie have it in their power to prevent, instead
Of vainly trying to control, and provide for
/ two-thirds of all the crime, lunacY and paup-
erism in the nation. shall we not fly to the
sescue with. an enthusiasm Of feeling and a
concert Of effort suitable to the vastness Of
the interest involved? But there is such a
method it is at hand it lies at the feet
Of the people; it waits the bidding Of the
} public opinion and Of the public will; nor
: is it more proper for public sentiment and
general practice to doom mad-dog to death,
by the first missile or weapon that comes tc
hand, than it is for the free people Of this
great republic to resort to that method. Il
Is TIE 0rtry rs-s.srr0v..g-----~--,---
!, fair land from TIE infamy of becoming
the widespread burial-place of drunkards
and that method is, to break up, pult doaOn
t and crash the liquor traffic.
f Let the sovereign people Of this republic
: nerve the strong arm Of the law TO suit tn
| case and'let that strong arm, with all it
e authoritative weight, be laid upon the mon
+ ster that is washing and plundering this ma
r ton; let the broad foot Of State authorit
e come down, with one triumphant stamp, ur
!, on the ugly head of this destroying serpen
II and we shall have gained victory muc
x more glorious than any that ever fired II
ID soul Of the Macedonian Conqueror, or OF
ut greater than he-the man whose materi
Or power shook the nations of the eastern hen
III isphere. None but the people can do thi
they can,-they ought, and, may We not ad
m they will do it.
Mt Many men drink, respectable men,
to apart from the cup, good men, who feel th
ms they are disgraced by it and in their heal
Ye- they are sorry they cfel oohtl l"C10o
zi- wretched habit; but it is upon them, an
rk. with the indueement before them, they ha
.rd no hope of redemption. Must they die!
he will you save them? They are the men
oul good men, and there are many of them,
tch and they will bless you as benefactors, e'
TX. the best friends of their families, if by y
ra- free suffrage, the gallent Car of State autl
off ity shall speed its glorious roll over
ide great Kentucky. and drive alcohol into
hell proper association with other members
fed the medicinal family, and Shut it up
Ter few well guarded drug-stores, and place
be- under the bar and ban Of oath and bt
ven with full and approved security for its g
life behavior.
' to How many well-reared gentlemen,
rten have good homes, and smiling wives,
ICED sweet children, ride off from their own S
dis blocks to go to town,-to court, to the
ban to the ction.--who, knowing their dal
cup aye, and feeling and dreading it to
III baua- saiid-444- 4-ll.4-...44l-------a1
aa.-a me- their anxious wives also. each in his