Spirit of the age. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1849-1865, 1852-09-22

DIT 10 uO1u dGJaI6
on the 18th Of November, to adopt meas
ures Ior the prohibition of the liquor traffic
ID thaEctate. We extract the following
from the Appeal Of the Committee, as to
sne NECESSITY for such a step. When will
Nort1 begin to move IN earnest in
the III remarks copied apply
with equal force to our own as to our sis
The crisis not only demands cur might
lest energieslbut an unity Of action-of ac-
ton prompt and nntring-action that will
never falter Until its object is attained-the
abolition of tt infamous traffic of ardent
spirits, the prud and only boon which it
claims botn joy-creating and fruit-bear-
ing to universal man.
The Tempehnce cause has done much.
Wherever its Banner Of Love has been unfur-
led, hearts ha9 been gladdened-Peace and
Plenty, ike eli rishe Penates, have brigh-
tened many adhumble hearth-stone with the
smlle-light Of nesent Happiness and prospec-
tive joy.
Public opiuidE, too. has been a grand lev
er and PRODUCTIVE Of grand results, but it
mas not done ENRICH.
Moral suasiot may have effected much
with the tempted, but upon the tenpter's
heart it has fallen like dew upon the imper-
ishabl2e3amant leaving behind no traces Of
its tranSt. Men ofthe highest intellectually
have etefted their noblest energies and ac-
~tivities n forwarding their God-born Mission;
they have fought the demon in his strong
holds, even whistle miasm ofthe gin-shop's
Stygian pools diffused a death-pestiIence
around them-they have toiled, and molly
toiled, for mans amelioration and exaltation
but they have fallen short of the toiled
for goal. The dark-sveIiing tide of Intern
perance still bears upon its fre-capped bill
lows devastation and ruin. Like an embodi-
ed gloom, it still shrouds our country in grief's
dark-mantling drapery. Yearly it sends
its myriads to our asylums and prisons, and
its thousands, groaning beneath the weight
Of sins unforgigen, to the-grave. 1t still
~scatters broad east over the earth the seeds
Of wretchedness and moral degradation-it
still plants the gore-reeking dagger in the
heart of many an unconscious victim.
Then, since public opinion has proved in
e~fffectual in check this ruinous and disas-
--ttro7Hs H @sTnce moral suasion has fallen
ike grain IN stony ground producing nought
what is our alternative?-Must we aban-
don our cause? Weuer! never.! There is
a way, which IS emphatically the way. And
Mot way, we say it boldly and fearlessly, is
Legislative interference.
We do not wish to make tia politico-social
reform, nor yet a political hobby. But we
would call upon the authorities Of our land
to abate it, as they would any other nuisance
to restrain it 5y just enactments, as they
do burglary or theft; for that it is a crime.
no one dares deny, since it is so denounced
by the God who gave us being; and it is
as much a reckless and wanton outrage Of
divine authority as Is violation Of the God
given law, Thou shalt not kill For both
are equally God-enacted and Bible-taught
And, too, society's very first law forbid:
that any individual shall do that, which
the community at large. Our statute books
abound in restrictions based upon this very
principle. The use Of, and traffic in, ardent
spirits are not only repugnant to the socia
compact, but they even aim at the very
foundation of religion, inasmuch as they are
contrary to Jehovah's unchanging and un'
J changeable enactments. lntemperance i
not ONLY a vice, per Sc, but it is the impure
> fountain from which flow a thousand stream
| blackened by guilt and reeking with corrup
: tion.-None will deny that all vices, PERM
S cious to morality and public health, shoul(
: be restricted by penal enactments. Intern
perance not only destroys mans physical &C
e ~tivities, but it is c~orrupting, debasing, bru
e TALKING, demoralizing and unchristianizin
5 in its very nature, and, therefore, should tn
strong-armed law roll back its billowy food
This IS the natural and the logical sequence
e nor can it be refuted, as we conceive, for til
Il premises are essentially based upon the in
IS mututottge ft1- -y 4e7- ef Eternal Truth.
.e Yet men cry, unconstitutional! Where
there anything in the catalogue of huma
s crime and vice half so heinous and disastror
d in its effects to humanity that is not 50 re
n trained? Yet, man, in his puny might, cal
i it Cant, Puritanism and iIlegal-when Go,
c. in His infinite wisdom and majesty, has d
." nounced it bv His law and declared Il
drunkard's doom to be eternal death. The
~ ought not that most detestabIe and %truculel
70 traffic, which caters to the most pyramid
= of all vices, the most direful in its effec
y to man, be restricted But its ~votaries d
o. cry all res:raint-decry it for the very san
reason that the blind idolators Of chan
ID reject the law enunciated from Sinai's stor
ns and temrest-mantIed top-because it 4
i n~ounces their vices and traces their doc
in fame-uords as imperishable as eternit
Then, IN view Of the above truths-a
~ monished of the necessity Of an unity Of
ton and Of endeavor, we would earnest
~ call uponlall the Friends Of Tenprar
80 throughout the State, to meet with US
Convention, in order that we may do bat
, against this common foe Of man. We hav,
mission to perforrn, second only to Il
which the God-man gave to the huml
fisherman by Galile9's blue waters, gorgec
IN with star-worlds sluh1bering in their dimpl
len depths-to consumfnate which, he died
VII felon's crucial death. Shall cur mission,
III HIGH in its character, in its results 50 fraus