The Lancaster ledger. [volume] (Lancaster, S.C.) 1852-1905, 1853-09-28

that he must. admire. Their firmness In
adhering to the pledge; the brotherlv low.
for each other; the pnactuality to which
every duty is attended TO, is well calcuIn.
ted 10 secure Il good name even from mon
who drink. In the matter of unal,crollc
fidelity and unshakcn allcgance TO the
pledge they have before them, the illus
trious example of their noble predecessor.
We will give our readers short account
of one trail through which the children of
Rechab passed. The Lord, havinr some
wise purpose in view, determined O try
the faith of the Rcchabitcs. for, in those
days as well as the present, there OCCASION
ally occurred instances OF apostacv. The
test which these trne hearted children WAS
to endure, was to be ofthe most tcup,inr
fascinating character. And in order f.
give to it n grandeur that would awe
them, the son of king was appointed rs
messenger to them. The name of this
D-ecScngcr was Jchoakim. lie WAS the
son 0rESfssi&L, king of Judah. The message
| wSS. deivereI/IIe assembled all The sons
Of tftssselLiszfogclhcr and after listening
to the summons, they all went into the
house of worship. This was a MAGNIFICENT
temple. On this occasion, We will supnosc
it was furnished with all the costliest
araphcrnalia of Judea, SO that .hese
heroic people might be ovcrwhclmod,-
When they had assembled the messenger
put before them pots of choice wine, and
sad-"Driuk We Wine" "But they said
IRE trjN drjpk no WINE; tor .Jopadlb tBr
son Of RCctab our t;tthcr, comnQndcd
S.t1yir,,
neither YE NOR YOUR sons FOREVER -
The prince WAS spccchIcss with amaze.
memt. Could it be possible that the
gIittcring goblcls so flied with the bcs,
wine We're untouched? 1t was even so.
They not only refused themselves but to
put clinchrr to further cntrcatv, they
said-1hus hare wc obcycI the roice Of
Jo"oa"j the son of Rechub or tlhcr IN
HA that he has ch0rgcd as TO drink no
"tHe oil our d0YS, tcc, our 7rires
Our sons nor or doughters." The
messenger delivered his ASTOUNDING rcnort
Never before had been Witnessed such
unaltcraLlc devotion. There was mo-
hcSitancy-no looking about to see how
matters stood, like some in our own dav.
but when the wine WAS offered wi,hont
hes .tation, or excitement Of any kind
calmly they repeated their pledge, and
refused to quatf the wine though Offered
by the jewelcd hand Of mighty prince,
They departed. Who can fail 70 nd.
mire such stcadfastncss. When the rr;rc,.
had delivered his message. the Ln,I sofJ
-"1hcrctore thus saith the Lord Of hr,,s,
the God of Israel, Jonadab thc son of
Rechab shall net want man 10 stand
before me forever"
Upon this foundation the present in
stitution is establish ed: and surely no bet
ter one could be wunted-strong as the
Word of God, 1t is true, we are panied
to say, that the Rechabites of this time
do not adhere rs closely to the pledge as
did those alluded to by jeremiah; but as
body of men they do vost amount of
good. So pure were these descendants Of
the God like Rechab that they would have
stool unmoved arutst the conflict OF prrty.
In our day, 1t requires considerable power
10 keep some fion falling. Whatever may
be the lmPcricctions Of the order, we