Spirit of the age., 1853-06-01
Know thyself-enough for man to know J"
Virtue alone is happiness below

Know thyself-enough for man to know )"
Virtue alone is happiness below"
This is one Of the noblest precepts ever ut
tered by man, and he who attains such knowl- !
edge has more reason to rejoice, than if he !
possessed all the wealth of the Indies yet he |
knows nothing compared with that man who
knows how to govern himself. This is more
honorable than to govern a nation. The sol |
dier, who rushes to battle and puts to flight
the enemies of his country, receives her bles-
sing and finds an enduring monument on the |
pages Of her history but lie deserves far more
glory who wages asuccessful warfare against
his own passions and subdues them. You
may study the beauties ofnature around you
and draw from her vast arcanum the richest
stores of wisdom, but until you have drawn
aside the veil which conceals from Yourself
your own character and learned to circum-
scribe your passions within due bounds, you
have learned comparatively nothing. 1t is
TO learn this lesson that we visit the .'' Tent
Of Rechab," and here we learn too that, if
man would reach the pinnacle of fame, if he
would lnscrlbe his name upon the tablet of
nations memory, If he would merit the cpl
taph-tere lies one toho tcds q bencfdctor of
the soorLd, he must first study his own char
acter and become master of himself. He who
would govern others must first learn to gov
ern himself. But alas how few of those to
whom we are accustomed to look for wisdom,
and who usually prescribe law for the con-
troll of human action, are worthy of the task.
Men are called Great who, by bold stroke
of policy and prompt action, work change
in the affairs of their country-men are called
" Great" who bathe their hands in the blood
Of their fellows and win kingdom or a ter
ritory thereby-men are called Great" who
commence in obscurity, and after life of
sleepless vigilance whether by fair means
or foul, end upon a throne, their praises
hanging lavishly on the lips of the verv peo-
pie whom they are crushing by the yoke of
tyranny but in tho Tent of Rechab" we
learn that no man can be Great" unless he
is Good"-that no man is entitled to hold
the reins OF Government over human intel
lect, until he has become able to hold the
reins of his own passions and command them.
But this is not all. We know from expert
ence that this world is one of sorrow and mis-
cry, and humanity is often called upon to
mourn over the ills and misfortunes of life,
and sometimes to witness griefs for which
there is no remedy. In the "Tent of Rechab"
we learn to pity the sorrows of the poor and
distressed and to administer to their necessi-
ties, to bind up the broken hearted and to
speak peace to the troubled soul; not to say to
the naked and the hungry, "Be ye clothed and
fed" but to give them those things which
they need. True, these lessons are taughtin
the precepts of our Holy Religion and in the
principles of the Order Of the Sons of Tenn.
pcrance" and other Orders, but they cannot
be too often repeated, or too deeply impressed
upon the minds of men. To every one then
who is victim of his passions and appetites
and wishes to be free, our language is cheer
ing
" Welcome stranger, welcome hero %
Naught of danger needst thou fear,"
None but friends surround thee now"
To see thee onrol thy VOW"
God is our hope, Temperance, Fortitud
and Justice the chain which bind us together
and the drunkards salvation our motto. Gu
name is taken from the family of Rechnb wh,
practiced great selfdenial and formed th
first Society of 6" Total Abstinence" eve
known to the world. They resolved to pass
through the journey of life without " touch
ing, tasting, or handling" that which intoxi
Gates, and they taught their children to d,
likewise, and so they continue to this day
After their expulsion from the wales of Zanaail
they located in the valleys Of Petrea, contin
uing the primitive simplicity Of their father
and using ,Cater as their only beverage. Feel
ing in some degree as they did and being de
sirous of doing good to our fellow men, w
have banded together in a Brotherhood upo1
like principles. We meet, as they did, in Sc
cret conclave to transact our affairs, lest intru
sion should interrupt the harmony Of our de
liberations, and we invite thither all VIII
wish to be free from the bondage of unhol
appetite and passion.
The history of the Rechabites, as given t
US by the prophet jeremiah, presents MOS
beautiful pattern of domestic government
worthy Of the imitation of all mankind.
praisoworthy indeed was their conduct an
so excellent their example. that the God
Israel called the special attention of His pc
pie to them. 4" Go unto the House of Il
Rechabites, "said He to jeremiah, "and brir
them into the House of the Lord, into OF
ofthe chambers, and give them wine to drink
And Jeremiah did as he was commando
and set before them pots full of wine and cup
and bade them drink. But they said, g" "
will drink no wine, for Jonadab, the sc
of Rechab our father, commanded us sayn
Eye shall drink no wine, neither ye, nor yov
sons forever :" and we have obeyed the vol
of Jonadab, the son of Rechab our father,
oil that he charged us, to drink no win
neither we, nor our wives, nor our sons, n
our daughters, all our days"
Noble house of noble father! This cha
acter of which they could boast was wor
more than all the gold of Ophir could pu
chase, and they SO valued it. Yea, more tn;
this, the great Jehovah so valued it, for
consideration thereof He said to them {
cause ye have obeyed the command of Jon
dab, the son of Recab your father, and ke
all his prccepts, and done according to
that he hath commanded you, therefore,
nadob, tho of Rechab, shall not want
man to stand before me forever :" that
that he should not be without a man to sta
before God forever, and that the God ofIsrs
Himself would ever sustain him, and til
when he stood before God he should be nj,
indeed, man such as he was intended to
by his Creator, " the noblest work of Go
NOT brute, q senseless animal '' pro
ct obedientia rentri," a thing of no value
beauty, no selfrespect, no honor-nota a wol
crawling in the dust, fit only to be kick
over, or trampled on-but MAN. / asst
you, my friends, this term, man, implies
great dealmore than many are aptto suppo
and many person is called man that d.
not deserve the appellation. lie is not m
who is a victim of his appetftea and pGssit
and lusts, who discards his own nature a
transforms himself into rum-gourd, 4
who gives himself up, body and soul, to d
truction by liquid fire. n man is mado