Spirit of the age. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1849-1865, 1854-06-14
Settlers 10 tbe 4]eOgIe:
In which the Author meets his Readers at their
own Fireside.
TO TIE VIII.

1AAb 49, NA4As
My DEAR CITIZEN: We have not yet fin
ished the dissection of the renowned Wis
key Regulator of North Carolina. There are
other morbid conditions in its putrid system
to which your attention is now invited.
The Law requires the moral trader to give
a Bond! "This is the unkindest cut ofall J"
He proves by two of his half drunken serfs
/" a good moral character" and more, that
!" he is-hic-one Of the-hic-bcs fellers in
the w~orld-hic," but the Law and the State,
like the Dutch Magistrate, i" dosh not pellet
it" Yet, why should he be required to give
a bond? When you wish to sell corn, flour,
beef or bacon, do you have to execute your
bond to the State before you can sell Not
at all you can sell such commodities with
out restriction. You sell your -four by the
pound or barrel, your beef by the drove or
bone, and your bacon by the hog or SLICE
And you can sell such commodities without
your "moral character" being publicly in
vestigated in the Court House. You can sell
all the -four you manufacture if you be as
good a christian as Paul, and you can dis
pose of your corn and bacon though you be
as " brim-fulr" of sin as the devil Now,
we want to know why a good, moral man
should be compelled by law, before he can
engage in an honorab e, necessary and legal
business, to give a bond of Two Hundred
Dollars that he will not, for twelve, long cal
endar months, become a rascal? Can you
tell, Sir We ask all Carolina the question.
A rich compliment truly, to those gin-cock-
tail knights of unexceptionable moral char
acter!
But why is it, that for this particular
branch of industry, and no other, moral men,
are required to engage therein? Does not
Gods sunlight and rain fall alike on the just
and unjust? Should human law discrimi-
nate between the two? Tho a freeman be
not II christian, yet does he not pay tax for
the support of Government, and is he not
Justly entitled to the immunities of some of
the State Offices, THAT of the Rum Depart
ment at least as much so as his more devout
%neighbor? Has a sinner no "rightS' in re-
publican Carolina? Did not the /" fore-fath-
ers" Of the ungodly squander as much of
their precious birthstone and s~altpetre eight
> ing for Liberty" as did the grandsires of the
~strictest moralist and most devout christian
in all the land? Surely Then, why give
the moralist the privilege Of making dimes
by kneeling at the head of the rum cask and
say to the sinner, you shall not grow rich in
Z this wise? But, candidly, my dear Sir, tell
US why the law requires moral men to sell
rum? Is it because the whole policy is so
o. d%amnable, that q good and tender hearted
man is required to have oversight of the in
D fernal machinery old Carolina has set in
: motion for gain, that it's circulating t~ortures
may be in some degree modified? Is it be-
cause a swearing sinner standing behind the
stencil boards of the l~egalized pit would have
" his heart scared and his ears deaf to the Sob
bing prayers of rum-made widows and the
d wailing cries of furnishing orphans Is it
contemplated by this infamous law that there
- should be a preacher of righteousness sta
} toned in the legalized ante-chamber of hell
{ to exhort those who reel, and iostle, and
d curse, and stagger towards the finty gates, to
o fee the wrath to Gomez? Is it a part of the
/ duties of these licensed moralists to earnest
i ly exhort the gibbering wretches around
g them to holiness of heart after every drunken
blasphemous song, when their legalized rum
:, glass hath already marked them safely
damned! Is it because there is so much
such a storm of soul-damning sin hourly
e belched out from rum-reeking lungs in the
e legalized pit, that it was deemed expedient
there be a good, moral righteous Lot, given
to thanksgiving, fasting and prayer, always
found in the midst of the hell-ripe horde lest
the swift lightning of Gods avenging wrath
should fall upon them to destroy, as upon
ll9 old, heaven-cursed Sodom and Gomorrah ?
lie These questions in Gods name we ask you
to answer!
Now, if good citizens republican laws,
- moral and christian people decide that the
III rum traffic is necessary to the comfort of the
he people, and should, therefore, be legalized
It's and if the people and the law would really
prefer men of good, moral character to en-
gage therein, why not make a selection o
'Fe the most pious, God fearing men in oul
nd midst for that purpose? Why not licens
our most exemplary Clergymen to sell rum
If a tolerably good man can sell rum on NOR
generous principles if he can mix the liquo
ism better and more palatable make men drunk
to en- in a more happy and scientific manner
.ba and if he can render the whole system NOR
~ honorable, (by elevating the dignity of tn
"V profession than a sinner, of course, a bette
man than him could accomplish all this in
es. more satisfactory manner to the rum-devi
ro- and his worshippers in general! Then, max
your Clergymen sell rum, whiskey, brandy
h'' smashes and gin cocktails. 1fyou will hav
drunkard making l~egalized as one of tn
~ sciences-as one of the fine ~arts--dignify
by an overwhelming weight of moral worth
er- Go to the E~piscopalians, Presbyterian
Dor Methodists, Baptists and good old Quaker
the and there levy an assessment from the rank
ot of their most eminent Divines to flourish til
today stick and to rinse the glasses /! IT
that experiment, and a revolving sneer woul
ing linger among the livid blotches on the fac
49, VI kAlC hlOOb uCIASfCu = ~ OuAiA III -
three cent pit, and a jeer of contempt woul
v if hiss from the wine-dyed lips of the broa
cloth tippler in the more gorgeously deckt
up ground hell. Yet why should not publ
OK" opinion permit Clergymen to sell rum ?
und This fact alone proves that sin lies at Il
mes door of the moral liquor seller. The S
- Der public and the drunken public both co
slider Clergymen too moral to engage in tn
legal branch of industry. There is som
thing rotten" in other places than ode
mark !" Why not give Clergymen the pri
ess' ilege of an admittance to the ranks of liqu
sellers? Did not their "fore-fathers" blu
tick birthstone and salt-peter under the nose
inc the British Lion, a sacred incense to Libert,
- Give half paid ministers a chance to make
H. l few dimes by engaging in this necessary a
TX" legal business ? Free trade and sailo
In" rights" the world over! Let them-oI
thou relentless pdblic-lot them nail t
a., word "Grocer," over the door of their S
L. dos, or let them go straight from the ru
7 do cask to the pulpit; let them beg a few m
" of utes absence from their swearing, fghtil
nm gambling customers and run to Gods SacI
Altar and there break the bread and pr
ooK the cup with hands reeking with the fun
after Of grog. Is there a Clergyman in all t
how Carolina willing to risk the experiment
This Let him dare it, and a christian chul
would hurl the rumselling Preacher over
: " sacred pale, and sinners would boot an
fernal anathema in his bewildered ears
being found engaged in a legal business
ave the prosecution of which moral men are
ourt, pressly required! !! +!