Smyrna times. [volume] (Smyrna, Del.) 1854-1987, 1854-12-06
The Catholic Votes Gambling and
Drunkenness --Venial Sins

was oliiOSC uHIIeuIY dgdlHSL .lIuu"I lOlllUl-
ton. The Question was defeated by the Catho-
lie and foreign vote-that is ad nItted But
why are Catholics opposed to Prob Ibtion-why
does every Catholic organ in the couiitry T.
far as our knowledge cXtends) wag" no
bitter crusade against prohibltory laws? Does
the Catholic creed as expounded by the lights
| OF the church, countcnancc the sin Of lntemPor-
ance Startling as such proposition may A.
first appear, we aver that it has some
ton i'll truth but before we examine that
point, let us refer briefly to the Jesuistic justi
tlcation of kindred offence, as made by the
Cincinnati Catholic Telegraph.
Some weeks ago several Irshmen met in a
groggery on Sabbath evening and ratified for I
a cow fer the benefit of widow. The police |
arrested the party and each one was fined ten
dollars and costs. The T'eiegraph-an ac-
credited organ of Roman Catholcity-thus dis !
discourses on this text:
"Ihs strikes US as a case of great injustice, /
whatever OF law there may be in it. Here are !
a few evidently kind hearted and charitable !
men, who stint their own families perhapsc, to
buy COW, for the benefit of poor widow
What better deed for the Sabbath day, whose |
religious exercises such men had surely not |
neglected. And because they quietly and in
nocently amused themselves, after day so well
spent, in playing game Of cards, they are
newspapers with disgrace, and fined ten dol
lars!
We are no friends of gambling--we never
handle card; but we ask where, in the Bible
or the cecalogue is it made sin simply to play
Il game of cards! God we are convinced, saw
; no SIN IN the act OF those men, Tor which the
law has so severely punished them. 1t was
well for the Apostles they did not come under
Spooner jurisdiction, or he would have convic-
ted them for CASTING lots for successor ofJulg-
es."
. We are not much surprised at the above para
t graph for we agree with Cine matt contem-
t porary, that what little surprise we have is at
the open avOwal Of the sentiment, rather than
at its indulgence. The quiet innocence of that
h Sabbath evenings amusements, perhap.e' IN
4 cluded the usual entertainment OF cnlle house
i. e., distilled coffee : and yet the editors
K would see no sin in this. For the standard the
4 ology Of st. Llgori tells ms how far a man NAV
;. go IN drunkenness, and yet he regarded but as
II a RENAL offender in the eyes of the Romish
priests. This theologian is endorsed by Bene-
e dict XIV and Plus VII; Leo XI calls him the
y safeguard of MORALS and he was canonzed in
r 1915 or 1861. After giving the marks Of per-
a feet ntorication, Legori says:
Z cit is therefore, imperfect drunkenness, il
p any one after drinking can yet discern between
l. confused, or vomiting fellows" the tongue stam-
m mers, the feet are unsteady, the eyes see dou-
n, bic, or the house seems to turl round This
kind of drunkenness, when it is not full, is only
he veniGl.-COmpend. IheOl. Igor, Tract "
tt Coup. II, Attic II, w. p. s..
a In Denis Theology (Vol. w, p. $50. N. 27s
III, g. we find the same teachings, as follows
J" "The doubtful sins of drunknness are. the
Of tba 81
J tongue, the apparent whirling around ofthngs
~ the sight ofthings double, because those things
Nv may sometimes so happen while there yet re
j" mains the presence OF sufficient reason. lie
=. a similar Judgment be made concerning vomi
1 c ting, &c"
Oh Can any wonder that there is any drunken
a. d, ness among the members of the Catholic Churc
!, when these are the teachings of the theologi
nc ans and when these are the doctrines of
u" III newspaper with priests for its editors and tw
-" bishops for their endOrsers. Need we WOnde
III at the Roman Catholic opposition to Lquo
S Prohibition, when even drunkenness is bold
~ executed by the church!
lN' The Cincinnati Times remarked, about
0" year ago, when the Archbishop commando
:. his people "to abstain from meats" durin
-. Lent, 1t is surprising that he must use stron
ny language: "to the unhappy victims of inteu
v. perance, we take particular desire to represeI
!! the aggravated malice and enOrnity of all sill
of excess at this holy time of penance and ca
J: patton. We are panied and afflicted ever
an year by the scandalous exhibition of drunke
~. ness in the sheets and private houses in Il
iiso first and last weeks of Lent" This is Il
lole view given us of his people by Mr.. PURGE
use @ e 80 nIag,;rS T. not ,rross an
,U kenness the legitimate result of such teaching
u And is there corruption enough in any Prote'
~ ant Church to invite those notorious drunkar
u:"y to the Holy Sacrament as the means OF the
~. reformation
49, But the paragraph we comment upon, VIII
49,; in keeping with these teachings, 1t OmIts
ms mention of Sabbath evening carousng, is pc
80 itively commendatory of gambling. The e
oS, tors esk, where the Bible or the decalog
c. make it sra to play cards. We like this &
IL peal to the Bible. We only wish the Rom
"D priests would give US more OF it. We haze
great many questions to ask, when the edit
ofthe Telegraph make that book their authc
-. ty, though we would wish them to give us
;oanl entire deealogue. We would not find 1t hi
- 81 to Drove, even from the corrupt Douay vcrs
~hSy1 that to do our own will and sour own wa
: nor on the Sabbath, is q violation OF sacred III
4 t,ot That cards are expressly mentioned IN cit
-: % ), the Bible or the decalogue no one preten
,dred but that the principles involved in gambling
ke an Wrohg' even the eui'ots na': MI Tho ~
Fran 10 dehy. DuI 'he eNi'oiS ~ " - an ou,r,
they GSnce Oh tnese nen aic af ,,aroh;n@
e'~ "au never toucha card but the Apostles gain
Iroad ana zoo seen no sIi ~ ~ ~ e thase
infalllble, teachings. - al a1ae sdi ~ 3r!u
- Its proper to remark that there were q
y noble exceptions to this trucking to the III
= ING Power in this Sity-and, perhaps, in G
y they pacseS. n,'L ~ ,,o,Id 40 Cod
'"in ~ were more ofthem-how much prejudice
-, $50. be removed against their sect! 1t IS a
ss.alS 4. III, 49, LII .,ia,f re due q
nsaatas'A" - 80 - TshsSsla Y0s 8