Spirit of the age. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1849-1865, 1854-09-06
He has no Enemies

This is sometimes said of persons, to illus
trate the good esteem in which they are held
by their fellows-friends in writing an obit-
uary notice of a departed neighbor or ac-
quaintance, sometimes write-"he died with
out an enemy" none knew him but to
love him" &c. Now, as a general thing,
such remarks are extravagant, and are to be
taken In a modified sense. But taken in their
literal Specification, even admitting that it
were possible for a good man or woman to
live without having enemies-to pass over
the rough stormy voyage of life without hav-
ing any one to say an unkind word or enter
tain an unfrierdly feeling towards them,-
is it to be desired, in view of the response
bilities we owe to God and human society?
This question gives rise to much contem-
platiye thought. The population of this
world is a mixed multitude of good and evil,
and it is as natural for the corrupt and wick
cd human heart to hate that which is pure,
good and holy, as it is the duty of the regen-
Grated man to abhor that which is sinful,
wicked and abominable in the sight Of Heaven.
How then can a good man, whose duty it is
to reprove sin, to raise his voice and set his face
against evil and wrong doing in all its forms,
how can he do SO without exciting the wicked
passions Of bad men towards him? The Scrip
lures teach US that " the heart Of man is en-.
nifty to God !'-and if ar enemy to God, il
must be also an enemy to every body and
every thing like God-tu every thing that is
opposed to their wicked practises, ever,
thing that reproVes the sinful habits in which
they indulge. In q word, it is a libel agains
the moral code and government of God, TO
any thing good to exist in the world withou
mourning the malice and enmity of wicked
men. And it is this reflection which nerve
and sustains the Christian, or the bold Re
former, who sets his face against the perm
cious and wicked customs and practises O
men. They know that for the same caus
that makes bad men hate the Bible becaus
it condemns them, will they hate men VIII
slnslst upon principles and measures that ey
pose and reprobate their course of cor
duct. A good man cannot float down th
current of life without trying to rear som
barrier to arrest the desolating flood of ev
that surrounds him. 1t is as much his dut
to expose and oppose evil, as it is not to Ell
gage in evil itself.
These remarks are peculiarly ~applicabl
to those engaged in the Temperance Reform
Our faces have been set against a most com
mon and popular vice, one that is entwine
with endeared fondness around the appetite
and customs of men, and it is to be expecte
that they will de~nounce, vilify and abuse U
for it-but instead of lettering, it shout
stimulate us to renewed and redoubled exer
tons in the great struggle in which We ar
engaged. From the days of the great Apps
tie, the preacher of Temperance has bee
the hated and prosecuted Of men and it vii
be so until the great millennium shall ushe
in that day when Gods will shall be dom
in earth as in Heaven" This never CAN b
while the liquor scourge blights the earth
Let us press forward then and labor for it
remoDal, regardless of the enmity and persc
%cutions of bad men.