Weekly Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1853-1861, 1856-01-24

tians. Il was instituted on the eve of the
Jewish Passover, " at the fundamental cove
nant feast of the whole Mosaic religion"
says Neander, - prepared " for By a messcu-
ger TO have q provided " a suitable place, and
supplies'for the festival and the cup, taken
for the solemn token, contained the bever-
age suitable for the country and the occa-
sion. Tea and coffee were then unknown
In the mids of the unusual fest for the poor
fishermen Of G%alilee, the great teacher and
exemplar Of the christian faith took the bev-
erage before him and solemnized it as the
symbol of the great act of his suffering for
the redemption Of man. No word, question.
or reproof was uttered by any one, of the IN
suitable character of the symbol. The evan
gelists, with strict unanimitY represent, that
while eating, or in the midst of the feast he
took bread aud the cup evidently the cup
containing the beverage for the meal, and ut
tered those words of import that have been
sanctifying tokens Of christian faith through
more han eighteen centuries Of history
(See Matt. XVI, q, %; Mark xiv, %, %;
Luke xxi, 10, 20.) Subsequently, the
Christian church at Jerusalem, presided over
by the apostle James, within view OF the
scene of the last supper and of the agony on
calvary, continued daily to partake of the
sacramental cup from the common beverage
of the country in connection with and FORM
ing part of the daily meal, sOlemniZed by pu-
rity of thought, purpose and conduct, OF
which this rite was the symbol. Similar was
the practice in the church at Corinth to which
the apostle Paul addressed his beautiful epis
ties on christian ethics.-Neander's History
Christian Rel. e. Ch., p. 205 (note AZ.
The younger Pliny as Governor of Byth-
mia, in Asia Minor, under the Roman En-
peror Trsjan, In the discharge Of his duties,
wrote to the Emperor an account of the life
aud daily conduct and practices of the christ
ians in that province in the year Ito of the
new era He describes, that they assembled
in the eaTly morning and paftook OF the
early meal OF the day in connection with the
sacrament, aud after pledging themselves to
one another for their upright conduct during
the day, aud singing a hymn, they went out
to their daily avocations. The sacrament
was frequently partaken at the evening meal.
(Arnold's Miscellaneou The Church,
PIP. IL, 13, note b. In these christian CON-
munities of the first century of our era, the
sacrament, as part Of the daily meal, was dis
tributed to the christians who were sick, or In
prison.
The EyangeliSts nowhere represent that
our Saviour rebuked the temperate or gs-
neral use os intoxicating liquors. He is
represented by John, (ch. p TO have chan
ged water to wine in the presence of his
mother and others and SAYS the apostle,
". L. "this beginning of miracles did Jesus
in Cana of Gallilee, and he manifested his
glory, and his disciples believed on him."
In answer to the reproaches against him,
Matt. ch. vi, ". 10: Luke, ch, vii, ". 49,
our Saviour says, "the Son of Man came
eating and drinking, and they say, behold a
man that is a glutton and a wine-bibber, a
friend of publicans and sinners. Rut wisdom
is justified in her children" (See also Matt.
ch. 9, v. 10Y The apostle Paul says to the
Colossians, Let no men judge me of any
kind of meat, or drink, or in respect to a
holyday." (Coloss. ch. 2, v. 81 Vain are
the efforts to avoid these teachings of the
Christian Code and the early Christian
Church, by the supposition that the vintage
yielded a different beverage in Palestine,
from what it did in Western Europe, in an
Gent from modern times. The preccpts and
example Of our Saviour are introduced, as of
q being possessed, in the belief OF the christ
ians, of superhuman knowledge, providing
in his rebukes against the vices of all future
time, and in none of his recorded sayings, OF
conduct, can any rebuke be found of the
moderate, but general use, of wine or intoxi-
eating liquors.
The authority of st. Paul is cited from his
more enlarged human knowledge, his jour
neyipgs in various countries. where different
wines and Intoxicating liquors were used as
a beverage, and his last %sojourn of two year:
before his martyrdom at Rome, where the
praises of the rich Falernian wine had not
ceased their echoes from the songs and poe
try of the age OF the Emperor Augustus. In
the thirteen Epistles of st. Paul, containing
reprools for all the recognized vices and
crimes of the age, and touching exhorta-
tons TO virtue, we look in vain for any
sanction Of the prohibitory doctrines of the
present day. Can an article Of property oil
its use thus undenounced but sanctioned by
him "who spake as never man spake" and
his chosen teachers, an article OF property
which he adopted for use as the symbol Of
mans redemption and his OWL blool-bought
union with mans restored spiritual being, be
properly denounced as q nuisance and its use
prohibited by laws resting on the basis anC
claiming the sanction of christianity? / car
find no sanction in the christian code Of NOR
ais for the prohibitory liquor OF Temperance
act Of 1855.
The Courts must decide questions of Law
upon legal principles regardless of the eonse
queDces flowing from such decisions. UpoI
questions Of even balance the consequences
may Justly be considered. Were such til,
condition of the question here involved / can.
not feel assured that the prohibitery act O
1856 tends to the suppression of intemper
ance' according to the recitation in the title
of the act. The actinvades the practices and
habits of the civilized world in all past time
1t is opposed to the moral sentiment of q
large Number of our best citizens who believe
that tho liquors described in the act as intox.
icating are not p~oisons, nor the use of them
necessarily injurious to health or morals
They believe that the law assailS the righI
of property and the right of man to chooss
his own sustenance. and that the law exceeds
the proper bounds Of the power of the legis.
lature. Such a law loses its efficacy. Qaio
ieges sine mortbus UcnOs profc9uRt. By The
law the moderate or occasional use is placed
with the abuse-the sober man with the
drunkard. Public sentiment, that should re.
buke drunkenness with one united voice, il
divided, between reproaches against any use
traffic, or possession for beverage, or care o
health in diet or other sanitary purposes an6
rebuke of excuses or abuses, rendered fain
and poweriess by being classed with the sup
port Of i~ntempemnce. The moral tone O
society is broken up, in the Earring conten.
ton and mutual reproaches Of the friends o.
good order. The authenticated reports frou
police officers and Others, most favorably sit.
uated to know the facts, represent that the
consumption of Intoxicating liquors and
drunkenness has increased, especially in tn,
large towns in the States where similar law.
have been enacted. The entire failure il
the city of Boston to enforce a similar law
where the jury are judges of the law and the
fact and will not convict, shows the repug.
nance i'll the public mind to these enactment,
aud the utter deficiency, so to express it, o
all vital or neral power in them.
For the reasons here presented. the TEN
perance or liquor act of 1856, is mt, in 10
opinion, The lao of the land;-from its invasion