Spirit of the age. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1849-1865, 1858-08-04

temperance Hlcu nave cHcCtcu huCi W OuS
saving a multitude from drunkards' graves.
Much more remains to be done, to open
the eyes of the blind and to unstop the
deaf ears of those agents for sin and satan
who are making or handing out ardent
spirits, to the increase of drunkenness in
the earth.
The good cause of temperance must one
day triumph : it has truth on lis side. Some /
Of the makers and vendors have heard the
sound and tasted the bitter fruits Of their
doings; have hearkened to the warning
voice that says "let the wicked man forsake
lis way, and the u.srighteous man his
thoughts" 1t does appear to me that all
good people, of both sexes, should join in
with the temperance hosts and labor to
have the eyes Of those agents for sin and
satan more effectually opened, that they
may see clearly that they are the only
source from whence all the drunkenness
in the earth comes, and are accessory to !
all the crime arising therefrom, and are
consequently guilty of the destruction of
many thousand human beings, who are an
nually swept off the stage of action by the
destructive food of spiritous liquors, which
come from the maker and vender alone.
They are as truly the support of drunken
ness, as do the little streams supply the
larger ones, Dry up the springs, the foun-
tain fails and the supplies for intemperance
and drunkenness end.
Men say they do not make it to destroy
lives, but it is good in its place. If we are
well, we do not need it. If we are sick, it
will not cure us; and they know at the
same time there is a destructive flood of it
gone forth that goes to no other use but
for the lovers of strong drink to gratlty
their appetites, to the increase of drunken
ness and the Staying Of tens of thousands,
where we cannot ascrihe to it the saving a
thousand. And there is no way for them
to extricate themselves from the guilt, but
to desist from the practice, relinquish their
agency for sin and satan, and sacrifice the
profits of the traffic for the sake of saliva
ton. Otherwise the woe that is denounced
against the wicked will be their portion
as it is written, ''woe unto the wicked, they
shall receive the reward for the fruit oi
their doings." For all the crimes ac-
cruing from the effects of intoxication is
the fruit of their doings as much as the
roots of the tree is the support Of the trunk,
the branches, and the fruit. Where then
is the hope of their reward for this fruitful
source of evil, only with satan, as they have
been occupying to the strength of his king
dom. For when an offense is committed,
he that is knowingly accessory thereto,
though not directly the perpetrator of the
deed, is a partner in the crime, consequent
: ly alike guilty and incurs the like penalty
: What, then, is the condition Of the
, Statesmen, Legislators and Lawmakers in
= our favored old State, who instead of aid
S ING, should be laying the axe to the root
' of the evil tree. Some of you, too, are
: lovers of strong drink, who give their Gus
c tom to retailers, thus encouraging evi
f while you should be making laws for it
0 suppression and the protection of them tha
e do WELL Your deeds of intemperance anc
T. dissipation have cast a shade upon you
!, names and st ,tion and degraded the State
Y You too must give account, for you no
C only condemn yourselves in the thing yol
h do, but in that which you allow others tt
e do. Also you take away the protection
o from the mother and her children, by say
ing if man will pay a certain rum o
:. money he may have license to sell his sum
J. thus buying liberty of you to manuiactur
1t drunkards, by which many boy is beg
CARED, manya murder committed and man,
Of mothers left to mourn ont their widowet
e DAYS in grief. You have given your sane
IL A.. al g. Of WI bipI
l. you have power to prevent, for the lay
CT should be for the suppression of evil an
rs the protection of them that would do wei
le You make laws in favor of the vender an
le him that drinks, but he, while under the II
D, fuence thereof, transgresses the law and g
le an offender is brought before the court
le answer to the law he has broken, whe
y perhaps the same Esquire has given Law
l. ful permit TO some one to make him drunl
er which qualified him to commit the Grim
IS. The question is, how many are accessor
er to the deed how many stand impllcate'
le and how many shall give account for th
E. trausgresson Is it not matter enoug
nc for men seriously to consider what the
tn are doing in thus aiding dissipation an
ng crime 1t looks to me the mass of OF
o. people stand on the side of the guilty; Il
ed if there is one righteous man among
re- thousand, he is not willing to be accesso
m to crime or do anything to the injury
his felow-man, for the sake of POPULAR
The or profit but he would stand up for Il
has good cause and risk consequences.
ing There is flood of intemperance now
'ni our land a call has gone forth for peop
the to unite in bands to stop its destrucJi
course. 1t surely behooves all good pc
pie to join the temperance train as t
source of good, the only sure way to ov
come the evil. Some men ridicule signi
pro- a pledge, and say it is weak person IL
en- has to sign the pledge to keep from driI
ally ing. 1t Is true some do stand without,
ut a it would not hurt them, | am sure, to i
peo- and give weight to the temperance end
ac- the balance. Let those that do not DIR
Incl join. to encourage those who do drink
9TH join, aud thus save their neighbors, tt
sing relations or perhaps their children fror
le OF drunkard's grave. Let him that is in
nsis- practice of drinking little, sign the pie
hris- forthwith, for he is already too weak
unk- stand alone, or is not on safe ground,
wen. his example is not good for if he neve
, the drunk himself, he may influence Others
dent drink, and they become drunkards; fol
A. ~.