Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1858-07-08

Church. l do not, of course, say that il is his
exclusive business to take charge of this interest 4;
but I do say emphatically, that it is work dcToiv-
ing upon the minister of the gospel IN 4 far high
er sense than upon any one else.
"He is specially commissioned to speak Gods
words unto the people whether they will hear or
forbear, and among these words is "temperdncs,
as well as righteousness and judgment" The
Bible. the ministers grand directory AL Textbook
nbounds in brief bui thrilling temperance lectures,
Indeed, the great business of m ambassador OF
Christ is to labor to carry forward the WORK wnlch
his divine Master came into the world TO enect,
namely, ito destroy the works of the devil" And,
of all the devices of Satan to seduce, brutalize,
and ruin the souls of men, ALCOHOL, alcohol I'M
marked and disguised, alcohol adultcrated and
leralized. is the masterpiece. There is no lnstru
mentality on earth so efficient in accomplishing
the dark designs of malignant spirits as ardent
spirits; hence the desperateness with which every
earnest effort to prevent their circulation is con-
tested.
snow Christ is determined that this, Us we'll as
every other work Of the devil, shall be destroyed.
Notwithstanding the formidable array of inhuen.
ces by which this abomination that meketh desc
late is upheld, the heart Of the Son of God ls fully
set upon its utter overthrow. The reign Of rum
must cease before that happy day Of Christian tri
Ompu Suatl ~ usuSISu III, u S"S A-6Noa W
this world shall become the kingdom of our
Lord Jesus Christ. And 1 intend not to dispar.
age any other instrumentslity when | say that,
in this fearful moral struggle, the Captain of our
salvation expects mis- ministers to take the front
rank and lead the sacramental host. The cause OF
TEMPERANCE is the cause of God and if the IMAM
of God" the sworn expositor of his will is silent,
or gives the trumpet an uncertain sound, who
will prepare for the battle? In o moral enter
prise like this, who is to go ahead and show HIM
self a hero, valiant for the truth, if the divinely-
commissioned Waterman Of Zion is asleep at his
post?
Brethren, is it no concern of ours, as pastors
of the Church of Christ, which is designed to be
the salt of the earth and the light of the world,
that she should be involved in the singing reproach
of encouraging o traffic, the tendency of which is
so awfully destructive to the dearest interest OF
man in time and eternity? 0, is it nothing TO US
that there are even intelligent members OF our
Aocks who, unfortunately, ore so blinded by pre-
iudice. or infatuated by fancied self-interest, that
instead of COOPERATING with efficient temperance
efforts, unblushingly avow their hostility not only
to the Maine Law, but erery measure calculated
to cripple the power Of the tyrant Alcohol, and
actually ioin with the drunken rabble in ridicul-
ing those who are earnestly seeking the demoll-
ton of this engine ofdeath?
"Belieye me, brethren, the most formidable OBJ
stacles that now stand in the way of the car OF
temperance are in the Church ; and never were the
ministry more loudly called upon by the voice of
Providence than now to come up TO the help OF
the Lord, in mighty effort to get these stumbling
blocks out of the way. OF course, in some places,
to effect this object, no small degree OF Pauls
moral courage will be needful. Men who indulge
in the occasional social or solitary glass, but who
have never been preceptibly intoxicated IN their
life, will not thank you for telling them that they
are marching in the rear rank of the army Of sots
to the drunkard's grave. Men who have never sold,
nor perhaps even drank a glass of intoxicating Ii
ouor, but who, for the sake of gain, are indirectly
contributing to perpetuate the traffic, will not
very patiently listen to the unwholesome truth that
they are in league with rumsellers-silent part
ners in the dreadful business Of manufacturing
groans, filling poor-houses, penitentiaries, and
graves. 1t is not to be expected that those who
have for years been engaged in lucrative occupa-
tions, sustained by the liquor trade, will rellnqulsh
such business without q struggle. Those who
have long enjoyed a fair reputation as Christians
are not to be told. without resistance, that they
are in any way involved in q business which should
be at once outlawed throughout the world as a
glaring immortality in itself, and the prolific cause
of most of the crimes and sufferings which athlct
society. Let us be fully assured, then, that be-
fore we have the Maine Law as a fixed fact" in
our state, there is to be q vigorous, though, l
trust, brief and bloodless struggle. If there are
influential and official members of Churches who
occupy a position antagonistic to this cause, and
if one Christian rumseller or a~pologist does more
mischief than o dozen men who make no religious
pretensions, this conflict must begin in the Church;
and the Waterman of Zion, so far from being an
idle spectator or q subaltern in this engagement,
is to sound the war trumpet of Jehovah, marshal
the legious of ~sobriety, and give direction to the
battle"