Smyrna times., 1859-01-06

e LOTTERIES, have determined to address the Clerg
as the public teachers of morals, and enlist the
:, influence against the proposed extension
: iottery grants by our Legislature AS this
2 purely question Of social morals, and entirel
! out OF the field of partizan politics, we believ
the ministry can do more than any others to
ward bringing about healthy moral sentimen
IN regard to it. Let them ponder we'll this ad
dress OF our citizens, and act upon its sugges
tIons. We hope the press of the State will
give 1t general circulation.
An Address to the Christian Ministry
OF the State Of Delaware.
You have doubtless perceived, and, perhaps
participated in the very general apprehension,
| whlch facts now seem TO warrant, that an effort
VIII be made, under circumstances which pro.
mlSe success, to secure from our next Legisla-
'dre an extension of Lottery Grants. We shall
not insult your sense of right by arguing the
immortality OF Lotteries, and their pernicious
'hluehce upon The virtue and religion of the
community. Indeed, our State government has
aiready Precluded the necessity of any argu-
uien' on 'ne SUBJECT, aud, by the enormous price
when II has set upon the lottery license and
around the business, has branded it as too afro.
clously netariOus and immoral TO be promiscu.
Ously allowed.
mat our Legislature should stop at any re.
strlctIons short of actual prohibition is repre-.
hensl0le; but, that the power with which il has
oeen invested by the Constitution to "advancc
'he happiness OF the people," should be prust-
tuted 10 frame mischief by law that it should
sell the honor OF the Commonwealth, and con.
vert the whole State into gigantic gambling
shop, Is enough TO insult the patriotic pride md
rouse the honest Indignation Of every true son
Of Delaware
Ihls State is now, we believe, the only oue
where the venders of lottery schemes hone n
hnd legal support for their unprincipled and
immoral occupation. Shall we allow the fair
Iaihe OF Delaware to be so tarnlshed !-sha II we
assume the unenviable and dlsgraceful dlsriuc
tlon OF giving the sanction of law 10 business
SO grossly fraudulent and SO prolific of vice and
immortality!
Shal the State empower unprincipled and
uVarIcIons men to detraud the poor aud ignor.
ant, to divert the people from legitimate Trade
and ALLEVIATE them from the pursuits of honest
industry Shall the rich, who will divide their
unjust profits with the State, be licensed 10
cheat and gamble, while for the same crimes
tne poor are visited with the pains and penal. |
ties of law!
And as 1t Is known that these lottery licenses
are not, and cannot be, exclusively used, with |
proht 10 the projectors, ln our own State, shall |
we allow Delaware to be put in such a dlshon.
ora0le and antagOnistlc position to her sister
States, as knowingly and wllfuly to give any
men the opportunity of invading their moral
rights and tramPing their laws to the dust!
The lottery business has now reached crisis. !
II the attempt to secure legal extension of it
from our Legislature be defeated, it will come
TO speedy end throughout the Union Ii is
Important, then, that every lover of virtue and |
religion should assume determined and immo-
Vu6le position on the subject.
Hence, we address you as the publicly recoO |
nlzed teachers and guardians Of religion and |
morals. The solemn responsibilities of vour
relation, both to your fellow men and to AL
mighty God, imperatively demand the interpe.
sItlon OF your influence in every legitimate way
Tor the preservation of public virtue The act
we deprecate cannot be perpetrated in defiance
and IN despite OF the Christian ministry Of this
state. Faithfully speaking out through their
Two hundred puIplIs, they so rouse the moral
sense OF society, and so quicken the public con.
science, as to roll up such laundering protes,
against the perpetration Of this wrong as would
palsy the tongue of every representa-: live VINO
should dare give it his official sanction.
Again, the press is yet unsrosdzed bv the
abettors of this iniquity; ard, through the pul.
pit and the press, you have control of every
moral question to which you may consecrate
your Pety and learning. The people of t5is
state are Vlrtuous people. and they barely
need the incentives you can give to make them
rise "a the majesty of moral right and hurl
from them the dark dishonor which now threat |
ems their fair name. On your part there can
Oe no neutral ground between morality and i'm.
morality; your course is plain; your duty is
imperative. fon cannot stand idiy bv and see |
the morals OF the State mortgaged for internal
improvements without an earnest appeal to The |
public conscience against such foul wrong.
We entreat you, then, as ambassadors of the |
High God, and ministers of a holy religion, to
speak out, and t once, from your pits against
that perverted and vicious popular sentiment
which could either ask or GlLOU the power of
the State to be prostituted to the prOmulgation
Of vice and immortality under the pretexl of fos-
terIng public improvements.
We entreat you as citizens, to unite with |
your teow-cltlzens in demonstrating and pro.
testing against this great evil, and averting
rom the State the disgrace which now impends
over her.