Randolph County journal. [volume] (Winchester, Randolph County, Ind.) 1855-1862, 1859-06-09

lHc tOH>lltIStiVH, lhal lhp>t 10
whose injury we are accessory by the
sale of ardent spirits, are destroyed
also by the pervision Of their own free
agency-and that the evil Is silent,
and slow paced in It's march-doubt-
les subtracts, in no small degree. from
the keen sense Of accountability and
crime. which would attend the admin
istration Of arsenic, or the taking of
lie by the pistol. or the dagger-as
does also the consideration that al
though we may withhold the cup. yet
from some other source the delcterious
portion will be obtained.
But all this alters not the case. He
who deliberately assists his ncighbor
to destroy his lie, is not guitless be-
cause his neighbor is free agent and
is also guilty; and he is accessory to
the crime though twenty other persons
might have been ready to commit the
same sin il he had not done it, Who
would sell arsenic to his neighbors, to
destroy himself, because he could OBJ
tain it elsewhere? Who would sell
dagger for the known purpose of as
sassination, because If it were refused,
it could he purchased in another place?
We are accountable for Our own wrong
doing, and liable to punishment at the
hand Of God, as really as if it had
been certain that no one would have
done the lccl if we did not. The un-
godliness in time, and the everlasting
ruin in eternity, inScparablc from the
commerce in ardent spirits, prescribe
it as nh unlawful article Of traffic.
Who can estimate the hatred Of God.
of his word and worship, and OF his
people. which il occasions or number
the oaths or blasphemies it causes to
be uttered? or the violations of the
Sabbath. the impurities and inicccn-
cics, violence and wrong doing. which
it originates? How many thousands
does it detain every Sabhath-dny from
the house Of Gol-cuttng them off
from the means Of grace and harden
ing them against their efficacy. How
broad is the road which intcmpcrance
alone opens to hell, and how throngcd
with travellers.
Here is an article of commerce
spread over the land, whose effect is
evil only, and that continually. and
which increases an hundred-fold the
energies of human depravity, and the
hopeless victims of future punish
mcnt. Drunkenness is u sin which
excludes from Heaven. The commerce
in ardent spirits, therefore. productive
only of evil in time, fits for destruc-
tion and turns into hell, multitudcs
which no men can number.
am aware that, in the din Of bust
ness, and the eager thirst for gain, the
consequences Of our conduct upon our
views, and the future destiny of our
fellow men. are not apt to be realized,
or to modify our course.
But has not God connected with all
lawful avocations the welfare of the
life that now is. and Of that which is
to come? And can we lawfully
amass property by course of trade
which fills the land with beggars. and
widows, and orphans, and crimes;
which peoples the gray eyard with pre-
mature mortality, and tho world Of
wo with the victims of despair?
Could all the forms Of evil produced
in the land by inicmperance come
upon us in one horrid array, it would
appall the victim, and put an end to
the traffic in ardent spirits. II in cv-
cry dwelling built by blood, the stones
from the wall should utter all the
cries which the bloody traffic extorts.
and the beam out Of the timber should
echo them back, who would build such
a housc?-and who would live in it?
What if in every part of the dwelling.
from the cellar upwards, through all
the halls and chambers, bablings, and
contentious, and voices, and groans,
and shrieks. and wailngs. were heard.
day and night? What il the cold
blood oozed out, and stood in drops
upon the walls. and. by preternatnral
art, all the ghastly skulls and bones Of
the victims destroyed by intemperance
should stand upon the walls, in horrid
sculpture, within and without the
building-who would rear such a
building? What if. at cventidc, and
at midnight, the airy forms of men
destroyed by intempcrance were dimly
seen haunting the distilleries and stores
where they received their bane-fol-
lowing the track of the ship engaged
in the commerce-walking upon the
waves-flitting athwart the deck
sitting upon the rigging-and sending
up from the hold within, and from the
waves without, groans, and loud