The Portland daily press., 1870-03-14

| cc last vening al High Street Church The
following sketch may not prove uninterestna
to our readers. The doctor said:
The first Temperance Bible Commentary
ever published was prepared by himself, and
his accomplished friend, the Rev. Dawson
| Burns, M. A, where the inquirer would find
examined in detail $40 texts bearing on the
temperance reformation, of which the origin
| ais and authoritative versions were given in
| PLAIN English type. He could honestly affirm
| mat he did not know of one text which con
nected the sanction of God with the use of IN,
to1acating wine. But tonight he would en-.
deavor to establish his proposition, not by u
| inquiry into words, but on such nlain TACT,
and records OF the Bible as hardly anybody
would dispute, and which everybody could un.
derstand. Of course he might not succeed in
convincing the unwilling; any more than they
did the SHAREHOLDERS on the question of slavery
put 1t was now much more clearly seen than
| Formerly, since the scales of interest had fall
en- from their eyes, that the Bible gave no
sanction to slavery. So, when the appetite
Tor strong drink ceased. men and women
would see with equal clearness that inc blDle
"a book designed to promote the purity ana
spirituality of mankipd-gave no SANCTION 10
that system of drinking which was the great,
| est known instrument iof sensuality and
sin, and which, far beyond all others, polluted
| the world and disgraced the Church. A good
deal, however, depended on standpoint. He
| had, in his own land, to deal with two parties
opposed to his position-free thinkers, who op-
| posed The Bible to science on the question OF
| temperance, and mistaken Christian minis.
| tiers, who opposed scientific temperance bv the
Bible. For his part he was impartial, and felt
it his duty to defend the Bible from both
those parties. He distinguished between
the Bible and the Interpreters of the Bible
These might and did err, but it was impos,
sible that any word of God, truly interpreted,
could contradict any of the works of God.
truly deciphered Morally there was an
other unlikelihood in the position of the
drinker. All the religions Of antiquity and
the Orient, where our Bible originated, taught
| teetotalism; all their sacred books-Vedas and
Zendavesta, Hieroglyphs, PHILOSOPHERS, and
Kuran-inculcated it. Were Jewish prophets
and Christian apostles ignorant of this, or OPP
posed to it? Did Pagan teachers see the truth
that drink and sensuality went together, and
| did the authors of this book, on the contrary,
link their religion fast to the bottle? This was
not possible, he thought. Again why did the
was temperance book? And at his inter-
preting its language in plain and natural
sense, just believing what it says, that wine is
poison and a mocker? Was not that a COM
mon thought in Antiquity, perpetually taught
and practised by the wise and good in all the
countries around Palestine? He could give a
hundred examples; but one must suffice. In
| the Hieratic Papyri, Amen-em-am, to his pu-
pill Pentaour, about 1000 B. G., says:
sit has been told me that thou hast forsaken
books, and devoted thyself to sensality; that
thou goest from tavern to tavern smelling of
| beer at eventide. II beer gets into thee, it
overcomes thy mind If thou wieldest the
| rod of office, men shun thee. Thou knowest
that wine is an abomination; thou hast taken
| pledge concerning strong drink; that thou
wouldst not put such liquors into thee Hast
| thou forgotten thy oath? !, thy superior, for
bid thee to go to the taverns. But we see
| many like thee-haters of books, they honor
not God"
He had things to compare teetotalism and
the teaching of the Bible: and to make the
comparison fair, and to commence this argu-
ment really in an intelligent spirit, they
must understand what teetotalism was.-
| Drunkenness was an effect-and, az an effect.
had it cause; and SO long as causes existed eft.
fects must follow. The proximate cause was
drinking, which disturbed the moral by altering
| the nervous system of man. If there was any,
thing true in science, anything true in expe-
rience, it was that alcohol was poison bad
| article, and not a good creature. He distin-
guished between the Divine and human ele-
ment of the Bible-between the authority of
| man and of God sanction and permission be.
! tween good wine, and the wine that sis q
| mocker."
Tue Bible represents intoxicating drinks as
bad article, poisonous, seductive, and cor
rupting, ~ by using it as as symbolical OF
and pollutng, and (3) by the history of its bad
effects upon the church and people. As there
was the "pure blood of the grape" and the
rock from whence the living water streamed
| so, contrary to this, there was an element un-
like this the water of that rock, and a people
whose wine was the poison of dragons. and
| the cruel venom of asps." The Almighty uses
this very word when he speaks of the ''cup OF
his fury" and Hosea declares wi. 81 of one,
that 1.-THE princes made him sick with the poi
son of wine, though the translators have dis
| guised the truth under the strange rendering
| of BOTTLES" In the Interpretation of Scrip
ture men generally made it fit their precol.
| ceptions and, instead of reverently drawing
| the real truth ont of it, put their own false
| hoods into it. 1t was made to teach the very
| opposite doctrine to that which fits its plainest
facts and expressions. swine is mocker,
and whosoever is deceived thereby is not
wise" Look not upon tine wine lest thine
eyes look upon strange women" was the ut
terance of palpable teetoial truth. Even Dean
Ramsey says that wine alures men to ex-
CESS" Were such language read in the Ku-
ran, or the sacred books of the Egyptians, Per-
slams or Hindoos. everybody would under
stand it to signify what it says; yet in the BIZ
BILE it is twisted into meaning that swine is
perfectly innocent, and moderate dose will
do you goOd?'
Now it was a fact that the greatest sages of
antiquity, and the most pure and ancient
forms of religion inculcated abstinence as
moral duty and a religious obligatiOn-that mp
to the time of Christ the doctrine gained
greater ana greater power in the centres of
civilization, until at last amongst the Evanee-
| lists and primitive Bishops of the church (as
| Professor Jewett has shown, it became rank
| ed amongst the Counsels of Perfection The
| Bible shows how unavailing was the religion
| of Noah, Lot, and the priests, to preserve
them from intemperapce, so long as they tam
| pered with wine; and that the progress in civ
ilization and religion of the Jewish church and
people was arrested by their love of drink.
And nearly thousand years of training and
instruction, the most remarkable to which any
people have ever been subjected, Including rad
ical law, Ieasts and recreatiODs, a fine climate
and abundance of food and raiment, the Bible
represents Jehovah as being disappointed in
his Just expectations. Judge We between me
and the vineyard. What more could we have
done for my vineyard that have not done for
it? No doubt, modern politician or traveller
would have been ready with an improved pan
aeea, which the Almighty had overlooked.
"Why, theD," it is asked, when looked for
grapes, brought it forth wild grapes? The
answer is given again and again-because the
people, the princes and the priests loved wine!
From Amos it, 6, iDlcoDjuuction with Micah ii,
II. the four sins of the Jews were summed up
in this one sin. For the judges passed unjust
Judgment to get wine to drink in the sacred
places; the people told the true prophets to be
Silent because they would not prophesy of
drink; they tempted the Nazarites to break
their pledge ;and they drank with bowls to dis
sipate their minds and cast off all care concern
ing religion and country. Finally, SO bad did
Tue Jews ucCOmo tpTouSH uIlDh, 81 HItic power
had religion to prevent the effects of pbysi
cal agent like alcohol from besotting nation,
that the religious teachers themselves were
SWALLOWED up Of wine-they stumble in
prophesy: they stagger in judgment" Us.
xviii, ~ As last resource, it is said,
therefore shall my people go into captivity"
And it is remarkably suggestive fact, that in
that captivity they were first brought into in
innate contact and friendly relationship with
the Persian teetotalers in the train and court
of Cyrus the Great. Thus, the Bible every
where connects evil with intoxicating wine:
and every tree may be known by its fruit.
Lastly, the Bible represents God as the in
spirer of that teetotal doctrine and movement
which purified Judea from intemperance, AMI
prepared for the Christian dispensation. In
the days of Isaiah "Men rose up early in the
morning to follow strong drink in the days of
Peter and Paul it was thing unknown that
apy should be drunk at even the third or
sixth. hour. "They that are drunken, are
drunken in the night" 1t is abundantly evil
saw great preparation for Christianity-and
that teetotaism flourished in Judea. Entire
Jewish sects, here and in Egypt, were alb
stainers and this influence, beginning in the
captivity where court fashion had influence,
had been strengthened by the philosophy OF
Pytbagoras and Epicurus. But, biblically, We
can be at little loss to trace its origin, as prov
dentially, to comprehend it mission-I raised
up your sons prophets, and your young men
for Nazarites. Is it not even thus? saith the
Lord. And if it was thus with these teeto-
talers of old, He would not forsake us now.
Let them but stand by the truth, and the
truth will be true to them, and bring multi
tudes of blessings upou them and their chill