Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1871-11-12
NAToMA TEMPLE CT HONOR
Address Of lzr. g. w. Montgomery, r.
w T., IA the INSTALLATION of 0fleers,
Tuesday Evening Last.

I k0&O VIC bCAkABAo w 0kuhktg ah0 OOAACoA-
it with the ephemeral temperance societies
ofthe hour, and thus belittle its obhga'
lions and diminish its Importance Il
themselves and to The world.
True the Temple of Honor Is q temper
snce association, but IL 10 more than
temperance society. 1t is q fraternal,
charitable, a moral order. Temperance II
the white Psrian marble Threshold ovel
which you enter its halls-the crysts
foundation on which the walls o fsspphire
dismond and ruby indestructibly rest
Without temperance the virtues sr'
dwsrfed and enfeebled they are like now
ers deprived of b warmth and light o
the SUM-. Expel temperance and all tn
virtues disappear, truth lsnguishes Rnc
dies, love flies weeping away, purity II
blasted and g consuming leprosy appear
In its stead, faith retires with sverted eye
and Peace is engulphed In the chaos OF tn
sodl. Hate, passion and despair, liz ser
psnts bred in the empty palaces OF q city
depcpulsted by pestilepce, rio and fstteE
in the ruined chambers ofthe heart. Tenn
perance Is the living spirit OF the Temple
of Honor, without this golden thread al
bonds of unity are frail and false. Friend
ship, affection, fraternity, and piety itself
are Q and frail, unable to resisl
temptation and trial. The tenn
persnce Of our order is not a
in o'her organizations, the mere pledge
of convenience, to be assumed and laid
aside st pleasure, q toy to be trihed VIII
for a moment, then broken snd cast away
and forgotten. 1t Ii to be q part of the
man himself, like him who utters It, 0noe
born, once breathing, 1t becomes immor'
tai It may be violated, it may be dis
graced and d~ishonored, II may become
shameless and infamous, but it cannot be
~destroyed-it is incapable of annthilstion.
The voluntary outcast who has expatri-
ated himself from the order, is still q tenn
plsr. Exiled from its sympathies, no
longer entitled to clsim OF to receive its
frsternal aid and assistance, he remsins
himself bound by every covenant that
held him while his vow was unbroken
and his honor untsinted. he can break
his vow daily through years OF degrade
ton and d~ishonor, but he cannot aosolve
his soul from the temperance pledge, nor
any other promise and obligation in the
covenant tina made him a templar of
Honor. Alas, that so many in the weak
ness OF temptation forget this, and fancy
that one link broken the chain is de-
stroyed. True, storm and eddy msy
sweep them from the haven, but they
carry their registers with them, no longer
commissions of honor, but evidences Of
spostscy and piracy. They try to think
they are free; they deny the bondage into
which they vsinly seek to drown the
clanking of their irons, but they cannot
loose the shackles. In their maddest mer-
riment, they dance in letters. They carry
ths obligation to the grave, and shall re-
vive with ID at the bar of eternity. How,
then, is it that so many fall? Review the
instances of fsithlessness with which
you sre familiar, and yOu have the ex-
PLANTATION. 1t Is negligence. Members,
without any excuse but Incidence, cease
to attend tbs meetings Of their temple,
spend their idle time in saloons and places
where Intoxicating liquors are circulated,
grow cool in their attachment to the order
and fall into arrears for dues, and feel the
obligation burdensoms because neglected,
and nus wake from lukewarmness to
open violation, short, easy and swift. The
clause of the pledge to use all honorable
means TO prevent the manufacture, sale
and use Of alcoholic beverages is not un-
meaning. 1t was not placed there
to wind up the sentence neatly,
but to bs 9 stimulus t. exer-
ton and as q warning to avoid tempt
alton by keeping out Of all places whsre
your unnecessary presence is q compro-
mise of principle and gives oountensnce
to the shameful traffic you are pledged to
suppress. No templsr can habituslly and
without necessity frequent places where
Intoxicating liquors are sold by wholesale
or retsil and preserve his entire fidelity to
the order. The silent Reproduction of vice
Is IS eloquent snG valuable as public de-
nunciatiOn. Example is far more potent
thsn speech, and This is especially i'm
posed by the last clause of the temperance
vow Of the templsr. The Temple Of Honor
Is b irst and best of orders, but not g
simple temperance order. Asingie virtue
does not make g perfect man. An indi-
viduEl may be q paragon of total absti-
n5noe while Infamous for every crime ex-
Dept intemperance. The Temple OF Honor
Is no hollow shell within which vipers
crawl, writhe and hiss. 1t cultivates heart,
morals and intellect. It includes all the
social, mental and religious graces. As
the prairie when the hand of cultivation
Restraints the deluging flames that made it
bare and dssoiste Is clothed with bloom
ing verdure, and reaTs upon its bosom
graceful ~shrubbery and stately forests, so
does the Templs endeayor, by turning
away and excluding the noxious tides Of
intemperance from the heart of man and
the now sad, bleak surface of society, to
rear, instead of ths weeds of vices, the
chsste habits, the admiration for excel
lenoe, this sympathy with good, the desire
for healthy progress, which make the soil
wherein religion may plant TIP seeds that
blossom on earth to ripen in etrrnity. We
rest 4 cause, and repose confidently for
the final success of our principles upon
the declarations of revelation. Our faith
and our order is founded upon the Bible,
which everywhere forbids intempsrsuce,
the Lswgiver, the prophets. and the spos.
ties proclsiming, mo drunkerd can en-
ter the kingdom of heaven" and unequiv-
ocally declaring that the theological vir-
tues cannot exist without temperance,
the moral atmosphere of soul and INTEL
lect. We do not intrude into the sphere
of the church, as some good men assume
who assert that the church Is the proper
temperance society. We're the whole
world attached to the Church, there could
be no other temperance society; but, in
fact, church members are units& the
midst of disbelisving thousands, and we
may rightly claim to cooperate with the
church in the work Of reform. Intem-
persnce is not less a social curse because
it 10 q violstion of divine command; this
only a~ggrsvstes the offense. Murder and
theft are violations of the deoslogue, yet
the State Of necessity iorbids and Furnishes
them. So it should do with intern
psrsnOe, the monster vice of society from
which all other vices spring, IS poisonous
plants flourish in the tat, black soil of the
nOisome fen and bog. Churchmen insist
upon the duty of removing the young and
old from temptation, and furnishing them
with wholesome instruction and usefnl
labor, q how can they deny that we and
sll who are endesvoring to emove and
diminish intemperance are doing work
bsnsfcial to individuals, to the oommun-
ity, and to the church. Such DIRECTORS
must remember that every bond or obliga-
ton that oompels the practice Of one vir-
tue to that extent improves the condition
of the person who takes 1t, and prepares
him for improvement IN other things, and
particularly no when the obligation makes
practical that virtue which is essential to
Of life, purity OF habits and sin
cere obedience TO God. They will thus
see we are not invaders of thelf province,
humble e~o4labofers IN their gigantic
task of social reformation. Each has
more than enough territory to cover with
missions. Let the church do her holy
part by enforcing the too long neglected
rules of the primitive church upon tenn
perance and prohibition, while her minis
cooperate with us in making known
and bringing into practice the principles
of temperance among the worldly, that
the day OF their Masters triumph may be
upon earth.
The Temple Of Honor Is a patriotic In. |
stitutiop, not in any sectional or partisan
senses-for partisanship, without pure
and well-defined principles and sectional
ism in every aspect IL can assume, are the |
enemies OF every country where
they eoure a lodgmsnt, and, how
eVor disguised, they are the foes |
Of every form of wise and wholesome
government but the Temple of Honor is
patriotic in that large and honest meaning
of patriotism love Tor the honor, the liber-
Atty and justice Of the land, which seeks
to make the avs contribute to the secur-
elevation, improvement, integrity
and piety of the people. This Is the
principle that demands the prohibition Of
the manufacture, sale and use of intoxi-
liquors. This principle is no nov
5lty in law or ethics. II Is among the
earliest and most solemn laws OF the
mosaic code, Nothing fermented, not
sven fermsnted bread, could be used in
he tabernacle of the temple. The Naza-
lite was forbidden to touch the leaf of
he wood of the grspevine-facts which
.eem TO eOuntenanGe the opinion of some
If the older rsbbins, that the vine was
he tree Of good and evil, and drunken
less b primary sin which produced the
all Of oursrsce.
Prohibit N is a wise rule of the com-
non law Of England Previously to the
.nsctment of the license laws, by which
he hsalth and morals of the people were
to the financial necessities of
kingdom-to prove that any liquor,
old as q beverage, was injurious to the
leSlth that Is interesting. was to subject
maker and vendor to punishment by
he court of quarter sessions, and the
lqnor to destruction upon the warrant Of /
ny justice of the quorum. A rule. that
9 to articles of food, Is In operation alike
b England ana America to-day. and