The Indiana State sentinel., 1874-03-31

.-iat SEEMS to me to be the most inn
uuote -. <rt OF Your circular-that which you
.saapter AID verse, your divine authority
"a Tue use OF Vine. Ii is easy TO quote scripture,
eircumssanres under which each separate
quotation was written il is easy to sus-
easy, Tor instance. TO furn to PToyerbs and
quote: '.Wine is a mocker, strong drink is rag
ing; and whosoever is deceived thereby is not
wise. We can turn 10 the book of Daniel, and
snow how the men who would not docile them
selves with the wine of Nebuchadnezzar, but
ate puise ard drank water, proved themselves
in the space of ten days fairer and fatIer tnan
all who were around Them. We turn to the
words: Look not thou upon the wine when 1t
is red, when ii giveth his color in the cup, when
like a serpent and stingeth like an adj
DER. A divine statute recorded in Lev1ticus has
special application TO the priesthood: ''Do ne
drink wine nor strong drink, thou nor thy SOnS
with Thee, when ye so into The tabernacle OF
the congregation, lest ye die; it shall be a
statute forever throughout your generations"
1t is easy TO quote scripture. repeat, and those
portions which have presented are at least as
go91 as yours; Ihsy prove hFst, that wine Is
second That on fair trial men are better with
Quit than with it; and third, that there are
circumstances and conditions under which God
commanded ii should not be drunk at all. That
is all wish TO prove from scripture in this direct
the Jews. alike of the Old Testament and the
New, drank wine, and that the
SAVIOUR AND HIS DISCIPLES DRANK 1T.
We may be sure. however, that the clrcum-
stances of the country rendered the practice
either desirable or permissible. 1t was probably
true that under the circumstances wine drink
ing did more good than harm. Does anyone sup
pose that IT, in that country, and in those times,
wine drinking did more harm than good, it
would have received in any way the sanction of
the Savior? Such supposltion would impugn
alike his candor and his benevolence. We live
other where and in other times. Wine has be-
come associated with baser liquors. 1t is manu-
factured from baser liquors in untold quantities.
The poor people of America could not get pure
wine If they wanted il, and the rich do not know
whether they get IL or not The great practical
fact, however, which stareS us in the lace to-day
Is ISL that wine brandy whisky gin and beer % srs
kries, and that one CT them cannot be dealt with,
without dealing with all the rest. Ii the rich
his whisky. The total abstinence people are not
responsible for this state of things; they are
total abstinence people in consequence of this
state of things. They can find no middle ground.
You, yourself, profess TO have pracsiced total
abstinence for years, for the sake OF setting
good example. You have thus given prac-
tical recognition of the fact that no man
can do anything for temperance who is not total
abstinence man, and have set an example to
the clergy of the country worthy of all imitation
An eXa fIple, too, which must be universally
initiated before the christian church can do the
work which christianity demands OF it. Unhap-
PLY your precept nullifies Your practice. You
say that you, or those for whom you speak, can
not with bell, book and candle, with praying
and psalm-singing in the mud, eXcommunicale
those who drink or those who dispense the liquid
which God has made 10 be used with moderation
and tho nl~soiying What iS mis- IinridS IL il
wine? IhsIis the liquid you talk about; that is
the liquid the drinking of which you find justi-
4 fled in the Bible. But
WHISKY Is NOT WINE.
Whisky is the liquid that burns up stomach
brains, mortality, industry, prosperity, life.
Whisky fills a hundred thousands homes with
misery, and is poisoning the blood of the gener-
ations. Whisky fills the poorhouses and hos
pItals and prisons. whisky is associated with
nearly every crime committed in your commu-
nifty. 1t is the grand, fiery fountain of the ma
| tional woe and crime. This is what the women
| OF Ohio are seeking TO Danish, and they know
that with il must go that which all the national
experience has proved will be used as a cover
| for the baser liquid. And now let us
go to the bible again Tor the rule which,
| for us, in this matter, must cover all rules
and all examples: alt is good neither to. eat
flesh, nor TO drink wine, nor anything whereby
weak" ] trenlble to think of the stumbling
block which you, in your circular, have placed
before the TEN pied and the deceived. There is
not whisky mill in the union which does not
stand firmer on its foundations in consequence
oft. There is not whisky seller in the coun-
try who does not approve of it, and feel easier in
his business because of it. There is no clergy
man who indulges in wine, TO the destruction
| OF his influ .nce as temperance man, who
does not see in 1t his Justification. There is no
young man tust beginning course of dissipa-
ton who does not find his downward steps the
| IL.
the temperate practices of your life are grieved
/ by it. It has done harm-almost immeasurable
harm-to "a cause which in your heart you love.
block in your brothers way, you have offended
many, you have made a mistake which You
can hardly rectify in a lifetime. Your influence
has been given TO the wrong side in this contro-
versy between the powers light and the powers
| latter most desired you should do. You have
given strength to the forces organized against
| the national purity and morality. You did not
i int to- In f1l rna ada aoll "A
| tinctions between a proper use and an improper
abuse; but practically, those distinctions in this
country and under the present circumstances
amount to nothing. The license law which you
recommend your cure for drunkenness has
been tried in many states, and has never sue
| coantry have not found a remedy for the evils
| of in temperance, it seems TO me to be more
| than christian courtesy to bid the women s tenn
perance movement ''God speed" l am yours,
| very respectfully, j. q. HOLLAND.
| NEW YORK, March is, 1874.