New-York tribune., 1874-03-21

n.
Dee.ion. for H. am qunte ready 10 admit
that the Jews, alike Of the Old Testament and the
New drank wine, and that the Savior and his dis-
ciplos drank it. We may be sure, however that the
circumstances Of the country rendered the practice
either desirable or permissible. 1t was probably
true that under the circumstances wne-drnklng
did more good than harm. Does any one suppose
that it, in that country, and IN those times, vine
drinking did more harm than good. 1t would have
received in any way the sanction OF the SAVIOR
Such sapposiiion would impugn alike his candor
and his beneyolenee.
We live other. where and in other times. Wine
has become associated with baser liquors. 1t is
manufactured from baser liquors in untold quanti-
ties The poor people of America could not get pure
wine if they wanted it, and the rich do not know
whether they get it or not. The great practical
fact, however, which stares MS in the
face to-day is that wine, brandy. whisky,
gin, and beer are tied together IN a
ssterhood Of ungovernable furies. aud that one
of them cannot be dealt with, without dealing with
all the rest. If the rich man drinks his wine, the
poor man will have his whisky. The total absti-
nence people not responsible for this state Of
things; they are total abstinence people in conse-
quence of this state of things They can find no
middle ground. You. yourself, profess to
have practiced total abstinence for years.
for the sake of setting a good example. You have
thus given practical 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 this country worthy of all imitation
example, too, which must be universally
initiated before the Christian Church can do the
work which Christianity demands OF 1T.
Unhappily your precept nullifes your practice
You say that you or those for whom you speak, can
not with bell, book and candle, with praying and
psalm-singng in the mud. excommuncate those
who drink or those who dispense the liquid which
God has made to be used with moderation and
Thanksgiving" What is this liquid, IL it wine
That is the liquid you talk about; that
is the liquid the drinking of which you find
justified in the Bible. But whisky is not
wine WHISKY is the liquid that burns up stomach.
brains morality, industry, prosperity, life Whisky
fills hundred thousands homes with misery, and is
poisoning the blood of the generations Whisky fills
the poorhouses and hospitals and prisons. Whisky
is associated with nearly every crime committed in
your community 1t is the grand, fiery fountain of
the national woe and crime. This is what the
women of Ohio are seeking to Danish, and they
know that with it must go that which all the
national experience has proved will be used as a
cover for the baser liquid.
And now let us 90 to the Bible again for the rule
which, for us, in this matter must cover all rules
and all examples 4" Ii is good neither to eat fiesh
nor to drink wine nor anything whereby thy brother
stumbleth, is offended, or is made weak /
tremble to think of the stumbling block which YOU
in your circular. have placed before the tempted
and the deceived. There is not a whisky-lnill
in the Union which does not stand frmer
on its foundations in consequence of it. There is not
whisky seller in the country who does not approve
of it, and feel easier in his business because of it,
There il no clergyman who indulges in wine to the
destruction of his influence as temperance man,
who does not IN 1t his Justification There is no
young man just beginning course of dissipation who
does not find his downward steps the easier for
it. All those who respect and revere the
temperate practices of your life are grieved byt 1t
has done harm-amost immeasurable harm-to
cause which in your heart you love- You have
unconscously put stumbling-block in your broth
ers way, you have offended many. You have made
many weak. You have made a mistake which you
can hardly rectify in lifetime. Your influence
has been gwen to the wrong side In this
controversy between the powers of light and the
powers Of darkness; you have done exactly what
the latter most desired you should do. You have
given strength to the forces organized against
the national purity and morality. fou did not
intend to do it. You carefully made all the distinc
tions between 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 as
vour cure for drunkenness has been tried i'll many
States and has never succeeded in one and so long
as the men OF the country have not found remedy
for the evils of ntemperance, it seems to me to be
no more than Christian courtesy to bid the women's
temperance movement God speed" ] am yonrS,
very respectfully, D. u HOLLAND
Nelc-rork, March IS, 1874