Smyrna times., 1878-06-05
Temperance Essay.
READ BY MISS ALLIE F. SMITH IN THE TOWN
HALL, SMYRNA, MAY 18TH.

enter upon detailed instances of misery M
woe, lntermingled with Jokes: but tb(
former has become 50 patent 10 tho n,os
casual observer, and the latter so ont q
harmony with ii subject fraught with sucL
vital interest to all classes of human society
mat they justly give place to other methods
OF presenting this subject to the minds o
the people. "
And with this change, and, the general
recognition that it is a work of such vast
Importance, that all Christians at least sbonId
lemu heiPlng hand, we respond to the
call, and attempt To Mro,o IN or mite.
Our minds turn frst to the terms so n1ucb
used In connection with this cause
namely" Moral" and "Suasion.' ter,os
| F9ht in themselves, and doubtless intandod
rightly to be employed; hut their h,qr sio.
nlhcation extracted, until, by common co7.
sent 1t had come to be understood that
Moral SuasIon' is to say what YOU please.
OUT let us alonefo do as ,ce please afterward,
! Now we recognize that to DO rs one
PieaseS' Is all right, 50 long as they have
pleasure IN rlght-doing. The rule, for which.
Is oaly TO be found in that law, ont Of ,rL;c6
were taken these words: moral" and
. Suason."
1t has been claimed that men are cana.
Die OF "'oral actions, tadtpcaieu of revelation
that the intuition implanted in the human
heart, by the Creator, which, by the wav. is
no less than a revelation through the ever
existing light of the world. ...Iesus
which distinguishes man from the mora
brute creation, is sufficient for such action.
But H.story, in showing the condition and
depreciation 10 which nations have sunlen
where the ldt0 has been extinct. and tho
hight OF revelation has not shown. suffi.
ciently demonstrates that there can be no
Moral Suasion' when the moral Lnc is mn.
known. 1'
If, then, this be a .tact, the word moral
anu t Lhe persuasion, can o"Iy apply to to the
Decaiogue on the one hand, and argument
Or appear made to the intellect on the
other. 10 erect and sustain such standard
OF Ethics as will Keep men in Lqro,onD win
the law of God.
If, then, in the past Decades Of the
temperance movement, the minds of ,Lo
people have been preparing to throw off
this yoke of bondage, incomparaJIc 10 ali
other Gondaye c0n,Gtned.
Start not back, ye men in whose hands
rest the power, but take up the cry" Pro.
hlbitIon; take the law uttered from Monnt
SInal, midst the dreadful thunderinps Of
the wrath, OF just(y offended God, and see
II Il Is not the most Thoroughly prohibitory lac
eXtant. '''''
ana unless you can get Il repealed. and
all the law against theft, murder. and otbor
crimes, which entail upon human society
roc and deah,-which laws are the on;
groWh from the divine law-acouI Il mt Le
0eH to do your part, in making laws. that sLoH
stay the tide of intemperance?
10 whom shall we 90 then, with this true
Moral Suasion?" Shall it be to the man
whose children fear, and shun him ?-be
VINO once so kind ard tender in his feelups
has become so lost by the use of strono
dfihk' that at the sound of his foOtstep the
partner OF his bosom tren.6les with fear. |
anu well they may for they slay them when
they please, as if these wives were mere ,eeis
to human society.
And t,oel0e men, to crafty it, nay be tho
ambition of some la,Cyer friend. will bnt on.
coarGge OHers in crime, by turning upon |
society such human iends.
1t Is true we would not tire in our effort |
to reclaim the fallen, to cheer the hearts of |
the sad ones who rest under this curse. not |
by their o0n acts, but by others who claim |
the Ttght TO lnfllct wrong upon them, in the |
unmOlested use of Intoxicating LIQUORS.
But tbs is too aiDaless. We must look for
something better than entailing upon the |
generation to come the drudgery of tho |
past and present.
II ought not 10 be consented that to bear the
results of this rum traffic is the best ,oe can
do.
We come then with this appeal to the
intelligence of man, under the light of this
perfect law Of laws, asking that you leave no
effort unmaade that promises tie overthrow of
tbs enemy Of haman souls.
To the Churches of Christ,-whom He
I.
might redeem them from all ini0ntif,,. and
purify them to himself a peculiar people,
| would say-will you not noJI,. stand
against intemperance
Will you not watch over one another
with keener vigilance, and draw 6qhter the
band of 6rOtherLy discipline?
And ye magistrates, to whom the law
has confined the discretionary power of
giving license for the vending Of ardent
spirits Though you alone could not resist
the burning tide, yet when the nation is
moved with fear and is putting in reauis.
ton her energies to strengthen your handy
will you not stand up TO your duty, and do
it fedrLessiy and firmly2
Giving IavOr to the side of right and
moral truth, thereby encouraging in your turn
the labors Of those men who are making
courts respectable, and furnishing sober
men 10 adjudicate the matter Of State
giving heed, as you ought, to the remon.
strances Of good citizens, though such re.
monstances may be intermingled with ga
great many women and children"
Fer be ye assured. it is mainly Ills part Of
society that you affiict, when you throw
open the doors of these drinking saloons,
falsely called Restaurants. We trembls at
The thought that sitting to adjudge whether
life shall be taken as punishment from that
poor criminal, may be he very men who
opened under the law, the whirlpool of
destruction that caused this acme of human
:ri1ne.
The thought suggest the appropriateness