Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1881-06-30
.eadiaq far the Sabbath.
CONDUCTED By
REV. ROBERT LATHAM.
IUrIBIHaI ]
THE SIXTH COMMANDMENT.

lorIglnal]
THE SIXTH COMMANDMENT.
1t is we'll established principle in the in
depreciation of the Scriptures, that when a
particular act is forbidden, the opposite is en-
joined as a duty. In the Sixth Command
ment we are forbidden to kill, and if the
principle stated above be true, we are required
to use all lawful endeavors to preserve our
own lives and the lives of all others. In the
nature of things, many good and substantial
reasons can be given why We should not kill.
By an ordinance of heaven, man is a social
being. Whatever rights he may have, he en-
Joys them in common with all in the commu.
nifty. If one man has right to kill his fel.
low man, so has every other man. But such
state of things would subvert the whole 80
cial fabric. Hence, to kill is by no means
constituent element of society. Again, no
man has right to take from another that to
which he has no claim. God is the author Of
life. He gives life to the peasant as well as
to the prince to the poor man as well as to
the rich man; to the fool as we'll as to the
wise. No man can legitimately have any
claim upon the life Of any other man. In
fact, no man has right to do as he pleases
with his own life. He cannot say, ut is my
own" II am its author" He cannot say,
II made it, or 1 produced it, Hence, no
man has right to take from another, or
from himself, that which God has bestowed.
Men may forfeit their lives, and for the
general good it is absolutely necessary that
they be deprived of them but not by single
individuals, but by the law of the land. 1t
is serious thing to deprive human being
of life. 1t is not pretended that life is the
most precious of oil things. Neither is it de-
clared that death is the greatest of evils. The
devil told Job that all that man has will he
give for his life; but like nearly every thing
the devil ever did say, it was lie. The favor
of God is more precious than life, and Gin is
more to be dreaded than death. Still it is
solemn thing to deprive human being Of
life, even in vindicaton of law and justice
1t is punishment which civilized govern.
ments resort to only when the general welfare
of the whole community is imperiled. 1t is
a terrible warning 70 all evil doers.
To kill and to murder, are the same thing.
A common.sense definition of either word is
easily given. Legal distinctions may not be
easily understood, but whoever will read the
Bible, will have no difficulty in ascertaining
what God, in bis word, means by the word
ito kill" Whoever, acting in an individual
capacity, designedly takes away the life of his
fellow man, isa murderer. The only justifa.
BILE homicide is where an individual, in de.
fence of his own life, takes away the life of
him by whom his life is placed in eminent
peril
So long as law can be enforced, no man
has the right to avenge his own wrongs. This
is the province of the law. We admit that
this declaration is not in harmony with the
sentiments of many in this fast age but we
are convinced that it is in perfect accordance
with Christian civilization and Bible re-.
ligion. 1t is too much to demand mans
life for trivial insult. 1t is q demand which
no Christian man will make. More, it d a
demand which no brave man will make.
The Nervousness of the sin of murder, in
the sight of God, is seen by the penalty which
is added to the law against it. "Whoso
sheddeth mans blood, by man shall his blood
be she'd" In other words, the penalty which
God attached to the sixth commandment is
death. 1t is not stated in immediate connec.
tion with the precept, but it is elsewhere.
The ancients entertained the notion that no
murderer could cross thesea. This, no doubt,
was an incorrect application of a principle
which God has been demonstrating in his
providence, for near six thousand years, or
since the murder of Abel. The principle is
this God determines that no murderer shall
60 unpunished. The blood of the murdered
constantly cries to God for vengeance, and
that vengeance, sometime or other, overtakes
the man.slayer.
An eminent judge once made use of the
following language: "A long experience as a
lawyer and Judge, makes it my duty to say,
that neuer have I knoOn the guilty murderer to
go free! Ifjudgment does not overtske him
in the halls Of justice, still the avenger of
blood is in his pursuit; still the eye, which
never slumbers nor sleeps, is upon him, until,
in some unexpected moment, the command
goes forth, Cut him down. and the place
which once knew him, shall know him no
more forever"
1t is the universal notion of all civilized
people, that murder cannot be concealed.
Murder will out," is accepted by all classes
in civilized society as grand principle in the
moral government of the world, to which
there is no exception. He who violates the
Sixth Commandment becomes the object of
the blighting curse of Almighty God. By an
audibly pronounced sentence, he becomes a
fugitive and vagabond in the earth, q terror
to himself and to every one else. Every
one that fndeth me" said the first murderer,
"shall slay me"
LOVE FOR GoD AND MEN.-The want of
wants is love for God and men. Too many
act as though they were afraid of it in church