West Virginia freeman. (Parkersburg, W. Va.) 1881-1886, 1882-02-01
WEST VIRGINIA FREEMAN.
Liberty and Law.
Go Hand IN Hand NTH Happiaess,
and all attke cry out for
Pr0hibation. ~

in due subsection to law, gives the
highest type of liberty. Matter
moved contrary to law becomes the
slave Of confusion, leading on to
wreck and ruin.
SO with mind, drawn from due
subsection to right, it ceases to be
free. 1t becomes the slave of
wrong. Driven contrary to it's own
conceptions of right, it drifts a
slave to impulse, and appetite.
From the moment of its departure
from right it ceases to be free.
illustration. A man rowing
boat miles above Niagara Falls,
is commanded to keep his boat from
gliding down the river. He says:
"This command takes from me
my liberty. l will be free and let
the boat float where it will"
He does 50, and presently the
boat is in the currents leading to
the dreadful falls below. The law
of safety and self-preservation he re-
garded as an Infringement upon his
liberty. To be free, he ceased to
obey; now in the dreadful whirl
and rush of waters, where is his lib
erty? Where is his power to save
himself? On he rushes until the
leap is taken down amid the terri
bic waters, that cover him forever.
To be allowed to do this, is called
liberty. To restrain men from
self-destruction is called, taking
their liberty away A man is free
when his will is not controlled by
forces beyond his power to govern.
70 be governed by the law of right,
never subjects the will Of man to a
force above his will.
He may be imprisoned, he may
be hanged or burned at the stake !;
yet the will in the power right
gives, is free, and rises superior to
the might Of wrong.
Let us give a practical turn to our
subject;
It is claimed by some that prohi-
bition is an infringement upon the
rights Of individuals, Il contraction
of their liberties. What contrac-
ton, pray, to"Save men from ruin ?
What right has man to make
drunkards, or to be a drunkard? A
right is a privilege granted which
accords with the law and the fitness
of things, which is just and equita-
BILE and conducive to the highest
good. If that which we claim as a
right, initiates against the good or
happiness Of ourselves or others,
we have no such right.
We havea right to labor for the
good of others, but no right to labor
for the i'll of any one. No man has
Alright to do wrong, nor to engage in
that which Is the ruin Of himself or
others. God forbids, and can that
which is forbidden by God be u
right?
Freedom comes through the
strict observance Of law. Law pre-
scribes the rule of action, and right
acting is freedom.
Let us test these statements by
the facts of our observation:
A young man claims his freedom
to take his daily dram. Days,
weeks and months pass by The
daily dram has become fixed hab-
it, and habit has made him con-
firmed drinker. Self-control is gone.
He has entered that dreadful cur
rent that sweeps downward. He
turns and makes few feeble efforts
to regain lost manhood; but the
habit beats him downward and he
falls into the gutter,
Poor slave to appetite! Gone be-
cause he would be free to take his
dram
Such is the terrible end of the
man who claims his freedom to
drink-his freedom to be drunk
ard. Surely liberty is not in the
way of the drunkard, nor free
dom in the path Of him who dies a
slave.
If men would be free, and free in
deed, let them know and do the
truth; the truth is the law Of God
by which he gives happiness to all
men.
God alone is free, for he alone
knows no departure from law. Man
+o,,,,lo. l,1v updar his foot and