The Kenosha telegraph. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1860-1888, 1886-05-21
TEMPERANCE.
WHERE is THE ARGUMENTq


DR. Lyman Abbott's Absurd Assumption
on the Wine Questionable True Issue
in the Drink Problem.
The following paragraph, originally
printed in New York paper, is being
eagerly copied far and wide, in various
forms, by papers which are the Great
ures of the rum power. and which
truckle to it on all occasions:
THE Prohibtionists received knock-down
blow from the pulpit, when Rev. Lyman Alb
botf, himself almost an ascetic, wrote that al
though in the time of the New Testament
there was sect of Prohibtionists in the
for He was moderate drinker, and BY MAX
ing wine and by His example encouraged
others to drink. But the Prohibitionists have
this to fall back upon-wine is not what the
majority of men are thinking of when they
demand that the liquor trade shall not be in
terfered with.
Whatever Rev. Lyman Abbot may
say, and with all due reference to his
learning, there is not one iota of proof
that our Saviour ever was "a moder-
ate drinker.n We do not intend to 90
into discussion of the time-worn
question as to whether the wine which
Christ made, at the wedding feast in
Cana of Galilee, was fermented or nm
fermented, and hence whether it was
intoxicating, or. simply the harmless
juice of the grape. freshly pressed from
the fruit. The opinion of those who have
gone furtherest into the necessary his
torical research to elucidate this ques-
ton is that it was notwithstanding, be-
cause unfermented. For ourselves, we
are not willing to believe that the
mighty Founder of the faith of millions,
the Son of God Himself clothed with
humanity, either countenaneed or per-
mitted, during his sojourn upon earth,
the habit of drinking moderate
drinking.
No, we do not believe Lyman Alb
bott nor his assertions. He may be
sincere in them, but sincerity of belief
does not make whatever he may be-
ieve the truth. But, for the purpose
OF argument, let us assume that his
statements may be true; what thenp
We, as Christians, are bound to OBJ
serve the commands that have been
laid upon us by Jesus. Are we COM
manded to drink VINE. save in COM
munion of the death of our Saviour, at
the solemn celebration of the Lord 8
Supper? No.
The assumption in the paragraph
above quoted is that, as Christ, accord
ing to Lyman Abbott's belief, drank
wine in moderation, therefore it is not
wrong for ali men of the present day
to oe moderate drinkers; nay, more
than this that the example of Our
Saviour is to be followed.
This latter assumption does not fol-
low. Christ was Jew, and He fol
lowed strictly all the obseryances of
the ceremonial law of Moses. Shall
we Go the same? Are we to under
stand that we must avoid eating pork,
in any form, because Christ never used
it? That we must eat only the food
recognized as clean by the great
lsraeiitish lawgiver, because our Say
Jour did so? The argument is absurd.
What, then, shall be said of the argu-
ment involved in the assumption that
because Christ did not in so many
words prohibit drinking, that it is per-
Missile to us? This is a common
argument with the upholders of the
rum power, as the Scriptural argument
''Cursed be Canaan" was, thirty years
ago, one of the sheet-anchors of the de-
tenders of the aecursed system of
human slavery.
The plain fact in the matter is, that
it is not of the slightest moment to us
of this latter day whether Christ drank
wine, or made wine by miracle at
Cana, or permitted His disciples to
drink wine. The only ques-
ton that is presented to us in the drink
problem is whether a man is as good
citizen, as good son, as good a hus-
band, as good father, when he drinks
as when he does not
Drinking wine made from the pure
juice of the crane in the days of Christ
is one thing, and drinking rum, and
gin, and whisky, and brandy, and beer
all of which were then unknown-is
quite another. "Wine is a mocker,"
and at the best sit biteth like serpent
and stingeth like an adder" says Holy
Writ. What form of words is strong
enough to formulate the awful con-
sequences of drinking the hell-broths
that are prepared by the brewers, and
distillers, and rectifiers of to-day, with
drugs and poisons added to them to in
crease tenfold the evil of the alcohol
and other constituents of the liquors
scattered through the Scriptures, of
prophets and apostles, who can say
that Christianity countenances drink
ing?
The true rule for mankind as to any
given line of conduct should be: ''What
are its effects upon the person-upon
his physical system, upon his moral
naturep What are they upon his
standing as useful citizen and mem
Der of the commonwealth? And what
are its effects upon the community at
large and the Nation? Measure rum
drinking by these standards, and what
do we findP
We find that all drinking is danger
ous-even moderate drinking There
is no habit that so insensibly steals
upon man, and makes him its slave.
The grave has uncounted thousands of
moderate drinkers who died of rum
base, abjoct victims of the terrible
thirst which overpowered them.
To the body it is poison. 1t ruins
the nerves, it enfeebles the brain, it
destroys the stomach and disgestion;
it poisons the liver, it destroys the
kidneys; it bloats and disfgures man,
itsruins his skin by blotching and red
dening it; it shortens life even where
it does not kill outright.
To the moral nature, it is equally as
great an evil 1t deadens all sense of
right and wrong. 1t infames the pas
sions, and leads directly to crime. 1t
makes o man forget his duty to his
parents, his wife, his children; it des-
troys his usefulness as a citizen, as
contributor to the wealth and natural
prosperity of the Nation. 1t is an evil
to a man, and no less an evil to the
state. 1t is the most potent factor in
filing our jails, and penitentiaries, and
insane asylums. 1t increases our taxes
for all these things, and for the sup
port of almshouses filed with the help
less wives and children Of these vic
tins of rum. 1t is evil to all, and moth