Blue-grass blade., 1891-02-14

This is not only right because it
is right, but it is right because il is
Just; because the things that may
justly be called data, that we have
from which to reason about these
matters are 30 limited and occult,
that II Ill becomes US to be dog
matte.
The gentleman thinks that he
has been put at a disadvantage by
his fellowmen simply because Of
his independence Of thought.
My own experience is that even
the most "orthodox" schools of
Christian people have been kind
and generous with me in the dis
cussion of these matters, even
while few years ago I was pretty
aggressive myself.
There is one thing about the
) Christian religion, regarding which
i can speak with great confidence;
! and that is that whatever may be
true about the dogmatic and super.
natural part of it, the practical
! adaptation of its code of ethics to
I the daily happiness of the human
T race is immensely greater than
any man that / know seems to ap-
preciate.
The only beauty Of any one OF
. these theories of morals is its pos
: sible tendency to make men better,
II just as long as men judge trees
y by their fruits will they also judge
g moral theories and speculative
PHILOSOPHERS by the influences they
!, exercise upon the people who main.
II tain them.
Il II. therefore, the gentleman who
.. writes to me feels a conviction that
y his philosophy is a better one than
!, those of the people around him, lei
!, him prove the truth Of his position
! by showing himself q better mar
than others; for believe that near
ly all educated people will admit
that truth is elevating and errol
debasing.
Let this gentleman be a Prohi-
bitionist, as he says his convic
tons lead him to be; not that tina,
is, by any means the summum DO.
d mum of human virtues, but that il
IT is simply a plan to remove what is
z recognized as the greatest obstacle
q to public and private virtue.
te Then let him make the purity o
1t his daily life an epistle read Of al
n men, that testifies to the truth o.
j. his philosophy.
r. There are three gentlemen il
this city who have once sold liquor
i and who have quit it wholly OF
It partly as a matter of conscience
Is Two Of them are "freethinkers,'
and think the third one is, ant
they are all personal friends to me
and my paper.
I hope to use their recognition
= of my sympathy for them in other
matters to gain them to the Pro-
hibition cause, and while hops
that this statement will not Offend
&c any Christian friend of Prohibition
= who ought to see that Prohibition
is the hand maiden of Christianity
: 1 am willing that it should do so, il
: necessary, because l believe that
am the only defender of the Pro-
: hibition cause in the State that has
9 this hold upon the sympathies Of
= this class Of thinkers, and want
: to consider myself their special
= apostle, and leave to the many Or
y thodox Christian thinkers the spe.
y cial duty of influencing those who
. agree with them.
ii believe that any man of good
u sound mind who starts out to think
free and untrammeled about the
Il Prohibition issue will become a
: Prohibitionist, because he cannot
:, resist the argument, just as this
gentleman says he finds is true
with him.
While this is true it is fact
that the great mass of Prohibition
workers are those who have the
y impress Of the Christian religion
deepest upon them, and l do not
= want needlessly to offend them,
: and for those instances in which i
. have done this l am sorry.