The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1903-04-29
THE GREAT DESTROYER
SOME STARTLING FACTS ABOUT
THE VICE OF IMTEMeERANcEb
Che Rev. James q. Dunn, DID,, Genssai
Secrsfsry Of the National Temperance
Society. shows Why It 10 the Duty q
.Abstainsrs to Sign the Pledge.

sue ksoSs Jnmeo u. uuhus DsO's ~ouotos
aecrstary Of the National Temperance
Society, shows why It 10 the Duty q
.Abstainsrs to Sign ths Pledge. .
Look at the matter. All good things
tmong men rest upon pledges.
The church is pledged company; each
minister took solemn promises in ordina-
ion. Each member. in a pubic profession
II Christ, took solemn vows before God
md men. And at the communion those
sows are reaffirmed. There ia not q re-
iewed soul on earth that has not passed
,olemn pledge to be the Lord's--inwardly
mind that God imposes in His word and
His ordinances pledges upon His people.
md has always done it. He would not
rust His cause without the pledge.
Marriage. that bu.wark OF social purity
md morality. rests uDon the pledge. Il
:ould not last without it.
Government rests on the pledge. Not
he highest officer in the land will be trust
ID unless he is pledged The people exact
IN oath from him. The President OF the
United States. in taking Office, Ia COM
And not less is every Senator and Repre-
sentative. and official of whatever grade, 0
pledged man.
Law rests on the pledge. In all our
courts, the judges, attorneys and jurors are
pledged men And each witness has to
'ay his hand on the Bible. and take an
,ath to testify the truth. Moreover, each
State. county. municipal or town officer,
high or low. in assuming his functions, 10
compelled by law to take the prescribed
,ath. And the custom is not objected to.
And yet we hear men say, Il don't believe
pledgiDg:"
Business, too, rests on the pledge. The
,otes and other written and oral agree
nents which men pass between themselves
ire simply pledges. And without these,
business could not be prosecuted.
Now, il in the matters referred to the
pledge is regarded as indispensable, how
AN il be esteemed lightly in the matter OF
emperance? And il men do not hesitate
70 take it in the cases mentioned, why
,hould they refuse TO pledge themselves In
,esDect to the use Of strong drinks!
1t stands thus: The pledge, as we have
,cen. is an inherent and essential condition
.nce, of both the Church and the State. L.
8 absolutely necessary to all the protective
potency of law. to all established forms OF
social order, to all virtue between the
sexes, to the perpetuity OF the family, to-
:he prevalence OF all the morality and supe-
rior excellence and purity, and to every va.
ried phase OF Christian civilization. De-
,troy the pledge in every form, and you de-.
strov what is the only salvation OF the
weak in human society, and the only relia'
be safeguard Of the strong.
The history Of the world is full OF exam
ples Of the utility Of pledges. No great ref
,rmation was ever yet accomplished, apart
from combination. but combination always
lmnlies some bond Of union.
What, then. is the abstinence pledge,
Is it is called. but a simple promise that
for the time being we shall abstain from
the use of intoxicating liquors. It Is .
mistake to suppose that we are ahstainers
because we are pledged; we are pledged be-
cause we are abstainers. The pledge 10
not the cause, but the effect OF our absti-
nence. We have come to the conviction
tnat it is prudent by our duty to abstainp
and is there any harm in putting that con-
fiction on record?
The pledge is our testimony against drink.
ing customs. II two men are in partner.
ship, it has been said, it is not enough II
one OF them wish 20 retire from the con-
.ern chat he should do so-he must also ad:
vertise out Of the company, else he will
continue responsible for the debts OF the
firm, in the eye of the law and 1t is reason.
able and Just that it should be 50, because
the public NAV credit the firm on the sup.
position that he is still q partner, and
therefore. to free himself from legal re-
,ponsibility, he must make known the fact
OF his being no longer partner, by his ad:.
:ertising out. ~
So, likewise, in regard to the drinking
customs. Every person in the habit OF
! using Intoxicating liquors. however moder-
ately. has been a partner in the drinking
system of his country. and his fellow men
have been induced to give it credit for
virtues which it does not possess on the
ground OF his connection with 1t, 90 that
| when he becomes an abstainer It u not
sumcient to relieve him from all moral re.
sponsibility for the evils resulting to So
cietv from that system with which he has
ceased to have connection, but he must
proclaim to the world the fact that he has
done so. and by signing the pledge he pro-
Gains to the world that he no longer
shares in the guilt Of intemperanee Pro.
duced by the drinking system, and Will be
no longer responsible for the evil which
such systems may infict upon society. In
other words. he advertisss out. -, -
Cpon how lofty platform. then, DO
those stand who are pledged Temperance
men and women in any community! They
are not weak and puerie. but. on the CON.
trary, they are the true, the heroic. the
strong. in the noblest sense. They have
come up in good company. They only are
consistent in pledging themselves to total
and perpetual abstinence: they act IN keep
ing with the truest philosophy and the
, most established and universally practiced
general principles.
We say, then, to an workers in the tenn
perancc reform, while you insist on prohi1
bition. and ply moral suasion, and circuI
late intelligence, advocate and use the
pledge! Return to the old ideas and the
old instrumentalities. Drunkenness Is ter
rib,y prevalent. Its victims are alarming
ly on the increase But q former genera
tion was we'll nigh saved. How? Temper
ancc was preached in the pulpit, in the lee,
turs room, in the family. in the school
room. on the wayside. by papers, books,
tracts and lecturers. and at the same time
children and men and women by thousands
upon thousands. signed the teetotal pledge,
and by it were kept from falling back to
old paths. Mr.. Cough once told tie writer
that ne believed that one in four OF the
multitudes who formerly signed the pledge
We say. then, restore the pledge! Re!
store the pledge. 1t is mighty help, :,
'.Keep the flag flying and the lamp OF Coz
Anil ny word for thine, it shall end in
the right