Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1905-09-12
TilIman and the Scriptures.

There are those no doubt who will
take Senator Tillmans Scriptural quo
tations to mean that the Bible looks
upon wine and wine drinking as mat
:er of course, and will, on occasion,
appeal to these quotations for justifi-
cation In the gratifying Of their own
debauching appetites; but there are
not many Of these In this part Of the
country.
The Bible is quite a familiar book In
York county. 1t has been studied
here for generations: but more with
the purpose Of learning how to live
than with the purpose Of justifying
wrong doing. II II were not for the
teachings Of the Bible, the opposition
to the whisky business In York county
would amount to nothing. In the case
of people who knew no better, the sem
ator's quotations might have been Of
some comfort; but not so with ma
jority of that crowd that was gathered
at Tirzah.
We would not have 1t understood that
Senator Tillman tried to claim that the
Bible indisputably endorses the use Of
whisky as a beverage. His proposition
was that for every text condemning the
use of wine he could find two In which
wine was referred to without condem-
nation. This is probably true. His So
called symposium shows It; but what
has that to do with the issue? Surely
Senator Tillman must have had In
mind some more practical idea than he
claimed, and If his object was to show
that the Bible in any way sanctioned
the liquor business, whether conducted
by the individual or by the state, no
body knows better than the people Of
this section that he has perverted the
words of the living God" Jeremiah
xiii, SO.
We shall not attempt to marshal all
the texts Of the Bible that teach Of the
dangers of wine and condemn the
abomination Of drunkenness. Most Of
our readers understand fully the atti-
tude Of the Bible to this subject; but
somehow we feel that If Senator Till
man had hunted out those texts him.
self from the Bible itself instead Of
leaving his secretary to collate them
from a concordance, the information
he would have gained would have been
calculated to change his original pur-
pose to the extent of compelling a rev.
erent apology to his Maker, and "the
little ones he has sought to offend"
Because Of Senator Tillman's request
made during his speech I'm a spirit Of
levity, and afterward In earnest, we
have beer at pains to verify his refer
ences and have corrected such
as were found to be incorrect.
During this la,or also we found that
in most cases the contexts Of the texts
he used to prove his point were full of
warning and condemnation against
wine. 1t would take pages to amplify
the subject fully; but one case ought
to suffice For instance the senator
quotes:
Daniel l, 5: And the king appointed
them a daily provision of the kings
meat, and Of the wine he drank; SO
nourishing them three years. that at the
end thereof they might stand before
he king.
The context of this text tells how
certain of the most promising Of the
children of Israel, including Daniel. had
been selected to be brought up and
Tod no
Nebuchadnezzar in order that they
might eventually become councillors
and rulers In the nation. To ensure
their best mental and physical develop
ment. they were to have meat and
wine from the kings table. Daniel and
certain others requested that they be
not required to eat the kings meat and
drink his wine; but that instead they
be fed on pulse and water The
prince of the eunuchs objected TO this.
arguing If these young men should not
improve like the others and the reason
was found out, he would lose his head.
Danied then proposed that they be CIV
en- a trial of ten days and at the end
of that time the prince of the eunuchs
would be at liberty to do as he chose.
The result, which Senator Tillman
omitted from his symposium, was as
II So he consented to them In this
matter and proved them ten days.
Is And at the end of ten days their
appeared fairer and fat
ter in flesh than all the children which