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56 THE PRACTICAL CHR IST IAN.


OUo- INA%. 1VJ: J: SOELLANY.


TEMPERANCE.


The T emperanc e Reform is one of the most


prominent not only, hut one of th e most im­portant


reforms of the age. For a short time


past, however, ther e seems to have heen less


zeal , less activity, less faithfulness, amo ng its


advocates than form erly j and we fear thnt the


Enemy has been gaining gro und. The bar ­rooms


and tipplin g- shop s- are not they visited


more, and better supported, ' than they werea


few months since? We should be glad to


learn that th is ' is not generally the case j but


since the political stru ggle, lind defeat of the


Temperance Party, we have oflen thought that


many are fully determined upon their own de­struction,


mer ely out of revenge to those who


aimed to save them. There ' is certninIy in


some places a hold ness manifested, hy these ,


unfortunate victims of app erite, which was sel­dom


seen , before the triu mph of ' L~ BERTY,' of


which they boast. App eamn ces ind icate that


They now con sider themselves th e pecul iar ob­jeersof


the Governm ent's favor, and sup pose


it a duty to enjoy, to the utm ost extent, the


, pri vilege th ey fought so ' hard 10 secu re. ' A


glass ofrum' is is called for with the freedom


( If oue who feels that he has ' rights j' and


rights which no one may tram ple upon. But


we will oot he severe, I f th ere is a being 011


eart h whom we pity", it is the victim of intem- ,


pe rance- it ill th e man who is yielding himselJ:


up to the tyranny of arde nt spiri ts. How fall­en


is he! He mig ht be a grea t and glorious


be, ing- a beloved child of God , and diffuse


. light and peace all around him. But ins tead


of th is, the mo~ al image of his Creator is all


marred and defaced wit hin him, nnd over his


' condition there blush lind weep perh aps 11 de­voted


wife and lovely children. 0, th at the


voice of compass ion and friendship would in­duce


him to turn froin the error of his ways,


and be hims elfa gain l And why, why my in ­temperate


hrother, wilt thou debase thyself? ­\


Vhy wilt thou bart e;" thy memory, thy intel­lec~


thy affections, thy ' heart- all that makes


thee n man, for rnm ? ' Vhy for m ill shame


thy kindred, as thou . art shaming th ern ? ­\


Vhy sacrifi ce thin e own and th eir earthly


, prosper ity to a gro velling appetite? \ V onlcl


that all such could be coostrained to ' dash the


poisonous cup frorr( their lips, and place it there


neverllgain! And yet many would consider


tiS enemies for calling upon them to pursue


Iluch a course. But who so much thei r friends


,8 1 they who would pull them out of the th e,


which so cert ainlv consumes hoth soul an r!


body. Oh, in tha; great day in which th ~ se­(


lrets of men shall be laid ba re, it will") e seen


' t hat rum- mak ers, and rUIIJ · 8el1 e ~, and rnm­legislators,


were the ones who so ~ gh t and ef­fected


the destruc tion of these men. ' f hough


they mllY nolV pretend to he their friends, and


the friend s of liberty, it will be foun d that the


love of ~ o n ey was th e stimulous hy whi ch


they were moved: and wonld that thllt j udg ­ment,


at the thought of whi ch' F elix trem hled,


would lItartle them also.


Sut we would rememher that they too are


men, and have claims upon our good will, at


least. Nor would we willingly have a wrong


feeling in 0111' lIoul again st them. But must


we not speak out in opposit ion to the collrse


th ey pursue ?- a cou rse in itself so iniquito lls


- in its influences so desola ting, so destruc­tive?


To hold ou r peac e, would be trea~ on


' a gainst Humanity. ' T he man who for station,


I


for office, kn eels at the shrine of Intemperan ce,


will yet have a fearful account to render to


himself and to his God: and so will he who


keeps behind the curtain, anll th ere au ends to


tbenianufacture of the ' l iqUid fire' of the still.


And here leaving them, we would say a word


respecting the more pnblic trafficers. 8 u~


how strange that there shoull! be' such a class


among men !- among ' men created in die im­.


age of God- created a little lower thdn the


angels, ~ nd that they might rise to a com j, itn­ionship


and equality with them ! 0 my broth­er,


whosoever thou ar't, that dealest out destrull­tion


to tby fellow mortal s, consider what thou


art doing.:- what thou Ri, t called from ~ n high


, to do. Is it an occupaiion wOllhy of thyself­worthy


of an immortal spirit- the one in which


thou art employed ? Suppose a Palll, a J ohu,


or a Howard had consented to do a work like


thine ?- suppose they had mad e it the busi­nellll


of lire to stand beh ind tile counte r and


ans wer to the calls far ' rum'-' gi n'- ' a lillie


bra ndy?"- had they sec ured the honor that is


now theirs ?- had they ranked among the


world's lights and regen erato rs? Oh! to


thi nk of them as being thu s engaged- to th ink


ofthem at th e head of a company of inebri ates,


now smiling at their senseless witti cisms, and


now at their profanity , or their abuse of some


pure and good man- this would have tarni sh ­ed


their I( lory forever, But blessed be God!


such was not the way in whi ch they walked .


Theirs was a beavenly mission of good will to


men- a, mission of lo\' e'- and now they have


their rew ard on big h. But remember that


what they were , thou mayest be, and that th ine


may be the work of a man- of a saint- of lin


ange l. ' B e thou an imitator of God lisa dear


child,' is an apostolic exhortation j and as oth­ers


have blessed, so may thou bless hum anity ,


SIIYthen- s- No more will I sell myself to


suph a purpose as 1 hnve- c- no rT! 0 re till such


an office- no more deal out dea th and destruc­tion.


And let tby dec ision be known. Let it


be told in thy community- Ie! it gladden the


hear ts" of the faithfnl- s- I et it go abroad t~ the


wide wor ld, that henceforth thou art resolved


upon living to some g ood purp ose, and no evil.


And what , if thou dost not sec ure great wealth?


- whllt though thou shoulrlst even be ca lled


upon to make sncrifices to become tru e an d


useful ? The rew ard will be IIlI hund red fold


in this world. Now thou cunst not appro ving­ly


1001, upon thy course, nor does thy con­science


ever speak peace, in th e hou r of re­flection.


It is not the employmen t of a true


man that t hou art occupied with, 1101', cont in­nining


in it, cans t thou even hear the plaudit­'


well done, good and faithful serva nt.' Tho'


at some ufter period of life ' it may be thnt thou


wilt be ' saved so as by tire,' a reward for " the


time that thou art now losing cun never he re­ce


ived. " Vhatsoever ,' th erefore, ' thy hand


finderh to do,' in thi s work, thou must do qui ck ­ly,


or future con demnation, my hrother, will


be inevitable. And may we hut soon hear that


thy house is sw ept and gal'llished ?- that it hall


hecomethe abod e of T emperance ilO ll peace?


P OI' the good of th ine own sou l, lind iiI I' the


good of the souls of thy brethren, let thin e an­s


wel' be, ' Yea, and Amen.'


And meanwhile let the frieuds of Teinpe r­once


awake. T he intelligence th at has corne


to us from aero ss the OCllan, in reference to the


good cause in Irelllnd, is ce l'tainly of nn en- ,


cOll1: lIging character . It shows what may he


acco mplis hed by energy and lilithfulness. ­Aud


lIJay no one in OIU' ranks he fonnd asleep


or indifferent; It is a shame and a reproach


for a pro fessed follower of J esus, not to he in­te


restcd in such an enterpr ize. Hll who hns ·


a Chris tian's heart wi! 1 he, and will euquire­'


Lord, what wilt thou have rne to do ?' Breth ­ren,


let us look about onrseh'es , nnll see if we


have not suffered , the enemy to ~ o w tares


while we have slept. Let us rememb er if our


, enemies deleat us, they are lost- iost in a de­basin


g se nsua lity. and in dar kness and spirit-ual


death. w. H. F.


CRE EDS AN'l' I T O P IETY.


Such pften is the allac hme nt of the minll to


, human cr eeds, that ' pure and ulllietiletl relig­ion'


is made Ii secondary object. I am aware


that sec tar ians will deny th is, aud sny piely


first, and then cree ds. But so deceitful is the


heart, and so tenaciou sly do par ty devotees


cling to opinions and names, that all is ' base al­loy'


which is not identifi ed with lhem. The


eye can see no goodness, the I; eart ClIO feel no


sym pathy for what, influ en ced hy higotry, It


conce ives to he heresy. ' We . are the true


church- we are the people of God- wisdom


and piety will die with us,' is th e ' loud ' I lIn ~


guage of sectarian action. A man may live


the next door to th e kingdom of heaven , so to


speak- he may evince a hUllIble, pious ancl


Ilirec t walk with his God, but · all thi s is noth ­ing,


miy, less th an nothing with those who


presu mplu ously claim to be th e only true fol-lowers


of Chr ist. "


How ofte'n we heal' th e disparaging voice of


the zealot rllisefl aga inst the hUlllhlo and unos­tent


at i0! ls pilgrim ! ,' He is qu ite II moral man, '


says one. ' He is an exce llent neighbor, a very


correc t man,' says ano the r. ' Ah , I am afra i, l


he is tru sting in his good works ,' re peats a th ird .


, ' Poo r man ,' says still ano ther, straig ht in the


livery ofhissect-' poor man , lie is in a wretch ­ed


dehl@ ion ! 1 pray G? d may open hit! eyeH,


that he may see his error and embrace ' a sound


faith .' And why all th is cool, can ting phrase­ology?


Why th is ' s tand- oft' spirit? ' Oh, do


yon not kn ow we must ' cont end earn estly for


the faith,' and our faith we lire sure must be


that wh ich ' ~ as once delivered to th e . saints .'


Wh at presumption th is, for fallibl e man! ­How


dlsgusting suc h arrogance ! "


No wonder , since cree ds or men's invention


are made the all in all. ' that Chris tianity lip­pears


so uulovely. , E very thing must how to


th is idolntrous god of ink and paper. Hence


hnm ble and pious souls are crowded hack inio


the shade, to mak e room for those who will


cry hosanuah for sect. AmI the best of Chr is- '


tian cha racter seems with many to he a ready


assent to a formula of humnn . origin. Christ


says, ' hy thelr fru its ye sha ll know them.' IIis


wisdom should be preferred to that of man .


That creeds lire ami to piety is II truth ad­milli


nl( of dernonstrn tion. l'. lllny uspir ation s


are dampened- s- m any thoughts are locked up


in the bosom. T est the bun of church proscrip­tion


be raised a nd held in terrorulll ove r th e


head. The mind must be closed agaiust all


light , or peradventur e some truth wh ich the


church does not ackno wledge, may daw n 111'_


on the sonl! For one to rise in the spir it ' of


freedom, and speak as th e heart, led by ligh t


an d love is ever won t to speak, is deemed SIlC ­religiouaund


perchance would bring down


th e ire of mini ster nnd chu rch. Oh , th e men­tal


Rlavery in our very mldst ! \ Vh en will the


soul be ns free liS the air we breath e ?


Let me illustrat e the posit ion that creeds are


opposed to piety . 1 will do so hy re lating the


following incident, In a New England vil­luge


ther e resides a tl iscipl e of Christ, whose


house is opened for the free utterance of every


soul. I n thu s throwing open his dOQrs a few


of con flicting opinions have gathere d : in to


speak one with another of the th ings, of th e


kin gdom. Henc e the eye ofsec tIII'ian wat ch­fuln


ess rests upon hi m. And th e good dea­con


of the Orthodox Church deems our broth­er


a very dangerous mlln. And why? Not


because his eXllmple an d daily wllik are had.


Oh, lIo- many have ~ w i lll eSS e( 1 his love 11/ 111


zea l fOl' the Redeemer. But so much th e


worse thinks th e deacon. " Ver e our hroth er a


worl, dly or licent ious mau, the mischief would


, be , fnl' less. He gives evidence of being a


Ch ristian, saYi one complllinant , ' aml' tllUs he


will mislead lllany into the ado ption of his


erroneous sentiments. In II word " he has not


em braced our creed, al1ll hence w ith all his pi ­ety


he will do more harm than a wicked man !


T here we have it. You may be II Ch ristian,


th e sectarian himself being th e judge, but un­less


the cr eed be acknow ledged and worship­,


ped" you had hett er he sinful than holy! Ver­ily,


are not cre eds anti to piety ? Ifso, ought


they not to be abandoned, now and fo rever ' J


' Ve need not be surpr ised that so many pro­fessors


of religion lire ~ Ia r llle dll t the voke of


one who ' has predit, ted th e destru ction of the


world in fo rty three. So much contid ence has


heen placed in a dead faith lind long creed, that


the p ractical fru it~ of Christianity have been


ovcrlooked. 1\ 1oral dllrkness covers th e


church, and multitudes lire with out oil iutheir


11Imps. Lik e those of old, they say a nd do


not. Sa id one who haf\ long been a professed


diseip le of the RClleemer, ' when I 11m sick I


want , the physi! lian , shoulll use no- deception


lIbout my case , th at I may prepare for death!'


Alus ! how H1ar: y live as though all necessary


preparntion for death and a ' judgment to


come,' mllY he consullllllated in a brief hour


O! two npon' the sick bed !


Brethren, let liS brush away the work of ,


man, and go bac, k to th e days of primi tive


Chris tianity. No erced ' or sec ta riau nam e


will aton e for th e walll of the spir it of J esus.-


' Our filith may he sound, yet if se lfishness IIml


\ vorldly ambition rank le in our bosom, we


sha ll at last be found wanting.. Nothing short


of imitating th e examp le of Christ, by cruci­fying


ourselves unto the world , lind living to


do good, will prepare us for heaven, Away


with all hope in creeds and names, for such a


LJope is hut u ropc of' sand. The ' s pide rs most


Rttennat ed thr ead is cord, is cable,' compared


with i ~. G. W: 5.


' Vhe,; we depart from tile S crip ll; res, t h ~ re


mllY be ,1l show ofwisdom, in what we do j but


in the things of God, human loisdom will be


found no bette r than lally.- Orme.


ANTt · SLA VERY.


( Co ~ tiutted.)


\ V e tuke up our pen, friend ly read er, now


to notice unorher good result of Anti - Slavery


action- the increased respect for Humanity­even


in its lowest and most degraded aspects. ­The


broad prin cipl e upon whi ch thi s nerion is


based, is that every mun is a child of God- a


brother of every ot her man - an immortal be­ing,


cr eated only II little lower than th e angels,


and that he might ,: ille to a companionship with


them. AIIII upon ? ne, my mind' s eye is now


fixed, who could once s pea k of the slave with


ridi cul e and contem pt, hut who at present


pleads eloquently in his behalf a nd calls forW


. his liberati on O~ I the ground th at he is a man,.


having a deathl ess s par k within hi m, a nd the


image of the Most Hi gh stamped up on his


brow, Ind eed, hundreds of suc h instanc es


migh t be ci ted. T hose there nrc in alm ost ev­ery


commu nity, who look upon th e black man


as 1111 inju red, wronged, oppressed broth er, to


whom it wonld be u sin of th e deepest dye to


offer lIngh t of insult ~ r contempt- to manifest


nugh t but good will; nnd where suc h ' a feel.!


iug is, good must he done in his beha lf, It i~


III least removing a pressure, wh ich has been


as a moral incubus, cru shing his ra ce to the


ea rt~ . And let us all Duly say to th ese our


brethren- e- we take our hunrls uff of you- we


leave you to improve as you may- to helle


your condition as you mny, in all respects, and


soon we shall see that they will begin to rise


!\ Iany of them will, without doubt, And th en


let us do our IIUly towards them- be to th em


what the good Samn ritnn wns to the man who


lell among th ieves, nnrl we shnll certuinly nOI


be nshamed to live in th e same world witl


them - it mllY be thnt we' shnll deem them ou


equa ls. At lillY rate, cnuduct like this wil


not fail to make them differe nt frum what th ey;


are , And it is a disposition tun s to trent them


that' the Anti- Slavery enterprize hns increased


and spreml nhroad . Nor hus it failed to' d


much to enforce th e conlll'" nd- ' lIonor al


men.' . .


In Ihe estimation of ull tru e' Anti . S lavery,


men lind women, every humlln hein:; i~, i: J an


importllnt sense 811e red ~ sllcred heclIuse capa


hie of hecom ing pure lind god - like. And hay


ing snch views of the nutur e of mll n k in~, the


will not filii to see, e\' e ntullJly, if they do ncJ


now, that their ow n domest ics, thei r own ser,


Vllllts, mllst be brellthlid upon in love, anti


cared for as th ey ca re fhr themselves. Havin


been instru ctell in tile sc hool ofChl'istian fr" ee


dom, they will uim ' to act upo u th e convictio


that it is th ~ dilly of all tu' ,' hear eac h olh er'j


burdens, and so ful til the Inw of Chris t.' Up


on all who taheru'\ wle iu ftesh , they will ye


look with a desire to bless them, even thoughl


" it cost them uo sllla ll sacrifice of money an


ease an, 1! illle. Ancl certai nly a ca use that it:!


br inging ' men thu s to ' reglll'li each othe r, hill


claims upon th e rcspect Dnd su pport of ever,


tiyll. lli\' iIcll~ uIa'lil. ilyiIntgismtohtet ocilslu": sn' 01o11f'uncoivuCnI'tsrlyIlliisaethr


world- our countrymen are 11,11 munkind.' ­I\


iay sllccesS atte llli all wllo Illbor fti'l' its estab­lishmcn


t in the IllimRn henrt. ' E llthroned


there. nsa living pl'indple, OU I' race is safe.


Wh en we recognise in each ot her, an immor,'


tal germ, which we love as we do oUlse l ve~


when \~ e th us rend er obel lienc e to th e secon


great commlllld, o f God, then we SIIllIl' IlO010


oppi'ess e,~ c h other, 01' W8l' together, but liv,


as th e chihlren of II comilion F ather shoul,


live. And we repent- the result of th e Anti


S lavery e nterprize has been ' to increase th'


love and reve rence for Humanit y. T his is ow­of


tile good thin gs that it hilS effected.


w. H. F.


======


' GEMS FOR CHRISTIAN MI:' lISTERS.


Nothillg is so disagrenhle as a di scourse


a formal, starc hed ai r, which speaks , ac


walk s, a1111 m o v~ s by exac t measure .- Gilber.


I f ih e good of souIs be 1I0t before Ihy h e81~


thou can st not expec t God's blessing.- Comb1\


The office of ' fellow worker with G~


would have been no meall hOllor to) mve be,


co nferre el upon the arc hangel nea! est the e'


er! lIs1illg throne.- B ridge s.


Goel's d e~ ig n is to bring us happily to hill


! clf ill allOlher' world, ancl he will leave notl


inl" uness;; yecl for . this purpose. I f we ha


the sall1e end ill view , and look' ' up to him,


car ryi ng it on stea di ly for us, we ' may be ha,


py both her e and hereafter. •

Page 56 of Volume 1 from The Practical Christian 1840-1841

Ballou, Adin

1840