gli-ugu" W a -u a ll i.4ii.lj.Lul i!.! I 1 lji LimiIII 16L MAI 1-111 I - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -- - - - - - - - - - - W-W 1.1,1.1 AAA I I I I uI I I I I I I iffmffmmmm i0j, cn SCRIPTURAL CLAIMS OF TOTAL ABSTINENCE. TIlE SCRIPTURAL CLAIMS OF TOTAL ABSTINENCE. BY NEWMAN HALL, LL.B. NEW YORK: NATIONAL TEMPERANCE SOCIETY, ~8 READE STREET. TO TIIE REV. THOMAS GUTHRIE, D.D., WHOSE NAM'I SUGGESTS NMORE THAN ANY WOTRDS OF THE AUTHOR COULD EXPRESS, tbis ssaP iFs AD cAiRcatYe, WITH SENTIMENTS OF PROFOUND AND HEART1'Y RESPECT. EDINBURGHI, 19th January, 1861. MY DEAR MR. HALL, I vill consider it an honor to have your tract dedicated to me. I hope that it will be scattered over England thick as snow-flakes. The cause is one in which I feel not only a deep but a deepening interest -and I am astonished that so many ministers of the gospel, and good Christian people, can turn aside from the fight as they do. When, as one of the parochial ministers of this city, I labored among the lower, and indeed lowest classes of society, I was met at every corner by the demon of drink. I found it utterly useless to attempt to evangelize the heathen and raise the lapsed masses without the aid of Total Abstinence. With all my trust in the promises of God, and blessings of the Holy Spirit, I felt that I must be able, as a worthy leader, to say to the people, not Forward, but Follow! This first induced me to become a total abstainer, and I am convinced that it is the duty of every man who would do his utmost for the glory of God, and the good of his fellow-creatures, to discountenance by his example the use of intoxicating stimulants. They are the cause of almost all our poverty and crime — they are the great fountain of domestic discord, and misery — and the lives they destroy, and the souls they ruin year by year, in our country are to be numbered, not by thousands, but by tens of thousands. Ever believe me, yours with much esteem, THOMAs GUTHRIS. EXTRACTS FROM THE WRITINGS OF THE REV. DR. GUTHRIE. " Before God and man, before the church and the world, I impeach Intemperance. I charge it with the murder of innumerable souls. In this country, blessed with freedom and plenty, the word of God and the liberties of true religion, I charge it as the cause- whatever be their source elsewhere — of almost all the poverty, and almost all the crime, and almost all the misery, and almost all the ignorance, and almost all the irreligion, that disgrace and afflict the land.'I am not mad, most noble Festus. I speak the words of truth and soberness.' I do in my conscience believe that these intoxicating stimulants have sunk into perdition more men and women than found a grave in that deluge, which swept over the highest hill tops —engulfing a world, of which but eight were saved." - The City, its Sins and Sorrows. " Can you as a Christian man, as a man at all, justify yourself before God and your own conscience, for lending the influence of your example to an indulgence so ruinous to the world, and so opposed to the objects for which the Saviour hung on Calvary?.. I have tried both ways; I speak from experience. I am in good spirits, because I take no spirits; I am hale, because I use no ale; I take no antidote in the form of drugs, because I take no poison in the form of drinks. Thus, though in the first instance, I sought only the public good, I have found my own also, since I became a total abstainer. I have these four reasons for continuing to be one: Ist, my health is stronger; 2d, my head is clearer; 3d, my heart is lighter; 4th, my purse is heavier. Go thou, and do likewise; and be likewise.... How kind-hearted, and especially Christian people, can lend their countenance to the use of stimulants that make such frightful havoc on the virtue, happiness, present and eternal well-being of their fellow-creatures, astonishes me. It looks as if they loved their glas and tumbler better than their Saviour - than those for whom Christ died. I should be sorry to entertain such thoughts of many whom I love and revere. I do not. But it looks so, and can only be explained by those words of Hood's - " It never was in my soul, to play so ill a part, But evil is wrought by want of thought, as well as want of heart." A Word in Season. PREFACE. TWENTY years ago the author of this tract was persuaded by that eminent Christian lady, Mrs. Sherman, to give Total Abstinence a trial. He resisted the arguments she addressed to himself; but he yielded to the prayers she offered to God. He wishes now to record his devout thanks that at the outset of his ministry, he was induced to blend with the preaching of Christian doctrine, the advocacy of Christian self-denial in reference to intoxicating drinks. He las, however, no sacrifices of liis own to boast of. He has gained in every wayhealth, happiness, time, influence, usefulness. He has labored as much as many of his brethren, and not only has felt no need of these stimulants, but in the absence of them has enjoyed an elasticity after toil, experienced by few who indulge in them. He has never heard 10 PREFACE. that his ministry has been less acceptable to any one in consequence of his Teetotalism, but he does know that it has been much more so to very many. He has had opportunities from which otherwise he would have been debarred, of addressing multitudes of his fellow-men, not only on Temperance, but on Godliness. He has been made an instrument in some humble measure of inducing many drunkards to renounce their evil habits - not a few of whom have, through sobriety, become acquainted with the gospel, and are now rejoicing in hope of eternal life. IHe would be willing to encounter a hundred times over all the occasional bantering he has ever received, for a hundreth part of the pleasure he has enjoyed in witnessing what God has accomplished through an agency so adapted to the special exigencies of our day. Voluntary abstinence from intoxicating beverages, if not for our own sake, for the sake of others to whom such abstinence is essential — this is a principle which every year has become more firmly fixed in his mind-his confidence in PREFACE. 11 which, shaken by no argument lie has hitherto met with, has been confirmed by every renewed examination of the subject, and by fresh facts which almost daily present themselves to his notice. He therefore, with confidence, respectfully urges on all Christians who seek happiness in usefulness, especially on all Christian ministers, a prayerful consideration of tile subject. lHe does not presume to censure those who differ from him. He holds that the conscience of no man gives law to that of another, and admits that many who drink may be more benevolent than many who abstain. But he does respectfully express a hope that the question may receive increased consideration -, that what may seem weak and inconclusive in his reasoning nmay be attributed not to the cause, but to the advocate - and that personal. efforts to reclaim the drunkard may be multiplied - efforts sure to result in a practical conviction of Teetotalism stronger than any arguments and persuasions can produce. SCRIPTURAL CLAIMS oP TOTAL ABSTINENCE. THE following appeal is made, not to the drunkard, that he may become sober; but to the temperate man, tllhat he may relinquish a lawful indulgence for the good of others. Especially are the following pages addressed to the disciples of Him who "came to seek aud to save them that are lost." Such persons are desirous of acting out the great principles of gospel-philanthropy. They are ready to take up their cross and follow Christ, whithersoever he sltmmons them. And they believe tllhat lihe does summlon tllen to sacrifice many gratifications which, though harmless to themselves, are pernicious to others, and which impede the progress of the gospel. Societies founded on the principle of total abstinence from intoxicating beverages have 14 SCRIPTURAL CLAIMS been the means of reclaiming multitudes of confirmed drunkards. In numerous districts, an obvious change has been produced in the moral aspect of society. Happiness and plenty have been restored to many a wretched, desolate home. Thousands who previously lived in the entire neglect of religion have been induced habitually to visit the house of God. Very many who previously were sunk below the level of the brutes, have thus become, through the operation of Divine grace, ornaments to society and to the Church; and by their consistent lives, give evidence that they are "heirs of an inheritance incorruptible, undefiled, and that fadeth not away. " But though this temperance reformation has been so eminently successful, many professing Christians, and Christian ministers, refuse compliance with its principle; and if they do not treat it with contempt and ridicule, at least decline its advocacy. They stand aloof from the cause; and, if they do not " curse it at all," neither do they'" bless it at all." Its zealous friends, " fully persuaded in their own minds," not unnaturally ask, "How can these things be?" The only charitable reply to which inquiry is, that such TOTAL ABSTINENCE. 15 Christians are not "' fully persuaded in their own minds," that their duty lies in this direction. Their non-concurrence must not be charged on a want of Christian sincerity and self-denying benevolence, but on the absence of conviction. Yet the advocates of Total Abstinence think that no Christian would refrain from encouraging their cause, even though he might not conform to its principle, — much less would offer it the slightest opposition,- unless he labored under serious misapprehensions of their views and objects. To remove such misapprehensions, and to present the claims of the Temperance reforination in the light of gospel truth, is the object of this essay. It is granted that, abstractedly, there is no sinfullness in the moderate use of alcoholic beverages. But there are nmany indulgences which, though innocent in themselves, become, under certain circumstances, so injurious, that their total disuse is a moral obligation. "All things are lawful to me, but all things are not expedient." The inexpediency varies in degree. All things are liable to abuse. But the abuse is not always of such a character as to demand the disuse. 16 SCRIPTURAL CLAIMS The injury resulting from the total disuse of lawful things, would in most cases be far greater than that resulting from the occasional abuse. But if, on the contrary, the evils of the abuse far exceed tile evils of the disuse, - and if the disuse by some, is very important for preventing the abuse by others, - then conscience must decide whether what is lawfiul in the abstract, is not so inexpedient under existing: circumstances, that it ought to be relin-.quished. Does this apply to Teetotalism? Are the advantages of using alcoholic drinks as beveragces, trifling when compared with the evils resulting fiom their abuse? Does the use lead to the abuse? Would the disuse by the mnoderate, tend to prevent the abuse by others? Are the evils to be remedied such, as to overpower any objections against giving up what may be defended as an innocent indulgence? To the solution of these questions the following pages are devoted. No decision is laid down dogmatically by the writer, as a law binding, on other men's consciences. He only states the case as it appears to kimself, leaving each reader the same liberty of private judgment on a question which is one of inferential, and not of primary, abstract, and universal obligation. OF TOTAL ABSTINENCE. 17 St. Pa1i says, (Romans xiv. 21,) -" IT IS COOD NEITHER TO EAT FLESH, NOR TO DRINK WINE, NOR ANY THING WHEREBY THY BROTHER STUMBLETH, OR- IS OFFENDED, OR IS IMADE WEAK." There is a similar statement in tlhe first Epistle to the Corinthians (viii. 13). " IF MEAT MAKRE IMY BROTHER TO OFFEND, I WILL EAT NO FLESH WHILE THE WORLD STANDETH, LEST I MAKE MIY BROTHER TO OFFEND." Thllere were many converts in the early Clhurch who retained some of their Jewish prejudices respecting meats clean and unclean, and who especially objected to eating the flesh of any animals which had been offered in sacrifice to the lleatlen gods. For a similar reason others may have been scrupulous in drinking wine. The Apostle states, that lihe hlirself felt no such difficulties. "I know and am persuaded by the Lord Jesus, that there is nothiing unclean of itself." But lie adds, " To him that esteemeth any thing to be unclean, to him it is unclean-;" and' lie tlhat doubteth (or putteth this distinction on mleats), is condemned if he eat; for whatsoever is not of faith is sin." Though he himself would be free from sin although he partook of meat offered to idols, yet if his brother 2 18 SCRIPTURAL CLAIMS considered such an act sinful, that brotllcr would sin in following his example. " To him that esteemeth any thing to be unclean, to him it is unclean." But hlere arises the question, "Am I justified in doing what to me is lawful, if by such an act I encourage another to do the same thing, thoughl to him it would be unlawful? " To this inquiry the following response is given by the Apostle. "Take heed lest by any means this liberty of yours become a stumbling-block to them that are weak. For if any, man see thee which hast knowledge sit at meat in the idol's temple, shall not the conscience of him which is weak be emboldened to eat those things which are offered to idols; and through thy knowledge shall thy weak brother perish, for whom Chrlist died? For when ye sin so against tile brethren, and wound their weak conscience, ye sill against Christ. All things are lawful fir me, but alt things are not expedient: all tllings are lawfnal for me, but all things edify not. Let no Imanl seek his owin, but every mall another's wealth. Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or wllatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God. Give none offence, neithler to the Jews, nor to tlhe OF TOTAL ABSTINENCE. 19'Gentiles, nor to the Church of God: even as I please all men in all things, not seeking mine own profit, but the profit of many, that they may be saved. Let us not judge one another: but judge this rather, that no mail put a stumbling-block or an occasion to fall in his brother's way. If thy brother be grieved (or injured) with thy meat, now walkest thou not charitably. Destroy not him withl thy meat, for whom Christ died. For meat destroy not the work of God. It is good neither to eat flesh, nor to drink wine, nor any thing whereby thy brother stumbleth, or is offended, or is made weak. If meat make my brother to offend, I will eat no flesh while the world standeth, lest I make my brother to offend." The great principle involved in this quotation is evidently -that sonme actions in themselves lawful, should be abstained from, if they encourage others to sin. Is this applicable to the moderate use of intoxicating drinks in the existing state of society. Many consider that it is; and in support of this opinion, the reader's attention is respectfully solicited to the following propositions: — I. That drunkenness is at the present day, 20 SCRIPTURAL CLAIMS and in this country, a vice so destructive and so prevalent, as to demand the special efforts of Christians to repress it. II. That the drunkard is only secure from the danger of renewed intemperance, by totally abstaining from all indulgence in those beverages which have been the occasion of his sin. III. That those who would successfully persuade others to the practice of Total Abstinence, must themselves abstain. If." to drink wine," though not "unclean of itself," is an encouragement to others to do so who cannot refrain from indulging to excess, and to whom therefore " it is unclean;" then it becomes every Christian to consider whether, by conforming to the drinking customs of society, we do not act contrary to the great principle of the Apostle, "It is good neither to eat flesh, nor to drink wine, nor any thing whereby thy brother stumbleth, or is offended, or is made weak." I. DRUNKENNESS IS A VICE SO DESTRUCTIVE AND SO PREVALENT, AS TO DEMAND THE ESPECIAL EFFORTS OF CHRISTIANS TO REPRESS IT. Consider its ravages on the individual. It impairs the bodily health, is the prolific pa OF TOTAL ABSTINENCE. 21 rent of many terrible diseases, undermines the physical strength, and hurries to a premature grave. It detlhrones reason, and sinks man to a level with the brute. It permanently enfeebles thle intellect, and fills tile mind with a gloom which urges its victim to fresh excesses. It goads itself onward in the path of wretchedness and ruin. Look in at the drunkard's door. What poverty, what woe! See those ragged, halffed, untaught children! See that wife, pale, heart-broken, pining with grief and want; and, perhaps, seeking to drown her sorrows in the same cup which was the cause of them all! Look into the drunkard's heart. What degradation of the moral nature; what selfishness; what insensibility; what brutal hardness and deadness to all tender emotion; what a closed door against all goodness; what an open asylum for all vice! Look at the drunkard's influence on society. Whence, but from drunkenness, arise the great proportion of the crimes that disgrace it, the evils that scourge it? To what deeds of darkness has it driven; what wilful destruction of property, what robberies, what licentiousness, what personal violence, what horrid 22 SCRIPTURAL.CLAIMS cruelties, what revolting murders! Who can calculate the black amount of crime for which this single vice has to allswer? Look at the drullkard's soul. He liveth as the heathen live, though his guilt is far greater. He is beyond the sound of the gospel. Drunkenness entails poverty, and poverty clothes a man with rags; and tllus attired, he shrinks from the decent assemblage of the sanctuary. He has no disposition to come. The effects of the last night's debauch have not yet passed off; or, if comparatively sober, his habits have rendered any spot more attractive than the house of God; or, if he wanders within its precincts, his mind is generally in such a state as to be unable to comprehend and profit by any thing he hears. What Bishop Burnet records of Lord Rochester is true of thousands. "He told me, that for five years together he was continually drunk; not all the while under the visible effects of it, but his blood was so inflamed, that he was not in all that time cool enough to be perfect master of himself." Can such a man be in a fit state to mark, learn, and inwardly digest the truth. Look at the drunkard's end. How many OF TOTAL ABSTINENCE. 23 die in their drunkenness! While the demon is still strong witllilln the —while pouring forth oaths and blasphemies —with a mind already dead, as far as regards the capacity for penitence and prayer- multitudes are hurried, nay hurry themselves, before their Judge. And what are the future prospects of those wlho die as drunkards? What saith the Scripture? " Neither fornicators, nor adulterers, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, shall inherit tle kingdom of God." No! the drunkard must have Ihis place in " the lake that burneth with fire and brimstone." It is the second death. How terrible the doom! but not more terrible than true. Such is the drunkard! A wreck in body and in mind, and the cause of misery to all around in this world; a ruined, wailing, helltormented soul ill the world that is to come. Can we exagogerate such ain evil? Could we too much deplore it, even though it were of rare occurrence? But what, if it be widely prevalent? Whllat, if it be the great, the crying sin, not of heathen countries, but of the so-called Christian world? That this is the case, we have too convincing proof. Our streets will furnisll it, our 24 SCRIPTURAL CLAIMIS' newspapers, our courts of justice, our workhouses, our priso'ns. How huge is the machinery for the prevention, discovery, and punishment of crime! But this machinery is a vast body of evidence to prove the extent of drunkenness: for it is the concurrent testimony of all persons who are qualified to give an opinion on the subject, that almost all the offences committed against the laws are traceable, directly or indirectly, to intemperance. Justice Erskine, at the Salisbury assizes, whien passing sentence on a prisoner for a crime committed during intoxication, said that " ninety-nine out of every hundred criminal cases arose from the same cause." Justice Coleridge, at the Oxford assizes, said, " I never knew a ca-se which was not, either directly or indirectly, connected with intoxicating liquors." Justice Patteson, at the Norwich assizes, said to the grand jury, "If it were not for this drinkiing, you and I should have nothing to do." The Duke of Wellington expressed his opinion, that drinking is almost invariably the cause of the crimes committed in the army calling for the punishment of courts-martial. The testimony of eminent admirals is similar respecting the navy. On the lowest computation OF TOTAL ABSTINENCE. 25 seven out of every eight cases of offences against the laws originate in drunkenness. How great, then, must be the prevalence of this evil! The testimony of the Christian Church corroborates too fully that of the magistrate.! Of all offences requiring the exercise of discipline, those of drunkenness are by far the most numerous. More persons have been excommunicated from Church fellowship on account of this vice, than of all other inconsistencies put together. And how vast the aggregate of such lamentable cases! Supposing that there are 30,000 Christian communities of various denominations in England, and that during the last three years each church has lost one member through intemperance (and this is a supposition much below the truth), then we have a loss to the Church of 30,000 members during three years. This is equal to an annual loss of 50 churches of 200 members each. Now, suppose this fearful calamity were occasioned in some other way. Suppose some persecuting power were to arise and, utterly to destroy, within ten years, 500 churches, by subjecting their 100,000 members to martyrdom! 26. SCRIPTURAL CLAIMS And is it the less real, because it is less.obvious? less to be lamented and guarded against, because it destroys the soul, and not the body alone, — because it takes members from the Church of God to the congregation of Satan, by sin, - instead of conveying them to the mansions of glory, by a martyr's death? The evil is not limited to private members of churches. It has cast down, wounded many of the standard-bearers and commanders of the army, as well as multitudes in the ranks. The majority of cases in which ministers of the gospel have made shipwreck of faith are attributable to this cause. How many learned and eloquent men, who appeared full of holy zeal and love for God and souls, have, by intemperance, brought reproach on their order, their Church, and their Master; cast fearful stumbling-blocks in the way of thousands; exerted an influence so baneful as far to ex ceed any benefit resulting from their former labors; and then have left the world in which they had become degraded and despised, to render up a solemn account for trampling down the vineyard they had been sent to cultivate! - The injurious influence of drunken professors OF TOTAL ABSTINENCE. 27 extends to the distant nations of the earth, and is one of the greatest hindrances to the spread of the gospel among the heathen. Often do they fling back in scorn the instructions offered them by a nation, in this respect, so inferior to themselves, that they may well turn round to the advocates of Christianity and ask, " Do you want to make us such men as the sailors of your own country? " It is no uncommon thing in Calcutta, to see a European lie intoxicated in the street surrounded by natives, and to hear them tauntingly exclaim,'" Here is one of your Europeans: look at him! you never see us get drunk as you do! Let your missionaries stop at home, and preach to their own countrymen!" Archdeacon Jeffreys, of Bombay, said: —" An experience of twenty-eight years in India has convinced me that nothing inl the least effectual can be done to arrest intemperance in the British army and navy in India, or to wipe away the disgrace daily brought on our country and Christianity, except on the principles of Total Abstinence; and that till the missionaries adopt it, the cause of missions will not be blessed with any extensive success." MIr. Herschel, a converted Jew, records that simi 28 SCRIPTURAL CLAIMS lar immoralities are among the greatest impediments to Israelites in the reception of the gospel. The same is tr(te of Mohammedans. Indeed, from every part of the world the testimony is uniform — that the prevalence of drunkenness among our countrymen is so extensive, that it is regarded almost as a characteristic of England and of Christianity, and that this is one of the greatest obstacles to the spread of the gospel with which our missionaries have to contend. The extent of this vice might be argued, with some degree of probability, from the vast sum annually expended in England ill the purchase of intoxicating drinks - a sum exceeding sixty millions sterling. It might reasonably be inferred that the number of drunkards would bear some proportion to the amount of temptation. It is estimated that there are, in England alone, not fewer than 600,000 habitual drunkards! Of these, 60,000 die annually; and their places are supplied by 60,000 others, drawn into the vortex of ruin, from what many regard the safe and happy streams of moderation. So that every ten minutes some fresh victim becomes a drunkard -every ten minutes some drunkard's soul is hurried to a drunkard's eternity! OF TOTAL ABSTINENCE. 29 How overwhelmingly appalling are such statements! How loudly does so dreadful an evil call for the putting forth of every energy to mitigate it! It is no trifling scourge - no insignificant calamity. It is our country's plague-spot. More destructive than pestilence or war, it continuously and unrelentingly spreads its desolating ravages around. It attacks not the body merely, but the soul — it destroys not the life that now is merely, but that which is to come — it is among the greatest foes to the prosperity of the Church at home, and the spread of the gospel abroad - it numbers its victims by hundreds of thlousands and surely must be admitted, in thle terms of our proposition, to be a vice so destructive and so prevalent as to demand the special efforts of all Christians to repress it. II. THE DRUNKARD IS ONLY SECURE FROMB THE DANGER OF RENEWED INTEMPERANCE, BY TOTALLY ABSTAINING FROMI ALL INDULGENCE IN THOSE BEVERAGES WHICH HAVE BEEN THE OCCASION OF HIS SIN. If he would avoid intoxication, he must. avoid intoxicating drinks. Instrumentally his o0 SCRIPTURAL CLAIMS only safety is Total Abstinence. It is not ot course implied that the gospel, when cordially embraced, will not save a man from this sin, as well as from any other; but as the gospel saves only in connection with the use of means, and by prompting us to avoid as well as resist temptation, a drunkard, even if he become a sincere Christian, must avoid the way of temptation by Total Abstinence, if he would be secure from the danger of being betrayed into his former evil course. If we are instructed to "pray that we enter not into temptation," we are of course bound not needlessly to venture near it. Experience abundantly proves that the most moderate use of alcoholic drinks is perilous ground for the drunkard, and that to venture upon it is almost always the occasion of a fresh fall. Therefore, Total Abstinence is his only absolute security. This position needs little to defend it. Few are disposed to question it. The drunkard has induced upon his system a certain physical habit, by the force of which the first step in his accustomed course urges him onward and downward to the same pit from which he had been dragged. He has power to resist the OF TOTAL ABSTINENCE. 31 temptation to the first indulgence; but if he thinks he will retain the same power when tempted to a second gratification, he fatally deceives himself. His body is no longer in the same condition -his brain is now unduly excited -the evil demon that was slumbering has been roused - appetite has been terribly invigorated — self-control is lost —he is not the same man he was when first he hesitated, resolved and yielded-he sinks again into'" the same excess of riot." The passion seemed dead, but it was only dormant, and a slighllt indulgence was sufficient to awaken it. Who now can curb it? The hurricane has come down upon the waters as they slumbered in the moonlight, and you cannot restrain the fury of the waves; but oh, that you had not loosed those winds from their rocky cave! One grain of gun-powder has been ignited, and the mine must explode; but oh, that the fatal spark had not been dropped! "The hand that kindles, cannot quencl the flame." All experience proves that the drunkard must refrain altogether, if he would become sober. Whatever may be the case with others,. he 32 SCRIPTURAL CLAIMS cannot drink moderately. His "little" will always expose him to the danger of " too much." And this danger is so great in his case, that the voluntary exposure to such peril makes even moderate indulgence no longer innocent. However " lawful " to others, it is, in his case, more than " not expedient." To him it is Sill. IHe then may be regarded as the " weak brother;" to whom, though in wine there be "' nothing unclean of itself, yet to him it is unclean." But besides those who are already drunkards, there are many who will certainly soon become so. At present they drink moderately, but so did once all who are now intemperate. They are exposed to the same danger, and need the same cure. The obvious inference from what has now been advanced is, that since abstinence is the means of curing and preventing drunkenness, and since drunkenness is so prevalent and destructive an evil, Christians should do all in their power to induce both the incipient and the confirmed drunkard to become Total Abstainers. But to do this successfully, example must not contradict but coincide with precept; and this leads to the third topic. OF TOTAL ABSTINENCE. 33 II. THOSE WIHO WOULD SUCCESSFULLY PERSUADE OTHERS TO THE PRACTICE OF TOTAL ABSTINENCE, BIUST THEMISELVES ABSTAIN. There are many who readily admit the former position, but who refuse assent to this.'" Total Abstinence," say they, " is necessary for the drunkard; but why should we, who never have been intemperate, deprive ourselves of a moderate indulgence, which to us has never proved dangerous? Teetotalism is well enough for the drunkard, but would be quite useless for us." But if none besides drunkards abstained from alcoholic beverages, would not abstinence be a badge by which such persons would be known? The abstainer, whenever he refused the proffered cup, would publish his shame. Such refusal would testify-" I am one of those unhappy beings who have fallen into degrading vice, and the power of evil habit is so strong within me, that I am compelled to resist the very first impulse, lest I be overcome. The animal nature has gained in me such a power over the moral, that if once my appetite be stimulated, it will be beyond my control. I cannot drink without becoming 0 34 -SCRIPTURAL CLAIMS drunk." Would many be willing to give such ani account of themselves to every one in whose company they miglht be thrown? Is not this a trial too great to impose on a poor inebriate struggling to burst the cruel fetters by which he has long been bound, and to regain the position he has lost? Would he not b)e likely to avoid such a stigma, by a slight indulgence, resolving not again to be drawn into excess? But does not experience prove that this is all but morally impossible? The remedy is obvious. Let Total Abstinence be practised by persons never suspected of excess, tihen will the unblemished character of the great proportion of the adherents to this cause convert abstinence from a badge of disgrace to the sign of an honorable confederation. Let consistent Christians enroll themselves as members of Teetotal Associations, and tllen many a poor drunkard, whom shame would otherwise have kept aloof, will be encouraged to take shelter in the only asylum which offers him safety. But besides the removal of a stigma of disgrace, the positive influence of the example of the moderate is needed, to make the inmmoderate abstain. It is still true, that " example OF TOTAL ABSTINENCE. 3. is better than precept;" and if it be our duty to persuade the drunkard to become an abstainer, it is surely our duty to do this inl the most effectual way. If actions speak louder than words, and it is our duty to employ the latter, is it not still more our duty to use the former? Multitudes are influenced by example, who have no other reason to adduce for their conduct, even when the characters of those setting the example are unknown or disapproved. How much more influential must be the example of the wise and the good! What, then, would be the probable effect produced on the drunkard, by witnessing a company of persons of Christian character and unquestioned sobriety enjoying themselves over their wine? IHe would be likely thus to reason: — If these good people take their wine, may not I? What is right in them, cannot be wrong in me. I was on the point of relinquishing strong drink altogether; but I see many excellent Christians indulging in it, though without excess, and surely I need not be more strict than they. Besides, I often hear them speak slightingly of Teetotalism, and some of them seem to regard it as an evil tlling. I will therefore avoid it as an opposite 36 SCRIPTURAL CLAIMS extreme and take the middle and safe path of moderation." But we have proved that it is not a safe path to him. The drunkard must literally obey the precept, "Look not on the wine when it is red, when it giveth his color in the cup, when it moveth itself aright." If lie look longingly, he will taste; if he taste, lie will drink; if he drink, he will become drunken. "At last, it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an adder." We might even assert, that the example of moderate drinkers is more injurious than that of drunkards. A man reeling along under the influence of liquor, uttering oaths and imprecations, instead of being an enticing spectacle, is an object of loathing and dread. Drunkenness itself is attractive to very few; the preliminary steps alone allure; and the more estimable the characters of those whom the drunkard sees allowing themselves the moderate indulgence of strong drink, the greater the inducement for him to go and do likewise. But then, alas! he is unable to stop. But the moderationist is continually urging this plea: " By taking one glass, I sanction no one in taking two. By using wine, I do not become responsible for others abusing it. I set OF TOTAL ABSTINENCE. 37 ian example of mnoderation, but give no encouragement to drunkenness. Let others act as I do, and there will be no drunkards." But are you sure of this, taking your words most literally? Would there be no drunkards, if none exceeded the limits of some who can drink without inebriation? On the contrary, will not that which produces no visible effect on one person, often completely prostrate another? Are there not many who can, without any visible effect, take a quantity of liquor, one-fourth of which would make others stagger? Where then is the limit of moderation to be placed? Many would say, that two glasses of wine are xctreme moderation; but many could not bear up under the influence of even such a potation; on some the effect of one glass would be painfully visible. What then becomes of the objection,'"Let others do as I do, and none would be inebriate "? The objector himself would be a drunkard if he followed the example of some who exceed his own limitations, and yet are esteemed sober. Granting, then, that your example sanctions no one in going beyond the boundaries you prescribe to yourself, there are many who would be made dlrunkards merely by doing what you do. :38 SCRIPTURAL CLAIMS But it cannot be admitted, that he who,keeps within the limits of moderation, in no.sense encourages another to go farther than himself. Were all constitutional and acquired tendencies exactly similar in all persons, this would be the case. But it is far otherwise. And he who, by encouraging to a slight indulgence, arouses the dormant propensity of the drunkard, cannot escape responsibility for the consequences. My neighbor can abstain fron one glass; but, having taken it, is always hurried on to a greater number. If, then, I encourage him to take that glass, can I justly plead that my moderation has had nlo influence in leading him into excess? Suppose he had a morbid inclination to commit suicide with a pistol, but that so long as no such weapon was within reach, this inclination was dormant; suppose him master of his own will in the matter of handling the pistol or refusing to do so, but that when the instrument was once in his possession the tendency to self-destruction became irresistible; would his friend, having no such inclination, be justified in amusing himself with a pistol, and encouraging the other to do the same? Would he be innocent of the fatal result? This is the OF TOTAL ABSTINENCE. 39 drunkard's case; and if you would keep the pistol out of reach in the former instance, should you not keep the first cup out of reach ill the latter? Would you be innocent in leading your neighbor to the edge of a precipice, when you knew an enemy was lyingo in ambush to thrust him over; and because no such peril awaited yourself, would you, exulting in your own safety, plead that you were responsible only for taking him to the brink, and not for his downfall? And is there not in the drunkard's physical as well as me-ntal constitution a foe concealed in the most moderate indulgence, ready to hurry him into the abyss from which he had been happily raised? Were you bathing in a strong and deep current, which by your strength and skill in swimming you were able to stenm, would you invite others to keep you company who possessed no such advantages? Would you, by exhibiting every appearance of delight, and assuring them it was perfectly safe, encourage a promiscuous group of bystanders to enter the stream; and if any of them ventured in and were hurried away by the tide, would you deem yourself excused by saying, "' I encour 40 SCRIPTURAL CLAIMS aged them to bathe, not to drown: I enticed them into the water, but they alone are in fault for sinking under it "? If, then, we who can stem the tide of intemperance, and sport gayly on its surface, entice into the dangerous tide those who possess not equal power, should we not remember the word of God " Woo unto him that giveth his neighbor drink; that putteth his bottle to him, and maketh him drunken also." But besides the 600,000 drunkards we should seek to reclaim, there are 60,000 others who are annually becoming such. They are at present advocates of "moderation." But so were those who arie now drunkards. Who sets out with the deliberate design of becoming a sot? Would not almost the whole of the 600,000 tell us, "We began by resolving to enjoy ourselves by drinking moderately, as you do; but were afterwards insensibly led onward to excess! " Where, then, are we to find the 60,000, who, ere twelve months have fled, will be numbered with the inebriate host, but among the ranks of the moderationists? Who are they? Is the reader who is at present a moderate drinker, quite sure he will not, ere long, have crossed the fatal border? Is OF TOTAL ABSTINENCE. 41 he quite sure that his friend, his brother, his child, his partner in life, may not, ere long, become a victim?. How does he know that, by his. -moderate indulgence, he may not be now encouraging in the first step to ruin, some who are most dear to him, and whom at present he regards as incapable of being led into excess? Were not many of the 600,000 apparently as safe a year ago? The tale of 60,000 must be furnished,'for the 60,000 annual deaths leave the number undiminished; they' must be drafted fiom somewhere; — why not from among ourselves? Should not the bare possibility fill us with alarm, and prompt every exertion to avert so dreadful a calamity? But if all persons who are not drunkards, were from this day to abstain, there would soon be no drunkenness -for the army of drunkards, not receiving any new recruits, would soon die out; so that this vice would necessarily become speedily extinct, by all moderationists becoming abstainers. Since, then, there are drunkards whom nothing but Total Abstinence can cure, and moderate drinkers whom nothing but the same principle can save, should not every effort be made to induce them to adopt it? Will .12 SCRIPTURAL CLAIMS they not flatter themselves, that -if we can drink without excess, they can do so likewise? And if we act and speak as though the indulgence gave us pleasure, unattended with peril, can we be so likely to influence those who are in jeopardy to abstain altogether, as if we ourselves abstained? And do not our very sobriety and reputation for piety afford anl additional sanction to those who imitate us? Are there not very many cases in which it was the example of the minister, the deacon, the Christian friend or parent, which chiefly encouraged in the first steps of a course which has led to temporal and eternal ruin? The application of the scriptural principle with which we set out is obvious. If St. Paul would not eat meat so long as the world might endure, if his brother was thereby induced to commit an act, sinful, not in itself, but only because it would be a violation of the dictates of his imperfectly instructed conscience - how much more ought we to avoid any course -which leads others to commit, not some act which in itself is indifferent, but one which is expressly condemned by the word of God! Strong drink is the ruin of multitudes. Its moderate use by some, greatly encourages OF TOTAL ABSTINENCE. 43 others to an indulgence which is excessive. Originally purposing to go no farther than ourselves, our weak brother, through our example, stumbleth, is offended, is made weal and falls! Is it not our duty to remove the cause of offence, by discontinuing the perilous example? If drunkenness is so destructive and prevalent an evil as to demand the special efforts of Christians to repress it — if the only security for the drunkard is Total Abstinence - and if, by totally abstaining ourselves, we can encourage others to do the same who otherwise would be in danger of excess, then, for our allying ourselves to the Temperance cause, is there not persuasive force in the principle of the apostle —" It is good neither to eat flesh, nor to drink wine, nor any thing whereby thy brother stumbleth, or is offended, or made weak"? OBJECTIONS. Some urge the plea that their health and strength would suffer by adopting the principle. In answer to this widely prevalent opinion, it may be sufficient to quote the following extract from a testimony signed by Sir 44: SCRIPTURAL CLAIMS Benjamin. Brodie, Dr. Chambers, Sir James Clark, Dr. Marshall Hall, and many others of the most eminent medical men in the kingdom: —" An opinion, handed down from rude and ignorant times, and imbibed by Englishmen from their youth, has become very general, that the habitual use of some portions of alcoholic drink, as of wine, beer, or spirit, is beneficial to health, and even necessary for those subjected to habitual labor.: Anatomy, physiology, and the experiences of all ages and countries, when properly examined, must satisfy every mind well informed in medical science, that the above opinion is altogether erroneous. Man, in ordinary health, like other animals, requires not any such stimulants, and cannot be benefited by the habitual employment of'any quantity of them, clarge or small; nor will their use during his lifetime increase the aggregate amount of his labor. In whatever qnantity they are employed, they will rather tend to diminish it." Sir Astley Cooper says, "We have all been in error in recommending wine as a tonic. Ardent spirits and poison are convertible terms." The stimulus given is not strength, and is always exceeded by the subsequent depression. OF TOTAL ABSTINENCE. 45 The inevitable re-action leaves the system weaker than at first. This has been tested ill all kinds of labor; so that it has been most satisfacforily proved, that men working on the principles of Total Abstinence call accomplish much more, and be stronger at the end of their task, than those who seek strength from alcoholic drinks. And as for the danger of a suddent relinquisllment, which some seenm to dread, our prison discipline sufficiently shows that men can all at once be deprived of their customary beverage, and, instead of being injured, are improved in health. Still, whenever an individual is well convinced on good authority, that a certain quantity of wine or other liquor is really necessary for his health, the principles of Total Abstinence condcemn not such a use. In this case the drink is medicinal. Total Abstinence applies merely to the employment of intoxicating driliks as a beverage; and therefore he wlho takes wine purely as a medicine, may at the same time be a consistent advocate of the cause. "But why, sign the pledge, deprive myself of liberty, and imply the feebleness of the,general pledge which I am under to Christ?" 46 SCRIPTURAL CLAIMS In the case of tile drunkard, this act of dccision strengthens his own purpose. When given as a reason for refusing solicitations to drink, it most successfully puts a stop to importunities which otherwise might be too powerful. It does not deprive of liberty. Of course, while the pledge remains, it deprives of the liberty of breaking it. But who would covet such a liberty? Yet there is always liberty to woithdraw it. " Where, then, is the advantage of it?" To withdraw the pledge is a deliberate act; to retract a mere mental resolution may be a sudden and unpremeditated one. In withdrawing the name, opportunity is given for reconsideration, which is not afforded illn a case where no engagement with others needs to be cancelled before the temptation can be truthfully yielded to. For others who are in no danger of excess, there may be the same reason for taking the pledge as of acting on the principle of it, viz., the benefit of their example. Neither can their general obligation to Christ be a difficulty, if it be not equally an objection to their signing the various engagements to which men are continually required to affix their names in domestic and commercial transactions. HeI who objects, on OF TOTAL ABSTINENCE. 47 this ground, to sign the Temperance pledge should also object to the pledge of the marriage register, or the pledge of the promissory note. But pledged or not —still abstain. The extravagant words and d6eds of the friends of Total Abstinence are often urged as an objection. But if every cause is to be condemned which may have had unwise or uncharitable advocates, Christianity itself would be repudiated. The folly of an adherent proves nothing against the goodness of his cause, unless the folly be proved to be bound up in the cause itself. Some teetotallers may have acted unwisely, spoken uncharitably, and pushed their principles to an extravagant excess; but does this prove their principles to be unsound? The only wonder is, that there has been so little that is reprehensible in the advocacy of the cause, when it is remembered how much it has been deserted by the more educated classes. They who adduce the charge, in most cases criminate themselves. If, as it is frequently and contemptuously asserted, teetotallers are, for the most part, vulgar and uneducated, why expect that their proceedings should manifest all the inildness and wisdom of the polite and the 48 SCRIPTURAL CLAIMS learned? Let tile latter become allies, and their influence will at once remove the evil. Some object that the gospel can do all that is designed by Total Abstinence, and do it better. But the gospel will not benefit a man wlio cannot attend to it. Temperance Societies endeavor to bring the drunkard into a condition ill which he may profit by the truth, just as a madman must be cured of his insanity before lie call be instructed in religion. A deaf person could only become acquainted with the gospel by reading. But until he is taught to read, he must remain ignorant of that gospel. Would it then be right to discourage the philanthropic teacher, by saying, " Tile gospel can save without the art of readilg"? Just so, efforts are made to induce the drunkard to become sober, in order that lhe may be brought within the means of grace. It is true that the Spirit of God may arrest the drunkard during some brief interval of imperfect sanity; but these cases are rare. Experience proves that very few drunkards liave thus been saved, while multitudes, who first became "sober," have subsequently become " rigllteous and godly." The Rev. William Jay, of Bath, said,'" Where I have OF TOTAL ABSTINENCE. 49 known one individual rescued from drunkenliess by preaching thle gospel, a hundred have beenl reformed by means of Total Abstinence Societies." The Rev. J. A. James, of Birmningll:11n, said,'" Far from thinking the Temperance Reformation the sole means of converting sillnlers, we deem it but an auxiliary to the great cause of religious truth. It is intended not to supersede, but to make way for other means." It is objected by some that Total Abstinence is substituted for true piety, and renders men satisfied with mere sobriety. That contrary principles are continually announced at the nunmerous Temperance meetings which the writer has atte.nded, lie is happy to testify. If some are contented with an escape from drunkenness, it is their own fault, not that of the Temperance cause. There is a tendency in the human heart to pride itself in all appearances of goodness. But if this be an objection to sobriety, it is equally so to benevolncee, truth'and honesty. It is certainly better that unconvertecl men should be sober tllan riotous - else it were better to encourage also falsehood, theft, cruelty, and every otller crime. But drunkelnness differs from other vices in this important particular, that 4 50 SCRIPTURAL CLAIDIS it incapacitates the mind for attention to religion. It is therefore more important to endeavor to reclaim men firom this vice than from anry other. But Christians engaging ill this work, will not allow those whom they are the means of reclaiming from intemperance to imagine that sobriety is religion. They will continually announce, that the sober man is still "' an enemy to God, by wicked works;" and that, though lie will find a present reward in lhis sobriety, he can neither enjoy God's favor here, nor eternal life hereafter, unless lie becom-es'" a new creature in Christ Jesus." Let those who are jealous for the honor of the gospel hold aloof from the cause, and they themselves are to blame if these truths are not associated with the advocacy of Temperance. " But is not the use of wine sanctioned in Scripture? " We reply, "Is its use commanded as a duty?" Paul's recommendation of wine to Timothy was advice rather than command; as a medicine; not as a beverage. Let it be remembered that the highest medical authorities pronounce the use of alcoholic beverages not necessary for persons in health, and that where the physician recommends them in cases of "often infirmities," OF TOTAL ABSTINENCE. 51 tile principles of Teetotalism allow their use. This, therefore, is no objection to our argunent. The habitual use of fermented beverages may be sanctioned by the Bible, but this, also, will not affect our position. We allow that the use of alcohol is not in itself sinful. All we contend for is, that in the circumstances of our age and country, it is not expedient. St. Paul said, all things were lawful to him, yet he declared he would not eat meat nor drink wine however lawful, if thereby others were injured. There can be no sin in abstinence — there may be great evil done by indulgence. And granting that inspired men, and even Christ himself, did not abstain, were not great principles laid down by them to be applied according to rising exigencies? And considering the awful ravages of drunkenness at the present day, is it quite certain that those who uttered such great principles of benevolence, though they might partake of the wines of that day, would not have advocated abstilence now? On the grounds, then, of expediency and benevolence, this appeal is made. We say not that in the temperate use of wine there is "' any thing unclean of itself," but that it encourages the grand prevailing vice of the D5 SCRIPTURAL CLAIMIS day, and that the general adoption of Total Abstinence by the Christian Church would be a powerful inducement to those to do likewise, who cannot, without imminent peril of excess, indulge at all. If we are convinced of this, our duty is obviouis. Love to Christ and to souls requires actions corresponding with such convictions. Those, however, who decline the adoption of our principles must not be condemned for a deficiency of this love. They may be prepared to do everytlling which the welfare of their fellow-men demands, but they may not be convinced tltat their concurrence in this cause would be of any advantage. While zeal should prompt every effort to produce conviction, charity forbids the imputation of selfishness. Yet if the reader is not satisfied that he himself is required to become an abstainer, the charity lie demands he ought to exercise. There surely can be no sin in abstinence; and though he may not adopt it, can he justify himself in condemning or ridiculing those who do? If he thinks his own influence would be useless, he must admit that the influence of others has been benefieial, and that at least their motives have been OF TOTAL ABSTINENCE. 53 good. If it be too much to expect that all sincere Christians will ally themselves to our cause, is it unreasonable to hope that they will abstain from ridiculing, condemlling, op posing it? Especially is this cause urged on the attention of Cllristian ministers. Slhould they not " abstain from all appearance of evil" so fiighlltful and so prevalent? Mlay they inot be unexpectedly surprised into excess? ~May nlot a peculiar state of the body cause the glass which ordinarily has no visible effect, to expose them to the quick eye of foes ever onl the watchll to detect the slightest inconsistency? "A city set on a hill cannot be hid." Might not their capacity for future usefulness thus be suddenly diminished, or altogether destroyed? If absolutely secure themselves, should not the possibility of injurin g others prevail with them? The influence of their example cannot be over-estimated. How mainy have been encouraged in a course which has led them to ruin, by the drinking habits of those to whllom thy look up as " ensamples to tle flock"! Sharp eyes are on " thle man of God," in the parlor as well as the pulpit. Children and servants, professors 54 SCRIPTURAL CLAIMIS and non-professors, observe the replenishing of the wine-cup, or the mixing of the spirituous draught. The dinner-table doings of ministers are watched, remembered and talked over, as some of them little suspect and would deeply deplore. They lament the ravages which drunkenness makes in their flocks; but how can they successfully urge their endangered sheep to keep within an inclosure, on the outside of wllich they themselves -wander with safety, and apparently with satisfaction too? Moreover, whether we aid it or not, a great work is going onl, which is doing very much to elevate the condition and character, and to increase the comforts of' the working classes. Should not Christianity, which has a promise of the life that now is, as well as of that which is to come, take the lead in every enterprise of philanthropy? Should slhe not always show a zealous sympathy in every good work? Should not Christian ministers especially be always seen in the front rank, thus imitating Him who went about doing good? If Christians do not occupy their proper posts, otlhers will; and if movements so advantageous to mankind are conducted by persons destitute of godliness, or opposed to it, will not the OF TOTAL ABSTINENCE. 55 influence on the minds of the multitudes be extremely prejudicial? Will they not infer that the irreligious are better friends to them than Christians? And ought not, therefore, the champions of the truth to be leaders in this and every good work - and show by their conduct, that the gospel is what its Divine Founder intended and designed it to be, the best friend of man? Besides' what new paths of usefulness are opened to the minister of Christ, by advocating Total Abstinence before multitudes who would not otherwise hear his voice! for of course he would not forget his chief commission, but would ever blend the message of redemption with the exhortation to sobriety. Many who hear him with pleasure advocating the cause of temperance, will be induced to follow him to the church. The writer of this tract has thus been frequently made instrumental, through Divine mercy, not only in reclaiming the drunkard, but in " converting the sinner from the error of his way." Who would relinquish such a privilege for any personal indulgence, or for the sake of avoiding singularity and ridicule? Thlle repression of drunkenness has been the 56 SCRIPTURAL CLAIMS point mainly insisted on in this essay. Malny confirmatory arguments might be added. Food is destroyed to a frightful extent, amounting to more than forty millions of bushels of grain annually; enough for the supply of two millions of people. How sinful a destruction of common property would it be regarded, were food sufficient for the whole population of London to be annually cast into the sea! But would not this be less injurious than changing the nutritive properties of grain into that which, in multitudes of cases, destroys both soul and body? And is not every consumer of liquor obtained from grain, partly responsible for this waste? At the lowest computation, sixty millions sterling are annually expended in England alone in the purchase of alcoholic drinks; while the indirect losses caused by drunkenness amount to at least fifty millions more. Upwards of one hundred millions are thus consumed by strong drink; while the total suln contributed by all the Missionary Societies for sending the gospel throughout the world does not amount to half a million! Two hundred times more spent in strong drink than in the conversion of the world! But taking the OF TOTAL ABSTINENCE. 57 amount directly expended, viz., sixty millions, still, one hundred and twenty times more is contributed by England in the purchase of that which is the destruction of the bodies and souls of thousands, than in sending the bread of life to the heathen who are perishing for lack of knowledge. Consider what might be effected by such a sum! It would sustain 200,000 missionaries at ~200 (about one missionary to every 3,000 adult heathen); 100,000 schoolmasters at ~100; 2,000 invalid pensioners at ~100; build 2,000 churches at ~2,000; 2,000 schools at ~500; issue 50,000 Bibles at Is. 6d. and 100,000 tracts at 4s. per 100, every day; give to 50,000 widows, 5s. a week; and present to 192,815 poor families, ~10 on Christmas-day. And though the Christian Churdh is not responsible for the whole of this vast amount, yet it greatly aids in raising it. It is a low estimate that there are in Great Britain 1,500,000 persons who make some profession of piety. Supposing that each spends, on an average, 6-d. per week in strong drink, the total annual amount expended will exceed two millions. At our missionary meetings, the cry 58 SCRIPTURAL CLAIMS of the heathen is sounded in our ears, "c Come over and help us;" we are told that vast nations are accessible, that suitable laborers are saying, " Here am I, send me;" and that the great desideratum is an increased revenue; yet we are annually spending in strong drink — in that which, if not injurious, is at least of questionable utility —which most persons would be better without- which is the bane of thousands -four times as much as we are able to raise for the purpose of fulfilling the Divine command, " Go into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature!" Exciting meetings are held, earnest appeals are made, ministers and missionaries travel over the length and breadth of the land, collectors are daily at work gathering up the fragments of Christian benevolence, and the total result is half a million! But were the Christian Church to deny itself this one article of unnecessary luxury, the sum thus raised without effort would at once quadruple the number of our missionaries; and this by an act which, while sending the gospel to the heathen abroad, would tend most powerfully to the prevention and cure of drunkenness at home. OF TOTAL ABSTINENCE. 59 Christians, think of these things! Contemplate the terrible scourge that lacerates society, the dreadful plague that devastates our land. Can we look on withl indifference, wlile six hundred thousand drunkards pass in terrible procession, scattering misery around them, as blindly and recklessly they urge their way to tile blackness of darkness for ever? Is it nothing that sixty thousand annually sink illnto that abyss; while sixty thousand fresh victims are forced from among ourselves to join the ranks of death? True, the cry of distress is wafted wailingly to us from beyond the sea; but how piteous a lament arises from our own land, from amonlg our fellow-countrymen all around! It c.omes from many a distressed household and desolated hearth -from manly squalici children of wretclledness and rags — from nmany a worn and wasted wife, domled to see her babes pine away withl want, andl to receive curses from the lips which, but for alcohol, would have breathed only love, and blows from the arm, which otherwise w-ould have been employed only to caress her and labor for hler support. It rises from our gloomy poor-houses, which alcohol has mainly 60 SCRIPTURAL CLAIMIS contributed to fill; and from our crowded prisons, which, but for its votaries, would be almost tenantless. Our national honor invokes us —the credit of the English name. The world around us pleads, thrust back in its onward march. The missionaries of the gospel appeal to us, hindered in their work by this great obstacle to its spread. The Churcl at home, from many a gaping, bleeding wound, implores us to come to her aid. We speak with abhorrence of bloody persecutors. The tale of the Queen of Madagascar murdering, fbr the faith of Jesus, some hundreds of her peaceful subjects, filled us with dismay. We slhudder when we think of the abominations of Moloch worship, with its human sacrifices: of sutteeism, burning its widows on the funeral pyre; or of the murderous car of Juggernaut, crushing hundreds of deluded devotees beneathl its gory wheels; but what is all tils compared to the atrocities which drunkenness has wrought- that demon of darkness which has already devoured millions, and year by year still drags down to hell its victims, by tens of thousands, from among our own countrymen alone! OF TOTAL ABSTINENCE. 61 With what horror should we hear of sixty thousand persons led forth for butchery, by some bloodthirsty tyrant! How would one such atrocity in the entire range of the world's history be referred to with execration in all succeeding ages! But what if it were repeated every year! And what if, besides similar enor-nities elsewhere, this annual slaugllter occurred ill our own land! How would all classes combiine to raise their voices, and to sacrifice their all, to stay so terrible a cuirse! But is it less terrible because it has become familiar, and because it ruins the soul as well as the body? Al1, there comes a piercing shriek to us from the unseen world! The hundreds of thousands of victims to strong drink who have entered an eternity of woe, seem to invoke us to warn the dense crowd that press on their heels, lest'" they also come into the same place of toiment." Shall the appeal be in vain? shall we enlcourage them in their destructive course, by 1)practically discountenancing the only effectual llcans for their deliverance? Shall we sip pleasure from a cup which to them is drugged with death? Shall we apply the igniting torch to the furnace which may destroy them for 2 SC'm, I'TU~itL CLAIMS. ever? Shall woe not rather endeavor to pluck the drunkard "' as a brand front the burning," by acting out the great principle of the apostle,'"It is good neither to eat flesll, nor to drink wine, nor any thing whereby thy brother stumbleth, or is offendcd, or made weak"? TESTIMONY OF CHRISTIAN MINISTERS. REV. JOHN WESLEY. —" There is poison in the cup! throw it away. If you say, It is not poison to me, though it be to others; then I say, Throw it away for thy brother's sake, lest thou embolden him to drink also. Why should thy strength occasion thy weak brother to perish, for whom Christ died " REV. ARCHDEACON JEFFREYS.- "If I may not eat or drink where there is danger of leading my brother to do that which he thinks wrong, much less may I eat or drink where there is danger of leading him to do that whllich is wrong. IHow beautiful would it be to see the Cllristian hearing the burden of a weak brother, and saying,'I will abstain with thee: we will try together'! " REV. W. JAY. -" The subject of Teetotalism I have examined physically, morally, and Christianly, and after all my reading, reflection, observation and experience, I have reached a firm and powerful conviction.... I have perseveringly adhered to the practice. In looking back, for nothing am I more thankful." REV. J. A. JAMEs.-" Professors of religion, will you not, by abstaining from a luxury, lend the aid of your examnple to discountenance that monster crime and monster misery which sends more persons to the madhouse, the jail, tlhe hulks and the gallows, more bodies to the grave and more souls to perdition, than any other that can be mentioned? Can the Church be in earnest till it is prepared to make this sacrifice? " TESTIMONY OF ElMINTENT PHYSICIANS AND SURGEONS. We the undersigned are of opinion1. That a very large portion of human misery, including poverty, disease and crime, is induced by the use of alco-, llolic or fermented liquors, as beverages. 2. That the most perfect health is compatible with total abstinence from all such intoxicating beverages, whether in the form of ardent spirits, or as wine, beer, ale, porter, cidler, &c., &c. 3. That persons accustomed to such drinks may with perfect safety discontinue them entirely, either at once, or'gradually after a short time. 4. That total and universal abstinence from alcoholic liquors and intoxicating beverages of all sorts, would -reatly contribute to the health, the prosperity, the morality, and the happiness of the human race. This declaration was signed by upwards of twelve hundred medical men, among vwhose names are those of Sir B. BROloE, Sir J. CLAr,ni, Dr. FEnGousox, Dr. FORrBES, Dr. MARSHALL HALL, Asrox KEY, Dr. LATIrHAr, Dr. ANDrEIV COMIBE, Dr. IIEN)EI:soN, and many other physicians and sturgeons of great eminence. 11 90 115 03096 6140 1111 3 9015 03096 6140