[*1852*] [*/52*] The Church & the Liquor Traffic (1852.) Caused great outcry of Infidel Speeches of S.B.A. Delivered in Maine Law Campaign through the state of New York in 1852 Mr. President, Gentlemen & Ladies, I propose this evening, to speak to you upon the connextion of the Church with the Liquor Traffic. [no P] In attempting this [work], I am aware that I shall tread upon what the world deems "Holy Ground", -& that I thereby expose myself to the anathema of Infidel, which is so universally bestowed upon all who dare enter the Sacred portals of that hoary institution, The Church, & openly & fearlessly point out wherein it fails to live [out] that blessed injunction, "Love thy Neighbor as thyself",-that great command on which [joined with the first] hang[s] all the law & the [*2*] Prophets". -- The ravages of intemperance are so fearful & wide spread, [that] it needs no argument to prove that the sale of rum, [by whomsoever engaged in,] is a violation of the ["]Golden Rule["], "Do unto others as you would that others should do unto you." [And] Since, according to the laws of God & Man, he, who is accessory to a crime, is equally guilty with the perpetrator, the man [who] or institution that sanctions or sustains the License System of our State, through which rumselling is not only rendered [a] respectable & honest [business], but [what is more], a "good moral" business, must be equally guilty with the [*3*] Rumseller himself. -- [Do any feel that the laws of our state do not make Rumselling, a "Good Moral" business?] [Do they not] Our laws require that the man who is licensed to sell rum [engage in the business], shall be possesses of a good moral "character" [?] - [&] Can a man of ["Good Moral] such Character" engage in any other than a "Good Moral" business? - - Now if the Church retain in its membership, men who [are in the] habitually use [of] intoxicating Liquors, those who traffic in [Rum] them, & those who aid in elevating to the various offices of our government, Brandy drinking men who [will] license the sale of [Rum] Liquors, [*4*] does [not the Church] it not by so doing wink at the hideous crimes of the Distiller, Rum Seller & Drunkard? - Does it not sanction the Liquor Traffic? [Be not startled, friends, but] Let us [for a moment,] make enquiries into the week day occupations of the of the communicants of many of our large, wealthy & popular Churches, & I might safely add, [aImost] most [any] of our Churches, whether rich or poor, large or small, - in country or in city, see if we do not find [more or less] many of them, in some way connected with the Liquor Traffic; -- see if we do not find a Deacon Distiller, - a Church Member rumseller or rumdrinker. [or beer] [*5*] [drinker,] -- A Church Member who owns a tavern stand or grocery, which he rents to a Rumseller, -- A Church Member who continues a business partnership, with a man whom he & the world [knows] know to be engaged in the Liquor Traffic, -- A Church Member who will manufacture Cider & sell it to Grocers, whom he knows will sell it as a beverage, -- A Church Member who will sell the contents of his granary, his corn, rye, oats, wheat & barley to the brewer & distiller, -- A Church Member, who if elevated to the office of Justice of the Peace or Supervisor, Mayor or Alderman, will sign petitions [for] to License the sale of Rum, -- [*6*] --- a church member, Senator or Assemblyman, who [will vote for] is in favor of the continuance of the present License System, -- or a Church Member, who, from year to year, deposits his vote for men to fill these various offices, whom he knows will sign petitions for License & do all in their power to defeat the efforts of the friends of Temperance, the lovers of God & Man, to annihilate the Liquor Traffic. -- I believe the discipline of no Church no associated religious [bodies] body except the Methodist, Free Will Baptist & Old Scotch Covenanters [& Friends] prohibits [their] its members from engaging in the Liquor Traffic. -- & none others in the catalogue [*7*] logue that require a man to pledge himself to Total Abstinence from all that can intoxicate, before accepting him as a member & acknowledging him a follower of the meek & lowly Jesus. -- (And, even, in these churches, we not unfrequently find men who are guilty of one & all of these various connexions with rum.) It was not long [since] ago, that I visited a village in one of our western Counties, where there was a Methodist Distiller, who, not satified with[e] the ill gotten gain of six days labor, kept his Still in operation the Seventh day also. -- The placing of a law upon the Statute Books, [of ther state] when there is not a public sentiment that will enforce [*8*] it, is of no avail, -- So with a Church Discipline, be its restrictions ever so close, it effects nothing, unless [there is a sufficient] the moral sentiment of its members be sufficiently strong & active to sustain its requirements. -- And, again, when the public mind is fully aroused to the importance of a law, & prepared to execute it, there will be no rest, until that law is written upon the Statute Books, -- Go where you will, you hear the cry of change, of progress. -- So with the Church, - if its members rightly feel the long line of abominations, which they sanction & sustain, by fellowshipping [*9*] shipping men & women who sip wine, -- drink rum moderately or immoderately, -- manufacture or Traffic in Intoxicating Liquors, -- there will be no quiet [there] within its borders until an article is added to the discipline, by which, said offenders, may be rebuked, & published to the world as unworthy the name of Christian. What impious piety for a Church Member to crave the blessing of God, as he sits down to his mornings repast, & then rise [up] from his table, & give to his hard working day laborers a glass of Rum, -- to repeat the Lords Prayer, "Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done["] in earth, as it is in heaven", & then go forth into his harvest field, drink of the drunkards cup, & dispense freely of its contents to those around him in his employ, until they become drunken, & return to their homes at night [drunken] - fit to do violence to every [known & written] law of God, -- What impious piety, for the Deacon Distiller, as he sits at the mouth of the Worm of the Still, Watching the slowly flowing out of the body & soul [*11*] destroying poison, to sing "Come thou fount of every blessing," "Streams of mercy never ceasing" What pious sacrilege for the professed minister of the Gospel to take his mornings glass, & then essay to preach from the Scripture that says, "Ye cannot drink of the cup of the Lord, & of the cup of Devils,|| ____ Ye cannot be partakers of the Lords table & of the table of Devils" That there have been clergymen who were not Total Abstinence men, is proved [proved] by a fact, [that there] which was, not long since, started by a members of the Presbyterian Synod of this State, that 30 ministers of [*x2*] The practice of using the ordinary wines of the market at the celebration of the Lords Supper, is one which demands the attention of the true reformer. 1 - The recent acquittal of Bishop Doane of New Jersey, from the charge of Intemperance, on the testimony of his Physician, that the quantity of Liquors found in the Bishops cellar, was no greater, than was necessary for medicinal purposes, - is "prima facie" evidence that the majority of the Clergymen who sat in judg[e]ment over that well known delinquent, have yet to engraft into their religion the "Sine Qua Non" of Total Abstinence from all that can intoxicate ____ [*12*] of their General Assembly, are now Drunkards. ___ And, I doubt not, were I able to give you the statistics of the other equally large denominations, there would be a like number of their shepherds who have fallen by the way side victims to Rum drinking [*use (1) x2*] [And friends what] is it not, blasphemy [is it] for a Clergyman, to take the cup of drugged whiskey, bless it, & give it to his Church Members, saying, "Drink ye all of it, -- for this is my blood of the New Testament, which is shed for many, for the remission of sins". ___ ___ If the pure & unfermented juice of the grape, cannot be obtained for Sacramental [*13*] purposes, would it not be better, far better, that pure cold water, fresh from the gushing fountains of the earth, be baptized as the symbol of the blood of him whose whole life was spent in doing good [in] to man. [What]Is it not hypocrisy [is it] for Church members, Deacons & Clergymen, to pray from day to day & from week to week throughout each successive year, that God will bless the Temperance Cause, -- that he will banish drunkenness from our land, -- that he will protect & comfort the wretched wife & children of the drunkard, -- that he will be a Father to the fatherless, & the [*14*] widow's God - & then, on election day after these long & oft repeated prayers, for those same Church Members, Deacons & Clergy men, to go to the Ballot Box & deposit their votes, for Brandy drinking Presidents & Congressmen , -- Rum drinking, Rumselling Governors, Senators, & Assemblymen , -- Mayors & Aldermen, -- Justices of the Peace & Supervisors, whom they know to be in favor of the License System? -- This System [which] has long since proved itself to be almost the sole producer of ragged, Starving, squalid, worse than orphan children, -- of haggard broken hearted, worse than widowed [than] wives, -- Almost the [*15*] sole author of the degradation of the race, -- its pauperism & crime, -- its idiocy, disease & ignominious deaths. --- The Church in the present undeveloped state of the race, is the educator of the religious element in man, -- If then, the Church gives its sanction [for countenances,] either national or individual Sins, it becomes the great Sustainer, --- [the bulwark] of those evils. [Has not the Church [such has the Church] proved itself to be the Sustainer of the the Liquor Traffic, by receiving & retaining in its Membership Distillers, rumsellers & rum drink --- by receiving & retaining in its membership, those, who, by their] [*16*] [votes, aid in the placing men in the various offices of the Nation, State, County, Town & City, who License the Rumseller, -- who stamp him with the seal of a "Good Moral Character" & send him forth to do his work of death?___] [And,] While the Church, retaining its present power to influence public sintiment, fails to take a decided stand on the side of Total Abstinence from Rum making, vending drinking & voting, difficult indeed will be the efforts of the temperance reformer, to p[u]ersuade the masses[,] that to be in any way connected with the Liquor Traffic, is Unchristian. [*17*] While the worldly Politician sees the Clergymen, the Deacons, & a large majority of the male members of our Churches, voting for Brandy drinking, rum-licensing men to fill the various offices of our government, it is impossible to convince him that he in so voting is recreant to the best interests of his country. ___ ___ While the Drunkard can point to these same Church Members, Deacons & Ministers who annually roll into their cellars barrel[l]s of Cider, Beer, Wine & brandy, hopeless are our labors to make him believe that rum is other than the "Good Creature of God," __ While the 18 Rumseller's Petition for license is signed by Church Members Mayors & Justices of the Peace, - Deacon Aldermen & Supervisors, vain are all our arguments to prove that he the, rum-seller, possesses no moral right to sell rum to his neighbor, - While the Church Member farmer annually carries his abundant harvests of grain, - to the Brewer & Distiller, to be distorted into deadly poisons, it is in vain that the apostles of the Gospel of Temperance, preach to these Brewers & Distillers. They hide themselves behind their "refuge of lies," the Church. While the lady Church Member [Lady], annually manufactures her Gooseberry & Currant wines, --- [while she] partakes freely of them herself, & serves [furnishes] them at her social parties, -- it is extremely difficult to persuade the Lady of Fashion, to abandon the use of imported wines 19 The time may have been, but is not now, with all the light & knowledge of this last half of the Nineteenth Century, when a man might make, buy [&] sell & use Intoxicating Liquors, & charge it to the sin of ignorance. The time may have been, but is not now, when a clergyman, who raised no warning voice against the Drunkard's Cup, - who bade his people touch not taste not, handle not the deceitful thing. Might have thought himself a minister of the Gospel. The time may have been, but is not now, when a Church Member, Deacon & Clergyman who [might have] voted for Brandy drinking, Rum- xx The time may have been but is not now, when a Church that fellowshipped rumdrinking, rumselling, rummaking & Rum voting me[n]mbers, might have thought itself the Church of God - Might have imagined itself the "Light [set on a hill] of the World - The City set on a hill" - - Our present type of Christianity is indeed lamentably low, & be it woman's glory, - now to accept her Heaven appointed mission to preach a risen Savior, - to raise high the standard of Christianity, -- [Preach the world] To fully take & live [out] the great & immutable truth taught by Jesus that a "good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit." 20 licensing men to fill the various offices of government, might have thought themselves Christians, might have thought that a mans religion was not to go with him to the ballot box. XX The only unmistakeable evidence of a man's belief in the doctrines taught by Christ, is to be found in the every day acts of his life. The simple act of voting involves a[n] mans love of truth & right, - A man's vote is the embodiment & exponent of his principles on all questions pertaining to the good of the race - & thus the Ballot Box is the medium, through which he annually gives effectual expression to those principles - X + the Liquor Traffic is a creature of law & [therefore] can only be reached through the legislation of the Country, - Moral Suasion has done its work, those who still persist in trafficking in intoxicating Liquors, are possessed of stony hearts, that can be touched only by the cold fingers of the law. - While the law protects them in their vile traffic & wealth can be secured from it, these men will continue [curse] their business, - a business that not only blights the hopes, stultifies the intellects & destroys the god like in their fellow men, but one which causes the traffickers themselves to hold in abeyance their own moral sensibilities - their love of mercy & justice 21 Inasmuch as the All-Wise, acts by great immutable laws & prayers unsustained by action rise no higher than the efforts of the soul that utters them. - The act that decides whether god will answer a man's prayers, that intemperance may be banished from our midst, is the dropping of a slip of paper into the ballot box on Election day - If that slip of paper have on it the name of a Distiller, Rumseller, Rumdrinker, or one who is not an open & avowed friend of Total Abstinence of the Maine Law, vain, worse than vain are all his long prayers. -- stop There is an instructive moral to be drawn from the following anecdote of a man 22 who never failed to remember in his daily prayers, the time worn subjects of the Jews, the Heathen, of war, pestilence & famine. On the morning of a cold winter's day, surrounded as usual by his wife & children, the pious man prayed God to "feed the hungry & clothe the naked" - , As they arose from their devotions, a gentle tap was heard at the door - the stranger was bade to walk in, - & there stood before them a little barefooted girl, shivering & pale, [thirsty] clad in the habiliments of extreme poverty, & holding in one of her shrivelled hands a basket, She timidly raised her eyes, & said to the man, "Please sir will you let my 23 mother have a half bushel of potatoes. I have no money to pay you now, Sir but my mother is doing some sewing for Mr. Blank, & just so soon as she gets the job done, she will get the money & send it to you, _ We are all very hungry - the answer of that man fresh from communion with the God he worshipped, was no! I can't let you have any, I can sell my potatoes for cash down, - & don't choose to let them go on trust - thus did [he] that praying send away the sorrow stricken little one to her cheerless home, with an empty basket The little son went up to his father & with tears in his eyes said "Father, I have been thinking, why you couldn't answer the prayer you made this 24 morning yourself, & not wait for God to do it. -- Yes, friends we ourselves are the instruments by means of which God answers our prayers.-- & unphilosophical indeed are they [petitions] [prayers of those] who ask God to banish from our land the three great national scourges of War, Slavery & Intemperance, while they from year to year aid in elevating to the various offices of [our] Government, wicked men. who know not love, either to God or Man, - whose highest aim is, to attain to a position, that will secure to them the means of gratifying their own individual lusts after wealth, fame, power & sensual enjoyments. - - The Bible says - 25 [begin] "When the wicked bear rule the people mourn." - Let us for a moment glance at the causes of suffering in our nation, - let us see if the people do indeed mourn. - Look at the the thousands & tens of thousands of women, who weep over the untimely fate of their Fathers & Brothers, Husbands & Sons, who were sacrificed to the moloch of war, in the late aggression of our nation upon Mexico, - Think of the hundreds of thousands of the noble youths of our land, whose bones now whiten the plains of that neighboring Republic, - - & then say if there be not cause of mourning among the People. - 26 Look upon the three millions & a half of the inhabitants of our Country, who are subject to the will of the Lordly task master, - whose children may at any moment be torn from them, placed upon the auction block and struck off to the highest bidder, - whose daughters may at any time be bartered for gold, & prostituted to the base libertine, who calls himself Master - - Look at the hundreds of thousands of Drunkards in our land, - made such according to law. - Think of the poverty & degradation, wretchedness & wo that marks the tread of the Destroyer Alcohol. - Think of the women, - the 300,000 mothers 27 [of our own State], who [annually] at this very hour weep over Sons & daughters fallen victims to Intemperance. - Think of the 30,000 human beings, who annually sink into the drunkards grave. - think of the vast throng of wretched wives, whose hopes are blighted, - whose every earthly joy is fled, who hold solemn vigils, surrounded by their half starved, half naked children, watching the dying embers until the midnight hour, waiting the return of the besotted [man] creatures, the law calls their husbands. - - - Think of the 1400 mothers who annually agonize over the death beds of loved Sons, rolling through horrid days & nights in the fearful, untold ravings of Delirium Tremens. - 28 Think of the tens [of hundreds] of thousands of hapless children of Drunkards, who know nothing but starvation & want, who fear the well known sound of a fathers voice, - who shrink from his unfriendly touch. - think of all these miseries, friends, - miseries brought upon society [by] through the wicked legislation of the rulers of our land, - & then say if there be not cause for the people to mourn. - Say, if in all this, - we have not proof positive that the wicked do indeed bear rule in this boasted land of freedom, of Bibles - of Christians, - My friends, the religion that cannot stand the test of an election day, - that dwells 29 in the hearts, & governs the actions of men during 364 days of the year, & then forsakes them, as they rise from the bended knee on the morning of the 365th to repair to the Polls, is not worth the possession. - Hollow hearted & Hypocritical are all professions of Sympathy for suffering, down trodden humanity, unless they are sustained by the man's giving his influence & his vote to elevate those only to the various governmental offices who will ever bear in mind that it is the duty of the righteous legislator, to cast his vote on the side of right, of justice, of mercy of humanity - 30 Is not the Christianity, that sanctions "the Distiller the Rumseller, the Rum drinker, & the man who votes for the continuance of this abomination of desolation," [Spoken of by the Prophet Daniel, - the continuance of] the Liquor Traffic, - - that allows the buying & selling as chattels, human beings, & thereby licenses every sort of iniquity under heaven, worse than the Heathenism of the Sandwich Islands, - worse than the Hindoo Paganism, that compels the mother to throw her loved child into the Ganges, & the widow to cast herself on the burning funeral pile of her husband. - [& can we] 31 but shudder in view of the awful Judgement that must soon overtake this guilty people - a people more guilty, than were those of Sodom & Gomorrah___ More guilty, because possessed of far greater light & knowledge____ Ours is emphatically a Nation of hypocrites, professing to love Righteousness, but doing the deeds of darkness __ & were the Blessed Jesus now on earth [he] would he not be compelled to denounce us as he did those of old, "Wo unto you scribes & Pharisees, Hypocrites; for ye are like unto Whited Sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but within, are full of dead men's bones & all uncleanness [(I am Charged with throwing upon the whole Church Politic the guilt, which of right should rest only with a few of its members. If my argument does thus leave the matter, it is not without precedent --- The great American Church itself -- by which I, of course, mean the people who compose that Body -- have ever judged of the character of all organizations -- [whether] from the practice of their members. Allow me to cite your attention to a beneficiary institution, which has fallen into almost universal disrepute, from the fact that some of its members were supposed to be accessory to the committal of an atrocious crime --- that of robbing a human being of his life.] 32 Even So do ye outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of hypocrisy & iniquity. ____ The Term Infidel has come to be an everyday "bugbear", which [the professed Orthodox Clergy & their followers] is thrust into the face of [him] every one who ventures to give to the world a new view or new idea, which may chance to conflict with long established, theories or practices. ___ Its signification in the popular vocabulary is so vague, that I shall not hazard my reputation in any attempt to define its exact meaning. ___ Suffice it to say that very many of the truly great & good Men & Women of our day, whom are loudly denounced as Infidels 33 are found doing the works of righteousness - feeding the hungry - clothing the naked, - visiting the sick & in prision, - undoing the bonds of the Slave & letting the oppressed go free___ [rather than] not omitting the weightier matters of the Learn, Judgement, Mercy & Faith___ What though they, with their lips declare the Bible a mere human production! Do not their every day acts "The fruits by which we are to know them" show that they believe the great & immutable truths contained therein, to have emanated from none other than a Divine Source? On the other hand, Do not the every day acts of very many of those 34 who profess to believe the Bible the "Word of God", __ the only infallible rule of faith. & practice" plainly show [a] disbelief --- If these [men] professors really felt every Bible declaration to be of Gods revealing, think you they would knowingly fellowship in Church Communion those whom they know to be guilty of sins, upon which that Bible pronounces a Woe? ____ "No Drunkard shall inherit the Kingdom of Heaven" "Wo unto him that putteth the cup to his neighbors lips & maketh him drunk" ___ "Wo unto those that devour Widow's houses, & for as pretence make long prayers." ___ Think you he who reads[& believes] the above denunciations, & believes them to be of Gods own handwriting will fail to cry out against the Liquor Traffickers. If he really feels that the Drunkard can inherit the kingdom of heaven, think you he can forget the mercy that God requires at his hands, - the removing the temptation out of the way of his brother?___ If he really believes that Gods Woe is upon those who devour widows houses, will he not come out & be separate from those who make sell or vote for Rum? Will he not see that his long prayers - his psalm singing, his observance of holy days, his searing of gorgeous temples, are but the tithing of mint, annise & cummin? "It is not all that cry Lord, Lord, but they that do works meet for repentance 35 that shall be accepted "of God?" "A certain man had two sons; & he came to the first & said, Son go work in my vineyard. He answered & said I will not, but afterward he repented & went.___ And he likewise said, to the second. And he answered & said, I go Sire - & went not - - Whether of the[m] twain did the will of his Father ?___ His disciples said unto him the first"___ Friends, the time has fully come for us to cease to waste all our precious hours in discussing questions of [speculative] mystical Theology & Speculative faith & adopt the plain practical principles, taught by Jesus of Nazareth - the Divine founder of the only true Church, who in his simple life & peaceful death illustrated the truth of his teachings 86 It is estimated that three fourths of the members of the various churches in our land are women; also that nine tenths of them are Total Abstinence too - men in favor of the entire annihilation of the Liquor Traffic - These women have ever been taught that it was for them to keep silence in the churches & most faithful have hey been to their teachings - Let us suppose a Church composed of 40 communicants- ten, only, are men, while there are 30 women - Those ten men have the entire control of all matters pertaining to the well being of the Church, The votes of these ten men decide who shall be admitted as members, who shall be their Pastor & what shall be the tone of his preaching. These 30 women of the Church feel deeply interested in all those matters, but dare not [to] open their mouths in violation of the long established prejudice. ___ Their Moral sensibilities are shocked by the presence of the Judas', at the Marriage supper of the Lamb - Judas', in the persons of the Distiller, Rumseller Aristocratic wine drinker, supervisor, or Justice of the Peace, Mayor or Alderman who sign Petitions for the sale of Rum - or of the voter, - who deliberately authorizes the existence of the Traffic, - still, they remain quiet, - they give utterance to no words of rebuke - [Now & then, when some gross offender persists in obtruding himself into their presence, they may be heard] 37 [[among] whispering to each other - "If I were a man, I would prefer a charge against that Brewer or Wine Merchant, & he should no longer be allowed to feel that the Church recognized him as a christian___ that Deacon Alderman who has signed the one, two - 3 - or 400 Petitions for License, [shall] should receive a severe rebuke, one that [shall] would cause him to feel that he had been guilty of [betraying] despoiling families of their legal protectors, rendering children worse than orphan & wives worse than widowed - one that would cause him to feel that the wo of heaven would be his portion, unless, he repented, "Ceased to do evil & learned to do well"___ These ten men are Whigs & Democrats, or, if perchance there] [be one or two of the number who have broken loose from their party fetters, they, with the 30 women, must keep in the quiet, & no preaching [must] can be tolerated that [is] in any way interferes with their party preferences. Should their Pastor, true to his mission, show up the individual responsibility of the voter, & clearly prove that no true Christian, could, in this enlightened age of the world, join hands with either of the two great Political parties, [& used his aid & influence] to rivet the chains of the slave, or fasten upon our State the incubus of the Liquor Traffic - these men will forthwith call him to an account for mangling Politics] 38 [with religion___ They do not hire a pastor to tell them how & for whom to vote, but to preach the Gospel___ If the minister persists in a man's being Christ-like every day in seven, not excepting Election day, he will, forsooth, be told that his services are no longer desired___ Thus, for [the] speaking what to himself, & the 30 women members, is Bible truth - he is dismissed, & another placed in his stead who will proclaim only such portions of Christs Doctrines as may chance to accord with their own preconceived ideas, & long established practices -] ___ Is it any marvel, then, Friends that we see such wide dereliction in our Churches when they are thus governed by the few, [&] those, the ones too, who by their position in life, are most influenced by [selfishness] pecuniary & party considerations. The time has fully come for woman to break this long silence in the Churches, [&] speak out boldly against this cruel, oppressive, accursed Liquor Traffic - firmly & positively refuse to remain longer identified with men who sanction & sustain the abominable License System - & solemnly proclaim to the world that she will accept nothing but the whole Gospel of the blessed Savior, [will be accepted by [them] her___] 36 1852 Transcribed and reviewed by volunteers participating in the By The People project at crowd.loc.gov.