ANTI-TEETOTAL.

Press, Volume L, Issue 8482, 13 May 1893, Page 4

ANTI-TEETOTAL.

TO THE EDITOR OV THE PRESS. Sir, —There is an old book that has been held in veneration for many centuries; it is now regarded with feelings of love and reverence by millions of the most civilised in every quarter of the earth. It constitutes the very basis of the Christian faith, the professed religion of the Anglo-Saxon race throughout the world. Within the pages of this sacred volume there are to be found frequent references to the .use of wine. From the days of the chief butler of Pharaoh, who pressed the juice of the grape into the cup of the king, to those of the Apostle Paul, who enjoined taking of a little wine for the stomach's sake, the use of wine was not only not forbidden, but was approved and very general. Drunkenness is not only a reproach to any people; it is a reproach to any individual; but nowhere in this book is there to be found any prohibition against drinking wine and being merry. Certainly, at all feasts, with the apparent sanction of Almighty Qo\ the use ot wine was never omitted. 'It mingled in the ordinances of religion, even to that last and most impressive of ail ordinances—" And he took the cup, and gave thanks and gave it to them, saying, drink ye all of it "—and undoubtedly in the hour of affliction it constituted an allowed solace--'' neither shall men give them the cup of consolation to drink for their father or for their mother," Jeremiah, xvi. v. 7. It can scarcely be expected of " Jason " that in the short limits of half a column of your journal he shall give a list of all the passages in the " Word of God " where the use of wine is referred to—let every one interested find them, the exercise may not prove wholly unprofitable—"nevertheless he will venture to quote one or two. In Isaiah, eh. lxv., v. 8, it is written—"Thus saith the Lord, as the new wine is found m the cluster, and one saith, Destroy it not; for a blessing ia in it; so will Ido for my servant's sake, that I may not destroy them a\V Jeremiah, eh. xxxv., v. i., "Tbe word whioh came unto Jeremiah from the Lord, in the days of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah King of Jndah, saying, Go unto the house of the Reohabites, and speak unto them, and bring them into the house of the Lord, into one of the chambers, and give them wine to drink." But indeed, if anything were wanted to show that not only was the use of wine not forbidden, but was regarded as a symbol of plenteousness and a source of joy, it is to be found in Joel Chapter ILL, v., 19 and 24—"Yea, the Lord will answer, and say unto bis people, Behold, I will send yon corn, and wine, and oil, and ye shall be satisfied therewith; and I will no more make you a reproach among the heathen. And the floors shall be full of wheat, and the vats shall overflow with wine and oil."

There are those—Freethinkers, -gnostics and others—to whom doubtless these and other similar words convey no sense of authority, but it is affirmed here that no member of any Christian Church can well afford to treat them with disrespect. Certainly they and the manner of life of the so-called chosen people of God must be very well known to every one who puts himself forward as a minister of the Gospel. If they have any education at ail in scriptural things, they must know that what has been set down here is true.

Last week reference was made by " Jason " to a divine policy which the reasoning mind may possibly find revealed in the fact that all the blessings which have been given to humanity to enjoy have an accompanying liability to abuse. Tbe sins defined in the Bible will be found set forth in the Decalogue. Drunkenness, although a, "reproach" ia neither classified nor treated aa a "sin." It is the abuse of that which was intended to prove a blessing. The blessings given to man are manifold, but all of them are equally capable of being turned to very pronounced evils—evils which infallibly bring their own punishment in this world, without any reference to what may possibly happen in the next. The lesson to be deduced, therefore, is obvious. The duty of man is not to attempt to banish temptation, a work he can never succeed in achieving, for temptation is a divine institution—but to triumph ovcthem, so that he may come forth the stronger, the nobler, tbe purer. To seek to avoid the responsibilities of manhood is the course of the coward. At the same time, those who have fallen into temptation—those who have proved their nature too weak to sustain the strain—are not to be blamed if they refuse to approach the fire again. What us here contended for is that they hare no

right to assume all humanity to be eqtmJi» 1 weak with themselves, and to endeavour to 1 punish all humanity for their weako«« I before aU humanity has fallen. | Thus, with the Holy Book of the Anglo. V Saxon in ono hand and claiming tho natural U rights which have been allowed to him by f the wisest of human legislators in the other' I *• Jason " stands up for his individual free! h dom. Onco again he denies the authority § of any majority—if all New Zealand were f] against him —to take from him the enjoy. ... ment of any of the blessings which Qod has i given; carrying with them as they do tho 1 natural rights whioh the wisest and best of I his fellow-men have allowed. The natural I right to drink what he pleases may be of I little, if any, value to " Jason "—that i« I not tbe question. He refuses to have the I right taken from him by force. It is the I great — the sacred -— prinoiple of human i iberty that iB involved in this question, and 1 •* Jason" will never be a party to its «ur. render as long as he has tongue to apeak or hand to write.—Yours, &c, J-sojr. May 9th, 1893.