The American Missionary — Volume 39, No. 10, October, 1885 — John Shaqi
The American Missionary — Volume 39, No. 10, October, 1885Various
History
The American Missionary — Volume 39, No. 10, October, 1885
Various
Congregational churches -- Missions -- Periodicals; Home missions -- Periodicals
He had a fine vineyard, made wine, drank it, sold it, and gave it to his
friends. There was no market for grapes--what should he do with his
vineyard? He feared he could not abstain wholly, and tried total
abstinence for several months before venturing to pledge himself to it
publicly, "Don't think," said he, during his voluntary probation, "that
I don't appreciate what you say, nor that I am not as good a friend to
you as anybody in the Temperance Society." We had had some persecutions.
"I'll be with you in six troubles," said he. "Ah! yes, Mr. Edwards,"
said I, "you will, and have been already: but in the seventh trouble,
the temperance trouble, there you leave me to fight the battle alone."
That was an unmerciful sword-thrust when he was having a harder battle
than I, his foes being within and mine without--his enemies being
appetite and love of gain, mine principally ignorance and prejudice. Not
long after this he joined the temperance society, and now sells or gives
away grapes instead of wine.
Over a year ago he resolved that he would no longer be a bond-slave to
that bewitching weed whose use civilized men learned from savages. For
more than forty years he had used tobacco, having begun at the early age
of seven years. A poor kind of candy to reward a good boy with,
certainly. It was no easy thing for the veteran smoker and chewer to bid
good-bye to pipe and quid, but for fourteen months he has successfully
resisted the temptation to defile himself with the unclean thing,
although he has craved it every day.
"I know there's differences in religion," said Haley, the trader. "Some
kinds is mis'rable. There's your meetin' pious; there's your singin'
roarin' pious; them ar ain't no account in black or white; but these
rayly is; and I've seen it in niggers as often as any: your rail softly
quiet, stiddy, honest pious that the hull world couldn't tempt 'em to do
nothing that they thinks is wrong." The "roarin' pious" never give up
the use of tobacco; it takes the "stiddy, honest pious" to do that. If
you are going to build a church and want solid deacon timber, take the
last sort.
* * * * *
JELLICO, TENN.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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