bany Knickerbocker' says «tal< d that the preflei f nui •> " ; 4 « > ■> % A. 1 0 1-3 to ft 4, o ,. i ^ 14 O Eh O ■T 1 «»* fc wo ■0 1 £ Ph ^J ^ * f ?? ^ e ^ a m J8 i 3 > Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2011 with funding from Princeton Theological Seminary Library http://www.archive.org/details/permanenttemperaOOamer 2/nid volume id zedfeectMiwu Aiedentea, vu a Aiena 0/ S/em/i&icmce, to wM> me zeauedt mat ne wiii,dar me fiuwtc a>ooa,inteiedt ' mmdeijt in me univezdat ei/icuia= turn ojftue io-oz/z, mta ed/iecia/fu mat ne vvidi, duatt diiitaoie meand, extend, ad fiar ad fnac- ticavie, a nnowieaae od- me fmncimed ana dactd w-ducn me vouwie contamd, mzoiianout me cominimitu. c/ntd id acme wdA me nofie and ex/iectatam, mat edjfoitd dor me faomotion od S/emJiezance wiu tend /lowezdii/du, to ^miaer mucn nioze duceejddud a// wide ana laaicioud meadiized dor me fiiomotion od tne mteiiectua/ elevation, me moiai /mut™, t/ie dociad nafi- femetd, ana me etemai aooct c% men. PERMANENT TEMPERANCE DOCUMENTS OF THE / AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. VOL. I. BOSTON: SETH BLISS, 5 CORNHILL ; AND PERKINS, MARVIN, AND CO. 114 WASHINGTON STREET. NEW YORK: J. P. HAVEN, 148 NASSAU STREET; AND LEAVITT, LORD AND CO., CORNER OF BROADWAY AND JOHN STREET. PHILADELPHIA: HENRY PERKINS, 159 CHESTNUT STREET. BALTIMORE: JOHN W. TIL- YARD, SOUTH CALVERT STREET. WASHINGTON, D. C. : JOHN KENNEDY, PENN. AVENUE. CINCINNATI: TRUMAN AND SMITH, MAIN STREET. SOLD ALSO BY MANY OTHER BOOKSELLERS AND OTHERS, THROUGHOUT THE UNITED STATES. 1835. TABLE. This table is designed as a help to all classes of spirit drinkers, from the man who uses his gill per day, to the man who uses his i pint, and the one who uses his quart, and closes the day in a state of intoxication. Each of these classes may, by inspection of this table, see the quantity they will drink in one, two, or five years, and so on to thirty. We have also calculated the expense of drinking, from one to thirty years at different sums per day, from three to twenty-five cents. I- ew persons who spend three, six, or twelve cents per day, are aware i how fast the amount increases, or of how many comforts they deprive them- selves, by their habit of small expenditures. One thing, however, must be noticed in the expense part of this table; no interest is added to the principal, and no calculation is made for loss of time. &c These would greatly increase the respective sum total. — Temp. nee. (T?* All communications, relative to the general concerns of the Amer- icanTemperance Society, may be addressed to the Rev. Justin Edwards, Corresponding Secretary, Andover, Mass. err- Donations and the payment of subscriptions, and all communica- tion? with regard to money, may be sent to Hon. Geokge Omoiure, Treasurer of the Society, 97 Milk Street, Boston. CONTENTS. PART I. Connection between Error in Principle and Immorality in Practice, 1 ; Consequences fatal, 1 ; Testimony of Physicians, Jurists and Divines, 3 ; State previous to the Temperance Reform, 4 ; Great Change, 5; Origin of the American Temperance Society, 6 ; Testimony to the Ben- efits of Abstinence, 7 ; " The Well-conducted Farm," 8 ; Formation of the American Temper- ance Society, 11 ; Address of the Executive Committee, 12; The Infallible Antidote, 14; Na- tional Philanthropist, 15; Temperance Association in Andover, 15 ; Agents, 15; Temperance Publications, 16 ; Resolutions of the Massachusetts Society for Suppression of Intemperance, 17 ; Testimony of Kittredge and Beecher, 18 ; Testimony of Medical Societies, 21 ; State of Things at the close of 1827, 22; Operations and Success in 1828, 23; Kittredge's Address at the Annual Meeting, 24 ; State of Things at the close of 1829, 27 ; Decrease of Mortality, 28 ; Increased Success of the Gospel, 28 ; Commencement of the Temperance Reformation in Europe, 29; Operations and Success in 1830,30; Testimony of Members of Congress, 32; Testimony of the President of the United States, 32 ; Testimony of the Secretary of War, 32 ; Desertions from the Army, 33 ; Reform in the Army, 33 ; Reform in the Navy, 34 ; Reform in Merchant Vessels, 35 ; Effects of Ardent Spirit on Seamen, 36 ; State of the Reformation at the close of 1830, 38 ; Effects of one Man's using a Little daily, 39 ; Effects of another Man's using None, 39; Drunkards reclaimed, 40; Great Benefits from small Expenditures, 41 ; Tes- timony of Physicians, 42 ; Persons prevented from becoming Drunkards, 44 ; Expense of per- suading Men to abstain from the Use of Ardent Spirit compared with the Expense of taking Care of those who use it, 45 ; The Good which may be effected by $10,000, 45; Reasons why more Drunkards are not reformed, 46; Established Principle of Law, 47; Testimony of Mer- chants, 47 ; Principle of the Divine Government, 48 ; The great Hinderance to the Temperance Reformation, 49 ; Belief of the Churches, 50 ; Success of the Cause, 50 ; Publications on the Immorality of the Traffic, 51; Progress of Reform in Foreign Countries, 52; Prospects of Extending through the World, 52; Things to be avoided, 53 ; Dealers in Ardent Spirit in four Cities, 53; Benefits of Temperance Societies, 55; Character of those who continue in the Tra.Tic, 5G ; Testimony of the New York State Committee, 57 ; Objections stated and answer- ed, 58. Appendix. — Nature and Origin of the Use of Ardent Spirits, 63 ; Lunatics in Dublin and Liverpool, 64 ; Statements in " The Well-conducted Farm," 66 ; Origin of the Massachusetts Society for Suppression of Intemperance, 68 ; Error corrected, 69 ; Judge Parker's Letter, 70 , Judge Hallock's Decision, 70 ; Desertions from the Army, 71 ; General Jones's Statement, 71 ; General Gaines's Statement, 71 ; Lieut. Gallagher's Statement, 72; Dr. Sewall's Letter, 72; Dr. Warren's Remarks, 74 ; Letter from a Gentleman of the Army, 75 ; Judge Cranch's State- ment, 76; Connection between Temperance and Religion, 81 ; The Iniquities of the Fathers visited upon the Children, 85 ; Testimony of Dr. Sewall, 86 ; Testimony of Forty Physicians, 39 ; Dr. Hosack's Statements, 91 ; Dr. Hale's Essay, 91 ; Dr. Alden's Address, 95; Testimony of Physicians in Scotland and Ireland, 97 ; Dr. Cleland's Tables, 97 ; Deaths by Ardent Spirits, 98; Judge Cranch's Statement, 98 ; Barbour's Statement, 99; Resolutions of Ecclesiastical Bodies, 99 ; London Temperance Society, 100; Virginia Association to abstain from Tea, 103. PART II. Truths established by the Fourth Report, 111 ; Opinion of a Member of Congress, 111 ; Cir- culation of the Fourth Report, 112; Testimony of old Men, 113; Report re-published in Great Britain, 116; Lord Chancellor's Declaration, 116; Formation of the British and Foreign Tem- perance Society, 117 ; Effect of Strong Drink in producing the Cholera, 118 ; Guilt of those who sell Ardent Spirit, 119; Comparison with the Slave Trade, 120; Connection with Burking, 120; Chancellor Walworth's Opinion, 121 ; Meeting at Washington, 122; Wirt's Testimony, 123; CONTENTS. Resolutions and Address of American Temperance Society, 125 ; National Circular, 127 ; Cof » responding Secretary, 128 ; Professor Ware's Testimony, 129 ; President Wayland's Inquiries, 129; President Fiske's Address to Church Members, 132; Dickinson's Advice, 133; Beecher'e Address to the Young Men of Boston, 184; Judge Daggett's Declaration, 135; Opinion of Judge Cranch, 135; Injustice of the Traffic in Ardent Spirit, 136; The Rum-selling Church Member, 137 ; Venders of Ardent Spirit in the City of Washington, 138 ; Confession of a Re- tailer, 138 ; Wives murdered by their husbands, 139 ; Children murdered by their Fathers, 141 ; Loss of the Rothsay Castle, 142; Commodore Biddle's Letter, 143; Letter from an Officer in the Army, 144; Massachusetts Lunatic Asylum, 145 ; Demoralizing Effect of the Traffic in Ardent Spirit, 146 ; Circular concerning Churches, 147 ; Connection between Temperance and Religion, 149; Influence of Church Members who traffic in Ardent Spirit, 150; Testimony of the British and Foreign Temperance Society, 151 ; The Great Obstruction to the Temperance Reformation, 153 ; Churches in which are no Members in the Traffic, 155 ; Family Temperance Societies, 155; Facts in the State of New York, 156 ; Tavern Keepers ruined, 158; Temper- ance Taverns, and Groceries, 160; Progress of the Cause and its Results, 161 ; The Sabbath the proper Time to speak upon it, 162; Duty of Ministers and Churches, 163; Temperance Societies in Africa and the Sandwich Islands, 164; Conclusion, 165. Appendix. — Edgar's Speech, 173; Wealthy Drunkards, 174 ; Kiggin's Letter, 175; Jersey Temperance Society, 176 ; Licenses in Glasgow, 177 ; British and Foreign Temperance Society, 178; Maryland State Temperance Society, 180; Address of the Bishop of London, 181 ; Na- tional Circular, 186; The Immorality of the Traffic, 198; Letter, 221 ; Resolutions of Ministers of the Gospel, 222 ; Extract from the Minutes of the General Assembly, 222 ; The danger of selling Ardent Spirit, 223; Temperance Efforts in China, 224; Important Decision in Chan- cery, 224 ; Tax on the Sale of Ardent Spirit, 225 ; The sale of Ardent Spirit a Nuisance, 225 ; Benefits of Abstinence from the use of Intoxicating Liquor, 226. PART III. Truths established in the last two Reports, 227 ; Number of copies printed in this country, 228 ; Testimony of distinguished men concerning them, 228 ; Object of those Reports, and of the present, 229; Additional Agents, 230; Circular for Simultaneous Meetings, 231; Order from the War Department, 235; Testimony of a distinguished Jurist, 235; Testimony of a Mail Contractor, 236; Testimony of Thomas Jefferson, 237; Testimony of the Secretary of the Navy, 238 ; Testimony of Naval Officers, 239 ; Bribery of Electors by Candidates for office, 240 ; General Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, 241 ; General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church, 242 ; General Association of New Hampshire, 243 ; General Asso- ciations of Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Maine, 244; American Quarterly Temperance Magazine, 244: Cook's Speech at the Capitol in Washington, 246; Testimony of a European writer, 248 ; Conduct of a Millwright, and of a Miller, 249 ; Doings of Legislatures, 250 ; Sale of Ardent Spirit treated as immoral, 251 ; Churches free from traffickers in ardent spirit, 252; A great Mistake, 253; Testimony of a gambler, and a vender of lottery tickers, 254; Temper- ance efforts in the City of New York, 255; Circular for a United States Convention, 256; Meeting at the Capitol in Washington, 257 ; Formntion of the American Congressional Tem- perance Society, 259 ; Simultaneous Meetings in Great Britain, 260 ; Address of John Wilks, Esq. M. P., 260 ; Address of the Bishop of Chester, 261 ; Address of P. Crampton, Sol. Gen. for Ireland, 262 ; English Temperance Magazine, 263 ; Insurance of Temperance ships, 264; Drunkards ceasing to use intoxicating drinks, 265; The way to render reformation permanent, 269 ; The great hindrance to the Temperance Reformation, 270 ; License laws morally and politically wrong, 271 ; License laws promote intemperance, 271 ; License laws injurious to the wealth of a nation, 272; Testimony of a country merchant, 274; Testimony of a city merchant, 275 ; Amount lost by the traffic in ardent spirit, 276 ; Beneficial uses to which it might be applied, 277 ; The traffic in spirit injurious to the public health, 278 ; The traffic in spirit productive of Cholera, 281 ; The traffic in spirit injurious to intellect and to morals, 282 ; Reasons why it produces such effects, 283; Obstacles to the Temperance Reformation, 286 ; License laws vicious, 287 ; License laws without foundation, 288 ; License laws highly expen- sive, 289; License laws detrimental to Agriculture, 291; Judge Piatt's Opinion, 293; The Turning Point. 294. CONTENTS. Appendix. — Extracts from Gerrit Smith's Address, 300 ; Extracts from Judge Piatt's Ad- dress, 305; Extracts from President Fisk's Address, 306; Laws of Massachusetts against Lot- teries, and let-den pipes, 316; United States Temperance Convention, 317; Reasons for com- plying with the Resolutions of the Convention, 325 ; Extracts of a letter from a gentleman »t Washington, 328 ; Constitution of the Am. Congressional Temp. Society, 329 ; Reduction of Taxes, 330 ; Letter from a merchant in Alabama, 331 ; Letter from the Sandwich Islands, 332 ; Facts with regard to Catskill, 333; New York State Report, 338; General Association of Massachusetts, 338 ; Laws which license the traffic in ardent spirit morally wrong, 338. PART IV. Auspicious indications of the present time, 339 ; Object of forming the American Temper- ance Society, 341 ; State of Temperance in 1833, 342; Meeting of the United States' Temper- ance Convention, 342 ; Convention in Massachusetts, 343 ; Convention in New York, S44; Conventions in Ohio, Mississippi, and Kentucky, 345 ; Conventions in Vermont, Maine, and New Jersey, 346 ; Congressional Temperance Meeting, 346 ; Conventions in Pennsylvania, Missouri, and Delaware, 350 ; Present state of the Temperance cause, 352 ; Insurance on Temperance vessels, 353 ; Drunkards reformed, 355 ; Temperance Tales, 357 ; The price of blood, 360 ; Conscience and the spirit vender, 362 ; Temperance in England, 371 ; Temperance in Sweden, 372 ; Temperance in Russia, 373 ; Temperance in India and Africa, 374 ; Temper- ance in New Holland, 375; Reports of the American Temperance Society, 376; Opinions of Jurists and Statesmen, 380 ; Remarks in a London Magazine, 392; Traffic in ardent spirit for- bidden by the Bible, 394 ; Principles involved, 396 ; Effects on crimes, 397 ; Effects on life, 403 ; Traffic dishonest, 406; Traffic destroys the soul, 409; Letters from England, 412; Resolutions of American Temperance Society, 416; Resolutions of Ecclesiastical Bodies, 418; Testimony of Editors, 419 ; Objections, 422 ; Address to Moderate Drinkers, 425 ; Address to Venders, 426 ; Address to Ministers of the Gospel, 429; Address to Members of Churches, 432. Appendix. — American Congressional Resolutions, 440; Extracts from the Address of Hob. B. F. Butler, 441 ; Extracts from the Address of Hon. H. L. Pinckney, 442; Extracts from Gerrit Smith's letter, 443; Extracts from Chipman's Report, 449; Summary of Results of tie New York State Temperance Society, 450 ; American Temperance Union, 450. PART V. Alcohol, the product of vinous fermentation, 455 ; The process of extracting it, 456; Opin- ions of its Medical virtues, 457 ; Distilled liquor introduced as a drink, 458 ; Reasons why men continue to drink it, 459 ; Reasons why they continue to increase the quantity, 461 ; The way in which Alcohol causes death, 463 ; Its effects on infant children, 464 ; The testimony of God, with regard to it, 465; Violation of principle, and its results, 467; Effects of Alcohol on the soul, 469 ; Its production of pauperism and crime, 470 ; Its effects in counteracting the efficacy of the Gospel, 472; Its polluting and hardening influence upon the heart, 473; State of the Temperance Reformation in the U. S., 474; Do. in Great Britain, 475; Effects of absti- nence from all intoxicating drinks, 476 ; J. S. Buckingham's statement, 484 ; Address to th« Drunkards of Great Britain, 485 ; Progress of Temperance in Sweden, 486 ; Do. in Russia, Finland, and India, 487 ; Do. in Burmah and Sumatra, 488 ; Do. in Egypt, 489 ; Plan of future operations, 491 ; Dr. Mussey's Prize Essay, 494 ; Experiments in the Auburn State Prison, 494 ; Other experiments, 495; The best protection against diseases, 496 ; Effects of Alcohol on the Cholera, 496 ; Testimony of Physicians to water, as the proper drink for man, 497 ; Testimony of sea-faring men, 500; Substitutes for Alcohol as a medicine, 501 ; Restoratives from sickness, 504 ; Extracts from Dr. Lindsly's Prize Essay, 507 ; Effects of Alcohol on children and on men, 507; Substitutes for ardent spirit, as a medicine, 509; In Dyspepsy and in low Typhoid states of the system, &c. 511 ; Opinion of Drs. Sewall, and Warren, 513 ; Resolutions of the New York State Temperance Society, 514. INTRODUCTION. The great increase of drunkenness, within the last half century, among the people of the United States, led a number of philanthropic individuals, in the year 1825 to consult together, upon the duty of making more united, systematic, and extended efforts for the prevention of this evil. Its cause was at once seen to be, the use of intoxicat- ing liquor; and its appropriate remedy, abstinence. It was also known, that the use of such liquor, as a beverage, is not only needless, but injurious to the health, the virtue, and the happiness of men. It was believed, that the facts which had been, and which might be collected, would prove this, to the satisfaction of every disinterested and candid mind ; and that if the knowledge of them were universally disseminated it would, with the divine blessing, do much toward changing the habits of the nation. It was thought therefore to be proper to make the experiment. For this purpose, was formed on the 13th of February, 1826, The American Temperance Society. Its object is, by the diffusion of information, the exertion of kind moral influence, and the power of united, and consistent example, to effect such a change of sentiment and practice, that drunkenness and all its evils will cease ; and temperance, with its atten- dant benefits to the bodies and souls of men, will universally prevail. This object the Society has now pursned for ten years ; and the results of its efforts, are presented to the consideration of the community, in the subsequent volume. It is earnestly desired that a copy of this volume may be put into the hands of every Preacher, Lawyer, Phy- sician, Magistrate, Officer of Government, Secretary of a Temperance Society, Teach- er of youth, and educated young man, throughout the United States, and throughout the world. The principles, facts, and reasonings contained in this volume, have special reference to Alcohol, in the form of distilled liquor; but they will apply to it, in every other form, in proportion to its quantity, the frequency with which it is used, and its power to produce intoxication ; or derangement of the regular and healthy action of the Human System. The volume is divided into five parts, called Reports. These, however, are not so much Reports of the operations of the friends of Temperance and their results, as Reports of Principles in the Government of God, as illustrated by facts, with regard to men, which show, that for them to continue to use ardent spirit as a beverage, is a violation of his laws; and will prove, by its consequences, that, "the way of trans- gressors is hard." The first part shows that it is immoral to drink such liquor; and the second that it is immoral to manufacture, vend, or furnish it, to be drank by others. The third part shows that the making, or continuing of laws which license men to sell ardent spirits to be used as a beverage, and thus teaching to the community that the drinking of it is Vight, and throwing over it the shield of legislative sanction and support, is also immoral. The fourth part, exhibits those principles of Diviire Revelation, which the above men- tioned practices violate; and the fifth part, shows the manner in which Alcohol, when used as a beverage, causes death to the bodies and souls of men. Hundreds of thousands of persons of all ages, conditions and employments, in view of its evils, have ceased to use it ; and so far as they or others can discover, have been greatly benefited by the change. Let all do the same, and drunkenness will universally and for ever cease. Pauperism, crime,slckness, insanity, wretchedness, and premature- death, will, to a'great extent, be prevented. Health, virtue and happiness will be in- creased ; human life be prolonged ; the gospel, through grace, be more widely extended, and generally embraced; God be more highly honored, and souls in greater numbers be illuminated, purified, and saved. Each individual, therefore, into whose hand this volume may come, is most respect- fully and earnestly entreated attentively to peruse it; and if he has not already done it, seriously to inquire whether it is not his duty to renounce for ever the use of intoxicating drink. He is also requested to communicate as extensively as possible the knowledge of the facts which the volume contains; and to labor, in all suitable ways, to induce all persons to exemplify its principles, by a united and consistent example. FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT. The Executive Committee of the American Temperance So- ciety, having been permitted, through the kindness of the Lord, to continue their labors in his service, would, as a testimony to his goodness, present their Fourth Report. In the evils which this Society aims to remove, the connection between error in principle, and immorality in practice, is strikingly exhibited. Less than three hundred years ago,* the error began to prevail in Great Britain, that ardent spirit, as an article of luxury or diet, or as an aid to labor, is useful. The cause of this error was, the deceptive feelings of those who used it. Being, in its nature, a mocker, it deceived them. By disturbing healthy action and inducing disease, it created an unnatural thirst ; the gratification of which, like the gratification of the desire of sinning in the man who sins, causes it to increase ; and the end is death. The consequence has been, as stated by a writer in Scotland, and as illustrated by facts, " There is reason to believe, that intem- perance has cost that country more lives, demoralized more persons, broken more hearts, beggared more families, and sent more souls to perdition, than all other vices put together." This fatal error, that ardent spirit is for men in health useful, did not prevail generally among the mass of people in this country, till after the American Revolution. In that mighty struggle which gave birth to a nation, and in the numerous hardships and dangers to which the soldiers were exposed, they were furnished, by the government, with a portion of this poison, under the fatal delusion that it would do them good. The consequence was, as, under similar circumstances, it ever must be, the diseased appetite which this poison creates, was formed by great numbers ; was carried out by them, at the close of the war, into the community ; and was ex- tended through the country. At the close of the first half century of our national existence, this diseased appetite had become so prevalent as to demand, annu- ally, for its gratification, more than sixty million gallons of liquid fire. And while it cost the consumers more than thirty million * Appendix, A. Z AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. dollars, it caused more than three fourths of all the pauperism, crimes, and wretchedness of the community. It also greatly in- creased the number, frequency, and violence of diseases ; and, according to the testimony of the most intelligent and judicious physicians, occasioned annually the loss of more than thirty thousand lives. The loss of property, occasioned by the consumption of ardent spirit, amounted, in forty years, to a greater sum than the value of all the houses and lands in the United States, forty years ago. The use of it caused a destruction — and, there is reason to fear, for both worlds — of more than half a million of men. Though no exact account had been taken in this country, it was known that it had destroyed the reason of a great portion of all the maniacs in the land ; and had lessened the reason, as well as weak- ened the bodies, blunted the moral susceptibilities, and hardened the hearts of all who had freely used it. Of seven hundred and eighty-one maniacs in two hospitals in Great Britain, three hundred and ninety-two were made such by intemperance.* And had the inquiry been as carefully made in this country, the result might have been substantially the same. The free use of this stimulant had, in many cases, caused a predisposition to insanity, not only in those who used it, but in their children, and children's children. A tendency to this disease, and manv others occasioned by strong drink, had become hereditary, and was transmitted from generation to generation. A diminution of size and stature, a decrease of bodily and mental strength, a feeble- ness of vision, and a premature old age, told of a disease that had seized on the vitals, and was consuming the energies of life. The use of this liquid was causing a general deterioration of body and mind, and was threatening to roll its curses, in broader and deeper streams, over all future generations. Yet, notwithstanding this, such was the nature of this poison, and such its power to deceive those who used it, that the opinion was almost universal, that the use of it was salutary, and to laboring men needful. Trotter, who had as good an opportunity and was as well able to judge as any man, had indeed said, " That of all the evils of human life, no cause of disease had so wide a range, or so large a share, as the use of spirituous liquors ; and that more than half of all the sudden deaths were occasioned by them;" — and Aitman had declared, " That art never made so fatal a present to mankind as the invention of distilling them." Willan had said, " That the use of these liquors, in large cities, produced more diseases than confined air, unwholesome exhala- tions, and the combined influence of all other evils ;" — and Paris, * Appendix, B. FOURTH REPORT. 1831. 3 •'That the art of distillation must be regarded as the greatest curse ever inflicted on human nature ; and that ardent spirits produce more than half of all chronical diseases." Darwin had testified, " That when chronical diseases arise from the use of ardent spirit, they are liable to become hereditary, even to the third generation ; and if the cause is continued, to increase till the family becomes extinct." Frank had declared, '; That the use of these liquors ought to be entirely dispensed with, on account of their tendency, even when taken in small doses, to induce disease, premature old age, and death ;"— -and Cheyne had stigmatized them, as being " most like opium in their nature and operation, and most like arsenic in their deleterious and poisonous effects." Mosely had said, from his own observation, having resided in the West Indies, " That persons who drink nothing but cold water, or make it their principal drink, are but little affected by tropical cli- mates ; that they undergo the greatest fatigue without inconvenience, and are not so subject as others to dangerous diseases ;" — and Bell. make more systematic, general and persevering efforts on the subject. Individuals not only abstained, but, in some cases, agreed together, that they would not use or furnish to others that destruc- tive posion. But there was no system, no plan of operation, to cause such a union to become universal ; and it was evident that, unless something more universal, efficacious and persevering should be done, our country would be ruined ; the gospel would never have its legitimate influence over the human mind, and the reign of dark- ness and sin would be perpetuated to the end of time. Past efforts, though they had on some spots, and in some cases, done good, had not struck at the root of the evil. Their object was, to regu- late the use of ardent spirits, not to abolish it. Those who made them admitted, and most of them practised, the fundamental error, that men in health might, without injury, and, of course, without sin, use the poison, if they did not use too much. This was the case with members of Societies for the Suppression of Intem- perance. Thus, while they only retarded the growth, or clipped off a few of the top twigs of this poisonous tree, the roots were con- stantly nourished, and daily struck deeper and deeper. While the friends of temperance were reforming one old drunkard, their own habits, if followed, would make a hundred new ones. They were, indeed, sounding the alarm, but were treading in the footsteps of the lost ; denouncing intemperance, and encouraging the use of strong drink ; bewailing the effect, and perpetuating the cause ; warning men not to be drunken, and urging them to drink. Many were enraged, almost to madness, at those who represented the use of ardent spirit to be a sin ; and, though they had followed a promising son to the drunkard's grave, and were expecting soon to follow another, and another, they would denounce as enthusiasts, and treat as enemies, those who urged them not to drink. The husband, who had lost his wife by intemperance, would, for the sake of money, furnish that which killed her to all who would purchase, and even give it, as a token of kindness, to his nearest friends. The wife, who had seen her husband die by this poison, would use it herself, and give it daily to her only son. And it was perfectly evident that, unless a new movement could be started, on a new plan, and one which should be commensurate, in place and time, with the evil, — one which should strike it at the root, and exterminate it, — drunkenness could never be done away. The people would never become " all righteous," nor the day of millennial glory ever break on the world. A meeting of a few individuals was therefore called, to consider the following question, viz. FOURTH REPORT. 1831. 11 " What shall be done to banish intemperance from the United States?" After prayer for divine guidance, and consultation on the sub- ject, the result was, a determination to attempt the formation of an American Temperance Society, whose grand principle should be, abstinence from strong drink ; and its object, by light and love, to change the habits of the nation, with regard to the use of intoxicating liquors. Some of the reasons of this determination were, 1 . Ardent spirit, which is one of the principal means of drunk- enness, is not needful, and the use of it is, to men in health, always injurious. 2. It is adapted to form intemperate appetites ; and while it is continued, the evils of intemperance can never be done away. 3. The use of this liquor is causing a general deterioration of body and mind ; which, if the cause is continued, will continue to increase. 4. To remove the evils, we must remove the cause ; and to remove the cause, efforts must be commensurate with the evil, and be continued till it is eradicated. 5. We never know what we can do by wise, united, and perse- vering efforts, in a good cause, till we try. 6. If we do not try to remove the evils of intemperance, we cannot free ourselves from the guilt of its effects. A correspondence was therefore opened, and a meeting of men, of various Christian denominations, holden in Boston, January 10, 1826. Hon. George Odiorne was called to the chair, and Rev. William Jenks, D. D., chosen clerk. The meeting was opened with prayer by the Rev. Timothy Merritt, of the Methodist Episcopal church ; and after consulta- tion, the following resolutions were introduced by Jeremiah Evarts, Esq., Corresponding Secretary of the American Board of Commis- sioners for Foreign Missions, and adopted, viz. " 1. Resolved, That it is expedient that more systematic and more vigorous efforts be made by the Christian public to restrain and prevent the intemperate use of intoxicating liquors. " 2. That an individual of acknowledged talents, piety, industry and sound judgment, should be selected and employed as a perma- nent agent, to spend his time, and use his best exertions for the suppression and prevention of the intemperate use of intoxicating liquors." A committee was then appointed to prepare a constitution, and the meeting was adjourned to February 13th, 1826. At the adjourned meeting, a Constitution was presented and adopted, and the following persons were chosen by the members of the meeting, at the commencement, to compose the Society, viz. 12 AMERICAN" TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. Rev. Leonard Woods, D. D. ; Rev. William Jenks, D. D. ; Rev. Justin Edwards ; Rev. Warren Fay ; Rev. Benjamin B. Wisner j Rev. Francis Wayland ; Rev. Timothy Merritt ; Hon. Marcus Mor- ton ; Hon. Samuel Hubbard ; Hon. William Reed ; Hon. George Odiorne ; John Tappan, Esq. ; William Ropes, Esq. ; James P. Chaplin, M. D. ; S. V. S. Wilder, Esq. ; and Enoch Hale, M. D. The Hon. Heman Lincoln, of the Baptist church, then offered the following resolution, which was unanimously adopted, viz. " Resolved, That the gentlemen composing this meeting pledge themselves to the American Society for the Promotion of Temper- ance, that they will use all their exertions in carrying into effect the benevolent plans of the Society." The Society then held its first meeting, and chose the following officers, viz. Hon. Marcus Morton, President ; Hon. Samuel Hubbard, Vice- President; William Ropes, Esq., Treasurer; John Tappan, Esq., Auditor. Executive Committee — Rev. Leonard Woods, D. D. ; Rev. Jus- tin Edwards ; John Tappan, Esq. ; Hon. George Odiorne, and S. V. S. Wilder, Esq. On the 12th of March succeeding, the Society met, and chose eighty-four men, from the Northern, and Middle States, as addi- tional members of the Society. The Executive Committee then presented, through the press, the following address to the public : — " In view of the transactions above mentioned, and in accordance with the Constitution of The American Society for the Promo- tion of Temperance, the Executive Committee solicit the atten- tion of the Christian community to a few remarks relative to the important subject here presented before them. "The evils resulting from an improper use of intoxicating liquors have become so extensive and desolating, as to call for the im- mediate, vigorous and persevering efforts of every philanthropist, patriot, and Christian. The number of lives annually destroyed by this vice, in our own country, is thought to be more than thirty thousand ; and the number of persons who are diseased, distressed and impoverished by it, to be more than two hundred thousand. Many of them are not only useless, but a burden and a nuisance to society. " These liquors, it is calculated, cost the inhabitants of this country annually more than forty millions of dollars ; and the pauperism occasioned by the improper use of them, (taking the common- wealth of Massachusetts as an example,) costs them upwards of twelve millions; making an annual expense of more than fifty millions of dollars. " Out often hundred and sixty-one cases of criminal prosecutions FOURTH REPORT.— 1831. 13 in the year 1820, before the Court of Sessions in the city of New York, more than eight hundred are stated to have been connected with intemperance. And so it is in all our principal cities. More than three quarters of the crimes committed in the country are probably occasioned by this hateful vice. And if we add to these the loss of time which it occasions, the loss of business, the loss of improvement, the loss of character, and the loss of happiness for time and for eternity, the evil swells to an over- whelming magnitude. The guilt and wretchedness resulting from it surpass all finite conception. Scarcely any thing has a more powerful and fatal efficacy to weaken, pollute, and debase the human mind. It palsies every effort for improvement, hinders the success of the gospel, and prevents the progress of the kingdom of Christ. It destroys, by hundreds and thousands, both the bodies and souls of men ; cutting them off from the possibility of enjoy- ment, and plunging them into endless darkness and wo. " No sooner is a person brought under the power of intoxicating liquors, than he seems to be proof against the influence of all the means of reformation. If, at any time, the truth gains access to his mind, and impresses his heart, by a few draughts of this fatal poison, the impression is almost sure to be effaced. Hence the notorious and alarming fact, that a person addicted to this vice is seldom renewed in the temper of his mind, or even reformed as to his outward character. If a single instance of the kind occurs, it is so uncommon, that it quickly becomes the subject of remark through a neighborhood, and often over a large extent of country, and for years is mentioned as an extraordinary event. Most persons given to intemperance, proceed from one degree of wickedness to another, till, having been often reproved, and hardened their necks, they bring sudden and remediless destruction upon themselves. And they destroy not only themselves, but ? multitude of others. The intemperance of a father has extended to three, four, five, and even to seven of his children. The in- temperance of a family has extended its contagion through a neighborhood, and its baleful effects have been felt by numerous individuals and families. Many persons, in all classes of society, have been destroyed by this vice ; and no one is free from dan- ger. A father has no security that his children will not die drunkards; and no security that the evil will not be extended, through them, to future generations. And with the continuance of the present feelings and habits of the community, there is no prospect that the evil will be lessened, and no possibility that it will be done away. All persons, especially the young, must continue to be exposed. Dangers meet them in the street ; overtake them in business ; follow them to their dwellings ; attend them in the private interview, and in the social circle, and assail them wherever 2 14 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. they go ; and without a change in the sentiments and practices of the community, the evil must continue to increase, till the animating prospects of this great and mighty republic are darkened, its precious institutions ruined, and thousands and millions of its population borne on a current of liquid fire to a world of wo. " The American Society for the Promotion of Temper- ance have, therefore, after deliberate and devout attention to the subject, resolved, in the suength of the Lord, and with a view to the account which they must render to him for the influence they exert in the world, to make a vigorous, united, and persevering effort to produce a change of public sentiment and practice with regard to the use of intoxicating liquors. " For this purpose, they deem it of primary importance that they should obtain an adequate fund for the support of a man of suitable qualifications, in the office of Secretary, who shall devote himself to the service of the Society, and, in the various ways pointed out in the Constitution, labor to promote its object. " In attempting to procure this fund, the Committee cheerfully make their appeal to men of known and expansive benevolence, who are blessed with property, and are friends to Him, who was rich, yet, for our sakes, became poor, that we, through his poverty, might be rich, — and request them, from love to Him and to their fellow men, to take into serious consideration the magnitude of the evil which this Society aims to prevent, and the immeasurable good which it aims to secure, and to furnish the necessary means. If a man of the right character may be wholly and permanently devoted to this object, with the aid which he may receive from good men, throughout the country, the Committee are confident that, with the divine blessing, a system of general and powerful cooperation may be formed, and that a change may in a short time be effected, which will save an incalculable amount of property, and vast multi- tudes of valuable lives — a change which will be connected with the highest prosperity of our country, and with the eternal salvation of millions of our fellow men. " And may God Almighty crown with glorious success this and every other effort to do good, so that Christian morality, and piety, and happiness, may universally prevail. L. WOODS, -^ J.EDWARDS, / „ J.TAPPAN, {Executive G. ODIORNE, ( Committee. S. V. S. WILDER, ) " Boston, March, 1826." On the 1 6th of January, Rev. Calvin Chapin, D. D., ofWethersfield, Conn., commenced the publication of a series of thirty-three num- bers, in the Connecticut Observer, entitled " The Infallible An- tidote." His motto was, " Entire abstinence from ardent spirits is FOURTH REPORT.— 1831. 15 the only certain preventive of intemperance." This was strikingly illustrated in the various numbers, and strongly urged upon all as an indispensable duty. He had himself, as had a number of others, practised it for many years, and urged it as the duty of all men. In April, 1826, the National Philanthropist, a weekly paper, de- voted to the cause of temperance, was established, in Boston, by the Rev. William Collier. Its motto was, " Temperate drinking is the downhill road to intemperance." This paper has been con- tinued, and, with some modifications, is now published by Messrs. Goodell and Crandall, in New York. It is an able and efficient pa- per, and, under its successive editors, has been a valuable auxiliary to the cause. In September of the same year, an association of more than fifty heads of families, and more than one hundred and fifty young men, was formed in Andover, Mass., on the plan of abstinence, with the following constitution, viz. " Believing that the use of Intoxicating liquors is, for persons in health, not only unnecessary, but hurtful ; that it is the cause of forming intemperate appetites and habits ; and that, while it is con- tinued, the evils of intemperance can never be prevented, — " Therefore, we, the subscribers, for the purpose of promoting our own welfare, and that of the community, agree that we will abstain from the use of distilled spirits, except as a medicine in case of bod- ily infirmity ; that we will not allow the use of them in our fami- lies, nor provide them for the entertainment of our friends, or for persons in our employment ; and that, in all suitable ways, we will discountenance the use of them in the community. Andover, Mass., Se]>t., 1826." In Januarv, 1827, the present Corresponding Secretary visited Bos- ton, and commenced an effort to obtain means for the support of a per- manent agent. At the first meeting, although the evening was ex- ceedingly stormy, the amount subscribed was more than $3500. At the second meeting, the amount subscribed was more than $1200; and at the third meeting, more than $700. In Salem,, Newburyport, Andover, and Northampton, were obtained upwards. of $2000 more. As the pastoral duties of the Secretary did not permit of his con- tinuing his agency, the Committee appointed the Rev. Nathaniel Hewit, of Fairfield, Conn., who was known to have preached and acted successfully on this subject, who spent twenty weeks in the service of the Society. He visited various places in Massac husetts„ Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, and Pennsylvania ; preach- ed on the subject, addressed public bodies, and in various ways promoted successfully the great and good cause. 16 AMERICAN TEMPERANoil bOCIfcTT. In September of the same year, the present Secretary was agaire appointed to an agency of three months, and visited various places in Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and Connecticut. The prospect continued to brighten, and the evidence to increase that the work was of God. Numbers were found who had been led, within a few years, from their own reflections, without concert, in view of what they saw, to the conclusion, that they could not con- tinue to use ardent spirit, or to furnish it for the use of others, with- out the commission of sin. These were evidences which God had prepared, when tire duty of abstinence was preached, to rise up and say, " We have felt it ;" and when the utility of abstinence was exhibited, to say, " It is true ; we have tried it, and found it so." This was said by men in various kinds of business, and in all conditions of life, and it gave a powerful impulse to the cause. "I wish," said an old man, as he rose at the close of a temperance meeting, " to say to the people, before they go away, that all which they have heard with regard to the utility of abstinence from ardent spirit is true. 1 know it is true. I have tried it. More than a hundred tons of hay I have gathered this summer off my own farm, and not a man in my employment has used a drop. I never got through the business of a season before without having some of my men sick. In the hot days of haying and harvesting, one was taken off a day, another a week, and so on. But this summer, not a man has lost a meal of victuals during the season. They have not broken the tools, as they used to ; they have not quarrelled among themselves, as they used to ; and I finished the business of the sea- son much sooner than my neighbors who kept on in the old way, and much better than ever before. Oh ! it is a great improvement." In the course of the year, were published Kittredge's First Address, Dr. Mussey's Address before the Medical Convention of New Hampshire, Mr. Palfrey's Sermons, and Dr. Beecher's Sermons on the Nature, Signs, Evils, and Remedy of Intemperance ; and they were all powerful auxiliaries to the cause.* To show the state of the public mind at this period, we present a few extracts from the publications of that year. The Massachusetts Society for the Suppression of Intemperance, in their Annual Report, Nov., 1827, say, " It is becoming unfashion- able to drink ardent spirits in decent company ; and it is no longer considered a necessary mark of hospitality to offer them. People are beginning to yield to the conviction that they are injurious to health, even when used in moderation. It is presumed that the im- * Dr. Beecher's Sermons were preached the year before, at Litchfield, Conn. This fact, however, was not know n to those who formed the American Temper- ance Society, thus showing that different minds, in distant places, without con> cert, were taking substantially the same views of this great subject.-)- t Af pencix, E. FOURTH REPORT. — 1831. 17 provement which has begun will go on, and they will be at length universally banished. It seems now to be generally admitted by those who have had an opportunity for observation, or have made themselves acquainted with the various facts, which have been col- lected with regard to intemperance, that we are to attribute much of the prevalence of immoderate drinking to erroneous opinions and prac- tices of society, with regard to moderate drinking. No man probably ever became at once a drunkard. Drunkards have ?ll once been moderate drinkers, and have only gradually and insensibly become immoderate drinkers. It would seem, then, that there must be some- thing wrong in this habit of moderate drinking, since it leads, in so large a proportion of cases, to so deplorable a result." They also passed the following resolutions, viz : — "1. Resolved, That, in the opinion of this meeting, there is suf- ficient evidence that ardent spirits are not necessary as a refresh- ment or a support to the strength during labor, but, on the contrary, are absolutely injurious to the health ; that to the general moderate use of them is to be chiefly attributed the prevalent habit of in- temperance ; and that entire abstinence from their use, except when prescribed as medicines, be recommended to all classes of society. "2. Resolved, That it be recommended to ship-owners, masters of vessels, farmers, mechanics, proprietors and superintendents of manufacturing establishments, and all others having the care of young persons when first entering upon laborious occupations, to endeavor to induce those under their charge to form the habit of labor without any use of ardent spirits. " 3. Resolved, That it be recommended to all having the charge of the education of the young, to endeavor to produce upon their minds a strong impression of the dangerous tendency of even a moderate use of ardent spirits." The conviction had now become extensive, that the use of ardent spirit is wrong. Many had come to the conclusion, that no man in health, who understands its nature and effects, can continue to use it as an article of luxury or diet, or to traffic in it, without guilt. Kittredge,in his Address, said, " Ardent spirits are said to be useful and necessary. It is false. It is nothing but the apology that the love of them renders for their use. There are only two cases in which, Dr. Rush says, they can be administered without injury ; and those are cases of persons likely to perish, and where substi- tutes may be applied of equal effect. What rational man would use them for the sake of these two possible cases? As well might he introduce rattlesnakes among his children, because their oil is good in diseases with which they may possibly be afflicted. What! drink none ? Yes — I say, Drink none. One gallon for this town is 2* 18 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE S0CIET?. just four quarts too much. In addition to the miseries of debt and poverty, which they entail upon a community, they are the parent of one half the diseases that prevail, and one half the crimes that are committed. It is ardent spirits that fill our poor-houses and our jails ; our penitentiaries, mad-houses, and state prisons. It is ar- dent spirits that furnish victims for the gallows. They are the greatest curse that God ever inflicted on the world, and may well be called the seven vials of his wrath. They are more ciestrnctive in their consequences than war, plague, pestilence or famine, yea, than all combined. They are slow in their march, hut sure in their grasp. They seize not only on the natural, but the moral man. They con- sign the body to the tomb, and the soul to hell. But have not ar- dent spirits one good quality, one redeeming virtue? None, I say, none. There is nothing, not even the shadow of a virtue, to se- cure them from universal and everlasting execration. The parent should instil into his children a hatred of ardent spirits as much as he does of falsehood and theft. He should no more suffer his chil- dren to drink a little, than he does to lie a little, and to steal a little. No longer use that which is the source of infinite mischief, without one redeeming benefit ; which has entailed upon you, upon your children, and upon society, woes unnumbered and unutterable. Banish it from your houses. It can be done. You have only to will, and it is effected. Use it not at home. Let it never be found to pollute your dwellings. Give it not to your friends or your workmen. Touch it not yourselves, and suffer not your children to touch it. And let it be a part of your morning and evening prayer, that you and your children may be saved from intemper- ance, as much as from famine, from sickness and death." Dr. Beecher, in his Sermons, said, " The traffic in ardent spirits is wrong, and should be abandoned as a great national evil. The amount of suffering and mortality, inseparable from the commerce in ardent spirits, renders them an unlawful article of trade. The commerce in ardent spirits, which produces no good, and produces a certain and an immense amount of evil, must be regarded as an unlawful commerce, and ought, upon every principle of humanity, patriotism, conscience, and religion, to be abandoned and pro- scribed. It seems to be a manifest violation of the command, ' Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself,' and of various other evan- gelical precepts. " No man can act in the spirit of impartial love to his neighbor, who, for his own personal emolument, inflicts on him great and ir- reparable evil ; for love worketh no ill to his neighbor. Love will not burn a neighbor's house, or poison his food, or blast his reputa- tion, or destroy his soul. But the commerce in ardent spirits does all this inevitably and often. Property, reputation, health, life and salvation fall before it. FOURTH REPORT. 1831. ][) "The direct infliction of what is done indirectly, would subject a man to the ignominy of a public execution." " It is scarcely a palliation of this evil, that no man is destroyed maliciously, or with any direct intent to kill ; for die certainty of evil is as great as if waters were poisoned which some persons would surely drink, or as if a man should fire in the dark upon masses of human beings, where it must be certain that death woukl be the consequence to some." * * * * " Can it be denied that the commerce in ardent spirits makes a fearful havoc of property, morals and life ? Does it not shed blood as really as the sword, and more blood than is shed by war ? In this point, none are better witnesses than physicians, and, according to their testimony, intemperance is one of the greatest destroyers of virtue, health and life." * * * * " The consideration, that those, to whose injury we are accessory by the sale of ardent spirits, are destroyed also by the perversion of their own free agency — and that the evil is silent, and slow-paced in its march — doubtless subtracts, in no small degree, from the keen sense of accountability and crime, which would attend the adminis- tration of arsenic, or the taking of life by the pistol, or the dagger — • as does also the consideration that although we may withhold the cup, yet, from some other source, the deleterious potion will be obtained. " But all this alters not the case. He who deliberately assists his neighbor to destroy his life, is not guiltless because his neighbor is a free agent and is also guilty ; and he is accessory to the crime, though twenty other persons might have been ready to commit the same sin if he had not done it. Who would sell arsenic to his neighbor, to destroy himself, because he could obtain it elsewhere ? Who would sell a dagger for the known purpose of assassination, because, if it were refused, it could be purchased in another place? We are accountable for our own wrong-doing, and liable to punishment at the hand of God, as really as if it had been certain that no one would have done the deed, if we did not. " The ungodliness in time, and the everlasting ruin in eternity, in- separable from the commerce in ardent spirit, proscribe it as an unlawful article of traffic. "Who can estimate the hatred of God, of his word and worship, and of his people, which it occasions? or number the oaths and blasphemies it causes to be uttered ? or the violations of the Sabbath r the impurities and indecencies, violence and wrong-doing, which it originates ? Howr many thousands dors it detain every Sabbath- day from the house of God — cutting them off from the means of grace, and hardening them against their efficacy ! How broad is the road which intemperance alone opens to hell, and how thronged with travelers ! " * * * * 20 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE, SOCIETY. " Here is an article of commerce spread over the land, whose effect is evil only, and that continually, and which increases an hundred-fold the energies of human depravity, and the hopeless victims of future punishment. " Drunkenness is a sin which excludes from heaven. The com- merce in ardent spirits, therefore, productive only of evil in time, fits for destruction, and turns into hell, multitudes which no man can number. " I am aware that, in the din of business, and the eager thirst for gain, the consequences of our conduct upon our views, and the future destiny of our fellow men, are not apt to be realized, or to modify our course. " But has not God connected with all lawful avocations the welfare of the life that now is, and of that which is to come ? And can we lawfully amass property by a course of trade which fills the land with beggars, and widows, and orphans, and crimes ; which peoples the grave-yard with premature mortality, and the world of wo with the victims of despair ? Could all the forms of evil produced in the land by intemperance come upon us in one horrid array, it would appall the nation, and put an end to the traffic in ardent spirits. If in every dwelling built by blood, the stone from the wall should utter all the cries which the bloody traffic extorts, and the beam out of the timber should echo them back, who would build such a house ? — and who would dwell in it ? What if, in every part of the dwelling, from the cellar upward, through all the halls and chambers, babblings, and contentions, and voices, and groans, and shrieks, and wailings, were heard, day and night ? What if the cold blood oozed out, and stood in drops upon the walls, and, by preter- natural art, all the ghastly skulls and bones of the victims destroyed by intemperance, should stand upon the walls, in horrid sculpture within and without the building — who would rear such a building? What if, at eventide, and at midnight, the airy forms of men destroy- ed by intemperance, were dimly seen haunting the distilleries and stores, where they received their bane — following the track of the ship engaged in the commerce — walking upon the waves — flitting athwart the deck — sitting upon the rigging — and sending up from the hold within, and from the waves without, groans, and loud laments, and wailings ! Who would attend such stores ? Who would labor in such distilleries? Who would navigate such ships ? " Oh ! were the sky over our heads one great whispering gallery, bringing down about us all the lamentation and wo which intemperance creates, and the firm earth one sonorous medium of sound, bringing up around us, from beneath, the wailings of the damned, whom the commeice in ardent spirits had sent thither; — these tremendous realities, assailing our sense, would invigorate our conscience, and FOURTH REPORT. 1831. 21 give decision to our purpose of reformation. But these evils are as real as if the stone did cry out of the wall, and the beam answered it ; as real as if, day and night, wailings were heard in every part of the dwelling, and blood and skeletons were seen upon every wall ; as real as if the ghostly forms of departed victims flitted about the ship as she passed over the billows, and showed them- selves nightly about stores and distilleries, and, with unearthly voices, screamed in our ears their loud lament. They are as real as if the sky over our heads collected and brought down about us all the notes of sorrow in the land ; and the firm earth should open a passage for the wailings of despair to come up from beneath." The Massachusetts Medical Society passed resolutions in favor of abstinence, and gave it as their opinion, that the best drink for man is water. The Medical Society of the Western District of New Hampshire declared, that spirituous drinks have no tendency to protect the system from diseases, but expose it the more. The New Hamp- shire Medical Society did the same, and gave it as their opinion, that distilled spirits are not essentially necessary in a single disease. They resolved that they would abstain from the use of them them- selves, and discourage the use of them by others. The President of the Society, in his address delivered June, 1827,. said, " Does a healthy laboring man need alcohol ? No more than he needs arsenic, corrosive sublimate, or opium. It has been proved a thousand times, that more labor can be accomplished in a month, or a year, under the influence of simple nourishing food, and un- stimulating drink, than through the aid of alcohol." * * * " From a commercial friend in Massachusetts I have lately re- ceived the following information. ' I visited,' says he, ' four or five years since, in New Jersey, an iron foundery belonging to Mr. Wood, of Philadelphia. I think there were thirty or forty men em- ployed in the establishment, and all they drank was pure spring water. I saw them often while lading out the hot metal, and sweating at every pore, take a mug, run to the spring, and drink very freely of the water. I inquired if they did not feel any ill effects from drinking so much cold water. They answered, No. The furnace went into blast in April, and continued till October. All those employed had the best of health during the whole season, and re- turned to their friends in the autumn with better health and fuller purses than they ever had before. " ' A vessel belonging to my neighbor went from this place to South America, and from thence to India. No spirit was allowed to the crew during the whole voyage. They all arrived home in good health. One of my own captains kept grog from his men the whole of an India voyage ; they all came home ill fine health. For 22 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. my crews in hot climates, I direct spruce beer, made with the oil or essence of spruce, and molasses and water. I shipped two crews last week for long voyages in hot climates, and named to the men that we should not allow them grog. There was not a single objection made to signing die shipping papers. It is in the power of every ship owner to prevent the use of ardent spirit on board his vessels, by sending out a few ban-els of molasses, and a few dozen bottles of the essence of spruce, for beer.' " To the foregoing suggestion it may be proper to add, that, for laboring men in hot weather, sweetened water, sometimes with the addition of ginger, is a most salutary drink; so also is a mixture of milk and water. ;< The principle of life is afforded to every individual in such quan- tity, or ii) such manner, as to admit of the living actions being car- ried on under the most favorable circumstances only for a limited period ; and as no human power or skill can increase this principle one jot or tittle, so neither can the actions of life be urged beyond the standard of sound health (leaving casualties out of the question) without necessarily shortening it. And this shortening of life will be for minutes, or months, or years, according to the degree and continuance of the excitement beyond the natural and uniform rate of healthy action. " This vital principle has been likened, not altogether inaptly, to oil in a lamp, which is capable of sustaining (lame only for a certain length of time. If the wick be raised higher than necessary to produce a full and clear light, a part of the oil goes off in smoke, and the whole is sooner consumed." Many of the ecclesiastical bodies in the Northern and Middle States passed resolutions in favor of abstinence ; and recommended to all the churches and congregations under their care, to cooperate with the friends of the American Temperance Society in extending its principles and operations throughout the land. The members of several churches resolved entirely to abstain from the use of ar- dent spirit themselves, being persuaded that the gospel required it, and to use their influence to lead all others to do the same. The youth in various colleges, and the citizens in numerous towns, united in Temperance Societies, on the plan of abstinence from the use of this poison ; and the impression was rapidly extending, that no man could continue, as an article of luxury or diet, to use it, or be accessory to the use of it by others, without the commission of sin, and, in proportion to the light which he might have on the subject, the accumulation of tremendous and ever-growing guilt. The facts which had been developed showed that the use of this article is not needful, not salutary, but is uniformly hurtful ; that it caused more than three fourths of the pauperism, crimes, and wretchedness of the community; greatly increased the number, FOURTH REPORT 1831. 23 frequency, and violence of diseases ; destroyed the reason of mul- titudes ; and brought down greater, and still greater multitudes to an untimely grave. They showed, conclusively, that it tended, with a mighty influence, to obstruct the progress of the gospel, to hinder the efficacy of all the means which God has provided for the moral" and spiritual illumination and purification of men, and thus to ruin them forever. And the prospect was, that, should suitable means be used, and the whole community be made acquainted with the facts, the conviction of this truth, unless prevented by avarice or appetite, would, with the divine blessing, become universal. In November, 1827, the Committee reappointed Rev. Na- thaniel Hewit to an agency for three years. And, having been dismissed from his pastoral care for that purpose, he accepted the appointment, and entered upon its duties January 1, 1828. In May of the same year, they appointed Rev. Joshua Leavitt to an agency for four months. A commission was also given to Mr. Daniel C. Axtell, to labor as an agent in the western parts of the state of New York. His salary and traveling expenses were paid by a benevolent individual in that part of the state. Rev. Dr. Woodbridge, of Hadley, Mass., at the request of the Hampshire County Temperance Society, performed an agency through most of the towns in that county. Other individuals per- formed voluntary agencies in their own towns and districts. At the close of the year 1828, there were formed and reported 13 Temperance Societies in Maine, 23 in New Hampshire, 7 in Ver- mont, 39 in Massachusetts, 2 in Rhode Island, 33 in Connecticut', 78 in New York, 6 in New Jersey, 7 in Pennsylvania, 1 in Del- aware, 1 in Maryland, 5 in Virginia, 2 in North Carolina, 1 in South Carolina, 1 in Kentucky, 1 in Ohio, and 2 in Indiana. Oth- ers had been formed in different parts of the country, which had not been reported. State Societies had been formed in New Hampshire, Vermont, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Illinois. A So- ciety had also been formed in Lower Canada; and it is supposed that there were not less than thirty thousand persons who had agreed not to use ardent spirits. In Belchertown, Mass., the quantity used in 1825 was only about one fourth as much as in 1824. In Plymouth, New Hamp- shire, the cost of ardent spirits was not one sixteenth part as much as in 1826. Similar changes had been effected in other places. Resolutions of abstinence had been passed by more than 20 military companies, by the officers of 4 regiments, by 10 med- ical societies, and a great portion of all the ecclesiastical bodies in the country. The lawyers of 3 counties had voted to abstain' from ardent spirits,* and the members of the House of Rep- * Appendix, F. 24 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY, resentatives of New Hampshire, not to use them during the ses- sion of the Legislature. A number of distilleries had been stopped, and more than a hundred merchants had renounced the traffic ; vessels were sent to foreign ports without carrying the poison ; and the impression continued to extend, that no person, acquainted with the subject, could continue to use or to traffic in ardent spirit without the guilt of blood. The language used at the annual meetings, to which thousands of the wisest and best hearts in the land responded, was, " There is no longer any doubt of the pait which the Christian should act. He is imperiously called upon, by the principles of his religion, to abandon all connection, of whatever kind, with the in- toxicating cup. Every glass he drinks is a warrant for his neighbor to do the like ; and intemperance is sure to follow the use of ardent spirits. There is nothing on earth that can prevent it ; and as long as human nature remains the same, this will continue to be the case. No man can therefore encourage that use ; no man can ad- minister the poison, without being responsible for the consequences. The trader knows that every barrel he purchases will spread sorrow and grief wherever it is carried. There is a moral certainty, that every gallon that is carried into the country, will help to keep alive that baneful disease, which rages with a fury that knows no re- straint, and with a force that cannot be resisted. Every man, therefore, who carries it into the country, is directly concerned in producing that mass of pauperism, disease, and crime, which results irom intemperance. He supplies the fuel that keeps alive the flame, and he is the incendiary who spreads that liquid fire which involves the peace and happiness of the domestic circle, the promise of youth, and the hopes of old age, in one general ruin. " The vending of ardent spirits cannot be carried on withou! guilt. Every grog-shop exhibits scenes that religion cannot witness without horror. Here every evil passion is fed ! Here every base propensity is nourished ! Here is kept the food of drunkenness, and hither resort all those miserable victims of the disease who would rather die of it than be cured ! Here is found the poison that vitiates the taste of the temperate, and prepares them to supply the places of those who die of this plague ! Here the temperate drink, and here the temperate learn to be drunkards. All the drunk- ards in the country are brought up at these stores. They are the schools of intemperance, and as long as they continue the traffic in axdent spirits, they will continue to be the poison of the land. As long as they furnish the supply of ardent spirits called for, they will continue to send forth through the towns in which they are found, a pestilence, laying waste every noble and manly feeling of the human heart, and every lovely trait in the human character. Is FOURTH REPORT. 1831. 25 not this so ? Where were the drunkards of our village formed, but at those places where ardent spirits are sold ? Where is the origin of all that poverty and crime which are traced to intemperance, but at these Aceldamas of human blood ? Where can the wife and the mother find the cause of that fountain of tears which they are con- strained to shed, but at these fountains of ardent spirits ? And can the Christian carry on this traffic ? Can he supply the lava which scorches the land, and be innocent ? Does he find nothing in that benign religion which he professes, to forbid it ? Can he be the agent of intemperance, the commissary of the drunkard, and feel no remorse ? I know the vender tells you he is not an- swerable for the consequences ; that he frowns on intemperance, and withholds the cup from the drunkard. But this is not so. Does not the vender know the effects of ardent spirits ? Does he not know the consequences which they will assuredly produce ? Does he not know that of those who drink, many will be drunken ? And can he supply the cause, and detach himself from the effect ? Can he hurl firebrands through your city, and witness the confla- gration, and claim exemption from blame? Can he spread the contagion among your families, and, when he hears the dying groan and sees the funeral, tell you that he is innocent ? Yet the vender of ardent spirits does all this. He spreads the intoxicating cause ; he sees the drunken effect ; he hears the drunken curse ; he wit- nesses the drunken revel ; he is surrounded with it; he is producing it ; and yet tells you that he is innocent ! Wonderful fatuity ! But he knows the responsibility is so great that he shrinks from acknowledging it. He sees the guilt and the wo, and shudders at the thought of being its cause. And well he may ; but he cannot escape. As long as he furnishes the means of drunkenness to others, he is a partaker of the crime. And he should be so held in public opinion. He should be held directly responsible for the consequences of his acts, and the same odium which attaches to the principal should attach to all accessories. But he tells you he frowns on intemperance. So, perhaps, he does. After produ- cing it, he frowns on the wretch that he has made drunken, and abhors his own offspring. But every retailer should remember that the drunkards with whom he is surrounded are his own children and apprentices, and that they afford a living exhibition of the char- acter of his own deeds. When he looks upon them, ragged, filthy and debased — when he hears the noon-day curse and the midnight broil, he should say, ' Here is my work ; this is what I have done. It is my trade to make such men. 1 have spent my life in it.' And if he is a Christian, and duly appreciates his guilt, he will raise his hands to Heaven, and before God declare that he will make no more such. "But the vender tells you again that he withholds the cup 3 26 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. from the drunkard. So, perhaps, he may. He will furnish the cup till the wretch is made drunken, and then refuse him till he is sober again. But this is too late ; this refusal comes when it can do little or no good. The crime is already perpetrated. The guilt is already incurred, and in vain does the vender attempt to escape. But it is not true, that he withholds the cup from the drunkard. Every retailer does sell to the drunkard, and, however well mean- ing he may be, he cannot carry on this trade without contributing to the support of intemperance. And this traffic should be abandoned by the Christian public. Conscience should be allowed a triumph over interest and custom, and the merchandise of spirits should be classed with the merchandise of blood. No Christian should contaminate his hands and his soul with this most destructive and demoralizing commerce. And I am happy to say, that many merchants have lately viewed this as they ought, and forsaken the trade, as being a curse revolting to the feelings of patriotism and Christianity. They have given a noble example of the triumph of principle, and one that deserves the universal approbation of the Christian public. " But the retailer is not alone. He is but a subaltern in that mighty army of the agents of intemperance which is scattered through the land. He is the immediate instrument of the ruin which spirituous liquors occasion, but the wholesale dealer, although one grade above him, is equally a partaker of the guilt. He sup- plies the numerous streams which issue through the land, laying waste every thing in their course. Could the vender learn the history of a single hogshead of this liquid ; could every drop return to him, and give a faithful account of the effects it had produced, — he would shudder at the narration. Could he collect before him, and be enabled to see, the crime, the disease and death, the poverty and distress, to count the tears and hear the groans, which every cask of spirits occasions, he would revolt with horror from the trade. But he may conceive it. Let him learn the history of intem- perance, and then let him reflect that he is constantly engaged in spreading its horrors ; that he is supplying from day to clay the liquid fire that is scattered by an army of retailers through the land, scorching and destroying every thing within its reach, and he will be constrained to pronounce it an undiristian occupation. And let the distiller remember, that he stands at the head of the stream, and lets loose the flood-gates to deluge and destroy ; that his occupation is to poison the land, and that the more he does, the more wretched is the world ; and he will not find one single consolation to cheer and support him." * * * " Does the Christian pray for the spread of his religion, and is he at the same time engaged in the spread of intemperance ? Does he pray for the reformation of the world, and, while his prayers are FOURTH REPORT. 1831. 27 ascending to heaven, is he spreading the plague, that poisons the heart, and renders mankind incapable of reformation ? Is he sup- porting the missionary in foreign lands, from funds which he has collected as the wages of drunkenness ? And does he believe the God of heaven will smile on the labors of him who is supported by food taken from the mouths of the children of the intemperate, for the drink that destroys them ? While lie is attempting to teach the heathen the way to heaven, is he binding his own countrymen in chains strong as the bands of death, and leading them in the road to hell ? Is he training them to practices and habits which will as surely bar them from the realms of bliss as though no redemption had been provided for them ? " I venerate the Christian's character, and whenever I find him acting in consistency with the principles of the gospel, I do indeed regard him as the salt of the earth. But I fear on this subject there is an awful inconsistency in the conduct of some. I believe all connection with spirituous liquors, in the present state of society, to be sinful. Since the way, and the only way, to banish intemper- ance from the earth, has been pointed out, it is the Christian's duty to adopt that course, whatever may be the sacrifice, and to disclaim all connection between rum and religion. " They cannot agree. Every feeling that the farmer inspires is hostile to the latter; and if there be any thing on earth that can eradicate piety from the heart, it is the use of ardent spirits. Its inspiration is unholy and impure ; and I call upon the Christian to abstain, not only for his own sake, but for the sake of the world, for the sake of the example, as the means, and the only means, of effecting a reformation of mankind from intemperance. I believe the time is coming when not only the drunkard but the drinker will be excluded from the church of our God — when the gambler, the slave dealer, and the rum dealer, will be classed together. And I care not how soon that time arrives. I would pray for it as devout- ly as for the millennium. And when it comes, as come it will, it should be celebrated by the united band of philanthropists, patriots, and Christians throughout the world, as a great and most glorious jubilee." In several cases, the efforts for the promotion of temperance were followed by remarkable success of the gospel, and numbers were led hopefully to embrace the Savior ; and the connection began strikingly to appear between these efforts and the salvation of men. In 1829, the Committee established a weekly paper, called The Journal of Humanity, to be the organ of their communica- tion with the public, and appointed Rev. Edward W. Hooker, editor and associate general agent. The present Correspond- ing Secretary was also reappointed as general agent, and the 28 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. following persons as local agents, viz. Rev. Asa Mead for Maine, Rev. Andrew Rankin for New Hampshire, Rev. Daniel O. Morton for Vermont, and Rev. Talcott Bates for Connecti- cut. Rev. Messrs. Coggin, Barbour, Mann, Shepherd, Clark, Bond, and Woodbury, were also appointed, each as an agent for a county in Massachusetts. Other agents were employed by State Societies ; and benevolent individuals performed voluntary agencies in various parts of the country. At the close of the year 1829, there had been formed, on the plan of abstinence, and reported, more than 1000 Societies, em- bracing more than 100,000 members. Eleven of them were State Societies. Of those known to the Committee, 62 were in Maine, 46 in New Hampshire, 56 in Vermont, 169 in Massachu- setts, 3 in Rhode Island, 133 in Connecticut, 300 in New York, 21 in New Jersey, 53 in Pennsylvania, 1 in Delaware, 6 in Mary- land, 52 in Virginia, 15 in North Carolina, 10 in South Carolina, 14 in Georgia, 8 in Alabama, 30 in Ohio, 9 in Kentucky, 5 in Tennessee, 4 in Mississippi, 13 in Indiana, I in Illinois, 3 in Michigan, and I in Missouri. Societies were also formed in Upper and Lower Canada, in Nova Scotia, and in New Brunswick. More than 50 distilleries had been stopped, more than 400 merchants had renounced the traffic, and more than 1200 drunk- ards had ceased to use the drunkard's drink. Persons, who, a few years before, were vagabonds about the street, were now sober, respectable men, providing comfortably, by their labor, for their wives and their children. In a number of towns, ardent spirit was not sold, andv in sev- eral cases, not even kept at the public houses. And in some places, no person who was acquainted with the subject, and yet continued to use distilled liquor, as an article of luxury or diet, or to traffic in it, was viewed as a proper person for admission to a Christian church. The business was viewed as an immorality, in which no person could continue, and yet give credible evidence of being a good man. The guilt of aiding and abetting in this work of death, became more and more obvious ; and the number rapidly increased, who saw that the effect of enlightened Christian principle would be, to banish this awful immorality from the globe. And the ben- efits which would result, from such a change, to the property, character, health, reason, lives and souls of men, became more and more apparent. In one town in Vermont, individuals, by abstaining from ardent spirit, saved, in one year, more than $8000. In the state of New Hampshire, they saved, in the same way, more than $•100,000. In Lyme, New Hampshire, in which had been sold annually about 6000 gallons, the quantity sold that year was only FOURTH REPORT. 1831. 20 600 gallons. The bill of mortality, which had, for six years, upon an average, been annually 24 £ was reduced, for two years, to l?i. In 1826, the year before the formation of the Temperance So- ciety, the number of deaths under 40 years of age was 15; in 1828, only 9. Had every town in the United States pursued a similar course, that is, used but one tenth part the usual quantity of ardent spirits, and had it been followed by a similar result, the number of deaths, that year, would have been lessened more than 70,000.* In a number of towns, the Holy Spirit followed, with his life-giv- ing power, the efforts for the promotion of temperance, and hundreds, under his gracious influence, hopefully embraced the gospel. In one town in Massachusetts, a temperance discourse was delivered near the close of 1827. Numbers renounced the use of ardent spirit, and conducted all their business without it. Many were anxious to form a Temperance Society ; but some, among the aged and influential, thought that they could not do without a little, and no society was formed, till the young men, impatient at the delay of their fathers, called a meeting, and formed a Society among themselves. They resolved to have stated meetings, collect information, and spread it through the town. At the first meeting, many were solemn, and at the second, anxious for their salvation ; a prayer was offered, and the Holy Spirit descended upon them : the anxiety increased, became general, and extended through the town ; and more than 200, it is believed, have passed from death unto life. Ten of those young men are now preparing for the gospel ministry ; and, should their lives be spared, and their talents consecrated to the Redeemer, they may be instrumental in preparing many for an exceed- ing and eternal weight of glory. And, could we trace the influ- ence of that single Temperance Society, in all its various con- nections, bearings, and consequences, upon the temporal and eter- nal interests of men, the vision would be transporting. And when the Committee saw these Societies rising, and extending their benign influences not merely over one, but over a thousand towns, and promising to extend them through the whole land, and to all future ages, they could not but thank God, and take courage. This year was also rendered memorable, and will be marked as an era in the history of Europe, from its having been the commencement of the Temperance Reformation in the old world. * In the Connecticut State Prison, with an average of 120 convicts, more than 90 of wh'im were notoriously intemperate before they came tlwre, not one of whom vas permitted to take a ilrop of intoxicating liquor alter he entered the walls of the prison, iber? was no death for Ifi months, and but one death for aN-.i: '" reara ;t * 30 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. A meeting was holden, in July, at Belfast, in Ireland, to devise ways and means for preventing the profanation of the Sabbath ; and, in o<"der to this, for preventing, on that day, the sale and use of spirituous liquors. It was found, as it ever will be, impossible to prevent the one, without first preventing the other. The use of ardent spirit will, in all countries, and all ages, cause the profanation of the Sabbath, and all its abominations. To remove the effect, therefore, they undertook to remove the cause. And this they attempted to do in the old way, by the force of civil law. But a certain individual (Rev. John Edgar, professor of divin- ity in the college at Belfast) expressed his dissent from that mode of attempting to accomplish the object, and his desire to employ moral means only, in attempting to effect moral refor- mation. He was therefore appointed to prepare an appeal to the public on this subject. While engaged in this preparation, he learned, for the first time, by a friend from America (Rev. Mr. Penny, of Rochester, New York), the nature, means and success of the Temperance Reformation in the United States. Eagerly seizing on its grand principles, and the grand principle of all moral refor- mation, viz. Voluntary abstinence from doing evil, as an essential pre-requisite to doing well ; and voluntary associations, exhibiting this principle in practice, as the grand means of effecting it ; he embodied his thoughts, and published them in the Belfast papers, on the 14th of August, 1S29. This was the first appeal on this subject to the Christians of Europe ; and was followed by results similar to those which had been witnessed in the United States. The first Temperance Society in the old world, on the plan of abstinence, was formed by Rev. George Carre, of New Ross, in Ireland. Special pains were taken to furnish them with the Journal of Humanity and other temperance publications from this country, and before the close of the year, they had numerous Temperance Societies in Ireland and Scotland, em- bracing more than 14,000 members. The subject had been taken up in England, and bid fair to extend through the king- dom. More than 65,000 temperance publications had issued from the press, and were in a course of rapid and extensive circulation. Persons were employed to go from house to house, and distribute them, and make known to the people the benefits that would result to them and their children, for both worlds, from the Temperance Reformation. Thus had the subject, at this period, taken deep root on two con- tinents ; and the r/rospect was increasing, that, should Providence continue to smile, and temperate men to do their duty, it would hold on its way, till there should not be a drunkard on the globe. In the early part of 1830, Rev. Mr. Hewit visited the Middle FOURTH REPORT. 1831. 31 and Southern States. He was received with kindness, heard with attention, and was instrumental in awakening new interest in that part of the country. In March, he returned, and continued his labors in New England, till within three months of the close of his engagement. Having been invited to take charge of a church in Bridgeport, Connecticut, and believing it to be his duty to ac- cept the invitation, he resigned his laborious and successful agen- cy, Sept. 30th, 1830. And while the Committee would grate- fully acknowledge the kindness of the Lord in his preservation and success, they would affectionate ly sympathize with him in his recent domestic affliction,* and express their earnest hope that both mercies and trials may be overruled for his greater useful- ness on earth, and his more distinguished glory in heaven. Rev. Edward W. Hooker, associate general agent, and editor of the Journal of Humanity, after the judicious and able dis- charge of its duties till the paper was established, and had taken strong hold on the interests of the community, resigned his connec- tion with the Society ; and Mr. E. C. Tracy was appointed editor in his stead. This paper still continues to be a powerful auxil- iary in the great and good cause. It is read with deep interest, by intelligent and philanthropic men, in this and other countries ; and should its circulation be extended so as to render its publication permanent, it would accomplish unspeakable good to our country and to the world. And the Committee would earnestly request the friends of the object, as extensively as practicable, to promote its circulation. Other papers, and periodical publications, have exerted a power- ful influence, and rendered valuable aid to the cause ; and it is de- sirable that such publications should be circulated extensively throughout the country. Rev. Wm. Kinner, a Baptist clergyman in Illinois, has been appointed to labor for one year, as agent, in that state ; and the American Tract Society has made a donation of temperance tracts, to be distributed by our agents, in that extended and interesting part of our country . The Corresponding Secretary, since his reappointment, August 27th, 1829, has continued uninterruptedly his labors in the service of the Society. He has visited various parts of the British province of New Brunswick, and the states of Maine, New Hamp- shire, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Penn- sylvania, Delaware, Maryland, and the District of Columbia. He has traveled more than 6,400 miles, and preached and addressed public bodies three hundred and eighty-six times. He has assisted in the formation, and attended the anniversaries, of numerous Tem- * Mrs. Rebecca Hewit, wife of Rev. Nathaniel Hewit, died at Bridgeport. Coon., deeply lamented, Jan. 2d, 1831. 32 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. perance Socieiies ; written a number of articles for publication ; con- ducted tbe correspondence ; and superintended the general concerns of tbe Society. At tbe request of a number of gentlemen, he, in January, 1831, visited the District of Columbia, and addressed the citizens of Washington, Georgetown, and Alexandria. Three Temperance Societies had been formed, and ten others were formed, during his visit, embracing more than one thousand members. At the request of individuals of both houses of Congress, he addressed the members of that body, in the capitol, on the subject. The at- tendants were numerous, and the interest manifested was highly auspicious. From all parts of the country, members of Congress testified that a great change had been effected, and one in the highest degree salutary to all the social, civil, and religious inter- ests of the community. A member from one of the Southern States, and from a district in which it had been customary for candidates for office to bribe the electors with spirituous liquors, declared, " that so great had been the change of public sentiment, that, should any man now pur- sue a similar course, that, of itself, would defeat his election."* Another member from one of the Western States, declared, " that the change in his part of the country had been wonderful ; and that he considered the object of the Temperance Society as one of the most important, and its operations as among the most useful, of any in the world. The children — the children," said he, " to all future generations, will experience the benefit. Any publi- cations on this subject, which you may wish to send into my dis- trict, I will cheerfully forward." Similar was the testimony of others, and their readiness to cir- culate information on the subject. There is no object, said they, of more importance than this, to the welfare of the country. From a number of the principal boarding-houses in the city of Washington, ardent spirit was excluded ; and many of the mem- bers of Congress used none during the session. The President of the United States gave it as his opinion, that, through an extensive region of country where he had traveled, the quantity used had been diminished more than half. The Secretary of War stated, that, of more than one thousand desertions from the army, during the last year, nearly all were oc- casioned by drinking. From January 1st, 1823, to December 31st, 1829, the number of desertions was 5,669 ; upon an average, more than eight hun- dred ; nearly one seventh part of the whole army (which consists * Appendix, G. FOURTH REPORT. 1831. 33 of about six thousand) every year. The loss to the country by desertions in these seven years, exclusive of the expenses of con- vening courts-martial, and several other items, was $471,263; or about $70 to a man; and during six years, ending December 31st, 1828, the number of soldiers tried by courts-martial, was 7,058. In five years, ending December 31st, 1827, there were 5,582; be- ing nearly one to each individual in the army, during one term of enlistment. And a great majority of the whole resulted from the use of ardent spirit. And if to this we add the cost of the liquor, the expenses of a great increase of sickness, and numerous premature deaths, the loss, from the use of this poison, in the army, the whole tendency of which is to injure the soldier, and unfit him for the de- fence of his country, must have been very great.* A distinguished officer of the army declared, " Nearly all the trouble we have with the men arises from drinking." And in a letter which our Secretary lately received from him, he says, " Since I last wrote you, 1 have visited a military post ; and, on looking over the sick list, with the acting surgeon and hospital steward at my el- bow, to tell me the cause of each man's sickness, I was assured that, out of forty-six cases, the diseases of more than forty had their origin in intemperance. Probably more than five sixths of all military offences tried before our courts-martial, result from in- temperance." The same officer gave it as his opinion, that, since, his acquaintance with the army, which has been for many years, more than three fourths of the deaths among the soldiers were oc- casioned by ardent spirits. And he says, " The Secretary of War has, in my opinion, done incalculable good to the army, by with- holding the whiskey part of the rations. We want now a few tem- perance preachers to visit from post to post, and bring the subject of temperance before the troops ; form Societies ; furnish them with addresses, essays, and periodicals ; and I doubt not that a happy reformation would be witnessed in the army." And his anticipations seem to be justified by facts. In a num- ber of cases, Temperance Societies have been formed at various military posts, and with the most cheering results. From one of them, a correspondent writes, " Ardent spirit had been, as was customary, dealt out to the soldiers. The con- sequence was, the majority were in a state of degradation, and were going the broad road to ruin, as fast as the wheels of time, and the ruinous consequences of irregular living, would carry them. About one fourth, on an average, were unable to do duty on ac- count of drunkenness ; which caused sickness, punishments, and desertions, not a few. In consequence of the visits and efforts of individuals, a change has taken place, so great, that the officers * Appendix, H. 34 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY, cheerfully acknowledge, that the Lord hath done it. One hundred and sixty-nine, out of two hundred and ten soldiers, signed a petition to have no ardent spirit brought to the garrison. The petition was granted. With their grog-money, they have purchased a library oi more than five hundred volumes ; and it is now a shame for any man to drink or be drunken. The Sabbath is spent in reading aqd attending public worship. The Sabbath school is taught by the officers and others, and conducted in an orderly and a useful manner." The regulation above referred to, adopted by the war depart- ment, together with the remarks upon it of a gentleman connected with the army, and of distinguished medical gentlemen, will be found in the Appendix ;* and should suders and all others be pro- hibited from furnishing ardent spirits, and the troops from pur- chasing them, the result to the army and to the country would be in the highest degree salutary. It would prevent a great portion of all the desertions and courts-martial ; of sickness and premature deaths ; and would save annually more than half a million of dollars. The use of ardent spirit has done more than every thing else tc deteriorate the character of the soldier, and unfit him for the de- fence of his country. And so long as the cause is continued, whether it it kept in operation by the government or by individu- als, the effect can never be done away. The Secretary of the Navy also expressed his conviction, that the use which is made of ardent spirit is one of the greatest curses ; and declared his intention to recommend a change with regard to die navy. A distinguished officer gave it as his opinion, that nine tenths of all the difficulties which the officers have with the men arise from ardent spirits ; and expressed his strong conviction, from what he had witnessed on board bis own ship, and others, which had made the experiment, of the practicability and great utili- ty of entire abstinence throughout the navy. He said, " If Con- gress would pass a law, prohibiting the use of ardent spirit in the navy, and giving to the men the value of it in money, there would be no difficulty ; and it would be one of the greatest blessings that could be conferred upon them." There is now a provision that all who will voluntarily relinquish it, shall be allowed six cents per ration, as a substitute. But what is needed is, that the government should cease to furnish it for any. On board the United States sloop of war Falmouth, in her late cruise, seventy of the men abstained entirely from the use of ardent spirit ; and between forty and fifty on board the Brandy wine ; and they were among die most healthy, cheerful and orderly in the ♦Appendix, I. FOURTH REPORT. 1831. 35 ship. " During the cruise," said the chaplain, " I never knew a complaint against one of thein ; and the total disuse of spirit is in- creasing in the navy generally. The inquiry, 'Can seamen advan- tageously and comfortably dispense with spirituous liquors, while at sea ?' is satisfactorily answered, by a cloud of witnesses. Both i:t our navy and in our merchant ship, the question is at rest." A later communication, from die Mediterranean squadron, states, " That, out of the whole ship's company of the frigate Brandywine, amounting to four hundred and eighty-six souls, only one hundred and sixty men drew their grog." Since January 1st, 1830, more than one hundred and fifty ves- sels have sailed from the port of Boston, which do not carry ardent spirit ; and it is believed, that there are now afloat on the ocean, more than four hundred of this description. The longest and most difficult voyages are made without it ; and greatly to the health, comfort and safety of the men. Of seven hundred sailors, who have called for a supply of books, at one office, more than two hundred abstain from the use of spirituous liquors ; and should this course be adopted by all seafaring men, it would prevent, accord- ing to the opinion of experienced navigators, more than half of all the shipwrecks on the ocean. A captain, who had just arrived from Europe, said to our Secre- tary, " I took seven men from a wreck just before my arrival, in a state of almost utter starvation. When wrecked, they took a keg of whiskey, but never thought of victuals ; and had it not been for a timely discovery, they must all have perished. And this habit of drinking is the cause of a great portion of all the shipwrecks. The moment sailors become frightened, they begin to drink, soon despair, give up all for lost, and drink till they are lost. Had they held on, and not touched the poison, they had out-rode the storm, and been safe." So say the facts. A vessel, lately coming from Virginia to New York, with a number of passengers on board, was overtaken with a storm, which raged with great violence, and continued a long time. All the sailors on board who drank ardent spirit, from intemperance, fatigue, or despair, gave up, and ceased to labor. But one man on board drank no ardent spirit ; and although he, with the rest, had buffeted the storm, he took the helm, and stood for hours after the others had ceased to make exertion ; and the whole crew were saved. Had it not been for him, long before the storm abated, they had alJ probably been at the bottom of the ocean. Said a distinguished navigator, " The great day of account will bear terrible witness, when the sea shall give up the dead that are in it, of the vast and unsuspected extent of the sacrifice of life among seamen, from shipwrecks, and other catastrophes occasioned by drunkenness. One distressful instance, among the numbers that 36 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. will hereafter be brought to light, occurred within my own observa- tion. A collier brig was stranded on the York coast ; and I had occasion to assist in the interesting, but distressing service of rescu- ing a part of the crew by drawing them up a vertical cliff", two or three hundred feet in altitude, by means of a deep-sea lead-line, the only rope that could be procured. The first two men who caught hold of this slender line, were hauled safely up the frightful cliff; Out the next, after being drawn to a considerable height, slipped his hold, and he fell; and with the fourth and last, who ventured upon this only chance of life, the rope gave way, and he also was plunged into foaming breakers beneath. Immediately afterwards, the vessel broke up, and the remnant of the ill-fated crew, with the exception of two, who were washed into a cavern in the cliff, perished before our eyes. But what was the cause of this heart-rending event ? Was it stress of weather, or bewildering fog, or unavoidable acci- dent ? No ;— it arose entirely from the want of sobriety ; every sailor, to a man, being in a state of intoxication. The vessel, but a few hours before, had sailed from Sunderland ; the men being drunk, a boyr unacquainted with the coast, was intrusted with the helm. He ran the brig upon Whitby Rock, and one half of the miserable, dissi- pated crew awoke to consciousness in eternity ! To this solitary instance I might add many ; but this must suffice, both as to illus- tration and proof of the terrible consequences of intemperance at sea." Numerous other cases, and from all parts of the world, might be mentioned, illustrative of the same truth ; and, should the use of spirit- uous liquors be done away, the risk of property on the ocean and the rate of insurance might be lessened probably more than half. And it is hoped that the time is not distant, when no merchant will suffer this grand cause of immorality, disease, and death, temporal and eternal, to be found on board his vessel j and when it shall not be used, as an article of luxury or diet, or sold by any sober man, especially by any Christian, in our land. Nor will the prevention of the loss of property, in that case, be confined to the ocean. The Hon. William C ranch, chief judge of the District of Columbia, who is extensively known as a candid and accurate reporter of principles and facts, in an Address which he delivered before the Washington and Alexandria Temperance Societies, estimates the loss annually in the United States, from the use of ardent spirits, at not less than $94,425,000.* In this esti- mate, he has taken no account of what is lost by shipwrecks, sick- ness, and in various other ways. But even this sum would, in thirty years, amount to more than the value of all the houses, lands and slaves in the. United States. These were estimated, m 1815, at Appendix, J. FOURTH REPORT.— "1831. 37 $1,771,312,903. And if the value of them has since increased in proportion to the increase of population, it would now be $2,519,009,222. And the loss to the consumers of ardent spirits, and to the community, in thirty years, would, according to the fore- going estimate, be $2,832,750,000, which is $313,740,778 more than the value of all the houses and land in the United States ; thus exhibiting to the world the awful spectacle of a people losing, by the use of strong drink, in thirty years, $31 3,740,7 78 more than the value of their whole country. And all for what ? To gratify an artificial and destructive appetite, which men do not need, and which they had better be without ; which God does not give them, but which they, by their own voluntary and wicked conduct, form. And if the crimes, which are prosecuted annually in the United States, are only one fifth as many, in proportion to the population, as in the city of New Yoik, and should they not increase with the increase of population, they would, in thirty years, amount to 1,800,000 ; more than 1,000,000 of which must, according to the testimony of judges and jurists, be attributed to the use of ardent spirits. And of the 7,200 murders which will, should the present number not increase, in that time be committed, more than 5000 of them must be attributed to the same cause. And of all the deaths which will in that time take place, in the United States, more than 900,000 must be considered, according to the testimony of the most distinguished physicians, as occasioned by strong drink. Or, if we take the number who are killed by it in Philadelphia, as stated by a committee of the College of Physicians, as the average proportion, being in that city seven hundred in a year, it would make more than 1,500,000. In one place, of only 6000 inhab- itants, the chief magistrate, being himself an eminent physician, in- formed our Secretary, that twenty-eight in that place were killed by strong drink in one year. This would make, in thirty years, eight hundred and forty. And if eight hundred and forty would be killed in a population of 6000, how many would be killed, in that time, among 12,000,000? The proportion would be 1,680,000: while the use of this poison, without affording the least benefit, would greatly increase the diseases, lessen the reason, and diminish the happiness of all who used it ; and, upon an average, would shorten their lives probably at least five years. And if drunkards, upon an average, shorten life only ten years, and temperate drinkers five, and there are only four sober drinkers to one drunkard, it would cause a loss in the United States, in thirty years, of 32,400,000 years of human probation and of active usefulness ; in a world, too, in which every noble and benevolent deed might model the charac- ter, and tell on the destinies of men, for eternity. Amazing loss ! And when we consider the effect of this poison, in deteriorating the character, blinding the understanding, searing the conscience, and 4 38 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. hardening the heart ; when we see it tend to hinder die success of the gospel, and prevent the efficacy of all the means of grace ; and to perpetuate and accumulate its deleterious influence over all future generations of men, — the evils become overwhelming. And yet, by abstaining from their cause, these evils may be done away ; without injury to any, and greatly to the benefit of all. And as more than a thousand among the most intelligent physicians on the globe, have certified, that men in health do not need ardent spirit, and cannot, without injury, use it ; and as the correctness of this opinion is proved abundantly by facts, in the experience of hundreds of thousands of all ages and conditions, and in all kinds of business, — the conviction is extending and deepening, and tend- ing to become universal, that no person can continue to use it, or be accessory to the use of it by others, without, if acquainted with the subject, the accumulation of awful and overwhelming guilt. This conviction is manifested by the increasing numbers who are voluntarily withdrawing from all connection with this abomina- tion, and pledging themselves to use all suitable means to persuade all others to do the same. Fifteen Temperance Societies, on the plan of abstinence, were, the past year, formed in the city of Baltimore, embracing more than 2000 members. A State Society was also formed in Mary- land, in Delaware, and in seven other states. Eleven had been formed before, making, in all, at the present time, eighteen State Societies. There is one in each state, except Maine, Rhode Island,* Alabama, Louisiana, Illinois, and Missouri. And it is hoped, that a State Society will soon be formed in every state in the Union. And should each State Society, as is earnestly desired by this Society, employ an agent, and take the direction of this cause within their own limits, and temperate men do their duty, a Temperance Society may soon be formed in every county, town and village in the country. On the first of May, 1831, there were reported 140 Societies in Maine, 96 in New Hampshire, 132 in Vermont, 209 in Massa- chusetts, 21 in Rhode Island, 202 in Connecticut, 727 in New York, 61 in New Jersey, 124 in Pennsylvania, 5 in Delaware, 38 in Maryland, 10 in the District of Columbia, 113 in Virginia, 31 in North Carolina, 16 in South Carolina, 60 in Georgia, 1 in Florida, 10 in Alabama, 19 in Mississippi, 3 in Louisiana, 15 in Tennessee, 23 in Kentucky, 104 in Ohio, 25 in Indiana, 12 in Illinois, 4 in Missouri, and 13 in Michigan Territory; making, in all, more than 2200, and embracing more than 170,000 members. These members have been constantly increasing, and have, in many cases, been * A State Society has since been formed in Rhode Island, making at the pres- ent time, 19 State Societies. FOURTH REPORT. 1831. 39 more than doubled since they were reported. There are also numerous Societies which have been formed, and some of them embracing large districts of country, not contained in the above list, and from which no returns have been received. The number be- longing to Societies which are not reported, in the state of New York, are supposed, by the Committee of the State Society, to amount to more than 30,000. In other states from which the returns have been less general and complete, the number, in pro- portion, is still greater. In Kentucky, in which but 23 have been reported to us, containing only about 1G00 members, a correspond- ent writes, that they have, in his opinion, nearly 100 Societies, and not much short of 15,000 members. So it may be in other states; and from the best information which has been obtained, the Com- mittee conclude that there are now formed, in the United States, on the plan of abstinence from the use of ardent spirit, more than 3000 Temperance Societies, containing more than 300,000 mem- bers. From the influence of these Societies, and other causes, 300,000 more may have adopted the plan of not using it, or furnishing it for the use of others. Connected with these, 600,000 of children and persons in their employment, and under their control, may be as many more. And thus 1,200,000 may already have been brought under the influence, and may now be experiencing the benefit, of the Temperance Reformation. Among these, should they continue to refrain from intoxicating drink, there will never be a drunkard : whereas, had they continued in habits which prevailed five years ago, 50,000 of them might have come to the drunkard's grave. So that, should this reform now be merely stationary, and make no further progress, it may have saved 50,000 from the drunkard's doom ; and how many it would save of their children, and children's children, none but God can determine. In one case, as our Secretary was informed, a father adopted the plan of using a little ardent spirit every day. He was never intoxicated, and never thought to be in the least intemperate. He only took a little, a very little, because he thought that it did him good. For the same reason, his children took a little, daily ; and so did their children. And now, no less than 40 of his de- scendants are drunkards, or in the drunkard's grave. Another man adopted a different plan ; he would not use ardent spirit ; he would not purchase it ; nor would he suffer it to enter his house. He taught his children to treat it as a poison, a mortal poison ; and they taught their children. And now, there is not a drunkard among them ; nor has one of his descendants ever come to the drunkard's grave. Long, long may it be, before any one ever shall. And when the long lines of descendants of these 40 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. two men, through all future ages, shall rise up before them, and before the universe, in the blazing light of eternity, who can es- timate the difference of results, of the different courses adopted and pursued by their progenitors ? None but He, who seeth the end from the beginning, and to whom they have both now gone to render their account. If such may be the difference of result from a single individual adopting the plan of abstinence, from what it might have been, had he adopted the plan of moderate drinking, and in two generations, who can estimate the difference, from the plan of abstinence having been adopted by 1,200,000, — 50,000 of whom might have been drunkards, and 1,150,000 habitual drinkers, — down through all future generations to the end of the world — and onward to eternity ? And here let it not be forgotten, that more than 3000 of those who now abstain, actually were drunkards ; who, should they continue their present course, will have been saved with a great salva- tion. And this might have been the case with more than 6000 others, who are drunkards still. They ceased to use strong drink for a time, and were sober men. Such they might have been now ; and not only sober men, but respectable men, a comfort and a blessing to all around them ; had not some sober drinker, or some retailer, — whose name, were it to number the evils which he has oc- casioned, would be Legion, for they are many, — enticed them to go back, and perish. To a respectable stranger, in a province of a neighboring kingdom, our Secretary handed a temperance tract, and said, " Sir, the man who wrote that tract was once a drunkard." " And so," said the stranger, with tearful emotion, " was the man who now holds it." But he is not a drunkard now. No ; he adopted the plan of absti- nence ; has since, it is believed, chosen that good part which shall not be taken from him ; and is shedding on a wide circle of ac- quaintance the lifegiving and purifying influence of a consistent Christian example. He is a warm advocate, and active promoter of the temperance cause ; and through his influence, and that of others, there is reason to hope that it will spread through the province. A respectable merchant, in one of our principal cities, said, " 1 shall have reason to remember the Temperance Cause as long as 1 live. Had it not been for that, I, before now, should have been a drunkard." On relating this fact to a merchant, in another city, " And so," said he, " should I. I was on the brink of ruin ; but it saved me." And the grace of God came in, and he, it is believed, was doubly saved. " Yes," said he, with grateful emphasis, as he looked on his wife and children, " and I will give a hundred dollars a year, to spread the Temperance Reformation through the country." FOURTH REPORT. 1831. 41 And who, that has a hundred dollars of the Lord's property, and can, consistently with duty, will not give it, to spread the Temper- ance Reform throughout our country, and throughout the world ? In what possible way can that amount, annually, from one hundred men, to whom the Lord has committed property, with the inscrip- tion " Occupy till I come," do more good to the temporal and eter- nal interests of men? Suppose the American Temperance Society has, within the last five years, expended $10,000, and other Societies and individuals have expended, in this cause, as much more ; in what way did $20,000 ever do more good ? In what way was $20,000 ever more productive in the accumulation of property ? or, what is bettei , in the saving of property, character, health, reason, lives and souls of men ? In the county of Baltimore, in Maryland, out of 1134 paupers, admitted to the alms-house from May, 1829, to May, 1830, 1059 were brought there by intemperance ; viz. of temperate adults, 24 ; of adults whose habits were not known, 24 ; children of temperate parents, 13 ; children of parents whose habits were not known, 14; children of intemperate parents, 115 ; and intemperate adults, 944 : total of temperate adults, and persons whose habits were not known, and their children, 75 ; and of intemperate adults and their children, 1059. In the county of Cumberland, Pennsylvania, of 50 paupers, 48 were made such by intemperance. And in the county of Oneida, New York, out of 253, 246 were made paupers in the same way. " According to a Report of the superintendents of the Wash- ington county (N. Y.) poor-house, out of 322 persons received intc that house since its establishment, 290 were sent there in conse- quence of their own intemperance, or that of others. " According to a statement made by Col. Hoffman, nineteen twentieths of the inmates of the Montgomery county (N. Y.) poor- house, owe their situation to intemperance." And the superintendent of the Albany alms-house states, that, were it not for the use of strong drink, that establishment would be tenantless. And substantially so it would be throughout this coun- try ; and in proportion as the Temperance Reform has prevailed, alms-houses have become tenantless, and crimes been done away. The solicitor general, at the sitting of the Supreme Court, in the county of Hampden, Massachusetts, remarked, that he found but one indictment for crime in the county of Worcester ; but one in the county of Hampshire ; and but three in the county of Hamp- den ; and that, in all parts of the state, the indictments for crimes had surprisingly diminished within two years. And he could ascribe this change in favor of virtue and good order, to no other cause than the influence of Temperance Societies, and the great 4* 42 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. change, which they had been the means of effecting with regard to the use of strong drink. " The keeper of the Ogdensburg (N. Y.) jail states, that seven eighths of the criminals, and three fourths of the debtors, imprisoned there, are intemperate persons. " Of the first 690 children sent to the New York house of refuge after its establishment, 401 were known to be children of intemperate parents. " In two districts in Upper Canada, 38 out of 44 inquests held by the coroners, were, in cases of death, caused by intemperance. " The keeper of the Ohio penitentiary, in his Report to the Leg- islature of that state, Dec. 1829, says, that, of the 134 prisoners under his care, 36 only claimed to be temperate men. " The sheriff of Washington county, Pa., stated, last year, that, out of 24 committals, 21 were caused by intemperance. " In Litchfield county, Ct., the proportion of criminals who are intemperate, is 35 out of 39." " My belief is," says the chairman of the Committee of the New York State Society, " that this state has saved, during the last year, in the lessened use of ardent spirits, $6,250,000. And it is entirely past all calculation to estimate the great increase of wealth to the state in labor, more usefully and more vigorously applied to every department of industry. And since rum has been dismissed, and the mind has recovered its healthful tone, the Spirit of the Lord has a power, and has been at work, in various parts of this state, in a wonderful manner ; and all appear to agree, now, that the too common use of ardent spirits has been one great cause of apathy on religious subjects." The Committee of the New York State Society estimate the saving, in the cost of spirits alone, at $2,000,000 the last year. "But," they say, "our greatest gains from the Temperance Refor- mation are not to be estimated in dollars. They are manifest in our improved morals, and in the fresh vigor which is infused into every branch of industry. They are manifest in the unexampled prosperity which pervades our state, and which all candid observers agree in ascribing so largely to the arrest of the desolating tide of intemperance. They are manifest, the Christian is sure, in the unprecedented attention to religion in all parts of the state ; for our greatest enemy to the work of the Holy Spirit on the minds of men, is more than half conquered."* Equally conspicuous and salutary is the effect on the health of the community. Said a distinguished physician in Massachusetts, " Since our people have given up the use of ardent spirits, the amount of sickness has been diminished about half. And 1 have * Appendix, K. FOURTH REPORT. 1831. 43 no doubt, should the people of the United States renounce the use of spirituous liquors, nearly half the diseases of the country would be prevented." And said another eminent physician, after forty years' extensive practice and observation, "I have no doubt that half the men, every year, who die of fevers, might recover, had it not been for the use of spirituous liquors. No one but a physician knows how power- fully all inflammatory diseases are increased, even by what is called temperate drinking ; or how fatally the best remedies in the world are counteracted by the same cause. I have seen men who were never intoxicated, down twenty days with a fever, who, had it not been for the use of ardent spirit, probably would not have been confined to the house a day. And I have often seen men stretched on a bed of fever, who, to all human appearance, might be raised up as well as not, were it not for that state of the system, which daily temperate drinking produces ; who now, in spite of all that can be done, sink down and die." And the decrease in the bills of mor- tality, among those who have renounced the use of strong drink, exhibits evidence, that, should this course be adopted by all, the number of deaths annually in the country, would be lessened more than 50,000. And facts, so far as they have been developed, as well as the nature of the case, give reason to believe, that the same amount or moral means, employed for huma.n benefit, would more than double their influence and their benefits over the minds and hearts of men. The special attention which is now manifested to the great interests of the soul, and of eternity, under the influence of the Divine Spirit, in fourteen colleges, and more than five hundred towns, in which the effects of the Temperance Reformation have been most con- spicuous, speaks with a voice that will be heard, and heeded by the friends of God throughout the earth. Men who have given up the waters of death, have, in great num- bers, under the means which God has appointed and blessed for that purpose, passed from death unto life.* Many more have been saved from becoming drunkards, and from the drunkard's grave. From a town of about 2000 inhabitants, a correspondent writes, " We have not a drunkard in the place, except those that were such when our Temperance Society was formed, four years ago. Not a new drunkard has since been made." Yet, had the people of that town continued in the habits which prevailed five years ago, and furnished new drunkards, in proportion to their population, they had made, in four years, not less than 24 new drunkards. And if 24 have been saved from becoming drunkards, among 2000 * Appenbix, h. 44 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. inhabitants, how many may have been saved among 12,000,000? The proportion would be 144,000. But it may be said, that the Temperance Reformation has not prevailed through the country, as it has through that town. This is true. Let us, therefore, take another proportion. In that town are not over 700 members of the Temperance Society; and if 24 have been saved from becoming drunkards, by 700 members of the Temperance Society, and such as act with them, how many have been saved by 300,000, and those who act with them? The proportion would be 10,285. And the Committee know of no reason to believe that this is more than the real number, who, in four years, have been saved from becoming drunkards. And if to these we add the 3,000 who were drunkards, and who now do not use the drunkard's drink, we have 13,285 sober men, who would otherwise have been drunkards. And the prospect of their comfort and usefulness in this life, and their salvation in eternity, is increased, should they continue to abstain, a hundred fold. And let the Temperance Reformation become as general, and as efficacious throughout the country, as it has been in that town, and it might save, in 30 years, 1,080,000 from the drunkard's life, the drunkard's death, and the drunkard's eternity. It might save, also, multitudes of their children, and children's children, through all future ages, from being swept, by that burning current, to "the lake of fire, which is the second death.'' And $10,000 a year, judiciously applied, and attended, as past efforts have been, by the blessing of the Most High, might render the temperance efforts as efficacious, throughout our country, as they have been in that town. In what way, then, the Committee would ask again, can that amount of property be annually expended to greater advantage to the temporal and eternal interests of men ? 3000 drunkards already reclaimed ; 10,285 sober men kept from becoming drunkards; 1,200,000 abstaining from the drunkard's drink, 50,000 of whom, had they continued to use it, might have become drunkards ; and as many more of their children in eve- ry future generation; the quantity used by 11,000,000 more greatly diminished, and the pauperism, crimes, sickness, insanity and death diminished in proportion ; one of the mightiest obstruc- tions to the efficacy of the gospel and all the means of grace re- moved, and those means rendered proportionably more efficacious, in the moral and spiritual illumination and purification of men ; — and all for how much? $20,000; which, if divided among the drunkards reclaimed and the sober men, who in five years have been saved from becoming drunkards, would amount to $1,50 to a man ; or, if divided among the 1,200,000, who abstain from the use of ardent spirit, would be less than two cents to an individual ; while FOURTH REPORT. 1831. 45 the loss to the country by desertions from the army, of the men who used strong drink, was, in the same space of time, more than $50 to a man : or more than $342,188, exclusive of the expenses of the courts-martial to try them. Is it not cheaper, then, to induce men to renounce the use of strong drink, than it is to furnish it, and then take care of them ? Facts justify the belief, that should 100 men give 100 dollars annually to promote this cause, they may be instrumental in annually saving ten thousand lives, and ten million dollars ; and may exert an influence in the highest degree salutary to the social, civil, and religious interests of men ; which shall be felt in its effects to all future generations, and shall tell, in accents of glory, upon the destinies of millions to eternity. In one town in Maine, containing a population of about 1000, a Temperaice Society was formed about four years ago. Before the formation of that Society, the quantity of ardent spirit sold was 10,000 gal.ons a year ; and there were 17 retailers licensed to sell it. Now, there are none ; and not more than 200 gallons are used in the town. Before, there were 53 drunkards ; and now, there are but 29. 24 have ceased to use strong drink, and are at present completely reformed. Should an equal number, in proportion to the papulation throughout the United States, be induced to adopt the same course, which, by the use of suitable means, maybe done, it would amount to 288,000. Yes, 288,000, who are now drunk- ards, ma/ be led to abandon the use of that which intoxicates, and who, should they continue to abstain, will have been saved from an awful and overwhelming ruin. But D accomplish this, means must be used. Men must not be licenced to poison and destroy their fellow men. No sober man, especially no professed Christian, must be willing, for the sake of money, thus to become accessory to their temporal and eternal ruin. If they are, numbers, who refrain for a time, will afterwards go back and perish ; and the guilt of blood will rest on them. " Not an individual," writes a correspondent from a town in Massachusetts, " who was an habitual drunkard when our Temper- ance Society was organized, has been permanently reformed. Num- bers broke off the use of ardent spirit, for a time, and some even joined the Temperance Society. But they have all gone back, every one." What was the reason ? Some, who were not drunkards, and some, too, who professed to be good men, and who had covenanted, before Heaven and earth, to do good, and good only, as they had opportunity, to all men, for a mere pittance of that which will per- ish with the using, if it does not eat the soul like fire, would furnish these men with the drunkard's drink ; and thus, knowingly, become accessory to the drunkard's ruin. 46 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETJT. From a town in Connecticut a gentleman states, " We succeeded m forming a large Temperance Society. Several of the drunkards ceased to use spirituous liquors. They appeared like new men, andr oh ! their families appeared to be in a new world. The change was wonderful. But they have, almost all, gone back. And we cannot help it, so long as one of our deacons will sell rum. They say, ' If it is not wrong for the deacon to seil it, it is not wrong for us to buy it. He thinks that a little does good, and so do we.' And thus they go down to ruin. And, oh ! their families, their wretched families ! but we cannot help them, so long as the deacon will sell rum." No ; if deacons, and church members, and sober men, will con- tinue, for the sake of money, to sell rum, and make drunkards, and thus become their tempters and destroyers, good men, and the friends of humanity, cannot help it. Nor can they, but to a small extent, furnish relief to their wretched families. Though they go with an angel's kindness and with an angel's freeness pour it out upon them — the deacon, or the church member, or some other retailer of pauperism, crime, sickness, insanity and death, for 25 cents will throw that whole family, for days, into all the agonies, the heart-rending, heart-breaking agonies, of having a drunken and an infuriated maniac for a husband and a father. Yes, for 25 cents, he will hear the scream of the children, and see them run away find hide, and hear the groans of her who cannot get away ; and though she comes, when the storm is over, and beseeclies him, with tears, not 10 sell her husband the madman's poison, lor she and her children — and her tongue falters as she says children — cannot endure it ; yet, for 25 cents, he will sell it yet agiin and again, — till, as was the case in one instance, the h' riband md the Hither went home from the deacon's store, and, under the influence of what the deacon had given him, murdered bis wife. S e will never again beseech him, for her children's sake, and the Savior's sake, not to sell her husband rum. No ; she will not complain, nor will she beseech him any more. But his own children may do both. One of them, on hearing of this murder, and the circum- stances, said, " Father, do you not think, that, in the day ol judg- ment, you will have to answrer for that murder ?" And must not conscience, when awakened, echo, " Murder ! — Murder .'" Why ? Did he murder that woman ? No ; but he gave her husband that which excited him to do it ; when he knew, from the testimony of judges and jurists, that it caused more than three fourths of all the murders in the United States. And why did he do it? For money. How much ? A sum so great that a man could not with- stand it? No; for less than 25 cents. Yes, for less than 25 cents those children were made orphans ; and their father, when our agent passed through that part of the country, was in prison to 0© FOURTH REPORT. 1831. 47 tried for his life, for murdering their mother. And all his excuse was, he was excited to do it by what he received from the deacon No wonder his child should beseech him to give up the traffic, and warn him, with tears, that, if he did not do it, he would be, at the day of judgment, stained with the guilt of blood. It rs an established principle of law, for the violation of which men have been hanged, that the accessory and the principal, in the commission of crime, are both guilty. If this principle is correct, and applies to divine as well as human law, and the drunkard cannot enter heaven, what will be the condition of him who is accessory to the making of drunkards ? who furnishes the materials, and, for the sake of gain, sends them out, to all who will purchase them, when he knows the nature and effects of this em- ployment ? Can he enter heaven ? The Committee do not ask these questions concerning those who were engaged in this traffic when its nature and effects were not known, and when it was supposed to be consistent with the Chris- tian religion ; but only concerning those, who, since its nature and consequences are known, and known to be ruinous to the temporal and eternal interests of men, still continue it. And they do not make such inquiries concerning them, but with the kindest feelings, both toward them and the community. But when it is known that more than two murders in a week, upon an average, are committed in the United States, through the influence of ardent spirit, and that more than 500 persons in a week are killed by the use of it, they cannot but present this sub- ject, kindly and plainly, to the consideration of all sober men. Said a man, who, in those days of ignorance which have now gone by, was engaged in this traffic, " I have no more doubt that I have killed a hundred men, than if I had taken a gun and shot them, and saw every one of them fall dead at my feet." Said another merchant, as he read a temperance tract, which our Secretary handed him, — and the tears rolled plentifully down his cheeks, — " I never thought of it. I have been selling ardent spirit for many years. I don't know about this making drunkards. I am pretty much like the hearers of Paul, almost persuaded f* meaning that he was almost persuaded to abandon the traffic as an immoral, and a wicked, destructive business. He went to a tem- perance meeting — the first he had ever attended — and then to another ; and said he, " It is now settled. I will never purchase any more ardent spirit to sell. I could make several hundred dollars a year by the sale of it ; but what would that be ? Should I continue to scatter the estates of my neighbors, make wives widows, and children orphans, I should expect my own children would become orphans, and their wives be widows v as God visits the iniquities of the fathers upon the children iO the third and 48 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. fourth generation.* If you will take some money, and send me s parcel of those little books — I know ail the merchants for a hundred miles up the river — they have, many of them, purchased their rum of me, — I will take a journey, and get them to give up the traffic.'* The little books have been sent to him, and the result of his labors eternity will disclose. As he was returning from the temperance meeting, he met one of his old customers, who had come nearly a hundred miles to purchase goods, of which rum had always formed a part. And he said to him, who had also been at the temperance meeting, " What do you think of it ?" " What !"' said he ; "I think that the man who will continue to sell rum, is worse than a drunkard. The drunkard kills himself, and ruins his family ; but the man who sells rum, makes drunkards by hundreds. And though I intended, when I left home, to buy it, I have concluded to purchase the rest of my goods, and leave the rum behind." And why should he not leave it behind ? Is it not certain that the injury which the use of it would occasion to others, would be greater than the benefit of the avails to him ? And has any one a right to benefit himself by the destruction of his fellow men ? There is a great principle of the divine government, which is brought to view in the Scriptures, and which applies strongly to this case. If an Israelite had a beast which was dangerous, but the owner did not know it, and that beast killed a man, the beast, by divine direction, must be slain ; his flesh must not be eaten ; the owner must lose the whole, as a testimony to the sacredness of human life; and as a warning to all, not to do any tiling, or connive at any thing, which should lend to destroy it. But as the owner did not know that his beast was dangerous, he was not otherwise to be punished. But if it had been testified to the owner, that the beast was dan- gerous, and he did not keep him in, but suffered him to go abroad, and he killed a man, both the beast and his owner were, by God's- direction, to be put to death. The man was held responsible for the mischief which the beast might do. Although we are not required, or permitted, now, to execute this law, as they were when God himself was Judge, yet the reason of this law remains. It is founded in justice, is eternal, and the spirit of it will be enforced at the divine tribunal. There was a time when the dangerous and destructive qualities of ardent spirits were not generally known to the owners. Though they killed hundreds and thousands, the owners would not, by the above rule, be held responsible. But now they are known. Phy- sicians of the first eminence, and in great numbers, with a unanimity almost unparalleled, have testified that ardent spirit is dangerous and destructive ; that men in health cannot use it without injury ; • Appendix, M. FOURTH REPORT.—- 1831, 49 that it induces and aggravates disease, impairs reason, and shortens life, and that multitudes are killed by it every year.* Jurists, too, of distinguished character, and judges, in great num- bers, have testified, that this liquor occasions a great majority of all the crimes which are committed. One says, " Of eleven mur- ders committed, all, except one, were occasioned by strong drink." Another says, " Of eleven murders committed, all were occasioned by intemperance." Another says, " Of twenty murders examined by me, all were occasioned by spirituous liquors." And another says, " Of more than two hundred murders committed in the United States in a year, nearly all have their origin in drinking." These facts, and many others, which might be multiplied to an almost indefinite extent, are now known ; and they are known to the owners of ardent spirit. It is known, too, that hundreds of thousands have ceased to use this liquor, and that their health and comfort, and those of their families, have been greatly improved ; that the amount and severity of sickness have lessened, and the number of paupers, crimes and deaths been diminished. It is known that, while men continue to use this liquor, intemperance can never be prevented, and its evils never be done away. It is known, too, that it tends, when used even moderately, to hinder the efficacy of the gospel and prevent the salvation of men, and thus to ruin them, not for time only, but for eternity. All this is known, and known to the owners of ardent spirit. And if they, notwith- standing this, not only suffer it to go abroad, but sell it to all who will buy ; send it out, and spread it through the community ; let them know, let it be told, and let it echo through creation, that they, by Jehovah, will be held responsible, at his tribunal, for its effects. To the pauperism, crimes, and wretchedness, the sickness, insanity, and deaths, which it occasions, and to the ruin, temporal and eter- nal, they are knowingly and voluntarily accessory. And of all the obstructions which the friends of temperance now meet with, which stand in the way, and hinder the progress of that mighty movement which God has awakened, and which takes hold on the destinies of unborn millions for eternity, these men, — yes, the men who traffic in ardent spirit, — present the greatest. And if this movement is ever to stop, and that deluge of fire again roll, unobstructed, through the length and breadth of this land, scorching and withering, consuming and annihilating, all that is fair, and lovely, and excellent, and glorious in possession and in prospect, these men — the men who continue to traffic in ardent spirit — are to bear a vast and ever-growing portion of the odium, the guilt, and the retribution, of this tremendous ruin. They not only sin them- selves, but they tempt others to sin. They stand at the fountain of death, and open streams which may roll onwards, after they are dead, and sweep multitudes to the world of wo. 5 * Appendix, N. 50 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. But we do not believe, and we shall not admit, till we behold it, mat this mighty movement, which God has commenced, and hith- erto carried forward with a rapidity, and to an extent, altogether unexampled in the history of man, and which is now spoken of, in both hemispheres, as one of the wonders of the world, is ever to stop, till the use of ardent spirit, and the traffic in it, as an article of luxury or diet, is abandoned by every good man in our country. We cannot believe, that any good man, or any man that expects to render an account for the influence which he exerts on the world, when he sees what he is doing, will consent, for the sake of money, to be actively instrumental in destroying the bodies and souls of men. We cannot believe that, for the sake of money, good men will consent, when they know what they do, to deal out the cause of pauperism and crime, sickness, insanity and death ; to raise a barrier against the influences of the Holy Spirit, and help the great adversary to people the world of wo. Even should human governments continue to license such a business, we cannot believe that good men, or any men who regard the welfare of their fellow men, will continue to consent to take out such a license, or to use it, for all the wealth of the world. That light and love which have already led more than 1,000,000 to give up the use of ardent spirit, and more than 3000, who were engaged in the traffic, to renounce it, will, we trust, if kindly, universally and perseveringly diffused, and attended, as they have been, by the mighty power of Him who worketh all in all, lead all good men to do the same. More than 1000 distilleries have already been stopped ; and the owners of many would not again open them for the wealth of cre- ation. In one town, in which were 16 of these fountains of death, there are now but 3 ; and those, it is believed, furnish a less quantity of the poison, destroy a less number of lives, and ruin fewer souls than they did when the whole were in operation. One brass-founder states, that he has bought 30 stills, and sold but one In many towns, this destroyer is not even sold. Among more than 100,000 people, none, except keepers of public houses, have license to sell it; and from more than 100 public houses it is excluded. The owners will not consent, for the sake of money, to poison even the traveler ; and he finds, often to his amazement, that he can be received cheerfully, treated politely, and refreshed abundantly, by those who furnish nothing adapted to destroy him. And why, should these and similar facts be made known to all, and the Holy Spirit incline them to do their duty, may we not expect this to be the case, throughout our land, and throughout the world. Many churches, now, do not believe that any man among them, while he continues, for the sake of money, to ruin his fellow men, by furnishing them with ardent spirit, can give credible evidence that he is a good man. And why, should the true light continue to FOURTH REPORT. 1831. 51 shine, and become universal, must not this be the conviction of all. Some churches have expressed this by vote, and dius assisted to awaken public attention, and correct public sentiment, on this sub- ject. Others, that act upon it, do not think it needful *.o express by vote their conviction, that the man, among them, who does this, cannot give credible evidence that he is a good man, any more than they do, that the man who keeps a gambling house, a house of ill fame, or who engages in the slave-trade, cannot, while he continues this, give credible evidence that he is a good man. The thing speaks for ilsdf. It is, in their view, an immorality ; and they treat it as an immorality. During the past year, a number of publications, on this subject, have been issued from the press. A. benevolent individual offered a premium of $'250 for the best essay on the following questions, viz. : — " Is it consistent with a profession of the Christian religion, for persons to use, as an article of luxury or of living, distilled liquors, or to traffic in them'? And, is it consistent with duty for the churches of Christ to admit those as members who continue to do this ?" More than 40 manuscripts were presented ; and some from most of the Northern and Middle States. Only one attempted to sup- port the affirmative of the above questions. The one to which the premium was awarded, wras written by Rev. Moses Stuart, Associate Professor of Sacred Literature, in the Theological Seminary, Andover, Massachusetts. It has since been published. Two others on the same subject, one by Rev. Austin Dickinson of New York, and one by Rev. Joseph Harvey of Connecticut, have also been published ; and they are all now receiving an extensive circu- lation. Others, it is expected, will soon be published ; and it is hoped that the attention of all philanthropists and Christians will be di- rected to this subject, till no professed friend of God or man shall be found engaged in this nefarious traffic in our land.* Then will the light of the moon be as the light of the sun, the light of the sun be seven fold, and the light of truth and love, beaming with celes- tial radiance, will eclipse them. Nor will its benign and heavenly influence be confined to this country ; but will shine with equal, and perhaps with greater bright- ness, on the inhabitants of other lands. In Ireland, and Scotland, and England, the cause is extending with a rapidity which aston- ishes even its most active promoters. The British government has ceased to furnish ardent spirit, or wine, to their armies throughout the provinces ; and allow a penny a day, as a substitute, to every soldier. The Chancellor of the Exchequer, in a debate on petitions from the friends of temperance, declared, in Parliament, that, so far from government desiring to promote the consumption of *Appexdix, O. 52 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. spirits, they would rather see the people refrain from them alto- gether.* From Switzerland application has been made for our Constitu- tion, Reports, and all the temperance publications of this country. The Secretary of the Royal Patriotic Society of Sweden, in a letter dated Stockholm, 28th of May, 1830, says, "By foreign journals received here, it appears that Temperance Societies have been formed in the Free States of North America. The results ob- tained by those Societies, if the accounts we have received be not exaggerated, are so surprising, that they have attracted the particu- lar notice of the Royal Swedish Patriotic Society, and created a desire of becoming acquainted with their organization and mode of proceeding. It is for this purpose that, in my capacity of Secre- tary of the said Society, I have to solicit your procuring and com- municating all the information in your power to obtain respect- ing the North American Temperance Societies, which, it is said, publish a Journal, giving an account of their proceedings and pro- gressive attainments. Should this publication contain information applicable to other nations, as well as America, sufficiently inter- esting to be subscribed for by the Royal Society, you will oblige us by sending what has been published, the expense of which shall be satisfied." The Journal of Humanity, and various other temperance publica- tions, have been sent to the Royal Patriotic Society ; and from later communications, it appears that Temperance Societies have already been formed at Stockholm, Gottenburgh and Tonkioping, are ex- erting a powerful influence, and, it is expected, will extend through the country. They have also been formed in great numbers, and are now exerting a mighty influence, in the islands of the South Sea. Nu- merous villages, whose inhabitants, a few years ago, were, as a body, for days, intoxicated together, have now not an individual in them who uses any thing that intoxicates. The traffic is denounced as immoral, and prohibited under severe penalties, by the government. For selling a single bottle of rum, a man was fined $200, because the sale of this poison tended so strongly to ruin his fellow men. And may we not hope, that the time is approaching, when the traffic will be viewed and treated as a notorious and destructive immorality, over the whole earth. In the island of Oahu is a Society of more than 1000 mem- bers, all of whom engage not to use or to traffic in ardent spirits, or in any way to furnish them for the use of others. Measures have also been taken to form Temperance Societies in Africa ; and there is reason to expect, that their influence will soon be felt in every country on the globe ; that, wherever the gospel •Appendix, P. FOURTH REPORT. 1831. 53 goes, and exerts its legitimate influence over the mind of man, ab- stinence from ail which intoxicates, and thus wars against the soul, will be its sure and invariable attendant. The Hottentot and the Hindoo, the Greenlander and Tahitian, will unite with the inhabitants of the Emerald Isle, the Caledonian, European, Asiatic, African and American of every name, in ceasing to do evil. Then, under the means of God's appointment, will they learn to do well. The word of the Lord, unobstructed, will run very swiftly; and, pouring with double energy its mighty, all-pervading influence upon the whole mass of minds, will be like the rain and the snow that come down from heaven, and water the earth, and cause it to bring forth and bud. The frost and the snows of six thousand winters will be forever dissolved ; and the spring-time of millennial beauty, and the autumnal fruit of millennial glory, open upon the world. But, in order to this, a number of things must be avoided ; and a number of other things must be done. 1. Men must not adopt the opinion, that the Temperance Refor- mation is already accomplished ; or that it is so far accomplished, that it will go forward of itself ; or that any one may now be excused from great and persevering efforts. There is a tendency with many to conclude that the work is already accomplished ; or that so much is done, that it will now go forward to its completion of itself; and that its friends may be excused from further effort. But as well might a man who had undertaken to sail around the globe, and had gone a few miles with a prosperous gale, conclude that the voyage was accomplished, or that so much was accomplished, and he was now going so finely, that wind, and tide, and gravitation would of themselves accomplish the work, and that he might be excused from further effort, as for a man to adopt this opinion with regard to the Temperance Reformation. It is the very opinion which the drunkard, who means to continue such, propagates ; and, so far as it prevails, it is fata!. The work is not accomplished till there is not a drunkard in our land ; and not a sober man, much less a Christian, to make his children drunkards. The work accomplished ! In the city of Boston, with only about 60,000 inhabitants, there were, the last year, 690 persons licensed by the government to sell this poison.* If each has only 10 customers a day, it would make 6,900 who daily use it. And if each spends only 10 cents a day, it would amount to $251,950 a year. In the four cities of Boston, New York, Philadelphia, and Bal- timore, containing only about 500,000 inhabitants, more than 6,000 persons are licensed by the government to sell ardent spirit, and thus to be accessory to the ruin of their fellow men. If they have * More than 1 to every 22 men, over 21 years of age, make it their business to induce men to buy. 5* §4 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. tiaily 10 customers each, and they each spend foi this poison only 10 cents, it would he more than $6,000 a day, or more than $2,196,000 a year. More than 6,000 men — more than one in 20 of all the men over 21 years of age — are, for a little money, licensed to carry on a trade which is proved, by a vast accumulation of facts, to be among the greatest curses which have come upon the human family ; which lias caused a loss to the people of the United States of more than $90,000,000 a year; and brought down more than 30,000 persons to an untimely grave. And this is continued, after it is proved, by the experience of more than a million of persons, that men1; in all kinds of business, are better without the use of it ; and those who profess to be good men are furnishing it to all who will purchase, and thus assisting to perpetuate this mighty ruin down to the end of the world. No ; the work is not done ! It is only begun. Enough has been done to show that it is practicable ; that it o*ght to be done ; and, if temperate men and women do their duty, it will be done. But, in the language of a distinguished civilian, " Every thing, now, with regard to temperance, turns on perseverance." Its friends have adopted the right plan, — kind moral influence, the influence of facts, brought home to the bosoms of the people, and enforced by their responsibilities to God ; and the retribution, not of time only, but eternity. " 1 have just returned," said the man referred to, " from a long journey ; and I did not suppose, two years ago, that it was in the power of all the world to produce the change, with regard to the use of strong drink, which I have witnessed on this journey. And I am now perfectly satisfied, that, if we hold on, the cause will be triumphant. But every thing turns on perse- verance." So say the facts. Wherever sober men do their duty, the cause advances. With opposition, or without it, the cause advances. The efforts of friends and foes seem to help it onward. But where sober men adopt the opinion, that they have done enough, that the work is accomplished ; or that so much is done, that it will now go forward of itself; or that others will carry it on without them, — the cause recedes, death advances, and extending destruction follows. 2. Men must not be afraid or ashamed to adopt the plan of entire abstinence from the use of ardent spirit, and from all instrumentality in the furnishing of it for the use of others. Nor must diey refuse to let this be known, and to unite with others, in making vigorous and persevering efforts, till all are persuaded to do the same. And one of the most unexceptionable and efficacious modes of doing this, is, by united and visible example, embodied and ex- hibited in the formation, and active, persevering operation of Tem- perance Societies ; composed of all, both male and female, who do not use ardent spirit. FOURTH REPORT. 183). 55 Some are ready to say, "Why should we unite with others? If we only abstain, that is enough." And others contend, that they can do more good by not uniting in any Society ; and ask, " What is the benefit of Temperance Societies ?" When our fathers and mothers could not drink tea without hs coming with a little paltry tax upon it, which would endanger the welfare of their children, the men of '70, and the women too, said, " We will not use it." Total abstinence was the doctrine which went, like an electric shock, through the land. And not only so, but they said that they would agree together not to buy, sell, or use the detestable thing.* They did. The effect was felt across the Atlantic. It is felt throughout this land, down to this day. It will be felt in every land, to the end of time. What was the benefit of that visible organized union ? Union is strength. And organized, visible union, is consolidated, permanent, ever-growing strength. When armies of oppression were poured in to desolate our coun- try, had our fathers said, " We will abstain from it ; we will not fight in their armies; nor will we have any visible, organized union among ourselves to oppose them, but will act single-handed, each one in his own way ;" they had taken the very course which their enemies had wished. No drunkards advocate the formation and active operation of Temperance Societies. And from this fact, the friends of temperance ought to learn much. Twenty men, united by visible agreement, will ordinarily exert greater moral in- fluence on the community, than a hundred men, with no visible organized union. And of all the means which God has blessed, to carry forward this great work, Temperance Societies are among the most efficacious. The Committee, therefore, cannot look upon the efforts of the chancellor of the state of New York, and his associates, for the formation of a Temperance Society, in each school district of the greatest state in the Union, but with peculiar delight. Tem- perance Societies in 9063 schools, embracing 500,000 children, will exert an influence that will be felt round the globe, and will tell on the destinies of men to endless ages. Some, who are afraid, and have reason to be, of a sound moral influence, may apprehend danger from such combinations ; but the Committee can see in them only unmingled benefits. And, should they be- come universal throughout our country, our country will be saved. Three millions of children, abstaining from that fleshly lust, which wars against the body and the soul, and against all the social, civil, and religious interests of men ; and educated, as they may be, and brought, through grace, under the influence of that " law which is perfect, converting the soul, sure, making wise the simple, and which is true and righteous altogether," — can never be enslav- * Appendix, Q. 56 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. ed : nor can they submit to the degradation of making efforts for the enslaving of others. That spirit which cries, " Glory to God in the highest," breathes, "good will to men." Its motto is, "As ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them." It will never enslave, nor be enslaved. The Son of God makes it free, and it must be free indeed. Some refuse to join a Temperance Society, because, they say, "We are temperate already." But should a patriot refuse to join with others for the defence of his country, and give as a reason, " 1 am a patriot already," he would cause his patriotism to be some- thing more than suspected. Should a man in apparent health refuse to unfte with others to drain off a stagnant pond, that was filling a city with pestilence, and give as a reason, that he was in health already, he would give sad evidence that his heart, if not his head, was disordered. Were a conflagration raging in a city, and should a man refuse to unite with others to extinguish the flames because his own house was not on fire, he would be likely to excite little sympathy should his house be burnt. Temperance Societies are designed for temperate men. Their object is, to keep all sober, who are so now ; till alt drunkards, who will not reform, are dead, and the world is free. No persons will do good, in Temperance Societies, except those who do not use ardent spirit, and who do not furnish it for the use of others. The fact, therefore, that a man entirely abstains himself, and is in no way accessory to the use of ardent spirit by others, instead of being a reason why he should not, is the very reason why he should join a Temperance Society. No other men will show by practice the utility of this course, which must be adopted by all men, or intem- perance will never be done away. On the other hand, let men cease to use that which intoxicates, and the evil will vanish. And the way to accomplish this, is, to show, by visible, united example, the practicability and utility of this course. And to do this is the object of Temperance Societies. And no man can join then), and act perseveringly, in accordance with their spirit, without doing ex- tensive good to his fellow men. And let all sober men do this, and Providence will do the rest. Intemperance and all its abominations will be speedily done away. If new drunkards are not made, in one generation, and that a short one, you may seek them, but you cannot find them ; they will have gone to their own piace, and the earth be eased of its burden. 3. Men who understand the nature and effects of ardent spirit, and who, with a knowledge of the subject, enter upon, or continue in, the business of furnishing this poison, as an article of luxury or diet, to all who will purchase, and thus assist in perpetuating drunkenness, and all its abominations, must be viewed and treated FOURTH REPORT. 1831. 57 as sharers in the drunkard's guilt, and as ripening to be partakers of the drunkard's plagues. For, in the language of the Committee of the New York State Temperance Society, who, by their labors in this cause, are rendering themselves the benefactors of the world, " Disguise that business as they will, it is still, in its true character, the business of destroying the bodies and souls of men. The vend- er and the maker of spirits, in the whole range of them, from the pettiest grocer to the most extensive distiller, are fairly chargeable not only with supplying the appetite for spirits, but with creating that unnatural appetite ; not only with supplying the drunkard with the fuel of his vices, but with making the drunkard. " In reference to the taxes with which the making and vending of spirits loads the community, how unfair towards others is the occupation of the maker and vender of them ! A town, for instance, contains one hundred drunkards. The profit of making these drunkards, is enjoyed by some half a dozen persons. But the burden of these drunkards rests upon the whole town. The Executive Committee do not suggest that there should be such a law ; but they ask whether there would be one law in the whole statute-book, more righteous than that which should require those who have the profit of making our drunkards to be burdened with the support of them." Suppose that half the persons in a town use no intoxicating liquors, and do not furnish them for the use of others, and are not accessory, by example or business, to the making of drunkards ; how exceedingly unjust and oppressive, that they should be taxed for the support of them ! — that men should be licensed to tempt their children to become drunkards ; to excite them to the com- mission of crimes ; and, for the sake of gain, without benefit, and greatly to the injury of the community, increase the danger of their temporal and eternal ruin ! What can be more just, than that the men who cause such evils, should themselves bear the burden of them ? And should the men who sell ardent spirit have to bear not only the burden of supporting all the paupers which they make, but to bear the loss of property, the loss of character, the loss of reputation and domestic comfort which they occasion ; and to bear also the loss of health, the loss of reason, the loss of life, and the loss of soul, to which they are knowingly and voluntarily instrumental ; and all this, in righteousness, as a punishment for being accessory to the bringing of these evils upon others ; — would they not find their burden to be inexpressibly great ? and be ready, like another, when punished justly, to cry, " My punishment is greater than I can bear ?" And if the killing of one man justly brought upon its author such fearful and overwhelming retribution, who can bear the indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish, of continuing to 58 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. be knowingly and voluntarily accessory to the killing of those hun- dreds of thousands who are brought to an untimely grave by ardent spirit ? And as the authors and accessories of this mighty ruin live under a righteous moral government, by which every thing that is now covered will ere long be revealed, and which will render to every man according to his work, — does not humanity, patriotism, conscience, religion, and every thing dear for this life, and the life to come, urge them, without delay, whatever it may cost them, to abandon this work of death forever? " But," says one, " if I do not sell ardent spirit, I must change my business." If so, the Committee would say, Change your bu- siness ; or it may have been better for you never to have been born. You are required to change it, by your own good and that of others ; by that law which requires you supremely to regard God, and to do good, and good only, as you have opportunity, to all men. "But," says another, " if I should do this, I could not support my family." But it would be a libel on the character of God to suppose, that men cannot live under his government, and support their families, without continuing to be, knowingly and voluntarily, accessory to the ruin of their fellow men. Nine tenths of all the families in this country are supported by other kinds of business ; and it is not true that the other tenth cannot be supported. " But, if I do not sell, other people will." It may be true, that other people will traffic in human flesh and blood, if you do not^ that they will steal, rob, and commit murder, if you do not. But that will not lessen the intensity and awfulness of your retribution, if you do. No more will it, if you continue knowingly, by the sale of ardent spirit, to ruin your fellow men. You may be prevented,, by this, from seeing its criminality, but you will not be prevented from feeling its retribution. This you cannot escape, but by aban- doning the business, and using all suitable means to lead all others to do the same. Do this, and you escape the guilt of its continuance, and others escape its woes. You dry up, so far as you are concerned, the grand source of pauperism, crime, and wretchedness ; diminish exceedingly the sickness, insanity and death ; remove one of the greatest dangers, to which our social, civil and religious institutions are exposed ; and one of the mightiest obstructions to the efficacy of the gospel, and all the means of grace ; you remove that which, with thousands and millions, now hinders the influence of that overflowing kindness which God has opened upon a guilty world through a Savior ; and which, if not obstructed and resisted, would illuminate and purify, cheer, bless and save, from the rising of the sun to the going down of the same, with a holy and an everlasting salvation. APPENDIX. A. (p. 1.) When treated of by medical writers, and arranged according to its effects on the human body, distilled spirit is placed in the same class, and considered under the same relations, with henbane, deadly night-shade, tobacco, hemlock, opium, and various Other poisons ; and, in another point of view, as exerting an influence on the human system similar to the continued action of the contagion of the plague, typhus fever, and small-pox. Discovered at first by a Mohammedan alchemist, while torturing the wholesome gifts 6f a beneficent Creator, in search of a universal solvent, by which to extract gold from its hidden recesses, and minutest state of division, distilled spirit continued, for centuries, to be employed in their myste- rious, and, in general, vain inventions ; and it was not till more than fifty centuries of the world's history had passed away, that the un- happy ingenuity of a Spanish physician, first suggested its use as a remedy in disease ; nor till several centuries afterwards, that the popular taste established it as a remedy in health. How literally it has since, in innumerable instances, in this latter character, realized the Italian epitaph, " I was well ; 1 would be better ; and here I am!" (Glas. Temp. Record, vol. i. p. 18.) Till the reign of William and Mary, ale had been the common beverage of the laboring classes in England. But no sooner was ardent spirit ingrafted in their habits by an act for the encourage- ment of distillation, than its employment became so excessive as to call for legislative interference; and it was not till 1751, that the measures of the government were successful, in bringing back the consumption of ale to its original quantity ; before which, according to Smollet, " such a shameful degree of profligacy prevailed, that the retailers of this poisonous compound (gin) set up painted boards in public, inviting the people to be drunk for the small expense of a penny ; assuring them that they might be dead drunk for twopence, and have straw to lie on till they recovered, fornoth- ing." From this time till the removal of the restrictions on the sale of gin, in 1827, beer continued to be again the favorite drink of the English workmen ; but immediately on the nation being again,- 64 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. the second time, exposed, with all its ale-quaffing habits, to the light, diffusive,, and agreeable stimulus of distilled spirit, it fell ; — the thirst for the new liquor spreading with the rapidity of lightning, and its consumption increasing, in two years, twelve millions ol gallons. (Do. vol. ii. p. 4.) Distilled spirits began to be prepared on the continent of Europe, on a large scale, in the commencement, and was first introduced into this country in the latter end, of the 16th century; and in the comparatively short period which has elapsed since, its consump- tion has extended in the United Kingdom, to about 40,000,000 gallons per annum. The earliest notice of its application to the purposes of ordinary life, which we have seen, is its exhibition, as a supposed preservative from cold and damp, to the laborers in the Hungarian mines ; and Cambden mentions it as having been adopt- ed in 1581, for the first time, as a cordial, by the English soldiers engaged in assisting the Dutch in the Netherlands. And from this little cloud, no bigger than a man's hand, has been evolved the mighty mass, which is now suspended over our country, and pouring its fiery streams into all the currents of public and domestic intercourse. (Do. p. 50.) It was not till the end of the 13th century, that spirits of wine, impregnated with certain herbs, was introduced into use as a reme- dy in the treatment of disease. The first ardent spirit known in Europe was made from grapes, and sold as a medicine both in Italy and Spain. The Genoese afterwards prepared it from grain T and sold it in small bottles, at a very high price, under the name of aqua vita, or the ivater of life. Down to the 16th century, it continued to be kept exclusively by the apothecary, and its use restricted to medicine. (Jour, of Hum. vol. ii. p. 145.) It appears, however, that as early as the reign of Henry VIII., a liquor termed aqua vita, supposed to have been brandy, was known in Ireland ; it being decreed by that monarch, that there be but one maker of aqua viice in any borough or town. In 1556, an act of parliament was passed at Drogheda, against distilling it at all; it being described, in the language of the act, as "a drink nothing profitable to be daily drunken and used." (Do. p. 149.) B. (p. 2.) Of 286 persons in the Lunatic Asylum in Dublin, 1 15 were known to have been deprived of reason by intemperance, and there is reason to believe that this was the case also with many others* FOURTH REPORT.— 1831. — 'APPENDIX. 65 In four years, from 1826 to 1829 inclusive, 495 patients were admitted into the Liverpool Lunatic Asylum ; and 257 of them were known to have brought on their derangement by drinking : and this was supposed to have been the case with many others. A distinguished medical gentleman, who has had extensive expe- rience with regard to this malady, states, that more than one half, and probably three fourths, of all the cases of insanity winch have come under his notice, were occasioned by excessive drinking. In the Pauper Lunatic Asylum in Middlesex, the number of patients increased in one year from 825 to between 1100 and 1200; and principally by an increase of the use of gin. [Jour. Hum. p. 105.) " The comparative sobriety of the French nation is familiar to every one ; and Dr. Esquirol states the proportion of the insane from inebriety, at one of the asylums in Paris, to amount only to about one thirteenth of the whole ; while Dr. Crawford, of the Richmond Lunatic Asylum of Dublin, reports the proportion of the same description of patients throughout Ireland to be as high as one half of the total insane. The prodigious increase of insanity in Great Britain — amounting, according to Sir Arthur Haliday, to two thirds within the last twenty years — may, with great justice, be ascribed, in some degree, to the more general use of spirituous liquors within that period ; and this view receives much confirma- tion from the melancholy fact, that in Scotland the proportion is higher than in either England or Wales. In England, it is said to amount only to about one insane person in every 1000 of the popu- lation ; in Wales, to one in every 800 ; and in Scotland, to one in every 574." {Tcrrvp. Rec. No. 2. vol. i. p. 20.) And why should this not be the case ? " What," says Dr. Kirk, " is the nature of ardent spirits ? All of them contain, as their basis, alcohol — a narcotic stimulant, possessing properties of the kind that opium does ; which you know to be a poison, — with this addi- tion, that it is more immediately irritating to the tissues of the body to which it is applied, than opium is. It mixes with the food and juices of the stomach, and in the act, time after time, injures the coats of that organ. It mixes with the chyle, which is to form part of the mass of blood, and is carried with it into the circulation — courses through every vessel, and is exhaled at every pore. You feel it pollute the respiration of the drunkard, when he blows his nauseous breath upon you. The liquor has been absorbed into the blood, is circulating through the lungs at every respiration, is exhaled from the numerous vessels containing the circulating blood of these organs. The vessels of the brain, as well as other parts, are loaded with it. I dissected a man who died in a state of in- toxication after a debauch. The operation was performed a few hours after death. In two of the cavities of the brain, the lateral ventricles, was found the usual quantity of limpid fluid. When 6 66 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. we smelt it, the odor of whiskey was distinctly visible ; and when we applied the candle to a portion in a spoon, it actually burned blue — the lambent blue flame, characteristic of the poison, playing on the surface of the spoon for some seconds." (Dr. Kirk's Address to the Leven Temperance Society, p. 6.) No wonder it destroys reason. It is a poison in the brain. And no wonder that those who take even a little of it, have less reason than those who take none ; and that those who take it daily are so much more exposed, and their children also, to insanity, than those who entirely abstain from it. " The love of strong drink," says Dr. Peirson, " and the proneness to mania, are, with respect to each other, interchangeable causes." C . (P. 9.) Should each individual in our country adopt the same course, the following are some of the advantages which would result from it: — 1. They would enjoy better health, be able to perform more labor, and would live to a greater age. 2. The evils of intemperance would soon be done away ; for all who are now intemperate, and continue so, will soon be dead, and no others will be found to succeed them. 3. There will be a saving, every year, of more than thirty mil- lions of dollars, which are now expended for ardent spirits. There will be a saving of more than two thirds of all the expense of sup- porting the poor, which, in Massachusetts alone, would amount to more than $600,000 annually. And there would be a saving of all that idleness and dissipation which intemperance occasions, and of the expense of more than two thirds of all the criminal prosecu- tions in the land. In one of our large cities, in which there were 1000 prosecutions for crimes, more than 800 of them were found to have sprung from the use of ardent spirits. 4. There would be a saving of a vast portion of sickness ; and of the lives, probably, of 30,000 persons every year. Let these four considerations be added together, and traced in their various bearings and consequences upon the temporal and eternal welfare of men ; and then let each individual say, whether, in view of all the evils connected with the practice of taking ardent spirit, he can, in the sight of God, be justified in continuing the practice. That it is not necessary, has been fully proved. No one thinks it to be necessary, except those who use it. And they would not think so, if they were not in the habit of using it. Let any man leave off entirely the use of ardent spirit, for only one FOURTH REPORT. 1831. APPENDIX. 67 year, and he will find by his own experience that it is not necessary or useful. The fathers of iNew England did not use it, nor did their children. They were never, as a body, in the practice of taking it. And yet they enjoyed better health, attained to a larger stature, and, with fewer comforts of life, performed more labor, en- dured more fatigue, and lived, upon an average, to a greater age, than any generation of their descendants who have been in the practice of taking spirit. As it was not necessary for the fathers oJ New England, it is certain that it is not necessary for their de- scendants, or for any portion of our inhabitants. Hundreds of healthy, active, respectable and useful men, who now do not use it, can testify that it is not necessary. And this will be the testimony ol every one who will only relinquish entirely tl.c use of it. It is by the temperate and habitual use of ardent spirit, that in- temperate appetites are formed. And the temperate use of it can- not be continued, without, in many cases, forming intemperate appetites ; and after they are formed, multitudes will be destroyed by their gratification. Natural appetites, such as are implanted in our constitution by the Author of nature, do not by their gratification increase in their demands. What satisfied them years ago, will satisfy them now. But artificial appetites, which are formed by the wicked practices of men, are constantly increasing in their demands. What satisfied them once, will not satisfy them now. And what satisfies them now, will not satisfy them in future. They are constantly crying, " Give, give." And there is not a man, who is in the habitual use of ardent spirits, who is not in danger of dying a drunkard. Be- fore he is aware, an intemperate appetite may be formed, the gratification of which may prove his temporal and eternal ruin. And if the practice should not come to this result with regard to himself, it may with regard to his children, and children's children. It may with regard to his neighbors and their children. It may extend its baleful influences far and wide, and transmit them, with all their innumerable evils, from generation to generation. Can, then, temperate, sober men be clear from guilt, in continuing a practice which is costing annually more than $30,000,000 ; in- creasing more than three-fold the poor rates and the crimes of the country ; undermining the health and constitution of its inhabitants ; and cutting off annually 30,000 lives ? There is tremendous guilt somewhere. And it is a truth which ought to press with overwhelming force upon the mind of every sober man, that a portion of this guilt rests upon every one who, with a knowledge of facts, continues the totally unnecessary and awfully pernicious practice of taking ardent spiiits. Each indi- vidual ought, without delay, in view of eternity, to clear himself. 68 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. and, neither by precept nor example, ever again encourage or even connive at this deadly evil. ( Well-conducted Farm, pp. 9, 10, 11.) D. (p. 9.) On the 26th of June, 1811, the General Association of Massachu- setts appointed Rev. Samuel Worcester, D. D., Rev. Jedediah Morse, D. D., Rev. Abiel Abbot, Rev. Benjamin Wadsworth, Reuben D. Mussey, M. D., William Thurston, Esq., Joseph Torrey, M. D., anu Jeremiah Evarts, Esq., a committee to coope- rate with committees of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian church, and the General Association of Connecticut, in devising measures which may have an influence in preventing some of the numerous and threatening mischiefs, that are experienced through- out our country, from the excessive and intemperate use of spiritu- ous liquors. This committee met at different times for consultation, corresponded on the subject, and, finally, determined to make an effort foi the formation of a State Society for the Suppression of Intemperance. A sub-committee, consisting of Dr. Worcester, Dr. Torrey and Mr. Wadsworth, was appointed to prepare a Con- stitution. After being presented to the whole committee, and adopted, it was presented, by them, to a more general meeting, in Boston, on the 4th of February, 1813. At another meeting at the State House, on the 5th, the Constitution was adopted, and a Society formed, called The Massachusetts Society for the Suppres- sion of Intemperance. The object, as expressed in the second article of the Constitution, was, " To discountenance and suppress the too free use of ardent spirit, and its kindred vices, profaneness and gaming, and to encourage and promote temperance and gene- ral morality." For a number of years, this Society languished. Some of its members, at length, advocated its dissolution ; and others retired from it in despair. In the language of the late Hon. Isaac Parker, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Massachusetts, in a letter dated Boston, 25th May, 1829, "Many, seeing no happy results, after many years of effort, have retired from the field in despair. I am one of this number ; but I now see, and rejoice in it, that, however des- perate the disease, it is at last yielding to the power and skill of the great Physician above, through the instrumentality of the human agents he has employed. The National Society, established here a few years ago (meaning the American Temperance Society), has given great decision to the preexisting Massachusetts Society, and FOURTH REPORT 1831. APPENDIX. 69 both together, with the aid of country and town associations, and influential individuals, have been the secondary causes of working the greatest moral change which has ever taken place in this com- munity." The Massachusetts Society still continues its operations, and, since it has directed its efforts to the promotion of entire abstinence from the use of ardent spirits, has been productive of much good. In February, 1813, the same month in which the Massachusetts Society for the Suppression of Intemperance was formed, the Rev. Heman Humphrey, of Fairfield, Connecticut, commenced in the Panoplist and Missionary Magazine, a periodical published in Bos- ton, edited by Jeremiah Evarts, Esq., a series of six numbers, on the causes, progress, effects, and remedy of intemperance in the United States. In the closing part of these numbers, he said, " If farmers and mechanics would agree not to drink spirits themselves, and not to provide them for their workmen ; if, instead of furnish- ing liquor, they would give additional compensation to laborers, fur- nishing them, at the same time, with a generous supply of nutritious and palatable drinks, — a very large advance would be made toward banishing the fiery products of the distilleries from the field and the shop. And this would be no inconsiderable part of that general reformation, which is so loudly called for, with regard to the use of ardent spirits." Though this suggestion was not extensively followed, even by those who were laboring for a reformation, yet the facts which have been developed since the formation of the American Temperance Society, abundantly prove the correctness and importance of the above remarks. E. (p. 16.) The following notices have been extensively circulated, both in this country and in Europe. " These discourses (Dr. Beecher's on Intemperance) were com- posed and delivered at Litchfield, in the year 1826. Sir'10 *u~' time, the American Society for the Promotion of Temperance has been formed, and is now (1827) in successful operation." " Temperance Societies took their origin in America, in the fol- lowing manner: — The Rev. Dr. Beecher, deeply impressed with the evils of drunkenness, attacked that vice from the pulpit with so much vigor as to engage public attention, and to lead to the formation of Societies, in many parts of the Union, for its suppres* sion." By a recurrence to the dates, it will be seen that the impression 6* TO AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. made by the above notices is not in accordance with the facts. Dr. Beecher's sermons had no influence in the formation of the American Temperance Society. It was not then known, by those who formed the American Temperance Society, that those sermons had been preached, though, after they were published, in 1827, they exerted a powerful and extensive influence in aiding its operations. F. (p. 23.) " It ought to be mentioned, to the honor of the bar of Berkshire, that they have, I believe unanimously, entered into a compact which they strictly execute, to promote the cause of temperance by example and otherwise. They have banished all ardent spirits from their houses at home, and their lodgings when at court, mak- ing literally no use of them. They have also discarded the use of wine, which, at first, I thought might be carrying the thing too far, because extremes generally cause revulsions ; but, upon hearing their reasons, I am satisfied they are right. They do not object to wine, as, of itself, used in moderation, hurtful ; but the use of it in a great measure destroys the power of example, and tends much to defeat the effect of any remonstrance they may have occasion to make to those who are destroying themselves and families by hard drinking. The poor man, when urged to refrain, is apt to retort, ' Why, if we could afford to drink wine, as you do, we certainly would not drink rum ; but we must have something, as well as you ; and rum is the cheapest thing we can get.' It is necessary to show such people that there is no need of any stim- ulants." (Judge Parker's letter to Dr. Warren.) G. (p. 32.) „^;iry Guise, of Stark county, Ohio, was, on the 12th of Octo- ber, 1S30, elected to the office of sheriff of the county. His election was contested on the ground of his having treated the electors with ardent spirits. The following, delivered by Judge Hallock, is the decision of the court : — " The Court here find, that the said Guise, on the 12th day of October, 1830, it being the day of holding the election in Stark, for sheriff, at the tavern of Henry Husser, in the town of Canton, in said county, did give, by himself and agent, to divers electors ¥WJRTH REPORT. 1S31. APPENWX. 71 ti( said county, between two and three gallons of spirituous liquors, to wit, whiskey, brand}', and rum, with the intent to procure the election of said Guise to the office of sheriff of said county ; he, then and there, being a candidate for said office, at said election. " Whereupon the Court do now here adjudge die said election of said Guise to said office void; and the office of sheriff of said county vacant." (Pitts. Her,) H. (p. 33.) Desertions from the Army in seven Years. Yea». Numbei, 1823 668 $58,677 1093 1824 811 70,398 1175 1825 803 67,488 1208 1826 636 54,393 1115 1827 848 61,344 991 1828 820 62,137 1476 1829 1083 96,826 Total, 5,669 $47 1,263 7,058 (Report of the Secretary of War, Feb. 22, 1830.) •' Ardent spirit should be discontinued, in the army, as a part of ihe daily rations. I know from observation and experience, when in the command of the troops, the pernicious effects arising from the practice of regular, daily issues of whiske)^. If the recruit joins lire service with an unvitiated taste, which is not unfrequently the case, the daily privilege and the uniform example soon induce him to taste, and then to drink his allowance. The habit being acquired, he, too, soon becomes an habitual toper." [Adjutant Gen. Joneses statement.) " The proceedings of courts-martial are alone sufficient to prove that the crime of intoxication almost always precedes, and is often the immediate cause of desertion. And I am, moreover, convinced, that most of the soldiers, who enter the army as sober men, acquire habits of intemperance principally by falling into the practice of drinking their gill, or half gill, of whiskey, every morning. I have known sober recruits, who would often throw away their morning allowance, but whose constant intercourse with tipplers would sooi induce them to taste a little, and, in time, a little more, until the became habitual drunkards. I am therefore decidedly of opinion. that the whiskey part of the ration does, slowly, but surely, lead men into those intemperate and vicious habits, out of which grow 72 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. desertions and most other crimes. In support of this opinion. ] will only advert to one other document. It is the subjoined extract of a letter from one of the most excellent and exemplary officers of the army, which contains little or nothing more than the verbal statements which I have received upon the same subject, from many other meritorious officers." (Maj. Gen. Gaines's statement.) " I have served extensively as the recorder of regimental courts- martial, and do not hesitate to say, that five out of six cases of the crimes which are proved before these courts, have resulted from intemperance ; and nine years' experience in the army has con- vinced me, that no inconsiderable proportion of the desertions occur in consequence of intemperate drinking, either of the desert- ers themselves, or others ; I say others, because bad treatment from petty officers, while under the influence of ardent spirits, has caused many to become disgusted with the service, and finally to desert. " I have known cases like the following, and think them not un- common. A non-commissioned officer, either inebriated or not, oppresses a young soldier, who complains to his commander ; the subject is investigated by him ; and the witnesses upon whom the complainant relied to sustain his charge, either from fear of the displeasure of their non-commissioned officer, or from being bribed to hold their peace, by whiskey, " know nothing." The pelty officer produces his witnesses, bought with spirits, to exculpate himself, and perhaps cast blame upon the complainant. The accused, thus cleared, is prompted by revenge to render the situa- tion of the soldier as irksome as possible, who, despairing of redress, deserts." [Lieut. Gallagher's statement.) I. (p. 34^ Letter from Thomas Seivall, M. D., of Washington, to John C. Warren, M. D., of Boston. Washington City, December 29, 1830. Dear Sir, You will rejoice to learn that the cause of temperance, for which so much has been accomplished at the North, is extending its influence over the South and West. For several weeks past, the Rev. Dr. Edwards, General Agent of the American Temper- ance Society, has been with us, and has given a powerful impulse to the subject in this District. He has proceeded on the plan of addressing the different religious congregations, and of forming a FOURTH REPORT. 1831. APPENDIX. 73 Temperance Society in each. He has already constituted several on this principle. Last Sabbath evening, he delivered a discourse to a large and crowded audience, in the Foundery Chapel in this city, — embracing the head of the War Department, the Major- General of the army, and other distinguished citizens and strangers. On this occasion, lie came forth with an array of facts and argu- ments altogether overwhelming, to which the audience listened for more than an hour with the most intense interest. At the close of the discourse, he proposed that a Temperance Society should be formed. A paper was passed through the congregation, and in a few moments upwards of one hundred names were enrolled ; and, what we regard as highly important, no door was left open for the use of ardent spirit as a medicine, — no permission to use it when indisposed. The following is the form of the pledge given : — " Believing that the use of ardent spirits is not only needless, but hurtful ; that it is the cause of forming intemperate appetites and habits ; and that, while it is continued, the evils of intemperance cannot be prevented ; we therefore agree that we will not use them, that we will not provide them as an article of entertainment, and that we will, in all suitable ways, discountenance the use of them in the community." While we are convinced that there is no case in which ardent spirit is indispensable, and for which there is not an adequate sub- stitute, we are equally assured, that, so long as there is an exception allowed, and men are permitted to use it as a medicine, so long we shall have invalids and drinkers among us. Only let our profession take a decided stand upon this point, and intemperance will soon vanish from our country. Among other cheering indications which present themselves, it gives me pleasure to be enabled to state, that the members of Congress generally manifest a deep interest in the cause, and avail themselves of every opportunity to procure such publications on the subject as are calculated to impart information or excite to action, and are disseminating these among their constituents. The Secretary of War and the Major General of the army appear fully sensible of the evils of intemperance, as known to exist among our soldiers, and are ready to adopt every suitable measure to eradicate it. An order has already been issued for suspending the rations of ardent spirit to the soldiers, in order that a fair experiment may be made, to ascertain whether its disuse in the army be not practi- cable,— an experiment which, I doubt not, will demonstrate the utility of the measure, and constitute a new era in the history of military life. Very truly, your friend, THOMAS SEWALL. Dr. Warren. 74 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY.. Remarks by Dr. Warren. The information contained in Dr. Sewall's letter appears to me to be of great importance to the morals and happiness of our coun- try. If the heads of departments and members of Congress take an interest in discouraging the use of ardent spirits, the amount of misery which will be prevented, must be great beyond calculation. — The suspension of the rations of spirituous liquors to the army is a measure that may be very useful. Its good effects will, I fear, be much diminished by the permission to sutlers to sell spirits to the soldiery, under permission of an officer. Tiie consequence of this arrangement will be, that some officers will grant this permis- sion, while others will refuse it; and in this way discontent will arise, and the most valuable officers in the army become unpopular and obnoxious. — The way seems to be open for a total prohibition ; and certainly an order to this effect would greatly increase the efficiency of the army. The opinion of great bodies of physicians, given in the most solemn manner, is unfavorable to the use of spirits; and 1 cannot find language strong enough to repeat and impress the fact, that these articles do not give strength, but weakness. A momenta- ry flush of power may be excited under their first impulse ; but this is soon followed by a moral and physical failure of strength, and a loss of that steady, unyielding courage necessary to the support of a regular engagement. The necessity of using ardent spirits in medicine is extremely limited. Now and then a solitary instance presents itself, in which there seems to be some reason for preferring alcohol to other articles. In the greater number of cases of disease requiring the use of stim- ulant liquids, wine is to be preferred to alcohol ; and the importance of this is much less than was thought a few years since. In the year 1827, the Mass. Medical Society passed a resolution to discourage the use of alcohol and its preparations in the treatment of diseases. Since this was done, the use of brandy as a medicine has been greatly diminished ; and the spirituous preparations or tinctures are almost banished from the prescriptions of the physi- cian, excepting where the quantity employed is so minute as to be of no consideration in regard to its alcoholic properties. A highly respectable apothecary stated to me that, since the passage of the resolution alluded to, the amount of tinctures sold by him had diminished in the proportion of five parts out of six. The reservation of the use of alcohol for cases of sickness ap- pears to be of little importance in a medical way, and, if it leads to practical abuses such a reservation should not be made. FOURTH REPORT. 1831. APPENDIX. 75 Letter from a Gentleman connected with the Army. January 25, 1831. SlK, The cause of temperance in the army has for a year or two past engaged the attention of some of our best and most enlightened men in Congress, and many plans have been devised to remedy an evil which all must acknowledge to be great. With this intention, perhaps, the Secretary of War has lately issued an Order (of which the following is the purport) prohibiting the regular issues of spirits to the soldiers, to wit : 1. Regular issues of spirit are prohibited. 2. Extra issues of liquor to men on fatigue duty or extra service, being established by law, are still continued. 3. Soldiers are permitted to purchase from the sutler, at the " discretion of his company commander, a quantity of ardent spirit not to exceed two gills daily." This order will not answer the desired purposes ; but, on the contrary, I fear it will do more evil than good, — and for the follow- ing reasons : 1. The order will have an unequal operation, because some companies in the army will be permitted to purchase from the sutler two gills, some one gill, daily ; and some none. This dis- tinction will tend to create uneasiness and dissatisfaction in the minds of those who think themselves not as highly favored as their comrades. 2. This order will not only have an unequal operation as regards different companies, but also in the same company at different times. The better to illustrate my meaning, I will suppose a case, which not only exists now, but always will exist, so long as we have an army : There are two companies living together at a military station. The commanding officer of one exercises his " discretion," and permits his men to purchase two gills a day ; while the other com- mander will not suffer his men to buy a drop. Let me ask any candid person, if such a state of things is not likely to produce mischief. I carry my instance still farther, and suppose (what is neither impossible nor unlikely) that, after a few months, both these com- manders are relieved, and the companies commanded by officers having different views and feelings from their predecessors. The company, therefore, which, until now, has been temperate, is allowed the utmost latitude in drinking, and that which has been indulged in the free use of ardent spirit, is now reduced to entire abstinence. 76 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. In the frequent mutations of military command, these cases musl occur ; and will they not have a direct and necessary tendency to make soldiers dissatisfied with their situation? And will not de- sertions and other crimes grow out of them ? To-day indulged in dram-drinking — to-morrow enjoined total abstinence — and so on through the alternations of temperance and ehriety, — will not sol- diers feel that they are the helpless objects of capricious tyranny ? — And will they not be likely, by open acts of mutiny to resist, or by desertion to flee from such an odious and senseless despotism ? The evils of drinking — great as they are, and dreadful in civil life, — are still greater in the army. Many acts which, committed by citizens, would be trifling and venial, would, if committed by soldiers, be of a serious nature, and be visited with instant and severe retri • bution. Otherwise discipline and subordination would cease. A proportion of at least nine tenths of crimes committed in the army can be safely and certainly.traced to excessive drinking ; aiid there is no way, that I can see, of removing this evil entirely, except by legalizing temperance. Let Congress pass a law prohibiting, under any circumstances,. the issue or sale to the soldier of the smallest quantity of spirit. Such a law might, and probably would, at first, give uneasiness to* some confirmed tipplers ; but soon it would be cheerfully ac- quiesced in, because the law would make no invidious distinctions, and all would fare alike. Our army would gradually, though cer- tainly, become temperate, and its moral and religious character be so far improved as to be an honor as well as safeguard to our country, I am, sir, with respect, Dr. your obliged servant. J. (p. 36. In the city of Washington, there were granted in the last year 60 tavern licenses, 34 grog-shop licenses, 4 confectionary licenses, and 126 licenses to retail spirits in quantities not less than a pint — making in all 224 licensed houses. If daily sales under these li- censes were l£ gallons each, the quantity thus sold amounts to 122,528 gallons annually. The population of the city, by the late census, is not quite 19,000; so those sales will average more iharr 6£ gallons to each person, which is also the average of 33 estimates made in various parts of the United States : we may therefore- safely say that the quantity of ardent spirits consumed in the United' States two years ago, was at least equal to 6 gallon? for each pep-- FOURTH REPORT. 1831. APPENDIX. 77 son; and, as the population of the United States was, at that time, about 12,000,000, the quantity consumed in the United States was 72,000,000 gallons. Having alluded to the number of licenses granted by the city of Washington, I cannot forbear to notice the bad policy of making die sales of ardent spirits the source of revenue. The amount raised annually by the sale of licenses in that city, is about six thousand dollars. The expense of supporting the poor is about three thousand five hundred dollars, three fourths of which are admitted, by the overseers of the poor, to have been caused by the use of ardent spirits, and to be a charge upon the amount raised by the sales of those spirits — leaving the net revenue from that source 3375 dollars. The quantity of spirits consumed, to raise this small revenue, is 122,528 gallons, which cost the con- sumers not less than GO, 000 dollars, which are worse than lost to the city, and this is the amount paid by the city to its tax-gatherers, the retailers of spirits, for collecting the paltry revenue of 3375 dollars. This amount of loss would probably be doubled if we were to add the loss of labor and lives, and the expenses of litiga- tion, caused by the use of the ardent spirits sold under the authority of those licenses. We have estimated the whole quantity consumed in the United States at. 72,000,000 gallons : — let us for a moment imagine in what proportions this quantity is probably distributed among the people of the United States. The women and children under 16 years of age, according to the census of 1810 and of 1S20, constitute three fourths of the whole population of the United States. It can hardly be supposed that any considerable quantity of ardent spirits is drunk by the children, and, it is to be hoped, a very small proportion by the women. We will suppose, however, that the women and children consume one sixth of the whole quantity ; say 12,000,000 gallons. Of the men over 16 years of age, constituting one fourth of the whole population, one half, probably, consist of those who wholly abstain, and of those who do not drink habitually, and who may therefore average half a gill a day ; one eighth of 12,000,000 is 1,500,000 persons, at half a gill a day, equal to 8,554,687^ gallons. One half of the residue of the men, being one sixteenth of the whole population, equal to 750,000 persons, may be habitual temperate drinkers, averaging three half gills a day, amounting to 12,832,031^ gallons. One half of the remaining men, being fa of the whole population, equal to 375,000 persons, may be regular topers, and occasional drunkards, who average 3 gills a day, equal to 12,832,031 % gallons. 7 78 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. Papulation. Gallons. 9,000,000 . . consume . . 12,000,000 1,500,000 . . " . . 8,554,6874 750,000 . . " . . 12,832,03l£ 375,000 . . " . . 12,832,031^ 11,625,000 . . " . . 46,218,750 375,000 . . " . . 25,781,250 12,000,000 . . " . . 72,000,000 These quantities added make 46,218,750 gallons; which, de- ducted from the whole quantity consumed, 72,000,000 gallons, will leave 25,781,250 gallons to be divided annually among the 375,000 remaining men, who will average more than six gills a day, and who will, of course, be confirmed drunkards. This estimate supposes that one in every 16 is an habitual tem- perate drinker, and that one in every 32 is a regular tippler and occasional drunkard, and that one in 32 also is a confirmed drunk- ard. Whether this distribution of the quantity be correct or not, it is morally certain that the whole quantity is annually consumed, or rather was consumed prior to the year 1828, when the influence of the Temperance Societies began to be generally felt. When we consider that a large portion of the ardent spirits consumed is of foreign manufacture, and that much of the domes- tic is mingled with the imported liquor, and sold to the consumer as foreign, at 1^ or 1£ dollar a gallon — that the foreign spirits used in taverns is sold at 4 dollars a gallon — and that even the whiskey at the dram-shops is retailed at 1 dollar 28 cents to 2 dollars a gallon — there can be little doubt that the average price to the consumer is at least 66§ cents a gallon. Seventy-two millions of gallons of ardent spirits, at 66§ cents is forty-eight millions of dollars. This amount is annually lost to the country ; as much lost as if as many dollars were actually cast into the sea ; for the spirits are consumed without the least benefit in return. The grain destroyed, the labor of raising the grain, and convert- ing it into spirits, the fuel consumed in the manufacture, are all lost to the country. Although the farmer is paid for his grain, and the distiller for his liquor, yet the poor man who buys it, gets no return but pov- erty, disease and misery. To him, and to the country, it is worse than a total loss. The wealth of a country arises from the produce of the soil and the labor of the inhabitants. The loss of labor, therefore, is the loss of wealth. FOURTH RETORT. 1831. APPENDIX. 79 There are, in the United States, 375,000 regular drunkards. These, upon an average, do not earn more than two thirds as much as if they were sober. Here is an annual loss of 100 days' labor of each drunkard, worth, if he were sober, at least 40 cents a day ; making a loss of 15,000,000 of dollars per annum. It is estimated that, of the habitual drunkards, one in ten annu- ally comes to a premature death, and that their term of life is, upon an average, shortened ten years. Of the 375,000 regular drunk- ards, therefore, 37,500 are killed annually by ardent spirits, and ten years' labor of each of them is lost to the country. It is rea- sonable to suppose that each of them, if sober, might have earned,, upon an average, 50 dollars a year more than the cost of his sup- port. The loss of ten years' labor of 37,500 men, at 50 dollars per annum, is a loss of 13,750,000 dollars. It is admitted, on all hands, that at least three fourths of the whole cost of crime in the United States, is chargeable to the use of ardent spirits. — Mr. Hop-kins, of New York, who seems to have been very cautious in his estimates, has stated in his communi- cation to the Executive Committee of the New York State Society for the Promotion of Temperance, published in the first annual Report of that Society, that the result of his calculation gave a total amount of eight million seven thousand dollars as the cost of crime to the United States — three fourths of which, chargeable to intem- perance, is si.x million Jive hundred and tiventy-Jive thousand dollars. It is also generally admitted, that three fourths of the cost of pauperism is chargeable to the same cause. Mr. Hopkins, in the same communication, estimates the whole annual cost of pauperism in the state of New York, exclusive of the city, to be 3,800,000 dollars, the whole of which, he thinks, might be fairly charged to intemperance. I, however, take only three fourths of it, which is two millions cis;ht hundred and fifty thousand dollars. To these might be added the expense of those paupers who are supported wholly or partially by private and individual charity ; — orphan asylums, insane and other hospitals, and houses of refuse for juvenile offenders — and the loss of labor of prisoners confined for U'ial, or for punishment by simple imprisonment, or for debt — three fourths of all which are properly chargeable to the use of ardent spirits. The amount of private charity is probably much greater than that of public. The corporation of the city of Washington pays annually, for the support of the poor, about three thousand five hundred dollars. The population is nineteen thousand, consisting of about three thousand five hundred families ; surely the average amount of private charities must be more than one dollar a year for each family. \ 80 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. We may add, therefore, for this item, another sum of two million eight hundred and fifty thousand dollars paid by the temperate for the intemperate. The average number of prisoners in the jail of the county of Washington, committed on criminal prosecutions, is about 30. The population of the county is nearly thirty thousand. At that rate, the average number of criminal prisoners in the United States is twelve thousand; the labor of each of whom, if sober, would be worth, upon an average, probably 50 dollars a year, beyond the cost of his support, amounting to six hundred thousand dollars — three fourths of which, chargeable to intemperance, is four hundred and fifty thousand dollars. Let us now put these items together, and count the cost of the consumption of ardent spirits in the United States. Dollars. 1st — 72,000,000 gallons of ardent spirit, at 66§ cts., 4S,000,000 2d — 100 days' labor, c-f 375,000 drunkards, lost, at 40 c, 15,000,000 3d — 10 years' labor, of 37,500 men, killed by ardent spirits, at 50 dollars per annum for each man, 18,750,000 4th — | of the cost of crime to the United States, . 6,525,000 5th — % of the cost of pauperism to the United States, 2,850,000 6th — % of the amount of private charities, .... 2,850,000 7th — % of 1 year's labor of 1200 prisoners lost, at $53, 450,000 The annual loss to the country by the use of ar. spirits is 94,425,000 In this estimate, no account is taken of the loss of the labor of the paupers, prisoners confined for debt, nor of the cost of litigation created or excited by the use of ardent spirits, nor the salaries of judges, the expenses of jurors, nor of the fees of counsel. How many paupers must be made by the abstraction of ninety- four millions of dollars annually from the small earnings of that class of society upon which the greater part of this loss must fall ! And what immense benefit would the inhabitants of this country derive from ninety-four millions of dollars expended annually for their best interest and comfort ! An annuity of ninety-four millions would, in twenty years, with simple interest only, at six* per cent, per annum, upon each year's annuity, from the time it became payable to the end of the twenty years, amount to 3,064,800,000 dollars. The valuation of all the lands, houses and slaves in the United States, in the year 1815, ex- clusive of Virginia, South Carolina and Tennessee, who agreed to pay their quotas of the direct tax without a valuation, was 1,479,735,098 45-100 dollars. If we add for Virginia, 200,000,000 " S. Carolina, 48,862,192 Tennessee, 42,715,618 " the aggregate will be 1,771,312,908 45-100 " FOURTH REPORT. 1831. APPENDIX. 81 And if we suppose the value to have increased, since 1815, in pro- portion to the population, the present value of all the houses, lands and slaves in the United States, is 2,519,009,222 dollars; so that the amount annually lost to the country by the use of ardent spirits would be more than sufficient to buy up all the houses, lands and slaves in the United States once in every 20 years. (Judge Cranch's Address.) K. (p. 42.) The opinion of the Committee of the New York State Society is supported by such facts as the following : — A distinguished gen tleman from that state writes — " The great and good work of the Lord goes on in the midst of us ; and the temperance movement, like John the Baptist, prepares the way of the Lord. One might follow in the wake of this movement, and say, ' The kingdom of heaven is at hand.' " Another gentleman, from another part of the state, writes — "In this county, it is notorious that those towns which have been the most active in the temperance cause have been the most blessed by the Holy Spirit. In all the towns in this county, there have been revivals ; and, as a general remark, it may be said, that, in every town, those neighborhoods which have done the most in the promotion of temperance, have been most blessed in religious matters. In C , the spirit has seemed to follow the temper- ance effort from neighborhood to neighborhood ; and so in other places. In short, so manifest is the connection between temper- ance and revivals of religion, in this county, that we no more expect the latter, where the former does not exist, than we expect snow in summer. This, of course, is a general remark. There are, undoubtedly, exceptions." L. (p. 43.) The connection between the promotion of temperance and the special success of the gospel in the salvation of men, appears to be confined to no particular spot, but is common in all parts of the country. A gerdeman from Vermont writes — " I am more and more con- vinced of the importance of the Temperance Reformation, consid- ered merely in its bearings on the success of the gospel. A few 7* 82 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. years ago, the churches were withering under an alcoholic curse. Members generally were moderate drinkers, and some immoderate. As the sin of intemperance naturally increased, a reformation on the principle of total abstinence became indispensable. I have known churches and congregations on the brink of a hopeless overthrow, because some leading member or members would drink rum. " How long the church and congregation under my care would have sustained themselves without a Temperance Reform, J cannot tell ; but to me ruin appeared to be near. We were almost deluged with liquid fires. Two distilleries, five stores, four taverns, all grog-shops, sent abroad their poisonous effluvia. A little more than two years ago, I determined to have a Temperance Society here, at a time when there were none in this part of the country. I took the constitution recommended by the Parent Society, and spent nearly three weeks, pleading the cause of temperance from house to house. The result was a Temperance Society of 100 members. Hardly had we time to forget the struggle and the victory of temper- ance, before the Holy Spirit descended, and a revival of six months' continuance rejoiced our souls. The extent of the revival seemed to be measured by the success of the Temperance Reform. There were in town about 100 hopeful conversions. So far as we could ascertain facts, and form an opinion, the number of converts dif- fered little from the number who first broke away from the iron bondage of custom, and adopted the principle of abstinence. Those families where the parents had enlisted on the side of temperance, were more richly blessed with divine influence than others. In- deed, the revival scarcely prevailed, without the influence of the Temperance Reformation. " The history of other towns in this vicinity, is similar to ours. In B , the Temperance Reformation has been triumphant. Scarcely was the Temperance Movement begun when an interesting revival of religion commenced, and the two reformations mutually aided and strengthened each other. " In A , and H , and W , and C , there are revivals of religion of great interest ; bringing into the kingdom, not only children and youth, but the aged, and men of influence. The revivals have followed directly after the commencement of an efficient Temperance Reform. " The cause of temperance in M has also been wonderfully successful. The)- have a Temperance Society of nearly 1000 members. There, also, a heavenly influence has followed in the track of temperance, and there is now a glorious revival of religion." A gentleman from Massachusetts writes — "In 1829, a number of young men formed themselves into a Temperance Society. A few days after, the revival of religion began to show itself. Within a fourth report. — 1831. — appendix. 83 few weeks, most of die young men, who were meet active in the Temperance Society, were rejoicing in hope. The revival has ■added 164 to the church of which I am pastor, and nearly 40 to the Baptist church in this place. 91 of the 164 are males. Our Temperance Society contains nearly 300 members, a large proportion of whom are youth. What connection the temperance efforts in this place sustained to the revival, God only knows; but I cannot but believe that they prepared she way, by removing one of the most powerful barriers against religious impression." A distinguished civilian from Connecticut writes — " In 1827, there were in 20 retailers of spirits; in April, 1831, there were only six, with a prospect that two of them will soon stop the sale, leaving only four in a population of 4000. The diminished consumption of spirits is at least equal to the reduction in the num- ber of retailers. In H there is no retaiier, and nearly all the farms and the fisheries are carried on without spirit. The church in that place is a Temperance Society ; not a member drinks spirit. In Y — — s, also, the church is a Temperance Society. Four excommunications have taken place since its formation, and three of them for intemperance. In K society, there were, in 1827, seven retailers ; there is now only one, with a prospect that he will relinquish the sale of spirit in the course of this year. The number of members in our Temperance Society is about GOO. On a large majority of the best farms, no liquor is drunk. The oppose rs have been, for a year or two, crying out, that a reaction would soon come ; that the cold water system could not possibly hold out. But never were we so far from a reaction as at the present moment, The cause is daily gaining strength ; and new members are obtained almost every week. The reformation has also operated to expel ivine-grogs (rightly named) almost as entirely as distilled liquors. ( think 1 have not been offered a glass of wine, or spirit, in this region, for two years past — a simple and direct result of the Great Reformation. " We are hoping that God will visit us in the way of his grace, as he has other places in our land ; and we trust that the Temperance Movement will prove a preparatory way for a revival of pure reli- gion ; as we rejoice to hear it has been in many places." Since the above was written, the means of grace in that place have been attended, in a remarkable manner, with the blessings of the Holy Spirit. Numbers are now rejoicing in hope of the glory of God, and many more are anxiously inquiring what they shall do to be saved. This is also the case with many other towns in the vicinity, in which similar efforts had been made for the promotion oT temperance. A gentleman from New Jersey writes, after mentioning the efforts which have been made for the promotion of temperance — "1 84 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. have also to communicate to you still more cheering intelligence. I refer to the fruits, by which we know the tree to be of God's own right hand planting. Immediately after the celebration of the last anniversary (preceding which we had made renewed efforts to increase the number of our members), the Spirit of God was poured upon us in copious effusions. Nearly 100 have been gathered, we trust, into the church of Christ. The patrons of our Society have participated largely in the work ; and he who now writes you, and has tilled the office of Secretary of the Temperance Society since its organization, was soon made to feel the claims which a God of infinite mercy had upon him, for his love and his service." From Pennsylvania a gentleman writes — " In February, 1829, a Temperance Society was formed here ; and during the spring and summer, the cause made rapid advances. Temperance was the all-engrossing topic. In the ensuing fall, a powerful revival of reli- gion commenced in the Presbyterian churches under my care ; which, in the course of the winter, extended to the Baptist churches in the neighborhood. About 300 persons have been added to the communion of the two denominations. Of these a very large proportion had previously become members of the Temperance Society. It is a remarkable fact, that the revival was the most powerful in those neighborhoods in which the temperance cause had been most triumphant; and scarcely perceptible in those where the way had not thus been previously prepared. " It was also remarked, that those professors of religion who ojh posed the progress of temperance, and continued to use the drink of drunkards, and the cup of devils, in no instance appeared to share in the reviving influences of the Spirit; while those who had been most active in the cause of temperance seemed to share those influences in the largest measure. I could mention many instances of hopeful conversion, in which the Temperance Society was the first in the chain of means which conducted them to a Savior. Multitudes in this section of country will bless God to all eternity, diat such a Society has been established here. A revival of religion has succeeded a temperance movement at M , in this county ; and another at S , in Virginia. Our Temperance Society has at present about 300 members." Many similar testimonies might be given, and from various parts of die country. FOURTH REPORT. 1831. APPENDIX. 85 M. (p. 48.) Illustrations of the Truth, that God visits the Iniquities of tht Fathers upon the Children; and that the Way of Transgressors is hard. FROM A MERCHANT IN NEW YORK. " Dear Sir — Without undertaking to answer the specific ques- tions proposed in your letter as Secretary of the City Temperance Society, I will relate some facts that have come under my own ob- servation. I have been engaged in trade and commerce in tins city upwards of twenty-two years, and occupied the store I am now in during die whole time. Not an individual originally near me is now to be found, save three flour merchants. In casting my eyes around the neighborhood, and looking back to the period above men- tioned, I ask, Where are they now ? On my left were a father and his two sons, grocers, in prosperous business. The sons went down to the grave several years since in povertv, confirmed drunkards. On my right was a firm of long and respectable standing, engaged in foreign commerce, the junior partner of which some years since died, confirmed in this habit. Five or six doors above, was civ, holding a highly responsible situation under our State Government ; at first, he was seen to slop and take a little gin and water ; soon he was seen staggering in the street ; presently was laid in the irrave, a victim to intemperance. On the corner immediately opposite my store was a grocer, doing a moderate business. Being addicted to drink, in a state of intoxication he went into the upper loft of his store at noon-day, put fire to an open keg having powder in it, blew off the roof of his store, and himself into eternity. One door beyond this corner was a father, an officer in one of our churches, a grocer,. and his two sons : both sons have long since been numbered with the dead, through the effects of drink ; a son-in-law of the above father, pursuing the same business, following the practice of the sons, has come to the same end ; a young man, clerk and succes- sor in the same store, has also gone down to the grave from the same cause. On the other side of the Slip, a wealthy grocer died, leaving a family of several young men, three of whom, together with a sister and her husband, have since died in poverty, confirmed drunkards. Next door to this, a junior partner of one of the most respectable grocers in this city has long since followed the above from the same cause, leaving behind him two brothers, compara- tively young in years, but old in this vice, now living on the charity of their friends. On looking down the street in front of my store, there were seen three of middle age, grocers, but a few years since in prosperous business, now numbered with the dead from the 86 kXIEIIH > rESIPERANCE SOCIETY; same cause. In the same square in which I now am, whs an indi- vidual at the head of an extensive shipping house, owning several stores, renting from six to ten hundred dollars each a year ; owning aid occupying a house in Broadway, worth twenty thousand dollars, with a family of several sons and daughters living in affluence. From a moderate drinker, he became a confirmed drunkard : his property is now all gone, his family scattered, and himself a vagabond about our streets. His next door neighbor, a partner in one of our most respectable shipping houses, has gone to his grave, in early life, from the same cause, not having had time to spend the large amount of his previous earnings. Near me was one in the prime of life, and of respectable and pious parentage, liberally educate*', engaged extensively in foreign commerce, and awhile one of our Citv Coun- cil. In the short spree of three years, be was a bankrupt, a drunk- ard, and in his grave ! But my heart sickens at the detail, which I could extei 1. "Most of those mentioned were men with whom 1 have had daily intercourse in the way of business, and, but for this cause, might at this moment, in the ordinary course of Providence, have been useful members of society." (iV. Y. City Report.') IV. (p. 49.) " But I pass on to notice one state of the system produced by ardent spirit, too important and interesting to leave unexamined. It ss that predisposition to disease and death, which so strongly charac- terizes the drunkard in every situation in life. It is unquestionably true, that many of the surrounding objects in nature, are constantly tending to man's destruci ion. The excess of heat and cold, humidity and dryness, the vicissitudes of the season, noxious exhalations from the earth, the floating atoms in the atmosphere, the poisonous vapors from decomposed animal and vegetable matter, with many other invisible agents, are exerting their deadly influence; and were it not that every part of his system is endowed with a self-preserving power, a principle of excitability, or, in other words, a vital principle, the operations of the economy would cease, and a dissolution of his organic structure take place. But, this principle being implanted in the system, reaction takes place, and thereby a vigorous contest is maintained with the waning; elements without, as well as with the principle of decay within. It is thus that man is enabled to endure, from year to year, the toi's and fatigues of life, the variation of heat and cold, and the vicissitudes of the season ; that he is enabled to traverse every region vi t.;e nlobe, and to live with almost equal ease under the FOURTH REPORT. 1831. APPENDIX. 87 equator, and in the frozen regions of the north. It is by this power that all his functions are performed, from the commencement to the close of life. The principle of excitability exists in the highest degree in the infant, and diminishes at every succeeding period of life ; and if man is not cut down by disease or violence, he struggles on, and finally dies a natural death ; a death occasioned by the exhaustion of the principle of excitability. In order to prevent the too rapid exhaus- tion of this principle, nature has especially provided for its restora- tion by establishing a period of sleep. After being awake for sixteen or eighteen hours, a sensation of fatigue ensues, and all the functions are performed with diminished energy and precision. Locomotion becomes feeble and tottering, the voice harsh, the in- tellect obtuse and powerless, and all the senses blunted. In this state, the individual anxiously retires from the light, and from the noise and bustle of business, seeks that position which requires the least effort to sustain it, and abandons himself to rest. The will ceases to act, and he loses in succession all the senses. The mus- cles unbend themselves, and permit the limbs to fall into the most easy and natural position. Digestion, respiration, circulation, secre- tion, and the other functions, go on with diminished power and activity ; and consequently the wasted excitability is gradually restored. After a repose of six or eight hours, this principle be- comes accumulated to its full measure, and the individual awakes, and finds himself invigorated and refreshed. His muscular power is augmented ; his senses are acute and discriminating ; his intellect active and eager for labor ; and all his functions move on with renewed energy. But if the stomach be oppressed by food, or the system excited by stimulating drinks, sleep, though it may be pro- found: is never tranquil and refreshing. The system being raised to a state of feverish excitement, and its healthy balance disturbed, its exhausted excitability is not restored. The individual awakes, but finds himself fatigued rather than invigorated. His muscles are relaxed, his senses obtuse, his intellect impaired, and all his functions disordered ; and it is not until he is again under the in- fluence of food and stimulus, that he is fit for the occupations of life. And thus he loses the benefits of this wise provision of repose, designed for his preservation. Nothing, probably, tends more pow- erfully to produce premature old age, than midnight revels or dis- turbed and unrefreshing sleep. It is also true, that artificial stimulus, in whatever way applied, tends constantly to exhaust the principle of excitability of the system, and this in proportion to its intensity, and the freedom with which it is applied. But there is still another principle on which the use of ardent spirit predisposes the drunkard to disease and death. It acts on the blood, impairs its vitality, deprive? it of its red color, and thereby 68 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETf, renders it unfit to stimulate the heart and other organs through which it circulates ; unfit, also, to supply materials for the different secretions, and to renovate die different tissues of the body, as well as to sustain the energy of the brain — offices which it can perform only while it retains its vermilion color and other arterial proper- ties. The blood of the drunkard is several shades darker in its color than that of temperate persons, and also coagulates less readily and firmly, and is loaded with serum — appearances which indicate that it has exchanged its arterial properties for those of the venous blood. This is the cause of the livid complexion of the inebriate, which so strongly marks him in the advanced stage of intemperance. Hence, too, all the functions of his body are slug- gish, irregular, and the who^e system loses its tone and its energy. If ardent spirit, when taken into the system, exhausts the vita! principle of the solids, it destroys the vital principle of the blood also ; and if taken in large quantities, produces sudden death ; in which case the blood, as in death produced by lightning, by opium, or by violent and long-continued exertion, does not coagulate. The principles laid down are plain, and of easy application to the case before us. The inebriate having, by the habitual use of ardent spirit, exhaust- ed, to a greater or less extent, the principle of excitability in the solids, the power of reaction, and the blood having become incapable of performing its office also, he is alike predisposed to every disease, and rendered liable to the inroads of every invading foe. So fisr, therefore, from protecting the system against disease, intemper- ance ever constitutes one of its strongest predisposing causes. Superadded to this, whenever disease does lay its grasp upon the drunkard, the powers of life being already enfeebled by the stimu- lus of ardent spirit, he unexpectedly sinks in the contest, and but too frequently to the mortification of his physician, and the surprise and grief of his friends. Indeed, inebriation so enfeebles the pow- ers of life, so modifies the character of disease, and so changes the operation of medical agents, that, unless the young physician has studied thoroughly the constitution of the drunkard, he has but par- tially learned his profession, and is not fit for a practitioner of the present age. These are the true reasons why the drunkard dies so easily, and from such slight causes. A sudden cold, a pleurisy, a fever, a fractured limb, or a slight wound of the skin, is often more than his shattered powers can en- dure. Even a little excess of exertion, an exposure to heat or cold, a hearty repast, or a glass of cold water, not unfrequently extinguishes the small remains of the vital principle. In the season that has just closed upon us, we have had a melan- choly exhibition of the effect of intemperance in the tragical death roURTH REPORT. 1831. APPENDIX. 89 of some dozens of our fellow citizens ; and, had the extreme heat which prevailed for several days continued for as many weeks, we should hardly have had a confirmed drunkard left among us. Many of those deaths which came under my notice seemed al- most spontaneous, and some of them took place in less than one hour from the first symptom of indisposition. Some died apparently from a slight excess of fatigue, some from a few hours' exposure to the sun, and some from a small draught of ccld water — causes quite in- adequate to the production of such effects in temperate persons." (Dr. SewaWs Address.) "A circular letter, addressed by the New York City Society, to a number of the most respectable physicians of that state, proposing certain interrogatories respecting the effect of ardent spirits upon the human body, has been answered by at least forty of those to whom it was sent ; and whose names are given in the Report of that Society. From those answers it appears, 1st, that the use of distilled li- quors, by those in health, is, in no case whatever, beneficial for the preservation of health, or for the endurance of fatigue or hardship. 2d. That disease and death are the inevitable result of the con- tinued use of alcohol upon the healthy human system. 3d. That ardent spiritneiter operates as a preventive of epidemic or pestilential diseases ; but is very generally an exciting cause of such diseases, and always aggravates them. 4th. That, the tone of the nervous system being impaired by the use of intoxicating liquors, the constitution thus becomes more sus- ceptible to the impression of all noxious agents. 5th. That nothing has a tendency more immediately and com- pletely to destroy the moral faculty; than intemperate drinking. 6th. That the intellectual faculties are impaired by alcohol. Ev- ery excess is a voluntary insanity, and if often repeated, and carried beyond a certain degree, it often produces the horrible disease called delirium tremens; in which, while the animal powers are prostrated, the mind is tortured with the most distressing and fearful imagina- tions. 7th. That intemperance destroys the susceptibility of the body to the operation of medicine, so far as it injures the tone of the nervous system. That the disease of an habitual drunkard will generally run its course., uninfluenced by medical treatment ; that in the exhaustion so produced by intemperance, medicines are often useless, and the diseases of the water-drinker are, comparatively, few in number; in general, readily controlled ; and when the malady is removed, the constitution is easily restored to its original health and vigor. 8th. One fifth, and perhaps one fourth, die, directly or indirectly, from intemperance. (This is the answer of the only physician who has undertaken to make an estimate of the proportion of deaths pro- 8 90 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. duced by ardent spirits. The others speak in general terms, and say a large proportion.) 9th. That ardent spirits are the most common source of insanity, and that they operate by producing inflammation of the brain, as well as other diseases of that organ, and of the nervous system in general.* 10th. That no person who uses distilled liquor can reasonably expect to avoid the contraction of an unnatural thirst for stimulus. 11th. That the specific effects of alcohol are produced by a two- fold process : — First by its direct effects upon the nervous system ; and secondly by being absorbed into the circulation without undergoing digestion. 12th. That ardent spirit is not beneficial in cases of dyspepsy or in chronic debility ; but in most cases is prejudicial. 13th. That it is not safe as a family medicine. 14th. Finally, that about one hundred physicians have died in the city of New York within the last thirty years ; of whom forty were intemperate; but that the character of the profession, in that respect, is now much improved. To this testimony may be added, that, according to the accounts published of the sudden deaths during the excessive heat of the past summer, it appears, upon inquiry, that in every instance where the death has been ascribed to the drinking of cold water, or to the di- rect effect of the heat, the deceased was in the habitual use of ardent spirit ; and not one instance is recorded of such a death where the person was in the habit of entire abstinence. f * Doctor Carter, one of the resident physicians of the Philadelphia alms- house infirmary, in a paper published in the American Journal of the Medical Sciences, calls ardent spirit a destructive poison, and speaks of mania a potu as the usual penalty of excessive drinking. In the establishment in which he is connected, there were, from November 21st, 1828, to February 1st, 1820, 70 cases of mania a potu, and from June 10th to September lOlh, 1825), 75 cases ; making 145 cases in six months. t It is stated in a letter from Greenwich (Conn.) to the Editor of the Journal of Humanity, dated July 26, 1830, that, " during the preceding week of exces- sively hot weather, no man who had been of cold water character for any length of time had given out ; that two persons had died suddenly in the vicinity, but that both were of intemperate habits ; that others had stopped work, but all of them were given to the use of strong drink." In the Journal of Humanity of August 19, 1830, is the following article, taken from the Belvidere Apollo: — " Nine cases of death from drinking cold water have occurred among the laborers engaged in excavating the sections of the Bristol and Morris (New Jersey) canal adjoining this place. We are assured by highly respectable physicians, that, in ninety-nine cases out of a hundred, the victims of cold water drinking are those who have been addicted to the free use of ardent spirits." " In the last week but one in July last, the deaths in New York were 204 ; 1 1 of which were from drinking cold water, and 22 by convulsions. In the same week in Philadelphia, the deaths were 196 ; of which 11 were from drinking cold water. 6 from heat, G from intemperance, and 22 from convulsions. FOURTH REPORT. 1831. APPENDIX. VI It is said by Doctor Hosack in his late address, that it appears from the society of Friends, that, in consequence of their habitual temperance, one half of the members of that society live to the age of 47 ; and that one in ten lives to be 80 :* whereas the average of human life is 33 years, and not more than one in 40, of the gen- eral population, lives to be 80 years of age. The amount of human life, then, gained by temperance, is more than the difference between 33 and 47 — or an average of 14 years gained in every life — which is equal to 42 per cent." {Judge Cranch's Address.) " It appears from our former remarks, that the blood, by its circula- tion, conveys to every part of the body the nutritious matters of which it is composed, while each organ is endowed with the power of selecting from the common mass, the materials both for its own nourishment, and for the performance of its peculiar functions, and It will be recollected that about the same time a very considerable alarm took place in the neighboring town of Georgetown (D. C), in consequence of a great number of sudden deaths among the laborers upon the canal; 20 or 30 having died in the course of a week. An extract from a letter from that town dated July 27th, 1830, was published in the Baltimore Gazette, in which the writer says — ' I regret to add that death, in its most appalling form, has made its ap- pearance in tiiis town and vicinity. It seems to be confined to the laboring classes in general, but more especially to the emigran's working upon the ca- nal. Its approach seems to be preceded by a wild delirium, which holds till the body shrinks from exhaustion, and after a few hours' continuance in this condition, the spirit departs from its mortal tenement. Shortly after death the corpse takes a dark hue, and becomes nearly black. In the Roman Catholic grave-yard, I have been informed that as many as 14 were interred in one day. The laborers are chiefly members of that church. The disease is not always fatal. There have been several cases of recovery. — It is represented by the physicians, that, so far as regards the native citizens, the town was never healthier.' At the time of this alarm, I caused inquiry to be made of the coroner, the undertaker, and the town physician, and was satisfied that, in every case of sudden death, the deceased had been in the habitual use of ardent spirit. In the Journal of Humanity of '2d September, 1830, the Editor says — 'A gentleman of the greatest respectability from the south asserted, the other day. in our hearing, that those who fell victims in the southern climes, are almost invariably those who indulge in the free use of ardent spirits. So says the New York Journal. The same paper mentions the death of three persons in its vicinity, occasioned by heat and drinking cold water, all of whom were intemperate.' A gentleman of respectability (Mr. Symonton), whose family has an inter- est in the island of Key West, on the coast of Florida, informed me that the island was very sickly last year, and many died of the fever ; but that all who died had been in the habitual use of ardent spirits ; that this fact was ascertained by a minute investigation of every case ; and that the evidence was so satisfacto- ry, that the inhabitants this year have generally abstained from distilled liquors ; so that not more than one gallon has been consumed this year for every barrel used last year. The consequence is, that this year they have been uncommonly healthy. The fact that nine tenths, if not all, the deaths from drinking cold water, happen among those who are in the habitual use of ardent spirits, is so impor- tant, that I have deemed it expedient to state this evidence upon which the assertion is founded." * This fact is stated also in M'Kinzey's 5000 Receipts 92 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. of returning to it the refuse materials which are no longer of use. The blood is thus a sort of common carrier, conveying from part to part whatever is intrusted to it for the common benefit. When obliged to carry spirit (and it carries it so reluctantly that some phy- sicians have doubted whether spirit ever actually enters the blood), it presents it, as it does its other commodities, to the several organs for their selection : but, as we have seen, they all decline it. The head says, " My nerves are calmer, my thoughts are clearer, without it, — I beg to be excused ;" the heart says, " My motions are more regular, my affections are purer, without it, — I have no occasion for it ;" the limbs say, " Our strength is firmer, our vigor is more dura- ble, without it, — we need it not ;" all say, " It cannot nourish us, it cannot sustain us, — we will none of it;" and at length, rejected by ail, except by those organs whose peculiar office it is to convey out of the blood its refuse and worthless parts, it is taken up by them and thrown out of the body. How happy for mankind, did the reason of man conduct him to the same practical wisdom, which is thus given by his Creator to the instinctive excitabilities of his ani- mal faculties ! But, unhappily, these several organs, although they may refuse what is unsuitable to them, cannot escape without suf- fering. Our carrier, inflamed by his burden, though he received it at first with reluctance, becomes the insolent pedlar, who insults and abuses the customers who decline his wares. The office of the stomach, as is well known, is to digest the food, and prepare its nutritious parts for absorption into the blood. This it does chiefly by means of the juices which are formed in its coats, to be mixed with, and dissolve the food. When these juices are in a healthy condition, the digestion is well performed ; when they are unhealthy, we have flatulence, oppression, and a host of ills. Now the stomach, in common with the other parts of the body, is pre- served in health by a proper state both of its nutrition and of its ex- citability. Whenever it is excited by an unnatural stimulus, — and we have sufficiently shown that ardent spirit is an unnatural stim- ulus,— although the action may be increased for a short time, debil- ity immediately follows, and the next portion of food is imperfectly digested. If this indigestion is at once met by a temporary absti- nence, or judicious diet, it may soon be removed. But the sensa- tions by which it is accompanied, form a temptation to renew them by repeating the stimulus. Indeed the digestion itself may for a time be improved by a daily repetition of the excitement. But, then, every such repetition exhausts a certain portion of the excitability, and this process cannot go on long before the powers of the stomach be- come so debilitated, that no food is properly digested, and there is an uneasiness which craves relief by some new stimulus. It is this uneasiness, this gnawing sensation, that constitutes one of the great- est obstacles to breaking off the habit of taking spirit, whenever such a habit has been be*mn. FOURTH REPORT. 1831. APPENDIX. 93 In consequence cf the imperfect manner in which the food is digested, either a sufficient quantity of nutritive matter is not prepar- ed to be absorbed into the blood, or it is absorbed in a crude state, and not well suited to the purposes of nutrition. Thus all the parts of the body suffer from the delinquency of the stomach. ]t is well known that all the several organs of the body exert an influence upon each other by means that are not fully understood ; which physicians call sympathetic. The sympathies of the stomach are more extensive than those of any other part ; and hence it is that when this organ is disordered, a greater variety and extent of suf- fering is the consequence, than is produced by an equal extent of injury to any other part. We come next to speak of the effect of the use of spirit upon the liver. The principal function of this organ is to aid in the process of digestion. As, in the performance of this function, its actions are associated with those of the stomach, so many of the effects of dis- ease are of a similar character. There are, however, one or two particulars in which the effects are so different as to demand a sep arate though concise consideration. The liver complaint and the jaundice are sufficiently known to be the frequent consequences of intemperance. But it seems not to be so well known that a more moderate use of spirit produces a strong tendency to the same dis- eases. The liver is easily excited to extraordinary action, not only by what affects the stomach, with which it is so closely associated, but also by whatever powerfully stimulates the general system, and especially by strong emotions of the mind. When the excitement is moderate, such as is produced by a proper diet, or by a rational employment of the mental faculties, then the effect upon this organ is salutary and healthful. But if, from either cause, the excitement becomes too great, it tends to disease ; and the tendency is increas- ed with everv repetition. This explanation may show how it is that any quantity of ardent spirit, however moderate, has an injurious effect upon the functions of the liver. I shall notice only one more class of the effects of ardent spirit ; and this is its influence upon the brain and nervous system. It is here that we have exhibited the phenomena of that most distressing of diseases, delirium tremens. The tremblings, — the watchfulness, which opium itself can scarcely conquer, — the characteristic delirium, so full of fearful apprehensions, that seem like the embodied repre- sentations of a guilty conscience, — all are the result of undue excite- ment of the nervous system by ardent spirit ; and all united consti- tute a measure of distress and anguish, which is none too forcibly expressed by the name given to this disease among the sailors in our naval service, the horrors. The miserable victim is deprived of his understanding before he is aware that he is sick, as if to show that die drunkard has outlived his probation ; and he sinks into death 8* 94 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. without one moment's opportunity to profit by the alarm of his danger. But you will say, my reader, This is the disease of the drunkard : why speak of its horrors to me ? I drink a little, it is true, perhaps daily, — sometimes oftener, and sometimes, it may be, not for several days ; surely I am no drunkard ; and why talk to me of delirium tremens? Be it so, you are no drunkard ; are you not in the way to become one? Or, concede that you are safe from this danger, still you are not so safe as you imagine from this most appalling dis- ease. Some of the worst cases of it that I have ever seen (and the number that 1 have seen is so great that my heart shudders at the recollection of them) have been of persons who had rarely or never been known to he intoxicated. Men have been taken down by this delirium, who have regarded themselves, and have been regarded by their neighbors, as temperate men. They were known to drink occasionally, indeed ; but they would have resented as much as you do to be told that they were intern pe rate. Nor is this the only evil. The nervous system is a nicely adjusted structure, which superintends the functions of the whole living body. There are many degrees of derangement, of which it is susceptible ; all of which are of more or less importance, although they may net amount to so severe and fatal a disease as this of which wTe have spoken. Every glass of spirit that you drink does some violence to the deli- cacy of this complicated and beautiful system ; and every repetition of the glass destroys the harmony of one of those thousand strings of which your life is composed. The conclusion of the whole matter is as follows. We have seen that ardent spirit can be of no possible benefit to the human constitution, and is hurtful, unless in some peculiar and rare cases of disease, in which its administration, so as to do good and not harm, requires the skill of a judicious physician. We have seen, further, that to take spirit only occasionally, and even rarely, incurs a risk, and , an imminent one, of being drawn, by a sort of necessity, to taking it again and again, until a habit is formed of taking it, first in moderate and then in larger quantities, until the unhappy individ- ual., with little or no consciousness of his danger, becomes a con- firmed, unreclaimed, despairing drunkard. Lastly, we have seen that, should so strange a thing be accomplished, as that a man should persevere in limiting his quantity of spirit to what may be termed, in comparison with that of others, a moderate allowance, still he is by no means exempt from the evil effects upon his health and constitution. Wherefore, my dear reader, I conclude once more with the ad- vice to drink no spirit. It is not good for your health ; but it tends directly to induce disease, and to shorten human life." (Dr. Ha1 eh Essay.) FOURTH REPORT. 1831. APPENDIX. 95 " All the healthy functions are the result of the action of appropri- ate agents upon the several organs. Tims light is adapted to the eye, air to the lungs, appropriate food to the digestive organs, re- spectively ; giving origin to the functions of vision, respiration, and assimilation. But where has nature provided a receptacle for ardent spirits ? What organ requires their stimulus, to enable it to perform its office ? What gland possesses the power of extracting from them the small- est portion of nutriment, or any other ingredient which can be use- fully employed in the animal economy ? On every organ they touch they operate as a poison. No where in the human body are they allowed even a lodgment, until the vital powers are so far prostrated that they cannot be moved. They are hurried onward from one organ to another, marking their course with irregularity of action and disturbance of function, until at last, as a common nuisance, they are taken up by the emuncto- ries — the scavengers of the system — and unceremoniously excluded. When, through decay of organic vigor, this process ceases, the work of destruction is drawing to a close, and the last glimmerings of life are soon extinguished. The records of every hospital, and the recollections of every in- telligent physician, will furnish multitudes of examples in which mild diseases have been rendered severe, and severe ones fatal, in consequence of the use of spirits. This is more particularly the case during the prevalence of epidemics and in extremely warm weather. A British surgeon many years ago stated, that in his opinion half the sudden deaths that happen in the community are in a fit of in- toxication, softened into some milder name, not to ruffle the feelings of friends in laying them before the public ; and there is no doubt that at least an equal proportion of all the sudden accidents requiring the aid of surgery, such as wounds, dislocations, and broken bones, are occasioned in the same manner. These things physicians tell j'ou from no sinister views, from no lurking principle of selfishness. For they well know that, when distilled and stimulating liquors shall be banished from the commu- nity, the fountain of one half of all chronic diseases — a fruitful source of their emolument — will he dried up ; that a large propor- tion of surgical operations will be uncalled for ; and that the number and intensity of acute diseases will be materially diminished. When a person Vmaccustomed to stimulants is induced for the first time to take a glass of spirits, an instantaneous excitement is produced. The pulse becomes more frequent ; the face is flushed ; and the functions of the body and the mind are hurried ; the eye sparkles ; the tongue is unloosed ; the imagination is excited ; the whole scene assumes the appearance of vivacity, and glee, and happiness. 96 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. But, after all, it is unnatural. It is not the glow of health. It 19 not the vivacity of youth. It is not the buoyancy of innocence. It is the flush of approaching, fever ; the excitement of momen- tary delirium ; the hilarity of the incipient maniac ; and it cannot endure. Lassitude, weakness and depression are its inevitable re- sults. A shock has been given to the constitution ; the laws of health and life have been violated, and the first chastisement inflicted. Suppose the warning to be disregarded, and habits of daily tip- pling established. The rosy hue of health is exchanged for a deep scarlet ; the eye loses its intelligence ; the voice becomes husky ; the blood parts with its florid color ; the appetite is impaired ; the mus- cles waste ; the face is bloated ; and in rapid succession the liver, the digestive organs, the lungs, and heart, and brain, lose their vital forces, and but imperfectly perform their functions ; and sooner or later the constitution is broken down, organic disease supervenes, and death closes the scene. Since life is extinct, send now for a surgeon, and let the body be inspected for the benefit of the living. The stomach is enlarged or contracted ; often indurated, and al- ways diseased ; the intestinal canal, a mass of disease ; the mucous membrane through its whole extent, irritated ; the liver, shrunk, dense, discolored, and its vessels nearly obliterated ; the lungs, en- gorged, adhering, often filled with tubercles ; the brain, hardened, as if it had been immersed for weeks in alcohol. Every tissue proclaims but too distinctly the injuries it has receiv- ed. There are no marks of weakness or decrepitude, as the result of natural decay and advancing age ; but all the organs, in accents awfully impressive, speak of poison, of madness, of self-immolation. The anatomist turns away in horror ; the last funeral rites are per- formed ; the earth closes over the dust ; the scene is forgotten. This is the short history of thousands in our own time and coun- try, and of untold millions of other times and in other lands. Could I present a picture of all the diseases and death-bed scenes occasioned by spirits, which it, has been my painful lot to witness within the last twenty years, every one present would involuntarily start back with horror ; the feeling would be universal. If such are the effects of spirits, let them be banished from the world. If the preceding remarks are well founded, to a man in health there is no such thing as a temperate use of spirits. In any quantity, they are an enemy to the human constitution ; their influence upon the physical organs is unfavorable to health and life : they produce weakness, and not strength ; sickness, and not health ; death, and not life. Is the moderate use, or any use, of such an article as this, to be accounted temperance ? I appeal to every philanthropist, patriot, Christian, to take part in the reform ; to avoid the use of spirits as a violation of the laws of FOURTH REPORT. 1831. APPENDIX. 97 life ; to abstain from the unholy traffic as from a traffic in human blood." (Dr. Aiders Address.) " We, the undersigned, do hereby declare our conviction, that ardent spirits are not to be, regarded as a nourishing article of diet ; that the habitual use of them is a principal cause of disease, poverty, and misery in this place ; and that the entire disuse of them, would powerfully contribute to improve the health and comfort of the com- munity." "This document has received the signatures of four Professors of the Medical Faculty in the University, of eleven Members of the Royal College of Physicians, of the President and twenty-seven Fellows of the Royal College of Surgeons, and of thirty-four other medical practitioners : — 77 in all." (Report Glasgow Temp. Soc.) " We, the undersigned, hereby declare that, in our opinion, noth- ing would tend so much to the improvement of the health of the community as an entire disuse of ardent spirits, which we consider as the most productive cause of the diseases and consequent pover- ty and wretchedness of the working classes of Dublin : — Alex. Jackson, M. D., John O'Brien, M D, Rob. Bell, M. D. State Physician. Vice-Presid. K. and Maurice Chilis. John CVampton, M. D., Q. Coll. C. E. H. Orpen. Prof. Mat. Med. John Breen, M. D. W. Stokes, M. D. R. Carmichael. Thos. Hewson. J. A. Crawford, M. D. Fr. L'Estrange. J. W. Cusack. W. W. Campbell. S. Wilmot, Prof. Surgery. Hen. Marsh, M.D. Prof. Will. Renny. Philip Crampton, Sur- Med. Pract. Coll. Sur. J. Kirby. geon General. Eph. M'Dowel. John Osborne, M. D. R. M. Peile. N. Adams, M. D. W. J. Morgan, M. D. Thos. Mills, M. D. J. Browne, M. D. R. Collins, M. D., Mas- Cusack Roney. John Houston. ter Lyino;-in Ho^p. J. Cheyne,M. D., Phy- John M'Donnell. John Mollan, M D. sician General. J. Harvey, M. D. G. A. Kennedy, M. D. A. Colles, Prof, of Sur- R. L. Nunn. Rob. Law, M. D. gery. Corn. Daly, M. D. Ch. Johnson, M. D. Francis Barker, M. D., Will. Auchinleck. George Hayden. Prof. Chem T. C. D. Francis White. C. J.' Madden. Thos. H. Orpen, M. D. R. M'Namara, Prof. J. C. Brennan." S. B. Labatt, M. D. Mat. Med. " Being thoroughly convinced, by long and extensive observation amongst the poor and middling classes, that there does not exist a more productive cause of disease, and consequent poverty and wretchedness, than the habitual use of ardent spirits, I cannot there- fore hesitate to recommend the entire disuse of such a poison, rather than incur the risks necessarily connected with its most moderate use. " William Harty, " Physician to the Prisons of Dublin." (Glasgoiv Temperance Society Record.) " In Glasgow, according to Dr. Cleland's Tables, there has been a very great increase in the mortality since 1822, the year in which 98 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. the duty on distilled spirit was reduced. In 1821, the number of deaths was 3G86 ; in 1822, 3G90 — being an increase only of 4 ; but in 1823, the year when the low duties began to operate, the mortal- ity rose to 4627 ; and in 1824, it amounted to 4670, being an in- crease, in the former year, of no less than 937, and in the latter, of 980 deaths, compared with 1822." (Bo.) " Let every man who indulges in the use of spirits, ponder well on the declaration of a committee of one of the most enlightened med- ical societies in our land. ' Beyond comparison, greater is the risk of life undergone in nearly all diseases, of whatever description, when they occur in those unfortunate men who have been previously dis- ordered by those poisons.' Such men too, it may be added, are much more liable to the attacks of disease than those who totally abstain from alcohol. In both these ways, therefore, the use of spirits, even in the greatest moderation, tends to shorten life." [Prof. Hitchcock's Address.) " Of 33 persons found dead in one city, 29 were killed by intern perance. Of 77 persons found dead in different places, the deaths of 67, according to the coroners' inquests, were occasioned by strong drink. Of 94 adults, who died in one city, in one year, the deaths of more than one third were, according to the testimony of the Medi- cal Association, caused, or hastened, directly or indirectly, by in- temperance. And in another city, of 67 adults who died in one year, 28 were Killed in the same way. Who slew all these ? And who will be held responsible at the divine tribunal ? Those who were knowingly ac- cessory, by furnishing the liquor, and those who were actively instru- mental in producing the result; in violation of the command, ' Thou shalt not kilV " 1 know that the cup is poisoned — I know that it may cause his death — I know that it may cause more than death — that it may lead him to crime — to sin — to the tortures of everlasting remorse. Am I not then a murderer? worse than a murderer? as much worse as the soul is better than the body." "If ardent spirits were nothing worse than a deadly poison — if they did not excite and inflame all the evil passions — if they did not dim that heavenly light, which the Almighty has implanted in our bosoms to guide us through the obscure passages of our pilgrimage — if they did not quench the Holy Spirit in our hearts, they would be comparatively harmless. It is their moral effect — it is the ruin of the soul which they produce, that renders them so dreadful. The difference between death by simple poison, and death by ha- bitual intoxication, may extend to the whole difference between ev- erlasting happiness and eternal death." (Judge CrancK's Address.) FOURTH REPORT. 1831. APPENDIX. 99 O. (p. 51.) From authentic documents, collected by the Rev. J. R. Barbour, which are soon to be published, with remarks, — a copy of which ought to be in the hands of every minister of the gospel, and every church member in the United States, — it appears that, from 135 churches, more than 360 persons have been excommunicated for intemperance ; and more than 200 others for immoralities to which, it is supposed, the use of ardent spirits led them. In 1634 cases of discipline, more than 800 of them were for intemperance ; and more than 400 others, it is believed, from the best information that can be obtained, were for immoralities occasioned by the use of strong drink. More than seven eighths of all the difficulties in churches, have probably resulted from this evil ; and so long as members of churches use ardent spirit, or traffic in it, they are instrumental in producing and perpetuating these evils. This is the case with all who are engaged in the traffic, whether members of the church or not. And should they, for the sake of gain, continue this destructive business, they will not, when its effects shall be thoroughly understood, be able to give credible evidence to any one, that they are good men. The following resolution has already been adopted by the General Convention of New Hampshire, the Pastoral Association, and the General Association of Massachusetts, and the General Association of Connecticut ; bodies embracing more than 500 evangelical ministers of the gospel ; and it expresses, no doubt, the views of hundreds of thousands of Christians and philanthropic men, in all parts of our land : — " As the use of ardent spirit, for persons in health, is not only needless, but hurtful ; — as it tends to form intemperate appetites and ■habits ; and while it is continued, the evils of intemperance can never be done away ; — as it causes a great portion of the pauperism, crimes and wretchedness of the community ; increases the number, frequency and violence of diseases ; deprives many of reason, and brings down multitudes to an untimely grave ; — as it tends to pro- duce in the children of those who use it a predisposition to intem- perance, insanity, and various diseases ; and to cause a universal deterioration of both body and mind ; — as it tends to prevent the efficacy of the gospel, and all the means which God has provided for the moral and spiritual illumination and purification of men, and thus to ruin them for both worlds, — Therefore, " Resolved, That, in our opinion, the traffic in ardent spirit, as an article of luxury or diet, is inconsistent with the spirit and require- ments of the Christian religion, and ought to be abandoned through- out the Christian world. 100 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. " And we would express our deep regret, that, after all the ligh? which, in the course of providence, has been thrown on this subject by physicians, jurists, philanthropists and Christians, any sober man, especially any member of a Christian church, should be found en- gaged in this destructive traffic." The Methodist Quarterly Conference, at the city of Washington, March 10, 1831, adopted the following, viz: — " Believing the manufacture, sale and use of ardent spirits to be unnecessary, injurious, and inconsistent with the Christian profes- sion,— therefore, resolved, that we will not manufacture, sell or use ardent spirits, and we will do all in our power to discountenance the manufacture, sale, and use of them by others." The Baltimore Annual Conference say, " Being deeply convinced that the manufacture and sale, as well as use, of ardent spirits, are inconsistent with the best interests of the community, and therefore incompatible with the Christian profession and character, we do hereby express our decided disapprobation of our members being concerned in the distillation and traffic of ardent spirits ; and with these views the members of this Conference invite all our lay brethren to get up petitions and memorials for the next General Conference, praying that respectable body to take such measures as they in their wisdom shall judge best, to prevent the manufacture and sale of ardent spirits, by the members of the Methodist Episcopal church. And we also pledge ourselves to aid such of our lay brethren, in our respective circuits and stations, as may attempt to get up such memorials; and we beg leave to call the attention of the other Annual Conferences, and our lay brethren throughout the connection, to this important subject ; and request them to adopt similar measures in relation to it, that the General Conference may have before them a full expression of the sentiments of our people on this subject, throughout the whole connection." Similar resolutions have been adopted by the Philadelphia Con- ference, and various other bodies. And no doubt, if temperate men do their duty, this will soon be the conviction of the whole Christian world. What stronger evidence can there be that the traffic in ardent spirit is inconsistent with the Christian religion, than the facts which are exhibited in the foregoing Report ! P. (p. 52.) The first public meeting of the London Temperance Society was held on the 29th of June. A letter was read from the Lord Mayor, expressing his regret that official engagements prevented his FOURTH REPORT 1831. APPENDIX. 101 attendance ; whereupon Sir John Webb, Director General of the Medical Department of the Ordnance, was called to preside. On taking the chair, he mentioned the evils of spirit-drinking in the army and navy, and in the community at large, as they had come before him as a magistrate. Intemperance, in his opinion, was the cause of most of the vices that prevailed. The Secretary then read a Report, exhibiting the principles of the Society, and the progress of temperance in America, and in Scotland and Ireland. In England, 30 Societies had already been formed, and 100,000 tracts put into circulation. The meeting was then addressed by W. Allen, Esq., the Solici- tor General of Ireland, Rev. Dr. J. P. Smith, Professor Edgar of Belfast, Rev. Dr. Hewit, of Connecticut, Rev. Dr. Bennet, Mr. Collins of Glasgow, Mr. Carre, of New Ross, Ireland, the Bishop of Chester, and Rev. G. Clayton. The Solicitor General of Ireland, after alluding to his official connection with another Temperance Society (the Hibernian), and his devotion to the cause, proceeded to give his views at length on three points — the objects of Temperance Societies — the necessity of them — and the adequacy of the measures adopted by them to secure their end. " The object of Temperance Societies was simple and single ; it was but one. The principle was so simple, that it was amazing it had escaped the skill, the ingenuity and the talent of so many cen- turies, and had remained to be discovered, within the last few years, by a clergyman in one of the Northern States of America. The simple principle was, that the common use of ardent spirits was one of the chief causes of the crimes, the misery, the poverty, and the distress of mankind in the present day ; and mat there was one efficient remedy for the subjugation of that hostile principle, which had been preying against man's best interests for so long a period of time ; namely, that it was the bounden duty of all who loved themselves, who loved their neighbors, and who venerated their God, to abstain from ardent spirits themselves, and by influence, example, and authority, to discountenance the use of them in others. Suppose ardent spirits were altogether unknown — suppose the knowledge of the mode of distilling them was lost — would there not be a gain by the loss ? Oh, there would be great losers by it ; all the dram-shops would be shut up, the public houses would be closed ; — but much of the Sabbath-breaking would be put an end to ; much of blasphemy would be stopped ; much of perjury, swearing, assault, riot, and even murder, would be banished from the land. Temperance Societies wanted to get rid of these poison shops alto- gether. That was the object of the present meeting ; and was there any man, who had the heart of a man, that would raise his 9 102 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. hand against it? The language was, perhaps, too strong, but he was about to say, Was there any man so cold-blooded, so careless, so indifferent about the interests of his neighbor, as to stand neuter when an intestine war was waging between holy and unholy prin- ciples ? Yet that was the situation in which these stood who called themselves the temperate drinkers of the present day. The sword was drawn, the war was proclaimed, temperate members of society against ardent spirits ; and how could these men answer for it to their conscience, who were quietly standing by ? They were trai- tors to the cause. He would enforce the Athenian intestinal war act against them, that, where two parties were contending, the man who stood neuter should be put to death. He begged permission to give his idea of a temperate man, because he knew that legal subtleties had been set up against these institutions. A temperate man was lie whose reason ruled his appetite, and the intemperate man was he whose reason was ruled by his appetite. No man, in his humble judgment, could be considered a temperate man, who, to indulge his appetite, would do an injury either to himself, or, above all, to his neighbor. Now, if he were right in that definition, and if he could show that the man who used ardent spirits, in the most moderate degree, was doing an injury to his neighbor, then he dethroned him from the situation in which he had placed him- self as a temperate man ; and the individual was, according to the true, logical, and philosophical definition of the word temperate , an intemperate man. Let all persons become subscribers to this institution, and, without adding one shilling to their expenses, they would cut off ten millions of expenditure, which they would have in their pockets to contribute to benevolent societies. The honorable and learned gentle- man then proceeded to state, that three fourths of the cases of crime, of premature death, and of lunacy, and other violent and distressing maladies, were occasioned by intemperance. And he would ask, whether, if there were a person present who would refuse to become a subscriber to this institution, that person were not an accessory to the commission of these crimes, and to the procurement of these ills. He would boldly state, that if any person, after examining the documents which he should now present to the meeting, could coldly stand back, and say, " I will not support your Society, and thus give to the public the benefit of my example," that individual would be chargeable with the guilt of an accessory to the evils which spring from this fruitful source of crime, disease, and death. The honorable and learned gentleman here read the certificates to which he had referred. The first was that of the Physician-General of Ireland ; the second was signed by 77 professional men of Ed- inburgh ; he had others, also, from Manchester, Bradford, and other FOURTH REPORT. 1831. APPENDIX. 103 respectable and populous towns. They all reprobated, m strong terms, the use of ardent spirits, as dangerous to the health and existence of those who indulged in them, and recommended their entire disuse. These physicians, the honorable and learned gen- tleman proceeded, had told the meeting, that out of the use of ardent spirits grew the direst maladies to which the human frame is subject. He had been long in the habit of prosecuting criminals at the bar of justice in Ireland, and he could state positively, that at least three fourths of the criminals tried there, were led on to crime by intemperance. The greater part of the crimes which were com- mitted in Ireland, were the results of intoxication — of the use of ardent spirits. He had the sanction of all the high authorities in Dublin to the statement, that the disuse of ardent spirits would be one of the most effectual means of preventing crime there. And would not the same cause produce similar effects in London ? An individual, who has been in the habit of visiting the cells of the condemned, had told him that a condemned criminal had stated, that the plan adopted in the commission of murder, was, to get hold of some man fond of liquor, and, having taken him to a public house, having there made him high in spirits, to reveal gradually the plan laid for robberv and murder, and then to prevail on him to execute the fatal deed. First, hints would be thrown out, and then more explicit statements would be made ; and he who at first shuddered at the very thought of crime, would ultimately yield to the effects of liquor and persuasion, and consent to do the deadly act proposed to him." Sir Astley Cooper, in a letter which was read, stated, that no person had greater hostility to dram-drinking than himself; inas- much as he never suffered spirits to be in his house, considering them to be evil spirits ; and if the poor could see the white livers, the dropsies, and the shattered nervous systems which he had seen as the consequences of drinking, they would be aware that sjririts and poisons are synonymous terms. (Boston Recorder.) q. (P. 55.) The following is the form of agreement entered into by the dele- gates of Virginia, assembled at Williamsburg, August 1, 1774: — " Art. 3d. Considering the article of tea as the detestable instru- ment which laid the foundation of the present sufferings of our distressed friends in the town of Boston, we view it with horror ; — and therefore, 104 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. "Resolved, That we will not, from this day,- import tea, of any kind whatever ; nor will we use it, nor suffer such of it as may now be on hand to be used, in any of our families." And they say, " that, in view of the grievances and distresses inflicted by the hand of power on the people, they recommend their association to merchants, traders, and others, hoping they will ac- cede to it cheerfully." Their hopes were not disappointed. Sim- ilar associations were formed throughout the land; and posterity, to all future generations, will experience the benefit. And says a distinguished civilian, " What have we here ? An association on the principle of total abstinence. The men of '74, it seems, were no strangers to this wonder-working principle ; and they brought it forward in aid of one of the noblest causes that ever attracted the admiration and sympathies of the world. The Virginia delegates looked upon tea, with its slavish appendage, ' with horror.' So do we, I hope, look with equal horror upon rum, with the slavery annexed to that. They resolve to abstain from tea, and invite all others to do the same. We, in our turn, abstain from rum, and entreat all others to do the same. What was the slavery of drinking tea, in comparison with the slavery occasioned by rum-drinking, with all the abominations unutterable it brings on the bodies and souls of men ! Why, then, are not bonds for total abstinence from rum, in 1S31, as necessary and proper as the same bonds to abstain from tea, in 1774? Did the men of '74 and '7G drive too fast, or carry matters to an extreme ? We answer, No. We all unitedly commend their wisdom, energy, and self-denial. With these they gained our independence. How is it, then, that Temperance Societies drive too fast ? As tea was once detested because it was the instrument that brought so much distress on our citizens, we would call upon all moderate drinkers to detest ardent spirit, and let it alone ; and would entreat them to have com- passion for the distresses of their miserable fellow creatures, who are consuming away in the fires of intemperance." And if the men, who, in '76, continued to ttaffic in tea, were viewed as traitors, aiding and abetting in the oppression of their country, how ought the men to be viewed who continue, now, to traffic in rum 9 Are they not aiding in the promotion of intem- perance and all its abominations? And will they not be held. re- sponsible at the divine tribunal ? Judge ye, and in such a manner that your judgment will not be reversed in the day of final decision. FIFTH REPORT A31ERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. By the facts presented in the Fourth Report of this Society, the following truths are established, viz. 1. Ardent spirit as a drink is not needful. 2. It is not useful. 3. It is a poison which injures both the body and the mind. And this results not merely from the great and increasing quantity of the liquor which may be taken, but from the kind. It is a liquor which is injurious in its nature, and which cannot betaken without harm. 4. It impairs, and often destroys reason. 5. It lessens the power of motives to do right. 6. It strengthens the power of motives to do wrong. 7. It tends to bring all who use it to a premature grave ; and usher those who understand its nature and effects, and yet continue to drink it, or to furnish it as a drink for others, into a miserable eternity. From these truths, all of which are established by numerous and in Jubitable facts, it follows that to use ardent spirit as a drink, to manufacture, buy, sell, or in any way furnish it as a drink for others, is a sin ; and in magnitude equal to all the evils, temporal and eternal, which it tends to produce. He who has the means of understanding its nature and effects, and yet continues to use it, or to furnish it, will at the divine tribunal, and ought at the bar of pub- lic opinion, to be held responsible for its effects. For the pauper- ism, crime, sickness, insanity, wretchedness and death, which he occasions, he is responsible. " In the vice of drunkenness," says a distinguished member of Congress,* " as indeed in every other, the man who holds out the temptation to it, is the chief transgressor. The weak mortal who is sunken by intemperance to the level of the brute, is a victim to the avarice of the man who can calmly look upon him, and continue for cents and sixpences to sell him the dreadful poison." And says an eminent writer, "Words * Hon. James M. Wayne. 9* 2 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. [112 cannot express the guilt of those individuals who are now engaged, in any way, in manufacturing or vending ardent spirits." Such ought to be, and as light prevails, such will be, the sentiment of the whole community. The men who furnish the means^ and present the temptation for the making of drunkards, are partakers in their guilt, and ripening for their awful retribution. They are exerting an influence which is hostile to the holiness and happiness of the community; and which tends strongly to the destruction of man for both worlds. To illustrate these truths, and impress them on the hearts of all, the Executive Committee of the American Temperance Society have, through the divine kindness, continued their operations dur- ing another year. The last Report, which contains the history of this Society, and of its operations from its commencement, and aiso the reasons why its great principles should be extended through the world, was stereotyped ; and ten thousand copies have been printed. It has been circulated in various parts of the United States, and copies have been sent to Canada, New Brunswick, and Nova- Scotia ; to Mexico and South America ; to England, Ireland, Scot- land, Denmark, Sweden, Russia, Germany, Malta, Palestine, Tur- key, Bombay, Ceylon, Burmah, China, Liberia, and the Sandwich Islands ; and the committee have abundant assurances that it has been productive of great good. It has been received with special approbation, and has produced powerful effects. While reading it, the nun drinker has resolved no longer to use the poison, and the rum seller no longer to poison his fellow men ; the man who had renounced the use of it and the traffic in it, and thought that that was enough, has resolved, while reading it, to unite with others in a Temperance Society, and to do good as he has opportunity to all; because he has felt, that to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin. Those who had before united with societies have been excited to new and more vigorous exertions, and thus the number and influence of such societies have been greatly in- creased. The conviction is extending, that all men are under sacred obligations to aid in this cause, and to continue their efforts till in- temperance is done away. It is seen that short enlistments will not answer the purpose ; and increasing numbers are engaging to serve during the war. An old man of more than fourscore years, afflicted with a bodily infirmity, for which he had been advised by a physician to use ardent spirit as a medicine, was presented with a constitution of a Temperance Society on the plan of absti- nence. He read it, and said, "That is the thing to save our country ; I will join it." " No," said one, " you must not join it, because ardent spirit is necessary for you, as a medicine." " I know," said he, "that I have used it, but if something is not done, our country will be ruined ; and I will not be accessary to the ruin 113] FIFTH REPORT. 1832. 5 of my country. I will join the Society." " Then," said another, "you will die." Well," said the old man, in the true spirit of '76, *' Tor my country, I can die;" and signed the constitution; gave lip his medicine, and his disease fled rway. It was the remedy that kept up the disease ; and when he had renounced the one, he was relieved of the other. So it probably would be, in nine cases out of ten where this poison is used as a medicine. It tends to perpetuate and aggravates disease, till it ends in death ; and often does it render that which would otherwise be slight and temporary, permanent and fatal. Another old man, once the gov- ernor of the State in which he lives, who had long been afflicted with a disease for which ardent spirit had been prescribed as a re- medy, at a temperance meeting, said, " Friends and neighbors : i am now more than seventy years of age. You all know my state of health. I have been trying an experiment for two months past in abstaining from the use of ar- dent spirits, which affords me much relief from the great distress I at times experience. My suffering has been great, but less than i feared. In the war of the revolution, 1 commanded a company of militia in this state. At the approach of the enemy to Benning- ton, I had just recovered from a fever that had confined me to my bed for many days. I had not then left my room. The alarm was given, the militia called out ; and I, in opposition to the entreaties and expostulations of my friends, marched at the head of my company for Bennington. In our march we had to ford a river ; a sturdy soldier shouldered and carried me over on his back. We met the enemy, — fought — conquered, — and returned in safety to our families. I thus put my life in jeopardy to aid in serving my country, and I am willing to do it again. An enemy more powerful and subtle than the British, is destroying our fire- sides, and trampling with iron hcofs the fairest portions of our land. I present myself to join your ranks in this war of extermination, and enlist under your banner, bearing the motto Total Absti- nence. This step will no doubt shorten my days. Be it so ; 1 stand ready to sacrifice my life in the cause, and I fieely subscribe your pledge, totally and forever to abstain from the use of ardent spirits." We are happy in the expectation that the life of this venerable patriot, instead of being shortened, as he expected by joining the Temperance Society, will probably be prolonged a number of years. And if it should not, his comfort on the whole, and his usefulness will no doubt be greatly increased, by all his disinterest- ed sacrifices for the good of others. Some friend, your committee are informed, sent to the first of these men a copy of your last Report ; and he has read it through six times ; says that he will have it bound, laid up by the side of 4 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. [114 his Bible, and keep it til! he die?. No book of the size, he thinks, will do greater good to the countiy. " This Report, says a judicious writer, contains a detailed and faithful history of one of the greatest changes which was ever ef- fected in the condition of the human race. The Temperance Reformation will form a most important chapter in the history of navigation and commerce, of political economy and morals, of manners and fashions, and of the christian religion. There is reason to believe that a great proportion of the youth and children in the United States, and of the young men under thirty years of age, are acting on the temperance principle. Those who drink, and those who vend or manufacture the poison, are generally over thir- ty years of age. Their bodies will soon fall in the wilderness where they have tempted God and their fellow men ; a new genera- tion wiio have not been slaves in Egypt, will rise up and enter a land flowing with what is better than milk and honey. A vision of glo- ry and beauty, such as the dying legislator of Israel did not see from the top of Pisgah, opens to the eye of the philanthropist and christian of this country. We would recommend the Report of the Temperance Society, with all the earnestness in our power. We wish it could be circulated by hundreds of thousands. It contains facts and reasonings which are absolutely irresistible. It is precisely the pamphlet which was wanted. Why will not every temperance society in the land supply all their members with a copy ?" * A distinguished gentleman from the city of Washington, writes, " The Fourth Report of the American Temperance Society seems to receive the universal approbation of all sects and parties, as a paper most able and judicious. It seems to me that the supply of a copy to each family in the United States, would do very much toward accomplishing the great object for which it. is designed, the removal of intemperance from the country." After saying that a copy had been presented to each member of congress, and that its good effects had been manifested in the great temperance meet- ing which had been held in the capitol, he adds, " The strong and steady march of the temperance cause in this region, and at the South, and West, is obvious and unequivocal. That the great principles of the Reformation are every where gaining ground, and that public sentiment is every day rising in its demands, and that the manufacture, sale, and use of ardent spirits are daily becoming more and more disgraceful, is most unquestioaably true. And if all christians and sober men will do their duty, fear- lessly and perseveringly, I am sure our country will be purified." This sentiment deserves to be written in letters of go d. It is the * Journal of Education, Vol. iv. No. '2. p. 143. 115] FIFTH REPOKT. 1832. 5 hinge on which the Temperance Reformation, with all its inesti- mable benefits, now turns. " If christians and sober men will do their duty, fearlessly and perscveringly, our country will be puri- fied.'''' How momentous then is their duty ; and, how overwhelm- ing will be their guilt, if they do not perform it. "The meeting at the capitol," the writer adds, " will do great good, and in a thou- sand ways. Temperance publications have been working their way, and hardly a day passes but brings new evidence of the pro- gress of the cause in this city and neighborhood." Similar testimonies have been received from various other parts of the country. Friends of temperance, in many places, have put a copy of the Report into every family. In other cases benevo- lent individuals have visited various towns in a county, delivered addresses, or read extracts from the Report, and at the close of meetings proposed a subscription, and thus procured for it a gen- eral circulation. Parents have often taken copies for their child- ren ; and could each child in the United States, have one for his own, and become acquainted with its principles and facts, your committee cannot but think, with the writer above referred to, that it would do very much for the salvation of the country. Those facts are so various and strong, so numerous and decisive, that it appears to be hardly possible for any one, not abandoned to hard- ness of heart and blindness of mind, to become acquainted with them, in their various bearings, connexions, and consequences, and not be deeply and permanently affected by them. Many a man who, by reformation, has been saved from the drunkard's grave, may say, " Had I known when I was young what I know now, 1 might always have been a sober man ; have been saved from wretchedness unspeakable, and my family been saved from ruin." And many a man, now in the drunkard's grave and in the drunkard's eternity, had he known in youth, what every child in the United States may know now, and acted accordingly, might have been in glory, singing the song of Moses, and the song of the Lamb. Had the facts contained in that Report been known to every child in our land fifty years ago, and duly regarded, mor^ than half a million of men had been saved from the drunkard'^ grave ; more than five millions from the living death of drunker: relatives and friends ; and one of the sorest, foulest calamities which has ever afflicted humanity had been prevented. And as the Report is adapted to be a permanent document, and tilt drunkenness has ceased, its principles, (acts, and reasonings will be as important as they are now, — the committee cannot but unite in the desires expressed by many in this and other countries, that it may have a universal circulation. They rejoice to learn that an abstract of it, in an edition of ten thousand copies, has been pub- lished in the state of North Carolina, and that the whole Report 0 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. [116- has been republished in Great Britain, and large portions of it in numerous publications, in this, and other countries. It is spoken of. in the English papers, as "one of the most cheering and extra- ordinary documents which has ever appeared, in any age or coun- try." " It would seem, they say, as if Great Britain were follow- ing, in some humble measure, the noble example of our transat- lantic brethren — and the provinces are rising up, en masse, in fa- vor of Temperance Societies." The editor of the English Temperance Magazine and Review says, " We have before us the Fourth Report of the American Temperance Society ; and certainly, it has seldom fallen to our lot to peruse a more important and deeply interesting publication. We look at the facts which it adduces, and the results which it ex- hibits of exertions made in the cause of Temperance, and we are compelled, on a careful examination, to come to the conclusion that the enemy of Temperance Societies is the enemy of man. He may be so ignorant ly ; he may be so unwittingly; he may be so under the impression that Temperance Societies are the fruit of enthusiasm, and that there is no harm in drinking a little ; still we repeat it, he is the enemy of man ; and he is an opponent of one of the grandest practical schemes which has ever been devised for the promotion of human comfort and happiness." " The Lord Chancellor from his place on the wool-sack denoun- ced gin-drinking as an evil so extensive that if any thing could pre- vail on bin) to abandon his principles of free trade, it would be the desire to put down the free trade in ardent spirit. We can- not help thinking that the old world is under deep obligation to America for the developement of the principles of Temperance Societies ; and now that they have been introduced and with suc- cess into Great Britain, we trust that we shall not be slack, as Englishmen, in acknowledging our obligations. We know that there has been a feeling in this country against every thing Ameri- can, but we trust and believe that that day has gone by, never to re- turn. Let us emulate them in this good work, and may the alac- rity with whirl) we follow in their footsteps excite them to persevere til! the cope-stone of the building is brought forth with joy. We warmly recommend this Report to any individual who wishes to be correctly informed on the subject on which it treats. To Temperance Societies and the friends of temperance it cannot fail of proving highly interesting; and if they peruse it with the same feelings which we have done, they will rise from the perusal more firmly determined than ever, to go on with the work which they have begun, and in the strength of God, not to give in, till death sounds the retreat." The Temperance Society Record, printed at Glasgow in Scot- land, says, " It is a work which will be read with deep interest by U7J FIFTH REPORT. 1 S32. ? those who rejoice in seeing suffering humanity delivered from such a desolating scourge ; and its numerous facts and solemn appeals cannot fail to produce in the minds of those who give it an atten- tive perusal sentiments favorable to Temperance Societies." A gentleman writes from the island of Malta, " The Fourth Report of the American Temperance Society is doing great good here. One of the Judges to whom I lent it is delighted with it." Another gentleman says, " Give to that Report a universal circu- lation, and it will accomplish the object. The facts and reasoning cannot be resisted." In June last, through the distinguished liberality of a friend of this cause, our late agent the Rev. Dr. Hewit visited England. He was received with great kindness, and his labors were crown- ed with signal success. A meeting in London, of the friends of Temperance, was appointed previous to his arrival, for the pur- pose of forming a London Temperance Society. That meeting he was enabled to attend ; and his communications added greatly to the interest of the occasion. Persons were present not only from the metropolis, but from various parts of England, Ireland, and Scotland, and a London Temperance Society was formed. The impression was so strong, the need and practicability of a Temperance Reform so obvious, and the benefits, which, should it become universal, it would confer on the world, were so numer- ous and important, that at a subsequent meeting, by the desire of Dr. Hewit and others they enlarged the object of the society and also its name. "The London Temperance Society" was chang- ed to the "British and Foreign Temperance Society " for the purpose of extending its blessings throughout the kingdom and throughout the world. Should they continue to act in accordance with their high privileges, their great responsibility and their dis- tinguished name, and with the success, which, through the divine kindness, may be expected in that case to attend their exertions, this event will form an era in the history of the Temperance Re- formation. In addition to other efficient measures, the friends of the object have established in London two monthly periodicals, viz The British and Foreign Temperance Herald, 27,000 copies of which have been published, and the Temperance Magazine and Review. One is a dudecimo, and the other an octavo, and both are to be devoted to this great cause : there are also two monthly publications, viz. The Temperance Society Record, published in Scotland ; and the Temperance Advocate, published in Ireland ; besides various other publications of different forms, devoted to this object in different parts of the kingdom. The number or 8 amehican tempt-Kance soctZTV. [118> copies which have been published dining the year amounts to more than a million. Mr. Carr, of Ireland, and Mr. Cruikshank, of Scotland, have been employed as agents; more than two hundred meetings have been held, and numerous Temperance Societies formed hi various parts of the kingdom. More than a hundred thousand are now embodied in Great Britain, on the plan of abstinence from the use of ardent spirit ; and among them are 400 veteran British seamen, inmates of Greenwich Hospital, under the auspices of the distinguished naval officers who govern that institution. Dr. Hevvit also visited France, and would have gone to Ireland and Scotland had not providential afflictions in his family hastened his return.* But although his stay was shorter than was desired by the friends of Temperance, both in this country and in Eng- land, we would gratefully acknowledge the kindness of Providence in his preservation, and in the good which he was enabled to ac- complish ; and indulge the hope that the' benefits will be felt to all future time. We view it as a great favor, and hail it as a token for good, that a system of effort to abolish the use of ardent spirit, and the traffic in it, was devised and adopted previously to the ap- pearance in Europe of that direful malady the Cholera, nine tenths of whose victims are those who indulge in strong drink. And we hope that it will be borne in mind, that the men who use ardent spirit, and especially the men who furnish it for the use of others, are inviting the ravages, and preparing the victims of that fatal dis- ease. Nor will they be guiltless, should it never visit the places in which they live ; for other diseases in great numbers, and with multitudes equally fatal, are infallibly produced by it. In one ol our cities, half the men over 18 years of age, who died in 1828, ac- cording to the testimony of the physicians, were killed by it. And those physicians, remark, " When we recollect that even the (rmperate use, as it is called, of ardent spirits lays the foundation of a numerous train of incurable maladies, we feel justified in expressing the belief, that were the use of distilled liquors entirely discontinued, the number of deaths among the male adults would fce diminished in our city at least one half." What would be thought of the men who, for the sake of money, should directly sell disease ? would it not be viewed as an immorality of a high and aggravated character ; as a sin, continuance in which would be utterly inconsistent with christian character ? and is it not as really immoral, as really a crime, to sell the known cause of dis- ease, as it would be to sell disease itself? What would be thought * Rebecca Hewit, daughter of Rev. Nathaniel Hewit, D. D., died at New Ha- ven, Conn., July 30th, 1831. I19j FIFTH REPORT.-— 1832, , 9 of the man who should knowingly and deliherately sell death J and in such quantity as to double the tenants of the grave-yard ? What ought to be thought of him ? And is it not as really wicked for men to sell the known cause of death ; and when survivors raise, in loud and solemn tone, the note of remonstrance, are they to be put off, with the supremely contemptible reply, If we should not sell this, we could not sell so many other things ?- — or, we must change our business? — or, we could not support our families? — or, if we do not do it, somebody else will ? Suppose somebody would import plague, if you should not ; and in that case could sell more of some kinds of goods, which he had on hand, than if he did not ; and should give this as the reason why he must do it; would that screen you from the indignation of a suffering community, or the retributions of a righteous God, if for a similar reason you should do it ? What would be thought of an apothecary who should import pestilence, or wake up fever, because if he did not do it, he could not sell so ma- ny medicines, and perhaps must change his business? What would be thought of the merchant who should do this in order to sell a greater quantity of mourning apparel. Suppose an apothecary, in- stead of being confined to one branch of business, sells both drugs and cloths ; and also sells indiscriminately, to all who will buy arsenic or opium ; though he knows that it kills men by thousands. And when an injured community rise up and remonstrate, array against him the tears of widows, and the groans of orphans, he says, " If I should not sell arsenic I could not sell so many grave- clothes ; and as my family depend upon my business for a living, [ must destroy other families, to support my own." And sup- pose it were told in heaven, that such a man professed to be a friend of the Lord Jesus Christ, and that he cried daily, " Glory to God in the highest, good will to men," would they not quake in view of the indignation, and wrath, and tribulation, and anguish which would fasten upon him, when the earth discloses her blood, and no more covers her slain ; but the God of the widow, and the father of the fatherless proclaims in actions, " Vengeance is mine ; I will repay, saith Jehovah ? " When the nature of this business is duly considered and its in- variable effects ; when its consequences are viewed in the light of eternity, we cannot but think that every man who has the spirit of Jesus Christ will renounce it, as a business at war with Jehovah, and with the temporal and eternal interests of men. The ides of making property by a business so destructive, is revolting even to humanity, and will ere long be reprobated as a high-hand- ed offence throughout the world. Says an eminent European writer,* " The abolition of the slave trade is deservedly considered * Professor Edgar. 10 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. [120 the glory of modern time? ; yet neither in the evils to be removed, in the opposition of difficulties to be encountered, or in the amount of good done, is the abolition of the slave trade to be once named in comparison of the Temperance Reformation." And, says another distinguished writer,* " Hard must be the heart that bleeds not, cruel indeed the nature that weeps not, while surveying the emaciation of body, the bloated ghaslliness of countenance, the paralization of nerve, the poverty, and conse- ntient meanness, that slowly, it may be, yet surely creeps on their constant customers ; and their consciences must be callous indeed if they permit them without loud, tormenting, and reiterated accu- sation, without awful forebodings of future retribution, and fearful lookings for of fiery indignation, daily to observe, and hourly to promote in their victims, the gradual prostration of intellect, the destruction of honor, th.:- obliteration of shame, the forgetfulness of religious obligation and even of common honesty, the loss of de- licate feeling, the withering of reputation, the insensibility to char- acter : in a word, the destruction of the men, and their transfor- mation, first into brutes, and then into fiends, which is the con- stant and palpable effect produced in their hell-assisting manufac- tories. " Every man, as a patriot, is bound to employ himself in a manner that will promote the welfare of his country ; but I assert, without fear of successful contradiction, that the spirit trade is the greatest bane to our country, but especially to its poor, that at pre- sent does, or probably ever did exist : it kills more people than any war in which we ever were engaged : it destroys more of the industry and consequent wealth of our country than all the other evils under which we labour ; and as it respects crime, it may be called Legion, for it either embodies in itself, or drags in its hag- gard and desolating train, every abomination which is tarnishing the fair page of our history, and blasting our yet lofty national character ; in the dens of intemperance almost every crime is de- vised ; by the brutifying stimulus of intoxicating liquor almost every crime is perpetrated ; and, oh ! you who are employed in spreading liquid madness, with its attendants, misery, blasphemy, and iniquity, tremble while you hear it, — by your agency our age and nation groans under the shameful burden of such cruel monstrosities, of such heartless and mercenary murders, as have been perpetrated by a Burke, a Hare, a Bishop, a Williams, a Stewart, the Gilmerton Carters, and others of infamous memory : while, through the preparation of liquid fire, some of you are exalt- ed to roli along in your carriages, and by your boastful mottos insult * Cruikshatk's Address on the spirit trade, British Temperance Magazine and Review, p. 103. 121 J FIFTH REPORT. 1832. 11 your dupes by telling, that. ' Gin hath bought it : who could hav<; thought it?' By spreading die fiery stream, and heaping fuel on the destructive conflagration, many more are wallowing in almost princely affluence ; while the victims of your trade, their wives, and children, are covered with rags and drenched in misery. 1 would affectionately beseech such to examine the source whence their riches flow. I would beg of them to consult their con- sciences, which will inform them that their ornaments are purchas- ed at the expense of misery to their customers, their superfluous finery deprives the others of necessary clothing, their ease, volup- tuousness, and splendor are supported by inflicting acute pains, wasting diseases, excruciating torments, madness, despair, and death ; on whom ? on the enemies of their country ? on strangers or foreigners ? — even this would be cruel; hut no ! their victims are their friends, relations, neighbors, and fellow countrymen. 1 would conjure them, therefore, by the latent spark of manly feel- ing that yet warms their breast, by the stragglings of that feeling against sordid interest, by their yet remaining patriotism, to aban- don the accursed trade, and attend to their interest for time and for eternity, by turning to the Lord's side." And says a distinguished civilian in our own country,* " ll is of the utmost importance to the temporal and eternal interests oi ' our citizens, that a stop should be put to the sale of ardent spirits as speedily as possible." — " Convince the men who make shrines lor the goddess Diana that they are partakers in the guilt of those who worship the idol, and most of them will abandon the unhallowed pursuit. Satisfy the unreflecting vender of ardent spirits that he- is morally responsible for all the crime and misery which his mad- dening potations naturally produce, and he will relinquish the He- moralizing traffic. Point the christian to the sacred pati;e where the pen of inspiration hath written, 'he who hath the love ol God in his heart, worked) no ill to his neighbor,' and he will not, for tin sake of a few dollars, destroy the temporal and eternal happi:>;ss of those around him. Convince the retailer who makes the drunk- ard, and sends him staggering home to abuse, and perhaps to mur- der a wretched wife and starving children, that the curse of Hea- ven is denounced against him who holdeth the cup to his neighbor's lips, and surely he will forbear. Let ihe attention of the fond pa- rent who seeks to provide for his beloved offspring, by the manu- facture or sale of ardent spirits, be directed to this withering curse which may soon be resting upon his own head, when he may be compelled to rescue his own broken-hearted daughter from the indescribable wretchedness of a drunkard's hovel, or to follow his last son to that hopeless depository, a drunkard's grave ; and * Reuben H. Walworth, Chancellor of the State of New York. 12 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. [122 certainly coercion cannot be necessary to induce him to forsake this dangerous pursuit. And let all emulate the precept, and en- deavor to live up to the requirements of that law, which commands us to love our neighbors as ourselves, and to consider and treat all mankind as our brethren. " High on a scroll, inscribed on Nature's shrine, Live, in bright characters, the words divine — ' In all life's changing scenes, to others do ' What you would wish by others done to you.' Winds, wide o'er earth this sacred law convey ; Ye nations hear it, and let all obey." In September the Temperance Society of Baltimore applied to our secretary for an »agent to labor under their direction and at their expense, in that city and state. He engaged for that service the Rev. John Marsh, of Haddam, Connecticut, Secretary of the Connecticut Temperance Society. In addition to the visiting of different parts of that state, he visited also, during his agency, the city of Washington ; and was instrumental in procuring the meet- ing in the capitol which has been referred to, and which has been so extensively useful throughout the country. The Hon. Lewis Cass, secretary of war, presided, and Walter Lowry, Esq. clerk of the senate of the United States, was secretary of the meeting. The Rev. Reuben Post, of Washington City, chaplain of the House of Representatives, opened the meeting with prayer. The Rev. Mr. Marsh stated that the object of it was, the promotion of the cause of Temperance in the United States, and throughout the world. The meeting was then addressed by the Hon. Felix Grundy, United States Senator from the State of Tennessee ; the Hon. Theodore Frelinghuysen, United States Senator from the state of New Jersey ; the Hon. Isaac C. Bates, member of the House of Representatives from the State of Massachusetts ; the Hon. James M. Wayne, member of the House of Representa- tives from the State of Georgia, and the Hon. Daniel Webster, United States Senator, from the State of Massachusetts. A vote of thanks was then presented to the secretary of war for presiding on the occasion, and the meeting was closed with prayer by the Rev. Professor Durbin, of Kentucky, chaplain of the Senate of the United States. Those who addressed the meeting spoke in high terms of the social, civil, and religious benefits which have resulted to our country, from the formation and operations of Temperance Socie- ties, and expressed their conviction that the influence of them will be felt through the world. The speeches have since been publish- ed in various parts of the country, have passed through several editions, and are now receiving a very extensive circulation. Another important testimony to the benefits of temperance 123] FIFTH REPORT. 1832. 13 societies, and to the importance of their universal extension, was given hy the Hon. William Wirt, late attorney general of the Uni- ted States. In a communication which he made to a meeting of the Baltimore city Temperance Society he said, " 1 have been for more than forty years a close observer of life and manners in various parts of the United States, and I know not the evil that will bear a moment's comparison with intemperance. It is no ex- aggeration to say, as has been often said, that this single cause has produced more vice, crime, poverty, and wretchedness in every form, domestic and social, than all the other ills that scourge us, combined. In truth, it is scarcely possible to meet with misery in any shape, in this country, which will not be found on examina- tion to heve proceeded, directly or indirectly, from the excessive use of ardent spirits. Want is one of its immediate consequences. The sau spectacle of starving and destitute families, and of igno- rant, half naked, vicious children, ought never to be presented in a country like this, where the demand for labor is constant, the field unlimited, the sources of supply inexhaustible, and where there are none to make us afraid; and it never would be presented, or very rarely indeed, were it not for the desolation brought upon families by the general use of this deadly poison. It paralyses the arm, the brain, the heart. All the best affections, all the energies of the mind, wither under its influence. The man becomes a maniac, and is locked up in a hospital, or imbrues his hands in the blood of his wife and children, and is sent to the gallows or doomed to the penitentiary ; or, if he escapes these consequences, he becomes a walking pestilence on the earth, miserable in him- self, and loathsome to all who behold him. How often do we see, too, whole families contaminated by the vicious example of the parent ; husbands, wives, daughters, and sons, all drunkards and furies : sometimes wives murdering their husbands ; at others husbands their wives ; and worst of all, if worse can be in such a group of horrors, children murdering their parents. But below this grade of crime, how much is there of unseen and untold mise- ry, throughout our otherwise happy land, proceeding from this fatal cause alone. lam persuaded that if we could have a statistical survey and report of the affairs of unhappy families and individu- als, with the causes of their misery annexed, we should find nine cases out often, if not a still greater proportion, resulting from the use of ardent spirits alone. With this conviction, which seems to havo become universal among reflecting men, the apathy shown to the continuance of the evil can only be ascribed to the circum- stance that the mischief, though verbally admitted, is not seen and felt in all its enormity. If some fatal plague, of a contagious character, were imported into our country, and had commenced its ravages in our cities, we should see the most prompt and vigor- 2 10* 14 AMERICAN TEEPERANCE SOCIETY. [124 ous measures at once adopted to repress and extinguish it : but what are the most fearful plagues that ever carried death and havoc in their train through the eastern countries, compared with this ? They are only occasional ; this is perennial. They are confined by climate or place ; this malady is of all climates, and all times and places. They kill the body at once; this con- sumes both body and soul by a lingering and dreadful death, involv- ing the dearest connections in the vortex of ruin. What parent, however exemplary himself, can ever feel that his son is safe while the living fountain of poison is within his reach ? God grant that it may soon become a fountain sealed, in our country at least. What a relief, what a delightful relief, would it be to turn from the awful and horrid past, to the pure, peaceful, and happy future ! to see the springs of life, and feeling, and intelligence, renewed on every hand ; health, industry, and prosperity, glowing around us ; the altars of domestic peace and love rekindled in every family ; and the religion of the Saviour presented with a fair field for its celes- tial action. " The progress already made by our temperance societies, ir advancing this golden age, proves them to be of a divine origin. May the Almighty crown his own work with full and speedy suc- cess. I remain, dear sir, respectfully and truly yours, "William Wirt." So numerous and striking have been the benefits of societies formed on the plan of abstinence from the use of ardent spirit, that increased efforts have been made during the past year to extend them through the country. The friends of temperance in the State of New York have set an example on this subject, which, if followed, would do much towards banishing intemperance from the earth. They have entered, with systematic vigor, and wiih great success, on the plan of forming a temperance society in every town, and in ever school district in the State. A circular has been issued and sent to every family, inviting all the members who have come to years of understanding, to abstain from the use of ardent spirit; and to unite with a temperance society. More than 50,000 have been added to their temperance societies during the past year. And the secretary of that society states, that the members which are added to their societies will average a thousand a day. "The circulars," he says, "have produced and are producing wonders. All that our State needs is information, and the work will be onward. Pennsylvania has sent for a partial supply of the circulars, and we have sent enough to the Secretary of the navy for the supply of our national ships. To engage in this benevolent work all classes of people, and to 125] FIFTH REPORT. 1832. 15 extend the same efficient system throughout the country, the Com- mittee of the American Temperance Society, at their meeting in Boston, January 16, 1832, adopted the following resolutions, viz. " 1. That the social, civil, and religious interests of our country, and of the world, would be greatly promoted, should each indivi- dual abstain entirely from the use of ardent spirit, as a drink ; from the manufacture of it, and the traffic in it; and from the furnish- ing of it, in any way, as drink for others. " 2. That each individual in our country, as soon as practicable, be particularly invited thus to abstain, and in all suitable ways to exert his influence, to lead all others to do the same. " 3. That, as information is important, a Circular, containing a brief view of the prominent facts on this subject, be prepared, and, as means can be obtained, be sent to every family in the United States, respectfully and earnestly requesting each individual, who has come to years of understanding, to adopt the above plan ; and, for the sake of doing good, to unite with others in a Temperance Society. " 4. That, to promote the formation of Temperance Societies, to invite all to join them, and to carry the above plan into practical effect throughout our country, it is needful that one or more wise and efficient Agents should be employed by each Slate ; and that some General Agents should visit all parts of our land. " 5. That application be made to benevolent individuals and known friends of temperance, for means to accomplish the above- mentioned objects ; and to enable the American Temperance So- ciety to prosecute its great and benevolent work, till the use of ar- dent spirit as a drink, the manufacture of it, and the traffic in it, shall be done away throughout our country, and throughout the world." In pursuance of the above resolutions, the following letter has been published, and sent to a number of gentlemen in different parts of the United States : — " The American Temperance Society is engaged in the great and benevolent work of extending the principle of abstinence from the use of ardent spirit, till it shall become universal. By means of the press and of living agents, a strong impression has already been made, and a great change effected with regard to this subject. More than a million of persons in the United State* now abstain from the use of ardent spirit. Among them are those of all ages, and in all kinds of lawful business. Many, who for years used it habitually, and thought it needful, have found by- experience that they were mistaken, and that they are in all re- spects better without it. And should the experiment be fairly made, this would be found to be the case with all. " More than a thousand distilleries have been stopped ; more than three thousand merchants have ceased to traffic in the poison, 16 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. [126 and more than three thousand drunkards ceased to use intoxicating drinks. More than ten thousand persons, as appears from numer- ous facts, have, by the change in the sentiments and practices of the community, already been saved from becoming drunkards. The quantity of ardent spirit used over extensive districts of coun- try, has been greatly diminished ; and pauperism, crime, sickness, insanity, and premature deaths have been diminished in propor- tion. " And when persons have ceased to use intoxicating drinks, they have not only become more sober, healthy, diligent and economi- cal, and their condition for this life been greatly improved ; but they have, in much greater numbers, become hopefully pious, and experienced an entire change of character and ol prospects for the life to come. And could appropriate means be used, over our whole country, a change, with the divine blessing, might be effect- ed, which would save, annually, millions of property, and thousands and tens of thousands of lives ; a change which would remove one of the greatest dangers to our social, civil, and religious institutions, one of the greatest obstructions to the efficacy of the gospel, and all the means of grace ; and one of the chief causes, throughout our land, of human wretchedness and wo. But for ability to employ these means, and accomplish these objects, the American Temperance Society is dependent upon what the friends of temperance are disposed to furnish. Its whole permanent income is not six hundred dollars a year ; a sum insuf- ficient to print and circulate, as extensively as is desirable, even its Annual Report. Numerous and pressing applications, from all parts of the country, are made for publications, and for agents ; out the Society has not the means of complying with these re- quests. And without assistance, its labors, which, in time past have been so greatly blessed, and which are so intimately connect- ed with the welfare of the present and all future generations of men, for both worlds, must in a great measure cease. Whether they shall be continued, or not, now depends upon this, whether the friends of the object will furnish the means. The Committee, therefore, in reliance on Him who has all hearts in his hands, have resolved to make application to as many as practicable, of the known friends of temperance, who are blessed with property, and respectfully and earnestly request thern to fur- nish the necessary means. Should one hundred individuals give cne hundred dollars a year, or could a sum equal to that be ob- tained, abstinence from the use of ardent spirit might, it is believed, be extended throughout our country, and throughout the Chris- tian world. The next generation, and all future generations of men might come forward into life without the habit of using it, without any appetite for it, or expectation of any benefit to be de- 127 J FIFTH REPORT. 1832. 17 rived from the use of it. Then the gospel and all the means of grace may be expected to produce more than double their past effects ; and all efforts for the intellectual, moral and spiritual bene- fit of man be crowned with greatly augmented success. And in no way, probably, could the same amount of property do greater good to mankind. The Committee, therefore, in fulfilment of the high trust assign- ed to them, and for the purpose of promoting the great interests of our country and the world, respectfully and earnestly request the friends of temperance to assist them in this great and moment- ous work. And although they have no desire to dictate as to the manner, or the amount, yet as it is very desirable that they should know what means they can obtain in order to lay out their plans, and direct their operations accordingly, they take the liberty to present the following form of subscription, viz. — To enable the American Temperance Society, by means of the press, and of living agents, to extend the principle of abstinence from the use of ardent spirit, throughout our country, — we the subscribers agree to pay annually lo said society, so long as it shall appear to us to be pro- per, the sums annexed to our names. George Odiorne, John Tappan, Heman Lincoln, } Committee. Justin Edwards, Enoch Hale, Jr. Boston, Jan. 16, 1832. P. S. — Although, for the reasons above mentioned, and also on account of the greater ease and diminished expense of collecting it, an annual subscription is viewed by the Committee as more desirable than a donation, yet if any person prefer to assist by a donation, he is requested to write donation against his name. And any amount, furnished in either way, and sent to the Treasurer, 97 Milk street, Boston, will be thankfully received, and faithfully ap- propriated to the great object of the society." The Circular referred to in the 3d resolution has been prepar- ed. It is a pamphlet of twelve pages, and has been stereotyped. It is sold by A. Russell, No. 5, Cornhill, Boston, at $10 per thousand, and is adapted to universal circulation. Should one hundred individuals give one hundred dollars a year, or could a sum equal to that be obtained, a copy of it might be put into every family in the United States : millions be added to Temperance Societies, and their operations be continued till the use of ardent spirit as a drink, and the traffic in it, shall be done away. 18 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. [128 More than 100,000 copies of the pamphlet referred to, have already been printed ; and all who are disposed to promote the good of mankind, are requested to aid in furnishing means, and in giving to it a universal circulation. The Corresponding Secretary has continued to devote his whole time to the concerns of the Society. He superintended the stereo- typing and printing of the Fourth Report, and assisted in its circula- tion. He also prepared the circulars which have been referred to ; has traveled more than 1 700 miles, and addressed public bodies more than 150 times. He has prepared numerous articles which have been circulated extensively through the medium of periodicals, and public papers; has published forty letters on the immorality of the traffic in ardent spirit ; conducted the correspon- dence, and superintended the general concerns of the Society. An abstract of the letters on the immorality of the traffic in ardent spirit, have, at the request of friends of the cause, been published in a pamphlet, and are found in the Appendix to this Report.* Means have been furnished for the employment of an agent six months in the city of New York, who was appointed by, and la bored under the direction of the Committee of the New York City Temperance Society. An agent also of the Baptist denomination has been employed for eight months, in the State of Illinois. Other agents have been employed by State and County societies ; numerous individuals have performed voluntary agencies; ad- dresses have been delivered by clergymen, attorneys, physicians and others; the press, with its powerful and all-pervading voice, has continued to speak, and the conviction to deepen and extend, that the use of ardent spirit as a drink, the manufacture of it, and the traffic in it, is an immorality of a high and aggravated character ; wholly opposed in its nature and influence to the spirit and require- ments of the Christian religion ; at war with the honor and govern- ment of Jehovah, and hostile to the holiness and happiness of mankind. The conviction is becoming general, that the men who understand the nature and effects of ardent spirit, and yet continue to traffic in it, are accessories to the evils, and accomplices in alJ the crimes which it occasions ; that they give fearful evidence that they regard money more than God, and are willing, for the sake of it, to destroy, for both worlds, their fellow-men. Sob^r men of all classes, who have examined this subject, are moving onward to the settled and permanent conclusion, that such men cannot, while they continue to do this, give that credible evidence of being good men, which would justify an impartial community, in receiving and treating them as such. Multitudes, during the past year, have spoken out on this subject, * Appendix G. 129J FIFTH REPORT. 1832. 19 and with great clearness and strength, corroborated what others had said before. Rev. Henry Ware, jr. professor of pulpit eloquence and the pastoral care in Harvard University, says, " No proposition seems to me susceptible of more satisfactory demonstration than this, — and I am sure that no person can give it one hour's serious thought without assenting to it, — that, in the present state of infoi .nation on this subject, no man can think to act on Christian principles, or do a patriot's duty to his country, and at the same time make or sell the instrument of intoxication." And shall men continue to be received as giving credible evidence of being Christians, who knowingly carry on an employment, in which they cannot think to act on Christian principle ? and which is utterly inconsistent, even with a patiiot's duty? which, in the language of this writer, is u no less than employing his time, capital and industry to prepare for use, and offer for use, that which has been proved to be the principal source of misery and crime in modern society ? providing for men the convenient and tempting means of ruining their health, and their business ; beggaring their families, becoming vagabonJs, and a nuisance while alive, and sinking prematurely to a dishonor- able grave ? " and when " the nature of his calling renders this inevitable, and he cannot be a dealer in spirits without becoming accessory to all this vice and ruin ? " Is he who, for the sake of money, perseveringly continues to do this, to be received and treated as giving credible evidence that he is a good man ? An injured and suffering community, by the voice of accumulating millions, answers — No. The Rev. Francis Wayland, D. D. President of Brown Univer- ty in Providence, Rhode Island, in an address lately delivered, after stating that it has been shown that more than $90,000,000 are annually lost to the country by the use of ardent spirit, in addition to all the other evils which flow from it, puts to the conscience of each one who continues, whether by wholesale or retail, to be en- gaged in the traffic, or in any way to furnish ardent spirit for the use of his fellow men, the following questions, viz. " First. Can it be right for me to derive my living from that which is spreading disease, and poverty, and premature death throughout my neighborhood ? How would it be in any similar case ? Would it be right for me to derive my living from selling poison, or from propagating plague, or leprosy around me ? Second. Can it be right for me to derive my living from that which is debasing the minds, and ruining the souls of my neigh- bors ? How would it be in any other case ? Would it be right for me to derive my living from the sale of a drug which produced misery, or madness ; or from the sale of obscene books which ex- 20 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. [130 cited the passions, and brutalized the minds, and ruined the soula. of my fellow men ? Third. Can it be right for me to derive my living from that which destroys forever the happiness of the domestic circle — which is rilling the land with women and children in a condition far more deplorable than that of widows and orphans ? Fourth. Can it be right for me to derive my living from that which is known to be the cause of nine-tenths of all the crimes which are perpetrated against society ? Fifth. Can it be right for me to derive my living from that which brings upon society nine-tenths of all the pauperism which exists, and which the rest of the community an; obliged to pay for? Sixth. Can it be right for me to derive my living from that which accomplishes all these at once, and which does it without Ceasing ? Do you say that you do not know that the liquor which you are selling will produce these results? Do you not know that nine hundred and ninety-nine gallons produce these effects for one which is used innocently ? I ask, then, Seventh. Would it be right for me to sell poison on the ground that there was one chance in a thousand that the purchaser would not die of it ? Eighth. Do you say that you are not responsible for the acts of your neighbor? Is this clearly so? Is not he who knowingly furnishes a murderer with a weapon, considered an accomplice ? Is not he who navigates a slave ship, considered a pirate ? If these things be so, and that they are so, who can dispute, I ask you, my respected fellow citizens, what is to be done ? Let me ask, is not this trade altogether wrong ? Why, then, should we not altogether abandon it ? If any man think otherwise and choose to continue it, I have but one word to say. My brother, when you order a cargo of in- toxicating drink, think how much misery you are importing into the community. As you store it up, think how many curses you are heaping together against yourself. As you roll it out of your warehouse, think how many families each cask will ruin. Let your thoughts then revert to your own fireside, your wife, and your little ones ; look upward to Him who judgeth righteously, and ask yourself, my brother, Is this right ? - The Hon. Reuben H. Walworth, Chancellor of the State of New York and President of the New York State Temperance Society, in an address lately delivered, says, " Though my public duties have not allowed me to participate in this great work in the manrer I could have desired, I have witnessed with delight its lapid progress, and shall ever esteem it the highest honor I coi^d 131 J FIFTH ftEfOttT.— 1 832, 21 have received from my fellow citizens, to have heen permitted to connect my name with this institution, and to use the little personal mfluence 1 possessed in aiding its operations. " In reviewing the progress of temperance for a few years past, the changes which have been produced in public opinion on this important subject are astonishing, even to its most sanguine friends. And it furnishes to us all the highest encouragement to continue our exertions, until the common use of ardent spirits shall be con- sidered as disgraceful as open opposition to such use was once deemed unpopular ; until reflecting men will no more think of making and vending ardent spirits, or of erecting and renting grog- shops as a means of gain, than they would now think of poisoning the well from which a neighbor obtains water for his family, or of arming a maniac to destroy his own life, or the lives of those around him." Such are becoming the views of good men of all descriptions, who are acquainted with this subject, throughout the country. They view it as a sin of high and awful aggravation ; and believe that a man is as really guilty who kills himself, or is accessory to the death of his fellow men, by means of ardent spirit; as by means of opium, a knife, or a pistol ; and that the hope of greater bodily gratification, or worldly gain, is no more really a justification in one case, than in the other. And they believe that the commands of God, " abstain from fleshly lusts, (bodily gratifications) which war against the soul;" " as ye would that others should do to you, do ye to them ; " and " thou shalt not kill," and many others, as really forbid a man's being the occasion of death in one case, as in the other. Says a distinguished writer,* " I challenge any man who un- derstands the nature of ardent spirit, and yet, for the sake of gain, continues to be engaged in the traffic, to show that he is not in- volved in the guilt of murder." The money that is accumulated in this way is now viewed as the price of blood, and when left to the children, and scattered by them to the four winds of heaven, will be spoken of as the inheritance which the Lord hath cursed. Another writer,f declares, " They who keep these fountains of pollution and crime open, are sharers, to no small extent, in the guilt which flows from them. They may be temperate men themselves, but they contribute to make others intemperate. They stand at the very source of the evil. They command the gate- way of that mighty flood which is spreading desolation through the land ; and are chargeable with all the present and everlasting con- sequences, no less than the infatuated victim who throws himself • Lyman Ptiocher, D. D. t Rev. Samuel Spring. 11 2'2 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. [132 upon the bosom of the burning torrent, and is borne by it into the gulf of wo." The Rev. Wilbur Fiske, D. D. President of the Wesleyan University, Middletown, Conn, in an address to members of churches on the immorality of the traffic, says, " It is not enough that a majority of the church keep themselves from evil ; if they hold the sacred and protecting banner of the church over those who cause others to sin, they are verily guilty themselves. The same train of means and causes that have produced the intemper' ate of the past and the present generations are still in operation to produce an equal or greater proportion in the next generation, and so on forever ! And what is still worse, the church is aiding and abetting this diabolical conspiracy against the bodies and souls of men ! We had indeed hoped for better things of Chris- tians ; but we are obliged to acknowledge the fact. And I appeal to the church herself, and ask her in the name of sincerity if she can clear herself of the charge ? Do not many of her members use ardent spirits ? Do they not traffic in the accursed thing ? Do they not hold out on their signs invitations to all that pass by, to come and purchase of them the deadly poison? Then indeed is the church a partner in this conspiracy ; for it cannot be de- nied that all the drunkenness in the land is produced by what is called the temperate use of ardent spirits. " The conclusion, then, is irresistible, and every candid mind must feel it, every Christian will feel it, he who by use and traffic countenances the practice of drinking ardent spirits, is throwing his influence into the work of recruiting the ranks of the intem- perate, and renders himself personally responsible for the woes that follow. I say, then, on all the moderate drinkers in our land, on all that traffic in the accursed thing, rests the wo that God him- self hath denounced on him that putteth the cup to his neighbor's mouth, and maheth him drunken. " My Christian brother, if you saw this trade as I believe God sees it, you would sooner beg your bread from door to door, than gain money by such a traffic. The Christian's dram shop ! Sound it to yourself. How does it strike your ear ? It is doubt- less a choice gem in the phrase-book of Satan ! But how para- doxical ! How shocking to the ear of the Christian ! How offen- sive to the ear of Deity ! Why, the dram shop is the recruiting rendezvous of hell ! (If the term shocks you I cannot help it, for we all know it is the truth.) And shall a Christian consent to be the recruiting officer ? It is here the drunkard is made, and you pander to his appetite until you have kindled up in his bosom a raging fire that can never be quenched — and all this for a little money ! — And when you have helped make him a drunkard, and he becomes troublesome, you drive him, perhaps, from your 133] FIFTH REPORT. — 1832. 23 house or your shop, declare you mean to keep an orderly houst ! express your abhorrence of drunkards! and imagine you are in- nocent of their blood ! But it is too late to talk about denying him now. The man is ruined, and you have been the instrument. Say not, if you do not sell, others will. Must you be an ally of Sa- tan, and a destroyer of your race, because others are ? If you leave off selling, you will weaken the ranks of sin, and strengthen th:> pervading the whole community, that they, in viol 151] FIFTH REPORT. 1832. 41 only of the divine law, but of their profession, regard money more than God. Certain it is, whether they know it or not, that few men in the community are doing so much for the destruction of souls as those professors of religion who continue in the traffic in ardent spirit. A young man, who had been awakened to a deep conviction of his guilt as a sinner, who was in great distress, and anxiously inquir- ing what he should do to be saved, recollected that he had before banished such feelings, by the use of spirituous liquor. In his agony, he made his way to the place where it was sold — procur- ed it, and drank it. His distress abated. His eyes seemed to be so enlightened that he could see that his former distress was de- lusion. A scoffer came in. and began to ridicule him for hav- ing, as he had heard, been serious. The young man denied it, ridiculed the idea ; and has apparently been in a state of moral death ever since. Another young man, who was in the habit of freely using ar- dent spirit, was at one time tormented with the idea, that his wife, who was anxious for her salvation, was in danger of becoming pious. He opposed her, and opposed all her efforts to secure eternal life. He strove, by all means in his power, to banish seri- ous impressions from her mind. He succeeded ; and was permit- ted again to hear her, like himself, cry Peace, peace, when Jeho- vah said, " There is no peace." He was induced, not long after, to give up the use of ardent spirit. His mind soon became solemn, and he was deeply anxious for his own salvation. His wife opposed him ; but he was too much in earnest to be hindered. He sought the Lord while he was to be found — called upon him while he was near — forsook, as he believes, every false way, and turned heartily unto the Lord, who had mercy upon him, and abundantly pardoned. He is now rejoicing in hope, and is exceedingly anxious that his wife too, may become partaker of the same great salvation. She, however, remains as he once wished to have her ; and whether the separation, which appears to have been begun, is to continue and increase, till a great gulph opens between them, and is eternal, remains yet to be determined. A strong and permanent conviction, however, rests upon his mind, made apparently by the Holy Ghost, that had he not ceased to use the drunkard's poison, which once excited him to violent hostility to the truth, and unceasing opposition to those who embraced it, he never had experienced its illuminating and purifying power. Nor is the connection between abstinence and the use of strong drink confined to this country. The British and Foreign Temperance Society, with the Bishop of London at its head, and composed of men whom no one can justly accuse of enthusiasm, say in their ' Report, " We need not dwell upon the effects of obviously exces- 4* 42 AMERICAN TEMPEHANXE SOCIETY. [152 sive drinking. The habitual use of such portions of liquor as have no apparent effect upon the capability for ordinary occupa- tions, maintains, in multitudes of our fellow countrymen, a contin- ued excitement, which sets them free from effectual consciousness of responsibility for every action, and renders impressions of un- easiness, regarding their spiritual state, transient and inoperative. " But, in many instances, to which the Committee refer with pe- culiar satisfaction, persons unaccustomed to any observance of the duties of religion, having been induced to join temperance societies, have at first become thoughtful hearers, and ultimately joyful and sincere receivers of Christian truth. " Your Committee indulge, indeed, the highest hope that this In- stitution will be the honored instrument in removing from the human mind a general and fatal delusion, which most powerfully opposes the reception, and obstructs the progress of the Gospel of Salvation." Even wicked men now understand, and confess, that between the traffic in ardent spirit, and a profession of the christian religion, there is a total hostility. They quote the fact of church members continuing in the traffic, and thus being accessory to the pauper- ism, crimes, and wretchedness of the community, as conclusive proof that they are no better than others : they state that they will ruin men, (and on their own principles,) for both worlds, for money. And does not the excuse which such men often make, " that if they did not sell rum, they would not sell so many other tilings," countenance the idea ? What is their excuse, but an acknowledgment that their object of supreme regard is money? Your church member, says one, is making more paupers and more criminals than , any other man in the town : and the great difficulty, in many cases with this assertion, is, it is true. For his own profit he is making paupers, says another, and I have to sup- port them. He is exciting men to commit crimes, and I have to pay for the prosecution of them. He is taking from the very father, whose children come from day to day to my door and beg for bread. He is covering that amiable woman, and her lovely children, with gloom and wretchedness, more desolating and more relentless than the grave. For twelve and a half cents, he will doom that more than widowed mother to the more than death-like agony of seeing her husband, not laid motionless by the hand of her heavenly Father, bui staggering homeward under a living death, inflicted by the hand of a brother in the church, of which she is herself a member; and who, before heaven and earth, has covenanted to do her husband good, and good only, as he has op- portunity. And he will doom her more than fatherless children, not to stand and weep over their father's corpse, but to Hee for their lives, lest, by their father's hand, they should be made 153] FIFTH REPORT. — 1832. 43 corpses ; and to leave their mother, their last earthly hope, to be, they fear, as mothers often have been, murdered by the hands of her husband. Are such men, it is asked, Chris- tians? Are these the men who give up all for Jesus Christ? And yet such men there are in American churches — who, if they do not sell their Master for thirty pieces of silver, do sell his dis- ciples, to more than the agonies of crucifixion, for one ; and with- out manifesting even as much compunction as did Judas, when he went away and hanged himself. Are these men the friends of him who said, " Inasmuch as ye have done it, unto one of the least of these my disciples, ye have done it unto me ? " For a piece of money will they thus agonize the Saviour in the person of his disciples, and yet profess to be his friends ? Are these the men whose grand object is " Glory to God in the highest, good will to men ? " Who can believe it ? Nor are such feelings, in view of these abominations confined to men who make no profession of religion. The consistent Christian beholds them, and from the heart, cries, " Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do." But as he prays, his voice is choked by the recollection that they do know ; or if they do not shut their eyes, would know ; and if they do not, it is because " he that doth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved." And as voluntary ignorance will not for a moment screen them from the righteous indignation of the father of the fatherless, and the judge of the widows, they are ready to say, " O that my head were waters, and mine eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughters of my people." Nor is their grief assuaged, or their righteous indigna- tion abated, by the cold, heartless plea, " If I should not do it, somebody else would " — a plea that might fit a slave-dealer or an assassin, but not a disciple of him who said, " If a man love me let him keep my commands. — He that loveth houses or land, gold or silver, more than me, is not worthy of me — and he that forsaketh not all that he hath, cannot be my disciple. — He that findeth his life shall lose it, and he that loseth his life for my sake and the gospel's, shall keep it unto life eternal." The Committee know of no principle of the gospel that will justify churches of Jesus Christ in permitting their members, who have opportunity to understand this subject, to continue this work of death. From all parts of the country the lamentation now comes, and often with tears, that the greatest difficulties in the way of the Temperance Reformation — of the success of the Gos- pel, and the salvation of men — are those members of the church, who still sell ardent spirit. And if the church shall continue to 44 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. [154 admit persons who are engaged in this traffic, as members, or connive at it, by suffering those who are already in the church to continue it, she will herself assume the responsibility, and be load- ed with the guilt of perpetuating intemperance and its abomina- tions to the end of the world. If the principles of revelation and the facts which God, in his providence and by his grace is developing, as those who abstain from all connection with ardent spirit, as a drink, in greater and greater numbers become devoted to his service, and others, amidst all the triumphs of his grace, are almost uniformly passed by; and if the knowledge of the fact that ten times as many in proportion to the number of one class are apparently renewed in the temper of their minds as of the other, do not awaken and move the members of the church to do their duty, — they would not be persuaded though one should rise from the dead. And should the temperance re- formation cease to move onward, and the burning tide of desola- tion again roll back upon us, let them not forget that they are the cause. Should their own members, in greater numbers apostatize, become abandoned, and the Holy Ghost depart, and their children die drunkards, let them not forget they are themselves the cause. Should the dragon, that old serpent, again renew his vigor, and pour out in greater abundance his poison — party spirit in our land continue to rage, and become a thousand fold more malignant, and burning — let them not forget that they are furnishing the mate- rials, and kindling the flames. Should they rise even into fury, and burn with increasing fierceness, till the bands of social order burst asunder and the foundations of society dissolve, let them not for- get that they are the cause. And should death on his pale horse pass through every place, and destruction follow, the universe would pronounce it just. They that sow the wind shall reap the whirlwind ; and they that sow death shall reap also death. These views, wherever the means are used, are extending through the country. Many churches utterly refuse to admit any persons as members who continue to traffic in ardent, spirit, or to allow this in any of their members. They do not believe that they can allow it, without violating the known will of God. Nor is this, as some have supposed, adopting a new rule of discipline : it is only applying the rule laid down in the Bible, correctly to this case, viz. that those shall not be admitted to the church, or suffered to con- tinue in it, who continue perseveringly in the practice of open im- morality. That being accessory to the production of the pauperism, crime, sickness, insanity, death and destruction, which are occa- sioned by the sale of ardent spirit, is an immorality, is by the Bi- ble forever settled. And when this subject is presented, in the 155] FIFTH RE POUT. 1832, 45 spirit of the Bible, and illustrated by the manifestations. of provi- dence, it is felt to be an immorality of a high and aggravated char- acter, by every impartial, candid and sober man. The truth on this subject commends itself to the conscience, and moves strongly on the heart. During the past year this subject has been presented, by our secretary, to fourteen of the churches in Boston ; and eight of those churches have now in them, no members who are engag- ed in this traffic ; viz. Bowdoin Street, Green Street, Pine Street, and Salem Churches ; the first and second Baptist Churches, the Mariner's Church, and the Congregational Church in South Bos- ton. Several churches in Salem, Beverly, and various other places, making in all more than two hundred, are now free. And when the church as a body shall treat the traffic in its true charac- ter, it will be stamped as a gross immorality throughout the christian world. Zion will then arise and shine, her light being come, and the glory of the Lord beaming upon her. A city society has also been formed in Boston, during the past year ; and societies formed or enlarged in fourteen different con- gregations, embracing more than three thousand members. A so- ciety of young men has also been formed on the plan of entire ab- stinence from the use of ardent spirit and the traffic in it, embracing more than 500 members.* Three State societies have also been formed, during the past year, viz. in Maine, Rhode-Island, and Illinois. There is now a State society in each of the United States, except Alabama, Louisiana and Missouri ; and it is hoped that, before the close of another year, there will be one in every State in the Union. In the State of New York there has been added to temperance societies, during the year, more than 50,000 members. In several counties the increase has been more than 200 per cent. They have printed 350,000 circulars, and sent them to every family in the State, inviting each member, who has come to years of under- standing, to abstain from the use of ardent spirit, and to unite with a temperance society. They have also printed and sent to all parts of the State, 100,000 constitutions for family temperance societies, in the following form, viz. " This society shall be composed of the heads of this family, and such other members as shall hereunto subscribe their names. In subscribing the constitution we pledge ourselves to the follow- ing rules, viz. I . We will use no ardent spirits ourselves, nor suffer the use of them in our families, nor present them to our friends, or those in our employment, unless in cases of extreme necessity, for medical purposes. * Constant additions are also made to the Society. * 13 46 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. [156 2. Those of us who are, or shall hereafter become heads of families, solemnly agree to teach our household the principles of entire abstinence, and use our best endeavors to obtain their signa- tures to this constitution. 3. A copy of this constitution, shall be pasted in our family Bi- ble, to which our children, if any, shall be often pointed as the act of their parents ; and we solemnly enjoin it on them, as they revere our memories, sacredly to regard these our sentiments." They have expended in this benevolent work, during the vear. about $4,500. The following facts, mentioned in their last Report, deserve here to be recorded. In the town of Gates, there are sixty-nine gro- ceries, and twenty-six taverns, where ardent spirits are sold. A single magistrate in Rochester, during the past year has committed to the common jail one hundred sixty-two persons, and a hundred and twenty -five of them were habitual drunkards, or committed their crimes in a state of intoxication. Within the bounds of Ira and Cato Temperance Society, there are seventy-five drunkards, and twelve have apparently been re- formed. In the state prison of Auburn, are six hundred seventeen con- victs, who, with reference to their former habits, may be classed as follows, namely : intemperate persons five hundred sixty-six ; moderate drinkers one hundred thirty-two ; under the influence of spirits when their crimes were committed, three hundred forty- six ) discharged during the past year one hundred thirty-three, of whom ninety-five had been drunkards. Before the formation of the Hector Temperance Society, more than 8,500 gallons of ardent spirit were annually consumed in the town. Eleven distilleries were in operation. Since that time the consumption of ardent spirit has diminished nine-tenths. Nine of the distilleries, have been stopped, and two are now struggling for a doubtful existence. At the commencement of CO O the temperance reformation, there was scarcely grain enough raised in the town for the supply of its inhabitants ; and the last year it is supposed that 60,000 bushels were sold for foreign consumption. Such has been the effect of abstinence from ar- dent spirit, in only a part of the people. In West Lansing there were 11,000 gallons of spirits consumed in 1831 ; seventy-one drunkards; .$600 paid for the support of paupers, and seven-eighths caused by intemperance. There are now five hundred and twenty-six members of Temperance Socie- ties, and nine drunkards have been reformed. In Lockport nine merchants have abandoned the sale of spirits : one of whom formerly sold 20,000 gallons in a year. In Fishkill Landing, the Mattewan Factory store formerly sold 157] FIFTH REPORT. 1832. 47 two hundred barrels of beer in a year: that factory, and the one at Glenham, employing a capital of $250,000, now carry on their business without either spirit or beer. In Clintonville, the iron forge where seventeen and a half tons of iron are maufactured in a week, the extensive rolling mil!, chain and nail factories are all carried on without spirits. In Clintonville twenty-five persons, most of them husbands and fathers, who were intemperate, have renounced the use of strong drink ; and three-fourths of the harvest the past year was gather- ed without the use of spirit. Cases of assault and battery, and petty lawsuits, which before were of almost daily occurrence, are now seldom known. In Cherry Valley, before the Temperance Society was formed 30,000 gallons of spirits were sold in a year; in 1831,8000; and to the inhabitants of the town only 6000. Of that, 4000 gal- lons were retailed in small measure, at the rate, it is supposed, of $2 per gallon, making $8000 ; to which add 2000 gallons at 3l£ cents per gallon, and we have $8,625 paid out the last year for ardent spirit, notwithstanding the use of it had been diminish- ed more than fourfold. For common schools, they paid the last year $1310. Four districts were not able to have any school. Their town and county taxes were $2177 ; their ardent spirit tax, notwithstanding its diminution, $8,625. The Secretary of the Clarksville Temperance Society says, there are in town three distilleries, manufacturing annually 60,000 gallons ; and for the greater accommodation of the people, eleven taverns and eight grog-shops are licensed to vend it, making one to every thirty-two voters in the town. In Buffalo, as ascertained by the Young Men's Temperance Society, there are more than one hundred places where ardent spirit is sold, and more than six hundred intemperate persons. Nineteen twentieths of the pauperism and crimes appear to spring from intemperance ; and a great majority of the male adults who have died, in the last ten years, were intemperate men. In Hamburg, with about 3500 inhabitants, three hundred barrels of whiskey are drunk in a year ; and there are one hundred drunk- ards. In Penn-yan, with a population of about 1500, there are four- teen stores in which no ardent spirit is sold. Two hardware merchants, three saddle and harness makers, one hatter, eight lawyers, five physicians, fifteen master mechanics, and one hun- dred and twelve heads of families are members of temperance societies. Of one hundred and seven, who have united with the church, eighty-three had previously to their hopeful conversion abstained entirely from the use of ardent spirit. Nevertheless, three stores, four taverns, and eleven groceries sell ardent spirit j 40 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. [158 and there are in the village two hundred and twelve daily moder- ate drinkers, and one hundred and eighty-seven immoderate ; fifty of the latter are employed on the canal ; one hundred thirty- seven are permanent residents, and sixty of them habitual drunk- ards; thirty-five are fathers, and four are mothers; and seventy- seven are occasional drunkards. In Starkey, out of forty-two deaths of all persons both old and young, eight, nearly one-fifth of the whole, were occasioned by drinking. The tax for pauperism occasioned directly by in- temperance was, in 1830, $'260 96; and as an equivalent for the privilege of making these paupers, they received by way of excise from the grocers $70, less than one-third enough to sup- port the paupers which they made. The other two-thirds was a burden upon the public. Is this fair ? is it just, that grocers, for their own profit, should tax the whole community ? In diat coun- ty it is supposed there are eight hundred drunkards, and eleven hundred persons who do not use the drunkard's drink. The profit of making these drunkards is enjoyed by the grocers ; and is it right that others, in this land of liberty and equal rights, should be taxed for the support of them ? In Henderson, with three hundred and fifty-seven voters, $17,104 have within three years been received by grocers and others for ardent spirit ; sixty-two persons are drunkards, and nine-tenths of the poor tax is occasioned by intemper- ance. Would it not be just that those who have the profits of making diese drunkards should have also the burden of support- ing them ? And should they, and their families have to endure all the wretchedness which they occasion to other families, would they find it a profitable business ? or be ready to complain, if they could not be licensed to pursue it ? In Lewis, no person has a license to sell ardent spirit ; and drunkards, if they will purchase the deadly drink, are obliged to go from ten to twenty miles to obtain it. How would the foun- tains of sorrow be dried up, and ten thousand hearts leap for joy, were this the case throughout our country. And were there none in the land wicked enough to sell it as a drink, how many would be saved from the drunkard's grave, and from the fire which no man can quench. And is it not criminal — exceedingly criminal, for the sake of money to be knowingly and actively instrumental in preventing the salvation of such men ? In raising up others like them, and in per- oetuating their guilt and their anguish to endless ages ? The traffic in ardent spirit seems to be marked, even in this life, with decisive indications of divine abhorrence ; and with pre- monitions of sure and awful retribution in the life to come. In "» * proportion of all the families that have been accustomed to 159] FIFTH REPORT. — 1832. 49 deal out this poison to others, one or more of the members, often the head, and in many cases a majority of the members, have died drunkards. In Stephentown, N. Y. there have been fifty-four tavern-keepers who sold ardent spirit ; thirty-seven did not succeed in business ; sixteen are living, intemperate ; and four have died drunkards. In Petersburgh there have been fifty-four inn-keepers ; five suc- ceeded in their business, and of the forty-nine who did not, eleven died drunkards. In Sandlake there have been, in twenty years, twenty-nine inn- keepers ; seven made money, and five became drunkards. In Brunswick there have been forty tavern-keepers, twenty-two of them became intemperate, and four died drunkards. In Wynants Kill and Albia there have been twenty-two ; and nine of them failed by intemperance. In Lansingburgh, of eighteen tavern-keepers, twelve are intem- perate, or have died drunkards. Ten deaths have been occasion- ed in the town by ardent spirit, during the past year. Here then, in a single county, of 207 tavern-keepers who sold ardent spirit, seventy-nine, more than one-third the whole number, became drunk- ards themselves. And could we ascertain the number of their children who also became drunkards, and the number of the chil- dren of those who, notwithstanding their business, remained sober ; and how many became drunkards to whom they sold, and how many of their children, and how many will through their instrumen- tality ; and could we catch a glimpse of the prospects of these persons in the future world, we should want no further evidence that the sale of ardent spirit, as a drink, is a business winch the Lord hath cursed. Not only does it tend to destroy others, but it increases more than four-fold the prospect that it will bring upon those who pursue it, and their children, the horrors of the second death. We rejoice therefore to find that there are now more than fifty tav- erns in the State of New York, in which ardent spirit is not sold ; and that there are more than 200,000 members of temperance societies; that more than 1000 merchants have ceased to traffic in the poison ; and that more than 2000 drunkards have ceased to use intoxicating drink. And here the Committee would present distinctly to the consid- eration of all sober men, the subject of temperance taverns, and temperance groceries ; establishments conducted by men who will not consent, for the sake of money, to poison and destroy their fellow men. Could houses for the accommodation of the public, be opened in Boston. Worcester, Northampton, Pittsfield, and other 13* 5 50 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. [160 principal places, on all great roads, and especially in seaports, in which the drunkard's drink is not sold, and no one doomed to the torment of witnessing the evils which invariably attend the use of it, and could such houses be patronized by all friends of temper- ance, the comfort of travelers would be greatly promoted, thou- sands be highly gratified, and a most important service rendered to the community. It is indeed humiliating, and to many distress- ing, that they cannot stop at a public house, without inhaling, on the threshold, the stench of the drink of drunkards ; and that those places which ought to be, and which might be so respecta- ble, pleasant, and useful, should be to multitudes the gate-way of death. And as to temperance groceries, the Committee would suggest whether it is not the duty of all friends of temperance to patronize them, in preference to those whose owners are aiding in perpetu- ating intemperance and in demoralizing and burdening the com- munity. Even if those men, in consequence of the profit which they make on ardent spirit could afford to sell other things at a lower rate, those who should purchase, and thus, in their estima- tion, save something by trading at rum stores, would be aiding, to the amount of what they save, in perpetuating drinking and drunkenness, with all their evils, throughout the community. And as it is a sin to make, so it is a sin to save property in a way that is adapted to perpetuate, and does in fact tend to perpetuate mtemperance. And if none who submit to the guilty degradation of aiding the drunkard in destroying himself, or assisting others to become like him, should be patronized by any, who do not use his poison, a mighty obstruction to the Temperance Reformation would be removed, and a much greater number saved from tem- poral and eternal ruin. The friends of temperance must come out, and be separate from this iniquity. They must not by their influence aid in perpetuating this mischief, but in causing it to cease. In no other way can they escape the guilt of being ac- cessory to the making of drunkards, and the danger, in the day of retribution, of being partakers in their plagues. Nor would this in the least interfere with the rights of others. It would merely be to abstain from conniving at iniquity, and from aiding in perpetuating its evils ; which is not only the right, but the duty of every man in the community. Abstinence, entire abstinence from all known influence which is adapted in its na- ture, and is found by experiment to aid in perpetuating intemper- ance, is the duty of all. It is merely ceasing to do evil ; and just in proportion as men take this course, will intemperance lorever cease. Facts, as well as the character of the divine government, warrant this conclusion, and afford the greatest encouragement to aii friends of the cause to persevere with increasing activity and 161 J FIFTH REPORT. 1832. 51 diligence till tins foe of God and man is banished from the earth. From the best information which the Committee have been able to obtain, they are led to conclude that more than 1,500,000 peo- ple in the United States now abstain from the use of ardent spirit, and from the furnishing of it for the use of others ; that there are more than 4000 temperance societies, embracing more than 500,000 members; that more than 1500 distilleries have been stopped, more than 4000 merchants ceased to traffic in the poison, and more than 4,500 drunkards ceased to use intoxicating drinks. There is also reason to believe that more than 20,000 persons are now sober, who, had it not been for the temperance reformation would have been sots ; and that 20,000 families are now in ease and comfort, with not a drunkard in them, or one who is becoming a drunkard, who would otherwise have been in poverty, or cursed with a drunken inmate ; that 50,000 children are saved from the blasting influence of drunken parents, and 200,000 from that parental influence, which tended to make them drunkards. There is also reason to believe that thousands and tens of thousands are members of christian churches, and rejoicing in hope of the glory of God, who, had they continued to drink, had now been without hope and without God in the world. There is reason to believe also, that thousands and tens of thousands are now im- penitent, unbelieving, and on their way to the second death, who, had it not been for the sale and use of ardent spirit, had been ripening for glory, and honor, and immortality, and eternal life ; and that tens of thousands more have passed the boundaries of hope, and are weeping and wailing, who, had it not been for this, might have been in heaven. And in view of such things, shall we be told, that temperance is only a secular concern ? that it affects only the bodies of men, not their souls, and is a concern which relates to time only, not to eternity ? that it ought not to be discussed from the pulpit, on the sabbath? Should Satan cause this to be believed, he would perpetuate intemperance to the end of the world. Shall the fires which make this poison, burn on the sabbath, and the use of it tend to counteract all the merciful designs of Jehovah, in establishing that holy day ? Shall Jehovah be insulted by the appearance in the sanctuary of men who use it on the sabbath, and yet the sabbath not be occupied, by light and love, to abolish the use of it ? Shall it cause the word of the Lord, even from the pulpit, to fall as upon a rock, instead of being as the rain and the snow that come down from heaven and water the earth ; and thousands who might be trees of righteousness in the garden of the Lord, to stand like the heath in the desert, not seeing good when good comes, and yet the pul- pit be dumb ? or speak only on week days, when those who traf- 52 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. [1C2 lie in it, have so much to do in furnishing the poison* that they have no time, and less inclination to hear? If Satan can cause this to be believed, and those who manufacture, sell, and use the weapons of his warfare, and multiply the trophies of his victor}' not hear of their sin on the sabbath, when God speaks to the con- science ; or be entreated from the pulpit, his mercy's seat, by the tears and blood of a Saviour, to flee from coming damnation, the adversary will keep possession of his strong hold. Church mem- bers will garrison it, and provision it, and fight for him. From the communion table, he will muster recruits, and find officers, in those who distribute the elements, to fight his battles, perpetuate his warfare, and people with increasing numbers his dark domain, to the end of time. If we may not, in this warfare fight, on the Lord's day, when he himself goes forth to the battle, and commands on the field — if we may not use his weapons, forged in heaven ; and from the high place of his erection, pour them down thick, heavy, and hot upon the enemy, we may fight till we die, and he will esteem our iron as straw, and our brass as rotten wood ; our darts he will count as stubble, and laugh at the glittering of our spear. Leviathan is not so tamed. There is no coping with him, but with weapons of hea- venly temper from the armory of Jehovah, on the day when he goes forth, and creation, at his command, stands still to witness the conflict. Then it is, as conscience kindled from above, blazes, and thunders in the heart of the enemy, that he is consumed by the breath of the Almighty, and destroyed by the brightness of his coming. Never was an idea farther from the truth, than that which rep- resents the Temperance Reformation as only a secular concern, affecting principally the body ; or confined in its influence to this world, or to time ; to be discussed only on the week day, and that as a matter of convenience, expediency, or domestic comfort, pecuniary profit, or reputation, and respectability. Its principal influence, and that which in importance eclipses and swallows up every other, is upon the soul, and for eternity ; according to the sentiments of the learned judge referred to — As much as the soul is worth more than the body, as much as eternity is longer than time, so much more important is its influence on the soul than on the body, and with regard to eternity than with regard to time. And till its influence on the character, prospect, and destinv of the soul for eternity shall be exhibited on the sabbath, from ihe pulpit, by the ministers of Christ, to every distiller, and trafficker, and user of the drunkard's poison in the land, who doe? not, on account of doing evil, so hate the light as to refuse to come to it, this engine of death eternal will not cease to operate, nor this citadel of Satan be demolished. Ministers may think that they could not be supported without the avails of the distillery, and the 163] FIFTH REPORT. — 1832. 53 dram-shop, or the countenance of those who furnish or support them ; and churches may think that it is not ecclesiastical for them to move, or for their members to act on the subject ; and both may hope that others, temperance agents, or societies will do the work, and accomplish the object without their assistance, and that they had better say nothing, and do nothing, but mourn in secret and pray ; though church members continue to carry on the traffic, and cause thousands eternally to die ; yet it is not so. No minister of Christ, in doing the work of Christ, needs the gains of ungodliness ; and no church of Christ is strengthened, or sanctified by having rum-makers, and rum-sellers, and rum-drink- ers for members. None such formed the family of the Saviour, the company of his apostles, or any of that bright constellation, who, in their day, through faith and patience, entered in, and took possession of the promises. They were men of another sort. They could not look up to God, and pray, " Lead us not into temptation," and then, go away and tempt their fellow men to ruin, and yet hope for his favor. They felt bound to do to others, as they would that God should do to them. And if they did not strive to use their influence, not to corrupt and destroy, but to save others, they knew that God would not save them. Nor will he save any, who are not, in this respect, like them. In vain will they plead their connection with the church, in arrest ol condemnation, for destroying their fellow men. And if they continue that work of death, and the church continues to hold them within its sacred enclosure, and spread .over them the pro- tecting banner of the cross, she will be judged as accessory, and held responsible for the mighty ruin. And when the overflow- ing scourge shall pass through, judgment will begin, where, had reformation begun and continued, it had wrought out salvation, at the house of God. And whether the rainbow of mercy which has begun to appear, shall extend, and encircle the world, or earth be enveloped in blackness of darkness, now, under Christ, hangs on the decision of the church which he hath purchased with his own precious blood. Let her members extract from the bounties of his kindness, the material for burning out the con- sciences of their fellow men, — let them set it on fire, apply it, and make it a business, to spread it through the community, and the smoke of their torment will cover the whole earth, and spread through all its dwellings darkness, lamentation, and mourning, and wo. A fire in God's anger will burn continued perpetrators of such wickedness, even to the lowest hell. They would keep the jewels from the crown of his Son, and ruin the souls for whom he died. But let ministers and churches do their duty, free themselves from all participation in, or connivance at iniquity, and let them, 5* 54 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. [164 by light and love, poured out kindly and perpetually, labor to per- suade all, from supreme regard to God, and good will to men, to do the same, and the night and wo of ages will pass away, and the Sun of Righteousness, rising in his glory, will pour round the globe the life and the bliss of universal and unceasing day. Already, in different parts of Africa, are there Temperance Societies ; and African newspapers state, that of all the reforms in this reforming age, this is the greatest. The way is preparing to exclude the scourge of the white man from the whole continent which he has cursed. The Emperor of China has forbidden it to be sold to the nominal Christian, because it makes him demoralize the heathen, and sinks him too low even to associate with them. In the Sandwich Islands, a thousand in a day covenanted not to make, sell, or use it. The manufacture and sale of it are prohib- ited by law, and a man was fined two hundred dollars, for selling a bottle of it. A Temperance Society has also been formed, de- signed to embrace the nation. " This society," says one who was present, " it is hoped will be a permanent institution, a happy safe- guard to the present, and a lasting blessing to future genera- tions— an institution which may yet claim kindred with the nobler National Temperance Society of the United States, which now waves the banner of deliverance to our drowning country, and gives her high-born pledge to stay the glory that was departing from her. The striking fact of a southern dealer in the United States emptying his casks on the ground, because he could not conscientiously sell so dangerous and destructive an article, strikes our serious natives, as it does me, as one of the best efforts that has been known for exhausting that fountain of death which is desolating the earth. Let every dealer in that kind of mer- chandize follow so noble, so safe an example, and 'joy to the world,' would be the song of the rising generation. I am told that our young king has ordered a cask of spirits on board one of his brigs, to be poured into the sea — that, the British consul ap- plied to the Governor for permission to buy up rum for his Bri- tannic Majesty's ships when they touch here, and was denied, — that others applied for the privilege of selling to foreigners only, not to natives, and the reply of the Governor was, ' To horses, cattle, and hogs you may sell rum, but to real men you mus+ not on these shores.''" Such is the language of a ruler, lately in pagan darkness, among a nation of drunkards. A single owner of rum in the United States, who sinks it in the earth, rather than poison and destroy his fellow men, may exert influence in the promotion of 165] FIFTH REPORT. — 1832. 55 salvation over the whole earth ; while he, who, from the paltry love of gain, continues to sell it, tends to perpetuate sin and death throughout the human family, forever. Both exert influence which may be felt after earth is dissolved ; and told, the one in strains of glory rising higher and higher, the other in tones of an- guish sinking deeper and deeper, to endless being. And when Ethiopia is rising and stretching out her hands, and the isles of the sea are receiving and obeying God's law; when China is struggling to keep off death from her people — ►Iceland in supplication for deliverance is melting; and the whole creation gioaneth and travaileth in pain — when the Saviour, with a voice which pervades creation, is proclaiming, Who is on the Lord's side? — Who? — and the universe look with intense gaze to witness the result; — and when a single individual, by coming out openly and decidedly on the Lord's side, and sacrificing, in a single. in- stance, money to duty, may roll a wave of salvation on the other side of the globe ; shall professed members of that church which Christ has bought with his blood, take part with the enemy of all good, and assist in perpetuating his dark and dismal reign over souls, to endless ages? — If they do, God will write, for the universe to look at, To ivhom they yield themselves servants to obey, his servants they are. And the Register, in blazing capitals, will be eternal. And though men who continue knowingly and habitually to do evil, and to hate the light, may, in this world, refuse to come to it, and when it approaches them may attempt to flee away ; in the future world it will blaze upon them in one unclouded vision of infinite brightness, and show the hearts of all who persevere in wickedness to be more black than darkness it- self forever. 88 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. [198 • G. (P. 18.) ON THE IMMORALITY OF THE TRAFFIC IN ARDENT SPIRIT. No. I. Ardent spirit is composed of alcohol and water, in nearly equal proportions. Alcohol is composed of hydrogen, carbon, and oxygen, in the proportion of about 13, 52, and 35 parts to the hundred. It is, in its nature, as manifested by its effects, a poison When laken in any quantity, it disturbs healthy action in the hu- man system, and in large doses suddenly destroys life. It re- sembles opium in its nature, and arsenic in its effects. And though when mixed with water, as in ardent spirit, its evils are somewhat modified, they are by no means prevented. Ardent spirit is an enemy to the human constitution, and cannot be used as a drink without injury. Its ultimate tendency invariably, is, to produce weakness, not strength; sickness, not health; death, not life. Consequently, to use it is an immorality. It is a violation of the will of God; and a sin in magnitude equal to all the evils, temporal and eternal, which flow from it. To furnish ardent spirit for the use of others, is a still greater sin, inasmuch as this tends to produce evils greater than for an individual merely, to drink it. And if a man knows, or has the opportunity of know- ing, the nature and effects of the traffic in this article, and yet continues to be engaged in it, he is an immoral man, and ought to be viewed and treated as such throughout the world ; for the following reasons, viz. I. Ardent spirit, as a drink, is not needful. All men lived without it, and all the business of the world was conducted with- out it, for thousands of years. It is not three hundred years since it began to be generally used as a drink in Great Britain; nor one hundred years since it became common in America. Of course, it is not needful. II. It is not useful. Those who do not use it, are, other things being equal, in all respects better than those who do. Nor does the fact that persons have used it with more or less frequency, in a greater or smaller quantity, for a longer or shorter time, render it either needful, or useful, or harmless, or right for them 199j FIFTH REPORT. 1832. APPENDIX. 89 to continue to use it. More than a million of persons in this country, and multitudes in other countries, who once did use it, and thought it needful, have, within five years, ceased to use it; and they have found that they are in all respects better without it. And this number is so great, of all ages, and conditions, and employments, as to render it certain, should the experiment be fairly made, that this would be the case with all. Of course, ar- dent spirit, as a drink, is not useful. III. It is hurtful. Its whole influence is injurious to the body and the mind, for this world, and the world to come. 1. It forms an unnecessary, artificial, and very dangerous ap- petite; which, by gratification, like the desire for sinning in the man who sins, tends continually to increase. No man can form this appetite without increasing his danger of dying a drunkard, and exerting an influence which tends to perpetuate drunken- ness and all its abominations to the end of the world. Its very formation, therefore, is a violation of the will of God. It is, in its nature, an immorality, and springs from an inordinate desire of a kind, or degree of bodily enjoyment — animal gratification, which God has shown to be inconsistent with his glory, and the highest good of man. It shows that the person who forms it is not satisfied with the proper gratification of those appetites and passions which God has given him, or with that kind and degree of bodily enjoyment, which infinite wisdom and goodness have prescribed, as the utmost that can be possessed consist- ently with a person's highest happiness and usefulness, the glory of his Maker, and the good of the universe. That person covets more animal enjoyment: to obtain it, he forms a new appetite, and in doing this, he rebels against God. That desire for increased animal enjoyment, from which this rebellion springs, is sin; and all the evils which follow in its train, are only so many voices by which Jehovah declares "the way of transgressors is hard." The person who has formed an appetite for ardent spirit, and feels uneasy if he does not gratify it, has violated the divine ar- rangement; disregarded the divine will; and if he understands the nature of what he has done, and approves of it, and continues in it, it will ruin him. He will show that there is one thing, in which he will not have God to reign over him. And should he keep the whole law, and yet continue knowingly, habitually, wilfully, and perseveringly to offend in that one point, he will perish. Then, and then only, according to the Bible, can any man be saved, when he has respect to all the known will of God, and is disposed to be governed by it. He must carry out into practice, with regard to the body and the soul, " not my will, but thine be done." His grand object must be to know the will of God; and when he knows it, to be governed by it, and with re- gard to all things. This, the man who is not contented with that portion of animal enjoyment which the proper gratification of the appetites and passions which God has given him will afford, 14 8* 90 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. [200 but forms an appetite for ardent spirit, or continues to gratify it, after it is formed, does not do. In this respect, if he understands the nature and effects of his actions, he prefers his own will to the known will of God, and is ripening to hear, from the lips of his Judge, " those mine enemies, that would not that I should reign over them, bring them hither and slay them before me." And the men who traffic in this article, or furnish it as a drink for others, are tempting them to sin; and thus uniting their iufluence with that of the devil, forever to ruin them. This is an aggravated im- morality; and the. men who continue to do it, are immoral men. 2. The use of ardent spirit, to which the traffic is ac- cessory, causes a great and wicked waste of property. All that the users pay for this article is to them lost, and worse than lost. Should the whole which they use, sink into the earth, or mingle with the ocean, it would be better for them, and better for the community, than for them to drink it. All which it takes to support the paupers, and prosecute the crimes which ardent spirit occasions, is, to those who pay the money, utterly lost. All the diminution of profitable labor which it occasions, through im- providence, idleness, dissipation, intemperance, sickness, insani- ty, and premature deaths, is, to the community, so much utterly lost. And these items, as has often been shown, amount, in the United States, to more than $100,000,000 a year. To this enor- mous and wicked waste of property, those who traffic in the ar- ticle are knowingly accessory. A portion of what is thus lost by others, they obtain them- selves; but without rendering to others any valuable equivalent. This renders their business palpably unjust; as really so, as if they should obtain that money by gambling; and it is as really immoral. It is also unjust in another respect; it burdens the com- munity with taxes, both for the support of pauperism, and for the prosecution of crimes; and without rendering to that community any adequate compensation. These taxes, as shown by facts, are four times as great as they would be, if there were no sellers of ardent spirit. All the profits, with the exception perhaps of a mere pittance which he pays for license, the seller piits into his own pocket; while the burthens are thrown upon the community. This is palpably unjust, and utterly immoral. Of 1969 paupers, in different alms-houses in the United States, 1790, according to the testimony of the overseers of the poor,' were made such by spirituous liquor. And of 1764 criminals in different prisons, more than 1300 were either intemperate men, or were under the power of intoxicating liquor, when the crimes, for which they were imprisoned, were committed. And of 44 murders, accord- ing to the testimony of those who prosecuted or conducted the defence of the murderers, or witnessed their trials, forty-three were committed by intemperate men, or upon intemperate men, or those who at the time of the murder were under the power of strong drink. 201J FIFTH REPORT. 1832. APPENDIX. 91 A distinguished Senator in Congress,* after thirty years exten- sive practice as a lawyer, gives it as his opinion, that four-fifths of all the crimes committed in the United States can be traced to intemperance. A similar proportion is stateds from the highest authority, to result from the same cause in Great Britain. And when it is considered that more than 200 murders are committed, and more than ;10,000 crimes are prosecuted in the United States in a year; and that such a vast proportion of them are occasioned by ardent spirit, — can a doubt remain on the mind of any sober man. that the men who know these facts, and yet continue to traffic in this article, are among the chief causes of crime, and ought to be viewed and treated as immoral men? It is as really immoral for a man by doing wrong to excite others to commit crimes, as to commit them himself; and as really unjust wrong- fully to take another's property, with his consent, as without it. And though it might not be desirable to have such a law, yet no law in the statute book is more righteous than one which should require that those who make paupers should support them, and those who excite others to commit crimes, should pay the cost of their prosecution, and should, with those who commit them, bear all the evils. And so long as this is not the case, fhey will be guilty, according to the divine law, of defrauding, as well as tempting and corrupting their fellow men. And though such crimes cannot be prosecuted, and justice be awarded in human courts, their perpetrators will be held to answer, and will meet with full and awful retribution, at the divine tribunal. And when judgment is laid to the line, and righteousness to the plummet, they will appear as they really are, criminals, and will be viewed and treated as such forever. No. II. There is another view in which the traffic in ardent spirit is manifestly highly immoral. It exposes the children of those who use it, in an eminent degree to dissipation and crime. Of 690 children prosecuted and imprisoned for crimes, more than 400 were from intemperate families. Thus the venders of this liquor exert an influence which tends strongly to ruin not only those who use it, but their children; to render them more than four times as liable to idleness, profligacy, and ruin as the children of those who do not use it; and through them, to extend these evils to others, and to perpetuate them to future generations. This is a sin of which all who traffic in ardent spirit are guilty. Often, the deepest pang which a dying parent feels for his children, is, lest through the instrumentality of such men, they should be ruined. And is it not horrible wickedness for them, by exposing for sale one of the chief causes of this ruin, to tempt them in the way to death. If he who takes money from others without an equiva- * Hon. Felix Grundy, United States Senator from the State of Tennessee- 92 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. [202 lent, or wickedly destroys property, is an immoral man, what is he who destroys character; who corrupts the children and youth, and exerts an influence to extend and perpetuate immorality and crime through nature generations? This, every vender of ardent spirit does; and if he continues in this business with a knowledge of the subject, it marks him as an habitual and persevering vio- lator of the will of God. 3. Ardent spirit impairs, and often destroys reason. Of 781 maniacs, in different insane hospitals, 392, according to the testi- mony of their own friends, were rendeied maniacs by strong drink. And the physicians who had the care of them, gave it as their opinion, that this was the case with many of the others. Those who have had extensive experience, and the best opportu- nities for observation with regard to this malady, have stated, that probably from one half to three fourths of the cases of insan- ity, in many places, are occasioned in the same way. Ardent spirit is a poison, so diffusive and subtil that it is found by actual experiment, to penetrate even the brain. Dr. Kirk, of Scotland, dissected a man who died in a fit of in- toxication, a few hours after death. And, from the lateral ven- tricles of the brain, he took a fluid distinctly visible to the smell, as whiskey; and when he applied a candle to it in a spoon, it took fire, and burnt blue; "the lambent blue flame," he says, " char- acteristic of the poison, playing on the surface of the spoon for some seconds." It produces also in the children of those who use it freely, a predisposition to intemperance, insanity, and various diseases of both body and mind; which, if the cause is continued, becomes hereditary, and is transmitted from generation to generation; oc- casioning a diminution of size, strength, and energy; a feeble- ness of vision, a feebleness and imbecility of purpose, an obtuse- ness of intellect, a depravation of moral taste, a premature old age, and a general deterioration of the whole character. This is the case in every country, and in every age. Instances are known, where the first children of a family, who were born when their parents were temperate, have been healthy, intelligent, and active ; while the last children, who were born after the parents had become intemperate, were dwarfish, and idiotic. A medical gentleman writes, " I have no doubt that a disposition to nervous diseases of a peculiar character, is trans- mitted by drunken parents." Another gentleman states, that, in two families within his knowledge, the different stages of in- temperance in the parents, seemed to be marked by a corres- ponding deterioration in the bodies and minds of the children. In one case, the eldest of the family is respectable, industrious, and accumulates property; the next is inferior, disposed to be in- dustrious, but spends all he can earn in strong drink. The third is dwarfish in body and mind, and, to use his own language, " a poor miserable remnant of a man." 203] FIFTH REPORT. 1S32. APPENDIX. 93 In another family of daughters, the first is a smart, active girl, with an intelligent well-balanced mind; the others are afflicted with different degrees of mental weakness and imbecility, and the youngest is an idiot. Another medical gentleman states, that the first child of a family, who was born when the habits of the mother were good, was healthy and promising; while the four last children, who were born after the mother had become addicted to the habit of using opium, appeared to be stupid; and all, at about the same age, sickened and died of a disease ap- parently occasioned by the habits of the mother. Another gentleman mentions a case more common, and more appalling still. A respectable and influential man early in life adopted the habit of using a little ardent spirit daily, because, as he thought, it did him good. He, and his six children, three sons and three daughters, are now in the drunkard's grave, and the only surviving child is rapidly following after, in the same way, to the same dismal end. The best authorities attribute one half the madness, three- fourths of the pauperism, and four-fifths of the crimes and wretch- edness in Great Britain, to the use of strong drink. 4. Ardent spirit increases the number, frequency and violence of diseases, and tends to bring those who use it, to a premature grave. In one place,* of about 7500 people, twenty-one persons were killed by it in a year. In another,! of 18 1 deaths, twenty were occasioned in the same way. Of ninety-one adults, who died in another cityj in one year, thirty-two, according to the testimony of the Medi- cal Association, were occasioned, directly or indirectly, by strong drink; and a similar proportion had been occasioned by it in previous years. In another city,^ of sixty-seven adult deaths in one year, more than one-third were caused by intoxicating liquor. In another city,|| of 4,292 deaths, 700 were, in the opinion of the College of Physicians and Surgeons, caused in the same way. The physicians of another city IT state that of thirty-two per- sons, male and female, who died in 1823, above eighteen years of age, ten, or nearly one-third, died of diseases occasioned by in- temperance ; that eighteen were males, and that of these, nine, or one half, died of intemperance. They also say, "When we recollect that even the temperate use, as it is called, of ardent spirits, lays the foundation of a numerous train of incurable mal- adies, we feel justified in expressing the belief, that were the use of distilled liquors entirely discontinued, the number of deaths among the male adults would be diminished at least one half." Says an eminent physician, " Since our people generally have given up the use of spirit, they have not had more than half as much sickness as they had before; and I have no doubt, should all the people of the Uniied States cease to use it, that nearly * Portsmouth, N. H. t Salem, Mass. X New Haven, Conn. § New Brunswick, N. J. il Philadelphia, Pcna. IT Annapolis, Maryland. 14 # 94 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. [204 half the sickness of the country would cease." Says another, after forty years, extensive practice, " Half the men every year who die of fevers might recover, had they not been in the habit of using ardent spirit. Many a man, down for weeks with a fever, had he not used ardent spirit, would not have been confined to his house a day. He might have felt a slight headache; but a little fasting would have removed the difficulty, and the man been well. And many a man who was never in- toxicated, when visited with a fever, might be raised up as weH as not, were it not for that state of the system, which daily mod- erate drinking occasions, who now, in spite of all that can be done, sinks down and dies." Nor are we to admit for a moment the popular reasoning, as applicable here, "that the abuse of a thing is no argument against its use;" for, in the language of the late Secretary of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Philadelphia,* "All use of ardent spirits (i. e. as a drink) is an abuse. They are mis- chievous under all circumstances." Their tendency, says Dr. Frank, when used even moderately, is to induce disease, prema- ture old age, and death. And Dr. Trotter states, that no cause of disease has so wide a range, or so large a share as the use of spirituous liquors. Dr. Harris states that the moderate use of spirituous liquors has destroyed many who were never drunk; and Dr. Kirk gives it as his opinion, that men who were never considered intemperate, by daily drinking have often shortened life more than twenty years; and that the respectable use of this poison, kills more men than even drunkenness. Dr. Wilson gives it as his opinion, that the use of spirit in large cities, causes more diseases than confined air, unwholesome exhalations, and the combined influence of all other evils. Dr. Cheyne, of Dublin, Ireland, after thirty years practice and observation, gives it as his opinion, that should ten young men begin at twenty-one years of age to use but one glass of two ounces a day, and never increase the quantity, nine out of ten would shorten life more than ten years. But should moderate drinkers shorten life only five years, and drunkards only ten, and should there be but four moderate drinkers to one drunkard, it would, in thirty years, cut off", in the United States, 32,400,000 years of human life. An aged physician in Maryland, states, that when the fever breaks out there, the men who do not use ardent spirit, are not half as likely as other men to have it; and that, if they do have it, they are ten times as likely to recover. In the island of Key West, on the coast of Florida, after a great mortality, it was found that every person who had died, was in the habit of using ardent spirit. The quantity used was after- * Samuel Emlen, M. D. 205] FIFTH REPORT. — 1S32. — APPENDIX. 95 wards diminished more than nine-tenths, and the inhabitants be- came remarkably healthy.* A gentleman of great respectability from the South, states, that those who fall victims to Southern climes, are almost inva- riably addicted to the free use of ardent spirit. Dr. Mosely, after a long residence in the West Indies, declares, " that per- sons who drink nothing but cold water, or make it their principal drink, are but little affected by tropical climates; that they un- dergo the greatest fatigue without inconvenience, and are not so subject as others to dangerous diseases;" and Dr. Bell, " that rum, when used even moderately, always diminishes the strength, and renders men more susceptible of disease; and that we might as well throw oil into a house, the roof of which is on lire, in or- der to prevent the flames from extending to the inside, as to pour ardent spirits into the stomach, to prevent the effect of a hot sun upon the skin." Of 77 persons found dead in different regions of country, 67. according to the coroneis' inquests, were occasioned by strong drink. .Nine-tenths of those who die suddenly after the drinking of cold water, have been habitually addicted to the free use of ardent spirit; and that draught of cold water, that effort, or fa- tigue or exposure to the sun, or disease, which a man who uses no ardent spirit will bear without inconvenience or danger, will often kill those who use it. Their liability to sickness and to death is often increased ten fold. And to all these evils, those who continue to traffic in it, after all the light which God in his providence has thrown upon the subject, are knowingly accesso- ry. Whether they deal in it by wholesale or retail, by the car- go or the glass, they are, in their influence, drunkard-makers. So are also those who furnish the materials; those who advertise the liquors, and thus promote their circulation; those who lease their tenements to be employed as dram-shops, or stores for the sale of ardent spirit; and those also who purchase their groceries of spirit dealers rather than of others, for the purpose of saving to the amount, which the sale of ardent spirit enables such men without loss to undersell their neighbors. These are all acces- sory to the making of drunkards, and as such will be held to answer at the divine tribunal. So are those men who employ their shipping in transporting the liquors, or are in any way know- ingly aiding and abetting in perpetuating their use, as a drink, in the community. Four-fifths of those who are swept away by that direful mala- dy the cholera, are such as have been addicted to the use of in- toxicating drink. Dr. Bronson, of Albany, who lately spent some time in Canada, and whose professional character and stand- ing give great weight to his opinions, says, " Intemperance of any * Addres? of Judge Cranch — Fourth Report of the American Temperance So- ciety, p. 91. 96 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. [206 species, but particularly intemperance in the use of distilled liquors, has been a more productive cause of cholera than any other; and indeed than all others." And can men, for the sake of money, make it a business knowingly and perseveringly to furnish the most productive cause of cholera, and not he guilty of blood ? not manifest a recklessness of character which will brand the mark of vice and infamy on their foreheads ? " Drunk- ards and tipplers," he adds, " have been searched out with such unerring certainty, as to show that the arrows of death have not been dealt out with indiscrimination. An indescribable terror has spread through the ranks of this class of beings. They see the bolts of destruction aimed at their heads, and every one calls himself a victim. There seems to be a natural affinity between cholera and ardent spirits." What, then, in days of exposure to this malady, is so great a nuisance as the places which furnish this poison ? Says Dr. Rhinelander, who with Dr. De Kay was deputed from New York to visit Canada, " We may ask who are the victims of this disease ? I answer, the intemperate it invari- ably cuts off." In Montreal, after 1200 had been attacked, a Montreal paper states, that " not a drunkard who has been attack- ed has recovered of the disease, and almost all the victims have- been at least moderate drinkers." In Paris, the 30,000 victims were, with few exceptions, those who freely used intoxicating liquors. Nine-tenths of those who died of the cholera in Poland were of the same class. In Petersburg and Moscow, the average number of deaths in the bills of mortality, during the prevalence of the cholera, when the people ceased to drink brandy, was no greater than when they used it, during the usual months of health — showing that brandy and attendant dissipation, killed as many people in the same time, as even the cholera itself, that pestilence which has spread sack- cloth over the nations. And shall the men who know this, and yet continue to furnish it, for all who can be induced to buy, escape the execration of being the destroyers of their race ? Of more than 1000 deaths in Montreal, it is stated that, only two were members of Temperance Societies; and that as far as is known no members of Temperance Societies in Ireland, Scotland, or England, have as yet fallen victims to that dreadful disease. From Montreal, Dr. Bronson writes, " Cholera has stood up here, as it has done every where, the advocate of Temperance. It has pleaded most eloquently, and r/ith tremendous effect. The disease has searched out the haunt of the drunkard, and has seldom left it without bearing away its victim. Even moderate drinkers have been but little better off. Ardent spirits, in any shape and in all quantities, have been highly detrimental. Some temperate men resorted to them, during the prevalence of the malady, as a preventive, or to remove the feeling of uneasiness about the stomach, or for the purpose of drowning their appre- hensions; but they did it at their peril." 207] FIFTH REPORT. — 1832. APPENDIX. 97 Says the London Morning Herald, after stating that the chol- era fastens its deadly grasp upon this class of men, "The same preference for the intemperate and uncleanly has characterized the cholera every ivhere. Intemperance is a qualification which it never overlooks. Often has it passed harmless over a wide population of temperate country people, and poured down, as an overflowing scourge, upon the drunkards of some distant town." Says another English publication, "All experience, both in Great Britain and elsewhere, has proved, that those who have been addicted to drinking spirituous liquors, and indulging in ir- regular habits, have been the greatest sufferers from cholera. In some towns the drunkards are all dead. Rarnmohun Fingee, the famous Indian doctor, says, with regard to India, that people who do not take opium, or spirits, do not take this disorder, even when they are with those who have it. Monsieur Huber, who saw 2,160 persons perish in twenty-five days, in one town, in Russia, says, "It is a most remarkable circumstance, that persons given to drinking have been swept away like flies. In Tiflis, containing 20,000 inhabitants, every drunkard has fallen — all are dead, not one remains." And Dr. Sewall, of Washington city, in a letter from New York, states, that of 204 cases of cholera in the Park Hospital, there were only six temperate persons, and that those had re- covered; while 122 of the others, when he wrote, had died; and that the facts were similar in all the other hospitals. The men then who furnish ardent spirit as a drink for their fel- low men, are manifestly inviting the ravages and preparing the victims of that fatal disease, and of numerous other mortal dis- eases; and when inquisition is made for blood, and the effects of their employment are examined for the purpose of rendering to them, according to their work, they will be found, should they continue, to be guilty of knowingly destroying their fellow men. What right have men, by selling ardent spirit, to increase the danger, extend the ravages, and augment and perpetuate the malignancy of the cholera, and multiply upon the community numerous other mortal diseases? Who cannot see that it is a foul, deep, and fatal injury inflicted on society? that it is, in a high degree, cruel and unjust? that it scatters the popula- tion of our cities, renders our business stagnant, and exposes our sons and our daughters to premature and sudden death? And so manifestly is this the case, that the Board of Health of the city of Washington have declared that the vending of ardent spirit, in any quantity, is a nuisance ; and, as such have ordered that it be discontinued for the space of 90 days. This has been done in self-defence, to save the community from the sickness and death which the vending of spirit is adapted to occasion. Nor is this tendency to occasion disease and death, confined to the time when the cholera is rag-ins. 98 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. [208 By the statement of the physicians in one of our cities,* it appears that the average number of deaths by intemperance, for several years, has been one to every 329 inhabitants; which would make, in the United States, 40,000 in a year. And it is the opinion of physicians, that as many more die of diseases which are induced, or aggravated and rendered mortal by the uso of ardent spirit. And to those results, all who make it, sell it, or use it, are accessory It is a principle in law, that the perpetrator of crime and the accessory to it are both guilty, and deserving of punishment. Men have been hanged for the violation of this principle. It applies to the law of God. And as the drunkard cannot go to heaven, can drunkard-makers? Are they not, when tried by the principles of the Bible, in view of the developements of Provi- dence, manifestly immoral men? men who, for the cake of money, will knowingly be instrumental in corrupting the character, in- creasing the diseases, and destroying the lives of their fellow-men ? '; But'' says one, " I never sell to drunkards; I sell only to sober men." And is that any better? Is it a less evil to the commu- nity to make drunkards of sober men, than it is to kill drunkards? Ask that widowed mother, Who did her the greatest evil ? The man who only killed her drunken husband, or the man who made a drunkard of her only son? Ask those orphan children. Who did them the greatest injury? the man who made their once so- ber, kind, and affectionate father a drunkard, and thus blasted all their hopes, and turned their home, sweet home, into the em- blem of hell; or the man who, after they had suffered for years the anguish, the indescribable anguish of the drunkard's chil- dren, and seen their heart-broken mother in danger of an un- timely grave, only killed their drunken father, and thus caused in their habitation, a great calm? Which of these two men brought upon them the greatest evil? Can you doubt? You then do nothing but make drunkards of sober men, or expose them to become such. Suppose that all the evils which you may be instrumental in bringing upon other children, were to come upon your own, and that you were to bear all the anguish which you may occasion; would you have any doubt that the man who would knowingly continue to be accessory to the bringing of these evils upon you, must be a notoriously wicked man? 7. Ardent spirit destroys the soul. Facts in great numbers are now before the public,]' which show conclusively that the use of ardent spirit tends strongly to hin- der the moral and spiritual illumination and purification of men; and thus to prevent their salvation, and bring upon them the hor- rors of the second death. A disease more dreadful than the cholera, or any other that * Annapolis, Maryland. t Soe Fourth and Fifth Reports of the American Temperance Society. 209] FIFTH REPORT. 1832. APPENDIX. 99 kills the body merely, is raging, and is universal, threatening the endless death of the soul. A remedy is provided, all suffi- cient, and infinitely efficacious; but the use of ardent spirit aggra- vates the disease, and with millions and millions prevents the ap- plication of the remedy, and thus prevents its effect. Great multi- tudes therefore die the second death, who, were it not for this, might live forever. More than four times as many, in proportion to the number, over wide regions of country, during the past year, have appar- ently embraced the gospel, and experienced its saving power, from among those who had renounced the use of ardent spirit, as from those who continued to use it.* The Committee of the New York State Temperance Society, in view of the peculiar and unprecedented attention to religion which followed the adoption of the plan of abstinence from the use of strong drink, remark, that when this course is taken, the great- est enemy to the work of the Holy Spirit on the minds and hearts of men appears to be more than half conquered. In three hundred towns, six-tenths of those, who, two years ago, belonged to Temperance Societies, but were not hopefully pious, have since become so; and eight-tenths of those who have, with- in that time, become hopefully pious, who did not belong to Tem- perance Societies, have since joined them. In numerous places, where only a minority of the people abstained from the use of ar- dent spirit, nine-tenths of those, who have of late professed the religion of Christ, have been from that minority. This is occa- sioned in various ways. The use of ardent spirit keeps many away from the hcuse of God, and thus prevents them from coming un- der the sound of the gospel. And many who do come, it causes to continue stupid, worldly minded, and unholy. A single glass a day, is enough to keep multitudes of men, under the full blaze of the gospel, from ever experiencing its illuminating and purify- ing power. Even if they come to the light, and it shines upon them, it shines upon darkness, and the darkness does not com- prehend it. While multitudes who thus do evil, will not come to the light, lest their deeds should be reproved. There is a total contrariety between the effect produced by the Holy Spirit, and the effect of spirituous liquor upon the minds and hearts of men. The latter tends directly and powerfully to counteract the former. It tends to make men feel in a manner which Jesus Christ hates, rich spiritually, increased in goods, and in need of nothing; while it tends forever to prevent them from feeling, as sinners must feel, to buy of him gold tried in the fire, that they may be rich. Those who use it, therefore, are taking the direct course to de- stroy their own souls; and those who furnish it, are taking the course to destroy the souls of their fellow-men. In one town, more than twenty times as many, in proportion to * Sec Fifth Report of American Temperance Society, p. 38. 100 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. [210 the number, professed the religion of Christ, during the past year ; and in another town, more than thirty times as many of those who did not use ardent spirit, as of those who did. In other towns, in which from one-third to two-thirds of the people did not use it, and from twenty to forty made a profession of religion, they were all from the same class. What then are those men doing, who fur- nish it, but taking the course which is adapted to keep men stu- pid in sin, till they sink into the agonies of the second death? And is not this an immorality of a high and aggravated descrip- tion? and one which ought to mark every man, who understands its nature and effects, and yet continues to live in it, as a notori- ously immoral man? What though he does not live in other immoralities — is not this enough ? Suppose he should manufac- ture poisonous miasma, and cause the cholera in our dwellings; sell knowingly the cause of disease, and increase more than one- fifth, over wide regions of country, the number of adult deaths, would he not be a murderer ? "I know,'' says the learned Judge Cranch, "that the cup (which contains ardent spirit) is poison- ed: I know that it may cause death, that it may cause more than death, that it may lead to crime, to sin, to the tortures of ever- lasting remorse. Am I not then a murderer? worse than a mur- derer ? as much worse as the soul is better than the body ? — If ardent spirit, were nothing worse than a deadly poison — if they did not excite and inflame all the evil passions — if they did not dim that heavenly light, which the Almighty has implanted in our bosoms to guide us through the obscure passages of our pil- grimage— if they did not quench the Holy Spirit in our hearts, they would be comparatively harmless. It is their moral effect — it is the ruin of the soul which they produce, that renders them so dreadful. The difference between death by simple poison, and death by habitual intoxication, may extend to the whole differ- ence between everlasting happiness and eternal death." And say the New York State Society, at the head of which is the Chancellor of the State, "Disguise that business as they will, it is still, in its true character, the business of destroying the bodies and souls of men. The vender and the maker of spirits, in the whole range of them, from the pettiest grocer to the most extensive distiller, are fairly chargeable not only with supplying the appetite for spirits, but with creating that unnatural appetite; not only with supplying the drunkard with the fuel of his vices, but with making the drunkard. " In reference to the taxes with which the making and vending of spirits loads the community, how unfair towards others is the occupation of the maker and vender of them! A town, for in- stance, contains one hundred drunkards. The profit of making these drunkards, is enjoyed by some half a dozen persons; but the burden of these drunkards rests upon the whole town. The Executive Committee do not suggest that there should be such a law; but they ask whether there would be one law in the whole 211] FIFTH REPORT. 1832. APPENDIX. 101 statute-book, more righteous than that which should require those who have the profit of making our drunkards to be burdened with the support of them." Multitudes, there is reason to believe are now wailing, beyond the reach of hope, who, had it not been for ardent spirit, might have been in glory; and multitudes more, if men continue to fur- nish it as a drink, especially sober men, will go down to weep and wail with them to endless ages. No. III. "But," says one, "the traffic in ardent spirit is a lawful business; it is approbated by law, and is therefore right." But the keeping of gambling-houses is, in some cases, approbated by human law. Is that therefore right ? The keeping of broth- els is, in some cases, approbated by law. Is that therefore right? Is it human law that is the standard of morality and religion? May not a man be a notoriously wicked man, and yet not violate human law? The question is, Is it right? Does it ac- cord with the divine law? Does it tend in its effects to bring glory to God in the highest, and to promote the best good of mankind? If not, the word of God forbids it ; and if a man, who has the means of understanding its nature and effects, con- tinues to follow it, he does it at the peril of his soul. " But," says another, " if I should not sell it, I could not sell so many other things." If you could not, then you are forbid- den by the word of God to sell so many other things. And if you continue to make money by that which tends to destroy your fellow-men, you incur the displeasure of Jehovah. " But if I should not sell it, I must change my business." Then you are required by the Lord to change your business. A voice from the throne of his excellent glory, cries, Turn ye, turn ye from this evil way ; for why will ye die ? " If I should turn from it, I could not support my family." This is not true ; at least no one has a right to say that it is true, till he has tried it, and done his whole duty, by ceasing to do evil and learning to do well, trusting in God, and found that his family is not supported. Jehovah declares that such as seek the Lord, and are governed by his will, shall not want any good thing. And till men have made the experiment of obeying him in all things, and found that they cannot support their families, they have no right to say that it is necessary for them to sell ar- dent spirit. And if they do say this, it is a libel on the divine character and government. There is no truth in it. He who feeds the sparrow and clothes the lily, will, if they do right, provide for them and their families; and there is no shadow of necessity, in order to obtain support, for them to carry on a busi- ness which destroys their fellow-men. "But others will do it, if I do not." Others will send out their vessels, steal the black man, and sell him and his children in- 15 »* 102 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETV. [212 to perpetual bondage, if you do not. Others will steal, rob, and commit murder, if you do not; and why may not you do it, and have a portion of the profit, as well as they? Because if you do, you will be a thief, a robber, and a murderer, hke them. You will here be partaker of their guilt, and hereafter of their plagues. Every friend therefore to you, to your Maker, or the eternal interests of men, will, if acquainted with this subject, say to you, As you value the favor of God, and would escape his righteous and eternal indignation, renounce this work of death; for he that soweth death, shall also reap death. " But our fathers imported, manufactured, and sold ardent spirit; and were not they good men? Have not they gone to heaven?" Men, who professed to be good, once had a multi- plicity of wives; and have not some of them too gone to heaven? Men who professed to be good, once, were engaged in the slave trade; and have not some of them gone to heaven? But can men, who understand the will of God, with regard to these sub- jects, continue to do such things now, and yet go to heaven? The principle which applies in this case, and which makes the difference between those who did such things once, and those who continue to do them now, is, that to which Jesus Christ re- ferred, when he said, If I had not come and spoken to them, they had not had sin; but now they have no cloak for their sin. The days of that darkness and ignorance which God may have winked at, have gone by; and he now commandeth all men, to whom his will is made known, to repent. Your fathers, when they were engaged in selling ardent spirit, did not know that all men, under all circumstances, would be better without it. They did not know that it cruised three-quarters of the pauperism and crimes in the land — that it deprived many of reason — greatly increased the number and severity of diseases, and brought down such multitudes to an untimely grave. The facts had not then been collected and published. They did not know that it tended so fatally to obstruct the progress of the gospel, and ruin for eternity the souls of men. You do know it, or have the means of knowing it. You cannot sin with as little guilt as did your fathers. The facts, which are the voice of God in his providence and manifest his will, are now before the world. By them he has come and spoken to you. And if you continue, under these circumstances, to violate his will, you will have no cloak, no covering, no ex- cuse for your sin. And though sentence against this evil work is not executed at once, judgment, if you continue, will not lin- ger, nor will damnation slumber. The accessary and the principal in the commission of crime, are both guilty. Both by human laws are condemned. The principle applies to the law of God; and not only drunkards, but drunkard-makers — not only murderers, but those who excite them to commit murder, and furnish them with the known cause of 213] FIFTH REPORT. 1832. APPENDIX. 103 their evil deeds, will, if they understand what they do, and con- tinue thus to rebel against God, be shut out of heaven. Among the Jews, if a man had a beast, that went out and killed a man, the beast, said Jehovah, shall be slain, and his flesh shall not be eaten. The owner must lose the whole of him, as a testimony to the sacredness of human life; and a warning to all, not to do any thing, or connive at any thing, that tended to destroy it. But the owner, if he did not know that the beast was dangerous and liable to kill, was not otherwise to be pun- ished. But if he did know, if it had been testified to the owner that the beast was dangerous and liable to kill, and he did not keep him in, but let him go out, and he killed a man, then, by the direction of Jehovah, the beast and the owner were both to be put to death. The owner, under these circumstances, was held responsible, and justly too, for the injury which his beast might do. Though men are not required, or permitted now, to execute this law, as they were when God was the Magistrate, yet the reason of the law remains. It is founded in justice, and is eternal. To the pauperism, crime, sickness, insanity, and death, temporal and eternal, which ardent spirit occasions, those who knowingly furnish the materials, those who manufac- ture, and those who sell it, are all accessory, and as such will be held responsible at the divine tribunal. There was a time when the owners did not know the dangerous and destructive qualities of this article — when the facts had not been developed and published, nor the minds of men turned to the subject; when they did not know that it caused such a vast portion of the vice and wretchedness of the community, and such wide-spreading desolation to the temporal and eternal interests of men; and although it then destroyed thousands, for both worlds, the guilt of the men who sold it, was comparatively small. But now they sin against light, pouring down upon them with unutterable brightness; and if they know what they do, and in full view of its consequences, continue that work of death — not only let the poison go out, but furnish it, and send it out to all who are dis- posed to purchase, — it had been better for them, and better for many others, if they had never been born. For, 1. It is the selling of that, without the use of which, nearly all the business of this world was conducted, till within less than three hundred years; and which of course is not needful. 2. It is the selling of that, which was not generally used by the people of this country, for more than a hundred years after the country was settled; and which, by hundreds of thousands, and some in all kinds of lawful business, is not used now. Once they did use it, and thought it needful, or useful. But by exper- iment, the best evidence in the world, they have found that they were mistaken; and that they are in all respects better without it. And the cases are so numerous as to make it certain, that 104 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. [214 should the experiment be fairly made, this would be the case with all. Of course, it is not useful. 3. It is the selling of that which is a real, a subtil, and very destructive poison; a poison, which by men in health cannot be taken, without deranging healthy action, and inducing more or less disease, both of body and mind; which is, when taken in any quantity, positively hurtful; and which is, of course, forbid- den by the word of God. 4. It is the selling of that, which tends to form an unnatural and a very dangerous and destructive appetite; which, by grati- fication, like the desire of sinning in the man who sins, tends con- tinually to increase; and which thus exposes all who form it, to come to a premature grave. 5. It is the selling of that, which causes a great portion of all the pauperism in our land; and thus for the benefit of a few, (those who sell) brings an enormous tax on the whole communi- ty. Is this fair? Is it just? Is it not exposing our children and youth to become drunkards? And is it not inflicting great evils on society? 6. It is the selling of that, which excites to a great portion of all the crimes that are committed; and which is thus shown to be in its effects hostile to the moral government of God, and to the social, civil, and religious interests of men; at war with their highest good, both for this life and the life to come. 7. It is the selling of that, the sale and use of which, if con- tinued, will form intemperate appetites, which if formed will be gratified; and thus will perpetuate intemperance, and all its abominations, to the end of the world. 8. It is the selling of that which makes wives widows, and chil- dren orphans; which leads husbands often to murder their wives, and wives to murder their husbands; parents to murder their children, and children to murder their parents; and which pre- pares multitudes for the prison, for the gallows, and for hell. 9. It is the selling of that which greatly increases the amount and severity of sickness; which in many cases destroys reason; which causes a great portion of all the sudden deaths; and brings down multitudes, who were never intoxicated, and never con- demned to suffer the penalty of the civil law, to an untimely grave. 10. It is the selling of that which tends to lessen the health, the reason, and the usefulness, to diminish the comfort and short- en the lives of all who habitually use it. 11. It is the selling of that which darkens the understanding, $&%xa the conscience, pollutes the affections, and debases all the powers of man. 12. It is the selling of that which weakens the power of mo- tives to do right, and increases the power of motives to do wrong; and is thus shown to be in its effects hostile to the moral govern- ment of God, as well as to the temporal and eternal interests of 215J FIFTH REPORT. 1S32. APPENDIX. 105 men; which excites men to rebel against him, and to injure and destroy one another. And no man can sell it without exerting an influence which tends to hinder the reign of the Lord Jesus Christ over the minds and hearts of men, and to lead them to persevere in iniquity, till, notwithstanding all the kindness of Je- hovah, their case shall become hopeless. No. IV. Suppose a man, when about to commence the traffic in ardent spirit, should write in great capitals on his sign-board, to be seen and read of all men, what he will do, viz. that so many of the in- habitants of this town or city, he will, for the sake of getting their money, make paupers, and send them to the alms-house ; and thus oblige the whole community to support them and their families; that so many others he will excite to the commission of crimes, and thus increase the expenses, and endanger the peace and welfare of the community ; that so many he will send to the jail, and so many more to the state prison, and so many to the gallows ; that so many he will visit with sore and distressing diseases; and, in so many cases, diseases which would have been compar- atively harmless, he will by his poison render fatal; that in so many cases he will deprive persons of reason, and in so many cases will cause sudden death; that so many wives he will make widows, and so many children he will make orphans, and that in so many cases he will cause the children to grow up in ignorance, vice, and crime, and after being nuisances on earth, will bring them to a premature grave; that in so many cases he will pre- vent the efficacy of the gospel, grieve away the Holy Ghost, and ruin for eternity the souls of men. And suppose he could, and should give some faint conception of what it is to lose the soul, and of the overwhelming guilt and coining wretchedness of him who is knowingly instrumental in producing this ruin; and sup- pose he should put at the bottom of the sign this question, viz. What, you may ask, can be my object in acting so much like a devil incarnate, and bringing such accumulated wretchedness upon a comparatively happy people? and under it should put the true answer, Money; and go on to say, I have a family to support; I want money, and must have it; this is my business, 1 was brought up to it. And if I should not follow it, I must change my business, or I could not support my family. And as all faces begin to gather blackness at the approaching ruin, and all hearts to boil with indignation at its author, suppose he should add, for their consolation, " If I do not bring this destruction upon you, somebody else will " What would they think of him? what would all the world think of him? what ought they to think of him? And is it any worse for a man to tell the people before- hand, honestly, what he will do, if they buy and use his poison, than it is to go on and do it ? And what if they are not aware of the mischief which he is doing them, and he can accomplish 15* 106 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. [216 it, through their own perverted and voluntary agency? Is it not equally abominable, if he knows it, and does not cease from pro- ducing it? And if there are churches whose members are doing such things, and those churches are not blessed with the presence and favor of the Holy Ghost, they need not be at any loss for the reason. And if they should never again, while they continue in this state, be blessed with the reviving influence of God's Spirit, they need not be at any loss for the reason. Their own members are exerting a strong and fatal influence against it; and that too, after Divine Providence has shown them what they are doing. And in many such cases there is awful guilt, with regard to this thing, resting upon the whole church. Though they have known for years what these men were doing; have seen the misery, heard the oaths, witnessed the crimes, and known the wretched- ness and deaths, which they have occasioned; and perhaps have spoken of it, and deplored it among one another; many of them have never spoken on this subject, to the persons themselves. They have seen them scattering firebrands, arrows, and death, temporal and eternal; and yet have never so much as warned them on the subject, and never besought them to give up their work of death. An individual lately conversed with one of his professed Christian brethren, who was engaged in this traffic, and told him not only that he was ruining for both worlds many of his fellow-men, but that his Christian brethren viewed his business as inconsistent with his profession, and tending to coun- teract all efforts for the salvation of men: and the man, after frankly acknowledging that it was wrong, said that this was the first time that any one of them had conversed with him on the subject. This may be the case with other churches; and while it is, the whole church is conniving at the evil, and the whole church is guilty. Every brother in such a case is bound, on his own account, to converse with him who is thus aiding the powers of darkness, and opposing the kingdom of Jesus Christ, and try to persuade him to cease from this destructive business. And the whole church is bound to make efforts, and use all proper means, to accomplish this result. And before half the individual members have done their duty on this subject, they may expect, if the offending brother has, and manifests the spirit of Christ, that he will cease to be an offence to his brethren, and a stumb- ling-block to the world, over which such multitudes fall to the pit of woe. And till the church, the whole church, do their duty on this subject, they cannot be freed from the guilt of conniving at the evil. And no wonder if the Lord leaves them to be as the mountains of Gilboa, on which there was neither rain or dew. And should the church receive from the world those who make it a business to carry on this notoriously immoral traffic, they will greatly increase their guilt, and ripen for the awful displeasure of their God. And unless members of the church shall cease to £17] FIFTH REPORT. 1632. — APPENDIX. 107 teach, by their business, that fatal error that it is right for men to buy and use ardent spirit as drink, the evil will never be eradicated; intemperance will never cease, and the clay of mil- lennial glory never come. And each individual who names the name of Christ, is called upon, by the providence of God, to act on this subject openly and decidedly for him; and in such a man- ner as is adapted to banish intemperance and all its abominations from the earth, and to cause temperance and all its attendant benefits universally to prevail. And if ministers of the Gospel and members of Christian churches do not connive at the sin of furnishing this poison as a drink, for their fellow-men; and men who, in opposition to truth and duty, continue to be engaged in this destructive employment, are viewed and treated as wicked men; the work which the Lord hath commenced and carried forward, with a rapidity and to an extent hitherto unexampled in the history of the world, will continue to move onward, till not a name, nor a trace, nor a shadow of a drunkard, or a drunkard- maker shall be found on the globe. Professed Christian: — You have been redeemed, not with silver, nor with gold, but with the precious blood of Jesus Christ. When all were dead, he died for all, that they who live should not live unto themselves, but unto him that died for them and rose again. And the distinguishing mark of his people, is, that no one of them, liveth unto himself; ane no one dieth unto himself. While they live they live unto the Lord, and when they die they die unto the Lord. And it is on this condition only, that, living or dying, they can be the Lord's, in such a sense as to meet his approbation or enter into his joy. They must make it the grand object in their whole influence, to honor him, and promote the holiness and happiness of his kingdom; to glorify the God of heaven, and to do good, and good only, as they have opportunity, to all men. And it is only on this condition, that they can be owned of him as his followers and friends in the great day; for he that is not for him is against him, and he that gathereth not with him, scattereth abroad. In the manufacture or sale of ardent spirit as a drink, you do not, and you cannot honor God; but you do, and so long as you continue it you will, greatly dishonor Him. You exert an influ- ence which tends directly and strongly to ruin, for both worlds, your fellow-men. Should you take a quantity of that poisonous liquid into your closet, present it before the Lord; confess to him its nature and effects, spread out before him what it has done and what it will do, and attempt to ask him to bless you in extending its influence; it would, unless your conscience is al- ready seared as with a hot iron, appear to you like blasphemy. You could no more do it, than you could take the instruments of gambling, and attempt to ask God to bless you in extending them through the communily. And why not, if it is a lawful business ? Why not ask God to increase it, make you an 108 AMERICAN TE^IPERANCE SOCIETY. [2 1 S instrument in extending it over the country, and perpetuating it to all future generations. Even the worldly and profane man, when he hears about professing Christians offering prayer to God, that he would bless them in the manufacture or sale of ardent spirit, involuntarily shrinks back, and says, " That is too bad." He can see that it is an abomination. And if it is too bad for a professed Christian to pray about it, is it not too bad for him to practise it? If you continue, under all the light which God in his providence has furnished with regard to its hurtful nature and destructive effects, to furnish ardent spirit as a drink for your fellow-men, you will run the fearful hazard of losing your soul; and you will exert an influence which powerfully tends to destroy tbe souls of your fellow-men. Every time you furnish it, you are rendering it less likely that they will be illuminated, sanctified, and saved; and more likely that they will continue in sin, and go down to the chambers of death. And could the quantities of spirit which you furnish come back and tell you the history of their effects, and trace their consequences down through future ages; could they open before you their results, as you will see them in eternity, you would not, unless you are given up of God to hardness of heart and blindness of mind, con- tinue such an employment for all the wealth of creation. You would see with great clearness that you lessen exceedingly the prospect of your own salvation ; increase greatly the danger of the destruction of your children; and exert an influence which tends strongly to perpetuate sin and death to all future genera- tions. And can you, while you continue knowingly to do this, without presumption, hope for heaven? What if you do not sell to drunkards, and thus assist in killing them? Do you not assist in making drunkards of sober men? And is it a le?ts crime to assist in destroying sober men, than in destroying drunkards? What if you must change your business, provided you do not continue to sell ardent spirit? So must the makers of shrines for the goddess Diana have changed their business, provided her temple were deserted, and her worship despised. But was that any good reason why they should continue to be accessory to the perpetuating of idol worship? Could professed Chris- tians, for the sake of money, continue to do it, without being par- takers in the guilt of idolatry? And let it not be forgotten, that covctoimiess. which leads a person for the sake of money to ruin his fellow-men, is idolatry; and that no idolater hath any inheri- tance in the kingdom of Christ. cl Neither thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, shall inherit the kingdom of God." Long after Jeroboam the son of Nebat wa3 dead, God declared that he would visit with indignation, and afflict with sore and dis- tressing judgments, the people that were then living, for the in- iquities of Jeroboam, and his sin wherewith he made Israel to sin. Not that he would punish them for the sins of Jeroboam; but for their believing the d >etrines which he taught, and follow- 219] FIFTH REPORT. 1832. APPENDIX. 109 ing the example which he set them. He taught, by example that it was right, and would be for their interest to worship idols; or to pursue their own way in opposition to the will of God. And the effects of that fatal error were felt hundreds and thousands of years after he was dead; and exerted an influence which tended to lead multitudes from generation to generation to the world of wo. And your example, if you continue your present course, will produce similar effects. You are teaching by business, the most efficacious way in the world, that it is right for men, if they can make money by it, and the civil law does not forbid it, to furnish ardent spirit as a drink for their fellow-men; and of course that it is right for men to buy, and to use it; a doctrine which has tended to form a great portion of all the intemperate appetites and to make a great part of all the drunkards in the world. It is a doctrine which is false, and which is fatal. It is marked in the providence of God, as a heresy, more destructive than almost any other; and it is now, there is reason to believe, destroying thousands and millions of souls. And can you, for the sake of money, continue to teach such a doctrine, and not be condemned at God's tribunal? Nor will the effects of what you have taught on this subject, stop with you. They will go down to your children, and children's children. Hundreds of years after you are dead, men may be going down to death, and to hell, in consequence of what you are now doing. It is treason against the divine government, for men to teach by example that they may continue in a business which is in itself wrong, for the sake of making money. And no man can proclaim it, without raising a current, that may flow on after he is dead, and bear all who shall follow it to the world of wo. And the more respectable the character of the man who shall teach this doctrine, the greater the mischief, and (he more tremendous the guilt. Hence one church member by propagating such a doctrine, may do more mischief to others, than many drunkards. If the drunkard-making business is to be continued, let it be done only by drunkards. It is a business too mean, too degraded, too immoral, too guilty, and too destructive to be carried on by any sober man; and especial- ly by any professed Christian. It is always worse for a church member to do an immoral act, and teach an immoral sentiment, than for an immoral man; be- cause it does greater mischief. And this is understood, and often adverted to, by the immoral themselves. Even the drunk- ards are now stating it to their fellow drunkards, that church members are not better than they. And to prove it, are quot- ing the fact, that although they are not drunkards, and perhaps do not get drunk, they, for the sake of money, carry on the busi- ness of making drunkards. And are not the men and their busi- ness of the same character? " The deacon," says a drunkard, " will not use ardent spirit himself: he says ' It is poison! ' But for six cents he will sell it to me. And though he will not furnish I 10 AMERtCAV TEMPERANCE SOCIETT. [220 into his own children, for he says, ' It will ruin them,' yet he will furnish to mine. And there is my neighbor who was once as so- ber as the deacon himself; — but he had a pretty farm, which the deacon wanted; and, for the sake of getting it, he has made him a drunkard. And his wife, as good a woman as ever lived, has died of a broken heart, because her children would follow their father." No, you cannot convince even a drunkard, that the man who is selling him that which he knows is killing him, is any better than the drunkard himself. Nor can you convince a so- ber man, that he, who, for the sake of money, will, with his eyes open, make drunkards of sober men, is any less guilty than the drunkards he makes. Is this, writing upon your employment " Holiness unto the Lord; " without which no one from the Bible can expect to be prepared for the holy joys of heaven? As ardent spirit is a poi- son, which when used even moderately, tends to harden the heart, to sear the conscience, to blind the understanding, to pol- lute the affections, to weaken, and derange, and debase the whole man, and to lessen the prospect of his eternal life, it is the indispensable duty of each person to renounce it. And he can- not refuse to do this, without becoming, if acquainted with this subject, knowingly accessory to the temporal and eternal ruin of his fellow-men. And what will it profit you to gain even the whole world by that which ruins the soul? My friend, you are soon to die, and in eternity to witness the influence, the whole influence which you exert while on earth, and you are to witness its consequence, in joy or sorrow, to endless being. Imagine yourself now, where you will soon be, on your death bed. And imagine that you have a full view of the property which you have caused to be wasted; or which you have gained without furnish- ing any valuable equivalent; of the health which you have de- stroyed, and the characters which you have demoralized; of the wives that you have made widows, and the children that you have made orphans; of all the lives that you have shortened, and all the souls that you have destroyed. O! imagine that these are the only " rod and staff" which you have to comfort you, as you go down the valley of the shadow of death; and that they will all meet you in full array at the judgment, and testify against you. What will it profit, you, though you have gained more money than you otherwise would; when you have left it all far behind in that world which is destined to fire, and the day of perdition of ungodly men? What will it profit, when you are enveloped in the influence which you have exerted; and are experiencing its consequences to endles ages, rinding forever that as a man sow- eth so must he reap; and that if he has sowed death, he must reap death? Do not any longer assist in destroying men ; nor expose yourselves and your children to be destroyed. Do good, and good only, to all as you have opportunity and good shall come unto you. 221] FIFTH REPOKT. 1832. APFENDIX. Ill II. (P. 43.) \6lhJune, 1830. Measures are in progress to supply each family in this town with the Circular of the A. T. S. and Ware's Address before the T. S. of Cambridge. Some other towns in this county are dis- tributing the Circular; and it is probable it will soon go into every house in the county. 1 feel under obligations to for their generous offer, and feel heartily willing to pay them in their own coin, — and will pay more than my share of the expense of supporting an agent who is qualified for the impor- tant duty — to be employed in the metropolis of the U. S. in go- ing from merchant to merchant who may deal in ardent spirits in any way; either as commission merchants, importers, distil- lers, or grocers. These are the men, who arc commanders of the great army of retailers, not only in the great city, but through the country; and not only commanders, but they fill the depots from which this desolating army are furnished with ammunition. If this class of human beings, who are styled gentlemen, could by any means be persuaded to wash their hands from dealing in this " mother of miseries," the retailers would be like the armies of the Philistines, when Goliah fell by David. — But so long as the little retailers can have such champions as the most opulent mer- chants in Boston and New- York, persuading them to purchase the article, and daily advertising all sorts and all quantities in the business papers, they will stand out in battle array against the efforts of Temperance Societies. I fervently believe, that the temperance reformation cannot progress farther in this region, until these men are made to see and feel the evil of their deeds. To my certain knowledge, some of the officers of the oldest society in this state, within one year were large dealers in the poison, in Boston. With one hand they would hand out tracts on the evils of intemperance, or money to pay temperance agents, and with the other, hand out (perhaps to the same persons) bills of rum sufficient to make a hundred drunkards ! I pray Him who is able to make men feel., that the time may soon come when men who move in the highest circles, and where example rules the world, many of whom profess to be His followers, may see the gross inconsistency of their conduct, and renounce every species of the rum trade. The country dealers who yet make drunkards would he looked down, were they not sanctioned in their evil deeds by naen of the highest standing in Boston and New-York. You know Gen. Washington pointed out the evils of short en- listments, and urged the enlistments of " during war men.1' The temperance cause has suffered much from short enlistments. 1 hope you will urge the necessity to all who enlist in our great and good cause, of engaging during war. (Genius of Temp.) 112 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY, [222 I. (P. -14.) The Pastoral Association, and the General Associations of Massachusetts, and the General Association of Connecticut and Maine, embracing more than five hundred Evangelical ministers of the gospel, at their last meeting, passed the following Resolu- tions, viz. 1. Resolved, that in the judgment of this Association, the traf- fic in ardent spirit as a drink is an immorality, and ought to be viewed and treated as such throughout the world. 2. Resolved, that this immorality is utterly inconsistent with a profession of the Christian religion; and that those who have the means of understanding its nature and effects, and yet continue to be engaged in it, ought not to be admitted as members of Christian churches. 3. Resolved, that in our view those members of Christian churches who continue to be engaged in the traffic in ardent spirit as a drink, are violating the principles and requirements of the Christian religion. "Among the means which the Lord has graciously owned and blessed during this year of jubilee, many of your reports specially commemorate the influence of Temperance Societies. It is now a well-established fact, that the common use of strong drink, however moderate, has been a fatal, soul-destroying bar- rier against the influence of the gospel. Consequently, when- ever total abstinence is practised, a powerful instrument of re- sisting the Holy Spirit is removed, and a new avenue of access to the hearts of men, opened to the power of truth. Thus, in numerous instances, and in various places, during the past year, the temperance reformation has been a harbinger, preparing the way of the Lord; and the banishment of that liquid poison, which kills both soul and body, has made way for the immediate en- trance of the Spirit and the word, the glorious tram of the Re- deemer. The cause of temperance continues to extend and multiply its triumphs, notwithstanding the machinations of Satan, and the mad- ness of the multitudes, who are striving to demolish the only har- rier which can secure them from destruction. The testimony of our churches, as to the signal success, which has crowned tin! efforts of the friends of this cause, the astonishing effect which has thus been produced upon public sentiment, and upon the habits and customs of the higher classes, and especially as to the unquestionable connection between total abstinence from ardent spirits, and the success of the gospel, is of the most decided and gratifying character. The formation of a Temperance Associa- tion in each congregation, has taken place extensively, with the happiest results. While, therefore, in view of these things, the friends of temperance are called upon to thank God and take 223] FIFTH REPORT. 1832. APPENDIX. 113 courage; let them remember that much, very much, remains to be done. Let them not remit their vigilance and activity; for their foes never slumber. All the powers and resources of the kingdom of darkness are vigorously employed in opposition. Much indeed has been done, in staying this plague, among the more intelligent and elevated orders of society; but all the en- ergies of Christian benevolence are demanded, to stem the tor- rent which is spreading misery, and guilt, and ruin, through the dwellings of labor and poverty. A great work is still to be effected in the church. The sons of Levi must be purified. The accursed thing must be removed from the camp of the Lord. While professing Christians continue to exhibit the baleful ex- ample, of tasting the drunkard's poison; or, by a sacrilegious traffic, to make it their employment to degrade and destroy their fellow-men; those who love the Lord must not keep silence, but must lift their warning voice, and use all lawful efforts, to remove this withering reproach from the house of God. Let all our congregations become efficient Temperance Associations ; let all our ministers and elders be united, consistent and perse- vering in this cause, and we may derive from experience a full persuasion, that the ravages of the direful foe will be arrested; that the rising race will be rescued from his deadly grasp, and thus a most formidable obstacle, to the success of the Gospel, will at last be removed." (Minutes of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the United States, 1832.) jr. (P. 48.) A correspondent in a Western State has sent us the following statement. Its truth may be relied on. An owner of one of the principal taverns in has been heard to declare, that since his knowledge, there had been be- tween three hundred and five hundred bar-keepers in that tavern, and out of the whole of them he knew but eight or ten, who have not ultimately become intemperate, two of whom are yet in that tavern. What an awful warning this ought to be to those pa- rents who put their sons to tavern-keeping ! What an enormous manufactory of drunkards this tavern has been! And yet one of the owners of it, who has kept it for the last ten or twenty years, and who knows this appalling fact, still keeps it, and makies profession of religion ! (JV. Y. Evangelist.) 16 10* 114 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. [224 K. (P. 53.) Temperance Reform in China. — The Chinese authorities at Canton have caused proclamations to be pasted on the walls, forbidding the sale of wine or spirits to foreign seamen. This measure was much needed, as European and American seamen, in their fits of intoxication, have often disturbed the public peace, and sometimes so seriously as to cause the suspension of com- mercial intercourse, between China and the European Nations. In the present act we see the legislation of an Asiatic despot, directed to the promotion of the public good; we see a heathen government defending its subjects from the immoralities of those who claim to be Christians; we see a salutary guardianship of the morals of professed Christians and republicans, by a heathen monarch; and we see all this on the very site of a Christian mis- sionary station, designed to instruct these same heathen, in the pure precepts of our religion. Such a sight should make Amer- icans blush, and send Christians to their closets, weeping. (Jour. Humanity.) Lu (P. 53.) Important Decision in Chancery. The Albany Argus contains the following extracts from the decision of Chancellor Walworth, in the case of Jacob Hiller, an idiot : — " I have recently learned that many suits at law have been brought against idiots, lunatics, and drunkards, a<\er the appoint- ment of committees by this court; and sometimes for debts con- tracted by them against the wishes of their committee, after their appointment. No debt contracted by the idiot, lunatic, or drunk- ard, under such circumstances, can be paid out of the estate; and if paid by the committee without the sanction of this court, although after a recovery at law, he will not be allowed for it in the settlement of his accounts. In the case of an habitual drunk- ard particularly, if the committee find that any person is furnish- ing him with the means of intoxication, even gratuitously, -he should apply to the court for an order, restraining all persons from furnishing the drunkard with ardent spirits, or with the means of obtaining liquor, upon pain of contempt." His Honor also directed the following clause to be added to all orders, hereafter to be entered, appointing committees of hab- itual drunkards : — "And it is further ordered, that all persons be restrained from selling to, or furnishing said habitual drunkard, or any person for him, with ardent spirits, or with the means of obtaining the same, without the express sanction of this said committee, under pain of a contempt of this court. And said committee is hereby directed to serve a copy, or a notice of this order, on such of 225J FIFTH REPORT. 1832. APPENDIX. 115 the retailers of ardent spirits and others in the neighborhood of said individual drunkard, as he may think proper, to the end that they may not hereafter plead ignorance thereof." The Commissioners of the town of Athens, Georgia, have im- posed a tax of $500 on every person who shall retail spirituous liquors. (Charleston Courier.) The Board of Health of the city of Washington, have declared the traffic in ardent spirit to be a nuisance, and passed the fol- lowing order with regard to it: — The Board being fully impressed with the belief that the use of ardent spirits is highly prejudicial to health, and the corporate authorities having decided that this body possess full power to prohibit and remove all nuisances, and the late Attorney Gener- .•:!, Mr. Wirt, having officially given it as his opinion that the Board of Health have, under the charter and the acts of the city councils, sufficient authority to do any, and every thing which the health of the city may require; Therefore, Resolved, That the vending of ardent spirit, in what- ever quantity, is considered a nuisance — and, as such, is hereby directed to be discontinued for the space of 90 days from this date. By order of the Board of Health. James Larnard, Sec'y. As the traffic in ardent spirit, as a drink, is a nuisance, not only while the cholera is raging, but at all times, because it is not, only needless, but hurtful ; as it tends to produce numerous fatal diseases, and occasions an immense waste of human life, and also causes the ruin of many souls, it is, of course, a manifest violation of the will of God, for legislatures, magistrates or any body of men, to grant a license to any person or persons to en- gage in it. It is granting a license for the commission of sin; and as such will be viewed and treated by Jehovah, and ultimate- ly by all his friends. And even if it should a little longer con- tinue in some places to be approbated by human law, no man, under the cover of such a license, or any other, can continue to be engaged in it, without exposing himself, in proportion as the ef- fects of his business are understood, to the abhorrence of a vir- tuous community, and the indignation of the Almighty. In a number of counties in the State of Georgia, the members of the bar have formed themselves into Temperance Societies, on the plan of abstinence from the use of ardent spirit. They have addresses delivered on the subject during the sitting of the courts, and are accomplishing great good to the community. The committee would earnestly recommend that a similar course be pursued throughout the country; and request that all who are disposed to promote their own good or the good of their fel- low-men, would do the following things, viz. 116 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. [226 1. Abstain from the use of ardent spirit; from the furnishing and from the manufacture of it, and also from the traffic in> it. 2. That they would not in any way aid and abet in perpetuating this destructive employment. 3. That they would unite with Temperance Societies; and perseveringly endeavor, by all suitable means, to lead all others to do the same. 4. That they would make it a subject of united and unceasing prayer to the Author and Finisher of this good work, that He would guide all who are, or may be engaged in it, by wisdom from above; that their efforts may spring from love to the Saviour and love to men, and be continued till intemperance has ceased, that all future generations may experience the benefit, and the glorv be given to God for ever. Should all the inhabitants of the United States cease to use intoxicating liquor, the following would be some of the beneficial results, viz. — 1. Not an individual would hereafter become a drunkard. 2. Many, who are now drunkards, would reform, and would be saved from the drunkard's grave. 3. As soon as those who would not reform should be dead, which would be but a short time, not a drunkard would be found, and the whole land would be free. 4. More than three fourths of the pauperism of the country might be pre- vented ; and also more than three fourths of the crimes. 5. One of the grand causes of error in principle, and immorality in practice, and of all dissipation, vice and wretchedness, would be removed. 6. The number, frequency and severity of diseases would be greatly lessened ; and the number and hopelessness of maniacs in our land, be exceedingly dimin- ished. 7. One of the greatest dangers of our children and youth, and one of the principal causes of bodily, mental and moral deterioration, would be removed. 8. Loss of property, in one generation, to an amount greater than the present value of all the houses and lands in the United States, might be prevented. 9. One of the greatest dangers to our free institutions, to the perpetuity of our government, and to all the blessings of civil and religious liberty, would be removed. 10. The efficacy of the gospel, and all the means which God has appointed for the spiritual and eternal good of men, would be exceedingly augmented ; and the same amount of moral and religious effort might be expected to pro- duce more than double its present effects. 11. Multitudes of every generation, through all future ages, might be pre- vented from sinking into an untimely grave, and into endless torment : they slight be transformed into the divine image, and prepared, through grace, for &e eadlee* joys of heaven. 12. God would be honored, voluntarily and actively, by much greater num- bers; and with greater clearness, and to a greater extent, would, through their instrumentality, manifest his glory. SIXTH REPORT AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. In the last two Reports of this Society, the following truths were established, viz. ardent spirit, as a drink, is not needful, or useful. It is a poison, which injures the body and the soul. It deranges healthy action, and disturbs the functions of life. It blinds the un- derstanding, sears the conscience, pollutes the affections, and hard- ens the heart. It leads men into temptation, and gives to evil peculiar power over their minds. It impairs, and often destroys reason. It tends to bring those who use it to a premature grave ; and to usher all who understand, or have the means of under- standing its nature and effects, and yet continue to drink it, or to furnish it to be drunk by others, into a miserable eternity. In view of these truths the following conclusions were drawn, viz. to drink ardent spirit, or to furnish it to be drunk by others, is a sin, in magnitude equal to all the evils, temporal and eternal, which flow from it ; and the men, who continue to do either will at the divine tribunal, and ought at the bar of public opinion to be held responsible for its effects. To the pauperism, vice, sickness, in- sanity, wretchedness and death, which are occasioned, they are accessory ; and as such will be treated when every man shall re- ceive according to his work. The above truths were not only proved, but, by a variety of considerations, were illustrated and enforced. Principles and facts were adduced, which, in view of the Committee, are adapted, wherever known and regarded, to produce entire and universal conviction. And the Committee would gratefully acknowledge the divine kindness, in giving to those Reports such general favor, and in causing them to produce such extensive and salutary effects. It was mentioned the last year, that the Fourth Report had been republished entire in England, that ten thousand copies of it had been printed in this country ; and also an edition in an abridged form of ten thousand copies more. Since that time, five thousand copies of the entire Report have been printed ; and of an abstract of it addressed to the head of each family in the United States, one hundred and seventy thousand copies. A second edition of it has also been published in England. 1 16* 2 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. [228 Of the Fifth Report, there have been published, entire, fourteen thousand copies ; and of that part of it on the immorality of the traffic in ardent spirit, forty thousand copies, making in all of the entire Reports and parts of them published in this country, about two hundred and fifty thousand copies. This Repeat has also been republished in England under the supervision of the British and Foreign Temperance Society, and has had an extensive circula- tion. Copies of the Fifth Report, as well as the Fourth, have been sent to most civilized countries, and to many parts of the Pagan world. And wherever it has gone, it has drawn forth from intelli- gent and philanthropic men, strong testimony of approbation, and has produced most beneficial effects. A distinguished Civilian in one of our seaports, who has been active in its circulation, writes, " A more weighty document was never presented to the public ; and the best way to promote the cause, of Temperance, is, to get the Reports of the American Temperance Society into circulation." He then mentions, that of the numerous vessels, engaged in an extensive trade with the Port in which he lives, three fourths are navigated without the use of spirit, and that three years ago rum was deemed as essential in navigating those vessels, as a compass or light in the binnacle. Another gentlemen, who is at the head of one of our public institu- tions, writes, "The Fifth Report is a noble production, and fully sustains the high character of the Fourth. It ought to find a place in every family in the United States." An eminent Lawyer, remarks, " If the Fourth and Fifth Reports were put into every family, the very best effects must follow. The truth, as it is ex- hibited in these Reports, is mighty ; and, if it were only carried home to the hearts and consciences of the entire population of the United States, I am sure it must prevail." Another says, " No man of principle, who will candidly examine the Fifth Report, can continue the traffic in ardent spirit, with a good conscience." Another remarks, "It exceeds in interest, weight, and power, either of the preceding Reports. If any professor of religion can read it, and continue the traffic in spirit, his hope, we fear, is as a spider's web." A venerable officer of a Christian Church, having, like some other officers, deacons, elders, and even ministers of the gospel, long been deluded by a very moderate use of ardent spirit, into the dangerous and fatal error of believing that it is not wicked to drink it, withstood all attempts to induce him to abstain from it, or unite with the Temperance Society. He professed to be a friend of temperance, as every decent man of course must do, or lose his character, but then a little stimulus was for him, he con- tended, under his peculiar circumstances, necessary ; or at least was not sinful. He was furnished by a friend with our Fifth Re- 229] SIXTH REPORT. — 1833. 3 port ; and after reading it, he writes, " I have read this very inter- esting pamphlet through. I need no further importunity. lam now fully determined to renounce the use of this destructive beverage, from this day, to the day of my death. Yes, I do renounce \t,Jinally, totally. Pray add my name to your society." And the Committee would respectfully suggest to the friends of temperance, whether they can in any way do more for the cause of temperance and salvation, than by furnishing our Fifth Report to every praying, and rum selling or rum drinking christian, deacon, elder, and preacher in the United States. Should it have the effect, which it had on that man, which it has had on thousands, and which it will be likely to have upon every man, who, from the heart, prays " Thv kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven," it will remove one of the greatest obstructions to the cause of tem- perance, and render the efforts of those men to do good much more successful. The British Temperance Magazine and Review says, " The Fifth Report of the American Temperance Society is a most in- teresting document. We are glad to inform our readers that it is now reprinting in London. A second edition of the Fourth Re- port is also published. It argues well for the Temperance cause here, that these interesting productions are so much in demand in England." An eminent writer in Europe says of the Fifth Report, " It em- bodies an array of facts and arguments, and the testimony of wise and good men, on the immorality of the traffic in ardent spirits, far surpassing in amplitude and strength, what is contained in any pub- lication on this subject in existence. It will be circulated far and wide; and will undoubtedly be the means of inducing hundreds, and perhaps thousands, to abandon the immoral traffic, from prin- ciple, and thereby save them from temporal, and eternal ruin." And the Committee cannot but rejoice that such publications, dur- ing the past year, have to an unprecedented extent, been multiplied and circulated through this and other countries, and that the de- mand for them is constantly and rapidly increasing. It shows that the cause of Temperance is taking a deeper and firmer hold on the hearts of the people ; and that in proportion as knowledge and virtue are extended, will be their efforts to promote it ; till intemperance, and its evils shall entirely cease. Many towns and some counties, have undertaken to put one of our Reports into every family. This might be done throughout the United States. As the three first Reports were out of print, and were often called for, the Fourth Report contains the history of the Temper- ance Reformation from its commencement, and also a recapitula- tion of the prominent facts contained in the previous Reports. That Report, and also the Fifth, are constructed, not on the plan of be- 4 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. [230 ing merely annual or temporary Reports, detailing only local operations; but on the plan of being general and permanent docu- ments ; developing great principles, and embodying facts of perma- nent interest, and of high importance in all ages, and to all coun- tries. It was for the purpose of showing the fundamental position, which the cause of Temperance holds, and its radical influence on the salvation of the human family, that this course was taken ; and for the purpose of awakening universal attention, and leading lo universal, permanent, and ever growing effort ; which is the only effort that is adapted to the magnitude of the subject, or will secure its infinitely high, and momentous results. The Fifth Report is a continuation of the Fourth, and is paged accordingly, for the pur- pose of being bound together. Both are stereotyped, can be fur- nished in any quantity, and are adapted to universal circulation. The present is a continuation of those two Reports, is constructed and paged on the same plan, and for the same purpose. In no way, it is believed, can parents, at the same expense, do greatei good to their children, or the friends of Temperance more exten- sively and permanently promote the cause, than by putting a copy of these Reports into every family. If read and regarded, they would change the habits of the nation; dry up many of the deepest fountains of human sorrow, secure our youth from one of their greatest dangers ; and save immense multitudes from an untimely grave. The property, which would be saved, would, in one gene- ration, amount to more than the present value of all the real estate in the country; the means of intellectual and moral culture would be greatly augmented, and would be vastly more successful ; and a prospect be opened brighter than any human eye ever saw, that free, social, civil and religious institutions may be extended over all nations and perpetuated to all ages. The Committee have also the past year appointed two additional Agents, Mr. Charles Yale of the State of New York, and Rev. John Marsh of Connecticut. They have both accepted their ap- pointment, and entered upon its duties. Mr. Yale was appointed as a temporary agent for the valley of the Mississippi. He started from New York about the first of February, to go by land to New Orleans. He is expected then to visit St. Louis, and return by way of Cincinnati, to New York. His object is, to procure the forma- tion of a State Temperance Society, in each State, in which there now is none, to open the way and make arrangements for the universal and permanent circulation of information, to embody the friends of Temperance, and as far as practicable induce each State to employ a permanent agent, and in the various ways in his power promote the general cause. The Rev. Mr. Marsh is appointed as a General Agent; and commenced lus labors on the first of April, in Connecticut. After 231] SIXTH REPORT. 1833. 5 laboring for a time in that State, he will visit other parts of the country, and, in connection with other agents, assist the Committee, and the friends of the cause, in extending by kind moral influence, the principles of Temperance, throughout the United States. Numerous Temperance Publications of various forms and sizes, edited with ability, have been issued and circulated extensively in various parts of the country. And it is earnestly hoped that tem- perance publications may be multiplied, and supported ; till they are established in every State; and read and regarded by every family and every individual in the country. No course could be adopted, which would be more auspicious to the nation ; and none open a prospect of greater blessings to mankind. Many of the State Societies, and several of the County Societies have also, dur- ing the last year, employed agents, and with the most gratifying success. The number of members of Temperance Societies have, in many cases, been doubled, and in some increased more than four fold. Living agents, and the press, operating on the whole mass of minds, aided by visible united example, are the divinely appointed instruments, for the illumination and renovation of the world. And never has there been a specimen of more triumphant progress, or an exemplification of the power of combined moral effort, which as a precedent, in its application to the human family, may be more important, than that exhibited by the Temperance Reformation. It is even now often quoted throughout Christen- dom, as a standing demonstration, that what needs to be done in our world, and what ought to be done, through grace, can be done ; and all that is needful, is, wise, united, energetic, persevering be- nevolent action, in dependence on God, to secure, under Him, glorious and everlasting success. It has awakened new confidence in millions of hearts, and nerved with new vigor millions of hands. For the extermination of deep and wide-spreading evils, it has drawn forth from millions, with a firmer purpose and more unfal- tering tongue, the declaration, " I will go in the strength of the Lord God, I will make mention of thy righteousness, even of thine only." The weapons of their warfare being not carnal, and operating, not by force, or coercion, but by light and love, on the conscience and the heart, are mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds. Trusting in him, they mount up on wings as eagles, they run and are not weary, they walk and are not faint. By effort they renew their strength, and they move on with increasing energy from conquering to conquer. And if faithful, their efforts will not cease, or be diminished, or be unsuccessful, till the last vestige of open iniquity shall have vanished from the globe. In September the Committee issued the following Circular : " At a meeting of the Executive Committee of the American 1 * 6 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY". [232 Temperance Society, holden in Boston, Sept. 21, 1832, it was unanimously resolved, 1 . That it is highly desirable that meetings of Temperance So- cieties and friends of temperance be holden simultaneously on some day that may be designated, in all the cities, towns and villages throughout the United States. 2. That Tuesday, the 26th day of February, 1833, be designated for that purpose. 3. That measures be immediately taken to accomplish the abovementioned object. The reasons which lead the Committee to invite the co-opera- tion of all their fellow citizens in carrying the abovementioned plan into effect, are the following, viz : 1. It is strictly a national object ; and one in which persons of all denominations, sects and parlies can cordially unite, viz : the removal of intemperance from our country. 2. The means to be employed are in all respects unexceptiona- ble ; and are adapted to meet the cordial approbation of all friends of humanity, viz : light and love, manifested in sound argument and kind persuasion, -for the purpose of inducing all voluntarily to ab- stain from the use of ardent spirit as a drink, and from furnishing it for the use of others. 3. The success which has attended past efforts has already been the means of rich blessings to all parts of our country, and is spoken of with admiration throughout the world. 4. Philanthropists of the old world are now, on this subject, treading in our footsteps, and while they acknowledge their obliga- tions for the benefits, are extensively copying our example. 5. Wherever the plan recommended by the American Tem- perance Society, viz : abstinence from the use of ardent spirit as a drink, and voluntary associations for the purpose of showing by united example its benefits, has been adopted, in Europe, Asia, or Africa, as well as in America, it has been highly efficacious, and followed with the most beneficial results, to the social, civil, and religious interests of man. 6. A union as to the time of holding temperance meetings, in all the cities, towns, and villages of our country, would greatly increase the interest which is felt on the subject, would call forth the efforts of the highest and best talents in the land, and would greatly in- crease and extend the light, union, and efficiency on which, under the divine blessing, the complete and universal success of the object depends. 7. Facts seem to indicate that should temperance and its attend- ant virtues and blessings universally prevail, the cholera, that scourge of the nations, which has spread sackcloth round the globe and threatens to cover our land with mourning, would be nearly if not 233] SIXTH REPORT. — 1833. 7 altogether unknown ; the deep fountain of human sorrow be dried up, and ever growing light, purity, and joy, under the means of divine appointment, with all who obey the divine will, would uni- versally prevail. The Committee therefore earnestly invite the co-operation of all State, and other Temperance Societies, and friends of temperance of every name, in securing temperance meetings in every city, town, and village in our country, on the abovementioned day ; and for this puipose they would respectfully request, 1. That in all places in which there are no Temperance Soci- eties, immediately on the receipt of this Circular, there should be a Committee of Arrangements appointed to give public notice, select a speaker, or speakers, and take all needful measures for such a meeting. 2. That in all places where there are Temperance Societies, the officers of such societies, would do the same. 3. That ministers of the gospel of all denominations, would read this Circular from their pulpit, and use their influence to effect the design. 4. That all editors of newspapers and periodicals would give publicity to this Circular through the medium of their columns. 5. That a Temperance Society on that day be formed in every place in which there is none ; and that efforts be made, previously to that day, and at that time, to have the present number of all Temperance Societies, if possible, more than doubled. For this end, and as a means to accomplish it, the Committee would invite the attention of all their fellow citizens to the fourth and fifth Re- ports of the Society, to the National Circular designed for every family in the United States, and to the tract which is published by the Society, " On the immorality of the traffic in ardent spirit," and request that they may have a universal circulation. The avails of said publications, will be devoted to the promotion of the cause o( temperance throughout our country. Samuel Hubbard, President. John Tappan, George Odiorne, , Heman Lincoln, yEx. Committee. Justin Edwards, Enoch Hale, Jr. This document was extensively circulated, and was hailed with *j°y Dy tne friends °f Temperance throughout the country. It was also forwarded to the British and Foreign Temperance Society, and measures were promptly taken by them to secure meetings at the same time, for the same purpose, throughout Great Britain. Wherever the Circular went it met a prompt and lively response 8 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. [23'1 from the hearts of the temperate, and multitudes looked forward to the 26th day of February, 1833, as a day which would be marked as an era in the history of the Temperance Reformation. The prospect of beholding friends of humanity, without distinction of name, party, sect or country, assembling at the same time, for the same high purpose of uniting their energies for the moral eman- cipation of the world, was indeed a noble, a sublime spectacle; so novel, and at the same time so grand and imposing, as to awaken in many a bosom new anticipations, and raise from many a heart more fervent aspirations to the Author of all good, that he would grant to the enterprise his gracious benediction ; and hasten the time, when men of mercy and of might, throughout the world, shall simultaneously assemble, and with united hearts, before the throne of the Eternal, in his strength, unite their hands, and all their powers of body and mind, in one grand and evergrowing effort for the salvation from sin and death, of the whole human family. On the 5th day of November, the Secretaiy of War issued from the War Office the following order : " OFFICIAL. HEAD QUARTERS OF THE ARMY. Adjutant General's Office, Washington, Nov. 5th, 1832. The General-in-chief has received from the War Department the subjoined Regulation, which is published for the information and government of the Army, and all others interested : War Department, Nov. 2d, 1832. 1. Hereafter no ardent spirits will be issued to troops of the U States, as a component part of the ration, nor shall any commuta- tion therefor be paid to them. 2. No ardent spirits will be introduced into any fort, camp, or garrison of the United States, nor sold by any sutler to the troops. Nor will any permit be granted for the purchase of ardent spirits. Under the authority vested in the President by the 8th section of the act of congress of April 14th, ISIS, the following changes will be made in the ration issued to the Army : 3. As a substitute for the ardent spirits issued previously to the adcption of the general regulation of November 30th, 1830, and for the commutation in money prescribed thereby, eight pounds of sugar and four pounds of coffee will be allowed to every one hun- dred rations. And at those posts where the troops may prefer it, ten pounds of rice may be issued to every one hundred rations, in lieu of the eight quarts of beans allowed by the existing regulations. 4. These regulations will not extend to the cases provided for 235] SIXTH REPORT. — 1833. 9 by the act of congress of March 2d, 1819, entitled "An act to regulate the pay of the Army when employed on fatigue duty," in which no discretionary authority is vested in the president, nor to the necessary supplies for the Hospital Department of the army. Lewis Cass. R. Jones, Adj. Gen." This change had for some time been anticipated, and by none, perhaps, more earnestly desired than by many of the officers of the army. And few orders have ever issued from the war de- partment more grateful to the people, or which have more generally met their approbation. The author of it will long be held in grateful remembrance, and will be noted in the future page of his- tory as a benefactor of his country. The result is highly auspi- cious. It saves an immense amount of property, and adds greatly to the health, the regularity, the happiness, and the strength of the army. An officer of high rank and long experience, on hearing that another officer, who had been intemperate, was dead, said, " It would be better for the army and for the country if such men were all dead. They are only a burden and a disgrace." Young officers, and those who are looking forward to promotion, either in military, or civil life, would do well to remember this. Such sentiments are becoming common, and with regard to all depart- ments. One of our most distinguished jurists, and successful ad- vocates at the bar remarked, that, as witnesses in courts of justice, men who drink ardent spirit, do not now, and that they never will again, have equal influence with men who do not drink. It is considered an impeachment of their character ; and lessens the credibility and weight of their testimony. It is impossible to make either the court or the jury repose the same confidence in them as in other men. It is now understood, that even moderate drinking weakens the intellect, blunts the power of discriminating perception, and if it does not, as is often the case, make a man dishonest, it venders him more liable to be deceived and to make mistakes. It is not possible for a man to be, in any degree, under the power of this mocker without being peculiarly exposed to deception. " No man, (says an eminent physician,) who has taken only a single glass, has all his faculties in as perfect a state, as the man who takes none. And there is no perfectly temperate physician, under the influence merely of a glass of wine, who has so steady a hand, or can, with as much prospect of safety and success, perform a hazardous and difficult surgical operation, as the man who uses no intoxicating drinks." And the community are becoming every day more and more suspicious of men who drinkr though only in mod- erate quantities ; and whatever they may be in other respects, are reposing less and less confidence in them. And every new devel- 17 10 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. [23G opemeni of facts shows that they have most cogent reasons for this. The time has gone by and will never return, when discern- ing men will, other things being equal, repose as much confidence in men who drink ardent spirit, as in men who do not. And the more responsible the station, the greater reluctance they will feel, at placing in it even the most moderate drinker. Such men are dallying with the enemy ; admitting him to their bosoms and thus jeopardizing all the great interests with which they are intrusted. The records of stages, steam-boats and rail cars, as well as courts of Justice and Halls of Legislation, and the numerous de- falcations of incumbents of public offices, all bear testimony to the truth of these remarks. In a communication made to our Secretary by one of the largest Mail Contractors in the United States, he says, " We seldom have an accident worthy of notice, that we cannot trace to a glass of spirits, taken perhaps to oblige a friend or a passenger who has urged the driver ' to take a little ; ' thus putting his own life and the lives of his companions in danger ; to say nothing of the loss of character and property to us." "We were going," said a gentleman, "from Baltimore to Phil- adelphia, in the stage. The day was cold, and the traveling ex- ceedingly rough. But we had a careful driver and fine horses, and we got on very well, till the driver stopped at a tavern and took something to drink. Almost immediately after we started, the horses became fractious." What was the matter ? The driver did not hold the reins as he held them before. The poison which for a pittance the tavern keeper gave him, and he drank, began to affect his brain, and his arms; it ran along in its influence through the reins to the horses ; and the generous animals which had la- bored so hard and well for the public good, reined and goaded by a poisoned driver, became vexed even to madness. Descend- ing a hill the stage was overturned ; and the passengers, with broken bones and in imminent danger of death, experienced what huadreds of others have, that the vexation and the mischief of hav- ing poisoned drivers, and poisoning tavern keepers are not confined to horses. They affect most seriously the passengers, in all pub- lic conveyances ; and not only an immense amount of property, but hundreds of lives are sacrificed to an abominable custom. And it is hoped that the time is not distant when no poisoned man will be thought to be fit to take the direction of a stage, a rail car, or a steam boat ; and when it will be thought to be much less proper to entrust such an one with the momentous and complicated con- cerns of the State and the Nation. A distinguished officer of the United States Government in- formed our Secretary, that the celebrated Author of the Declara- tion of American Independence after long, and painful experience 237] SIXTH REPORT.— 1833. 11 in the discharge of his arduous duties, as Chief Magistrate of the nation, said with great emphasis, " The habit of using ardent spirit, by men in public office, has occasioned more injury to the public service, and more trouble to me, than any other circumstance which has occurred in the internal concerns of the country, during my administration. And were I to commence my administration again, with the knowledge which from experience 1 have acquired, the first question which I would ask, with regard to every candi- date for public office, should be, Is he addicted to the use of ar- dent spirit ?■ " This question now, by those in power who regard the public good, often is asked, and it will be asked with greater frequency in time to come. Men will not trust their money, their children and their lives with poisoned men ; or make them the guardians, in any department, of their rights. Experience and observation will affect all sober men, as they did that keen observer of men and things, who would make it the first question, " Is he addicted to the use of ardent spirit ? " If he is, and men trust him with great public interests, and meet with trouble, they will meet what might, and ought to have been their expected reward. Can a man take fire in his bosom and his clothes not be burnt ? or can he put it into the bosoms of others, and not burn them, and endanger the interests entrusted to them ? Many have been made drunkards, by men in public office, and many more have had intemperate appe- tites formed or strengthened, and thus have been ruined, by the government itself. It is no less a matter of congratulation, that the government has at last ceased longer to be accessory to such evils in the army, than it is matter of grief and shame that they should have con- tinued so long. Millions of property have been lost, and thousands of brave men been helped by the country which they served, and not unfrequently put by its authority, into a dishonourable grave. The means of forming an unnatural and vicious appetite have been furnished by the government ; an appetite stronger than death, and more relentless than the grave ; and then, for crimes to which it led, the miserable victim, by that very government, has been put to death. With one hand they have furnished him the poison ; and with the other taken away his life, for acting under its influence. A soldier in the last war, once a sober and respectable man, by daily taking a little, acquired an appetite for it. That appetite he gratified, and under its influence deserted. He was taken and condemned to be shot. Just before his execution he said to the officer who visited him, " I owe my death to ardent spirit. It has ruined me; I never violated the orders, or broke the laws, except when I had been drinking. I am now to die, and this it is which has killed me. And now, if I could only get a draught of it, 1 12 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. [238 should care nothing about death," And, said the officer, in relating the ease to our Secretary, " He actually pleaded for whiskey while they were taking off his irons, with as much earnestness as a sinner ever pleads for salvation." He was furnished with a pint, and, under its influence, he was plunged into eternity ; with the all con- suming appetite strong in death. And four fifths of the capital crimes, and of the executions in the army, in the navy and in the community have been occasioned by the use of spirit. We fur- nish the cause, excite to crime, and then put the criminal to death. But a change with regard to the army has at last been effected ; and one which if adopted and persevered in by the whole com- munity will tend to render drunkenness and crime in the army and out of it, as rare, as it is guilty, mean, and disgraceful. Many are hoping and with high expectations, that a similar change will shortly take place in the Navy. Many of the officers and of the seamen most earnestly desire it. Most of the men in two squadrons have already voluntarily renounced entirely the use of spirit ; and the consequent improvement, in their habits, health, and happiness, has become a topic of common remark among the surgeons and other officers. The Secretary of the Navy states, that the Schooner Experi- ment had her men selected with a view to a full experiment on this interesting subject. And rightly, in view of the Committee, is she named Experiment ; for few if any vessels have ever made an experiment on a subject of greater importance to mankind. The Secretary also adds, "that by perseverance in holding out in- ducements to the voluntary abandonment of the use of daily poi- son, he trusts not only that the waste of human life, and the fre- quency and severity of punishment will be diminished, but that a great moral revolution will be permanently effected among a class of men, who have hitherto been too often considered irre- claimable." This testimony to ardent spirit as a. poison, and to the fatal evils occasioned by the use of it, the Committee view as important; and they would respectfully suggest whether, in the present state of in- formation on this subject, it is not morally wrong, for legislators to wait, till seamen voluntarily refuse to accept the daily poison, before they cease to furnish it ? especially as it is known, from the testimony of surgeons and officers, that their furnishing it is the cause of that waste of human life, and that frequency and severity of punishment which the Secretary and thousands of others so deeply deplore, and which is such a foul disgrace to the American Navy ? and they would also suggest whether it is not the duty of £he government, without delay to cease to furnish it ? Many of ibe officers have expressed, in strong terms, their abhorrence of tke practice ', and to it have attributed by far the greatest portion 239] SIXTH REPORT.— I S33. IS of their troubles with the men. And after it is known that, with- out any benefit, it causes more than one fifth of the deaths, and more than four fifths of the crimes among men who use it on the land ; and that it is no less hurtful in proportion to its use on the ocean, must it not be considered as a high immorality and as vicious le- gislation to continue to furnish it ? and will the people of this free country continue to consent to be thus taxed, for the sake of fur- nishing seamen, as a means, not of living, but of dying, with daily poison ct to increase their diseases, augment their dangers, demoral- ize their characters, shorten their lives, and ruin their souls? Will they consent to continue to be taxed for the purpose of multiplying more than fourfold the difficulties of Naval officers ; degrading the Naval service, and weakening the arm of National defence ? Said an officer of high rank, who for his country had long and often braved the dangers of the deep, and faced the mouth of cannon, " If Congress will only cease to furnish ardent spirit for the Navy, we shall have comparatively no trouble with the men, I have made the experiment, and I know, that when men cease to use ardent spirit, they cease to violate their orders ; and are al- most uniformly cheerful, healthy, respectful and obedient." And it is indeed humiliating and degrading, that the facts which have been developed have not before now produced entire conviction , and caused the practice of furnishing any class of citizens with ar- dent spirit to be universally, and forever abolished. Nothing but the blinding and palsying effect on the public mind of the prac- tice itself can account for this gross and long continued outrage upon the character and comfort, the health and usefulness, the lives and souls of men. Still greater if possible is the violence which is done to every correct principle, and the gloom which is cast over every bright prospect, when this poison is furnished, as it sometimes has been, by candidates for public office, as a bribe to electors. In this free country, raised by mercy high for all nations to look at, and making for the world the momentous experiment, whether free institutions can be permanent and men to future ages are to be governed by law or the sword ; in this mighty, this stupendous conflict, where intelligence, and virtue, and morality, and religion, the religion of the Bible, are all, and in all, — the pre- tended patriot who sighed, " O that I were made judge in the land," has taken this poison and offered it to freemen to buy for him their votes. And when charged with being so poisoned him- self as to be unfit for the public service, he has had the effrontery to acknowledge in words and in deeds, that he loved it, and to declare before the world that if he could only have the votes of all in his district, who were in this respect like himself, he would not ask for more. And so enslaved have they sometimes been, that they have put him into office, and continued him in it, till, not his con- > 17* 14 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. [240 stituents, but drunkenness cast him out. The very beasts, on which some of them rode to elections, on their return, lightened of their burden, which could not ride, and much less could walk, stopped to gaze at them in the gutter. Men, born of sires whose blood flowed freely to purchase the rich inheritance for their children, were bribed to be slaves, by a price which it would disgrace a slave to accept, and bound, not in fetters of brass but of mud, which they had not strength enough to break, and were doomed, while life remained, to wallow in the mire, an astonishment and a contempt to the most beastly spectator. The very dog was ashamed of his company, while his meanest feelings, as he, whom had he remained a man, he would gladlv have continued faithfully to serve, gasped in death, assumed a moral grandeur, compared with the best of those which led the destroyer of his master, by poisoning electors, to bribe himself into office. Had the Genius of Liberty not herself been put to sleep by the lethean exhalations of that dark and putrid lake, her sword had leaped from its scabbard to avenge the first invasion like this ; and make an example, which as far, and as long as known, would for- ever, among freemen, prevent its repetition. But she was asleep. Her sleep however was not the sleep of death. The purifying breezes have gone over her, and she begins already to stir ; and in some cases she has opened her eyes. " Nothing was more common a few years ago," says a distin- guished Civilian, " in our part of the country, than for candidates for public office to furnish electors with spirit. They did it to ob- tain their votes ; and elections were scenes of dissipation, outrage and riot. But no such thing is seen now. So great has been the change since the formation of Temperance Societies, that there is not a man in the country, who, should he take that course, could be elected to any office." Let Temperance Societies become universal, and attempts to poison electors will no longer bribe their authors into office. The cry of " Sectarianism," or " Church and State," will not hide from the eye of freemen the cloven foot, or shield him who wears it from their indignant execration. Not a few associations have already been formed, whose mem- bers solemnly pledge themselves not to vote for any man to any office, who at elections offers ardent spirit. The right of suffrage, in their view, is too sacred, and liberty too precious to be bartered away for rum, or whiskey. The false-hearted, traitorous pretend- ers to patriotism, who think thus to purchase its honours and emoluments, are in their estimation too base to be for a moment tolerated by freemen. They view it as greater guilt and mean- ness to buy votes with spirit, than with money ; and fraught with greater dangers to the Republic. From supporting the man who 241 J SIXTH REPORT. — ) 8)3. 15 does it, to whatever party he may belong, they are resolved to ab- stain. Tolal abstinence is all that he will ever receive from them. Let others treat him in the same manner, let this become univer- sal, and the change with regard to political corruption will be as strongly marked, as the change with regard to intemperance by abstinence from ardent spirit. Let no man be elected to public office whose qualifications and moral influence will not be a public blessing, and the dark portentous clouds which have been hovering around our horizon, and casting a hroader and deeper shade over our national prospects, will be dispelled by that sun whose rising glories will grow brighter and brighter to the perfect day. ' The quaking apprehensions of the venerable patriot who poured out his youthful blood to establish our freedom, that he should out- live its continuance, would then be hushed ; and every christian bosom swell with high hope of the speedy and universal extension and unchanging perpetuity of that heaven-born freedom which makes all who partake of it to be " free indeed." Nor is the at- tention of our countrymen confined to the connection between ardent spirit, and the political or temporal welfare of men. They are tracing and exhibiting its more momentous connection with their spiritual and their eternal concerns. The General Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, composed of that denomination throughout the United States, at their last meeting, in addressing their churches, say, " God, who is the Author of nature no less than revelation, has abundantly pro- vided for the essential happiness and relative usefulness of man- kind ; but the experience of all ages and nations has given the most indubitable proof that the use of ardent spirits is totally inconsistent with either ; and, thus opposed to the benevolent intention of Heaven and provisions of nature, must be considered as a trans- gression of the will of God. The mischievous principle of ine- briety, of which we now speak, cannot be made to nourish and invigorate the body. It is, by the appointment of Heaven and the constitution of our common nature rendered incapable of producing such a result. Its conversion into chyle, after being received into the stomach, and its subsequent appropriation by means of the blood-vessels, for the purpose of renewing and invigorating the body, are known to be impossible." And after saying that few are aware of the insidious nature and great extent of the evil, they add, " A large portion we fear of the most important and responsible business of the nation is often transacted under the influence in a greater or less degree of alcoholic excitement. And can those be innocent who contribute to secure such a result, whether by the pestilential example of temperate drinking, as it is called, or the still more criminal means of furnishing the poisonous preparation by manufacture and traffic for the degradation and ruin of others ? J 6 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. [242 The man who drinks intemperately ruins himself, and is the cause of much discomfort and inquietude, and perhaps actual misery in the social circle in which he moves ; but manufacturers, and those who are engaged in the traffic in ardent spirit and other intoxi- cating liquors, do the work of death by wholesale ; they are devoted by misguided enterprise to the ruin of human kind ; and become directly accessory, though not intended by them, to the present shame and final destruction of hundreds and thousands. And we gravely ask, with no common solicitude, can God, who is just as well as good, hold that church innocent which is found cherishing in her bosom so awful and universal an evil? The father and founder of methodism,* says, " It is amazing that the preparation and selling of this poison should be permitted, I will not say in any christian country, but in any civilized State." He denounces the gain of the trafficker, as " the price of blood ;" and says, " Let not any lover of virtue and truth say one word in favour of this mon- ster. Let no lover of mankind open his mouth to extenuate the guilt of it. Oppose it as you would oppose the devil, whose off- spring and likeness it is. None can gain in this way by swallow- ing up his neighbor's substance, without gaining the damnation of hell." And it has been publicly announced by leading men in that Con- nection, as their settled conviction, that he who lives to see the year 1836, the time of the meeting of the next General Conference, will witness the entire Methodist Connection throughout the United States, free from makers and venders of spirituous liquors. May their anticipations be realized and their zeal and success in this work quicken and animate others, till every Christian Church of every denomination, shall be free from this disgrace. And the Church that shall be last to put away this abomination may expect to be the last on which shall descend the dew, the rain, and the sunshine of Millennial grace. The General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the United States say, " It is now a well establisned fact, that the common use of strong drink, however moderate, lias been a fatal, soul-destroying barrier against the influence of the gospel. Consequently, where- ever total abstinence is practised, a powerful instrument of resisting the Holy Spirit is removed ; and a new avenue of access to the hearts of men opened to the power of truth. Thus in numerous instances, and in various places, during the past year the Tempe- rance Reformation has been a harbinger preparing the way of the Lord ; and the banishment of that liquid poison, which kills both soul and body, has made way for the immediate entrance of the spirit and the word, the glorious train of the Redeemer. But, a * John Wesley. 243J SIXTH REPORT. 1831. 17 great work is still to be effected in the church. The sons of Levi must be purified. The accursed thing must be removed from the camp of the Lord. While professing Christians continue to ex- hibit the baleful example of tasting the drunkard's poison ; or, by a sacrilegious traffic to make it their employment to degrade and destroy their fellow men, those who love the Lord must not keep silence, but must lift up their warning voice, and use all lawful efforts to remove this withering reproach from the house of God." Among the lawful efforts which the assembly declare that those, who love the Lord are bound to make, many ministers and elders have had no doubt, is the kind, open, decided expression to the churches and to the world of their conviction of the immorality of the traffic in ardent spirit, and its utter inconsistency with the spirit and requirements of the Christian religion. The Presbytery of New York, therefore, at their meetllig in Octo- ber, declared, " that in their opinion, it is the duty of all men, and especially of those who profess the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, entirely to abstain from the use of ardent spirit as a drink, and from traffic in it as such," and ordered that this opinion be communica- ted to their churches. The Synod of Albany, declared, "that in their judgment, the traffic in ardent spirit as a drink is an immorality, and ought to be viewed as siich throughout, t^ world, ; " . and remind the churches under theffij care of the 'sentiments of the General Assembly, on this subject, which we have quoted. The' Presbytery of Delaware expressed to their churches their heart-rending regret that any of the professed friends of the holy and benevolent Saviour, should exhibit the shocking spectacle of being engaged in the unholy and inhuman traffic of retailing that which has filled the land with widows and orphans, with strife and contention, crime and death ; and through the influence of which, multitudes have been doomed to eternal darkness and woe. The General Association of New Hampshire, declared, " that they believe the manufacture, sale, and use of that which kills the body and destroys the soul, and which if continued as in time past, will, in less than fifty years, send a million of our fellow men to the drunkard's grave, and to the drunkard's doom, is utterly incon- sistent with the spirit of the gospel, and that no man, with his un- derstanding enlightened on this subject, can continue either, and yet give evidence of being born of God." They also declare, " that they regard it to be the duty of all churches to refuse admission to all such persons as shall continue to make, sell, or use ardent spirit as an article of drink or luxury." They then make of all such persons the following momentous in- quiries; "Is it not your duty to aid in the suppression of vice? 18 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. [244 Can you continue a practice which inevitably leads to sin, and be blameless? Can you feel lor the salvation of men, and yet en- courage a habit that will certainly, in many cases, lead to the ruin of the soul? Can you love the Saviour, and yet be unwilling to do so little as to abstain from spirituous liquors to promote his glory? In the day of judgment, when it shall appear that many, encouraged by your example to drink, became drunkards and are lost, can you expect to enter the kingdom? Will not the blood of souls be found in your skirts? If you are not guilty of the sin of intemperance, ought you not to sorrow that others are; and will you not abstain from ardent spirit to prevent it? If you are not willing to make this sacrifice for Christ, can you have any of that love which led him to sacrifice himself for you? Oh reflect, and over every glass you drink, think of the mi lions that the liquid you drink has sent, and will send to hell. Oh think of the judg- ment, and prepare to meet us there." The General Associations of Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Maine, say, u that in their judgment the traffic in ardent spirit, a* a drink, is an immorality, and that it ought to be viewed and treated as such throughout the world; that this immorality is utterly in- consistent with a profession of the Christian religion; and that those who have the means of understanding its nature and effects, and yet continue to be engaged in it, ought not to be admitted as members of Christian churches; and that those members of Christian churches who continue to be engaged in the traffic are violating the principles and requirements of the Christian religion " Similar views have been expressed by multitudes of others, both in this and other countries, and they are becoming the common views of enlightened and conscientious men throughout the world. The American Quarterly Temperance Magazine says, " We consider moderate drinkers as the main, if not the only cause of the continued use of distilled liquors; but for them, the manufac- turer and vender would soon disannul their covenant with hell, and abandon their traffic in death. What has already been said of oi|> regular temperate drinker, is applicable to all. Their moral sense is debased; they are enslaved to appetite; they are in league against truth, reason, and revelation, with the enemy of their race. He once said, ' Eat, and ye shall not surely die.' He now says, ' Drink, and ye shall not surely die. ' They quaff the bowl and join in the response. This device is to be assailed and confuted aiain and again, until public sentiment, which has been deeply vitiated and perverted, shall be corrected and restored to the due perform- ance of its office. Then shall the slaves of the enemy bear their master's brand on their foreheads; and it shall no longer remain a problem for critical solution, whether the fair honorable merchant, who only sells the liquor to the miserable drunkard whom his 5*45] SIXTH REPORT. — Ibito. 19 regular business has enticed to ruin, till he snatches the last crumb of bread from his starving children, be more or less guilty than the legal victim of his cupidity ; nor whether the distiller be more or less culpable than the merchant. Public sentiment, once tolerably regulated and purified from the defilement derived from the same all-corrupting source, would soon solve all such difficult questions. The reeling, profane, abandoned sot derives his arguments and his justification for debasing himself and preying upon society, from the same fund with his more decently appearing companions anil accomplices, the manufacturer and vender, and the whole com- pany of temperate drinkers. If a farmer, whose starving animals,, no less than his suffering family, designate, as with a sunbeam, to what corps he belongs ; you shall hear him decide authoritatively against the reformation ; lest the coarse grains should remain a useless drug on the hands of the grower, and thereby injure the agricultural interest. The importer, the manufacturer and vender of all grades from the wholesale warehouse, or splendid mansion, down to the occupant of the threepenny-glass hovel, all sympa- thise with him, and join in the argument. The cause of religion i« scandalized by its professors ; the sateless, never dying appetite must have an apology, and one is soon found. With professions of good will to man, and obedience to the requirements of the gos- pel on their lips, with the victims of their cupidity before their eyes, in defiance of the plainest principles of the religion they pro- fess, and in contempt of the authority of its Author, they too, hold the polluting cup to their neighbor's lips; and for what? to sus- tain and countenance themselves in the same indulgence ; or per- haps for the more vile, debasing and guilty object, of making gain by the unhallowed traffic. We do not read literally that the sen- tence, ' Depart into everlasting punishment,' was predicated on the fact that the delinquents had been the main instruments, by their example or fraudulent practices, whether legalized or not, of filling the abodes of misery with the sick, the naked, the wounded, the friendless, and the hungry, as now is the fact with every one who bears an agency in procuring, diffusing, or, by his example of using inebriating liquors; no, theirs was the negative guilt of not, according to their several ability and opportunity, administering th the relief and comfort of their fellow creatures." The application to the case in hand is too plain to be mistaken. If to him who sees his fellow creatures hungry, or naked, or sick or in prison, and does not, if in his power, minister to their relief, the infinitely merciful Saviour says, " Depart, ye cursed into everlasting fire ; prepared for the devil and his angels," what will he not say to those who continue knowingly and perseveringly to make it their business to bring such evils upon them ? Can they expect to es- cape the withering indignation of Him, whose eyes are as a flame 20 AMERICAN TK.Ul'KUANeE SOCiiVl 1 . [J40 of fire, and who is a just God ;is well as Saviour, when*) fire shall be kindled in his anger which shall burn to the lowest hell; and all the proud, and all that do wickedly shall be as stubble 7" Said a member of Congress, at a meeting in the Capitol, " It has long been settled by the concurrent testimony of the most distin- guished physicians, that alcohol is a rank and deadly poison- — that in its effects it resembles arsenic, and that though slower in its operation, it is not less certain and destructive in its results. Ay, that it is infinitely more so ; that it poisons, destroys, kills both the body and the mind ; that the inevitable tendency of its use is the paralysation of the health, the destruction of the human constitu- tion ; the prostration of morals ; the accumulation of crime ; the augmentation of the sum total of human wickedness and human misery ; the derangement and stupefaction of the intellect ; the oblivion of every social and religious obligation ; the extinction of the love of honor in the human breast ; and the annihilation of every high and holy feeling of the soul, which elevates man above the brutes that perish, and allies him to God ! Who is not, then, ready to exclaim, that the mere use of this poison, is of itself a crime ? A crime, however, which sinks into insignificance when compared with that of making and vending it for the destruction of others — a crime that whitens into innocence when contrasted with that of creating and pouring upon mankind this desolating stream of moral death, this cataract of liquid fire, to blast the rising glories of our country, and desolate the land. — Time was when these re- sults were either unthought of or unknown ; when the making and- vending of this now well-knowrn cause of disease and death, of crime and wretchedness, was either sustained by the voice of pub- lic opinion, or indulged without reprobation. But, light has come upon us. In that light a new law has revealed itself. It is founded in moral justice, and is eternal. It is no longer unpublished or unknown to the world. It has been written, as it were, by the finger of God, in glaring capitals of living light, in characters of unutterable brightness upon the margin of the heavens. All na- tions have read, and are preparing to obey it. It forbids man, under the penalty of its eternal malediction — to deal in this poison.. It forbids him to scatter it like ' firebrands, arrows and death/ among the children of his race. No one can longer plead igno- rance of its mandates, or of its penalties. No one can longer deny, that from this source, (the manufacture and traffic of this destruc- tive fluid) flows a train of evils, which embody every variety of human crime and human misery ; which convert the blessings of heaven into curses, and those of life into the tortures of disease — the madness of despair — the premature agonies of temporal and eternal death. Without this agency, all these vast and complicated evils would cease to exist. The individual, therefore, who manu- 54rj SIXTH REPORT. — 18»&. 21 factures or traffics in this poison, knowing and reflecting upon the wide-spread ruin and desolation which result from his agency in increasing its consumption, is* in the eye of Heaven, responsible for all, and richly merits the disfavor and reprobation of his coun- try. Where, in the eye of eternal justice, is the difference between him who strikes the blow of death, and him who knowingly mad- dens the brain, and tempts and fires the soul to strike it? Where is the difference between him who by the sale and dissemination of this subtle poison, causes four fifths of the pauperism, crime, sick- ness, wretchedness, insanity and death, which afflict the world j and him who does it by the manufacture and universal diffusion of ' miasmatic cholera? if you please, or by the administration of other poisons ? What matters it to the widowed wife and wretched orphan, whether you consign the husband and father to a prema- ture grave by the midnight dagger, or by the lingering tortures of the drunkard's death ? The difference is only in the form : In the form did I say ? I correct myself. The enormity of guilt rests with a heavier weight upon the head of the death-dealing grocer. In the first case the destroyer inflicts upon the suffering survivor a bereavement unembittered with shame, and unstained by dishonor. While in the latter he superadds to the crime of murder, and to the destitution and loneliness of orphanage and widowhood, the wretched inheritance of poverty and disgrace. I repeat, therefore, that it is now too late to deny either the criminality of this traffic, or the magnitude of the evils which result from it. I speak not of the gallows-chains, the gibbets, the alms-houses, the dungeons, and the penitentiaries, to whose ravening heights and hungry walls, the makers and venders of this poison are but the recruiting sergeants. I speak not now of fields turned to waste — of homes deserted^-^of hearths desolated— of happiness forever blasted, and hopes forever crushed beneath the withering tread of this fell destroyer. Nor will time permit me to point you even for a moment, to those scenes of grovelling dissipation, of frantic riot, of desperate revenge, and of brutal abandonment, from which the once kind husband and the father is sent home, transformed into an infuriated demon, to his trembling wife and famished children, the object alike of terror, of shame, and of heart-rending commiseration. I cannot speak of those truly tragical results of this inhuman traffic; of those scenes of unutterable wretchedness and agony of soul, over which my heart has often bled, even in the far off peaceful wilds of the West ; of those scenes, in which I myself have seen this demon of de- struction rising on his pedestal of broken hearts and blasted hopes, and, intent on gain, filling the very air with moral pestilence, blast- ing every noble and manly feeling of the human heart, and pouring from his poisoned chalice his fiery streams of agony and despair into the once happy and cherished circle of domestic peace and 18 :, 22 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. [248 love. These are the scenes in which the effects of this most in- excusable traffic in ardent spirits are exhibited : these the scenes, where cruel and cold-hearted avarice, for the sake of a few paltry sixpences, palsies every healthful pulse of life, and sharpens every pang of death — where the grim master of the sacrifice himself, coming forth from his dark Aceldama of human blood, strikes down every hope that can cheer, and wrings every fibre that can feel, before he gives the final blow that sends the suffering victim to eternity. Can that traffic be justified by an enlightened and vir- tuous people, which thus alone holds out the chief temptation to intemperance, and strews the land with ' beggars, and widows, and orphans, and crimes,'— which breaks up the foundations of social happiness, consigns millions prematurely to their graves, and fills the world with wailings, lamentations, and woe ? I answer, No. Policy, morality, patriotism, religion condemn it." Says an eminent European writer, " Let him who sells ardent spirit bring the practices of his daily calling to the standard of the Bible; and when he stores his ship with this body and soul destroy- ing agent ; when he holds out its tempting symbols to his friends and to all around him ; when he knows its deleterious nature, and sees its demoralizing tendency ; when his hands are polluted in transmitting it to the hand of the drunkard ; — when husbands, and wives, and mothers, and children, are pining in indigence and hopeless sorrow caused by that very article which it is his business to retail, let him inquire whether he can be a participant in, or a cause of such scenes and yet be free from guilt. Let him inquire whether he can conscientiously go to his keees, and pray for the blessing of God to rest upon, and to prosper the works of his hands. Let him inquire whether he seriously believes, that God will send forth his hogsheads of whiskey, or rum, or brandy to be a blessing to his fellow men ; or whether he can lie down on his pillow at night with a calm and tranquil mind, when he thinks on the mis- erable and wretched beings whom he has been helping to destroy, and some of whom have passed into eternity under the influence of spirits provided for them within his door. Let him ponder well such passages of the word of God as these, and then let conscience give her verdict. ' Woe to him that giveth his neighbor drink, and maketh him drunken.' ' Let no man put a stumbling block, or an occasion to fall in his brother's way.' ' Have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness.' ' Let no man seek his own, but every man another's wealth.' ' Whether therefore ye eat or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.' " And after quoting from a writer of our own country the decla- ration, that could each hogshead of whiskey which a Christian sells, come back, and as it enters his door tell him of the families it has made miserable, the wives it has made widows, and the children it 249] sixth report.— 1833. 23 has made orphans, he would start back from the traffic as he would from the pit of perdition ; and after stating many horrible cases of its effects upon those who sell, and those who buy, and saying that it seems as if the same malignant spirit reigned every where in the bosoms of those who have sold themselves to strong drink, and that nothing appears too base or Satanic for them to perpetrate, he adds, "When will the moral man, and the Christian withdraw alto- gether from countenancing, either directly or indirectly, this system of iniquity ; and resolve neither to make, sell, or use these distilled liquors, which are so preeminently Satan's instruments of evil to a guilty world." Such is the voice of the press, both in this country, and in Europe. And the truth which it has uttered has commended itself to the conscience, and operates powerfully and efficaciously on the heart. Multitudes have during the past year renounced the unhallowed and degrading traffic ; and greater multitudes have been impressed with its awful wickedness and guilt. One man writes, "The pub- lications on this subject, if circulated and read, must drive every man of conscience out of this traffic, or drive him distracted." Another man remarks, " Every man who is in this traffic must re- nounce it or give up his religion; for Christian character and rum- selling cannot any longer go together." Another man writes, " Makers and venders of ardent spirits have no souls; if they had, and understood what they are doing, they could not continue in their present employment." These are indeed strong expressions ; but they show the current of public sentiment, and the deep abhorrence with which reflecting men view that fatal employment. A respectable master miil-wright was solicited to repair the pumps of a distillery ; but he refused, and said that he could not without a violation of conscience, even in the way of business, aid in expediting the manufacture of an article that was working such terrible destruction among his fellow men. Another man was ap- plied to, to paint a sign that should show the passing traveller the place in which he could get the poison. But though dependent on his business for his living, he promptly refused ; and let the appli- cant know that he believed it to be morally wrong thus to assist in destroying others. A miller who lived in a State that required by law, that millers should grind such grain as might be brought to them for that pur- pose, when grain was brought to be ground for distillation, refused to grind it. He would not have his mill prostituted to such a vile and loathsome purpose. He could not do it without a violation of moral duty, and he felt bound, though it was a breach of human law, to refuse. He did refuse, like a man who was not afraid to do 24 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. [250 right. The destroyer however, continuing intent upon his gain, the man was prosecuted and fined. He applied to the Legisla- ture ; whereupon they passed the following act, viz. u It is here- by enacted, — that an act entitled, ' an act, relating to mills and millers,' shall not be so construed as to make any owner or occu- pier of any mill, liable to the penally therein named, who shall lefuse, or neglect to grind any grain brought to such mill to be ground for the avowed, or apparent purpose, of manufacturing such grain into distilled spirits; nor liable to any suit or action for so refusing." And, says an energetic writer, speaking of this man, " He has done well, and has shown that a good, well informed conscience, resolutely obeyed, will make its possessor a benefactor to mankind. Time, place, occupation, circumstances cannot hin- der it. Though shut up in a grist-mill, busy in watching the fine- ness of Indian meal as it comes from between the stones, such a man may amend the legislation of States, and Empires, and hasten the march of mankind towards the enjoyment of all their rights ; by just doing one duty after another, as they come along, without being deterred by fear of consequences." In another State a town applied to the Legislature for an act of incorporation. While the bill was before the lower house, a mem- ber moved to strike out the 3d section, which contained the usual authority to town officers to grant licenses to retail spirituous liquors. An animated debate ensued ; and in which the advocates for licenses, assumed the same rights for the town in question to regulate its own morals, as had been granted to other towns. The mover* replied that the Legislature had no right to authorise the granting of licenses for such a purpose. A noble sentiment, wor- thy to be written in letters of gold ; and destined soon to be the opinion Tjf the world. He said that he considered it to be their duty as .guardians of the public welfare, to take a stand on this subject. He did not legislate, with reference to the state of things in that town, which he presumed was not worse than in others, but he would oppose any measure, whencesoever it proceeded, which tended to spread the pernicious influence of intemperance. And on the final question the motion to strike out prevailed by a large majority. The keeper of a little grog-shop in a narrow dirty lane, said to his acquaintance, " These temperance folks are doing a deal of mischief. On Saturday night, the workmen, after getting their wages, on their way home used to stop at my store and drink. I used on that night and the next day to take a hundred dollars, but now I cannot take ten." A deal of mischief to be sure, as the Jtber ninety dollars now goes to support their starving families. And what a deal of mischief will legislators do, when they shall oo longer sanction by legislation the licensing of men to sell ar- 251 J SIXTH KEPORT. 1833. 25 dent spirit, and thus to take on Saturday night and Sabbath day, a hundred dollars from starving families ; and instead of poisoning the father and rendering him a maniac, shall let him remain sober, to carry bread and clothing, peace and joy, to his wife and children. Another man, licensed to sell, and acting under the full sanction of legislative authority, had on hand a quantity of spirit. Finding- no opportunity to sell it, where it might net be drunk and destroy his fellow men ; and not being willing to do that for money, he turned it into the sea. He had rather lose it, than to have the drinker lose it, and with it, as he might should he drink it, lose his life, and his soul. Though he could get the money for it, he did not be- lieve it to be right in that way to make money ; because it tended to destroy others. He did not believe it to be right for him to teach the doctrine, as he would should he sell it, that men can without committing sin, buy and drink it. He did not believe it would be right, even should he appropriate the avails to the distribution of the Bible, or the relief of the poor. As Jehovah abhors robbery for sacrifice, he knew that he would not accept the fruit of a traf- fic which does more mischief than robbery itself. He therefore resolved to cleanse his hands and purify his heart from that covet- ousness, which leads men, for the sake of money, to desolate and destroy. Another man, who was convinced that it is wrong to make ardent spirit, to import or to vend it, was yet not so sure that there might not be a case, in which a cargo consigned to him, not from another country but from his own, might be lawfully sold, as, if he should not sell it, some other man would, and his doing it would not in- crease the quantity in the country or the amount that would be used. He had such a cargo, and after considerable doubt and hesitation, he sold it and took the commission. But said he, after reflection, " 1 believe I ought not to keep that money." He chose not to re- tain it. And he appropriated it to the dissemination of, informa- tion as to the natcre and effects of spirituous liquors, for the purpose, as far ;>s practicable, of convincing all men that it is wicked to make, import, sell, or drink it. Should a man sell "it, even on commission, though another man would sell it if he should not, he would teach by that act the fatally erroneous doctrine, that it is not wicked to buy and drink it ; — a doctrine which no man can teach, without being accessory to the evils, temporal and eternal, which it occasions. And this, with Christians and sober men, in proportion as they examine the subject, is becoming more and more the deep and universal conviction. The Clerk of a Presbytery writes, " We have within our bounds twenty-one churches ; and there is not an individual in cither, who is in any way connected with the traffic in ardent spirit." There 3 18* 26 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. [^52 are ten such churches in the city of Boston, and twenty in the city of New York ; and the Committee are led to believe, more than a thousand in other parts of the country. The impression is now common that for men to profess religion and covenant before heaven and earth to do good as they have opportunity to all men, and then make it a business to manufacture, or sell, that which produces such unmixed and overwhelming evils, is solemn mock- ery. To go from the communion table to the grog-shop, the liquor store, or the distillery, and pour out streams of death over the community, is an abomination in the sight of heaven, which the. great Head of the Church, who died to redeem it unto himself, re- quires should be universally and forever done away. And those who, notwithstanding all the light which the church can now fur- nish as to the nature and effects of this traffic, still continue in it, are viewed as unfit for her communion. And increasing numbers believe that they are forbidden by the sacred oracles to be acces- sory to the introduction of such persons into the visible church. Numbers of churches have been formed, with the understanding among the members that no such persons are ever to be admitted. Nor is this, as some suppose, adopting a new rule or test of ad- mission to churches, or one not recognized in the Bible. It is only the application of the principles and requirements of the scriptures correctly to this case, whereas in times past, through ignorance and error, they have not been so applied. The Bible does not indeed say, in so many words, that retailers of spirit, or distillers, shall not be admitted to the church. Neither does' it say, that gam- blers, or counterfeiters of the public coin, shall not be admitted to the church. And yet Christians act, and long have acted as if it said so ; and they are forbidden to act otherwise. Why ? because those practices are immoral, and as really known to be such as if they were mentioned by name, and denounced -as immoralities in the Bible. So with the traffic, in ardent spirit. If, with all the light which, from the Scriptures and from facts, the church can now furnish, a man does not renounce the traffic, he fails to exhibit that evidence of being a good man, which would justify others in receiving and treating him as such. Besides, as the business is immoral, if it must be continued, less mischief will be done if it is carried on only by men out of the church, than if it is carried on also by church members. And as most of the troubles which the churches have had with their members have arisen from this employment, they are bound in self defeiace not to admit such persons to their communion. They have too many such in the churches already ; and they are bound not to increase the number. If they do, they will increase their weakness and their sorrows. This employment is one of the most powerful obstructions to the efficacy of the gospel, and one of the 253] SIXTH REPORT.— 1S33. 27 greatest hindrances to tUe salvation of men. The greater the in- fluence of men, who sanction a vicious employment, the greater the mischief. Regard, therefore, to the good of others, requires them to take this course. They cannot do otherwise without great evil, and great guilt. Some indeed suppose, although it is a wicked employment, yet as some men will have spirit, and other men will sell it, it had bet- ter be sold by good men, than bad ; by professors of religion, rather than by others. This is a great mistake. Some men will have counterfeit money if they can get it, and other men will make it, and others sell it ; some by wholesale, or on commission, and others by retail. And some will use it moderately and prudently themselves. They have done so perhaps for years, and do not see that it injures them, and may contend that there is no hurt in it, as they manage it. But is it no worse for this to be done by church members, than by the abandoned ? will it be better for pro- fessed Christians to be engaged in wickedness, because they will do it more decently, and in a manner less outrageous to public feeling ? Will they not by doing it inculcate, by the whole weight of their character, that it is right, and thus give it respectability ? •or else that they, although professors of godliness, will for money knowingly and habitually do wrong ? And would not either of these doctrines be a reproach to religion? and if taught by the practice of good men would it not do vastly more mischief than if taught only by notoriously bad men? Who can doubt it? Sa- tan himself, when there is a demand for it, and some men will carry it on, might delight to have members of the church, and the best and most influential men in the community, engaged in his most infernal business. And he might be willing even to be laid under some restrictions, if the business could be licensed, and thus have the sanction of legislative authority. It would aid him by removing one of his greatest obstructions, arising from the con- sciences of men, and from the convictions that his business is wicked, and that the end thereof is death. He might be willing that his followers should even pay something for a license, and that there should be, nominally at least, some penalty attached to out- rageous excess ; and he might plead that the best men in the community should carry on the business, because they would do it with more regularity. But would it promote the cause of virtue and the cause of God ? and would it lessen the power of the ad- versary ? does he not know, that the more respectable he can make a wicked employment, the greater will be the mischief? A notorious gambler at the head of a large establishment, the keeping of which was made penal, but into which, in violation of law, public sentiment and conscience, many a youth and many a man, under the cover of night had stepped and been ruined, plead 28 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. [254 strongly that such establishments, for the public good, should be licensed. He would be willing to pay, if needful, a thousand dol- lars a year ; and be willing too to be laid, nominally at least, under some restrictions, and to have some penalty attached to great ex- cess. He said, if such establishments were licensed they might be controlled, and be made to yield a large revenue to the gov- ernment. And such men, in such cases, can talk long and loud, about revenue, and regularity, and decency, and the public good ; and appear very patriotic ; while their business is undermining the pillars of the Republic, and is such as the great enemy of God and man would have it. But he did not add, that this would remove the odium of vice, without changing its character ; make the way to death more respectable, and thus draw a greater number into it. He did not add what, had he told the truth, and the whole truth, he must have added, that it would ward off" from those sinks of iniquity the frown of public indignation, and stifle many a conscience, and remove the last barrier between many a soul and endless ruin. And let men who plead that a wicked business should be licensed, or be carried on by good men, not forget that they advocate the cause of the great destroyer. A vender of lottery tickets contrary to law, said, " It is a bad business, but then somebody will carry it on, and it ought to be licensed. The Legislature can then control it, and prevent a great deal of mischief; and it might be a source of revenue to the State. Men will buy tickets, legislators make laws against it, and then come themselves, and buy the tickets. I have sold more than four hundred dollars worth of tickets to members of the Leg- islature within four weeks. It ought to be licensed." So the men who carry on the system of public swindling, and their associ- ates reason. They too, would be willing, nay glad to pay for a license, for this would varnish over with legislative sanction, and in view of multitudes hide the odiousness of their high-handed ini- quity. But the people begin to think, that it is better for their legislators not to license the perpetrators of such iniquity ; but if they continue to injure (he community, and nothing else will prevent it, to send them to the State Prison. The community have already begun to speak on this subject, and legislators have begun to hear.* May they continue to speak, in louder and deeper tones, till the practice of licensing iniquity, and thus throwing over it the shield of legislative sanction, and warding off public rebuke, shall univer- sally and forever cease. In the month of October the Committee of the New York City Temperance Society applied to our Secretary to assist them in com- pleting a thorough Temperance organization of that city. A Society * Appendix B. 255 J sixth report.— 1833. 29 was organized in every Ward, and a Committee appointed in each, of from thirty to eighty men. A map of each Ward was procured, the Ward divided into districts, and each district committed to the care of some member of the Committee, who engaged to visit every family, put into it a Temperance Circular, and invite its members to join the Temperance Society. To a considerable extent, this was accomplished before the 26th of February, the day appointed for simultaneous meetings throughout the country. On that day one of the largest and most interesting meetings ever known in the city, was holden at the Chatham Street Chapel, and was addressed by a number of eminent citizens, with great power and effect. From the Report presented on that occasion, it ap- peared, though only partial reports had been made, that the num- ber of members of Temperance Societies in the city was from fifteen to eighteen thousand ; and that they had been more than doubled during the last year.* The work is still going forward, and could an agent of the right character be permanently located in that city, and a system of effort be pursued to put information on this subject into every family, the work of moral reform, so happily begun, might by the divine blessing be carried forward to a tri- umphant consummation ; and from that great fountain of wealth and influence, streams of life and salvation flow out over the whole country. Nor would the inhabitants of the city be among the least of the gainers. Let the population of that great and growing metropolis cease to use and vend ardent spirit, or to practise the vices to which it leads, and the sad spectacle of two hundred thous- and dollars expended to support paupers and prosecute the crimi- nals, and an hundred thousand to meet the wants of sickness, which it occasions ; fifty thousand people fleeing from their homes to es- cape the ravages of the Cholera, and the universal stagnation of business causing a loss of a million dollars more, and the woful sacrifice in three months of more than three thousand lives, would probably not again be seen. Ceasing to manufacture and sell death, its ravages to a great extent would cease. And let her hun- dred churches, like the twenty referred to, and the thousand in other parts of the country be freed from all members who stand at the fountain head and pour out streams of desolation over the coun- try ; and let all who name the name of Christ, imitate his example of doing good and good only as they have opportunity to all, and Zion will arise and shine, her light being come, and the glory 6f the Lord, above the brightness of the sun, will break forth upon her. Violence will no more be heard in our land, wasting or destruction within our borders — our walls will be salvation, and our gates will be praise. * In December, 1832, die Committee issued (he following Cir- cular, viz. * They have since been increased to more than 50,000, Julv, 1835. 3* 30 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. [256 " As the success of the Temperance cause depends upon the universal diffusion of correct information among all classes ol people, the Executive Committee of the American Temperance Society have thought proper to adopt the following Resolutions: 1. Resolved, That it is expedient that delegates from Tempe- rance Societies and the friends of Temperance in every part of the United States be invited to meet in Convention, to consider the best means of extending, by a general diffusion of information, and the exertion of a kind and persuasive moral influence, the princi- ple of abstinence from the use of ardent spirit throughout out country. 2. That measures be immediately taken to procure such a Con- vention, to be held in the city of Philadelphia on the 24th day of May, 1833. 3. That each State Temperance Society be, and hereby is, re- quested to send three or more delegates, and each County Society to send one or more delegates to the proposed Convention. 4. That it be recommended, that the appointment of delegates so far as it shall be practicable, be made on the 26th day of Feb- ruary next, the day already fixed upon for simultaneous meetings of the Temperance Societies and friends of Temperance, in all the cities, towns and villages throughout the United States. 5. That in those States and counties in which no Temperance Society is organized, the friends of Temperance be, and they hereby are, requested to appoint in such manner as they shall think proper, the same number of delegates for each State or County, as are proposed in the 3d Resolution, to be appointed by the seve- ral State and County Societies respectively. 6. That all editors of papers and other publications throughout our country, who are friendly to the cause of Temperance, be and they hereby are respectfully requested to insert the foregoing resolutions in their several publications ; and in such other ways as they may deem suitable, to use their influence to promote the object of the proposed Convention, — universal abstinence from the use of ardent spirit. Samuel Hubbard, President. John Tappan, George Odiorne, , Heman Lincoln, }Ex. Committee.1* Justin Edwards, Enoch Hale, Jr. The call for this Convention has been greeted with joy in all parts of the country. Numerous delegates have already been ap- pointed throughout the United States, and one appointed by the British and Foreign Temperance Society has just arrived from 257] SIXTH REPORT. — 1S33. 31 England to attend the meeting. High hopes are entertained that it will be a numerous and powerful meeting, and that it will give a new impulse to the cause of Temperance throughout the world.* Early in February our Secretary visited the city of Washington. He was cordially welcomed by many members of Congress and others, and at the special request of members of both houses ad- dressed them on the sabbath, in the Capitol, on the subject of Temperance. The subsequent week, the House of Representa- tives liberally granted the use of their hall for the purpose of hold- ing a Congressional Temperance Meeting. This meeting was numerously attended by members of Congress, citizens, and strangers ; and produced a highly salutary effect. The Hon. Lewis Cass, Secretary of War presided, and the Hon. John Blair, member of Congress from Tennessee was Secretary of the meeting. The throne of grace was addressed by the Rev. William Hammet of Virginia, of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and Chaplain to Congress. Addresses were then delivered by the Secretary of War ; the Corresponding Secretary of the American Temperance Society ; The Hon. Eleutheros Cook, member of Congress from Ohio ; the Hon. George R. Briggs, member of Congress from Massachusetts ; Thomas Sewall, M. D. Professor of Anatomy and Physiology in the Columbian College, Washington, D. C; the Hon. Lewis Con- diet, member of Congress from New Jersey ; the Hon. Andrew Stewart, Member of Congress from Pennsylvania ; the Hon. William Wilkins, United States Senator from Pennsylvania; the Hon. John Reed, member of Congress from Massachusetts ; the Hon. John Tipton, United States Senator from Indiana ; and the Hon. Theodore Freelinghuysen, United States Senator from New Jersey ; and the following Resolutions were unanimously adopted, viz. Resolved, That the success of the cause of Temperance in this, and other countries, affords high encouragement to the friends of morality to persevere in their efforts till intemperance and its evils are banished from the earth. Resolved, That the manufacture of, and traffic in ardent spirit ought to be discountenanced and abandoned, as incompatible with the obligations of social and moral duty, by every patriot, and es- pecially by every Christian in the country. Resolved, That total abstinence from the use of ardent spirit, as a drink, is the only security to individuals against its ruinous con- sequences, and gives the only sure pledge of the ultimate success of the cause of Temperance. Resolved, That the use of ardent spirit tends to produce disease * Appendix C. 32 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. [259 and premature death ; and that there is no case in which it is in- dispensable, even as a medicine, and in which there may not be an adequate substitute. Resolved, As the sense of this meeting, that the liberties and welfare of the nation are intimately and indissolubly connected with the morals and virtue of the people. And that, in the enactment of laws for the common benefit, it is equally the duty of the Legis- lative body to guard and preserve the public morals from corrup- tion, as to advance the pecuniary interest, or to maintain the civil rights and freedom of the community. The following resolution was to have been presented by the Hon. H. A. S. Dearborn, member of Congress from Massachu- setts, but he was prevented by sickness from attending the meeting. Resolved, That the abolition of the use of ardent spirit through- out the army, has been highly salutary ; and that its abolition throughout the navy, while it would strengthen the arm of nation,! ! defence, would elevate the character and increase the respectability and happiness of that interesting and important class of our citizens. Resolved, That the adoption of the principle of abstinence from the use of ardent spirit, by superintendents of public works, propri- etors of rail roads, steamboats, stages, &,c. with regard to all in their employment, would increase the value of their services, as well as the comfort and safety of the community. Resolved, That the use of ardent spirits and the unrestrained traffic in them, directly lead to the introduction amongst us, of crimes and vice in various forms, and to the overthrow of that purity and virtue of the people upon which depend the permanence of our free institutions, and, therefore, ought to be discouraged and re- sisted by every friend of civil and religious liberty throughout the world. Resolved, That as a means of universal success, the friends of Temperance are bound to redouble their efforts by the agency of the press, and by all other practical means to enlighten the under- standings of their fellow men, and awaken their attention to this great and important cause. Resolved, That it be earnestly recommended to all who adopt the principles of the Temperance reformation, or who wish to pro- mote it, to add the influence of their names and examples as mem- bers of Temperance Societies, and in all proper ways to promote the formation of such societies, until they shall become universal. Resolved, That the Temperance reformation is fundamental in its influence, upon all the great enterprizes, which have for their object the intellectual elevation, the moral purity, the social hap- piness, and the immortal prospects of mankind. The Hon. Felix Grundy, United States Senator from Tennes- see, then rose and said, that he had been highly gratified, and even 259] sixth report. — 1833. 33 delighted with the meeting. But, said Mr. G. let us not stop here. Let the facts and arguments which have here been presented, go out from this place over the land. Let them be printed and cir- culated universally. Let it be seen by the whole American peo- ple, that men in high places, men whom the people have elevated to represent them in the Congress of the United States, are the friends, the patrons, and the active, zealous, and persevering pro- moters of the cause of Temperance. Let them see that this bless- ed cause has taken possession, even of the Capitol, and that it will hold possession ; and from this elevated spot, this strong hold of liberty, will extend itself over the whole country. He then ex- pressed his readiness to aid in publishing the addresses which had been delivered, and in their circulation through the land. In the able and powerful addresses which accompanied the above resolutions, the duty and utility of entire abstinence from the use of ardent spirit, and from the traffic in it, were strongly illus- trated ; and also the benefits, which should this course be adopted, would result to our country and the world. The addresses have since been published in an octavo pamphlet of forty-eight pages, and in other forms ; and have been circulated extensively through the country. They have awakened new interest and brougnl many new and powerful auxiliaries to the Temperance cause. On the 26th day of February, a meeting of members of Congress was holden in the Senate Chamber for the purpose of forming a Con- gressional Temperance Society. The Hon. William Wilkins, United States Senator from Pennsylvania, was called to the chair, and the Hon. Walter Lowrie, Secretary of the Senate of the Uni- ted States, was appointed Secretary of the meeting. The meet- ing was opened with prayer by the Rev. John Proudfit of Penn- sylvania. After discussion and deliberation, a Society was formed on the basis of entire abstinence from the use of ardent spirit, and from the traffic in it, called, The American Congressional Temperance Society. Members of Congress, and all who have been members of Congress, officers of the United States Govern- ment, civil and military, and heads of departments, who practically adopt the great principles of the Society, by signing the Constitu- tion, or addressing a letter to the Secretary expressive of their wish to do so, may become members of the Society. The Society is to have an annual meeting during the sessions of Congress, and the Executive Committee are, from time to time, to take such measures as will render the Society most extensively useful to the country.* At this meeting, and also at the previous meeting in the Representa- tive's Hall, the high responsibilities resting on members of Congress * Appendix D. 19 34 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. [260 and upon all men in public office was exhibited in strong and glowing colors ; and also their duty to set an example of moral -purity, as well as integrity ; an example which the people may safely follow, and which will make rulers what alone they were designed to be, ministers of God for good to the people. And the Com- mittee cannot but expect from this high and patriotic example, the most extensive and beneficial results. The rulers of a ?reat na- tion, in the halls of legislation recognizing their high moral obliga- tions and forming themselves into an association for the purpose of doing good by example and kind moral influence, to their country and the world, is indeed a noble, a sublime spectacle ; and worthy of imitation by the rulers of all States and nations on the globe ; and one which we trust will be speedily and extensively followed. On the 15th of March, a Society on the same plan, was formed at the State House by members of the Legislature of Massachusetts. His Excellency the Governor, is President ; His Honor Lieuten- ant Governor, the speaker of the House of Representatives, and two distinguished laymen are Vice Presidents ; and many of the legislature have already joined the Society. All persons, who are, or who have been members of the legislative, executive, or judicial branches of the government, and who practically adopt the princi- ples of entire abstinence from the use of ardent spirit and from the traffic in it, may become members. It has already accomplished much good. Let similar societies be formed in the legislature of each State, and by friends of temperance throughout the land, and that foulest, deepest blot upon the human character, that most withering blight of human hopes, that mighty obstruction to the efficacy of the gospel, and to the intellectual elevation and moral purity of man will be no more. The simultaneous meetings on the 26th of February were attend- ed by great numbers and with intense interest, not only throughout the United States, but in London and various other places in Great Britain. Much valuable information was communicated, and a powerful impulse given to the cause. At the meeting of the British and Foreign Temperance Society, John Wilks, Esq. member of parliament, said, " When they found that the number of criminals in the year amounted to 195,000, and that the number was perpetually increasing, notwithstanding the efforts of legislation, and that this increase of crime is attributable to intemperance and the use of ardent spirits, they must feel the absolute necessity of an effectual remedy. And what could be so efficient as the simple process recommended by this Society, — persuasion and example. " They were met that day, and it was delightful to think of it, purely because the great philanthropists of America, throughout the whole United States, were also met to offer their congratula- 261] SIXTH REPORT. — 1833. 35 tions to each other, and acknowledge their obligations to their Divine Master. Hundreds of thousands were that day congregated from their most northern regions to their most southern parts, and we are assembled with them to thank God and take courage. " To America, we looked with honest pride, and not there alone, but to Sweden, where we were told the monarch — a monarch who had led armies to and through the field ; felt spirits unnecessary to give energy to the vigorous, or bravery to the brave, and had pub- lished his proclamation that his subjects should abstain from bran- dy, which had been to them as it had been to us, not an angel of mercy but of death. Go to the Cape of Good Hope ; there the testimony of Dr. Phillip informs us that gin-shops no longer ex- ist. A vast improvement was perceptible in the morals of the people, and the same results were obtained which we desire to see accomplished here. At the Sandwich Islands, we found that when some recent navigators proposed to give the natives hogsheads of ardent spirits, the king replied, ' No, we will not accept your pre- sent. Break your casks, and let their contents mingle with the green sea ; or give them, if you please, to your hogs, but they shall not be drunk by real men.' Such a sentiment might become the Sovereign who sits on our own imperial throne, and let us hope that it may yet be heard in our own dominions. ' Give ardent spirits to the hogs, but they are not what ought to be bestowed, or received by enlightened or real men.' Such were the encourage- ments from every part of the world, and under such circumstances as these, he, for one, was glad that they had accepted the invitation of their American brethren, and had assembled with them to offer thanks for the past, and to resolve that their future attempts should correspond with the greatness of the evils and the importance of the cause. We felt no jealousy in reference to America ; our language was the same ; our origin the same ; we sprung from the same parent ; our love of liberty was the same ; and our divine religion was the same. While, then, our Temperance Societies, and Bible Societies, and Missionary Societies existed, there was a bond of brotherhood between America and us, which no national prejudice, or political intrigue, could break." The Hon. gentlemen concluded by proposing the following reso- lution : — " That this meeting view with feelings of lively interest the efforts made by American philanthropists, to correct the public opinion and practice with regard to the use of distilled spirits as a beverage." "The Bishop of Chester seconded the motion. He thought the term philanthropists was well applied to the resolution. Those were the greatest philanthropists who attempted to remove the greatest evils, and to introduce the greatest benefits ; but they be- came still greater philanthropists when they did this by means of the 36 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. [262 boldest measures in llie face of the greatest opposition. This was indeed a bold idea, but, like other bold measures, entered upon with right views and principles, it had succeeded as a measure so introduced and supported would, having been introduced on right views and principles. Therefore he called those philanthropists who were pursuing this course ; and he rejoiced with the honora- ble member who had just sat down, that England had received this benefit from America. It was indeed a gratifying thing for a pa- rent to receive a present from a distant child. America was a grown-up child, it was true, but she was such a child as England would not forget, and he trusted she would not forget the cuted, are committed under the influence of spirit ; not under its influence when taken to intoxication, but when taken moderately, and often in no greater quantities than the law contemplates. That use of it. which the law sanctions, by its violation of the laws of nature and of God, is carrying on continually a process as exten- sive and as criminal as its effects, of bodily and mental, physical, intellectual and moral deterioration ; tending to change gigantic strength to pigmy weakness ; celestial order to "infernal discord ; and heavenly purity, light and love, to hellish pollution, darkness and hale. Through sin, man has already in himself the elements of dis- order, the seeds of death. This makes them vegetate, grow rank, and produce a speedy and superabundant crop. It generates im- pure thought ; and excites unhallowed feeling. ' It kindles polluted desire, fires abandoned purpose, and fiendish malignity. The harmony established by the divine hand between the men- ial and moral powers, the appetites of the body and the passions 21 58 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. [284 of the soul, having by transgression been broken, and reason and conscience often through sin been brought into vile and hateful subserviency to appetite and passion, ardent spirit increases that subserviency, renders it more entire and perpetual. It operates on all the powers of man, but satan-like, on different powers, in totally opposite ways. The understanding, already too weak, it weakens still more ; the conscience, too torpid, it renders more torpid still ; and the heart, already hard, it makes still harder ; and the affec- tions polluted, it pollutes still more. While the appetites, already too keen and headstrong, it makes still more so ; and the passions it vitiates, strengthens and inflames. The man, already reckless, it makes still more reckless ; saying. " Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die." Thus it comes in, with its whole influence in every stage of its operation, to aid the great adversary in the de- struction of men. Depravity it depraves, pollutes even pollution, and makes vileness itself still more vile. All the mischiefs which sin and Satan have occasioned in the soul, it increases ; while with a mighty force, it counteracts all the beneficent designs of Jehovah for its deliverance from sin and hell, and its restoration to the dig- nity and beauty of his image ; the light and purity, the bliss and glory of heaven. Thus, by a twofold process, throughout its whole course, increasing voluntary wickedness, and counteracting the means of divine appointment for its extinction, it is working out the eternal damnation of men. Here is the philosophical reason, the rationale of the facts, that ten times as many in the United States who drink ardent spirit, in proportion to the number, are idle as of other men ; ten times as many who drink it commit crimes, as of those who do not drink it ; and ten times as many in proportion to the number, who do not drink it, become hopefully pious, embrace the gospel and confess the Saviour before men, as of those who do. The opposite in all respects to godliness, and its grand opposer, it is unprofitable unto all things, destructive to the life that now is, and also to that which is to come. Whether we look at the body or the soul, at time or eternity, in the lights principles and facts, we see upon it the broad image of death. This results from its nature, from the nature of man, and from principles deep in the government of God, all per- vading, irresistible, and which will be as durable and unchanging as the eternal throne. So long as the traffic continues which vio- lates them, the result, by laws established by the divine hand, must be death ; and the legislation which sanctions it, have inscribed upon it in broad capitals for creation to look at, Opposition to the laws of God. And its consequences, with a voice like the noise of many waters, and of mighty thunderings, will break on every ear in creation, saying, " The way of transgressors is hard." Father, mother, brother, sister, husband, wife, children, all are 285] SIXTH REPORT. — 1833. 59 sacrificed ; God, Christ, heaven, the soul, eternity, every thing dear and every thing momentous for both worlds are madly spurn- ed away in that state of mind which this foul spirit is, from its nature, adapted universally to produce. Can there be a doubt but that the vending of it to be drunk, and the laws which sanction it, are wicked ; and tend to array a mighty influence against the in- fluence of the Son of God ? Only a small quantity, taken so prudently as to leave a man the possession of his reason and the control of his limbs, is, never- theless, adapted to bar the mind to good and to open it to evil. Mo- tives to the one it weakens, and to the other it strengthens. In di- rect and palpable violation of what the Saviour inculcates, as the proper desire and daily petition of every soul under heaven, it leads men into temptation and delivers them to evil. Taking " day by day," not " daily bread," but poison, and of the most deceitful and malignant kind, that Divine Agent who loathes it, and all its effects as an utter abomination, and who would otherwise illumin- ate and purify and save with an everlasting salvation, is grieved away. The unrighteous and filthy not only remain, but be- come more unrighteous, and more filthy ; till, having been often reproved, and hardened their necks, they are suddenly destroyed, and God saith, " without remedy." Over wide regions of country, where the facts are known, and a part of the people abstain from the use of ardent spirit, and from the traffic in it, and a part do not, — as the Committee behold ten times as many in proportion to the number, of one class enlisting apparently under the banners of Immanuel, as of the other ; and see the number from one, as light increases, constantly and rapidly increasing, and from the other as constantly and rapidly diminishing, — they cannot but feel, that the laws which sanction the traffic and use, and proclaim them to be right, are radically and mor- ally wrong ; offensive to the Saviour, and hostile to the temporal and eternal interests of men. And they cannot but most respect- fully and kindly, earnestly and perseveringly entreat the legisla- tors of our country, by the rich mercies which he has so bounti- fully bestowed upon it, and by the agonies which he so freely en- dured for our race, and the glories which he so graciously proffers them, no longer to sanction these iniquities ; or say by legislation that they are either useful or right. As He poured out life to re- deem them, and would have all men come to the knowledge and love of his truth, and be his obedient and glorified people, they would beseech legislators no longer to do what tends so power- fully, extensively, and fatally to hinder it. As there is joy in hea- ven over one sinner that repenteth, and a new burst of praise breaks forth at the proclamation of a soul born of God, what must be the grief, the indignation and wrath in that world at the continuance 60 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. [286 and encouragement of what is known, with all who come under its influence, to tend infallibly and forever to prevent it ? If those who have been wise to turn men to righteousness shall shine as the brightness of the firmament and as the stars forever and ever, what shall they be who have been instrumental in preventing it, and sinking those who might have risen from glory to glory, into the blackness of darkness forever. The Committee would not apply what they say, to the days ot darkness and ignorance that are past, but only to the continuance of the evil in future, when, and where the facts on this subject are, or might be known. What they ask of legislators is, that they will not by legislation hinder the progress of the Temperance Reformation, or sanction by law that which opposes it ; but let its friends, in dependence on God, by the universal diffusion of information and kind moral in- fluence, unobstructed by law, carry it onward from conquering to conquer, till there shall not be a drunkard, or a drunkard-maker, or a legislator who sanctions the business that produces either, under heaven. This Reformation first had to meet the numerous and mighty army of moderate and respectable drinkers ; but they soon gave way, and their ranks were broken ; a million deserted the enemy, and came over in triumph to the temperance cause. It next had to meet the more formidable array of church mem- bers, headed by many a deacon, not a few magistrates, and some preachers, in word at least, of the gospel. They were equipping the enemy, furnishing him with provisions and implements of war. As his numbers by desertion and death were diminished, they were with fearful rapidity raising up new recruits ; and tempting those who had deserted and seemed for a time to have clean escaped from the destroyer, back to fight again under his standard. The battle here was more serious. The characters engaged gave im- portance to the conflict. But this mighty phalanx has also been broken. They are flying in multitudes, not away from, but to the ranks of Temperance, and becoming, many of them the first and the bravest, the most self-denying and devoted in the promotion 01 the cause. Having before not only slain their thousands, but, un- wittingly, fastened the poisoned arrow in the heart of tens of thou- sands more, they are doubly anxious softly to extract it, and point the agonizing and often dying sufferer to the balm in Gilead, and the physician there. Under the Captain of Salvation the conquest has advanced, till it now meets, in open day, die thoroughly disciplined, and long tried bands of legislators. The great contest, which is to decide whether this work of mer- cy is to go immediately and rapidly -onward, to its consummation, is -to "be with them : not for ihe purpose of a conquest over them, 287] SIXTH REPORT. — 1833. 61 but for the purpose of reaching those who lie entrenched behind them; around whom is thrown the mighty rampart of legislation, and before whom are drawn up in solid column, the mighty pha- lanx of legislators ; and who with such a front, bid defiance to those who would be their benefactors, and pour the swelling tide of mercies down upon them and their children after them through all generations to the end of the world, and onward to eternity. The Committee would state explicitly, that they do not address legislatures as bodies, but they address legislators as individuals; each of whom has a soul, and like each one of the people is re- sponsible to the same high tribunal of public opinion here, and of unerring rectitude hereafter, and who, as a part of the people, is himself and his children after him, to bear the blessings or the woes of his legislation ; and they say to them, We have no wish for any contest with you ; we deprecate such a thing ; we see among you many of our friends, and when disbanded and acting as indi- viduals, the friends and helpers of our cause. With thousands we rejoice in the aid thus afforded by your example and influence. But as legislators you are organized, and on the wrong side. You li- cense the enemy ; and it is under your flag that he makes his depredations upon all that is dear and lovely in possession, and all that is fair, and excellent and glorious, in prospect. You have thrown around him the mighty breastwork of your sanction, and stand yourselves in front. It is only through your bodies that he can now be reached, and when the shafts strike him, the dense medium through which they pass breaks their force ; and with the shield of your sanction, their point is warded off, and execution pre- vented. While his shafts, dipped in poison, and nerved by legis- lation, are flying and spreading destruction on every side. Legislators, Friends, called to be Benefactors, and to do good as you have opportunity, we most affectionately and earnestly, as the destinies of our country, of the world and its unborn millions are at stake, beseech you to remove yourselves, and your legisla- tion out of the way. Let the fire of light and love break unob- structed, in its naked and all-subduing brightness, on the heart of the enemy behind you, and the victory shall be ours, shall be yours ; and the joy, the joy of all ; and the glory of all, be given to Him, of whom, and through whom, and to whom are all things ; while the fruits of the victory shall flow down with ever growing richness and fertility, fulness and beauty, to endless ages. The only reason why it was ever thought proper to license any one to sell ardent spirit, and thus teach by law the propriety of the traffic, was the erroneous idea, that to drink it moderately is use- ful ; and therefore right. But as the drinking of it moderately, would strongly tempt men to drink it immoderately, and many, if it were sold to them, would be ruined, and become a nuisance to 6 21* 62 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. [288 society, legislators thought to guard against these evils, by providing that none should sell it except respectable men ; and no more of them than the public good required ; and that they should sell only to such men as would not be injured by it. But as it is now known that all who drink it are injured by it, and that the public good, instead of requiring, forbids that any should sell it; and that licensing it, while it authorises, and perpet- uates the traffic, does not and cannot prevent its evils, the whole foundation of that legislation which authorises and licenses its con- tinuance is entirely swept away. It has nothing to stand upon ; and were the traffic not upheld by the rum parly, and those who hope to make money by it, it would fall of itself; and under the long accumulated and mighty weight with which it has burdened the community, it would sink to rise no more. Let legislators and all respectable men cease to sanction it, and the last relic which makes it even tolerable in a civilized community, will be removed. None will engage in it but the abandoned, who carry the mark of infamy on their foreheads, and who are hastening rapidly, to their own place. But it is said, " The licensing of the traffic is a source of rev- enue to the State, and therefore the public good requires it." This revenue is much like that of the woman who sold her grain and her rags to purchase whiskey for her children. She said it was cheaper to keep them on whiskey, than on bread ; and as it made a market for her rags, it was a source of profit ; in governmental language, of revenue. Her garments and those of her children were soon nearly all rags, and all sold ; when her revenue had be- come such that she and her children, as a public burden, were obliged, by a public tax, to be supported at the almshouse. This well illustrates the principle and the effect of raising revenue from ardent spirit. What are the facts? In the county of Balti- more, Maryland, the support of pauperism, nearly the whole of which was occasioned by the sale and use of spirit, cost in 1830, more than $21,000. From which; deduct between eight and nine thousand, the revenue obtained, leaving between thirteen and four- teen thousand dollars, in that single item, to come from the same source with the support of the woman whose revenue was so im- portant, the pockets of the people. To this also ought to be added in balancing the account, the cost of crimes, idleness, dissipation, sickness, and die various other evils occasioned by it. And will not the people, for the sake of being relieved of the burdens, be willing to. dispense with the revenue? Is there a man in the com- munity, unless a rum-seller, or drinker, or one who hopes to make money, or obtain influence by the use of spirit, who will wish to retain it? If so, let him be called to bear in his own person and family all the evils which it occasions, and he will change his mind, 289] sixth report.— 1833. 63 The warden of the prison in Baltimore states that 2322 crim- inals were the same year committed to that prison; and that 424 of them were intoxicated, when they were brought there ; and that in his opinion, eight tenths of the whole were intemperate men. The expenses of the city of New York in 1832, as stated in the Report of the Comptroller, were $893,886 29,— $685,385 74 of which were raised by a direct tax. The support of the criminal, pauper, and civil establishment cost $315,782 98; and the Chol- era, in addition to all public and private charities, and individual expenditures, cost $102,575 85,— making $418,358 83 ; by far the greatest, proportion of which, as well as almost innumerable other evils, were the fruits of about 3000 spirit venders, licensed to deal out the poison to about 210,000 souls. And what do these men pay as a compensation for the enormous mischiefs which they occasion? $22,157. And, say a most respectable committee of gentlemen in that city, after investigating this subject, " We, the people, pay about $400,000 more than we should if no drams were sold or drunk in the city. Suppose that only half of the expenses of Cholera were occasioned by drinking, and five sixths of the criminal, police, and pauper establishments ; and one half of the salaries of officers, it would amount to $302,099 15, which is now paid as a tax for licensed vices; over $10,000 taken from the earnings of the people for every licensed grogshop which pays $10 into the treasury." What right have legislators to make laws, which in their operation thus tax the community, and take away the hard earnings of the people ? The grand jury of the city and county of New York, after care- ful examination, say that they have come to the deliberate conclu- sion, that if this source of vice and misery were at an end, three quarters of the crimes and pauperism of the city would be pre- vented, together with an incalculable amount of wretchedness, that does not come under the cognizance of law. And they add, " It is our solemn impression that the time has now arrived when our public authorities should no longer sanction the evil complained of, by granting licenses for the purpose of vending ardent spirit; thereby legalising the traffic, at the expense of our moral, intellect- ual and physical jwiver." Of 653, who were in one year committed to the house of Cor- rection in Boston, 453 were drunkards. And the overseer states, that many of the others who were committed as vagabonds, might, with equal propriety, be called drunkards; and that his opinion is, that there were not ten among the whole who were not in the habit of the excessive use of ardent spirit ; that intemperance is almost the sole cause of all the commitments, that those who were com- mitted as pilferers were almost all drunkards, and that pro^aDiy they would not pilfer if they could not procure rum with the arti- cles which they have stolen. 64 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. [290 Is it not manifestly vicious for legislators to sanction a busi- ness which produces such results? They are elected by the peo- ple, and sent to legislate for the purpose of preventing crime, not producing it. And a vast portion of all their time is now occupied in making laws to punish crimes, which their own legislation pro- duces. And the people are taxed millions of dollars annually, to sustain the burden occasioned by that legislation. Will the people of this free country longer endure it ? They punish the criminals, and legalise the traffic that makes them. Like the father, who, to prevent his son from swearing, swore that if he did swear, he would visit him with his wrath ; and with about as much wisdom as the man, who, when asked what should be done by fathers to keep their sons from being ruined by ardent spirit, answered, " Why, they must drink it all themselves." They build prisons, and license men to carry on the trade that fills them ; erect lunatic asylums, and furnish their tenants ; the people build almshouses, and the magistrates license pauper- making manufactories to fill them, augment fourfold the public burdens, and tenfold the personal and domestic wretchedness ol the country. And when the people rise, as they now often do, and will more often in future, and vote that they will not have such nuisances among them, the county commissioners, or some petty officers clothed with a little brief authority, come in and gravely declare, that "the public good require them;" and thus again load the community with burdens. This is legal oppression, legis- lative tyranny; and it leaves behind it a deep and stinging sense of injustice. A few retailers have the profit of making paupers, and the people have to support them ; and then when they com- plain of the palpable injustice, to be told, " The public good re- quires it ! " This is too much ; and it needs no spirit of prophecy to announce that the time is not distant when men born to be free, who have the power and the heart to be free, will not endure it. A few men, for their own pecuniary profit, will not long be suf- fered, under the sanction of law, thus to burden the community. Of 3000 persons admitted to the workhouse in Salem, Mass., the superintendent states, that in his opinion 2900 were brought there directly or indirectly by intemperance. The superintendent of the almshouse in New York states, that the number of male adults in the house is 572, of which there are not 20 that can be called so- ber men; that the number of females is 601, and that he doubts whether there are 50 of them, that can be called sober women. In the city of Boston, for six years, there were upon an average, 247 commitments annually to a single prison, for drunkenness ; and 95 drunkards were committed to the penitentiary, in a single month. A distinguished jurist in the city of New York, acquainted with the courts, stated, that he could find but three cases of murder 291] SIXTH REPORT.— 1S33. 65 committed in that city for fifteen years, except under the influence of liquor. Legislators hang murderers, and license the business that makes them ; but not without becoming, if they know what they do, sharers in the guilt. They expend millions to prevent disease, and license the business which produces it, and renders it doubly fatal ; but not without being accessory to the consigning of multitudes to a premature grave, and a miserable eternity. Is it not true then, and may not long afflicted and suffering hu- manity lift up her head with exultation, that the time is approach- ing, when, in the language of the chancellor of the State of New York, " reflecting men will no more think of erecting and renting grogshops as a means of gain, than they would now think of poi- soning the well from which a neighbor obtains water for his family ; or arming a maniac to destroy his own life and the lives of those around him?" And may we not add, when reflecting legislators too, will no more think of sanctioning the one by law, than they would now think of sanctioning the other ? And when there shall not be a christian legislator under heaven, whose countenance would not turn pale, and whose tongue would not cleave to the roof of his mouth, should he attempt to speak in favor of it. In the city of Washington, the revenue from the sale of ardent spirit was about $6000 ; and the loss, as estimated by Judge Cranch, occasioned by it, was probably not less, all things considered, than $100,000. Revenue then does not require the sale of ardent spirit.* But it is said, and grave legislators sometimes echo the declar- ation, " It ought to be licensed, and the use of it encouraged, to make a market for the coarse grains, in order to promote the agricultural interests of the country." But where the drinking of spirit prevails most, agriculture, other things being equal, uniformly flourishes least ; and thus, like every show of argument on that side, it is to- tally opposed to facts ; as well as to reason, religion, morality, patriotism, and even to humanity. Many grain growers will not now sell to distillers. They deem it a crime to feed those fountains of death, yet their grains find a market, and they are often among the most prosperous men in their vicinity. It does not appear, that any more dismal prospect than that of others, is opening before their children. In the year 1810 it was estimated that between five and six million bushels of grain were distilled in the United States. Sup- pose in 20 years it was doubled, and that in 1830, 12,000,000 bushels were thus destroyed ; and that this, to the growers who of course obtained their pay, was worth 50 cts. a bushel, $6,000, 000. The annual cost of crime and of pauperism produced by the use 6* Appendix H. 66 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. [292 of ardent spirit has been estimated at $7,050,000. Subtract from this tli2 price of the grain, and you have from these two items alone, a loss of $1,500,000. Say the Committee of the New York State Society, " Since the farmers have begun to open their eves to the evils growing out of the turning of the staff of life into a substance to destroy it, and have made use of their coarse grains for bread stuffs, or to feed their cattle, they have steadily advanced in price." And they calculate that the change produced by the Temperance Reformation, now saves the State of New York sev- eral million dollars a year. Let all farmers use their grains to increase the number and value of their horses, cattle and hogs ; not to diminish the number and value of men, and they will find it to be, to themselves and their country, great gain. Others say, " The object of licensing is not to encourage the sale and use of spirit, but to restrain and prevent it." To this there are two answers. The, first is, it does not restrain and prevent it. It has been tried effectually, for more than half a century ; and its fruits have been manifested in the living wretchedness, and in the dying agonies of more than a million of men. Notwithstanding all such restraints and preventions, the evil constantly increased, till it had well nigh proved our ruin. The other answer is, the licensing of sin is not the way to prevent or restrain it. hut it is tlie way to sanction and perpetuate it ; by declaring to the community that, if practised legally, it is right ; and thus preventing the efficacy of truth and facts in producing the conviction that it is ivrong. But says one, " By saying that none except respectable men shall sell ardent spirit, and they only in limited numbers, we do not say that for them to sell it, is right. Would a law which should forbid men to ride horseback, upon worldly business, on the Sab- bath, be saying, or would it imply, that for them to journey on that day for such a purpose on foot would be right ?" Suppose it would not ; but suppose also that legislators should go farther, and make a law, that as many as the public good should require, and should pay a dollar, should have a legal right to travel in that way, on worldly business, on the Sabbath ; and that certain men should be appointed actually to license a number in every neighborhood for that purpose, and should license them, notwithstanding all reasons and remonstrances against it ; would it not be saying, and by the whole weight of legislation, in opposition to truth, that it is morally right for those men to travel as the law prescribes ? or else, that legal right and moral right are in this case, in opposition? And would it not be declaring also, in opposition to truth, that the public good requires this ? and thus tend to increase the difficulties, by moral means, of convincing men that it is wicked ? Who can doubt but that it would operate, and from the nature of the case 293] sixth report. — 1833. 67 must operate in this manner ? So with the laws that sanction and approbate the traffic in ardent spirit, and imply that the public good requires it. They teach a falsehood j not in time past understood and designed by legislators, but on that account, none the less false. Nor did their ignorance, and that of the community in those days of darkness, hinder its desolating effects. " The law," says Judge Piatt, " which licenses the sale of ardent spirits, is an impediment to the Temperance Reformation. When- ever public opinion and the moral sense of our community shall be so far corrected and matured as to regard them in their true light, and when the public safety shall be thought to require it, dramshops will be indictable, at common law, as public nuisances." Suppose a law should be enacted providing that none should counterfeit the public coin, or be authorised to pass counterfeit money, in small quantities, except men of a certain character ; and that no more of them should be permitted to do this, than certain other men, who might, or might not be interested in its circulation, should judge would be for the public good ; and that they should not be authorised to pass it to drunkards, as it might injure them, would it not be saying, that for those men to do it, as the law pre- scribes, is right ? Would it not present a mighty barrier in the way of convincing them, by moral means, that it is wrong ? And suppose, in some rare cases, the license should be withheld from those who had passed it to drunkards, would that prevent the mis- chief? Apply this principle to any other vice. And that it does apply with all its force to the traffic in ardent spirit as a drink, which tends only to injure mankind, is most manifest. But says another, If you do not license men of conscience to sell it, men of no conscience, in such great numbers, will sell it, that the evil will be overwhelming. But it is not necessary to license counterfeiters to prevent the community from being deluged with base coin. It is not necessary to license gamblers, or swindlers, in order to prevent the community from being overwhelmed with their mischief. No more is it needful to license men to sell ardent spirit. If wicked men, in opposition to the influence of moral means, will prosecute a wicked business, which corrupts our youth, wastes our property, and endangers our lives; die community, in this free coun- try, this land of liberty, have the power and the right, without licensing iniquity, to defend themselves from its evils. This opens the door, and the only door, which truth and duty ever open for legislation with regard to sin; not to license and sanction it, but to defend the community from its mischiefs ; and in such a manner as is best adapted to deter the wicked from transgression, and promote as far as practicable their good and the good of the com- munity. And this is the change in legislation with regard to the sin of trafficking in ardent spirit, which the cause of temperance, of 68 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. ("294 patriotism, of virtue, and of God, now imperiously demands. Treat this vice, as other vices are treated, and there will be no difficulty in branding it with infamy. Let legislators, chosen by the people and respectable in society, license any sin, and it tends to shield that sin from public odium ; and to perpetuate it, by presenting for it a legal justification. " He thai justifieth the wicked, and he that condemneth the just ; even they both are an abomination to the Lord." Let all sanctioning by law of this abominable traffic be forever abandoned ; and if the rising indignation of a deeply injured, and long suffering community does not sweep it away, and men are still found base enough to continue to scatter the estates of their neighbors, to fill our almshouses with paupers and our penitentiaries with convicts, to make wives more than widows, and children doubly orphans ; to decoy our youth, and sink them to a premature and an ignominious grave. — the people, if they choose, by the arm of legislation can undertake the holy, righteous, and indispensable work of self defence. And as all political power is in their hands, it will be found to be a work which is practicable. The wisdom of legislators chosen without the aid of ardent spirit, and the pa- triotism of statesmen who do not use it, or rely upon it for sup- port ; but who rely on the righteousness of their cause, the good sense and virtue of their constituents, and the gracious aid of their God, will be abundantly sufficient to the exigency of the case. If necessary to protect our property, our children and our lives, and there is no other, or no better way to do it, hew perfectly easy, and how perfectly just, whenever the people generally shall desire it, to indict at common law the keeping of a grogshop as a public nuisance ; or to provide by statute that those who make paupers shall support them ; and those who excite others to commit crimes shall themselves be treated as criminals. And in die necessary, the magnanimous, the glorious work of legal self defence from an evil, which, in defiance of public sentiment, of reason, religion, hu- manity, and of God, would roll over earth a deluge of fire, and annihilate the hopes of the world, legislators may expect, in pro- portion as the subject is understood, the united and cordial support of all good men. The point to be decided, to be decided by legislators of these United States, to be decided for all coming posterity, for the world, and for eternity, is, Shall the sale of ardent spirit as a drink he treated in legisla- tion, as a virtue, or a vice ? Shall it be licensed, sanctioned by law, and perpetuated to roll its all pervading curses onward inter- minably ? Or shall it be treated, as it is in truth, a sin ? And if there chall in future, be men base enough to continue to commit it, shall the community, in self defence, by wise and wholesome 295] sixth report. — 1833. 69 legislation, as far as practicable and expedient, shield themselves from its evils ; and if these evils must, through the wickedness of men, continue to exist, let them fall as leniently as the public safety will permit, alone on the heads of their authors ?* On the decision of this question, to a great extent, hangs the endless destiny of countless millions. In England, Ireland, and Scotland ; Sweden, Denmark, and Russia ; Germany, India, and China ; Africa, and the islands of the sea, men are now awaking from the slumber of ages, and on this subject are following our ex- ample. They look to us, ask for information, acknowledge their obligations to our priority, and cheer us onward. Their voice seems to rise as on the wings of the wind, and to cry from the four quar- ters of the earth, Ye who were blessed with the power, and heart to be free, and to commence the world's emancipation, stop not, or falter till it is finished. Aid not by example, or business, or laws, what you labor to remove. Sanction not, by legislation, the con- tinuance of the burden under which creation has so long groaned, and which she is now agonizing to throw off. Cheer her, and help her ; or at least let her have the full benefit of her own efforts, the efforts of her friends, and the aid of her God ; and through the grace of Him that worketh all in all, His people shall be free, eter- nally free : and the glory shall be given to Him, to whom it is all due, forever. * In 1773, it was represented to the Legislature of Massachusetts, that spirit, distilled through leaden pipes, was unwholesome, and hurtful. A law was there- fore passed that no person should use such pipes, and no artificer make them for the purpose of being used in distilling, under penalty of one hundred pounds. Assay masters were appointed, who were put under oath, to examine, and prove to the best of their abilities, all pipes that were used in distilling, and if any one was found to contain alloy of lead, or base metal, they were to give notice to the distiller, who was forbidden to use it afterwards, under penalty of one hundred pounds. (Mass. Laws. Vol. II. p. 1001. Boston Ed. 1807.) Why might they not use leaden pipes, if they were cheaper than others, and by using them they would make more money ? Because they were injurious to health, and endangered men's lives. They were therefore forbidden to use them under penalty of one hundred pounds. But what was the injury done to health, and what the loss of human life, by the use of leaden pipes, compared with that occasioned by the sale of ardent spirit ? And shall legislators forbid the one, and license the other ? Can they continue, after the poisonous nature and destructive effects of ardent spirit are known, to license the sale of it without great guilt ? If they do continue to do it, will they not, at the divine tribunal, and ought they not at the bar of public opinion, to be held responsible for its effects ? Let the people, who have long been suffering its destructive effects; judge. 22 APPENDIX. A. (P. 7.) Extracts from the Speech of Gerrit Smith, Esq. After spending a few minutes upon other and preliminary top- ics, Mr. Smith proceeded to say, that he was aware, that the American Temperance Society, on account of its censures of the manufacturer and vender of ardent spirit, had been charged with a departure from its original object, and a violation of its consti- tution. He admitted, that a grand object within the scope of the constitution and labors of the Society, is that of bringing our fel- low men to refrain from drinking ardent spirit; but he did not see why in addition to the direct efforts made for the accomplishment of this object, we might not also seek to remoie the hinderances to this accomplishment. Now, the manufacture and sale of ar- dent spirit constitute confessedly a very great hinderance to the work of inducing our fellow men to quit the drinking of it; and this hinderance the Society very naturally and reasonably labors to remove. Could a Society, that should require its members to abstain from purchasing lottery tickets, be expected to preserve silence on the subject of lottery offices? Could a Society, formed to discountenance gambling at cards or billiards, be expected to look with unconcern on the allurements of gambling houses ? No more can a Society, formed to dissuade men from drinking ardent spirit, look with indifference on the attractions and snares of the rum shop. As, in the one case, the lottery office and the gam- bling house irresistibly invite thousands to purchase tickets, and to stake their money at cards or billiards, who, but for their sight of these resorts, would never have fallen into this folly; so is it in the other, that men drink ardent spirit, because of the inviting facilities for getting it, and so is it, that whilst these facilities ex- ist, our direct efforts to promote total abstinence will be measur- ably, if not fatally counteracted by them. Such views we must certainly admit to be just, unless we deny what the bible and our hearts and our observation teach us about the power of tempta- tion. * * * One view of this business, and on which its advocates lay great stress, is, that it employs a great amount of labor, and forms no inconsiderable item in the industry of the nation. It is true, that it does so. But, instead of crediting the business with any thing on this account, we bring up its employment of ten thousands of our citizens as a strong argument against it; for their employ- 301] SIXTH REPORT. 1833. APPENDIX. 75 ment is upon an object utterly valueless. I am aware, that the notion is somewhat prevalent amongst us, (I believe we are in- debted to European political economists for it), that the employ- ment of labor by government or by wealthy individuals, even if it be upon an object absolutely worthless, is nevertheless a praise- worthy liberality and of general benefit. The doctrine, in my view, is unsound at all times and every where. But, even if it could be sustained in its application to one of the densely peopled states of Europe, how plainly inapplicable is it to our own coun- try, where population is sparse, and the demand for labor for useful objects great and incessant. But, if we cannot spaue la- bor for objects, our only objection to which is that they are use- less, how can we justify its diversion to objects not only perfectly useless, but as pernicious as useless? — And it is surely too late to deny that this character belongs to the distillation and sale of ardent spirit. The proposition, that the thousands of farmers and manufacturers and venders in our country, who are engaged in ministering to the filthy appetite of the drinkers of ardent spirit, should relinquish their business, and employ their time and cap- ital in bringing common stones from the Rocky mountains to scat- ter over the Union, could, as easily as their present business, be defended by the political economist. And to go a step farther, and to bring into view the pernicious properties as well as the worthlessness of ardent spirit; if these persons were to bring loads of venomous serpents, instead of stones, to scatter over our whole land, they could be justified as easily for such strange work, as they can be for their present business; and to extend the parallel still further — if each of these serpents were armed with mortal stings, as well for the soul as for the body, then would such strange work still more closely resemble their present busi- ness. * * * There is one consideration, which shows conclusively, that this business of making and selling ardent spirit does not aug- ment the wealth of the nation. We not only drink nearly all we manufacture, but we buy largely of other nations to answer the demands of our rum thirst. If we manufactured spirit for other nations, as we grow tobacco for them, worthless as are both the poisons, and clearly as they both should be, and yet will be, on every Christian's list of contraband goods; we might, perhaps, in that case, find the business more profitable; but we drink them ourselves; and therefore whatever is gained from the business by any individuals amongst us is gained from the pockets of their countrymen. The vender, who sells to his rum drinking neigh- bor a gallon of spirit, gets, it may be, his profit of a shilling; but that shilling and the whole residue of the cost are so much loss to his neighbor. Would that this covered the whole loss of the unhappy man, who drinks it! That one gallon, it may be, drowns his soul in perdition! * * * As things now are, every nine sober men in this nation are bur- 76 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. [302 dened with the partial or entire maintenance of a drunkard ; for every tenth man is a drunkard; and drunkard and pauper, as we know, are well nigh interchangeable terms. And not only are the sober charged with the maintenance of the drunkard, but their contributions to public objects are greatly increased by the gen- eral inability of the drunkard to contribute to them. For in- stance, are there churches, school-houses, colleges, academies, roads, bridges to be built? ministers of the gospel and school teachers to be supported? taxes to be paid? then the nine have to represent, and to pay for, the ten. All admit, that a dense population is very important, if not in- deed indispensable, to the success of manufactures. How great- ly, therefore, would this interest suffer in our country by the loss of one tenth or one twentieth of our families? But this loss has virtually taken place. Drunkenness has disabled, has struck down, this proportion of our families; and, instead of contribut- ing to our national industry, they are heavy drawbacks on it. Now the magic, that would convert our 300,000 drunken men into 300,000 sober men, would do more for the wealth, not to speak of the other valuable interests of our country — would ex- ert more powerful and happier influences upon all the sources of our economical as well as moral prosperity — than the imagina- tion can conceive. Total abstinence is this magic. Banish ar- dent spirit from the land, and this mighty and blessed change is wrought. But the farmer says — " I could not get as high prices for my corn and rye, if the distilleries, that are now my best market for them, were broken up;" and a present and definite gain out- weighs in his mind the indirect and more distant, and therefore but partially credited losses, which he suffers by distilleries. But this present and definite gain is unreal. Break up the distille- ries; let the traffic in ardent spirit cease; and no small propor- tion of the money, now expended for the poison, would go into the farmer's pocket, in exchange for his bread stuffs, meats, butter, cheese, &c. * There is one stubborn fact opposed to the supposition, that the manufacture of whiskey increases the prices of grain. In no state in the Union has the Temperance Reformation been carried t.o a greater extent than in New York. A very large proportion of the distilleries in it have been abandoned. Thousands of her citizens have relinquished the sale of ardent spirit. Nearly half a million of her citizens have conscientiously sealed up their lips against the deadly drink; and yet the prices of coarse grains within her limits have not fallen. So far from their having fallen, they have been higher during the last five years, or period of the Temperance Reformation, than they had been during any equal period in the last quarter of a century, if we except the five years immediately following 1812, and comprising the time of our sec- war with Great-Britain. To how large an extent should the 303J SIXTH REPORT. 1833. APPENDIX. 77 farmers of New- York ascribe their present unexampled thrift to the Temperance Reformation! * * Among the reasons, by which Mr. S. urged the dealers in ar- dent spirit to discontinue their business, is the fact, that a very large proportion of all who engage in this business, not to speak of its frequently ruinous consequences to their children, become poor and drunken in it. Mr. S. said, that it was carefully ascer- tained a year or two since, that in the country town in which he resided, there had been, during the twenty-two previous years, exclusive of those remaining in the traffic, twenty-nine dealers in ardent spirit; that five of them had discontinued the business, without material loss or gain in it; that twenty of the remainder were still living, but were all poor and drunken; and that the other four had all died drunken and poor. Here, said Mr. S. we have a specimen of the legitimate effects of this business, on those who engage in it. Here we see a business for which Heaven has no smiles. But say the distillers — " We can't afford to give up our distil- leries. They are our living — the living of our families — and we must not be urged to abandon them." We reply to them, " Trust God. Betake yourselves to innocent occupations, and you will find your bread and water made sure in them." The men of Ephesus, who got their living by practising curious arts, are an example of self-denial to the distiller. When they felt the hand of God upon their consciences, they brought their books together, and burned them before all men; and this too, notwith- standing they cost fifty thousand pieces of silver. Reading in the Books of Chronicles recently, said Mr. S., I met with an an- swer made to one who was distrustful of Providence, which I think is most happily applicable to them, who hesitate to quit the rum traffic. Amaziah, one of the kings of Judah, had " hired an hundred thousand mighty men of valor out of Israel, for an hun- dred talents of silver. But there came a man of God to him, saying, O King, let not the army of Israel go with thee; for the Lord is not with Israel. God will make thee fall before the ene- my. And Amaziah said to the man of God, but what shall we do for the hundred talents, which I have given to the army of Israel? And the man of God answered — 'The Lord is able to give thee much more than this.' So say we to him, whose con- fidence for the support of his family still lingers on his distillery — " The Lord is able to give thee much more than this." It need not be added, that Amaziah was blessed in his obedience. To the farmer and manufacturer and vender, who feel that they cannot afford to withdraw from the body and soul destroying business, in which they are engaged, we have this conclusive remark to make — " Whatever else you can afford or cannot af- ford to do, there is one thing certainly, that neither you nor any other accountable beings can afford to do: You cannot afford to do wrong." * * * 7 * 22* 78 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. [304 The general remark, that a people are no better than their laws, is a just one; ibr not only are their laws expressive of their moral sense, but they react upon it with a strong influence. The instances are without number, where good men have pursued a business in all good conscience, from which their virtuous sensi- bilities would have shrunk away instantly, had not that business, essentially unjust and wicked, been commended to them by the sanction of the laws. How lamentably wa6 the moral sense of Christendom blunted by the legalised traffic in human flesh! But the laws came at last to denounce the traffic; and how great- ly did they help to recover that sense to a healthy tone. We of this age look upon the slave trade as fit for pirates only; — and why so? — mainly because the laws declare it piracy. But for this, how small comparatively would be our abhorrence of this trade! ISow, the people of this country still look with a partial eye on the rum traffic. But, let the laws brand it, and our chil- dren will look upon it with an abhorrence, rivalling that with which we regard the slave trade. Our laws are guilty of a gross inconsistency in upholding the rum traffic, and, at the same time, suppressing less evils. This inconsistency is to be ascribed to the strong delusions wrought upon the public mind by the custom of rum drinking. Compare, for instance, the very different treatment, which horse racing and the rum traffic receive at the hands of our laws. The one is very extensively interdicted, whilst the other is licensed and pro- tected; and all must admit, that, compared with the rum traffic, horse racing is venial and harmless. Indeed, it is rum, that clothes the race course, and the lottery, and the gambling house, and the theatre, with their most horrid features; and, but for this grand aliment of our public vices, they would all greatly lan- guish, and soon die. Extend the comparison to lotteries. The laws are fast suppressing them, whilst they leave the rum trade to flourish; and who will pretend, that the evil of lotteries is as wide spread and as malignant as that of rum shops! Mark, too, the further inconsistency of the laws on this subject — the further evidence of their partiality for rum sellers. Whilst they punish drunkards, by posting them, by depriving them of their property and otherwise, they encourage and protect the men who make these drunkards. Now why may not they, who get up lotteries and sell tickets; and they, who get up the race and introduce their horses, claim a like indulgence from the laws; and that if punishment must be visited on their business, it should fall on those who purchase the tickets, and those who go to witness the race? Why this difference? Why, in the lottery business, visit the punishment on the seller, and in the rum business on the buyer? The general delusion, produced by the custom of rum drinking, can alone account for the difference. To this same delusion must we ascribe the ludicrous and mad conduct of the authorities in some of our villages and cities, during the pesti- 305] SIXTH REPORT. 1S33. APPENDIX. 79 lencc the last year. They would hurry in their fright to abate as nuisances the business of the poor butcher on the one hand, and that of the innocent dealer in hides on the other. They were full of anxiety about these rills of danger; but they thought not of the big stream of cholera and death, which the sacred and inviolable grocery, that stood between them, was still suffered to pour out day and night. How strange it is, that the selfish interests of men do not rise up against the rum traffic, and put it down forever. I will use language here, which I have used elsewhere. "In reference to the taxes with which the making and vending of ardent spirit load the community, how unfair towards others is the occupation of the maker and vender of it! A town, for instance, contains one hundred drunkards. The profit of making these drunkards is en- joyed by some half a dozen persons; but the burden of these drunkards rests upon the whole town. Now I ask, whether there would be one law in the statute book more righteous than that, which should require those who have the profit of making our drunkards, to be burdened with the support of them?" The statements and opinions of that distinguished jurist and philanthropist, Jonas Platt, on any of the subjects discussed in the preceding Address, must command great respect. Judge Platt, in his excellent Address delivered on the 26th of February last, before the Temperance Society of the county of Clinton, N. Y. uses the following language: — " It is a lamentable fact, that upon a careful estimate, it is found, that of the tavern-keepers and retailers of ardent spirits in this State, during the last forty years, more than two-thirds have become drunkards, and reduced their families to poverty and wretchedness. Still, that class of men oppose temperance societies with blind infatuation! Let us redouble our efforts by kind entreaty and friendly admonition, to save them from their own worst enemies, themselves. " I respectfully submit for public consideration, the propriety of repealing our statute for taxing and licensing the retailing of ar- dent spirit. By fair construction, such license and tax legalise the traffic, (so far as the authority of our legislature extends), and a plausible excuse is afforded to those who now pay a pre- mium for such legislative sanction. This law is an impediment to the Temperance Reformation. Public opinion would be brought to bear with much greater force, against the practice of retailing this poison, if dram-shops were left unlicensed and un- sanctioned by any statute regulations whatever. " In a pecuniary view, the tax on such retailers is a policy, which is ' penny wise, and pound foolish,' for it is obvious that the increased public burdens which they occasion, are a hundred fold greater than the amount of the tax. "An agent, (Mr. Rodney), who was sent by our government 80 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. [0O6 a few years ago, to ascertain the political condition and prospects of one of the new republics in Spanish America, states in his re- port, that the sale of indulgences, or licenses to commit particu- lar specified sins, under ecclesiastical authority, was one of the principal sources of revenue in that mock-republic . The prices were of course graduated according to the degrees of criminality in the act so licensed. No wonder, that with such notions of morality, and with such views of political economy, our neigh- bors in the southern hemisphere have succeeded so illy in the es- tablishment of republican governments. Whether the tax and license under our government, for committing the sin of keeping a poisonous dram-shop, bears any analogy to the policy of that southern republic, I submit to the serious consideration of my fellow citizens." Substance of an Address delivered at the sixth anniversary of the American Temperance Society in JYeiv York, May 7, 1833, by Wilbur Fisk, I).D. President of the Wesley an Universihj, Mid- dletoicn, Conn. It is less difficult to convince the retailer, who has regard to moral principle, of his participation in the guilt of intemperance, than the manufacturer and wholesale dealer. The former is per- sonally and constantly conversant with the evils of intoxication. As the glass or the bottle passes from his hand, it goes directly into the hand of him who is ruined thereby — the retailer sees the fires that burn like Sodom, in the countenance of his customer — fires which he has contributed to kindle, and the appropriate ali- ment of which, he is constantly furnishing. Supported by such arguments, an appeal to the retailer, not wholly lost to moral feeling, must have an effect. It is on this account, doubtless, that so many more retailers than wholesale dealers, in proportion to their respective numbers, have abandoned the traffic. And yet in every possible correct moral estimate of the subject, the whole- sale dealer stands in precisely the same relation to these evils, with the retailer. And of this, if he will look at the arguments in the case, he may be convinced. Let him remember, that every gallon, which passes through his hands, is destined to assist in forming the appetite of some moderate drinker, or burn out the vitals of some miserable wretch, whose appetite is already formed — that the hogsheads of rum that float in his vessels, or lie upon his wharves or in his stores, are the seeds of future diseases and erimes — that they go forth to spread a physical and moral miasma ever the land, and will become the murderers of fathers and of mothers, of wives and of children, scattering a mildew over the field of promise, and a blight upon the bud of hope — let him, I say, remember this, and if his moral sense is not blunted, will it Hot be pained ? Suppose, sir, that a dealer in this article, should be informed that there was a gallon in one of his tierces which, if suffered to 307] SIXTH REPORT. 1S33. APPENDIX. 81 go out into the hands of the retailer, would give the finishing touch to the formation of an appetite, which would lead some de- luded wretch to ruin; or that it would excite to the murder of a wife or a child, — crimes which are often committed through the delirium of intoxication, — would not a conscientious man empty that gallon upon the wharf, or cast it into the ocean ? Nay, if he could not distinguish the murderer's portion from the mass, would he not lose his whole stock before he would, in this way, become accessary to murder ? If this same merchant can be convinced, that his stock, united with those of other importers and manufacturers, is directly carrying on this work of death all over the land — that it becomes both the occasion and instrument of thirty thousand suicides annually — that it occasions, probably, the death of twice that number, by increasing the malignity of diseases which, but for ardent spirits, would not have proved mortal — that it annually becomes the occasion and exciting cause of more than one hundred thousand civil crimes in these Uirted States, besides all its other innumerable social, moral, and political evils; if he could be convinced of this, and be induced to fix his attention on these considerations, for but even a few moments, would he not be constrained to renounce the traffic, as criminal in the sight of God, and treasonable against the best interests of man? * * * I. The dealer is favorable to the common use of ardent spirits, and knowingly takes measures to secure the'r consumption. But he knows also, that their common use is invariably followed by intemperance. Therefore, The dealer is, en the whole, favorable to intemperance, and knowingly takes measures to produce it. Permit me to invite the dealer to suspend all irritation of feel- ing at the seeming uncharitableness of the charge, and to enter with me into a candid investigation of the argument. If it cannot be sustained, he will, in defiance of this argument, go clear ; but if it can be supported, he must give up his claim to moral princi- ple, or give up his traffic. I say, then, the dealer favors the use of ardent spirits, and takes measures to secure their consumption. His act of selling proves this. The liquors, set out for show in decanters upon his counter or on his shelves, — the words brandy, rum, gin, Irish whiskey, &c, written upon his casks, or upon his sign at the door, all most clearly show this. This also is shown by his pub- lic advertisements; for these are proofs that he wishes to sell: nay, he manufactures or buys for that very purpose. But if he wishes to sell, he wishes the consumption; for he well knows, the moment the consumption ceases, the market is at an end. If he does not wish for a vent for his liquors through the channels of consumption, by which alone he can have a market, let him advertise in a little different form from his usual advertisements. I would suggest a form something like the following: — " A. B. having increased his stock in trade, by a late purchase 82 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. [3G8 of choice liquors, consisting of Jamaica rum, French brandy, Holland gin, &c. hereby respectfully and earnestly recommends to all his former customers and others, to refrain from any farther purchase of intoxicating liquors, as he is fully convinced that the use of these liquors is most pernicious, and leads to numerous and complicated evils." I suppose our rum-advertising newspapers would insert such an advertisement for their usual price. And in this way, not only would our merchants and others, who do not wish lo sell, be saved the pain of numerous applications, but they will also serve the cause of temperance, by a word of caution to a portion of the community who most need it, and who, perhaps, would never read any thing on the subject in any other form. Does the dealer hesitate to advertise in this way? Then it is because he wishes to sell. But he says, perhaps, this would place him in a ridiculous light before the public. It would indeed; but no more ridiculous than he makes himself when he says he does not wish to sell, and yet buys, advertises, &c. for that very purpose. But, perhaps, the vender will say, he does not wish to sell, but he is obliged to deal some in this article, in order to keep his trade good in other articles; for unless his customers can obtain their spirits of him, they will go elsewhere for other things. On this account, therefore, he keeps a little, but does not otfer it un- til asked for, nor advertise it on his sign, or in the public prints. This is encouraging, for it shows that conscience is at work, and will probably carry the question in favor of correct principle be- fore long. But to be plain with such a dealer, we must say, that however we respect the workings of moral principle, which has led him to this expedient, he has, it is believed, done very little yet to ease his conscience. His plea, reduced to plain and con- cise English, is simply this: " I would not sell ardent spirits if I could make as much money by refraining!" How far money- making will justify him, in a business which he himself acknow- ledges to be of pernicious tendency, I leave, for the present, to be settled by the decisions of his conscience, which seems to be disturbed already; and pass to notice some other expedients for evading the force of our argument. The dealer may tell us, perhaps, that a wish to sell does not imply a wish for the consumption of ardent spirits. That it is no concern of his what becomes of them after they pass out of his hands and he gets his pay. Now it is well known that the sale implies the use, and when we know that two or more things are inseparably connected, it is perfectly absurd to say, we will have the one, and yet we do not, on the whole, desire the other. Though we may not desire the other, in itself considered, yet on the whole we do desire it, whenever we determine at any rate to have its in- separable attendant — as then there can be no market, and of course no sale, without the consumption, — so a determination to sell, necessarily involves an approbation of the use. 309] SIXTH REPORT. — -1833. APPENDIX. 83 But the dealer may hope to avoid the responsibility of intem- perance still, by saying, that, though he does desire the use ol* ardent spirits, he does not thereby favor drunkenness, for he does not wish to furnish any for the drunkard; and if he could have his will, the drunkard should not be furnished with it at all. But, in the first place, it is well known, if the traffic is generally sanc- tioned, the drunkard will have it. According to the principles of human society, it is impossible to carry into operation one law for the drunkard, and another for the temperate: and, farther, if a man will sell, and it is practicable to make a distinction in the purchasers, it should, by every consideration of public good, be the other way. He who would sell with the least injury to com- munity, should sell only to the drunkard and drunken. To sell to these, is only to give the finishing stroke for the destruc- tion of those already in ruins; but to sell to the temperate, is to take measures to lead the respectable and useful to profligacy and ruin. If it would shock the feelings of the dealer to present another cup to him who is now reeling, and by which, he who is clamorous and troublesome, and perhaps dangerous, is put to sleep, how much more ought it to shock his feelings, to present the cup to a respectable and intelligent citizen, by which he. may become a drunkard. But we will hear all that the dealer can urge for himself. He tells us again, that though he may be considered favorable to the use of intoxicating liquors, yet the conclusion is not just, that " he is favorable to intemperance, and that he knowingly takes measures to produce it." For he does not wish any man to be- come intemperate, and it greatly afflicts him to know that any one ruins himself in this way. He does not sell for the purpose of producing drunkenness, and therefore he is not responsible. But, for what purpose does he sell? For the gain, undoubtedly. And does he not sell with the certain knowledge, that drunken- ness will follow? He knows that the use of intoxicating liquors, which is implied in the sale, always was, and doubtless always will be, followed by intemperance. Here let us refer to a prin- ciple already laid down — that where two things are known to be inseparable, whoever takes measures to introduce the one, does, by that very course, favor the introduction of the other. He does not desire the other, in itself considered, but he actually prefers the introduction of both, rather than forego that which is the direct object of his desire. In the case before us, the dealer does not directly, and for its own sake, desire drunkenness, but he desires the gains of the traffic, and he will sooner aid in introducing in- temperance and all its woes, than forego these gains. The ques- tion then comes to this: — Is a man free from responsibility, for a known wrong done by himself, on the ground that he did the act, not for the sake of the wrong, but in view of his own personal advantage? Or, in other words, to make the case still plainer, is it, or is it not, a moral offence to injure another for a reward, S4 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. [310 when the injurious act was not done on account of ill-will to the injured person, but solely for the sake of the reward! A child would be casuist enough to solve this question. Apply it to some cases in point. In the well-known murder of Mr. White, of Sa- lem, Mass., the murderer had no malice against the murdered victim of his cupidity, he only wanted the thousand dollars that was offered him for the deed. Was he innocent? Judas had no wish to take the life of his Master, he doubtless hoped he would escape, though he should be betrayed into the hands of his ene- mies— at any rate, the betrayer wanted the thirty pieces of silver. Was Judas justified? If not, how shall the plea of justification be available, on a similar ground, in the case before us? In one respect, indeed, the case of Judas appears less unfavorable than that of those engaged in the rum trade. Judas had very good ground to hope, that his Master, as he had done before, would convey himself away by miraculous power, and thus he himself would get the bribe, and no evil would ensue. But no such hope can encourage the heart of the dealer in intoxicating liquors. He knows, when he pockets the gains, that it is the price of blood. As the destructive poison leaves his store, he understands its destiny and the fatal result. He needs no second sight, no su- pernatural spirit of prophecy, to predict, that, through this traffic, a thousand masters will be betrayed, that the sacred obligations of religion will be violated in uncounted instances; that it will turn men to demons, and excite them to obscenity, and blasphe- my, and murder; that it will lay trains for the circulation of the cholera and other diseases to spread over the land, and riot upon human life — that it will fill the air with groans, cover the earth with blood, and plunge thousands of souls into the pit of wo. All this he knows, and yet because he does not sell for the sake of these evils, but only does it for the sake of the gain, he hopes to free himself from responsibility. Alas! how easy does the heart that " loves the wages of unrighteousness," impose upon itself. But, there is still another way by which the dealer endeavors to exculpate himself. He tells you that intemperance is not a ne- cessary result of the sale and consequent use of intoxicating liquors. Many use them without injury, and others might if they would. The responsibility, therefore, it is maintained, belongs exclu- sively to each individual agent, who thus voluntarily becomes ensnared and ruined. In order to test a question of morals, in any specific case, it sometimes becomes necessary to see what general principle of morality is involved in that case, and then decide the question in view of this general principle — otherwise, our prejudices, and the peculiar circumstances of the case, may mislead our judgments. The general principle in the case before us, must be this: — No man is accountable for becoming the occasion of another's sin, because the sinner, as a free agent, might have refrained from the sinful act if he would. Now, will this principle bear? Let 311 J SIXTH REPORT.— 1833. APPENDIX. 85 us try it. Here is a man who keeps a store of books and prints, of most pernicious moral tendency — got up, however, in a most fascinating style, and by their wit and elegance directly calcu- lated to captivate and ensnare the minds of the young. Upon the principle laid down, this man is not responsible for the mischief he does, though scores of youths are drawn in and ruined. He may plead, they are free moral agents — it is not necessary they should be corrupted — if they would only do as they might, they miirht improve their taste and their style, and experience no in- jury. Would this satisfy the parent, whose child had been ruined by these pernicious books? But is the bookseller worse than the rum-seller? Are bad books more demoralizing and ruinous than intoxicating liquors? Let facts decide. Indeed the principle of morality involved in this plea of the dealer, is as wide from the morality of the Gospel, as the poles from each other. The Gos- pel not only requires that we should not put " a stumbling-block or an occasion to fall, in our brother's way," but demands, that, as far as in us lies, we should remove from his path the stumb- ling-blocks that another has placed before him. " He that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin." * * * But to settle this question for ever, with all believers of the Bible, our Saviour has told us expressly, that though "it must needs be that offences come," yet "wo to that man, by whom the offence cometh." Such is the weakness of moral principle in man, and such the strength of depravity, that we cannot expect but that men will stumble and fall. There is a kind of necessity in the case — that is, it is the natural result, and what might be expected, especially if occasion is given; therefore, " Wo unto that man by whom the offence cometh." Will the dealer stand up in the face of this denunciation, and claim that he is not guilty, be- cause the transgressor in any individual case, was a free agent, and acted on his own responsibility? He is to blame, it is true, for stumbling — but the man who placed the stumbling-block in his way, is also verily guilty. In short, there is no case in which a man will be justified in doing what he is well assured will prove injurious to another, except where the general tendency of what is done, is known to be advantageous on the whole. Preaching the Gospel, for instance, becomes an occasion of aggravated guilt to those who reject it. But the Gospel, on the whole, is known to be advantageous, and therefore it should be preached, not- withstanding, in some instances, it becomes " a savor of death." So governments founded on the popular will, may often be the occasion of popular tumults and party strife, yet those govern- ments should be sustained, because they are, on the whole ad- vantageous. But here, and in all similar cases, the morality of favoring or opposing these institutions, is tested entirely irre- spective of the agency and responsibility of those who make these an occasion of injury to themselves, and purely on the ground of the g-eneral tendency of these institutions, in their influence upon 8 23 S6 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. [312 human nature as it is, and not as it ought to be. This is a test of moral action which must be conceded to, by every man of common understanding, and of an ingenuous mind — he cannot get rid of it. Let us apply it then, to the rum trade. Is this a business that works well in practice? Arc its general tendencies good? We have just heard clearly demonstrated, the pernicious influence of this trade upon national wealth,* and it might be as clearly demonstrated that it leads to bankruptcy in national mor- als— that it is ruinous to political integrity, to bodily health, to social and domestic enjoyment — in short, wc may say, that this trade, in its general bearings upon community, " is evil, and only evil, and lhat continually." In this point of view, it has not a sin- gle redeeming feature — in its whole aspect it is dark and threat- ening— in its entire operation, it is most calamitous. Having examined the premises and conclusion in the argument laid down, and having patiently heard all the arguments the dealer can urge in his own defence, we come, it is believed, fairly to the conclusion, — " That all who continue in the traffic of ar- dent spirits, stand in an intimate and criminal relation to all the evils of intemperance, and, on moral principles, must be held responsible for those evils." * II. So long as men, laying any just claim to morality and re- spectability, maintain the right to sell ardent spirits, it will be considered respectable and moral to use them. But it has been seen already, that so long as the use continues, intemperance will continue. Therefore — For these men to ma'ntain the right of traffic, is to throw them- selves most effectually in direct opposition to the cause of tem- perance. If this argument is sustained, it will follow of course, that the dealers inthis article, are the men chiefly responsible for the contin- uance of the evils of intemperance, not only because they furnish the occasions of these evils, as was seen in the former argument, but also, because they stand directly in the way of those benevo- lent efforts, that might otherwise remove them. There are evi- dently two parties in this business, the consumers and the agents. The agents are made up of the manufacturers, and those who, in the way of trade, facilitate the distribution. JSow to those who profess to be moral, in both of these parties, we say, You all share in the guilt of drunkenness, — the agent, because, though he does not drink himself, yet he furnishes others with the means of intoxication — the moderate drinker, because, though he does not get intoxicated himself, he encourages others in a course which, in numerous instances, as he well knows, results in intemperance. So far both are responsible, and neither can shift his share of the guilt on to the other — and neither party can accomplish the de- sired reform alone, unaided by the co-operation of the other. On * Speech of Gerrit Smith, Esq. 313J SIXTH RFPORT. 1833. APPENDIX. 87 this ground, therefore, we might safely rest the argument, that those concerned in this traffic, are effectually opposing the tem- perance reformation. But the argument bears with stronger force against the dealers, mi than against those who merely set the example of the use. The dealer acts a more prominent and a more important part — his influence in respect to the use, is more extended and more irre- sistible; and hence his example and character will take the lead in giving a character to this whole business. So long then as it is counted moral and reputable to furnish ardent spirits for the mar- ket, so long it will be considered moral and reputable to buy and to use them. These agents therefore, in the manufacture and distribution are effectually screening the use of intoxicating liquors from the brand of immorality and infamy. * * But it is said, " If I do not sell, others will, and therefore for me to refrain, will only be to give place to another, who will ex- ercise the same influence that I do in the traffic, and hence there will be no gain to the cause of temperance." Answer: You know not that another will sell in your place, if you renounce the traffic: or if this should happen, your influence in this matter may have a great influence upon your former customers, and will no doubt give additional strength to the temperance cause, in your circle of acquaintances; ami at any rate, the new trader, that, in this business, becomes your substitute, will not exert the same influence that you do, unless, like yourself, he have a reputation for morality and respectability ; and if he have, my argument is for him as well as for you, and it is expected he will feel its force, and refrain also from the traffic. " But it is urged that if all respectable and virtuous men give up the traffic, it will be worse for the community than it now is, as the business will then be man- aged by unprincipled men, and of course in a way much more destructive to the interests of the people." This is the ground on which some dealers have thought it not only allowable, but even obligatory upon them, to continue this trade. I have heard such men say, they felt it their duty in order to keep the business out of the hands of bad men! ! It seems that this traffic is such a blood-hound of destruction to our race, that the leash should be held by the pure moralist, who will let him on or call him off, " according to laic.'''' He is at any rate, a beast of prey, whose appropriate work is to riot in human blood; but then, in the hands of the moralist, he destroys fewer it may be, and these in a more decent style ! * * * Let us glance at this excuse in another point of view. It has already been intimated, that every specific rule of morality, is resolvable into some general principle. What is the general principle, on which the excuse for this traffic is predicated? It is this — whenever there is sufficient ground for believing, that a given injury will be done to the community by somebody, it then ceases to be a moral wrong for any one to inflict that injury. Now, I grant that 88 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. [314 this is a most extraordinary moral maxim or principle, but if the right to sell ardent spirits is maintained, on the ground that some- body will sell, then this must be the rule which applies in the case — a rule which, to be discarded, " needs but to be seen." How does this rule correspond with the morality of our Saviour, especially in that passage already quoted; "It must needs be that offences come, but wo unto that man by whom the offence cometh." Here the principle is most explicitly reprobated. The dealer tells us he sells, and becomes an occasion of offence or stumbling to others, because it must needs be, from the known na- ture and practices of man, that such occasions will be given by somebody — and therefore he shall add nothing to the miseries of the world if he should be the medium of the offence. But. sir, let him look at the denunciation, let it ring in his ears, and sink down into his soul — Wo unto that man by whom the offence cometh. In concluding the argument, I will examine one other way of getting rid of this responsibility — it is by division and subdivision, until it is annihilated. We have all heard of the infinite divisi- bility of matter, but never of its possible annihilation by the pro- cess. Our experimenters in moral philosophy however, have discovered that by dividing up moral obligation, to some indefinite extent, the whole becomes annihilated. The reasoning runs thus — " My individual sales will not sensibly affect the great whole of community; and if I should abandon the traffic, and no one should assume it in my stead, this would produce no sensible change in the consumption and consequent evils, therefore my responsibility is nothing." That is, to translate this language into plain Eng- lish— " I can do but little either way, therefore my responsibility in the case is nothing — no considerable part of the whole work can possibly belong to me, therefore I am not obliged to do the part that does belong to me ! " — Who does not see that this is as bad morality, as it is logic? It is by such reasoning, that certain proverbs have gained currency, such as — " What is every body's business, is no body's" — " Public bodies have no soul nor con- science." The truth is, however, what is every body's business is every body's — and if public bodies have no conscience nor soul, they ought to have, and each is obligated to bring his share to the public conscience; and if he have a correct individual conscience, he will do it. He who numbers our hairs, and counts the atoms of the universe, will, in making out the final retribution, find no difficulty in assigning to each his proper proportion. Not a par- ticle of this obligation is lost; for public obligation is made up of individual obligation, and duties in common must be discharged by individual agency. Hence each individual is as much obli- gated to exert his single agency, as if tbe whole work was his. Whatever others may do or not do, his own individual account will not be affected thereby; and whatever may be the event of the common cause, he stands or falls by his own acts. And will 8&y one aav his oart of the responsibility is so small, that he is Sio] sixth repoivt. — 1833. — appendix. S9 willing to meet it, fearless of the consequences? Alas! the mar. that says this, knows not what he says. Is there a dealer who would he willing to read the history of his own sales, in their direct results and collateral bearings: such a history would pierce his soul, and terrify his imagination with dark and horrid images. The moral infection that has been engendered, by his sales alone, would darken the air around him. He would hear the sighs of the aged parent, whose profligate son had brought down his gray hairs with sorrow to the grave. He would encounter the impre- cations of the more than a widowed wife, who, in secret places, pleads with the Judge of all the earth to avenge her wrongs — he would hear the sobbings of the more than orphan child — he would hear the groans of the pit — the wailings of the damned. Who could endure this scene? A faint description of it sickens the heart. The merchant is in the habit of calculating his loss and gain, with great exactness, and the balance sheet will convince him ot his profit or loss. I will leave it to him, to calculate the credit side of his traffic, in dollars and cents — but let. me show him as definitely as possible, his indebtedness on the score of moral obli- gation. There are probably not far from sixty thousand dealers in ardent spirits, in the United States — and perhaps three hun- dred and seventy-five thousand drunkards. This would give to each dealer an average dividend of six and a fraction. But the generations of drunkards are short, and a veteran dealer outlives two or three generations of these unhappy and short-lived men. Hence, each dealer, on an average, who follows the business through life, may have been instrumental of making from twelve to twenty drunkards, and of bringing them to an untimely grave. These have friends and families that are made wretched — they spread around them a moral pestilence — they blaspheme and fight and murder — and for all these evils, as well as for the direct ruin of the drunkards themselves, the dealer, according to the forego- ing arguments, must be held morally responsible. And will he risk or fearlessly meet these responsibilities? What has he to balance this amount of debt? All that he can show is the hun- dreds of thousands that he has put into his coffers, by the traffic. But will money cancel moral guilt, or discharge from moral obli- gation? What pecuniary consideration would induce a man to share with this xchole nation, the guilt of ruining one man? But to feel the lashings of a guilty conscience, and to hear the denun- ciations of a righteous Judge, for the accumulated guilt of an in- dividual agency, in the ruin of so many— in sach a judgment who can stand? Let the dealer strike the balance, and if he finds thai hitherto he has been doing a bad business, let him abandon it for- ever. 8 * 23* 90 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. ("316 B. (P. 28.) In a law of Massachusetts, passed March 23, 1833, it is de- clared that any person who shall, in violation of the law, sell a lottery ticket, or knowingly suffer one to be sold in any building, owned or rented by him within the Commonwealth, he shall for- feit and pay a sum not less than one hundred, nor more than two thousand dollars; and that if any one after conviction shall repeat the offence, he shall be sentenced for every subsequent offence to labor in the house of correction, or in the common jail, for a term of time not less than three months, nor more than twelve months. And it is also declared, that any person who shall make, sell, or offer for sale any fictitious lottery tickets or part of a ticket, knowing it to be fictitious, he shall be punished by imprisonment or confinement to labor in the State prison for a term of time not less than one year, nor more than three years. The above statute is founded on the true principle of legisla- tion with regard to sin; not to license it, but to defend the com- munity from its evils. And are not the evils of selling ardent spirit, as a drink, a greater nuisance to the community than the evils of lottery gambling? And is it a less sin for legislators to license the one, than it is to license the other? And do they not by licensing either, manifestly corrupt and injure the community ? It was judged at one time, that liquor distilled through leaden pipes was injurious to the health of the community. A law was therefore passed by the legislature of Massachusetts, that no per- son should distil, or draw off ardent spirit or strong liquors through leaden pipes, under penalty of one hundred pounds; and that no artificer should make any pipe or lead for distilling, of bad pewter, or any mixture of lead, under penalty of one hundred pounds. But was the injury to the health of the community, occasioned by leaden pipes, to be compared with the injury occasioned by ardent spirit? and yet legislators forbid the one under a penalty of a hundred pounds, and license the other. Had leaden pipes, like ardent spirit, caused over wide regions of country more than one in five of all the deaths among men; and in the United States killed thirty thousand persons in a year, well might it have been forbidden; or, in the language of a distinguished jurist, " the sin of keeping a poisonous dramshop," been indicted at common law, as a public nuisance. Of all the public nuisances that now exist, pro- bably none are more destructive to mankind, than the sale of ar- dent spirit. 3171 SIXTH REPORT. 1833. — APPENDIX. 91 C. (P. 31.) Pursuant to the invitation of the American Tempeiance So- ciety, delegates appointed hy various Temperance Societies in the United States, to the number of four hundred, and from twenty- one States, assembled in Convention at the Hall of Independence in Philadelphia, on the 24th day of May, 1833, " to consider the best means of extending, by a general diffusion of information, and the exertion of a kind and persuasive moral influence, the principle of abstinence from the use of ardent spirit, throughout our country. " The Convention was organized by the appointment of the fol- lowing officers, viz: President, Reuben H. Walworth, of the State of New York. Vice Presidents , Roberts Vaux, of Pennsylvania; John Tappan, of Massachusetts; Timothy Pitkin, of Connecticut; Peter D. Vroom, of New-Jersey; Willard Hall, of Delaware; John C. Herbert, of Maryland; Joseph Lumpkin, of Georgia; Wm. McDowell, of South Carolina. Secretaries, Mark Doolittle, of Massachusetts; John Marsh, of Connecticut; John Wheelwright, of New- York; Lyndon A. Smith, of New-Jersey ; Isaac S. Loyd, of Pennsylvania; Judge Darling, of Pennsylvania; R. Breckenridge, of Maryland ; Daniel W.' Lathrop, of Ohio. The Convention was opened with prayer by Dr. Brantley of Pennsylvania. The Circular of the American Temperance So- ciety, calling the Convention, and setting forth the object for which it had assembled, was then read. The room occupied by the Convention, not being sufficiently large to accommodate its members, it was, on motion, Resolved, That Matthew Newkirk, James Gray, and Robert Earp, be a committee to procure a more suitable place, and re- port to the Convention. Resolved, That all committees be appointed by the President. Resolved, That a committee be appointed, whose duty it shall be to prepare and digest business for the Convention, and report such subjects as in their opinion ought to occupy its attention. Resolved, That said committee consist of seven. Whereupon the following gentlemen were appointed. Justin Edwards, of Massachusetts; Amos Twitchell, of N. Hampshire; Charles Griswold, of Connecticut ; Edward C. Del- avan, of New-York; Gerrit Smith, of New-York; Hugh Max- well, of New York; S. K. Talmadge, of Georgia. Resolved, That all motions be committed to writing, and sub mitted to the Standing Committee, without discussion. Resolved, That members of Congressional and State Legisla- tive Temperance societies, be invited to sit as honorary members of the Convention. 92 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. j*318 Resolved, That the deliberations of this body be each day opened with prayer. The Standing Committee reported the following resolutions, which, after amendment, were adopted. Resolved, That the Convention meet each day during its ses- sion, at 9 o'clock, A. M., adjourn at 1 o'clock, P. M., and as- semble again at half past 3, P. M. The committee to provide a place for the meetings of the Con- vention, reported that they had obtained the oth Presbyterian church, in Arch, above Tenth-street, whereupon it was Resolved, That when this Convention adjourn, it adjourn to meet at this place, whence it shall move in procession, headed by its officers, to the place designated by the committee. On motion, adjourned. Afternoon. The Convention organized at the appointed hour, and in pur- suance of the resolution adopted at the former session, proceeded to the 5th Presbyterian church. The following resolutions, reported by the Standing Committee, were then considered, and adopted. Resolved, That no member of the Convention be allowed to occupy more than ten minutes, in the remarks he may make be- fore* the Convention at any one time, and that he shall not be al- lowed to speak more than twice on any subject or question, "with- out in either case obtaining the unanimous consent of the Con- vention. Resolved, That notice be given in the churches and newspapers of Philadelphia, that a temperance meeting will be held in this city next Monday evening, at half past 7 o'clock, for the general attendance of the citizens and others. The Standing Committee reported the following resolutions, which were severally considered, and adopted. I. Resolved, That in our judgment it is the duty of all men to abstain from the use of ardent spirit, and from the traffic in it (') II. Resolved, That it is in our view expedient, that all who arc acquainted with this subject, unite with temperance societies. (2) III. Resolved, That we regard with peculiar satisfaction, the formation of the American Congressional Temperance Society, and express our decided conviction that, should similar societies be formed by the Legislatures of each State, they would greatly benefit our country and the world. (3) IV. Resolved, That the regulations adopted by the national government, for discouraging the use of ardent spirit in the army and navy of the United States, evince the wisdom of the rulers of the people, and their paternal care over the individuals em- ployed in their service. (4) V. Resolved, That the abolition of the practice of furnishing merchant vessels with ardent spirit, or employing men who drink it to navigate them, would greatly promote the interests of the country, f5) 319] SIXTH REPORT. 1833. APPENDIX. 93 VI. Resolved, That temperance societies in all mechanical and manufacturing establishments, while they would promote the pe- cuniary interests of all concerned in them, would also in various ways, promote the good of the public. (G) VII. Resolved, That the formation of a temperance society in each ward of every city, and in each district of every county and town in the United States, would tend powerfully to complete and to perpetuate the temperance reformation. (7) VIII. Resolved, That each State society be requested to take the direction of the temperance cause within its own limits, and to employ one or more permanent agents, to visit periodically every part of the State, and to devote their whole time and strength to the promotion of this work. (8) IX. Resolved, That each family in the United States be re- quested to furnish themselves with some temperance publication. (9) X. Resolved, That the increase of temperance groceries, pub- lic houses and steam boats, in which ardent spirit is not fur- nished, is highly auspicious to the interests of our country; and that the friends of human happiness, by encouraging such estab- lishments in all suitable ways, till they shall become universal, will perform an important service to mankind. (l0) XI. Resolved, That it be earnestly recommended to all emi- grants who contemplate removing in a body from foreign coun- tries to the United States, and also, to those who contemplate removing from one part of our own country to another, before their removal, or on their passage, to form themselves into a temperance society. (u) On motion, adjourned. May 25th. The Convention met at the stated hour, and was opened with prayer by Dr. Hewitt of Connecticut. The minutes of the preceding day were read and approved. On motion, Resolved, That the secretaries have power to make such ver- bal alterations in the minutes and resolutions, as will best ex- press their meaning. The consideration of the remaining resolutions reported by the standing committee at the former session, was then resumed, and the following were adopted. XII. Resolved, That temperance societies and the friends of temperance throughout the country, be requested to hold simul- taneous meetings, on the last Tuesday in February, 1834, to review what has been done during the past year; to consider what remains to be done, and to take such measures as may be suitable, by the universal diffusion of information, and by kind moral influence, to extend and perpetuate the principles and the blessings of temperance over our land. (12) XIII. Resolved, That a correspondence be opened with na- tional temperance societies and friends of temperance in other countries, for the purpose of procuring, as far as practicable, 94 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. [320 meetings at the same time, for the same purpose, throughout the world. (,3) XIV. Resolved, That it be recommended to temperance soci- eties and friends of temperance of every description, to obtain as full and accurate statistics as possible, and embody them for the benefit of the community, in the annual reports, and communicate them at the simultaneous meetings; especially on the following points, viz. What is the population? What number belong to temperance societies? How many have been added to them the past year? How many have renounced the traffic? How many groceries and how many taverns in which ardent spirit is not sold? How many continue to sell, and what quantity is now used? How many drunkards have been reformed? How many are now drunkards? How many distilleries have been stopped, and how many are now in operation? How many deaths is there reason to believe were caused by intemperance? What proportion of pauperism and of crime, are occasioned by strong drink? How many criminals were convicted the past year, who drink no ardent spirit, and how many who do drink it? (,4) XV. Resolved, That as the sole object of the American Temperance Society, and those numerous State and other tem- perance societies, which have been formed in accordance with it throughout our country, — ever has been, is now, and ever ought to be, the promotion of temperance, to this object alone all their efforts ought to be invariably and perseveringly direct- ed. (») XVI. Resolved, That as the question has arisen among the friends of temperance and agricultural improvement, what shall be done with surplus grains, provided they are not converted in- to ardent spirit, the friends of human improvements are requested to investigate this subject, and to present the results to the pub- lic through the medium of the press. (16) XVII. Resolved, That the prompt and united testimony of many physicians, to the hurtful nature and destructive tendency of ardent spirit, has been a powerful auxiliary to the temperance cause; and should that respectable and influential class of our citizens all exert their influence to induce the whole community to abstain from the use of it, they would render themselves still more eminently useful. (17) XVIII. Resolved, That the medical profession be requested to inquire whether substitutes for alcohol may not be found, and its use be dispensed with in medical practice, and to give the results of their investigation to the public. (I8) 321] SIXTH REPORT. 1833. APPENDIX. 95 XIX. Resolved, That editors of papers and other periodicals, who from time to time publish information on the subject of tem- perance, are rendering important service to the cause; and should all editors adopt and pursue a similar course, they will render themselves the benefactors of mankind. (19) XX. Resolved, That the associations of young men have been powerful auxiliaries to the temperance cause, and should all the young men in the United States, and especially in the literary institutions, unite in temperance societies, they would render themselves benefactors to our country and the world. (20) XXI. Resolved, That the influence of the female sex, in favor of the temperance cause, has had a highly salutary effect upon all classes in the community, and especially upon those who are the hope of future generations, the children and youth; and that should the influence to which they are so justly entitled, be unitedly and universally exerted in favor of this cause, they would do much to perfect and to perpetuate the moral renovation of the whole human family. (21) XXII. Resolved, That it is expedient that the friends of tem- perance in all countries, unite their counsels and their efforts, to extend the principles of temperance throughout the world. (22) XXIII. Resolved, That the fundamental and highly salutary influence, which the promotion of the cause of temperance must have on the purity and permanence of civil institutions, demands for it the countenance and active co-operation of every real pa- triot. (23) XXIV. Resolved, That the influence of temperance on the intellectual elevation, the moral character, the social happiness, and th,e future prospects of mankind, is such as ought to obtain for it the cordial approbation, and the united, vigorous and perse- vering efforts of all the philanthropic and humane of every class, age, sex, and country. (24) On motion, adjourned to Monday 27th. May 21th. At the stated hour the Convention met, and was opened with prayer by Christian Keener, of Maryland. The minutes of the preceding day were read and approved. Nicholas Devereaux, of New-York, was appointed a member of the Standing Committee, in the room of Hugh Maxwell, who had left the city. The Standing Committee reported that the meeting this evening will be addressed by G. S. Hillard of Massachusetts, Thos. P. Hunt of North Carolina, Thos. H. Stockton of Maryland, Joseph Lumpkin of Georgia, and Nathaniel Hewitt of Connecticut. The following resolution, reported by the Committee, was adopted. WJiereas, It has been announced that Henry T. Newman, a del- egate to this body from the British and Foreign Temperance So- 96 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. [322 ciety, has arrived in this country, and expected to be at this meeting, but is providentially prevented, therefore, XXV. Resolved, That we cordially reciprocate the fraternal kindness manifested by the British and Foreign Temperance So- ciety, in the appointment of the above mentioned' delegate, and express our earnest desire and hope, that the mutual confidence now subsisting between temperance societies in this and other countries, may be perpetuated and increased, till intemperance and its evils shall have ceased, and temperance, with all its at- tendant blessings, shall universally prevail. (2A) The President then informed the Convention that Stephen Van Rensselaer, of the State of New-York, had offered to defray the expense of publishing 100,000 copies of the proceedings of the Convention, for gratuitous distribution; whereupon it was unani- mously Resolved, That the thanks of this Convention be presented to Stephen Van Rensselaer, of the city of Albany, for his liberality in proposing to defray the expense of distributing 100,000 copies of the proceedings of this Convention. Resolved, That the President and Vice-Presidents be a Com- mittee to communicate to Stephen Van Rensselaer the foregoing resolution. The Standing Committee then reported the following resolution, which was adopted. XXVI. Resolved, That the formation within six years, of more than 6,000 temperance societies, embracing more than a million of members; the relinquishment of the manufacture of ardent spirit, by more than 2,000 distilleries, and of the sale of it by more than 5,000 merchants; the banishment of the poison from the United States army, and to a great extent from the navy; the sailing of more than 700 vessels, in which ardent spirit is not used; the hitherto unparalleled exhibition of more than 5,000 drunkards, within five years, ceasing to use intoxicating drinks, and becoming, as all drunkards if they take this course will, so- ber men, and many of them highly respectable and useful men; and the uniform and universal progress of the temperance refor- mation, whenever and wherever suitable means have been used for its advancement, are, it is believed, facts which call loudly for fervent gratitude to the Author of all good, and for united and persevering efforts on the part of its friends, to extend univer- sally and perpetuate the temperance cause. A resolution, reported by the Standing Committee, on the sub- ject of a general union, which was laid on the table at a former session, was now taken up; and on motion, Resolved, That it be referred to a committee, consisting of one member from each State represented in this bodv. — Whereupon the following were appointed that committee, with instructions to report to this Convention. Joseph C. Lovejoy, Maine; E. P. Walton, Vermont; Eli 823] SIXTH REPORT. — -1833. APPENDIX. 97 lyes, Connecticut; John Wheelwright, New- York; Isaac S. liOyd, Pennsylvania; Christian Keener, Maryland; Ephraim Addoms, Virginia; Isaac W. Waddell, S. Carolina; R. H. Ball, Kentucky; Robert H. Chapman, Tennessee; N. M. Welles, Indiana; E. C. Trowbridge, Michigan; Andrew Rankin, New- Hampshire; Mark Doolittle, Massachusetts; b rederick'A.' Far- ley'," Rhode Island; John McLean, New-Jersey; Thomas J. Higgins, Delaware; Wm, R. Collier, District Columbia; Thomas P. Hunt, North Carolina; S. K. Talmadge, Georgia; J. Seward, Ohio; Peter Donan, Missouri; Enoch Kinsbury, Il- linois; Wm. T. Brantley, Alabama. The Standing Committee reported a resolution which was under discussion to the hour of adjournment, when, on motion, the Convention adjourned. Afternoon. The Convention met at the stated hour, and again took up the resolution which was before it at the former session, which was adopted as follows: XXVII. Resolved, That in the opinion of this Convention, the traffic in ardent spirit as a drink, and the use of it as such, are morally wrong, and ought to be abandoned throughout the world. (2T) The committee to whom was referred the resolution on the subject of a general union, reported that they had unanimously agreed to recommend the adoption of the resolution as reported by the Standing Committee, which was under consideration, when on motion the Convention adjourned to meet at the Hall of the Musical Fund Society, this evening at a quarter before 8 o'clock, in order to lay before the public, who have been invited to as- semble there, some history of the progress of the temperance cause. Evening. The Convention assembled at the time and place appointed, when G. S. Hillard of Massachusetts, Tho's. P. Hunt of North Car- olina, Tho's. H. Stockton of Maryland, and Nathaniel Hewitt of Connecticut, presented to a very large and attentive audience that had assembled, a brief but impressive history of the tempe- rance cause, together with an exposition of the principles upon which it is established. After an appeal to the large and interesting circle of ladies who were present, by Reuben H. Walworth, President of the Convention, setting forth the power and extent of female influ- ence, the meeting proceeded to business. The Standing Committee reported that they had no farther mat- ter to lay before the Convention; whereupon it was Resolved, That the committee be now discharged. Resolved, That the thanks of the Convention be presented to 9 24 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. [324 the Standing- Committee for the faithful and prompt discharge.^ the duties intrusted to them by the Convention. Resolved, That the thanks of the Convention be presented to its President, Reuben H. Walworth, for the dignified, impartial ^nd verv' accentahlejflanner in which he has presided over it8 deliberations. ^-^ ._ . The President then expressed his grateful sense of this ac- knowledgment on the part of the Convention, and his satisfac- tion in having presided over its deliberations, when he withdrew. Roberts Vaux of Pennsylvania, one of the Vice-Presidents, then took the chair. The resolution reported by the Standing Committee, and ap- proved by the Committee from each state, was then taken up, and after amendment, was adopted as follows: XXVIII. Resolved, That the Officers of the American Tem- perance Society, and of the several State societies, are hereby requested to act as a United States Temperance Society; to hold mutual consultations and to take all suitable measures to carry into effect the objects of this Convention; to embody pub- lic sentiment, and by the universal diffusion of information and the exertion of kind moral influence, to extend the principles and blessings of the temperance reformation throughout our country and throughout the world. On motion, Resolved, That the vital interests and complete success of the temperance cause demand that in all the efforts of the friends of that cause against the use of ardent spirit, no substitute except pure water be recommended as a drink. On motion, Resolved, That the thanks of this Convention be presented to the Select and Common Council of the city of Philadelphia, for their kindness and liberality in granting to it the use of the Hall of Independence. On motion, Resolved, That the thanks of the Convention be presented to the trustees and congregation of the 5th Presbyterian Church, for the use of their house during the sitting of the Convention. On motion, Resolved, That the thanks of the Convention be presented to the Vice-Presidents and Secretaries for the faithful discharge of their duties. Having disposed of the various subjects that had been pre- sented with great harmony and unanimity of feeling, with an earnest desire for the guidance of God, and a confident reliance on Him to bless their efforts in the advancement of the cause, to strengthen and animate them to renewed and persevering exer- tion, until the principles of temperance shall prevail in every land, and its attendant blessings be enjoyed by all the nations of the earth, the Convention adjourned sine die. 325] SIXTH REPORT. 1833. APPENDIX. 99 Reasons for complying with the Resolutions offered by the Committee and adopted by the Convention. (') 1. Temperance requires it. As temperance is the moderate and proper use of things beneficial, and is abstinence from things hurtful, and ardent spirit is one of the hurtful things, temperance with regard to this, is abstinence. 2. The drinking of ardent spirit will form intemperate appe- tites; and if intemperate appetites are formed, they will, in many cases, be gratified. Of course, while the drinking of ardent spirit is continued, intemperance can never be prevented. 3. By the selling of ardent spirit, men teach that it is right to buy and drink it; a doctrine which is false, and to many is fatal. 4. All men would be better without the use of ardent spirit; of course to drink it, or to furnish it to be drunk by others, is sin. (2) 1. Because without it men will not receive so much bene- fit from their example. 2. Temperance Societies have been one of the principal means of promoting the Temperance Reformation. 3. Should all persons join them, and act consistently, intem- perance to a great extent would cease. (3) 1. The example of legislators has great influence in the community. 2. It would have a highly salutary influence on legislation. 3. It would tend to promote the purity of elections, and thus to extend and perpetuate the blessings of free institutions. (4) 1. They would tend to promote the health and comfort of the men. 2. To promote obedience to orders, and thus to lessen the number and severity of punishments. 3. To prevent an enormous waste of human life. (5) 1. It would promote the health and comfort of seamen. 2. It would promote the pecuniary interest of all concerned. 3. It would prevent many ship-wrecks, and the loss of many lives. (s) 1. It would promote the intellectual elevation, the mora! improvement, and the social happiness of the workmen. 2. It would improve the quality of their work. 3. When they go from one establishment to another, a certifi- cate of their being worthy members of a Temperance Society would be a ready passport to business and an important safeguard to employers. (T) 1. It would tend to bring the subject before the whole community. 2. It would greatly increase the number and activity of its friends. 3. It would reform many who are now drunkards. (-) 1. It is the most ready way to awaken universal atten- tion; and to secure ever-growing interest and effort in the cause. 2. It is highly economical as to men and money. 100 AMERICAN" T3EMPERANCE SOC1ETF. [326 3. It is essential to that thorough and systematic effort which tends to the most complete and speedy triumph of this cause. (9) 1. Information is essential to wise, efficient and permanent action. 2. It would increase especially among the young, a spirit of reading. 3. it would, to a great extent, give to each part of the country the benefit of the experience of all other parts, and thus render the efforts of all more eminently useful. (10) 1. It would lessen the danger of youth and remove one of the most powerful incentives to intemperance. 2. It would prevent a great amount of pauperism and crime. 3. It would greatly promote the temperance, safety, and com- fort of travellers. (n) 1. It will lessen the dangers of their journey. 2. It will lessen their exposure from a change of climate, and from their settlement among strangers. 3. It will render them a greater blessing to the people among whom they may dwell. (12) 1. It will awaken new interest and lead to a great in- crease of effort. 2. It will be a convenient time for annual meetings, and will lead a much greater number of people to attend them. 3. It will lead to a more general development of facts; and spread more extensively the knowledge of them. (13) 1. It is an object of common and universal concern; in which the friends of humanity of every sect, denomination and country may unite. 2. It will tend to increase their information, their efforts and their success. 3. It will tend to unite good men of all countries in all good things. (u) 1. It will awaken more general attention, and develope much valuable information. 2. It will greatly increase the interest and the usefulness of the simultaneous meetings. 3. It will lead to a more thorough investigation, and to a moro universal extension of a knowledge of facts. (15) 1. It will unite a greater number, and lead to more •rcncral efforts for the promotion of the cause. 2. It will render their efforts more efficient, and more suc- cessful. 3. Without perseverance, the work cannot be completed, or the benefits obtained be permanently secured. (16) 1. It will show that the distillation of grain is a violation i the true principles of political economy; and a great loss to the pecuniary interests of the country. 2. It will show, that it is a loss to the grain-growers them- selves; and tends to the injury and ruin of their children. 327] SIXTH REPORT. 1833. APPENDIX. 10! 3. That to encourage distillation is to be accessory to enor- mous injustice toward the community. (i;) 1. From the nature of their profession, their opinions on this subject must have great weight with the community. 2. They enjoy peculiar facilities for acquiring information on this subject, and circulating the truth. 3. Their example will have a powerful influence on gentlemen in the other professions, and in all the higher walks of life. (lS) 1. The prescription of ardent spirit as a medicine, has often been the means of forming intemperate appetites, and of leading to drunkenness and ruin. 2. Many eminent physicians now entirely dispense with it, in medical practice, and in their view not only without detriment, but to peculiar advantage. 3. Could it consistently be dispensed with in medical practice universally, a powerful cause of intemperance would be removed. (19) 1. The press is one of the chief instruments of com- municating information, and forming public sentiment. 2. It can speak to multitudes that can be addressed in no other way. 3. By the promotion of temperance, it will aid essentially all patriotic, humane, and benevolent efforts. (20) 1. To no class is the Temperance Reformation of more importance than to young men. 2. No class have greater means, or more ability to promote it. 3. The character of young men will soon form the character of the country. (21) 1. It will save multitudes of their own sex from unut- terable wretchedness, and from a premature grave. 2. It will save vast multitudes of children from becoming doubly orphans. 3. It will exert an all pervading and highly salutary influence on youth, and on all classes in the community. (22) 1. It will increase their interest in the cause, and of course will increase their efforts. 2. It will tend to remove prejudices not only on this, but on other subjects, and to promote mutual good will among men. 3. It will render the efforts of all to do good more eminently and extensively useful. (23) 1. It tends to prevent that luxury and vice which are the bane of civil institutions. 2. It tends to promote industry, economy, and obedience to the laws. 3. It tends to promote universal intelligence and virtue. (24) 1. Without temperance, all efforts to do good must in a great measure fail. 2. With union and perseverance the cause will be triumphant. 3. It will tend to hasten the time when all shall know and obey the Lord. 9 * 24* 102 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. [328 (2i) 1. His blessing has been the cause of all past success, 2. On account of the intimate and fundamental connection be- tween this cause, and all the great interests of men. 3. Without an acknowledgment of the divine favor, and united and persevering efforts, we cannot expect a continuance of the divine blessing; or have any rational prospect of future success. (27) 1. It inculcates falsehood. 2. It perpetuates intemperance. 3. It promotes pauperism and crime. 4. It diminishes the wealth of the nation. 5. It increases the public burdens. 6. It impairs the health of the people. 7. It deteriorates their intellect. 8. It corrupts the public morals. 9. It shortens many lives. 10. It ruins many souls. — Of course it is a business which is unjust toward men, and offensive to God. Extracts of a letter from a distinguished gentleman in the City of Washington, dated July 24, 1833. "The Convention has evidently done good. It has given a fresh impetus to the cause. At no period have the great princi- ples of temperance moved forward with such strong and steady steps as for the last six months; and this is true, not merely of this or that town, or city, or section, but of our whole country. I perceive, wherever I go, and with whatever company I am called to associate, that the fashion of drinking is rapidly de- elining; and that the traffic in ardent spirit, is becoming a crime. Nothing is wanting but a bold, manly and steady perseverance of the friends of temperance, to eradicate, utterly eradicate the manufacture, sale and use of ardent spirit from our land. The united testimony of the heads of the different departments of the Government, the members of Congress, the mail contractors, and various other persons who resort to Washington from differ- ent parts of the United States, to transact business, all concur in sustaining this declaration." Especially may we hope that this will be the case, should the resolutions of the Convention be complied with throughout the country. The Committee would therefore earnestly recommend them, and the reasons annexed to them, to the attention of their fel- low citizens throughout the community. Let every man do his duty, especially the young men of our country, and the Temperance Reformation will be triumphant, its blessings extend to all peo- ple, and be perpetuated to all ages. 329] SIXTH REPORT. 1833. APPENDIX. 103 D. (P. 33.) Constitution, fyc. of the American Congressional Temperance Society. As the use of Ardent Spirit is not only unnecessary, but inju- rious, as it tends to pauperism, crime, and wretchedness ; to hinder the efficacy of all means for the intellectual and moral benefit of society, and also to endanger the purity and perma- nence of our free institutions; and as one of the best means for counteracting its deleterious effects, is the influence of United Ex- ample, Therefore, we, members of Congress, and others, recogniz- ing the principle of abstinence from the use of Ardent Spirit, and from the traffic in it, as the basis of our Union, do hereby agree to form ourselves into a society, and for this purpose adopt the fol- lowing Constitution, viz: Article 1. This Society shall be called The American Congres- sional Temperance Society. Article 2. The object of this Society shall be, by example, and by kind moral influence, to discountenance the use of Ardent Spirit, and the traffic in it, throughout the community. Article 3. Members of Congress, and all who have been mem- bers of Congress, officers of the United States Government, civil and military, and heads of departments, who practically adopt the great principle of this Society, may, by signing the Constitu- tion, become members; and any former member of Congress, or other person entitled to membership, may be admitted, on ad- dressing to the Secretary of this Society a letter, expressive of his desire to be considered a member. Article 4. The officers of the Society shall be a President, Vice Presidents, Secretary, Treasurer and Auditor; who shall be chosen annually, and who shall perform the duties usually assigned to such officers; and who shall continue in office until others are elected. Article 5. The Society shall annually appoint five persons, who, together with the officers of the Society, shall constitute an executive committee; three of whom shall form a quorum, and who shall from time to time take such measures, as shall be adapted to render this Society most extensively useful to the country. Article 6. There shall be an annual meeting at such time du- ring the session of Congress, as the committee may appoint: and the president, and in his absence one of the vice presidents, at the request of the committee, may at any time call a special meeting of the Society. Article 7. The constitution may be altered by a recommenda- tion of the executive committee, and a vote of two thirds of the members present at any annual meeting. 104 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. ("33C After the adoption of the Constitution, the officers of the Soci- ety were chosen, as follows: President, Hon. Lewis Cass, Secretary of War. Vice Presidents, Hon. Samuel Bell, New Hampshire; Hon. Gideon Tomlinson, Connecticut; Hon. John Reed, Massachu- setts; Hon. Lewis Condict, New Jersey ; Hon. William Wilkins, Pennsylvania; Hon. Thomas Ewing, Ohio; Hon. Felix Grundy, Tennessee; Hon. John Tipton, Indiana; Hon. Daniel Wardwell, New York; Hon. James M. Wayne, Georgia. Secretary, Hon. Walter Lowrie, Secretary of U. S. Senate. Treasurer, Hon. E. Whittlesey, Ohio. Auditor, Hon. W. W. Elsworth, Connecticut. Executive Committee, Hon. Theo. Frelinghuysen, New Jersey; Hon. Arnold Naudian, Delaware; Hon. John Blair, Tennessee; Hon. George N. Briggs, Massachusetts; Hon. Elutheros Cook, Ohio. E. (P. 50.) Reduction of Taxes. The population of , N.H. at the last census was less than 1*200. Three rum stores and two rum taverns in town, together with the more private traffic of individuals, were loading the community with an annual tax of nine thousand dollars, to pay for intoxicating liquors, besides the incalculable evils of drinking the poison. Their temperance reform commenced about 1827. First annual Report of their society exhibited a diminution of this tax to the amount of $6,000 ; the second reduced it $2,500, leaving only $500 as the expense of spirits sold in the town. At this time, they have three stores and one tavern, free from this strong drink, and not a licensed house in town. It is estimated, that the cost of ardent spirits, as at present used by the town, does not exceed the rate of $100 by the year. It is believed that nine-tenths of the population drink no ardent spirits. The Congregational Church, now consisting of 200 members, las more than doubled since this reform commenced. Now they actually pay for preaching at home, double in cash, to what they paid mostly in produce before. Ten years ago, their benevolent contributions for a year were less than twelve dollars. They pay the present year, more than one thousand dollars in cash for various benevolent objects, besides large subscriptions raised for payment hereafter. The Church are unanimously pledged against every form of using ardent spirits as drink, and none so using H are ever to be admitted. The Methodist Church in town, consisting of nearly 100 mem- bers, are said to be practising on the same plan. 531] SIXTH REPORT. 1833. APPENDIX. 105 F. (P. 50.) Extract of a letter from a merchant in Alabama, showing the benefits to merchants and others, from the abandoning of the use and sale, of ardent spirits. "About twelve years ago, I connected myself in business with a country merchant residing in the middle part of South Alabama, and soon after settled my family at the same place. We kept a general assortment of goods ; our customers were generally of the class called "first settlers," or "pioneers," enterprising men, with young but numerous families, who, being poor, and seeing but little prospect of bettering their fortunes in the land of their nativity, had the courage to attempt their improvement by removing to, and settling in, a new country. These people were industrious and liberal, but sadly addicted to the use of spirituous liquors. They were kind to each other and to strangers. If a stranger asked for a glass of water, it was their custom to offer whiskey with it ; and the head of a family, although unable to pay for the land he occupied, would apologise with seeming mor- tification, if he was unable to offer his visiting neighbor a glass of grog. It is the business of a country merchant to supply the wants of his customers ; and to graduate hi3 . purchases to their wants, requires some experience, and much observation, upon which depends, in some degree, the success of his business. In 1824, we had been four years in business, and it required about that period, 100 barrels of whiskey, with a large quantity of American and English rum, and American and French brandies, for one year's demand. In 1825, nearly the same, 1826, 75 barrels whiskey, &c. 1827, 40 " 1828, 25 " 1829, 10 " " and 2 pipes brandy. 1830, 5 " " 2 " 1831, 5 " "1 " And there is another fact, as remarkable as the decrease of the consumption of spirituous liquors in that neighborhood, as shown in our purchase and sales above. The increase of the consump- tion of other things, as shown by our sales of the articles, was nearly as rapid. But the most interesting fact of all is the extraordinary change in the circumstances of this same population. From the period of giving up the use of spirituous liquors, these people began to save something from the proceeds of the little crops; and partly with these savings, and partly from aid given by a gentleman of some monied capital who resided near, they have purchased the land they previously settled upon, and are now generally indepen- dent planters, making from five to fifty bales ofcotton each family, 106 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. [332 besides an abundance of bread stuffs, and almost every variety of vegetables, by means of which, with their ample stocks of cattle, hogs, sheep, and poultry, they are enabled to live in great com- fort. Now, instead of offering the stranger whiskey, and the hos- pitality of their miserable cabins, they receive him in their com- fortable houses, and in place of the shelf formerly to be seen in their cabins decorated with jugs and black bottles, he finds shelves, or book cases stored with books ; instead of ragged children, fine rosy cheeked girls and boys, neatly dressed, and ready to converse with him upon the subject of schools, agriculture, the cotton market, &c. Speaking of rosy cheeks, reminds me of another fact. — We kept medicines, with our other wares, and our sales in that de- partment, for the last six years, decreased every year. [JV*. Y. American.] G. (P. 53.) Extracts from a letter of the Rev. Mr. Spaulding, dated Lahaina, Island of Maui, (one of the Sandwich Islands) October, 1832. This Island has 35,000 souls, and is without a temperance society ! This fact may not be generally known in America, but is really so. There is no temperance society on Maui; but if any man is detected in buying, selling, or manufacturing ardent spirits, he is forthwith put into the fort, sentenced to make public road, or otherwise fined according to law. About four years ago, a tabu was proclaimed by the Governor of this Island upon the use of ardent spirits. Soon after, a native who had a barrel of rum in his possession, acting as agent for a man on Hawii, ven- tured to sell one bottle, and was fined $150, to be paid in sandal wood, and he immediately collected it. Another native under- took to sell a bottle, and was fined $75. A third man, a foreigner, was detected in selling it to ships, and was banished to another island, during the season of shipping. About one year since, a foreign resident in Lahaina was suspected of selling ardent spirits to the sailors. His house and premises were immediately searched without finding it. Some time after, it was ascertained that he had one keg concealed in a hogshead of coal, in his blacksmith's shop. The same individual has been since suspect- ed; but if he sells it at all, it is with closed doors, and probably under promises of secrecy. A short time since, a schooner engaged in merchant service, arrived from Honolulu with rum on board. A native ventured to purchase a little to sell again to the seamen. Soon )ts exhilarating effects were discovered by the quarrelling of some sailors, and in less than twenty-four hours from the arrival of the schooner, the native was in his proper place, i. e. in the fort. About the same time, a foreigner, about 333] SIXTH REPORT. 1833. APPENDIX. 107 to establish himself at Lahaina, was detected with four bottles of rum, and for certain reasons, I do not know that he told what, he went immediately on board a whale ship, and left the place. It is Mr. Richards' opinion that not one gallon has been drunk by all the inhabitants of this Island the past year. We have no evi- dence that ardent spirits are now sold at this place, consequently all is comparatively quiet; and more than this, we have some evi- dence that the spirit of the Lord is with us. — We are much encouraged, and the more, encouraged from the fact that we have no ardent spirits to contend with. H. (P. 6.5.) [Facts showing the evils resulting from the use of Intoxicating Liquors, reported to the Catskill Temperance Society, Feb. 26, 1833.] In the village of Catskill, N. Y. whose population cannot at this time vary much from twenty-two hundred, the efforts for the suppression of intemperance have produced the most happy re- sults. Eight merchants, who were formerly engaged, and many of them extensively so, in the traffic in ardent spirits, have from principle abandoned the traffic. A large proportion of the best families in the village have discontinued the use of ardent spirit as a drink altogether. More than seven hundred individuals, that is, about one third of all the inhabitants, have adopted the pledge of total abstinence, and joined the temperance society. The sentiment is rapidly gaining ground, that it is the duty of all entirely to abstain from the use of an article, which has done more than any thing else to overspread the. civilized world with crime and lamentation and wo. But notwithstanding this, the use of intoxicating liquors, and all the fearful evils connected with it, still exist to an alarming extent. In the month of December last an investigation was made in relation to this subject, by a number of gentlemen who are well acquainted with the village, and distinguished for intelligence and integrity. As the result of their investigation, it appears that there were at that time in the village thirty-eight persons en- gaged in selling intoxicating liquors as a drink — that is one dealer in every fifty-eight of the inhabitants, and nearly one in every thirty-nine of those who are not members of this society. In some of the places where intoxicating liquors are sold, there are perfect schools of vice. Impious sneers and oaths and blas- phemies are continually to be heard there. The friends of good order are made a hissing and a byword. The laws of morality and even the rules of decency are treated with contempt. The holy sabbath is trampled under foot, and its sacred hours are de- voted to unusual dissipation and wickedness. The intoxicating bowl is made an introduction to other vices, that are sweeping 108 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIET2. [334 away every vestige of good principle, and cutting off every pros- pect of a reformation. There were at that time in the village one hundred and thirty habitual drunkards — that is, one in every seventeen of the whole population, and one in every eleven of those who are not mem- bers of this society. Many of these are heads of families who might have been in easy and honorable circumstances. But their habits have placed them in circumstances of an opposite character. In many instances their children are suffering with cold and hunger, their wives are sinking in despair. There are three hundred more in the village who are publicly known to be drinkers of ardent spirits. Of this number many are occasional drunkards, many more free drinkers, and the res- idue such as in the language of former times would have been called temperate drinkers. A portion of this three hundred are young men, who but for intoxicating drinks would be young men of high hopes and fair prospects. But their friends are beginning to tremble for their safety, and unless their habits can be changed, and that speedily, their ruin is certain. In all then there are in the village besides those who drink privately, four hundred and thirty who are either drunkards or advancing to that condition — that is, two in every seven of those who are not members of this society. If the whole county of Greene contains the same proportion ot drunkards as the village of Catskill, there are in the county sev- enteen hundred habitual drunkards, and four thousand more who are travelling in the way which leads to habitual drunkenness. The amount paid by the consumers of intoxicating liquors to the venders in the village of Catskill, supposing each vender to receive on an average only one dollar and a half per day, which is probably below the truth, would be 20,805 dollars annually. If the county pay in the same proportion for its whole population as the village of Catskill, the amount annually expended by the con- sumers of intoxicating liquors in the county, would be 283,704 dollars. This sum would furnish 700 families with more than $400 apiece for their support. If we add to this sum the value of time spent in drinking and drunkenness, and in indolence and ill health resulting from drunkenness, together with losses from mismanagement and otherwise, resulting from the same cause, the amount would pro- bably be more than doubled. But in estimating the losses which individuals sustain in consequence of intoxicating liquors, we should not forget the peace of mind, and character and influence which they sacrifice. We should not lose sight of the sufferings and agonies of their families and friends. There is still another light in which it is important to count the cost of strong drink. TheSovereign of the Universe has declared that drunkards shall not inherit the kingdom of Heaven. Who then can estimate the losses sustained by those that have been slain by intemperance: 335] SIXTH REPORT. 1833. — APPENDIX. 109 Who can calculate the risks incurred by those that are now rush- ing on to the drunkard's grave? But great as are the evils already exhibited, the influence of intoxicating liquors in the production of crime and pauperism and public taxes, is no less alarming. The following facts in relation to this point are not stated on conjecture or vague report. In support of them the Committee have, in their possession, direct testimony derived from the most authentic sources, which they could produce if necessary. Where the testimony is not full, the nature of it is stated. During a period of seven years, terminating last December, nearly three hundred individuals were at different times, confined in the Jail of Greene County for crimes. All of this number, ex- cept three, were intemperate, whether those three were so or not, is doubtful. During the same period about sixty individuals were imprisoned in the same jail for debt, who were unable to pro- cure bail for the limits. All of this number, without exception, were intemperate. If then there had been no intoxicating li- quors in use, the county might have been free from the burden of supporting its jail. Of those who have received aid at the Greene County Poor- house during the last three years, about one fifth are children under the age of sixteen years. Of the adults, about three eights are males, and the remaining five eights females. At least seven eights of the children are made paupers by the intemperance of their parents, and as great a proportion of the adult males are made so by their own intemperance; about three fifths of the adult females are intemperate, and one fifth are made paupers by the intemperance of those on whom they were dependent, so that not more than one fifth even of the females were made paupers by any other cause than intemperance. The number that have received aid from the county, either at the Poor-house or out of it in the several towns during each of the last three years, has varied between 300 and 400 annually. At least seven eights of the whole number were made paupers by in- temperance. But for intoxicating liquors, therefore, any public provision for the support of the poor in this county would scarcely have been necessary. It is believed that the supplies now furnished for drunkards and their families by private charity, would be far more than sufficient for the wants of all those who are not made pau- pers by intemperance. These supplies too would have been cheerfully furnished in every case of need, if intemperance had not frozen up the charities of the benevolent. The jail expenses for criminals, including the repairs of the jail, have cost the county annually for the last seven years, the average sum of 850 dollars, making for the seven years $5950. All of this, according to the statement above, except perhaps a trifling item which is doubtful, is chargeable to intoxicating li- quors. 10 2b 110 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. [336 To this should be added the charges of magistrates and other officers, for arresting and examining criminals, together with all the charges attending their trial. These charges cannot all be determined with perfect accuracy. A number of gentlemen made an investigation in relation to them for one year. A num- ber of the largest items they ascertained precisely, and had some facilities for forming an estimate of nearly all the rest. As the result of their investigation, they were convinced that the amount for that year could not have been less than 1500 dollars. It may have been more. In this estimate nothing was allowed for the time and expenses of jurors and witnesses attending on criminal trials, nor for any other services not paid for out of the county treasury. The expenses of the county for the support of the poor during each of the last three years have been as follows — ,„ ,830 | Aid rendered at £ J£j™^J0.J, J $4391>3, 1831 j £ ;„: tpoowo„r;house amif0\p™.™ 1832 | at *<> Poo'-house 4724, 19 ( in the towns 1900,00 J tf ' $16695,80 The gentleman who furnished this statement had not the bills of expenditures in the several towns, in 1832, before him at the time the statement was made. But being extensively acquainted with the subject, he believed they must amount to the sum stated, viz. $1900. The whole expense of the poor then for the last three years is 16,695 dollars. The Committee have already given their reasons for believing that no part of this expense would have been in- curred by the county, had there been no intemperance. But without relying on probabilities, it has been proved, that at least seven eights of this, that is 14,608 dollars, is directly chargeable to intoxicating liquors. Seven eights of the charge for the poor in 1832, is 5,796 dollars. According to the facts and estimates already exhibited, intoxi- cating liquors imposed upon the county in 1832, a tax for The average amount of Jail expenses . . $850 Other expenses for intemperate criminals 1500 Seven eights of the expenses for the poor 5796 Additional expenses to Collectors, Treasurer, &c. for raising the above sums .... 488 Whole amount $8,634. The whole amount raised by tax for defraying all the county and town expenses for 1832, including between $1000 and $2000 extraordinary, occasioned by the cholera, is only $16,205,66. Intoxicating liquors therefore were the immediate cause of more than one half of the burden imposed upon ev^ry man who paid taxes in the county for last year. 337] SIXTH REPORT. 1833. APPENDIX. Ill The tax upon good morals should also be taken into the ac- count. Drunkards are not the only individuals whose moral pu- rity is destroyed by intoxicating liquors. These individuals are dispersed through every neighborhood in the county, scattering pollution and moral death wherever they go. Every youth, and almost every child is brought within their influence, and conse- quently liable to be tainted by their example. We see then, from unquestionable facts, that intoxicating drink causes almost, if not quite all of our criminals, at least seven eights of our paupers, and more than half of our taxes. — It is ruining our youth as well as those of maturer years. It is cor- rupting the public morals, resisting the progress of religion, and filling the land with infidelity and atheism. A question now arises, Is it right to partake of a beverage which is poisoning the sources of private happiness and national prosperity ? Is it right in any way to encourage or sanction the use of such a beverage? Should some foreign monarch slay 30,000 inhabitants of the United States every year, should he double the amount of our public taxes, should he corrupt the morals of our country, and resist the progress of our religion, and threaten the destruction of our government, would it be right for this nation to continue a friendly intercourse with him? Would any one plead that he might possibly afford us aid in some time of distress, and therefore it was best to remain on terms of intimacy and friendship with him? No; millions of voices would exclaim with indignation, not for a moment. Come what will, we abandon forever that cruel tyrant. His friendship is death. Whoever favors him shall be branded as a traitor, and spurned from society. But all these evils, with a host of others of the most aggravated character, are brought upon us by intoxicating liquors. Again, a question arises in view of the facts which we have detailed. Is it morally right any longer to grant licenses for the sale of ardent spirits? Ought we, by our town and village au- thorities, any longer to sell licenses for opening the fountains of sin, and pouring forth rivers of pollution and death upon the community? Is it right thus to sanction the use of an article which has produced nearly all of our criminals, and seven eights of our paupers and more than half of our taxes? Is it good economy, is it wisdom to do so? In conclusion, the facts which have been presented, warrant us in saying, that every one who has a family to educate, or taxes to pay, or a country to love, or a God to serve, is directly interested in having all intoxicating liquors banished from the land. Orrin Day, "\ ("Francis Savre, Rev. I. N. Wyckoff, / Executive \ O. L. Kirtlan'? Rev. T. M. Smith, > < E. B. Day, Rev. J. Dowling, I Committee. ) T. F. Romeyx. C. C. Hoagland, M.D. ) \ 112 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. [338 The Executive Committee of the New- York State Temperance Society, in presenting to the Parent Institution its Fourth Annual Report, respectfully submits the following summary of results. I. Nlimber of Auxiliaries in the Slate of JYew-York. — Including the State Society, fftecii hundred and thirty-eight temperance so- cieties have been reported. Many more are known to exist from which no report has been received. II. Present number of Members. — This by actual enumeration amounts to two hundred and thirty-one thousand and seventy-four ; but here also it is proper to remark, that the number actually pledged to total abstinence greatly exceeds the sum arrived at by enumeration, as in some societies great increase has taken place since the reports were sent in, and from others complete returns have never been made. Increase in the year, sixty thousand eight hundred and four. III. Temperance Stores and Taverns. — By these we under- stand those stores and taverns where the absence of spirituous liquors is the result and effect of the temperance reform. One thousand two hundred and two of these have been reported. IV. Distilleries discontinued. — These amount to one hundred and thirty-one; a great part, but we think not all, of these have been discontinued in the course of the past year. [JVete York State Report.] The General Association of Massachusetts, composed of the great body of Evangelical Congregational Ministers in that State, say, " The Temperance Reformation has made rapid advances. In some associations, the number of pledges has, during the year, been more than doubled. In others there is not an indi- vidual licensed to sell strong drink, and in the most, if not all, the number of licenses has been greatly diminished. Many of our churches have become temperance churches. They admit none to their fellowship, who do not avow the principle of total absti- nence from both the consumption and the traffic. And some of them have, by special vote, made the traffic in every form a disciplinable offence." They also passed unanimously the following resolution, viz. " As the traffic in ardent spirit, as a drink, is not only unne- cessary but injurious to the social, civil, and religious interests of men, therefore, the laws which sanction that traffic by licensing men to pursue it, are, in the judgment of this association, mor- ally wrong; and ought to be so modified, that instead of licensing the sin, and thus sanctioning its continuance, they will only, as far as practicable and expedient, defend the community from its <*.vils.''' SEVENTH REPORT AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. The present age is marked with strong and auspicious peculiar- ities. One of them is, increasing numbers of people are disposed to inquire, with regard to every moral principle and practice, " Is it right ? " It is less satisfactory now, than in former times, that a thing is pleasant merely ; that it is popular, has been practised a long time, by respectable men, or even by good men. The question is, and with numbers increasing continually, "Is it right ?" Another auspicious indication of the present time, is, the stand- ard of right and wrong, with increasing numbers, is the Bible. This has, by good men, long been acknowledged in theory, as the only sufficient and perfect moral standard. But they are now, more than ever before, applying it to practice. Not only are they laboring with new vigor to send it to all nations, and convey a knowledge of its contents to all hearts ; but they are appealing to it, as the criterion of thought and action ; and are endeavoring, with new diligence, to bring every soul, under its all-controlling power. It is not so decisive, as it once was, that a thing is legal, according to human statute ; or honorable in human society ; but the question is, does it accord with the will of God as revealed in the Bible? To the law, and the testimony ; if they speak not according to this word, increasing numbers conclude, there is no light in them. Nor do they confine the supervision of the Bible, as much as they once did, to subjects that are purely religious. They are extending it to all the affairs of life. Business, amuse- ments, legislation, everything in which men are engaged, they feel bound to prosecute in accordance with the Bible ; and whether they eat, or drink, or whatever they do, to do all in obedience to its dictates. Other things as the standard of feeling and conduct, are in their influence over men, diminishing ; and the Bible is rising, and rising, toward that state, in which it shall appear to all, that the Lord hath magnified his word above all his name. Another momentous indication of the present time, and one which takes hold with a mighty grasp on the destinies of men, is> 1 25* 2 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. [340 the number is increasing who feel conscience-bound daily to listen to the Bible as the voice of God, speaking to them ; and with fervent supplication for the teaching of his Spirit, that they may understand his will ; and who, when they do understand it, are not afraid, or ashamed to do it. The number is rapidly increasing, who when they learn that the Bible condemns a practice, will renounce it ; and who, when they learn that it requires an action, will attempt, with the spirit which the Bible inculcates, to perform it, whether other men do this or not ; and who will leave the consequences to the divine disposal. There is a deeper and more pervading conviction, than ever before, of individual personal responsibility directly to God ; bind- ing each one, in all situations, for the character and tendency of his actions, to the retributions of eternity. Efforts to do good are not so much confined as they once were, to ways only which have the sanction of general example ; or that are deemed by the great body of men, to be respectable. It is less necessary now, than it once was, for a good man to see a great multitude ahead, before he thinks it expedient for him to do right ; or attempt, by sound argument, and kind persuasion, to induce others to do right. The consequence is, it is becoming more and more common, if a man wishes to have good done, to do it himself ; if a man wishes to have a little good done, to do that ; and if he wishes to have great good done, to do that ; and to do it now. There is less disposition than formerly to depend on other people, and to put off present duty to future time. Men are not so much afraid as they once were, or ashamed, if needful, to go in the path of duty, alone ; and, whether others do it or not, attempt to do good as they have opportunity to all men ; expecting that their labor will not be in vain in the Lord. The feeblest and most obscure do not now despair of exerting influence that shall be felt by all people, to all ages. And men are less satisfied now, than they once were, with clip- ping off the twigs or lopping off the branches ; they are more disposed to go to the root, and in order to make the fruit good, to make the tree good. They have learned that they cannot stop the stream, without drying up the fountain. They go more than for- merly to principles, in their application to practice ; and to remove the effects, undertake to remove the cause. The consequence is, efforts to do good, are more successful than ever before. They take a wider range ; exert a more per- vading influence ; and the same amount of effort accomplishes vastly greater results. And the more men do the will of God, the more plain his will is ; and the blessings of obeying it, are more 341] SEVENTH REPORT. 1834- 3 obvious and abundant. And as that will is made known, it com- mends itself more strongly than ever before to the conscience ; the blessings of obeying it attract greater attention, and the num- bers who are moved by it to mighty deeds of kindness, are increas- ing, with a rapidity and to an extent never before known. Thus acting and reacting, u light and love, "the grand means of universal moral renovation, are moving onward from conquering to conquer ; inspiring with new hope, cheering with new expectations, and exciting all who are governed by them, to higher and holier efforts, that the will of God may be done on earth as it is done in heaven. A striking development of these principles has been made in the Temperance Reformation. A vicious practice had obtained, had received the sanction of legislation, and the support of the example of nearly the whole Christian world. But it was followed, as its natural and necessary result, by loss of property, character, life and soul, to an extent which must fill every person who compre- hends it, with amazement. And the question was started, no doubt, by the spirit of God, " Is it right," to continue a practice which produces such results ; and which, if continued, will perpet- uate and increase them to all future ages ? The Bible was exam- ined, and providences observed ; divine teaching was sought, and the conviction was fastened on the mind, that the practice was not right ; and that to prevent the evils which it produced, men must cease to perpetuate the cause. And for the purpose of making known to them, especially to our own countrymen, the reasons why they should do this, the American Temperance Society was formed. Its object, is, by the diffusion of information and the exertion of kind moral influ- ence, to attempt, with the divine blessing, to produce such a change of sentiment and practice with regard to intoxicating drink, that intemperance shall cease, and temperance, with all its attend- ant benefits to the body and the soul, shall universally prevail. Temperance, in view of those who formed this Society, is the moderate and proper use of things beneficial ; and abstinence from things hurtful. Ardent spirit, being in its nature, as manifested by its effects, a poison ; and of course, one of the hurtful things, and in this country, the grand means of intoxication, their object required them to abstain from the drinking, and from the furnish- ing of it ; and to endeavor, by all suitable means, to induce the whole community to do the same. This object they have steadily pursued. And to give to moral influence the highest and best effect, they have attempted to embody, in voluntary associations, all, who practice on the above principle, and -are willing to unite in them. The plan has received the smile of Heaven. It has been viewed with favor by the good, and has accomplished great results. 4 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. [342 At our last Annual Meeting, there had been formed in the United States 21 State Temperance Societies; and in smaller districts, it was supposed, more than 5000 other Temperance Societies, embodying on the plan of abstinence from the drinking of ardent spirit and from the traffic in it, more than 1,000,000 members. More than 2000 men had ceased to make it; and more than 6000 had ceased to sell it. They believed that the business was wicked, and they applied this belief to their practice. More than 5000 men who once were drunkards, had within five years ceased to use intoxicating drink; and were, as all men who pursue this course will be, sober men. Many of them had become highly respectable and useful, and not a few truly pious men. More than 700 vessels were afloat on the ocean, in which ar- dent spirit was not used; and multitudes of all ages, in all kinds of lawful business, and in every variety of condition, had found by experience, that they were in all respects better without the use of it. Facts had proved that it is a nuisance, unspeakably injuri- ous to mankind. Numerous Medical Associations had condemned the drinking of it, as a violation of the laws of life; and various Ecclesiastical bodies of different denominations, embracing more than 5000 ministers of the Gospel and more than 6000 Christian Churches, had expressed it as their solemn and deliberate convic- tion, that the traffic in ardent spirit to be used as a drink, is morally wrong ; and that it ought to be abandoned throughout the world. In this state of things we commenced the labors of the past year. The United States Temperance Convention that had been in- vited by this Society to meet in Philadelphia, assembled in that city on the 24th of May. It was composed of more than 400 delegates, and from 21 States. Seldom has a body of men assembled of greater weight of character, and of higher and better influence in the country. They continued in session three days, and passed with great unanimity about thirty resolutions, expressive of their views on various points of this momentous subject. The resolution which excited the greatest interest, and which led to the longest and most animated debate, was that, which ex- pressed the sentiment, that the traffic in ardent spirit, to be used as a drink, is morally wrong; and ought to be universally abandoned. This sentiment had before been expressed not only by the Eccle- siastical bodies above referred to, but by the American Congressional Temperance Meeting, at the Capitol in Washington; and numerous other meetings; and the traffic had been treated as immoral in various ways in different parts of the country. It was to be cxjDected therefore, that this point would occupy the attention cf the United States Temperance Convention. Many were anxious to know, what the Physicians, the Jurists, and the Statesmen, who were collected from all parts of the country on 343] SEVENTH REPORT. 1834. 5 that occasion thought upon this subject. If they viewed the nature of ardent spirit to be such, that the traffic in it, to be used as a drink, is necessarily immoral, and as such ought to be aban- doned, it was obvious that the subject demanded universal attention. When the question came up, therefore, it excited great interest. Some expressed doubts; not so much, however, whether the traffic is immoral, as whether it would be useful for the Convention to say so. But as the discussion proceeded, and the manifest and enormous immorality of the traffic was exhibited, this number lessened. They not only saw that it is an immorality, but that it was a duty which they owed to God, to themselves, and to society, to express their deep and solemn conviction of this truth, and to publish it, as extensively as possible, for the benefit of man- kind. And seldom has any act of a public body, designed to operate by moral influence, been hailed with greater gladness, or promised to do greater good. Passed as it was, after long and full discussion, in a Body composed of men of all professions and employments, and of all Christian denominations, and political parties, and from all parts of the country; and in accordance with the fundamental truth which the American Temperance Society and various other bodies of men, had been propagating fw YGals, its influence w'aS iSit throughout the land. Numbers who had not before done it, were now led to examine the subject in the light of the moral law; and the more extensive the examination the more deep and general has been the conviction, that the sentiment ex- pressed by the Convention is eternal truth, the belief of which, is of infinite importance; and that it ought to be published with its evidence and proclaimed throughout the world. Had the Conven- tion done nothing else, but, after examination, express their con- viction on this point, they had done a deed which would have marked them as benefactors of their country, and been remem- bered with gratitude by the friends of humanity to the end of time. The immorality of this traffic, is what renders it certain, that it will be discontinued. And the knowledge of its immorality, uni- versally communicated, is to be the means, under providence, of accomplishing this result. And no one thing has a greater ten- dency to this, than the publication of the views of wise and good men. On the 18th of September a State Temperance Convention was held at Worcester in Massachusetts. More than 500 dele- gates were present, and from all parts of the Commonwealth. Distinguished gentlemen of all professions were members, and the Governor of the Commonwealth was President of the Convention. This body also, after careful attention to this subject, expressed their conviction of the immorality of this traffic, and that they ought, by the combined power of opinion and example, to pro- 1* 6 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. [344 mote its universal abandonment. Since that time numerous in- dividuals in the Commonwealth have renounced the traffic; licenses for the sale of spirit have been refused in many towns; about 10,000 persons embodied in Ward Temperance Societies in Bos- ton, and great numbers in other parts of the State. There are now in Boston, 5 Hotels and 20 Groceries in which spirit is not sold. In the county of Suffolk, the number of licenses has been reduced from 613 to 314. In Hampshire County, the number of grog-shops has been reduced from 83, to 8. In Plymouth and Bristol Counties and in numerous towns no licenses are given; and in many of them ardent spirit is not sold. In some of those towns. however, men who love the poison, have sent for it to Boston. From one place Esq. was accustomed to go with his waggon, and the drinkers to send by him, each one his bottle. On his return, which was generally found convenient to be in the evening, he left a jug at this place and a jug at that, &c. On his return one evening, while he was in at Mr. 's and his waggon at the door, some one took charge of a part of its contents. When Esq. came out, a bottle was gone. The next morning Capt. was missing. Inquiry was made, but no one could tell what had become of him. A number of days after, he was found in the woods, dead; with the bottle at his side about half emptied. The cases are numerous among the drinkers of the poison, where the end is death. And the conviction is rapidly extending among all classes, that the traffic in it, to be used as a drink, is a manifest violation of the great principles of morality, and utterly forbidden by the Word of God. On the 18th of November a similar Convention was held at Utica in New York; and on the 3d of December in Middletown in Connecticut. Both of these Conventions, after mature deliber- ation, expressed the same conviction with the others. The Editor of the American Quarterly Observer, remarks, " Of the New York Convention, General Jacob Morris, a venerable revo- lutionary patriot was President. The number of members was about 250. A series of resolutions was passed, the most impor- tant of which was the one, declaring the traffic in ardent spirit to be an immorality. Upon this resolution, there were only 14 votes in the negative. No individual, however, dissented from the position, that the traffic is immoral, but it was thought to be inex- pedient, by a few persons, to declare it to be so. At the Con- necticut Convention, attended by 130 delegates, the same resolu- tion was passed unanimously. All things in this country are mani- festly tending to one result; the classing of the use of ardent spirits, and the traffic in them, as a violation of the moral law; a crime, equally injurious to men and displeasing to God." On the ISth of December a State Temperance Convention 345] SEVENTH REPORT. 1834. 7 was held at Columbus in Ohio. The Governor of the state, who is President of the State Temperance Society, was one of the Committee who invited the meeting, and was President of the Convention. This Convention also expressed their conviction of the immorality of the traffic in ardent spirit, and the duty of its universal abandonment. A Legislative Temperance Society was formed, shortly after, in that state; and measures were taken by the State Society, by means of agents and the press, to extend infor- mation, and form Temperance Societies throughout the state. On the 25th of December a similar Convention was held at Jackson in Mississippi; and on the 7th of January at Frankfort in Kentucky. At both these meetings they expressed unanimously their conviction of the immorality of the traffic in ardent spirit; and in Mississippi they recommended that in the formation of all new Temperance Societies, they should agree to abstain from the drinking not only of ardent spirit, but also of wine. In Kentucky a Legislative Temperance Society was formed, and the members agree to abstain from the drinking of both ardent spirit and wine, and also from the traffic in them. The Governor of the state was appointed the President, and the Lieutenant Governor, who is President of the Senate, was appointed one of the Vice Presi- dents. Numerous and striking details were given, by physicians, of the destructive effects of ardent spirit, during the prevalence of the Cholera in that state. In some way an impression had been made upon a portion of the people, that the drinking of this poison would operate as a preventive, or cure of this disease. Although in direct contradiction to the whole history of the Cholera from its commencement, in its progress through all countries up to that time, yet falling in, as it did, with the natural current of human deprav- ity, at a time when men were ready to resort to almost any thing, from which they hoped for security, or relief, it had seriously obstructed the progress of the Temperance Reformation, and in the judgment of the physicians had occasioned many deaths. A committee of distinguished physicians was therefore appointed to investigate this subject, and publish the facts for the information of the community. And it is hoped, should the disease return, that its fatal effects will not again be increased, and its horrors augmented, by the means which are used to prevent them. The delusion is now fast vanishing, and several thousands were added to the Temperance Societies the last year. Nothing appears to be wanting, but the wise and efficient labors of an active permanent agent, to render the cause, with the divine blessing, triumphant throughout that state. This is needful in every state of the Union. And it is earnestly recommended to the friends of Temperance in each state, to procure such an agent, and provide such means for his g AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. [346 support that ho may devote his whole time and strength to this object. Such a course would be most highly economical, both as to men and money. One thousand dollars expended in this w?y, annually, in each state, would probably be the means of savir.g to each, a million dollars a year ; and multitudes of oiher blessings which no wealth can purchase, the loss of which will bring many to a premature grave and a miserable eternity. It may justly be doubted, whether the same means can in any other way do greater good to mankind. Not only would the direct influence of such labors be highly beneficial, but they would tend to render all other benevolent efforts much more successful. This course has been adopted in many states, and nothing would be more auspicious to human welfare, than to have it become universal. On the 15th of January, a State Temperance Convention was held in Vermont ; on the 5th of February in Maine, and on the 12th in New Jersey ; and on the 19th of the same month, a Con- vention of Cities was held in the city of New York. Each of these Conventions, like the others above mentioned, was numer- ously attended, and at each, the resolution was passed, that the traffic in ardent spirit, to be used as a drink, is an immorality; and ought to be universally abandoned. On the last Tuesday in Feb- ruary, simultaneous Temperance Meetings were held in various cities, towns, and villages, through this and other countries. In some cases, the first part of the day was observed as a season of united thanksgiving for the success of this cause, and of united prayer for the blessing of the Lord ever to attend it. In the afternoon reports were read, and addresses were delivered on the occasion. Mujh good was done, and a new impulse given exten- sively to the cause. This manner of annually spending the last Tuesday in February, appears to the Committee to be highly proper, and well adapted to be extensively useful ; and they would earnestly recommend that it be universally adopted. In many cases it will be a convenient time for the annual meeting of Legis- lative, or State Temperance Societies ; and in all cases, meetings on that day, will, it is believed, tend greatly to promote the cause. On that day, the American Congressional Temperance Society held its first anniversary in the Capitol at Washington. In the absence of the President, Honorable Lewis Cass, Secretary of War, on account of official duties, the chair was taken by the Hon. William Wilkins, Senator from Pennsylvania, one of the Vice Presidents. The meeting was opened with prayer, by Rev. Thomas H. Stockton, of the Protestant Methodist Church, and Chaplain of Congress. The Hon. Walter Lowrie, Secretary of the Senate, and Secretary of the Society, read the Annual Report, which was adopted. 347] SEVENTH REPORT. 1834. 9 Resolutions were then offered, by the Hon. Benjamin F. But- ler, Attorney-General of the United States ; the Hon. William Hendricks, Senator from Indiana ; the Hon. William L. Pinck- ney, Member of Congress from South Carolina ; the Hon. George Grennell, Member of Congress from Massachusetts ; the Hon. Arnold Naudain, Senator from Delaware ; the Hon. Daniel Wat-dwell Member of Congress from New York ; the Hon. Samuel Bell, Senator from New Hampshire ; the Hon. Harmon Denny. Member of Congress from Pennsylvania ; the Corres- ponding Secretary of the American Temperance Society ; the Hon. Felix Grundy, Senator from Tennessee ; the Hon. George N. Briggs, Member of Congress from Massachusetts ; the Hon. Theodore Freelinghuysen, Senator from New Jersey ; and the Hon. Elisha Whittlesey, Member of Congress from Ohio. Addresses were made by Messrs. Butler, Hendricks, Pinck- ney, Wardwell, Grundy, and Freelinghuysen. Others would have spoken, had the time permitted. Although the weather was unpleasant, the spacious Hall of the House of Representatives was filled ; and till a late hour, the audience, by their profound atten- tion, manifested the deep interest which they took in the subject.* The resolutions and the addresses have since been printed in an octavo pamphlet of forty pages, and circulated extensively through the country. f It is hoped that it may be sent with a copy of the Constitution, to every person living, who has been a Mem- ber of Congress, or of any branch of the National Govern- ment, and that all may be invited to join the Society. Should a similar course be taken by each Legislative Temperance Society, and all who have been members of the National or State Govern- ments, and who have retired from public life, enrol their names as members of the American Congressional Temperance Society, or some State Legislative Temperance Society, they might become eminently benefactors of their country and the world. A list of their names, increasing annually by the accession of all new tem- perate Legislators, might be kept ; to be a bright example to all the youth of our country, and a powerful means of leading them onward to virtue, usefulness and glory. It would be an interest- ing item in the future page of our country's history to have the names of her renowned sons, who, in the days of her danger, were enrolled in the bright constellation, who embodied their ex- ample and influence as temperate men, for the intellectual elevation, the moral purity, the social happiness and the eternal good of their fellow men. The influence which such a course would have on the purity and permanence of our free institutions demands the attention of every true patriot. "Appendix A. t Appfndis B. 26 ft) AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. [348 A copy of the Constitution of the Legislative Temperance Society of Kentucky was handed to one of her legislators, with a request that he would sign it. He looked at it, and said, " It is a good thing. We have a Temperance Society in my district. It is composed of men of all parties, and they agree not to vote for any man of any party, who, at elections, either directly or indi- rectly, furnishes ardent spirit. During the last election none was furnished. Had that course been adopted five years ago, it would have saved me a thousand dollars." Should it he universally adopted, it would save millions from being devoted to that most detestable species of bribery. It would save also many electors and not a few legislators from the drunkard's grave. Instances are known, in which thousands of dollars have been expended by an individual and his friends at a single election. But let all join the Temperance Society, and act according to its principles, and this abomination will cease. The first glance of a corrected pub- lic sentiment will wither and consume it. Much has already been done. And a change of views, especially among the higher and more influential classes, as to the duty and utility of joining Tem- perance Societies, is rapidly increasing. A distinguished gentleman from Washington writes, " The late anniversary of the Congressional Temperance Society, has given a fresh and powerful impulse to the cause throughout the whole land. Under the sanction of such authority, thousands of hearts and hands will rally to the work, that otherwise would have remain- ed unmoved. Every day I mark in the various classes of society, fiom the highest departments of the General Government to the lowest mechanic and laborer, the strong irresistible influence of the Temperance Reformation. Public opinion of the virtuous and intelligent every where frowns on the traffic and manufacture, as well as on the use of spirituous liquors ; and I no longer doubt, that this land is destined, under the influence of the persevering effoits of the friends of virtue, to be freed from the vice of intem- perance." A Member of Congress from Pennsylvania writes, " I had the honor, a few days ago, of receiving the Sixth Annual Report of the American Temperance Society ; for which, please to receive, and tender to your Society, my warmest thanks. I have read the doc- ument with much interest and pleasure. I am free to confess that until about a year since I felt rather opposed to the exertions of the Temperance Associations. I considered them in the light of a chimerical speculative concern, and calculated to draw improper lines of demarkation in society. But I am free to acknowledge, that I have very much changed my opinion concerning them. I am now satisfied that no institution is calculated to do as much good with the same mews ; and that if ever any institution could 349] SEVENTH REPORT. 1834. H be said to have its origin with Him who is the great source of all goodness, it is that one." A gentleman from Virginia states, that, in his opinion, no Socie- ties which have ever been formed, have, with the same means, in the same time, done so much for the good of mankind ; that all must acknowledge, that they have produced a most beneficial and astonishing change ; and that if the friends of the object shall per- severe, they will be instrumental in banishing intemperance from our land. Nor is this impression confined to our own country. A gentleman from England writes, "I offer to your country my sin- cere congratulations, and the humble testimony of my delighted admiration, on the signal, wonderful, and most beatifying success of this great plan of national reformation ; and which even at this present time, to say nothing of what will be done in years to come, is a more glorious achievement than that which effected your political independence. It is, at once, far more difficult and far more honorable for a people to throw off the yoke of their vices than that of their oppressors ; and there seems to me nothing impossible in the career of either moral or political greatness, to that country, which, by one grand co-operative effort, can, by the blessing of God, deliver itself, as yours is now doing, from the curse of intemperance. " In the triumphs of your Temperance Societies, I see that which makes me almost tremble as an Englishman, but which fills me with hope, and gladness, and praise, as a man and a Christian. You are reading lessons to all nations, and to all coming ages ; and unless other nations are wise enough to profit by the instruction you are thus furnishing, they will, in the end, find to their cost, that you are among them, as Samson in the midst of his foes ; while should your people ever abandon this cause and return to their former habits, other nations will look after you as Samson was seen by his foes, when he wTantonly sacrificed to their wily agent, the mysterious lock of his strength. For the sake of the world, my dear sir, and all future generations of mankind, I beseech you to go on in this splendid course of national virtue. I have patriotism enough to wish this laurel had been plucked by my own country ; but since this is not granted to us, I rejoice that it is yours : it is a precious one ; preserve it from fading by no relaxation of zeal in the cause, and deem not the honor com- plete, till the world shall talk of the United States, as a land with- out a still, and without a drinker of ardent spirit. " If you ever arrive at this elevation of moral greatness, your example must and will be felt in the world. Self-preservation, if nothing else, will drive other nations into imitation of your exam- ple. In this, as in other instances, you are raised up by the Ruler of the Universe, to be a model to the civilized and uncivilized 12 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. [350 world. Experiments are carried on at this moment, upon your territory, the results of which are to be felt to the end of time. If I could think it right to envy any one, I should envy you Americans, in reference to several things which are connected with your inter- nal history. You are to prove whether religion can exist and extend without the aid of establishments. You are to prove whether the church of Christ has piety and liberality enough to propagate itself in a field where it has nothing to hinder its spread but the lukewarmness of its members, and the ordinary depravity of the human race. I trust you will not disappoint the expecta- tions which are pendent upon your conduct. Property, talent, influence, energy, time, must all be put in requisition for the work to which you are called. The Temperance Cause must be the pioneer of the whole confederacy : it will help your other institu- tions, and that in innumerable ways. The American who does not become a member of this institution, is blind to one of the brightest glories, and insensible to one of the most precious hopes of his country." On the 4th of March a State Temperance Convention was held at Harrisburg, in Pennsylvania. Here also a deep con- viction of the immorality of the traffic in ardent spirit was express-" Eu by many ; and the subject was earnestly commended to the consideration of all the Temperance Societies in the State. A Legislative Temperance Society was also formed, and measures taken to quicken and extend Temperance operations throughout that important part of our country. A Convention has also been held, and a State Temperance Society formed in Missouri. And should Temperance and its kindred virtues universally prevail, blessings mighty as her rivers and exhaustless as her soil, would break forth upon her people, and flow down in ever-growing richness and variety to all future ages. Alabama and Louisiana are now the only States in which State Temperance Societies have not been formed ; and philanthropic men are making efforts to procure the formation of one in each of those States.* In May, a State Temperance Convention was held at Dover, in Delaware. Here, also, as in other similar bodies, a resolu- tion was passed, that, in the judgment of the Convention, the traffic in ardent spirit, is an immorality, and ought to be univer- sally abandoned. Thus has this sentiment been expressed by bodies embracing more than five thousand ministers of the gospel, and six thousand Christian churches ; by the American Congres- sional Temperance Meeting, by the United States Temperance Convention, by ten State Temperance Conventions, and numer- oa* ether bodies and classes of men, in various ways and places, ibfoughout the land. * ie .Alabama such a Society has been formed. 351] SEVENTH REPORT. 1834. ' 13 And when we consider that these bodies were composed of men of all professions and employments, of all Christian denom- inations, and political parties ; many of them, venerable for age, for wisdom and experience, as well as for humane and benevolent efforts ; and who had held, or were then holding, some of the highest and most responsible offices in the gift of the people ; and that after full deliberation the sentiment was expressed with great unanimity, and in many cases without a dissenting voice ; that the publication of it has been hailed with gladness, been echoed extensively through the press, and met the cordial response of the friends of humanity, we cannot but conclude that the public mind will settle down upon the truth, that the traffic in ardent spirit, to be used as a drink, is immoral ; a violation of the law of God, and as such ought to be, and, so far as men obey Him, will be univer- sally abandoned. This, the Committee view with unspeakable interest. It is a sure pledge of certain and universal triumph. The truth that the traffic is wicked, strikes the evil at the root; and with a blow so strong and deep, that it will inevitably destroy it. The reception of this truth, and its publication by the wise and good, with cor- responding action, is the sure harbinger of Him, who is Lord over all, and who is coming to consume this evil with the breath of his mouth, and to destroy it with the brightness of his appearing. And while the Committee look to the prevalence of this truth, as the sure means of exterminating this abomination, they also look to it as the only effectual means. Some think that it can be removed by representing it as inexpe- dient, or unprofitable merely ; or unfashionable and disreputable; and confining the motives for its removal to things of time only, without representing it, as they acknowledge it is in truth, an immorality, a violation of the moral law, and binding the perpe- trators of it, according to their deeds, to the retribution of eter- nity. But Leviathan is not so tamed. Such arrows he esteemeth as stubble, and laugheth at the shaking of such spears. That it is inexpedient and unprofitable ; that it is fast becoming unfashion- able, and is now to a high degree disgraceful, as well as injurious and highly unjust towards the community, are all truths, truths of importance, which may be, and ought to be used, and to be pressed on the public attention. Yet if the traffic is not also wicked, a violation of the law of God, and by him forbidden, if the friends of temperance do not believe this truth and publish it with its evidence to all people, vain are all expectations that it will ever be exterminated. There is no force but that which from the throne of God fastens on the conscience, and binds man according to deeds, irrevocably to an eternal retribution, that is strong enough to say to this ocean of 2 26* 14 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. [352 death, "Hitherto shalt thou come, but no farther; and here let thy violence be stayed." And while this sentiment ought to be expressed, as it ought ever to be held, with great kindness, so it ought to be expressed, with great plainness ; and in such a manner as is best adapted to produce universally, the deepest con- viction, and the most active and persevering efforts. And while the Committee behold this truth rising and extending its influence, inspiring so many hearts, employing so many tongues, and through the medium of the press going onward, as on the wings of the wind, from conquering to conquer, they cannot but feel under new obligations to the Author of all good, and be inspired with new hope, that the world's emancipation from this foulest of curses is approaching. More than 7000 Temperance Societies have already been formed in the United States, embracing, it is supposed, more than 1,250,000 members. These persons, who are of all ages from 12 to 90 years, of all varieties of condition, profession, and employment, know by experience that ardent spirit is needless ; and multitudes of them know that it is hurtful, and that men are in all respects better without it. Of course it is wicked to drink it, or to furnish it to be drunk by others. And the conviction of this truth is rapidly extending among all classes of people. More than 3000 distilleries have been stopped ; and more than 7000 merchants have ceased to sell the poison. Yet there are some, who wish the use of it to be continued, and who strive to believe according to their wishes, who assert that such statements as the above are not true ; and that there is as much spirit drunk now as ever. Mr. C , a large brandy merchant in New York, lately met an active friend of Temperance, and said to him, "Why are you publishing such accounts about people giving up the use of spirit ? there is no truth in them ; there is as much drunk now as there ever was." "I have got," said Mr. C , "a com- plete answer to that, and one that will convince you, that what you have said is not true. You know, Mr. F " (a man famous for the accumulation of property,) "do n't you ?" " Yes." " Well, I met him yesterday on this very s-pot, and he said to me, Mr. C What are you doing ? Why do you publish such accounts about ardent spirit ?" " I told him, to induce people not to drink it." "Well," said he, "you are ruining my business. I used to sell forty thousand dollars worth of copper for stills to the people of Connecticut in a year ; and now I don 't sell five hundred. You are ruining me." And that. Mr. , is the answer to what you have said." A diminution of thirty-nine thousand five hundred dollars worth of copper for stills, in a single state, in a year, does not look much like there being as much ardent spirit made as ever. And if it is not made in as great quantities, it is not drunk. 353] SEVENTH REPORT. 1834. 15 " I met a number of stills," said Mr. , of Connecticut, " on their way to the brass-foundery, to be melted down for andirons, &c." Thus implements of death are converted into implements of utility. More than 1000 vessels are now afloat on the ocean in which ardent spirit is not used. And though they visit every clime and at all seasons, and many of them actually go round the globe, the men who navigate them are in all respects better than when they used it. So manifest and great has been the increase of safety to property and life, that an Insurance Company in Boston has agreed to return five per cent, on the premium of every vessel which has been navigated without the use of spirit. This is done for the purpose of pecuniary gain. And facts abundantly prove that ninety-five per cent, of the premium on vessels in which none of the men use intoxicating drink, would be much more profitable to the underwriters than one hundred per cent, on ves- sels in which they use it. A gentleman in one of our seaports who has had great oppor- tunities for observation, and has paid special attention to this sub- ject, writes, — " I am happy to see a movement in the Insurance Offices in your city. Let them generally offer a premium for temperance ships, and it will be of immense pecuniary advantage to all concerned. I have been a Notary Public, and the only one in this port, for fourteen years, and have had to extend Protests for many wrecked vessels, and can with truth say, that in more than a moiety of the cases, the disaster would not have happened if no rum had been on board. "Insurers can afford to return twenty-five per cent, of the pre- mium, if the vessel insured could be navigated without ardent spirits. The restriction, to be effectual, should obtain in port as well as at sea ; for many of the disasters which have happened immediately after leaving port, were caused by the liquor drank on shore, and before it had lost its influence. You will recollect the case of Captain Lawrence, during the last war. Our country's escutcheon would not have been stained by that defeat, if ardent spirit had not assisted the Lion and the Unicorn. " They ought in the commencement to say to the owners of the vessels — we shall discount from the premium twenty -five per cent, of the amount, if your application shall contain a stipulation that no ardent spirit shall be drunk by the master and men, either in or out of port. "A vessef left this port during the last month (February), and was lost a few hours after she sailed. She had four experienced seamen on board, and three of them were good pilots. Every man was a confirmed drunkard, and the vessel was lost wholly in consequence ef rum !" 16 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. [354 The use of spirituous liquor by officers and men has long been among the chief causes of shipwreck. Should Insurance Offices generally discriminate between temperance ships and others, it would be a source of great pecuniary profit ; and should owners of vessels employ none who use the poison, to navigate them, they would save, annually, an immense amount of property, and multitudes of valuable lives. This subject is exciting increased attention not only in this country, but in Europe. Baring, Brothers, & Co. of London, wrote to their agent in Amsterdam, to know why he had not obtained freights. His reply was, that there were American vessels, commanded by Temperance Captains, taking freight ; and while they remain, none offer to other ships. " A meeting was lately requested by the British Consul at his office, of the owners and agents of vessels chiefly engaged in the transport of steerage passengers from Liverpool and Belfast, in order to consider the most efficacious means of lessening the evils and disasters which have increased so alarmingly of late to passenger vessels — four ships having been wrecked on the Jersey coast near the city during the present year, while the loss of vessels bound to Quebec, and of lives, has been truly appalling. In one sentiment all concurred, viz. that the use of ardent spirits was the chief cause of many evils connected with the passenger trade, and that the total prohibition of spirits on board such vessels, would, more than any other measure, secure safety and comfort — to which might be added, a quick passage. The Consul expressed his thanks to' the gentlemen for their attendance and ready disposition to come into the measure of alone employing vessels for the conveyance of passengers, on board of which no spirituous liquors shall be permitted to be used, and assured them that he would by the next packet make a representa- tionto his Majesty's Secretary of State for the Colonies, who takes so lively an interest in affording protection and comfort to Emi- grants proceeding to the Canadas, so that the government agents appointed at the several ports of embarcation might co-operate, in order to encourage those vessels which come into the salutary regulation." — (JVL" Y. Obs.) The same principle applies to stage-coaches, steamboats, rail- cars, and all means of public conveyance. The men who drink spirit, and act under its influence, can never safely be trusted with the property and lives of men. And as the public sensibility has of late been so often and so grossly outraged as to call loudly for legislative inteference, it is hoped, that those who may be called officially to consider this subject, will not overlook these facts. The Directors of the Boston and Worcester Railroad have 355] SEVENTH REPORT. 1834. 17 voted not to employ any man who even uses ardent spirit. A number of stage proprietors have done the same. The stock- holders of the Connecticut river and the Hartford steamboat com- panies, have requested the directors not to allow any ardent spirit to be kept for sale or use on board their boats. And in many steam- boats in various parts of the country it is not furnished. And it is hoped that the time is not distant, when no man under the influ- ence of the drunkard's poison, will be thought fit to be intrusted with any place of responsibility in the country. More than 10,000 drunkards have, within five years, ceased to use any intoxicating drink. And when sober men all set the example, and treat drunkards kindly, it has been found compara- tively easy to induce them to follow it. More than thirty such cases have occurred in a population of less than 3000 souls.* Let there be the same number in proportion to the population, throughout the United States, and it would make more than 130,000. The salvation of drunkards from this fell destroyer, is evidently in the hands of sober men. And if they will take the course pursued by those who have already been so successful, in less than five years, they will achieve a victory such as creation never saw : save 130,000 drunkards from this double death, and preserve from falling into it 130,000 more. Let them cease to sell the poison, cease to use it, and go, with love in their hearts, and kindness on their tongues, to those who are now twice dead, and well nigh buried, and it will cause them to live. Their life or death is in the hands of sober men. The idea that the kind bounties of Providence can be converted into the drunkard's poison, drunkard-making be carried on, and drunkenness perpet- uated, by drunkards only, is absurd. It never has been, and it never will be done. They have not the intelligence, the pecuniary ability, the foresight, the method, the diligence, and persevering activity in wickedness, which the prosecution of such a vile business requires. Should they attempt it, they would find them- selves prostrated ; and should they continue it, it would kill them. It actually kills a great portion even of those, who, when they enter it, are sober ; and it destroys more than twice as many, in proportion, of their children. What then could drunkards do with it alone ? Should all the drunkards in the world combine to carry it on, it would only destroy them so much the quicker ; and should no sober man touch it, they could have no successors, and the whole mischief would cease. But they will not attempt to prosecute it. It is a business too mean, and too degrading, even for drunkards to prosecute alone. Let all sober men abandon it, and most of the drunkards will abandon it, and those who will not, * Appendix C. 2* IS AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. [356 must soon die, and the last remnant of drunkenness will die with them. It is thus capable of perfect demonstration, that drunkenness can be perpetuated only by sober men. The Committee would, therefore, put it to the conscience of every sober man, Can you, without guilt, enormous guilt, aid in perpetuating that current which is bearing on its bosom hundreds of thousands in the United States, toward interminable wo ? and which is enticing, in every generation, from the peaceful shores of sobriety and comfort, hun- dreds of thousands more, to be borne onward upon the same fiery stream, towards the same eternal doom ? No, you cannot do it, without tremendous guilt. And if you continue to be knowingly accessory to the drunkard's vice and ruin, you must expect, in righteous retribution, to be partakers of the drunkard's woes. And you will expose your children, to have your iniquities visited on them, from generation to generation. A rum-seller in Massachusetts was visited by the wife of one of his customers, who besought him not to sell the poison to her husband. It made him so cruel to her and her children, that she could not endure it. But he let her know that if her husband wanted rum, he should have it. She went away to mourn in silence, and to try to guard her children against the direful influence of him, who, for money, was killing their father. He continued to sell. His customers, from time to time, became drunkards. Their estates fell into his hands. He became a rich man. At length he died ; and went as poor to judgment, as if he had gained nothing by destroying his neighbors. His sons inherited his es- tate. They moved into the Western country. The eldest open- ed a store, and prosecuted the business of his father. He soon, like his father's customers, became a drunkard, and sunk into an ignominious grave. His brother took his place, and prosecuted his business. He too became a drunkard, and was shortly with his brother, in the drunkard's grave. The third and only remain- ing son took the property and prosecuted the business. And when our Secretary, the last winter, passed that way, he was a drunkard, staggering about the streets. And as the father wit- nesses his iniquities visited upon his children, and beholds them coming in such a rapid succession to mingle with those, whom his, and their business have ruined, in the place prepared for them, docs he not feel, that should the way of destroying others, appear even right unto a man, the end thereof is the way of death. " It is found," says Judge Piatt, "that of the tavern keepers and retailers of ardent spirit in the State of New York during the last forty years, more than two-thirds have become drunkards, and reduced their families to poverty and wretchedness. Let us re- double our efforts, by kind entreaty and friendly admonition, to save them from their own worst enemies, themselves." And can 357] SEVENTH REPORT. — 1834. 19 a business which destroys, and there is reason to fear for both worlds, so many of those who prosecute it, and often reduces their families to wretchedness, and makes drunkards of their chil- dren, be continued, without tremendous guilt ? And when we look at the multitudes of others who are ruined by it, and witness its tendency for ever to ruin all who come under its influence, and to perpetuate its destructive effects, to all future generations, the guilt of it rises to an overwhelming magnitude. And diis guilt with its odium, the public sentiment, under the guidance of truth, is fastening more and more where it belongs, on the men who continue to prosecute the business which perpet- uates the evil. This is evident from the voice of the press, and from the manner in which that voice is responded to, by the com- munity. Says the able and eloquent author of Temperance Tales, 100,000 copies of whose writings have, within a few months, been called for by the public, and who by his efforts on this subject is becoming a benefactor of his race, " The respectability of those, who denounce the traffic, as immoral, entitles their opinions, publicly and formally delivered before the world, to the most care- ful consideration of the whole human family. The purity of their motives is beyond suspicion. The universality of their character is obvious : they come from all quarters of the world, and lay aside, as they approach this great common field of philanthropy, the discriminating badges of their various professions, and political opinions, and religious creeds. However unable to agree, upon other matters, they heartily concur in the opinion, and they solemn- ly pronounce that opinion, that the use of ardent spirit as a DRINK AND THE TRAFFIC THEREIN ARE MORALLY WRONG, AND OUGHT TO BE ABANDONED THROUGH THE WORLD. This Opin- ion has been repeated again and again ; by the Congressional Con- vention ; — by the great Convention, at Philadelphia, from all the States ; — by the highly respectable Convention at Worcester ; — by the New York State Convention, at Utica ; — and more recently, by the Convention in the State of Connecticut ; and since, by all the other Conventions, aforementioned. Many of the most eminent men, of this and other countries, have been forward to promulgate and sustain this formal declaration. The reasons, on which it rests, have been scattered abroad upon the earth, like the leaves of the trees. They have fallen upon every dwelling, like the drops of rain. Journals, magazines, circulars, reports, tracts, tales, full of information and interesting narrative, have been dis- tributed with an unsparing hand. " What then, in the shape of an argument, do the venders of spirituous liquors propose, in justification of their continued traf- fic ? — Absolutely nothing. — For a time, it was undoubtedly be- 20 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. [35S lieved by many, that the temperance reform would pass away, like a vapor. Under this belief, the voice of worldly wisdom whis- pered to the venders, that their strength lay in silence and perfect inaction. The continual accession of strength, to the side of Temperance, and the daily diminishing demand for the drunkard's beverage, began, at last, to impair that belief. — Indications of restlessness were occasionally exhibited. ' At a large and re- spectable meeting of the grocers in the city of Boston, it icas unanimously resolved, that they looked, with deep regret, upon the proceedings of the self-styled friends of temperance.'' Nothing could be more natural, than that a body of men, who sold ardent spirit, should look with regret upon the efforts of those, who were combining to persuade the world not to drink it any more. But the friends of temperance were not likely to be diverted from a course, upon which the Father of Mercy might be supposed to vouchsafe a smile of approbation, because the venders of strong drink looked upon that very course, through the dust of self- interest, with ' deep regret.'' " Says the same writer in another place, " What is the drunk- ard's" death? Is it a natural, or an accidental death ? It is obvi- ously not a natural death. The drunkard dies, and upon a careful examination after death, the skilful physician, the highest authority on such a point in a court of law, declares without hesitation that his death was occasioned by spirituous liquor. Can such a death be denominated accidental ? The acts of the dram-seller who sells, and of the drunkard who drinks the alcohol, are voluntary acts ; and the proof, clear and incontestible, that life is shortened and death produced by the use of it, are as universally known and appreciat- ed, as that death is produced by arsenic. Here, then, is the will and the knowledge ; the will to do the act, with a full knowledge of its probable effects. Such can neither be an accidental death, nor a natural death. Can it be possible that when a drunkard dies of hard drinking, somebody is guilty of murder ? — If a man, says Hawkins, in his pleas of the Crown, does an act of which the probable consequence may be, and eventually is, death, such killing may be murder, though no murder be primarily intended. And when the dram-seller does such an act, of which the proba- ble consequence may be, and eventually is, death, such killing may be murder, though no murder may be primarily intended." But though we do not call such killing murder, and though it be not prosecuted as such in human courts, when we consider the numer- ous murders and other deaths to which the traffic in spirit leads, it is perfectly evident that the gains of that traffic are the price of blood; and as such, will be viewed and treated at the judgment day. Says the editor of the Religious Magazine, " All the useful and honest employments of life produce value. 359] SEVENTH REPORT. 1S34. 21 They produce it, either by bringing a useful article from the ground, or by changing the form of the raw material to a more useful, or, in other words, a more valuable one, in a manufactory, or by adding to its value by change of place, in commerce. In all cases the individual creates value, either by producing the arti- cle in which he deals, or by altering its form or its place. Now a portion only of this value, comes to him; the other portion goes to others, whom he supplies, as an inducement for them to deal with him. So that for all the value he produces for himself, he must, on the average, produce an equal amount for others. For example, a carpenter builds a store in a country village, and receives for it a thousand dollars; and of this we will suppose that two hundred and fifty dollars is his clear gain. Now the transaction is not a profitable one to him alone. The trader, who contracts with him, finds the contract of pecuniary advantage to himself, or he would not make it. By putting a portion of his property — the thousand dollars — into the form of a store, he has added to its value to him, or he would not have incurred the risk and responsibility of doing it. And probably it was as much for his advantage to employ the carpenter, as it was for the carpenter to be employed. We say probably as much, because sometimes in transactions of this nature, the advantage may lie mainly on one side; but gene- rally in bargains among men, the advantage will be mutual and equal, and the man who makes ten dollars for himself in any hon*- est and useful calling, enables the man he deals with to make ten dollars too. There is another view we may take of making money in fair and honorable ways. Suppose a physician goes to reside in a town, and in the course of thirty years he lays by, in the honest practice of his profession, ten thousand dollars. This money tnay, strictly speaking, be considered a certificate from the community of the amount of good he has done to others during his residence there. In fact, we may imagine that upon one coin is inscribed, ' This certifies that the bearer saved a child from death in a fever;' on another, ' This piece of money is a token of the relief and com- fort which medical skill procured for an aged man in his last days,' &c. For it is very evident that if the physician understood his profession, and was faithful in the practice of it, for every fee he must have rendered an equivalent of useful service to a family, either in saving life, or assuaging and mitigating suffering. The greater the amount, then, of property he has accumulated by fair and honorable means, the greater is the evidence of the good he has done. There is a very common but most groundless impression, that when a man makes his fortune among a people, he gets the money 27 23 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. [360 out of them, as the phrase is; whereas, it is, as we have shown, in all fair and honest business, just the reverse; he does just as much good to the community as he does to himself. The whole- sale dealer, who clears ten thousand dollars a year by importation, enables a hundred retailers to clear, in all, an equal sum, by retail- ing his cargoes; and the retailers, in turn, by exchanging the foreign commodity for the farmer's products, enable the thousand farmers to clear a like sum, though it may come to them not in cash, but in the means of comfort and enjoyment. These remarks, however, will apply only to the production and exchange of articles which really contribute to the enjoyment or comforts of life, and to services which are really useful in dimin- ishing the sufferings or adding to the happiness of mankind. There are, however, kinds of business, in which a man does make his money out of the community. He takes away from others just as much as he makes himself. For instance, if he man- ufactures and sells a worthless article, he takes the money of his purchasers, and they receive no equivalent. If a manufacturer of counterfeit money gives a counterfeit bill in exchange for a cer- tain commodity, it is plain that he actually steals that commodity. He really makes money out of the community. The counterfeit dealer has, however, this thing in his favor, which some people have not, viz. that what he leaves in the hand of his customers, as the fictitious representative of what he takes away from them, does no hurt. They carry the counterfeit bill a few days in their pockets until they find its worthlessness, and then they simply lay it aside. It does not bite them, nor poison them. It does not destroy their health, and shorten their days: it does not beggar their children, nor break their wives' hearts, nor ruin their souls. In regard, however, to the man who takes his neighbor's prop- erty, and in exchange for it gives him rum, we fear we cannot go by halves, in speaking of either aspect of the transaction. In the first place, he receives his neighbor's money wholly without an equivalent. The rum has no value to him whatever. It is worth- less, and wholly worthless, so that the seller takes the money of another without making any return. This is dishonest — not legal- ly so, we admit, but really so in the eye of God. But this is not the worst of it. The article which is put into the miserable victim's hand, to induce him to give up his money, is not merely worthless — it is destructive. Its direct, well known, universal, and inevitable tendency is, to kill; — to kill soul and body. All he wants is his customer's three cents! He does not wish to kill him. He only gives him what kills him, because that is the only way to get his three cents. He does not wish to de- stroy the man for the very sake of destroying him. He does not 361] SEVENTH REPORT. — 1834. 23 desire, on its own account, to ruin his character, and take away his property, and break his wife's heart, and beggar and starve his children. No; his object is only to get the man's money, and he does these things, because that seems to him the shortest way to secure his three cents. All the money he makes, is worse than taken dishonestly. It is the price of blood! Every dollar he re- ceives, instead of being a certificate of the amount of good he has done, is a certificate of the misery and ruin he has spread around him. His coin should be inscribed, ' This certifies that the bearer has made a man beat his wife.' 'This half dollar is a memorial of four nights of wretchedness, which were given to a whole family in exchange for it. ' ' This bag of money certifies, that the possessor has sent two of his neighbors to the jail, and their wives and children to the poorhouse.' What money for a man to hold in his coffers! It is the price of blood!" This sentiment is abundantly supported by facts. In the bill of mortality of the city of New York, it is stated, that seventy-six were killed by intemperance the last year. And, says an energetic writer, in a document presented to the Common Council by the City Temperance Society, " To this number how many ought to be added of the thirty suicides, how many of the hundred dying of apoplexy, how many of the sixty-nine of casualty, how many of the twelve hundred and fifty-one of consumption, how many of the five hundred and ten of convulsions, how many of the three hundred and five of dropsy in the head, how many of the one hundred and fourteen drowned, how many of the two hundred and forty-nine of peripneumony, might be properly added to the list of intemperate, can only be known at the great day, when all secrets will be revealed. It is believed that one-fourth at least of the enumerated lists might be charged to intemperance ; but sup- pose one-sixth of the numbers mentioned in the specified lists was added to the seventy-six returned intemperate, the matter would stand thus : two thousand eight hundred and twenty-eight in the enumerated list, one-sixth of which is four hundred and seventy-one, add the seventy-six, and the number is five hundred and forty-seven expiring of a licensed poison. Awful thought ! they are all adults, and most of them men, and the heads of fami- lies ! Look at five hundred shipwrecked, no, rumwrecked, fami- lies, the heads of which are dead, leaving, on an average, a wife and four children, making two thousand and five hundred sur- vivors, heirs of shame and sorrow !" And when we recollect that the College of Physicians in Phil- adelphia, after a careful examination, have given it as their opin- ion that seven hundred deaths were occasioned by intemperance, in that city, in a year ; and the physicians of Annapolis have given it as their opinion, that half the men over eighteen years of age, 24 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. [362 who died in one year in that city were killed in the same way, that more than half the men who for years have died in other places, were known to be drunkards, who can doubt but that five hundred and forty-seven is far less than the number who have been annu- ally killed by it, in the city of New York. An equal number in proportion to the population, with those who, in the judgment of the physicians, were killed by intemperance in Philadelphia, would be in New York more than eight hundred, and in the United States more than fifty-six thousand. Surely then the gains of the traffic, which produces such destruction, is the price of blood. Nor are these men screened from the guilt of blood, by the plea, that they do not intend to kill, but only to make money. There is no evidence that even Judas, in betraying his master, intended to kill ; but only to make money. But when death fol- lowed, and he in remorse cast down the money, those who took it up said, " It is the price of blood." And with the knowledge which those have who traffic in this poison, or which they might have, how much more is their gain, the price of blood. Were all those whose lives have been shortened by it, within the last thirty years, to arise from their graves, they would make an army of more than a million of men. And can those who prosecute a business of such results, when inquisition is made for blood, be screened by the plea, that they did not intend to kill, they only wished for money ? When the owner of the ox which was wont to push, did not keep him in, but let him go out, though he did not intend to kill, but only wished for money, yet if he did kill, " the ox," said Jehovah, "shall be stoned and the owner put to death." (Ex. xxi. 29.) Admit the correctness of this decision, of the Judge of the earth, and who can avoid the conclusion, that he who continues the business of sending out the means of death, or when owned by him, permitting it to go out, will, by Jehovah, be condemned. Every conscience enlightened, condemns him now, and, without a change, that condemnation will be eternal. A publication has been issued by the Revival Tract Society, from the pen of A. W. Ives, M. D., New York, entitled, " A Dia- logue between a Dealer in Ardent Spirits and his Conscience;" which has also, during the past year, had an extensive circulation- The following is a specimen of its contents. " Conscience. — How is it possible that you do not see this traffic to be sinful ? Violence, brutal licentiousness, the basest crimes, poverty, misery and death in their most frightful forms flow directly from the use of ardent spirit — nay more than all these, there is nothing else which so effectually shields the heart against the operations of the Holy Spirit, or paralyses the gracious afFec- ilons. 363] SEVENTH REPORT. — 1S34. 25 Dealer. — The morality of this traffic, I conceive to depend entirely upon circumstances. It may be wrong for one man to continue it — to another it is right because it would be ruin for him to abandon it. Now among my own Christian friends, there is one whose whole property is merged in a firm engaged in the commission business; their consignments consist chiefly in West India produce, a portion of which is rum. Those from whom they receive it, care nothing about the temperance reformation, and would immediately transfer their whole business to other con- signees, if these should refuse to receive and sell their rum. Moreover, it so happens that my friend is the only religious man in the concern, and whatever he may wish to do, his partners will not hazard their whole business by refusing to sell the spirit which their neighbors will sell if they do not. Thus situated, is it the duty of a man to give up a respectable and profitable connection? I know another house that advanced large sums to West India planters before the temperance reformation began, and stipulated to receive their produce; that is, rum, sugar and molasses, and reimburse themselves by the sale of it. A large proportion ol their debt is still due, and their obligation still binding. Now would it be right for that concern to violate their contract, and thereby bring ruin upon themselves, and perhaps upon many of their creditors, by refusing to receive and sell the rum? Conscience. — Cases like these I have not failed to consider. They present difficulties, so long as one is trying to serve both God and mammon. But, let a dealer in ardent spirit, even in the peculiar circumstances you have related, exercise the decision of character which becomes him as a man of business, and all em- barrassment will be removed. If he comes to the determination to be influenced by mere worldly expediency, and to set aside the higher motive of religious obligation, he will continue his business. He will regard it as the best policy, because it promotes his tem- poral interest; and this is, in his estimation, paramount to his obligation to God, to his fellow man, and to his own soul. If occasionally he is disquieted, it will be but for a moment, for he will evade the truth, so as to make himself believe, that while pursuing his worldly interest, he is doing his duty. On the other hand, if he sincerely desires to be governed by a rule of righteous- ness, if the path of duty is obscure, he will look for light to the precepts of the gospel; and then instead of doubting whether his business is sinful, because the Bible does not literally forbid the sale of rum, he will look at the spirit of the Christian religion. And whenever a man does this honestly, he will deduce from almost every page of that sacred volume, a principle as clear and as imperative as a 'thus saith the Lord,' — a principle, which hinds him by an everlasting obligation, not to injure his neighbor; 3 27* 26 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. [364 not to be an offence to him; not to partake of his sins. When he finds himself engaged in a sinful traffic, in vain may avarice plead that he was involved in it ignorantly, and that to forsake it will be disastrous to his fortune; in vain may ambition plead that his influ- ence will be impaired, or hypocrisy press the claims of charity and religion; the Christian will reply, ' I have nothing to do with such consequences. When God reveals to me his will, I must obey it.' When the young man in the gospel was commanded to sell all his goods and follow Christ, no doubt he might have pleaded, with plausible casuistry, the innocent and useful emplov- ment of his money, the benefit of his liberality, and the salutary influence of his example. Can the dealers in ardent spirit whose cases you have mentioned, do as much? And why have they less reason to fear that they too will be sent away from the presence of their Master, sorrowing? He laid down his life for them, and what is the sacrifice they are called to make for him, even in these most trying cases? Is it greater than our own patriot fathers made for the freedom of their country? They did not hesitate to pledge 'their lives, their fortunes, and their honor.' Nor did they shrink from their obligation; and does the professing Chris- tian pledge less when he enters into covenant with God? And what if one of those revolutionary heroes should have furnished arms and ammunition for the enemy, because his partner happened to be a tory, or because he had stock on hand, and could not otherwise dispose of it profitably; or because he had contracted for a large quantity of these articles in France before the war began, and could not possibly land them in this country, or oth- erwise dispose of them, than to sell them to British ships of war that were blockading our coasts? What would have been thought of the hero's patriotism? He would have been stigmatized and punished as a traitor. And is a rum-dealing Christian doing less for the enemies of religion? Is he less faithless to the King of kings ? Deal. — I acknowledge this subject is embarrassed with difficul- ties, but it is a morbid conscience that sees and feels them to be all upon one side. Shall I deprive myself of the influence which I now have in society and in the church, by abandoning my busi- ness and voluntarily becoming a poor man ? Shall my children be cut off from the means of education, of a comfortable support, and the expectations of a respectable standing in the community ? Will it be no injury to the cause of religion, that I shall be obliged to withdraw my subscription from the bible, missionary, and tract, and education societies ? Others will continue the traffic if I do not ; and if abuses result from it, I am not answerable for them. Con. — These, indeed, are plausible reasons for persisting in a sinful employment, and the man of the world who is laying up his 365] SEVENTH REPORT — 1334. 27 treasures here, may dwell upon them with complacency. The thought recurs, and presses itself upon me, — I am a professing Christian, and ' if I love not my brother I abide in death.' If J seek not his salvation, I can have no hope of my own. How then can I sustain my influence in society, and in the church, at the expense of the temperance, wealth, comfort, happiness and respectability, of perhaps thousands of my fellow beings ; nay, at the expense of the salvation of their immortal souls ? Shall my children be educated, and hundreds and thousands of others thereby be reduced to ignorance and poverty and ignominy ? Can the cause of religion be supported by making drunkards, and thieves, and robbers, and widows, and orphans, and paupers ? What, though there be those who grow rich by gathering the wages of iniquity, and who fatten upon the blood of their fellow men ; whose hearts are unmoved by the bitter cries of the widow and the fatherless, and who see nothing in the death-bed of des- pair to move their commiseration ; I am a Christian — and can I have feelings and interests in common with such men ? How can the Christian talk of aiding the cause of religion by the gains of a traffic, which, but for the long-suffering and omnipotent grace of God, would ere this have driven religion, sorrowing, from the earth. What poison, like intemperance, ever entered the very heart of the church, was diffused through every portion of her, and trans- mitted a loathsome plague, from one generation to another ? Has not the church sickened and groaned, from year to year, and from age to age, in consequence of this evil ? Have not her children apostatised and fled from their mother's bosom and their father's house, and become vagabonds and wanderers in the earth ? And for what, and why should / participate in perpetuating an evil upon the earth, so destructive to the temporal and eternal happiness of my fellow men, and so offensive to the. God of Heaven ? Let those loho will, continue in this traffic, I dare not be a partaker in their sins. Deal,. — I foresee that we shall be obliged to wind up our busi- ness ; that whether right or wrong I shall never be permitted to pursue it peaceably. I have already been subjected to more trouble than I would have borne, had it not been for an imperative sense of duty to the church and to my family. It is not an easy matter for one, situated as I am, to change or abandon a business that yields him a comfortable support, when he will be obliged in consequence of it, to change the style of his living, and perhaps absolutely to reduce his family to poverty. I will consent, how- ever, not to increase my stock, but to contract my business and take measures, to dispose of the concern as soon as I can do it advantageously. Con. — And pray, do you distrust the power, wisdom, or tbe 28 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. [366 faithfulness of God, that you so reluctantly rely upon his kind providence in taking rare of you, while you are yielding obedience to an obvious duty ? Are you not making gold your hope, and saying to the fine gold, Thou art my confidence ? If God grants your request, in this worldly expediency, be assured he will send leanness into your soul. It is a compromise with the mammon of unrighteousness, unworthy of the character and inconsistent with the faith of a Christian. I have no fear of seeing what the Psalmist never saw, ' the righteous forsaken nor his seed begging bread ;' and instead of insulting the Most High, by virtually pro- claiming my independence of him, I will confidently and cheer- fully commit my all into his hands, with the resolution of Job, that 'though he slay me, yet will I trust in him.' If the traffic you are engaged in be sinful, it will never be more so than it is to-day ; and to continue it in the clear light of this truth, is not merely delaying repentance, it is presumptuously tempting God ; and I am afraid, that while you are winding up your business, he will take away your soul." A similar publication has been issued by the American Tract Society, from the pen of Rev. Heman Humphrey, D. D., Pres- ident of Amherst College, entitled, " Debates of Conscience with a Distiller, a wholesale Dealer, and a Grocer." The following is the close of the debate with the distiller : " Conscience — But I cannot close this interview till I have related one of the dreams to which I just alluded. It was only last night that I suffered, in this way, more than tongue can tell. The whole terrific vision is written in letters of fire upon the tablet of my memory ; and I feel it all the while burning deeper and deeper. I thought I stood by a great river of melted lava, and while I was wondering from what mountain or vast abyss it came, sud- denly the field of my vision was extended to the distance of sev- eral hundred miles, and I perceived that, instead of springing from a single source, this rolling torrent of fire was fed by numerous tributary streams, and these again by smaller rivulets. And what do you think I heard and beheld, as I stood petrified with aston- ishment and horror ! There were hundreds of poor wretches struggling and just sinking in the merciless flood. As I contem- plated the scene still more attentively, the confused noise of boisterous and profane merriment, mingled with loud shrieks of despair, saluted my ears. The hair of my head stood up — and looking this way and that way, I beheld crowds of men, women and children, thronging down to the very margin of the river — some bowing down to slake their thirst with the consuming liquid, and others convulsively striving to hold them back. Some I saw actually pushing their neighbors headlong from the treacherous bank, and others encouraging them to plunge in, by holding up the 367] SEVENTH REPORT. — 1834. 29 fiery temptation to their view. To ensure a sufficient depth of the river, so that destruction might be made doubly sure, I saw a great number of men, and some whom I knew to be members of the church, laboriously turning their respective contributions of the glowing and hissing liquid, into the main channel. This was more than I could bear. I was in perfect torture. But when I expostulated with those who were nearest to the place where I stood, they coolly answered, This is the icay in which we get our living ! But what shocked me more than all the rest, and curdled every drop of blood in my veins, was the sight which I had of this very distillery pouring out its tributary stream of fire ! And 0, it distracts, it maddens me to think of it. There you yourself stood feeding the torrent which had already swallowed up some of your own family, and threatened every moment to sweep you away ' This last circumstance brought me from the bed, by one convul- sive bound, into the middle of the room ; and I awoke in an agony which I verily believe I could not have sustained another moment. Dis. — I will feed the torrent no longer. The fires of my dis- tillery shall be put out. From this day, from this hour, I renounce the manufacture of ardent spirits for ever." The following is a part of the debates between Conscience and the wholesale Dealer : " Con. — 0, when I think of what you are doing to destroy the bodies and souls of men, I cannot rest. It terrifies me at all hours of the night. Often and often when I am just losing myself in sleep, I am startled by the most frightful groans and unearthly imprecations, coming out of these hogsheads. And then, those long processions of rough made coffins, and beggared families, which I dream of, from nightfall till daybreak, they keep me all the while in a cold sweat, and I can no longer endure them. Deal. — Neither can I. Something must be done. You have been out of your head more than half the time for this six months. [ have tried all the ordinary remedies upon you without the least effect. Indeed every new remedy seems only to aggravate the disease. Oh, what would not I give for the discovery of some anodyne which would lay these horrible phantasms. The case would be infinitely less trying, if I could sometimes persuade you, for a night or two, to let me occupy a different apartment from yourself ; and when your spasms come on, one might as well try to sleep with embers in his bosom, as where you are. Con. — Would it mend the matter at all, if, instead of sometimes dreaming, I were to be always wide awake ? Deal. — Ah, there 's the grand difficulty- For I find that when vou do wake up, you are more troublesome than ever. Then you 3* 30 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETT. [368 fire always harping upon my being a professor of religion, and bringing up some texts of Scripture, which might as well be let alone, and which you would not ring in my ears, if you had any regard to my peace, or even your own. More than fifty times, within a month, have you quoted, ' By their fruits ye shall know them.' In fact, so uncharitable have you grown of late, that from the drift of some of your admonitions, a stranger would think infc but little, if any, better than a murderer. And all because some vagabond or other may possibly happen to shorten his days by drinking of a little of the identical spirit which passes through my hands. Con. — You do me bare justice when you say, that I have often reproved you, and more earnestly of late than I formerly did. But my remonstrances have always been between you and me alone. If I have charged you with the guilt of hurrying men to the grave and to hell, by this vile traffic, it has not been upon the house-top. I cannot, it is true, help knowing how it grieves your brethren, gratifies the enemies of religion, and excites the scorn of drunkards themselves, to see your wharf covered with the fiery element ; but I speak only in your own ear. To yourself I have wished to prove a faithful monitor, though I have sad mis- givings, at times, even with regard to that. You will bear me witness, however, that I have sometimes trembled exceedingly, for fear that I should be compelled, at last, to carry the matter up by indictment to the tribunal of Eternal Justice. To avoid this dreadful necessity, let me once more reason the case with you in few words. You know perfectly well that ardent spirit kills its tens of thousands in the United States every year, and there is no more room to doubt that many of these lives are destroyed by the very liquor which you sell, than if you saw them staggering under it into the drunkard's grave. How then can you possibly throw off blood-guiltiness, with the light which you now enjoy? In faithfulness to your soul, and to Him whose vicege- rent I am, I cannot say less than this, especially if you persist any longer in the horrible traffic. Deal. — Pardon me, my dear Conscience, if under the excite- ment of the moment I complained of your honest and continued importunity. Be assured, there is no friend in the world, with whom I am so desirous of maintaining a good understanding as with yourself. And for your relief and satisfaction, I now give you my solemn pledge, that I will close up this branch of my business as soon as possible. Indeed, I have commenced the process already. My last consignments are less, by more than one half, than those of the preceding year ; and I intend that, when another year comes about, my books shall speak still more decidedly in my favor. 369] SEVENTH REPORT. 1834. 31 Con. — These resolutions would be perfectly satisfactory, if they were in the present tense. But if it was wrong to sell five hundred casks last year, how can it be right to sell two hundred this year, and one hundred next ? If it is criminal to poison forty men at one time, how can it be innocent to poison twenty at another ? If you may not throw a hundred fire brands into the city, how will you prove that you may throw one ? Dial. — Very true, very true — but let us wave this point for the present. It affects me very strangely. Con. — How long, then, will it take to dry up this fountain of death ! Deal. — Do n't call it so, I beseech you ; but I intend to be entirely out of the business in two or three years, at farthest. Con. — Two or three years ! Can you, then, after all that has passed between us, persist two or three years longer in a contra- band traffic ? I verily thought, that when we had that long con- ference two or three months ago, you resolved to close the con- cern at once : and that, when we parted, I had as good as your promise, that you would. Surely you cannot so soon have forgotten it. Deal. — No ; I remember that interview but too well — for I never was so unhappy in my life. I did almost resolve, and more than half promise, as you say. But after I had time to get a little composed, I thought you had pushed matters rather too far ; and that I could convince you of it, at a proper time. I see, however, that the attempt would be fruitless. But, as I am anxious for a compromise, let me ask whether, if I give away all the profits of this branch of my business to the Bible Society, and other reli- gious institutions, till I can close it up, you will not be satisfied ! Con. — Let me see. Five hundred dollars, or one hundred dollars, earned to promote the cause of religion by selling poison ! By killing husbands, and fathers, and brothers, and torturing poor women and children ! It smells of blood — and can God possibly accept of such an offering ? Deal. — So then, it seems, I must stop the sale; at once, or entirely forfeit what little charity you have left. Con. — You must. Delay is death — death to the consumer at least ; and how can you flatter yourself that it will not prove your own eternal death ? My convictions are decisive, and be assured, I deal thus plainly because I love you, and cannot bear to become your everlasting tormentor." The following is the close of the debate between Conscience and the Retailer. " Retailer — Ah, I see what you are aiming at ; and really, it is too much for any honest man, and still more for any Christian to bear. You know it is a long time since I have pretended to answer 32 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. [370 half your captious questions. There 's no use in it. It only leads on to others still more impertinent and puzzling. If I am the hundredth part of that factor of Satan which you would make me, I ought to he dealt with and cast out of the church at once ; and why do n't my good brethren see to it ? Con. — That 's a hard question, which they, perhaps, better know how to answer than I do. Ret. — But have you forgotten, my good Conscience, that in retailing spirit, I am under the immediate eye and sanction of the laws ? Mine is no contraband traffic, as you very well know. I hold a license from the rulers and fathers of the state, and have paid my money for it into the public treasury. Why do they continue to grant and sell licenses, if it is wrong for me to sell rum ? Con. — Another hard question, which I leave them to answer as best they can. It is said, however, that public bodies have no soul, and if they have no soul, it is difficult to see how they can have any conscience ; and if not, what should hinder them from selling licenses ! But suppose the civil authorities should offer to sell you a license to keep a gambling house, or a brothel, would you purchase such a license, and present it as a salvo to your conscience ? Ret. — I tell you once more, there is no use in trying to answer your questions ; for say what I will, you have the art of turning every thing against me. It was not always so, as you must very distinctly remember. Formerly I could retail hogshead after hogshead of all kinds of spirits, and you slept as quietly as a child. But since you began to read these Reports and Tracts about drinking, and to attend Temperance meetings, I have scarcely had an hour's peace of my life. I feared that something like this would be the effect upon your nervous temperament, when you began ; and you may recollect that I strongly objected to your troubling yourself with these new speculations. It now grieves me to think that I ever yielded to your importunity ; and beware that you do not push me to extremities in this matter, for I have about come to the resolution that I will have no more of these mischievous pamphlets, either about my store or tavern ; and that your temperance agents may declaim to the winds and walls, if they please. Con. — I am amazed at your blindness and obstinacy. It is now from three to five years since I began to speak (though in a kind of indistinct under-tone at first) against this bloody traffic. I have reasoned, I have remonstrated, and latterly I have threatened and implored with increasing earnestness. At times you have listened, and been convinced that the course you are pursuing, in this day of light, is infamous, and utterly inconsistent with a Christian profession. But before your convictions and resolutions 371] SEVENTH REPORT.— 1834. 33 bavre time to ripen into action, the love of money legains the ascendency ; and thus have you gone on resolving and relapsing, and re-resolving : one hour at the preparatory lecture, and the next unloading whiskey at your door ; one moment mourning over the prevalence of intemperance, and the next arranging your decanters to entice the simple — one day partaking of the cup of the Lord at his table, and the next, offering the cup of devils to your neighbors — one day singing, ' All that I have and all I am, I consecrate to Thee ; ' and the next, for the sake of a little gain, sacrificing your char- acter, and polluting all you can induce to drink ! 0, how can I hold my peace ? How can I let you alone ? If you will persist, your blood, and the blood of those whom you thus entice and destroy, be upon your own head. Whether you will hear, or whether you will forbear, I shall not cease to remonstrate ; and when I can do no more to reclaim you, I will sit down at your eate, in the bitterness of despair, and cry JVLurderl Murder ! ! MURDER ! ! ! Ret. — [Pale and trembling.) Go thy way for this time ; when I have a convenient season I will call for thee." Such are the sentiments inculcated by the press on this moment- ous subject. More than 4,500,000 copies of various publications, containing similar views, have been issued the past year, by the New York State Temperance Society, and vast numbers by other Temperance Societies and individuals in various parts of the coun- try. The eagerness with which they are sought, while they inculcate, with the greatest plainness and power, the gross immoral- ity and enormous wickedness of the traffic in ardent spirit, shows that this truth commends itself to the conscience, and is producing permanent settled conviction in the minds of sober men through- out the nation. And it moves them to a course of efforts which they are resolved, if the Lord will, never to relinquish, till the traffic is exterminated throughout the globe. This may appear to some to be visionary. But the truth, attended by the power of the God of truth, is mighty,- and will prevail. Already its in- fluence on this subject, is extending throughout the world. Numbers in England, Ireland, and Scotland, and throughout the Provinces of that kingdom, have denounced the traffic in ardent spirit, as immoral; and more than 150,000 have joined their Tem- perance Societies. And though they meet with some peculiar dif- ficulties in that kingdom, yet facts demonstrate that perseverance in proper efforts, will, with the Divine blessing, overcome them, and the cause there, as well as here, universally triumph. From Sweden a few years ago we received an application for 28 ^4 ametucan temperance society. [372 the Constitution oT the American Temperance Society and a copy of all the Temperance publications which had been printed in the United States. They were furnished, and numerous Temperance associations have been formed in that kingdom. They have also established a periodical, which is published in the Capital, once in two weeks, called, The Stockholm Temperance Herald. The Crown Prince has lately presided at a Temperance meeting in that city, and openly proclaimed himself the Patron of Tempe- rance Societies. He has also issued his proclamation, and called the attention of all classes to the subject. A few months ago we received from that country an interesting document, entitled, "Temperance and Political Economy, discussed with reference to Sweden;" addressed to the Representatives of the Swedish nation, at the next Diet. It is a closely printed octavo of 216 pages; and shows with great clear- ness not only the importance, but the necessity of the Temperance Reform to the prosperity, if not to the existence of the Swedish nation. In a population of about 3.000,000, the author states that they have 170,000 distilleries; and consume annually 60,104,570 canns (45,078,427 gallons) of distilled liquor; at an expense to the consumers of 62,177,636 Rix dollars, (about $65,000 000.) "This quantity and this value," says the writer, " passes an- nually down Swedish throats, of a drink, of which the first Physi- cians and Physiologists of all countries, declare, that it contains not a single particle of nutritious substance." Well he may, as he does, urge on the government of his coun- try, in order to escape national ruin, the necessity of Temperance Societies, and upon all his countrymen the duty of joining them. " The principle of Christian charity," he says, "makes it the duty of every man who loves his neighbor, to abstain from ardent spirit. Nothing else without this, will save multitudes from perdition. What shall we say of our country, that country whose inhabitants were once distinguished for their industry, prudence, temperance, morality, and noble Christian spirit? That country has now be- come a by-word among the nations, and a subject of scorn, as branded with the appellation of the country of drunkenness. " He then, with all the ardor of a patriot and philanthropist, urges the subject on the immediate attention of the Government, and all classes of the people as of vital importance to all the great interests of the nation. And if they are not lost to all sense of duty, interest, and safety, his exhibitions must, we think, make a deep and abiding impression. To arouse and animate them, he points, as do patriots and philanthropists of other countries, to the example and efforts vf America; and in view of what we have done, endeavors to persuade them to engage in the same blessed cause. 373] SEVENTH REPORT. 1S34. 35 It has often impressed the minds of your Committee, and ought, we think, to impress the minds of all members of this Society and friends of this cause, that we are engaged in a work which is of vital importance not only to our country, but to all nations; and increasing numbers in all countries, as they become acquainted with this subject, begin to view it in the same momentous light. From Dorpot, the seat of the first University in Russia, a gen- tleman writes, and expresses the deep interest which they there begin to feel on the subject of translating into the Esthonian lan- guage, Temperance tracts. " Intemperance," he says, "is the great curse of all the people of the North. The provinces are full of distilleries and the destruction of property, and soul, is very great. " He had just finished the translation of a Temperance tract of the Berlin Society in Prussia, and was about to translate the Essay of our countryman, the Rev. Prof. Hitchcock, on the sin of making and vending ardent spirit, with which he expressed him- self greatly pleased. He then proceeds to urge strongly, that, to which some in this country, in view of the Committee, without any good reason, have been opposed; viz. that every Temperance tract should be " a preacher of righteousness;" and urge men to be temperate, by motives drawn, not merely from time, but also from eternity; that the guilt, as well as the folly of intemperance as a violation of the Divine law ; and that in view of a judgment to come, men should be en- treated on this subject, as well as others, "to be reconciled to God." This view, the Committee have no doubt, is fundamental. Every reformation from sin and death, to be successful, must be prosecuted in the spirit of the gospel ; by motives drawn from the cross of Christ, and with reference to eternity. Nothing else takes hold of the moral nature of man, with a grasp strong enough to control it. And this is peculiarly the case with regard to the Temperance reformation. No general and strongly marked prog- ress was made on this subject, till it was taken up and prosecuted in this manner. And none will continue to be made, after this manner of prosecuting it shall cease. The light of the know- ledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ, is the only light powerful enough to dispel the darkness; and the love of God in the gift of his own Son to redeem men from all iniquity, is the only motive strong enough to lead them to forsake it. It is so in this country. It is so in England. It is so in Russia. It is so every where. Hence the anxiety which the philanthropist feels, that Christ should be the soul of every Temperance tract. He must be the soul of every Temperance effort, that will be generally and permanently successful. And the more men become enlightened, and his love reigns in their hearts, the deeper will be this convic- tion in the minds of all who labor in this cause. 36 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. [374 " We never made any headway," says a gentleman in Great Britain, " in the abolition of the slave trade and of slavery, till it was taken up by religious men, prosecuted as a concern of the soul, with reference to eternity, and by motives drawn from the cross of Christ." Here is the grand instrument of our world's renovation. " This remedy did wisdom find, To heal diseases of the mind." " Our lusts its wondrous power controls And calms the rage of angry souls." From Madras, a gentleman writes, requesting that all the Tem- perance publications may be sent to him. Another gentleman, from Calcutta, gives a very interesting account of a Temperance meeting in that city. In Burmah, Malacca, and in China, the cause is exciting increased attention ; numbers are feeling more deeply its importance, especially in its connection with the spread of the gospel, and are making new efforts to extend it. From Ceylon, Dr. Scudder writes, " One of the most inter- esting circumstances that has transpired has been the annual meet- ing of our Native Temperance Society. The meeting was held in the Church. Cassenathun, the President of the Society, was seated on a mat in front of the pulpit. T. W. Coe, the Secre- tary, was seated at his left. The most respectable part of the heathen were on his right side ; the speakers at the meeting and others, on the left. The meeting was opened by the Secretary's reading several verses of the Scriptures ; and after a few remarks he read the Report. From this it appears, that about three hun- dred and eighty persons have enrolled their names as members of the Society. Many appalling facts were mentioned by several of the speakers. Good effects have already appeared from the meeting. A very respectable man, an officer of the government, who was present, after returning home, ordered that no more toddy* should be drawn from a tree which stood in his garden. Another officer of the government who was present, went the next morning to the market in Changane, and ordered those who had brought tod- dy there for sale, to take it away ; and never again make their appearance there with it." From South Africa, Dr. Phillips writes, "The Governor and his lady, and a few others at the head of our Society, and the Hottentots agree in thinking that Infant Schools and Temperance Societies, are most excellent things. At our Missionary Stations we have found Temperance Societies to be what a person at one of our stations called them, John the Baptist. They are sent to * A species of intoxicating drink, drawn from the Cocoa Nut Tree ; and also .rom the Palmira Tree. 375] SEVENTH REPORT. — 1834. 37 prepare the way of the Lord. Our Missionaries have found their to be the most valuable auxiliaries in promoting the cause of God, we ever had in Africa. We have Temperance Societies at each of our stations ; and I believe that there are very few of our peo- ple who do not conform to their rules. At the new settlement of Kat river we have fourteen hundred members belonging to the Temperance Society in that district. I shall, if possible, get you a copy of the speeches of the Hottentots at our last anniversary meeting of the Temperance Society in that place ; which will give you a better idea of the benefits which the Temperance So- ciety has conferred on that place, than any thing I can say." Temperance Societies have also been formed, and have accom- plished great good in New Holland. And it is interesting to wit- ness the correct views on this subject, which are thus early embraced and propagated in that part of the world. A publica- tion from that country states, " That Societies have at various times been formed in Scotland and other places, the object of which, was, to prevent excess in the use of ardent spirits, not to exclude them ; but that they have universally come to nothing. They proved themselves to be unsound in principle, and therefore could not stand. They did not set out with the incontrovertible truth, that ardent spirit is a poison, to both body and soul. That it is a poison to the body, and a poison not of a very inactive kind, we have abundant proof in this colony where it produces numerous diseases, and destroys the inhabitants of Hobartstown so rapidly that they do not, on an average, live to more than the age of twenty-three years ; while the prisoners at Macquarrie Harbor, who are excluded from the use of spirit, live, on an ave- rage, to thirty-five years, notwithstanding the privations they undergo in being limited to salt provisions. That spirit is a poison to the soul, any person that uses it and attends to the state of his own mind may readily ascertain. He will find that after having taken but a single glass, his moral perceptions of right and wrong are beclouded, and his moral powers of resisting tempta- tions diminished. Sin no longer appears so sinful as it did ; and, having weakened the powers of resistance, he runs the more rap- idly into it." Happy would it be, if these truths, proclaimed so forcibly from New Holland, should carry conviction to all in America. The principle here adverted to, that ardent spirit is a poison, to the body and the soul, and of course that it is wicked to drink it, is fundamental; and all efforts to stay its desolations, that over- look this principle, or set it aside, or proceed as if it were not true, must ever prove abortive. No wonder then, that The one glass a day Societies, that were formed in Scotland and other places, Societies based, not professedly, but really 4 28* 38 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. [376 on the principle of only sinning moderately, came to nought. Such societies must ever come to nought. They overlook the principle, the fundamental principle, of letting alone iniquity, before it is meddled with. The fact that ardent spirit is a poison to the body, shows the reason why it has killed, over wide regions of country, more than one in five of the men who have drunk it ; and why it has annually proved the means of death to more than thirty thousand of our citizens. And the fact that it is a poison to the soul, shows the reason, why, of ninety-five thousand crimes committed in Great Britain, more than seventy thousand were committed under the influence of liquor; and of one hundred and twentv-five thousand, committed in the United States, more than ninety thousand were committed under the influence of the same cause. These, and multitudes of similar facts, show the reason why the traffic in it, to be used as a drink, is, and of necessity ever must be, a violation of the law of God ; an immorality, ol a peculiarly aggravated description ; and, as such, ought, forth- with, to be universally abandoned. And it calls for devout grati- tude to the Author of all good, that this truth is embraced and proclaimed by rapidly increasing numbers, not only in this coun- try, but on the opposite side of the globe. Among the principal means of producing this conviction, have been the Reports of our Society. Wherever they have gone, and been read, they have produced extensively this conviction upon the minds of sober and intelligent men. Many have arisen from the perusal of them, with an impression never before made, and never to be effaced, that the drinking of ardent spirit and especially the traffic in it, are a sin, peculiarly offensive to God, and destructive to the temporal and eternal interests ol men. They were designed for this purpose ; and the evidence is con- stantly accumulating, that could their circulation and perusal be universal, they would, through the Divine kindness, proauce their intended effect. , , , As the first three were out of print, and were often sought lor, the Committee in their Fourth Report gave a history of the for- mation of this Society, and of the Temperance Reformation, from its commencement. They also gave a condensed view of the prominent facts contained in all the other Reports. In that Re- port thev also proved and illustrated the truths that ardent spirit is a poison, the drinking of which is not needful or useful to man; that its use, as a drink, is a violation of the laws of health and ol life ; that it induces and aggravates disease, impairs and olten destroys reason ; that it demoralizes the character, shortens many lives, and ruins many souls. Of course, that the drinking of it is an immorality. That Report was constructed, not on the plan ol bein°- a temporary document, detailing only temporary and 377] SEVENTH REPORT. — 1834. 39 local operations, but on the plan of being, the first of a series of permanent documents; embodying the great principles involv- ed in the Temperance Reformation, the facts by which they are illustrated; the reasons why this work of kindness, should receive the support of all good men; and the benefits, which, should this be the case, would result to our country and the world. It was stereotyped, and has passed through numerous editions in this, and other countries. It has apparently done much, and could it be universally circulated would do much more, to hasten the time when drunkenness shall cease, and the blessings of Temperance universally prevail. The Fifth Report was constructed on the same plan, and was designed to be a continuation of the series, and was paged accor- dingly. In this Report it was shown that the traffic in ardent spirit, to be used as a drink, is also, an immorality; and the reasons were pointed out, why this, as well as the drinking of it, ought to be universally abandoned. This was also stereotyped, has passed through several editions in this country, been reprinted in Eng- land, and copies of it been sent to most parts of the world. In the Sixth Report, which was designed to be the third in the permanent series, and was stereotyped and. paged accordingly, it was shown, that the making, or continuing of laws, to authorise the traffic in ardent spirit, by licensing men to pursue it, is also an immorality. As the drinking of it is immoral, and the furnish- ing of it immoral, it follows of course, that the making or continu- ing of laws to authorise this traffic, by licensing men to pursue it, and thus throwing over it the shield of legislative sanction, is also immor- al and ought to be abandoned. It was shown in that Report, that men have no moral right, even in a state of nature, to traffic in ar- dent spirit, or to authorise others to do it; and that they cannot do either, without violating the law of God ; that they do not, and that they cannot acquire such a right by entering into society, and form- ing civil governments. It was shown that such traffic is inconsis- tent with Temperance; a violation of the first principles of political economy; tends to impair the health; derange the intellect, and corrupt the morals of the community. Of course, that it is a m, the sanction of which, by making or continuing laws to license men to pursue it, is necessarily wrong. And not only were these truths proved, but the principles in the nature of man, and the government of God were illustrated, and the reasons exhibited why the abovementioned evils ever have resulted, and while it is continued ever must result, from that nefarious traffic. The con- clusion was that those who understand this subject, and yet are instrumental in making, or continuing laws which sanction this traffic, by licensing men to pursue it, will at the Divine, tribunal, and ought, at the bar of public opinion, to be held responsible for their effects. 40 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. [379 But to this view there were two objections. The first was. " That the sale of ardent spirit should be licensed in order to restrain and prevent it." To this it was answered, "that the licensing of it for half a century had not restrained and prevented it; but that under such license, it had continued to increase, until it had wellnigh proved our ruin. It was also stated that the licensing of sin is never the way to prevent or restrain it; but is the way always to sanction and perpetuate it. It teaches the doc- trine, that if practised according to law, it is right, a doctrine which is . false and fatal. It tends to prevent the efficacy of truth and of facts in producing the conviction that, whether legal or illegal, according to human statute, it is nevertheless wicked. And, of course, the laws which license it are wicked laws." The other objection was, " That if legislators do not license men of conscience to sell ardent spirit, men of no conscience, in such great numbers, will sell it, that the evil will be overwhelm- ing." To this it was answered, "That it is not necessary to license counterfeiters, to prevent the community from being del- uged with base coin. It is not necessary to license gamblers, or swindlers, in order to prevent the community from being over whelmed with their mischief. No more is it needful to license men to sell ardent spirit. If wicked men, in opposition to the influence of moral means, will prosecute a wicked business, which corrupts our youth, wastes our property and endangers our lives; the com- munity, in this free country, this land of liberty, have the power and the right, without licensing iniquity, to defend themselves from its evils.. This opens the door, and the only door, which truth and duty ever open for legislation with regard to sin; not to license and sanction it, but to defend the community from its mischiefs; and in such a manner as is best adapted to deter the tricked from transgression, and promote as far as practicable their good and tli,e good of the community. And this is the change in legislation with regard to the sin of trafficking in ardent spirit, which the cause of temperance, of patriotism, of virtue and of God, now imperiously demands. Treat this vice, as other vices are treated, and there will be no difficulty in branding it with infamy. Let legislators, chosen by the people and respectable in society, license any sin, and it tends to shield that sin from public odium; and to perpetuate it, by presenting for it a legal justification. ' He that justifieth the wicked, and he that condemneth the just; even they both are an abomination to the Lord.' Let all sanctioning by law of this abominable traffic be for ever abandoned; and if the rising indignation of a deeply injured, and long suffering community does not sweep it away, and men are still found base enough to continue to scatter the estates of their 379] SEVENTH REPORT. — 1834. 41 neighbors, to fill our almshouses with paupers and our penitentiaries with convicts, to make wives more than widows, and children doubly orphans; to decoy our youth, and sink them to a premature and an ignominious grave, — the people, if they choose, by the arm of legislation can undertake the holy, righteous, and indispensable work of self defence. And as all political power is in their hands, it will be found to be a work which is practicable. The wisdom of legislators chosen without the aid of ardent spirit, and the pat- riotism of statesmen who do not use it, or rely upon it for sup- port; but who rely on the righteousness of their cause, the good sense and virtue of their constituents, and the gracious aid of their God, will be abundantly sufficient to the exigency of the case. If necessary to protect our property, our children, and our lives, and there is no other, or no better way to do it, how perfectly easy, and how perfectly just, whenever the people generally shall desire it, to indict at common law the keeping of a grog-shop as a public nuisance; or to provide by statute that those who make paupers shall support them; and those who excite others to commit crimes shall themselves be treated as criminals. And in the necessary, the magnanimous, the glorious work of legal self defence from an evil, which, in defiance of public sentiment, of reason, religion, humanity, and of God, would roll over earth a deluge of fire, and annihilate the hopes of the world, legislators may expect, in pro- portion as the subject is understood, the united and cordial sup- port of all good men. The point to be decided, to be decided by legislators of these United States, to be decided for all coming posterity, for the world, and for eternity, is, Shall the sale of ardent spirit as a drink be treated in legislation, as a virtue, or a vice? Shall it be licensed, sanctioned by law, and perpetuated to roll its all-per- vading curses onward interminably? Or, shall it be treated, as it is in truth, a sin? And if there shall, in future, be men base enough to continue to commit it, shall the community, in self de- fence, by wise and wholesome legislation, as far as practicable and expedient, shield themselves from its evils; and if these evils must, through the wickedness of men, continue to exist, let them fall, as leniently as the public safety will permit, alone on the heads of their authors? " This Report has also been stereotyped and paged as a continu- ation of the permanent series. Twenty-five thousand copies of the whole, or parts of it, have been printed, and nearly all put in cir- culation; making of the three last Reports and parts of them which have been printed in this country, about 325,000 copies. A copy of the last Report has been put into the hands of each member of Congress, and a copy of that part of it on the immoral- ity of the License Laws, into the hands of each member of sev- 4* 42 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETT. [380 eral of the State Legislatures. It has also been sent to numerous gentlemen of distinction in this and other countries. As it proceeded one step farther than either of the former Re- ports, and so far as the Committee know, farther than any previous publication on this subject ; and not only' called in question the morality, but, in view of the Committee, proved conclusively, the decided and strongly marked immorality of a part of legisla- tion, which has long received extensive sanction and support, the Committee were anxious to have it receive the careful examina- tion of a number of distinguished physicians, and divines, jurists and statesmen; and to obtain from them an expression of their views on the subject. They therefore sent a copy of it to a num- ber of them in different parts of the country, with the two following inquiries, viz. "I. Are the principles exhibited in this Report in your view correct, and the arguments sound? "II. What would probably be the effect on the great interests of the community, should the people generally, and legislators, choose to have all legislation on this subject conformed to those principles?" The following are extracts from answers which have been received : From the Hon. Samuel Fletcher, of New Hampshire. — "I have read that portion of the Report to which you referred, and have examined it with the more care, because your questions seem to imply that objections, from sources entitled to consideration, have been made against ' the principles and arguments' therein advanced. And after much reflection on the subject, both before and since I read the Report, I have come to the conclusion that, in my judgment, ' the principles exhibited are correct, and the arguments by which they are supported are sound ' and incon- trovertible. And that ' should the people generally, and the legislators, choose to have all legislation conformed to these prin- ciples, the effect upon the social, civil, and religious interests of the community,' would be at once, and extensively benign, and productive of public peace and individual happiness. If any objections are sustained by good and valid reasons, I have not been able to discover those reasons. "And here I might, perhaps most properly, close my reply ; but had I more leisure, I would, in justice to my views of the great importance of the subject, and to render my humble support to the American Temperance Society in their noble and arduous enterprise, present some of the reasons which have produced in my mind the conclusion above stated. But at present I can do little more than to express my full concurrence in the reasonings and conclusions of the Committee in their Report. The whole 381] SEVENTH REPORT. 1834. 43 question, I think, is there stated and discussed with great ability and candor ; and although the unqualified declaration, that ' all legislation relating to the sale of ardent spirit is sinful,' may seem bold and startling to the mind which has contemplated the subject as clothed with the sanction and authority of law, and justified by long established custom ; yet I doubt not that the same mind, relieved from the influence of prejudice, will accord its entire approbation of the proposition." From the Rev. Francis Way land, D. D., President of Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island. — " Your letter of Nov. 1 1 , requesting my views respecting the principles and arguments of the American Temperance Society, on the subject of laws for the licensing of spirituous liquors ; and also respecting the general adoption of those principles by legislators, is before me. I embrace the earliest opportunity to return you an answer. I believe the arguments on this subject, presented in the last Report of the Society, to be sound, and the conclusions to which they lead correct." After stating a course of thinking somewhat different from that mentioned in the Report, by which his own mind had been led to the same result, he adds, " Now to all this, I know of but two objections that can be urged. I. It may be said that the grocer's property is his own, and he has a right to use it in any manner he pleases. 1. Now this is manifestly false. A grocer has precisely the same right in his property as any other man, and he has no more. He has no right to employ his property in the slave trade, nor in the pur- chase and sale of counterfeit money, nor in the manufacture of false keys. All this every one sees. It is not then true of him or any one else, that he has a right to use his property as he pleases. 2. His right in his property is the same as that of any other man ; it is the right of using it for the promotion of his own happiness in any manner he chooses, provided he do not so use it as to diminish the innocent happiness of his neighbor and of the community. Now, as the traffic in ardent spirits does diminish that happiness, he has no right to use it in this manner. II. Again, it may be said, that this traffic is necessary for the purposes of revenue. This objection carries its refutation along with it, since it has been abundantly and repeatedly proved that the public expenditure in the cost of pauperism and crime arising from drunkenness, is ten-fold greater than the income which under any possible circumstances can accrue from the traffic in ardent spirits. I therefore think the prohibition of the traffic in ardent spirits a fit subject for legislative enactment, and I believe that the mosr happy results would flow from such prohibition." 44 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. [382 From the Hon. Mark Doolittle, of Massachusetts. — "With pleasure do I comply with your request in expressing to you my views relative to the principles and the arguments contained in the sixth Report of the American Temperance Society, bearing on the laws authorising the traffic in ardent spirits as a drink ; and the effects upon the interests of the community, should legislators and the people generally conform to these principles. This sub- ject has been discussed and deliberately acted upon during the last year, by the National Convention at Philadelphia, and by con- ventions in Massachusetts and New York, &c, and the principles expressed in the Report adopted by each of those highly respect- able bodies, and from a careful review of this subject, the reasoning which brings the mind to these conclusions, appears so direct and conclusive diat no room is left for doubt — there are no abstract or unsettled principles in the case, on which the mind can linger in suspense. The position taken in the Report, is, that laws authorising the traffic in ardent spirits as a drink are morally wrong. In what- ever aspect this subject is viewed — by whatever course of reason- ing we are guided in our inquiries, we are brought to the same conclusion. The seal of everlasting reprobation and abhorrence upon this traffic is, that it has no redeeming qualifications — it never has done men any good, and from the nature of the case, it never can. Is there any other article which the community would sustain for a single day as the object of commerce among men, that should produce precisely the same effects upon the community that ardent spirits produce ? Can the imagination encircle within its scope an employment for men, the direct effect of which is to destroy the physical, the intellectual and moral powers of men ; spreading disease, poverty, misery and death through the commu nity, thai is not morally wrong ? If this traffic, is morally icrong, it is the duty of individuals to discontinue it, and of government to withhold from it its sanctions. Government is instituted for the common good. Every subject of that government has a right to claim from it protection and security against the violation of his rights. The direct and inseparable consequence of this traffic, is, to violate the most sacred rights ; to sunder the bonds of society, and bury in everlasting forgetfulness the duties which the dearest relations in life impose. There is not a tie which binds man to his fellow man, that has escaped its direful touch. The question arises, what ought legislators to do on this subject ? I answer, place the article on the contraband list, and make the traffic in it penal, as deadly to the best interests of men. I would gravely ask, are not the evils arising from the traffic in ardent spirits as dangerous and destructive to the community as those that arise 383] SEVENTH REPORT. — 1834. 45 from the traffic in lottery tickets ? Nay, are they not much more so ? There was a time when the traffic in lotteries was sanc- tioned by Christian legislators — none appeared to question such enactments in their moral tendency — but their effects were found to be pernicious, and penalties have been substituted for licenses, for those who carry on the trade. By a careful examination of the laws authorising lotteries, they were found to induce idleness, dissipation of mind and morals, and crime, and a neglect and violation of the relative duties of life. These laws had the argument of revenue for their support. The fallacy of this, as well as all others for their support are now seen, and the whole system by common consent is abandoned. The system of revenue which impairs the health, the peace, the domestic and social comforts, the means of usefulness, the physical and moral energies of a people, is a revenue of death. To that people, nothing can be gained by spreading such pesti- lence through the land. Why is not a government bound to pro- tect its subjects against unwholesome drinks as well as against unwholesome food ? If one sells unwholesome food, he suffers the penalty of the law. If he sells unwholesome drink, a dollar to the government atones for the wide-spread ruin which it pro- duces. By what authority does a government make such a grant ; and barter the health and the lives of their subjects for revenue ? Is it granted by the statutes of Heaven to earthly gov- ernments ? Or, have the men of this world clothed their fellows with the high prerogative ? Does the money paid as revenue vary the moral character of the law ? or sanctify its influences on the community ? It is exceedingly difficult to discover, how revenue, when it was derived to the government, can act as a purifier. And if it does not, the law, when divested of this imposing attire, stands thus : Be it enacted, that whosoever will, may sell and dispose of to whomsoever he pleases, a deadly poison, and by his trade consign thirty or forty thousand men, women, and children annually in the United States, to their graves. With a full view of all the dread realities of his traffic, while he is so promptly executing the laws, doubting, during the whole pro- cess, as he would have us think, whether there is any thing morally wrong in all this. Morally wrong — there is a cruelty in this traffic, and in its legal sanctions — it is a refinement on cannibal cruelly — a sacrifice to fires more deadly to body and soul, than were ever kindled at the funeral pile of Pagans." From the Rev. Wilbur Fisk, D. D., President of the Wes- leyan University, Middletown, Connecticut. — "I have read and fully approve of the sentiments advanced in the Sixth Annual Report of the American Temperance Society, on the subject of legalizing the traffic in ardent spirits. The arguments in opposi- tion to the license system-arc unanswerable. 29 4t) AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. [384 With respect to the ' probable effects upon the great interests of the community,' if the principles there advanced should be acted upon, I am decidedly of the opinion that they would be good ; nay, that this, and this only will remove a serious obstruc- tion to the advancement of the temperance cause. I think the course proposed in the Report should be adopted, relying upon the God of justice to sanction, by his providence, what his righteousness requires at our hands." From Gerrit Smith, Esq., New York. — " I have attentively read the whole of the Sixth Report of the American Temperance Society, and can say, from the bottom of my heart, that the whole of it is good. You ask, ' whether the principles and arguments are sound,' in that part to which you particularly refer me ? They are sound — they are irresistible. And they will prevail, unless some new causes arise to lessen the intelligence and to blunt the moral sense of the American people. If the traffic iu ardent spirit is immoral, then of necessity are the laws which authorise the traffic, immoral. And if the laws are immoral, then must we be immoral, if we do not protest against them. We are the subjects of a republican government. It is fairly inferred, that under such a government, every voter has a share in making the laws. We are responsible for the character of the laws. The license laws should be repealed, because thsy are an awful snare to the consciences of many. Unwise and sinful as it is for them to do so, it is nevertheless true, that many persons graduate their morals by the laws of the land, instead of the laws of God. How careful should this consideration make us to suffer nothing to have a place in our statute book, the natural tendency of which, is, to induce men to sin. But what powerful persuasives to sin are the license laws ? How idle to hope that all engaged in the traffic will abandon it, while these laws remain unrepealed. Many will cherish this self justification under the shield of the laws ; and whose arm will be strong enough to send the shafts of conviction into the conscience through such a shield ? And if this shield be broad and thick enough to shield the vender of ardent spirit, it must be to shield the maker and the drinker of it. And thus the laws aid in perpetuating these evils. But it is said, that the laws themselves intimate the immorality of the traffic, by for- bidding any to engage in it, unless they will pay a sum of money. But if the laws are to be credited with any thing on account of this note of remonstrance, on the other hand, they are guilty of teaching the dangerous doctrine that absolution from sin can be purchased with money ; and that for a few dollars a man may, with impunity, murder the bodies and souls of men." From Edward C. Delevan, Esq., Chairman of the Executive Committee of the New York State Temperance Society. — "The 385] SEVENTH REPORT. — 1834. 47 Sixth Report of the American Temperance Society makes a most favorable and powerful impression. It is viewed by our friends, as the most interesting and weighty document which your Society has ever published, and it is doing immense good." From the Hon. George Sullivan, Attorney General of the State of New Hampshire. — " I have read with particular attention that part of the Report of the American Temperance Society, to which you referred in your letter. The principles contained in it, are, in my opinion, correct ; and are supported by arguments the most solid and convincing. The right of the legislature of any State to allow its citizens to trade in ardent spirits, may well be questioned ; to do this is, in my view, morally wrong. Experience has clearly proved, that the necessary tendency of intemperance is to produce idleness, poverty, and crime ; and it is apparent, that so long as the legis- lature shall tolerate such a traffic, intemperance will exist. Every member of the legislature of a State should consider what a weight of responsibility rests on him. If he vote in favor of a law per- mitting a traffic in ardent spirits, although he may abstain from the use of them himself, and may, at times, declaim against intemper- ance, he destroys entirely the influence of his example, and renders ineffectual every thing he can urge against that vice. The man, who, as a legislator, places himself on the side of intemperance, can never, as a private individual, act efficiently against it. If the legislature of a State permit, by law, a traffic, which produces poverty with all its sufferings ; which corrupts the mor- als, and destroys the health and lives of thousands of the commu- nity, they defeat the great and important end for which government was established. If they, whose right it is to make laws, should act in confor- mity to the principles referred to, the effects upon the social, civil, and religious interests of the community would, in my view, be salutary and happy." From the Hon. Joseph Henry Lumpkin, of Georgia. — " I have bestowed much thought on the pamphlet which accompanied your letter of the 2Sth February. My deliberate opinion is, that the principles contained in it are correct, and the arguments by which they are supported, sound. I entertain no doubt but that the laws which authorise the ' traffic in ardent spirits as a drink, by licensing men to pursue it, are morally wrong.' The grounds hitherto occupied in defence of these laws, are, mostly, abandoned. Conscientious and respectable men still insist, that their object and tendency are, to restrain and not to encourage the sale and use of spirit. Now, lam not familiar with the legis- lation of other States on this subject, but from observation I am well satisfied, that the paltry sum of five dollars paid in this State 48 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. [386 for licenses to retail spirituous liquors, has never deterred one individual from engaging in the traffic. Witli the light now diffused, legislators will have to advance, or else retrace their steps and repeal the many unwholesome provis- ions already enacted to prevent offences against the public police, health, and morality. A physician or surgeon wilfully endeavor- ing to spread the small pox ; a butcher selling the flesh of diseased animals, or a baker unwholesome bread, are severally liable to be indicted and punished. Indeed, all nuisances which tend to annoy the community, or injure the health of the citizens in general, or which tend to corrupt the manners and morals of the people, subject their authors to severe penalties. I repeat it, these salutary enactments must be blotted from the statute-book, or an additional clause must be adopted to include the vender of ' distilled damnation,' who fills his neighborhood with 'lamenta- tion, mourning, and woe,' by supplying every family with that which but seldom enriches him, and makes them poor, and miser- able and wicked. But, sir, not only must our criminal code be reformed, if we would maintain consistency. Our civil jurisprudence must like- wise be rectified. No contract is valid unless founded on a good or valuable consideration. Wanting this ingredient, it is styled a nude-pact ; on which no suit or action can be brought. Let our law-makers discard forthwith this doctrine as a legal absurdity, however vene- rable for its wisdom and antiquity, or direct our judicial tribunals, to consider and determine, that all contracts for the sale of ardent spirits come within its purpose and meaning. Georgia has taken one step to correct this fundamental evil and error. She has expelled the poison from the seat of her University, and tested in tioo counties, the authority to grant or refuse licenses. In one of them (Liberty), with a population of between seven and eight thousand souls, not one drop can be purchased." From John C. Young, President of Centre College, Danville, Kentucky. — " Every principle in the Report is correct, every argument sound, and the conclusion irresistibly established, that laws authorising the sale of ardent spirits as a drink, are morally wrong and injurious to society. The persevering dissemination of such principles and arguments will, in time, bring the public mind to regard the licensing of this traffic as a thing no more to be tolerated than the licensing of gambling houses. Question 2d. Answer. It would require many pages to give a full answer to this question, as its effect would be to abolish the use of ardent spirits as a drink, and thus free the community from *Jbs leF'ov'Y'b-o r\zz,*?& to which this use has given birth. Though 387] SEVENTH REPORT. — 1834. 49 the prohibition of gambling-tables does not entirely root out gamb- ling, the prohibition of the sale of ardent spirits would entirely prevent their use ; for the temptation of the unlawful gains would be small in the latter case, compared with what it now is in the former ; and detection would be inevitable in the latter case, while it is difficult in the former, as the very breath of the dram- drinker would lodge information against his haunt, while the gambler bears about with him no traces of the den which he frequents." From the Rev. Heman Humphrey, D. D., President of Amherst College, Amherst, Massachusetts. — " I have read your Sixth Report, from p. 44, to p. 69, attentively, and with great satisfaction. The principles there laid clown, rest, as I fully believe, upon the basis of eternal truth — of love to God and universal good will to men ; and the arguments by which these principles are enforced, cannot be answered nor shaken. It is as plain to me as the sun in a clear summer sky, that the license laws of our country constitute one of the main pillars, on which the stupendous fabric of intemperance now rests. Take away this support, and I do not see how its tottering walls could stand before the heavy artillery by which they are assailed, for a single year. But how can they ever be overthrown, so long as they are sustained at every angle, by the strong buttresses of — shall I say Christian legislation ! As matters now stand, thousands will commit their consciences for safe keeping to the statute books. They will insist upon it, that a traffic, which the laws of twenty- four enlightened states countenance and protect, cannot be wrong. And so long as the monster intemperance has a body-guard, of three or four thousand grave and disciplined legislators to defend him, how can the friends of humanity, of morality and religion, follow up the work which they have so auspiciously begun, and rid the land of his carcass ? Ah, how complacently he sits within the lines, upon his throne of human skeletons, quaffing blood and tears, and delighting his ear with the agonies that burst from ten thousand breaking hearts, every moment of every day and every night in the year ! The time is but just gone by, when it was necessary to go into a long and labored argument to prove, that the making and vend- ing of ardent spirit is an immorality ; and that all the license laws, are in their spirit and effects, at war with High Heaven — Thou shaft not kill. But I do hope, that in almost every section of our country, ' the darkness is now past.' Who will say, that it would be right to plant and cultivate the deadly upas in every town, and village, and hamlet in the land, and to encourage the work of death by legal enactments ? Who would not be horror- struck, if seventy-five, or a hundred thousand men in these United 5 29* 50 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. [388 States were to go into the business of importing, and raising, and selling fiery flying serpents : and what epithet would be applied to such legislation, were every State government to license this great army of destroyers for the public good ? And yet were all the serpents and beasts of prey upon the face of the earth to be let loose upon our people, they would not be half so destructive of life and happiness, as are the fires of the distillery, and the trade in its concocted poisons." From the Hon. Theodore Frelinghuysen, United States' Senator from New Jersey. — " I have read with great satisfaction the Sixth Annual Report of your Society : and especially that por- tion of it between pages 44, and 69, on the immorality of author- ising by law, the traffic in ardent spirit, as a drink. It is almost unnecessary to say, how fully and heartily I concur, in the views and principles, that are therein so ably sustained. If the use of ardent spirits be wrong, it seems to be a result, of inevitable deduction, that the traffic in it is, at least equally so. And hence, while many have ridiculed, I have always honored, the conduct of those persons, who, under honest convictions of the evils of intemperance, have renounced all connection and terms with ardent spirits, broken in the head of the cask, and poured out the destructive poison on the ground. This was a noble tribute to principle, that would not hesitate between the cold calculations of avarice, and the high claims of duty, and the peace of a pure conscience. How can a just mind engage in a commerce, all the details of which are fruitful of evil ? The use of ardent spirit is attended by peculiar circum- stances. It is not an ordinary and harmless beverage, as to which, every man may be safely trusted, with his own keeping. But it is an insidious and dangerous practice, that gradually forms an artificial and depraved appetite. It deranges and inflames the whole organic system of the body, aggravates instead of allaying thirst, and creates an inward craving, that has, in some cases, seemed to me like the gnawings of despair. And worse still. This habit relaxes the hold of good prin- ciples, by impairing the moral sense. A man's self-respect, falls among its first victims. These sad results are confined to no class or condition. The strong men and the feeble, are equally exposed to its ravages. The truth is, (and every grave-yard proves it) the man who habitually drinks ardent spirit, no matter how temperately, has cause to tremble ; for his danger is not only real, but imminent. To a subject, therefore, of such peculiar and dreadful energy, reaching so far, and assailing so many interests, we must apply peculiar remedies. It is mere tampering with temptation, to come short of positive, decided, and uncompromising opposition. 389j SEVENTH REPORT 1S34. 51 We must not only resist, we must drive it. To stand on the defensive merely, is to aid in its triumph. The second inquiry which you have proposed, presents one of the most interesting questions of public duty. The ground taken in your Report, is, beyond all serious controversy, among the clearest and soundest conclusions of right reason : ' That the laws which authorise the traffic in ardent spirit as a drink, by licensing men to pursue it, are morally wrong.' Lawmakers are, of all men, bound to seek the public good. So broad is this duty, that they are under peculiar obligations to consecrate the influence of a pure and personal example, to the promotion of the general welfare. But first of all, should their legislation be pure; not only preventive of evil, but persuasive to good. No man, fit to represent a free people, will deny these propositions. Then what can we urge in excuse for the counte- nance, given to the use of ardent spirit, on almost every statute book ? On one page, you will read of heavy penalties denounced against drunkenness, riots, and public disorders ; and the next chapter, authorises the retail of the very poison, which all admit, brings on these outbreaking transgressions. Who can recon- cile these glaring contradictions ? It is time, every reflecting mind exclaims ; it Is high time to emancipate ourselves from these humiliating practices. The use of ardent spirit has introduced a course of reasoning and conduct, that libels human nature. Who can dwell upon it without feelings of shame, that we should have gravely provided by public law, that if men will pay for the mis- chievous faculty, they may set up a tavern, and sell as much rum as they please, short of drunkenness ; may scatter firebrands and death all around them ; beguile unwary youth, and poison the very fountains of moral purity ; and inflict an amount of injury on the vital interests of the community, that neither time nor law can repair. I rejoice, my dear sir, that you are endeavoring to bring this subject before the scrutiny of public men. You cannot fail, in a purpose so fraught with benefits. We owe it to our history — to our free institutions, and above all, we owe it to Him, whose benignant providence has so richly blessed us, that we purify our laws. And if men will engage in this destructive traffic, if they will stoop to degrade their reason and reap the wages of iniquity, let them no longer have the law-book as a pillow ; nor quiet con- science by the opiate of a court license. I am persuaded, that the course of past legislation has greatly increased the evil of which we complain. How could it be other- wise ? Men can hardly avoid looking up to the halls of legislation for standards of duty ; they expect to find models there, that may be safely followed ; and when these high places have deliberately 52 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. [390 sanctioned the use of ardent spirits, when under legal regulations, the conclusion has been natural and prompt, that when it was clothed in these legal forms, it was not only excusable, but lawful. Men would not take time to question the moral power of a legis- lature to make that right, which God declares to be wrong. The lamented fact has been, they did not wish to believe in any defect of power, they loved to have it so, and accordingly reposed on the plausible authority of a positive statute. I trust and pray, that light will very soon become strong enough to expose all these delusions, and that by your laudable efforts and the blessing of God, our public men, our stale and national legislatures; with the whole body of our people, will address to this subject, the just and deep reflection that it deserves ; and will, with heart and hand, by one combined and blessed effort, shake off, for ever, the bondage under which our land has groaned." From the Hon. David Daggett, Chief Justice of the State of Connecticut. — " You requested me to read the Report of the Committee from page 44 to 69, and to give an opinion whether i the principles there exhibited are correct, and the arguments by which they are supported, sound. ' — On this question I cannot enter- tain a doubt. The argument appears to me irresistible. To make or sell ardent spirit, for common use, is as wicked as to make or sell poisons for the same purpose. It being admitted that the use of this article is destructive to health, reputation and property, (and the proof of this fact is overwhelming,) it follows, conclusively, that those who make it and sell it, sin, with a high hand, against God, and the highest interests of their fellow men. The blood of mur- dered souls and bodies will be required at their hands. Your second inquiry is, ' What, in my view, would be the ef- fects upon the social, civil and religious interests of the community, should the people generally, and legislators, choose to have all legislation conformed to those principles.' Beyond a doubt, the effect would be most salutary upon all those 'interests.' Pre- eminently would this be the effect in this our American Republic; for it is now true, as it always has been, and always will be, that virtue is essential to a republican government. Those who care nothing for any thing but office and its emoluments and honors, may ridicule this idea, render it unpopular and destroy its efficacy, but they should recollect that it will remain a truth, and that those nations who discard it, or who do not recognise it as a cardinal principle, will feel and realize its loss in the destruction of all the vital interests of society. I will only add, that, in my view, the great source of intemperance is to be found in grog-shops and tip- ling-hou^o^, those ' outer chambers of hell.' When public opinion shall place those who fqrnish the means of this destructive viceT 391] SEVENTH REPORT. 1S34. 53 on a level with thieves and counterfeiters, then, and not till then,) may we expect to see our land purged from this abomination. Accept, sir, for yourself, and your associates, my ardent wishes and fervent prayers for your success in the cause of humanity, morality and religion, in which you are engaged." From the Hon. John Cotton Smith, former Governor of the State of Connecticut. — " To your first question I readily answer, that, in my view, the principles assumed by the Committee, are sustained by arguments which must carry conviction to every un- prejudiced mind — by a course of reasoning, in short, which is alike eloquent and unanswerable. The second question is not so easily answered, and yet is attended with no intrinsic difficulty. I am decidedly of opinion, that all laws for licensing and regulating the sale of ardent spirit ought to be instantly repealed. First, because if intended as a source of revenue, they are manifestly immoral. Secondly, if considered as sumptuary laws which by their operation are designed to restrain the sale and consumption of that article, they are wholly inefficient: indeed, I fully concur with the Committee in the belief that these acts, by legalizing, do actually increase the traffic and the consumption. Although public opinion, in relation to this great object, may not be perfectly matured, I apprehend it is sufficiently so to give effect to the remedial provisions of the common law, whenever the licensing system shall be abolished. That there are prin- ciples in the common law of the land, precisely adapted to the case, both of the distiller and the vender, and remedies commen- surate with the evils they occasion, is well known to every Jurist. Show, what is now rendered indisputable, the injurious effects of these trades upon life and health, and the common law stands prepared to administer at once the desired relief. And hap- pily for us its principles and its remedies are uniform throughout all the States of the Union, unless restrained or modified by posi- tive legislation. Let informing officers, then, and courts and juries do their duty, and the day of redemption from the sorest curse of the civilized world cannot be distant. One thing is cer- tain, if the officers of justice shall neglect or refuse to enforce the provisions of the common law, neither would they be persuaded to execute any legislative enactments of a prohibitory nature which the wit or the wisdom of man could devise — nay, it would evince such a state of public sentiment as that we might expect nothing less than a renewal of the licensing system with protective provis- ions annexed. But I look confidently for a better state of things; accordingly I should rejoice to see, 1. The licensing acts repeal- ed. 2. A fair experiment, made of the strength of the common law, as applicable to this case." 5* 54 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. [392 Concerning this Report, the editor of the London Soldier's and Watermen's Magazine remarks — "We took up the Sixth Report of the American Temperance Society, (just reprinted by the British and Foreign Temperance Society,) with a lively remem- brance of the pleasure which we derived from the perusal of the former, and our expectations have heen, if possible, more than realized by the contents of this most admirably written produc- tion. We had proposed to ourselves one or two brief extracts, but as we read, paragraph after paragraph appeared, each more strik- ing than the rest, until we gave up all hopes of rendering any jus- tice to its great merits. Our readers must purchase it and judge for themselves (die price is only one shilling.) It should be in the hands of every man in the country. Our legislators should read, mark, learn, and inwardly digestit ; it is worth all the parliamentary returns in the world. Our magistrates and rulers should study every page. Our ministers, deacons, and teachers, — oh! when will they do justice to this important subject? This document should be placed in the hands of every minister in the country, then there would be no lack of active and efficient helpers to the cause in every part of the country. Our distillers and spirit-venders — where is the man who can read these thrilling, these heart-search- ing appeals, and continue an agent in the foul and fatal traffic? We would urge upon all from the highest to the lowest, to aid in the circulation of this Report to the utmost of their power; and assured we are that it will prove one of the most powerful aids to the cause of Temperance Societies which has ever appeared in this country. England is not yet awake to the subject; so completely have igno- rance and prejudice, on this matter, fettered all classes of the community, that they hug with the most tenacious embrace the viper which has filled with its deadly poison every corner of the land. They want rousing by a mighty and united effort; and the blessing of the Almighty, so eminently bestowed on the endeavors of our American brethren, will cheer us in the arduous but inter- esting work. Certainly we have never received a more convinc- ing and persuasive advocate and auxiliary than this excellent ' Sixth Report of the American Temperance Society.' ' Such is a specimen of the views of the most sober and intelli- gent men of various professions and employments throughout this and other countries. And such, it is manifest, as light increases, and truth operates, is fast becoming the sentiment of all. In the language of the writer already referred to, " All things are mani- festly tending to one result — the classing of the use of ardent spirits, and the traffic in them, as a violation of the moral law, a crime, equally injurious to man, and displeasing to God." As the use of it is immoral, it is impossible to avoid the conclusion that the traffic in it is also immoral, and as much more wicked 393] SEVENTH REPORT. — 1834. 55 than the use, as it may be attended with more light, and be pro- ductive of greater mischief. And as the traffic in it is immoral, it is impossible on any just principles to avoid the conclusion, that the laws which authorise and sanction the traffic, by licensing men to pursue it, and thus teach to the community, that it is right, are also immoral. These are all parts of one whole, and must stand or fall together. They are, one and all, manifestly and highly immoral. And it must be the prayer of every benevolent person acquainted with this subject, that they may be viewed and treated as such throughout the world. Then, and not till then, will the cause of Temperance be triumphant. And the Committee would spare no pains, by the use of suitable means, in dependence on God, to hasten, as much as possible, this glorious consummation. And in the prosecution of this work they are not insensible, nor would they overlook the fact, that some persons still contend, that the Bible does not forbid the drinking of ardent spirit ; nor the traffic in it to be used as a drink; nor the making and continuing of laws to authorise this traffic, by licensing men to pursue it. And as this traffic is authorised by law, and many, otherwise re- spectable men, have been engaged in it, they contend that it ought not to be declared to be immoral. Toward such persons, the Committee would feel and manifest nothing but kindness, while they feel bound to express their deep and solemn conviction, that they are under a woful mistake. And they would labor to convince them of it, and to induce them to renounce it ; for they have no doubt that it is a mighty barrier to the progress of the Temperance Reformation, and is annually de- stroying multitudes of their fellow men. They would, therefore, earnestly request the attention of all such persons to the following considerations. 56 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. [394 THE TRAFFIC IN ARDENT SPIRIT, TO BE USED AS A DRlNK, IS A VIOLATION OF THE LAW OF GOD; AND IS AN IMMORALITY. But it is said, the civil law allows it; therefore it is not an immo- rality. Thai this traffic is licensed by the civil law, is admitted. But this neither makes it moral, or proves that it is so. The law itself may be immoral. It has often been the ease with laws. Of this, Jehovah complained, Isa. x. i. 2. " Wo unto them that decree unrighteous decrees — that take away the right from the poor of my people, that widows may be their prey, and that they may rob the fatherless." No decrees, probably, or laws, have ever made so many wives widows, and children fatherless and wretched, as those which decreed that men might sell ardent spirit; and none ever made such mighty havoc with the character and souls of men. Immoral acts, are not less really immoral because the laws allow them; nor the laws less immoral, because they exist in Christian lands. The laws, in some cases, license gambling houses, and in other cases, brothels. They license even the slave trade, and the selling of indulgences for the commission of sin. But are not those practices immoral? And are not the laws which license (hem, immoral? And are not those immoralities more aggravated, from the fact that they exist, or have existed, in Christian lands? Morality is accordar.ee with law; immorality is contrariety to law; not always to human law, but the divine law. The standard of morality, or immorality, is not human law. That, like man, may be wrong. But it is the divine law. What accords with that, is moral; and what is against it, or opposed to it, is immoral. And it is not in the power of man, by legislation, or in any other way, to make it otherwise than immoral. It is not, therefore, correct, to say that a practice which is con- trary to the divine law, is not an immorality, because human laws allow it; or that it is an immorality when prosecuted by one person who has light on the subject, and knows it to be contrary to the divine law, and not an immorality when practised by a man that does not know this. The morality or immorality of an ac- tion does nit depend on the light, or knowledge which a person may have, but on its accordance with, or contrariety to, the divine law. The guilt of the person, or his liableness to punishment, in practising an immorality is varied by the light which he has, or which, if he used proper means, he might have on the subject; but not the immorality of the practice itself. That depends solely upon this, whether it is, or is not in accordance with the divine 395J SEVENTH REPORT. — 1S34. 57 law. The standard of morality, or immorality, does not vaiy with the conviction and opinions of men, but is fixed and uncbang- able as the law of God. Morality is accordance with that law, and immorality contrariety to that law. The killing of infants by mothers, in heathen lands, is an immorality, and ought to be universally abandoned; though some mothers do not know this truth. Their guilt may vary according to the knowledge which they have, or might have; but the immorality of the practice, which is measured by another standard, remains unchanged. So when it is declared that the traffic in ardent spirit, to De used as a drink, is an immorality, the meaning is, that it is contrary to the divine law; a practice which that law forbids and condemns. Of course it ought to be abandoned. The guilt of the men who prosecute this traffic; their liability to punishment may depend somewhat upon the light which they have, or might have on the subject; but not the immorality, as compared with the divine law, of the traffic itself. And the object of proclaiming that the traffic is immoral, and of showing that it is immoral, is to lead those who doubt, or disbe- lieve, to examine the evidence of this truth; and to lead them, if practicable, to abandon the immorality, and thus escape its awful retribution, and prevent its destructive effects upon their fellow men. Their disbelief does not change the nature of the practice, nor does it lessen the ruin which it produces to others. But it is said, "you did not, a few years ago, think the traffic to be contrary to the divine law. And how comes it to pass, that it is contrary to the divine law, now? Has the divine law, that unerring standard of morality, changed; so that things which once were not immoral, now are immoral? Is the divine law improv- ed?" We answer, no. But our understanding of it may be im- proved ; so that what was immoral, though we did not see it, may now be seen in its true light. That poligamy was once not seen to be contrary to the divine law, does not prove that it was not so; any more than the fact, that the licensing of gambling houses, is, by some, not believed to be contrary to the divine law, now proves that it is not so. For a practice to be contrary to the divine law, and of course, immoral, is one thing; and for it to be believed, or known to be contrary to the divine law, is quite another thing. The belief or disbelief of a man concerning any moral practice, does not change its nature. One does not depend on the other. The fact that the slave trade was once not thought to be immoral, does not prove that it was not so; or that the practice of nations, founded upon clearer and better views, in denouncing it as piracy is not right. When men thought the traffic in ardent spirit was in accordance with the divine law, they thought that the drinking of it was useful, 30 58 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. [396 and of course proper. This is now known to be false. All, even apparent, foundation for the former opinion, therefore, is by farts swept away. Of course all foundation even for the supposed propriety of licensing the traffic, is swept away with it. The fact that men, in times past, did not consider the traffic as contra- ry to the divine law, instead of proving that it was not contrary to it, only proves that they were under a gross delusion; which de- lusion has been sweeping its millions down to death. " But the Bible," it is said, "does not forbid this traffic." That the Bible does not mention it byname, and say in so many words, it is wicked, is admitted. And as ardent spirit was not known till hundreds of years after the Bible was written, there is a good reason why it should not mention it. But it does not fol- low from this, that the Bible does not forbid the drinking of it, and the traffic in it, and the making of laws to license this traffic. Nor does it follow that they are not all immoralities. What does the Bible say, by name, about gambling? about killing a man with a pistol? The words are not once named in the whole book. But it does not follow, even if some men do not know it, that they are not both gross immoralities, and both forbidden. The killing of children with poison, by heathen mothers, or drunken fathers, is forbidden in the Bible; though it does not say in those words exactly, that such a father or mother shall not poison a child. Still it is an immorality, and it is forbidden. And should human laws allow it, and license men to do it; and even if it never had been known by some, to be wrong, till now, still it would remain a truth, that it always was wrong, contrary to the Bible, — was always forbidden, and was always an immorality. The Bible is not constructed on the plan of mentioning every practice by name, and saying in so many words, it is right, or wrong; but on the plan of revealing certain great principles of right and wrong, by which every practice in which men ever did, or ever will engage, may be tried; and be seen to be right or wrong. The proper question is not, does the Bible mention this, or that thing by name; but do the principles of the Bible approve, or condemn it? When the nature of the thing is seen in the light of its effects, is it found to accord with those principles, or to violate them? If it is found to violate them, it is forbidden. It is an immorality, and ought to be abandoned. And as certainly as the Bible shall govern men, it will be abandoned throughout the earth. What then are the facts with regard to the traffic in ardent spirit, to be used as a drink? What is the nature of this traffic, as man- ifested by its effects? Does it accord with the principles of the Bible, or does it violate them? This is the question to determine its morality, or immorality. And it is the only question. What 397] SEVENTH REPORT. — 1834. 59 then are the principles of the Bible, by which this traffic is to be tried ? One of them is in Matthew vi. 13. " Lead us not into tempta- tion, but deliver us from evil." This is a principle so important, that the Saviour of men, who was willing, for their good, even to die, would have them in their supplications and conduct, daily regard it. Does the traffic in ardent spirit, to be used as a drink, tend to lead men into temptation; and give to temptation peculiar power to overcome them, so that they fall by it into sin, when they otherwise would not fall? And is this its natural tendency? If it is, the Bible forbids it; and to pursue it, is manifestly an immorality. What then are the facts? I. With regard to the sin of idleness, that prolific parent of sins; does the drinking of ardent spirit tend to make men idle? From a careful investigation of Almshouses in various states in different parts of the country, it is found that of all the persons who, by idleness and improvidence, have been reduced to pover- ty, from two-thirds to seven-eighths were intemperate ; and that more than nineteen-twentieths drank ardent spirit. More than ten times as many in proportion to the number are reduced by idle- ness and dissipation to poverty, from those who drink ardent spirit, as from those who do not drink it. Hence it is certain that it leads them into temptation, and instead of delivering them from evil, or having any tendency to do it, it exposes them the more to evil, and gives to that evil peculiar power to overcome and destroy them. The traffic in it is thus palpably at variance with the law of God, and opposed to his will as revealed in the Bible. It is an immorality. Of 253 paupers in the county of Oneida, New York, 246 were made such by ardent spirit. Of 1134 in the county of Baltimore, Maryland, 1059 were made paupers in the same way. Of 3000 admitted to the Almshouse in Salem, Mass., the superintend- ent, who is as well able to judge as any other man, states that, in his opinion, 2900 were brought there by intemperance. Of 572 men in the Almshouse in New York, the superintendent states, that there are not 20 that can be called sober men; and that of 601 women, he doubts whether 50 of them can be called sober. 95 drunkards were committed to the Penitentiary in Boston in a single month. Of 1969 paupers in different Almshouses, 1790, according to the testimony of the Overseers of the Poor, were brought there by spirituous liquor; and of 4969, in different Almshouses, 4690 were brought there in the same way. And very few individuals are found in any Almshouse, but what have been in the habit of using strong drink. It has been the grand cause of pauperism throughout the United States. 60 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. [399 Let the traffic in it cease, and nearly the whole of the pauper- ism of the United States will cease with it. Hushands and fathers, now more than dead, would, in great numbers be restored to their more than widowed wives, and their doubly orphan children. It is then an immorality. II. Look at it in another light, as increasing the power of temptation to the commission of crime. What are the facts? Four times as many crimes are committed in places in which it is sold, as in places in which it is not sold. And in a number of cases after the sale of it has been abandoned, and the use of it has ceas- ed, the criminal docket has been cleared, and the jails become comparatively empty. It increases then the power of temptation to crime, and is thus a palpable violation of the revealed will of God. In the county of Schenectady, N. Y., 145 persons were committed to prison in one year. The sheriff classes them as follows : temperate 16; doubtful 22; intemperate 107. But all of them, it appears, were in the habit of drinking spirit. And an old respectable inhabitant of the county, who was present at the examination, states, that while he approves of the caution of the sheriff in making the classification, he does not believe that a single person was committed during the year, who was strictly temperate. In the same county, there were assisted as paupers, 117; classed by the overseer, as follows : not from intemperance 3 ; doubtful 20 ; obviously from intemperance 94. From the 25th Nov. to the 25th Dec. 1833, 114 persons were, for various crimes, committed to the Albany jail, — 82 of whom are stated, by the intelligent deputy-sheriff, to be intem- perate,— 14 of the remaining 32 were known to be free drinkers of ardent spirit. The remaining 18 were doubtful cases, having come from a distance," and having had time to become sober before reaching the jail. But from the nature of their crimes, assaults and battery, whipping their wives, and abusing their child- ren, little doubt can be entertained as to the exciting cause. The whole number of committals during the year ending 19th Dec, was 1216. During the year there has been more than one hundred cases of delirium tremens, and a considerable number of them females. The indefatigable police justice states that there is hardly a case of committal without rum being the exciting cause. Here, let us turn our attention to the Almshouse. In one year the superintendent states, that 633 persons have been received there. He classes them as follows : SIX HUNDRED AND SIXTEEN brought there directly or indirectly by rum ; one an insane person ; seventeen others being; sent from remote towns in the county could not be ascertained to a certainly, but the cause of this poverty can hardly be doubted. Two hundred and 399] SEVENTH REPOIIT. — 1834. 61 ninety-seven persons were in the Almshouse when the present incumbent took charge, so that NINE HUNDRED AND THIRTY have been relieved at the public expense during the year, — these added to the commitments to the jail, make TWO THOUSAND ONE HUNDRED AND FORTY-SIX in Jail and Poor-house during the year, — about one to every fourteen of the whole population ! ! ! Of 643 who were committed to the House of Correction in Boston, in one year, 453 were drunkards. And the keeper states, that intemperance is almost the sole cause of commitments, and that he does not believe, there were ten among the whole, icho were not intemperate. An examination has lately been made, by the Secretary of the Prison Discipline Society, of the Institutions in the city for the support of paupers and the punishment of criminals. The result shows that the prosecution and support of the intemperate has cost the city, within the last ten years, about $500,000. One person has been committed to the House of Industry twenty-two times. Others have been committed ten, twelve, and fifteen times each. Fifty persons have been committed three hundred and twenty-one times; upon an average, more than six times each. Of these forty-five were drunkards. The following facts have been published by the Council of the State Temperance Society : " Plain Facts, showing over five hundred thousand dollars, paid in Taxes for the Support of Pauperism, Vice, and Crime, in Boston, for ten years, from April, 1824, to April, 1834, obtained from official sources. Criminal Jail. — 9936 commitments in ten years, at an expense of $20,797 49, as taken from the records. Debtors'' Jail. — 9306 commitments for debt in ten years, at an expense of $137,921 44, estimating the cost to creditor and debtor, including the costs of suit, citation of creditor, expense of bail, fee of turnkey, price of board, loss of time (at fifty cents per day), and fee for oath, for ten years. House of Correction. — 5611 cases of conviction, and sentence to the House of Correction in ten years, at an expense of $78,251 25. House of Industry. — 7588 admitted to the House of Industry in ten years, at an expense above their earnings, $194,087 67. Grand total of expenses for these four institutions, $431,057 85 for ten years. Add to the foregoing the expense of out-door poor, furnished by the City Auditor, viz. $131,370 92, and we have the enormous sum of $562,428 77 ! and of cases, 32,441 , which averages over $50,000 expenditure per annum for Pau- perism, Vice and Crime, every year for the last ten years, in the 6 30* 62 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETT. [400 city of Boston. We leave out of the estimate other institutions rendered necessary from the same cause, and the interest on the capital invested in Jail, House of Correction, and other insti- tutions. Fellow-Citizens, — Why this expenditure of over one half a million of dollars ? Let the Judges of our Courts, the Sheriff and other offices of our Prison, the Superintendents of our House of Industry, and House of Correction, with their Directors and Overseers, and their Physician, be heard in their answer to the following questions, recently proposed to each separate depart- ment of the Institutions referred to, as they gave it, independent of others : What is the cause of these commitments ? ' In regard to the Criminal Jail, I am induced to believe that more than half of the prisoners have been in the habit of indulging in the excessive use of ardent spirits, and probably more than half the commitments were caused by intemperance. Boston, April 10, 1834. Stephen Badlam.' Mr. Badlam held the office of jailer in Boston more than thir- teen years. ' Of those committed to the criminal department of our jail, I have no doubt that more than three-quarters are hard drinkers, and considerably more than half confirmed drunkards. Boston, April 9, 1834. Joshua Flint, Physician. ' ' I believe that about three-fourths of the criminals, and that about half of the debtors, in all our jails, are addicted to intem- perance. C. P. Sumner. April 24, 1834.' Mr. Sumner has been the Sheriff of Suffolk county about seven years. ' House of Correction, South Boston, April 7, 1834. Since my first appointment as Assistant Master of the House of Correction on the Glh of June, 1823, all the prisoners have been under my immediate observation. Of those committed by the Police Court, which are as 3083, to 228, nineteen out of twenty have delirium tremens. Of those committed by the Municipal Court, which are as 228 to 3083, I cannot judge from their appearance, as they are sometimes con- fined in jail before trial. But, from careful inquiry and investiga- tion, and many of them having been committed previously for intemperance, I feel no hesitation in stating (with very slight exception), that all who have been sentenced here for the various crimes and offences against the peace, originated from intem- perance in the use of ardent spirits. Charles Robbins, Master of House of Cor.' 401 J SEVENTH REPORT. 1S34. 63 Mr. Robbins has held the. office of Master since June, 1S33. Before that time, for ten years, he was Assistant Master. ' The Overseers of the House of Correction of the city of Boston, having been requested to make a statement of their opin- ion,— how far the habit of intemperate drinking has been instru- mental in producing the crimes for which the inmates of that house have been sentenced to confinement, have used their best judgment in the consideration of this interesting question, and have come to the result by an average of their individual opinions, that seven-eighths of all the sentences of imprisonments were occasioned more or less directly by the vice of intemperance. Luther Faulkner, "] Daniel Hastings, Overseers of the William T. Andrews, I House of George Darracott, Correction. Billings Briggs, Boston, April 28, 1834.' ' I certify that of the many persons who have been subjects of criminal punishment within the Municipal Court of the city of Boston, since I have been judge of the same, three-fourths, at least, have reason to impute their disgrace and ruin to the intem- perate use of ardent spirits. P. 0. Thatcher. ' Boston, April 15, 1834.' Hon. P. 0. Thatcher has been Judge of the Municipal Court since May, 1823. ' I have been a Justice of the Police Court for the city of Boston from its establishment to the present time, twelve years, and am of opinion that three-quarters of the criminal conduct complained of in that Court, is to be attributed to the use of intoxicating liquor. William Simmons. Boston, April 17, 1834.,' ' I concur in the foregoing opinion. John Gray Rogers, One of the Just, of P. C Boston, April 17, 1834. ' During the short time which I have acted as a Justice of the Police Court, I have seen and heard enough to satisfy me that the above statement is substantially correct. Boston, April 17, 1834. James C. Merrill. What is the principal cause of all this crime V 1 Having been an officer of the Massachusetts State Prison since June, 1828, I should not doubt that three-fourths of all the con- victs committed to this institution, from the city of Boston, were persons who had been in the habitual practice of using ardent spirits to excess ; and, from the appearance of the men, on their 64 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. [402 reception, it is probable that seven-eighths of those received were of the same character. Charles Lincoln, Warden of the Mass. State Prison. ' What is the great cause of this amount of Pauperism, and expense for its support 9 ' The whole number of inmates of the House of Industry, or Almshouse at South Boston during the year 1833, was 1273, of whom 930 were adults, and 343 children. Of the adults, there have been intemperate, 670 ; supposed to be temperate, principally insane, idiotic and disabled, 101 ; unknown, probably a majority of them intemperate, 159. Of the 343 children, there are known to have had intemperate parents, 257 ; and of the remaining 86, not twenty are known to have been the offspring of temperate fathers and mothers. This statement, concerning the proportion of intemperate in the House, was made to the Secretary of State, in 1833. Since that period, I have ascertained that three of the 101 supposed to be temperate, were drunkards. And I have no doubt that at least three fourths of the 159, whose former habits are returned as unknown, have been drunkards. Artemas Simonds, Superintendant . House of Industry, April 8, 1834.' Of 119 commitments, the last year, to the State Prison in Charlestown, Massachusetts, it appears that 100, at least, were occasioned by intemperance. And the 15 recommitments, were all occasioned in the same way. Of 120 in the State Prison at Wethersfield, Connecticut, more than 90 were intemperate. Of 647 in the State Prison at Auburn, New York, 467 were deci- dedly intemperate ; and of 134 in the State Prison at Columbus, Ohio, only 36 even pretended to be temperate men. And nearly all, in all the above cases, when at liberty, drank ardent spirit freely; and in a great portion of the cases, persons not classed among the intemperate, committed the crimes for which they were imprisoned, when under the influence of intoxicating drink. From two-thirds, to four-fifths of all the crimes committed, appeal- to be occasioned by the use of intoxicating liquor. It leads men into temptation. It gives to temptation a peculiarly destructive power; and multitudes are ruined, when they otherwise would not be. The furnishing of it, is of course a sin, and forbidden by the Word of God. Of 44 persons found dead, the Coroner's inquest is, that 38 of them came to their death by intoxicating drink. And of 44 cases of murder, investigated by three attorneys, 43 of them were committed either by intemperate persons, or by persons, or upon persons, under the influence of liquor.* * Appendix D. 403] SEVENTH REPORT. — 1834. 65 Look at it in another light, as increasing the temptation to drunkenness, and giving to that temptation peculiar power. What are the facts with regard to this ? More than ten times as many of those in the United States, who drink ardent spirit, become drunkards, as of those who do not drink it. It is indeed the grand cause of prevailing drunkenness, throughout the country. And is drunkenness forbidden ; and yet the furnishing of the natural, the known and the principal cause of drunkenness, not forbidden ? Is drunkenness an immorality; and yet the prosecution of a business which increases more than four-fold the number of drunkards, not an immorality ? Will drunkards be shut out of heaven and drunk- ard-makers not be condemned ? As drunkenness is an immo- rality; continuing to furnish the natural, the known cause of it, is also an immorality. It increases the power of temptation, and makes men more wicked, and more wretched, than they other- wise would be. It is of course a violation of a great principle of the Bible, an immorality, which is forbidden by the word of God. III. Another principle of the Bible, is, "Thou shalt not kill." (Ex. xx. 13.) It does not say, thou shalt not kill with a knife, a pistol, or a halter ; nor does it say thou shalt not kill with opium or arsenic ; nor does it say thou shalt not kill in an instant, or a day, or with malice prepense, or a real intention, at the time, to kill; or for the sake of making money. But it lays down the broad principle, and throws around that inestimable treasure, human life, the mighty rampart of divine command, " Thou shalt not kill." This com- mand utterly forbids the taking away of human life, by any means, in any case, except for good reasons; reasons, in view of which, the Bible justifies and requires the act. If a man throw a stumbling-block into the highway for the pur- pose of sport, or to save himself the trouble of removing it, when he has reason to believe that it will endanger human life, and a man is killed by it, he violates this command. If a man let loose a beast which he knows is wont to kill, and it does kill, he violates this command; and in such a manner, that Jehovah, in righteous- ness, when judging among men, commanded that such a man should be put to death. We are not required to execute that law now. But the reason of the law remains. It is founded in justice, and its principle will be carried into execution at the Great Day. If a man pursue a business, or do an act, the natural or probable consequences of which are death, and it produces death, he violates this command. It is an immoral business, or act, and is forbidden by the word of God. What then are the natural and probable consequences, of sell- ing ardent spirit, to be used as a drink ? Does it tend to kill ? And does it really kill? What are the facts? In the judgment of 6* 66 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. [404 the most eminent and sober physicians, the highest evidence in such cases, and that which is relied on, in courts of justice, the facts are, that ardent spirit is not suited for a drink, and cannot be used as such without injury; that it is a poison, which naturally tends to kill; and actually does kill a great portion of all who drink it. (See v. Report Am. Temp. Soc. pp. 79, 93, 94, 95, &c.) As a specimen of the opinion of medical men, take die follow- ing examples, viz. The testimony of 75 Physicians in Boston, Massachusetts. — •l Men in health are never benefitted by the use of ardent spirit; on the contrary, the use of it is a frequent cause of disease and death; and often renders such diseases as arise from other causes, more difficult of cure and more fatal in their termination." The testimony of forty-five Physicians of Cincinnati, Ohio. — " Ardent spirit is not only unnecessary, but absolutely injurious in a healthful state of the system; it produces many, and aggra- vates most of the diseases to which the human frame is liable — it is equally poisonous with arsenic, operating sometimes more slow- ly, but with equal certainty." Such is the opinion of the great body of Physicians in the United States. The testimony of Physicians in England, which was presented to the British Parliament. Physicians of Bradford. — " In our opinion nothing would tend so much to the health of the community as the entire disuse of ardent spirit ; which we consider as one of the most productive causes of disease and immorality." Physicians of Cheltenham, England. — " Ardent spirit, as an article of diet, has not the property of preventing the accession of any complaint, but may be considered as the principal source of numerous and formidable diseases, and the principal cause of the poverty, disease and crime which abound in the country." Physicians of Dublin, Ireland. — " In our opinion nothing would tend so much to improve the health of the community as the en- tire disuse of ardent spirit." Physicians of Edinburgh, Scotland. — " The entire disuse of ardent spirit, would powerfully contribute to improve the health and comfort of the community." Physicians of Leith, Scotland. — " Ardent spirits, in any form are highly prejudicial to health — they contain no nutritive qual- ity, on the contrary, the daily use of them often gives rise to disease, and leads to poverty, misery and death." Similar testimony has been given, the past year, by several thou- sands of physicians, both in this country, and in Europe. ' Similar testimony had been given by numerous physicians before, and the truth of it had been exemplified by the bills of mortality throughout the world. 405] SEVENTH REPORT. — 1834. 67 Can any one doubt then, but that ardent spirit tends to kill, and that it actually does kill? Can it be, as testified by the most emi- nent physicians, a poison, the drinking of which is not only need- less, but hurtful ; a principal cause of disease and death, and not kill? And can men carry on the business of furnishing it, and not break the command, " Thou shalt not kill?" It is impossible. A physician from the State of New York, writes, that he has lived more than forty years in a town, which, at the last census, contained less than 5,400 inhabitants; that the whole number of deaths, of adult males, from December, 1829 to January, 1834, was 25; that 16 of them were drunkards; and two of the other nine were young men, who were suddenly killed. The average age of the drunkards was 44J- and they lived after they became drunkards 11| years. The average age of the seven who died a natural death was 74^ years.* Here is a difference between the life of the sober and the drunken, of about 30 years. Dr. Cheyne of Dublin, after more than 20 years extensive practice, has given it as his opinion, that, let 10 young men begin at 21 years of age, to use but one glass of ardent spirit, of two oz. a day, and never increase the quantity, such are its poisonous qualities, 9 out of 10 will, upon an average, shorten life more than ten years. But let us take only half of this, and two-thirds of the other number. Suppose that moderate drinking shortens life upon an average, five years, and drunkenness 20; that we have only five moderate drinkers to one drunkard, and that there are 300,000 drunkards in the United States, it would cut off in the course of 30 years 40,000,000 years of human life. This would be equal to the loss of 20 years of human life for 2,000,000 men. Who can avoid the conclusion, that the traffic in ardent spirit, to be used as a drink, tends to kill, and that it does kill, and is, of course, a pal- pable violation of the law of God? But it is said, it is not the traffic in ardent spirit which kills, or that makes men idle, and vicious; but it is the drinking of it. The immorality attaches only to that, not to the selling of it. But does not the selling minister to the drinking? and does it not teach that the drinking is right? and thus tend to perpetuate and increase it? And is not the promotion of immorality, immoral? The perpetuating, and increasing of vice, vicious? As well may the traitor, who furnishes arms and ammunition to the enemy in time of war, say, that it is not the furnishing of arms to the enemy that does the mischief; it is only the using of them. Of course, the crime of treason attaches only to that. But would this save him from the gallows? Others might say, that it is not the making of firearms for * The Committee of the New York State Temperance Society say that they are acquainted with this man, and vouch for the correctness of his statement. 68 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. [406 the enemy, or the selling of them by wholesale, but that it is dealing them out by retail, that does the mischief; of course, if the crime of treason is to be extended to any thing beside the use, it should be confined to the retailing of firearms to the enemy. But would this save them? Is not the making of firearms for the enemy, the transporting of them to him, the leasing of store- houses in which to keep them, and the selling of them, by whole- sale, as well as retail, all treason ? The common sense of man- kind has decided this question. If the use of them is wrong, the making and furnishing of them, to be used, is also wrong. Is not the maker of counterfeit money, the wholesale dealer, and the retailer, as really guilty, as the man, who, to appease his hunger, or quench his thirst, or to provide for his family, passes a little of it? Shall the last be sent to the State Prison, and the others, because they were a little farther back from the result of the mischief, escape? Counterfeiters, perhaps, might so decide; and traitors conclude that none but such as actually engage in bat- tle, should be hung; but would this decision be sustained by rea- son, common sense, or the Bible? No. The decision of justice, is, " the perpetrator of crime and the accessory to it," are both guilty. As the drinking of ardent spirit tends to kill, and does kill ; the making of it to be drunk, the furnishing of it by wholesale or retail; and the leasing of stores, in which to deal it out, are all a violation of the law of God; and as such, will at his tribunal, and ought at the bar of public opinion, to be con- demned. So, also, ought the laws which sanction this traffic, by licensing men to pursue it. They legalize a business, which, from beginning to end, tends, even when pursued according to law, to shorten human life, and is thus in its nature, a manifest violation of the command, " Thou shalt not kill." Nor will the fact that a man has a license from the magistrate, screen him in the final day. The very law which gave the license, was itself unlawful; and such a law as no man, rightly understanding this subject, could be instrumental in making, or continuing, without a violation of the law of God. Nor can any man take advantage of that unlawful law, and be instrumental to the premature death of his fellow men, without great guilt. IV. Another great principle of the Bible, is, " Whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them." (Mat. vii. 12.) Treat them as, under a change of circumstan- ces, you ought to wish that the*- should treat you. 1 . If the furnishing of ardent spirit, to be used as a drink, tends to bring upon the men that drink it, or upon their families, evils which the seller would not like to have come on himself, or his family, then the Bible forbids it. And the great question to de- termine its morality, or immorality, is, does it tend to bring upon 107] SEVENTH REPORT. — 1834. 69 ihe drinker, or his family, evils that the seller ought not to wish to have come on his family? To determine this, let him suppose that every intemperate appetite, which the spirit that he sells forms, and every instance in which it leads to drunkenness and ruin, should be in himself, his own family and his nearest and dearest friends. And that all the misery and wretchedness, the blighting of hope and prospect, the sickness, the poverty, the crime, the shortening of human life, the despair, and the destruc- tion, should be among them. Can there be any doubt that it would be, what he ought not to wish to have come upon them? If it would, the Bible forbids him for the sake of money, or any other reason, to prosecute a business which tends to bring it upon others. And if he, with the facts before him, does this, it is at the peril of his soul. And to set the matter for ever at rest, let him suppose that some man to whom he sells, should, under the influence of the liquor, come into his family, and for a day or two, each week, take the direction, and do as he now does in his own family; turn them out, naked, and barefoot, occasionally, amidst the damps and storms of night, and of winter, would it be such treatment as he ought to wish to have come upon his family? If not, the Bible forbids him to be accessory to the bringing of it upon other families. Does he say, that he does not sell to drunkards ; that that would be enormously wicked, and that he sells only to sober men ? Let him then suppose that one of those sober young men, to whom he sells, and who will form an intemperate appetite and die a drunk- ard, is his only son. Ought he to wish that his son should come to such an end ? Even supposing that the man who makes him a drunkard does it according to law, and does not, after he becomes a drunkard, continue to sell to him, but turns him over to some other man, who is wicked enough to sell to drunkards till they die ; does that help the matter ? Will he not look upon the man who made him a drunkard, as guilty as the man that killed him ? Which does the greatest mischief to the community, the man who kills drunkards, or the man who turns sober men into drunk- ards ; and thus prepares them, as fast as drunkards are removed, to step forward and fill their places, and roll the horrors of drunk- enness onward from generation to generation ? Here is a country that has in it 300,000 drunkards. One class of merchants sell to them, and thus upon an average, kill about that number in ten years. Had these drunkards no successors, drunkenness would soon cease. The man who sells to them, would remove the whole, and if no new drunkards were made, the land would be free. But there is another class of merchants who sell to sober men ; and as fast as one generation of drunkards is removed, they raise up another. Thus while selling poison to 31 70 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. [408 drunkards kills them, and would in a short time remove drunken- ness from the land ; selling it to sober men perpetuates drunken- ness ; and while it is continued, cuts off the possibility, that it can ever be removed. It causes the fire of human passion, vice, and wickedness, to burn with an intensity, and to blaze with a fierce- ness that never can be quenched. Which, then, does the greatest mischief to the community ? The Philadelphia Medical Society, as before mentioned, ap- pointed a Committee to investigate the effect of intemperance on human life in that city. After careful inquiry, they reported that in their opinion, out of 4292 deaths, 700, at least, or more than one in seven of the whole number, were occasioned, directly or indirectly, by strong drink. Suppose that these deaths had been occasioned by the use of poisoned flour, which some of the mer- chants had sold ; and after careful investigation by the medical society, the fact is published to the world. Would it not be an immorality to continue to sell that flour ? Even if they should not sell it to any that were already poisoned ? Would it not be a violation of the command, "Thou shalt not kill ?" Or would it be enough to say, that it is not the selling of the flour that does the mischief, especially if sold by wholesale, but only the eating of it ; or at most, the retailing ? Would not the selling of that flour in any way, to be eaten, tend to kill ? and to bring upon the wives and the children of the men who should eat it, evils, that the sellers ought not to wish to have come on their wives, and their children ? Suppose some of them should say, " We never sell to men who are poisoned to death already, or who are so poisoned that they cannot attend to business ; especially enough to pay us for what they buy. We sell only to the healthy. And when we perceive that a man begins to stagger, or lose his reason, we instantly stop ; and let others who are willing to take the amazing responsibility of killing men, do the rest. Therefore, our business is not immoral." Is it therefore not immoral ? If a man is to be killed by twenty blows, is he only guilty who strikes the last ; or he only, who hastens death a few hours sooner, than his fellow would have done it ? Suppose those merchants should change and sell this poisoned flour to those only, who are poisoned already, even to death ; how long would it be before all the sick would be removed, and none remain but the healthy ? But ah, some sell to the healthy, and thus, the diseased and the dying never cease. Let sellers of the drunkard's poison, sell to none but drunkards, and the last of them will soon be removed, and the spectacle of an immortal being, — who might bear the image, and shine for ever in the presence of his Maker, — polluted, debased, and ruined by drunkenness, will never again be seen. 409] SEVENTH REPORT. 1834. 7j But the crime, of most peculiar aggravation, when measured by the mischief which is done to the community, is, some men will sell to the sober. And these often are sober men ; of course their example has greater weight. The pure unvitiated appetite, which God has given for useful nourishment, they by the drunk- ard's poison, pervert ; which perversion is, by the laws of nature, like the letting out of great waters. The only way to prevent its mischief, is, that which is required by the first principles of morality and religion, "the letting it alone before it is meddled with." Every step from this point, is a step in the way of trans- gression ; the tendency of which, growing greater and greater, the farther you proceed, is, like that of every sin, toward eternal death. 2. There is another light in which this traffic may be viewed, as dishonest ; and that not merely on account of the enormous frauds that are often practised in it, but on account of the nature of the business itself. Honesty requires that a valuable equivalent should be furnished for money which is received. But the trafficker in ardent spirit renders no such equivalent. He gives to the buyers that which is not only absolutely worthless, but positively hurtful ; and is thus, in principle, guilty of gross dishonesty. It is doing, in this respect, directly contrary to what he ought to wish that others should do to him. 3. It is unjust towards the community. Not only does it increase the sickness and the deaths, but by increasing the pauperism and crimes, and public expenditures, it adds greatly to the pecuniary burdens of every people among whom it is continued. It increases the taxes for the support of pauperism, and the prosecution of crimes, above what they other- wise would be, as we have seen, more than four-fold. This is palpably unjust. No man has a right to carry on a business, which, for the profit of a few, burdens the many. Justice forbids it. Here is a county which has in it 1000 paupers ; 750 of them were made such by drinking. The profit of making these pau- pers is enjoyed by a few ; the burden of supporting them comes on the whole community. This is unjust. It is a violation not only of the principles of morality, but of equal rights and common honesty. No man can pursue it, and not injure his fellow men. Instead therefore of infringing the rights of the sellers, when the community complain of their business, and wish the civil law to refrain from obliging the public to bear its burdens, as the sellers pretend, the sellers are constantly trampling on the rights of the community, and unjustly burdening the public with taxes to sup- port the paupers and prosecute the criminals that the sellers make. Of this, every community has just cause to complain. It is injustice and oppression, under the cover of law. And of such 72 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. [410 laws, as well as of such traffic, they have just cause to continue for ever to complain. And for their removal and abandonment, they have just cause by all suitable means to continue to labor, till their efforts are successful, and the nuisance is done away. V. Another great principle of the Bible, is, "Abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul." — (1 Pet. ii. 11.) In the fleshly lusts, from which men are here commanded to abstain, are included those bodily gratifications which tend to injure the soul. With regard to such gratifications, the command is not, indulge in them moderately, prudently, but abstain from them Abstinence, entire, in such cases, is the only moral course. If the gratification which ardent spirit occasions, and to obtain which, men so often drink it, tends to injure the soul, then the Bible forbids it. And the only question is, does it tend to injure the soul ? What are the facts ? Can it tend, as we have seen that it does, to lead men into temptation, and give to that temptation peculiar and fatal efficacy to overcome and destroy them, and not injure the soul ? Can it increase fourfold the prospect of their becoming idle, vicious, or drunken, and not injure the soul ? Can it tend, as we have seen that it does, with such a mighty power to increase their diseases, and to shorten their lives, and not tend to injure the soul ? Can it bring such mighty evils on others, and be so obviously dishonest and unjust toward their fellow men, and not tend to injure their own souls ? No ; the thing is impossible. It is one of those fleshly lusts, from which God com- mands men, all men, every where, at all times, to abstain. — (See Sixth Report of American Temperance Society, p. 57 and 58.) And not only does it injure the soul by increasing its wickedness, but by counteracting the efficacy of the gospel, and all the means of grace, and thus rendering it less likely that that wickedness will ever be removed. It tends powerfully to hinder the illumination and pu- rification of the soul ; and thus to prevent its salvation. Facts have set this matter at rest. Where a part of the people have abstained from ardent spirit, and a part continued to drink it, ten times as many, in proportion to the number, have appeared to embrace the gospel, and have professed publicly their faith in the Saviour, from one class as from the other. — (See Fourth Report of Ameri- can Temperance Society p. 51 and 81. — Fifth Report do. p. 38, 83, and 98. — also, Sixth Report do. p. 16, 57, &c.) It tends then to injure the soul ; and as such, it is forbidden, by the God of heaven. As the salvation of the soul is the greatest of all blessings, that which tends most to hinder this, is among the greatest of evils. Of all the practices of men, few have a greater tendency to do this, than that of using ardent spirit. This results not merely from the great and increasing quantity that may be taken, but from the kind of the liquor itself. A quantity that does 411 J • SEVENTH REPORT. 1834. 73 not deprive a man of reason, or speech, or power of motion, and attention to business, may nevertheless prevent the effect of divine truth, and keep him in a state of hardness of heart, and blindness of mind through life ; when he might, were it not for this, be illuminated, purified, and saved. The effect of ardent spirit on the mind, from beginning to end, is in direct opposition to the effect of the Holy Ghost. One tends with a powerful and fatal efficacy to hinder the other. Hence the fact, that when men wish to promote error in principle, or immorality in practice ; to lead others to abandon the truth, or to make money upon their vices, nothing is more common, or more successful, than to fur- nish them with ardent spirit, and induce them, if practicable, to drink it. Error and delusion, immorality and wickedness, of almost every description, other things being equal, prevail most in those places in which men are most accustomed to the drinking of ardent spirit. And if they can generally perpetuate this practice, vice will be triumphant in spite of all efforts to check, or con- trol it. In illustration of the above, we invite the attention of all, to the following facts. A number of years ago, Christians in various countries, began with greater zeal and fidelity than before, in obedience to the command of Christ, to extend his gospel to all people. He crowned their efforts with success. Multitudes renounced idola- try, and professed their faith in the Redeemer. The illuminating and purifying influence of the gospel in the promotion of literature, science, and civilization, with all their attendant blessings, was felt throughout whole nations. The wilderness began to bud and blossom as the rose, and the desert places to become vocal witS the praises of God. Among those, thus highly favored, and who had literally been brought out of darkness into marvellous light, were the inhabit- ants of some of the South Sea Islands. Christians of Great Britain were the first to carry them the gospel, and for a number of years they rejoiced in the signal manifestations of divine favor. Churches were gathered ; schools opened ; printing presses estab- lished, and information was eagerly sought, and extensively circu- lated ; vice, frowned upon by public opinion, was abashed; and the prospect continued to brighten, that Christianity and civiliza- tion, and learning, with all their inestimable benefits for the present and future life, would shortly be extended over all that part of the world. But some men from this country, and from Great Britain, for the purpose of counteracting the efficacy of the gospel, and draw- ing men back again to their vices, or for purposes of gain, or both, introduced among them quantities of ardent spirit. They opened 7 31* 74 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. [412 numerous grog-shops, and induced the natives to engage, not only in drinking, but in the traffic. The result will be seen by the following letter from the Secretaries of the British and Foreign Temperance Society, to the Corresponding Secretary of the American Temperance Society. " British and Foreign Temperance Society, ) Jlldine Chambers, Jan. 21st, 1834. 5 Rev. and dear sir, — The subject upon which we venture now to take the liberty of addressing you will perhaps be best introduced by at once transcribing a letter we have recently received from the Secretary of ' the London Missionary Society;' and we trust its contents will plead our apology for calling your attention to the distressing facts which it discloses. c Mission House, Austin Friars, 16th Dec. 1833. Sir, — You will doubtless have seen from some of the publica- tions of the London Missionary Society, the demoralization pro- duced at some of the Islands of the South Seas, by the increased use of ardent spirits ; large quantities of which has been imported by our countrymen, and Americans, &c, and hawked about the settlements, as well as sold in barrels. Recent accounts from the Islands are, in reference to this subject, most discouraging. Our brethren state, that the besetting sin of Tahiti at present is drunk- enness— that it had produced the greatest mischief in the churches, and had in some ports prevailed to such an extent, that in one of the churches, the administration of the Ordinance of the Lord's Supper had been discontinued ; and when speaking of the effects of increased intemperance, and of the war on Tahiti, one of the missionaries observes, " I have seen more wickedness within the last two weeks than in eighteen years before." The arrival of these tidings has, as you will naturally suppose, plunged the Directors in the deepest distress. The use of those deleterious articles, appears to have been greatly augmented, by foreigners of different nations having established a number of grog- shops among them for retailing spirits, and by the Chiefs having been induced to become traffickers in rum. The extent and disastrous operation of this immoral habit, has led the Directors to devise and apply the most suitable remedies, and among many others, they have instructed me to bring the matter under the notice of your committee, with a request that they would correspond with the American Temperance Society for the purpose of adopting the most effectual measures for dimin- ishing the use of ardent spirits among American seamen, and pre- venting its importation to the South Sea Islands : and also that they would direct their best efforts to the promotion of temperance 413J SEVENTH REPORT. 1S34. 75 among British sailors, especially among those employed in the Pacific. I am, my dear sir, your faithful friend and servant, J. Arundel, Home Secretary. N. E. Sloper, Esq., Secretary of the British and Foreign Temperance Society. " Such, dear sir, are the circumstances of the case which it is our painful duty to bring under your notice. It would have been far more grateful to our feelings had it been in our power to have congratulated you, that the gigantic efforts you have been putting forth on behalf of the temperance cause had done as much for the seamen, who visit the countries in question, as it has by the bless- ing of God for tens of thousands on your favored continent. We had fondly hoped this was in some happy measure the case, and when the melancholy statements referred to in the accom- panying communications reached us, we scarcely knew whether the feeling of surprise or alarm most prevailed. In our reply to the Directors we have indeed hinted that there is perhaps yet a source of consolation arising from the reflection that these very facts which we all so much deplore, may be the proof of the prosperity of the cause in your country, the effect of which may have been that the dealers in these poisonous drugs, beaten out of their own market, have been driven into other parts to find purchasers for them. But after all it is a humiliating consideration that our cause has made so little progress and that the work of God should have been thus marred. Well may those of us on either side of the Atlantic who have been privileged to do any thing towards pro- moting the Temperance Reformation exclaim, ' that our hands are this day weakened.' Were we writing to Christian brethren less zealous than those we have the pleasure to address, we might fear that our co-opera- tion in the good work, would not be cordially welcomed ; but assured as we are that its prosperity lies near your hearts, we are emboldened thus to write. You will — we know you will — allow us the honor of being workers together with you. We are indeed painfully aware how feeble are all the efforts we can bring to bear upon a system, which might well laugh to scorn our attempts to check its progress, did the success of those exertions depend on our own strength and wisdom ; but our encouragement is this, that He whose cause we trust and believe it is, is greater than all those who are against us, and that his name is often mag- nified by the meanness of the instruments by which his mighty purposes are brought to pass. 76 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. [414 If He be pleased to command success, ' the weak shall be as David, and David as the Angel of God.' We are, Rev. and dear sir, yours very respectfully, N. E. Sloper, ) John W. Ramsbotham, I c, . . ,, m TT , Secretaries. 1 homas Hartley, '. John Capper, J The same subject is referred to in the following communication from the Secretary of the London Missionary Society, to one of the Secretaries of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, and by him transmitted to the Corresponding Secretary of the American Temperance Societv. " London, Dec. 16th, 1833. My dear sir, — My last to you, dated October 12th, inform- ing you of the appointment of two of our brethren to the southeast cluster of the Marquesas, and assuring you of the satisfaction it would afford the Directors to hear that you had commenced Mis- sionary operations in the northwest cluster of the same group, was, I hope, duly received. In my previous letter dated Sept. 3d, in that part which referred to the South Sea Islands, I informed you that our brethren gave us very affecting accounts of the demoralization produced by the increased use of ardent spirits ; large quantities of which had been imported by our coun- trymen and yours, and hawked about the settlements, as well as sold in barrels, and that, as it had proved a source of profit able barter to the principal chiefs, it was not so much discounte- nanced as formerly. Recent accounts from the Islands, are in reference to this subject, even more discouraging than those pre- viously received. Our brethren state that the besetting sin in Tahiti at present is drunkenness ; that it had produced the greatest mischief, in the churches, and had in some parts prevailed to such an extent that in one of the churches the administration of the ordinance of the Lord's Supper had been discontinued ; and when speaking of the effects of increased intemperance and the war in Tahiti, one of the missionaries observes, ' I have seen more wick- edness within the last two weeks, than in eighteen years before.' The arrival of these tidings has, as you will naturally suppose, occasioned the Directors the deepest distress. They have com- municated the same to the supporters of the Society in the Mis- sionary Chronicle for the month of November, and believe they have shared in the sympathy and prayers of the Christian public at large. The use of the deleterious drugs already referred to, appears to have been greatly increased by foreigners of different nations having established a number of grog-shops on shore for retailing spirits, and by the chiefs having been induced to become traffickers in rum. The extent and disastrous operation of this 415] SEVENTH REPORT. 1S34. 77 immoral habit has led the Directors to endeavor by mature delib- eration, with special prayer for divine guidance, io devise and apply, without delay, the most effectual remedies. With this view they have written most fully and urgently to the missionaries, recommending the formation and extension of Temperance Soci- eties, and have sent selections of the most approved works on the subject, which the friends of the temperance cause in England have published, for translation into the native language. They have also opened a correspondence with the British and Foreign Tem- perance Society, for the purpose of promoting Temperance among seamen, and with the British and Foreign Seamens' Society, with a view to direct the attention of that Society, especially to the moral improvement of seamen visiting the Pacific. They further purpose writing to the chiefs of the Islands, to bring the subject in a suitable manner under their consideration. We are encouraged, by the conviction that as the evils of the use of ardent spirits are more fully manifested, good men of ever) country will unite in promoting their exclusion from all civilized and Christian society, and individuals, who from motives of sordid interest shall persevere in cherishing and promoting among par- tially enlightened and civilized tribes, a habit so destructive of whatever is commendable, so detrimental to all intellectual and social improvement, so prolific of crime, — and, excepting in cases of extraordinary prevention, so inevitably ruinous, shall be found only among the most debased and worthless portions of society. We feel persuaded you will cordially sympathize in our feelings of deep distress on account of the evils that prevail in our mis- sionary stations, and cheerfully aid us by every means in your power in effecting their diminution and removal. And as our brethren inform us that a large proportion of the spirits used at Tahiti, &c. is conveyed in American ships, some from Boston; that it is chiefly what is termed New England rum, that is import- ed to the islands, and that in some vessels it comprises a consid- erable part of the cargo taken for barter with the people, I am instructed by the Directors of the London Missionary Society to request, which I do with the most entire confidence, that you will favor them with your Christian co-operation; and use your best endeavors to prevent, to the utmost practicable extent, the contin- ance of the evil. The most effectual means of securing an object so desirable will more readily occur to yourselves, than to them. Whether by a correspondence with the American Temperance Society, or by using your influence with owners and masters of vessels visiting the islands to induce a greater number of them to forego the gain that might be secured by the traffic in an article of absolute inu- tility, and scarcely less pernicious, morally, than arsenic would be 7* 78 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. [416 physically, or by any other means it shall appear to you that it can be best accomplished; we rest assured from the vigorous efforts the religious portion of the community in America, has already made, and the impulse in favor of temperance which you have given to your own country and ours, that we may rely on your cordial and sincere assistance. I am, my dear sir, on behalf of the Directors, faithfully and affectionately yours, ''Signed) W. Ellis, Foreign Secretcmj." Such are the effects of ardent spirit in counteracting the efficacy of the gospel, and in destroying the souls of men. Can there be a doubt then, but that the principles of Christianity, and even of humanity, utterly forbid the traffic in it? At their first meeting after the reception of the above, the Com- mittee of the American Temperance Society passed the following Resolutions, viz. 1 . Resolved, That the communications from the Secretary of the London Missionary Society, and from the Secretaries of the British and Foreign Temperance Society, be published for the information and consideration of the American community. 2. Resolved, That we deeply sympathize with our brethren in the South Sea Islands, and in Great Britain, in view of the dis- tresses, which, through the agency of some of our countrymen, have been brought upon them; and deplore the calamities which that agency has inflicted, by obstructing in those islands the pro- gress of the gospel, demoralizing the character of their inhabit- ants, and destroying, in vast numbers, the lives and souls of men. 3. Resolved, That it be, and hereby is respectfully suggested to those persons who are engaged in transporting ardent spirit to the South Sea Islands, or in any way connected with the traffic in it, to be used as a drink, by the unevangelized, or partially civil- ized nations and tribes of men, whether the injury which they are doing to their fellow men, in ministering to their vices, multiply- ing their diseases, shortening their lives, and endangering their souls, is not greater than the benefits, which from the prosecution of this traffic can result to themselves; and whether the principles of morality, the motives of humanity, and even of self-respect, ought not to induce them, in view of its evils, entirely to abstain from it. 4. Resolved, That it be, and hereby is, respectfully suggested to all ministers of the gospel, all officers and members of Ameri- can Churches, whether in view of the poisonous nature and de- structive effects of ardent spirit, it is not their duty, not only to abstain from the drinking of it, and the traffic in it themselves, but to increase their exertions till the like abstinence shall become universal. 417] SEVENTH REPORT. 1834. 79 5. Resolved, That it be, and hereby is, respectfully suggested to the consideration of the churches of our Lord Jesus Christ, whether the principles of the Christian religion and the precepts of the Saviour, do not forbid the continuance of a practice or the promotion of a business so manifestly immoral, and so awfully de- structive, as that of furnishing ardent spirit, as a drink, for their fellow men ; and whether in their associated as well as in their individual capacity, they are not bound to make strenuous and persevering efforts to promote its speedy and universal abandon- ment. 6*. Resolved, That it be, and hereby is, respectfully suggested to all Christian legislators, whether an immorality so strongly mark- ed and so highly injurious to the social, civil and religious interests of men in all ages, and all countries, as the traffic in ardent spirit, ought ever to be licensed; or its continuance in any way to re- ceive the sanction of Christian legislation. 7. Resolved, That editors of papers and periodicals, friend- ly to the cause of Temperance, throughout the United States, be, and hereby are, respectfully requested to insert the above resolves and the letters referred to, in their publications. John Tappan, George Odiorne, Heman Lincoln, Justin Edwards, Enoch Hale, Jr. Exc. Com. Jim. Temp. Soc The Pastoral Association of Massachusetts, at their meeting in Boston, May 28, 1834, passed the following Resolutions, viz. 1 . Resolved, That we hear with deep regret that some of our countrymen are engaged in exporting ardent spirit to the South Sea Islands, and in selling it to be used as drink; thereby increas- ing the diseases, demoralizing the character, shortening the lives, and endangering the souls, of the inhabitants of that part of the world. 2. Resolved, That we deeply sympathize with our brethren in those islands, and in Great Britain, in view of the distresses which these events have brought upon them, and especially in view of the hindrance which they have occasioned to the progress of the gos- pel, and to the promotion of civilization and Christianity. 3. Resolved, That, as ardent spirit is a poison, the drinking of which is highly injurious to the bodies and minds of men; as it tends to prevent their intellectual elevation, their social improve- ment, and their eternal salvation, the traffic in it, to be used as a drink, and especially the exporting or furnishing of it to the un- civilized and partially civilized nations and tribes of men, is, in our view, a gross violation of the revealed will of God, — an immo- 80 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. [418 rality, which ought to be reprobated, and abandoned throughout the world. 4. Resolved, That we will cheerfully co-operate with the friends of humanity, by the diffusion of information, the exertion of kind moral influence, and in all suitable ways, to cause a practice so manifestly immoral, so disgraceful to our country, and destructive to our fellow men, universally to cease. 5. Resolved, That it be, and it hereby is, respectfully and earnestly suggested to the consideration of all pastors and church- es, whether the continuance of this traffic, by members of the church, is not manifestly a violation of the laws of Christ; wheth- er it does not tend to prevent the success of the gospel, and especiLMy among the heathen; and whether suitable and effectual measures ought not to be taken to remove an evil so offensive to God, and so hurtful to men, from the Christian church. G. Resolved, That it be, and it hereby is, respectfully and earn- estly suggested to the consideration of all legislators, whether the perpetuating of this traffic, by licensing men to pursue it, is not a violation of the great principles of morality, as well as of political economy; and whether, if the continuance of legislation on this subject is required by the public good, it ought not to be, on the ground of defending the community from the evils of the traffic, and not on the ground of licensing it. Warren Fait, Moderator. George W. Elagden, Secretary. Similar Resolutions have been passed by the General Associa- tions of Massachusetts and Connecticut, and by the General Conference- o Maine ; bodies embracing more than 500 ministers of the gospel, and more than 600 churches. With reference to the same subject, the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the United States, at their meeting in Philadelphia, June 2, 1834, passed the following Resolutions, viz. 1. Resolved, That we deeply sympathize with our brethren in the South Sea Islands, and in Great Britain, in view of the dis- tress which through the agency of some of our countrymen, have been brought upon them, and deplore the calamities which that agency has occasioned, by obstructing in those islands, the progress of the gospel, demoralizing the character, and destroying the lives and souls of men. 2. Resolved, That the practice of sending out ardent spirit, to be used as a drink by the unevangelized, and partially civilized nations and tribes of men, is in our view a violation of the prin- ciples and precepts of the Christian religion, and ought to be abandoned throughout the world. 3. Resolved, That the traffic in ardent spirit, to be used as a 419] SEVENTH REPORT.— 1834. 81 drink by any people, is in our judgment morally wrong, and ought to be viewed as such, by the churches of jesus Christ universally. In view of the information referred to in the above Resolutions, the editor of the Boston Recorder remarks, — " It needs no com- ments, but will call fordi the deep sympathy of all the friends of Temperance and of Religion in our land, towards the unfortunate tribes to whom it relates. Will not merchants in our highly favored land, who call themselves Christians, forbear at length to send liquid poison to the other side of the globe, when they are ac- quainted with the mischief it is doing? Surely if they will not, ' They know not what they do;' and the silver thus accumulated, 'will eat like canker,' and cause them and their posterity bitter lamentation when entering upon that state to which we are all has- tening, and 'where the wicked cease from troubling.' That it is connected with such doings, is a disgrace to American enterprise, which all, who are in any way engaged in business in that part of the world, ought to be the most anxious to wipe off. If it is an honor that our shipping visits every sea and every shore, it is INFAMY thus to scatter, wherever it touches, the seeds of crime and disease and wretchedness and death. Who are the guilty men? Who is willing to be known as a participator in this business? " In view of the same, the editor of the New York Observer remarks, — " For many years the Society Islands have been quot- ed in Europe and America as a fine specimen of the happy effects of Christian missions in elevating the character and improving the condition of a heathen nation. With the blessing of God on the labors of the missionaries, the people had abandoned their bloody superstitions, and were advancing rapidly in religion and civiliza- tion. But, alas! the demons who deal in rum have alighted on their shores, and all is again one extended scene of moral desola- tion. No man, we think, can read the above without feeling that the men who send rum from this country, to be sold in the Society Islands, deserve to be ranked with the most depraved of their species." And as the nature and tendency of rum is the same, every where, may not this be said of those who understand this subject, and yet continue to traffic in ardent spirit to be used as a drink, in other countries? Are they not taking a course which is adapted to destroy the bodies and souls of men? The editor of the Christian Watchman remarks, — " Our Chris- tian friends will be grieved on reading the above; and this grief will be the more painful, when they reflect that merchants and traders, bearing the name of Christian, are the guilty agents in spreading this wickedness. The intelligence that ardent spirits are introduced into these Islands by Americans, and by British subjects, is humiliating. We most sincerely hope, that traders in the pois- 32 82 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. [420 on of ardent spirits, will desist from this traffic immediately, wit- nessing as they do, that it spreads sin and death wherever its influence extends." And the editor of Zion's Herald remarks, — " It is painful thus to see the labors of devoted missionaries, for a series of years, blasted by the introduction and sale of that fiery liquid, which now seems to be rolling round the globe, laying waste all that is fair and lovely. Will merchants in our highly favored land, who call them- selves Christians, not forbear to send liquid poison to the other side of the globe, when they hear of the havoc it is making? Surely, if they will continue this traffic, they know not what they do, and the silver thus acquired ' will eat like a canker,' and cause them and their posterity bitter lamentations, when entering upon that state to which we are all hastening — ' where the wicked cease from troubling. ' It is a foul blot upon the American name, that such things are done. Let us know who are the guilty authors of it, that the innocent may not suffer with those who deserve and will receive our execration." Similar sentiments of abhorrence of these destroyers of all that is excellent, and lovely, and glorious; and of deep regret at the vice, degradation and ruin, which they have occasioned, have been expressed by numerous other editors, individuals, and bodies of men. The evils are such as might well make angels weep. Not only are the hopes and efforts of benevolence for the pro- motion of happiness in this world blasted, but destruction from the presence of the Lord and the glory of his power, there is reason to fear, will in many cases be the woful result. And such are the known and legitimate fruits of this poison in every country, in which it is used; and especially among the unevangelized and par- tially civilized nations and tribes of men. This it is which has caused the American Indian to melt away before the white man like the dew before the rising sun. And this it is, which has hin- dered the efficacy of the gospel, and caused vice and wickedness, desolation and death, wherever it has been used, in every country, and among all people, throughout the world. Its constant, invari- able tendency, is, to increase human wickedness, and to counteract all the merciful designs of Jehovah, and the benevolent efforts of his people, for the salvation of men. The gratification which it occasions wars with a mighty force against the soul, and from it God commands men to abstain. VI. Another principle of the Bible, is, " As we have, therefore, opportunity, letus do good unto all men." (Gal. vi. 10.) Amanhas no moral right, natural or acquired, to prosecute any business that does not tend to do good to his fellow men. If the traffic in ardent spirit, to be used as a drink, does not tend to do good to man- 421] SEVENTH REPORT. 1834. 83 kind, and especially if it tends to do evil, a man has no moral right to pursue it. The question, then, is, Does it tend to (io good? What are the facts ? They are such as have been mentioned ; and may be summed up under the following heads, viz. 1. Ardent spirit, as a drink, is not needful or useful. 2. It is highly injurious to the body and the mind. 3. It tends to form intemperate appetites and to lead to drunk- enness and ruin. 4. 3t multiplies the incentives to evil, and gives to them pecu- liar power over the mind. 5. It greatly increases the amount of pauperism and crime, and thus augments the pecuniary burdens of the community. 6. In the above, and in various other ways, it causes an immense loss of property. 7. It increases the number and severity of diseases, and tends powerfully to obstruct their removal. 8. It shortens many lives. 9. It ruins many souls. 10. If continued, it will tend to perpetuate these evils, and to increase them, to all future ages. Instead of doing good, therefore, it does evil, and nothing but evil. To all these tremendous and overwhelming calamines, there is no countervailing benefit. And while the cause of them is con- tinued, they never can be prevented. The Bible then forbids it. " Whether, therefore, ye eat or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God," is another principle of the Bible, which the traffic in ardent spirit manifestly violates. Numerous others might be mentioned. It violates all those principles which require men to honor God or do good to mankind; it is manifestly hostile to both; and no principle of religion, morality, or humanity, will justify its continuance. Even were it true, as some have erroneously supposed, that the evils result, not from drinking a moderate quantity, but from great excess in quantity; still, it would be wicked to drink it, or to traf- fic in it, because it is now proved by millions of facts, that men are better without it. And as the drinking of a small quantity, tends to the drinking of a larger quantity; to the formation of in- temperate appetites and habits, and to all their evils, it is manifest- ly wicked to drink it, even in moderate quantities, or to furnish it. But the supposition is not true. And as such is the nature of this liquor that its effects are injurious in all quantities, there is no light in which it can be viewed, in which the use of it, or the traffic in it, to be used as a drink, is not manifestly an immorality, and an immorality as aggravated as the mischiefs which it tends to produce. But. says one, "A thing is not immoral which is viewed as re- 84 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. [422 spectable, or in which men, deemed respectable in the community, are engaged." Then you have only to make immorality respectable, and it ceases to be immorality. The selling of indulgences for the commission of sin, was once viewed by some people as respecta- ble; and it is still practised in some places, and sanctioned by the government as a respectable employment. (See Sixth Report Am. Temp. Soc., pp. 79 and 80.) But is it not sinful? Or does it lose its sinful character, because men deemed respectable, are en- gaged in it? Men deemed respectable were engaged in the cru- cifixion of the Saviour, and it has sometimes been thought to be respectable to put his friends to death? But was it not an immo- rality? The character of actions does not change with the opinions of men. If actions are immoral when execrated, they are immor- al when praised. And there may be in this case, greater reason than in the other, to declare them to be immoral. The very fact of their being deemed respectable, and practised by respectable men, instead of being a reason why they should not be denounc- ed as immoral, may be a powerful reason why they should be. It may be impossible to change public sentiment, or for good men to do their duty, if they do not denounce such practices as immorali- ties ; and immoralities, which, if understood and persevered in, will bring upon their perpetrators, the wrath of the Most High. "But it is not right," says another, "to denounce men." The drinking of ardent spirit is not a man; the traffic in it is not a man. There is nothing of the attributes, or that deserves the appellation of a man, about either. They are practices, which God, in his word and providence, for wise and good reasons, we have no doubt, by evidence greater than in a case of life or death, would satisfy any impartial court in Christendom, has shown to be wicked. Fidelity to him requires his people, in words and in deeds, to treat them as such. If sins may not be declared to be sins, because men practise them, they can never be called by their right name; and will never be treated according to their real character. They must be spoken of as sins, if you would lead the community to view and treat them as such. And if any man who practises those sins, thinks that so saying, we condemn him, he must renounce them. That is the proper way to escape condemnation. It is the only way. While to forbear to declare sins, to be sins, is the way to perpetuate them. Nor is there any thing, as the objection would insinuate, immodest, or unkind in declaring an immorality so strongly marked, as the traffic in ardent spirit, in the plainest and strongest manner, to be an immorality. It is only speaking the truth in love, con- cerning a practice in which some are engaged, which is endanger- ing their souls, and the souls of their fellow men. 423J SEVENTH REPORT. — 1S34. 85 Is it not proper, kindly and plainly, to say that gambling is an immorality ? But what mischief does that do, compared with the traffic in ardent spirit ? Is it not proper to say that counterfeiting the public coin, and theft, are immoralities ? But what mischief does either, or do both of them do to the community, compared with the mischiefs produced by the sale and drinking of ardent spirit ? Says an eloquent advocate of the temperance cause,* — ' ' If the truth press hard upon the heart of a fellow man ; if a fact fall like a thunderbolt upon his head, he is not to be offended with me. Did / make the truth, or the fact ? Have / led him to do the act, which gives to truth all its cutting power ? or, have I made him the author of the fact ; the mere statement of which is as the bursting of thunder upon his ear ? Has not he performed the action, which gives to truth its sword of double edge ? and has not himself been guilty of the fact, the very hearing of which is as the pouncing of a vulture upon his vitals? Should he not be angry with himself, and at once enter upon the way of reforma- tion ? And, if the little I can say, produces such a commotion in his soul, how will he stand the exhibition of the great day, the light of the judgment ? If, the truth I tell, raises such a storm in his bosom ; if he quail before the glow-worm light shed around him by a fellow man, if his conscience is roused to frenzy, and all the plausible and false reasonings must be seized upon to give him temporary quiet, how will such a man stand before the bar of ineffable light, and truth, and rectitude ? Let him tremble now^ while he reflects what God is, and before what judgment seat he will soon be summoned, when the summons must and icill be heard and obeyed." " Well," it is said, "I have no objection to its being spoken of as an immorality by individuals, but why should it be done by public bodies ?" Because public bodies have influence, and the greater the number of those who unite in condemning a prac- tice that is wicked, the greater the effect. It is so on all other sub- jects, and the friends of this cause have judged that it would be so on this. Hence the reason, why the American Congressional Temperance meeting, the United States' Temperance Convention, ten State Temperance Conventions, numerous State and County Temperance Societies, and various other bodies of men of all professions and employments, and from all parts of our country, and multitudes in other countries, have united in declaring to the world their deep and solemn conviction, that the traffic in ardent spirit, to be used as a drink, is an immorality, and ought to be abandoned throughout the world. Nor have they stopped with an expression of their opinion. They have in various ways given * Professor Dewejr. 8 32* 86 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. [424 to the world the reasons of that opinion ; and facts demonstrate that these reasons commend themselves powerfully to the con- science, and move strongly upon the heart. They are adapted to do this. And should they, by all the friends of temperance, be universally communicated, and enforced by a consistent example, they would go on from conquering to conquer. Founded as they are in truth, they take hold on the moral nature of man ; point him, as an immortal being, to a world of unerring retribution, and to a time when the universe shall witness concerning each indi- vidual, that as he hath sown, so shall he also reap. And though uttered by the breath of feeble dying men, yet coming as they do from the hearts of thousands, and as the echo of that voice that spake and it was done ; stamped on the flying page, and scattered as by the wings of the wind, they have caught the eye and reached the heart of thousands, whose lips uttered " Glory to God in the highest, good will to men;" but whose hands scattered fire-brands, arrows, and death. Many fountains that poured forth their scorching poison have since ceased to flow ; and deserts long scathed with their burning contents, have become like gardens of the Lord. Joy and gladness have been found in them ; thanks- giving, and the voice of melody. Men in great numbers have ceased to prey upon their fellow men ; or to live supremely for themselves ; and in glorifying God, and doing good, have shown the character, begun the business, and enjoyed foretastes of the bliss of heaven. Should the traffic in ardent spirit, to be used as a drink, be universally viewed and treated, as it has been shown, by the word and providence of God, to be in truth, an immorality, and as such be abandoned, it would do much to hasten the time, when this should be the case with all men throughout the earth. The means under Providence of universally accomplishing this result, is, the universal dissemination of the reasons why this should be done, with earnest desire and fervent prayer for the blessings of the Holy Spirit, to render them successful. That this may be done, these reasons, the Committee of the American Temperance Society have embodied in this, and their three last Reports. These Reports, as before stated, are stereotyped and paged continuously, for the purpose of making a volume, exhibiting the great principles and facts on this subject, and adapted to universal circulation. And before closing this Report, which is to com- plete the volume, on the wickedness of using or trafficking in ardent spirit as a drink, they would briefly address four classes of men, viz : Moderate drinkers ; men who furnish THEM WITH ARDENT SPIRIT ; MINISTERS OF THE GOSPEL, AND MEMBERS OF CHRISTIAN CHURCHES. 4251 SEVENTH REPORT. — 1834. 87 ADDRESS. I. To moderate drinkers. By these we mean men wh» drink ardent spirit, but who do not get intoxicated. Fellow Citizens — You are a class of persons like those with whom the drinking of ardent spirit commenced ; and to whom it was designed, by sober men, to be confined. Their object in its introduction, as a drink, was not to make drunkards, but to benefit sober men. But such is the nature of this liquor, and such the character of men, that if they drink it, it will injure them, and in many cases, lead to drunkenness and ruin. Obser- vation, and the experience of 250 years, have proved this. Of course it must be wicked to drink it, unless it is needful or useful. But the great body of all intelligent physicians who have examined this subject, testify that it is neither. And the experi- ence of millions of men, show that their testimony is true. And it is also proved by the experience of all who have given it a fair trial, that men of all ages, and in all kinds of lawful business, are better without the use of ardent spirit, than with it. More than a million of men have made the experiment. Of course, the point is settled. Men are better without it. It is, then, wicked for you to drink it. Because by drinking it, you teach the doctrine that it is needful, or useful, or innocent ; no one of which is true. You perpetuate a practice, which, if perpetuated, will form, and perpet- uate, and increase intemperate appetites, and lead multitudes down to death. And you do this, without any good reason, and against all good reasons. And if this does not appear so to you, it is because you drink spirit, and while you continue to drink it, you will be under its deluding power. Being in its nature a mocker, it will deceive you. The fact that you think it does you good, shows that you are deceived. It is one of those things which make men call evil, good, and good, evil ; and to do it often with great confidence. But it is wicked to be thus deceived ; and especially amidst all the light which God, in his Word, and by his providence, has furnished, is it wicked to perpetuate that decep- tion, and be the means of extending and perpetuating its influence over others. We entreat you, therefore, for your own sake, and for the sake of others, that you would renounce the drinking of ardent spirit for ever. There is another reason why we most earnestly entreat you t» do this. You are instrumental in perpetuating the traffic in ardent spirit. It would not be in the power of all the drunkards in the world to perpetuate this traffic, if it were not for the moderate drinkers. There would be hardly a man in the community foolish enough to continue it for drunkards only, after all sober men have 88 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. [426 renounced the drinking of it. And if a man should do it, drunk- ards only would not long make profitable customers ; and the man who should furnish spirits to them, and thus perpetuate their abominations, would be esteemed by the community as among the most guilty of the whole. Sellers of this poison often declare that they would not keep it a day, for drunkards merely. But they have some sober, respectable customers that want it ; and they keep it for them. This is the case with the great body of sober rum- sellers. For this reason we most earnestly entreat you to renounce for ever the drinking of it. If you do not, you are loaded with the amazing, the overwhelming responsibility of perpetuating that awfully immoral traffic, and its abominations. It is a respon- sibility, which, if you continue, you will, to all eternity, wish that you had thrown off, or never assumed. As friends to you, to your children, and to the community, we entreat you ; as friends to the Saviour and the eternal interests of men, we entreat you for their sakes, for your own sake, and for His sake, to renounce . the drinking of ardent spirit. And unless your experience shall be altogether different from that of 1,500,000 others who have renounced it, you will have reason to bless God, and thank chose who induced you to take this course, for ever and ever. II. To THOSE WHO FURNISH ARDENT SPIRIT TO MODERATE DRINKERS. The ardent spirit which you sell is composed ot alcohol and water. Alcohol is composed of hydrogen, carbon, and oxygen, in the proportion of about 14, 52, and 34 parts to the hundred ; and is, as all chemists and physicians know, a poison. When taken in small quantities, it disturbs healthy action, produces an unnat- ural excitement, and causes more or less disease ; and when taken 'in large quantities, or in smaller quantities habitually, destroys ' human life. According to the testimony of the most eminent physicians, and those best acquainted with this^ubject, more than 30,000 persons have been killed by it, in the United States, in a year. And those who have drunk it, have generally had then- lives much shortened. It has also been the cause of a great por- tion of the diseases with which our countrymen have been afflicted; and has often rendered those diseases which have arisen from other causes more fatal than they otherwise would have been. It has also occasioned, as you know, a great portion of all the pau- perism, crimes, and wretchedness which have prevailed. It has hindered men from becoming rizhteous, and rendered them much more wicked. It has greatly obstructed the progress of the gospel, and all means for human salvation ; and been instrumental, there is reason to believe, in the ruin of many souls. While the traffic in it is continued, these evils will be perpetuated ; and you will be held accountable to God for being instrumental in producing them. 427] SEVENTH REPORT. — 1834. 89 It is now known that the drinking of ardent spirit is not need- ful, or useful ; and that men in health, under all circumstances, are better without it. Facts prove this. Of course, it is manifestly- wicked to drink it. Yet by selling it you teach the doctrine, that the drinking of it is right. This doctrine is false, and to multi- tudes, it is fatal. You cannot, in view of the facts, without great guilt and danger, continue to teach this doctrine. It is teaching a falsehood. By furnishing ardent spirit to moderate drinkers, you help to form intemperate appetites, and to perpetuate intemperance. If none were sold except to drunkards, they would all soon be dead; and if no other drunkards were made, drunkenness would cease. But by selling it to moderate drinkers, as fast as one generation of drunkards are killed, another is prepared to fill their places ; and then another, and another ; and so drunkenness is perpetuated. The men who sell to moderate drinkers, are therefore accessory to all these evils ; and are in fact instrumental in producing and perpetuating them. This is wicked. We entreat you, therefore, not to do it. It will, in the end, injure )rou. It will endanger your salvation, and will destroy many of your fellow men. You also, by increasing the pauperism and crimes, greatly increase the pecuniary burdens of the community. The taxes of the people for the support of paupers and the prosecution of criminals, are through your instrumentality greatly augmented. This is positively unjust. You have no moral right for your own individual profit, even if it were profitable, to carry on a business which thus tends to injure the public. It is a violation of one of the first principles of common law, and is forbidden by the Bible; and if you were not shielded by an unjust statute, you would be liable to indictment at common law, for perpetuating a nuisance. Many a man has been indicted, and convicted, and condemned, for causing a nuisance that did not do to the community half the mischief which is done by your business. But do you say, that as you have a license, and are thus shielded by human statute from legal prosecution, you are therefore shielded from guilt ? This is by no means the case. The law which licenses you to carry on this immoral business, is itself, an immoral Ijw. It was passed while men were under the delusion of sup- posing that ardent spirit, if taken moderately, is beneficial. This is now known to be false. Of course all the supposed foundation for licensing the traffic in it, has vanished. Had the facts always been known on this subject, which are known now, and men been disposed to do right, it never would have been licensed. And the licensing of it ought not now to be continued. And while it is continued, it does not justify, in a moral point of view, any one in taking out a license, — or in selling spirit, if he has one. As the 90 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. [428 thing is in itself wrong, no human statute, and no l'rense of men can make it right ; or secure any one, acquainted with the subject, if he continues in it, from the withering indignation of the Almighty. It is not honest. You do not furnish to the moderate drinker any thing of real value for his money. He had better be without it. And should he, after paying for the spirit, turn it on the ground, it would be better for him than it is to drink it. It does him real injury. Do you say that you are not answerable for that injury, if he chooses to drink it? But if you know, as by doing youi duty might know, that it is to him an injury, you are answerable. You have no moral right to take his money for that which you know, or might know, will only injure him ; much less have you a right to teach by business, as you do, the falsehood, that it will benefit him. And if you continue to do this, you will, by the Divine Being, by your own conscience, and by an enlight- ened community, be condemned. There is another view in which you are doing an immense injury to mankind. You are aiding in perpetuating a practice which will greatly expose the children and youth to pursue a course, that~will blast their characters, destroy their usefulness, and ruin their souls. Who gave you, and who can give you a moral right to pursue a business "which increases four-fold the exposure of our children and youth to become drunkards, and be ruined ? a business that tends to demoralize their character, to increase their diseases, to shorten their lives, and destroy their souls ? Who gave you, or who can give you, a moral right to increase the pauperism and crimes, the pecu- niary burdens and the wretchedness of the community ? to aid in perpetuating a custom, diat, if continued, will perpetuate intemper- ance, and roll its desolating curses over future generations ? Who gave you, or who can give you a moral right to obstruct the progress of the gospel, and hinder the gracious reign of the Redeemer over the minds and hearts of men ; and thus to counteract his merciful designs for their spiritual illumination and eternal salvation from sin and death, and their restoration to the purity and blessedness, the light and glory of heaven ? No one has given you this right — and no one can do it. There is no such moral right for any creature in the universe. You are acting in this business against all moral right. And when the community, long and grossly injured, complain,— instead of infringing your rights, you, while you continue, are constantly trampling on theirs. You are doing injuries, not only which you have no moral right to do, but which no legislator has any moral right to license you to do. It is a business which moral right forbids. ^ And if you continue to pursue it, you do it in violation of that moral obligation which binds you, as an intelligent, accountable 429] SEVENTH REPORT. 1S34. 91 agent, to glorify God, and to do good, and good only, as yon have opportunity, to all men; and which will hold you responsible, to an endless retribution, according to your works. And now when the public mind is settling down upon the con- clusion that the traffic in ardent spirit, to be used as a drink, is immoral;* and the question is to be decided whether it is, or is not to be continued; and you are to be one by whom the decision is to be made, and made too not merely for time but for eternity, we beseech you, most kindly, and most earnestly beseech you, each one who has been engaged in the business of furnishing ardent spirit to moderate drinkers, without delay to renounce it. Cease any longer to do evil. Do good, and good only, to all, as you have opportunity, and thereby, good shall come unto you. That great deep into which so many have plunged never to rise, will be dried up, and a way be opened for blessings, in rich variety and abundance to flow down upon men, to all iuture ages. III. To Ministers of the Gospel, of every name, and in every country. With great respect, and with an affectionate regard to your high and sacred office, we address you. We view you as ap- pointed by the God of Heaven to proclaim his will to men. That will is made known in his Word, and his works. These, as we fully believe, and deeply feel, both show with great clearness, that the use of ardent spirit, and the traffic in it, to be used as a drink, are morally wrong; a violation of the divine law. Millions are now groaning, and have long groaned under the effects of this violation; a sad memento to all ages, that " the way of transgres- sors is hard." We are, therefore, exceedingly desirous, as we have no doubt that the eternal destiny of multitudes of our fellow men will be deeply affected by it, that not only a part, as is now the case, a large part, but that the whole of your number should abstain from the drinking of this poison, and from the traffic in it; and should also not only be convinced, but should show by your preaching and practice, that you are convinced, that both are a violation of the will of God; and that regard to Him, to themselves, and the com- munity, require that all men should abstain from them. For this purpose we most respectfully request you to examine thoroughly the Reports of the American Temperance Society, and such other documents as have been published on this subject, with fer- vent prayer daily, for the guidance and blessings of the Holy Spirit. And especially do we entreat you, each one, to cease entirely from the drinking of the poison, yourself; for if you do * Appendix E. 92 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE S0CIET7. [430 not, it will tend powerfully to counteract the influence of the Heavenly Messenger, and of the most conclusive reasons. Men must, on this subject, cease to do evil, or they will not be likely to feel a practical conviction of their obligation to do well. The mocker has power, often, when men are only under its moderate influence, to prevent the effect, even of demonstration itself. And if men continue to tamper with it, only moderately, especially Chris- tian men, and most of all, ministers of the Gospel, we cannot expect that they will ever view it and treat it in a proper manner. But total abstinence from the use of it, and all connection with the traffic in it; examination and the teaching of the Holy Spirit, obtained by hearty desire, fervent prayer, and consistent conduct, have convinced thousands, that to drink it or traffic in it is sinful. A similar course would, as we believe, convince all. And the benefits, which such a conviction, with correspondent preaching and practice, would produce, no tongue can tell. It might be in- strumental in saving vast multitudes from perdition. A most excellent and respectable Doctor of Divinity was led to look at this subject in the light of the principles and facts ex- hibited in our Reports. " It is," said he, " one of the greatest and most momentous subjects in the world. I never viewed it in that light before; I will not drink any more brandy." Here we have a reason why he had never viewed it in that light before. He had drunk a little brandy — a very moderate quantity after preach- ing; and had been, of course, to a great degree, blind to its na- ture and effects, long after many of his brethren, who drank none, had clearly seen them. He now resolved to break off', and renounce the poison. He uttered this resolution. It was heard by a magistrate, who said, "I am glad to hear it, Doctor. It is a resolution more important, perhaps, than you are aware of. I was conversing, last week, with Major , who you know is killing himself by drinking brandy. I told him that if he did not break ofF, entirely, he would soon be a dead man. I pointed him to his family, and entreated him to give up drinking. He heard me very patiently." "But," said he, " there is good Doctor ■ /'mentioning the name of this very minister, "he drinks nrandy ; and if he drinks it, why may not I ? " Here was a drunkard going down to death, who must give up his brandy or perish; and yet shielded, in his own estimation, from guilt in con- tinuing to drink it, because that good Doctor of Divinity drank it. How many other drunkards have been in the same condition, the light of eternity will disclose. And that light too will show how great a share of the guilt of their ruin, must eternally attach to ministers of the Gospel. Nor is this all. It is indeed but a very small part of the mischief. Many a moderate drinker, shielded from the convictions of truth and the reproofs of con- 431J SEVENTH REPORT. 1834. 93 science, by the example of ministers, will continue to drink, and their hopes be blasted for ever. And many a youth, too, will adopt the habit of drinking, become a drunkard, and go down to death. A father, conversing with his own son, who had become a drunkard, told him that he must break off the use of spirit, en- tirely, or he would certainly die. The son did not deny this truth. " But," said he, "you drink spirit. And if you drink it, why may not I? " The father, or the minister who means to continue to drink, might answer, " Because you drink too much. I do not take, or do not mean to lake, any more than does me good." And the drunkard might answer, "No don't I. I am as much opposed to drinking too much, as you are. But a little, you think, does good, and so do I. That is all I mean to take." And so he goes down to death. Who must judge how much makes him feel better, if not the man himself ? Deacon , after hearing from his minister, a powerful ser- mon against drunkards, said, "It is abominable to drink as many men do. To take a little," said he, as he was stirring up his glass, during the intermission, " I think does a man good; but to drink so much as some men do, is abominable. They ought to be preached against." What would such a man do, whether deacon or minister, in reclaiming drunkards? Nothing. Who does not know, that drunkards must break off entirely, or it cannot be ex- pected that they will ever be reclaimed? And what can the doc- trine, taught by precept or example, that a little does gjod, do towards reclaiming them? Nothing. It makes drunkards, and perpetuates drunkenness. If deacons and ministers drink, the church members and parishioners will drink. Each one will judge, in his own case, how much does him good ; drunken- ness will continue, and it will continue to plunge its victims into hopeless death. We again beseech you, therefore, to read, with deep attention, our Reports ; and especially those parts of them which show, the fatal effects of even a little ardent spirit, in counteracting the efficacy of the Gospel, grieving away the Holy Ghost, and ruin- ing the souls of men. And as it is proved that even a little, is, and from its nature ever must be, injurious; and that multitudes, if they take a little, will be led to take much, we put it to your con- sciences, in the fear and love of God, whether it is not your duty, your indispensable duty, to abstain from it entirely. You cannot, in your high and responsible station, teach the fatal heresy, that it >s right to drink ardent spirit, and not do infinite mischief. " If even meat make my brother to offend," said a great ex- emplar of Christian ministers, " I will eat none while the world standeth." How much less, then, would he take poison? After 33 94 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. [432 rt had been shown, by the most conclusive evidence, to be poison; and proved by the experience of millions, that men are in all respects better without it; and that it cannot be taken without leading mul- titudes to ruin? How certain is it, that he would not, under such circumstances, take any while the world standeth. Apostolic in principle, and millennial in effects, will be the efforts of Christen- dom, when all her ministers and deacons and church members, shall be governed in all things, by the same high and holy motives. Yours, Reverend and respected Sirs, is the privilege, the honor, and, as we most solemnly believe, the duty of setting this high and holy example. As captains of the Lord's hosts, and pioneers in the emancipation of the world, you are bound to lead in those measures which are to fill it with light, purity and love. But, ah, should the light which is in you, be darkness, that darkness will be very great; and the consequences, to multitudes, will be overwhelmingly dreadful. But we hope and expect better things, though we thus speak. We cannot but hope and expect, that you will take such a course as not only to be convinced that the drinking of ardent spirit, and the traffic in it, to be used as a drink, are morally wrong, but that you will feel it to be your duty, by preaching and practice, to show this to your people. And if the truth on this subject is proclaimed from the pulpit, in demonstration of the Spirit, it will be embraced by the churches. And by walking in the truth, they will be sanctified by it, and they will become free from the guilt, under which they have long groaned, of being accessory to the perpetuating of intemperance. They will find the way of truth to be a way of pleasantness, and a path of peace. And that mighty obstruction to the efficacy of the gospel, being removed, and the Gospel proclaimed with the Holy Ghost sent down from Heaven, Zion will arise and shine, her light being come, and the glory of the Lord will rest upon her. IV. To the Members of the Churches of Christ, of EVERY DENOMINATION THROUGHOUT THE WORLD, we Would also address a few words. The church, in its character and object, is but one. It was established by the God of Heaven, to be on earth, the pillar and ground of his truth. Its members were designed, by their prin- ciples, profession and practice, to be the means of extending the knowledge of his truth to all people, and perpetuating it to all ages. If what is shown in his word and his works, to be truth, is viewed and treated as such by them, it will be by others. Thus its influence will be extended and perpetuated. They are the divine- ly appointed instruments for producing such effects. And although weak and insufficient in themselves, through him they are mighty. *^°1 S EVENT 11 REPORT. — 1834. ng even i to the puling down of the strongest holds of sin and Satan and to the rearing upon their ruins the kingdom and throne of tie Kedeemer. If, on the other hand, they view and treat as m~ral, what God ms shown to be unmoral, it will, under the full blaze cf reveia ^on and amidst all the splendors of Providence, be viewed and trecued as moral- by others. The world will grope in darkness and men go down m s.n, to hopeless death. Without the exam- ples of members of the church, we have not the divin ! Ipo r - ettoits to do it. Hence, thp impcrtanr-e, and even toe necessity if they would comply with the will of their Lord, oLcS each one, m accordance with hi, truth. It is not eno'ugh fo "hem to have ,„ theory or profession merely, a scriptural creed ■ norTs U enough that they should have a minister who in speculaTon r» the inculcat.on of doctrine, should preach according to k 'ig must show them also, from the word and providence of God wha tpracHces are allowed, and what are coLeumed ; and ^J 'i't, r/ • G S ]°l,,d, S°Vern them in lheir devotions, and re- %.ous dut.es merely; they must govern them in their eatL and ss^^r^ aiid se,,i^ in a]i - business,::^ And as the buying and selling of ardent spirit, to be used as adnnk, are manifestly immoral, and have been shown to be im moral ; we earnestly beseech all members of churches of all Tit a 7 d° T> they are not> on t!>is subject, the pillar or ground of the truth; but of error; and are instrumental i/S holding, extending, and perpetuating that error, with alii s destruc Uve consequences to the character,6 happiness and plJ^Srf And the fact that some church members are now speakine and m S-aS0;rn rafif0 -ln 3rdent Spir-Jt' t0 be -edSfdSSk i moral , or not, as it is in truth, manifestly immoral is o„P of thl greatest hindrances to the triumphs of temperance and one of h to^eS furnishin" of £ 7 ^g °f lhls Poison' and from the turnisning of it, ,n any way, to be drunk; and do all in his power, 96 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. [434 by the dissemination of information, and by the exertion of a kind persevering moral influence, to extend and perpetuate this course throughout the world. To you, Beloved Brethren, in so doing, we look, as the means, and to God as the cause, with sure hope and unwavering expecta- tion of this mighty destroyer, this aggravated immorality, this foul abomination, and deep disgrace, being for ever done away. The temperance reformation, which has scattered the darkness and broken the slumber of ages, and is now travelling in the great- ness of mercy over the length and breadth of the world, was begun by the influence of the Bible. It was undertaken in prayer, and for the purpose of delivering souls from sin anil death. It was to remove that mighty obstruction to the efficacy of the Redeemer's kindness, which, while continued, will keep millions in spiritual bondage; and to open the way for the speedy and universal triumphs of his grace. This it is, we believe, wl ch has led Him to favor it, and by his mighty power to crown it so extensively with his blessing. And this it is, which inspires us with the con- tinually growing expectation, that if his friends do their duty, it will never stop, till drunkenness has ceased from under heaven. To friends of Christ and of man, therefore, of every name and in every place, we would say, brethren, go forward. Be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Take unto your- selves the whole armor of God. Pray with all prayer and suppli- cation in the spirit, and watch thereunto with all perseverance. Be not weary in well doing. In due time ye shall reap abund- antly, if ye faint not. And to Him who is the author and finisher of all good works, and who is able and willing to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask, or think, according to the riches of his grace ; and to his continued benediction, we would devoutly commend this great concern ; saying in humility, faith, and action, "Let thy work appear unto thy servants, and thy glory unto their children. And let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us ; and establish thou the work of our hands upon us ; yea, the work of our hands, establish thou it."* * It was expected, when the above Report was written, that this, together with the Appendix, would form Uie close of the first volume of Permanent Temperance Documents. But it has since been thought best, to add another Report, " On the nature of Alcohol, the manner in which it causes death, and the utility, as illustrated by examples, of abstinence from the use of it;" to which we would invite the special attention of the reader. . APPENDIX. A. (P. 9.) At the first annual meeting of the American Congressional Temperance Society at the Capitol in Washington, February 25th, 1834, the gentlemen whose names are mentioned, offered the following resolutions, which were adopted. Hon. Benjamin F. Butler, Attorney General of the United States. Resolved, That Temperance Associations, formed on the plan of entire absti- nence from the drinking and furnishing of ardent spirit, in view of the evils they are designed to suppress and to prevent; the means by which they propose to effect this end ; the good already accomplished ; and the beneficent results which may be expected from their future triumphs, deserve to be ranked among the most useful and glorious institutions of the age, and are eminently entitled to the active support of every patriot and philanthropist. Hon. William Hendricks, Senator from Indiana. Resolved, That we view with lively interest the formation of Legislative Temperance Societies, and hope that the time is not distant, when such a Society will be formed, and will number among its members all Legislators, in each State throughout the Union. Hon. Henry L. Pinckney, Member of Congress from South Carolina. Resolved, That the abolition of the use of ardent spirit in the Army, is highly auspicious to the oreat interests of our country ; and that its abolition through- out the Navy, while it would increase the health, the respectability and the happiness of the seamen, would also tend greatly to strengthen the arm of national defence. Hon. George Grennell, Jr., Member of Congress from Massachusetts. Resolved, That literary men, and men in public life are under peculiar obli- gations to promote the cause of Temperance, and that it be recommended that Temperance Societies be formed in all literary and scientific institutions throughout the country. Hon. Arnold Naudain, Senator from Delaware. Resolved, That the abandonment of the sale and use of ardent spirit in Hteamboats, public houses and groceries, is highly conducive to the public good; and that the frirnds of human happiness, by encouraging, in all suitable ways, such establishments as have adopted this course, will perform an important service to the community. Hon. Daniel \\ ardwell, Member of Congress from New York. Resolved, That as the universal diffusion of knowledge and virtue is essentia! to the purity and permanence of free institutions, we recommend to all friends of their country, to supply themselves with some Temperance publication ; and in all suitable ways to spread the knowledge of the facts on this important subject, as extensively as possible. Hon. Samuel Bell, Senator from New Hampshire. Resolved, That essential aid has been given to the cause of Temperance, by the united example and energetic action of young men ; and should it enlist in its favor the whole of that interesting class of our fellow citizens, its blessings would be extended not only throughout our land, but we might hope, through- out the earth. Hon. Harrner Denny, Member of Congress from Pennsylvania. Resolved, That the adoption of the principle of abstinence from the use of ardent spirit, by the superintendents of manufactories and public works ; the proprietors of railroads, steamboats, stages, &c. with regard to all in their employment, while it would increase the value of their services, would add greatly to their comfort, as well as to the convenience and safety of the public. 33* 441] SEVENTH REPORT. 1834. APPENDIX. 103 Dr. Edwards, Corresponding Secretary of the American Temperance Society. Resolved, That the effect of American example and effort, in the promotion of Temperance in foreign countries, ought to inspire us with a high sense of out obligations to the Author of all good ; and encourage us to make new, and ever growing exertions to become still more eminently benefactors, not only of our own country, but of the world. Hon. Felix Grundy, Senator from Tennessee. Resolved, That the practice of not using ardent spirits, at the celebration of the 4th of July, the great day of American liberty, is truly republican ; and tends to prevent that corruption of public morals, which is the deadliest foe to the prosperity of our country. Hon. George N. Brigjjs, Member of Congress from Massachusetts. Resolved, That the influence of Temperance on the intellectual improvement, the moral purity, the social enjoyment, the civil prospects, and the eternal destinies of man, is such as ought to secure for it the united example and the active, persevering exertion of all the Christian and patriotic, the philanthropic and humane throughout the world. Hon. Tlreodore Frelinghuysen, Senator from New Jersey. Resolved, That the influence of woman, is essential to the triumph of every great and good cause } and should that influence which God has graciously given her, be universally, and perseveringly exerted in favor of the Temperance reformation, its triumphs would be certain and complete; and its blessings, while richly enjoyed by herself, and those whom she loves, would be extended vo all people, and perpetuated to all ages. B. (P. 9.) Extracts from the Address of Hon. Benjamin F. Butler. The great objects of the Temperance reform are so patriotic, benevolent and useful, and the leading means by which they are proposed to be effected, so just in themselves, that I feel no apprehension as to the ultimate result. But to ensure a speedy growth, and an abundant harvest, even to the seeds of truth, they must ever tie scattered by the hand of love. To every laborer in this field of duty, I would therefore, say, in the language of inspired wisdom — " Let not MERCY and truth forsake thee : bind them about thy neck : write them upon the table of thine heart ; so shalt thou find favor aud good success in tlie sight of God and man !" And now, sir, in view of all that has been said, I submit it to the enlightened judgments of those who hear me, whether the Temperance Associations, in the "language of this resolution, do not " deserve to be ranked among the most useful amfglorious institutions of the age?" Whether they do not really deserve the approbation — the active support — of every lover of his country and his kind ? If there be anv present, who have not yet given to this effort their approbation and support, "let me respectfully conjure them, by all the ties that bind them to this blessed land — by all the endearments that encircle the domestic hearth — by all they possess, or love, or hope for — no longer to give to folly, vice, and crime, the support of their example. If they do not see it to be their duty to enrol themselves publicly, under our banners, let them at least abandon the use of spirituous liquors, and cease hereafter to furnish tliem to others, or to encourage those who are engaged in doing so. Me thinks, to every reflecting and benevolent mind, this little self-denial— I will not dignify it with the name of sacrifice— this little self-denial would be but the merest trifle, when p,it in competition with the good which even a silent example of abstinence, may effect. Think, sir. of the blessings you confer, when you save but one man from the drunkard's life, the drunkard's death, and the drunkard's retribution ! You raise from the degradation to which it would otherwise have sunk, and you restore to its appropi iate rank in the scale of being, au immortal mind — an mnana- 104 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. [442 tion of the Deity ' It may be he is a son — and then you give new life to the parents whose gray hairs would else " have been brought down with sorrow to the grave ! " Or he is a husband — and then you impart hope and happiness to the deserted female, who, in the confidence of youthful l«>ve united her destiny with his ! Or he is a father — and then the little band whom you have rescued from anticipated orphanage, will rise up and call you blessed ! Or he may unite in himself all these relations, and then you open in numerous hearts, new and unlooked for sources of delight! Or to some one or all of them, he may add the gifts of genius and the accomplishments of learning — he may have been endowed with powers of the highest order, and ere he gave way to brutal appetite, he may have adorned the sacied desk, the senate or the bar ; and then you replace a fallen luminary in its native sphere, and you diifuse, through an extended system, light, and fife, and joy ! But our aim is not to save one, nor fifty, but thousands and tens of thousands, from the drunkard's fate ! To save our friends, our brethren, and ourselves, our children, and our children's children, our country and the world ! Shall we not, one and all — henceforth and for ever — deem it, not merely a duty, but happiness and honor, to be fellow laborers in a work, so benevolent and sublime ? Extract from the Address of the Hon. Henry L. Pinckney. Sir, what has been the cause of the vice and crime — the mutiny and insub- ordination— the tumults and desertions — the disgraces and punishments — that have occurred in the American army or the navy ? They may be traced, unquestionably , to the great error of the government, in having encouraged, if not in having actually produced, habits of intoxication among those, in whom, it was not only its true policy, but its positive duty, to inculcate principles of tem- perance, subordination, and decorum. I have understood, however, and 1 have learnt it with very great pleasure, that the practice of paying our soldiers with ardent spirits has been, within the last year, very extensively, if not thoroughly, reformed. For this valuable improvement, in that branch of the public service, we are indebted to the distinguished officer, Mr. Cass, who is now at the head of the war department. Sir, he deserves, and should receive, the thanks of the army and of the country for having conceived and executed this important reformation : and it is a source of great gratification to me, that whilst in him we have an able and efficient advocate of Temperance, so in the amiable and estimable gentleman, Mr. Butler, who now holds the office of Attorney General, we have an ardent and enlightened supporter of all those great enterprises which have for their object the moral and religious renovation of society. I have understood, also, that the abolition of the use of ardent spirits in the army has met with the cordial approbation and concurrence of both officers and men : that, as regards the latter, it has effected a decided improvement in their charac- ters and conduct : that misbehavior and indecorum now occur but seldom, com- paratively speaking, and that the crime of desertion is almost totally unknown. And if such have been the happy effects of this valuable improvement as regards the army, why has it not been extended to the Navy ? Why is the use of intoxicating liquors still required, by law, in those who bear our flag upon the mountain wave ? Why does such a law still disgrace our statute book? Why should not the Secretary of the Navy be authorised by Congress to imitate, in his department, and to the same extent, the reform that has been effected in the military branch? Is there any thing in the naval, more than in the military service, that renders the use of ardent spirits necessary or expedient? Certainly this will not be pretended. Experiments have been made of the Temperance plan, and on very long voyages too, and have succeeded admirably well, and to the perfect satisfaction of both officers and men. Numerous merchant vessels now navigate the ocean on the principle of Temperance, and experience has proved that it contributes unspeakably, not only to the harmony and good order, but to the positive healthiness and comfort and efficiency of the crews. Why then should it not be established in the navy ? Let the experiment only be made in the navy, and we shall soon be amply rewarded for having made it, not only in the success of the effort itself, but in the gratitude and approbation of the seamen. Let us then endeavor, by the adoption of the resolution before you, to attract the attention of Congress to this 443] SEVENTH REPORT. 1S34. APPENDIX. f0& subject. Let us hope that the department may be authorised by law to abolish the distribution of ardent spirits in the Navy. What possible objection can Con- gress have to gratifying, in this particular, the reasonable wishes of a very larue portion of our citizens ? Why, when Temperance is going on so triumphantly on land — spreading its benign and meliorating influence through all our town9 and villages — and particularly when it has been introduced, and has so happily succeeded in our army — why should the practice of paying men with that which destroys their characters, their bodies and their souls, be still continued in the Navy? Why should our seamen still be made intemperate bylaw? Why, when every other class is reforming and improving, should they still be tempted and encouraged to ebriety and vice ? Is it the policy of the government to make them drunkards? Or have they done anything to deserve that they should still be paid with poison, whilst all other public servants are paid in money, or in wholesome and nutritious food ? Have they no characters to lose ; No principles worth improving? Or no feelings or motives which an enlight- ened government should cultivate ? Above all, have they no families to provide for, — or no souls to save ? Sir, it is high time this foul stain were erased from the escutcheon of our Navy. C. (P. 17.) Part of a Letter from Gf.rrit Smith, Esq., to the Chairman of Che Executive Committee of the New York Stale Temperance Society. The following narrative exhibits important changes, that have taken place in> most of the drunkards, who resided in our village, and within two or three miles of it. There are within the same limits a dozen or fifteen otheT persons who still remain intemperate : and, unless their sober neighbors who have not yet subscribed the pledge to total abstinence, hasten to do s6, and to put away the snare of their example, there is great reason to fear, that a part, if not ail. of these persons, will go to their graves and to the judgment seat, in their present character. No. 1. Upwards of 40 years of age. Was frequently intoxicated, until the last two or three years. When so, lie was apt to be wild and quixotic in his conduct, and to involve himself in difficulties, from which he was not always extricated without a considerable loss of money and time. He became quite poor. His large family were frequently in need of the comforts of life. He is now one of our most industrious, thriving and respectable farmers. He is a member of the Temperance Society, and a highly esteemed member of the church. No. 2. Upwards of 30 years of age. Was for several years very intempe- rate. When under the influence of liquor, he occasionally exhibited a pro- pensity to crime, which wellnigh involved him in utter ruin. He became very poor, and neglected to provide for his wife and children. Often, when in his drinking moods, absented himself from his home for days together, wan- dering about like a maniac. He has been a consistent member of the Tempe- rance Societ}', about two years. Happily, he dreads cider, as he dreads rum; and when, a few weeks since, it was proposed by some of hie fellow laborers to have cider brought into the harvest field, he exclaimed quickly : " Not one drop, not one drop." He feels himself to be " a brand plueked from the burn- ing," and which a single spark may be sufficient to ignite. He is now an industrious, respectable, money-making farmer. No. 3. About 50 years of age. The gradations of moderate drinking, of tippling, and of hard drinking have been observable in his case, as in the cases of most drunkards. He became exceedingly poor. His very numerous family suffered for the necessaries of life. Such of his children, as are grown up, are very ignorant; and, I believe, some of them can neither read nor write. Seven or eight months ago, he subscribed the pledge of total absti- 106 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY- [444 nence ; and, at his own solicitation, and with the full consent of those of them, who were of sufficient age to give it, the names of all the members of his fami- ly, not excepting the infant child, were added to the same talisinanic instrument. He is now cheerful and light-hearted : loves his family, and provides well for them : and he cannot fail to see, that he is greatly respected by his neighbors. An incident must be related here. The nearest neighbor of No. 3, at that time, was a deacon — and a respectable good man he is. But, being rather credulous, the stories about church and slate and other bugbears, of which the invention of artful demagogues is so prolific, had deterred him from joining the Tempe- rance Society. No. 3 feeling, as is very natural, a great desire to strengthen the party to which he and his family had recently acceded, and feeling, doubt- less, that he should be strong in his new faith and steadfast in his sobriety, somewhat in proportion as the Temperance party should be numerous and respectable, hurried with the pledge, as soon as the names of his family were put to it, to the good deacon for his name The application was unquestiona- bly very trying to the deacon. The conflict of his emotions may well be im- agined. Here stood before him a man, who but yesterday was a drunkard, and who was now imploring the aid of the deacon's name towards confirming the good resolutions which he had just been making. Humanity — his religion — not to speak of his ecclesiastical office — urged the deacon to give his name promptly. But, on the other hand, he may have had some lingering notions, that this scheme of making all men sober would, in the event of its complete success, unite church and slate. There was too the pride of opinion and con- sistency rising up strongly in his breast; for even Christians are subject to this miserable and wicked pride. He had joined in the common talk against the society : had often refused to belong to it ; and, now to give his name, at the solicitation of a drunkard ! — a deacon to take lessons in ethics from the lips of a drunkard ! — this was too humiliating! He refused to sign ; but said that they were about to get up a Temperance Society in the church he belonged to, and he would sign there. The church Temperance Society, however, has never been formed ; and the deacon's influence, in respect to Temperance, remains where Jesus Christ tells him it should not be. No. 4. Is about 55 years of age : was for many years a loathsome drunk- ard ; spent his earnings in filling his whiskey bottle ; and left his family to suf- fer for clothing, food and medicine. Some three years ago the Angel of Mercy was sent to his rescue, and he was reclaimed to soberness and to God, apparently without the aid of human instrumentality. He and other members of his family soon after made a public profession of religion, which they have honored to this day with sober and godly lives. Of course he is a member of the Temperance Society. No. 5. Upwards of 30 years of age : was intemperate for several years. Nearly a year ago, he joined the Temperance Society, and has been sober and industrious ever since. Drunkenness kept him very poor : but his family are now comfortably supplied. During his abstinence from ardent spirit, he has frequently been in the sanctuary. 1 very rarely, if ever, saw him there before. It is said, that he sometimes drinks cider; and those of us, whose abundant observation on this point assures us, that the reclaimed drunkard, who takes to cider and strong beer, will by the use of these drinks, revive and maintain his appetite for ardent spirit, and be liable also to intoxication upon these drinks themselves, are very apprehensive that he will fall. No. 6. About 30 years of age, and has a family. Some six months ago, he discontinued the use of ardent spirit, and joined the Temperance Society. Has recently drank to intoxication. Never forsook his evil companions. His poor deluded father, who is a professor of religion and opposes the Temperance reformation, is greatly, perhaps fatally, in the way of the recovery of his son. I this day had a conversation with the brother of No. 6. He thinks No. 6 will drink no more ardent spirit. No. 7. About 40 years of age, and has a family. Has more than a common education. For many years a loathsome drunkard. I have seen him lying in the street so drunk, as to be entirely insensible to his condition. Became mis- erably poor. About two years since, relinquished the use of ardent spirit, and joined the Temperance Society and church. With the exception of one week 445] SEVENTH REPORT. — 1834. APPENDIX. J 07 in these two years, he has appeared well the whole time. During that week he was so irLprudent and, I may add, so sinful, as to go unnecessarily into that only house in our village, where the poison is vended. He drank strong beer there, until he became intoxicated. It was suspected, that his fellow drinkera mingled spirituous liquor with the beer, that they might, in the fall of the poor man, have an occasion for exulting over the Temperance cause. His fit of drunkenness lasted several days ; but when he recovered from it, he manifested the penitence of a child of God, and abjured even cider and beer for ever. No. 8. Is Elder Truman Beeman. I mention his name, because he has given me liberty to do so : and because the mention of it will, in the many parts of New England and this state, where he is known, increase the inter- est in the account I give of him. He is about 73 years of age ; and, though his body is feeble, his superior mind remains perfectly sound. From twenty to thirty years he was a preacher of the Gospel. A portion of that time, he resided in Rensselaerville and Katskill in this state. He removed to this village upwards of twenty years ago. He was fond of liquor then, and had left the ministry shortly before. Soon he became a drunkard and a gambler ; and the lips which had taught others the way of truth and life, were now eminently profane and obscene. No other man amongst us has ever done half so much to corrupt our youth, as Elder Beeman has done. His wit and remarkably ready talent at rhyming were his most powerful aux- iliaries in this work. He became very poor, after having possessed a handsome property, and, but for the industry and good management of his wife, they would both have suffered the want of food and clothing. It was observed sev- eral years ago, that the Elder's habits were improving under the general reform- ation, that was going on amongst us. But never, until a year ago, did he come to the resolution to abstain entirely and for ever from the use of ardent spirit. Early in the winter, he attended a Temperance meeting, which was addressed by Mr. Turner, the agent of the New York State Temperance Society, and there joined the Society. From that day to this, he has not tasted the poison, and, I believe, that the offer of a world would be insufficient to bribe him to taste it. Last winter he received from the War Department the welcome news, that his name was placed upon the pension list, and that he was entitled to one hundred and sixty dollars back pay. His old companions now flocked around him for a treat. They trusted, that the Elder's temperance was not yet firm enough to withstand so great and sudden prosperity. They had, perhaps, flat- tered themselves, that his temperance was owing, in a measure, to his inability to purchase liquor. But they were disappointed. They found him to be an incorrigible cold water man. The Elder went to work in paying his debts and supplying his family with comforts ; and left his old companions to purchase the whiskey they would have begged from him. I have often visited the old gen- tleman, within the last year. Not only is he sober; but, it can be said of him, as it was of Paul : " Behold he prayeth." This old and exceeding sinner — this wonderful monument of the patience of God — n >w sits " at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind." Harmony has taken the place of discord in his family ; and that aged breast, which, for twenty years, was agitated with the untold horrors of the drunkard, is now the abode of " quietness and assu- rance for ever." The Elder's religion is of such a character, that he prefers the Bible to all other books, and spends a large share of his time in reading it. His change is well worth all the Temperance efforts that have been made in Peterboro'. No. 9. Upwards of 50 years of age. Has long been an inhabitant of the town. Has an excellent family. Was for a long time a moderate daily drink- er— next a tippler — and thence, by quick march, a full grown drunkard. Lost his health and respectability, and ceased to increase his property. About two years since he quit his cups; his health and character are already restored, and peace and cheerfulness, long banished from it. are now returned to his dwelling. He has not yet joined the Temperance Society, though he attends its meetings. I saw him angry, the other day. The alarming thought came into my mind, that he had been drinking cider. I remembered the saying among the Jersey women, that cider drunkards are crosser husbands than other drunkards. I hope, however, that he does not drink cider. 108 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. [446 No. 10. About 50 years old. Has lived in town but a couple of years. Was very in'emperate when he came here, and poor. Has a good family. His re- moval into this Temperance atmosphere was most happy for him ; for he had not been here long, before he joined the Temperance Society. He has contin- ued ever since his connection with the Society to be a sober and respectable man. He has recently manifested a hope in Christ. No. II. An old man. Had been intemperate for many years. Very poor Connected himself with the church, two or three years since; and has been sober from that time. Demagogues have made him believe, that the Temperance reformation is but a scheme to abridge men of their political rights, and there- fore, (though possibly a lingering and secretly indulged love of rum has some- thing to do with it.) he cannot join the Temperance Society. No. 12. A colored man, about 30 years of age, with a family. Was a very great drunkard, and very poor. For the last three or four years, he has wholly abstained from ardent spirit. About a year since he drank freely of cider on a festival occasion, and probably became somewhat intoxicated. He then resolv- ed, that he would never again taste of any intoxicating liquor whatever. He is a lovely Christian of remarkable tenderness of conscience, and of course belongs to the Temperance Society. No. 13. An old person. Intemperate for many years. Has been sober for the last two or three years. Now a member of the church, and probably would be of the Temperance Society, if a certain near relative would be, on whom No. 13 is dependent. No. 14. About 30 years of age, with a family. Had been intemperate for several years; and, therefore, could not preserve his earnings. Some three years ago, he joined the Temperance Society, and has ever since lived up to its requirements. He is now an industrious and respectable man. Much of the time during his abstinence from ardent spirit, he has been religiously minded. No. 15. About 40 years of age, with a family. Was a miserable sot, and very poor. For the last three or four years, he has abstained from ardent spirit, and has, during that time, been a consistent and beloved member of the church of Christ. 1 scarcely need add, that such a member of the church is also a member of the Temperance Society. No. 1G. About 60 years of age. Had been for twenty or thirty years one of the greatest drunkards in town. Was very poor, and a brute in his family when drunk. Has trained up several sons to drunkenness. Nearly a year ago he joined the Temperance Society, and has remained sober ever since, one oc- casion perhaps excepted. I fear he drinks cider, and if he does he will probably soon relapse into drunkenness. No. 17. About 50 years of age, with a large and intelligent family. Had been intemperate for many years and became very poor. Three or four years ago he joined the church and the Temperance Society, and has ever since been a sober man and a decided Christian. No. 18. Was a great drunkard, and was very poor. Joined the Temperance Society a year or two since. Had a long drunken frolic last winter. I know little about him. No. 19. Was a great drunkard. Now a member of the Temperance So- ciety, and a respectable professor of religion. Has as much fear of cider and strong beer, as of rum. No. 20. About 60 years of age, with a family, and poor. I believe he has not used ardent spirit for months. Was formerly intemperate. I know but little of him. No. 21. About 50 years of age, with a large family. Had been intemperate long enough to waste the considerable property he had accumulated in the early part of his life. Last winter he bound himself in writing to abstain from ardent spirit. The person who wrote the instrument, begged him very long and earnestly to suffer the prohibition to extend to cider also. But the nnhappy man could not consent to it. He laughed at the charge of danger in a drink of cider. It turned out, as the writer feared. He made cider his substitute for ardent spirit ; and he now drinks ardent spirit perhaps as freely as ever. Many a heart bleeds for his meek and pious wife. 447] SEVENTH REPORT. 1834. APPENDIX. 109 No. 22. About CO years of age, with a large family. Had long been very drunken and very poor. About two years since he relinquished the use ot ardent spirit. He was persuaded to attend the election last fall, and some dem- agogues, to control his vote, got him to drink. One of his respectable children told me that his father had not drank any ardent spirit before for a year. Had the poor father been a member of the Temperance Society, the tempting glass and the importunities of the designing might not have overcome him. I hope he does not use ardent spirit now. No. 23. Seventy years of age, with a family. Had long been a very great drunkard. Now abstains from ardent spirit. But it is said drinks to intoxica- tion of cider, which a professor of religion is ignorant or unprincipled enough to sell him. Has not joined the Temperance Society. One of his neighbors, who has great influence over him, talks much of church and state. No. 24. Lives a little out of the territory, to which 1 have confined my ex- aminations. Was a great drunkard — but has been, for some time, a consistent member of the Temperance Society. No. 25. Lives near No. 24. Was quite intemperate. Has recently joined the Temperance Society, and appears very well. No. 20. Was a drunkard, until the last three or four year3. From that time, until his death, nearly a year ago, was a sober man and interesting Christian. He was about 60 years old, at his death. The cry that is often raised to justify our neglect of the drunkard, and to discourage our efforts for his recovery is, that the reformed drunkard will go back. That cry is signally rebuked and falsified in the case of No. 26 ; for instead of going back, he has gone to Heaven. No. 27. About 45 years of age, with a family. Was very poor and drunken. 1 am informed, that he has abstained entirely from ardent spirit, for the last seven or eight months, and is pious. No. 28. About forty years of age, with a family. Was very poor and drunk- en. For the last two years, has been a respectable and faithful member of the Temperance Society. Is now so afraid of ardent spirit, that some months ago, when in great bodily pain, he refused camphor, because it was dissolved in it. No. 29. About 40 years old, with a family and poor. Had been intemperate for years. Has recently promised to abstain from all intoxicating liquors, and I hope soon to see him in the Temperance Society. No. 30. Upwards of 30 years of age, with a family, and was poor. Had been intemperate for several years : but, for the last year or two, he has been a zealous and faithful member of the Temperance Society. He is now a sober, pious, industrious and money-making man. No. 31. About 60 years of age. Had long been intemperate and poor. Lives at a distance from this place. Visited his friends here last winter, and got caught in the Temperance trap. Returned home a sober man, and, to the great joy of his numerous and very worthy family, has remained so ever since. It is Baid, that his old drinking companions tried very hard to get him back into the rum ranks. He is industrious in proselyting his drunken neighbors to Tem perance. Of course he belongs to the Temperance Society. No. 32. About 40 years of age. This is a very remarkable instance. He fives a number of miles from this place, but is to remove to this neighborhood in two or three weeks. Seven or eight months since, he came to me, late in the evening, for the single purpose, as he avowed, of subscribing his name to the Temperance Pledge. He was very drunk. 1 sought hard to put him off. But he would subscribe the pledge. He seemed to feel that this, and nothing short of this, would save him. Rather to rid myself of his importunity, than in the hope of benefitting him, I wrote the pledge for him to sign. He took the pen, fell upon his knees, and signed it ; and immediately after offered an audible prayer of ten minute's length. Strange to say, he has never tasted spirituous liquor since. He is now very industrious, and very ambitious to be a man of respecta- bility and property. His remaining affection for his amiable and pious wife seemed to be his strongest motive for signing the pledge and entering upon the redemption of his character. Let the unhappy wife of the drunkard so demean herself towards her wretched partner, as to keep alive his love of her. In some 10 110 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. [448 heaven-favored moment, that love may impel him to successful efforts to escape from his bondage. No. 33. About forty years of age. Had long been a drunkard. His family frequently needed the comforts of life. Nearly a year ago, he resolved on total abstinence from ardent spirit, and has been a sober industrious man, ever since. He has not yet joined the Temperance Society, but probably will soon join it. I believe he wishes to make a thorough trial of his constancy to his new princi- ples, before he joins the Society. In this, he is in a common error. He needs, and so does every drunkard, who is striving to reform himself, the help of a connection w>th the Temperance Society to keep him from falling. No. 34. About 5.5 years of age, with a family. Had been intemperate for many years. About four years ago he joined the Temperance Society, and has been a perfectly sober man ever since. Never, however, until the last winter, did he resolve to give up cider. It was much feared by some of his friends, that his use of cider would bring him back to rum. No. 35. About 30 years of age. Well educated. Was a very great drunk- ard, and was very poor. Two or three years ago he joined the church, and ever since he has been a sober, pious and useful man. He removed into a neighbor- ing town soon after he made a profession of religion. No. 36. Very drunken and poor. Has recently joined the Temperance Society. Does well thus far. But I cannot yet form an opinion how he will hold out. No. 37. Similar to No. 36 in all respects. No. 38. Upwards of 50 years of age : had long been a drunkard : became pious two or three years since, and joined the church. Last winter some of his rum drinking neighbors got him to drink, until he was intoxicated. When he became sober, he was very penitent, and hastened to join the Temperance So- ciety. Previously, he felt too strong to need the help of a connexion with it. I can now confidently say of him, that he is a sober man and a Christian. This list would be far longer than it now is, should I add to it the names of all those persons, within the same territory, who, but for the Temperance re- formation, would, in all probability, have become drunkards, ere this time. Num- bers of my most respectable neighbors had already drunk ardent spirit so long as to contract a decided appetite for it. The most important fact established by the foregoing narrative is the con- nection between the Temperance Reformation and the work of the Holy Spirit. Or, I might venture the remark, that innumerable instances in our country, similar to sonic in this narrative, establish the fact, that the Temperance Reforma- tion is itself the work of the Holy Spirit. Well has the Reformation been called the John Baptist of the Gospel. For, in thousands of instances, it has prepar- ed the way for the Saviour to take possession of the sinner's heart. Such con- versions to God. as are recorded in this narrative, whilst they illustrate His forbearance, greatly encourage the individual, who enters into the work of reforming the drunkard, with the hope, that he may be instrumental in saving " a soul from death," as well as drying up the fullest and bitterest fountains of temporal misery. Were there space for it in this communication, I might advert to several other facts established by the foregoing narrative ; and especially to the one, that the drinking of ardent spirit induces poverty. But I pass from this to say something about our process for reforming the drunkard. Benevolence is the soul of this process, as it is emphatically of the whole Temperance enterprise: and if any are laboring to promote that enterprise from motives at all inferior to the love of their fellow men, they are at best but feeble helpers of our noble cause. Those of my neighbors, who have undertaken, in reliance on God, the work of reforming drunkards, do not feel and act towards these wretched beings, as they once did. They have learnt highly prized les- sons on this subject in the great school of Temperance Reform. Formerly, they despised the drunkard. Now they pity him. Now they feel, that no class of men are entitled to draw so largely on their compassion, as drunkards are ; and especially do they feel this, when they consider how much they have them- selves done to make drunkards. For who of us can in truth say, that he has done nothing towards continuing that rum-drinking custom in our country, 34 449] SEVENTH REPORT. 1834. — APPENDIX. Ill whence have come all our drunkards? Formerly, they repulsed the drunkard From their doors; neglected his sufferings ; and wherever they met him, mani- fested their contempt and abhorrence of him. Now, they are kind to him; furnish him with employment: are tender of his feelings, and attentive to his wants. The drunkard's self-despair arises, in a great measure, from the con- viction, that he is an outcast from the public respect and sympathy. Of this we have been aware in our efforts to reform him ; and we have sought to shoi? him, that, as to ourselves at least, this conviction shall henceforth be groundless We have taken great pains to persuade him that we are his friends, and that every improvement in his habits, however slight, would proportionably and promptly elevate him in our esteem. We have also cheerfully consented to prac- tise every self-denial, by which we could gain his confidence : for in no way can you so surely win men's hearts to you, as by submitting to obvious self- denial, for their sake. It was not because of his self-denial, but it was not- withstanding this endearing virtue, that the great Pattern of self-denial was crucified. Whilst inculcating the doctrine, that the drunkard, to be thoroughly reformed, must relinquish wine, cider, and malt liquors, as well as ardent spirit, we have seen and submitted to the necessity of giving up these drinks ourselves. The drunkard is affected by this self-denial for his sake ; and he straightway opens his heart to those who practise it. But should we, whilst insisting on his disuse of these drinks, indulge in them ourselves, he would despise our inconsistency and selfishness : and wG should only make the mat- ter worse, by attempting to justify ourselves in saying to him : " these drinks are safe for us who are sober ; but you, who have lost your self-control, are not to be trusted with them." Much as the drunkard's self-respect is impaired, he cannot brook a distinction so offensive as this. The self-denial, that prompted the god-like Howard to visit and explore the vilest and most repulsive scenes on earth, "to take the guage and dimensions of human misery," in its most loathsome and aggravated forms, must actuate him, who would befriend and save the drunkard. His regard for the drunk- ard's welfare must be stronger than his disgust towards his loathsome vice ; and he must toil for his rescue unweariedly. Even as the man of God fixes his weeping eyes on an impenitent neighbor, and resolves in the holy benevo- lence of his heart, that he will devote himself to the salvation of that neigh- bor ; so must the friend of Temperance single out the drunkard ; employ upon his recovery the fruitful ingenuity, that a good man ever has in a good cause ; visit him frequently ; exhort him " in season and out of season ;" wrestle with God for hiin ; entreat others to be kind to him, as well in their example, as in their words ; and he must finally resolve never to give over the labor, whilst his unhappy fellow being remains the slave of the bowl. I recollect having said to you, a couple of years since, that the Temperance Reformation was worth all it had cost, if it were only for its having developed and exercised, in composition and public speaking, so much of the talent of the young men in humble life in this country. I would now add, that the Reformation is worth all it cost, had it accomplished no other good than that of teaching thousands of professors of religion, that they have little self-denial, and of course little of Christ in them. The Temperance Reformation has shown, that many a professor of this self-denying religion, would rather cling to his glass, than throw it away to save a soul. i D. (P. 64.) Extracts from the Report of S. Chipman, Esq., who visited all the Almshouses, and Jails, in the State of New York. To Aristarccs Champion, Esq. — Dear sir : I am now prepared to make an exhibit of the result of an examination, which your liberality, with the blessing of God, has enabled me to undertake and accomplish, to which I have devoted nine month's time, and in which I have travelled more than four thousand five hundred miles. 112 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. [450 Notwithstanding 1 have shown beyond the power of contradiction that more than three-fourths of the ordinary tax is absorbed by the support of the poor, and the administration of criminal justice — that more than three-fourths of the pauper- ism is occasioned by intemperance, and more than five-sixths of those committed on criminal charges are intemperate, yet the greatest obstacle in our way is the pecuniary interest of a few individuals — that of manufacturers, and venders. If the tax-payers will submit to this, we might, looking upon it as a mere matter of pecuniary profit or loss, stand by and laugh at their folly : but when we reflect that the business of the manufacturer and vender involves the temporal happiness of thousands, as well as their eternal interests, this subject assumes an infinitely more serious aspect. In no poor-house that I have visited have I failed of finding the wife or the widow, and the children of the drunkard. In one poor- house, as my certificate will show, of one hundred and ninety persons relieved there the past year, were nineteen wives of drunken husbands, and seventy- one children of drunken fathers. In almost every jail were husbands confined for whipping their wives, or for otherwise abusing their families. In one nine, in another fourteen, in another sixteen, had been in prison for this offence the last year : in another three out of the four who were then in prison were confined for whipping their wives. But when we reflect that but a very small proportion of these brutes in human shape are thus punished, the amount of misery and domestic suffering, arising from this source, exceeds the powers of the human mind to compute ; and yet the sale of that which causes all this is not only tolerated but is authorised by law. You, sir, with every friend of his country, and especially, every friend to the religion of our Saviour, cannot but be pained at the bare recital of these facts ; yet you, and all that are engaged in the temperance reformation, may have the pleasing reflection that you are laboring to eradicate these evils, and that all your labors and sacrifices in this cause have thus far been crowned with a measure of success so far beyond your most sanguine anticipations, as to de- monstrate that the cause of Temperance is under the special protection of Him, who can, and will cause it ultimately to gain a complete and glorious triumph. The following loill show the present condition of Temperance operations through- out that State. The Executive Committee of the New York State Temperance Society respectfully submit to the Parent Institution the following summary of results, by the blessing of Providence consequent upon the efforts of the Society in that state, during the sixth year of its operations. 6'J3 Towns and Cities have reported 1652 organized societies. Ill towns have not sent in their reports, all of which have one or more societies ; but the com- mittee estimate them each to contain one organization, which added, makes the town and city associations amount to 17G3. The organization of the 10,000 school districts in the state is rapidly progressing : from the tenor of the reports, the committee calculate that at least 1000 of these minute associations are already formed. So that the committee feel safe in calculating 2500 as the number of associations, large and small, in the state of New York, for the pro- motion of temperance. The actual number of pledged members in the G89 towns reported, amounts to 320,427 — averaging about 4(50 to each. Estimating the towns that have failed to report, at only one-half of those that have, would give the present Temperance strength, in pledged members, 340,107. The actual increase during the past year, in the towns reported, amounts to 91.G42: add the increase in towns not reported, and the committee estimate the whole increase of members for the past year, to be at least 100,000. Fourteen hundred and seventy-two persons have been reported as having abandoned the sale of ardent spirits during the year, in their taverns or stores: many towns, in their reports, state that all have abandoned the traffic ; and numbers not being given, they cannot be estimated. In the towns reported, 2874 persons still continue to bring on their neighborhood taxes, beggary and death, by dealing out ardent spirit for gain., The subscription to the Temperance Recorder in the various counties in the state, amounts to 97,924 — in the whole Union, over 200,000. In view of the foregoing results, the committee thank God, and take courage. ^ - 451] SEVENTH REPORT. 1834. APPENDIX. 113 They have some things to discourage, but more to encourage ; and it is their intention, should their' lives be spared, to address themselves to their labors with renewed diligence and zeal, with a solemn conviction of duty to God and nan, and with thThope that they may rece.ve the assistance, the tf^J***** prayers of all good men, and the continued countenance of God Almighty, without which their efforts would be powerless. In behalf of the Executive Committee, .»»,-., ,.« /-.. • lnuu EDWARD C DELAVAN, Chairman. Albany, July 2dth, 1834. E. (P. 91.) Pursuant to a call from the American Temperance Society, as recommended by the National Tempeiance Convention, held at Philadelphia. May 24, 1&», a meeting of officers and delegates from the State Societies, through.nit the United States, assembled for the purpose of forming a general Temperance D°r"s. Agnew, of Pennsylvania, was called to the chair, and John Marsh and I S Loyd were appointed secretaries. On motion-Justin Edwards, Edward C. Delavan, N. S. N. Beraan Thomas Rrainard and G B. Perry, were appointed a committee to report officers and pre are buless for the7' meeting'1 The committee, after having retired reported the following members as officers for the present meeting of the Onion: STEPHEN VAN RENSSELAER, of N. Y., President. Samuel Agnew, of Penn. William Jay, of New York, | G. B. Perry, of "Massachusetts, \Vice Presidents. RlCHAHD BoYLSTON,of N. H. Cyrus Yale, of Connecticut, J John Marsh, of Pennsylvania, ~\ Isaac S. Lord, of do. [.Secretaries. Harrison Gray, of Massachusetts, Thomas Br.unard, of Ohio, J The committee farther reported a series of resolutions, which were adopted, 1 Reived. That the officers of the American Temperance Society, and of each of the State Temperance Societies, in their associated capacity, be denom- ;i.-itnrt The United States' Temperance Union. f Relolved, That the object o? this Union shall be, by the diffusion of infor- mation, and the exertion of kind moral influence, to promote the cause of Tem- neranee throughout the United States. . 1 rSesdledf That Isaac S. Loyd, Matthew Newkirk, and Isaac Collins of Penn yTvan a. John Tappan, of Massachusetts, Edward C Delavan, and Samuel Ward, of New York, and Christian Keener of Manrland be * com- mittee to carry into effect., by all suitable means, the objects of this Union , and that they continue in office till others are appointed. 4 Resolved That the above mentioned commmittee call another meeting ot this Union at such time and place as they may judge proper 5. Resolved, That the Corresponding Secretaries of all Mate Societies be, ex- officio, members of this committee. , 6. As it is proved by the united testimony of thousands of medical men and by a great number of facts, that ardent spirit is a poison the drinking of which £ not only needless, but hurtful, as it necessarily tends to lorn, intemperate appetites and habits, and while the use of it as a drink is ^mued intemper- ance can never be done away ; as it causes a great portion of the crimes, wretch- edness and pauperism in the community ; increases greatly the number, sever, y and fatal termination of diseases; tends to weaken and derange the intellect, 10* 114 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. [452 pollute the affections ; harden the heart and corrupt the morals ; as it deprives many of reason, and still more of its healthful and salutary exercise, and brings down multitudes annually to an untimely grave ; as it tends to produce in the children of many who drink, a predisposition to intemperance, insanity and various bodily and mental diseases ; to cause a diminution of strength, a feeble- ness of vision, a fickleness of purpose and a premature old age, and to produce to all future generations a general deterioration of physical and moral character; as it tends to promote vice and wickedness, to counteract the efficacy of the gospel, and of all means for the intellectal elevation, the moral purity, the social happiness, and the eternal good of mankind, and is, without any counteracting benefits, in all its influence and effects evil, only evil, and that continually ; as its use is a manifest violation of the laws of health, of life and of God, and if continued, will perpetuate intemperance and its innumerable evils, to all future generations, and extend its destructive effects over multitudes, we fear, to eternity : therefore, Resoh-cd, That for the benefit of the community, and especially the young, it be published and circulated as extensively as practicable, that, in the judgment of this body, after deliberate and careful attention to this subject, the use of ardent spirit, as a drink, is morally wrong, and ought to be universally aban- doned; and that we unite witli the thousands of physicians and the hundreds of thousands of philanthropic men, in this and other countries, in expressing the sentiment that the entire disuse of it as a drink, would tend powerfully to promote the health, the virtue and the happiness of the community. 7. As the traffic in ardent spirit, to be used as a drink, ministers to the use of it, and teaches the erroneous and destructive sentiment, that such use is right, and thus tends to produce and to perpetuate the above mentioned evils; as it also tends by increasing pauperism and crime, to augment the taxes of the people, as well as to diminish their health, corrupt their morals and shorten cheir lives, and is thu,s manifestly unjust as well as injurious towards the com- munity, being contrary to all just views of liberty, as well as a violation of the fundamental maxim of common law, "so use your own as not to injure the public ;" that for the benefit of a few, (spirit dealers), the many should be bur- dened, therefore, Resolved, That the traffic in ardent spirit as a drink, is, in our view, morally wrong, and ought to be universally abandoned. 8. As the traffic is now upheld by the sanction of legislation, and that legis- lation by teaching to community the error, that the use of ardent spirit as a drink, and the traffic in it as such, are right, tends to perpetuate the above mentioned evils, and to hinder the truth from producing the universal convic- tion that the drinking of ardent spirit and the traffic in it are morally wrong, therefore, Resolved, That it be respectfully suggested to all friends of humanity, whether the laws which authorise the traffic in distilled liquors as a drink, by licensing men to pursue it, are not morally wrong, and whether they ought not to be so modified, that the evil should be no longer licensed, or its continuance receive the sanction of legislative support. 9. As what is morally wrong is never politically right, or expedient, or useful, but is always on the whole, detrimental to the community, therefore it is respectfully suggested whether it ought ever to be licensed, and whether all legislation in regard to it, if legislation is required by the public good and the voice of the people, ought not to be, not on the ground of licensing the sin. but only in the wisest and best way, of defending the community from its evils. 10. As the practice of drinking spirit is perpetuated, not principally from regard to the gratification and to obtain the money of drunkards, but of mod- erate drinkers, and from their ranks alone the recruits are to be taken, for all the drunken armies that are to be raised, to all future generations, and as no other men can keep up a eustom which shall perpetuate intemperance and its abominations except themselves ; therefore, Resolved, That in view of the innumerable evils which they may remove, and the infinite benefits which they may confer on the community, they hereby are respectfully, and kindly, and earnestly requested to permit the intemperance of our country to cease. 34* 453] SEVENTH REPORT. 1S34. APPENDIX. 116 11. The morality or immorality of using ardent spirit as a drink, is, in our view, the grand point on which the defeat or triumph <>f the temperance cause depends, If it is thought to be morally right to drink ardent spirit, and to traffic in it, both will probably be continued, intemperate appetites will be formed) and drunkenness with its evils will be perpetuated; but if it is morally wrong, and tl vidence of this truth is universally, kindly, and pereeveringly exhibited in words and in deeds, by all the friends of truth ; and attended as in that case we uiii v expect it will be, by the influences of. the spirit of truth, it will univer- sally prevail ; therefore, Resolvt il . That all persons who do not drink or furnish ardent spirit, and yet do not believe either to be immoral, be, and they hereby are requested to exam- ine the subject in the light of all the facts which are developed, and of all the consequences of drinking ardent spirit, and see if they have not heretofore been mistaken ; and if they should be convinced that the practice is immoral, that they be requested to use all suitable means to spread universally the evidence of this truth throughout our land. 12. As it is a maxim of common law as well as of common sense and of the Bible, that the accessory and the principal in crime are both guilty, and as the men who furnish grain and other materials for the distillation of ardent spirit to be used as a drink, and the men who rent tenements for grog-shops to be occupied in the sale of it, are manifestly accessory to the perpetuating of the drinking of it and its evils ; therefore, Resolved, That they be, and hereby are respectfully requested to consider whether their practice in the above mentioned particulars is not inconsistent with moral duty, and injurious in its consequences to mankind; and whether an enlightened regard to the public good, as well as to the great principles of morality and the Christian religion, do not require that those practices should be universally abandoned. 13. As the expression of the views of enlightened, judicious and philanthropic men, especially of those who, from their profession and employment, have peculiar opportunities to form a correct judgment on the subject, has deservedly great weight with the community, and as more than 3,0UU physicians have given it as their settled conviction, that ardent spirit as a drink is not needful or useful ; that, on the other hand it is exceedingly hurtful, being a i'requent cause of disease and death, and often rendering diseases that arise from other causes more difficult of cure and more fatal in their termination, and that the entire disuse of it would greatly promote the health, the virtue and comfort of the community ; therefore, Resolved, That all physicians in the United States, be, and they hereby are respectfully requested to examine this subject, and give the result of their inquiries with regard to the nature of ardent spirit, in its effects on the human system to the public ; and to state explicitly, whether in their view the entire disuse of it as a beverage, would not promote the welfare of mankind. 14. As knowledge and virtue are essential to the welfare of mankind, and the dissemination of truth is one of the principal means of doing good, and espe cially in this cause, whose grand instrumentality is the universal diffusion of information, and the exertion of kind moral influence; therefore, Resolved, That we view with great pleasure, the rapid increase of temperance publications, and would earnestly recommend it to the friends of temperance in each state, to take effectual measures to put a copy of some such publication statedly, into every family that will receive it throughout the country. 15. As the living voice is one of the principal means of operating on the public mind, and many persons can be influenced only by this means, and as great good has already been accomplished by means of living agents, visiting all parts of a county, or a state ; therefore, Resolved, That it be, and hereby is respectfully and earnestly recommended to the friends of temperance to employ one or more such agents permanently in each state. 10. As young men are the hope of our country, and as the course which they may take with regard to temperance, will have a momentous bearing not onlj on their own character and happiness, but on their influence upon the world and as the cause of temperance has already been essentially promoted by this 116 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. [454 interesting and efficient class of our citizens ; and should all young men give to this cause their united and persevering support, it would soon be universally triumphant; therefore, Resolved, That every young man in the United States, in view of the benefits which his example and influence may confer, be requested to give to this cause his prompt, energetic and unremitted support. 17. As the elevation and worth of woman, and the extent and power of her influence, are sure indications of the state of society; and as according to this standard our countrymen are under special obligations to the Author of all good, and are bound to be peculiarly grateful for the bright manifestations of his favor; and as the cause of temperance in common will all other good causes, has greatly multiplied and extended it blessings, through the instrumentality of woman's example and efforts ; and should that example and effort be general, united and persevering in the promotion of this cause, so intimately connected with her own comfort and prospects, and that of those whom she most tenderly loves, and for whom she most cheerfully sacrifices and labors, it would surely pre- vail, become universal, and its blessings be extended to all future time ; therefore, Resolved, That the females of the United States, in view of the powerful and salutary influence which they may exert over all classes in the community, and especially over the young ; and the immeasurable blessings which they may be instrumental in conferring upon all future generations and for both worlds, be, and they hereby are, most respectfully and earnestly requested, universally in all suitable ways to give to this cause their united and persevering efforts. After the organization of the Union, the foregoing resolutions were adopted with great unanimity, as expressing the deliberate and solemn convictions of its members. We subjoin the following remarks as explanatory of the temperance organization in America. This organization consists of the American Temper- ance Society, twenty -three State Temperance Societies, and more than seven thoxisand associations in counties and smaller districts of country . The American Temperance Society, is composed of a number of known and influential friends of temperance in various parts of the United States. Its object is, by the diffusion of information, and the exertion of kind moral influ- ence, to extend the principles and blessings of temperance throughout the world. In the prosecution of this object, it does not intend to unite all friends of temperance in the United States in that society, but to procure the formation of a state society in each state, a county society in each county, and local asso- ciations in cities, towns, villages and districts in all parts of the country. Each of the state societies takes the general supervision of temperance operations throughout the state. The county societies, as far as they please, are auxiliary to these, and superintend operations in the county. Local associations in cities, towns, &c, when they choose to be, render themselves auxiliary to the county societies, but regulate their own movements and efforts according to their own views of necessity and expediency, and with direct reference to their own wants and ability. Each society is independent of all others, except so far as each may choose for mutual benefit, and for the public good to become united ; no one society having power to dictate to another, or to control its operations. Each seeks the same object, but no one is obliged to pursue any but its own course to attain that object. The United States' Temperance Union consists of the officers of the American Temperance Society, and of each of the State Temperance Societies, or of a delegation equal to their number, appointed by them. Enough has been done to show that the principles adopted are correct, and the means used efficacious. Let them be universally and perseveringly applied, and with the divine blessing, the object will be accomplished. Abstinence from the use of that which intoxicates, while it will tend to promote the bodily and spiritual, the temporal and eternal good of mankind, will also cause drunken- ness to cease from the earth. Sobriety, with its attendant blessings, will become universal, and the time be hastened, when the will of God shall be done on earth as it is done in heaven. 60 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY [514 RESOLUTIONS ADOPTED BY THE NEW YORK STATE TEMPERANCE SOCIETY, AT THEIR SEMI-ANNUAL MEETING, JULY 9, 1835. 1. Resolved, That tbe following preamble and resolution adopted by the American Tem- perance Society meet our cordial approbation : viz. ** As it has been proved by the experience of thousands in the United Stales, of all classes of persons, and in all kinds of lawful business, that abstinence from the use of all kinds of intoxicating liquor as a drink, is not only safe but salutary, and as this is the only course in whicn it can be rationally expected that intemperate persons will ever be permanently reformed, and as the example and kind moral influence of the temperate is the grand means of leading the intemperate to adopt and pursue a course so essential to their present and future good ; therefore, Resolved, That the more extensively this course is adopted by all classes in the commu- nity, and especially by all members of temperance societies, the more rapid will be the progress of the temperance reformation, and the more certain the prospect that drunkenness and its evils will cease." 2. That wherever temperance societies have been formed, on the principle of abstinence from the use of ardent spirit, and yet drunkenness is continued from the use of other intox- icating drinks, it is, in our view, proper and expedient that there should be a pledge, signed by such as are disposed, that shall include abstinence from the use, as a beverage, of all intoxicating liquor; and the more generally this course is adopted the more complete will be the triumphs of the temperance cause. 3. That the rapid increase of temperance societies on the plan of abstinence from the use, as a beverage, of all intoxicating liquor, manifests the deep hold which the cause has taken upon the hearts of philanthropists, and affords increasing evidence that it will not be relin- quished till, through the divine blessing, its triumphs shall be complete and universal. 4. That the promptness and unanimity with which increasing numbers of young men are adopting the plan of abstinence from all intoxicating liquor, is an exhibition which ought greatly to cheer the hearts of their fathers : and is an example which, if universally followed by the youth of the United States, would not only save multitudes from drunkenness and ruin, but would tend to make that interesting class of our citizens, beyond any generation that has gone before them, the benefactors of our country and of the world. 5. That the formation of such societies among children and youth, whose parents and guardians are willing to have them unite in these societies, would, in our view, tend not only to promote their own highest benefit, but to render them more eminently useful to mankind. 6. That the union with such societies by the older and more influential classes in the community would be an example which would have a most salutary influence on the young, and would tend strongly to induce them to set out in life in the way they should go, and when they should become old not to depart from it. 7. That the importing and exporting, the manufacturing and vending, or in any way furnishing intoxicating liquor to be used as a common drink, are in our view injurious to the community, tend powerfully to hinder the progress of the temperance reformation, and the efficacy of all means for the intellectual elevation, the moral purity, the social happiness and the eternal good of men, and ought therefore to be universally abandoned. 8. That the furnishing of materials for the making of intoxicating liquor, and the renting of buildings to be occupied for the sale of it, to be used as an ordinary beverage, are in our view inconsistent with the good of society and ought for ever to cease. 9. That the practice of Insurance Companies, in insuring temperance vessels at a less premium than others, tends greatly not only to promote the cause of temperance, but to increase the safety of property, and to promote the health, virtue and happiness of seamen, and the preservation of human life. 10. That the licensing of the sale of intoxicating liquor, to be used as a common drink, and thus throwing over this immorality the shield of legislative sanction and support, and teaching to the community the erroneous and destructive doctrine, that its continuance is required by the public good, when the facts show that the public good utterly forbids it, is in our view inconsistent with the good of society, and ought not to be continued. 11. That should the sale of intoxicating liquor, to be used as a drink, and its manifold evils to society be continued, and should the public good and the voice of the people require the continuance of legislation with regard to it ; the object of such legislation ought to be, instead of licensing the sin, to defend the community from its evils. 12. That the universal diffusion of information, with regard to the nature and effects of intoxicating liquor, and with regard to the benefits of abstaining from the use of it, and an exhibition of those benefits by the united, consistent and persevering example and kind moral influence of patriots, philanthropists and Christians, may in our view be expected, under the continued smiles of a benignant and gracious Providence, to increase and extend the temperance reformation, till its triumphs shall be complete, and its blessings become permanent and universal. 13. That the plan of the American Temperance Society, for embodying the facts on this momentous subject in a permanent volume, and furnishing a copy of it for each professional man, legislator, secretary of a temperance society, school teacher, and youth in all public seminaries of the United States, &c, also for sending copies of it to each missionary of all denominations who have gone, or may go to the heathen, and also to distinguished and philanthropic men in all parts of the world, with a letter briefly staiinc what has been done in this and other countries, the benefits which have already resulted from the temperance reformation, and the blessings which, should it become universal, would result to the world, and inviting a prompt and universal co-operation, meets with our cordial anp-ohation : arid that we will assist in earning a plan so fraught with blessings to mankind, into execution EIGHTH REPORT A3IERICAJV TEMPERAJVCE SOCIETY. Ever since man turned away from God, as the source of enjoyment, and from his service as the means of obtaining it, he has been prone to seek it in some improper bodily or mental gratification. And no kind has perhaps been more deadly in its influence upon him, especially as a rational, accountable, and immortal being, than that which results from the drinking of in- toxicating liquor. That intoxicating principle, which has, in this country, been the chief cause of drunkenness, is not the product of creation ; nor is it the result of any living process in nature. The animal kingdom, in all its vast variety of existence, and modes of opera- tion, saith, " It is not in me;" and the vegetable kingdom responds, " It is not in me." It cannot be found, and it does not exist, among all the living works of God. Those substances, however, which contain, or which will produce sugar, after they are dead, and have become subject to those laws which, then, operate on inanimate matter, in the incipient stages of decomposition, under- go a process, which chemists call, vinous fermentation. By this process a new substance is formed, called Alcohol. This is the means of intoxication. It is composed of hydrogen, carbon, and oxygen in the proportion of 13,04 ; 52,17; and 34,79 parts to a hundred ; and is in its nature, as manifested by its effects, an exceedingly subtle and diffusive poison. The elements, by the combination of which this is formed, existed before ; but the substance, which this combination forms, did not before exist. It is an entirely new substance, and is altogether different in its nature and effects, from what existed before. It was formed, not by the process which operates in the formation of living matter, but by that which operates on a certain kind of matter, only after it is dead. And the substance which is thus formed is as really dif- ferent, in its nature and effects, from every thing which existed before, as the poisonous miasma is different from the fruits, or the vegetables, from the decomposition and decay of which it springs. It is as really different, as sickness is different from health ; or drunkenness is different from sobriety. Hence it no more fol- 1 2 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY [456 lows, because fruits and grains are proper for man, that therefore Alcohol, which the fermentation of these substances produces, is proper, than it follows, because those substances are proper, that therefore poisonous miasma is proper. One is formed by a living process ; the other by a process which operates, only after death. And they are as really different, as life is different from death. Because one is good, it does not follow that the other is good ; and to conclude that it is, is as really unphilosophical, as it would be to conclude, that because potatoes are good as an article of diet, that therefore the manure out of which they grew, is good for the same purpose. But one does not follow from the other. There is no such connection between them as to lay the foun- dation for any such conclusion. We are the more particular on this point, because there is much error in the public mind, with regard to it. Many suppose that there is some portion of Alcohol in all vegetable substances ; at least in all, whose fermentation, after death, will produce it. But this is an entire mistake. Not a living vegetable under heaven, so far as has yet been discovered, contains a particle of it. It does not exist in any living substance. It is formed only by vinous fermentation. After it is formed, it can be extracted from fer- mented liquors, in three ways. One is, to place the liquor under a receiver, and exhaust the air ; when the Alcohol, being lighter and more volatile than the other parts, at a temperature of about 70 degrees, will rise ; and may thus be obtained. Another way, is, to precipitate the mucilaginous parts, the acid and the coloring matter, by means of the subacetate, or sugar of lead ; and then to take off the water that remains, by means of the sub-carbonate of potassa, or pearlashes ; when the Alcohol will remain. Another way is by the application of heat, as in common distil- lation. The art of distillation has been said, by some, to have been known in China, at a period much earlier than we have any authentic evidence of its having been known in other parts of the world.* But there is no proof that Alcohol was ever extracted from fermented liquor, till about eight or nine hundred years ago. When this was first done in Arabia, no person knew what this product of distillation was ; nor was there any language that had for it even a name. They however made a name. They called it Alcohol ; and that is the chemical name, in every country, to this day. Alcohol in the language of that country, was a fine im- palpable powder, with which the women used to paint their faces, for the purpose of increasing their beauty ; and in order to appear to be, what they really were not. And if any, under the influence * See Morehead on inebriating liquors, p. 107, &c. 457] EIGHTH REPORT. 1335. 3 of this intoxicating poison, really thought, that they were more beautiful than they were when sober, and under the influence of that only, which God made as a beverage for man, they were deceived. But they were not more really deceived, than have been the thousands and millions, who, under the idea of being benefited by the drinking of Alcohol, have since lived and died under its power. It is in its nature, in a high degree, " a mocker ;" and, it is also "raging." Whosoever is "deceived thereby," as every man is, who thinks that as a beverage, it does him good, " is not wise." It was however soon ascertained to be a poison ; and it does not appear, that any one, who understood its nature, even thought that the time would ever come, when any people would think of using it, as a drink. Arnoldus de Villa, a physician in the south of Europe, who lived in the thirteenth century, is, so far as is known, the first writer whose opinion is on record, who recom- mends in any case the use of it even as a medicine. Under his influence, however, and that of his disciple, Raymond Lully, who was born at Majorca, in 1234, its medicinal use extended north- ward, and spread over various parts of Europe. Judging from its immediate effects, it was thought to increase life ; and was denominated, aqua vitas, water of life. This was what its friends pretended it to be ; and what, while under its influence, and deluded by its effects, multitudes, down to this day, have thought it to be. Whereas if named according to its nature and conse- quences, it should have been, aqua mortis, et damnationis; water of death, and damnation. Yet, so powerful was its influence to deceive men, and to make them call evil good, and good evil, that Theoricus, as stated in Holinsheds Chronicles, published in the sixteenth century, wrote a treatise upon its wonderfully sana- tive power ; in which he says, "It sloweth age, it strengthened youth, it helpeth digestion, it cutteth flegme, it abandoneth mel- ancholic, it relisheth the heart, it lighteneth the mind, it quick- eneth the spirits, it cureth the hydropsia, it healeth the strangurie, it pounceth the stone, it expelleth gravell, it puffeth away ven- tositie, it keepeth and preserveth the head from whirling, the eyes from dazzling, the tong from lisping, the mouth from snaf- fling, the teeth from chattering, and the throat from rattling ; it keepeth the weasan from stiffling, the stomach from wambling, and the heart from swelling ; — it keepeth the hands from shiv- ering, the sinews from shrinking, the veins from crumbling, the bones from aching, and the marrow from soaking." Such were supposed to be its wonderful virtues ; and many began to think that they could not live without it. Ulstadius, another writer, ascribes to it this most singular praise ; he says, "It will burn, being kindled." And this he considers, as demonstration of its peculiar excellence. 4 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. [458 It was not therefore strange, with such views of its power as a medicine, that men should begin to conclude that it must also do good in health, especially when they were peculiarly exposed, and under severe labor ; nor that they should introduce the use of it for the purpose of preventing, as well as curing diseases. Th's was the case, particularly in the mines in Hungary ; and afterward?, in 1581, it was introduced, by the English, as a kind of cord al for their soldiers, while engaged in war in the Netherlands. It was also introduced as a drink into Ireland and various other places. What was the consequence of this ? The same which ever has been, and while the world stands, ever must be, the conse- quence in every country, of thus using it, delusion, DELUSION, as to its nature and effects. Men cannot come under the power of this mocker, and not be mocked. Another effect was, and, while it is used, ever must be, it created a tendency to perpetuate that use of it ; and also to increase the quantity used. Hence says a British writer, speaking of their introducing it into the army in 1581, "From this little cloud, no bigger than a man's hand, has been evolved that mighty mass which is now suspended over our country ; and which is pouring its fiery streams through all the currents of public and domestic intercourse." The people of that country, have since drunk 40,000,000 gallons of distilled spirit, besides vast quantities of fermented spirit, in a year. And says one of their Medical writers, " The disease occasioned by it has been by far more destructive than any plague that ever raged in Christendom ; more malignant than any other epidemic pesti- lence, that ever desolated our suffering race ; whether in the shape of the burning and contagious typhus, the loathsome and mortal small pox, the cholera of the east, or the yellow fever of the west ; a disease by far more loathsome, infectious and destructive, than all of them put together, with all their dread array of suffering and death, united in one ghastly assemblage of horrific and appalling misery." And although it did not become a common drink, with the people of the United States, till within less than one hundred years, they have since drunk in a year, more than 00,000,000 gallons ; and the people of some other countries have drunk, in proportion to their numbers, more than twice that quantity. No nation has ever adopted the use of it without its producing similar effects ; nor without its proving to be, one of the most fruitful causes of all their woes. Yet while evil after evil has rolled in upon them like the waves of the sea, they, under the vain, delusive idea, that they were promoting their own benefit, nave continued, till within a few years, constantly to increase the cause. Here is a delusion, one of the most entire, extended, and fatal, with which sin, or Satan, has, in any form, ever cursed the world. And when this delusion is exhibited, under the life-giving power of Him who causes light to shine out of darkness, men 459] EIGHTH REPORT. 1835. 5 awake from it, as from a dream; and as the truth is exemplified in practice, they say with amazement, " Why have we never seen this before?" The answer to this question, is, "If God had not showed it to us, we should not have seen it now." Yet there are reasons for that delusion ; reasons why men th.nk that this poison, taken in some form or degree, does them good ; and of course, why after they have begun, they continue to take it ; and also reasons why they continue to increase the quantity. Some of these reasons are the following, viz. Such is the nature of Alcohol, that its first effect on the human system is a quickening of action ; animation, excitement. This, by a fundamental law of our nature, is a source of pleasure. This present pleasure, men mistake for real good. It also arouses for a moment the reserved and dormant energies of the system, which are not needed, and were not designed for ordinary healthful ac- tion, but were intended to be kept for special emergencies ; and which cannot be drawn out and used, on ordinary occasions, without necessarily shortening human life. This awakening of dormant energy, men mistake for an increase of real, permanent strength. But on both these points they are entirely mistaken. As well might they conclude that because sin, sometimes gives present pleasure, that therefore it is a source of real good ; or because the delirium of a fever, sometimes arouses into action dormant energies, — and the man who before had hardly life enough to raise a hand, for a moment, puts on the energy almost of a giant, that therefore disease and delirium are a source of permanent strength, as to draw any such conclusion concerning Alcohol. The fruit which God, on pain of death, had forbidden promised, and the eating of it may have given, present pleasure. But the man who thinks that it was, or that sin is, in any case, the means of real good, is entirely mistaken. He calls evil good, under the delusion, which the practice of evil occasions. The falling into a river, and the immediate danger of drowning of an infant child, or its exposure to be consumed in a house on fire, may awaken the dormant energies of a delicate and affectionate mother, and arouse for a moment the strength almost of Hercules for its rescue. But the man, or the woman, who thinks, judging from the immediate effects, that such scenes increase real, per- manent strength, is mistaken. Whatever the present appearance or reality may be, the consequence is, weakness, not strength ; sickness, not health ; death, and not life. So with sin, in all cases ; its end is bitterness and death. So with Alcohol. What- ever the present appearance or reality, "at the last, it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an adder." Yet as it gives present pleasure, and appears sometimes to increase strength, a motive is hereby created to drink it. 1* 6 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. [460 It sometimes also appears to remove trouble, and this is anoth- er motive to take it. A man's wife, in the state of New York, was seized with the cholera, and he was in trouble. She died ; and he drank Alcohol. Under its influence, he took her by the hair of her head, and in high glee, dragged her body across die floor, and tumbled it into the coffin. It seemed to remove trou- ble, and even under the most trying circumstances, to occasion mirth. But the mirth of the wicked is short ; and the end of that mirth is heaviness. Yet, as the mirth is real, and is occa- sioned by Alcohol, it presents a motive to drink it. And thou- ands do drink it on this account. It sometimes also seems to remove even poverty ; and to in- crease riches, and other desirable things. A poor man in Massa- chusetts who was not a drunkard, but was in the habit of daily using spirit, greatly to his own injury, and that of his family, was entreated by a rich neighbor, to renounce the practice. He had aone it himself, and found great benefit, and he wished his neigh *)or to do it. But the poor man gave this as a reason why they did not think alike on this subject. "You," said he, "are a rich man, and of course have no need of taking it. You are rich enough, and you feel rich enough, without it. But I am a poor man ; and nobody likes always to feel poor ; and when a man has taken a little, he feels five hundred dollars richer, than he did before." But is he any richer? Is his family any richer? Or is it all delusion? Delusion ; but no more real than the men experience in other cases, who, because it gives them present pleasure, think it does them real good. It gave to this man for a moment the pleasure of feeling that he was rich, when he was not rich ; the pleasure of being deceived ; and this is its nature. It gives to men the pleasure and profit of deception. For this reason, it has often been furnished at public sales of property for the purpose of leading those who might attend, and would partake of it, to feel more rich than they really were ; and to give more for property, than it was worth. A respectable lawyer in the neighborhood of Boston was about to sell the wood which was standing upon a certain piece of ground. He knew that ardent spirit is poison, and of course that it is wicked for men to drink it, or to furnish it to be drunk by oth- ers ; and although it had been the custom, on such occasions, to furnish it, he told the vendue-master, not to furnish any ; but in its stead, to furnish nourishing food. The vendue-master con- sented to follow his directions, but, said he, "I am very sorry, you will lose a great deal of money. I know how it works ; and you may depend upon it, that after men have been drinking, the trees look a great deal larger than they did before." But are they any larger? Men may also, sometimes, seem to see two or more 461] EIGHTH REPORT. — 1835. <% trees, where before they drank the poison, they could see but one. But are there any more trees than there were before? Yet as there seem to be more, or they seem to be larger, and men who furnish the poison, get at the time more money, it presents to them a powerful temptation to commit the sin of furnishing it. A number of gentlemen in the State of New York, assembled to consult upon the worth of certain parcels of land, which were to be offered at public sale. After due consideration, they con- cluded unanimously, that the lands were not worth over a certain sum, and that they would not sell for more. At the time ap- pointed, they attended the sale. No one offered more than what was considered, by men, when they were not poisoned, to be the worth of the property. The owner would not sell it at that price. He invited the men to his house, and gave them Alcohol and water, sweetened and prepared in such a manner as to be palatable. After partaking of it they repaired again to the sale, and one of those very men, who is now a highly respectable man, felt so much richer than he did before, the property appeared to be so much more valuable, and it appeared to him so much more important that he should have it, that he bid, and actually gave more than four times as much as he, or any other man, when not poisoned, thought the land to be worth, or was willing to give for it. The above account the writer of this, had from the man himself. A vendue-master in Connecticut, in giving an account of such cases, said, " I have often, in this way, gotten more than ten times the worth of the spirits which I furnished." Horse-jockeys, gam- blers, thieves, highway-robbers, and murderers often furnish Alco- hol for this purpose. Men are now carrying it in great quantities, to different parts of our country, to the Indians on our borders, and to various portions of the heathen world, for the express purpose of deceiving those who drink it, and thus by deception and fraud, obtaining their money. Such are some of the reasons why men drink it, and why they furnish it, to be drunk by others. The one class experience a temporary pleasure, or a seeming increase of some desirable thing, and the other class obtain, or hope to obtain, more money. But both the money and the pleasure, or other supposed benefits, are, in these cases, obtained by a viola- tion of the laws and will of God; and although real, and thus operate as motives, are nevertheless forbidden, and of course must be hurtful, and short. Let us now look a moment at some of the reasons why men who begin to drink Alcohol, not only continue to drink it, but continue also to increase the quantity. The system, by this poison, having been over-excited, becomes deranged; and having been over-worked, without any new strength communicated, it is of course weakened, and therefore soon flags; 8 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. [462 becomes tired, and is exhausted. Now, according to another fundamental law, there is pain, languor, and inexpressible uneasi- ness spread through the system, as suffering nature, under the awful abuse which has been practised upon her, cries out for help. A man cannot thus chafe, irritate and exhaust his system, and not afterwards feel uneasiness, any more than he can put his hand into the fire, and not feel pain. He violates a law established by God; and must find the way of transgressors to be hard. Hence arise two motives to drink again. One is, to obtain the past pleasure, and the other is, to remove the present pain. But as the system is unstrung and partly worn out, and is also lower down than it was before, the same quantity will not, the next time, raise it up so high; nor cause the wearied organs to move so briskly. Of course it will not fully answer the purpose; will not give so much present pleasure, or produce so much effect, as before. Hence the motive to increase the quantity; and for the same reason, in future, to increase it more, and still more. As every repetition increases the difficulty, and also throws new obstacles in the way of its removal, the temptation to increase the quantity, grows stronger and stronger. The natural life of the system constantly diminishes, and of course in order to seem to live, what there is, must be more and more highly roused, till, in one half, one quar- ter, or one eighth of the proper time, the whole is exhausted, and the man sinks prematurely to the grave. There is another principle which tends also strongly to the same result. The more any man partakes of this unnatural, for- bidden, and guilty pleasure, which Alcohol occasions, the less susceptible he becomes of the natural and innocent pleasures, oc- casioned by the use of nourishing food and drink; by the view and contemplation of the works of creation and Providence; by the exercise of the social affections, and the discharge of the va- rious duties of life. It disinclines the mind to look at God, and incapacitates it, not only for the spiritual, but also for the nat- ural pleasures, which his works and ways are adapted to afford. Hence a person under its power becomes more and more desti- tute of ail enjoyment, except that of this mocker. Like Phara- oh's lean kind, it devours all other kinds; and as to enjoyment, becomes to the man, more and more, all in all. And however much he may have, he remains still unsatisfied; nor is his leanness or craving abated. And while its immediate influence becomes to him more and more his only enjoyment, the absence of that, and the experience of its ultimate effects, becomes increasingly the sum and substance of his woes. And thus, by the allurement of his sole pleasure on the one hand, and the terrors of awful wretch- edness on the other, he is urged on to death. Of all the expe- dients which Satan has ever devised to increase the descent and 463] EIGHTH REPORT. 1834. 9 velocity of a man, on his course toward perdition, and augment the difficulty of his return, the drinking of Alcohol is among the chief. And though the taking it, may seem right unto a man, who is under its power, " the end thereof is the way of death " From the above, it is evident, that the deranged and exhausted state of the system, from which the uneasiness, when not under the excitement of Alcohol, springs, and which causes the hanker- ing or thirst after the poison, is not a natural state; nor is that appetite a natural appetite. God never gave it, nor is it the fruit of obedience to him; but it is always formed, by a violation of his laws. Hence another reason, why this course, like every ether course of sinning, is downward; and the farther a man proceeds in it the steeper it becomes, the swifter his progress, and the more difficult his return. It is the way of disobedience to God; of course the way of death. Such are some of the reasons why men who begin to drink Alcohol, and receive from it nothing but injury, nevertheless, not only continue to drink it, but to drink it in greater and greater rpiantily. Let us now consider how it causes death. Alcohol is a sub- stance which is in its nature unfit for the purposes of nutrition. It is not in the power of the animal economy to decompose it, and change it into blood, or flesh, or bones, or any thing by which the human body is, or can be nourished, strengthened, and sup- ported. When taken into the stomach, it is sucked up by absorb- ent vessels, and carried into the blood; and with that is circulated through the whole system, and to a certain extent, is then thrown off again. But it is Alcohol when taken, it is Alcohol in the stomach, it is Alcohol in the arteries, and veins, and heart, and lungs, and brain, and among all the nerves, and tissues, and fibres of the whole body, and it is Alcohol, when, after having pervaded and passed through the whole system, it is thrown oft' again. Give it even to a dog, and take the blood from his foot, and distil it, and you have Alcohol, the same which the dog drank. No, not that which he drank; for a dog knows too much to drink it; the same which, in opposition to his knowledge of good and evil, or the instinctive sense which God gave him, and drunkenness had not perverted, you forced upon him. Not even the sense of a dog will permit him to take it, nor can the powerful stomach of a dog digest it. Much less can that of a man. Take the blood from the arm, the foot, or the head, of the man who drinks it, and distil that blood, and you have Alcohol. You may take it from the brain, strong enough, on the application of fire, in an instant to blaze. (See Permanent Temperance Documents, p. 202.) Not a blood vessel however minute, not a thread of the smallest nerve in the whole animal machinery, escapes its influence. It enters the organs of the nursing mother, which prepare the delicate food for 2 10 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. [464 the sustenence and growth of her child. It is taken into the cir- culations and passes through the whole system of the child; having through its whole course produced not only on the mother, but also on the child, the appropriate effects of the drunkard's poison. This is a reason, why, after the mother has taken it, the babe although before restless, sleeps all night like a drunkard; and a reason also, why such children, if they live, often have an appetite for spirit, and are so much more likely, than other children, to become drunkards. This is a reason, also, why, when the parents have been in the habit of freely taking it, their children are so much smaller, and less healthy than other children; have less keen- ness and strength of eye-sight; firmness of nerve, or ability of body and mind to withstand the attacks of disease, and the vicis- situdes of climates, and seasons; and also a reason why they have less inclination and less talent for great bodily, and mental achieve- ments. By the operation of laws, which no man can repeal, or withstand, the iniquities of the fathers are thus naturally visited upon the children, from generation to generation. Nor is the increased liability to drunkenness, or diminution of size, and strength of body and mind, the only evils. There is also a greatly increased liability to insanity, and various other diseases. The records of insanity throughout the world show that Alcohol has been, in all countries where it has been used, one of the chief causes of this disease. It penetrates, pervades, and hardens the brain. (See Permanent Temperance Documents, p. 64, 69, 202, &c.) The same may be said with regard to a great number and variety of other formidable and fatal diseases. (See Do. p. 203, 405.) From the fact that it is not suitable, as an article of diet, it follows of course that it must be hurtful, and that it is wicked to drink it, or to furnish it to be drunk by others. All the organs of the body, have as much labor to perform, as is consistent with permanently healthful action, when they have nothing to dis- pose of, but suitable food and drink. God designed that they should all in that case be diligent in business; and in the struc- ture of the human body, he has given them as much work as they can perform in the proper disposal of suitable diet, and yet remain permanently healthy, and preserve life to the longest time. And if you withhold from them a suitable portion of that which is nourishing, and thus lessen their strength, or load them with that which is not nourishing, and thus increase their labor, you neces- sarily produce premature decay and death. In the taking of Alcohol, you do both of these. You ultimate- ly lessen the nourishment, and you increase the labor of the system. Nor is this all; but, by this poison, you deteriorate the quality of the nourishment which the system does receive. Amidst the bustle, excitement, and irritation, which Alcohol occasions, . 465] EIGHTH REPORT. 1835. 11 the organs cannot furnish nourishment, pure and healthful as they otherwise would. And thus by a threefold process, you work out destruction. Were the human body transparent and the operations of its organs in sustaining life, visible, every man might see that nature itself, or rather, God by the operations of his providence in sus- taining life, teaches that the drinking of Alcohol is wicked, and cannot be continued by a man without hastening his death. The receptacle for food is the stomach and intestines. From these after being changed, first into chyme, and then into chyle, it is taken up by absorbent vessels and carried into the blood, and conveyed to the right side of the heart. From that it is sent to the lungs; and by coming into contact with the air, and taking out of it, what it needs, in order, with what it has, to nourish the body, it is sent back again to the left side of the heart. From that, it is sent in arteries, or tubes, which God has prepared, for that purpose to all parts of the body, for the purpose of carrying the nourishment which it contains, and which each part needs to its proper place. Along on the lines of these tubes, or canals, through which the blood, with its treasure flows, God has provid- ed a vast multitude of little organs,' or waiters, whose office is, each one to take out of the blood, as it comes along, that kind and quantity of nourishment which it needs for its own support, and also for the support of that part of the body which is com- mitted to its care. And although exceedingly minute and delicate, they are endowed by their Creator, with the wonderful power of doing this, and also of abstaining from, or expelling and throwing back into the common mass, what is unsuitable, or what they do not want, to be carried to some other place, where it may be need- ed; or if it is not needed any where, and is good for nothing, to be thrown out of the body as a nuisance. And strange as it may seem, they are endowed with a power of doing this, with a pre- cision, and an accuracy, and a perpetuity also, which led God himself to say of them, "very good." And had they not been deranged by sin, they might, as a demonstration of the truth of his declaration, have operated, like their Author, in perfection, untired, for ever. For instance, the organs placed at the end of the fingers, when the blood comes there, take out of it what they need for their sup- port, and also what is needed to make finger nails; while they will cautiously abstain from, or repel that which will only make hair, and let it go on to the head. And the organs on the head, care- fully take out that which they need for their support, and also that which will make hair, or, in common language, cause it to grow. While they will cautiously abstain from taking that which is good for nothing, except to make eye-balls ; and let it go to the »2 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. [466 eyes, and will even help it on. And the organs, about the eye will take that and work it up into eyes, or cause them to grow. And so throughout the whole. And there is, among all the millions and millions of these workers, day and night, all dili- gent in business, or rather had they not been invaded and assault- ed by sin, or something like it, there would have been, the most entire and everlasting harmony. And there is also the most deli- cate and wonderful sympathy. If one member suffer, all the members instinctively suffer with it; and if one member rejoices, all the members rejoice with it. And when the blood has gotten out to the extremities and been to all parts of the system and left its treasures along on the way, as they were needed, for, freely it has received and freely it gives, then there is another set of tubes, or channels which God has opened and prepared to take the blood, and with it, what was not needed, or was good for nothing, or had been used till it was worn out, back to the right side of the heart. From this it is sent again with its load to the lungs for the purpose, by expiration, of throwing off what is not needed, and what, if retained, would only be a burden and do mischief; and also, by inspiration, of taking in a new store, and setting out again on its journey round the sys- tem. And to give it good speed, the heart, like a steam-engine, worked, not by fires which men can kindle, but by the breath of the Almighty, keeps constantly moving, day and night, summer and winter, through storms and sunshines, sickness and health, till it has landed the immortal passenger, according to his conduct on the voyage, in an eternal heaven, or hell. Then there is another set of organs, too minute, and too nu- merous for any man to number, whose office is, to take up re- fuse matter, and which if retained would be hurtful, and throw it without the body. What other organs reject, and thus show to be a nuisance, these organs seize upon ; and in the least possible time, expel from the system. By doing this, they prevent sick- ness and death. From the manner in which these various organs, guided, in a healthy state, by the instinctive power of their Author, treat any substances which are taken into the system, and also from the manner in which, as they do their office, these substances treat them, and through them the rest of the body, we may learn the nature of those substances, and also the will of God with regard to the use of them. This is the way in which nature, or to speak more properly, God, by his providence, gives instruction, and makes known his will. What then is the manner in which these various organs, guided by God, treat Alcohol? First with regard to those organs whose business is, to select and deposit in proper places, a suitable 467] EIGHTH REPORT. — 1835. 13 kind and quantity of nourishment, for the growth and support of the system; how do they treat Alcohol? Do they take it up, and use it, for the purpose of making flesh, or bones, or any thing by which the body is nourished, beautified, and supported? No; they all with one consent instinctively, and instantly reject it. It goes to one class, and they reject it; to another, and they reject it; and then to another, and another, and so on, but they all reject it; and will not, if they can prevent it, suffer it even to stop. No one will embrace it, or look at it as a friend ; but all view it as an enemy, and treat its coming as a hostile invasion. Nor do they merely let it alone, but they fight against it. This increases their labor, and they soon languish. Nor does this enemy let them alone, or merely fail to benefit them. It fights against them, and thus draws them off" from their proper work, or goads them on unmer- cifully, till they become frantic. Having to labor amidst the fire and the fumes of an irritating and poisonous enemy, the organs be- come themselves irritated and chafed; their sensibilites are blunted, and they do their work badly. Then the parts of the system which are dependent on those organs, and suffer, through their derange- ment, begin to complain of those organs, and they, provoked, retort back again. The harmony is destroyed; the kindness of the system annihilated, confusion ensues, and every evil work. In their frenzy they bite and devour one another, and are thus con- sumed one of another. While the common enemy, is chased on from organ to organ, marking his course with irregularity of action, and disturbance of function, and if he cannot be expelled, will produce certain death. And how is it with the other kind of organs, that mighty host, whose business is, to watch for enemies, and drive them out — to clear off" nuisances, and expel poison. How do they treat Alcohol? Do they let it alone, and suffer it to remain? No, they would be traitors, should they do that. But they are not traitors, nor cowards. — They seize upon it, and as speedily, and thoroughly as possible exclude it. And if another recruit comes along, they treat that in the same way, and another, and another. It is a war of extermination ; to continue, if the enemy continues to invade, as long as life lasts. But mark, this is all so much extra labor ; and labor too, of a most disagreeable and exhausting kind, with a subtle and deadly foe, and in a pecu- liarly poisonous atmosphere, which that foe creates. And yet they had as much work as they could possibly do, consistently with permanently healthful action, to cope with only natural and com- mon enemies. And when this artificial one comes, they are soon crippled, and exhausted; they cease to operate; or they do their ordinary work, badly. Their food becomes unwholesome, and they grow sickly. Their recuits fail, enemies multiply, and take strong holds, and keep possession; the territory is more and 2 14 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. [468 more invaded, till the whole is conquered, and death and destruction triumph over all. And this destruction is often accomplished, ten; twenty, and sometimes fifty years sooner than even sin or Satan, without Alcohol, would accomplish it. And the poor soul is not permitted to stay out its probation on earth, by half a century. Facts justify the conclusion, that Alcohol has within the last thirty years, cut off, in the United States more than thirty million years of human probation, and ushered more than a million of souls, uncalled, and in violation of the command, "thou shalt not kill," into the presence of their Maker. (See Permanent Doc- uments Am. Temp. Soc. pp. 28, 203, 206, 405, &c.) The process by which this is done, is simple, and certain. All the organs of the human body have as much work to do, as is consistent with permanently healthful action, and with the longest continuance of human life, when men take nothing but suitable food and drink. And if, in addition to this, you take Alcohol, and thus throw upon them the additional labor of rejecting and throwing off the poison, and at the same time, as by the taking of it you certainly will, weaken and exhaust their energies, you necessarily shorten their duration, and commit suicide as really as if you did it with arsenic, a pistol, or a halter. It also greatly increases the violence of diseases which arise from other causes, and often produces death, in cases in which, had not Alcohol been used, a cure might have been easily and speedily effected. Nor is this all. There is another set of organs, whose office, is, to furnish sensibility to the human system. For this purpose they are spread over the surface of the whole body, and in such vast numbers and variety, that you cannot stick into the skin, the point even of the finest needle, and not strike some of them, and thus occasion pain. They seem to form the link between the body and the mind, and to be the medium through which each reciprocally, and instantly acts upon the other. Of course what- ever affects them, affects not only the body but also the soul, and the influence which one has upon the other. Their seat is the brain. From this they derive excitement, and power to communicate it to all parts of the system. And in or- der to furnish this excitement, the brain must itself be excited. And what it needs for this purpose, is that, and that only, which is furnished by arterial blood, when men take nothing but suita- ble food, and drink, exercise, rest, and sleep. For this excite- ment it eagerly waits, and this it joyfully receives; and cheerfully, with the rapidity almost of lightning, communicates to every part, spreading a glow of animation, and making even existence, especially amidst the exuberance of divine kindness, a source of constant and exquisite delight. But as it stands waiting to receive, and instantly and joyfully to communicate, the bread and the 469] EIGHTH REPORT. 1835. 15 milk of Heaven, you throw in Alcohol, and thus instead of bread, give it serpents ; instead of milk, scorpions ; and they go hissing and darling their serpent, scorpion-like influence through the whole man ; body and soul ; turning husbands into demons, and fathers into fiends ; causing them, as it were, to be born of the devil, and regenerated for damnation. (See Per. Temp. Documents, p. 140, 142, &c.) Did it destroy only the body, the evil would be comparatively nothing, but the seat of its mischief, is the soul. It cuts off its probation. And this, if done wittingly, involves the soul in tre- mendous guilt. Nor does it merely shorten its probation. It enfeebles its powers, corrupts its character, and aggravates all its moral diseases. It also tends to counteract all the means of divine appointment for their removal, and thus to fix the soul in perma- nent, unending death. Not that it tends to annihilate its existence; but it tends to annihilate its excellence ; to annihilate its blessed- ness, to annihilate its hopes ; to fix it in a state of unutterable and eternal anguish ; and make endless existence, an endless curse ; and bring upon the soul, in the language of the Bible, " the second death." This it does in two ways, by increasing the wickedness of the bouI, and by preventing its removal. In proof of its increasing the wickedness of the soul, we have only to advert to the fact, that vastly more who drink it, in proportion to the number, be- come drunkards, than of those who do not drink it ; and thus form a character, which God declares shall not inherit his kingdom. Vastly more, also, neglect known duties, and commit known sins, and crimes, of the one class, than of the other. (See Permanent Temp. Documents, pp. 41, 42, 200, 239, 397, &c.) In Seneca County, in the State of New York, containing in 1834, 3,651 families, and 20,868 individuals, 768 persons who drank it, were drunkards ; thus carrying the mark, should they continue in that course, of death eternal on their foreheads. In seven towns in Yates County, in the same State, containing 3,332 families, there were 694 drunkards ; and in five towns in Cayuga County, containing 1,254 families, there were 242 drunkards, about one to twenty three of the population. While in all these counties, and indeed throughout the whole State, of those who did not drink it, scarcely a drunkard, comparatively, could be found. Nor is it known, that, in those counties, Alcohol has been more injurious, in this respect, than it has, upon an average, throughout the country. And if it has not, we have in the United States, more than 500,000 drunkards ; all made such, by Alcohol. And we have, also, 2,000,000 more, who are in the habit of using it ; nd are thus exposed to form the drunkard's character; and become 16 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. [470 partakers forever of the drunkards woes. While all who do not use it, will, continuing this course, from all such dangers be for- ever safe. In proof that it leads men to neglect known duty, we need only advert to the fact that more than three-fourths of all, in the United States, who, by such neglect, have been reduced to poverty, and thrown upon the charity of the public for support, have been brought to that condition, by the use of it. (See Perm. Temp. Documents, pp. 398, 399, &c.) G. W. Welch, Esq. Superintendent of the Almshouse in Albany, N. Y. states, that there were, in 1833, received into the Almshouse, 634 persons ; viz. not intemperate, 1; doubtful, 17; intemperate 616. There were also in the house, on the first of January, 297; making in all, 931. One half that proportion, throughout the United States, would make more than 200,000. Mr. Guion, clerk of the Almshouse in New York, states, that in addition to 5,179 persons supported in the Almshouse in that city, there were relieved and supported out of the Almshouse, 19,150 ; making in all, in that city, relieved or supported, 24,329 ; and that three-fourths of this was occasioned by intemperance. One-fourth of that proportion, throughout the United States, would make more than 300,000 ; four-fifths of whose pauperism, is occasioned by Alcohol. Mr. Stone, Superintendent for 8 years, of the Almshouse in Boston says, " I am of opinion that seven-eighths of the pauper- ism in this house, is to be attributed to intemperance." The Superintendent of the Almshouse in Philadelphia states, that the expense of supporting paupers in that institution, in 1833, was $130,000 : and that 90 per cent, of the amount was occa- sioned bv intemperance. And in proof that it leads men to commit crimes, we need only advert to the fact, that more than four-fifths of those who commit them, have been in the habit of acting under its influence. (See Permanent Temperance Documents, pp. 401, 402, &c.) In the State of New York there were, in 1833, 9,849 persons in jail. An equal number, in proportion to the population, would make in the United States, about 70,000. Nearly the whole of them drank habitually of this poison, and a great majority of them, more or less often, even to drunkenness. While from the small- ness of the number, in any jail, who never drank it, or who had not done it for two years, previous to their commitments, it would seem, that were it not for this, jails would be comparatively need- less. J. O. Cole, Esq. Police Justice of Albany, N. Y. states, that 2,500 persons came under his cognizance in a year, and that 9fc* in a hundred of the offences, were occasioned by intemperance. 471] EIGHTH REPORT. 1835. 17 Mr. Badlam, who was long Master of the House of Correction in Boston, says of its inmates; "three-fourths were habitual drunkards, and the remainder mostly intemperate." Mr. Robbins, Assistant Master says, of 5,611 persons, who were there confined, "with very slight exceptions, all were in- temperate." In the counties of Plymouth, Bristol, and Barnstable, constitut- ing what is called the " Old Colony," and containing a population of about one hundred and twenty thousand inhabitants, no licenses have been granted for the sale of ardent spirits, for the last three years. The prohibition has generally been rigidly enforced, par- ticularly in New Bedford, Plymouth, and other large towns, where the sea-faring population, and others who are most subject to the evil consequences of the unrestrained traffic in that pernicious article, chiefly congregate. So well satisfied have the people of those counties been with the result of the experiment, that public sentiment in its favor has gained great strength under its operation; and at the recent election for county commissioners, full boards were chosen who were avowedly opposed to the granting of licenses. At the recent session of the courts in these counties, after a vacation of three months in one, four in another, and seven in the other, there were but two indictments in the ivhole of them, and each of these was for a petty larceny, of less than $10 in amount I and not a single indictment has been found for any aggravated offence. — (Worcester Spy.) And among all the multitudes of idle and vicious persons who go at large, Sabbath breakers, gamblers, thieves, highway robbers, and murderers, few, comparatively very few, can be found, who do not habitually use it. It is the grand instigator, and chosen companion of vice in every form ; and is thus, by its fruits, proved to be a mighty agent in working out human perdition. Nor is this effected merely by the increase of human wicked- ness ; but also, to a great extent, by withstanding and preventing the efficacy of all means and efforts for its removal. In proof of this, we need only look at the fact, which is now abundantly es- tablished, that more than five times as many, in proportion to the number of those who do not drink it, become apparently, in the language of inspiration, " partakers of the divine nature, and escape the corruptions that are in the world through lusts," than of those who do. And it is well nigh being settled by facts, that where the nature of Alcohol is understood, no person, who continues habitually to use it, as a drink, can rationally be expected, even under all the means of grace, to be converted to God. (See Per. Tem. Doc, pp. 99, 148, &c.) Whatever may be the pres- ent appearance, if men continue habitually to drink it, their case 2* 3 IB AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. [472 is comparatively hopeless. On the other hand, when the use of it is abandoned, and the means of grace enjoyed, the prospect of their saving efficacy, is increased four-fold. (See Perm. Temp. Documents, p. 242, &c.) A gentleman from Tennessee writes, that the formation of a Temperance Society in his vicinity, was followed by such a revi- val of religion, as in those parts was never before known. That in numerous other places where Temperance Societies were formed, they were followed by the same glorious results ; and that in a compass of about three miles, as the result apparently of the temperance reformation, more than three hundred persons were hopefully added to the Lord. And so generally has it been fol- lowed by such results, that it is spoken of in various countries, and even on opposite sides of the globe, as "John the Baptist," preparing the way of the Lord. (See Per. Temp. Documents, p. 374, &c.) Whether the reason of this can be philosophically and satisfac- torily explained, or not, the fact is settled that intoxicating liquor, tends from beginning to end, to increase human wickedness, and also to render that wickedness permanent. The men, therefore, who make it, and the men who furnish it, to be used as a drink, are by their whole influence in doing this, increasing the vices and augmenting the woes of mankind. And though some of them profess to be friends of temperance, and to wish to have it prevail and become universal, they are taking the very course for ever to prevent it. As well might a wholesale dealer in counterfeit money, profess that he wishes to have none but the true coin circulate, as for a man to profess that he wishes to have temperance prevail, who continues to furnish the most powerful means of counteract- ing it ; and also of promoting the intemperance which he professes to wish to have cease. Alcohol so affects the understanding that moral considerations are less clearly perceived; and it so affects the heart, that moral obligation is less powerfully felt. — It causes the conscience to lie more dormant, and the imagination to be more extensively and deeply polluted, and polluting. It corrupts the very source and springs of moral action, and brings a man peculiarly in all respects, under the power of the devil. Mental iniquity, from which the mind, when not poisoned, instinctively recoils, becomes, when it is, the element of its delicious revel; and crimes from the thought of which it before started back with abhorrence, it now commits with greediness. And so perfectly is this known, that, by the agents of him, who was from the beginning " a murderer," it is furnished for (his very purpose. A young man in Ireland committed a murder, in March, 1833. He was afterwards tried at Kilkenny, and pronounced by the jury 473] EIGHTH REPORT. 1835. 19 to be guilty. " Yes, my Lord," said the prisoner, " I am guilty;" and pointing to his mother, a woman of more than eighty years of age, who stood by, he said, " She was the cause of it." She had agreed beforehand, for the price of the blood of Mr. Lennard, the man, who, according to that agreement, was to be murdered, by her son. She watched for the coming of the unfortunate and unsuspecting man, and when she saw him approaching, she handed her son the pistol, with which to take his life. But there was not enough wickedness and hardness in the young man to commit the deed. He instinctively shrunk back, saying, " How can I mur- der the poor gentleman." His mother handed him the whiskey bottle, which she had got for the occasion, and said, " Take that." He took it, shot the man, and was hanged. (Br. Par. Rep. p. 292.) It increases the wickedness of the soul ; and prepares it to be led captive by the adversary of all good, at his pleasure. The men, therefore, who manufacture, import, sell, or in any way furnish it, to be used as a drink, are assist- ing the old murderer in the work of human destruction. Another young man who had committed a crime, so horrid that it was thought to be incredible, was asked by the magistrate in his examination, how it was possible, that he could commit such a crime? He answered, "With the help of whiskey I could commit twenty such crimes." (Do. p. 299.) It tends to remove all difficulties, arising from moral considerations, in the way to hell; and to keep its victim, till his probation closes, from turning his eye toward the path of life. A young man, who but just escaped death, from the outrage and brutality of a number of persons who were under its influ- ence, who was indeed supposed to be killed; and was left by them for dead, in giving his deposition, after his recovery, was asked by the magistrate, whether they were drunk; he answered, " No. They were well able to do their business." He was then asked, whether they had been drinking? He answered, "I won- der that your honor, a gentleman of your knowledge, should ask such a simple question; sure you do not think, that they would come without preparing themselves." So universally is it now understood to be a needful preparation for all deeds of darkness, that he wondered any one should think that they would attempt such mischief without it. Mr. Poinder, in his testimony before the British Parliament, states that many criminals assured him that it was necessary, before they could commit crimes of pecu- liar atrocity, to have recourse to this stimulant; and knowing this to be the fact, they resorted to it beforehand, for no other pur- pose but to fit themselves. "I could not," said one of them, " enter your house, in the dead of night, and take the chance of your shooting me in it, or of my being hung when I got out of it, 20 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. [474 unless I was to get well primed first." But when a man is under its influence, he can, so far as wickedness is concerned, do any- thing, to which his own heart or Satan may tempt him. And he can, and ordinarily will, withstand, and for ever prevent the saving efficacy of all the influences which are brought to bear upon him, to induce him to become a holy man, and to prepare for the employment and the bliss of heaven. All then that use it, make it, or furnish it, or are accessory to its being used as a drink, are by this exerting an influence, which tends more surely and speedily to bring men to hell ; and under which, there is the most unequivocal and appalling evidence that mul- titudes are now on their way to that place of torment. To save as many of them as possible, and especially to save others from following their example, extraordinary efforts have been made within the last few years, and the Lord has crowned them with the most signal success. The object has been, by the diffusion of information, and the exertion of a kind moral influ- ence, to persuade men to permit the evil of intemperance to cease, by ceasing to perpetuate its cause. And as this cause has been Alcohol, and in the United States, principally in the form of distilled liquor, 2,000,000 of persons, it is supposed in this country have already ceased to use it. More than 8,000 Tem- perance Societies have been formed, embracing, it is thought, more than 1,500,000 members. Twenty-three of these socie- ties, are State societies; and there is now one in every State, with one exception, throughout the Union. More than 4000 distilleries have been stopped, and more than 8000 merchants have ceased to sell ardent spirits, and many of them have ceased to sell any kind of intoxicating liquor. More than 1200 vessels sail from our ports, in which it is not used; and more than 12,000 persons who were drunkards; and it is supposed more than 200,000 other per- sons, have ceased to use any intoxicating drink. And the light of experience proves, that abstinence from the use of all intoxica- ting liquor, as a beverage, is not only safe but salutary; and that it is the only course, in which it can be rationally expected, that drunkenness will ever be done away. A deep and solemn convic- tion of this truth, as a knowledge of the facts is communicated, is rapidly extending among the friends of temperance, throughout the community. And the number who are in practice adopting this course is constantly and rapidly increasing. In the pledge of many societies the words "ardent spirit," has been changed for "intoxicating liquor;" and most of the societies which have been formed the past year, especially among young men, have been formed on the plan of abstinence, from the use as a bever- age, of all intoxicating liquor. Nor is the change which has been effected, confined to this country. In July 1834, more than 475] EIGHTH REPORT. 1835. 21 150,000 in Great Britain had also been embodied in Temperance Societies. The Report of the American Temperance Society, on the immorality of laws which license the sale of ardent spirit, had been reprinted in that country, and a copy of it distributed to all the Members of Parliament. It has since, with the previous Reports, been circulated extensively throughout the kingdom. A committee has also been appointed by the House of Com- mons, to inquire into the extent, causes, and consequences of drunkenness; in order to ascertain whether any Legislative meas- ures can be taken to prevent the continuance and spread of so great a national evil. This Committee, with power to send for persons and papers, were in session more than twenty days, and obtained answers from various individuals to more than 4,000 questions. They have also made to Parliament a long and very able Report ; which together with the evidence on which it is founded, makes an octavo volume of nearly 600 pages, which has been printed, and circulated extensively through the country. The Chairman of that Committee, James Silk Buckingham, Esq., in a letter dated Sheffield, Jan. 1, 1835, says, "The cause of Temperance has advanced more rapidly in Britain, within the last year, than in any ten years preceding. The number of so- cieties has nearly doubled, and the number of members increased in a still greater proportion. Above all, the two extremes of society, the very rich, and the very poor, have been brought to think very anxiously on the subject ; though until lately, it has occupied the attention of the middle classes only." He also states that he had visited Sheffield, Lincoln, Hull, Boston, Birm- ingham, Manchester, Liverpool, Greenock, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Belfast, and Dublin, and delivered Temperance Addresses in each place. "The meetings," he says, "gave a great impulse to the circulation of the Parliamentary Reports, and the printed evi- dence on which it was founded; and the seed thus scattered is every day producing a rich and an abundant harvest." In another letter dated March 2d, 1835, after speaking of his Temperance Mission, as he calls it, to the above mentioned places, he says, "In each of them, I held several very numerous and important meetings; none of them less than 1000, and some of them ex- ceeding 5000 in number, for the promotion of the Temperance cause; which is making rapid progress in these Islands." He then says that on the last Tuesday in February, the day appoint- ed by the American Temperance Society, for simultaneous Tem- perance meetings, throughout the world, they held a public cele- bration, of the Anniversary of Temperance Societies, in London. At the meeting were assembled of both sexes, not less than 1500 people. He opened the meeting, by giving them an account of his late journey through England, Scotland, and Ireland, the 22 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. [476 information which he had collected, and the impressions which had been made, while he had been permitted, on his journey personally to address, on the subject of Temperance, more than 100,000 individuals. The meeting was then addressed by vari- ous other speakers, including officers of the navy, clergymen of the established church, dissenting ministers, and a young Eng- lishman who had just returned from a residence of several years in the United States. The meeting was continued nearly six hours, and he says, "never was there more order, harmony, and even enthusiasm, than prevailed throughout the whole period." In various parts of that kingdom also, especially in Lancashire and vicinity, numerous societies have been formed on the plan of abstinence from the use of all intoxicating drinks. The effects have been numerous, extensive, and happy. At Pres- ton, large and interesting meetings were held for five evenings in succession, at which the benefits of this course were delineated, by those who had, from one to two years made the experiment. At two of the meetings, the presiding officer was Robert Guest White, Esq., late sheriff of Dublin, and at two others P. H. Fleetwood, Esq. — member of Parliament. At the meeting on the fourth night, one of the speakers, said, " Here stands before you the king of reformed drunkards. I regret that the Temper- ance Society did not start twenty years sooner; for had I been sober, I might have offered myself as candidate for the borough of Preston ; and been worth £10,000. I now thank God, that I stand fast in the liberty with which Temperance has made me free." Another rose and said, "I can now go to bed and get up a sober man. Having made up my mind to sign the pledge, I met a person from Sheffield, as I went down to the Temper- ance Hotel, and told him my errand. He invited me to go with him, and take a bottle of ale. I replied, No; I am determined to go and sign, and if 100 devils with 100 daggers each, were to op- pose me, I would press my way against them. I have now friends on every side. One tradesman has written me from Liverpool, offering me whatever I may want ; another from Sheffield offered to supply me with £50 worth of goods, if I would order them. They had heard that I had joined this glorious cause. I rejoice in the change, and I trust that I shall stand firm as long as I live." Another by the name of Johnson, then rose and said, "I am indeed a brand plucked from the fire." He then mentioned that during the days of his drunkenness, he twice resolved to take his own life; that he once took a razor for that purpose, but was prov- identially prevented from using it; that he then got a quantity of laudanum, mixed it with a glass of ale, drank it, and lay down to sleep, never expecting to open his eyes again in this world. — But through the mercy of the Lord, he was preserved ; was led to 477] EIGHTH REPORT. — 1835. 23 sign the pledge, of total abstinence from all intoxicating liquor, has since been sober, has united with a religious society, and, said he, " I hope soon to be able to say 'Johnson owes no man any thing.' If you mean to be steady men, take up with religion, and stand to the cause like men." Another said, " I stand before you a person who was a drunk- ard for upwards of 20 years. I drank to that excess, that I could scarcely hold the glass to my mouth — I was destroying my health ; could scarcely eat or sleep, and was reduced so low as to have hardly a chair, or a bed to lie down upon, and was making every body miserable around me. I heard of Temperance, and in- quired what it meant. I was told that they taught men not to get drunk. I thought it was a grand thing and I would have a do with it. If it has cured so many, I thought, why not me? It is now nearly 18 months since I tasted any intoxicating liquor. I have laid out in my house, and in furniture, above £20. I never enjoyed so good a state of health; we have food, raiment, and contentment ; and every thing comfortable. I go regularly to a place of worship and feel quite satisfied. What ! Temperance Societies done no good? If they had accomplished nothing, more than what they have done for me, they would be amply repaid for their labor." Another said, " I appear before you a man who has been in- temperate 35 years, and a temperance man, nine months. I was told I could not stand, but I thought I would try. A man had better die, than be a drunkard. There is no remedy for the working classes except to join the tee-total (the Temperance So- ciety on the plan of abstinence from the use of all intoxicating drinks.) The Temperance Union, is the best of all unions. I feel a great deal better, since I gave up drinking intoxicating li- quor; and am ten or fifteen years younger, than I was nine months ago. The beer bill, which was said to be a benefit to the work- ing classes, was the worst that was ever passed. Seeing there is. so much intemperance and vice, it is time for the magistrate, nobility, gentry, and all sorts, to join the tee-total." Another said, "When I go through the streets on Sunday, it does my soul good, to meet so many reformed drunkards, well dressed, and going to their places of public worship. What fools you are, to cover the landlords' table, while you yourselves must live on potatoes and salt; your children bare-footed, and bare- headed, your coats out at the elbows, and your trowsers out at your knees, as mine used to be. I called the temperance people lools, but after attending a meeting at the Moss school-house, I found that I was the fool, and that they were wise men. I signed the tee-total, am strong and hearty, can do my work better than ever, and am determined, to go about preaching Temperance, as long as I live." 24 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. [478 Another rose and said, " I was a drunkard 29 years, and I am sure, if there was any good in drinking I should have found it ; for I gave it a fair trial. I now stand before you a rational being, and have been so for twenty months. My house which was a house of cursing and swearing, is now a house of prayer. How can we rest while our neighbors are going down to hell. And now, since the Temperance cause came into town, if the land- lords will go to hell, with a light in their right hand, don't accom- pany them ; but come with us, and we will do you good." Another stated that he had been intoxicated for ten or twelve days, previous to a Temperance meeting, which was held at Manchester on the 22d of July, 1832. At that meeting he said to himself, " I have spent forty years, and am in this condition, when I might have been riding in my carriage." Three days af- ter he attended another Temperance meeting, and from that time abstained from all intoxicating drink. He went thirty miles to sign the Temperance pledge, and now, said he to the audience, " I have come thirty more to tell you of it. If I could carry my employment from Manchester, I would never go back again, I am ten years younger than I was, two years ago." Another said, " This is a glorious meeting, we have got col- liers and parliament men. The king will come next, or if he don't, we will send for him. — I have been a drunkard eight years. I signed the pledge ten months ago, and was never so comforta- ble in my life. I first signed the pledge for twelve months, and when that is up, I will sign it for 999 years. I can now send my children to school, and go to a place of worship myself. I'll buy no more caps or bombasin gowns for landladies, but my own wife shall have them." Anotiier said, "After five and twenty years of intemperance, I now stand before you in my proper senses. I drank to such ex- cess, that I had neither clothes, nor shoes to my feet — but now, I can appear in my own clothes, instead of giving them to the land- lords. Take them your money, and when you have spent it, they will kick you out of doors. When I signed the pledge, they said, I should not live two months ; but I have now exceed- ed nine months, and am better than ever. I was generally known by the name of drunken Bob; but now they call me Temper- ance Bob ; and I preach up Temperance, and am determined to do so, wherever I go. My little boy, nine years old, was brought up to drink; but now he will not touch any, but says, My father is in the Temperance Society." Another said, "It is now fifteen months since I have tasted intoxicating liquor, and I hope, while God gives breath, I shall never taste again. I have always been seeking this sobriety, but I never knew how to find it. I professed to be religious, and I 479] EIGHTH REPORT. 1835. 25 went on twenty years mixing drinking and religion together. I wanted to be sober, and my friends told me to pray; but one word from your Advocate set me right. I found that drunkenness is a physical evil; and the way to avoid being drunk, is never to taste the liquor that produces drunkenness. I attended the meeting and said, Put me down to the sweeping measure; nothing else will reach my case. Nothing but abstinence will suit this country; and every system that does not go on the basis of tee-total, is quackery. This, like the Whitworth Doctor, is a cure-all. I never had such a fifteen months before. I can eat, drink, and sleep, and serve God consistently; and I am determined, sink or swim, to stick by it. And the most I regret is, that nobody started this twenty years ago." Another said, "I entered moderation, but I have now been a tee-totaler one year and one month. I will never preach mode- ration, I will preach sound doctrine. I am determined to have barley in its full bloom, just as God made and sends it. I will not have it bled, and scalded, and mashed, and its nose sprit out, like an urchin. Only take off its rough coat, and I will eat it soul and body. John Barleycorn is good, but they abuse him, and he abuses them in return. I wish they could not get carts to cart about those casks full of murder. And these religious drinkers are the worst. The scripture says, you should lay down your lives for the brethren. But these will not lay down a glass of wine for their brethren. They will not lay down that which is a source of sickness and death, to promote the health and life of others. I would abstain from any thing. If porridge (and I like it as well as any thing) sent half as many souls to hell as ale has done, I would lay down my spoon." Another said, "It is owing to the exertion of the Preston friends, that I stand here a sober man. You have now in Bolton 600 abstainers, and this is a sufficient reward for your labors. I knew an individual who received a religious training, entered the matrimonial state a sober man, by industry and economy he accu- mulated a capital, and entered upon business under the most favorable auspices. From taking one glass, he got to two, or three; and then became a drunkard. All filial affection was gone, and his children dreaded his appearance. He became a most de- based drunkard, and I remember in one of his last carousals, after eight days drinking, he was taken up in Deansgate for dead, and carried into a public house. After some time, life appeared, and he was carried home. He afterwards felt determined to reform, or to terminate his existence. He heard of the Temperance meeting in the Town Hall, on the first of January, 1834, and at- tended it with his wife. He went to the table, and he — no, not he, but I, (for I was the man) signed the pledge; and it has been 3 4 26 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. [480 kept inviolable, to the present day. It is now my pleasant duty to tell you of the glorious results. Some said I should not stand a month; some gave me three months, but I stand firm to this day. We have now peace in our family; the children have a true affec- tion for their father, and I go home with pleasure. For many years I was troubled with the asthma, but in consequence of water drinking, I am quite restored. I am now in good health, happy in my family, improving in business, and enjoying a hope of future bliss. I beg of you to come forward and join this glo- rious Society." Another rose and said, "It is now two years since I laid aside intoxicating liquor; and I feel stronger than I ever did in my life. I first signed for 12 months, but now I have signed for ever, and for ever. And I am so grateful for the benefits I have received, that I am determined to spend and be spent in this cause. I have three brothers, a wife, and a mother, all abstainers. I have been anxious about my father-in-law; and I got a promise from my wife, that if he could be brought in, I might have full liberty to go where I would, preaching Temperance. And though he has been a drunkard for 35 years, he is now a tee-totaler. The happiness that temperance has brought into our family, it is impossible to describe." Such is a specimen of the exhibition made at their Temperance meetings. At the close, the chairman, the late sheriff of Dublin, himself, signed the pledge of total abstinence from all intoxicating drinks, and gave the Society a donation of £ 20. The third annual meeting of the Preston Temperance Society, which has since been holden, occupied six successive nights. The theatre, in which the meetings were held, was crowded to overflowing; and the Youth's Temperance Society, consisting ol 969 members between 14 and 25 years of age, presented their first Annual Report. On the third day, a reformed drunkard arose and said, " My dear friends, this is one of the happiest hours in my life. I am one of those individuals who can tell you the difference between temperance and intemperance. Another year has rolled into eternity, and we appear this night to give an account of our stewardship. Intoxicating spirit is the greatest enemy to God and man, whether found in ale, gin, porter, or wine. If there be any person more than another that has reason to be grateful to the Temperance Society, it is myself; and I could detain you till midnight in declaring the blessings which tem- perance has brought to my family. The seed of abstinence is sown, and I have no doubt but it will bring forth 500 fold. One public house I saw shut up to-day, and I hope many others will have to follow: if they don't, they will be compelled to it. If there were any here last night, that were not convinced by Mr. 4811 EIGHTH REPORT. 1835. 27 Livesey's lecture, they must have been thick-skulls indeed. Our great grandfathers were deluded, and recommended this article, though it has ruined so many — stripped them of their coats, waist- coats, and even their shirts. Tee-total men are never bothered; moderate men are continually bothered, for they never know how to take their drink. Being sent for to the Castle Inn by a gentleman^ alter having refused, I at last went, and being asked to take a glass, I replied, ' Don't you know that you are in Preston ?' If I had been of the half and half class, I should have taken a sly glass. I remember well, engaging for a new hat not to take more than three gills a day, and the last time I took my three glasses, the devil tempted me to take a fourth. I was alone, and he said, ' Nobody will know.' 'No, no, honor bright,' something said within me; and I jumped up and run out of the public house, and I have never tasted from that day to this." A carpenter then arose and said, " This is the first time I ever addressed an audience like this. Having been twenty years a drunkard, I think it my duty to make all the reparation I can. I have no excuse, for I was brought up with good moral and reli- gious instruction. But I was bound to a trade where they were nearly all drunkards. I got such an appetite for ale that I was never satisfied unless I was at the ale house; I loved ale so that I preferred it to any thing else. I became an ale house politician, a drunken reformer, trying to govern the nation, and yet not able to reform myself. I continued sinning and repenting, and making tnd breaking resolution after resolution. I became slighted by every one, ran into debt, and my children naked. At last I went to the Cockpit, though I was a coward, and ashamed of others' noticing me. I signed moderation, but became, I think, more immoderate than before. After trying in vain to temper myself, at last I signed the tee-total, and I cannot make you believe the pleasure I found. I am now determined never to taste again. Ask my employers whether I cannot work better; ask my fellow work- men also; and I am sure I look a great deal better. Nobody could believe what satisfaction I feel." Another rose and said, " You see before you a reclaimed Li- verpool drunkard. From the age of 14 to 23, I sank in the depths of drunkenness. My father bound me an apprentice to a respect- able merchant in Liverpool. I soon got acquainted with drunken companions, and became acquainted with free and easy societies. On one occasion, I had £ 15, and I went with a comrade for a glass; I staid three days and nights, and came away with only 5s. in my pocket. I was disowned of my father, and I ran away. At last, my father, as a punishment, bound me to a bricklayer, and here I was again in the midst of drink. At last I was persuaded to join the Temperance Society, but it was a Moderation Society, 28 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. [A&2 and it threw me further into hell than ever. At last, about seven or eight months since, I joined the tee-total, and never was so happy in my life as I have been from that day. I have got my character back ; my father can now trust me with the rent book; I am now in business for myself, and doing well. Though for some time the rulers of the Welsh Church of Calvinistic Me- thodists, to which I belong, opposed the tee-total pledge, yet they are now more favorable. We have formed a society upon the tee-total principle, and in three weeks we have got 30 names. I will stick to the cause as long as I live; and such is my peace of mind, that if any person were to offer me a thousand a year to forsake my pledge, I would spurn the offer. I mean to do all I can to benefit others. There is a young man, an acquaintance of mine, who spent $1500 in three years, and reduced himself to beggary. I spoke to him and teased him till at last he has joined, and since then he has got a situation of $150 a year. My whole course of life is now changed; I am now getting up my head; and I wish that tee-total may flourish as long as I live." A carter then rose and said, " Instead of being here, if it had not been for temperance, I might have been chained down in the lockup. I am well known; I have been a faithful servant to the landlords for 14 years, and a rascal to my wife. Now I am as happy as any man alive; and for these 13 months I have enjoyed more pleasure than I did in all my life before. I have punished my family shamefully; my children were all naked; I got money enough, sometimes £b a week; but if I had got £10 a week, and worked for a hundred years, it would have been no better. Thank God that temperance ever came to Bamber Bridge! My children are not now without clogs, and shirts; with stockings torn up: no, they are well clothed. I started this morning at 3 o'clock, and have been a long journey, and I am now as fresh as a lark. I nev- er was so well in my life, and my house, which was hell, is turned into heaven with tee-total. A landlord one day, to whom I had sold a load of coals, ordered his wife to fetch me up a quart of the best ale: he filled a glass and held it up to the window. "Did thou ever see any thing so nice? take hold and drink." I an- swered, "No, I defy thee, Satan;" and then as he could not get me to drink, he began to praise me for my sobriety. Ah! if you were to see my house now! we have had 13 months of tee-total, and we have every thing we want. Thank God, we have plenty of beef and puddings. I like coffee and beef: it is a capital thing to travel on. Come forward, all of you, and join this glorious cause." Next rose a spinner, and said, "Drunkards are the greatest slaves. I began drinking at footings and other stirs; and though but a lad, I used to think myself a man. Since I was married, I 485] EIGHTH REPORT. — 1835. 29 have been turned out of house five times. Although I had a wife and but one child, drinking brought me to the workhouse, and to- breaking stones at the canal side. However, I got to spinning again; and was turned off again. I ran away to Manchester, and left my wife and two children, both of them sick. Solomon says> "Who hath wo? who hath wounds without cause? They that tarry long at the wine!" I had many a time black eyes, and arms, and shins, all through drinking. At last I came to Preston, and found two of my brothers tee-totalers. I was led with seeing them to think about it, and on Whit-Tuesday I entered. Plenty of debts coining against me, and law upon law, ay, wheel bar- rows full of law, but I thought the Lord is sufficient to bring me through. I have begun to pay something tQwards my old debts. Jack is here after all, and thank God that ever I got on the Tem- perance Ship. I have signed for life. Am but 25 years of age; but if I live 25 hundred years, I mean never to drink again. We are three brothers of us; and we have not only joined Temperance; but we also sail on the gospel ship: we all go to the chapel, and we are making our way to Canaan's happy shore. The Lord of heaven help you to come and join the tee-total, and stick to it." Another spinner then rose and said, "I was a drunkard 11 years, but I signed the tee-total, and have kept it eleven months, a fortnight and one day. 1 used to get drunk at footings and room- ings; and I followed on drinking and carousing. I 'listed for a soldier, and was bought off again. I continued drinking, fre- quently lost my work, writh my clothes, in the pop-shop. I hired into the militia, but I got enough of soldiering. This way I car- ried on till 11 months and a fortnight since, when I signed the tee- total; and from that time I never enjoyed so much happiness in all my life. I am now respected and in good credit, and I can serve God as I ought to do. If you will ask my wife, she will tell you. [Here a pleasant voice from the boxes was heard, which excited rapturous applause, something to the following effect: " Yes, thou has plenty of credit now; thou has not so many at- torney's letters as thou used to have; and I like thee better than ever I did."] Come forward and sign; do as I have done. I am now happy for this world, and am hoping for life eternal." Such was a specimen of the addresses from this class of speakers at those meetings. And it was stated by respectable gentlemen, that the last, was the sixth assizes, at which there had not been a single case of felony from Preston. With such facts before him, who can doubt, as to the course of safety, interest, and duty? Let men cease to use that which intoxicates, and while health, virtue, and happiness will be greatly promoted, drunkenness and all its evils will be universally, and for ever, done away. More than 3* 30 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. [4S4 twelve millions of drunkards would become sober men, and more than fifty millions, who are now on the way to drunkenness, would escape that awful doom. The Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee, in his Address at Liverpool, stated that he had himself sailed to the East and the West, in hot weather, and in cold, and that he never found any benefit from that enervating, disorganizing, and destructive poison; which, wherever it found an entrance, was always sure to be pro- ductive of mischief. He afterwards became aland traveller. He had passed through Egypt, and Palestine, and Mesopotamia, and Arabia; and afterwards settled in India, where he lived six years. In the course of these journeys, he passed twice to India, and back again by land; and travelled not less than 30,000 miles. He visited the cities of Cairo, Damascus, Aleppo, Ispahan, &c, — - and in his tours, had seen, it was supposed, more than 3,000,000 people. Of course he had had a very extensive opportunity to witness the different habits of men; and he had never known them to be in any respect, benefited by the use of strong drink. Nor had he ever known any people who had adopted the use of it, among whom it had not been, in proportion to that use, detrimen- tal. He also stated, that the finest race of men he had ever seen, were a tribe residing on the Himalaya Mountains in India. They came down to Calcutta as Jlthletae, to show their skill in wres- tling, boxing, throwing the quoit, and other athletic exercises. They were pitted against British grenadiers and sailors, the strong- est that could be found. The result was, that one of these men was more than a match, for any three that could be brought against them; and they had never tasted any drink, from their infancy upwards, stronger than milk, or water. He had himself travelled from Diabekir to Bagdad, a distance of 800 miles on horseback, in ten days; with the thermometer ranging from 100 at sunrise, to 125 degrees in the afternoon; without injury, and without any drink, but water. During his arduous labors in Parliament, and during his recent tour of 2,400 miles, in the course of which, he had lectured six nights in the week, in towns frequently 80 or 100 miles apart, he had tasted nothing but water, and yet those who heard him, one night, would perceive no essential difference in him should he continue a similar course for six months together. (Preston Temp. Advocate.) At a general Conference of Deputies from the various Tem- perance societies in Lancashire, and the adjoining counties, held at Manchester, Sept., 24, 1834, it was, after discussion and delib- eration, unanimously " Resolved, That it is expedient, in the pres- ent state of this country, for the purpose of united and efficient exertions, that the societies in this, and the adjoining Counties, adopt a pledge of total abstinence from all intoxicating liquors." 485J EIGHTH REPORT. — 1835. 31 The experiment, so far as it has been adopted, has succeeded to admiration; and should it become universal, it would cause drunk- enness, and with it the greatest cause of pauperism, crimes, and wretchedness to cease. It would also prepare the way for the in- tellectual and moral elevation of the whole community; and in all respects, promote the highest good of the country. — They have also established a monthly publication called the Preston Tem- perance Advocate, which urges strongly the adoption of the doc- trine of abstinence, from the use, as a drink, of all intoxicating liquors. The following is an Address from thirty Mechanics, who were drunkards, to the drunkards and tipplers of Great Britain. "TIPPLERS, DRUNKARDS, AND BACKSLIDERS! Friends! — You are miserable and wretched, both in body, soul and circumstances; your families and friends are suffering through your folly; you have no peace here, and can have no peace here- after; and all this proceeds from the delusive, maddening habit of drinking intoxicating liquors. You are told that these liquors do you good. It is a falsehood, invented and propagated for the purpose of getting your money. Judge of the good they have done, by the effects which they have produced upon yourselves and others. Oh! shun the public house as you would do a plague, and the company of drunkards as you would a gang of robbers. Friends! — We were once drunkards, and most of us were in the same wretched condition as yourselves; but being reclaimed, we are anxious for you to enjoy the same liberty and blessings which we enjoy. We are now happy; our wives are comfort- able; our children are provided for; we are better in health, bet- ter in circumstances; we have peace of mind; and no tongue can tell the comfort we have enjoyed since we became consistent members of the Temperance Society. Ale and strong drink have slain more than war or pestilence; and while we refuse no kind of food or drink which God hath sent, we abstain from all diluted poison, manufactured to ruin mankind, and to rob our country of its greatness. We have seen our delusion, and tve noio drink nei- ther ale, wine, gin, rum nor brandy, nor any kind of intoxica- ting liquor. There is no safety for you nor us but in giving it up entirely. Come forward, then, ye tipplers, drunkards and backsliders! attend our meetings, and be resolved to cast off the fetters of intemperance; and once and for ever determine to be free. JOHN BILLINGTON, weaver. JOHN BRADE, joiner. RICHARD BRAY, fishmonger. ROBERT CATON, spinner. WILLIAM CATON, spinner. WILLIAM GREGORY, tailor. GEORGE GREGSON, plasterer. JOHN GREGSON, mechanic. WILLIAM HOWARTH, sizer. ROBERT JOLLY, sawyer. 82 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. [486 WILLIAM MOSS, mechanic. MARK MYERS, shoemaker. H. NEWTON, mole-catcher. T. OSBALDESTON, moulder. ROBERT PARKER, moulder. WILLIAM PARKINSON, clog?er. JOSEPH RICHARDSON, shoemaker. RICHARD RHODES, weaver. JAMES RYAN, spinner. RICHARD SHACKELTON, spinner. SAMUEL SMALLEY, spinner. JOSEPH SMIRK, moulder. JAMES SMITH, spinner. GEORGE STEAD, broker. THOMAS SWINDLEHURST, roller ma- RANDAL SWINDLEHURST, mechanic. JOHN THORNHILL, cabinet-maker. RICHARD TURNER, plasterer. JOSEPH YATES, shopkeeper. WILLIAM YATES, weaver. Preston, Dec. 27, 1834." A gentleman from Liverpool writes, "thousands are turning their attention to the subject, that never troubled themselves be- fore about it. Light and knowledge are spreading far and wide. Tracts, Addresses, Recorders, Reports, both American and Eng- lish, are circulating through the country. Temperance Societies are springing up in every town and village. Men of talent, learn- ing and independence, are devoting their time, their talents, and their money, to the cause. Mr. Buckingham, M. P. is trav- elling through the country, lecturing to multitudes, arousing the people to a sense of their danger from the inroads of the enemy, (the Bloated Monster.) Conscientious men, who are dealing in spirituous liquors, are beginning to feel uneasy, wishing they were not in the business, don't know what to do. The business is be- coming more and more disreputable. Diana is tottering on her pedestal, and I trust ere long she will fall, and great will be the fall thereof. England shall be delivered ; God is for it, who shall fight against it, and prevail? Let infidels scoff", let the profane sneer, and swear, and rave, and let his companion, the drunkard, put his shoulder to the pedestal of the idol, God will mock at their puny efforts; down she must come, and beneath the ruins, cover with shame and confusion the persevering upholders of the Idol, a system which is a source of crime, of misery, poverty and death, temporal and eternal. Down must come the greatest machine the enemy of souls has at work, in this our world, for transforming men to devils, and hurling them to perdition, into outer darkness, into eternal night, where the smoke of their tor- ment ascends for ever and for ever, and where there is fruitless weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth." In Sweden also the cause continues to prosper; and it has begun to excite attention and to lead to action, in Denmark and Finland. From the latter country a gentleman writes, " The effects of drinking brandy are horrible; and not only with the vulgar, but also with the people of rank ; and not with hearers only, but even with priests. In such, Satan reigns supreme; and from this result innumerable spiritual, as well as temporal evils. As for the temporal, poverty is the inseparable companion of the drunkard. He makes himself, his wife, and his children beggars and vaga- bonds As to spiritual things, such a man is the slave of Satan. 487] EIGHTH REPORT. — 1835. 33 Every thing which has been attributed to our nature in the Holy Scriptures, may justly be attributed to him. (See Gal. v. 19 — 21.) The evil consequences of this sin are innumerable. May God, who knows our miserable state, in some way grant us aid." Some publications have been sent to him pointing out the easy and certain cure of all these evils, by simply ceasing to perpetu- ate their cause. And it is to be hoped that the time is not distant, when the application so easy and efficacious, shall be as life from the dead, to all the northern nations of Europe. From Russia a gentleman writes, that these publications have already been translated into three languages, the Russ, the Estho- nian, and the Finnish; and that they are circulated, through that vast Empire; and even to the borders of Persia and China. He adds, " How wonderful that the first tracts, on that dreadful vice of intemperance, should have been published in this country, in three languages, and circulated, chiefly through the instrumentality of American Christians. And how delightful to observe the sameness of effect every where produced, where this all-impor- tant subject is brought to the attention of the reflecting part of the community. By the communications which I herewith send you, you will see how the monster Intemperance is viewed and dreaded universally, as the destroyer of the hopes of man. And how remarkable it is, that the exertions of the American Temperance Society, should have been the means, under God, of arousing Christians, in every part of the world, to a sense of their duty on this deeply interesting subject. You will see how rapid has been the sale of our edition of "The Advantages of Drunkenness;" and we are now preparing a larger tract, in which the subject will be brought home to every family." And he says, " I never knew a Russian peasant, or poor man, refuse a tract. I never knew one to ridicule or speak contemp- tuously of religion. Every where in the country, tracts are re- ceived and read with avidity, and from all quarters we hear that much good is done by them." And the gentleman above referred to from Finland, writes, con- cerning the tracts on drunkenness, which had been distributed in that country, " Wives read them to their husbands, and chil- dren read them to their parents; and many have derived benefit from them. The Finnish tracts, I trust, will do great good here." Nor are the effects confined to Europe. From Chunar in In- dia, the Conducter of Ordnance in that place, writes, "Soon as I received the tracts on Temperance, I was not easy till we had formed a society here; and I set about it immediately. I went to the chaplain of the station, and presented him with some tracts. He read them, and the effect was, that in a short time 5 34 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. [488 afterwards, he ordered his servants to take all his spirituous li- quors, and pour them into the flood. This he saw done, and then joined the society. And we are now in a flourishing state, as a Temperance Society. I have sent tracts to all parts of Bengal, where I have friends residing, and I do hope that many Societies will be formed." From Burmah, a gentleman writes, " Every man, woman, and child should wage unceasing war with all intoxicating drink. It is surprising that we were so long in league with this disgusting and hateful poison. How many it has reduced to nakedness and hun- ger; how many it has entombed in an early grave; and how many it has brought to the lowest hell. When I think of the lying, stealing, fighting, robbing, murdering, and all the endless crimes that follow in its train, I am astonished that we were so long blind. The Pagan makes an idol and worships it. He calls his wife and she worships it, and then his children, and they worship it. All pronounce it good. Your father did so, and you must. Your father was stupid and mad, and you must be so too. So with liquor. The drinking father reels to the grave, and the drinking son fol- lows. Fools tread on the heels of fools, drunkenness shakes hands with drunkenness, and death and hell open wide their arms, greedy for their prey. He who drinks little is a madman, and he who drinks much, a demoniac. Let every person who loves sobriety, honesty, or virtue, peace at home, or peace abroad, a clear conscience in life, or consolation in death, come out openly on the side of total abstinence. This is the only wise or safe course. I look upon him who encourages intemperance, as the vilest of the vile. He stabs innocent children, and sends the grief-stricken wife and mother to the grave. He turns orphans naked and hungry into the street, while he digs the grave of their father. The wolf is his sister, and the tiger his father. He fattens upon the carcasses of his fellows. Oh, when shall the spell be broken, and the delusion wholly cease!" From Batoe, off the West coast of Sumatra, a gentleman writes. " My heart is sick unto death, with seeing the glass filled and emptied before breakfast, with breakfast, at eleven o'clock, before dinner, with dinner, and continually after, till bedtime. Wher- ever I have been in India, wine is placed on the table in the morning; when the table is cleared away, the decanter stand of strong drink makes its appearance. With the dinner, wine and strong drink are abundant ; and after dinner, again the strong stuff". It was formerly so pernicious at Padang, that it obtained the Malay name of Pakoe, (a nail) because the people said it drove one more nail into their coffins. It was pakoe with a yengance." 489] EIGHTH REPORT. — 1835. 35 But he adds, " The influence of the American Temperance Society has been felt here. It has made the old monster sin, tremble on his throne, even in this distant foreign land. There is a state of interest waked up that ought to be cherished ; and a spark kindled that ought to be fanned to a flame. I dined, and spent some time with his Excellency the Governor General; and almost all the time I could spare from my own business, was em- ployed by him in making inquiries concerning the Temperance movements in the United States: thus placing this great move- ment in the Western hemisphere, before all other objects. In every place where I have not introduced the subject, the people have done it. Our Temperance Ships, and Temperance Cap- tains and Supercargoes, have done wonders. They would be astonished themselves to see how a little seed of example, sown by the way side, has taken root, and promises to bear fruit with the luxuriousness of an equinoctial plant. The spirit which laid the foundation of the majestic superstruc- ture which is so fast rising in the new world, to the admiration of the old, was not merely a spirit of patriotism, but a sister in the same family of the other great benevolent institutions, which are so many suns in your Western hemisphere. It was based on philanthropy. The cause in which it is enlisted, is the renovation of morals, and the elevation of the human mind, not only in Amer- ica, but wherever it is enslaved. It had its origin in the United States, but it must not have its end, till it has circumnavigated and blessed the entire ivorld. And now what can the American Tem- perance Society do for India? It must flood the country with printed documents. They are cheap as dirt in America, compar- ed with their price in this part of the world ; and there, they come from the warmth of feeling hearts and speaking pens. Ships are coming here continually, and they can bring any quantity. If no one else offers as an agent, send them to me ; and I will send them to every civil, military, and missionary station, and to every commercial place in which are men, who can read the English lan- guage. They are needed for the high and the low, the rich and the poor, the learned and the ignorant; but most of all for the for- mer classes. We want the whole system and its blessed effects, spread out before the people. They are anxious to know what it is, and how it is. I would advise that a splendidly bound set of all the Society's publications, be sent to his Excellency the Gov- ernor of Batavia. If the Society have not funds to supply the wants of a bleeding, suffering world, will not some individuals do it? If not gratuitously, let them be sent for sale. But I am con- fident that when the wants are known, I shall have a supply." From Alexandria in Egypt, one of our countrymen writes, "A few days ago, I gave a copy of the Reports of the American 36 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. [490 Temperance Society to our consul, and finding last night that they had interested him and his family, I furnished them this morning with another set, and with some tracts for this city and Cairo. His lady had long been an advocate for Temperance, and was now inspirited with new zeal. She determined that all her countrymen who would, should have an opportunity to read the Reports at Alexandria; and not only so, but that in Cairo also, they should be furnished with them. At the latter place, are a large number of English mechanics, in the Pasha's manufactories, under a respectable director of their own nation. Many of them fall into lamentable habits of intemperance, and thus sacrifice their health and their life. She subsequently went to Cairo, on a visit to her son, the American agent there, and procured the ready approbation of this director, to the circulation of the Temperance publications among his men. So deeply did the principles of Temperance, ultimately take root in her own family, that her hus- band poured out all his stores of ardent spirit, and thus cleared his house of the poison. It was not a little gratifying to us to see our worthy national agent, enter so promptly into what, I trust may be called soon, if not now, our national spirit. These with similar facts that might be named, seemed to us like the first glimmering of early dawn upon the long spiritual night of Egypt." Similar are the testimonies of intelligent, reflecting men, from various parts of the world. They all unite in two things; First, that wherever intoxicating liquor is used as a drink, it is one of the greatest and deadliest foes to the social, civil, and religious interests of men: Second, that wherever the truth with regard to the nature and effects of such liquor, as illustrated by facts, has been made known, and the benefits of abstaining from it been enforced, on the part of the friends of Temperance, by a united and consistent example, the effect has been surprisingly extensive and beneficial. Such has been the change of mental and moral habits, where ab- stinence from the use of this liquor has prevailed, that not only has drunkenness ceased, but health, virtue, and happiness, have been greatly promoted ; and all means for the promotion of the good of man have been crowned with greatly augmented success. It has been like the purifying of the pestilential atmosphere of a great country, on the health of the population. The old plan of operating on this subject, while men continued to make, to sell, and to use the cause of intoxication, and labored only to remove its effects, was, as unphilosophical, and as absurd, as it would be, to manufacture, sell, and use poisonous miasma, and bend all our efforts, not to prevent the Cholera, but only if possible to cure it, after it had, by the wickedness of men, occurred; or for the 491] EIGHTH REPORT. 1835. 37 Government to license the dissemination of the cause, and then to employ physicians, to try to remove the effects. But the present plan, which has burst like a new sun upon the world, is, not to generate the cause. Instead of making it the great object, to remove the evil after it has been committed, or, while continuing the cause, to prevent only its effects, the plan is, not to commit the evil ; but to let mischief alone, before it is meddled with. Then its effects will have no existence. Let this become universal, and drunkenness, and all its abominations will, of course, for ever cease. The cessation of the cause, will necessarily be followed by the cessation of its effects; and their cessation will be the cessation, and to an untold extent, of innu- merable other evils, and the production of good, pure, unmixed, immeasurable good, under the influences of the means of grace and of the Holy Spirit, to an extent which can hardly be con- ceived ; and to multitudes, which no man can number. The grand means, under Providence, of accomplishing this infinitely glorious result, is, it is believed, the universal dissemina- tion in all countries, and among all classes of people, of a know- ledge of the facts, with regard to the nature and effects of intoxi- cating drink. These facts the American Temperance Society, and other Temperance societies and friends of Temperance have for seven years been collecting ; and parts of them, have from year to year been published for the information of the community. The facts and reasonings hitherto published, have related princi- pally to the use of Alcohol in the form of distilled spirit, as that has been one of the chief causes of drunkenness in the United States. But the same principles and results will apply, other things being equal, to the use of intoxicating liquor, of every kind, in proportion to the quantity of Alcohol which it contains, and its power to produce intoxication. The benefits, in all countries, from the spread of information, so far as it has been extended, has surpassed the most sanguine ex- pectations ; and has inspired strong confidence, that could the knowledge of the facts be universally communicated, and attend- ed, as we have reason to expect that it would be, with the illumi- nating and purifying agency of the Holy Ghost, millions of the present generation may be saved from the drunkard's grave ; and the drunkenness of all future generations, be prevented. The American Temperance Society have therefore resolved to embody these facts in a volume under the title of " Permanent Temperance Documents;" and in reliance on divine aid, and the assistance of the friends of humanity, to furnish a copy of it, as far as practicable, for each preacher of the Gospel, physician, lawyer, legislator, and secretary of a Temperance Society ; and also for each young man in all public seminaries of learning, 4 38 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. [492 and for each school teacher throughout the United States. The object is, to furnish the principles and facts for all those classes of persons who may be expected to communicate, most extensively, the knowledge of them to the whole community ; and especially to the young. It is also proposed to make extracts from the above volume, of the most interesting parts, and put them into a smaller form, to be called, "The Temperance Manual, designed particularly for all the young men of the United States. Depositories will be opened in the principal places throughout the country, from which the population may be most conveniently supplied. The friends of Temperance in many of the towns, counties, and States, it is hoped, will either print it, or supply themselves, at cost; and the avails will be appropriated to the gratuitous and more extensive dissemination of the work. It is also proposed that each family of emigrants which has, or may come into the country, should be supplied with a copy; and that a number of copies should be furnished for each missionary of all denominations, and in all parts of the world. It is also proposed to send a copy, to a number of distinguish- ed, and philanthropic individuals, in all countries ; accompanied with a letter, briefly stating what has already been done on this subject, and suggesting some of the prominent benefits, temporal and eternal, which, should men cease to drink intoxicating liquor, would result to the human race, and inviting a prompt and univer- sal cooperation. Thus by the press, and by the living voice, the truth on this subject, with suitable activity and perseverance, may become uni- versally known; and so far as known, it will, with the divine blessing, commend itself to every man's conscience in the sight of God. And although it may not at once, be so extensively circulated, and so powerful in its influence, as to save from per- dition every drunkard, or to save from becoming a drunkard, eve- ry sober man, yet the number of this class, as "light and love" are extended and produce their appropriate effects, will, as we may hope, continue to lessen and to lessen, till the last drunkard shall draw his last breath, and not a name, nor a footstep, nor a trace, nor a shadow of drunkenness, shall again be iound on the globe. Then shall great voices be heard in heaven saying, Alleluia; for the Lord God Omnipotent reigneth. Peace shall flow as a river, and righteousness as the waves of the sea. Joy and gladness shall swell every heart, and to the Author and Finisher of all good shall arise, as a cloud of incense, from the whole earth, thanksgiving and the voice of melody. The annexed Schedule will show the amount of ARDENT SPIRIT Imported Into the United St?tes in each vear during the perir>d mentioned. Year 1790 1791 1792 1793 1794 179. 1796 J 797 1798 1799 1300 1S01 1802 1803 1804 Gallons. -4,143,385 -3,603,361 -4,567,160 28,391 5,515,631 5,018,562 -5,599,760 -6,819,728 -4,648,743 -7,302,297 -4,785,937 -8,413,314 -7,839,482 -8,525,217 -9,855,792 Gallons. 3,928,996 3,658,150 5,088,989 3,946,224 -5,577,774 5,091,170 3,718,152 3,537,428 5,102,599 -3,423,884 1,692,344 2,49l,o23 2,810,140 Total in 43 years, 211,434,342 In each gallon there are 231 cubic inches. In 214,434,342 gallons there are 49,534,233,002 cubic inches ; equal to 23,665,702 cubic feet. Divide this by 80, the number of square feet in a foot c( a Canal 20 feet wide and 4 feet deep, and we have 358,321 feet of Canal. Divide this by 5280, the number of feet in a mile of Canal, and we have about 68 miles ; the length of a Canal 20 feC4 wide'and 4 feet deep, which the above amount would (ill. Suppose that there were 20 times as much domestic spirit used as there was of spirit imported into the United States, the whole would 1111 a Canal 20 feet wide, 4 feet deep and about 1360 miles long. The amount of WINE, imported and exported from 1790 to 1332. Years. 1790 1791 1792 1793 1794 1795 1796 1797 1798 1799 1300 1301 1802 1803 1804 1805 1806 1807 1803 •S09 1810 1811 Gross Import'ns. Galls. Exported. 2,718,526 3,070,137 2,186,697 4,321,205 6,261,690 4,221,619 5'568,319 3,292,883 1,169,720 1,366,267 1,897,609 1,437,753 1,292,799 326,689 1,585 382 3,519,780 3,570,209 3,180,475 1,1S7,081 621,652 233,943 344.521 Leaving for consump. Year 1,088,455 916,256 1812 1,269,723 1813 1,507,483 1814 2,494,352 1315 - 3,357,960 1816 2,219,905 1817 2,041,413 1818 1,364,963 1819 - 1,807,501 1320 1,678,915 1321 1,230,763 1822 1,777,388 1823 1,860,003 1824 2,735,923 1325 2,742,010 1826 661,410 1827 2,387,844 1828 2,105,302 1829 548,068 1830 1,127,334 1831 1,553,088 1832 Gross ImporCns. Galls. 1,982,324 802,6S9 423,259 1,280,860 2,734,063 1,445,754 1,663,482 1 .255,266 1,754,322 3,215,142 2,068,216 2,675,244 2,101,359 3,160,528 3,436,060 3,375,503 2,914,611 3,070,545 3,231.693 3,630,052 5,845,556 Exported- 303,694 101.413 1 8,466 191,273 329.732 336,656 684.660 790,628 797,396 612,253 590,353 506,892 356,457 333,004 321,113 423,924 Leaving for consump 1 ,658,630 701,246 404,793 1,033,587 2,385,419 2,731, 6M) 1,990,584 1,310,731 2,363,132 2,323,807 2,785,150 2,407,710 2,714,083 2,893.689 3,358,931 5,421,631 BRANDE'S Table, showing the proportion of Alcohol in distilled and fermented Liquors. Proportion of Spirit per cent, by measure- 1. Brandy 53.39 2. Rum 53.68 3. Gin 51.60 4. Scotch Whis- key 54.32 5. Irishditto. 53.90 6. Lissa 26.47 Ditto.-—- 24.35 Average-— —25.41 7. Raisin wine — 26.40 Ditto 25.77 Ditto. 23.20 Average 25. 1 2 Marsala Ditto Average Port Ditto. (Ser«iab21. 40 Ditto. 19.24 Average ——-22.27 Currant w;u« 20.55 18.25 19.17 19.79 19.75 19.70 Ditto. Average — 13. Ter.eriffe— 14. Colares 15. Lachryma Christi — 16. Coustantia, white — 17. Ditto, red 18. Lisbon — 19. Malaga 20. Bucellas 21. Led Madeira Ditto. Average— 22. CapeM-jschat 3. Cape Madeira 22.94 Ditto — Ditto Average — 21. Grape wine— 25. Calcavella — Ditto Average — 26. Vidonia 27. Alba Flora— 23. Malaga 29. White Hermi- tage -17.43 -20.50 -18.11 -20.51 -18.11 -19.20 -13.10 -18.65 -19.2.5 -17.26 -17.26 30. Rousillcn — Ditto. A venae- ~ Cl&rtt- -1 9.00 -17.26 -la.is -17.11 Ditto Ditto — Ditto Average— 32. Zante 33. Malmsey Ma- deira 34. Lunel— — 35. Sheraaz— 36. Syracuse — 37. Sauterne — 33. Hurgundv- Ditto — Ditto Ditto Average — 39. Hock Ditto. — — Ditto, (old in cask)-— Average — 40. Nice Barsac Tent Champaign (still) Ditto (spark ling; 12. 30 Ditto fred) 12.56 Ditto (ditto)— n.30 Average 12.61 44. Red Ilermi- -12.321 -16.32 -14.08 -12.91 -15.10 -17.05 -16.40 -15.52 -15.52 -15.23 -14.22 -16.60 -15.22 -14.53 -11.95 -14.57 -14.37 -13.00 -12.0 -14.63 -13.30 :.30 45. Vin de Grave-13-94 Ditto 12.80 Average —13.37 46. Frontiguac (Rivesalte)— 12.79 47. Cote Rotie 12.32 48. Gooseberry wine 11.84 49. Orange wine — average of six samples made by a London ma- nufacturer—11.26 50. Tokay 9.88 51. Elder wine 8.79 52. Cider, highest average 9 87 Ditto, lowest— 5.21 53. Perry, average of 4 samples 7.26 54. Mead 7.32 55. Ale (Burton)— 8.88 Do. (Edinburg) 6.20 Do. (Dorches- 5.56 ter. Eng.) — o.5H Average 56. Brown Stout- 57. London porter (average) 58. Do small Beer (average) — 6.37 6.30 4.20 1.2a APPENDIX. Extracts from a Prize Essay, by Reuben D. Mussey, M. D. Professor of Anatomy and Surgery, Dartmouth College, JV. H.; President of the Neic Hampshire Med- ical Society ; and Fellow of the American Academy of Sciences, fyc. fyc. For the above mentioned Essay, was awarded a Premium of three hundred dollars. Among the distinguished gentlemen, of a Committee by whom the award was made, were John C. Warren, M. D. Professor of Anatomy and Sur gery, Harvard University, Boston ; Thomas Sewall, M. D. Professor of Anato my and Physiology, Columbian College, Washington, D. C. ; Parker Cleave land, M. D. Professor of Chemistry and Materia Medica, Bowdoin College, Maine; and Benjamin Silliman, M. D. Professor of Chemistry, Yale College, New Haven, Conn. The professional and official character of the above named gentlemen, will give great weight to their opinion. The following extracts aie published for the purpose of directing the attention of Medical men, and espe- cially students of Medicine, to this momentous subject ; and with the hope that all improper use of a substance, which has been so exceedingly destructive to the human family, may be universally done away. " Is there any condition of the system in health or disease, in which the use of ardent spirit is indispensable, and for which there is not an adequate substitute? Of the effects of alcohol as a beverage in health, there ought to be but one opinion. The whole history of spirit drinking, whether simple, or combined with the different ingredients existing in Tennented or brewed liquors, affords abundant proof of its being uncongenial with the most natural and healthy ac- tion of the bodily organs. How wide from the truth is the notion that spirit aids the stomach in the process of digestion. Dr. Beddoes observed, that 'animals to whom he had given spirits along with their food, had digested nearly one half less than other like animals to whom none hud been given.' Under the habitual use of spirit, the daily dose may give a temporary alleviation to the irritated nerves of the stomach already en- feebled, but instead of conferring tone or vigor to that organ, it only serves to perpetuate its disease or debility. In the case of St. Martin, a young man into whose stomach through the side, a large opening was left after the healing of a seveie wound, Dr. Beaumont fre- quently observed diseased appearances; — as, red or purple spots upon the lining membrane of the stomach, from some of which exuded small drops of grumous blood ; — aphthous or cankery patches upon the same membrane ; ' the gastric fluids mixed with a large proportion of ropy mucus, and muco-purulent matter slightly tinged with blood, resembling the discharge from the bowels in some ca- ses of dysentery.' It is worthy of remark that these beginnings of disease were not always accompanied with external signs or symptoms of disorder. When of considerable standing, however, these appearances were occasionally observed to be attended with ' an uneasy sensation and tenderness at the pit of the stom- ach, and some dizziness and dimness and yellowness of vision on stooping down and rising again,' also, with a brown coat upon the tongue, and a slight sallow- ness of the countenance. ' Improper indulgence in eating and drinking,' says Dr. Beaumont, ' has been the most common precursor of these diseased conditions of the coats of the stom- ach. The free use of ardent spirits, wine, beer, or any intoxicating liquor, when continued for some days, has invariably produced these morbid changes.' In evidence of the directly poisonous influence of alcoholic drinks upon the constitution, is the fact, that men long accustomed to their daily use may be ta- ken ofl' suddenly and entirely from them, not only without impairing the health, 495] EIGHTH REPORT. 1835. APPENDIX. 41 but with a certainty of improving it. In the summer of 1829, Mr. Powers, agent and keeper of the Penitentiary at Auburn, N. Y. declared, that during several years' residence in that institution, he had never known an individual whose health had not been benefited by the total abstraction of spirit and every other stimulant drink and narcotic from his diet. This testimony is very important, inasmuch as a large proportion of the whole number of convicts when admitted to that establishment are drinkers of alcoholic liquors, from tippling to beastly drunkenness. ' These drinkers,' said Mr. P. 'are generally very uneasy and ner- vous, and sometimes greatly distressed for ten or fifteen days after being put upon water as their exclusive beverage ; but after that period they have a good appetite, increase in flesh, and become healthy." A considerable number are an- ually received and discharged ; the average number remaining in the peniten- tiary, was six hundred. I have never seen so large a congregation of men so healthy looking as these convicts, when they came into the chapel on Sabbath morning to hear a sermon from their chaplain. Some of these men were sixty years old when admitted, and were confirmed drunkards. The evidence fur- nished by all our state prisons, where similar discipline is practised, is of the same character. A wealthy farmer in Sullivan county, New Hampshire, had been in the habit of drinking spirit for a number of years, and during the haying season he often used it freely. With more than ordinary activity of mind and a vigorous bodily constitution, he attained the age of seventy five years; much broken down and decayed however, under occasional attacks of gout, which he called rheuma- tism. At this period he broke off suddenly and wholly from the use of spirit ; and within two years, that is, at the age of seventy-seven, he was so much re- cruited as to appear several years younger, and he assured me that in the last two haying seasons he had accomplished more personal labor than in any other two haying seasons for the last ten or twelve years. He expressed himself in the most decisive and energetic manner when remarking upon the effects, in his own case, of total abstinence from spirituous drinks ; he had not only not been injured, but had been an unspeakable gainer by the change. This case, and others like it, show the futility of the opinion that it is unsafe for persons of any age suddenly to break off the habit of spirit drinking, and that those advanced in life should either not attempt to discontinue it, or should do it in the most cautious and gradual manner. The truth is, that the effects, whether immedi- ate or remote, of alcohol, whenever they are so distinct as to be estimated, are always those of an unnatural, unhealthy, or poisonous a^ent ; and soon after the daily poison is withdrawn, the vital powers, relieved from their oppression, rally, the organs act with more freedom and regularity, and the whole machin- ery of life exhibits something like a renovation. Spirit has been erroneously supposed to afford a protective influence against the effects of severe cold. A sea captain of Boston, Massachusetts, informed me that in a memorable cold Friday in the year 18l(i, he was on a homeward pas- sage off our coast not far from the latitude of Boston. Much ice made upon the ship, and every person on board was more or less frozen, excepting two individ- uals, and they were the only two who drank no spirit. ' In 1619, the crew of a Danish ship of sixty men, well supplied with provis- ions and ardent spirit, attempted to pass the winter in Hudson's bay ; but fifty- eight of them died before spring. An English crew of twenty-ttco men, however, destitute of ardent spirit and obliged to be almost constantly exposed to the cold, wintered in the same bay, and only two of them died. Eight Englishmen did the same in like circumstances, and all returned to England. And four Russians, left without spirit or provisions in Spitzbergen, lived there six years and after wards returned home.' Facts of this nature might be multiplied to any extent. So far, also, from guarding the animal fabric against the depressing and irri- tating effects of heat, spirit tends to produce inflammatory diseases. A distin- guished medical officer, Marshall, who was subjected to great exertion and ex- posure in a tropical climate, observes, ' I have always found that the strongest liquors were the most enervating; and this in whatever quantity they were con- sumed : for the daily use of spirits is an evil which retains its pernicious char- acter through all its gradations ; indulged in at all, it can produce nothing bet ter than a diluted or mitigated kind of mischief.' 4* 42 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. [496 Those ships' crews who now visit hot and sickly climates without spirit, have an average of sickness and mortality strikingly less than those who continue the use of it as formerly. ' The Brig Globe, Captain Moore,' says the anniversary Report of the Pennsylvania Temperance Society for 1831, ' has lately returned from a voyage to the Pacific Ocean. She had on board a crew often persons, and was absent nearly eighteen months. She was, during the voyage, in al- most all the climates of the world; had not one person sick on board, and brought the crew all back orderly and obedient. All these advantages Captain Moore attributes, in a great measure, to the absence of spirituous liquors. There was not one drop used in all that time ; indeed there was none on board the ves- sel.' To a place among preventives of disease, spirituous drinks can present but the most feeble claims. If, under occasional drinking during the period of alcoholic excitement, a temporary resistance may be given to those morbid influences which bring acute disease, be it occasional or epidemic, that excitement, by the immutable laws of vital action, is necessarily followed by a state of relaxation, depression, or collapse, in which the power of resistance is weakened, and this too in proportion to the previous excitement. In order therefore to obtain from alcoholic stimulus any thing like a protective influence against the exciting causes of disease, the exposure to these causes must be periodical, precisely cor- responding with the stage of artificial excitation. If. however; such accuracy of adjustment between the powers of vital resistance artificially excited, and the unhealthy agencies which tend to produce disease be wholly impracticable, then the danger must be increased by resorting under any circumstances to spirit as a preservative ; and if not, other articles would do as well. The best protection against disease is derived from a natural, healthy, unfluc- tuating state of vital action, sustained by plain articles of nutriment taken at reg- ular intervals, uninfluenced by any innutritions stimulus which operates upon the whole nervous power. The habitual drinking of ardent spirit creates a mul- titude of chronic or subacute organic irritations and derangements, upon whieh acute disease is most easily, nay, often necessarily ingrafted ; hence tipplers and drunkards, exposed to the exciting causes of inflammatory, epidemic, and con- tagious diseases, are liable to an attack, and when attacked having the vital powers unnecessarily wasted, they die in larger numbers. These results are witnessed in epidemic pleurisies, lung fevers, the severe forms of influenza, pestilential fevers, and cholera. Most appalling evidence is afforded by the history of this last disease, of the pernicious influence of intoxicating liquors in preparing the human constitution for its attack. In India, Ramohun Fingee, a native physician, declares that ' people who do not take spirits or opium do not catch the disorder, even when they are with those who have it.' In the army under the command of the Mar- quis of Hastings in India, consisting of eighteen thousand men, more than half of the men died in the first twelve days; the free use of intoxicating liquors in a hot climate will assist in explaining this extraordinary mortality. In China, according to Dr. Keiche, ' the disease selected its victims from among such of the people as live in filth and intemperance.' Mr. Huber, who saw 21 fit) perish in twenty-five days in one town in Russia, says, ' It is a most remarkable circumstance, that persons given to drinking have been swept away like flies. In Tiflis, containing 20,000 inhabitants, every drunk- ard has fallen .' all arc dead — not one remains.' A physician of Warsaw says, 'that the disease spared all those who led regu- lar lives, and resided in healthy situations ; whereas they whose constitutions had been broken down by excess and dissipation, were invariably attacked. Out of one hundred individuals destroyed by cholera, it was proved that ninety had been addicted to the free use of ardent spirits. In Paris, of the 30,000 persons destroyed by cholera, it is said that a great pro- portion were intemperate or profligate. It has been computed that ' five-sixths of all who have fallen by this disease jn England, were taken from the ranks of the intemperate and dissolute.' Dr. Rhinelander, who visited Montreal during the prevalence of cholera there in the summer of 1832, says, ' that the victims of the disease are the intemperate — it invariably cuts them off' In that city, after th?re had been twelve hundred 497] EIGHTH REPORT. — 1835.— APPENDIX. 43 cases of the malady, a Montreal journal states, that ' not a drunkard who has been attacked has recovered ; and almost all the victims have been at least mod- erate drinkers.' Dr. Sewall of Washington city, while on a visit to the cholera hospitals in the city of New York, the same season, writes to a friend, that ' of 204 cases of cholera in the Park Hospital, there were only six temperate persons, and that those had recovered ; while 122 of the others, when he, wrote, had died ;' and that the facts were ' similar in all the other hospitals.' In Albany, the same season, cholera prevailed for several weeks, attended with a severe mortality; and it is a remarkable fact, that during its whole period, it is not known that more than two individuals, out of the live thousand mem- bers of Temperance Societies in that city, became its victims, while of the twenty-one thousand of the rest of the population, the number of deaths of persons over sixteen years of age, was three hundred and thirty-four. Water is the natural and proper drink of man. Indeed it is the grand beve rage of organized nature. It enters largely into the composition of the blood, and juices of animals and plants ; forms an important ingredient in their organiz- ed structures, and bears a fixed and unalterable relation to their whole vital econ- omy. It was the only beverage of the human family in their primeval state. In that garden, where grew ' every tree pleasant to the sight and good for food,' producing all the richness and variety of ' fruit and flower' which an om- nipotent and all-bountiful Creator could adapt to the relish of his senses, and the exigencies of his entire organization, it cannot for a moment be doubted that man was in a condition the best suited to secure to him the uninterrupted, as well as the highest and best exercise and enjoyment, of his physical, mental, and moral powers. His drink was water. A river flowed from Paradise. From the moment that river began to ' water the garden,' till the present, no human invention has equalled this simple beverage; and all the attempts to improve it by the admixture of other substances, whether alcoholic, narcotic, or aromatic, have not only failed, but have served to deteriorate or poison it, and render it less healthful and safe. Water is as well adapted to man's natural appetite, as to the physical wants of his organs. A natural thirst, and the pleasure derived from its gratification, were given us to secure to the vital machinery the supply of liquid necessary to its healthy movements. When this natural thirst occurs, no drink tastes so good, and in truth none is so good as water; none possesses adaptations so exact to the vital necessities of the organs. So long as a fresh supply of liquid is not needed, so long there is not the least relish for water; it offers no temptation, while its addition to the circulating fluids would be useless, or hurtful. This topic has been most ably discussed by Dr. Oliver, as follows : — 'The waste of the fluid parts of our bodies requires the use of drink to repair it, and we derive a sensible gratification from quenching our thirst. What use do we make of this fact ? Why, to try if we cannot find something that we shall take pleasure in drinking, whether we are thirsty or not ; and in this search mankind have been remarkably successful. To such a degree indeed have we succeeded in varying and increasing a pleasure which was designed by nature merely as an incentive to quench our thirst, that to quench thirst is become one of the last things that people drink for. It is seldom indeed that people in health have an}' natural thirst, except perhaps after exercise, or labor in a hot day. Under all other circumstances, we anticipate the sensation by drinking before it comes on, so as but seldom to enjoy the natural and healthful gratification of drinking because we are thirsty. Who has not observed the extreme satisfaction which children derive from quenching their thirst with pure water, and who that has perverted his appetite for drink, by stimulating his palate with bitter beer, sour cider, rum and water, and other brewages of human invention, but would be a gainer even on the score of mere animal gratification, without any reference to health, if he could bring back his vitiated taste to the simple relish of nature. Children drink because they are dry. Grown people drink, whether dry or not; because they have discovered a \yay of making drinking pleasant. Children drink water because this is a beverage of Nature's own brewing, which she has made for the purpose of quenching a natural thirst. Grown people drink any 44 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. [499 thing but water, because this fluid is intended to quench only a natural thirst, and natural thirst is a thing which they seldom feel. 'One of the evils, though not the only or the greatest one, of perverting the natural appetite of thirst, is, that it leaves us without a guide to direct us when we need drink, and when we do not. There is no danger, it is true, that this want will mislead us into drinking tow little ; the danger is, that we shall be betrayed into drinking too much, i. c. when nature does not require it ; and such no doubt is frequently the case. If a man is fond of some particular drink (and most people I believe have their favorite liquor,) he will be tempted to take it when he does not really need it. This consideration points out the wisdom of nature in providing for us a beverage which has nothing to tempt us to drink, except when we are really thirsty. At all other times, water is either perfectly indifferent, or it is disagreeable to us ; but when we labor under thirst, i.e. when nature requires drink, nothing is so delicious to a pure, unadulterated taste. While we adhere to this simple beverage we shall be sure to have an unerring prompter to remind us when we really require drink ; and we shall be in no danger of being tempted to drink when nature requires it not. But the moment we depart from pure water, we lose this inestimable guide, and are left, not to the real instincts of nature, but to an artificial taste in deciding on actions intimately connected with health and long life. What is more common than for a man to take a glass of beer, or cider, or wine, or rum and water, not be- cause he is thirsty, and really needs drink, but because opportunity makes it convenient, and he thinks it will taste well. And this is true, not only of fer- mented or distilled liquors, which are directly injurious in other modes, but in a less degree, of any addition made to pure water to make it more palatable. Let me not be misunderstood. I am far from insinuating that lemonade, and milk and water, are hurtful drinks. Far from it. But I say, that in using even these mild and healthful beverages we lose one important advantage we should derive from the use of pure water alone. If they are more palatable to us than water (and otherwise we should have no motive to use them.) we shall be tempted to take them oftener, and in greater quantities than is required by nature, and may thus unconsciously do ourselves an injury. It is rare for a person to drink a glass of water when he is not thirsty, merely for the pleasure of drinking ; and as thirst is the natural guide, if he drinks when not thirsty, he takes more fluid than nature points out as proper ; and so far violates one of her obvious laws. But it may be asked if any injury can result from drinking more than nature absolutely requires. Not perhaps in particular instances, but the habit of drink- ing more may undoubtedly be injurious. It is a sufficient answer to all these questions to say that our Creator knows best. Under the guidance of the in- stincts he has implanted in us with regard to the use of drink, we are ordinarily safe. But as soon as we leave these, and place ourselves under the direction of our own educated appetites, we are constantly liable to be led into danger. It is certainly hurtful to drink habitually more than was intended by nature, be- cause it imposes upon the constitution the task of removing the excess ; or else it is retained in the system, and there ma}' lead to dropsy, or some other of the consequences of plethora, or redundance of fluids in the system.' Dr. Cullen, formerly a distinguished professor of Medicine at Edinburgh, after speaking of the general use of water, both by man and the brute creation, remarks, — ' Simple water is, without any addition, the proper drink of man- kind.' Dr. Gregory, the successor of Cullen, in his Conspectus Medicines Theoreticae, eays, that ' pure spring water, when fresh and cold, is the most wholesome drink, and the most grateful to those who are thirsty, whether they be sick or well ; it quenches thirst, cools the body, dilutes, and thereby obtunds acrimony — often promotes sweat, expels noxious matters, resists putrefaction, aids digestion, and, in fine, strengthens the stomach.' Dr. James Johnson, an eminent physician now residing in London, remarks upon water as follows : ' There can be no question that water is the best and the only drink which nature has designed for man ; and there is as little doubt but that every person might, gradually, or even pretty quickly, accustom himself to this aqueous beverage. The water drinker glides tranquilly through life without 199] EIGHTH REPORT. 1835. APPENDIX. 45 much exhilaration, or depression, and escapes many diseases to which he would otherwise be subject. The wine drinker experiences short but vivid periods of rapture, and long intervals of gloom ; he is also more subject to disease. The balance of enjoyment then, turns decidedly in favor of the water drinker, leav- ing out his temporal prosperity and future anticipations; and the nearer we keep to his regimen, the happier we shall be.' How congenial is this fluid to the human organization, adapted as it is to its necessities under ever}' variety of constitution, and vicissitude of climate, from the equator to the artic circles. Dr. Mitchel, in reference to facts already quoted, aud others like them, respecting ships' crews wintering in icy regions, says, 'that in all the frequent attempts to sustain the intense cold of winter in the arctic re- gions, particularly in Hudson's Bay, Greenland, and Spitzbergen, those crews or companies which had been well supplied with provisions and liquors, and enabled thereby to indulge in indolence and free drinking, have generally per- ished ; while at the same time the greatest number of survivors have been uni- formly found among those who were accidentally thrown upon the inhospitable shores, destitute of food and spirituous liquors, compelled to maintain an inces- sant struggle against the rigors of the climate in procuring food, and obliged to use water alone as drink.' In hot climates, too, water is the only safe drink. Dr. Mosely, on tropical dis- eases, uses the following language : ' I aver, from my own knowledge and cus- tom, as well as from the custom and observations of others, that those who drink nothing but water, or make it their principal drink, are but little affected by the climate, and can undergo the greatest fatigue without inconvenience.' The Arabs of the desert are among the most hardy of the human race, endu- ring the greatest fatigue and exposure under a burning sun, and their habitual drink is water. The effects of water drinking in a burning climate are well marked in the fol- lowing account, given by Mr., afterwards Sir James M'Gregor, of the march in Egypt of a division of the British army sent from Hindostan to aid the main ar- my in opposing the French under Napoleon. ' After crossing the Great Desert in July 1801, from a difficulty in procuring carriage, no ardent spirit was issued to the troops in upper Egypt. At this time there was much duty of fatigue, which, for want of followers, was done by the soldiers themselves ; the other du- ties were severe upon them ; they were frequently exercised, and were much in the sun ; the heat was excessive : in the soldiers' tents in the middle of the day the mercury in the thermometer of Fahrenheit stood at from 114 degrees to 118 degrees, but at no time was the Indian army so healthy.' Dr. Johnson, from whom an opinion on the superiority of water to wine as a beverage, has already been given, remarks, in his Tropical Hygiene, that ' it might appear very reasonable that in a climate where ennui reigns triumphant, and an unaccountable languor pervades both mind and body, we should cheer our drooping spirits with the mirth-stirring bowl; a precept which Hafiz has re- peatedly enjoined. But Hafiz, though an excellent poet, and, like his predeces- sor, Homer, a votary of Bacchus, was not much of a physician; and without doubt his " liquid ruby," as he calls it, is one of the worst of all prescriptions for a " pensive heart." I remember a gentleman at Prince of Wales' Island, (Mr. S.) some years ago, who was remarkable for his convivial talents, and flow of spirits. The first time I happened to be in a large company with him, I attributed his an- imation and hilarity to the wine, and expected to see them flag, as is usual, when the first effects of the bottle were past off; but I was surprised to find them maintain a uniform level, after many younger heroes had bowed to the rosy god. I now contrived to get near him and enter into a conversation, when he disclosed the secret, by assuring me he had drunk nothing but water for many years in India : that in consequence his health was excellent — his spirits free — his mental faculties unclouded, although far advanced on time's list ; in short, that he could conscientiously recommend the " antediluvian" beverage, as he termed it, to every one that sojourned in a tropical climate.'. Facts and opinions, corresponding with the foregoing, from physicians and others, might be cited to a much greater extent, but it is deemed unnecessary. Not only at the present day, but in times gone by, and even far back up to the remote periods of regular medicine, eminent physicians have commended water 4G AMERICAN TEMPERANCF SOCIETY. [500 as the best, or as the only proper and healthful beverage for man. Among them may be mentioned Parr, Cheyne, Arbuthnot, Sydenham, Haller, Stahl. Van Swieten, Bcerhaave, Hoffmann, and even Celsus, Galen, and Hippocrates. These were like so many meteors shooting here and there amid the darkness which for ages hung over men's minds; but upon this darkness a broad light has at length broken, which, it is believed, is a sure presage of ' perfect day. The ex periment has been made on a large scale, and many thousands of witnesses in our country may now be referred to for an opinion furnished by their own per- sonal experience, on the effects of water as the habitual and only drink. Mul- titudes of farmers, mechanics, manufacturers, sea-faring, and professional men, give (heir voice in its favor. Of 186 whaling vessels belonging to New Bedford, Massachusetts, lfiS furnish no spirits for their crews; and the uniform opinion of the owners and captains of these, as well as of merchant vessels in different ports, as furnished to thfi executive committee of the New York State Temperance Society is, that the- use of intoxicating drinks for sea-faring men in any climate, and under any circumstances, are not necessary, but injurious; and they assert that observation and experience prove that sailors are more healthy, more orderly, and perforin their duty altogether better without these liquors. I'ide, ' Testimony of Amer- ican merchants and sea captains.' — American Quarterly Temperance. Magazine for August, 1834. So fully impressed are commercial men with the belief that disasters at sea are very often connected with the use of intoxicating drinks, that an insurance eompany in Boston, and more recently all the marine insurance companies in New York, in all amounting to ten, have engaged to return five per cent, on the premium of every vessel navigated without spirit. At a meeting ef the board of underwriters, held at the office of the American Insurance Company, in the city of New York, on the second of October, 1834, it was Resolved, That the different marine insurance companies in the city of New York will allow a deduction of five per cent, on the net premiums which may be taken after this date on all vessels, and on vessels together with their outfits, if on whaling and sealing voyages, terminating without loss, provided the master and mate make affidavit, after the termination of the risk, that no ardent spirits had been drunk on board the vessel by the officers and crew during the voyage or term for which the vessel or outfits were insured. William Neilson, President. Walter R. Jones, Secretary of the Board.' Vide, American Quarterly Temperance Magazine for November, 1834. As a vehicle for medicinal agents, alcohol has held a distinguished place. An extensive list of tinctures, or spirituous infusions of vegetable articles, and of alcoholic solutions of mineral substances, is still found in our dispensatories. In a highly scientific work of this kind, lately published in this country, there are given the methods of preparing about one hundred and fifty tinctures ! The tonic barks, and roots, and woods, impart more or less their medicinal properties to distilled spirit; and thus imparted, these properties are preserved for a considerable length of time. Of these preparations, however, it may be observed, that the spirit often so modifies the impression made upon the stom- ach, brain, or blood vessels, as to prevent their being given in doses sufficient for the objects intended. This is the case in certain forms of gastric and intes- tinal irritation, accompanied with an unnatural irritability, not only of the gan- glionic nerves, but of those belonging to the cerebro-spinal system. Cases not unfrequently occur where the decoction or watery infusion of the Peruvian bark is altogether preferable to the tincture ; and peihaps there is never a case in which some preparation of quinia, as the sulphate for example, is not decidedly better for the patient than any alcoholic infusion of the bark. The spirituous preparations of" opium are in many, if not in all cases, inferior to the black drop. The stomach has been known, in a state of great irritability after excessive vomiting, to retain the black drop, or one of the salts of mor phia, when the tincture of opium was perseveringly rejected. 501] EIGHTH REPORT. 1835. APPENDIX. 47 In those cases of excessive irritability of the stomach, accompanied with spasms of its muscular coat, and also that of the intestines, in which external anodyne applications are indicated, the warm black drop upon the abdomen, or the (dry) acetate of morphia applied to a blistered surface, is altogether more efficient than the tincture of opium. I have repeatedly witnessed a much hap- pier effect from the simple acetous solution of opium locally applied, than from the spirituous solutions, in relieving the agonizing pain of phlegmasia dolens. The medicinal qualities of the tonic and narcotic vegetables may be preserv- ed without decay in the form of the elegant preparations, which owe their exist- ence to the perfection in chemical processes invented in our own times; and these preparations may be employed without alcoholic or any other admixtures which would serve to modify or impair their effects. The materia medica then would sustain no los* if alcohol were wholly given up as a vehicle for these classes of medicines. The same is true of its combination with the active principle of the Spanish fly. This article yields to water and to vinegar its active properties. A strong vinegar of flies is a better vesicant than the alcoholic infusion ; and the chemical extract named cantharidin unites readily with oil as a vehicle, and in this form may be most conveniently employed for the purpose of making a blister. The essential oils, the balsams, and the resins, may unite with, or become dif- fused in water by the aid of sugar and gum arabic, or by the admixture of am- monia, where this can be done without loo far modifying their medicinal effects. These mixtures, called emulsions, admit of the medicinal article being taken at any requisite degree of dilution. They are greatly to be preferred to the al- coholic solutions, inasmuch as these last are precipitated in the form of a white or brown cloud, or in a mass of small globules the moment they are thrown into water, and are thus less equably diffused in the water than when combined with it through the medium of sugar, or some other suitable article. Camphor may be very effectually comminuted and diffused in water by rubbing it with calcined magnesia, and adding water slowly.* This is a more uniform mixture, and more convenient for internal exhibition, than can be made by mixing the spirituous solution with water. The emulsions then of these articles, as medicines to be taken into the stom- ach, are decidedly preferable to the alcoholic solutions, or tinctures, as they are •ailed. If an attempt be made to swallow these tinctures without diluting them, they are not only found too pungent, or acrid, but they are at once precipitated by the fluids of the mouth and throat ; and when the tincture of guaiacum or of tolu is taken, the resinous matter is at once spread out upon the surface of the tongue and mouth, in the form of an adhesive coating of varnish, which is dislodged with difficulty. As a remedy itself, in various forms of disease alcoholic stimulus has long been regarded with high consideration. In the slight departures from the equa- ble healthy living actions of the body, marked by exhaustion from fatigue, loss of blood, hunger, thirst, and exposure to great heat or cold, which approach the state of syncope or fainting, some kind of intoxicating liquor is generally re- sorted to as if it were the only remedy; but in some of these states this kind of stimulus is not quite safe, and in none of them is it absolutely necessary. A draught of bland liquid, as simple water, or sweetened water, or milk and water, or cocoa, or some other simple nutritious substance, as some liquid fari- naceous preparation, or the pulpy or juicy part of fruits ; or the tea of some aromatic herb ; or a drop or two of one of the essential oils, as those of the mint tribe, diffused in water by the aid of sugar, or a small dose of carbonate of am- monia; or simple ammonia well diluted with water — taken, one or more of them, at a temperature suited to the state of the stomach and of the circulation, and repeated at proper intervals, will accomplish every good purpose of alcohol- ic stimulants, and in most cases with less exposure of some of the functions to undue or dangerous excitation. In the prostration, for example, occasioned by long exposure to cold, the introduction of a stimulus so exciting and unconge- nial as distilled spirit into the stomach, makes an impression upon its nerves too strong and unnatural, and a transition from a state of languor and exhaustion to that of activity, too sudden to comport with an economical expenditure of * ' Camphor is soluble In strong acetic acid.' — Turner's Chemistry. 48 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. [502 the vital power, tending to create a predisposition to some form of disease, if not speedily to excite it. Captain Harding gives his own experience as follows : ' In answer to your eighth question, I say, that when I was in the habit of using ardent spirits when wet and fatigued at sea, on going below to refresh and shift myself, I thought a little tnddy was absolutely necessary to prevent taking cold ; but now that I am more than fifty years old, I can get wet, cold, and fatigued, go below and put on dry clothes, and, if thirsty, take a drink of water, and feel no inconvenience whatever; so that in this case I answer from actual experience. SAMUEL HARDING, master, ship Romulus, of Brunswick, Me.' Vide Letter to Mr. Delavan, American Quarterly Temperance Magazine for August, 1834. In a complete syncope, or fainting fit, cold water dashed upon the head and face; ammonia, or some essential oil, or both, passed into the nostrils, or into the mouth and throat, will do more than any preparation of alcohol, towards a speedy and effectual resuscitation. Ammonia and the essential oils exert an agency different in kind from that made by alcohol. If in a sense they are diffusible, their impressions beinc read- ily transmitted from one part to another, they are not intoxicating. They seem to stimulate the brain only indirectly, perhaps through the medium of a slightly increased action of the blood-vessels, causing, like muscular exertion, a brisker motion of the blood in the brain ; but they do not make the same apparently direct, unnatural, poisonous, bewildering, and exhausting impression upon the whole power of the brain and nerves, as that which is derived from alcoholic stimulus. In dyspepsy, the alcoholic treatment is now fortunately almost universally abandoned. Experience has at length taught physicians that the irritations, chronic or subacute, of the lining membrane of the alimentary canal, the capri- cious excitements of the nervous system, and the slight but obstinate deviations from the healthy standard in the circulation, may be more easilv and perma- nently controlled, under the influence of a plain diet, suitable clothing, bathing, frictions, exercise in the open air, proper hours for sleep, and a light and agree- able occupation of the mind, than under the use of any kind of intoxicating drink, in any manner administered. In strumous constitutions, and under the local developments of scrofula, ar- dent spirit was formerly emploj-ed. But who, at this day, would think of plac- ing it in competition with the preparations of iodine, employed at the hospital of St. Louis in Paris, and in other places, joined with proper diet, bathing, fric- tions, exercise, air, &c? In the whole range of nervous diseases, alcohol, in any shape, is entitled to but very limited confidence. It seems to be incapable of doing any thing better than to cause a transient alleviation, while its ultimate effects are pernicious; wih the exception perhaps of that state of the brain and nerves exemplified in traumatic tetanus, which requires a narcotic influence. For this purpose the combinations of morphia, either internally given, or externally applied, espe- cially to a blistered surface, are to be preferred. A tonic or sustaining power in the treatment of this disorder may better be derived from the judicious use, in addition to the morphia, of some vegetable tonic, as the sulphate of quinia, joined perhaps with carbonate of ammonia, than from spirituous drinks. In inflammations, whether deep-seated or superficial, the vascular and nervous irritations are usually observed to be increased by the use of alcoholic liquors, sometimes a soothing effect is seen to follow the application of spirit to an inflamed part. But how is this accomplished, if the internal exhibition of it be pernicious? Without much doubt, by the great abstraction of morbid heat caused by the rapid evaporation of the spirit from the inflamed part, and by its anodyne or stupifying influence, which is ultimately exerted upon the irritated nerves, unremittingly drenched in it by its persevering application. The brain, at the same time, and the nerves not directly involved in the inflammation, receive but a slight impulse from the spirit so circumscribed in its application ; 503] EIGHTH REPORT. 1835. APPENDIX. 49 the morbid impression they may receive from the medicine being more than compensated for by the diminution of local heat and irritation. The persevering local use of alcohol appears to enfeeble, as it might be expec- ted to do, the vital powers of the part, while water may be applied for any length of time required by the inflammation, without an undue local exhaustion of vitality. In a case of simple fracture of the leg of a boy, several years ago, in which common spirit diluted with water was locally employed for two or three weeks, there was in five weeks so slight a union of the fracture that a very small force broke it down. This effect seemed fairly to be attributable, chiefly at least, to the influence of the spirit, in part over and above what resulted from tbe escape of heat by evaporation ; especially as the limb was so covered as to prevent the sensation of cold, the fragments were kept in undisturbed contact, and the gen- eral health was pretty good. A considerable number of surgeons at the present day prefer simple water to every other lotion for the purpose of moderating ex- cessive excitement in local inflammation. In the treatment of gangrene, intoxicating drinks bear no comparison with opium or the salts of morphia, carbonate of ammonia, and sulphate of quinia. To the morbid conditions of the system in fevers, alcohol, as a remedial agent, is far from being well adapted. It bears no comparison with the sulphate of quinia as an article suited to break up the morbid associations in intermittent and remittent fevers after suitable evacuations. In the apyrexia, or remission of the paroxysm of continued fever, there are probably but few physicians in our country who have seen a large febrile prac- tice the last twenty-five years, who have not had occasion to regret its unfa- vorable effects. Under the stimulant practice, trains of morbid symptoms are often aggravated, new centres of irritation established, and which, if not suffi- cient to destroy the patient, prolong the period of the fever, and frequently cause relapses, or a lingering and interrupted convalescence. In the occasional states of depression occurring in continued fever, those internal stimulants should be preferred, if any be used, which exhaust the nervous power less than the intoxi- cating articles. In this connection may be named the carbonate of ammonia, camphor, and some of the essential oils. In the collapse and prostration of cholera the spirit practice is now very gen- erally acknowledged to have been unfortunate. Indeed it would have been re- markable if an article which so strongly predisposes to this disease as alcoholic stimulus should have proved to be its best remedy. The evidence of the mis- chievous effects of spirituous drinks in cholera is too generally diffused to requiie its being introduced here in a formal manner. Ice, cold water, or even ice in small bits, swallowed at short intervals, may be more relied on for allaying the deadly nausea of cholera than any form of intoxicating liquor. For the purpose of restoring the strength in the debility which follows acute disease, is alcohol necessary ? If the fever or inflammation have been early treated with the proper evacu- ants, and the progress duly watched, and local determinations prevented or ob- viated, the debility which remains on the subsidence of the disease is easily re- moved. The patient may be greatly reduced in strength, but when free from disease, his convalescence is rapid under the most simple treatment. But when the stimulant plan has been perseveringly pursued with a view to remove the disease, or the debility subsequent to it, how often if the constitution can resist the action both of the disease and the medicines, is the patient observed to lin- ger for weeks, and perhaps months, before his health is re-established ; and how often is he subjected to some new form of disease, either subacute or chronic, or perhaps both in succession ; a cough, or difficult breathing from bronchial or thoracic irritation or effusion, an enfeebled and irregular action of the alimentive organs, a swollen limb, &c. In illustration of these remarks, the following sketches of actual cases are given, the facts of which may be fully relied on. Dr. R., 8et. twenty-five, possessing a good constitution, had, in February 1806, a severe typhus fever which showed symptoms of crisis on the twentieth day. He took, early in the disease, purgative doses containing calomel, and afterwards small doses at short intervals of the same article, which in ten or twelve days occasioned a slight soreness of the mouth ; soon after this, apthee being observed 5 7 50 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. [504 in the throat, bark and wine were prescribed. The bark however was soon omitted on account of the great distress it seemed to have occasioned at the pit of the stomach, but the wine was continued. In three or four days after the symptoms of crisis were observed, a cough arose which was very troublesome for about a week, but as it subsided a swelling attended with pain and heat seized the whole left lower limb. In six weeks from the attack of the fever the patient began by the aid of a staff to hobble out of his chamber. The swelling of the limb, however, although bandaging was employed for several weeks, was never wholly removed ; and from that day to the present, upwards of twenty- seven years, the leg has exhibited a varicose state of its superficial veins, and the whole limb including the foot has been larger and less vigorous than the other, proving that its organization was permanently affected. Before the fever, and until after the crisis, this limb was, in the estimation of the patient, as sound in every respect as the other. If in this case the processes of nature had not been interfered with by an unnatural excitation of the nerves and bloodvessels, is it probable that any form of local disease would have shown itself simply as the effect of the fever ? One result rather inconvenient to the patient as he has often remarked, of the use of wine during his convalescence was the acquisi- tion of a strong relish for that beverage which he had never before felt, and which at various periods since it has required some effort properly to control. 'Mr. F., ost. eighteen, tall, and of fair complexion, having I believe always enjoyed good health, was attacked with continued fever in autumn. He was bled repeatedly, and took purgatives and antimonials. At the end of the second week it was thought that he would bear tonics. Mild articles were resorted to, and continued about a week. The symptoms remaining nearly the same, sul- phate of quinia and wine were prescribed. In a few days he had cough and diffi- cult breathing, with symptoms of effusion in the chest. Auscultation readily detected a fluid in the right cavity. Blisters and diuretics with active cathartics were now employed. He was soon relieved, and in about a week his symptoms were very much as when he began to take the wine and quinia, excepting that the debility was greater. Wine and the sulphate of quinia were again given, and soon the same train of symptoms appeared as before, with an effusion of fluid, in the left cavity of the chest. Under the use of diuretics and blisters, these symp- toms were removed. A third time the wine and quinia were resorted to, and the result was a swell- ing of one of the lower limbs with heat and pain, resembling somewhat the appearances in phlegmasia dolens. All tonics and stimulants were now laid aside, and at a time when he was unable to turn himself in bed. A mild diet was now prescribed, together with ablutions and frictions ; and he very gradually and uniformly recovered, so as to have acquired a tolerable degree of health in about four months. In the course of the treatment, valerian, carbonate of soda, carbonate of am- monia, camphor, serpentaria, and sulphuric acid, were employed. We varied the combination of the medicines a great many times ; a measure which seemed to be rendered necessary by sickness at the stomach which invariably followed each combination in a day or two. At the time when he rejected stimulants, and in fact all medicines, he could retain articles of food.' Mr. H. set. twenty-five, of a fine constitution, had remittent fever. In one full day of his sickness, that is in twenty-four hours, he took three pints of brandy, and in addition, a small pill of opium every two hours, besides a small dose of sulphate of quinia at the same interval through the night. Spirit was taken freely for several days, although the quantity, as well as that of the opium and quinia, cannot be vouched for. Two years after this sickness the patient had not recovered his health, but was still feeble, with impaired digestion, and swollen limbs. But there are agents of higher importance than alcohol or fermented liquors, which may safely be employed to sustain the sinking powers in fevers, and to restore the lost strength after they have subsided. Of these, the first to be named is pure air. ' I believe,' says Mr. James in his valuable work on inflammation, ' there is no poison more injurious than foul air — no restorative more effectual than pure air ; and it runs no risk of dis- ordering the digestive organs, as bark often does, or stimulating the vessels too 505] EIGHTH REPORT. 1835. APPENDIX. 51 much, like wine.' The restorative powers of the blood depend on its purity, and the purity of this fluid cannot be secured without pure air ; hence the abso- lute necessity of the most strict and persevering attention to ventilation and cleanliness. Another agent is water. This is the proper beverage when a beverage is needed. Nothing is so grateful in the thirst of fever, and nothing so good ; and its febrifuge, as well as tonic or invigorating power, judiciously applied to the surface of the body is most striking. Either pure, or impregnated with soap, or saline substances, it may be used by way of affusion, ablution, or sponging, at a temperature warm, cool, or cold, according to circumstances. The successful use of cold water by Dr. Currie applied to the body in fevers is well known. Dr. Robert Jackson, speaking of the fevers of Jamaica, says, that ' after obvi- ating particular symptoms of a fatal tendency, it was the principal indication to support the general powers of life, or to excite the tone and vigor of the system.' For this purpose he mentions ' cold bathing' as ' the most important remedy in the cure of the fevers of the West Indies.' For the purpose of removing the prostration and languor accompanying a form of fever prone to attack foreigners arriving in hot climates, he observes, that ' the principal trust was placed in warm and cold bathing, which under proper management seldom failed of answering every expectation completely, or of speedily removing the chief symp- toms of danger.' This gentleman was in the habit of frequently impregnating the water strongly with common salt. Often have I witnessed in fits of distressing prostration, joined sometimes with great irritability of the nerves, both during and after tlie^ subsidence of the severity of acute disease, a far more refreshing and invigorating effect from eponging the head,* body and limbs with simple water, or weak warm soap- suds, followed by gentle friction, than from any doses of spirit, wine, or porter, I have ever seen administered. It is a striking remark of the celebrated IIorE- Eian, that if there be in nature a universal remedy, that remedy is water. Among the means of restoring the strength, one of great value is exercise, especially in the open air. Indeed there seems to be no adequate substitute for this remedy. Who has not felt its invigorating effects? Dr. Jackson, already quoted, observed the most happy effects in the restoration of the bodily powers reduced by yellow fever, from his patients, when too weak to raise their heads, being carried out daily in carts or wagons. Passive exercise in the sick cham- ber, or the removal from it to an adjoining room on a truckle-bed or chair, may be made very useful to the sick patient, when his strength is too much reduced to admit of his being carried abroad. In addition to the common articles of plain, unstimulating food, may be men- tioned as an important restorative agent, fresh, ripe fruit. This, especially if acidulo-saccharine and juicy, often presents to the stomach precisely the stimu- lus it craves, and may be borne when spirit and wine cannot be taken without disturbing the circulation. The man who shall invent a cheap and easy method of preserving without decay the well ripened, juicy, and pulpy fruits, will be entitled to the thanks of succeeding generations. Could the grape, instead of being manufactured into wine, be carried fresh and distributed freely in distant countries, in place of the intoxicating liquor with which it now supplies them, an unspeakable amount of health and comfort would result to the human family. With prescribed attention to ventilation, cleanliness, ablutions, and frictions, plain, nourishing food, including often fresh fruits, joined with early and perse- vering exercise, I have known patients to recover with a rapidity greater than I remember to have observed from any use whatever of intoxicating drinks and narcotics. Under a more perfect acquaintance with the functions of life, and with the influences exerted upon it by remedial agents, may it not be hoped that the pe- riod will arrive when not only ardent spirit, but all intoxicating liquors, will be regarded as not absolutely necessary in the practice of physic or surgery? It may perhaps be worth remarking, that throughout the wide-spread kingdoms of animal and vegetable nature, not a particle of alcohol in any form or combina- tion whatever has been found as the effect of a single living process, but that it * The hair having been previously sheared off. 52 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. [506 arises only out of the decay, the dissolution, and the wreck of organized matter, or of its ever varied and wonderful productions ; and is it probable that the be- neficent author of such a countless multitude of medicinal agents as exist in the products of vital action, would have left, to be generated among the results of destructive chemistry, an article essential to the successful treatment even of a single disease ? The profession of medicine has an extensive scope. It looks into the struc- ture of animal machinery, it investigates the laws of its vital movements, both in health and disease, and contemplates a variety of influences by which its com- plicated processes are accelerated, retarded, suspended, or destroyed. It learns, that to the functions of life belongs a standard rate of action, beyond which they cannot be safely excited or driven ; that alcoholic and narcotic stimulants de- range and confuse the healthy movements, exhaust the vital power more than nature intended, and induce premature decay, and dissolution. This profession claims the strictest alliance with the cause of humanity ; it cherishes good will, and proffers substantial blessings to men. It extends its hand not onlv to the ex- hausted, bed-ridden patient, and to the tottering and dejected invalid, but even to the healthy man, to save him from the pain and suffering which ignorance, or custom, or recklessness might bring upon him. Let physicians then be true to their profession. Let them study the duties they owe to the communities with whom they live and labor. Let them teach the means of preserving health, as well as of combating disease ; let them show, as it is in their power to do, that the taking of medicine in health in order to pre- vent disease is most absurd and mischievous; that the surest guarantee of health is a correct regimen, and that the best treatment of acute disease is often very simple. Let them explain, as far as practicable to those around them, the mechanism of their physical organization, and when it can be done, " knife in hand," the work will be easy. Let them expound, so far as known, the beautiful and har- monious laws enstamped upon this organization, by which its complicated move- ments and diversified phenomena are sustained : laws as immutable in their na- ture, and inflexible in their operation, as those that hold the planetary system together ; and like them originating in the same incomprehensible and mighty mind, which, acting in the strength of its own philanthropy and unchangeable- ness, gave to man a moral code from amidst the smoke and thunders of Sinai. No law coming from this high source can be violated with impunity; and he who infringes a law of the vital economy, receives, in an injury done to the machinery of life, the penalty of his transgression with no less certainty than he who leaps from a tower heedless of gravitation. With all its given power of accommodation to circumstances, no possible training or education of this ma- chinery can change the nature of its primitive adaptations, and make an article congenial and healthful, which was originally repulsive and noxious. No hu- man ingenuity or perseverance can render impure air as wholesome as that which is pure, or any form of intoxicating liquor as healthful as water. So long as alcohol retains a place among sick patients, so long there will be drunkards; and who would undertake to estimate the amount of responsibility assumed by that physician who prescribes to the enfeebled, dyspeptic patient the daily internal use of spirit, while at the same time he knows that this simple prescription may ultimately ruin his health, make him a vagabond, shorten his life, and cut him off from the hope of heaven. Time was when it was used only as a medicine, and who will dare to offer a guaranty that it shall not again overspread the world with disease and death ? Ardent spirit — already under sentence of public condemnation, and with the prospect of undergoing an entire exclusion from the social circle, and the do- mestic fire-side — still lingers in the sick chamber, the companion and pretended friend of its suffering inmates. It rests with medical men to say how long this unalterable, unrelenting foe of the human race shall remain secure in this sa- cred, but usurped retreat. They have the power, and theirs is the duty to per- form the mighty exorcism. Let the united effort soon be made, and the fiend be thrust forth from this strong but unnatural alliance and companionship with men, and cast into that ' outer darkness,' which lies beyond the precincts of human suffering and human enjoyment. 507] EIGHTH REPORT. 1835. APPENDIX. 53 The following Extracts are from a Prize Essay, by Harvey Ldndsly, M. D. Wash- ington, D. C. to lehom a similar premium was awarded as to Dr. Mussey, and by the same Committee. "effects of inebriety on the offspring of intemperate parents. There can be no dnubt, for it is as well established as any other fact in medi- cine, that the temperament, general degree of health, habits, predispositions, &c, of the parent are very apt to descend to the child. And if the health of the father or mother has been impaired by a long course of inebriety, or their intellectual power much deteriorated, we may expect to see its lamentable con- sequences in the debilitated bodies and enervated minds of their unhappy pro- geny. Probably this effect is more striking, and its results more appalling, where the mother is a devotee of this disgusting practice, than if the father on- ly be in the habit of it. The influence of the mother's habits over the physical as well as the moral and intellectual character of the children seems to be of a more decided nature than that of the father. How doubly awful then does the guilt of this vice appear when viewed in this two-fold aspect ! In connection with the influence of the mother's habits upon the health and constitution of the child, we cannot too strongly reprobate the pernicious prac- tice, still but too common, of nursing women employing brandy and other alco- holic stimulants, in order, as is said, to afford them strength to sustain the new call made upon them. To say nothing of the danger to the mother herself of forming in this way habits of intemperance, is there not great danger of seri- ously affecting the health of the child, if not of early instilling into it a taste for ardent spirits? We all know that the milk of the nurse is not a little influ- enced by the diet and medicines she may use. The infant can be purged by oil or calomel taken by the nurse : and have we not as much reason to fear that the employment of such powerful agents as brandy, cordials, &c, may exert an equally powerful influence upon the tender and susceptible, and excitable frame of an infant? We have all seen these deleterious influences, when the intem- perate habits of the parents have been carried to a very great extent, in the pro- duction of dropsy of the brain, imbecility of mind, and a long train of physical and intellectual evils, which perhaps at the time may have been attributed to hereditary predisposition, or to other causes. There cannot be the least excuse for this indulgence on the part of the nurse, for it is not only always useless, but positively injurious. Dr. North remarks, that children nursed by intemperate women are peculiar- ly liable to derangements of the digestive organs, and convulsive affections; and that he has seen the latter almost instantly removed by the child being trans- ferred to a temperate woman. A suitable and nutritious diet will be amply sufficient to sustain a woman while nursing, and she may rest assured will be much more conducive to her own health and that of her tender charge, than the artificial stimulus of ardent spirits can possibly be. do alcoholic stimulants contribute to strength? This question has at different times given rise to no little discussion, but it seems at last irreversibly decided in the negative. The idea which formerly prevailed, that alcoholic liquors contribute permanently to strength, arose no doubt from the temporary feelings of excitement and apparent strength which they occasion. But these illusions have long since vanished before the reason- ings and observations of a more correct philosophy, and a more extended experience. The different degrees of debility, which may of course vary from the slight- est degree of exhaustion to almost total prostration, can be relieved by two methods, the one gradual, the other rapid. The gradual mode consists in em- ploying sleep, rest, and food, or in other words accumulating the vital principle: the rapid mode is by the application of diffusible stimuli, i. e., calling into action 5* 54 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETF. [505 the vital principle which remains ; as in syncope we apply ammonia, or any other pungent odor, to the nostrils. Now the question is, which of these modes, the rapid or the gradual, is most likely to answer the purpose? No one can doubt a moment as to the answer. The one is the order of nature — the other is artificial — the one, although more dilatory in its operation, is unattended by any unpleasant consequences ; while the other is sure to be followed by lassitude and depression exactly proportioned to the amount of excitement and stimulus applied and felt. In the beautiful and expressive language of another, the stimulant restoratives may be compared to a ' stream which nourishes a plant upon its bank, and caus- es it to flourish and blossom to the sight, while at the same moment it is under- mining it at the root.' Rest, sleep, and food, are amply sufficient to repair the fatigue and restore the exhausted energy of all animated existence — ' they are sufficient for the tribe in the branches of the forest, and for the deer which range below, for the flock on the mountain's side, and for the herd in the pasture of the valley. They are sufficient for the elephant, for the tiger, and the lion' — but man, poor deluded man ! not satisfied with nature's ample provision for the restoration of strength, and the preservation of health, must have recourse to alcoholic stimulants. The absurdity of such a course is strongly depicted by Milton in speaking of Samson. 'O madness ! to think use of strongest wines And strongest drinks our chief support of health, When God, with these forbidden, made choice to rear His mighty champion, strong above compare, Whose drink was only from the liquid brook.' Who would think of applying the whip or the spur to a jaded and exhausted horse, in order to increase his strength, and restore his accustomed vigor? Yet such a course is not more ridiculous or absurd than that man's who employs brandy, or rum, or gin to invigorate his enervated stomach when disordered by improper diet, or long fasting, or excessive fatigue — in both instances, to be sure, new life and fresh animation, and apparent strength would be imparted, but we all know that the horse will eventually yield sooner than if a more mer- ciful and rational course had been adopted ; and so it is with the wretched ine- briate who relies for aid on the stimulus of ardent spirits. It is an undoubted fact that some periods of life can bear the excitement of alcoholic stimulants with less injury than others. Probably the most injurious time of administering spirituous potations is in infancy and early youth. At this tender age the fibres are more susceptible of excitement and irritation, the functions are more easily disordered, and the foundation may be laid of future disease which may then be incurable. The intellectual and moral faculties seem also at this period peculiarly liable to deterioration; and we doubt not that the literary progress of many a talented child has been impeded, and his moral sense deadened by the early administration of stimulating drinks. How much then is this ridiculous and disgusting practice, which unfortunately is still by no means uncommon among the mothers of our country, to be deprecated ! Indeed the absurdity of the notion that the use of alcoholic stimulants con- tributes to permanent strength is made manifest by daily observation, as well as all past experience. The long and rapid marches of the ancient Greek and Roman armies, and the privations and labors they underwent, are much greater than could be endured by any modern European soldiery ; and yet these men drank no ardent spirits. Some of the native East India troops in the employ- ment of the British government possess the same power, and their religious ideas and customs deny them spirituous liquors. Sir John Moore's army were found to improve in health during their distressing march to Corunna as soon as the usual allowance of ardent spirits was unattainable. It is related by Niger that he forbade the use of wine in his army, wishing the soldiers to accustom themselves to vinegar mixed with water, in conformity with the ancient regulation. It may readily be imagined that such a reform would give great offence to the troops : but Niger was resolute : and some sol- diers who guarded the frontiers of Egypt, having one day asked him for some 509] EIGHTH REPORT. 1835. APPENDIX. 55 wine — ' What do you say,' replied he to them, ' you have the Nile, and wine is un- necessary for you.' Upon another occasion, some of his troops, being conquered by the Saracens, excused themselves upon the plea of weakness owino- to this regulation. ' An excellent reason,' said he, ' for your conquerors drink nothing but water.' In what manner different stimulants when taken into the stomach act upon the system is a question of no little interest to the pathologist and physiologist; and yet is one which is still involved in great obscurity. The mode in which these substances act is not perhaps absolutely incomprehensible, for who will dare to set bounds to human ingenuity, or to say that there are any laws of na- ture so obscure that they may not yet yield to human industry ? But, however this may be, we are at least certain that the hypotheses which have hitherto been proposed are far from being satisfactory upon this point. Some substances when taken into the stomach increase the activity and vigor of all the organs of the body : this is the case with nourishing food of all kinds; with tonics, alcohol, opium, &c. These we would call general stimulants. There are other substances again which, when taken into the stomach, in- crease the activity and vigor of some particular organ of the body, as tartar emetic, castor oil, &c. These are local stimulants. Many articles belong to both these classes : but all stimulants necessarily in- crease action, the effect being proportioned to the nature of the article, to the quantity taken, to the frequency of its repetition, and to the circumstances under which it is employed. There is a great difference, not only in the manner, but the rapidity with which different stimulants act. Some produce their effect as soon as taken into the stomach, while others do not, except after long and frequent repetition. The former are generally highly diffusible, and their operations transitory — the latter cause more permanent changes, and effect those changes by obscure and almost imperceptible gradations. It would seem as if there were a certain amount of activity and of motive power in the human system which alone is consistent with health, or there is a particular proportion in the activity of the different parts of the living system which must be maintained in order to preserve health. When this proportion is deranged, or this activity suddenly and rapidly increased, disease and sickness necessarily follow. All highly diffusible stimulants are therefore, from the very nature of their action, detrimental to health, since this nice proportion — this delicately adjusted equilibrium, is by their use destroyed. If such stimulants be used but once, or but seldom repeated, the healthy relation between the action of the different parts of the body may be quickly restored : but if they be used habitually and frequently, this relation is forever destroyed, and the health of the wretched victim irrecoverably undermined. But it does not follow from these principles that stimulants may not be benefi- cial in disease, because here this relation is already lost, and stimulating articles may afford the only remedy by which the equilibrium can be restored. We may therefore lay it down as an incontrovertible axiom, that stimulants are always injurious in health. SUBSTITUTES FOR ARDENT SPIRITS IN THE PRACTICE OF MEDICINE. It cannot have escaped the observation of any reflecting man that the medical use of ardent spirits has frequently been the immediate cause of the formation of intemperate habits. Many an individual, who had little constitutional fond- ness for the inebriating draught, and whose habits were such as seemed pecu- liarly fitted to preserve him from thi3 fell destroyer, has mnde wreck of every earthly prospect by being induced to resort to the use of ardent spirits, for the re- lief of perhaps some trivial complaint. The talented, the great, and the learned, as well as the degraded, the humble, and the ignorant, have thus fallen beneath the withering touch of this soul-destroying Moloch. In more than one instance have I seen the able and hitherto faithful minister of the gospel laboring under a slight attack of dyspepsy, and, by the advice of his medical attendant, drink- ing daily for weeks together a glass of brandy and water until he has gradually 56 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. T510 and unconsciously formed a taste, and acquired a relish for the fatal liquor, which has increased in strength, and acquired a firmer and firmer grasp upon the ener- vated mind until it has obtained complete mastery — and the wretched victim has made shipwreck of conscience, reputation, friends, eternity. There are various other ways also in which the medical use of ardent spirits may prove the forerunner of drunkenness. It is a very common practice in some parts of our country for persons to resort to bitter herbs, as wormwood, gentian, chamomile, &c, steeped in ardent spirits, for the relief of a slight de- gree of dyspepsy, to increase their strength, and give them an appetite. The whole family partake of this bottle, and resort is regularly had to it three or four times a day. I defy any one to point out a mode more exactly fitted to convert the most sober and temperate family in the world into sots than this. The regu- lar, habitual, daily use of brandy ! This is precisely the way in which all drunk- ards have been made. They always drink temperately before they drink in- temperately. True, they are all this while taking bitters, and that too perhaps by the advice of their physician. But does that alter the case? Are they not also drinking ardent spirits? And will they not, in all probability, persevere in their downward career till ruin stares them in the face ? It is self-evident thai such a course is not one whit safer, so far as the morals of the individual are con- cerned, than if so much undiluted brandy had been taken. Is it not then the solemn duty of every physician, as well of every Christian, and every patriot, to do all in his power to dispense with an article the use of which is surrounded and accompanied by such tremendous dangers ? Grant that in most cases there is little risk of this becoming so fixed a habit that the patient cannot at any moment lay it aside — grant that most men have sufficient firn> ness of mind, and fixedness of purpose to resist, and sunder at their pleasure, the iron chain of habit — yet, if only one individual in an age were sacrificed on the altar of intemperance by the medicinal use of ardent spirits, would not this of itself be a sufficient reason for proscribing and banishing it for ever? But it will be asked, how is this risk to be avoided ? If ardent spirits are neo essary for the cure of disease, and the preservation of health, shall we not use them ? In reply I have no hesitation in asserting that there is no state of the system, however exhausted or enfeebled — no species of malady, however obsti- nate or unyielding — no case of disease, however dangerous or appalling, in which ardent spirit is indispensably necessary, and in which a substitute, perfectly equal to all the exigencies of the case, cannot easily be found. Professor Chapman of Philadelphia, in his able work on the materia medica remarks : — ' It is the sacred duty of every one exercising the profession of medicine to unite with the moralist, the divine, and the economist, in discouraging the con- sumption of these baneful articles, and as the first step in the scheme of refor- mation to discountenance the popular notion of their remedial efficacy.' And I think that every medical man, who will carefully review the whole ground, will come to the same conclusion. That stimulant articles are desirable, and even necessary in the practice of medicine, no one can doubt. There are several states of the system in which this class of remedial agents is indispensable. Whenever the system has been exhausted by long-continued disease, or any other cause, and where no fever exists, tonics and bitters, of various kinds, will do much to restore the lost en- ergy of the stomach, and to bring back the wonted vigor of the constitution. Among these stimulants and tonics ardent spirits have long held a high rank, and have frequently been resorted to, especially by the vulgar. It is admitted that there are a few extreme cases in which ardent spirits are temporarily beneficial : what is contended for is, that there is no case in which they are indispensable, and in which an adequate substitute cannot readily be found. 1. In Dyspepsy. There is perhaps scarcely one disease in the treatment of which the patient more frequently commits mistakes than in this. He feels languid and wretched his food is badly digested — flatulency continually harasses him — an uneasy, 511] EIGHTH REPORT. 1835. APPENDIX. 57 indescribable sensation of oppression in the epigastric region, is a constant companion — and to relieve these disagreeable feelings he has been taught by those around him to resort to the stimulus of bitters and ardent spirits. He perhaps receives temporary relief, and he is encouraged to proceed — another and another, and another dose is taken, but the relief becomes more and more transient ; and in order to obtain even this he is compelled to increase his libations. He will however very soon discover to his sorrow that his disease, instead of being cured, is continually becoming worse. In short, he has mistaken his remedy — and this will invariably be the result with every one who endeavors to break up such a disease by such means. Dyspepsy requires a very different treatment. Where any thing of a stimu- lant or tonic character is required, the usual bitters, as Peruvian bark, camomile flowers, columba, quassia, gentian, &c, or the preparations of steel will be am- ply sufficient. The sulphate of quinine is a most excellent article in cases of languor, debility, and loss of appetite, and might be employed advantageously much more fre- quently than it is. There is no bitter, lam inclined to think, in the materia medica, whose effects are so prompt and decided as this — and which gives such immediate and complete relief in those cases of simple debility which occur so frequently during our warm summers — and more especially among men of sed- entary habits — and females of delicate constitution. There cannot be the least doubt that great, and sometimes essential injury has been inflicted on the unhappy dyspeptic by recommending alcohol to strengthen his digestive powers, and increase his appetite. So delicate an organ as the stomach cannot with safety be loaded with so powerful a stimulus, and especially when in a state of subacute inflammation, as is frequently the case in dyspepsy. Independently therefore of the imminent danger of the patients' be- coming addicted to habits of intemperance, the advice too frequently given, I am afraid even by physicians, to drink brandy and water cannot be too strongly deprecated on account of its immediate effects on the system itself. 2. In low Typhoid slates of the System. Where the strength has been exhausted, and a low typhoid state has come on, after a long continued fever, it is a very general impression among the profes- sion that a stimulus of a different nature from the ordinary tonics and bitters is required to quiet the irritable and frequent pulse, to clear the black and coated tongue, and to resuscitate the exhausted energy of the body. In this peculiar state most medical men have been in the habit of using alcohol very freely in the form of wine or brandy. But, surely, when we consider the great number, and vast variety of stimulants furnished by the materia medica, we can hardly believe that amongst all these it would not be possible to select an article or arti- cles which would be proper for almost any form of this disease, and every idio- syncrasy of constitution. When we consider the great and varied powers of the Peruvian bark, ammonia, camphor, cayenne pepper, &c. &c, can we doubt that resort need never be had to ardent spirits where these can be obtained ? But although perhaps there are cases where wine cannot readily be dispensed with, yet I have no hesitation in asserting that there never was an instance where there was the least necessity for using ardent spirits in any form or shape whatever. Indeed, the only, or the principal plea for the employment of brandy or rum in these cases is, that wine sometimes disagrees with the stomach by turning acid. It is rather a favorite notion with some practitioners that brandy is less apt to disagree in this respect than wine, but I must say that I have never found the least difficulty where the wine was of a good quality, and the proper kind had been selected. Sometimes one kind of wine will suit better than an- other, and some little judgment is required to select that which is best adapted to the peculiarities of the constitution and the disease. Should there however be a case in which wine could not be taken, good porter or ale could still be re- sorted to, and would be more suitable and advantageous than ardent spirits. I have no hesitation then in repeating that there are no cases of typhoid fever where ardent spirits are ever desirable, and very few if any in which wine is absolutely indispensable 8 58 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. [512 3. As an External Application in Cases of Hemorrhage. It would be absurd to attempt a labored denial of the importance of ardent spirits in this particular case, as probably not one sober medical man in a hundred would ever think of resorting to thein for any such purpose. 4. Alcohol is frequently given, in some form or other, to infants to remove flatu- lency, relieve pain, make them sleep, dy-c. This idea has already been discussed in a previous part of our work. I will only add, that there is not probably a single imaginable state of the infant's sys- tem in which other articles could not be used with more advantage for these purposes than ardent spirits. 5. In cases of sudden emergency in which the vital powers seem extinct, and the patient is in immediate danger of death — as when large quantities of cold water have been drunk. Where accidents of this kind have taken place nothing is more common than to see both practitioner and the standers by pouring down brandy or gin into the stomach of the unhappy victim — not once reflecting that in all probability he has already half a pint of alcohol in his system, and without which his alarming situation never would have occurred. Nothing is more certain, than that in nine cases out of ten, where injury has been suffered from drinking cold water in warm weather, it takes place in persons of intemperate habits, the powers of whose system have been prostrated by previous indulgence, and which have not sufficient energy to bear the sudden introduction of a large quantity of cold water. The drinking of cold water by persons whose habits have been previously good, and whose health is perfect, is seldom, if ever, at- tended by fatal consequences, and indeed generally by nothing more than slight and transient pain. Is it not absurd then for us to prescribe, as a remedy, an additional quantity df the very article which has caused all the mischief.' Although no doubt stim- ulants are the proper remedies in cases of this kind, yet there can be as little doubt that there are other articles much more efficacious and suitable than ar- dent spirits Ammonia, cayenne pepper, camphor, laudanum, together with ex- ternal applications of mustard, cantharides, turpentine, heat, friction — all can be employed to much greater advantage than alcohol in any form, and will be am« ply sufficient for every possible emergency. 6. To remedy the disagreeable taste and the supposed injurious qualities of bad or impure loater, particularly in cities, and on ship-board. Although this plea for the use of ardent spirits cannot be sustained by a single rational argument, yet I have no doubt it has frequently been the means of in- ducing intemperate habits It is a very common practice in our large cities, and perhaps still more common on board our ships, to plead this excuse in justi- ficatiou of the daily and habitual use of alcoholic liquors. But a moment's con- sideration would be sufficient to convince any reflecting man that such a course is only making the evil greater. If the water be unwholesome, the mixture with it of brandy, which is itself injurious, cannot render it otherwise ; and if the object be to disguise its disagreeable taste, there is a great variety of other articles which could be employed quite as effectually for this purpose, and which are free from every objection, either on the score of morals or of health. 7. External applications. There are so many other things (as tincture of cantharides, spirits of turpen tine, mustard, &c. &,c.) which can be used in this case, that not a word need be wasted on the subject. 513] EIGHTH REPORT. — 1835. — APPENDIX. 59 8. The vulgar opinion, or rather ichat icas the vulgar opinion a few years since, thai the laboring man requires the stimulation of ardent spirits to enable him to per- form his arduous duties, and to defend him against the vicissitudes of our chantry able climate, is wholly unfounded. It would be easy to prove this from a philosophical consideration of this sub- ject, but a still more infallible guide (experience) puts it beyond ail controversy. Since the formation of temperance societies it has been found by the experience of thousands, ascertained in every possible way too, that those laboring men who abstain entirely from the use of ardent spirits, can perform more labor, and are in less danger from the vicissitudes of our climate than those who use them. — Within the last ten years, thousands of farms have been cultivated, hundreds of ships have been navigated, and every variety of manufacture carried on without a drop of ardent spirits — and the unanimous and decided testimony of the indi- viduals concerned has been, not only that money has been saved, and morals promoted, but that lives have been preserved, and health benefited by this ab- stemious course. On a dispassionate review of this whole subject then, I think it will be ad- mitted by every candid and reflecting medical man, that the use of ardent spirits in the practice of medicine is never indispensable, and seldom, if ever, even useful ; and that in this latter case there is a great variety of remedies which are amply sufficient as substitutes. If this be the case, what is the duty of e"v>- ery physician in relation to this article, which has spread such misery, desola- tion, and ruin throughout this country and the world ? Shall not physicians who have always been pre-eminent in the labors of love and the exertions of philan- thropy— shall not they do something for the promotion of the temperance cause — that greatest and best of the benevolent enterprises of this benevolent age ? And in what way can this be done so effectually as by discouraging the med- ical use of ardent spirits ? No one can doubt that such use has made many a drunkard, and filled many a drunkard's grave : and shall we not then relinquish its employment, and resort to other articles equally efficacious, and at the same time perfectly safe ? The apathy which has so long been fell by the medical profession in relation to this important subject — thanks to the Temperance Soci- eties and the reforming spirit of the age — is beginning to disappear, and more enlarged views of professional duty and professional responsibility are beginning to be felt. Already has the seal of reprobation been put on the medicinal use of ardent spirits by numbers of the most eminent of the medical faculty ; and may we not hope that this spirit will spread yet more widely and extensively until every physician shall be brought under its influence, and shall unite with the patriot and the Christian in the expulsion from its last strong hold of this most destruc- tive of human vices, and direst of human foes ?" "While we are convinced that there is no case in which ardent spirit is indispensable, and for which there is not an adequate substitute, we are equally assured, that, so long as there is an exception allowed, and men are permitted to use it as a medicine, so long we shall have invalids and drinkers among us. Only let our profession take a decided stand upon this point, and intemperance will soon vanish from our country." (THOMAS SEWALL, M. D. Professor of Anatomy and Physiology, Columbian College, Washington, D. C.) " The reservation of the use of alcohol for cases of sickness appears to be of little importance in a medical way, and if it leads to practical abuses such a reservation should not be made." (JOHN C. WARREN, M. D. Professor of Anatomy and Surgery, Harvard University, Boston.) NINTH REPORT AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. In the previous Reports of the American Temperance Society, the following truths are proved ; and in various ways, by a great variety of facts and reasonings illustrated and enforced, viz. 1. Alcohol, the intoxicating ingredient in spirituous liquor, is not the product of creation, or of any living process in nature. 2. It is the fruit of vinous fermentation ; and is generated by a process, which takes place in certain vegetable substances after they are dead. 3. It is not, as a beverage, needful or useful to men, in order to the enjoyment of the highest health, the greatest ability for bodily or mental effort, and the longest continuance of life. 4. It is, to the human constitution, a poison; the use of which, as a beverage, is always hurtful. 5. It produces many, and aggravates most of the diseases to which the human frame is liable. 6. It tends to render diseases hereditary, and thus to deteri- orate the human race. 7. It weakens the understanding, stupifies the conscience, and hardens the heart. 8. It often causes insanity, and produces a predisposition to that disease in the offspring of those who use it. 9. It occasions the loss of a great amount of property. 10. It lessens, and often destroys, social enjoyment ; and causes a great increase of domestic wretchedness. 11. It weakens the power of motives to do right, and in- creases the power of motives to do wrong. 12. It causes most of the pauperism, and of the crimes, in the community. 13. It powerfully counteracts the efficacy of the gospel ; and of all means for the intellectual elevation, the moral purity, the personal benefit, and the public usefulness of men. 14. It corrupts the public morals, and debases the public mind. 15. It endangers the purity and permanence of free insti- tutions. 2 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. [516 16. It shortens human life. 17. It tends powerfully to lead men to dishonor God ; and forever to destroy their own souls. 18. Abstinence from the use, as a beverage, of intoxicating liquor, is safe, and salutary. 19. This is proved by the experience of hundreds of thou- sands, of various ages, conditions, and employments; who have adopted the course of abstinence from the use of it. 20. Should all adopt, and perse veringly pursue, a similar course, drunkenness and its evils would universally cease. 21. The gospel and all means for the promotion of the tem- poral and eternal good of men, there is reason to believe, would be crowned with greatly augmented success. 22. For men to continue to use it, as a beverage, to make it or furnish it to be so used by others, is morally wrong; and ought, universally, to be discontinued. 23. Especially is it wrong, for professed Christians thus to use, make, or furnish it ; and more especially still, for officers of churches, and ministers of the gospel — as the better the charac- ter, and the greater the influence of those who pursue a wrong practice, the more extensively it will be imitated, the longer it will be continued, and the greater the mischief which it will be likely to do. Of course it is especially important that all who belong to either of these classes, and all who are, on any account, respecta- ble or influential in society, should, without delay, renounce this practice, themselves, and labor, in all suitable ways, to induce all others to do the same. But such is the blinding and hardening power of wrong prac- tice, upon all who continue in it, that it is difficult in many cases to convince professors of religion, and even officers of churches and ministers of the gospel, while in this practice, and wishing to continue it, that it is wrong ; or to persuade them to renounce it. Yet, if suitable means are used, in a suitable manner, and are attended, as we have reason to expect that they will be, by the influence of the Holy Spirit, this is possible. And facts show that this is not only possible, but highly probable. The great thing which is wanted, so far as means are concerned, is, the universal diffusion of the knowledge of the facts, and espe- cially that knowledge which results from experience. In every case, so far as known to the Committee, in which a fair experiment has been made, the result has been an entire and strong conviction, not only of the safety, but of the great utility of abstinence from the use, as a beverage, of all intoxicating liquor. And these cases are so numerous, of such great variety, and so perfectly uniform and decisive, that it would seem that 517] NINTH REPORT. 1836. 3 they must, if known, produce universal conviction. Yet, through want of the means of information, or of due attention to them, because men have a real or supposed monied interest in the sub- ject, or are, at times, more or less under the power of intoxicating liquor, many still continue to furnish it, or to use it. And are so deluded by its effects, as to imagine that it does them good. By coming under the power of what God hath pronounced to be "a mocker," they are so mocked as to "call evil good, and good evil ; to put darkness for light, and light for darkness ; call bitter things sweet, and sweet things bitter." This is the case with many, otherwise respectable men ; with professors of the Christian religion ; and, we regret to say, with some officers of Christian churches, and, in some countries, even with ministers of the gospel. They go sometimes from the pulpit, to the intoxicating bowl ; and even "put the bottle to their neighbors' mouths ;" and thus give the sanction of their influence and example to a practice, which, so long as it is continued, will tend to perpetuate intemperance, and spread its horrors over all future genera- tions. To convince such persons, and all who may be under the in- fluence of this delusion, of their error, and lead them to forsake it, the Committee of the American Temperance Society have published the principles, reasonings and facts, contained in the foregoing volume.* And that to these might be added the light and influence of experience and example, they sent to a number of distinguished individuals, the following circular, viz. — " Dear Sir, — A number of distinguished literary men, and others, noted for great and successful efforts, have made known to the Committee of the American Temperance Society, that they have received special benefit, by entire abstinence from the use, as a beverage, of all intoxicating liquor. Wherever the ex- periment has been fairly made, the result, among all classes of persons, so far as is known to the Committee, has been uniformly and highly salutary. And it is thought, that, should the re- sults of the experience of a few hundred distinguished men in the various departments of life, be collected, and, in a perma- nent form, be put into the hand of each young man, especially in all seminaries of learning throughout the United States, it would be of unspeakable service to them, and to the world. Many of them might be saved by it, from a premature grave, and the labors of others be rendered much more extensively and highly useful. * Permanent Temperance Documents ; a volume of 420 pages, containing the great principles involved in the temperance reformation, and the reason* togs and facts, by which those principles are illustrated and enforced. 4 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE S0CIETT. [518 The Committee have therefore determined to address a num- ber of gentlemen who are known, or are supposed, to have ab- stained from the use, as a beverage, of intoxicating liquor, and ascertain from them the results of their experience on this subject. And if you, Sir, will be so kind as to give them, as soon as con- venient, the results of your experience and observation with re- gard to it, that they may be embodied with the results of the ex- perience and observation of others, and put into the hands of the youth of our country, and thus extend their salutary influence to all future ages, you will greatly oblige the Committee, and, they believe, perform an important service to mankind. Among other topics on which the Committee wish particularly for information, are the following: viz. 1. What, in your case, has been the effect of abstinence from the use of intoxicating liquor, on health ? 2. What has been the effect on the capability of making great and continued efforts of body and mind ? 3. What has been the effect on the feelings, as to cheerful- ness, uniformity, he. ? with any other particulars which may occur to you as important to be known by the human family. Hoping to hear from you as soon as may be convenient, I am, with great respect, yours, &c. JUSTIN EDWARDS, Cor. Sec. Am. Temp. Soc. P. S. If other persons of your acquaintance have been in the habit of abstaining from the use of the above mentioned liquor, you will confer a favor by procuring the results of their experience and observation, to be forwarded to the Com- mittee. In answer to the above, numerous communications have been received, of which the following extracts are specimens. 1. From the Honorable Judge Brewster, of Riga, Monroe County, New York. " I have lived for nearly thirty years in this place — have con- verted a large quantity of wilderness into a fruitful field — have employed a large number of men, and have, according to the custom of the country, consumed a large amount of ardent spirit — and observed much of the deleterious effects resulting from it to my men. About twelve years ago, I banished the ar- ticle from my business and premises, and totally refrained from the use of it myself — and although I used it (what was then thought) temperately, I learned by experience, (after I had left off its use) that it had had a most deleterious effect on me, as well as on my men. I found my men would sustain cold and heat, 519] NINTH REPORT. 1836. 5 storm and fatigue, much better without this stimulus, than with it. We felicitated ourselves upon this discovery. But about two years ago, I commenced total abstinence from all intoxicat- ing drinks ; and 1 am constrained to believe, that I have expe- rienced a much more sensible improvement in my bodily and mental powers than when the reform was but half accomplished. I am now nearly sixty -two years old ; and find, so far as I am capa- ble of forming a judgment, that my bodily and mental powers are better than they were twelve years ago — and that far the greater share of improvement has been experienced since I left off the moderate use of fermented drinks. My health is next to perfect — which used to experience frequent interruptions. My mind is clear and perceptive, without much fluctuation — my tempera- ment, which is naturally ardent, has become calm and even. And 1 hope eternally to bless God that he gave me wisdom and grace to adopt total abstinence from all fermented liquors. And here allow me, dear sir, to say, that, from experience and obser- vation, I believe that the use of fermented drinks is one of the most potent agents in paralyzing the life of active piety, and holy obedience, in Christians. And should this total abstinence prin- ciple obtain throughout the evangelical church, I believe her march would be rapid in her way to her millennial glory. Hence let every Christian and philanthropist do all they can to advance this man-restoring object." 2. From Colonel Guy Bigelow, of Colchester, Conn. " In reply to your communication of the 17th of November, I would stale that, till the age of twenty-nine years, I was in the habit of using intoxicating liquor of almost every kind. For ten years previous to that time, I was employed during the winter in school teaching, and summer in laboring on a farm, with from four to eight hands ; and, at times, in distilling cider, peaches, he. I had the art of rectifying and converting them into old spirits, French brandy, Holland gin, he. I made spice and lemon brandy, and several kinds of cordials, for family use, and to treai friends ; and was in the daily habit of drinking them. I supposed it necessary, especially in haying and harvest time, to enable me to perform my part, which was equal to that of any one with whom I labored. Although for several winters during that time, T abstained wholly from the use of ardent spirit for three or four months together. In 1814, I became satisfied that the use of it was an injury, and came to the determination to abstain from it entirely. I have drunk none since, to my knowledge, except twice, by mistake ; both times it caused a violent head-ache for several hours. The effect of abstinence has been, less fatigue from labor, less effect from heat, especially in the night ; of course 1* 6 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. [520 I rested better, and was able to perform more labor, but was in the habit of taking a glass of wine, occasionally. " In 1824, I became satisfied that it was wrong for me to drink wine. Since that time I have abstained from it, except at the communion table. I refused to take a glass even at my own wedding, which took place in 1827. At the age of fifty, in August last, I came to the conclusion, that it was expedient to abstain from the use of cider. 1 had apples sufficient for twenty -five or thirty barrels ; but I let the cattle and hogs take them, except enough for two barrels, which was boiled down for apple-sauce. Since 1824, 1 have continued to labor summer and winter, and am satisfied that, in my case, abstinence from all intoxicating drink, is beneficial to health. I am less affected by heat and cold — have more uniformity of feeling, and more cheerfulness o mind." 3. From Mr. Joseph C. Hammond, a respectable agricul- turalist, of the above mentioned place. " For more than four years past, I have abstained wholly from the use (as a beverage) of intoxicating drink of every name — and can most cordially say, that, at no former period, have I had such perfect health, been able to perform the same amount of labor with so little fatigue ; and as a natural consequence, I have had more cheerfulness, contentment, and happiness." 4. From Samuel H. Fox, Esq., a teacher of youth in the same place. " When in the occasional habit of using intoxicating liquors, I was subject much to the head-ache, want of regular appetite, and of course a general disorganization of the digestive organs. I have abstained from ardent spirit about eight years — and from fermented liquors, of all kinds, about three. And the conse- quences are, a relief from the above difficulties ; and I now enjoy confirmed and good health. I am enabled to perform much more labor with less fatigue, than when intoxicating liquors were used as an auxiliary. 1 have a much better state of feeling, am less liable to irritation, and have more cheerfulness of mind." 5. From the Honorable Judge Loomis, of Montpelier, Vermont. " Your letter of inquiry, of November last, was received. I cheerfully answer, that from my youth until over forty-five years of age, I was in the habit of drinking intoxicating liquor. Through the mercy of God, I was preserved in the class called ' moderate drinkers,' and supposed, at times at least, that it was beneficial to me. 521] NINTH REPORT. 1836. 7 While in the use of it, I was frequently troubled with head- ache, especially in the morning. For eight or ten years past, I have wholly abstained from the use of intoxicating liquors ; I find dispensing with the use of them has been decidedly beneficial ; and that I was entirely wrong in supposing they did me any good. The benefits most perceptible to myself, are, almost entire re- lief from^head-ache ; better rest ; more refreshing sleep ; greater peace and tranquility of mind ; more distinctness and satisfaction in reflection and meditation. In addition, I have a consciousness of having seen, and abandoned, a very dangerous and sinful practice." 6. From the Rev. Henry White, pastor of Allen street Church, New York. " In answer to the inquiries of your circular, I can say that I have received much advantage every way by a perfect adher- ance to the principle of total abstinence from all intoxicating liquor. This I have done for several years past — and I have no doubt but that in my dispeptic condition, which has been of long standing, the practice is indispensable to a moderate degree of health ; to any important and protracted mental efforts ; and to almost the lowest measure of cheerfulness and uniformity of feel- ing. From the experience that I had, before rigidly adopting the principle of total abstinence, from the very rare use of wine and beer, 1 am convinced they were a bane to me. I do not remember ever having used either, without suffering somewhat in bodily health, and I cannot apply my mind profitably, after taking even a very small quantity. It is to be presumed that in a per- son of feeble digestive powers and of nervous debility, the effects of using a small quantity of intoxicating liquor are much greater and more deleterious than in a healthy constitution. But from extreme cases the tendencies of things may perhaps best be dis- covered." 7. From Joseph Speed, M. D., of Caroline, Tompkins County, New York. "I am a physician, and have been no inattentive observer of the effects of intoxicating, and other unnatural substances, on the human system, in producing disease and death. Where mal-formation does not exist, health is the natural state of man ; and disease is unnatural, and brought on us, usually, by our own imprudences. The usual imprudences are improper food and drink, and a deficiency of exercise. 8 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. [522 There is nothing in the formation of man, there is nothing in his experience, that shows that nature designed he should use, in health, any stimulating substance of any description, that does not possess nourishment. On the contrary, every thing of the kind is injurious to health. The only proper drink for man, in health, is water. No ad- dition to it can make it more healthy ; no stimulating materials can be added to it, without an injury to the health. I am now far advanced in my sixty-third year. In early life I lived as many thoughtless young men do, to eat, drink, and be merry. Few restraints were imposed on my appetite by myself, or by those who had the care of me, until I attended a course of medical lectures, delivered by Doctor Rush, in 1794. This great and good man's memory must be dear to every one who lias attended his lectures. The earnestness and solemnity with which he warned us against the evils of spirit, I can never forget ; and from that time, I resolved to die a sober man. It is remark- able, Sir, how little was said against the use of intoxicating drinks in those days. I do not recollect that either of the other Pro- fessors in the College, said a word on the subject ; and so far as I can remember, it was rare for a parent to admonish his child against this deadly evil — nay, he often sweetened it, to make it more palatable to his taste. Having determined for myself, to die a sober man, I used in- toxicating drinks of every kind moderately, as it was called ; and in consequence of it, I probably had sickness more moderately, than I otherwise should have had. Knowing, from long obser- vation, the dreadful evils of intemperance, when our temperance reformation began, I early and joyfully joined a temperance so- ciety, and abstained entirely from the use of distilled spirits. It was not long before I was convinced of the propriety of adopt- ing the same course with wine, and beer, cider, and all ferment- ed drinks. It was pleasing to feel, how, step by step, I improv- ed in health, as I made each successive sacrifice. Encouraged by these beginnings, and knowing that there were other things injurious to health, which I was practising, I determined to take a new start in the path of reformation, and successively gave up the use of strong high-seasoned food of every description — my tobacco, yes, my tobacco, the idol of my life, which I had used for nearly fifty years, and without which life seemed a burden : yes ; that dear, soothing comforter of my life — that vile, filthy, health-destroying weed, had to go; and, not very long after, my tea, and my coffee. Yes, my much loved coffee, had to go, too ; but much as I loved it, our separation produced a pang, but trifling compared to the loss of my dear, abominable, filthy tobacco. 523] NINTH REPORT. — 1836. 9 I know, my clear Sir, that some will say, - You poor, deluded fanatic; you have deprived yourself of all the comforts of life, and what have you worth living for?' I have health, such health as men never enjoy who do not lead a uniformly temperate life. For years I have scarcely known what an ache or a pain is ; and for years 1 have not had a cold, worth calling a cold. My appetite is always good. 1 have a great pleasure in eating whatever is suitable for man to eat, and I have lost all desire for any thing, but the plain nourishing food on which I live. I feel as if I had gone back many years of my life, and have the ability and disposition to perform much more labor than I had seven years ago. Here is what I have, that is worth living for; and I will ask those inquirers, in turn, what do they enjoy that is more worth living for ? Do they eat the luxuries, and fat things of the earth ; and drink the fruit of the vine in its fer- mented and joy-inspiring state? 1 use my plain food, and plain water, with as much pleasure and gratification as they ; for I have tried both, and speak from experience, and know that their grat- ifications are often followed by a bitter pang, and that mine are not. Indeed, so far am I from suffering from my mode of living, that it has relieved me entirely from the common sufferings of life, to which improper living exposes us. I used to suffer much from head-ache, sick stomach, want of appetite, irregularity of the bowels, restless nights, rheumatic pain, melancholy feelings, and a most distressing affection of the heart — a disease of which organ has become one of the most powerful, and alarming dis- eases of our land ; and brought on, perhaps, nine times out of ten, by a deficiency of exercise, and the use of stimulating food and stimulating drink. Of all these 1 have got cured, by aban- doning stimulants and improper food. You ask me, Sir, respecting the experience of others on this subject. To tell you all the good effects I have known, would need a volume, and I should not know where to begin. 1 will, however, state one case. My neighbor, for whom I had often prescribed for a head-ache, which had seriously injured his health, and which he had had, with only one exception, once a month, for more than forty years, applied to me, two or three years ago, to try again and do something for him ; for he suffered excessive- ly ; and his looks showed it. In fact his health was seriously de- clining. His attacks lasted him a day or two, and he always had to sit up one whole night, in his chair — so severe was the pain, at every attack. I knew he was fond of rich food, loved coffee dearly, and his tobacco still more, and used them very freely. I told him, that I had trifled with him long enough, I would give him no more medicine, he must cure himself, and that he must abandon his 10 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. [524 coffee, his tobacco, and all high seasoned food, and live upon milk and light vegetable diet, and eat meat sparingly, but once a day. He tried to reason me out of it, as he said he had the head-ache before he used tobacco, or coffee. I told him, it mat- tered not ; his situation was serious, and he must follow my ad- vice. He did so ; left off all, and for six months had but one at- tack of head-ache, and that produced by a day's ride on a hard trotting horse, to which he had not been used. In fact he became a new man. He has since returned slightly to his old living, and tells me he has slight returns of head-ache. Here, Sir, is one case, among thousands, of the injurious ef- fects of stimulants, and here is the simple cure. It matters not whether the stimulants be, distilled spirit, or fermented liquors ; they all, without exception, endanger the health of man, produce diseases of the most fatal kind, and destroy more lives than sword, pestilence, and famine. And, now, Oh my country, arise in your might, and cast away those destructive things from your borders. Ministers of the holy gospel, cease not, day nor night, to bear your testimony against them. You know not what a powerful influence some of you exert in favor of alcohol: banish it. I beseech you, from all your drinks. You acknowledge that temperance societies prepare the minds of men for our holy re- ligion. Let me implore you to throw no stumbling block in their way. Young men of my country, I am old, and you are young. To you are committed the destinies of our country. As you value its freedom and happiness, fly to its rescue. We have brought the aik of temperance in sight of the prom- ised land, and we will rely on your patriotism, your virtue, and heroism, to conduct it thither." 8. From Gerrit Smith, Esq., of Peterboro', New Yoik. " I thank you for addressing to me a copy of your circular — but, as my use of intoxicating liquor, even before the temperance reformation began, was very limited, my experience furnishes little of the information you desire. I have, with very slight interruptions, enjoyed good health through life — and, in respect to ' cheerfulness' and ' uniformity,' few men can say more for their feelings than I can for mine. My only drink for the last three years has been cold water ; with the rare exception of a tumbler of milk. Wine was banished from my house, eight years ago." 9. From George P. Frost, Esq , of Ithaca, New York. " In answer to the inquiries made in your circular, which I have just received : 1st. ' What, in your case, has been the effect of abstinence from the use of intoxicatiDg liquor, on health?' 525] NINTH REPORT. 1836. 11 I answer; until six years ago last January, I indulged occasion- ally in the use of cider and pearlashes, and beer and wine, the first of which in particular was frequently recommended and taken by me to cure the jaundice and sick head-ache, to which 1 was very subject — the second was recommended, and also occa- sionally taken, as a very healthy drink calculated to remove a watery and sour stomach, with which I was much afflicted ; often for years throwing off from my stomach in considerable quanti- ties whatever of food or drink was taken therein ; and was told by my physician that I was to be very short lived, unless I was careful to eat and drink such things only as would remain on my stomach. But I sought such articles of food and drink in vain — the third and last was recommended and taken to strengthen and cheer my drowsy, weak, and aching frame. But after abstaining entirely from all these, (and for more than three years previous I had abstained from the use of all distilled spirits) my health gradually improved until July of the same year, when I threw away my tobacco, and since that time, I have not chewed, snuffed, nor smoked the filthy weed. From this time, my health daily and permanently improved, and is now perfectly good. When I first abstained from all the above, my weight was 123 pounds, and now it is 153 pounds, and my stomach no more emits from it the food and natural drink taken therein, but digests it in the most natural and pleasant manner ; and my jaundice and sick head-ache have left me, and taken up their abode where they can find more natural food to feed on, than plain diet and cold water. As to your second inquiry, ' What has been the effect on the capability of making great and continued efforts of body and mind?' you may judge when 1 inform you of some of my do- ings, (though they are all very small), viz: my business by which I obtain my living for myself, and wife, and numerous family of children, is the manufacturing of saddles, harnesses, and trunks. The purchasing and cutting out all the stock, and selling the same when manufactured, (as well as making ma.jy articles) I do altogether myself; and, during the past year, I have discharged the duties of secretary of the Ithaca Temperance So- ciety, and secretary of the Tompkins County Temperance So- ciety ; also distributing agent for the county of Tompkins, and have received and distributed to all the towns in the county, monthly, 5,300 Temperance Recorders, and all the other tem- perance papers and almanacs which have been sent from the New- York State Society, (and they are far from being few), and in the discharge of these duties have written about five hundred letters ; have acted as secretary for the Tompkins County Sab- bath School Union, and secretary of a fire company, in order to 12 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. [526 escape assault and battery jury suits, to settle rum quarrels ; have superintended a Sabbath school every Sabbath from April to November, three miles from our village, which I have always visited on foot ; have acted as treasurer of the Ithaca Education Society ; have discharged the duties of Assessor of the Town of Ithaca, in discharge of which I have visited every tenement and piece of taxable property in a district of our town including a population of 4,000 inhabitants ; discharged the duties of one of the trustees of the Corporation of the Village of Ithaca, and one of the street committee and superintendent of bridge building, &,c. &lc. ; and also have discharged the duties of tract distributor in a district which I ascertained to contain a population of one hundred and forty-seven souls, in which were fifty-six professors of religion, and after I obtained thirty signatures to the total ab- stinence pledge, there were eighty-five members of temperance societies, eleven who drank alcohol^ thirty-four children between the age of five and sixteen years, twenty-six of whom attend Sabbath school. I have also performed nearly all the labor of a gardener, in cultivating and raising, or growing more than double the vegetables of every kind required for my family's use. Although all the above are small things, you will perceive that my leisure moments have been few and far between. As to your third inquiry, ' What has been the effect on the feelings as to cheerfulness, uniformity, he.,' I can only say that my feelings are quite uniform and cheerful, compared to what they formerly were ; and quite free from hypochondria or the apprehension of coming to poverty, (for I ever was poor) as is the case with some of my rich neighbors." 10. From William Ladd, Esq., of Minot, Maine, Secretary of the American Peace Society. " I have discontinued the use of ardent spirits for about five or six years, and the use of all intoxicating drinks for about two years and a half. My health has been gradually improving ever since, and is now perfectly good ; but 1 cannot say what effect the abstinence from intoxicating liquors may have had on it. The ' effect on the capability of making great and continued efforts of body and mind,' has been decidedly favorable. I can do nearly double the mental labor which I could formerly do. I have always been troubled with a superabundant flow of spirits. I have been able of late, in some measure, to subdue them. On the whole, my enjoyments, both mental and bodily, are much increased by abstinence from all that can intoxi- cate." s 527] NINTH REPORT. — 1836. 13 11. From Amasa Walker, Esq., merchant, of Boston, Mass. " In reply to yours of the 15th instant, I would state, that it is now several years since I have entirely abandoned the use of all kinds of alcoholic drinks. The only use I ever made of them was such as I supposed my health rendered necessary. Being of a feeble constitution, and afflicted with dyspepsia, I believed it essential that I should make use of spirits on particu- lar occasions; as, when travelling and exposed to the inclemency of the weather, or uncommon hardships and fatigues. But since I have adopted the principle of total abstinence, 1 find I can perform the longest journies, by night and day, on land and water, in heat and cold, and yet not suffer any inconvenience from the want of stimulating drinks. So far from it, that I know my general health is improved by abstinence, and that 1 can make greater efforts of body and mind than formerly. I am fully satisfied, from my own experience, that all kinds of intoxicating drinks irritate the organs of digestion, impair the vital powers, and tend inevitably to indispose the mind for calm, vigorous, and long continued action, as well as to destroy its cheerfulness and equanimity. Tobaao, which I once used habitually, I am now satisfied was highly injurious, and subtracted greatly from my enjoyment of life, and from my powers of physical and mental action ; and hence, I would most earnestly entreat all, especially young men, to avoid entirely the use, in any form whatever, not only of all kinds of intoxicating drinks, but also of all narcotic sub- stances." 12. From the Rev. Abraham Wheeler, of Meredith, New Hampshire. " Having received your circular, I cheerfully make the follow- ing statement respecting the temperance system. 1 now drink neither ardent spirit, nor any other intoxicating beverage — not wine, cider, or beer. The effect is, I am uni- formly well and cheerful. I enjoy moie, even in eatin^ and drinking, than formerly ; am apparently younger, and more vigorous, than I was ten years ago ; and now, at the age of fifty-six, am about to go into the West, as a young man, to en gage in new toils and labors." 13. From the Rev. Henry C. Wright, late Agent of the American Sunday School Union ; and Children's Preacher in Boston. " 1. The effect of abstinence on health. I once kept in my house various kinds of intoxicating drinks — especially wine, cider and brandy ; and used them occasionally — 2 14 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETT. [528 wine and cider often, generally on the Sabbath after preaching. I also freely used tobacco, smoking it. What was the effect on my physical nature ? I had a constant sensation of uneasiness at the stomach ; a constant burning, which used to rise into my throat ; what is commonly called the heart-burn, I had contin- ually. I was also visited, by turns, with a head-ache that en- tirely unfitted me for business. I had frequent turns of diarrheq. I was afflicted with a perpetual thirst. My sleep generally dis- turbed and unrefreshing. My food seldom relished, and never without powerful spices, mustard, pepper, &,c. At the age of thirty, I used to think that 1 was getting into a poor way, and should soon be broken down as to health. I used to wonder what could be the cause of my pains and troubles. Such 1 now know was the effect of stimulating drinks and substances on my bodily system. For seven or eight years I have used for beverage pure cold water, and nothing else ; nor have I used any tobacco in any form. 1 have used nothing but cold water at my meals, morn- ing, noon, or evening; or at any other time. My uneasiness at the stomach, the heart-burning, and the tendency to vomit, are gone. I have had nothing of them for five or six years. My head never aches, except it is produced by studying late at night and want of sleep. I relish my food, always having a good appetite. As to my physical system, I have not a tenth part so many pains and disorders as 1 had formerly, and I know it is owing to my having abandoned the use of all heating and exciting drinks, and of tobacco. 2. As to the effect on my capability of making great and continued efforts of body and mind ? During the five last years of my life, I have made greater ef- forts of body and mind than I ever made before. Two of these five years, I was an Agent of the American Sabbath School Union — in which I travelled about five thousand miles — preach- ing and lecturing, upon an average, about once a day during the whole time — frequently riding in an open gig twenty-five and often thirty miles, after preaching three times in one day. I have frequently travelled all day, in my open gig, in rain and snow storms, under binning suns, and in freezing cold. I never made so much mental effort, nor so great. 1 have written more in the last five years than in any other equal portion of my life. I can truly say that since I have got my system thoroughly into a cold water habit, I know not what fatigue is. Whereas, ten years ago, I used to get exhausted easily by mental and bodily efforts. Eight years ago, it vould have tired me more to speak in public half an hour, than it would now to speak an hour. 529] NINTH REPORT. — 1836. 15 3. Effects on the cheerfulness and uniformity of my feel- ings. Here I could write a volume. I solemnly believe that nineteen-twentieths of the fault-findings, the unkindnesses, the bickerings, the strifes and contentions of domestic and social life, should be charged directly to narcotic, and in- toxicating drinks, and substances. The use of tobacco in any form, of cider, beer, wine or any other intoxicating drink, is enough to destroy the most cheerful and amiable temper that God ever made. I do not claim to have received such a temper from my Maker, but such as 1 did receive, has in days past been awfully perverted by stimulants of various kinds. I used to be subject to fits of deep depression, and great excitement — as I supposed owing to a peculiar natural temperament. My family used to call me nervous, when on the high pressure and low pressure. The world often seemed to be clothed in darkness — no hope, no friends ; could do nothing; make no mental or bodily efforts ; cared not to see any one, or to speak to any one. Then suddenly an irrepressible feeling of joy, that would burst over all bounds. Thus I had my ups and downs — no calmness in my joys, no uniformity in my social and domestic feelings and habits. J was often visited with most frightful, horrid, and unimaginable dreams. My whole intellectual and moral nature was utterly disordered. I used to wonder, and so did my family, what could be the matter with me. I now know what was the trouble. It was the occasional use of stimulating drinks, combined with the habitual use of that most filthy and disgusting of all filthy and disgusting things, tobacco. I lived in a cloud of nauseating, suf- focating tobacco-smoke. May God forgive me. My wonder is, that my family, or my people, over whom I was placed as a minister of Christ, could endure me. My head was deranged, my heart was deranged, and my body was deranged, and I thought my family and all the world around me, was deranged likewise. Now, thanks be to God, I am free. Ever since I have got my system into a cold water habit, I feel like a new man. I enjoy a uniform calmness and cheerfulness, and contentment in my heart, to which the drinker of stimulating liquors, and those who use tobacco, must ever be strangers. I feel that my mind is now in a state to enjoy intercourse with men and with God. I know that intoxicating and exciting drinks and substances would entirely disarrange that state, and unfit me to enjoy such inter- course. This world uniformly looks cheerful, and death and eternity looks pleasant and desirable. I can but give thanks to God for leading me back to simple cold water as my only bever- age. I think I shall never be fooled and mocked again by alco- 16 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. [530 hol in any form, nor by tobacco. I am free, and I think I would rather die than ever again become the slave of these fell de- stroyers. I would add — my family, having all united with me in the use of cold water, unite with me in attesting the truth of this statement. Our experience enables us to say much more in praise of cold water. Be assured we have reason to bless God, for cold water." 14. From John Ball, Esq., merchant, of Boston, Mass. " About six years since, I gave up the use of ardent spirit : about three years since, I relinquished the use of wine and beer ; and about a year since, I ceased using cider, coffee, and tea. My usual drink being, in winter, warm water and milk, and in sum- mer, cold water alone — so that, to sum up all, I neither use ardent spirits, wine, cider, or any other intoxicating drink. 1 neither smoke, chew, or snuff tobacco. I have traveled much the past winter, which has been re- markable for intense cold, and have some days journeyed when the thermometer was 8, 12, 14, 18, 20, 22, and once 25 de- grees below zero, and drank water only ; and although exposed early and late to the intensity of cold, as above named, I was not frozen, neither did I take cold ; while some others with whom I occasionally traveled, would drink at the taverns their sling, bitters, he. he., I was comfortable, and did not suffer as much as they did ; and am, under the blessing of God, in the enjoy- ment of perfect health, never knowing what it is (since 1 ab- stained from the use of every thing of an intoxicating and ex- citing nature) to be unwell for five minutes at a time. Having, sir, experienced such beneficial results, as above mentioned, (and my case, 1 presume, is by no means singular), I would only say to others, try this same course as an experiment; and the effect upon the system will be so manifest, and so good, that no one will abandon it." 15, From Carter Branton, Esq., of Brandon, Virginia. " Perhaps the experience or observation of a person, in such a retired and humble sphere of life, as the one I occupy, will be considered of small value, and have but little weight, as an ex- ample to others ; it is, therefore, with much diffidence, I am in- duced to give it you, as an inconsiderable aid in the noble efforts you are now essaying, in behalf of a reformation, that is vitally connected with all that is dear and valuable with the existence of man. 531] NINTH REPORT. 1836. 17 Till within eight or nine years past, when I had lived to be more than thirty years of age, my daily habit was to use ardent spirit. It was my daily practice to drink from two to four glasses of julep, and toddy, and sometimes 'spirit and water.' This was considered a temperate and moderate use of the article. When in the habit of thus using it, to be sure, the quantity was fre- quently varied. I do not think I ever passed a moment, in which I was not excited by the spirit used, without head-ache, drowsiness, heaviness, qualmishness at the stomach, and an apa- thy to all kinds of business or exertion. My feelings were most peculiarly uncomfortable, perfectly indescribable, in the morning, till the system could be roused and excited. At that time, it was my conviction, that such a state of health was constitutional, or inseparably connected with the climate in which I lived. My health had become precarious; I thought, and so did my physi- cian, that my constitution was much impaired, and becoming more and more feeble. At, or about the period alluded to, I abandoned, altogether, the use of ardent spirit; solely, however, with the view of ascer- taining the effects of abstinence from it, on my general health. Then, if I had heard of, I had not reflected at all, on the great moral change, that was believed by many to depend on the dis- use of intoxicating liquors. Twelve months after I had lived without using ardent spirit, for the purpose of regaining health, I became convinced, that abstinence was a principle intimately blended with the best interests of mankind on earth, and on which his felicity beyond the grave might very much depend. With the abandonment of the use of ardent spirit, my health became better, and continued to improve — and 1 can most conscientiously assert, from a strict observation of the two pe- riods, that there is no labor, effort, exercise, or occupation of the intellect or body, that 1 cannot perform and undergo bet- ter, since the use of ardent spirit has been forsaken, than prior to that period — both my mental and physical capacity possess an elasticity, and an untiring assiduity, in whatever they may be occupied, that I am satisfied they did not when it was my habit to use intoxicating liquors. If any one can be a judge of their disposition, I feel certain that mine has partaken of its full share, with the rest of my system, of the benefits of abstinence — for, of all the properties of the heart, none suffers more, from this foe to the human race, than the disposition), to be at peace with one's self and all the world. I have per- sonally witnessed many irascible tempi-rs, rendered placid, and meek, and cheerful, and robbed of their acerbity, by abstinence from intoxicating liquors. 2* 18 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. [53*2 No friend to happiness, and the human race, can withhold from you, their best wishes, in your labors for this entei prise, the greatest and most important that is connected with the earthly destinies of man. That every being of the present generation could become subjects of the reformation, is greatly to be de- sired and prayed for — but the interest and solicitude of every friend to the cause, cannot be otherwise than intense, in behalf of the rising race — who will, in a few years, occupy the places of their fathers, and be the only actors in the great drama of life — that they should proscribe, understanding^, the use of in- toxicating drinks — that they should early be impressed with the principles, and become accustomed to the habits of abstinence ; is an event that would, beyond almost any other, promote not only their own benefit, but the highest good of the world.'' 16. From the Rev. Edward Hitchcock, Professor of Chem- istry, and Natural History, in Amherst College, Mass. " In order that you may rightly understand my case, T ought to state, that, in consequence of an ignorant disregard of the laws of hygiene, more than twenty-five years ago my health began to be seriously affected with dyspeptic complaints, which became more and more aggravated for fifteen years ; chiefly in conse- quence of the absurd prescriptions that I followed. Among others, so far from being directed to abstain from all alcoholic drinks, brandy was recommended with dinner, and wine after preaching on the Sabbath. From the brandy 1 perceived no good effect, and therefore soon abandoned it ; and the wine was so decidedly and immediately injurious, that 1 used it a still shorter time. One recommendation, however, that was given me fifteen or twenty years ago, was of real service ; viz. to give up the use of tea and coffee in the morning. For a few months after doing it, an almost daily head-ache afflicted me. Soon, however, head-ache and I parted company ; and we have hardly met since, except of late, in consequence of a severe blow on the head. Even now we are on poor terms ; and it threatens to leave me, if I will not nourish it with some drink more stimulat- ing than water. I continued in the use of weak tea at night for several years longer; bui at length, I gave up every alcoholic and narcotic drink, and do not lecollect that I have tasted of them for the last five or six years, except at the communion table. In these changes, the nearer I came to the use of water alone for drink, the greater I found to be the advantage, bnth to health and happiness. The disuse of snuff, also, I found to be decidedly beneficial. Ten years ago, my system had become so much shattered by lon^ abuse, that I was obliged to leave the ministry. But by simplicity in living, with water only for drink, 533] NINTH REPORT.— 1836. 19 and faithful attention to exercise, I was ere long enabled to re- sume intellectual labor. And since that lime, I have generally been able to accomplish far more, both physically and intellect- ually, than at any previous period. However small my labors may seem to those who possess more vigorous constitutions, and more industrious habits, I have great reason to be thankful for the power to perform them : for they seem to me to be so much added to my existence, as the rich fruits of an imper- fect conformity to the rules of temperance : since my constitu- tion, ten years ago, appeared to be so nearly worn out that it seemed scarcely possible it should ever recover from the pros- tration under which it labored. Precisely how much of these good effects of attention to temperance and exercise, I am to impute to disuse of alcoholic and stimulating drinks, I am unable to say. Yet I am quite sure, that had I continued to use such drinks, all the other means that 1 have employed would have been wholly ineffectual. The particular benefits, that, in my case, 1 think can, in a greater or less degree, be (raced to the use of water only, as a drink, are the following: 1. Freedom from head-aches. 2. Relief from nervous irritation. 3. Freedom from unnatural thirst ; so that now I never drink more;than nature demands; and when 1 do drink, it is with great relish. 4 Greater equanimity and clearness of mind ; so that I can pursue study in moderation a much longer time without the necessity of seasons of relaxation : 1 mean long seasons of re- laxation. I should doubt whether, for a single day, I can study more than when under the influence of stimulants, except so far as improved health operates favorably. But I am not apt under the aqueous regimen to overwork the mind one day, so as to un- fit it for exertion the next : and in the long run, 1 doubt not but the power of making intellectual efforts is much increased. And the same is true of bodily exertion. 5. I can judge better when nature demands repose. And I find that in ordinary cases the system chooses for this pur- pose the early part of the night. 6. More uniformity and buoyancy of the animal spirit. A cheerful state of mind is the consequence, and a capacity to en- joy for a much longer time, and with few drawbacks, the pleasures of social intercourse. 7. The power of determining with greater accuracy the nature of the religious emotions. So long as the brain is under the influence of unnatural stimulus, or inactive from its absence, the mind cannot well determine its real state on this important subject. 20 AMERICAN TEMPEKANCE SOCIETY. [534 A few years ago I was called to make a geological survey of the State of Massachusetts, which required about five thousand miles of travel, in an open wagon, at a rate not greater than from twenty to thirty miles per day ; and very severe bodily exertion, in climbing mountains, and in breaking, trimming, and transporting more than five thousand specimens of rocks and minerals. I was usually employed from sunrise till ten o'clock at night, with little interruption ; and 1 think it was the severest protracted labor that I ever underwent. Yet, during all my wanderings, 1 drink not one drop of alcohol, nor indeed any kind of stimulating drink, except perhaps from twelve to twenty cups of weak tea. And I found myself more capable of exer- tion and fatigue than in former years, when I was in the occa- sional use of stimulating drinks. In my early days I labored upon a farm and made use of al- coholic drinks, accoiding to general usage. One of my fellow- laborers, however, having been enticed to drink when only six years old, until he was thoroughly intoxicated, could never after- wards be persuaded to take another drop of the poison : and although of less size than myself, 1 always found him more than a match for me in mowing, reaping. &c, and always bless- ed with more vigorous health. Up to this day he has adhered to his resolution not to taste of alcohol ; (even cider he drinks, only when it is new,) and the consequence is, that his health has been always good ; he has prospered in his worldly busi- ness, and has a large family o( children, who, 1 understand, are ready, as soon as old enough to understand the subject, to fail into the ranks of temperance with their father ; and to fight its battles. It is now forty years since he first enlisted. If any de- sire to have this statement corroborated, let them call on Mr. Horatio Hoyt, of Deerfield, and they can learn the whole truth; for he is the individual to whom I have referred. In conclusion, I cannot but express the conviction, that one reason why many temperate men derive but little ap- parent benefit from the use of water as a drink, and continue to employ it rather from a sense of duty than from choice, is because they still continue in the habitual or occasional use of some mild stimulant mixed with it, either alcoholic or nar- cotic: and thus by keeping up an appetite for stimulants, they prevent the system from getting into that natural state in which it prefers water to every other beverage, and finds that amply sufficient for recruiting all its energies. At least, this view of the subject corresponds with my experience, and I be- lieve also with the laws of physiology." 535] NINTH REPORT. 1836. 21 17. From the Rev. John Pierce, D. D., of JBrookline, Mass. "For more than a quarter of a century, I have conscientiously abstained from distilled liquors. In the mean time, I have occa- sionally taken a little wine, when in company, and one tumbler of cider at dinner. At length, thinking this unnecessary, having before me the example of a beloved father, who abjured the use of every intox- icating beverage, after he was eighty, and lived with both bodily and mental faculties almost wholly unimpaired, till past the age of ninety-one ; and continually hearing, that the habitual drinkers of ardent spirits exclaim, ' Give us your wine, and we will drink no more rum,' I resolved to abstain from the use of every thing which can intoxicate. This practice I have continued for more than two years ; and the experiment has more than answered my most sanguine ex- pectations. 1. The result is, that my health has been firm and uninter- rupted. I have not had even a common cold. 2. As to corporeal exertions, though in my sixty-third year, I walk ten miles in an afternoon, at the rate of four miles an hour, without fatigue, and, what is better, without thirst. Indeed, since I have abjured cider, I often dine without drink- ing even water, especially when I have soup or broth. As to mental efforts, I never feel so well prepared for close application, as immediately after I have walked ten miles without drink. 3. Uniform health of body is almost necessarily accompanied with cheerfulness of mind. The saddest interruption I find to the latter, is that, in the use of drinks, 1 cannot induce more to 1 be as I am.' That Brookline is not behind the age, in the cause of temperance, may appear from the following fact, that, whereas, within ten years, there have been five places in the town, where spirituous liquors were vended, there is not now, to my knowl- edge, any sold within its precincts. That you may live to witness a similar result, in every part of our land, is the sincere prayer of your brother in the temperance reformation." 18. From Elisha Taylor, Esq., of Schenectady, New York. " When I was five or six years old, I was taken to my father's "case," by an older brother, and drank spirit until I became so drunk as to be nearly twenty-four hours without knowing any- thing. The whole family were alarmed — the neighboring physicians called in, and death was expected to ensue. This 22 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. [536 debauch gave me a decided antipathy to strong drink, which lasted until after I went to my apprenticeship, in my sixteenth year. And it was the jeers and jokes, and being called old woman, sneak, and flunk, and such like names by my shop- mates, which, after some weeks, led me to take a very little spirits in a great deal of water. During the five years of my apprenticeship I continued to drink, very frequently, if not daily. It was the practice of the shop. A few weeks since I came in company with an apprentice of a later date than myself, of the same shop, — a gentleman of wealth, respecta- bility and character — a totaler — and we counted up twenty- one journeymen and apprentices, who had wrought in that shop during the period of our two apprenticeships. But two of these, (except our two selves,) we think are now alive, one is the lowest of drunkards, the other is occasionally intox- icated ; and of the seventeen which are believed to be dead, ten were public drun'cards, and the remaining seven used in- toxicating drinks freely ; and it is known some of them increas- ed the virulence of disease thereby, and very probably, in this way, shortened their days. Verily, I am « brand plucked out of the burning! We all began to drink temperately! and not one designed to be a drunkard ! What desolations, for time and eternity, have been induced by temperate drinking! It is about fifteen years since I quit the use ol distilled spirit as an ordinary beverage. And this I did, because I was fully satisfied that the use of it was doing incalculable mischief, and I began to feel, more deeply than formerly, that I was accountable for the whole of the influence I could exert on all and each of my fellow men. I also found that the extreme acidity of my stomach, (which I am now fully persuaded was induced and strengthened, by the use of alcoholic drinks,) was rendered more distressing by the use of spirits. This particular complaint has been mitigated and my general health improved by their disuse. But " total abstinence from all that can intox- icate, as a beverage," has done more still to relieve the acidity of my stomach and improve my general health. I discontinued the use of wine and beer, as a beverage, about seven years ago, not because I then thought they would, or did hurt me, but because I saw they impaired my influence as a friend and ad- vocate of the cause of temperance. For the same reason, two years since I quit the use of cider, and all acoholic drinks. And 1 can truly say, that total abstinence from all that can intoxicate, is not only safe, but comfortable. It not only is a good example to others, especially our own households, but causes increased health to the system, and equanimity and cheerfulness of temper. It tends to promote discretion and sound judgment, and increased purity of heart and life. 537] NINTH REPORT. — 1836. 23 For a few of the last years, I have spent about a fourth of my time as a voluntary agent to promote the cause of Temper- ance, and have become acquainted with the history of a large number of moderate and immoderate drinkers of alcoholic beverages, from the light champaigns, to fourth proof brandies. I have watched the reformation of some dozens of inebriates, and have been compelled to witness the relapse of many who had "run well" for a time. And I say, without any fear of contradiction, by any one who has paid attention to the subject, that the greatest obstacle to the reformation of drunkards, is the habitual use of wine, beer, cider and cordials, by the respec- table members of community. And in very many, I believe in most cases, intemperate habits are formed — the love of alcoholic drinks induced, by the habitual use of these "lighter beverages." I have not room on this sheet to detail specific cases in confirmation of the foregoing positions, but will refer you to the Albany Temperance Recorder of May, 1835, in which, in an article commencing on the first page, you will find twenty-seven, all real cases, of the reformed and relapsed, proving that " the lighter drinks " take the drunkard back to his intemperance, even when he would reform ; and that they who mean to stand, must not tamper with the foe. I am happy to add, to No. 2, there mentioned— that while he drank his cider, though in lessened quantities, he found the " vile thirst" unsubdued, and a constant warfare was kept up in his throat and stomach, and he, months since, became a totaler. The " vile thirst" is gone, and his eyes are well I rejoice to say that a very great majority of the several hundreds of clergymen, of my acquaintance, are decided friends of the temperance cause, and both by preaching and practice inculcate " total abstinence from all that can intoxicate, as a beverage." The fields of labor, of the few who are exceptions, are, so far as I can recollect, like the "mountains of Gilboa." No dews of divine grace distil on them. And more than this, the drunkard and the young recruits to this army of five hundred thousand drunkards, all make a battery of these clergymen, and say. " Rev. Mr. won't sign your total abstinence pledge," and " Rev. , D. D. chinks his wine and says c It is good.'" " If alcohol is good in wine, so it is in whiskey, and rum." And so these dear brethren, who should be the first to bar the road to death, and pluck sinners from the burnings, are really stumbling blocks, over which drunkards, and temperate drinkers, too, stumb'e into hell. O, if I could arouse these "watchmen," 1 would "cry aloud and spare not," until they should put on the "beautiful garments" of self-denial, and 24 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE S0CIETT. [539 come up to the "help of the Lord," against the desolations and ruins of drunkenness. I am under infinite obligations to Him, who guided me, when I knew him not, and upheld me, while so many have fallen on my right hand and on my left ; and, by His grace, I will labor in this field, and where His providence may appoint. Poor is the return I can make. But I will not be unthankful for the " day of small things." To be humbly grateful for a little, is the way to get more." 19. From the Hon. David Porter, American Charge d'af- faires, at Constantinople, Turkey. " I have received your favor of January 1st, accompanied by a volume of Reports presented to me in behalf of the Execu- tive Committee of the American Temperance Society, and asking for any information I can furnish with regard to the na- ture and effects of intoxicating substances, used in the countries I have visited, and my opinion as to the effects which would fol- low the discontinuance of their use. I beg leave to return through you to the Executive Com- mittee, my sincere thanks for the valuable volume they have presented to me, which doubtless has done much good in the world, and promises much more; and so far as my experience goes, I can safely declare that I know of no intoxicating sub- stances whatever, however used, except as a medicine, but what are injurious to the health and intellect of those who are in the habit of taking them; and I conceive that the discontinuance of the use of them throughout the world would be a jn'eat benefit." 20. From the Hon. Joshua Darling, Chairman of the Exec- utive Committee of the New Hampshire State Temperance Society. " In answer to your inquiries, allow me to say, if my experi- ence can be of any use in promoting the great Temperance reform, I will overcome all scruples of delicacy on the subject, and here submit my narrative to your disposal, to be used as you think best. I am now sixty years of age. It is about seven years since I abandoned the use of ardent spirit. About four years ago, I gave up wine and tobacco; and for one year I have used no cider, nor do I permit its use on my farm or in my family. From early youth, I had been accustomed to the constant, free and unrestrained use of ardent spirit. When in college, over forty years ago, most of the students were in the habit of 539] NINTH REPORT.— 1836. $5 using, and giving to their friends, from (heir own stores, ardent spirit and wine. As to the quantity drank, we did not all conform to the standard of one of our number, who, when inquired of by President Wheelock, answered, " that the least quantity he could put up with, to prevent the water from injuring his system, was from two to three pints daily" — but, with few exceptions, we drank too much for our health, or for our advancement in the acquisition of knowledge. For thirty years, after obtaining my degree, I was engaged in trade ; and, during all that time, I sold the deleterious poison, in large and small quantities, having both a tavern and a retail license for that purpose. Is it much to be wondered at, that during nearly half a century, in which I was in the almost constant use of intoxicating drinks, and daily furnishing them for others for the last thirty years of the time, if the whole man became deeply affected by such a course ? Although in the eye of the world I may not have been considered a confirmed inebriate, as I had my seasons of intermission, and never entirely gave up business, yet I am constrained to confess, that I was descending the downhill path to destruction, and when I seriously reflect on my then situation, it is my deliberate opinion, that, if the blessed temperance reformation had not come to my rescue, I should, like thousands, and tens of thousands of others, who began as 1 did, by moderate drinking, have found, as they have done, the same drunkard's grave. I was constitutionally very nervous, and subject to periodical returns of depression of spirits, and I am fully persuaded, now, that this tendency was greatly increased by the use of stimu- lants, which so enfeebled my nerves that I could hardly, at times, write my name, and this, for the time, induced me to give up corresponding with my friends. But since I have refrained from ardent spirit, and more especially from all intoxicating drinks, and the use of that subtle poison, tobacco, my nervous system has regained more than its wonted tone ; my hand writing is firm, and equal to that of my younger days.* My general health is much improved, and I have a more uniform and constant flow of animal spirits. My experience has convinced me that the free use of intox- icating drinks unfits the mind for study, meditation, and reac- tion ; and incapacitates the subject from performing, prop< : !y, his duties to himself, or to his Creator. In addition to all the other blessings which have, in my c e, followed the change in my habits, I have reason to hope, that by the grace of God, 1 have been led to embrace the Saviour, * And it, truly, is a fine specimen of penmanship. — J. E. 3 26 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. [540 as offered in the gospel. I do, therefore, most earnestly, and affectionately, entreat all persons of every age, and more espe- cially all students, in every stage of their education, to abstain entirely from all intoxicating drinks, and drugs; and to take for their motto, what, through divine goodness my entire family of ten children, have adopted, — ' touch not — taste not — handle not' the destroyer of our peace here, and of our hopes hereafter. To God alone, who is mighty and able to save, by whom my deliverance has been wrought, through the entire abstinence prin- ciple, would I render all the praise." 21. From the Hon. Lewis Cass, Secretary of War, Wash- ington, D. C. " I have received your letter, proposing certain inquiries respecting my experience on the subject, of abstinence from intoxicating liquors. The pressure upon my time is such, that I can only give you a very brief answer. I have never tasted ardent spirits, nor have I, at any time, during life, been in the habit of drinking wine. It is, of course, almost useless to add, that I know nothing of the effects of stimulating liquors upon the constitution, except by observing them in others. I have, perhaps, during a portion of my life, been as much exposed as most men. Having lived, since boyhood, in a new country; having served in the army during war, and having been led by official duties to traverse almost all the western region north of the Ohio, and east of the Mis- sissippi ; it is impossible to say what effects would have re- sulted from the use of stimulating liquors, at periods of* great exposure or fatigue. I can only say that I have done well enough without them." 22. From the Rev. Alonzo Potter, D. D., Professor of In- tellectual and Moral Philosophy, in Union College, Schenectady, New York. " I have to acknowledge your letter of the 20th ult., in which you inquire whether I have received any special benefit from discontinuing the use of intoxicating liquors, as a beverage. 1 answer by stating a fact. During two years which have elapsed since I discontinued the use of wine and porter, the only intox- icating substances which I have been accustomed to take, I have improved materially in health, and have been able to make more prolonged efforts both of body and mind. We are not authorized, from any such fact, to infer that the abstinence and the improved health, stand to each other in the relation of cause and effect But when it is found, as I doubt not it will be in 541] NINTH REPORT. — 1836. 27 the course of your inquiry, that similar experiments by ©thera have been generally, if not invariably, followed by the same results, the relation will be established, and will merit the deep regard of all young men. It may be proper to add, that this change in my habits was not induced by any hope of promoting my health — 1 had rather cherished the belief that some local infirmity, as well as an ex- treme general debility, from which I sometimes suffered, might be partially relieved by the use of good wine, and, in this opin- ion, I found myself confirmed by the advice of judicious friends, and physicians. But it was growing more and more evident that I could not succeed in persuading others to renounce one kind of intoxicating liquor, while I continued the habitual and daily use of another, and that in order to impress upon reformed inebriates the necessity of total abstinence from all that coidd intoxicate, as the only means of persevering in their new course, I must add example to precept. And further, that related as I was, to a large number of interesting young men, the hope ol the country and of the church, it was peculiarly incumbent on me to exhibit a consistent and blameless example. On these ac- counts I felt obliged to deviate from my former practice, but with the expectation of suffering considerable physical discom- fort in my own person, and not a little reproach from others. In both these respects I have been happily disappointed. My friends have appeared perfectly willing to concede me the en- joyment of my liberty in this respect, and I have had, since the expiration of the first few weeks, almost daily consciousness of increased health and enjoyment. While I continued to drink wine, I had repeated attacks of hoarseness and sore throat, which disabled me from the comfortable discharge of my duties as a minister, and induced me at length to retire from them. Since October 1833, I have had but one slight attack of this kind; and there has been no Sunday, on which I could not have of- ficiated in public with ease. I do not suppose that the disuse of wine has been the only cause of this improvement, but I am persuaded that it has been one of the most powerful. It should be understood that for some years previous, I had been accus- tomed to take wine, at dinner, daily, and with as much freedom as was proper in a clergyman, or in a zealous advocate of the temperance cause. In concluding this letter, I cannot refrain from inserting an extract from the private letter of a friend, which I received a few days since. The writer is a gentleman of distinguished opulence and worth, now considerably advanced in life ; and if I felt at liberty to mention his name, it would secure for his re- marks, wherever he is known, the most implicit confidence. 28 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. [542 He says, 'I don't know but I am likely to become a cold wa- ter man. The first day of my stay in , I asked for a bottle of claret ; and was, to my surprise, told that there was no wine kept in the house, and that further, none of the boarders used wine. At the moment I hesitated, but finally concluded that as I was situated, it would not be courteous to interrupt the habits of the house. From this moment I viewed myself as beginning an experiment on the question of total abstinence. I have so far persevered, and may be said almost to have be- come a convert, it being ten weeks since I have confined my- self to the wine of our first parents. So far, I am satisfied that my health, which was good before, has improved. My eyes have been stronger — my intellect clearer — and my sleep more oblivious. Should this experiment result, as I now expect it will, in an entire relinquishment of this species of indulgence, it will be a fact of some little notoriety in my history ; for per- haps there are not many, who, for thirty years past, have taken more pains and lavished more expense in procuring exquisite wines, under the impression that they would cheer not only myself in the evening of life, but others who had acquired sim- ilar habits and similar tastes. What a commentary on the plans and contrivances of poor human wisdom ! Perhaps a death- bed will be needed, to teach us how many of our cares and pains-takings must come to a similar result.' " 23. From the Honorable Walter Lowrie, Secretary of the United States' Senate, Washington, D. C. " I have received your circular, in relation to the special ben- efit to be derived by entire abstinence from the use, as a bever- age, of all intoxicating liquor. I can speak from the personal experience of more than five years ; and without going into detail, I will merely remark, that that experience is entirely favorable to all the particulars men- tioned in your circular ; — and if it were my last request, to my best friend, it would be, abstain entirely, and at all times, from the use, as a beverage, of all intoxicating liquor." 24. From Edward C. Delavan, Esq., Chairman of the Executive Committee of the New York State Temperance So- ciety, of Albany, IN. Y. " To your inquiry relative to the effects on my health of the disuse of intoxicating drinks — I reply briefly, that several years have now elapsed since I have practiced total abstinence, and during that time my health has regularly improved. For more than twenty years I have been severely afflicted with chronic, 543] NINTH REPORT. — 1836. 29 and most obstinate constipation of the bowels, and, at times, to a degree that almost deprived me of comfort. My physician as- sured me, that, from original temperament, or confirmed habit, or the combined influence of both, he had no expectation that I should obtain any thing more than temporary relief by the use of medicine. But I can now state, and 1 do it with sincere grati- tude, that since I have abandoned alcohol, under all its various disguises, and substituted cold water as my only beverage, I have been gradually and constantly improving in this particular, and that I have now scarcely a vestige of the complaint remaining. During the year past, 1 have sustained greater mental effort, than at any previous period of my life, yet my health has steadily improved ; and I recently ascertained that, during the same time, I had gained in weight nine pounds, seven more than I ever weighed before. It has often been remarked, (and as far as my knowledge extends it is true, and I have made many inquiries to ascertain the fact,) that there are i'ew indi- viduals, who have arrived at mature age, but have some com- plaint, or infirmity ; it may be slight, in many cases, but still the defect is acknowledged. Now it is believed, that the use of intoxicating drink, even in moderation, will find out, not to cure, but to aggravate and increase that defect ; and, if used and persevered in, under the influence of the fatal error that it is medicinal, there is a high degree of probability that the overpowering appetite will be formed which nothing can satisfy, short of the destruction of the whole moral, as well as physical health of the victim. As it is now ascertained that three-fourths of all the crime and pauperism in our land are occasioned by intoxicating drinks ; it is my honest conviction, that the same proportion of the calls of physicians, especially in cities, are from the same cause. 1 have remarked a great increase of healthfulness in many families, that had abandoned all drinks that can intoxicate, and nearly an entire absence of the physician. Suffice it to sav, in my own case, the improvement of health I have experienced, by total abstinence, has amply compensated me for all I may have done to advance this great and good work in which you, my dear sir, are so laudably and successfully engaged. A principal obstacle in the way of convincing persons in the moderate use of wine of its injurious tendency is, that they think it does them good, that they would suffer by giving it up. But would such persons only make the experiment of entire abstinence for a kw months faithfully, till the system should have time to recover its natural, and healthful action, inde- pendent of its accustomed stimulus, and till the appetite pro- duced by that stimulus had subsided, I feel assured they would, 3* 30 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. [544 almost without exception feel, and candidly acknowledge, that they had been greatly mistaken ; and that their individual good, regardless of the example to others, imperiously required this self-denial. That your efforts may continue to be blessed, as a means of inducing the people of the United States to abandon the use, as a beverage, of all those drinks that produce intoxication, and turn to the full fountains of pure water to allay their thirst, is the constant prayer of your affectionate friend." 25. From the Honorable Theodore Frelinghuysen, of New- ark, New Jersey, late United States' Senator. " 1 have been favored with your circular, requesting the results of my experience in the matter of entire abstinence from the use of intoxicating liquor — and especially as to its effects on health — on bodily and mental ability, and the feelings of the mind. I can from personal experience bear decided testimony to the happiest results, in all these particulars, arising from entire abstinence. For the last nine years I have wholly abstained from ardent spirits, and habitually from all fermented liquors. The last year, which has been the period in which I have relinquished even the occasional use of wine, I have enjoyed better health, than in either of the nine. And it is an interesting and grateful fact to me, that protracted and severe mental efforts can now be borne without weariness — bodily exercise and labor are refreshing — and the mind is far more cheerful, composed and self-possessed, than in the days of infatuation, when the spirits and wine cup, met us, on every sideboard, and assailed us at every table.'' 26. From John T. Norton, Esq., of Farmington, Con. " I was in the habit, until about eight years since, of using moderately, all sorts of intoxicating drinks, mostly, however, cider, strong beer, and wine. My constitution was originally an uncommonly good one ; but about twelve years since, it yielded, under a great pressure of business, exposure, and entire igno- rance and carelessness in regard to diet. Subsequent experience has convinced me that even my moderate use of intoxicating drinks, contributed not a little to this result. Certain I am, that these drinks, particularly wine, and porter, or beer, to which I resorted, by advice of friends and physicians, in order to build up my debilitated system, only increased the evil, and I became incapacitated for almost all bodily and mental effort. Traveling was of little use to me, because I thought the more I was de- bilitated, the more I required nourishing food ; and I believed 545] NINTH REPORT. 1836. 31 that such tonics as wine and strong beer were indispensable to enable me to retain the little strength that remained. Thus I continued for about twelve months, without any mate- rial change, when I consulted an eminent physician, in Philadel- phia, who said, " Your mind and body need rest — go home, live on bread and water, until the tone of your stomach is restored ; avoid anxiety, and exercise moderately every day." Had he added, "Drink nothing hit cold water i/ie rent of your days" he might have saved me much bodily suffering, and added great- ly to the value of seven or eight years of the prime of my life. I returned home, and obeyed his injunctions almost literally, ab- staining entirely from animal food, and drinking nothing stronger than very weak tea. In six weeks, 1 had gained Mesh and strength so much as to be capable of attending to business as usual, and felt authorised to resume, in some measure, my ordi- nary diet. 1 fear I shall be too minute, and will only say, that having learned the secret of resorting to hi cad and water, when nature would no longer bear to be abused, I regained, and was enabled to preserve, a tolerable degree of health ; but 1 considered my fine constitution as materially impaired, and had no expectation of again enjoying perfect health. About eight years since, I signed the pledge of total abstinence from distilled spirits — strong beer I had already learned was in- jurious to me, and seldom used it. In a year or two more, I came to the same conclusion in relation to cider. Still 1 was under the delusion, that fermented drinks were useful in general, and only injurious to me, owing to my impaired constitution. I continued to use wine occasionally at dinner, in company, and when fatigued — indeed, a day seldom passed, that I did not drink one or two glasses, taking particular care to procure the choicest kinds of ]\ladeira, port, pure juice, &ic. About four years since, 1 became satisfied that it was all bad for me, and since that time, with perhaps half a dozen excep- tions the first two years, I have totally abstained ; and I can truly say, on reviewing my whole progress, that in proportion as I got rid of alcohol, I got rid of disease; and during no part of my life, not even before my constitution began to fail, have I enjoyed such uniform health of body and mind, as during the last two years. In relation to bodily powers, I am as capable of great and long continued efforts, as at any period of my life ; and in- deed I suffer less from exposure, seldom having more than the incipient symptoms of a cold, and recover immediately from fatigue. 32 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. [546 As to mental efforts — my pursuits have not led me to severe exercises of this nature, yet I am conscious that my mind is much more clear and capable of effort than formerly. My own experience, as also my observation of others, con- vinces me that intoxicating drink is an enemy to true cheerful- ness, kindness, and uniformity. I would not, for a moment, be understood to mean, that any thing but the grace of God, and a sense of pardoned sin, can give true cheerfulness and peace of mind ; but I fully believe, that intoxicating drink has been a great disturber of the Christian's cheerfulness, and has often curdled the warm current of kindness and love, that should ever flow from a Christian's heart. My opportunities for observation, have been rather better than ordinary, having been engaged for twenty-four years, in New York and Albany, in extensive mercantile and other business, and having for eight years, been much interested in the temper- ance cause, and a member of the executive committee of the New York State Temperance Society, since its first formation ; and having had many other advantages, which it is not necessary to enumerate. I will, therefore, as briefly as possible, give something more of the fruits of my experience and observa- tion ; and could, 1 believe, establish all my positions by facts, illustrations, and arguments, did the limits of such a communica- tion allow me. 1. Intoxicating drinks, of every description, are always hurt- fid to every individual who uses them, as a beverage. 1 know they were so to myself — hundreds of my friends and acquaint- ances, who now experience the benefits of abstinence, have told me that they were always injurious to them — and I have now in my mind's eye, a large number of individuals, many of whom I greatly love and esteem, who continue to use intoxicating drinks temperately, and who are affected, in different degrees to be sure, but in the same general manner, as I myself was ; and as all others, ivho are now free, acknowledge themselves to have been affected. I have watched closely the effects of intoxicating drinks, when used the most temperately, in all classes of society ; the rich and the poor ; the most exalted in rank, intellect, re- finement, and morals, as well as the more humble ; the merchant and the mechanic — the employer and the laborer. Whatever they drink of this nature, whether cider, beer, wine, or brandy, the same general effects are visible. Alcohol is written legibly upon all who drink it. 2. The use of intoxicating drinks, lessens the benefit of tak- ing nourishing food. I am well acquainted with laboring peo- ple, both mechanics and farmers, who formerly used cider and beer temperately, but who now abstain, and who say, they enjoy 547] NINTH REPORT. — 1836. 33 what they eat better, have better health, better temper, better spirits, than formerly, and experience less fatigue from labor. 3. A moderate use of intoxicating drinks, tends to make men of refined and intellectual character, and Christians too, as well as men of a different character, impatient of control, restraint, or opposition, uncharitable, and, in a greater or less degree, to im- pair their intellectual and moral perceptions. I mean that these dispositions are indulged, and are more manifest in those who use these drinks, than they would be if they abstained from them. 4. Intoxicating drinks, especially cider, beer, and wine, are exceedingly dangerous to youth, and should be avoided by them, as they would avoid a deadly serpent. When 1 was not more than twelve years of age, and subsequently, during a clerkship in New York and Albany, it was common for me, and also for my companions, to drink strong beer and wine. Cider and strong beer were daily furnished at our homes and boarding houses. On recalling the names of the companions of my youth, more than half have gone down to premature and dishonored graves — of the remainder, full half live dishonored lives. The few that have been spared to any degree of honor and useful- ness, have reason to bless God, who interposed for them, for they were equally exposed. 5. Parents and employers, who use intoxicating drinks tem- perately, contribute to sow the seeds of intemperance, and to form a taste for alcoholic stimulants in their children, and the youth under their care ; and, I fear, in the great day of retribu- tion, many a youth, whose hopes for this life and another have been destroyed by alcohol, will remind his parent, or employer, that he first put the cup to his lips. 6. Cider, strong beer, and wine, are at the bottom, they are the foundation of intemperate drinking. In the country, particu- larly in New England, cider, rather than water, has been the common beverage. Until within a few years, I believe I may safely say, in a majority of the families of New England, the water pitcher was never placed upon the dinner table ; and I may add, the mug of cider had its place, on a majority of the tea and breakfast tables. A love for stimulating drinks was thus formed, and a supposed necessity for such drinks with food, was thus created, in youth, and almost in infancy. What wonder then, that drunkenness has so lamentably prevailed, even in fa- vored New England ? What wonder, that her sons, as they emigrated to other regions, where their favorite cider could not be obtained, should substitute beer, and wine, and brandy ? In cities, and indeed in many families in the country, children have been regularly taught, both by precept and example, to drink 34 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. [548 wine, to hear its praises, and to discuss its qualities. I have my- self given it to my children of four and six years old, and taught them to drink healths, when they could scarcely lisp the word. Those who could not afford wine, yielding to fashion, and to supposed necessity, and to gratify their early form- ed tastes, have resorted to beer, or to stronger drinks. Many lessons are given, it is true, to young children, even in the nursery, with a piece of sugar immersed in gin, or brandy; but the great school of intemperance, has been taught under the auspices of cider, beer, and wine ; those drinks, which the good and the wise have heretofore thought harmless, and in- deed useful. I fear I have already said more than was expected from any one individual, and that I have not confined myself strict- ly to the objects you had in view. With many wishes and prayers, for the success of the cause which you have, under God, been so instrumental in promoting, I am yours, with sin- cere respect and esteem." 27. From the Rev. Orin Fowler, of Fall River, Mass. " In reply to yours, recently received, I can say, that I have abstained for a number of years, from all ordinary use of all intoxicating drinks, (which I never took largely,) water having been, for a long time, my only drink. My health is perfectly sound and has been so for twenty years, in which time T have had but few pains and aches, except during a short sickness some ten years since ; and I feel as youthful and vigorous (I am forty-four) as when I was twenty-four. I have, for years, and at all seasons, preached, uniformly, three, jrequently four, sermons on the Sabbath, and several others during the week; besides making more than one thousand pastoral visits, annually, and attending to much other labor, bodily and men- tal ; and believe that upon my water drinking, regular diet, and early rising system, with the divine blessing, I may hope to be young, vigorous, healthy, for many years yet to come. If I could reach every ear in the nation, and especially of every minister, and every student, I would say, drink nothing but water — no ardent spirits — no intoxicating liquor — take no tobacco in any form — retire to bed at half-past nine and rise at four, the year round — be regular in your diet, (always exer- cising half an hour before eating) and you may expect sound health — capability for great and continual efforts of body and mind, together with cheerfulness, uniformity, and elasticity. Such is my practice — such is my experience. 549] NINTH REPORT. 1836. 35 28. From the Rev. Samuel Miller, D. D., Professor of Ecclesiastical History in the Theological Seminary at Princeton, New Jersey. " Your communication of November 17th reached me on the 25th, and would have been acknowledged before, had not en- gagements, of the most urgent kind, deprived me of the requi- site leisure. It gives me peculiar pleasure to comply with your request in regard to the use of all intoxicating drinks, be- cause I verily believe that the well-being of society, and espe- cially the best interest of the rising generation, must be con- sidered as deeply involved in the banishment of such drinks from habitual use. You request a statement of my own expe- perience in reference to this matter. I was never in the habit of using ardent spirits ; and, during the earlier period of my life, seldom drank wine. Yet my ab- stinence from it, prior to the forty-third year of my age, cannot be said to have been either systematical or rigid. In that year I had a severe fit of illness, in recovering from which, the use of some sound old wine which was, providentially, within my reach, wTas so strikingly beneficial, that my physician advised me to continue it after my recovery ; and, indeed, expressed the opin- ion that I ought to take, at least, one glass, if not two, of good wine daily, to the end of life. I followed his advice for more than sixteen years ; I very seldom drank more than one glass, and never more than two glasses. In this moderate use, I was almost invariably regular ; and great were the pains to which 1 submitted, from time to time, for obtaining wine of pure and indubitable qualities, not as a matter of luxury, but of health. During all this time my health, though not bad, was delicate i and toward the latter part of the sixteen years just mentioned, there was every appearance that my constitution was giving way, and that a premature and feeble old age was creeping upon me. Still I had no suspicions that wine was hurting me, and only supposed that, in spite of its benefits, my sedentary habits were undermining my strength. More than six years ago, when I was approaching my sixti- eth year, hearing so much said about the mischiefs of stimulat- ing drinks, and entering, as I did, with cordial zeal, into the temperance reformation, I determined to go beyond those around me, and to abstain not merely from ardent spirits, but make the experiment, for "at least three months, what would be the effect of an immediate and entire abstinence from wine, and all intoxicating beverage. Accordingly I broke off at once and from that day to this, have not tasted wine, excepting at the sacramental table. I have also abstained, during the same time, from cider, beer, and every species of drink stronger than 36 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. [550 water, and never set any of them on my table, unless they are called for by peculiar circumstances. The experiment had not proceeded more than a single month, before I became satisfied that my abstinence was not only distinctly, but very strikingly beneficial. I was so far from suffering any injury from the ab- straction of my accustomed stimulus, that the effect was all the other way. My appetite was more uniform and healthful ; my digestion decidedly improved ; my strength increased ; my sleep more comfortable ; and all my mental exercises more clear, pleasant, and successful. Instead of awakening in the morning writh parched lips, and with a sense of feverish heat, such feelings were almost entirely banished ; and instead of that nervous irritability which, during my indulgence in wine, was seldom wholly absent, I am now favored with a state of feeling, in this respect, very greatly improved. In short, my experi- ence precluded all doubt, that the entire disuse of all intoxicat- ing drinks has been connected, in my case, with benefits of the most signal kind ; with much firmer health than I enjoyed twenty years ago; with more cheerful feelings; with greater alacrity of mind ; and with a very sensible increase of my capa- city for labor of every kind. I can never cease to be grateful that I was led to make this experiment; and think it is highly probable that if I had not adopted this course, I should not now have been in the land of the living. I have had occasion frequently to observe that some who, like myself, drink nothing but water, are very liberal in their use of that element. They drink it often and largely, and es- pecially make a very free use of it at dinner. This was once my own habit ; but I became fully convinced that it was not salutary, at least to me. The truth is, since I have left off the use of all intoxicating drinks, I seldom experience the sensation of thirst. Often I do not touch a particle of any kind of drink at dinner, and even when I am overtaken with thirst, I find that, in my case, it is better slaked with a few tea-spoons full of water, taken slowly, and at several swallows, than by a whole tumbler full, or double that quantity, as many are accus- tomed to take — I am very confident that we may take too much, even of water ; and that deluging the stomach even with the most innocent fluid, tends to interfere with perfect digestion. I feel a deep interest, my clear sir, in the reception and pre- valence of these opinions. It would .be well for the church and the world, if our present race of young men, especially those in our seminaries and colleges, could be prevailed upon to enter into the spirit and practice of this doctrine. How many brok- en constitutions ; how many cases of miserable nervous debili- ty > how many degraded characters ; how many melancholy 551] NINTH REPORT. — 1836. 37 wrecks of domestic peace, and of official usefulness, would be spared, if we could make our beloved young men believe us, when we speak thus ! May the Lord enlighten and counsel them in his time ! " 29. From William A. Alcott, M. D., of Boston, Mass., author of the Young Man's Guide, and editor of the Moral Reformer, Parley's Magazine, he. &c. " I was early accustomed to the use of cider, in large quanti- ties. Occasionally, too, I diank distilled liquors; almost always, however, from the earliest years, with strong doubts of their utility. The utility, and even necessity of cider, for many years, at least, 1 never doubted. But water — pure cold water — I never drank in early life, except to cool myself. From the age of 25 to 30 I began to doubt still more strongly, the good effects of distilled spirit. I seldom drank it except when exposed in an unusual degree, to cold or wet. At about 28 years of age, I began to abstain entirely, from ardent spirit, and soon after from cider. At 32 I abandoned all fermented drinks. Before I discontinued the use of narcotic, and intoxicating drinks, I was threatened with consumption ; this tendency still remains, but is every year diminishing. My general health has greatly improved. I think my constitution, of both mind and body, more juvenile than six years ago. For six years past, all my senses, except hearing, have improved greatly; but my hearing remains the same. My taste, and my sight, are remarkable. As to taste, water, formerly so insipid, has now a surprising sweetness. I must add, in closing, that many circumstances in which 1 have been placed, during the last six years, have been far less favorable to health than for- merly. 1 was bred to the farm, till twenty-four years of age, and accustomed to much exercise in the open air. Since then, I have, at times greatly neglected air and exercise ; yet I have performed excessive labors; enough, frequently, for two ordinary men. I have studied much by night, or rather morning, for I rise at three or four o'clock, all the year round. I have lost nothing by my temperance, but have gained immensely ; a spe- cies of property, too, which worlds of extraordinary stimulants would not now induce me to part with." 30. From Charles A. Lee, M. D., of New York. " I have the pleasure of acknowledging the receipt of a circular, issued by the Amer'can Temperance Society, request- ing answers to certain questions therein proposed. I cheer- 4 38 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. [552 fully comply with this request ; as I am satisfied, if the expe- rience of those who have tried the plan of total abstinence from alcoholic drinks, for a few years past, in our country, were fairly spread before the public, it would furnish such a mass of testi- mony in favor of the system, that the most sceptical would be induced to give it a trial. It seems indeed very singular, that mankind should ever have adopted the opinion, that such an un- natural stimulus as alcohol was necessary to man ; or that it could be used, without such a violation and derangement of the organic laws of life, as to be totally incompatible with a state of health. And it appears no less strange, that it should be necessary to em- ploy arguments, derived from statistical facts and personal expe- rience, to prove the inestimable benefits which flow from a strict course of temperance. But so it is; and this belief, to which I have alluded, is to be ranked anions those popular errors, or de- lusions, which, in different ages, and in all countries, have more or less extensively prevailed. When the temperance reformation began, in 1826, it found me, as it did a large majority of my fellow citizens, addicted to the moderate use, so called, of alcoholic liquors. I took brandy with my dinner, not only as a corrective of the bad qualities of our water, but principally to aid digestion ; and fermented drinks, in conformity to the hospitable laws and regrdations of society, and also to furnish strength and support under fatigue, and those other numerous circumstances, which were then supposed to jus- tify, and even require their use. It is true, I had many misgiv- ings, as to their utility, but I had never duly considered the in- fluence, which my habits might have upon my physical and in- tellectual well-beings— 1 had never properly appreciated the im- portance of this study, so much neglected, and yet so essential to our welfare, as well as the progress and ultimate triumph of tem- perance principles. I had then been laboring under confirmed dyspepsia, since the second year of my college life, 1819, and had experienced a full proportion of the nameless bodily and mental horrors of that protean disease. My lungs were so weak, that I could with difficulty speak aloud ; my nervous system was deranged and shattered, and my general strength so reduced, that slight exertion caused much fatigue. I was constantly troubled with head-ache, and depiession of spirits, and an inca- pacity for mental effort. My other symptoms I need not particu- larize, as they were such as are generally found connected with this complaint. As soon as my attention was particularly directed to the ef- fects of ardent spirits, which was in the year 1827, I formed the resolution of abstaining from their use. I acknowledge, it was no sacrifice to do it, as I never had used them but in a moderate 553] NINTH REPORT. — 1836. 39 manner, and as, moreover, I reserved the privilege of drinking wine, beer, and cider, under the conviction that they were inno- cent, and at times, even necessary. A careful observation of their effects, however, soon satisfied me, as in the case of distilled spirit, that I invariably was injured by their use, and I therefore gradually came on to the plan, which ought to have been adopt- ed at first; viz. total abstinence. I have thus tried alcohol in most of the forms in which it is used, and under the circum- stances in which it has been supposed to be innocent, if not use- ful, and I can conscientiously say, that, / have never received any benefit from it. As a restorative, in case of fatigue, it was truly "a mocker ;" appearing for a short time to give strength, but always inducing greater lassitude and debility, when its first effect had subsided, and placing the system in that condition, in which it could not sustain extra exertion, without great exhaus- tion. After abandoning the use of alcoholic drinks, I found my general health improved ; my dyspepsia vanished ; my hypo- chondria and head-ache disappeared ; and my strength much in- creased. I could not doubt that this beneficial change was owing to my abstaining from these stimulants, for my habits, with respect to exercise, diet, &c, were the same as before. I was also enabled to apply myself to study, with pleasure and without head-ache, which I have scarcely been able to do for several years. When fatigued, which is very seldom, I find a glass of water, or milk and water, or lemonade, a much better cordial, than any kind of intoxicating liquor ever was. I can also bear heat or cold better than formerly, and am not liable to get sick from exposure, or over-exertion. While under the old regime, I had frequent attacks of illness, and some of a serious nature ; but since I have adopted my present course, I have not found occasion to take a particle of medicine, nor have I been confined to my bed a single day. And why should we not ex- pect such beneficial results to flow from abstaining from even the moderate use of poison ? It is now proved, by the experiments of Magendie, and other physiologists, that if alcohol be introduc- ed into the stomach, in any quantity, it goes directly, unchanged, into the blood, and unassimilated, is carried to every organ and every fibre in the system. The unnatural excitement thus occa- sioned tends to weaken and derange, and not to strengthen or nourish ; and if taken in combination with nutritious substances, it goes far to neutralize their otherwise valuable properties. My own experience, therefore, as well as observation, fully satisfies me, that the moderate use, so called, of alcoholic drinks, tends directly to debilitate the digestive organs ; to cloud the under- standing, weaken the memory, unfix the attention, and confuse ail the mental operations ; besides inducing a host of nervous 40 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. [554 maladies. The mode of reasoning usually adopted, of compar- ing alcohol with food, and then showing that, as the moderate use of the latter is necessary and useful, so also it must be with the former, is perfectly delusive and fallacious ; for, as alcohol con- tains no nutriment, and cannot be assimilated, it is absurd to in- stitute such a comparison. The fact is, there is no analogy whatever, between the two substances. Alcohol may and does stimulate the nervous system, and thus excite to extraordinary efforts ; but it can give no real strength ; it can create no phyi- cal power; but like the action of the galvanic or electric fluid, it rouses the excitability, while at the same time it exhausts it. Literary and professional men have labored under a deep delu- sion on this point. While much excuse is to be found in the exhausting nature of their pursuits, and other temptations, to which they are peculiarly exposed, there would seem at present but slight apology for persisting in a habit, which, according to the recorded experience of thousands, is fruitful in evils. They will not claim, that they give either vigor or clearness to mental operations ; that they communicate nourishment to the body ; or that they are absolutely necessary, under any of the ordinary circumstances of life. Why then should they not be given up ? My judgment fully approves the correctness of the following re- marks of Dr. Trotter. ' My whole experience assures me that wine is no friend to vigor or activity of mind. It whirls the fancy beyond the judgment, and leaves the body and soul in a state of listless indolence and sloth. The man, that on arduous occasions is to trust to his own judgment, must preserve an equi- librium of mind, alike proof against contingencies, as internal passions. He must be prompt in his decisions ; bold in enter- prise ; fruitful in resources ; patient under expectation ; not elat- ed with success ; or depressed with disappointment. But if his spirits are of that standard, as to need a filip from wine, he will never conceive or execute any thing magnanimous or grand. In a survey of my whole acquaintance and friends, I find that water drinkers possess the most equal tempers, and cheerful dispo- sitions.' As a physician, I have been led to believe, from pretty exten- sive observation, that the premature exhaustion induced by the moderate use of alcoholic drinks, is one of the chief causes of the frequent failure of health, and serious attacks of disease, which literary and professional men so often experience. An intimate friend of mine, unaccustomed to the habitual use of fer- mented liquors, was induced to take a single glass of wine after dinner, for several weeks in succession. He was at length at- tacked with severe erysipelatous inflammation of the face and head, which required very free depletion to subdue. He dropped 555] NINTH REPORT. 1836. 41 the use of wine, and has never had a similar attack. He has no doubt that the disease was occasioned by the wine, acting as a predisposing cause ; in which opinion I coincided. 1 could re- late a great number of cases, where there could be no question, that ill health was induced and continued, by what is generally termed the moderate use of alcoholic liquors, though the individ- uals themselves were perfectly unconscious of it, and probably would not have thanked a physician for making such a sug- gestion. But a change in their habits, and a corresponding change in their health and feelings, have convinced them, that such was the fact. I might here quote resolutions, passed unani- mously by various medical societies in our country; and then add the weighty authorities of Cheyne, Trotter, Beddoes, Hoffman, Abercrombie, Astley Cooper, James Johnson, Rush, Hosack, and a host of other physicians of the first respectability, to prove, that in physical strength ; in the capability of enduring labor and fatigue ; and in the vigor and clearness of the intellectual powers, water drinkers far exceed those who substitute for the pure element, distilled or fermented liquors. But if there should still remain a doubt in the minds of any, I see no possible way of removing it, but by putting the matter to the test of experi- ment. If a fair trial does not satisfy the individual, that total abstinence is far preferable to moderate use, then it will be the first instance which I have ever known, where such a result has not followed." 31. From the Honorable Judge Hall, of Wilmington, Del. i: In 1803, in my twenty-third year, I removed from Massachu- setts, and settled in a part of Delaware, reputed unhealthy, and especially trying to the constitution of strangers. The preserva- tion of my health became my anxious concern. This circum- stance has perhaps been the occasion of imparting some accuracy and discrimination to my experience upon the subject of my health. I was advised by physicians of the first standing, to use tem- perately spiritnus liquor, diluted with water. Under this advice, I commenced this use, and made it a habit. After I had been in this habit many years, under a conviction that it was necessary to my health, about the year 1820, I noticed the article Medi- cine, in the Edingburgh Encyclopedia. I was startled by this passage of it. 'With respect to the stronger wines,' (Madeira, Port, Sher- ry, Lisbon, Sicily, Teneriffe, fyc), ' we conceive that their habitual use is never necessary, and is generally hurtful — still less is the employment of distilled spirits to be allowed as an ar-* 4* 42 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. [556 ticle of diet. Their action upon the stomach, and viscera, is decidedly injurious ; while their effect upon the system in gen- eral is most unfavorable, and of a nature which tends to under- mine all the powers, mental and corporeal.' At this time the temperance reformation had not begun. The writer of this article, in this passage, had in view simply the ac- tion of a matter of diet upon the human system. The article evinced him to be master of his subject ; practical as well as learned. His opinion was obviously formed with care; not a speculative suggestion, but the instruction of enlightened investi- gation. It taught me, that what I was daily using, and believed myself under necessity to continue to use, acted with decided in- jury upon the stomach and viscera, the very seat of health and life, and with baneful effect upon the mental powers, the impair- ing of which is justly ranked as the most dreadful and alarming of the evils of our present state. Such, however, was the ef- fect upon my mind of prejudice, arising from the habit I had contracted by medical advice, that for several years I remained under the conviction, that the use I made of spirituous liquor, was beneficial, indeed necessary, to my health. I supposed, that this use was peculiarly suited to my constitution ; that I needed it, and was not liable to the same detriment that would result to more robust frames and sanguine temperaments. But I was led into a course of inquiry, observation, and experiment ; and at last, in the beginning of May 1827, I abandoned the use of spiritous liquor. During this time, I had made trial of porter, ale, and strong beer ; and I had been convinced, that these liquors were injurious to me. On abandoning the use of spirit- uous liquor, in May 1827, as the received doctrine of the time was, that there must be some substitute, I used wine ; procuring the kind most approved by physicians, and the purest of that kind. I began with the daily use of two common wine glasses diluted with an equal quantity of water ; I diminished this to one wine glass, diluted in like manner; and in about four months, near the end of August 1827, I discontinued the use of wine ; confining myself, for drink, to water, with the exception of the customary use of tea and coffee ; and I have since entirely ab- stained from the use, either for medicine or beverage, of all in- toxicating liquor. When I commenced this course of total abstinence, August 1827, the temperance reformation had not reached us. My de- termination was the result of careful and long continued investi- gation. I had used intoxicating liquors, in the full persuasion, that this use was beneficial, indeed, indispensable to my enjoy- ment of health. It was only by diligently searching facts, and bringing them together, (facts which, without my attention being 557] NINTH REPORT. — 1836. 43 strongly directed, I should not have noticed or heeded,) that the settled state of ray mind was broken up, so as to admit the light and influence of truth. I make this remark, to present this sug- gestion. We do not know the effect of habit. It is a power, which, while it requires the highest energy to break it, is impal- pable ; and we can scarcely be roused to exert ourselves against it. When we contract a habit, with a view to a particular pur- pose, we suppose that it answers the purpose, and rest in this as a settled point. Our supposition may be directly contrary to fact, while the habit formed upon this supposition will disqualify us from apprehending the fact. I have known several go down to premature graves, through the use of what they employed to sustain life, in the sincere conviction that what was in truth de- stroying them, was the only means of their preservation. The danger of this perversion of mind is not enough regarded. We see strongly marked cases of this perversion, and conclude, that the wilfully wrong headed only can be subject to it ; but there are cases in which it arises unknown, and rests unsuspected, upon the intelligent, the discerning, the moral ; blasting useful- ness, and leading to much undesigned evil. I ought to add ; in March, 18'27, I first made profession of re- ligion. I was then brought to contemplate, in juster views than I had ever taken, the worship of God. I saw something of the doctrine, " God is a Spirit ; and they that worship him, must worship in spirit and in truth." This worship must be the sober, pure, genuine work of the heart, in full self-possession. It is the duty of every one, at all times, to be in a suitable state to render this worship ; not to be in such a state, if proceeding from our own act, is an ungrateful and inexcusable sin. A mind excited by artificial stimulus, is not in this state. Its offering would be strange fire. I do not mean that any use of intoxicat- ing liquor would produce the evil here apprehended ; but, for security against producing it, the use must be so scrupulously and carefully limited, while the tendency to transgress this limit, or indeed not to fix at first within the safe bound, is so great, that no one without urgent cause, should encounter the hazard of offending. This was among the considerations influencing my determination. It would not be true nor just to omit it. In the fall of the year following that in which I entered upon this course of abstinence, I was sick, of disease common to that season of the year, and from which I had frequently suffered in previous years. I have not since suffered from it. When I was convalescent, my physician, a strictly temperate man, ad- vised me to use wine. I had always before used it in like circumstances. I now refused ; rejecting this advice, because I had been convinced by practical observation, and what I 44 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. [55& deemed just philosophical reasoning, that wine did not possess the restorative virtue attributed to it. For a short time, two days or so, I suffered, from exhaustion, unpleasant feelngs, from which, I believe, wine would have relieved me. But the care- ful use of nourishing food soon removed them ; and I regained my usual state of health and strength in less than one half the time I had ever before done after a similar case of sickness. When the cholera was in this place, in 1832, many suffered from peculiar debility. I was among this number. The same physician advised me to use wine. I, on the same ground, again rejected his advice. I am satisfied my course was cor- rect, justified by experience. In every other particular, I fol- lowed this physician's advice. I am now in the ninth year, (and within about four months of its completion,) of strict total abstinence from the use, either for beverage, or medicine, of all intoxicating liquor. I have noticed my experience, and contrasted it with that of the twenty-four preceding years, while I temperately used these liquors. The result of my observation, is — 1. My health is much improved. I never suffered much from sickness ; I was never dangerously ill ; but I can clearly perceive, that the use of intoxicating liquor, although temperate, did impart a feverish tendency to my constitution ; so that what used to end in fever of three or four days' sickness, requiring ac- tive medicine, now passes off as a slight indisposition, like a common cold, scarcely requiring medicine, rarely confining me to the house, and then not entirely disqualifying me from my usual employment. There is an elasticity in my constitution, and I have a command over it, different from what was the case in the former period ; so that I easily throw off symptoms of ap- proaching disease, that used to terminate in fever ; and I am con- vinced, that if in 1803 I had adopted the course of entire abst't- nence from intoxicating liquors, with the same care I otherwise used in respect to my health, I should have escaped nearly all the sickness with which I have been afflicted. 2. I can endure, without inconvenience, cold, heat, and fa- tigue. My power for continued bodily labor, and mental exer- tion, is increased. I feel in a constant state of fitness for mental exertion. In this respect, comparing my present and former experience, I believe, that through the use of intoxicating liquors, though temperate, I sustained a loss of at least the twelfth part of the working hours of every day ; a rate, according to which I lost, in the twenty-four years of temperate use of intox- icating liquor, two years. Yet mine was, in general estimation, a life of unusual application and industry ; and my loss was not one third that which commonly happens from the like cause. 559] NINTH REPORT. 1836. 45 This is a point on which there is too little consideration, in con- nection with this subject. The loss and misimprovement of time! the neglect or misuse of opportunities ! failing to gain what was within reach of adequate exertion ! Nothing but the sight, di- rected and sharpened to look into these things, will ever discern what immense loss can be suffered, un perceived. I know particularly three persons, who many years ago aban- doned the use of intoxicating liquor, and entered upon a course of total abstinence. The health of all of them was greatly im- proved ; their life is protracted in old age. In respect to two of them, whose bodily frames are not robust, their ability to endure cold, heat, and fatigue, is remarkable. I am confident, their course of abstinence has greatly contributed to this. They all declare, in unqualified terms, the blessing of the course they have adopted — speaking of it as incalculably beneficial to them. I noticed, for several years before I entered upon the course of total abstinence, that those persons who refrained from all intoxi- cating liquors, appeared to be always in health, not suffering, like others, from the sickness of the season. I have noticed, that eminent physicians, in prescribing diet to invalids, always interdicted, as part of their prescription, spirituous and other liquors. 1 have noticed, that persons in the use of common conversation, when speaking of one who was sick, if they spoke of his being a very temperate man, always added an expecta- tion of his recovery ; and that, on the contrary, the fact of a sick person having been a free liver, was always joined with a proportionate apprehension of a fatal termination of his disease. And I have never seen a person, or heard of one, who has made reasonable trial of a course of entire abstinence from in- toxicating liquor, who denies that it is attended with great ad- vantages, or suggests any evil incident to it." 32. From Benjamin Silliman, M. D., LL. D., Professor of Chemistry, Pharmacy, Mineralogy, and Geology, in Yale Col- lege, New Haven, Connecticut. " At about forty-three years of age, I suffered an almost entire prostration of health, in consequence of excessive labors, and affliction, from the sickness and death of several of my children. During several years, in which 1 was sinking, I tried in vain, under medical direction, the most approved forms of stimulus, joined with the most nutritious and varied diet. When at length, my powers were almost broken down, I was persuaded by a friend, to abandon the use of wine and every other alcoholic stimulus, and to depend upon a small quantity of bread, crack- ers, rice, and little animal muscle, or other simple kinds of food 46 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. [560 with water, milk, or other mild diluent drinks, omitting every thing that contains alcohol. W-thin a few weeks, my health began to mend, and, at the end of one year, 1 was able to re- turn to arduous duties, demanding constant exertion of both body and mind. My frame, naturally vigorous and elastic, gradually recovered its tone, and now, thirteen years after the period of my greatest depression, 1 am able, upon a simple but common diet, consisting of the most usual articles of food, taken without any use of alcoholic stimulus, to perform 'constant labor in my profession, with much public speaking, and I sustain no inconvenience, except, the fatigue which sleep removes, as in the case of other healthy persons. I was, from childhood, constitutionally prone to bleeding at the nose, and sometimes to an alarming degree. After the recovery of my health, I al- lowed myself to use, with much moderatoin, the best bottled cider, at dinner only. After abstaining from it, for a few weeks, on a long journey, (because cider of a good quality could not be obtained, at the taverns,) my nose bleeding ceased, and with it the vertigos, and confused and uncomfortable feel- ings of the head and nerves, by which I had frequently been troubled. Thinking that cider might have been concerned in causing these effects I have never returned to its use, and for nearly three years, since I omitted cider, I have had no serious recurrence of these affections. P. S. In two other cases, within my knowledge, nose bleeding has ceased by the omission of cider. In one of these, the bleeding was excessive and dangerous. The individual last referred to is a very athletic man, of full habit and sanguine temperament." 33. From the Honorable Robert Guest White, late High Sheriff of Dublin, Ireland. " Having read in the American Temperance Recorder of No- vember last, your excellent letter of the 16th of October, as well as the editor's able remarks thereon, calling upon every person to afford any information in their power, which may tend to confirm and permanently establish the principle of en- tire abstinence from the use, as a beverage, of all intoxicating drinks ; I, as an humble, but decided advocate thereof, beg leave to address you, and to state the result of my experience, since I was enabled to act upon this noble and heart-cheering system. To bring it into the compass of a letter, I shall commence by remarking, that, when elected High Sheriff of this City, in the spring of the year 1818, I was afflicted with an internal 561] NINTH REPORT. 1836. 47 complaint; and being allowed six months before entering upon the duties of my office, for the building of a state carriage, pro- curing horses, servants, liveries, &c., 1 devoted this whole period, under the care of an eminent physician, to the recovery of my health, but regret to state, without any abatement whatever of the complaint. In the first month of my official duties, twenty-two persons were condemned to suffer death ; but strong intercessions having succeeded with the government, twelve only (including a female) were executed. And, as a powerful proof of the dreadful ef- fects of intemperance, the condemned cells (as well as myself,) witnessed every one of these individuals attributing their me- lancholy end to drunkenness and bad company. Happy would it have been for society in general, had the temperance reformation taken effect at that, or an earlier period. But civic feasting was then (and indeed is to the present) the order of the day ; nor had the awful instance referred to, the least effect upon it; on the contrary, some who had preceded me in office, followed those criminals to a premature grave. But I rejoice to say that, by the municipal bill, at this moment passing through our houses of Parliament, the present year will terminate this profligate expenditure, and drunkenness ; and, I trust, " the cups that cheer, but not inebriate," will be establish- ed, where the ladies will preside, forming their proportion of the assembly, and, by their smiles and influence, perfect and per- petuate the moral renovaton, and physical improvement, of the human family. Having, in the year 1834, been summoned to London to at- tend the parliamentary committee on drunkenness, of which, my friend, James S. Buckingham, Esq., M. P. for Sheffield, was chairman, I, for the first time, heard of the Temperance Society at Preston, and having visited it at the end of August, was pre- sent at a festival held in the theatre five successive nights. I had then the happiness to see and hear numbers of reformed characters stand forward, and publicly state to crowded audiences, the poverty and misery they and their families had experienced, while under the baneful influence of intemperance, and the com- fort and happiness they subsequently enjoyed as abstainers from all intoxicating drinks. Satisfied of the utility of this society, I felt it my bounden duty (both as a philanthropist and a Christian,) to give it all the aid in my power, assured that, by the blessing of God, it had been made the means of reclaiming thousands of drunkards — of bringing peace and prosperity to the workingman's home — of in- ducing parents to send their children to school — ultimately ac- companying them regularly to their respective places of public 48 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. [562 worship ; and, having themselves experienced the benefits of so- briety, and the blessings of religion, numbers were induced to go into " the villages and highways," endeavoring to persuade their fellows to abstain from all intoxicating drinks, and to look to Jesus Christ as the only hope for salvation. I, therefore, became a member of the Society, by signing " the total abstinence pledge" upon the spot ; as correctly stated in that able, lucid, most interesting, and important docu- ment, your Eighth Report.* Permit me here to record my most grateful thanks to the al- mighty giver of all good, for his great mercy, in preserving me in abstinence in public, social, and domestic company, as well as for enabling me to add, that I now enjoy my glass of water, far beyond the most expensive wines I had the honor to partake of, even at his Majesty's, or his Excellency the Lord Lieutenant's table. Had the physician I consulted wrote the simple prescription, " abstain from all intoxicating drinks" and had I then pos- sessed the moral courage to act agreeably to it, the sixteen years passed in frequent pain and weakness, might, by the blessing of a kind providence, been like the last eighteen months, in which I have had the happiness to enjoy health and strength, the com- plaint (hemorrhoids) having altogether disappeared. My temper, naturally irritable, was made more so even by the small quantity of wine 1 was in the habit of taking, and I now enjoy a uniformity of health, to which I was then a per- fect stranger ; and although I have attained the age of fifty- seven, yet, with gratitude, can truly say, that 1 feel altogether stronger, and my appetite much better, than when I removed from London, to become a resident in Dublin, nearly thirty years since. It is, indeed, a most singular fact, that, in every instance where our principles of abstinence have been fairly acted upon, the result has been the same, namely, all agreeing, that their health of body, and peace of mind have been materially benefit- ed ; and the zeal possessed by thousands of our brave men in the working classes of society to save their feliow-mortals, by di- recting them to the path of abstinence, as well as the powerful abilities manifested in publicly addressing them, are equally re- markable, and no less gratifying. As to the capability of a " tee-totaler's exertions," permit me to mention those made by my dear and worthy friend, Mr. Jo- seph Livesey, of Preston, who, in October last, traveled up- wards of three hundred miles in six days; in which time, he *See the Eighth Report of Uie American Teuipeiance Society, p. 26. 563] NINTH REPORT. 1836. 49 attended five evening and one noon temperance meetings, speak- ing upwards of two hours at each of them, without feeling the least inconvenience or fatigue ; and this he is able and willing to repeat, whenever opportunity offers, or the cause of tem- perance requires. Nor would I omit Mr. Buckingham, Capt. Pilkington, and the celebrated "Author of Wanderings in South America," all of whom have long and steadily acted upon our principles, and are splendid instances of the great advantages of absti- nence ; as are also some connected with our " British Associa- tion," did this paper afford space to communicate them. Writing so much in the first person singular, may, by some, be construed into egotism ; but allow me to remind them, they are positive facts, the result of my own experience and obser- vation, with regard to the nature and effects of intoxicating drinks ; which, at the request of a friend, are transmitted to you, in the hope, that when embodied with those of more ex- perienced persons, they may prove serviceable to the rising generation, by impressing upon their minds, that wherever in- toxicating liquor has been used as a drink, it has been one of the most powerful and deadly foes to the social, civil, and re- ligious interests of men ; and where abstinence from the use of this liquor has prevailed, that health, virtue and happiness have been greatly promoted, and all the means for the advancement of the good of mankind, crowned with augmented success. That the blessing of God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, may rest abundantly upon the labors of your excellent society, as well as upon those of every other, who act upon the princi- ple of total abstinence from all intoxicating drinks, is the daily prayer of, dear sir, your faithful friend and brother in the good cause." From the Rev. Leonard Woods D. D., Professor of Chris- tian Theology, in the Theological Seminary, Andover, Massa- chusetts. " Your request that I would communicate to you, the results of my own experience and observation in regard to the use of intoxicating drinks, ought to have been attended to long ago. My experience is substantially like that of many others ; and the few remarks I have to make are similar in their import, to those which have often been made by the advocates of the Tem- perance Reformation. This circumstance, however, shall not prevent me from speaking with freedom on a subject which is so interesting to my feelings, and so important to the welfare of the community. When I entered on the work of the ministry, (thirty-eight 5 50 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. [564 years ago,) it was the general and almost universal practice for ministers to make a frequent use of stimulating drinks, espe- cially on the Sabbath. They considered this practice an im- portant means of promoting their health, sustaining them under fatigue, and increasing the vigor of their constitution. The generality of physicians approved of this practice ; and of- ten recommended brandy, wine, gin, etc., as the best reme- dy for diseases of the stomach and lungs. Every family that I visited, deemed it an act of kindness, and no more than what common civility required, to offer me wine, or distilled spirit, and thought it a little strange, if I refused to drink. At funer- als, the bereaved friends and others were accustomed to use strong drink before and after going to the burial. At ordina- tions, councils, and all other meetings of ministers, different kinds of stimulating drinks were provided ; and there were but few who did not partake of them. So long as these liquors were regarded as necessary articles of living, the expense was little thought of. But reflected up- on now, the annual expense of 15, 20, 30, and 40 gallons of brandy, wine, gin, etc., appears no small matter to ministers and others, who are possessed of a bare sufficiency for the sup- port of their families. The state of things which I have referred to, among men of my own profession, together with its manifest consequences, began, early in my ministry, to alarm my fears. I remember that at a particular period, before the temperance reforma- tion commenced, I was able to count up nearly forty ministers of the gospel and none of them at a very great distance, who were either drunkards, or so far addicted to intemperate drink- ing, that their reputation and usefulness were greatly injured, if not utterly ruined. And I could mention an ordination that took place about twenty years ago, at which, I, myself, was ashamed and grieved to see two aged ministers literally drunk ; and a third, indecently excited with strong drink. These dis- gusting and appalling facts I should wish might be concealed. But they were made public by the guilty persons ; and I have thought it just and proper to mention them, in order to show how much we owe to a compassionate God for the great de- liverance he has wrought. After I was admitted to the sacred office, I proceeded only a few years according to common usage, before I began to ab- stain in part from distilled liquor. For, though my health was almost uniformly good, I was sometimes troubled with the head- ache and other complaints, which I was led more and more distinctly to attribute to the use of such liquor. About thirty years ago, I gave it up wholly, as a common drink, with very perceptible benefit to my health. The next step, which re- 565] NINTH REPORT. 1836. 51 quired no small degree of resolution and firmness, was to ex- clude it from my family, and no longer to provide it for labor- ers or visitants. Still I continued the occasional use of wine, especially after the labors of the Sabbath, thinking that I must take something of the kind, to prevent exhaustion and secure permanent health. But 1 soon found myself as much mistak- en in this, as in the other case ; for the effect of wine was in a great measure the same as that of distilled liquor. And be- ing more and more sensible that I was better without it, and having a growing conviction that it was unnecessary and inju- rious, I gave up wine also, first in ordinary cases, and then wholly. Both before and after this, I made long trial, in various ways, of the effect of other fermented liquors, as cider, ale, and por- ter. And though they were urged upon me by respectable and pious men, and though I was able to bear up under the moder- ate use of them occasionally ; yet the lesson which my own experience and observation taught me, was the same here as in the other cases, that is, that all such drinks are both unne- cessary and hurtful. And I have now for a long time, and with a most decided improvement of my health, acted on the prin- ciple of total abstinence from all intoxicating drinks. So that the pledge unanimously adopted of late by the officers and stu- dents of the institutions in this place, and so extensively favor- ed in this country, has required no change in my practice. I have said, that I abstain from all intoxicating drinks from a full conviction, resulting from long experience and careful ob- servation, that they are unnecessary and hurtful. But had I not so full a conviction of this, and did I think the use of wine and other fermented liquors of some real benefit to me, I should still feel myself under obligations to abstain, on other grounds. Ever since the American Temperance Society was formed, it has been evident to me, as I know it has to you, and to all oth- ers particularly enlisted in the cause, that the use of ferment- ed liquors, especially wine, by those who have abandoned dis- tilled liquors, is a hurtful snare to multitudes in the common walks of life, and a very great hindrance to the progress of re- formation through the whole community. After the most seri- ous consideration of the subject, I have therefore been com- pelled to renounce the opinion which in common with many others, I was once rather inclined to adopt, and have become fully persuaded, that the cause of temperance cannot prevail and triumph, without the abandonment of fermented as well as distilled liquors. Here then I am brought under the obligation of the law of love. And on this ground, I should feel it to be a sacred duty to give up wine and other fermented liquors 52 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. [556 as a beverage, though it should involve some real loss of advan- tage to myself. My obligation in this matter is set in a very clear light by an appeal to the word of God. The sacred writers lay down many general precepts, which evidently in- volve the principle I have now introduced. But there are two passages in particular, from the Epistles of Paul, which bear more directly upon the subject, and which must be regarded as conclusive, if we are to be bound by his judgment and exam- ple. The first is, 1 Cor. 8: 13. " Wherefore, if meat make my brother to offend, I will eat no flesh while the world stand- eth, lest I make my brother to offend." The other is Rom. 14: 21. " 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." Such was the disposition of the Apostle Paul, who possessed as much decision, firmness, and indepen- dance, as any man living, but who had been with Jesus and learned of him ; such was the Apostle's disposition to yield and make sacrifices for the good of others. And how can I refuse to copy such an example ? Finding that my use of wine or any other intoxicating drink would diminish my power to do good, and might occasion injury to some of my fellow men, I should feel myself obliged, from regard to the authority of rev- elation, and from love to God and man, to give it up, even though the use of it might be a pleasure to my taste, and an ad- vantage to my health. But as it is, I can practice that absti- nence from stimulating drinks, which the good of others de- mands, not only without loss in regard to health or pleasure, but with great gain as to both.* I have frequently, and with deep concern, reflected on the effect of stimulating drinks upon our moral and religious state. And such is the result of my reflection, that, if I look back to the time when ministers and Christians generally made use of such drinks, I am ready to wonder that their spiritual interests were not totally blasted, and doubtless they would have been thus blasted, had not God, in great forbearance and mercy, winked at the times of this ignorance. But with the light now cast on the subject, it seems to me incredible, that a minister of the gospel can be in the habit of using any intoxicating li- quor, though in moderate quantities, without essentially injuring his own piety, and diminishing the success of his labors. This view of the subject, which I have taken the liberty to express very plainly, is the result of much sober and careful observation on myself and others, as to the moral influence of the habit which was once so common. It tends to inflame all that is de- * In the above remarks, I have no reference to the use of wine, at the Lord's Supper. 557] NINTH REPORT. 1836. 53 praved and earthly in a minister, and to extinguish all that is spiritual and holy. It is poison to the soul, as really as to the body. Such is my conviction, and there are hundreds and thousands who have the same conviction, and will express it in terms equally strong. Nor is it any matter of imagination or conjecture with us. We know it just as certainly as any one, from uniform experience and observation, knows the ef- fect of opium or arsenic upon the animal system ; and just as certainly as any Christian knows by experience the effect pro- duced upon his spiritual state by the commission of sin. We know it by sorrowful recollection. We know it by what was, at the time, a real but frequently a suppressed inward conscious- ness. And it was this deep consciousness, which always kept me and most other ministers from drinking any distilled or fer- mented liquor, just before engaging in any religious service, public or private. And now, let us render praise to him, from whom all good thoughts, wise counsels and useful actions proceed. Thanks be to God for what his hand has wrought, and for the unlook- ed for success with which he has crowned the labors of his ser- vants, who have been enlisted in this cause. For where, my brother, in all New England, and I was going to say, in the United States of America, — where now can a true minister of Christ be found, who keeps up the practice of using strong drink ? If unhappily I should find such an one, whether old or young, I would earnestly beseech that dear brother, by the mercies of God, to lay aside a practice which thousands of ministers know assuredly to be a clog to devotion, and a hin- drance to growth in grace, to spiritual enjoyment, and to min- isterial success." Such are specimens of the effects produced upon hundreds of thousands, of all ages, and in all departments of life, of abstinence from the use, as a beverage, of all intoxicating liquor. These specimens might be multiplied to almost any extent, did the cause require it; but enough, it is believed, have been exhibited, in connection with the foregoing principles, reasonings, and facts, to set this matter, in the minds of all candid, unprejudiced persons, forever at rest. All the information which the committee have been able to obtain, and all the views, which, after ten years labor, they are now able to take of this subject, go to confirm the cor- rectness of the above-mentioned statements. And they cannot but consider it as now fully proved, that intoxicating liquor, as a bev- erage, is not needful or useful to men; that it is, indeed, an ene- my to the human constitution, and, in its effects, hurtful to the body and soul; that it produces many, and aggravates most3 of 54 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. [558 the diseases with which men are afflicted ; that it renders dis- eases hereditary", and thus tends to deteriorate the human family, and inflict numerous and sore calamities on all future generations ; that it weakens the understanding, stupifies the conscience, and hardens the heart ; deranges, and often destroys, reason ; occa- sions an immense loss of property, and a great increase of personal and domestic wretchedness ; weakens the power of motives to do right, and increases the power of motives to do wrong ; causes most of the pauperism and crimes in the community; powerfully counteracts the efficacy of the gospel, and all means for the intel- lectual elevation, the moral purity, the social happiness, and the eternal good of men ; vitiates the public taste, corrupts the public morals, and debases the public mind ; endangers the purity and permanence of free institutions ; shortens human life, and tends to make men dishonor God, and destroy their own souls. They cannot but consider it, also, as fully and abundantly proved, that continuance in the use, as a beverage, of intoxicating liquor, tends to perpetuate intemperancef and spread its desolating effects over all future generations ; and, that abstinence from such use of it, is not only safe, but highly salutary. As far as this course has been adopted, it has caused drunkenness to cease; and if adopted universally, would banish its evils from the world. The gospel, and all means for doing good to mankind, might then be expected to be crowned with greatly augmented success. In view of these truths, the committee would, therefore, most respectfully, affectionately, and earnestly commend this subject to the careful attention, and active support of all. Especially would they commend it to the attention, and the prayers, and the per- severing efforts of professed Christians ; and most of all, ministers OF THE GOSPEL. You, whose holy office, and beneficent labors we highly appre- ciate, are the captains of the Lord's hosts ; appointed under the captain of salvation, to lead them onward in their conquests over sin and death ; from conquering to conquer. And, in this war- fare, you have to contend, "not with flesh and blood only, but with principalities and powers ; with the rulers of the darkness of of this world, and with spiritual wickedness in high places." And your success will depend very much, under God, upon your like- ness to him ; your freedom and frequency of access to the throne of his mercy ; and that habitual communion of spirit, with the Father of spirits, by which you shall receive of his fulness, grow in conformity to his image, and labor wisely, vigorously, and per- severingly, according to his working, which shall habitually work in you, mightily. Butthe effects of alcohol, as a beverage, whether you take little or much, just in proportion as you come under its 559] NINTH REPORT. 1836. 55 intoxicating power, or feel its poisonous and deranging effects, will tend to render you more unlike to God ; to hinder you from having access to the throne of his mercy ; from being filled with his fulness ; or, in his light, seeing light. It will tend to make you less wise by his wisdom, and less strong in his strength ; and cause you to be less comforted with his consolations. It will tend to make your labors less efficacious, in turning men to right- eousness, and will thus exert an influence which will tend to pre- vent their deliverance from sin and death ; and to cause " those who are filthy, to remain filthy still." While many who may not have your self-control, or your aid from on high, may be em- boldened by your example, to use that, which will lead them on- ward, from one degree of indulgence to another, till they sink down in the agonies of the second death. Not a few who once held your sacred and responsible office, have looked upon with desire, and have taken the intoxicating poison, " when it gave its color in the cup, and moved itself aright;" and have found, by woful experience, that, "at the last, it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an adder." And, although the way which they took, through the blinding influence of their practice, may " have seemed right unto them, the end thereof was the way of death." And they now lie as so many beacons to warn those who may come after them, not to take the first step in the road which led them to ruin. Nor did they perish alone. Multitudes, deluded and hardened, through their influence, went on blindfold, till they also sunk, irretrievably into the same place of torment. And other multitudes, in greater and greater numbers, were, by their example, prejudiced fatally against the gospel, and all means for bringing them under its illuminating and purifying power. So that, instead of being, as it is adapted to be, " a savor of life unto life," it has been, to them, " a savor of death unto death." For your own sake, therefore, for your hearers' sake, and for the sake of the community; for the sake of our divine and glori- ous Redeemer, who, for us, made the greatest of all sacrifices, and for the sake of that precious cause, for which he agonized in the garden, expired on the cross, and now intercedes in heaven, break off, we do beseech, all connection with this destroyer. As it makes so many to "offend," even unto death, have nothing to do with it, " while the world standeth." And labor unceasingly, " in all suitable ways, to discountenance the use of it throughout the community." More than three thousand of your number in the United States, and many among the most distinguished of all other professions, have adopted this course ; and, for the sake of doing good to others, by example, have publicly pledged them- selves to abstain from it. Unite your influence with theirs, and 56 AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. [560 with the multitudes of others who have adopted this course, and you will, as we believe, experience the benefit of it in your own bodies and souls ; in your private duties, and your public minis- trations. You will have more clear and vigorous intellectual con- ceptions, and more kind, uniform, and benevolent moral feelings. You will have a more extended vision of human wants and woes; a keener and deeper sympathy with them, and a greater disposi- tion and ability to relieve them. You will have more free and sweet access to the throne of your heavenly Father ; more bright and constant manifestations of his presence ; and be favored with a more abiding and transforming hope, that, through grace, you shall, ere long, see him as he is, and with multitudes, saved through your instrumentality, be forever like him. Your labors, too, will be instrumental, through grace, of saving greater numbers, from an eternity of sinning, and an eternity of suffering ; transforming them into the image, raising them to the presence, and preparing them to reflect the glory of the Redeemer, and with him to rise from glory to glory, to endless being. Extracts of a teller from a distinguished gentleman in Persia, to the Corres- ponding Secretary of the American Tempeiance Society. " Rev. and Dear Sir, 1 have the honor to acknowledge the reception of yours of Jan. 1, communicating my ap- pointment, as a corresponding member of the American Temperance Society. The accompany- ing volume of your Reports, though I read them as they were successively issued, I shall still peruse and re-peruse with lively interest ; and; it will always be my study, so far as it shall be in my power, to contribute my humble influence to the promotion and accomplishment of the august object at which you aim — the complete and universal triumph of temperance. To the several points on which you request information, I will reply in the order in which you name them. I, What are the habits of the people, with regard to temperance ? While I search in vain, among the people around me for a single trait, that ennobles my na- tive country, one circumstance, which is characteristic alike of Persia and America, is almost daily thrust upon my view, — that circumstance is beastly Intemperance. II. What are the principal means of intoxication ; among what classes, and to what extev.t does that vice prevail ? The intoxicating article most used here, is the wine of the country, which is very abundant. Aaother article, considerably used, is Arrack — Asiatic Brandy, distilled from dried crapes, or from the residue of strength in grapes after the wine is extracted. European liquors are also rolling in upon the country like a flood ; and our missionary brethren, who have just arrived, were preceded but one week, by a caravan, bearing, among other poisons of the same kind, eighteen barrels of New England Rum ! What an indignity cast upon the pool brutes even, that are made to plod their way over a journey of six hundred miles, groaning under almost in- tolerable loads that are only to degrade the species that drive them incoraparatively below themselves! I see no other article of American manufacture in the market here, but Rum ! Can the enterprising of my country, send to Persia, no better representative ? Well may the American churches multiply their missionaries to this country, if it were merely to heal the diseases sown by their JVew England Rum ! I may say, in general, that intemperance prevails among all classes, in Persia. Many, a great many, of the Nestorians are intemperate; the Armenians are fearfully so ; and the Georgians, of whom there are many, in this part of Persia, are yet more brutalized by the prevalence of drunkenness. The Mohammedans, too, are becoming very intemperate. Though their Prophet, as you are aware, forbade the use of wine, and, as he supposed, of all intoxi- cating drinks, inasmuch as the art of distillation was then unknown, still multitudes, in the face of what they acknowledge to he a divine prohibition, give themselves up to habitual intem- perance. While they dispise the Christian population, as they detest the dogs in the streets, and the swine upon the mountains ; they shamelessly wallow with the nominal Christian, in the filthiest of his vices. The extent, to which intemperance prevails among the nominal Christians of this country, you may infer from two or three facts. The Sabbath is particularly devoted to intoxication. The mummery of their religious forms is repeated at a very early hour in the morning, and the rest of the day is fully given up to carousal. During their numerous fasts, the more rigid part abstain from the use of wine ; but in anticipation of the abstinence, and to mako up for it, each fast is commenced and closed by a drunken revel. And such is the impression which the in- temperance of nominal Christians, here, makes upon their musselman neighbors, that, when- ever a Mohammedan is seen intoxicated, his countrymen tauntingly exclaim, that man has left Mohammed, uiid has gone to Jesus." deed, ia po fonm lorrne: , a .-. i; ■ aumber of its jrv '"re have we,, ■■I \y «-• ;.-,