From GERRIT SMITH, to EDWARD C. DELAVAN, Esq., on the Reformation of the Intemperate.

PETERBORO', September 11, 1833.

EDWARD C. DELAVAN, Esquire,

My dear friend,

I well remember your deep interest in the remarks I made to you about the reformation of intemperate persons in this neighborhood; and, in fulfilment of my promise to you, I now take up my pen to furnish you with a written account of this reformation.

It often occurs, that the designs of inen take a much wider scope in their accomplishment than is contemplated by their narrow sighted framers. This remark is eminently verified in the case of the Temperance Reformation. It did not enter into the minds of its happy pioneers, that the reformation had good in store for poor drunkards; and had they foreseen how full it is of blessings and salvation to these most wretched and hitherto most hopeless of all prisoners, and how it would so soon fill the mouths of thousands of them with songs of deliverance-cheering indeed would have been the vision amidst the difficult and discouraging beginnings of their work.

To save the sober from becoming drunken was the exclusive original object of the Temperance Reformation; and therefore do they discover their ignorance of the original character of our enterprize, who pronounce it a failure, because it has not reformed all or a great proportion of the drunkards of the country. If it has reformed one drunkard, it has done what it did not promise, and what it did not expect to do. The adage, that "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure," had as much credit with the originators of this enterprize, as with others; and perfectly did they accord with the public sentiment, that the drunkard is beyond cure. We all remember, that this was the public sentiment of that period. Formerly, when a man became a drunkard, we excluded him from the pale of our sympathies. Vain, we thought it, to do for him, and almost no crime not to feel for him. The vice, to which he had yielded himself, stamped him in our eyes, with incurableness; and we abandoned him to a fate from which escape seemed well nigh impossible. There was hope for our friend, if the yellow fever or even the plague was upon him; but none if he became a drunkard. Now, however, under the healthful influences of the Temperance Reformation, the recovery of the drunkard is not only possible, but even probable: and when I look at the reformation, and see its illimitable and surpassingly varied beneficence reaching even to the countless multitude of drunkards, and holding out a prospect of deliverance even to these lost wretches, I must believe, and I would believe, though it were a hundred fold more neglected, derided and reproached than it is, that it has come down to us from heaven, and that it is owned and blest of that good Being, who himself came into our guilty, ruined world "to seek and to save that which was lost."

We find that wherever the principles of the Temperance Reformation have obtained, there drunkards are reclaimed; and that too, even if no special efforts are made to reclaim them. In an atmosphere of total abstinence, the drunkard can come to life again. When rum has been banished from a neighborhood, and the sober in it have ceased to present temptations, in their example and practices, to the master appetite of the drunkard; when the state of society, instead of presenting constant and fatal hindrances to his reformation, has become so changed, as to invite and assist it; then the instance is

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common of the drunkard's becoming sober. And when we consider, that there are more than 300,000 drunkards in our nation, and that of these the Bible declares, "they shall not inherit the kingdom of God"; and that, of even their earthly woes and those of their family connexions, the mind can form no adequate conception-it would seem that every sober man, in whose breast there remains any thing of good will to his fellow men, must consent to the little and certainly harmless self-denial of discontinuing his use of strong drink, and of so far making his example and practices favorable to their recovery.

When I returned, fourteen years ago, to reside in this village, more than every other man in it was a drunkard; and, at that time, it contained some sixty or seventy families. This unusually large proportion of drunkards was doubtless owing, in a great measure, to its extensive manufacture of window glass. For firemen, as you are aware, formerly felt it to be necessary to drink up a large part of their wages; and thence the fact, that half the blacksmiths in our country, ten years ago, were drunkards. Two-thirds of all the men, who were buried in our village cemetery from the year 1920 until the beginning of the Temperance Reformation (I speak from personal knowledge) were drunkards. The vice of intemperance had impoverished the village. The sober could not make headway in the midst of such waste of time and property. There were half a dozen places in the village where rum was sold. There was a distillery in it, owned by a prominent member of the Presbyterian church, and which, until the dawn of the reformation, myself and others were blind and wicked enough to stock with grain. There were six other distilleries within the limits of the town, in which the village is situated. But the scene is greatly changed. The fires of the seven distilleries have all gone out-never again to be rekindled. The last chapter in the history of the village distillery is peculiarly interesting. It was purchased nearly a year ago by one of my neighbors, who from about the time of his purchase has been entirely reclaimed from habits of intemperance and idleness; and now, in the place of the tubs and the worm and the other apparatus of death, may be seen his anvil, his bellows, and the cheerful and useful business of a sober, industrious and worthy blacksmith. Only one place is left in our village, where the drunkard's drink can be obtained, and, for weeks together, an intoxicated man is not seen in our streets. Only one drunkard remains in the village. Of him we have very little hope, as his dwelling is hard by the house, that supplies him with the "liquid death and distilled damnation." It is supposed, that he is the only person in the village, who drinks ardent spirit. For the young man who vends it, (respectable but for his occupation,) has too much sense to drink it. Would that he had too much benevolence to tempt others to drink it! Surprising change since the time, when more than every other man in the village was a drunkard!

Nothing however, so happily denotes the change in our morals as the sweet stillness of our Sabbaths. The pious strangers, who, in the course of the last three or four years, have been with us in these seasons of "heavenly calm," have often spoken of the unusually quiet character of a Peterboro Sabbath.

To indicate the connexion there is between rum and crime, I state that, during the last eleven and a half years, ninety-four complaints for crime were made to our village magistrates; and, that in eighty-eight of the cases the accused were drunkards; in three of them, they were sober; and, in the other three, their habits were unknown.

The subject of temperance did not begin to awaken public attention here, until January, 1827; and not until 1830 or 1831, was the interest in it so general and strong, as to exert any considerable influence upon our drunkards. A few of them were reformed, about that time. For the last twelve to eighteen months, some of the friends of temperance here have made special and great efforts to save them; and our success, under GOD, has been such as to fill our hearts with gratitude to Him.

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 other persons who still remain intemperate: and, unless their sober neighbors, who have not yet subscribed the pledge to total abstinence, hasten to do so, and to put away the snare of their example, there is great reason to fear, that a part, if not all, 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, he 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 intemperate. When under the influence of liquor, he occasionally exhibited a propensity to crime, which well nigh 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, wandering about like a maniac. He has been a consistent member of the temperance society, about two years. Happily, he dreads cider, as he dreads rum; and when, a few weeks since, it was proposed by some of his 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 plucked from the burning," 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 abstinence; 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 family, not excepting the infant child, were added to the same talismanic 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 respectable good man he is. But, being rather credulous, the stories about church and state and other bugbears, of which the invention of artful demagogues is so prolific, had deterred him from joining the temperance 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, doubtless, 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 unquestionably very trying to the deacon. The conflict of his emotions may well be imagined. 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 state. There was too the pride of opinion and consistency 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 drunkard; spent his earnings in filling his whiskey bottle; and left his family to suffer 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. I 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 a 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 miserably poor. About two years since, relinquished the use of ardent spirit, and joined the temperance society and church. With the exception of one week in these two years, he has appeared well the whole time. During that week he was so imprudent 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 drinkers 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 forever.

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 interest 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 Catskill 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 several years ago, that the Elder's habits were improving under the general reformation, that was going on amongst us. But, never until a year ago, did he come to the resolution to abstain entirely and forever 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 of 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, flattered themselves, that his temperance was owing, in some 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 gentleman, 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 Gon-now 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 assurance forever." 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 drinker-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.

No. 10. About 50 years old Has lived in town but a couple of years. Was very intemperate when he came here, and poor. Has a good family. His removal into this temperance atmosphere was most happy for him; for he had not been here long, before he joined the temperance society. He has continued ever since his connexion with the society to be a sober and respectable man. He has recently manifested a hope in Christ.

No. 11. 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 therefore, (though possibly a lingering and secretly indulged love of rum has something to do with it,) he cannot join the temperance society.

No 12. A coloured 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 resolved, that he would never again taste of any intoxicating liquor A*