greatest hindrances to the salvation of men. The greater the influence 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 better 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 professed Christians to be engaged in wickedness, because they will do it more decently, and in a manner less outrage us 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 inischief than if taught only by notoriously bad men? Who can doubt it? Satan 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 consciences 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 outrageous 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 adversary? 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 strongly that such establishments, for the public good, should be licensed. He would be willing to pay, if needful, a thousand dollars a year; and be willing too to be laid, nominally at least, under some restrictions, and to have some penalty attached to great excess. He said, if such establishments were licensed they might be controlled, and be made to yield a large revenue to the government. 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 Legislature within four weeks. It ought to be licensed." So the men who carry on the system of public swindling, and their associates 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 iniquity. 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 the 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 universally 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 completing a thorough Temperance organization of that city. A Society * Appendix B. 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 appeared, though only partial reports had been made, that the number 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 triumphant 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 practice the vices to which it leads, and the sad spectacle of two hundred thousand dollars expended to support paupers and prosecute the criminals, and an hundred thousand to meet the wants of sickness which it occasions; fifty thousand people fleeing from their homes to escape 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 hundred 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 country; 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 of 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, the Committee issued the following Circular, viz. "As the success of the Temperance cause depends upon the universal diffusion of correct information among all classes of 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 Temperance 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 principle of abstinence from the use of ardent spirit throughout our country. 2. That measures be immediately taken to procure such a Convention, 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, requested 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 February 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 several 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. The call for this parts of the country. ENOCH HALE, Jr. Convention has been greeted with joy in all pointed throughout the United States, and one appointed by the British and Foreign Temperance Society has just arrived from 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 addressed them on the sabbath, in the Capitol, on the subject of Temperance. The subsequent week, the House of Representatives liberally granted the use of their hall for the purpose of holding 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 Condict, 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 especially 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 consequences, 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. |