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TEMPERANCE RECOLLECTIONS
LABOES, DEFEATS, TEIUMPHS, AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY.
/ BT JOHN MARSH, D. D.,
SECBETARY OF THE FIRST THREE NATIONAL TEMPERANCE CONTENTIONS,
AND THIRTY YEARS CORRESPONDING SECRETARY AND EDITOR OP
THE AMERICAN TEMPERANCE UNION.
QTJOEVM PARS FUI.
We speak that we do kno-w, and testify that we have seen.— John.
NEW YORK:
CHAELES SCKIBNEK & CO., 054 BPwOADWAY. 1866/
Entered, according to the Act of Congress, in the year 18G6, by
JOHN MARSn, D.D.,
In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for the Southern
District of New York.
^^^=^%x,
JOHN F. TEOW & CO.,
.IKirTEKS, STEnEOTYPERS. ^ ELECTROTYTERS,
60 GREENE STREET, N.Y.
\
LUCIUS MANLIUS SARGENT,
AUTHOR OF THE TEMPERANCE TALES.
Dear Sir : — If the wonderful powers given us, sometimes, in a meas- ure, fail, as we draw to the close of our earthly career, it is happy for us that affection does not ; but that the attachment of early days — days of joy and hope in spirited and fruitful labor, rather strengthens and makes our setting sun beautiful and blessed. Permit me, in response to the long kindness and support you have afforded me in days and years of anxiety and toil, to lay upon your table a few reminiscences of labors and events in which you have been a prince and a Nestor ; keeping us up and press- ing us forward by your admirable Temperance Tales ; borrowing nothing from fiction, but presenting to the mind and heart the many sad scenes flowing from that most delusive cup, to which our countrymen, both rich and poor, have bowed the knee.
May your last days, my dear Sir, which, in the mysterious providence of our heavenly Father, have been days of sadness, through bereavements by war and disease, yet be days of gladness and comfort, in the assurance of good done by your long labors in the temperance cause ; and in the pros- pect, which you may rightfully indulge, of the reward of those who have turned many to righteousness — shming as the stars forever and ever. Most affectionately yours,
JOHN MAESH. Brooklyn, N. Y., April 2, 1866.
PEEFAOE
IVLemoey is a wonderful power of the mind. By it are brought the events of seventy years, fresh within the passing hour. By it we make a record of events and facts, whose verity few will be disj^osed to ques- tion. But all that it holds, unless recorded, is gone in a moment when death touches the silver cord. As in the extinguishment of a lamp, all is darkness. No man can remember for his brother.
Retired from thirty years of editorial and office la- bor, the writer has been pressed by friends to commit to the stereotype plate what is uj^on the brain, of the rise, progress, and agencies of the temperance cause; testifying especially to, that of which, in the good prov- idence of God, he has been an eye and ear witness, and also an humble agent. The style of autobiography he has adopted as the most easy and natural, but the rather, as in most cases, official ; though with some it may savor of vanity, while he may have been the least of all instrumentalities. To criticism from those wlio
6 PREFACE.
were early actors, he will not be much exposed ; as they have nearly all passed away. Few may be interested in so long a story. But all may see in it something of the vast work that has been done to overthrow those drinking usages which have filled the world with sad- ness; and to suppress that traffic, which an eminent in- dividual, Chancellor Walworth, has denominated " a traf- fic in the souls and bodies of men." Had he given a full account of all Avhich has been done, and all which has been written on the subject, the world would not contain the books. The incidents mentioned in the pages of contents, are, with him, the most memorable, as well as the leading incidents; especially in our own country. The work is rather a record, than a history to be read through. Some will turn to the early stages of the cause ; some to the wonderful Washingtonian movement; some to the Irish reform; some to the Maine law operation. Of the fitness of the writer to make the record, others must judge. His desire has been to j^resent to those who come after him a con- nected series of the great and small events of days gone by; to excite their gratitude for what God hath wrought; and to strengthen them in all their future labors. "What has been done once, can be done again, and inconceivably more. The battle is "God's battle," and must and will be continued by those who desire the coming and kingdom of Him who will redeem the world from iniquity, and wipe away all tears from all eyes.
Beooklyn, N. Y., April, 1866.
CONTENTS
CHAPTER I.
Birth — Education — Ministry , Y
CHAPTER n.
Taking a three months' Temperance Agency — Labors in Baltimore and Washington — Gathering of First Congressional Temperance Meeting — ^Acquaintance with Judge Cranch, Dr. Sewall, and others — Appoint- ed Permanent Agent of American Temperance Society — Dismission from Pastoral Charge — Attendance on First National Temperance Convention at Philadelphia — Made Secretary — Labors in Connecticut — Removal to Philadelphia — Three years' labor in connection with Pennsylvania State Society 26
CHAPTER III.
Second National Convention at Saratoga Springs, 1836 — Appointed first Secretary — Adoption of Total Abstinence frqjp all Intoxicating Drinks — Organization of American Temperance Union — Appointed Corrc- spondmg Secretary and Editor — First Issue of the Journal — Second Visit to Washmgton— Reorganization of the Congressional Temper- ance Society — Great Progress — Issues of the Press 44
CHAPTER IV.
First Anniversary of the American Temperance Union — Speech of Alvan Stewart— Object and Influence of the Journal— Opening of Marlboro'
U CONTENTS.
Temperance Ilotcl, Boston — Buckingham Festival, Philadelphia — Visit with Mr. Buckingham at Washington — Congressional Temperance Meeting — Address to the French Court — Second Anniversary at Phila- delphia— Prohibition taken in lland — Rev. T. P. Hunt's Exposure of Frauds in the Liquor Traffic — Circular to Marine Insurance Offices — Circular to Emigrants — Removal to New York — Third Anniversary at Boston — Good Progress 60
CHAPTER V.
Fourth of July in Boston — Fifteen Gallon Law of Massachusetts — Youth's Temperance Advocate established — Mr. Delavan's Correspondence in Europe — Loudon Procession — Dr. Baird's Letter from Russia — India — Sandwich Islands — Bacchus and Anti-Bacchus — Character of Scrip- ture Wines 59
CHAPTER VI.
Wonderful Events in Ireland — Letter from Richard Allen — Father Mathew and his Operations — Six Millions take the Pledge — Dr. Brownlee's Conjecture — Reformed Drunkards in Baltimore — Great Work in New York — Attendance upon it — Third National Convention, 1841 — Har- vest Gathered — John H. W. Hawkins' Character and Labors — ^Hannah Hawkins — Christian Keener '73
CHAPTER VII.
Change in our Committee — Dr. Sewall's Plates of the Stomach — Excite- ment of Thomas F. Marshall — Signs the Pledge — Speech of G. N. Briggs — Visit Washington — Great Meeting — Procure Messrs. M. and B. for our Anniversary — Great Meetings in New York — Soiree at Cen- tre Market — Sixth Anniversary — Mr. Marshall's Speeches — Duel — T. B. Segur on Sabbath-schools — Croton Water — Seamen — Sons of Tem- perance— Issues of the Press 87
CHAPTER YIH.
Letters to Friends Abroad — Pierpont's Song of the Reformed — Incidents in the Work — City Traffic — Firemen — Merchants' Society — Pennsyl-
CONTENTS. Ill
vania State Society — Toast and Water Dinner — Barnes' Sermon — For- eign Correspondence — Seventh Anniversary, A, T. U. — Change of Presidency — Hon. G. Cathn's Speech — Hutchinson Family Intro- duced to New York — Inquirer — Controversy with Dr. Hun on Stomach Plates — High Appreciation of Plates. 102
CHAPTER IX.
Fifteenth Anniversary New York State Society — New Jersey — Visit Washington — Reorganization Congi-essional Society — Eighth Anniver- sary A. T. U. — Progress among Seamen, and in Navy — Great indig- nation against the Traffic — Uselessness of Moral Suasion — Opinion of L. M. Sargent — John B. Gough introduced to New York — Great Popu- larity— Travel with him through the State — Great Washingtonian Meet- ing at Boston — Excursion with Mr. Gough, south — Letter of Dr. Beecher 116
CHAPTER X
Changes in the Advocacy of Temperance — Experience Meetings give Place to Argumentative — Dr. Sewall's Death — Excitement on the Traffic — Trials before U. S. Supreme Court — Webster — Choate, Liquor-dealers' Counsel — Prohibition demanded in New England — No License in New York — Ninth Aimiversary A. T. U., 1845 — T. P. Hunt on Rights of Liquor-dealers — Six Months' Action for no License — Glorious Results — Tenth Anniversar}-, 1846 — Rev. A. Barnes — Com- modore Foote — Cold Water Army — Yale College Temperance Society Literature • 130
CHAPTER XL
World's Temperance Convention — Retrospect — Foreign Operations — For- mation of London Society — Spread of the Cause in Britain and North of Europe — Call for a World's Convention — Appointment of delegates — Reception Meetings and Speeches — Covent Garden Theatre — Visit to Father Mathew — Attendance on the Christian Alliance — Meetings at New Castle, York, Edinburgh, Glasgow — Return to America in Great Western — Incidents Abroad — Dr. Boechcr on Sunday-schools — Extracts from Speeches — Response in Broadway Tabernacle 146
iV CONTENTS.
CHAPTER XII.
Decision of Supreme Court of tlie United States on the License Question — Repeal of the New York Law — Dr. Nott's Lectures — The Nott Con- troversy— Famine in Ireland — Instructive Lessons ICO
CHAPTER XIII.
Attention of the Christian Ministry and Churches turned to the Cause — Mr, "Wesley's rule restored — New York and Xew Jersey Synod — Con- vention of Ministere in Philadelphia — Convention of Ministers in New York — Ministers' Meeting in Boston — Meeting of 200 Ministers at Manchester, in England — Does Teetotahsm tend to Infidelity ? — Sun- day Liquor Traffic in New York, Sermon on — Petition to the Mayor 1*75
CHAPTER XIY.
Father Mathew in America — Reception at New York — Speech of the Mayor — Procession through Broadway — Administers the Pledge in Brooklyn — Meetings at the Cathedral — Invitation to Boston — Magnifi- cent Welcome — Speech of Gov. Briggs — Operations in Massachusetts — Illness at Worcester — Sets his Face to the South — Compliments at Washington — Reception at Charleston, New Orleans, St. Louis — Re- turn to Ireland — Death — Eulogy ISY
CHAPTER XV.
Temperance Life Insurance Company projected — Correspondence — Dr. Nott, E. C. Delavan, S. Chipman, Rev. T. P. Hunt, Dr. J. C. Warren, Gen. Cary, and others — Medical Society at Cincinnati — ^Addresses of Dr. Drake and Dr. Mussey .• 200
CHAPTER XYI.
The Half-century — Retrospect and Prospects — Tribute — Power of the Enemy — Army for Future Conflict — Truth and Love — Ministers — Churches — Temperance Orders — Sons of Temperance — Grand Division
CONTENTS.
at Boston — Recent Publications — Fifteenth Anniversary American Temperance Union 213
CHAPTER XVII.
Death of General Taylor — Vigor of old Temperance men — ^Permanent Temperance Documents in School Libraries — ColUsion between New and Old Organizations — Letter of Gen. Gary — Temperance Hotels — Efforts of Dr. Jewett for a Eeform — Navy — Abolition of Flogging — Evil continuance of Spirit-ration — Spirit-ration Abolished 227
CHAPTER XVHI.
Great Progress in Foreign Countries, and in British Provinces — Prohibition - — Agitation — ^Wisconsin Law supported by Dr. Hewitt — Maine Law — Rise, Adoption, and Enforcement under Neal Dow — Approvals . . . 241
CHAPTER XIX.
Fourth National Convention — Great Rejoicings — Thankful Resolution — Maine Men heard — "Workings of the Law — United and Decided Action agreed upon — Speech of Dr. Edwards— Action in Massachusetts — 126,000 Petitioners — Adoption of Maine Law — Adoption in Rhode Island — In Connecticut — In Vermont — Action in New York — 300,- 000 Petitions at Albany — Adoption of Maine Law — Governor Sey- mour's Veto — Maine Law Record — Workings 251
CHAPTER XX.
"World's Temperance Convention in New York, September 6, 1853 — Neal Dow, President — Slight Disturbance — Lady on the Platform — Intro- duction of Foreign Delegation — "Wendell Phillips — Great Tumult — House cleared by Pohce — Soiree abandoned — Peaceable Progress — Children's Meeting — Speech of Dr. Lees — Address to all Nations — Dr. Pierpont's Speech and Poem — Tribute to Dr. Edwards — Meeting of Sons of Temperance — Adulteration.s — Frauds in the Liquor TraflSc —
VI CONTENTS.
CHAPTER XXI.
Campaicrn in Now York fi)r the Maine Law — Publications issued — New York State Society — " riohibitionist " established — Frequent Meetings — Methodist Fire — Congregational Convention — Address of Senators — Anniversary A. T. U. of State Temperance Society — Convention at Au- burn— Nomination for Governor — Election of Governor Clark — Con- gratulatory Meeting— ^Meeting of Opposition — Adoption of the Lav in New York — Hesitancy of Mayor Wood to its Execution — Success in the State — Opposition — Pronounced Unconstitutional by the Court of Appeals — Results and Opinions 275
CHAPTER XXII.
Reception of the decision of the Court of Appeals — Death of B. F. Harwood — Twenty-first Anniversary of A. T. U. — Governor Briggs elected President — Meeting one of Darkness — State Society — Letters to Daniel Lord, Jr. — Fall Elections — Prohibitory Law giving way to Anti-Slavery — State Society at Albany — N. Y. City Alliance — Peter Sinclair— Gough Festival 291
CHAPTER XXIII.
North American Temperance Convention at Chicago — Made President — Action of the Convention — Noble body of men — Cause at the West — Home Missionary Work — Maine Law in Illinois, Michigan, Indiana, Iowa and Nebraska — Cause in California and Oregon — Order of Good Templars — Inebriate Asylums — Bingham ton — Boston — Letter of John Tappan — Temperance Battle not man's, but God's — PubUcations. . 304
CHAPTER XXiy.
Ministerial Fidehty — Boldness of Puritans — Difficulties in Reproof — Dr. Justin Edwards on Sabbath Temperance Preaching — Hewitt, Fisk, Clarke, Edwards — Origin of Washiugtonians — Elder Knapp — Twenty- third Anniversary A. T. U. — Speech of Governor Briggs — Death of Anson G. Phelps — Encouraging Report — Mr. Delavan in England — Letter from — English Clergy Address — Massachusetts Alliance — N. Y. State League — Western Pennsylvania Convention 317
CONTENTS. VU
CHAPTER XXY.
-Hon. W. A. Buckingham elected to fill his place — Death of Mr. Frelinghuysen — Chief Justice Williams — President Lincoln's Temperance — War — Dangers to the Cause — Visit Washington — Army Tracts — How Supplied and Appre- ciated— Twenty-fifth Anniversary A. T. U. — Governor Buckingham's Speech — Speech of Senator Pomroy — Deaths of Dr. Beecher, Dr. Baird, Admiral Foote — ^Navy — Army — Progress of Temperance — War Ending — Assassination of President Lincoln 330
CHAPTER XXVI.
Fifth National Convention — Governor Buckingham, President — Prepared Dissertations — Xew National Organization Proposed — Termination of American Temperance Union — Results of Labors — Helps and Hin- drances— Future Prospects and Expectations 345
APPENDIX.
Temperance Principles in World's Convention — Speech at Covent Garden Theatre — Testimonials to Dr. Marsh — Changes in the Country — Presi- dent Lincoln to Sons of Temperance — Letter from General Neal Dow — Tracts for the Army — Late Publications — Decision of U. S. Supreme Court, 1847— Do. 1866— Departed Laborers.
TEMPERANCE RECOLLECTIONS.
CHAPTER I.
Birth — Educatiou — Ministry.
I WAS born in Wethersfielcl, Ct., April 2, 1 788. My father, the Rev. John Marsh, D. D., was long pastor of the Congregational Church in that place. His ancestors came from England at an early date and first settled at Hing- ham, Mass., whence they soon removed to his birth-place, Haverhill, on the banks of the Merrimac. Through succes- sive generations, the Marshes were remarkable for stability and longevity. Twelve children all survived his mother, who counted 92 years. The eldest daughter was married to Rev. Benjamin Tappan, of Manchester, and from them descended Benjamin Tappan, Esq., of Northampton, the father of John, of Boston, and Arthur and Lewis, of New York; also Professor Tappan, of Harvard University, father of Rev. Dr. Tappan, of Augusta, Me. ; bringing me into close relationship and friendship with these active and in- fluential men. From a brother of my father, descended Samuel Marsh, Esq., of New York, and Nathaniel Marsh, the devoted and laborious President of the N. Y. & Erie Railroad. After filling the office of tutor for nine years at Harvard University, where he graduated in 1761, my father was called to the pastoral charge of the church at Wethers- field and was there ordained Jan. 4, 1774. He was soon con- nected by marriage with Ann, daughter of Capt. Ebenezer Grant, of East Windsor. W^cthersfield was at that time one
3 TEMPERANCE HE COLLECTIONS.
of tlie most important towns of tlie State, and was distin- guished for its intelligent and patriotic population. At the first tidings of blood-shedding at Lexington, in 1775, a com- pany of one hundred volunteers Hocked to the field of strife. The news was received on the morning of the Sabbath as the people were assembling for divine service. On consul- tation it was agreed that the afternoon service should be dispensed with, and that the men volunteering should as- semble at 5 p. M. on the green, and march for Boston. Then there was hurry and bustle, and partings and tears." At the appointed hour the company were on the ground, under command of Capt. John Chester, and marched to the river side, Avhere the young pastor commended them to God. They soon crossed, and the night closed upon them on their way to battle. The next day, however, on hearing that all was over, they returned. But they soon found it was other- wise, and they hurried on and were at the battle of Bunker Hill, fighting valiantly for their country. Noble men. If they resisted one tyranny, which was not to be borne, they vrere unwittingly leaving their children to another which would destroy its thousands and tens of thousands.
In this town, so attractive and filled with enterprising and influential fiimilies, General Washington and Count Rochambeau met with their suites, in 1780, to make their military arrangements. The General's headquarters were at the house of Joseph Webb, Esq., still standing. During his stay, my father acted as his chaplain, preached before him on the Sabbath, from the text "Blessed are the poor in spirit" (the sermon is still among his manuscripts, marked "preached before Gen. Washington"), and sat daily on his right at the table. Many interesting anec- dotes have I heard him relate of that momentous period.
Great was the hospitality of the New England minis- try. No travelling clergyman was ever sufiered to see the inside of a public house in Wethersfield. Well do I
BOYHOOD — SCHOOL OF DR. BACKUS. 9
remember the difficulty of accommodating all the minis- ters' horses the night before the General Election at Hart- ford. The*drinks dispensed and highly prized were good bottled cider, my mother's currant wine, and spring beer. The drawing of corks afforded great merriment, as he who performed the ceremony was in danger of a smart shower on his new black coat. At freemen's meetings, at associational, ordination, and other clerical gatherings, a rich display of decanters with stronger liquors (usually furnished by some generous parishioners) covered the side- board and were resorted to by all without any sense of wrong doing; though not in all cases without results which were the subject of much private conversation. In my boyhood, Flip, a drink made of small beer, a glass of spirits with sugar and nutmeg, made warm by a red hot poker, was a usual drink on the Sabbath, in the winter months, on returning from church. Well do I remember crying in meeting 'from the cold (there were then no stoves), and holding on to my chair after drinking the Flip till my head became steady. The town was set- tled, as were most of the towns in Connecticut, with hard drinkers. Some large families, fathers and sons, had near- ly all filled drunkard's graves ; and one huge man with a modern unshaven face, a notorious cider drunkard, who often appeared in our back kitchen to beg a mug of cider, was my great terror. In the summer, my business was the supplying of the hay-field with the bottle of New England rum, from which the mowers and others took copious draughts ; showing soon how perfectly it unfitted them for continuance in labor. The lessons then taught never faded from memory.
At the age of ten, I was sent to the school of the Rev.
Azel Backus, in Bethlem, Litchfield County. About thirty
lads were there, gathered by the fame of that noble man
from the South as well as the North ; many were sons of
1*
10 TEMPERANCE RECOLLECTIONS.
rich men, accnstomod to every indulgence. On tlie Itli of July, 1800, great ]>rep;\rations were made in a ^rove for a patriotic celebration of indej)endence. A generous supply of wines Avas provided and many a patriotic speech made from youthful tongues loosened by the generous draughts. At nightfoll, the prostrate and pitiable condition of more than half the school aroused the wrath of our instructor and guide, and on summoning us to morning prayers, with a brow dark and terrible as a cloud moving onward with roaring thunder and forked lightning, he enacted his Maine law, forever expelling the winecup from his school and all its festivities. Here, in my first witness of social drunk- enness, I, being quite the junior, escaped. Not so fortu- nate w^as I in the second. I entered Yale in September, 1800, at twelve, having mastered the four Evangelists, six books of Virgil, and four Orations of Cicero ; prepared, alas ! in the estimation of that day, to grapple with all the hard problems of mathematics, and become in four years profound in philosophy and complete in all elegant literature. A political revolution had occurred in the country. Thomas Jefferson, the democratic candidate, had attained to the Presidency ; and party politics raged with a violence since unknown. Every boy was a patriot, ready to fly to arms. The College, w^ith few exceptions, were strongly enlisted, under President Dwight, in behalf of Washington, Adams, and, wdiat were considered con- stitutional and fundamental principles ; and it was resolved, when the fourth of July should return, to have a cele- bration of independence worthy of the day and w^orthy of Yale. At the dinner in the College Hall, a baiTcl of wine Avas elevated on a table and none w^ere expected to leave the Hall until, amid shouts, and songs, and harangues of all descriptions, the barrel was emptied. The result was lo Bacciie, the triumphs of Bacchus. But for that, I . should have escaped a common maxim in days gone by,
YALE INDEPENDENCE — DE. EUSH AND POETEE. 11
that there was no man to be found who had not been drunk at least once in his life. The sensation has not been forgotten. As I went out of the Hall I saw the buildings moving round and discharged the contents of my rebellious stomach. The next year was a year of un- usual seriousness in College. More than a hundred of the students became hopefully pious, and, for the remainder of our course, intemperance was but little known. Presi- dent D wight preached to us his admirable sermon, a part of his course, on the nature, causes, and evils of drunken- ness and the means of avoiding it. In this he solemnly warned us against the beginnings of evil, and proclaimed the duty of entire abstinence from spirituous liquors by all who found in themselves any peculiar relish for them. But an universal abandonment to save the country, was not then contemplated.
To the alarming evils of intemperance the public mind was at that period being awakened. Dr. Rush, of Phila- delphia, had created a great sensation by his tract on ar- dent spirits, published in 1804 ; and Rev. Ebenezer Porter, of Washington, Ct., had roused the ministry and the churches by a sermon, in 1806, on the death of a man in the snow with a bottle of spirits at his side. In a note, he comjiuted that the spirits then consumed in the United States would load 100,000 wagons, which, in complete order, would extend more than 1,000 miles; and, in cost, would annually exceed 600 tons of dollars. Such footholds had the alcoholic demon in the nation. Some gentlemen in Litchfield had entered into an agreement not to furnish laborers with spirits ; but no temperance society was known until 1808, when one was formed at Moreau, in the State of New York. 47 persons signed the constitu- tion and no one was allowed to drink ardent spirits under a penalty of 25 cents. In 1813, however, a society of considerable consequence was formed in Massachusetts,
12 TEMPERANCE RECOLLECTIONS.
through thu mutual iiitlucncc of a CongrcgatioDal and Presbyterian Alliance, and nndcr the counsels of the Hon. Samuel Dexter, a distinguished lawyer, who had said that he would pay all the taxes of Boston and of the State of Massachusetts if he might have the profit on the traffic in spirituous liquors. This society was called The Massa- chusetts Society for the SurrREssiox of Inte^nlper- ANCE. But it did little but observe an anniversary and have a sermon preached, after which preacher and hearers would repair to tables richly laden with wine, and was therefore without efficacy in rooting out the evil. In Connecticut the ministers of Litchfield South Association were moved by Mr. Porter's sermon, to appoint a commit- tee to inquire and report what remedy could be found for the greatly increasing evil of the day. After considering it for some time, they reported in 1811 that they could find no remedy. Rev. Lyman Beecher, then just settled in Litchfield, moved that the committee be discharged and a new committee be appointed. It was agreed to and he was appointed chairman. Almost immediately they re- ported that a remedy could be found in the agreement of all good Christian people to use no longer spirituous liquors ; but so ludicrous was the idea, on the one hand, and so impracticable, on the other, that it does not seem to have been harbored or commended. The light shone in darkness, but the darkness comprehended it not. But it was a great thought and a noble testimony. Soon after the Consociation of Fairfield Co. resolved to reform their own body. They excluded all spirituous liquors from their meetings, and, in 1812, published an able appeal to the public against the drinking usages of the day. This was the joint work of Rev. Roswell R. Swan, of Norwalk, and Rev. Heman Humphrey, of Fairfield, afterwards President of Amherst College. These and other efforts were not without their influence ; and, but for the war with England
TEilPTATIONS IX PEE ACHING. 13
which commenced m 1812, might have produced even these great results.
Having commenced preaching at twenty-one I met the kind hospitalities of the families of ministers, elders, and deacons wherever I went, and had pressed upon me after service, though not in the least exhausted, tl^e recruiting drink. From Oct., 1814, to April, 1815, I supplied the Wall Street Presbyterian pulpit in New York, vacated by the removal of Dr. Samuel Miller to Princeton Seminary, and here I mingled with some of the first families in the city. Robert Lenox, Esq., Judge Brockholdst Livingston, Mr. Edgar, Dr. John Rogers, and others, had me at their tables, where were the choicest wines, and where, not to drink with the lady of the house was to the young minis- ter an impossibility. Frequent invitations from one and another to a glass were given, and no wonder that some of the sacred order were privately and even publicly spoken of as already ruined men. The rumors made me resolve to drink as little as possible consistent with polite- ness. The same temptations and snares were before me in other cities and towns and in the most pious families. How different now ! How mighty the change !
In December, 1818, I took the pastoral charge of the Congregational Church, in Haddam, Ct. Here I had la- bored for six months in a powerful revival of religion amid a staunch, well informed, but plain people, whose labors were in shipyards, coasting, fishing, quarrying, and farm- ing ; labors in which, at that time, ardent spirit was a daily ration at eleven and four, as regularly as food was provided at other hours. In my arduous labors, preach- ing almost daily and conversing from house to house, I had pressed upon me the best of drinks which the people could aftord ; but I invariably declined excepting where, in some humble family, it would have caused grief, as not sufficiently good in my estimation. My greatest foe was
14 TEMPERANCE EECOLLECTIOXS.
the hard cider, soon producing, by its oxalic acid, liead- ache. But it was the only drink then upon the dinner- table, and used freely at all times. A pitcher of water, as a part of table furniture, was unknown. 'No one, not the most delicate females, used it. All drank cider. At my ordination an amusing circumstance occurred, which be- came an instrument of great sharpness among the minis- try. Returning from the services to the public house, on a very cold day in December, the council, composed of some thirty ministers and delegates, were ushered into a large tavern chamber, where was a bright fire on the one side, and, on the other, a table filled with all the materials for warming the stomach and preparing for the repast which would soon be in readiness. Among the ministers present was one who had thrown off the dominion of King Alcohol. This was the Rev. Calvin Chapin, of the parish of Rocky Hill, in the town of Wethersfield ; a man in whose heart was the law of kindness, but whose tongue was, when needed, beyond all others, a sharp sword. As the Rev. Mr. K., of Killiugworth, a lovely brother, but not able to cope with him, was with twenty others mix- ing his tumbler of good things — Mr. C, singling him out for an attack, said : " Brother K., what are you going to do with that stuff?" " Stuff," said Mr. K, *'It is not stuff; it is good brandy." " Well ! what are you going to do with it ? " " Do Avith it ? Avhy what do you suppose ? Drink it, to be sure." " Well," asked Mr. C, " what are you going to do then ? " " Do ! why walk about, I suppose." "But suppose," said Mr. C, "you cannot. There has been many a man who, after drinking that, could not walk at all ; and I doubt whether, if you drink it, you can walk a crack. I will challenge you to do it." Mr. K., still stir- ring his liquor, not able amid this storm to drink, and now the object of all present, said : " Well ! I believe I shall try it," " You had better not," said Mr. C, " you had
OKDINATION ANECDOTE. 15
better come and throw it in the fire or out of the window. If you want to get warm, take a coal of fire into your mouth, but don't take that and have it said, as it may be, that Rev. Mr. K. went to ordination and could not get home." At length, one of the Fathers, provoked beyond measure by this universal stop put to the drinking cus- tom, said, with a loud voice, " Mr. C, do you let Brother K. alone and let him have his drink ; you are a real pest, a genuine blackguard," and here ended the matter. But that was the last ordination in that district of country at which liquor was provided. The Rev. Mr. K. afterwards became one of the most zealous and determined advocates of temperance, and, for his opposition to the rum interest, was driven from his parish.
My pastoral labors, amid a large church and a hundred and fifty newly converted individuals, all looking to me as the means of their spiritual life, were very pleasant. But if my parish was an Eden, there Avas a serpent there ; and as the sons of God came together, Satan also came among them. Haddam, the birth-place of David Brainerd, was yet a rum-cursed community ; and if the Spirit of God had borne multitudes captives in Messiah's train, the spirit of the pit had a hold of them to confound and dis- grace, if not draw some back to .perdition. All the labor- ing men, as I have remarked, drank ardent spirit in their 'work ; nor was it then, more than it had for a hundred years, been viewed as inconsistent with Christian ex- perience or Christian character. No enquiry was made, as they submitted their hearts to Christ, " Do you yield up this indulgence ? " nor, as they came into the church, " Do you pledge yourselves neither to use, buy nor sell ? " Two respectable members of the Church, one of them a Deacon, had, for a considerable time, planted themselves on the doctrine of total abstinence, and they would not give strong drink to those they employed, but it was viewed
16 TEMPERANCE EECOLLECTIONS.
as a singular freak, and they had but little influence. A large distillery in the place was considered a great blessing, and stores kept by church members freely dealt out the poi- son without reproach or any sense of wrong-doing. But in time past many church members had brought reproach upon the cause of their Master by intemperance ; seven eighths of all cases of discij^line were for this sin. Some were in the church who were still a vexation, and it was soon manifest that some of the late hopeful subjects of divine grace, were not to be exempted from the effects of the drunkard's drink if they continued to use it. That grace was sufficient for them, but could a man take fire in his bosom and not be burned ? could he walk on hot coals and his feet not be burned ? The young shepherd was jealous for the lambs of his flock. Some rumors of irregularities from the too free use of spirit in drinking places reaching his ears, he prepared and delivered a ser- mon of admonition and warning — shewing the amount of liquor drank in the place, (fifty-two hogsheads of iS^ew England rum had in that year been sold,) its cost, and consequent waste to the people, the evils of intemperance, the dangers of moderate drinking, especially to young Christians, its hindrance to growth in grace, and its occa- sion of much improper conversation and conduct. Some of the fathers were angry ; suffering women said, "It is all true;" but the whole was the subject of merriment among the young men, and more was drank the next day in the ship-yards and quarries than before; but an impression was made on many of the subjects of the recent revival, and a few resolved that they would carry no more spirit to their field of labor. A conflict was commenced, and a second work of conversion was to be effected. I need not say, it was a laborious and often painful one. It alienated many friends, especially among the older class. It at times interrupted religious effort; but it was a
REVIVAL TRIALS DK. NETTLETOX. 17
necessary work, remoYing one of the greatest obstructions to the reception of the Gospel, and the purity and pros- perity of Zion. In suceeding revivals, several hard drinkers were awakened ; and long was the struggle be- tween giving up the cup or the Gospel salvation. An abandonment of drink was often the point of submission to the Gospel. When it came to be understood that but little credit was given to a religious hope connected with a continuance in moderate drinking, and that none would be received into the church but upon an abandonment of the cup ; the victory was gained.
While in this revival labor, I was visited by the Rev. Asahel Nettleton, the distinguished revival preacher, and I saw him often in an adjoining town, the ]3lace of his birth. We conversed much on this subject, the destructive influence of spirit-drinking on the soul. He strengthened me in the position I had taken, as he afterwards did many others, in an admirable letter which he published on the subject in the Spirit of the Pilgrims, in 1829. Several strong cases are in my recollection, shewing the power of the drink over good men. A much-loved deacon was greatly tried, believing that a daily use of spirit was es- sential to check the progress of a disease with which he was afflicted. A hasty young convert refused to take from him the Sacramental Elements at the Lord's table ; on inquiry, after communion, for the reason, the convert said he would not take bread from the hands of one who drank brandy. The deacon Avent home distressed, and said to his wife : " Live or die, I will become an abstainer." In a- few weeks he came to me with a bright countenance, saying, that his complaint had left him, and he was satis- fied, it was the brandy which had caused it. Another excellent brother was so devoted to revivals, that temper- ance meetings and temperance sermons were a great an- noyance. He almost considered them the work of the
18 TEMPERANCE RECOLLECTIONS.
adversary to put a stop to revivals. I labored with him much, but it Avas all in vain. He absented himself from prayer meetings, because he could not unite in prayer for the success of the temperance cause ; and from the com- munion table, for the temperance brethren could not fel- lowship him. Yet he was a good man ; a precious brother in revival seasons. I made him a special visit ; I talked, I reasoned, I pleaded ; finally I said ; " Have you ever made this the subject of prayer? "No," said he, "and I won't." " Then," said I, " Brother, you are wrong ; for if there is any subject on which you are unwilling to ask counsel of God, there you are wrong ; conscience condemns you, and you feel or fear that God will condemn you." He saw it, and promised he would carry the case to God. The next time I met him, his face shone as did the face of Moses when he came down from the mount. " It is all over," said he, " the moment I was on my knees, I saw you were right and I was wrong ; I could not pray that the temper- ance cause might not prevail." From that time he be- came one of our best temperance advocates.
In the midst of this conflict I took one of those practi- cal stands which try the hearts of many. I had com- menced building a house ; my frame was all ready, and a general inA'itation Avas given to my parishioners to come to the raising. But it was understood, it was to be a cold water raising. Good refreshments would be pro- vided, but no liquor. This was an unheard-of thing. Raisings were great times for drunkards and hard drink- ers. Liquor was free and abundant, and the jugs and demijohns were well emptied ; awful scenes for Christian communities. A raising was one of the devil's harvests, and not a few were the distressing accidents then occur- ring. It was predicted that men enough could not be collected to jjut up the building. Attachment to the youthful pastor, however, and a sense of shame at sta^ng
RAISING — PEEPAEATION OF TRACTS. 19
away for want of the drink, brouglit out a goodly force. And the frame went up, amid much exhilaration on the part of the abstainers. But several individuals, and among them members of the church, came to see the failure, and seating themselves on a bank near by, looked on, like Shimei, cursing as the timbers went up, and at last, as they saw they would go, retreating in vexation. After this, raisings were effected without liquor, and soon the tables were turned; the rum men being the feeble party.
Besides preaching occasionally on the subject, I -pre- pared and published two tracts which I circulated freely among my people ; one, an " Aj^peal to Professors of Reli- gion on the Use of Ardent Spirits ; " and the other, " The Rum-drinking Christian " : The Lord pardon thy servant in this thing. Is it not a little one f to meet the cases of jdIous brethren Avho plead- that they drank but little. In my action I had the strong sympathy of neighboring ministers and churches, and on September 8, 1828, a large County meeting was held in my church, and a County Society was organ- ized ; Charles Griswold of Lyme, a gentleman of high char- acter, was appointed President. Monthly meetings were established, which the ministers almost without fail at- tended ; and by some one an able address was prepared. Soon we had 600 men in the county pledged to total ab- stinence from ardent spirits, before it was supposed there were half that number in the whole State. The next autumn the Middlesex Consociation met in my church, and such had been the influence of our County meetings on the min- isters and churches that it was unanimously
Besolvcd, That this Consociation do highly approve of the measures which have been recently adopted for the suppression of Intemperance, and that the success of these measures calls loudly for the gratitude of the churches to God under whose blessing it has been attained.
Resolved^ That the Consociation do recommend to the members of the
20 TEMPEKAXCE KECOLLECTIONS.
churches in their connexion total abstinence from the common use of ardent spirits and a union with the temperance societies ; these societies being the most powerful antidote to the alarming evil of intemperance, which the providence of God has pointed out to his people.
But we were but one of a mighty host which was gath- ering to the battle. . In February, 1826, the American Temperance Society had been organized at Boston. A weekly paper called the National Pliilanthropist had been established by Wm. Collier. Its motto was, " Temperate drinking the doAvnhill road to intemperance." This was removed to New York and succeeded by the Journal of Humanity, established by the society at Andover, and edited by Rev. Edward W. Hooker. Rev. Justin Ed- wards, of Andover, and Rev. Nathaniel Hewitt, of Fair- field, Ct., had entered on those great labors which, it was hoped and believed, would result in the overthrow of this kingdom of blood. The principle of total abstinence had been established in the Christian Spectator by the pen of Rev. Joshua Leavifct, of Stratford, Ct. The well-conduct- ed farm, a tract from the pen of Rev. Justin Edwards, de- scribing the farm of S. V. S. Wilder, Esq., of Bolton, con- ducted on strict temperance principles, had awakened the attention of farmers throughout the country to the useless- ness and the injurious effects of ardent spirits in all agricul- tural pursuits. A series of papers, in the Connecticut Ob- server, from the caustic pen of Rev. Calvin Chapin, on total abstinence the only infallible antidote, over the sig- nature T. I. A., commencing January, 1826, had confound- ed and put to silence pleas for moderate drinking ; and the Six Sermons of Rev. Lyman Beecher, of Litchfield, in the ensuing summer, on the nature, signs, evils, and reme- dies of intemperance, with an electrifying address, soon after, by Jonathan Kittredge, of New Hampshire, on the effects of intemperance, had set the country on fire ; and everywhere State, county, and town societies were being
PUTNAM AND THE WOLF. 21
established witli a resolution and vigor which promised and actually secured the greatest results.
The flame spread across the Atlantic, and a fire had been kindled in England, Scotland, and Ireland. The first temperance society in the old world, on the abstinence sys- tem, was formed in 1829 by Kev. George Carre, of 'New Ross, in Ireland. Voluntary abstinence from doing evil, as an essential prerequisite to doing well, had been pro- claimed, at Belfast, by the Rev. Mr. Penny, of Rochester, N. Y., and on this as a base, numerous societies sprang up in that year, in Ireland and Scotland, numbering over 14,000 members.
One of the earliest of the State societies was the Con- necticut. It was organized at Hartford, May 20, 1829; Rev. Jeremiah Day, D. D., President of Yale College, Pre- sident ; Rev. Calvin Chapin, Chairman of Executive Com- mittee ; and myself. Secretary and General Agent. The appointment led me, without leaving my pastoral charge, to visit various parts of the State, attend meetings, make addresses, and institute inquiries relative to the extent and evils of intemperance. In October of that year I was invited to address the Windham County Temperance So- ciety at Pomfret, a distance of forty miles from my resi- dence. I thought it idle to perform such a journey, then difficult to address a meeting, and dismissed it from my thoughts. But on rising from dinner one day, I burst into a laugh. My wife inquired what so amused me. I said, " I am going to Pomfret." " Why ! " said she, " I thouglit you had given it up; pray what has changed your mind?" I replied, " That is the place where Putnam killed the wolf, and I will make a temperance address out of that, PuTNAii AND THE Wolf ; — the wolf devouring the sheejD, and the people out upon the hunt." I ran up to ray study, found in a school book Gen. Humphreys' story of the hunt, and, before I went to bed, which was past midnight, I had fin-
22 TEMPERANCE RECOLLECTIONS.
ished my address ; amused and exhilarated beyond meas- ure at the wonderful adapteduessof the affair to the sub- ject. The next day, a letter was despatched to the secre- tary of the county society saying, I would be on hand. The 28th, the day of the meeting, was fine. The large Pomfret meeting-house was full. Venerable men, well conversant with the story, sat around the pulpit. The den of the Avolf was not far off, and descendants of the hero were near by. Commencing with an account of that mar- vellous affair, and bringing it to bear upon the present hunt after an enemy among us devouring, not sheep, but men, and having among us his a23ologists by scores, no small emotion was excited. The old men first looked up and smiled, and then put their heads down between their hands and knees to repress their laughter, while the active combatants in the field felt that they had a new weapon in their hands against the rumseller and the distiller which would hew its vv^ay and bring great results. Often, with difficulty, could I keep as composed as became the orator ; and Avhen I had finished, and gained the open air, there was a rush upon me for a copj for the press. I replied they might have it if they would go to Hartford and get from an engraver a picture of Putnam dragging the wolf from the den. They did so at once. An enterprising bookseller undertook the publication, and, in a short time, disposed of 150,000 copies. Soon after, the American Tract Society adopted it as one of their permanent tracts, and have scattered abroad thousands on thousands. Such was the result of a happy caption to an address which other- wise would have attracted no special attention.
In 1830 I published my First Report as Secretary of the Connecticut Temperance Society. The anniversary was held May 1 9, in the Centre Church in New Haven. It was a proud occasion for the friends of the cause. The assembly was large. The Governor and most of the Legis-
CONNECTICUT ANNIVERSARY. 23
lature were present. Prayer was offered by President Day. After the reading of the Report, able addresses were made by the Hon. Timothy Pitkin of Farmington, long a distinguished member of Congress, Daniel Frost, Esq., Agent of the Society, the Hon. Minot Sherman, and the Hon. David Daggett. An advocacy by such gentle- men made a deep impression. Mr. Sherman was one of the most finished speakers of the day. He took a lively interest in the cause, and was ready at all times to speak in its behalf. He put all opponents to shame, and im- parted great strength and courage to those who were en- gaged in its promotion. Judge Daggett bore ample and powerful testimony to the intimate connection between in- temperance and crime. He viewed the dram-shop as the " curse of the community," the " outer chamber of hell," and he then, and often, expressed the opinion that there was little hope of much success in the cause, until the sale of ardent spirits was placed on a par with counterfeiting and thieving. In the Report, I was able to present a mass of information relative to the extent and evils of intem- perance in the State which, to the uninformed and unre- flecting, was truly appalling. In addition to constant im- portations of rum from the West Indies, there were two large rum-distilleries in the State, and ten gin and whiskey distilleries, doing a great business ; with 300 smaller dis- tilleries' on the farms, chiefly cider distilleries. Licensed retailers and licensed taverns were in every town. The consumption of spirituous liquors in the State, containing a population of 275,248, was annually about 1,238,616 gal- lons, which, at 62^ cents a gallon, cost the people $782,- 894.95. In several of the farming towns, merchants gave an account of their annual sales of 10,000 gallons and up- wards. Among 45,000 families, every twenty-fifth family Yv^as engaged and found support, at least in part, in sup- plying the remainder Vv'ith intoxicating liquors. As the
24 TEMPER A.XCE RECOLLECTIONS.
result of all this terrible enginery, besides the waste of property, the idleness, sabbath-breaking, contention, murders and general demoralization, there were in the State thousands of common drunkards, one in ten of whom went annually to the grave, leaving their places to be at once supplied by a new generation. In nine parishes in the county of Hartford tliere were reported by the Hartford County Society, from an actual inspection of every adult in those parishes, 594 drunkards; giving 2,005 to the county. Of 172 paupers in Middlesex County, 114 were reduced to beggary by intemperance, and Captain Pillsbury, Warden of the State prison at Wethersfield, a noble temperance man, said to me, on inquiry, '' that he might say of his 167 prisoners that the whole were brought there by intemperance." To meet and overthrow this ter- rific evil, the combination in the State had now become mighty. Eight counties and 1 74 towns and societies were reported with 22,532 members pledged to total abstinence from the use of and traffic in ardent spirits as a beverage. The county societies were headed by some of the most distinguished men of the State : Hon. Timothy Pitkin of Farmington ; Hon. David Daggett of New Haven ; Hon. John Cotton Smith of Sharon ; Darius Matthewson, Esq., of Windham; William P. Greene of IsTorwich; Elisha Stearns, Esq., of Tolland; Charles Griswold, Esq., of Lyme ; His Excellency, Gideon Tomlinson of Fairfield, Governor of the State. These gentlemen all took a pride and pleas- ure in attending the county meetings and advancing the cause. The medical faculty throughout the State were, as a body, deeply interested, and at their State Convention ii: 1828 they passed a series of strong resolutions in its favor. They especially declared that it was the duty of all physi- cians to abstain from the use of ardent spirits in their at- tendance upon the sick ; as such use rendered the system more susceptible of contagion and other causes of disease.
JAMES BEEWSTEIl, THE MASTEB-MECHANIC. 25
They also recommended entire abstinence to nurses and all attendants. But with no individual did I meet in the State more clear in his views, and more decided and in- fluential in his practice than Mr. James Brewster of New Haven, the head of a large mechanical establishment. More tools he assured me were destroyed and more work spoiled through ardent spirits than from any other cause. He made a thorough cleansing of his own establishment, and his influence was great in inducing other mechanics throughout the State to banish the poison from their works. He still lives ; a great ornament and blessing to his race. .
Amid such conflicts and successes was it my happiness, while in the ministry, to do something for the introduc- tion and advance of the principle of entire abstinence in my native State.
CHAPTER II.
Taking a three months' Temperance Agency — Labors in Baltimore and Washington — Gathering of First Congressional Temperance Meeting — Acquaintance with Judge Cranch, Dr. Sewall, and others — Appoint- ed Permanent Agent of American Temperance Society — Dismission from Pastoral Charge — Attendance on First National Temperance Convention at Philadelphia — Made Secretary — Labors in Connecticut and Massachusetts — Removal to Philadelphia — Three years' labor in connection with Pennsylvania State Society.
" As the lightning shineth out of the East unto the "West, so also shall the coming of the Son of Man be ; " and so was the rapid extension of the temperance reforma- tion. In May, 1831, there were reported nineteen State societies, embodying 3,000 local societies, with more than 300,000 members, pledged to entire abstinence from the manufacture, sale, and use of ardent spirits as a beverage. Maine, Alabama, Louisiana, Illinois and Missouri were the only States in which a State society had not been organ- ized. Some of the State societies were very large and efficient, especially the Society of the State of New York ; and it was the opinion of the Chairman of the Executive Committee of that society that there had been saved to the State in that year, in the diminished use of ardent spirits, at least 16,250,000, and that there was everywhere mani- fest both an improved state of morals and fresh vigor in every department of human industry : 3,000 lost drunkards in the country had, it was supposed, been reclaimed, and more than 10,000 men, on the brink of ruin, had been kept back from falling and once more had gained firm footing ;
STATE OF THE CAUSE IN 1831. 27
while more than a million had already resolved not to enter the drunkard's path or become liable, in any degree, to the drunkard's end. More than a thousand distil- leries had been stopped, and serious conscientious venders, who had been unwittingly engaged in dispensing for gain the delusive and destructive poison, had, without number, abandoned their business. The press had become very pro- lific in spirited and stirring appeals and addresses. Besides the publications already noted, the community had been favored in 1827 with two "Discourses on Intemperance" by Rev. John Palfrey of Boston, and "Effects of Spirituous Liquors on Society," by S. Emlen, M. D., of Philadelphia. In an address before the Medical Convention of I^ew Hamp- shire, by Reuben Mussey, M. D., Dr. Mussey developed the " True Nature of Alcohol," and showed that it was neither needful nor useful in all the labors of life. An address before the Canterbury Society in Connecticut, by Daniel Frost, Esq., a lawyer, who had entered the field as a temperance lecturer, attracted much attention from his own sad personal experience. In 1828 twelve " Essays on Intemperance" were presented, by Albert Barnes, then a young minister in Morristown, N. J. ; but, though able, their circulation was very limited ; also, " Intemperance, a Just Cause of Alarm," by Rev. W. Sprague of West Springfield, Mass. A -masterly "Parallel between In- temperance and the Slave Trade," by Heman Humphrey, D. D. ; " An Appeal to the People of Lower Canada," by Joseph Christmas ; and " An Address to Manufacturers and Venders of Strong Drink," by Jonathan Kittredge, appeared in the same year. But the most effective publica- tion of the time was, " Aisr Appeal to the Intemperate," by Samuel Nott of Gal way, IST. Y. It was a small, but thoroughly practical common sense view of the subject ; showing that the temperate were the guilty cause of all the intemperance in the land. It had a very wide circu-
28 TEMPERANCE EECOLLECTIONS.
lation. The First Report of the American Tcmperanco Society for 1827, prepared by Rev. Dr. Hewitt, was ex- tensively circulated. And in 1829 appeared ** Bcman's Song of the Drunkard;" " Sweetzer's Dissertation ;" "Put- nam and the Wolf; " and " Professor Hitchcock's Argu- ment against the Manufacture of Ardent Spirits." These and other publications, too numerous to mention, had great influence on the public mind.
At this time, 1831, Dr. Hewitt had not only aroused the attention of his countrymen, but had electrified England, Scotland and Ireland by the power of his elo- quence ; while Dr. Justin Edwards of Andover, Mass., fastened conviction of truth and responsibility upon the minds of men as it had never been before ; and in a visit to the city of Washington, in the winter and spring of that year, he addressed the citizens of the District and also both houses of Congress, making a deep impression upon them and upon the several Heads of Departments. On leaving that city to return home, earnest requests were made for some similar aid another season ; and on application through him from the Baltimore Temj^erance Society, I was induced to leave my pulpit in the hands of another for the space of three months, and do what was in my power in aid of the cause both there and in the capital of the nation. I left my, home in the month of November, and immediately on my arrival at Baltimore commenced my work. It was an inviting field of labor. A large Committee of the Baltimore Society were ready to cooperate with me. The first pulpits of the city w^ere opened to me, and I preached morning and evening on the sabbath ; addressed ward meetings in the week ; and schools, almshouses and prisons as time would admit ; and during a ISTational Political Convention held an immense public meeting. For this I had the promised aid of the Hon. John Sargent, one of the first lawyers of Philadephia,
LETTER OF HON. WM. WIRT. 29
and the Hon. William Wirt, the eloquent attorney-general of the United States. Mr. Wirt entered into the subject with great ardor and zeal, but alas ! was kept from the meeting by the sudden illness of liis daughter ; yet, while in her sick room, he wrote me the following letter of apology, which I read in the meeting, and which may be read with profit while the world lasts :
Baltimore, November 28, 1831. Rev. Mr. Marsh,
Dear Sir : — I have been for more than forty years a close observer of life and maimers m 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 often been said, that this single cause has pro- duced more vice, crime, poverty, and wretchedness in every form, domestic and social, than all the other iUs 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 examination to have proceeded, directly or indirectly, from the excessive use of ardent spirits. Want is one of its immediate consequences. The sad spectacle of starving and destitute families, and of ignorant, half naked, vicious children, ought never to be presented in a country like this, where the demand for labor is constant, the field unlim- ited, 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 famiUes by the general use of this deadly poison. It paralyzes the arm, the brain, the heart. All the best affections, aU 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 walkhig pestilence on the earth, miserable in himself, and loathsome to all who behold him. How often do we see, too, whole famihes contaminated by the vicious example of the parent ; husbands, wives, daughters, and sons, all drunkards and furies : sometimes wives murdermg 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 misery, throughout our otherwise happy land, proceeding from this fatal cause alone. I am per- suaded that if we could have a statistical survey and report of the affairs of unhappy families and individuals, with the causes of their misery an-
30 TEMPERANCE RECOLLECTIONS.
nexcd, we should find nine casc3 out of ten, if not a still greater propor- tion, resulting from the use of ardent spirits alone. With this conviction, which seems to have 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 im- port;pd into our country, and had commenced its ravages in our cities, we should see the most prompt and vigorous measures at once adopted to re- press and extinguish it : but what are the most fearful plagues that ever carried death and havoc in their train through the eastern countries, com- pared with this ? They are only occasional ; this is perennial. They are confined by climate or place ; this malady is of all clknates, and all tunes and places. They kill the body at once ; this consimaes both body and soul by a lingering and dreadful death, involving 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 pre- sented with a fair field for its celestial action.
The progress already made by our temperance societies, in advancing this golden age, proves them to be of a divine origin. May the Almighty crown his own work with full and speedy success. I remain, dear sir, re- spectfully and truly yours,
William Wirt.
By request of citizens of Washington my labors were divided between Baltimore and the capital, where I preached both in the Presbyterian and Methodist churches, and at once, in connection with the Rev. Dr. Post, Dr. Sew- all and others, entered on the gathering of a Congressional temperance meeting which should make a powerful im- pression on the nation. Having procured the use of the Hall of the House of Pepresentatives, our great business was to obtain speakers who would enter heartily into the work, command respect, and secure an audience. Of one
FIRST CONGEESSIOXAL TEMPERANCE MEETING. 31
we were sure from the first ; indeed he was a tower of strength to us — the Hon. Theodore Frelmghuysen, U. S. Senator from l^ew Jersey ; but he was doubtful whether another one, unless it was Mr. Grundy, Senator from Ten- nessee, who had recently talked loudly against wine drink- ing, would open his lips. But who would preside, to give character to the meeting ? We called upon Mr. Adams, the late President, and stated our object. He treated us kindly, and promised attendance, but nothing more. "We next called upon Gen. Cass^ Secretary of War, who we knew had never been known, in all his arduous Western campaign, to taste of ardent spirit. He cordially received us, entered warmly into our object, and agreed to preside. Success was now certain. We next wended our way to the house of the Tennessee delegation. There we found the two senators and three or four representatives all de- cided temperance men ; they had entirely discarded ardent spirit from theu' table, for the cause had made much prog- ress in their own State. The Hon. Felix Grundy, U. S. Senator, said he would speak ; but, if he did, he should be an ultra, for he should go against wine ; he had no idea of calling upon the laboring population to give up their ardent spirit and leave the more refined and wealthy to drink their wine, when he knew it was equally a source of drunkenness ; — and he did it faithfully. To the Hon. Isaac C. Bates, of Massachusetts, a gentleman of great purity of character and eloquence of diction, and whom I had the happiness to know, we next successfully applied ; and, as one from the South and the opposite side in politics was desirable, the Hon. James M. Wayne, member of the House from Georgia, since Judge of the Supreme Court, was com- mended to us. He assured us that our principles met his approbation, especially in relation to the army and the navy, and he would speak on that point. We now seemed to have a full corps. But there was one who, of all others,
32 TEMPERANCE KEC0LLECTI0N8.
was the great favorite in Washington, and, if we could secure his name, we should not want for an audience ; that was the Hon. Daniel Webster, U. S. Senator from Massa- chusetts. Having once preached in Portsmouth, N. H., where he attended worship, I had no difficulty in present- ing my petition. But not the least encouragement would he give me, because of his engagements. I left with him, however, a resolution to offer, and had liberty to call again. On entering his room the next day I found him in a pleasant mood. He handed back my resolution, saying. Ministers never know how to make resolutions, they use too many superlatives — lawyers are more careful and precise ; there, take that, handing me one he had written, and saying, If you want this you shall have it ; it shall be my speech — Ions: enousfh — and it will be all I can make.
The meeting was now announced, and six hundred cards of invitation were sent out, having upon them the names of the presiding officer and the expected speakers. The evening was fine, and the splendid Hall was perfectly filled with the elite of Washington. To make it entirely Con- gressional, Walter Lowry, Esq., Secretary of the Senate, was made Secretary of the meetings, and the meeting was opened with prayer by Dr. Post, Chaplain of the House, and closed by Dr. Durbin, Chaplain of the Senate. Mr. Grundy made the opening speech, after I had briefly stated the object of the meeting, and was followed by Messrs. Frelinghuysen, Bates, and Wayne. Mr. Webster, I feared, had failed me, as he was nowhere to be seen ; but when his name was called, he rose in the back part of the Hall, where he had been the entire evening, and coming forward a little, standing upon a seat, he read with great distinct- ness and force his resolution, with a few appropriate re- marks. All the speeches were worthy of the subject and of the speakers. Some were truly eloquent. Mr. Grundy was sportive upon wine drinkers, and put the audience in
JUDGE CEANCH — HIS CALCULATIONS. 33
fine humor. Mr. Frelinghuysen was in sober earnest, ten- der, and subduing. He had seen too many promising men, and even members of Congress, fall before the destroyer, not to have much feeling as he spoke. Mr. Bates was very finished and eloquent. Mr. Adams sat near him, and was much moved. He turned to him at the close, and, wiping a tear from his eye, said : " Mr. Bates, I thank you for that figure of Laocoon — father and sons wrapped together in the enormous folds of the serpent — it is one of the most striking and truthful I have ever heard." I remained in my mission until I had collected the speeches and proceedings in pamphlet form, and had them circulated, through the assistance of members of Congress, over the land.
While in Washington I made the aquaintance of Judge Cranch, of the United States District Court, who was very kind to me and of essential service. He had turned his attention much to the subject in which I was engaged, and had given the result of his investigations in an address to the citizens of Washington. Judging from the quantity of ardent spirits actually consumed in the city of Wash- ington, he estimated that six gallons was the average annual consumption by each person in the United States ; and as we had a population of twelve millions, the consump- tion would be 72,000,000 gallons of ardent spirits ; which at 66^ cents a gallon, would be forty-eight million dollars. He estimated that there were 375,000 drunkards in the country, and that three-fourths of the crime and pauperism of the nation might be traced to intemperance. The en- tire liquor bill for the country he made to be annually 94,425,000 dollars. Such an annuity Avould in twenty years, with simple interest only, at six per cent, per annum upon each year's annuity, from the time it became pay- able to the end of the twenty years, amount to 3,064,800,- 000 dollars. The valuation of all the houses, land, and Blaves in the United States was 2,519,009,222 dollars; so
84 TEMPERANCE RECOLLECTIONS.
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, land and slaves in the United States once in every twenty years. Such presentations from so ac- curate and distinguished a gentleman, could do no other- wise than excite alarm throughout the community. I be- came also intimately associated with Dr. Thomas Sewall, who was then giving much attention to the subject of temperance in his high profession, and with Dr. Harvey Lindsley, author of " A Prize Essay on Alcoholic Stimu- lants, and Substitutes for, in the Practice of Medicine," who from that day gave me ever after a delightful home in his dwelling..
The American Temperance Society at Boston were now finding a vast work upon their hands, and the need of more laborers in the field ; and they resolved, if the means could be found, to sustain an agent in each of the great points of influence in the United States — Philadelphia, Cincinnati, St. Louis, Charleston and New Orleans — who in cooperation with their Committee and CoiTesponding Secretary at Boston should aid in the diffusion of informa- tion and in giving impulse to the work. In a letter from the Secretary, Kev. Justin Edwards, D. D., dated January 21, 1833, 1 was invited to leave my pastoral charge with a view of removing to Philadelphia, and occupying that post ; certain gentlemen there having guaranteed my sup- port. The tie which bound me to my people was strong. I had been with them fourteen years, in as perhaps ardu- ous labor as was the allotment and privilege of any of my brethren ; for there was, from the extent and roughness of the place, no harder field. But it was a fruitful one. Three powerful revivals had created a large and flourishing church. Attachments between pastor and people were strong. Not with an individual had I any conflict, excepting on the temperance question, and here the battle was nearly over
35
and the victory won. Another, it was supposed, might enter into my field, while there seemed to be a door of usefulness opened before me which it might be duty to enter. " If," said Dr. Edwards in his letter, " you think it to be the will of God that you should accept the ap- pointment, I should rejoice to have you do so, but not Avithout ; because without such a conviction it would not be comfortable to endure the privation, and labor, and trials to which it will call you. These, as you know, must be great; and nothing else will sustain you and carry you forward perseveringly but the conviction that you are jorobably accomplishing more for the final good of men than you possibly can in any other way."
With these monitions before me, and having consulted my fathers and brethren, and asked counsel of Him who in wisdom and kindness directs our steps, I requested a dissolution of the bonds which held me to my peo- ple. It was granted me on the 1st of Aj)ril, 1833; the more readily and willingly (an unusual case), by my best friends, because they had become interested, most deeply, in the temperance cause, for which they professed a will- ingness even to sacrifice then* own minister ; while to me it was a satisfaction that those who had been most disaf- fected at my course, most opposed my release.
To come to a sudden stand-still in all the duties of a large parish ; to dismiss at once all responsibility, look at mine OAvn and find they were not mine, but another's ; to seek another pulpit and leave mine to a stranger, was a shock for which I was not fully prepared ; and I could rise above it only by breaking away from all, and engag- ing resolutely in my new work.
On May 24, 1833, the first National Temperance Convention was held at Philadelphia, in the Hall of Independence. Four hundred delegates were in attend- ance from twenty-one States. I attended from Connecti-
36 TEMPERANCE KECOLLECTIONS.
cut, and was appointed one of the Secretaries. The meet- ing was probably the largest that had ever been assembled, for a moral purpose, in this or any other country. Chan- cellor "Walworth of New York, then in the prime and vigor of life, and possessed of unequalled powers as a pre- siding officer, was made President, and Rev. Justin Ed- wards, D. D., of Massachusetts, chairman of the business Committee. Dr. Edwards had been more conversant with the temperance reform, its necessity and wants, than any other man, and stood ready ^vith a series of reso- lutions which were calculated to secure approbation, and give a great extension to the temperance principle. Other men of distinction : Robert Yaux of Pennsylvania ; John Tappan of Massachusetts ; Timothy Pitkin of Connecticut ; Peter D. Vroom of New Jersey; Joseph Lumpkin of Georgia ; Gerrit Smith, Hugh IMaxwell, Edward C. Dela- van of New York; D. W. Lathrop of Ohio; Rev. Dr. Hewitt of Connecticut, and a very large body of clergy of various denominations, were present, and took part in the proceedings. Unfortunately the Hall of Independence was not sufficiently large, and the Convention was ad- jouraed to the Arch Street Presbyterian Church, depriving the meeting of much national enthusiasm, and exciting in the minds of some, especially of Friends, a sectarian pre- judice. Numerous general resolutions w^ere discussed and adopted with great unanimity ; but a resolution declaring the traffic in ardent spirits to be morally wrong, caused great conflict, it being considered as an impeachment of pious dealers of former days. It was, however, adopted by an almost unanimous vote.
A public meeting of great power was held at the Musical Fund Hall, which was addressed by G. S. Hillard of Massachusetts ; Thomas P. Hunt of North Carolina ; Thomas S. Stockton of Maryland ; and Nathaniel Hewitt of Connecticut. Chancellor Walworth also made an ad- '
AMEEICAN TEMPERANCE UNION ORGANIZED. 37
dress on female influence. Stephen Van Rensellaer, Esq., of Albany, offered to defray the expense of distribut- ing 100,000 copies of the proceedings of the Convention, and did so. The reformation, by this Convention and its proceedings, was now placed upon high ground, and nothing seemed to be wanting but " a bold, manly and steady perseverance to eradicate from the land the manu- facture, sale and use of ardent spirits." !N'o other drink was then the object of attack. The sale of none other was considered morally wrong. The harmony prevailing was an assurance of success.
During the meeting of the Convention a large Com- mittee was appointed to organize a " General Temperance Union." The Committee reported, that the ofiicers of the American Temperance Society, and the officers and dele- gates from the State Societies should form this Union. Accordingly a meeting of all such was convened. Dr. S. Agnew, of Pennsylvania, was called to the chair, and Rev. John Marsh and I. S. Loyd were appointed Secretaries.
On motion, Justin Edwards, Edward C. Delavan, N. S. N. Beman, Thomas Brainard, and G. B. Perry, were appointed a Committee to report officers and prepare business for the meeting. The Committee, after hav- ing retired, reported the following members as officers for the present meeting of the Union : Stephen Van Kensselaer, of New York, President. Samuel Agnew, of Pennsylvania ; William Jay, of New York ; G. B. Perry, of Massachusetts ; Richard Boylston, of New Hampshire ; Cyrus Yale, of Connecticut ; Vice-Presidents. John Marsh, of Pennsylvania ; Isaac S. Loyd, of Pennsylvania ; Harrison Gray, of Massachusetts ; Thomas Brainard, of Ohio; Secretaries.
The Committee further reported a series of resolutions, which were adopted, as follows :
1. licsolved, That the officers of the American Temperance Society, and of each of the State Temperance Societies, in their associated capaci- ty, be denominated, The United States Temperance Union.
2. Resolved^ That the object of this Union shall be, by the diffusion
38 TEMPEEANCE RECOLLECTIONS.
of information, and the exertion of kind moral influence, to promote the cause of Temperance throughout the United States,
3. JResolveJ^ Tliat Isaac S. Loyd, Matthew Ncwkirk, and Isaac Collins, of Pennsylvania, John Tappan, of Massachusetts, Edward C. Delavan, and Samuel "Ward, of New York, and Christian Keener, of Maryland, be a Committee 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 Committee call another meet- ing of this Union at such time and place as they may judge proper.
5. JRcsolvcd, That the Corresponding Secretaries of all State Societies be, ex officio, members of this Committee.
The organization thus created consisted of the officers of the American Temperance Society at Boston, twenty- three State Societies, and more than seven thousand asso- ciations in counties and smaller districts of the country. Its object was, by the diffusion of information and the ex- ertion of a kind moral influence, to extend the principles and blessings of temperance throughout the world. But though thus established, and with every promise of a bl-ess- ing, for want of readiness and cooperation, its wheels were not set in motion for more than three years, w^hen its name was changed to American Temperance Union.
On the breaking up of the Convention I returned to Connecticut and performed some service in that State and in Massachusetts, lecturing and collecting funds for the American Temperance Society. In October, I removed with my family to Philadelphia, where, for three years, I labored in connection with the Pennsylvania State Society. That Society was organized in February, 1829, and had for its President Robert Vaux, Esq., a distinguished citi- zen, and was sustained by several liberal-minded gentle- men. Early, the doctrine of total abstinence from ardent spirit had been promulgated and practised in Pennsylvania, especially among the followers of William Penn. The tract of Dr. Rush on the effects of ardent sj^irits upon the hu- man body and mind, published in 1804, had in itself done
LABOES IN PENXSTLVANIA. 39
a great work ; and the personal influence of that distin- guished man had been great among medical men and in the higher classes of society. In 1827, Dr. Hewitt addressed the General Assembly in Philadelphia, and, as a result, the Assembly adopted numerous spirited resolutions, and rec- ommended to the Presbyteries and congregations under their care to cooperate with the American Society in ex- tending the principles of temperance throughout the coun try. " Intemperance," they said, " that giant vice, marches through the length and breadth of the land and carries destniction in its train. Its name is Apollyon. It de- stroys heal^i, wealth, reputation, domestic happiness, con- science, the soul." Though the Quaker city, and though a drunken Quaker was perhaps seldom seen, yet the city of Philadelphia had long been a great sufterer from this evil. The number of 23aupers received into her Alms House from 1823 to 1826 was 18,825, costing the city 8662,940. A great proportion of these wretched men, women, and chil- dren owed their poverty and misery, it was declared, to spirituous liquors. So impressed were the College of Phy- sicians and Surgeons with the communications and state- ments of Dr. Hewitt, that they adopted a resolution to be presented to him, of concurrence with his views, and ap- pointed a Committee to investigate the subject of intem- perance in the city ; so that Pennsylvania, once the seat of the whiskey rebellion, and still abounding in distilleries, was a field well prepared for temperance action.
At once my mission was inaugurated by a very large meeting in the Locust Street Hall, which was addressed by myself and several gentlemen. An office and press were furnished; pulpits were opened; temperance meet- ings were frequent ; a weekly meeting of an eflicicnt com- mittee opened new doors for action and influence. A pa- per was established, called the Pennsylvania Temperance Recorder, and, a still smaller, the Monitor ; the printing
40 TEMPERANCE EECOLLECTIONS.
of tracts was commenced, and an Annual Almanac. All of these were to be translated into German and scattered through the German counties. In the winter I went with others to Harrisburg,* and attended Legislative temperance meetings, and in the summer I went twice through the State, lecturing and scattering documents in the principal towns and villages. In our third year the Society printed and distributed 215,000 Temperance Recorders in English ; 40,000, in German, 70,000 Monitors and 30,000 Almanacs, in English and German. In some of the German counties much interest was felt in the cause ; and, throughout the State, the total abstinence principle prevailed among pro- fessed temperance men. In my work I was sustained not only by the committee at home, but by several excellent men throughout the State, and by numerous ministers and churches, whom I ever shall hold in grateful remembrance. Some of those churches attributed powerful revivals of religion to the adoption of the temperance principle.
During 1833, the first Congressional Temperance So- ciety was organized at Washington, and the first of those simultaneous temperance meetings, on the last Tuesday of February, which were continued for many years, was held. The public mind was much excited and the power of reform greatly enhanced by many able issues from the press: as My Mother's Gold Ring, and other tales,
* During a visit at Harrisburg, I called on the Governor and invited him to sign our pledge. He said he had done it long since ; not because he thought himself in any danger, but to save a friend : " The head of one of the best families was evidently becoming intemperate to the great dis- tress of all his household. I saw their consternation and grief. I resolved to speak to him on the subject ; did so, and urged him to sign the pledge. He suddenly turned upon me, saying, Governor, I will if you will. It is a bar- gain, said I, and we went immediately to the ofiBce of the Secretary and both signed, and I know not that he ever touched a drop of liquor after- wards. Nothing else would have induced me to sign, but I think of it as one of the best acts of my life."
ALBANY BEE WEES — DEACON GILES' DISTILLERY. 41
from the pen of Lucius M. Sargent, Esq., of Boston ; The Intempeeate, a tale by Mrs. L. H. Sigourney, of Hartford ; BuENiNG OF the Ephesian Books, a discourse by Rev. John Pierpont, of Boston ; and an Address by T. S. Grimke, of South Carolina. In the State of N"ew York a deep im- pression was made through an examination by Mr. Samuel Chipman of all the poor-houses and jails of the State, to ascertain the connection between intemperance, pauperism, and crime. The expense was borne by Aristarchus Cham- pion, Esq., of Rochester. The results of the examination were of a most astounding character. Though somewhat behind the Eastern States in its date, the IsTew York State Society was soon in advance in action. Edward C. Dela- van, a young and enterprising merchant of Albany, having retired early from business, with a fortune at his command, was induced, in connection with John T. Norton and other spirited gentlemen, to throw his whole soul into the enter- prise and give it all his power. In 1829-30 he became Chairman of the Executive Committee, and, in less than three years, flooded the State with millions of publica- tions. The Temperance Recorder was placed in almost every family, and 260,000 of the Ox discourse were distrib- uted in a single month. Temperance societies were or- ganized in every town and village, and more than 450,000 persons were enrolled as pledged members.
The traffic was affected in every quarter, and so hard was the pressure upon the Albany brewers that, in 1835, they prosecuted Mr. Delavan for a libel, in eight suits of $40,000 each, laying damages at $300,000, for saying that, ih malting, they used filthy water ; but all in vain. Mr. D. came off victorious. In New England, a distiller had been stirred to much wrath by a Dream, by Rev. Geo. B. Cheever, a young clergyman in Salem, entitled, Deac. Amos Giles' Distillery, and published in the Salem Land- mark. Mr. Cheever was prosecuted for a libel, condemned
42 TEMrEEANCE RECOLLECTIONS.
by the jury, find imprisoned for a few days; but distilla- tion received a blow from which it never recovered. This was followed by Deacon Jones' Brewery, or the Distiller turned Brewer, from the same pen. Here demons were represented as dancing round the boiling caldron, and casting in the most noxious and poisonous drugs :
Round about the caldron go,
In the poisoned entrails throw.
Drugs that in the coldest veins
Shoot incessant fiery pains ;
Herbs that, brought from hell's black door,
Do its business slow and sure. "
All in chorus :
Double, double, toil and trouble, Fire burn and caldron bubble.
Alarmed at the rapid spread of truth and the power of reformatory principles, Bishop Hopkins, of Vermont, published a book entitled, The Triumph of Temperance THE Teitimph of Infidelity ; charging temperance with assuming to do what Christianity could not do, and set- ting Christianity aside as useless ; but the work only pro- voked the smile and pity of all good men. The temper- ance cause was an emanation from the Gospel, and removed the greatest obstructions to its spread and reception. Oth- ers contemned the temperance cause as utterly unable to hold its reformed men, and therefore valueless. Dr. Ed- wards had said, in his Fifth Report, 1832, that 4,500 drunk- ards had been reformed and had ceased to use intoxicating drinks. Some were well known to hold out and become blessings and comforts to their families; but many had gone back like " the sow that was washed to her wallow- ing in the mire," and it was found that in most cases they had done so without breaking their pledge, having become intoxicated on other than distilled liquors. This led to
KEASONS FOR A NEW PLEDGE. 43
much investigation. Gerrit Smith, Esq., of Peterboro', N. Y., gave a report of numerous reformed drunkards, who had gone back on cider. Others reported relapses on wine. Others on beer. The basis of all these drinks was found to be Alcohol, generated in fermentation and not in distillation ; and hence the conclusion was, that if men would have the reform progress, and our children saved, the pledge must embrace all intoxicating drinks. Not only was it impossible for reformed drunkards to stand in the use of fermented drinks, though they abstained from all distilled ; but sound and stable-minded temperance men were becoming satisfied that they were far better without them than with them. A circular of inquiry on this sub- ject, addressed to a large number of intelligent gentle- men, brought replies of a most decided character, placing wine, cider and malt liquors under the ban as deleterious articles to the human constitution. No testimony was stronger or more influential than that of Professor Hitch- cock, of Amherst College. Said he : " 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 contra- diction, that the greatest obstacle to the reformation of drunkards is the habitual use of wine, beer, cider and cordials by the respectable members of community ; as 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 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."
CHAPTER III.
Second National Convention at Saratoga Springs, 1836 — Appointed first Secretary — Adoption of Total Abstinence from all Intoxicating Drinks — Organization of American Temperance Union — Gen. Cocke, of Vir- ginia, President — Located at Philadelphia — Appointed Corresponding Secretary and Editor — Mr. Delavan's Gift of Ten Thousand Dollars — First Issue of the Journal — Second Visit to Washington — Reor- ganization of the Congressional Temperance Society — Great Progress — Issues of the Press.
So great was the demand, in all the States, for taking high ground, that a second National Convention was called, to be held at Saratoga Springs, in the summer of 1836. Many were strongly opposed, doubting the wisdom of including fermented drinks in the pledge ; some believ- ing beer essential and useful to our laboring foreign popu- lation, and some dreading all conflict with the Bible on the use of wine at weddings and the sacramental table. But a very large gathering was witnessed from the States and from Canada. Chancellor Walworth was again ap- pointed President. I was made first Secretary of the Convention. The great point, the introduction of the pledge of total abstinence from all intoxicating liquors, was at once reached by a resolution to that effect by the business committee, of which Dr. Edwards was chairman. It was sustained by Dr. Lyman Beecher, and others, and unanimously adopted. A subsequent resolution, giving the reasons why all men should unite in total abstinence from all intoxicating liquors, fermented aS well as distilled, as of hurtful and deleterious tendency, drew out severe
COMPEOMISE PKEVAILING. 45
conflicts ; Professor Potter, Dr. Reese, and others, denying the correctness of the classification, and believing that vinous and malt liquors might be harmlessly used ; but as their use might lead to evil results with some, they were willing to adopt, from benevolent motives, the total abstinence principle. On motion of Dr. Reese a resolu- tion of total abstinence, without assigning any reason therefor, was substituted for that of the blisiness commit- tee and unanimously adopted, though that of the business committee was strongly sustained by Dr. Beman, of Troy, Geo. N. Briggs, Esq., of Mass., and a large majority of the Convention. A spirit of compromise prevailed and the Convention adjourned. Previous to adjournment, howeyer, the American Temperance Union agreed upon at Philadelphia, in 1833, was reorganized and set in mo- tion by the appointment of John H. Cocke, of Virginia, President, with eight Vice-Presidents ; an Executive Com- mittee, consisting of Edward C. Delavan, of Albany, Isaac S. Loyd and Isaac Collins, of Philadelphia, John W. Leav- itt, of New York, John Tappan, of Boston, Christian Keener, of Baltimore, and John T. Norton, of Connecticut ; John Marsh, of Pennsylvania, and Dr. L. A. Smith, of New Jersey, Secretaries ; Robert Earp, of Philadelphia, Treasurer, and Thomas Fleming, Auditor.
In the month of October the Committee met in the city of New York, and resolved on Philadelphia as the seat of their operations, and on the establishment there of a national press. A committee of three were appointed to procure a suitable Editor. To this office, and that of Corresponding Secretary, I was invited, and preparations were at once made to issue a monthly publication of six- teen quarto pages, to be called " The Jouknal of the AMERicAisr Temperance Uniox." Mr. Delavan designed removing to Philadelphia, and taking charge of the whole concern; but being prevented from so doing, he generously
46 TEMPEEANCE KECOLLECTIONS.
placed at the disposal of the Committee the sum of Ten TnousAXD Dollars.
A new and wide field of labor was now opened before me ; though I had found the one I had occupied in Penn- sylvania sufficient to task all my powers.
On the fifteenth of January, 1837, the first number of the Journal of the American Temperance Union was issued. Fifty thousand copies were printed, and gratuitously scattered. It commenced with an Address of the Executive Committee to the Friends of Total Absti- nance in the Western Hemisphere. It assumed that Alco- hol is the same in fermented as in distilled liquors, an in- toxicating agent, never useful but always hurtful to men in health, injuring the mind and the body, and to be dis- carded by all classes as a common beverage. Appeals were made to the President of the United States, to Gov- ernors, Legislators, Magistrates, Farmers ; to Parents, to Young Men, to Women, to Teachers, and to Ministers. A Circular was added to the Proprietors and Superintendents of Manufacturing Establishments in the Unite'd States and the British Provinces, asking for facts relating to the use and disuse of spirituous liquors in their establishments, with several answers which had been received.
My personal business in the office was regular and pressing ; but it was thought advisable by the Committee that I should go to Washington, and aid in reorganizing the Congressional Temperance Society, which was formed in 1833, but had fallen somewhat into decay. At a meeting held in the Caj^itol, February 24, in the absence of Hon. Lewis Cass, President, the Hon. Felix Grundy took the chair, and I vf as requested to act as Secretary. A series of resolutions prepared were offered by the Hon. George N. Briggs of Massachusetts, and unanimously adopted; and, on nomination by a committee of three, officers were appointed for the year ensuing. Hon. Felix
1837. 47
Grundy, Senator from Tennessee, President; Hon. G. N. Briggs from Massachusetts, Chairman of the Executive Committee ; and L. H. Machin, Chief Clerk of the Senate, Secretary. While at Washington I learned many impor- tant facts in relation to our cause. A distinguished medical gentleman, much in attendance upon members, assured me he had known no Congress so temperate as that. A Senator informed me that public sentiment was in advance of the action of temperance societies, and that the general demand was for the thorough total abstinence pledge.
Stationed at the fountain head of temperance action, and called to make record and report of all new and ag- gressive movements, it w^as with deep interest that intelli- gence was daily welcomed. Nothing had occurred to give greater satisfaction than the eighth anniversary of the iSTew York State Temperance Society, which was held at Albany on the 16th of February, 1837. 95 delegates were present from 24 counties, men of high character, much intelligence and zeal. The Annual Report by Elisha Taylor, Esq., was exceedingly flattering. The whole number of publications issued to the 1st of February, 1836, was 12,626,210. The whole expenditure of the Society had been $130,408, 41. The distilleries m the State had decreased from 1149 to 337. More than three thousand drunkards had been reformed in the eight hundred towns of the State, and more than one hundred towns had stopped the sale of liquor. More than forty thousand of the popu- lation of New York city had signed the ardent spirit pledge. Out of more than four hundred clergymen in the State, who had been called on by the Secretary, all but nine had signed the total abstinence pledge; and the greater part of the physicians were avowed total abstain- ers. Chancellor Walworth was reelected President, and the society adopted the total abstinence pledge. From
48 TEMPERANCE RECOLLECTIONS.
Virginia favorable reports were received. One of the oldest State Societies, this had been very active, and though not ready at the annual meeting, February 28, to adopt the thorough total abstinence pledge, more than twenty local societies had reported favorable to it.
In Maine the old Temperance Society declined chang- ing its base, and a new organization sprang into existence, called "The Maine Temperance Union" on the new principle. In Ohio more than 93,500 copies of a State Temperance paper had been circulated in the year. In Michigan a State Society had been formed. Its first anni- versary was held on the 1st of February. Most of the Society, Avith but little opposition, had adopted the prin- ciple of abstinence from all intoxicating liquors as a bever- age. Exceedingly interesting intelligence, with which we were enabled to enrich our Journals, was received from the Rev. Robert Baird, who had visited the North of Europe, and caused the Permanent Temperance Documents to be translated into the French, German, Dutch and Swedish languages, and twelve thousand volumes to be circulated, making everywhere a great impression.
The period which intervened between 1833 and 1837 was one rich in temperance literature. Besides the very able Reports of the American Temperance Society by Dr. Edwards, discussing great principles, there was a con^ tinuous flow of Sargent's Temperance Tales; able ad- dresses, by Hon. Mark Doolittle, Alvan Stewart., Dr. E. W. Channing; "The Immorality of the Traffic," by Albert Barnes, and of " The Use of Ardent Spirits," by Robert R. Breckenbridge ; " Medical Prize Essays," by Dr. Reuben Muzzey, and Dr. Harvey Lindsley, showing that ardent spirits could safely be disj^ensed with in the Materia Medica ; " Debates of Conscience with a Distiller," by Heman Humphrey, D. D. ; " Prize Essay on Sacramental Wines," by Calvin Chapin, D. D. " Sermons," by Bishop
ISSUES OF THE PEESS. 49
Meade, of Virginia ; Rev. E. N. Kirk, of Albany ; Rev. Mark Tucker, of Troy ; and "Harvey Boys," by American Sunday School Union. With these and other works, I was able to make myself conversant, which gave me and my fellow laborers good ground to believe that our prin- ciples were coincident with the word of God, and the de- velopments of human science, and must ultimately gain a signal triumph.
CHAPTER IV.
First Anniversary of tlic American Temperance Union — Action of the Chancellor of the Exchequer — Speech of Alvan Stewart — Object and Influence of the Journal — Opening of Marlboro' Temperance Hotel, Boston — Buckingham Festival, Philadelphia — Visit with Mr. Buck- ingham at "Washington — Congressional Temperance Meeting — Mr. Delavan's Present to Queen Victoria — Address to the French Court — Second Anniversary at Philadelphia — President Nott's Address — Pro- hibition taken in Hand — Rev. T. P. Hunt's Exposure of Frauds in the Liquor Traffic — Terrible Disasters on Western Waters — Circular to Marine Insurance Offices^Circular to Emigrants — Liberal Con- tributions— Removal to Xew York — Mr. Delavan's Charge on Leaving for Europe — Third Anniversary at Boston — Good Progress.
On the 9th of May, 1837, the first anniversary of the Amekican "Tempeeance Union was held at the Chatham Chapel in the city of New York. Though the seat of its operation was Philadelphia, it was thought best by the Committee to make its first public demonstration amid the other national anniversaries. In the absence of Gen- eral Cocke of Virginia, the chair was taken by E. C. Del- avan, Esq., of Albany, Chairman of the Executive Com- mittee, and prayer was offered by Rev. Mr. Curtis, of the Baptist denomination in Maine. My first Annual Report was necessarily short, being confined much to our own organization and six months' labor, and yet taking a brief view of the advance in princijole, in the adoption of the total abstinence pledge from all that intoxicates ; of the action of the Massachusetts Legislature on the license sys- tem, and of good progress of temperance in foreign coun- tries. The meeting was ably addressed by Elisha Taylor,
FIRST AXNIVERSAEY A. T. U. 51
Esq., of Albany; Rev. Thomas Brainarcl, of Philadelphia; Alvan Stewart, Esq.,of XJtica; and Rev. Thomas P. Hunt, of North Carolina. What gave a peculiar zest to the meeting, was a letter from Mr. Buckingham, announcing that the Chancellor of the Exchequer had granted per- mission to an entrance, free of duty, to a very large amount, four millions, of a small pamphlet, which the friends of temperance in America were about addressing to the peo- ple of Great Britain, a copy to be placed, if possible, in every family. Mr. Stewart said, " In this there was a moral sublimity which the world has seldom witnessed. But a few years ago, these two nations were at war, send- ing into each other's borders arrows, fire-brands and death ; now, breathing toward each other a spirit of good will, and interchanging, without money or price, the means of reform and blessedness to mankind." To our Annual Re- port were appended, Hon. Theodore Frelinghuysen's speech before the New Jersey State Temperance Society, on the adoption of the total abstinence pledge ; statistics on the consumption of wine in the United States, from John Tappan, Esq., of Boston ; and the annual cost of in- toxicating drinks in the United States, from the Report of the NeAV York Total Abstinence Society.
While there were more than twenty local temperance papers in the country, the Committee designed making the Journal a feeder to them all, and not merely to them, but to all the religious and political papers of the nation ; for could the twelve hundred newspapers published, with an average circulation of eight hundred each, all receive into their columns a small portion of the matter furnished, it would be the publication and dissemination of an amount equal, monthly, to nine hundred and sixty thousand copies of the Journal. If the issue of the Circular pro- posing this did not entirely effect the object, it was not in vain. Many gratifying responses were received, A
52 TEMPERANCE KECOLLECTIONS.
subscription of about ten thousand copies was made to the Journal ; a gratuity of one number of twenty thousand had been sent out ; one to every minister of the Gospel, one to every postmaster, one, monthly, to every member of Congress, and many to foreign countries and missionary stations.
In a most exhilarating scene I became a participant in the opening of the Marlboro' Hotel at Boston, on the 4th of July, as a Temperance Hotel. About two hundred gentlemen sat down to dinner, where, for a new thing under the sun, no intoxicating drink was to be seen. Ani- mated speeches were made, by Hon. Messrs. Rich and Fletcher, members of Congress ; Rev. Dr. Pierce, Deac. Moses Grant, Mr. John Tappan and others ; and a beauti- ful poem eulogizing, from scripture history, " Cold Water," was brought out by my friend and classmate Rev. John Pierpont;
" In Eden's green retreats, A water brook * * * Was Adam's drink, -And also Eve's, &c."
And in another, and still greater and more magnificent scene, was I during that year not only a participant, but one of the principal agents : a festival given, February 22, 1838, in the Arch Street Theatre, Philadelphia, to the Hon. James Silk Buckingham of England. SucH had been his services for temperance in the British Parliament, that we thought it due to him ; and we honored him with an assemblage of two thousand peoj)le, and an entertain- ment of the richest character. It was a work of great labor, but of most happy influences. Afterward Mr. Dela- van and myself accompanied him to Baltimore, where a large meeting was held at the Eutaw Methodist Church, and addresses were made by the Rev. Robert J. Brecken-
HON. J. S. BUCKINGHAM! — DE. NOTT. 53
bridge, Mr. Delavan and Mr. Buckingham. We next pro- ceeded to Washington, and attended the meeting of the Congressional Society. The Hall was filled with Con- gressmen and citizens ; the Hon. Felix Grundy presiding. In lieu of a Report, I was called upon to give a brief view of the state of the cause in this and in foreign countries, and to offer a resolution of gratitude for success. Resolu- tions and speeches followed from Hon. John Read, of Massachusetts ; Hon. J. C. IN'oyes, of Maine ; Hon. Mr. Randolph, of New Jersey ; JSon. Mr. Briggs, of Massa- chusetts ; and Hon. Mr. Buckingham, who occupied an hour and a half, greatly to the delight and edification of his large audience. With foreign countries our intima- cies were becoming great. Mr. Delavan had sent to Queen Victoria a beautiful copy of Mr. Sargent's Temper- ance Tales, and received a grateful response ; the meetings of foreign temperance societies and able speeches had drawn us out towards them ; and the inquiries of Count Mole, relative to our organization, had led our Committee to send a lengthy communication to the French Court.
Our second Anniversary was held. May, 1838, in the Central Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia, Matthew Newkirk, Esq., a wealthy merchant, in the chair. The meeting was deeply interested in a most eloquent address by President Nott of Union College, giving us, in his pe- culiarly impressive style, the best passages of his lectures, with which he has since favored the world. Few were the dry eyes and unmoved hearts in that large assembly. In this, my second Annual Report, I was able to present a great variety of advances, as the past was a year of much action. But the most important item was the great sub- ject which was now treading upon the heels of total ab- stinence, the prohibition of the trafiic, or shutting off of temptation from the community. Dr. Edwards, in 1833, in his sixth Annual Report, had most fully and clearly
54 TEMPERANCE RECOLLECTIONS.
dcmonstratccl, that all laws, authorizing the traffic in ardent spirits, were morally wrong ; that this traffic should never be licensed ; on the contrary, the people should be defended against the evil it causes. Yet, though con- viction of the truth of his position had settled down upon the minds of many of the first men of the country, both legislatures and the people were slow to move ; but in 1837-8 there were sensations throughout the country, which could not be suppressed. A committee of the Legislature of Maine took the highest ground which ever had been taken, viz. : That the law giving the right to sell ardent spirits should be repealed, and a law prohibi- tory, except for the arts and medical use, be passed ; for the reasons for such a law were as numerous as the evils of intemperance. The entire principle was here advanced which afterwards prevailed, in 1851. Massachusetts fol- lowed in a Convention of four hundred delegates at Bos- ton, February 21, 1838, with the same positions. And to the Ohio Legislature was i:)resented from Portage County, in the same month, a memorial unsurpassed, before or since, in eloquence and power. A Committee of the Con- necticut Legislature, in May, fell into line, adducing nu- merous facts most touching to the public heart.
These various documents, woven into the Annual Re- port, with some consequent Legislative action, formed one of the strongest fortresses for temperance. They can never be set aside. The character of the traffic was at the same time being so developed, as to become the object of public indignation and alarm. No one pursued it with more power and skill than my warm personal friend, the Rev. Thomas P. Hunt, who had spoken with much effect at the Philadelphia National Convention, and who, for, years after, stood at the very head of effective temperance lecturers, full of argument and of amusing but striking an- ecdote. To sustain himself in his declarations relating
CIRCULAK TO MARINE INSURANCE OFFICES. 55
to frauds in the liquor trade, which were incredible to many and pronounced slanderous by the dealers, he sent to London, and obtained the brewers' guides, distillers' and wine-makers' receipt books, from which he spread abroad the secrets of the infernal machinery of drunkard making. His productions were placed in the Journal, and in the appendix to the Report, producing a deep sensa- tion. The action of most of the great religious denomina- tions, in favor of the total abstinence pledge, was recorded, and more intellig^ence from foreiorn countries than had be- fore been collected. By this anniversary, in connection with the Congressional temperance meeting, we were much encouraged, and seemed to be in favor with the people. In a few weeks, terrible disasters, by the burning of steamboats, the Ben Sherrod, Moselle and others, on the Western waters through rum, led the Committee to issue a Circular to the Marine Insurance Offices, calling upon them to make an abatement of ten per cent, in favor of all boats conducted without intoxicating liquors. A large number complied with the request. $500 were put into the hands of the Committee to aid in this object, by General Cocke, President of the Union, and $400 by other gentle- men.
Another document of great importance was issued, viz. : " An Address to Emigrants leaving their native coun- tries for America." Of this short, kind, but pointed tract, a large number were piinted, and sent over to be put into their hands as they should leave their own shores, and be well considered on their passage. Five hundred dollars were contributed by Gerrit Smith, Esq., to expedite this matter.
In the course of this year, a change of locality, in some respects painful, in others pleasant, was effected for our seat of operations. The residence of Mr. Delavan, chair- man of the Committee, at Albany, and the connection of
56 TEMPERANCE RECOLLECTIONS.
New York with Europe, and, indeed, with New England and the opening West, had led the Committee in October to remove their office to Xew York. Our first Journal in that city was printed in October, 1838. My attachment to Philadelphia, where I had resided and labored in the cause, in connection with such men as Rev. Albert Barnes, Rev. Thomas Brainerd, Rev. Dr. Tyng, M. Newkirk, I. S. Loyd, Th'bmas and Robert Earp, Dr. Gebhard and others, since 1833, was very great ; and I was, perhaps, sacrificing too much acquired influence for an expenment in a new city, especially as we did not come for local labor. New York was already in better hands than our own. An im- mense temperance work had been done here by a well- organized and efficient City Society, established in 1829, and ably conducted, first under the Secretaryship of Rev. Joshua Leavitt, and afterwards of Robert M. Hartley, Esq. An immense mass of publications had been scattered here ; auxiliary societies had been formed in every ward. Ministers and churches had been enlisted, and thousands had signed the temperance pledge. The men of the sea had been gathered in, and happy changes were effected along the docks and on shii^board. With so important and efficient an organization I desired cooperation. But I early found there was a lack of harmony. Few of the members of the City Society had adopted the total ab- stinence pledge, while all were still admitted to full stand- ing, who signed the old pledge of abstinence simply from ardent spirits. Such a course had been remonstrated against in the Journal, and hence it met with but little favor. The New York Young Men's Total Abstinence Association had long been correct, both in principle and practice, and gave us cordially the hand of fellowship. Without any unhappy controversy or division, however, the principle established by the National Convention of 1836, gradually predominated; and, in the course of time,
REMOVAL TO NEW YOEK. 57
the old pledge fell into disuse. Here, in this great em- porium of wealth and trade, we felt that our field was the world.
While thus locating in New York, Mr. Delavan was just leaving us for Europe, to attend to some private business ; but designing to make accurate and extensive researches into the cause there, and to impart all the in- formation in his power, relative to the cause here. He designed making the Journal the medium of his communi- cations ; and did so, for near a year, to the great gratifica- tion of the public. To me he gave a solemn charge of fidelity, especially in relation to the prohibition of the traffic, which was beginning to agitate the public mind. " Throw out your light," he said, " my dear Sir ; teach the people to feel that they are the law-makers. Show all the friends of temperance the folly of sending drinking men to our legislative halls, and then sending them peti- tions to save the community from the ruinous efiects of their own practice."
Our third anniversary was held at Boston, in the Win- ter Street Church, in the last week of May, 1839. Boston was the mother of temperance, and needed no contribu- tions from abroad ; but her children felt it a privilege to gather at the old family seat, and show what was their number and growth, and what they in fiiture expected to accomplisli. The following letter was addressed to me by our excellent President :
Saratoga Springs, May 22, 1839. Dear Sir : It would give me great pleasure to be able to attend the meeting of the American Temperance Union at Boston for several reasons ; but my official engagements are such as to render it absolutely impossible I trust, however, that as many of our friends from this State as possible, will try to give their attendance at the meeting, as I think it is due to our friends in Massachusetts, who have exerted themselves so nobly and effec- tually in the great cause of benevolence in which we are engaged. And 3*
58 TEMPERANCE RECOLLECTIONS.
I hope the time will speedily come, when the State of Xcw York will not be behind any of her sisters in drying up the sources of intemperance, and thereby preventing its numberless attendant evils. Yours with esteem,
R. H, Walworth. Rev. J. Marsh, Secretary.
The Report which I was able to make congratulated the friends of the cause on the almost universal adoption of the total abstinence principle. Twenty-four State socie- ties were in full and vigorous action. New ones had been formed in South Carolina, Missouri, and Wisconsin Terri- tory. A great decrease was visible in the manufacture and sale of liquor. The ]N'ew York Society had reported 1,188 auxiliaries, 2,000 ministers, and 100,000 members on the comprehensive pledge, which pledge was ably sus- tained by fifteen periodicals, besides our Journal. Seven hundred ministers of Wales, and 150,000 of her people had signed the total abstinence pledge. The Permanent Temperance Documents had been translated into Persian. The rapid spread of our principles, and the thrilling re- ports coming from all quarters, drew out from one of our speakers the sublime description of the thunder storm among the Alps.
"From peak to peak the rattling crags among,
Leaps the live thunder — not from one lone cloud, But every mountain now hath found a tongue ; And Jm:a answers from her misty shroud — Back to the joyous Alps that call to her aloud."
CHAPTER y.
Fourth of July in Boston — Fifteen Gallon Law of Massacliusetts — Youth's Temperance Advocate established — Mr. Delavan's correspondence in Europe — London procession — Dr. Baird's letter from Russia — India — Sandwich Islands — Bacchus and Anti-Bacchus — Character of Scrip- ture wines.
The Fourth of July, the glorious day of American Independence, began early to attract attention from the friends of temperance. This had long been the great harvest season for the rum power. All men felt that they must, on that day, be joyful as joyful could be ; and that, to increase the glorification, it was right and proper to use stimulants to almost any excess. On that day more men went home in a state of intoxication, more hearts were broken, and more children and youth com- menced the downward path to the drunkard's end, than on any other. But less and less interest was beginning to be felt in that occasion ; and as hostility to Britain had passed away, and there was nothing in the minds of men to kindle enthusiasm or cause the day as a holiday to be profitably spent, the temperance men began to claim the day as their own, as an Independence day from King Alcohol, who had long triumphed and slain his thousands. The Declaration of Independence from King George was made to read in almost the same words as a Declaration of Independence from King Alcohol ;. large assemblies of men and women gathered; processions were formed in cities and villages with banners, and badges, and bands of
60 TEMPERANCE RECOLLECTIONS.
music, moving to some cliurch or grove, where a tempe- rance oration was delivered, to be succeeded by some refreshments from tables under the shades of the forest. Large bands of children, called the Cold Water Army, also improved the day for pic-nics and pleasant gather- ings, and securing a noble host who should withstand the foe when father and mother were no more.
In many of these gatherings it was my happiness to mingle ; but in none to be compared with the temperance celebration in Boston of this year, 1839. Our own city of New York had not then begun to taste of liberty from the liquor-god. Booths filled the Park, and riot and con- fusion was in every quarter. But Boston friends had met the enemy and the city was theirs ; and as the struggle had been great in the previous winter to maintain the law, the entire company of temperance men gave up all busi- ness on this occasion and came to the banquet. Fourteen hundred men of noble bearing marched the streets with badge and banner ; and at 3 p. m. entered, in great order, Fanueil Hall, the old cradle of American liberty, where were spread numerous tables, decorated with flowers, and loaded with substantial viands, fruits and delicacies. Edward C. Brooks, Esq., a gentleman of high character, presided, supported by some of the first citizens of Boston : Samuel Dorr, Esq,, Dr. John C. Warren, James Savage, John C. Gray, Moses Mellen, Henry Edwards, &c. The highly respectable Dr. Jenks, of Boston, and Rev. Dr. Pierce, of Brookline, acted as chaplains. And when the refreshments were used up, the chairman made an address, in which he assured the company that they could well dispense wdth alcoholic drinks when they were brought to contemplate the privations and sufierings of those who fought and gained our Independence; when we needed no stimulus other than the occasion afforded to warm our hearts with gratitude ; and when it would be most dis-
INDEPENDENCE IN" BOSTON, 1839. 61
graceful to mar this holy day with bacchanalian orgies. Numerous toasts were then given, not to be drunk with wine, but responded to by speeches and songs, as : 1. " The day we celebrate;" 2. " Old Faneuil Hall, the cradle of Liberty, to be guarded by the genius of Temperance ; " 3. " The memory of George Washington," (received standing ;) 4. " Temperance ; — The common cause of all good men, confined to no party, sect, profession or coun- try ; for each and all it has been a duty and a blessing."
To me, as Secretary of the American Temperance Union, it was assigned to sustain this sentiment ; and I could only say that we were this day a spectacle to thou- sands and tens of thousands, for it was as natural for the people, in all parts of the Union, to cast their eyes toward Boston when they desired or expected any good thing, as for the Persian to look at the rising sun for needed bless- ings. Boston led in the great struggle which gained our Independence, and Boston would go before us in the great conflict in which we were now engaged. The speaker had entered tlie vestibule of the temple, not to join in battle, for the seventeenth of June with the glories of Bunker Hill were passed ; we had fought our great fight and now were for establishing by our cause the moral independence of our country. After dwelling on the value of the temperance reformation to the agricultural, commercial, political and religious interests of the coun- try, I gave way to others, first rejoicing to behold in that assembly the venerable William Pierce, who, in 1773, had assisted in throwing the tea into Boston harbor, and who had now come forward a second time, in his advanced age, to assist in saving his country. (Great cheering, as the venerable teetotaler rose and bowed to the assembly.)
An ode, by Rev. John Pierpont, was then sung.
Let the trump of fame Now to thek noemory swell,
62 TEMPERANCE EECOLLECTIONS.
Who, in Freedom's name, Fought and bravely fell, &c.
On the heroes moved,
"With death on every side, For the land they loved.
They died, they died.
Come pledge the Temperance cause, &c.
Other sentiments followed, and spirited speeches Avere made, first by Samuel Hoar, Esq., of Concord, a member of Congress, and next by Hon. Josiah Quincy, President of Harvard University. He had asked his friend James Savage if it was consistent for him to come to the meeting, as he had not signed the pledge. He was told it was. And so, said he, heke I am. {Great cheering.) He took a view of the state of things as they existed thirty years before, compared it with the condition at the pres- ent time, and declared the wonderful change effected by the temperance reformation greater in some important points than had been produced by the American revolution. He would say to the temperance men in the language of the times : " Go ahead ; fear nothing." For the Judi- ciary, James T. Austin, Esq., Attorney-General of the Commonwealth, spoke with great strength. Robert Ran- toul, Esq., of Beverly, one of the chief politicians and practical reformers, offered a series of strong resolutions. Jonathan's Independence, a new poem by Rev. Mr. Pierpont, was then sung by Mr. Colburn, to the tune of Yankee Doodle, amid great eclat.
Says Jonathan, says he, To-day
I will be independent, And so my grog I'U throw away,
And that shall be the end on't. Clear the house, the tarnal stuff,
Sha'n't be here so handy,
1839. 63
"Wife has given the winds her snuff, So now here goes my brandy.
Chorus — Clear the house, &c.
And now, says Jonathan, towards Rum
I'm desperate unforgiving, The tyrant never more shall come
Into the home I live in. Kindred spirits, too, shall in-
To utter darkness go forth, Whiskey, Toddy, Julep, Gm,
Brandy, Beer, and so forth.
Chorus — Kindred spuits, &c.
While this cold water fiUs my cup,
Duns dare not assail me. Sheriffs shall not lock me up,
Nor my neighbor bail me. Lawyers will I never let
Choose me as defendant, Till to death I pay my debt,
I will be independent.
Chorus — Lawyers, &c.
The Rev. Mr. Rogers, of Winter St. Church, spoke for the Clergy, and the Hon. Samuel J. Armstrong, once a practical printer, and afterwards acting-Governor of the State, spoke for the Mechanics of Boston, distinguished for their enlightened devotion to the cause of education and good morals. Eleven years before, he said, the Mayor of Boston, Mr. Quincy, came near losing his life for attempting to enforce the law against the grogshops ; now behold fourteen hundred stalwart men in Faneuil Hall at a temperance dinner ! A national ode was next sung by the choir.
64 TEMPERANCE KECOLLECTIONS.
Our country's banners play, On this her native day, With every breeze, &c.
Here at her altar swear, Your country's ark to tear
From despot's hand ; •
'Midst drunkards' hosts to brave, Your holy birth-right save, Roll back that heUish wave
Which sweeps the land.
Dr. L. Pierson, of Salem, spoke for the Medical Profes- sion. Dr. P. alluded to the struggles the Medical men had to make against the demon. The cup had been offered to the i^hysician every visit he made, but his friends would now as soon think of offering him any other drug.
The venerable Pierce, in his 96th year, was toasted ; also the Rev. John Pierpont, author of the odes for the occasion. Rev. Robert Baird gave some account of his mission in the North of Europe. "No evidence was want- ing, that a sufficient jollification could be had, without the maddening influence of wine. All retired at seven, feeling that it was a day of great glory for the temperance cause in Boston.
Our Boston friends we found in a state of great excite- ment, through a strong effort on the part of the liquor dealers, to have the fifteen gallon law repealed. This law was enacted by the Legislature of 1838, and went in- to operation, 14th April, 1839. It forbade the sale of any spirituous or mixed liquors in less quantities than fifteen gallons. Great efforts had been made for its re- peal. 17,000 persons, at one time, petitioned for it, and 32,000 males and 42,000 females remonstrated against it. An able and eloquent argument was made in its favor by Hon. Peleg Sprague. By two successive Legislatures it wai3 sustained ; but by others, under a new political Gov-
youth's tempeeance advocate. 65
emor, chosen by one vote, it was repealed. The repeal produced great excitement among the friends of temper- ance, inasmuch as it re-established the old license system ; and on the 12th of February, a Convention of 1481 gen- tlemen assembled in Boston, to know what they should do. The conclusion was : that they would continue to operate by light and love, through sound argument and kind persuasion, on the people, the people^ till they demand and secure to themselves protection from the great evil. In 1839 I established the " Youth's Temperance Advo- cate," that the children and youth of the country might early be rescued from the temptations to which they were exposed, and brought under the influence of our reform. On proposing it to Mr. Frelinghuysen, he wrote me the following note :
New York University, October 29, 1839. Dear Sir : — I have examined your proposal for publishing monthly from the office of the American Temperance Union, a small temperance paper, adapted to the vast body of children and youth throughout our country, and am happy to give it my full and hearty approbation. Could such a paper be distributed monthly, by the friends of temperance, ui all our Sunday-schools it could not fail of exerting an influence unspeakably important, not only over the minds of children and youth, but even of parents and relatives, m whose path it might thus providentially be scatter- ed. That success, more and more abundant, may attend you and others in the great work of rescuing our land from mtemperance, ^ the wish of your sincere friend,
Theodore Frelinghuysen.
Of the first number we printed and scattered, chiefly through Sunday-schools, 20,000. It soon became a flivorite, and obtained large circulation, and has never missed a num- ber in its regular issue to the close of the year 1865.
During the latter part of 1838, and the former of 1839, my mind and heart were much engaged iii the correspond- ence of Mr. Delavan, the chairman of our Committee.
66 TEMPERANCE RECOLLECTIONS.
This true reformer had gone to England and France, to make observations on the state of those countries, and aid, if possible, in extending the temperance reformation. On his passage out, he induced his fellow passengers in the Great Western, to memorialize the directors to remove all intoxicating liquors from the table to a bar ; and on his arrival in London, he made provision for circulating a thousand copies of our last Annual Report, and two thousand Permanent Documents, among the influential classes ; also for placing our address to Emigrants in the hands of all who should come to America. lie Avas at once recognized and welcomed by the friends of tem- perance, and he sent home frequent let'ters of the deepest interest, which it was my province to give to the public, through the Journal. He was in London during the great controversy, relating to the short and long pledge, and mingled freely with men belonging both to the new and old societies — one pledge was of personal abstinence, but did not promise not to give to others ; the other pledged not to drink, and not to give or ofter to others, except for medicin- al or sacramental purposes. In France he had an interview with Louis Philippe, then on the throne, who assured him that the drunkenness of France was on wine. Of thirty- four millions of people, he found fourteen millions engaged in making or vending intoxicating drinks ; and he en- deavored to show them how much better it would be for France, if her soil and people were devoted to stock and grain. He agreed with Dr. Hewitt, that if there was lit- tle actual drunkenness visible, the people were burnt up with wine, as were the people of New England formerly, with cider and cider brandy. At Rome he became inti- mate with Judge Acton, one of the most able jurists, who assured him that nearly all the crime of Italy, was from intoxication on wine. In the spring he attended the great anniversaries in England and Scotland ; and when he left
GEEAT PROCESSION IN LONDON. 67
England, in June, 1839, it was with the strong convic- tion that the principle of entire abstinence was to spread in Europe, until its healthful influence would be felt and acknowledged by all classes. The following is the account which he gave me of the great procession, which he had the happiness to witness in London :
May 26, 1839. My Dear Sir : — The 20th of May was a day that will not long be for- gotten. Eight thousand total abstinence men this day marched through the streets of London. The grand procession was most imposing. For miles and miles, as the procession moved onward, a dense mass of human beings filled the streets, and side-walks, and doors, and windows, and it appeared that London had poured forth its whole population to witness so singular a spectacle. The orderly demeanor of the members of the society, their numbers, the immense length of the procession, between two and three miles, the beautiful and appropriate banners, bearing inscriptions " Total Abstmence," " Try our Principles," " Down with the Tyrants," " Come with us and we will do thee good^' the one hundred and sixty car- riages filled with well-dressed females, every female and every member bearing a rosette, composed of white and blue satin ribbons, and the ma- jority wearing the temperance medal, was deeply affecting ; and though it drew forth the jeers of the liquor dealers and their customers, I could not but notice the degree of thoughtfulness and expression of approbation on the countenances of all well-dressed and respectable spectators. I trust a blow has been struck in London by the total abstinence society that will tell favorably on millions yet unborn.
From the Rev. Robert Baird, who for the third and fourth time was in Europe, circulating his Temperance history, and making a great impression in Sweden and Russia, Denmark and Norway, I had frequent letters. In his third visit, in 1840, he travelled 6,500 miles, and had frequent interviews with all the crowned heads. In the following letter he described his interview with the Em- peror of Russia :
St, Petersburg, October 17, 1810. To the Corresponding Secretary American Temperance Union :
My Dear Brother : — I wrote you fully from Stockholm in relation to
68 TEMPEEANCE RECOLLECTIONS.
the efforts which I had made in behalf of the temperance cause on the present journey, until that date. The next day after, I left that city for Russia. I have now spent six weeks in this city and in Moscow. On a former visit, made three years ago, I made arrangements to have my his- tory of the temperance societies translated and published in the Russ language. It was undertaken by Dr. Haus of Moscow, and $400 were .sent for its accomplishment. Upon ray arrival I found it was delayed, and it was necessary for me to go to Moscow. [Here he met Prince Galit- zin and other distinguished men, who were anxious that he should see the Emperor on the subject.] The result was that I was invited by His Majesty to attend the service of His Majesty in the palace at Tsarskoe Telo last Sabbath morning. I repaired thither, and was presented, after service, to the Emperor, the Empress, and the Grand Duchesses, their daughters. The Emperor, in a long interview, in which I was allowed to present the subject fully to him alone, received me in the kindest manner, and acceded at once to the proposaj to have the history of the temperance societies pubHshed m the Russ. He even went farther, and expressed a desire that it should be translated into the Finnish language, and pubhshed and scattered as far as that language is spoken. At dinner His Majesty again alluded to the subject, as &id the Empress and the Grand Duke. I cannot tell you how much dehghted I was with the expressions which the ruler of this great empire made to me, in response to this great subject. Twenty-five milhon dollars are the revenue derived from whiskey ; a fact which shows the fearful extent to which it is used. But we may now hope its ravages may be stopped.
Yours, truly,
Robert Baikd.
In 1839, the attention of temperance men in England and Scotland was arrested by two works develojDing, what their authors supposed to be, the true character of the wines spoken of in scripture — Bacchus, by Dr. Grindrod, and Anti-Bacchus, by Rev. Benjamin Parsons. They con- tended that the wines commended as a blessing, used at the Passover and at the marriage at Cana, were not in- toxicating ; differing entirely in this respect from the wines which were condemned and forbidden as a mocker. The distinction was not a novel one in America. In 1830, Professor Stuart, of Andover, in a prize essay, examined
BACCHUS AND ANTI-BACCHUS. 69
the question whether it was consistent with a professor of religion tg use distilled liquors or traffic in them, or to use wine. The use of distilled liquors he condemned, but of wines he allowed, provided there was no excess ; as the natural wines of the East, though slightly intoxicating, were used by holy men of old. Professor McLean, of* Princeton, contested his first position and vindicated the use of strong drink, as well as wine, on Bible principles, provided there was no excess. While the controversy was running high, the Rev. George Duffield, now Dr. Duf- field, of Detroit, in 1835, thought he could relieve Profes- sor Stuart from the embarrassing position in which he was placed, by showing that there were two kinds of wine spoken of in scripture, one under the term Yayin, the other under the term Tirosh ; the former, fermented and alcoholic, a mocker, the " poison of asps ; " the latter, the juice of the grape, unfermented and harmless; — a wine that was preserved by the Romans, and might be by us. Professor Stuart acknowledged great indebtedness to Mr. Duffield, but his positions also were severely contested.
These works from England came in support of Mr. Duf- field's views. Mr. Parsons, author of Anti-Bacchus, had engaged in a most laborious search into the character of ancient wines, to ascertain if those whose use was per- mitted or commended in the Bible, were of an intoxi- cating character. The result of his inquiries confirmed the temperance community, generally, in the belief that total abstinence from all intoxicating beverages was in accord- ance with the letter and spirit of the word of God.
So interested did the community become in theSe works, that I ventured to publish, though not a professed publisher, an edition of a thousand copies of Anti-Bacchus, which I thought most immediately useful; with an introduction, showing how seriously we were obstructed in our j^rogress by the belief that God had ^^ronounced wine a blessing, and
70 TEMPERANCE KECOLLECTIONS.
that the Divhie Saviour both drank intoxicating wine and made it by miracle to re2)lenish vessels which. once had been filled ; and what a relief it would be to us if the j^oints presented could be established. Among 2,270 cler- gymen of the State of New York, nineteen hundred had signed the total abstinence pledge, resolved to dispense with the use of all wine as a beverage, and were pleased with the new theory. Such as refused did so generally, they said, in deference to Scripture representation and the Saviour's example. But the warmest advocates of the new theory, while gratified with this vindication of Scrip- ture and total abstinence, felt and acknowledged the dif- ficulty of procuring the good wine, the unfermented wine for use ; and not needing or caring for it, considering water as the best and only needful drink for man, were indifferent to the matter, excepting for sacramental pur- poses, where they were very anxious and strenuous. The Rev. Calvin Chapin, D. D., believing that none other than alcoholic wines could here be procured, and opposed to their use in the sacrament, even though the infusion of alcohol might be very small, supported in a prize essay the use of water at the sacrament as most appropriate to this cleansing ordinance.
During the year 1839 my attention was specially called to the subject of Asylums for Inebriates (now so well understood) by having a series of essays upon them by Dr. S. B. Woodward, Superintendent of the Insane Hos- pital at Worcester, put into my hands. Dr. Woodward had for many years been at my father's home a family physiciaii, and in him I had great confidence. He was of opinion that if there were thirty thousand drunkards in a district of country, one half would be susceptible of cure in such asylums, and he was satisfied that wealthy families (and they were numerous) who were cursed with drunken inmates, would spare no expense in procuring
ASYLUMS FOR INEBEIATES. 11
the aids of such institutions. He felt most deeply, he often assured me, because fathers and wives of these wretched men would come to his hospital and entreat him to take their ruined ones ; but it would be impossible, as they were not accounted insane ; and he was compelled to turn them off* with grief. SnrjDrising it has been that more attention has not been paid to the subject, though grateful we are that such institutions as the Washingto- nian Home at Boston, and the Binghamton Asylum in New York are now in successful operation. But it led us to ask then, and it leads us to ask now. Why must we have drunkards among us ? Because and only because men for money will traffic in intoxicating drinks. It led me then, in my third report, and it leads me still warmly to remon- strate with my fellow citizens engaged in this horrid busi- ness, and to say :
" Men and brethren ! we approach you earnestly as friends, not as enemies ; we come not to wound, not to vilify, but to touch a chord in your hearts which we know must vibrate to the woes and sufferings of a bleeding com- munity. ' Oh, if you can cure him, we shall owe you an eteraal debt of gratitude ' — this was the language of a distressed father bringing his son to the door of a lunatic asylum. But the door was closed upon him. He could not be admitted. He was not a lunatic, only a drunkard. And what brought all this misery upon that family ? The business in which you are engaged, and engaged to pour luxury into the lap of your own family. Father after father and wife after wife come up from all parts of the land, and cry: Oh, what a curse! Is there no deliverance ? We feel that there must be, there is in the arm of the law, but why must we be driven thither ? Are you not men ? Have you not the feelings of men ? Have you not the responsibilities of men ? Can you, will you, because no arm holds you back, set fire to your
72 TEMPEEAN(JE EECOLLECTIONS.
neighbor's dwelling, smite him on the head and deprive him of his reason? "Will you compel us to rouse the State or the nation to say, you shall cease from this traffic ? Should not the sight of a single family, scourged, withered, blasted, cause you to roll every hogshead forth and pour its contents into the streets, and to vow before high hea- ven that you will no longer be concerned in such guilt ? The eyes of the nation are upon you. Through the length and breadth of the land, thousands wait to see what you will do. The wife of the drunken sot ; the father of the drunken son ; the j^arents of little flocks yet uncontam- inated, all over the world, are waiting to see what you will do. We, know that sooner or later you will yield. But will you do it only when compelled by an indignant community weeping over its thirty thousand slain ? "
CHAPTER YI.
Wonderful Events in Ireland — Letter from Eichard Allen — Father Mathew and his Operations — Six Millions take the Pledge — Dr. Brownlee's Conjecture — Reformed Drunkards in Baltimore — Great Work in New York — Attendance upon it — Third National Convention, 1841 — Harvest Gathered — John II, W. Hawkins' Character and Labors — Hannah Hawkins — Christian Keener.
The cause was now just bursting out in Ireland Avlth a power never before known. The first intimation we had of it in America was in a letter received at our office from Richard Allen, Corresponding Secretary of the Irish Tem- perance Union, dated Dublin, November 19, 1839. Its contents surpassed all belief ; but soon we learned that far more than was first told was true. Rev. Theobald Mat hew, a young priest of Cork, under the influence of William Martin, a Feiexd, had formed among his people, working on a new church, a total abstinence society. Al- most as by magic, thousands on thousands, of Cork and the neighboring towns and cities, pressed upon the rever- end Father to take from him the pledge. In few places less than 10,000 ; in some 50 and 100,000 ; by the first of March more than four millions, with eight prelates and seven hundred Catholic ^lergy.
In Maryboro, in three days, 65,000. Limerick, 10,000.
Ahascragh, 90,000. Thurles, 65,000.
Killaloe, 15,000. Templemore, V0,000.
Athlone, 100,000. ' Ballyshannon, 60,000.
Dublin, 72,000. Enniscorthy, 15,000. 4
74 TEMPEKANCE RECOLLECTIONS.
Castlerea, 65,000. Carlow, 100,000.
Kclls, 100,000. Maryborough, 100,000.
Tippcrary, 60,000.
In a letter to me dated, April 10, 1841, said Mr. Allen :
*' The battle is gained, the victory won ! The great mass of the peo- ple in Lcinster, Munster and Connaught are teetotalers ; our jails are com- paratively empty ; a drunken man is a rarity. Ireland needs but few soldiers to keep her in order. Distilleries have sunk in value from 50 to 70 per cent., and the duty on spirits has Mien off in a year £354,000 ; while a great increase is reported on tea, and other conveniences and com- forts of Ufe."
The fiame spread to America, and in many of our cities, from five to ten thousand of the sons of Erin took the pledge.
In Xew York, 10,000. Providence, 1,000.
Brooklyn, 3,000. Louisville, 2,000.
Philadelphia, 6,000. Detroit, 1,000.
Albany, 3,200. Montreal, 6,900.
Boston, 6,000. Baltimore, 3,000. Washington, 400.
The words of the pledge were :
" I do promise to abstain from all intoxicating drinks, unless used medi- cally, and that I will discountenance by advice and example the causes of intemperance in others ; " the Rev. gentleman adding, " God bless you, and enable you to keep the promise."
This remarkable work was the great theme at our An- niversary in May, 1 840. It was most graphically present- ed by Dr. Heman Humphrey, President of Amherst Col- lege, who had himself just witnessed the scene ; also by Rev. Dr. Kirk of Boston. Said Dr. H. :
" An insurrection, a glorious insurrection in Ireland ! It began in the South, and rolling on, like an irresistible torrent, it has broken out all over the land. Even the capital is in the hands of the revolutionists.
WORK IN IRELAND — FATHER MATIIEW. 75
The priests and the highest dignitaries of the church are in the revolt, the magistrates are favoring it, and the army is infected. "Was there ever such an electric shock ? Let the shouts of green Erin for once drown the voice of our own poUtics ; for the greatest tyrant that ever lacerated her skin, laid bare her sinews, and consumed her flesh, is routed, and in a fair way to be expelled from her coasts. Alcohol, the personification of all evils, physical, political and moral, there maintained dominion over mountains and valleys, rivers and lakes, with iron hand, marble heart and pestiferous breath. But in a little while more all Ireland will be free."
Kot a few of our good people viewed it all as a mere Roman affair, designed to increase the power of the priests by the pledge, and their wealth by the sale of medals. In pnbiicly contending with a most eloquent and powerful enemy of Rome, the Rev. Br. Brownlee, I drew upon myself much reproach as a disturber of a Lecture, but I was too well informed of the facts in the case, and too much interested in the temperance cause to hold my peace. We expected in our efforts at saving the world to be the "song of the drunkard," but not the ridicule of the pul- pit ; and we bade our good Protestant friends hold their peace, and let Father Mathew, if he could, destroy the great dragon Avhich was drawing millions of Catholics and Protestants down to destruction.
While we were astounded and delighted at tidings from abroad, a ncAV wonder appeared in our own land. The powerful appeals of Drs. Hewitt, Edwards and others, and the general attention to the cause, had not been lost upon that class of men known as drunkards. In the seventh Report of the American Temperance Society, 1834, Dr. Edwards, a gentleman who seldom committed errors, stated that 10,000 drunkards had, in five years, ceased to use intoxicating drinks. And in his a2)pendix a most interesting letter was inserted from Gerrit Smith, Esq., of Peterboro', IST. Y., a gentleman of remarkable intelligence and philanthropy, giving a minute account of the reform, in that village, of thirty-eight lost men. In England the
Y6 TEMPERANCE RECOLLECTIONS.
temperance reform had commenced, not as in America, among the more intelligent and virtuous classes to save others, but among the lower and drinking population in Lancashire, to save themselves. At Preston numerous and most interesting meetings had been held and conduct- ed by men of that class, many of whom related their ex- perience, as long lost and hopeless drunkards, who had now reformed; and these extraordinary changes had great- ly moved the public mind. Accounts of these marvellous reforms were transmitted to America, and were published in the Report of 1835. But a general belief was spread- ing through the community, that there was little or no hope for the drunkard, especially while the traffic existed in its public and enticing forms.
At this moment of hopelessness and despair, however, six intemperate men in the city of Baltimore, who w^re accustomed to meet almost nightly for drinking purposes, were strangely led to the resolution that they would drink no more spirituous or malt liquors, wine or cider. A pledge was drawn, w^hich in a few days all signed. This was in the month of April, 1840. They formed them- selves into a society, which they called the Washington Temperance Society, after the Father of his Country and great Liberator from tyranny. These six men imme- diately exerted themselves to induce their bottle-com- panions to unite with them. In a short time they num- bered an hundred ; and by the 1st of December, about three hundred ; two thirds of whom were drunkards of many years' standing, and some notorious for their aban- donment. Their meetings, which were weekly, were excit- ing, and made more so and increased, by a relation which each member gave of his own experience, or the history of his drunkenness and its ruinous effect upon himself and family. In less than a year, over one thousand drunk- ards were thus gathered in.
BEPORMATIONS IN BALTIMORE. ^7
The first knowledge we had of these extraordinary- events in New York, was communicated to me in a letter by John Zug, of Baltimore, dated December 12, 1840, which was published in the Journal; but to many, this story also seemed incredible. Soon after, I had a let- ter from Christian Keener, giving an account of a speecb by John H. W. Hawkins (a reformed man, who, in the month of June, had joined the Washington Society) before the Legislature at Annapolis : " He commenced his speech," said Mr. Keener, " by letting them know that he stood before them a reformed drunkard, less than twelve months ago taken almost out of the gutter ; and now, in the Senate chamber of his native State, addressing hundreds of the best-informed and most intelligent of men and women, and they listening with almost breathless, I was going to say, but certainly tearful attention."
These accounts led the friends in 'New York to invite a delegation to come to this city and tell their story. Mr. Hawkins and four others immediately came. A meeting was announced for them in the Greene St. Methodist Church, as a meeting of reformed drunkards, to be ad- dressed by them. Instead of being repulsive, as it was feared it would be, it attracted a large crowd. Anson G. Phelps, Esq., presided. Mr. Hawkins made the first speech ; and while relating the story of his reform, a trem- bling voice in the gallery asked : " Can I be saved, too ? " " Yes," said Mr. Hawkins ; " come down and sign the pledge." He came, amid the plaudits of the assembly. Another uttered forth his feelings from the gallery, and was led to come down and sign the pledge. Five or six others of this miserable class followed, with thirty or forty other hard drinkers and drunkards. The victory was now gained in New York. In two weeks, immense meetings were held daily in the largest churches, and, finally, in the Park, addressed by Messrs. Hawkins, Casey, Pollard,
IS TEMPER. i.NCE RECOLLECTIONS.
Wriglit, find Sliaw. In tliat time 2,500 individuals were induced to sign the pledge as intemperate men bent on reform.
To these meetings I devoted all my time and atten- tion ; and being somewhat of a reporter, I took notes of the speeches and published them in the Journal. Anxious that other cities should enjoy the same blessings with our- selves, I early wrote an account of the meetings to my friend Mr. Sleeper, of Boston, who read the statement in a public meeting, and published it in the Mercantile Jour- nal. No time was lost in securing the blessing. On the 10th of April the first public meeting Avas held in Boston ; and soon not Faneuil Hall Avould hold the people that gathered together. There, at an immense meeting, the Hon. Theodore Lyman, ex-mayor, presided, and gave an address of welcome ; and John H. W. Hawkins made a speech of remarkable appropriateness and power, winning all hearts. He said :
" When I compare the past with the present, my days of intemperance with my present peace and sobriety, my past degradation with my present position in this Hall — the Cradle of Liberty — I am overwhelmed. It seems to me holy ground. I never expected to see this Hall. I had heard of it in boyhood. It was here that Otis and the elder Adams argued the principles of Independence, and we now meet here to declare ourselves free and independent ; to make a second declaration, not quite so lengthy as the old one, but it promises life, hberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Our forefathers pledged their lives and fortunes and sacred honors. We, too, will pledge our honor and our life, but our fortunes have gone for rum. Poor though we drunkards are, and miserable even m the gutter, we will pledge our lives to maintain sobriety."
Large numbers of intemi3erate men were at once induced to sign the pledge. Wives and parents brought their lost and hopeless ones to the meetings, as the rela- tives of the sick brought their diseased and afflicted to the Saviour to be healed; and by the 1st of October the
■WORK IN NEW HAVEN, CT. 79
Boston Washington Society, which was almost at once formed, had sent out two hundred and seventeen delegates to one hundred and* sixty towns, in five different States, on errands of love.
Learning that the General Association of Congrega- tional Ministers of Connecticut were to meet in New Haven in June, and that there was no small unbelief in that quarter, I invited Capt. Wm. A. Wisdom and four others, all reformed men, to accompany me thither, prom- ising them an opportunity to tell their tale. We were received respectfully, but manifestly with the feeling that there was a great distance between them, a highly educated and professedly sacred class, and men, for the most part uneducated, and from the grogshop and the gutter. But such was the humility and meekness of Capt. Wisdom, such his fulness of confession, sense of unworthiness, grati- tude for reform, and desire of the prayers of the ministers and churches, that he and his brethren might be kept from falling, that the entire body were overcome, and all were ready to exclaim : " It is the Lord's doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes."
The citizens of Xew Haven and vicinity at once sympathized with them, and crowded meetings were held for several evenings. Many miserable di'unkards came forward, signed the pledge, and at once became blessings to their families. A Washington Society was organized on the 29th of June. Nearly all the officers had been intemperate men. The whole number reformed in that season, was one hitndred and fifty, and most of them heads of families, and hopeless cases. Five able-bodied men, who had spent days and nights in the almshouse in deep degradation and misery, came forth to respectability and hope. Two of them had been educated merchants, and were well connected. In gratitude for what they bad experienced, numbers left their home and went forth
80 TEMPEKANCE RECOLLECTIONS.
to save the miserable and the perishing abroad. In twenty out of twenty-two towns in the county they pro- claimed deliverance from the rum power with great suc- cess. In less than a year they had held in New Haven alone sixty public meetings and obtained 1647 signatures to the pledge. Everything conspired to hold these mis- erable men and their families in bondage ; but the power of the reformation was irresistible. And as they yielded, their wholc.soul and body were filled with new joys, and the community around them united in thanks to God; and, in war with vice and degradation, took courage.
When the first meetings in New York were past, I was induced to go to Baltimore, to attend, on the 5th of April, 1841, the first anniversary of the Washington Tem- perance Society, and there saw oxe thousa:n"d men stand in a line as reformed men, and moved in procession with thousands more about the city. It was a most interesting spectacle as their wives and children stood on the side- walks, many of them weeping for joy as they beheld their husbands and sons marching onward in sobriety and moral dignity. In proof of the genuineness of the work, it was ascertained that the whiskey inspections for the city were reduced in six months 40,582 gallons, a decrease of twenty- five per cent., and that great peace and quietness every- where prevailed.
These extraordinary movements at Baltimore and else- where, among our drunken population, filled all hearts with joy, at our sixth Anniversary, and at the third Na- tional Convention at Saratoga Springs. In the Annual Report, which 1 presented in May, I condensed as far as possible the wonderful events which had transpired, and which will be contemplated when these generations have passed away as almost incredible ; but never to be sur- rendered as wild enthusiasm and profitless hallucination. Never, probably, was there a large body of men, of high
THIRD NATIONAL COIS^^ENTIOX, 1841. 81
intelligence and business character, so melted into grati- tude, joy and love, as were the attendants on that National Convention at Saratoga Springs in the month of August, at the relation of their experience by several of the re- formed, and the relation of numerous, most affecting, in- cidents by others. As chairman of the Business Commit- tee, I found no difficulty in framing suitable resolutions for the occasion ; and where there was such a prevalence of love and gratitude, the presiding officer had no occa- sion for force to control the meeting. It was a sort of mil- lennium to thousands who had hoped and prayed that sin and sorrow from intoxicating drinks might be done away. "Never before," said a venerable member, "did 560 men assemble, and continue days as a deliberative body, with- out one unkind look or action."
As the Convention dissolved, the reformed men scat- tered in all directions in their work of mercy ; and wher- ever they went, they met with a cordial welcome, and be- came instrumental in reclaiming multitudes who were bound in the drunkards' chain. Messrs. Pollard and Wright went through Central New York, New Jersey and Penn- sylvania, and took 22,300 names to the pledge. Mr. Haw- kins and companions went through New England. Vickars and Small from Baltimore set their faces to the West, first lighting on Pittsburg, where over 10,000 took the pledge. Through the summer and autumn, the whole country was in a blaze. In the State of Ohio 60,000 were reported as having signed the pledge, and many of them hopeless drunkards. In Kentucky, 30,000 ; in Richmond, Va., 1,000; in Petersburg, 1,000 ; in Columbia Co., N. Y., in- cluding Hudson, 18,000; in Pennsylvania, 29,000; at Portsmouth, N. H., 30,000, of whom 100 were confirmed drunkards; in Springfield, Mass., 1,100. In New York the Parent Washington Society, in a year, consisted of 4,000 members, with twenty-two auxiliaries, with 16,000 mem- 4*
82 TEMPERANCE EECOLLECTIOXS.
bers. In Syrncnsc, 5,000 ; one society of reformed men alone of 400. In Illinois more than 10,000; at St. Louis, 7,500. All classes gave their names to the plerlge to coun- tenance the work, but there was good reason to believe that 150,000 decidedly intemperate men took the pledge and abandoned their cups.
How Ihr the subjects of this work remained steadfast, the judgment only will reveal. For a time, they held to it with Avonderful tenacity. If they violated it, they hastened to a renewal. Their character and condition were wonderfully improved. From the deepest degrada- tion, poverty and shame, they came, at once, to respecta- bility and comfort. Men, who were tottering over the drunkard's grave, were, at once, strengthened in their physical organization. Men, who would make their bed with the swine, who would lie and steal, and be the vilest of the vile, were seen well-dressed and taking a place among the respectable and good. Homes that had been abandoned, were sought out and loved. Families neglected, were again provided for. Husbands and wives that had long been separated, were again united ; and parties divorced for intemperance, were remarried. Two reformed men became Mayors of cities ; one. Governor of his State ; several, members of Congress. Many who had been ejected from Christian churches for their intemperance, were, on repentance, restored. One in ISTew Haven, Conn., Mr. Abel Bishop, who for three years had drank a quart of rum a day, who had suffered his family to fall into the deepest want, and who himself had often raved in horrid delirium, imagining that men were about him to flay him alive, who saw them begin to cut his flesh with saws, and pull off his skin in strings, and hang them on wires ; who often thought his breast was full of animals to be drawn out, one after another, amid horrid faintness, was so re-
BLESSED RESULTS. 83
stored, as to become a blessing to his family, a member of his church, and a public advocate throughout the State.
Judge Smith, of Medina, Ohio, an able jurist, had been so debased that his wife had taken advantage of the law and obtained a divorce, after which he sunk to deepest depths. On the coming of the reformed men, he nerved his arm and took the pledge. He soon came up to his former condition, sought out his wife, and, in j^resence of thousands, was remarried, and then became a public advo- cate of the cause. In Massachusetts, Joseph J. Johnson ; in Maine, Joseph Hayes ; in Xew York, George Haydock, were among the most degraded and debased of men, who all became most signal instances of moral power, extensive- ly reclaiming inveterate drunkards and breaking up most profitable liquor establishments, Mr. Johnson, for a time, regenerated Mobile and caused New Orleans to shake to its centre.
Ministers and churches everywhere saw that the great barrier between them and a large population, who never came to the house of God, was broken down, and rejoiced in it. Said the Rev. Dr. Joel Parker, in a sermon before the Xew York Presbytery :
The great change that has been produced within the last few months in the reforming of poor, lost inebriates, is a wonderful phenomenon. The church had passed them by as hopeless. God raised up reformers from among themselves, and now the multiplied and movLag tales of the woes and sins, and recoveries of poor, lost drunkards, are telling with amazing power upon hearts that were accounted to be beyond the reach of the Gos- pel. These reformations are bringing thousands of new subjects under the means of grace. Nor are they merely brought to listen while under a pow- erful impulse of self-improvement. Good influences are upon them as the nand upon the helm and the breeze upon the sail of a ship under a good headway, to guide and propel it into a good harbor. Nor is their conver- sion to God the chief good to be hoped for from this remarkable move- ment. The greater part of them have families, wives and children, brought out of degrading poverty, to hold a place in the sanctuary, in circimistancea to awaken gratitude to the Giver of their mercies.
84 TEMPERANCE EECOLLECTIONS.
The results of this mighty movement to many individ- uals were not as happy as they would have been, had the States stepped in and closed the dram shops. The re- formed men, influenced by love and kind feelings, were hostile to law in the suppression of the traffic, believing they could, in due time, induce the liquor dealers to aban- don their business ; but, alas ! the venders were too shrewd and hardened to be drawn away from their spoils. The reformed, being often without self-control, decision of character, and moral and religious principle, the old ap- petite revived ; and, ere long, not a few went back to their old habits; yet many became not only confirmed in sobri- ety but eminent in piety, and died in the triumphs of Chris- tian faith. With some such, I was intimately acquainted till they departed to sing, not only the praises of temper- ance, but of redeeming love, in glory.
With none had I greater intimacy and for none a high- er regard than John H. W. Hawkins. He was surely a re- markable man, most devoted to the last, to his work of reforming and saving inebriates. This was his great con- cern wherever he went, and, as has been truly said, " His wonderful success in inspiring the victims of intemperance with hope and a belief in the possibility of their reform, and in leading them to pronounce the words I will, can be attested by hundreds of living and grateful men." — Dr. Jewett, As a man of industry, few equalled him. He never asked for rest. He ever felt that he must be about his Master's business. In eighteen years, he had travelled two hundred thousand miles and delivered over five thou- sand addresses. Though a Washingtonian, he was a strong prohibitionist ; clear in his views of the enormity of the traffic and the wickedness of Legislatures in licensing it. He died in Pennsylvania, August 28, 1858, aged 60. At bis death, many tributes were paid to his memory, but none more beautiful than one by Wm. H. Burleigh, not
TRIBUTE TO ME. HAWKIXS. 85
only a true poet, but himself one of the most eminent temperance lecturers :
Shall we not drop a tributary tear, Oh, champion of the fallen ! on thy bier ? Not for thy sake, for thou hast found thy rest Among the many mansions of the blessed, Where pours no fiery desolating flood Swollen with tears, incarnadined with blood ; Nor ribald song, nor drunkard's jest profane, Nor horrid oath shall vex thine ear again !
Oh, who thy perfect blessedness can tell, As lauds and hallelujahs round thee swell, While angel hands sweep over quivering wires, To wake the music of a thousand lyres. And angel voices tuned in sweet accord. Welcome thee home, thrice blessed of the Lord.
Nay, not for thee, thou habitant of heaven. But for the wine-enthralled our tears are given. Thou art not dead ! for still thy name shall be Heard in the songs of those thou hast made free. The wife, whose husband thou didst toil to save. Not vainly from the drunkard's yawning grave, Shall teach her little ones, in coming days. To tell thy story and to lisp thy praise. The child, redeemed from all the shames that fill A rum-cursed house from woes that bhght and kill, Lisping thy name, shall link it, morn and even. With the sweet prayers that tremble up to Heaven.
In his daughter Hannah, the instrument, when twelve years old, of his reformation, I ever took a deep interest ; and, for the benefit of the young, wrote and published a small memoir of her. Hannah Hawkins, or The Reformed Drunkard's Daughter, has passed through sixteen editions, and is in most Sabbath-school libraries. Strongly sympa- thizing with the victims of vice, in the early stage of this work, I also wrote and published " The Pool of Bethesda,"
86 TEMrERANCE RECOLLECTIONS.
or the unfortunate drunkard's call for help, now that the waters are troubled by an angel of mercy, that he may be taken to the pool and not be discouraged and driven away.
My home in Baltimore was with Christian Keener, a warm-hearted and devout member of the Methodist church, who took the deepest interest in all moral reforms. At his own expense he established the Maryland Temperance Herald, and continued it many years with great ability. He was from the first, one of our Executive Committee. Whether at home or abroad, in church or legislative meet- ings ; among the aged, or in Sabbath-schools and Cold Wa- ter armies, his voice and heart were for perfect temperance, the reform of all inebriates, and, above all, the prevention of drunkenness, as, in his view, infinitely preferable to cure. When he died, temperance in Maryland lost its strong supporter; and many an individual a precious friend.
CHAPTER Vn.
Change in our Committee — Dr. Sewall's Plates of the Stomach — Excite- ment of Thomas F, Marshall — Signs the Pledge — Speech of G. N". Briggs — Visit Washington — Great Meeting — Procure Messrs. M. and B. for our Anniversary — Great Meetings in New York — Soiree at Cen- tre Market — Sixth Anniversary — Mr. Marshall's Speeches — Duel — De- praved Morals of Reformed — T. B. Segur on Sabbath-schools — Croton "Water — Seamen — Sons of Temperance — Issues of the Press.
On the 18th of January, 1842, Mr. Delavan, being compelled to go to Cuba with his invalid son, resigned his office as Chairman of the Executive Committee of the American Temperance Union. His extraordinary liberal- ity, his uncommon zeal and devotedness to the cause, his ability to reach the higher classes, to set great wheels in motion and unexpectedly effect great results, caused his resignation to fill me with fearful apprehensions. Deeply sympathizing with him in his expected affliction, I bade him adieu. The Committee were fortunate in inducino- the Hon. Theodore Frelinghuysen, Chancellor of the N. Y. University, who, for years, had been a tower of strength, to take his place ; he promising to give as much of his time and counsel as his other occupations would permit.
About the same time, my friend and fellow laborer (though differing a little on the pledge), Robert M. Hart- ley, resigned the office of Secretary of the New York City Temperance Society, having, in thirteen years, been active in forming 174 auxiliaries, calling 1,400 temperance meet- ings, and obtaining 179,624 pledges. From this he passed
88 TEMPERANCE RECOLLECTIONS.
•
to the Secretaryship of the N. Y. Association for the Re- lief of the Poor, where, by his efficient labors, he has drawn upon him the blessing of many thousands ready to perish. At Washington, much excitement was produced at this time by a delineation of the effects of Alcohol on tl^^ hu- man stomach, by Dr. Thomas Sewall, in a series of draw-
1. The humau stomach in a state of health.
2. The inner surftice of the stomach of the temperate drinker of intoxi- cating wine or other alcoholic drinks.
3. The confirmed drunkard's stomach.
4. The drunkard's stomach in an ulcerous state. 5. after a debauch.
6. in a cancerous state.
7. after death by delirium tremens.
These drawings were taken with great care, by Dr. Sewall, after dissections ; and were first exhibited in "Wash- ington, with a lecture upon the pathology of drunkenness, before an assembly of three thousand. The reformed men of the city, thankful for their deliverance, and feeling deeply for others, yet victims to the cup, held, nightly, pub- lic meetings, which were often attended and addressed by members of Congress. Of those, one, a highly talented gentleman, Hon. Thos. F. Marshall, of Kentucky, nephew to the distinguished Chief Justice, was fearfully awakened to his own condition, as on the very brink of ruin, while admonishing others. Entering the House, on the evening of January V, 1842, he found himself nervously affected to a degree that alarmed him, as the sensation was accom- panied by a raging thirst for strong drink. Terrified at his condition, he called for Mr. Briggs, of Massachusetts, to bring him a pledge, that he might at once sign it and place himself in a condition of safety. Mr. Briggs came with a pledge, which he signed on the spot. But he said he must go to the temperance meeting, make a public con-
THOMAS F. MARSHALL SIGNS THE PLEDGE. 89
fession, and put himself beyond the power of temptation. Mr. Briggs and others accompanied him. The meeting was at the Medical College. " I was present," said Dr. Sewall, in a letter shortly to me, " and saw him sign the pledge of total abstinence, after which he made a most touching speech. Several other members followed his ex- ample. Mr. Marshall's step has astonished Congress. There is no man who compares with him in debate." The IN'ational Intelligencer, the next morning, spoke of the oc- currence as one of the most interesting which ever took place in Washington. Mr. Briggs closed the meeting by saying : " From this day a new era in the cause of temperance may be dated. The high and commanding talents of his friend, would give it a new impulse. His name had gone over the country once ; and it would go over it again, leaving a trail of light behind. He rejoiced that he had seen this night and congratulated the Society on the happy event which he had witnessed in that hall." I, at once, in the name of the American Temperance Union, sent Mr. Marshall my congratulations ; and, in re- ply, he said : " The great cause in which you are engaged and in which we will be co-workers, as far as I can aid you, has my most ardent wishes." Under the powerful impression made, measures were immediately taken to re- organize the Congressional Temperance Society, and, if possible, get the whole body to take the pledge. A meet- ing of members friendly to the object was called on the 9th, in the Capitol, and the Society was reorganized, under the presidency of the Hon. Mr. Briggs, and a day appoint- ed for a large public meeting in the Hall of Representa- tives. Believing that the presence of Mr. Marshall, the most eloquent man in Congress, would, under these cir- cumstances give great interest to our May anniversary, I at once resolved on going to Washington, to attend the gi-eat meeting, form an acquaintance with him, and induce him.
90 TEMPERANCE RECOLLECTIONS.
if possible, to come to New York. I was soon in his room, and on terms of intimacy and friendship with him. The meeting came off on the 25th; the Hall was crowded to excess, in expectation of a speech from Mr. Marshall. Mr. Briggs presided. It was a day of triumph and joy with him. He gave an account of the old Congressional Society, which was formed on the ardent spirit pledge, and which, with the pledge in one hand, and a bottle of champagne in the other, had a name to live, but was guilty of suicidal acts. A temperance society had perished by intemperance. In compliment to my office, I was put for- ward to make the first speech after the President's ad- dress ; in which I gave a summary of the present extra- ordinary movement and its results, so far as I had been able to collect them. My statements were confirmed by William K. Mitchell, of Baltimore, who was President of the Washington Society of reformed men, and the first who signed the pledge. The meeting was then addressed by Hon. Mr. Riggs, of New York ; Mr. Fillmore, of New Jersey ; Mr. Gilmer, of Virginia ; Mr. Burnell, of Massa- chusetts ; Mr. Giddings, of Ohio ; lastly by Mr. Marshall, who spoke more than an hour, in a strain of unsurpassed eloquence. He was often received with bursts of applause.*
* Mr. Marshall's appreciation of the pledge he had taken : — Sir, the pledge I have taken renders me secure forever from a fate inevitably fol- lowing habits like mine ; a fate more terrible than death. That pledge, though confined to myself alone, and with reference only to its effect upon me, my mind, my heart, my body, I would not exchange for all earth holds of brightest and of best. No, no, Sir ; let the banner of this temperance cause go forward or backward ; let the world be rescued from its dcgi-ading and ruinous bondage to alcohol or not ; I, for one, shall never, never repent what I have done. I have often said this, and I feel it every moment of my existence, waking or sleeping. Sir, I would not exchange the physical sensations, the mere sense of animal being, which belongs to a man, who totally refrains from all that can intoxicate his brain or derange his nervous structure — the elasticity, with which he
GRAND SOIREE AT CENTRE MARKET. 91
Having secured his attendance with Mr. Briggs at our anniversary, I set my face homeward, to record the interesting events I had witnessed, in the Journal, and prepare for the Anniversary.
On the 22d of February, the birth-day of Washington, a grand Festival was held, by the reformed men of our city, at Centre Market Hall, a floor of 275 feet by 40, whose appropriate decorations, crowds of people, mutual congratulations, supplies of table, and eloquence of ora- tors, had not before been known amongst us. Here the res- cued men met with their haj)py families, and received the congratulations of some of our first citizens. And a month later, on the 29th of March, their Anniversary, they moved in procession, 3,000 in number, with four teetotal fire com-
bounds from his couch in the morning — the sweet repose it yields him at night — the feehng, with which he drinks in through his clear eyes, the beauty and the grandeur of surrounding nature ; I say, Sir, I would not exchange my conscious being as a strictly temperate man — the sense of renovated youth — the glad play, with which my pulses now beat healthful music — the bounding vivacity, with which the life-blood courses its exult- ing way through every fibre of my frame— the communion high, which my healthful ear and eye now hold with all the gorgeous universe of God — the splendors of the morning, the softness of the evening sky — the bloom, the beauty, the verdure of earth, the music of the air and the waters — with all the grand associations of external nature, reopened to the first avenues of sense ; — no. Sir, though poverty dogged me — though scorn pointed its slow fingers at me, as I passed — though want and desti- tution, and every element of earthly misery, save only crime, met my waking eye from day to day ; not for the brightest and noblest wreath that ever encircled a statesman's brow — not if some angel, commissioned by heaven, or some demon, rather, sent fresh from hell, to test the resisting strength of virtuous resolution, should tempt me, both with all the wealth, and all the honors, which a world can bestow; not for all that time or earth can give, would I cast from me this precious pledge of a liberat- ed mind, this tahsman against temptation; and plunge again into the dangers and the terrors which once beset my path. So help me heaven, Sir, as I would spurn beneath my very feet all the gifts the universe could offer, and live and die as I am, poor, but sober.
92 TEMPERANCE RECOLLECTIONS.
panics, and more than sixty splendid banners, and several bands of music, from Hudson Square to the Park, and up Broadway to Washington Square, where they were dis- missed, to attend a large meeting in the Broadway Taber- nacle in the evening. Indeed, temperance was now the all-engrossing topic. Fifty-two public meetings, many 4n large and well-lighted halls, were regularly held, and as many as 1,200 pledges were taken weekly. The traffic, the drinking, and the drunkenness were much diminished, and there was great joy iri the city.
The sixth Anniversary, held in the Broadway Taber- nacle, in May, surpassed, in interest, our highest anticipa- tions from the presence of Mr. Briggs and Mr. Marshall. In absence of the President, the Hon. Theodore Freling- huysen presided. My Report was filled with interesting facts which few other years had f) resented. From our office we had issued 10,000 Journals, 45,000 Youth's Tem- perance Advocates, 40,000 Almanacs, 10,000 Hymn Books, numerous tracts and hand-bills ; more than 700,000 publi- cations in all. The number of pledges taken this year in the United States, was estimated at half a million. Many details were given of the public sympathy in this move- ment, especially in the readiness of the Martha Washing- ton Societies to clothe the naked, and sustain the reformed, and in the enthusiasm expressed in numerous and often mag- nificent processions in cities, towns and villages. All the large distilleries in Philadelphia were reported as stopped ; all, or nearly all, in Brooklyn. Breweries were closed ; tavern bars taken down. In 1831 seventy-two million gallons of ardent spirits were consumed by twelve millions of people; but, in 1840, only forty-three million gallons, by seventeen millions of peoj^le ; such had been the opera- tions of temperance.
Mr. Briggs did not arrive at the first meeting on Anni- versary evening, but Mr. Mai'shall poured forth, before an
MEETINGS OF MESSRS. MARSHALL AND BBIGGS. 93
immense and highly intellectual audience, such strains of eloquence as had not before been heard in our city. His speech was fully reported in the Journal, and now stands before the world, as unsurpassed for interesting and effec- tive oratory. For several days these two gentlemen re- mained, addressing, every afternoon or evening, some pub- lic meeting. At one Lecture, they were preceded by Dr. Nott, of Union College, who gave an explanation of Dr. Thomas Sewall's j^lates of the human stomach under the ravages of Alcohol. Another meeting was devoted to the Washingtonians. Another, filling to overflowing the Tabernacle, to the Firemen. Another, to ladies.
These effective speakers were earnestly solicited to go to Boston and other cities, but his duties in Congress called Mr. Briggs back, while, unfortunately for himself and the cause, Mr. Marshall remained entangled in some political controversies, which resulted in a duel with James Watson Webb ; unhappily blasting the good in- fluence of his temperance speeches, and putting an end to farther operations. By some of our clergy, I was made to bear the whole sin in bringing to the city as moral instructors, men who feared not God, and in the violence of passion could shed a brother's blood. I replied, tem- perance had no concern with duelling, and I was not re- sponsible for it ; we only brought forward the testimony of men, who knew in their own experience, the evils of strong drink, and who were willing to raise the warning voice to young men, and to testify to the practicability and blessedness of reform. But I was not readily for- given.
Over the subsequent history of this gentleman, though often displaying his great talents,' humanity wept at this loss of moral power ; and all learned, more than ever, the curse of the traffic and drinking usages. And yet this gentleman had much in him, that, at times, drew toward
94 TEMPERANCE RECOLLECTIONS.
him the religious community. On receiving the thanks of an aged mother, for saving her son, he said :
" I too have a mother, and if she knew a man through whom I have been plucked, as a brand from the burning, how would her prayer go up for him to the throne of God night and day. And she does offer up her blessings to the Most High. She writes in her letters to me, that she con- siders my reformation as through the direct agency of God himself; and her voice is raised in continual thanksgiving and praise to the Father of mercies. Oh, to be instrumental in doing just such good to others, I do believe, I would quit Congress, the bar, and every thing else, and just turn circuit rider, and preach through the country."
In justice to the temperance cause, and as a warning to temperance lecturers, I would say, that it >must have the whole man, or it has no security. From the first I was distressed at the amount of tobacco which Mr. Mar- shall used, and I often felt and said, no good would come of it. When remonstrated with and warned, he would ever say, it was for his life, and how could he give it up ? still he knew he ought to ; and yet if he perished, temper- ance men could be held responsible ! Said Colonel S., one of our first citizens : "Mr. M., why don't you give up this extravagant use of tobacco ? " "I will," replied Marshall, " if you will give up your wine." But this he could not do ; and on went the victim under this excitement to the field of blood. From our proud Anniversary season I turned away in sadness, and many a rich devotee of the weed and wine cup, almost persuaded, turned back and went on to ruin.
Anniversary over, I made an excursion to Boston, where I beheld on the 26th of May an immense Washing, tonian procession, and attended a Washington Conven- tion in the Representatives' chamber, in the State House, which sat two days, for the organization of a "Wash- ington Total Abstinence Society." An immense public meeting was held at the Odeon. This Convention adopt-
MOKAT. DEPRESSION IN THE EEFOEMED, 95
ed moral suasion, in opjoosition to prohibitory law, as the true and proper basis of action with the traffic. Nu- merous interesting letters were ^dailj laid upon my table, giving reports of large meetings and great reforms in Charleston, S. C, Cleveland, O., Mobile, Ala., Pittsburg, &G. ; also from England, Ireland, the Sandwich Islands, and Missionaries in China. Jheir publication gave great interest to our Journal.
The celebration of the Fourth of July this year was distinguished for juvenile movements ; one of the most beautiful of which was in New Haven, Conn., where six thousand children gathered from all the surrounding towns, beautifully robed, with badges, banners, and music, marched through the principal streets to Hillhouse Av- enue and Sachem's Wood, and there, amid appropriate exercises and addresses, the minds of all were forestalled for temperance.
In the summer of 1842, there was an evident depress- ion in the moral state of the reformed ; a lack of readiness on their part to acknowledge their dependence on God, no small desecration of the Sabbath, and a painfal un- willingness, in not a few professed Christians, to connect the temperance cause, as now seen, with religion ; all which, within a few months, had extensively shown itself, and led me to prepare and publish in the ISTational Preacher a sermon, entitled God's Hand in the Reformation of Drunkards. I had reason to believe that it led some of our reformed friends to see to Avhom they were indebted for their deliverance, and to consecrate themselves to the divine service. But, alas ! Satan Avas let loose. Good men, who had gloried in the work, became alarmed. Said Dr. Edwards, in a public meeting in Massachusetts, " If this mighty movement is destined to go onward, the glory of it must be given, not to men, but to God. He was its author ; He has been its continuer ; and He must be its
96 TEMPERANCE KECOLLECTIONS.
finisher. The glory of it does not belong to any man, or body of men. Everything good about it was from him ; and let all who attemi:)t to carry it on, in all their ways acknowledge him, and then He shall direct their paths."
My friend, T. B. Segur, Esq., of Dover, N. J., addressed me, in September of 1842, a letter of much feeling, on a juvenile temperance effort in connection with Sunday Schools. He had for some time been most deeply inter- ested in it. Said he :
"I am absent from home almost every Sabbath; sometimes visit several schools the same day ; and I love children. No man of my infor- mation and ability can love Sunday-schools more. My object is, among other things, to make temperance a branch of Sunday-school teaching and training. The way it is done gives no offence. All denominations, to whom it has been presented, have approved ; scruples and objections have vanished like the early dew. Let the plan and manner of carrying it out be fully imderstood, and such must always be the case, for its principles, purposes, and sympathies, are those of the Bible."
No man in his State was more efficient in the cause of temperance than Mr. Segur. No dramshop or liquor-sel- ler could live in his village. He was a great friend to the Youth's Temperance Advocate.
*' The object, dear sir, is worthy of your best efforts. Let its influence be for the healing of the nations. In Xew Jersey, there are over one hun- dred and eighty thousand, under twenty years of age ; in the State of Xew York, more than one million two hundred thousand ; and in the United States, more than nine millions. What a field for moral and religious effort ! How interesting ! How promising ! Go in and possess it."
In Mr. Segur I had a firm and independent friend. He was ever hopeful when others were desj^onding ; cheer- ful, when others were depressed ; fully confident that the cause was right, and would prevail. When he died, New Jersey lost, in her temperance effort, her greatest support.
On the 14th of October, the vast population of New York and vicinity welcomed the introduction of the Croton
CEOTON WATER INTKODUCED. 97
Water, and it was felt to be a great event for temperance. While multitudes of temperance men were in tlie civil, military, and firemen's processions, numerous societies were out with their banners and badges welcoming the coming guest. " The Croton Ode," written by George P. Morris, Esq., was sung, in front of the Park Fountain, by the New York Sacred Music Society :
" Hail the wanderer from a far land !
Bind her flowing tresses up, Crown her with a fadeless garland,
And with crystals brim the cup. From her haunts of deep seclusion
Let intemperance greet her, too. And the heat of his delusion
Sprinkle with the mountain dew.
Water leaps, as if delighted ;
"While her conquered foes retire ; Pale contagion flies, affrighted.
With the baffled demon, Fire ; Safety dwells in her dominions,
Health and beauty with her move, And entwine their circling pinions
In a sisterhood of love." &c.
Samuel Stephens, Esq., Preside;nt of the Water Com- missioners, in his address, viewed it as the greatest help to temperance. Said he :
The more good water that is conveniently supplied, the more temperate will be our people ; because we shall now no longer afford the poor apology for mixing brandy and rum with water — that of making it drinkable — and we may hope the temperance cause, with pure Croton Water, and a Croton Banner floating to the breeze, will, on the present system, so successfully carry on the warfare in all future time, as to make it impossible for them to find subjects to fill up that part of their corps which now consists of reformed drunkards."
On the 18th October, I went to Hartford, Ct., and with 0
98 TEMPERANCE KECOLLECTIONS.
others addressed the State Temperance Convention— a body of more than 200 delegates. The report of reformed- drunkards' and cold-water armies was most heart-cheering. Hartford reported six hundred reformed drunkards, and scarce any relapses ; Norwich, seventy-two ; Fairfield, fifty ; Suflield, seventy-five. Sixty-five divisions of the Cold- Water army had been formed, numbering 14,000 children. The Convention united with the Hartford "Washington Society and the Catholic Society, and march- ed from the Centre Church, where they had met, to the front of the State House, where several speeches were made, and resolutions adopted on the Cold- Water-army enterprise ; on the Washingtonian movement, and that the sale of intoxicating liquors, to be used as a beverage, ought to be prohibited (for a great change had come over the Washingtonians in this matter) by law. It was a proud day for Connecticut.
The Cold- Water armies which were now formed, much under the labors of my friend, Rev. Charles J. Warren, at thi^ time, were a most interesting portion of the tem- perance reform. In many towns, they embodied the chil- dren of nearly all religious families, and often drew in the children of the poor drunkard ; and they laid the founda- tion of temperance among the youth of both sexes, who, in a short time, would be the controlling power in Church and State. Many a temperance man, in these days, has looked back to his stand in the Cold- Water army of 1842 as the foundation of his temperance, in principle and prac- tice.
Great attention was paid also to the condition of sea- men in all our ports. The Mariners' Society in New York had been organized, and interesting meetings were held weekly in the Mariners' Church, in Roosevelt street. Usu- ally, from two to three thousand pledges were there taken in a single year, much to the annoyance of the vile grog-
BENEFICIAL SOCIETIES SONS OF TEMPERANCE. 99
geries — the bane of the noble tars. Few meetings did I at- tend with more pleasui:e ; and, on the Fourth of July, 1 840, I had the opportunity and pleasure to deliver, before this Society, an address, entitled The Bow of Peomise, which was printed, and widely circulated among the seamen. This Society still flourishes, under its excellent President, Captain Richardson, and has on its roll-book 43,000 mem- bers. The chanoje it was enabled to effect amons^ seamen was great. Out of its operation grew the " Sailor's Home," which became a most influential establishment. Both in England and America, a strenuous effort was made to induce ship-owners to dispense with the spirit ration m merchant vessels, and to lower the premium on ships sailing on temperance principles. In this work, Mr. John Dougal, of Montreal, was long actively and success- fully engaged.
A larg^e proportion of the reformed men were in desti- tute cu'cumstances — a natural result of their intemperance — and so much was the sympathy of the community excited for them, on theu' signing the pledge, that extensive bene- ficial societies were established, in which they could find clothing, fuel, food, support in sickness, and burial in death. These were most numerous in Philadelphia. But in N'ew York, one was established among themselves, on the plan of the Rechabites in Great Britain, and called the " Order of the Sons of Temperance." Its avowed object was to shield its members from the evils of intemperance, afford mutual aid in case of sickness, and elevate character. It held its meetings with closed doors, with forms and pass- words. It proposed local. State, and national organiza- tion.
It soon -manifested an esprit du corps^ which gathered into it a large portion of the reformed ; inasmuch as, on paying a small weekly or quarterly due, they were sure of a useful remittance in case of sickness or death. An im-
100 TEMPERANCE EECOLLECTIONS.
posing initiation gave the order impressiveness, brother- hood, and attachment ; and a regalia, a distinction from other temperance men. Soon, divisions and grand divi- sions, based on total abstinence principles, were found springing np in every quarter. Old temperance societies lost such of their members as were reformed men ; and where there was a revival of temperance, young reformed converts were allured hither, often in large proportions. The chief agent was the New York Organ, a paper pub- lished by Mr. J. W". Oliver, which obtained U large circu- lation among them, giving all the details of business, and reports of progress. They also published a spirited and popular address to the friends of temperance through- out the United States. Their pecuniary basis was admir- able and worthy of imitation. General S. F. Gary, of Ohio, a gentleman of great eloquence and power, became one of their chief advocates and supporters.
At this time Mr. Delavan gave to the public eight large drawings of Dr. Se wall's, on a grand lithograph, nine times the size of a common stomach. They were extensive- ly taken at ten dollars a set, and hung in public institu- tions and temperance halls, for the use of public lecturers. He also commenced a preparation of a small set to be placed in every school in the State, confident that no parent would withhold his mite for such an object.
My table had, in the last two years, been furnished with many important documents. " Examination of Bacchus," by John McLean, Professor of the Gollege in Princeton, iN". J. ; " Bible Temperance," in three dis- courses, by Joseph Garroll, D. D., Newburg ; " Proceed- ings of the National Gonvention, 1842," with an address, by General Gocke ; " Moral Principle of the Temperance Movement," addressed to the students of Harvard College, by Henry Ware, Jr. ; " Pathology of Drunkenness," by Thomas Sewall, M. D., of Washington Gity, with draw-
DOCUMENTS ON TEMPERANCE. 101
ings of tlie human stomach, as affected by Alcohol ; " The Inquirer," devoted to free discussions of the kind of wine to be used at the Lord's Supper, by E. C. Delavan; " Reminiscences of a Ruined Generation," by Rev. Daniel A. Clark ; " The N'ew Impulse, or Hawkins and Reform ; " "A View of the Excise Law of the State of ITew York," by Gerrit Smith; "The Respondent," an answer to the Inquirer of E. C. Delavan; " The Cold Water Army," by Rev. J. C. Warren; "Address to the Merchants' Temper- ance Society of New York," by Hon. Theodore Freling- huysen ; " An Historical, Scientific, and Practical Enquiry on Milk," showing its destructive nature, when derived from feed in the distilleries, by R. M. Hartley, Secretary of the New York City Temperance Society ; " Six Nights with the Washingtonians," a series of original tales, by T. S. Arthur ; " Connection between Intemperance and Religion," an address before the Home Temperance Socie- ty, Philadelphia, by Rev. Albert Barnes ; " The Temper- ance Lecturer, or Investigations in the Poor Houses and Jails of the State of New York," by Samuel Chipman ; " Importance of Female Influence," by S. J. Grosvenor ; and several Hymn and Song Books ; all showing that the cause of temperance had a strong hold of the public mind.
CHAPTER YIII.
Letters to Friends Abroad — Pierpont's Song of the Reformed — Incidents in the Work — City Traffic — Alexander Welsh — Firemen — Merchants' Society — Mr. Frelinghuysen's address — Pennsylvania State Society — Toast and Water Dinner — Barnes' Sermon — Liberal Donations — For- eign Con-espondence — Seventh Anniversary, A. T. U, — Change of Presidency — Hon. G. CatUn's Speech — Hutchinson Family Intro- duced to New York — Inquirer, Sacramental Controversy — Contro- versy with Dr. Hun on Stomach Plates — High Appreciation of Plates — ^Feeling of Drunkards — ^Missionary Reports.
So impressed were they with the magnitude and bless- edness of this work, that I was directed by our Executive Committee, to draft a full account of it and send it, as from the Committee to the friends of temperance in England, Scotland and Ireland, that they might sympathize with us, and have no misapprehensions. The statement was well received and widely circulated.
Ever ready with his pen to aid the good work, the Rev. John Pierpont, of Boston, indited a spirited song for the reformed :
A SONG.
We come, we come ! that have been held
In burning chains so long ; We're up ! and on we come.
Full fifty thousand strong. The chains were snapp'd, that held us round
The "wine vat and the still — Snapped by a blow — nay, by a word,
That mighty word — I will.
SONG OF THE KEFORMED. 103
We come from Belial's palaces,
The tippling shop and bar ; And as we march, those gates of hell
Feel their foundation jar. The very ground that oft has held
All night our throbbing head Knows that we're up, no more to fall,
And trembles at our tread.
From dirty den, from gutter foul,
From watch house and from prison. Where they, who gave a poisonous glass,
Had thrown us, have we risen ; From garret high, have hurried down,
From cellar cold and damp, Come up, till alley, lane and street,
Echo our earthquake tramp.
To God be thanks, who pours us out
Cold water from the hills, In crystal springs and bubbling brooks,
In lakes and sparkling rills ; From there to quench our thirst we come,
With freemen's shout and song, A host, already numbering more
Than fifty thousand strong.
Many incidents in that great Washingtonian reform come to ray recollection, which should not be unknown to those who come after us. One was a great diminution in hospitals in cases of insanity from intemperance. Another was a great diminution of the common accidents of life from drinking. Another was diminution of crime. Judge Humphrey, of Ohio, said it was too palpable to escape ob- servation ; and it was publicly spoken of by the Recorder of the city of New York. In the State prison at Charles- town there was, in 1842, a diminution of 46 commitments. Of 192 discharged convicts, 148 had taken the pledge, and of these, only three were ever recommitted. . Another was,
104 TEMPERANCE RECOLLECTIONS.
of pauperism and family destitution. Many children of drunkards, who were in alms-houses, were taken away by their reformed parents, a thing never before known. An- other was, that, in revivals of religion, reformed men were apt to become the first subjects of the work. In a letter to me, from Lewiston, Pa.*, in February, 1843, the Rev. Thomas P. Hunt said :
I have been from home since the 6th of Xovember, 1842 ; I have lec- tured and preached upwards of two hundred times. The blessing of God seemed to follow my temperance lectures, and a glorious revival of religion now exists in every place where I have lectured since I left home. Many, very many of reformed men, are now converted. In one place, more than one hundred and fifty, many of them bard cases, now belong to differ- ent churches. I do not know the number that profess conversion in all the places, but it is somewhere in the neighborhood of a thousand.
In Lockport, N. Y., where seven hundred and eighteen persons united with the church, the Rev. Dr. Wisner said:
As an event which prepared the way, I would mention the wonderful temperance reform which has been in progress for some time past, under the direction of the "Washingtonians, as they are called. Many of this class of our citizens, having bi'oken off from a life of profligacy, are peculiarly susceptible to the influence of divine truth ; and a large number of them have opened the door of their hearts to admit the Saviour as a permanent guest. •
The free and frank confessions of these men, of the connection between their habits of drink and infidelity, were often very impressive. Said one :
There are infidels plenty made in public houses, and it must be so, for they are driven to it to reconcile themselves to their wicked practices. Not nine but of ten can meet a sick bed and a dying hour with their principles. I know more of infidelity than they do, and have been more determined than they all, never to yield to the truth of divine revelation. Ah ! many a time have I sat up an hour together, three parts drunk, to defend Infi- delity, and a poor shattered thing I made of it.
Still another mark was, that a great degree of worldly
EUM-SELLING AND DEINKING IN NEW YORK. 105
comfort accrued to their families ; and this was of no short continuance. Said Gov. Baldwin, in his address to the Legislature of Connecticut, in 1844:
In our own State it is gratifying to know that this glorious reformation, though retarded perhaps by legislation, still maintains its onward progress. Its fruits are everywhere apparent. Within the past year, poverty and crime have sensibly diminished. The tears of the broken-hearted have been dried up ; and joy and gladness are diffused through many a family circle to which they had long been strangers.
Few knew what was the character of the rum traffic in our city before that time, nor what it is now. Its internal horrors, and the part our leading citizens had in it, were fully revealed in the conversion of Alexander Welsh, who had been considered the head of rumsellers, and who, when converted, became one of the most sub- stantial of the reformed men. I knew him well, and was on terms of great intimacy with him. The following was the account he gave of himself, in a public meeting, March 22, 1842:
" I am called ' King of the Rmnsellers ' (and I suppose I am), in the way of ridicule. I stand before you, one of an unfortunate, or fortunate, class . of reformed drunkards. I have been nine months on the list, and I have had a new life of it. I never attended a temperance meeting in all my life. I said it was all a humbug. I was converted at home, in a rumshop where more rum has been sold than in any place in New York. I was sitting there, at twelve o'clock at night, with friends — I called them friends — drinking friends. I had drank, that day, twenty-five glasses. Few know \that is going on in New York after twelve o'clock at night ; and no man could tell the extent of his drinking. It is only when a man has drank twelve glasses, that he begins to get dry. I was asked to drink, that night ; but I had made up my mind to drink no more. But I would not come out then ; for I kept a rumshop, and had to ask men to drink rum — but that fs a poor business ; it will always end in making the rumsel- ler himself a drimkard. I would not drink, and the drinkers began to suspect me, that I had been among the teetotallers. They do not love to have a teetotaller among them. Some have advised mc not to go into the rumshops. I do not go much, only when I see a poor fellow there, I
106 TEMPERANCE RECOLLECTIONS.
go in and say, ' Come, now, this won't do ; come and sign the pledge' I don't want to hurt the rumsellers ; but they had better quit, now the cause is going on. I met one to-day, and he said, last night he had a ball at his house, and he took oiily twenty-seven dollars for liquor, whereas, last year, he took ninety. And, said he, if you want my room for a temijerance meet- ing, you may have it for nothing, and I will light it up. I stuck to my plan. Two months before, I made up my mind to sign the pledge; and I'll tell you how I came to : I was invited among gentlemen of distinction, the Governor, Corporation, Mayor, and four hundred others, to the opening of the New York and Erie Railroad. There is drinking in high places as well as in low. SOme are here to-night who were along with us — I see you, gentlemen ! Soon after we left the dock, I went to the bar to get some lemonade, but it was all crowded full. "When we arrived at Goshen, I went out and got my dinner, and two glasses of water. When I came back to the cars, I saw a dozen of Champagne brought in. I was asked to partake. I said. No. I had not signed the pledge, but I had made up my mind not to drink. Soon a second dozen came, and was drank up ; and then a third, and a fourth, and a fifth, all drank by men in high stations and some of your old pledged men, too. Then came the result : one hang- ing his head out of the car, like a dead calf; another tumbled over on to his neighbor ; then settling all manner of subjects, pohtics, religion, rail- roads, all mixed up, hurrahs and shouting. I then saw what liquor would do with gentlemen. I made up my mind to sign the pledge."
At the commencement of 1842 there was great excite- ment among the fire companies of the city. On the 5th of January there was an immense meeting at the church in Chrystie street. I was called to open it with prayer ; after which, several spirited speeches were made, when Engine Company No. 2 and Hose Company No. 13 came in under escort of No. 18, and over fifty fine-looking men went up to the table and signed the pledge. They then sang with great spirit the Temperance Firemen's Song :
When, in the night,
The skies grow bright With the flames of the poor man's dwelling,
The fireman springs
As the Hall bell rings, The burning district telling.
fieemen's song. 107
Hark ! the cry, Fire ! Fire ! As the flames rise higher, The gallant firemen fly At the sleep-dispelling cry, Fire ! Fire ! Fire ! Fire ! And we'll dash on the water till the flames expire.
Thus, in the height Of his drunken phght. If the tippler falls in the gutter, The fireman kind, Who the pledge has signed. Plies him with good Cold Water. He puts out rum's fire, Drags hun out of the mire, Nor leaves him there to die, 'ISTeath the cold and stormy sky ; On rum's curst fire He pours cold water till the flames expire. &c., &c., &c.
Five companies had joined in N'ew York and two in Brooklyn.
On the 27th of January, 1842, our chairman, the Hon. Theodore Frelinghuysen delivered an address in the Tab- ernacle, before the Merchants' Temperance Society. This had been an important institution, and Mr. Frelinghuysen was the man from whom, of all others, they would best take counsel ; a man of distinguished talent, of the purest character and warmest benevolence. His address was worthy the occasion. At the close, he said for their en- coui-agcment, and the record should not be lost :
The Mayor of our city — it is grateful to honor his name for it — in the late New Year salutation of his fellow citizens, received and entertained them without any intoxicating drmks. The Chief Magistrate of our State, with like examplary regard, also excluded them from his mansion on the last New Year's day ; and has since given still more decided proof of his personal approval, by enrolling hmiself as a member of the total abstinence society. The American Institute, an association of gentlemen of first re-
108 TEMPERANCE KECOLLECTIONS.
spcctability and usefulness, in their late anniversary supper, with no loss of wit or enjoj'meut, abstained from all exciting liquors. And very recent- ly, the Xew England Society of this city celebrated their anniversary in like manner ; they banished wine, and introduced the ladies to their dinner party, and who could quarrel at the substitution ? It was worthy of their name. It well became the sons of New England, that home of their prin- ciples— that cradle of liberty, and spring of an enterprise that never tires — that is now pushing its settlements into the untrodden forests of the West, and will soon plant its institutions, and open the spelling-book and the Bible, beyond the Rocky Mountains. To conclude with another affecting incident : Within the past week two hundred seamen of one national ves- sel, and three hundred of another — the ship Columbia — with her captam and purser, have associated as members of a total abstinence society. To the merchants this voice from the sea is full of meaning, and, I think, will be heeded and responded to by them. The merchants of this city hold a position of most commanding and extensive mfluence. New York is the heart of this great community ; a throb felt here, creates a pulsation at the remotest extreme of the country. Think, gentlemen, of the precious interests you may preserve and promote. Your example will reach your country merchants — the sailor — every harbor where your commerce floats, and every sea where the flag of your country waves. Let your example be lofty as your position. Let it go forth in its power to reform the tastes and purify the sentiments of the whole earth.
At a New England Cold Water Festival a leading member of the largest Insurance Company in Wall Street, proposed that all intoxicating liquors be removed from the office. The President seconded it, since intoxicating liquors were the cause of more shipwrecks than anything else. And it was accordingly done from that time.
On the 14th of January, 1842, the Pennsylvania State Convention met at Harrisburg ; 250 members. On invita- tion both houses of the Legislature adjourned to take their seats in the Convention as honorary members. They came in a body, headed by the Governor and Heads of Depart- ment. The speaking was deeply interesting and im- portant.
On the 4th of March, 1842, a committee of the two
GENEROUS DOXATIOXS. 109
Legislatures of 'New York and Massachusetts met, and dined together at Springfield. The Hon. Mr. Quincy, President of the day, congratulated them, that as they were drinking their toasts without any wine, they were dining on toast and water.
In July, 1842, Rev. Albert Barnes of Philadelphia, de- livered an admirable sermon before the Howard Benevo- lent Society, on the connection between Temperance and Religion, which I gladly inserted in my August Journal, and which should be a permanent tract of the Tract Socie- ties.
Long was it my heart's desire to reach many minds with our publications, besides regular subscnbers and pur- chasers ; and in 1842, 1 was gratified with a donation from Chester Bulkley, Esq., of Wethersfield, Conn., of one hun- dred dollars to send two hundred Journals for a year to as many home missionaries ; and of the same sum from Orin Day, Esq., of Catskill, to send two hundred to the for- eign missionaries of the American Board. The first named gentleman afterward gave one thousand dollars for gen- eral purposes, and the latter and his family have continued their donation to 1865. And it has ever since been a great source of happiness to me, when I have met returned missionaries, to have them take me by the hand, and say, "Sir, we know you well. Your monthly Journal has been a source of great pleasure and profit to us." Oh, how little do men of wealth know of their ability, by a small contribution, to dry up the fountains of wickedness, and bless the world.
I was brought by my position much in contact with distant parts of our globe, to see and know what were the ravages of the alcoholic fiend, and what were the com- mencement of counteracting influences. The following letter reached me from Lodiana, Lidia, dated May 21, 1841:
110 TEMPERANCE RECOLLECTIONS.
Ret. J. Marsh :
Dear Sir : — The temperance publications despatched on June 20, 1840, together with your note, arrived here two days ago. The soldiers are greatly delighted with them. The whole troop is now engaged in read- ing them. Societies are formed in nearly all the large stations. Some number hundreds, and others fifty, twenty, and so on. The soldiers are in advance of the officers. Abstinence from ardent spirits would generally be approved of, but the wine and the beer, that is the stumbling-block. Our prayers are with you ; your success is indispensable to our own. You fight on the side of Omnipotence and must prevail.
W. S. Rogers.
From Pontlanck, Borneo, Dr. Pohlman, American Mis- sionary to China, wrote me, November 12, 1841 :
As the American Temperance Union is laboring for the whole world, it cannot be unmindful of the vast family of the Chmese. Myriads of eyea are now turned toward China. The Christian sees a train of events which is to eventuate in pouring the light of the Gospel day upon that great portion of the human race. But before that happy period arrives all obstructions must be removed. The greatest of these obstacles will no doubt be found to arise from the use of opium, arrack, wine, &c. Whether there is more intemperance from opium or from liquors of various kinds, it is difficult to ascertain. The disastrous effects of intemperance in a country so thickly peopled as China, must be great beyond all concep- tion. "Will you not try, my dear Sir, to enlist the sympathies and prayers of the friends of the cause in America, in behalf of their antipodal brethren. Yours truly,
Ret. J. Marsh. W. J. Pohlmajj.
A letter in 1842 from the Secretary of the Temperance Society for foreign residents and visitors at Lahaina, in the Sandwich Islands, said :
The visit of the French frigate in 1839, demanding and enforcing the introduction of French brandy into the Islands, broke the salutary laws of that feeble nation, and let in a fiery flood. On the foreign residents and seamen its burning pbwer has been dreadful. But through counteracting influence the native population, have been saTcd. At Lahaine the king, and all the high chiefs of the nation, with 1,500 people, have united in a total abstinence society, and the king takes pleasure in addressing tem- perance meetings, which he does with great success.
NEW YOEK MEDICAL SOCIETY. Ill
Frequent letters from Germany assured me that, while the temj^erance societies at Berlin and other places were strong against all distilled liquors as a poison, wine and all fermented drinks were viewed as nutritious and pro- motive of health. Bat tliese were opposed by Berzelius, the distinguished chemist of Sweden, who vindicated the existence of the intoxicating principle in all vinous and fermented drinks. With him German Professors were in a si^irited controversy.
The Temperance Society of the New York College of Surgeons and Physicians held its tenth Anniversary, at the Medical Hall in Crosby Street, February 15, 1843. Two hundred students had attached themselves to it in all. Letters were read from Professor Krauschfield of Berlin, giving an account of the progress of temperance in GeiTQany, and from Baron Berzelius, Professor at Stock- holm, containing cheering news from Sweden. Rev. Robert Baird, JX D., gave an interesting account of the progress in the iN'orth of Europe. This Society was con- sidered one of the most important of any in the city.
At the seventh anniversary of the American Temper- ance Union, General Cocke, of Virginia, resigned the pres- idency, much to our regret. He was a very gentlemanly man of the old school, of great liberality, and much de- voted to the cause ; but so exceedingly diffident, that he could never be induced to attend an Anniversary meeting, where he should be expected to preside and make a speech. In his resignation he said :
" While life lasts, I shall never cease to work and pray for our common cause ; and, I trust, more efifectually in a private station than in the high »nd conspicuous one which all the partiality of friends, and the kindness of coadjutors, never released me from the consciousness of my unfitness for, and which, the progress of our blessed enterprise, under God, has now rendered more disproportionate to my qualifications than ever."
112 TEMPERANCE EECOLLECTIONS.
The Hon. Reuben H. Walworth, Chancellor of the State of New York, was elected in his place; and at once consented to fill it, bringing me into frequent con- ference with him, in which I have long had the greatest satisfaction. Said he, in his letter of acceptance :
*' Although my heart has long been engaged in the cause, my official duties, for the last fourteen years, have deprived me of the power to lend much aid to the many eflQcient men who "were devoting their time and their talents, and contributuag of tlieir substance, to carry the blessings of temperance to the palaces of princes, and the splendid dwellings of the wealthy of the world, as well as to the more humble habitations of the poor. After duly considering the subject, however, I have concluded to accept the office, and to hold it, at your disposal, until some one shall be elected who is entitled, by his standing in the Union, and his devotion to the cause of temperance, to the honor of being at the head of the Tem- perance Associations of the United States."
The state of public feeling required that our meeting should be principally addressed by some reformed man ; and I was fortunate in procuring one who, from the very lowest debasement, through intemperance, had attained to the elevation of a Member of Congress for Connecticut, the Hon. George S. Catlin. For more than an hour, he spoke with great appropriateness and effect. He was not unwilling to look back to the rock from whence he was hewn, and to the hole of the pit from whence he was dig- ged. In his speech he said :
" To the temperance principle I am indebted for the physical power which has brought me here ; to it I owe my life. Had it not been for this, my voice would long since have ceased to be heard among men. I have known long years of cruel bondage to a fearful folly. I have known long years of poverty and of deep suffering. My spirit struggled to throw off" its chains, but I saw open no way of escape. The dangers thickened around me, I was ready to fall crushed into the grave. But the world was told there was hope. I heard of the triumphs of temperance in the Monu- mental City. I signed the pledge, and the struggle for release from the wretched thraldom was at an end: I was myself again."
HUTCHINSON FAMILY. 113
He WHS followed by Rev. Dr. Patten, of New York ; Rev. John Chambers, of Philadelphia; John H. W. Haw- kins, and the venerable Dr. Lyman Beecher, of Cincinnati, who, when at Litchfield, Connecticut, had so caused his battle-axe to ring on the walls of King Alcohol. The Doctor was introduced, amid much applause, as Father Beecher. He looked around upon the immense assembly, and exclaimed, " I am alarmed ; for I never expected to have so many children." B.ut he made one of his pithy, characteristic speeches.
Having heard of a family of rare vocalists, who were singing temperance songs, and doing good service to the cause in 'New Hampshire, I wrote to them, and invited them to come to our Anniversary. They replied, in an un- willingness to appear before a Xew York audience, being fitted only for the country village. Again pressed, they consented to come, and they gave us such a musical enter- tainment as had not been heard on any former occasion. Such was the introduction of the Hutciiixson family to Xew York. It was never forgotten. by them.
Two great events occurred in June, 1843. The Corpor- ation of the City of Xew York resolved they would pro- vide no intoxicating liquors, at the reception of the Presi- dent of the United States ; and none were provided in Bos- ton, at the magnificent Bunker Hill Celebration. With 300,000 peoj^le abroad, no booths or stalls were provided for liquor, and at a dinner for the chief men of the State, not a drop of the bewitching, fascinating poison was visible.
A singular event, attracting the attention of all con- cerned, was, that the ship John G. Carter, Capt. Barlow, went to sea, for India, with a crew of twenty-eight men, direct, without hauling ofi* and waiting for the men to be- come sober, as all went on board sober and orderly. Tlie Journal of Commerce remarked upon it, as a rare occur-
114 TEMPERANCE EECOLLECTIONS. .
rence. Once, it was necessary to haul off the vessel, so that the men would not get back on shore. " Now," ex- claimed Capt. Hart, " we can go on board all sober, ready- to meet the storms of the ocean."
"While I was devoted to the Journal, Advocate, and tracts, as the great instruments of advancing the cause, Mr. Delavan, unwilling to have its progress obstructed by the Sacramental controversy, commenced, in 1841, a publi- cation called The Inquieee, which should be devoted to free discussion as to the kind of wine to be used at the Lord's Supper. A reform in the Communion cup, from the highly brandied, drugged, and factitious wines of com- merce, containing from forty to fifty per cent, of proof spirit, to the new wine of the Bible, he thought the duty of all Christian Churches, and very important to the tem- perance cause. He was met in a publication called the Respondeat, in which he was charged with a desire to substitute water for wine at the communion, or at least unfermented juice-grape, which could not be obtained, and, if it could be, would not be acknowledged as wine. The controversy, for a long time, caused much warmth of feeling throughout the community. But he was attacked, not only on this subject, but on the truthfulness of the plate No. H. of the drunkard's stomach, by Dr. Hun, Registrar of the Albany Medical College. Dr. Hun denied that there was any effect visible from the use of alcoholic liquors in the stomach of the moderate drinker, and aflSrm- ed that there was nothing, therefore, in the moderate use of such liquors which called for condemnation. Mr. Delavan promptly replied, and the controversy was warmly main- tained in the Albany papers. But not only the testi- monials to the correctness of the plates of scientific men, such as Drs. Mott, "Warren, Horner, Green, and others, but the common sense of the community, put down Dr. Hun ; for, if the stomach of the drunkard is a ruin,
THE STOMACH PLATES — THEIR VALUE. 115
when did that ruin commence — with ten glasses, or with five, or one ? With immoderate, or with moderate use ? The appreciation of the drawings continued greatly to in- crease. General Scott desired that they might be furnish- ed to every military post. The Hon. Samuel Young de- sired they might be hung in every common school in the State. The presidents of the Marine Insurance Companies expressed a wish that they might be put on board of every vessel on the ocean, on our rivers, and on our lakes, counteracting the peculiar temptations to which mariners and emigrants were exposed. Testimonials from lecturers were often of a most affecting character. " It is very fre- quently the case," said one, "that, after all the facts I could present, or the appeals I could make, seem to fall powerless on the ear of the drunkard, his head up and ap- parently entirely unmoved, when these pictures are shown, his cheeks turn pale, and his head droops." "I have heard," says another, " the unfortunate drunkard exclaim, when looking at them — and particularly at the one repre- senting the stomach after a debauch — the^/ loolc as I have often felt ! " Missionaries in foreign lands, at Constanti- nople and other places, were found to be exhibiting the plates with . great effect. " I will drink no more," said a gentleman in that city, after gazing at the pictures, " how can I, when I see the effects of this habit on the constitu- tion, and when I remember I must give account to God for the manner in which I deal with my body, as well as my soul ? "
CHAPTER IX.
Fiftccnlli Anniversary New York State Society — New Jersey — Visit Wasliington — Reorganization Congressional Society — Gov. Briggs in Massachusetts — Eighth Anniversary A. T. U. — Progress among Sea- men, and in Navy — Great indignation against the Traffic — Usclessnea^ of Moral Suasion — Opinion of L, M. Sargent — Dr. Bacon — John B. Gough introduced to New York — Great Popularity — Travel with him through the State — Great Washingtonian Meeting at Boston — Ex- cursion with Mr. Gough, south — Letter of Dr. Beecher.
The Fifteenth Anniversary of the New York State Society was held at Albany, on the 14th February, 1844. One hundred and seventy-nine delegates were present. The indefatigable chairman of its executive committee, Elisha Taylor, had retired ; and Philij) Phelps was now occu])ying his place. The Report related chiefly to the effort for the circulation of Dr. Sewall's plates of the stomach. The public meeting was addressed by Rev. S. Pritchett, of Washington county, L. S. Parsons, Esq., of Albany, and myself. I felt peculiarly happy in addressing this venerable society, which had performed an immense amount of labor in sustaining numerous agents, and send- ing more than fifteen millions of publications abroad ; and, now that it was drooping under a debt of 83,000, and feeling unable to sustain longer its State organ, I could not but call loudly on the people, to whom it had saved millions, to come to its support. I said, One thing was certain, the rich cannot keep their money. If they do not give it to lis to reform and save the drunkard and suppress intem- perance, they must soon give it to support the paupers and
NEW YORK AND NEW JERSEY STATE SOCIETIES. 117
criminals which the bloody traffic will make. Like the powerftil locomotive, this society once moved forward with mighty energy, and I desired to see it thus moving again. In the language of General Cass, oui* late minister to France : " If the temperance enterprise could be carried forward to its completion, it would be a monument far prouder than the genius of antiquity had bequeathed to us, and more useful than any which modern wealth or power had erected, for the generations that are to follow us upon the theatre of life."
The society, at this meeting, resolved to discontinue their paper, the " Recorder," and to adoj)t the " Journal of the A. T. U." as their organ, thus bringing me into closer connection with them, and increasing my res23onsibilities.
On the 1 8th of February, I was invited, with Lewis C. Levin, to address, at Trenton, the "New Jersey State Temperance Society. The Governor and Legislature, with a large number of citizens, were present. In one hundred and eighty towns, 30,892 -had, during the year, signed the pledge; of these, one thousand eight hundred were re- formed drunkards. Yet two hundred and seventy-nine taverns and fifteen stores were still engaged in the ruin of the people.
In the month of January, I went to Washington, by re- quest, to aid once more in reorganizing the Congressional Temperance Society. The change of members rendered it very difficult to sustain an organization. Mr. Briggs, the strong tower, had left, and become Governor of Massa- chusetts. But a meeting of temperance members was col- lected, and the Hon. Charles Hudson, of Massachusetts, was chosen president. A public meeting was held in the Capitol, February 15, and, as a result, a resolution was adopted in the House, by a large majority, excluding from it all intoxicating liquors.
In Massachusetts, Mr. Briggs at once brought all his
118 TEMPERANCE KECOLLECTIONS.
intlucnce to bear upon the cause. The Legislative Tem- perance Society made him their president. On taking the chair, He hoped, .before the session closed, every name would be enrolled under their constitution. For, he said ;
" Such a course would be a benefit to the Commonwealth. We shall not do as much for the public good by legislating, as we should by con- tributing to the temperance reform. If we should lend all our exertions, we might soon say, there is no drunkard in Massachusetts, and there is no wretched family in our State. We could Uve then with but little legisla- tion. And the citizens of Boston have the power to produce such a state of things. The plan is simple ; the easiest on earth. Let no one drink himself, nor offer it to others, and the triumph is complete."
Governor Briggs had power with the people. * Simple in his habits, honest and determined in his purpose, and full of pity and compassion for the lost, few could stand before him in their vindication of the wine-cup. Early in life, returning from Court, he found a demand of the stomach for an ordinary drink before dinner. " What is that ? " said he. " A demand ? It shall not be granted ; no, not while I live ! " And it never was. In the Sara- toga Convention of 1836, as has been related, he took strong ground, though a young man, for the true prin- ciple. Wherever he spoke, he made a deep impression. At a meeting in Albany, he related the story of the mys- terious woman who appeared before the licensing com- missioners, in Pennsylvania, and defied them to give license, if they dared, in view of her husband and sons, who had, all four, filled drunkards' graves ; and there was given a unanimous No ! — a story which has probably been read by more people, and made more impression than any other. At a Presidential dinner, where many drank, and a gentle- man next him said, " I do not drink, I only make believe," Mr. Briggs said, " I do not make believe, sir." And he told me himself, that, in all circles, and all companies, he
GOOD NEWS FROM SEA:\IEX. 119
never had the least difficulty m maintaining, openly, the total abstinence principle.
On our eighth Anniversary, in 1844, I was enabled to report much cheering information from seamen in harbor and on the ocean, from sailors on boats and canals, and, more especially, from our gallant navy. At Charleston, South Carolina, over twelve hundred seamen had, during the year, signed the pledge. The captains of British ves- sels in that port acknowledged, with gratitude, the extra- ordinary change there was both in officers and crews. On board the revenue-cutter stationed in that harbor, the captain, officers, and entire crew signed the pledge, which only two of the ninety were known to violate. On board of the U. S. frigate Cumberland, under Commander Foote, between two and three hundred had refused their grog. All intoxicating drinks were excluded from the Avard- room and steerage. In Boston, not less than one thou- sand persons connected with the navy signed the pledge. The Brandywine, on a cruise to Bombay and the Indian seas, signalized herself by her temperance spirit. The English residents declared she should change her name, as her officers neither drank brandy nor wine. And in the Pacific, a commodore (Jones) issued an address to all the officers and seamen of the U. S. naval forces in that section, inviting them to abandon entirely the use of all intoxicating drinks, and to unite with him in memorializing Congress to withhold at once the spirit ration from the navy.
It was the constant, terrible exposure of our pledged seamen, as well as reformed men, to destruction, from the licensed and unlicensed dram shops, that was rapidly changing the public sentiment from a reliance on moral suasion, for the removal of temptation, to a demand for law. On this subject no individual expressed himself
120 TEMPERANCE RECOLLECTIONS.
more truthfully and powerfully than did Lucius M. Sar- gent, Esq., author of the "Temperance Tales." Said he:
" I believe moral suasion alone, as a means of ridding the world of drunkenness, would prove about as effectual as a bulrush for the stoppage of the Bosphorus. In spite of the expectations of the most sanguine Buasionists, unless opposed by some more powerful barriers, this river of rum and ruin will flow on to eternity.
' Eusticus expectat dum transeat amhis, at illo Labitur et labetur in omne volubilis sevuin.'
The Gospel openly recognizes the civil rule. The moral suasionist of modern times, though not always inspired, presumes to accomplish, without the aid of law, more than was achieved in the days of the Apostles, by the power of the law and Gospel combined. The rumseller steals the widow's son, the stay and staff of her old age. The rumseller knows all this ; he listens heartlessly to her importunities for mercy ; he will not pity ; he will not spare, until he has stretched his miserable victim in the grave, and left that lone woman the heart-broken mother of nothing better than a drunkard's corpse."
But the community needed something more than the reasoning and declarations of powerful intellect to array them against the deadly traffic ; even the full sufferings, from their own lips, of the deluded victims. They had al- ready heard it from the lips of the reformed men. They had had it in the eloquence of a Marshall, who had stood on the brink of the burning crater, and w^ho had started back affrighted, and raised his warning voice to all young men who would venture near ; though his testimony was sadly blighted by the unfortunate duel. Something now was needed, which before had not been granted, though we knew not what ; but, in an overruling Providence, it was sent in one who, in the morning of life, had been thrown to the bottom of the crater, and had been surpris- ingly brought forth to tell an experience which should touch all hearts. I heard of him as addressing crowded school houses at the East, to the surprise of all who could
JOHN B. GOUGH. 121
gain admittance ; and last as addressing the prisoners in the State Prison of ISTew Hampshire, throwing all the prison- ers into tears, and causing almost the entire company to raise their hands in the declaration, that when once at liberty, they would never take into their lips the intoxi- cating drink. I immediately wrote to Deacon Moses Grant, the devoted friend and patron of temperance in Boston, to find him, and bring him to our Anniversary, that we might hear him. He did so ; and in the afternoon of the day, he stood before me, with John B. Gough. I could scarce give credit to reports that he, a still, quiet, unimpassioned man, had a power of eloquence to move millions. But the evening came ; the Broadway Taber- nacle was filled, as usual on those occasions, to its utmost capacity, when, after the reading of the Report, and a lengthy and able sj)eech by the Rev. Leonard Bacon, D. D., of New Haven, Ct., highly satisfactory, the young orator was introduced. In a simplicity and modesty promising nothing, in less than three minutes he struck a chord in every heart, and drew tears from many an eye. Said he :
" God forbid that I should boast of my degradation ! Oh, there is a dark spot upon my past life ; and if, by any efforts of mine in the temper- ance cause, I can wipe it out, I shall feel that I have attained the height of my ambition. A bright star of hope now gleams upon my pathway, and the dark pall which has hung over my existence for a few past years is looped up, and I can see in the distance the gleaming of that bright star ; and I thank God who has plucked a brand from the burning, and that I am deemed worthy to raise my voice in this cause, which I love."
His relations, showing the hardening influence of the traffic, first in the case of the lady, a maniac in the Wor- cester Insane Hospital, whose reason reeled as the rum- seller asked her, if he should say to her father, that she had requested him to sell him no more rum ; — of the poor woman, once in affluence, but now sadly reduced, hus- band and two sons wasting their all in a tavern, who on 6
122 TEMPERANCE RECOLLECTIONS.
the terrible death of one of her boys petitioned the rum- seller to spare the rest, but he rolled up the petition into matches to light cigars with, as father and son came in for their drink, and then boasted that he had made the husband and son burn up the pious petition of the old woman ; — but more of the poor widow in Oxford, Mass., whose son Frederic returned from a long prodigal absence, having signed the pledge, but was induced by the heart- less rumseller to drink before going home, and in the morning was found dead in the rumseller's bam — ^the rum- seller helping to carry him to his mother on a board, when the mother cursed him as the murderer of her son. He acknowledged he had given him the liquor, but did not know it was her son. She told him he did ; " and it was wrong," she said, " but I cursed him ; I did it. Heaven forgive him and me ! "
This remarkable young man, remarkable for a natural eloquence, seldom surpassed, came from England with a stern farmer when he was twelve ; but, at fifteen, he left the farm for a more congenial employment in the city, where he labored at the book-binding business to support himself and his poor mother and sister, all sufiering the most cniel privations ; but soon he fell into the debasing habits of a drunkard, wandering about to gain his living, now by a little work, and now by singing songs, and per- forming at low theatres, till he was reached by a kind friend in Worcester, Mass., who induced him to sign the pledge, and then to attend temperance meetings, and re- late his sad story. In New York he remained a few even- ings, filling every house where he would speak. I felt that such an instrument of rousing the public mind should not be lost ; and I made arrangements with him to go through the State of ISTew York, and speak with me in all the principal towns and cities.
In the mean time we went together to Boston, to at-
WASHINGTONIAN ENCAMPMENT AT BOSTON. 123
tend on the 28tli of May a vast Washingtonian encamp- ment on the Common. On the steamer, Mr. Gough made an address, for which he was well rewarded by the numer- ous passengers. On the Common by eleven o'clock from 20 to 30,000 were gathered 'from all parts of the State; 9,500 came by the Eastern Railroad. At twelve, an im- mense procession of military and temperance societies started from the State House — Governor Briggs leading the way in a barouche, with four white horses — pass- ing down the Mall, through two long rows of beautiful children, under direction of Deacon Grant, and around the principal streets, magnificently decorated with flags and banners, and lined with crowds of spectators, who, with joyful voices and waving handkerchiefs, cheered us. Riding with the Governor, W. K. Mitchell and Mr. Gough, I had a fine opportunity of seeing the whole. Arriving at the Common, the Governor, from the stand, made an appropriate address. " The cause," he said, " is a glorious one ; one which was near his heart, and it should have his entire influence and strength as long as Heaven preserved his life. He was glad to state from that platform, and on that day, that the Chief Magistrates of six States of the Union were pledged teetotalers, who would give all their influence in favor of the cause." The Hutchinsons sung some of their happiest songs. The Banks were closed. Most business was suspended, and in the evening an im- mense meeting was held in the Tremont Temple.
On the 24th of Jime, I commenced my tour, with Mr. Gough, through the State of New York. Announcement had been made of every meeting ; and, as high expecta- tions had been raised, we found every place of assem- blage entirely full. About thirty meetings were before us— first, at Hudson; next, at Albany. Mr. Gough, after a short introduction by myself, gave full proof of his ability to sustain himself. At Schenectady, President Nott
124 TEMPERANCE RECOLLECTIONS.
received us most kindly, at the College ; and released the students from their evening studies, that they might hear the young orator, who admirably adapted himself to such an audience. Anxious to be at the Auburn State Prison on the Sabbath, we hastened on to that important post. Eight hundred prisoners stood before us, for the most part, the victims of rum. After prayer and singing, Mr. Gough addressed them for an hour. Few were unmoved ; many wept freely, as he told them all the evil they did, and under what influences they had conducted; and when asked for an expression of their determination to drink no more rum, a forest of hands was raised. Two pulpits were opened to us in the day and evening ; and on the next morning, at ten o'clock, the laboring classes, and the polloi, gathered in front of the Exchange, where other speaking, save that required by the sacredness of the Sab- bath, was freely indulged in. At Geneva, Palmyra, and Canandaigua, the people gave themselves up to the occa- sion, and expressed great satisfaction. Rochester claimed, and had us, on the Fourth of July — the glorious day of Independence. In lieu of military display, we had, on the public square, a monster temperance meeting, which we addressed as the occasion required ; and, in the evening, the large Methodist Church was entirely full, and the same was true, the succeeding evening, of the Presby- terian. The minister came forward, with the acknowl- edgment that he had never signed the pledge ; but now he was ready to do it, and did so, several following his ex- ample. Geneseo and Mount Morris gave us good au- diences; and on our return to Rochester, we had the largest and most enthusiastic meeting we had had since we left home. At Batavia, four hundred citizens had just petitioned the authorities not to sign a license, and they were determined so to do. Speaking to them was pleas- ant. Niagara Falls and Lockport next had our attention.
I
ME. GOUGH AT NIAGARA. 125
At the former, we saw mucli wine-drinking ; and here, Mr. Gongh learned one simile, which he ever after used with poAver, of the moderate drinker commencing moderately, carelessly, and playfully; but, as he advanced, cries reached him from the shore ; cries for help rose up in the boat ; but on he pushed, with terrible fury, till he went over, and knew no more. Buifalo threw open its largest buildings to us, and gave us deeply interested audiences. A general meeting of children, on Saturday afternoon, foreboded the attendance we should have of parents the next day. A large ladies' meeting was held in the after- noon of Monday, succeeded by a great crowd, at Dr. Lord's Church, in the evening. The people of Buffalo seemed determined on an exterminating war.
Oswego and Syracuse, Utica, and Rome, all gave us a good hearing on our way back. Saratoga Springs was a world in miniature ; and most fashionable people, from all quarters, rushed to hear the young temperance orator. A meeting in the Temple Grove was also ad- dressed by Messrs. Hawkins, Stainsby, Huntington of Sa- lem, and others. At Troy, the greatest preparations were made to receive us, by military and fire companies, and temperance processions, and Cold- Water armies ; but the rain drove them from the streets ; the churches were quite inadequate. In Albany, a mass meeting was held in the State House yard, and Mr. Gough spoke from the steps. But, in the evening, the very elite of the city were gather- ed in the North Dutch church — for fashion had no power now to make the most refined stand aloof; and in all my travel with Mr. Gough, I never saw so much weeping as in that meeting — by far the happiest effort of his mind and soul. Here ended our tour ; a complete success. The whole of the Empire State which we traversed was roused to thought and action. The rich put away their wine, and the poor their whiskey and beer. The open infidelity,
126 TEMPERANCE RECOLLECTIONS.
and radicalism, and abuse of ministers, by some reform- speakers, had kindled up in many minds an opposition to all temperance effort, especially on the Sabbath ; but Mr. Gough took such decided ground on religion, as the basis of all temperance, and the great security and hope of the reformed, as entirely reconciled them, not only to the meetings, but to his occupying the pulpit, on the Sabbath, as most j^rofitable to the spiritual interests of men.
Mr. Gough proceeded to Springfield, and I returned to New York, to the duties of my office. But so valuable were his services, especially among the religious and wealthy classes, that I procured them, the following winter, in New York city, for more than thirty consecu- tive meetings, in crowded halls and churches ; took him to Hartford and New Haven, in Connecticut ; to New- ark, Patterson, New Brunswick, and Trenton, in New Jersey ; to the city of Philadeljihia, where we had eleven enthusiastic and powerful meetings ; to Baltimore and "Washington, where we had eight meetings, which were attended by members of Congress and numerous strangers assembled at the inauguration of the new President ; and as far South as Richmond, where a great imj^ression was made. In all this action, we were well sustained by the liberality of friends, and had the countenance and prayers of the ministry and churches. Though himself an unedu- cated man, Mr. Gough deeply interested the ofiicers and students of Harvard, Yale, Princeton, and other colleges, and induced many to pledge themselves against the use of intoxicating liquors. In what consisted his peculiar pow- er, was the subject of much sj)eculation in the press. In my own Journal, I spoke of his eloquence as Antenor, in the Iliad, spoke of the eloquence of Ulysses :
" ' When Ulysses arose, his eyes were cast down. He used no motion
ME. GOTJGH — WHENCE HIS POWER. 127
with his staff, but held it motionless, after the manner of a clown. You might have taken him for a simple feUow. But no sooner had he begun to give vent to his sonorous voice, uttering flakes of words gently falling like wmter snow, than it became evident that, in eloquence, no man could cope with Ulysses.' "
The Journal of Commerce said :
" Mr. Gough is certainly a wonderful young man. He is worth study- ing as a model of natural eloquence, as well as of Christian fervor and kind- ness. No man, or woman, can hear him without rising in moral feeling."
" It is impossible," said the New York Sun, " to convey anything like an adequate idea of the powers possessed by, or to tell what there is about him so fascinating. A close critic, in nine cases out of ten, attending for the express purpose of picking flaws in his address, would, in five minutes, forget the nature of his errand."
Said the Tribune :
" Mr. Gough has no system about his lecturing ; he never uses notes. He does not stop to sermonize, but feehng that his story has gone home, and that it will do its own work, he dashes off on another theme, depicts the wife of the drunkard as she sits in her destitution and misery, in the cold damp cellar, or the rickety garret, working her fingers to the bone, that she may gain a morsel of bread for her band of half-starving, half- naked, shivering children ; hearing no sound but their cries for food and fire. The scene of early days and her youthful bloom — the time when she pledged her all to the man who has now deserted her — his broken promise — his progressive steps in vice — his waning love — his brutality — his indif- ference to her wants — and the deep, utter midnight darkness that has settled upon her hopes and happiness, are all brought before the mind, as though they were daguerreotyped upon the wall. And then the sketch of the drunkard — the husband, as he sits in his apathy in the groggery within a hundred yards distant, carelessly steeping the Httle left of his sensibility in the damning bowl : — you can almost hear the sigh, the cry, the voice, the low jest — almost see the thin wife and the bloated husband — the days of light, and the days of darkness, and the scenes of happiness, and the midnight despair ; all are touched as by the hand of a master who has not been taught in the schools of others, but in his own."
Such is my clear and pleasant recollection of the intro- duction of Mr. Gough to New York. From every quarter
128 TEMPERANCE RECOLLECTIONS.
I was asked for his services. The following characteristic letter was from the temperance veteran and orator, Dr. Lyman Beecher, at the West :
CrsciNNATi, January 21, 1845. Dear Brother Marsh : — You must come out here, and without fail, with Mr. Gough, and as soon as you can. The flood of Coffee House opposition has rolled over us, and though the Washingtonians have endured, and worked well, their thunder is worn out. The novelty of the common- place narrative is used up, and we cannot raise an interest which will com- mand the respect and attention of those who have been restrained and half convinced, but have not joined us, or wholly given up their wine, and are now beginning to turn against us by open transgression in high places. We must open a new campaign, and you and Mr. Gough must come. I long to see you, and once more buckle on the harness. Affectionately yours,
Lyman Beecher.
To such as may he desirous of knowing what Mr. Gough actually said in these addresses to excite such emotion, I here quote the close of one which, delivered in his impassioned tones and action, will never pass from my memory :
" What fills the almshouses and jails ? What brings yon trembling wretch upon the gallows ? It is drink. And we might call upon the tomb to break forth. Ye mouldering victims ! wipe the grave dust crumbling from your brow ; stalk forth in your tattered shrouds and bony whiteness to testify against the drink ! Come, come from the gallows, you spirit- maddened man-slayer, give up your bloody knife, and stalk forth to testify against it ! Crawl from the slimy ooze, ye drowned drunkards, and with suffocation's blue and livid lips speak out against the drink ! Unroll the* record of the past, and let the Recording Angel read out the murder in- dictments, written in God's book of remembrance ! aye ! let the past be unfolded, and the shrieks of victims wailing be borne down upon the night blast ! Snap your burning chains, ye denizens of the pit, and come up sheeted in the fire, dripping with the flames of hell, and with your trumpet tongues testify against the damnation of the drink.
" Of those who began this work some are hving to-day, and I should like to stand now and see the mighty enterprise as it rises before them.
129
They worked hard. They lifted the .first turf; prepared the way in which to lay the corner-stone. They laid it amid persecution and storms. They worked under the surface; and men almost forgot that there were busy hands laying the solid foundation far down beneath. By- and-by they got the foundation above the surface, and then com- menced another storm of persecution. Now we see the superstruc- ture, pillar after pillar, .tower after tower, column after column, with the capitals emblazoned — ' Love, truth, sympathy and good will to all men ! ' Old men gaze upon it as Jt grows up before them. They will not live to see it completed, but they see in faith the crowning cope-stone set upon it. Meek-eyed women weep as it grows in beauty; children strew the pathway of workmen with flowers. We do not see its beauty yet ; we do not see the magnificence of the superstructure yet, because it is in course of erection. Scaffolding, ropes, ladders, workmen, ascend- ing and descending, mar the beauty of the building ; but by-and-by, when the hosts who have labored shall come up over a thousand battle-fields, waving with bright grain, never again to be crushed in the distillery — through vineyards under trelUsed vines, with grapes hanging with all their purple glory, never again to be pressed into that which can debase and de- grade mankind ; when they shall come through orchards, under trees hanging thick with golden pulpy fruit, never to be turned into that which can injure and debase ; when they shall come up to the last distil- lery, and destroy it — to the last stream of liquid death, and dry it up — to the last weeping wife, and wipe her tears gently away — to the last little child, and lift him up to stand where God wills that mankind should stand — to the last drunkard, and nerve him to burst the burning fetters, and make a glorious accompaniment to the song of freedom by the clanking of his broken chain — then, ah, then will the cope-stone be set upon it — the scaffolding will fall with a crash ; and the building will start in its wondrous beauty before an astonished world. 6*
CHAPTER X
Changes in the Advocacy of Temperance — Experience Meetings give Place to Argumentative — Dr. Charles Jewett — W. H. Burleigh — A. W. Riley — Dr. Scwall's Death — Excitement on the Traffic — Trials before U. S. Supreme Court — Webster — Choate, Liquor-dealers' Counsel — Prohibition demanded in New England — No License in New York — Ninth Anniversary A. T. U., 1845 — T. P. Hunt on Rights' of Liquor Dealers — Six Mouths' Action for no License — Glori- ous Results — Tenth Anniversary, 1846 — Rev. A. Barnes — Commodore A. H. Foote — Cold AYatcr Army — Yale College Temperance Society Literature.
As years rolled on, many and important changes were called for in the temperance meetings. They were for a time almost entirely experience meetings. No individual had been called for or expected to speak, who could not relate an experience as a reformed man. This excluded almost entirely all clergymen and the early temperance speakers from the platform. The popularity of the reform S2:)eeches was, for a time, great ; and as many of their ex- periences were both of the comic and tragic character, they were very exciting. But ultimately there w^as much of a sameness in them, and as *here would be often five or six at a meeting, the interest in them waned, and the public sentiment demanded something scientific, something on the moral basis, and the religious obligation. But so had speakers of this class retired from the platform, and such was their sense of unpopularity with the masses, that it was difficult introducing them again. Some, however,
I
NEW ADVOCACY — JEWETT — BURLEIGH. 131
were to be found that were highly acceptable to all classes. Such an one was Dr. Charles Jewett, early in life a skilful physician in Rhode Island, but who had been so impressed in his practice with the evils of strong drink, that he every where commenced war against it ; and in 1832 he delivered a public address in the town of Exeter, which was pub- lished and extensively circulated. So much were his services here demanded that, in 1839, he gave up a lucra- tive practice, and devoted himself for life to the public advocacy of the temperance cause. Various departments he has since filled; sometimes State agent, sometimes editor and conductor of the press, bookmaker, &c., but always pre-eminent as a lecturer. As Hawkins by his ap- peals touched every fibre of the soul, and Gough gave beauty, life, and a charm to all he touched, so Dr. Jewett now began most deeply to interest the thinking communi- ty by the well-prepared lectures on the medical points, the pathology of drunkenness — its destruction of the physi- cal, intellectual and moral powers of men — its insidious advances — the connection between temperance and the educational, agricultural and commercial interests of the State, and the abominations and deadly influence of the traffic in all its branches. With a vein of humor seldom possessed, both in poetry and prose, he made the lecture hours pass rapidly, and has proved one of the mightiest instrumentalities of advancing our great cause.
William H. Burleigh, Esq., was another mighty advo- cate, both in poetry and prose, who followed on after the Washington reformers, and coped with high intellectual power and true eloquence, with all who would sustain the drinking usages, and the traffic in intoxicating drinks. For a time he was Corresponding Secretary and Editor for the New York State Society, masterly both with his tongue and pen. His poem. The Rum Fiend, is one of the standard works of true genius.
132 TEMPERANCE RECOLLECTIONS.
General A. W. Riley, of Rochester, also early entered the field as a lecturer sui generis, who has, perhaps, trav- elled more miles, and delivered more off-hand lectures than any other individual of the class ; always battling tremendously the rum-seller wherever he could meet him, and even offering him pay, so much an hour, if he would give him his attendance ; and not sparing the church and the ministry, where they were holding back from the cause, and countenancing the drinking usages of society. To him I was long indebted for large subscriptions to the Journal.
Mr. J. P. Coffin, himself a reformed man of an early date, was long an able agent of the New York State So- ciety, and a lecturer most able, powerful, and acceptable.
ThurloAV Weed Brown, editor and publisher of the Cayuga Chief, was excelled by none on the platform in instructive, soul-stirring speech. With a beauty and pow- er of thought and language, and a two-edged sword, giving the liquor-dealer his due, he moved on through his hour with great force, charming all by his diction, ex- cept those who were resolved not to be saved themselves, nor to save others.
G. W. Bungay, a gentleman of unusual genius as a writer, both in prose and verse, and talented in speech, took the field, and did much service. In Ohio, Gen. S. F. Cary, a prince of orators, visited, and spoke in all cities and villages, with great effect.
On the 10th of April, 1845, I heard of the death of my friend, and the Mend of humanity. Dr. Thomas Sewall, of Washington, at the age of fifty-nine. Few had done so much for the cause of temperance. Few had seen so much of the ruins of intemperance as he had, connected as he was with Congress and its members. In most glowing and expressive language, did he ever express himself on the subject. I quote his emphatic words :
TRAGEDY AT PIITSFIELD. 133
" Intemperance has swept over our land, with the rapidity and power of a tempest, tearing down everything in its course. Not content with rioting in the haunts of ignorance and vice, it has passed through our con- secrated groves, has entered our most sacred enclosures ; and oh ! how many men of genius and of letters have fallen before it ! how many lofty intellects have been shattered, and laid in ruins by its power ! how many a warm and philanthropic heart has been chilled by its icy touch ! It has stalked within the very walls of our capital, and there left the stains of its polluting touch on our national glory. It has leaped over the pale of the Church, and even reached up its sacrilegious arms to the pulpit, and drag- ged down some of its brightest ornaments."
His drawings of the stomach will ever remain a monu- ment of his philanthropy and genius.
Leaving the reformed, the attention of the community- was now beginning to be turned much toward the traffic, as blasting all the good work which had been done ; and the question was rising in every State, has the liquor-sel- ler a right to carry on his destructive business ; especially is it right for the State to grant him a license to do it ? With the general burdens all were acquainted, the people paid theii* heavy taxes imposed by the traffic, without complaining ; but when there was blood and murder in the streets, they would stand it no longer. In the spring of 1845, a respectable mechanic of Pittsfield, Mass., was made drunken by liquor sold contrary to law, and was torn to pieces while lying on the railroad-track, in the darkness of midnight. A public indignation meeting was at once held, and indignation speeches were made, and resolutions adopted by some of the first citizens which thrilled the country. Gov. Briggs, afler narrating the destitute condition of the family of the deceased, the aggravating circumstances of his death to his family, and the desolation and woe it had brought to the hearts of his wife and children, called upon every friend of hu- manity to come forward and lend liis aid in drying up the prolific fountain of wretchedness. He asked:
134 TEMPERANCE EECOLLECTIONS.
"Who did the deed? Who robbed those children of a father, and made that wife a widow, perhaps a maniac ? It was not the ponderous engine, rushing with whirlwind speed over its iron road. It was the ven- doi' of intoxicating drink, the man who, in defiance of all laws, human and divine, scattered around him the seed of temporal and eternal death."
The Hon. Thomas B. Strong said :
'' It was demanded by every feeling of self-respect, by every dictate of pride of character, by every impulse of generous humanity, that our village be purified from this unhallowed traflSc. Woe to him who putteth the bot- tle to his neighbor's lips. It was all the same to him, whether the victim of his avarice were crushed under the ponderous wheels of the railroad engine, or swung from the gibbet, or died amid the horrors of delirium tremens, or eked out a miserable existence in a dungeon, or, outliving health and fortune, and friends, and respect, and home, staggered over his last years down to a drunkard's grave. Judas sold his master for thirty pieces of silver ; but the rum-seller sells "his victims for one. The piece of money would canker in his posssession ; and, if he died in his unhallowed traffic, hke Judas, he would go unrepented and unforgiveu to his own place."
Said Rev. Dr. Todd, minister of the place :
" For what would you be the man who sold that bottle of spirits ? For what would you own that money ? Oh ! if the man be here who owns it, and has got it, let him look at it ! Don't you see the blood on it ? In your bar-room, by the cask, don't you see that mangled body ? Don't you hear the steps of the naked feet of the orphans ? Don't you see the wild eye and the pale face of the broken-hearted widow ? Can you look up, and see written on those heavens, ' No drunkard shall inherit the kingdom of God,' and then rejoice that you have cut one more such off from life, and hurried him to judgment ? Where will you hide that money, from^hich the blood will not wash ? "
But how should the evil be suppressed? The liquor- dealers now demanded the right to sell. They appealed to the Supreme Court of the United States against the un- constitutionality of the license law of Massachusetts, which made it criminal for any person to sell without li- cense. They engaged for their counsel the two first law-
CASE BEFORE SUPREME COURT U. S. 135
yers of the State, Hon. Daniel Webster and Hon. Rufus Choate, U. S. Senator, men whose sympathies were always with the moral community. But the State was defended by a gentleman of adequate power, Asahel Huntington, Esq., of Salem. Mr. Webster argued " that the right to import implied the right to sell — to the unrestricted use of all the channels of commerce, even the most minute — to the consumer." But it was replied, " the men who made the Constitution never thought of giving it such a con- struction; but were continually, with their descendants, regulating commerce as circumstances demanded." Mr. Choate relied chiefly on the position, that the license law interfered with our treaty T\nth France. On the question, the court were divided, and the decision was deferred to a full bench, in 1846.
But, throughout the country, a spirit was rising for an entire suppression of the trafiic. At large conventions, in Maine, New Hampshire, and at Boston, the high ground was taken : 1. To grant no license for the sale of intoxica- ting drinks as a beverage. 2. To provide, by fine and im- prisonment, for the eifectual suppression of the traffic. In the State of New York, great efibrts were made to give the question of License or Xo License to the people, to be decided at the ballot-box. A bill to that effect was passed unanimously in the Assembly ; but it was stayed in the Senate, unless the city of New York could be exempted. Against this, a remonstrance was made by 25,000 citizens. But the Assembly yielded, and, in this form, the bill passed on the 14th of May, 1845. The day fixed for the vote was the last Tuesday of April, 1846. Great was the exulta- tion of the temperance men, though it threw upon them a vast amount of labor to secure the desired result. It was at once resolved that there should be two State Con- vention«, one at the east and one at the west; and a county meeting in every county. My Journal was to be
136 TEMPERAISCE KECOLLECTIONS.
devoted to the enligbteDraent of the people ; and from our office was to go forth a large amount of tracts, hand- bills, etc.
At our ninth Anniversary, May, 1845, 1 made a strong effort to secure the presence and aid of Gov. Briggs, of Massachusetts, and Gov. Slade of Vermont. Both de- clined, owing to their press of business, but manifested great interest in the cause. Said Gov. Briggs: "I be- lieve, under God, the cause is advancing all over the land ; its mighty currents are growing deeper, and wider, and carrying away one obstacle after another. Benevolence, patriotism, and religion must slumber, before it will cease to advance." And said Gov. Slade : " The present is a very important crisis in the Temperance Reform, as the transition is being made to Legislative action, a resort which every intelligent friend of the cause must see is in- dispensable to its final triumph."
The meeting, which was very large, was ably addressed by Rev. Dr. Pohlman, of Albany ; Rev. J. P. Thompson, of New York ; and Rev. Thomas P. Hunt of Pennsyl- vania. Mr. Hunt supported a resolution :
" That while the whole community is groaning under the evils which flow from the traflfic, it is incumbent upon the friends of humanity to pur- sue firmly and unflinchingly every measure to relieve society of it, con- sistent with the liquor dealers' rights."
Mr. Hunt became well known by his attacks upon the rum-trade in Wilmington, N. C., even before his amusing and striking speech before the National Convention in Philadelphia. No man was ever more fearless in his at- tacks on iniquity, or master of a more stinging satire. His numerous publications, and arduous labors in the pulpit and on the platform, have long entitled him to the gratitude of the country. On this occasion he was for guarding care- fully the rights of the liquor-seller:
REV. T. P. HUNT ON LIQUOE-SELLERS' RIGHTS. 137
"But what were the rights of the liquor-seller ? The same as the rights of any other man, the right to carry on his business without injury to others, and none other. If he can carry on his business without injury to others, he may do so. But can he ? The liquor-seller may say he has a right to carry it on, provided he makes the damage good that his poison makes. I say to him, ' You cannot do it, if you try. You cannot bring back the dead from the grave and the damned from hell, put there by your business. You cannot dry up the widow's tears, nor be the father to her children, as he was before he fell in among you. The liquor-sellers' business cannot wipe away from the country the disgrace of their busi- ness, nor remove its curse from the land. Your business has filled hell with groans unutterable and despair never dying, while the earth has been heaving and mourning and groaning, filled with the widows and the orphans' voices, from the time your business has commenced to the present moment ; and you cannot deny it.' "
The two State Conventions designed to prepare the people of the State of 'Ney^ York to vote on the license question, met, the one, in June, at Albany, and the other in October, at Rochester. Both were very full and spirit- ed. To me it was allotted, as one of the business Committee, to prepare a series of resolutions, which were to be dis- cussed as the basis of action, and which drew out many spirit-stirring and powerful speeches. Great indignation was felt in both Conventions, at the omission of the city of New York from the law, but yet all felt the importance of bringing the rest of the State to'a bold and decided action against the license system. An able address to the people was prepared and issued by Vice-Chancel- lor Whittlesey, of Rochester. In presenting the reso- lutions at Rochester, I remarked, "That we were not in this cause strangers to deep and solemn responsibilities ; but we were now in a peculiar position. Year after year we have asked the Legislature to permit the people to carry the question of license or no license to the ballot- box. With the unreasonable exception of the city of New York, they have granted the desired privilege to every
138 TEMPERANCE RECOLLECTIOXS.
town and city. And in Aj^ril next, are to go up all our elec- tors throughout this vast State — with the exception of New York. city — and say whether they will or will not legalize this most demoralizing and desolating business. Never, it is believed, has there been a more important crisis. Not only have we to act, and act rightly, our- selves, but on us it rests to prepare the electors of these States to do their duty in the matter. There is a noble field of action before us ; the eyes of the world are upon us, and philanthropists are everywhere awaiting the issue."
For the remaining six months, the subject engrossed, all hearts. My own and other Journals of the day were filled with short and pithy appeals to the people. Tracts, handbills and pictorial illustrations were scattered over the State. Messrs. Delavan, Bradford, R. Wood, Azor Taber, Dr. Pohlman and O. Scovil were a Central Vigilant Committee, who issued through my Journal a series of articles on the license question, addressed to various classes, to farmers, to manufacturers, to the Irish, to laborers, to ladies, &c., and a general address to the people.
To bring out the strength of the State, I addressed a letter to a number of distinguished citizens ; Judge Smith of Genesee, Mr. Delavan, Alvan Stew^art, Gerrit Smith, General J. J. Knox, and others, asking them for a written opinion, which, when received, was printed in the Journal. Conventions were held in most of the counties, and an immense amount of reading was circulated among the people. And when the day came in which the Empire State was to cast its vote, (it had been changed to the 19th of May,) many a heart w^ent up to Him, in whose hands are the hearts of all, that the people might J)e led to a right decision.
But little doubt was there of a favorable result ; for great had been the change of public sentiment throughout
GLORIOFS VOTE IN N. Y. ON THE LICENSE QUESTION. 139
the laud. In Connecticut the previous year, a similar election had given temperance commissioners in about 200 of 220 towns. In Michigan, the question had been given by the Legislature to the j)eople ; and in Detroit, and a large number of towns, the vote had been No License. But the result in ISTew York exceeded all ex- pectation. More than five-sixths of the towns and cities gave overwhelming majorities against license. Several whole counties voted No License. Of 856 towns, 528 voted No License ; of the 528 thus voting, 382 gave majori- ties of 48,101 ; of the 104, voting License, 63 gave majori- ties of 2,623. Excess of No License majorities 45,478.
Great rejoicings were manifested by the friends of hu- manity and reform throughout the country. The licensed dealers, wishing for license, not merely to give them liberty to sell, but respectability to their vocation, held large. meetings to give vent to their indignation ; but it was biting a file. A congratulatory State Temperance Convention was called at Albany, July 15, to express pub- lic thanks, and to consider what measures should now be taken to gain the greatest possible good from the vote of the State. Two hundred and eighteen delegates were enrolled as members. The Governor of the State, Hon. William C. Bouck, was called to the chair, and thanks were rendered to Almighty God for the glorious advance the cause had made, evidenced in the extraordinary vote of the people for No License. Much gratitude was ex- pressed to Mr. Delavan and the central Committee, for their arduous labors in placing a copy of the State Ad- dress, at much expense, in every family; also to Azor Taber, Esq., for his able Report, and to the lecturers and agents : General Riley, of Rochester, Rev. R. S. Crampton, W. H. Burleigh, Mr. Coflin and others, Avho had been untiring in their labors. The Convention resolved that, in view of the overwhelming majority for No License,
140 TEMPERANCE RECOLLECTIONS.
any attempt to secure the return of a Legislature hostile to the Excise law, and secretly pledged to repeal it, would be an outrage upon Republican principles and a palpable endeavor to subvert the will of the majority, by mingling the question of temperance with politics, from which the new Excise law had separated it.
As our Tenth Anniversary preceded, a few days, the great vote, and was held in an hour of anxiety and uncer- tainty, it was without the enthusiasm which would have attended it in another week; but it was an excellent meeting, being ably addressed by Rev. Albert Barnes, of Philadelphia, on the resolution " That, in promoting the temperance reformation, while it is proper to invoke the aid of the laws of the land, and the principles of science, the ultimate reliance must be on the religious principle, and the cooperation of the religious community; and that every friend of religion should be the friend of the cause of temperance." He showed that the religious principle, be it right or wrong, is the most powerful agency in the world ; that, in a community under the influence of re- ligion, no reform can succeed that does not call religion to its aid; that the temperance reformation has ever had close connection with religion, and the religious community have the deepest interest in its success.
''The cause of intemperance opposes religion, with the boldest and most open front. All other evils put together have not robbed the Church of so many distinguished men as that. Why then should the Church stand aloof from so good a cause as this ? It makes no infidels, disrobes no min- ister of religion, bars out no prayers from heaven, infuses no pestilential air in the way through life ; wherever its friends go, it accompanies them as a blessing to the end of their days."
I had made special effort to get my friend. Captain Andrew H. Foote, to address the meeting, as he had just returned from his late temperance cruise in the Mediterra-
J
COMMODORE Ain)REW H. FOOTE. 141
nean, but I was left only with the following letter, which I read to the meeting :
Cheshire, lOth May, 1846.
Mt Dear Sir : — I regret exceedingly that orders to the Boston Station, and suffering from ophthalmia, will prevent my being present and making some remarks at the Temperance Anniversary. I hope that the friends of temperance will petition Congress until the whiskey-ration shall be abol- ished, as this must be the basis of any permanent reform in the service.
The frigate Cumberland, during her late cruise, fairly tested the experi- ment ; and conclusively proved, that discipline, efficiency, good morals, and everything requisite to render a man-of-war creditable to a nation, at home and abroad, are only to be secured by the discontinuance of intoxi- cating drmks. Some officers of the Navy are, no doubt, still opposed to abolishing the whiskey -ration ; for a large portion of the crew of the Cum- berland, at the outset of the cruise, regarded it as impracticable, but ex- periment changed the sentunent entirely, when the commissioned officers and two hundred and fifty of the crew petitioned Congress for the abolish- ment.
Respectfully and truly yours,
A. H. FooTE. To the Corresponding Secretary American Temperance Union.
Captain, and afterwards Commodore, and Rear-Ad- miral Foote, was an excellent platform speaker, and ever ready to throw his influence in behalf of the temperance cause. His mind was much bent on the abolition of the spirit-ration in the navy, and he lived to see it accom- plished. Noble man ! he fought heroically, both moral and civil battles, and died full of honors, amid the lamenta- tions of millions.*
* The following was from a letter written by a seaman on board the Cumberland, dated Port Mahon, February 8, 1844:
" The Society met in the sail-loft, at Mahon's Navy Yard. Lieutenant Foote took the floor, and for twenty minutes addressed the meeting, in his usual happy way, and concluded by inviting all to sign the pledge who had not done it. Forty new names were added. We muster now two hundred and ninety-three strong; and, next week, our Commodore talks about breaking up the spirit-room, and storing water in it instead of rum."
142 TEMPERANCE RECOLLECTIONS.
After the Albany Convention, in June, came to a close, most of the members adjourned to the new and mag- nificent Delavan House, which had just been opened, on strict temperance princij^les, where a splendid entertain- ment was provided by Mr. Rogers, the keeper, at which one hundred and fifty ladies and gentlemen sat down, and where v/as, also, " a feast of reason and a flow of soul." Numerous speeches, of wit, humor, and powerful elo- quence, were made by Dr. Jewett, Rev. G. H. Ludlow, C. W. Dennison, and the Mayor of Boston, who was present. It was considered a great triumph of temper- ance over the system which had consecrated everywhere the traveller's home to drunkenness.
The President of the United States, Mr. Polk, was re- ported as having travelled to Washington and opened his house without wine at his table ; and at the inauguration of the Hon. Edward Everett as President of Harvard Col- lege, six hundred distinguished citizens of Massachusetts, with numerous literary gentlemen from other States, sat down to dinner, without any intoxicating drinks ; and all the rejoicings of the students were without any ruinous excitement. Indeed, leading minds, in all departments, were giving the temperance cause their decided ajDproba- tion. The venerable John Quincy Adams, at a meeting in his own county, not long before, had said :
He had been aa attentive and rejoicing witness of the successful movements in favor of temperance, throughout the world ; although he had not entered on the arena, as one of its enthusiastic advocates and apostles. He regarded the temperance movement of the present day as one of the most remarkable phenomena of the hmnan race ; operating simultaneously in every part of the world, for the reformation of a vice often sohtary in itself, but infectious in its nature as the small pox or the plague, and com- bining all the ills of war, famine, and pestilence. Among those who had fallen by intemperance, were included untold numbers who were respected for their talents and worth, and exalted among their neighbors or coun- trymen. He had read an excellent discourse by Rev. Albert Barnes, show-
COLD-WATER ARMIES — YALE TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. 143
ing the connection between temperance and religion ; and he thought a small portion of time might not be unprofitably spent in inquiring into the principles of total abstinence, and the doctrine of pledges, as sanctioned by the writings of the Old and New Testaments, the laws of Moses, and the doctrines of Jesus Christ.
Under the auspices and activities of the Rev. C. J. Warren, secretary, more than sixty thousand children had now oeen enrolled, in the State of New York, in the Cold- Water army. In Boston, also, under Deacon Moses Grant ; and in Pennsylvania, under the Rev. T. L. Har- man, this organization was securing the most important results. Said Mr. Warren, in his enthusiasm, in a letter to me :
"You, my dear sir, are among the few privileged persons, that have been led up to the mount, and there have gazed upon the lovely prospect that will gladden the eyes of happy milUons, when this Juvenile Temper- ance movement shall become universal. The 2,500,000 boys who are now under fifteen years of age will sway the destinies of this vast Republic when it shall contain fifty millions."
A circular was addressed by the officers of the New York Juvenile Association, to all the county and town superintendents of common schools, soliciting their coop- eration, and proposing that each teacher should be fur- nished with a pledge-book, in which children, with consent of parents, should enrol their names ; and that there should be in every school a monthly meeting, for the Report to be read, for recitation of speeches, dialogues, singing, and an address by the leader ; reports for all the schools to be made annually to some central society. Such a system could not fail, if carried out, of being eminently successful.
As the year 1841 drew to a close, the third anniver- sary of the Yale College Temperance Society was held, Professor Silliman in the chair, and Professor Goodrich offering prayer. Professor Silliman stated that, thirty-five
144 TEMPERANCE RECOLLECTIONS.
years ago, he had abandoned the use of all kinds of liquors ; and his hale and hearty look, as he stood, with his eye flashing with pleasurable excitement, bore ample testi- mony to all who saw him, that none of his faculties had been injured by the abandonment. Professor Goodrich had frequently stated that much of the drunkenness of college was chiefly on wine. The society now numbered two hundred and sixty-four members, being more than three fifths of all the undergraduates.
The social and civil benefits of the temperance reform were now looming up from every quarter ; but in nothing did they appear more signal than in the diminution of crime. From returns from twenty county, and twelve State, prisons, it appeared that there bad been, from the commencement of the work to the close of the year 1844, a constant diminution of crime, w^ith an amazing increase of population ; which was uniformly attributed by men in official stations to the temperance reform.
The temperance literature, if not as voluminous as in some earlier days, was not less valuable. Lucius M. Sargent, Esq., author of the Temperance Tales, was like an over- flowing fountain. No productions were read more exten- sively, or with better eflect. Between the first, "My Mother's Gold Ring," and " The Temperance Meeting at Tattertown," they met every want of the community, over- threw every false principle abroad, and established our scientific and moral principles on a solid basis.* The Rev.
* The following tribute to the value of these tales was sent to Mr. Sar- gent, by a female missionary in Siam :
Dear Sir : — A short time since, an English ship came in here, and I went on board, and offered, if needed, a supply of the officers and men with Bibles, which were coldly, but politely declined. The next day, I sent a dozen of the " Temperance Tales," with a note, requesting the cap- tain to induce all his men to read them attentively. In answer, I received the following : " The title-pages of the little books are such as will entice
TEMPERANCE LITEEATUEE. 145
Thomas P. Hunt also gave the public some moral and in- structive works, chiefly from his own observation and ex- perience : " Wedding Days of Former Times" " Jessie Johnson," " Death by Measure," " It will not Injure Me " — books which may well be in every Sunday-school- library, and should never be out of print. The " Annual Reports of the American Temperance Society," by Dr. Justin Edwards, were invaluable documents — the Sixth Re- port especially, which entered into a full discussion of the license question ; — a discussion that was submitted to several of the first statesmen, lawyers, and divines of the land, and received their hearty approbation. " The In- vestigation in the Jails and Poor-houses of the State of New York," by Samuel Chipman, was brought out in 1841 ; "Hannah Hawkins," and "Fourth of July Ad- dress," by Albert Rhett, of Charleston, in 1842; Dr. Tyng's " Address to Medical Students," and " Inquirer " No. 1., in 1843 ; " Life of J. B. Gough," " The Voice of Blood from the Grave," by Rev. Edwin Hall, of ISTorwalk, in 1845 ; and Dr. Nott's "Lectures," in 1846 ; all books to be held in lasting remembrance.
my sailors to peruse them carefully, and they may, I trust, instil into the minds of myself, officers, and crew, that knowledge which is requisite to make us happy here, and to enjoy everlasting life in a future state." A request for Bibles soon followed, with a promise that they should be care- fully read. Here, the whole current is evil, but I have never seen one of these tales rejected ; and I have seen the whole crew of a vessel seated on the deck, bent in eager attention over one of these little works, while the rough hand was ever and anon drawn hastily across the weather-beaten cheek, to stop the course of the falling tear.
CHAPTER XL
World's Temperance Convention — Retrospect — Foreign Operations — For- mation of London Society — Mr. Buckingham's Report — Spread of the Cause in Britain and North of Europe — Pacific Ocean — Australia — Call for a "World's Convention — Letter from Mr, Compton — Appoint- ment of delegates — Reception Meetings and Speeches — Covent Garden Theatre — Visit to Father Matthew — Attendance on the Christian Al- liance— Meetings at New Castle, York, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Liver- pool, Huddersfield — Return to America in Great Western — Incidents Abroad — Dr. Beecher on Sunday-schools — Extracts from Speeches — Response in Broadway Tabernacle.
The little seed carried across the water by Rev. Mr. Penney of Rochester, and planted and watered by Rev. Mr. Cjirre, of New Ross, in Ireland, in 1829, was destined to spring up and become a great tree, under whose shade the nations, burned and cursed by Alcoholic fires, should find life and peace. In less than two years, numerous temperance societies had sprung up in all the three king- doms. Many temperance publications had been issued from the press ; and a general expectation was raised of some great and wonderful moral reform.
On the 29th of June, 1830, the London Society was formed, much through the agency of the Rev. Dr. Hewit, of America. His Honor, the Mayor, had promised to preside, but was prevented. Able addresses were made by the Solicitor-General of Ireland, Professor Edgar, Dr. Hewit, the Bishop of Chester, and Mr. Carre, of New Ross. Thirty societies had then been formed in England, and
147
10,000 tracts put in circulation. By this meeting, in con- nection with a Report of a Parliamentary Committee of six hundred pages, prepared by James Silk Buckingham, giv- ing a minute account of the extent and evils of intemper- ance, the attention of the higher classes was widely arrested; while the other extreme of society, in Lancashire, at Pres- ton, and other places, had been moved, in 1831-2, to great and noble efforts to burst the chains which had Ion 2^ held them in cruel bondage. A large number of miserable, worthless men, who had been ten, twenty, and even thirty years cast off as hopeless drunkards, became reformed, sign- ed the total-abstinence pledge, and related their experience in public meetings, in a manner similar to the reformed men afterwards in the United States. Dr. Baird, our country- man, had kindled a temperance flame in the north of Eu- rope ; and, in 1846, scarce a place was known among civ- ilized men, where the temperance banner had not been un- furled. In Ireland, Father Matthew was holding on his way, with great power. Large national institutions were well established, and in successful operation, in England and Scotland. In Holland, Silesia, Poland, Germany, Prussia, Sweden, IsTorway, Denmark; at the Sandwich Islands, Tahiti; in Australia, in Africa, China, India; wherever missionaries had lifted up the standard of the cross, there men and women were combining to rid the world of the monster evil.
At this time, there was a demand for a World's Tem- perance Convention, that the advocates of temperance might come from the East and the West, the North and the South, and by consultation, in London, the world's capital and the fountain-head of religious and philanthropic influences, might bind themselves together, and become more resolute and engaged in their blessed enterprise. In December, 1845, I received the following notice:
148 TEMPEKANCE EECOLLECTIONS.
WORLD'S TEMPERANCE CONVENTION.
The National Temperance Society, London, to the Corresponding Secretary of the American Temperance Union:
London, 18ih Nov., 1841. Dear Sir : — I have the pleasure of handing you the enclosed circular, by which you will perceive that a World's Temperance CoNVENifbN is at hand, I have to request your kind attention, in giving all possible infor- mation, throughout the United States, and arranging for delegates to be appointed.
I have to call your particular attention to the desirableness of securing the most ample and correct statistics of the state of temperance, the nu- merical strength of the societies, the number of houses for the sale of liquor, open and closed, the total consumption, the drinking customs, and other facts bearing upon the subject. We hope to be provided with such information, on our part, and shall do our best to procure it from all parts of the world.
I am, dear sir, yours sincerely. Rev. J. Marsh. Theodore Compton.
A Meeting of the Committee was at once called; and it was resolved, that we cordially respond to the proposal and invitation : and that as many State and local societies as conveniently can, be invited to appoint and send dele- gates. How much the world needed the influence of such a Convention, could not easily be told. In France, Great Britain, Sweden, Prussia, and the United States, the an- nual consumption of intoxicating liquors was officially re- ported at one thousand nine hundred and seventy million, nine hundred and sixty-three thousand, nine hundred and eighty-eight gallons, valued at $546,268,880. Under such a terrible machinery, the greater part of the world's degradation and woe was caused. The number dying of drunkenness, in Great Britain alone, was estimated at 60,000 annually; the number in the United States, at 30,000. To arrest such an evil, was felt to be one of the greatest objects for which a Convention could be gathered. But the distance, the expense, and the dangers of the sea,
DELEGATES TO WOELD's CONVENTION.
149
with some threats of war, prevented a large delegation from America. Only thirty-one were found ready to go ; but among these, were gentlemen of high respectability and influence. '
FROM NEW YORK.
Rev. Samuel H. Cox, D. D., Rev. Wm. Patten, D. D., Rev. John Marsh, D.D., Henry Wager, Esq., Rev. A. Wheelock, Rev. Gorham D. Abbott, WiUiam Brown, Esq., W. A. Passavant.
MASSACHUSETTS.
Rev. E. N. Kirk, Daniel Saiford, Esq., H. E. Wright, J. D. Ross, Henry Clapp, jr., Wm. Lloyd Garrison, Elihu Burritt, Rev. Joshua Y. Hines.
RHODE ISLAND.
Rev. Dr. Elton, Rev. H. S. Osborn,
George Webber, Esq., Rev. S. L. Pomroy.
PENNSYLVANIA.
Rev. J. Andrews, Professor Caldwell, Rev. Dr. Pressly, Rev. S. S. Smucker, D. D.
OHIO.
Rev. Lyman Beeeher, D. D., R. D. Mussey, M. D., Dr. Cappell.
MICHIGAN.
Charles Galpin.
VIRGINIA.
Frederic Douglass.
KENTUCKY.
Gen. T. C. Floumoy.
Letters of regret at their inability to attend, were re- ceived from Presidents Wayland and Olin, Rev. Dr. Tyng, Gen. S. F. Gary, E. C. Delavan, and others.
In England, there were high-raised expectations from this gathering of the friends of reform.
"As a mere matter of curiosity," said the Teetotal Times, " there will be much to interest. Who does not wish to -see the founders of great systems, the originators of wise plans, the first apostles of important truths ? We pray that the spirit of wisdom and charity may shed his
150 TEMPEKANCE RECOLLECTIONS.
choicest influences on the assembly, and that its delibera- tions may prove instrumental, through the divine blessing, in accomplishing a vast amount of good."
Through a kind Providence, several of us were favored with a safe passage in the packet-ship Victoria, Captain Morgan. On our arrival in London, I was welcomed to the house of G. W. Atwood, an American merchant, but one of the Convention Committee. It being Saturday evening, he proposed giving me the best exhibition I could have, in the week, of the doings of Alcohol. I had seen them pictorially ; but oh ! the crowd of squalid pov- erty and vice presented to the eye at the gin-shops ! Rot- ten men, and rotten Avomen, rushing up to get their glass of gin, or sitting packed in large rooms, with their pots of ale ; listening, for a moment, to shameful songs, from abandoned women — "How," I inquired, "is a World's Temperance Convention to reach these people ? " I gladly escaped, looking forward to a peaceful. Christian Sabbath, when I was gratified to hear Dr. Campbell, editor of the Christian Witness, and Rev. James Sherman, of the Surrey Chapel.
The next morning, several of our delegates were intro- duced to the Convention Committee, with whom we were politely asked to cooperate, in preparing for business ; but as I had a week to spare, I improved it in visiting Paris, and seeing its sights — its palaces, its gardens, hospitals, and scientific establishments ; and witnessing, with my own eyes, its wine-drinking customs. Drunkenness was not in France— as in England and America — a prevailing vice; and yet every Frenchman, with all his meals, drank wine. In a single year, the thirty-four millions of France consumed 748,571,429 gallons of wine, but only 11,000,000 gallons of spirits, 221,000,000 of cider, and 74,000,000 of beer; while England consumed, of beer, 500 millions.
The cafe and hotel keepers were disposed to j^ay me
woeld's tempeeance convention. 151
but little attention, when I refused to order a bottle of wine. But the merriment of those who drank freely satis- fied me that it was a powerful exciter. I found a glass of iced water tasting as delicious in Paris as in America; though Americans often complained, when abroad, that they could not drink the water. In the suburbs of Paris, where were the brandy-shops, I saw in plenty the bloated face, the bleared eye, the staggering gait.
On Tuesday morning, August 4, it was my happi- ness to meet, in the Theatre of the Literary Institute, the World's Temperance Convention. Two hundred delegates were present. Ladies filled the galleries. It was delightful to us to look upon men whose writings we had read, v/ith whom we had corresponded, and who were everywhere known as the pioneers in the cause — ^Dr. Grindrod, Rev. Benjamin Parsons, John Dunlop, Joseph Sturge, James Teare, Mr. Buckingham, Dr. Campbell, Rev. William Reid, Samuel Bowley, John Cassell, Wm. Janson — and to be recognized, and taken by the hand, in cordial welcome. After organization, Joseph Sturge, of Birmingham, rose and offered a welcome address. He said :
" A few months ago, they were alarmed at the proba- bility of a war with America ; but now, thank God, those fears were altogether dispelled. They nov;" saw their American brethren crossing the Atlantic, for the purpose of assisting them in their efforts, and mingling with them, on the present occasion, to endeavor to crush and abolish one of the greatest evils that ever afflicted humanity, the use of intoxicating liquors." " The Secretary of the Amer- ican Temperance Union (said the report) seconded the resolution. From the time that he first heard of the Con- vention, he felt desirous of coming to it. The clouds of war, however, hovered over us, and the voices of our wives and children said ^ You cannot go ; there is danger.'
152 TEMPERANCE RECOLLECTIONS.
But we did not believe that the dogs of war would be permitted to hinder us ; and, by the time ships were ready- to bring us, the voice of peace was heard, and we came away, amid the congratulations of many. God, in his good providence, had j^ermitted us to come to England; and it delighted his heart, to see the faces of men of whom he had heard for years, and who had gloriously aided in this good work."
I was followed by Rev. Dr. Beecher, the object of much curiosity and veneration, in a speech full of emotion and power.
The Convention sat five days, listening to able papers which were prepared for the occasion ; to discussions of important resolutions ; to reports from distant countries, and to projects of reform, and greater extension of the temperance cause. Dr. Beecher and myself were made members of the Business Committee, and were often much occupied in its deliberations. Wednesday morning, a rich breakfast was given to the American delegation, at Guild- hall, at which one hundred and fifty were present ; and in the evening, meetings were held in the city chapels. On Thursday evening, a large meeting was held at Free- masons' Hall ; but the crowning meeting of all was, on Friday evening, at Covent Garden Theatre, which was filled to its utmost capacity. Such a meeting for temper- ance had never before been held in London. Members of the American delegation spoke, and did credit to them- selves and to their country. The Hon. Lawrence Hey- worth, M. P. for Liverpool, brought forward, from the Committee, the great principles of the temperance re- form, which were ably discussed and unanimously adopted ; and, from the same committee, I brought forward a plan for a Temperance Union for the World, to have its seat in London, and a powerful press and agents for all countries.
VISIT TO FATHER MATHEW. 153
The discussion continued a long time; but at last it Tvas laid on the table.
I regretted to see so few of the clergy of England and Scotland in the Convention. It would not be so now. I regretted also not to find Father Matthew there. An un- willingness to mingle with so many of the Protestant creed, was supposed to prevent his coming. After preach- ing in London on the Sabbath, I set my face at once to see him. On my way, I spent a night with Rev. Benja- min Parsons (author of "Anti-Bacchus"), at Stroud, who, knowing I was coming, had assembled his people in a tem- perance tea-party, in his session-room, to whom I was in- troduced. The next morning, I called on Pev. Wm. Jay, of Bath ; and in the evening, addressed a large meeting at Bristol, which was got up in honor of the American dele- gation, of whom several were expected. A steamer took me roughly to Cork, where I had no difficulty in finding Father Matthew. He was living in a very plain house. A large company were about the door, waiting > to receive the pledge. As I entered, he gave me a cordial welcome, for we had corresponded. He gave the pledge to some forty, with his blessing on each individual, kneeling. These retired, and another batch came in. He then took me up to his parlor, and insisted upon my dining with him. While dinner was preparing, he took me into the street, and showed me a large number of liquor-shops, all empty. " These," said he, " were formerly crowded." On the after- noon of the next day, the Sabbath, I attended with him the funeral of one of his juvenile band of music, and walk- ed with him, next to the bier, with a thousand people following, but without order. We went to the cemetery, which he had purchased and fitted for the j^oor. In the evening he took me to a temperance meeting, where I was introduced to the Mayor, and called upon for a speech. The next morning, after introducing me to
154 TEMPERANCE EECOLLECTIONS.
William Martin, the Quaker friend, who was the means of his temperance conversion, and whom he called his Tem- perance Father, I left him, for Dublin. I was impressed Avith his simplicity, humility, kind-heartedness, and regard for the poor; and, before I left him, I extracted a promise from him that, God willing, he would come to America. His roll-book was before me, with from five to six million names. On my way to Dublin, I witnessed the awful desolation of the potato rot ; — but not of men. But one drunken man met my eye. Even in Kilkenny, I saw no quarrelling.
On my return to London, I spent some time with the World's Evangelical Alliance. But there, we American delegates were pained with seeing a sad amount of drink- ing, among ministers. Our white glasses were subjects of much merriment. But w^e knew we were right, and that they, one day, would see and acknowledge it. A violent eifort was made to shut out of the Alliance the slaveholder ; but not the manufacturer and vender of in- toxicating drinks.
On Monday evening, October 24, a closing temper- ance meeting was given to the American delegation, in Exeter Hall. It was an immense one, and well sustained. The press highly complimented the speakers. The Pa- triot gave many of the speeches in full.
Leaving London, I visited the excellent Richard Dykes Alexander, at Ipswich, the publisher of the Temperance Tracts; and then I set my face homeward, by York, New- castle, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Liverpool, and Huddersfield, where temperance meetings were in readiness for the American delegation. Both at York and Glasgow, I de- livered, on the Sabbath, temperance sermons ; and, at the latter place, I witnessed, on Saturday evening, those scenes which had led the Mayor to say that thirty thou- sand people went, Saturday night, in Glasgow, drunk to
BEER AND BRANDY-GOD, ENGLAND'S BENEFACTOR. 155
bed, Only one of the ministers, Dr. Brown, could I then find, who sympathized with ns in our doctrine of total ab- stinence ; though things have, since then, much changed. At Liverpool, with Dr. Beecher, Dr. Mussey, and several others, I took the Great "Western, for America. Most mercifully were we preserved, on encountering one of the severest of storms. Our steamer was much broken ; but much prayer was offered, and we were permitted to come safely to the desired haven. " Oh ! that men would praise the Lord for his goodness, and for his loving kindness to the children of men."
While in England, I spent not a little time and strength in kindling up a civil war. I saw there the beer and brandy-god wringing out the life-blood from thousands and tens of thousands of her sons. And yet it was England's greatest benefactor ! Everywhere, the god Avas praised, as bringing vast revenues to the crown ; as the life of the army and of the navy ; as the source and spring of all men- tal energy and social hajDpiness. The licensed victuallers of London alone, paid the Government eleven millions annu- ally. So I proposed in my speech, at Exeter Hall, that, as London was full of statues to distinguished benefactors, a statue should be erected in Hyde Park to England's greatest friend, the beer and brandy-god, higher than any statue ever conceived ; and to carry it out as it should be, I would have, on one side, carved by the most eminent sculptors, groups of miserable drunkards, raving in delirium tremens, tearing the hair of their wives, beating their children ; and, on another side, I would have paupers, lunatics, and criminals, in chains and on gallowses, through strong drink ; on another, parents pressing into the horrid temple, and leading their children up to their god, to drink early of his cup. But not ridicule, it was found, could move England in her self-complacency. There must be war — exterminating war. "Down with the
156 TEMPERANCE RECOLLECTIONS.
tyrant ! " I cried ; so we found it in America ; and as I said this, I was received with shouts and applause. The pub- lic press responded, and said : " These Americans have put some new thoughts into our minds. "We confess we are converts to their views ; and we are greatly mistaken in the signs of the times, if the late interviews which the tee- totallers have had with the Americans have not produced similar results in the minds of others. Hence, a crusade against the traffic has alreaijy commenced."
A large Sunday-school meeting was held, and the for- mation of temperance associations in all the Sunday- schools was strenuously urged. My beloved colleague. Dr. Beecher, made a powerful speech on the occasion.
He compared the instructor of youth to a person standing at the rise of some mighty river, having in his hand two phials, the contents of which were capable of impregnating the whole of the waters. One, if imparted to the stream, would cause it to roll along the instrument of disease, and pain, and death ; and the man who thus impregnated it would be justly execrated through life, and would sink into the grave amidst the maledic- tions of thousands. But if he uncorked the other phial, filled with the elements of life and vigor, fruitfulness and beauty, what happiness would he not be the means of communicating, and with what gratitude and de- light would not thousands bless his memory ! Sunday-school and other teachers stood at the head of such a river ; each teacher had the water of life or death ; if he poured in the death-Avater, the river would roll along with disease and death ; but with life and health, if he poured in the life- giving liquid — which he powerfully applied to the dispensing of intoxica- ting drinks, on the one hand, and the temperance agency, on the other.
Rev. Dr. Cox, of New York, offered, in the Conven- tion, a resolution expressing entire confidence in the practicability of the reformation of the most confirmed drunkards, both in England and America.
He expressed regret that the clergy, instead of impelling the movement, retarded its advance, by holding on the traces of its progressive and tri- umphant chariot. There could be no objection to a glass of water, when it was recollected that our common father, Adam, had nothing better for a
DOCTORS COX, PATTOX, AND KIEK. 157
wedding dinner. He deprecated despair of the conversion of the most con- firmed drunkard, as well as the most hardened sinner. His colleagues in total abstinence sounded the blessed word "hope," in the ears of the most desponding drunkard. The worst was reclaimable, and capable of being made a zealous and effectual apostle of the camp, which was the camp of religion as well as morality, and would be the means of diffusing Christian civilization, on catholic principles, through the world. Heathenism and Mahommedanism were antipodes to temperance. Our reformed men claimed no glory for themselves. They laid the crown assigned to them at His feet to whom all power, and honor, and glory belonged.
Rev. E. IST. Kirk, of Boston, offered a resolution on the shamefnlness and Avickedness of exporting intoxicating liquors from Christian to Pagan countries, especially in ships which carried out missionaries of the cross; and made a very effective speech. He said :
While wine and beer were sent out in our missionary ships to the castes of India, the mission produced as much evil as good. He was not extreme in identifying Christianity with total abstinence. The latter was a negative, the former a positive medium of reformation. But, of one thing he was well assured, that Christianity did not approve or sanction the existence of gin-palaces, and the degrading train of vices, miseries, offences and crimes, which they engendered. They struck at the root of Christianity.
Kev. Dr. Patton, of New York, offered a resolution on the late signal triumph in the State of New York, on the license question, commending it as an example to all who were suffering under the burdens of the liquor traffic.
Dr. Patton gave a history of the progress of the cause in America, from the first commencement of temperance by Dr. Rush, in 1804, till the move- ment reached the high-pressure form, in 1S36, dwelling on the glorious re- fusal of license by the trial of the ballot-box — five sixths of the towns pronouncing against licensing. He elociuently urged England to imitate America, in abolishing the whole system. They should sing "God Save the Queen" and "Yankee Doodle " in concert.
Frederic Douglass, formerly a slave in Virginia, was
158 TEl^IPEEANCE RECOLLECTIONS.
received at the Covciit Garden Meeting with great ap- plause.
" He was not a delegate from America, for those who would be anxious to send him there, in that capacity, were themselves slaves. He was sorry to say, there were three millions of his brethren in a state of slavery. He loved the Americans; but they had neglected their duties towards their fellow creatures, because they had a skin not colored Uke their own.
In 1842, when the temperance movement was making such immense progress among the white men, a great number of the black men had the wisdom and courage to declare in favor of the movement. They walked in procession though Philadelphia, on the first of August ; but they were met with shouts of contempt, with hurled brickbats, and other missiles, upon them. He did not mention the fact with a view of insulting his brethren here ; but he wished that, when they went home to America, they would themselves, while advocating the cause of their white brethren, also seek to rescue the black man from the pit of slavery into which he was thrown." (Great cheering.) Here the chairman whispered something into the speaker's ear, when a voice from the gallery cried out, " Don't interrupt him ! Don't dictate to him ! " This caused the most tremendous cheering for several minutes, when the speaker assured the audience the chairman had only told hun his time had expired. " He concluded by calling on the ministers in England to aid in effecting that progress in the cause which it had reached through the instrumentality of the American clergy in the New World."
Mr. Kirk asked if Mr. Douglass had intimated that the temperance men of America were in favor of slavery ? He said he had not. Then Mr. K. had nothing to say.
An able letter, full of important suggestions, from IMr. Delavan, in America, was read to the Convention ; and an address was sent out from the Convention to the friends of temperance throughout the world.
A pleasant response to the World's Convention was held, on the 29th of December, in the Broadway Taber- nacle, Anson C Phelps, Esq., presiding. As Secretary, I gave an account of the Convention, and offered a series of resolutions, to be adopted and sent to our friends who had BO hospitably entertained us, the first of which was :
EETURNED HOME. 159
" Eesolved, That the World's Temperance Convention, held in London, on the 4th of August last, was one which met the views and designs of the friends of temperance, in all countries ; that it was a noble convocation of brethren — reformers and reformed — who, in various countries, had long toiled in the cause ; that its harmony of principle, and unity of action is the subject of devout gratitude ; and that its various resolves and acts, its appeals and counsels, should inspire us with new zeal and devotion in our blessed enterprise."
Animated and brilliant speeches were made by Rev. A. Wheelock, Dr. Patton, and Dr. Cox, returned dele- gates, and by Rev. Dr. Tyng ; and the following hymn, composed by Rev. Dr. Hatfield, was sung by the choir, the congregation all standing :
" They come ! see, they come, from the land and the sea ! The friends of the world, to the world's jubilee ; They come from the north, from the east, and the west, To save the inebriate, to help the distressed ; While floating on high, is their banner unfurled, Inscribed with the motto. The Hope of the World.
They meet, to rehearse what Jehovah hath done ; To tell of the triumphs by temperance won ; To joy for the drunkard from ruin reclaimed, And weep for the millions by liquor inflamed ; While floating on high, is their banner unfurled, Inscribed with the motto, The Hope of the World.
Now, praised be the God of the winds and the waves ! Who rescued our brethren from watery graves. Who gives us the blessing to meet them once more. His wonders to hear, and his grace to adore ; While floating on high, is our banner unfurled, Inscribed with its motto, The Hope of the World.
CHAPTER XII.
Decision of Supreme Court of the United States, on the License Question — ^Repeal of the New York Law — Dr. Nott's Lectures — The Nott Con- troversy— Famine in Ireland — Instructive Lessons.
The friends of temperance entered on the year 1847 in great solicitude relating to the forthcoming decision of the Supreme Court of the United States on the license ques- tion. Should it declare, as Messrs. Webster and Choate were arguing, that the States had no constitutional right to regulate or suppress the traffic in intoxicating liquors, there would be an end to all hope of protection from that great evil, excepting through moral suasion. All law would be for the protection of the traffic, rather than the people. It was with great joy, therefore, that they heard on the sixth of March, that the unanimous decision of the Court was, that " the States have a right to regulate the trade in, and licensing the sale of ardent spirits." Six of the nine judges were upon the bench, viz. : Taney, McLean, Wayne, Nelson, Woodbury and Grier. All gave full writ- ten opinions, which were very instructive and satisfactory to all reflecting men throughout the country. In Portland, Boston, Providence, New York, and other cities, large public meetings were held, in which the decision was joyfully received, in full confidence in its justice and its important connection with the future progress of the tem- perance cause, and the welfare of the people.
KEVEESE IN NEW YORK. 161
But in the State of New York joy was almost im- mediately turned into grief and indignation by the vote of the people, in a large number of toAvns, reversing their former decision on the license question; and by the act of, the Legislature repealing the law of 1845, and. throwing', the State back under the old Revised Statutes. The magnitude of the temperance victory in 1846 had placed the friends of temperance at their ease, and led them to feel that their v/ork was accomplished. The facilities of obtaining drink in towns which voted license, by adjoin- ing towns, especially the open trade of the great city of Kew York, which did not come under the law, made the NO LICENSE vote in many places almost a nullity. Many politicians were most active to make capital for them- selves ; and now the decision of the Supreme Court of the United States had extinguished all hope, in the thousands of manufacturers and venders, of resisting license law as unconstitutional. So that, with a desperate effort, in two hundred, out of three hundred towns, which had voted no license, the decision was reversed, and in many cases by large majorities ; and the Legislature, chosen much with this object in view, in a summary manner gave a quietus to all the temperance expectation. Great was the exulta- tion among the manufacturers, venders, and consumers of strong drink, while the friends of truth and humanity were taught to be still, and put their trust in the power of truth and love, and the overrulings of a righteous Providence. They had nothing to regret in all they had done. The law was as successful as any reasonable man could have expected. Said the report of the minority of the Legislature in resisting the repeal :
In the country towns where the vote was no license, to a great extent . the traffic has been abandon ed. Many dealers have acquiesced in the pub- lic sentiment of the State and of their towns, and, in good fixith, obeyed the law. Many others have apparently done so, and if they have not
1G2 TEMPERANCE RECOLLECTIONS.
yielded implicit obedience have closed their bars, or withdrawn their liquors from the public gaze, and thereby removed a great temptation to the young, the idle, and the community at large.
Other States, however, held to their integrity. Maine had enacted a law prohibiting the traffic altogether, and empowering the heirs, or widow and orphans of the drunk- ard to recover back the money paid for liquors — the first law, thoroughly prohibitory, ever passed by a Christian State. Vermont, voting on the license question, gave 8,091 majority against all license. In New Hampshii-e, many towns had elected boards of excise, who had refused to grant license. In Rhode Island, every town but three, had, for two years, voted no license. In Massachusetts, commissioners, elected by the people, had, with one or two exceptions, withheld all license. In Con- necticut, the Legislature gave the license question to the people, who, in three-fourths of the towns; voted no license, but in 1846 they repealed the law, and enacted another countenancing and sustaining the reputable vender in his business. In New Jersey, the license question was given to the people, and twenty thousand petitioners had asked that all sale might be forbidden on the Sabbath. In Pennsylvania, the license question was given to all who desired it, being eighteen counties, and these generally voted NO LICENSE. In Indiana, Michigan, Iowa, and Wisconsin, the question was given to the peoj^le ; about half the towns voted no license. In Iowa, every county but Keokuk. Ohio and Michigan made it unconstitutional ever more to grant license. Such progress had been made throughout the country against licensing and sustaining the traffic. Its ruinous tendencies were everywhere de- manding prohibition. From the first of May, 1846, to April 30, 1847 ; 12,876 persons had been committed for intoxication in New York city. The minority report of
WICKEDN'ESS OF THE REPEAL. 163
the committee of the New York Legislature, just quoted, remonstrating against the repeal, said :
Within the last ninety days, and since we have been here convened, and engaged in legislative duties, our ears have been pained, and our sensibilities aggrieved almost by the cries of twelve human beings sacri- ficed in the counties of Albany, Schenectady, and Schoharie upon the altar of this inhuman traffic. Four men perished in the highway from drunken- ness ; two children from drunlcenness, in presence of their drunken parent. One mother and five children burned ahve. One boy stabbed by drunken men in the street, and his bowels gushed out ; and a man in Rochester killed by a blow on his head, by a billet of wood, by boys inflamed by whiskey.
And yet the license law, as given in New York, in 1845, was not satisfactory to temperance men, inasmuch as it gave towns which voted license opportunity to enrich themselves on the miseries of their neighbors who voted NO license ; and especially New York city, to flood the whole State with rum and ruin. They, therefore, held themselves, when it was repealed, in hope of something better in future, but in great indignation at the indif- ference of many professedly good men, and the arts of base politicians.
The following language in the Report of our commit- tee, at the May Anniversary, expressed the feelings of the temperance community :
" The right of self-defence none can question. It is a primary law of nature. It lies at the very foundation of civil government, and is the great object of government. All laws are enacted in self-defence, to pro- tect the community from existing or threatened evils. But what evil is greater than the traffic in intoxicating drinks, which brings with it such a train of wailing, lamentation, and wo ? War, famine," and pestilence are trifles compared with it. Let a son be brought wounded or slain from the field of battle, and it can be endured ; let him come home with the plague of Smyrna or Egypt, and it can be endured ; let him pine away with hunger, and die like the sons of Erin, and it can be endured ; but let him come from the shop of the vender, a drivelling drunkard, and curse
164 TEMPERANCE RECOLLECTIONS.
his fatlier and his mother, and fall into a drunkard's grave, and it cannot be endured. The question is between the people and the manufacturers and venders. It is not between the people and the Government. The people demand protection. The vender says : ' You shall not have it ; no law shall intervene between me and my business. If I fire my gun, and send my shot through your streets, and kill your sons, no law shall prevent me.' Yea, the \'ondcr says more : ' I'll have protection ; I'll be licensed to do it.
' Licensed to do my neighbor harm, Licensed to kindle hate and strife, Licensed to nerve the robber's arm, Licensed to whet the murderer's knife.
Every law shall be repealed which takes away my license ; and if I can't have license, I will sell without Hcense ; and take vengeance on the man who interferes with my business.'
" Here is the conflict in the Empire State, and in almost every other State in the Union. The acts of a legislature in relation to the two parties, are much as they are swayed by the parties themselves, and are, by no means, the index of truth. In giving to the people the liberty of sapng at the 4)olls whether they wished protection, they sided with the people. In taking away that Hberty, they sided with the venders. The vender, even while he claims immense majorities, and says the people are with him, and he wants no protection, is not willing to trust the question with the people. He dare not. He knows, if he has a majority with him, it is a forced majority, a bought majority, a miserably deluded majority ; and that, as soon as they are unshackled, and come to the light, the people will drive him from them, with burning indignation. The plea is offered that no law sup- pressing the traffic can be enforced, and therefore none should ever be enacted. Why not say the same of laws against murder, arson, theft, and counterfeiting ? Who says the law cannot be enforced, but the rum-sell- er ? And what a spirit is his which refuses obedience ! He is the cause of all the difficulty — the only nulhfier. And are the people never to be defended against unendurable evils, because the doer never chooses to re- gard punishment or law, or to cease doing injury? Surely, a government that would wink at this could not be ordained of God, for good ; but for evil of the basest kind."
My excursion to England deeply impressed me with the importance of sustaining the cause in America ; for I saw that our friends there looked much to our operation,
DE. nott's lectuees. 165
and success here, as their great impulse and encourage- ment ; and therefore forbade all despondency from the mo- mentary triumphs of venders and political aspirants who would improve the moment for revolutionizing the State.
In 1846, the temperance lectures of Dr. Nott, President of Union College, which had been exceedingly admired in their delivery, in various places, were published ; attracting then, as they ever must and will, much atten- tion. Few productions in the English language had excelled them in eloquence ; but some portions of them drew forth severe animadversion as incorrect in their quotations from classical authorities, while other portions were thought to be at variance with the fundamental prin- ciples of true temperance.
By most temperance men. Alcohol was considered, as described by Dr. Mussey, to be " a thin, colorless fluid, produced only by the decomposition of vegetable and animal substances in a state of fermentation, and the in- toxicating principle of all fermented liquors, as wine, beer, cider, &c ; " in no direct sense, therefore, the creation of God, or existing in natural fruits, and, as an intoxicating principle, to be shunned by all who took the pledge of total abstinence from all intoxicating liquors. It might, indeed, be so mixed and mingled with other things, and so diluted, as to produce no visible effect ; still if it was in the cup, it gave it character. Dr. Nott was understood by many to affirm that the wine of the Bible, which was pronounced " a blessing," while it was not intoxicating, had in it still the intoxicating principle ; that this j^rincij^le was united to it by God with other elements of the pure blood of the grape, and that the beverage thus formed s was not only innocuous, but nutritions and renovating, un- vil, increasing in potency, it became' in Bible language, a " Mocker," when it must no longer be used. His language was:
166 TEMPERANCE RECOLLECTIONS.
" The wiue (the wine of the cluster) must be good wine, for it was ap- proved of God ; and, however it may now be spoken against, we believe it to be not the less worthy of commendation on that account ; because we believe it still to be what it then was, unintoxicating wine. Not that we affirm the pure blood of the grape, as expressed from the ripened cluster, to have been absolutely untouched by fermentation, but only slight- ly and healthily affected by it. I am aware that there are those who con- sider the question of fermentation in wines a question not of degree, but of totaUty. ' Pure alcohol,' say they, ' is poison ; and because it is so, every beverage in which alcohol is contained, how minute soever the quantity, must be poison also.' This, though plausible, is not conclusive ; and were it so, the water A^e driuk, nay, the very air we breathe, would be poison, for oxygen and nitrogen are so. In like manner, though alcohol be poison, and though every mixture of it in any greater proportions than that in which God has united it with those other elements in the pure blood of the grape may also be poison, it does not follow, if so united, it must be so. On the contrary the beverage thus formed may be not only innocuous, but nutritious and renovating ; as the noble Cannaro found it when he drank the fresh new wine of the recent vintage ; and yet this same beverage, so bland and healthful while its original elemental pro- portions are maintained, may increase in potency as its contained alcohol is 'increased by progressive fermentation, till, changed in its nature, it be- comes what the Bible significantly calls it, ' a Mocker,' executing on those who drink it a vengeance, which the Bible no less significantly describes by comparing it to the bite of the serpent and the sting of the adder."
The objection to the Doctor's theory was, that it sup- posed Alcohol to exist in the pure blood of the grape, and to be placed there with other elements by God himself; that it helped form a beverage, nutritious and renovat- ing, which it was right to use until its alcohol in- creased in potency, and so changed the character of the wine that it became a " mocker ; " that this would always furnish an excuse for drinking alcoholic beverages until men became intoxicated ; and that, if practicable to obtain the wine which, though alcoholic, was innocuous, no man could ever draw the line between the good and the bad, the intoxicating and unintoxicating. Our only safety, it was believed, was in total abstinence from all alcoholic
NOTT CONTEOVEKSY. 167
liquors, because such liquors had in them the intoxicating principle which might commence a ruin, not to be checked or retarded.
A controversy on these several points was long con- tinued in the Journal. Several distinguished gentlemen, as Dr. Mussey, Dr. Tyng, L. M. Sargent, Esq., Dr. Calvin Chapin, Chancellor Walworth, Mr. Delavan ; as well as Dr. Nott himself, and the Editor, taking part in it. Dr. K. D. Mussey, then of Cincinnati, said, that he regretted that Dr. Nott had taken so much pains to show that the declarations of Scripture necessarily imply the existence of alcohol in the ripe grape.
" The wine of the cluster is without alcohol, and the taking of it as soon as it is pressed from the fruit, is the same thing as eating the grapes. A sound ripe grape is as destitute of alcohol as a ripe peach, or a grain of wheat ; should a peach or an apple be mashed or have its skin broken, so as to expose its juice to the atmosphere long enough for a partial de- composition, and for the generation, either of alcohol or of vinegar, or of what is commonly called rot, the fruit is none the better for it, but the worse, and should not be eaten. The notion that a little alcohol makes the juice of the grape wholesome for a person in health, strikes me singu- larly."
Rev. Dr. Tyng, of N"ew York, expressed himself great- ly interested in the Lectures, and affected by their per- suasive eloquence ; but he should be greatly mistaken, and should rejoice to be so, if they were not perverted by those who Avould covet the use of such authority to a use most foreign from the purpose of their venerable author and abhorrent to his feelings. " How direct," said he, "is exposure to perversion in the following passage :
" ' It is enough if wine be placed on the same footing as other articles of diet, with respect to each of which the question in relation to deleterious quaUties is a question of degree, and not of totality. If we procure the best article in our power, it is all that can be required of us.' "
168 TEMPERANCE EECOLLECTIONS.
Said Mr. Sargent, author of Temperance Tales, in a let- ter to me :
"You believe, I presume, that total abstinence means total abstinence. So do I. Dr. Beecher, Dr. Edwards, Professor Stuart, and some others, I presume, are of the same opinion. This simple opinion is very intel- ligible and very safe ; this abstinence from all that will intoxicate — all, as I have understood it, that contains alcohol. All chemistry agrees that de- composition and fermentation, without which there can be no alcohol, readily and speedily take place, at a temperature of about 60 Fahrenheit. New or old, fermented or unfermented, are ticklish questions. The re- sult of incorporating such novel doctrmes with our system, will inevitably be that every individual will profess to be cautious that he drinks nothing but good wine, containing a very little alcohol, so carefully proportioned that it will not intoxicate."
Professor Stuart, the most eminent Biblical critic of his age, said :
' ' I have read Dr. Nott's addresses with great pleasure. My opinion is, that it would be better to modify them, or make them less equivocal. The cause cannot be supported on any distinction between wines " — doubt- less meaning alcoholic.
Chancellor Walworth sustained Dr. ISTott. He said :
" His lectures will have the effect to relieve the minds of many who cannot believe, and who ought not to believe, that the Scriptures commend as a blessing, or that our Divine Master ever made or used that which it is sinful for his erring followers to manufacture and use themselves, or to commend for the use of others. I think, too, he has succeeded in show- ing, that the pen of inspiration only commends as good, the pure and un- intoxicating blood of the grape before the vinous fermentation has pro- gressed so far as to render it inebriating, and absolutely hurtful to man."
The Chancellor made a distinction between alcoholic and intoxicating liquors. If the former were not of suf- ficient strength to intoxicate, they were not to be classed with the latter. This had been his decision on the bench.
The recollection of this controversy is still fresh in my
169
mind, as it was painful to me then to come into collision with one so venerable and beloved as the President of Union College, and his numerous friends. It was con- soling, however, to have the President of the Union say :
"I cannot regret the publication of your strictures upon these lectures, as I believe it will be productive of great good to the cause of which you are such a devoted and efficient friend ; for their pubhcation in our Jour- nal wiU induce thousands to examine the Doctor's lectures particularly, who might otherwise have let them pass without a perusal."
To those who were filled with alarm lest the lectures should lead to the free use of new wines, mild wines, home- made wines, etc., it was gratifying to hear President Nott say at the close of the controversy :
" I HOLD TO THE UTTER ABANDONMENT OP THE USE AS A BEVERAGE OF DISTILLED OR FERMENTED LIQUORS OP EVERY SORT ; ESPECIALLY OP WINES, WHETHER GOOD OR BAD, HAVING MUCH OR LITTLE ALCOHOL IN THEM."
And here the controversy ended.* The following eloquent passage is from Dr. ISTott's ad- dress to venders :
" Brethren, innkeepers, grocers : whose business it has been to sell to drinkers the drunkard's drink, has it never occurred to your mind, that the liquors dispensed were destined, though unseen by you, to blanch some glow of health — to wither some blossom of hope — to disturb some asylum of peace — to pollute some sanctuary of innocence, or plant gratui-
* If any inquire what was the difference between the wine pronounced good wine and a blessing by Dr. Nott, and that which was commended by Dr. Duffield and Anti-Bacchus, be it replied : the latter was the juice of the grape unfcrmented, and without any Alcohol. "The juice of the grape," said Dr. Duffield, "in an unfcrmented state, which, being new or inspissated by boiling, possessed no intoxicating properties, but was a cool- ing, nourishing drink, either taken by itself or diluted by water." " The case," said Mr. Parsons, " is now to me clear, that alcoholic liquors are never spoken of with approbation in any part of the Bible." Dr. Nott, as Chancellor Walworth affirms, considers wine touched with alcohol as good wine, if it has not in it sufficient to intoxicate. 8
170 TEMPERANCE RECOLLECTIONS.
tous, perhaps enduring misery in some bosom of joy? Have you never in imagination followed the wretched inebriate, whose glass you have poured out, or whose jug or bottle you have filled — have you never, in imag- ination, followed him to his unblessed and comfortless abode ? Have you never mentally witnessed the faded cheek and tearful eye of his broken- hearted wife — never witnessed the wistful look and stifled cry of his ter- ror-stricken children, waiting at nightfall his dreaded return — and marked the thrill of horror which the approaching sound of his footsteps sent across their bosoms ? Have you never in thought marked his rude entrance, — ^his ferocious look — his savage yell — and that demoniacal phrensy, under the influence of which, father — husband, as he was, he drove both wife and children forth, exposed to the wintry blast, and the peltings of the piti- less storm, or, denying them even this refuge, how he has smitten them both to the earth, beneath his murderous arm ?
" And ye, men of fortune, manufacturers, importers, wholesale dealers,, will you not, for the sake of the yoimg and the old, the rich, the poor, the happy, the miserable, in one word, for the sake of our common humanity, in all the states and forms in which it is presented, will you not shut up your distilleries, countermand your orders, and announce the heaven-ap- proved resolution, never hereafter to do aught to swell the issue of these waters of woe and death, with which this young Republic is already flood- ed ? Have you never thought, as you rolled out, and delivered to the purchaser his cask, how many mothers must mourn — how many wives must suffer — how many children must supplicate — how many men of virtue must be corrupted — men of honor debased, and of intelligence de- mented by partaking of that fatal poison ? These are evils which God registers in his book of remembrance, and which the day of judgment will bring to light ; for at home and abroad, in the city and the country, in the solitude, and by the way-side — it is not blessings, but curses, that the venders of intoxicating liquors dispense to their customers."
The year 1847 furnished two most instructive lessons to the friends of temperance, both in Europe and America, in the famine which was pervading Ireland. While seven millions in Ireland were crying for bread, and thousands had been hurried into eternity amid all the agonies of star- vation, sixty-two million bushels of bread-stuffs were devo- ed in a single year to the creation of drinks which afforded no nutriment ; and not less than fifty-two millions of pounds sterling were devoted in the United Kingdom to the crav-
FAMINE IN IRELAND LESSONS FEOM. 171
ing appetite for strong drink, — a more heartless and cruel appropriation of the bounties of heaven, and the love of gold in man was perhaps never known. The Committee of the American Temperance Union felt themselves called upon to remonstrate against such an awful waste, and such indifference to the best interests of humanity. They accordingly sent out an address to their friends in England and Ireland, exhorting them to improve the distress then felt to show the wretchedness and cruelty of thus wast- ing by distillation the grain and fruits of heaven, so needful to man.
Another lesson taught was, the value of temperance in a time of public calamity. While the poor drinking popu- lation, by the force of habit, wasted their all upon the drink, they had nothing left to buy bread, which was so enormously dear as to be beyond reach of the masses ; but the temperance men, having spent nothing on liquor, were now able to give bread and meat to themselves and their children. A most wonderful preparation was the work under Father Mathew, for this day of anguish. At be- holding the spectacle, his heart was filled with joy. " Few," said he^j " of those who have signed the temperance pledge have been severe sufferers, as they had been led to a prov- ident care of themselves." And again in a letter to a friend :
" It will delight you to be assured that the sacred cause for which we have so long and successfully labored is progressing gloriously. In the midst of sufferings even unto death, the pledge is faithfully observed ; and ^e now— thanks be to God— number more in the ranks of teetotalers, than at any other period. The temperance society is being tested like gold in the furnace by these calamitous times. Drunkenness will never again, while the Divine assistance is vouchsafed, become the national sin of Ireland."
And another lesson, calling for devout thankfulness, was, that, through the temperance reformation, we at
172 TEMPERANCE RECOLLECTIONS.
this awful moment, when God was thus afflicting our brethren beyond the sea, had bread enough and to spare.
Had our 40,000 distilleries continued their work of de- struction, enriching their owners by the consumption of whiskey among millions at home and abroad, we should have been without ability to aid. But by the great reform of 1841 and '2 they were reduced to 10,000 ; the bread stuffs were spared, and now, in this year of want, we were en- abled to send, and had the heart to send, in less than eight months forty-two million bushels of corn and wheat to relieve the suffering. England's rulers asked how it could be ? We told them how. " Our people for- bear. We waste not the gifts of heaven on brutal, sensual appetite. Our j^eople are temperate, prosperous, philan- thropic and happy." It was an argument for temperance they could neither gainsay nor resist.
So affected was Mr. Brotherton, M. P., that he called on Parliament to encourage, as the best relief, abstinence societies.
^' He understood the object of the government measures was to miti- gate the distress of Ireland, by providing food for the people. It was proposed to convert sugar, a necessary of life, into spirits and beer ; that the barley might be used for food. From returns on the table of the house, it appeared that 27 million gallons of spirits were annually con_ sumed, being at the rate of one gallon for every man, woman and child in the United kingdom. In addition to which, six million gallons of wine and 400 million gallons of ale were consumed, at a cost of Fifty Millions Sterling. Upwards of 40 million bushels of malt were charged with duty for home consumption. Thus the produce of two or three million acres of land might as well be thrown into the sea ; for, in his opinion, in- toxicating liquor produced nothing but poverty, crime, disease and wretch- edness. If the House would use their moral influence in encouragmg Abstinence Societies, and discouraging intemperance, they would do more to amehorate the condition of the people, increase their comforts, and elevate their morals than by any other measure whatever. People were very apt to complain of bad government, but it appeared they voluntarily t^ed themselves to the extent of Fifty Millions Sterling."
TESTIMONY OF ONE THOUSAND MEDICAL MEN. 173
A manifest change was this year coming over the ministers of Scotland. Sixty ministers of the Relief Secession Church had in a body signed the pledge ; and united with 184 ministers of the city and county of Edin- burgh, and the provost magistrates and councillors. The existing custom of giving wines and spirits at funerals was abolished. So slow is the abolition of customs which have become seated upon a community ; though, once abol- ished, they appear so perfectly irrational, useless, and even injurious, that they could never be brought back.
But the most important event of Britain, this year, was the obtaining of the signatures of more than a thou- sand eminent medical men, throughout Great Britain, to the Declaration :
" That Total and Universal Abstinence from Alcoholic liquors and intoxicating beverages of all sorts would great- ly contribute to the health and prosperity, the morality and the happiness of the human race." Of these, 184 Avere in London, 26 in Edinburgh, 184 in Liverpool, Yd in Man- chester, &c.
One of the greatest evils, much complained of in America, was the want odf such decision and harmony among the medical men on this subject. It was feared that many reformed men were drawn back to drink anew, and many families were entering the path of ruin, through the medical use of wine, beer, and strong drink. As one of the effects of alcohol. Governor Briggs, of Massachusetts, stated that a Committee of the Legislature, after careful investigation, had reported to him that there were from 1,200 to 1,300 idiots in the State, and from 1,100 to 1,200 of them were born of drunken parents. The sixteenth Annual Report of the Massachusetts Hospital declared that intemperance produced a large per cent, of the cases of insanity; that the continued use of alcoholic drinks produced functional, and soon organic, disease of the brain,
174 TEMPERANCE EECOLLECTIOXS.
of itself almost entirely incurable. " A confused mind, a horrid apprehension of impending evil, timidity and rashness, and a homicidal propensity, were the common symptoms of this form of insanity."
The 21st of October, 1848, was a great and glorious day for the friends of Cold Water in Boston, when the water from Lake Cochituate was brought to that city. Hundreds of thousands witnessed the glad spectacle. But the friends of Temperance considered it their day, and turned out in mass, all their societies, with music, badges, and banners. The numerous bands of children were all marshalled upon the Common, and when the water was let in, sang with their ten thousand voices :
" My name is Water ; I have sped
Through strange dark ways, untried before,
By pure desire of friendship led, Cochituate's Ambassador :
He sends four royal gifts by me.
Long life, health, peace, and purity."
Several other beautiful temperance odes were prepared for the occasion by Pierpont, Tappan, and others. By all it was considered, as was the introduction of the Croton into New York, a great event for temperance.
CHAPTER XIII.
Atteution of the Christian Ministry and Churches turned to the Cause — Mr. "Wesley's rule restored — Xew York and New Jersey Synod — Con- vention of Ministers in Philadelphia — Convention of Ministers in New York — Resolutions of General Assembly Pres. Church — Ministers' Meeting in Boston — Resolutions — Meeting of 200 Ministers at Man- chester, in England — Does TeetotaHsm tend to Infidelity ? — Sunday Liquor Traffic in New York, Sermon on — Petition to the Mayor.
If the ministry and the churches were, in a measure, set aside by the Washingtonian movement and its subse- quent beneficent Orders, they lost no sympathy with the cause; and when that marvellous action had spent its force, called upon by public sentiment, they came forward to uphold the cause and save the land from the renewed desolations of intemperance. And yet there were difficul- ties in the way. Influences were at work, with which they could have no sympathy. But necessity was laid upon them. Said the Committee of the American Tem- perance Union, in their Ninth Report, 1845 :
" Without decided aid and support from the Church, the Temperance Reform may struggle on, and press forward, but ultimately, it must languish and die. That aid brought it up from infancy to manhood; when, not from disaffection, but from a mistaken apprehension that it was not needed, it left the cause to the care of others. But she must return, and cast her salt into the fountain, or all will become putrid, and corrup- tion will seize the whole vitality. She must return and give herself to its support, or the strongest hold of Satan can never be vanquished. She must return and cleanse her own garments, and wage a personal conflict for hei
176 TEMPERANCE RECOLLECTIONS.
own sake, and the sake of her own baptized offspring. And if the friends of temperance are wise, they will seek the aid of the ministry and the churches, that, by mutual concession and action, they march on together to certain victory. Let not the hand say to the foot, ' I have no need of thee.'"
Not a little cause of alarm had the Church. for herself and her offspring. Errors among the advocates of tem- perance ; false taste, and unauthorized assumptions, had prejudiced many good men against the entire cause ; and one whole and powerful denomination — and this among the higher classes — had stood almost entirely aloof, and gloried in it ; but not without humiliation, in seeing some of their most distinguished and talented men thrown down by drunkenness, and cast out in open disgrace.
In 1847, an association of clergymen and pious laymen was formed in the city of New York, to be conducted on Christian principles (not antagonistic to other organi- zations, only to intemperance), on the sure basis of the Word of God, from Christian love; and to be so conducted as to commend itself to the attention and regard of all the friends of religion and pure moral- ity. A similar organization was looked for in every town and city throughout the land. The first meeting of this Society was held in the Broadway Tabernacle, February 2d, 1848. Dr. Peck, of the Methodist Church, President, was in the chair ; and the meeting was most ably addressed by Rev. Henry Ward Beecher, and Rev. Dr. Tyng. A fine spirit pervaded the meeting, and there seemed a determination to rally all the Christian feeling in the city, in support of the cause. Said Dr. Tyng :
" In looking around upon our assembly to-night, I cannot but think it is the most magnificent meeting I ever saw in this tabernacle ; and tliat for the cause of temperance. The speaker who has addressed you [ilr. Beecher] has called himself a Son of temperance. There was no need of such an annunciation ; for almost the very father of the cause was Lyman
DE. TYNG'S plea for CHRISTIAN SUPPORT. l77
Beecher. In the zeal and activity of other associations, the churches had thought themselves absolved from any great call to be active in the cause. Indeed the book might be found, in which the whole glorious work was represented as the majestical triumph of infidelity. It was when priests and Levites passed by, and the man was left to die on the road, the good Samaritan came along and took him up. We began at the tune when the Church was almost staunched with liquor. The ' Royal George,' a noble ship, with eight hundred souls on board, was sunk, with a cargo of rum. The Church was almost in this condition m the early days of the reforma- tion, when the father of my young friend raised the beacon-light ; and, like the electric fire, it spread from pole to pole, till the great work was done. We now intend again to raise the standard, in connection with Christianity. Religion perishes without it ; and without it every moral cause."
My recollections are very vivid of the joyful anticipa- ^tioDS, from this meeting, of a revival of an interest in the cause in the whole religious community ; and they were not wholly disappointed.
Among foreign missionaries, of various boards, in heathen lands, and with all the Home-missionaries, at the west, the cause was finding powerful aid ; and the Amer- ican Tract Society published and circulated, within the year, twenty thousand copies of " The Temperance Manual," by Dr. Justin Edwards, an admirable work to put into the hands of all young men.
In 1847, Mr. Wesley's rule was restored in the Metho- dist Episcopal Church, after many years of hard struggle, to the great joy of many in, and out of, that denomina' tion.
At the regular meeting of the New York and New Jersey synod of the Presbyterian Church, it was unani- mously
Resolved, That, as the churches are preeminently permanent and un- concealed organizations, formed under the rules of the Gospel, and destined to operate upon men iu every age, the Synod desire to see the cause of temperance fully embodied in them, openly recognized and adopted as the cause of God, of humanity, and sound morals — a practical test of obedience
178 TEMPERANCE KECOLLECTIOXS.
to the self-control and philanthropy of Christianity. And they would recommend it to the pastors of churches under their care, to take, at the present time, such action on the subject as shall make a deep impression on the community around them, and secure the great reformation in all coming generations.
Od the 8tli of March, 1849, a large convention of min- isters, of all denominations, met at Philadelphia, and unani- mously agreed in the adoption of the principle of total ab- stinence as the basis of union and action, recommending to all the ministers and churches that they take efficient meas- ures to gather in all their people, on temperance principles. The general impression and acknowledgment was that, when the ministers and churches were active in the cause, then it advanced ; but, when they withheld their action, and, in a measure, ceased to operate, that then temperance, in most of its essentially practical enterprises, was at a stand, and even retrograding.
" They soon organized a city and county society, assuming that the true and efficient method of advancing the temperance reform is by setting forth the Gospel of Christ, and by making appeals to the public on the ground of morahty, public good, the present and eternal welfare of man, and the fear of the Lord, They sent out a circular to every clergyman of all denominations, and to superintendents and teachers of Sunday schools, requesting cooperation."
During the Anniversary Aveek, in May, 1849, a large convention of ministers was held in New York. Rev. Dr. Dewitt, of the Reformed Dutch Church, was called to the chair. After prayer and much deliberation, and the free expression of many leading divines relating to the state of the cause, a lengthy and solemn declaration relating to the obligations, duties, and good intentions of the min- isters and churches, was adopted, and ordered to be pub- lished and extensively circulated. By this meeting, a great and good impulse was given to the cause, in all the churches.
GENERAL ASSEMBLY AT PHILADELPHIA. 179
On the 2d of May, the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church was held at Philadelphia. I attend- ed, on behalf of the Convention, and being invited to ad- dress it, I did so ; and gave an account of the I^ew York meeting, and read the Declaration ; whereupon it was unanimously
Eesolved, That the General Assembly do fully approve of the same, and recommend its principles and plans proposed, to all the pastors and churches within their bounds.
On the 31st of May, a large number of ministers met in Boston, and put forth a declaration of sentiments rela- tive to the duties of ministers and churches towards the Temperance cause.
They recommended,
1. Personal abstinence from all intoxicating liquors as a beverage.
2. Preaching on the subject from the pulpit, so long as the evil con- tinues.
3. The circulation of the Temperance Manual and other good publica- tions in every family.
4. Keeping a list of all the famihes in every congregation who do not use intoxicating drinks.
6. Holding of pubUc meetings.
6. Notices of progress in all annual reports of ecclesiastical bodies.
7. Much prayer in the closet, family, and social circle, for the exten- sion of the cause, with a firm and desperate struggle with the traffic wher- ever it exists.
"While the attention of ministers and churches was thus being raised to the cause in America, no less so had it been for some time in England. On the 13th of April, 1848, a convention of more than 200 ministers of various denominations was held in Manchester, in which a great spirit of harmony, love, and zeal in the cause prevailed. Organizations styled Christian Temperance Unions, formed of ministers and Christians of all denominations, were ex-
180 TEMPERANCE RECOLLECTIONS.
tensively formed. " The Christian Church," said such, " cannot, ought not, and must not let the subject alone. Her high claims, her divine mission, her benevolent char- acter, her unsuspected consistency, all require that she pronounce her verdict."
As enemies to the cause in England had charged it with pandering to infidelity, or being a substitute for the Gospel, a Circular was there issued to several distin- guished ministers, asking for their opinion on the subject. Numerous answers Avere soon received, denying the cor- rectness of the charge, and upholding the temperance cause as in closest alliance with the Gospel.
The Rev. Evan Jones, of Wales, wrote :
*' I have been connected with teetotalism ever since 1836, and have visited six counties; and in all this time, I have heard of but one single case in which some mem- bers of a teetotal society were suspected of infidelity. Temperance, in Wales, is under the guidance of religious men."
Kev. Wm. Reid, of Edinburgh. " For twelve years, the Temperance question has been the subject of my thoughts and observation, and I have never yet met the individual who has been led to infidelity by the way of total ab- stinence."
Rev. John Pye Smith, LL. D., D. D., Hummerton Academy. " I have no knowledge of any facts bearing upon the momentous charge brought against us. Infidels and other ungodly men, though they may profess a won- derful regard for religion and the church, will draw per- verse conclusions from the best principles. Our place is to confute them, by practically showing the injustice and absurdity of their reasoning."
S. Booth, Surgeon, Huddersfield. " My own observa- tion and experience go to prove the very opposite of that which says that infidelity and teetotalism are connected.
TEETOTALISM LEADS NOT TO INFIDELITY. 181
We have one hundred and ninety-fiye reclaimed charac- ters, honorable and useful members of society, and even of Christian churches."
Rev. Dr. Marsh, Leamington. " There was a Judas among the twelve apostles, and a Simon Magus among the professors at Samaria. There may be also infidels among the Temperance societies. But what has this to do with the principle of duty ? Is it not also better for a man to be a sober than a drunken infidel ? Here the total abstinence plan has taken several from drunkenness, and brought them to the house of God."
Rev. James Sheeman, Surrey Chapel, London. " Al- though I have been denominated a teetotaller for fourteen years, and have had tolerable acquaintance with teetotal- lers and their societies, I know not an instance where infi- delity has been the result of teetotalism. How can it ? I can understand how the drinking customs of England and the habits of intoxication are calculated to lead men to infidelity, and I know men who were once sober and in- dustrious men, who, by drinking, have found it conve- nient, for the gratification of their appetites, to cast off all restraint, and to rank themselves among the rejectors of heaven and hell. Yet how a drunkard who leaves his swinish herds, and associates with sober men, can be nearer infidelity, is v>^hat I cannot understand. I have the pleasure every communion to see at the Lord's table sev- eral who were once the curse of their families, the plague of their neighborhood, and the grief of their own souls, now intelligent and devoted members of Christ's church, whom teetotalism first led to the house of God, where the Gospel formed them into new creatures in Christ Jesus."
One of the most devoted of England's sons was Arch- deacon Jeftreys, of Bombay. With a heart full of love to God and man, he had devoted himself for thirty years to
182 TEMPER A.NCE RECOLLECTIONS.
the cause of temi^erance in India, satisfied that nothing else would secure the Church of God there from utter des- olation. For, as the Hindoo was bound by caste to total abstinence, the moment he became a Christian, he, would feel himself liberated from his bonds, and would at once rush into the use of intoxicating drinks.
We all hoped to have seen him at the World's Con- vention, but were much disappointed. We had from him, ho\\'ever, a letter addressed to the Secretary, in which he said :
I take the utmost interest in the cause, as twenty-eight years' experi- ence in India with the regiments, and in the hospitals, has convinced me that nothing in the least effectual can be done to arrest intemperance among the British army or the seamen that frequent this port ; or to wipe away the disgrace that is daily brought upon our country or upon our common Christianity before the natives of India, except upon this principle. On receiving Hindoos into the Christians' caste, if the missionary does not exhort them to continue in the same principle of pure temperance in which they have been educated from their youth, and set the same exam- ple in his own person — if he once loosens the cord, or puts the stumbling- block before their weak consciences by even the sight of intoxicating drinks upon his own table, a flood of intemperance, with all its crunes, will come in upon the infant church and spread over India ; and all our mis- sionary efforts will end, on the whole, as a curse, and not a blessing, to this country.
This most excellent man died of the cholera, in 'Eng- land, in 1849. Of his afiectionatc appeal on the subject to all who love our Lord Jesus Christ, fifty thousand copies had been distributed.
The exemption of the city of New York from the ex- cise law of 1845, and the repeal of that law in '46, threw open the whole State to the cupidity of the liquor-dealers, that multitudes regarded no law of God or man, and were led, for gain, to tread down the Christian Sabbath, in spite of all barriers for its protection. This evil had be- come so great, at the close of 1848, as to cause alarm
SUNDAY LIQUOR TEAFFIC IN NEW YORK. 183
among tlie friends of this holy day. It was found on inquiry, that not less than four thousand houses were en- gaged in selling liquor on the Sabbath, and that these houses were frequented by from thirty to forty thousand persons ; though the greater part of the venders were for- eigners, keepers of porter-houses, beer-shops, groceries, etc. If the sales of each Sabbath amounted to ten dollars each (and many, it was well known, exceeded fifty), two mil- lions of dollars were exchanged every Sabbath, in New York, for intoxicating drinks. The results were, not only a great amount of disorder and violence on the Sabbath, but of commitments for intoxication, vagrancy, and crime, on Monday morning, far exceeding any other day.
Having possessed myself, as much as possible, of the facts in the case, extent of the traffic, how far it was a licensed traffic, what were its peculiar traits and evils, and what remedy could be found, I prepared a discourse on the sub- ject, which I was permitted to present in several pulpits, and which was afterwards published and widely circulated. Several of the clergy of the city took a deep interest in the same subject, also many prominent laymen ; and, on the 11th of December, a large number of citizens were assembled for consultation, at the Methodist Episcoj)al Church, in Greene street, where, after much deliberation, and several spirited speeches, it v/as resolved " to procure as many signatures as possible to a petition to the Mayor, asking him to interfere, and see that the law was enforced which forbade the evil." Forty-tAvo leading and influential citizens, with the Hon. Theodore Frelinghuysen at their head, were appointed a Committee. A petition was draft- ed, and fifteen thousand names were soon appended to it.
On the 2'7th January, 1849, the committee met at the Tract House ; and, with the petition, and roll of signa- tures, borne by myself, went in procession to the City Hall, and laid it before the Mayor. It was an impres-
184 TEMPERANCE RECOLLECTIONS.
sive spectacle. He received us courteously; and it could have no other than a good effect ; at least, every man engaged was thankful that he had done his duty in the matter. During the next July, his Honor issued his proclamation requiring obedience to law in the matter. It was gratifying also to know that, during the year, the Legislatures of Maryland and New Jersey had, by severe enactments, rescued this day from that vile and ruinous desecration.
The same subject was engrossing the attention of the Christian public in England. In the United Kingdom, it was reported, one hundred thousand men were employed in making liquor, and two hundred thousand in selling, and two millions in buying and drinking. In six consecu- tive years, the number of commit als for drunkenness in London, was twenty-five per cent., and, in the seventh year, thirty-six per cent, of the entire commitments of the land ; w^hen, if there were no difference in the days, it should have been fourteen per cent. The friends of tem- perance and religion, of all classes, earnestly petitioned Parliament for the suppression of the evil ; and the result was, the passage of a bill closing all the beer and spirit shops throughout the kingdom, from twelve o'clock Satur- day night, until one o'clock, p. m., on Sunday — a measure which, it was estimated by the chief of police in Bristol, would, in a year, cause the diminution of prisoners in that city, a thousand in number.
In the year of which I am writing appeared, a second time, the cholera, that frightful judgment of the Almighty upon our race. The friends of temperance, in remem- brance of the past, began to thank God for the temper- ance reform ; which had once proved a good protection, and might be again. But soon their joy was turned into sorrow ; for, under a strange delusion, and new medical advice, the very food of the cholera was sought after, as
CHOLERA IN NEW TOEK. 185
the great preventive and cure. In Albany, in 1832, of three hundred and ninety-six cases, all but sixteen ter- minated fatally ; of these, one hundred and forty were in- temperate; thirt^^-eight, free drinkers; one hundred and thirty-one, moderate; five, total abstainers. In that city, which had a population of twenty thousand inhabitants, eight thousand were members of temperance societies; of these, only two died of cholera. In the ravages of the cholera, in this year, the same discrimination was visible. In the city of St. Louis, in a population of seventy-five thousand, were ten thousand deaths ; but of these, only ten were Sons of Temperance — though that association numbered two thousand members. And in the whole State of Missouri, among 6,800 Sons of Temperance, there had been, during the year, but thirty-five deatlis from cholera. In New Orleans, among twelve liundred Sons of Temperance, only three had been attacked ; while scores of drinking and drunken men were swept ofi:'. In New York, where were five thousand victims, only eleven persons in twelve Christian congregations, as testified by their ministei's, fell before it. And yet brandy, strange to tell, was the universal panacea, by advice of physicians, who seemed to pander to the appetites of drinkers, and willing to yield to the cry of venders ready to im- prove the chance to get gain. Even pledged temperance men, to a surprising extent, yielded; and numerous fiimilies supplied themselves, to be l*eady for the terrible emergency. Eminent physicians and medical men, as Dr. John Bell, of Philadelphia, Dr. Samuel Woodward, of the Worcester Insane Asylum, and Dr. R. H. Mussey, of Cincinnati, set themselves firmly against it ; but it was like resisting the rolling in of the ocean in a tempest. Said Dr. Mussey:
" Upon boats on the rivers, the increase of brandy-drinking consequent upon the approach of Cholera has been frightful ; and the mortality on
186 TEMPERANCE RECOLLECTIONS.
board those vessels has been terrible and unprecedented. One boat lost forty-three ; another, forty-seven ; and a third, fifty nine of its passengers and crew. Spirit is not a protection, in any case. To the temperate, it is an active, exciting cause."
Said Dr. Woodward :
" Brandy and water, sulphur and charcoal, laudanum and camphor, Stevens' Specific, and Bird's Specific, and all other drugs and medicines, are useless, and worse than useless, as preventives of cholera. All intoxi- cating drinks are injurious ; and tobacco, which is never beneficial, but always detrimental to health, should be abandoned, and never resumed."
But the temperance cause suffered an injury from which, it is supposed, it never has recovered. Many a family which had banished the brandy-bottle and spirit from their closets, returned them again ; and there, in numerous cases, they have remained to this day, ready to step forth on the call of' every ailment. The medical faculty, too, lost much of their firmness, and have been far more ready than before to commend the use of alcohol in their practice.*
* During the prevalence of the cholera, a gentleman, a rigid member of a religious society, and who had been a rigid teetotaller, desired his wife to put a tablespoonful of brandy in his glass every day at dinner. The wife was surprised ; but, deeming it the result of wise professional coun- sel, she complied ; and the husband filled up the glass with water, and drank it. A week passed by, and he said to his wife while at dinner : " My dear, you have been cutting off my supply of brandy. This has lost its taste. It does not produce the same effect as at first." His wife as- sured him that she had given him the full amount, and he said nothing more.
Another week passed by, and he repeated to his wife the conviction that she had lessened the quantity of brandy. It did not produce the same effect as at first. He could scarcely taste it, and the effects on his stomach were not perceptible.
"My dear," said the wife, "you have been taking two tablespoonfuls every day, for a w^eek past — since you found fault with me for stinting yoH." He was thunderstruck. He sat a few moments in deep thought, and then desired the decanter of brandy to brought. Seizing it vehe- mently, he flung it from the window. He saw his danger, and made an end of brandj--drinking. — Cin. paper.
CHAPTER XIV.
Father Mathew in America — Reception at New York — Sail up the Bay from Staten Island — Reception at Castle Garden — Speech of the Mayor — Procession through Broadway — Administers the Pledge in Brooklyn — Bishop Hughes not Friendly — Meetings at the Cathedral — Invitation to Boston — Magnificent "Welcome — Speech of Gov. Briggs — Operations in Massachusetts — Illness at Worcester — Sets his Face to the South — Compliments at Washington — Reception at Charles- ton, New Orleans, St. Louis — Return to Ireland — Death — Eulogy.
On Saturday morning, June 29, 1849, 1 had the pleas- ure of taking Father Mathew by the hand at the house of Mr. Nisbeth, on Staten Island, whither he was taken from the ship Ashburton, belonging to Grinnel, Minturn & Co., in which he had been brought gratuitously from Ireland. He sprang forward to grasp my hand as he spied me in the crowd ; as much as to say, here is a friend I know in this land of strangers. He was not so vigorous and pow- erful as when I saw him in Ireland ; had been suffering at home from illness, and was now wearied with his voyage. His voice had failed, but his eye was bright and his heart warm. On his voyage he held a temperance meeting every Sunday, and administered the pledge to 175 of the 400 steerage passengers.
In New York, there was the same enthusiasm in his behalf as if he had come in the days of his greatest glory • and appropriate measures were at once taken for his re- ception. On Monday, the city was very much given up to the welcome. At ten o'clock a splendid steamer was
188 TEMPERANCE RECOLLECTIONS.
in readiness at Castle Garden, to take the Common Coun- cil of the city, committees of temperance societies, and in- vited gentlemen — about 250 in number — with Dingle's Washington Band, to Staten Island, there to take and bring him to the city. Never was a finer day, nor could a sail in the bay be more delightful. In a short space after the boat reached the wharf, he appeared in a carriage, es- corted by the " Island Star " division of the Sons of Tem- perance. As he descended from his carriage, he was ad- dressed by Alderman Haws, on the part of the Common Council, and assured of the hospitalities of the city. In a neat speech he replied, thanking him for the honor con- ferred upon him ; when he was conducted on board, the band playing Hail Columbia and St. Patrick's Day in suc- cession. On the deck, a circle was formed for the Common Council, to whom he was introduced ; when Alderman Kelly, as President of the Board of Aldermen, addressed him with a hearty welcome. He replied, saying, " It was the proudest day of his life. He had never done anything but his duty; but whatever sacrifices he had made, he now felt repaid for them all." The committees of temper- ance societies next advanced, headed by "William E, Dodge, Esq., who welcomed him to America in behalf of all the friends of temperance. " You are no stranger," said Mr. Dodge ; " there is not a town in the United States where your name is not known. You come a con- queror, but not with the spoils of the battle-field. Your victories are moral — you have overthrown intemperance. We erect, to-day, a monument to you, Father Mathew. It is a monument of gratitude in our hearts."
Mr. Mathew was too much overcome to make much re- ply. He was then led to the pilot-house on the upper deck, where he was introduced to a large number of gen- tlemen, and where he had a fine oi^portunity of seeing the bay and shipping, as the boat steamed up to Williams-
EECEPTION OF FATHER MATHEW IN NEW YORK. 189
burg, and around up the IS'ortli River to Hoboken. Many of the ships were decorated with flags, and many of the wharves crowded with people. The entire Irish popula- tion seemed abroad, to get sight of the apostle of tem- perance.
Landed by 5 o'clock at the battery, he was conducted to Castle Garden, filled to its utmost capacity, where he was- addressed by the Mayor of the city :
" Rev. Theobald Mathew : In the name of the Common Comicil, and in behalf of the citizens of New York, I welcome you to these shores, and invite you to accept the hospitalities of our city. The story of your life has forerun your arrival, and will secure to you, wherever you may go through this wide country, the high appreciation of good citizens for the eminent services you have rendered to the noble- cause in which you have been engaged. The enemy with which you have grappled, is one of the du-est of the human race. Frightful are the ravages of plague ; but the de- stioying angel of intemperance has entombed more victims than any pesti- lence which has ever afflicted humanity. Quarantines and sanitary precau- tions cannot check its career. Yet there is one human power which can subdue this enemy of man. It is the moral power of a persuasive, earnest, and benevolent heart. It is this power which you have so successfully exercised, and by which you have obtained such astounding results.
" In your progress through this country, we wish you much health and pleasure."
Father Mathew said, in rej)ly :
" I have long wished for the pleasure I now enjoy. I feel prouder on this day than I can give utterance to ; gratitude is too swelling to find words of sufficient expression to convey any sense of it. All I can say is, I thank you — from my heart, I thank you. I am only sorry that ill-health prevents my addressing you as I ought ; the intensity of my feelings precludes the possibiUty of giving utterance to them."
A procession was then foi-med, consisting of numerous temperance societies, with banners and music ; several Irish benevolent societies ; a large number of carriages, which moved up Broadway, through an immense crowd on
190 TElsrPERANCE KECOLLECTIONS.
the sidewalks, to the City Hall, where he appeared a few inoments on the balustrade, and was loudly cheered by the multitude below ; after which he was conducted to the Irving House, where he was entertained by the Common Council with a dinner, on strict temperance principles.
The next day, he gave a reception in the Governor's room in the City Hall. An interminable stream of men, women, and children passed by him from 10 in the morn- ing, shaking his hand. Some knelt before him to take the pledge. In the evening he was welcomed at the Broad- way Tabernacle by the American Temperance Union. Prayer Avas offered by Rev. Dr. De Witt. The secretary said it was his usual business to read a report. He now had but a very short one, and that was, Fatiiee Mathew HAS ARRIVED (loud checring). Dr. Cox moved the adop- tion of the report — ^that it be printed and spread over the land. In an unique but most happy siDcech, Dr. Cox then gave him a hearty welcome. This was followed by a lengthy address from the President, Chancellor Walworth, who was unavoidably absent, and which, in his absence, I read. The band then played the national air of Ireland, St. Patrick's Day, the entire audience standing. All eyes were now upon Father Mathew, to hear what he would say. He rose, and uttered himself as follows :
" Mr. Chairman — Ladies and gentlemen : With all the feelings of a warm heart, I thank you for tliis reception. The greeting which I have already received far exceeded my humble merits. I know my own unworthiness, and little did I anticipate the welcome which was so cordially extended to me by the American people. I had long seen with the deepest sorrow the miserable and degraded state to which my countrymen were reduced by the ravages of intemperance. I knew, in view of this, the difficulties I had to encounter, but, in a trust in that God who always aids the cause of the righteous, I set about the task before me with a zeal and willingness which so far have been blessed with success. I proceeded in the great cause of temperance. I knew that the vices of my countrymen proceeded from their position and not from tho heart ; they were not wedded to intemper-
FATHER MATHEW IN NEW YOEK. 191
ance, and only wanted enlightenment. I went among them, and urged upon them the fearful state to which they were brought by intemperance, and upwards of five millions of them took the pledge. I cannot yet speak of the conduct of their countrymen here. I was sorry to hear of so many hundreds who have been guilty of violating their pledges ; and from my intimate knowledge of my countrymen, I feel confident that after my visit, those few who have fallen into the vice of intemperance will return to the path of temperance."
Rev. Mr. Schneller, of the Roman Catholic Church in Brooklyn, followed with a welcome address from his comitrymen in America and the city of Brooklyn ; when the beautiful ode, " Sparkling and Bright," was sung by the assembly standing, and all were dismissed.
As a little time was required for rest, and he had been afflicted with a slight paralysis, and the cholera was fright- fully raging, Father Mathew did not enter immediately into a great field of labor. I soon, however, found that he was administering the pledge to numbers of his country- men in Rev. Mr. Schneller's church in Brooklyn. The scenes there were much as those I had witnessed in Cork. Large numbers were in a few days enrolled. I called on his behalf upon Bishop Hughes to see what arrangements could be made for him. The Bishop unhesitatingly said he did not approve of his operations, he thought the church had a better way. But the next day he called upon him at the Irving House, and invited him to his cathedral, and to stay with him. But he assigned him only a small room in the basement of the cathedral, altogether too small and obscure. It was filled for several days ; much, however, to the chagrin and mortification of Father Mathew, who unhesitatingly said, he would never have gone, had he supposed he should have had a place so small and obscure assigned him.
But an invitation awaited him from Boston, where a great desire was manifested to welcome him ; and on the
192 TEMPEEANCE RECOLLECTIONS.
23d of July he left New York with his Secretary, Mr. O'Meara, for that city. On his arrival in the neighbor- hood, a large committee of respectable gentlemen met him. On Tuesday he was introduced to the city, which was much given up to the welcome. The multitude of men, women and children that were assembled to see his face, was immense. As he descended from his carriage. Dr. John C. Warren, ever foremost in teriiperance operations, made him an address in behalf of the Massachusetts Tem- perance Society. By the Franklin School House, the tem- perance societies were all forming under the supervision of Moses Kimball, Esq., Chief Marshal of the day. Fa- ther Mathew was seated in a barouche drawn by four splen- did horses, with Dr. "Warren, Alderman (Deacon) Grant, and Mr. O'Brien. Nearly twenty societies with splendid banners and bands of music followed, marching through all the principal streets of the city ; arriving at noon at the • Adams House for refreshments. At 4 p. m. all were gath- ered on the Common, where, on a platfoiTQ, silence being restored, Governor Briggs addressed him :-
"His Excellency alluded to the exertions of Father Mathew in the Temperance movement in Ireland, in England, and in Scotland, and hoped that his visit to this continent would be productive of much good. The people of this country sympathize with the Irish in their present sad con- dition, and deplore that political oppression had brought them to such a pass. But we live in hope, and from you, Father Mathew, said the Gov- ernor, we expect much for Ireland and for humanity. Though you make your first appearance in Boston to-day, you are no stranger to its inhabi- tants, or to the inhabitants of this Commonwealth, who welcome you — not as the warrior, crowned with bloody laurels — but as the chieftain of a noble cause, and the benefactor of your species. By your fair character and reverend name, the hearts of the people of Massachusetts have been drawn out toward the Irish here. In behalf of the people of Massachusetts the Governor welcomed the Christian philanthropist of Ireland to visit the workshops, the schools, and the institutions of learning and charity."
, Father Mathew replied in a spirit of humility and
I
FATHER MATHEW IN BOSTON. 193
thankfulness, remarking that he had long desired to ex- press the thanks of poor, unfortunate Ireland to the peo- ple of Boston — for Boston was the first to send a vessel of war laden with food to the starving Irish. He hoped to aid in the regeneration of his own people, whose happy- lot it is to enjoy freedom beneath the wings of the Ameri- can Eagle.
Several spirited speeches were made from the stand by- Dennis W. O'Brien, Rev. C. Waterson, Mr. Leland, of Il- linois, Father Taylor, Rev. Lyman Beecher, D. D., and Deacon Grant, who said every body was happy on this occasion but the rumseller.
The next morning Father Mathew was received by the City Government, at the City Hall, and cordially wel- comed to Boston, and offered all the hospitality of the city, in a speech from Mayor Bigelow ; after which he was taken to the Custom House, Exchange and other public places.
Faneuil Hall was at once opened for the Apostle of temperance, where he might meet his countrymen, and ad- minister to them the pledge. He made no pretensions to oratory, but he had a kind word, which entered into the heart and soul of the Irish more readily than would the highest strains of eloquence. All his speeches and teach- ings were of a most practical character. He impressed upon them, in a few words, the importance of laying strongly the foundations of temperance, and then avoiding every place and thing which would at all disturb them. He was prompt to urge his countrymen to escape from the toil and drudgery and temptations of cities, and pressed til em to remove, as early as possible, to the West, where there was land enough to support countless millions, and where, by honest industry, every man can soon become the owner of the soil he lives on. He pleasantly invited every one who wished, to step forward and take the 9
194 TEMPERANCE RECOLLECTIONS.
pledge. lie did not require it of every one to kneel ; but he preferred it of his own countrymen, also that they should make the sign of the cross, inasmuch as it inspired them with reverence for the solemn promise they made. Often.„ his address was very familiar, as, " Come, my friends, there is room, plenty. I promise you, you will not regret this step. It will be the foundation of your happiness here, and your eternal happiness hereafter." Several were fond of reminding him that they had taken the pledge from him in Ireland, and when and where ; and he expressed his joy that they had kept it. In Faneuil Hall no less than 3,000 took the pledge. On the first Sunday he preached at the Cathedral in Franklin Street, and during the day administered the pledge to about 4,000. A great levee was made for him at the Mayor's. The principal citizens of Boston were present, and several of the clergy, medical men and reporters. For him was prepared a splendid supper.
It was soon manifest that Father Mathew had not suf- ficient vitality to perform the labors expected of him. He visited several of the towns in the vicinity of Boston; went to Lowell and Lawrence, to Providence, Fall River, New Bedford, Woonsocket, Bridgeport, New Haven, Hart- ford, Springfield ; and in all New England he administered about 100,000 pledges.
Deeply was he impressed with the beauty of the coun- try, and its progress in all that makes society blessed. In reply to a welcome from the authorities at Lawrence, he said :
*' Since my first entrance into your free and glorious country, every- thing I have observed demands my unqualified approbation. It is a coun- try worthy of its great people. Language is incapable of expressing the delightful sensations that throbbed within my bosom as I passed up through the files at each side of youths of both sexes, who are enjoying the bless- ings of a religious and moral education in your schools, thus giving, at
FATHER MATHEW IN AYASHINGTON. 195
the cost of the State, free industrial and religious education to the rising generation."
While at Boston he yisited the Blind Asylum, and was deeply interested in Laura Bridgman, the deaf, dumb and blind girl. On being told that she was shaking hands with Father Mathew, she expressed great delight. He presented her with a temperance medal, when she wrote : " I thank you for the medal ; we are all very glad to see Father Mathew." On leaving Boston an immense body of juveniles were gathered on the Common to bid him farewell. It was a scene of surpassing beauty. He de- signed visiting Albany, Rochester and the. West ; but at Worcester he was suddenly disabled by the severity of the cold and some slight paralysis, and it was thought advisable that he should go for the winter to the sunny South. I saw him frequently on his arrival in New York. He was quite changed, especially in his speech. At Philadelphia he remained a week ; was j^resented to the City Authorities in the Old Independence Hall, and ad- ministered the pledge in some of the Catholic churches.
In Baltimore he was cordially received by numerous friends. At Washington he was invited to a seat within the bar of the House, but the motion was objected to in the Senate by Southern members. At home, with Mr. O'Connell, he had signed an address to the Irish in Amel'ica, exhorting them to set their faces against slavery. This was republished in a Georgia paper. Colonel Lump- kin, President of the State Society, addressed him a let- ter, asking if those were his present sentiments ? Receiv- ing no answer, he withdrew his invitation to him to visit the South, and it was thought by many hazardous for him to go ; but he was resolved to proceed, and commit him- self to Him who judgeth righteously. The opposition to the motion made in the Senate drew out from some of the Senators the most signal tributes to his worth, and to
196 TEMPERANCE RECOLLECTIONS.
the value of his labors. It was most heart-cheering to the friends of the cause to see it so exalted in the high places of the nation; and these tributes to the cause de- serve a place, not only in the notices of Father Mathew, but in every history of temperance. Said the Hon. Hen- ry Clay :
" I think, Sir, that that resolution is an homage to humanity, to phi- lanthropy and to virtue ; that it is a merited tribute to a man who has achieved a great social revolution — a revolution in which there has been no blood shed — no desolation inflicted — no tears of widows and orphans extracted; and one of the greatest which have been achieved by any of the benefactors of mankind."
Said General Cass :
" This is but a complimentary notice to a distinguished man just ar- rived among us, and well does he merit it. He is a stranger to us personal- ly, but he has won a world-wide reno'svn. He comes among us upon a mission of benevolence, not unhke Howard, whose name and deeds rank high in the annals of philanthropy, and who sought to carry hope and comfort into the darkest cells, and to alleviate the moral and physical condition of their unhappy tenants. He comes to break the bonds of the captive, and to set the prisoner free — to redeem the lost — to confirm the wavering, and to aid in saving all from the temptation and dangers of in. temperance. It is a noble mission, and nobly is he fulfilling it."
Said General Houston :
*' Father Mathew goes not with a torch of discord, but with a bond of peace, reformation, and redemption to an unfortunate class in the com- munity. I, Sir, am a disciple ; I needed the discipline of reformation, and I embraced it ; and would that I could enforce the example upon every American heart that influences or is influenced by filial affection, con- jugal love, or parental tenderness. Yes, Sir, there is a love, purity and fidelity inscribed upon the banner that he bears. It has nothing to do with abohtion or with nuUification, Sir, Away with your paltry objections to men who come bearing the binnacle above the turbid waters, which unfortunately roll at the foot of this mighty Republic."
At Charleston, S. C, Father Mathew found himself
I
197
mucli improved, and be officiated all the Sabbath at the Catholic Church — a vast crowd in attendance. He ad- ministered 1,200 pledges during the day^ At ^New Or- leans he occupied St. Patrick's Cathedral, where thousands were assembled. In an admirable discourse, he related what had been done in Ireland, how admirably the pledge had been kept, and called upon his countrymen to come forward and blot out every stain upon their escutcheon. He administered the pledge to large numbers. In grati- tude they made him a purse of $700. The authorities of the city gave him a cordial welcome, to which he returned a grateful answer. On his passage up the Mississippi he stopped at all the principal landings for a short time, dropping a few words, and administering pledges ; but at times he was quite feeble, and it was often feared he would not see Ireland again. At St. Louis he was re- ceived with great attention, and he there administered the pledge to 2,500 of his countrymen.
From St. Louis he designed going East as far as Pitts- burg, and then returning South for the winter. Wher- ever he went, he was urged to make America his home, but he always replied : " It would be violating a promise made to his people, that he would return and die with them."
. Father Mathew returned to Ireland in a Collins steamer, November 8, 1850. Crowds welcomed him home, but frequent attacks of palsy drove him to the Madeiras, whence he only came home to die, December 8, 1850, in the 66th year of his age.
The visit of Father Mathew to this country, notwith- standing his bodily weakness, was most happy in its in- fluence. Not a countryman was there of his who did not give him a cordial welcome. Not one, perhaps, who had violated his pledge, who did not feel conscience-smitten and troubled in heart; and not one who had kept his
198 TEMPERANCE EECOLLECTIONS.
pledge who did not feel rejoiced that he had done so, and become greatly strengthened. In great veneration for his charactei*, and love for his object, temperance societies everywhere sprang up, bearing his name, and based on his pledge. These Father Mathew Societies have not only continued, but greatly increased in number, especially in our large cities, and now, in many, may be considered the chief strength of the cause. May they be handed down in great force to future generations, and his words ever prove a great talisman.
Father Mathew's friends at home were much gratified by the reception which he met with in America. Said the Cork Examiner ;
" We have the utmost satisfaction in pointing to the account of the splendid reception given to Father Mathew by the citizens of New Yorlf. It was a reception such as the people of that majestic Republic would not have given to a crowned monarch ; it reflected honor alike on those who gave, and on Mm who received it. America recognizes in the humble Irish Friar a man of whom all mankind may be justly proud — a man for whose glories no nation mourns, and no people is in bondage — a man whose victories over sin and evil have been more splendid than it has ever fallen to the lot of mortal save himself to achieve— one whose whole life has been a lesson of universal love — one whose mission is the hoHest that could enter into the heart of man to conceive. America beholds in Father Mathew the greatest benefactor of the race of man ; one who has conferred more solid advantages and more practical blessings on individu- als and masses than any living being.
Lines on Father Mathew's visit to America, by Lady Emeline Stuart Hartley :
" The Hero of Two Worlds," that man of war, The brave Lafayette, in old times was called ;
More hallowed far thy deathless titles are. Friend of mankind — 0 sainted Theobald !
A peace-apostle 'twixt two worlds of peace,
Thine is the triumph that can never cease !
EULOGY ON FATHER MATHEW. 199
See ! charioted along the hearts of men,
How that true conqueror reigns where'er he moves,
Blest be the difference wide 'twixt now and then ; Then war scowled hate where now a nation loves.
Earth round seems one colossal temple made.
Where angels are the only hosts arrayed.
The noble " Hero of Two Worlds " art thou ;
ISTo purer pilgrim ever touched this shore ; Echoes man's voice of praise and reverence now,
Where raged the battle thunder's deafening roar ; Thrill, softly thrill, thou gracious western air, With all the meek omnipotence of prayer.
CHAPTER XV.
Temperance Life Insurance Company projected, — Correspondence. — Dr. Nott, E. C. Delavan, S. Chipman, Rev. T. P. Hunt, Dr. J. C. Warren, Gen. Cary, and others — Medical Society at Cincinnati. — ^Addresses of Dr. Drake and Dr. Mussey.
The great success and utility of the Temperance Provi- dent Life Insurance Companies in England early attracted my attention, and the attention of friends of temperance in America ; and in January 1850, several small meetings were held on the subject in New York. It was manifest to all, that, in the matter of life insurance, temperance men were not on a par with others. Not to speak of drunkards and hard drinkers, many moderation men were not, through a small indulgence in alcoholic drinks, living out their ex- pected days ; and life insurance offices were meeting with some of their heaviest losses in the early deaths of drink- ing men. In England it was found, in an experience of eight years, that the number of deaths in the temperance insurance company were less than half of that insured in all other companies in the kingdom ; while they suffered no losses from intemperance. Should a temperance man join in a company with a hard-drinking man, or even a moderate drinker, much more an intemperate man, his money might for years be going to the families of such, while his family, through his long continuance in life from temperance, would have no benefit. The more the subject
TEMPERANCE LIFE INSUEANCE COMPANY. 201
was contemplated, the more were all impressed with the importance of a company on the abstinence principle.
Much ridicule was elicited from wine and spirit drinkers. We were accused of making invidious distinc- tions in society, and contending against the natural laws of life; and since the bounds of human life were fixed, we were saying we would break over those bounds, and cause men to live beyond their time. We were also assured that enough of a single class of men could not be found in the country to sustain one institution ; but we computed there were a million teetotallers in the country, and one half of these would be sufficient. Besides, so manifest would it soon become, that an advantage would be obtained by having total abstinence in a life insurance comj^any, that it would become an actual means of increasing the num- ber of abstainers. The very existence of such an institu- tion, would be a great temperance lecture. It would lead man everywhere to inquire : Does the use of intoxicating drinks actually shorten human life, and would it be a strengthener of the principles of temperance where adopt- ed ? Would , it not be a powerful confirmer in all who were insured ? Would it not act like the pledge ? Know- ing that he forfeited his insurance if he was seen to drink, would not the young man be careful how he yielded to temptation ? "I have my life insured for $5,000. Shall I now forfeit that for a single glass of wine ? "
While we were thus examining and discussing the sub- ject, I sent out a Circular to reflecting minds over the country, asking their opinion ; from which were received encouraging replies.
Said Dk. Nott : — " I am, on satisfactory evidence, con- vinced that entire abstinence from intoxicating liquor, as a beverage, tends to increase the duration of liuman life. I am therefore pleased to see that a company is about to be formed exclusively for insuring the lives of 'teeto- 9*
202 • TEMPERANCE RECOLLECTIONS.
taller.^,' as it is unreasonable that those who do not drink should be subject to pay for the greater hazard of death in those that do."
E. C. Delavax : — " I cannot hesitate a moment in ex;- pressing my most cordial approval of such an undertaiiing. I doubt not the practical working of a company formed on the j)rinciple of trice temperance {total abstinence from all that intoxicates) J would bring to the aid of the cause you have so long advocated, overwhelming evidence of its ad- vantages in prolonging life, over even the moderation principle — a principle no one yet has been able to define satisfactorily, and which if it could be defined, few would for any length of time adhere to.
" It is as well known to you as to me, that there is little or no intoxicating drink in this country, whether distilled or fermented, free from base adulterations. So that, in addition to the poison alcohol, other poisons more intense and more fatal to life are consumed by that part of the community which still use intoxicating liquor.''''
Samuel Chipman, Esq. : — " I must express my gratifica- tion at the proposed measure, and wish it a hearty God speed. It is right in principle that temperance men, in getting their lives and those of their relations and friends insured, should enjoy the pecuniary advantages which ab- stinence from the use of intoxicating drinks may give them.
" There is one way in which the use of liquor, in what is called moderation, greatly increases the dangers to which human life is exposed, that is seldom thought of. It ope- rates direct'y on the nervous system ; and, at one time, the same quantity will produce a greater amount of excite- ment than at another, owning to different states of the sys- tem. And who that has had experience, or has observed in regard to others, does not know that, under such ex- citement, persons are frequently led to attempt some dan- gerous exploit, some hazardous experiment — the fording
1
TEMPERANCE LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY. 203
of a swollen stream, the riding of a colt, or a vicious horse, which they never would have attempted but for the unusual stimulus ? I have known a person thus excited, in the most reckless manner seize hold of his neighbor, and, in a scuffle, he was crushed down, and his back broken. There was an inconsiderable number of this class that I found on examination in regard to deaths from intemper- ance, but they were always placed among the temperate in my classification. In that examination of all the towns of four of our Western counties, although I have shown that in one county 40 in a hundred, in another 36, and in two others 39 per cent, of the men over twenty-one years of age who had died in the year, were intempei-ate — yet that proportion, as large as it is, would have been greatly increased, had I charged to the account of intemperance the cases where the physician told me that, although the individual was considered a temperate drinker, yet he was fully persuaded, had not the system been deranged by the liquor he drank, he would have recovered. But what is still more to the point ; at the suggestion of Dr. l^ott, in three of the four counties, I ascertained' the ages of both classes, and found that, on an average, the temperate had lived ten years longest. Another fact which it appears to me may have great weight in regard to life insurance as connected with temperance, is that, during the visitation of cholera to this city last summer, which took off over 150 of our inhabitants, out of one thousand Sons of Tem- perance, not one fell a victim to that terrible scourge."
Dr. Charles Jewett. — " Why should we who abstain from the use of intoxicating drinks, pay, when we get an insurance of our lives, for the additional risk to which those of the company are exposed who daily pour into their stomachs an intoxicating poison subjecting their physical constitution, either to the necessity of harboring it, which tends to the destruction of vitality or wasting its
204 TEMPERANCE RECOLLECTIONS.
sclf-prcscrving power in one ceaseless struggle to tln-ow off the poison? That human life is thus shortened, no candid and intelligent person will deny. Why then should we, who endeavor to order our lives in conformity with the laws of our Creator, and thus secure to ourselves health and long life, as well as the ability, mentally and morally, to accomplish more for God and humanity, go into a IMutual Life or Health Insurance Company on equal terms ? No good reason, I believe, can be given ; and if I can do aught toward securing to the friends of temper- ance an opportunity to effect insurance of their lives on more equitable terms, it will afford me pleasure to do so. The moral influence of such an arrangement cannot but be great.
Rev. THo:iiAs P. Hunt, Pennsylvania:
1. Is moderate drinking a shortener of human life ? 3fost certainly. And any man who will take the trouble to examine the effect of any unneeded stimulant on the human system, wnll see at once that it is so.
2. Are temperance men on a par in an Insurance Com- pany, with men who drink ? You might just as reason- ably ask, are men who have had the small pox, on an equality, as to exemption from that disease, wdth those who are inoculated with its virus ? All men admit that drunkards and teetotallers do not stand on an equality. Drunkenness is a physical disease, produced by moderate drinking. No moderate drinker can j^rove by a train of philosophical reasoning, that he will not be a drunkard. He may not be ; but he may be. While I do not affirm that he will be, he cannot assure me that he will not be. He is using the virus. I look out for the disease. If he has it, it is what philosophy led me to expect. If he es- capes, it is what he had no reasonable right to expect. We are not equal in a Life Insurance Company.
Moderate drinking renders men moi*e liable to disease ;
TEMPERANCE LIFE INSURANCE. 205
and more difficult to be cured. This is not mere assertion. In one of the oldest settlements (Saybrook) in Connecticut, the oldest minister in the State kept a record of all the deaths and their causes, for many long years. He was kind enough to permit me to see it. I was struck with the unusual number of deaths from palsy, epilej)sy, &c. On inquiry into the habits of the persons, I was told, that many of them were most exemplary, pious persons — none of them were what would be called drunkards, but all of them habitual cider dri7i7cers. About the beginning of the temperance reform, many cut down their orchards. The number of deaths from palsy, &c., decreased from that period. And when they occurred, cider drinkers were the victims.
3. " Do we deal unkindly with wine, beer and cider drinkers, because we say, " Gentlemen, your lives lie under a heavy mortgage " ? I think not. It may be best sometimes to let some men have their own way. But no man has a right to complain, if another set of men follow out their own ris^hts without interferinsc with theirs. I would not complain if the moderate drinkers excluded me from their insurance, if they believed that a little liquor drank daily promoted the health of the corporation. They would act consistently in rejecting one who pursued a course that endangered the profits of the company. Moderate drinking has caused more pecuniary and social injury than drunkenness ever did. And I would much sooner insure soine drunkards, than I would so7ne mode- rate drinkers. They will outlive them. This may sound strange in your ears. But it is true. And more men have died from the result of moderate, than from immode- rate drinking. The Physicians of the Uyion will sustain this declaration. But be it correct or not, I can conceive of no injury done to the character or feelings of any gen- tlemen, by our refusing to insure on the same grounds
206 TEMPERANCE RECOLLECTIONS.
with men who drmk. I act according to my best jndg- ment. I would allow others to do the same.
Most heartily do I approve of the formation of a Com- pany on the principles you suggest.
Doctor J. C. Warren, Boston : — Having received from you this day a communication requesting my opinion on the expediency of forming a Mutual Life Insurance Company, on the ground of abstinence from intoxicating drinks, I would express my opinion as follows : All in- toxicating drinks produce an unnatural stimulus to the vital actions, and hurry them on more rapidly than nature designs. In proportion to the strength of the stimulus will be the overplus of action, and the waste of vitality. In other words ; life will be shortened in proportion to the power of the artificial stimulants. Hence it must follow, I think, that persons Avho employ no intoxicating drinks will average a longer life than others, and be entitled to insurance at a lower rate.
General S. F. Cary, Cincinnati: — Dear Brother Marsh : Your excellent journal of February states that several meetings have been held in New York City, by friends of the Temperance Reform, " on the subject of forming an American Temperance Life Insurance Com- pany." Such an association commands my warmest ap- proval, for the following among many reasons :
1. The subject of Life Insurance has not received that attention which its importance demands. It is certainly a matter of great moment that a man of limited resources may, without inconvenience, secure to his rising and de- pendent family, in case of his death, ample means for their maintenance and education.
2. Such an association making total abstinence a con- dition of insurance^ would enable the temperance man who would avail himself of its benefits to do so at a lower premium than could otherwise be afforded. It is mani-
TEMPEEANCE LIFE INSUEANCE. 207
festly unjust to tax him with any portion of the risk in- cident to the use of intoxicating drinks. That total ab- stinence men are less liable to disease, casualty, and death than others, cannot be controverted. Let the skeptic on this point examine the journals of the Sons of Temperance for the past three years, and he must be convinced. ISTo association on earth, not incorporating the total abstinence principle, can compare bills of mortality with that Order. There were but 1,260 deaths in 1840 in a membership of 221,478.
3. If such a Company was organized, multitudes of temperance men would avail themselves of its benefits, whose families will otherwise be left to struggle with ad- versity.
4. Such an association would lead many to inquire into the importance of temperance in prolonging life, who would never think of the destructive influence of intoxi- cating drinks.
5. Connecting, as this Society would, temperance with length of days, it would serve powerfully to confirm tem- perance men in their resolutions, and would furnish another and powerful motive to induce the insured to re- main true to their pledge.
6. The distinction of the temperate and intemperate classes, which necessarily must be recognized, would give character and respectability to the one, which the other would lose in the same ratio.
While many moderate drinkers may not Avisli to have their lives insured, it would be no small rebuke to them to bo informed that they could not, if they would.
7. The general cause of temperance would be promot- ed, as everything promotes it that brings the subject be- fore the public mind.
Deacox Moses Grant, Boston. — The project is one of vast and incalculable importance, and calls for the
208 TEMPERANCE EECOLLECTIONS.
profound and deepest attention of those who may be in- terested in it. That temperance men, who have their lives insured at a mutual office, do not stand upon equitable grounds with the other assured, is a proposition too plain on its face to need defence. I know of but one mutual life insurance company here, that even partially protects itself against intemperate men, and that is the New Eng- land Company. In their list of questions, is the fol- lowing :
No. 13. Is he of temperate habits? Has he always been so ?
If the applicant answers Yes, to the first query, and No, to the last, the company require what they call the tem|3erance clause to be inserted in their policy, never minding if the applicant is a pledged man, and has been for years. Well, it being a mutual company, does he stand upon equal ground with the others assured ? Certainly not ; for, while his policy is forfeited, if he is known to drink, half of all the others, who, though daily in the use of intoxicating drinks, having, on application, answered Yes, to both queries, may increase their potations, become intemperate, and die drunkards, having shortened their lives by their evil habits ; and our temperance man is yearly losing something in the way of money, by not re- ceiving any return premium, as provided for in mutual companies, because drinking men and drunkards, assured at the same rates that he is, are dying out, and the pol- icies are to be paid. If my engagements admitted, I could go into statements of facts and principles connected with this business which would show the vast imjDortance of temperance men establishing such a company.
Gen. Cocke, of Virginia. — To the scheme for a life insurance company upon the basis of total abstinence from intoxicating beverages, I hasten to express my entire ap- probation.
MEDICAL SOCIETY — DE. DEAKE'S ADDEESS. 209
It may well be placed among the felicitous concep- tions of this our age, so fertile in the production of enter- prises pregnant with future blessings to mankind.
These various opinions strengthened us in our deter- mination to proceed. A constitution was adopted, and capital fixed at $100,000, in 1,000 shares of 8100 each, on Avhich were to be paid ten dollars, at commencement ; and officers were chosen. But, alas ! there w^as not sufficient advance of public sentiment in the matter for success. Other cities wished for the location ; moneyed men in l^ew York were already stockholders in institutions which might be injured by this ; a spirit of rivalry and jealousy sprang up ; temperance men might be good moral reformers, but no managers of moneyed institutions ; and so, from a failure to get the stock taken, it died out, when, it is even now believed, it might have become one of our greatest insurance companies, and been of incal- culable importance to the cause of temperance.
About the same time, we were encouraged by the pro- posed formation of another institution, which promised great and good results to our cause, viz. : A Medical Society by the Professors and Students of the Oldest Medical Insti- tute in Cincinnati, to call out discussions among professors and students which might show how alcoholic stimulants undermine the constitution, and debase the moral senti- ments. The first lecture was delivered by Dr. Drake, of Ohio Medical College.
After a few introductory remarks, the Doctor proceed- ed to define alcohol, and to investigate its effects on the human economy. " It was formed with the same chemical constituents wliich compose sugar, but in different affin- ities: alcohol was only from sugar. This substance might be obtained from starch, and alcohol distilled from the sugar, but it could not be made directly from the starch. It was a stimulant and narcotic, and was ranked
210 TEMPERANCE RECOLLECTIONS.
among the deadliest poisons. Numerous experiments had demonstrated it to be a rapidly fatal poison ; but it was unnecessary to make such experiments at this day, in the laboratory ; because they were continually being made through the community.
" The influence of alcohol upon the human system was an important matter for the study of the medical man. He was expected to understand it, and he ought to be able to give instructions upon it. Drunkenness was a disease, a disagreeable and dangerous disease ; it deranged all the functions. Its injuries were not only physical, but mental and moral." As a general proposition, the Doctor stated that the liquor in common use was about one half alcohol and one half water. " When a person took a glass of spirits, he only felt at first its stimulating influence, and was in- clined to doubt that it was a narcotic, but as he repeated the glass, he found that a larger quantity was necessary to produce the first excitement ; and after numerous repeti- tions, without the spirit, he felt dull and inclined to sleep, and was often rendered perfectly stupid. In large doses only was alcohol a narcotic ; then its narcotic eflect went before, and prevented the action of the stimulating prop- erty. It was the narcotic property which made it neces- sary that the drinker should continually increase the quantity or frequency of his glasses, to keep up the wont- ed excitement. It stultified the sensation. In the growth of this stupefying influence, the disease of drunkenness was produced ; not the derangement particularly of any one organ, but a morbid, unnatural appetite in every part of the system ; from the most important to the most insig- nificant organs and vessels, were mouths craving, crying out, sending an account of their pressing wants, by means of the nerves, to the sensorium, there acting upon the will, and driving the victim to great lengths and desperate
MEDICAL TESTIMONIES. 211
means to obtain the bane whicli has thus deranged the entire economy of his system.
" This would account for the violent, disgraceful, and unfeeling acts intemperate men had committed, when their debased system required ardent spirits. There was, to many persons, a delicious sensation in jDartial intoxication ; but it was a dangerous pleasure. Every repetition led nearer to the dreadful condition of him who was so dread- fully diseased that he could not exist without stimulus. The moderate drinker ran a great risk. In what was he indemnified? Where could he take out a life policy? Only from a teetotal abstinence society."
Before the same Society, Dr. Reubex H. Mijsset said :
" So long as alcohol retains a place among sick patients, so long there will be drunkards ; and who would under- take to estimate the amount of responsibility assumed by that physican who prescribes to the enfeebled dyspeptic patient the daily internal use of spirits ; while, at the same time, he knows that this single 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."
Throughout the country, at this period, the medical faculty, through the influence of Bush, Sewall, Warren, and Mussey, were generally with us. In a great enter- tainment given at Boston to the National Medical Conven- tion, where more than six hundred physicians were pres- ent, not a drop of intoxicating liquor was provided. And, in the annual meeting of the New York Medical Society, at Albany, temperance and total abstinence were fully sus- tained by the most distinguished physicians. A practical view of the mutual duties, relations, and interests of the medical profession and the community was presented, in a
212 TE]tfPERANCE EECOLLECTIONS.
work styled "Physician and Patient," by Worthington Hooker, M. D., Norwich, Connecticut. Few men felt more deeply on the subject of temperance than did Dr. Hooker. He had gratuitously spent much of his time in the Alms House ; and, finding the rich and luxurious ignorant of the state of things there and its causes (their own practice and example) he published a series of letters from the Alms House, giving inimitable delineations of the degradation and miseries of the drunken poor ; enough to cause every man, how rich soever he might be, to dash the wine cup from his table. Under the influence of his own observa- tion and experience, he said:
" It is difficult to conceive that a physician possessed of the ordinary feelings of humanity should fail to be decided on this subject, either in his opinions or in his influence. No man has had so varied and extensive oppor- tunities of witnessing the ravages of intemperance. It is not occasionally that he has heard from trembling lips the tale of woe, and seen its painful and often hideous signs. It has been with him an ahnost every-day occur- rence. Misery on every hand, has made it appear to him. And if he has suffered his desire for popularity to hinder him from heeding such touch- ing and frequent appeals, it is not too much to say to him that he has been shamefully recreant to the dictates of humanity, and that he will have to render a large account of neglected opportunities of doing good."
CHAPTER XVI.
The Half-century — Retrospect and Prospects — Tribute — Power of the Enemy — Army for Future Conflict — Truth and Love — Mmisters — Churches — Temperance Orders — Sons of Temperance — Grand Division at Boston — Kecent Publications — Fifteenth Anniversary A. T. TJ.
When a traveller has been long ascending a great height, and has at length reached the summit and sees all beyond him, below, and witnesses the setting sun going down on distant regions, he naturally pauses, looks back on all the way over which he has travelled, and girds him- self with new courage for what lies before him. The mid- dle of the century was such a summit for us temperance men ; and if we had not labored full half a century in regu- lar organization, we had for a quarter ; and near half was completed since Rush and Porter and Beecher sounded the voice of alarm. As standing officially on the watch tower on the mount, looking behind and before, I felt it incumbent on me to prepare and publish a HxILf Cextuey Tribute, in which I endeavored to show what we had done, what Ave had gained ; Avhere we were now standing, and what was before us; with an appendix of impor- tant documents of forty pages ; which was well received, and had a circulation of six thousand. In fact, mighty changes had been effected among almost all classes, and in almost every department of human industry.
Thousands on thousands had been reclaimed, and ten thousand times ten thousand had been prevented from
214 TEMPERANCE EECOLLECTIONS.
entering into the drunkard's path, and suffering his ter- rible woes. But many a dark cloud hung over the past. Amid all our exultation, intemperance had been the master-spirit of evil ; wasting millions of dollars ; break- ing up the peace and comfort of happy families; send- ing j^rocession after procession to the poor house, the jail, the mad house, and the orphans' refuge, and at least a million to the drunkard's eternity. We stood in hope for the future ; but oh ! what heart would not have been ap- palled could he have foreseen what already, in the first' half of this half century, have been the ravages of the great destroyer. Whether we look forward or back- ward, the true estimates are beyond human comprehen- sion ; yet, in the almost universal disposition — especially among the unreflecting — to think lightly of them, and to inquire, when money is asked to arrest the evil, Why all this waste ? it is well to look at it.
Not to speak of our own, — for we cannot get statistics here as they can be obtained in the fatherland — an Eng- lish writer at that time estimated, from authentic and un- disputed data, that, if drunkenness in that country goes on unopposed, to the end of the present century, there will have been consumed from 1801 to 1900, inclusive, fifty-one thousand million gallons of intoxicating liquors ; causing eight hundred and fifty thousand million cases of drunk- enness, and turning fifteen million seven hundred and fifty thousand sober men into common drunkards; ex- citing five million persons to commit crime; reducing twenty million individuals to pauperism, and taxing the community seven hundred million pounds sterling for their support ; four million individuals will have been deprived by it of their reason ; 255 million years of human life will have been cut off and wasted ; eleven hundred millions sterling will have been lost to the trade of the country — equal to the foreign trade of 210 years; 5,800 million
I
RAVAGES OF INTEMPERANCE. 215
bushels of grain will have been destroyed for liquor which, made into bread, would feed the present population for twenty-four years; in the manufacture, and trade, and drinking, would be 21,774 million violations of the Sab- bath ; three million persons, equal to thirty thousand con- gregations, would have been expelled or departed from Christian churches ; and 4,700,000 of the children of the church w^ill have been demoralized, if not ruined. Well did he exclaim, " O come to the rescue ! Great God, DO thou."
The means and the ravages of intemperance were, in our own country, appalling. In the State of New York, there were committed to the prisons, in 1849, 36,610 per- sons who committed the crimes, for which they were ar- rested, under the influence of intoxicating liquors; and of the poor in the poor-houses, two thirds, or 69,260 were pronounced, in the Assembly document, from intem- perance. In Massachusetts (the most temperate State in the Union), of 2,598 paupers, 1,467, or 56 per cent. — and of 8,760 committed for crime, 3,341, or more than 38 per cent. — were from intemperance. In the city of New York, there were, in 1849, 4,425 licensed houses, 750 selling without license, and 3,896 selling on the Sabbath. In the quarter ending December, 1810, there were arrested in the city, 1,600 for drunkenness, 1,485 for intoxication and disorderly conduct, 744 for vagrancy, 1,214 for assault and battery, 1,006 for disorderly conduct; nearly all, the results of drink — in five years, 111,360 victims of the grog- shop. In Philadelphia, there were admitted to the alms- house, in 1849, 5yll9; 2,323 were intoxicated when received. In the Mayor's Court, there were 5,987 cases of drunkenness and disorderly conduct, and only 324 of other descriptions of crime. In his work on Intemperance in Cities, R. M. Hartley, Esq., estimated the annual aggre- gate expenditure for intoxicating liquors alone, consumed
21 G TEMPERANCE RECOLLECTIONS.
in New York city, at $13,030,000— four times the cost of administering the State government, with the interest on the public debt ; twelve times the annual receipts of the Bible, Tract, Missionary, and other public benevolent societies in the United States ; twenty times the sum ex- pended for religious works and educational expenses.
What army and what forces had we wherewith to commence the second half-century warfare with this terri- ble foe, in our own land ? Truth and love were the great weajjons by which Ave were still to conquer. The Chris- tian ministry and churches had taken the field more de- cidedly and boldly than for several years. The American Temperance Union was well holding its own, scattering widely its tracts and papers. Numerous State societies, and county and local organizations, were doing as much as at any former period ; though some, alas ! had quit the field. Temperance lecturers were still abroad, with their armor bright. The Father Mathew Societies were be- coming numerous and powerful. Throughout Canada, the cause was almost equally prosperous as with us. The Rev. W. Chiniquy, a young Roman priest, and powerful speaker, had there, and in the adjoining States, arrested much attention ; and, in a short time, administered the pledge to 250,000 persons ; 18,000, in four days, in Mon- treal. The marvellous Washingtonian movement had in- deed finished its course, and its fruits were gathered into new organizations. Rechabites, Samaritans, Temples of Honor, were doing their work, in their vaiious depart- ments. But the Order of the Sons of Temperance had now swelled beyond any other single organization, and was spreading widely over the States and British provinces.
To the Fourth Annual Meeting of the National Divi- sion, to be held at Boston, June 11, 1850, I repaired, though not a member of the order (not being a reformed man), and still preferring open organizations, as best fitted
NATIONAL DIVISION SONS OF TEMPERANCE. 217
to the cause and the country — though others, highly es- teemed, differed from me. This meeting was the repre- sentative of no less than thirty-six grand divisions, 5,894 subordinate divisions, with 245,233 paying members. Its meeting at Boston, with its banners and regalia, was very imposing.
At an early hour, there had been seen rail trains coming from every direction, laden with members of different Divisions, who, at ten o'clock, began to form in different places, and, by twelve o'clock, began to move in one very imposing procession through the various streets of the city. Heading the line, was William A. White, Esq., the Chief Marshal, on a splendid charger. He was followed by the Boston Brigade Band, and thirty-six bright boys, Cadets of Temperance, each bearing a small, but neat flag, having the names of the different States, and British Provinces, representing the thirty-six Grand Divisions of the Order.
The line of procession occupied over an hour in passing a given point, and arrived at the Common at about half-past one o'clock, where a counter- march took place ; the divisions were dismissed, and proceeded to their respective head-quarters, with music playing and banners flying.
At half-past three o'clock, a mighty gathering was to be seen on the Common, to hear speaking at the stand from Gen. Cary, Phihp S. White, Rev. Thomas P. Hunt, Dr. Charles Jewett, Rev. John Pierpont, WiUiam R. Drinkard, and Sir. Copway, the Ojibwa Chief. All these gentlemen were popular orators ; and their addresses, chiefly relative to the iniquity, abom- ination, and iU-deserts of the traffic, were responded to with loud cheering.
On Thursday evening, the 18th, Alderman Grant had, at his house, a Temperance soiree. More than one hundred gentlemen from abroad were present, who were welcomed to Boston by a neat address from Dr. John C. Warren, which was responded to by Gen. Cary and others. The meeting passed off with great sociality, and all felt that, though engaged in differ- ent ways in promoting the cause, all were of one brotherhood, and should labor with a kind and friendly spirit, in delivering our land and world from a fearful bondage.
A WELCOME. — BY GEORGE W. BUNGAY.
With the voice of many waters,
Let us sing while echo starts — Welcome ! Welcome ! sons and daughters.
To our hearth-stones and our hearts ! 10
218 TEMPERANCE RECOLLECTIONS.
^Yith your snow-flakes Avlicre our fountains
Fall in showers of golden spray, Ye have conic from snow-flaked mountains,
Like an avalanche, to-day !
Here are banners and devices
Borne aloft with stalwart arm, From the South-land, where the spices
Kiss the winds with lips of balm ! Onward ! upward ! bear the banner,
Like an angel's wing, on high ; "Whilst your loud and glad hosanna
Shakes, with thunder-shouts, the sky !
From 1846 to 1851 there were continually laid upon my table productions of powerful minds, which showed that the nation was resolved not to sleep under the ravages of Alcohol, and suffer the drinking usages of socie- ty to drag thousands down to death, or the manufacturers and venders of strong drinks, for gain, to fill up, unrebuked, our jails and almshouses with wretched victims.
The first that occurs to my recollection, for it made a deep impression at the time, was An Address to the People of Ohio, by S. F. Gary, Esq. This appeared in 1848. General Gary, though a successful lawyer and a man of wealth, had devoted himself to the temperance cause, and had become the head of his favorite organiza- tion, " The Order of the Sons." He had visited and spoken in every city and town in the State. No man bet- ter knew the ravages of Alcohol ; the miseries carried into unnumbered families — the taxes imposed upon a hardy and laborious and honest people, and the impossibility of overcoming and subduing the traffic by mere moral sua- sion. To no man would the people so listen as to him, and from no one would an address come with equal force. And though many might occasionally hear him in the large places, it was desirable that his words should go, as
I
CAKT AXD KITCHELL ON THE TRAFFIC. 219
they might . and would in a tract, to every hamlet. It was a subject of rejoicing, therefore, that he had made and published this address. He said : " A crisis had come to the people of Ohio. The question was to be settled by them, whether the land, overshadowed by the wings of the Almighty, should belong to drunkards and be under the dominion of that most heartless of all tyrants, the drunkard maker." In no common lano-uao-e he called their attention to the
Evils of the traffic ;
Dishonesty of the traffic ;
Their connection with it ;
Remedy to be applied. He then called upon the people to
Dissolve the partnership ; to
Brand the traffic as criminal ; and to
Believe and feel that the Rumseller must be punished.
Moral appliances alone are ineffectual ;
Our position is right, and we must
Petition the Legislature at once to abolish all laws regulating the sale of Hquor, and to incorporate the ' traffic among its kindred crimes of theft, arson, robbery and murder.
These were his positions ; half a million copies were published ; and few were the men in Ohio or elsewhere, who did not see that they were well sustained.
The next that comes to my recollection was : An Ap- peal TO THE People for the suppression of the Liquor traffic, by Rev. A. D. Kitchell ; a prize essay.
When* Mr. Kitchell wrote this, he was a minister in Connecticut. It so brought him to the notice of the pub- lic, as a man of power, that he was called to a jDulpit in Detroit. The appeal was lengthy ; it answered every ob- jection which the nimseller could make to the overthrow of his traffic, and left him without a word in defence. This was published in 1848.
My own sermon upon the Sunday Liquor traffic has
220 TEMPERANCE EECOLLECTIONS.
already been alluded to. This was soon followed by another, upon The True Element of Moral Reform, and hojje of the temperance enterprise. I knew many leaders in temperance did not sympathize with me, and would keep all religion out of temperance meetings, on the plea that it would keep from the meetings all irre- ligious, profane, drinking men, whom Ave most desired to benefit. But my anxieties were to place the cause upon Christian principle, to build it up in Christian love, and in dependence on a higher power than man.
Dr. Charles Jewett's Lectures were first published in 1849. Many were opposed to his publishing them, as it might prevent his delivering them more, which would be a calamity, since the force of what he presented lay much in the delivery. But as he had ceased reading, and as in his extemporaneous lectures he brought forward what- ever was appropriate or demanded from all he had writ- ten, it was of small consequence. In a printed form they have been read by hundreds, and perhaps by thousands, who would never have had the opportunity to hear him. These lectures, as was the case with most of the Doctor's speaking, were of a scientific and practical character, upon the connection of temperance with the agricultural, com- mercial, and educational interests of human society, show- ing that, like Christianity, temperance brings men out of a state of darkness and barbarism, and elevates man into a condition of refinement, purity, and blessedness, which it ■ is beyond the power of language to express. -It is to be regretted that they have for a time been out of print ; but they will not long be so when -the public are deprived of his bodily presence, his expressive countenance and living voice.
The Crisis and the Triumph ; a sermon by Doctor Nathan S. S. Beman, appeared in the same period. Dr. Beman was most thoroughly radical whenever he touched
PUBLICATIONS FROM 1846 TO 1850. 221
the cause of temperance with his pen or voice. He ad- mitted no apology for the vender of intoxicating drinks or the consumer, even if he stood on the highest pinnacle of the church and was most careful not to pass, in the slightest degree, the bounds of moderation. He saw no hope for the community, but in perfect, total abstinence, and in the prohibition of the traffic. His heart was ex- ceedingly cheered by the triumph, in 1846, in the License question before the people, as was his indignation kindled at the subsequent conduct of the Xew York Legislature.
ScKiPTUEE View of the Wine Question, by Moses Stuart, Andover, and Reply by Rev. James Lillie, Carlisle, Pa. These discussions, which appeared in 1848, had so long been before the public that most men had lost their inter- est in them. Mr. Lillie discovered not a little critical acumen in detecting errors into which the learned Pro- fessor had fallen, but he showed little disposition for total abstinence.
Temperance Anecdotes, by myself. This was a small work, a collection of 200 anecdotes for the aid of speakers in public meetings to arrest attention where dry abstract truth failed. It commanded at one time a large sale.
Groceries, A Source of Mischief, by G. Magoun, Ten- nessee. A thoroughly practical exhibit of an enormous evil in every village, where groceries and liquor-selling Avere under one roof, exposing servants and children to inevitable ruin.
Address on Wine, by Sumner Stebbins, M. D., Ches- ter, Pa. ; an address of much power by one who, more than most other men, had made temperance his study.
Zoological Temperance Convention, by Professor Hitchcock, Amherst, 1849 ; an exceedingly ingenious and amusing work, from one of the most profound minds in America. It was a Pictorial Temperance Convention of
222 TEMPERANCE RECOLLECTIONS.
birds and beasts, well illustrated ; and each made to play liis part in temperance or intemperance, in smok- ing or chewing tobacco, &c., &c. ; designed greatly to at- tract the attention, and impress the minds of children and youth. One of the first publications on temperance was from the pen of this excellent man in 1829, entitled, "An Argument against the Manufacture and Sale of Ardent Spirits." Few men did more in his day for the temperance cause, than did President Hitchcock.
National Temperance Offering, Sons' and Daugh- ters' Temperance Gift Book, by S. F. Gary, 1850; a Splendid volume of 500 pages, containing the portraits and likenesses of several of the principal officers and speakers of the Sons of Temperance. As a gift book, it had a large circulation.
Putting the Bottle to our Neighbor's Lips ; a ser- mon by T. L. Guyler, Trenton, 1850. A spirited and timely attack uj)on the traffic and drinking usages in Trenton.
Sermon on the Death op Thomas Tew, agent of the Rhode Island State Temperance Society, by Rev. Dr. Gleveland. Mr. Tew had, by indefatigable labor, almost entirely extricated Rhode Island from Intemperance, and he well deserved the character given of him in this dis- course. Dr. Gleveland showed why the course of true reformers appears to men of the world perfectly absurd. 1. Their principles are Ghristian, opposed to the selfish- ness of worldly men. 2. Their faith is in things unseen ; not in present circumstances, which may be all unfavor- able, but in the providence and provision of God.
" Sermon on the State of Morals in New Haven, Gonn.," by Dr. Gleveland, 1850 ; a bold and faithful exhibit of the intemperance of that beautiful city.
Address of the New York Gity Society on Ghristian Principles.
SONGS AND POEMS, 1846 TO 1850. 223
" Responsible Agents of Intemperance," by Rev. J. F. Williams, Eastford, Conn. ; a pungent discourse.
Dr. Carpenter's Prize Essay (England). "Should alco- holic liquors form part of the ordinary sustenance of man ? " Republished in Boston with a glossary ; the most able and convincing work, in the opinion of Dr. Warren, which had been written.
"Intemperance in Cities and large Towns, its causes and cure," by R. M. Hartley, Esq., the long and efficient Secretary of ISTew York City Temperance Society ; a most valuable work.
Several tracts. No. 2, for sons of Temperance, by Horace Greely. 'No. 3, by S. F. Cary. Curse of Meroz j Kingdom of Intemperance ; Delirium Tremens ; by Rev. J. Marsh.
Pictorial Tales and Anecdotes, Oliver and Brother.
Such Avere some of our forces in the field, and new weapons in our armory.
Kor had the Muse been backward to come to our help* The last four years had brought out stirring songs.
The last drunkard ;
He stood the last — the last of all.
The prairie fire. — Fierponf.
The maniac's plea ;
There's none can plead, as I can plead.
The drunkard's snare. — Carter.
I loathe it, I loathe it, the poisonous wine.
The wine fiend. — Kimball.
AMVdiy with songs of revelry.
There's a good time coming.
Upward ! onward ! This your watchword ! glorious one. Look out while the bell is ringing. — Bungay. Triumphs of the Pledge. — Tappan. The tempter. — Burleigh. If angels in the heavens r^'oice.
224 TEMPERANCE RECOLLECTIONS.
A song of welcome. — Bungay.
The Wife's Appeal— J/;-s. Rich.
I stood near his grave. — Mrs. Richmond.
The temperance shout is ringing
In triumph through the air. — Atwood.
Muster for the battle glorious. — Rev. P. Clark.
The Temperance Banner.
Hail thou blest king ! to thee we bring.
The temperance " No License " Triumph. From hill-side and from valley.
Temperance Harvest home. — Star of Temperance. A voice from the mountain, a voice from the plain.
Down with the groggeries, down. — George Burleigh.
The Hope of the World.— Ilafjield.
They come, see they come from the land and the sea.
Widow's Petition to the Rumseller. — Star of Temperance. Have I e'er wronged thee ?
Fanny Forrester to the Sons of Temperance. God bless the Mayor's casting vote. — Boston.
Our FiETEENTH ANNIVERSARY, held in the Broadway Tabernacle, May 8, 1851, was one of much interest, as we were standing between two half centuries. In absence of the President, John Tappan, Esq., of Boston, Vice- President, took the chair. He stated that it was just twenty-five years since the first Anniversary of the Ameri- can Temperance Society — a quarter of a century of great and glorious labor to rid the world of an insufferable evil. He congratulated the officers and members of the Union at the progress of the cause ; and only regretted the ab- sence of our distinguished President on an indispensable and joyful occasion. After the reading of my Report, tlie Hon. Andrew T. Judson, Judge of the U. S. District Court, who had become a warm supporter of the cause,
FIFTEENTH ANNIVEKSARY A. T. U. 225
was announced as a speaker, but a letter from him was handed in, informing us that a sudden illness had prevented his attendance. The letter expressed his ardent wishes for the ultimate success of the good cause and a final con- quest over the greatest enemy of mankind. . The meeting was addressed by Rev. H. S. Carpen- ter, of New York, William H. Burleigh, Rev. Dr. Cleve- land, of Providence, P. T. Barnum, on a donation fi-om Jenny Lind, the queen of song, of an hundred dollars. Rev. John Chambers, of Philadelphia, and Rev. Dr. Tyng. Dr. Cleveland, speaking on progress, said:
" When two trains meet, travelling at the rate of twenty-five miles an hour, we seem to be going fifty, when we are going but twenty-five. The croakers say, we are now going backwards. The question is whether the croakers are right, who say we have done nothing, or the temperance workers, who think we have done much for which to be thankful. I think we have mowed a pretty handsome swarth. I am willing to admit, there is as much rum drunk now as there was twenty-five years ago, yet it must be remembered that twenty-five years ago, there were but twelve millions of people in the laud, whereas now there are twenty-five. If we have reformed no one, we may have kept our twelve millions from falling into the sin and ruin of drunkenness."
His address was throughout one of great wit and humor. To Rev. Dr. Tyng, of New York, was specially assigned a half-century speech on the following resolution, but his time had been nearly all engrossed by others.
Resolved^ That, standing on this interesting point of time, one half century behind and another before — one, a half century of preparation, the other, we trust, of decisive battle and conquest, we pause, grateful for the past — stern and uncompromising for the future. To ministers, to legislators, to magistrates, to judges, to parents, to teachers, to young and old, we appeal for co-operation in labors which, under God, are to remove one of the greatest moral evils afflicting our race, and prepare the world for the reign of the Prince of Peace.
Dr. Tyng remarked, " that it was too late in the even- 10*
226 TEMrEIlANCE EECOLLECTIONS.
ing for him to think of speaking much, but the resoUition spoke of pausing; tliere is no time to pause in the great work that is before us. The Half Century that lias passed has been one of stirring effort, and tliere should be no ces- sation in the exertions of this Society. A short time since a friend who had been travelling in the West, told him that in his travels he had one day encountered an emigrant journeying with his family to the fertile regions beyond the Mississippi. • He had all his worldly goods packed on wagons, and on one load there hung a huge jug with the bottom broken out. He asked him why he carried that with him. Why, he said, that is my Taylor jug. And what is a Taylor jug ? asked my friend. Why, said he, I had a son Avith Gen. Taylor's army in Mexico, and the old General always told him to carry his whiskey-jug with a hole in the bottom ; and since that I have carried my jug as you see it, and I find it is the best invention that I ever met with. Now," said Dr. Tjnig, " if our Presidents, and Governors, and Legislators would only carry such whiskey-jugs as this Western emigrant carried — if their jug had no bottom to it, we should have much less drunkenness and misery. It is their example that docs more mischief than rum-sellers do."
CHAPTER XVII.
Death of General Taylor — Vigor of old Temperance men — Permanent Temperance Documents in School Libraries — Colhsion between New and Old Organizations — Letter of Gen. Gary — Temperance Hotels — Delavan House — Efforts of Dr. Jewett — Navy — Abolition of Flogging — Evil continuance of spirit-ration — Spirit-ration Abolished.
At tlie commencement of the second half of our cen- tury, the nation was suddenly called to mourning by the death of Gen. Zachariah Taylor, President of the United States. He expired on the 9th of July, 1850, in the sixtieth year of his age. Temperance, religion, and patriotism wept at his tomb. During the Mexican war, he ever showed himself a decided temperance man; and hence, it was conceded, was much of his calmness and power. He was succeeded by Vice-president Fillmore ;^ also a decided temperance man. "Not a few of the early friends of the cause were still in the field, to stamp their features on the second half century. Dr. Hewitt was still living, and powerful as he ever had been in the pulpit, at Bridge- port, Connecticut; Dr. Humphrey, by his graphic and en- ergetic pen, was doing great service to the Church ; Dr. Lyman Beecher was vigorous at Cincinnati. Visiting Boston, he was pressed for an address, l^efore he left for home, at the Tremont Temple. The New Englander, in an account of it, remarked :
"The fire of the old warrior, in his noble philanthropy, burned as- brightly on this evening as in the days of his vigorous youth. Time had
228 TEMPERANCE KECOLLECTIONS.
possibly impaired his vision and his memory ; but there was still manifest the same active vitality of brain, the same force of utterance, the same fitly chosen words, the same hearty vehemence against this giant evil of the land. His illustrations were deduced from a most extended experi- ence ; his teachings had all the import of patriarchal words. Though he had preached two sermons the same day, there was no exhaustion of the system manifest, no evidence given that fatigue had come upon him ; but clear, rapid, powerful, were his premises and conclusions, his delineations of the cause, and his description of the effect of the vice. It was a thrill- ing sight — that crowded auditory, hanging with intense interest on the faintest lispings of the aged laborer."
One of the most important and laborious of the opera- tions, of this period and of my life, for the cause, was the reprinting and placing in the school-libraries of the State of New York, the three volumes of the Permanent Tem- perance Documents. It was believed that, for family- reading, consultation by clergymen, teachers, temperance speakers, and young men, who might wish, in every place, to make themselves acquainted with the history of the cause, nothing would be more valuable ; and, as there was a public library in every school-district, it would give these Documents a wide circulation, and do much toward securing, in the State, permanency to the cause. The plan was cordially endorsed by the following friends :
Saratoga Springs, July 2, 1851. Kev. J. Marsh :
Sir — In my opinion, the volumes of Permanent Temperance Docu- ments, furnishing a history of the Temperance Reformation from its com- mencement, would be a valuable acquisition to every school-Ubrary in the State.
Reuben H. Walworth. • "We fully accord with Chancellor Walworth :
Eliphalet Nott, President of Union College,
Edward C. Delavan, Ballston Centre,
Frederic Whittlesey, Vice-Chancellor, Rochester,
TEMPEEANCE DOCTJMEIilTS IN SCHOOL LIBRARIES. 229
Samuel Chipman, Rochester, George Peck, D. D., Xew York, Stephen H. Tyng, D. D., New York.
Albany, July 3, 1857. Sir — The three volumes made up of the Annual Reports of the Amer- ican Temperance Society and Union, Addresses and Statistics upon the subject of temperance, vrould, in my opinion, form interesting and in- structive books for the district-school hbraries.
Christopher Morgan, Secretary of State Fev. J. Marsh. and Superintendent of Public Schools.
Having secured the approbation of the authorities at Albany ; and as the trustees of each school had the privi- lege of selecting their own books, for which they paid from the public moneys appropriated to the district, I sent a cir- cular, with the above recommendations, to every school- district in the State, agreeing to deliver the three volumes of about five hundred pages, each bound in muslin, and lettered " School-District Library," for four dollars. I little knew what I had undertaken ; but I earnestly and vigorously engaged in the work, and continued in it suc- cessfully, for about three years. I was enabled to supply over eight hundred libraries. But there was a difficulty in obtaining payment, as almost every library was in debt for books previously taken ; and new trustees were often unwilling to be held responsible for what past committees had done ; so that I was compelled to relinquish the work, though it was generally highly approved of. Five hun- dred sets, in sheets, were ordered for the school-libraries in Ohio, by the superintendent of common schools at Cin- cinnati, and were forwarded there, to be bound up in uni- formity with other works.
As we were pressing, in every place, our claims upon the community, and endeavoring to draw the entire tem- perance population into combined action against the retail
230 TEMPERxVNCE RECOLLECTIONS.
trafiic, and the drinking usages, we were much liindered by continual collisions between the old, open organizations and the new temperance Orders which became exclusiye, and whose po[)uhirity, and success in securing members, resulted in the extinction of many associations, on whose continuance hung, to a great degree, the sympatliy of min- isters and churches. Their forms and ceremonies, regalia and exclusiveness, were of little moment, provided it was based on Christian principles, and had the promotion of temperance at heart. To satisfy myself on this subject, I addressed a letter of inquiry to Gen. Cary, of Ohio, who returned me the following answer, which did such honor to his head and heart that I am happy in putting it on rec- ord. It showed that, if we walked in different paths, there was no cause of alienation.
Temperance Cottage, Monday, Oct. 8, 1849, Rey. axd Dear Brother — Your valued letter of the 10th July reached me when I was upon a bed of sickness, and for some time subsequent I was unable to answer it. On my recovery, a multiplicity of duties compelled me to defer writing. Your letter afforded me real gratification, not only on account of the continued confidence which you were pleased to repose in me, but more especially for the zeal and devotion manifested in the great cause of tem- perance. The Order which I have the high honor to lead into the battle against the common foe, is worthy of com- mendation and confidence only so far as it promotes the total abstinence reform. I am glad that you appreciate my position so well, in reference to the great cause to w^hich your energies have been so long and so well devoted.
I am not tenacious of the form of organization, or the means by which the great end shall be attained, provided they are not inconsistent with the word of God. I have ever maintained, that no society or organization, which
LETTER FROM GEN. S. F. GARY. 231
has for its object tlie elevation of man's moral condition, can loDg prosper, or even exist, unless it is based upon eternal truth. The Bible is the only safe rule for faith and practice. Again, I regard it as a fundamental truth, that no standard of reform can be maintained higher than is assumed by the Glinstlan Church sanciijied. Mind must take the lead in the great warfare against vice and sin of every description, or defeat is certain. I see nothing in our Order that conflicts with the revealed will of God ; nor do I believe that there is anything which can hinder its members from making the highest attainment in Chris- tian excellence. But, as I have said, I am -not tenacious of forms. I am a Son of Temperance only because I sup- pose it better adapted than any other known form of vol- untary association to advance the Temperance BefOrma- tion : but I am not an exclusive. I am prepared to labor with any and all who difier with me on this subject. I would abandon this organization in an instant, when an- other should be formed more likely to succeed. I think there has been some misapprehension, as to the chief ob- ject of the temperance reformation, on the part of many of its advocates. They seem to think that its chief glory consists in picking up drunkards and reforming them. However praiseworthy and honorable may be this em- ployment, I think our aim should be higher. We should direct our chief energies to prevent the present and com- ing generations from becoming drunkards. Those de- grade our enterprise who regard it as doomed to be a mere scavenger, generation after generation. We must purify the moral atmosphere by holding up the terrors of intemperance, and the beauties of total abstinence, by way of encouraging the power of resistance within ; and an- other and important part of our work is to remove, by moral and legal means, the temptations from without. But I am taxing your attention too much. I hope to hear
232 TEMPERANCE EECOLLECTIONS.
again and again from yon. While wc may differ as to the best means of promoting the cause we love, we, I trust and believe, have but one object in view — the utter extii'pation of intemperance from this sin-stricken earth.
May God bless you, my dear brother, in all your efforts to promote the great reform.
Truly yours, &c.. Rev. John Maksii, N. Y. City. S. F. Caky.
Our friends in Canada were much troubled on the same subject. With a spirit of kindness, they bore with the new organizations, deprecated the divisions, but held firm to the old societies. Said the Caaada Advocate, in 1850:
" Sincerely as we rejoice in what has been done by the Sons in the West, the Rechabites in the east, and the Cadets of Temperance, we cannot sjiut our eyes to the fact, that the old Total Abstinence Societies are the root out of which they have all sprung. We do not desire to see any of them given up, or feebly carried on ; on the contrary, we wish to see them push forward with as much energy as ever ; they are all important in their place, and all fitted to enUst many on our side who would never join the old societies. Yet these latter are the trunk of the temperance tree ; the new organizations are branches that have sprung from it ; and, though they spread wider, and look more beautiful and attractive, with their verdant foliage, we should not lose sight of the stem which they both conceal and adorn. There are many who may be expected to join the old society, that would not join any of the newly formed organizations ; and many old valued friends will gladly remain in connection with the former, and cooperate with the Sons or the Rechabites. Let, therefore, these old asso- ciations be still assiduously kept up, in town and country. Let all the doors be kept open, by which new friends may enter our ranks, and all the ma- chinery be still plied, by which friends, whether new or old, may render us assistance."
Temperance Hotels were early forced upon our at- tention, as absolutely essential to the success of our cause. Temperance men had banished liquor from theii' houses ;
TEMPERANCE HOTELS. 233
they had resolved never to be seen frequentmg a saloon, or supporting a grocery, by purchasing its articles, which sold liquor; and yet, when travelling, they were compelled to make their home, at least for the night, where was the revelry of the rum-fiend; and, as they left in the morning, to leave their money for the support of a public curse. A combination among the friends of temperance throughout the country, never to patronize such houses, would, it was seen, reduce their number ; and should their patronage be exclusively given to strictly temperance houses, they might be well sustained.
The Marlboro' Hotel, in Boston, was early placed on strict temperance principles. The Adams and Quincy House soon followed. The Croton was early established in New York ; the Delavan, at Albany ; and soon there was scarce a large town or city in the country which had not its temperance hotel.
These institutions, how much soever called for and valu- able they might be, for the most part soon degenerated. It required too much capital in the proprietors to sustain them, and give the satisfaction to travellers — usually exor- bitant in their demands — ^that other hotels could give, which made great profit on their sales of liquors ; so that the contrast was drawn, in the estimation of the public, very much to the disparagement of the temperance house, and it was often forsaken, even by temperance men. In 1850, my friend. Dr. Charles Jewett, took up the subject in earnest, in the Worcester Cataract, and en- deavored to gain the confidence of the public in such houses ; while he gave all a severe scathing who kept such houses without any principle— merely for gain — giving their patrons the lowest, and often most miserable fare.
" Temperance men cannot be comfortable, where sights and' sounds are every moment reminding them of that terrible scourge which is annually
234 TEMPERANCE RECOLLECTIONS.
dragging down thousands of our countrymen to graves of infamy. There must be liouses, Avhere such music and exhibitions are not added to the bill of fare, for the accommodation of temperance men, of whom New England can number her tens of thousands. But why should a friend of temperance go out of his way, or make special efforts to send his friends to a particular hotel, though it holds out a temperance flag, and is called a temperance house, when he knows that its landlord or proprietor has no interest in the cause, and would sell liquor to-morrow, if more money could be made by it, or the public opinion and the laws of the State allowed him to do it? Some seem to have supposed that the word temperance could feed, warm, and lodge men. They have therefore put the word on the sign wliich swung before, or was placed above the door, and neglected to make provision for the comfort of their guests."
His remonstrances were not without effect, and a bet- ter state of things was widely visible.
The Second Arm of onr National Defence, our gallant Navy, had had, from the commencement of the temperance reform, much of the attention of the friends of temperance. Noble officers, as Foote, Hudson, Stringham, and Jones, themselves abstainers, had long wished and hoped that the spirit ration, alias the whiskey tub, the cause of most of the difficulties in the Navy, might be abolished ; and, at their instigation, numerous petitions, largely signed, had been sent to Congress for its removal. One member, whose services deserve to be held in lasting remembrance, John N. Rockwell, Esq., of Connecticut, devoted himself for several sessions almost entirely to the work ; and often was he sure, such were the imjDressions he made, that he should be successful. Letters to him from numerous com- manders, presenting the ration as a nuisance, the great cause of crime, were laid by him before Congress. One, in a special manner, from Commander Wilkes, on his return from his exploring expedition, came with great power. " There are," said he, " more drunkards made at the grog- tubs of our ships, than in any other place in our country with a hundred times the same population. The best men
SPIEIT-EATIONS IN THE NAVY. 235
on our ships do not draw their spirit ration." But the only- thing Mr. Rockwell, after years of labor, was able to ac- complish was, the procuring a commutation of six cents. JSTumbers accepted this in lieu of their grog ; but the mis- chief was done to young seamen, before they had time to esti- mate the value of the exchange. While, however, the Navy seemed destined to sufler under this evil for years to come, a new excitement arose, in 1849-50, on another point, which ultimately A^as to secure all that was desirable. A Mr. Watson G. Haynes, a bold and fearless seaman of the Navy, visited all the ports and cities, and by his rude and harsh eloquence, endeavored to arouse the public at- tention to the horrors of the flogging system. Many of his representations were of the most thrilling character. Of a thousand seamen, paid off in Boston, from three ships of war, some had received 2,700 lashes on their cruises. While many might be unwilling to take away his grog from poor Jack, every one would be anxious to spare his back from the cruel stripes. And yet the two were so intimately connected that they could not be separated.
If the spirit ration was continued, there would inevita- bly be cause for the stripes. The Captain of the Saratoga declared that nearly the whole of the offences for which the punishments were found necessary on his ship might be traced directly or indirectly to the effects of liquor. Captain Wilkes said, " I am satisfied that nine-tenths of the punishments of the Navy may be traced to the spirit rations; certainly, this was the case in my four years' cruise with the exploring expedition." In the great ex- citement, therefore, relative to the abolition of the flogging system, it seemed almost absolutely certain, that if flog- ging was abolished, the spirit ration would be also. And yet, strange to say ! Congress abolished the flogging system, but left the spirit ration. The punishment for offences was taken away, but the cause of the oflences was
236 TEMPERANCE RECOLLECTIONS.
suffered to remain. This brought the government of the Navy into a bad condition. What punishment could be substituted for flogging ? Confinement in the hold? This would be just what the offender would like, especially if he was too lazy to work. But his services were needed, and he could not be spared for this. A man must often be brought instantly to duty, perhaps to save the ship. Some ollicers threatened to resign, as they saw no way to govern the ship without flogging. A large crew, on com- ing into port, hearing that flogging was abolished, de- clared they would not enlist again, for without the sum- mary punishment, they had no protection from thievish and bad men, who might be among them. The more the subject was agitated and discussed, the more did the spirit ration appear as at the bottom of the whole diffi- culty. Intemperance was the cause of two-thirds of all the disobedience and crime on board shi]3 ; and the spirit ration must now be abolished under the new plea, that it was the cause of nearly all offences, while for those of- fences there was no penalty. I one day said to Captain Hudson, one of the Vice-Presidents of the Union, as he was going on a two years' cruise in the ship Yincennes in the Pacific, " Well, Captain, are you going to deal out the spirit ration ? " " Going to ? " he replied, Avith a look of indignation ; " I must, I must. It is the abhorrence of my soul, but I must to all who wish it. But I have some fine temperance men with me, and hope to make all so. I want a good supply of books and tracts. Send me some." I sent him to the amount of ten dollars. He was opposed to connecting the abolition of the spirit ra- tion with the discipline of the ship. He would never flog, but in the most extreme cases ; but he thought the power to inflict such punishment should be left with the commander to make him respected. So many and great were the difficulties, that it was much feared that the flog-
SPIRIT-RATION IN THE NAVY. 237
ging system would be brought back. Nearly all the good seamen were in favor of it, while the vile and disorderly were oj^posed. Said Captain Mcintosh of the U. S. Frig- ate Congress: "My crew are generally well disposed; and if I had the power, I would not have the law abolish- ing the lash repealed to-morrow, but should the crew of this ship be mustered, and the question asked, ' Cat, or no cat ? ' it would almost unanimously be given for the cat." In this state of thino^s there was much tremblino^ for the Navy ; and the friends of reform saw there was no hope for the Navy but in the abolition of the spirit ration. At the annual meeting of the Seamen's Fund Society, 1850, Charles Tracy, Esq., of New York, offered and sustained a resolution on the subject. He said :
*' Government had done a good thing in abolishing -flogging. There were those who said the time had not come for that, but Congress had to come to it, and do it before the time ; and they would have to do the same thing with the grog. They had taken one step. Revolutions never go backward. They had taken one step forward, and thrown the ' cat ' over- board, and would they say the grog-tub should remain ?
"Lieutenant Jones, of the TJ. S. N., in seconding the resolution, said ' he had seen men come on board vessels, who were not in the habit of drinking, who had fallen into the habit in consequence of the grog rations. He had visited a great many of the ports where are seamen's chaplains, and bore honorable testimony to their good influence. At Honolulu, at one time, on visiting the chaplaincy, 100 signed the pledge, and many more afterwards.' "
But great bodies move slowly. The public fell again into a strange apathy, and for more then ten years, the spirit ration was continued, and Commanders were left to struggle on, punishing disobedience as they best could, with the great cause of disobedience continued. The cause of delay was supposed to lie in depriving the officers as well as the men. At length, as we were thrust into war, and it became necessary to bring our gallant
238 TEMPEllANCE EECOLLECTIONS.
Navy up to the highest point of discipline, Congress were ready to listen, and did listen, to the long-repeated demand, and banished utterly from all ships of war the ruinous spirit-ration.
In tlie Senate of 18G2 the Hon. Mr. Grimes introduced the following resolution :
Be it enacted, That, from aud after the first day of September, 1802, the spirit-ratiou, in the Navy of the United States, shall cease ; and there- after, no distilled spirituous liquors shall be admitted on board of vessels of war, except as medical stores, and upon the order, and under the con- trol of, the medical officers of such vessels, and to be used only for medical purposes.
To avoid all complaints of injustice to any, five cents a day was allowed to any Avho had enlisted in the service under the implied promise of the spirit-ration.
Mr. Grimes stated that the resolution was offered in accordance Avith the wishes of almost every officer with whom he had been brought in contact, and that almost all the difficulties that Ifad grown up during the war, on board our vessels, was traceable to liquor, of which the resolution deprived the officers as well as men. The bill passed the house, and at once received the signature of the President.
Thus was finally accomplished one of the most impor- tant projects of reforln for our beloved country, after years of much labor in a few individuals, verifying the declara- tion, " In due season we shall reap, if we faint not." All who now say, " The temperance cause is a failure ; you have done and are doing nothing," I ask to look at our gallant navy. See in what condition it was, and in what it now is ; what commanders we have under the temper ance flaoj, and what s^lorious deeds our men with sober minds, and strong heads and hearts, have been able to ac- complish!
NAVAL SPIRIT-EATION ABOLISHED. 239
I had an expression from E ear-Admiral Foote of his high satisfaction at the expulsion of the spirit-ration from the navy, and an assurance that when he should have leisure, he would give some account of his long labor to accomplish the object, and his own happy experience in the cold-water system. He was then on his way to Wash- ington, on his crutches, to take charge of the new bureau. But, alas ! he was to remain with his grateful country but a short period. He was soon to be translated to a higher state, where he should receive, not the patriot, but the Christian crown.
Commodore Stringham, too, expressed to me the high joy he had at the passage of the resolution ; and he gloried in saying to the Governor of Massachusetts, when asked to take wine, " Sir, I have not known the taste of wine for twenty years." Such men feel their responsibilities ; and are the life, too, of their country, in the hour of danger.
So, Faeeagtjt. [To Secretary Seward I am indebted for the following.] Everybody admired Farragut's hera- ism in clinging to the topmast to direct a battle ; but there was another particular of that contest that no less forcibly illustrates his heroic character. " Admiral," said one of his officers, the night before the battle, " won't you con- sent to give Jack a glass of grog in the morning, not enough to make him drunk, but enough to make him fight cheerfully." " Well," replied the Admiral, " I have been to sea considerably, and have seen a battle or two, but I never found that I wanted rum to enable me to do my duty. I will order two cups of coffee to each man, at two o'clock ; and, at eight o'clock, I will pipe all hands to breakfast, in Mobile Bay." And he did give Jack the coffee ; and then he went up to the mast-head and did it. — Speech at Auhwni.
240 TEMPERANCE RECOLLECTIONS.
Well versified.
" No, I'll give them good cofFee, there's no need of rum To keep up a man's courage, when fighting hours come. I've been on the ocean, in stormiest nights, Have seen some hard service, and one or two fights ; But I never yet found that I needed a glass Of spirits, to help, or the danger to pass. They'll have two cups of coffee, at two, and then wait Till I pipe all to breakfast in harbor at eight.
" The men had their coffee, and each seemed a host, As he manfully stood at his perillous post ; For their leader shrank not from the danger they passed They knew he would stand with them, firm to the last, And many an anxious glance upward was cast At the heroic Admiral, lashed to the mast."
Linda May.
CHAPTER XVin.
Great Progress in Foreign Countries, and in British Provinces — Prohibition — Agitation — Wisconsin Law supported by Dr. Hewitt — Maine Law — Rise — Adoption, and Enforcement under Neal Dow — Approvals of.
As we were rallying oui* forces in America, for a gen- eral conflict witli our great enemy, at the commencement of tlie second half of the century, we had the ha23piness of hearing of great and good progress in other, and even dis- tant parts of the world. More tidings of good were continually laid upon my table than I was able to present in brief to the public, in my small monthly Journal. In England, the Chancellor of the Exchequer had reported an increased consumption of tea, coflee, and cocoa, and a proportional decrease of drinks which intoxicate. The Naval Lord Admiral had reduced the spirit ration one half, and taken it entirely from all under eighteen. Into the Crystal palace, for the great Industrial Exhibition in 1851, no wines, spirits, or beer were to be admitted; and 'the contractors were to be required to supply glasses of water gratis to all visitors; — a temperance lecture for the world. Ireland was in a state of great prosperity. Oscar, King of Sweden, accompanied by his queen, at- tended personally a grand temperance meeting, held re- cently at Stockholm, and became himself so impressed with the importance of abolishing intemperance in his dominions, that, besides giving his adhesion, and that of the queen, to the principles and practices of the temper- 11
242 TEMPERANCE KECOLLECTIONS.
ance societies, he offered full pecuniary compensation to all distillers of ardent spirits- who would cease manufac- turing alcoholic drinks ; w^hiRi was accepted by many. Over six thousand persons were enrolled in the Nether- lands. Liberia had entirely excluded all spirituous liquors. In South Africa, at Cape Town and Port Natal, were flourishing societies. At the Sandwich Islands, tem- perance was triumphant ; liquors on sale were seized and destroyed. In British Ahierica, 220,000 French and Irish Catholics, and 240,000 Protestants were enrolled on the total abstinence pledge ; 35,000 were embraced in the Or- der of Sons. In Nova Scotia, ten counties were w^ithout license ; and vigorous efforts were making for a prohibi- tory law, under the action and eloquence of our friend, F. W. Kellogg.
For such a law, the friends of temperance were no^^ earnestly looking, in almost every State. Perhaps un- wisely (but it seemed, as human nature is constituted, un- able to look at more than one point at a time), turning away from the subject of personal total abstinence — the great basis — and the training of the young in the way they should go, all" minds were beginning to be engross- ed with the removal of temptation by some strong legislative action. For years, it had been thought suf- ficient if the license system was abolished, for then com- mon law w^ould shut out the sale ; and it was effected in many of the States. Ohio and Michigan had made it for- ever unconstitutional to grant license, and yet venders would sell without. To meet them, Wisconsin had, it was sui>posed, completely confronted them however, by holding them responsible for all damages. This, known as the Wisconsin Law, was, with many, exceedingly popu- lar, and considered the nepliis ultra of legislation. It was taken up and improved, and pressed upon the public, by the old pioneer, Rev. Dr. Hewitt, of Connecticut. "He
DE. HEWITT ON THE WISCONSIN LAW. 243
thouglit a petition for such a law, carefully prepared, and sent to the legislatures, would at once be attended to. There could be no valia objection to it. The State is bound to provide for the protection of wives and children against the avarice of the rum-seller. As it is, they are left Avidowed and fatherless; there is no redress. No other such wrongs are left without provision. " We have the liberty of speech, but we are accountable for the use of it ; and the liberty of the press, but those who publish a iibel are held responsible. Suppose a law cannot be passed prohibiting the sale of liquors, why at least should not the liquor-seller be put on the same footing with us all — held responsible for the use of his liberty ? "
To this it was objected, that no court or jury could rightly estimate the damages done, as in the death of a husband, or father, or son — above all, in the loss of the soul. " A minor becomes a drunkard, whereby the father loses his services. What damage can be laid for convert- ing an only son into a sot ? And it was forcibly inquired how it could be proved who did the damage? A man gets drunk, and is frozen to death. It is proved that he bought his last glass of A. Was A. the cause of his death, or some one or more of half a dozen other rum-sellers of whom the drunkard had bought liquor shortly before the occurrence ? "
But the people seemed to be resolving that no damage should be done ; no drunkards sliould be made ; nor, for gain, should venders be continually inflicting upon the com- munity terrible calamities, and then challenging the people to prove that they were criminal. Prohibition of the traf- fic in intoxicating drinks in opposition to license, and in lieu of free trade as in all animals and useful articles, was slowly taking possession of men's minds ; and when it had got possession, no plea of the rum-seller or of the panderer to the appetite of the consumer could ever blot it out.
244 TEMPERANCE RECOLLECTIONS.
It was first presented in IBS'? in a memorial from the pen of General James Appleton, of Portland, to the Legislature of Maine, demanding an abrogation of all license laws as the support and life of tlie traffic, and also an entire prohibition of all sale, except for medicine and the arts ; for the same reason that the State makes laws to prevent the sale of unwholesome meats, or for the removal of anything which endangers the health and life of the citizen, or which threatens to subvert our civil rights or overthrow the government. That document, surpassed for clearness and force by none since written, made an impression on a few minds, though it was considered by the mass of political and commercial men as too im- practicable for human society in its present state, and especially, in its republican character. Yet it formed a school who were ultimately to have the mastery, at least in all IN'ew England.
The Washingtonian movement soon cast in the shade all projects of law. It was believed, especially by the reformed men, that nothing was needed to effect an overthrow of the traffic, but appeals from the sufterers to those who unin- tentionally caused the suffering ; and it was only through sympathy with the reformed men, as they became suffer- ers from the liquor dealers, and were often drawn back to drunkenness and woe, that the indignation of the com- munity was once more roused against the traffic.
ISTeal Dow, a citizen of Portland, whose family w^ere Friends, took a deep interest in the reformed and their fami- lies. He mingled much with them, and rejoiced to see them made comfortable by the thousands of dollars which had before gone to the rum-seller, and he n^w resolved that it should not go in that channel again ; and if venders would not be persuaded to give up their traffic by moral suasion, they must and shoiild by the law of the State. His first effort was to have the question of license or no
NEAL DOW SECURING THE MAINE LAW. 2i5
license referred to a vote of the people. This was in 1839. Bnt here he was defeated. That only roused his energies and gathered around him the reformed men ; and in the year 1842 he carried his position by a majority of four hundred. But it was of little avail while he had none but the city authorities, many of whom were in league with the ven- ders, to enforce the law on such as sold without license, and brought ruin and desolation upon the reformed. He now resolved to go to the Legislature, and get the power of the State to put a stop to the traffic, which he stamped as " an infamous crime." He succeeded with the House but not with the Senate ; and at once resolved ona Legisla- ture which should favor his views. In 1846 he travelled over four thousand miles in the State, everywhere holding meetings for discussion, and securing a prohibitory Senate as well as House. In that he succeeded ; and, in July, 1846, he aj^peared before the Legislature with the names of forty thousand petitioners for a prohibitory statute. A bill was introduced and passed in the House, 81 to 42, and in the Senate, 23 to 5. In a letter addressed to me, he said :
*' This is the first instance, I believe, in which the government of a civilized and Christian State has declared by statute, that there shall not be within its borders any traffic in intoxicating liquors to be used as a drink ; and that if any such liquors shall be sold for such purpose, under any circumstances, it shall be against law, and equity, and a good con- science. It was enacted in answer to the petition of more than forty thousand of the good people of the State, and constitutes the first blow only which the friends of temperance here propose striking at the traffic in strong drinks."
But the bill was an inefficien t one ; the penalties struck no terror into the hearts of the liquor-dealers and the victory was lost. The dealers and consumers of the infuriating poison made a desperate effort for its repeal, but utterly failed. Intemperance rolled in like a
216 TEMrEKANCE RECOLLECTIONS.
flood, for the law was void. One was resolved on, how- ever, which should be ellicient, and a Legislature was secured which Avould not fail to pass it — the Legislature of 1849. But it was vetoed by Governor Dana, to his polit- ical death. In August, 1850, he appeared before the Legis- lature with what is known as the Maine law, but it was lost by a tie vote in the Senate. This produced the greatest excitement throughout the State, and true mem- bers were returned in the fall election, so that on the 26th of May Mr. Dow appeared before the Legislature with his law perfected, and he had the great happiness of seeing it become the law of the State by a- vote of 86 to 40 in the House, and 18 to 10 in the Senate. It w^as approved by the Governor on the 2d of June. Mr. Dow assured the members that, if they enacted that bill, in six months the State would be cleared of every grog-shop.
Foreseeing the absolute necessity, if the bill should pass, of an efficient magistracy ; its friends, in the spring election, had elevated Mr. Dow to the mayoralty of Portland; thus throwing upon him the responsibility of executing the law.
All eyes were at once turned upon Maine, to see if she would execute her law. Will the Mayor of Portland stand firm at his post, and do his duty, or will he shrink in fear of mobs and riots ? Almost at once he issued his proclamation, decl goring that he should j^romptly enforce the law ; first giving all venders sixty days to ship their liquors to States whose governments would admit their introduction and sale. The Mayors of other cities did the same ; some giving a longer, and some a shorter term.
The Mayor of Bangor resolved on a prompt execution ; and on the morning of the fourth of July rolled out of the basement of the City Hall ten casks of liquor, seized and confiscated, and destroyed the Avhole. At the expiration
ENFORCEMENT OF THE LAW IN PORTLAND. 247
of the term allowed, the Mayor of Portland issued his search warrant, Seized two thousand dollars worth of liquor, and had it openly destroyed. No resistance was made. The people stood quietly by, and witnessed the whole in respectful silence. The smaller cities and towns followed on ; and throughout Maine, with some exceptions, prohibition was established. The world were taken by surprise and filled with amazement. The predictions of opponents were all proved to be without foundation. Tippling-shops and bar-rooms were everywhere closed ; temptations removed ; no more drunkards were seen in the streets. Old inebriates were of necessity reformed, and their families comfortable. " Oh," said one tenant of the almshouse, as she saw the liquor poured out, " that this had been done twenty years ago ; my husband would not have died a drunkard, and I should not have been here with my children." Pauperism and crime were re- duced 50 and 75 per cent. ; and jails and poorhouses were scarce needed. The immense sums everywhere expended before for strong drmk, now being expended for clothing, fuel and bread, made hundreds of families, once subjects of charity, comfortable and haj^py. In his first quarterly report, after the enforcement of the law, the Mayor of Portland said :
" At the time of its passage, there were supposed to be in the city from two hundred to three hundred shops and other places where intoxicating liquors were openly sold to all comers. At the present time there are no places where such liquors are sold openly, and only a very few where they are sold at all, and that with great caution and secrecy, and only to those who are personally known to the keepers, and who can be relied upon not to betray them to the authorities.
" The results of the law so far have been more salutary and decisive than its most ardent friends had reason to anticipate."
The marshal of the city of Augusta, the capital of the State, reported :
248 TEMPERANCE EECOLLECTIONS.
*' Augusta had four wholesale stores, business worth $;200,000 a year ; retail shops, twenty-five. The city was exempted ^rom the new law for sixty days by a dispensation of the mayor. During the sixty days, one dealer made a profit of about $900. As soon as the sixty days were out, three of the wholesale dealers sent off their liquors to New York, and ultunately to California. The remaining firm persisted in selling, imtil about $1,000 worth of their liquors were seized. Liquor may be sold at the principal hotels, but stealthily. The police used to be called up a hundred nights in a year. Since the passage of this law they have not been summoned once."
The Mayor of Bangor, in his message to the Council of that city, on its organization the 22d of April, bore full testimony to its benign operations. The occupants of the almshouse and house of correction in the year an- terior to the creation of the law were 12,206 ; in the year subsequent, 9,192; the prosecutions varied from 101 to 58. "On the 1st of July," he said, " when I gave notice that I should enforce the liquor law, 108 persons were selling liquors here openly ; twenty of them have left the city, and are carrying on their trade in Massachusetts. Of the remaining eighty-eight, not one sells here openly."
Unable to remain a listener to all that was reported, I made a tour through Maine, that I might be an eye witness of the wondrous spectacle. Patriotic, philan- thropic, and Christian men, throughout the nation, were filled with admiration of the law, and its operation. Said the venerable Professor Moses Stuart of Andover, Mass. :
"I thank and praise my God, that, by his holy providence, there is one people on the face of this wicked world who dare to do their duty boldly, faithfully, and thoroughly. People of Maine, the God of heaven bless you for achieving such a victory ! Many triumphs have been achieved in the good cause, but none like yours. Others have, more or less, fought with the drunkards and the liquor-sellers, in the way of arguments and moral suasion, and indirect, and inefficient, and temporizing legislation. You have followed the most adroit conqueror the world has ever seen, in your scheme of poHcy or struggle. You have steered for the capitol itself, with
OPINIONS ON THE MAINE LAW. 249
all its magazines and material of war ; and these once in your hands, YOU know the contest cannot long continue. Whence are the arms and ammunition, and rations, to come, when all the depots are seized ? You have the unspeakable advantage of making war upon all the suppHes of war, aud not directly upon the men who take the field against you- You combat with the body of sin and death itself, and not with those who are deceived and misled. You do not purpose to destroy those who are misled and drawn to ruin, but to cripple and annihilate the power that misleads them. It is an elevated and noble purpose. When mighty conquerors and crafty poUticiaus will be forgotten, the laurels on your brows will be freshening and blooming with a beauty and glory that will be immortal."
Said the Hon. Lucius M. Sargent, of Boston, author of the Temperance Tales:
" Maine has most worthily extended her legislative arm for the protec- tion of her children. How long she will be enabled to retain it in its present position, is a question of the deepest interest to the inhabitants of that commonwealth, and of no ordinary soUcitude to the citizens of other States, who, equally in the event of ultunate failure or success, will accord to her all the merit of her noble example, and yet more warily contem- plate the course of her experiment, and abide their time. I have read — I may say studied — the several provisions of this law, with considerable care ; and I have not been able to raise a doubt of its constitutionahty."
Said General John H. Cocke, of Virginia :
" I am grateful, indescribably grateful, that my life has been spared to see the day when a sovereign State has outlawed the master evil of our day and generation."
Said the Rev. John Pierpont, of Boston :
" My private opinion is, that the liquor-law of Maine is a new era in the Temperance Reformation."
Said the Rev. Justin Edwards, D. D., of Andover,
Mass. :
" If the people prevail, and permanently defend themselves and their children as they have a right, and it is their duty, to do, from the evils 11*
250 TEMPER.VNCE RECOLLEC/l'IONS.
of the liquor-tninTic, they will be benefactors, not only of the present gen- eration, but of all future generations of men ; not only in Maine, but in every State in the Union, and ihrou^hout the Chii.stian world."
Said the Hon. Gcrritt Smith, of Petcrhoro', N. Y. :
" That law has laid the foundation for an unrivalled progress in respect- ability and knowledge and happiness. If no oth.er State should follow her example, in this respect, Maine will very soon be able to boast — if, indeed, she cannot thus boast now — that her people surpass every other, physi- cally, mentally, and morally."
Said the Hon. Thomas S. Williams, Chief Justice of Connecticut :
" Honor to the men by whose energy thiy mighty victory has been won ! Honor to the legislature who yielded to the wishes of a virtuous commu- nity ! Honor to those who have so faithfully executed it ; and honor to those who, being originally opposed to the law, have now become its strenuous supporters !
" As a matter of political economy, the value of this law can hardly be overestimated ; but, ui its moral bearings, it is beyond all price."
Said Governor Briggs, of Massachusetts :
" This law, so far as I understand it, is above all laws that I have ever seen. It is clear; it deals with vice just as all laws should deal with it. It puts in the plough to the beam : aye, it puts in the subsoil plough, and lets in the pure air of heaven on this infamous, this polluting traffic."
Said Dr. R. D. Mussey, head of the medical profession at Cincinnati :
" We, temperance men, all pray for the Maine Law, that it may be sus- tained, and ultimately overspread the land and the world."
CHAPTER XIX.
Fourth National Convention — Great Rejoicings — Thanl^ful Resolution — Maine Men heard — Workings of the Law — United and Decided Action agreed upon — Speech of Dr. Edwards — Action in Massachusetts — 126,000 Petitioners— Adoption of Maine Law — Adoption in Rhode Island — In Connecticut — In Vermont — Action in New York — 300, 000 Petitions at Albany — Adoption of Maine Law — Governor Sey- mour's Yeto — Maine Law Record — Workings.
So excited were the friends of temperance throughout the country at the passage and enforcement of the Maine law, that a great desire was expressed for a general gath- ering, that they might take each other by the hand, and unitedly bow before the Sovereign of the universe in thankfulness and praise. Accordingly, on consultation with several individuals of enlarged views, the Executive Committee of the American Temperance Union issued a call for a National Temperance Convention, to be held on the 20th of August, 1851, at Saratoga Springs. The call was well responded to ; — more than 300 delegates were enrolled from seventeen States, and the Canadas. Chancellor Walworth was elected President. Letters were read from Father Mathew, Judge O'Xeal, of South Carolina, Hon. Neal Dow, and Christian Keener, ex- pressing regrets at unavoidable absence. Mr. Dow was unable to leave his post as Mayor of Portland. The Con- vention, on gathering, manifested the greatest exhilaration and joy at the progress in legislation against the traffic, and early unanimously adopted a resolution, declaring :
252 TEMPERANCE RECOLLECTIONS.
" That the recent discussion and action in the Legislatures of New Hampshire, Massacliusctts, Rhode Island, Connecticut. Vermont, and In- diana, on the legal suspension of the traffic — the constitutional exclusion of all license in Michigan and Ohio, and the entire outlaw of the traffic in spirit- uous and intoxicating liquors as a beverage in Iowa and Maine are grati- fying tokens of advance in public sentiment, and give reason to hope that, with the Divine blessing on judicious and persevering efforts, the im- moral and pernicious traffic will, ere long, be done away."
Dr. Edwards remarked that tlie State upon which the sun first shines in the morning in its uj^ward course is making an experiment which no legislative body is called to make more than once in a thousand years. If their way is the best way, they are setting the world an exam- ple it will be wise to follow.
Dr. Jewett thought the resolution was defective, inas- much as it did not allude to that feature in the Maine law which destroys the liquor in possession for sale. It was, therefore, judged proper that the delegates from Maine be heard fully in relation to the law and its workings. Rev. Mr. Peck, of Portland, then took the stand, and at length addressed the Convention. He was followed by Rev. Freeman Yates. Their developments were intensely interesting. They were followed by sj^eeches from Gen- eral Cary, of Ohio; Mr. Kilbourn, of Iowa; Rev. Mr. Thurston, of Maine ; Deacon Grant, of Boston ; John A. Foot, Esq., of Cleveland, in warm congratulatory speeches. In the evening an enthusiastic meeting was held in the Presbyterian Church. On the ensuing day a series of resolutions, adapted to the times, were introduced, dis- cussed and adopted. General Cary, and Mr. Godfrey, of Maine, and myself, were appointed a Committee to prepare an address from the Convention to the friends of temper- ance throughout the United States ; which, on being read at the close of the Convention, was unanimously adopted, with great cheering. A desire existed to embody in one
FOUETH NATIONAL CONVENTION. 253
resolution, more explicitly than any which had been offer- ed, the fall views of the Convention on the character and correctness of the Maine Law, to be j^ut on record, and spread abroad over the world. After several vain at- tempts, as if guided from above, I presented the following, which seemed fully to satisfy all parties, and was declared to be the great resolution of the Convention. I felt grate- ful in my heart for such an inspiration, though so un- worthy an individual.
" Resolved^ That the principle assumed and carried out in the Maine Law, that spix'ituous and intoxicating liquors, kept for sale as a beverage, should be destroyed by the State, as a public evil, meets the approbation of this Convention, as consonant with the destruction of the implements of gambling and counterfeiting, of poisonous food, infectious liides, and weapons of war in the hands of an enemy ; that if the liquor destroyed is private property, it is only so as are the implements of the counterfeiter, dangerous and deadly to the best interests of the community ; that its de- struction is no waste of the bounties of Providence, more than the de- struction of noxious weeds, while its very destruction enriches the State exceeding the amount for which it could have been sold. It tends to put an end to all subterfuges, frauds, and secret sales, and to the demand for it in the community. It makes the State a perfect Asylum for the inebriate. It is a solemn manifestation to the world of the vile and worthless nature of the article destroyed ; and an unmistakable token to the vender of the end to which a righteous public sentiment will ultimately bring his business. For these and other reasons the Convention give it their hearty approbation ; and they do strongly recommend to all the friends of tem- perance to cherish it as the sure, and the only sure triumph of their cause, and continually to urge its adoption upon every Legislature."
At the conclusion of all business, Dr. Justin Edwards addressed the Convention in an able, dignified and im- pressive manner ; which, however, seemed to be the close of his long and able services, through threatening ail- ments. He said :
"As to the future, we take it for granted in this delightful Conven- tion— delightful as to union and results — if we do not displease Him from
254 TEMPERANCE EECOLLECTIONS.
whom all blessings come, we shall be prospered. The Convcntiou is only a development of Avhat has been done for fifty years. Every town will have such a temperance meeting as was never held before, to hear what has been done at Saratoga. The press will be employed. Every paper will speak. The pulpit will speak ; and patriots and philanthropists will unite their efforts, until the evil shall all be done away ; and all the glory will be given to Ilim from whom all good cometh, and to whom it is the happiness of all to live forever and ever.
All retired from tlie Convcntiou with clear and decid- ed views, relating to the falseness in principle of all license laws or efforts to regulate the traffic in intoxicating drinks, and with the determination to take the earliest j^racticable measures to establish a prohibitory law in every State. Where Legislatures were in existence who would enact no such law, all felt that appeals must be made at once to the people, with whom was the " hiding of the power," and who must, if possible, be induced to elect such Executive and Legislative officers as would give the people the pro- tection demanded.
In Massachusetts, a petition for the law was at once circulated among the people, for signature ; and on the first of January, 1842, a large meeting, for its presenta- tion, was held in Boston, at the Tremont Temple ; Horu A. Huntington, of Salem, presiding. After a few remarks from him, the petition, containing one hundred and twen- ty-six thousand names, of whom fifty thousand were legal voters, was brought in, and placed upon tlie platform. It was then borne to a double sleigjh, containino^ the commit- tee, with the venerable Dr. Lynian Beecher, Chairman. Before it was borne a banner, on "which was inscribed, "The Voice of Massachusetts; 130,000 Petitioxers IN FAVOE OF the Maine Temperance Law." A pro- cession, preceded by the police and a band of music, passed through several streets, to the State House, where it was duly presented. On return of the procession, a series of
MASSACHUSETTS ADOPTS THE MAINE LAW. 255
spirited and decided resolutions were adopted, and sent over the State.
In the Legislature, the petition was referred to a select committee, who gave its friends a public hearing, where it was ably sustained by Rev. E. Othman, Hon. ISTeal Dow, Dr. Beecher, Rev. John Pierpont, and others. A bill was reported, containing the great features of the Maine Law, with modifications adapting if to Massachu- setts. In the debates, facts were brought to light most appalling: 8,394 persons were committed, in 1851, to the jails and houses of correction, 29 per cent, of which were for intemperance ; 1,200 idiots were in the State (children of drunken parents.) The retail traffic of the State was annually $8,400,000. Opponents denied the right and ex- pediency of the measure. But the Hon. Mr. Pomeroy, of Southampton, ably supported the bill, and it finally passed both Houses, by handsome majorities, with a submission to the people, in open ballot. It was, however, vetoed by the Governor, he preferring the secret to the open ballot. The Legislature then passed the bill, without submission, to go into operation in sixty days. It was approved by the Governor ; and thus the Law of the daughter became THE Law of the mothee.
In Rhode Island, the then existing Legislature rejected the law on its first presentation ; but the people at once returned a new one, which passed the law, almost by ac- clamation ; while the city of Providence elected a Mayor who would secure its immediate and perfect enforcement.
In Connecticut, a State Temperance Convention for re- vising the tickets for State officers, was held at New Haven. Eight hundred and forty delegates were enrolled from all parts of the State. Replies were read to in- quiries whether candidates for office would vote for the Maine Law. Such as said Aye, were to receive the votes of temperance men at the next election. A Legislature
256 TEMPERANCE KECOLLECTIONS.
was returned which, on the 14th of June, 1854, adopted the Maine Law, by a vote of 148 to Gl in the House, and 19 to 2 in the Senate, to go into operation on the first day of August. It was immediately signed by the Governor, and, on the 22d, a large congratulatory meeting was held in New Haven.
At Albany, N. Y., an exciting scene was witnessed, on the 28th of January, in a large gathering of the friends of temperance, at the Delavan House, whence they moved in procession, led by the Albany Artillery Com- pany, through the principal streets, to the Capitol, where they entered, by permission, the Assembly-Chamber, with an immense roll of 300,000 petitioners for a Maine Law. There they were addressed by Dr. Jewett,W. H. Burleigh, and myself. On the folio v^dng morning, the petition was l^resented to the Legislature, and was referred to commit- tees of the Senate and House, which shortly reported ac- ceptable bills, with reasons for their adoption. From this time until early in March, there was great excitement among the friends and foes of the law. Whenever the subject was before the Senate or Assembly, floods of eloquence were poured forth for its adoption or rejection ; until, at length, on the 9th of March, 1854, the bill, complete, was passed in the Senate, 21 to 11 ; and in the House by the de- cided vote of 78 to 42 — absent V. As the two bodies differ- ed on the time of execution, by compromise, the 1st of December was agreed upon.
This was viewed, excepting by the trade, as a day of great glory for the Empire State. All eyes were now upon Governor Seymour, for his signature. But, alas ! they were destined to sad disappointment. The Gover- nor VETOED the bill. Overlooking entirely the great ques- tion on which a constitutional question could properly be raised, viz. : the right of a State wholly to prohibit the sale of an article pronounced to be destructive of the pub-
GOVERNOR Seymour's veto. 257
lie good, which had been settled by the Supreme Court of the United States affirmatively, Governor Seymour con- fined himself to the mere machinery, or workings of the law. In this, he found some constitutional difficulties; some interference with the practices of the courts ; much that would be oppressive to the people, and injurious to the cause of temperance. An immense meeting of the friends of temperance was at once called, at the City Hall, to express their indignation. The Maine-Law members of the Legislature held a meeting in which they agreed to issue a document reviewing the Governor's veto, and scat- teiing it broadcast over the State ; and to seek out a man for the high office of Governor, at the next election, who would give the people the protection they demanded.
The essential features of the Maine Law were, that alcohol was necessary for medicine and the arts, and must be sold ; but that the unrestricted sale was ruinous to the community. When sold for medicine and the arts, it was to be by agents appointed for that purpose. All other sales were outlawed. Wherever found, it might be destroyed. Officers might search stores, vessels, and all public convey- ances, and destroy, without compunction. No action for damages could be brought. If any one was found un- lawfully selling, the fine, for the first offence, was 820 ; for the second, 830 ; and for the third, a fine and three months' imprisonment.
What Maine had accomplished for the protection of her citizens, other States were anxious to do ; and soon, many were found coming up with vigor and power — some in one form, and some in another, but all sustaining the great principle of prohibition of all sales of intoxicating liquors as a beverage, on pains and penalties.
The first Legislature which moved in the matter was Minnesota, in the year 1852; submitting the law to the people, who decided favorably ; but the act of submission
258 TEMPERANCE KECOLLECTIONS.
was pronouuced unconstitutional by the Supreme Court of the State. In the same year, the Maine Law was adopted' by Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Vermont. In 1853, by Michigan, and ratified by the people. In 1854, by Ohio and Coimecticut. In 1855, by Indiana, Illinois^ Iowa, and Delaware. In 1855, by Wisconsin — and twice vetoed ; also, in New Hampshire.
The workings of the law at first, in every State, were almost equally as surprising and gratifying to its friends, astonishing to its enemies, as it had been in Maine.
In Ilhode Island, both at Newport and Providence, there was a general acquiescence in the law. Hon. Mr. Barstow, Mayor of Providence, issued his proclamation, calling on good citizens for acquiescence, assuiing them that he should do his duty. In some places, the law was openly trampled upon ; but the people were determined upon its enforcement, and the refractory were compelled to yield.
In Massachusetts, with the exception of Boston, and some other large cities, there was a good observance. Said the Minority Peport against its repeal, in 1864: " The same public sentiment that spoke this law into being- still rallies around it, and is making it effective throughout the Commonwealth. Its prospects for efficiency and suc- cess were never better than at the present time."
From New Hampshiee, the most cheering tidings reached us of the enforcement of the law, even beyond any other State* in the Union. The expectations of the friends of the law were more than realized.
In Vermont. In answer to an inquiry, relative to the working of the law, ex-Governor Eaton said :
" The law has exerted an immense influence, and accomplished great good ; yet, I would not overstate the amount of what it has accomplished. Enacted as it was, and executed as it has been, in defiance of the strong and bitter opposition of a portion of the community, no one would sup-
MAINE LAW IN CONNECTICUT. 259
pose that, in the short space of a few months, it could have exerted, in full, its beneficent influences. And, besides, so vast is the magnitude and extent of the evil to be removed, no reasonable man could expect to see the whole work accomplished in a single year, even under the most favor- able auspices."
In Connecticut, the Governor of ihS State declared, after six months' trial of the law :
" The Maine liquor-law, in its operation, has been decidedly successful. Not a grog-shop, so called, is to be found in the State, since the law came into force. I do not mean that there are not a few dark spots, where, by falsehood and secrecy, evasion may not be managed ; but, in a word, the traffic is suspended. I have not seen a drunkard in the streets since the first of August. Crimes which directly result from rum have fallen away half. The opposition predicted to the enforcement of the law, is not real- ized. Its enemies cannot get up an opposition to it, because it commends itself to all men's judgments ; another reason is, the incentive to violence is taken away — riot is always preceded by rum. Take away the rum, and you cannot have the riot. At the late State Agricultural Fair, from 26,000 to 30,000 people, of all conditions, were assembled, and not a solitary drunkard was seen, and not the slightest disturbance made. Some jails are almost tenantless. The home of the peaceable citizen was never more secure."
At the meeting of the State Temperance Society, at Hartford, November 14, 1854, it was unanimously
Resolved, That the universal experience of the people, imder the oper- ation of our excellent prohibitory law, fully confirms our most sanguine expectations, and establishes, on a firm and sure basis, its wisdom, ef- ficiency, and power. With the poor people, many of them say, *' the law must have come from heaven ; it is too good to be from man." — Cit^ Missionary.
Amid all this excitement, and advance of the Temper- ance community, the vast hosts of distillers, brewers, im- porters, venders and consumers, were not in a state of in- difference, much less of acquiescence. They held numer- ous meetings, wherever they could find sympathy. In New
260 TEMPERANCE RECOLLECTIONS.
York, a call for a meeting, signed by from two to three thousand names, was sent out. The Maine Law was de- nounced as an outrageous attempt to destroy the interests of the city ; to rob respectable men of their capital ; to disfranchise many of their inherited rights, guaranteed by the Constitution. All temperance men were called upon to put down these fanatical movements, which must ulti- mately destroy temperance itself. Thirty thousand names were sent to Albany, remonstrating against any Maine- Law action.
A similar, and even more violent meeting was held iu Detroit.
The brewers and maltsters of Philadephia city and county issued an address to the Farmers of Pennsylvania revealing the astounding fact that to supply the demands for brewing, 600,000 bushels of barley had been obtained from the State of New York ; that Pennsylvania was bet- ter adapted to the raising of barley, and that, therefore, the farmers of Pennsylvania should be on the watch against a Maine law, which would make valueless their beautiful soil.
False-hearted politicians were continually active to thwart the Maine-Law men in their attemi^ts to secure pro- hibition ; often drafting bills of a special character, bear- ing the appearance of friendship, and getting the Maine- Law men in their web, from which there was no extrica- tion.
Scientific gentlemen were found ready to come forward and declare that Alcohol, the good creature of God, was useful and essential to the constitution of man ; that to a Maine law none could be obedient, more than to a law which should deprive them of bread and meat ; and such, connected with the rich and luxurious, declared in their merriment, that it was unconstitutional, or against the interests of their constitution, more ready to consult the
PROFESSOR TOUMANS ON BRAIN-POISON. 261
apiDetite, and make their God their belly, than to read the lectures of Professor Yoiimans on Alcohol and the con- stitution of men, giving the chemical history and proper- ties of Alcohol, and its leading effects upon the healthy human constitution, illustrated by a beautiful colored chart, which appeared about this period, and in the midst of these discussions. Said Professor Youmans :
" Alcohol is a Brain Poison. It is so to all intents and i^urposes. It seizes with its disorganizing energy upon that mysterious part whose steady and undisturbed action holds man in true and responsible relations with his family, with society and with God, and it is this fear- ful part, that gives to government and society their tre- mendous interests on this question." In other cases of insanity, the criminal is not held responsible. Here it is voluntarily brought on, and is, therefore, crime, and the drunken murderer is hung upon the gallows. But, in- quires Professor Youmans, " Is not society, is not every individual who makes, sells or patronizes the use of Alco- hol, and leads the wretch to temptation and death, respon- sible also ? Must not Alcohol be a subject of law ? Sure- ly it must. There has always been a jurisprudence of Alcohol ; there is still, and the necessity for it will con. tinue. But the demand of the age is for a new, a highei and juster legislation, for more thorough and potential law, through which the most ubiquitous and omnipotent energy of government shall be expressed for the protection of society."
With Professor Youmans I was on terms of great inti- macy ; and from him I derived my most decided confirma- tion of the correctness of total abstinence, for the human constitution ; and of prohibitory law, for human society.
CHAPTER XX.
"World's Temperance Convention in New York, September 6, 1853 — Neal Dow, President — Slight Disturbance — Lady on the Platform — Intro- duction of Foreign Delegation — "Wendell Phillips — Great Tumult — House cleared by Police — Soiree abandoned — Peaceable Progress — Children's Meeting — Speech of Dr. Lees — Address to all Nations — Dr. Pierpont's Speech and Poem — Tribute to Dr. Edwards — Meeting of Sons of Temperance — Adulterations — Frauds in the Liquor Traffic — Rum Maniac.
Ox tlie 6th of May, 1853, at a meeting of the friends of temperance, in New York, it was resolved, that it was expedient and desirable to hold a World's Temperance Convention, in the city of New York, in September next. A committee of forty gentlemen from every State, Terri- tory, and the British provinces, were appointed to issue the call, inviting all temperance organizations and associations, based on the principle of total abstinence, to appear by their delegates, for mutual congratulation, but more es- pecially for the enactment of a prohibitory law, like the Maine Law, in every State and nation ; and extending the invitation to friends of temperance in all parts of the world, assuring them of a cordial welcome, and of an op- portunity to present the full progress of the cause in their own district or country. The day appointed for the Con- vention was the 6th of September, and its continuance to be at least four days. Large preparations were at once made, and several gentlemen were requested to prepare dis- sertations on important topics, to be read at the Con- vention.
I
world's CONVEXTIOX in new YORK. 263
On the day designated, a very large body of men, from all parts of the country, were gathered, by ten o'clock, A. M., at the Metropolitan Hall— the largest and most mag- nificent room in the city. They were called to order by John W. Oliver, Chairman of the Committee of Arrange- ments, who invited Gen. S. F. Cary to the Chair. Gen. C. made a few eloquent remarks, appropriate to the occa- sion. A committee on organization reported, for Presi- dent of the Convention, Hon. Neal Dow, of Maine ; twen- ty vice-presidents, six secretaries, and a Business Commit- tee, of which the Hon. J. Belton 0'!N'eal, of South Carolina, was chairman. Mr. Dow was conducted to the chair by Gen. Cocke, of Virginia, and Judge O'N'eal of South Caro- lina, amid loud acclamations. Mr. Dow returned thanks for the honor done him. He said :
" They had assembled to take counsel on the cause of temperance. He regretted there were men hostile to it ; but it was not surprising. All great enterprises, which had for their object the amelioration of society, were 'destined to opposition. On passing through the Park, he had just noticed the statue of one of our great men (De Witt Clinton), who, when he proposed to join the waters of the Great Lakes and the Atlantic, met with nothing but scorn and opposition. And yet, they had all lived to see that mighty work accomplished, and contributing more to the wealth and power of the State than anything else. The cause of temperance was no exception, either in reproach or blessedness. They had gone steadily on against opposition, and were now about at the termination of their labors.
A female from Western New York presented herself* on the platform, expressing much interest in ther cause, and asking to be received as a delegate from two societies — admitted. A motion was made that the platform be occupied only by officers of the Convention. Gen. Cary moved that the platform was not the appropriate sphere of woman. Some confusion ensued, and the Convention ad- journed.
264 TEMPERANCE RECOLLECTIONS.
An immense meeting was held in the evening, which was addressed by Rev. Rufus W. Clark, of Boston, and Gen. Gary. He said, " We are in the midst of a great moral revolution ; so let us buckle on our armor, and go into the conflict undaunted; and we may rest assured that a grateful posterity will ever bless our memory." A splendid song was sung by M. Golburn, Esq. :
" From hall and from hamlet, from mountain and plain, The songs and the prayers of the just are ascending;
The armies of Truth, and the Revellers' train, In the tumult of conflict and battle are blending.
Then on ! while the ranks of the foe shall unfold ;
Press forward, for victory smiles on the bold.
After a collection, Rev. Dr. Pat ton introduced the for- eign delegation, viz. : John Gassell, of London ; Dr. Lees, of Leeds (England) ; Mr. Jeffries, of Scotland ; John Dougal, of Montreal ; and E. N. Harris, of New Bruns- wick. Mr. Gassell addressed the audience, giving an ac- count of the rise and progress of the cause in England ; the miseries inflicted on that country by strong drink ; the op- position they met w^ith from the higher classes and the clergy ; and the hope they indulged that the day was not far distant when England and America would both be blessed with a Maine law.
On Wednesday morning, prayer was offered by Rev. T. L. Guyler. Letters were read from a number of dis- tinguished gentlemen in America, England and Scotland. A large number of committees were appointed; when Wendell Phillips, of Boston, reporting himself as a dele- gate from a New York society, made several reflec- tions upon the action of the day previous relating to speeches from the platform, causing, for an hour, great confusion. When order was restored, at the request of Judge O'Neal, I read, from the Business Gommittec,
GREAT children's MEETING. 265
fifteen resolutions, expressive of the sentiments, purposes, and designs of the friends of temperance in the United States and the world, to be discussed and adopted. To these, another was added, viz. :
That, while we do not design to disturb political parties, we do intend to have, and enforce, a law prohibiting the liquor manufacture and traffic as a beverage, whatever may be the consequences to political parties, and we will vote accordingly.
John Dougal of Montreal was heard in an able si^eech on the first resolution ; w^hen all was thrown into confu- sion by the lady's taking the platform iij opposition to the resolution passed. The Chair decided that she had a right to the floor ; and invited her to the platform. The Chair was sustained, on an appeal. As it w^as supposed that many were in the hall who were not delegates and had voted, it was moved that the hall be cleared, and none readmitted but regular members. The police at once cleared the hall. The process of reconstruction engrossed all of the morning.
A most magnificent soiree had been for days in prepara- tion, for which the sum of $1,100 had been subscribed. Expensive articles of furniture had been procured, and in- sured against damage. The committee, filled witli fears of disorder, or fire, concluded to abandon it, to the great regret of all ; especially from other , cities and county towns. The afternoon meeting was one of great beauty and loveliness. More than five thousand children filled the hall, and were addressed by Dr. Edward Beecher, of Bos- ton ; the Mayor of Providence ; Christian Keener, of Bal- timore ; and Hon. ISTeal Dow. Mr. Dow was welcomed by the waving of a thousand handkerchiefs. He put it to vote whether the children wanted any grog-shops ; when all shouted, No ! and all sang, " Some Wine to Drink, from the Foamy Brink ; " and also, " The Noble Law of Maine."
12
266 TEMPER.VNCE RECOLLECTIONS.
The evening was occupied by a masterly speech from Dr. F. It. Lees, of Leeds (England), new, in its chemical developments, to most of his hearers ; and acceptable to nil in his moral applications :
" It is necessary," said he, " that the body should be pure, in order to the soul being pure. This must be the appropriate temple for the Spirit of the living God ; and if you defile that temple, in which the Spirit dwells, you defile and grieve the Spirit itself We borrowed this doctrine from you, and we return it to you, with our hearty commendations. (Loud ap- plause.) We will adhere to it forever. Intemperance interferes with the health, the temper, the social prosperities ; with the laAvs, the political econ- omy ; wiih the courage, the advancement, the education, the religion, and virtue, of the human race; and the highest sanctions of earth and heaven, of the past and the future, demand that we should, as far as we can, exter- minate the destroyer. You dwell in a wonderful age. To you, the nations of the earth are now looking — to you, in whose bosom burns the love of liberty exhibited by the old Puritan Fathers — to you we are looking, for the future steps in this great work. (Applause.) Finish the work so nobly commenced ; and the magnificent destiny, and glorious opportunity before you, will make you the future glory of the world, and the wonder of all ages.
Dr. Lees was followed by Kev. Mr. Wolcott, of Providence, and Rev. Thomas P. Hunt.
On Thursday, none but delegates were admitted to the body of the House. Strangers occupied the galleries. Wendell Phillips would amend the minutes. Honorable Judge Hoar, of Massachusetts, rose to a point of order. He said : That gentleman, learned, eloquent, and powerful, whose aid was desired in every cause in which his heart was concerned, was not a member of this body. He moved that the credentials he had presented be recommitted. It was done. Mr. Phillips asked whether he was a member of the Convention. The President said his rights were suspended. Gen. Cary offered a resolution that the com- mon usages of society had excluded women from the plat- form • and, whethei' right or wrong, we will in this Con-
TEMPERANCE AXD POLITICS. 2.6Y
vention conform to this usage. This was carried and re- stored quietness to the Convention. Reports of Commit- tees were received and adopted. The Report on obstruc- tion to progress, ended with the following resolution, which was adopted : —
" Eesolved, That the cause of Jemperance is a question altogether separate and apart from the question of Woman's Rights, Land Reforms, or any other, and that it must stand or fall upon its own merits."
On the case of Mr. Phillips, the Committee reported that he was not a delegate from any regular organization, but from a Society which was a new creation, formed after the Convention had assembled, for the purpose of sending delegates to this Convention, and that he was not entitled to a seat.
Rev. R. W. Clarke read an able address from the Con- vention to the governments of the world, and recommend- ed the adoption of the following sentiment, " Sink or swim, live or die, survive or perish, I give my heart and hand to the enactment and execution of the principles of the Maine Law throughout the world." Adopted by a unanimous vote.
The regular resolutions were discussed and adopted. On an objection to mingling temperance and politics, Rev. John Pierpont, of Boston, rose and said : —
" We ask at the hand of our civil legislatures a prohibitory law which we cannot get except at the hands of political action. It is, therefore, to me absurd to renounce or reject all pretensions to mingling in politics. We mean to carry it to the polls and to carry the polls in our favor. We do it upon the principle that it is a moral question, paramount in God's eye to questions of office holding, of finance and of pohcy. We have up to this time been timid before politicians. We have said, ' We did not mean you.' We say now, ' We do mean you, and will put you down, if you do not give us what we ask.' These are our sentiments."
A long debate ensued on temperance and politics, when
268 TEMPERANCE RECOLLECTIONS.
Mr. Carson had leave to unfold to the Convention the en- tire system of The Cakson League.
The social gathering and soiree having been given up, Thursday evening was devoted to a speech from Judge O'Neal, of Charleston, S. C, a splendid poem by Rev. John Pierpont, and an auction of a barrel of Wisconsin flour. (This had been sent from Wisconsin to be sold in the Con- vention, and its avails to be returned to that State in Maine-Law tracts.) Rev. Thomas P. Hunt was appointed auctioneer, and bid it off, in great sport, to Bowen & McXamee, for $100. Addresses were then made by Rev. Mr. Hatfield, of New York, and Gen. Cary.
Friday was devoted to hearing reports from foreign delegates : Dr. Lees and Mr. Cassell from England, and Rev. Mr. Scott, from Montreal.
Mr. Cox, of Georgia, then offered a glowing tribute to the memory of Dr. Justin Edwards, deceased, in the fol- lowing resolution : —
" Resolved, That the Convention hereby expresses its high and grate- ful appreciation of the distinguished services rendered the cause of Tem- perance by the late Justin Edwards, D, D., and that while they bow with resignation to the decrees of that unerruag "Will which has removed him from his position of earthly usefulness and toil, we cannot too deeply mourn the loss from our ranks of so efficient and useful a laborer."
The motion was resj^onded to in impressive speeches from Christian Keener, Mr. Cassell, Rev. Dr. Kennedy, and Gen. Cary. Gen. Cary said :
" I desire to say, as Chairman of this Convention, that the name now mentioned in the resolution was a dear one to me. I learned my first tem- perance lessons from Justin Edwards twenty years ago in his meetings. His virtues are recorded in the living tablets of my heart. Posterity will honor him ; succeeding generations will sigh over his ashes, and the children of the future will drop tears of gratitude and plant perennial flowers on his tomb."
ADULTERATION OF LIQUORS. 269
On an unanimous vote of thanks to Mr. Dow, for so ably presiding, the Convention adjourned sine die.
Well might my recollections of this Convention be fresh, for its preparations, its arrangements, its correspond- ence, its resolutions, an attendance upon it night and day, and finally its summing up, publishing and sending abroad the report of its proceedings, cost no small amount of labor ; but it was a noble Convention, never to be for- gotten by those who mingled in it. Could the soiree have been carried out, it would have surpassed in beauty any- thing our country had witnessed ; but the owner of the building was unwilling to incur the risk of fire in case of a disturbance like the morning meeting ; which, for tem- perance men, was truly intemperate.
The N'ational Division of the Sons of Temperance held an adjourned meeting during the sitting of the Convention, and closed the meeting by a great demon- stration at the Metropolitan Plall, on Friday evening, Judge 0':N'eal, of S. C, M. ^Y. P., presiding.
The exposure of Frauds in the liquor traffic, by Rev. Thomas P. Hunt, in 1838, by means of the Brewers' Guides and Receipt Books which he had procured from London, produced no small sensation through the country. The authentic statements which were also made relative to the vast manufacture of Port wines, out of Oporto, and of Champagne wines which were never on the ocean, but made in New York and elsewhere, troubled their con- sumers with the thought that they were taking logwood, sulphuric acid, arsenic, nux vomica, gypsum, cocculus indi- cus, into their stomachs, not for their own good, only for the good of the manufacturers and venders, who, by these means, often increased their profits an hundred fold ; and it greatly advanced the temperance reformation. Men who gloried in their old wine, finding that it was
210 TEMPERANCE RECOLLECTIONS.
manutacturcd within six weeks; and who drank pure, wholesome ale and beer, learning that it had little or notliing of the hop, but some clieap, venomous drug, said, "If this is so, we ^vill have none of it," — took to the pure beverage of heaven, and found themselves and fam- ilies in better health and spirits, besides saving much of their money, which had gone to enrich the trade. The Beer Trials in Albany, showing that the choice beer was made of the filthiest water — w^ater into which were thrown dead animals of every description — increased the disrelish for the products of the brewery. A tract published by Mr. Delavan on adulterations had a wide circulation ; and, coming from so creditable a gentleman, made a great im- pression upon the masses. Dr. Nott in bis lectures said : " I had a friend who had been once a wine-dealer, and having read the startling statements made public, in rela- tion to the brewing of wines, and the adulterations of other liquors generally, I inquired of that friend as to the verity of those statements. His reply was, * God for- give wJiat has passed in my own cellar, hut the statements MADE are true, and all true, I assure you.' " And yet, such were the fascinations of the drink, that thousands of intelligent, discerning men w^ould persist in its use, al- ways flattering themselves that, if others were imposed upon, they were not. Unbelief here proved the damning sin to many a man who prided himself on his good judg- ment.
Hearing of the appalling statements of Dr. Cox, of Cin- cinnati, that he had been analyzing liquors for five years, and, during that time, had tested 2,279 samples, alco- holic and malt, and had found only 350 that were really pure; two hundred and fifty were mixed liquors; all the remainder were adulterated with prussic acid, sulphuric acid, stramonium, strychnine, etc., I sent for him to come to New York, give a course of lectures, and perform his
ADULTERATIONS — DEVELOPMENTS — DR. COX. 271
exjoeriments in presence of an intelligent audience. He came, in the spring of 1860, and commenced his lectures in the Cooper Institute. I procured for him wines and brandies from the first-class venders, but without stating the object. Notices were given by the press of the lec- tures, and much excitement w^as created for the movement. His lecture was well attended. But, unfortunately, the Doctor was advanced and feeble ; slow of speech, and slow of movement — the result of much nice operation in his chemical laboratory. The consequence was, the audience got wearied and retired disappointed ; and the Doctor proceeded no farther. The correctness of his examina- tions and developments were not called in question, though many liquor-dealers w^ere present, and witnessed his tests. The press, the next morning, gave to their ten thousand readers full information, with striking com- ments. Said the ISTew York Express :
" Every man, with a grain of common sense, knows very well, that it is not the pure juice of the grape that fills the almshouse with paupers, and digs a drunkard's grave in Pottersfield, almost every hour in the day, but poison — poison — poison ! Twenty-four thousand dollars' worth of these villainous substances, we are assured, is consumed every day in New York ; but who can calculate, with anything like a certainty, the awful cost to the bodies and souls of the drinkers ? Who, indeed ! "
In the year 1857, the Legislature of Ohio passed a law prohibiting the use of strychnine, or other active poisons, in the manufacture and sale of intoxicating or alcoholic liquors ; the penalty prescribed w^as, imprisonment in the penitentiary, at hard labor, not more than five, orUess than one year ; showing the indignation roused in the public mind at the developments. Yet few results were visible. The works of darkness continued, and men drank on. Pure alcohol itself is a subtle and dangerous poison, against w^hich men should be warned, were there no adul-
272 TEMPERANCE RECOLLECTIONS.
teration. The millionnaire, glorying in his old and pure wines and best of brandy, is as miserable an object, when groaning with the gout, or raving with delirium tremens, as the wretched pauper lying drunk in the gutter — drunk on the liquor sold by law in the filthy dram-shop. What the brain-fever is, produced by the brain-poison by which many are swept awfully into eternity, all our young men should know, before they experience it, as they are most likely to, if they will madly indulge in these intoxicating drinks. A much-esteemed friend of mine, in Bordentown, New Jersey, Joseph Allison, wrote a description of the delirium, which he gave me, and which I published in the Journal, January, 1842. I afterwards published it in tract form, with a striking engraving, entitled the Rum Maniac. It was as follows :
THE RUM MANIAC
(a soliloquy.)
Say, Doctor, may I not have rum.
To quench this burning thirst within ? Here on this cursed bed 1 lie.
And cannot get one drop of gin. I ask not for health, nor even life —
Life ! what a curse it's been to me ! I'd rather sleep in deepest hell
Than drink again its misery.
' But, Doctor, may I not have rum ?
One drop alone is all I crave. Grant this small boon — I ask no more —
Then I'll defy — yes, e'en the grave ; Then, without fear, I'll fold ray arms,
And bid the monster strike his dart. To haste me from this world of woe,
And claim his own — this ruined heart.
Allison's kum maniac. 273
" A thousand curses on his head
Who gave me first the poisoned bowl, Who taught me first this bane to drink, —
Drink — death and ruin to my soul. My soul ! oh, cruel, horrid thought !
Full well I know thy certain fate, With what instinctive horror shrinks
The spirit from that awful state !
" Lost — lost — I know, forever lost !
To me no ray of hope can come ; My fate is sealed ; my doom is —
But give me rum ; I will have rum. But, Doctor, don't you see Mm there ?
In that dark comer, low, he sits ; See ! how he sports his fiery tongue,
And at me burning brimstone spits !
" Go, chase hun out ! Look ! here he comes !
Now, on my bed he wants to stay ; He shan't be there. 0 God ! 0 God !
Go 'way, I say ! go 'way ! go 'way ! Quick ! chain me fast, and tie me down ;
There, now ; he clasps me in his arms ; Down — down the window ! close it tight ;
Say, don't you hear my wild alarms ?
" Say, don't you see this demon fierce ?
Does no one hear ? Will no one come ? Oh, save me — save me ! I will give —
But, rum ! I must have — will have rum. ******* Ah ! Now he's gone ; once more I'm free :
He — the boasting knave and liar — He said that he would take me off
Down to — but there ! my bed's on fire !
Fire ! water ! help ! come, haste — I'll die ;
Come, take me from this burning bed ! The smoke — I'm choking — cannot cry ;
There, now — it's catciiing at my head ! 12*
274 TEMPERANCE RECOLLECTIONS.
But sec ! again that demon's come ;
Look ! there, he peeps tlirough yonder glass ; Mark how his burning eyeballs flash !
How fierce he grins ! what brought him back ?
" There stands his burning coach of fire ;
He smiles, and beckons me to come. What are those words he's written there ?
* Li hell^ we'll never want for rum ! ' " One loud, one piercing shriek was heard ;
One yell rang out upon the air ; One sound, and one alone, came forth —
The victim's cry of wild despair.
" Why longer wait ? I'm ripe for hell ;
A spirit's sent to bear me down. There, in the regions of the lost,
I sure will wear a fiery crown. Damned, I know, without a hope !
(One moment more, and then I'll come !) And there I'll quench my awful thirst
With boiling, burning, fiery rum."
CHAPTER XXL
Campaign in New York for the Maine Law — Publications issued — Xew York State Society — " Prohibitionist " established — Frequent Meetings — Methodist Fire — Congregational Convention — Address of Senators — Anniversary A. T. U. of State Temperance Society — Convention at Au- burn— Nomination for Governor — Election of Governor Clark — Con- gratulatory Meeting — Meeting of Opposition — Adoption of the Law in New York — Hesitancy of Mayor Wood to its Execution — Success in the State — Opposition — Pronounced Unconstitutional by the Court of Appeals — Results and Opinions.
The full and decided opinion of a large number of tlie most intellectual, patriotic, and Christian men of the comi- try, on the wisdom, justice, and necessity of prohibitory law, in opposition to a license system, and the action of several State legislatures strengthened the friends of tem- perance in the Empire State, in their resolution to make another bold and powerful effort to secure it at the ballot- box, though they had been sadly thwarted by the Veto of GoverHor Seymour. It might cost them much labor ; but Avhat was labor, in view of the poverty, crime, and di'unkenness, to be prevented ? It might cost them money ; but what, compared with the amounts levied for poor-taxes, prisons, alms houses, and courts of justice? It would bring upon them reproach and hostility ; but it would be the reproach and hostility of men who would make no sacrifice of luxurious indulgence, to save thou- ands from death ; and who, for gain, would persevere in a traffic Avhich was, as Chancellor Walworth expressed it, a traffic in the bodies and souls of men.
276 TEMPERANCE RECOLLECTIONS.
t
From tlie adoption of prohibition by Maine, an im- mense amount of labor had been performed in the State of New York, by the State Temperance Society and other organizations, to prepare tlie public mind for the recep- tion and adoption of the same principle. Col. Herman Camp, the President, and William 11. Burleigh, Corres- ponding Secretary, and Messrs. Gregg and Crampton, lec- turers, were men of power, and caused their influence to be widely felt. At their first meeting, held at Syracuse, their Executive Committee were directed to confer with me on the subject of preparing and publishing a series of short and impressive tracts, such as the exigencies of the times might require.
As the result of this conference, I speedily prepared and published, in pamphlet form, Six Reasons why THE State of New York should adopt the Maine Law. These reasons approved themselves to all reflecting men ; were widely circulated by the agents of the So- ciety, and were inserted in several of the public papers of the State. Subsequently, I prepared and published about twenty Maine-Law Tracts, of four pages : Three Cheers FOR Maine ! Shall we have the Maine Law ? Twen- ty-five Objections Answered. Triumph of Humanity. Female Influence for the Law, &c., of which there were sent out from the office of the American Temperance Union over a million. I also prepared a life of Neal Dow ; Review of Gov. Seymour's Veto ; and published Dr. Spear's and Albert Barnes' sermons on the LaAv These, for a time were our ammunition for the great battle.
In 1853, Mr. Delavan entered into the work, became president of the State Society, and instituted at Albany the Prohibitionist, of which W. H. Burleigh, first, and Amasa McCoy, next, became editor; and for which he secured throughout the country, a great circulation. He also caused to be prepared for the State Society, a series of
COXGREGATIONAL CONVENTION ALBANY. 2V7
twelve Maine-Law Tracts, suited to all the leading topics, and printed in cheap style. Of these, an immense amount were sent forth. The State Society early resolved on the most active and determined measures ; and they spared no effort or expense to create a right public senti- ment. Throughout the State, frequent Maine-Law meet- ings were held, for discussion, and to answer the objec- tions which were continually made to the Maine Law, as unconstitutional, and depriving men of their natural rights. The pulpit was prompt to perform good service ; and the religious press spoke with energy for the great object. Said the Christian Advocate and Journal (Methodist) :
"We bespeak a little of our characteristic denominational element, /re, for the cause out of Maine. Every man should be up and doing. Peti- tions should be circulated, signed, and loaded upon the tables of the Legis- lature of every State. None of these memorials should stop short of ask- ing the total abolition of the traffic. Let Methodists be in the van of this mighty movement."
A mammoth Congregational Convention was held at Albany during the conflict. On my oflering a resolution approving of the Maine Law, it was moved that it be re- ferred to the committee. " No, No ! " uttered a dozen voices; "pass it at once." "It must be referred," said the moderator, " by rule." " No matter ; no matter," it was replied. " Will you suspend the rule ? " asked the moderator. " Ate," came like a thunder-clap from the whole house. " "Will you adopt the resolution ? " " Aye," was swelled up by the voice of every member of that august body. "Old men, with whitened locks; young men, in the full vigor of their prime, vied with each other in throwing into that response all the energy, the deter- mination, the fire, of their souls."
The Address of the Senators and Members of Assem- bly, who had voted for the suppression of intemperance.
278 TEMPERANCE RECOLLECTIONS.
to the people of tlie State of New York, was an able pro- duction; and put all tlie supporters of Governor Sey- mour's veto beyond a word of defence. They said : " A single man has stood between the will of the peoi)le, clear- ly expressed, and the accomplishment of their purpose. That will, founded, as it is, on the principles of eternal truth, on the profoundest wisdom, and looking to the greatest possible good of the people, will not change." Nothing was w^anting more, but that time should roll on, and the State of New York would surely wheel into line. The fall election of 1854 was to give a new Assembly and a new Governor, who w^ould not veto a bill.
The American Temperance Union held its Eighteenth Anniversary on the 11th of May, 1854, all in sympathy with the State in its present struggle. The Report detailed the extraordinary progress of the cause; the adoption of a prohibitory law in five States, and its mark- ed results in the improved condition of the people of those Sttites — esjDCcially of the industrial working classes. The meeting was ably addressed by Hon. Mr. Powers, of Vermont ; Rev. Henry Ward Beecher, of Brooklyn ; Rev. Dr. Cleveland, of Northampton ; Rev. R. M. Hat- field, and Rev. T. L. Cuyler, all on much the same topic. Mr. Cuyler said he had but one short speech to make ; it was, *' Go home, ye men of New York, and make up your minds to vote, at the next election, for the pas- sage of the Maine Law, as Henry "Ward Beecher has told you ; and go home, you men and women, and pray, that you may know the truth, to that same God from whom he has received all that he has."
On the 22d of June, the State Society held its an- nual meeting at Albany ; Mr. Delavan presiding. Reso- lutions were unanimously adopted, denouncing Governor Seymour's Veto, and appointing a committee of five to confer with committee^ of other denominations, on calling
AUBUEN COXVENTION. 279
a State Convention. The Society resolved that, if they would succeed in their great work, they must closely ad- here to the one great idea, Prohibition ; suffering no love of gain, no desire for popularity, no attachment to partisan organization, no longing for political success, to keep it out of view. The 2'7th of September was fixed upon, by a committee at large — a committee of the State Society of the Sons of Temperance — as the day for a State Conven- tion, at Auburn, for the prosecution of measures to pro- cure the Legislation that was now demanded.
That Convention consisted of over three hundred of the self-sacrificing and energetic temperance men of the State. Coming in a late train, I found it difiicult gaining admis- sion to the Hall. E. C. Delavan was appointed President, but he declining, David Wright, of Cayuga, was substi- tuted in his place. Amid such a multitude, processes of organization were slow ; some proposed one thing, and some another. Early in the afternoon session, a venerable gentleman from Oneida moved that Myron H. Clark, of Canandaigua, be put in nomination for Governor; but he was premature, and the nomination was withdrawn. He, however, was the man toward whom the eyes of the tem- perance men were turned for the high office ; and when business had assumed its regular shape, and a series of strong resolutions by Mr. Burleigh were adopted, he was again nominated by the same gentleman, Mr. Leonard Moore, of Oneida, and the nomination was approved by acclamation. Mr. Clark had for some time been State Senator from Onondaga County, and had been most promi- nent and active in preparing and supporting a prohibitory law. Seldom has a nomination to high office been made with more harmony and enthusiasm, by a large body of most intellectual and patriotic men. The harmony, how- ever, was broken, upon the nomination of the second offi- cer of the State government, as a portion of the Con-
280 TEMPERANCE EECOLLECTIONS.
vention wished it to foil upon some gentleman of .in op- posite political party, inasmuch as in that party were many of the friends of temperance and of prohibition. Such desired Bradford R. Wood, of Albany, of the Democratic party, and one of the earliest and most devoted friends of the temperance cause ; but Mr. Wood withdrew his name, and Henry J. Raymond, of the Whig party, who had sent in his adherence to the Maine Law", obtained the nomina- tion for Lieut. Governor. The Convention adjourned in great confidence of success.
Great efforts were now made to secure the election. Four candidates were in the field. Mr. Clark, Gov. Sey- mour, Mr. TJllman, the Know Nothing candidate, and Judge Bronson, the Conservative Whig. A plurality vote secured the ofiice. While the friends of the opposing can- didates were not lacking in eflforts, the friends of Mr. Clark held a most enthusiastic meeting at the Broadway Tabernacle on the 4th of November. It was my province to read the j)roceediugs at Auburn, the nominations and resolutions ; when the meeting was powerfully addressed by Rev. T. L. Cuyler, Mr. Greeley, and R. M. Hatfield. The day of election was one of intense excitement, as the returns brought the opposing candidates so near together, that it was exceedingly doubtful which would prevail. At length it was manifest that Mr. Clark had the lead, and was to be Governor of the State of New York. Mr. Clark had 15 8,7 95 votes, Gov. Seymour, 156,501, Mr. Ullman, 122,274, and Judge Bronson, 33,820. We felt it to be a great moral as well as political triumph, inasmuch as there were involved in it vast moral interests, as w^ell as humane, and we felt disposed to give God the glory.
A card issued by twenty citizens, headed by W. E. Dodge, invited the temperance community to set apart the twentieth, as a day of rejoicing. It was honored by a display of flags and banners, and in the evening, a large
GOV. Clark's election and inaugukation. 281
meeting was held in the Broadway Tabernacle. On each of the main pillars which supported the roof, were sus- pended banners, with the names of the States which had adopted the Maine Law, viz., Maine, Minnesota, Massachu- setts, Rhode Island, Vermont, Connecticut, and Michigan, with the dates of adoption ; and hanging over the organ, was a banner of muslin, on which was inscribed, Myeon H. Claek. NewYoek is Coming. I^o Rum at all. Mr. Dodge was elected President, and the meeting open- ed with prayer and thanksgiving, by Dr. Cox. It was my province to read several congratulatory letters from friends abroad, to read the resolutions, and to welcome the good ship Maine Law into port, with Commodore Clark hoisting his Broad Pennant. Governor Dutton, of Con- necticut, warmly expressed his congratulations in an able speech, showing the condition of things in Connecticut, followed by the Hon. E. D. Culver, and others, with soul- stirring addresses. Chancellor Walworth said in his letter, which was read : —
" If the result of the recent election shall be the passage of a law to pro- hibit the sale of intoxicating drinks, to be used as a beverage, all the friends of humanity may well rejoice and congratulate each other. One thing is certain, the election of Gov. Clark will prevent the vetoing of a law, if a proper law should be passed by the Legislature, and submitted to him for approval. And from what I can learn of the Legislature, a clear majority of temperance men have been elected to the Assembly."
Said the Hon. Neal Dow : —
" I rejoice with all my heart, in the glorious triumph of our friends in New York, at the recent election. It is right and fitting that you should hold a Jubilee to thank God that the right has triumphed."
The inauguration of Governor Clark, on the first of January, was a proud day for temperance, though few knew with what trials he and his friends were to meet ; but all were in the hands of a righteous Providence. His
282 TEMPERANCE RECOLLECTIONS.
messages was very decisive and satisfactory. The Senate of the last year held over, and the new Assembly was one in which the friends of prohibition had confidence. When the Proliibitory Liquor 13ill came before the Legislature, every possible obstacle to its passage was thrown in its way ; but all in vain. On the 21st of February, it came to a final vote in the Assembly, when it was adopted : 80 for its passage and 45 against it ; absent or not voting, 3. Li the Senate every possible obstruction was thrown too in its path, but on the 3d of April, at a quarter before twelve, it was passed by the overwhelming vote of 21 to 11, to take effect on the 4th of July. The Assembly concurred, and on the ninth of April, the bill was signed by the Gov- ernor, and became the law of the State of Xew York.
Through the State were great sensations of joy and gladness, excepting among the manufacturers and venders of intoxicating drinks. On the 26th, a congratulatory meeting was held in New York, in the Metropolitan Theatre, quite unsurpassed by any before held. Here again, I was permitted to read many timely and important documents, especially a letter giving great satisfaction, from the new Governor of the State. The resolutions were modest but firm ; congratulatory ; inviting the most searching scrutiny ; expressive of a determination to per- severe ; for, sink or swim, live or die, we shall not again quietly submit to alcoholic dominion.
Mr. Dodge, on taking the Chair, warmly congratulated the meeting on the occasion. He had just returned from a four weeks' tour, in the course of which he had pass- ed through most of our cities and towns at the West and South, and had been astonished and gratified at finding the cause of temperance widely spreading. He introduced the Hutchinson songsters, who greatly delighted the audience, after which, spirited speeches were made by Prof. Mattison, Rev. Henry Ward Beecher, W. H. Burleigh, Dr. Peck and
BEECHER AND BUELEIGH. 283
Rev. Dr. Tyng. Seldom was a meeting known of siicli enthusiasm and power..
H. W. Beecher said :
" This was the most important meeting that had been gathered in New York for many a day. The whole State would be looking towards it. They would ask, what does the city of New York think about that Maine Law? What is the pulse there? and what do they 'intend to do about it? We had, at last, procured common and statutory law to this effect, that making and selling intoxicating drinks, for purposes of diet, was now" de- clared, by the voice of the people (what he regarded as common law), and by the voices of their representatives (which was statutory law), to be a crime. We might be bafHed and baulked a great while, before we could make all the teeth of this law meet, with a good subject between them ; we might have to deal with men who could come, and disappear, as spirits do ; but there was one thing they could not reverse ; after years of discus- sion, the people in this empire State had declared, that the making and selling of intoxicating drinks, for such purposes, was a crime. The principle was born ; and there was nothing born on the face of this earth that carried such joy as the birth of a moral principle. They could never get that back again; they might as well try to crowd the last year's chicken into the shell. (Loud cheers.) Till now, we had been working zig-zag before this Sebastopol ; but we would not be long taking it. Efforts would be made to destroy the law in the courts ; but what the courts decided to be wrong, could be rectified ; we were in for the battle, and would have per- severance and ingenuity, until the law succeeded. (Applause.) The voice which the State sent up to the city to-night was, ' AVill you abide by the prohibitory law ? ' The response he would send back was this : * We are watching and waiting ; we are hke the men at Waterloo, lying close to the ground, until they should hear the old hero cry, ' L'p ! Guards ! and at them.' "
Mr. Burleigh said :
" For two hundred years, the license laws had been undergoing amend- ments; and those engaged in the traffic looked on with perfect com- placency. The liquor-dealers were in no degree annoyed by the speeches of the temperance men, so far as those speeches reached the newspapers, and were confined to moral suasion. But from all of them — from our gin- princes down to the very democracy of our rot-gut — there came up a de-
284 TEMPERANCE RECOLLECTIONS.
monical howl against the law of prohibition. We now stood front to front "with the enemy. It was for this that we had labored, and we had prayed. It was for this that wo had sent up our supplications to the throne of God, that he might give us a fair word in open fight ; that in the arrangements of his Providence, He would bring us face to face with the foe, where foot might be planted against foot, where eye might meet glow- ing eye, where hand might clutch with hand in the contest. We asked for no odds, we required no fuvor ; we had but one prayer, ' God, defend the right.' "
Following our great congratulatory meeting, as might have been anticipated, was one of the liquor-dealers, and their defenders, at the Tammany Hall, where the law was violently denounced as unconstitutional and fanatical ; but the meeting was reported as one of great confusion. The very distinguished lawyers said to have been feed for needed service, by the Liquor-dealers' Association, and whose presence was promised, were none of them there ; nor was the stand graced by any distinguished orators.
But, in fact, throughout the city and State, there -was silence, for half an hour. Men of all parties were impress- ed with the vastness of the change which would come over the community, and of the sacrifices which many heavy dealers must be called to make. The general feel- ing in the city and throughout the State was, that the law would become the governing rule of the State. Scarce any Avere to be found among the venders themselves, who were of a contrary opinion. In the city of New York, its enforce- ment would lie much with Mr. Wood, the Mayor of the city. It was supposed he w^ould be very decided and very efiicient. He had, a little before, acquired the confidence of the people, by a surprising and efiicient enforcement of the Sunday liquor law. In his inaugural speech, he had declared that the laws must be respected and obeyed. On the first Sunday after his assumption of office, two hundred and eighty liquor shops were open ; on the second, one himdred and thirty ; on the third, but twenty-six. Such a
MAYOR WOOD AND THE LAW. 285
Mayor was raised up for tlio crisis ; and Mr. Wood re- ceived many compliments from the temperance men, and the religious community. At an early period, his minis- ter, Rev. Dr. Tyng, preached, before his Honor, a plain and powerful sermon on the responsibilities of rulers in great exigencies, and the duty and encouragement of sus- taining, in firmness, law and government ; and seemed confident of a response in the judgment and heart which would lead to no disappointment. But, as an evil spirit came upon Saul, so his Honor consulted his district and corporation attorneys, as to what would be the operation of existing laws; and received as reply that, as there would be no license given, after the first of May, free trade should be given to all people, till the Fourth of July ; and that, even then, and after, it would be so continued in all foreign liquors. By these opinions he concluded to abide, and thus opened for the season the floodgates of rum.
In a short time, questions were rising relative to the constitutionality of the law ; and some judges of inferior courts had given opinions on the subject adverse to the law, which were at once seized upon by its enemies. Some distinguished men in the city, also, eminent lawyers, had expressed themselves strongly and adversely on some points of the law, the result of which was that the Mayor not only refused to exert any positive influence for the enforcement of the law, until its constitutionality was set- tled in the courts, but warned his police of the penalties which would be visited upon them, should any of them make mistakes in arresting any, in the performance of duty, for violation of the law. The entire power of the city government was at once neutralized. So was it, also, at Albany ; but not so in other cities.
In the city of Brooklyn, the Hon. George Hall, then Mayor, took bold and decided measures for the enforce- ment of the law. On being asked if he would not let the
280 TEMPERANCE RECOLLECTIOXS.
subject rest until there had been a decision of the courts, in the autumn, he said, " No ; the law is a law now; he wanted no decisions of courts. Wherever the law was violated it was his duty to take cognizance of the viola- tion ; and he should do so." The same was the case with the mayors of other cities. In TJtica, Syracuse, Os- wego, Rochester, and in most of the townSy and in some entire counties, the law met with acquiescence and support. In his message, at the opening of the Legislature, January, 1856, Governor Clark said :
" The Act for the Suppression of Intemperance, Pauperism, and Crime, passed by the Legislature, in accordance with the clearly expressed de- mand of the people, went into operation on the Fourth of July last, not- withstanding it has been subjected to an opposition more persistent, unscrupulous, and defiant, than is often incurred by an act of legislation ; and though legal and magisterial influence, often acting unofficially and extra-judicially, have combined to render it imperative to forestall the de- cision of courts, wrest the statute from its obvious meaning, and create a general distrust in, if not hostility to, all legislative restrictions of the traffic in intoxicating liquors, it has still, outside of our large cities, been gener- ally obeyed. The influence is visible, in a marked diminution of the evils which it sought to remedy."
The autumnal elections in the State were favorable to the law. But little could be expected by its opponents from the new Legislature. Two judges of one judicial district had pronounced it unconstitutional and void. Some distinguished lawyers, in New York, had given their private opinion on the same side. This had drawn out some of the best talent of the State : Judge Edmunds, Chief Justice Savage, Judge Shankland, Judge Conklyn, and others, in its support. As it was known that the whole subject would be brought before the Court of Appeals, in March, all eyes were upon that, to see what its decision on the constitutionality of the law would be. That Court was composed of eight judges. By that Court, on the 29th
DECISION OF THE COURT OP APPEALS. 287
of March, the law was pronounced unconstitutional ; five of the judges uniting in the decision, viz. : Denio, A. S. Johnson, Comstock, Selden, Hubbard ; and three dis- senting : Mitchell, Wright, and T. A. Johnston. The Court was of opinion, that the various provisions, prohi- bitions, and penalties contained in the act, substantially destroyed the property in intoxicating liquors already pos- sessed, in violation of the terms and spirit of the con- stitutional provisions; and also, that no discrimination was made between liquors possessed, and those which might hereafter come into possession. But it was remark- able that the five did not unite on one and the same rea- son. Hon. Mr. Bradford, of the Senate, introduced a bill for a prohibitory law like the present, but conformed to the Court of Appeals. The same was introduced to the Assembly, but was rejected. And, after various strug- gles for a new laAV, the Legislature adjourned, leaving the State without any law touching the sale of intoxicating liquors. Thus were all the hopes of temperance men in the State of New York, of legislative aid, baffled, and scat- tered to the winds. But they had an experience of what prohibitory law would do, which justified them in the course they had pursued, and led them to feel that the welfare of the State could only be secured by a return, at some future day, to the same, or similar action.
In the short period between July, 1855, and the first of December (as compared with the same number committed during the same time in the year 1854), to nine jails out of New York, there was a diminution of 2,062. More than equal to this, was the result in the diminution of pauper- ism ; while visible drunkenness was almost swept away.
Even in the city of New York, though the traffic was unimpeded, there were good results of the liquor law. The arrest of every drunkard abroad, and fining him $10, and committing him in case of default, had a surprising effect.
288 TEiirERANCE RECOLLECTIONS.
It both made the vice infamous and diminished it. The com- mitments, in the month of July, were nine hundred and twenty-six ; for August, five hundred and twenty-six. Of these, none were of respectable or young men. In Suffolk county, where there were more than one hundred and fifty licensed houses, scarce one place of sale could be found. In the city of Rochester, the number of arrests, thirty days previous to the law taking effect there, were three hun- dred and four; arrests in thirty days subsequent, ninety- one. E. B. Day, Esq., wrote me from Greene county:
" Instead of noise, and the tumult of rum-revelries, daily and night- ly in our streets — instead of pinching want and brutal treatment — in place of deep and hopeless sorrow, depicted in the countenances of drunkards' wives and children ; and the dark and sombre forebodings of the father, who knows that, except in the law, there is no hope for his son — we have quietness, peace, competency, and domestic happiness. In Rome, was a general surrender ; the police expressing surprise. In Courtlandt county, there was a general observance. In Liv^ingston, many opposers, seeing its blessedness, became afraid of the law."
But the suppression of the traffic could not be borne.
" Man's inhumanity to man,
Makes countless thousands mourn."
While we were in the midst of all this excitement in the State of New York, tidings of riot and blood came to us from Maine. Indeed, how was it to be expected that the Dragon, bound with a great chain, should do other- wise than rave and gnash his teeth, and seek universal destruction. By vote of the Board of Aldermen of the City of Portland, the Mayor and two of their number were appointed to purchase liquor for the City Agency. $1,600 worth were purchased. Inflammatory papers declar- ed that that they were purchased by Mr. Dow, for himself, without any authority. The liquors were in the custody of an officer ; but this did not satisfy a mob who were
MAIXE. 289
resolute to have them seized and destroyed. They rushed to the building where they were stored, broke the windows and attempted to force the door. They were repeatedly warned to desist. The riot act was read to them. The military were called out, and the mob assaulted them with stones and brickbats. To quiet them was impossible, and they were ordered to fire. One man was killed, and sev- eral were wounded. A great hue and cry was at once raised by the enemies of the Maine Law throughout the land, as a law to be maintained by the military and blood- shed. But the riot was not occasioned by the execution of the law at all. The Court which sat upon the case de- cided that the liquors were ordered by a Committee chosen by the Board of Aldermen, that they were ordered for the City Agency, and for lawful sale ; that they were marked and invoiced to the City Agency. The Mayor was found not guilty of a charge of manslaughter and was discharged, and the liquor restored to the City Agent. A large Committee of highly respectable gentlemen also acquitted Mr. Dow of all error, mistake, rashness, and misjudgment in the matter. Mr. Dow, by his firmness, it was believed, saved the city from being set on fire and burned up. There was reason to believe that the plan of riot was concocted at a distance. The man killed was a profane and riotous sailor from the eastward.
For five years the law stood well in this, the Dii-igo State, without any political change. Mr. Dow acquitted himself well, in the high and responsible ofiice to which he had been called. Not a brewery or distillery was left in the State, and but little drunkenness, excepting on the borders of other States. But no State can be expected to continue long without changes. Men die ; political leaders remove. 'New interests come in play. In the election of '55-6, a new political party came into power. Financial questions and strong personal antipathies were mingled 13
290 TEMPEPwANCE RECOLLECTIONS.
in the conflict, and old political organizations were involv- ed. The Rci)ublican or JMainc-Law ticket mustered 51,000, the Democratic, 48,000, and the Whig, 11,000. The result, however, was not seriously threatening to the Maine Law, as many of the Whig and Democratic voters were decided Maine Law men, but the day for great union and harmony was passing away.
In other States the great principle of prohibition was steadfast and increasing. In Massachusetts, the friends of the law continued in earnest in giving the law fair trial. In 1855, they prosecuted the keeper of the Revere House, the principal hotel, for violations of the law, and obtained judgment ; but appeals were made, in expecta- tion of escape from the penalty, under flaws in the statute. On trials, no jury could be found to agree. A powerful address was sent out to all the ministers of the Gospel, September 20th, 1855, rejoicing in the wonderful success of the prohibitory movement, and asking their co-op- eration, signed by Lyman Beecher, D.D., and fifteen others.
In Connecticut^, at the expiration of a year from the introduction of the law, a public meeting w^as held at "New Haven, which was addressed by W. H. Burleigh, Governor Dutton, and Dr. Bacon. Dr. Bacon said : —
" The operation of the prohibitory law of Connecticut for one year, is a matter of observation to the people of the State. It is so to the citizens of New Haven, Its effect in promoting peace, order, quiet, and general pros- perity, no man can deny. Here, we owe it in pai-t to the good faith with which most of our merchants, who had previously dealt in liquor, proposed to relinquish the traffic, and did reUnquish it in August, 1854. They gave it up. There was no such banded defiance to our law, as there is to the present law in the city of New York. Never, for twenty years, has our city been so quiet and peaceful, as under its action. If it is not equally so for a year to come, I warn those at the head of our government, that the next election will give a sorry account of them. The people must rule. Let them rule. For law is the expression of the moral sense of the people. The enactment which expresses this sense is law ; that which does not, is not law, but oppression."
CHAPTER XXII.
Reception of the decision of the Court of Appeals — Death of B. F. Harwood — Twenty-first Anniversary of A. T. U. — Governor Briggs elected President — Meeting one of darkness — State Society — Letters to Daniel Lord, Jr. — Fall Elections — Prohibitory Law giving way to Anti-Slavery — State Society at Albany — N. Y. City Alliance — ^Peter Sinclair — Gough Festival. •
The decision of the Court of Appeals was received with great exultation by distillers and venders, and with ap- probation by many highly respectable gentlemen, strong political partisans, (for prohibition was viewed as a child of the republican party,) and many men of wealth who " drank wine in bowls and cared not for the affliction of Joseph," but it filled with anxiety and concern nearly all the patriotic, philanthropic, self-denying and religious men of the State, and drew tears from many a victim of the cup, who 'daily prayed lead me i^ot into temptation.*
* A most tragic event followed the decision of the Court, in the death of Benjamin F. Harwood, the long-beloved and honored clerk of the Court. The prohibitory law was his only hope of escape from that terrible death which followed the cup. On the morning of the decision, he entreated one of the judges to spare the law. Said he, " Sir, you know I am addicted to drinking ; but you do not know — no living person can know — how I have struggled to break off this habit. Sometimes I have succeeded ; and then, these accursed liquor-bars, like so many man-traps, have effected my fall. For this reason, I have labored for the prohibitory law. Your decision is, with me, a matter of life and death." When the decision was handed him to record, he felt it to be like signing his own death warrant. Hope failed him ; despair seized him ; amid the horrors of delirium tremens, when four men could not hold him, he sunk away ; and in less than four days was no more. All Sunday and Monday, it was the topic of conversation in Albany, Death by the Traffic, in the Court of Appeals. — Prohibitionist,
292 TEMrERANCE KECOLLECTIONS.
Never, it was almost unanimously conceded, was a law passed by a legislature of whose constitutionality there had been so little question. In the decision, no great point of law was established, only some trivial positions of little value were objected to, which the friends of the law could and w^ould abandon. Judge T. A. Johnston, Judge Mitchell and Judge Wright, men of equal strength with any on the bench, gave elaborate opinions on the constitutionality of the law, and the unrighteousness of the decision ; so that, though the law w^as killed, fet its principles remained uninjured ; its fi'iends by no means felt disheartened, but were resolved to stand before the world in defence of what they had established, and to support the public sentiment until, at some future day, it should command the ballot-box and the government. Said Judge Johnston : —
*' The whole controversy, so far as it involves any question of principle, is narrowed down to a struggle for the right of the individual to traffic in whatever the law adjudges to be property at his discretion, irrespective of consequences, over the right of government to control and restrict it within limits compatible with the public welfare and security. Everything beyond this is merged in considerations of expediency. As there is nothing in the Constitution either of the State or United States, which takes away or limits the right of the Legislature to make such regulations in regard to the traffic in property among the citizens of the State, and to impose such re- striction and prohibitions upon it, as it shall deem necessary for the public good, so far as it restrains and prohibits the sale of intoxicating drinks it must be pronounced a valid, constitutional act, and entitled to obedience from every citizen of the State."
The prohibitory law of the State of New York was in- deed dead and buried. JSTo thought would exist on its being revived, but the same great principles might be put into another law, and therefore, with such support, its friends fell into no depression, but girded themselves to some future and successful conflict. But the State was
TWENTY-FIKST ANNIVERSARY A. T. U. 293
not wholly without protection. The existing law was against the whole retail traffic in intoxicating liquors. No liquor licenses could be granted, and any man selling un- der five gallons, could be prosecuted for misdemeanor ; the penalty being a fine of not more than $250 and im- prisonment not to exceed one year.
The twenty-first anniversary of the A. T. U. was held at the Academy of Music, on the fourteenth of May, 1856. In October, 1855, Chancellor Walworth, long its distinguished President, had resigned the office, and Chief Justice John Savage, of Utica, one of the ablest Jurists as well as most decided temperance men and pro- hibitionists, was chosen in his place. But being advanced in years and going but little from home, he had consented to serve only to Anniversary week, when the Hon. George N". Briggs, late Governor of Massachusetts, and a most devoted friend of the cause, was elected in his place. A letter of acceptance was received from him on the morn- ing of the Anniversary, in which he manifested his readi- ness of acceptance, but his regret at not being able to attend on that occasion.
The meeting was in some respects one of darkness and gloom. After indefatigable labor to gain the law, it had been wrested from us, not by the whole people, not by a State or National Convention, but by five individuals clothed with power. Maine also, after sustaining and en- joying the prohibitory law for five years, becoming a perfect asylum for reformed men, (where in their walks and labors they would meet with no temptations,) and the admiration of all nations, had experienced a political reverse, and Mr. Dow had been permitted to re- tire from an office which he had filled with honor to him- self and great usefulness to his country. But other States were standing in their integrity, and their people were enjoying a deliverance from casualties and sufferings
294 TEMPERANCE RECOLLECTIONS.
which no other enemy but Intemperance was capable of mflicting.
Dr. Tyng presided on tlie occasion, and opened one of the Largest meetings we had ever held, in an admira- ble address. " We are here assembled," he said, " in this no- ble edifice, to congratulate ourselves upon the attainments of the past and to express our hopes for the future, and we meet with the solemn determination never to give up the ship ; never will we give up this work till the whole American Union shall become the American Temperance Union."
After singing to the tune of Old Hundred, led by George Andrews, Esq.,
" We praise Thee, God, our fathers' God,
For ceaseless mercies from Thy hand : Still spread the temperance cause abroad
Till it extends to every land,"
The' immense audience were addressed by Benjamin Joy, Esq., and John B. Gough, once more on his adopted soil. Mr. Gough said his first appearance was in New York, at the anniversary of the American Temperance Union in 1844. He remembered that he was clad on that occasion in a brown coat and gray trowsers, and that he was very shaky and very thin, and that he came forward to say his say and then sit down. He was rejoiced to be present at another Anniversary, and to hear a report read that con- tained enough to cheer the heart. He was never discour- aged by apparent temporary or real defeat. It was to be expected in such a cause as this. He felt like the little Scotch drummer, who, when a captive in the hands of his enemies, beat at their bidding the reveille, the advance, the charge, but said he had never learned to beat a retreat.
The semi-annual meeting of the N. Y. State Society was held at Albany, on June 18th, Mr. Delavan presiding, and
LETTERS TO DAKTEL LOTJD, JE. 295
adopted a series of resolutions expressing fully the views of the Committee relative to the repeal of the prohibitory- law. They encouraged no relaxation, but a renewed and vigorous effort to create throughout the State a right public sentiment, and to secure a Governor and Legislature which would enact another temperance law, in the belief that no Court of Appeals would ever again pronounce it unconsti- tutional. Much sensation was felt on the power of the Court of Appeals ; five men could there override the Gov- ernor and Legislature of the State, and back all the wheels of government ; while those five were but men, and as subject to party influences and not unfrequently as servile and weak judgment, as other men. But it was the Con- stitution of the State.
At this time, I took the liberty to address, through the Journal, a series of letters to Daniel Lord, jr., Esq., the head of the bar in Xew York, and a professor of religion, but the leading gentleman in hostility to the prohibitory law, inquiring of him, if the victory was not too dearly won ? I asked him to look back at the condition of things in the Empire State, with her teeming millions, when, by request of thousands on thousands of her best citizens, a Legislature, not surpassed by any in wisdom and intel- ligence, had extended protection over the State, by sus- pending a traffic which was, by friends and foes, acknowl- edged to be the source of the greater part of the j^auper- ism, and crime, and insanity, and personal and domestic sorrow in the State ; an act which was fully approved by the Executive, and hailed with joy throughout the State by multitudes of the wisest and best, and bringing deliv- erance to almost numberless suffering families ; enabling wives to look uj^on husbands reformed, and no longer to be led into temptation, and fathers to look upon this as the land where they should now delight to rear their children, and the Church to send up her thanksgivings to God, that
296 TEMPERANCE RECOLLECTIONS.
the greatest obstacle to lier growth and prosperity was re- moved; and now see that, through his counsel and influence, all this defence wfis swept away, and the flood-gates of drunkenness and vice were to be set open, and the hopes of the good and the suifering were all to be blasted, and our children, and children's children, might be lefl to go in crowds to the drunkard's grave, and the drunkard's eternity. I could but ask him, if his victory was not too dearly purchased. He might indeed say that, in matters of constitutional law, the cries of humanity were not to be regarded. Perish, man ! perish, domestic peace I perish, public virtue ! — property is sacred, and must be preserved. Let it be that, "like a kennel of ferocious bloodhounds, the whole pack of alcoholic stuffs is let loose, to worry and destroy innocent women and children ; " let it be that " drunken orgies again break the solemn stillness of the midnight hour; that again, does the sigh of the heart- broken drunkard's w4fe or mother, the low wail of agony from the drunkard's widow, the bitter, burning tears of the drunkard's orphan children," give evidence that the reign of sorrow has recommenced — property is sacred, and the rights of the liquor-dealer in what he has on hand must be respected and maintained ; yet could he, and would he and others, j^rofessing humanity and patriotism, rejoice and be thankful that they were permitted to be the instruments of this great ruin ? I asked him to say if protection from evil was not the constitutional right of the people, as much as the protection of property — and property that was a curse, and not a blessing ? I asked him to listen to the laments and appeals of the sufiering throughout the land j if he could glory in the honor and plaudits he would re- ceive, and if his shoulders were sufficient to bear all the responsibility ?
As the seasons rolled onward, and the fall elections approached, the temperance men were resolved on doing
TEMPEKANCE AND POLITICS. 297
their duty at the 23olls. But here, we were to be thwarted on the very plea of humanity. The slavery question was now the great question before the nation. Temperance men, for humanity's sake, must yield to that. Thousands of men, we were told, there were in the State, who would vote for an anti-slavery Governor, who would not vote for prohibition. " Now, you must stand aside; give us your vote, or !N'ew York goes for slavery." So I found it, in my attendance on the nominating convention, at Syracuse. Our excellent Chief Magistrate, Gov. Clark, I believed to be right. In a letter to me he said :
" Let us not, however, lose sight of the great and glorious cause of Temperance. Whiskey, after all, is of greater consequence to us than even the slavery question. If everybody would abstain, entirely, from the use of intoxicating liquors, none of the atrocious scenes we have witnessed and heard of would occur again. It is while men are intoxicated, in some degree, that these outrageous scenes in "Washington, and in Kansas, and elsewhere, occur. The question of temperance is more important to-day, than ever before in the State ; therefore, I trust we shall not allow any other question to overshadow it."
The temperance men might have controlled the nomi- nations ; but, such was the pressure upon them, and such the solemn assurance that, by an anti-slavery government, though not prohibition, a better law would be given to the State than that which had been declared unconstitu- tional by the Court of Appeals, that a large portion gave way, and further effort ceased. The Empire State again wheeled into the old license system ; under, indeed, better regulations than ever before made, and which, if thorough- ly enforced, would greatly suppress intemperance. But the State legalized and protected the traffic, greatly to the relief and comfort of liquor-dealers and consumers ; and how much to the ruin of thousands on thousands, the judgment only will reveal.
The State Society held a special meeting at Albany, 13*
298 TEMPERANCE RECOLLECTIONS.
January, 1857, relative to the state of the cause. It was numerously attended, but was a meeting of doubt and diffi- culty. It was reported that Intemperance had been great- ly augmented by the annulling of the Pi-ohibitory Law, and that the excitement attending the election had led many back into Intemperance. But the records of the Police Courts and Jails showed a great good from the law during its continuance. The Society however resolved that they could not assent to the decision of the Court of Appeals as either just or right ; and that they would relax no efforts until they should see its principles re-established as the governing law of the State. Exhausted by his labors, Mr. Delavan threatened to resign the presidency of the Society, much to the regret .of the members. The Society resolved on raising the sum of $25,000 to pay their debts and prose- cute the cause to its legitimate end, if he would remain.
Some were disposed to reflect severely upon the Judges nullifying the law ; others opposed that course. After a compromise, they adjourned in harmony. But before that, they adopted a remonstrance to the Legislature against a return to the license system. But as it was done at the next meeting in June, it was the subject of debate whether the friends of prohibition should aid in enforcing it on all who sold without license and give the licensed men the mo- nopoly ; or leave the law and the State to take care of itself, under a law legalizing and licensing the traffic. I used what powers I had to induce to the latter course. We had tried a license system for two hundred years, and under it, had grown up all our drunkenness. The Maine -Law had in six months suppressed Intemperance more than any license law, had or could do in a century. " Acquiesce in a license law, and it will stand in the statute book another century. Stand off from it and show your abhorrence of it, and it may be repealed in a year." Hon. Horace Greeley regarded the new Excise Law as educational. He regarded
PKOHIBITIONIST AND JOURNAL UNITED. 299
it as a bad law, but containing much that was good, which we should at once accept and adopt, leaving the State responsible for all its evil. Dr. H. Corliss considered the course recommended by Mr. Greeley as dangerous and in opposition to all the sentiments of the Society. The Socie- ty resolved on a good Prohibitory law as the only sure remedy to close up the liquor traffic, and renewed their pledge to vote for such candidates only, at the next elec- tion, as would sustain that principle. Mr. Delavan resign- ed the presidency, pledging the sum of $4,000 to liquidate the debts for Albany County, to pay it if they would not ; and Gen. Joseph S. Smith, of Ulster, was chosen in his place. With Mr. Delavan's resignation the Execu- tive Committee relinquished the further publication of the Peohibitionist as a distinct paper, merging it in the Journal of the American Temperance Union ; a pa- per which they said met their entire approbation and which so nearly expressed the views of the Society, that such union seemed most highly desirable. This, a second time, threw a heavy responsibility upon me. The Prohibitionist had been ably conducted, first by "W. H. Burleigh, Esq., and then by Mr. M'Coy, with the daily superintendence of Mr. Delavan ; but I was ready to do what I could to sus- tain the burden, trusting to a kind Providence and to friends of the cause to uphold me. On retiring from office, Mr. Delavan wrote a very able and interesting letter to Gov. King, stating what the cause had done.
On the 25th of May, the X. Y. City Alliance held a public meeting in the Assembly rooms, on the duties of the hour. N'umerous speeches were made in favor of energetically enforcing those parts of the New Excise Law which were of a prohibitory character, though none were in favor of a license systenji. My own mind was clear on these points, viz. : that we never could make any substantial gain under a license law ; that if we could suppress all sales but the
800 TEMPERANCE EECOLLECTIONS.
licensed, about the same amount of drinking and drunken* ness would continue, for the licensed dealers would furnish all the community would desire, and have the monopoly ; that the consciences of the venders would be quieted, as their sales were legal ; and the consciences of temperance men and the community at large would be satisfied with le- gal sales, whatever might be the mischief done ; that it would be no easier stopping the illegal traffic under a li cense law than under a prohibitory law, and that soon the friends of temperance would be weary of the efibrt ; that all compromises with venders should be done away with ; that the traffic, whether licensed or not, should be held up as a moral wrong and a nuisance; that if venders would sell, they should sell without permission or legal warrant, and the whole temperance community should stand as a united phalanx against the traffic in all its forms, and expend their time and money in enforcing on the minds and hearts of the people the great subject of prohibition ; trusting in God for results, on these principles I should conduct the Journal, if continued in my position.
After a long neglect, from our attention to prohibitory lavr, of the children and youth of the State and nation, our attention was once more turned to them by the arrival in New York, January 28th, 1857, of Peter Sinclair, from Scotland, a gentleman who had most successfully for years devoted himself to Bands of Hope, in England and Scot- land. Mr. Sinclair came to us with the commendations of many distinguished gentlemen, friends of temperance, as a man of ardent piety, great philanthropy, and strik- ingly adapting himself to children and youth. The Lord Provost of Edinburgh, Rev. Dr. Guthrie, and Dr. Brown, of Dalkeith, all spoke of him in the highest terms as wor- thy of countenance and support in the temperance cause among children and youth. Of course he had our confi- dence, and I at once introduced him to Sabbath Schools,
PETEK SINCLAIR AND JUVENILE MOVEMENTS. 301
and called the attention of the people to him as a great god- send. He at once prepared and published in all our papers a letter to the children of America, which in itself inspired confidence ; and, in a short time, few were the schools and youth in the vicinity, who had not heard the pleasant voice and been amused and instructed by the addresses of Mr. Sinclair. Invitations were sent him from all parts of the country to visit and lecture, with a promise of suitable remuneration ; and a general revival of temperance among the children and youth of America was confidently and gladly looked forward to.
In March, I accompanied Mr. Sinclair to Portland, Me., to visit the battle-ground where had occurred the far- famed riot ; and to see Mr. Dow, who was, with him, more of an object than the President of the United States. We found him at home on a Saturday evening, surrounded by his body-guard, a few chosen friends, who came together on that evening to take counsel and report progress. On Sunday morning, all the Sabbath Schools, by previous no- tice, were gathered at the Union Church to welcome him, and in the afternoon a 'second meeting was held in the Pev. Dr. D wight's church, which was entirely filled with ju- veniles and their teachers ; and in the evening a large and general meeting of citizens was held to hear of the progress of temperance in Scotland and England. In Boston also, large gatherings of juveniles were made for him. At the Tremont Temple in an. afternoon, some 3,000 children Avith 600 adults, were assembled ; and a beautiful choir of some 300 children gave him a sweet welcome. The meeting was too large for any profitable address, but the occasion was one of hallowed inspirations. While in Boston, we visited at the State House, the Legislative Temperance Society, and both made addresses which drew forth much interest for the youth of the country, hereafter to be the legislators of the land. Mr. Sinclair, after this good in-
302 TEMPERANCE KECOLLECTIOXS.
troductioii, returned to New York, and entered on that field of labor in which he will long be remembered.
After Mr. Gougii's return from England, where he did much good service, and previous to his going again, I pro- posed to his friends in New York that we should honor him by a public festival, which was cheerfully acceded to. He was addressed by thirty citizens, headed by W. E. Dodge, to which he returned a favorable reply ; and the evening of the 14th of February, 1856, was fixed upon for a festival at Niblo's Saloon. Tables were set for 500 ladies and gentlemen. Single tickets $3 ; lady and gentleman, $5. The scheme was as popular as was Mr. Gough ; and in a short time I made sale of all the tickets. The evening was fine, and the comj^any as beautiful and splendid as any which could have been gathered from the votaries of King Alcohol. Indeed, it gave the temperance men and women of New York a fine opportunity to gather together, look at each other and show their strength. Mr. Dodge presided, assisted by twenty Vice-Presidents. Dodworth's Band was in attendance. Dr. De Witt implored the Divine benediction, and I announced the answers which had been given from abroad, but read only that from Governor Clark. After supper a large number of choice sentiments were offered, and splendid speeches made by Rev. Dr. Tyng, Dr. Cox, Henry Ward Beecher, B. W. Tompkins, Rev. T. L. Cuyler, A. C. Barstow and Mr. Gough. It was a beautiful and most .appropriate tribute.
The State of Maine, in which such triumphs had been achieved, was not destined long to be under a cloud. A new prohibitory law was enacted in the winter of 1858, and submitted to the j)eople on the first Monday of June. It received their approbation, and the prohibitionists w^ere not only put in the same position they were in before the repeal of the law of 1853, but their moral position was greatly in advance. The public mind had been well train-
ME. DOW SAILS FOR EjS-GLAND. 303
ed to appreciate the law and to understand the power and intent of the enemy. The temperance men were no longer attached to and standing in fear of some political party ; their position was now an independent one. They had learned their strength, and were able to keep clear of all political entanglements.
The friends of prohibitory law in England had been exceedingly anxious to see and hear Mr. Dow, and they gave him many pressing invitations to come over and let his voice be heard. Accordingly, he left home in April, 1847, for that country, amid the prayers and good wishes of thousands in his city and State. His friends were pre- pared to give him a magnificent reception, and had carved out for him a great field of labor, designing that he should speak and give an account of the Maine Law and its operations, in all the principal cities of the United Kijig- dom.
CHAPTER XXm.
North American Temperance Convention at Chicago — Made President — Action of the Convention — Noble body of men — Cause at the "West — Home Missionary Work — Maine Law in Illinois, Michigan, Indiana, Iowa and Nebraska — Cause in California and Oregon — Order of Good Templars — Inebriate Asylums — Bingham ton — Boston — Letter of John Tappan — Temperance Battle not man's, but God's — Pubhcations.
On the 10th of November, 1857, there was gathered at the Metropolitan Hall, Chicago, the North American Tem- perance Convention. It was designed to embrace a dele- gation from all the States, Canada, and the British Provin- ces. Only about eighty delegates were assembled from twelve different States, but among them were several eminent clergymen, jurists, and medical gentlemen. With the delegation I went with from New York, I was hap- py to meet our brethren on their own ground beyond the mountains. In compliment to my office, and perhaps to my age and services, I was made President of the Con- vention ; and found myself well supported by eight Vice- Presidents from as many Western States, and a good busi- ness Committee, of which Rev. Dr. Peck, of New York, was chairman. Soon as we commenced hearing reports it was manifest that we were among Western men. Wherev- er the cause had been taken hold of at all, it was taken hold of strongly and pressed earnestly. Total abstinence from all intoxicating liquor as a beverage, was considered too much as an old, worn-out doctrine, and an early mo- tion was made to strike out the words " as a beverage," and
NORTH AMERICAN CONVENTION XT CHICAGO. 305
discard all use of alcoholic drinks for any purpose, but the Convention were not j^repared for that, yet they unani- mously—
^' Resolved, That the principle of unconditional legal prohibition should be the ultimate aim of Temperance organizations and Temperance men."
In the evening, a large assembly was convened in the Hall, to listen to public speaking. I was put forward to make a general statement of the condition of the cause in the world, and to urge the Western States to come up to the aid of the old guard who had labored at the East for near half a century. The Kev. Dr. Peck, of New York, follow- ed in a speech of much eloquence and power.
On the second day, the Business Committee, through Dr. Peck, reported a platform of principles based on Total Abstinence from all intoxicating liquors as a beverage ; no license of the traffic, but prohibition of the manu- facture and sale by the will of the people, expressed in forms of law ; a plan of action by correspondence be- tween all organizations ; suj^port of temperance journals and temperance lectures ; forming no political parties, but everywhere securing temperance men for civil office to as great an extent as possible. They said :
" We recognize all the essential principles and measures of temperance as belonging to the purest forms of the Christian religion, as having exist- ence and organic life in the different churches, and depending largely upon their official and individual action for success. We rely most confidently upon the efficient labors of the members and upon the guidance and bless- ings of the great Ruler of the Universe, which, as we solemnly believe, can, under no circumstances, harmonize with the forms of flagrant vice we are seeking to destroy."
As many pious and good men at the West were en- gaged in the manufacture of intoxicating drinks, the subject drew out a very spirited and scourging debate. In answer to the plea that moral suasion was better than law.
806 TEMPEUANCE RECOLLECTION'S.
Rev. Mr. Brooks, of Chicago, showed that there was more moral power iu hxw than in anything else ; that God al- ways led men to do right by law ; that law was the great educator of tlie people, and that we never should extirpate an evil from society but by saying — It shall be done. The Rev. Mr. Patton eloquently summoned the ministry and the churches to the work Much of the day was spent in discussing the subject of organization : some were for hav- ing the "West unite with the American Temperance Union, and some for having an independent organization at the West. As the debate became somewhat personal, I left the chair for a season. The independent scheme was final- ly agreed upon and a constitution adopted. Rev. A. Ken- yon was chosen Agent for the new Board of action.
During the session, a large union meeting of the Temperance and Sabbath School Juvenile Societies was held in the Metropolitan Hall, which was addressed by Dr. Peck, Rev. Mr. Curtis and Mr. Ilewlet.
I was gratified with the appearance and action of the Convention ; though there was a great want of plan and harmony. It was composed of men of mind. A large number of ministers Avere present, who seemed bent on advancing. The cause of Prohibition was popular with all, but with ignorant and corrupt judges, little could be effected ; they had overridden popular majorities. The general feeling was that there must be a reform in the courts. A thorough temperance discussion was demanded all over the West. In the same week a Western Sabbath School Convention was in session in Chicago, so that I had an opportunity of seeing many excellent men not only from Illinois, but from Michigan, Wisconsin and Iowa.
Chicago, like all our cities, was sadly abandoned to the liquor traffic, and there was a vast amount of drinking among the Irish and German population. The Eastern men were too much engaged in business, to stop to drink. On
HOME MISSIONAKY ACTION. 307
the Sabbath evening after the Convention, I preached, by request, to a large congregation in Rev. Mr. Curtis' (Presb.) church, on the importance of an immediate temperance movement among the young in that city. My feelings had been much moved by a procession of five thousand children on Friday, and the sight of many large Sabbath Schools on that day.
A most faithful body of men for the great West, in the cause of temperance, had been the Home Missionaries. Wherever they had been planted, they had come at once in oollision with the terrible evil, and they hesitated not to wage a good warfare. Their infant churches were nearly all based on the total abstinence jDrinciple, which they fully sustained by example and in the pulpit.
The Maine Law agitation was not a stranger at the West ; sometimes it had been successful and sometimes not. In Illinois the popular vote was taken on the prohibi- tory law, enacted by the Legislature on the first Monday of June, 1855, with a majority of 1,460 against it. The total vote was 167,336. In the northern part of the State, every county gave a large majority for the law, but in the southern, which is Egypt, it was the reverse.
In Michigan, the State Central Committee said, a year after the law was enacted : —
" In the city of Detroit, the supremacy of the law is fully asserted, and we are gratified in being able to state that our good city deserves the credit of a quiet and entirely peaceable submission to legal process. About fifty cases have been commenced in this city. No difficulty has been ex- perienced in convicting in any of the Courts. The friefids of the cause have never had any thoughts of obtaining any decision of the Supreme Court."
The Indiana Prohibitory law took efi*ect on the 12th of June, 1855. At Brockport, Spencer County, the citi- zens assembled in large numbers in the morning, and about noon, marched to a grove, where they were entertained by
308 TEMPERANCE KECOLLECTIONS.
addresses and music. In the evening a splendid party was given by tbe Sisters of the Social Degree of the Temple of Honor. Everything passed off quietly. Two or three drunken men were on the side-walks, but they suddenly found themselves in jail. And all over the State, the liquor-dealers honorably shut up their shops. Indianapo- lis was as quiet as a Sabbath. The Mayor had for a time no commitments for violation of the law.
In Iowa the j^rohibitory law went into operation July 1, 1855. A very general disposition prevailed throughout the State in favor of its enforcement. In Iowa City, means were at once raised to carry the violations of the statute to the utmost limits of legal conviction.
In Nebraska, the^ Legislature of 1855 adopted the prohibitory law. In the House there were but two dis- sentients.
Still farther West, in California and Oregon, temper- ance even then was gaining foothold, and since has become a living power. The Dashaways at San Francisco, have been a powerful set of reformers. The Pacific, and other temperance papers, have been powerful advocates of the cause. "With many respectable individuals, pastors and schools have I corresponded in furnishing them with Jour- nals, Youth's Advocates and Tracts.
In Missouri, especially in St. Louis, where the Wash- ington movement and the Father Mathew Societies Avere once so effective, there was much activity in the cause. In Minnesota, the second State that adopted the Maine Law, the principle took deep root and brought forth much fruit. All through the West the Sons of Temperance were once forming divisions ; but now they were supplanted much by the Good Templars ; an order which originated in Penn- sylvania, in 1851, and which now is supposed to number over a hundred thousand. This Order devotes itself much to holding public meetings, scattering tracts and other
GOOD TEMPLARS — INEBRIATE ASYLUMS. 309
publications, and inducing men to enlist on their distinc- tive principles. James Black, Esq., of Lancaster, Pa., is one of its principal leaders, and the Good Templar, at Al- ton, and the Good Templar Oifering, at Chicago, are its principal organs. Before them is a vast work, as the West rolls up its millions.
The subject of Inebriate Asylums, already referred to, was renewed in September, 1858, by the laying of the cor- ner-stone of the noble building at Binghamton, N. Y. The inhabitants of the place had given a beautiful site for it, on an eminence about two miles from the village. The Legislature had granted it a charter, in 1854, and some endowment, and Dr. Turner, the founder, had gathered handsome donations. About a thousand persons were present. After the ceremony was performed, eloquent addresses were made by the Hon. B. F. Butler, President of the board ; Rev. Dr. Bellows of "New York ; Hon.,.D. S. Dickinson, and Professor Edward Everett. A poem was recited by A. B. Street of Albany. It was anticipated that it would become a very large and useful institution, Hon. Mr. Dickinson said, on the occasion :
The great army of intemperance, those who are wasting and dying of intemperance, if they should march together in solid column, and roll, and heave, and beat, and shout, as though by the convulsive throes of a vol- cano, what a spectacle it would present ! And the cause of philanthropy is marching forward to arrest this foul destroyer. I would gladly speak, did time permit, at length, upon the benefits of the Inebriate Asylum — this great fountaia, that is destined to send forth its streams of philan- thropy throughout our extended dominions. I can merely say, that this is to be an institution that shall bring back the prodigal son ; that shall take him who is insane, and clothe him in his right mind again. How many fathers, how many wives and mothers, will reverently kneel and pray to their Father in heaven for its success !
In Boston, an asylum for inebriates, called the Wash- ingtonian Home (because originating among the Washing-
310 TEMPERANCE RECOLLECTIONS.
tonians, in their desire to reform and save all dninken men), was inaugurated at Xo. 1 Franklin Place, in 1854; and Mr. Albert Day was elected and installed secretary and superintendent. It was chartered by the State, and soon received aid from the State Treasury. This early at- tracted attention, and received patronage ; and in four years had been the instrument of reclaiming, and making bless- ings to their families, many most w^retched and hopeless inebriates. Whenever I visited Boston, I was sure to visit this institution — removed to 887 Washington street — and found myself richly repaid in all I witnessed. Moral means were more relied upon than medical, and much dependence was placed on the blessing of heaven. In this institution, one of the most wretched inebriates, a Mr. Brown, w^ho had been separated from his family ten years, was, in a short time restored to self-control, and be- came one of the most eloquent and effective temperance lecturers in the United States. Many had it been my hap- piness to recommend to that institution, as their relatives and friends came to my office, with tearful eyes and broken hearts, inquiring what they could do with a ruin- ed father, son, or brother.
In one case, I felt deeply interested. A lady and her daughter, from New Jersey, called at my office, impressing me that they were persons of wealth, intelligence, and re- finement, and made inquiries for an inebriate asylum, or some private institution. I said, " Surely, madam, you cannot have need of one ? " " Indeed I have, sir ; " she re- plied, " we have come to it ; we cannot go on any longer as we have gone. My husband is one of the best of men in his family, when he is sober ; but when he has been at a drinking party, for two and three weeks we are often in peril of our lives. He has once been in the insane hos- pital, but the law would not allow them to keep him ; and now he is willing to go from home, if a good place can
WASHINGTOXIAN HOME, BOSTON. 311
be found for liim." I told her of the Asylum at Boston, and advised her to take or send him there.
She inquired of the expense ; and I asked her of his abil- ity to defray it. " Oh, abundant," she said ; " that was his ruin. He was constantly enticed to card and drinking l^arties, because it was known he had wealth, and was of a generous nature, and would foot the bills ; and we could not keep him from them." I advised her to take him im- mediately to Boston. The next day he went, a friend ac- companying him, and remained for some time. There he was treated with all the kindness and attention due to his standing. The best moral and religious means were used with. him. There, among some thirty or forty, he witnessed what he had never seen before in others, though his family had seen it in him — what were the horrible effects of liquor-drinking ; and there he was so horror-stricken with the vice of drunkenness, that he publicly renounced the prac- tice, and earnestly entreated that he might be enabled fo keep from it forever. A letter from him, to the superinten- dent, after his return to his happy family, evinced the won- drous change in him — showing what a change of place and companions, and good moral influence, may accom- plish.
May 27, 1858. Mr. Day : —
3fy Dear Sir, — You must not conclude, because I have not written be- fore tliis, that I had forgotten you, and the many kind friends I became acquainted with in Boston. I try often to remember the institution over which you preside in my prayers to the throne of grace ; that the Lord will continue to bless it, and to raise up to its aid many good and substan- tial friends. I there learned a lesson which, I hope, I shall never forget, viz. : that a number, who have been very intemperate for many years, and who have broken off, and then drank again, perhaps worse than ever, and so continued a number of years, now have come out decided in the tem- perance cause, and are now respectable men and good Christian citizens, happy in their fanilies, and among their friends, and are again pursuing a
312 TEMPERANCE RECOLLECTIONS.
good and profitable business. So there is hope for me ; and I mean and intend, looking to the Lord for hia help and blessing, to live, while life lasts, a temperate, and I hope a Christian life, and perhaps yet see many and pleasant days.
Few had more interested themselves in Asylums for inebriates than my friend and kinsman, John Tappan, of Boston. I had expressed to him my feelings of revolt at the appropriation, by the New York Legislature, of a por- tion of the money paid for license to the Binghampton In- stitution— first establishing drinking houses by law, to create revenue, and then appropriating public money to cure the drunkards there made. It seemed to be, and, in fact, was so used, as an argument for continuing the li- cense. But he- viewed it in a different light, and said to me, in a letter, November 19, 1859 :
" I hope you will immediately advocate the appropriation of one half, instead of one-tenth of the revenue derived from licenses, to the building up of the Asylum at Binghamton, and kindred institutions through your State, so as to have, at least, as many as you have State prisons ; for surely there is crying need of them. So long as your State will license, and your judges support the law, it is the duty of temperance men to obtain, by all lawful means, the revenue derived from the infamous business, for the pur- pose of taking care of the unhappy victims, who are murdering wives and debasing their children, as well as, by daily drinking, supporting the saloons, hotels and grog-shops, not one of which would continue their busi- ness, if none but those temperate and intemperate drinkers, who disdain to enter such places, were . to go at large. We must do what we can, by abolishing licenses, and by the strong arm of the law, as well as moral suasion ; but, as long as the customs of society remaui, and the appetite is not under religious restraint, drunkards "will be made, in high places and in low. To meet this, we must labor, and pray for prohibitory legislation ; build asylums ; arouse parents, and, if possible, persuade them to banish all alcoholic drinks from their families, and to avoid all parties where they are introduced. My belief is, that every man who goes to Binghamton, and all his friends, will be your most powerful aids, in abolishing licenses."
On Mr. Dow's return from England, where he was
NEAL DOW EETUENS FROM ENGLAND. 313
most cordially received, and where he accomplished much good, in speaking in numerous large meetings, and ex- plaining the Maine Law, and cheering the hearts and strengthening the hands of prohibitionists, he was honored with many testimonials of respect and affection. At a meeting, at the Academy of Music, in New York, he re- ceived a noble tribute from Dr. Tyng, as a man who would be honored and remembered with gratitude when thousands of lecturers, and men who draw admiring crowds, would be forgotten forever. Mr. Dow spoke for an hour, giving an account of his labors in England, and the hopeful progress of the cause in that country ; though seventy-five millions sterling were there expended for strong drink, and sixty thousand persons annually perish- ed from its effects.
It was highly gratifying to Mr. Dow and to all the friends of the cause, to see prohibition restored in Maine, after a few years' subjection to a license law, under which the State was flooded with intoxicating liquors. By a vote of the Legislature, the question was submitted to the people, when 28,864 voted for the restoration of prohibi- tion, and 5,912 for the continuance of license. The new law went into operation on the 15th July, 1858. At this time, grog-shops had increased in Portland, doing their work of death, to five hundred ; but they were then gen- erally closed; and Maine became once more an Asylum for the inebriate.
In 1858 I published a discourse entitled The Temper- ance Battle not Man's, but God's, from 2d Chronicles xx. 15» Tlie battle is not yours, butGocPs / 8vo, 24 pp. The object I had in view was not to prove that God was in conflict with Intemperance : I should as soon think of proving that God existed; but to illustrate, draw out and improve this great truth, and derive such instruction from it as would encourage, animate and lead the temperance hosts on to 14
314 TEMPERANCE RECOLLECTIONS.
battle. I desired to elevate the temperance cause ; to place it on mucli higher ground than it had heen as man's work, and to place it where no professed friend of God could find an excuse for opposition or indifference. I said, "If the bat- tle is God's battle, then the advocates of the cause have no reason to be ashamed ; they may leave all their adversaries to settle their controversies with him ; they need fear no opposition nor results ; they may well look to all the friends of God to be foremost in the fight ; they may look too to civil government to sustain the cause and not license the traflic ; they may rest assured the battle will go on though they die ; it will last while God lives, unless Intem- perance be first exterminated by Jesus Christ, who shall have dominion from sea to sea. As the silver and the gold is the Lord's, men of wealth should come to the help ; and as there is a certainty of success, they who are fighting this battle should be ashamed of all despondency, doubt or fear."
I desired a wide circulation of the discourse, and was gratified with several contributions, especially the fol- lowing :
" South Ballston, April 23, 1858. Rev. J. Marsh :
Dear Sir : — I have perused with great pleasure your discourse : The Temperance Battle not Man's, but God's, I am glad to perceive that your confidence in the final triumph of our principles, which we have now for near thirty years endeavored to fasten upon the public mind, is una- bated. I wish I could send you the means for printing and circulating 100,000 ; it would do great good at the present time ; but as the payment of the debt of the State Temperance Society has fallen upon me, I am, in duty to other claims, constramed to hold up my contributions for temper- ance at present. I am truly yours,
E. C. DELAVAN."
"South BalSton, April 28. Dear Sir : — I cannot feel it to be right to praise a work, and not aid in
TEMPERANCE BATTLE NOT MAn's, BUT GOd's. 315
its circulation ; you may therefore draw on me for $100 to send 1,000 copies, post-paid, where you think it will do the most good in the country.
Yours, E. C. D."
From Hon. T. S. Williams, Chief Justice of Con- necticut :
"Your address to the friends of Temperance on God's Battle, is a word in season. I hope it will be the means of awakening a new interest in the cause. I enclose a draft often dollars for its circulation in this State."
Said General Cary, of Ohio :
" Liquor-sellers should read it, that they may learn that they are fight- ing against their Maker and Judge. Lukewarm temperance men should read it, and learn that the Almighty is on our side. The professed people of God should read it, that they may know to whom they owe allegiance. We are fighting God's battle, and if kings, rulers and jtidges, and aU the powers of darkness are allied against us, in due time victory is certain."
A large number of valuable publications had been issued in support of the Maine Law, besides those which have been already alluded to. A strong discourse in its vindication was published by Rev. Wm. A. Brown, pastor of the Free Church, in Andover, Massachusetts, from Ex. xxi., 29. "A Good Law," by Rev. Isaac P. Lang, worthy of Chelsea, Mass ; " The law of God and the Law of Man," an admirable discourse, by a Massachusetts cler- gyman ; Dr. Spear's " Sermon on the Maine Law," Brook- lyn, N. Y. ; " An Appeal to the Citizens of the Common- wealth of Maryland, on the Necessity of Prohibition;" " An Argument on Prohibition," before the Temperance Mass Convention at Winchester, Va. ; W. Andrews' " Re- view of Rev. M. Lovejoy's Lecture' against the Laws in Maine ; " " Alcohol and the Commonwealth ; Shall we Leg- islate," Rev. W. Barrows ; " Sennon " by Professor Shep- herd, of Bangor; "My Sister Margaret," a temperance story; "Methodist Book-Room, K Y. ; " "Tracts," in
316 TEMPERANCE EECOLLECTIONS.
variety, by Rev. Geor<^c Trask, Fitcbburg, Massacbusetts. Mr. Trask bad engaged in combating " Tobacco," a kindred spirit witb intemperance, almost its equal in fascination, power, and ruin. By many it bad been supposed tbat tbe use of tobacco, especially by tbe young, was a great cause of intemperance ; and it was contended that, if par- ents would lead tbeir cbildren to all disuse of tobacco, tbey seldom, if ever, would see them in the paths of intemper- ance. Some lecturers on temperance were great users of tobacco, which was a great offence to the friends of the cause. Bands of Hope were therefore widely pledging themselves to also disuse tobacco, as well as intoxicating drink. The numerous productions of Dr. Trask were powerful and Avidely spread. Some he wrote and pub- lished specifically on temperance, and on prohibitory law, which were very useful. " Life of J. H. W. Hawkins," by his son ; Rev. Mr. Crampton, on " The Wine of the Bible ; " "Alcohol, its Place and Power," by Dr. Miller, Edin- burgh.
CHAPTER XXIV.
Ministerial Fidelity — Boldness of Puritans — Difficulties in Reproof — Dr. Justin Edwards on Sabbath Temperance Preaching — Hewitt, Fisk, Clarke, Edwards — Origin of Washingtonians — Elder Knapp — Twenty- third Anniversary A. T. IT. — Speech of Governor Briggs — Death of Anson G. Phelps — Encouraging Report — Mr. Delavan in England — Letter from — Enghsh Clergy Address — Massachusetts AlUance— ^ N. Y. State League — Western Pennsylvania Convention.
When Paul stood pleading before King Agrij^pa, Fes- tus, astounded at his fidelity and boldness, exclaimed, " Paul ! thou art beside thyself ! much learning doth make thee mad." And when Luther said he would go to Worms, if there were as many devils there as there were tiles on the roofs of the houses, no doubt he, too, was thought to be a madman. And when John Knox stood before Queen Mary, and rebuked her for her sins, he had no claim to the character of a courtier. The puritan min- isters were characterized for their boldness. They feared not man ; and when there was sin among the people, they hesitated not to rebuke it ; and when they did rebuke, none could say to them, " Thou which teachest another, teachest thou not thyself ? thou that sayest, a man should not steal, dost thou steal ? thou who sayest, a man should not commit adultery, dost thou commit adultery ? " It was their holiness and purity that gave them boldness. Bat as New England increased in population, and luxury abounded, and ministers mingled freely in pleasures and
318 TEMPEEANCE KECOLLECTIONS.
usages, not thought to be decidedly wrong, yet wliose ten- dencies were bad, and unbecoming the ministerial charac- ter, they were, in these matters, shorn of their strength.
When tlic temperance reformation broke out, few were the ministers who did not partake with their people in that w^hich was condemned by the reformers ; and how could any, from their pulpits, reprove their parishioners ■who had furnished them a dangerous article which they had gracefully received. And when they were right, even then, how difficult fidelity and boldness were in the early stages of the work, few now have any conceptions of. The loss of the friendship and support of some of the best families ; of a w^ealthy distiller or brewer, or wholesale deal- er ; would, perhaps, be the result of a single sermon. Fresh are my recollections of several ministers who were driven from their pulpits, for their boldness in this matter. It was no subject, said many, for the pulpit. " Talk temper- ance as much as you please, in your temperance meetings, but bring it not into the pulpit, on the Sabbath." So had Satan barred the doors of the sanctuary against the temperance preacher on God's holy day, that Dr. Justin Edwards, who feared not man, felt bound to come out, and boldly remonstrate against a sentiment so absurd and aw- ful. Said he : " Shall the fires which make this poison burn on the Sabbath ? Shall Jehovah be insulted by the appearance in the sanctuary of men w^lio use it ; and yet the Sabbath not be occupied by light and love to abolish the use? Shall it cause the word of the Lord, even from the pulpit, to fall as upon a rock, and yet the pulpit be dumb ? or speak only on week-days, when those who traffic 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 manu- facture, sell, and use the weapons of his warfare, and mul- tiply the trophies of his victory, not hear of their sins on
EDWARDS ON SABBATH TEMPEKANCE PREACHING. 319
the Sabbath, when God speaks to the conscience ; or be in- structed from the pulpit, his mercy's seat, by the tears and blood of a Saviour, to flee from coming damnation, the adversary will keep his stronghold; church-mem- bers will garrison it, and provision it, and fight for him. From the communion-table, he will muster re- cruits, and find officers in those who distribute the ele- ments, to fight his battles, and people, with increasing numbers, his dark domains to the end of time. If we may not, in this warfare, on the Lord's day, when He Himself goes forth to the battle, and commands upon the field ; if we may not use his weapons, forged in heaven, and, from the high places 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."
These solemn warnings brought out many ministers to speak boldly against the traffic, and the drinking usages of their people, as they ought to speak, and not unfrequent- ly so disturbing the conscience, and agitating the souls of their people, that great revivals ensued.
I recall one minister who was greatly distressed on the point of duty ; his church-members were selling rum ; and his church-members were using strong drink in their families ; and there was no rain nor dew ; all seemed given over to the evil one. He knew it was most hazardous to allude to the evil on the Sabbath ; he expected, if he did, some of his best people would leave the house ; but he said, " Sink or swim, live or die, I cannot go on so ; I must do my duty, and leave the event to God." He did it ; and boldly called the selling of ardent spirit as a beverage, a crime, and the using of intoxicating drink a sin against the body and against the soul. Men felt that they were in a house on fire, and there was no escape into
320 TEMPER.VJsrCE RECOLLECTIONS.
the open air ; women felt there was no religion in it, and they would not hear such preaching. The next morning, some wholesale dealers and consumers, heavy tax-payers, met on the side-walk, and said one to another, " We will bear this no longer ; let us drive him off." A dry wag, listening to their complaints and threats, said, "That's right, brothers ; go and get J. B., and W. T., and R. S. (notorious infidels and Sabbath-breakers, and profane men), and a few more of the same sort, and get a vote to drive him out." They started back, for they were pro- fessors of religion and good men ; they saw where tbey were, and where their minister stood, and how he had done his duty. Some gave up their traffic ; all were quiet ; and never more had that minister any difficulty in doing his duty.
When I first heard Dr. Nathaniel Hewitt on this sub- ject, I was amazed at his boldness. Every stone was the weight of a talent, and it was of no consequence with him who was hit. The first sermon he preached in New York, was in Dr. Spring's pulpit, and it was like the roll- ing of a ball among ten-pins. Several of the first men of the city went home and emptied their bottles.
A man of great boldness in the Methodist Church, whom I well knew — almost equal in fidelity to John Wes- ley, was Wilbur Fisk. " I believe," said he, " the time is coming when not only the drunkard, but the drinker will be excluded from the church of our God ; when the gam- bler and the slave-dealer and the rum-dealer will be class- ed together. And I care not how soon that time ar- rives." A hard speech forty years ago. And another was* Dr. Lyman Beecher. " Oh ! were the sky over our heads one great whispering-gallery, bringing down about us all the lamentations and woe which intemperance creates, and the firm earth one sonorous medium of sound, bringing up around us from beneath the wailings of the damned whom
REV. JUSTIN EDWARDS, D. D. 321
the dealer in ardent spirits had sent there, tremendous realities assailing our senses would invigorate our coun- sels and give decision of conscience to our purposes of reformation." Another was Rev. Daniel A. Clark. Wherever he went he thrust a' sharp spear through the bull's hide of the rum-seller, and there were howlings and curses and threatenings, which either drove him off, or ar- rayed all God's people against the. ungodly traffic and its supporters. His two sermons " Am I my brother's keep- er," and " His blood be upon us," are sermons of tre- mendous power. Every minister should read them and resolve that, God helping him, he would preach like them. Others I might mention, as Rev. John Pierpont, of Bos- ton, and Rev. Thomas P. Hunt, of N. C.
Before I go farther, I must speak a word of that admi- rable man, and dear personal friend. Dr. Justin Edwards. He seemed raised up by a kind Providence just for this great work of moral reform. Possessed of a clear, discerning mind ; a strong, commanding utterance, without the smooth- ness and polish of an Addison ; few men ever so command- ed the attention of a large assembly, either in the pulpit or in public conventions. Men saw clearly, as uttered from his lips, that " He that soweth to the wind shall reap the whirlwind ; " that life and death, blessing and cursing, were set before them ; and that it was altogether wisest and best for them, as individuals, as members of families, and as communities, to choose life. His language was the purest Saxon; short sentences, weighty, powerful. His first nine RejDorts of the American Temperance Society, constituting the first volume of Permanent Temperance Documents, can now be read mth more profit by temper- ance lecturers than any other production. His subsequent labors in the Sabbath cause were almost equally valuable with his labors for temperance ; but they consisted rather in collections of facts than of appeals to the heart 14^:
322 TEMPERANCE RECOLLECTIONS.
and conscience. He died at the Sweet Springs, in Virginia, of afFections of the liver, July 23, 1853, at the age of sixty- six, and was buried at his home in Andover, Massachu- setts, in the Seminary cemetery, where a monument has been erected to his memory.
To the close of life, he was in favor of legislative de- fence. To Mr. Dclavan he wrote, September, 1851 : "If we can keep at work all hands, we shall, in due time, secure effectual legislative defence ; but, in order to this, there must be a steady, regular, and long course of wise, patient continuance in well-doing, by the old, substantial, and long-tried friends of temperance who, in all their w^ays, acknowledge God, and act in the spirit, and under the influ- ence of the Gospel, and for the purpose of honoring God in the salvation of men."
Another of the early reformers, and most valuable laborers, who passed away April 20, 1861, at the advanced age of eighty, was the Rev. Dr. Humphrey, of Pittsfield, Massachusetts, formerly President of Amherst College. Dr. Humphrey commenced his temperance labors as early as 1812, when, w4th Mr. Swan, of Norwalk, lie wrote an address to the churches of Fairfield County, Connecticut. It was an able production, and made a great impression through the State. He afterwards drew a comparison be- tween intemperance and slavery, showing that slavery to the bottle was the worst slavery to which man could be subjected. Ever was he ready, to the last day of his life, by his pen, his example, and his speech, whether at home or abroad, to sustain our great cause, and rejoice in its progress. In a letter to me, a little before his death, he said, speaking of the reformation :
" Although so much remains to be done, it is one of the most remark- able reformations that can be found on the page of history. If we could contrast what we everywhere witness with the drinking habits of half a century ago, and count the multitudes who have been saved from falUng
MINISTEEIAL FIDELITY. 323
into the snare of the devil, we should be constrained to exclaim, ' What hath God wrought ! ' I hope that years are still before you, to labor in the temperance vineyard."
Some ministers did not preach on temperance, because they used tobacco. They felt the inconsistency ; and, for that vile weed, let Satan draw their young men down to death. Some, because they occasionally, only occasionally, took wine at parties and festivals. And they were doubt- less right ; for their hearts would not be in the work and God would not bless them. Some, because they had no drunkards in their congregations. That was more than they knew. But it would not be surprising if it was so ; for what was there in their preaching that attracted drunk- ards ? What would drunkards care for their beautiful fig- ures of speech, and sj^lendid rhetoric, and fine-spun morality, and anticij^ated heaven ? Drunkards would go and hear preaching that concerned them ; and so would all classes of wicked men. Gamblers would go and hear about gambling ; Sabbath breakers about Sabbath breaking, and Thieves about thieving, and feel that the preacher meant them, when he warned them to flee from the wrath to come.
In the eleventh annual report of the Maryland State Temperance Society, the wonderful Washingtonian move- ment was traced to the fidelity of a Christian preacher, who had given notice that he would preach on temperance. The six founders of this movement were iij a tavern, drink- ing, when their conversation turned on this sermon ; where- upon it was determined that four of them should go and hear this Elder Knapp and make a report. After ser- mon, they returned and discoursed on its merits for some time ; when one of the company remarked that " after all temperance is a good thing." " Oh," said the host, " they are all a parcel of hypocrites." " Oh yes," replied one, " I'll be bound for you, it is for your interest to cry them
324 TEMPERAXCE RECOLLECTIONS.
down any how." " I'll tell you what," said another, " let's form a Temperance Society, and make Mitchell presi- dent." "Agreed !" they cried, and soon they organized and signed their pledge.
This statement was afterward denied by some who preferred that the movement should be considered an im- mediate impulse from Heaven, without any human instru- mentality. But whether true or not, the same preacher was a well-known instrument of turning many of this mis- able class to righteousness. That remarkable man, Abel Bishop, in New Haven, said in his account of himself: " I heard that Elder Knapp was preaching on temperance. I took three drinks, then went and heard him. I came home and went slyly to bed, that no one should know how I felt. The next night, I went again ; when I came home, my wife and children looked strangely at me, I was so quiet ; I walked the room but said nothing ; I went to the shelf and got the Bible, arid tried to read, but could not ; my wife burst into tears. The next day, I heard of the meeting of the reformed drunkards ; I went to it and signed the pledge." This man, raised from the very lowest degradation, w^as restored to his church and became one of the most powerful temperance lecturers, and died in the triumph of Christian faith. Truly the Word, when proper- ly preached, is quick and powerful, sharper than any two- edged sword. Thankful w^e may be, that we now have so many who handle it skilfully. But oh ! what would be the state of our country if all were faithful.
The ravages of Intemperance and its hindrance to the prosperity of the Churches was exciting much alarm in Connecticut, and a large meeting of ministers in Litchfield County was called to consider the subject of Home Evange- lization. I received an invitation to deliver an address on the subject. I replied, that I was not as well acquainted with that as I was with Home Demoralization, and agreed
SUFFOLK CO. TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. 325
to prej^are an address on that, which I did — showing that, more than anything else, it was Intemperance, the dram- shop and the constant use by many of intoxicating drinks. It was listened to with attention, and published and sent abroad.
Many ministers and laymen manifested in their districts an earnest and persevering attention to the cause. None more so than those of SuiFolk County, N. Y. Through many years they had nobly sustained monthly meetings of two days, passing around the county, until they had at- tained to the 142d. John Sherry, Esq., had been from the commencement its President, and was ever at his post. All the ministers of the county made it a point to attend. With them, it was frequently my happiness to mingle.
The Twenty-third Anniversary of the American Tem- perance Union was held at the Cooper Institute, May 11, 1859 ; Governor Briggs, the President, in the Chair. The Governor, in an address, showed his attachment to the cause, and the happiness he had in being permitted to at- tend the Anniversary of the Union. He said :
" The object of this, and all other temperance organizations, was the social, physical, and intellectual improvement of men. If he was asked why it was wrong to use intoxicating drinks ? He should reply, ' because the natural tendency of their use is to injure the physical, mental, and moral powers, and to pull man down from his high position to something below a man. Because a vast proportion of those who use such drinks be- come drunkards, it is wrong.' If the drunkards in this city to-night could be arranged in a single procession, no argument would be needed to show the wrong in the use of intoxicating drinks. For more than thirty years I have abstained ; but, oh ! how many of my companions who started in Hfe with me, have I seen go to destruction ! I have never seen the time nor the occasion to regret that, in 1836, I resolved never to drink any intoxicating Uquor. But there have been many times when I thanked God for the advantages of that resolution to me. Who can reahzc what it is for a man to become a drunkard ? From being the hope of parents, the pride of friends, it is to be brought down, in disgrace, to a horrible death ; and to be carried to the prrave unattended."
326 TE3n?EEAXCE EECOLLECTIONS.
The Uiuoii were called to lament the death of Anson G. Phelps, Esq., at the advanced age of eighty-one. Chair- man of the Executive Committee, who had long, by his excellent character, his inflexible i>rinciples, and munifi- cence, been a great support. The annual Report spoke of discouragements, but also of much that was encouraging. The formation of numerous Bands of Hope, under Mr. Sinclair, operating both in the United States and Canada, awoke dee\y feelings of gratitude and praise. The exten- sive outpourings of the Spirit of God, in the last two years, had led large numbers of young men to adopt the prin- ciples of temperance in their daily practice. Nothing had ever proved such a hindrance to revivals and the advance of the Redeemer's kingdom, as the use of intoxicating drinks. The ministers, and churches, and friends of tem- perance,'were now, therefore, joyfully coalescing. In these seasons of religious awakening. Christian laymen were in- spired with unusual boldness and zeal, in breaking up the strongholds of wickedness, in our large cities ; and with good success. The restoration of the prohibitory law in Maine, after a two years' trial of a license law, was another subject of congratulation ; and an unexpected and extraor- dinary decision of the Chief Justice of Massachusetts (Shaw) that all intoxicating liquors kept unlawfully for sale, with implements and vessels, were to be considered as nuisances, and to be treated as such, sent alarm among those engaged in the traffic.
The Reports from abroad were of an encouraging char- acter. Immense and enthusiastic meetings were being held throughout Great Britain, at which distinguished gentlemen presided, and liberal contributions were made. In the death of Joseph Eaton, at Bristol, in May, 1858, at the age of sixty-eight, the cause lost one of its greatest supporters. He was of the Society of Friends. At the World's Convention, I much enjoyed his friendship and
TEMPERANCE IN FOREIGN COUNTRIES. 327
great decision. He toiled much for the cause ; gave liber- ally on occasions; and, at his death, made large pro- vision for its future sup^Dort. In Russia, a great revolt from drinking customs had been caused by a heavy tax laid upon brandies. In Australia, the temperance cause had been prosperous, through the patronage and efforts of Chief Justice A. Becket. In the Sandwich Islands, the immense Christian churches held fast their integrity. Able addresses were made by several gentlemen.
In the summer of this year, Mr. Delavan again visited Europe, and mingled freely with the friends of the cause. In his correspondence with me, he gave many interesting and encouraging relations. In a letter dated, London, October 31st, he said :
" On my arrival at Liverpool, I found letters from distinguished friends of temperance from various parts waiting my arrival, and extending to me the kindest hospitalities. At a meeting of friends there, I endeavored to give as faithful a statement of the condition of things in our country as was in my power. What we want, is to show to this country, the practical workings of a prohibitory law, carried out in a single State. I think we must rely upon Maine for this. From what I can learn, there has been great and wonderful progress since I was here twenty years ago. The evils are universally acknowledged. The term as " drunk as a lord " cannot now be applied to the higher classes. Still, they cling to the moderation doctrine. The clergy for the most part occupy this position."
But soon after this I received a most gratifying address, which I inserted in the Journal of November, 1859, to the Clergy of the Church of England, from 130 members of their own body, headed by Francis Close, D. D., Dean of Carlisle. This noble man had, in becoming himself a total abstainer, induced a great change among the clergy of the established Church, until several hundreds of them had come oat on the true principle. He had also estab- lished The Church of England Temperance Magazine. The address assumed, that total abstinence was the only
328 TEMPERANCE KECOLLECTIOJfS.
security against drunkenness ; that moderate drinking supports drunkenness ; that it is the duty of ministers to oppose the evil by all lawful means ; that were they gen- erally to adopt the principle of total abstinence, it would be a great death-blow to the traffic, and exert a mighty influence over the habits and practices of all classes.
In Massachusetts, Dr. Jewett inaugurated, in June, 1859, a new organization on a pecuniary basis, called The State Temperance Alliance. Every member to pay one dollar a year. Dr. Jewett was principal agent, and entered on his labors with great earnestness. He had long viewed the cause as suffering for want of a pecuniary basis. In the first year of the Alliance the one dollar subscription amounted to $24,844.
In 1859, The State League was organized in Central New York, avowedly to control the Legislative and Ex- ecutive action of New Yorji State. A strong platform of principles was adopted, but having no distinctive charac- teristic, excepting in the resolution to vote for no civil officer w^ho w^as not committed to Prohibitory law. The Organ of the State League had a wide cii'culation. Con- nected in some measure with the Carson League, it success- fully prosecuted many engaged illegally in the traffic.
Western Pennsylvania was strong for prohibition. On the 25th of May, 1859, a large Convention w^as held, de- nouncing all license and upholding prohibition as the only true principle. A reverend gentleman from Harrisburg, the seat of government, strongly depicted the efforts of the liquor-dealers in that place ; the immense sums of money spent by them in the Legislative Halls to accom- plish their ends, and the contempt with which they treat- ed the friends of temperance. Prof Barrow considered the only way to strike at the root of the evil was by Prohibition. He deprecated the discouragements among temperance men, and in stirring tones urged them
STRONG ACTION IN PENNSYLVANIA. 329
to press onward. Strong and united action was taken by the Convention.
In Pennsylvania, there was a strong support given to their prohibitory law, which was of a peculiar character, but well adapted to the State.
In 186 1-' 2, a vigorous effort was made in the State and Legislature of New York to incorporate the principle of prohibition in the organic law of the State, by making it an article in the revised Constitution : " That the sale of intoxicating liquors as a beverage be prohibited ; that no law authorizing its sale shall be enacted ; and that the Legislature shall, by law, prescribe the necessary fines and penalties for any violation of the provisions — as the pro- hibition of lotteries was inserted in the Constitution of 1832 and 1836." A resolution to this effect passed, both in the Senate and Assembly of 1861, but failed in the Legislature of 1862. Had it passed, it would have been referred to the people, and would have produced the greatest e?^citement.
CHAPTER XXV.
Death of Governor Briggs, President A. T. U. — Hon. W. A. Buckingham elected to fill bis place — Death of Mr, Frelinghuysen — Chief Justice WilUams — President Lincoln's Temperance — War — Dangers to the Cause — Visit Washington — Army Tracts — How Supphed and Appre- ciated— Twenty-fifth Anniversary A. T. U. — Governor Buckingham's Speech — Speech of Senator Pomroy — Deaths of Dr. Beecher, Dr. Baird, Admiral Foote — ^Navy — Army — Progress of Temperance — War Ending — Assassination of President Lincoln.
Ox September 13, 1861, the community were greatly shocked at hearing of a wound, by the accidental dis- charge of a gun in his house, of the Hon. George IST. Briggs, of Pittsfield, Massachusetts, President of the Amer- ican Temperance Union. He survived, in great anguish, for a few days ; and then, in Christian faith and hope, resigned his spirit into the hands of his Maker, in the sixty- sixth year of his age.
Governor Briggs was ever accounted one of the noblest specimens of humanity. Though self-educated, he rose to the highest office and honors of his State ; and was a man of great influence in the Congress of the United States. Possessed of sound piety, he admirably controlled his appetites and passions ; and, being of great benevolence, he deeply interested himself in the temperance cause, and in doing good to all as he had oj^j^ortunity. Early in his profession as a lawyer, he adopted the principle of total abstinence. On returning from court and stopping to dine, as he sat at the table there was a call in his stomach for something. He quietly dropped his head,
EAKLY rtECISION FOE TOTAL ABSTINENCE. 331
and asked, " What is wanting there ? " The reply was, " brandy and water." He was startled at the thought that it was demanded ; and he said to liis stomach, " You never get any more ; " and from that hour to the day of his death, he never drank intoxicating liquor. He was first publicly known by his controversy with modera- tionists in the Saratoga Convention of 1836. He was most active for Temperance in Congress ; became President of the Congressional Temperance Society, and afterwards of the Legislative Society, in his own State. Wherever he went, he was true to the cause, and filled the stations to which he was called with great ability and Christian meekness. I was delegated to attend his funeral, and took part in the public meeting which was held at Pittsfield to speak of his worth. At his grave, I could truly say, " The Chariot of Israel, and the Horsemen thereof."
At a meeting of the Committee, in April, '62, William A. Buckingham, Governor of Connecticut, was elected to fill his place. In accepting the office, he said, " While I am conscious of my inability to fill properly the position so honorably occupied by your former distinguished Pres- ident, yet, feeling a deep interest in the cause, and es- pecially the importance of pressing its saving influence into our army, composed as it is of many of our best and most promising young men ; I fear I may neglect a duty if I decline ; I therefore accept the honorable po- sition." At its Anniversary, in May, all hoped for the presence of Governor Buckingham ; but duties in the Legislature prevented his attendance ; he, however, sent a letter regretting his absence, with his cheque of 8200 to aid the cause.
Besides Governor Briggs, the Union was called to lament the deaths of distinguished Vice-Presidents, Hon. Thomas S. Williams, a former chief justice of Connecticut ; and Hon. Theodore Frelinghuysen, President of Rutgers
332 TEiirERANCE EECOLLECTIONS.
College, N. J. Judge Williams lived to the age of eighty- four, in the i'ull possession of all his faculties. lie was ever the firm supporter of true temperance principles ; was President of the State Temperance Society ; an entire abstainer, and decided prohibitionist. His legal opinions gave weight in favor of the Maine Law. In his death, though at an advanced age, the temperance cause met with a great loss. Mr. Frelinghuysen was one of the most accomplished Christian gentlemen the world had seen. Of fine j^erson and manners; a sweet voice and earnest tones ; w^ith a large grasp of thought, and unmis- takable reasoning, Mr. Frelinghuysen w^as ever a favor- ite orator, on all temperance and religious occasions. He was decided for total abstinence, as the only safe principle, w^hen it was not generally received ; and for prohibitory law against all license for the sale of liquors as a beverage. His temperance speeches, of which a number are well re- ported, should be collected in a single volume, as models for all good temperance speaking. For some years, he was Chairman of our Executive Committee, which brought me into intimate relations with him ; and he was as devot- ed and happy there, as in the Chair as President of the American Bible Society, or American Board of Missions. He died in the Presidency of the Rutgers College, at the age of seventy-five.
The Anniversary meeting was ably addressed by James A. Briggs, a nephew of Governor Briggs; Rev. H. W. Beecher, and J. B. Merwin of the United States army. It was a time of great excitement and interest for the cause — when, in fact, it seemed in danger of being forgot- ten and trampled in the dust, but when its importance to all reflecting minds was never greater. Our nation had received a new President. Nine States had seceded from the Union, and with them we were involved in a terrific war. It was a subject of rejoicing and hopefulness for the
ABEAHAM LINCOLN A TEMPERANCE PRESIDENT. 333
cause of temperance, that Abraham Lincoln, who had been called to lead the nation, was a strict temperance man. No disturbance ever had been, or ever would be effected by Alcohol in that mighty brain ; and whatever the friends of temperance would consider desirable in the Government, the army, or the navy, they might ask from him, without a repulse. His example in the high places of power would always be right, and his conse- quent good influence great. When the Committee of the dominating Convention came to him, at Springfield, Illi- nois, to inform him of his nomination, some of his neighbors, acquainted with his temperance habits — his unprepared- ness to give a political committee the usual treats, — sent to his house some bottles of Champagne ; but he said, " It won't do here," and ordered it back where the Com- mittee might be assembled. When offered wine, at Cin- cinnati, on his way to take the reins of Government, he said, " For thirty years I have been a temperance man, and I am too old to change." When asked by a friend, after his inauguration, if he was not overawed in address- ing that immense audience of intellectual men, " Not half so much," he replied, " as he had been in addressing a temperance meeting." To this he had often been accus- tomed. Thanks to God ! we exclaimed, for such a gift. But war was upon us, and war and intemperance were kindred spirits, dragging thousands down to untimely graves. My mind woke up to the solemn inquiry : What is to be done ? What can be done in this momentous hour to save our army, to save our nation from the ravages of intemperance ; hitherto the invariable accompaniment of war. Vast numbers of our noble young men, members of churches and members of temperance societies, were enlisting for the fight. Shall they be sacrificed ? Are they not a reliable basis for some temperance action ? At the suggestion of a member of the Sanitary Commission, I
834 TEMPERANCE RECOLLECTIONS.
visited Washington to see if I could not prevail on that Commission to institute a Temperance department, through which tracts and papers should be distributed in the forts, shipping, and every brancli of the array. I sent in my pro^josals. I consulted with the Medical Bureau and other officers of the Government, but no apprehension of danger seemed to arise ; and though general approbation was ex- pressed of some temperance action, I found it must be from private, individual, and not governmental, or even Sanitary Commission action. Clean beds, good food, com- fortable tents and efficient discipline, were all, in the opinion of many, that was needed to secure from intemper- ance. Alas ! little was then known of its serpentine power and its awful delusions. I returned and devoted myself to preparing short but stirring tracts with striking cap- tions for the soldiers and officers. Ten were prepared, with the design of sending one thousand to each regiment. In the first year there were supplied 270 regiments, besides several forts and hospitals. The President of the United States expressed his high approval of them. Gen. Fre- mont and other officers of rank gave their approval. One said in a letter to the office :
*' You cannot possibly do so much good for our country's cause in any other way, as in circulating among the soldiers of our army your admirable temperance tracts. If our men of wealth could only see the eagerness with which they are read, and the salutary influence that they exert in our camps, they would furnish means to place them in any desired quantity in the hands of all our men. For be assured you may, intemperance is a ter- rible enemy to soldiers, and kills far more of them than fall on the battle- field, and it is a great interest to the country to save them from the foul abomination."
The hopeful expectation of many, that efficient milita- ry discipline would keep out all intemperance from the army, was soon disappointed. The men themselves, who should effect the discipline and protect and guard the sol-
DEIJNKENXESS AT BULL EUN. 335
diers, were often found drunk, and severe orders were issued against the officers leaving their posts and visiting Washington, where they might get the means of indul- gence. So impressed was the Commander-in-Chief (Gen. McClellan) with the greatness of the evil, that in a review of a Court-Martial decision, when an officer had been on trial for drunkenness, he declared : " Would all the officers unite in setting the soldiers an example of total absti- nence from intoxicating drinks, it would be equal to an addition of 50,000 :^lbn to the armies of the United States."
Several distinguished officers, naval and military, were decided temperance men. Foote and Stringham and Du- pont, in the Navy, and McClellan and Mitchel and Butler, in the Army, all deprecated the ravages of intemperance ; but to Gen. Butler belonged the honor of first interdicting the presence in camp of any intoxicating liquor whatever, and renouncing all use of it in his own quarters. In his general order he declared that, " As he desires never to ask either officers or men to undergo any privations which he will not share with them, he will not exempt himself from the operation of this order ; but will not use it (liquor) in his own quarters, as he would discourage its use in the quarters of any officer." Similar orders follow- ed in other posts, and a resolution passed both houses of Congress, that any officer guilty of habitual drunkenness should be immediately dismissed from the service. The notorious drunkenness of an officer high in command in the first great and afflictive battle at Bull Run, to which defeat was in a measure attributed, created great sensation both in the government and elsewhere in the country.
For the means of supplying the Army with Tracts, re- liance had been placed on individual contributions, ai^ collections in churches, after preaching on the subject ; but
336 TEMrERANCE RECOLLECTIONS.
as such great demands were made by Christian and Sani- tary Commissions and other organizations, it was becom- ing difficult to raise sufficient, and in September, 1862, I devised a special and independent charity for this object, that of Sabbath Schools. Almost every Sabbath School had sent into the army a superintendent, or chaplain, or teachers, and even members, and would not each one love to follow its own with some memorial gift ? A Circular was accordingly issued to numerous Sunday Schools, in- viting them to send $2 50 ; and a thousand tracts should be forwarded by Adams' Express, which volunteered to take them free of expense, to such regiments as they should name, giving its location and Colonel or Chaplain. It was delightful to see the response, and the interest and spirit manifested ; and still more to hear of their reception by company after company as from their own Sabbath Schools. " I burst into a flood of tears," wrote a Chaplain from Iowa, " as I received a package from my own dear Sabbath School, and I carried them through the regiment, saying to the soldiers : ' Here is a present for you from home.' All joyfully received them, and in a few moments were reading them." These tracts were multiplied until they reached thirty varieties. Over a thousand schools con- tributed to their spread ; and, before the war closed, I had sent from the office over three millions ; many direct to the army, and many through the Christian Commission. Many no doubt were lost ; many perhaps never read, or treated with contempt. But they checked drinking and drunk- enness, strengthened the hearts of temperance men, and ensured the return of many a soldier to his dear ones in sobriety and valor.
During the war Mr. Delavan made a like effort at Al- bany ; publishing a single tract of a large size for officers l^nd soldiers, and sending it forth by the million under the recommendation and patronage of the high officers of
GOV. Buckingham's caee for the arjiy. 337
Government and the Army at Washington. Tracts were published also for soldiers and seamen at Philadelphia and Cincinnati and Chicago, and both the American and Bos- ton Tract Societies made large issues of tracts and papers to counteract the evil influences which were everywhere operating for the ruin of the soldiers. No seed was ever sown with better effect.
At the Twenty-fifth Anniversary of the A T. U., May, 1863, Governor Buckingham presided, and said: "The question of Temperance has a peculiar importance to- day. Events fraught with the interests of humanity are passing before us with the rapidity of thought. The whole people are engaged in earnest controversy respecting principles which lie at the foundation of the Government, and are contending by argument, and by force of arms, for a new adjustment of civil rights. Engaged in the con- flict are armies embracing a million of men. This fact presses upon us the duty of surrounding them with good influences ; and, if possible, of saving them from the evils of intemperance." He would not hold up the army as a school of morals, but he would have it so cared for, that our sons and brothers should come home better citizens than when they left. He manifested great interest, there- fore, in our temperance operations with the national forces.
Senator Pomroy, from Kansas, gave a lengthy and very able speech, chiefly on the condition and habits of the the army, and the dangers to which they were exposed. He said :
" In ordinary years, it was calculated that 30,000 went down to the grave — the home of the drunkard ; but it would not be too much to double that number each year since the war began. For the vice of intemper- ance has followed the army ; has visited the quarters of both officer and private ; has taken down some of the bravest and truest of the land, who, before, had always stood erect in their manhood and their pride. It has 15
338 TE^rPERANCE RECOLLECTIONS.
made disordorly and riotous the loyal camp of tlie soldier; has made dis- graceful the tent of the ofTicer; and, on more than one occasion, defeated and demoralized an army on the field of battle. Of the thirty thousand victims of disease and death attending on the Peninsular campaign, the last year, at least ten thousand may be set down as chargeable to the daily ra- tion of whiskey and quinine. Intemperance and its fruits made such sad havoc in the Mexican war,, that it was feared that the dead would more than outnumber the living. General Scott said that, in his Mexican cam- paign, fifty per cent, of all he lost in his army, who are left in unmonu- mented graves, are there from this source, rather than from the bullets of the rebels. He therefore plead with us to speak out, and act effectively ; for the voices of New York reached over the continent, and awakened an echo from the deep, rich valleys of the West, are reverberated across the prairies of the Northwest ; and even over the mountains, to the golden shores of the peaceful Pacific."
The friends of religion, temperance, and humanity, had just been called to follow to the grave all that remain- ed of the venerable Dr. Lyman Beecher. He died in Brooklyn, New York, January 10, 1863, aged 87. At the meeting, the Rev. Dr. Newell, of New York, oflfered the following resolution :
Resolved, That we lovingly cherish the memory, and earnestly strive to emulate the deeds, of that early Apostle of Temperance, the Rev. Lyman Beecher, D. D.,.for many years a Vice-President of this Society.
Dr. Newell remarked :
The early heroes of the temperance revolution are fast passing away. Their venerable forms are disappearing from our platforms and our pul- pits. They were men of original ideas, large hearts, and great valor. Let us gratefully embalm their deeds, and honor their memory. It is their due. It is our safety. "Who like Dr. Beecher could incite men to mighty deeds ? He never feared the face of man ; yet he was genial, modest, laying all his vigorous powers on the altai* of God.
Dr. Beecher's six sermons on the evils and remedy of intemperance, preached at Litchfield, Connecticut, in 1826, have lost none of their freshness and power, to this day.
BEECHER — BAIED — FOOTE. 339
They form, and ever will form, a standard work among temperance men. He was mighty in argument, and mighty in speech. His word in public assemblies had a ring like that of the hammer upon the smooth and polish- ed anvil. He survived the activity and energy of both bodily and mental powers ; but was followed to the grave by multitudes who well knew what he once was, and what he had done for his race.
In the same year, passed away the Rev. Robert Baird, D. D., who, in former years, with almost incredible indus- try and despatch, sjoread the principles of temj^erance over the I^orth of Europe, and obtained favor for it in the courts of kings and the palaces of emperors. He died at his home in Yonkers, ISTew York, March 15, 1863, aged sixty-five.
On the 26th of June, another great champion of the temperance cause went to his rest. Rear- Admiral AlexaU' der H. Foote. He died at the Astor House, New York, of severe illness, at the age of fifty-six. He was the hero of Fort Henry and Fort Donaldson ; but preeminently the Christian hero and friend of temperance. He was one of the first to introduce the principle of total abstinence from intoxicating drinks into the navy ; and during his cruise in the flag-ship Cumberland, in the Mediterranean, he induced the entire crew to abandon liquor, and person- ally engaged in their religious instruction. I have already had occasion to speak of his labors, at home and abroad, on the platform, and in abolishing the spirit-ration in the navy. But too high a monument could not be erected to Rear- Admiral Foote. Well was it said:
"Lower ye the flags Half-mast ; boom ye the minute guns ; toll ye The funeral bell, on every spire and ship. On all our coast, through all our land, drape ye The yards and ports, the Bethel fla^, and churches,
840 TEMPERANCE RECOLLECTIONS.
The naval rendezvous, the temperance hall,
The Christian Sabbath-school, the room for prayer ;
And let the distant Heathen Mission join,
To bear our signs of mourning round the globe.
Who saw him once but loved to see him more ? " — Dcnison.
Other men of influence and zeal in the cause of tem- perance were removed in 1863 : Chief Justice Savage, at Utica, a strong pillar in the Temperance Temjile. So impressed was he with the evil of wine-drinking, that he refused uniting with the temjDerance men in their efforts, until they adopted the total abstinence principle. Then he gave them his hearty concurrence. He abstained, while on the bench, from Court-dinners, because his example was a reproof to other judges ; this gave him time for a thor- ough examination of his cases, so that, the next morn- ing, he was better prepared than any with opinions, which soon gave him precedence over others, though themselves distinguished men. This I had from his own lips. He was long of opinion that wine destroyed more of our public men than all their arduous labors. His argument in favor of the constitutionality of the Prohibitory Law which was set aside by the Court of Appeals, was exceed- ingly able. For one year he was President of the Ameri- can Temperance Union. I loved him like a father. His . house was ever my home when at Utica.
Samuel Chipman, the HoAvard of the age, also passed away, aged 74. He went through all the jails and poor- houses of the State, to ascertain the evils of Intemperance, the pauperism and crime and sufferings of the great com- munity. His reports were exceedingly valuable and very thrilling.
President Hitchcock, too, of Amherst College, laid aside his armor. Few men did more for the cause. His example, his conversation and productions, were not sur- passed in worth and power.
TEMPERANCE WORTHIES. S41
Edgar B. Day, of Catskill, was a gentleman of much intelligence, decision and munificence, in the cause. Prompt in his attendance on public meetings, judicious in counsel, and self-sacrificing beyond most others, he was ever to me very precious. For many years he and his father, Orrin Day, supplied our Foreign Missionaries with the Journal. But he was more especially interested in the young, and often able articles appeared from his pen in the public papers.
Rev. R. S^^ Crampton, of Rochester, was long an efficient and eloquent Agent of the State and other Socie- ties. He devoid his life very much to the cause. His Tract, " Look at your Taxes," and his discourse, " The Wine of the Bible," had wide circulation.
Temperance in the navy, through the decision of Ad- miral Foote and others, had become a fixed fact — a won- derful revolution for the nations to contemplate. The spirit-ration removed, flogging abolished, good order and great valor were constantly exhibited. So long on the watef, the men knew but little of the temj)tations of the grog-shop, and were not often its victims.
Numerous letters from chaplains in the army, continu- ally assured me of the receipt of tracts, and their distribu- tion; but the evils of intemperance were great, both among officers and soldiers. So great was the evil flow- ing from the whiskey-ration in the army of the Potomac, spoken of by Senator Pomroy, that, on the 19th of June, 1862, General McClellan issued an order for its immediate discontinuance ; and that hot cofiee be served immediately after the reveille.
Most of the chaplains, and such as acted as temper- ance and tract agents in the army, were men of high char- acter, who exerted a good influence for the suppression of intemperance and other vices and immoralities among the officers and soldiers. The first who devoted himself fully
342 TEMPERANCE KECOLLECTIONS.
to the "work of addressing the soldiers on temperance, was tlie Kev. J. 13. ^Merwin, of Chicago, who, at the recom- mendation of Governor Cass, of Detroit, to General Scott, Avent to Washington, and was commissioned by the Gen- eral, with the approbation of the President, and immedi- ately addressed a large number of regiments, making a deep impression of the importance of such an agency in each department. The chaplains often took counsel with each other, and thek officers, on the proper discharge of duty. A general council of chaplains of the Army of the Cumberland was at one time held at Murfreesboro', Tenn. About forty were present, and divine wisilom and guid- ance were sought, that they might faithfully discharge their duties. In many of the places of rendezvous, in camps and hospitals, regular weekly temperance meetings were held, and large numbers of names were attached to the pledge. Often, the most effective speaker was the common soldier himself, who had once experienced the evils of intemperance, and knew what the enticing cup would do to man, in all his physical and moral powers. At Camp Convalescent, Alexandria, there was a roll of over live thousand soldiers' names to the temperance pledge ; stretching round the hall in which the soldiers held their weekly meetings. Among the marked temper- ance men in the army, was my long-tried friend, Neal Dow. He had long labored for his country in one way ; he was now willing to lay down his life for it in another. He had given him a general's commission, and became active in the army. But his known character for tem- perance was not favorable to him among reckless, wine- di'inking officers. His opportunities were not great for military display. His duties lay quite at the South, where he was taken prisoner. His welcome home was very gratifying. Such was the bad influence of drinking and drunken officers, that the Grand Division of Massachu-
INTERVIEW. WITH PRESIDENT LINCOLN. 343
setts Sons of Temperance memorialized Gov. Andrew on the subject", asking him to withhold commissioning officers to the army of intemperate habits. A great evil existing was the distinction made between officers and soldiers — allowing officers to have liquor in their tents, which was forbidden the soldier. Hence, officers were accustom- ed to treat such as called upon them ; brother officers and even chaplains. The New York State Society was so im- pressed with the evil that, at their annual meeting, at Rome, they appointed a Committee of six, to repair to Washington, and, address the President on the subject, and see if they could not induce him to revoke the order allowing it. I was one who repaired to Washington, and presented the petition to President Lincoln, v/ho most kindly received it, and promised to give it his early atten- tion. Alas ! even then, his days were numbered, and al- most finished. But who suspected it ?
With the defection of officers, bringing great injury upon themselves and the army, there were several of high rank, both in the army and navy, greatly cheering the hearts and strengthening the hands of the friends of temperance.
If laws were enacted by Government relating to the traffic, their basis was prohibition. In the last magnificent display of 200,0Q0 troops at Washington, as the war was closed, no liquor was allowed to be sold. Perfect quiet and order Avas the result. Kot a drunken man was to be seen. No fighting. No contests. No abusive language. A wonderful spectacle of what the suppression of the liquor traffic could accomplish amid vast masses. '
As the war was terminating, and the army to be dis- banded, and thousands of noble men would be passing through our cities, to be tempted on every corner by the deceptive and destructive glass, I issued the tract, Mus- tered Out ; Now Look Out ! the production of George W. Bungay. Of these I sent forth, chiefly through the
344 TEMTEEANCE KECOLLECTIONS.
Christian Commission, 250,000. It a\\is in great demand, and was, it was believed, a great check to drinking and drunkenness.
The general appearance of the troops, as they reached their homes, showed a most effective discipline. Many- came back to their farms and mechanical employments bet- ter men than they were when they enlisted. But few miserable, drunken soldiers were anywhere visible — far less than after the Mexican war. So far as temperance agency had connection with this, Ave desired to give God the praise.
But the nation was in mourning for its beloved chief. Abraham Lincoln, the man of the people, the friend of the oppressed, the liberator of four millions in bondage, the jDure in heart, and the pure in life, was, on the 15th of April, 1865, awfully assassinated by a pistol shot, in a theatre at Washington, by a wretch, who called for brandy, brandy ! as he went to do the deed. All hearts were in agony, as the wires bore the sad tidings.
" But yesterday, the exultant nation's shout
Swelled on the breeze of victory, through our streets ; But yesterday, our banners flaunted out,
Like flowers the south wind woos from their retreats — Flowers of the nation, blue, and white, and red.
Waving from balcony, and spire, and mast, Which told us that war's wintry storms had fled,
And spring was more than spring to us, at last. To-day, the nation's heart lies crushed and weak.
Drooping, and drest in black, our banners stand ; Too stunned to cry Revenge ! we scarce may speak
The grief that chokes all utterance through the land. God is in all. With tears our eyes are dim, Yet strive in darkness to look up to Him.
Tribune.
CHAPTER XXYI.
Fifth National Convention — Governor Buckingham, President— Prepared dissertations — New National Organization proposed — Termination of American Temperance Union — Results of labors — Helps and Hin- drances— Future prospects and expectations.
As the war came to an end and slavery was no more, the friends of temperance throughout the United States felt it incumbent on them to make a new and vigor- ous effort for the revival of the temperance cause and securing for it another glorious triumph. To meet this de- sire, I invited a public meeting in New York, on Anni- versary week, in which the subject was discussed, and it was resolved to call a Fifth National Convention, to beheld at Saratoga Springs, on the first of August, 1865. A large Committee, from various States and Societies, were requested to issue the call, and prepare for the Convention. It excited great attention, and promised an attendance which was not disappointed.
Three hundred and twenty-six delegates from twenty States and the Canadas, all temperance organizations and many churches were present. Governor Buck- ingham, of Connecticut, was unanimously elected Presi- dent. Many of the surviving fathers of the reform were present, to give it strength, and supplicate blessings upon its deliberations. Besides being of a highly intellectual and reformatory cast, it was pre-eminently of a moral and religious character. Several papers on important topics, 15*
346 TEMPERANCE rwECOLLECTIONS.
•
prepared by request, were read as opportunity was given ; one by Dr. Chickering, of Boston, on the connection be- tween temperance and religion ; one by Dr. Charles Jew- ett, on the proper place of Alcohol in the Materia Medica; one by James Black, of Pa., on the importance of a Na- tional Temperance and Tract Publication Office ; one by Dr. W. W. Xewell, of New York, on the subject of Pro- hibition ; and one by Mr. Pardee, of New York, on efforts among the young and in Sabbath Schools. Out of each, much discussion was elicited. Other subjects came up for notice and action.
Some were anxious and much was said on the Sacra- mental question, or the wine to be used in communion ser- vices. The sympathy of the Convention with the Govern- ment in its late suppression of the rebellion was great ; and the resolution determined, that as sla:^iery was now dead, so also should intemperance be put away from the nation. To form a new era and bring all organizations to work together, a large Committee were appointed to organize a New National Temperance Society, which should embrace all orders and associations and give a new impulse to the cause. Several eloquent speeches were made during the sitting of the Convention, and important resolutions were adopted ; and on the fourth day, the Convention adjourned with great thankfulness for the spirit, harmony, and bright anticipations for the future.
In the autumn, the Committees on organization of a New National Society and of a Publication House, held several meetings in New York, and established the two Tinder one name and roof, and appointed Wm. E. Dodge, Esq., a distinguished citizen, wealthy and philanthropic, President of the same.
Though nothing was said to the American Temperance Union relating to its surrendering its charter, given by the second National Convention held in 1836, yet the in-
DISSOLUTION OF THE AM. TEMP. UNION. 347
congruity and diiBciiIty of having two National Temper- ance Societies laboring at the same point and in the same city, led the Executive Committee to assemble and take the following action on the subject :
" WTiereas, It was presented that the National Temperance Conven- tion, held at Saratoga Springs, in August, had resolved on a new and en- larged National Organization, uniting all temperance societies of every name, with a National Temperance Publication House, so desirable, and whereas^ a Committee embracing many of the officers of the Temperance Union, have met in this city and organized such an institution, and have made proposals of assuming our work and liabilities, continuing our peri- odicals, tracts, and agencies, which are satisfactory to the Committee and promising great results to the cause ; therefore, after much deliberation and many expressions of attachment to our now venerable institution, it was
" Hesolved^ That the work of the Union be suspended after the 1st of December, 1865, and that its periodicals, documents, tracts, stereotype plates, and good-will be transferred to the National Temperance Society and Publication House.
" Resolved, That the new Society be commended to all the patrons and friends of the Am. Temp. Union, and that a greatly increased amovmt of donations be solicited, and an enlarged circulation of the periodicals, tracts, &c., be earnestly looked for throughout the nation."
Thus terminated the labors of our venerable Institution and my official connection with it, just at a point where, under a kind Providence, we had been more influential in the four years' war, than in any previous period whatever. I was grateful that I had been permitted to take part in this work, and to leave it at a moment when our country could best dispense with the labor.
To give any correct and satisfactory estimate of the results of the temperance '' reform during the long period in which it has been my happiness to be employed in it, is impossible, and will not be attempted. A few things are to be borne in mind whenever we consider it ; as, first, the difference in the state of society fifty years ago from
348 TEMPEEANCE RECOLLECnONS.
the present time ; in the habits, usages, and opinions on all points touching temperance and intemperance. Had no change been elfected in fifty years, beyond what had been effected here in five or ten years past, we might almost say we had labored in vain and spent our strength for naught. To understand what has been done, we must go back to the day when drinking was universal ; when no table was properly spread unless it contained a full supply of intoxi- cating drink ; when no man could be respectable Avho did not furnish it to his guest ; when no man had the liberty of refusing it, on its being ofiered him ; when no laborer could be found who, for any price, would Avork without strong drink ; no farm, no manufacturing, no mechanical work could be carried forward unless it was furnished ; when no sailor would enlist for a voyage without his spirit- ration, and no soldier enter the army unless this was se- cured ; when on all parties of pleasure it had a prominent place ; when ministers of the Gospel, meeting for associa- tion or ordination, were abundantly supplied by their people ; and when moderate drinkers, and those who sold the drink that destroyed body and soul, were received without hesitancy, if piety was unquestioned, to the Church of Christ ; when all the natural results of so much drinking was common and universal ; and when enormous sums in every town and city were worse than wasted, keeping the people in poverty and ignorance, and without most of the comforts now enjoyed. Such times I knew. I have seen all the changes ; but how fevv^ are there on the stage who have ?
Another point to be considered is, that the greater part of the subjects of the work have passed away, and the present inhabitants of the country constitute but a small portion of its conquests. .Of the first converts to temper- ance, neai"ly all are gone. Of the Washingtonians, how few are living ! In twenty-four years a generation has al-
WHAT HAS BEEN ACCOMPLISHED. 349
most passed away. The country has more than doubled, almost trebled its population; and who for the last twenty years have, for the most part, contributed to this increase ? A mighty host of Germans, and men from the north of Europe, and Irish, but not plentifully of the Father Mathew school.
But to speak positively — a mighty work has been ac- comj^lished, and few are the men who will not acknowledge it. If we had only gained the liberty of drinking or not drinking, as we pleased ; of having or not having the drink on our tables, as we pleased ; of giving workmen drink or not giving, as we pleased ; we should have accomplished a great work. But we have gained a vast and most impor- tant knowledge of the subject of Intemperance ; the na- ture, cause, and cure of drunkenness ; the nature of the al- coholic poisons, and subject of adulteration. We have firm- ly established the great principles of temperance ; we have driven liquor from our farms, our manufactories, our fire- sides, our sideboards, our shipping, our navy ; from our Christian and ministerial families, our pulpits and Chiistian Churches, and all missionary stations, and from among those who would evangelize and save the world. Here, under God, are the triumphs of temperance.
And in our labors, we have had various encouragements and discouragements, which rush upon our recollection. If, at times, we have felt distressed, and exclaimed, " The power of the adversary is too great for us ! " a voice has said to us, " The battle is not yours, but God's, and if God be for us, who can be against us ? " We have heard the voice of science saying, " This is the way ; walk ye in it." Health, and life, and domestic happiness ; public peace and prosperity ; sound morality, and great success have cheered us onward. One wave has followed another — to-day, the old Hewitt and Beccher movement; to-mor- row, the Irish movement ; next day, the Washingtonian j
350 TEMPERANCE RECOLLECTIONS.
and then the Maine Law, chaining u]) the dragon, that he should deceive no more.
And then, Ave liavc had hindrances in our work, and discouragements, whose recollection brings bitterness to the soul.
The jiOAver of appetite, and the power of habit ; the ignorance, the want of faith, and the stupidity and in- difference of those we would subject to our principles and practices, very often caused our hands to hang down, and our hearts to fail within us.
A great hindrance to advance in the cause has been the want of funds to sustain meetings, procure tracts and papers, pay lecturers, &c. The cause, to use a com- mon expression, has been in many places starved to death. Regular and good societies were organized ; good officers appointed, pledges made, meetings appointed, a lecturer secured, but who should foot the bills ? Two or three in- dividuals for a time ; but those individuals got weary of their w^ork and were missing ; collections Avere then re- sorted to, and these were of the smallest possible change, scarce sufficient to pay for lighting the room ; and as the result, the meetings ceased to be held, and the cause died out. The Order of the Sons of Temperance had made wise provision against this deadly evil by the regular payment of weekly, monthly, or annual dues, severe- ly exacted, and this kept the Order alive, doing its work through many years; while associations of com- munities preferring other systems, speedily went to de- cay and perished. Foreseeing the certain death of the cause through this evil, Dr. Charles Jewett began, as early as 1858, to sound the alarm, and was the instru- ment, by conversations, lectures and pamphlets, of placing the cause in many places in a much better position than it had been for many years.
Another hindrance to progress has been a want of per-
THE BACON CONTEOVEEST. 351
severance in that which has been found to be right and good, and a disposition to go back to old experiments, or try something new.. By this, all that has been gained in a course of years has been given up and lost, and the cause has in many places fallen backward. By the greatest effort, and with the approbation of the wisest and best men in the country, prohibition in opposition to license had been obtained in many States, and was doing a great work ; suppressing the traffic in a few years, more than the law of license had done in a hundred ; and yet because it did not suppress it entirely, which it did not pretend to do any more than the law of God which said : " Thou shalt not kill," would prevent murder ; men got weary of it and said it was a failure ; even ministers of the Gospel got weary of it, and said, " Let us try something else ; go back to moral suasion or a license law ; " and so laying all the blame on prohibition, and crying out for something new, put back the cause.
Before the vast Congregational Convention at Boston, in June last, a leading member would no longer com- mit himself, nor the churches, nor the country, to pro- hibition. "The temperance cause had been wrecked," he said, " on the Maine Law." By this assertion, endorsed at the time by the Convention, we have been thrown back, and the enemy has raised the voice of triumph. On the bended knee, we have asked him what he will give us in its stead? Will he go back to a license system ? He does not answer. He well knows that all the drunkenness for two hundred years has grown up under a license system. Will he give the traffic a clear pass, as in bread and meat? He gives no answer. He knows the land would not endure it a year. But, ulti' mately, he would substitute for prohibition some distinc- tion between distilled and fermented liquors ; some indul- gence in the mild alcoholics, though shutting out those
352 TEMPERANCE RECOLLECnONS.
which rend and devour; all, discouragements and hin- drances, until we saw their fallacy ; then we moved on, stronger than before. This controversy with a brother beloved has been painful to me ; but I can already see it has been for the good of the cause. It has brought out talented men in support of the tmth; so that prohibition, in opposition to license, stands stronger to-day than ever.
'Another hindrance, whose recollections press pain- fully upon me, has been in learned and devout minis- ters of the Gospel, standing aloof from the cause, and treating it with neglect, if they have not directly op- posed it. I have looked with pain upon the vast and in- telligent body of ministers in the Episcopal Church, who have stood in the doorway and hindered the entrance of the cause among the communicants of that church. While a Bishop Alonzo Potter, lately fallen asleep, and the faithful Dr. Tyng, have lifted up the standard, and cried to all, " This is the way ! walk ye in it," the great mass of that ministry have felt it to be a part of their work to let the temperance cause alone. But how will they and their sons escape the wiles of the adversary ?
And so in other denominations ; a talented, learned, polished divine, head of some wealthy congregation, pro- claiming moderation the true Scripture doctrine, in oj)posi- tion to total abstinence, has been, in cases not a few, a most serious hindrance to all within the circle of his influ- ence. " Surely," the young have said, " the Doctor knows." Another hindrance to progress has been an unwilling- ness in temperance men to stand by the Government. The Governments of many States have made good laws, shut- ting up the traffic ; and made them at the request of tem- perance men ; and yet, the temperance men have stood afar off, and done little or nothing towards the execution of those laws — have virtually said, " It cannot be done. If it is done, it must be done by State officers ; it cannot be
FUTURE PEOSPECTS AlO) EXPECTATIONS. 353
done by us." And so, withholding their influence and aid, it has not been done at all ; and the cause has been hindered and has rolled backward.
Another hindrance to progress has been an indiffer- ence in temperance men at the polls in giving their votes for the right law-makers. They have sacrificed temper- ance for politics ; and, for the sake of sustaining a political party, or an anti-slavery party, suffered temperance to j^er- ish. Until a higher standard is raised, there can be no great progress. If intemperance is the destruction of all that is good in the State, temperance is the salvation of all ; and so it must have control at the polls, or it can never expect anything but defeat. But can the temper- ance men afford to sacrifice temperance for other objects ?
These and other hindrances are fresh in my recollec- tions, as I review the cause. They are not new to-day. They will not pass away to-morrow. But, in despite of all, the cause will roll on. It is destined to prosper, and bless the earth. It is an emanation of the Gospel, and a blessed auxiliary.
In relation to the prospects and expectations of the cause in the future, a variety of thoughts will arise ; some, doubtless, of a desponding and despairing character. But, as I believe and know that the cause is God's, and that the power of truth is omnipotent, and that this world is given to Jesus Chnst, and that Satan is to be bound a thousand years, I can give way to no such sensations. Dark may be the hour ; but darkness never prevents the introduction of light.
As we leave our shores, and go to the Fatherland, and there see what wonders God hath wrought within half the time allotted to us ; what progress the permissive bill has made in the hearts of rulers and people ; how large and in- fluential is the Church of England Society ; what crowds of children and youth are gathered and instructed in
354 TEMPERANCE RECOLLECTIONS.
Bands of Hope; what floods of valuable publications the Scottish League and Edinburgh Societies are pouring over the land ; as we look into the princij)ality of Wales, and see there 20,000 gathered at a temperance meeting, and ad- dressed by some of the most talented and devoted minis- ters of Christ; as we look into Ireland, and see plainly the footsteps of Father Mathew, and his spirit still hover- ing over that warm-hearted but excitable nation; at the British army and navy, where, at one period, a temperance society was unknown, but where it is now frequently wel- comed, and rejoiced in ; no rational man, understanding the influence of moral causes, can be brought to feel that, while England lives, the cause can be otherwise than prosper- ous and powerful. Indeed, the life of England is much in the temperance cause ; far more than in anything else on which she may place her dependence. Rum and beer are the cause of ignorance, poverty, and crime which may be dragging her down to death. These put away, she has piety and trust in God sufficient to save and prolong lier existence to distant ages.
Every missionary station on the globe is a sure guar- anty for Africa, Asia, and the Islands of the Sea. As the Gospel goes around the world, so now will temperance. As soon would Christian missions give up the fundamental principles of their faith and practice, as they would yield their attachment to the principles and practices of temper- ance. But as all success is the result of action, we say, " Be not we weary in well-doing, for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not." Africa, Asia, and the verdant spots in the ocean like the Sandwich Islands, will taste the blessedness of our great enterprise.
Just released from the war at home, we may ask for rest; but when better prepared for battle than when we have our armor on ? when better, than on retiring from a fallen foe, whom we once thought unconquerable ? Rum
CERTAINTY OF TKIU^IPH. 355
and slavery Avere looked upon as permanent evils, to be continued long as the sun and moon should endure ; but He who opened the way for his people out of Egypt, hath now broken the chain of the oppressor, and suffered four millions of his people to go free ; and, if we do our duty, no future generation shall see half a million of its number falling into drunkard's graves. A view of 15,000 children and youth, on Boston Common, last June, marching un- der the temperance flag, confirmed me in the belief that all our children, from the Atlantic to the Pacific, may easily be induced to become total abstainers. While our Temperance Orders have wisely secured to themselves needed pecuniary means, by the payment of weekly dues, the admirable essays of Dr. Charles Jewett on " Wheke WE Are, ant> .What we Need, have awakened all open organizations to the necessity of a pecuniary basis, and, I trust, secured them from positive distress and peril in the future.
To the Church we may look, in this day of the Redeemer's power, to purify herself from the great abom- ination, and to lead the nations in the way they should go. Our judiciary has been the hope of the destroyer ; plead- ing for liquor-dealers' rights. But there is a God above, as well as a god below ; and judgment and justice will not always go backward. The late decision of the Su- preme Court of the United States, blasting the hopes of the venders in Massachusetts, that, on their paying their excise tax to the General Government, no prohibitory law of the State could shut them up, we receive with thank- fulness. It inspires us with confidence, as did the old de- cision, that we are right and shall prosj^er.
If those who x^eruse these few reminiscences have half the pleasure I have had in recording them, I shall be satis- fied. Another life I should be willing to spend in the cause ; insuring, as it does, the relief of thousands from sin
356 TEMPERANCE RECOLLECTIONS.
and vice, and aiding in the salvation of immortal souls. But it may not be. We do all fade away as a leaf
Toward my early companions in labor, still among the living, I look with peculiar emotions. If they were once the men who " would turn the world upside down," busy- bodies in other men's matters, intruders upon personal and domestic habits, they have lived to receive the gratitude of the wise and good throughout the world ; and have given a beautiful illustration in their o^vn persons of the connection between temperance and longevity, and not only longevity, but activity and vivacity. Some, as Pier- pont and Hunt, are doing public service ; some, as Hewitt and Hawes, yet making their voices heard from the pul- pit; some — Tappan, Sargent, Walworth, Delavan — yet wise in council, rejoicing in hope, ready for a translation at the Master's bidding. May their mantles fall upon many who shall be as bold and vigorous. To the new National Society, State, County, and Local Organizations ; to Sons of Temperance, Good Templars, Rechabites, Bands of Hope, a voice comes, " Fear not." *' Be of good cour- age, and play the men for our people, and for the cities of our God." • " More are they that are for us than they that are against us." May heaven, friends, strengthen and bless you, and reward you abundantly ; and it shall be done, as you make God's glory the great end of all your action.
APPENDIX.
TEMPEEANOE PKmCIPLES.
The following principles were nnanimously agreed upon by the Convention at London, as forming the basis of the temperance reformation in all countries, and throughout the world : —
Besolved., "That, in the opinion of this Convention, as a means of extending the temperance reformation, the following truths should be spread throughout the world, and the temperance men and temperance organizations be exhorted to give them the widest possible extension.
" That Alcohol, the intoxicating principle, is a subtle poison, at war with the physical, intellectual, social, and religious interests of men.
" That it is generated by the process of fermentation, and is the same, as existing in different degrees, in cider, wine, and malt liquors, as in distilled spirits.
" That it is a perpetual fountain of disease, poverty, crime, temporal and spiritual death, never needful or useful to men in health, in any clime or any employment.
" That total abstinence from it, as a beverage, is the only true principle of the temperance reformation ; .the only hope for the drunkard, and security for others.
" That the whole manufacture and sale of intoxicating drinks as a beverage, though a source of revenue to thousands, is a manu- facture of human misery, and highly injurious to the souls and bodies of men ; and should not be licensed more than other moral evils, by human governments.
I "That the Word of God often prescribes total abstinence to tivoid existing evils ; and that the spirit of Christian love directs us to shun wine, or anything whereby our brother stumbleth, or is bffended, or is made weak.
< " That a voice comes up from every part of the globe, calling hpon kings, and all that are in' authority, upon reflecting and in- Juential men of all classes, upon parents, teachers of youth, medi- cal men, ministers of religion, and all true lovers of their race, to -put forth the hand and stay the plague which is filling our world
358 APPENDIX.
with Avoe, and which, unless chocked, will continue to sweep thousands of succeeding generations prematurely and wretchedly to eternity."
SPEECH AT COVENT GARDEN XnEATRE, AUGUST 9,
184G.
Me. Chaieman: There is -not a more beautiful figure in the sacred Scriptures than that handed down to us from one of the old prophets which represents the Gospel as a little stream reach- ing first to the ankles, then to the knees, and as it fiows onward becoming broad and deep, a mighty river ditlusing joy and blessed- ness among all nations. Almost every favor which has been be>to\ved upon our world, has been small in its beginning. The first mornmg ray ; the little sapling ; the beautiful infant, all how small and yet how expansive and glorious. The Church of Christ was once in an upper chnmber. The glorious Reformation of the sixteenth century was at one period all in the heart of a single monk. For twenty-six years your Wilberforce, that man beloved in America, and whose memorial rushes upon us as we come in sight of your shores — the land, we said, of "Wilberforce ; yes, for twenty-six years he pleaded the cause of bleeding Africa before humanity and truth could begin to prevail over the horrors of the slave-trade. In no work of mercy under the Gospel, it is believed, have the waters risen so rapidly and spread so widely, and diffused so great joy and blessedness as in that which is now delivering our world from the curse of Intemperance. But yesterday it was a little rivulet, though of the purest water ; now millions have quenched their thirst and bathed their limbs, and ai-e healed of their wounds, and with thanksgiving to God will it increase and roll onward to the ocean of eternity.
Sir, I know not what to say in so short a time as you have given me. Intemperance ! Why, Sir, if this curse had come upon us in any way but through the delusive gratification of appetite or pecuniary gain, the earth would have been clothed with sackcloth. A blast 6r mildew which should, year by year, cost this nation thirty millions sterling, would raise an universal cry of ruin, and yet intemperance costs you sixty millions a year. A Nero or Caligula, who should strip six hundred thousand of the popula- tion of food and clothing, and habitations and lands, and turn them out to be a moth and a curse to the community, would be a tyranny which not even Rome in her most degenerate days would have borne; and yet it is the tyranny of Intemperance. Or had some dreadful spirit been let loose from the bottomless pit, with power to cripple the moral and physical energies of men, waste their affections, and excite to the commission of every abomina tion and crime ; you would plead for wings that you might fly to
APPENDIX. 359
some distant planet for safety to yourselves and your children. And yet such a spirit infests every gin-shop in London. Look at its victim ! What a wreck of man ! Look at his family ! Look at him on his hed of straw, dying amid delirium tremens in all the agonies and despair of hell. See that burning ship on the ocean in the darkness of midnight ; see the ilames rolling up on high, the rigging, the sails all on fire, and behold those human beings rushing to and fro on the deck in all the agony of wild despair plunging into the yawning deep — only a faint image of 30,000 drunken men and drunken women in America, and 60,000 in Britain hurried frightfully year by year, all on fire, to the bar of God. And yet for this tremendous evil, whose magnitude no mind can grasp, there is a cure ; a cure so easy, so simple, tliat like the jDro.ud Syrian we despise it ; costing us nothing but the sacrifice of pride and fashion and momentary gratification of ap- petite ; saving us everything, money, health, morals, domestic quiet, and public prosperity, and preparing the way of the Lord among all people. And I say (excuse me, Sir) I say it is our duty to adoj)t it, it is the duty of England, it is the duty of America; it is the duty of the church. It is the duty of the world ; and if we cannot fasten this on the conscience, we cannot do anything.
Sir, there wa"s a beautiful anecdote related in our papers of your youthful Queen, I think in the first year of her reign, which gave us in America a high opinion of her Majesty, which I can assure you has in no degree diminished (Loud and long applause, and waving of handkerchiefs.) It was this : As one of her ministers was urging upon her Majesty the expediency of a measure, her Majesty turned to him and said: " My lord, talk not to me of ex- pediency ; is it right?" Novr, Sir, I should like to put to her Majesty and her Majesty's Government the question : Whether, when so much drunkenness and pauperism and crime prevail in this realni, it is right for the manufacturing of it to go on, and for the government to derive a revenue from it ? "Whether it is right for all. from the throne to the children in the Sunday-scliool, to keep up those drinking usages which result in this misery ? I should like to put it to every minister of the Gospel, whether when these intoxi- cating liquors do more than anything else to harden the heart, sear the conscience, hinder the spread of the Gospel, and send souls unnumbered to eternal death, it is right for ministers of the Gospel to use them ? I should like to put it and must put it to every philanthropist and patriot, to every father and mother, whether it is right to continue in the use of that which may give thousands of children and their own children the inheritance of a drunkard's life, and a drunkard's eternity ?
Sir, many tell us moderation is temperance. Moderation is temperance until the steam is up; and then the locomotive dashes on with such fury that you cannot overtake it ; and wife and children, and fortune and happiness are all dragged ©nward and
360 APPENDIX.
dashed in picocs. Sir, it is not moderate drink, but it is total abeti- nence from all that intoxicates tliat is the only true principle of temperance. And avo have to fasten this truth upon the con- sciences of men and women in America, that as good men and women, having the fear of God before our eyes, we dare not drink, for wo feel " that to him that knoweth to do good by abstinence from such evil, and doeth it not, to him it is sin." And we adopt the same principle in relation to the traffic. For a beverage, it is all wrong. The supply creates the demand. When the intoxicating cup was on all our tables and sideboards we were ever craving it, and ever using it ; now that it is removed we seldom think of it. So it will be in England. So it will be round the globe. Renounce the traffic, that scourge of the world, and men will return with delight to the pure beverage which God hath given them. Sii*, great things are to be accomplished. Through the help of the Lord God Omnipotent, we will deliver our world from this scourge, intemperance. Then the kingdoms of the world will speedily become the kingdoms of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. My God, hasten the day. (Loud cheers.) — London Patriot.
TESTIMONIALS.
At the closing up of the affairs of the American Temperance Union, the undersigned were appointed by the Executive Commit- tee to express their appreciation of the services of the Secretary of the Society, Rev. John Marsh, D. D.
For nearly thirty years, Dr. Maesh has toiled in this glorious cause, with a devotion and persistence that is truly commendable. "We cannot here review his labors. But we believe that his peri- odicals have been, decidedly, the most able temperance papers in the United States. The millions of tracts that have been* provided by him for our army have been vastly beneficial.
His fidelity and ability have won for him the respect of some of the best and ablest men in this country, and in Europe. Thou- sands now living are grateful for his benign influence, and genera- tions yet unborn will call him blessed.
W. W. Newell, Thomas Denny, Committee of Exec. Board of the A, T. U, New Yoez, December 1, 1865.
A LIFE WELL SPENT.
BY REV. DR. TYNG.
The present paper will announce the action of the Executive Committee of ihe American Temperance Union, in transferring
APPENDIX. 361
their influence and their labor to a new central association, formed by the iSTational Convention, which assembled in Saratoga on the 1st of Anprust last. The Avisdom or necessity of this important step we will not now question or discuss. But we cannot allow the sun to go down on the labors of our valued and venerated friend, the Rev. Dr. Marsh, without recording our solemn and faithful testimony to the value of his services to the great cause which this Union has sustained, and to the fidelity with which he has labored for the best welfare of his fellow-men. For thirty years have we worked with him, and continued by his side. His earnestness in the cause has been an unceasing encouragement, and his wise fidelity an inestimable example. ISTo man, in any country, since Dr. Justin Edwards left the field, has written or spoken with greater effect in the cause of temperance. I^o man has more thoroughly understood the whole field of warfare, or more boldly maintained the contest. His pen, in argument, has been sharp and mighty ; his speech, in advocacy, has been un- flinching and clear. The fire and energy of youth have remark- ably endured with him, even to old age. ISTor have we ever seen his force abated in the great warfare in which he was engaged. Such a man is a true hero in the great contest for human happi- ness and freedom. N'o one in his generation more truly deserves to be honored by his companions, or commemorated by those who come after him. At the close of a long life, and of a faithful career of labor, Dr. Marsh retires from the field, honored, trusted, and beloved by all who have been united with him. The Journal^ in his hands, has been a fitting continuation of the Permanent Documents of Dr. Edwards. His tracts, prepared for various classes, especially for the soldiers and sailors of the'nation, have been unsurpassed by any in point and power. The army and the navy have acknowledged the great blessing and favor of his efibrts. The children of two nations will lament his separation from the work which has so much interested and excited them ; and the multitudes of the wise and good of the land, of every class, will remember his fidelity with honor, and think of his use- fulness with delight. They who have been most intimately asso- ciated with him value him the most highly ; and the writer, one of his oldest and long-tried friends, feels it to be a privilege, as they both draw near to the close of earth, to give his cordial, spon- taneous testimony to his excellence as a man, and his usefulness as an agent.
s. n. T.
December 9, 1865.
LETTER FROM L. M. SARGENT, ESQ.,
. Boston, Deceiriber 10, 1865. I thank you, my dear sir, for your note of the 8th, and the 16
362 APPENDIX.
kiml wishes it contains. I re,:irct to learn tliat the Journal is to be stoi)i)e(l. Wliat are the reasons? Of one thing yon may bo \ery well assured, that your long-continued and valuable labors of humanity cannot bo over-estimated. Some of the seed you have scattered, may have fallen on stony places; but God's bless- ing has, doubtless, caused mn<;h of it to spring up and bear fruit abundantly. When you look back, in a dying hour, upon the de- votion of your time and talents to this glorious enterprise, you will count all your toils and trials, in this holy cause, among the things ■reminisse juvahit.
How nmcli would it be worth, in gold or currency, to get a glimpse for live minutes, and unobserved, of the group gathered in some humble cottage, around the reformed inebriate, with his first meeting with liis wife, and children, after years of sloth and aban- donment ! If you have never witnessed such a scene, you cannot reasonably doubt that similar results have been produced by your efforts in the cause of temperance for thirty years.
Excuse this long letter, and believe me, dear sir, very sincerely your friend.
L. M. Sargent. Rev. De. Maesh.
LETTER FROM MR. DELAYAK
South Ballston, April 2, 1866. Rev. Dr. Maesh :
Dear Sir, — I intended to have called on you before I left New York. I wanted to say to you that I fully estimate your long and faithful labors in the temperance cause. Aud as to your forth- coming history, no living man, that I know of, is better qualified than yourself to do the work. I pray God that you may be pre- served to complete the work to your own satisfaction.
Yours truly, • Edwaed C. Delavan.
CHANGES IN THE COUNTRY.
To those who are confirmed unbelievers in any good effected by temperance labor, I present the following extract from a discourse delivered at North Coventry, Ct., March 10th, 1859, by George A. Calhoun, D. D., on the fortieth anniversary of his settlement among the people of that parish. No man has sustained a higher character for correctness and veracity than Dr. Calhoun :
" Forty years ago, there was but little property in this parish,
APPENDIX. 363
or in the county of Tolland, compared with what is now possess- ed. This was apparent, not only from the aspect of buildings, or- chards, fences, the cultivation of farms, and the appearance of do- mestic animals, but from the furniture of dwellings, and the equi- pages then in use. There were, in this parish, but four houses painted white ; but four floors covered with a carpet, and less than half a score of four-wheeled vehicles. Even the expense of white- wash, as an application to the walls of houses, was incurred by few of the inhabitants. And these were not the only indications of poverty, compared with the present. There were few persons who had money at interest, or were the possessors of stocks, com- pared with the number who Vv^ere in debt, and whose farms were mortgaged. Even our larger and smaller farmers were obliged to resort to banks to save their property from foreclosures or attach- ments, to what would now be considered a fearful extent.
" And what was the reason of this depression in worldly cir- cumstances? The people were industrious, and, in all respects but one, frugal. The expense of living was small, compared with that at the present time. Their gains toere consumed, and they loere oppressed ty the vse of intoxicating drinTcs. Think of the annual expense of manufacturing and storing in cellars, fifteen hundred or two thousand barrels of cider, and then drawing it out and bring- ing it forth, a quart at a time. Think of the expense of making, transporting to distilleries, and converting into cider-brandy, an equal amount to be consumed here and elsewhere. Think of the expense of hogshead after hogshead of rum retailed to this little community during the season oi, haying and harvesting. Think of the expense of supplying various kinds of intoxicating drinks with which to express their respect and hospitality to friends who called to see them. Think of the expense of providing these drinks abundantly, for all gatherings — civil, military, so- cial, ecclesiastical, and clerical. Think of the expense incurred at stores and taverns for liquors dealt out in small measures. Ex- amine the ledgers of our old merchants, and learn what proportion of their trade was in intoxicating drinks. Learn how much idle- ness, litigation, and crime, were then occasioned by their use.
" Could any community secure a livelihood and gain wealth from a rugged soil, under such a pressure ? This community was then composed almost exclusively of small farmers, without invest- ments or business abroad. If there were a few individuals who engaged in manufacturing, the enterprise to them was a failure. And is it a matter of surprise that farms were mortgaged, and that what would be considered marks of poverty were seen over the place and the region ? Is it a matter of surprise that at least one man in every score became a drunkard, and that not a few women were addicted to habits of intemperance ? Is it strange that the church had far more cases of discipline from the use of intoxi^- eating liquors, than from all other sources ?
364 APPENDIX.
" I licro present my solemn protest against the conclusion from what has been said, that this pooi>le were more addicted to the use of iiitoxicatinuf drinks than otiier communities. Tliey "were, com- pared -with people of other towns, temperate, sober, and religious. And, as long as I live, I .'•hall cherish them in respectful, aflection- ate, and grateful remembrance. Uhey did not sin in the use of in- toxicating drinks, as i)ersons are now sinning, who in health use them as a beverage. They, in common with all other persons in the country over, were strangely and dreadfully deluded. Forty years ago, there was probably not one in five hundred who did not believe that the use of intoxicating drinks as a beverage was absolutely needful, and that hence it was a duty to make use of them. (Since that time, a flood of light has been cast on the sub- ject of temperance, and no community were more prompt than this in coming to the light^ that their deeds might he rej/roved. And, just in proportion as they were delivered from the oppression of intoxicating drinks, their worldly circumstances were improved, and their moral condition became more and more eligible. Within the last forty years, property in this parish and in this county has increased fourfold, if I do not misjudge. And the county, in ap- pearance and enterprise, is forty years younger than it was in 1819.
" The times of tl^at ignorance God winked at ; but now He commandeth all men everywhere, who use intoxicating drinks, to repent. K there is a person who is ignorant of the evil conse- quences of their use as a beverage, it is his own fault.
PRESIDENT LINCOLN-'S ANSWER TO THE SONS OF TEMPERANCE.
As to the suggestions for the purpose of the advancement of the cause of temperance in the army, he could not now respond to them. To prevent intemperance in the army is a great part of the rules and articles of war. It is a part of the law of the land, and was so long ago, to dismiss ofiicers for drunkenness. He was not sure that, in consistency with the public service, more can be done than has been done. All, therefore, he could promise was, to have a copy of the address submitted to the principal depart- ments, and have it considered whether it contains any suggestions which will improve the cause of temperance, and repress drunken- ness in the army, better than it is already done.
Octoler, 18G3.
APPENDIX. 3G5
LETTER FROM COLONEL NExVL DOW.
Headqitarteks of ran 13th Maine Regiment, f Camp Beaufort, February 1, lb62. J
Dear De. MAEsn.— You cannot possibly do so much good for our country's cause, in any other way, as in circulating among the soldiers of our army your admirable Temperance Tracts. If our men of wealth could only see the eagerness with which they are read, and the salutary influence that they exert in our camps, they would furnish means to place them, in any desired quantity, in the hands of all our men.
Intemperance is a terrible enemy to the soldier, and kills far more of them than fall on the battle field ; and it is a great in- terest to the country to preserve them from its ioul contamina- tion. My regiment suffers very little in that way, as it consists of a select body of men, and all my ofiicers sustain me fully in the policy I enforce in relation to it.
Truly yours,
Neal Dow, Ool. 13th Maine Volunteers.
TEMPERANCE TRACTS FOR THE ARMY AND NAVY,
Of which over three millions were issued.
Ellsworth and his Zouaves, License or No License,
"War and Intemperance, The Town Meeting,
The Temperance Soldier, The Sentinel and the Spy,
Beware of the Bottle, The Pocket Tales,
Havelock and His Crotchet, The End of the V>q.v. — Gibson,
The Soldier's Sacrifice, Medical Use,
The Soldier's Crown, Adulteration in Liquors,
The Wounded Soldier, Blood-guiltiness of Rumselling.—
The Soldier's Soliloquy, Gibson.
The Best Drink, Wine Drinking and its Effects.—
Do Thyself No Harm, Cleveland.
The Sick Soldier (Thoughts of The Pledged Regiment,
Home). — A Lady. Appeal to Army Officers,
Tract for the Navy, Lager Beer,
The Temperance Admiral, Constitutional Question,
The Polished Arrow, Why Legislate on Temperance ?
Temperate Drinking, The Lobster Bite, , Our Stumbling Brotli^r — Cnyler. The Rum Maniac. — Alison^
Address of a Soldier to His Getting the Worst of It.— Tl P.
Comrades, Hunt.
866 APPENDIX.
PICTORIAL CHILDREN'S TRACTS,
"SVIDELT CIROCLATED IN SUNDAY-SCHOOLS.
1 The Upas Tree, 6 Settling the Question,
2 Beiijaniin Franklin, 7 Tlie Rum-seller's Grave,
3 Bible rs. Intemperance, 8 Out of Doors,
4 The Monkey Imitators, 9 The Jug Turned Out.
5 The Dragoon and His Horse,
RECENT PUBLICATIONS.
"Nephaliayi' "Dr. Mairs' Letter to E. C. Delavan," "The Temperance Cause ; " " Past and Present, or Where we Are," Dr. Charles Jeioett ; "Considerations of the Temperance Argument and History," B. G. Delaran, John Vine Hall, "True Temperance Platform," Trail, M. D. ; " Drunkard's Heart the Devil's Palace," J, Marsh.
OPINIONS OF THE U. S. SUPREME COURT, ON THE LICENSE QUESTION, 1847.
CniEF-JusTiCE Taxet: "Every State may regulate its own in- ternal traffic, according to its own judifment, and upon its own views of the interest and well-being of its citizens. I am not aware that these principles have ever been questioned. If any State deems the retail and internal traffic in ardent spirits injurious to its citizens, and calculated to produce idleness, vice, or debauchery, I see nothing in the Constitution of the United States to prevent it from regulating and restraining the traffic, or from prohibiting it altogether if it thinks proper."
Mr. Justice McLean : " The acknowledged police power of a State extends often to the destruction of property. A nuisance may be abated. It is the settled construction of every regulation of commerce, that no person can introduce into a community ma- lignant diseases, or anything which contaminates its morals, or en- dangers its safety. Individuals in the enjoyment of their own rights must be careful not to injure the rights of others."
Mr. Justice Catron : •' I admit as inevitable that if the State has the power of restraint by licenses to any extent, she has the dis- cretionary power to judge of its limit, and may go to the length of prohiiyiting sales altogether, if such be her policy ; and that if tliis Court cannot interfere in the case before us, neither could we in- terfere in the extreme case of entire exclusion."
Mr. Justice Daniel said of imports, that arc " cleared of all
APPENDIX. 367
control of the government," " They are like all other property of the citizen, Tvhether owned by the importer or his vendee, or may have been purchased by cargo, package, bale, piece or yard, or by hogsheads, casks or bottles. If then there was any integrity in the objection urged, it should abolish all regulations of retail trade, all taxes on whatever may have been imported." In answering the argument that the importer purchases the right to sell vrhen he pays duties to government, Mr. Justice Daniel continued to say, " ^o such right is purchased by the importer ; he cannot purchase from the government that vrhich it could not insure him, a sale in- dependent of the laws and polity of the State."
And Mr. Justice Grier said : '.' It is not necessary to array the appaUing statistics of misery, pauperism, and crime, which have their origin in the use or abuse of ardent spirits. The police power, which is exclusively in the States, is alone competent to the cor- rection of these great evils, and all measures of restraint or pro- hibition necessary to effect the purpose, are within the scope of that authority. All laws for the restraint or punishment of crime, for the preservation of the public peace, health, and morals, are, from their very nature, of primary importance, and lie at the foundation of social existence. They are for the protection of life and liberty, and necessarily compel all laws on subjects of secon- dary importance, which relate only to property, convenience, or luxury, to recede, when they come in contact or collision. Salus pojmli siiprema lex. The exigencies of the social compact require that such law^s be executed before and above all others. It is for this reason that quarantine laws, which protect public health, compel mere commercial regulations to submit to their control. They restrain the liberty of the passengers ; they operate on the ship, which is the instrument of commerce, and its officers and crew, the agents of navigation. They seize the infected cargo and cast it overboard. All these things are done, not from any power which the State assumes to regulate commerce, or to interfere with the regulations of Congress, but because police laws for the preservation of health, prevention of crime, and protection of the public welfare, must of necessity have full and free operation, ac- cording to the exigency that requires their interference. If a loss of revenue should accrue to the United States from a diminished consumption of ardent spirits, she will be the gainer a thousand fold in the health, wealth, and happiness of the people."
Thus all the judges of the United States Supreme Court re- affirmed and corroborated, the decisions of each subordinate Slate Court, that the entire control of the sale of intoxicating drinks is within the legitimate province of the State Legislature. And this control is not limited to any mere regulations or partial restric- tions, but extends to the entire prohibition, whenever the Legisla- ture of any State think such legislation essential to the public wel- fare.
368 APPENDIX.
DECISION OF THE U. S. SUPREME COURT, MARCH 20, 186G.
Case of Massachusetts vs. JoJin Maguire.
Maguire plead tliat he had a rip^ht to keep and sell intoxi- cating li(piors, tliough the State law forbade him, on the ground that lie had paid his license-tax levied by the General Government. The State Court decided he had no riglit to sell. The case was re- ferred to the Supreme Court. Great expectations were raised by the liquor-dealers. But the decision was affirmed. The Court said : " The sixty-seventh section of the act of Congress enacts, that no license hereinbefore provided for, if granted, shall be con- strued to authorize the commencement or continuation of any trade, business, occupation, or employment therein mentioned, within any State or Territory of the United States, in w^hich it is or shall be specially prohibited by the laws thereof, or in violation of any State or Territory."
The decision, it was estimated, would carry dismay to a vast number of convicted liquor-sellers whose sentences had been sus- pended during the pendency of this appeal.
DEPARTED LABORERS.
The names of good men who have founded and urged on this moral temple shall live in the hallowed recollections of millions of men, of high and spotless honor, when the blackness of darkness has extinguished the hosts of its opponents in everlasting obhvion.
DR. S. H. TTNG.
Armstrong Rev. Lebbeus, Essays on Temperance Reformation, Fulfil- ment of Prophecy, ob. 1860.
Archer Hon. Stephenson, Chief-Justice of Maryland, President State Temperance Society, ob. July, 1848.
Baird Rev. Robert, D. D., ob. March 15, 1863. 61.
Bartlett Charles, Poughkeepsie, May, 1857.
Beecher Lyman, D. D., Litchfield, Ct., author of six sermons on the nature, evils, and remedies of intemperance, ob. at Brooklyn, N. Y., Jan- uary 10, 1863. 87.
Brantley Rev. T. W., Philadelphia.
Briggs Hon. George N., N. Y., Governor of Massachusetts, President Congressional Temperance Society, ob. at Pittsfield, September 13, 1861. 65.
APPENDIX. 369
Caldwell Prof., Dickinson College, attended "World's Convention, ob. June, 1848.
Chapin Calvin, D. D., Rockyhill, Ct., author of "Total Abstinence the only Infallible Antidote," ob. March 17, 1851. 88.
Chipman Samuel, Rochester, N. Y., visited all the jails and poor- houses, ob. March 5, 1814. 76.
Clarke Rev. Daniel A,, Bennington, Yt., a powerful temperance preach- er, wrote " Reminiscences of a Ruined Generation."
Clarke Billy, formed the first temperance society at Moreau, N. Y., 1808.
Christmas Rev. Joseph, Montreal, a poet, died young.
Collins Deacon A. M., merchant, Hartford, Ct.,
Coffin J. P., a powerful pleader, ob. February 17, 1863. Reclaimed ten thousand inebriates.
Dickinson Rev. Austin, " Appeal to Youth," ob. August 15, 1849, 53.
Dickinson Rev. Baxter, "Alarm to Distillers and their Allies."
Doolittle Hon. Mai-k, Belchertown, Mass., statesman.
Downer Rev. D. R., New York, wrote, " Intemperance the Destroyer," ob. 1840,
Day Orrm, Catskill, N. Y., refused carrying liquor for freight ; gave one hundred dollars a year to supply foreign missionaries with temperance journals.
Day Edgar B., as a firm and munificent promoter of the temperance cause, gave same for missionaries, and was much devoted to the young. Ob. 22d November, 1863. 60.
Edwards Justin, D. D., Andover, Mass., Corresponding Secretary Amer- ican Temperance Society, ob. July 26, 1863. 66.
Fisk Rev. Wilbur, President Wesleyan University, Middletown, Ct, ob. March, 1839.
Foote Andrew H., Rear- Admiral U. S. Navy, first introduced total ab- stinence in the Navy, and induced his whole crew in the flag-ship Cumber- land to dispense with their grog. He fought many naval battles. Ob. in New York, June 26, 1863. 57.
Frelinghuysen Hon. Theodore, President Rutgers College, N. J., ob. 12th April, 1862. 75.
Grimke T. S., Charleston, S. C, ob. 1 838. Great writer.
Grant Moses, deacon, Boston, Mass., the Children's Friend, ob. July 23, 1861. 75.
Griswold Charles, Lyme, Ct., ob. 1840. Early Advocate.
Hawkins John H. W., Baltimore, the great reformer, ob. July 26, 1854. 60.
16*
870 APPENDIX.
Hitchcock Edward, President Amherst College, great writer. Ob. Feb- ruary 27, 18C4. 11.
Hudson Commodore, U. S. Navy, of great influence for temperance in the service.
Humphrey Heman, D. D., President Amherst College, author of " In- temperance and the Slave Trade Compared," and many other works. Ob. atPittsfield, Mass., April 20, 18G1. 80.
Ives Ansel, M. D., New York, an active promoter in the early stages. Keener Christian, Baltimore, editor Maryland Herald. Lcavitt John W., merchant, active and bountiful. Mitchell Prof. 0. M., astronomer, general in the army, an eloquent ab- stainer. Ob. at Hilton Head, October 81, 1862.
Mason Anthony, Union Springs, N. Y., ob. April 6, 1863. 59. Merrill Rev. David, author of Ox Discourse, lived in Ohio. Ob. at Peacham, Yt. 1850. 62.
Nott EUphalet, President Union College, author of " Temperance Lec- tures." Ob. 1866. 93.
Nott Samuel R., Galway, N. Y., " Temperance and Religion," one of the most influential books.
Noyes W. C, eminent lawyer, one of Ex. Com. A. T. U. Ob. Decem- ber 23, 1864.
Phelps Anson G,, merchant, N. Y., converted under Dr. Hewitt's first sermon. Chairman Ex. Com. A. T. U. Ob. May, 1858. 82.
Pond Hon. Judge S. M., devoted to the cause. House a home for lecturers. Had more temperance works and statistics than any other man. Ob. August, 1850.
Potter Alonzo, D. D., Bishop of Pennsylvania, author of tract, *' Drink- ing Usages." Ob. at San Francisco, Cal., August 4, 1865. 65. Reese D. M., M. D., New York, ob. 1861. 60. Great speaker. Savage Hon. John, Chief-Justice, Utica, N. Y. Ob. October, 1863. 84. Sewall Dr. Thomas, M. D., author of " Drunkard's Stomach Plates." Ob. April 10, 1859.
Silliman Benjamin, Prof. Chem. Yale College. Ob. November 24, 1864. 85.
Stewart Alvan, Utica, N. Y., great political writer. Stuart Prof. Moses, ob. at Andover, January 4, 1852. 11. Sigourney Mrs. Lydia H., Hartford, Ct., " Only this Once," " The Upas Tree," " The Intemperate, a Tale." Ob. July 10, 1865. 74.
Tappan Arthur, merchant,'N. Y., ob. at New Haven, July, 1865. 80. Tappan W. B., a sweet temperance poet, ob. at Boston, of cholera, 1859.
APPENDIX. 311
Thurston Rev. David, Maine, Father of Temperance, ob. July, 1865. 96.
Tabor Azor, State Senator, eloquent defender of the cause in Albany, N. Y. Ob. June, 1858.
Taylor Elisha, long Corresponding Secretary New York State Temper- ance Society. Ob. at Cleveland, 0.
Teal Oliver, Syracuse, N. Y.
Terry Seth, lawyer, Hartford, Ct., Vice-President Am. Temperance Union. Ob. 1865.
Tew Thomas, Providence, E.. I., long a successful State agent. Ob. August, 1850.
Yan Loon Charles, an extraordinary young advocate, Poughkeepsie, N. Y. Ob. November, 1849.
WaiTen John C, M. D., Boston, an eminent surgeon, and thirty years President of the Massachusetts Temperance Society. Ob. May 14, 1856.
Wayland Francis, D. D., President of Brown University, Providence, R. I., an eminent writer. Ob. 1865. 65.
Wilder S. Y. S,, Bolton, Mass., owner of the well-conducted farm. Ob. in N. J., March 3, 1865. 85.
WiUiams Hon. Thomas Scott, Hartford, Chief-Justice of Connecticut, President State Temperance Society. Ob. December, 1861. 84.
Woods Leonard, D. D., Prof. Theological Seminary, Andover, Mass., Chairman of Ex. Com. of American Temperance Society. Ob. 80.
"Wilkinson Robert, eminent lawyer, in Poughkeepsie — once reformed — active member of first National Convention. Ob.* 1863.
Woodward, Samuel B,, Insane Hospital, Worcester, Mass., " Treatise on Asylums for Inebriates."
ENGLISH.
Buckingham James Silk, first brought Temperance before Parliament, and procured the great Temperance Report ; travelled round the world, and lectured on Temperance. Ob. 1861.
Miller Professor, Edinburgh, author of "Alcohol, its Place and Power." Ob. 1864.
Parsons Rev. Benjamin, author of Anti-Bacchus. Ob. 1855.
Sturge Joseph, Esq., Birmmgham, a great supporter of the cause. Ob. 1859.
Jeffreys Arch-deacon, Bombay, ob, in England, of cholera, September 9, 1849.
Alexander Richard Dykes, Ipswich, England, printer and distributor of tracts. Ob. January IG^ 1866. 77.
372 ATPENDIX.
Eaton Joseph, (a Friend), gave liberally to the cause at hia death. Ob. May 26, 1858.
Mathew Father, Ireland, ob. 1856.
Cassell John, London, much in America. Ob. April 2, 1865. 44. A great publisher.
Swindlchurst Thomas, Preston, ob. 1861.
Spenser Rev. Thomas, ob. 1853.
A TESTIMONIAL FOR LONG AND USEFUL SERYICE.
"We, the undersigned, impressed with the value of the long and self- denying labors in the cause of Temperance which have been performed by the Rev. John Marsh, D. D., deem it just and due to him, to offer some fitting and appropriate Testimonial of our appreciation of his services in . that cause, and of his character as a mkuster and a man.
The undersigned deem this expression needful and called for —
Because, Dr. Marsh has labored faithfully and usefully in the Temper- ance cause, through a period of more than thirty years, in doing good to others, for a very inadequate compensation ; and
Because, the organization of the National Temperance Convention, held last summer at Saratoga Springs, has superseded the American Temper- ance Union, whereby Dr. Marsh, who has been the faithful Secretary of the Union, from its formation by the National Temperance Convention held at Saratoga Springs in 1836, has been compelled to close his long and useful labors, of which the country has reaped the benefit, and for which he has received merely a scanty support.
The undersigned cordially and heartily commend the object of this testimonial to the friends of Dr. Marsh, with the respectful request that any sums they may be willing to contribute, may be transmitted by mail, or otherwise, to the address of Thomas Denny & Co., Wall street, New York, who have kmdly consented to receive them for the purpose design- ed, and for which the proper acknowledgments will be duly returned.
Thomas De Witt, D. D., William A. Booth,
Stephen H. Tyng, D. D., Hon. R. H. McCurdt,
Bishop E. S. Janes, "^ Thomas Denny,
Joshua Leavitt, D. D., W. H. Bidwell. New York, January 1, 18G6.
The followmg sums have been received up to April 1.
William A. Buckingham, Norwich, Ct 8100
APPENDIX. 373
Gen. William Williams, Norwich, Ct $100
James Lenox, New York 100
Samuel F. B. Morse, New York 100
Joseph Battell, " 100
Thomas Denny, " 100
WilUam E. Dodge, " 100
S.B.Chittenden, " 100
S. Marsh, " 100
H. B. Claflin, " 100
John Tappan, Boston 100
Hon. Thomas W. WilUams, New London 50
Samuel WiUiston, East Hampton, Mass 50
H. C. Marquand, New York 50
R.H. McCurdy, " :. 50
Stewart Brown, " 50
H. K. Corning, " 50
C.C. North, " 50
The Church, Orange, N. J 50
Rev. P. H. Fowler, Utica, New York 10
FORSYTH'S "CIOERO."
% Irlu f if^ of Ciura,
BY WILLIAM FORSYTH, M. A., Q.C.
With Twenty Illustrations. 2 vols, crowu octavo. Printed on tinted and laid paper. Price, $5.00.
The object of this work is to exhibit Cicero not merely as a Statesman and an Orator, but as he was at home in the relations of private life, as a Husband, a Father, a Brother, and a Friend. His letters are full of interesting details, which enable us to form a vivid idea of how the old Romans lived 2,000 years ago ; and the Biography embraces not only a History of Events, as momentous as any in the annals of the world, but a large amount of Anecdote and Gossip, which amused the generation that witnessed the downfall of the Republic.
The London Athenceum says : " Mr. Forsyth has rightly aimed to set before us a portrait of Cicero in the modern style of biography, carefully gleaning from his extensive correspondence aU those little traits of character and habit which marked his private and domestic life. These volumes form a very acceptable addition to the classic library. The style is that of a scholar and a man of taste."
From the Saturday Review : — '* Mr. Forsyth has discreetly told his story, evenly and pleasantly supplied it with apt illustrations from modem law, eloquence, and history, and brought Cicero as near to the present time as the differences of age and manners warrant. * * * These volumes we heartily recommend as both a useful and agreeable guide to the writings and character of one who was next in intellectual and political rank to the foremost man of all the world, at a period when there were many to dispute with him the triple crown of forensic, philosophic, and political composition."
" A scholar without pedantry, and a Christian without cant, Mr. Forsyth seems to have seized with praiseworthy tact the precise attitude which it behoves a biographer to take when narrating the Hfe, the personal life, of Cicero. Mr. Forsyth produces what we venture to say will become one of the classics of English hiograpliical literature, and will be welcomed by readers of all ages and both sexes, of all professions and of no profession at all." — London Quarterly.
" This book is a valuable contribution to our Standard Literature. It is a work which will aid our progress towards the truth ; it lifts a corner of the veil which has hung over the scenes and actors of times so full of ferment, and allows us to catch a glimpse of the stage upon which the great arama was played." — North American Review.
Copies sent hy mail, postpaid, on receipt of price.
FROUDE'S ''ENGLAND.
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By James Anthony FnouDE, M. A., late lu-Ilow of Exetor College, Oxford. From the fourth London edition. In crown octavo vols. Price, $:3.00 per voL {The first six volumes of this edition now ready; the other volumes icill follow shortly.
Vols. I. to IV. Reign of Henry VIII. Vols. V. and VI. Reigns of Edward VI. and Mary. Vols. VII. and VIII. Reign of Elizabeth.
Mr. Froude h,as shown in his admirable history what new results may be de- rived, even in the most beaten track, from a thorough investigation of the original authorities. His researches have thrown a flood of light over the per- sonal character of Henry the Eighth and his relation to the great event of modern history, the Reformation of Religion in Europe and the British Isles, that it would be in vain to seek elsewhere. His views often run counter to received opinions, but they are always supported by a weight of eviueuce and a classic polish of style that place him high in the rank of modem historians.
The work has received the most favorable notices from the leading English journals, and has already passed through four editions in England. The vast amount of fresh and authentic materials which the author has brought to bear on the periods of which he writes, give his work an interest and value beyond any previous history of the same events.
*' "We read these volumes with the pleasure derived from interesting materials worked up in an attractive form." — Ediiiburgh Review.
" The style is excellent ; sound, honest, forcible, singularly perspicuous Eng- lish ; at times with a sort of picturesque simplicity, pictures dashed oflF with only a few touches, but perfectly alive. . . . We have never to read a pas- sage twice. . . . We see the course of events day by day, not only the more serious and important communications, but the gossip of the hour. . .
". . . If truth and vivid reality be the perfection of history, much is to be said in favor of this mode of composition." — London Quarterly.
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With an analysis of the Divina Commedia, its Plot and Episodes. By Pro- fessor BoTTA. 1 vol., crown 8vo. $2.50.
The ^N'eio York Evening Post says : — "We have seen a portion of this work, and regard it as decidedly the best account of the poet that has appeared in the English language. It is careful, learned, discriminating and eloquent, written in terse and eloquent English that is remarkable in the pen of an author not native to our soil. The analysis of the poem is full and philosophical, alive with Italian enthusiasm, yet calm and truly catholic in its humanity and tnist. It will do more than anything within reach to answer the question that so many are now asking : " Who is this Dante, whose name is now so much on the lips of scholars, but who is as much in the dark to most of us as the dark ages in which he lived ? " -"c
Copies sent ly mail, postpaid^ on receipt of price.
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