Litchfield enquirer., 1829-07-23
[Bx REQUEsT.
 Wat IS e Temperance SOc;etv?

DIALOGUE.
 :. Child. Mother, what is a TemperanS. Society MOther. 1t is a number of men. whe join together and agree to use means fol : preventing the drinking Of Brandy, Rum fi Whiskey, and other ardent spirits. ] c. Why do they wish to prevent the
 drinking ofthese things, since they taste sC
 good
 M. Because the constant use of ardent spirits injures and ruins the body and m;nd.
 They taste good, it is true, when skilfnlly
 mixed with water and sugar but then aiI
 ardent spirits contain a small quantity oi
 poison, and if drank freely, will have an in- jurious effect.
 I c. Oh, mother, II can't believe there is poison in rum. There is MT. A. and
 Mr. B- that drink, but they are strong and do not grow sick. If they drank poison. it would certainly make them sick, 1 M. The effect of the poison is very slow; so exceedingly slow that nobody can watch its progress. Do you not re- member the man we saw last week leaning ! against the wall, as we were walking down 1 the street His face was bloated-his eve was dim-he was muttering broken, vulgar. and profane sentences--his mouth foaming his clothes ragged and filthy, and he the object of ridicule to the thoughtless multi tude who passed by. What do you sup-- pose was the occasion of that mans singu- lar and disgusting appearance
 C Why, mother, he was drunk.
 A. Very well. But what made him drunk?
 C. (hesitating) Why, suppose he had drank too much liquor.
 M. Do you not think, then, there was some poisonin the liquor? en
 c. Oh, ifa man drinks too much, I SUD- pose it would hurt him; but then, if he drinks only little, I'm sure it docs not poison him.
 M. My dear child, you have lived but a few years in the world. You never saw that poor drunken man till tho other day.- l have known him many years. Twenty years ago he was most active and re- spactable young man. He married an ex- cellent wife. Years passed on: both were cheerful, industrious, and happy. Fifteen1 years ago. after five years exeriion he had faiI " ssyDmo' vaalhy and respcctabte citizen. He usedbus s;ssse 8aor, and ex- perienced no ia,nsediate coil lom his occa- sional und temperate drinkinB Ten years passed away, and all seemed prosperous, though his wife appeared unhpppy amidst their prosperity. Soon however his busi- ness began to decline. Some said he had poor luck in making bargains ; others. that he was ina,tentive to business. At length. it was whispered that he Oas n the habst ct t;ppling. As soon as he knew that this was reported, he gave way to his appetite. and ofteL' appeared intoxicated with the poisonous liquor. For the last five years he has been growing worse and worse and now his system is so completely poisoned that he will probably soon die. His fanli- ly are wretched and poor,4 and live to be more wretched as long as his life is contin- ued. 9j.m
 c. Has that man any thing to do with the Temperance Society Y
 ". No, my dear; but the Temperance Societies are cndeavoring topreveDt sober men from becoming just like him. He was sober man for many years, and seldom drank strong drink. But from drinking a l;ttls, he began to drink more; and before he thought there wss any danger, he be- came drunkard and is ruined forcver.-- Good men have ascertained that there are more that 100, 900 such druDkards in the United States. Probably us many as 10000 of them die every year but more than 10000 sober drinkers becOme drunk ards every year, so that the number of drunkards is increasing
 These ~afs the reasons why men have formed Temperance Soeieties. They meet together, talk about tho evils of drink. ing, and agree to prevent all they can.-- Manv Of them resOEDe that tsey sOiW not dr;ak q drop themselves, andFhey find they can do well without it. Thsn they per- suade others not to drink. They purchase | tracts which speak ofthe sabjecs, and dis l tribute them. They publish pieces in the l newspapers, against drinking. By these and other means, Temperance Societies have prevented thonsands of sober men from becoming drunkards. Do you moi \ think, my dear, they arc good societies? 4 c. Yes, mother, and ! wiAh they would form one in. this place. Might join it Emother9- 9-S. S. J0,9HQk
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