Litchfield enquirer., 1831-11-24
C:--..,-- of 11e N=o- York Stots ltmPsrans
 Ssc;ssv to ths Citizsn' cf thGs S'0's' S~eSSSSS /<yo.rl,sdedl

Secisky to khe C"'.s"o ~
 W.. ara now prepared to say what we want
 A.. .~or,plish. Tt is to awaken the attention
 "s our fellow citixens throughout the state to three facts to excite the public indignation ...inst the insidiOus foe; to induce all to sSandOn the use and sals of fardeDt spirit. and discounteUaBce sRch use in all over whom thav have influence. All must be enlisted in It. 1r the work will never be entirely accom- ulished. It is true, we are engaged in war of exterminatiOn; but we wield no other weapons than the truth, exhibited in love aud l eandor. We expect to conquer by nothing but moral influence. You can now see what we want to accomplish, and what will be tne results Of our success. We shall dry up some of, inc deepest fountains of disease, crime, n~vertv blasphemy, incidence. nee dless tax ] ae. orphan's tears, and widOws' broken hearts. SUme may perhaps think that we have an ex- agRerated view of things; but such SuPpo- | sition can only arise from want of minute observation Of the scenes 0f wretchednesS, poverly and crime, which incompetence cre- atss among us. Were we now to name any one 'esif within the power of man to remove, ! which ia tho chief of all others, and yet 10 be removed by tho, simplest, easiest process-l tthat ahSald. be intemperance. If before the
 present year closes, all the alcohol now in thH
 seafe, and yet to come :n, could be consigned
 to the ap0thecaries for the compromising of
 medicine, or the artist whose business re-
 auipes it, it would be an ifnmeasurabIy great
 er btsssiss than if nsighboring state should i prt into our eoffers millions of dollars, and
 ensure us dininueicn of three -fourths of our
 eYiwinal trials and imprisonmsnts, and ofeur
 sluss-houso tenants. And now in view of shess facts. can V appeal in vain. hen it can be shown that never was there so dire curse
 eo. entirely within our powerY It is the
 etronGest of fenemies-mOfe terrible, cruel and anrelvRting than the Turk and yet none was
 ever attacked with such absolute certainty of
 eonquest. It is the most dire of all the .piagues which have ever sconrged our below
 cd country and yet no epidemic could ever De SO readily stopped in its ravages, were all
 bat willing to have it stopped. It only re-
 Q9ires unanimous vote of the state, and to- morrow we are unburihencd from the heavi-
 est of our taxas-saved from the most malig- pant and destructive plague with which heav- ien ever chastened us. Surely then i0differ- eDco on this subject must be criminal. if it
 would be criminal to sit still and see our neighbors' property devastated, their children bsggared. their temporal and eternal prospects blasted, and yet make no effort to prevent it.
 To the name of humanity, and for the hon. , or of our state let us arise as one man, and break the chains of selfimposed slavery. If the ruthless savage had invaded our frontier, surely the appeal would not be in vain-our .gal,ng. men would fOrsake their homes, their business, and risk their lives in :heir cOuntry's defence. But here is an enemy as real and as cruel; and whero then is the spirit of'76. if we are unwilling to make a sacrifice, if such it be of personal qualification or of pecuniary 1 interest, that the community may be deliver ed from so great curse! But you may in 1 quire, What can I, single individual, do r. Much. The state is composed of findividuals. If every individual adopls the resolution for the public good, ~ ,ciH ase ao more ardent spiriis," then the work is accomplished; or if you singly adopt this resolution, the making it known will exert an influence on some one or more to do the same. This is the reason why your name is requested. 1he pledge to others is not needed for yOur o,on sake. Some have scorncd to bind themselves in this way but they have mistaken the design of it. Itis not for yourself. hut for others. Our fore fathers pledged themselves to drink no tea un- der British taxasion. Now is it not manifest however firmly any number of individ ,lals around Bostsn might have kept the se- eret resolution of drinking no tea, the neral influence of that resolution on the country would have been wholly lost. had they not Fnad0 lnlS POpHC pseUges AHu U you WOuiU see tho ssoraI influence of pledges on larg. CT seale. recur to the solemn day 0f'76, when ( the band of patriots rallied around the altar of Liberty, and pledged their lives. their for tunes, and their sacred honor. That pledge { shook the political world. But these men , did not need the pledge for themselves. It was to eonhrnn the wavering; to present to tyranny selid phalanx of men bent on libsr- ty or death. We want their sons to initiate them. Almost all that has been accomplish ed already to diminish the amount of drunk enness in our land, has been effected by the temperate. who have publicly enlisted their influence in.fayor of tstal abstinence as the enly effectual remedy. Your name may save one. two. one hundred, and ultimately perhaps thousand from the disgrace, the wretchedness. the gra,e of drunkard.
 Ministers of the Gospel of every denomi- nation, we call npnn you to iacrsase your. ef- forts in this work of mercy, and if agreeable te,your feelings. read this address sf0 yoar paopls from the pulpit.
 ' P1yenss, we call upon you to enlist your children on the side of total abstinence. It saa do them no injury, and may save one or
 more of them from ruin; and will make your family, ,a little regiment in the army ofreform. Enlist your domesties, because it will increase the responsibility. happiness and value of this class of eur citizens.
 Masters of apprentices, emplOyers of labor era and clerks, we call upsn- you as men pos sessed Nf influence, to combine with us in