Herald of the times. [volume] (Newport, R.I.) 1830-1846, 1831-06-23
ON TEMPERANCE,
ny DIR. USHER PARSONS.

ont the United States, in regard to the
prevailing use and abuse Of intoxicating
liquors.
H -Four years only have elapsed since the
tide of lntcmpcrance was rolling over
our land, and sweeping innumcrable IA
tional beings into the depths of sin, dis
ease, and ruin. The vice had gone forth
every where, had entered the halls of
| Justice and legislation, the chambers of
the sick, and even the church Of God, &
was every where pollutng the social Cir
Gle, and mingling gall with the cup of
| bliss.
II The benevolent man mourncd over the
evil but he mourncd as one without hope;
for individual exerton could do nothing
to arrest the mighty torrent Parents
wept over ruined children, and children
over ruined parents, but all wcpt in vain;
for domestic government could oppose no
household barrier against the contamina
ton of associates. What though the
moralist cxpatiated upon the odiousness
of vice which it ISLANDERS the very brutes
to call brutal what though the pulpit
sounded the alarm of danger to the tenn
perate drinkcr, and hurled the thunders
of divine wrath in the cars of the drunk
ard, and our aims houses, our bcdlams,
and our pcnitentiaries were throngcd with
the slaves of this vice,-still temperate
drinkers became drunkards, and drunk
ards with all their accumulated poverty,
crime and disease, multiplied throughout
the land.
Such was our condition when the A
merican Society for the promotion of
Temperance was founded, upon the real
and only sure principle, ,oftotal abstinence
from ardent spirits, on the part of all the
temperate. Within four years, more
than two thousand temperance societies
have been formed, who by every chan
mel of acce IS to the public mind-by the
press, from the pulpit, in the circle of
friendship and deliberate assembly, have
| proclaimed, "touch not, taste not, handle
not" an article which is rarely useful, s.
never necessary-which is always dam
gerous, and commonly ruinous.
Il How delightful and cheering to con-
template the result of this combined cf-
fort! Already the consumption of distil-
led liquors is diminished one half through
out New England, and one third through
out the United Statcs-five hundred ha-
bitual slaves Of intemperance have been
reclaimed from this vice in single year,
and what is vastly more important, pub
lie opinions and customs are changed, &
brought to bear with a mighty and per-
manent effect in support of the glorious
reformation. 1t is no longer deemed sin
gular and nhospitable to neglect proiicr-
ing spirits to guests, and where some
4 ycarnings of former habits incitc to the
| practice, the blush Of shame mantIes the
cheek of him who tenders and him who
receives, both seeming aware that they
arc committing an act discountcnanccd
by the more cultivated and refined por-
ton of the community-and no longer is
the penitent inebriate tempted in every
inviting form, in every company, and on
every occasion, to depart from his feeble
though sincere purposes Of amendment.
Such is the influence of fpublic opinion,
when once formed and reused into action,
in controlling and modifying the customs
of society in cur favored land. The hap
py results of this change upon the peace
and welfare of individuals, of families, of
society, of our civil and religious institu-
tons, great as they must seem to the re-
lecting philanthropist,y yet infinitely great
er to the eye of that Being who counts
the tears of the drunkard's wife and chill
dren, and hears the secret wailngs of
heart-brokcn and disconsolatc parents.
The officers ofthc Temperance SoCie-
Ity of this town, have with laudablc zeal,
exertcd every means within their power,
to promote this mighty reformation; and
among other measures, have at stated pc
riods called our attention to the subject,
by public addresses, in which the evils of
intempcrance upon our present welfare
and future dcstinics, have been eloquent
ly proclaimed, and the necessity of indi-
vidual and united cooperation have been
urged with impressive force and effect,
As disease and ollcnimcs death results
from the habits of the drunkard, the OIL
GERS of this society have desired me to
describe the influence of intcmpcrance
upon health, and feeling that every indi-
vidual in his peculiar avocation, owes a
duty to his country in reference to this
great evil, would not hesitate, incompc
cent as ! am for the undertaking, to COM
ply with their request.
My purpose will be, first, to describe
the origin and nature of HABIT, in rcla-
tion to the temperate and incorporate
use of ardent spirlts-secondly, its effects
in inducing disease, and thirdly, TO pre-
scribe the mode of treatment
In the formation of habit, VIC have all