Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1834-03-31

vocate. He then went on to show, with on
and great force, and with q e'e"t
terestlng and engaging manner. the aImoa. III
amount of good which the r. III
rance effort had achieved, in the process of% pe'
very few years since its commencement r.
the small number of twenty-three individnsI
who originally signed the pledge of Total Ah1s
hence, in a room in one of our Northorr -
the cause had been steadily and gradually ~
ing on, and gaining ground, and the list "
pledges filling up, until, having muItipIiad ~
converts, in the North and in the South :, &c
East and in the West, it could now claim :. w
decided advocates scarcely less than So.
hundred thousand men-many of them tbo
useful, the most honorable, and the most resra..
able in the land. Its influence had been eve,
benefcently even on a class Of men whose
dition had formerly been looked upon as bos1
less, and who had not unfrequentv boon
out into the cherries field of desperation.
DrunkardsH Even they had felt it; and
than three thousand of them reclaimed and
stored to the walks of usefulness. the circI..
responsibility, and the circumstances ofa viva,
Gus independence, we're not only bearing t,..
mony to the omnipotent efficacy of the nriro;
pie of Total Abstinence in making and kaon;s
men sober, but were now combining al 49,,
energies in order to the more ready and urir..
sal reception of that principle througbout II.
world.
The great object, however, of Mr., Fpr,r,
HuYsEN's remarks, was to combat and ror,o,.
the objections which are generally made 70 fl.
signing of the temperance pledge, by the 70
spectacle ranks of society. And rarely i :
believed, was that subject ever handled in .
manner more conciliating, more luminous .or
more triumphant. Every mountain, one after
another, seemed to melt away before him +,
easy and gradual succession, as by the foucb ~
magic, until the before rugged and ~precipifop,
pathway became smoothed down to the nerfac,
level Of a plain. And if men of that clas,
which he was addressing, having not a fool or
tenable ground left them on which to stand
could not be melted, by his matter and his man
ner, to lay aside their scruples-to abandon the
opposition, and to move forward to the 6na'
step of safety, it is difficult to conceive Of any
moral process which could lead to such a con.
summation. By those who have listened to the
Hon. Senator most frequently, and rarely but
with pleasure, it was regarded as one of his
happiest efforts. The deep feeling which wa.
manifestly blended with every sentiment which
he uttered; the felicitous selection of Language
through which these sentiments were conveyed;
the melIowed and touching intonations of bis
sweetly musical voice; the ease and graceful
ness of his address; and the total absenCeOf
every thing like cant, all combined to impatto
it an interest and a power, the feeling and re.
collection of which will not soon and not easily
be forgotten. An unusually large and respect
able audience seemed to be enchained, as IN.
der a spell. in breathless silence: and in retiring
from the place, the conviction was evidently
deep and widely-reaching, that an impression
had been made, and a new impulse given TO the
cause of Temperance, by the effort Of thai
night, which would tell upon its Interests and
its operations, for months, if not years, veto
come.
1t was, on the whole, one Of the most pleasant
and profitable meetings of the kind with which
the citizens of this town were ever favored
and but for the momentary accident and con-
sequent alarm already referred to, would have
passed off without the slightest occurrence oI
to animate and to please. The arrangements
were well made-the music judiciousIy chose"
and sweetly executed; and, what's OF morem
than all, the great objects of the mes'
ing were essentially furthered:-more than MY
new pledges having been voluntarily mao"
the cause of Temperance. IhI"
Alexandria, March go.