The voice of freedom. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1839-1848, 1843-07-20
For The Voice of Freedom

5 right.
For he Voice Of Freedom,
Mr.. EIitor:-In my communication ii
No. 2 OF the Voice, | endeavored TO show
the obligation resting upon all members
of society to engage III the Temperance
cause. Perhaps my labor was in vain
for, il may be admit cd by all of your
readers that the position which took WAS
true - that we are all bound BY he prn.
ciples of virtue and morality to be temper
ance men and temperance advocates - TO
labor as much for the suppression Of the
evils of iutemperance as for those OF w.
ing, profluc swearing, gambling, stealing,
or any other vice " hich is IA detrlmenl 10
society, or is forbidden by The DIVINE law.
! Bul if our lrieuds all recognize that prin-
cipe, Why is it that there is not more
effort made in behalf Of The temperauce
cause? thinI> gave one of the rtas,
ons last week, Which is, 'Temperance has
btcome an old story The idea cf form,
lag Temperance Society, having lee
lures, oblaiuing Si9ncrs TO the pIed4p, and
reel timing the loa bsome druukard, has
Iost all It's charms, and very lile Interest
is now felt for this great object Tcm-
perdnce meetings are Ike angels visits,
lew aud far between, AMI Whenever lhey
do occur, are like a certain political meet.
! ing which convened not ong since, which
is SAID to have consisted Of President,
two Vice Presidents, Secretary, anI one
other Individual, who called himself the
audience, and was Appointed committee
of three to draft resolutions for the con
sidtrllion of the COnventlyn.
Whenever there is to be a temperance
meeting you may 90 around aud rqlire
of thiS man aud mat nun, AMI Que will
tell you he had forgotten all about it;
another that he dou't know as he can go
very we'll another will tell you that It is
nothing but IL temperance meeting, and
here viii be nobody tDete, and he Cannot
spnd the lilne. All whitn shows The
want OF Interest among US on this iMpou.
ant subject: aud shows Too tina, 'temper-
uncu' Wlth these individuals has become
IA Old story
Auol et reason why the temperance
cause has not bad bcl.er sweep is, the
churches have done very it,tr tor lis sup.
port. AIp>. Ot the mgm6crs OF our church.
Is, il is true, are members Of the Temper
ance S Jcltty, and do us much tuJ The for.
th4raute Of the cause as the other mym.
brrs do. Bot what mean is, that our
churches, wbeu ac,ihg il that cdpaci'y,
have done D0l very Inlle for the promo.
/, ton Of temperance. The subjecl hjs
scarcely entered their discussions or de-
! lib 'rali0ns. This consider to be obvi
; ousiV wrong, AMI It has certainly been a
great obstacle in the way f the temper
in view the temporal Us we'll as spiritual
! good Of mankind. Every institution which
can be made substr vieAt 10 the great 90
ject for which the church was formed,
should receive the support of the church.
The grand difficulty in n,y opinion is, the
which the mperauce question has upon
society. 1t will ndoubitdIy 90 consid.
cred uugenerous = perhaps wicked - in
me to publish such an opinion as that, bu'
slch is my belief The churches have
always viewed the temperance cause as
independent Of anything else. They have
never supposed this en,erprize (Which
none Of Us can doubt Was Planted among
us by God himself J, could be made sub.
servenl to the cause Of Christianity.
am speaking Of the churches as body
for have no doubt there are many church
members who take the RIGHT view Of this
matter Bat as 20 the light in which the
churches look upon il, we can only judge
from their acts; and fro II their acts We
have Il right to infer that they regard the
Temperance Society as an institution by
itself, and as having no connection with
or subservitnry TO, The religious inslitu
tons Of our land.
have this week given my views IN
relation TO what consider the position o
:he churches at the present time toward;
the temperance Question. may, mex
week, 60 sill farther upon the same point
b.
The Executive Committee OF the Americas
Anti~Slnvcry Society 20 their Constituents
We are intrustcd with the responsible
duties for conducting the affairs The
society for the current year.
Since the division in 10 10, the opera
; tons of the national Organization have
, been restricted by combination o