New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1843-02-22
THE TRIBUNE
ltterarp Notices

rso
S ss is e. fissa By Rev. zENAs BLISS. Burlington
Ts;. !. a u,o.t able and excellent discourse upon
,,ns which, in the hands of man of moderate
Lac would have furnished nothing either new
liking. Temperance at the present day is
,..rsIly supposed to have very little to do with
,;gslo,ophy in any shape Its highes. achievement
4. signature of q pledge of fetal abstinence
l.,n all that can intoxicate; in this act and the
,,,6cent consequences found to flow therefrom,
temperance Apostle sees the beginning of
,ilsnium the abandonment of single habit,
,,nb i, found to have been productive of misery,
urged as if thereby all misery might be preclu-
| a A strong impulse has within the last few
| ,s been given to this cause. and its success has
IN Of the most gratifying nature. Stillit cannot
4 doubted that in many respects it has, like all
,5,r impulses, produced results not unmixed with
/ oa and at all events, whatever may be thought
/ n, effects, no one can hope that the impulsive
e,busiasln, the Juror to whchit has thus far been
s5.bted for its chief triumphs is to be relied upon
4, permanent influence, fixed principle to which
isanI1a
,npce from the evil that enfolds them. As Tenn
ssnce has been popularity presented it has con-
nsa in mere conformity TO pledges and rules,
sbich have been devised for worthy purposes and
xib the best of motives; but like all outward ex-
,Gents. which have no inherent life and power, so
4 ,o1 as the rivalry which enthusiasm has engen-
Tered, and the energy Of excited passion shall have
I ea their power, as they inevitably must they can
ave no force or life, and must be utterly useless
h accept they have become established az credenda,
the only right and fit rules Of belief and action
! s oil men. This is evidently their tendency even
cow and n.olerant denuncistion against all who
rsuturc to doubt their omnipotence, though their
Utility be fully granted, seems to be making itself
! manifest as a Legitimate consequence, we fear, of
\ he movements which have carried them to their
crescent popularity. Not content with urging their
approval and countenance as matter of evident
apedency, the disposition is to make them rules
f conscience and to stigmatlze as dishonest and
lnprincipled all who will not allow them that pre-
,ainencs. This is result most earnestly to be
deprecated: and the unreasonableness of the feel
ing which would lead to it at once becomes evi,
lent upon an examination Of the true ground, and
be proper import of Temperance.
Mr. Bliss in the able Address before us regards
as on inward condition and discipline of the
sa,not simply state of his outward life. The
Substance Of true temperance" he says, SIS uithia,
ndonlyits shadow is abroad" that it must " exist
md be found in our living consciousness, be found
ained if at all, in the very process of life, in our
own conflicts, in our own struggles to be free, IN
our own aspiring to conquer and TO subject in our
selves lower nature to that nobler existence
whose strength is virtue and whose food is light
and truth" This is lofty ground from which to
view this subject one ON which it is seldom placed;
and yet if it has anything of substantial and per-
manent worth it must be found in this aspect OF
it. Mr.. BLISS discusses it in tone and with
power which beft and honor it. He speaks upon
itlike true deep, earnest and original Thinker;
and such one he is, one Of the strongest, ablest
and profoundest in the land, though his name has
been but little heard by the wide world which will
one day know him better. He is retired clergy
man in Vermont, one of that class, never likely to
betoo large in this any other country, OF clear
sighted and true-hearted scholars vino labor in ST.
lence but with power, counting no applause and
trusting to the truth they love for its own triumph
ant vindication and victory. The late DR.. MARSH
used to say of him that he could "write better SER
Mons than any other man in New-England:' and
hose who have ever listened to him will be the
last TO suspect this high encomium, from 80 high
source, of the least extravaganza.
We should be glad to present copious extracts
from this Temperance Address did our space per-
NIT tAough we should be sadly puzzled in making
selection. There are in it no brilliant passages,
10 poetic flights: it is continued flow of strong
thought fresh, full stream of heartfelt truth, in
formed with beauty and stamped witt, power The
careless ease with which 1t is poured forth Is one
Of its chief characteristics; the heart seems too
full for careful a,en,ioa to style, which has there
fore little of elegance though great force. The
following passage concerning the ground and ma
'ure of Temperance, points out the general Phlle-
sophie character of this Discourse:
The very possibility of any such thing as tenn
peFance or intemperance suPposes being IN Pc
eahar condition, and, may say, OF even myste-
f'ous formation. 1t is not enough that he has
mouth to drink rum, an appetite tor 1t, or, hnaiiy,
ass no more intelligence or prudence than to drink
! 10 such excess as to prove his destruction.
olste doing all of this, and capable OF 1t, would
still not be inlemperate or capable of becoming so
There must be rational soul with it's proper birth
light Of freedom, q soul TO which none other than
a state Of true and noble freedom can be good or
honorable; but it is not seul only that is sup
posed, but soul actually involved in most init.
mate relationship to inferior heshly nature SO
soul capable of indulgence and in a condition for
indulgence in thar nor i,s own true GOOD AMI nro-