Democratic banner., 1848-05-22

sons for its indulgence, and the evil from
the force Of example extends itself until a
community or an age is infected. The or
binary mass of men think as their fathers
have thought and as their neighbors think.
Not having learned the aptness of the mind
to think wrong, they seek for suggestions
of truth from no other source than the no.
tions of others. They observe not the prac-
teal workings and results of the affairs Of
life, and can Of course make no deductions
from them. False reasoning also, especial
lly when in defence of loose morals, finds a
response in the heart already enamored of
sin. Hence reason, run mad as it is amongst
men, %rallie; its powers in defence of wrong,
and man argues wisely for his own destruc-
ton. With evil then established firmly in
the heart, and strongly fortified by opinion,
the reformer must contend. Should he at
tack successfully the outworks and destroy
the ratification, he has still a formidable
foe in a strong hold. The only alternative
is to charge with bayonets impetuously and
manfully, until the enemy shall fall, or fly,
or call for quarter.
Stubborn indeed must be that evil which
when its true character is acknowledged,
and its destructireness clearly seen, still
maintains its position and exerts a control
ing influence over the lives of men. Il has
not only acquired the strength of habit, but
possesses an affinity Of nature, SO that it
~uuites with, and becomes part and parcel
Of ourselves. How revolving soever the
light in which we may view it we cling TO
it firmly, and though it murders US we EN-
brace it still.
Such is the evil with which the temper
ance reformer has to contend. The habit
Of intoxication finds not an advocate
scarcely an apologist in the wide world.
The intoxicating draught was formerly
termed (strange m]isnomer) aqua rita; but
now the universal suffrage Of mankind has
styled it more appropriately aqua morris.
Every one condemns it. The intelligent
christian and philanthroplst speaks of it as
the mammoth evil of the present age, and
wceps with compassionate regret over the
degraded drunken man. The ~scrupulous
maker or Conscientious vender raises his
head from the computation of his gains to
point out 70 his son, with lips curled con-
temptuously and complacent voice, the con-
temptible depravity of the sot. The gen.
Itleman dr~am-drinkcr descants wisely upon
the progressiveness ofthe d~runkard's course
from the social glass to the beastly death,
while he puts the sweetened and delicate
draught to the lips of his child. And the
drunken man himself, though reason is half
dethroned, talks distractedly and piti(ulIy
of an injured wife ; children wronged, and
robbed, and beggard ; and himself ruined.
The intelligent Son of Temperance per-
~ceireS at once the work he has to do. A
reformation is to be effected, but not Of
opinions. He has no erroneous dogma To
combat, no abstract truth to defend. He
has not to prove the baneful influence of the
water of death upon those who drink it.
He has not to show the pcrTersicn of mora.
feeling or the rupture of social relations
which it causes. He has not to dissect the
drunkard and exhibit the d~eranged func.
lions of his physical nature which must re,
suit in premature decay. These things are
confessetly so. The drunkard is a lost man
he must be saved. This is our work.
And how urgently we are called upon tt
be up and doing the facts around us testify
A thousand influences are brought tc
bear upon the young especially, calculated
to lead them into habits of in~temPeEapce.-
Every corner has its grog-shop, every tav'
ern its bar-room, every steamboat its bar
and every social circle its social glass
The temptation is ever, and everywhere
present. The reciprocal kindness of friend.
ly association, the desire to treat a FRIEND
with generosity, the hilarity of partial inc
briefly, and sometimes even the fascination
of female solicitation, are so many separate
influences exerted singly or in combination