Spirit of the age. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1849-1865, 1850-11-29

national oody. Temperance here will E.
ventually expel, by its strong pulsations,
the last remnant of the burning blood of
drunkenness fiom the system, and carry
soberness aud health to every mem Der
of our political constitution.
Are these things so? Suppose them !
exaggerations. Grant that the impor-
tance Of yonr vigorous and unanimous
cooperation in this work of reformation
is unreasonably magnifed; still, how
much can you do. We're our coasts in
vaded by powerful enemy, come to
ravage our cities, chain our liberties,
poison our fountains, burn our harvests
and carry off our youth into perpetual
slavery, what could young men do ~
To whom would the trump of battle be
sounded so effectually Who else would
feel upon themselves the chief respon-
sibility for their country's rescue: What
excuse could they find for supineness
and sloth? Such indeed is the enemy
by which the country is already desola-
ted. And now it is TO the warm hearts,
and the strong hands, and the active en-
ergies, and the powerful example of
young men, that the dearest interests of
the nation look for deliverance.
Young men, shall we not enlist hearth
ly and unitedly in promoting the exter-
mination ofintemperance What ques-
tion have we to decide? Is it a ques-
ton whether the country is cursed with
this plague to most horrible and a.
farming extents No. Is it question
whether the present power and the pro-
gressive character Of intemperance a.
mong US demand an immediate rising up
OF all the moral force of the nation TO
subdue IL? No. Is it question wheth-
er the most important part of the strength
and success of such an effort depends
upon the part in it which the young men
in the United States shall take No.
Then what does the spirit of patriotism
say to us? If we love our country; if
we would rise in arms to shake off the
hosts of an invader from our shores if
every heart among US would swell with
Indignation at the attempt of an internal
power TO break in pieces our free con-
stitution, and substitute govern
ment Of chains and bayonets; what does
the love of country bid US do, when by
+ universal acknowledgement an enemy
IS now among US whose breath is pesti-
lence and whose progress desolation-
an enemy that has already done and is
daily doing more dreadful work against
the happiness of the people than all the
wars and plaques we have ever suf-
fered1
! What does the voice Of common hu-
| rnanifu eau f0 ,1S fla, x,yo foal co. h,,
man woe, and not be moved at the spec
tacle Of wretchedness and despair which
the intemperance cf this country pre-.
! sents? Let US imagine the condition
5 of the hundreds of thousands who are
E how burning beneath the hidden flame
0 and hasting to utter destruction by this
? most pitiless Of all vices; let US embrace
r in one view the countless woes inflicted
$ by the cruel tempers, the deep disgrace
: the hopeless poverty, and the corruptins
e examples of all these victims, upor
: wives, children, parents, friends, ant
+ the morals Of society; let US stand a
+ the graves of the thirty thousand tha
# annually perish by intemperance, anc
!. be still, and listen 10 what the UOice o.
o humanity speaks.
is What does the exhortation of religion
!. say to US? What undermines more in
II sidicusly every moral principle of tn,
d heart; what palsies so entirely ever,
m moral faculty of the soul what so sooI
,e and so awfully makes man dead UhiIe
- liveth;. what spreads through the Who'll
d framework of society such rottenness
a or SO effectually opens the door to al
Or those powers ofdarkness by which tn
" pillars of public order are crumbled an
+ the restraints of religion are mocked
" what SO universally excludes from tn
10 death-bed of sinner the consultations c
te the Gospel, or writes upon his grav
IN such sentence ofdespair, asintemperanct
at Behold the immense crowd OF its vic
tins Where are they not seen? Rea
IN in the book of God that declaration
n nor thieves, nor dyunkards, shall inner
Kilt the kingdom of God )" then listen t
be what The exhortation of Christian bs
es nevolence speaks to US. Is it asked
ay What can yoatng men do? We can
is this one thing at least. We can conttpa
th temperate. What if every one of u,
a. now free from the appetite of stron
ce drink, should hold on to our liberty ho'
be would the ranks Of intemperance, whlc
n. death is continually wasting, be file
h, ups But how shall we continue ten
he perate? Not by using the means of d,
be struction. Not by a. moderate indu
ly gence in the cup of seduction. Not b
nd beginning where all those began wh
he have since ended in ruin. But by e1
on tire abstinence from strong drink. l.
ce US renounce entirely what cannot prof
ur us, what forms no important item
Is our comforts what may bring u.s. as
to has brought such multitude as strong
he we, to the mire and dirt of drunkenness