The organ of the temperance reform. (Cincinnati, O. [Ohio]) 1852-1853, 1852-04-09
To the Honorable General Assembly
Of the state Of Ohio.


cause | am about TO detail to you matters
Of truthful history, which are known only
TO myself and to him who is Omniscient and
knoweth all things; and yet, true as these
things are, respect for the feelings Of the liV-
ing, andfor the memory Of the dead, prevents
me from subscribing my own name thereto.
My heart bleeds when l think how many
thousands and hundreds of thousands Of
similar cases Of accursed wrong, caused by
an accursed system of vending poison and
death, lie buried in the grave, or in hearts
deeper than the grave, and which will never
be told till that day when God shall Judge
both quick and dead, and secrets of all
hearts shall be revealed.
/ am one of those whose names are al
ready upon your tables, petitioning for the
passage Of a law prohibiting the manufac-
ture and sale of intoxicating liquors as
beverage. / have done more than this : /
have laid aside, for a time, l0OmGn's in
stinctiye dread of encountering the gaze,
the ridicule and the rebuffs Of those who APP
preciate not her motives, and have travers-
ed weary distances, and entered dark abodes
of sin, entreating for names to that hum
BILE petition which prays for your aid in ac-
complishine aworkwhich would cause more
ioy on earth, and in Heaven also, than any
other event, save one, that this glorious sun
of ours ever shone upon. In these walks,
have found the sick aud destitute wives and
widows of those who are daily sinking, or
have already sunk into the drunkard's
grave. / have seen the tear of Joy leap
from haggard eyes because their owners had
the poor privilege of subscribing their
names to such petition and | have de-
parted, bearing with me blessings of those
ready to perish, and followed by the pray
ers of those who have audience in Heaven,
If not on earth.
Oh could you, ye honorable Legislators
of this great and glorious State-could you
behold, with unbeclouded vision, how many
from the novels of misery how many from
the mansions of the rich, how many from
pallets of straw aud couches Of down are
sending up petitions to Heavens high
throne, for blessings upon your delibera-
ton, and invoking for you the guidance of
infinite wisdom; and could you know with
what trembling anxiety these praying mo
Tiers, sisters, and daughters watch your
movements, and wait with excited hopes the
tidings of your doings in this behalf, you
would nOt--you could not turn an indiffer-
CIV car W Jul pliSablOliS'
l know it is said by some that women
have no right to petition, or, at least ought
not to be heard on SO grave question as
this, They say hat we are not fit to judge
of the consequences and relative bearings
of such law that we arREYayed by feel
ing and sympathy, and hehsBthat our views
should have little weight in the decision of
Legislators, when interests of such magni-
tude are at stake. 1t may be SO but hear
my tale and judge if it be true.
In early life married a man who moved
in the first circles of no mean city. He was
a descendant of Puritan stock, and his VEN
erable fathers silvery locks yet command
wide respect amidst those who linger on
Pilgrim ground. He was worthy son OF
a worthy sire-a man amongst men. In the
commercial world he stood fair amongst the
fairest. Abundance blessed our board. II
we had not wealth in boarded profusion
we had enough for all our wants, and even
the rich might have envied us our happi.
ness. But when dreamed of no danger
the foe, with serpentine descending, wound
his coils around my loved and cherished
one, and blighted my every earthly hope
Oh, never l-never shall forget the agony
of that hour, when first, the full convic tioT
flashed upon my mind that the father o.
my chIldren-my own loved and cherished
husband was a dr8nkard! Oh, ye who reve
in the wealth wrung from widows tears
and hoard up gold coined from orphans
groans, were demon damned, and wished
to heap upon your devoted heads the COAL
of unquenchable fire, could not wish yoU
worse than that you might drink of tha
,rrht tah to my
unwilling lips, and compelled me to drink
even to the deepmost dregs.
But even then | knew not the powel
of my deadly foe. Hope, that angel O.
mercy, sprung up from the depths of des
pair, and with the frantic energy of thu
fire-surrounded victim of the prairie flames
| strove to release him from the grasp of The
fell destroyer. l strove oh God, thor
knOwest how hard | strove, to conceal from
myself and others the truth. With my hus
band the struggle was equally severe, i
not as ardent. He saw not at first his dan
ger, but for my sake and his children's sake
he resolved that he would be free. Like
Sampson, he rose in all the conscious
strength of manhood's prime; but like him
who dallied with an enemy, he too, soOr
found out he was shOrn of his strength, anC
yielded in abject submission TO his deadli
est foe. He was in the anaconda's folds
and as well might the lamb escape from the
paw of the lion, as he from his eternal tor
menter. Thrice, before God and man, ht
took the solemn pledge that he would nc
more yield to the tempter, and thrice hC
fell but to taste in all its renewed horrors
a drunkard's hell. Oh yes, many, many
times, when no eye but Godss and my owr
witnessed his struggle, and when he knew
not of my vigils, have seen him prostrat'
and weeping as though his once manly hear
would break, as he reviewed the past, anC
looked forward TO the future. Twas theI
he realized his hoPoless, irrotriovable bond
age Aud he was not a gutter drunkard
He seldom reeled in the street he wa
never public, degraded sot. But he wal
in a Demons power, and demon. ike, HI
would in the ten thousand ways which
shall forever remain nameless, harrow NJ
my very soul, and render life a burden
Property vanished friends grew cold th'
proud despised us, and tongues of malice
were dipped in gall. All this he saw will
blurred vision, aud sometimes keenly fell
that he had brought it all upon those whom
he loved dearer than life. Day and nigh
/ toiled night, and day. watched anC
prayed; yea weeks and months and year.
/ struggled, and by the free use Of hand
not ashamed to work, but heretofore all un
used to toll, /, unaided by mortal arm, fed
clothed, and sheltered my little ones, anC
by main force held up my degraded hus
band also. And while thus / gave up t
sacred duty my choicest years of life, ht
who would have been, but for accursed
drink, my protector and supporter was
driving deeper and deeper the barbed ar.
rows into my life springs, till at last, ma.
niac.like, his cruel blows, of which no one
knew or heard, drove me and those whom
God had given me, to seek shelter and pro.
St:,, ,ybaro runn could NOT invade nv