Smyrna times. [volume] (Smyrna, Del.) 1854-1987, 1854-10-25
Written for the Smyrna Times.
Temperance--Its Position and Conflicts
BY BIrTEEs


WHEN the ardent friends and supporters of
the cause of temperance take retrospective
glance at the past condition of that cause
view it in connection with its present elevated
position, when it has become one of the most
engrossing topics of the age-and then, so far
as is possible, penetrate the dim future respect
ing the probable elevations i has veto assume,
they have exceeding great cause for gratuIa-.
ton among themselves. and of gratitude to the
wise Disposer of Events for having impressed
upon the minds of his creatures, by the various
and lnscrutable means which he employs, a
sense of the imminent danger in~which they
were. placed from the baneful influences of a
devastating enemy which was committing fear
ful rayages in the land, blighting the fairest
portions of humanity, extending its EVIL effects
to nearly every hearthstone, and bidding fair,
without some powerful check to eoqnteract it,
to continue its ravages to the end of time, and
for having forced upon the hearts of, his people
the necessity of assuming their armour and
waging war Of determination against the fell
destroyer Of the human race, of resisting by the
aid of every well=directcd effort, and by the
exercise of every faculty, the devastating effects
of this foe to the family of ADAM foe here
tofore more powerful because secret and ig-
sldlOus foe, committing It's evil covertly, iEsn-
uating itself into bosoms under the guise of
friend, and then plunging the fatal dart, illus
trating the truth of that maxim, it is better to
deal with = foes than hollow friends.'
If the success of the cause of temperance
has not been so signal as could be desired, the
notary influences which gave the FIRST pfopul-
sion to the great temperance engine, as it were.
| TO the effect of subverting the then erroneous
and dangerous views of the harnlessness OF
the indulgence in spirituous liquors, changing
the general sentiment of tho pablo, correcting
false teachings and theories, by appealing to
both the moral and physical effects resulting
from this bane, for confirmation; which effects
were apparent to every mind not swayed by
prejudice or bigotry--still continue to be. ex-
erted, slowly but surely, in behalf of the good
cause; and this pFopplssry power will gradu-
ally be augmented by the aid of other auxiliary
and powerful forces. All of which eonaentra-
ted forces will be brought to bear upon the
subject, until there will be no resisting its forge
Thegeneral feelingan sentiment of the masses
is this motive power. 1t has accomplished much
and can accomplish more. When the tide oil
popular opinion runs strongly in one direction
who can stop It'll And we shall see that the
current of PUBLIC sentiment has been running
strongly in the direptiqn of the temperance
movement. Efforts have been made to arrest
| the current, but fruitlesslyI the current still
GQntlnpes to glide along, and will continue un.
til it overcomes all obstacles, and when the
general sentiment more than ever, will be an
essential necessity Of an abstinence from all
preparations of alcohol as a beverage
| The work is by no means completed much
remains yet to be done; all obstacles are not
yet surmounted, nor all barriers overcome the
labqrs Of the phiaHthropist have not yet sue
ceeaed in the complete riddance of this curse,
nor possibly ever will fully: they have restrict
it; if, like Hercules, in draining the marshes
assigned him as a task, they have not succeed
ed perfectly in drying up the contaminated
fountains of pestilences switch walketh in
darkness" and of bestowing a complete immu-
nifty from death, they have purified, in great
measure, the infected district-stayed the in
fectian, and, in degree, arrested the hand of
the Destroying Angel. Still poison turks in
the air-the publication is notyet completed
the sources of the malaria are not yet destroyed,
though their effects are restricted, Or as itwere,
hedged .in-the smoke yet ascends from the dis
tilleries--men are yet bound by the manacles of
the tyrant-alcohol-men protesting to be rea-
sonable creatures, endowed with reflective IA
culties, are still slaves to their perverted appe-
tite--the rumseller, with his box of Pandora,
still Enthusiastically by the countless lila which
he entails upon them-his avocation is still
sanctioned by the law-the heart of the wife
stilhbeeds at the spectacle of an inebriate hus-
handa--the fond bosom of sister still is fear
fully agitated at the thought of an errng bro
Their, whose wanderiags have been occasioned
by the intoxicating bowl.
All of this is still observable, but one cannot
reasonably expect to rid community of an
evil suddenly, and without considerable effort,
especially when that community is welded 10
it, as was Ephraim to his idols, ..... =, -,
Let us now examine, SO far as practicable.
the position of temperance in the land, the sta
ton it now occupies, and, in connection with
it, what has contributed to its advancement
70 render the change which has been wrought
until the present time the more evident, and TO
exhibit more clearly its present condition, it
would be.well to institute some comparisons be-
tween its past position and its present. and
thereby ascertain if we have not some reason
to suppose that the cause has materially adj
vanced, and also what the advancement consists
q 4st'N