Spirit of the age. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1849-1865, 1856-03-26
Speech of Rev. DR.. Mott.

Speech of Rev. DR.. Mott.
LADIES AND GENTLEMEN: had not expec-
ted to be present on this occasion, much less
to address this meeting; but being present,
and IN the absence of those who were expec-
ted to address you, l have yielded to the solici-
tude of friends. In appearing before you,
under these circumstances, it is but little
that shall be expected to say-and / shall
content myself with recommending to this
Society as | have heretofore done, union and
perseverance. Upon its strength-united
effort is powerful effort. Nature teaches this.
Of what avail is a solitary atom floating in
the immensity of space? And yet the oa-th.
we stand on is but the aggregation of float
ing atoms. Even this mighty mass with its
hills and vallies, it's rivers and lakes, its seas
and oceans, is but the mass, and moves for
ward in the course with the momentum of
aggregate atoms. Ofwhat availa single par
ticle of dew as it condenses on the petals of
the spring hower2 And yet these particles
condensed into dew-drops, cover the whole
face of nature, refreshing the pastures bring
ing forward the harvest and ripening the
vintage. How inappreciable and how value
less single rain-drop, as it falls on the par
ched earth or the rivers dried up bed p
And yet what are clouds that overspread the
heavens, drench the fields, swell the rivers
and replenlsh the ocean, but the embodiment
OF raindrOps, which in their turn are the en-
bodiment of particles still more minute.
THE NECESSITY OF TEMPERANCE SOCIETIES.
1t is the same with the agency of mind
as the action of matter. OF what avail is
the effort which single individual can put
forth in efecting changes of nature, or the
structure of society; and yet by the combi-
nation ofindividual effort those mighty agen-
cies are supplied which nothing can with
stand. Such combinations supply the pow
er by which governments are established or
verturned-monuments of art reared up or
demolished-indeed, without combination no
great and glorious result can be produced
The knowledge of this fact furnishes the vim
dication of the formation and continuous ac-
ton of Temperance societies.
THE EVILS OF INTEMPERANCE.
The evil of intemperance exists in degree
and to an extent too great to be remedied
by individual effort. Needs there proof OF
this ?-Who in this assembly, or in any other
assembly, in this enlightened land, is igno
rant of the enormous loss occasioned annu
ally to the community by converting the
products of the harvest-feld, provided by
God for the sustenance of life, into an ele
ment Of death in the form of Intoxicating
beverage! Who is ignorant Of the diminish
ed amount of useful effect produced in tn,
factory, nay, of the positive distraction o
muscle and sinew and intellect among tn,
operatives themselves occasioned by the u.s.
of this Intoxicating beverage? Who is igno
rant of the frightful waste of capital by TIN
fires on the land and shipwrecks at sea b,
the use of the same Intoxicating beverage
Who is ignorant of the poverty and Grim
produced and the taxation inflicted and last
though not least, who is ignorant of tn
trightful outac0rd desolation, everywhere az
parent, in the person and home of the dne
briate occasioned by the use of the same in
toxicating beverage?
And yetthis frightful desolation everywher
SO apparent in the field, the factory, the per
son of the lnebriate,-is but an emblem of
still more frightful inward desolation. Th
comtortless abode, the sorrow stricken family
the tattered garments, the palsied tread, th
CHASTITY ycountenance,-in one word, the er
tire loathsome appearance of the habitua
drunkard fills US with abhorrence Weshu
his presence and shrink back intutively fror
his polluting touch
THE APPALLING AGGREGATE.
But what are these sad items which hay
respect to the outer man only, in compariso
with the blighted hopes, the withered inte
lect, the debased propensities, the brutal a.
pettes, the demoniac passions, the defle
conscience,-in one word, in compariso
with the sadder moral items which conten
plate the frightful spectacle of an immort
soul in ruins,-a soul deserted of God, DO
sessed by demons, and from which the la
lineaments of it's Makers image has bee
efaced "a soul scathed and riven and stan
, ing forth already as it will hereafter star
forth, trightful in its ruins-a monument
: wrath and warning to the universe. Ho
f many such pitiable objects this young r
. publicnumbers, know not But this kno,
| IT they exist elsewhere as they exist her
that number must be very great. For he
r they crowd our Jails, our poor-houses, o.
p prlson-houses, and our workshops
o may be found in our drawing rooms, O
= halls oflegislation, our halls of justice, o
halls OF science, and even-alas, that
/ should be so-in our temples of devotion.
: Over all classes in our beloved country
temperance has spread its whitening inf
Q ence. There nocity, town or hamlet whe
! this is not the case,-of all the sources
n OF misery, this sthe greatest, of all the
enues to death, the world over, this is t
broadest, steepest, most frequented. L
sword indeed hath slain its thousands, all
hol its tens of thousands.
z, MUST THIS PROCESS CONTINUE TO GO ON
OF the magnitude of the evil, there can
no doubt, and we ask therefore with
greater solicitude, is it irremediable a
I; must this process of destruction go on
all that is sublime in intellect cheering
liberty, or holy in religion, fades and dis;
pears before it ? Must the eye as it CLAM
onward through the vista of futurity
stead of meeting with the bright and joyC
scenes of prospective improvement, till
reaches and rests on the predicted visions
millennial glory,-instead of this, must
meet only decay and desolation, and disea
Of death, produced by this wasting pestilel
sent forth from the bar-room, the drink
saloon, and the rum-selling grocery M
- this be so ?-or is there yet remedy? Th
, is. Here, as elsewhere, remove the ca
d Of drunkenness? What-Drinking-
ate, reputable, social drinking. l say
a cial, for drunkenness, it is believed, is
be dom an original, constitutional vice,-seld
solitary vice. The taste for liquor is
:, the most part an acquired taste, acquired
!, drinking. Sometimes Ierhaps in thenurse
90 sometimes perhaps even at the parel
board; but usually by social drinking
lot drinkingin the saloon, the bar-room, and
cts grocery.
AIS. THE GRoG SHOPS.
al It is in those public and long establis
ws rendezvous of vice, that the occasion is
ses nished, and the temptation is presentet
in Here the elements of death are collec
IL L IL e. u