Litchfield enquirer., 1858-02-18
An Overwhelming Speech.

The Hon. George N. Briggs, ex-Goyernor of Massachusetts, delivered temperance lec- ture sometime since, in the course of which he related the following anecdote with thrilling effect
 Mir. Briggs said this question of the intro- duction of intoxicating drinks assumed sotne- what of practical form last Spring in thris- Ing borough in Pennsylvania. The inhabitants nad assembled, as was their usual custom, 10 decide what number, if any, of licenses. the town should petition from the County Court, from whence they were issued. There was as I nsnal, tull attendance. One of the most respectable magistrates of the borough prc. sided, and upon the platform were seated, among others, the clergyman of the village, one of the deacons, and the physician. After the meeting had been called to order, one Of the most respectable citizens of the bor- ough rose, and after a short speech, moved that the meeting petition for the usual number of licenses. They had better license good men and let them sell. The proposition seemed to meet with almost universal favor. It was an excellent way to get along quietly, and ons and another in their turn expressed their hope .hat such a course would be adopted.
 The President was about to put tue question to the meeting when an object rose Tn a distant part of the building, and all eyes were instant ly turned in that direction. It was an old wo- man, poorly clad, aud whose careworu couI- tenancc was the painful index of no light sui. terhg. And yet there was something in the flash of the bright eye that told she had once been what she was not. She addressed the President, and said, with his permission, she wished to say few words to the meeting. She had come because she had heard that they were to decide the license question.
 1ou," said she, know who 1 am You once knew me the mistress of one of the best e tates in the borough. once had husband and five sons and woman never had kinder i husband-mother never had five better or more afectionate sons. But where are they now :! Doctor I ask where are they now In youd,r burying ground there are six graves filled by that husband and those five sons, and oil they are all drunkard's graves. Doctor, how came they to be drunkards Ton would come and drink with them, and you told them that temperate drinking would do them good. And you too, Sir, " addressing the clergyman would come and drink with my husband, and my sons thought they might drink with safety, because they saw you drink. Deacon you sold them rum which made them drunkards You have now got my farm and all nay property, and you got it all by rup And now,a she said have done.my errand. go back to the poor house, for that is my home. You reserond Sir, Doctor and you Deacon I shall never meet again, until meet you at the bar of God, where you will meet my ruined and lost husband and those five sons, whG through your means and influence, fill the drunkards' graves.,' The old woman sat down. Perfect silence prevailed, until broken by the President who rose toput the question to the meeting- shall we petition to the conrt to issue licenses to this ensuing year 7-and then one unbroken No P--whch made the very walls re-echo with the sonnd, told the result of the old wo- mans appeal.
 Fearful responsibility rests upon those who encour age others to drink. Young men are often led into intempetancc by those who from their social stand ing, should be patterns of virtue and sobriety In this moral village of Litchfeld men of high position may often be in the vile grocery, drinking with those whom they ought rather to aid in rescuing 1 from the paths of thc destroyer. Are such men aware of the pernicious influence of their example