Arkansas true Democrat., 1859-07-13

e"o, "ee'Oefe" OeJOre CldrkSOlLte LOdgt 0f 4 Q. of Good 2emplars, on June hs
 16th, 1859, and published 5y request g
 tAe Lodge
 Good Iensplors, Masons,
 Ladies ond Gentlemen.
 It IS becoming the citizens of a great and glorious country like ours. to set apart eer- tam periods of time, for the investigation of great principles, or the promotion of i'm portant objects. This is not the day upon which we celebrate our national anniyersa- ". Nor have we assembled as Masons, to re-kindle our zeal, while we commemorate te tie virtues of any one ol the noble pstrons of the order.
 What then we ask, has called together so many of the virtuouS and good. the pride and hope ot our country? It is not to pay the last tribute of respect to some renowned statesman, suddenly cut down in the midst of his usefulness and glory. Nor is 1t ex- cluSlvely, to offer our oblations, prayers and praises to the great author ofour being. Ours is different object, but equally com manding and important. Il is, ifposSlble, to contribute somewhat to the adrsncement and success of the great tempernce cause, now agltatlng the minds of ths people, And l only regret that the advocacy of this noble principle, had not been committed to abler hands than mine. Highways with embarrassment, that l appearbeiore an au- dience like the present. But If there be any cause which should insEre speaker with more than ordinary zeal that cause is the cause of temperance. Itdands next in importance to christianity-is always its hand dmaid and helper.
 The temperance reformation of the pre- sent century, has claimed alike the attention of the phianthropist, the philosopher, the patriot and the christian. Its advocates have sought to suppress the great evil against which they have cntonded by ap- pealing alike to the laws { God and man, to bleeding virtue, to sreeriDg wife and starving children, untiIthe moral power persuasive eloquence,' ,'S potent for evil or good has utterly failed 10 arrest the evil. Pledges the most soIemnand VOWS the most sacred, have proved tlnbIe, even to arrest the inebriate in his dofnward course. It was evident that the tepperance cause need- ed consolidation-unin IS strength A few temperance societss scattered hsre and there, only served to ma ke the evil more glaring-something aore was needed, all saw and felt this toh so. And as the re- suit ot deep study, all q thorough acQuain- tance with human nsure the Sons of Fem peranre, noble orer, came into being.
 It was however an experiment, but a good one, as thoussdS ofhappy homesand reclaimed drunkars can testify. But. tae working anachiner of the order was badly arranged; 1t necie the elements of perma- nancy, a waY of which no beauty of ritual conld compensas. Nor do we claim for the independenfcder of good tempIars, per- lection. We ory say, 1t tembodiesa greater number of the esments of success. than any other temperate organization, and Is likely to prove laSung to our race.
 But, as am ot here to eulogise any sect or party, butt speak n behalf of the great temperance case, l can only urge upon all, concert of acton and steady devotion to principle. There should be no discord among the sveral divisions of the great temperance fmlly; our hopes, aims and eff forts are one alike laudable.
 That thesale and use of intoxicating liquors as beverage is an evil, an ac- knowled edgeGevil, l surely need not stop to prove. Aan evil, all legislative bodies by special law have attempted its regulation And l amoold to avow the opinion that all legislationluthorizing grocery and tippling licenses, hs been evil and only evil know that ii ha been said that the evil of which we complin, must be met and put down by the forceof moral sua>on. To this we would hge no objection, if all legal barriers to our srcess were removed. But bv law. the hideUS monster is fenced in-walled about a by an invulnerable fortress. Talk of mor suasion, when law prescribes the mode al fixes the price of drunkard ma5- ing! The thing is absurd In the noble. but urqual strife, the lotticst genius and the inst pathetic eloquence has battled, and everynducement of heaven and earth has been )liercd with but little success We obiet to the vending of spirituous liquors as oeerage. First because it naturally tend to debase and demoralize the grocery keerr. W ho has ever known man ele- vatd in the scale of morality and virtue by keeing a grocery. And we are of the opin- ionhat but few men engage in the nefari oufraihc, without having previous strug- glwlth their sense Of propriety and right. Il very first lessons tends to make callous u heart; the distorted visage, the swager- ip, swearing, reeling customers that fre- gent his shop, to whose vitiated taste, Is noxious drinks seem delightful bever- ge, by no possibility tend to refine his feel Ilg or elevate his morals. The moral 5reck which he produces, the litigation and iiminal conduct in which he becomes party, to say nothing of the paupers and beggars which he makes, together with the helpless families that he ruins, lead us to ask, if in any refined community, such an occupation can be honorablel The com mon street scavenger may add both to the health and beauty of the city, but the ven der of gin and rum contributes only to the vices of his race Talk of moral suason, when the eloquent pleading of an injured wife, and the waiing cries of hopeless in- nocenry, fail to reach his heart His adder like ear soon becomes susceptible of but one souni and that sound is the jingle ofg gold The man who administers poison in deadly drugs, Is termed murderer, and as such shoild be punished.
 Toes arsenic kill? so does whisky; the only difference is, the one is quick and other s!'w, but not the less certain In the se- end place, we object to groceries, because tey are public nuisance Is the pent-up cream. though it drives machinery worth nlf million of dollars. if it's stagnant waters breed disease and death declared public nuisance? How much more the pes tllent grocery? They add not to the public safety, the elevation of morals, nor public wealth. or contribute aught to the well being of society.
 The common argument is, that grocery licenses aid in defrayng the expenses of the county. But the reverse of this is true.- They are public tax, and every citizen either directly or indirectly pays his share From whence originate large majority of criminal prosecutions? Where may be written the annals of our worst murders?- And from whence comes large majority of our condemned criminals? All. nearly all, took their first lesson in crime in intem- perance How 1ono uorld if tala tho ro