The Buchanan County guardian. (Independence, Buchanan County, Iowa) 1858-1864, 1861-03-26
IS Eternal Vigilance is the price Of Lib
erty."

eternal Vigilance is the price of Lib
erty,''
ET To secure any desired object
whether good or i'll, eternal vigilance
is no less necessary. than in achieving
and perpetuating that priceless boon,
LIBERTY. No cause can or will flourish,
no enterprise can or will succeed, with.
out active and unceasing labor, united
with never wearying watchfuluess. In
the Temperance cause, this motto is Pc
culiarly appropriate. The friends ofthis
Reform have foe to contend with, that
is actuated by all the baser passions 81
our nature. Cupidity, Incidence, and
love Of excitement, combine in the liq-
uor- seller, to produce an active and mis-
chieyous foe to the cause, and to every
moral development ofhumanity. "Wick.
ed men never sleep" Is an old saying
more literally true than many imagine.
The evil passions, when once in lively
exercise, like the "ghost OF Banquo."
will not down at the mere bidding.
They possess an activity and power that
is forever goading their subjects on in
the road to ruin.
We need not marvel, then, that the
wholesome restraints Of Temperance and
honesty. and decency, find no favor in
the eyes of such men. When the cur
rent Of active life rushes so madly on to
deeds Of destruction and death, the evil
dence OF which is so marked and unim-
peachshle, who can wonder that it needs
constant diligence and untiring labor, to
stem the guilty torrent, and rise above
the angry floods which threaten to over
whelm US.
Friends of Temperance how ought
we to act in view of these fearful truths ?
Shall we lie down and sleep while the
enemy is marching on triumphantly,
spreading disease and death all along
his pathway? Shall we despair of ef-
fecting reform Of the dreadful evil, and
permit it to SO on without restraint ?
Before we decide thus, let us look back
oyer past years, and see what progress
has hsep made in the work throughout
our land. Once. dram drinking and
selling had strong hold upon the affec-
,ions Of all classes Of people. Twas rs-
spectable. nay fashionable to drink and
sell the liquid poison. A total-abstin-
ence man was looked upon as a fanatic,
and summarily placed without the
bounds of socability. The recluse or
hermit of ancient days would not occas-
ion more remark, or be more esteemed
the butt Of ridifHle in or streets at the
present day. than was the tetotaller Of
fifty years ago, by the great mass Of that
era.
Behold, how changed Now, liquor
selling. and habits of dram drinking are
considered mean, low, and contemplate
The finger Of scorn is pointed at, and
words Of contumelY heaped upon, the
doggery keeper, and drunkard, by the
better class ofour population /; and no
one who rightly values his fame and
reputation will indulge in the forbidden
traffic. Laws are enacted against it.
with severe penalties, which. however
much they may be abused and evaded,
exert wonderful influence for good,
Temperance meetings are now popular,
and Temperance institutions number
their hundreds Of thousands, in almost
every town and village. and hamlet of
our broad Union. Men, high in politi-
cal station-even the highes,-are not
ashamed to avow their devotion to the
principle Of Total Abstinence
Since the year 1920. the cause has
been advancing with slow but sure step
gathering strength with every new
contes! With The enemy. aad it will con-
lipue to adyance. until the day Of final
triumph. Erispds in Buchanan County.
you have had no inconsiderable share ip
the great work already achieyed-you
can do much more. What do you say !?
Shall our efforts be relaxed, and the
cause be permitted to drag its slow length
along, or shall We show by our future
work, that we fully appreciate the great
and startling truth. that "eternal vigil
lance is the price Of a Temperance tri-
Nmph!