Delaware State journal and statesman., 1864-10-14

them to take the frat steps in the downwar
road to ruin. Their senses seduced, their pre-
JUDGES disarmed, and their pride satiefled by tn
assumed respectability OF the men they pRtro
nize, they drink the falsely called "harmlos
beverage which flows from those cooling foun
tainH, blinded TO the hideous serpent which lurk
in each foamlng goblet.
Thus, while these men, who boast Of their po-
stion in society, are counteracting the infuenc,
of the friends of morality, and your home teach
ings, aud reaping a rich harvest from the field
Of human misery, whose soil they have 30 as
siduously cultivated and sown with the seeds ol
drunken idlenees, vice, crime and woe, your
sons nre being led from the paths Of Temperance
and virtue.
These heartless men, who, vampire-like, feed
on the crushed hopes and ruined fortunes Of
their fellow men, whose SUCCESS in business
causes wives To mourn for their erring husbands,
mothers to weep for their darling boys, sisters
to grow sick at heart for their loved brothers,
and starving babes to rend the air with their
piteous wailiugs. These enemies 10 human
progress, who create this heart suffering, whose
pockets grow pleihorc with the price Of their
shame-money which should have given bread
to those hungry children, and clothed their
nakedness-n not only exalt the respectability Of
their demoraliziDg business, and claim that their
poisonous compounds are l'Wholesome beverage"
ytttH
thus ruthlessly TO invade the sacred precincts OF
your domestic temples and bear away to their
abodes of vice your most precious treasures,
there to deiilc and destroy them.
Nor does the evil end here; they have the
unequallcd ehrontery and shameless insolenoe to
insult, assail and Vituperate those ministers of
our City Churches, who, impelled by sense OF
duty to their charges, to humanity and to their
God, have fearlessy exposed the wickedness OF
these trallickers in human happiness and human
woe, and warned their focks to beware of their
gilded deDs Of sensualty and sin.
Fellow.citizens, is il not time, when these mon
seemingly lost TO all love for God or man-dead
to every noble impulse, and intent opy upon
the acquisition OF gold-thus nssail the very
citadel .! morality, and attempt 10 intimidato its
best aud purest defenders, that you should
arouse from your lethargy and the delusive
sense Of security in which you have rested
You have fond'y hoped that your examples and
teachings in your family circles would be sufli.
cien' safeguard to those who gather there but
ever now the hearlless destroyer may have on
tered your peaceful homes. and at this moment,
your once noble boys may be treadng in those
by-paths, which soon lead into the broad road to
destruction. II they ME yet safe, oh, let us i'm
plore you to unite with those who are striving
with determined Wills 10 shield them froM i'm
pending danger, aud save yonr hearts and ours
from the anguish tho friends Of the victims alone
can know
II has been ascertained by careful investiga-
tlon, TINT there are in this City at the present
time, uhuut Two Hundred and Fyty places wi ore
this poison in its varied forms eau be obtained. |
Can you, whose dearest relative OF friend may
be the next victim, consent to remain inactive,
while the tempter is thus plying his destructive
trade on nearly every street corner of Whining
ION?
You are responsible for the public opinion,
which, though the Legislature has legalised this |
'uinous traffic,
Therefore, We appeal to you in the name OF |
he earthly happiness, and the eternal welfare
'f your children, for your own peace and joy in
coming years--tO be no longer indifferent to the
magnitude Of the evil which surrounds you We
Isk you not 10 hesitate in assuming your'share of |
he labor, but Immediately give your influence
o those who arc organized and already engaged
IL battling this common enemy, which has
aused so many of earth's best and noblest chill
ren to yield themselves bapless victims 10 its
nsatiAte madness.
Wc ask your co operation in our ende avOrs 10
reate public sentiment which will forever take
rom this nurderous traffic the protection of Law,
nd place il where it deserves to be claBsed
mong those other execrable pursuits, in which
ad men engage TO enrich themselves at the
zpensc of the prosperity aad happiness Of their
glow -men.
PUsEY HEALp, Secretary.
john CANERoN. Chairman.