Delaware Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1843-1874, 1866-12-17
reported for tue Delaware Republican
AN AnnpFsn

reported tor tue Delaware Republican,
AN ADDRESS
Delivered at the Fourth .AnniOsrsarg Of Diamond
State Lodge, No A, l o Of q. T., Deem
br 1st, 1855, by s. Hrsy.
BRoTHERs AND SIsrRRs ~ arise before you
this evening to say a few words 10 behalf Of the
great moral cause iu which we are all engaged.
Think not that 1t is my intention to assail your
underst andings with o bright array of elo.
quence. will leave that fol more talented
minds to accomplish, aud, If when you have
heard my tew imperfect remarks, you should
discover ia them sentiments inconsistent with
the great principles which we protess know
your liberal and flrgiving natures will attrib-
ute them to an error OF the head ard not of the
heart, for however wandering may be the i'm
sginatiens Of ,he mind, my heart has always
beat responsive to the claims of suffering hu.
manity and the principles of our glorious cause.
know not where to commence portraying
to you the manifold evils of the accursed liquor
traffic. Much has been said and much has al
ready been accomplished, but this is as it were
but drop in the ocean with what Is yet to be
accomplished. I am utterly incapable OF find.
ing language sufficiently strong to convey to
you half the evils of its motley train. Had
heart twofold as patriotic as the martyr En-
| NETT, or eloquent as a Patrick Henry, still
would | fail to grasp in and portray to you the
| evils of black intemperance. 1t is entirely be.
yond our comprehension none can tell its
chilling Effects but the broken hearted wife, the
widow, and the orphan they only can attempt
portrayal Of it's chilling blast Yonder bro.
ken hearted wife and neither cannot tell you
| half the anguish which has gathered around
| her sorrow stricken heart Go ask her why
she weeps. She will point You to the intoxi-
eating bowl. Look again at yonder group OF
helpless orphans clothed in rags, begging from
| door to door see how they shiver as the wind
| howls around them with dismal sound. Go
| ask them why 1t is thus with them. With
scorching tears coursing down their sorrow
stricken countenancss, they will point you to
the wine cup as the accursed source from
whence their sorrows spring. Look again at
Yonder poor maa's tottering form as he emerges
from that mimic hell. See him vending bis
way to yonder miserable hovel where, per
hsps, a wife and children await him in fearful
anguish. need not ask you why it Ia so. 1t can
all be traced o the accursed Intoxicating bowl
These circumstances are not few in number;
they are NO isolated cases. ! would to God
they were. lntemperance is 8 general evil /; it
ia not sectional in its character, but RACES
throughout the whole length and breadth of
our wide expanded nation. Its footsteps are
| attended with blood and q never eAding tor
ment after death.
We boast OF our enlarged liberties and our
native land. Yen are proud Of the name Of
Americans SO am l. We rejoice that We were
horn in this land or religious light and liberty.
Yes we love il; we lsve It's towering noun aius
lis fowsry wales and crystal streams its fow-
ing rivers, its Tranquil lakes and majestic wa
tertals; it's institutions of learning, its temples
of anne and monuments Of glery. We love Its
verdant htl1s, lite grassy plains, and svery tree
| thereon. But oh the heart aches when we
behold the inrosds of black intemperance.-
The red stains of the monster rest upoa all tnat
we hold most near aud Gear 10 Ls in this wide
domain.
The arts and science flourish 10 our midst
Education Is rapidly marching Onward, aud
everywhere you cast your eye you behold the
earsh made beautiful by q combination of art
and nature. Every little town and village is
enlivened by music from the iron anvil and the
carpenters saw, IN ntermipgled with the hum OF
| 3 thousand spindles.
The shriil whistle of the locom ,tive sounds
from the valleys and gorges OF the mountain as
| it whlrls by as as if impelled by some invisi-
BILE power. Our steamboats, traverse the ocean
| in all directions, and the white sails of our
ships Of commerce are seen In the ports OF
! every nation, and last, ihough not least, we
| behold the forked lightpings OF heaven obey
| log the dictates Of man.
LOOK at those wires as they stretch over our
| vast Continent and underlay the waters of the
| mig hty deep; the forked ligatniugs of heaven
| are arrested In their course and taught to fol-
low those wires from town to city, from con-
ttoett 10 continent, aud speak for US 10 the clear
| Anglo.Saxon dialect. la view of all these
facts who will deny this 10 great county
But these only serve 10 show that man was
created tor nobler deeds than drinking to excess
OF the Intoxicating bowl.
1t is to be feared that just in proportion as
the arts and sciences have advanced Intem-
perance has increased, until at the present tim 3
we behold its gigantic head threatening to
swallow up and eneulph in utter oblivion our
dearest interests. 10 view of the encroach.
ments of this dreadful cal nifty, is 1t not time,
my ffiends that we should arouse from th q
lethargy into which we appear to have fallen an
strike oLce more for God and suffering hu-
maniiy.
i will now call your attention to the ocea.
sion upon which We are assembled this eve
:. ming. We have met together 10 the bonds o.
"Faith, Hope, and Charity" I an happy thii
evening TO see kindred spirits engaged in thiI