my ‘ “(A "N ) P vU1IAllLIE 1.. CT()N 1%’ N k, TQWN,N. () R. A T I 0 N E R. A N C E , :11 u w‘ v ORATION DELIVERED BEFORE THE SONS OF TEMPERANOE, .A.'1‘ CHARLESTOWN, N. 11., JULY 4,1850. _ BY REV. A. L. STONE, 015‘ BOSTON. BOSTON: JOHN P. JEWETT‘& CO. 1850. Arr the invitation of the Connecticut River Division of the Sons of Tempe- rance, there assembled at Charlestown, N. H., July 4, 1850, a very large num- ber of the members of the Order and others, from the Valley of the Connecti- cut, in a beautiful pine grove on an eminence overlooking the handsome village of the town, ‘Where tables had been prepared for the occasion with an elegant and sumptuous collation. The exercises were introduced by an address from Gen. Ryland Fletcher, of Proctorsville, Vt., President of the day; when, after prayer by Rev. Gleason, Rev. A. L. Stone, Most Worthy Chaplain, deliver- ed the following discourse, Which, together with the introductory address are now published by the unanimous voice of the assembled thousands. These were accompanied by other exercises appropriate to the day and the occasion, interspersed with the sweet notes of instrumental and vocal music. The whole afforded a pleasing demonstration of the strength and growing interests of the Order, and cheered with fresh hopes the friends of Temperance and huinanity. S. L. FLETCHER, Comtnittee qf Publication. Cnannasrown, JULY 17, 1850, .L1~T.'DOVER:J. 1)-. FLAGG, srnnnorrrnn also rmnrzsn. INTRODUCTORY ADDRESS. Bnormms AND FELLOW C1r1.z1tNs :-—-The 74th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence finds us here assembled to commemorate that great and happy event; to pay our annual tribute to the sacred virtues of our ancestors. The annals of the political world present us no epoch so worthy of commemoration, so well adapted to excite the liveliest enthusiasm as the etli of July, 1776. We owe it to our fa- thers, we owe it to our children, to marl: the return of this day with grateful festivities. It is emphatically the great day of America. Could we consent to let this day pass undistingttislied by appropriate honors and grateful demonstrations, we should prove ourselves degenerate children, unworthy of our high lineapge. Strangely constituted must be the American "whose heart does not yield a cordizti assent to the fes— tivitics of this occasion ; cold indeed must be the heart that feels not the glow of grateful emotions, as this day calls up the recollection of the services and sacrifices of our pilgrim fathers. It was for us, fellow citizens, that so much blood and treasure were freely expended. The heroes and sages of the revolution must have been aware that they were engaged in an enterprise which in their lifetime, could not be brought to its mature and perfect issue. The most they could flat- ter thernselves was, that having planted the tree of liberty, having shielded its tender germs from the rude blasts that beat upon it, having moistened it with tears, and the blood of brave hearts, their posterity might gather the fruit of its branches, while those who planted it lay mouldering beneath its shade. While one verdant leaf remains upon 4: that tree of liberty, the appropriate topics of this occasion can never lose their interest to American cars. It is the natural tendency of celebrating the 4th of July to awaken our gratitude and patriotism. It carries us back to other days,---days of awful peril to our beloved country. The thunder of Bunker’s heights seems to peal on the ear, and let us thank God that it was not the knell of vanquished liberty; we seem to see the curling smoke as- cending in terrific grandeur from burning Charlestovvn. . Let us thank Heaven, that that was not the funeral pile of freedom. We have met here in the character of “ Sons of Temperance” on the T 4th of July. Is there anything incongruous in this ? I am avvarethat an attempt to impress moral truth, to promote the interests of a moral institution on an occasion like this, has not the sanction of universal custom. But in my view there exists no good and valid objection to such an attempt. In my judgment We do not pervert the legitimate purposes of this occasion, or Wander from appropriate topics While We attempt to promote the great and glorious cause of temperance. Our pilgrim fathers adopted it as a fundamental principle, that the grand pillar upon which our government must rest, was the virtue and morality of the people. They incorporated into their political fabric a deep and lively regard for the cause of virtue. They have committed this cause into the hands of their posterity. As sons of the pilgrims they bid us promote this cause with the most sacred fidelity. 1 We should look at intemperance not only as it invades the privacy of do- mestic life, robbing ‘ sweet home’ of its charms, and converting it into a den of horror; but as a -act-zional calamity unparalleled in the extent of its ravages, and the number of its victims. It is apparent that a self-governed people must be a virtuous people. The foundations of Roman virtue were first assailed, and thus her sons prepared for chains. Let the sad fate of former republics read us an admonitory lesson. It would seem that a last experiment is making to ascertain whether order, morality and virtue will be cherished and promoted in our country, or Whether we shall add another to the list of’ corrupted States, and go down with the rest all stained .'VV'liJl1 profligacy and crime to the vast tomb of nations. The physical strength and power of our country operate as a guaranty against aggressions from abroad; We 5 have nothing to fear from foreign fleets and armies; but have much to fear from degeneracy in public morals, laxity of sentiment, and de- pravity of manners. He that would labor most effectually for the good of his country, for the preservation of our happy institutions, for the perpetuity of civil and religious liberty, must labor for the promotion of virtue. If America neglects to sustain her moral institutions, and thus opens the ‘flood-gate of intemperance, and lets every species of vice, like a river of death, flow through our land; her republican institutions, her freedom, and her science, will be buried in one common grave, and the sun of American glory will set, to rise no more forever. Pardon me, brothers, for keeping you so long from the pleasure you anticipate. Let me in conclusion ask you to think of wretched Ireland, a colony of England, (as was once A.merica,) with her degraded, Sl3a.I‘V- ing population, groaning under the weight of an intolerable system of taxation. Look to India ;-wfor centuries have her tears been mingling with the flood of the Ganges. Think of Poland, of Italy and Spain; think of any and every country, and then compare them with your own, and you will know the weight of obligation you owe your fathers, and you will learn the reasons which should prompt you to celebrate the 4th of July. is 1% ORATl0N. STANDING ‘as We do this morning upon another anniversary of our national birth-day----remembering the times of trial and conflict through which as a people we struggled into In- dependence -mrecalling the fearful odds against our sires when poverty, feebleness and inexperience, animated only by trust in God, hatred of oppression and heroic resolves to be free, were matched with discipline, resources, power and almost uni- form and immemorial success in arms ——-—and contrasting with the early omens cf the struggle its world—astonishing issue, the transition is easy to that nobler Revolution, in which under auspices at first more unpromising, against a bondage more abasing, in the face of hostility more determined and unscru-— pulous, the bannered Heroes of Temperance are achieving for our country another independence more glorious than the for—- mer, won by bloodless victories and fraught with more beneficent results to humanity. I must think the theme for these exercises happily chosen, from the freshened recollections which this day brings up of events at once so analogous to the history and so inspiring to the hopes of the cause we plead. _ a Each anniversary is a stopping place where we may pause, though time never does, and give anew our minds to thought, our hearts to praise, and our hands to duty; Such seasons are not less imperative and profitable for associations than indi- viduals. e l l i 8 Wt It is wise for those banded together in great enterprises to keep their birth-—days; mark thus the great stages of their advance, give their errors and their successes alike to History, and renew their covenant. Let us take advantage of this occasion to take up this Work of review and forecasting in respect to our own beloved order. What have We gained? What have we lost? What remains for us to do? These are the questions by which I propose to be guided in the remarks that follow. I will trust that you have brought with you your whole stock of patience, for I cannot promise to be short with this task before me. The Order of the Sons of Temperance now numbers within its ranks not far from 300,000 souls. The power of this array is not its mere numerical force. It is a matter of con- gratulation, vvhioh it were false modesty to pass over in silence, that from the first, men of character and standing have been willing to enroll themselves in the ranks of this movement, and lend all the Weight of their personal and social influence to its progress. Such alliances I know are not needed to make this associated efibrt respectable. The sight of humaiiity on any of its levels, struggling against the mastery of vice—-- rising above its yoke -----~ and essaying to giisenthral its breth- ren also ----is a spectacle of moral snblimity that of itself Com- zmands respect. But. the evils against which We are <;on‘fieI1<1- ing has been so long shielded behind the customs and fash-T ions of families prominent in social life -wand casting all consideration of their wealth, refinement and high standing into the scale of self-indulgence, that we mustv rejoieev when we can confront them in their own walks, with an _i.I1fl11eIJ.06>_-.r their scale of estimation of no less mark and price». The Wider one’s sphere of social oensideration, the more may the do for or against the cause of Reform. The rvinew-«sup, When sevens graced T by theovscultivation; £1 releganee ef polished Circles, hasheen v and is and will one ef the mighfiest. 1ureS,o te habits of gross iinebriety that erer Wrecked hum.anhearts and hopes. The ring of the social glass on the sideboards iofi the 9 rich, chimes with the same music in the haunts of beastly in- toxication, and gives evermore ‘ aid and comfort’ to the revelers there. And when we may draw our champions of abstinence from such an influential sphere, and meet this potent hostility with its own weapons, our hearts justly grow hopeful of wider good, and more dificult victories. The profession of medicine, the pulpit, the bar, the university, the first walks of mer- cantile life and the mechanic arts, and the stainless yeomanry of the plow, have poured in their volunteers to swell our ranks. Such a membership as a feature of our progress hitherto, and an element of power in our working, we point to this day as a good omen for times to come. But there is yet another portion of our membership upon which we may congratulate ourselves no less justly and heartily. There are changed men among us~—-—--men who have found strength to rend their chains and stand up from bondage--- taking back from the tyranny of appetite their long——1ost liberty. The eye of wife, mother and sister, looks this hour with joy and pride upon faces a.nd forms in our ranks ‘so renewed, for whom so late it wept in secret, or looked to heaven in sorrowing prayer. Silent benedictions are in those looks that might cheer mar- tyr at the stalITI1($l‘tl1,l1C¥S beyond the pale of our co1;1straint. Over those lost brethren, while they stood, we watched with fear and trernhling. It cheers us that we sougght to save thorn, tl101§1gl.1 We have failed. It is something to have given them a taste of freedom, though the cup has to thenia» keener relish. 4 Others still, tliotigli they are few, have left our side for other causes, best known to themselves. Some doubtless from me- tives that do thern no dishonor--—-some perhaps Wearying of so rigid a self-—:restraint, or constrained by more powerful social influences, or unvvorthily influenced by personal enrnities, or eharined no longer by neve1ty,or '_[)lC1l.1GCl at fancied sliglits, we can only conjecture. If they are satisfied to have no part in so good an enterprise, the greater loss, we think, is theirs. There is still one other point in the review to touch upon, and then I will ask you to look forward.“ I have spoken of losses by defection and withdrawal. Tliere have been yet other losses which We cannot this day forget. Death has greatly spared us, but still he has locked his hiding turf above not a few of our brethren. Their places are vacant this day in our ranks; their places are vacant where they always stood at posts of duty and honor; their places are vacant beneath the roofs where the widows and fatherless feel each hour the loss of their stay and counsellor. , But here, here in our hearts their place is 12 not vacant. Peace to the memory of our departed brethren! And when coming and not distant days shall add another and another name from our number to the lengthening scroll of death, let each anticipate for himself this living remembrance in the hearts of survivors. But I will keep you no longer upon this retrospection. I did but mean to make it introductory to my main design, and have lingered upon it I fear beyond your patience. I invite you now to set forward with me upon the other question I proposed at the outset---—- “ What remains for us to do ? ” 1. My brethren, we must determine upon and fill up some sphere of action. We must not suffer the calumny to become history, that we lose in the social arrangements and amenities of the Order our activity as reformers. Our interest for the peace and prosperity of our Division is not to absorb all our zeal and devotion as Sons of Temperance. We have a work to do for the common cause. We are not associated for the mere purpose of holding pleasant fellowship and reciprocating fraternal ofiices. The final victory is not , yet by many a bat- tle-field and campaign. It will be time enough to sit down at our ease and tell our stirring tales of struggles past, when our fee is routed from his last stronghold. At present we have something else to do besides toying with the machinery of our «organization, and regaling ourselves with its entertainments and harmonies. The great pestilence, if it be somewhat abated, still rages on every line of latitude that crosses the abodes of men. The signs of it are visible everywhere---in the flushed cheeks _of gay saloons; the neglected husbandry of once thrifty hands, the gloom of the domestic hearth, the cheer-i less beggary of ruined fortunes, the evening shouts of shame» less rioters, the virulence of a thousand diseases. It blasts, as of yore, the ruddy health of youth; it drains the vigor of manhood; it dishonors the grey locks of age; it palsies the nerve of thought, and films briglit-eyed fancy. It Walks in senate chambers and legislative halls; it follows the camp; it flies with the white wings of commerce over the sea; it oh. 18 _ trudes itself by the bridal altar. Not yet is the time of repose. Idly to rest now, were to be most unprofitable ser- vants. 2. Nor is it enouglr to aim merely at our own enlargement. It is true that every opposer we gain to our pledges, weakens by that unit the array of the enemy, and adds a helper to our en—» deavors. Every rescue We efiect is progress of the right sort, another redemption from the curse, and sends dismay to the hearts of those who live on the spoils of humanity. But our Work is a more comprehensive one than this. Why are We banded together by such an elaborate compact ? For what pur- pose this consolidated array? ASY‘d’}}?:Z.7Z;l/, to stand closer around a tempted brother, and give him a vvarmer sympathy ? This end may be worth the cost, but we mean more than this. Here We have a disciplined troop, inspired by one spirit, rnoving as with the impulse of one mind, ready, from its compactness, to fling the whole weight of its Cl1tt1“gO1.7q’.)OI1 any given point. a Each vel- unteer that joins us, each recruit we enlist, swells the ranks and adds to the momentum of our advance. All our (ilrillirig goes to perfect the tactics of these forces. But slrall we be forever mustering and drilling and eiil.istiri1g, and never march to battle? What expedition shall these forces, when equipped and disci- plined, undertalre ? 8. We must go forth upon aggr'essive movements»---where our whole strength will tell. Our work of recrxxitirig we must not intermit, but our perfected array must see service. This discliarging sirigle guns from a distance is not going to end the War 3 We must come to close cipiarters and put our efficiency to the test of hot werle, else is our boasted T championship of the cause of temperance so much idle talk. And so only, I warn w you, can we keep in our enclosure these who sought it to labor for temperance. And so only can we win to our enclosure, the old fast friends of the cause still without. They will not join us from mere love of good fellowship. They ivvillj be brought in only by the conviction that we possess superior facilities for doing the Work they have at heart, and mean faithfully to em- ‘ 2 14 ploy them. And with many of these minds we have this very prejudice to combat, that we are mere holiday maslcers, about child’s play with our badges and gewgaws, and not earnest men about earnest work. This point then is settled, that each Division of our Order has, in its own community, something to do over and above the spending an evening together weekly to enjoy each other’s society and keep high ceremonials. And now what shall be our task? what specific line of operations shall we attempt? I shall content myself with suggesting one direction only for our efforts. Not that it is the only one, nor perhaps the most important; but it is one the merits of which it is time temperance men had settled, and, I must remember, that your courtesy may have its limits. The point then, one point upon which I would have our forces bear, in every community, is the traffic in ardent spirits. And I refer not now to political action, or restraints by law, though I am a believer in these, but to the efficacy of our personal and combined moral influence. What position then is it competent for us to take in the premises? It is clear we cannot take ground against all manufacture of Alcohol in its various combinations, nor all deal» ing in it. It is of such high importance as a chemical agent, the universal solvent, indispensable in thearts and in many of its combinations as well as in its pure state so valuable for medical uses, that to prescribe entirely its manufacture and sale were to show a very internperate and shortsighted zeal. Some must make it, and some must vend it. But it is compe- tent for us to set our faces against the sale of it as a beverage, to mark if possible that dealing in it which sets it invitingly forth to tempt the excesses of ungoverned appetite, whether open or concealed, without pledges or against pledges, with the brand of public infamy. To make such vending illegal I con- sider a great triumph, but to make it infamous a greater. For one may evade or defy a law, and plume himself upon his dexterity or boldness, but to bear the weight of public con- 15 clemnation and scorn is another matter. This is our enterprise, to make the sale of ardent spirits as a beverage in each com- munity, by high or low, rich or poor, a disgrace so withering that no man can long underlieit. I group in this remark all classes of venders without distinguishing, because however much the more respectable in standing may look down upon the baser and more notorious, they are in fact all of one craft, and the latter live on the respectability of those who better grace the tra'l‘lic. There is no possible way of making the degraded keepers of drunkards’ haunts feel their shame, while it is reputable for other men before their eyes to sell genteelly to fashionable customers. The only efficient arrest to the heady current is to lay the crushing weight of a public odium upon the whole business. To attempt less, is, if we succeed, to effect nothing. And the question is now, how shall we make our demonstration against this formidable array? I call it for» midable, for I am aware how strongly intrenched it is in the midst of us----what sort of patronage in public and in private gives it countenance, and what unscrupulous allies would rally to its defence. But I am persuaded that this is the great battle to be fought in this cause, before any decisive victory is gained. And as to the mode of operation, I am as fully per- suaded, that it is our duty as Sons of Cl‘enopera11ce, and equally the duty of all temperance men, to zeitholmw all palrem_c]e in trade from these who palzlrfely or by stealth sell czrclent spirits as ea lieverag/e. I shall un<:lertake to give my reasons for this conviction. 1. What then are these places of which we speak, and what their influence? With some of them, there are the un- mistakable signs of lowest debauchery, with others an air of decency and high respectability. They are visited by very dilferent classes of the community, though for the same object. Their influence in kind is the same, in degree somewhat varied. Let a philanthropic and thoughtful man pass by one of them, what are his reflections? How different from those which other objects of interest by the wayside fasten upon his mind. ‘I I 16 He passes a school—house, and his thought is, here is a genera» tion training in the elements of useful knowledge, layingbroad and deep that basis of intelligence which, combined with virtue, is the only safe foundation for the character of the nation’s sove- reignty. The busy scene zvithin, is pictured to his eye, as the drowsy hum steals out to his ear, or the music of a young Voice leaps up, and he goes on his way with only pleasurable and hope- ful thoughts. He passes a church of Christ, and as his eye meas- ures the height of the spire pointing heavenward, his thought is, here is a house for training men to immortal destinies, here is published. the inspired word, and God is worshipped. He thinks of the scene wit/’2rz'7z when those courts are thronged, and hears in fancy the voice of prayer, and address, and sacred song. He goes on his way with no sadness. He passes the abocles of industry and thrift; the sturdy stroke of the sledge rings out to him, the harsh whisper of the plane is audible, the sound of the shears, the jar of many looms. He catches a glance of the scene w2't7n'*/L, and leaves a blessing only at each threshold. Not thus can he pass the doors upon which our re» gards are now fixed. With far other thoughts must he picture the some zvitlam. There are none training there to serve and adorn the community; there are other voices there than those of high devotion; there are no products of skill there fashioning for human use or luxury. _There is no health or wealth or hope there gathering to blessthe age and race. Men enter in and come forth again, not with clearer eye and brain, with firmer step and nobler look, with better strength to toil and better rea- son to judge, with fair prospects for 1ife’s successes, and stronger claims to human confidence. There begins the descending way of ruin, there opens the fatal drainage of fortune, there are sewn the seeds of early infirmity and disease, there a shadow falls upon the good name, there withers trustworthiness, there hope’s premises are blighted, and the sacred treasures of household peace flung away like pearls cast before swine. These are the places of which we speak. 2. What is it now that sustains these establishments? I are 17 have already said, that no blush of shame can be produced" with the most infamous in the trade, While there are so many reputable partners in the traffic to lend them countenance. And what supports in their calling -this higher class, "Whose respectability shields from utter disrepute all beneath them. One word answers the question --- patronage, raraonnes. Not that only, or chiefly, which enters in to drain a glass or fill a cask, but the more indirect and unconscious patronage. Were the former all, upon which these tradesmen who have character to lose, could rely, they could not prosecute their occupation a day. The sort of countenance which is of most value to them is the presence and trade of those who have per- sonally no connection with the evils of intemperance, are totally free from the vice of drinking, and bring their custom to these counters to serve their domestic necessities. So long as these families enter their doors they are unirnpeachable. You can- not disgrace them if they can keep such company. Here are their living recommendations, their testimonials known and read of all. They need no advertisement; it must be safe to follow in such footsteps as those which daily cross their threshold. They can afibrd to do better by such customers than other dealers can; to olfer inducements in the excellence and cheap- ness of their goods to continued patronage ; nay, they can afford to give away their goods to such families for, the sake of the po- sition their influence thus lent secures to them, while engaged in another sort of dealing with another set of customers that ought to cover them with reproach. The simple philosophy of the thing is this. These dealers wish to make money, and they wish to be respectable. They can make money by selling ar- dent spirits more than by the sale of any other article they can keep. But this deal of itself and alone is not quite re- spectable, and they must be respectable for they have families and they have consciences, and respectability is a great relief to conscience. Now they can secure both objects if they can induce men of a certain character to frequent their sales——rooms, and be by their presence their endorsers and referees, an 2* .. 18 while they can point to such men, men that never drink, good temperance advocates, church members, day by day beneath their roof, and supplying their households from their shelves who will credit the tale that there is disgrace in the unholy trade they drive ? 8. And now for the zremedg/----What shall it be? The evil peremptorily suggests it. It is this patronage of good men that keeps alive the mischief. Let these good menivvithhold their patronage, and you shall see something of the omnipotence of public sentiment. Let each friend of temperance, of light taxes, of good order and public morals, resolve that he will not help make rumselling respectable by giving his custom to those engaged in it, and a fatal blow is struck. You may judge of the certain efficacy of such a measure by anticipating the .efi'ect of the proposition only upon those it is designed to reach. As no movement could touch them in a more vital point, so none would probably be less welcome, or stir the bile so deeply. Let the membership of this Order, banded together in a cove» nant like ours, take the stand which I am advocating, and keep it with all possible consistency, and the act would tell upon that bad traflic like a scourge from Heaven. We should become an «example to others, who would follow so bold a precedent, a rallying point for all true lovers of their kind in the midst of us, around which fresh forces would gather in ever increasing array, a terrible front of rebuke. Who does not believe, that if the 07w-z'stian+iz‘y and m09‘aZ'ifiy of our communities would adopt this simple policy of buying notiring of the men that put the glass to their neighbor’s lips, attempt no persecution, avail themselves of no law even, but just let them alone, pass by their doors when out for purposes of trade, it were doing more to- ward cutting oft‘ the streams of the great evil, than all expedi- ents beside? To know that the public eye marked this signifi-- cant passing by, and took note that only spirit—bibbers entered those retreats, to understand that the respectability of princi- ple if not of fashion kept the temperance side of the Way, would be With these dealers an instrument of conviction, which 19 they could not resist. The day that sees this experiment tried will see the opening of a new era in this reform. I believe every one who reflects upon the natural working of such a demonstration, will be satisfied that we have not overrated its influence; and if we hold such a power in our hands, where is our sincerity of profession, where our allegiance to principle and conscience, where our common humanity, if we can hesi- tate to employ it, and at once for so great a good. I seem to hear the chorus of benediction from the many ready to per- ish, that should be shouted over us as the agents of so glad a change. I read the unspeakable gratitude that should beam in the eye of trembing mothers and sorrowing wives, when such temptations are removed from the path of husbands and sons already leaning to their fall. I do not forget that there will probably be with honest minds some scruples and difficulties in regard to the measure I have urged. I hope I am prepared to give these a candid consid- eration. I I 1. It will be said, perhaps, that this principle carried out would oblige us to suspend business intercourse with all whose sentiments, or practice on any subject, we cannot approve. That we must give the same testimony agairist profanity, infi- delity, sabbatlr1—breal