municants at the altar of God! To the voice, then, of reason and of religion alone, must we look for the conviction and conversion of those who are now engaged in a traffic which we deem injurious to the best interests, the prosperity and happiness of our country and of mankind: For if reason and religion will not awaken them, I know of no effectual remedy. Denunciation and proscription, I am certain, will not do it; these on the contrary, will corrode and mortify the wound we seek to heal: And as to legal penalties, I must frankly declare my opinion, that it would be a very dangerous experiment for the liberties of the land, to prohibit by law the manufacture of ardent spirits; because the principle of such prohibition, if acted out, would go to the prohibition of all trade and commerce; would lay the axe at the root of commercial, if not civil and political liberty; and as a precedent, therefore, such a law might, and probably would, become highly dangerous to our liberties in various shapes. There is indeed no calculating the mischiefs that may arise from one rash, arbitrary, or merely impolitic law. The same reason that would prohibit the sale of ardent spirits, that is, because they endanger the health and lives of those who use them to excess, would likewise go to prohibit the sale of bread, or beef and pork, because the excessive eater, the glutton, impairs his health, and endangers his life, as much as the excessive drinker or drunkard does. The one practice is as bad as the other, only its evil effects do not show themselves in the same disgusting and revolting shapes. For my own part, I am for general abstinence in the one case, and for uniform moderation in the other; experience having taught me that this is the safest course for health, long life and happiness: But not abstinence established by law; for the remedy would be worse than the disease; such a law could never be executed in this or any other free country. Suppose, for example, we prohibit totally the importation of ardent spirits; then thousands of hypocrites would laud and support such a law, because it would enable them, as sleeping partners, or under some other veil, to employ their capital in manufacturing those articles. But suppose we go further, and prohibit the domestic manufacture also. What would be the consequence? Thousands of our citizens would go into the smuggling trade, and our whole seaboard, from Mississippi to Maine, and our frontiers along the St. Lawrence, the Niagara and the lakes, would be lined with dens of smugglers; and violence, fraud and perjury, would degrade and disgrace the land. There is already by far too much of all this sort of vice and profligacy among us: In short, public opinion must and ever will prevail over laws obnoxious to it, where there are no despots, with standing armies or inquisitions, to stifle it: And it would, believe me, be as impossible to restrain the importation or manufacture and sale of strong drink in this country, by law, as it was for CANUTE to stay the waves of the ocean from beating on the British shore by his simple bidding! The one experiment would be about as futile and ridiculous, as the other was found to be on trial. In justice to CANUTE, however, I ought to state the fact, that it was to rebuke the folly of his courtiers, and not to display his own pride or impiety, that he made the attempt. Those flatterers and sycophants would have made him believe that he was a god; but he convinced them in a striking manner, that his power was limited; and that he was but a mortal like themselves. No steps, I believe, can be taken, judiciously or properly, to stop the trade in ardent spirits, but to persevere in placing before manufacturers and dealers, in that spirit of mildness which belongs to christian charity, the evil effects of that pernicious trade. Urge them seriously, but still in sorrow and not in anger, to reflect calmly on the subject. What men clearly see themselves; what their own unbiassed reflections irresistibly lead them to conclude, they will abide by. When the Centurion saw the miracles which attended the crucifixion of the Saviour, he exclaimed, "Truly this man was the Son of God!" a conclusion perfectly just-but which, previous to that moment, neither laws, pains nor penalties, neither stripes, racks nor gibbets, could have extorted from him. Since, then, coercion *་ will not answer, and miracles are not within our reach, we must strive to convince dealers, by fair argument, of the iniquity of the traffic in ardent spirits: And if we cannot convince them, let us not attempt to denounce or proscribe them, as some of our weak brethren in the cause of temperance have done; but rather let us pray to our Heavenly Father, that he will graciously open their eyes, and lead them into more perfect, as well as more prosperous walks of business. Having thus performed all our duty towards them, and to our consciences; to God, and to their consciences, we must, and I trust we safely may, leave the issue. But to return from this digression, if it be one, the views I have already taken, show clearly how important it is, that we should resist the first temptation to Intemperance. How appropriate and impressive, is that injunction of Holy Writ: "Look not upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth its color in the cup; at the last it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an adder." Prov. xxiii. xxix-32. This is the advice of a writer, whose views embraced the whole economy of human life, and whose experience had taught him all that was wise in practice, as his genius of inspiration had enabled him to perceive all that was virtuous in principle. He knew full well that the evil, of which we are speaking, is one more easily prevented than cured. It did not escape his notice, how frequently it approaches by slow de grees, showing itself at first in slight deviations from correct and steady habits: And hence it has been happily and justly observed, "That while we are laboring to curtail the vices of the grog-shop, would it not be well to remember the temptations of the side-board." This is an excellent hint, and strikes at the root of a practice, which often, if not always, leads to the vice of drunkenness; we mean the custom, now, we rejoice to say, beginning to wane, of inviting all who happen to step into our houses on a friendly visit, or to dissipate an idle moment, to drink wine or ardent spirits. On these occasions, the first salutation, after being seated, is, Will you take a glass of wine? If the question be politely evaded, it is perhaps as politely and as urgently renewed in the shape of a persuasion: "Pray madam," or "pray sir," as the case may be, "do not refuse-a little will not hurt you: It will do you good." "A little will not hurt you!" Believe me, my hearers, these simple words have done as much mischief among mankind, as all the artillery, all the tricks and stratagem of Satan besides. A little taste of the forbidden fruit, said the Arch Apostate to our primeval mother, will not hurt you! It will do you good: It will open your eyes to behold mysteries hitherto concealed from your view, The innocent, the unsuspecting Eve believed too readily, and we all know and feel the consequences. It is indeed, as the dear-bought, the fatal experience of thousands N |