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Report: To The Executive Committee Of The Ann Arbor Temperan...

Report: To The Executive Committee Of The Ann Arbor Temperan... image
Parent Issue
Day
9
Month
October
Year
1843
Copyright
Public Domain
OCR Text

Dkak Brkthren: - Having acted as a Temperance Lecturer in the Sfate of Michigan ever since the 27ih day of July, 1842, to the present time, Í thought it might not be nmiss for me to make a brief report of my labors. I have ectured extensively in all the counties where it it been practicable. Ihave lectured 1S8 times - 13 times in Indiana - organized 24 societies in the State of Michigan, and 3 in Indiana. About 1400 have signed lhe pledge - 150 in Indiana - making in all 1550, bcsides many others which I have not taken. In many places a great deal of interest was manifested, and it seetned as f the facts and arguments presented were understood and appreciatcd, and a new impulse given to the cause. I have found many hard places, where the number of temperence men were few, and the eneniics were triumphing in the work of self-destruction - of temporal misery and e1ternal Death. Yet in many of those farming towns where Ihere was a thin population, the settlements new, and the means of conveyance very limiled, I have had large school nouses crowded; people coming four or five miles vvith ox teams - the snow being from two to three feet deep, and the roads but barely passable. Such instnnces, and they have been many, have been very encouraging, assuring me, allhough I failed of receiving any pecuniary compen.=ation, good was done, and that I ought perhaps to be satisfied with the consc'ousness of having been the humble instrument, of illeviatiug human misery, and of removing the great obstacles in the way of moral rehgious and intellectual improvements.advancement of the temperance cause, as the Drawinge of Dr. Sewall, exhibiting the ePfects of alchoholic drinks in the human stomach . These ï have exhibited in many meetings, wliich have bee of incalculable benefit in exciting interest, and presenting to the eye the effects of intoxicating drinks on the human stomach. Repeated instances have occnrred, where a casual exhibiüon of them has arrested thn poor inebríate in his couree and led him to sign the pledge. I have sccn some, during my whole lecture, sneer and laugh, but when the plates were presented, turn pale and tremble like an aspen leaf. They would even go out of meeting, and could not bear the sight of them. I would wiah to say that a set of them ought to be owned in every country town - hung up in every Court House, College and Academy in tlie State. Ten dollars could not be more advantageously j ed for the promotion of temperance. The progrcss of temperance in your State is such as to afford the most cheering encouragement, and to assure us that God is ready to give efficiency io every proper instrurnentality, such as to assure us that energy, j perseverence and praycr in the use of the appropriate means, will finish up the work in due time.The Washingtonian movement has ' ad wonders in reclaiming the drunkard. lts enècts are to bc seen every where. The j ;ued are to be found in every town and village, md some of them are successfully pleading the cause - building up the things they had been so long laboring to deetroy; and I have found the greatest proportion of them remain steadfast in their new forraed resolutions. - However, there is a difierence in difTerent places; yet so numerous are the cases of persevering reform - the reiapses so few comparalively, that we have very much to cheer end encourage, and very little to dampen zeal or discourage effort. Let us then continue to diffuse Jight. Let us continue to use the means with which God has blessed us, and we have nolhing to fear. Pern.it me to say by wny of conclusión to my worthy citizens of Michigan, ye are called upon by the poor drunkard - by the value of his soul - by his wife's woe, and his children's cries, to rescue him from the grasp of the enemy, before he is entirely ovcrwhelmed. Ye are called upon by a voice from heaven, saying, touch not. taste not, handle not; by a voice from Heil, 6aying in tones of woe, Testify unto these, (makers, sellers, and drinkers of intoxicating liquors)desist least they also cometo t.his place of torment. Ye aro called upon by the most solemn considerations of a national, social, individual, physical, mental, moral and eternal character to remove this evil from the notion without delay, for ïf it is permitted to continue, the happiness, peacc and prospcrity of the nat ion will decrease.Finally, brethren, be united, for in union :here is 6trength. Roll on the temperance juli, and with an inflexible resolution adhere to your favorite motto. Total abstinence from ïll that intoxicates; & while you are trying to demolish the topplingr throne of the tyrant by ihe battering ram of moral suasion, forget not to cali upon God to grant you succeas; ever consideriDg that from him alone all your prosperity is derived - that thro' his gracious blessing upon your laudable efforts, instead of the earth being affected with intemperance, it may rejoice in the glorious benefits of tcmperance from age to age, and that instead of men ruining men by the influcnceble witli the kws of moral order, engage with harmony in the same holy desires and employments, for the promotion of their mutual comfort and prosperity. Thus living and thus acting would hasten the glorious day when Alchohol would be slain, the nation glad, and Jehovah receive thé glory. I need not say to you that a door of hospitality has uniformly been opened to me. In many instances, I have received the most hearty welcome, and a kindness has been manifested whicli I shall long remember, and will lead me to look back upon tliem as a bright spot in my pilgnmage, smoolhins; the rugged path in my wandering life. I am respectfully your friend,

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Subjects
Signal of Liberty
Old News