808 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER, 



April 17, 1829. 



7)^M M U N I C A T^ON^^^ 



s, which have lieeii pub- 

 have seen noih.iig superior lo 



Among Ihe many excellent produciions, 

 lished against intemperance, we 

 the following.— Editor. 



KOR THE NEW ENGLAND FARMER 



TO ALL AVIIOM IT MAY CONCERN. 



In yutcUc.ticm of .nyself, a.td the fa.i>.ly to 

 whicit I belottg, I cottte before the pubhc antl 

 shall, without e.i.iivocation or rcservat.o.., make a 

 statement of lacts. I have sotne ettetn.es, and 

 many of n.y f'iends misrepresent the truth. As- 

 Boeiatiotis, ridicule and satire, poetry and prose 

 paragraphs and pamphlets, have been employed 

 to render itiy character intainons. I am accused 

 of.beiti" the cause of nearly all the pauperism that 

 now exists ; and not only of destroying the peace, 

 harmony, and prosperity of tatmles, rendei-ing 

 them wretched and tniserable beyond description, 

 but destroying the human race by thousands. But 

 notwilhstandins, 1 <i"' persecuted and chai-ged 

 with the greatest crimes, I am still a friend lo 

 truth and mankind. It is true, that, from the pu- 

 rity of my nature, I shall never suhiiiit to any 

 abuse whatever, without reacting with seventy— 

 without punishi;ig the offender, according to his 

 demerits. I never intrude myself on any person ; 

 and when I am forced into company, I treat all, 

 both friends and foes, with the utmost impartiality. 

 As to my parentage, I can boast of great antiquity, 

 and my family relations are numerous, some of 

 which rank high in the catalogue of fame. But, 

 for the facts — 



It is acknowledged, that I possess all the pow- 

 er and influence, with which my enemies have 

 charged me. I am the sfro/ig-est of the strong. I 

 am a Spirit, with which it is dangerous to tam- 

 per. I search the inmost recesses of the body, 

 and when I get the possession of the man, I keep 

 it, and cling fast to his vitals, in defiance of all the 

 aids of physicians, even a long time after the pa- 

 tient shall have relinquished every disposition and 

 desire to abuse me. I change the character of 

 man and bring hint low. I cause his hands to 

 shake, and his knees to tremble ; his tongue to 

 Btammer, and his limbs to refuse their office. I 

 bring his body into a state of incipient corrui>lion 

 while Jiving. I deform beauty, expel reason, 

 drown the memory, destroy the understanding, 

 and convert the man of science into a disgusting 

 idiot. And to complete the climax, I destroy by 

 untimely and shameful death, sometimes directly ; 

 but generally by inflicting some itaitiful disease, 

 beginning with tremor in the hands, noises in the 

 head, inflamed eyes, headach, languor, sickness at 

 the stomach, vomiting, dyspepsy, bloated visage, 

 &c., and ending in gout in all its forms, obstinate 

 gores in the extremities, pain and stiffness in the 

 limbs, obstructions in the liver, consmnptioti, drop- 

 sy, palsy, or apojtlcxy : — but in any ease, my 

 friends are ever ready to acquit nic, and to assign 

 some other cause foreign from the truth. 



Now, all this 1 acknowledge, yea more, yet, I 

 plead innocence. As before observed, I intrude 

 myself on no person ; but I am forced into com- 

 pany, and abused by those who know tne, even by 

 tliose, who believe me to be a poison to the body, 

 a devil to the soul, and indirectly, a thief to the 

 purse. I have been abused by all orders of men, 

 from the Prince on the Throne to the slave, more 

 or less. Justices, Lawyers, Sherifts, Farmers, Me- 

 chanics, Physicians, Priests, and People. On all 



as a 

 siotis 



ing water, would you withdraw it by degrees? — • 

 The continuance of a practice, fraught with so 

 much evil in tendency and effect, is not necessary 

 in any of the common concerns of life. ]t is true, 

 that a stimulus, at times, creates artificitd vivacity 

 and strength ; but they are invariably followed 

 w itli depression ; and of course, injurious to the 

 cuiistitmion. The farmers, the favored children 

 oi heaven, whose profession is the most important 

 of any, and as ancient as time, should instantly 

 abandon every stej), which has a tendency to in- 

 temperance ; as incompatible with their interest, 

 unil the high station in which they are jilaced. 



Could the inebriate behold himself in the mir- 

 ror of truth, and there see, pictured in true colors, 

 his folly, degradation, filthiness, and acquired in- 

 fauiy, in consequence of his wilful course of in- 

 t(iii|ierance, he would be ashamed, and like the 

 bird of night, seek obscurity ; hut unfortunately, 

 intemperance envelops the understanding with a 

 dark cloud, and renders him incapable of -anything 

 worthy of a being, so dignified as man. It is a 

 their refusal, that some omer person wuu.u uu..... , truth, that inebriation effectually ruins the huiTian 

 the base reward. Will they sell arsenic to their ! constitution, alienates the affections of fi-iends, des- 



■ troys the peace and prosperity of families, over- 

 whelming them in distressing penury, and invites 



public days tny friends are intruding upon me.— 

 Sometimes, when an officer was to ba elect- 

 ed, I have been use.l as a bribe— even m some 

 towns, I doubt whether a represeyitative was <;ver 

 chosen, but, that, I was introduced (call it bribery 

 if you please,) and, frequently, so shamefully 

 abused, that in vindicating my power and punty, I 

 have laid, even some of my best friends, prostrate 

 in tie streets ; while others were stimulated to 

 commit indecencies, unworthy of rational beings; 

 retributive punishment for their iransgres- 

 Wherc is there a town meeting, a military 

 review, or any collection of men assembled for 

 business, and I am not abused ? Too often I am 

 called upon in the chambers of the sick and dying, 

 and at funerals ; but most of all abused in tippling 



houses. 



Retailers of drams from interested motives ap- 

 pear to be my friends, but abuse me most shame- 



fnlly : They seem ready and willing to assist in 



destroying a man's good name, his property, and 

 his life for a trifling sum ; and all this, for fear, on 



I.eir refusal, that some other person would obtain 



insane neighbors, for the known purpose of sui- 

 cide, because on refusal, the poison might be pur- 

 chased at another place ? The two cases are par- 

 allel. 



The wise of the land, the Law makers, are 

 careful to im|>ose on me, only a small tax — wheth- 

 er front a knowledge of my power and influence, 

 or from interest, or because I rid the world of a 

 vast number of useless beings, who are a plague 

 to themselves, a curse to their families, a nuisance 

 in society, and a heavy charge to the inhabitants, 

 or some other cause, let them answer for them- 

 selves. 



In the nature of things there is no evading my 

 punishment for every abuse, whether great or 

 small. You may as well eclipse the sun by hold- 

 ing up your Itanci, or stop the foam of Niagara, as 

 to arrest my power and tendency to disgrace, af- 

 flict, and punish offenders ; yet, such is the infatu- 

 ation of my friends, that the Lawyer, and the 

 Clown, the Farmer, and the Beggar, the Phy- 

 sician, and the Tinker, meet on equal terms at 

 dram shops, the sinks of society and pollution. — 

 The truth is plain, they are their own destroyers, 

 both of soul, body, and estate— they commit a lin- 

 gering suicide, and involve their families in the ut- 

 most wretchedness. Hence sottish idleness, pain- 

 ful disease, loss of reputation, lying, fraud, theft, 

 obscenity, infamy, bruises, quarrelling, fighting, 

 swearing, debt, rags for clothing, premature old 

 age, stupidity, disgusting idiocy, confinement in 

 hospitals, in work houses, and in prisons, ttun-der, 

 suicide, and the gallows, are but the effects of their 

 own wilful abuses of my power, and " eternity will 

 unfold the consequences." 



It must not be forgotten, however, in the whirl- 

 wind of excitement, that, I am to some in a state 

 of exhaustion and great debility — after exposure 

 to wet and cold— to the aged, and those who are 

 " ready to perish," a valuable and salutary assist- 

 ant, affording much relief. 



And now, gentlemen, as I punish every offend- 

 er by laws, which are established by the reason 

 and nature of things, according to the magnitude 

 and number of offences against my dignity and 

 power, you will do well to adopt this motto : 

 abuse nol, "touch not, taste not." There is no com- 

 pounding in this case — no middle course to be 

 pursued. Should you plunge your hand into boil- 



ihe neglect and contempt of all, except those iin- 

 iiersed in crime. 



Every tippler has entered the broad road to in- 

 fimy and unlamented death, and has enrolled 

 liiniselfiu the black catalogue of drunkards, now 

 amounting to more (according to estimation) than 

 ;:5,000 hrthe New England States. In the com- 

 nonwealth of steady habits, Uassa.c\\a^ens, tbera 

 me 3,500 paupers, reduced by inebriation, and 

 supported at the annual expense of 180,000 dol- 

 lars. 



Honest men sometimes fail by unforeseen losses 

 and misfortunes, and rise again ; but the man who 

 flxils in couse()uence of tippling, falls to rise no 

 more. When a man is frequently seen at the 

 dram shop, it is high time for his creditors to call 

 for their money. 



As intemperance is contagious and easily ac- 

 quired ; and as it unhinges the mind and unfits' 

 the man for every iHirpose, for which he waa 

 made — shun every infected place — shun the "ap- 

 pearance of evil." Every appearance of intoxica- 

 tion in a man is sufficient to stamp him with sua- 

 picion. What trust can be placed in that man, 

 who has no regard for his own character ? The 

 inebriate forfeits all confidence ; alienates hi» 

 place in society, and in the scale of beings, sinks 

 into disgrace, becomes a corrupter of youth, a 

 teacher of wickedness, and follows the path of 

 crime " to the chambers" of shameful " death ;" 

 leaving behind him a name, which his friend», 

 would wish to forget. 



If what has been said will not convince you, 

 look for a moment, into that temple of corruption, 

 the ti[)pling house, where crime is taught in " ter- 

 rible perfection ;" and where the atmosphere il 

 charged with vapors, as black, and offensive, as 

 those ascending from Vulcan's furnace :— There 

 you may see men, once of reputation and afiltt 

 ence, now sunk into the depths of depravity and 

 poverty, drinking deadly libations, worshipping nl 

 the altar of their idol— a consuming god :— Thera 

 you may see a motley group of beings, in the 

 shape of men, with reddened eyes, clothed with 

 rags, enveloped in filth, calling upon Bacchus ip 

 broken accents, with nicotianic slaver blackening 

 their blasphemous lips, performing their midniglu 



