,--1. That the _temperate_ use of wine is innocent, and without sin.
2. That excess in it is a heinous sin. 3. That the voluntary assumption
of a vow or pledge of total abstinence is an effort of exalted virtue,
and highly acceptable in the sight of God. 4. That the habit of excess
in the use of wine is an object of unqualified abhorrence and disgust.
He concluded with a warning to his fellow-citizens to "stand fast in
the liberty wherewith Christ has made you free, and be not entangled
again with the yoke of bondage;" and, after applauding the members of
the Norfolk County Temperance Society for their attempts to suppress
intemperance, declaring it a holy work, and invoking the blessing of
Heaven on their endeavors, he bids them "go forth as missionaries of
Christianity among their own kindred. Go, with the commendation of the
Saviour to his apostles when he first sent them forth to redeem the
world: 'Be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.' In
the ardor of your zeal for moral reform forget not the rights of
personal freedom. All _excess_ is of the nature of intemperance.
Self-government is the foundation of all our political and social
institutions; and it is by self-government alone that the laws of
temperance can be enforced.... Above all, let no tincture of party
politics be mingled with the pure stream from the fountain of
temperance."

The spirit of this address, and the intimate knowledge of the Scriptures
Mr. Adams possessed, will be illustrated by the following extract:

"Throughout the whole of the Old Testament the vine is represented
as one of the most precious blessings bestowed by the Creator upon
man. In the incomparable fable of Jotham, when he lifted up his
voice on the summit of Mount Gerizim, and cried to the men of
Shechem, 'Hearken unto me, ye men of Shechem, that God may hearken
unto you,' he told them that when the trees of the forest went
forth to anoint them a king to reign over them, they offered the
crown successively to the olive-tree, the fig-tree, and the _vine_.
They all declined to accept the royal dignity; and when it came to
the turn of the vine to assign the reasons for his refusal, he
said, 'Should I leave my _wine_, which cheereth God and man, and go
to be promoted over the trees?' In the one hundred and fourth
Psalm,--that most magnificent of all descriptions of the glory, the
omnipotence, and the goodness of