e, in the compass of a year, been found drunk in the
land, assembled in one place, they would make a greater army than ever
Bonaparte commanded. And yet, unless patriot hearts and hands interpose,
myriads more, from generation to generation, coming on in the same
track, will go down like these to the drunkard's grave.

Were all the thousands that annually descend to the drunkard's grave,
cast out at once into an open field, their loathsome carcases would
cover many acres of ground. And yet the _source_ of all this pollution
and death is moderate drinking.

Were the thousands of distilleries and breweries, still at work day and
night in the land, placed in one city or county, they would blacken all
the surrounding heavens with their smoke. And could all the oaths,
obscenities, and blasphemies they occasion every hour, be uttered in one
voice, it would be more terrific than "seven thunders."

And are those armies of drunkards, that liquid fire, those carcases of
the slain, those ever-burning manufactories, and those blasphemies in
the ear of Heaven, less appalling, less stirring to patriotism, because
scattered throughout the land? Shall there be no burst of indignation
against this monster of despotism and wickedness, because he has
_insidiously_ entered the country, instead of coming in by bold
invasion? Shall he still deceive the nation, and pursue his ravages? Or
shall he not, at once, be arrested, when it can be done without cost,
and with infinite gain?

It must not be forgotten, that, in this country, every drunkard has
equal power in the elective franchise with the most virtuous citizen.
Nor must it be forgotten, that should the reform now cease, and
intemperance again increase for the fifty years to come, in only the
same ratio that it did for twenty years previous to the commencement of
general reform in 1826, about one-third of our voters would be
drunkards. What, then, would be the character of our beloved republic?

But should intemperance increase in that ratio for _eighty_ years, a
_majority_ of our voters would be drunkards, and our population amount
to several hundred millions. Who then could turn back the burning tide;
or who could govern the maddening multitudes?

It is not a vain thing, then, that patriots have waked up to this
subject. Their trumpet should now thrill through the land, and urge all
the young to enlist, at once, on the side of virtue. These can, if they
will, cause the river of ab