o loss that 300,000 men are drunkards, and are the
slaves of indolence and want? Is it no loss to the nation that 30,000
each year go to the grave? Is there no loss in the expense of supporting
75,000 criminals, and nine-tenths of the paupers in the land? Is it no
loss that bad debts are made, and men are made unable and unwilling to
pay their debts? Whence are _your_ bad debts? Whence, but directly or
indirectly from this business? From the indolence, and want of
principle, and want of attention, which intemperance produces?

4. The man who is engaged in this business says, perhaps, "I have
inherited it, and it is the source of my gain; and what shall I do?" I
answer, beg, dig--do any thing _but_ this. It would be a glorious
martyrdom _to starve_, contrasted with obtaining a livelihood by such an
employment. In this land, assuredly, men cannot plead that there are no
honorable sources of livelihood open before them. Besides, from whom do
we hear this plea? As often as otherwise from the man that rolls in
wealth; that lives in a palace; that clothes his family in the attire of
princes and of courts; and that moves in the circles of fashion and
splendor. O how cheering is _consistent_ pleading; how lovely the
expressions of perfect honesty! This business may be abandoned without
difficulty. The only question is, whether the love of man, and the
dictates of conscience, and the fear of God, shall prevail over the love
of that polluted gold which this traffic in the lives and souls of men
shall introduce into your dwelling.

During a warmly contested election in the city of New York, it is stated
in the daily papers that numerous applications were made for _pistols_
to those who kept them for sale. It is added that the application was
extensively denied, on the ground of the apprehension that they were
intended for bloodshed in the excitement of the contest. This was a
noble instance of principle. But on the plea of the dealer in ardent
spirits, why should they have been withheld? The dealer in fire-arms
might have plead as the trafficker in poison does: "This is my business.
I obtain a livelihood by it. _I am not responsible for what will be done
with the fire-arms._ True, the people are agitated. I have every reason
to believe that application is made with a purpose to take life. True,
blood may flow and useful lives may be lost. But _I_ am not responsible.
If they take life, they are answerable. The excitement is a favor