Ctn i M nrf o Appeal 10 ine y Conf Pam 12mo #510 0^0617270 HIMllNIllflllllll No. 84. APPEAL TO THE YOUTH, AND ESPECIALLY TO THE Soldiers of the Confederate States. To arrest a great moral evil, and elevate the general standard of character in a community, the influence of the young is all-important. They can, if they please, put an end to the most demoralizing scourge that has ever invaded our country, and introduce a state of society far more pure and elevated than the world has yet seen. Consider, then, beloved youth, some of the numerous motives for abstaining from intoxicating liquor and other hurtful indulgences, and employing your ^ne and facul- ties with a view to the highest improve^Pit and use- fulness. The use of such liquor, as a beverage, will do you no good. It will not increase your property or credit: no merchant would deem a relish for it any recommenda- tion for a clerk or partner in business. It will not invigorate your body or mind: for chemistry shows that alcohol contains no more nutriment than fire or 6 APPEAL TO THE YOUTH AND SOLDIERS lightning. It will not increase the number of your respectable friends: no one, in his riplit mind, would esteem a brother or neighbor the more, or think his prospects the better, on account of his occasional use of intoxicating liquor. Nor will it in the least purify or elevate your affections, or help to fit you for the endear- ments of domestic life, or social intercourse; but, on the contrary, scripture and observation alike testify, that wine and its kindred indulgences " take away the heart." Why, then, should a rational being, capable of the purest happiness, and capable of blessing others by an example of temperance, indulge in a beverage in no respect useful to those in health, but the occasion of countless miseries ! But strict temperance has a direct influence on the health and vigor of both mind and body. The most emi- nent physicians bear uniform testimony to its propitious effect. And the Spirit of Inspiration has recorded, He that striveth for the mastery, is temperate in all things. Many striking examples might be adduced. The mother of Samson, that prodigy of human strength, was instructed by an angel of God to preserve him from the slightest touch of " wine, or strong drink, or any un- clean thing." And Luther, who burst the chains of half Europe, was as remarkable for temperance as for great bodily and intellectual vigor. Sir Isaac Newton, also, while composing his Treatise on Light — a work requiring the greatest clearness of intellect — it is said, very scrupulously abstained from all stimulants. The immortal Edwards, too, repeatedly records his convic- tion and experience of the happy effect of strict tem- perance, both on mind and body. And recent reforma- tions from moderate, drinking have revealed numerous GF THE CONFEDERATE STATES. 3 examples of renovated health and spirits in consequence of the change. But not to multiply instances, let any youth, oppressed with heaviness of brain or dulness of intellect, judi- ciously try the experiment of temperance in all things, united with habitual activity, and he will be surprised at the happy effect. Consider, again, that in the purest state of morals, and the most elevated and refined circles, the use of intoxicating drink is now discountenanced, and regarded as unseemly. Inspiration has declared, " It is not for kings to drink wine, nor for princes strong drink/' And who would not regard any of the truly noble, as lowering them- selves by disparaging this sentiment? What clerical association, or what convention of philanthropists, would now be found u mingling strong drink ?" What select band of students, hoping soon to officiate honorably at the altar of God, before the bench of justice, or in the chamber of affliction, would now call for brandy or wine? What circle of refined females would not feel themselves about as much degraded by familiarity with such indulgences, as by smoking, or profane language? Or what parent, inquiring for an eligible boarding- school, would think of asking whether his son or daugh- ter might there have the aid of such stimulus, or the example of its use? If, then, intoxicating' liquor is thus disparaged in the most moral and intelligent cir- cles, why should it not be universally abjured by indi- viduals? Why should not the young, especially, of both sexes, keep themselves unspotted, and worthy of the most elevated society? Consider, moreover, that if the habit of drinking be indulged, it may be difficult, if not impossible, should 4 APPEAL TO THE YOUTH AND SOLDIERS you live, to break off in more advanced life. Thus, even in this day of reform, there are individuals, calling themselves respectable, so accustomed to drink, or traffic in the poison, that all the remonstrances of phi- lanthropists and friends, the wailings of the lost, the authority of Heaven, and the anathema of public senti- ment combined, cannot now restrain them. Let the youth, then, who turns with shame from such examples of inconsistency, beware of a habit so hardening to the conscience, so deadening to the soul. But, to increase your contempt for the habit of drink- ing, think how it especially prevails among the most degraded portions of the community. Inquire through the city, or village, for those wlio are so polluted as to be shut out from all decent society — so inured to vice that they cannot be looked upon but with utter disgust; learn their history, and you invariably find that the insidious glass has been their companion, their solace, and their counsellor. And should not dark suspicion and decided reprobation be stamped upon that which is thus associated with the lowest debasement and crime ? Such drink, in its very nature, has a perverting and debasing tendency — leading to foul speeches, foolish contracts, and every sensual indulgence. Those under its influeirae will say and do what, in other circum- stances, they would abhor: they will slander, reveal secrets, throw away property, offend modesty, profane sacred things, indulge the vilest passions, and cover themselves and friends with infamy. Hence the sol- emn caution, "Look not thou on the wine, when it giveth its color in the cup : at the last it biteth like a serpent, and stingeih like an adder; thine eyes shall behold strange women, and thy heart utter perverse OF THE CONFEDERATE STATES. O things." Those who, by gaming or intrigue, rob others of their properly, and those who allure "the simple" to ruin, it is said, fully understand its perverting influ- ence. " Is it not a little one?" say they; and so the unwise are "caused to fall, by little and little." "She urged him still to fill another cup ; # # # and in the darlc, still night, When God's unsleeping eye alone can see, He went to her adulterous bed. At morn I looked, and saw him not among the youths; I heard his father mourn, his mother weep ; For none returned that went with her. The dead Were in her house; her guests in depths of hell : She wove the winding-sheet of souls, and laid Them in the urn of everlasting death." Such is ever the tendency of the insidious cup. For the unerring Word declares, *' Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging; and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise." " They are out of the way through strong drink; they err in vision, they stumble in judgment." Indeed, the whole spirit of the Bible, as well as uncor- rupted taste, is in direct hostility to ihis indulgence. Its language in regard to all such stimulants to evil is, Touch not, taste not, handle not. And to such as glory in being above danger, it says, with emphasis, " We, then, that are strong, ought to bear the infirmities of the weak, and not to please ourselves." He who hath declared., Drunkards shall not inherit the kingdom of God, cannot, surely, be expected to adopt, as heirs of his glory, any who, under all the light that has been shed on this subject, perseveringly resolve to sip the exhilarating glass for mere selfish pleasure, when they know that their example may probably lead 6 APPEAL TO THE YOUTH AND SOLDIERS others to endless ruin. Common sense, as well as hu- manity, revolts at the thought. On the opier hand, strict temperance is pleasing to the. Most High. Hence, it is said of him who was hon- ored to announce the Saviour's advent, " He shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink." Moreover, the habit of strict temperance, being allied to other virtues, will secure for you the respect and con- fidence of the best portions of the community, as well as the approbation of God, and thus lead to your more extensive usefulness. The youth who promptly comes up to the pledge and practice of total abstinence, and persuades others to do so, gives evidence of decision and moral courage — gives evidence of an intellect predomi- nating over selfish indulgence, and superior to the laugh of fools; and such is the man whom an intelligent com- munity will delight to honor. But you are to live, not merely for self-advancement, or happiness; consider, then, that true patriotism and philanthropy rightfully demand your cordial support of the Temperance cause. A thick, fiery vapor, coming up from the pit, has been overspreading our whole land and blighting half its glory. Thousands, through the noxious influence of this vapor, have yearly sunk to that pit, to weep and lament for ever. Thousands more are groping their miserable way thither, who, but for this pestilence, might be among our happiest citizens. Still greater numbers, of near connections, are in conse- quence covered with shame. Ah, who can say, he has had no relative infected by this plague? But Provi- dence, in great mercy, has revealed the only effectual course for exterminating the plague — total abstinence OF THE CONFEDERATE STATES. 7 from all that can intoxicate. And the adoption of this course, instead of involving any real sacrifice, might be an annual saving to the nation of many millions of dol- lars. What youth, then, who loves his country, will not cheerfully co-operate with the most respected of every profession in encouraging this course ? Who does not see its certain efficacy, and the grandeur of the result ? While a foreign despot, with his armies, is now in- vading our country, every youthful bosom swells with indignation. And will you not combine to arrest the more cruel despot, Fntemperance, whose vessels are daily entering our ports, whose magazines of death are planted at the corners of our streets, and whose manu- factories are like "the worm that dieth not, and the fire that is not quenched ?" Were all who have, 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 com- manded. And yet, unless patriot hearts and hands in- terpose, 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 carcasses would cover maftv 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." O APPEAL TO THE YOUTH AND SOLDIERS And are those armies of drunkards, that liquid fire, those carcasses of the slain, those everburning manu- factories, and those blasphemies in the ear of Heaven, less appalling-, Jess stirring to patriotism, because scat- tered throughout the land? Shall there be no burst of indignation against this monster of despotism and wick- edness, 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 with- out 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 forgot- ten that, should the reform now cease, and intemper- ance 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 182b', 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 nujority of our voters would be drunk- ards. Who then could turn back the burning tide; or who could govern the maddening multitudes? It is not a r vaiti thing, then, that patriots have waked up to this ^Project. 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 abominations to be dried up. But the subject of temperance h;>s still another as- pect, far more serious: it must be a solemn considera- tion to such as realize, in any measute, the worth of the soul and the necessity of its regeneiat'on, thai indutl- OF THE CONFEDERATE STATES. 9 gence in the use of intoxicating- drink, in this clay or light, may grieve the Holy Spirit, whose presence alone can insure salvation. Indeed, to say nothing of the deadening influence of such liquor on the conscience, unless heaven and hell can mingle together, we cannot, surely, expect God to send his spirit to co-operate with that which is peculiarly offensive to the most devoted and self-denying of his friends, and which Satan em- ploys, more than any other agent, in fitting men for his service. For, " what communion hath light with dark- ness?" "what concord hath Christ with Belial?" Be- ware, then, of the arch-deceiver, in this matter. "■ It is not a vain thing for you, because it is your life." It is obvious that if such stimulants were wholly done away, the G