CHAPTER VI.

SOCIETIES IN CONNECTICUT, MASSACHUSETTS, AND MAINE.

THE

HE famous report of Dr. Beecher to the General Association of Connecticut commended itself instantaneously, not only to the clergy, but also to civilians of every grade, governors, judges, lawyers, and physicians.

Some very prudent persons feared the results of such a movement. Of this number, it is said that Rev. Dr. Timothy Dwight was one. While he appreciated the exigency and approved of their zeal, he apprehended that they might transcend the sanction of public sentiment; but, nevertheless, with a benignant smile, peculiarly his own, he said, "If my young friends think it best to proceed, God forbid that I should oppose or hinder them, or withhold my suffrage." Dr. Beecher, subsequently referring to this action in which he took such a leading part, said, "I was not headstrong then, but I was heartstrong, O very, very! I had read and studied every thing on the subject I could lay hands on. We did not then say a word about wine; because we thought it was best, in this sudden onset, to attack that which was most prevalent and deadly, and that it was as much as would be safe, to take hold of one such dragon by the horns without tackling another; but in ourselves we were resolved to inhibit wine, and in our families we generally did."

After the adjournment of the General Association, (June, 1812,) Rev. Mr. Beecher, who had been appointed chairman of the committee to whom this movement had been intrusted, carried on a very extensive correspondence with his ministerial brethren, and also with distinguished citizers in that State, upon the subject of a reform in public morals, from the prevailing vices of intemperance, Sabbath-breaking, profanity, etc.

A preliminary meeting, for the consideration of the propriety of organizing a society for that purpose, was held in connection. with the Annual Commencement of Yale College that summer. It was followed by another meeting in New Haven, Oct. 26, at which Rev. Dr. Dwight presided, and a committee' of twenty-six persons was appointed to correspond on the subject, to prepare a constitution and an address to the public, to arrange for the organization of the society, etc.

The "Society for the Reformation of Morals" was organized May 19, 1813.

In the evening of October 27, the day after the forementioned meeting, Rev. Lyman Beecher preached his famous sermon, entitled "A Reformation in Morals Practicable and Indispensable." The State Legislature was then holding its autumnal session in New Haven, and the members generally attended the services. Several editions of this discourse were published, copies of which are still extant. It is a thrilling production, and Rev. Dr. Leonard Bacon said that it was "the most eloquent, perhaps, of all his printed works, and might be referred to as a conspicuous forerunner of the great Temperance Reformation."

The Consociation of the Western District of Fairfield County passed resolutions earnestly recommending the measures of reform. They also appointed a committee "to correspond with the Committee of the General Association, to collect and em

1 This committee comprised some of the most distinguished gentlemen of the State, viz., Rev. Messrs. Timothy Dwight, D.D., Dr. Perley, Heman Humphrey, Lyman Beecher, Calvin Chapin, Amos Bassett, Asahel Hooker, and Hons. Roger M. Sherman, Tapping Reve, Theodore Dwight, John Treadwell, Zephaniah Swift, Gen. Jedediah Huntington, Dea. Jonathan Huntington, etc.

The Rev. Lyman Beecher says (page 9:)

"Was there consumed in the days of our fathers the proportion of five gallons of ardent spirits for every man, woman, and child in the land, and at an expense more than sufficient to support the Gospel, the civil government, and every school and literary institution? Did our fathers tolerate tippling shops all over the land, and enrich merchants and beggar their families by mortgaging their estates to pay the expenses of intemperance? Did the ardent spirits consumed by laborers amount not

body important facts, to devise further measures," etc. Rev. Messrs. Roswell R. Swan, of Norwalk; Wm. Bonney, of New Canaan; and Heman Humphrey, of Fairfield, were appointed "to draft and print an address respecting the use of ardent spirits." The address was immediately prepared and circulated. It was chiefly written by Mr. Humphrey, and copies of it are still extant. It was a document of great ability and power, and was well adapted to the times. Similar action was taken by other Consociations in the State.

In the month of February, 1813, Rev. Heman Humphrey commenced in the "Panoplist," published in Boston, under the editorship of Jeremiah Evarts, Esq., a series of six articles on the "Causes, Progress, Effects, and Remedy of Intemperance in the United States." In the closing article he earnestly recommended that farmers and mechanics should cease to drink and to provide ardent spirits for their workmen, that they should give an additional compensation, and also furnish a generous supply of judicious and palatable drinks, and thus great progress would be made "toward banishing the fiery products of distilleries from the field and from the shop. This would be no inconsiderable part of the general reformation so loudly called for."

At the meeting of the General Association, June, 1813, further action was taken. The Committee of Correspondence on the subject of temperance reported their action, and that some

unfrequently to almost half the price of their labor, and did they faint often ere the day was past, and fail before the summer was ended, and die of intemperance in the midst of their days? It is capable of demonstration that the vigor of our countrymen, the amount of productive labor, and their morals are declining together under the influence of this destructive sin.

"The crisis has come. By the people of this generation, by ourselves, probably, the amazing question is to be decided, whether the inheritance of our fathers shall be preserved or thrown away. Whether our Sabbaths shall be a delight or a loathing. Whether the taverns, on that holy day, shall be crowded with drunkards, or the sanctuary of God with humble worshipers. Whether riot and profanity shall fill our streets, and poverty our dwellings, and convicts our jails, and violence our land, or whether industry and temperance and righteousness shall be the stability of our times."

progress had been made in the work of reform; that "the recommendations of the General Association had been followed with apparent and salutary consequences;" that "they had been cordially seconded by most of the District Associations, and ardent spirits had been almost uniformly excluded from all ecclesiastical meetings;" that ministers, to a considerable extent, had preached upon the subject of intemperance, and in many cases with manifest good effects; that the Churches had generally approved of the design, and had had their attention directed to other vices; that these efforts had greatly diminished the use of ardent spirits in social circles; that some had been arrested in the way to ruin; that the Legislature of the State had passed a law admirably calculated to promote the desires of the General Association; that men of the first character of dif ferent professions and denominations in the State had formed a society for the promotion of this object, and that encouraging intelligence had reached them from other Churches and States.

The Association requested the treasurer of the State not to provide, in future, either ardent spirits or wine at the customary public entertainment of the clergy at the general election. They also voted a similar request to the President and Fellows of Yale College, that they should use their endeavors to prevent in future the provision of either ardent spirits or wine at the customary public entertainments at Commencement, "for the purpose of co-operating with the General Association in their exertions to discountenance the improper use of ardent spirits."

Through several succeeding years this subject continued to receive its due measure of attention from the General Association. The yearly reports on the state of religion and morals in the several Churches contained frequent allusions to the gradual decrease of intemperance. There were many evidences that the public mind was arraying itself against this great evil, and the movers in this enterprise were encouraged to yet

1 Minutes of the General Association of Connecticut," 1813.

greater undertakings. The "Society for the Reformation of Morals" continued its work. Their meetings were semi-annual, and attended with zeal. In a little more than one year after its formation it had more than thirty auxiliaries in different parts of the State. In a letter from its secretary to the officers of the Massachusetts Temperance Society, in 1814, it is stated that the society and its branches "have had considerable influence in preventing the profanation of the Sabbath, and in discountenancing the excessive use of ardent spirits."

But the members of this society fell into the same error which has had such an unfavorable influence on the Temperance Reformation in later days, viz., that of relying too exclusively upon the influence of the civil law, and hence a serious reaction was soon experienced in that State. A political revolution soon followed, and many of the barriers which had been erected were broken down.

TEMPERANCE SOCIETIES IN MASSACHUSETTS.

In a previous chapter reference was made to the appointment of a committee by the General Association of Massachusetts, in response to the call of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church, to take into consideration the subject of devising and adopting measures for the suppression of the evil of intemperance. The committee was appointed June 26, 1811. During the following month the committee met and organized by the appointment of Rev. Samuel Worcester, D.D., chairman, and Jeremiah Evarts, Esq., as secretary. They held four meetings for consultation during the year, and appear to have conducted their investigations in a manner indicative of marked ability and good judgment.

Feeling the need of data for proper action, they resolved to collect facts and statistics upon the following topics, viz.: "The effects of intemperance upon bodily health, the mental faculties, and the length of life;" "The effects of the use of spirituous liquors upon the productive labors of the country;". "The practicability of employing laborers without allowing