Did  /  make  the  truth,  or  the  fact  ?  Have  /  led  him  to  do  the
act,  which  gives  to  truth  all  its  cutting  power  ?  or,  have  I  made
him  the  author  of  the  fact ;  the  mere  statement  of  which  is  as  the
bursting  of  thunder  upon  his  ear  ?  Has  not  he  performed  the
action,  which  gives  to  truth  its  sword  of  double  edge  ?  and  has
not  himself  been  guilty  of  the  fact,  the  very  hearing  of  which  is
as  the  pouncing  of  a  vulture  upon  his  vitals  9  Should  he  not  be
angry  vnth  himself  and  at  once  enter  upon  the  way  of  reforma-
tion ?  And,  if  the  little  I  can  say,  produces  such  a  commotion  in
his  soul,  how  will  he  stand  the  exhibition  of  the  great  day,  the
light  of  the  judgment  ?  If,  the  truth  I  tell,  raises  such  a  storm  in
his  bosom ;  if  he  quail  before  the  glow-worm  light  shed  around
him  by  a  fellow  man,  if  his  conscience  is  roused  to  frenzy,  and
all  the  plausible  and  false  reasonings  must  be  seized  upon  to  give
him  temporary  quiet,  how  will  such  a  man  stand  before  the  bar  of
inefiable  light,  and  truth,  and  rectitude  ?  Let  him  tremble  now,
while  he  reflects  what  God  is,  and  before  what  judgment  seat
he  will  soon  be  summoned,  when  the  summons  must  and  will  be
heard  and  obeyed.'^

*'  Well,"  it  is  said,  "I  have  no  objection  to  its  being  spoken
of  as  an  immorality  by  individuals,  but  why  should  it  be  done  by
public  bodies  ?"  Because  public  bodies  have  influence,  and
the  greater  the  number  of  those  who  unite  in  condemning  a  prac-
tice that  is  wicked,  the  greater  the  effect. It  is  so  on  all  oUier  sub-
jects, and  the  friends  of  this  cause  have  judged  that  it  would  be
so  on  this. Hence  the  reason,  why  the  American  Congressional
Temperance  meeting,  the  United  State?'  Temperance  Convention,
ten  State,  Temperance  Conventions,  numerous  State  and  County
Temperance  Societies,  and  various  other  bodies  of  men  of  all
professions  and  employments,  and  from  all  parts  of  our  country,
and  multitudes  in  other  countries,  have  united  in  declaring  to  the
world  their  deep  and  solemn  conviction,  that  the  traffic  in  ardent
spirit,  to  be  used  as  a  drink,  is  an  immorality,  and  ou^t  to  be
abandoned  throughout  the  world. 