I -. • Lee .livered at the Oregon Engine house No. 3, Vard, Mil­ waukee Sunday evening Jan. 11, 1 , by I A. Lapham. Ladies and Oontlemen-- A desire to comply with -easonabl.. quest of the president of this "Oregon Tumperanee League," to do ighbor, as a finnd, to you and to the imporpan cause in which you ,ed? and a desire, at least, to at­ tempt all the good I can rather than any consciousness of abil: to instruct, interest or even to amuse you, are the motives that have decided me to appear* before you on this occasion. Should any of you receive additional c ye or inducement to pe Ln the t • virtue .mor, ace and happiness, both here and hereafter, by anything I can say or do on this, or any other occasion, it shall certainly be ally and promptly said and done. Unaccustomed as I am, hi blic speaking, you must not expect, that -what I have to say shall be in the most graced ful style of oratory? or oven with a pleasing and agreeable mann of delivery. I shall only claim credit for hon of purpose and sincerity in all my s taternentsi. After what has been ; ited to you from desk on iQ;' occasions, I need not attempt to show the deleterious ef­ fects of ' alcohol ic drinks upon trie physical nzation and con­ stitution oe' man bo. y? Jets upon the moral and pons nature oJ soul ?*jfl© !•_*.- the disastrous effects upon business afffairs, the p y or estate of individuals.. Tries- • 900- 1851. of the Mississippi is based upon calcareous rocks. They consist of yellow,blue and grey varieties of 1 lines tone, and are classed by geologists as "Silurian rocks" being of an age long anterior to the rocks of the coal formation. Although to the casual observer they appear to lie in - hor i 7^ *Jr -909 1852. are evils you are all familiar with, from daily observation? but which can not be too often, nor too forcibly presented so long as they continue to exist in our midst. It would be an equally needless waste of time to at­ tempt any arguments to show that you are enagaged in a great, a noble and a glorious cause, second, in importance to our present welfare, only to that of religion itself. Indeed, how can relig­ ion exist without temperance? How can a person whose mind is con­ stantly clouded with the fumes of alcohol, know, and understand the sublime truths of the Christian religion? It is impossible! And if a drunkard cannot unders tand these truths, how is ho to have that deep-seated and realizing sense of their importance, that will cause him to embrace them and thus become a true and consistent Chr ist ian. NO.unless the principles you now adopt and advocate shall first be carried into practice, true religion and piety exist. A A church filled with drunkards would be an anomaly indeed! The temperance reform, I repeat, must first be made an} the work thoroughly done, before men are fitted to embrace or even fully to understand the doctrines of Him, who taight as never man yet taught. We must certainly pick men up from the gutter, wash and cleanse them and restore them to their right mind, reason and un­ derstanding before they are at all fitted to be sent to church. These truths are so obvious that it is strange they should have bee been so long overlooked. If those who are engaged in promoting the great and holy cause of religion in the world would take this view of the subject, 7>"? -910- 1352. would begin at the beginning in their work? they would ,oubtless meet with far greater success. It is ve •; gratifying, however, to learn that clergymen, everywhere are becoming sensible of their error of omission in this rapec1 an; are beginning again to in­ clude temperance among trie cardinal virtues as did ihe apostles of old. They begin to see that if they neglect any important part of their duty, Cod v/ill raise up separate and independent organ­ izations to secure His great purposes in regaru to man's present and future happiness. Had the church done her Whole duty there would be ,at this day, no necessity for temperance societies. A stricy adherence to temperance principles may be re­ garded as one of the chief reasons oi' the great success, the flour- ishing condition and the high standing of the religious sect called Friends or Quakers. We all knotr that they attained a great degree of eminence among the different religious organizations.They commande. the respect of the world for their truly pious conduct, as well as its ridicule for some of their singular habits and cus- toms. This sect was so strict in reigar d to the use of intoxica- tin inks, that they constituted, long ago, a great "Total absti- ne no e Temperanc e Society." They would no more tolerate drunken- ness in their ranks than they would any other sin or crime. To them be longs the honor of first adopting and carrying out ri»- c iples 01' modern temperance societies. Long before the present movement on this subject was commonc or thought of, werr the hones t Quakers, using their si- lent bu t firm and decided influence in this direction. They exhib- y£>o •911- 1852. ited to the world the numerous benefits resulting from their strict observance of temperance principles, in their great worldly pros­ perity, good and kind neighborly feelings towards each other, free­ dom from contagious diseases, from quarrels, riots and violence of all kinds? from poorhouses and insane hospitals? and this may have been and probably was th r a oursc of the first movements on this important subject. It was from this source, imparted through the gentle in­ fluence of one of the best of mothers that I derived my temper­ ance principles and practice too! lror whatever merit there may be in it, in my case, to them belongs the praise. Under such guidance I have never conquered that original dislike thai y sis when he first tastes alcoholic drinks. They have no charm for mo. I would take them only as ammedicine and with as much reluct ance as is usually exhibited in swallowing the nauseating potions with which your physicians attempt to restore health. 1 have therefore no gutter experiences to -el 'or your amusement. We nave, in this natural aversion to unaccustomed drinks, an imporatnt weapon, which might be wielded , with great success, against this powerful ally of the great enemy of mankind, this King Alcohol. If our youth could ed from these drinks until their tastes were fully formed and developed, they would be as 4 backward about taking rum as calomel. They would have no more in­ clination for mint julep than for senna tea. If mothers could be induced to omit the useless season­ ing of the pap with which infancy is often fed? if ] arsnts would so to supply their children with stimulating drinks either dir 7 It -912- 1852. eetly or indirectly, lich they gradually break down and conquer t h e i r na tura 1 d is tai fee for th iis e injurious liquors, we might hoj that many persons would be by mere disinclination to tax'ste the d ange rous beverage. To secure your safe ty against t. vils of in- first temperance, you must shun th. 3 veryAbeginnings of evil. To allow the tempter not one inch of ground, is your only safety? there is no mi Le round on which ecu can repose and be s from danger. I can think of no more apt illustration of the danger to which the moderate drinker is expos . re Dy comparing him with the man who was seen flefljfring down the broad smoo th wa ters of the Niaga river. Re left Black Rock with the intention oi landing a t hi 3 beautiful residence on the bank of the riv short dis- tance be 1 ow. As if unc onscioi1 8 of any aj ; • < tehing danger, floated along calmly an Lj mjbying the charming beauty of th th conery and the balmy air from off the cool waters of the great Lakes . His oars lie. useless!;-r stowed away in his little boat, wh i 1 e elides along unconscious of the swift-winged passage of t ime and of the fearful nearness of the awful gulf before him.His frien ds. hail him from the shore and warn him again an. again of his impending danger, but the reply of the deluded man is, "I am going bu t a 1i 111s w ay, 1 c an .; asuore at any time, it is ve pleas nt he r e, let me enjo y it,, let me alone!" Thus hepasses on and on until at length he approaches the fearful whirling rapids that precede the great fall. At first,he feels alarmed, he resolves to turn his boat to the shore, bujt he is pauses to enjoy the gentle racking of the .. v s. The motion ex- 4 7< f-2- 3- hilarating,is for the moment pleasant. Dreadful forebodings,it is true,do occasionally take pos­ session of his mind,but he immediately suppresses them by applying his attention wholly to the soothing and exciting enchantments about him? and by indulging the delusive hope th t he may yet at any time approach the shore. His fieiends seeing his almost hope­ less situation,are now nor clamorous for his safety and use every argument to recall him to the land and to make his realize the- extent of his awful danger.