action, so that he began to utter "thoughts that breathe and words that
burn."

Some twelve or fourteen years ago, the author was passing Tremont Temple
in Boston, when he observed an illuminated sign over the door of one of
its basement rooms, "Boston Young Men's Total Abstinence Society," and
in connection with it was a most cordial "WALK IN." We accepted
the silent invitation, and entered. There we found a few young men
engaged in a debate, and some five or six spectators, among whom was
Deacon Grant, listening. After the close of the exercises, the young men
came forward in a most cordial and genial way to converse, and I learned
that they had a small library, and were accustomed to debate questions
of a social and literary character at their meetings. Only a few
belonged to the society; for it has always been true that total
abstinence societies have not been well supported in Boston, and the
fact is a stain upon its social character, and the piety of its
churches; but those few were anxious to make the society a means of
mental improvement, at the same time it contributed to prosper the cause
of temperance. For some years the organization was conducted in this
way; and what was the result? We are not able to point to all the
members as they now meet the stern duties of meridian life, but we know
the whereabouts and position of a few. One of them, who was a mason by
trade, at the time referred to above, is the popular editor of a daily
paper in a New England city, and his charming eloquence has more than
once delighted a Boston audience. Another has worked his way along
through a course of education, and now occupies an honorable position as
a preacher of the gospel. Yet another applied himself to
self-improvement with industry and perseverance, and the world know him
now as the talented author, Oliver Optics. And still another, a
merchant's clerk, now stands at the head of the large mercantile house
in which he then served, possessing wealth and position that many an
older man would be proud to call his own. His beautiful city mansion
contains a study, where leisure hours are profitably employed, showing
that the stimulus of those early debates is still felt. His voice is
often heard in public assemblies, and he now takes his turn, with a
corps of divines and lawyers, in editing a religious magazine. Not one
of these young men had wealth, or titled ancestry, or superior
advantages, to aid them; and all will say th