be to
himself, and however tolerated by the civil law. Nor I would not attempt
to extenuate the guilt of the intemperate man, nor of the merchant who
sells him spirits; but I do say, that if those who distil, and those who
furnish the materials, were to abandon the business altogether, it would
almost put an end to intemperance in the land. For only a small
proportion of the spirits used is imported; and its price must always
continue so high that but few could afford to be drunkards were the
domestic manufacture to cease. You have it in your power, then, to put a
stop to this most dreadful national evil, and thus to save our liberties
and all that is dear to us from ruin. Your fathers poured out their
blood like water to purchase our independence, and to build up a bulwark
around our rights. But the ten thousand distilleries which you ply are
so many fiery batteries, pouring forth their forty-four million
discharges every year, to level that bulwark in the dust. All Europe
combined against us in war could not do us half as much injury as your
distilleries are doing every year. Oh, abandon them--tear them
down--melt your boilers in the furnace--give your grain and molasses to
the poor, or to the fowls of heaven--make fuel of your fruit-trees,
rather than destroy your country.

Some may say, that if they cease to manufacture spirits, others will
take up the business and carry it on as extensively as they do. And
since, therefore, the country will gain nothing by their discontinuance
of distillation, they may as well have the profit of it as others. But
what course of wickedness will not such reasoning justify? A highwayman
robs you, or an assassin invades your dwelling at midnight and
slaughters your wife and children. Now, would you think them justified,
should they plead that they knew of others about to commit the same
outrages, and therefore they thought their commission of these deeds was
not wrong, since they needed the avails of the robbery and murder as
much as any body? A man could pursue the slave-trade year after year on
this principle, with no upbraidings of conscience, if he only suspected
that the business would be carried on were he to stop. And a traitor
might sell his country for gold, could he only ascertain that some one
else was about to do it, and yet be exonerated from blame, if this
principle be proper to act upon. Oh, how can any decent man plead a
moment for a principle that leads to such monstro