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Joseph Tallcot read his paper, first before a committee, and afterward before the synod, and went his way. The synod, after duly considering it, published it, with resolutions " fully approving it, and solemnly declaring, that from that time they would abandon the use of ardent spirits, except for medical purposes; that they would speak against its common use from the pulpit, . . , and use their influence to prevail with others to follow their example." Similar incidents were occurring in different parts of the country and among people of various religious persuasions. In 1789, 200 farmers of Litchfield, Conn., pledged themselves for that season not to use distilled liquors in their farm work. In 1794 Dr. Benjamin Rush of Philadelphia published his Medical Inquiry, in which he insisted that the use of distilled liquors as a beverage ought to be entirely abandoned. In 1812 the Presbyterian general assembly made a deliverance " not only against actual intemperance, but against all those habits and indulgences which may have a tendency to produce it." In the same year the General Association of Connecticut recommended entire abstinence from ardent spirits; while the Consociation of Fairfield County adopted the principle of total abstinence from all intoxicating drinks whatever, especially for " those whose appetite for drink is strong and increasing." The Temperate Society, formed at Moreau, N. Y., 1808, and the Boston Society for the Suppression of Intemperance, 1813, were not total-abstinence bodies. In 1818 the Presbyterian Assembly planted itself squarely on the principle that men ought to " abstain from ` even the common use ' of ardent spirits." In 1823 President Nott of Union College published his Sermons on the Evils of Intemperance. In 1826 the American Temperance Society was organized, The National Philanthropist was started, and Lyman Beecher published his Six Sermons on Intemperance. In the same year Rev. Calvin Chapin, in The Connecticut Observer, advocated abstinence from all intoxicating drinks, and not from distilled spirits merely. From about 1836 this principle came to be generally accepted by the reformers.

The spread of the movement was very rapid in Great Britain, and marvelously rapid in the United States. Societies, local and general, were organized. Temperance books, pamphlets, and newspapers were published in great numbers. Public meetings were held. The pledge was circulated. Total abstainers came to be counted by millions. In 1840 six hard drinkers in Baltimore suddenly signed the pledge, and started the " Washingtonian" movement. In a few months, about 1838, the Irish Roman Catholic priest, Father Mathew (see MATHEw, THEOBALD) administered the pledge to nearly 150,000 persons in Cork alone. He was eminently successful in temperance-work in different parts of Great Britain, as well as in the United States.

In the United States the movement may be said to have culminated in the decade that began about

1846 A.D. Very seldom has a movement gained so complete control over public opinion. Among other forms of organization the tem-

of the the imagination of the young people; Movement. the order of the Sons of Temperance being founded in New York in 1842, that of the Rechabites being introduced from Great Britain about the same time, and that of the Good Templars originating in 1851. Temperance organization reached every hamlet, and the churches and Sunday-schools. Bands of Hope and the like were organized for the children. The habitual use of inebriating drinks became so rare among the members of the Protestant churches that those who used them attracted attention thereby, though this was more the case in the country than in the large cities. It was easy to pass prohibitory laws, and many were passed. They did not, however, prove as successful as their advocates had hoped. Most of them were either pronounced unconstitutional, or were repealed, or became a dead letter. Then the temperance interests were overshadowed by those that led to the Civil War. Since the war elaborate organizations have appeared, notably political prohibition parties, the Women's Christian Temperance Union, the Anti-Saloon League. Novel temperance movements have at times made great headway-blue-ribbon movements, white-ribbon movements, and praying " crusades " in the places where liquors are sold. There have been recurring waves of success and defeat in the matter of prohibitory and local-option laws. The total-abstinence tradition has been generally maintained by the descendants of those who originally accepted it. There have been sermons and addresses, the circulation of temperance literature, regular temperance lessons in the Sunday-schools, and compulsory temperance instruction in the public schools. A little has been done in the providing of substitutes for the saloon. Business interests have more or less rigidly insisted upon total abstinence as the condition of responsible employment. Athletic interests have powerfully influenced young men by requiring abstinence during the period of training; however, this may have been neutralized by the debauch that has too often followed the contest. In the navies of the world it is recognized that temperance is the condition of efficiency. Sociological and charitable interests are allies of temperance.

III. Good and Bad Reasons for Total Abstinence: Nevertheless, present temperance convictions have less dynamic vitality than they ought to have. Intemperance is rife, and the public is apathetic. Unenforced temperance laws do harm by fostering disrespect for law. The dominance of the saloon is not checked except locally and temporarily. So far as this is due to weak elements in the temperance propaganda, the remedy is in the hands of the advocates of temperance; for it is in their power to search out and eliminate such elements.

The argument which experience has shown to be the most effective is that from the evils of drunkenness. These evils, moral and economical, individual and social, are monstrous, and total abstinence from the use of intoxicants as a beverage