I appeal to the _youth_ of both sexes. You are the flower and the hope not only of this nation, but of all nations struggling for freedom. The destinies of this republic are about being placed, under God, in your hands; and inasmuch as all the friends of freedom, everywhere, are looking up to our institutions for light and aid, the destinies of the world will rest with a mightier weight of responsibility upon your shoulders, than upon any other generation that has come forth upon the stage of action, for twenty centuries. The importance of sound and enlightened principles--of pure and elevated examples, and independent and decided action in _you_, is above all estimation. You are placed in the moral Thermopylæ of the world. The evils arising from _alcohol_ and _tobacco_, which you have it in your power to avert from your country, are more dreadful than the invasion of Xerxes with his millions. The cause of moral reform, in the use of the latter of these articles, which we urge upon you with deepest and sincerest solicitude, is far more urgent than that in which the Bruti and the Gracchi offered up their lives. Some of you have not yet handled or tasted the fatal drug. Let all such stand firm henceforward, and never yield to the power of custom, temptation and lust. Some of you, on the other hand, have permitted yourselves to become the victims of this drug. Let all such be urged by the voice of patriotism, religion, self-respect, reason, conscience, and duty, to _abstain_ from this poison, _immediately_, _entirely_, and _forever_. And then every young man, and every young woman, in the republic, shall be free from all the calamities attending the use of this narcotic; and love, and peace, and joy, will run through the land, and flow over the world. We put the question to every youth: _will you do it_? I appeal to the _friends of temperance_. You have enlisted your energies to expel intoxicating drinks from common use throughout the world. Go on, and prosper. But, as you go, remember, that complete success will not crown your exertions unless you are consistent,--unless you abandon all use of tobacco, the companion and sister of alcohol. As you go forth to the noble work you have undertaken, you will be met at every corner, with the declaration of A. B. and C., _I_ am ready to abstain from alcohol when _you_ do from tobacco; and how effectually will this declaration shut your mouth, and destroy your influence. Be _consistent_. Carry your principles into _all_ your evil habits, and a moral potency will be diffused through what you say and do, that nothing can resist. We put the question to every friend of temperance: _will you do it_?