Proceedings of the New York Historical Association [1906]New York State Historical Association. Meeting
History
Proceedings of the New York Historical Association [1906]
New York State Historical Association. Meeting
New York (State) -- History -- Periodicals; New York State Historical Association -- Periodicals
My principal materials have been these: "The History of the Temperance
Reformation," 1853, by Rev. Lebbeus Armstrong, a member of the society
and intimately associated with Dr. Clark in the establishment of the
same; "A History of Temperance in Saratoga County," 1855, by Judge
William Hay; and an obituary by the late Dr. A. W. Holden, of Glens
Falls, which appeared in the Messenger of that place in 1866. The last
is an admirable elucidation of the life and character, to the closing
day, of the great champion of temperance. The two physicians had been
fellow townsmen, and evidently friends, if we may judge by the
sympathetically appreciative manner with which Dr. Holden writes. Of the
408 pages of Armstrong's and of the 153 pages of Hay's book, but
comparatively few are devoted to Dr. Clark and his work. The authors
boast of him and his achievement, but, living yet in the dim light of
his day, they were evidently unable to perceive fully the grandeur of
the moral movement which he had inaugurated. Hence, their works are
taken up mainly with discussions of the Maine liquor law, which then
agitated much of the country. Armstrong's and Hay's books have become
very rare, but copies of both may be found in the New York State library.
Among every people, in every age, intemperance has been recognized as
an evil, and from ancient times a variety of means have been adopted to
prevent or diminish its desolating influences. Royal decrees have gone
forth commanding the rooting up of vineyards, and parliaments have
legislated against it. The code of Draco even went so far as to visit
the penalty of death upon the drunkard. The milder methods of moral
suasion have, since the earliest recorded days, been with loving
constancy declaimed in the ears of the people, but so imperative is the
demand for strong drink that the cup continues in spite of all
hindrances to hold dominion over multitudes of men.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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