CONSTITUTION OF THE SOCIETY.

PREAMBLE. Whereas the improper use of intoxicating liquors has been found by experience to be the source of evils of incalculable magnitude, both as to the temporal and eternal interests of individuals, families and communities; and whereas the prevalence of this vice has such a fatal efficacy in hindering the success of all the common means which God has appointed for the moral and religious improvement of men; and whereas the various measures which the friends of Christian morality have adopted, though not altogether unsuccessful, have been found quite insufficient to give any effectual and permanent check to this desolating evil; and whereas some more vigorous means are evidently required, some system of instruction and action, which will make a steady and powerful impression on the present and following generations, and will, in this way, ultimately effect a change of public sentiment and practice in regard to the use of intoxicating liquors, and thus put an end to that wide-spreading intemperance, which has already caused such desolations in every part of our country, and which threatens destruction to the best interests of this growing and mighty Republic ;-therefore the friends of domestic and social happiness now present, wishing to do all in their power to promote the welfare of their fellow men, resolve to form a Society, with the following Constitution, namely :—

ARTICLE I. The Society shall be called THE AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY.

ART. II. The Society shall, from time to time, elect additional members, as they shall judge expedient; always keeping in mind that elections are so to be made, as shall best accord with the design of rendering this a national institution, and giving it the most extensive influence possible.

ART. III. Any person who pays to the Treasurer of the Society five dollars annually, or who has paid or shall pay thirty dollars, at one time, shall be a member of the Society; provided the donor shall also subscribe to the following:-"I pledge myself to an entire abstinence from the use of ardent spirits, except when prescribed by a temperate physician, in case of sickness."

ART. IV. Any person who has paid, or who shall pay, not less than thirty dollars to the funds of the Society, shall become an honorary member thereof; and every person who has paid, or shall hereafter pay, not less than two hundred and fifty dollars, shall be an honorary Vice Presi dent of the Society.

ART. V. The Society shall meet annually, at such time and place as they shall appoint, and shall choose by ballot a President, Vice President, Corresponding Secretary, Recording Secretary, Treasurer, Auditor, an Executive Committee of five members, and such other officers as shall in their opinion be necessary.

ART. VI. It shall be the duty of the Society to have a general superintendence of all the concerns of the institution, and of the measures to be pursued for promoting its object.

ART. VII. It shall be the duty of the President, or, in his absence, of the Vice President, to preside at all meetings of the Society, and to call special meetings, at the request of the Executive Committee.

ART. VIII. It shall be the duty of the Executive Committee, to carry into effect all votes and orders of the Society, and to take proper measures for obtaining the funds necessary for accomplishing its benevolent designs; to appoint agents in different parts of the country, as shall be judged most conducive to the great object of the Society; to draw orders on the Treasurer for the payment of all moneys, which shall be expended in this work of love; to inspect annually the state of the treasury; and, in general, to perform all other duties, not inconsistent with this Constitution, which they shall deem necessary for promoting habits of temperance to the greatest extent. Of their proceedings they shall make an annual re port to the Society.

ART. IX. The Corresponding Secretary shall be required to devote himself with diligence and fidelity to the business of the Society. And in execution of his office, it shall be his duty, under the direction of the Executive Committee, to make appropriate communications, by pamphlets, correspondence, and personal interviews, to ministers of the gospel, to physicians, and others, and to consult and co-operate with them for the purpose of guarding those under their influence against the evils of intemperance; to take pains, in all proper methods, to make a seasonable and salutary impression, in relation to this subject, on those who are favored with a public and refined education, and are destined in various ways to have a leading influence in society; to make it a serious object to introduce into the publications of the day, essays and addresses on the subject of intoxicating liquors, and to induce teachers, and those concerned in the support of schools, to abor diligently to impress the minds of the young with the alarming and dreadful evils to which all are exposed who indulge themselves in the use of strong drink; to make affectionate and earnest addresses to Christian churches, to parents and guardians, to children, apprentices, and servants, and all other descriptions of persons, and to set clearly before them the effect of spirituous liquors on health, on reputation, and on all the temporal and eternal interests of men, and to urge them. by the most weighty arguments, drawn from the present and the future world, to keep themselves at a distance from this insidious and destructive foe; to do whatever is practicable and expedient towards the forming of voluntary associations for the purpose of promoting the ends of this Society; and, in general, to labor, by all suitable means, and in reliance upon the divine blessing, to fix the eyes of persons of both sexes, and of all ages and conditions, on the magnitude of the evil which this Society aims to prevent, and on the immeasurable good which it aims to secure; and to produce such a change of public sentiment, and such a renovation of the habits of individuals, and the customs of the community, that, in the end, temperance, with all its attendant blessings, may universally prevail. And it is always to be kept in remembrance by the Secretary and by the Executive Committee, and to be adopted as a principle to regulate their measures, that, while they are to make use perseveringly of all fit and promising means for the reformation of those who have already, in different degrees, contracted habits of intemperance, the utility of the institution must chiefly consist in guarding against danger those who are yet uncontaminated by this loathsome and fatal vice.

ANNUAL MEETING.

THE Sixth Annual Meeting of the AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY, was holden at the house of the American Tract Society, New-York, May 7, 1833. The President, Hon. SAMUEL HUBBARD, being absent, JOHN TAPPAN, Esq. Chairman of the Executive Committee, was called to the chair, and HENRY DWIGHT, Esq., appointed Secretary pro tem. The meeting was opened with prayer by the Corresponding Secretary of the Society. The Reports of the Treasurer and Auditor were then read and accepted; and the following officers were chosen, viz.

Hon. SAMUEL HUBBARD, President.

S. V. S. WILDER, Esq. Vice President.

Rev. JUSTIN EDWARDS, Corresponding Secretary.
ENOCH HALE, M. D. Recording Secretary.

Hon. GEORGE ODIORNE, Treasurer.

HENRY HILL, Esq. Auditor.

JOHN TAPPAN, Esq.

Hon. GEORGE ODIORNE,

Hon. HEMAN LINCOLN,
Rev. JUSTIN EDWARDS,
ENOCH HALE, M. D.

Executive Committee:

The Society then adjourned, to meet at Chatham Street Chapel at 7 o'clock, P. M.

The Society met, according to adjournment, and on the motion of S. V. S. WILDER, Esq., JOHN TAPPAN, Esq. was again called to the chair. The meeting was opened with prayer by the Rev. Spencer H. Cone, Pastor of the Baptist Church in Oliver Street, New-York.

Extracts from the Report were then read by the Corresponding Secretary.

On motion of EDWARD C. DELEVAN, Esq., Chairman of the Excutive Committee of the New-York State Temperance Society, Resolved, That the Report, extracts from which have been read, be accepted and printed, under the direction of the Executive Committee.

On motion of GERRIT SMITH, Esq. of Peterboro', New-York, Resolved, That the manufacture and sale of ardent spirit are a violation of the great principles of political economy, and impose an enormous burden on the industry and wealth of the country.

On motion of the Rev. WILBER Fisk, D D., President of the Wesleyan University, Middletown, Conn.

Resolved, That all who continue the traffic in ardent spirit, stand in an intimate

and criminal relation to all the evils of intemperance; and must, on the principles of moral accountability, be held responsible for those evils.

The two last resolutions were accompanied, by the gentlemen who offered them, with addresses of great power and effect,* after which the meeting was adjourned, sine die.

* Appendix A.

The Board of Directors of the Boston Society for the Promotion of Temperance, appointed a Committee, to obtain from the Physicians of Boston a united expres sion of their opinion in regard to the effects of ARDENT SPIRIT.

The following paper was drawn up, by one of the Faculty, and presented to every regular Physician who could be found in the city. It was signed by seventy-five, being all but about five of the regular practitioners of medicine then residing in Boston, and is as follows:

"The Subscribers, Physicians of Boston, having been requested by the Directors of the Boston Society for the Promotion of Temperance, to express their opinion in regard to the effects of ardent spirits, hereby declare it to be their opinion that men in health are NEVER benefited by the use of ardent spirits,—that, on the contrary, the use of them is a frequent cause of disease and death, and often renders such diseases as arise from other causes more difficult of cure, and more fatal in their termination."

As ardent spirit is never useful to men in health, and is a frequent cause of discase and death, as well as of many other evils, is it not manifestly wicked for them to drink it, to sell it, or make laws which license the sale of it as a drink for others? and if they continue to do it, will they not at the divine tribunal, and ought they not at the bar of public opinion, to be held responsible for its effects? Let the community examine, and judge.

OF THE

AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY.

In the last two Reports of this Society, the following truths were established, viz. ardent spirit, as a drink, is not needful, or useful. It is a poison, which injures the body and the soul. It deranges healthy action, and disturbs the functions of life. It blinds the understanding, sears the conscience, pollutes the affections, and hardens the heart. It leads men into temptation, and gives to evil peculiar power over their minds. It impairs, and often destroys reason. It tends to bring those who use it to a premature grave; and to usher all who understand, or have the means of understanding its nature and effects, and yet continue to drink it, or to furnish it to be drunk by others, into a miserable eternity.

In view of these truths the following conclusions were drawn, viz. to drink ardent spirit, or to furnish it to be drunk by others, is a sin, in magnitude equal to all the evils, temporal and eternal, which flow from it; and the men, who continue to do either will at the divine tribunal, and ought at the bar of public opinion to be held responsible for its effects. To the pauperism, vice, sickness, insanity, wretchedness and death, which are occasioned, they are accessory; and as such will be treated when every man shall receive according to his work.

The above truths were not only proved, but, by a variety of considerations, were illustrated and enforced. Principles and facts were adduced, which, in view of the Committee, are adapted, wherever known and regarded, to produce entire and universal conviction. And the Committee would gratefully acknowledge. the divine kindness, in giving to those Reports such general favour, and in causing them to produce such extensive and salutary effects. It was mentioned the last year, that the Fourth Report had been republished entire in England, that ten thousand copies of it had been printed in this country; and also an edition in an abridged form of ten thousand copies more. Since that time, five thousand copies of the entire Report have been printed; and of an abstract of it addressed to the head of each family in the United States, one hundred and seventy thousand copies. A second edition of it has also been published in England.