States, most of New England, and the province of New Brunswick. In 1831, the reformation was equally successful, and the number of societies was increased to more than 3,000, of which 18 were State Societies. The merchants who had abandoned the trade in ardent spirit were more than 3,000, and more than 300,000 persons in all had become converted to the temperance cause. Among the agents this year, there were Dr. Edwards, the Rev. S. Graham, the Hon. F. Robinson, Governor Cass, afterwards Secretary of War, and Jonathan Kittredge, Esq. Dr. Hewit visited Europe, where he was received with warm affection, and was instrumental of great good. He arrived at London just in time to attend the meeting for the formation of a Temperance Society for the United Kingdom, which, at his suggestion, was styled "The British and Foreign Temperance Society." There had been some movement on the subject of temperance before, especially in Ireland, where the first temperance society in Europe was formed by the Rev. George Carre, of New Ross. Professor Edgar, of Belfast, Ireland, also distinguished himself in the cause. Dr. Hewit, while absent, was solicited to go to Italy and Germany, to promote the cause on the continent. In 1832, important temperance meetings were held in England, at Worcester, York, Islington, and other places, and the consumption of ardent spirit was supposed to be diminished one third. Something was beginning to be done, too, in other countries abroad. The Emperor of China forbade spirit to be sold to nominal Christians, and temperance societies were formed at different places on the coast of Africa. In the Sandwich Islands, especially, the reformation was very prosperous. The In this country, a most important temperance meeting was held in Washington, at which many distinguished members of Congress were present. In Nov. 1832, an order from the war department of government suspended the rations of spirit to the soldiers, and a reformation was taking place in the army generally. Additions to the temperance societies were made as in years previous, and the number of societies in all, taking the whole country together, was more than 10,000, embracing more than 1,500,000 members. number of distilleries stopped was more than 1,500, and more than 4,000 merchants had given over the traffic. In accomplishing all this, adequate means were of course necessary, and besides agents and occasional correspondence, there were issued in the State of New York alone, not less than 327,725 copies of different temperance publications. Since the opening of 1833, another important meeting has been held at Washington, and resulted in the formation of a Congressional Temperance Society, embracing a large number of the principal men in both Houses of Congress. The officers of the Society, are taken from the members of Congress, and for the year 1838, were Hon. Felix Grundy, Tenn., President; Hon. William C. Rives, Va., Hon. James M. Wayne, Judge of the S. C. U. S., Hon. Samuel Prentiss, Vt., Hon. Franklin Pierce, N. H., Hon. John Reed, Ms., Hon. Elisha Whittlesey, O., Hon. Samuel Southard, N. J., Hon. T. Henry, Pa., Hon. A. Loomis, N. Y., Hon. Edmund Debery, N. C., Vice Presidents; Hon. George N. Briggs, Ms., Hon. Benjamin Swift, Vt., Hon. George Grennel, Ms., Hon. David Potts, Pa., Hon. William Slade, Vt., Executive Committee; J. S. Mehan, Esq., Librarian to Congress, Secretary, Hon. Joseph C. Noyes, Me., Treasurer. The following is an account of the origin and history of the American Temperance Union, taken from their last Report. At the meeting of the United States Temperance Convention, held in Philadelphia, May 24, 1833, it was Resolved,—That the officers of the American Temperance Society, and of the several State Societies, are hereby requested to act as a United States Temperance Society; to hold mutual consultations, and to take all suitable measures to carry into effect the objects of this Convention; to imbody public sentiment, and by the universal diffusion of information and the exertion of kind moral influence to extend the principles and blessings of the Temperance reformation throughout our country and throughout the world. Pursuant to the above resolution, this Society assembled at Philadelphia, May 24, 1833, and adopted a series of important resolutions. Among them were the following: Resolved, That the officers of the American Temperance Society, and of each of the State Temperance Societies, in their associated capacity, be denominated the United States Temperance Union. Resolved, That the object of the Union shall be, by the diffusion of information and the exertions of kind moral influence, to promote the cause of Temperance throughout the United States. Resolved, That Isaac S. Lloyd, Matthew Newkirk, and Isaac Collins of Pennsylvania, John Tappan of Massachusetts, Edward C. Delavan of New York, be a committee to carry into effect, by all suitable means, the objects of the Union, and that they continue in office till others are appointed. Resolved,―That the above named Committee call another meeting of the Union at such time and place as they may judge proper. Resolved, That the Corresponding Secretaries of all State Societies be, ex officio, members of this Committee. In virtue of the authority thus delegated to them, the Committee called the Second National Convention, which assembled at Saratoga Springs on the 4th of August, 1836; at which Convention nineteen States and territories, with the two Canadas, were represented by near four hundred delegates. Among the acts of the Convention it was Resolved, That the name of the United States Temperance Union be changed to, The American Temperance Union; and the Union was fully organized by the appointment of the following officers. President John H. Cocke, of Virginia. Vice-Presidents Matthew Newkirk, of Pennsylvania, Samuel Hubbard, of Massachusetts, Lewis Cass, of Michigan, Bishop Stuart, of Lower Canada, Theodore Frelinghuysen, of New Jersey, R. H. Walworth, of New York, Robert Lucas, of Ohio, and Robert P. Dunlap, of Maine. Executive Committee - Edward C. Delavan, John W. Leavitt, of New York, Isaac Collins, Isaac S. Lloyd, of Pennsylvania, John Tappan, of Massachusetts, Christian Keener, of Maryland, and John T. Norton, of Connecticut. Secretaries-John Marsh, of Pennsylvania, and Lyndon A. Smith, of New Jersey. Treasurer-Robert Earp, of Pennsylvania. In the month of October the Committee met in New York, and adopted the following resolutions: Resolved, That it is desirable that a national Temperance press be established at Philadelphia, from which shall be issued such publications as the great interests of the cause may require. Resolved, That Edward C. Delavan, Isaac S. Lloyd, and Justin Edwards, D. D., be a Committee to secure the services of an able editor at Philadelphia. On the 15th of January, 1837, the Committee commenced, at Philadelphia, the publication of the Journal of the American Temperance Union, a monthly periodical of 16 pages quarto, at the price of five dollars per annum for ten copies, and appointed the Rev. John Marsh, one of the Secretaries of the Union, their Corresponding Secretary, and Conductor of the Journal. They also appointed the Rev. Justin Edwards, D. D., of Massachusetts, and the Rev. E. N. Kirk, of Albany, to represent the American Temperance Union at the next anniversary of the British and Foreign Temperance Society. At the establishment of the Journal, the Chairman of the Committee generously placed at the disposal of the Committee, the sum of $10,000. The First Anniversary of the American Temperance Union was held in the city of New York, May, 1837, and the Second Anniversary of the Union was held at Philadelphia, May 22, 1838. (I. p. 211.) Anti-Slavery Societies. "Slavery may be considered as having commenced with the 16th century. Slaves were introduced into Spanish America, in 1502. Ferdinand V. of Spain brought multitudes of them into the country in 1511. The first slaves that were brought into the United States came in a Dutch ship in 1620. The celebrated John Hawkins, who was afterwards knighted by Queen Elizabeth, and made treasurer of the navy, was the first Englishman concerned in this commerce, the buying and selling the bodies and souls of men. He sailed from England for Sierra Leone, in the month of Oct. 1562, and in a short time after his arrival upon the coast, got into his possession by the sword, and partly by other means, three hundred negroes." "In the reign of Charles I. and Charles II. we find that British settlements were formed in the West Indies, and that at home, joint-stock companies were chartered to supply them with slaves. In 1662, a charter was obtained from Charles II. for the Royal African Company,' in which many persons of high rank and distinction were incorporated, and at its head was the king's brother, the duke of York, afterwards James II. This company undertook to supply the West India colonies with three hundred negroes annually." From that time slavery continued to increase till 1787, when the first united and efficient efforts to abolish it were commenced in England. The first treatise on the subject was written by Morgan Godwyn, under the title of 'The Negro's and Indian's Advocate.' Richard Baxter followed, and in the succeeding early movements, the Quakers or Friends took a distinguished part. But the most prominent individual in favor of abolition, was Thomas Clarkson. The occasion of his becoming interested on the subject was, the giving out a Thesis, while he was yet a member of college. At first he engaged in it only as a literary thing, from motives of ambition. But in studying the subject, he became interested in it as a man and a philanthropist, nor could he disengage himself. Having written his essay therefore, and obtained the first prize as was expected of him, he afterwards enlarged it, and published it. This was in 1783. And now the subject was before the public, and Clarkson, with great serious ness of purpose, had given himself to the cause as the great business of his life. At length he secured the coöperation of several men of distinction, among whom were Mr. Ramsay, Dr. Gregory, Granville Sharpe and Mr. Wilberforce. The last brought the subject before Parliament, and in 1794 the motion to abolish slavery, though lost in the House of Lords, was carried in the House of Commons. It was also finally carried in the House of Lords by a vote of 100 to 36. This was at four o'clock, A. M. Jan. 5, 1807. Subsequently, in 1811, Mr. Brougham procured that it should be considered felony to be engaged in the slave trade. The trade was prohibited in the United States also, as early as March, 1807. In 1810, Portugal entered into a treaty to abandon it. The Congress of Vienna declared against it in 1815. France and the Netherlands followed in treaty against it. Spain abolished it in 1820, and the United States the same year, declared it piracy. A law to the same effect was passed in Great Britain, Jan. 5, 1825. In March, 1830, Brazil engaged in treaty to abandon it. It has been abolished in Austria, also, and now, in France all who are convicted as being concerned in it are exposed to banishment. Among the voluntary philanthropic institutions for the removal of the evil, there are the African Institution, formed in London, April 7, 1807, directly after the passing of the act of Parliament for abolishing slavery. The Anti-Slavery Society, formed also in London, January, 1823, and the Colonization Society, formed at Washington, in December, 1816. Besides these, there are other societies for the benefit of Africans, as the Conversion of Negro Slaves Society,' England. The African Education Society of the United States,' and 'The American Anti-Slavery Society.' This last named Society was organized on the 4th of December, 1833, in the city of Philadelphia. Its principles and plans were set forth at length in a solemn "Declaration of Sentiments," by the Convention that formed it, and more briefly in the second and third articles of the Constitution of the Society, which are as follows: "The object of this Society is the entire abolition of slavery in the United States. While it admits that each State in which slavery exists, has, by the Constitution of the United States, the exclusive right to legislate in regard to its abolition in said State, it shall aim to convince all our fellow-citizens, by arguments addressed to their understandings and consciences, that slaveholding is a heinous crime in the sight of God, and that the duty, safety, and best interests of all concerned, require its immediate abandonment, without expatriation. The Society will also endeavor, in a constitutional way, to influence Congress to put an end to the domestic slave |