At>PENr>lX. 421 to the insulting empire of the wicked, whose tender mercies are cruelty, or, to unite, and place ourselves in the gap, array our breasts and our faces, as a mound and as a flint against the torrents of vice and the shafts of malice, that threaten to over- whelm us ? And can there be a single good member of society, who will hesitate for a moment, between these alternatives ? Impossible. "We cannot but choose the latter. We therefore unite, as a band of btothers, and under the sanctions and obligations of a sacred league, pledge ourselves to each other, to make common cause, in endeavoring, to the utmost of our abilities and opportunities, to check, arrest and suppress the growing evils described. We engage to stand by each other, and with our whole in- fluence, example and precept, to strengthen one another's hands, and confirm one another's hearts in the good work of staying- the progress of infectious vice, and turning back, upon itself, abashed and confounded, the whole phalanx of desperadoes, with their abettors and upholders ; who, if left to themselves, would fain run down the good name, ruin the welfare, and even endanger the peace and safety of our common neighborhood ! And, as means of bringing about these wished for ends, — We engage, as much as may be to avoid frequenting the taverns ourselves, and when occasion calls us thither, mean to make a point of discharging our incumbent duties, with all convenient dispatch, and being off about our business, ever designing while there, to demean ourselves civilly and peace- ably, and not to drink intemperately ; that we may not, by our own sauntering and intemperance, encourage and hold in countenance the lazy herd of tavern-haunters and tipplers, habitually hanging about some of our inns, to the great annoy- ance of weary, wayworn travellers, as well as to the great dis- paragement and disgrace of themselves, and distress of their families and friends. 36
