Our Collection

At the Institute’s core is the Gilder Lehrman Collection, one of the great archives in American history. More than 85,000 items cover five hundred years of American history, from Columbus’s 1493 letter describing the New World through the end of the twentieth century.

Bowen, Henry (1794-1874) A mirror for the intemperate

High-resolution images are available to schools and libraries via subscription to American History, 1493-1943. Check to see if your school or library already has a subscription. Or click here for more information. You may also order a pdf of the image from us here.

A high-resolution version of this object is available for registered users. LOG IN

Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC08600 Author/Creator: Bowen, Henry (1794-1874) Place Written: Boston, Massachusetts Type: Broadside Date: 1830 Pagination: 1 textile sheet ; 53 x 51 cm.
Order a Copy

Temperance broadside with poems and extracts such as "Ode to Rum" and "Set Down that Glass." Also includes some illustrations. Printed on cloth for Nathaniel Boynton by Henry Bowen's Chemical Print. Mounted on cloth covered board; dimensions include mounting.

During the 1820s and 1830s, evangelical reformers launched a series of crusades to eradicate sin and make the nation live up to Christian values--campaigns to suppress urban prostitution, enforce the Christian Sabbath, and curb the drinking of hard liquor. In initiating these crusades, evangelicals devised the methods and tactics that would later be used in more radical reforms to abolish slavery and win women's rights.
In the decades before the Civil War, the campaign against liquor was the key unifying reform, drawing support from middle-class Protestants, skilled artisans, clerks, shopkeepers, free blacks, and Mormons, as well as many conservative clergy and Southerners who were otherwise hostile to reform. Called the temperance movement, the antebellum crusade against hard liquor in fact advocated "intemperance"--teetotal abstinence from all alcohol.
In part, the rise of temperance agitation represented a response to an upsurge in heavy drinking. By 1820, the typical adult male consumed more than 7 gallons of absolute alcohol a year (compared to about 2.8 gallons today). Consumption had risen markedly, since farmers distilled corn to make cheap whiskey, which could be transported more easily than bulk corn.
But the rise of the temperance movement was not simply a response to increased drinking. As the following excerpts from a temperance broadside reveal, the movement reflected broader concerns that alcohol led to economic waste, polluted youth, created crime and poverty, and led men to physically abuse their wives.

Extract from the dying Declaration of Nicholas Fernandez, who, with nine others, were executed in front of Cadiz Harbor in December, 1829, for Piracy and Murder.
Parents into whose hands this my dying declaration may fall will perceive that I date the commencement of my departure from the paths of rectitude and virtue, from the moment when I become addicted to the habitual use of ardent spirits--and it is my sincere prayer that if they value the happiness of their children--if they desire their welfare here, and their eternal well being hereafter, that they early teach them the fatal consequences of Intemperance!"

[Draft Created by Crowdsourcing]
[Excerpt]
ODE TO RUM
BY WILLIAM BROWN, OF BOSTON.

"O, thou invisible spirit of Rum! if thou hadst no name by which to know thee, we would call thee-Devil."
Shakspeare. [sic]

Let thy devotee extol thee,
And they wondrous virtues sum;
But the worst of names I'll call thee,
O thou hydra-monster, RUM!

Pimple-maker-visage-bloater,
Heath-corrupter-idler's mate;
Mischief-breeder-vice-promoter,
Credit-spoiler-devil's bait.

Almshouse-builder-pauper-maker,
Trust-betrayer-sorrow's source;
Pocket-emptier-Sabbath-breaker,
Conscience-stifler-guilt's recourse.

Nerve-enfeebler-system-shatterer,
Thirst-increaser-vagrant thief;
Cough-producer-treacherous flatterer,
Mud-bedauber-mock-relief.

Business-hinderer-spleen-instiller,
Wo-begetter-friendship's bane;
Anger-heater-Bridewell-filler,
Debt-involver-loper's chain.

Memory-drowner-honor-wrecker,
Judgement-warper-blue faced quack;
Feud-beginner-rags bedecker,
Strife-enkindler-fortune's wreck,

Summer's cooler-winter's warmer,
Blood-polluter-specious snare;
Mob-collector-man-transformer;
Bond-undoer-gambler's fare.

Speech-bewraggler-headlong-bringer,
Vitals-burner-deadly fire;
Riot-mover-firebrand-flinger,
Discord-kindler-misery's sire.

Sinews-robber-worth depriver,
Strength-subduer-hideous foe;
Reason-thwarter-fraud-contriver,
Money-waster-nation's wo.

Vile-seducer-joy-dispeller,
Peace-disturber-blackguard guest;
Sloth-implanter-liver-sweller,
Brain-distracter-hateful-pest.

Utterance-boggler-stench-emitter,
Strong man-sprawler-fatal drop;
Tumult-raiser-venom-spitter;
Wrath-inspirer-coward's prop,

Pain-inflicter-eyes-inflamer,
Heart-corrupter-folly's nurse;
Secret-babbler-body-maimer,
Thrift-defeater-loathsome curse.

Wit-destroyer-joy-impairer,
Scandal-dealer-foulmouthed scourge;
Senses-blunter-youth ensnarer
Crime-inventer-ruin's verge.

Virtue-blaster-base deceiver,
Spite-displayer-sot's delight;
Noise-exciter -stomach-heaver,
Falsehood-spreader-scorpion's bite.

Quarrel-plotter-rage-discharger,
Giant-conqueror-wasteful sway;
Chin-carbuncler-tongue-enlarger,
Malice-venter-death's broad way.

Tempest-scatterer-windows-smasher,
Death-forerunner-hell's dire brink;
Ravenous murderer-windpipe-slasher,
Drunkard's lodging, meat, and drink!

FATHER AND SON.

FATHER.
O, why will you destroy yourself,
And thus become a perfect elf?
Reflect my child, on what's to come,
E're you destroy yourself with Rum!

Behold! your lovely weeping wife,
How miserable you've made her life:
See! how your babes, in want they pine,
While you're debas'd beneath the swine.

SON
Dear Father, be not <text loss>
In your reproofs, till first you hear
The excuse I make; perhaps the same,
Will show that you have been to blame.

When I was young, and simple too,
For instruction then I look'd to you,
To guide my steps for years to come:
T'was then you taught me to drink Rum.

You warn'd me, not to lie or swear,
I felt constrained to shun the snare;
And how much good it might have done,
Had you then warn'd me against Rum.

I'd give the world, if mine it were,
If I could break this cursed snare;
And fell no more a thirst for Rum,
Than, when first you gave me some.

FATHER.
Dear child, I really feel the smart,
Your excuse e'en cuts me to the heart;
I'll do no more as I have done,
But ever be a foe to Rum.

Bowen, Henry, 1794-1874

Citation Guidelines for Online Resources