For the sensation it produced made him
resolve he would never again taste a drop of intoxicating liquor.
Finding himself the better for this course, he soon tried to get
others to join him. His first convert to _total abstinence_ was a man
named John King; Livesey and he signed together; and on 1st September,
1832, at a meeting held at Preston, seven men--"the Seven Men of
Preston," as they are called--signed the pledge, of which the
following is a facsimile:--
[Handwritten: We agree to _abstain_ from all Liquors of an
_Intoxicating Quality_, whether ale porter Wine, or Ardent
Spirits, except as Medicine.
John Gratix
Edw'd Dickinson
Jno: Broadbelt
Jno: Smith
Joseph Livesey
David Anderson
Jno: Ring.]
It was a terrible struggle for these men at first. They were laughed
at, they were abused, they were persecuted; but the more people
tried to put them down the harder they fought; and soon hundreds and
thousands had joined their ranks, and the movement spread throughout
the kingdom.
"There is more food in a pennyworth of bread," said Livesey, "than in
a gallon of ale"; and he proved it.
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