Portland gazette and Maine advertiser., 1813-03-01

merly passed in Spain which eAolud d
drunkards from being witnesses m court OF
Justice But the denoraiizing eaec's Of
dis iled spirits do not stop here They pro
duee not only fslshood. but fraud, ,h'i,, IN
Gle snlne.s and murder. Like the demons
&C mentioned in the New Testament their
a ne IS "legion" for they convey mo tue
soul host Of vices and crimes.
A more affecting spectacle cannot be ez'
hibited than person into whom his inter
n.l spirit, generated by habits ni in'empe-
rance, hiss entered Il is mie C less 81
feetmg according to the talon he person
hills in family. IT ~ soeitty, who "a .os..s
sed by it. Is he husband ! How deep the
anguish which rends The bosom ofh:s wife
Is she wife who can measure the shame
and aversion which she ezclies in her hus.
band Is he The father, or Is she the moth.
err of = family Of children See their sverled
looks from their parent, and Their blushing
looks ct each other Is he mag s.raie OF
has he been chosen to fill high and Tt
spectacle $ alton IN The councils OF his eoun
try What Illuminating fears Of oriaption
IN the administration of the laws, and OF the
sub,ersion Of public order ard happiness,
appear in the coun,ensnces OF all who see
him l. he a minister of the gospel Here
language fails me. II angels weep-is is at
such sight.
In pointing cut the evils produced by ar.
dent fpitits, let US not pass by their effects
upon the estates Of he Persons who are sd
dicteo 10 hem. Are they inhabitants OF
cities ! Behold their Houses stripped
gradually of,heir furniture, and pswned, or
sold by C. n'table, to pay tavern debts.
See their names upon record in the dock.
els ofepery Court, and whole pages zine ws.
pspers filed with advertisement Of their
estates for public sale Are hey inbsbia-
ants of country places Behold their hous
es with shattered windovs-their barns
with Ieaky roofs-,heir gid MS overrun win
weeds-their fields with broken fences,
their hogs without Jokes, their sheep with.
out wool-iheir cattle and horses without
tat-snd their children 81 h, and half clad,
Without manners, principles and morale
This picture OF sgrlcul uIsl wreIchedness
Is seldom oflong duration. The farms and
property thus neglected, and deprecated,
are seized and sold for the beneh, ola group
of creditors. The children that were boi n
with the prospect of inheri,ing them are
bound to service in the neIghboulhood /;
while their parents, the unworthy sulhois
of their mistor;u nes, ramble INTO ne " and
distant settlements, alternately fed on their
way by the hand Of charity, or q little casu
al labour.
Thus we see poverty and misery, crimes
and infany, diseases and death. are all The
natural and usual consequences ofthe intern
pera,e Use of arden spirits.
! have classed death among the consequent
ces Of hard drinking. But it is no. death
from the immediate hand OF the Dizzy, nor
from any of the instruments of IT which
were cres,ed by HIM. II is meath + ON
Suicide. Yes-thou ioor degraded Great.
ure, who art daily lifting the poisoned bowl
to thy lips--cease to avoid The nnhnllowed
ground IN which the self murderer is inter
ed, and wonder no longer that the sun
should slime, and the rain fall, and the gras,
look green, upon his grave.
Thou art perpetFa ing gradually, by the use
OF ardent spirits, what he has effected sud.
denly by opium-or a halter. Circumstan.
ces from surprise, or arrangement may pal.
late his guilt but what will lessen your con-
domination at the day of judgment: