Edwardsville spectator. [volume] (Edwardsville, Ill.) 1819-1826, 1821-05-29
FOR THE SPECTATOR.
JNTFMpERANCF..

INTEMPERANCE.
Intemperance is vice, of all others,
the most ruinous and degrading. 1t is
the cause of more misery and absolute
wretchedness to the depraved and guilty
race of Adam, than any other which is
entailed upon it, by his first act of rebel
lion.
The pernicious effects Of ardent spi-
rits have been more or less seen and felt,
in every age, and by every nation, from
the days of Noah, Solomon, David, and
Lot, down to-the present period; and it
is confidently believed, that there never
was time when Lnteneheraaee, that hy-
dra minister Of hell, showed more
brazen front--had more votaries, ruined
more estates, or damned more souls,
than at the present enlightened age ofthe
world
How often do we now see the once
honorable, wealthy, and happy man, wal
lowing in his own filth, stretched upon.
bar-room floor, or staggering home to
torture his unhappy and heart-broken
wife, and to exhibit himself Beast be-
fore his astonished and abused children
How often, too, do we see the young
man, endowed by his God with more
than ordinary talents, designed by hea-
ven, it,would seem, for uncommon use
fulness in the world, with checks flushed
with health and beauty, lounging at the
misunderstanding his time and proper
ty al the gaming board---till his frequent
cups overwhelm his senses--till he be-
cones the dupe of his own folly, and sa-
critics. his all at the accursed SHRINE of
Bacchus
We need not go to the Partisan bro
thels-we need not search the pleasure
houses of London, nor the dark lanes of
our own cities, nor among the savage
tribes of the wilderness, to find the de-
voices of intemperance. No, they are
to be seen in numerous troops in almost
every town among a professedly chris
tian and civilized people. They are not
confined to any particular society or
class of men; but are to be found among
the high, the low, the rich, the poor, bond
and free.
O shame ! where is thy blush? Men
Of talents, wealth, and inf1uence-men
wearing the impress of Deity himself
men created for the noblest purposes,
lords Of the earth, thus to degrade-thus
to level themselves with the meanest and
most ignoble of their race! Tell it not
in Gath! Publish it not in the streets of
Askelon
Why are there to be seen so many
carbuncled noses, bloated faces, black
ened eyes, tattercd garments, properties
advertised by sheriffs,s sorrowful and ne
elected wives, hungry, ragged, ignorant
and wretched children? Intemperance
gives the response.
Go to the jails, and many other abodes
Of wretchedness that might be named,
and inquire the reason oftheir being thus
numerously inhabited, in nine cases out
Of ten, it is confidently believed. that in
Temperance would be found to be the
FIRST and grand cause. Intemperance
begets idleness, and an idle mans mind
is justly styled the devils workshop.
Intemperance, in fact, is the legitimate
parent of more than one-half the crimes
and miseries incident to human frailty.
And why do men thus freely and volun-
tarily riot in their own destruction! Why
do they thus knowingly and deliberately
mingle gall and NORWOOD with every
sweet, that benevolent God has
placed before, and rendered them capa-