Phenix gazette. [volume] (Alexandria [D.C.]) 1825-1833, 1827-06-22

al in the n expression, we may suspec, thai
something wrong is going on.
mEmacinf ION, &'c.-Emaciation is peculiarly
characteristic Of the spirit drinker. He wears
.wav before Ms time, into the "lean and slim.
nerd panta loo y" spoken Of by Shakespeare in
Ills "Stapes of h IMAM life." All drunkards, how.
ever. if they live long enough, become emaci.
Iated The eyes get hollow, the cheeks fall IN.
and wrinkles soon ,surrow the couptenance with
The marks of age. The IA. is absorbed from
avery part. and the rounded pIumpness which
formerly characterized the body, soon wears a.
wav. The whole frame gets lank and debi,a,.
ed There is want of due warmth, and the
hand is usually covered with a chill clammy
pcrspiration.
Malt liquor and wine drinkers are, for the
most part, corpulent, circumstance which
rarely attends the spirit drinker, unless he be at
the same time bon vivant. In drunkards, the
first parts which becomes emaciated, are the
lowerextfemities, they fall away even when the
rest of the body is full This is a bad sign, and
sure proof that the stamina Of the cons,itu-
ton are gone.
"From the general defect Of vital power in
the system, the chiIdrenof drunkards are Meth.
er numerous nor healthy. They are usually pu-
nv and emaciated, and liable TO inherit all The
diseases oftheir parents. The intellect is also,
in most cases, below the ordinary standard"
The length of the above extracts forces NJ.
on our attention the narrowness Of our farther
limits at present; yet we cannot bid tempora.
~ farewell 10 so rich aS'uDd of instruclon and
entertainment without also transferring TO our
columns the following specimen of accurate Oh
servation and refined feeling:
"Some arc drunkards by choice, and Others
by necessity The former have an innate aud
constitution al fondness for liquor, and drink con
amore Saoh men are Of saDguineous tempe.
rament, of course unintellee tual minds, and Of
low and animal propensities. They have, in
general, certain rightly of fibre, and flow OF
animal spirits which other people are without.
They delsh. in the roar and riot Of drinking
clubs, and with them, in particular, all the mi
series Of life may be referred 10 the bottle.
The druDkard by necessity was never mea,
by nature 10 be dissipated. He Is perhaps
person Of aniabe disposition, whom misforlun
has overtaken, and who, instead Of bearing
manfulIy against it, endeayors to drown his sor
rows in liquor II is an excess OF sensibili,y,
partial mental weakness. All absolute misery
the heart, which drives him on Drunkennes
with him is a consequence Of misfortune; iii
solitary dissipation preying upon him in s
lence. Such man frequently dies broken hear"
ed, even before his excuses have had time
destroy him by their own unasslsted agency.
Some become drunkards from an excess c
indulgence in youth. There are parents VIII
have common custom Of treating their Chi!
dren-to wine, punch, and other intoxicating !
quors This, in reality, is regularly bringil
them up in an apprenticeship to drunkenne,
Others are taught the vice by frequenting clu'
and masonic lodges. These are the genuh
academies for tipping. Two thirds of III
drunkards we meet with, have been there iniI
a.ed ia,o that love of in,emperancc and boste.
Gus irregularity which distinguish their futul
lives. Men who are good singers are apt
become diunkards, and, in truth, most Of thu
are so, more or less, especially il they have NJ
lurally much joviality, or warmth of tempe
ameni. A fine voice to some men is fat
accomplishment"
After perusal of the above extracts few will
deem any comment necessary upon the work
from which they are taken It's two most dis.
,inguished characteristics, are its conce aled yet
searching satire, and the scientific details upon
which that satire is founded Shafts Of this
nature, levelled at prevailing vice, have two.
fold tendency to reform, by appealing not less
forcibly 10 the feeling Of self preservation, than
10 the sense Of ridicule; and il we're therefore
greatlyto be Wished, that in the practice Of
such moral archery, these shafts were more
frequently used. The ancient Spartans sue.
cessfully employed example as safeguard
against drunkenness; but with US, to whom
such examples are too familiar TO be regarded,
the only corrective is ridicule, accompanied
with such demonstration Of physical evils re-
sulting from the habit, as is given in the work
before US.