State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1831-1836, 1836-04-19
DIR. EDWARDS LETTER.


| DIR. EDWARDS LETTER.
To the Honorable james r. Austin, .4itornev
General Of massachusetts,.
/ RESPECTED SR:-Mr, Ponder, in his
testimony before Parliament said that he
had done asking criminals what was the
cause of their crimes, having almost uni
formly ascertained it was ardent spirit. lie
said also that criminals had often assured
him that it was necessary, before the COM
mission of great crimes, to have recourse
| TO these stimuIants TO fit themselves. Said
one Of them, d" | could not enter your house
in the dead of night, and take the chance
of your shooting me in it or of being hung
J when | got out of it, unless ! was to get
tCeLj prinled first" But when, in the Ian
guage of the man, men are tCeU primed"
! with this destructive ingredient, they can
DO almost any wicked Thing to which their
own hearts or the devil may tempt them.
l. seems to he one of his grand engines for
driving men down to death. And SAYS a
distinguished physician, "lhe traffic in ar
dent spirit, stands uurivaled for its harden
ing and dehasing influence on those cnga-
ged in its operations. Who does not shud-
der at the appalling disclosures in relation
| to the deeds perpetrated in the grogshops
and groceries OF Edinburgh Burke and
his associates, If mistake not were one or
more Of them the keepers of these cstab-
lishmcu;s. After the wretched victim had
ceased to be a profitable customer, having
been plundered of his last shilling, he was
Piled with liquor till lie was Supplied and
then in darkness and privacy, he was suflo-
Gated. And for what purpose? that his
body might be sold to the schools of anat-
omy or surgery, for the sum of ten, perhaps
t,eenty, dollars. challenge the world 10
furnish parallel TO His nonstrous combi-
nation of avaricc and blood and | chnrge
il trarlcssl,, "upnn the traffic i'll ardent
spirits" Surely its influence is 'dcstruc-
tive" not only to bodies, but to "souls."
Nor am | alone in this opinion, or shut up
only to the solitary companinship of the
Pope, or some one who has assumed infal-
! libility." Says Judge Dagge,t of Connec-
lieut., over every grog- shop should he writ
ten in great capitals, the acdy to hell, going
dozen 10 the chamber Of DEATH" "To make
or TO sell ardent spirit, for common use, is
us l0icked as to make or sell poison, for the
same purpose. 1t being admitted that the
use Of this article is destructive 10 health,
reputation, and prosperity, (and the proof
on this point IS overwhelming it follows
Conclusively, that those who make it, sin
with high hand against God and tlsir fell
low men. The blood Of murdered souls and
bodies ,CiH be required al Their hands," Other
persons then, beside "the Pope" dare to
| publish this doctrine; and had published
II long before your remarks concerning my
opinion.
Judge WaIworth, of New York, speaks
of the time as coming, when "retlecIlng
men will no more think of making and
vending ardent spirits, or of erecting and
renting grogshops, as means of gain, than
they would now think Of poisoning the
well from which a neighbor obtains water
for his family or Of arming Il maniac to
destroy his own life, or the lives of those
around him." And says Judge Cranch OF
Washington, speaking of the sin of furnish
ing ardent spirit, 81 know that the cup is
poisoned-I know that ii may cause death,
that it may cause more than death-that il
may lead to crime--to ruin to the tortures
Of everlasting remorse. Am | not then Il
murderer? worse than murderer? as much
worse as the soul is better than the body
If ardent spirits were nothing worse than Il
deadly poison if they did not excite and
in flame all the evil passions-if they did
not dim ihat heavenly light which the Al
J mighty has implanted in our bosoms &c
guide us through the obscure passages o.
our pilgrimage ifthey did not quench the
Holy spirit III our hearts, they would be
comparatively harmless. 1t is their mora
eilect-it is the ruin of the soul which they
produce, that renders them so dreadful
The difference between death by simple
poison, aud death by intoXication, may eX
, tend to the whole difference between ever
lasting life and eternal death"
, Such are the opinions Of these dlstm
gushcd iurists and opinions which they
I had expressed before multtudcs ofpCople
and published 10 the world, long before yo,
, asserted, that "you should have thought n,
, one but the Pope himself, VINO has assunet
intallbiity, would have given an opinion
, that ardent spirit is destructive TO the wei
, fare Of souls" So obvious is this truth
| that it has been expressed by many, amoni
the most distinguished men, in this and il
| other countries. Nor are they coniidcd Il
a one profession or employment, to on'
O Christian denomination, or political party
8 II is uu opinion which is exceedingly pre-
) valcnt, among Christian men Of all partic
4 and professions who do not use ardent spir
r il, or furnish it, and have no monicd inter
. est in its being used, as a beverage, ant
g who have thoroughly examined the snhIec
@ that, "ARDENT SPIRIT is HIGHLY DEsTKuC
o TIVE TO SOULS" And it is principally O
I. this account that they desire the discontln
uance Of the use of it. 1t is On the sam
e account that the men who are making j
o and who are selling il, should cease iron