The Columbian fountain., 1846-04-10
THE HORRORS OF INTEMPERANcE

THE HORRORS OF INTEMPERANCE
Itappears to me that people cannot be aware
of the immense evils produced in the world, and
quors. here venture the assertion, that the
evils produced by the use OF intoxicating IL
quors, surpass infinitely all the evils produced
by war, pesience, and famine combined.
What ale the evils Of war when compared to
intemperance2 They dwindle into insignif-
canoe, especially the wars this country has
been engaged in, the war of 1912, with which
am best acquainted What were the evils
inflicted on the country by that war? The
loss of life, believe, is considered the greatest
evil. How many Of our citizens were DESTROY
ed during that war? | have not the report
before me, but will venture to assert, that not
more than 10000 lives were lost during that
war. In connection with this, we are to take
into account the suilerings of the wounded and
dying, the widows and orphans made, and
their sufferings, the aged parents losing their
only hope, sisters their brothers, and maidens
their lovers. Now compare these with the
evils of intemperance. The advocates of tenn
perance assert that between forty and fifty
! thousand OF our citizens are destroyed annual
ly by the use Of this poison. But let US put it
| at half the lowest estimate, twenty thousand,
and we have double the number of lives lost
and double the amount of all the other evils
named above, and this in one year, and every
| year, and there are evils connected with intem-
| perance, which are not incident to war When
a man is killed in war, there is an end TO his
suflerngs, and time heals the wound of afiec-
| ton; but in the case Of the drunken father, son,
brother, or mother, how long has the agony
to be endured untll the victim takes the last
glass that seals his fate? How many years of
wretchedness, misery, and wo, has all con-
nected with him 10 endure? We will now
take view of the evils of pestilence. The
cholera, which swept over this country and a
great part Of the world, was the most awful
visitation Of divine Providence, that ever he
permitted to alfiict guilty world. Well, what
were the ravages Of the cholera How many
victims fell by ii in this country don't re-
collect ever seeing statement of the number,
but whatever the number OF its victims may
have been, and the sufferings connected
with it, it passed away in a few months, and
now scarcely vestige of its effects remain
but intemperance and its evils are always with
u.s. Famine; thank God, our country has ne
yer been visited with this scourge; but fit was
or ever is, its visit would be Of short duration
and its evils certainly not greater than those OF
the cholera, SO that, from what has been said,
must come TO the conclusion that intempe-
rance. which is caused by the use Of intoxcat-
ing liquors, is a greater evil than war, pesti-
lence, and famine combined.
In the above enumeration of the evils pro-
duced by intoxicaiion, have only considered
the physical nature. Now let us take a view
of the moral evils induced by the use of intox-
icatng liquors.
What is the destruction Of the body compar-
ed 10 the destruction of the mind and soul of
man? Men may die in war, they may die of
pistience, they may die of famine, but the
mind may be unaffected, the mind may soar
up to heaven in contemplation of all the attri-
butes of the divinity; the soul, the never dying
SOUL may be saved. But is this the case with
the drunkard? No! the mind is destroyed.
How many of the brightest intellects, inteIli-
gences, on whom the hopes OF thousands were
centered, how have they fallen, sometimes
just as they were appearing above the horizon,
aud others in every stage Of usefulness, and
others, who had attained TO meridian spleudor,
have been hurled down the precipice Of lntem-
perance TO everlasting infamy and disgrace.
Lost! lost! forever lost, and the immortal soul,
what has become of it? alas the word Of truth
gives the answer in thunder tones, "No drunk
ard can enter into eternal happiness beyond
the grave" This being so, why do not Chris
tians, of all denominations, make common
cause against the enemy ? Why don't the pa
trot, the phiIanthropist, and even the selfish
being whose feelings go no farther than his
own lire-side, for even such have suffered by
the plague, make one great and mighty effort
to rid the country ofthis consuming fire, which
will continue to produce all the evils hereto
fore enumerated withering and blightng much
that is highly priced by man in this world, and