The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1847-06-11
From tie Christian Aiyoegte and Journal.
Apology fnr Drunkenness.

Apology far Drunkenness.
1t appears from the public papers
that the Synod of Pittsburgh have
prohibited the use of ardent spirits,
and have thereby condemned drunk
ards to suffer everlasting thirst ;
for, if they cannot obtain ardent spir-
its in this world, it is rot probable
that they will obtain any in the world
to come, however great their thirst
may be. But, with submission TO the
Synod, we would venture to alledge
that, before they pronounced SEN
tence calculated to place drunkards
in pnrgatory before their time, they
ought TO have given them fair trial.
For whatever the merits or dement's
of those men may be, they are enti-
tied BY the constitution and the law
to trial by competent judges, and a
jury of their peers; and a drunk
ard has no peers in, above, or I'M
der the earth, except drunkards {:
therefore he cannot be condemned
on constitutional and legal princi-
pies, but by the verdict of a jury com
posed OF twelve drunkards, they on
ly being his peers. Yet, in the case
in question, drunkards have been
condemned without trial by jury Of
their peers, and by judges incompe-
tent to the task, being destitute of
that experimental knowledge of the
subject which would have led them
when deciding on drunkenness to
make a liberal allowance for the
thirst ofthe drunkard-an important
point in the case and that a gener-
Gus allowance ought to be made for
the thirst of tie drunkard will ap-
pear evidcn, when the influence and
operations of that thirst are taken
into view. Now il is well known
that these are men who have drunk
their . horses, COWS " sheep. hogs hon;
and still they are dry--extremely
dry and if they could have distilled
their wives and children as easy as
they can mash them, they would
have drunk them toe. Surely the
thirst Of such men is entitled 20 seri-
ouS attention. On these principles
we move an arrest of judgment !;
md, with the most profound humili-
", submit to the consideration oCthc
venerable Synod, the following state
nent of the advantages of drunken
ness, supported by facts within the
knowledge of the court
|. Drunkenness has a legal and
patriotic tendency: Because drunk
ards pay their debts according TO
law, and furnish abundant employ
mrnt for lawyers and shcriffS, JUS
tees and constables and they sup
port the government generously. by
paying more excise than any other
class of citizens.
2, Drunkenness promotes liberty
and equality; Because it disposcs
the subject Of it to spum all re
s,raint human and divine !; and it
brings down the proudest gentleman
to a perfect level with the greatest
ruilian, and their company equally
agreeable and entertaining, as they
are equally disposed to pour out a
deluge ofnonsense, billingsgate, and
blasphemy.
3. Drunkenness promotes legal
science Because Grunkards obtain
an interesting knowledge of crimi-
nal jurisprudence, and number Of
Of them study the penal statutes in
those legal seminaries, commonly
called jails and penitentiaries,
4, drunkenness promotes domes-
tic government For if you follow a
drunkard home, you will generally
find him raging and foaming, bias
pheming and abusing his innocent,
industrious, and miserable wife and
children, who stand before him with
fear and trembling, horror and an
gUish, as silent as the grave and as
submissive as the slave chained TO
the oar.
3. Drunkenness is subservient 20
orthodoxy and virtue: Because
drunkards demonstrate the doctrine
of human depravity aud degradation
by arguments ths most convincing
and unanswerable ; and they display
vice in an attitude and dress tie
most odious and disgusting. ~
6. Drunkenness promotes relig-
ion in general, and humility in par
ticular Because some men have no
religion until they obtain a stiiigrog,
and their religion increases in pro-
portion to the quantity Of spirits
which they may imbibe, until at
length they become so religious and
humble as to wallow in the mud
with the hogs, for the cdifcation oil
the spectators.
Z, Drunkenness sircumscrihes the
agency Of the prince Of darkness