Spirit of the age. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1849-1865, 1853-03-16

tnlnQ laoOffcct, Lnen you IluSt dIlOW the luil L
force of his influences. Is there not an in
separable connexion between the state Of the ]
mind and that of the body9 Do they not
recprocally anect each other; and are not
all their relations governed by invariabe rules
of cause and effect Does not all our hap |
piness flow from law obeyed; and is not all
our suffering the penalty of violated law g-i
Does not virtue and its consequence, happi-
ness - depend on the exercise Of all our
faculties in harmony with the moral law;
and vice and its consequence, misery, in the
indulgence of our animal propensities in op-
position to the dictates Of morality and relig-
/ tfon1s And-dosaaotsasSshal poweffallyten4
to stimulate the aniu1 and subvert the moral
nature
Alcohol stimulates the nerves, mixes with
the blood, and is carried to and through the
brain with too abundant amount of that
fluid; but it drains muscular energy and
leaves the mind and body benumbed. 1t
; weakens the intellectual powers and moral
perceptions; it reverses the natural order Of
things and produces vice and misery. The
result Of all is to shorten life, by draining off
the vital energies without affording material
, for new supply.
t Is not every individual, who in any way
furthers this result, guilty Of misprision
/ of murder, by shortening human life Ask
| your own conscience; ask reason, or facts
n and ycu will find an affirmative answer to
4 this question. Let those who drink, then
think Of these things and since they canno
C escape the penalty ofviolated law, penitently
}, acknowledge that, by persisting in then
l. course they are perpetrating suicide. And
J those who sol. reflect that they are guilty
" OF homicide, to greater or less degree, jus
n as their custom may be large or small. l
d is urged as an objection, that the maker o
g the gun is not responsible for the murder
e committed with it; but it is replied that
i between the making Of gun and the mur
a der, there is no necessary or invariable con
e nexion; whereas there is necessary con
t. nexion between the making or vending q
l. liquor and the shortening of human life
% ninety-nine parts out Of hundred of it be
l. ing made to dsink, and intended for tha
" purpose by makers and venders.
c But, says some one, alcohol is goo
to creature of God and made for our benefit
II 1t is replied that, God no more makes a
l. cohol than he does steamboat or mince
" pie. True, alcohol is one Of the constitu
m ents of grain, but the decay Of tho graf
n must take place before it is developed. II
n. toxicating liquor, however, is no more foun
ch in grain than il steamboat ia q fcse
mt without water, or gunpowder in saltpetr'
ve sulphur and charcoal, each thousand mile
en- apart or men in the woods city; or WOO
e. potash. Another again says, "If do NJ
IT. make Or sell ardent spirits, some one els
ly will, and may as we'll have the profits {
IS them" So you may, and the curses ais
we for they follow necessarily. 1t is gran
m ed that alcohol is useful as q medicine, b,
IN it should be used as such only. Cases
IN nervous prostration may sometimes occur
ne which some potent stimulant is requires
be but in such cases let the physician deal
ess out spoonful at time, dose which,
me the day of Queen Elizabeth, was deemt
our sufficient for robust man. Says some OIL
i'd again-''I never sell to drunken man.
ity That is. you will not kill off a drunkard b
2o- you will make sober man one-you W
ne; not push the head ofa drowning man und
IAN water, but yQn will shove the man who
by safe on shofe mo the stream. But, sa
,os- the drinker, can measure my depth a
stop when please. AS P. S. White. ho
. ever, demonstrated this, is it not f;
]. that stimulants weaken the capacity for S
government and leave one prey to..a m
E. bid and ruinous appetite?
sid Let US assist, then, to further and presel
uce all our best interests, by aiding the Temp
= of ance reform. 7.
tie Elizabeth City, March, 1853.
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