The Sumter banner. [volume] (Sumterville, S.C.) 1846-1855, 1854-09-27

Stimulus has boen excited, to drink
pure brandy and whiskcy with pleas
ure, with us much comfort and as lit
tie exhiaration as would be expert.
enced by an old topper.
as Alinnentlvcness produces dc.
pressed condition, which We call hun.
ger, and which is relieved by 'ood,
SO the Love of Stimulus produces a
different form Of depression and appc.
titc which is relieved by stimulants.
Ii the organ of Love Of Stimulus be
largely developed, as we generally
find it in the descendants OF the in.
temperate, which may be countcrac,.
ed, it is true, by heroic self denial, and
Il continual struggle, but which few
have the fortitudc to resist. The
victim ofthis hereditary organ!zati, IL
finds himself in a depressed mclan.
cholly, and craving condition, until
his natural appetite is gratificd-
when he finds himself restored to
serenity and comfort, and, pcrcciving
no evil effects from its indulgcnces, he
is tempted to repeat it, with strong
conviction that he is doing hcalthfui
act, and procuring an innocent pleas,
ure. 1t is useless to tell such All indi-
vidual that all alcoholic drinks are
essentially poisonous, and that every
drop which he takes is all injury to his
constitution. lie knows, expcrirnen.
tally, that such is not the fact. He
knows that within reasonable limits
he enjoys the highest health and
comfort, while indulging in his usual
potations, and that abstinence is
immc diately followed by depression
and debility, which Prcdisposc to
disease. Hence, when he is summoned
by the ultra advocate Of temperance,
in accordance with an erroneous phys
biological doctrine, to abandon his
usual qualification, his reason revots
at the demand, and instead of sy1npa.
th'zlng with the Cause of temperance,
which has SO many earnest claims
upon his benevolence, he is driven, by
the extravaganza of its advocates, into
feeling of GOODNESS, it is absolute
hostility to this great aud benevolent
reform.
We should say to this lar.c class Of
our countrymcn who are addicted to
vinous and alcoholic potations, not that
they are consuming essential poison,
and perpet'ating moral Or physiologi
Cal sins in every consumption of their
usual beverage, but rather that they
are gratifying and cultiva,ing an
appetite which, however apparently
innocent i'll its present form, is still an
evil, and is ever liable to increase
until it becomes destructive to BODY
and soul. If, in its excess, the alec
holic appetite tends to the destruction
Of all that IS noble and manly, even its
mildcr indu!gcnccs mus, be, to some
extent, an evil, although less palpable
in their effects. Hence, We are justi-
fled in warning ev II the temperate
consumer of wines, who never rises 10
alcoholic exhilara,ion, against The
error of his course. But in what does
error consist? Mark the distinction !
1t is not the vinous indulgence which
we should denouncc as Il physiological
sin, but the organic drpravity or
debility which demands it, and wnicl,
is pcrprtuatcd by indulgence. When
II miserable patient, exhausted Dy
hemorrhagc and prolusc dI charges
requires to be sustained from hour to
hour by brandy, :ruonia. and other
potent stimulants, what is the physio
| logical disorder which we are To mourn!
Is it the use cf brandy and amoni,
which prevent him from sinking still
turthcr-or is it the prostration and
exhaustion which rendered these
stIhulants necessary 1t is evident
that III lis present condition he cannu,
live long; but in what manner is he t.,
be relieved? Is it by removing a,
once the stimuants upon which h.
depends, or by restoring the healthy
action of his constitution, SO as tc
render them unnecessary? Is the
debility Or the stimulation the evil b
The question answers itself. In like
manner should We regard all who are
addictei to alcoholic stimulation a.
victims ofan organc evil or infirmity
which requires to be rcctiticd. So
long as the debility exists, and the
craving for stimulus is perpetuatod,
no Legislation to annihlatc the alcohol.
ic trade, and no amount Of virtuous
self denial, that We can reasonably
expect, will accomplish what the case
requires. 1t may be, that: if alcoholic
drinks were banished from society
the constitution of man, gifted as it is
with immense powers OF adaptation
a temperate constitution, and that t C
organ of the Love of Stimulus, abso
lutely starved into atrophy, would
gradually cease TO be an influential
element Of the human constitutions
But in this tedious process great dea
OF moral evil and nnhappiness would
be produced, and there ia a stronc