Spirit of the age. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1849-1865, 1854-10-11
O. Ommnnitatio
FoR THe SPIRIT OF THE AGE.
Laoconn.

FOR The CPIRIT OF THE AGE.
LAGOON,
Or Letters to a Member Of the Legislature Of
North Carolina.
Dear SRI shall now, in as brief a man
ner as possible, try to satisfy you that, the
use of Intoxicating liquors, as a beverage, has
been an unparalleled curse upon human soei-
ETY.. It has been an egg from which all vices
are Matched, a true "PandorG's Boz" out
of which cometh every evil that can benamed
under the sun a devil in every shape, with
every evil purpose to fulfil. I might lead
you long and YEARLY over statistical pages,
the certainty of which you dare not dispute,
but prudence dictates q shorter course
Without other proof than your own expe-
%rience, you will admit that irreIigion and all
manner of blasphemy are uniformly found in
the ranks of intemperance. Pass you by your
neighbours door there, that vender of intoxi-
eating liquors, and whatdo you hear amid
The noisy revel of the low debauch,
And the fierce excitement Of play"
Your ears are shocked by expressions poured
forth
"Too foul to name, too fulsome to be read"
"a monstrOus mass of foul corrupted matter,
As all che devils had spewed to make the batter"
Now walk to the poor house, and more than
likely you will find every pauper there, a
victim Of his own. or his fathers intemper-
ance. Go to the Church records, and you
will find that seven-eighths of all the expelled
members lost their staRNing by this vice, Go
to the Court House, and there you will find
it an undeniable fact, that nine-tenths Of all
the indictments had their origin in intemper-
ance. Go to the Insane Hospital, and more
than four-ffths of the inmates came there
from the haunts of drunkenness. Go to our
city watch houses, and there the keepers will
tread you matter deep and dangerous" The
keeper of the New New York city prison
stated that of $4,000 persons committed, all
except about one hundred, were Of the grog-
shop pattern. Go to the gallows, and ask
the poor culprit what brought him there, and
10 out Of 20 will say Rum and bad company.
Turn you now to the Journal of the British
Parliament, there it is, written down, read
it it is the report of q committee appointed
for the purpose of collecting facts in the case.
Hear the startling declaration, " That the
deaths from intemperance in England a.
mounts to an average of one for every nine
minutes the year round"
What q mass of whiskey rotted flesh this
would make in one year But think how
many years this has been going on, not only
in England, but in France, Germany, Swift
ODutiS OIbuSd u ID 1euo1ds
every where !! Then think of our own beloved
country and State that the sam downward
tendency is at work here in our midst. One
hundred millions of dollars annually spent
for grog-twenty five millions bushels OF
grain, Fit for human food, made into intoxi.
eating liquors-sixty-on thousand hogsheads
of molasses, made into rum-seventy six
millions gallons of liquor is manufactured
annually in the United States Query, who
drinks all this poison? And how many poor
people would all this grain and molasseS
feed? Think Of it As the result Of all this
about $4,000 drunkards annually go down tc
a drunkard's grave in the United States !
What a waste of property, health and life
And yet, what are our public men doing tc
stay this overwhelming tide of ruin ? Every
hour, under the influence of this pestilence
millions of hopes are blasted, prospects blight
ed, hearts crushed woman, lovely woman
whitening as parched leaves, children left il
o~rphanage and thrown upon the cold char
ties of the world, youth and genius cut down
and hurled into an untimely grave and We
you are " afraid 10 touch the subject leas
it might injure your popularity" Fron
such Patriots ~ good Lord deliver US
Now, sir, you are not an ignorant man, yo'
"take the papers," and you are well AVA
of the fact that hardly a newspaper comes t
hand that has not some of it's articles heade
"S~HoCKING OUTRAGE HORRIBLE MURDER
"MELANcHoLY ACCIDENT''-or some kindre
heading, under which is given a detail of a
atrocious character, with a winding up O
"The perpetrator of the deed was under th
influence of intoxicating liquors at the time.
How can you then, with these things col
stantly under your eye, sit still and let til
opportunity pass of raising your warnin
voice against an evil so destructive to I'll
lives and fortunes o fyour countrymen? ST
you know that | could fill many large vo
umes with testimony selected from the be-
authors and from indisputable data, shown
the evil consequences of indulging in the u
of Intoxicating liquors as a beverage. D
Rush said,-'Ardent spirits destroys mo-
lives than the sword; wal has its intervals
destruction, but spirits operate at all tim
andseasons upon human life." DR.. S. Beec
! er has eloquently observed, that, A Il
Jackall follows the Lion to prey upon tt
slain, so do disease and death wait upon Il
footsteps of inebriation. The free and ur
versal use of Intoxicating liquors for a fe
centuries cannot fail to bring down our ra
from the majestic, athletic forms of our fat
ers, to the similitude of a despicable al
puny race of men. Already the commenc
ment of decline is manifest, and the consuI
nation of it, should the cause continue, W
g not linger." | nave long held it as a tn
maxim, that, "a people corrupted by strol
drink cannot long remain a free people,"
{ Sober men are not always faithful to the
: best interest, much less may we expect m
3 whose i~ntellects are wasted, whose mora
are corrupted, whose sense of propriety
confused, and whose rule of action is sure
dered to unnatural impulses, caring not I
the good of themselves or their country. I
n king all these things in view, would you r
set it down as a truthful saying, Rum a
Ruin are one and inseparable, now and f
ever. Yours Truly, CLINTON.
(. To BE CONTINUED.