Spirit of the age. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1849-1865, 1855-08-15
Close the low a~rOggeries.

SAObc eHe lOW dIOBBeTleS.
II is the doctrine Of certain men who pro-
Tess to be the "trus friends Of tenperanee
that the low, vile, dirty drunkeries with
which the country is cursed, should be put
,d9vn; but The " decent, respectable, order
ly" houses are public conyenieucss, and it
is tie height OF fanaticism to enter into "a
crusade against them. Men in this City Pot
forth the same ridiculous, insulting and pre-
posrerous assertions as arguments against
!. prohibition. Solons, indeed, are they.
The following summary we find credited
? to the Life Illustrated" showing the effect
Of intemperance upon men OF the highest
genius aud most exalted talents and ycharac-
ter, who imbibed ct these Respectable, dig
nided establishments" and who perhaps
never wcro polluted by the stencil Of a low
drunkery. But their end is none The less
lamentablc, because they drank at fashion
ablo saloons or gildcd PASTORS. Read the
following and ponder
"Shut up the l0U grogseries, ''say many ;
prevent the sale Of bad rum, preserve the
poor and ignorant from intemperapce, and
we are with you, bat the educated classes
need no law regard for their own charac-
Ter Is n sufficient protection 10 them
Strange delusinni Jnexplicable blindness
10 the facts Of history and the occurrences Of
every day Without referring TO books,
memory, unsssistsd, supplies Us w6h q cata-
lorue Of well.known names, the bare men,
ton Of which rofutcs the plea we have
quoted.
Alexander the Great, one Of the brightest
spirits of antiquity, one Of the three great
est generals Of the world, whose tutor was
Aristotle, who slept with the poems Of Ho-
NOR under his pillow, conquered the world,
and died Of drunken debauch, in the thir-
ty-third year Of his age.
The fall Of the Roman Empire was precip-
itatcd by the drunkenness of its emperors (;
rs human nature was e~ternally dishonored
by tho enormitics committed by them in
drunken fury.
OF the ten sovereigns who have reigned in
Russia since the accession Of Peter the
Great. all but four were easily drunkards.
of the Empress Elizabeth, tits written, she
was completely brutifed by strong liquors
from day 10 day she was almost always in a
state Of bacchic ecstacy she could not bear
TO be dressed in the morning, her woman
loosely attached to her some robes, which a
few cuts Of the scissors disengaged in the
evening" And tho passage gives an idea
of the gen6tal condition of the Russian court
for more than seventy years.
The present king Of Prussia, whom Nei.
buer instructed and praised, thanking God
on his knees for giving Prussia SO wise and
noble n prince, is q notorious drunkard, the
contempt Of his subjects, the scoff of Europe
The late king Of the Sandwich Islands,
upon whom q corps of missionaries exhaus
ted their eloquence and skill, was q drunken
earicature Of the kingly Office to the last.
The city Of Washington, where the elite Of
the nation is supposed to ~congregate, is the
most drunken town in the Union. Cham
payne is one Of the great powers of the
country, n thing relied upon to corrupt thu
very men who are sent to Washington under
the impression that they are our wisest anC
eur best.
Hannegan, q Senator of the United States
was an abandoned drunkard, and when sen
abroad as plenipoteutiary, disgraced thu
country by the most continuous and outra
geous drunken debauehery. .
Some Of the most important enactment
ever pissed by Congress, e%nactments involv
ing the welfare of future empires, have beer
passed while the floor Of the House was
strewed with honorable and intoxicated mem
bers.
1t was when maddened by drink that DR.
Graham committed murder.
lIartly Coleridge, n man Astounding il
amiable qualities, who inherited much ofhi
fathers genius, with all his fathers infirm
ity Of purpose, could never master his pro
p%6nsity for drink. lie was n scholar, a gen
tleman, n poet, Hnd-a drunkard.
Edgar Poo-Jut why speak Of him! TIL
story of his miserable end is more familia
TO the people even than the melancholy re
c.,;, ~ flo Rowan
Charles Lamb, the gentle Charles, tn
kind, the tender, the beloved, could ~sacritic
40 much for his sister, but could not hel
being carried home, and put to bed in insen
sible drunkenness.
Douglas Jerrold is q dcvotee of gin. Fo
many years, it is said, he has been impairin
his fine powers by habitual excess in drink
Byron, Burns, Steele, Hone, and q host
other names, eminent or illustrious, migt
be added TO the list Of distinguished DRUM
ards. Burns, we are confident had not die
in the prime Of life, u defeated, heart broke
man, his destiny all unperformed, if he ha
not been addicted to c%onyivial drinking
And who knows for how much Of Byron
reckless verse the world should curse ii
gin-bottle?
In our colleges, is not the secret demijoh
ono Of tho perpetual a~uxieties of the presidir
professor and parent? At our fashionab
parties, is champagne-oue Of the vile
drinks-modorGtely consumed? Do not OF
grand banquots generally degenerate in
occasions Of disgusting excess? Are Il
sons Of leading citizens the most tempera
Of our youth Is it poor women who bl
brandy drops by the pound?
Talk no more Of shutting up only the Il
grogggrics. All groggeries are low, and
grog is pernicious, whether slipped by sc
tlcmen, sucked by ladies, or swilled by
'drcgs Of the people,
The greatest bar to happiness is the b
Of the grog-shop. He who frequents it, W
very likely soon fird himself before the b
Of Justice. Let us all, then, place q b
against all evils arising from intemperance
the bar on which many young men ha
been shipwrecked.
Horace Mann remarks of the rum trah
that licensing for the public good
proved to be licensing for both public a
private evil" And again-"Th e~xceller
Of the Maine Law is, that it is prevent
instead Of cure that it kills the fiend befC
it gets into the man, instead Of waiting
we have to kill the man to expel the fend.
----s,>><S ~~>~~~-
Getting High.
The sturdy oak full many a cup
Doth hold up to the sky,
To catch the rain, then drinks it up,