Lewistown gazette. [volume] (Lewistown, Pa.) 1843-1944, 1857-11-12

BY A. t. HAMILTON, NJ d.
As the object of our associating together
here is for the advancement of the Sabbath
School, / will beg leave to set forth few
thoughts on the great subject of temper
ance, and its bearings on our social, moral
and religious relations
We, as Sunday School, are intimately
connected with all the great movements
that affect us as moral or religious COM
munity; and most particularly is the Sun
day School cause related to the redemption
of man from the sin of drunkenness.
We are called nation of drunkards,
and- how lamentably true it is As with
Ephraim of old, they are joined to their
idols, let them Alone But shall we per-
NIT the rising generation to take the place
the inebriate now occupies? Not as long
as the Sunday School remains an institution
of God. Not as long as it is the nursery
OF the church and the stronghold of the
nation In it our hopes are eentered. To
it we fee for refuge from this dread mon
ster. Then is not this fit subject for our
consideration this evening?
Let us inquire into the nature of this
intoxicating principle: and IN so doing
will quote the opinions of the best authors
nChemistry, Physiology and Therapeutics,
who have given attention to the subject.
Atcoltot is product of fermentation,
which is a destructive process Professor
Youmans' Chemistry (p. 1870 says: " We
thus understand that alcohol is not one of
the principles formed by nature and stored
up in plants, but is always product of
rotting and putrefaction-the result of a
process in its nature destructive" When
we term alcohol an unnatural product, we
simply place it in the same category with
carrion, malformation, &C., which are not
produced in the regular and healthy course
of nature, but evidence her defeat and
disappointment. For the benefit of the
curious, as well as for the cause of truth, /
will give you list Of some of the poisons
with which acine is adulterated White
lead, red lead, copperas, sugar of lead, log
wood, alum, opium, henbane, aloes, tobac-
co, nux voniea, oil of vitriol, grains of
paradise, and even arsenic. In short, but
few of the wines even smell of grape
God intended that men should use the
fruits of the earth for food, but they have
sought out many inventions, and one of
these is, to convert these gifts of God
into poison, most insidious in it's ma
ture, and destructive both to soul and body
1t is the testimony of all writers on mate
ria medtcd that alcohol is a caustic, irri-
tant poison. Professor Youmans says,
(p. 326-27 Chemistry, THE action of al
cohol within the system is in no respect
analogous to that Of water, it is disturber
of the healthy functions, a disorganizer of
the structure, and must, therefore, be
ranked among medicines and poisons. 1t
cannot be transformed into animal tissue,
and there is no evidence that it is capable
of serving for animal nutrition The pres
ence of alcohol in the blood is therefore an
obstacle to nutrition, or to that vital process
by which the solid substances of the fabric
are organized or elaborated from the blood.
Accordingly, we have the testimony of
physicians and surgeons that the nutritive
and reparatiye powers of those who drink
largely of spirituous liquors, in case of
wounds and ulcers, are low"
Hear what DR.. Carpenter, the great Eng
lish Psychologist, says: (p. 3S9) "The
ingestion of alcoholic liquors cannot supply
anything which is essential to the due nu-
triton of the system; there is no reason to
believe that alcohol, in any of its forms,
can become directly subservient to the nu-
triton of the tissues. The operation of
alcohol upon the living body is essentially
that of stimulus for time,
like other stimuli, the vital activity Of the
body, so that greater effect may often be
produced in given time under its use than
can be obtained without it, bat being fol-
bo'ced by corresponding depression Of
poacer, which is the more prolonged and
severe in proportion as the previous excite
ment has been greater. Nothing therefore
is gained, in the end, by their use; the ex-
eeptional cases in which any real benefit
can be derived from their use, being er-
trenaely fem"