Spirit of the age. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1849-1865, 1859-07-20
of the Dav
"The Evils of Intemperance."

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There is no one single view OF mankind CT
hich philanthropists in all ages have so bit al
deplored, as the vice Of drunkenness =.
We may reason on it and liberalize as we -
7il, the use of intoxicating drinks, in any IL
hape whatever, results in evil and evil only. u
Psychologists tell us that alcohol, In any p
Orm, is not only useless, but positively in II
urious to the human system, and proof is .
lot wanting, that even as a medicine, the Ma 3
eria Medica abounds with articles far sLpe-
to it either as a stimulant or a tonic. r
AS a pleasant stimulus to social enjoyment, b
% warm the heart, brighten the intellect, re
Vive the dropping spirits, and give a momen- '
tary Colour de rose to life's dreary realities, +
Alcohol has been lauded in almost every age, /
and by almost every people, and these are G
the specipus pleas brought forward by those !
who term themselves moderate drinkers but
who that has dwelt among men, but has
"Seen social life and glee sit down,
All joyous and unthinkirg,
Till quite transmogrifed its grown
Delirious-by hard drinking"
Who annot recall to mind the young, gay,
happy and promising-commencing with
the social glass and advancing step by step
until an Unsuitable appetite has destroyed ev-
cry sacred tie, civil duty or moral response
bility-until our prisons, hospitals, insane
asylums and grave yards are crowded with
the victims of this most fearful of all the
vices?
It is painful to reflect that human ingenui-
ty, aided by the counsel and labors of great
and good men, in all ages, have as yet accom-
plished so little toward the suppression of
temperance. Legislatures and corporations
multiply law upon law temperance societies,
lecturers, preachers and book-makers have
labored, with no very potent effect. In
temperance still stalks through the land
the ~blighting, mildewing, evil genius of soci-
ETY., and at no era in the history of the coun-
try have its ravages been more open, perva-
ding and destructive, than at the present
moment.
Look at the miserable wrecks of humanity
who crowd in quick succession the prisoners
bench of our Courts. Their conditions low
er than the brutes, and their persons far less
presentable than the swine.
Yet a majority of these blear-eyed, bloated
wretched, miserable and degraded prisoners
were once useful and honorable members Of
society-enjoying and sustaining the ties o.
father, mother, sister, brother, husband
friend, but now behold them stained with
crime, dehumanised by disease, ready to die
and be carried to the drunkard's grave, or t.
on.
Any one who will visit our Courts, will be
come impressed with the truth that intempe
rance is the father of all crimes known to tn
laws and they will wonder, as we do, tina
the experience of thousands of years, ha
been of SO little use to us as a warning, an
come to the conclusion that whatever suppo
ed benefits may result from intoxicating be-
erages, they car certainly never be compare
to the evils which flow therefrom, amor
which may be mentioned the inevitable Diet
rioration of the human race-the increase
insanity and idiocy-the transforming of got
men and women into fools, criminals, al
maniacs-the utter destruction Of all the ii
and endearments of family, home and count
, and above all, the entailment upon futu
generations the same craving appetite for t
demon Of destruction that degrades and bl
, talizes the present.
But who shall propose a remedy? WI
moral reformer will arise and overthrow Il
great evil? How shall we Danish from q
land its greatest, deadliest curse? Tn,
have been the queries which good men h;
often p~ropounded. But who is able to
l. swer them?
V Could drinking be rendered unfashionat
and public opinion raise its head against
u use of all stimulating drinks, then, indie
y there might be some hope for poor, suffer
humanity but SO long as friend meets frie
i; and almost the first thing is, Lets tax
&C drink, will the evil exist, and in its tr
ID will follow the long catalogue of misel
N which are inseparable from it.
!" The great difficulty is that no one consid
% himself a 'drinker' until he has been pic
IT. up from the gutter several times. No
0u has yet defined the precise point where n
crate drinking ends and drunkenness beg
Ell but there is little doubt that the most teri
d physical destruction produced by alcohc
no among that class of drinkers who boast
nc they were never drunk, although mode
We drinkers.
ed.
TN ~ We are requested to correct two
ice rOrs that occurred in the published acc
by of the celebration by the Sons at Morr
no T--~~