Spirit of the age. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1849-1865, 1861-04-03

II rarely right adjusted.
Nan may pass through his strange eventful
history, from his cradle to his grave, in the
possession Of health Of body and serenity
OF mind, and in the enjoyment Of indiyid-
ual and social happiness, and gradually wear
out his vital energies, and finally lie down
and fall asleep in death
Making It sweet to die His ears are faint, his eyes
dim.
Bat his heart listens to the Heavcnward hymn,
And his soul sees NOT the weeping band,
Who come With muuragul tread
To kuec about his bed
But white robed angels, who around him stand,
Aud wave his spirit to the better land
God made man to be happy. He created him
for good and noble purpose and if he suf-
fers evil to come upon him, depend on it,
it comes not as the Poet imagincs
From numerous irs inwoven with his frame;
bat from a direct violation of the laws that |
eayero heolth ard life Man himself is the |
author Of his own iutirmit;cs. lie sows the |
seeds Of disease with his own hand, and con-
sequently reaPs harvest Of pain and misery. !
Bnt Of all the evils with which Man has |
sconrged himself none has proved so potent |
al ally t. disease and death as hydra-headei
Alcohol.
1t is estimated, and We have reason to be-
lieyc with much correctness, that thirty-eigat
thousand persons die annually in the United
States flom the use of ardent spirits. Most
Of these are in the Western and Southern
States, and il is thought by some who rre-
tend 10 knor, that according to the number
I Of her inhabitants that, South Carolina con-
tajos more drunEards than any other State
/ in the Union. My friends, here is an evil of
/ immense magnitude, and one that calls loudly
/ upon every friend Of humanity to oppose it's
progress. lie must indeed, be a misanthro-
. pist Of the worst kind, who will stand tameIy
/ by and see nearly 20 600 Of his countrymen
sacrificed annually by the foul fiend of in
! temperance, and not extend a hand to save,
raise finger or utter word against it. The
day Diminishing aid and comfort to this trcach-
erous aud deadly foe has gone by; and there
remains no security against its guerrilla sys-
tenn Of attack, in anything short Of war of
eXtermjnaton. This formidable enemy Of
the human race comes to Us disguised in more
than one hundred different forms, yet in all
It's various shapes, it is still alcohol, still the
self same deadly poison. In its natural state
however, 1t Is 50 pungent that it cannot be
taken into the stomach even in moderate
quantity, without producing death it can,
therefore, be used in di uton, and in this
state we have it from the strongest ardent
spirits down 10 simple root beer. In brandy,
portion Of from 81 to 81 per ceut.-mor1 than
one-halE Ia wines it constitutes from 10 to
20 per cent, varying with the species. |
however except the blackberry wine, made
in some Of our mountain counties. The per
centage of alcohol in this beverage, am not
able - t@'i yct:. C,,st Oii'J SftC o. 90
ceipt which was shown to me how to make
it, and then perhaps you can tell the per GEN.
tum yourselves. TO 10 gallons of double dis
titled whiskey, add 4 gallons of blackberries
Stand three days and it is ready for use
Weaken it with sugar, and some say it makes
a very agr eeabe drink, warranted, however
not to make drunk come. Entirely too weak
for that, you know What blackberry wine
intoxicate? What an absurd idea. Why a
man must be fool or deranged, to think that
pint Of such innocent drink as blackberry
wine would either intoXicate or hurt any per-
son. This, my friends, is but fashionable
way of thrashing the devilaround the stump.
= Drunkenness is in it as well as in other wines.
Alcohol enters into the composition Of ale
and brown stout in the proportion of 7 to
per cent and forms from to per cent. oi
, Lorter, beer and cider. All the new tangled
l names tha. liquor is called now a-days, is but
: to delude AMI deceive, the same old devil is
in them all. And | warn you to be on your
l guard and not be overcome by the innocence
2 3 of the name, and wake up and find yourselve:
i intoxicated.
= Alcohol, my friends, is a poison forever a
Il war with mans nature. In its pure state i
$ acts on his system as rapid poison, and il
IL a dillted form as a slow poison.
The habjtual use of any liquor in which
it is contained, invariably Injuries the health
be the quantity large or small. The sensa
tons it produces when first taken into tn
ID system, are Agreeable if not peasurable; b,
IL increasing the actions Of the heart and arte
IS rieS, and the nervous power, and giving ad
&c ditiona energy to the muscles, and L tempo
r. rary exaltation to the mental faculties, tht
is man, while under its influence, possesse
ne more strength of body, and is more yigo, ou
IN for certain period; but during that periot
T- he eXpends an amount Of his vital energie
that should have served bin for much lor
ger portion Of time. The consequence il
that when this temporary augmentation
IL his vital powers has subsided, debility 81
es peryenes that is in proportion to the previol
'ot excitemcnt His strength falls as much belo
OF az it was 1t first elevated above the natur
OF standard The exhaustion which rapidly su
Gu cegds this higher excitement, finds the syste
ny in verse condition than it was before IL
W. sGmuiant was applied; weakness, lassituc
'u' and depression have taken the place
lol strength energy and excitement; and in a
'i' dit'on, a considerable portion Of vital pow
Jih has been expended, which Alcohol, in any
lle Us forms or In any quantity, cannot restor
!" On the contrary, every attempt to rouse Il
'lu exhausted energies of the system, by ale
'ea hole drinks, produces further eXhaustio
my which, II carried beyond a certain point th
aN varies liz different individuals, the capacity
ma restoration is destroyed and death must f
he low.
leir The effects Of Arden' Spirits on the hum
system are so various and so extensive,
the giyes rise to SO many diseases, PRODUCES su
op deplorahie consequences and influences
no the constitution in so many ways, that
- would he impossible, on this occasion, to {
onS low them through all their qualifications
an, Tine will only permit me to give you a VI
SiVe brief outline Gf its effects on the most pror
'ry nent or ans of the body The stomach is
ent. organ of digestion, and is situated in the ca
nan tx Of the abdomen, under the margin of
eSs, RIBS Of the eft side, its inferior or lesser
D ne trcmity extending towards the right side,
ddi- Il direction obhquely downawrds. 1t is sol
'he what conoidial in its figure and when mo
pom rately diStended, capable of containing in
en- adult about. one quart 1t is more larg
ana supplied with nerves blood vessels and
me sorbents than any other organ Of the DO
ms and may rs considered the grand central
even gan, whose peculiar functions and duties
such as to icnder it of the utmost importa
nan to the general system, and establish betw
es Of Il and all tho other orrans the stronoest
ht TO most immediate sympstbv twill not 6
Is,ed etroroo tbat Tho LahitnoI onnlicat;on &c
DrrV- Z 81,