Spirit of the age. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1849-1865, 1862-01-22

FOR THE SPIRIT OF rHE AGE.

crimes pronlDited by the DeCalogue-
when we consider the offences interdicted
and punished by the legislative enactments
of the country, We are led to inquire, which
OF all those is the most heinous and detri-
mental in its consequence An examin-
alton Of the annals of crime, both in State
and Church, furnishes the answer. ISrEM-
pERANcE, is the Pandora's box from which
nearly all our evils flow. The records
OF the courts establish the fact, that mise
tenths ofthelaw-suits owe their origin to this
dstestable crime. 1t has also been stated
AID accredited, that sevsn-eights OF the of
fences against church discipline, have pro-
ceeded from the same source. We shud>
der, while we pen these words. Go 70 the
State prisons, and you will find that a large
majority Of the inmates were incarcerated
for offences committed under the influence
of iutoxication. The sage law-givers pun
ish murder with death, forgery with con-
finemsnt in the State prison, or with lash.
es on the naked back at the whipping
post why not strike at the root Of the
evil and punish that offence, drunkenness,
which leads to the preparation of nearly
all others, with equal severity Instead Of
this, they license whisksy jistillers, whis-
key retailers, those monsters Of society,
and legalize a business which is the ma
trix of crime and consequent ruin.
At this crisis Of our country, when the
hearts of all patriots are directed to its
defence, whiskey distilleries are going up
like mushrooms in a wet season, thereby,
to a great extent, depriving the families of
soldiers, now enduring the hardships of
the tcnted field-ready to repel the enemy
ut all haxards-of the necessarics of life.
Men engaged in such business, at such a
time as this, for the purpose Of moulding
the almighty dollar, not only merit, but
will receive the execrations and contempt
Of the whole community. They nanufac-
ture BY wholesale the destroyer Of peace,
happiness and life !; and the little retailer
takes it BY barrels behind his counter, ADJ
ministers it in small doses, till his patients
are buried OF conied in the county jails,
or state prisons, and their families ruined.
We have written these remarks as prefa-
tory TO the following extract from the
Pfxe Essay Of che Rev. Il. L. Perkins, on
the Evils Of Intemperance, published
eleven years ago:
THE Evil HHrECTs OF INTBMPERANcB UPON THE
FORTUNES OF MEN. .....<
What intempsrance has cost the world is
beyond the power Of human calculation to
determine. There are, however, certain data
from which reasonble conclusions NAV be-
drawn, and which lead to the most astonish.
inn raoxalka Tkm mno,onAc haro Ia
cord that will aid US in arriving with certain.
ty at the amounts annually spent for strong
drink. We can only guess roughly from
such passages as those which inform us that
the people were given to much wine. When
Isaiah tells US of the dissipation of the Jews.
he describes it in these words: "For all pM.
ces are full OF sonit aud .f~iltAiness, 90 that
there Is no pLoce clean" This presents to our
minds the picture Of q nation devoted to
drunkenness. 1t follows that there was an
incslculable waste of money, labor, and in
tellectual worth. The Babylonians, the Medss
and Persians, the Macedonians and Seythians
were all given to wine and at their nurner.
Gus feasts, it was their custom to drink to
stupidity. The Grecians and Romans, though
temperate in their early history, became de-
generate in their latter period, and were much
addicted to drunkenness. Plato says he once
saw tho whole city of Athens drunk at one
time. The Egyptians and Carthagenians
loved strong drink. Counting the millions
Of drunkArds that populated these mighty
kingdoms and empires for centuries in sue.
~cession, and calculating the amount of wine
CONSUMED, with the value thereof; add to
this theslabor lost by drunkenness, with the
cost Of crime it produced, and it would form
an aggregate more than the mind could well
conceive. We will examine the materiss
where calculations can be made with moxe
certainty and satisfaction.
ENGLASD. Since the yoar 1910, England
has been groaning under the curse of intem.
perance.-At q feast given to Queen Eliza
beth, 866 ~hogsheads of beer alone were drank.
At the installation of George Nevill, Arsh-
bishop Of York, in the year 1906, among the
''goedly provisions made for the installation
feast" were the following items: sale, SEQ
tons; wine, 100 tons ipocrass, one pipe"
This will give us some idea of what intoxica-
ting liquors cost England in earlier times.
The aggregate amout Of Intoxicating liquors
annually consumed in Great British, costs no
less than one hundred and scuenty-sis miy-
ions Of dOlLdrsl If this be the cost for one
year, what must have been the cost for one
hundred years. Il IL here to be remember
ed that Great Britien includes Scotland, Ire.
land and Wales.
FRANoE The annual consumption of ar.
dent spirits In France, costs too hundred
and hirtgJour millions Qf donarsi Whep
IL 10 remembered that the French people have
long been pasSionately fond Of strong drink
that through q period of Q hundred years
they hare consumed annually but little les,
than they now consume, the miad will bs
overwhelmed with che thought Of what ar
astonishing aggregate would DO produced
were the costs Of each year added together
UhifRp srAfaa.=From shortly after III.