Gold Hill daily news. [volume] (Gold Hill, N.T. [Nev.]) 1863-1882, 1869-09-14
rNTEMPERANCE.

and malt liquors, because q falling of
in their consumption would diminish
the public revenue /; for a fairer view of
the subject shows that a very large
proportion of the criminal business of
our courts comes, directly or indirectly,
from the use and abuse of stimulating
beverages. One years national sbssi-
nence would pay the national debt.
1t is nothing to a.gue that the thirst
for stimulus is universal, and that saw
ages and the ignorant peoples are as
fond Of strong drink as the civilized. So
the thirst for blood is q savage propensi-
ty. Aud the ~dsvouring Of coarse and
bloody food is another. Laws and gov.
erument have been sufficient to keep
violent and murderous natures under
control. The customs Of civilized life
have refined our diet in the matter of
food. But neither law nor custom has
been sufficient 10 cure the savage pro-
peusity for strong drink. We have
only made such beverages more palata-
BILE, and substituted for occasional or
gies hebitual use. The recent report
of an eminent physician, whose special
ty ia the treatment of inebriates, main.
tsins that they are the victims Of dis.
ease. It is q great misfortune, grant
ing this theory &c be the true one. that
civilization and refinement have made
that disease chronic in the educated and
Christianized, which in the savage is
only occasional.
Whether intsmpersucs may be a
physical disease, the misfortune Of the
stomach or the nerves, or whether it bs
q moral or mental weakness, one thing
is certain, that the appetite q grows BY
what it feeds on" and that, once &C
quired, i. is next to impossible to shake
it of. But it is not quite impossible
Neither, lot the longing for the poison
be as great as it may, is there any mai
who cannot, by a determined exercise
Of his will, conquer himself Of the in'
dulgence. There is no man to who's
existence, or even to whose health aut
comfort. the stimulus of liquor is indis
p~ensable. Our prisons are full Of por
sons whose incarceration is due to in
diligence in drink and yet tho prison
ers live without it, and are in bettej
physical health while in DURANGO thar
they are when at liberty.
Murder, theft, robbery, lust, dishon
esty, incidence and poverty, hardness
Of heart, and contempt for the comforts
aud claims Of those who are neares
aud dearest, are among the fruits Of in
temperance. Every scaffold adds it
testimony. Crimes the most revolving
grow out Of the dethronement of reason
by inordinate drink. And the mora
sense may bs blunted, and the menta
faculties impaired BY what is considered
only the moderate use of a class o
luxuries, tho only effect Of which is Il
destroy the intellectual and moral bal
ance, and make whoever INDUCES les
u man than he would be without them
The medical men in England and Il
this country, who have been betrayed
into the prescription Of alcoholic slim
u~lsnts, are retresting from that prac
tice. Grant that the use Of alcoho
does, 10 certain diseases, promote re
eovery. The danger remains that th
habit Of drinking may be fastened o.
the patient-a disease worse than an,
which wine may cure. Tho regula
faculty having in a great measur
abandoned the use Of alcohol in thei
practice, irregular venders have take
it up, and millions Of bottles Of poo
trash are sold, being simply bad liquo
doctorcd with drugs; but not to sue
! a degree as to make the dose disagree
able.
The safe course is for all to bewar
of c%nervating their manhood BY the re
duction Of their bodies and minds t
such a condition of weakness, that th
false strength of the cup is necessary t
bring them up even to ordinary WORKING
order. And, whosoever has entered s.
far upon the custom that daily ~potation
seem to be a necessity, should discon
tinue them forthwith. There may be
day or a week Of languor but if tbi
seem iusupportable, any honest medica
friend can prescribe a harmless tonic
But in niuety-nine cases ir o hundred
no tonic is required but the honest prid,
Of s]elfconquest and the study Of self
respect. Let a mar keep his WI coun
sci ; resolutely abide by hi, determine
ton ; rest, if he cannot work, for a da.
or two; amuse himself if he canno
apply to serious business, and keep be
fore him the restoration Of his heal,l
aud happiness, and the victory i, Ger
tain. We have seen many such case
of reformation, and could point to.da!
to men who were once ~despaired Of
but now are respected and prosperous
who have quietly abandoned what theil
certain experience told them was ruin
ing them. To the young, w say, toucl
not, taste not. Aud to those who hay,
commenced, we urge the reliuqui,hmon'
at once aud forever Of q qualification
which brings no positive good, and ma!
work Infinite evil.
In ono Of our Tennessee exchanges
we find a report Of the speech Of Emer
son Etheridgs, delivered at Darcyrills
It is q real curiosity. He began will
the Apostles, touched upon Aristotle