Iowa voter. [volume] (Knoxville, Iowa) 1867-1874, 1870-08-18
CAN An IyEBRIATE CONQUER HIS
vICE2

lNEBRIATE asylumA are expensive, and
besides not unnsturally offend, in their
very designation, . kind Of pride-ialse,
If you choose-which every man posses
ses to a more or less degree.
Their expense, too, usually falls on the
friends of those whom they are designed
to benefit, and, for these and other rea-
SONS, we propose 70 show that any man
thus painfully situated may, II he chooses,
illustrate fcS himself and in himeelf, the
title Of thie article.
Habitual inebriety presents condition
in which the brain, being soddened and
dulled by the long and extravagant use OF
the various poisons known under the gen.
eral name cf ardent Spirits" refuses to
respond to the will power. Secondly,
when the stomach, by long custom, has 30
habituated itself to these stimulants that
it takes to itself the prerogative of the
will-power, and successfully demands
their continuance.
Thus this morbid condition becomes .
true physical disease, and must botreated
as such. Of course, the final result TO be
attained is total abstinence from The evh
habit.
But this result cannot be reached at
once, because, first, OF the inability OF the
will to act through the brain and enforce
the desire; and second, because the in
tensified and abnormal condition OF the
stomach will not admit, with safety to
the physical system, of the sudden reac-
ton.
The change must be effected gradually,
and the first step is to restore the brain to
its normal activity; afterward the .reor-
gauization OF the digestive and other
functions may be safely attempted.
The effects Of alcoholic stimulants on
the system are twofold: stimulative and
anasthetic. At first the oxygen, set free,
courses through the circulation, exalt-
ing all the functions to the per-
formance OF extraordinary tasks. Then
the carbon takes its place, and its influence
is observable in the deadening OF all the
faculties, the partial paralysis OF the
nerves and muscles, as observable in Its
effect on articulation and locomotion;
lastly the brain sinks under the deadly IN
fluence, and anasthesia more or less COM
plete, ensues.
But previous to apasthesia, the brain
acts with abnormal power. The passions
become stimulated, and in this condition,
the inebriate performs acts commonly
only ascribed to insanity or idiocy.
Now, while this over stimulated condi-
ton exists, il is impossible to regain the
will-pOwer, and here begins the treatment
by which the unhappy victim may OF
himself, and by himself, become his own
"inebriate asylum" with no loss OF dig.
nifty, and regain his lost manhood by the
exercise of s vital force, fairly Godlike in
its nature.
This article is not addressed-for it
would be useless, and is unnecessary-to
those bestial beings, whose animal pas.
sions naturally direct them to criminal
excuses, and whose loss to the world,
should it occur from such or any other
cause, would be NIL.
It is addressed to those, who, by deli
cate temperament, uncongenial associa-
tions, or over. laboTiousness, have fallen
from their high and holy estate through
the very means which they have adopted
to sustain themselves and to keep alight,
yet little longer, the fires of hope.
Suppose, then, one Of these, sad and
frail relic of departed nobility, with the
slumbering and nearly dead ashes of his
intellect and his aspirations occasionally
Pickering up with spark of the old vital.
ity. Suppose one who, for years, accord
ing to the strength of his constitution, has
battled, with the aid Of this deceitful ally,
against host of trials and annoYances,
suddenly, by one of those occasional Wis.,
ions of himself, which God <graciously
grants sometimes to the Tost degraded,
finds within him new determination
awakened, to burst cut of the chains that
have enthralled him, and to become again
what he has been, and more; and then
finds the Old, sinking, crushing, feeling
come over him, that tells him he is "a slave.
What sltll he do,
One thing is certain there can be no
dtnslnuendo in this.
There is no "tapering of" with the
devil.
Either he has got you, or he has not got
you.
The first part Of the medical treatment
in this physical disease requires the inn
mediate removal Of the patient from all
disturbing Influences, of whatever nature.
There must be no noisy children about,
NC quarreiiDg women, no scandal-mon-
gers pouring out their distilled venom to
Jar upon his nerves, and disturb his spirit
he must have absolute quiet and repose.
But to obtain this, there need not be re-
course to an asylum.
There is none 30 poor, who is worthy
to be saved, who has not friend.
Let him then reach some such friend,
trust and confide in him, and obtain the
required shelter, rest, and attendance, for
. few days.
Not for months, during which new
habits of thought are formed and old bus.
mess relations become broken of, and
the man falls again into his old place ut
terly forgotten, and unable to retain the
threads Of his lost identity. Nor in con
slant, daily association with such, from
every walk in life, as have no other con.
Seniality with him but the painful one Of
similarity of disease, an association de-
moralizing in its very nature; but among
his friends, and those who know him, and
form constant bond Of union with the
great world he loves and lives in.
He may continue his relations with
business and society by correspondence
and by visits and spothed and strength
ened by the knowledge that he is not
forgotten, and that his hard fight is being
fought among those who love him, and
admire the renewed strength which daily
animates him and enables him to strug-
gle successfully; and not among strangers
who treat his case purely from a scien.
tific and routine point OF view his earn.
nafnosa and determination are redOubled.