Knoxville weekly chronicle. [volume] (Knoxville, Tenn.) 1870-1875, 1870-04-20
Temperance Address.
CLINroN, Tenn, April l2th, Isl


Editors RnocciHe Chronicle
The following address was delivered by
William F. Dowell, before the Lights of
Temperance" recently, at this place. The
Society unanimously requested Mr.. Dow
ell to furnish a copy of the address for pub
lication. In obedience to the request, and
in behalf of the Society, respectfully re-
paper. KATE Z. ANDERSON,
Secretary
Ladies' and Gentlemen,
Having been selected to address YOU to-
night upon the subject of temperance-al-
though young, unused to public speaking,
and lacking, as must confess, ali the ele-
ments of oratory--I shall, in bowling as
gracefully as possible to the power vested
by our suffrages in our President, in the
constitutional exercise of which 1 have
been selected as one of the orators of the
night, attempt to contribute my mite to-
wards the success of this God-given princi-
ple-this Temperance reform''-in which
have with you embarked, and in the ul-
innate success of which the entire sympa-
thies of my nature are enlisted.
BY way of preliminary, permit me to
remark that L cannot expect to interest
you tonight as you were interested by the
able address of the distinguished speaker
who addressed you at our last meeting. /
cannot expect to soar to that dizzy height
where often even the tongue of eloquence
falters and the brain of genius reels; but
in presenting this subject, it shall be my
aim to state and illustrate such facts and
principles as shall induce every man,
woman and child, capable of contemplate
ing truth and appreciating motive, to exert
their influence in favor of this temper
ance REFORM
The gigantic evils incident to and insep-
arabic from the use of ardent spirits in any
form, in any disguise moderate or habitll-
al, cannot be conceived by the mind of ge-
MUS or depicted by the tongue of eloquence.
They mock, defy discussion. The work
ings of the most giant, massive brain that
ever existed would long be consigned to
the inactivity of oblivion, and the boosted
tongue of eloquence be palsied with the
ice of death-hushed in the silence of the
tomb-before the one could family con-
ceive, or the other adequately depict, the
horrors of the reign of this Moloch of dam
ation-intemperance. Not even the in
imitable eloquence and natural powers of
description of a John B. Cough, (who hav-
ing himself been rescued from the horrors
of drunkad's grave, from the drunkards
awful fate and deepest degradation), is adj
equate to the task of describing the horrors
| of "delirium tremensn-the lamentable
| fate of the ruined, miserable drunkard
That man, endowed with reason, possess
| ing an immortal mind, should degrade
| himself in such manner, and by such
| means, and sink himself to such depths of
| degradation and infamy-to level with
| the brute, AYE, infinitely lower,) where
| the traits of the man are scarcely recog-
| nizable, stifie all the noble aspirations of
| his nature, and reel through that combina-
ton of horrors, delirium tremefs,n into
drunkard's hell-is something. that per-
| haps the logic of a Bacon could explain,
but i, at least, am unable to solve the
mystery. But, incomprehensible as it is,
it cannot be disputed that such is the la
mentable fact, and he who would attempt
to refute that which is as plain as the noon
day sun, would exhibit folly equal to that
once displayed by the celebrated DIR. Sam
Johnson, who ,persistently arguing with
result of imagination, and argument hav-
| ing utterly failed to convince him of the
absurdity of his position, the eccentric
| Dow resOrted to an unanswerable specimen
of practical logic. By making the Doctor
the unwilling recipient Of q burned shin he
compelled him to confess that heat, at
least, is reality, and not entirely imag-
mary.
Among the first reasons we wish to pre-
sent why the use of alcoholic liquors
should be dispensed with is, their immense,
| enormous cost to the consumers.
| 1t is ascertained from data as unerring
as Custom House books, and even from
the declarations of manufacturers of ardent
spirits, that 60,OO0,000 gallons of liquid
poison are annually consumed by the citi-
zens of the United States. The people OF
the United States, according to Commits
sioner Wells, swallowed by retail in a sim
gle year 81 ,573, ,491 ,S65 worth of ardent
spirits. This is the direct cost of single
year, in which poverty has been general
throughout the country. Indirectly the
cost has been immeasurably greater. 1t is
summed up in blighted hopes, saddened
homes, ruined fortunes, broken hearts,
crime, debauchery, degradation, dishonol
and death. Every prison in the land cries
out against this giant evil every pool
house is filled with its Victims every in
sane asylum has its raving maniacs; every
gallows " its tale of ruin tells" Yes, so il
is; and now we are officially informed
that our country, boasting its civilization
and Intelligence, drinks 81 ,573, ,49l ,S65 worth
of this poison in a single year. Think Of
that! Sl,573, ,491 ,S65 annually expended in
christian land, by christian people, anC
great God! for such a purpose-for thai
liquid "whose touch is poison, and whose
sting is death ~
We are free! We are christians! w,
are civiliZed!l ! This is freedom-freedOn
to compass our ruin in the shortest tim,
and by infallible agencies. This is civil
zation with vengeance. In the name o
common sense, is this christianity? W.