Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1871-09-14
Women and Wine,

with wine without disgrace and dis
aster. The toast and the bacchanal
that, with musical ALTERATION, couple
these two words, spring from the hot
lips of sensuality, and are burdened
with shame. A man who can sing OF
wine and women in the same breath,
is one whose presence is disgrace,
and whose touch is pollution. A man
who can forget mother and sister, or
wife and daughter, and wantonly en-
gage in revel in which the name of
woman is invoked to heighten the
pleasures of the intoxicating cup, is,
beyond controversy and without nit
igation, a beast. "Dost thou think,
because thou art virtuous, there shall
be no more cakes and ale2" Ay.
cakes and ale, if you will, but let it
be cakes and ale. Let not the name
by which we call the pure and pre-
cious ones at home be brought in to
illuminate a degrading feast.
OF the worst foes that woman has
ever had to- encounter, wine stands
at the head. The appetite for strong
drink in man has spoiled the lives of
more women ruined more hopes for
them, scattered more fortunes for.
them, brought to them, more shame,
sorrow. aud hardShip-than any other
,ril that lives. The country numbers
tens Of ,houSsnds-nay, hundreds of
thousands OF women who are widows
,d~day. and sit III hopeless weeds, be-
c,ause their husbands have been slain
Ly strong drink. There are hundreds
OF thousands Of homes, scattered all
over the land, in which women live
.lves of torture, thronghall theehanges
OF suffering that lie Between the ex-
rremes of fear and despair, because
those whom they love, love wine bet
rer 7hAn they do the omen they
have sworn 10. leve There are wo-
tnen iy thousands: who dread &c hear
ii the door the step ,iia, once thrilled
them with pleasure, because:that step
has learned to reel under the inAu-
ence of the seductive poison. There
are women groaning with pain, while
we write these words, from bruises
and brutalities inflicted by husbands
made mad by drink. There can be
no exaggeration in any statement
made in regard to thismatter, because
no human imagination can create
anything worse than the truth, and
no pen is capable Of portraying the
truth. The sorrows and the horrors
of wife with a drunken husband
OF a mother with a drunken son, are
as near the realization of hell as can
be reached in this world, at least.
The shame, the indignation, the sor-
row, the sense Of disgrace for herself
and her children, the poverty,-and
not unfrequently the beggary,-the
fear and the Let of violence, the lin
gering, lifelong struggle and despair
Of countless women with drunken
husbands, are enough to make all wo-
men curse wine, and engage unitedly
to oppose it everywhere as the worst
enemy of their sex. 80,
Woman, there aresome things that
you can do, and this is one: you can
make drinking unpopular and dis
graceful among the young. You can
utterly discountenance all drinking
in your own house, and you can hold
in suspicion every young man who
touches the cup. You know that no
young man who drinks can safely be
trusted with the happiness OF any
woman, and that he is as unftsas a
man can befor woman s society. Have
this understood: that every young
man who drinks is socially prescribed,
Bring up your children to regard
drinking as not only dangerous but
disgraceful. Place temptation in no
mans way. If men Will make beasts
of themselves, let tn IN do it in other
society than yours. If your merce-
nary husbands treat their customers
from private storeskeptintheir count
ing-rooms, shame them into decency
by your regard for the honor of your
home. Recognize the living, terrible
fact thai wine has always been, and
is ;o-dav, the cnrse OF your sex; that
II stea. .e hearts of men away from
Y "a. that ii dries ny your prosperity,
At : -mlongers your safety, that it
t oaly bring you evil. II social
rls;om compeIS yen to present wine
Il YOU :easts. rebel against it, and
lake Soci;.l custom in.;he interests
of virtue aud parity The matter is
WY m i. it go''r own lands. The
ineil O. de aou ny, in what is
.tiel .oii,e society. can do more to
ike be nation temperate than all
AZ .eg.s:,;;prs aud tumultuous rcfor-
arg ri.at are struggling and blunder-
z IN th-ir efforts this end.-Scrib-
,.r's Monthly