The weekly Panola star. [volume] (Panola, Miss.) 1857-1881, 1871-01-28
What VIII you Drink T.
ely REV. THO D. crYtER

.BY REV. THO. D. CrYLER
"WuAr will you drink" This Is the rs.
tahllshcd formula pow In divers places
from the gentleman's dining table down to
the bar Of a country tavern ON town meet
ing day. Tipping is on the increase. The
use of alcoholic medicines is on the in
crease. The wine bottle is slyly stealing
back again into certain circles from which
II was once banished, and Bourbon Is be-
coming as common In siCk-rooms as pare.
goric used TO be IN our nurseries. Half of
the customers Of the restaurants, at least,
call for liquors every day at their dinner,
As a natural result, diseases Of the kid
neys are increasing in frequency, brandy
favored brcaths are detected in cars and In
nearly every crowd, and drunkenness "a
gr0lc{agJr{gbtfaNy! The number of those
who are rescued from the terrible habit and
restored to sobriety cannot be more than
one out of every twenty.
There are many causes for this dcplora.
Bile growth Of the drinking usages. And
one of these is the current falsehood that
alcoholic stimulants are positively bene-
fetal In spite Of the solemn declaration
of Gods Word that wine IL a mocker,
strong drink is raging; whatsoever Is dc.
ce}Ced thereby Is not wise" there are mil
lions who insist that strongdrink strength
ems them, and that whisky is q nourisher
as well rs a pleasant stimulant. Within
three years q plausible little volume has
been published by n Cambridge professor
TO prove that men "0Hght to smoke and
ought to drink yinous and fcrmented
liquors. These decisions are spreading,
too, in face Of the awful fact that we can
hardly walk u dozen squares in any Of our
towns without meeting men reeling at
MONDAY in the open %streetsl
To this current dtlusion that alcoholic
drinks do more good than evil " we re-
ply in plain, blunt Saxon, IT Is A LIE.
Not only daily observation of the fearful
effects Of strong drink, but the most accu
rate modern science, p%ronounces ita lie. If
careful scientific investigation has ever
established anything, it has established the
following positions
o. Alcoholic liquors are nowhere found
in Nat8ge. God never created them,
They are the artificial product of fer.
mented or decdyod vegetable articles.
Corn meal when baked in a loaf of bread
nourishes the same meal when r0ttai In
the vat of n distillery poisons and kills.
(2) Alcohol Is not a true food. II
neither warns nor sustains the human
body. A man in the Arctic regions who
should drink freely of brandy would freeze
to death sooner than If he drank coffee or
even water. Alcohol is never transformed
In the human system, and 1t does not in
crease the production of animal heat by Its
own chemical action. 1t tnterferes mM ali.
m%entation. 1t dcranges and destroys the
digestive organs. Yet thousands of de.
luded people arc swallowing doses Of gin,
whisky and wine every day Under the hon.
est but Ignorant supposition that these
stimulating draughts help them TO digest
their dinners. Men will even cling 10
this destructive lie long after their stom.
achs have become burnt out by their fiery
potations.
49, Alcoholic drinks do not increase
permanently the muscular tone and power
of the drinker. 1hey lessen the muscular
power. When Tom Sayers, the famous
pugilist, was asked IL he did not use plenty
Of ale and porter while in trimming for his
prize fights, he replied IL am no teeto.
iiiul ! Oli, UftfN 4 HfbG DHdfHtS0 UH HUHU
there IL nothing like cold water and the
dumb bells" After his last prize fight he
took to hard drinking, in spite Of his own
convictions of the bad effects of alcohol,
and became a powerless sotl Weston, the
pedestrian, once told me that nothing was
so fatal to his success when walking for a
wager as even the moderate use Of wine or
whisky. Strong drink produces a tempo.
rary excitement Of the brain and the ner.
vGus system, and for this reason PEOPLE
love it. But the soundest medical science
has ~conclusiyely proved that IL does not in
crease nervous influence. On the contrary,
1t disturbs and tedStes the vital forces. No
life insurance company will take a risk on
an habitual hard drinker.
a. Finally, alcohol Is an irrttant mar
cotic. Every healthy human frame rccog-
Mics it as a deadly enemy, and endeavors
to throw ii off. Instead Of warming us, IL
simply scorches instead of building us
up, IL pulls us down. II poisons the blood.
II poisons the brain. II strikes through,
and by its horrid sorcery it poisons the
very SOUL Yet. like all other narcotics,
II has the subtle power TO deceive and en-
slave the man who insanely swallows i'll
The blessed Creator of the human organism
never made alcohol. 1t is the muster piece
Of the DeoU, who taught men how TO brew
1t from the golden grain. At the last great
day Of reckoning, we firmly believe that IL
will be discovered that alcoholic drinks
have destroyed more bodies and damned
more souls than all the other tempters to
sin In The universal Before that just tri-
bunal of God. who toW envy the liquor sdlery
The pressing want of to day Is the en-.
%lightenmcnt Of the public mind and the
awakening Of the public conscience as TO
the real nature of intoxicating drinks. On
this great vital point hundreds Of pulpits
are strangely and criminally silent If
strong drink is filling hell with its victims,
how can any minister Of God hold his
peaceg
And when the pulpit speaks, or the plat
form speaks, the encouragement against
the bottle is the argument from science.
We do not underrate the moral argument.
We do not esteem lightly the tremendous
utterances of Gods Word against the cup
that "biteth like the adder" But there Is
no argument against alcoholic drinks more
unanswerable than that law Of God written
on our bodies which forbids US 10 touch
the fatal poison. At every temperance
meeting this argument should be brought
into the foreground.
As we close, we are reminded that New
Years Day Is approaching. In thousands
of houses the formula Of hospitality will
be, 'eWhat will you drink" Before this
question Is asked, we beg leave TO suggest
another ore " What will you offers' If
you will persist In offering poison, then
pin this text on your refreshmcnt table
aWoe unto him who giveth his ncighbor
drink, who puttcth the bottle 10 him, md
maksth him drunken, --fadspenden'.