Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1874-03-13
The Decisions OF Drink.
By DR.. J. G. HOLLAND.

tina; he who is deceived by wine, the mocker
and BY strong drink the raging, IS not wise:
The decisions of drink as old drink Itself,
and are as prevalent now as in solomon
time. There are men who honestly believe
that alcoholic drink is good for them yet
there is not one of them who would touch 1t
except as prescribed medicine, ii 1t were
not for its pleasant taste. The delusion
touching its healthfulness grows out OF the
desire to justify an appetite which may De
either natural or acquired. If man likes
whiskey or wine, he likes to think IT Is good
for him and he will take some pains to prove
that it is so, both to himself and others.
Now, it is poor stimulant. There Is not
so much nutriment in it as there Is IN a emp.
1t never added anything to the permanent |
forces of life and never can add anything.
Its momentary intensiication of force Is Il
permanent abstraction of force from the
drinkers capital stock. All artificial exelt-
ants bring exhaustion. The physicians know
this and the simplest mans reason Is quite
capable of comprehending it. If any man
supposes that daily drink, even in small
quantities is conductive to health he Is de-
luded Ii be possesses a sluggish temporal
ment, be may be able to carry his burden
without much apparent harm, but burden 1t
is, and burden it always will be.
After a man has continued q moderate
drinker long enough, then comes a change
a demand for more drink. The old guam
titv doesn't suffice. The powers which have
been insensibly undermined clamor, uncer
the pressure of business, for increased stImu-
LIANT 1t is applied, and the machine starts
off grandly; he feels strong, his form grows
portlv, and he works under constant pres
sure. New he Is in condition Of great
danger. but the delusion is upon him that
he Is in no danger at all. At last, however,
drink begins to take the place OF food. Hls
appetite grows feeble and ftful. He lives
on his drink, and, Of course, there l. but
one end to this-yiz:-Death 1t may
come suddenly through the collapse OF all
his powers. OF through paralysis, or 1t may
come slowly through atrophy and emaclatlon-
His friends see that he is killing himself, but
he cannot see it at all. He walks IN de-
fusion from his early manhood to his death
\ few weeks ago one of our city physl-
clans publicly read paper on the drinking
habits Of women. 1t was thoughtful pa
per. based On a thoughtful knowledge of
facts Ii ough; 10 have been OF great use to
those women Of the city who are exposed to
the dangers it portrayed. and especially to
tho~e.who have acquired the habits it con-
demnel. Soon afterwarl there appeared in
the columns Of daily paper protest from
writer who ought to be good deal more
intelligent ;han he Is. against the doctors
conclusions The health and physique of
the beer drinking Engli-h-woman were
rlaced over and azains, the health and phys
igile .f the water drinking American wo-
- ,-a.ra ,,f rho after The
man i Gcl5ded. /, Is not a year since Sir
Henri Thompson, one Of the most eminent
medical men in England man VIGOROUSLY
beyond the reach Of any purely Christian
Observation-Disclosures against the beer
drinking Of England on strictly sanitary
grounds. Our liteTatclr declares that the
EBrli>hwonan can outwalk her American
sister. That depends entirely upon the
period OF life when the task Is undertaken:
The typicai Englishwoman who has stood
by the beer diet until she Is more than forty
wears c,d, Is too fat to walk anywhere easl-
IL out OF doors or gracefully within
Durin. our late civil war this matter Of
drinking io- the healths sake was thorough
" tried \ stock of experience and o5Sery-
alton wa, acquired that ought 10 have lasted
for century Again and again, thousands
and thousands Of times. was it proved that
the maa who drank nothing was the better
man. lie endured more, he fought better,
he came out of the army healthier than the
man who crank. Nothing Is more easily
demonstrated than that the liquor used by
the two armies, among officers and men
alike. was an unmitigated curse 10 them
Il disturbed the brains and yitiated the coun-
els of the officers. and debilitated and de
moralized the men. Yet all the time the de-
fusion among officers and men was. that
there were both comfort and help IN wills
key.
The decisions Of drink are numbcrless
| but there is one which stands in the way OF
reform 50 decidedly that it needs decided
! treatment We allude TO the notion that II
| Is q nice thing - drink nice liquors or wines
at ones own home, TO offer them to one :
friends. and t. make them minister to good
fellowship at every social gathering. while
it is very different thing TO drink had
lquor in bad places, and in large quantities.
A.uan fall Of good wine feels that he has
rig. II to look with contempt upon the Irish
man who Is full of bad whiskey. 1t Is not
long time since the election Of a professor in
British university was opposed solely on
the ground that he never drank any wine
nor offered it 10 his friends; and when, by
small majority his election was effected, the
other professors decided not to recognize
! him socially. There are thus two men whom
these sticklers for wine despise-yiz; the
man who gets drunk on bad liquor, and the
man who drinks no liquor at all Indeed
| they regard the latter with a hatred or con-
tempt which they do not feel for the poor
drunkard The absolute luminosity with
! which men in society regard one who is con-
scientiously opposed to wine-drinking, could
! only surinr from a delusion in regard to the
4 real nature Of their own habits. The sensi-
tiveness Of these people on this subject, how
| ever. shows that they suspect the delusion
Of which they are the victims. They claim
to be on the side Of temperance. They dep
recate drunkenness, and really don't see
what i to be done about it. They wish that
men would be more rational in their enjoy
! ment Of the good things of the world, etc,
etc. but their eyes seem blinded 20 the fact
thai thew stand in the way of all reform.
The horrible drunkenness Of the larger cities
of Great Britain. with which no hell that
America holds can compare for q moment.
can never be reformed until the drinking
habits Of the English clergy and the English
rent,v are reformed. With eleyen-twelfths
4 Of the British clergy wine drinkers, and
water drinkers tabpoed in society, and social
| drinking the fashion in all the high life OF
the realm, the workman will stand by his
Gin. brutality will reign in its own chosen
| centres undi~turbed, and those centres VIII
| inc -easiuglv become what, 10 a frightful ez-
tent. they already are-festering sOres upon
! the L ldy social. and stenches in the noStrlls
Of the world
The abit@. neither Of Great Britain nor
America. will be improved until men of IN
irence IN every walk of life are willing to
dispense Wit, their drinking custom. Hun
dred~ OF Lqe'ish speaking men g 10 a
drunkarl'~ grave every year. There Is
NOT. iur ia eu.targ considerations a. they
relate I, tic moderate drinker, and surely
nothing in the pleasures OF the moderate
drinker. 20 mitigate this curse. 1t Is all a
delrsion. The water drinker is the healthy
man. and the happy man. Spirits, WINE,
beer. alcoholic beverages OF all sorts are
burden and a bane, and there is no place
where I good man can stand unshadOwed by
a fatal delusion except upon the sure ground
J nf total abstinence. Until that ground Is
taken. and held, by good men everywhere,
n. re can lie no temperance reform. The
Win, drinkers Of England and America have
| the : -hiskey-drinkers in their keeping.
| What do. they propose to do with them =
Scri5ncr-s Ter March
Tuz S,,v sE TwINs.-At a special
meeting Of he Philadelphia College
of Physicians ihe reSui = % w
twins were given. The suPposition that the
band connecting the wins was simply OF a
| AL ,,otrre has been '.eided in the mega