The Hartford herald. [volume] (Hartford, Ky.) 1875-1926, 1876-06-07
For the Hartford Herald
HISTORY OFINTEMPERANCE.

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besetting sin of Adams fallen race, the
sin that underlies all other sins. The
primeval command implies this, and
the facts of history prove it. Nothing
so thoroughly arouses the baser passions
ard fits men to become demons.
2. Noah and Lot, two otherwise good
men, caused the earliest record in the
Bible of the use of intoxicating drinks,
and of their own consequent degrade
ton. Then follow the cases of Nabal
and Elar, Amnon and Holofernes, who
lost their lives through drink. 1t was
a drunken multitude which Samson
destroyed at the time of his death.
David surprised and slew the Amale-
bites when carousing after their victory
at Ziklag. Benhadad was surprised
and slain with thirty-twO kings who
were drinking themselves drunk in the
pavilion. Belshazzar and his court
were in the hight of drunken carous-
al when David captured Babylon and
slew them. Many other instances
might begiven. The numerous threats
and the warnings against drink and
drunkenness in the Bible are also
proof of the prevalence of this sim
8. We can scarcely open the pages
of profane history without finding
some proof Of the common use of intox-
icating liquors. And yet the historian
rarely, if ever, speaks as though the
matter needed explanation. The liq-
uor and its effects We're only two IA
miliar, and even the traditions of men
hardly run back to the time when it
was not in common use.
4. The liquor of the ancients were
al fermented, but the alcohol in them
and its effects were the same as in
those of the present day, and what
they lacked in strength was often
made up in quantity. The Scytheans
not only drank deeply, but soaked
their garments in wine that they
might inbibe it through the skin. The
Romans in their later days gloried in
their wine, and in the quantities which
they could drink, and their grand
suppers ended in drunkenness. Philip
and Alexander were immense drink
ers-the latter offered prizes to those
who could drink the most, and at one
time thirty of the competitors killed
themselves outright.
3. Of the really fatal effects of the
drinks in smaller quantities We have
little direct proof. People in olden
times were not skilled in observing
diseases and their causes. 1t is GER
tain that some of their wines and
strong drinks did produce intoxicatiOn
"a serious brain disease. Evidently
some very potent deleterious influence
was at work on both body and mind.
The race had so deteriorated in the
time Of the Romans that the average
extent of life among the best class of
people was only thirty years. In an
other city, at later date, it went as
low as twenty-One years.
6. The average is much higher now,
and it is increasing. This state Of
things has been helped to some extent
by the increased comforts of civiliza-
ton; but it is a noteworthy fact that
the most rapid increase of the average
has taken place since the Temperance
movement has had time to tell upon
the health of the people.
Z. For ourselves we have hardly yet
begun to suspect how deeply We are
tainted by the centuries of alcoholic
poisoning to which our ancestors, near
and remote, have been subjected.
s. The results of the introduction Of
distilled liquors have not been so fatal
among civilized Christians as among
ignorant pagans. Their violent eff
fects alarm intelligent people, among
whom there has long been a continually
increasing number of abstainers. Ig-
norant people give themselves up more
readily to the decisions Of the drink
: and the delirium of intoxication. Con.
| sequently they have been swept of in
whole tribes, like for instance, the
North American Indians, the Sand
wich Islanders, the New Zealanders,
and some of the African tribes. Civ
ilization and intelligence lead to TEN
perance as naturally as the dawn pre-
cedes the day, though it seems neces
sary that the intelligence should b
aided by Christian conscientiOusness.
CONTINUED NEXT WEEK.
No Greek, Ky. ]. T. PENDER.
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