The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1877-04-21

Sob lESCrEoH on Temperance.
au aware that there ia prejudice
sgRins. any man engaged in the manutRc.
ture Of alcohol. ! believe,
gentlemen, to a certain extent, it demon.
allies those who sell It and those who
drink it. believe from the time it Issues
from the poisoned and coiled worm in
the distillery until it empties into tho
hell Of death, dishonor and crime, that it
demoralizes everybody that touches it
from It's source to where it ends. l do not
believe anybody can contemplate the sub.
icct without becoming prejudiced against
that liquor crime. All we have to do,
gentlemen, is to think Of the wrecks on
either bank OF the river OF death, OF the
suicides, the insanity, Of the poverty, Of
tho ignorance, Of the destitution, OF the
little children tugging at the faded
breasts OF weeping and despairing wives,
asking for bread, OF the men OF genius it
has wrecked, the men struggling with
imaginary serpents produced by this dev-
ilish thing; and when you think OF the
jails, Of the aims houses, asylums, OF the
prisons, Of the scaifolds upon either bank,
I do not wonder that every thoughtful
man is prejudiced against the damning
stuffthat is called alcohol.
Intcnperancc cuts down youth in its
vigor, manhood in its strength, and in its
weakness. 1t breaks the iather'a heart,
bereavea tho doting mother, extinguishes
natural sfiection, grasses conjugal love,
blotS out tilial attachment, blights paren.
tai hope, and brings down mourning age
IN sorrow to the grave. 1t produces
weakness, not strength; sickness, not
health; death, not life. 1t makes wives
widows, children orphans, fathers iiends,
and all OF them pRupers and beggars. It
feeds rheumatism, nurses govt, welcomes
0pidemics, Invites cholera, imports pesti-
leuCe, and embraces consumption. II
covers the land with idleness, poverty,
disease and crime. 1t fills your iaiis,
supplies your almshouses, and demands
your asylums. 1t engendcrs controver.
sizes, fosters quarrels, and cherishes riots.
II is the liio.blood OF the gambler, the
element OF the burglar, the prop OF the
highwRyman, and the support OF the
incendiary. 1t countenances the liar,
respects the thief, and esteems the
blasphemcr. 1t violates obligations, rev.
eEences fraud and honors iniamy. 1t
deiamea bcnevolence, hates love, scorns
virtue, and slandOrs innocence, 1t in
Cites the father to butcher his helpless
,H.Nr;p, holn, hushouJ, "a u,,s,o,r,
wives, and helps the child TO grind the
pariCidal axe. Il burns up men, con.
sumes women, detesta life, curses God
and despiseS heaven. It subborns wit
uesses, nurses perjury, deliles the jury
boz, and judicial erminc. Itbribes votes,
Inequalities voters, corrupts olechonsHol.
Iutes our institutions and endGngers our
Government. It degraded the citizen,
debases our legislature, dishonora the
statesman and dpsrms the patriot. II
brings shame, not honor; terror, not
saiety, despair, not hope; misery, not
safety; despair, not hope; misery, not
happiness; and with the maleyolenco OF 4
teud, it calmly surveys its irightful desc.
lation, and, unsatiated with havoc, it
poisons felicity, kills peace, ruins morals,
blights confidence, Stays reputation, and
wipes out national honor, then curses the
world and laughs e. tho ruin, Il does all
that and more-it murders the soul. IT
is the spm Of all villairieq, the father Of
all crimes, the mother OF all sbomina.
tions, tho devils beat friend and Gods
worst Ouemy.