The Lake County star., 1877-06-07
Abstinence From Alcoholic
Stimulants.
by Nat. Davidson.

| Iuo IoCt tuaS U0cy W0IV OO1 prOvlOoO ID
the Natural Economy, They. gre the
essencS Of food but not food itseh, The
Creator made man Is the last and best
Of His works, we are told male and
female created he him, y showing that
either l.t sex, 9f itself u y e. less ~ = than e per
no provision made for unnatural or
artificial stimulsnts. They were not
Economy Of nature provided for the
extraction of the necessary quantity of
stimulants to keep up healthy circu-
lation of the blood, from the food taken
into the stomach, by means Of the d.
gestive apparatus. IL designed NO
other method Of stimulation. Natures
laws thus assert that ,this Is all that is
necessary to the full and perfect de-
velopment Of the physical and mental
man. This quantity is designed TO
preserve the desired equilibrium OF
Judgment and discretion 90 requisite
t. success In life. The infusion of q
greater quantity than this tends to
Over-action. It tends to initiate, to
magnify, to exaggerate. We all know
that to over-d0 Is to defeat the purpose.
Hence, In the selection Of agents,
counsellOrs, clerks, assistants, or even
servants, how careful are we to obtain
those Of temperate habits. We want
them all to be discreet and wise in
their stations. Not one among us will
knowingly intrust any important affair
to an inebriated, or to u drinking
sgent or servant. And this fact Is the
most powerful, silent testimony against
the use Of artifcia. stlmulants. It Is
both universal and decisive. We use
the word artificial advisedly and iii-
tentiOnally because we wish to- d.s-
cr.miRate between the natural and nu-
tritiOus stmulants extracted from the
food we eat and those distilled from
cereals and vegetables by artificial
means. The former are healthful and
necessary, but the latter are forced into
the stomach in violation of all natures
laws. They poison the blood. craze
the brain, and make of man demon.
But now, I shall be asked, II spirits
are the essence of bread, why not take
them into the stomach IN that form In
preference to taking them initheir
coarse state? Simply because taken
In the form Of an essence they enter
into the blood In q poisonous form and
while they stimulate the digestive
organs into w0ndrous activity, affords
them no employment. Hence, arise
numerous cases Of dyspepsia. This Is
an unnatural and Injurious form of
taking nourishment. Spirits furnish
muscle and tissue. They fatten with
1t gathers around the heart, lungs and
enlargement of the latter similar to
tnn aA n hxy<
ming. Again, spirits taken IA q bever-
age, are az once taken up by the alb
sOrbents, enter into and poison the cir
culation by which In turn they are
/ transmitted to the brain. Here begins
their devilish work. Their tendency
is to magnify every thing. II you
fancy yourself getting rich, your brain
under the influence of these stimu.
lants soon teens with untold millions.
II you are In u place of authority or
power, you imagine you have the
"world In sling" and would not
thank the Presidentto be your uncle.
II you have been tempted to commit
any peccadillo or even crime but
have lacked the requisite, reckless
courage, these stimulants are pretty
sure to furnish 1t.
1t 1t is clear that the only natural
and consequently wholesome way Of
receiving stimulants into thesystem is
through the stomach and the digestive
organism, then 1t follows thrt every
time we imbibe artificial stimulants,
we commit a glaring outrage upon
tie perfect "Temple Of God" Man Is
Gods earthly temple. He is endowed
with the highest moral and physical
attributes that are delegated to the an
imal kingdom. According to Natures
laws all such outrages are drafts upon
the future which must be paid at ma
turity. They are abuses Of Natures
laws, and are committed In defiance of
the prescribed rules of health. The
inevitable consequence IA, abbreviation
Of days, and impairment Of their use
fulness. What right have we to thus
desecrate this beautiful temple which
has been placed in our charge? We
have been constituted Z" free moral
agents." and endowed with know
ledge of good and evil. We know the
right. If we pursue the wrong we
alone are responsibie; we have no
right to be Influenced by the examples
and opinions OF others upon this SUBJ
ject; we must each abstain from in
diligence in artificial stimulants for
ourselves no one else can do It for US.
There Is no virtuein abstaining simply
because we cannot get the material
with which to gratify our, appetites.
The child Will never learn to 60 alone
while 1t has some one to carry 1t, or to
stand by itself while 1t has some one to
lean upon. So the drunkard willnev.
er stop drinking 30 long az all the
blame Is made to rest upon the seller,
Io L. <<1.l l,t. - xlo
that he cannot control his own appe-
indulgence is his sin. He must be
and not that Of his family. He must
disgrace both to himself and his limo.
cent family. And this can be brought
about only through the female influ-
ence of the period. That influence can
frown down the foolish, weak and sui
cidal practice Of drinking stimulants.
Mrl. Hayes has set a noble example In
this respect. 1t Is worthy the emula-
lation Of all the women In the land. IF
all would follow her atonce, the LIQUOR
traffic would cease in three months to
be profitable, and In one year our courts
would have little criminal business to
transact, our poolhouses" a1d work.
houses and asylums and prisons would
gradually be depleted of their confer
All know these facts. They are as
familiar as household words. And yet
we excuse the tippler. we temp0fixe
with the vice, we pity the victim, we
lie about the cause Of his illness, we
call his disease anything but rum,
when we know II was just that, and
nothing else; and finally when he
dies, we say, "poor fellow! he was his
own worst enemy ~ instead or de-
houncing him as weak and cowardly
suicide, who little by little destroyed
and blotted out the g0dhke qualities
with which nature endowed him, and
having debased himself below the level
of the brutes that PERISH, stalked un-
invited into the presence Of the dread
eternal, shorn Of All those divine at
Tributes which had rated him but
little lower than the angels.v This
practice attaches no disgrace to the life
Of the tippler or the death Of the drunk