The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1879-11-27
BEob. fngarsoll On Alcohol.

4 2
Colonel Robert Ipgersoll was lately EN-.
plcyed ina case which involved the
manufacture of ardent spirits, and in his
speech to the jury he used the following
language:
ar am aware there Is q prejudice against
ap7 man engaged in the manufacture Of
alcohol. believe from the time it Issues
from tue coil and poisonous worm in the
distillery until it empties into the hell of
death, dishonor and crime, that it is de-
moralizipS to everybody that touches it,
from the source to where 1t ends. l do
not believe that anybody can contemplate
she sucject without being prejudiced
against the crime. All we have 10 do is
to think of the wrecks on either side the
stream ofdeath. of suicides, Of the insan.
ity, Of the poverty, of the destruction, of
the little children tuggiDg at the breast,
OF weeping and Departing wives asking
for bread. OF the man Of genius 1t has
wrecked, the man struggling with imagi.
nary serpents, produced by this deyilish
thing; and when yon think OF the jails,
of the alnshouse!, Of the asylums, Of the
bank, I do not wonder that every thought
tQt iltau 10 PLCjuuiCCG &lkAtnDb tHlu yhG
stuff called alcohol. Intempefance cuts
strength, and age in it's weakness. It
breaks The fathers heart, bereaves the
doting mother, extinguishes natural af.
fiction, grasses conjugal love, blots out
bliai attachment and blights parental
hope, and brings premature age In sorrow
to the grave. It produces weakness, not
al osatnnua haoltt, 6orfh
not life. I maj es wives widows, chill.
dren orphans, fathers flen6o, and paupers.
It feeds rheumatism, nurses gout, well
comes epidemics, invites choloTa, imports
peetilence, and embraces consumption. It
covers the land with misery, idleness and
crime. It engenders controversies, fos.
ters quarrols and cherishes riots. It
croHaas your penitentiaries and furnishes
victims TO the scafEold. It Is the blood
Of the gambler, the element of the bur-
glar, the prop of the highwayman, and
the support Of the midnight inccndiary.
It countenances the liar, respects
the thief, esteems the blasphemer. 1t
violates obligations, reverences fraud,
honors infamy. It defames beneyolenco
hates love, scorns virtue and innocence.
It incites the father to butcher his help
less offspring, and the child to grind the
parental. axe. II burns up men, con-
Humes women, detests life, curses God and
despises Heaven. 1t suborns witnesses,
nurses perldy, denies the jury box and
stains the judicial ermine. It bribes
voters, di5quhiifie5 votes, o0TrIpts eiac-
tions, polutes our institutions, and en-
dangers the Government. II degrades
the citizen, debases the legislator, dishon-
ora the statesman and disarrns the patri-
OF. It brings shame, not honor; terror,
not safety; despair, not hope; misery,
not happiness and with the manevolence
of fiehd, calmly surveys its frightful
desolation, and unsatisfed With havoc, il
poisons felicity, kills peace. ruins morals,
wipes out national honor, then curses the
world and laughs at its ruin. 1t does
that and more-it murders the soul. II
is the sum Of all villanies, the father of
crimes, the mother cf eli denominations,
the DEVILS best friend, and Gods worst
enemy.n