Smyrna times., 1880-08-04
Ingersoll on Alcohol.

Col. Robert G.. lngersoll, who has been
denounced as an infidel, was lately em.
ployed in q case which involved the manu-.
tacture Of ardent spirits, and in his speech
to the jury he used the following language :
:" am aware there is a predudice
against any man engaged in the manufac.
ture OF alcohol. believe from the time il
ISSUES from the coil and poisonous worm of
the dlstlllery until it empties into the hell
OF death, dIsh0nOr and crime that it is de.
moraIizlng to every body that touches it
from the source to where it ends. | do
not believe that any body can contemplate
the subject without being prejudiced against
the crime. All we have to do is to think
OF the wrecks on either side of the stream
OF death, of suicides, of the insanity. of
the poverty, OF the destruction of the
little children tugsing at the breasts of
weeping and despalrlng wives asking for
bread, OF the men struggling with imagi.
nary serpents produced by it. When we
think OF the .jails Of the aims. house, of the
prisons and Of the scaffolds on either bank
| do not wonder that every thoughtful
man IS preludlced against this vile stuff
called alcohol. lntemperance cuts youth
IN Its strength, and age in its weakness. 1t
breaks the fathers heart, bereaves the
doting mother, extngushes natural effec.
ton, grasses conjugal love, blots out filial
attachment and blights parental hope, and
brings premature age in sorrow to the
grave. ltprOduces weakness, not strength,
sickness, not health, death, not life. 1t
makes wives widows, children orphans.
fathers fiends, and all paupsrs. 1t seeds
rhumatlsm, nurses gout, welcomes epidemic,
invites cholera, imports pestlence and en-.
braces consumption. 1t covers the land
with misery, idleness and crime. 1t en-.
genders controversies; it fosters quarrels
and cherishes riots. 1t crowds your peni.
tentaries and furnishes victims to the scat
fold. 1t is the blood of the gambler, the
element of the burglar, the prop of the
highwayman and the support of the mid.
nIghtlncendlary. 1t countenances the liar,
respects the thief, esteems the blasphemsr.
1t violates obligations, reVerences fraud,
fhonors infamy. 1t defames beneyolence,
hates love, scorns virtue and innocence. 1t
inctes the father to butcher his helDless
offspring, and the child to grind the paran
tai ak. 1t burns up men, consumes women,
detests life, curses God and despises heaven.
1t suborns witnesses, nurses perfidy, de.
tes the jury box and stains the judicial
ermine. 1t bribes voters. disquali6es voters,
corrupts elections, polutes our institu
tons, and endangers the government. 1t
degrades the citizen, debases the legislator
dishonors the statesman and disarms the
patriot. 1t brings shame, not honor; ter.
ror, not safety; despair, not hope; misery,
not happiness and with the malevOlence
of a find, calmly surveys its frightful desc.
lation, and unstained with havoc, it poisons
felicity, kills peace, ruins morals, whips out
national honor, then curses the world and
laughs at its ruin. 1t does that and more
it murders the SOUL 1t is the sum of all
villanies the father of crimes, the mother
of all denominations, the DEVILS best friend
and Gods worst enemvH