Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1881-04-16
AScathing DenunCiatiOn of Intern
Perance and its Causes.


Perance and its Causes.
Colonel r. G. Ingersoll, in speak
ing to a jury in a case which in
voIved the manufacture of alcohol
used the following eloquent lam
guage:
81 am aware that there is a
prejudice against any man engag-
ed inthe manufacture of alcohol.
| believe that from the time it is
sues from the coiled and poisonous
worm in the distillery until 1t empt-
les into the hell of death, dishOnOI
and crime, that it demoralizeS ev-
erybOdy that touches 1t, from its
source to where it ends. / do not
believe anybody can contemplate
the subject without becoming pre-
JUDGED against this liquor crime,
All we have to do, gentlemen, is
to think of the wrecks on either
bank of the stream of death /; of the
suicides, of the insanity of the
prOverty, of the ignorance, of the
restitution /; of the little children
Juggling at the faded and weary
breasts of weeping and despairing
wives, asking for bread of the tai
ented men of genius that it has
wrecked, the men struggling with
imaginary serpents, produced by
this deVilish thing /; and when you
think Ofthe jailS, of the almshouseS,
of the asyluIns, of the prisons, of
the scaffolds upon either bank, / do
not wonder that every thoughtful
man is prejudiced against the
damned stuff that is called alcO-
hol.
"Intemperance cuts down youth
in its vigOr, manhood in its
strength, and age in its weakness.
1t breaks. the father's heart, bereaVes
the dOting mother, eXtinguishes
natural affections, grasses cOnjugal
loves, blots out ilial attachments,
blights parental 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
fiends, and all of them paupers
and beggars. 1t feeds rheumatism,
nurses govt, welcomes epidemics,
invites cholera, imports pestilence
and embraces consumption.
SIT covers the land with idleness,
misery and crime. 1t fills your
jails, supplies your almshouses and
demands your asylums. II engen-
derS controversies, fosters quarrels
and cherishes riots. 1t crowds
your penitentiaries and furnishes
victims to your scaffolds. 1t is the
life blood of the gambler, the ele-
ment of the burglar, the prop of the
highwayman and the support of
the midnight incendiary.
ut cOuntenances the liar, re-
spects the thief, esteems the bias
phemer. 1t violates obligations,
r~eVerences fraud, and hOnOrs infa-
my. 1t defames beneVolence, hates
love, scorns virtue, and ISLANDERS in
nOcence. 1t incites the father to
butcher his helpless offspring,
helps the husband to massacre his
wife, and the child to grind the
paracidal axe. 1t burns up men,
consumes women, detests life,
curses God, and despises heaven.
i subOrnS witnesses, nurses perjury,
dehles the jury box and stains the
judicia lermine.
sit degrades the citizen, debases
the legislator, dishOnor statesmen,
and disarmes the patriot. 1t brings
shame, not honor ; terror, not safe
ty /; despair, not hope; misery, not
happiness ; and with thee manevo-
lence of a tiend, it calmny surveys
its frightful desolation, and, unsat-
isfied with its hayGc, it pOisons fe-
kills peace, ruins morals,
blights confidence, Stays reputation,
anu wipes out national honOrs,
then curses the world and laughs at
it's ruins. 1t does all that and
more-it murders the soul. 1t is
the son of villainies, the father of
all crimes, the mother of abomina-
tions, the DEVILS best friend and
Gods worst enemy"