The Lambertville record. [volume] (Lambertville, N.J.) 1872-1968, 1881-04-13

Colonel r. G.. Ingersoll, in speaking to a
jury in a case which involved the manufacture
Of alcohol, used the following eloquent Ian
guage:
am aware that there Is prejudice against
any man engaged In the manufacture of alco-
hol. believe that from the time 1t issues
from the eoiled and poisonous worm In the
distillery until it empties into the hell of
death, dishonor and crime, that 1t demoralizes
everybody that touches ii, from its source to
whore 1t ends. / do not believe anybody can
contemplate the subject without becoming
prejudiced against that 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 poverty,
of the ignorance, Of the restitution of tho
little children tagging at the faded and weary
breasts Of weeping and despairing wives, ask
ing for bread of the talented men of genius
that it has wrecked, the men struggling with
imaginary serpcnts, produced by the devilish
thing and when you think of the jails, of
the alms.houses, of the asylums, of the prisons,
wonder that every thoughtful man Is preju-
diced against this damnable stuff that is called
alcohol. Intempemnce cuts down youth in
lis vigor, manhood IN its strength, and age Ia
its weakness. 1t breaks the fathers heart,
bcreaves the doting mother, extinguishes ma
turai affections, grasses copiugal love, blots
out filal attachment, bligh,s 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 fends,
and all of them paupers aud beaRars II feeds
rheumatism, nurses govt, Welcomes epidemics,
invites cholera, imports pestilence and en-
braces consumption. 1t covers the land with
idleness, misery and crime. 1t fills your jails,
supplies your aims houses and demands your
asylums. 1t engenders 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 element of the burglar, the prop Of the
highwayman and the support Of the midnight
incendiary. 1t countenances the liar, respects
the thief, esteems the blasphemer. 1t violates
obligations, reverences fraud, aud honors in
fanny. 1t .defames benevolence, hates love,
scorns virtue, and ISLANDERS innocence. 1t in
cites the father tn butcher his helpless off
spriug, helps the husband to massacre his
wife, and the child to grind the parrcdal axe
1t burns up men, consumes women, detests
life, curses God aud despises heaven. 1t
suborns witnesses, nurses perjury, defiles the
jury box and stains tie judicial ermine. 1t
degrades the citizen, debases the legislator,
dishonors the statesman and disarms the pa
triot. 1t brings shame. not honor terror,
not safety; despair, not hope misery, not
happiness and with the malevcience of a
fiend, it calmly surveys its frigbtful desola-
ton, aud, unsatsiied with its havoc, it poi
sons felicity, kills peace, ruins morals, blights
confidence, Stays reputation and wipes out
National honors then curses the world and
laughs at its ruin. 1t does all that and more
lit murders the soul. 1t is the son of all
viIlauies, and the father Of all crimes, the
mother of denominations, tho devils best
friend, and Gods worst euemy.