The comet. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1877-1882, 1881-01-22

/Col. Robert q. Ingersol, speaking
upon n ease which involved the man
ulncture of ardent spirits, said 10 the
jury:
/ am aware there is n prejudice
against any man engaged In the man
ufacture of alcohol. | believe from
the time IL issues from the coiled and
poisonous worm in the distillcry until
into the hell of death that IL Is demor-
aliZing to everybody that touches IL
from the source io where IL ends. ]
do not believe that anybody can con-
template the subject without being
prejudiced against the crime. All
they have to do is Ia think of the
wrecks on either side Of the stream of
death, of the suicides, of the insanity,
of the poverty, of the destruction, of
the little children. Juggling at the
breast, of weeping and despairing
wives asking for bread, of the men
struggling with imaginary serpents
produced by the devilish thing and
when you think of jails, of the aims
houses, of the asylums, of the scaffolds,
on either bank, l do not wonder that
every thoughtful man is prejudiced
against the vile stuff called alcohol.
Intemperance cuts down youth In its
vigor, manhood In its strength, and
age In its weakness. II breaks the
fathers heart, betrays the doting
mother, extinguishes natural afiec-
tion, grasses cOnjugal love, bIots out
filiai attachment, blights paternal
hope, and brings down mourning age
In sorrow TO the grave. IL produces
weakness, not strength sickness, not
health; death, not life. II makes
wives widows; children orphans
fathers fiends, and all of them paupers
and beggars. 1t feeds rheumatism,
nurses gout, welcomes epidemics, in
vites cholera. imports pestilence, and
embraces consumption. Ii covers the
land with idlcness, poverty, disease
and crime. II fills your Jails, supplies
your almshouses, and demands your
asylums IL engenders controversies,
fosters quarrels, and cherishes riots.
1t crowds your penitentiaries, and fur
nishes the victims to your scaffolds.
1t is the lifebiood of the gambler, the
alimeut of the counterfeiter, the prop
Of the highwayman, and the support
of the midnight incendiary. Ii count
tUduttS tut tistit EtrltttS tiit thitit
and esteems the blasphemer. II vio-
lates obligation, reverences fraud, and
honors infamy. Ii defames benevo-
lence, hates love, scorns virtue, and
ISLANDERS Innocence. Ii excites tie
father 10 butcher his helpless offspring,
helps the husband to massacre his
wife, and aids the child TO grind the
parracidal AK. II burns up man and
woman, dete sts life and
curses God, aud despises heaven. IL
suborns witnesses, nurses perjury, de-
flies the jury-box, and stains the judic-
ial ermine. IL bribes voters, disquali-
fies voters, corrupts elections, pollutes
our institutions, aud endangers our |
government. Ii degrades the citizen
delmses the legislator, dishonors the |
and disarms the patriot. |
IL brings shame, not honor; terror,
not safety despair, not hope misery, |
not happiness. And with the NAL
evidence of fiend, IL calmly surveys |
Its frightful desolations; aud, insatiat- /
ed with havoc, 1t poisons felicity, kills
peace, ruins morals, blighis confidence,
slays reputation, and wipes out
honor, then curses the world 4
and laughs at It's ruin.
It does all that and more. IL muir
lers the soul. IL j. the sum Of all
the father of crimes; the
mother of all abomination the curse
II fcurses; the devils best friend and,
iod's worst enemy.