The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1882-02-17
INGERsOLL.s SPEECH TO A JURY

Col. Robert G. Iugersoll was employed not
long since in a case which involved the man
ufacture of ardent spirits, and in his speech
to the jury he used the following language
al am aware that there is great prejudice
against any man engaged in the manufacture
of alcohol. believe from the time it issues
from the coiled and poisonous worm in the
distillery until it empties into the hell of
death, dishOnor and crime, that it is demor-
alizing to everybody that touches it, from the
source to where it ends. l do not believe
that anybody can comprehend 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 sui
/ cides, of the insanity, of the poverty, of the
I destruction, of the little children tugging at
J the breasts Of weeping and despairing wives,
asking for bread, of the men of genius it has
/ wrecked, Of the struggling with imaginary
serpents produced by this devilish thing and
when you think Of the jails, of the aims
/ houses OF the asylums, of the prisons and of
/ the scaffOlds on either side, do not wonder
/ that every thoughtful man is prejudiced
! against this vile stuff called alcohol. Intem-
/ perance cuts down youth in its viEor, man
D
/ "It breaks the fathers heart, bereaves the
/ doting mother, extinguishes the natural af-
/ fection, erases conjugaI love, blots out filial
attachment, and blights parental hope. and
/ brings premature age in sorrow to the grave
I 1t produces weakness not strength sick
ness, not health death, not life. 1t makes
wives widows, children orphans, fathers
! fends and ali paupers. 1t feeds rheumatism
nurses gout, welcomes epidemlcs, embraces
consumption, invites cholera, Imports pesti-
/ lences, covers the land with misery, idleness
and crime. It engenders controversies, fOs-
ters quarrels, and cherishes riots 1t crowds
your penitentiaries and furnishes victims to
the scaffold. It is the blood of the gambler
the element Of the burglar. the prop OF the
highwayman and the support of the mid
night incendiary. It countenances the lar,
respects the thief, esteems the blasphemer
It violates obligations, reverences fraud,
hates love, scOrns innocence and virtue.
cit incites the father to butcher the help
less offspring and Ehe children to grind the
parricidal AK. 1t burns up men, consumes
women, detests life, curses God and despises
heaven. It stubborns witnesses, nurses per
fidy, defiles the jury box. and stains the iu-
dicial ermine. 1t bribes voters, dlsqualihes
votes, corrupts elections and endangers the
government. 1t degrades the citizen. debases
the Legislature, dishonors the statesman and
disarms the patriot
ut brings shame, not honor terror, not
safety despair. not hope misery, not hap
piness and with the malevolence Of fiend
calmly surveys its frightful desolatlOn, and
unstaiued with havoc, It wipes out national
honor, then curses the world and lanchs at
its ruin. It does mOre-it murders the soul.
1t Is the sum of all viilainies the father of
all crimes the mother OF all denominations,
the devils beat friend and Gods worst en-
emy."