Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1883-01-23
NO 49,.


of hfe. The successive stages in the devel-
opment of every organism present abundant
instances of this rule The embryo of every
organism resembles the embryo of the parent,
and the successive characters assumed at
successive stages appear at the same stage in
the new being as they appeared at in the old"
5. "When the same attribute appears in
several generations, but is not congenital, II
may appear at an earlier age in each success
sive generation. Darwin says, 1T is remark
able that all the diseases arising from drink
ing spirituous or fermented liquors are liable
to become hereditary, even to the third gen.
Grafton; gradually increasing, if the cause be
continued. till the family becomes extinct.
4. attributes pertaining to one parent are
sometimes transmitted to the offspring of the
opposite sex only, Thus the wife of drunken
husband may give birth to a son, who will
losthe his father and his habits"
5. "The attributes peculiar to one parent
may be most apparent at one period OF the
life of the offspring, and those of the other at
another
6. From the possession by the offspring of
one attribute peculiar to one parent. we may
infer the possession of other attributes Pc
culiar to the same parent"
And the early Romans well knew the con-
stitutional effect of ardent spirits, or wine Gas
they called everything which would intoxicate
by that name, on themselves and on their
children. And for this reason. '(the transmits
sion of organism. the Roman law forbid the
use of wine to all females below 80 years Of
age, and TO all young men below 80 years Of
age And Bacchus, who was the god of lust
and wine, and the patron Of drunkenness and
debauchery, is represented as an effeminate
youth. with long hair. In one hand he holds
goblet. in the other a bunch of grapes and
a short dagger, fit emblems of weakness and
rashness. And this is nothing new, for we
learn from Genesis, 30th chapter. the effect
of maternal impressions so,indelibly implant.
ed on the minds of the lower order of man.
malta and this being true. what must be the
effect of impressions on the superior mental
power of man, and his superior. woman.
Shall our children cease from the face of
the earth; our inheritance and name pass
away forever; for the sake of indulging this
unnatural appetite? Let me illustrate my
meaning. Who, in his youth. has not
watched the eagle IL his flight, until the king
of birds became mere point, indistinct in
the clouds? Who has not admired him
''soaring in sublime dominion through the
azure depth of air?' Who has not felt that
the eagle is in his own proper element; that
he was made to fly upward. with his wings on
the wind and his eve on the sun? But how
swoop down from his high position upon
some serpent kissing in the vale below, and
then fly away with the poison to his young.
The eagle, perhaps, may tear the snake with
impunity, but the eaglets in the eyrie cannot
escape the venomous bite of the viper.
SO with man, so long as he is true to the
object of his creation. so long as his course
is onward and upward so long Is he worthy
our admiration. But the moment he goes
down into the valley of drunkenness and
death, only shame and sorrow can result.
Then the whole family is in peril, the viper
is in their midst and when least expected.
the children shall be smitten, their eyes shall
dim, their brain shall reel, their strength
shall fail and they shall pass from the memo
ry of men. Thus we may wing our children
with education, plume them with all the pol
sh of modern society, travel them in all
lands, yet, mark you, if either parent is ad-
dicted to the use of intoxicating drink, in the
time of temptation they will fall.
No arm in the day Of the conflict could wound him,
Though war launched her thunder In fury to kill;
But the demon lntemperance in the grog shop has
And stretched him in death by the worm Of the
still.
O. sir, could you but listen as have to
the a9onizing prayer Of woman, her heart
crushed in despair. the light of hope almost
gone out, lifting her hands to God beseech-
ing Him in his infinite mercy to prevent her
from cursing the earth with any more
drunken children; could you know the
despair which drives her to the secret work
of the abortionist; increasing, the number a.
is estimated bv physicians throughout the
State, over 1000 feticides annually in Maine,
could you but realize that hundreds of
mothers in their helpless degradation and
desperation prefer suicide rather than bring
forth ofsprings. borne with vice and crime
and the murderous thoughts Of the mother
stamped as indelibly on their minds as are
the features of the drunken father on the
face of the innocent child, could you but
comprehend that the Incorporate husband in
his sinful tall drags his wife from Paradise,
and causes all the woe of homes made
desolate and happiness banished; then would
your aid and encouragement be as remark
able as are your present inactiOn and in
difference reprehensible. For it makes no
difference to woman whether Adam fell in
Eden, or her husband or child fell in
dissipation; every sinful fall Of man drives
some Eve from Paradise.'
Mr.. Speaker: Many people, though
conscious of its evil effects, still tolerate the
liquor traffic for medicinal purposes. But
be assured, that it is the experience Of the
best educated physicians all around the
gl0De, tnat no me0lclnal agent, Whatever It's
name, ardent spirits, or otherwise, which
will break down. enervate and destroy the
life of a healthy human being, can be of any
possible benefit to the sick, though all the
moderate drinkers following in the steps Of
the drunkards, and all rum Doctors, by
whose prescription, perhaps, they first
acquired the appetite which led to drunken
ness should stand behind every license law.
shouting whiskey. whiskey. whiskey!.
The Gordian knot of intemperauce can
only be cut by allowing no liquors to be
manufactured which will intoxicate, except
alcohol, which will satisfy all the demands Of
art, and to teach in all our places of learn
ing the above law.
Listen to the report of DIR. II. M. Harlow,
the late superintendent Of the Maine Insane
Hospital. He says: '.Could the use Of alco-
hol, either as luxury or as medicine, be
stricken from the land, many room in our
lunatic hospitals would be vacated, and many
an ill to which flesh is heir, deprived of its
vitalizing power. In the animal economy,
alcohol is . monster hydra-headed evil, spend
ing its chief force upon the nerve centres,
and degrading every part of the vast neurotic
system. 1t should never be used in
health, and am persuaded after
many years of observation, that II
seldom does any permanent good even in
sick ness Thousands aro destrovod hv Ire