Shepherdstown register. [volume] (Shepherdstown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1849-1955, 1886-04-09
IngersOli on alcohol.

The following beautiful language Is
an extract from a legal speech made by
Colonel Robert Ingersoll:
81 am aware there is prejudice
against any man engaged in the manu-
facture of alcohol. | believe from the
time it issues from the coiled and pol
sonous worm in the distillery until 1t
empties into the hell of death, dishonor
and crime, that it is dcmoralizing TO
everybody that touches it, from the
source to where it ends. | do not be-
lieve that anybody can contemplate the
subject without being prejudiced against
the crime. All we have 10 do Is to think
of the wrecks on either side of the
stream of death, of the suicides, of the
insanity, of the poverty, of the destruc-
ton, of the little children tugging at the
breast of the weak and despairing wives
asking for bread, of men of genius it has
wrecked, the men struggling with i'm
aginary serpents produced by this dey-
ilish ching; and when you think OF the
jails, of the aims houses, of the asylums,
of the ptisons, of the scatfolds Oh either
hand, | do not wonder that every
thoughtful man is prejudiced against
this vile stuff called alcohol. lntemper-
ance cuts down youth in its vigor, man
hood in its strength, and age in its
weakness.
II breaks the fathers heart, bereaves
the doting mother. extinguishes natural
affection, erases conjugal love, blots
out filial attachments, blights parenta !
hope and brings premature age in sor-
sow to the grave. 1t produces weak
ness. not strength; sickness, not health;
death, not life. 1t makes wives Wild
ows, children orphans, fathers hends,
and paupers. 1t feeds rheumatism,
nurses gout, welcomes epidemics, ln-
vites cholera, imports pestllence, ana
embraces consumption. 1t covers the
land with misery, idleness and crime.
1t engenders controversies, fosters
ouarrels. and cherishes riots. Ii crowds
your penitentiaries and furnishes VIC
tins 10 the scaffold. 1t is the blood of
the gambler, the element OF the burg
lar, the prop of the highwayman, and
the support of the midnight incendisry.
II countenances the liar, respects the
thief, esteems the blasphemer. 1t yio-
lates obligations, reverences fraud, hon.
ors infamy. 1t defames bencvolence,
hates love, scorns virtue and innocence.
1t invites the father to butcher his help
less offspring, and the child to grind the
patriarchial axes. 1t burns up men,
consumes women, detests life, curses
God, and despises heaven. 1t suborns
witnesses, nurses perfidy, defiles the
Jury box, and stains the judicial ermine.
II bri5es voters. disqualiiies votes, cor
rupts elections, pollutes our institutions.
and endangers the government. 1t de-
grades the citizen. debases the legisia-
tor. dishonors the statesman, and dis
arms the patriot. 1t brings shame, not
honor; terror, not safety; despair, not
hope; misery, not happiness; and with
the malevolence of a fiend, calmly sur
veys its frightful desOlatiOn, and unsat-
i,fied with havoc, it pOisOns felicity,
kills peace. ruins morals, wipes out
national honor, then rurses the world,
and laughs at lis ruin. 1t does that and
sore-it murders the soul. Ii is the
sum of all viIlainies, the father Of crimes,
the mother Of all abomination, the dew
IFS best friend, and Gods worst en-