The weekly register. [volume] (Point Pleasant, Va. [W. Va.]) 1862-1909, 1886-04-07
Iage,.rIaoIl ! On AIcohol.

Colonel Robert Ingersoll was late
ly employed in case which in
yolyed the manufacture of ardent
spirits, and in his speech 10 II,
jury he used the following Ian.
guages
q am aware there isa prejudice
against any man engaged in The
manufacture Of alcohol / believe
from the time ii Issues from the
cuiled and poisonous worm in the
distillery until II empties into the
hell Of death; dishonor and crime,
that it is demoralising to every.
body that touches il, from the
source To where il ends. Ido moi
believe that anybody can conIsm,
plate the subject without being
prsiudiced against the crime. An
We have to do is to think of tie
greckson ei!hetside Of the stream
dfdeath, ofihe suicides ii ire III
sanity, Of the poverty, Of the de.
struction, Of the little children tug.
ging at the breas! Of weeping aud
despairing wives asking for bread,
Of men Of genius il has wrecked,
the men struggling With imaginary
serpents produced by this deyilish
thing; and when you think Of the
almshOuses, Of the asylums, Of the
prisons and Of the scaEvldon either
hand, | do not wonder that every
thoughtful man is prejudiced
against this vile stuff called alco.
hol. Intemperauce cuts down
youth in its vigor, manhood in It's
strength, and age in its weakness.
ut breaks the fathers heart, be.
reaves the doting mother, extin.
guishes natural affection, grasses
conjugal love, blots out filial at.
tachments, and blights parental
hope, and brings premature age in
sorrow 10 the grave. 1t produces
weakness, not strength; sickness,
not health; death, not life. II
makes wives widow, children or.
phans, fathers fiends, and all paup.
ers. 1t feeds rheumatism, nurses
gont, welcomes epidemics, invites
cholera, imports pestilence andem.
braces consumption, Itcoyers the
land with misery, iddleness and
crime. 1t engenders controversies,
fosters quarrels and cherishes riots.
II crowds yonr penitentiaries and
furnishes victims to the scafold-
1t is the blood Of the gambler
the element Of the burglar, The
prop Of the highwayman and The
support of the midnight incen
diary. It countenances the liar
respects the thief, esteems the bias
phemer 1t violates obligations
reverences fraud, honors infamy.-
1t defames benevolence, heats love,
scorns virtue and innocence. II
incites the father to butcher his
helpless offspring, and the child to
grind the paIricidal axe. II burns
up men, consumes women, detests
life, curses God and despises heav.
en-. 1t subotns witnesses, nurses
purfdy, defles the jury.box, and
stains the judicial crime. 1t brides
voters, disqualifes votes, corrupts
elections, pullules our institutions
aud eudangets the government
1t degrades the citizen, debases the
Legislator, dishonors the statesman
and disarms the patriot. Itbring,
shame, not honor; terror, not safety;
despair, not hope; misery, not hap.
piness; and with the maleyolenCe
of a dend, calmly surveys itsfrigh!.
ful desolation, and uusaliated With
havoc, it poisons felicity, kills
peace, ruins morals, wipes out ma
tional honor, then curses the worlG
and laughs at its ruin. 1t does
that and more-it murders The
soul. 1t is the sum of all villanics
the father Of crimes, the mother oi
all abOmination, the devils besl
friend, and Gods worst enemy"