The Pickens sentinel. [volume] (Pickens, S.C.) 1871-1903, 1886-12-16
AN ESSAY NN DRiNAL,

Drink makes Il man 4 fooi. lah2 the
wiScst man and make him drunk, AMI he
| IS rs biga fool rs the most illitcraic nd
silly is i'll the same condition. IN f.Ct,
the wiser the man the bigger tho tool -
for more reasons than one. Men, in tie
flush OF their young manhood, whl
would not stOOp to anything beneath the
dignity OF gentlemen when sober, have
been known to borrow morcy when
drinking, III order to get moro Of the
very Stutf that was even then making
them lose their solf-rcSpcct and forget
their manhood, with all ''thc true, the
beautiful and the good" and become
troublesome to their friends and the
community and liable to violate the law
anl be punished for thri" rccklcSsncss
Whilc slightly under th1 Influence Of
liquor, and not enough 10 be detected by
others, acts have been committed and
words uttered, unconsciously through
the elects OF the StiMulaut, which would
make any sober, sensible person think
the "8uilty" man must he either tight or
60 natural bOrn-fool." All owing to
the mean liquor showed of on him.
y man who takes but ono drink de-
serves no more credit than he who takes
two. The principle is the same all tho
way through; the cause and effect the
Stnn0 III the one case as in Tie Otiyr. II
ona drink satisfies one man and il takes
more FOR another, both should be held
equally guilty, on tlc principle that if
one drink did not satisfy TIE ioIncr he
wcuid lakc n% much ~ the latter.
Ii Is II weakness to drink, in tho suI.sl
that 1t IS weakness to gamble, etc. Ii
is habit, 4 passion. We are all weak
creatures Of Itabit and passion. One has
Il fondneSs for one thing, and one for
another. What suits one, docs not al
ways suits another. In many cases the
Gainblcr does not drink; in many cases
the midnight thief does not drink. 1hcir
ruIin5 passion is not the cup that in
toAicatcs; they arc intoxicated with tho
love and excitement Of their ayUcutiona.
Often the man who drinks has no other
iauIt-hB FAULT Is more hurtiuL to him.
self than TO others. Free from the
ELECTS OF drink, he attends to his busi.
ness and minds his own affairs; but un-
der its influence, he nc9lccts his bust
ness and speaks and acts as he would not
be guilty Of doing when sober. \ man
whose refined nature and cultivated taste
would shrink from the very Thought Of
evil, losses his better self when under
the control Of dlink, and he deliberately
commits those very sins from which he
rccoilS in his &ob0rncSS. He GETS into
bad company and becomes involved in
ugly scropeS.
II IS easy enough for the free man to
say he could Quit drinking. Let him
contract the habit and hc will find then
that II he abandon it lie will deserve
more credit than if he had never begun
the habit. The grandcst exhibition of
human will that can be, i8rCoorded when
slave breaks his bonds and stands firm.
Why don't you take one drink and
quit? Yes, yielding to the temptation
to take one drink and quit has been the
prime cause Of the loss of many mighty
nnd magnificent mind that could have
made its future as grand and glorious as
ITS past had been infamous and inglori-
Gus. Edgar Allen Poe once thought he
WAS strong enough to take one drink and
quit. But III the brilliancy Of his intel
lcct, bright in the circle Of letters as the
evening star III the circle above him,
found to his cost that he could not take
one drink and quit. prcntiss, the
matchless Mississippian, under the pow
CT of whose gigantic mind concon-
tmtcd Congress swaycd for consecutive
days; once thought he could take ono
drink and quit. But i'll the pride of his
intellectual strength, in the glory of his
towering mind, he too found to his cost
that he could not take ono drink and
qmt.-NewbeTy Observer