Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1886-01-01
temperance Column.
w. c. 7. U.
INGERSOLL ON TEMPERANCE.

Colonel Robert Ingersoll was lately EN-
ployed in a case which involved the man
ufacture of ardent spirits, and in his
speech to the jury he used the following
language:
am aware there is Il prejudice against
any man engaged in the manufacture of
alcohol. | believe from the time II issues
from the cOilcd and poisonous worm in
the distillery until it cmpties 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 believe that anybody can contem-
plate the subject without being prciudiced
against the crime. All we have to do Is
to think of the wrecks on either side of
the stream of death, of suicides, of the
insanity, of the poverty of the deStrlc-
ton, of the little children Juggling at the
breast, of weeping and dcSpairing wives
asking for bread, of the man of genius it
has wrecked, the man struggling with
imaginary serpentS produced by this dev-
ilish thing; and when you think of the
jails, of the alms-hOuScS. of the asylums.
of the prisons, and of the scallOld on Ell
ther hand, | do not wonder that every
thoughtful man is prcjudiccd against this
vile stuff called alcohol. lntempcrance
cuts down youth in its vigor. manhood in
| its strength, and old age in its weakness.
1t breaks the father, heart, bcrcayc, the
doting mother, cXtinguishes natural at
lection, grasses coniugal love. bolS out
! tilial attachments and blighl~ parental
hope, and brings premature age i'm sorrow
! to the grave. Itpr oduces weakness. not
strength: sickness. not health: death. not
| life. 1t makes wives widows. children
orphans, fathers ticnds and all paupcrS.
| it feeds rheumatism, nurses Tuut.Wcl-
comes epidemics, invites cholera. imports
pestilence and embraces consumption. 1t
covers the land with misery. idlcucS> and
crime. ltengendcrS controversies fosters
quarrels and chcriShcS riots. II crowds
your penitentiaricS and furnishes victims
to the scatfold. 1t is the blood of the
gambler, the element of the burglar the
prop of the highwayman. and the sup
port of the midnight incendary. 1t
countenances the liar. RESPECTS the thief.
estecms the blasphcmer. 1t violates OBJ
legations ,reverenccS fraud .honorS imtamy.
1t defamcs bencvolcnce. hates love. Scorns
virtue and innocence. 1t incitcs the father
to butcher his helpless offspring. and the
child to grind the parricidal axe. 1t
burns up men, consumes women, dctcStS
life, curses God ami dcSpiSc> heaven. 1t
SubornS witnesses. nurses pcriidy, dctlc-
the jury box and stains the judicial crmine.
1t brides voters, diSqualifcS votes. cor
rupts elections, pollutc> our institutions.
and cndangcrs the government. i de
grades the citizen. dcbascs the legislator.
diShOnors the statesman and di-alm,S the
patriot 1t brings shame. not honor:
terror, not safety; despair, not hope :
misery, not happiness: and with the ma
lcvolencc of n ticHd calmly surveys IL
! Al Insnloti., J.
havoc, it pOisOnS felicity. Kills peace. ruins
morals, wipes out national honor, thcn
curses the world and laughs at it. ruin.
= 1t does that and more-it murders the
soul. 1t is the sum of all Villianics. thc
father of crimes, the mother of all abom-
nations, the devil best friend, aud Cod
worst enemy.