The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1886-12-15
An ESSAY OS DRINK.

Drink makes a man a fool. Take the
wiscst man and make him drunk, and he
is MS big a fool as the most illitcratc and
silly is in the same condition. In fact,
the wiser the man the bigger the tool
for moro reasons than one. Men, i'll the
flush OF their young manhood, who
would not stoop to anything beneath the
dignity Of gentlemen when sober, have
been known to borrow norcy whom
drinking, in ORDER TO %ct more OF the
very stun that was even then making
tn II lose their sclf-rcspcct and forget
their manhood, with al ''thc true, the
beautiful and the good" and become
troublesome to their friends and the
community and liable TO violate the law
and be punished for their rGcklcssncas.
While slightly under the influence OF
liquor, and not enough 20 be detected by
others, acts have been committed and
words uttered, unconSciously through
the effects Of tho stimulant, which would
make any sober, sensible person think
the equity" man must be either tight or
'n natural born-foOl." All owing to
the mean liquor showed of ON him.
a man who takes but one drink de-
serves no more credit than he who takes
two. The principle is the same all the
way through; the cause and effect the
Same IN the IL case us III the other. Ii
one drink satisfies II man and it takes
more for another, both should be held
equally guilty, on the principle that if
one drink did not satisfy the former he
would cake rs much rs the latter.
1t Is n weakness to drink, IN the sense
that 1t Is Il weakness to gamble, etc. It
is IA habit, II passion. We are all weak
creatures OF habit and passion. One has
Il fondness for n thing, and one for
another. What suits one, docs not nj
ways suits another. In many cases the
gambler docs not drink; in many cases
the midnight thief docs not drink. Their
rulm6 passion is not the cup that in.
toAlcatcs; they are intoxicated with the
love and excitement of their ]ayocations.
Often the man who drinks has 10 other
iault-lls fault is moro hurtful to him.
self than to others. Free from the
effects of drink, he attends to his bust.
ness and minds his own affairs; but I'M
der its influence, he ncglccts 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
~ IOii'IOi L uliIlh, ub(l TIC NcIDcIuIClN
commits those very sins from which he
rccoils i'll his sobarncss. He gets into
bad company and becomes involved in
ugly scrapes.
II is easy enough for the free man to
say he could quit drinking. Let him
contract the habit and he will find then
that il he abandon it he will deserve
more credit than if he had never begun
the habit. THO grandcst exhibition of
human will mat can be, isrccordcd when
a slave breaks his bonds and stands firm.
Why don't You take one drink and
quit? Yes, yielding to the temptation
to take n drink and quit has been the
prime cause of the loss Of many n mighty
AMI magnificent mind that could have
made its future as grand and glorious as
It's past had been Infamous and inglori-
Gus. Edgar Allen Poe once thought he
was strong enough to take one drink and
quit. But in the b~rilliancy of his intel
lcct, bright in the circle of letters rs the
evening star III the circle above him,
found to his cost that he could not take
one drink and quit. Prentiss, the
matchless Mississippian, under the pow
er of whose gigantic mind n concen-
trated Congress swaycd for consecutive
days; one thought he could take ono
drink and quit. But in the pride OF his
intellectual strength, in the glory Of his
towering mind, he too found to his cost
that he could not take one drink and
quit.-Newberry Observer.
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