The Press., 1888-05-17


 properly use it, as we'll as those who abuse it. They make the most extravagant state- ments n regard to it's action upon the hu- man frame These people forget what the word temperance means. They do not ap- preciate the fact that it is desirable to be temperate, even in temperance. At times they seem to interpret their pledges as ex- acting total abstinence from truth as we'll as from alcohol. An old and wise adage admonishes us to give the devil his due, and we might add, give the devils chief weapon, alcohol, it's due. The devil even has rights. The evils of intemperance cannot be exag gerated. The evils of temperance have been exaggerated. When say temperance I use the word with it's original and legiti- mate meaning. Temperance means mod eration. Temperance implies the properly restricted use. Total abstinence is hot tenn perance, although it may be equally com mendable. We are bound to respect and commend temperance, even If 1t IS not ab- stinence. am not an apologist for intem- perance, neither would lead any one into temptation. would admonish all young people to beware of the seductions of alco- hol, but at the same time to respect it, and use it only for the purposes for which the Creator designed it.
 The abuse of alcohol is the cause of much disease. It has been asserted that ten per cent. of the deaths in this country are due to it. It is not necessary for me to dwell upon the diseased conditions to which this misuse of alcohol gives rise. It can cause inflammation and degeneration of many of the vital organs. The stomach, the heart, the liver and kidneys, the brain and spinal cord and nerves may all be affected. But we must not forget that all these patholog- ical conditions may be due to other causes The excessive use of alcohol may occasion many deplorable nervous diseases. It may cause impaired sight or blindness, paraly- sis or insanity. It may produce that pitt able condition in which the victim sees more devils than Jonathan Edwards ever imagined, that .frightful disease, delirium tremens. The abuse of alcohol saps- the vitality of all the organs, and makes them the easier prey to disease from other caus- es. And worse than all these evils that I have mentioned, it does not stop in punish ing the authoriof his own misery it does not limit itself to one generation, but it casts fearful burden upon posterity, and the sins of the fathers sare visited upon the children.
 Intemperance Is hideous evil, it is a fearful incubus upon civilization. No mo-
 
 than that of temperance. But the war that is to be waged against the great enemy of civilization and Christianity should be properly conducted. Untruth should not be one of it's weapons. It is fight against sin and crime, pauperism and disease, and not petty dispute about the effect of alco- hol upon the excretion of carbonic acid. Exhort young men to stay away from the saloons picture to them the moral degra- datiOn of intemperance /; but do not amuse them by coagulating an egg in tumbler- ful of alcohol as an absurd illustration of the effect of alcohol upon the brain. There are variety of substances that will coagu. late egg albumen, but they have an action upon the body totally different from that of alcohol. Some of us had the opportun- ity of listening to the discourse of an emi- nent doctor of divinity in this town some time ago. He prefaced his lecture by picturesque account of the various feats that alcohol is capable of performing after it's introduction into the system. He en- ployed an illustration somewhat as follows Take some freshly drawn blood from 8 liv- ing animal. Examine it under micro scope. You will find it full of little round bodies which physiologists call blood cor puseles. These are the carriers of oxygen to the various partssf the body, and their integrity is Of vital necessity. Now add some alcohol to the blood.. What do you see /? The corpuscless become shrunken and shriveled, blasted by this liquid fire with which men irrigate their stomachs.
 This must have been a telling point with those unfamiliar with physiology; at any rate it seemed to have made a great inn preesion upon the lecturer. But if we were obliged to continue his chain of req soning we might proceed in this manner Now obtain some more of the animals blood. Look at this under under the mic roscope. The corpuscles are round and perfect. Now add some common salt to the blood. The corpuscles become shriv- eled and contracted. Hence, beware of salt ''for it biteth like a serpent and stingeth like an alder" Now we will take another drop of perfect blood and add to 1t drop of water. What happens The cor puscles become swollen, globular and transparent they lose their contents or burst. What lesson does this occurrence teach us Clearly that we must shun water as we would alcohol or salt, for it attacks the carriers of oxygen and utterly destroys them. It is true that salt and water are necessary to animal life and alcohol is not :; but these experiments teach us that the three must be classed together? This, of course, is in the highest degree ridiculous, and abundantly demonstrates the absurdity of this mode of reasoning about alcohol
 have recently had the opportunity of reading temperance sermon by another distinguished doctor of divinity, it is en- d-''Scientific Certainties (not opipions) about Alcohol" I turned to it with a good deal of eagerness, for was curious to learn what these scientific certainties are. Scientific certainties are rare, we know, in this imperfect world of ours. The theory of universal gravitation is pretty firmly es- tablished, but do not believe that Sir Isaac, Newton ever spoke of it as a scien- tific certainty. Upon the perusal of this address found that the certainties about alcohol are of very astounding nature. The learned doctor states them with the greatest emphasis and confidence. So assured is he of their truth that he does not advance the slightest proof or author ity to sustain himself in any position that he has taken his statements are er CO., theOlrG, from his judgment there can be no appeal. He exhibits his scientific spirit in his remarkable summing up of his case, in which he says, "I here close my certain ties about alcohol. allow no man to dis pute one of them" He doesn't say what he would do with the rash individual that would trespass upon his preserves, but I have no doubt but that he would make an example of him. must confess that I