The new dominion. [volume] (Morgantown, W. Va.) 1876-1904, 1889-01-26
Ingersoll on Alcohol.

The following beautiful language
is an extract from a legal speech
made by Colonel Robert ingersoll:
81 am aware there is a prejudice
against any man engaged in the
manufacture of alcohol. | believe
from the time it issues from the coil
ed and poisonous worm in the dis
tillery until it empties into the bell
of death, dishonor and crime, that
it is demoralizing to everybody that
touches it, from the source to where
it ends. i do not believe that any
body can contemplate the subject
without being prejudiced against the
crime. All we have to do is TO think
of the wrecks on either side of the
stream of death, of the suicides, of
the insanity, Of the poverty, Of the
destruction of the little children tug
ging at the breast of the weak and
despairing wives asking for bread,
of men of genius it has wrecked, the
men struggling with imaginary ser
penis produced by this devilish
thing; and when you think of the
jails, of the aims houses, of the asy-
lums, of the prisons, of the scaffolds
on either hand, / do not wonder
that every thoughtful man is preju.
diced against this vile stuff called
alcohol. Intemperance cuts down
youth in it's vigor, manhood in its
strength, and age in its weakness.
1t breaks the fathers heart, be-
reaves the doting mother, extinguish-
es natural affection, grasses conjugal
love, blots out filial attachments,
blights parental hope and brings
premature age in sorrow to the grave.
1t produces weakness, not strength;
sickness, not health; death, not life.
1t makes wives widows. children or
phans, fathers fiends and paupers.
1t feeds rheumatism, nurses govt,
welcomes epidemics, invites chol-
era, imports pestilence and embraces
consumption. 1t covers the land
with misery, idleness and crime 1t
engenders controversies; fosters
quarrels, and cherishes riots 1t
I'crowds your penitentiaries and furn-
ishes victims for the scaffold. 1t is
the blood Of the gambler, the ele-
ment Of the burglar, the prop of the
highwayman, and the support of the
midnight incendiary. 1t counter
anees the liar. respects the thief, es
teens the blasphemer. 1t violates
obligations, reyerences fraud, honors
infamy. 1t defames benevolence,
hates love, scorns virtue and inno-
cence. Itinvites tina father to butch
er his helpless offspring, and the
child to grind the patriarchial axes.
1t burns up men, consumes women,
detests life, curses God, and despises
heaven. 1t suborns witnesses nurses
perjury, defiles the jury box, and
stains the judicial ermine. 1t brides
voters, disqualifies votes, corrucpts
elections pollutes our institutions, and
endangers the government. 1t degrad-
es the citizen, debases the legislator,
dishonors the statesman, and disarms
the patriot. 1t brings shame, not
honor; terror, not safety; despair not
hope; misery, not happiness; and
with the malevolence of fend calm
ly surveys its frightful desolation,
and nnsatisfed with havoc, it pois-
ons felicity, kills peace, ruins morals,
wipes out national honor, then ours
es the world, and laughs at it's ruin.
1t does that and more--it murders
the soul. 1t is the sum of all vii
lianies, the father of crimes, and the
mother of all abominstion, the DEVILS
best friend, and Gods worst enemy.
One may get an idea of the care
lessness prevailing among people by
considering the figures of the Dead
Letter Office in Washington. Dur
ing the past year nearly six million
and quarter letters and packages
were received there, either wrongly
addressed or unclaimed. This is at
the rate of over seventeen Thousand
for every day in the year. The
amount of money contained in them
was over $4,000, and the checks and
drafts footed up $1,333,000.
Many cases have come under our
notice where a single bottle of DR..
Bulls cough Syrup relieved sufferer
from severe cough, which had been
treated for months BY competent
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