The record-union., 1891-06-26
INGERsoLL ON ALCOHOL.
Forcfble Language Used by the Grea
Orator.


Forcfble Language Used by the Great
Orator.
Colonel Robert G. IngersoIl was once
employed in case which involved the
manufacture of ardent spirits, and in his
speech TO the jury he used the following
language:
l am aware there is prejudice against
any man engaged in the manufacture of
alcohol. | believe from the time it issues
from the coiled and poisonous worm in
the dlstlllery until it empties into the
nell OF death, diShOnor and crime. that it
IS sdemoralizing to everybody that touches
IT, from the source to where it ends. I
90 not believe that anybody can con-
template the subject without being preiu-
diced against the crime. All we have to
do is to think of the wrecks on either
side of the stream of death, of the sui
ccIdes, of the insanity, of the poverty, of
the destruction, of the little children tug
glig at the breast of weak and despairing
wives, asking for bread, of the men of
genius 1t has wrecked, the men strug-
Cling with imaginary serpents produced
by this deViliSh thing, and when you
think of the jails, of the almshouses, of
the asylums, Of the prisons and of the
scatfolds on either hand, do not wonder
that every thoughtful man is prejudiced
against this vile stuff called alcohol. In
temperance cuts down youth in it's vigor,
manhood in it's strength and age i'll its
weakness.
1t breaks tho fathers heart, bereaves the
dotlng mother, eXtinguiSheS natural af-
fectlon, grasses coniugal love, blots out
attachment and blights paternaI 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
orphans, fathers fiends, and all paupers.
1t feeds rhumatism, nurses gOut, well
comes epidemics, invites cholera, imports
pestilence, embraces consumption. 1t
covers the land with misery, idleness and
crime. 1t engenderS controversies, fOS-
ters quarrels and cheriShes riots. It
crowds your penitentiaries and furnishes
victims to the scatfold. It is the blood of
the gambler, the element of the burglar,
the prop of the highwayman and the
support of the midnight incendiary. It
countenances the liar, respects the
thief, esteems the burglar. 1t vio-
lates obligations, reVerenceS fraud
honOrs infamy. 1t defames benevolence,
hates love, scOrns virtue and innocence.
1t incites the father to butcher his help
less offspring, and the child to grind the
parricidal AK. 1t burns up men, consumes
women, detests life, curses God and de-
spises heaven. 1t suborns witnesses,
nurses pefnuy, ueLleS Inc jury poN ana
stains the judicial ermine. 1t bribes
voters, disqualifies votes, corrupts cleo
| tons, pOlluteS our institutions and en-
dangers the Government. 1t degradeS
the citizen, debases the legislator, dis
honors 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 fiend, calmly surveys
its frightful desolation, and, unsatiated
ruins morals, wipes out national honor,
then curses at the world and laughs at its
ruin. 1t does that and more-it murders
the soul. 1t is the sum of all villainies,
the father of crimes, the mother Of ali
denominations, the DEVILS best friend, and
Gods worst enemy.