Mississippi leader. (Jackson, Miss.) 1892-1895, 1893-12-19
4 SUBTLE roc.
On'y Narrow Line Betweeu the Use and
Abuse of Alcohol


Abuse OF Alcohol.
There are in all walks of life the tens
Of thousands who, because of perilous
temptations surrounding them, can not
make use, without the abuse, of alco-
holic beverages. For them in the judg-
ment of physician and moralist total
abstinence is necessity. put it be-
fore them in the name of duty, and for
their life of body and soul, | command
them. not to taste, not to touch, the in
cbriating fluid.
The line separating in practice the
use of alcoholic beverages from the
abuse is shadowy; often it is not per-
ceived until it has been crossed. The
territory within the limits of licit use
is narrow. But little drink has been
taken, when physical injury occurs for
the body, and the workings of the mind
become confused. 1t is an error to be-
lieve that the alcoholic plague does not
range throughout all intermediate
stages from the first act of i'm
moderation to the moment of
complete drunkenness, though, of
course, only in corresponding degrees
of virulence Millions have been muir
dered by alcohol, who were never
drunk, as the word is commonly under
stood. And most insidious enemy,
demon-lille in its cunning, is alcohol.
An ingress once accorded, it labors one
would say with conscious purpose, to
create an appetite for itself, to enslave
its host and temper all his nerves into
so many adamantine chains, where
with to fasten him in hopeless sub
lection to it's chariot. The Gus
toms of society, perverted public
opinion, the multiplicity of the
occasions of drink, make us live in the
midst of peril. We are forever stand
ing on the brink of ruin. Extreme
caution alone saves us. Who, however
erect the stand to-day, are certain that
they shall not fall tomorrow? We
have seen the very cedars of Lebanon
laid low in the dark wales of woe and
sin. The young man, the pride of
mother, the hope of father, moved out
into the busy world strong and reso-
lutte; few years later, his career is
wrecked At first. he had touched light
| ly the wine-glass in tribute to merry
| companionship; but the appetite came,
! and he surrendered at the shrine
of alcohol parents affection, bright
prospects, innocence of heart, joys of
Heaven. The young woman looked
virtue and happiness personified; the
physician, in cruel kindness, prescribes
wine or beer, or, the mother, or the
husband, in the fancied exercise of
! hospitality, permits the presence of the
! liquids upon the sideboard. Soon the
| angel of the home loves the glass, and
! the hour comes when her heart beats
under the influence of one passion, the
| passion of whisky, or morphine. Men
have escaped all danger until their
| years touch life's summer, or autumn;
in very reckless exultation OF strength,
| they lay their hands upon glass and
bottle. All! little they know the pow
er of the enemy. Soon they are his do
cile slaves, and upon once honored
heads presses the shame of drunken
ness. Talent of mind, power of hand,
accumulated wealth give no protection.
| The orator and the poet, the million
aire, the victor of a hundred battle
| fields, capitulate before alcohol. Aye,
| the saint, and the minister of the sane
tuary must be on their guard; the OPP
| portunity given, alcohol triumphs, and
holds them up to the scorn of publican
| and pharisee. Archbishop John Ire
land, in National Temperance Advo-
| cate