The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1895-11-27
ON ALCOHOL.
A Wonderful Piece of Word Painting by
the Great Agnostic.

"A w Ondcriul Ilccc OF Horu IaihtiuS W
the Great Agnostic.
The following wonderful piece OF
word painting has been frequently
published, says the Chicago Tribune,
but we reprint it at the request OF
several readers who desire complete
COPY. Colonel Robert G. Ingersoll,
in addressing jury in casse which
involved the manufacture OF alcohol,
made the following terrible arralgn-
ment of the demon:
Il am aware that there is preju-
dice against any man who manufac-
lures alcohol. I believe that from
the time it issues from the coiled and
poisonous worm in the distillery until
it empties into the jaws of death, dis
honor and crime, it demoralizes every
body that touches it, from its source
to where it ends. do not believe
anybody can contemplate the object
without being prejudiced against the
LIQUOR crime. All we have to do,
gentlemen, is to think of the wrecks
on either bank Of the stream of death,
of the suicides, of the insanito, of the
ignorance, Of the destitutlon, of the
little children tugging at the faded
and withered breast of weeping and
desparing mothers, of wives asking
for bread, of the 1len of genius it has
wrecked, the men struggling with inn
aginary serpents, produced by this
devilish thing; ard when you think of
the jails, of the almshouses, of the asy-
lums, Of the prisons, of the scatfolds
upon either bank, | do not wonder
that every thoughtful man is prejudic-
ed against this damned stuff called
alcohol. Intemperance cuts down
youth in its yigor, manhood in its
strength, old age in its weakness. It
breaks the fathers heart, bereaves the
doting mother, extinguishes natural
affection, erases conjugal love, blots
out flial attachment, blights paren tai
hopes, brings down, mourning age in
sorrow to the grave. 1t produces
weakness, not strength; sickness, not
health; death, not life 1T makes wives
widow; children orphans; fathers
fends; and all of them paupers and
beggars. 1t feeds rheum atism, invites
cholera, imports pestilen ce and en-
braces consumption. 1t covers the
land with idleness, misery, crime. It
fills your jails, supplies your.salms-
houses, and demand your. asylums.
1t engenders controversies. fosters
quarrels and cherishes riots. 1t crowds
YOUR penitentiaries and furnishessvic-
TINS for your scaffolds. It is the'life
blood'of.the gambler, the element'of
the burglar, the propfor the highway
man and support of the midnight in
cendiary. 1t countenances the liar,
respects the thief, esteems the bias
phemer. 1t violates obligation, rev.
erences fraud and honors infamy. 1t
defames benevolence, hates love,
scornstvirtue and slanders innocence.
It incitesithe father to butchershelpless
offspring, helps the husband to massa
ere his wifetand the child to. grind the
paricldal ak. 1t burns up men, con-
sumes women, .detests life, curses. God,
despises heaven. 1t suborns witness
es, nurses perjury, ,fdefiles the jury box
and stains judicial crime. It Itdegrades
the citizens, debasss legislator, dishon-
ors the statesman and disarms' the pa
triot. 1t brings shame, not honor;
misery, not safety; despair, not hope;
misery. not happiness, and with the
malevolence of a. fiend it calmly sur
veys its frightful'desolation and unsat-
lated havoc. 1t, poisons felicity, kills
peace, ruins morals, blights conf
dence, slays regulations, and wipes
out national honor, then curses the
world .and:laughs at its ruin. 1t does
all that and more. 1t murders the
soul. 1t is the sum of all villanies,
the father of all crimes, the mother of
all denominations, the devils best
friend and,Gods s worst enemy.