The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 18??-1935, 1899-08-25
lngerSOll ON Alcohol.


One of the greatest temperance
Orations ever delivered In the Eng
lish language was delivered by In
gersoll in case where he WAS de-
Tending liquor dealer. 1t was as
follows:
II am aware that there Is preju-
dice against any man engaged IN the
manufacture of alcohol. | believe
that from the time it issues from the
coiled and pOisonous worm in the
distilltry until it empties into tie
hell of death, dishonOr and crime,
it d. moraIizes every body that touch
es it, from it's source to where 1t
ends. l do not believe anybody can
cont emplate the subject without b.
coming prcjudiced against that IL
quor crime.
CAL we have to do, gentlemen, is
to think of the wrecks on either
bank of the stream of death; of the
suicides, of the insanity; of the
poverty, of the ignorance, of the des-
titution; of the little children tug
ging at the faded and weary breasts
of weeping and despairing wives,
asking for bread; of the talented
men of genius it has wrecked; the
men struggling with imaginary ser
penis, produced by this devilish
thing; and when you think of the
iails, the aims houses, and the asy-
lums of the prisons, of the scatfolds
uuon either bank, do not wonder
that every thoughtful man is preju-
dice d against this stuff called alco-
hol.
"Intemperance cuts down youth
in its vigor, manhood in its strength,
and age it's weakness. 1t breaks the
fathers heart, bereaves the doting
mother, eXtinguishes natural atfec-,
tions, grasses conjugal loves, blots
out filial attachments, blights pa.
rental hope, and brings down mourn
ing 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 of
them paupers and beggars. 1t feeds
rheumatism, nurses govt, welcomes
epidemics, invites cholera, imports
pestilence, and embraces consump.
ton. 1t covers the land with idle
ness, misery, and crime. 1t fills
your jails, supplies your alm-hOuses,
and demands your asylums. 1t en-
genders controversies, fosters quar-
rels, and cherishes riots. 1t crowds
your penltentiaries and furnishes
victims to your scatfOlds. 1t Is the
lifeblood OF the gambler, the ele-
ment of the burglar, the prop of the
highwayman, and the support of
the midnight incendiary. 1t coun-
| tenances the liar, respects the thief,
esteems the blasphemer. Itviolates
obligations, reverences fraud, and
! honors infamy. 1t defames benevo-
lence, hates love, scorns virtue, and
ISLANDERS innocence. 1t incites the
father to butcher his helpless off
spring, helps the husband to massa-
ere his wife, and the child to grind
the paricidal ak. 1t burns up men,
consumes women, detests life, curses
God, and despises heaven. 1t SUI
borns witnesses, nurses perjury, de-
files the jury box, and stains the ju-
dicial ermine. 1t degrades the citi-
zen, debases the legislator, dishon-
ors statesmen, and disarms the pa
triot. 1t brings shame, not honor
terror, not safety; despair, not hope ;
misery not happiness; and with the
malevolence of fiend it calmly sur
veys its frightful desolation land, un-
satified with its havoc, it pOisOns
felicity, kills peace, ruins morals,
blights confidence, Stays reputation,
aud wipes out national honors; then
curses the world and laughs at his
ruin.
1T does all that and more-it MUIR
ders the soul. Is is the son of viii
lainies, the father of all crimes, the
mother of denominations, the devils
best friend, and Gods worst enc my