The desire for intoxicating liquors a disease

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Dedication

To the cause of an Inebriate Asylum for the cure of drunkenness, and to all persons who are exposed to the temptation of drinking intoxicating liquors, especially the young, on whose behalf the kindliest interest is entertained, this volume is respectfully

DEDICATED.

In the general, as well as in the especial application of his labor, the author is animated by the hope that, through the blessing of Go4> it may be the means of restraining some of his fellow-men from the abuse of themselves by yielding to the desire he has endeavored to delineate, or from the further abuse of their persons and families after they have so yielded. In consideration of the causes of the disease, which in the moral form are insufficient, and its causes, which are sadly afflictive, the hope is entertained that the propositions here presented in relation to its cure may be effective in the accomplishment of their intended purpose.

Introduction

In presenting this little book to its reader, it may be proper to say a few words by way of explanation. In writing it the author has had four things in view, all of which are subservient to one object, and that is to benefit, as far as its influence may extend, a class of my fellow-citizens, who, like myself, have been too free in an indulgence which is at all times dangerous, and not unfrequently attended with disastrous results. No man can indulge in the habitual use of intoxicating liquors without the hazard of becoming a victim to his folly in the loss of character, of property and life. It were criminal in the voice of experience to be silent while the evil is progressing, and the souls and bodies of men are involved in the ruin it produces.

The first thing I have in view is to show that drunkenness is a disease. The second, 1* to exhibit its causes. The third, its effects. The fourth, its cure. In illustrating these points, I shall take occasion to advocate the establishment of an institution for the cure of the disease, which is fatal in its effects of sending tens and hundreds of thousands yearly to a premature and dishonored grave. There is scarcely a family in this country but has experienced the sad effects of drunkenness in some of its departments. Many of them have been rendered unhappy in the mortification it produces in witnessing the degradation to which it has reduced multitudes of young men, the starting point of whose career was as promising as could have been desired.

Since the breaking out of the rebellion, thousands of our youthful fellow-citizens, who were leading a peaceful and quiet and temperate life at home, have united with friends and associates in the army in the practice of drinking, in which they have continued until they were ruined. They have left the plough in the field, the store, the trade, the profession, the pursuit of every kind of business, and when far away from horae, and beyond the control of their parents and friends, they have contracted the habit of using intoxicating drinks, in which they have broken down their constitutions, and rendered themselves but the wrecks of what they once were.

Stationed with their regiments in large cities and in towns, they have frequented the Lager Beer Saloons and Kestaurants until the habit has become fixed upon them, and they have believed it was necessary to make several visits a day, and at each visit to take one drink or more, expending nearly as much money as it would require to support them, and sinking themselves lower and lower in the disgrace of drunkenness. Although frequently told that they were nourishing the viper that would sting them at the last, they have steadily refused to believe it, and as steadily pursued the path of destruction. The wound, more fatal than many of the battle-field, has reached them in the drinking hall, and from its effects they may never hope to recover.

Many a young man that would have been a brave soldier, if he had continued ternperate, has been converted into a coward, and so far from being of service on the field, lie lias damaged the cause lie should have sustained, and rendered himself an object •of reproach among his comrades, and a burden to himself.

Young soldier, answer the inquiry for yourself, and to yourself : "Will you be willing to waste your money for the liquor that can do you no service, and may rob your country of your services by enfeebling and destroying you ? This result is inevitable, if you persist in the use of your cups until the control is complete over you, then you will assuredly be undone. Eeason with yourself but a single moment. Ask yourself what benefit all the liquor you have drank has done you ? Ascertain whether you have been rendered better or worse by your habit. If you have been worsted in the trial, the caution has been administered through your experience, and if you heed it not, and pass on and are punished, the blame that you can cast upon none but yourself, will surely fall most heavily upon you. Your place is in the ranks of the array of your country's defenders. If you stand there, a young soldier, without the mark of disgrace upon you, firm, faithful, undaunted, in this situation of honor you may he noticed, and your patriotic devotion to the cause of the Union, may elevate you to an enviable distinction— a distinction you may never secure while you are the patron of the Lager Beer . Saloon and boon companion of the men that linger long over their cups, and stupefy their sensibilities in constantly repeated inebriating draughts.

Young man, if you are in the army, and far away from home and friends, and your associates ask you to enter with them into the drinking house for the indulgence of the dram, before you consent ask yourself if you would do it if you were at home. Ask if your father or your mother would be pleased at your acceptance of the invitation, or if they would not warn you to flee from the engagement as you would from the serpent. It may require longer for the beer to do its work of destruction than the bullet, or the shell, but the result is just as inevitable, if the intemperate course is continued.

If you have left the plough in the field, and hurried away to war at the call of your country, remember that you might have done service to your family and yourself, if you had proceeded with your agricultural labors. Do not reduce the chances of your service in the army by drunkenness.

If you have gone from the store in which you were engaged in a mercantile pursuit, remember that you might have maintained your reputation and been respectable and respected at home. Preserve your character in your military relations, and be sure that you are as much a man when you return to your home as you were when you left it.

Was it the trade you followed and that enabled you to support yourself with credit, and to render assistance to others of your familv and friends who needed it ? Eemember that the same success might have attended your labors had you not become a soldier. Eesist every temptation that may be thrown in your way, and ever be the manly character you were when home and friends were near, and when friendly associations had not corrupted you, and perhaps could not have done it.

Did you leave a profession that was more or less lucrative in its return of profit for your labor, and in which your counsel was sought and you were frequently called upon for advice ? Remember that the same honorable and profitable pursuit might have been continued if you had chosen that it should be so. Repel the tempter when he approaches you, whether in the company of young associates or in the desire you may entertain for the dram. Determine that you will preserve your manhood in its strength, and that with the temptation in your view; you will be the man that will resist it.

Soldier from the plough, the store, the trade, the profession, this little book is designed for you. Read it; ponder over it. Let its truths affect you. Let them cause you to vow eternal warfare against the tyrant, drunkenness.

If you were well prepared and successful in the pursuit of your business at home, I may refer you to the case of the "Good Salesman/' in this book, which will answer as a warning to the efficient young man who may be engaged in any business. With this case I was perfectly familiar, and you know as well as I do that what happened to him may happen to you. The safe side is the side on which there is no liquor. Keep on that side and you are safe.

Are you an aspirant for political honors and profits? Examine the case of the "Would-be Politician/ which you will find in the following pages. His fate will assuredly be yours if you persist in the use of the intoxicating cup.

Do you profess the religion of Jesus Christ ? If so you are looked up to as an example. There are hints that may be profitable to you among the pages that you are here desired to peruse. Eemember your position. It is one of eminent distinction in proportion as you render it so by your character and labors. Do not meddle with the dram or you may realize how fearful may be the fall of the drunkard.

THE DISEASE.

The Desire for Intoxicating Liquors is a Disease,

There is abundant evidence to prove that the desire for intoxicating liquors is a disease. A disease is a moral or mental disorder. So says the definition given in Worcester's large Dictionary. A moral disorder is a violation of the rules by which society is governed, and that should govern mankind in society. That drunkenness > is a moral disorder — that it is a violation of the rules of society, every sensible person very well knows. Who is it that disturbs the peace of society more frequently, or in a greater degree, than the drunkard ? This question may be answered by every man and woman who has had any experience in the social relations.

And this moral disorder has its effects upon the mental and physical organization of man. What is the condition of the men- 1 tal powers of the man in a state of intoxication ? Are thev in tlieir sane condition ? Did any one ever see a man under the intoxicating influence of liquor that could properly use his mental powers ? In a state of excitement those powers may be used while consciousness remains, but not in a state of intoxication. The intoxicated man is beside himself. His mind is not under "his control, because it is exhilarated beyond its ability , and loses its balance. It is in a state of bewilderment which is unnatural, and which cannot be controlled by reason. Who does not know that the drunkard is the most unreasonable of all men ? Witness his language and his actions. He utters foolishness in every word he speaks. He has no idea of the force of language, and mutters his unconnected sentences in such confusion as convinces every one with whom he attempts to converse that his senses are benumbed, and that he is not responsible for the abuses that he heaps upon his best friends.

The effects of intoxicating liquors are witnessed as well in the movements of the physical man as in the use of the man's mental powers. Why does that man stagger ? Why is it that he cannot support himself, and falls to the ground? It is because the liquor he has drank has affected his physical system. He is excited; his blood is in a condition of fever ; his nervous system is affected ; his whole frame is disordered ; his power of locomotion is either prostrated or weakened. It is in this condition that the drunken man is put to bed as though he were a sick man. And a sick man he is. He is too sick- to stand, and must of necessity be placed in a prostrate condition. Nor is the drunken man able to work himself, either in his mental or physical powers, until he becomes sober. He is therefore laid aside a sufficient period to wear off the effects of the liquor. He is good for nothing until the effects of the liquor have disappeared.

And is it said that the drunkard cannot control his desire for liquor? So, inceed, is it truly said. He cannot control his desire for liquor, because it is a disease. And how is the disease produced? It is produced, like other diseases, by predisposing causes, and by contact with contagious properties.

One of the predisposing causes of this disease is fondness for a stimulated condition. In this condition men fancy that they enjoy themselves. The drunken man sometimes exhibits himself in such a manner as to cause every one that witnesses his actions to believe that he is the happiest man in the world. Many times the man under the influence of liquor imagines he is the richest, or the most famous, or the most important man of all the neighborhood. How then does he act ? Most foolishly. The bystanders that look upon the wildness of his actions and listen to the foolishness of his speech, set him down as an insane man. And such he is, for the liquor has deprived him of his judgment and his physical strength, and he shows himself to be a temporary lunatic.

And there is contagion in this disease. It is produced by contact with those who are afflicted with it. Who associates with a drunkard and does not become a drunkard himself? Should there be small-pox or yellow fever in a house, would not persons be afraid to enter it ? And what would produce this fear? It is the danger that the disease may be contracted. Both those diseases are known to be contagious. Persons are therefore afraid of contact with them. The case of the drunkard is similar. He comes in contact with those who are accustomed to dram drinking, or with the liquor, and is induced to use the beverage. But is it argued that there is a difference between the effects of the small-pox or the yellow fever and dram drinking, in the fact that in the one case it is produced without action and in the other with action ? It must be remembered that it is the desire that is the disease, and this is produced without action, although the act is required to produce the drunkenness. The desire is the disease, and it is contracted by contact with contagions causes, and not by action. The action follows in the development of consequences in the same manner that consequences are produced by contagious diseases. 1*

Keader, if you are afraid of going into a house where there is small-pox or yellow fever, be afraid of going into the "bar-room where liquor is sold and drank. The sight of the liquor, and the persons drinking it, may produce the desire, and you know how easy it is for the desire *to be followed by the act, which will prostrate you upon the ground as a drunkard. You think your life is in danger by your contact with the contagious disease. The desire for liquor, which is succeeded by drunkenness, is produced by the contagion of habit— the habit of drinking. Be consistent, then, and shun the one as well as the other. Avoid the associations of drunkenness and liquor, and you w T ill escape the disease which you will be almost sure to contract bv too near an approach to the contagion. And when the desire is indulged, what is the consequence ? Do you see that bloated face? TV hat produced it? Liquor. Do you observe how that man trembles? What causes his tremulousness ? He is excited by the liquor he has drank. Look how thfit man staggers ! What causes it? He is drunk.

Hear how foolishly that man talks. What is the cause of it? Drunkenness. And what is "to be the end of such pursuit ? The end is destruction. Nothing less. The desire indulged and increased by indulgence is the disease inflamed and aggravated, and it will carry the patient through the several stages of his excitement and depression ; his fever and its abatement, until the ruin appears. And the result is inevitable. The disease w^ill continue, and progress, and work destruction as long as it is allowed to work its way in the system.

The rich man drinks because he can afford it. He has the means, which he can appropriate to the purpose without being oppressed by his circumstances. But it is not so with the poor man. Why does he drink when it requires all he can make in his daily labors to support himself and his family, if he has one ? The poor man drinks for the same reason that causes the rich one to do it. fie is impelled by his desire. The desire is his disease, and its results must be rendered apparent. The desire must be indulged, if it takes the last cent that honestyprocures. If the manishungry, and has the means of satisfying his hunger, if compelled by his desire, he will expend it for the dram, though there be future trouble and even destruction in his view.

But there is a moral difference between the diseases of small-pox and yellow fever and the desire for liquor. The man may be attacked by the small-pox or the yellow fever, notwithstanding his refusal to enter the house where those diseases are raging. This is not the case with the desire for liquor. In the indulgence of this desire the man has to act. He enters the place where the contagion is ; he comes in contact with it ; he takes hold of it ; he places it in his system. While in the one case he keeps away from the exciting cause of the disease, in the other he takes hold of that cause, and places it in immediate contact with the parts of his system that are affected by it. The poison is brought in immediate contact with the vital parts that are impressed and subdued and prostrated by it, and this by the voluntary act of the man himself.

But it may be said that the desire for liquor is not drunkenness. This is true. But the desire for liquor, when indulged, produces drunkenness. The desire for liquor indulged may be declared to be drunkenness, because the result is inevitable. The man that enters the restaurant, and drinks three mornings in succession, and cannot resist the desire for liquor on the fourth morning, is pretty well gone with the disease. The desire is surely fixed in the system, and once settled it will work its way of destruction.

Eeader, if you have never been afflicted with the desire for the dram, and wish to know how it will affect you, I can give you an idea of it, if you have ever been accustomed to the use of tobacco, and made the effort to give it up. You know how hard you had to struggle against that inward feeling that was like some living thing gnawing at your stomach, and inflaming with its effects the whole of the lining membrane of the throat and mouth. If you succeeded, you had to endure the trial. So is it with the desire for liquor ; if indulged, it becomes your master, and when you would cease from its indulgence it rises up for the mastery, and you are a man indeed if you wrestle successfully against your adversary. The only difference between the use of tobacco and that of liquor is in the force of the desire for the liquor, which is much stronger than that for tobacco.

In its inflammation the desire for liquor is insupportable, and the rum-seller would have the fever rise to this point. For the purpose of causing you to reach it he uses every possible appliance. Do you remember the card-table, the bagetelle-table, the domino-board, the faro bank ? Let me ask you, what do you suppose these demoralizing agencies were intended for? Why, it Avas to arrest your attention . It was to keep you employed at exciting games in the sight of the liquor, so that you might be tempted to drink as often as possible. You perhaps know something about the excitement produced by the game, and the frequency of the working of the desire. It was the disease that was calling for its stimulus, and that in most cases called too loudly to be resisted.

Beader, if you are a young man, and have talents, I would warn you of the ruin of your intellectual powers, and of your final overthrow. You may improve your talents and occupy places of respectability and honor in society. There are halls of intelligence in which you may pass your time in self-improvement, or in imparting your intelligence to others. In those halls are the pursuits of honor and usefulness. You may raise yourself to a proud eminence if you will only labor sufficiently for the purpose. And in the labor thus expended there is character — character that you may possess, and that will give you a name and place among the community that may be indeed enviable.

If you have contracted the disease, be warned to seek its cure. The first step will be to keep out the predisposing and exciting and aggravating causes. Keep out of the way of the liquor. u Look not on the wine when it is red/ 7 Shun the presence of the viper, and it will neither bite nor poison you.

It were much better not to contract the disease^ than after you have contracted it to seek its cure. An ounce of preventive is worth a pound of cure. Use the preventive. Abstain from the use of liquor, keep out of its way, and the desire for it will not harm you.

THE CAUSES OF DRUNKENNESS.

The Desire for Intoxicating Liquors is the Cause of

Drunkenness.

In attempting to point out some of the principal causes of this deplorable evil, I can speak not from theory only,butfrom personal experience and observation. For fifteen years I have often had to work in taverns and bar-roouis, and of course had to mingle in all kinds of society, from the highest to the lowest. I have made good rise of these opportunities for seeing the workings of intemperance, and have besides often inquired of men who indulged too freely how they began to fall into this destructive habit.

Though there is no good excuse for drinking liquor, no justifiable cause — for no man can be so senseless as not to know that it brings in its train ruin to both body and soul — yet the reasons with which so many 2 men deceive themselves into this deadly habit are numerous. With the view of doing service to my fellow-men, I propose to examine some of them.

The desire for excitement, for relaxation, for social pleasure and amusement, which is natural to man, and when properly directed is perfectly innocent, induces many persons to resort to the use of stimulating liquors. Some, for instance, drink because at the moment they have nothing else to do, and u must have excitement/' They afford an illustration of the common proverb : l c The idle man's head is the devil's work-shop F What a great pity it is that they cannot find a less expensive means of excitement. The cost is sometimes fearfully oppressive not only in money, but in health and in real happiness. A man can make nothing by idleness, while he may waste his time and his money, if he has it, in its indulgence. Then it is that in his desire for excitement he may poison himself in the use of intoxicating liquors. For the brief enjoyment of what at best is but a momentary gratification, he brings upon himself per-

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manent disadvantage. And when engaged in the fatal orgies, in which the soul is sold, what power is there that can compute the loss he must sustain? For the sensual enjoyment of the single occasion he is willing to risk months of pain and wretchedness. Let the effects of a single night's debauch bear witness to the discomfort he brings upon himself. Behold his condition on the morning after his revel. His eyes are swollen, his nerves are unstrung, and he trembles as if he had the ague. The gnawing; thirst for more liquor causes a burning sensation in his stomach, which is almost insupportable. His head is aching, and seeming as if it would burst. Its throbbing and jerking excite the most painful sensations. The man is dissatisfied and unhappy where he is, and he can be at rest no where else. If with all this there be the dim recollection of some act that is ridiculous, it brings the blush of shame upon his cheek. And what if the remembrance, dim as it may be, is of an act that is criminal ? Then comes the bitter reflection on account of the deed, or the fearful anxiety that the dread of being exposed occasions. Surely , while the man is in this condition he is enduring the curse of his own producing. He is bearing the afflictive penalty of his own deed. While the man lives and indulges himself in the use of the intoxicating bowl., he must render himself a wretched victim of his own depraved taste and appetite.

Suppose we contrast the enjoyment of the moment of dissipated pleasure with the wretchedness that follows, and with the pure satisfaction enjoyed in innocent amusements, which cost nothing, and instead of demoralizing, tend to elevate and refine. The pleasant walk or ride into the country, the healthful and manly engagement in sports in the open air, the quiet evening spent in good society, in musical or literary associations, or in attendance upon entertaining and instructive lectures, and many other pursuits that might be named, leave no excuse for resorting to the low and debasing stimulus of rum. These are real recreations, and. leave a man with his eyes bright, his head clear, his nerves strong, his spirits buoyant, with no stings of remorse to torture him j and with the respect and friendship of all true men.

Keader, if you are a young man, and have fallen into the habit of drinking and carousing for amusement, because cc you have nothing else to do/' as I have often heard it said, let me implore you to try these cheaper and purer employments, and my word for it, you will not only escape a perdition of torture, but you will experience a heaven in your breast that is worth all the sacrifice you can make of the intoxicating draught to obtain.

And I warn you that if you will resort to these dens of vice, where both soul and body are destroyed, it will make earth a place of perfect horror to you. By indulging in drunkenness you madly quench the light of reason, and in your moments of insanity, produced bytheliquor,youwill probably do something that you will have to regret for life ; something that will haunt you to your dying clay, and fill you with sorrow and shame.

Closely allied to the indulgence of the dram for the idle love of it, is another fruitful cause of drunkenness. It is the habit, 2* so lamentably prevalent among young men, and even boys, of frequenting beer-houses. There is a wide-spread, but very false notion, that beer is a very innocent and healthy drink, and many persons who would shudder at the thought of ever being drunkards, do not hesitate to drink themselves, and invite others to drink u a social, healthy glass of beer. 7 ' Take your stand near what is called a respectable Lager Beer Saloon, and watch its customers, as they pass in and out. Some are business men of the neighborhood, who, when they make a sale, habitually invite their customers to take a glass of beer with them ; others are young men, who are just entering the road that will lead them to ruin ; others appear in rags and wretchedness. They have almost reached the last stage of the drunkard's career. It may be that while you are watching you will see the respectable churchgoing gentleman y who, if you ask why he visits such places, will probably tell you his doctor advised him to drink lager beer, or something stronger, for his health. Never was there a greater or more fatal professional mistake than this. It is the sheerest humbug palmed off upon the community. I have the declaration from as eminent a physician as there is in this country , that lager beer is as rank a poison to the system as bad whiskey or worse rum. At least nine out of ten of the doctors who tell their patients to drink these stimulants are either Germans, who are fond of the dram themselves, or ignorant pretenders, who have never studied, and of course know little or nothing about the subject.

In striking contrast with this churchgoing man, who drinks lager beer, &c, for his health, see that noisy crowd of youths, ranging in age from twelve years to manhood ! What are they doing ? Listen ! They are cursing and swearing. Look through the window and bear witness. They are playing cards, bagatelle, or some other game. Listen to their coarse jokes and filthy language ! Look again ! They are swilling beer and whiskey and other intoxicating liquors. They are faithfully learning their trade as " drunkard's apprentices." Alas ! some of these boys are sons of pious parents, who are living in the practice of the moral virtues, while their sons are at these dens of vice, preparing for the race of the vicious and the intemperate. They are revelling, it may be, on the Sabbath, while their parents are at church praying for the prodigals. It is a^pity that such parents do not give their children better instruction, and endeavor to restrain them from the pursuit of the drunkard's path. I have known even preacher's sons to be at these wretched places, while their fathers were in the pulpit preaching the Gospel. Now, while I must of course blame these boys for so doing, I must blame still more severely those who should have taught them better, and prevented their fall into the vices of drunkenness and profanity. Again, I must blame the men who make our laws, and those who elect the law-makers. The law-makers should put a stop to the evil by shutting up the man-traps. Most of these places are kept by foreigners, who come here to make money, they care not in what way.