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Intemperance

Intemperance image
Parent Issue
Day
23
Month
November
Year
1877
Copyright
Public Domain
OCR Text

Of all the nllusions by vvhi !i tnan has allowed himself to bc led astray ('rom the path ofcommon sense, there is none more absurd in its nature and mournfal in itseffects than that whioh leads him to bclievo that ardent spirits are eondueive ei t her to healtb or happiness. EngendeWng' an appetite, wbich grows with wlió't it feeils on, V.hey acquire by degrees, unbounded dominion over the individual, whom they at last reduce to a melancholy state ol physical imbeciüty and moral di praifMibn. reevishness takes the place of eOjiinuíríuty, and he who commenoes the liabil oi dnhiking, that, like a "good fellow," he might minister to the happiness of othewj mxh by déstroying his own. " Living tast" is a (átítapLoiliiiul phrase, wliich more accurately than is gtmerally imagined, expresses a literal íaot. Whatever hurries the aotiön ui the corporal functions must tend to abid;é the ptfriofl of their probable durtvtion. As the wheel of a eari'iage psrforms n Oertain numbef of rotations beforc it arrivés at the dèsüaed goal, so to the arteries ot'lhc human frame we may conceive that tHerc e aüoted only a cerfcain number of ptdsations beforo their vital energy is entirely exhausted. Extraordinary longevity has sehlom heen known to oceur, except in persons of remarkable tranqail and slow-pace'd oireulalion. If inteinpsriiihè Ourtailed mcrely Uur number of our days, we shoulti have but . little reason to find limit with its effects. The idea of a short life and a merry one is plausible enough, if itcould be realized. But unfortunately what shortens existence is calculated also to plake it melancholy. There is no process by whieh we can êidü life, so as to separate from it all foul and heterogenious matter, and V nothing behind but drops of pure concert1 trated happiness. Il' there were, we should scarcely blame the yicióüs extravagance of the voluptuary, who. provideil that his sun shine hiilliantly, vvhile above his head, cares not though that sun. should set at an earlier hour. It is seldom that debauchery breaks at once the thread of vitality. ïiiere oseara, for the most part, a -w-earisome and painíul interval between the first loss of capacity for enjoying life, and the period of its ultímate and entire extinction. Tliis eircumstance, it is to be presumed, is out of the consideration of those persons who,wit! a prodigality more extravigant than that of ('leopatra, dissolve the pear! of health in the goblet oi' ntemperance. The slope toward the grave these victims of indiscretion find to be no easy descent. The scène is darkened long before the curtain falls. Having exhausted, prernaturely, all that is pure and delieiousin the cup of life, they are obliged to swallow nl'tenvard the bitter dregs. Death is the last, but not the worst, result of intemperance. Punishment, in some instances. treads ahnost instantly upon the heels of transgression ; at others, with a more tardy but equally certain step, it follows the comrnission of moral irregularity. During the course of a long protracted career of eï ces?, the malignant power of alcohol. slow and insidious in its operation, is gsaivdng incessantly at the root, and often, without destroying the.bloom or seeming to impair the vigor of the frame, is clandestinely hastening the period of its destruction. There is no imprudenco, with regard to, health, that does not teil ; and those are not unfrequently found to suffer in tïie" event most essen tially, who do not appcar to sulfer immediately from every individual act of indiscretion. The work of decay is in such instances constantlv goingon, although it never lóudly indii-ittes its advance by any forcibU; .aiiurssion on the senses. A feeble coustitution Ís ín general more flexible than a vigorous one. From yielding more readily, it is not so sooü bken by the assaults of indiscretion. A disor der is not for the most part violent in proportion to the stamina of the subject it attacks. Strong men have energetie diseases. The puny valetudinarian seems to suffer less injury trom indisposition, in consequeuce of' being more familiar with its efl'eels. Ilis lingering and searcely more than semi-vital existeace is often protrai.ted beyond that of tho more active, vivacious and robust. But it ought to be hl the knovriedge of the debauchee that eaeh attack of casual or return of periodical distemper cleducts something trom the strength and structure of his frame. Some loares fall from the tree of life every time its trunk is shaken. It may thus be disrobed of it-sbeauty, and made to betray the dreary nakedness of a far andvaneed autunm', long before, in the regular course of nature, the season could even have commeneed. The distinction, though incalculably important, is not sufficiently recognized between stimulation and nutrition ; between repairing tlie expenditure of the fuel by a supply of substantial matter, and nrging unseasónaWy, or to an inordinate degree, the violence of the heat and brilliancy of the flame.

Article

Subjects
Old News
Michigan Argus