Grappling with the Monster; Or, the Curse and the Cure of Strong DrinkArthur, T. S. (Timothy Shay)
Religion
Grappling with the Monster; Or, the Curse and the Cure of Strong Drink
Arthur, T. S. (Timothy Shay)
Temperance
In the same article, Dr. Baird remarks: "The number of those in this
country who cannot bear tea, coffee or alcoholic liquors of any kind, is
very large. There are many, especially in the Northern States, who must
forego coffee entirely, and use tea only with caution; either, in any
excess, cause trembling nerves and sleepless nights. The susceptibility
to alcohol is so marked, with many persons, that no pledges, and no
medical advice, and no moral or legal influences are needed to keep them
in the paths of temperance. _Such persons are warned by flushing of the
face, or by headache, that alcohol, whatever it may be to others, or
whatever it may have been to their ancestors, is poison to them._"
But, in order to give a higher emphasis to precepts, admonition and
medical testimony, we offer a single example of the enslaving power of
appetite, when, to a predisposing hereditary tendency, the excitement of
indulgence has been added. The facts of this case were communicated to
us by a professional gentleman connected with one of our largest
inebriate asylums, and we give them almost in his very words in which
they were related.
A REMARKABLE CASE.
A clever, but dissipated actor married clandestinely a farmer's daughter
in the State of New York. The parents of the girl would not recognize
him as the husband of their child; rejecting him so utterly that he
finally left the neighborhood. A son born of this marriage gave early
evidence of great mental activity, and was regarded, in the college
where he graduated, as almost a prodigy of learning. He carried off
many prizes, and distinguished himself as a brilliant orator. Afterwards
he went to Princeton and studied for the ministry. While there, it was
discovered that he was secretly drinking. The faculty did everything in
their power to help and restrain him; and his co-operation with them was
earnest as to purpose, but not permanently availing. The nervous
susceptibility inherited from his father responded with a morbid
quickness to every exciting cause, and the moment wine or spirits
touched the sense of smell or taste, he was seized with an almost
irresistible desire to drink to excess, and too often yielded to its
demands. For months he would abstain entirely; and then drink to
intoxication in secret.
After graduating from Princeton he became pastor of a church in one of
the largest cities of Western New York, where he remained for two years,
distinguishing himself for his earnest work and fervid eloquence. But
the appetite he had formed was imperious in its demands, and
periodically became so strong that he lost the power of resistance. When
these periodic assaults of appetite came, he would
LOCK HIMSELF IN HIS ROOM FOR DAYS
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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