Medical Inquiries and Observations, Vol. 1: The Second Edition, Revised and Enlarged by the AuthorRush, Benjamin
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Medical Inquiries and Observations, Vol. 1: The Second Edition, Revised and Enlarged by the Author
Rush, Benjamin
Medicine; Yellow fever -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia
Ministers of the gospel, of every denomination, in the United States!
aid me with all the weight you possess in society, from the dignity and
usefulness of your sacred office, to save our fellow men from being
destroyed, by the great destroyer of their lives and souls. In order
more successfully to effect this purpose, permit me to suggest to you
to employ the same wise modes of instruction, which you use in your
attempts to prevent their destruction by other vices. You expose the
evils of covetousness, in order to prevent theft; you point out the
sinfulness of impure desires, in order to prevent adultery; and you
dissuade from anger, and malice, in order to prevent murder. In like
manner, denounce, by your preaching, conversation, and examples, the
seducing influence of toddy and grog, when you aim to prevent all the
crimes and miseries, which are the offspring of strong drink.
We have hitherto considered the effects of ardent spirits upon
individuals, and the means of preventing them. I shall close this head
of our inquiry, by a few remarks on their effects upon the population
and welfare of our country, and the means of obviating them.
It is highly probable, not less than 4000 people die annually, from
the use of ardent spirits, in the United States. Should they continue
to exert this deadly influence upon our population, where will their
evils terminate? This question may be answered, by asking, where are
all the Indian tribes, whose numbers and arms formerly spread terror
among their civilized neighbours? I answer, in the words of the famous
Mingo chief, "the blood of many of them flows not in the veins of any
human creature." They have perished, not by pestilence, nor war, but by
a greater foe to human life than either of them--ardent spirits. The
loss of 4000 American citizens, by the yellow fever, in a single year,
awakened general sympathy and terror, and called forth all the strength
and ingenuity of laws, to prevent its recurrence. Why is not the same
zeal manifested in protecting our citizens from the more general and
consuming ravages of distilled spirits? Should the customs of civilized
life, preserve our nation from extinction, and even from an increase
of mortality, by those liquors; they cannot prevent our country being
governed by men, chosen by intemperate and corrupted voters. From such
legislators, the republic would soon be in danger. To avert this evil,
let good men of every class unite and besiege the general and state
governments, with petitions to limit the number of taverns; to impose
heavy duties upon ardent spirits; to inflict a mark of disgrace, or a
temporary abridgment of some civil right, upon every man convicted of
drunkenness; and finally to secure the property of habitual drunkards,
for the benefit of their families, by placing it in the hands of
trustees, appointed for that purpose, by a court of justice.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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