An address, delivered before the Richmond and Exeter Union Society for the Promotion of Temperance : June 10, 1832 / by Charles Jewett.

  • Jewett, Charles, 1807-1879.
Date:
1832
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: An address, delivered before the Richmond and Exeter Union Society for the Promotion of Temperance : June 10, 1832 / by Charles Jewett. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the National Library of Medicine (U.S.), through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the National Library of Medicine (U.S.)

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    perform (he bloody act without fear, pity, or remorse of con- science. Let us now inquire whether ardent spirits be capable of pro- ducing the beneficial effects ascribed to them, and which are thought to afford an apology for their use. And first, is it capable of guarding us against the attack of diseases to which we may be exposed 1 The history of the epidemics of our own country answer no, for it is satisfactorily ascertained that they have oftener attacked and sooner proved fatal to persons who have been in the habit of drinking intoxi- cating liquors than to any other class of society, and in the history of the Cholera, that scourge of the human race, which has so recently visited various parts of Europe, carrying con- sternation and death wherever it went, its almost universal fatality among the intemperate is a striking proof of the inability of strong drink to secure us against disease. But, says one, when a person has been for a long time ex- posed to cold, and become completely chilled, I know that a glass of spirits will do him good and prevent him from becoming sick in consequence of it, But, sir, let me tell you he can do nothing which is better calculated to produce the effect which lie wishes to avoid, for it is not the contracting and debilitating effects of cold that we have to fear, for this of itself would injure no man if not carried to the freezing point. It is from over action that the constitution will receive injury if at all while the system is endeavoring to establish a healthy balance of the circulation. Now whatever will tend to increase the reaction of the system after exposures must increase the danger of over action and thus prove injurious, and is not ardent spirits of all other articles the best calculated to produce that effect, It is said also to be necessary in very warm weather, but by what process of reasoning its advocates come to tins conclusion I am as yet unable to learn ; and that an article, the stimulant qualities of which are acknowledged by all, should exert a cooling and soothing influence upon the human system when over heated and in a state of violent agitation, is contrary to reason and common sense. But, says another, if they are useless as a preventive of dis-