Liquor and Lincoln

From the Lincoln ursurpation, every lover of Constitutional liberty desires to be free. And every honest patriot, no matter how ardently attached to the Old Union he may have been, now freely offers his life and property, if need be, to secure that freedom. But ardent wishes and patriotic resolves--loud professions of attachment to our Southern Republic, and boastful acclamations of what we can, and mean to do will never secure our independence. God reigns and rules supremely, over nations and individuals alike; and He will permanently prosper no cause, the advocates of which are guilty of a constant disregard of his laws or authority. This He has proclaimed in his Holy Book, and ignore it as we may, it is inexorably true and certain. At one period of our struggle, the God of heaven beheld a nation on its knees, and in answer to their earnest prayers, His unseen hand was outstretched to direct and support our struggling troops on the bloody plains of Manassas, and lead them to victory. But since that memorable day, our people have become vainglorious and boastful--our soldiers profane and licentious; and now God has deserted us, and the tide of fortune has changed, and we are in danger of being overrun. Officers and privates--church members and worldlings, gather around the festive board, and spend the hours and days, in drinking, gambling, and too often, alas! In obscene and profane jocularity. The man who raises his stalwart arm to break the shackles which an earthly Despot would impose on this sunny South, now bows at the shrine of Bacchus, and sells himself to a Despot, who has enslaved both soul and body. While he refuses to submit to the authority of one, who can do no more, that destroy body and property--he is paying his devotions to another, who will do no less than destroy his body and property here, and his immortal soul in hell! And all this is done, under the specious plea, that whiskey, "prevents disease, increases the energies, protects against cold and heats, AND IS ADVANTAGEOUS TO AN ARMY ABOUT TO ENGAGE IN BATTLE!" In a brief article, it is impossible to give the evidence, which is in the possession of every respectably intelligent physician, to establish the folly and falsehood of these declarations. Suffice it to say, that carefully collected and arranged statistics, prepared by the sanitary officers of the British army through a space of thirty years, establish the following facts:....