Permanent temperance documents of the American Temperance Society. Vol. I.

Date:
1835
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Permanent temperance documents of the American Temperance Society. Vol. I. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh. The original may be consulted at the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh.

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    549] 28. From the Rev. Samuel Miller, D. D., Professor of Ecclesiastical History in the Theological Seminary at Princeton, New Jersey. “Your communication of November 17th reached me on the 25th, and would have been acknowledged before, had not en- gagements, of the most urgent kind, deprived me of the requi- site leisure. Tt gives me peculiar pleasure to comply with j our request in regard to the use of all intoxicating ch inks, be- cause I verily believe that the well-being of society, and espe- cially the best interest of the rising generation, must be con- sidered as deeply involved in the banishment of such drinks from habitual use. You request a statement of my own expe- perience in reference to this matter. I was never in the habit of using ardent spirits ; and, during the earlier period of my life, seldom drank wine. It et my ab- stinence from it, prior to the forty-third year of my age, cannot be said to have been either systematical or rigid, in that year I had a severe fit of illness, in recovering from which, the use of some sound old wine which was, providentially, within my reach, was so strikingly beneficial, that my physician advised me to continue it after my recovery ; and, indeed, expressed the opin- ion that I ought to take, at least, one glass, if not two, of good wine daily, to the end of life. I followed his advice for more than sixteen years; I very seldom drank more than one glass, and never more than two glasses. In this moderate use, I was almost invariably regular ; and great were the pains to which 1 submitted, from time to time, for obtaining wine of pure and indubitable qualities, not as a matter of luxury, but of health. During all this time my health, though not bad, was delicate; and toward the latter part of the sixteen years just mentioned, there was every appearance that my constitution was giving way, and that a premature and feeble old age was creeping upon me. Still I had no suspicions that wine was hurting me, and only supposed that, in spite of its benefits, my sedentary habits were undermining my strength. More than six years ago, when I was approaching my sixti- eth year, hearing so much said about the mischiefs of stimulat- ing drinks, and entering, as I did, with cordial zeal, into the temperance reformation, I determined to go beyond those around me, and to abstain- not merely from ardent spirits, but make the experiment, for at least three months, what would be the effect of an immediate and entire abstinence from wine, and all intoxicating beverage. Accordingly I broke off at once and from that day to this, have not tasted wine, excepting at the sacramental table. I have also abstained, during the same time, from cider, beer, and every species of drink stronger than