A Mediæval Study of the Temperance Question [pp. 721-728]

4,
THE
CATHOLtC WORLD.
VOL. XLI. SEPTEMBER, i88~. No. 246.
A MEDI~VAL STUDY OF THE TEMPERANCE
QUESTION.
IN Saratoga County, New York, where health.giving water
is so abundant, a ~le,rgyman, a lawyer, and a physician combined
to form a temperance society in the year i8o8. These represen
tatives of the learned professions agreed on a plan of public
action to oppose the vice of intemperance and its attendant evils.
In recognition of his services as a pioneer in the reform which
they wished to extend, they elected Dr. Benjan~in Rush, of
Philadelphia, an honorary member of their society. From the
year 1785 a treatise had been`in circulation entitled An inquiry
into Ike Effects of Ardent Syirits on Ike Human System. Dr.
Rush was the author of this treatise, and, not content with giving
his testimony as a physician, he likewise appealed to the mini~
ters of every denomination to aid him with their influence in disseminating correct opinions concerning the abuse of intoxicating
drinks. He recognized clearly the truth sometimes considered
of little importance by certain physicians, viz., that man is composed of soul and body. Due attention, therefore, should be
given to the condition of the soul in prescribing for the welfare
of the body, especially in cases where an inordinate craving for
stimulants is likely to become chronic by strict compliance with
the directions of the medical adviser.
Total abstinence as a specific remedy against the dangers of
alcohol in all its forms was first endorsed by a conVention of
temperance delegates at Saratoga Springs, New York, in the
Copyright. Rev. I. T. HKc~K,t. i88~.