■'*. I X A c c \ XT/ DOE TWO WEEKS FROM LAST DATE * i^h :<-4;\" BACCHUS. AN ESSAY ON THE NATURE, CAUSES, EFFECTS, AND CURE, INTEMPERANCE. BY RALPH BARNES GRINDROD. FIRST AMERICAN, FROM THE THIRD ENGLISH EDITION. EDITED BY CHARLES A. LEE, A. M., M. D. " T!ie land mourncth because oJdfu|kerincss5,'»* '**• f'* '\T _________________•_______--:...> U, % :• ■ i. J,\ X iu J. ' en ->.-; -r n -,' ,1.'; ■ :"r, >\\' ~ :\'■' F!CF ' OU; ', ;J:.'..:; vLALIIrtLO Ui " lot. l\IT' -•-• '*-* < t):0'-2 "M3/° N E W YORK J. & H. G. LANGLEY, 57 CHATHAM STREE 1S4-0. Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1840, By J. & H. G. LANGLEY, in the Clerk's office of the District Court of the Southern District of New York. STEREOTYPED BY J. S. REDFIELD........H. LUDWIG, PRINTER. THIS WORK IS RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED TO THE OFFICERS AND MEMBERS OF THE AMERICAN TEMPERANCE SOCIETIES, WHOSE UNPARALLELED EXERTIONS IN THE CAUSE OF MORALS AND RELIGION, AND WHOSE EFFORTS TO EXTERMINATE THE MOST FRUITFUL SOURCE OF HUMAN MISERY, THE USE OF INTOXICATING LIQUORS, WILL EVER ENSURE THEM THE GRATEFUL AFFECTIONS OF MANKIND, AND THE REGARD AND ADMIRATION OF POSTERITY. THE NEW BRITISH AND FOREIGN TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. PRIZE ESSAY. The Committee of the above Society give notice that they have come to a resolution to offer a Premium of One Hundred Sovereigns, for the best Essay on the benefits of Total Abstinence from all Intoxicating Drinks :-'■ ' 1 .—The Essay must be written in a Christian spirit, and with a design to benefit the bodies, circumstances, and souls of men. 2._The proposed Essay will contain the origin, progress, and conse- | quences of the customs of drinking, and drunkenness, Tboth from sacred and profane history. 3. It will comprise the medical opinions of the faculty,, ancient and g modern ; with the sentiments of magistrates, judges, and the most eminent ; literary, scientific, and theological writers. 4.—It will produce Scripture testimony that, although the use of wine is not prohibited, except in certain cases, and under certain circumstances, Total Abstinence from all intoxicating drinks is encouraged. 5.—It will contain statistical accounts of the evil effects of drinking-cus- toms on the habits, wealth, and religious feelings of the community, em- bracing the experience of other nations on these topics. 6.—It will contain details of committals, punishments, and miseries ari- sing from drunkenness. 7.—It will present the amount of loss of property, time, and intellect to the British Nation by their use. 8.—It will show how the various religious societies for the renovation of the world are impeded by the drinking habits of the population. 9.—It will present in an inviting manner the vast blessings which result to families, masters, mistresses, servants, fathers, mothers, and children, and to some of the most degraded individuals, from the total disuse of intoxica- ting drinks. 10.—It will also show the advantages that will accrue to trade, commerce, and the shipping interest; to the arts and sciences ; and the immense moral benefits it will confer on the nation and the world. The Candidates for the Prize will have the goodness to forward their MSS, in an envelope, containing their names and address, to Mr. J. Meredith, No. 3, Durham Place, Lambeth Road, before 25th of December, 1838. Adjudicators.—The' Rev. Theodore Drury, M. A., Rector of Keighley, Rev. J. H. Hinton, M. A., and J. E. Howard, Esq. Nearly twenty Essays were forwarded for inspection. The one now pub- lished, received the award of the Adjudicators. ADVERTISEMENT TO THE AMERICAN EDITION. I.\ presenting the following work to the American public, but few remarks are necessary. The occasion which called it forth, and the distinguished mark of approbation it received from the British and Foreign Temperance So- ciety, are already known to the reader. It therefore needs no commendation of our own. Nor are we called upon to introduce the subject by any long prefatory notice. The work is so complete in itself, that there is little room for addition, perhaps none for improvement. We have taken the liberty, however, of subjoining some brief notes, and a few pages of additional matter in the Appendix, which, it was thought would render the work more valuable to the American reader. The fear of being tedious, and swelling the book to an inconvenient size, has induced us to leave out several articles which we had prepared. As it is, we trust it will be found the most complete and satis- factory publication on the subject of which it treats, vet given to the public in any language. That it may do much good, and be a successful instrument in the hands of Providence, in advancing the Temperance reform, is the sincere prayer of the Editor. A'cw York, .lug. 16M, 184-0. 1* INTRODUCTION. In the present day, the appetite for strong drink is not only deeply rooted, but widely spread. It extends its baneful influence to persons of all ranks and conditions. It presents a most serious obstacle to the diffusion of edu- cation. It is a deadly enemy to friendly intercourse and social relations. It is no less injurious in its effects on religious welfare. Need we wonder then, that public attention is drawn to this subject. Intemperance, whether we view it in relation to the moral, intellectual, social, or religious condition of man, is of deep and paramount importance. On no subject, perhaps, does so much ignorance prevail. The nature and effects of inebriating liquors are little understood. The flood-gates of in- temperance, being once opened, the stream of sensual indulgence, has, from age to age, been suffered to roll on, until with its accumulated energies, it threatens to inundate the world with wretchedness and wo. The opera- tions of Temperance Societies, fortunately for mankind, have in some degree, contributed to do away with this lamentable delusion. Temperance Societies were established in the sixteenth century. The first association of this kind, of which we have any account, was instituted by Sigismond de Dietrichstein, under the auspices of St. Christopher, a. d. 1517. Maurice, Landgrave of Hesse, formed, a. d. 1600, a similar associa- tion, under the name of " The Order of Temperance." The rules of this society, however, were somewhat lax and indefinite. A knight, for example, was allowed at each meal, (twice a-day,) to drink seven bocaux, or glasses of wine. A third institution of this kind was established and patronized by the Count Palatine, Frederick the Fifth. These associations were not only limited in their usefulness, but transitory in their existence. The appalling extent of intemperance, in the early part of the nineteenth century, throughout a large portion of the globe, and particularly in England and in America, first led to the establishment of modern Temperance So- cieties. Hitherjo, all attempts at reform, had been looked upon as impracti- cable. In America, this melancholy state of morals was regarded by wise and reflecting persons, with equal alarm and despair.* The social habits of life—the solemn ceremonies of death—even the sacred offices of religion, were almost universally contaminated with this all-pervading and demorali- zing vice. The " American Temperance Society" was instituted in 1826. It owes its origin to the writings and labours of the Rev. Dr. Lyman Beecher, and others, whose zeal in the cause of morals and humanity, will render them conspicuous in the annals of philanthropy and patriotism. This institution, through the blessing of God, has materially contributed, by its salutary operations, to save that country from impending ruin. In the year 1829, Temperance Societies were first established in our own country. These were eventually concentrated under one general denomina- tion. The American and British societies were constituted on the same * " The highly Instructed and intelligent men, through a series of generations shall have directly within their view an enormous nuisance and iniquity, and yet shall very rarely think of it, and never be made restless by its annoyance ; and so its odiousness Bhali never be decidedly apprehended till some individual or two, as by the acquisition of a new moral sense, receive a sudden intuition of its nature, a disclosure of its most in- terior essence and malignity—the essence and malignity of that very thing which has been offering its quality to view, without the least reserve, and in the most flagrant signs, to millions of observers."—Foster on the Evtls of Popular Ignorance. via INTRODUCTION. principle—a mutual agreement to abstain altogether from the use of distilled liquors, and to discountenance the causes and practices of intemperance. In England, however, and to a limited extent also in America, the consump- tion of ardent spirits did not constitute the most powerful source of intem- perance. Hence, the ultimate formation of Temperance Societies, based 01. the principle of total abstinence from all intoxicating liquors.* This was seen to be the only practicable and efficacious means of eradicating the evil of intemperance. The operations of these societies in America, have been eminently attended with success. In Great Britain, and Ireland also, these operations have had a salutary and beneficial effeet.f The institution of Temperance Societies demands our serious considera- tion, not only as a means of self-preservation, but also from its paramount importance, as a measure calculated to ensure the safety of our families, and the welfare and happiness of future generations. Sensual temptations, in connexion with the pernicious and enslaving usages of intemperance, so prevalent in this country, reduce thousands to the verge of eternal ruin. The poet remarks:— " He who can guard 'gainst the low baits of sense, Will find temptation's arrows hurtless strike Against, the brazen shield of Temperance, For 'tis the inferior appetites enthral The man, and quench the immortal light within him. The senses take the soul an easy prey. And sink the imprisoned spirit into brute." The mode by which Temperance Societies produce their salutary opera- tions, is simple and efficient. 1. The principal object which Temperance Societies have in view, is to diffuse information on the subject of intoxicating liquors, and to disabuse the public mind concerning the false estimate they have formed in regard to the beneficial properties which they are supposed to possess, as well as to col- lect information relative to the evils of intemperance, and to present it to the world as an inducement to the adoption of remedial measures. 2. The constitution of these societies is simple. It consists merely of a social union of such persons as are disposed to promote the fundamental principles of the association. This measure, in fact, includes not only a profession of approval, but it also involves an obligation of co-operation. 3. To effect this result, a document, in the form of an acknowledgment or engagement is drawn up, called a " Pledge," which all persons who desire to unite with the society, are called upon to subscribe. This act is under- stood to constitute an open profession of approval of, and determination to adhere to, the principles upon which the institution is founded. The fundamental principles of Temperance Societies are included in the great laws of Christian charity and self-preservation. They are, indeed, the offspring and a noble exemplification of that first principle of Chris- tianity so beautifully described and admirably illustrated by St. Paul, under the name of ayann, 1 Cor. xiii. the true meaning of which word is benevo- * Speculations not unfrequently appear in the public prints in reference to a phrase, by which a large portion of these societies, in various parts of the kingdom is denominated— Tee-total. It is a provincial expression, and of Lancashire origin. It means entire, thorough abstinence, in contradistinction to the half-and-half, or as it is termed in popular language, moderation scheme. If an individual—slave to some sin—intemperance, for example, resolves to abandon it altogether, he not uncommonly makes use of double words in order to clench the matter, or to give increased force to his resolution—/ will give it up TEE-Totallij. It is in fact a repetition of the same sentiment—a resolve upon resolve—a final, and, in intention at least, unalterable decision. Hence the phrase tee- total, as applied to Temperance Societies. 11 own myself a friend to the laying down of (strict) rules, and rigidly abiding l>v them. Indefinite resolutions of abstemiousness arc apt to yield to extraordinary occasions ; and extraordinary occasions to occur perpetually. Whereas, the stricter the rule is, the more tenacious we grow of it ; and many a man will abstain rather than break his rule, who would not easily be brought to exercise the same mortification from higher motives. Not to mention, that when our rule is once known, we are provided with an answer to every importunity —Paley's Moral Philosophy, Book iv. chap ii. INTRODUCTION. IX lence or love. In reference to this celebrated and primary Christian virtue, the Apostle Paul declares, that it is our duty both by precept and example. to "consider one another, to provoke unto love and to good works," and which St. James describes as *' pure and peaceable, full of mercy and good fruits."—James iii. 17. It is a mistaken notion, that the principles of these Societies embrace in their object the intemperate part only of the community. The reformation of the drunkard is an important consideration in the grand scheme of Chris- tian benevolence. On the principle, however, that " prevention is better than cure," the principal means of its accomplishment necessarily depend on the influence and exertions of the sober part of the community. To describe the benefit which would result from a general disuse of in- toxicating liquors, would be to exhibit the reverse side of the melancholy picture delineated in this volume. If this moral and physical scourge were banished from our beloved country, religion, morals, individual happiness, and national prosperity, would be promoted and augmented to an incalculable extent. # Objections are not unfrequently urged against the institution of Tem- perance Societies, on the ground that there is no Scriptural command for abstinence of this kind ; and that to propound this remedy for intemperance, is to propose a scheme, which, in fact, supersedes and derogates from the character of the Gospel, and endeavours to impose upon mankind restraints which God does not either require at our hands, or authorize in his holy word. The Christian reader will readily perceive the fallacy of these popular objections. The Gospel is acknowledged by all, to be the only means of salvation j the word of God, however, nowhere prohibits the employment nf subordinate means to remove those unnatural obstacles to its reception which so universally prevail in the present day. Tn no part of the Scripture is there found a command for the habitual and dietetic use of intoxicating liquors. In many parts of the sacred book, are found decisive proofs of divine approbation of those who abstain from their use. The Scriptures contain no specific commands in relation to many evils which the pure prin- ciples of divine inspiration can by no means tolerate. Among these may be included theatrical entertainments, gambling, and other sinful amusements, some of which obstructed the diffusion of Christianity in the time of St. Paul. Ferocious exhibitions of gladiatorial skill, took place in the city of Rome, at the time St. Paul wrote his Epistle to the Romans, and yet no literal condemnation of this practice is to be found in the writings of that Al.nM.le. . . . . Many eminently useful institutions are in operation in the present day, as auxiliaries to the Gospel, for which there is no direct command in the Bible ; who, however, in this age of sacred light, would on this account condemn or prohibit the formation of Bible-and Missionary Societies, Sabbath Schools, and other similar establishments? These subordinate institutions, indeed, are distinguished manifestations of the essence of Christianity; which teaches us not only to " deny' ungodliness and wordly lusts, and to live soberly, righteously, and godly" ourselves, but also to do our utmost to promote the temporal happiness and eternal welfare of our fellow-creatures. The Gospel is adequate to remove the vice of intemperance ; its principles, however, have not hitherto been brought to bear upon the evil. The re- monstrances and denunciations of Christian teachers, have almost invariably been directed against the drunkard, while the source or sourcrs of the evil have been either partially or altogether overlooked and neglected. Let Christian temperance be advocated from our pulpits, and in our various re- ligious institutions, and doubtless ere long, the vice of intemperance with all its attendant evils, will be removed from our land. ... The construction of this work from the nature of the advertisement is- sued In the Committee of the New British and Foreign Temperance Society, necessarily assumes its present form ;—a collection ol important facts illus- trative of general principles. A treatise of this kind, moreover, may be deemed a desideratum in the present comparatively infant state of Tem- perance Societies. The advocates of these benevolent associations, have to X INTRODUCTION. contend against long confirmed prejudices and habits. Stubborn facts alone, will dissipate this popular delusion. Hence the writer studiously, and per- haps to his own disadvantage, in general omits such arguments, as in a work more popular in its character, would be deemed essential to its success. , The Author deems it proper to apologise for any inadvertencies or onus- sions which may have crept into a work that comprehends subjects so numerous and so miscellaneous, and which has been written in the hurry and confusion of professional pursuits. CONTENTS. PART I. CHAPTER I. Page- NATURE AND CHARACTERISTICS OF INTEMPERANCE. - - 1 1. Definitions of Intemperance in various ages - - - 2 2. The Use of Intoxicating Liquors an acquired habit • - 8 3. The Fascinating Influence of Inebriating Liquors - 11 4. Intemperance not confined to climate - - - - 13 5. Intemperance common to savage and to civilized nations, to the illiterate anil the educated - - - -15 6. Intemperance modified by Temperament, as well as by the nature of the inebriating agent by which it is produced - 17 CHAPTER II. HISTORY OF INTEMPERANCE - - - 20 The Plulistines, 20—Amalekites, 21—Syrians^l—Ephraimites,22 —Babylonians, 23—Medo-Persians, 24—Persians, 25—Macedo- nians, 26—Thracians, 30—Scythians, 30—Germans, 32—Grecians and Romans, 34—Tarentins, Parthians, Tapyrians, Illyrians, Carthaginians. Cambrians, Byzantms - - - 37 CHAPTER III. the history of intemperance—continued - - 38 Early inhabitants of Britain, 38—Gauls, 38—Anglo-Saxons and Danes, 39—Normans, 40—British, 41—Nubians, Natives of Ash- antee, Congo. Nicobar Islands, Otaheitans, New South Wales, 49—American and Brazilian Savages, 50— Russians, 51—Natives of Kamschatka and Swedes - - - - • -51 CHAPTER IV. THE HISTORY OF INTEMPERANCE IN CONNEXION WITH RELIGION - - * " " 1. Intemperance in connexion with the Religious Ceremonies of the Heatheus ... "> 53 xii CONTENTS. Page. HISTORY OF INTEMPERANCE IN CONNEXION WITH religion—continued. 2. Intemperance in connexion with the Religious Ceremonies of the Jewish Church - 5J> 3. " Christian Churches - - 59 1. Intemperance an obstacle to Christian Missions - - 70 2. antagonist to the Gospel in the British Nation 74 1. In its effects on Christian Churches in particular - - ib. 2. in preventing the diffusion of Christian Truth 80 CHAPTER V. INTEMPERANCE CONSIDERED IN A NATIONAL POINT OF VIEW 87 1. Its effects on National Industry and Wealth - - - 90 2. " " Morals - - - 101 3. " " Intellect and Education 105 4. '• " Freedom and Patriotism 107 5. " " Health and Longevity - 113 CHAPTER VI. EFFECTS OF INTEMPERANCE ON THE MORAL AND INTELLECTUAL POWERS 1. Influence of Intoxicating Liquors on the mind and temper 2 The Use of Strong Drink destructive of moral Principles 3 Influence of Intoxicating Liquors on the Intellect 1. Mental incapacity and inaptitude to acquire knowledge 2. Obscurity of Mental Perception 3. Incorrect Judgement ..... 4. Impaired Memory ..... Moral and Intellectual Degradation of Intellectual characters Influence of Intemperance on the character of Literary Produc tions ....... 122 124 127 131 132 ib. 135 136 137 139 PART II. CHAPTER VII. MORAL CAUSES OF INTEMPERANCE - - - - 1^2 1. Delusive notions propagated in the works of eminent writers ib. 2. Ignorance and Poverty combined with extreme toil and care, &c. - - . . . . - 145 3. The Association of Indulgence, with the Intercourse of social Life ........ 4. Free Indulgence at public Feasts, and other similar Entertain- ments -----... 153 5. The Facilities afforded for,the Sale of Intoxicating Liquors 165 CHAPTER VIII. PHYSICAL CAUSES OF INTEMPERANCE - - . 17] 1. The Moderate Use of Intoxicating Liquors - . - 173 2. The Use of Condiments or Provocatives - . - 176 147 CONTENTS. xiii Page. physical causes of intemperance—continued. 3. The Use of Tobacco - - . . . -178 4. The Use of Opium ...... 179 6. The immense Consumption of Spirituous, Patent, or Quack Medicines ....... 180 6. The present System of the Medical Profession - .182 PART III. CHAPTER IX. HISTORY OF INTOXICATING LIQUORS 1. General Notices of Unfermented Wines 2. History of Wines - 3. History of Malt Liquors 4. History of Distillation 191 - 192 ■ ib. . 208 . 217 CHAPTER X. NATURE AND COMBINATIONS OF ALCOHOL I. Nature and Properties of Alcohol 2. Combinations of Alcohol 1. Nature of Fermentation 2. Conditions necessary to Fermentation 3. Changes effected by Fermentation 1. Combinations of Wines 2. " Malt Liquors 3. " Distilled Liquors 3. The Comparative Strength of Intoxicating Liquors 4. Comparative Effects of Inebriating Liquors on the System ..... 4. Alcohol, not a " Good Creature of God" Human 223 ib. 224 ib. 225 226 227 228 231 233 235 240 CHAPTER XI. ADULTERATIONS OF INTOXICATING LIQUORS 1. Objects of the Svstem of Adulteration 2. Adulterations of Wines 3. Adulterations of Malt Liquors 4. Adulterations of Ardent Spirits 5. Frightful Consequences of Adulterations 245 245 ib. 260 269 273 PART IV. CHAPTER XII. GENERAL EFFECTS OF INTEMPERANCE ON THE HUMAN SYSTEM 275 1. The Human System constructed with a view to perfection and health - - • - - ■ ib- 2. Intemperance destroys the healthy relations of the System 276 o XIV CONTENTS. GENERAL EFFECTS OF INTEMPERANCE ON THE HUMAN SYS- TEM—continued. 3. Intemperance diminishes and ultimately destroys the Vital Power • • • ■ " 4. Intemperance frustrates the healthy operations of the Organs of Restoration - - - . 6. Intoxicating liquors not preventives of Disease Examples 1. Cholera and Intemperance 2. Fever and Intemperance - - 6. Intemperance deteriorates the physical energies of the present generation - • - . " ,..'. \ 7. Intemperance entails upon posterity physical Debility ana ' Disease • Page. 277 280 281 283 286 289 290 CHAPTER XIII. STIMULANTS, THEIR NATURE AND OPERATION ON THE HUMAN SYSTEM .-.--- 292 1. Division of Stimulants into Natural and Artificial, Simple and Diffusive.....- " oo« 2. The mode in which Stimulants* act upon the Stomach - 29b 3. Alcohol in its Nature and Effects, a Poison - • - 300 CHAPTER XIV. DISEASES WHICH ARISE FROM THE USE OF INTOXICATING LIQUORS ------ 305 1. The Stomach and its Functions - - - - ib. 2. The Bowels and their Functions .... 309 3. The Liver and its Functions • - - 310 4. The Heart and its Functions - - - - 314 5. The Lungs and their Functions .... 316 6. The Skin and its Functions - - - - - 317 7. The Urinary Organs and their Functions - - - 319 8. The Use of Stimulating Liquors aggravates Diseases which already exist ...... 320 9. It prevents the Curative Influence of Medicines and Medical Treatment, when required in active disease - • 321 CHAPTER XV. EFFECTS OF ALCOHOL ON THE BRAIN AND NERVOUS SYSTEM 324 1. Apoplexy, Hysteria, 325; Delirium Tremens, 326; Madness and Idiotcy - - - - - - -327 PART V. CHAPTER XVI. THE FALLACY OF POPULAR OBJECTIONS ... 333 1. Intoxicating Liquors do not permanently enable men to under- go a greater amount of physical exertion • • - ib. CONTENTS. XV Page. THE fallacy of popular objections—continued. 2. Intoxicating Liquors do not permanently resist the effects of cold 111 northern latitudes - 3. Intoxicating Liquors do not lessen the effect of heat in warm climates - • . - . 4. Intoxicating Liquor not useful to persons who" work in damp situations, and in wet weather ..... CHAPTER XVII. 338 343 348 MEANS EMPLOYED TO REMOVE THE HABITS OF INTEMPER- ANCE IN INDIVIDUALS - - 350 1. General Methods, Moral and Physical . . . .351 2. Total Abstinence the only safe and effectual cure - . 354 359 360 367 374 391 394 395 400 PART VI. CHAPTER XVIII. THE INTEMPERANCE OF THE HEBREWS 1 The Feasts of the Hebrews 2. Unfermented Wines of the Hebrews - 3. Various kinds of Wines mentioned in the Scriptures - 4. Weakly Fermented Wines in use among the Ancients 5. Hebrew Abstinence from Wines 1. Actual Prohibition - 2. Voluntary Abstinence CHAPTER XIX. THE TEMPERANCE OF THE PRIMITIVE CHRISTIANS - - 403 1. General Cautionary Remarks of the Apostles to the various Christian Churches . . . . . . ib 2. Special Injunctions on the Members of the Christian Church 407 1. Drunkards not to inherit the kingdom of God - . 408 2- excommunicated from the society of Christians on earth ------- ib. 3. Regulations of the Christian Church respecting its bishops and officers - . . . - - - ib. 3. Passages adduced in modern times in favour of the Use of Wine considered • . . . . -416 4. Diet of the Primitive Christians ..... 423 5. The principle of Christian Love, or Expediency as applicable to the subject under consideration ." . . 426 CHAPTER XX. MEANS EMPLOYED IN VARIOUS AGES AND COUNTRIES TO REMOVE INTEMPERANCE .... 433 Persians, 433—Egyptians, 434—Romans, 435—Greeks, 437—Laws of Plato, 13>—Carthaginians, 439—Locrians, 439—Massilians and Milesians, 439—Thrncians, 439—Bulgarians, 440—Franks, 440—Anglo-Saxons, 44i_Aneient Welch and Scotch, 441—An- cient Mexicans, 4 10—Ancient Spanish Law, 442—Mahometan, 443—India, 445—Chinese • . . . . -445 xvi CONTENTS. CHAPTER XXI. Page. INTEMPERANCE CONSIDERED IN A LEGAL POINT OF VIEW, AND IN THE RELATION IT BEARS TO THE CIVIL RIGHTS OF SOCIETY ----- 449 Roman Law on this subject, 449—Laws of Greece, 449—English Leal Code, 450—Scotch Law in Relation to Drunkenness and Crane, 450—American Laws in relation to Drunkards, 452—Law on the same subject in the Isle of Jersey - - - - 453 APPENDIX. History of Intoxicating Liquors in the United States - - 455 The Morbid Anatomv of Drunkenness .... 463 1. Evidence in approval of Water as a common beverage - 478 2. Testimonies of Individuals who have abandoned the use of Intoxicating Liquors ...--- 480 3. Temperance favourable to Longevity .... 485 4. Statements relative to the Health of certain tribes who ab- stain from the use of Strong Drink .... 487 5. Illustrations of the effects of Intemperance - • - 488 6. Effects of Intoxicating Liquors during Lactation, on the health both of parents and children ..... 490 Table showing the annual consumption and value of Intoxica- ting Liquors in different countries .... 494 Intemperance among the Indians ..... 495 Asylums for the Intemperate ..... 496 Speech of the Rev. Dr. Humphrey at the Fourth Anniversary of the American Temperance Union .... 499 Speech of the Hon. Theodore Frelinghuysen on the same occasion 501 Statistics of Intemperance ----... 505 An ti-Bacchus ....... 507 The Use of the Vine......508 Drinking Usages in Great Britain ..... 508 Speech of the Rev. John Pierpont..... 510 BACCHUS. PART I. CHAPTER I. NATURE AND CHARACTERISTICS OF INTEMPERANCE. " To set the mind above the appetites is the end of abstinence, which one of the fathers observes to be not a virtue, but the groundwork of virtue."— Dr. Samuel Johnson. "Nothing is so great a friend to the mind of man as abstinence; it strengthens the memory, clears the apprehension, and sharpens the judge- ment, and in a word, gfves reason its full scope of acting ; and when reason has that, it is always a diligent and faithful handmaid to conscience."— Dr. South. The term Intemperance, according to its general signifi- cation, is indefinite and unsatisfactory. In the present day, however, it is almost exclusively and universally employed in reference to excess in the use of intoxicating liquors. The limits of lawful indulgence have, in all ages of the world, been variously defined. In a primeval state, man had few wants. His occupations were simple in their character and influence. The produce of the field, and the fruit of the trees yielded him suitable nourishment; water supplied him with a refreshing and innoxiously in- spiriting beverage. In this state of virtuous simplicity, man had few temptations to lead him astray. In progress of time, however, new and unlawful sources of enjoyment were discovered, luxurious habits began to prevail, intoxi- cating liquors were produced, diseases were generated, and vicious habits followed in their train. Luxury, in its early approaches, has, in general, been characterized by its slow and insinuating progress. Vir- tuous habits gradually yield to the forms and practices of sensual gratification. A deterioration of the moral sense, A 2 NATURE AND CHARACTERISTICS has invariably been found to follow concessions to sensual indulgence. * The history of the nations of antiquity, and in particular of the Greeks and Romans, demonstrates the truth of this statement. The effects of strong drink were known, to the ancients as inimical to freedom and national prosperity. To pre- vent intemperance laws were framed against the introduc- tion of wine. The ancient Suevi, for example, would not alloAV wine to be imported into their country, believing it to be pernicious to the vigour, both of the body and of the mind.* Similar laws are found among the primitive regu- lations of other nations. Until influenced by impure motives, these sanative en- actments were rigorously enforced. As an increased taste for luxury began to prevail, the primitive aversion to wine however, gradually wore away. The deadly enemy be- came a cherished friend. Those admirable laws which had once been the safeguards of national virtue and pros- perity were finally modified, relaxed, and virtually annulled. The consequences were degradation and ruin. From the experience of every age it is manifest, that the prevailing notions concerning the nature of temper- ance and intemperance, have arisen and taken their tone, from the moral condition of the existing age. The incli- nations and appetites of mankind insensibly influence their opinions, and from such a source, has the world too frequently derived its notions of the subject under con- sideration. Democritus, as Pliny informs us, wrote a volume with the design to show, that no person ought to exceed four or six glasses of wine. Epictetus advances the following opinion:—" That man is a drunkard who takes more than three glasses; and though he be not drunk, he hath ex- ceeded moderation."! In comparatively modern times, striking examples are presented of the morals of the age, influencing considerations concerning the nature of tem- perance. A society, for instance, established about the sixteenth century, for the promotion of temperance, had its fundamental law constituted on the principle, that none of its members should drink more than fourteen glasses of wine daily. A certain general, in one of his regulations, * Vinum ad se omnino importari non sinunt, quod ea re ad laborem feren- dum remollescere Homines, atque effceminari arbitrantur.—Casar de Bell Call. lib. 4. f Fragments, No. 3. Carter's Transl. 1758. p. 112. OF INTEMPERANCE. 3 ordered, that no officer who dined at his table should ex- ceed two bottles of wine. Dr. Trotter, who adverts to this circumstance with somewhat of astonishment, records it as an honour to the British Navy, that in his time, the commanders-in-chief never allowed more at their tables than half a bottle to each guest.* The institution, in the present century, of Temperance Societies in this country and in America, forms a striking illustration. Many of these institutions had merely an ephemeral existence. Of those established, one class had for its object the advancement of temperance, by inculcat- ing the moderate use of all kinds of intoxicating liquors. Another class still in operation, has for its fundamental regulation the moderate use of fermented liquors, but ab- stinence from ardent spirits. Each of these, however, evidences the existence, not only of erroneous notions concerning the nature and effects of intoxicating liquors, but the very general and deep-rooted appetite which exists for artificial and stimulating drinks. An examination of these facts, irresistibly forces the conviction upon all unprejudiced minds, that the inclina- tions and appetites of mankind have invariably influenced their opinions in relation to the nature and limits of tem- perance. The consequences of these latitudinarian notions, are witnessed in the free use of strong drink, in the present day, by those who deem themselves temperate and sober mem- bers of society. To this class of men has been very appropriately as- signed the appellation of sober drunkards. "It is not drinking spirituous liquors," remarks Dr. Trotter, " to the length of intoxication, that alone, constitutes intemper- ance. A man may drink a great deal—pass a large portion of his time at the bottle, and yet be able to fill most of the avocations of life. There are certainly, many men of this description, who have never been so transformed with liquor as to be unknown to their own house-dog, or so foolish in their appearance, as to be hooted by schoolboys, that are vet to be considered as intemperate livers, lhese ' sober drunkards,' if I may be allowed the expression, deceive themselves as well as others ; and though they pace slowly along the road to ruin, their journey terminates at the goal, bad health."! A further examination of this subject, leads us to the • Trotter's Essay on Drunkenness, p. 157. \ Trotter on Drunkenness, p. 177. 4 NATURE AND CHARACTERISTICS astounding, but incontestable fact, that that part of the community in general termed temperate, consumes a larger proportion of inebriating liquor, than those individuals who are tisually denominated drunkards. A great proportion of those who are known to be drunkards, in general are not habitual slaves to this most debasing vice. During their fits of intemperance, they consume a large quantity of intoxicating liquor. On ordinary occasions, they do not indulge in the use of strong drink to any serious ex- tent. The former section of society, however, drink con- siderably less at stated times; but, by the accumulating amount of habitual and frequent repetition, consume a quantity, which, on calculation, appears almost incredible. The individual, for example, who indulges in but one glass of ardent spirit, or what amounts to the same thing, in two or three glasses of wine daily; consumes, in the course of ten years, not less a quantity than thirty gallons of pure alcohol, or spirits of wine; a poison well known to be most dangerous and fatal in its character. The consump- tion of this quantity, hoAvever, is far from being considered either as improper or intemperate. The most strenuous advocates of the moderate use of intoxicating liquor, Avould not, it is presumed, object to the daily apportion- ment of a pint of ale to each adult member of the human family—an alloAvance, which, in the course of one year, would amount to forty-three gallons, or about twenty-five gallons of proof spirit! These, and similar illustrations, sufficiently demonstrate the fact, that those individualsj commonly denominated drunkards, do not invariably con- sume the largest portion of alcoholic stimulants. From the preceding observations, it will be seen how impossible it is to arrive at a correct definition of the nature of intemperance, from the uncertain and ever-vary- ing opinions and practices of the age. Chemical and physiological knowledge alone supply us with the requisite data. The most important distinction between the tem- perate and intemperate employment of articles of food and drink, consists in the relative use they are of, in supplying the system with its natural requirements ; in other words, in affording to the human frame, suitable food or nourish- ment. Some substances are proper as articles of diet, when used in moderate quantities, or to such an extent as nature may require: others, on the contrary, are useful as medi- cines only, and when employed occasionally, and with judgement. The great distinction between these two di- OF INTEMPERANCE. 5 visions, obviously consists in the circumstance, that the one contains matter capable of becoming a part of, and, consequently, of adding nourishment to, the corporeal sys- tem. The other, exercises a specific or medicinal influence on some part or parts, of the human frame; but it does not become assimilated with it. Arsenic, for example, has a poAverful and peculiar influence on the human system; but it is not capable of being assimilated Avith it. Alcohol, in whatever combination, is similar in its operation. It stimulates or increases the action of the parts with which it comes in contact; but it is not added to, or identified Avith them. The use of alcohol, according to this uner- ring test of dietetic value, is found to be directly opposed to the natural actions of the system; because, like all medi- cinal agents, it can only be employed AATith beneficial re- sults, Avhen the system is in an unnatural or unhealthy state. " Nourishing substances," remarks a distinguished writer, "require to be of a similitude with the substances to be nourished; and the constituent materials of man, and the Avhole of living creation, contain no such compo- sitions as those fermented and spirituous liquors. Such liquors, cannot therefore, be reckoned useful, in the way of nourishing or maintaining the principal materials of the human frame.* The universal tendency of intoxicating liquor is to debil- itate the intellectual, and to deprave the moral powers of man. The habitual use of alcohol, in any of its varied combinations, strengthens the power of motives to do wrong, and weakens the power of motives to do right. The nature and tendency of strong drink are such, that mankind in general cannot continue long to indulge in the moderate use of it. From the earliest period of its introduction to the present time, these evidences of its nature and charac- ter have been uniform and certain. These general characteristics of alcoholic liquors lead to the examination of an important distinction, which exists between intemperance and dru?ikenness, terms in general used synonymously without reference to a primary or nat- ural signification. The indications of drunkenness are too obvious to require description. One of the canons of the Anglo-Saxon church in a prohibition against drunkenness, thus defines the term:—" This is drunkenness, when the state of the mind is changed, the tongue stammers, the • Lecture on Fermented Liquors, by A. Carlysle, M.D. A2 6 NATURE AND CHARACTERISTICS eyes are disturbed, the head is giddy, the stomach is swell- ed and pain follows." Intemperance, however, has rela- tion to an essentially different state of the system. An individual may, in the strictest sense of the Avord, be ha- bitually intemperate. Avithout exhibiting either the staggering gait, the faltering tongue, or the disgusting ejaculations of the professed debauchee. In this circumstance lies the imidious influence of strong drink, which has ever been characterized by the unnatural changes Avhich it effects, in too many instances, unobserved and unsuspected by its unfortunate victims.* Eminent writers have advanced various definitions of the nature and meaning of temperance. By some, it has been correctly asserted, that an intemperate man is one Avhose appetite rules his reason ; and that a temperate man, is one whose reason rules his appetite. Temperance is a virtue of self-denial or restraint. Dr. Adam Clarke defines it to be a proper and limited use of all earthly enjoyments, keeping every sense under proper restraint, and not per- mitting the animal part to subjugate the rational. Park- hurst renders it " self-government, temperance, continence ; having poAver over one's oavh appetites." Pasor and other lexicographers of good authority, give it the same signifi- cation. In this sense also, was the word used by one of the most distinguished philosophers of old. " Temper- ance," observes Cicero, " is the unyielding control of rea- son over lust, and over all Avrong tendencies of the mind. Frugality is not so extensive as temperance. Temperance means not only frugality, but also modesty and self-gov- ernment. It means abstinence from all things not good, * " Men indulge habitually, day by day, not perhaps to the extent of pro- ducing any evident effect, either upon the body or mind at the time, and fancy themselves all the while strictly temperate, while they are, in reality, undermining their constitution by slow degrees—killing " themselves by inches, and shortening their existence several years."—Anatomy of Drunk- enness, by Robert Macnish, bth Ed. p. 254. " It is," remarks Dr. Beecher, of America, 'and I fully concttr with him,' observes Dr. Macnish, " a matter of unwonted ccrtaintv, th;it habitual tip. pling s> worse than periodical drunkenness. The poor Indian, who once a month drinks himself dead, all but simple breathing, will outlive for years, the man who drinks little and often, and is not perhaps suspected of intem- perance." "The observation of twenty years, in this city (Dublin,) has convinced me, that, were ten young men, on their twenty-first birthday, to begin to drink one glass (equal to two ounces) of ardent spirits, or a pint of port wine or sherry, and were they to drink this supposed moderate quantity of strong liquor daily, the lives of eight out of the ten would be abridged by twelve or fifteen years. They represent themselves as temperate-^uerj/ temperate." Statement by Dr. Chcyne, late Physician General of Ireland, OF INTEMPERANCE. 7 and entire innocence of character." Temperance is that which teaches us to regulate our desires and fears, so that in desiring and in shunning things, we may always follow reason. Fortitude is concerned in labours and dangers, temperance in renouncing pleasures. From these observations, A\*e may with great propriety conclude, that physical temperance consists in the mode- rate use of those things which are nutritious and proper for human sustenance, and in abstinence from e\'erything which is injurious and unnecessary. This definition, is, in every sense of the Avord, strictly applicable, because it not only comprehends the quantity but the quality also of those things Avhich ought to enter into the composition of human diet. Sir William Temple, a Avriter of considera- ble eminence of the seventeenth century, remarks thus:— " I do not allow the pretence of temperance to all such as are seldom or never drunk or fall into surfeits, for men may lose their health Avithout losing their senses, and be intemperate every day Avithout being drunk perhaps once in their lives ; but that Avhich I call temperance, is a regu- lar and simple diet, limited by every man's experience of his oavu easy digestion, and thereby proportioning, as near as avcII can be, the daily repairs to the daily decays of our AA'asting bodies.* Sir William Temple then proceeds to apply this rule of temperance to the removal of a disease on which he has A\rritten largely, and enforces the neces- sity of rigorous abstinence from inebriating liquor on all ordinary occasions. Another AAi'iter, in vhe earlier part of the seventeenth century, in reprobating the practice of intemperance, makes the following pertinent remarks :—" It is sad to consider Iioav many will hear this charge, for one that AA'ill apply it to himself, for confident I am, that fifteen of tAventy, this city over, (London) are drunkards, yea, seducing drunk- ards, in the dialect of Scripture, and by the laAV of God, which extends to the heart and the affections." "Per- haps," observes the same Avriter, " by the laAV of the land, a man is not taken for drunk except his eyes stare, his tongue stutter, his legs stagger; but by God's law, he is one that goes often to the drink, or that tarries long at it. Prov. xxiii. 30, 31. He that will be draAA'n to drink when he hath neither need of it, nor mind to it, to the spending of money, wasting of precious time, discredit of the Gospel, * An Essay on the Cure of the Gout.—Miscellanea, Part 1.1677. 8 NATURE AND CHARACTERISTICS the stumblingblock of weak ones, and hardening associates. Briefly, he that drinks for lust, or pride, or covetousness, or fear, or good-fellowship, or to drive away time, or to still conscience, is a drunkard. The powerful influence which intoxicating liquors exer- cise on the human system, their strong tendency to lead to excess, their effects in inflaming the passions and ener- vating the mind, are sufficient indications, that even their moderate and habitual use is incompatible Avith a temperate and healthful condition of either mind or body. The vice of intemperance during every stage of its progress, has been characterized by some prominent and peculiar features. 1. In the first place, it may be remarked, that the use of intoxicating liquors is an acquired habit. The influence which inebriating compounds exercise over the mental and physical constitution of man, is altogether the result of artificial feelings and impressions, superinduced on those with which the system is naturally endowed. Providence, in wisdom and bounty, has supplied the wants of man in rich profusion. Animal and vegetable creation well stored with aliment, surround him on every side. Each substance, moreover, bears characteristic evi- dence of the design of its munificent Creator. The vast variety of vegetables and their fruits, which enter so large- ly into the diet of the human race, present evident relation between the nature of their composition, and the purposes to which they are designed to be appropriated. This observation applies with equal force to Avater, one of the most useful substances in nature. Alcohol, on the contrary, in all its combinations, is de- void of these nutritious characteristics, and is found to be inimical to the healthy functions of the animal economy, and productive only of that injurious excitement, which subsides into morbid debility. It is a humiliating reflection, that man is the only animal in creation accustomed to the use of intoxicating liquors. No analogous substances are found in the whole range of animate creation. Alcoholic stimulants are purely the re- sults of human ingenuity and invention, called into opera- tion by the desire to gratify a sensual and sinful propen- sity. Mankind have thus themselves originated an evil, which has proved the severest moral and physical scourge that eA'er afflicted the human race. Several prominent and striking facts are adduced in the OF INTEMPERANCE. 9 present place, to prove that the habit of vinous indulgence is altogether acquired. Entire nations are knoAvn to have existed for ages in a state of comparatively superior health, comfort, and hap- piness, without the aid of intoxicating liquors.* When first offered to the inhabitants of those countries, they have, in general, evinced considerable aversion to their use; and have been reconciled to the practice only, by a conforniiiy to the liabits and persuasions of those civilized nations who have seduced them into the destructive vice of intoxication. A corresponding illustration of this statement, may be found in ibe fact, that young persons, and in particular children, almost universally exhibit signs of repugnance, when first induced to taste of any kind of intoxicating liquor; which indications of disgust are not manifested, when they partake, of the almost unlimited varieties of nutritious food. The unnatural excitement Avhich these liquors induce when first made use of, produces unpleasant sensations on the unvitiated palates of the young. The benevolent Creator has, in his-wisdom, so arranged the constitution of man, that every article of a nutritious character is cal- culated to afford agreeable sensations of pleasure and re- freshment to the temperate consumer. The excitement produced by alcoholic stimulus, hoAA'cver, becomes agree- able only Avhen the system has for some time been habit- uated to its use ; and, in fact, not until a series of artifi- cial feelings have been created, which require for their continuance the repeated application of the stimulating agency by which they Averc first produced. The varied sensations which inebriating compounds im- part to the taste, furnish an additional proof that the habit of indulgence in their use is altogether acquired. The taste and flavour of these compounds have varied in almost every age of the world. The nausea and disagreeable sensations Avhich most of them impart, have, in the first instance, to be conquered or rendered familiar by continu- ed use, before a A'itiated appetite can relish their reception. The JeAvs, for example, frequently mixed frankincense and • Mr. Buckingham states it to be his conviction, "judging from what he himself has seen and heard on the testimony of creditable writers, that one- fifth of the entire population of the globe are abstainers from all intoxicating liquors." " A number," he remarks, "sufficiently large to show that they are not necessary tp human existence, health, or enjoyment. 10 NATURE AND CHARACTERISTICS various spices Avith their AA'ines, in order to increase their potency. The Romans and Greeks very plentifully made use of pitch, turpentine, resin, and other potent ingredients for the same purpose. Malt liquors Avcre formerly pre- pared without the bitter addition of hops; in the present day, hoAvever, habit has rendered that celebrated bitter so familiar to the taste, that it is on all occasions employed in the preparation of beer and ale. The various kinds of malt liquors uoav in common use in England are forcible illustrations of the same fact; almost each district having its ale or beer more or less celebrated for some peculiar flavour or reputed strength. Long continued use renders these various compounds highly agreeable; physical dis- order, indeed, is not unfrequently induced, even by occa- sional indulgence in another variety of the same liquor. The system habituated to one peculiar kind of inebriating liquor, rejects with natural repugnance stimulants possess- ing different properties, both in regard to their strength and flavour. This diversity of character, more or less, applies to in- ebriating liquors in every part of the globe in which they are used; each nation possessing its favourite liquor to which its inhabitants have become attached, and the use of Avhich, they cannot abandon without feelings of painful deprivation. All of these, however nauseous at first, be- come not only agreeable, but are eventually considered as necessary to healthful existence. Such is the influence of habit. " Host persons," remarks Dr. Garnett, " have so indulged themselves in this pernicious habit of drinking Avine, that they imagine they cannot live without a little everyday; they think that their very existence depends upon it, and that their stomachs require it to enable them to perform the necessary functions of digestion. Similar arguments may be brought in favour of every other bad habit, though, at first, the violence we do to nature makes her revolt; in a little time she submits, and is not only reconciled, but grows fond of the habit; and we think it necessary to our existence. Neither the flavour of wine of opium, of snuff, nor that of tobacco, is naturally agree- able to us: on the contrary, these articles are highly un- pleasant at first; but by the force of habit they become pleasant. It is, however, the business of rational beino-s to distinguish carefully, betAveen the real Avants of natur°e, and the artificial calls of habit; and Avhen we find that the last begin to injure us, Ave ought to use the most perse- OF INTEMPERANCE. 11 vering efforts to break the enchantment of bad customs; and though it may cost us some uneasy sensations at first, we must learn to bear them patiently; a little time will reward us for our forbearance by a re-establishment of health and spirit." 2. Habitual and long continued indulgence in the use of inebriating drinks, obtains an almost irresistible influence over both the mental and physical constitution of man. This change appears to be peculiar in its character, impairing the moral perception, enervating the mind, and deranging all the operations of the physical powers, substituting an artificial and tyrannical condition, in the place of the har- monious and agreeable operations of nature. This con- dition is so enslaving in its character, that individuals have been known to make the most severe sacrifices, rather than submit to be deprived of the means of sensual gratification. Indeed, many of the victims of strong drink have declared their utter inability to resist its influence- so strong and so painful are the cravings of the intemper- ate appetite. It is important to observe, that this peculiar fascination is found to exist, even when the mind is perfectly con- scious of the guilt and awful consequences, temporal and spiritual, which inevitably result from perseverance in in- temperate habits. The entreaties of friends and relations, the loss of character, the privation of all temporal pros- perity, and the positive knoAA'ledge of eternal punishment— all such inducements, however powerful in themselves, are often found insufficient to arrest the drunkard in his self- destroying career. Dr. Cheyne, of Dublin, relates a re- markable example of the inveteracy of this evil habit. A gentleman, very amiable in his disposition, and justly popu- lar among the circle of his acquaintance, contracted habits of intemperance ; his friends argued, implored, and remon- strated, but in vain. At last, he thus put an end to all importunity. A friend addressed him in the folloAving strain: "Dear Sir George, your family are in the utmost distress on account of this unfortunate habit; they perceive that business is neglected, your moral influence is gone, your health is ruined, and,' depend upon it, the coats of your stomach will soon give way, and then a change Avill come too late." The poor victim, deeply convinced of the hopelessness of his case, replied thus: "My good friend, your remarks are indeed too true, but I can no longer re- sist temptation. If a bottle of brandy stood at one hand, 12 NATURE AND CHARACTERISTICS and the pit of hell yaAvned on the other, and if I Avere con- vinced that I vvere to be pushed in, as surely as I took one more glass, I could not refrain; you are all very kind; I ought to be very grateful for so many kind good friends, but you may spare yourselves the trouble of trying to re- form me—the thing is now impossible."* The pages of history record numerous examples of sim- ilar infatuation. Dionysius the younger, according to Aristotle, Avould sometimes continue in a state of intoxi- cation for ninety days at a time, a habit, the frequent re- currence of Avhich reduced him at last to total blindness. The Emperor Zeno daily drank himself into a state of in- sensibility. In one of these fits of inebriety, his consort, Ariadne, had him committed to the horrors of the tomb. Returning consciousness revealed the dreadful situation in which he had been placed by his folly and imprudence. His lamentable cries and entreaties, hoAvever, Avere suffer- ed to pass unheeded, and the sensual tyrant, detested alike by his Avife and his subjects, AA-as thus left to die a miser- able death. The conduct of Winceslaus, king of Bohemia, exhibits another instance of the infatuating influence of strong drink. This monarch visited Charles VI. at Rheims, A. D. 1397, in order to treat Avith him on some important na- tional affairs. The Avine of that- country afforded him such unexpected pleasure, that rather than be diverted from the excess in which he daily indulged, he consented to make certain important and disadArantageous conces- sions.! One of the monarchs of Bamba in Africa, resigned his right to the throne, rather than submit to be removed from the Portuguese settlements, AA'here he had ample opportu- nities of indulging his fondness for intoxicating liquors.f Shawe OWeil the famous opponent of Queen Elizabeth, usually kept in his cellar at Dundrum, two hundred tons of Avine, of which as Avell as of Usquebaugh, he drank to such excess that his attendants were accustomed to bury him in the earth chin-deep, until the inflaming effects of inebriation had become dissipated.§ A volume might be filled Avith similar examples. Innu- merable instances in point are of ordinary occurrence at * A Statement of Certain Effects of Temperance Societies, 1829, p. 8. t Journ. de Scav. June, 1706. j: Adamson's Voyage to Senegal. § Hollinshed. Vol. vi. page 331. OF INTEMPERANCE. 13 the present period, all of Avhich exhibit the fatally fascina- ting influence of depraved appetite and the poAver which it possesses to OA-ercome every motive either of a moral or of a religious character.* 3. Another characteristic of this vice may be noticed in the fact that Intemperance is not confined to climate. The inhabitants of northern climes are on examination found to be equally prone to intemperance with the natives of Avarmer latitudes. Climate cannot therefore in itself be considered as a cause of drunkenness. It has, however, considerable influence in resisting or favouring the effects Of Intoxication. The natives of cold countries will indulge with comparative impunity in that amount of stimulating liquor, which, in Avarmer temperatures would be produc- tive of fatal consequences. It must not thence, hoAvever, be supposed that indulgence in alcoholic liquors in cold climates is not attended with evil results. In Russia and in Sweden the free use of ardent spirits is well knoAvn to have occasioned an appalling degree of mortality.! The existence of intemperance in one portion of the globe more than another has been remarked by Montes- quieu. " Go," says he, " from the equator to our pole, and you will find drunkenness increasing, together Avith the degree of latitude. Go from the same equator to the op- posite pole, and you will find drunkenness travelling south, • The following evidence of the " infatuating nuturt of the habit," is the result of an extended experience of Mr. Poynder, late Under-Sheriff of Mid- dlesex, London: " I have observed that-when it has once taken possession of the mind and body, it is next to a miracle if it yields to any sense of shame, or any fear of loss. The power with which it retains its hold is really Wonderful. A man shall see his property wasting, his health declining, his character departing from him and all in vain ; he shall even form the most solemn resolutions of amendment to no purpose, and admit the force and truth of every remonstrance made by his relatives and friends, without being able to abandon the habit; he knows that poison is in his cup, and yet he will drink on. I have known repeated instances of this fact, and so I believe has almost every one else. K is no uncommon case for drinkers, when ad- monished by those whom they esteem to weep over their own folly ■ such in- stances I have myself seen again and again ; but how few are the instances where resolutions of amendment do not vanish with such tears ! It is perhaps the most fatal circumstance connected with this habit, that it enervates and debases the mind so as to deprive it of its natural vigour, and prevent the success of every effort for its own deliverance. I knew a case in which the preservation of an office of much importance to the possessor, depended upon the abandonment of the habit 01 spirit-drinking ; this person who was muoh respected by a great number of his superiors, was treated by them with all possible lenitv for some years, and every effort was made in the interim to reclaim him from his follv ; he always received these attempts with the greatest gratitude, but could not give up his vice, and it was found at last impossible to continue him in his place : his health followed the loss of substance, and his life of both. This is no solitary case. f Chapter v. 14 NATURE AND CHARACTERISTICS as on this side it travels tOAvard the north." Dr. Macnish, in his Anatomy of Drunkenness, affirms that there cannot be a doubt that drunkenness prevails to a much greater ex- tent in northern than in southern latitudes ; and immedi' ately aftenvard adds, " the nature of the climate renders this inevitable, and gives to the human frame its capabili- ties of withstanding liquor."* In reference to the latter statement it may be remarked, that the nature of climate does not interfere so much Avith the disposition or proneness of mankind for stimulating liquors, which appears to have exhibited a similarity of character in every portion of the globe ; but the effects noticed by this writer must be ascribed to the physical capabilities or power of resisting foreign influences which varies in the human constitution under different climates. Hence remarks Dr. Macnish—a quantity which scarcely ruffles the frozen current of a Norwegian's blood, would scatter madness and fever into the brain of the Hindoo. Even in Europe, observes the same Avriter, the inhabitants of the south are far less adapted to sustain intoxicating agents than those of the north.! A medical writer has expressed himself in the following erroneous manner on the subject in question. " The great estimation," he asserts, " in which spirituous liquors are held by all northern nations, is a sure proof of their ne- cessity and value. Among these a perpetual struggle be- tween the laAvs of life within, and the laws of nature with- out, exists ; and, whatever will give a preponderance to the former, will of course, be eagerly sought after. The further we approach to the north, the greater devotedness we find to these liquors. When life and nature are at a low ebb, artificial excitements become indispensable ; and the means of obtaining these Avill be among the chief ob- jects of the people."J The existence of a stronger pro- pensity for stimulating ingredients in one part of the world more than another, is not surely a sufficient proof of their value and necessity. The statement of Dr. Sheer, hoAvever, is found to be directly opposed to the known laws of the animal economy. The system of man is Avisely constituted by a beneficent Creator, Avith such capabilities as enable him to endure not only the vicissitudes of climate, but when requisite to sustain extraordinary exertion of the * Anatomy of Drunkenness, p. 16. t Ibid. p. 17. % Dr. Sheer on the Diseases'of the Lower Orders in Dublin.—Dublin Hos- pital Reports. Vol. hi. OF INTEMPERANCE. 15 animal strength, without serious injury, and supported only by the most simple kinds of nutriment. Alcoholic stimu- lants in all climates, and under every ordinary circum- stance, invariably diminish this capability by injuring and wasting the vital powers of the human frame. Hence the use of stimulating liquors in cold climates in particular, ought to be avoided, because they do not add to the natural strength of the system ; but deprive it more or less of that vital energy with Avhich it has been endowed to enable it to resist external influences. A proper supply of nourish- ing food and appropriate clothing, is all that is necessary for the purpose in question. The quality and quantity of nutriment, necessary for the support of the animal frame, is affected, to a considerable extent, by climate, as may be rendered sufficiently evident by the change Avhich is felt in our OAvn country, during the seasons of winter and summer. The heat of summer diminishes the appetite for that stimulating kind of food, Avhich appears in some de- gree necessary during the rigorous effects of colder seasons. Hence the necessity of dietetic caution. The same result is found to occur in the various latitudes to which refer- ence has been previously made. The Creator has, how- ever, everywhere placed within the reach of man—such natural food as is requisite, and best adapted to the situation and climate in A\rhich he is located. All other indulgence is the result of unlawful gratification, and depraved appe- tite ; and cannot be attributed to necessary and inevitable circumstances, over which he has no control. 4. Intemperance is common to savage and to civilized nations, to the illiterate and the educated. This vice has existed almost in every nation, and among every people, whether belonging to the uncultivated savage, or to those individuals who have enjoyed the advantages of education and refinement. The history of intemperance, acquaints us with exam- ples of the effect of strong drink on nations, eminent for intellectual qualifications, almost equally atrocious in their character, with those occurring among the most barba- rous nations on record. The consequences of intemperance, indeed admit of feAV modifications. They are invariably degrading and unnatural in their character. Some of the features of intemperance, are considerably modified by education, in particular when combined Avith a certain amount of moral restraint. The untutored sav- age, abandons himself to insatiate and unbounded excess 16 NATURE AND CHARACTERISTICS restrained by no principles of shame or propriety. His views of earthly enjoyment, extend little beyond the present moment: no sufficient motive, therefore, presents itself, to oppose his unlimited desire for sensual gratifica- tion. Hence arise those horrible and disgusting scenes of bloodshed, so generally resulting from savage excess. The same effects, hoAvever, though perhaps, in different degrees of excess, will, on further examination, be found to attend the operations of intemperance, in more civilized portions of the globe. In proportion, as the animal pro- pensities of man preponderate over his moral and intel- lectual powers, Avill be found prevailing among the species, a greater or less amount of ferocious excitement, and savage barbarity. The drinking practices, however, of civilized nations, in some respects, differ materially from those of the un- polished and unguarded savage. The object of an intem- perate member of the former class, is not how he can attain the readiest method of intoxication, but how he can attain the highest degree of animal and pleasurable excite- ment, without the exhibition of any visible signs of what is commonly denominated intemperance. The moderate intemperance of the present day, (a vice, unfortunately for society, almost universal in its extent) may be considered as an art peculiar in itself, requiring special and long continued training, before it is brought even to comparative perfection. The morality of modern refinement, (special occasions excepted,) denounces the vice of drunkenness, as odious and disreputable. It has, in consequence, assumed a more captivating, insidious, and respectable form, under the indefinite and dangerous desig- nation of moderate drinking. It will easily be seen how impossible it is, on any sound or correct data, to define the nature and limits of moderate indulgence. In a physi- ological point of view, this is impossible. It is a well- known fact, that long continued habit will enable one individual to endure, without the least external symptom oj intemperance, such an amount of alcoholic stimulus as would render another person less inured to the intoxicating draught, in the popular sense of the word, completely drunk and even insensible. Hence persons may be charge- able Avith intemperate excitement and really be under the influence of a greater or less amount of it; and at the same time they may pass through the ordinary circumstances of life with a certain kind of credit and respectability, and OF INTEMPERANCE. 17 even be looked upon as temperate members of society. Let it not, however, be supposed that the practice of modern drinking is unattended Avith immoral and injurious effects. Experience demonstrates the contrary. The mere animal drinker, as we have seen in the example of the savage, commits under the influence of excessive excitement horri- ble deeds of violence and bloodshed. The moderate ex- citement, however, produced by the drinking habits of refined society, is not much less dangerous and destruc- tive, although, in general, its effects are overlooked, and not unfrequently attributed to other causes. The greater part of the broils which occur in civilized society, seldom take place when the individuals in question are in a state of visible intoxication ; but at a period AA'hen their animal and moral powers have been elevated to a pitch of—con- trollable excitement, and when credit is given them for having perfect command OA'er their feelings and judgement. In this state the balance of reason is easily overthroAvn, and the Avhole force of subdued and accumulated excite- ment is brought to bear on the first favourable opportunity which may present itself for its full development, and un- restrained operation. The records of domestic history, no doubt, bear melancholy evidence of this fact. The follow- ing testimony of the Rev. Dr. Hewitt of America has rela- tion to a similar influence in a national point of view:— "The common people of France," he remarks, " are burnt up Avith wine, and look exactly like the cider-brandy drink- ers of Connecticut and the N. E. rum drinkers of Massa- chusetts. If they do not drink to absolute stupefaction, or intoxication, it is because sensuality Avith Frenchmen is a science and a system. They drink to just that point at Avhich their moral sense and judgement are laid asleep, but all their other faculties remain awake. Hence all the hor- rors of the French Revolution." Mr. Hewitt advances this opinion as the result of personal observation and expe rience. 5. Intemperance is modified not olny by the physical tem- perament upon which it operates, but by the nature of the inebriating agent by which it is produced. Various causes contribute to the development of peculiar temperament, Vitiated education, and irregular moral and physical train- ing, present themselves among the most prominent; in addition, perhaps, to a mental or physical conformation natural to each member of the human family. Macnish, in his Anatomy of Drunkenness, specifies seven B2 18 NATURE AND CHARACTERISTICS varieties of temperament as modified by drunkenness; viz. The Sanguineous, Melancholy, Surly, Phlegmatic, Nervous, Choleric, and Periodical* A few general observations Avill suffice to elucidate the subject in question. Individ- uals of a sanguineous temperament are easily excitable, and noisy, and spirited over their cups. They form the principal source of attraction at meetings of a convivial description, and are soon affected even by moderate vinous indulgence. Their convivial qualifications form a danger- ous source of temptation to excess. Choleric temperaments, like the sanguineous, have highly susceptible nervous systems, as well as physical poAvers predisposed to inflammatory action. Other temperaments, on the contrary, are not easily elevated by vinous indulgence. The Phlegmatic class of drinkers, in general, are not roused from their natural lethargy, at a time when the former class are either alto- gether, or in a great measure overpowered by bacchanalian indulgence. In addition to these is a variety of shades, in the nature of which, the preceding characters more or less partici- pate. The Melancholic drunkard is subject to most dis- tressing paroxysms of despondency, succeeding to, and totally extinguishing all his preceding sensations of pleas- ure. The lives of some of our eminent literary characters form striking and pitiable examples.! Many of these varieties are the necessary result of. irregular moral and physical education. The early and frequent use of alcoholic stimulants is well known to be a productive source of nervous excitement and irritable temperament. The use of intoxicating liquor is more particularly dan- gerous to persons of sanguineous and choleric tempera- ments, who, under the inflaming influence of strong drink, are readily excited to deeds of a daring and impetuous character. The annals of crime are fruitful with illustra- tions of this description. The use of inebriating liquor, in no one instance, benefits these varieties of temperaments. It stimulates the san- * Anatomy of Drunkenness, p. 52. f Burns appears to have been subject to lowness of spirits from an early period; his biographer writes as follows: " Till toward the era of his com- mencing author, when his growing celebrity occasioned his being often in company, 1 do not remember to have ever seen him intoxicated, nor was he at all given to drinking. No sooner,however,washe led into intemperance, than his disorder became aggravated, and his dejection, from being a casual occurrence, became continual." OF INTEMPERANCE. 19 guineous to higher and more dangerous pitches of excite- ment. The melancholic unhappily and invariably find indulgence succeeded by still deeper shades of depression, while the temperament of the phlegmatic, although tem- porarily roused, after the fumes of the glass have effectu- ally subsided, again assumes its natural character. Intemperance is modified to a considerable extent by the inebriating agent by Avhich it is produced. Alcohol, either in its palpable and visible form, or in its latent and disguised existence, is now universally knOAvn to be the great agent of intoxication; and the effects re- sulting from its use are in proportion to the purity and strength in which it is employed. The use of alcohol, in the form of ardent spirits, is more injurious and exciting than in any other association, because it is more concen- trated in that state than in fermented liquors. Malt liquors, for instance, do not contain so much alcohol as ardent spirits ; and from the bitter principle Avith which they are combined, are less stimulating and more sluggish in their effects. The stupifying and deadening operation of malt liquors forms a striking contrast to the more active and all-exciting influence of ardent spirit. These effects are too familiar to require more particular detail in this place, but they Avill be resumed in succeeding portions of the inquiry. 20 HISTORY OF INTEMPERANCE. CHAPTER II. HISTORY OF INTEMPERANCE. Boundless intemperance In nature is a tyranny : it hath been The untimely emptying of the happy throne, And fall of many Kings.—Shakspeare. Wine and wassail have taken more strong places than gun or steel. Chesterfield. The History of Intemperance presents a most melan- choly subject of instruction and warning to mankind. It has been asserted that history is philosophy teaching by examples. The correctness of this definition, is, in no instance, so powerfully exemplified, as in that of intem- perance. The frugal habits of the primitive inhabitants of the earth, exclude as impossible the existence of gross intem- perance in early times. Isolated cases at an early period, are recorded in the Old Testament; but these rather pre- sent striking examples of human frailty, than illustrations of a vice, general in its existence. Those of Noah and Lot are the earliest instances Avith which we are ac- quainted. At a later period the vine became more generally culti- vated, and examples of intemperance were less rare in their occurrence. The most powerful nations then in existence, were com- posed of scattered and nomadic tribes, of pastoral and predatory habits. They were accustomed to hold frequent feasts, either to do honour to their gods, or to commemo^ rate signal successes gained over their enemies. Important deliberative concerns were transacted on such occasions, a custom, which, even at the present day, prevails among barbarous nations. Gaal and his brethren, in connexion with the Schechemites, made a feast and conspired against Abimelech.* In the instance of Sampson, the Philistines assembled * Judges ix. 37. HISTORY OF INTEMPERANCE. 21 together to offer a sacrifice to their god Dagon, for hav- ing delivered their formidable enemy into their hands. "When their hearts were merry," Sampson was brought into their presence, that they might make sport Avith him. Sampson called upon the Lord to assist him, and his ene- mies were destroyed in the midst of their rejoicings. Another example of intemperance may be found in the instance of Nabal, an inhabitant of Maon, near Carmel. This man having acted churlishly toward David, the latter was only conciliated by timely presents made by Abigail, the Avife of Nabal. Abigail on returning home found her husband feasting and "very drunken." The following morning she acquainted him with his fortunate escape. This information had so great an effect on Nabal's frame, debilitated as it Avas by his previous excesses, that in ten days aftenvard he died. In the reign of Saul, the Amalekites made an irruption into the borders of Palestine, and harassed the people of Israel. They indulged freely in intoxicating liquors, for Inning pillaged Ziklag, the residence of David, the latter pursued and found them " spread abroad upon all the earth, eating and drinking." A few only escaped the avenging hand of their enemies. In the case of Amnon the son of David, and of Elah, King of Israel, signal examples are presented of the evils which befall those who indulge in strong drink. The domestics of Absalom sleAV Amnon Avhen his heart was "merry Avith wine:" and Elah, Avhen he Avas "drinking himself drunk" Avas slain by his servant Zimri. The Syrians also Avere more or less addicted to intemperance. When Benhadad, King of Syria, besieged Samaria, Ahab, by direction of the prophet, surprised and defeated this warrior, whom he found Avith thirty-tAVO kings " drinking themselves drunk in the pavilions." One of the books of the Apocrypha acquaints us Avith an interesting example of the effects of intemperance on the Assyrians, Avho, but for the event in question, had eA'ery reasonable prospect of making conquest of Judea. Bethulia AA'as closely be- sieged by Holofernes, chief captain of Nabuchodonosor, King of the Assyrians. Destruction, either by thirst or by the sAVord, to all human foresight, appeared inevitable. A poAverful army had assembled before the gates of the city, and the fountains from which they had obtained a supply of AA'ater, by a device of the enemy, AA'ere rendered un- availing. Judith, a Avoman of wonderful courage and sur. 22 HISTORY OF INTEMPERANCE. passing beauty, happily effected their deliverance. In company with her maid she visited the tent of Holofernes, and cunningly held out to him hopes of effecting the speedy and easy capture of the city and its inhabitants. Holofernes fascinated by the charms of her person, pre- pared for his fair guest a feast, at which he " drank much more Avine than he had drunk at any time in one day since he was born." In the hour of night Judith approached the couch of the chief avIio was " filled Avith wine," and cut off the head of the intended destroyer of her kindred and nation. The Jews greatly encouraged by this event, sud- denly fell upon the Assyrians, who Avere in utter amaze- ment and fright, and slew them Avith a terrible slaughter.* In Isaiah and the succeeding prophets, there is found ample evidence of the declining morality of the Jews. The prophets frequently exclaim in the most energetic language against the intemperance Avhich prevailed, and present in gloAving language the aAvful consequences of this debasing vice. A most characteristic feature of the intemperance of the JeAvs, was the fact of their mixing strong spices and other aromatic ingredients with their Avine, for the purpose of increasing its stimulating potency. In this state it Avas variously denominated strong drink, mixed wine, and mingled wine.\ The Ephraimites,J a people remarkable for their drunk- enness, Avere peculiarly favoured by the fertility of their land, and the beauty of its situation. The prophet Isaiah, thus strongly exhibits their abuse of the bounty of Provi- dence :—" Wo to the croAvn of pride, to the drunkards of Ephraim, Avhose glorious beauty is a fading flower; which are on the heads of the fat valleys of them that are overcome with Avine."§ The intemperance of the times is further seen in the drunkenness of their king :—"In the days of our king, the princes have made him sick with bottles of Avine."|| The most aAvful feature of these times is witnessed in * Apocrypha. The Book of Judith. t Isaiah lvi. 12 : v. 11,12 ; xxiv. 9 ; v. 22 ; Proverbs xxiii. 29, 30. % " Sichem, called by the Hebrews, Sichar, was the capital of Ephraim. and was situated between the mountains Gerizem and Ebal. The name of Sichar was a term of reproach which the Jews gave this city in allusion to that passage of Isaiah, ' Wo to the drunkards of Ephraim,' for the Hebrew word the prophet here makes use of, comes from Sachar, which signifies to get drunk; and St. John, therefore, calls this city by the name the Jews used to do."—Fleury's Manners and Customs of the Israelites, p. 266. Clarke's Edit. r § Isaiah xxviii. 1. || Isaiah xxxviii. 7, 8. HISTORY OF INTEMPERANCE. 23 the intemperance of the priesthood. EA-en that sacred office Avas profaned through the influence of strong drink. "But they also have erred through wine, and through strong drink are out of the way: the priest and the prophet have erred through strong drink, they are swal- lowed up of wine ; they are out of the way through strong drink ; they err in vision, they stumble in judgement. For all tables are full of vomit and filthiness, so that there is no place clean." * In the prophet Jeremiah it is Avritten, " Thus saith the Lord, behold I Avill fill all the inhabitants of this land, even the kings that sit upon David's throne, and the priests, and the prophets, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem Avith drunkenness."! The Nazarites, a people specially pledged to abstain from Avine, indulged in strong drink. " But ye gave the Nazarites wine to drink."J No more decisiA'e proof can be adduced of the indigna- tion of God against those Avho indulged in strong drink, than the symbolical and threatening language of the prophets. In speaking of Jerusalem, they evidently allude to the medicated wines then in common use. Their pre- dictions Avere aAvfully fulfilled in the case of Babylon. Babylon AA'as the mightiest among the nations of the earth. Her kings, and rulers, and people, Avere immersed in luxury and dissipation. Their example Avas injurious to surrounding nations, avIio, as in the instance of the JeAvish people, drank of her Avine and Avere made mad. " Babylon hath been a golden cup in the Lord's hand, that made all the earth drunken. The nations have drunken of her wine, therefore the nations are mad."§ The active and Avarlike habits of the people of Babylon were soon abandoned for effeminate indulgences, and eventually this renoAArned race became a by-Avord and re- proach in the land. " The mighty men of Babylon have forborne to fight; they remained in their holds; their might hath failed, they became as Avomen."|| Cyrus Avas the chosen instrument in the hands of the Almighty, for punishing the riotous Babylonians. Their king, Belshazzar, Avas engaged in one of the numerous feasts which Avere held in that immense city. Prophecy Avas never more signally fulfilled. " In their heart I will make their feasts, and I Avill make them drunken, that they • Hosea vii. 5. + .TeremiaH xiii. 13. % Amosii. 12. § Jeremiah li. 7. || Jeremiah li. 30. 24 HISTORY OF INTEMPERANCE i may rejoice and sleep a perpetual sleep, and not awake, saith the Lord." . . . Cyrus, Avho had taken measures for surprising the city, came upon them with his army during the continuance of their revels, Avhich had been prolonged to a late hour, and slew the king, Avith those who attended him. Many, no doubt, in a state of drunken lethargy, would sleep a perpetual sleep. The city Avas taken Avithout difficulty, and the Babylonish empire fell an easy prey to her intrepid conquerors. Cyrus was the illustrious founder of the Medo-d ersian empire. At first possessed of a country containing only about 100,000 inhabitants, he became by his temperate example and warlike abilities, the head of a nation, at that time considered almost boundless in its extent, and certainly unrivalled in its poAver. The victories of Cyrus, hoAvever, laid the. foundation of the ruin of the empire. Luxurious, habits, the bane of national prosperity, had been partially introduced before his death; and there are grounds for believing that the. conqueror himself was cognizant of their introduction. The union of the Medes Avith the Persians, had considerable influence in producing this change. The Medes were a people of luxurious habits, and differed in most respects, from the temperate and Avarlike Persians. The possession of Babylon also con- tributed to corrupt the manners of the Persians, who in a short space of time, became as remarkable for their effemi- nacy and intemperance^ as they had previously been con- spicuous for sobriety and physical strength. Hence, they fell an easy prey to the Macedonian king. . Herodotus re- lates, that in his time they drank profusely. " They are accustomed," says he, " to deliberate on matters of the highest moment when warm Avith wine ; but whatever they in this situation may determine, is again proposed on the morrow, in their cooler moments, by the person in whose house they had before assembled. If at this time also it meets their approbation it is executed; otherAvise it is re- jected." " WhateArer also," says the same Avriter, "they discuss when sober, is always, a second time examined after they have been drinking."* * The Persians, in abstinence from wine, have been less strict followers of Mahomet than some other nations th'at have adopted his creed. Persia, with its tributary Georgia, is remarkable for the variety of delicious fruits which it produces. The grape in that country has been brought to a high state of perfection ; and the Persian wines have always been celebrated for their strength and richness of flavour. Sir J. Chardin, who travelled exten- HISTORY OF INTEMPERANCE. 25 In more recent times, the Persians have displayed a similar fondness for intoxicating liquors, although under Mohammedan sAvay, and in general professors of the reli- gion of Mahomet, Avhich forbids the use of wine. Sir J. Chardin, in his travels, frequently alludes to the drinking customs of this nation. " We may assert with boldness," says he, " that there is no country where they drink more or better Avine."* Hafiz, the favourite poet of the Persians, frequently made the praise of Avine the subject of his poetical effusions. His predilection for this liquor may be seen from the fol- loAving verses:— " I am neither a judge, nor a priest, nor a censor, nor a laAvyer, Avhy should I forbid the use of Avine 1 "That poignant liquor, Avhich the zealot calls the mother of sins, is pleasanter and sweeter to me, than the kisses of a maiden. " Give me Avine ! wine that shall subdue the strongest, that I may for a time forget the cares and troubles of the Avorld. " The roses have come, nor can anything afford so much pleasure as a goblet of wine. "The enjoyments of life are vain ; bring Avine, for the trappings of the world are perishable." Tavernier relates that in Armenian Persia, after they have removed the cloth and given thanks, they proceed to drink to excess. The man Avho gives an entertainment, thinks that he has not done Avell, till he has made his guests so drunk, that they cannot find their Avay out of the room. The more they tumble about, the less reason, he thinks, he has to regret the expense-! The same author testifies that the Persian Georgians are also very great drinkers. " They love," says he, " the strongest drinks best, for which reason, both men and Avomen drink more aqua vita than Avine." " It is also ob- servable," he remarks, " that at the Avomen's festivals, there is more Avine and aqua vita: drunk than at the men's." The use of stimulants is so common, that on entering the dining-room, each guest is presented with a half glass full of aqua vital to excite his appetite.} sivelv in that country, in the seventeenth century states that as much as a horse could carry of their best wines could be purchased for twelve shillings, and that the more common sorts did not cost more than hall the money. * Travels in Persia. London Ed. 1686, p. 189. t Tavernicr's Persian Travels, vol. i. p. 243. \ This celebrated traveller was present at an entertainment to which he 20 HISTORY OF INTEMPERANCE. The ancient Macedonians were Avarlike in their habits, and,under Philip and Alexander, successful in their enter- prises. Philip Avas one of the most subtle politicians of the age in Avhich he lived; and, as a general, displayed great superiority in the discipline of his army. This cele- brated monarch, hoAvever, became a slave to intemperance, and frequently abandoned himself to the most disgusting excesses. He is said to have passed much of his time at dissipated feasts, and to have associated Avith debauchees of the most profligate character. At a late period of his life, Philip became enamoured of a lady named Cleopatra, whom he eventually married. A feast Avas held to cele- brate the joyful event, at Avhich Avere present Alexander and Attalus her uncle. Attalus became inebriated, and in- sulted Alexander, by requesting the Macedonians to unite in prayer, that this marriage might produce a legitimate heir to the throne. Alexander irritated at this insolence, retorted by throwing his cup at the offender's head. Philip in a passion now interfered, and draAving his sword made to- ward his son. Anger and A\Tine, hoAvever, had so enerArated him that he fell in the attempt. Alexander took advantage of this event, and cried aloud, " Men of Macedon, see there the man Avho wTas preparing to pass from Europe into Asia! he is not able to pass from one table to another Avithout falling." The folloAvmg anecdote is related of Philip: A woman requested justice from him for some alleged injury, and in detailing her case made statements which were not pleas- ing to the king. Philip, after hearing her arguments de- cided the case against her. The woman possessed a resolute character, for on hearing the decision, she replied with great calmness, " I appeal!" " Hoav," said Philip, " from your king, to AA'hom then V " To Philip, when so- ber," Avas the spirited reply. The conduct of the king on was invited, at the house of a royal prince. Their manner of drinking was as follows: The prince's nearest relations selecting about eight in number, were first presented with vessels of wine, which they drank standing up. The same bowls being filled again were carried to the next persons, and so on, until the health had been drunk round. After this, the next health was drunk in larger cups, for it was the custom of the country to drink the healths of great personages in large vessels. This was done on purpose to make their guests more effectually drunk. This desired climax would soon be attained, when we consider the size of their glasses. The first glasses used were of the common sort, but the last contained about a pint and a half of wine. This feast continued until the following morning. The capuchins and Sir J. Chardin were exempted from drinking—" for," declares the latter, " had I drank as much as my neighbours, I had died upon the spot."—Sir J. Chardin's Travels, pp. 228-9. HISTORY OF INTEMPERANCE. 27 this occasion, Avas Avorthy of a more virtuous man. He took the case a second time into consideration, repented of his previous injustice, and rendered the Avoman redress for her grievances. Philip fell by an assassin's hand, in the midst of his tri- umphant career, the indirect victim of intemperance. At- talus, uncle of Cleopatra, when highly excited by wine, at one of the frequent carousals Avhich Philip patronized, grossly insulted a young noble named Pausanias. The latter demanded justice on the person of Attalus, but the king denied his request. Irritated at this disappointment, the young man refused to be pacified by the honours which were conferred upon him Avith that intent, and under the influence of exasperated feelings, resolved to murder his sovereign. This deed was perpetrated on the day when the king Avas celebrating, Avith unusual splendour, the marriage of his daughter. Not content Avith other demon- strations of his greatness, Philip had ordered twelve repre- sentations of gods to be publicly displayed in the procession, in addition to Avhich Avas another more magnificent than the rest, Avhereby he asserted to the public his claim to divine honour. While receiving the acclamations of sur- rounding multitudes, and unusually elated Avith pride, the dagger of Pausanias, Avith fatal aim, at once put an end to the monarch's life. Alexander, aa'Iio succeeded his father as king of Mace- donia, became remarkable not only for his military success, but for his intemperance, to AArhich vice he ultimately fell a victim. In early life he displayed considerable promise of that greatness Avhich he aftenvard attained. Love of military fame ever appeared to be the impulse of his con- duct ; and to accomplish his purpose, he sacrificed every minor means of gratification. In the commencement of his public career, Alexander, in general, Avas temperate in his diet. When a variety of choice dishes Avas sent to him by the Queen of Caria, together Avith some excellent cooks and bakers, he remarked, that he had no need of them; for he had been supplied Avith better cooks by his tutor Leon- idas; viz. "a march before day to dress his dinner, and a light dinner to prepare his supper." " Nor Avas he," says Plutarch, " so much addicted to Avine as he Avas thought to be. It Avas supposed so, because he passed a great deal of time at table ; but that time Avas spent rather in talking than drinking ; e\rery cup introduced some long discourse." His contempt of luxury may be ascertained from his ex- 28 HISTORY OF INTEMPERANCE. amination of the tent of the conquered Darius, AA'hen he expressed his surprise that such effeminacy should occupy the attention of a king. It Avould have been fortunate for Alexander had he always remained thus uncorrupted by Persian luxury. The unparalleled success, however, which attended his arms, so intoxicated his mind, that he fre- quently committed acts, AA-hich, in others, Avould have been deemed evidences of insanity. Alexander subsequently indulged in repeated acts of in- toxication, under the influence of which, he so far forgot himself, as in his sober moments, to excite in him bitter regret. It awis during one of these fits of inebriation that Alexander attempted to burn the ancient palace of Xerxes. His friends Avere enjoying the royal feast, at AA'hich they drank to intoxication. Courtezans Avere present at the sparkling board, and one of the most celebrated urged the conqueror to end the carousal by burning the palace of Persepolis; Alexander madly complied Avith her wish; and Avith the drunkard's garland on his head, and a lighted torch in his hand, proceeded to execute his purpose. The king, however, repented of his folly; for, before it Avas too late, he commanded the fire to be extinguished. Soon after this event, Alexander, under the excitement of Avine, killed his friend Clitus. Having supped with the king, and AA'hen both were " Avarmed Avith drinking,"* Clitus uttered some remarks which Avere displeasing to Alexan- der ; recrimination followed; and although the friends of Clitus had dragged him away, he soon returned to the scene of disagreement. Alexander, irritated by his bold- ness of speech, snatched a spear from one of the guards, and ran it through the body of Clitus, who immediately expired. The rage of Alexander now quickly settled into the deepest sorroAV, insomuch that, but for his attendants, h he would have destroyed himself; and for several days he remained in a state of the most lamentable depression. The triumphant career of this monarch in India was marked by scenes of gross dissipation. His entrance into Carmenia indeed appears to have resembled a bacchanalian procession. Alexander and his generals Avere placed upon a lofty platform, elevated upon a magnificent carriage, which was drawn by eight horses. They were followed by carriages, wherein were placed others of his associates and friends, crowned with garlands, and noisy Avith wine. * Plutarch, Life of Alexander, HISTORY OF INTEMPERANCE. 29 The entire army appears to have been in a similar plight. Plutarch remarks that, " in the whole company there Avas not to be seen a buckler, a helmet, or a spear; but instead of them, cups, flagons, and goblets ; these the soldiers dipped in huge vessels of wine, and drank to each other ; some as they marched along, and others seated at tables, which were placed at proper distances on the Avay. The whole country resounded Avith flutes, clarionets, and songs; and with the dances and riotous frolics of the women. This disorderly and dissolute march was closed with a very immodest figure, and with all the licentious ribaldry of the bacchanals, as if Bacchus himself had been there to carry on the debauch." After their arrival at the capital of that country, Alex- ander prolonged this scene of dissipation by making feasts and public entertainments. At one of these, when in a state of inebriation, he had to submit to an insult Avhich must have considerably annoyed him and convinced him of the folly of such degrading proceedings. A favourite chorus dancer having Avon the prize of dancing, felt so elated as to move across the theatre in his ceremonial dress, and seat himself beside Alexander. The Macedo- nians applauded this audacious act and obliged the mrwil- ling king, by means of the customary salutations, to express similar approbation. Shortly aftenvard Alexander visited Persia, and near the tomb of Cyrus encouraged a scene of drunkenness more degrading, if possible, than any of the preceding. Calanus, an Indian philosopher, labouring under physical indisposition, ordered the erection of a funeral pile, and having requested the king and his friends to pass the day in gayety and drinking, threAV himself upon the fire, and fell a sacrifice to this idolatrous practice of his nation. At the conclusion of the ceremony, Alexander made a feast, and held out inducements to excess by promises of reward. Promachus obtained the principal prize, having drunk four congii of pure unmixed Avine, being equal to fourteen quarts, British measure. This Avretch, hoAA'ever, survived his A'ictory only three days. Athenscus and iElian inform us, that thirty of these bacchanalians died on the spot, and soon afterward six more of them expired in their tents. Plutarch also attests this circumstance on the authority of Chares, stating that forty-one of them lost their lives from intoxication, and the coldness of the Aveather. C2 30 HISTORY OF INTEMPERANCE. The intemperance of Alexander soon put a stop to his victorious career. Previously to his death, his mind had been much depressed by superstitious forebodings. Plu- tarch relates that Medias called upon him one day, and persuaded him to engage in a carousal which was then about to take place. "There," remarks that writer, "Alexander drank all that night and the next day, till at last he found a fever coming upon him." Other authors relate that Alexander drank out of the cup of Hercules, containing about two congii, to the health of Proteas. The latter, according to the custom of the country, or- dered a bowl of similar size to be filled Avith wine, Avhich he immediately drank off. Alexander, resolutely adhering to the convivial laAvs at that time so strictly observed, again pledged Proteas in the same vessel. The effect of this indulgence Avas so powerful on his previously debili- tated frame, that as Athenreus relates, he let the cup drop from his hand, fell back on his pillow, and never afterward recovered. Aristobulus states, that during the violence of the fever Avhich afterward ensued, Alexander being tormented Avith thirst, sAvalloAved a draught of wine Avhich hastened his end.* Thus died Alexander the Great, a man naturally possessed of many good qualities; in Avar almost unparalleled; and in private life generous and humane. "Here," says Seneca, "is this hero invincible by all the toils of prodigious marches, by all the dangers of sieges and combats, by the most violent extremes of heat and cold, here he lies conquered by his intemperance, and struck to the earth by the fatal cup of Hercules." The Thracians, a people A\'ho resided in a large tract of country to the north of the Archipelago, and adjoining Scythia, Avere also notorious for their intemperance. They were universally characterized as hard drinkers. Horace says, " Natis in usum laetitise scyphis Pugnare, Thracum est: "tollite barbarum Morem, verecundumque Bacchum Sanguineis prohibete rixis."f Again, " Non ego sanius Bacchabor Edonis."| The Scythians, during the earlier part of their history, were distinguished for their sobriety and bodily strength. * Plutarch's Lives. t Horace, lib. i. 27. % Lib. ii. 7. HISTORY OF INTEMPERANCE. 31 They do not at that period seem to have made feasts, ex- cept upon rare occasions. Plutarch alludes to this in his banquet of the seven Avise men, AA'here he says, the Scyth- ians had neither wines nor instrumental performers, nor public games. By their valour they obtained the principal possession of Asia, Avhich they retained for the period of twenty-eight years. Of this advantage hoAA^ever they were deprived, by their subsequent licentious conduct. The primitive habits which formed their principal safeguard, rapidly disappeared before a taste which they acquired for intoxicating liquors. The extent of their intemperance may be conceived from the conduct of Cleomenes, prince of Sparta, during a visit which he made to the Scythians. The Spartans assert " that communicating with the Scyth- ians he became a drinker of wine; and that this made him mad." " From Avhich incident," says Herodotus, " Avhoever are desirous to drink intemperately, are said to exclaim ' Episcythison, Let us drink like Scythians.'"* After retaining possession of Asia for tAventy-eight years, Cyaxares, king of Media and Persia, invited the Scythians to a feast, Avhere the greater part of them became intoxi- cated, and in that state Avere destroyed. Cyaxares thus obtained possession of Asia. The drinking propensities of the Thracians and Scythi- ans Avere such, that according to Athenaus, ywaXKcs rs *ai nacres aurol r&v i^ariwv (axparov) Karay^ififttvot, «-n,W Kai tviai/iov S7riT7J<5£D//a tmrnfauv vcvopucaai, the Avomen, and all the men, thought it a most happy life to fill themselves Avith unmixed Avine, and to pour it upon their garments-! On this account by the Thracian way of drinking, Qpaxia irpowoins, was understood huparoTTMia, drinking wi?ie not mixed with water.\ It appears also that the Grecians, and particularly the Lacedaemonians, sometimes used aKparioTepovrnvciv to drink wine with little or no water, Avhich practice they termed imonvdwat, " to act like a Scythian," because the Scythians AA-ere much addicted to drunkenness, and drank Avine Avithout admixture AAdtliAvater.^ In the history of the Thracians may be found one of those revolting acts of treachery, AA'hich, among barbarous nations, Avere not unfrequently committed at feasts. In the time of Tiberius, the kingdom of Thrace Avas divided into tAvo parts, over one of which reigned the late king's • Herod, b. vi. sect. S4; also Athenaeus, \>. x. c. 7. Athenaeus, lib. x. sub finem cap. 9. Pollux, lib. vi. cap. 3. Potter's Archseologia Grseca, vol. ii. p. 360. 32 HISTORY OF INTEMPERANCE. brother, Rhescuporis ; the other part was governed by his son Cotys. Rhescuporis a man of ungovernable passions, conceived a violent hatred against his nepheAV ; and burn- ed AA'ith the desire of gaining possession of his more fer- tile dominion. On the first favourable opportunity he broke out into open and daring aggression. Tiberius interfering, Cotys disbanded his army, and in his usual con- ciliatory spirit, displayed every wish to promote a friendly re-union. Rhescuporis however met him in the spirit of treachery. Tacitus informs us, that the latter proposed a banquet at which they might ratify preliminary measures. The parties met, and protracted their festivities until a late hour of the night. Amid the joys of wine and in the moment of revelry, Rhescuporis treacherously at- tacked his unsuspecting and innocent nepheAV, who urged in vain the laws of hospitality. He was loaded with chains, and subsequently put to death. The treacherous uncle ultimately became the victim of his cruel and dis- honourable practices. An instance of intemperance and its effects may be found in the history of the Gauls. Under their chief Brennus, the Gauls overrun the Roman Empire, and final- ly took possession of its capital; setting fire to various parts of it, and destroying great numbers of its inhabit- ants. A brave band, however, still retained possession of the capitol. Provisions being scarce the Gauls divided themselves into foraging parties. A large and select di- vision proceeded to Ardea, where Camillus, the Roman hero lived in retirement. Camillus conceiAed the design of surprising them, and for that purpose assembled a band of brave associates. The victorious career of the Gauls had inspired them with confidence, and they were thus emboldened to ramble about in a disorderly manner. Having loaded themselves Avith provisions, they encamped on the plains, and drank so freely of Avine, as to neglect the usual precaution of guarding the camp. Camillus be- ing informed by his spies of their disordered state, came upon them suddenly in the night. The greater part of them Avere drunken and asleep; the others were too much surprised to resist, and most of them Avere put to death. The few who escaped Avere easily found the next morning, and suffered the fate of their unfortunate companions. The Germans, in all ages, have been noted for their ex- cessive indulgence in strong drink. The works of an- cient authors afford ample proofs of their habits in former HISTORY OF INTEMPERANCE. 33 times. They were a vigorous, enterprising, and Avarlike people; and generally successful in their campaigns. Their attachment to intoxicating liquors, however, fre- quently produced a reverse of fortune. Germanicus, the celebrated Roman general, achieved a victory over the Marsi, a German tribe, principally in consequence of their intemperance. That commander had learned, by means of scouts, that the enemy intended to spend the approach- ing night in celebrating a festival. These festivals were almost always passed in dissipation and riot. Germanicus came upon them umrwares, " The barbarians were sunk in sleep and Avine, some stretched on their beds, others at full length under the tables ; all in full security ; without a guard, Avithout posts, and Avithout a sentinel on duty. No appearance of war Avas seen, nor could that be called peace, Avhich Avas only the effect of savage riot ; the lan- guor of debauch."' Almost the Avhole of them Avere slaughtered, Avithout the Romans suffering the loss of a single life. Ihe bravery of the Germans, AAdien unsubdued by strong drink, rendered them wonderfully successful. Tacitus, hoAvever, remarks: " Indulge their love of liquor to the ex- cess Avhich they require, and you need not employ the terror of your arms ; their OAvn Avill subdue them." Their drinking customs bore much similarity to those of the Persians, and particularly in the discussion of important matters, at their feasts. Tacitus thus describes their pro- ceedings : " having finished their repast, they proceed, completely armed, to the despatch of business, and fre- quently to a convivial meeting. To devote both day and night to deep drinking, is a disgrace to no man. Disputes, as Avill be the case, Avith people in liquor, frequently arise, and are seldom confined to opprobrious language. The quarrel generally ends in a scene of blood. Impor- tant subjects, such as the reconciliation of enemies, the forming of family alliances, the election of chiefs, and even peace and Avar, are generally canvassed in their fes- tival carousals. The convivial moment, according to their notion, is the true season for business ; Avhen the mind opens itself in plain simplicity, or groAvs warm Avith bold and noble ideas. Strangers to artifice, and knOAving no refinements, they tell their sentiments Avithout disguise. The pleasures of the table expand their hearts, and call ♦ Tacitus, b. i. sect. 60. 34 HISTORY OF INTEMPERANCE. forth every secret. On the folloAving day, the subject of debate is again taken into consideration : and thus, tAVO different periods of time have their distinct uses; when Avarm, they debate ; Avhen cool, they decide."* At a more recent period, the Germans have displayed equal attachment to this national vice, in proof of Avhich, evidence may be cited from the Avorks of celebrated trav- ellers. The following statement is found in the Memoirs of Mons. Aug. de Thou, Avho a\ as a Avitness of the scenes he describes : " There is before Mulhausen, a large place or square, Avhere, during the fair, assemble a prodi- gious number of people of both sexes, and of all ages: there one may see Avives supporting their husbands, daughters their fathers, tottering upon their horses or asses, a true image of a Bacchanal. The public houses are full of drinkers, AA'here the young women who Avait, pour Avine into goblets, out of a large bottle Avith a long neck, Avithout spilling a drop. They press you to drink, Avith pleasantries the most agreeable in the world. Peo- ple drink here continually, and return, at all hours to do the same thing over again."! Duke de Rohan, bears similar testimony in his account of a visit to Trent: " I am Avell satisfied," says he, "that the mathematicians of our time, can nowhere find out the perpetual motion, so Avell as here, Avhere the goblets of the Germans are an evident demonstration of its pos- sibility—they think that they cannot make good cheer, nor permit friendship or fraternity, as they call it, with any, Avithout giving the seal brimful of wine, to seal it for perpetuity."! The drinking power of the Germans, has been com- memorated by OAven, in the folloAving lines, Avhich refer to the popular adage—-" In vino Veritas," " Si latet in vino verum, ut proverbia dicunt, Invenit verum Teuto vel inveniet." The Grecians and Romans like the effeminate Persians, * " At the beginning of this century, Germany saw three empty wine- casks, from the construction of which no great honour could redound to our country among foreigners. The first is, that of Tubingen ; the second. that of Heidelberg; and the third, at Gruningen, near Hulberstade; ana their dimensions are not greatly different: the Tubingen cask is in length 24, in depth 16 feet ; that of Heidelberg, 31 feet in length, and 21 deep; and that of Gruningen 30 feet long, and 18 deep. To complete the dis- I grace of Germany, in the year 1725, a fourth was made at Konigstein, larger than any of the former."—Keyslcr's Travels vol. i. p. 97. f Memoir de Thou, liv. 11, % Voyage, p. 27, Ed. 1646, HISTORY OF INTEMPERANCE. 35 during the earlier period of their history, Avere as remark- able for their temperate habits and bodily vigor, as in after ages, they Avere enervated by their luxury and excess, The history of these nations, presents many curious facts in the annals of intemperance. The victories of the Greeks and Romans, unfortunately proved in the end their ruin. Their intercourse, in par- ticular, Avith the Asiatic nations Avhich they had conquer- ed, Avas the occasion of their acquiring habits of danger- ous indulgence. Thus, their morals and patriotism became gradually corrupted, and the foundation of future decline was but too securely laid. The bodily prowess and war- like acliievcments for Avhich the Greeks and Romans Avere most highly esteemed, gradually gave Avay to an increas- ing taste for animal gratifications and effeminate luxury. To attain these objects no expense Avas spared. The cu- linary occupations which had formerly been considered exceedingly degrading, became the most important of the household ; so much so, that Pliny remarks, that the ex- pense of a cook Avas equal to the cost of a triumph. In- credible sums of money Avere expended in the purchase of rare and unnecessary articles of diet. Immense sums were lavished in the erection of baths, AA'hich, though at first used for cleanly purposes, became eventually an im- portant means of gratifying their effeminate propensities. But on no caterings for luxury did they expend so much money and time as in the preparation of various kinds of Avines, of which ancient Avriters specify at least 200 vari- eties. Some of the most remarkable scenes recorded in Grecian and Roman history are more or less connected with the drinking habits of the people. Arehias, a chief magistrate of Thebes, Avas engaged in drinking at a feast, surrounded by his dissolute com- panions, Avhen a messenger arrived in great haste, with letters informing him of a conspiracy against his life. "My lord," said the messenger, "the person Avho Avrites these letters conjures you to read them immediately, being serious things:'" "Serious things to-morroAA'," replied the infatuated Arehias, in a gay tone, placing the letters under the pilloAV of the couch on AA'hich he Avas reclining. The delay proved fatal. The Patriots, avIio had conspired for their country's Aveal, made every necessary preparation, rushed that evening into the banquet-room, and sleAV Arehias and all his guests. Sumptuary laAvs Avere enacted by Roman legislators for 36 HISTORY OF INTEMPERANCE. the purpose of restraining these luxurious habits. Those laws, hoAvever, Avere more or less infringed by charac- ters high in public estimation; and it cannot, therefore, excite much surprise that the people generally imitated their example. Many of the kings, and other rulers of these nations, were notorious for their intemperate habits. Innumerable instances of tyranny, rapine, and confusion, are recorded. Vitellius obtained possession of the Roman throne by means of his notorious vices. By pandering to the vicious propensities of the preceding emperors, he attained to those dignities and poAvers Avhich eventually enabled him to accomplish his object. After gaining the celebrated victory over Otho, he conducted himself in the most odious and degrading manner. Regardless of the dead, he held several feasts of the most extravagant description on the field of battle, AA'here himself and his debauched com- panions gratified their intemperate lusts. Such conduct soon disgusted the people, AA'ho conspired against the ob- noxious tyrant, and put him to a disgraceful death. Lucius Vitellius, brother of the Emperor of the same name, gained possession of the city of Terracina, in consequence of the intemperance of its inmates. The garrison was under the command of Julianus and Appolinaris, " two men," says Tacitus, " immersed in sloth and luxury ; by their vices, more like common gladiators than superior officers." " No sentinels stationed, no night-Avatch, to prevent a sudden alarm, and no care taken to guard the Avorks, they passed both night and day in drunken jollity. The Avindings of that delightful coast resounded Avith notes of joy, and the soldiers were spread about the country to provide for the pleasures of the two commanders, A\'ho never thought of war except when it became the subject of discourse over the bottle."* Vitellius, acting under the direction of a renegade slave, surprised the city. A most dreadful slaugh- ter ensued, and one of the commanders Avas put to an ig- nominious death. In the civil dissensions Avhich soon afterAvard took place, the most dreadful scenes occurred. The city of Rome was the arena of all the calamities attendant upon slaughter and dissipation. While the soldiers of Vitellius and Ves- pasian Avere butchering each other, the people were at one time savagely exulting in the bloody exhibition; and at * Tacitus, b. iii. sect. 76. HISTORY OF INTEMPERANCE. 37 another, actively engaged in riot and debauchery. " The Avhole city seemed to be inflamed Avith frantic rage, and at the same time intoxicated Avith bacchanalian pleasures." Tacitus further remarks, that "Rome had thrice seen en- raged armies under her walls, but the unnatural security and inhuman indifference that now prevailed Avere beyond all example." At a later period, avc find the same attachment to strong drink existed among the Roman people. Ammianus Mar- cel I inus, in the life of Constantius and Gallus, relates that seditions not unfrequently took place in the city during a scarcity of Avine.* The inhabitants of Tarentum are celebrated for their excesses in Bacchanalian pleasures.! Their frequent in- tercourse Avith Greece enabled them to gratify their luxuri- ous desires, insomuch that the "Delights of Tarentum," became a proverbial expression. The Parthians, a celebrated people inhabiting a part of Asia, are described by ancient authors as having been ad- dicted to numerous vices, and to none more so than that of drunkenness.J The Tapyrians, according to iElian, indulged to great excess in intoxicating liquors.§ The Illyrians also are said to have been an intemperate people.II The Carthaginians and Lydians AA'ere both, according to Athenams, much attached to drinking.IT The Cambrians Avere a lierce people, unaccustomed to eating flesh dressed at the fire, or drinking intoxicating liquors. Florus relates, that after their expedition over the Alps, and subsequent to their indulgence in these hitherto unknoAvn luxuries, they lost their ferocity, and became more easily conquered by Marius.** The Byzantins, and other nations of less importance among the ancients, might be here mentioned in the catalogue of those Avhose habits AA'ere intemperate.!! The examples presented in this chapter, sufficiently prove that intemperance existed to a considerable extent among the ancients, and that it was attended Avith the most deplorable consequences, affecting both individual and national Avelfare. * Seditioncs sunt concitatce graves ob inopiam vini. Hist. Aug. Script, ed. 1609, exp. 425. II Lib. ii. c. 15. f Vide iElian, lib. xii. 1T Hil.x. c. 10. i Erasm. Adag. ** Florus, b. m. c. 3. I iElian, lib. iii. cap. 13. ft -Elian,-lib. iii. cap. 14. 38 HISTORY OF INTEMPERANCE* CHAPTER III. HISTORY OF INTEMPERANCE CONTINUED. " Righteousness exalteth a nation ; but sin is a reproach to any people." —Phoverbs xiv. 34. A knowledge of the manners and customs of the abo- riginal inhabitants of the British Islands, can only be acquired from some of the Roman historians, and the well-knoAvn practices of other nations, similar in their habits and descent. They have been described as frugal in their diet, possessing much personal beauty, and great hardiness of body. The ancient Britons were not, hoAV- ever, proof against the influence of luxury and refinement. " From using," says Tacitus, " our language and dress, they proceeded, by degrees, to imitate our vices and luxuries; our porticos, baths, and sumptuous entertainments."* It has been seen, that the Celtic nations Avere in the habit of indulging freely in intoxicating liquors; and it may reasonably be supposed, that the British, AA'ho Avere of the same descent, indulged also in this injurious prac- tice. These barbarous nations, in particular, were in the habit of holding great feasts, on every important occasion. Pelloutier, thus alludes to this practice : " Among these nations, there is no public assembly, either for civil or religious purposes, duly held; no birthday, marriage, or funeral, properly celebrated, no treaty of peace or alliance rightly cemented, Avithout a great feast.! These feasts generally lasted several days, and Athenams records one which continued for the period of twelve months. The most important affairs were transacted at these festi- vals ; and it has already been shown, in the instance of the Germans, that not unfrequently they were the scenes of bloodshed and murder* Diodorus Siculus, describes the Gauls, in particular, as being passionately fond of intoxicating liquors. " Of * Tacit., vita Agricolae, c. 21. t Pelloutier. Hist. Celt. b. ii; c. 2. p. 2277. HISTORY OF INTEMPERANCE. 39 wine," says he, " AA'hich is imported to them by merchants, they are fond to distraction, and drink it to excess, until they are either overpowered by sleep, or inflamed Avith madness."* At one of these feasts, two British princes, in a state of inebriation, quarrelled, and fought with such virulence, that they both died by the wounds they received. Attila, the cruel King of Hungary, at his marriage-feast indulged so freely in intoxicating liquor, that he Avas found at night, suffocated. This happened, A. D. 453. With the death of Attila, terminated the important empire of the Huns. The ancient custom of pledging healths, by some wri- ters, is said to have been derived from circumstances Avhich occurred during the invasion of England by the Danes. These haughty conquerors, Avould not permit an Englishman to drink in their presence, AA'ithout special permission, death being the penalty of disobedience. Their cruelty so intimidated the English, that even when permis- sion had been given, they would not take advantage of it, until the Danes had pledged themselves not to endanger their lives AA'hilc partaking of the liquor. The intimate intercourse which, afterward took place bctAveen the Anglo-Saxons and Danes, and the frequent festive meetings Avhich they established, became a fruitful source of intemperance. Henry remarks, that the laAvs of these times, strongly corroborate this fact, for they did not prohibit excess, but rather encouraged it, and only restrained the commission of certain abominable crimes, AA'hich AA'ere the result of excessive drinking. William of Malmsbury adds his testimony to the exces- sive drinking habits of the Anglo-Saxons and Danes. " The nobility Avere much addicted to lust and gluttony, but excessive drinking Avas the common vice of all ranks of people, in Avhich they spent Avhole nights and days, AA'ithout intermission."! Many instances are recorded, of bloodshed occurring at their feasts ; it Avas at one of these that King Edmund I. perished by the hand of an assassin. His courtiers were in such a state of intoxication, as to be unable to render him any assistance. The long continuance of peace, during the reign of EdAvnrd the Confessor, AA'as, according to William of • Diod. Sicul. lib. v. c. 29, 30. t W. Malmsbury, b. iii. 40 HISTORY OF INTEMPERANCE. Malmsbury, marked with the luxury and vicious manners of the English. Much pains Avere taken in the prepara- tion of their drinks, AA'hich principally consisted of Mead, Ale, Cyder, and similar fermented liquors. The conquest of England by the Normans appears to have been less OAving to the proAvess of arms than to the effects of intem- perance. Previous to the battle of Hastings, the victori- ous Normans passed the night in fasting and prayer; the Anglo-Saxons devoted the same period to drunkenness and debauch. The Norman soldiers Avere as inferior to the English in numbers, as the latter sunk in comparison Avith their invaders in point of temperance. " For," re- marks a quaint Avriter,* " the English, being revelling be- fore, had in the morning their brains arrested for the arrearages of the indigested fumes of the former night, and Avere no better than drunk AA'hen they came to fight."! In succeeding reigns, there is sufficient evidence upon record, that the English did not lose their relish for intox- icating liquors. Wines in particular, became important articles of commerce ; and a considerable revenue was derived from their importation. The marriage of Henry II. AA'ith a French princess, who possessed extensive vine- yards in the south of France, contributed not a little to the increase of this branch of commerce. In the reign of King John, it had become so important, as to cause the appointment of officers in every toAvn, to regulate the prices of Avines, and other matters connected with their sale. Hoveden, the historian of those times remarks, that " by this means, the land Avas filled Avith drink and drunkards."! The Norman conquerors of England were, it appears, of comparatively sober and temperate habits, until vitiated by their intercourse Avit'h the less sober English. William of Malmsbury, who may be considered as the most cor- rect historian of that age, writes thus: " The English AA'ere much addicted to excessive eating and drinking, in Avhich they sometimes spend both day night, AA'ithout in- termission. The Normans were very unlike them in this respect, being delicate in the choice of their meats and drinks, but seldom exceeding the bounds of temperance. By this means, the Normans lived with greater elegance and at less expense, than the English."§ * Fuller's Church History of Britain. B. iii. sect. 1. t Mane adhuc ebrii contra hostes incunctanter procedunt.—M. Paris. I Hoveden Annals. § W. Malmsbury, b, iii. HISTORY OF INTEMPERANCE. 41 This sobriety, however, unfortunately did not long continue. The Normans gradually adopted the vicious practices of the English, and a corresponding deteriora- tion in their general character immediately succeeded. Peter of Blois, in one of his letters thus remarks: " When you behold our Barons and Knights going upon a military expedition, you see their baggage-horses loaded, not Avith iron, but wine; not Avith lances, but cheeses; not Avith swords, but bottles; not with spears, but spits. You would imagine they were going to prepare a great feast, rather than to make Avar."* The same author goes on to say : " There are even too many Avho boast of their excessive drunkenness and glut- tony : and labour to acquire fame, by SAvallowing great quantities of meat and drink."! King Henry I., commonly called Beauclerc, in the midst of his prosperity, received from an act of intemperance, a shock, Avhich ever afterwards rendered him miserable. This Avas the death of his only son, a prince on Avhose education he had bestowed the greatest care, and who was he expected to succeed him on the throne. The marriage of the young prince, to a princess of France, and the possessions he thereby obtained had un- folded to him prospects of great wealth and honour. He embarked for England, in a vessel Avith fifty rowers, from Harfleur on the coast of Normandy. Turner thus describes the melancholy catastrophe, and its cause: ''Unfortunate- ly the sailors solicited him for Avine, and in the gayety of youth he distributed it profusely. The seamen, the cap-. tain, his friends, all became intoxicated, and in this state a giddy desire arose to pass by every ship that AAras before them. The emulatory Avhim Avas instantly adopted ; every arm AA'as exerted, eA'ery eye AA'as intent on this single object, and the ship AA'as flying AA-ith all the velocity that unusually exerted strength could give her, in a fine calm, moonlight night; Avhen by the heedlessness of the inebri- ated helmsman, she struck suddenly on a rock near the shore, then covered Avith Avater, but knOAvn and visible at Ioav Avater. The shock burst through two planks on the left side of the A'essel, and the sea entered fast. The prince got into a little boat, and Avas escaping, AA'hen he heard the voice of his sister shrieking to him to help her; he put back to the ship to take her in, but at the same • P. Bleseus, Ep. 24. D2 f lb. Ep. 86. 42 HISTORY OF INTEMPERANCE. time so many leaped into it, that it sunk, and every one on board perished. The ship soon disappeared under the waves with all its creAv, 300 in number, excepting two persons, a young nobleman and a butcher, Avho held cling- ing to the top of the mast." The butcher only, hoAvever, escaped to tell the woful disaster to the king, Avho is said to have been so depressed by the news as to have " never smiled again." During several centuries immediately succeeding this period, it does not appear that the English became more temperate in their habits. The immense quantities of food and drink consumed at feasts, AA'hich were frequently held, appear almost incredible, were it not for authentic records, AA-herein an accurate description of them is given. Henry II., A.D. 1216, issued a proclamation wherein it is stated that " the outrageous and excessive multitude of meats and dishes AA'hich the great men of our kingdom have used and still use, in their castles and by persons of inferior rank, imitating their examples beyond AA'hat their stations require, and their circumstances can afford, many great evils have come upon our kingdom, the health of our subjects has been injured, their goods have been con- sumed, and they have been reduced to poverty." This ordinance restricted the number of dishes to be used by the great men of the land, and attached severe penalties to every transgression. In the reign of Edward III., A.D. 1363, sumptuary brws were enacted for arresting the pro- gress of extravagant living among various ranks, but his- torians remark that they produced little beneficial effect. Immense quantities of wines Avere consumed at these feasts, and the utmost care Avas taken to procure them of the richest quality. It appears from Hollinshed, that the strongest Avines were in most repute at this period, the weaker sort, such as claret, not being in common demand. At a later period, Sir John Fortescue, Avhile illustrating the diet of the rich, and with the view of exhibiting the comparative comforts and privileges enjoyed by the En- glish people, thus remarks : " They drink no Avater, except when they abstain from other drinks, by way of penance, and from a principle of devotion." At this period, the clergy in particular indulged in luxurious habits, and con- verted religious festivals into intemperate carousals. In the Northumberland Family Book, are found the following curious items, for the Earl and Countess, during the Lent fast-days, viz.: " a loaf of bread on trenchers, tAvo man- HISTORY OF INTEMPERANCE. 43 chetts, (small loaves of Avhite bread) a quart of beer, a quart of wine, half a chyne of mutton, or a chyne of beef boiled." The evening repast of the same lady and lord, was as fol- Ioavs : " Two manchetts, a loaf of household bread, a gallon of beer, and a quart of Avine." The feasts which were held at this period, on all partic- ular occasions, displayed great magnificence, and pro- fusion of provisions of various sorts ; and were plentifully supplied Avith intoxicating liquors. It can scarcely be supposed that temperance Avas a virtue practised on these occasions.* At a magnificent feast given to Queen Elizabeth, by the Earl of Leicester, at Kenilworth Castle, in addition to other stores of intoxicating liquors, 365 hogsheads of beer! alone Avere drunk. Sumptuary laAvs were made at this time to restrain excesses ; but Avhen the highest authorities in the land set so bad an example, the more humble classes of society might naturally be expected to imitate them. In fact, during a considerable portion of the sixteenth cen- tury, intemperance appears to have been the common vice of the country. The citizens of those days were much addicted to drunkenness. Some Avriters of that period, strongly advert to this fact. The most noted taverns are even named, Avith their situations and qualifications.! Stubbs, in his " Anatomie of Abuse,"§ asserts that the public-houses in London Avere croAvded from morning to night with inAeterate drunkards. A French Avriter in a similar account, states, that the artizans, such as hatters and joiners, on holidays, Avere perpetually feasting in tav- erns, on rabbits, hares, and such sorts of meat. || The tippling propensity, Avith its evil consequences, moral and physical, is AA'ell described in a song, published A.D. 1551, and said to have been the first drinking song of merit, written in this country.IT The tAVO first verses of this song are inserted for the in- formation of the reader :— I cannot eat but little meat, My stomach is not good ; * The following were the items for drink at the installation feast of George Nevill, Archbishop of York. A. D. 1466. " Goodly provision, made for the installation feast," &c. In Ale, Tuns.......... 300 In Wine. Ditto.......... 100 In Ipoerass Pipe......... 1 {Twenty-three thousand gallons. Vide Contin. to Henry's Hist, of England, vol. ii. p. 269. J \\\»e 73. || Henry's Contin. vol. ii. p. 2S7. IT Vide Warton's History of English Poetry, vol. iii. 44 HISTORY OF INTEMPERANCE. But sure, I think, that I can drink, With him that wears a hood. Though I go bare, take ye no care, I nothing am a colde; I stuff my skin, so full within, Of jolly good ale and olde. CHORUS. Backe and side, go bare go bare, Both foot and hand go colde ; But belly, God send thee, good ale enoughe, Whether it be new or olde. In the folloAving verse, the delicate appetite of the drunkard is still further portrayed. I love no rost, but a nut-brown toste, And a crab laid in the fire ; A little bread shall do my stead, Muche bread I noght desire. No frost no snow, no winde I trowe, Can hurt me if I wolde ; I am so wrapt and thorougely lapt, Of jolly goode ale and olde. Backe and side, &c. The last verse, in reference to those " good soules, that have scoured bowles," concludes thus:— 1 God save the lives of them and their wives, Whether they be younge or olde." Camden and Baker, both agree that the English indulged more in intemperance after the Dutch Avar. Baker states, that after this Avar, the English learned to be drunkards, and so much deluged the kingdom Avith this vice, that laws were obliged to be enacted for repressing it.* From the following statement of Camden, it may be in- ferred, that that learned writer looked upon the vices of the English, at a previous period, as not so venial as others have represented. " The English, Avho hitherto had, of all the northern nations, shoAA'n themselves least addicted to immoderate drinking, and been commended for their so- briety, first learned, in these wars in the Netherlands, to swallow large quantities of intoxicating liquors, and to de- stroy their own health, by drinking that of others.! Similar luxurious habits existed in succeeding reigns. Many and severe complaints Avere made against the clergy, in particular, some of A\hom are described as having led dissolute lives. This bad example, may be supposed to have had a corresponding influence on the people, who in general have been found but too willing to imitate vices * Baker's Chronicle. t Camden's Annals, 1581. HISTORY OF INTEMPERANCE. 45 sanctioned by the practice, though opposed to the precepts, of their spiritual pastors and teachers. Numerous historical notices are recorded of the intem- perate habits of the people in the seventeenth century. During the reign of James I., intemperance Avas no less prevalent than it had been under former monarchs. James, on his accession, rather encouraged this vice, by the passing of laws for the increase of houses appropriated to the sale of intoxicating liquors; but, as will aftenvard be found, the result so clearly proved the injurious nature of these measures, that he subsequently passed enactments for the punishment of drunkenness. These checks hoAvever were far from proving effectual; and in the reign of Charles I. drunkenness prevailed to such an extent as to call for addi- tional regulations for its suppression. During the period of the commonAvcalth, drunkenness Avas the preA'ailing vice of the land ; indeed this Avas so generally the case, that by other nations, England Avas denominated "The Land of Drunkards." Intemperance, liOAA'ever, Avas strongly de- nounced at this period by ministers of the gospel, and by others, who viewed this degrading vice Avith detestation and alarm. There are several characteristic pamphlets, the production of their pious zeal, still extant, wherein the folly of drunkenness is forcibly portrayed, and the dread- ful extent; of its ravages exhibited. These efforts however were of little effect in checking its progress, and the vice, with all its attendant evils pursued its devastating course In the reign of \V illiam and Mary, drunkenness Avas very prevalent, and in fact was indirectly promoted by an act, passed " for the encouragement of distillation," under the plea of benefitting the agricultural interests of the country. The pernicious consequences which ensued, and especially the alarming demoralization of the loAver classes, soon in- duced the enactment of other hrws for the restriction of the sale of intoxicating liquors. The celebrated De Foe has recorded some characteristic sketches of the intem- perance of these times. " If the history of this AA'ell-bred vice," says he, " Avas to be Avritten, it Avould plainly appear that it began among the gentry, and from them Avas handed down to the poorer sort, Avho still love to be like their betters. After the Restoration, AA'hen [drinking to] the king's health became the distinction between a 'Cavalier' and 'Roundhead,' drunkenness began to reign. The gentry caressed the beastly vice at such a rate that, as compan- ion, no servant Ayas thought proper unless he could bear a 46 HISTORY OF INTEMPERANCE. quantity of Avine ; and to this day, AA'hen you speak Avell of a man you say, ' he is an honest drunken felloAV ;' as if his drunkenness Avas a recommendation to his honesty. Nay, so far has this custom preA'ailed, that the top of a gentle- manly entertainment has been to make his friend drunk ; and the friend is so much reconciled to it, that he takes it as the effect of his kindness. The further perfection of this vice among the gentry, appears in the Avay of their expressing their joy for any public blessing. ' Jack,' said a gentleman of A-ery high quality, AA'hen after the debate in the House of Lords, King William AA'as voted into the vacant throne, 'Jack, go home to your Lady, and tell her Ave have got a Protestant King and Queen, and go make a bonfire as big as a house, and bid the butler make ye all drunk, ye dog. ' Here,' continues De Foe, ' Avas sacrificing to the devil for a thanksgiving to God."* In the eighteenth century ample testimony is on record to exhibit the awful ravages of drunkenness in Great Brit- ain. The facilities afforded by government, for the sale of spirits, and the cheapness of these pernicious liquors, placed Avithin the reach of the poor, at a trivial expense, the means of gratifying their depraved appetites. Insub- ordination, riots and other disastrous effects of this sinful and degrading indulgence, folloAA-ed ; and in London in particular, in 1736, the magistrates of Middlesex, found it absolutely necessary to petition parliament for some re- strictive measures against its increasing devastations. The House took the subject into serious consideration, and a heavy sum, amounting almost to a prohibition of its sale, Avas affixed to the taking out of a license for the vending of the liquid fire. Yet the celebrated debates of 1743, show that even this enactment Avas productive of little good. The appetite for strong drink had become too gen- eral and uncontrollable to be easily removed, and the peo- ple, Avhen deprived of the usual means of gratifying their sensual inclinations, immediately resorted to illegal expe- dients to obtain a supply. Extensive smuggling Avas car- ried on, in defiance of the most severe measures adopted for its suppression ; and drunkenness raged as much as evcir, until several modifications of the law made this ille- gal traffic a loss profitable pursuit. Perhaps no circumstance is more illustrative of the in- temperance of these times than the disgusting manner in which the sellers of these poisonous liquors endeavoured * Pe Foe's " Poor Man's Plea," HISTORY OF INTEMPERANCE. 47 to extend their trade. A contemporary publication has inserted the fohWing notice, for the year 1736: "We have observed some signs where such liquors are retailed, with the following inscription : 'Drunk for a penny, dead drunk for two-pence, clean straw for nothing:* Smollet makes the folloAving remark upon this fact: " They ac- cordingly provided cellars and places strewed with straAV, to which they conveyed those wretches Avho were over- Avhelmed Avith intoxication : in those dismal caverns they lay until they recovered some use of their faculties, and then they had recourse to the same mischievous potion ; thus consuming their health and ruining their families, in hideous receptacles of the most filthy vice, resounding Avith riot, execration, and blasphemy.'"! The host of petitions Avhich Avere sent in from various parts of the kingdom, at length induced the government to pass more restrictive measures, Avhich had some effect in reducing the consumption of these liquors ; but the appe- tite for them had been created, and to the present day this unhappy country is still groaning under a torrent of evils originating in the same cause. Many examples might be adduced in evidence of the existence of intemperance at various times, in the Scottish nation. In its early history, many of the national habits and customs bear a great similarity to those of the An- cient Britons. A respectable author thus describes the mode in Avhich their drinking feasts AA'ere conducted: "The manner of drinking used by the chief men of the Isles, is called in their language, streak, i.e., a round; for the company sat in a circle : the cup bearer filled the drink round to them, and all AA'as drunk out, Avhatever the liquor Avas, Avhether strong or Aveak. They continued drinking sometimes tAventy-four, sometimes forty-eight hours. It was reckoned a piece of manhood to drink until they be- came drunk ; and there were tAVO men attending punctually Avith a barroAv on such occasions. They stood at the door until some became drunk, and they carried them upon the barroAv to bed, and returned again to their post, as long as any continued; and so carried off the AA'hole company one by one, as they became drunk."! In the sixteenth century, the hospitality of the Scots in- duced them to indulge in excessive drinking. A writer of • Historical Miscellany, Gentleman's Magazine, 1736. f Smollett's History of England, passim. % Martin's Description of the Western Islands, p. 196. 48 HISTORY OF INTEMPERANCE. that period speaks of the courtiers, merchants, and country gentlemen, as much given to intemperance.* In the middle of the eighteenth century, excessive drink- ing Avas extremely prevalent among the higher classes of Scotland. The more humble portion of society, Avas not at that period addicted to the free use of intoxicating liquors. Mr. Dunlop relates, that the then member of par liament for RenfeAVshire, Avas accustomed to drink ardent spirits at a small ferry-house, for three Aveeks together; and that a dispute having taken place at a fair in Ayrshire, the parties Avent to the mansion of a neighbouring magis- trate, to seek an adjustment of their differences, when they found three justices of the peace dancing naked, before the door in a state of intoxication. These were three of the principal men of the county. Similar stories, remarks Mr. Dunlop, are to be found in every parish in Scotland, indica- tive of the inebriation of the upper ranks during the last century.! It may readily be supposed, that so injurious an example had a corresponding influence on the humbler classes of society; and more recent history displays incalculable in- jury thereby resulting to the morals, health and happiness of that country. In Ireland, the most terrible results have attended the use of intoxicating liquors. These have been more espe- cially displayed since the introduction of ardent spirits into general use. During the eighteenth century, the most dreadful consequences resulted from this cause. The gov- ernment of the country soon had reason deeply to lament the encouragement AA'hich it had given to distillation. SeAr- eral laws Avere passed Avith the intent of restricting the use of ardent spirits; but the taste for such stimulants had been created, and illegal means of obtaining them Avere exten- sively resorted to. Ireland has, for the last century, wit- nessed insubordination, crimes and immorality, raging to an almost incredible extent, most of Avhich may be attribu- ted to the influence of intemperance. It is, hoAvever, to be hoped, that a brighter day Avill yet daAvn upon that un- fortunate nation. The history of other countries shows, that intemperance is not peculiar to Great Britain and Ireland. The inhabit- ants of many countries in a semi-barbarous state, previous to their connexion with the Christian Avorld, had discovered * Fynes Moryson's Itinerary, p. 56. t Parliamentary Evidence, p. 408. HISTORY OF INTEMPERANCE. 49 the art of producing intoxicating substances, in various Avays. Others learned the habit of inebriation from Euro- pean nations, Avho at the same time supplied them with the pernicious articles for consumption. All of these, hoAArever, have more or less experienced the dreadful evils resulting from intemperate habits. The Nubians, are described by Burckhardt, as excessively addicted to drunkenness, and during his abode at Berber, in 1816, several quarrels occurred from intemperance, most of Avhich ended in the shedding of blood.* The inhabitants of Ashantee, Congo, and other African nations, are described by travellers as indulging freely in the use of strong drink, for Avhich they are doubtless more or less indebted to their intercourse Avith European nations; and, especially to their accursed trade in human flesh.! In the Nicobar Islands, the natives drink freely of Arrack at their feasts; and in general, until their sight is gone, and they are completely stupified. The Otaheitans indulge freely in an intoxicating liquor called Ava, prepared in a peculiar manner from the ex- pressed juice of a plant. The injurious effects of this deleterious liquid, upon the morals and health of these tribes, are feelingly described by Cook and others.! The natives of New South Wales, have suffered greatly from the use of ardent spirits. It is to be lamented, that the inhumanity of professing Christians, has sanctioned and promoted the introduction of strong drink into that interesting colony, where scenes of bloodshed are of fre- quent occurrence among the natives, Avhen in a state of inebriation. Scarcely, says Arago, do the intoxicating fumes get into their heads, Avhen they breathe nothing but battle, and shout forth their Avar cries. Impatient for murder, they seek antagonists, provoke them by ferocious son^s, and demand death in the hope of inflicting it. They find but too readily the opportunities they provoke ; and their ' AA'ar-AAdioop' is ansAvered by Avhooping not less terri- ble. Then the combatants draAvn up in tAvo lines, perhaps twenty steps from each other, threaten mutually Avith their long and pointed spears, launch them at their adversaries, with wonderful strength and dexterity, and, finally attack • Burckhardt's Travels in Nubia, 4to. p. 143-4. ...... t Voyage to Congo, Part I, p. 564, apud Churchill. Bowdich's Ashantee, p. 386. X Cook's Voyage, vol. l. p. 350. E 50 HISTORY OF INTEMPERANCE. each other Avith ponderous and formidable clubs. Limbs are fractured, bones smashed, skulls laid open: no excla- mation of pain escapes from these ferocious savages; the air resounds only with frightful vociferations. He who falls AA'ithout having found a victim, dies rather from de- spair than from the hurts he has received ; and the war- rior aaIio has laid low a feAv enemies, soon expires without regretting the loss of life.* Among the American savages, the free use of intoxi- cating liquors has produced dreadful ravages. The French found this practice of advantage in their trading transac- tions. Charlevoix describes some awful scenes which he wit- nessed in the streets of Montreal, occasioned by intoxi- cation. Husbands, wives, fathers, mothers, sisters and brothers, Avere frequently seen in this state Avorrying each other, like so many wolves. This writer says, that the Europeans when they settled in North America, soon found that supplying the natives with spirituous liquors, promoted their trading interests, by making them incapable of attending to business, so " they waged a war," he remarks, " of gin and brandy against the various tribes, some of which have been sub- dued, and others almost wholly extirpated by their own drunkenness."! The Rev. Mr. Andrews thus describes the effect of in- toxicating liquor upon the Mohawk Indians. "They grow quite mad, burn their own little huts, murder their wives and children, or one another, so that their wiAes are forced to hide their guns and hatchets, and themselves too, for fear of mischief."! Among the American savages, Avhen any business of im- portance is transacted, they appoint a feast, of which almost the AA'hole tribe partakes. The Brazilian savages differ very little in this respect from their brethren in the North. When they hold a feast they proceed from house to house, consuming the liquor until they become quite infuriated, and in this state commit the most dreadful excesses. Speaking of Chili, Raynal says, " The natives had, like most savages, be- come excessively fond of spirituous liquors, and when intoxicated used to take up arms, massacre all the Span- * Arago's Voyage. t Charlevoix. Journal of a Voyage to North America, Letter viii. X Pinkerton's Voyages, vol. xii. p. 415. HISTORY OF INTEMPERANCE. 51 lards they met with, and ravage the country near their dAvellings."* Similar practices are found among the Araucano Indians in South America. A recent observer says: "On their great feasts they drink large quantities of a very intoxicat- ing liquor called Chicha, made from maize, which they soav for this purpose, although no other signs of agricul- tural cultivation are to be found among them. The elder females of the tribe prepare this beverage by cheAving the maize, which they afterward collect in a trough resem- bling a canoe, and having added a sufficient quantity of water to the masticated roots, leave it to ferment, covering the trough carefully with mats. Previous to these feasts which end in premeditated intoxication, they voluntarily surrender their spears and knives to the Avomen, Avho se- crete them in the woods, as they are conscious of their propensity to quarrelling and fighting when excited by liquor. A guard is always appointed from among the warriors, Avho retain their weapons and taste no chicha until the next day. On particular occasions of rejoicing they drink this beverage mingled with horse's blood, Avhich they believe endows them Avith preternatural strength and agility."! The Russians are very much addicted to the free use of ardent spirits. Brandy is their favourite liquor. Distilla- tion is encouraged by the Government of that country, and forms a fruitful source of revenue. MorewoodJ cal- culates its annual consumption at 5,500,000 vedros,§ or 27,500,000 gallons. The same author relates, that in one province and the adjoining districts called Penza, there are no less than 397 stills at work, which are wrought by 982 men. The natives of Kamschatka are exceedingly attached to inebriating liquors, and the traders frequently tempt them to part Avith valuable sables and other furs for small quan- tities of brandy. This infamous practice has been success- fully adopted by designing and avaricious traders. The SAvedes have a strong propensity to intoxicating liquors, and indulge in them freely. This may be in a great measure attributed to the injurious patronage of the • Raynal's Hist, of East and West Indies. London, 1788, vol. iv. p. 209. t Campaigns and Cruises in Venezuela and New Grenada, p. 391. t Morewood's Essay on Intoxicating Liquors, p. 248. I Vedro, a measure containing from 15 to 20 quarts. 52 HISTORY OF INTEMPERANCE. sale of ardent spirits by the Government of that country, about the latter part of the last century. Drinking is now associated Avith all their customs, and even among the temperate members of society, a dram is in general taken before every meal. A German paper lately stated the astonishing fact, that not more than 40 years ago the Swedish people consumed only five millions of bottles of brandy, whereas now 22 millions are scarcely sufficient for their annual consumption. Statistical calculations prove that three-fourths of the crimes committed in that country are to be attributed to intemperance. It is the custom for women of certain villages in the country, on occasions of great feasts, to put on graveclothes, when they go to fetch their husbands, in order to have them ready in case of necessity.* The Laplanders are also much attached to intoxicating drink; indeed, so much so that they have been known to exchange their valuable animals for small quantities of spirits. The habit of drinking is also associated with many of their social customs, and is of course productive of most injurious consequences both to themselves and their families. » Morning Advertiser, Dec. 28,1835» HISTORY OF INTEMPERANCE. 53 CHAPTER IV. THE HISTORY OF INTEMPERANCE IN CONNEXION WITH THE PRO- FESSION OF RELIGION, AND ITS EFFECTS ON RELIGIOUS WELFARE. " Wo to them that are at ease in Zion, that drink wine in bowls, and anoint themselves with the chief ointments: but they are not grieved for the affliction of Joseph."—Amos vi. 1, 6. " But they also have erred through wine, and through strong drink are out of the way; the priest and the prophet have erred through strong drink, they are swallowed up of wine, they are out of the way through strong drink ; they err in vision, they stumble in judgement."—Isaiah xxviii. 7. Every thing Avhich has connexion with the sanctity of religion necessarily possesses peculiar importance. Hence arises the necessity of separating from the profession of religion all practices not sanctioned by the Divine autho- rity, but associated Avith its various ordinances by the vitiated habits of degenerate times. No practice has been more intimately connected with the ordinances of religion, in all ages of the Avorld, than the use of strong drink. In this stage of our inquiry, it is intended to ascertain the origin and progress of this custom, and its conse- quences in relation to religious Avelfare. In the course of this investigation, some singular elucidations Avill transpire in reference to a striking similarity Avhich exists betAveen the drinking habits of the people, both of Heathen and of Christian nations. 1. Intemperance in connexion with the Religious CEREMONIES OF THE HEATHENS. The religious rites and ceremonies of the ancient hea- thens greatly contributed to foster the vice of intemperance. The numerous festivals held by these nations, formed a fruitful source of temptation to this sin. Athenaeus informs us, that all their luxurious entertainments were occasioned by devotion tO the gods, Vaaa crvprooiov ap.vaywyr] T17V airaiv ti{ dtov avtifit pt. These religious festivals AA'ere at first conducted with temperance and decorum, except AA'hen they AA'ere desirous E 2 54 HISTORY OF INTEMPERANCE, of making special acknoAvledgement for some signal mark of divine favour. On such occasions they indulged freely in wine, for which reason the feast was called Qoviat, be- cause they imagined they AA'ere obliged at those times to be drunk in honour of the gods ! on dm rout 0so«s oiVow8ai <5cf« vireXafiPavov. The most important of these festivals was the one held at the conclusion of the vintage, or gathering in of the grapes. At this time they were accustomed to drink free- ly, esteeming it as an honourable offering of the first fruits to the gods. Seleucus, in Aristotle, states that the words OaXia and peOn AA'ere similarly derived. Tow re otvov cm irXsro* *ai rnv aWnv n&vnaQsiav 6cu>v eveKa rrpooipcpcoOai, Sto xai Ootvas xat GaXiaf Kai fiidat uvonaadnvai; because it was usual at those times to consume great quantities of wine and other provisions, in honour of the gods.* These profane notions were but too much in unison with the inclinations of the people, among Avhom they obtained. The frugality Avith which their more ancient festivals had been conducted, gradually disappeared. As the heathens increased the number of their gods, so was the number of their festivals enlarged, until, in progress of time, these, originally solemn occasions, were regarded as privileged opportunities of sensual indulgence. It may be stated that, the festivals under consideration, were more or less com- mon to all the heathen nations. Strabo informs us, that " the practice was common both to Greeks and barbarians." Among the most numerous of these festive occasions AA'ere those held in honour of Bacchus, the God of Wine. At Athens, the very focus of heathen Avisdom and idola- trous abominations, the bacchanalian orgies were cele- brated with great splendour, and in particular those Avhich were denominated Dionysia. Some idea may be formed of the estimation in Avhich they Avere held, Avhen it is knOAvn that the archons, or chief magistrates, patronized the pro- ceedings, and had a share in their management. During the processions, which were always held on these occa- sions, various ceremonies were performed, in the course of which the grotesque gestures of the drunkard Avere imi- tated. These proceedings invariably closed Avith the most disgusting, drunken, and licentious scenes of degrading debauchery. Plato informs us, that he Avitnessed the Avhole of the city of Athens drunk, during the Bacchic festivals.! The ancients erected statues in honour of Bacchus, who • Potter's Grecian Antiquities, vol. i. p. 418. f Plato lib. i. de leg. IN CONNEXION WITH RELIGION. 55 was frequently represented as an effeminate young man, in allusion to the joyous feasts which were held in honour of him ; and at other times, as an old man, from the effect of vinous liquors in bringing on premature old age. The Greeks had many festivals in honour of this god. Those called Anthesteria continued three days, during which time drunkenness greatly prevailed; indeed, rewards were held out as inducements to intemperate drinking. Similar festivals AA'ere held among the Romans, and ultimately became the most common source of intemper- ance and immorality. The impurities, hoAvever, connected Avith these proceedings, and the consequent demoralization of the people, were so obvious in their character, that the senate was constrained to interfere, and to put a stop to their continuance. At this time the festivals held at Rome Avere celebrated by not less than 7,000 souls of both sexes, promiscuously arranged. They invariably took place in the darkness of the night. Among other licentious festivals of the Ancients, were those of Cotytro, the goddess of debauchery, thence called Cotytria. They were principally celebrated by the Athe- nians, Thracians, and Corinthians. Intemperance, with gross debauchery, always characterized the solemnities. Similar practices existed at the festiA-als held in honour of Comus, the god of feasting and revelry. This deity was usually represented as a young man, in a state of in- toxication, and croAA'ned with the drunkard's garland. The Persians also had festivals of a similar description. One of the principal of these Avas held in honour of Anaitis, an Armenian goddess. Both sexes assisted at the cere- mony, and inebriated themselves to such a degree, that the whole Avas concluded by a scene of the greatest lascivious- ness and intemperance.* Orgies, Avorthy of the deities to Avhose Avorship they were consecrated, and for Avhose honour they AA'ere instituted. The evils of intemperance, as it existed among the heathens, present many deplorable features, but hoAv much more are they to be lamented Avhen prevailing amonr; a people possessed of superior light and instruction! The Church of the true God Avill be found in all ages to have severely suffered from the influence of strong drink. A view of its ecclesiastical records but too evidently demon- strates the truth of this statement. * Lempriere Bibliotheca Classica. 56 HISTORY OF INTEMPERANCE, 2. Intemperance in connexion with the Jewish Church. From a careful examination of the writings of the Old Testament it is seen, that the JeAVS, at various times, manifested considerable religious declension, and folloAved idolatrous practices. The reasons for this dereliction were various; but, among other causes, intemperate indulgence occupies a most prominent place. The association of Idolatry and Intemperance, and the consequences of the latter vice, are strikingly depicted in the Book of Exodus. The circumstance there especially alluded to occurred at the time Avhen Moses was on the mount, in conference Avith the Almighty. The Israelites, on finding that Mosea delayed his return, made for themselves false gods, and prepared a feast of suitable offerings for idolatrous worship. The consequences Avere shortly aftenvards seen. " The people sat doAvn to eat and drink, and rose up to play."* At a subsequent period, Moses, after giving to the Children of Israel the Commandments, which he had received on Mount Sinai, strongly exhorts them to obedience to those laAvs, and faithfully warns them against giving Avay to sensual temptations, when they should become possessed of the country Avhich the Lord had promised them. After enumerating the advantages they Avould obtain thereby in securing the possession of land and cities, houses and wells, vineyards and oliA-e-y^rds, for which they had not laboured, Moses adds: " When thou shalt have eaten and be full, then beware lest thou forget the Lord," &c! That wise legislator had previously witnessed the awful effects of sensuality in turning the heart from God. He feared also the consequences of intercourse with surrounding heathen nations, whose practices were highly sensual and ensnar- ing.! As if these allusions and exhortations, however, were not sufficiently strong, Moses soon afterAvards repeats his warning: " Lest when thou hast eaten and art full, then thine heart be lifted up and thou forget the Lord."§ Shortly after this event, Moses beAvails the stubbornness of the people, and expresses his prophetical fears of the consequences of their indulging in plenty : " For when they have eaten and filled themselves, and Avaxen fat, then will they turn unto other gods and serve them, and pro- voke me and break my covenant."|| These Avarnings Avere verified at an early period ; for in the succeeding chapter, * Exodus xxxii. 6. f Deut. vi. 11, 12. X Id. *iv. and following chap. § Idem, viii. 10, 13. || Idem, xxxi. 20. IN CONNEXION WITH RELIGION. 57 .Moses alludes to the departure of the luxurious Israelites from the Avorship of the true God: " But Jeshurun (Israel) waxed fat and kicked ; then he forsook God which made him, and lightly esteemed the Rock of his Salvation."* In succeeding centuries, the use of intoxicating liquor Avas found to be highly inimical to the religious Avelfare of the Jews, and the prophets of the Most High allude to it in terms of strong disapprobation. Even the Holy Sanctuary did not escape its contaminating influence. "And they drink the wine of the condemned in the house of their (rod."! Perhaps, however, no example more forcibly depicts the intemperance of those times, and the evil effects of strong drink on the conduct of some of the chosen people of God, than the fact of the Nazarites being tempt- ed to indulge in Avine by the posterity of Israel. The Nazarites Avere a people specially devoted to the Lord, and scrupulous in abstaining from the use of wine. " And I raised up your sons (that is of Israel) for prophets, and of your young men for Nazarites. Is it not even thus, O ye Children of Israel, saith the Lord. But ye gave the Naza- rites wine to drink, and commanded the prophets, saying, prophesy not."! The same inspired writer subsequently characterizes, in decisive language, some of the distinguishing traits of in- temperance ; and, in particular, the selfish feelings and disregard of religion Avhich the habit induces. He pro- nounces avo against them that are at " ease in Zion,"— " that put away the evil day" and cause the seat of violence to come near ; that drink wine in bowls, and anoint them- selves with the chief ointments: but are not grieved for the ajfliction of Joseph."§ The prophet Hosea adverts to the effects of luxury in turning the heart from God. " The Children of Israel look to other gods, and love flagons of wine." In the fourth chapter of that book, idolatry is constantly asso- ciated Avith satiety and intemperance. " Ephraim is joined to idols; let him alone. Their drink is sour, they have committed Avhoredom. (tOAvard God) continually."|| The prophet Isaiah frequently bewails the luxury and intemperance of the times in Avhich he lived, and their ef- fects on religious prosperity. After describing the feasts of the intemperate, he expressly declares, that they "regard * Idem, xxxii. l.">. t Amos ii. 8. X Amos ii. 11. 1?. § Idem, vi. 3, 6, || Hosea iv. 17, 18. 58 HISTORY OF INTEMPERANCE, not the work of the Lord, neither consider the operation of his hands." "Therefore," he immediately adds, "my people are gone into captivity, because they have no knoAA'ledge ; and hell hath enlarged herself."* At a later period intemperance prevailed to an alarming extent among the Jcavs ; and in particular among the in- habitants of Ephraim. " Wo to the croAvn of pride, to the drunkards of Ephraim," &c.f This fearful vice even extended to the expounders of the Avord of God. The priests and prophets, against Avhose indulgence in strong drink there Avere strict laws, participated in the general declension of the times. " The priests and prophet have erred through strong drink ; they err in vision, they stum- ble in judgement-! Under these degrading circumstances, Avell might the prophet Isaiah exclaim: " Whom shall he teach knoAvledge, and whom shall he make to understand doctrine!" The infatuated people had " made a convenant Avith death," and " with hell were in agreement," and had flattered them- selves that their conduct would escape the judgement of a just God.§ Hosea, in reference to the wickedness of the Ephraim- ites, feelingly exclaims: " I did know thee in the Avilder- ness, in the land of great drought. According to their pasture, so were they filled, they Avere filled," and their heart Avas exalted, therefore have they forgotten me."|| These examples of irreligion and intemperance, present fearful warnings to future generations against sensual in- dulgence. The hearts of men are naturally obstinate and disobedient; but when under the influence of foreio-n excite- ment, they are rendered doubly careless as to future conse- quences. The children of Israel indulged freely in sensual pleasures, and became estranged from God. Their illus- trious king Agur, eA-idently felt, and strongly inculcated the importance of exercising proper control over the ap- petites when he exclaimed : "Feed me Avith food convenient for me ; lest I be full and deny thee, and say, Who is the Lord V'lT From the preceding observations we are led to conclude, that at certain periods, intemperance prevailed to a greater or less extent among the Jews. There is no evidence, however, to prove, that at any period this degrading vice * Isaiah, v. 11—14, &c X Idem, xxviii. 7. || Hosea, xiii. 5, 6. t Isaiah xxviii. 1. § Isaiah xxviii. 9, 15. T Prov. xxx. 8, 9. IN CONNEXION WITH RELIGION. 59 even approached to the same extent to which it has been carried in the present day. On the contrary, the Jews, considered as a nation, with the exceptions alluded to, were in general temperate in their habits. Drunkenness was looked upon by the great majority with great abhor- rence, and in the earlier periods of their commonwealth Bevere Ibavs were enacted against it. It was this feeling which caused the prophets to utter such strong and point- ed denunciations against it. The language of these men of God appears, hoAvever, in many instances, to be directed, in terms the most forcible, against the vice itself, as prac- tised among a few, and not in relation to a custom to which the people Avere generally addicted. If the disap- probation of the Almighty Avas so strongly excited at the f»artial intemperance of those times, Avhat would be the anguaje of the prophets, had they lived to witness the al- most general habits of drunkenness prevailing among pro- fessed "Christians" in the present day. 3. Intemperance as associated with the profession of Christianity, and in connexion with Christian churches. In the New Testament, denunciations and Avarnings against intemperance are frequent and pointed. These, however, AA'ere directed more against the converted hea- thens than the Jews, who at that period Avere, in general, more temperate in their habits, than they had been in previous ages. This evidently appears from the absence of those reproofs for intemperance by the Saviour, Avhich, doubtless, under other circumstances, he Avould have given. The Saviour's labours Avere altogether confined to that people ; and in one instance only did he allude to the ef- fects of intemperance; and that rather as a Avarning against a possible contingency even among his oaati disciples, than r as a generally prevailing vice in the nation. The heathens Avere much addicted to intemperance at the time when the Gospel Avas introduced to their notice. It appears highly probable, that those who were converted by its influence Avere subject to frequent temptations to recur to their former dissolute practices. Hence the anx- iety manifested by the apostle Paul in his epistles to the converted Gentiles. The heathens not unfrequently in- vited them to be present at their festivals and to partake of their sacrifices, which have already been shoAvn to be most intemperate in their character. St. Paul appears to allude to this practice in his epistle to the Corinthians: " Ye cannot drink of the cup of the Lord and the cup of 60 HISTORY OF INTEMPERANCE, devils ;"* thereby intimating that participation in the idol- atrous festivities of their heathen countrymen, would to- tally disqualify them for faithful communion at the table of the Holy Eucharist. This injudicious intercourse formed at a later period a subject of deep regret to all sincere folloAvers of a cruci- fied and self-denying Master ; and hence the canons of the primitive churches, contain frequent and strong allusions to the dangerous tampering Avith principle which it neces- sarily involved. The canons alluded to, exhibit unimpeachable evidence of backslidings of those Avho professed Christianity at that early period. Among these enactments are not unfre- quently found laAvs prohibiting not only the laity, but the clergy also, regular or irregular, and priesthood of all ranks, from meeting together for the purpose of intemper- ate indulgence. A strong inducement to intemperance among the Chris- tians of early times, was the practice of holding feasts in commemoration of important events on Christmas, Shrove- tide, Easter, and other days of like interest. In course of time, similar festivities were instituted in honourable re- membrance of persons distinguished for piety and Avorth. These celebrations appear to have been attended frequent- ly Avith lamentable and degrading results. Like those of the idolatrous ancients, they were at first conducted Avith frugality, decency, and temperance ; but they gradually degenerated into scenes of intoxication, riot, and debauch- ery. Some have supposed, that the same love of luxu- rious living, Avhich prompted the heathens to multiply their profane feasts, influenced the Christians to add to the number of their sacred festivals, until at last they be- came exceedingly numerous. The Avorks of the Fathers abound in denunciations against those instances of intem- perance ; and point out, in strong language, the evils which resulted from such practices. In the writings of Constantine, St. Gregory Nazienzen, St. Chrysostom, and others, these anti-christian irregularities are forcibly ex- hibited and deeply deplored. St. Augustin, in particular, adverts to the frequency of intemperance at these feasts, and the indifference Avith which it was vieAved by all parties: " Drunken debauch- es," says he, " pass as permitted among us ; so that people turn them into solemn feasts, to honour the memory of the * 1 Cor. x. 21. IN CONNEXION WITH RELIGION. 61 martyrs ; and that not only on those days which are par- ticularly consecrated to them, (which Avould be a deplora- ble abuse, to those who look at these things with other eyes than those of the flesh,) but on every day of the year.' The same evidence is given in writings attributed to St. Cyprian.' " Drunkenness," says that Avriter, " is so com- mon with us in Africa, that it scarce passes for a crime. And do we not see Christians forcing one another to get drunk to celebrate the memory of the martyrs 1"! At the African Synod (A. D. 418', 9.) the lascivious feasts of the Gentiles Avere prohibited, and in particular such as were held on the nativities of the martyrs, and in sacred places ; and heathens were commanded not to force Chris- tians lo join Avith them, as it Avould be deemed a persecu- tion under Christian emperors. The canons of the Synod of Trullus present equally strong evidence of the existence of intemperance in con- nexion Avith the Greek church in the seventh century. In corroboration of this fact it may be stated that the Bac- chanalia Avere interdicted, to the clergy upon pain of de- position, to the laity upon pain of excommunication.! In the records of church history, at a more recent pe- riod, is found ample testimony, of the corruption produced by the influence of luxury and intemperance. The dark ages in particular of the Roman Catholic church, exhibit melancholy illustrations of the subject under consideration. In the sixth century, the Emperor Justinian required monks not to enter houses appropriated to the sale of in- toxicating liquors. A monk found in a taA'ern Avas to be seized and brought before a magistrate, who upon convic- tion, Avas to give him due chastisement and signify the offence to the abbot of his monastery, that he might forth- Avith be expelled.§ In this country the hospitality of the monks materially countenanced and fostered intemperance. The-- Anglo- Saxons, after their conversion to Christianity, AA-ere re- markable for their hospitality. Spelman relates, that the canons of the church commanded the Anglo-Saxon priests • EpiMle xxii. t Pamel. p. 416. t Canon, Hi, Trullans, p. 279. 5 Si visus liu-rit aliqui* reverendissimorum monarchorum in aliqua Taber- narum conversart ; hunc ropente" dari Locorum defensoribus—et castigari ronvictmn : et nuntiari hoc abbati, quatenus eum expellat monasterio, qui talia deliquit ; utpote in confusionein vit-je Angelicam hanc conversationem mutantem. Justin.—Corpus Juris Civil in. F 62 HISTORY OF INTEMPERANCE, not only to practise hospitality themselves, but to urge the necessity, and commend the practice of it frequently to the people.* At this period the kings of England devoted immense sums of money, for the purpose of celebrating Avith splen- dour the various church festivals, which were held at Christmas, Easter, and Whitsuntide. The monasteries formed a species of public houses, where entertainment was provided for travellers of all descriptions. This hos- pitality frequently led to scenes of riot and excess.! The excessive intemperance of the Danes and Anglo- Saxons has already been referred to. The practice even extended to their religious festivals, on Avhich occasion, they are described as drinking large draughts of liquor to the honor of Christ, the Virgin Mary, the Apostles, and other saints.! A synod of the clergy, held about the middle of the eighth century, commanded that " the sin of drunkenness be avoided, especially in the clergy." Boniface, archbishop of Mentz, in a letter, which he Avrote to Cuthbert, arch- bishop of Canterbury, observes, that the English bishops so far from punishing drunkenness, were guilty of the same. Moreover, he adds: "Drunkenness is a special evil of our nation," (that is of the Saxon, of which country, Boniface was a native;) and specifies, that neither Franks, nor Gauls, nor Lombards, nor Romans, nor Greeks, were guilty thereof."^ Charlemagne, or his son Lewis, were the authors of cer- tain laAvs against drunkenness among the clergy, Avho are AA'arned, not only to avoid excess themselves, but to take care, lest they become the cause of it in others, by pres- sing them to drink. In another place, the clergy are com- manded, "by all means to abstain from drunkenness, as the incentive and cherisher of all vices." Whoever was convicted of this vice, was to suffer according to his order. A priest or deacon was liable to forty days' excommunica- tion, and a subdeacon to corporeal punishment.^ The clergy were forbidden, in particular, from going into a tavern to eat or drink there at all, unless necessity obliged them to do so as travellers on the road.Ti * Spelman, Concil, Tom. i. f Anglia Sacra, Tom. ii. X Bartholin. Lib. ii. C. 12. § Spelman, Concil, p. 211. || Baluzias, Tom. i. Col. 1071. IT Capit. Episcop. A. D. 801, cap. 19. Ut nullus Presbyterorum edendi aut bibendi causa ingrediatur in Tabernas.—Baluz. l. 360. Nisi Peregrinationia necessitate compulsi. Goldastus, Tom. iii. IN CONNEXION WITH RELIGION. 63 William of Malmsbury, relates that King Edward I. was murdered at a feast held in honour of St. Augustin, the English apostle. This event occurred in Puckle Church, Gloucestershire, A. D. 946. The king with all his nobles, and courtiers Avere so intoxicated with the liquors they had drunk, as to be unable to offer the least resistance to the during regicide.* The same celebrated historian however candidly admits, that these excesses among the clergy, although too general, Avere not universal, as he himself could testify from personal observation, and expresses a hope that the innocent Avould not be involved in the same disgrace with the guilty.! In the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, remarkable examples of feasting were exhibited at the installation of several of the dignitaries of the church. On these festive occasions, immense quantities of malt liquor and wine were consumed, and it Avould excite little surprise, to find that consequences ensued not creditable either to the cause of religion, or to those who possessed so important an influence over its interests. The ceremonies observed at the " Feast of the Ass," in certain parts of France, in connexion with the Roman Catholic church, (A.D. 1322,) will remind the classical reader of like scenes in the Bacchanalian festivals of the heathens; an account of which, is found in a manuscript missal, originally composed by Pierre Corbeil, archbishop of Sens, Avho died A.D. 1322. It is said to be Avritten in a beautiful manner, and its cover is ornamented AA'ith rep- resentations of all the operations of the vintage and other mythological subjects. At the period Avhen the manuscript was written, the ceremonies attendant on this feast, were in the highest degree bacchanalian and impious. The priests entered the choir besmeared Avith lees of wine, dancing, and singing profane songs, Avhile the inferior offi- cers of the church, polluted the altar by playing cards upon it, and eating in the most disgusting manner. During the celebration of mass, old shoes Avere burnt upon the censer, instead of incense, and the deacons and their companions Avere aftenvard carried through the streets in carts, prac- tising various indecencies. " For several days, the most disgusting and extravagant actions were continued, and drunkenness and Avanton singing, universally prevailed both among the clergy and laity.! • W. Malmsbury, Lib. ii. C. 7. f Idem, B. iii. X Collett's Relics of Literature, p. 138. 64 HISTORY OF INTEMPERANCE, The manners of the clergy in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, were extremely gross and discreditable to the cause of religion. The luxury and intemperance of the high dignitaries of the churchy afforded a pernicious ex- ample to its inferior officers, Avhose conduct is thus de- scribed by a modern historian :— " The secular clergy, Avere no enemies to the pleasures of .the table, and some of them contrived to convert glut- tony and drunkenness into religious ceremonies, by the celebrations of 'glutton-masses,' as they very properly called them. These glutton-masses were celebrated five times a year, in honour of the Virgin Mary, in this man- ner : Early in the morning, the people of the parish assem- bled in the church, loaded Avith ample stores of meats and drinks of all kinds. As soon as mass ended, the feast be- gan, in Avhich the clergy and laity engaged with equal ar- dour. The church was turned into a tavern, and became a scene of excessive riot and intemperance. The priests and people of different parishes entered into formal con- tests, AA'hich of them should have the greatest glutton- mass, i. e. which of them should devour the greatest quan- tities of meat and drink in honour of the Virgin Mary."* Sir John Chardin gives a lamentable account of the state of the Christian churches about this period in Persian Georgia. " No men," says he, " are more addicted to beastly drunkenness than the Georgians, into which filthy practices they indulge with more freedom, because it is so common, and not looked upon as scandalous." The churchmen will be as drunk as others----------at which nobody is offended, as being no more than is generally practised, and as it were authorized by custom, insomuch, that the superior of the Capuchins assured me, that he had heard the Catholicos or Patriarch of Georgia, say, that he Avho Avas not drunk at great festivals, such as Easter and Christmas, could not be a good Christian, and deserved to be excommunicated."! Similar practices appear to have existed generally among Christians in those parts. The Mingrelian Persians cel- ebrated their principal religious festiA-als, by indulging in their houses to great excess, both in eating and drinking-! The vices of the monasteries in the fifteenth and six- * Wilkin. Concilia, Tom. iii. p. 389, Citant. per Henry's Hist. Eng. vol. x. t Sir J. Chardin's Travels, p. 190-1. X Idem, p. 104. " The Merchant," says this distinguished writer, "would have thought that his soule should have gone streightwaie to the divell, if U he would have served them with other than the best." IN CONNEXION WITH RELIGION. 65 teenth centuries are described as excessive; a principal cause of this excess originated, as has been noticed, in the cnse of the Anglo-Saxons in the hospitality observed in these establishments, and the frequent and luxurious feasts held on particular occasions. As an instance of this ex- travagance it may be remarked, that in Scotland, where the manners of the inmates of the monasteries were not so dissolute, there were annually used in one abbey, about l.>000 bushels of malt. It may be further noticed, that the nature of the revenues of these monastic establishments prompted to this excess. Such were the luxurious habits of the religious orders of these times, that it Avas notorious, that the best wines Avere to be found at the houses of the priests. Holinshed remarks, " that the strongest wines" used to be called " Theologicum ;" and the laymen, when they wished to spend a singularly jovial hour, used to send for wine to the parson of the parish.' At the commencement of the sixteenth century, the influ- ence of similar manners very generally displayed itself in most parts of the religious world. This corruption extend- ed not only to the people, but to their religious instructers. It is recorded of the people of Switzerland, that "broils and conflicts, riot and debauchery, constituted their high- est enjoyments ;" and immediately aftenvard the same author adds,! The wealth possessed by the convents led to the greatest corruption and excess, many of the clergy A\rere Avholly illiterate, others indulged in habits of gaming, drinking, and sAArearing, and many unblushingly lived in open concubinage." These occurrences took place previ- ous to the period of the Reformation.! In the seventeenth century there is much reason to be- lieve, that the cause of religion suffered greatly from the effects of intemperance even in our own country. Yet at this period the profession of religion AA'as A'ery general, and the fashionable vices of the age AA-ere discountenanced by the ruling authorities. Many excellent men, however, made ineffectual efforts to remove this national stain.§ • Harrison apud Holinshed, p. 166. t Zschokke's HiMory of Sw itzerland, p, 175. X iDicl- P- 1T5, § One of the most prominent appeals had the following title: " The BlFMISH OF GoVF.RNMF.NT, THE SlIAMF. OF Rf.LIGION, THE DISGRACE OP Mankind: or a charge drawn up against Drunkards, and presented to his highnehj the Lord Protfctor, in the name of all the sober party in the three nations,'' *. c. kc. by R. Younge. An extract from this appeal is given, p. s. London, I(>;">S. This writer evidently viewed intemperance as a great obstacle to thq dif« fusion of religion, even in the Reformed Churches of England. F 2 66 HISTORY OF INTEMPERANCE. The folloAving extract from the parish books of Darling. ton, is too interesting and illustrative to be omitted. Whether the items in question, ought to be laid at the door of the " ministeres," or AA'hat, perhaps, is, more probable, to the bibulous propensities of the parish officers, is a mat- ter Avhich the. reader himself must determine. They amply prove, however, hoAV much the drinking customs of the age were associated AA'ith more sacred matters, and create less surprise at the extent of intemperance, Avhen it is per- cei\-ed how intimately the practice of drinking was con- nected with the offices of religion :— "A. D. 1639. (14 Charles T.) For Mr. Thompson, that preached the forenone and afternone, for a quarte of sacke, xiiiid. "A. D. 1650. (Commonwealth.) For sixe quarts of sacke to the ministere, Avhen we had not a ministere, 9s. "A. D. 1666, (6 Charles II.) For one quart of sacke be- stOAved on Mr. Jellett when he preached, 2s. 4d. "A. D. 1691, (4 Williamand Mary) for a pint of Brandy, when Mr. George Bell preached here, Is. 4d. "When the Dean of Durham preached here, spent in a treat with him, 3s. 6d. " For a stranger that preached, a dozen of ale, Is." ! ! !* In the present day there are feAv places of religious worship, Avhich are not provided with Avine, of which the minister is invited to partake either before or after preach- ing, and of which also it is reasonable to presume a con- siderable number of the officers of the church likewise partake. In a small parish of the city of London, the charge for wine in one year was as folloAvs: " Wine for the Vestry .... £42 Ditto for the Communion . . . 22"! Religious festivals, although modified in their character, have been encouraged since the establishment of the re- formed church. The people had been habituated to meet- ings of this description, and were not easily disposed to resign such popular means of enjoyment. Remains of these ancient customs are now in existence.! * Surtees' Durham, vol. iii. p. 365-6. f London Temp. Intelligencer, vol. ii. p. 102. j"On the day before Whitsuntide, in some places men and boys rolled themselves, after drinking, &c. in the mud in the streets." " The Whitsun ales were derived from the agapai, or love-feasts of the early Christians, and were so denominated from the churchwardens buying, IN CONNEXION WITH RELIGION. 67 In former times the distribution of gifts to the poor, was associated with the church establishment. At Whitsun- tide, for instance, a feast or holyday Avas given, and the stores were provided from common contributions. These feasts were got up under the superintendence of the churchwardens, who afterward delivered in a statement of their accounts for the past year. They were seldom concluded Avithout exhibitions of gross intemperance. So usual was it to celebrate the festivals of the church with strong drink, that even the names of the various ales were derived from the respective periods at AA'hich they were more particularly drunk. Thus our ancestors had their " church ales," their " Whitsun ales," and their " Easter ales," as well as many others, of which space will not per- mit the detail. Philip Stubbs, a AATiter of the age of Elizabeth, strongly animadverts on the excesses committed on these occasions. "In certain tOAvns," he remarks, "where drunken Bacchus bears swaie against Christmass and Easter, Whitsunday, or some other times, the churchwardens, for so they call them, of every parish, Avith the consent of the AA'hole parish, provide half a score or tAventie quarters of mault, whereof some they buy of the church stocke, and some is given to them of the parishioners themselves, every one conferring somewhat, according to his ability; which mault being made into very strong ale, or beer, is set to sale, either in the church, or in some other place assigned to that purpose. Then, AA'hen this nippitatum, this huff cuppe as they call it, this nectar of life, is set abroach, Avell is he that can get the soonest to it, and spends the most at it, for he is counted the godliest man of all the rest, and most in God's favour, because it is spent upon his church forsooth. If all be true AA'hich they say, they bestOAV that money AA'hich is got thereby, for the repair of their churches and chapels; they buy books for the service, cupps for the celebration of sacrament, surplesses for Sir John, and such other necessaries."* Selden was of opinion, that most of the foolish pageant- ry and ceremonies associated with the impure worship and laying in from presents also, a large quantity of malt, which they brew- ed into beer, and sold out in the church or elsewhere. The profits, as well as those from sundry games, there being then no poor-rates, were given to the poor, for whom this was one mode of provision, according to the Chris- tian rule that all festivities should be rendered innocent by alms," &c— Hone's Every Day Book, vol. 1. p. 6S6. * The Anatomie of Abuses. 1595. 68 HISTORY OF INTEMPERANCE, of the Roman Catholic church, were derived from the ancient Saturnalia or Feasts of Saturn.* The Avakes, so popular a means of amusement among the people of this country, are generally supposed to have much similarity to the Agapse, or love-feasts of the primi- tive Christians, and to have been founded on religious principles. It appears more probable, hoAA'ever, that they originated in some of the pagan rites of the heathens, a supposition AA'hich is confirmed by Pope Gregory, in a letter Avhich he addressed to Melitus, a British abbot.! The Avakes, in primitive times, Avere held on the days of church dedications, or on the birthdays of the saints, to whose honour these sacred edifices Avere dedicated. Like other similar occasions, they were at first conducted Avith solemnity and decorum. The people, according to an old author, on the vigil of the saint, proceeded " to churche Avith candellys burning, and would AA-ake, and come toward night to the church in their devocion;" a practice in agreement with a canon established by King * A good example of the origin, together with some of the customs con- nected with these festive occasions, is found in the following description of St. Martin's-day, generally called, Martinmass or Martilmass. " This dav is a great festival on the continent; new wines then begin to be tasted, and the hours are spent in carousing. An old author says, that the great doings on this occasion almost throughout Europe in his time, are derived from an ancient Athenian festival observed in honour of Bacchus, upon the 11th, 12th, and 13th days of the month Anthesterion, corresponding with our November. Another says, that the 11th month had a name from the ceremony of " tupping their barrels on it," when it was customary to make merry. It is likewise imagined by Dr. Stukely, in his ' Itinerary,' concerning Martinsal- hill, thus: ' I take the name of tnis hill to come from the merriments among the northern people, called Martinalia, or drinking healths to the memory of St. Martin, as practised by our Saxon and Danish ancestors,'" &c. &c— Hone's Every Day Book, vol. i. p. 1471. In some of the old church calendars the celebration of this dav is thus made mention of: " The Martinalia, a genial feast, wines are tasted of, and drawn from the lees; Bacchus in the figure of Martin."—Brady's Clavis Calendaria. " It is the day of Martilmassee, Cuppesof ale shouldfreelie passe."—Ballad,entitled, "Mar- tilmassee day. Times' Telescope, 1814." These popular occasions originally established as solemn observances, degenerated into scenes of drunkenness and debauchery. The one called Midsummer Vigils, or Vigil of St. John, comes under this description. At these times bonfires were universally made ; a practice supposed by many to have been a relic of heathen superstition. A creditable writer thus de. scribes the excesses which were common at this period: " This vigil ought to be held with cheerfulness and piety, but not with such merriment as is shown by the profane lovers of this" world, who make great fires in the streets, and indulge themselves with filthv and unlawful games, to which they added gluttony and drunkenness, and the commission of many othej shameful indecencies."—MSS. Harl. 2354 and 2391, f Bede. Eccl. Hist. lib. i. cap. 30. IN CONNEXION WITH RELIGION. 69 Edgar, whereby those persons Avho came to the church Avere ordered to pray devoutly, and not to betake themselves to drunkenness and debauchery, an enactment Avhich strongly indicates the necessity for legal restriction. The author before quoted, proceeds to state as follows:—" Afterwards the pepul fell to letcherie; and songs and daunces, Avith harpinir and piping, and also to glotony and sinne; and so tourned the holyness to cursydness; wherefore holy faders ordeyned the pepul to leve that Avaking and to fast the eveyn, but it is called vigilia, that is waking, in English, and eveyn, for of eveyn they were wont to come to churche." These festivals in course of time became so popular, and the riot and debaucheries which they occa- sioned Avere so common, that they were eventually sup- pressed, and secular fairs, into Avhich they had more or less degenerated, were established in their place. Most of the fairs now held in the kingdom are celebrated on saint days, and in many parts still retain the name of wakes. Philip Stubbs, the writer before alluded to, affords additional proof of the excesses committed at wakes. In speaking of "the manner of keeping of wakesses in En- gland," he says, they were "the sources of gluttonie and drunkenness," and adds that " many spend more at these wakesses than in all the whole year besides." The eighteenth century may very appropriately be termed the dark age of Protestantism. Much of this lamentable decline may be traced to the enervating in- fluence of strong drink. Intemperance Avas a vice, to Avhich many of the clergy Avere openly addicted. It need therefore excite little surprise, if the same vice was com- mon among their parishioners. A principal cause of this ministerial laxity, may be re- cognized in the gross habits Avhich many of them acquired during their residence at the Universities. It Avas no un- common circumstance to Avitness the students at these academies of learning, devoting that time to Bacchanalian excesses, AA'hich ought to have been employed in attention to study and religious ordinances. Educated in such a manner, it can excite little astonishment, that habits of a similar character, Avere followed by many of the clergymen in their parishes—and thus A\'as an example introduced, more lamentably injurious from the nature of the support by Avhich it aa^s countenanced. These transactions are so recent in their occurrence, and so amply referred to in works relating to the period in question, that it is unne- 70 HISTORY OF INTEMPERANCE, cessary here to enter into any further detail respecting their progress and effects. These sketches of intemperance, it is presumed, fully justify the following conclusions:— 1st. That Intemperance has in most ages of the world, been intimately associated with the profession of religion; and, 2ndly. That the most disastrous effects have resulted from this association; among which may be included— laxity of church discipline, deterioration of vital and per- sonal piety ; and, as a consequence, general declension of religious welfare. An examination and comparison of the prevalence or declension of religious welfare, at various periods of the Avorld, exhibit a cheering or depressing aspect, in propor- tion to the extension or curtailment of luxurious practices. Religion has ever been at Avar Avith the appetites of man- kind ; and the ascendancy of sensual indulgence has in- variably preceded the decline of spiritual prosperity. The attacks of infidelity and the evils of scepticism, have been harmless in their effects, compared with the insinuating and soul-destroying influence of intoxicating liquors. In every age they have been silently, yet destructively under- mining the foundations of piety; the curse of intem- perance, leaving like the canker worm, fearful marks of its desolating progress. Having thus in as brief a manner as possible, exhibited the evil effects of strong drink on religious Avelfare, up to a recent period, it becomes a matter of equal, if not para- mount importance, to inquire how far intemperance exists in the present day, in connexion Avith the profession of religion, and the influence it exercises in retarding the diffusion of Christian principles. 1. The use of intoxicating liquors considered as an ob- stacle to the introduction of Christianity among Heathen nations. The examples of intemperance exhibited in the practices of those who belong to professedly Christian countries, form a serious hindrance to the reception of Christian principles among heathen nations. Of this obstacle, the respective missionaries of various Christian Societies loudly complain, and yet how natural it is for the heathens to refuse instruction, in a system of religion, of the alleged good effects of AA'hich they witness such humiliating ex- amples in the persons of its professors, and that too, from IN CONNEXION WITH RELIGION. 71 a country where its principles are universally acknoAvledg- ed. Under such circumstances, and Avitnessing such ex- amples, it need not excite surprise, that they prefer an adherence to the profession of a religion in which they have been trained up from the earliest period of their ex- istence, and Avhich, in fact, sanctions no such disgusting practices as the professors of Christianity thus introduce among them. A missionary from India not long ago, stated, that it av;is no uncommon thing in Calcutta, and other places, to see a European lie intoxicated in the street, surrounded by several natives, Avho are very scrupulous in the obser- vance of their religious rites and ceremonies, and to hear them tauntingly exclaim, "here is one of your Europeans, look at him, you never see us get drunken, as you do ; let your missionaries stop at home and preach to their OAvn countrymen."* The secretary of the CaAvnpore Temperance Society, strongly adverts to the same humiliating circumstance. The .Mussulman and Hindoo he observes, who are habit- ually temperate, by Avitnessing the drunkenness which ex- ists in the British army, and among those who are called Christians, refuse to receive a religion the fruits of which are apparently so evil.! Thus to a great extent are the efforts of the pious missionary paralyzed. This devoted servant of the Most High, labours among the benighted heathens, and unfolds to them the blessings which the Gospel has in store for those Avho adopt its principles ; but strong drink introduced by inhabitants of Christian countries, speedily erases all the good impres- sions, AA'hich his addresses may have produced, and his labours are rendered comparatively ineffectual. The sim- ple Indian cannot forbear to reproach his religious instruc- ter Avith an inconsistency so glaringly opposed to the principles of humanity ; and much more of Christianity. " I am glad," said a missionary to an Indian Chief, "that you do not drink Avhiskey, but it grieves me to find that your people are accustomed to use so much of it." " Ah, yes," 6aid the red man, as he fixed an eloquent eye upon the preacher, Avhich communicated the reproof before he utter- ed it—" avc Indians use a great deal of AA'hiskey : but we do not make it! !" Scarcely any tribe, among the untutored Indians in • London Temperance Intelligencer, vol. i. p. 207. f Sixth Report of the British and Foreign Temperance Society, p. 55. 72 HISTORY OF INTEMPERANCE. North America, has been free from the consequences ari- sing from the introduction and use of alcoholic liquors. The records of missionary labours among those tribes ex- hibit in the. strongest light the obstacles which this demor- alizing practice presents to the introduction and diffusion of religious truth. The same injurious example is found to exist among professing Christians in Mahometan countries, and is pro- ductive of corresponding impressions on the followers of the prophet. The remarks of a respected missionary in Persia are to the point. " What kind of Christianity do the Mahometans of this country behold 1 None that has life— none that is productive of a morality, even equal to their own ;" intemperance, for instance, is so common among the Christians of Persia, and the feAv Europeans AA'ho stroll hither for the sake of lucre, that where Mahometans see one of their own sect intoxicated, Avhich has now become rather common, they at once say, " That man has left Mahomet, and has gone over to Jesus."* The same ob- serA-ations may be applied to China. The Chinese vieAV with great jealousy the introduction of foreign customs into their country, and in particular the attempts made to convert them to Christianity. These strong prejudices have no doubt, been greatly strengthened by the intern-. perate conduct of the inhabitants of Christian countries, occasionally resident among them. In the year 1831, the Chinese authorities at Canton, had occasion to issue a proclamation forbidding the sale of wine and spirits to foreign seamen. This measure originated in the intem- perate conduct of European and American seamen, Avho, in their fits of intoxication, frequently disturbed trie public peace, and this to so serious an extent, as to cause a sus- pension of commercial intercourse betAveen China and European nations-! Lamentable indeed must be that state of things, by which the Government of a heathen territory is compelled to restrain the immorality of natives of a Christian land. The inconsistent conduct of professing Christians, ex- hibits a similar result in regard to the exertions now being made for the conversion of the posterity of Abraham. It can, therefore, excite little surprise, that these efforts have, hitherto, in a great measure been ineffectual. These re- • Extract of a letter of the Rev. Justin Perkins, missionary in Persia.— American Christian Intelligencer. t Journal of Humanity, May 3d 1832 IN CONNEXION WITH RELIGION. 73 marks more particularly apply to Poland and Russia. The affecting appeal of a recently converted Jew to his Chris- tian friends, cannot be too extensively read. He distinctly shoAvs, that the inconsistency of Christian professors forms the main obstacle to the conversion of the Jews. " In the better classes of society on the continent, there is, as I have already said, more strictness of morals among the Jews, than among the Christians."* " The immorality of the Christian is quite proverbial among the JeAVS." Again, " You may imagine what I felt, when inquiring one day of my brother, concerning an old acquaintance," he replied, " Avithout having any intention to offend me, or even re- flecting hoAV his answer was likely to affect me. ' He lives exactly like a Christian;' meaning that he led a profligate life."! Also, still in relation to the conduct of Christians abroad, " The Jews are aware that Christians have, as Avell as they, a day Avhich is called their Sabbath, and various other festiA'als or holydays, Hoav do they behold these days professedly devoted to the service of Christ, spent by his pretended worshippers. They see the country part of the population coming in to join their brethren of the towns in the services of the church, and after these are OA'er, they see them resort to the public houses, not mere- ly to spend the rest of the day in rioting and drunkenness, but even in the commission of crimes----," &c.J The narrative is too revolting to be further detailed. Sufficient evidence has, hoAA'ever, been adduced to show that in- temperance is the most powerful antagonist to religion in almost every portion of the globe.§ The efforts of Chris- tians to remoA'e this plague-spot from the face of the AA'orld have hitherto been partial and ineffectual, one or Iavo in- * " A Brief Sketch of the present State and future Expectation of the Jews,'' by Ridley H. Herschell, 3d. Ed. p. 13. t Ibid. p. 44. X " Hi rschell's Sketch of the present State and future expectation of the Jews," p. 13. § I need scarcely mention that the Turks make no wine, but the Chris- tians and Jews are allowed to make sufficient for their own use, upon pay- ment of a certain tax.—Russell's Natural History of Aleppo, p. 19. Of Arrack, says the same author, the " Christians and Jews drink pretty liberally," p. 20. " The Jeu-s and Armenian Vliristians are the principal manufacturers of wiiff in Persia." Mori.wooo's Essay on Ineb. Liquors, p. 61. Barrow states in his Travels, that the Missionaries afone who lived near to the capital, manufactured wine. Travels, 4to. p. 304. The Rev. Peter Jones in reference to the morals of the Chippeway Indian Tribes states, that "they abstain entirely from drinking ardent spirits, although frequently urged to do so by the wicked white people, who use every means in their power to turn them again to their old crooked Avays." 74 HISTORY OF INTEMPERANCE, stances excepted. The subject is highly deserving the attention of missionary committees and contributors. Not only will the Gospel make little progress among the hea- then so long as such injurious examples are presented for their imitation, but contempt and indifference Avill be ex- cited in regard to a religion, the good fruits of which, are so little apparent in the conduct of those who professedly adopt its principles.* 2nd. The use of Intoxicating Liquors considered as an an- tagonist to the Gospel in the British nation. This part of our inquiry may be considered either in re- gard to the effects produced on particular churches, or the insurmountable difficulties which it presents to the con- version of a Avicked Avorld. In both instances, the inquiry Avill present a melancholy though profitable subject for Christian reflection. 1. In its effects on Christian Churches in particular. The habitual use of strong drink by members of Chris- tian churches in the present day, will be found to be at- * It is a lamentable fact, that no nation has done more to introduce in- toxicating liquors.into heathen countries than the United States. For ex- ample, during the year 1835, fourteen merchant vessels, eleven of which were American, sold in the port of Honolulu, Island of Maui, alohe, 16,950 gal- lons ardent spirits, and carried 37,522 gallons to the Indians of the North- west coast, making 54,000 gallons of rum and brandy distributed among the natives, ana it was ascertained that the largest proportion of this was ship- ped by a deacon of a Congregational church in Boston. - New England rum has found its way from California, to Behring's Straits, among all the Islands of the Pacific and Indian oceans, and it has even penetrated into Africa, Egypt, and through the whole extent of the Sultan's dominions. In Hobart Town, Van Dieman's Land, every ninth house is licensed to sell ardent spirits, and at Sidney, Botany Bay, with a population of 60,000, every sixth house is a grog-shop. At the .Society Islands, except Borabora. the traffic, use, and manufacture of ardent spirits have been prohibited by law, and the same was the case at all of the Sandwich Islands, except Oahu. The rum which has been exported from this country has usually been diluted with one half water, then drugged with tobacco, pepper, &c, and sold for about four dollars per gallon. On the 17th July 1839, a treaty was imposed upon Tamehameha III. by C. Laplace the commander of the French frigate L'Artemise. by which the ports of the Sandwich Islands are again thrown open to brandies and wines imported from France> Not long since, the Barque Emma Isadora, sailed from Boston with a cargo of 5,200 gallons of rum, and several missionaries for the heathen.^ In a speech at a public Temperance meeting in Boston, Mr. Pierpont stated that he had seen Bar- rels of New England rum with the Boston stamp lying on the wharves at Smyrna, and had been informed by a traveller, that he had seen it in casks on the backs of camels in the great desert of Arabia. At Broossa,he stated, that a man could get drunk on New England rum for less money than in Boston, and that the late Sultan, died a drunkard in a fit of delirium tremens, the means of which were furnished by New England captains. Am. Ed. IN CONNEXION AVITH RELIGION. 75 tended Avith most injurious consequences, both as regards the usefulness of churches as a whole, and the influence which the habit exercises On the personal piety of individ- ual members. Watchfulness and vigour are essential re- quisites in the Christian character. Alcoholic stimulants tend to produce apathy and indifference, and peculiarly unfit the mind for calm and serious reflection. By this means, the foundation is laid for spiritual declension and fall. "I have frequently," remarks the Rev. Leonard Woods, " and Avith deep concern, reflected on the effect of stimulating drinks upon our moral and religious state. And such is the result of reflection, that, if I look back to the time when ministers and Christians generally made use of such drinks, I am ready to Avonder that their spiritual interests Avere not totally blasted, had not God, in great forbearance and mercy, Avinked at the times of this igno- rance. But Avith the light noAV cast on the subject, it seems to me incredible, that a minister of the Gospel can be in the habit of using any intoxicating liquor, though in moderate quantities, without essentially injuring his OAvn piety and diminishing the success of his labours. This view of the subject, which I have taken the liberty to ex- press very plainly, is the result of much sober and careful observation on myself and others, as to the moral influence of the habit Avhich Avas once so common. It tends to in- flame all that is depraved and earthly in a minister, and to extinguish all that is spiritual and holy. It is poison to the soul, as really as to the body. Such is my conviction, and there are hundreds and thousands who have the same conviction, and will express it in terms equally strong. Nor is it a matter of imagination or conjecture Avith us. We knoAV it just as certainly as any one, from uniform ex- perience and observation," knoAvs the effect of opium or arsenic upon the animal system; and just as certainly as any Christian knoAvs by experience the effect produced upon his spiritual state by the commission of sin. We knoAV it by sorroAvful recollection: Ave knoAV it by Avhat was, at the time, a real but frequently suppressed imvard consciousness—and it Avas this deep consciousness AA'hich always kept me and most other ministers from drinking distilled or fermented liquor, just before engaging in any religious service, public or pm-ate."* • Statement of the Rev. Leonard Woods, D.D., Professor of Christian Theology in the Theological Seminary, Andover, Massachusetts. 9th Re- port, American Temperance Society. 76 HISTORY OF INTEMPERANCE, The number of Christian professors who have fallen through intemperance, is lamentable evidence of the fact under consideration. The Rev. J. R. Barbour, of Newbury, Massachusetts, America, states, that in one hundred and thirty-five churches, out of eight hundred cases of excommunication, three hundred and seventy were for intemperance ; and of eight hundred and thirty-four confessions reported from the same churches, intemperance was confessed in three hundred and seventy-nine cases, besides fifty-six cases in which the individuals became intemperate soon after their exclusion, or were placed under discipline for indulgence in the same degrading vice. Thus of one thousand six hundred and thirty-four cases of discipline reported, eight hundred and five show the appalling poAver of this sin. But even this statement is far from exhibiting the full ex- tent of the evil: the indirect influence of spirituous liquors must be added; and in representing this, Mr. Barbour de- clares it to be his deliberate conviction, from documents to which he has had access, that seven-eighths at least of all the offences requiring discipline in the American churches for the last tAventy or thirty years, have originated directly or indirectly, in the use of strong drink. This startling and appalling statement, is corroborated by similar evidence in regard to the Christian church generally. Every day affords additional proof either of ministers or members of religious communities being in- jured by the same Anti-Christian course.* The Evangelical Wesley, made a wise and vigorous effort to remove this anti-spiritualizing evil, and had his efforts been efficiently supported by his successors, the Christian world would have been incalculably benefited. That the advice and rules of Mr. Wesley, in this respect, were acted upon during his own long and active life may be seen from an entry in his pub- lished journal : " Visited the Society at Kingswood, and expelled many members, among the rest seventeen for drunkenness, and five for retailing spirituous liquors." From this and other circumstances recorded in the life of that eminent and pious minister of the Gospel, it is evident that he looked upon discipline in this respect as essential to the purity and welfare of the Church. * It is truly lamentable to find how great a number of influential mem. hers, and even officers of various Christian churches, are engaged in the traffic of strong drink. In America, previous to the Temperance Reforma- tion, this was the case to a most deplorable extent. In our own country, this unholy alliance is not uncommon. In a recent publication it is stated, that in one of the western counties, a Baptist minister is engaged in the spirit trade. " Nor far from the residence of this individual is a Dissenting Society, one of the chief men of which is a wine and spirit merchant, in one part of the town, and a gin-shop keeper in another." " In the county town of one of the eastern counties, is a deacon of an Independent church; who, not content with the profits of a large brewery, must also become a spirit IN CONNEXION AVTTH RELIGION. 77 The use of Intoxicating Liquor by Ministers of the Gospel, will be found to have an injurious effect on ministerial character and usefulness. The office of a minister of religion is peculiarly sacred, and the influence Avhich it carries Avith it is proportionably important. If serenity of mind, cautious behaviour, and unblemished example, are essential in one character more than another, they are requisite in that of an instructer of religion. Hence the severe and circumstantial regulations Avhich relate to the conduct of the priesthood, under the Levitical dispensation ; and the careful directions Avhich were laid. doAAn by the Apostles for the guidance of bishops and other officers of the church, all of which had reference to those practices which had a tendency to diminish min- isterial usefulness and zeal. A vigorous condition of the mind is essential for those AA'hose office it is, to unfold the blessings of divine truth. The habitual use of strong drink enervates the mind, and unfits it for calm and serious reflection.* It is of importance that ministers should possess physical strength. Nothing so much tends to induce physical de- bility as the habitual use of intoxicating liquors. The venerable Clayton, of London, Avhen in his eightieth year, thus expressed himself on the occasion of an induction of a young minister : " Beware of spurious ministerial efforts; avoid the use of stimulants before entering the pulpit; they may produce vehemence of manner, but will add nothing to the proper effect of preaching."! The example of a religious instructer, is, in general, looked upon as the standard of his flock. Hence the para- mount necessity that he should be guarded and correct in his conduct, and possess the mastery over all his appetites. The people naturally Conceive that practice to be inno- merchant, and the only gin-shop in the town has the honour of being under his superintendence. A few weeks ago he was fitting up another in a neigh- bouring place."—Baker's Idolatry of Britain, p. 98. Examples of this kind are not uncommon, as the author can testify frona personal observation and inquiry. • Woolinan, in his Journal, makes the following forcible remarks: "As I have been sometimes much >pent in the heat, and taken spirits to revive me, I have found by experience, that in such circumstances, the mind is not so calmed nor so fitly disposed for divine meditation, as when all such ex- tremes are avoided ; and I have felt an increasing care to attend to that Holy Spirit which sets bounds to our desires, and leads those who faithfully follow it to apply all the gifts of Divine Providence, to the purposes for which thev were intended. t Speech of Rev. J. Clayton, sen., \S3l.—World Newspaper, &c. 78 HISTORY OF INTEMPERANCE. cent which is sanctioned or encouraged by their spiritual teachers. They visit perhaps his house, and find intoxi- cating liquors placed on his table. In the course of his pastoral rounds, they probably witness his acceptance of the proffered glass; and not unfrequently also perceive him indulge in the use of it, in some form or other, previ- ous to entering, and after retiring from the pulpit. Thus the most sacred character, by practice and example, ia made to afford its protection to an insidious and destruc- tive poison. Illustrations of the extent and injury of this habit both among ministers and lay members of Christian churches, might be adduced at considerable length. A feAV brief examples only will be given in the present place. In the province of Ulster, in Ireland, a fearful example is presented to our notice. A short time ago there could scarcely be found a place of worship Avithout a whiskey- shop being near to it, or a vestry without a vessel contain- ing whiskey. This poisonous liquid was pressed Avith unceasing importunity upon ministers, at baptisms, mar- riages, funerals, and even during their ordinary pastoral visits. Houses for the sale of ardent spirits averaged six- teen, eighteen, and even thirty to one baker's establish- ment ; and, in some villages, each shop was converted into a spirit store. In one tOAvn, consisting of eight hundred houses, there Avere no less than eighty-eight spirit-shops. " The fruit of this almost universal depravity Avas every where seen in the ruin of property, peace, health, life, hap- piness, individual, family, and the community. Public sen- timent was totally depraved ; church discipline was para- lyzed ; the preacher Avas a drunkard, and the people chose to have it so. Popular ministers have become bloated by intemperance, and have come to a shameful end. TAventy contiguous congregations are described as having had drunken ministers, who ultimately lost their lives through this sin."* In many parts of Scotland, a similar association exists between strong drink and the various ordinances of the church. It is stated, on undoubted authority, that in some presbyteries, the presbyterial dinner is supplied with liquor purchased with the proceeds of fines imposed on A'arious occasions. Thus, Avhen a clergyman obtains a neAv manse, or becomes married, he is mulcted in a bottle of wine. The same penalty is enforced on the birth of a child, or on the • Statement of Professor Edgar, Belfast, Ireland. IN CONNEXION WITH RELIGION. 79 publication of a sermon. As all ministers do not get new manses, wives and children, or publish sermons, in order to equalize matters, bachelors who have not yet been mar- ried, after a specified period, or those, Avho, in the married state, have no offspring, or who do not obtain a new manse, and so on, are severally doomed to be put upon the list, and fined for omission, as others have been for commission. Thus, no man escapes this arbitrary practice.* These oc- casions are stated to be so frequent in their occurrence, that an officer called the comptroller, is appointed to adjust the various fines, and to maintain equality of contribution, among all parties. The consequences maybe readily con- ceived. " The industrious hearing of these things are thus led to connect certain circumstances with liquor, and are apt to impose a fine of whiskey at particular opportunities in imitation of their religious instructers."f President Humphrey, who with other gentlemen from America, paid a visit to this country, for the purpose of promoting the cause of temperance, makes some pertinent observations in relation to the same subject. After alluding to a practice which his colleague, Dr. Codman, had faith- fully animadverted upon, viz.: " the wine which was offered to him after preaching, in all the vestries;" he remarks as folloAvs : " I Avas surprised and pained to find the wine de- canters, so generally upon the tables of ministers, as Avell as the members of their churches, almost Avherever I was invited to dine. And not only so, but again and again was the wine brought to the supper table, just before we bovv- ed at the family altar and retired to rest. This custom, I believe, is kept up by some clergymen Avho are members of the Temperance (moderation) Society; and I could not help saying often, the curse of intemperance, I am per- suaded, will never be removed till you give up your wine." In America, at a period prior to the Temperance Reforma- tion, ministerial character and usefulness suffered severely from the effects of intoxicating liquor. The Reverend Leonard Woods states, that " at a particular period, previ- ous to the Temperance Reformation, he Avas able to count up nearly forty ministers of the Gospel, none of Avhom re- sided at a very great distance, who were either drunkards, or so far addicted to intemperate drinking, that their repu- • Dunlop's Artificial and Compulsory Drinking Usages of North Britain, page 9. t Dunlop's Artificial and Compulsory Drinking Usages of North Britain, page 9—5th edition. 80 HISTORY OF INTEMPERANCE, tation and usefulness were greatly injured, if not utterly ruined. He mentions also an ordination that took place about twenty years ago, at which he was ashamed and grieved to see two aged ministers literally drunk ; and a third, indecently excited Avith strong drink. These dis- gusting and appalling facts, adds this justly esteemed min- ister of the Gospel, I could Avish might be concealed. But they were made public by the guilty persons; and I have thought it just and proper to mention them, in order to shoAV hoAV much Ave owe to a compassionate God for the great deliverance he has wrought."* Unfortunately for the interests of religion, examples of a like nature have been witnessed in this country.! They are, however, similar in their character to those already described, and strongly exhibit the necessity of banishing the use of strong drink from Christian communities, and from the sanction of Christian practice. 2d.—In its effects in preventing the progress of Religion. The almost universal use of strong drink in this country, forms, beyond a question, the principal obstacle in the Avay of the diffusion and influence of religion. A Avriter in a recent number of a valuable religious publication, states it as his belief, that drunkenness has ruined more souls, than all the ministers of the Gospel have ever been instrument- al in saving.! The Christian world has hitherto regarded this subject with too little interest and attention, if not Avith criminal apathy and neglect; forming, as it undoubt- edly does, so serious an obstacle to the conversion of sin- ners. Religion embraces, among its most holy and sub- lime characteristics, the essence of genuine and spiritual worship ; the appetite for strong drink is selfish and de- praving, and as such opposed to the worship and love of * Ninth Report of American Temperance Society. t Q. Are you aware of clergymen yielding to habits of intemperance? A. Yes ; I have the pain to know several clergymen who are addicted to habits of intemperance. I remember one who became a common soldier from such indulgence. I know others who, at present, are filling menial offices from the same indulgence; and I know several who have been excluded from their churches, and are living in disgrace, with their relations and others, on whom they depend. In churches, where the same strict discipline is not exercised over all the ministers, frequent excesses are by no means uncon* mon."—Dr. R. G. Dod's Report on Drunkenness, 1834, p. 219. " Nearly all the blemishes," remarks the Rev. Richard Knill, "which have been found on the characters of ministers, for the last fifty years, hava arisen, directly or indirectly, from the free use of intoxicating liquors." X Wesleyan Methodist Magazine. IN CONNEXION WITH RELIGION. 81 God. St. Paul remarks on the distinction between fleshly lusts and the fruits of the Spirit, that the kingdom of God is not meat and drink, but. righteousness and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.* It is impossible that the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ can be universally received, so long as mankind continue to indulge in the use of so powerful an antagonist to its diffusion as intoxicating liquor. This position nowise interferes with the sovereign power of the Redeemer; but on the contrary, is in exact accordance with the object and principles of the Scripture. The power of God to convert drunkards by the immediate and exclusive agency of his Holy Spirit, is undoubted ; and that sometimes he does so, is no less certain. It is, however, agreeable with the will and design of the Almighty, usually to work by means of human agency, (in subordinate co-operation of course, with the all-pervading influence of the Holy Spirit;) and not by miraculous interposition. The laws of the Old, and the Gospel of the New Testa- ment, are addressed to beings supposed to possess intel- lectual and moral capability. Intemperance diminishes, if it does not altogether destroy both the reason and the af- fections. The precepts therefore of the law, and the prom- ises and privileges of the Gospel, if they reach him at all, are not permanent in their influence. The reproaches of conscience, however frequently they may arise, are weak and transitory, and easily overpowered by the influence of strong drink. Man, by nature, is a depraved being; but intemperance renders him tenfold more so. It debars him from all in- tercourse Avith his Creator, if it does not altogether deprive him of religious feelings and desires. In a previous chapter, it has been seen how the moral constitution of man is injured by this vice. The intellect becomes weakened, and the moral perception paralyzed by its enervating influence. Hence those powers Avhich ought to be exercised, not only in the attainment of a knoAvledge of the divine truth, but in the cultivation of the higher vir- tues of religion, are either essentially injured or totally destroyed ; in Avhich state the conversion of the soul ap- pears to be a natural impossibility. Ministers of the Gospel bear ample t est imony to this melancholy fact. Tavo or three appropriate examples are here adduced by AA'ay of illustra- tion. Martin Boos, an eminent labourer in the vineyard of * Romans, xiv. 17. 8£ HISTORY OF INTEMPERANCE, the Lord, thus Avrites in reference to a people among whom he laboured, aa-Iio were addicted to dissolute practices: "I can make no progress Avith them, seeing they dance and drink drams till they are drunken, every Sunday. I see no end to my misery, because they are all so coarse and given to drunkenness. My soul is much grieved; I sigh and cry to him, but he hears me not; and though I preach to them, as I have been wont to do, yet the people hear and under- stand me not. At present I am sowing upon the highway; they hear the Word, but afterward Satan comes and" takes it out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved."* This almost universal source of ministerial grief and unfruitfulness, is not confined to any denomination of Christians, or portion of the world, as the following ex- amples Avill sufficiently demonstrate. A minister of the Established Church, in Dublin, thus writes: October 20th, 1833, Sunday night. "Never since I entered this city, did I witness such an outrageous and open violation of the Sabbath, as I did this evening, on my Avay to and from divine service! Ml the drdm-shops and whiskey-shops appeared to be open and illuminated ; they were filled with besotted creatures, who were shouting and huzzaing, to the great terror of the peaceable inhabitants, and annoyance of the female passengers, going to their respectiA'e places of worship. It is almost in vain for us to- preach peace and soberness, if this soul-destroying vice of drunkenness be encouraged by legal enactments. It Avould really ap- pear this night, Avithout exaggeration, that the floodgates of Hell were opened in our city, so fiendish, so tumultuous, and so virulent Avere the wicked votaries Avho issued from these shops."! In London, and other large towns, similar scenes may be witnessed each returning Sabbath. Multitudes of wretched creatures eagerly enter those splendid Jugger- nauts of Our land, modern gin-palaces, and swallow Avith avidity the fiery poison Avhich is prepared for their use. "Sunday," remarks a graphic Avriter, "is especially devoted to the worship of this great spirit (Gin); and when the earthly sabbath-bells announce the arrival of * The Life and persecutions of Martin Boos. " There are those, who steep sermons in drink ; they drink away convictions, and like the pounded deer, run to drink. The tavern bell, I fear, does more hurt than the church bell does good."—Watson, 1662. t Letter from the Rev. Mr. Scott, of Dublin, curate of St. Andrews.— Saunder's News Letter. IN CONNEXION WITH RELIGION. 83 that day, then do the loAver orders begin to shake off the beery slumbers of the midnight pay-table, and Wander forth in maudlin, umvashed multitudes, to the temples of the great Gin; and there you may see them, the aged and the infant of a span long, old men and maidens, grandsires and grandams, fathers and mothers, husbands, Avives, and children, crawling and jostling, and sucking in the portion of the spirit, Avhich the flaunting priestesses of the temple dole out to them in return for their copper offerings."* This picture, heart-rending and lamentable as it may appear, is but a correct representation of scenes which present themselves to Christian observation, each coming Sabbath, in almost every large tOAvn throughout the United Kingdom. With this vast amount of glaring immorality in operation, how is it possible that the labours of devoted ministers of God can be attended with success. Their seA-eral spheres of exertion are surrounded on all sides by obstacles of a discouraging and insurmountable nature ; while temptations are unceasingly held out to allure the unsuspecting and unwary from the paths of righteousness, temperance and peace. The habitual drunkard is seldom induced to enter the house of God. He refuses to hear the word of divine truth, opposed, as he is aware it is, to the soul-destroying vice of sensual indulgence. Thus the opportunity of ad- monishing, the drunkard to escape from his horrible and degrading slavery seldom occurs, and the besotted wretch is too often left, even in his sober moments, pitied indeed, or justly despised, but unaided and unwarned, to abandon his guilty career. The cause of religion and morality, however, does not suffer only from the personal degradation of these Avretched victims of intemperance, whose individual cases, lament- able though they be, are in fact, less to be mourned over, than the destructive and pernicious influence which they exercise on society. Every drunkard or sensual charac- ter, paradoxical as it may appear, presents a dangerous source of temptation to the neighbourhood in Avhich he resides, and in particular to the family among Avhom un- happily he is domesticated. The demoniacal sin of drunk- enness produces effects characteristic of all sinful habits, haA-ing a tendency to draAV others into the same melancholy and enslaving snares; hence every drunkard presents a • Sunday in London, 1S33. 84 HISTORY OF INTEMPERANCE, vortex of temptation to the more temperate members of society, Avho are placed Avithin the sphere of its attraction, and in Avhom the grace of God does not prevail as the proper and efficacious antidote. The example of the drunkard, is indeed, at all times calculated to excite the keenest feelings of reprobation and disgust, in the minds of reflecting and pious men ; yet, in the present day, the vice of intemperance has become so familiar to the eye, that it appears to have lost, even to Christian contemplation, some of the most revolting shades of its awfully degrading character. If this Avere other- wise, it can scarcely be imagined that a vice so opposed in all its bearings to the principles and practices of Chris- tianity, and so destructive to all moral respectability and Avorth, would be viewed with such apparent unconcern by the great majority of the Christian community. The machinery now in operation to promote the sale of intoxicating liquors, and the consequences thereby result- ing to the community are truly appalling, and are calcu- lated to alarm the minds of all sincere followers of the self-denying Jesus. At a moderate calculation there are in England and Wales not less than 100,000 establishments for the sale of intoxicating liquors; a number, which amounts to nearly one to every twentieth house. In Ire- land and Scotland, the number is often greater, and es- pecially in the large towns. At a still more moderate calculation there are not less than 500,000 or 600,000 habitual drunkards in the United Kingdom, in addition to a larger proportion of those, Avho, by the habits and prac- tices of the nation, are gradually preparing to fill up the ranks of those individuals, who, by intemperance, have been rapidly hastened, or are now on their Avay, to a pre- mature grave. In addition to this aAvful array of evil, may be included an incalculable amount of injury, result- ing from the pernicious effects of evil example, a subject which hereafter will receive more especial consideration. In opposition to this vast amount of hostility to the spread of the Gospel, may be placed not more than 20,000 places of religious worship, and certainly not more than 30,000 individuals exclusively engaged in the promulga- tion of divine truth. Hence it will be seen, that in the present day, the agents actively employed to promote the kingdom of Satan, are actually about four times more numerous, than the instruments by which salvation is an- nounced to multitudes of perishing sinners. With these IN CONNEXION WITH RELIGION. 85 facts in view, can it excite surprise that the labours of Christian ministers and professors have hitherto been so little commensurate with the results which might other- wise have been anticipated 1 The contributions also made in support of the Gospel are trifling, compared with the immense expenditure annually taking place on articles not only unnecessary to mankind, but in the highest degree pernicious, and destructive to their temporal and eternal interests.* • It has been recently calculated, that for the period of twenty years after the establishment of the Church Missionary Society, there was col- lected for it throughout the whole nation £250,000; while during the same period in this country there was no less a sum than £375,000,000 expended in the purchase of ardent spirits. The following calculation is made by Professor Edgar, of Belfast:— At a moderate calculation the cost every year to the parish, of Belfast, for distilled spirits, is £54,500. The cost of four large charitable institutions for the relief and support of the destitute poor of Belfast, does not amount lo more than........, ■' •' £°,40° ° The support of ministers of religion, and other religious in- struct crs in the same parish, does not exceed - - - 4,500 0 The expense of the Royal College of which Dr. Edgar is one of the professors, to Government is .....' >500 ° £11,400 0 Supposing that the whole of this sum was paid out of the ex- pense of whiskey, there still remains 33,100. Suppose that the parish contribute to Bible, Missionary, and other similar societies - ","„•"' ' The entire sum expended by the Sunday School Society on all Sunday Schools in Ireland, only amounts per year to - - J>uw u £4,100 0 Which being added to the former balance of £33,100, there yet remains out of the consumption of spirits in this single parish £29,000. . After bestowing a pension of .£50 per annum to each spirit seller in Bel- fast, to prevent them from doing injury to their fellow-creatures, there would remain the sum of £12,500 every year which would be sufficient to give 1/ to every head of a family in the parish, for any useful or charitable nurimse.—Parliamentary Report, p. 68. P n the year 1830, the aggregate sum given to all the ™lOT,ms™^ nut toother, averaged but sixpence a year for each individual! The bare Sillies on British anl foreign spirits, amounted to « thirteen times as much !" "Sm more'S half "a" million sterling, per annum, is contributed to the suuDort of all the religious institutions of the present da\, which are de SS to make an aggressive movement upon the empire of darkness and oTsin Tns about a sixth part of what the inhabitants of London expend t "ni- a ITxheShpart of what Ireland expends in Whiskey ; and not more than /a'/ of Xt the inhabitants of Edinburgh, Glasgow, and Greenock. alone devote t* the same body and soul destroying poison \-Idolatry of Br»^CC^^&c^^ons to the Religious Tract Society, amou ed to tle'^ than half the sum which is sometimes expended m Z nitinx-up and embellishments of a single Gin-palace.-Wem, p. 31. Ex'tte of legacies, the sum contributed to this excellent institution was 5,741/ 4s. 6d. 86 HISTORY OF INTEMPERANCE, ETC. The purity of the Christian church has too long been impaired by the Bacchanalian practices with which it has been associated, and the name of the Saviour brought into contempt by sensual and lukewarm professors. The facts adduced in this branch of our inquiry, suffice to show that the use of intoxicating liquors has, in all ages of the Avorld, been the greatest of all obstacles to the dif- fusion of Christianity. Every lawful means, therefore, of removing this Anti-Christian curse ought immediately to be adopted, and earnestly prosecuted by every sincere fol- loAver of the Lord Jesus Christ. Personal sacrifice, if required, should be brought to bear on this all-important question. The important duty of example among Chris- tians carries with it immense responsibility; and it is to this, in conjunction with their preceptive exhortations and authoritative influence, in subservience to the divine bles- sing, that the success of this great enterprise must be in- debted, if it should ever accomplish its glorious object.* * John Dunlop, Esq. author of the " Compulsory Drinking Usages of Great Britain," in a letter to Mr. Delavan, dated London, Feb. 20, 1840, says: " We think that Seventy Thousand in our three kingdoms have been guided by tee-totalism into the sound of the Gospel, and have become real Christians j and this, besides, of course, the hundreds of thousands that have attained physical peace and comfort." The crowning glory of the temperance reform, is seen in removing the most powerful obstacles in the way of the Gospel, and preparing the mind for the reception of the truth.— Am. Ed. HISTORY OF INTEMPERANCE. 87 CHAPTER V. THE EVIL EFFECTS OF INTEMPERANCE CONSIDERED IN A NATIONAL POINT OF VIEW. " All the crimes on the earth do not destroy so many of the human race, nor alienate so much property as drunkenness."—Lord Bacon. " Drunkenness tends to the overthrow of many good arts and manual trades, the disabling of divers workmen, and the impoverishing of many good subjects."—Preamble to the English Statute, 4 Jac. i. c. 5. Nature has implanted in the breast of all men an affec- tion for the land of their birth. Everything therefore which tends to increase the welfare and happiness of na- tions, has peculiar claims upon the attention of the philan- thropist. The remote causes of national degeneration are so minute and unobvious, as generally to elude obser- vation. Hence, the most effectual means of reformation have, unfortunately, too often been unseen or neglected. It is to be feared, that, in the present day, vice, in all its varied forms has become so familiar to Christian observa- tion, as to be vieAved Avith far too little apprehension and alarm. To this source may be ascribed the apathy Avhich is manifested to those lamentable evils, Avhich arise from the use of intoxicating liquors. Every man, reflecting on intemperance, must deplore its consequences. The cause or causes, however, by which this humiliating vice is pro- duced and cherished are, unfortunately, overlooked and in a o-reat degree, encouraged. The custom of drinking is so generally and so intimately interAVOven Avith the social habits of life, that feAV persons entirely escape from its contaminating influence. All national evils originate in individual practice, and the extension of its influence and example. The minute, or solitary evil gradually multiplies and accumulates, until it becomes a gigantic and Avide- snreading vice. Thus, in an especial manner, has it been with intemperance, which has been characterized in every age by its insidious and progressive advances. 88 EVIL EFFECTS OF INTEMPERANCE The influence of intoxicating liquors on national pros- perity, deserves the most profound attention of the political economist. It is inseparably connected with the stability and welfare of nations. The subject has, indeed, more or less, occupied the attention of philosophical moralists, but unfortunately, until a very recent period, it did not receive that degree of even local attention Avhich its vast impor- tance demanded. Indeed, the British Government has never actively interfered for the suppression of this vice; but on the contrary, the immense revenue arising from this iniquitous source, has operated as a passport to the patronage of the legislature, in favour of the more ex- tensive consumption of those pernicious poisons. Louis XII. of France, was the monarch who first allowed spirits to be manufactured in that kingdom on a large scale. The consequences to the nation were so terrible, that in twenty-two years afterward, Francis, his successor, was necessitated, for the safety of his subjects, to enact severe laws for the suppression of drunkenness. Sweden presents another instance of this kind. Previously to the year 1783, that nation had been comparatively free from the evils arising from the use of strong drink. In that year, however, their king Gustavus, to increase the revenue, not only permitted the manufacture of ardent spirits, but actively encouraged the establishment of houses for its sale, in all the villages and towns of his kingdom. The object he had in view was attained, but the consequences soon became frightful in the extreme. Crime, poverty, disease and mortality, so fearfully increased, that the same king was eventually obliged to pass severe enactments to restrain the use of what previously he had been so active in promoting. Had these measures not been put into operation, the kingdom of Sweden was in imminent danger not only of universal demoralization, but actually of be- coming extinct among the nations of the earth.. The history of Ireland, during the last century, forms another most lamentable example of the same aAvful evil. In the sixteenth century, the sale of alcohol was discoun- tenanced as " a drink, nothing profitable to be daily drunken and used." In the early part of the eighteenth century, however, through mistaken views of national weal, great encouragement was given to the manufacture and sale of ardent spirits. The consequences of this short-sighted and erroneous policy are manifest at the present time. The habit has become national, and many years may elapse, IN A NATIONAL POINT OF VIEW. 89 pregnant Avith every kind of misery to that unhappy coun- try, before the evil can be effectually eradicated.* It can scarcely be expected that a people Avill long con- tinue virtuous, Avhen not only the means of sensual indul- gence are placed Avithin their reach, but also inducements to it, are actually held out by the rulers of the land. A hi and those in- stances, have been found to be more or less injurious in their consequences, in proportion to the consumption of intoxicating liquors. The condition of the ancient Greeks, the Romans, and other nations, who Avere accustomed to » McCulloch's Political Economy. 12 102 EVIL EFFECTS OF INTEMPERANCE indulge in the use of intoxicating drink, exhibits sufficient evidence of this fact. The history of the British nation abounds in similar examples, striking illustrations of Avhich have already been adduced. The celebrated, learned, and pious Judge Hale, made the following statement concerning immorality occasioned by intemperance in his time, a statement, which will be found to describe the character of the present age:— " The places of judicature which I have long held in this kingdom, haATe given me an opportunity to observe the original cause of most of the enormities that have been committed for the space of near tAventy years ; and by due observation, I have found, that if the murders and manslaughters, the burglaries and robberies, the riots and tumults, the adulteries, fornications, rapes and other enor- mities, that have happened in that time, AA'ere divided in five parts, four of them haAre been the issues and product of excessive drinking, of tavern or alehouse meetings." Crime increased to a great extent during the unusually extensive use of spirits in Great Britain, in the latter part of the last century. In Ireland, frequent and open acts of insubordination resulted from the same cause. During several attempts to suppress the illicit preparation and sale of spirituous liquors, serious riots AA'ere of common occurrence. The report of the commissioners appointed to investigate the subject, states, that some parts of Ire- land had been absolutely disorganized and placed in oppo- sition, not only to civil authority, but to the military force of Government. The report alluded to, proceeds to state, that the profits to be obtained from the evasion of the laws, had been such as to encourage individuals to perse- vere in these desperate pursuits, notAvithstanding the risk of property and life with which they had been attended. At this period, the annual consumption of ardent spirits in that country, according to the calculations of the Commis- sioners, Avas not less than ten millions of gallons! In 1764, the Irish Parliament, among other evils to Avhich it adverted, as arising from the general use of ar- dent spirits, stated, in a resolution Avhich passed the house, " that all the riots and combinations of late so frequent, are to be principally attributed to the same cause."* About this period, in the examination of witnesses be- fore the " Grand Committee of Trade," it Avas observed, * Irish Commons' Journal, vol. vii. p. 310. IN A NATIONAL POINT OF VIEW. 103 that one great cause of the idleness of the people, was the too great use of spirituous liquors;" "that it Avas the principal cause of the riots and tumults in the city; and that the people did not seem to be the same race of people they were twenty years ago."* At that period multitudes of petitions were presented both to the Irish and English Parliaments, setting forth the immorality and crime occa- sioned by the use of strong drink.f The effects of spirits in producing crime and acts of violence, are well illus- trated by certain circumstances which attended the insur- rection in 1798. The leaders of that movement (previ- ously to the breaking out of the rebellion) endeavoured by every means in their power to preA'ent the " United Irishmen" from drinking spirituous liquors, fearing lest they Avould break out into acts of premature violence. In order to promote this object, they circulated a pledge of abstinence from spirituous drinks. When the necessary arrangements had been completed, these restrictions AA'ere removed, and in the years 1797 and 1798 (the period of the rebellion) the consumption of spirits Avas nearly one- fourth greater than it had been for two years before, or even was in the t\vo years which succeeded its failure.^ The safety and peace of Ne\v South Wales was jeopar- dized from the same cause toAvard the latter end of the last century. For a considerable time, disorder reigned in that part " through the culpable dealings" of the officers of the NeAv South Wales corps, Avho Ave re allowed " to re- tail spirits, their dissolute habits, and abuse of the means entrusted to their management, rendering the resources of Government indirectly subservient to their own private interests." These, according to Dr. Lang, "entailed ten thousand sorroAVs on the Colony." Fearful insubordina- * Evidence before Irish Commons, Commons' Journal, vol. x. Appendix 113. t One of the petitions presented in 17S6, represents the wretched state of the people in consequence of the cheapness of spirituous liquors, and the facilities afforded for the purchase of thorn by the Legislature. "The temptation being offered to the people in every street by the multitude ol dram-shops and public-houses, licensed for this purpose, they soon became weak, diseased, and disabled, unfit for labour, useless to thei state, and burdensome to the community for support, which, if refused, they endeav- our to obtain by theft, or robbery; that the petitioners presume to appre- hend, that whatever revenue may arise from this practice, it cannot com- nensate the loss which trade, manufacture, and the public at large sustain, W the decay of the health, strength and population of the working classes, and the immorality, debauchery, and wickedness of every- kind which is up. held and cherished by it." Irish Commons' Journal. 1786, vol. xu. p. 53. X Inquiry into the Influence of Spirituous Liquors, p. 43 ; also Parliamen- tary Reports, 1797. 104) EVIL. EFFECTS OF INTEMPERANCE tion was the consequence of an attempt which Avas made to put an end to this pernicious monopoly. The Governor was in the most daring manner put under arrest, and the lawful Government for the time being, suspended. At that period, labour and the necessaries of life were paid for in ardent spirits, and this mode of barter was adopted by all classes in lieu of currency.* The consumption of spirituous liquors in that Colony, at the present period, is fearful in the extreme, and forms the greatest obstacle to its improvement and success.f The same national curse has proved the greatest hin- drance to moral improvement, and the most fruitful source of demoralization in most of the other Colonies belonging to the British empire. Reference, in particular, may be made to New Zealand, the South Sea Islands, and British Guiana. Concerning the former, Mri Ellis, the mission- ary, states, that " the demoralization and impediments to the civilization and prosperity of the people that have re- sulted from the activity of foreign traders in ardent spir- its, have been painful in the extreme;" adding, that in Tahiti alone, in one year, the sum of 12,000 dollars Avas expended in spirituous liquors. In New Zealand, scenes of drunkenness are of daily, and even hourly occurrence; and the immorality occasioned thereby, is in the highest degree alarming. Mr. Williams, the missionary, gives it as his solemn opinion, that European intercourse Avith these savages, has been with few exceptions, " decidedly detrimental, both in a moral and civil point of view." "In British Guiana," Avrites a valuable journalist, "the Indian population is acknoAA'ledged to have been diminish- ing ever since the British came into possession of the colony, and especially within ilie last eight or ten years. This diminution is attributed, in some degree, to the in- creased sale of rum, which formed a part of the presents distributed by the British Government, Avhich has made no effort whatever to convert them to Christianity.''^ " All reports agree, in stating, that these tribes have been almost Avholly neglected and retrograding, and Avithout provision for their moral and civil improvement."§ * Dr. Lang's New South Wales. t The consumption is stated in a recent number of the Colonist News- paper, to average not less than five gallons and a quarter per annum, to every living soul of a population of 80,000, including women, children and convicts; to say nothing of wine, beer and cordials, the quantity of spirits in bond at that time being no less than 422,526 gallons. X Asiatic Journal, 1837, p. 90. § Ibid. IN A NATIONAL POINT OF VIEW. 105 ,n JtL" \? T& l°nS WlH aPP]y t0 the North Ameri- can Indians, the aborigines of New Holland, and to all the savage tribes, who have had the misfortune to be in any- wise connected with European and other civilized nations. An appeal however, need not be made to foreign na- tions for evidence of the demoralizing effects of intoxica- ting iquors. Our OAvn, unfortunately, presents too many appalling examples. A larger proportion of the crime and every other species of immorality which exists in this kingdom, may be directly traced to this cause ;* among which may be included, as not the least baneful in its in- fluence, a very general disregard of religious principles. Ihe moral and religious principles of a nation have a poAv- erful effect upon its prosperity. Where there is no sound morality there can be no true religion ; and a nation desti- tute of both morality and religion, is a disgrace to human nature and an enemy to God! 3. National Intellect and Education. The progress of education has been powerfully impeded by the use of strong drink. This department of our in- quiry may be considered either in regard to its influence on the skill of a community, or the obstacle Avhich it pre- sents to intellectual and literary labours and to scientific discovery. An intimate connexion subsists betAvoen the brain and the mind. A healthy condition, therefore, of this organ is an object of the highest importance. It has been correctly observed, that Ave might as well expect good digestion Avith a diseased stomach, or good music from a broken instrument, as a good mind with a disordered or enfeebled brain.f " It is a defective brain which makes an idiot, and a diseased brain Avhich causes delirium and insanity: and all the various states of mind produced by alcohol and opium, &c, arise from the disordered action AA'hich these articles produce in the brain."J The mass of those who indulge in strong drink Avill be found in general to be destitute of a liberal education. Habits of sensuality are necessarily incompatible Avith high intellectual cultivation. In a previous division of our in- quiry it has been shoAvn, that the use of intoxicating liquor * Appendix. Intemperance and Crime. t Brigham on Mental Cultivation. X I°'d. 106 EVIL EFFECTS OF INTEMPERANCE deprives mankind to a considerable extent, of the desire as Avell as the power to acquire knoAvledge.* High authority has described one of the effects of strong drink to be its extinction of aptitude for learning, and destruction of mental capacity and vigour.^ Philip of Macedon, once received a severe but just re- proof AA-hile dining Avith Dionysius, Avhom he had invited to be his guest at Corinth. The royal father of his guest was fond of literature, and in his leisure hours frequently employed his pen in pursuits of that nature. Philip Avas inclined to treat this practice Avith derision. " Hoav could the king find leisure," said Philip, "to write these trifles V' " In those hours," replied Dionysius, " AA'hich you and I spend in drunkenness and debauchery."! The biographies of some of the most distinguished literary characters of this and of other countries present lamentable examples of the direful effects of alcoholic liquors on the intellect. The national injury thus sustained. may be considered in a tAvo-fold point of vievA', that is, in - the first place, from the partial incapacity for mental labours AA'hich is thereby produced ; and secondly, the premature mortality of men Avhose mental exertions might otherwise have greatly benefited their country. Byron and Burns form prominent examples. Prior, according to his biogra- pher, was not free from the charge of intemperance. Dr. King states, that Pope hastened his end by drinking spirits. , Pope remarks, that Parnell " was a great folloAver of drains, and strangely open and scandalous in his debaucheries," all are agreed, that " he became a sot, and finished his ex- istence." Dryden, in his youthful days, was conspicuous for sobriety, " but for the last ten years of his life," ob- serves Dennis,- " he Avas much acquainted Avith Addison, and drank with him even more than he ever used to do, probably so far as to hasten his end." " CoAvley's death," remarks Pope, "Avas occasioned by a mean accident, while his great friend, Dean Pratt, Avas on a visit Avith him at Chertsey. They had been together to see a neighbour of Cowley's, AA-ho (according to the fashion of the times) made them too welcome. They did not set out on their walk home till it was too late, and had drank so deep, that * A few years ago the following authenticated paragraph went the round of the papers. The cause of religion thus suffers by its unworthy professors. " Clerical Provision.—At the. sale of a clergyman's effects in the neighbour- hood of Hereford, his library was sold for £3, and his liquors in the cellar for £384: 15*.!—London paper. f Parliamentary Report, 1834. X Plutarch. IN A NATIONAL POINT OF VIEW; 107 they lay out in the fields all night. This gave Cowley the fever that carried him off." The immortal Shakspeare also fell a victim to the same direful habit.* A very cursory investigation of this subject must convince every reflect- ing mind, what very great advantage Avould be derived in an intellectual point of vioAv, from the general adoption of principles of total abstinence. The use of stimulating liquors, not only deprives man- kind of intellectual advantages in a personal point of view, but it diminishes the inclination for imparting knoAvledge to others. Hence, the children of the intemperate are in general badly educated. A great amount of educational neglect may be traced to intemperate parents, by which the intellectual progress of the rising generation is con- siderably impeded; producing a corresponding defect in the aggregate of knoAvledge and intellectual acumen, with a proportionate approximation to the miseries of barbarism. The limited patronage extended to literary and scientific institutions in this country, may be adduced as additional evidence, in proof of the effects of intoxicating liquors in impeding the progress of education. The sober and in- dustrious mechanic in general devotes a portion of his earnings, not only to his OAvn improvement, but to the in- tellectual advancement of his children. He is animated with the desire of eleA'ating his family in their condition in life, and his efforts rarely fail of beinor attended Avith success : Avhereas ignorance, barbarism, vice, and brutality are, and ever have been, the uniform concomitants of sen- suality and drunkenness. If it is not literally true that " knowledge is poAA'er," yet it is indisputable, that the poAvers of nature are either inert or unprofitably exerted, unless their operations be directed by its influence, and it is equally certain, that education is the great source of all useful information ; while temperance, industry, and fru- gality, are the handmaids of education. 4.—National Freedom and Patriotism. The history of strong drink is inseparably connected with the deeaV of national freedom and patriotism. The ancient Greeks and Romans until vitiated by luxurious habits esteemed these virtues as the foundation of the • « Shakspeare, Drayton, and Ben Jonson, had a merry meeting, and it seems drank too 1 ard, "for Shakspeare died of a feavour there contracted.»- Diary of he Rev. John Ward, M.A., Vicar of Stratford-upon-Avon. 108 EVIL EFFECTS OF INTEMPERANCE common weal, and early instilled them into the minds of their youth. The athletic exercises, to AA'hich their young men Avere habituated, had a tendency, not only to inure the body to the vicissitudes of active life, but to expand and strengthen the moral capabilities; Avhile the rigid abstinence from all intoxicating liquors, which the laws of their games enjoined on the candidates for victory, accustomed them to habits of temperance on other occa- sions. Dr. Gillies speaking of the gymnastic exercises of the Greeks remarks, that the firm organization acquired by perpetual exercise, counteracted that fatal propensity to vicious indulgence, too natural to their voluptuous cli- mate, and produced those inimitable models of strength and beauty, so deservedly admired in the remains of the Grecian statuary. There is, he further observes, a courage depending on nerves and blood, which was improved to the highest pitch among the Greeks* The development of the physical powers, formed an essential part of the education of their youth ; and history informs us, that AA'hen these ennobling exercises Avere abandoned for effeminate and enervating pursuits, the virtue and independence of the ancient republics sank into gradual decay. The influence of intoxicating liquors in depressing the physical powers, has been remarked both by ancient and modern writers. The Germans, once so celebrated for their warlike deeds, form a remarkable example. "In- dulge their love of liquor," observes Tacitus, " to the ex- cess AA'hich they require, and you need not employ the terror of your arms ; their OAvn AA'ill subdue them." A modern Avriter, makes a similar observation in regard to Ireland. " Were the Irish, he remarks, allowed to in- dulge their taste for inebriety, their OAA'n vices would more effectually subdue them than centuries of war."f The fierce and unruly passions created by the free use of strong drink Avould soon rend the bonds of society, were not poAverful counteracting causes in operation. Burke beautifully observes that society cannot exist, un- less a controlling poAver upon will and appetite be placed somewhere ; and that the less there is Avithin, the more there must be Avithout. It is ordained in the eternal con- stitution of things, remarks that beautiful writer, that men * Gillies' History of Greece, ch. vi. t State of Ireland Past and Present, by J. W. Croker, 1808, p. 31. IN A NATIONAL POINT OF VIEW. 109 of intemperate minds cannot be free—their passions forge their fetters. Most writers concur in opinion that the free use of strong drink is incompatible with national freedom; in- deed it cannot- easily be imagined how a nation can enjoy genuine liberty while submitting to the sway of so en- slaving a custom. A people, remarks Dr. Rush, corrupted by strong drink, cannot long be a free people. The rulers of such a community Avould soon partake of the vices of that mass from which they Avere secreted, and all their laws and governments would sooner or later bear the same marks of the effects of spirituous liquors which are ob- served to be common to individuals.* The history of Grecian and Roman states, presents remarkable examples of the effects of luxury on national prosperity, and the consequent decline of national virtue and patriotism. These nations were at the highest period of their prosperity Avhen those laws, which had especial reference to temperance, Avere most strictly observed. Luxurious customs, hoAvever, were gradually introduced, and in the first instance, unfortunately patronised by in- dividuals possessing considerable influence in society; Avho either did not foresee, or disregarded, the fatal effects which would inevitably result from their impru- dence. The feAV Avise and upright characters AA'ho stren- uously opposed the introduction of them as calculated to lead to a general corruption of morals, and consequently to national ruin, Avere treated with contempt, and regarded as ascetics. The laws, Avhich had contributed so greatly to their national prosperity, became loss regarded and less rigorously enforced. Indeed this circumstance will excite little surprise, when it is known that the magistrates themselves infringed upon the very laAvs they Avere ap- pointed to execute. Athenaeus relates that one Demetrius beino- censured by the Areopaghes as a loose liver, plainly told "those magistrates, that if they desired to make a ref- ormation in the city, they must begin at home; for that even among them there Avere persons as bad livers as himself, and even worse.f The dissipation into Avhich the people of these mighty nations fell, engendered feelings of a selfish nature. The love of luxury soon absorbed those ennobling virtues for • Dr. Rush's Enquiry into the Effects of Ardent Spirits. f Athenoeus, Acurvooo