sailed by the objector, 'Remember that our Saviour converted water into wine.' Granted—we bow with reverence to the teachings of him who 'spake as never man spake.' But, the Saviour of the world, in no page of the gospel, has made it my duty to drink wine--no, not even the pure wine of Palestine, the very drink of his country, where no intoxicating drugs or filthy water have been added to it. No; wine drinking, in all its purity, was not enjoined as a christian duty. Yet, many are so under the influence of attachment to old forms, that they reason with us, and try to convince us that, when under other circumstances, in another age and country, we resolve, in the strength of his grace, to abstain from even things lawful, to accomplish a greater good they would convince us that we are disregarding the Saviour's example. But let us try this question upon the authority of the Saviour's example. Let us see whether or not that example requires us to drink wine. Look at the case of Timothy. He had considered the example of the blessed Saviour; and yet what did he do? Why, Sir, so well persuaded was he of the danger of drinking wine, and so devoted to cold water, that he would not touch a drop of wine, except upon the authority of his spiritual father Paul, even for medicine; and from the very cautious manner in which Paul recommends the medicinal use of wine, it is evident that he regarded it a dangerous privilege, which he was granting. He remembered the testimony of Scripture, Wine is a mocker,' and the woes denounced by the inspired penman upon those who tarry long at their wine. In all fairness, I think, if any argument is to be drawn from the Scriptures, it is in favour of practising total abstinence. Look at the Old Testament. The father of the Rechabites left his dying counsel to his posterity, never to touch wine. In the Lord directed the prophet to try them; and pots of wine were set before them; but they would not drink. And did the Lord frown upon thein? Did he say, 'wine is one of the creatures of Providence, and therefore you ought to drink it?' No; he honored them, and gave them a place on the page of sacred history. In regard to the Old Testament, the spirit of it is on the side of total abstinence; and there can be no disagreement between the Old and the New; for they are from the same author. “But, Mr. President, we should never have resorted to this argument, but to answer this objection. The case should have been submitted clear of these questions. There is a peculiarity in the nature of the vice itself which demands it. Of all the habits this is the most insidious. It gives no warning of its enchantments. It speaks peace, promotes joy, and makes encroachments by little and little. The individual beholds visions of exalted joy, while he digs his own grave, and while the tempter whispers peace, he secretly and surely destroys all that is valuable in his character. He but professes to quench his thirst, yet only excites it. The more he seeks to gratify it, the louder is the call. It is one of those stimulating agents, which the body cannot endure without being brought into bondage. The man who takes his glass of wine to-day at a certain time, will require it in larger quantity to-morrow. More than sixty years ago, Dr. Johnson was asked, ' why don't you take after years, wine?' He answered, 'for the most important of all reasons, I can't take a little.' That is the only place of safety. I put it to every man accustomed to use wine, if he is satisfied with the same quantity now that he was a year ago. I remember one of the most efficient friends of temperance, was led to stop drinking from reading three lines in a temperance publication, which declared that a man who was accustomed to drink would fill his glass higher every morning. He said to me, 'I threw down the book and thought it extravagant, but that very day at dinner, when I went to take my brandy and water, I found I had actually doubled the quantity.' Talk about drinking temperately, you cannot. God never meant alcohol should be used temperately. I tremble at every temperate friend I have, whether he drinks wine or brandy. "But the moral influence of intoxicating liquors, is still more dreadful. We can look at the staggering form of the drunkard— But O the soul! that immortal principle which God has placed within us, created with ability to trace the long track of day, to roll among the planets and calculate their distances, to swell with gratitude the universal song of praise, degraded and brought down to the very dregs of pollution. That immortal life, all valuable as it is, this prostrates and destroys. Ten or fifteen years ago, when he commenced his career, if you had gone to him and said, 'Sir, you will be a drunkard,' like Hazael, he would have said with amazement, 'Am I a dog, that I should do this?' But now he will stagger along your streets without shame. Now and then, there may be a momentary reluctance as he passes along to the place of intoxication. He may look up and down the street, and may remember the home he has left desolate. He may almost give up the intoxicating cup, but ah! it is too late, his resolution is gone. He has nothing to fall back upon, and he rushes on and drinks down the fatal goblet, which he knows is hurrying him down to the grave. "Can we propose a simple remedy? Yes, just leave off drinking. And ought not a redeemed world to bless God for this discovery? And ought we not heart to heart and shoulder to shoulder to press forward in the application of such a remedy? "One thought in the latter part of this resolution is worth its weight in gold. EXAMPLE. "Let example plead for the sake of a bleeding world. One says, "I am not responsible, I am temperate, I drink moderately-If others drink to excess, I am not responsible for their conduct.' That principle never had its origin in the word of God or in a generous bosom. There is not an individual who hears me, whose example is not going forth and influencing others, for good or ill. When we meet in the judgement, one of the first matters that will come up there, will be the influence which our example has exerted upon others. And, when the subject of wine comes up here, how will the precepts of the gospel lead me to dispose of it? If my example is in danger of leading others astray, I must abandon it; for it is good neither to eat flesh, nor drink wine, nor anything whereby thy brother stumbleth, or is offended, or is made weak.' “One word to the female portion of this audience. Let female influence be consecrated to this cause. Let it tell upon a world lying in sin, and bleeding at every pore. Let it be felt in the social circle-let fashion frown upon the use of all intoxicating drinks ; and I will engage they will soon come into disuse." H. Statistics of intemperance deduced chiefly from the London bills of mortality, and from mortality throughout England and Wales. " This is a very interesting article in the appendix to the Report of the New British and Foreign Temperance Society. The object of it is, to show that the number of deaths and burials in London, for more than a century have risen and fallen, according to the facilities granted by government for manufacturing, vending, and purchasing spirituous liquors. Whenever the government to satisfy distillers and venders, opened the flood gates and suffered them to pour out the poison upon the community, then, the bills of mortality, invariably arose; and when the evil became too great to be borne and the government laid on heavy duty, and checked importation and hedged up the traffic, then the mortality was lessened. Thus in the second year of William and Mary, an act was passed avowedly for the purpose of encouraging the home-manufacture of spirituous liquors. Distillers became so expert in their business, and sold their manufactures so cheap, that the poor began to drink it extravagantly to the destruction of health, morals, and life. In the year 1729, the bills of mortality rose to 29,722. That year, the government interposed to check thé evil, and imposed a duty of 5s. in addition to all other duties on the gallon of British spirits. The consumption of gin was greatly diminished, and the mortality in 1730, was 26,761. But the duty was so obnoxious to the farmers, that it was removed in 1732, at which time the mortality was 23,358. The nation went again to drinking, and in 1733, the mortality rose to 29,253. Again in 1757, when the mortality of London was 21,313, the distillation of home spirits was suspended for three years, in consequence of a scarcity of grain, and a great diminution of consumption ensued; men could not poison themselves so rapidly as before, and the mortality was, in 1757, 21,313, and in 1758, 17,520. In 1760, distillation was resumed, and the mortality increased in a year, 1230. From this period, drinking, and death, maintained for many years a nearly uniform relation to each other. In 1792, there was a great increase upon the preceding year, in the consumption both of spirits, and small liquor, and the increase of mortality was 1453. In 1796, distillation had again to be suspended from the scarcity of grain, and the mortality of London sank 1891. In 1801 was another season of scarcity, and the mortality which had risen to 23,068, sunk to 19,376, or 3,692. In 1803 the duty was advanced, and the consumption, and mortality, sunk together. In 1831 the Beer bill flooded the kingdom with beer; the consequence was, that while the mortality in 1830 was only 21,645, in 1831 it was 25,337. And lest it should be objected, that a large city cannot afford a fair specimen upon an entire country, of its drinking customs, the following table, is given to prove that, not in London only, but throughout England and Wales, an augmented consumption of alcoholic liquors is ever succeeded by an augmented mortality of the people. Not in the order of nature, not by the visitation of God, not by pestilence, nor famine, nor the hardships of poverty, do they perish; but by a plague their own hands have prepared. a “ The numbers in the first column, says the compiler of these statistics, will guide the reader to the particulars of each epoch, as we have already described them, in treating of the varying mortality of London. The effects of the Beer bill, in 1831, we are unable to exhibit, there being no returns in existence of the burials, throughout England and Wales, for that year. With this unavoidable exception, we have been so fortunate as to procure the necessary information for illustrating the periods of change since 1801. It will be seen how precisely they accord with the results we have already obtained from the Metropolitan bills. We need only add, in further explanation, that a period of severe distress, in 1809, arising from the high price of grain, increased the more tality throughout the kingdom, but especially in the country districts, and thus the beneficial effects of diminished consumption are less strikingly exhibited, than in the preceding period of 1503-4. “But neither this table, nor those which have preceded it, show more, be it always remembered, than an increment of deaths, re- “The subject thus presented, is, certainly, worthy the attention I. ANTI-BACCHUS. This work has just been issued from the press in this city, and we need do no more than call the attention of the Temperance public to it. As we have been for some time engaged in preparing a work on the wines of the ancients, particularly those of Palestine, Greece and Rome, we shall withhold the conclusions at which we have arrived, until its publication. In the meantime, we give the following summary of Mr. Parsons' investigations : “I have adduced arguments and authorities which most incontestibly prove that the wines of the ancients were very different from ours. I have shown, from the heat of the countries, the highly saccharine quality of the grapes, the boiling and evaporating of the juice, or the diluting of the must, by the addition of five times its amount of water, vinegar, &c., as in Cato's family wine, the care taken to prevent this must from fermenting, by excluding the air, and immersing them in water to lower their temperature, the frequent filtering of the juice or wine, and the placing of the vessels in fumaria and ovens; from the sirupy character of many of their wines, and the custom of diluting them with so large an amount of water; from the popularity of wines destitute of all strength; from the desire of the people to drink large quantities without being intoxicated; from the innumerable varieties of the wines, and the fact that Falernian was the only wine that would burn; from the weakness of wines produced from the natural juice of the grape, and the non-existence of pure alcohol to increase their potency; from the testimony of Aristotle, Polybius, Cato, Varro, Pliny, Columella, Horace, Plutarch, &c.; in a word, from science, philosophy, and history, I have demonstrated that a large propor. tion of the wines of old, were not produced by vinous fermentation, and those which were inebriating, borrowed, in a majority of cases, their intoxicating power from drugs rather than from alcohol. Anti-Bacchus, Prize Essay, Chap. 5. |