sanctioned by the practice, though opposed to the precepts, of their spiritual pastors and teachers. Numerous historical notices are recorded of the intemperate habits of the people in the seventeenth century. During the reign of James I., intemperance was 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 afterward 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 however were far from proving effectual; and in the reign of Charles I. drunkenness prevailed to such an extent as to call for additional regulations for its suppression. During the period of the commonwealth, drunkenness was the prevailing vice of the land; indeed this was so generally the case, that by other nations, England was denominated "The Land of Drunkards." Intemperance, however, was strongly denounced at this period by ministers of the gospel, and by others, who viewed this degrading vice with 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 dreadful 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 William and Mary, drunkenness was 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 lower classes, soon induced the enactment of other laws for the restriction of the sale of intoxicating liquors. The celebrated De Foe has recorded some characteristic sketches of the intemperance of these times. "If the history of this well-bred vice," says he, was to be written, it would plainly appear that it began among the gentry, and from them was handed down to the poorer sort, who still love to be like their betters. After the Restoration, when [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 companion, no servant was thought proper unless he could bear a quantity of wine; and to this day, when you speak well of a man you say, 'he is an honest drunken fellow;' as if his drunkenness was a recommendation to his honesty. Nay, so far has this custom prevailed, that the top of a gentlemanly 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 way of their expressing their joy for any public blessing. 'Jack,' said a gentleman of very high quality, when after the debate in the House of Lords, King William was voted into the vacant throne, 'Jack, go home to your Lady, and tell her we 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, 'was 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 Britain. The facilities afforded by government, for the sale of spirits, and the cheapness of these pernicious liquors, placed within the reach of the poor, at a trivial expense, the means of gratifying their depraved appetites. Insubordination, riots and other disastrous effects of this sinful and degrading indulgence, followed; and in London in particular, in 1736, the magistrates of Middlesex, found it absolutely necessary to petition parliament for some restrictive 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, was 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 was productive of little good. The appetite for strong drink had become too general and uncontrollable to be easily removed, and the ple, when deprived of the usual means of gratifying their sensual inclinations, immediately resorted to illegal expedients to obtain a supply. Extensive smuggling was carried on, in defiance of the most severe measures adopted for its suppression; and drunkenness raged as much as ever, until several modifications of the law made this illegal traffic a less profitable pursuit. peo Perhaps no circumstance is more illustrative of the intemperance of these times than the disgusting manner in which the sellers of these poisonous liquors endeavoured De Foe's " Poor Man's Plea." to extend their trade. A contemporary publication has inserted the following 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 following remark upon this fact: "They accordingly provided cellars and places strewed with straw, to which they conveyed those wretches who were overwhelmed with 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 with riot, execration, and blasphemy.""t The host of petitions which were sent in from various parts of the kingdom, at length induced the government to pass more restrictive measures, which had some effect in reducing the consumption of these liquors; but the appetite 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 Ancient Britons. A respectable author thus describes the mode in which their drinking feasts were 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 was drunk out, whatever the liquor was, whether strong or weak. They continued drinking. sometimes twenty-four, sometimes forty-eight hours. It was reckoned a piece of manhood to drink until they be came drunk; and there were two men attending punctually with a barrow on such occasions. They stood at the door until some became drunk, and they carried them upon the barrow to bed, and returned again to their post, as long as any continued; and so carried off the whole company one by one, as they became drunk."‡ In the sixteenth century, the hospitality of the Scots induced them to indulge in excessive drinking. A writer of Historical Miscellany, Gentleman's Magazine, 1736. Martin's Description of the Western Islands, p. 196. that period speaks of the courtiers, merchants, and country gentlemen, as much given to intemperance." * In the middle of the eighteenth century, excessive drinking was extremely prevalent among the higher classes of Scotland. The more humble portion of society, was not at that period addicted to the free use of intoxicating liquors. Mr. Dunlop relates, that the then member of par liament for Renfewshire, was accustomed to drink ardent spirits at a small ferry-house, for three weeks together; and that a dispute having taken place at a fair in Ayrshire, the parties went to the mansion of a neighbouring magistrate, 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, indicative 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 injury 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 especially displayed since the introduction of ardent spirits into general use. During the eighteenth century, the most dreadful consequences resulted from this cause. The government of the country soon had reason deeply to lament the encouragement which it had given to distillation. Several laws were passed with the intent of restricting the use of ardent spirits; but the taste for such stimulants had been created, and illegal means of obtaining them were extensively resorted to. Ireland has, for the last century, witnessed insubordination, crimes and immorality, raging to an almost incredible extent, most of which may be attributed to the influence of intemperance. It is, however, to be hoped, that a brighter day will yet dawn upon that unfortunate nation. The history of other countries shows, that intemperance is not peculiar to Great Britain and Ireland. The inhabitants of many countries in a semi-barbarous state, previous to their connexion with the Christian world, had discovered Fynes Moryson's Itinerary, p. 56. the art of producing intoxicating substances, in various ways. Others learned the habit of inebriation from European nations, who at the same time supplied them with the pernicious articles for consumption. All of these, however, 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 which 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 which they are doubtless more or less indebted to their intercourse with European nations; and, especially to their accursed trade in human flesh.t 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 expressed 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 frequent occurrence among the natives, when in a state of inebriation. Scarcely, says Arago, do the intoxicating fumes get into their heads, when they breathe nothing but battle, and shout forth their war cries. Impatient for murder, they seek antagonists, provoke them by ferocious songs, and demand death in the hope of inflicting it. They find but too readily the opportunities they provoke; and their 'war-whoop' is answered by whooping not less terrible. Then the combatants drawn up in two lines, perhaps twenty steps from each other, threaten mutually with 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. p. 386. Voyage to Congo, Part I, p. 564, apud Churchill. Bowdich's Ashantee, Cook's Voyage, vol. i. p. 350. E |