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, Mr. Ellis, the missionary, states, that "the demoralization and impediments to the civilization and prosperity of the people that have resulted from the activity of foreign traders in ardent spirits, have been painful in the extreme;" adding, that in Tahiti alone, in one year, the sum of 12,000 dollars was 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 with these savages, has been with few exceptions, "decidedly detrimental, both in a moral and civil point of view." "In British Guiana," writes a valuable journalist, "the Indian population is acknowledged to have been diminishing ever since the British came into possession of the colony, and especially within the last eight or ten years. This diminution is attributed, in some degree, to the increased sale of rum, which formed a part of the presents distributed by the British Government, which has made no effort whatever to convert them to Christianity."* "All reports agree, in stating, that these tribes have been almost wholly neglected and retrograding, and without provision for their moral and civil improvement."+ The same observations will apply to the North American Indians, the aborigines of New Holland, and to all the savage tribes, who have had the misfortune to be in anywise connected with European and other civilized nations. An appeal, however, need not be made to foreign nations for evidence of the demoralizing effects of intoxicating liquors. Our own, unfortunately, presents too many appalling examples. A larger proportion of the crime, and every other species of immorality which exists in this * Asiatic Journal, 1837, p. 90. + Ibid. kingdom, may be directly traced to this cause; among which may be included, as not the least baneful in its influence, a very general disregard of religious principles. The moral and religious principles of a nation have a powerful effect upon its prosperity. Where there is no sound morality there can be no true religion; and a nation destitute 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 inquiry may be considered either in regard to its influence on the skill of a community, or the obstacle which it presents to intellectual and literary labours and to scientific discovery. An intimate connexion subsists between 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 we might as well expect good digestion with a diseased stomach, or good music from a broken instrument, as a good mind with a disordered or enfeebled brain.+ "It is a defective brain which makes an idiot, and a diseased brain which causes delirium and insanity: and all the various states of mind produced by alcohol and opium, &c., arise from the disordered action whic these articles produce in the brain."‡ The mass of those who indulge in strong drink will be found in general to be destitute of a liberal education. Habits of sensuality are necessarily incompatible with high intellectual cultivation. In a previous division of our inquiry it has been shown, that the use of intoxicating liquor deprives mankind to a considerable extent, of the desire as well as the power to acquire knowledge. + Brigham on Mental Cultivation. + Ibid. High 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 neighbourhood of Hereford, his library was sold for £3, and his liquors in the cellar for £384: 15s. !". London paper. 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 reproof whilst dining with Dionysius, whom 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 was inclined to treat this practice with derision. "How could the king find leisure," said Philip, "to write these trifles?" "In those hours," replied Dionysius, "which you and I spend in drunkenness and debauchery."+ The biographries of some of the most distinguished literary characters of this and of other countries present lamentable examples of the direful effects of alcholic liquors on the intellect. The national injury thus sustained may be considered in a two-fold point of view, that is, in the first place, from the partial incapacity for mental labours which is thereby produced; and secondly, the premature mortality of men whose mental exertions might otherwise have greatly benefited their country. Byron and Burn's form prominent examples. Prior, according to his biographer, 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 follower of drams, and strangely open and scandalous in his debaucheries," all are agreed, that " he became a sot, and finished his existence." Dryden, in his youthful days, was conspicuous for sobriety, "but for the last ten years of his life," observes Dennis, " he was much acquainted with Addison, and drank with him even more than he ever used to do, probably so far as to hasten his end." "Cowley's death," remarks Pope, "was occasioned by a mean accident, whilst his great friend, Dean Pratt, was on a visit with him at Chertsey. They had been together to see a neighbour of Cowley's, who (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 they lay out in the fields all night. * Parliamentary Report, 1834. + Plutarch. 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 reflecting mind, what very great advantage would be derived in an intellectual point of view, from the general adoption of principles of total abstinence. The use of stimulating liquors, not only deprives mankind of intellectual advantages in a personal point of view, but it diminishes the inclination for imparting knowledge 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 considerably impeded; producing a corresponding defect in the aggregate of knowledge 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 industrious mechanic in general devotes a portion of his earnings, not only to his own improvement, but to the intellectual advancement of his children. He is animated with the desire of elevating his family in their condition in life, and his efforts rarely fail of being attended with success: whereas ignorance, barbarism, vice, and brutality are, and ever have been, the uniform concomitants of sensuality and drunkenness. If it is not literally true that "knowledge is power," yet it is indisputable, that the powers 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 frugality, are the handmaids of education. "Shakspeare, Drayton, and Ben Jonson, had a merry meeting, and it seems drank too hard, for Shakspeare died of a feavour there contracted."-Diary of the Rev. John Ward, M.A., Vicar of Stratford-upon-Avon. 4. NATIONAL FREEDOM AND PATRIOTISM. The history of strong drink is inseparably connected with the decay of national freedom and patriotism. The ancient Greeks and Romans until vitiated by luxurious habits esteemed these virtues as the foundation of the common weal, and early instilled them into the minds of their youth. The athletic exercises, to which their young men were habituated, had a tendency, not only to inure the body to the vicissitudes of active life, but to expand and strengthen the moral capabilities; while 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 occasions. 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 climate, 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 when these ennobling exercises were 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. "Indulge their love of liquor," observes Tacitus" to the excess which they require, and you need not employ the terror of your arms; their own will subdue them." A modern writer, makes a similar observation in regard to Ireland. "Were the Irish, he remarks, allowed to indulge their taste for inebriety, their own vices would more effectually subdue them than centuries of war.”† * Gillies' History of Greece, ch. vi. + State of Ireland Past and Present, by J. W. Croker, 1808, p.31. |