very generally entertained in our own country. In this description may be included the harvest labour, in which so many thousands are annually engaged for a considerable period. Some recent experiments, however, on a large scale, completely demonstrate the fallacy of this delusion. Great numbers of men labour during the heat of harvest days, assuaging their thirst with nothing stronger than water, and unanimously testifiy to the superiority of the practice. Dr. Beddoes, long ago exposed this delusion, in an interesting pamphlet which he published on the subject. He remarks, that "the opinion of those who have never endured the labour of the harvest, without indulging freely in the use of intoxicating liquors, and, who consequently, know little or nothing of the sober side of the question, cannot_reasonably be considered as of much value." "The cooler sorts of liquor must," he remarks," undoubtedly be tried before it can be determined which of the two is the most suitable to the case; and, I trust, I shall go far towards convincing every thinking reader, and it may stagger the most obstinate, if I show that the hardest out of doors summer work, is in some places perfectly well borne without a single drop of strong fermented liquor; and in others, but very little:"-and also proceeds to state, that he will establish another "most important point, namely, that in situations like that of our harvest men, and even more trying, a cool regimen is not only the best, but the only proper" one; after commenting on the large quantities of drink used by this class of men, Dr. Beddoes goes on to say, "That the drink of one day, exhausts probably more than the sober exertions of three; though without such a help, a hot sun, and a long day's hard labour, are sure to produce fever enough. This fever should never be fermented by such things as drive on the heart to beat with fresh fury, though in so doing, they may give the spirits a momentary excitement; it ought, on the contrary, to be kept down by thin diluting drinks." "In some of the hotter countries of Europe, where, by our Gloucestershire rule, they ought not to touch anything stronger than gin itself; they do well notwithstanding, on vinegar and water, for harvest drink." "Before Somersetshire became a great apple country, persons who must know and cannot

design to mislead, assure me, that a pint of ale a-day, was the harvest allowance for a man. This pint was taken sip by sip, perhaps not above a wine glass at a time. Accordingly, it is attested to me, that in those days, Somersetshire labourers did not in the morning turn out pale and shaking like ghosts, at the crowing of the cock, as they now do, and were not liable to the harvest surfeit. What they took to assuage thirst, besides their pint of ale, was simple water."

Doctor Beddoes then gives it as his decided opinion, that strong drinks" are not in the smallest quantity necessary for giving support, under the severest exertion, whether in the field, or in the workshop;" and as a proof of the latter, furnishes us with an interesting trial made by some men, employed in one of the great iron works at Woolwich:"A single individual prevailed upon his companions, to make the experiment of milk, as a substitute for porter. The result has proved it to be the best means of quenching the violence of thirst, and securing them from the feverish heat produced by the immoderate use of fermented liquors. They have persevered in this simple and wholesome beverage, with an evident benefit to their health, and with an increased ability of exertion." The above fact is related on the authority of Mr. Curwin, of Cumberland, an eminent agricultural writer of that day, who gives another instance at Workington, the place of his residence, in which milk had been introduced in the place of beer, with the happiest results. "They have given up small-beer in its favour; and there has been a great diminution in the quantities made at the breweries."

* Good Advice for the Husbandmen in Harvest, and for all those who labour in Hot-berths, &c., by Dr. Beddoes, Bristol, 1808. Some equally strong facts are adduced by Dr. Cheyne, of Dublin. "I had once," remarks that physician, "the opportunity of inquiring into the habits of the workmen of a large glass factory; they generally wrought for twenty-four or thirty-six hours at a time, according as the furnace continued in a proper state, and I found, during this time, which was technically called a journey, that to supply the waste caused by perspiration they drank a large quantity of water, in the quality of which, they were very curious: it was the purest and softest water in the district, and was brought from a distance of three miles. There were three men out of more than one hundred, who drank

Among other popular objections may be briefly noticed, the strong impressions which many labour under, in regard to the necessity of spirituous liquors while working in damp situations and in wet weather. The incorrectness of this opinion is well illustrated by the following example:-In America, one hundred workmen were employed during a considerable portion of the day, for a number of successive days, in building a dam across a river. They were most of the time frequently up to the middle in water. During the whole of this period, they refrained from the use of ardent spirits, and coffee and other warm drinks were given to them instead. At the expiration of their work, the workmen were so delighted with the result of the experiment, as to march in a body with their foreman at their head, and forthwith join the Temperance Society.* The simple reason of this may be found in the fact, that the individuals who laboured in this condition, were kept in a state of continual activity. By this means, such a condition of the circulation was induced as enabled the system to resist the effects of damp and cold This, indeed, is all that is required in such cases, with the addition of

nothing but water, the rest drank porter or ardent spirits; the three water drinkers appeared to be of their proper age, while the rest with scarcely an exception, seemed ten or twelve years older than they proved to be."-Letter on the Effects of Wines and Spirits, p. 5. A friend of Dr. Cheyne's, in a letter addressed to that physician, adds the following corroborative testimony:-"Many years ago, I was told by the men who attended the furnaces at the iron works at Merthyr Tydvil, in Glamorganshire, that they drank only water, while engaged in their work at the furnaces, the intense heat of which produced violent perspiration. Their health was generally good, as they said, but the wages being high, they soon retired from labour, and then grew very fat as might have been expected."-Ibid Appendix.

The Limerick Chronicle for 1837, contains the following equally decisive illustration :-"From the long continuance of wet weather, a field of mangel-wurzel, at Corbally, County of Limerick, the property of John Abel, was overflowed. Twenty persons of both sexes, were employed to get out the crop; and as the preservation of their health, from the effect of working in the water, and under almost continued heavy rain, required some stimulant, he had them supplied with half a pint of hot strong coffee three times per day. Although they were nearly a week thus employed, he had the satisfaction to find that their health had not suffered in the slightest degree."

some warm and nutritious beverage, the effects of which, unlike alcoholic stimulants, do not quickly disappear, and render the body more than ever susceptible of injurious impressions.

On a candid review of the preceding observations and facts, it will surely be acknowledged, that the delusion in question has been one of the most fallacious, as well as deep-rooted and fatal, that ever took possession of the human mind. The consistency also of the facts detailed, with the physiological constitution of man, cannot escape the notice of the most superficial observer. Indeed, from the circumstances of the case, it would appear, that mankind have been too little inclined to give the Great Author of our being credit for providing against the contingencies to which he has made his creatures liable. The subject has, however, in every age been submitted. to the test of severe examination, and innumerable experiments the result of which is unvarying; and brings us to the inevitable conclusion,-that intoxicating liquors are of all other expedients the least calculated to preserve mankind from those depressing and injurious influences of circumstances and events to which most human beings in the course of their existence are more or less exposed.

CHAPTER XVII.

MEANS EMPLOYED TO REMOVE THE HABIT OF INTEMPERANCE IN INDIVIDUALS. THE EFFICACY AND SAFETY OF TOTAL ABSTINENCE CONSIDERED.

Evil habits are so far from growing weaker by repeated attempts to overcome them, that if they are not totally subdued, every struggle increases their strength; and a habit opposed and victorious, is more than twice as strong as before the contest. The manner in which those who are weary of their tyranny endeavour to escape from them appears, by the event, to be generally wrong; they try to loose their chains one by one, and to retreat by the same degrees as they advanced; but, before the deliverance can be completed, habit is sure to throw new chains upon her fugitive. Nor can any hope to escape her but those who, by an effort sudden and violent, burst their shackles at once, and leave her at a distance.-Dr. SAMUEL JOHNSON.

THE habit of intemperance may very properly be considered as a disease affecting both the body and the mind; and for this reason, therefore, any curative efforts, to be permanently successful, must be directed to the restoration of the natural functions of each. Hence arise some interesting reflections of the moral treatment required in the removal of this pernicious and melancholy vice.

Singular examples are on record, of the habit being removed, from some powerful and unforeseen impression either of shame, or conviction of guilt, produced on the mind. These instances, however, are of too rare occurrence and too uncertain in their issue to be depended upon or established as precedents of general reformation.

An individual in Maryland, America, who was addicted to habits of gross intemperance, on one occasion having

S