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1838.]

EVILS OF INTEMPERANCE.

377

is introduced, which leads the conversation to something useful; and part of the time is devoted to reading. A subject, to write upon, is given out at one meeting, and the members of the class bring, at the next meeting, what they have written. The following paper was lately brought by a young member of this little society, Mr. J. J.

EVILS OF INTEMPERANCE.

"It is a generally admitted, and much to be lamented fact, that our beloved country, so enlightened, so free, and enjoying the blessings of religious and scientific instruction to an extent unknown to all other nations upon earth, is nevertheless enthralled by the vice of intemperance to a greater degree than most of those nations whose advantages are more scanty, and whose standard of morality is lower. Unhappily for the good name of our country, a nation of drunkards' it has been long called.

"That shrewd observer of his times, Defoe, remarks, in the year 1704, that We are the most 'lazy,' diligent' people in the world. There is nothing more common, than for an Englishman to work till he has got his pockets full of money, and then go and idle, or get drunk till it is all gone. I once paid six or seven men together, on a Saturday night, the least ten shillings, and some thirty for work; and have seen them go with it directly to the alehouse, stay there till Monday, spend it every penny, and run in debt to boot, and not give a farthing of it to their families, though all of them had wives and children: from whence come poverty, parish charges, and beggary.'

--

"Wherever the inebriating drink is found, there does the deceiver of mankind' use it as a powerful instrument of evil. And never did our species labour under a greater error, than when the great deceiver put it into the mind of men that strong drink is a valuable beverage. From the false vigour which it is known to impart, it has been called the water of life;' and so much have men been mistaken, that, for centuries, they have shut their eyes to the obvious truth, that, so far from its being the water of life,' it is the water of death.'

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"The catalogue of evils which flow from intemperance is indeed a long one; perhaps they may be classed as 'personal,'' social,' and national.'

"1. To the drunkard himself it is a fearful evil! It destroys his health and brings on old age before its time, it impairs his intellects, and brings him down to the state of the savage. The more he is led captive by this vice, the more powerful does it become; till, at last, the willing slave of a vicious propensity, he lives or drags on a heavy existence; and an untimely grave relieves society from his contagious example. Whilst he lived, he was a pest to himself, and a disgrace to his kind; and the immortal spirit is

'Cut off even in the blossom of his sin; No reckoning made, but sent to his account With all his imperfections on his head;

O horrible! O horrible! most horrible !!.'

"Though the drunkard may not feel the immediate effects of his destructive habit, still the latent poison is operating, and will, ere long, effect its purpose and spread the deadly infection through every fibre of his frame. It will tell, most assuredly; his shattered nerves and faltering step betray the too sure cause at work, which will unbend every faculty, and burst asunder all that makes man'little lower than the angels;' and the human frame divine will become a piteous spectacle. Could the drunkard see himself, as others see him, would he forbear to shudder at his fallen appearance? Intemperance is not less fatal to the circumstances of the man, than it is to his health and intellects. Many a young man has set out in the world with a fair prospect of competency; but drunkenness has melted his fortune and poured it into the general contribution of fifty millions a year, the annual sum we pay for the humiliating appellation, a nation of drunkards.'

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"Were there no heaven to win, and no hell to escape, the evils of intemperance would, even then, be indeed great; but, when viewed in the light of eternity, how infinite is the evil! In awful accents, the voice of heaven is, No drunkard shall enter here.' And as the porter

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1 Shakspeare.

1838.]

EVILS OF INTEMPERANCE.

379

who keeps the door of endless happiness bars the eternal gates against the drunkard, he is driven away into everlasting punishment, to the gnawing of the worm that never dies, and to the burning of the flame that is never quenched.

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"2. The social evils' of intemperance are even more deplorable still; and the repeated assertion, that the drunkard is nobody's enemy but his own,' is utterly false. In reality, he is an enemy to his whole species; he disgraces the name of man; and there is not a relationship which he sustains in which he is not to be regarded as a curse rather than a blessing. Whether we view him as a son, a father, or a husband, he is disobedient and rebellious, hard-hearted and unmanly. Intemperance destroys the finest sensibilities of the heart; it converts the affectionate husband into a despotic tyrant; and that to her, whom he is bound by the strongest obligations to succour and protect. But how does the drunkard perform his vows and fulfil his engagements? Often by treating his wife's religious principles with derision and contempt, using the profane arguments of the alehouse, and making an unholy jest of the book of divine truth! Perhaps he leaves her, night after night, to mourn over her forlorn condition, without fire in the grate, or food in the house, whilst he is squandering his money in rioting and drunkenness.

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"Seldom have the prisons of the Inquisition, or the Bastile, witnessed more terrific examples of cruelty than do the wall of the drunkard's habitation. Whilst he is rioting abroad, his wife and children are starving at home; and whilst the licentious song is cheered by his equally licentious companions, it is echoed by the sighs and groans of his wife and family. He is called a goodhearted fellow' in the alehouse; and he is ready to spend his last penny to keep up what he considers his good name but, follow him home; and though his loving wife shall intreat him for the means of feeding his hungry babes, and of sustaining her own feeble frame; and, though she tells him, with tears, that there is no food to eat, and no money to buy it, his hard heart is unmoved! Neither his wife's tears, nor his children's cry, make any

impression on him; and it is well if the devil within does not urge him to deal out blows to his already distracted family. The bitterness of sorrow is the lot of the drunkard's family, whether he be a són, a husband, or a father. When he is absent, there is a continual fear lest some crime, committed under the maddening influence of strong drink, should render him amenable to the laws of his country. When he is at home, no efforts of his family can please him. He is as violent as the most untutored savage, and as ill-tempered as the power of Satan can make him. His temper is completely changed to his friends, he can scarcely speak in peace to them. But his continued excitement soon wears out his enfeebled frame-not his thirst for strong drink. Unlike many sins which lose their power with the bodily vigour, the power of this sin increases. Every period of depres sion increases the drunkard's desire for the stimulant; and thus does the cause produce the effect, and the effect cry out for the cause as a remedy, till the animal machine is worn out, and the power of indulging gone for ever!

"The case of the drunkard is a case of life and death. The very next indulgence may be the last! whilst the cup of intoxication is in his hand, he may drop into the bottomless pit."-J. J.

The paper proceeds to point out the "national" evils of drunkenness, but want of room prevents us from inserting the important matter contained in that section.

A LITTLE TALK ABOUT SAVINGS' BANKS AND OTHER MATTERS.

THE following conversation is taken from a paper entitled, "Useful Hints to the Labourer," published by the "Labourers' Friend Society."

John. What do the gentlemen get who have established the bank in this town? They would never set up this bank unless they got something by it.

Thomas. Indeed, John, you are much mistaken. I used to think as you do now, when I did not know what I was about; but I have learnt better; and I can tell you that these gentlemen do it for the purpose of serving

1838.] A LITTLE TALK ABOUT SAVINGS' BANKS. 381

their industrious but poorer neighbours, and for no other reason, and that they give their time and labour for nothing; besides, I can tell you too that your money is: as safe in the Savings Bank as in the Bank of England; for these gentlemen attend and see that all is right. The money is always sent to the Bank of England, and is laid out in the government funds, and there it must be safe as long as old England stands, and I hope that will be as long as you and I live, and a good deal longer. When you put your money into the bank, the gentlemen give you a book with your name in it, and they write in that book what you put in, and what you draw out of the bank: for you must know you may draw out whenever you want any part of your money, without giving any reason for its to anybody.

J. Well, but Master Thomas, why not let one's master keep it, or lend it to some friend or neighbour, as well as putting it into these banks?

T. Look here now, Master John; do you remember, when you and I were boys, one Squire Hearty of Top-hill?

J. Yes, to be sure I do; and a great man he was in those days; farmed the whole parish, and a great deal

more.

T. Well, who would ever have thought of his failing? and yet he did, and was obliged to sell off and quit the country; and he had in his hands the money of many a poor man. Poor old Trustall of Sheep-street, and his wife, went to the workhouse. Old Molly Barn lost every farthing she had: and many such like things happened. Well then, there is Mrs. Bucking, the washerwoman; she sold a cottage and lent her money to Tom Swindle, and not one farthing will she ever get of that.

J. Ay, but she is more wise now, for she has sold the other cottage; and folks say she has put the money into the Savings' Bank.

T. Well, I am glad to hear it, for now her money is safe; and she will get interest for it every year into the bargain. Now, John, be prevailed upon to begin, if it is only with a shilling. My little ones have all got something in the bank, and have their banking books, which

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