Where were ye now, had His scorned sceptre Thus lulled to calm reliance in the fold Of yawning night, wherein our helpless form Drops like a stone, piercing an unknown gulf, Too deep for thought to sound-how would we smile At baffled Fate! safe in the precious trust That we had won us an Almighty friend, And he would lend us wings to break our fall! MODERATION vs. TEE TOTALISM. 'Every inordinate cup is unblest.' - SHAKSPEare. THIS is the age of extremes. We said on a former occasion that all extremes are tyrannies. There is not one man in a thousand who keeps the prudent middle course, either in religion or politics; or indeed, in any thing that affects the social or moral tone of society. We exist in a constant fever of excitement; and those living on one side of an extreme, denounce with unmeasured severity all who dwell on the opposite. Because different men entertain different opinions, or do not worship by the same creed, is that a cause of quarrel? For that shall we call each other knaves, fools, or infidels? To do so, would argue against the good manners, nay, against the common sense, of the accuser. Every man should extend to his neighbor that courtesy which he claims for himself. This is the golden rule of good breeding. What courtesy, then, does he expect, who is ever ready to denounce all those who differ from him in opinion? Perhaps it never entered into his brain to ask such a question: he never thought of such a thing; or what is quite as likely, such a man never came honestly by a correct thought in all his life. The million get their thoughts from an intelligent friend, as they do their garments from a tailor, ready made. The garments are theirs by possession, if not by payment; and so the thoughts are theirs. Man is a sheep; as the bell-wether leads, the whole flock follows, whether it be to good pasturage or over a precipice. This truth, however, few are willing to confess their self-esteem will not consent; but it is not therefore the less true. I am an advocate of MODERATION IN ALL THINGS. The inordinate use, the general use, of intoxicating draughts, I condemn, and should rejoice to see a custom so pernicious abandoned. Some who call themselves temperate, total abstinence people, simply because their drink is simple, are the most intemperate of men. They have indulged so long a time to surfeit in choice and high-seasoned dishes, that their appetites reject plain and wholesome food, with a feeling similar to that of the drunkard who rejects pure water. I have seen some give way to fierce and ungovernable passion, and heard them, with intemperate spleen, vilify and abuse their neighbors. I have seen men thirst for money as eagerly as the drunkard thirsts for liquor. I have seen others smoke cigars or chew tobacco till they became stupid or sick. And worse than all, I have seen reformed drunkards rush to opium. Yet they were called temperate, because they did not drink! Because a man refuses the inebriate cup, does it follow that he is temperate ? By no means. Immoderate eating is as demoralizing to the body as intemperate drinking; and, I might almost say, equally injurious are ungovernable passions. Walk in the thoroughfares we may distinguish the plethoric glutton as easily as the bloated drunkard. There is a class of ultras, some of whom I have seen eat most voraciously, who banish animal food, tea, coffee, and many most delicious et ceteras from their table, who use unbolted flour, and call it Graham bread; who, in short, think it a virtue not to take the goods the gods provide. Such people confer no benefit on the public, but often inflict suffering on themselves. This Graham bread is as old as the hills, and was known for ages before the clan of Graham existed. To some constitutions it is most injurious, while to others it may be beneficial; but, like Brandreth's pills, though much bepraised, it kills more than it cures. Let us glance at the history of intemperance: it is a vice older than the records of man; for in the oldest we find warnings addressed to the intemperate, and denunciations uttered against them. The annals of almost every tribe or people, savage or civilized, tell us that intemperance has prevailed, sometimes to a greater and sometimes to a less degree: yes, and in some regions and ages it was deemed a virtue. Man is ever prone to allege a plausible reason for the indulgence of his appetite. Among the heathen nations of old, feasts and festivals were introduced into their religious ceremonies. On some occasions the drunkest was often regarded as the most pious. He who drank the deepest, honored his gods the highest. In the early ages of Christianity, certain customs crept into the church, so like those of the heathen, that we may venture to assert they were borrowed from them: they are not authorized in the gospels. During these ages, priests of various grades abased themselves by vile debaucheries; the rich as well as the poor imitated their vices with more zeal than they emulated their virtues. Happily for the world, the teachers of religion are now most generally exem we plary and temperate men; they labor to inculcate virtue with religion, and aim to prove that they are inseparable. From the religious ceremonies of man, eating and drinking have entered into nearly all his secular customs. Particular times and occasions had, and still have, their own particular drink, or at least a drink known by a particular name. Poets have sung loudly in praise of the convivial cup. From the custom of honoring the birth day of saints by a festival, have learned to honor the birth days of distinguished men in a like manner. Almost every occasion of domestic felicity is celebrated by a feast. Politicians having control of public money, when they think they have done the city some service, delight themselves and friends by a luxurious dinner. Benevolent men engaged in the works of charity, reward their success by a sumptuous entertainment, too often paid for by the funds that should feed the hungry. It is a fact, and one deeply to be lamented, that in all our social meetings, eating and drinking are considered proofs of feeling and friendship. If you will not drink with me, you cannot esteem me.' How often have we all heard such a remark. For my part, though I am but a moderate man, I say with Cassio, I could well wish courtesy would invent some other custom of entertainment.' The drink of the ancients was wines, sometimes spiced or drugged. Alcohol was not discovered till the thirteenth century; and many years elapsed before the secret of its distillation was known. In England it did not come into use till some time in the seventeenth century. Shakspeare, who frequently mentions wine, ale, etc., makes no reference to alcohol, or aqua-vita. But since the time that the people tasted it, its strides have been rapid and fearful. In our own country many good men are engaged in its importation or manufacture, or in its sale. Yes, pious citizens, who spare time and spend money to convert the heathen, ship rum by the same vessel that carries out the missionaries! Are they temperate men? If the thirst of gain did not drown their understandings, they would be convinced that Intemperance is the greatest enemy of Religion. What! send a missionary to the heathen with a Bible in one hand, and (to speak metaphorically) a bottle of rum in the other! Among a savage people the consequences are inevitable: they will riot in excess; in drunken madness the Bible will be trodden under foot, and blood will stain its pages! Good men too, contractors on public works, who necessarily employ a large number of hands, erect shantees at convenient points for the accommodation of the laborers and their families. Every such establishment has a grocery, where, among articles of wholesome food, liquor is sold. The motive is sordid, and the eye is shut against the evil consequences. Even private manufactories, erected in the country, have most generally dram shops in their vicinity. These offer temptations too strong to be resisted by the ignorant operative; and the innocent country people around are enticed to dissipation. Let us reform all these things; let us frown upon every man in office, no matter from what authority derived, who invents public reasons to partake of public dinners: then may one bad practice be abolished one evil example removed. If there be a single individual among the advocates of the temper ance cause engaged in the traffic of ardent spirits, I must say that his profession is most inconsistent with his practice. Let him abandon either the society of which he is a member, or the trade in which he is engaged. While alcohol is distilled, purchasers will be found: the moment the demand ceases, distillation stops. How often is the miserable keeper of a grog-shop condemned for retailing three cents' worth of rum to the bloated wretch, while the millionaire who made the poison is caressed. We blame the ignorant agent, while the proud principal remains unscathed. If we were just, we should rather pity the poor retailer, and heap all our censure on the rich manufacturer. Truly the old adage is most correct: Money covers a multitude of sins.' Let the stern advocates of total abstinence direct part of their efforts to persuade distillers of the fearful consequences of their business; and if they cannot convince them, as indeed it is not to be expected they will, at least expel them from their society, and refuse to hold them in friendly intercourse. Let men be consistent in their actions, yet at the same time observe due moderation, and the world will be the happier. Fanaticism is the enemy of truth, and heaven-born Charity holds no affinity with it. In all ages, heathen and Christian, it has wrought great evil in the world: the labors and teachings of the truly good scarcely resist its evil influence. A I have a friend, a warmer hearted or a better man than whom is rarely to be found. One December day he was bound up the East River in a steamer that plies along the Long Island shore. Soon after the boat had started from one of her landing places, the cry arose, 'A woman is overboard!' The passengers rushed to the gunwale, to look but not to help: the captain and crew, confused by the accident, were unable to take the speediest and surest means to save her. At this moment my friend rushed up from the cabin, and in an instant, accoutered as he was, he plunged into the river, and not without difficulty and danger, he saved the perishing woman. thousand thanks and praises were lavished on him by the passengers, for what they termed his intrepidity, his humanity, and so forth. It happened, by the want of presence of mind of those on board, that my friend was nearly half an hour in the water, and he stood upon the deck chilled to the heart. In this disagreeable and dangerous condition, he asked for a glass of brandy-and-water; which receiving, he drank. Murmurs presently arose among those who stood around. One said, 'It is a sin to drink.' Another ejaculated, He is not a good mau, after all;' while a third boldly declared: Drinking brandy has completely washed away all his humanity!' In one word, the temperance fanatics, and many chanced to be on board, would rather this worthy gentleman had contracted a fever, or had fallen into a consumption, or had lived rheumatic all his days, than that he should have tasted a drop of liquor. This was their reward, their charity for his act of daring humanity; one which they were too selfish, or too icy-hearted, even to attempt. My friend was right, perfectly right, to drink at such a time. It was good medicine, and most likely it saved him from a fit of sickness. Would any have blamed him on such an occasion except a fanatic? My friend felt hurt by these ungenerous exclamations, and I will warrant, if he keep his resolution, the next time a 'tee-totaller' falls into the river, he may save himself. My friend will never again peril his life in such a cause. Alcoholic drinks are good at proper times and on proper occasions. Cases occur where the materia medica affords no substitute. We cannot well do without alcohol. Alcohol extracts the properties of plants better than any liquid known: without it, many drugs are insoluble. Perhaps for this declaration some may account us as one of the wicked, who strive to spread false and pernicious doctrines. We cannot help it: our consolation for this rebuke must be, that a single truth will in its own proper time work more miracles than the anathemas of a troop of fanatics. Moderation is a blessing: Prejudice and Error walk hand in hand. I desire to take a liberal view of my subject, and win the world to moderation, by convincing the understanding, not by appealing to the passions, of men. I would not terrify people from vice by exposing its awful consequences: I would rather entice them to virtue, by showing the heart-felt content it imparts, the respect it commands, and the health it insures. There is an old gentleman of my acquaintance, a man temperate and virtuous, who for fifty years had drank regularly at his dinner a glass of brandy and water. He used, but never abused, heaven's blessings. Some time ago, having read an ultra total abstinence paper, he was so affected by its sophistry, that he resolved instantly to give up his accustomed habit. He did so: in a very short time the result was a fit of grievous sickness, that brought him to the very verge of the grave. Recovering health, the physician ordered him to resume his brandy he did so, and lives healthily. The aged should never abandon, and least of all abruptly, an old habit: there is much danger in it. But the young, by reason of their elasticity, may change, and change again their way of life, with impunity. They need however no artificial excitement, no alcoholic drinks: youthful blood is warm enough by nature. By way of an episode, I shall here relate a true story. An industrious young man was set up in the liquor trade' by his friends. He was told, and willingly believed, that the fumes of the spirits which necessarily in the course of his business he would be obliged to pour out, might injure his health, unless he tasted a little every morning. Being very sober-minded, and desirous of getting on in the world, he resolved that he should never, by any chance, fall into habits of intemperance. To avoid even the bare possibility of such a calamity, he bought a very small wine glass, and determined never to exceed its limit daily. All went on well for a time; but, at last, lifting up his glass one day to take his usual allowance, he looked at it very narrowly; his face flushed, his passion arose, and he swore vehemently. Tom, Tom, you rascal! where are you?' calling his store-boy: where is my glass, you rogue?' That is it in your hand, Sir,' said Tom. 'You lie, you villain! it is not; my glass was twice as large, and you have changed it for this thimble.' 'It is the very glass, Sir; I have made no change.' You have; I am sure you have: this is not mine. Go, Sir, instantly, and buy me a glass twice as large.' |