Графични страници
PDF файл
ePub

that day, then do the lower orders begin to shake off the beery slumbers of the midnight pay-table, and wander forth in maudlin, unwashed multitudes, to the temples of the great Gin; and there you may see them, the aged and the infant of a span long, old men and maidens, grandsires and grandams, fathers and mothers, husbands, wives, and children, crawling and jostling, and sucking in the portion of the spirit, which the flaunting priestesses of the temple dole out to them in return for their copper offerings."

This picture, heart-rending and lamentable as it may appear, is but a correct representation of scenes which present themselves to Christian observation, each coming Sabbath, in almost every large town throughout the United Kingdom. With this vast amount of glaring immorality in operation, how is it possible that the labours of devoted ministers of God can be attended with success. Their several spheres of exertion are surrounded on all sides by obstacles of a discouraging and insurmountable nature; while temptations are unceasingly held out to allure the unsuspecting and unwary from the paths of righteousness, temperance and peace.

The habitual drunkard is seldom induced to enter the house of God. He refuses to hear the word of divine truth, opposed, as he is aware it is, to the soul-destroying vice of sensual indulgence. Thus the opportunity of admonishing the drunkard to escape from his horrible and degrading slavery seldom occurs, and the besotted wretch is too often left, even in his sober moments, pitied indeed, or justly despised, but unaided and unwarned, to abandon his guilty career.

The cause of religion and morality, however, does not suffer only from the personal degradation of these wretched victims of intemperance, whose individual cases, lamentable though they be, are in fact, less to be mourned over, than the destructive and pernicious influence which they exercise on society. Every drunkard or sensual character, paradoxical as it may appear, presents a dangerous source of temptation to the neighbourhood in which he resides, and in particular to the family among whom unhappily he is domesticated. The demoniacal sin of drunkenness produces effects characteristic of all sinful habits, having a tendency to draw others into the same melancholy and enslaving snares; hence every drunkard presents a

*Sunday in London 1833.

vortex of temptation to the more temperate members of society, who are placed within the sphere of its attraction, and in whom the grace of God does not prevail as the proper and efficacious antidote.

The example of the drunkard, is indeed, at all times calculated to excite the keenest feelings of reprobation and disgust, in the minds of reflecting and pious men; yet, in the present day, the vice of intemperance has become so familiar to the eye, that it appears to have lost, even to Christian contemplation, some of the most revolting shades of its awfully degrading character. If this were otherwise, it can scarcely be imagined that a vice so opposed in all its bearings to the principles and practices of Christianity, and so destructive to all moral respectability and worth, would be viewed with such apparent unconcern by the great majority of the Christian community.

The machinery now in operation to promote the sale of intoxicating liquors, and the consequences thereby resulting to the community are truly appalling, and are calculated to alarm the minds of all sincere followers of the self-denying Jesus. At a moderate calculation there are in England and Wales not less than 100,000 establishments for the sale of intoxicating liquors; a number, which amounts to nearly one to every twentieth house. In Ireland and Scotland, the number is often greater, and especially in the large towns. At a still more moderate calculation there are not less than 500,000 or 600,000 habitual drunkards in the United Kingdom, in addition to a larger proportion of those, who, by the habits and practices of the nation, are gradually preparing to fill up the ranks of those individuals, who, by intemperance, have been rapidly hastened, or are now on their way, to a premature grave, In addition to this awful array of evil, may be included an incalculable amount of injury, resulting from the pernicious effects of evil example, a subject which hereafter will receive more especial consideration.

In opposition to this vast amount of hostility to the spread of the Gospel, may be placed not more than 20,000 places of religious worship, and certainly not more thar 30,000 individuals exclusively engaged in the promulgation of divine truth. Hence it will be seen, that in the present day, the agents actively employed to promote the kingdom of Satan, are actually about four times more numerous, than the instruments by which salvation is announced to multitudes of perishing sinners. With these

facts in view, can it excite surprise that the labours of Christian ministers and professors have hitherto been so little commensurate with the results which might otherwise have been anticipated? The contributions also made in support of the Gospel are trifling, compared with the immense expenditure annually taking place on articles not only unnecessary to mankind, but in the highest degree pernicious, and destructive to their temporal and eternal

interests."

*

It has been recently calculated, that for the period of twenty years after the establishment of the Church Missionary Society, there was collected for it throughout the whole nation £250,000; while during the same period in this country there was no less a sum than £375,000,000 expended in the purchase of ardent spirits.

The following calculation is made by Professor Edgar, of Belfast:At a moderate calculation the cost every year to the parish of Belfast, for distilled spirits, is £54,500.

The cost of four large charitable institutions for the relief and support of the destitute poor of Belfast, does not amount to more than

£5,400 0

The support of ministers of religion, and other religious instructers in the same parish, does not exceed

4,500 0

The expense of the Royal College of which Dr. Edgar is one of the professors, to Government is

1,500 0

£11,400

Supposing that the whole of this sum was paid out of the expense of whiskey, there still remains 33,100.

Suppose that the parish contribute to Bible, Missionary, and other similar societies

1,100 0

The entire sum expended by the Sunday School Society on all Sunday Schools in Ireland, only amounts per year to

[ocr errors]

3,000 0

£4,100 0

Which being added to the former balance of £33,100, there yet remains out of the consumption of spirits in this single parish £29,000.

After bestowing a pension of £50 per annum to each spirit seller in Belfast, to prevent them from doing injury to their fellow-creatures, there would remain the sum of £12,500 every year, which would be sufficient to give 17 to every head of a family in the parish, for any useful or charitable purpose.-Parliamentary Report, p. 68.

In the year 1830, the aggregate sum given to all the religious institutions put together, averaged but sixpence a year for each individual! The bare duties on British and foreign spirits, amounted to "thirteen times as much!" -REV. E. BICKERSTETH.

Not more than half a million sterling, per annum, is contributed to the support of all the religious institutions of the present day, which are designed to make an aggressive movement upon the empire of darkness and of sin. This is about a sixth part of what the inhabitants of London expend in Gin; a sixteenth part of what Ireland expends in Whiskey; and not more than half of what the inhabitants of Edinburgh, Glasgow, and Greenock, alone, devote to the same hody and soul destroying poison !-Idolatry of Britain, by the REV. W. R. BAKER, p. 81.

During the last year, the free contributions to the Religious Tract Society, amounted to little more than half the sum which is sometimes expended in the fitting-up and embellishments of a single Gin-palace.-Idem, p. 81. Exclusive of legacies, the sum contributed to this excellent institution was 5,7411 4s. 6d.

H

The purity of the Christian church has too long been impaired by the Bacchanalian practices with which it has been associated, and the name of the Saviour brought into contempt by sensual and lukewarm professors.

The facts adduced in this branch of our inquiry, suffice to show that the use of intoxicating liquors has, in all ages of the world, been the greatest of all obstacles to the diffusion of Christianity. Every lawful means, therefore, of removing this Anti-Christian curse ought immediately to be adopted, and earnestly prosecuted by every sincere follower of the Lord Jesus Christ. Personal sacrifice, if required, should be brought to bear on this all-important question. The important duty of example among Christians carries with it immense responsibility; and it is to this, in conjunction with their preceptive exhortations and authoritative influence, in subservience to the divine blessing, that the success of this great enterprise must be indebted, if it should ever accomplish its glorious object.*

* John Dunlop, Esq. author of the "Compulsory Drinking Usages of Great Britain," in a letter to Mr. Delavan, dated London, Feb. 20, 1840, says: "We think that SEVENTY THOUSAND in our three kingdoms have been guided by tee-totalism into the sound of the Gospel, and have become real Christians; and this, besides, of course, the hundreds of thousands that have attained physical peace and comfort." The crowning glory of the temperance reform, is seen in removing the most powerful obstacles in the way of the Gospel, and preparing the mind for the reception of the truth.AM. ED

CHAPTER V.

THE EVIL EFFECTS OF INTEMPERANCE CONSIDERED IN A NATIONAL POINT OF VIEW.

"All the crimes on the earth do not destroy so many of the human race, nor alienate so much property as drunkenness."-LORD BACON.

"Drunkenness tends to the overthrow of many good arts and manual trades, the disabling of divers workmen, and the impoverishing of many good subjects."-Preamble to the English Statute, 4 Jac. i. c. 5.

NATURE has implanted in the breast of all men an affection for the land of their birth. Everything therefore which tends to increase the welfare and happiness of nations, has peculiar claims upon the attention of the philanthropist. The remote causes of national degeneration are so minute and unobvious, as generally to elude observation. Hence, the most effectual means of reformation have, unfortunately, too often been unseen or neglected.

It is to be feared, that, in the present day, vice, in all its varied forms has become so familiar to Christian observation, as to be viewed with far too little apprehension and alarm. To this source may be ascribed the apathy which is manifested to those lamentable evils, which arise from the use of intoxicating liquors. Every man, reflecting on intemperance, must deplore its consequences. The cause

or causes, however, by which this humiliating vice is produced and cherished are, unfortunately, overlooked, and in a great degree, encouraged. The custom of drinking is so generally and so intimately interwoven with the social habits of life, that few persons entirely escape from its contaminating influence. All national evils originate in individual practice, and the extension of its influence and example. The minute, or solitary evil gradually multiplies and accumulates, until it becomes a gigantic and widespreading vice. Thus, in an especial manner, has it been with intemperance, which has been characterized in every age, by its insidious and progressive advances.

« ПредишнаНапред »