The National Register.
London, England, 1811-06-30 00:00:00

E NATIONAL Ii

TEMPERANCE.

reepermnce is that economy of our passions, appetiteS, and
inclinations, which is requisite to keep the bod 7 in health, and
the mind in a state of action ; aMd, from a neglect of this virtue,

proceed half the miseries of Eft!. A temperate habit can only be
obtainid by saber and regular refl..:c:ion, and a perpetual atten-
tion to the first motions or inci:ements cf the passions ; regulat-
ing then► by the standard of reason, and preventing their acti-
vity from degenerating into disorder. Temperance, considered
either religiously or plailosophically, is so essential to virtue, that
it appears to be the parent of the other Cardinal v'rtues ; for
the man who keeps his desires under the guidance of this beau-
tiful quality must be too reasonable to be unjust, must have
too much equanimity to become impudent, and must possess too

cool and collected a mind to he betrayed by any unforeseen ca-
lamity into a pusillanimous want of Fortitude; and he who con-
scientiously regulates his own desires (as a victory over one's own
self is accounted the noblest) has, generally, too heroic a spirit

not to feel a pleasure in making others happy, and to rejoice in
the proper exercises of Charity.

Temperance, simply defined, is merely avoiding excess, a
thing easy to be understood, but, it should seem, not so easy to
practice. Rank, fortune, situation, habit of mind and of body,
aker the nature of Temperance so much in different persons, that
it is almost impossible to lay down general rules for it ; but any
man, by considering his own particular state, may easily frame
rules for himself. Confirming our minds in virtuous habits
must be our first care, and any indulgence that may enervate the
mind is Lth.mperance ; our second care must be the health of the
body, so requisite for the proper exercise of the mind, and of
course, any enjoyment that injures that, is a breach of Temper-
ance. Our next corisiclerationsanust be .our rank, fortune, and
situation in life : and to direct all our indulgencies by what we
can afford, and what we should think reasonable in another upon
a par with ourselves. What is Temperance in a man of rank or
fortune may be unbounded excess in an inferior character, and
what would be Temperance in the lower orders, would appear
parsimony and selfishness in th !higher. To eat, drink, or sleep,
beyond what is necessary for the health of the body; to take plea-
sure beyond what is necessary for the proper relaxation of the
mind, or of a nature than may be lialile to vitiate the mind; to
dress, or make what is called an appearance from the vain prin-
ciple of distinction, or the hope of admiration, are certain
breaches of this virtue : and in rega: d to the nature of all these
enjoyments, a due consideration must be made of our fortune
and situation. Even exercise and in stry, tko-e necessary
of health and virtue, must have their limit: ; tan great an indul-
gence of the first may produce idleness ; and if the latter is at-
tended with unnecessary care and anxiety, then it is likely to ge-
nerate covetousness and a want of social ail...lion. In short, all
extremes ought to he avoided, for all extremes are vicious, and
our best affections must be regulated by Terryerance, I,st they
betray us into weakness and dotage.

These are said to be hard times, perhaps they are, but I will
,venture to assert, and I imagine I am nut singular io my opinion,
that our Intemperance is the principle, if not the only C3113C of
our complaint. Let any considerate perscn take a view of the
manners of the age (and I am not one of those crows who are
for drawing comparisons with all former ages to the detriment
of this) but let any one, I say, dispa-sionately survey our man-
ners, and then say honestly whether they are not the source of
the evils we complain of—Luxury is our bane; 'tis that which
drains our purses, enervates our minds, and undermines that
blessed liberty so much our boast, and so littk the object of our
gratitude; 'tis that which, as the parent of idleness, fills our
streets with beggars and prostitutes, our Gazettes with bankrupt-
cies, and our jails with debtors and criminals. It is an evil that
pervades all ranks, and levels all distinctions. We are more
anxious-to see our children accompliJavel than wise; shining than

good ; and what is the event. ? They won learn to deipise those
they ought to reverence, and self-willed to seek their own de-
struc:i:in. Effeminacy takes place of delicacy, false shame of
modest, hypocrisy of candour, and nieritricious vanity of grate-
ful ingenuousness. This may be called the cant of a Cynic, but
it is Laet th it cannot be coetratlictett The exercise of Tz nay leeice
can June remedy this evil; let the parents practice that, and
their children and dependents will follow their example; luxury
will decliee, liberty improve, order be restored, and virtue tri-
umph ; the hardships of the times will he relieved by the appro-
priation to our wants of what is consumed by our vanities ; and
we shall, I doubt not, find a good surplus to enable us to contri-
bute our proportion, according to our relative situations, towards
opposing the implacable enemy of all liberty, whom Providence
has permitted for some wise purpose, awhile to destroy the
peace and comfort of Europe, without feeling the burthen ; and
here let me remark, as this is an age boasting patriotism, that be
is the only patriot, who in the situation appointed him, exerts
himself for the improvement of his own mind, and of those com-
mitted to his charge ; who, in the circle wherein he moves, en-
deavours to set a strict example of justice, temperance, prudeece,
fortitude, and charity; who grounds all his reasons on the profes-
sion of religion, and his hopes on the practice of it ; who unites
self-love with social, and rigid honesty with good-nature. We
boast of taste, but taste is a grace that can only emanate from
Temperance ; let us practise that, and elegance and virtue w:11
go hand in hand ; physicians may take their own physic ; lawyers
be nonsuited; our jails be emptied; our bankrupt Gazettes prove
maiden ones; our highways be as .afe as our public streets; our
public streets preSent no object to raise the blush of modesty, or
the artfully raised commisseration of the perambulator; our
workhouses become uninhabited, and our theatres present fur
our entertainment nothing but the efforts of genius, regulated by
the standard of g sod-sense, nature, and chastity; our churches
will be frequented from holiness more than habit ; our social in-
tercourses become really " the feast of reason and the flow .saf
soul ;" our firesides what they ought to be, terrestrial Paradises;
and in short our country become es much the object of the imi-
tation of the world as it is of their envy.
Jeer. 23, 1311. A IdAYMAN.