Polynesian., 1850-11-02

largest portion oil the above expenditure has
been on the part of those who could leas
afford it, namely the working classes; for al
least fwo-thIrds of the drink manufactured in
the United Kingdom is for their use; and we
cannot fail to see in the facts we have stated
still deeper cause for -lamentation and dis
may. What hope is there for a people who
abandon themselves to SO extensive a use o
Intoxicating drink? Such is the question
that at once presents itself with appalling
force to the sphilanthropic mind.
i sDrink destroys mans se,frespect, eats
away his moral character, makes him power.
less to resist the insi0ious approaches of vice,
| saps the foundation Of his spiritual being,
ruins his health, brutahzes his intellect, i'm
poverishes his family, desolates his home,
/ and spreads moral pestilence throughout
society,"
| ''The money now spent by us in drinking
might found and maintain schools in every
parish, and college in every county, and it
would leave surplus, sufficient TO provide
public libraries for the free use of the whole
population.
''Or, employed in another direction, it
would enable most working men to invest
themselves with the electoral franchise, to
surance office, and to provide for the COM
Portable maintenance now, as well as in time
coming, for themselves, their wives, and their
families.
The time which many men spend in drink
ing, would, if better employed, enable them
to master the entire realm Of knowledge, to
read every known tongue, to procure and
study every accessible book.
'The abolition Of the custom Of drinking
intoxicating drinks, would empty our gaols,
! and peniteniiaries, diminish our poor-rates,
! fill our Churches, schools and mechanic
institutes, and effect a moral and religious
improvement Of the grandest character. 1t
would make homes happier, the people wiser,
and the world better in all respects.
Although drunkenness is graduallysdim-
inishing in this country with the progress of
intelligence, (as shown in recent article Of
this journal), still great deal remains TO be
done in this wide field Of improvement.
There is no field of philanthropic labor we
know Of that will yield more abundant fruits
than this. There is room enough for all ac-
tivities here. Those who take part in this
great movement must aim at the habit, and
begin at the beginning: The dimnutive chain
of habit, says DR.. johnson, lis scarcely hea-
Wy enough to be felt, till it IS too strong to
be broken. We must begin with children.
Abstinence from drink ought to be taught in
all our schools, in all our churches, by all
our teachers. II ought to be taught in all
our homes, by fathers and mothers. And
example will teach more forcibly than any
words can do.
''When the habit is formed, comparatively
little can be done. Yet here too there is
room for activity and hope of success The
teetotalers have shown what is to be accom-
plished by well-directed efforts, in the host
of men they have made and kept sober, and
in the thousands of drunkards they have Ie-
claimed. The teetotal missionary is one of
the most beneficial workers Of the age; and
let no one discourage his noble efforts to re-
claim the erring and the lost. There is really
in politics no more vital question than this
in physiology, none more important as re-
CARDS our sanitary well being; in morals and
religion, none more urgent as concerns the
real virtue and happiness of our race. |
Therefore, all who desire purer morality.
a more spiritual religion, and more happy |
social state, must fervently wish the temper
ance laborers God speed.
WINE AS DAILY BEvERAGE.-sTRANGE |
INFATUATIoN.-Win and all alcoholic IL !
quors are among the forbidden things at the
table For man who has appetite enough
to eat dinner Of fish, flesh, fowl and sweets, |
to add to these stimuIants four or five glasses
of wine, day after day, is one of the most
preposterous conventionalities that social ex-
ever invented. And yet to see
the solemn regularity with which it is done,
one might fancy it was an act Of superlative
wisdom, instead Of the dull routine OF an abb
surd and injurious custom.
Put it in this way y;-ether the stomach
has appetite, and does not require the stimu-
lus of alcohol to make it digest; or it has no.
appetite, and should not have food put into
It to digest.
Where then is the necessity for the daily
wine bibbing, Besides, the stomach will
only bear a certain amount of stimulation,
and if it receives it from the wine it is un-
able to receive it from the food also; so that
he digestion Of the latter is materially inter-
ered with by the former, and the appetite
for the stimulus Of ailment diminished in pro-
portion as that of alcohol is applied. But it
IS an old tale to repeat the numerous argu-
nents against a foolish cnstom, for which
ucTC - uut ouS al " 70 SoSeSs''
Of, one thing l am convinced, THAT it Is
ess injurious to drink bottle of wine once
l week. and be sick after it, than to keep up
, slow smouldering irritation of the stomach,
BY two glasses Of the same wine taken with
stupid precision every day when the cloth
8 removed" /"
Ii such is my creed regarding vinous lq-
lors for those who are in apparent health,
he reasons for avoiding it in those whose
,iscera are the focus Of irritation, as in
chronic diseases, will be potent, and need
lot be detailed. would not let the opPor-
unity pass of expressing my belief in the
infinitely superior wisdom Of abstinence from
llcoholic liquors under the ordinary c'rcum-
tances Of health and disease. Bot we're the
:ase one of extreme exhaustion from loss oil
Hood, or any other deplesory cause, or from
any wine or spirit that was near
.e,. thev are strictly speaking, medicinal |