Richmond daily times. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1853, 1852-02-19
GEAR KNTELs NOE.

tlonably the besetting sin of our land. It may
with truthbe said to be the fruitful source of all
crime as it certainly is the parent of licentous-
mess, poverty, disease and death. Its baneful
influence, too, unfortunately for society, is not
confined to the novels of the depraved, the vi
cious, the ignorant and the debauched; on the
contrary, it invades alike the habitations of the
proud and wealthy, the poor and lowly. It en-
tiers the mansion of the wealthy, squanders the
princely patrimony of its occupant, robs him of
sensibility as well as health hastens him to an
untimely grave, and leaves his offspring beggars!
1t invades the peaceful and happy cottage-con-
verts the industrious and frugal husband into an
idler, spendthrift, vagabond causes his chill
dren to be reared in ignorance and vice, and thus
they are rendered proper subjects for our jails
and penitentiares. 1t levels genius to the stand
ard of the brute creation, blunts all the finer
sensibilities OF our nature, and renders man
A MONSTER These are some of the legitimate
fruits of though they are by no
means all.
| That drunkenness is an evil-nay, crime
we presume few will deny. Even the most
confirmed topper will acknowledge it to be a sad
infrmty but still it is one from which he will
not cannot flee. Statistics on this subject
force upon us the unwecome fact that larger
capita in the United States, than in any other
country in the world. These statistics are abb
olutely appalling, land almost inclnes the devotee
of Temperance to believe that there exists great
| danger OF our becoming at no very remote day
a nation of DrWnkdrds. The alarming extent
to which intoxicating beverages were used in
this country, did not escape the keen observa-
ton of Father Mathew, whilst on his pilgrim
age through the land; and ON his return to Cork
we find him saying, in public address, that af-
ter residence of thirty years in Cork, he did
not believe he could anywhere find more har-
rowing illustrations of the ruin and calamity
which drunkenness produced, until he had uisit-
ed america. "There" he remarked "the
condition of the drunken emigrant is most for
lorn" After the scenes he had witnessed in
this country, he gives it his opinion, that with
la full knowledge of the poverty of the MAORI
Ity of his unfortunate countrymen, he aDould
earnestly recommend them to struggle in their ma
the land, rather than expose themselves to the
dangers that await them in the United States.
What commentary upon the sobriety of the
people of the United States
In the city of Philadelphia we believe, Drum
kenness has been classed as disease, and infirm-
aries have been spoken of as proper for its treat
ment. If not itself disease, it is unquestiona
bly, the fruitful source of disease and we are
quite sure every philanthropist throughout the
Union would hail with unalloyed satisfaction the
establishment of any system or institution which
would have tendency to eradicate this evil from
the land. Some of the Northern States have
attempted by Legislative enactment to stay the
tide of drunkenness, but we fear these attempts
will only aggravate the evil. The most sensi-
Bile movement we have yet seen on the subject,
has recently originated in the Senate of Louis
iana-a bill having been introduced into that
body which proposes to place habitual drunk
ards In the same position, in regard to the man
agement OF their property and their family af
fairs, as that which the law assigns to lunatics
and minors. They are to have curators, with
powers of administration they are to be inca
pabe of sueing or being sued in their own
names; they cannot be members of corpora
ton, not executors nor administrators of an es-
tate.
The passage of this bill may protect society
from the effects of some of the indiscretions of
the drunkard, but it will not exert the slightest
influence over his habits. Perhaps the Trainer
of the bill regards all efforts to reform con-
firmed inebriate as futile if SO, his conclusions
are certainly at war with experience, here and
elsewhere. The Temperance Societies have
reclaimed many confirmed drunkards and are.
we trust, destined to reclaim many more. But
the labor of accomplishing this great moral re-
form ought not to rest solely with them. 9th
err means must be resorted to to rid society of
of the greatest scourges that has ever aff1ic-
ted it.
Few can properly appreciate the extent to
which this evil prevails in our very midst, and
no one can estimate its i'll effects upon the
servile population of the city.
A melancholy instance of the horrible effects
resulting from the too free use of intoxicating
drinks, was presented again yesterday at the
Mayors Court. A lad-a mere stripping, about
16 years of age-was brought up from the
cage, where he had been lodged by the watch
men the previous night. Upon being arraigned
before his Honor, the officer stated his name to
be Thomas Williams, anapprentice tot the Paint
ing business, and that he stood charged with
being found in the street the previous night stu
pidly drunk. Upon reference to the record, the
Mayor found the lad had been once before ar
ralgned on similar charge; so he had by re-
peatlng the offence placed himself beyond the
pale OF forgiveness. But his Honour is a hu-
name gentleman, always disposed to lean to the
side of Mercy; he did not feel disposed to COM
init the unfortunate lad to prison. where he
would be forced to consort with the vilest male
factors and from whence he would emerge, at
the expiration of his probationary term, still
deeper dyedin sin He reflected amoment, and
then asked If there We're no extenuating circum-
stances connected with the case. The officer
replied in the negative; the boy had been found
hopelessly drunk and asleep. in the public
streets. His Honour was about to make the
fatal entry which would consign the lad to pri-
son, when the officer remarked that he had
known the boy some time-that he was poor
orphan, without relatives or friends in the city
and that beyond the unfortunate habit of get
ting drunk occasionally he had understood he
bore an excellent character. This sufficed; the
feelings of the man obtained the mastery over
those of the Magistrate. With true Christian
charity, his Honour determined to try him
once more. He thereupon called the lad to
him. and after admonishing him of the fate
which inevitably awaited the drunkard, told him
to go and sin no more. May the poor unfor-
tunate lad profit by the clemency of the May
or!