Smyrna times., 1855-04-11
Intemperance in England.

In a recent issue of our paper, says the Bos-
ton Telegraph, we referred TO an article in the
North British Repiew on the question of" How
to stop Drunkenness" and stated some of the
causes why England was behind us in the mat
ter of temperance reform. We shall now give
our readers some statements from the Reuiew's
article. ! 80 ..-|F. .-.-t--
We have before remarked that the English
were fully awake TO the evil of intemperance
Here is strong testimony -" Startling as it
may appear, it is the truth, that the destruction
ofhumsn life and the waste of national wealth,
which must arise from this tremendous Rus
sian War, are outrun every year by the devas-
tation caused by national drunkenness. Nav.
add together all the miseries generated in our
times by war, famine and pestlence, the three
great scourges of mankind, and they do not ex-
coed those that spring from this one calamity"
Again, the ReuieW remarks -" But the TACT
is, that hundreds of thousands of our country
men are daily sinking themselves into deeper
misery; destroying their health, peace of mind
domestic comfort and usefulness and running
every faculty of mind and body, from indul-
g:nce in this propensity. And then what IN l.
tltudes do these suicides drag down along with
them! 1t would not be loo much to say, that
there are at this moment huff million homes
in the United Kingdom. where home happiness
Is never felt. owing to this caus alone; where
the wives are broken-hearted, and the children
are brought up in misery" Stronger testimony
than this to the social CALAMITY resulting from
Inc rum traffic cannot be adduced
Our readers probably do not need any addi-
tional testimony than that which their own en-
perience has furnished, as TO the connection be-
tween drinking and crime. But we quote to
SHOW that our transatlantic brethren have had a
similar experience:-'' Drink is the great pa
rent of crime. One of the witnesses before
the Conmittee of the House of Commons states
that he went through the New Prison at Man
chester (it contained $50 crlminals) with
Thomas Wright, the prison phiIanthropi,t. 81
spent an entire day." he says, " in speaking
with the prisoners, aud in every case, without
exception, drinking i0GS The cause of thei,
crime One of the Judges stated some time
ago, at the Circuit Court in Glasgow, that every
evi seemed to begin and end whiskey. Judge
Ersklne declared at the Salisbury Assizes, il
1S44, that ninety-nine cases out OF every hun
dred arose from stronT drink. The Admiral O
the Mediterranean feet has stated, that sine,
the allowance of spirits was reduced to one
quarter of the old amount, the number of pun
ishments had fallen more than 20 per cent"
1t is singular that after such clear-sighte,
testimony as this, the remedy proposed shou
be so Inefficient They admit that the traffi
Is an Upas tree, injecting with death the mora
atmosphere OF the nation, and then propose I
trim its branches little. However, we Wi
not anticipate, as this is part Of the subject "
intend take up by and by. The reviewer prc
ceeds to remark that "not only does this vic
produce all kinds of positive mischief but
also has negative effect of great importaLc,
IL is the mightiest of all the forces that clo
the progress Of good. 1t is in vain that ever
engine is set to work that philanthropy can d,
wise, when those whom We seek to benefit al
tampering with their faculties of reason an
WILL" The struggle of the school. and n
library, and the church, all united against III
beer-shop and the gin-palace. is hut one deve
opment of the war between heaven and hell
We are apt to cOn6ne our thoughts to the Dos
tive evils Of intemperance, but its negati,
power alluded to above, is a very striking vie
of the subject. The amount of good which tn
traffic fetters and renders poweress is incalc
liable. The rumseler complains because v
Interfere with bis business; but he is inter:
ring with the labors OF faithful ministers al
earnest philanthroplsts. Why should a m,
spend his life in hard labors for the rood of /
feiiow-men, aud then be robbed of the possb
results of such labor, by the rumselcrl
-sAlludlng tc another topic, the reviewer say
"The alarming amount Of madness in the VI
ted Kingdom, is well known to be in great pa
owing to the abuse of fermented LIQUORS.
Lord SALISBURY states that having been sixtc
years chairm1n of the Lunacy Commission,
has ascertalned that no less than three-6tths
the cases of insanity, bo; n here and in Amer
are from this cause. After declaring III
"were 1t not for this one cause pauperism Won
he nearly extinguishcd in England" and q,
ting the testimony Of the dlstngu:she /
C'5r. r.".st is To the fearful amount and I
kinds OF diseases it producers, the reviewer II,
sums up his estimate of the evil:
"Looklng, then, at the manifold aud fripbt
evils that spring from drunkenness, we tbi
we are justified in saying that il is the m,
dreadful OF all the ills that aiflict the 4rit,
isles Weare convinced, that if a statesm
who heartily wished TO do the utmost possiI
good to his country, were thoughtfuIly 20
qaire, which of the topics of the day desery
the most intense force of his attention, the tr
rspiy-=the reply which would be exacied
Northumberland be, that he should sim
the means by which this worst of plaques G.
be7stayed.. The intellectual, the moral. n,
the religious welfare of our neoule. ,hai. -