The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1870-05-25
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From Blackwoods Magazine.l
Puritanism i'm England.


and to total abstinence from fer /
mented liquors, both of which it is sought !
to enforce by the action of the Legislature /
and the hand of the civil magistrate
There are, 1t is true, some minor armies of ]
coercion IN the field. One of these hates
tobacco smoke as much as others dislike |
Sunday recreation, and another would |
wage as fierce a warfare against the con-
sumption of animal food as their fellow !
mtolerants wage against the abuse ""d |
even the use, of wine, beer and spir i
But the anti-nicotian crusaders, and more
especially, the vegetarians, who see moth
ing but a vice in beef and mutton, and
nothing but virtue in cabbage and pota-
toes, are in such woeful minorities, and so
little able to make head against "Le 7-idi-
cltLe qlti tlte." as scarcely to need even this
passing notice of their little eccentricities.
The Blue Law Sabbatarians and Total
Abstalners are, however, a much more
formidable class. They have got law and
custom partially on their side, and are
continually striving to make the law more
blue, and the custom more imperative In
the case of Sabbath observance; the very
name of which is Jewish and not Chris
tian, it is the old Puritanic idea revived
in non-Puritanie days, and the old Puri-
tanic spirit waxing fierce to wrath-a
spirit that, not contented with the liberty
to do as it pleases in the matter in dispute
between itself and society, makes itself
miserable because it cannot compel others
to wear sackcloth who would prefer fine
linen, or to eat thistle and hay when bread
and grapes would be more agreeable The
ultra-Sabbatarians talk and act as if they
would, if they could, prevent the sun
from shining. the birds from singing, and
the streams from flowing, on their favor
ite day. But failing the power to stop
the great time piece Of nature altogether,
they do their best to convert the DAY,
which should be one of peace on earth,
good will to men, rest from unnecessary
toll, and innocent enjoyment of Gods
beautiful world, into day of gloom, acer-
bity and bitterness, and shut up the poor
and the suffering in the fetid alleys and
pestilent lanes of over crowded cities,
rather than allow railway train to start
upon the land, or steamer to run upon
the rivers, to convey them to the fresh
air that our modern civilization denies
them IN their homes. Public opinion,
however, within the last few years, has
ceased to favor the "bltter" observance of
the Sabbath, and to content itself with
striving for the better observance Of
time, if measured by the progress of tho't
rather than by years, has passed since the
days, at the beginning Of the present cen
tury, when a magistrate of Glasgow was
fined for walking on the Green" on the
Sabbath" with some London visitors, and
| showing them the lions of the city, in
stead Of going quietly to the kirk. The
English speaking race has, ever since the
Reformation, been greatly inclined to fa-
vor Blue legislation on the subject of the
| day of rest, but the Blueness is no longer
so Blue as it used b be, and has received
| such tinge of yellow sunlight, that YER
dure of increased life and Joy has been the
result of the admixture Yet the old in
tolerance dies hard, and though the law
| allows the classes who have no day to call
| their own but one in seven to look at the
pictures in Hampton Court Palace on
Sunday, it will not allow them to look at
the better picture belonging to the nation
IN the National Gallery, or the wonders 0!
art and nature in the British Museum
| The distinction partakes far too much o.
the old Blue spirit to be logically. or ever
morally. defensible, yet the ultra Sabbatar
ians seem willing to fight to the deatl
rather than make this small concession t;
the spirit of the age
But while the Sabbatarians are growing
weak in numbers, though pugnacious a.
ever in temper, the Total Abstainers, tn,
friends of Permissive Compulsion in tht
matter of the poor mans drink, are grow
ing numerically strong and beseiging tn
doors of Parliament with their Main,
Liquor Laws and the Licensing Bills
They advocate such measures as these
not for the sake of making US all temper
ate, which is a consummation very de
voutly to be wished, if law could bring
about, but for the sake of preventing al
but those prosperous people who ca
stock their wine cellars at will, from pro
= curing any drink but water, not only o.
Sunday, bat every day of the week, if
majority Of hoHseholders and rate payers
composed of the comparatively rich an
, comfortable, shall in any city, borough c
town, take it into their heads that nobod
shall procure wine, beer or spirits With
the limits of the same, who cannot fc
: lack of money and household conYenienc
! buy their liquor by wholesale and store
for daily use.
Is it right to deprive poor people
their beer? is an old and very Pertiner
question on a very sore subject. Som
/ we'll meaning philosophers, who, perhap
; drink Chateau Margaux, Veuve Cicquo
! or old Port, answer eyes because II
poor never know when they have enougl
and are not to be safely trusted with Il
= means of intoxication." Othel philos'
y pliers, who perhaps reconcile practice wit
= theory, and confne their potations to t.
,, or water, also reply IN the affirmative, b.
: bacause, with their strong faith of Zealot
4 they are intoleFant Of all difference
y opinion, and would without hesitanc
u enforce by the strong arm of authorit
i wherever they failed to persuade. b
u the people most interested-the multituC
g of hard working men and women, not o.
d u " in Great britain, but in all northel
- eountries-indignantl deny the right
d Governments, municipal or general, or
&c any body of their fellow citizens to dicta
:. to them what they shall eat or drink,
- what they shall avoid. They insist tn
~ beer is necessary to their health, not on
u as a wholesome stimulant, but as an art
Gle of diet and as medical science, as w
as experience, proves that it is the abu
and not the use of stimulating liquors tn
~ does the mischief, the poor claim tn
&c they have as much legal and moral rig
u as the rich to drink what they can affol
in such quantities as suits their heal
!, and fancy-paying the penalty of exec
. exactly as the rich do, and which outrag
ie nature exacts with merciless severity.
~ ~ The truth is, that the apostolic recomme
ie dation "Let every man be fully persu
ded in his own mind" applies as thC
y aughly to this question as to all oth
" y points of social or religious practice a
u belief in a land of civil and religious Ii
erty, andis not to be weakened IN its r
evancy or authority by the assertion tf
drunkenness is an evil or a crime frC
which the mass of mankind requires to
IT- guarded. Gluttony is an evil, if no
crime. but who would make a Blue Ii
ne against over indulgence in turtle or vel
is son, or any other edible that gourmar
3i3 3ES or gourmets love? Habitual uncleau
a ness and flthiness of person is an Offer
al of the Individual against himself as druI
nc. enpess is. 1t ia also an offence agail
ar; society, inasmuch as it may tend to spre
Wo IEo contagious diseases, but are we to hav
md Blue Law against dirt on the person, a
g compel every man to bathe himself eve
tir, day, or to be thrown into tank or a r
He er by the police in the interest of pull
ns ~ safety? To set forth all these thing.
fly but to slay the slam. We all know tn
ine 3pi and we all deplore them. and if the to
les abstainer pins us in a corner, and sho
Ids; in our ears that drunkenness is an imp