Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1874-08-14
rt.,rrEEtNcE >cE,rs.

Oar ancestors could without any dllhculty
fnl q place 10 we; their whistles. The grand
iarv of Philadelphia declared in l74+ that
an the houses in the city nearly one in
every ten sid drink John Adams, refer
ring To Pownall's remark about every other
house being tavern. SAYS that country
towns within h.- observation had at least a
& zen taye-n- and retailers oi intoxicating
liquors. TIE keepers of these places hat Il
great influence M elections. q tact DE regrets
une Of the Bland letters. written from Nir-
ciuil in zoo, tells Us that Nr. Binni~ter
has been very much engaged. ever since
;le dissolution of the assembly. in Swillins
the planters with humho (rum). and ! dare
say from the present prospect will be elected
a burgess. About tie middle of the centu-
~ complaint was made that Harvard under
graduates were in the increasing habit Of
-.lrsouentinr tavern> and ale-hau-e> this
was before the college was pleasantly and
conveniently Situated IN Parkcr- iar-room
and also of using wine, beer. and distilled
liquors in their rooms. They shared, too,
in another prevalent fault Of the time. that
Is. "proiane cur-ing and swearing.
I have not one word To say against the in
diyilualS engaged in the liquor traffic. They
have marked out course in life for them
selves. The time has gone by for denounc-
in., them. | have not I word to say 70 the
unfortunate man whose appetite for strong
drink i ~ exacting that he i nuisance
and an evil to himself and everybody else &.
| have not a word to say to the advocates of
license in or out of the Legislature. have
not n word TO say to the counsel who have
been retained to discover impericctlonS in
this law. But have this To say to those
citizens who withhold their moral support ::
Moral suaSion has been tried. The license
system has been tried, and | was disposed to
see it tried when it was last re>Orted to in
this State. But surely there never was 4
Greater abortion than this same license ex-
periment. make no distinction between
this law and other laws Public sentiment
j. desirable no doubt for the enforcement OF
al laws, but it matters not to me, aS the
chief magistrateOf this State, whether public
sentiment believes in this law or not While
il IS the law Of the land, 80 far as God gives
me strength to do it, | shall execute it. The
same responsibility rests upon You aS upon
me. therefore call upon you To assist me
and the other State authorities in the en-
f,rcement 'of this law.-Gor. Horard, Of
Rhode ISland
Things are undeniably bad as regards the
vicious indulgence in stimulants. and seem
ingly the worse they grow as the means of
expenditure become more plentiful, and the
more idle time Is at disposal. But in such
indulgence there Is no particular novelty
Rxcesses in gin-drinking became alarmingly
prevalent in England about l13j. followed
bv aronized poverty and wretchednesS- Lis
ten to what Smollett says of the period :;
THE populace of London were sunk into the
most brutal degeneracy by drinking to cx-
cess the pernicicus spirit called gin, which
was sold so cheap that the lowest class of
the people could afford to indulge themselves
in one continued state of intoxicatiOn, to the
destruction of all morals and order. Such
shameful degree Of prohigaey prevailed that
the retailers of this poisonous compound
set up painted boards in public. inviting
people to be drunk for the small expense of
penny; assuring them that they might be
dead drunk for two pence, and have straw
for nothing. They accordingly provided eel
lars and places strewed with straw, to which
thew conveyed those wretehes who were
overwhelmed with intoxication. In these
dismal cayerns they lay until they recovered
some use of their faculties, and then they
had recourse to the same mischieyous potion;
thus consuming their health and running
their families, in hideous receptacles OF vice,
resounding with riot and execration. -
ChdnJerS's Journal.