The Washington herald., 1907-12-01
DRINKINGIN THEPAST
Effort to Make District Dry
Recalls Days Of Old.
ENGLISH LEARNED IN HOLLAND
Wars In the Low Countries Taught
Once-temperatc Nations 10 De-
AIexnnder's Crime while Drunk,
and ATTEMPT ut Suicide.

during the last year been discussed more
| seriously and thoroughly. in the press. on
the platform. and in the pulpit than the
question OF abolishing the liquor traffic or
/ restraining il TO less menaclng proper
lions The prohibition forces are resolved
TO continue the fight. and have united TO
/ ask Congress. converting AT Washington
tomorrow. TO pass laws which viii place
the District of Columbia in the prohibi-
ton column.
! How the drink evil was regarded by
statesmen and authors Of former years
may be OF particular interest az this time.
! Speaking of drinking customs i'm England
/ Camden says that the English, in their
long wars i'm the Netherlands. first learnt
to drown themselves with immoderate
drinking, and by drinking others healths
/ 10 impair their own. OF all the Northern
nations, they had been before this most
commended for their sObriety And the
| historian adds that the vice had So diff
/ fused itself over the nation that i'm our
/ days it was first restrained 10y severe
/ laws" Tom Nash a wit OF the reign OF
| Elizabeth. had detected the same origin,
and says: 'Superhuity in drink is a sin
/ that ever since We have mixed ourselves
with the Low Countries. is counted hon
orable: but before We knew their lingev-
/ ing wars. was held in that highest degree
! of hatred that might be Then. If We had
! seen "A man go wallowinE i'm the street or
/ lay sleeping under the board. we should
/ have spat at him and warned all our
/ friends ont OF his company. Now. ne is
nobody that cannot drink 'supernagulum.
/ 'carousc' rhe hunters hope: 'quaff ipse
/ freze crosse; with 'healths. gloves.
humps. frolickes. and a thousand such
domiueering inventions
Drink and StatesmanShIp.
\ century ago France and England
were ruled by statesmen whose mental
abilities were only equaIed by their
Herculean capacity for absorbing alco-
hoic drink Lord Carteret. according 20
Carlyle. was known chiefly by occa-
sional bursts OF strong, rugged speech
which came from him. and a good deal o:
wine taken into him." Charles Towns
. bend is best known by the champagne
speech" which Horace Walpole has re-
ported for the amusement of posterity.
! William Pitt. the first earl Of Chatham.
whose mastery genius in a few short
years made England an empire. was
wholly himself only when sharp iii
Of govt had driven the fumes OF port and
claret from his brain" Ills famous son
who added new luster u the name Of
William Pitt, INDUCED I'm a mad escapade
after a dinner with JenkinsOn. Earl Of
Liverpool. and Dundas. Riding back %
London late at night they saw an open
tollgate, and. thinking that il would be a
capital joke to ride through it without
paying. they spurred their horses and
dashed By the dollhouse The gatekeeper.
thinking they were highwaymeu shot his
musl1et after them This incident found
q place in THE Rosciad' in the following
lines
Pitt. wandering darkling DER the plain.
Us reason drowned in Jcnkinsons champagne
\ rustic's hand. but righteous Fate Withst0od.
Had shed premier's for a robbers blood
Lord lie Dispenser, another statesman
OF the Georgian era. is described by his
friend and companion. John Wilkes. as
one who from puZzling all hk life AT
tavern bills, was called by Lord Butte TO
administer the finances OF kingdom
above one hundred millions pounds IN
debt Rigby a wine-drinlSing place
hunter, whose name was placed in the
stocks by Junius and other writers Of
that age. fixed his residence among the
Swamps Of Essex in order that DE might
have an excuse for using brandy - the
rest or THE world used small beer
Fox and Weymouth TOpers.
Charles Fox. the first liberal statesman
Of the modern school, wrote, while stay
ing in Paris, TO a friend in London:
4 supped last night with LaUZun, Fitz-
james, and others, at what they call a
club a TanGlais The cham
payne and tokay were excellent: not
withstanding the fools made du ponche
with bad rum" Lord Weymouth Secre-
tary OF state under George III, was a
celebrated drunkard OF him Junius
wrote: He must have bread. my lord;
or. rather. he must have wine" In
Trevelyans History of Charles James
Fox" this lord is said. while In office,
10 have still boozed til daylight, and
dOzed i'm the afternoon" Horace Wal
pole apparently was sOrely hurt by Wey-
mouths success. IF I paid nobody" ne
scolded. "and went drunk to bed every
morning at 6. I might expect to be called
out of bed by two in the afternoon to
save the nation and govern the House of
Lords by two or three sentences as pro-
found and short as the proverbs of Solo
mon"
The Earl Of Sandwich. whose name was
Capt Cook, was the most methOdical Of
public officials. as well as the hardest
liver of that age of hard livers Treve-
Ivan says that this man of Ill repute
was elected high steward of Cambridge
University within six weeks of the time
that his initiation into the orgies and
blasphemies of Medmenham Abbey had
become matter for comment throughout
the length and breadth of England"
Their Praise Too Modest.
"They tell me. Sir John said George
III to one of his favorites. that you
love a glass OF wine
Those who have so informed Your
Majesty" was the reply. have done me
an injustice; they should have said |
bottle"
There is an accurate picture Of the age
in WalpOle's Memoirs. Lord ChoLnon- |
deey." he wrote, died last Saturday. /
He was seventy, and had a constitution |
to have carried him to a hundred. if he |
had not destroyed it by an intemperance \
that would have killed any one else in /
half the time. As it was he had out |
lived by fifteen years all his set. who /
have reeled into the ferryboat so long |
before him..
Speaking Of the ar in drinking. Samuel |
Johnson says: Drinking may be prac- /
tiCed with great prudence; a man who
exposes himself when he is intoxicated /
has not the art of getting drunk: a
sober man who happens occasionally to
get drunk, readily enough goes into a
new company. which a man who has been
should never do. Such a man
will undertake anything; he is without
skill in inebriation. / sued to sink home
when I had drunk too much man no