Chapter C (1)

Most of our readers will probably recollect the amiable and enterprising ELIZABETH FRY, who has been for some time past, like the celebrated Howard, engaged in visiting the prisons of England. The peculiarity of the undertaking, for a female, and her unexpected success in drawing the attention of the wretched objects of her care, to something like their native dignity, have excited much interest in the public mind. A copy of the following letter, giving some account of her proceedings in Glasgow, was handed to us, with the privilege of publishing it.--ED.

Communicated for the Rural Magazine.

_Letter to Mrs. Fletcher, from a
friend in Glasgow._

Mrs. Fry's manner and voice are delightful; her communications, free and unembarrassed.--She met, by appointment, several of the magistrates, Mr. Erving, and a number of ladies, at Bridewell. She told them, with much simplicity, what had been done at Newgate; and proposed something similar, if practicable, in Glasgow.

She entered into very pleasant conversation with every one. All were delighted when she offered to speak a little to the poor women: but the Keeper of Bridewell said he feared it was a dangerous experiment; for that they never, but by compulsion, listened to reading, and were generally disposed to turn all into ridicule. She said she was not without fear of this happening; but she thought it would give pleasure to some, and would serve to show the ladies what she meant. The women, about a hundred, were then assembled in a large room; and when she went in, seemed astonished, misdoubting, and lowering. She took off her little bonnet, and sat down on a low seat, fronting the women; and looking round with a kind and conciliating manner, but with an eye that met every one, she said--"I had better just tell you what we are come about." She said "she had had to do with a great many poor women, sadly wicked; more wicked than any now present, and how they had recovered from evil."

Her language was often Biblical, always referring to our Saviour's promises, and cheering with holy hope those desolate beings. "Would you like to turn from that which is wrong? Would you like if ladies would visit you, and speak comfort to you, and help you to be better? Would you tell them your griefs? for they who have done wrong have many sorrows."

As she read them the rules, asking them always if they approved, they were to hold up their hands if they acceeded. At first we saw them down, and many hands were unraised; but as she spoke, tears began to fall. One beautiful girl near me, had her eyes swimming in tears; and her lips moved as if following Mrs. Fry's. An older woman, who had her Bible, we saw pressing upon it involuntarily, as she became more and more engrossed. The hands were now almost all ready to rise at every pause; and these callous and obdurate offenders were, with one consent, bowed before her. At this moment, she took the Bible, and read the parables of the _lost sheep_, and the _pieces of silver_, and the _prodigal son_.--It is not in my power to express the effect of her saintly voice, speaking such blessed words. She often paused, and looked at the "poor women," as she named them, with such sweetness, as won all their confidence, and she applied with a beauty and taste such as I had never before witnessed, the parts of the story--_His father saw him when he was afar off_, &c.--A solemn pause succeeded the reading. Then, resting the large Bible on the ground, we saw her on her knees before the women. Her prayer was soothing and elevating; and her musical voice, in the peculiar recitative tone of her sect. I felt it like a mother's song to a suffering child.

Communicated for the Rural Magazine.

BRANDYWINE, _2d mo. 3, 1820._

REUBEN HAINES,

_Esteemed friend_--I avail myself of a leisure hour to communicate my opinion on the subject on which we had some conversation when thou wast at my house. I allude to the importance of a more general use of mill feed for cattle in the neighbourhood of cities and towns, where hay almost always commands a high price.

We will, in the first place, view the subject at the cost of the respective articles in your market at this time.--Shorts can now be had at 30 cents per double bushel, weighing about 35 lbs.

100 bushels of shorts, weighing 3500 lbs. neat,
will cost D.30 00

3500 wt. of hay, at 25 dolls. per ton, will cost 39 12
______

Difference, D. 9 12

Here there is a difference of $9, 12 cents, in favour of shorts, in a given weight of each; but I am quite confident, in my own opinion, that, taking an equal weight of each, there is _double the sustenance_ in the shorts; and if this opinion be correct, it shows the following important result:

7000 lbs. of hay, at 25 dls. per ton, would cost D.78 25

While 3500 lbs. of shorts, in which there is
equal if not greater nutriment, would cost only 30 00
______

Gain in favour of shorts, D.48 25

But it appears to me there is another important saving would result to the farmer, from the introduction of mill feed. It would enable him to keep his stock of horses at a great deal less expense than he now keeps them. They would be more healthy, and _all his hay_ might be saved for the horned cattle. By a very slight mixture of shorts with cut straw, or cut corn-stalks, it would make very palatable food; and the result in this method, compared with foddering on hay, would be as follows.

One hundred bushels of shorts would be ample to mix with two tons of straw, and two tons of stalks.

The shorts, as heretofore stated, would cost D.30 00
2 tons of wheat, barley, or oat straw, at 5 dolls.
per ton, 10 00

The corn-stalks are now generally put in the
barn-yard: allow what paid for hauling
them, say D.2 50 per ton, 5 00

Allow also for trouble in cutting the straw and
stalks, 10 00
______

55 00

_The Weight of the foregoing as follows_, viz.

The shorts, 3500 lbs.

2 tons of straw, 4480

2 tons of stalks, 4480
______

12,460 lbs.

An equal weight of hay, at the present price,
25 dolls. would cost 139 25
______

Difference, D.84 25

Thou wilt readily perceive, without my dwelling on it, that the above method would answer equally well for store cattle as for horses. By the present mode the corn stalks are almost wholly lost, and a great proportion of the straw trodden under foot in the barn-yards. One benefit that would result from the change of feeding, and which must be obvious to every one, would be its enabling every farmer to keep a larger stock; and thus _increase his manure_,--the grand secret, after all is said, in farming well, and doing it to advantage.

If it is alleged that my calculation of hay is too high, it may be observed, that the shorts are also estimated at a price higher than they often command in the Philadelphia market. I have known them as low as 20 cents; and 25 cents is a very common price in the fall of the year. They may safely be put in bulk in the 11th mo. and will keep sweet until the ensuing spring.--I have thus hastily thrown my ideas together on this subject. If thou canst glean from them any thing of importance, I shall be glad.

Thy assured friend,

JAMES CANBY.

_Treatise on Agriculture_.

SECT. II.

Of the actual state of Agriculture in Europe.

12. The climate and soil of _Great Britain_ and _Ireland_, are particularly favourable to husbandry; nor is her geographical position less auspicious--placed, as she is, on the longest line, and amidst the most important markets of the continent of Europe. If to these advantages be added the laborious, enlightened, and enterprising character of the nation, we cannot but expect results the most favourable to agriculture: yet is the fact notoriously otherwise. To show that this opinion is neither hasty nor unfounded, we must enter into details, which may not be unprofitable.

The surface of England is estimated at 37,265,853 acres, which are distributed as follows:

In pasturage, 18,796,458

In tillage, 11,350,501

In cities, roads & canals, 3,454,740

Lands fit for pasturage
or tillage not cultivated, 3,515,238

Lands unfit for cultivation, 2,148,921

Of the arable land the following annual disposition is made:

Lands unfit for cultivation, 2,148,921

In wheat and rye, 2,000,000

In peas, beans, and buckwheat, 2,000,000

In barley and oats, 4,000,000

In fallow, or in turnips or
cabbages, 3,400,000

The lands, in wheat and rye, yield on an average of ten years, _three quarters_ per acre, or 6,000,000 quarters; yet there is an annual deficit in England of 1,820,000 quarters, which must be drawn from foreign markets.[1]

[1] A _quarter_ is equal to six bushels, and the average produce
in wheat and rye 18 bushels per acre. For the whole kingdom the
deficit is 2,820,000 quarters. See Geographic Mathematic, art. Great
Britain.

There is certainly nothing very flattering in this view of English agriculture; but it may be said to be one of statists and politicians, and probably underrated. Let us then see what their own most eminent agriculturists, their Young and Sinclair, and Dickson and Marshall, say on this subject--"_A very small portion of the cultivated parts of Great Britain, is to this day, submitted to a judicious and well conducted system of husbandry; not in fact more than four counties_, (Norfolk, Sussex, Essex, and Kent:) _while many large tracts of excellent soil are managed in a way the most imperfect and disadvantageous_."[2]

[2] See the introduction to Dickson's Practical Agriculture, 2d vol.
quarto.

Nor is her management of cattle better. "Considering the domestic animals in a general way, we find each species, and almost every race, capable of great improvement, and, with a few exceptions, the sheep much neglected. In some districts are whole races of cattle incapable of improvement (within a reasonable time) in the three great objects which they are expected to yield, viz. milk, flesh, and labour."[3] We now add _some_ of the causes to which this defective husbandry has been ascribed: "to enumerate all would be impossible, from their number and complication."[4]

[3] Marshal, vol. iv. p. 575.

[4] Dickson's Practical Agriculture.

"1st. The _commons_, or unenclosed grounds, which in many places amount to near one half of the whole arable land, and which are submitted to the most absurd and ruinous system of culture."[5]

[5] Idem.

"2d. The _terms_ (amounting to personal servitude) under which many of the lands are held."

"3d. The _shortness of leases_ given by corporations (civil and religious) and by individuals, and which seldom exceed _three_, _five_, or _seven_ years, excepting in the counties of Norfolk, Sussex, Essex, and Kent, where (with great advantage to both landlord and tenant) they are frequently extended to twenty-one years."

"4th. The _tithes in kind_, paid by the farmers to the church; a tax highly vexatious in its character, and oppressive in its effects: and

"5th. The _poor tax_, which has become enormous, and of which the yeomanry pay three fourths. Of this tax it has been truly said, that it is a powerful instrument of depopulation--a barbarous contrivance for checking all national industry."[6]

[6] Young's Tour through Ireland, vol. ii. p. 302.

To these causes, assigned by British writers, may be added the _increase_ of _population_, common to every nation of Europe, and which in Great Britain is beyond all proportion greater than the progress of agriculture; the _augmentation_ of _cattle_, which occasions that of pasturage, and the diminution of tillage;[7] the _establishment_ of _great farms_ at the expense of _small_ ones, and the _multiplication_ of _parks_ and _pleasure grounds_; and lastly, the _attraction of great cities_, and the _continual drafts_ made upon the agricultural population, for the army and navy, and for commerce and manufactures.

[7] Mr. Hume quotes with approbation an author, who complains of
the decay of tillage in the reign of Elizabeth, and who ascribes
it to the increase of pasturage, in consequence of the restraints
imposed on the exportation of grain, while that of butter, cheese,
&c. was free. The history of Europe, if read with an eye to public
economy, furnishes an abundant proof, that the greatest obstructions
to agriculture have arisen from the interference of government. We
have here no sly allusion to our own projects of a state board of
agriculture, of a chymico agricultural professorship, nor even of
an agricultural college, if the treasury in its wealth, and the
legislature in its wisdom, should deem such institutions useful or
necessary.

SECT. III.

Theory of Vegetation.

Vegetables may be regarded as the intermediate link in the great chain of creation, between animals and minerals. The latter grow by mere chymical affinity, and by additions, sometimes analogous and sometimes foreign from their own nature; while plants, like animals, have an organization that enables them to receive their food, digest and assimilate it to their own substance, reproduce their species, and maintain an existence of longer or shorter duration. Thus far the learned are agreed, but at the next step they differ.

What is this food that gives to plants their developement, and maturity, and powers of reproduction? Lord Bacon believed that _water_ was the source of vegetable life, and that the earth was merely its home, its habitation, serving to keep plants upright, and to guard them against the extremes of heat and cold. Tull, on the other hand, (and after him Du Hamel) pronounced _pulverized earth_ the only pabulum of plants, and on this opinion built his system of husbandry. Van Helmont and Boyle opposed this doctrine by experiments: the former planted and reared a cutting of willow in a bed of dry earth, carefully weighed and protected against accretion by a tin plate, so perforated as to admit only rain and distilled water, with which it was occasionally moistened. At the end of five years the plant was found to have increased _one hundred and sixty-four pounds_, and the bed of earth to have lost, of its original weight, only _two ounces_. Boyle pursued a similar process with gourds, and with a similar result. Notwithstanding the apparent conclusiveness of these experiments, their authority was shaken, if not subverted, by others made by Margraff, Bergman, Hales, Kirwan, &c. &c. The first of these showed, that the rain water employed by Van Helmont, was itself charged with saline and other earthy matter; Bergman demonstrated this by analysis, while Kirwan and Hales proved that the earth in which the willow cutting was planted, could absorb these matters through the pores of the wooden box which contained it, and that a glass case could alone have prevented such absorption. Hunter, finding that oil and salt entered into the composition of plants, concluded that these formed their principal food, and accordingly recommended, as the great desideratum in agriculture, an _oil compost_. Lord Kaimes attempted to revive the expiring creed of Lord Bacon, but finding from Hales' statics, that one third of the weight of a green pea was made up of carbonic acid, he added _air_ to the watery aliment of the English philosopher--but entirely rejected _oil_ and _earth_, as too gross to enter the mouths of plants, and _salt_ as too acrid to afford them nourishment. Quackery, which at one time or other, has made its way into all arts and sciences, could not easily be excluded from agriculture. Hence it was, that the Abbe de Valemont's _prolific liquor_, and De Hare's and De Vallier's _powders_, &c. &c. were believed to be all that was necessary to vegetation, and found the more advocates, as they promised much and cost little. But before the march of modern chymistry, quackery could not long maintain itself; and from the labours of Bennet, Priestly, Saussure, Ingenhouz, Sennebier, Schæder, Chaptal, Davy, &c. &c. few doubts remain on this important subject.--These will be presented in the course of the following inquiry.

1st. Of _earths_, and their relation to vegetation.

Of six or eight substances, which chymists have denominated _earths_, four are widely and abundantly diffused, and form the crust of our globe. These are _silica_, _alumina_, _lime_, and _magnesia_.--The first is the basis of quartz, sand and gravel; the second, of clay; the third, of bones, river and marine shells, alabaster, marble, limestone and chalk; and the fourth, of that medicinal article known by the name of calcined magnesia.--In a pure or isolated state,[8] these earths are wholly unproductive; but when decomposed and mixed,[9] and to this mixture is added the residuum of dead animal or vegetable matter,[10] they become fertile, take the general name of _soils_, and are again specially denominated, after the earth that most abounds in their compositions respectively. If this be silica, they are called _sandy_; if alumina, _argillaceous_; if lime, _calcareous_; and if magnesia, _magnesian_. Their properties are well known: a _sandy_ soil is loose, easily moved, little retentive of moisture, and subject to extreme dryness; an _argillaceous_ soil is hard and compact when dry, tough and paste-like when wet, greedy and tenacious of moisture; turns up, when ploughed, into massive clods, and admits the entrance of roots with great difficulty. A _calcareous_ soil is dry, friable and porous; water enters and leaves it with facility; roots penetrate it without difficulty, and (being already greatly divided) less labour is necessary for it than for clay. _Magnesian_, like calcareous earth, is light, porous and friable; but, like clay when wet, takes the consistency of paste, and is very tenaceous of water. It refuses to combine with oxygen, or with the alkalies; is generally found associated with granite, gneiss, and schiste, and is probably among the causes of their comparative barrenness.[11]

[8] See Gisbert's experiments on _pure earths_ and _their mixtures_.
See also Davy's Elements of Agricultural Chemistry, p. 156.

[9] In this respect nature has been neither negligent or niggardly,
if (as Fourcroy asserts) the purest sand be a mixture of quartz,
alumina, and sometimes of calcareous matter. _Speculative geology_
is romance, and does not merit the name of science; yet is science
obliged to borrow her theory of soils. The alternation of heat
and cold, moisture and dryness, decomposed the mountains of
primitive, secondary and tertiary formation; rains, and the laws
of gravity, brought these from places of more, to places of less
elevation--where, by mechanical mixture and chymical combination,
the present substrata were formed. But these were yet naked and
unproductive, when the Cryptogamia family (mopes and lichens) took
possession of them, and in _due time_ produced that vegetable
matter, which made the earth productive and the globe habitable!

[10] Dead animal and vegetable matter, in the last stage of
decomposition, give a black or brown powder, which the French
chymists call _terreau_ or _humus_, and which Mr. Davy calls an
_extractive matter_; _this_ is the fertilizing principle of soils
and manures.

[11] The opinion is general among the chymists of Europe, that
magnesian earth is not only barren itself, but the cause of
barrenness in other soils in which it may abound, unless saturated
with carbonic acid. See Base, Tennant, and Davy.

In these qualities are found the _mechanical relations_ between earths and vegetables. To the divisibility of the former it is owing, that the latter are enabled to push their roots into the earth; to their _density_, that plants maintain themselves in an erect posture, rise into the air, and resist the action of the winds and rains; and to their _power_ of _absorbing_ and _holding_ water, the advantage of a prolonged application of moisture, necessary or useful to vegetable life. But besides performing these important offices, there is reason to believe that they contribute to the _food_ of vegetables. This opinion rests on the following considerations and experiments:

1. If earths do not contribute directly to the food of plants, then would be all soils alike productive; or in other words, if air and water _exclusively_ supply this food, then would a soil of pure sand be as productive as one of the richest alluvion.

2. Though plants may be made to grow in pounded glass, or in metallic oxides, yet is the growth, in these, neither healthy nor vigorous; and,

3. All plants, on analysis, yield an earthy product;[12] and this product is found to partake most of the earth that predominates in the soil producing the analyzed plant; if _silica_ be the dominant earth, then is the product obtained from the plant _silicious_; if _lime_ prevail, then is the product _calcareous_, &c. &c. This important fact is proved by De Saussure.

[12] Davy says this never exceeds one fiftieth of the whole product.

_1st Experiment._

Two plants (the pinus abies) were selected, the one from a calcareous, the other from a granitic soil, the ashes of which gave the following products;

Granitic Calcareous
soil. soil.

Potash 3 60 15

Alk. and mu. sul 4 24 15

Carbonate of lime 46 34 63

Carbonate of magnesia 6 77 00

Silica 13 49 00

Alumina 14 86 16

Metallic oxides 10 52 00

_2d Experiment._

Two Rhododendrons were taken, one from the calcareous soil of Mount de la Salle, the other from the granitic soils of Mount Bevern. Of a _hundred_ parts, the former gave fifty-seven of carbonate of lime and five of silica; the latter, thirty of carbonate of lime, and fourteen of silica.

_3d Experiment._

This was made to determine whether vegetables, the product of a soil having in it no silica, would, notwithstanding, partake of that earth.--Plants were accordingly taken from Reculey de Thoiry, (a soil altogether calcareous) and the result was a very small portion of silica.

These experiments, says Chaptal, leave little if any doubt, but that vegetables derive the earthy matter they contain from the soil in which they grow.[13]

[13] Shæder maintains the doctrine, that the earths found in
plants are created there by the process of vegetation. His essay
on this subject was crowned by the academy of Berlin, in 1801. His
experiments were the first to determine the different quantities of
silica found in different kinds of grain.

2. Of _water_, as an agent in vegetation.

Seeds placed in the earth, and in a temperature above the freezing point, and _watered_, will develope; that is, their lobes[14] will swell, their roots descend into the earth, and their stems rise into the air. But without humidity, they will not germinate; or deprived of humidity after germinating, they will perish. When germination is complete, and the plant formed, its roots and leaves are so organized as to _absorb water_. The experiments of Hales prove, that the weight of plants is increased in wet and diminished in dry weather; and that in the latter, they draw from the atmosphere (by means of their leaves)[15] the moisture necessary to their well being.--Du Hamel (and after him Sennebier) has shown, that the filaments that surround the roots of plants, and which has been called their hair, perform for them in the _earth_, the office that leaves perform in the atmosphere, and that if deprived of these filaments the plants die.

[14] Moisten a bean in warm water, and detach the skin that covers
it, and it readily divides into two parts; these are called _lobes_.

[15] Bonnet's experiments show, that it is the under surface of the
leaf that performs this function, The upper surface has a different
office.

It would be easy, but useless, to multiply facts of this kind tending to establish a doctrine not contested, but which after all does not assert, that water makes part of the food of plants. On this point two opinions exist--the one, that this liquid is a solvent and conductor of alimentary juices: the other, that is itself an aliment and purveyor of vegetable food at the same time. The first opinion is abundantly established. Water when charged with oxygen, supplies to germinating seeds the want of atmospheric air, and saturated with animal or vegetable matter in a state of decomposition, or slightly impregnated with carbonic acid, very perceptibly quickens and invigorates vegetation. The second opinion is favoured by some of De Saussure's experiments. On these, Chaptal makes the following remark, which expresses very distinctly an approbation of the doctrine they suggest:--"The enormous quantity of hydrogen (which makes so large a part of vegetable matter) cannot be accounted for but by admitting (in the process of vegetation) the _decomposition_ of _water_, of which hydrogen is the principal constituent; and that though there is nothing in the present state of our experience that directly establishes this doctrine, yet that its truth ought to be presumed, from the analysis of plants and the necessary and well-known action of water on vegetation.

(To be continued.)

_Correction._--In copying the second section, page 55, an error escaped in relation to the _Tuscan_ plough; the passage should have read thus--"The plough of the north of Europe, like that of this country, has the power of a wedge, and acts horizontally--that that of Tuscany has the same direction, but very different form. With the outline of a shovel, it consists of two inclined planes, sloping from the centre, and forms a gutter and two ridges.

Review for the Rural Magazine.

_An Expose of the Causes of Intemperate Drinking, and the means
by which it may be obviated. By Thomas Herttell of the city of
New York. Published by order of the New York society for the
promotion of internal improvement_.--New York, 1819.--pp. 56.

This is an ingenious and interesting pamphlet. It is written with much force and originality; and we think we shall do the public a service by laying before our readers some of the author's remarks. There is no vice which steals upon us in so many attractive and deceitful shapes as that of intemperate drinking. In this country it is a national sin and infects every class of society. We meet its temptations in our social intercourse, at our public festivals--in the resorts of business; we see it indulged in by men of eminent character; spirituous liquors are kept in every sideboard, and brought forth upon almost every occasion. One class of society imitates the practice of another, and habitual drunkenness has become the stigma and disgrace of our country.

The pamphlet before us, remarks (page 6) that "the existence of this vice is now generally acknowledged, its progress marked, and its effects deplored. It is traced to the grog-shop where many of its most degrading _effects_ are discovered, and _mis_taken for _causes_, and the remedy attempted to be applied."

"Though I am not disposed to become the advocate of grog-shops, or to avert from them any portion of merited animadversion--or inclined to become the apologist of those who, under colour of keeping a tavern, follow the business of dram-selling; I am not willing that these places should be considered either as the _primary_ or _principal cause_ of the evil under review. The current opinion that such is the case, is incorrect, as I shall endeavour to shew. And I am induced to do this, from the conviction that the mistake is calculated to stop investigation short of the true source, and thus prevent the remedies from reaching the fountain-head of the evil. It happens in this, as in too many other instances, that the little sinners become the subjects of censure, while those whose crimes differ from them only in magnitude, are overlooked, or treated with complaisance. Is it _wrong_ to sell liquor by the _glass_, to those who drink it--and is it _not wrong to sell it by the hogshead_, for the purpose of being so disposed of? Are both these culpable, and shall those who import and sell it by the cargo, escape obloquy? And does the distiller differ from all those, in any other respect, than that he makes while they sell the poison for the purpose of its being drank? It is not my intention to censure the latter any more than the former class of dealers in ardent drink; and justice forbids that blame should attach itself exclusively to either. They are all _particepes criminis_, inasmuch as they all contribute facilities to the practice of intemperate drinking, and thus aid the continuance and increase of the evil. But its most prolific sources are not to be found among those classes of our fellow-citizens, considered in the _business character_. They only conform to the _customs_ and _habits_ of the community in which they live. They find their neighbours in the practice of using ardent drink, and profit by their folly. No one would be so weak as to invest his money in ardent liquor with the expectation of _learning_ people to drink. It is the _already acquired habit_, which constitutes the basis of his calculations of profit. So far, therefore, from grog-shops being the _primary_ or _principal cause_ of intemperate habits, the reverse of the position approaches nearer the truth. The habit of _intemperance is the cause of grog-shops_.

"As the vice under consideration did not originate at those places, it is not limited to the class of people who drink there. The customers of coffee houses, hotels, and other taverns, and the sideboards and wine-cellars of private houses, prove the truth of this position. The landlords of those establishments would take it in dudgeon, to be told that their customers were of the lowest grade of society; and the proprietors of well stored sideboards and wine-cellars, would be highly offended at the imputation of drinking, or learning to drink, at grog-shops. If the practice of tippling was confined to the lower order of society, it could not with any propriety be regarded as a national sin. The character and habits of that class of the community can never alone constitute national character. Admitting, therefore, that intemperate drinking is justly attributed to us as a feature of our national character, it follows irrefutably, that the _causes_ which produce that _effect_ are not confined to the purlieus of bar or tap-rooms. The upper classes of society never follow the examples of the lower: but the latter do, as far as they are able, imitate the customs of the former. Had the habit of intemperance originated in the lower class, it would not, in all probability, have extended beyond it. As its prevalence is so general as to become a reproach to the nation, the inference is conclusive, that it is the progeny of higher parentage than grog-shops."

"The radical sources of the evil" says judge Herttell, "are _in the fashions, customs, and examples, of what are called the upper or wealthy classes of the community_."

After remarking the common practice that intoxicating liquors are universally used as a table drink, he proceeds, "Such being the practice, the parents of a family must, of necessity, adopt one of the two following measures:--The children must be permitted to partake of the common table beverage, or they must not. In the first case they are reared from their childhood to the _habitual use of ardent drink_. If the other course is pursued, and the use of the liquor interdicted to the children, while the parents daily drink it in their presence, he is very little acquainted with human nature, who does not know, that the value of the article is thereby arbitrarily enhanced--the disposition to enjoy it increased,--and, that as soon as the restraints of the parents are removed, and an opportunity presents, the forbidden fruit will be tasted, with as much avidity as if both conscience and justice demanded satisfaction for lost time and pleasures. Under such circumstances, how vain is it to hope that children will not acquire the habit of intemperance--and how weak is it to wonder at their becoming drunkards! Parents can hardly be said to have arrived to years of discretion, who shall expect that their admonitions against intemperance will be heeded, while their daily example is counteracting their influence. How ridiculous is it for them, while drinking wine and brandy in the presence of their children, to attempt to persuade them, that it is not good for them! Should it happen, that in a family of half a dozen sons, there should be a sober man, the merit is his, and not his parents'; nor are they to be pitied, except for their folly, should they all be drunkards; and such is frequently the result. Thus, almost every family becomes a school for intemperance, and a nursery of customers for taverns and grog-shops.

"Again; inebriating liquors have become the medium _universally adopted by society for manifesting friendship and good will, one to another_. It need only to be mentioned to be admitted, that it is the common practice, when friends or even strangers visit each other, they have scarcely time after being seated, to make the usual inquiries about health, and the common place remarks on the weather, before they are invited to drink intoxicating liquors. The welcome is deemed kind and sincere, in proportion to the frequency, and earnestness of the importunities to drink--liberal in proportion to the variety of the liquors; and their richness and profusion add to the other temptations to drink. Not to offer them would be deemed unfriendly, mean, or unmannerly. Not to accept them, would be attributed to ill-nature, or a want of politeness. Hence, the visitor drinks to reciprocate good will for the proffered kindness, or in self-defence against the imputation of ill-breeding. And the visited, takes a glass for the company's sake, as it is called; and to evince his satisfaction on seeing his hospitality accepted _in the spirit_ in which it is offered. In this way do the laws of _fashion_ and _custom constrain people to drink_, who otherwise would have no inclination, or who have acquired that inclination, from the frequent if not daily occasions which occur, for tendering and reciprocating through the customary channel, sentiments of hospitality and good will to their associates, friends, and strangers. _Thus is the vice of intemperate drinking ingrafted on the virtue of hospitality_; and so long as that virtue is cherished, and ardent liquors continue to be tendered as evidence of its existence, so long will the use of that article as a drink continue, and the vice of intemperance grow out of it. _This unnatural blending of virtue and vice, together with the practice of using inebriating drink as a table beverage, are the radical sources of that intemperance, which is said to be "the crying and increasing sin of the nation."_ It is at the family table, the first rudiments of intemperance are taught; the first examples set, and the first essays at tippling attempted. The practice is continued by the frequent display of hospitality and politeness, through the medium of ardent drink. The _acquired habit_, shows itself on holy-days, at dining and other parties, and on all convivial occasions--is pursued at taverns, and at last, descends to, and terminates its career at grog-shops. Look at the catalogue of family misfortunes, and few will be found to have escaped the direful disease of intemperance; few which have not had their prosperity and happiness blighted by the extreme of that vice, in some one or more of their members." No doubt it is in the opulent that many of the vices of society originate. Their weaknesses and errors are palliated; their example imitated and their indulgences eagerly craved by the poor. While therefore, the general practice of using ardent spirit continues among them, our author reasons that the popular remedy of curtailing the number of grog-shops, though it would lessen the _practice_ would not _destroy_ the habit of intemperance. Should there remain a solitary place where liquor can be procured, the sin of intemperance will continue to be committed, and its associate vices and immorality entailed on society.

"What!" says he, "it may be asked by the reader, are we required to relinquish the use of wine and ardent spirits, in order to prevent their abuse by others? Shall we deny ourselves the _reasonable enjoyment_ of them, because others become _intemperate_? Are we to be interdicted the _moderate_ use of them, because others drink to excess and get drunk? As well say the querists, might it be expected that we should extract our tongues, because others back-bite their neighbours!

"In the first place, permit me to remark, that I have not uttered a word against the _moderate_ or _reasonable_ use of ardent liquors. But before we go farther, it may be proper to analyze the terms, _moderation_ and _intemperance_, as they relate to the use of inebriating drink. There can be no objection to its _reasonable_, _necessary_, and _moderate_ use. But I do contend, that the use of it by any person _in a full state of health, is at all times unnecessary_. The effect of strong drink, is to excite the animal spirits to a preternatural action.--When taken by a person in full health, it raises the animal spirits above the healthy standard. This is _unnecessary_--and inasmuch as it creates a deviation from a state of real health, it produces _disease_, and hence its use is _immoderate_, _intemperate_. The _indirect debility_ which succeeds the exhausted stimulant, is another and a worse state of _disorder_, which goes to confirm the truth, that the _first_ draught of ardent drink taken by those in full health, is _unnecessary_, _unreasonable_, and _excessive_. Nor is this all--this indirect debility prompts a repetition of the draught--and now the _practice_ of drinking has commenced. The animal spirits having sunk as far below as they have been raised above the healthy standard, an _increased_ quantity is required to raise them as high as before. Thus the habit of intemperance _progresses_. The spirits, now ebbing lower than before, demand increased support, the yielding to which demand, _confirms the habit of intemperance_. But it unfortunately happens, that the term _moderate_, when applied to intoxicating drink, by those who use it, is as unmeaning as the word _enough_ in the mouth of a miser, when speaking of his money. Each drinks according to his taste and strength of habit, and calls it _moderate_. Thus every grade of drinking, from the single glass of the novice, to the full bottle of the initiated, is termed _moderate_. And every degree of excitement, from _moderately merry_ to _moderately drunk_, is honoured with the same name. The real truth is, it is a poor apology for a bad practice; and a _moderate_ degree of reflection would lead those not slaves to the habit, to view it in that light."

"I have the authority of distinguished physicians for remarking, that next to _intemperate eating_, intemperate _drinking_ engenders more bodily diseases, than any other single cause. That _more die_ of disorders occasioned by drinking, _before they become drunkards_, than _live to extend their intemperance to that extreme_. That the constant exercise of the labouring class, _procrastinates_, while the want of exercise tends to _facilitate_ the fatal effects of intemperance in the other class of society--and hence it is, that the _moderate drinking_, as it is modestly termed, of the _latter_, destroys at least as many as the _drunkenness of the former_, and in that ratio is as injurious to the community. The reason these facts are not subjects of general observation, is, that when people who are not reputed drunkards, die of complaints brought on by drinking, their death is imputed to the disorder, while that escapes being attributed to its true cause--whereas, reputed drunkards stand little or no chance of dying by any other means; for be they drowned by accident or hanged for murder, their end is generally, and perhaps too often, correctly ascribed to intemperate drinking."

"It is really wonderful to witness how fertile is the love of ardent liquor, in excuses and pretences for its gratification. It is drank at one time, _because the weather is warm_--at another, _because it is cold_. It is drank with enemies "to _reconcile them_"--with friends, "_because they don't meet every day_"--on all festive, anniversary and other holydays, "_because they only come once a year_." And if at any or on all those times, the bounds of _moderation_ are exceeded, it is allowed to be _excusable_, "_because they are all extraordinary occasions!_" Real or _pretended_ disorders are also often plead as an apology for drinking ardent liquor; and instances are not rare where, though it may have been regularly prescribed for medical purposes, and may have cured the disorder, it has finally killed the patient. It is doubtless for this reason, that distinguished gentlemen of the faculty have admitted, that the internal use of ardent liquor, even in cases in which it is indicated as a medical remedy, is often productive of far more hurt than good.

"The most common pretence, however, is, that _the water is bad_, and requires a _little spirits to qualify it_; and hence it is infused with a poison of a more deleterious quality than any it naturally possessed. This _qualifying_ of the water, has been the means of _disqualifying_ many a valuable man, for nearly every purpose, except to bring disgrace, ruin, and misery on himself, his family and connexions."

"I have taken no pains to ascertain the authority by which retailers of ardent drink are permitted to fix stands and booths at the Park and other places, on days of public parade and festivity. The concentrating of so many grog-shops at times and places of the greatest collection of people, tends rather to produce tumult and confusion, than to preserve good order. These places not only tempt men to indulge to excess, but boys are often seen in them following the example--and it has been remarked, that more of this youthful class are seen disguised with liquor on those days, than in all the year beside. Indeed, it very rarely occurs that a boy is seen thus degraded on any other occasion. Should these travelling taverns be permitted only on condition that ardent spirits should not be carried to them, or sold, or given gratis there, it would remove the greatest objection which can be urged against them. The public would then be accommodated with every necessary refreshment, without jeopardizing their peace by means of intemperate drinking.

"It would essentially benefit the community, should the _inducements to frequent taverns be lessened_. This may be done in a variety of instances. It is usual in the country towns, to muster the militia at or in the immediate vicinity of taverns. This practice tends neither to improve the morality or discipline of the men--and if they must continue as now to be mustered at those places or _not mustered at all_, I have no hesitation in saying, that the public would sustain no material injury, should the latter course be adopted; for it is certainly true, and the reason is obvious, that many of the men, at the close of their exercise on those parade days, are not so well qualified to serve their country, as when they come to the rendezvous. Much of the evil of the present practice would be obviated, should military officers, vested with power to muster any corps of militia, in the country towns, for the ordinary purposes of exercise or inspection, be bound by law to locate the parade ground at least a mile from any tavern or retail grocery. The carrying of ardent liquor to the rendezvous, and the selling it there, or giving it gratis to any person, especially the soldiers, should be interdicted, under proper penalties, and provision made for due execution of the law. Other refreshments than ardent drink, being as usual permitted, all the reasonable conveniences of taverns would be enjoyed, and many of those disgusting instances of riot and disturbance, occasioned by intemperate drinking, and which often convert our militia parades in the country, into scenes of disorder and insubordination, rather than schools for military instruction and discipline, would be done away.

"The legislature should prohibit justices' courts being held at taverns. The disgraceful scenes which are too often the consequences of trials at those places, would thereby be prevented, and the cause of _morality_, and not unfrequently, that of _justice_, essentially benefited. The same objection lies, though perhaps not with equal force, against sheriff's courts being held at those places. If the Court House is not at hand, it must be a beggarly office which would not afford the appropriating of a room for the performance of its duties in the dwelling of its incumbent, or pay for the use of a convenient place elsewhere for the purpose. The practice of holding trials at taverns, before referees, appointed by order of the court, is not exempt from serious objections.--These, however, being less frequent, are not so productive of evil, and, perhaps, are more difficult to be obviated.

"The holding of auction sales at taverns, as is frequently the case in the country, is pregnant with mischief sufficient to justify legislative interposition.--Those who have witnessed, can best describe them--I only know them by description. On these occasions, the number who go to buy, is but small, compared to those who attend from other motives. The owner of the property for sale, is seldom backward in circulating the glass freely at his own expense, because he is like to receive more than cent. per cent. profit from the consequent indiscretion of those who become affected with the _spirit of bidding_. Many are thus led on to buy unnecessarily and dear; and frequent instances occur, where people bid off more than they have means to pay for--and thence law-suits, trials, at taverns, family distress, the insolvent act, and perhaps poverty and pauperism close the account. These are only the outlines of the picture, which those who have seen the original, are best qualified to fill up with neglect of _domestic concerns_--_horse-racing_ and _jockeying_--_profane swearing_--_drunkenness_--_quarrelling_, and sometimes _fighting_, and a variety of other _amusements_, not unusual on such occasions.

"The lamentable consequences of holding the polls of our political elections at public houses, are too generally known to require particular description. Suffice it to say, that the noise and tumult--the heated, irritating and useless discussions which frequently occur, and which go to impair the respectability of the electors, and the credit of the elective franchise, are oftner the result of the _spirit of liquor_ than the _spirit of patriotism_. As far as legislative provisions can obviate the evil, it ought to be done. The expense would be small and the benefit great, should each ward in the cities, and each town in the country, build a house or room for the purpose of elections. The profit which might accrue from its use on other occasions, would, in many instances, more than pay the interest on its cost. It is a little remarkable, that the sagacity which prompted the interdiction of military parades on the days of election, as dangerous to the freedom of the elective franchise, did not foresee and guard against the evils consequent on locating the election polls at public houses.

"It is hoped that the good sense of the community will operate to abolish the custom of giving extravagant entertainments, on any occasion, in honour of distinguished characters. This practice, by leading many to taverns, and tempting them to indulge freely, is productive of more mischief than benefit to society. As an example, it is bad. People, in the lower walks of life, cannot be taught, that it is wrong to get drunk in company with, and out of mere good humour to their friends, while they see too many of the upper circles retire from those feasts, not exactly sober. I humbly conceive it would be manifesting far higher respect for a great man, to compliment him with a written address, approbating his character and conduct, accompanied with a medal, a piece of plate, or other present, embellished with appropriate insignia and inscriptions.--These would be lasting testimonials of character and worth. Being always visible, they would act continually as a stimuli to urge others to emulate the honourable course by which they were acquired;--whereas, those public entertainments are scarcely noticed beyond the day they are _puffed_ in the newspapers--and if they were, the honoured guest could derive no great satisfaction in the reflection, that his friends had _eaten_ and _drank immoderately_, in _honour of his virtues_. There is a strong family likeness between these dinners and those _eaten ex-officio_ by our city corporation.

"The meetings of self-created societies at taverns, cannot, perhaps, at all times, be well avoided. There doubtless are many of those institutions which are useful--but that there are many which do more hurt than good, is equally true. They ought, indeed, to be productive of great benefit, to counterbalance the evil tendency they have, to draw their members to taverns at night. Many a good citizen has, in this way, unwarily contracted irregular habits--and many a deserving wife, and family of innocent babes, have had reason to lament the truth of this remark. It will be a great pity, if those societies cannot be prevailed on, to procure places at which to hold their meetings.--This might easily be effected, unless too strong a predeliction for tavern meetings should counteract so reasonable a proposition."

"In the year 1740, Admiral Vernon commanded the British fleet in the West Indies. His undress coat was made of _grogram_, a cloth fabricated of silk and worsted. He was very unpopular in the fleet, and the sailors, in allusion to his coat, nick-named him _Old Grogram_; and afterwards, by way of shortening it, they called him _Old Grog_. When ardent liquor was first given to sailors, and until the time above-mentioned, it was drank _raw_--but being found to produce many fatal bodily diseases, and the naval service thereby much injured, the Admiral directed that the rum should be weakened with water. The men were highly displeased at having their drink thus _spoiled_, and in derision of the admiral, called it by his abbreviated nick-name, "_Grog._" This is the reason that rum, mixed with water, bears that name. Let it be observed, _because_ the _raw_ rum was found to produce deleterious effects on the health of the sailors, the Admiral ordered that it should be mixed with water. Now, as it probably could not require many years to make that discovery, it is fair to conclude, that the first use of ardent spirits, as a daily drink on ship-board, could not have been a very great length of time anterior to the year 1740."

"On another occasion, I have mentioned, and will here repeat, that the baleful practice of giving ardent liquor to labourers, ought to be exploded. This custom has so powerfully aided other causes of intemperance, that there is scarcely to be found among the labouring class, any who do not drink, and drink too much. It is unquestionably owing, in a great measure, to this, that the apprentices to many mechanical branches, are initiated into the habit of intemperance, before they acquire a knowledge of their trade; and it is certainly owing to the same cause, that many do not gain a perfect knowledge of their business. Here, too, we see a powerful objection operating, to prevent many respectable parents from putting their sons to mechanical occupations. Hence, many a promising mechanical genius is smothered in the warehouse, or doomed to add a useless member to the already over-run and over-rated learned professions. This serves to degrade the honourable calling of mechanics, which suffers another depression from the necessity which these circumstance create, of taking apprentices from the lower circles of society, whose want of the requisite education disqualifies them for attaining an adequate knowledge of their trade. In addition to this, the master mechanic, growing wealthy by his business, too often becomes infected with the follies and _fashions_ of upper life--in which sphere some are fitted only to appear ridiculous. Their sons, forsooth, must be _above_ their fathers' business. They must be brought up gentlemen--and, of course, reared in idleness and extravagance, or become _professionable_ men or _merchants_.--Thus, by their conduct, they give countenance to those whose weakness may dispose them to undervalue mechanical occupations.

"The great number of public holy-days (as they are termed) which are generally observed, are not without their pernicious influence on the morals of society.--Was the manner of their celebration such as to honour the events they are intended to commemorate, their observance, if not useful, would at least be innocent in their consequences. But were we to judge their objects solely by the manner in which they are kept, and the effects they produce, we might be led to the erroneous conclusion, that they were instituted to subserve the causes of vice and immorality. The general suspension of useful employment on those days, is followed by an increased indulgence in drinking; and this accounts for there being more crimes committed on those days, than in any other equal period of time. On the authority of a gentleman who was on the Grand Jury which sat in the present year, I state, that far the greatest portion of the business of that Jury, grew out of crimes and disorders committed during the Christmas and New-Year holy-days. When it is observed, that the court for the trial of criminals is held once a month, and crowded with business, it would be superfluous to add arguments to such facts.