Total Deaths from all causes.. 997 The reader should observe that there is not a death mentioned above but may have been hastened by alcoholic drinks; and most of them may have originated from the use of these destructive liquors. What is remarkable is, that only 91 died of old age; only 244 lived beyond the age of 60; 753 died before they arrived at that period; 392 deaths occurred between 0 and 15, and 361 between 15 and 60. Here then are only 91 deaths occurring from age or natural causes; the remainder, amounting to 906, are all from unnatural causes, and, with few exceptions, might have been prevented. From this awful example of unnecessary mortality, the "cry of blood" ascends to the throne of Divine Justice, and against none is it so loud as against those who drink, sell, or recommend alcoholic liquors. To these it may emphatically be said, "Your hands are full of blood;" nor will God, when "he makes inquisition for blood," forget their recklessness. In confirmation of these remarks, it is only necessary to observe the character of the diseases just enumerated. For example, small-pox is an inflammatory disease, and in the majority of cases is rendered fatal by these heating drinks; measles often prove fatal from the inflammatory liquors administered. The same may be said of scarlatina. Hooping-cough is frequently ren dered incurable by alcohol. Croup both originating and proving destructive from susceptibility to cold, occasioned by the same cause. Diarrhea, dysentery, cholera, typhus, influenza and erysipelas, in a majority of cases, occasion death from the injudicious use of alcoholic drinks, and, in too many instances, the patient, by immoderate or even moderate drinking, has made himself obnoxious to these diseases. Of syphilis it may be said, that were unholy passions no longer excited by alcohol, chastity would prevail, and, as a consequence, this horrid disease, which brings so many to a premature grave, be banished from the land. Epidemic, endemic, and contagious diseases, are, in nine cases out of ten, both propagated and rendered mortal by strong drinks. Diseases of the brain, nerves, senses, lungs, and other organs of respiration; of the heart and blood-vessels; of the stomach, liver, and other organs of digestion; of the kidneys, joints, bones, muscles, and skin, may, in most instances, be traced to alcohol, and are, in quite as many cases, rendered fatal by the use of this liquor. Thousands of women in their confinement are brought to the grave by the cold, the inflammation, the unnatural excitement and collapse connected with the drinking of these intoxicating poisons. Deaths by violence are generally the result of drinking; and premature old age an invariable consequence. Every medical man who understands the physiology and pathology of his profession, must subscribe to these sentiments, and, as the friend of his species, ought to encourage the efforts made to abolish these destructive beverages. CHAP. III. The Great Loss, Waste, Expenditure, &c., connected with drinking, 1. Vast sums Spent in Intoxicating Liquors. 2. Hospitals, Lunatic Asylums, Infirmaries, Dispensaries, Prisons, Courts of Justice, Police, &c. &c. 3. Property lost on land. 4, Property and Life lost at Sea. 5. Property stolen. 6. Poor Rates, Time Misspent, Expense of Medical Men, Drugs, &c. 7. Small quantity of Manual Labour required to produce these beverages. 8. Barley, Grain, Apples, Grapes, wasted or rather converted into poisons. 9. Lands unprofitably employed. 10. Labourers deceived and cheated by these drinks. WE have already seen that crime, disease, and death are, to a most awful extent, the effects of drinking; in this chapter it will be shown, that the waste and expenditure that can be legitimately traced to this baneful practice, are truly appalling. Probably there are but few sins which are not expensive. It generally costs a man a great deal more to be wicked and sensual than to be godly and liberal; and drunkenness, and even what some call moderate drinking, may he very easily shown to be one of the most expensive of vices. We have every reason to believe, that upwards of one hundred millions sterling are squandered annually by this destructive passion. I have in my possession several calculations which would confirm this opinion, but I have copied the following from the late publication of T. Beaumont, Esq., Surgeon, in his Essay on alcoholic drinks. "32,823,034 bushels of malt, brewed by public brewers and licensed victuallers, taken at 12 gallons to the bushel, and at 2s. per gallon 39,387,628 Deduct for malt liquor exported..... hundred millions" sterling is rather below than above the sum which is annually spent and wasted on these detestable poisons. We ought to consider the number of persons that drink malt liquors, and the number of gallons drunk by each person in the course of a year, before we shall be able to arrive at the truth respecting the consumption of fermented drinks, and when we reflect that these beverages are now in almost every family, and that beer-shops to retail them have multipied beyond any former precedent, we shall be warranted in concluding, that the quantity drunk, very far exceeds our present calculation. There is the following number of brewers in the country. Brewers of strong beer not exceeding 20 barrels. 8,894 cost of malt at 7s. 6d. per 225,641 Exceeding 20 brls. & not ex. 50 brls. 7,894 10,294 6,223,592 bushels of malt 1000 ,, and upwards.. 19,430 1668 Brewers of table beer..... 10 21 105,357,243 5,357,243 Allowed for medicinal purposes, &c....... Annual cost 100,000,000 "In these fermented liquors, there will be 63,780,095 gallons of spirits, and in the distilled spirits, 29,528,889 gallons of alcohol, making a total of 93,308,984 gallons of intoxicating spirit, and showing an excess of alcohol in fermented, above distilled liquors to the amount of 34,251,206 gallons," and therefore the inconsistency of medical men and others who disclaim against ardent spirits and yet encourage the people to drink those fermented drinks, in which they often take double the quantity that they would if they drank only gin or brandy and water. I could give the reader several other calculations, but it is a query whether as yet, it is possible for us to arrive at the exact truth on this subject, but the following observations will show the reader that," one These calculations were taken from Parliamentary papers for 1836; the same documents for 1839, give an increase of brewers 279, and an increase of sellers of these drinks, 7,470. Here then we have upwards of 48,000 brewers of beer, and nearly 100,000 retailers of these demoralizing drinks; and if we could add to these, the number of persons that brew at home for their own use, it would be evident to all, that the malt liquor which is at present consumed in the country, must amount in quantity and value to an enormous sum. A great deal also of the gin which is sold in London and other places, is sold at a considerable rate below the prime cost of that article, showing that dilution and adulteration are carried on to a very large extent; it is not very easy for us to calculate the quantity of water made hot by drugs, and sold to the people in the name of spirits. We believe also, that illicit distillation and smuggling, bring a large portion of ardent spirit into the market, which, of course is not accounted for in Parliamentary returns. A receipt for making gin, was presented to the Committee of the House of Commons on drunkenness, this receipt had been produced in a court of justice, the parties having disputed about the price. In adorning the gin-palaces of London, vast sums are spent; it is a well attested fact, that on one of these buildings not less than £6000 was expended, in preparing it for this infamous traffic. The Parliamentary returns for the year ending January 5th, 1839, furnish the following table of manufacturers, dealers, and retailers of spirit. Distillers and Rectifiers 112 2,966 £10 15,761 at £10 & under 20 19,518 Ditto Ditto Ditto 25 25 3,166 30 1,996 40 3,644 50 2,352 50 and upwards 4,826 It is probable that the rent and taxes of the premises of these manufacturers, dealers and retailers, amount to at least £2,000,000 annually, and the rent and taxes of the premises of the brewers and beer sellers, would amount to an equal sum. It is generally allowed that an immense manufacture, and adulteration of wine takes place, the quantity of wine imported, the still greater quantity vended, and the price at which a great deal is sold, fully demonstrate this fact. There are 21,590 persons licensed to sell wine. I once saw in London, a paper containing the deathbed agonies of a wine merchant, whose departing spirit was horrified to the utmost, at the thought of meeting in another world, the souls of the persons whom he knew that he had murdered, by the poisonous adulteration of wine. A full exposure of the poisons thus employed, may be found in the prize essay, Bacchus. There is reason to believe, that cider and home made wines are consumed to a much greater extent, than is generally supposed; and also, that adulteration increases the quantity of beer and porter, very greatly beyond the amount of Parliamentary returns. It is not at all improbable, that full one third more of these different drinks is consumed, than is accounted for to the government. It should be remarked, that the manufacturers and retailers of these drinks, pay enormous rents, and generally live at a most extravagant rate, showing, that they have a vast trade, and vast profits; all of which, is paid for by the foolish purchasers of these beverages. We may therefore justly conclude, that the calculation given above, falls very far below what is really wasted on these poisons. Bakers, butchers, &c., would soon be bankrupts if they imitated the extravagance of publicans. Our hospitals, lunatic asylums, infirmaries, and various other dispensaries for the sick, cost us upwards of two millions a year; and these are chiefly used and occupied by those whom moderate or excessive drinking have doomed to accidents, disease, or insanity. We ought, considering our means of physical and moral health, to be the strongest, and most religious people upon earth; and should be so, but for these alcoholic poisons. In reporting the number of persons mad or diseased through drinking, medical men generally refer exclusively to those who were notoriously addicted to drinking; but such a reference cannot include a tithe of the truth, disease and disorganization, in many instances originating in moderate drinking, and by this practice rendered hereditary, ought to be taken into account, and were this done, we should see that the doors of these hospitals and asylums are kept open chiefly by the drinkers of alcoholic drinks. County and town prisons, hulks, transports, courts of justice, criminal prosecutions, houses of correction, magistrates, police establishments, sessions, litigations and actions connected with drinking, fees to lawyers and barristers, constables, &c., together with the fines paid, and time lost in prisons, and houses of correction, cause an expenditure and waste to the amount of six or seven millions. The justice department of government costs upwards of a million annually, and the preventive service half a million more; and yet these sums are not a quarter of what is paid for trials, police fines, &c., by the country. Now from all parts of the United Kingdom, from all judges, magistrates, jailers, police reports, and chaplains to prisons, we have but one testimony, which is, that drinking is the cause of nine-tenths of the crime, quarrels, misdemeanors, and actions that occur. The property lost both by sea and land, in consequence of the aboundings of this vice, is truly astounding; how many houses have been burnt down, through the carelessness of persons wholly, or partially intoxicated! It was under the inspirations of strong drink, that the incendiary first conceived the idea of burning his neighbour's property; and it was in an ale-house, or gin-shop, that, by a moderate portion of alcohol, he primed himself for the dis charge of so malignant a purpose. What a large amount of valuable goods also is every day injured, spoiled, or lost, through the stupid, careless, and reckless conduct of tipplers. In these cases, the employer suffers severely, and the careless offender is often heavily mulcted, so that both master and servants are losers to a great extent. What quantities of valuable property are also stolen and wasted, by those who are addicted to drinking? There are in our country thousands of thieves who live by plunder, and yet there is scarcely one of these who is not a drunkard. Several witnesses before the House of Commons, referred to the amount of property lost every year at sea, through the baneful influence of intoxicating drinks; we find from Parliamentary documents, that in the short period of six years, "not less than 2,687 ships and vessels were stranded or wrecked; and 218 were lost, or missing; making the total of nearly three thousand vessels which were greatly injured, or entirely destroyed in that short period. In one hundred and thirty of these ships, the whole crew perished, and the number of persons who were drowned amounted to three thousand four hundred and fourteen." Here then we have ships of great value, and cargoes more valuable than the ships, all sent to the bottom of the sea; and, what is still more distressing, here are three thousand four hundred and fourteen souls launched into eternity, few of them, we fear, but ill prepared for their final account! The loss, viewed under this aspect, is incalculable! In one instance, when the shipwreck of a large packet seemed to all appearance inevitable, the sailors got tired of working at the pumps, and the shout went forth, as is awfully the case in such instances, "To the spirit-room," the purport of which was, that those persons, seeing death inevitable, wished to die drunk, and for a few moments to drown their sorrow. A post-captain who was on board, knowing what would be the certain result, took his stand at the door of the spirit-room with a pistol in each hand, and declared in the most solemn manner that he would shoot the first man who attempted to force it; finding it impossible to indulge in their drunkenness, the men returned to the pumps, and, by the blessing of God, the vessel was brought in safe, and all the persons on board providentially saved."* A gallant young British officer who had received the command of an American prize, soon after the capturing ship had departed, was accosted by the American master, who had been left on board, and desired to give up his sword and the command of the vessel. * Parliamentary Report, 255. on The young officer prepared to resist; the American said, "Sir your case is hopeless, you must surrender, your men are all drunk below." The officer however did resist, and was shot dead; his men had all been drenched with rum and laudanum.* A merchant ship was driven on shore at St. Maloes, when the people boarded her they found all her sails set, even the top-gallant sails at the mast head, and all the people drunk on board, except a little boy who was at the helm: the boy said, that the master had died at sea, and as soon as the breath was out of his body, the crew hoisted up a cask of wine or spirit, with which they got drunk till the vessel came shore at St. Maloes. The St. George, 98 guns, was lost through drinking. The Edgar and the Ajax, from the same cause. Spirits being on board, was the cause of the loss of the Kent, the Rothsay Castle with a 100 souls on board, the Lady of the Lake, the Hibernia, and many others that might be named, were lost through these pernicious drinks. On board "the St. George, there were 550 men, and nearly all perished; the boatswain's yeoman with some other men, had got drunk in the boatswain's store-room, and set fire to the ship." "The Ajax, 74 guns, was burnt at the mouth of the Dardanelles, in 1806, by the drunkenness of the purser's steward; there were 350 people drowned." Here we see, as in all other instances, madness, presumption, misery, destruction, and death, the constant attendants of alcoholic drinks. The cases we have mentioned are not solitary; every ocean, sea and river, every port and harbour, every shipowner and merchant, whose trade is in the mighty waters, can tell long and mournful tales of ruin and death, which can be traced solely and entirely to these devastating and destructive drinks. The bottom of the sea has been rendered a dark and gloomy charnel house, in which the dust of myriads of our countrymen is reposing, and awaiting the summons of the archangel's trumpet, and in that awful day, when the sea shall give up its dead, how many, alas! shall we see arise from their watery grave, who, though unprepared for another world, hurried themselves into the presence of their Judge, in consequence of the corrupting influence of inebriating liquor! Christian, shall this scourge destroy for ever? Patriots, shall a spirit more tremendous than the billows or the tempests, be commissioned by you to overwhelm and devour the costliest treasure, and the bravest hearts of your country? Total abstinence would clear the seas of this worse than piratical curse; but, if reckless of the consequences, you still continue to harbour and commend * Parliamentary Report, 330, † 331. $329. this bane, you cannot remain guiltless of the dire results that must follow. It would be difficult to calculate the numbers that, in a state of drunkenness have, on board their various ships, been launched into eternity, nor can we estimate the wealth that reckless intoxication has wantonly thrown into the depths of the sea. The most experienced brokers and others connected with the naval and mercantile affairs, gave it as their opinion that "nine tenths" of all the losses at sea, have been occasioned by the use and abuse of intoxicating liquors. Aware of this fact, not less than one thousand ships now sail from America, without any spirits or strong drinks on board; our merchants are so well convinced of the comparative safety of these ships, that in Liverpool, until these are chartered, vessels that continue to carry intoxicating poisons cannot command a cargo. It is also a fact, that insurance societies demand a less premium of these temperance ships than of any others; and thus all attest the immense loss on the one hand that drunkenness has occasioned, and the unspeakable advantage on the other that must be the result of total abstinence. Some tell us that the sea is richer than the land, and we know that it has inherited its richest treasures from the madness of men whom strong drink had bereft f reason. The vessels that have been wrecked were valuable, but these can bear no comparison with the rich cargoes which are frequently buried in the deep through the intemperance of seamen. Taking into consideration, therefore, the property and goods that are annually burnt, damaged and lost by land and sea, through this vice, we are fully warranted in assuming that no less than three millions is wasted every year in these different departments, and every farthing lost through drunkenness. For in this calculation we do not comprehend what may have been destroyed independently of drinking; we argue from the fact stated by the brokers and other mercantile men, that full nine-tenths of what is burnt, lost, or destroyed, can be traced to this source. The poor-rates also, of which many so bitterly complain, are greatly increased by drinking. These have sometimes amounted to "seven or eight millions in a year," and yet the most competent witnesses before the Committee of the House of Commons gave it as their opinion that by far the greater number of paupers were made such by the use of stimulating liquors. Some gentlemen stated that "two-thirds," and others that "nine-tenths" of the sum levied was spent on persons who were brought to the parish, directly or indirectly, by drinking. And it is only for us to examine our own vicinities to discover that this statement approaches very near to the truth. Aged parents, that ought to be supported by their children, are left destitute in consequence of the drinking habits of the latter; wives and children are doomed to the workhouse, because the father and husband is a drunkard; many individuals, disabled through drunkenness, or rendered a mass of disease by what some would call moderate drinking, are obliged to subsist upon parochial relief; and numbers, solely from the improvidence that intemperance induced, are now living upon parish pay. We may therefore at once conclude that in some years six millions of poor-rates have been levied and paid for the support of the victims of strong drink. We all know that what is spent in these liquors would, if paid into a good benefit society, provide for the father of the family in sickness and old age. There are few moderate drinkers that are content to spend so small a sum as one shilling per week in these poisons; but this amount paid into a well-regulated benefit society would make a very respectable provision for them in sickness and old age. I have before me the tables of an equitable club, established on principles that would prevent its ever being ruined by the number or age of its members; these tables show that by paying one shilling per week, from the age of thirty to that of sixty-three, a man might secure for himself the sum of twelve shillings a week during sickness, of eight shillings a week from the age of sixty-five until his death, and of ten pounds to bury him after his decease. Now, when we consider that a much greater amount than one shilling per week is, on an average, spent in these contaminating drinks, we see how well almost every family might have been provided for without the intervention of parochial aid; and therefore that drinking, not merely immoderately, but moderately, is the cause of the great demand that is made for the relief the poor. Time misspent and productive labour lost, is another item that must enter into our calculation of the cost of drinking. It has been estimated that if the mechanics of London suspend their labours for one day, no less than £50,000 would be lost. And if London be reckoned at one-twentieth of the population of the United Kingdom, were all the labourers and mechanics in the country to play for one day, £1,000,000 would be lost; and were they to pass one day in idleness in every week of the year, then £52,000,000 would be annually lost. Now, though we are happy to say that every labourer and mechanic does not lose one day a week by drinking, yet, as many drunkards spend two, three, or even four days in some weeks in the pothouse-and some spend nearly all their time there-we may conclude that the calculation just made is not very incorrect. It is computed that |