revolution), having, it was supposed, hastened her death by the excessive use of ardent spirits.' RELIGION v. CUSTOMS. sent after the Gospel to Tahiti. European Cargoes of War and Drunkenness. After this time, the intercourse between Tahiti and the voyagers of Europe and America increased, and drunkenness Intemperance kept pace with it. The commanders of vessels engaged in the sperm whale fishery stayed in the harbors of Tahiti, or the adjacent isles, to recruit the strength of their crews, and procure supplies of water and provisions; remaining in port frequently six or eight weeks at a time, and corrupting anti-civilizers the morals of the natives by their debauchery. Trading vessels, in many instances, took scarcely anything at all to barter with the natives, but muskets, ammunition, and ardent spirits, chiefly "New England rum." This they sold in large quantities, at exceedingly low prices, in the ports; and even sent it round in their boats to the different settlements along the coasts, to be exchanged in small quantities for the produce of the island. To make things still worse, foreigners Public-houses established grog-shops over the country, where drunkenness established. and profligacy ran riot. The consequence, mainly, of these unprincipled proceedings was, in the words of the missionary historian, that in 1833, "at one station, upwards of a hundred individuals were excluded from the church. And at the churches. another, the chief port of the island, so few had been able to resist the temptations to intoxication, or other vices, that it was deemed most advisable to discontinue, for a season, the administration of the Lord's Supper!" Strong drink having been introduced into Raiatea, during an absence of the venerated Williams from his arduous labors in that isle, he found on his return, that " of his large and flourishing church not 100 had escaped the contamination of these fiery liquors: they all appeared maddened with infatuation." Effects upon Discontinu- At the missionary station on the Mosquito Shore, the habit of drunkenness had taken such hold of the natives, that a missionary conceived it necessary to distribute spirits among them, to procure their attention while he unfolded to them the blessings of the gospel. No sooner, however, had he discontinued the practice, than it was shown most unequivocally that no interest was taken in his harangues; for while in the midst of an eloquent appeal, "One of the chiefs arose, The sovereign and quietly said—'all talk—no grog-no good,' and gravely * History of the London Missionary Society, by W. Ellis, p. 20. good. RELIGION V. CUSTOMS. Missionary stalked away, followed by all the natives, leaving the astonished preacher to finish his discourse to two or three Englishmen present."* In the kingdom of Siam, where a number of China-men have, within the last few years, commenced distillation on a large scale, an American missionary thus writes:-"Drunken Siamese are exceedingly common, so much so that I much dread meeting a large company, even for the purpose of effort crippled preaching the gospel to them, being almost sure to find a number in the different stages of intoxication. I therefore fix my hour for preaching in the bazaar at 9 A. M., although I should be sure of having three or four times as many in the afternoon." + in Giving up the glass is better than £100. to the Heathen! Who'll do it? It will by this time be evident to the admirer of the missionary movement, that the success of the efforts made for the evangelization of the world has been much diminished, in consequence of the vice of drunkenness; and consequently if his admiration be sincere, he will see the necessity for the utter extinction of the practice from which the vice results. That practice is the habitual use of strong drink, and especially its patronage by respectable and religious people. SECTION III. The Drinking Customs a cause of Religious Declension. Baker on and Church THE DRINKING CUSTOMS A CAUSE OF RELIGIOUS DECLENSION. Besides presenting a formidable barrier to religious progression, the drinking usages of society are a prolific cause of backsliding. Every year, it is estimated, between twenty and forty thousand members of the christian churches of this country are ejected, whose fall may be traced to the habitual use of alcoholic drinks. On this subject we quote the following testimonies of eminent divines. The Rev. W. R. BAKER has stated, that "he has now had Rev. W. R. nearly twenty years' experience in the ministry, and the Backsliding result of his observations and experience is, that full fiveExpulsion. sixths (or 84 of every 100) of the cases in which christian professors have been expelled from christian communion, or have been obliged to withdraw from it, have been cases of intemperance." * Young's Narrative of a Three Years' Residence on the Mosquito Shore, p. 29. † National Temperance Chronicle, No. 28, p. 53. "It is melancholy to reflect how large a portion of the falls of professing christians have been, either directly or indirectly, the result of taking ardent spirits. knows how these spirits inflame passion and BENNETT, D.D. RELIGION V. CUSTOMS. Testimony of Every one Dr. Bennettlust.”—J. "There has scarcely been an instance requiring from me the exercise of church discipline, or the exclusion of members, which did not arise from the use of strong drink."JOHN CAMPBELL, D.D. "Let our church books be examined, and we shall find, that nineteen out of twenty of every act of backsliding and apostacy, may be traced, directly or indirectly, to drinking." -REV. B. PARSONS. Dr. Campbell, Rev B. Parsons Rev. Mr. Dickenson, and dent Minister. "Ninety cases out of every hundred, calling for church discipline, are through strong drinks."-REV. MR. DICKENSON. The pastor of an Independent church in Northamptonshire has publicly stated, that every case of exclusion from that An Indepenchurch, during the last fifty years, has been traced, by reference to the church books, to intemperance. Such is the testimony of those whose painful duty it has been to perform the ejectment; and it will be granted, that they must be efficient to judge of the causes that have produced the necessity for excommunication. Preacher. We have to regret that among the various persons with whom we are more or less acquainted, there are several who have been respectable members of different congregations, but have fallen from their privileged positions through tampering with the evil spirit, Alcohol. One of these was, for a long time, a local preacher among the Primitive Methodists, Fall of a Local and his family constant attendants at the chapel and sunday school; but being overcome with liquor, he was either expelled or induced to withdraw himself from them; and is now a most abandoned character. Three of his sons have been transported for felony, and he himself has but recently transported. been liberated from jail, having been imprisoned for striking his wife on the head with a fire poker. The Rev. C. F. Bagshaw narrated a case to the Parliamentary Committee, of the deep-rooted depravity which habits of drinking had induced in an individual, who, while a sober character, was an enrolled member of a religious denomination in Salford. During the time the cholera was raging in * Vide Truth Tester, vol. i. p. 174. His three sons RELIGION V. Horrid ex-religionist. Manchester, he was so debased as to go down on his knees beside the bed of his mother, who was at the time suffering impiety of an from the disease, and "pray that it might kill her!" Subsequently he was committed for dishonesty, and died in prison. On being visited by his wife and friends previous to his death, he repeatedly expressed a wish that "they might all go to hell!" In this state of depravity, the ex-member of a religious body was ushered into eternity! teen religious friends. The following history of "FIFTEEN FRIENDS," somewhat History of fif- condensed, we quote from a temperance tract. It was written "by a minister of the gospel," one of the fifteen, and shows the alarming extent and character of the evil we are considering. Chapter 1 of the Pilgrim's Progress. "About twenty-seven years ago, fifteen young men started in the world, of whom I am one; they also at this time set out on a profession of religion. They were nearly all of one age; all of respectable talents and standing in society; all of them members of the same church, teachers in the same sunday school, attended the same prayer meetings, led the divisions in turn, frequently visited the chamber of affliction, and sat by the side of the sick and dying; indeed, they were linked together in all good works and words, the hope of the church, and in various ways the means of blessing the world. Results of 27 Now, after the lapse and changes of twenty-seven years, let me see what has become of all this promise and hope. years' journeying, Nos. 1 and 2, safe across the river. "Of No. 1, I can say, ' May my last end be like his.' No. 2 'finished his course with joy.' Nos. 3, 4, and 5, are yet Nos. 3, 4, and 5 members of the same church, though the pressure of sluggishly worldly business has somewhat damped their zeal. progressing. No. 6 fallen No. 7, ditto! No. 8, 'A Fool' -entangled "No. 6 went to the West Indies, and in a few years destroyed a fine constitution by drink and its attendant vices; he died on his passage home, a drunkard's death! "No. 7 removed to the metropolis, and soon 'walked in the way of the ungodly.' He and some of his pot-companions hired a boat, and took a Sunday excursion on the Thames; took bottles of wine and brandy with them; got intoxicated; upset the boat; and all found a watery grave. My companion among the rest! "No. 8 rose to comparative wealth, but became the comin the Slough panion of fools, and a fool himself. He went from step to step in sin, till he violated the laws of his country, for which he was tried, and but for a legal technicality would have been trans of Intemper ance-an Outlaw. RELIGION . ported. He is now a poor drunkard, and the companion of CUSTOMS. such-like men. in the Tavern goes from little to much. "No. 9 entered upon business with encouraging prospects: No. 9, peeps whatever he put his hand to seemed to prosper. He married an excellent woman, and became the father of an engaging group of children; but he had acquired the habit of resorting to the ale-house: he however kept respectable company, visited decent houses, and kept tolerable hours; but from little he went to more, and from more to much; and the last time I saw him, ruin-awful ruin-was, indelibly I fear, written upon his brow. I expect to hear soon that he is either dead or in the work-house. He is an outcast from the church, his family, and the world; but he will not sign the pledge! "No. 10 long ago became a drunkard; and by his conduct brought an excellent wife to an untimely grave, and his lovely children to want and rags. A miserable outcast. No. 10, drunkler and child ard, wife-kilstarver. No. 11, a Drunkard and "No. 11 carried on a good business for some time in London; but he was supposed to have wilfully set fire to his house (to Incendiary. obtain the insurance money), and only escaped being convicted of incendiarism, by proving that he was drunk at the time. "No. 12 also became a tradesman in London; married a minister's daughter, long retained his connection with the church, and bid fair to run well to the end. But, alas! alas! he entered upon a giddy course of sinful pleasure, beginning with the wine bottle. His wife, through distress, became a lunatic, and is now the inmate of an asylum. No. 12, A Drunkard and wife destroyer. drunkards. "Nos. 13 and 14 have for years walked disorderly, and Nos. 13 and 14, have long been expelled the church. I saw one some years since, and he looked more like a beer barrel than a man—a perfect specimen of a bloated Bacchanalian. The other I saw a few weeks since, his hand trembled, and his dress betrayed the fatal fact that he is a slave to drink. "No. 15 is he who has the honor and happiness of preaching the gospel of Christ, and in recommending, from principle and by practice, the importance of the Temperance Reformation to the cause of Christ-in short, the writer himself." * Thus has the "promise and hope" of nine out of the fifteen been blighted by the drinking customs. In a similar way are the youth of our Sunday schools seduced from the paths of peace and piety in which they are * Ipswich Tracts, New Series, No. 48. ter of Christ, Teetotaler. No. 15, Minis and a Nine of the 15 pilgrims ensnared by the Drinking Customs of Vanity Fair. |