pared, and youngsters and all give it the services of their throats. The remainder of our hero's history is composed of a series of repetitions of circumstances similar to those narrated; and as the natural course of events brought him into the world, so the natural course of events takes him out, and dying with all legal claims upon his club, he is decently interred at its expense. But as the drinking customs attended his entry into the world, and have been steadfastly adhered to in his progress through the world, they must also be attended to at his exit from the world, and therefore strong drink is provided for the last sad stage of his history, and, as it were, to drink the same beverage to his death which was once drank at his birth and to his health; and thus the use of strong drink "begins, continues, and ends" with a man's life. DRINKING Death of the fictitious character. End of his historydrink! drink! Drunkenness a natural consequence of the preceding What can there be, then, to excite surprise, that drunkenness should disgrace the face of our "civilized" and "christianized" society? Or what plausibility can there be in the doctrine that drunkenness is a vice springing up only from man's evil nature? There would indeed be occasion of surprise, were we free from the plague spot of drunkenness, with the complicated customs which exist for enforcing the use of intoxicating liquor; for we might as reasonably expect to carry a furnace in our bosoms without being burnt, or have a clean and comfortable country with a dirty and filthy people, as to think of being free from practices, and drunkenness, whilst every turn in life is seized with eagerness as an occasion of drinking, and every circumstance made subservient to the drinking customs. As to the vice being one of human nature, it is just thus far correct, that if man was incapable of sin he would never be drunk, (that is, he would never sin if he could not, for drunkenness is a sin ;) but with all his frailties and fallibilities, take away strong drink, and the greatest drunkard that crawls on the earth will ever after remain as sober as the angels of heaven. Let not the drink create the desire, and the desire will never exist; or existing, will die out for want of fuel. It is the customs of society, and not man's nature, that produce drunkenness. an inherent vice. F DRINKING SECTION II. Workshop fuddles. The illustrations we have given of the drinking usages, in the fictitious history of "our hero," convey but an imperfect idea of their extent and multifarious appliances, though they show, clearly enough, how they stand in relation to an individual. Besides the rules in every trade and profession where footings and similar artifices for drinking exist being taken advantage of, some of the more inveterate drinkers, in all trades, seize upon every occasion to encourage shop-fuddles; and when opportunities do not present themselves in time, ingenuity is not backward in inventing plans to accomplish their desires. Thus, some The drunkard idle and ever-thirsty soul in a workshop, where the rules work-fellows. do not forbid it, or are not too strictly enforced, will occasionally induce the rest to club their pints together, and fetch in a gallon, or more, of drink, and so waste time and money at once. This practice was formerly carried to a great extent, though it has now become considerably curtailed. a pest to his The loss We have been informed by a friend, that in a neighboring cotton mill, recently reduced to ruins by a conflagration, the spinners were in the habit, some years ago, of regularly sending out for drink during the earlier part of the week; and were frequently drunken and riotous in the mill, and quite shop-fuddles. incapable of performing their work, which they most brutally insisted upon being done by their piecers. Drink could be had on "strap" or "tick" (credit) to any amount, because the publican was certain of having his good-naturedness returned with interest at the week's end. occasioned by At one of the block printing establishments in Scotland, where a guard was fixed at the gate to prevent the introShop-fuddling duction of spirits, a spectator once observed the following obtained by ingenious scheme adopted to lodge a small quantity of whisky by females: drink stratagem. within the premises. Standing by the mill-head, or brook, which was uncommonly deep and rapid, he saw, at a short distance, a little girl fasten a stone in the end of a string, and throw it across the stream to another girl, who disengaged the stone and tied the cord round a bottle, which was thus drawn by the other safely through the water, and concealed beneath her garment. She then turned to the left, where might be seen a scout standing at the door of the women's apartment, holding up a stick with a white rag at the end of it. She remained stock-still for some time, but the instant the white rag was lowered and a red one displayed in its place, the depository made a bolt, and accomplished the lodgement of her cargo in the women's room, at the critical moment when the overseer had gone to another part of the works. At the same place, a spirit dealer's account against some girls was found, amounting to about five pounds sterling.* DRINKING in middle life.. Drinking made easy. The same practice is found existing in professions which Shop-fuddles would never excite suspicion. We have been told by a female acquaintance, that in an extensive straw hat and bonnet establishment in London, in which she recently fulfilled an engagement, it was customary at a certain hour in every day, for one to go round and collect a penny from each person, with which a quantity of gin was purchased, and distributed among them. Out of the whole number of females in the establishment, which was about thirty, only one ever objected to join in the drinking party, and that was a pious young female, "who was continually talking about A hint to hurelieving poor and sick persons," and would sometimes say to her work-fellows, when they were collecting the gin money, "You would do much better in giving me your penny for the sick or the missionary box." To stifle the smell of the liquor, a piece of brown paper was burnt, so that should the master of the establishment come in, might not discover them to have been drinking. he In many trades, the slightest accident or inadvertence that can befall a workman, is made the occasion of drinking. For instance, among that disgracefully drunken set of workmen, sawyers, if the man who works at the top of the pit should chance to fall to the bottom, he is fined half-a-crown. The same fine is exacted, should he be found at the bottom on any occasion. If one sawyer takes up the saw of another, and spies with his eye along the teeth, to observe their order, the same amount is exacted. The first working of a new saw is also the occasion of drinking: it must be wet. When a fresh sawyer is engaged, he has to pay half-a-crown entrance money. If a pair are taken on, five shillings. When a pair separate, one shilling each is spent at parting. To all these fines, each workman has to contribute, and a general debauch is the result. * Parliamentary Report, p. 401. manitarians. Duplicity fostered by drinking. Drinking usages of sawyers. DRINKING ters. "Apprentices in the ship building yards," says Mr. Ship carpen- Dunlop, in his evidence before the Parliamentary Committee on Drunkenness, "pay two pounds as entry money. When this amounts to a considerable sum, it is spent in a dance, or sometimes in sheer drinking; the results being most mischievous. An apprentice, when his time is out, occasionally gives the wages of his first week as a journeyman, to his companions to drink." Upon the launch of a ship, the master treats the apprentices to what is called the "launching bowl," consisting of from two to ten pounds-worth of liquor, according to the size of the vessel; and when she receives her first coat of tar, the journeymen receive a similar treat, known as the "graving bowl." Coopers. Calicoprinters. Monstrous Apprentices. In the cooper trade, an apprentice pays five shillings at his entry, to which the workmen subscribe one shilling each. "When a calico-printer," says the same witness," changes his color—that is, leaves one department of work for another -he pays a fine in drink. Till very lately, from apprentice exaction from boys to the print-fields (in Scotland), there was extorted the enormous sum of seven pounds sterling each, which being put into a fund, when it amounted to about fifty pounds, was spent in a debauch, and a whole destrict, including man, woman, and child, was for a fortnight overpowered with proceedings. drunkenness, sickness, riot, and crime. Some time ago, a Insane and disgusting Effect of Temperance Societies. temperance society having been formed at a print-field, an entry drink soon after occurred. At the meeting held to arrange its proceedings, the temperance men objected, and much indignation and reproach ensued. The temperance men, however, continued firm, and argued the point at length, and were finally allowed to receive their share of the entry money, to spend as they pleased; and accordingly they disbursed it in temperance tracts. By the next occasion of the disposal of entries, the cause of temperance had improved, and after a short debate the majority carried the following resolution: No drink; but a Mechanics' Library.' And at the present date, it is believed, that the former employment of entry money has been almost universally abrogated in the Scottish print-fields, through the influence of temperance associations, and a fund instituted for widows and unemployed workmen.”* * Parliamentary Report, p. 400. DRINKING A working man's con sideration. This fact speaks largely of the tendency of temperance societies. How much more rational does it seem in working men expending fifty pounds in supporting their unemployed hands, and thus upholding their wages and trade, by preventing them from experiencing the privations which cause good-hearted men many times to work at reduced prices; and how much more christian-like is it to support the Temperance widows of their deceased work-fellows, than to indulge, with the money, in a fortnight's drunkenness, sickness, and riot; and what may be the happy consequences of preferring Temperance Mechanics' Libraries to scenes of debauchery! We leave sensible men to think for themselves. Colliers are well known to be zealous supporters of the drinking customs; and from the "rules" drawn up "for the mutual peace and happiness of a company of colliers laboring in No. 5 pit, Brades, near Oldbury," it appears, that these usages are in some districts most systematically enforced. The rules are ten in number, and are professedly designed for the good of each other; but how far they are calculated to secure that desirable object, will be seen from the following transcription of the first nine. “RULE 1. Every man laboring in No. 5 pit, Brades Colliery, shall alternately serve in the office of pourer out of ale in his turn, or forfeit one day's ale: and shall also serve every person with his proper and equal portion, or forfeit half-a-pint of ale. "RULE 2. Any person belonging to the said pit company, swearing, telling wilful lies, laying wagers, or using improper language, shall forfeit half-a-pint of ale. "RULE 3. Any person laboring in the said pit company, challenging to fight, shall forfeit one week's ale; and if guilty of fighting, shall forfeit, if proved by two witnesses, one week's ale. and Charity. and mental culture. Colliers. Rules of a Coal-pit Com pany Rule 1 office of cupcompany. relating to the bearer to the Rule 2-relatswearing, ing to profane lying, &c. Rule 3-relatfighting, &c. ing to “RULE 4. Any person in the said pit company, sitting Rule 4-relatdown to dinner with his head covered, that is, with his hat or cap on, shall forfeit half-a-pint of ale. ing to dinnertable etiquette. Rule 5-relat "RULE 5. Every person in the said pit company, who can read the scriptures, shall read a portion at dinner time, ing to Scripalternately; or forfeit half-a-pint of ale. "RULE 6. Every person laboring in the said pit company, shall attend the reading of the scriptures at the appointed time; or forfeit one day's ale. ture readings. Rule 6-relat ing to Scrip ture readings. |