MEANS OF CURE.
Is this disease, or vice, or sin, or crime of intemperance--call it by
what name you will--increasing or diminishing? Has any impression been
made upon it during the half-century in which there have been such
earnest and untiring efforts to limit its encroachments on the health,
prosperity, happiness and life of the people? What are the agencies of
repression at work; how effective are they, and what is each doing?
These are questions full of momentous interest. Diseases of the body, if
not cured, work a steady impairment of health, and bring pains and
physical disabilities. If their assaults be upon nervous centres, or
vital organs, the danger of paralysis or death becomes imminent. Now, as
to this disease of intemperance, which is a social and moral as well as
a physical disease, it is not to be concealed that it has invaded the
common body of the people to an alarming degree, until, using the words
of Holy Writ, "the whole head is sick and the whole heart faint." Nay,
until, using a still stronger form of Scriptural illustration, "From the
sole of the foot even unto the head, there is no soundness in it; but
wounds and bruises and putrifying sores."
In this view, the inquiry as to increase or diminution, assumes the
gravest importance. If, under all the agencies of cure and reform which
have been in active operation during the past fifty years, no impression
has been made upon this great evil which is so cursing the people, then
is the case indeed desperate, if not hopeless. But if it appears that,
under these varied agencies, there has been an arrest of the disease
here, a limitation of its aggressive force there, its almost entire
extirpation in certain cases, and a better public sentiment everywhere;
then, indeed, may we take heart and say "God speed temperance work!" in
all of its varied aspects.
HOPEFUL SIGNS.
And here, at the outset of our presentation of some of the leading
agencies of reform and cure, let us say, that the evidence going to show
that an impression has been made upon the disease is clear and
indisputable; and that this impression is so marked as to give the
strongest hope and assurance. In the face of prejudice, opposition,
ridicule, persecution, obloquy and all manner of discouragements, the
advocates of temperance have held steadily to their work these many
years, and now the good results are seen on every hand. Contrast the
public sentiment of to-day with that of twenty, thirty and forty years
ago, and the progress becomes at once apparent. In few things is this
so marked as in the changed attitude of the medical profession towards
alcohol. One of the most dangerous, and, at the same time, one of the
most securely intrenched of all our enemies, was the family doctor.
Among his remedies and restoratives, wine, brandy, whisky and tonic ale
all held a high place, and were administered more frequently, perhaps,
than any other articles in the Materia Medica. The disease of his
patients arrested by special remedies or broken by an effort of nature,
he too often commenced the administration of alcohol in some one or more
of its disguised and attractive forms, in order to give tone and
stimulus to the stomach and nerves, and as a general vitalizer and
restorative. The evil consequences growing out of this almost universal
prescription of alcohol, were of the most lamentable character, and
thousands and tens of thousands of men and women were betrayed into
drunkenness. But to-day, you will not find a physician of any high
repute in America or Europe who will give it to his patients, except in
the most guarded manner and under the closest limitations; and he will
not consent to any self-prescription whatever.
FRUITS OF TEMPERANCE WORK.
Is not this a great gain? And it has come as the result of temperance
work and agitation, as Dr. Henry Monroe frankly admits in his lecture on
the Physiological Action of Alcohol, where, after stating that his
remarks would not partake of the character of a total abstinence
lecture, but rather of a scientific inquiry into the mode of action of
alcohol when introduced into the tissues of the body, he adds:
"Nevertheless, I would not have it understood that I, in any way,
disparage the moral efforts made by total abstainers who, years ago,
amid good report and evil report, stood in the front of the battle to
war against the multitude of evils occasioned by strong drink;--all
praise be due to them for their noble and self-denying exertions! Had it
not been for the successful labors of these moral giants in the great
cause of temperance, presenting to the world in their own personal
experiences many new and astounding physiological facts, _men of science
would, probably, never have had their attention drawn to the topic._"
Then, as a result of temperance work, we have a more restrictive
legislation in many States, and prohibitory laws in New Hampshire,
Vermont and Maine. In the State of Maine, a prohibitory law has been in
operation for over twenty-six years; and so salutary has been the effect
as seen in the
REDUCTION OF POVERTY, PAUPERISM AND CRIME,
that the Legislature, in January, 1877, added new and heavier penalties
to the law, both Houses passing on the amendment without a dissenting
voice. In all that State there is not, now, a single distillery or
brewery in operation, nor a single open bar-room.
Forty years ago the pulpit was almost silent on the subject of
intemperance and the liquor traffic; now, the church is fast arraying
itself on the side of total abstinence and prohibition, and among its
ministers are to be found many of our most active temperance workers.
Forty or fifty years ago, the etiquette of hospitality was violated if
wine, or cordial, or brandy were not tendered. Nearly every sideboard
had its display of decanters, well filled, and it was almost as much an
offense for the guest to decline as for the host to omit the proffered
glass. Even boys and girls were included in the custom; and tastes were
acquired which led to drunkenness in after life. All this is changed
now.
The curse of the liquor traffic is attracting, as never before, the
attention of all civilized people; and national, State and local
legislatures and governments are appointing commissions of inquiry, and
gathering data and facts, with a view to its restriction.
And, more hopeful than all, signs are becoming more and more apparent
that the people are everywhere awakening to a sense of the dangers that
attend this traffic. Enlightenment is steadily progressing. Reason and
judgment; common sense and prudence, are all coming to the aid of
repression. Men see, as they never saw before, how utterly evil and
destructive are the drinking habits of this and other nations; how they
weaken the judgment and deprave the moral sense; how they not only take
from every man who falls into them his ability to do his best in any
pursuit or calling, but sow in his body the germs of diseases which will
curse him in his later years and abridge their term.
Other evidences of the steady growth among the people of a sentiment
adverse to drinking might be given. We see it in the almost feverish
response that everywhere meets the strong appeals of temperance
speakers, and in the more pronounced attitude taken by public and
professional men.
JUDGES ON THE BENCH
and preachers from the pulpit alike lift their voices in condemnation.
Grand juries repeat and repeat their presentations of liquor selling and
liquor drinking as the fruitful source of more than two-thirds of the
crimes and miseries that afflict the community; and prison reports add
their painful emphasis to the warning of the inquest.
The people learn slowly, but they are learning. Until they _will_ that
this accursed traffic shall cease, it must go on with its sad and awful
consequences. But the old will of the people has been debased by sensual
indulgence. It is too weak to set itself against the appetite by which
it has become enslaved. There must be a new will formed in the ground of
enlightenment and intelligence; and then, out of knowing what is right
and duty in regard to this great question of temperance and
restriction, will come the will to do. And when we have this new will
resting in the true enlightenment of the people, we shall have no
impeded action. Whatever sets itself in opposition thereto must go down.
And for this the time is coming, though it may still be far off. Of its
steady approach, the evidences are many and cheering. Meanwhile, we must
work and wait. If we are not yet strong enough to drive out the enemy,
we may limit his power, and do
THE WORK OF HEALING AND SAVING.
What, then, is being done in this work of healing and saving? Is there,
in fact, any cure for the dreadful malady of drunkenness? Are men ever
really saved from its curse? and, if so, how is it done, and what are
the agencies employed?
Among the first of these to which we shall refer, is the pledge. As a
means of reform and restriction, it has been used by temperance workers
from the beginning, and still holds a prominent place. Seeing that only
in a complete abstinence from intoxicating drinks was there any hope of
rescue for the drunkard, or any security for the moderate drinker, it
was felt that under a solemn pledge to wholly abstain from their use,
large numbers of men would, from a sense of honor, self-respect or
conscience, hold themselves free from touch or taste. In the case of
moderate drinkers, with whom appetite is yet under control, the pledge
has been of great value; but almost useless after appetite has gained
the mastery.
In a simple pledge there is no element of self-control. If honor,
self-respect or conscience, rallying to its support in the hour of
temptation, be not stronger than appetite, it will be of no avail. And
it too often happens that, with the poor inebriate, these have become
blunted, or well-nigh extinguished. The consequence has been that where
the pledge has been solely relied upon, the percentage of reform has
been very small. As a first means of rescue, it is invaluable; because
it is, on the part of him who takes it, a complete removal of himself
from the sphere of temptation, and so long as he holds himself away from
the touch and taste of liquor, he is safe. If the pledge will enable him
to do this, then the pledge will save him. But it is well known, from
sad experience, that only a few are saved by the pledge. The strength
that saves must be something more than the external bond of a promise;
it must come from within, and be grounded in a new and changed life,
internally as well as externally. If the reformed man, after he takes
his pledge, does not endeavor to lead a better moral life--does not keep
himself away from old debasing associations--does not try, earnestly and
persistently, to become, in all things,
A TRUER, PURER, NOBLER MAN,
then his pledge is only as a hoop, that any overstrain may break, and
not an internal bond, holding in integrity all things from the centre
to the circumference of his life.
So well is this now understood, that little reliance is had on the
pledge in itself, though its use is still general. It is regarded as a
first and most important step in the right direction. As the beginning
of a true and earnest effort on the part of some unhappy soul to break
the bonds of a fearful slavery. But few would think of leaving such a
soul to the saving power of the pledge alone. If other help came not,
the effort would be, except in rare cases, too surely, all in vain.
The need of something more reliable than a simple pledge has led to
other means of reform and cure, each taking character and shape from the
peculiar views of those who have adopted them. Inebriate Asylums and
Reformatory Homes have been established in various parts of the country,
and through their agency many who were once enslaved by drink are being
restored to society and good citizenship. In what is popularly known as
the "Gospel Temperance" movement, the weakness of the pledge, in itself,
is recognized, and, "God being my helper," is declared to be the
ultimate and only sure dependence.
It is through this abandonment of all trust in the pledge, beyond a few
exceptional cases, that reformatory work rises to its true sphere and
level of success. And we shall now endeavor to show what is being done
in the work of curing drunkards, as well in asylums and Reformatory
Homes, as by the so-called "Gospel" methods. In this we shall, as far as
possible, let each of these important agencies speak for itself,
explaining its own methods and giving its own results. All are
accomplishing good in their special line of action; all are saving men
from the curse of drink, and the public needs to be more generally
advised of what they are doing.