DRUNKENNESS MODIFIED BY TEMPERAMENT.
Under the last head I have described the usual phenomena of intoxication;
but it is necessary to remark, that these are apt to be modified by the
physical and moral frame of the drinker. Great diversity of opinion
exists with regard to the doctrine of the temperaments; some authors
affirming, and others denying their existence. Into this controversy it
is needless to enter. All I contend for is, that the bodily and mental
constitution of every man is not alike, and that on these peculiarities
depend certain differences during a paroxysm of drunkenness.
I. _Sanguineous Drunkard._—The sanguine temperament seems to feel most
intensely the excitement of the bottle. Persons of this stamp have
usually a ruddy complexion, thick neck, small head, and strong muscular
fibre. Their intellect is in general _mediocre_, for great bodily
strength and corresponding mental powers are rarely united together.
In such people, the animal propensities prevail over the moral and
intellectual ones. They are prone to combativeness and sensuality, and
are either very good-natured or extremely quarrelsome. All their passions
are keen: like the Irish women, they will fight for their friends or
with them as occasion requires. They are talkative from the beginning,
and, during confirmed intoxication, perfectly obstreperous. It is men of
this class who are the heroes of all drunken companies, the patrons of
masonic lodges, the presidents and getters-up of jovial meetings. With
them, eating and drinking are the grand ends of human life. Look at their
eyes, how they sparkle at the sight of wine, and how their lips smack and
their teeth water in the neighbourhood of a good dinner: they would scent
out a banquet in Siberia. When intoxicated, their passions are highly
excited: the energies of a hundred minds then seem concentrated into one
focus. Their mirth, their anger, their love, their folly, are all equally
intense and unquenchable. Such men cannot conceal their feelings. In
drunkenness, the veil is removed from them, and their characters stand
revealed, as in a glass, to the eye of the beholder. The Roderick Random
of Smollett had much of this temperament, blended, however, with more
intellect than usually belongs to it.
II. _Melancholy Drunkard._—Melancholy, in drunkards, sometimes arises
from temperament, but more frequently from habitual intoxication or
misfortune. Some men are melancholy by nature, but become highly mirthful
when they have drunk a considerable quantity. Men of this tone of mind
seem to enjoy the bottle more exquisitely than even the sanguineous
class. The joyousness which it excites breaks in upon their gloom like
sunshine upon darkness. Above all, the sensations, at the moment when
mirth begins with its magic to charm away care, are inexpressible.
Pleasure falls in showers of fragrance upon their souls; they are at
peace with themselves and all mankind, and enjoy, as it were, a foretaste
of paradise. Robert Burns was an example of this variety. His melancholy
was constitutional, but heightened by misfortune. The bottle commonly
dispelled it, and gave rise to the most delightful images; sometimes,
however, it only aggravated the gloom.
III. _Surly Drunkard._—Some men are not excited to mirth by intoxication:
on the contrary, it renders them gloomy and discontented. Even those
who in the sober state are sufficiently gay, become occasionally thus
altered. A great propensity to take offence is a characteristic among
persons of this temperament. They are suspicious, and very often
mischievous. If at some former period they have had a difference with
any of the company, they are sure to revive it, although, probably, it
has been long ago cemented on both sides, and even forgotten by the
other party. People of this description are very unpleasant companions.
They are in general so foul-tongued, quarrelsome, and indecent in
conversation, that established clubs of drinkers have made it a practice
to exclude them from their society.
IV. _Phlegmatic Drunkard._—Persons of this temperament are heavy-rolling
machines, and, like the above, are not roused to mirth by liquor.
Their vital actions are dull and spiritless—the blood in their veins
as sluggish as the river Jordan, and their energies stagnant as the
Dead Sea. They are altogether a negative sort of beings, with passions
too inert to lead them to any thing very good or very bad. They are a
species of animated clods, but not thoroughly animated—for the vital
fire of feeling has got cooled in penetrating their frozen frames. A new
Prometheus would require to breathe into their nostrils, to give them the
ordinary glow and warmth of humanity. Look at a phlegmatic man—how dead,
passionless, and uninspired is the expression of his clammy lips and
vacant eye! Speak to him—how cold, slow, and tame is his conversation!
the words come forth as if they were drawn from his mouth with a pair
of pincers; and the ideas are as frozen as if concocted in the bowels
of Lapland. Liquor produces no effect upon his mental powers; or, if it
does, it is a smothering one. The whole energies of the drink fall on his
almost impassive frame. From the first, his drunkenness is stupifying;
he is seized with a kind of lethargy, the white of his eyes turns up,
he breathes loud and harshly, and sinks into an apoplectic stupor. Yet
all this is perfectly harmless, and wears away without leaving any mark
behind it.
Such persons are very apt to be played upon by their companions. There
are few men who, in their younger days have not assisted in shaving the
heads and painting the faces of these lethargic drunkards.
V. _Nervous Drunkard._—This is a very harmless and very tiresome
personage. Generally of a weak mind and irritable constitution, he does
not become boisterous with mirth, and rarely shows the least glimmering
of wit or mental energy. He is talkative and fond of long-winded
stories, which he tells in a drivelling, silly manner. Never warmed into
enthusiasm by liquor, he keeps chatting at some ridiculous tale, very
much in the way of a garrulous old man in his dotage.[10]
VI. _Choleric Drunkard._—There are a variety of drunkards whom I can only
class under the above title. They seem to possess few of the qualities
of the other races, and are chiefly distinguished by an uncommon
testiness of disposition. They are quick, irritable, and impatient, but
withal good at heart, and, when in humour, very pleasant and generous.
They are easily put out of temper, but it returns almost immediately.
This disposition is very prevalent among Welshmen and Highland lairds.
Mountaineers are usually quick-tempered; but such men are not the worst
or most unpleasant. Sterne is undoubtedly right when he says that more
virtue is to be found in warm than cold dispositions. Commodore Trunnion
is a marked example of this temperament; and Captain Fluellen, who
compelled the _heroic_ Pistol to eat the leek, is another.
VII. _Periodical Drunkard._—There are persons whose temperaments are so
peculiarly constituted, that they indulge to excess _periodically_, and
are, in the intervals of these indulgences, remarkably sober. This is not
a very common case, but I have known more than one instance of it; and a
gentleman, distinguished by the power of his eloquence in the senate and
at the bar, is said to furnish another. In the cases which I have known,
the drunken mania, for it can get no other name, came on three or four
times a-year. The persons, from a state of complete sobriety, felt the
most intense desire for drink; and no power, short of absolute force or
confinement could restrain them from the indulgence. In every case they
seemed to be quite aware of the uncontrollable nature of their passion,
and proceeded systematically by confining themselves to their room, and
procuring a large quantity of ardent spirits. As soon as this was done,
they commenced and drank to excess till vomiting ensued, and the stomach
absolutely refused to receive another drop of liquor. This state may last
a few days or a few weeks, according to constitutional strength, or the
rapidity with which the libations are poured down. During the continuance
of the attack, the individual exhibits such a state of mind as may be
looked for from his peculiar temperament; he may be sanguineous, or
melancholy, or surly, or phlegmatic, or nervous, or choleric. So soon as
the stomach rejects every thing that is swallowed, and severe sickness
comes on, the fit ceases. From that moment, recovery takes place, and
his former fondness for liquor is succeeded by aversion or disgust.
This gains such ascendancy over him, that he abstains religiously from
it for weeks, or months, or even for a year, as the case may be. During
this interval he leads a life of the most exemplary temperance, drinking
nothing but cold water, and probably shunning every society where he is
likely to be exposed to indulgence. So soon as this period of sobriety
has expired, the fit again comes on; and he continues playing the same
game for perhaps the better part of a long life. This class of persons I
would call periodical drunkards.
These different varieties are sometimes found strongly marked; at other
times so blended together that it is not easy to say which predominates.
The most agreeable drunkard is he whose temperament lies between the
sanguineous and the melancholic. The genuine sanguineous is a sad noisy
dog, and so common, that every person must have met with him. The naval
service furnishes a great many gentlemen of this description. The
phlegmatic, I think, is rarer, but both the nervous and the surly are not
unusual.