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knowledge , has done a great amount of moral , social , and intellectual good . " Ion" finds fault with the advocates of teetotalism for representing moderate drinkers as standing on slippery p laces , while he thinks they are as firm as there any need for . Did " Ion" ever trace drunkenness to its source ? If he lias , what do his researches prove ? Is it not that every drunkard of the present day was the moderate drinker of a former one ? True , some men have a greater amount of moral courage than others ; and if weak-minded men are apt to fall into a snare , that those of stronger minds would not , is it not the duty of the stronger to help the weaker ? This , if carried to its full extent , is the fundamental principle of association , and I dare say all of us are lahouring less or more to make it universal .
I shall be most happy to read of any other method less object ionable , and at the same time as effective , introduced by " Ion , " or any one , to overcome the growing d runkenness of the age , and also to advocate it so far as I possibly can ; but it will require to be something more than what is hinted at in his last letter . He has brought forth nothing more than the old familiar and feeble phrase of " Be temperate in all things . " This has been tried for ages , and proved a failure . None will doubt that hundreds , ay , thousands , can take a little , and never degrade themselves with the ibuse of it . But it was not to meet their case that
the total abstinence pledge was had recourse to , but to get hold of those whose temperament could not withstand the baneful influence of alcohol induced by a moderate use of it . How many thousands are there amongst us who can no more resist getting intoxicated after merely tasting the first glass than they can accomplish impossibilities . It requires no " Mentor" to inform " Ion" that alcohol has different effects on different constitutions . Is there , therefore , any other way of meeting the case of these men ? To tell them to be temperate will have no effect . Their only safety lies in refraining entirelv from the use of it .
It is therefore not so much a different principle that is wanted , as a staff of well-educated temperate men , in order to make a change for the better on the morals of the community . It is certainly matter of regret that such men as " Ion" should think it below them to mix themselves up with the teetotal agitation . They cannot expect that men every way qualified for so onerous a duty as the advocacy of this great cause will spring up from the ranks of the working classes at a
few days' warning—men whose energies have been wasted by toil , and whose intellect are beclouded by those very customs that their hearts tell thojm ought to be banished from the midst of society . Need we wonder , therefore , that in those who have felt the evils of strong chink in their persons and their families , and who are conscious of the apathy and indifference with which the uctter educated view their position , the zeal oftentimes gets the lwittcr of * the discretion .
" Ion" also says , that teetotalers " impute to every man the incapacity of self-control . " I never heard of this before ; but it appears " Ion" has . This of itself , therefore , is reason sufficient for his letter ; but if he really believes it , and meaiiH to charge total abstainers with this imputation , merely because they take the pledge , or ask others to do so , ho is woefully mistaken . There is nothing whatever in the pledge , or in the principle !) of any society that I know of , ( except the . Jesuits , ) that could cause any one , who took the trouble to inquire , to come to such a conclusion . No doubt , this is often asserted . Hut it is not what is said
of any society or association , but what arc tho facts P And if " Ion" will tuko tho trouble to inquire , ho will lind that there is nothing whatever in tho abstinence pledge to load him to such a conclusion . Ilo Htatcs again , that " your moderate man in the object of tlio special and unrelenting antipathy of . your teetotaler . " With all due deference to " Ion , " I most unhesitatingly state , that thin is not the case with llio great imhhh of teetotalers north of tho Tweed . I know numbers of advocates of that cause whom ; most sincere friends are moderate di'inkei'H ; and I can number not ( i few of my own personal friends — inon of ( 'duration and talent—who ure not iibstninerH . it \ h
juh ( ,, therefore , in imy ono to make such u sweeping assertion , who has perhupn found it to be the cane with 1 lew . In reference to the reception of " lonV friend nt the Temperance Hotel , 1 would merely say , that the arguments used by him wore uncalled for . lie had no I'iglit to complain , since lie went to the wrong place . The liuullortl wiw not to blame . The lecturer would have conic sooner to his purpose had ho left when the miHliilu ) wan discovered , without making mi many wor < l « ubout it . Who would think of sending to their bookseller for a pair of boots , or to their tea merchant for i « e-m > iim ? A mistake of that kind might occur ; but we should bo very apt to question tho sanity of him
who , having made such n mistake , would try to persuade either party of their error in not keeping these articles is because he required , or thought he required them . Hoping you will give this a place in your " Open Council , " I am , Sir , yours very respectfully , GtTGHJELMTJS .
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TEMPERANCE DOGMATISM . ( To the Editor of the Leader ?) Sis , —I am as earnest and as sincere in my condemnation of drunkenness as any teetotaller well can be , but I have no sympathy with the affected purism of Pump orators . I have many opportunities of seeing how utterly drunkenness annihilates all moral consciousness , but I am not therefore a teetotaller . When any of that sect abuses me for my very moderate consumption of alcohol , I mostly retort after this fashion—I have confidence in myself , which you have not . You condemn yourself as the victim of an appetite . I can govern my stomach . I rely upon moral stability , and a natural antipathy to known evil , whilst you resign yourself to the despotism of a formula . " And with those only in whom drinking has become a passion , is " pledging" at all useful . But I hold the usual position assumed by teetotal propagandists to be altogether untenable . They say , " Alcohol is poisonous , therefore we should not partake of it . " Is not everything of which we partake , and by which we are surrounded , destructive ( in its first action ) of our being ? The food we eat , ay , and the water we drink—the pure water , is an aggression on the living organism ; and the very air we breathe is composed mainly of the most destructive agent of which we know . An invisible gas , which can quietly moulder granite into dust , and of which every adult daily absorbs about 46 , 000 cubic inches , is surely a destructive thing ? Yet it is the destructive quality of this oxygen which maintains our being , whilst it yearly destroys many thousands , who cannot resist its force . Oxygen is even more terrible tlian' the " bottle ; " but without
it ? The fact is , the action of anything upon any organism depends , in a great measure , upon the condition of the organism itself . And as Walter Johnson shows " that life and health are indirectly produced by disease-exciting , death-tending agents , " I think we may fairly presume that the use , not tlie abuse , of alcohol in some cases is beneficial .
It is not , however , to temperance I would object , but to tha . t arrogant intolerance wl «« U -mronld umlvu u » teetotallers by law . It is odious enough to set up a standard of religion on sheep-skin , but to tabulate our diet in St . Stephens were an abomination not to be endured . Yet the subject of petitioning Parliament to forbid malting is seriously canvassed amongst the leaders of the temperance cause . Truly these apostles of virtuous water would make very wise , generous , and
just lawgivers . I take great interest in movements to elevate the people , and would labour in an enlightened movement to rescue them from the degradation of drink , but the present exclusive crocketty tcetotalluim I cannot support . Allow me , Sir , ' through you , to thank " Ion" for his able statement of this question , and to assure him that , however much Homo sloppy consciences may grumble , tho view ho takes of tho matter is the truly rational and just one . Yours , truly , Eahnest .
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ON THE LATE CO-OPERATIVE CONFERENCE AND ITS RKPORT . ( To tho ISditor of tho J' jcader . ) Sin ,- —I have observed the correspondence , instituted by Mr . Shorter , concerning the late Co-operative Conference , but after all that gentleman has boon pleased to communicate , the whole thing is as much a mystery to the public as ever . Tho question which perplexes a looker on , is not oi course whether the Laadar was invited or not to he present at the said Conference—that you have disposed of- —hut how or from whom the invitation should have coino cither to you or your contemporaries . The viduo of what Iiiih been done by Mr . ]<\ I ) . Maurice , Mr . Kdwiml Vansittart Neale , Mr . J . IV 1 . liiiillow , and others , in sufficiently conceded , anil much good is anticipated from the movement of industrial reform begun by co-operative stores and associations ; hut on tins very account it is important to ascertain the regularity of tho proceedings of any nooioty or committee assuming to promote such important operations . Do the public know with whom or with what they have to deal in this matter-or do they know upon what principles such deputed organization
proceeds ? What is the mode of acting of the Committee of Working Men ' s Associations—how do the members of the Committee recruit themselves ? What amount of control are they ready to accept , consequently what kind of guarantee do they afford the public at large as t o their course of procedure ? Mr . Thomas Shorter writes as Secretary of the late Conference ; might it be asked of that gentleman whether the report published in the Morning Advertiser be accepted as an exact relation of the transactions of the Conference ? And if not , is it the intention of the Conference to publish any official and accredited report of their proceedings ? By answering such queries Mr . Thomas Shorter would oblige , Yours respectfully , sir , A Lookeb-Ok .
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VON BECK . ( To the Editor of the Leader ?) Birmingham , 18 tli Aug . 1852 . Sir , — Your correspondent , " Another Old Subscriber , " tacitly admits the truth oi the report I referred to—namely , that the " Baroness '" friends had been warned that " sudden excitement" might causcher death ; but he excuses the gentlemen who caused her arrest , on
the grounds that the " Baroness" had so far recovered as to " ride in a carriage ; " to " walk on foot ; " to " intend to take part in private theatricals ; " and to " dance . " I do not know that " riding , " " walking , " or intending to perform , are either very exciting exercises : the " dance" may have been so to her ; but ' Another Old Subscriber" will admit a difference between the excitement of pleasure , and that of fearbetween the excitement of friendly intercourse , and the
society of a gaoler . I can conceive of a better reason having induced the " defendants" to disregard the warning , and act as they did : perhaps they suspected that her illness , as well as her title , was feigned . It may ( as your correspondent says ) be " rash to prejudge" this mysterious case ; but the remark applies to both sides . If it is rig ht for " Another Old Correspondent" to come—as he evidently does—to such a decided conclusion in favour of the "defendants , " ivhose evidence is not before the puhlic ; it may be excusable to entertain an opinion somewhat leaning towards the side on which evidenco is before us . Yours faithfully , An Old Subscribe !! .
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CONVOCATION . [ TnE following extract is from a letter addressed to us by an esteemed correspondent . Its form as mi extract will be explained , when we state that the main of the letter related to a totally different and personal topic ] <( # # # I was glad to read the Leader ' s remarks on convocation . The theory of the Times is most dismal , vulgar , and sickening . I think two conditions are essential to convocation : the admission of laymen , and the restriction from discussing points of theology , unless submitted for consideration by the Queen , or the Upper House of Convocation . Tho great work for Convocation seems to me the thoroughgoing adaptation of the Church to the wants and feelings of the nation in her practical machinery . Also , a sweeping reform in the apportionment of her revenues , which I think should be gradually brought up and consolidated into one common fund ; and then distributed according to local requirements , I have talked to high and low Churchmen on the subject , and do not think it would be a desperate task to bring them tos omo common agreement on tho subject . The great point seems to be to enforce on people ' s ininil the fact that in the 19 t . h century we must ( if we wish to meet in common worship at all , instead of having an many churches as we have summerhouses or buck-parlours ) bear uud forbear : and be content to cleave privately to our more particular and special tenets under the wise and merciful shelter of a large , though not , therefore , barren creed . " A . If . JO .
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NOTJCKtt TO COHKKSI'ONDhlNTH . Wi « filinll Ihi tf liicl l . d hour inoro Hj ;<>< . i / I <; idly from our covvcaptmdcnl , "On tho Ponition mid ( JlainiH of tyonmn , " unil , in tho meant inm , wo liuvn to roqm « Nt hin or Jut attention to our rulo an lo iiiioiiymoiitt coiiiihiiiiiciiIionn . " ( J a urn , i : i ) Itm-ouTH . " - Will (« . P . havo tho W (> oclnoHHtonfiinl uh a priixitti koy to liin vory witty l > ut ainhiVnoiiH tottor , which wo hIioiiM l" > tf liid ' <> innort for tho wit , hut , hein / j ; «<> dull « n <<> luivo fulled < o < lol , o ry , which nhuU not contain HliiLniiicnlH jnjurioiuily n ( Icotinj » poruoual ohnrnc . lor uml initiicodontrt . II m our duty to elicit tho truth of public ( ihur ^ 'cH , hut it is neither our < luly nor our inclination to imm'him ) (•( irrcHjioiidciilH into tho jiriviwy of thoir iuinilioM mid homoH . Hn . IjHaihsk . Tho " Oo-oporntivo Movement , " l > y Williuin Ooningluun . ' ho continued next . work . JyiiHci-H on tho " Teinporiuioo Oiiuho , " on " Conoor * way Adiuiiiiatration , " &c , in typo .
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Sef * 8 MSER 4 , 1852 . ] THE LEADER . s 53
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Leader (1850-1860), Sept. 4, 1852, page 853, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1950/page/17/
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