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er e < yation peculiarly suitable . Mrs . Dawson is the teacher ' s most efficient auxiliary in carrying out the ractical works which form a part of his spiritual regimen l _ the schools , care of the poor , the elevation of the downcast . On the other hand , no good portrait exists , or none , at least , which is felt to convey a sufficient idea of the Master , as he appears in his vocation . And some of the fairer portion of the congregation express a natural desire to possess the record of his aspect before time shall hare dimmed the fire of his eye , or cast its snow upon his dark locks . Many outlying members of the congregation , and some , indeed , who arc not to be reckoned as belonging to it , but arc outside friends , have hastened to request permission to be amongst the number of those on whose behalf the portrait is to be presented .
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[ in this department , as all opinions , however extreme aee allowed an expression , the editor ujecessarily holds himself responsible for none . ]
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THE TEMPERANCE CAUSE . { To the JEdifor of the Leader ?) Leeds , September 1 , 1852 . Me . Editob , —Can you do an old Teetotaler the justice of admitting two short letters in reply to " Ion ? " Of the first charge on which he arraigns Temperance advocates , of being too zealous , it may be said that it is at least a venial one . Zeal is a'thousand times more excusable and useful than that cold propriety which would not save a world except it could do it in full-dress . " Ion" seems to think that Homoeopathy should be applied to Philanthropic and all other efforts , and Earnestness administered in infinitesimal doses . The smaller the dose the greater the effect , is now to rank iis a profound axiom of moral science ! Had not " Ion " ho positively assured us of the fact , we could never have imagined that our " cause would have been half as strong again , if" we " had been but half as earnest . ' " Common sense and historic probabilities seem to authorize just the reverse conclusion—viz ., " Twice the zeal would have doubled the effects . " At any rate , I have the temerity to advise the Teetotalers ( without losing their discretion ) to appeal from " Jon" to the ¦ Future—and In / .
Hut leaving the paradoxes of " Ion" for matters of more immediate importance , I anticipate his thanks for showing that he has fallen into serious- errors in his estimate of the " dangers of the Temperance Movement . " 1 . We are charged with having " converted the honest name of Temperance into the disagreeable designation of Teetotalisin , " and of saying all sorts of W' 1 < 1 things against " Moderation . " An acute and candid mind must feel that there is some mistake here ' thiit soitu ! Teetotalers and " Ion" use these words in i > different sense . The sense in which Teetotalers do N * e them , it was the dear d ^ ty of " Ion" to ascertain , home Teefotnlers , especially in the early days of the movement , have allowed the words temperate and
• Moderate , to be applied to the use of intoxicants ( an ' ' !¦ Tchndi applies them to arsenic ) by the drinkers ; ' » i ( others , with Dr . Lees at the head of them , have long protested against such a misapplication of excellent words . ITis ¦ the ultra party have , on this very iiccount , long added a qualifying word , as real ' euiperance , true . Moderation , expressly to prevent mistake about the words , and to suggest to such rcasonerHaH " Ion" that they are begging the very question "i debate , in assuming that true Temperance and Moderation ( with which we have no quarrel ) include the i » i proper use of any thing , or , what , conies to the Maine , lyetetically speaking , the use of improper things . With ¦ on" these virtues appear but vagvie abstractions , v'th ute tluiy uro yrom'iutivs reposing upon l ' acta und
evidence . They hold " Teetotalism" to be a species , of which " ¦ Temperance" is the genus . Hence , when " Ion" represents that we think that genuine Temperance is one thing and Teetotalism another , he virtually misrepresents our views , and misconceives the entire question . 2 . You may understand , therefore , with what astonishment " Temperance Teachers" find themselves charged with describing , even in their mildest mood , Moderation as " like unto an inclined plane , polished as glass and slippery as ice , on which , if the foot he once
placed , you inevitably slide to perdition ;"—and Mr . Cruikshank ' s Bottle with asserting , or even implying the " infamous MOEAii" that murder , the madhouse , and the gallows , " will be the end ofevery family where a glass of wine is conscientiously poured out after dinner !!! " And is it true that my " approving correspondent" of the Leader could really credit as accurate such outrageous representations of our views — -could really believe that we believed , or said , all this —and said it too , as " Ion" observes , in spite of " nineteen cases out of twenty notoriously to the contrary ?" Is it necessary to expose such incredible absurdity ?
As regards The Bottle , " Ion" ought to have remembered that Pictorial Illustration must deal with the most striking effects within the bounds of experience and probability , and is necessarily ellipticalva . its process . Could he not allow for these necessities of Art , and , out of the abundance of his generosity , have supplied some other and more likely nexus than he has done ? His interpretation ( for his phrase " called upon to believe " is not true ) illustrates rather the unbridled impulses of Hypercriticisin , than the candour and discrimination which should characterize the legitimate critic ; and the same influence has led him to impute to " Temperance Teachers" conduct and convictions which can only be truly predicated of men utterly demented . Let those believe it who can .
3 . It is in admirable keeping that " Ion , " with alliterative extravagance , represents the Teetotaler as saying—" vice versa , if you abstain entirely , instead of being moderate , you are ' certain sure' to have a parlour , a parrot , a sideboard , and a fortune ! " The words in Italics too clearly mark the animus of the writer ; but " Ion" ought never to sacrifice truth , especially where the character and sentiments of others are concerned , to the desire to say a smart thing . Yet , all through , the article to us appears written under an animus to turn the worst-side out , whatever " Ion " may consciously intend , —an appearance fatal to the object at which he professes to aim . Witness his allusion to the Rev . Mr . Gale , who is said to have " outraged
a company of ladies and clergymen with proposing that every missionary should sign the pledge—or" [ ay , OitJ " something to that suspicious effect . " Mr . Gale has the misfortune to be a Teetotaler . He gave ample and courteous notice of his intention to ask the meeting to express its opinion of the desirableness of Abstinence in the East ( where Hindoo converts so often become drunkards , and disgrace their profession ); he asked for no forced pledge—but simply , and tolerantly , that " far as practicable , abstainers might be encouraged , " instead of practically and intolerantly t&scouraged as hitherto . And for this the good man ( guilty in the eyes of " Ton" and Bacchus of abstinence and zeal ) had his spectacles smashed by Mr . Ueilbv , and is made a spectacle of by " Jon" in the Leader !
4 . Hut from thin isolated and individual case ( of which far " more than the most" of truth is made ) , let us return to general illustrations . " Ion" charges the Teetotalers with " protending that intemperance is the sole cause of distress , " &e . ! The decisive answer to this sweeping and strange allegation is to be found in the prominent connexion of Teetotalers with all ihc reforming and progressive ; movements of the day . They figure as religious reformers ,
as Sunday-school teachers , as advocates of popular education , as promoters of Mechanics Institutions and of Free-discussion , of Dietetic , Parliamentary , Financial , and Sanitary Reform—though ever preaching the fundamental gospel of Keif-Reform and Self-Reliance . lOven the pledge is not regarded as opposed to self-reliance , any more than marriage or a promissory note ; but if " Ion" has sonic new-light on this subject ., we , lor one , are prepared at least to listen to him , and if we cannot answer him to become his disciple .
, r » . " Your moderate man , " according to " Ion , " " is the object of special and unrelenting antipathy to the Teetotaler ; if lie is simply a sensible , virtuous man , who avoids all excess , master of his own impulses , Ik ; is sure to he denounced by a hundred peus \ v \\<\ tongues as the cause of all / lie drunkenness , nice , crime , and murder in the world ! If' Now we hold moderation , as n , subjective slate , in quite as high estimation as " Ion " can do , but we see no sense and no inoralitt / , in needlessly and artificially testing it , or in over—or unnaturally—excreibhiLf it . Tho Turk , for inulunce , to borrow
an illustration from J ) r . Lees , has enough to do to master his own natural passions , without creating an abnormal appetite by the use of opium , in order to master it . And this reminds me of a Teetotal truism which would have saved " Ion" a world * of words and much misrepresentation of our principles—viz ., that it is the dki n k ( as a narcotic ) which is in all cases * the cause of the drunkard ' s appetite—not " the moderate man" not even the drunkard . Does " Ion" actually think that Teetotalers , if they " denounce" at all , denounce the Man because he is " moderate , sensible , virtuous , and master of his own impulses ? " We assert the
simple fact that no one gets drunk from the example of the drunkard , any more than any man gambles from the example of the ruined and wretched gambler ; but that the two evils result solely from trying to realize the lauded practices of " moderate drinking" and " moderate play . " Nor does an artistic exhibition of a ruined gambler mean , or imply , the notorious falsehood , that all who play blow their brains out , but simply that such is the end at which many have arrived . If there be any " infamous moral" at all , then , it is in
the fact—and " Ion ought therefore to direct his steeipen against that rock . We say , indeed , that in the precise ratio of a man ' s mastery of evil , and excellence of character , is the seductiveness of his example , and its danger , when associated with a practice dangerous or evil in itself—like that of opium eating , alcohol drinking , or gambling . If " Ion" knew our view of this subject ( which is a " compliment" to the character and influence of the men , though a censure of the ad ) , was it honourable to conceal it ? If he did not know
it , he can be no tit critic of the movement , since he does not understand its fundamental principles . If all the sensible and self-controlling people were not to drink , will " Ion" deny that their influence would te more wholesome and less dangerous ? Yet that is all we have said—and I will challenge " Ion" to produce , not " one hundred pens , " but one pen in any way representative of the movement , that has said what ho imputes to us .
As I cannot deity another man ' s experience , he may possibly have found such narrow views and wretched logic as he describes among some teetotalers , ( and not merely have mistaken them ); but if so , I can only say he has been both unfortunate and peculiar in his acquaintance . Determined to test the truthfulness of " Ion ' s" representation , I repaired to a " horrid coffeehouse , " and tried the experiment of reciting in a promiscuous company of teetotalers and non-teetotalers , what " Ion" has so confidently advanced . With what result ? On all sides I was accused of hoaxing themthey could not believe that any man could seriously pv . t forth such " trash" for truth . *
G . When " Ion" says that teetotalers denounce publicans as intending all the evil and crime which result from their frame , we sincerely hope that he believes what he says , and is merely echoing a most absurd and groundless calumny . If he has ever heard from teetotalers themselves anything to warrant his representation , it must have been from the extreme outsides—the mere Camp-followers of the army , who are the calamity and opprobrium of every movement , whether political * religious , or philanthropic . There are two great divisions in the Temperance Camp the Ultras , who have certain principles , and stand by them , and the Compromisers , whose governing '
rule is expediency . Now , if tin ; repulsive doctrines ho speaks so much about had a real existence anywhere , we should find them amongst , the Ultras . Further , if we could lay our hand upon a man regarded by both , parlies as the Champion of Ultra views , we should find such doctrines embodied in him , or nowhere . To open , the writings of such a header , if " Ion ' s" representation be anything but a figment , would be like throwing wide open the doors of a moral Charnel House , reeking with the rank offence . Now , Dr . Leis , designated by our critic " the Philosopher of the Teetotal ranks , " is precisely that man . Yet , " Ion" expressly , and -by name , exempts him from all tinge of the moral enormities which have excited the critic ' s " indignant scorn . "
Does not this all but , demonstrate that , " Ion" is fighting with some dark shadows that , have ; occasionally crossed his path , and which lit ; has hastily mistaken for tho abiding realities of the Temperance movement ? Lot inn not , he misunderstood . 1 < lo not plead that we Temperance people arc perfect , or , indeed , always an wise and moderate in language us we are with regard to liquor ; but I mean thiil , " Ion's" picture , in outline :, colouring , or ' expression , is no portrait at all of the Temperance movement is not even a caricature , hufc a gross and mischievous libel .
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There is no learned man but will confess he hath much profited by reading controversies , his senses awakened , and nis judgment sharpened . If , then , it be profitable for him to read , why should it not , at least , be tolerable for his adversary to write . —Milton .
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September 18 , 1852 . ] THE LEADER . 901
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* Huh the critical " Ion" IriiiiHferred what wo say of all cane * of ( trun / itiiiicsti lo all- eases ofilrinkint ) T Wo should ho / dud lo bcliovo that , oven ho childish a fallacy had | i > 0 « tt tho uecuuion of ho serious tt mibroprotwutttlion .
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Leader (1850-1860), Sept. 18, 1852, page 901, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1952/page/17/
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