E.

INTEMPERANCE AMONG THE INDIANS.

The Indians of North America, since its first settlement, have been universally addicted to drunkenness; and even before the introduction of ardent spirits, they had discovered an intoxicating liquor, by the fermentation of Indian corn. The difficulty, however, of procuring this in sufficiently large quantities, prevented any general

excess.

Europeans early took advantage of this morbid thirst for strong drink among the Indians, and made it the most valuable source of emolument. The latter not only exchanged for it their furs and peltries, but their lands also; so that within the space of two centuries, they have been swept away by its poisonous influence, like the dry grass before the fires of the prairie. Public enactments* and private remonstrance have alike proved ineffectual in preventing its introduction among the natives of the forest, and the only limits which will probably bound its use are the extermination of the race.

The first instance of intoxication by ardent spirits among the Indians of this continent, is recorded in the narrative of the "third voyage of Master Henry Hudson," made in the year 1609, during which he discovered the Hudson River, and penetrated it as far as where Albany is now situated. After having reached above the Highlands, the narrative goes on to state, that "the people of the countrie came flocking aboord, and brought us grapes and pompions, which wee bought for trifles, and many brought us beare's skinnes and otter's skinnes, which wee bought for beades, knives, and hatchets—and our Master (Hudson) and his mate determined to trie some of the chiefe men of the countrey, whether they had any treacherie in them, so they tooke them downe into the cabbin, and gave them so much wine and aqua vite that they were all merrie. In the end one of them was drunke, which had been aboord of our ship all the time that wee had been there, and that was strange to them; for they could not tell how to take it."+

Dr. Samuel Miller in his Discourse delivered before the New York Historical Society, September 4th, 1809, states that among The Six Nations, there is a tradition still preserved of a scene of intoxication which occurred with a company of the natives when the first ship arrived.

Mr. Williams, in his History of Vermont, supposes that the cause of this incessant craving for alcoholic stimulus among the Indians, is to be found in their habit of living on raw or boiled meat and water. This diet, he says, does not satisfy the desires of

* Numerous acts have been passed by the Colonial and Territorial Legislatures to prevent the sale of intoxicating drinks among the Indians. Among others, Pennsylvania in 1721, imposed a fine of twenty pounds for every such offence, and the same penalty was imposed upon every one, in whose possession strong liquors, in quantity exceeding one gallon, were found among the Indians. Ohio, also, in 1807 passed a similar law, making the penalty 100 dollars, and Indiana, in 1809, followed her example.-Laws of the Colonial and State Governments relating to Indians and Indian affairs, pp. 138, 232, 233. Collections of the New York Historical Society.

nature, and accordingly produces an appetite for everything astringent, stimulating, and inflammatory. Besides the hardships and sufferings to which the Indian is exposed, his want of comfortable refreshments and support, and the extremes of heat, and cold, and moisture, add new force to an appetite already excessive. White people, subjected to the same hardships and mode of living, have an equally strong inclination for strong drink, and but few have sufficient fortitude to resist its indulgence. It could not be expected that the Indians, who are unaccustomed to lay restraints upon their appetites and passions should be able to resist the fascination of intoxicating liquors. Besides, the appetite once indulged, increases by what it feeds upon, until the miserable victim yields up his life to the insatiable despot.

F.

ASYLUMS FOR THE INTEMPERATE.

We have long been of opinion, that establishments of asylums for the cure of inebriates, or, in other words for the reformation of the intemperate, were imperatively demanded in our country; and that a more useful or philanthropic measure could not be proposed. Were each state to provide such institutions, to be supported at the public expense, it would be but an act of justice toward its citizens, whom it tempts and actually leads into ruin, by legalizing, and thus encouraging the use of intoxicating drinks; and were this to be done, it might possibly lead our law-makers to count the cost, and see, whether the benefits of such license equal the costs, and the expense; and whether the principles of political economy, would not suggest the propriety of cutting off the supply, by going to the fountain head, in other words, to withhold such license.

Intemperance is a physical disease, and requires, therefore, physical treatment-moral measures alone, cannot reach it-total abstinence from the cause which produced it, is the only remedy; and the practice of this, in nine cases out of ten, is beyond the power of the unhappy inebriate. He lacks the moral abilityhence the utility of asylums-many drunkards are annually sent to our lunatic establishments; but we need not say, that these are not the proper place for them. Hundreds are sent on whaling voyages, or on board of other vessels, to keep them out of the reach of temptation-but ship-board, is but a poor school, for those who lack decision of character, and yield easily to the gratification of their appetites.

Dr. S. B. Woodward, the very able superintendent of the Hospital at Worcester, Mass. has published several Essays in a pamphlet form, on this subject, to which we would refer the reader.— These essays are important, also, as establishing the point, that the drunken appetite, the physical disease of the stomach-is caused by the moderate use of alcoholic liquors. Among other

arguments in favour of the establishment of such asylums, Dr. W. thus remarks:

"If there are thirty thousand drunkards in this country, and one tenth part are susceptible of cure, it will afford sufficient motive to commence immediately the important work. Doubtless one half may be cured, and the habit be wholly removed, if proper means are persisted in, for a sufficient length of time. If thirty thousand people in this country were to have smallpox in the next ten years, and it should be known that the disease would then be for ever at an end, would the philanthropist fold up his arms and be satisfied, that, when these cases were ended, the disease would be extinct? or rather would he not exert himself to see that hospitals were provided, and every means secured that should lessen the severity and fatal tendency of the malady even for these ten years?

"But no sober and considerate man can for a moment suppose that the evil of intemperance is to be removed from among us. Intemperance will continue to be the scourge of our country, will send its thousands of victims to an early and untimely grave, probably for ages yet to come. Temperance societies have done much, very much already, and will do much more, it is devoutly to be hoped, to rescue mankind from the horrors of intemperance. Yet a large class of mankind will pursue their accustomed habits, and drunkards will still be thick among us; poverty, and wretchedness, and disease will by this means for years, perhaps centuries to come, be entailed upon our race. Shall we then sit idle and see the mighty evil, witness the ruin and wretchedness it entails upon man, and not make an effort for its cure? Is there no balm in Gilead, and is there no physician there?'

"Let the experiment be fairly tried; let an institution be founded; let the means of cure be provided; let the principles on which it is to be founded be extensively promulgated, and I doubt not, all intelligent men will be satisfied of its feasibility, and be ready to extend to it ample benefaction, to build up and endow it with every necessary means.

"It cannot with exact certainty be told what would be the necessary expense of such an institution. It would be desirable to connect it with a good farm of moderate size, with plain, substantial buildings, a sufficient number of rooms for public instruction and private accommodation, in a pleasant and inviting section of the country. Twenty thousand dollars would be ample means for such accommodations as would be sufficient to make a magnificent experiment of the utility of the scheme; half that sum would afford an opportunity for a fair experiment.

"At the head of this institution place a physician of zeal, medical skill, and enlarged benevolence; let the principle of total abstinence be rigorously adopted and enforced; let the patients be so placed as absolutely to prohibit all access to the intoxicating draught. If the health suffered, let appropriate medication be afforded; let the mind be soothed; hope, that balm which is potent to save, be held out; let the certainty of success be clearly deline ated to the mind of the sufferer, founded in the undeviating and ample experience which the last ten years have afforded; let good

nutrition be regularly administered; let perfect quiet be enjoined while the prostration of strength and energy continued ;-this course, rigorously adopted and pursued, will restore nine out of ten in all cases, where organic disease of liver, brain, stomach, heart, or other organs essential to life, has not been produced.

"To the question, how shall inmates be placed in institutions of this character, and how retained? the answer must obviously depend upon the nature of the institution. If it should be a private establishment for the wealthy and respectable classes of society, friends would of course become responsible to the keeper of the house for all the consequences of detention; that is, if the individual detained should seek redress for false imprisonment, the parent, guardian, or other friends, should be bound to save the institution harmless from legal liabilities. If the subject of the institution should be a minor, perhaps parents and guardians would have a right, by existing laws, to enforce his detention, till a cure should be effected.

"I know the subject is one presenting some difficulties, and before institutions can be placed on the right footing, some legislative enactments may be necessary to enable keepers of such houses to enforce all needful restraints. It may be necessary, however, to satisfy the public of the utility of such institutions, before such laws could be procured."

Dr. W. feels satisfied that many wealthy families throughout the country, who are cursed with drunken inmates, would spare no expense in procuring the advantages of such an asylum. He thus relates the case of a father: "Indeed, since writing the above, a wealthy and highly respectable merchant and manufacturer came to me from a far distant village, with his only son, who voluntarily consented to place himself under my care, and follow my direc tions strictly, to be cured of the loathsome and destructive habit of intemperance, contracted while a clerk in his father's store, dealing out spirituous liquor to his customers, and partaking, as he suppo sed, innocently, of what others so freely purchased and partook. Do you think that I can describe to you the agony of that father, when he related to me the wretched circumstances of this only son, and only child! O, if you can cure him!' he exclaimed, money is no consideration, and we shall all owe you an eternal debt of gratitude.'

"

Drunkards which are town poor, might be supported and reformed by towns at far less expense than they are now sustained in the alms house, with their families for a course of years.

"We will suppose a case: A mechanic of industrious habits has a large family, which he supports by his individual efforts. He be comes intemperate, neglects his business, and reduces his family from competence to want and suffering. Want and suffering bring disease and discouragements; and he and his wife, and his children, are transferred to the almshouse, to be supported at a heavy public expense. Instead of this course, let a town take care of such a man, and expend one hundred dollars to keep him under the means of cure for his intemperance one year, and one or two hundred dollars to keep his family from suffering in the meantime, if neces

sary; and if the means are successful, he will be restored, vigorous and sound, not only free from his habit, but free from any propensity to return to it. How much better will such an expenditure be, than to support such a family in an almshouse till one by one they are taken away by death, or bound the slaves of the wealthy, with the stigma drunken pauperism upon them! How different will be the prospects of these children under these different modes of management."

Dr. W. contrasts intemperance with insanity, which has so much excited the sympathy of the community. In the United States, says Dr. W. the insane are one in a thousand, the intemperate eight or ten in a thousand. Of drunkards ten per cent. die annually. In Massachusetts, he estimates 4000 drunkards, 400 of whom die annually. If these four hundred could be brought into an asylum, nine tenths of them might be restored to health and temperance.

G.

Speech of the Rev. Dr. Humphrey, President of Amherst College, at the Fourth Anniversary of the American Temperance Union, E. C. Delavan, Esq. in the Chair.

Rev. Dr. Humphrey, President of Amherst College, offered the following resolution :

Resolved, That the American Temperance Union contemplate with gratitude to the all-wise disposer of events the continued advance of the cause of temperance among the nations, especially the extraordinary movements in Ireland, which promise to deliver that beautiful island from the most degrading bondage.

"I shall confine my remarks, said he, to the latter part of the resolution, which has respect to Ireland. Although I have endeavoured, for twenty-eight years, to stand in my lot, whenever called upon to advocate the cause of temperance, I was never invited to offer my thoughts on this theme upon a more heart-stirring occasion than the present; and I should esteem it one of the happiest moments of my life, if I had the ability to do it justice. O, for the powers of a Curran or a Burke, for I am sure that the eloquence of the most gifted men of Ireland was never more worthily employed than it might be at the present time, in celebrating the moral revolution now in progress in that ill fated land.

"What has Ireland been for six hundred years? It is one of the greenest and loveliest spots on the bosom of the ocean-the parent of great men; the mother of clear heads and eloquent tongues, and warm and valiant hearts-the nursery of genius and wit; the home of beauty, of chivalry, and of song; but meted out, misgoverned, trodden down by the iron heel of oppressionmanacled by the most abject ecclesiastical despotism, goaded on by madness and misrule to frequent insurrections-reduced to the