Many other authorities [Footnote: He read the preamble to a former bill, the opinion of the college of physicians.] might be produced, and some others I have now in my hand; but the recital of them would waste the day to no purpose: for surely it is not necessary to show, by a long deduction of authorities, the guilt of drunkenness, or to prove that it weakens the body, or that it depraves the mind, that it makes mankind too feeble for labour, too indolent for application, too stupid for ingenuity, and too daring for the peace of society.
This, surely, my lords, is, therefore, a vice which ought, with the utmost care, to be discouraged by those whose birth or station has conferred upon them the province of watching over the publick happiness; and which, surely, no prospect of present advantage, no arguments of political convenience, will prevail upon this house to promote.
That the natural and evident tendency of this bill is the propagation of drunkenness, cannot be denied, when it is considered that it will increase the temptations to it by making that liquor, which is the favourite of the common people, more common, by multiplying the places at which it is sold, so that none can want an opportunity of yielding to any sudden impulse of his appetite, which will solicit him more powerfully and more incessantly as they are more frequently and more easily gratified.
In defence of a bill like this, my lords, it might be expected, that at least many specious arguments should be offered. It may be justly hoped that no man will rise up in opposition to all laws of heaven and earth, to the wisdom of all legislators, and the experience of every human being, without having formed such a train of arguments as will not easily be disconcerted, or having formed at least such a chain of sophistry as cannot be broken but with difficulty.
And yet, my lords, when I consider what has been offered by all who have hitherto appeared either in publick assemblies, or in private conversation, as advocates for this bill, I can scarcely believe, that they perceive themselves any force in their own arguments; and am inclined to conclude, that they speak only to avoid the imputation of being able to say nothing in defence of their own scheme; that their hope is not to convince by their reasons, but to overpower by their numbers; that they are themselves influenced, not by reason, but by necessity; and that they only encourage luxury, because money is to be raised for the execution of their schemes: and they imagine, that the people will pay more cheerfully for liberty to indulge their appetites, than for any other enjoyment.
The arguments which have been offered, my lords, in vindication of this bill, or at least which I have hitherto heard, are only two, and those two so unhappily associated, that they destroy each other; whatever shall be urged to enforce the second, must in the same proportion invalidate the first; and whoever shall assert, that the first is true, must admit that the second is false.
These positions, my lords, the unlucky positions which are laid down by the defenders of this pernicious bill, are, that it will supply the necessities of the government with a very large standing revenue, on the credit of which, strengthened by the additional security of the sinking fund, a sum will be advanced sufficient to support the expenses of a foreign war; and that at the same time it will lessen the consumption of the liquors from whence this duty is to arise.
By what arts of political ratiocination these propositions are to be reconciled, I am not able to discover. It appears evident, my lords, that large revenues can only be raised by the sale of large quantities; and that larger quantities will in reality be sold, as the price is little or nothing raised, and the venders are greatly increased.
If this will not be the effect, my lords, and if this effect is not expected, why is this bill proposed as sufficient to raise the immense sums which our present exigencies require? Can duties be paid without consumption of the commodity on which they are laid? and is there any other use of spirituous liquors than that of drinking them?
Surely, my lords, it is not expected, that any arguments should be admitted in this house without examination; and yet it might be justly imagined, that this assertion could only be offered in full confidence of an implicit reception, and this tenet be proposed only to those who had resigned their understandings to the dictates of the ministry; for it is implied in this position, that the plenty of a commodity diminishes the demand for it; and that the more freely it is sold, the less it will be bought. It implies, that men will lay voluntary restraints upon themselves, in proportion as they are indulged by their governours; and that all prohibitory laws tend to the promotion of the practices which they condemn; it implies, that a stop can only be put to fornication by increasing the number of prostitutes, and that theft is only to be restrained by leaving your doors open.