The culpability of many parents is beyond dispute. They not only omit to set their children good examples, and give them good advice, but, on the contrary, instil into their minds the first rudiments of wickedness, and lead them into the paths of vice. Their homes present scenes which human nature shudders at, and which it is impossible truly to describe. There are parents who, working at home, have every opportunity of training up their children "in the way they should go," if they were inclined so to do. Instead of this, we often find, in the case of the fathers, that they are so lost to every principle of humanity, that as soon as they receive their wages, they leave their homes, and hasten with eager steps to the public house; nor do they re-pass its accursed threshold, till the vice-fattening landlord has received the greater part of the money which should support their half-fed, half-clothed wives and children; and till they have qualified themselves, by intoxication, to act worse than brutes on their return home. To men of this description it matters not whether or not their children are proving themselves skilful imitators of their evil example,—they may curse and swear, lie and steal,—so long as they can enjoy the society of their pot companions, it is to them a matter of total indifference.
During my superintendence of the first school, I had a painful facility of examining these matters. Frequently, when I have inquired the cause of the wretched plight in which some of the children were sent to the school,—perhaps with scarcely a shoe to their feet, sometimes altogether without,—I have heard from their mothers the most heart-rending recitals of the husband's misconduct. One family in particular I remember, consisting of seven children, two of whom were in the school; four of them were supported entirely by the exertions of the mother, who declared to me, that she did not receive a shilling from their father for a month together; all the money he got he kept to spend at the public-house; and his family, for what he cared, might go naked, or starve. He was not only a great drunkard, but a reprobate into the bargain; beating and abusing the poor woman, who thus endeavoured to support his children by her labour.
The evil does not always stop here. Driven to the extreme of wretchedness by her husband's conduct, the woman sometimes takes to drinking likewise, and the poor babes are ten thousand times more pitiable than orphans. I have witnessed the revolting sight of a child leading home both father and mother from the public-house, in a disgusting state of intoxication. With tears and entreaties I have seen the poor infant vainly endeavouring to restrain them from increasing their drunkenness, by going into the houses on their way home; they have shaken off the clinging child, who, in the greatest anxiety, waited without to resume its painful task; knowing, all the time, perhaps, that whilst its parents were thus throwing away their money, there was not so much as a crust of bread to appease its hunger at home. Let it not be thought that this is an overcharged picture of facts; it is but a faint, a very faint and imperfect sketch of reality which defies exaggeration. Cases of such depravity, on the part of mothers, I with much pleasure confess to be comparatively rare. Maternal affection is the preventive. But what, let me ask, can be hoped of the children of such parents? What are their characters likely to become under such tuition? With such examples before their eyes, need they leave their homes to seek contamination, or to learn to do evil.
And here I must say, if I were asked to point out, in the metropolis, or any large city, the greatest nuisance, the worst bane of society, the most successful promoter of vice,—I should, without a moment's hesitation, point to the first public-house or spirit dealer's that met my view. Nor can I, in speaking of the causes of juvenile delinquency, omit to say, I think these houses, indirectly, a very great cause of it. Why I think so, my readers will readily conceive from what I have already said. I am sure that Satan has no temple in which he is so devoutly worshiped, or so highly honoured, as the ale-house,—no priest is so devoted as its landlord,—no followers are so zealous in his behalf as its frequenters.
Let any one in the evening visit the homes of the labouring class in a poor neighbourhood, and he will find, in many cases, a barely-furnished room, a numerous family of small children,—perhaps forgetting the pangs of hunger in the obliviousness of sleep,—a wife, with care-worn features, sitting in solitary wretchedness, ruminating on wants she knows not how to supply—namely, clothes and food for her children on the morrow, and on debts which she has no means of discharging. But where is he who should be sharing her cares, bidding her be of good cheer, and devising with her some means of alleviating their mutual distress? Where is the father of the sleeping babes, the husband of the watchful wife? Go to the public-house; you will see him there with a host of his companions, of like character and circumstances, smoking, drinking, singing, blaspheming, gambling—ruining his health, spending his money; as jovial as though he had no wretched wife, no starving babes at home! and as lavish of money which should procure them food, as the man who is thriving on his excesses could wish him to be.
I never look on a public-house without considering it as the abode of the evil genius of the neighbourhood; the despoiler of industry, the destroyer of domestic comfort; and heartily do I wish, that some means could be devised for abolishing these resorts of wickedness; that some legislative enactment may render it unlawful for any one to keep such places. With respect to a peculiar sort of beverage, it has been declared to be illegal to afford its purchasers accommodation for drinking it on the premises. Why not extend it to other liquors? I know this would be pronounced an infringement on English liberty! The worst of men would raise this outcry against the measure. But surely it should rather be called a preventive of English licentiousness. All good men would consider it as such. I would not rob the labourer of his daily allowance of a beverage which is believed by many to be of essential service, when taken in moderation; but I would have him drink it at home, that his wife and children may participate in his enjoyment. Perhaps, it will be said, a man closely confined to labour all day, needs some relaxation from domestic cares—that this can only be found in change of scene, and in social company. I will concede this. The plea of health, though often speciously advanced, cannot be denied. But is it necessary for his health, that this change of scene should be found in a close tap-room, within a few yards of his home, where he drinks to a ruinous excess till a late hour,—breathing all the while a hot atmosphere of tobacco-smoke? Is it not possible to obtain the change of scene, and the relaxation of social converse, by mutual visits amongst friends similarly situated,—by a ramble to the suburbs,—or, in cases where the daily occupation affords too little opportunity for exercise, are there not places established for gymnastic exercises,—and might not others be formed for the like purposes? Certain I am that the abolition of public-houses, in large cities, as places of daily resort for the adult labouring poor, would be attended with the most salutary consequences. I know of nothing that must so certainly tend to their improvement both in character and circumstances.
No man can witness the scenes, and doings, of many persons who attend the new beer-houses, without pain and regret, that ever an act of parliament was passed to legalize such places. I have visited some hundreds of such, throughout the country, and can positively assert that the demoralising tendency of too many is awful! Our magistrates must be more careful in granting licences, or the efforts of the wise and good will be neutralized, by the evils concocted at such places. The old inkeepers had a character, and capital at stake. The new beerhouse-keepers, I should say, a majority of them at least, have neither, and consequently are less cautious, having less to lose. Whatever the end of the legislature might have been in enabling the poor to procure a good and cheap article more easily, to be drunk on or off the premises, the thing has not answered the end, and no one can deny, who will take the trouble to visit such places in different counties, that the Act has been a miserable failure, and has been the fruitful source of crime and immorality. What a lesson is this for speculative, short sighted legislators?
Another measure should then be adopted, I would say—destroy the facility of spirit-drinking, by laying on a heavy duty. It is in vain that interested sophistry would plead its benefits in particular cases—such, for instance, as the ludicrous plea of the needfulness of drams for market-women on wet and frosty mornings.[A] Set these specious benefits against the dreadful results to men's health and pockets, from the present low price of spirits, and their consequent enormous consumption; and then let common sense and honesty deliver its judgment.
I have spoken thus candidly and at length upon the subject in the present chapter, though somewhat out of place, because my feelings would not allow me to be less plain or more brief, or to postpone the matter to "a more convenient season." Perhaps in talking of legislative alterations I have been wandering upon forbidden ground; if so, in returning to my proper path, I will comfort myself with this thought:—the progress of improvement, however slow, is sure, and it is certainly advancing in this country; I require no other assurance than the establishment of Infant Schools and Mechanic's.
[Footnote A: Some conception of the fearful height which drunkenness has attained, may be gathered from the fact, that in 1829, the quantity of distilled spirits on which the duty was paid in the three kingdoms, amounted to 23,000,000 of gallons. To form a due estimate, however, of the actual consumption, an immense quantity must be added, obtained by smuggling. Of the rum imported for home consumption, allowing for that re-exported, the quantity was 5,000,000 of gallons. Of brandy and other articles imported, 1,500,000 gallons; making a total, with the omission of all on which the duty was evaded, of 30,000,000 of gallons of ardent spirits consumed in the year. Five millions of revenue grew out of this, but it cost the people 15,000,000_l_. sterling, a which would have paid half-a-year's interest of the national debt.]