The Works of Samuel Johnson, LL.D. Volume 11

It has been asserted, indeed, that the price of a license is now so small, that none who are inclined to deal in spirits will neglect to secure themselves from punishment and vexation by procuring it; and that no man will subject himself to the malice of a profligate, by carrying on an illicit trade, which the annual expense of twenty shillings will make legal.

If this argument be just, my lords, and to the greatest part of this assembly I believe it will appear very plausible, how will this law lessen the consumption of distilled liquors? It is confessed that it will hinder nobody from selling them; and it has been found, by experience, that nothing can restrain the people from buying them, but such laws as hinder them from being sold.

This plea, therefore, by removing an objection to a particular clause, will strengthen the great argument against the tenour of the bill, that instead of lessening, it will increase the consumption of those liquors which are allowed to be destructive to the people, to enfeeble the body, and to vitiate the mind, and, consequently, to impair the strength and commerce of the nation, and to destroy the happiness and security of life.

That the cheapness of licenses will induce multitudes to buy them, may be expected; but it cannot be hoped that every one will cease to sell spirits without a license; for they, are, as I am informed, offered every hour in the streets by those to whom twenty shillings make a very large sum, and who, therefore, will not, or cannot purchase a license. These ought, undoubtedly, to be detected and punished; but there is no provision made for discovering them, but what has been found already to be ineffectual.

It appears, therefore, my lords, that this bill will increase the number of lawful retailers, without diminishing that of private dealers; so that the opportunities of debauchery will be multiplied, in proportion to the numbers who shall take licenses.

There is another fallacy by which the duties upon distilled liquors have been hitherto avoided, and which will still make this bill equally useless as the former, for the ends which are to be promoted by it.

It is expected, my lords, by those who purchase spirits from the distillers, that they should be of a certain degree of strength, which they call proof: if they are of a lower degree, their price is diminished; and if of a higher, it is raised proportionally; because if the spirits exceed the degree of strength required, they may be mixed with other liquors of little value, and still be sold to the drinker at the common price.

It is, therefore, the practice of the distillers to give their spirits thrice the degree of strength required, by which contrivance, though they pay only the duty of one pint, they sell their liquors at the price of three; because it may be increased to thrice the quantity distilled, and yet retain sufficient strength to promote the purposes of wickedness.

This practice, my lords, should be likewise obviated; for while one gallon, after having paid the present low duty which is laid upon it, may be multiplied to three, the additional price will, in the small quantities which are usually demanded, become imperceptible.

But to show yet farther the inefficacy of this bill, let us suppose, what will not be found by experience, that a halfpenny is added to the price of every pint, it will yet be very practicable to revel in drunkenness for a penny, since a very small quantity of these hateful liquors is sufficient to intoxicate those who have not been habituated to the use of them; who though their reformation is, undoubtedly, to be desired, do not so much demand the care of the legislature, as those who are yet untainted with this pernicious practice, and who may, perhaps, by the frequency of temptation, and the prevalence of example, be induced in time to taste these execrable liquors, and perish in their first essays of debauchery. For such is the quality of these spirits, that they are sometimes fatal to those who indiscreetly venture upon them without caution, and whose stomachs have not been prepared for large draughts, by proper gradations of intemperance; a single spoonful has been found sufficient to hurry two children to the grave.

It is, therefore, my opinion, that those whose stations and employments make it their duty to superintend the conduct of their fellow-subjects, ought to contrive some other law on this occasion; ought to endeavour to rescue the common people from the infatuation which is become general amongst them, and to withhold from them the means of wickedness. That instead of complying with their prejudices, and flattering their appetites, they should exert that authority with which they are intrusted in a steady and resolute opposition to predominant vices; and without having recourse to gentle arts, and temporizing expedients, snatch out of their hands at once those instruments which are only of use for criminal purposes, and take from their mouths that draught with which, however delicious it may seem, they poison at once themselves and their posterity.

The only argument which can be offered in defence of this bill, is the necessity of supporting the expenses of the war, and the difficulty of raising money by any other method. The necessity of the war, my lords, I am not about to call in question, nor is it very consistent with my character to examine the method in which it has been carried on; but this I can boldly assert, that however just, however necessary, however prudently prosecuted, and however successfully concluded, it can produce no advantages equivalent to the national sobriety and industry, and am certain that no publick advantage ought to be purchased at the expense of publick virtue.

But, my lords, I hope we are not yet reduced to the unhappy choice either of corrupting our people, or submitting to our enemies; nor do I doubt but that supplies may be obtained by methods less pernicious to the publick, and that funds sufficient for the present occasion may be established without a legal establishment of drunkenness.

I hope, my lords, we shall not suffer our endeavours to be baffled by the obstinacy of drunkards; and that we shall not desist from endeavouring the recovery of the nation from this hateful vice, because our first attempt has failed, since it failed only by the negligence or the cowardice of those whose duty required them to promote the execution of a just law.

Against the bill now before us I have thought it my duty to declare, as it appears to me opposite to every principle of virtue, and every just purpose of government; and therefore, though I have engrossed so much of your time in speaking on a subject with which it cannot reasonably be expected that I should be well acquainted, I hope I shall easily be pardoned by your lordships, since I have no private views either of interest or resentment to promote, and have spoken only what my conscience dictates, and my duty requires.

Lord TALBOT then rose up, and spoke to the following purport:—My lords, I am ashamed that there should be any necessity of opposing in this assembly a bill like that which is now before us; a bill crowded with absurdities, which no strength of eloquence can exaggerate, nor any force of reason make more evident.

This bill, my lords, is, however, the first proof that our new ministers have given of their capacity for the task which they have undertaken; this is a specimen of their sagacity, and is designed by them as an instance of the gentle methods by which the expenses of the government are hereafter to be levied upon the people. The nation shall no longer see its manufactures subjected to imposts, nor the fruits of industry taken from the laborious artificer; but drunkenness shall hereafter supply what has hitherto been paid by diligence and traffick; the restraints of vice shall be taken away, the barriers of virtue and religion broken, and an universal licentiousness shall overspread the land, that the schemes of the ministry may be executed.

What are the projects, my lords, that are to be pursued by such means, it is not my present purpose to inquire: it is not necessary to add any aggravations to the present charge, or to examine what has been the former conduct, or what will be the future actions of men who lie open by their present proposal to the most atrocious accusations; who are publickly endeavouring the propagation of the most pernicious of all vices, who are laying poison in the way of their countrymen, poison by which not only the body, but the mind is contaminated; who are attempting to establish by a law a practice productive of all the miseries to which human nature is incident; a practice which will at once disperse diseases and sedition, and promote beggary and rebellion.

This, my lords, is the expedient by which the acuteness of our ministry proposes to raise the supplies of the present year, and by this they hope to convince the nation that they are qualified for the high trusts to which they are advanced; and that they owe their exaltation only to the superiority of their abilities, the extent of their knowledge, and the maturity of their experience: by this masterstroke of policy they hope to lay for their authority a firm and durable foundation, and to possess themselves, by this happy contrivance, at once of the confidence of the crown, and the affections of the people.

But, my lords, I am so little convinced of their abilities, that amidst all the exultation which this new scheme produces, I will venture to predict the decline of their influence, and to fix the period of their greatness; for I am persuaded, that notwithstanding the readiness with which they have hitherto sacrificed the interest of their country, notwithstanding the desperate precipitation with which they have blindly engaged in the most dangerous measures, they will not be able to continue a year in their present stations.

The bill now under our consideration, my lords, will undoubtedly make all those their enemies whom it does not corrupt; for what can be expected from it, but universal disorder and boundless wickedness? wickedness made insolent by the protection of the law, and disorder promoted by all those whose wealth is increased by the increase of the revenues of the government.

Had it been urged, my lords, in defence of this bill, that it was necessary to raise money, and that money could only be raised by increasing the consumption of distilled spirits, it would have been apparent that it was well calculated to promote the purposes intended; but, surely, to assert that it will obstruct the use of these liquors, is to discover a degree either of ignorance, of effrontery, or of folly, by which few statesmen have been, hitherto, distinguished.

If we receive, without examination, the estimates which have been laid down, and allow the duty to rise as high as those by whom it is projected have ventured to assert, the price of these liquors can be raised but a halfpenny a pint; and there are few, even among the lowest of those who indulge themselves in this fatal luxury, whom the want of a single halfpenny can often debar from it.

And though these accurate calculators should insist that men may sometimes be compelled to sobriety by this addition to the expense of being drunk, yet how far will this restraint be found from being equivalent to the new temptation, which will be thrown into the way of thousands, yet uncorrupted by the multitude of new shops that will be opened for the distribution of poison, 'and the security which debauchery will obtain from the countenance of the legislature.

What will be the consequences of any encouragement given to a vice already almost irresistibly prevalent, I cannot determine; but surely nothing is too dismal to be expected from universal drunkenness, from a general depravity of all the most useful part of mankind, from an epidemical fury of debauchery, and an unbounded exemption from restraint.

How little any encouragement is wanting to promote the consumption of those execrable liquors, how much it concerns every man who has been informed of their quality, and who has seen their consequences, to oppose the use of them with his utmost influence, appears from the enormous quantity which the stills of this nation annually produce.

The number of gallons which appears from the accounts on the table to have been consumed last year, is seven millions; 'a quantity sufficient to-destroy the health, interrupt the labour, and deprave the morals of a very great part of the nation; a quantity which, if it be suffered to continue undiminished, will, even without any legal encouragement of its use, in a short time destroy the happiness of the publick; and by impairing the strength, and lessening the number of manufacturers and labourers, introduce poverty and famine.

Instead, therefore, of promoting a practice so evidently detrimental to society, let us oppose it with the most vigorous efforts; let us begin our opposition by rejecting this bill, and then consider whether the execution of the former law shall be—enforced, or whether another more efficacious can be formed.

Lord CHOLMONDELEY then spoke to the following effect:—My lords, though it is undoubtedly the right of every person in this assembly to utter his sentiments with freedom, yet surely decency ought to restrain us from virulent, and justice from undeserved reproaches; we ought not to censure any conduct with more severity than it deserves, nor condemn any man for practices of which he is innocent.

This rule, which will not, I suppose, be controverted, has not, in my opinion, been very carefully observed in this debate; for surely nothing is more unjust than to assert or insinuate that the government has looked idly upon the advances of debauchery, or has suffered drunkenness to prevail without opposition.

Of the care with which this licentiousness has been opposed, no other proof can be required, than the laws which have, in the present reign, been made against it. Soon after the succession of his majesty, the use of compound spirits was prohibited; but this law being eluded by substituting liquors, so drawn as not to be included in the statutes, it was soon after repealed; and the people were, for a time, indeed, suffered to drink distilled liquors without restraint, because a proper method of restraining them was not easily to be found.

How-difficult it was to contrive means by which this vice might safely be prevented, appeared more plainly soon afterwards, when the outrageous licentiousness of the populace made it necessary to contrive some new law by which the use of that liquor might be prohibited, to which so much insolence, idleness, and dissoluteness were imputed.

The law which it is now proposed to repeal, was then zealously promoted by those who were then most distinguished for their virtue and their prudence. Every man who had any regard for the happiness of the publick, was alarmed at the inundation of licentiousness that overflowed this city, and began to spread itself to the remoter parts of the kingdom; and it was determined that nothing but a total. prohibition of distilled liquors could preserve the peace, and restore the virtue of the nation.

A law was therefore made, which prohibited the retail of distilled spirits; and it was expected that the people would immediately return to the use of more innocent and healthful liquors, and that the new art of sudden intoxication would be wholly suppressed; but with how little knowledge of the dispositions of the nation this hope was formed, the event quickly discovered; for no sooner was the darling liquor withheld, than a general murmur was raised over all parts of this great city; and all the lower orders of the people testified their discontent in the most open manner. Multitudes were immediately tempted by the prospect of uncommon gain, to retail the prohibited liquors; of these many were detected, and many punished; and the trade of information was so lucrative, and so closely followed, that there was no doubt but the law would produce the effect expected from it, and that the most obstinate retailers would, by repeated prosecutions, be discouraged from the practice.

But no sooner did the people find their favourite gratification in real danger, than they unanimously engaged in its defence; they discovered that without informers, the new law was without operation; and the informers were, therefore, persecuted by them without mercy, and without remission, till at last no man would venture to provoke the resentment of the populace for the reward to which information entitled him.

Thus, my lords, one law has been eluded by artifice, and another defeated by violence; the practice of drinking spirits, however pernicious, still continued to prevail; the magistrates could not punish a crime of which they were not informed, and they could obtain no information of a practice vindicated by the populace.

It is not, indeed, to be allowed that the custom of drinking distilled liquors, however prevalent, has yet arisen to the height at which the noble lord, who spoke last, seems to imagine it arrived; for though it is undoubtedly true that seven millions of gallons are annually distilled, it is not to be imagined that the whole quantity is wasted in debauchery! some is, exhausted by the necessities, and some by the conveniencies of life; a great part is exported to other countries, and the distillery promotes many other purposes than those of riot and licentiousness.

That too much, however, is used by the common people, and that intemperance has for some time prevailed in a degree unknown to any former age, cannot be denied; and, therefore, some means of reclaiming them ought to be tried. What then, my lords, is to be done? The first law was eluded, the second is defied: the first was executed, but produced no restraint; the second produces a restraint so violent, that it cannot be executed.

That the present law is ineffectual, cannot be doubted by those who assert, that the quantity of spirits distilled has every year increased; and there seems to remain, therefore, no other choice than that of suffering this increase to proceed, or to endeavour to prevent it by new regulations. The present law ought to be repealed, because it is useless; but surely some other ought to supply its place, which may be more easily enforced, and less violently opposed.

The bill now before us, my lords, will, in my opinion, answer all the purposes of the last, without noise, and without disturbance. By lessening the price of licenses, it will put a stop to clandestine retail; and by raising that of the liquors, it will hinder the common people from drinking them in their usual excess. Those who have hitherto lost their reason and limbs twice a-day by their drunkenness, will not be able, under the intended regulations, to commit the same crime twice in a week; and as the temptation of cheapness will be taken away, it may be hoped that the next generation will not fall into the same vice.

Since, therefore, my lords, the arguments in favour of this bill are at least plausible and specious; since the design appears to be worthy of this assembly, and the method proposed such as may be hoped to produce the effects which the projectors of the bill desire; and since the opinions of this house are at least divided, and the other has passed it almost without opposition, we ought at least, in my opinion, not to reject it with precipitation, but to refer it to a committee, that it may be fully considered; and those objections which cannot be answered, removed by proper alterations.

Lord CARTERET spoke to the following purport:—My lords, the bill now under our consideration appears to me to deserve a much more close regard than seems to have been paid to it in the other house, through which it was hurried with the utmost precipitation, and where it was passed, almost without the formality of a debate; nor can I think that earnestness with which some lords seem inclined to press it forward here, consistent with the importance of the consequences which may be with great reason expected from it,

It has been urged, that where so great a number have formed expectations of a national benefit from any bill, so much deference, at least, is due to their judgment, as that the bill should be considered in a committee. This, my lords, I admit to be in other cases a just and reasonable demand, and will readily allow that the proposal not only of a considerable number, but even of any single lord, ought to be fully examined, and regularly debated, according to the usual forms of this assembly. But in the present case, my lords, and in all cases like the present, this demand is improper, because it is useless; and it is useless, because we can do now all that we can do hereafter in a committee. For the bill before us is a money bill, which, according to the present opinion of the commons, we have no right to amend; and which, therefore, we have no need of considering in a committee, since the event of all our deliberations must be, that we are either to reject or pass it in its present state. For I suppose no lord will think this a proper time to enter into a controversy with the commons for the revival of those privileges to which I believe we have a right, and such a controversy the least attempt to amend a money bill will certainly produce.

To desire, therefore, my lords, that this bill may be considered in a committee, is only to desire that it may gain one step without opposition; that it may proceed through the forms of the house by stealth, and that the consideration of it maybe delayed till the exigencies of the government shall be so great as not to allow time for raising the supplies by any other method.

By this artifice, gross as it is, the patrons of this wonderful bill hope to obstruct a plain and open detection of its tendency. They hope, my lords, that the bill shall operate in the same manner with the liquor which it is intended to bring into more general use; and that as those that drink spirits are drunk before they are well aware that they are drinking, the effects of this law shall be perceived before we know that we have made it. Their intent is to give us a dram of policy, which is to be swallowed before it is tasted, and which, when once it is swallowed, will turn our heads.

But, my lords, I hope we shall be so cautious as to examine the draught which these state empirics have thought proper to offer us; and I am confident that a very little examination will convince us of the pernicious qualities of their new preparation, and show that it can have no other effect than that of poisoning the publick.

The law before us, my lords, seems to be the effect of that practice, of which it is intended likewise to be the cause, and to be dictated by the liquor of which it so effectually promotes the use; for surely it never before was conceived, by any man intrusted with the administration of publick affairs, to raise taxes by the destruction of the people.

Nothing, my lords, but the destruction of all the most laborious and useful part of the nation can be expected, from the license which is now proposed to be given not only to drunkenness, but to drunkenness of the most detestable and dangerous kind, to the abuse not only of intoxicating, but of poisonous liquors.

Nothing, my lords, is more absurd than to assert, that the use of spirits will be hindered by the bill now before us, or indeed that it will not be in a very great degree promoted by it. For what produces all kind of wickedness, but the prospect of impunity on one part, or the solicitation of opportunity on the other; either of these has too frequently been sufficient to overpower the sense of morality, and even of religion; and what is not to be feared from them, when they shall unite their force, and operate together; when temptations shall be increased, and terrour taken away?

It is allowed by those who have hitherto disputed on either side of this question, that the people appear obstinately enamoured of this new liquor; it is allowed on both parts, that this liquor corrupts the mind, enervates the body, and destroys vigour and virtue at the same time; that it makes those who drink it too idle and too feeble for work; and, while it impoverishes them by the present expense, disables them from retrieving its ill consequences by subsequent industry.