I^HSM^.^M:
 
 ESSAYS 
 
 ASYLUMS FOR INEBRIATES. 
 
 SAMUEL B. WOODWARD, M. D., 
 
 SUPERINTENDENT OF THE HOSPITAL 
 
 WORCESTER, MASS.
 
 HV 
 
 ESSAYS 
 
 ASYLUMS FOR INEBRIATES. 
 
 BY SAMUEL B. WOODWARD, M. D., 
 
 OF WORCESTER, MASS. 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 The brief Essays, now for the first time given to the public in a pamphlet form, 
 were written five years ago, and afterwards published at the request of a. distm- 
 guished and benevolent citizen of this commonwealth, who takes a deep interest 
 in every measure that will benefit the human family. • • v t> 
 
 They were written in haste, and published in rapid succession in the Boston 
 Daily Mercantile Journal, from which many of them were extracted into other 
 papers in this and other states in the Union. 
 
 Two years afterwards, the whole series were republished in the Connecticut 
 Courant, in Hartford. 
 
 The subject is one which has interested me for many years ; and much reflection 
 and considerable experience have satisfied me that the plan is feasible, and if prop- 
 erly put in practice, would be highly beneficial. 
 
 I am aware that many zealous friends of temperance believe that the principles 
 of total abstinence will soon so commend themselves to the community, that tem- 
 perance will become universal ; if so, that such institutions will be needless : 
 whether so desirable a state of things is to be anticipated from the present state of 
 the temperance reform, can hardly be admitted as a serious question. 
 
 Vice will continue to prevail, notwithstanding the exertions of the benevolent 
 and philanthropic; and as intemperance is one of tlie most extensive, and one of 
 the greatest evils pervading our country, we can hardly suppose that it will be 
 wholly done away, while mankind are as much governed by their appetites and 
 propensities as at the present time. 
 
 These Essays are again presented to the public, at the request of many respect- 
 able citizens in the metropolis and elsewhere, who have been interested in curing 
 as well as preventing intemperance. . . 
 
 The writer may say, without ostentation, that his advantages of ascertaining the 
 results of confinement and entire abstinence from intoxicating drink for a long 
 period have been rare and unusual, having now been connected for tioelve suc- 
 cessive years with tioo institutions, in which numerous individuals, amounting to 
 many hundreds, were confined, who by intemperance had become insane, or who 
 had perpetrated crimes which rendered confinement necessary. 
 
 The result of this experience has been the fullest conviction, that a large pro- 
 portion of the intemperate in a well-conducted institution would be radically 
 cured, and would again go into society with health reestablished, diseased appetites 
 removed, with principles of temperance well grounded and thoroughly understood, 
 so that they would be afterwards safe and sober men. 
 1
 
 2 ASYLUMS FOR INEBRIATES. 
 
 Like insanity, intemperance is too much of a physical disease to be cured by 
 moral means only. The appetite is wholly physical, depending on a condition of 
 the stomach and nervous system, which transcends all ordinary motives of absti- 
 nence. The suffering is immense, and the desire of immediate relief so entirely 
 incontrollable, that it is quite questionable whetlier the moral power of many of 
 its victims is sufficient to withstand its imperative demands. 
 
 Confinement and restraint, in such cases, are absolutely necessary for a cure, 
 till remedies can be applied to remove the physical sulTering, and bring the subject 
 of it within the range of moral influence. 
 
 The friends of the intemperate, who have suffered anxiety and solicitude un- 
 known to others, — who have tried every expedient of reform without benefit, — 
 will best appreciate such institutions. Experience teaches all such ih^l pledges, 
 and bonds, and oaths, are wholly ineffectual to restrain from the indulgence of ap- 
 petite, when temptations assail the drunkard : he must be placed out of the reach 
 of temptation, or his case is hopeless and irremediable. 
 
 In such an institution he will be safe ; he will also have the means of cure for 
 all the physical disease which preys upon his health and spirits, and destroys his 
 vigor of mind and body, breaking down his resolution, and making him a willing 
 slave to his appetite. 
 
 Let this be done, and he is in a fit situation to feel the full force of that moral 
 and religious influence which is to secure him from future indulgence, so that he 
 will not again ignorantly fall into temptation, and pursue this road to ruin. 
 
 It is to be lamented that the intemperate, and particularly the moderate drinkers, 
 stand aloof from information of the danger to which their habits expose them. 
 They feel that the advocates of total abstinence are arrayed in hostility to their 
 means of pleasure and enjoyment, instead of urging them to a course of happiness 
 and safety. 
 
 The intemperate man, cured of this evil, would be a most effectual advocate of 
 correct principles with his old associates and circle of friends — he would be able 
 to enter what is now a forbidden field of labor, and scatter, at broad-cast, knowl- 
 edge and influence with the ignorant and misguided. 
 
 The writer is not ignorant that this plan of establishing institutions for the cure 
 of intemperance, will meet with opposition from some, and ridicule from others, 
 and will be considered visionary by many, who are favorable to all the ordinary 
 modes of reform. He cannot, however, but think that such an enterprise would 
 be hailed with great joy by many of the friends of the intemperate, who see how 
 hopeless are all their efforts, while temptations are thick around them, to effect a 
 radical reform of their habits. 
 
 Every intemperate man is not only wretched himself, but brings sorrow, 
 wretchedness, and deep mortification upon a circle of friends, and frequently 
 thwarts all their efforts to render him comfortable, and themselves also. There is 
 little happiness, and rarely any prosperity, where intemperance has invaded the 
 family circle, especially if it affects the head of the family. 
 
 If there is a fair prospect of restoring happiness and prosperity to such a circle 
 by the cure of one drunkard, and if there are hundreds and thousands of families 
 now suffering in this way and from this cause, — should not this experiment be 
 made, and a fair trial of the plan be put in immediate operation ? 
 
 Let this be done in the commonwealth of Massachusetts, which has the distin- 
 guished honor of being first and foremost in all the benevolent enterprises and 
 charitable efforts of modern times. 
 
 S. B. WOODWARD. 
 
 Worcester, Dec. 1, 1838.
 
 ESSAYS. 
 
 No. I. 
 
 The successful efforts made by the advocates of temperance and 
 by temperance societies, within the last few years, have induced many 
 to suppose that the evil of intemperance will be shortly at an end, and 
 that all the human family will adopt the principle of total abstinence 
 from ardent spirits. However desirable this may be, however ardently 
 to be wished, we have really no reason to expect it — certainly not till 
 much more light is diffused on the subject — nor indeed till the char- 
 acter of man is wholly changed. 
 
 Spirituous liquors will not soon be banished from this country ; and 
 while to be found, there will be those who, for various reasons, will 
 continue the use of them. 
 
 Man is a creature of imitation and habit ; his physical system is 
 easily moulded by any factitious influence ; and while spirituous liquors, 
 wine, or even ale and. cider are in use, he will be liable to intemperance, 
 and the evil will be perpetuated : the use of the weaker liquor will 
 produce a desire for the stronger, which desire will be gratified while 
 the means of indulgence are at hand. 
 
 The truth is, intemperance, when established as a habit, is b. physi- 
 cal evil, depending on certain diseases or modifications of the functions 
 of the system important to life, and not under the control of the will. 
 Here a mistake is commonly committed by those who oppose, as well 
 as those who use intoxicating liquors. They will tell you that this use 
 may be dispensed with at any time, without inconvenience. Habitual 
 drinkers do not know their own condition, and have never tried the 
 principle for which they contend, by a fair experiment. 
 
 Habits which make no essential change upon the physical system, 
 but such as are excited by the slightest imitation, are not easily sub- 
 dued by the efforts of the will. This is well known to all who have 
 made an effort to conquer any disagreeable trick or habit in themselves 
 or in children. 
 
 The use of tobacco is a habit producing far less change in the 
 system than that produced by ardent spirits, and much less difficult 
 to overcome ; yet how many sensible men find it extremely hard to 
 overcome it, and cannot do it without severe suffering and rigid per- 
 severance for a long time. 
 
 Many persons are so inconsistent as to tell the lovers of strong drink 
 that it is an easy matter to break up the habit, and refrain from its use ; 
 and yet themselves pertinaciously pursue the filthy and vicious habit 
 of chewing tobacco, and even declare that they cannot relinquish it ! 
 
 It is a fact not generally known to those who use tobacco, that its 
 effect is very similar to that of ardent spirits. The inveterate chewer
 
 4 ASYLUMS FOR INEBRIATES. 
 
 of tobacco gets into his stomach daily a sufficient quantity of the juice 
 of this strong and dangerous narcotic, to produce a constant and pre- 
 judicial influence upon the nerves of that organ. Can any rational man 
 suppose that this can be done with impunity? Many evils arise from 
 the use of tobacco : it produces changes in the functions of the 
 stomach, glands of the mouth, and the nervous system, too important 
 to be overlooked, and too serious to be neglected. It tends directly to 
 induce intemperance. Although many who use it are free from intem- 
 perance, very few of the intemperate fail to use tobacco freely. 
 
 The fumes of both spirits and tobacco will intoxicate. This intox- 
 ication, perhaps, will never induce intemperance, and if the sensibility 
 of the nerves distributed upon the organ of smell be destroyed, they 
 are not essential to life : of course, the effect is not so injurious as if 
 the intoxicating article was received into the stomach. The effect, 
 however, of such impressions upon the brain as to produce vertigo and 
 intoxication, cannot be harmless, and ought never to be produced. 
 
 The mistaken views of the community on the subject of the utility 
 of spirituous liquors have unconsciously led many an individual to intem- 
 perance; that is, the relish for it has been excited, and the inconve- 
 nience of its abstraction has been seriously felt, when the individual 
 has supposed that there was no danger. Indeed the feeling oi vacuity 
 and weakness, experienced when he abstained, was considered a strong 
 argument in favor of its utility, and urged him to a further use. He 
 felt weak without, and strong and vigorous with its use; and was ig- 
 norant of the fact that it was the cause of his wcahiess as well as his 
 strength, and was producing a most deleterious influence upon his 
 stomach and whole nervous system. At that time intemperance only 
 was considered as a crime, and a moderate use of ardent spirits was 
 supposed to be salutary ; while the truth is, the criminality consists 
 in its moderate use; and intemperance is disease : a man is no more 
 to blame for intemperance, from this view of the subject, than for the 
 gout, diseased liver, insanity, and delirium tremens — which the use of 
 spirituous liquors also produce. 
 
 Intoxication and intemperance are not the same thing. A man may 
 be intoxicated many times in his life, and not be intemperate. So also 
 he may be intemperate without ever having shown symptoms of intox- 
 ication. 
 
 Tho inveterate tobacco-chewer is never intoxicated by the use of 
 that drug; while the individual unaccustomed to its use, may be in- 
 toxicated by being enveloped in the fumes of the smoker. 
 
 The moderate use of spirituous liquors and intoxication from them 
 are very reprehensible, because every individual knows, or may know, 
 the danger of these practices. 
 
 The standing of the moderate drinker at this day, in relation to in- 
 temperance, is quite different from what it was ten years ago, when the 
 community were not enlightened on the subject. 
 
 Indeed, strong fears must be entertained now, that the habit is con- 
 firmed with all those who daily taste the inebriating draught. 
 
 S. B. W.
 
 ASYLUMS FOR INEBRIATES. 
 
 No. II. 
 
 Intemperance cannot be said to be confirmed till a morbid condi- 
 tion of the stomach is produced. This diseased state of the stomach 
 is known by a sense of vacuity, faintness, and depression, which calls 
 imperiously for a repetition of the stimulant upon which it depends. 
 
 Intoxication may have frequently preceded this diseased state, or it 
 may never have preceded it in a single instance. One man will take 
 a pint of spirituous liquors in twenty-four hours, and in no instance 
 exhibit symptoms of intoxication, while another will get intoxicated 
 by a single glass. 
 
 But the first is much the most likely to become diseased by his 
 habit ; he may become confirmedly intemperate, or he may have gout, 
 rheumatism, liver complaint, or delirium tremens. Is, then, intemper- 
 ance any more criminal than gout, rheumatism, or other diseases that 
 follow the inordinate use of alcohol in whatever shape it may be 
 used ? 
 
 The criminality lies not in the intemperance, nor in these diseases, 
 but in the use of spirituous liquors, that moderate Mse,when the individ- 
 ual is a free agent, which leads to all these consequences, when, regard- 
 less of all admonition, of his health, his respectability, his usefulness, 
 his family, he proceeds straight onward, persists in the practice till he 
 is overtaken by some one of the evils in which this habit almost neces- 
 sarily results. 
 
 He can scarcely take up a newspaper, but that admonishes him ; he 
 cannot attend the stated religious meetings of the Sabbath in any 
 Christian church, without being admonished ; he cannot look about 
 upon his neighbors, who labor constantly without the aid of spirituous 
 liquors — he cannot seat himself at the table of any respectable hotel, 
 nor visit his respectable friends, nor receive their visits, without being 
 constantly admonished that moderate drinking, once so universal, has 
 gone out of use ; that hundreds and thousands have become alarmed, 
 and, being satisfied that there is danger in the practice, have aban- 
 doned it. 
 
 Ten years ago, a man might be a temperate drinker, and be inno- 
 cent; that day is gone by, and will never return. 
 
 The means of information on this subject are so abundant, so vari- 
 ous, so constantly before the eyes of every man, that he must exhibit 
 a recklessness of consequences highly criminal, who is not influenced 
 thereby. 
 
 There is very great danger that such an individual has ceased to 
 be a moderate drinker, and has proceeded so far with the practice as 
 to confirm intemperance, and has felt all the horrors of that fatal neces- 
 sity, that dreadful anguish which calls so loudly for the accustomed 
 support. 
 
 Many an unfortunate man is in this predicament ; many a one has 
 shed bitter tears over this calamity, wept and drank, and drank and 
 wept ! 
 
 Blame not this man too much ; he has passed the period to be cen- 
 sured ; his inward torment is enough ; the anguish of his soul may be
 
 6 ASYLUMS FOR INEBRIATES. 
 
 great ; the anguish of his body, of his stomach, of his nervous system, 
 is intolerable. 
 
 The never-dying worm of intemperance is preying upon his vitals, 
 destroying his health, undermining his reputation, blasting his eternal 
 prospects — would any one add to this calamity ? 
 
 If an individual was suffering with cold, and a fire was within 
 reach, do you think that he would stand still and be frozen 1 If he 
 was perishing with hunger and thirst, and rich viands and a delicious 
 beverage were before him, would he refrain, and suffer, and perish ? 
 Would he not rather break locks and bars to satisfy the cravings of 
 his appetite? Blame not the inebriate, then, for breaking his resolu- 
 tions ! When in view of the wretched consequences of his indul- 
 gence, he takes in hand the cup — which, if the cause of all his 
 woes, is the source of all his comfort, lulls to sleep the horror of his 
 stomach, quiets the agitated nerves, and gives a momentary respite 
 from his torment. 
 
 Does any one believe that hunger, and thirst, and suffering from 
 frost, are more dreadful than the sufferings of the inebriate ? Why 
 will he then forego food and raiment, and dwelling and fuel, and spend 
 his last cent for intoxicating liquors 1 And this too while his whole 
 household are in want and suffering by his side — his wife weeping 
 over her calamity, half starved and half frozen — his children crying 
 for bread, and suffering from nakedness and hunger. 
 
 " A few years ago, a tippler was put into an alms-house in a popu- 
 lous town in this state. Within a few days, he had devised various 
 expedients to procure rum, but failed. At length, however, he hit 
 upon one which was successful. He went into the wood-yard of the 
 establishment, placed one hand upon a block, and with an axe in the 
 other, struck it off at a single blow ! With the stump raised and stream- 
 ing, he ran into the house and cried, ' Get some rum ! get some rum ! — 
 my hand is off ! ' In the confusion and bustle of the occasion, a 
 bowl of rum was brought, into which he plunged the bleeding member 
 of his body ; then, raising the bowl to his mouth, drank freely, and 
 exultingly exclaimed, ' Now I am satisfied ! ' " * 
 
 Dr. Rush records the declaration of a rum-drinker in Philadelphia. 
 When strongly urged to relinquish his habits, he said, " Were a keg of 
 rum in one corner of the room, and a cannon constantly discharging 
 balls between me and it, I could not refrain passing before that can- 
 non to get at the rum." 
 
 Think you that hunger or thirst, or any other suffering to which 
 man is incident, ever impelled to deeds more desperate ? 
 
 Let pity, then, take the place of censure. Let the wretched, half- 
 distracted being be taken by the hand, to soothe his sorrow, comfort 
 him in his affliction, heal his malady, and you can make him live, 
 and enjoy, and be grateful ! 
 
 S. B. W. 
 
 * Professor Mussey's Address.
 
 ASYLUMS FOR INEBUIATES. 
 
 No. III. 
 
 It is an interesting inquiry to ascertain the effects of spirituous liquors 
 upon healtli, and the danger which is likely to result from their use. 
 
 Alcohol, which is the stimulant principle in all distilled and fermented 
 liquors, is an agent highly active, exciting the heart and blood-vessels 
 to vigorous action, increasing the heat of the system and the energies 
 of almost all the important functions. It is also a powerful narcotic, 
 influencing the brain and whole nervous system. Alcohol, producing 
 such decisive effects upon the animal frame — influencing the two great 
 systems, the circulation and the nerves, so decidedly as it does — pro- 
 duces powerful effects, which, if not salutary, must be highly deleterious. 
 Simple nutrition is all that is necessary to sustain the animal powers 
 and promote the most perfect health. Those substances which the 
 stomach can convert into nutrition, by the process of digestion, are 
 called aliments; these are derived from the vegetable and animal king- 
 doms, are very numerous, and well fitted to sustain animal life. Al- 
 cohol contains none of the principles of nutrition — of course does not^ 
 in health, sustain and support the animal frame. It is therefore not 
 fitted for a state of health. 
 
 Another set of animal, vegetable, and mineral substances act upori 
 the system. Instead of being acted upon by the stomach and other or- 
 gans, they act upon these organs, and influence their functions. These 
 are called medicines, and are useful only when the functions of organs are 
 performed imperfectly, or suspended, and then produce salutary effects. 
 Such are alcohol, opium, iron, and many other drugs which load the 
 shelves of the apothecary. Many of these articles, when given in an 
 over-dose, destroy the system by suspending some one or more of its 
 functions that are important to life, or at once destroy organization, and 
 thus prove fatal. These are poisons. 
 
 To these three classes belong all the substances that we receive into 
 the stomach, viz. Nutrition, Medicine, and Poison. In proper doses^ 
 in a diseased condition of the system requiring stimulants, alcohol, in 
 the form of wine, ale, and in some cases even brandy, may be safely 
 and advantageously employed as a medicine : in greater quantities, it 
 will endanger or destroy life. 
 
 It must be perfectly apparent that alcohol is improper in a healthy 
 state. The first organ to suffer from its use is the stomach, the com- 
 mon centre of the system, and the medium through which all nutrition 
 must be derived. The tone and energy of the stomach are all-impor- 
 tant to the vigorous and healthy performance of all the mental and 
 physical powers. The constant and daily impression of so powerful 
 an agent as alcohol, must produce a marked action, both of the nerves 
 and vessels of the stomach. Constantly excited by such factitious in- 
 fluence, the stomach soon loses its healthy tone and susceptibility, and 
 will not act, unless goaded by artificial excitements: this is the first, 
 or incipient stage of disease. Its influence does not stop here. Thd 
 brain, the nerves, the heart, and vessels, the glands, all receive an impulse 
 from its influence, and all get into a condition which renders this con- 
 tinued influence necessary. After a time, the quantity must be in- 
 
 B
 
 '8 ASYLUMS. FOR INEBRIATES. 
 
 creased or the effect is lost, and more in quantity or stronger doses 
 must be substituted. The whole system is dependent on its influence, 
 and suffers by its abstraction. 
 
 This is Intemperance. A host of diseases originate from the same 
 cause, according to the greater or less susceptibility to disease. Dys- 
 pepsia is most frequently thus caused, — diseased liver scarcely less so, 
 — palsy, apoplexy, insanity, gout, rheumatism, gravel, and numerous 
 others, are excited by its influence. Whatever disease affects such a 
 system is always more dangerous, and much more likely to prove 
 fatal. Witness the effects of cholera, lung fever, typhus fever, &c., on 
 the constitution of the drunkard : its energies prostrated by the first on- 
 set of disease, succumb often in an ineffeetual effort at reaction. 
 
 There is also a list of diseases to which those only who are addicted 
 to the free use of spirits are liable. Such are delirium tremens, a pe- 
 culiar and very painful affection of the lower extremities, a most dis- 
 gusting disease of the eyes and eyelids, and others equally dangerous 
 and distressing, all which frequently prove an outlet to human life. 
 Hence, besides the increased danger of all diseases in intemperate 
 habits, death is likely to come suddenly upon such, in a variety of new 
 and peculiar forms, besides intemperance, strictly so called. If not 
 complicated with other diseases of a fatal character, intemperance can 
 be cured, and its effects be eradicated from the system. This is no 
 longer problematical : since the grand temperance reformation com- 
 menced, hundreds of cases have been radically/ aired, and the consti- 
 tution has been renovated, and perfectly good health established. 
 
 The disease may be hereditary, and thus liable to return ; it may be 
 reproduced, by resorting again to the causes which first produced it. 
 So it is with many other diseases ; one attack increases the suscepti- 
 bility of the system to a second. Yet if the cause be avoided, the 
 disease, in either instance, will never return. 
 
 Total abstinence yrom all alcoholic potations is the grand arcanum 
 by which this security is effected. 
 
 S. B. W. 
 
 No. IV. 
 
 The grand secret of the cure of intemperance is total abstinence 
 from alcohol in all its forms. 
 
 This fundamental truth, so simple, and so extremely natural and 
 rational, it required years to discover. Many eflforts were made, mor- 
 al societies were organized, in which the grave question was discussed, 
 how much ardent spirits might be used by a man, and yet he be temper- 
 ate. Severe enactments were resorted to by legislative bodies, for- 
 bidding the sale to intemperate persons, punishments being inflicted, 
 the right to dispose of property taken from men ; and yet Intemper- 
 ance stalked forth through the land with appalling influence — increased 
 in every department of the country, in every class of society, till we 
 were almost literally a nation of drunkards ! In scarcely any com- 
 munity was an individual to be found who could say that he was
 
 ASYLUMS FOR INEBRIATES. 9 
 
 wholly free from the habit. Clergymen from the pulpit would give 
 excellent instruction, denouncing intemperance as a high crime, a 
 great evil ; and go home and refresli themselves with brandy and wa- 
 ter, or a glass of wine, for renewed labor ! 
 
 The learned judge would gravely tell the unfortunate criminal at 
 the bar, that intemperance was the cause of all his crimes, that he 
 could not be innocent till he became temperate, — and go from the 
 scene, and take his glass of brandy with his dinner, and his half a 
 dozen glasses of wine afterwards, and cooly descant upon the evils of 
 intemperance ! 
 
 The physician, when prescribing for his patient, would tell him (if 
 he dared) that excessive drinking was the cause of his disease ; that he 
 must be temperate, and use moderation, — and perhaps drink a glass 
 of spirits and water with him before he left him ! Such were the 
 habits of society from the highest to the lowest. The merchant treat- 
 ed his customer ; the mechanic had two drinks a day from his employ- 
 er, and found for himself what more he supposed necessary to sustain 
 him in his labor ! Some laborers were content with a gill, some with 
 half a pint, and others thought a pint none too much to sustain them 
 through a day of harvest ! 
 
 Cordials were always at hand for the delicate female. Ladies drink 
 brandy and 7-um ? O no ; this would be too vulgar ; but they must 
 take something under fatigue, and to brace up the nerves. A little 
 cherry or julep, a clove-water, made perhaps of new rum or cider- 
 brandy, was considered a much more delicate or refined mode of 
 drinking. But something must be taken, or they could not be sustained, 
 something to guard against the cold, or the heat, the dampness of 
 the air, the chilly evening, or the chilly morning. 
 
 These were not only offered, but urged upon all visitors; and if 
 declined, many reasons were given why it was proper that they should 
 take something to sustain themselves or ward off accidents. 
 
 During all this time, intemperance was considered the greatest evil 
 that pervaded the country. And a general alarm prevailed on the 
 subject. It was at this time that the great secret of total abstinence 
 came to light, so obscurely, indeed, that the author of it is unknown. 
 The great mass of the community were wholly opposed to it : it was 
 ridiculed, argued against, anathematized by legislators, clergymen, 
 physicians, merchants, and laborers. But yet it made progress ; many 
 tried it in secret, and were pleased; it found a few judicious advocates 
 in almost every community : these, without parade, influenced others to 
 try it ; and by slow degrees, it assumed a character and consequence 
 that would admit of its being publicly proclaimed. 
 
 To the temperate, it is now considered to afford the only security 
 from the dreaded evil of intemperance. 
 
 To the intemperate, the only hope of restoration to health, and 
 respectability, and happiness. 
 
 By means of total abstinence, and such remedies as the particular 
 symptoms of the case may call for, most cases of intemperance may be 
 radically cured. In most cases, total abstinence alone will effect it. 
 Many cases of gout, rheumatism, gravel, delirium tremens, will also 
 subside, and never return, if total abstinence is rigorously adhered ta.
 
 10 ASYLUMS FOR INEBRIATES. 
 
 But intemperance can never be cured, if the practice of moderate 
 drinking is persisted in : the only hope is in total abstinence. No 
 substitute is admissible : wine, ale, opium, peppermint, must be 
 wholly prohibited, or the appetite will not be removed. If too much 
 exhaustion is likely to take place, a judicious physician, who prop- 
 erly appreciates total abstinence himself, should be consulted. Cor- 
 dials, tonics, good nourishment, &c., will let the patient exchange his 
 present condition for one of strict temperance, with comparative ease, 
 not, to be sure, without suffering, but certainly without danger. The 
 experience of medical men of the present day is ample on this subject, 
 and cannot be false or mistaken. There are, however, so many cir- 
 cumstances to be attended to, to make the cure certain and radical, 
 that the further consideration of them must be deferred for the present. 
 With total abstinence for our pole-star, the distracted constitution can 
 be navigated into the haven of safety, and there be repaired and re- 
 stored to vigor and firmness. 
 
 S. B. W, 
 
 No. V. 
 
 Intemperance being a physical evil, and connected with an appetite 
 more imperious than any other to which the human system is inci- 
 dent, it will be obviously most difficult of cure while the subject of it 
 is within the reach of temptation, and while the means of relief are 
 so nearly at hand. Seclusion and restraints are as important in the 
 case of this malady, as in the case of insanity ; and it may be said 
 without exaggeration that as many recent cases will be cured — wholly 
 and totally cured — as of recent cases of insanity, or any disease of 
 equal severity. It is somewhat surprising, that amidst all the efforts 
 to advance temperance, and to eradicate the evil of intemperance, the 
 experiment of an institution to restore those who have persisted in 
 the practice, and will persist in it, in spite of reason, and all induce- 
 ments that can be presented, has never been tried. 
 
 Is the benevolent mind satisfied with the saying that the ■' old 
 drunkards will soon die off, and then, if total abstinence prevail uni- 
 versally, there will be none to take their places, and the evil will be 
 ended." If this were true, it still would be an object worthy of se- 
 rious consideration, whether an effort should not be made to save the 
 present unfortunate race of inebriates. If there are thirty thousand 
 drunkards in this country, and one tenth part are susceptible of cure, 
 it will afford sufficient motives to commence immediately the impor- 
 tant 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 smallr 
 pox, in the next ten years, and it should be known that the disease 
 would then be forever at an end, would the philanthropist fold up bis 
 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 host 
 pitals were provided, and every means secured that should lessen the
 
 ASYLUMS FOR INEBRIATES. 11 
 
 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 amongst us. Intem- 
 perance 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 man- 
 kind will pursue their accustomed habits, and drunkards will still be 
 thick amongst 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 benefactions, 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 accom- 
 modation, 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 delineated 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 of ten in all cases, where organic disease of liver, brain, stomach, 
 heart, or other organs essential to life, has not been produced. 
 
 After the powers of the system begin to rally, let the patient take 
 moderate exercise, labor or diversion, as will best please him ; let his 
 physical system be thoroughly attended to ; let his mind be interested 
 by every means consistent with his confinement ; let him walk abroad 
 accompanied by a faithful and temperate attendant in the intervals of 
 his labor, which should be long at first ; let him play backgammon, 
 checkers, ninepins, and pursue any other amusements congenial to 
 liis feelings. Tea, coffee, and water should constitute the whole drink,
 
 , 12 ASYLUMS FOR INEBRIATES. 
 
 When his physical system becomes, in a degree, renovated, let it be 
 accustomed to labor, and some other hardships, to give vigor to the 
 physical body, and let a plain, practical, experimental course of fa- 
 miliar lectures or conversations be daily given, to explain the danger 
 of moderate drinking, and especially the danger of recommencing a 
 practice which has led to all the disastrous consequences from which 
 the patient has suffered. Show to him, as far as practicable, the rea- 
 son why the case is not controllable by the will, that it is a physical 
 evil, a disease of the stomach andnervous system, and entirely incurable 
 while the practice is followed, and easily reproduced when wholly cured, 
 by a return to the habit, even in a moderate way, and for a short time. 
 These truths daily impressed by a physician in whom the patient has 
 confidence, and he can hardly fail to have confidence in one who has 
 carried him through perils which he could hardly be made to believe 
 would not be fatal to him, and can it be supposed that he would be 
 easily induced to resume these practices, if the appetite and conse- 
 quent habit had been subdued and wholly conquered? 
 
 Those persons must know little of the sufferings of that tormenting 
 thirst, and insatiable craving, who doubt the efficacy of the remedy 
 or general permanency of the cure. 
 
 S. B. W. 
 
 No. VI. 
 
 If the institution which has been proposed be a public one, and the 
 inmates be placed in it by legal authority, moderate labor might be 
 enjoined, which would defray in part the expense of maintenance. 
 Gardening, the cultivation of the land, the raising of silk, garden-seeds, 
 or other profitable vegetables, would be worthy of attention, both as a 
 means of restoration, and of diminishing the expense of support. 
 Every patient might have particular portions of land to cultivate, the 
 avails of which he might enjoy in little comforts or luxuries not incom- 
 patible with the principles of confinement and restraint, or an hourly 
 stipend or wages might be allowed to diminish expenses. Mechanics' 
 shops, accommodated with tools, might be annexed to the institution, 
 where labor of that kind might be performed. The enclosure might 
 be rendered inviting by ornamenting it with fruit-trees and flowers, by 
 a tasteful decoration of the grounds with plants and shrubs. Every thing 
 of this kind would render the place inviting, and tend to reconcile the 
 inmates to the necessary restraints and privations. The patients in 
 process of time might perform, under the eye of an attendant, all the 
 requisite labor to beautify and ornament the grounds, cultivate the 
 gardens, and also be engaged in such profitable labor as would 
 diminish the necessary expenses, upon the principle of the manual 
 labor institutions. With kind and benevolent treatment, every indul- 
 gence compatible with security and the great curative object in view, 
 interesting conversation, a judicious selection of books, paper, writing 
 materials, and all the social innocent amusements, the inmates in gen- 
 eral will be reconciled to their situation, and in a short time feel grate-
 
 ASYLUMS FOR INEBRIATES. 13 
 
 ful for the kindness of friends, and the indulgences and privileges 
 enjoyed in the institution, and soon be reconciled to the privations, in 
 consideration of the enjoyments and advantages to be derived from 
 them. 
 
 The time that it will require to effect this most desirable end, will 
 be very different in different cases, according to the severity of the 
 disease, or the power of the influence on the one hand to continue the 
 habit, or the effect of the means presented to eradicate it on the other. 
 The experience of many physicians and some institutions in the 
 country would show that a very large proportion of cases may be 
 cured in one year ; that in that time all desire of the stimulus will be 
 removed, the powers of the constitution will be renovated, and health 
 be fully reestablished; and that this new state of the constitution will 
 be such as not necessarily to call the good resolutions into exercise, as 
 the appetite will wholly subside. 
 
 To produce a state of certain security, and to afford time for the 
 debilitated powers to become firmly established in health and vigor, 
 probably one year would be short time enough to accomplish so great 
 a change and render it permanent. One rule should be firmly adhered 
 to, which is, that the patient should ?iever be enlarged till he can resist 
 temptation, and till all concerned are satisfied that the cure is completed. 
 Any thing short of this would be useless effort and unavailing trial, 
 calculated to do injustice to the institution and those who manage 
 it, as well as produce much temporary suffering without any ultimate 
 benefit. 
 
 The feasibility of this plan of curing intemperance may be differently 
 appreciated by different individuals who may feel a deep interest in the 
 subject. To the writer, doubts on the subject would have still existed 
 of the propriety, if not of the practicability of this plan of cure, if 
 opportunities beyond those of most men had not been afforded him, of 
 seeing most happy results from it in a great number (many hundred) 
 and variety of cases, some of which had been confirmed by many years 
 of intemperance in a habit well known to be invincible. Many such 
 cases have been afterwards thrown in the way of temptation, without 
 violating those sound principles Avhich with much solemnity they had 
 vowed to maintain inviolate, never again to taste the accursed thing 
 while health remained, nor in disease, unless considered absolutely 
 necessary to restore health, in the opinion of a temperance physician. 
 Whenever the inmates leave the institution, such a pledge should be 
 obtained, as a means quite powerful to prevent the first overt act of 
 violation. 
 
 Let this subject be candidly considered ; let the experiment he fairly 
 tried; let public sentiment be suspended till such trial be fairly made, 
 and no doubt remains that a glorious harvest will await those who are 
 willing to make a trifling personal sacrifice to secure such great and 
 permanent good, 
 
 S. B. W.
 
 14 ASYLUMS" FOR INEBRIATES. 
 
 No. VII. 
 
 There are some errors prevalent in tlie community with respect to 
 the mode of leaving off the habit of using strong drink. A very prev- 
 alent opinion is, that it is unsafe for the intemperate to quit the practice 
 at once, and that the only way to do it prudently, is to do it gradually 
 and cautiously. This notion has been strenuously maintained by some 
 very respectable physicians. 
 
 If the practice has not been continued till the habit is confirmed, 
 there is no more propriety in suspending it by degrees than there would 
 be in leaving off stealing, lying, or profanity, by little and little, which 
 to all persons must appear quite ridiculous. If the practice has been 
 pursued till disease is produced, it can hardly be supposed that, in order 
 to cure a disease, it is even necessary to remove the ccmsc by degrees. 
 If wetting the feet produces pleurisy or lung fever, would any one ad- 
 vise that they be dried gradually, or be kept moderately wet for some 
 time? If the use of lead has produced cholic, who ever advised that 
 it be withdrawn by little and little, for fear of the bad effect of a sudden 
 abstraction ? If hot water blisters the surface, would you withdraw it 
 cautiously, for fear of increasing the danger ? No more propriety is 
 there in discontinuing the use of spirits gradually by those who have 
 used it intemperately. The condition of the stomach, and especially 
 of the liver, which has been induced by intemperance, is one, which, 
 when once established, a small quantity of stimulus will keep up. A 
 sound stomach or liver will bear a considerable quantity of stimulus; 
 so will a sound eye bear strong light; but if the eye becomes inflamed, 
 moderate light will greatly increase the pain as well as keep up the 
 disease. So with the use of ardent spirits — the quantity that would 
 produce little perceptible influence upon the healthy organs, will pro- 
 duce very prejudicial effects upon those diseased. Experience verifies 
 all this. The modern practice to withdraw all spirituous liquors from 
 those who have become intemperate at once, and resorting to no sub- 
 stitute, is found not only the most certain mode of curing the habit, 
 but quite the most easy for the patient. The suffering is sharp, but 
 sooner over ; the termination of the horror is soon effected, and then 
 renovation and recovery begin. 
 
 The opinion that delirium tremens was in consequence of discon- 
 tinuing the accustomed potations is founded in error : the loss of the 
 appetite is the first symptom of disease, and not the cause of it. Much 
 experience has satisfied the writer of this truth, and his experience is 
 of such a kind as to admit of no mistake in application to the dis- 
 ease in question. Although it is proper and expedient to withdraw all 
 stimulants of the nature of ardent spirits in the case of intemperance, 
 there may be exceptions to this general rule. AVhere the system is 
 extremely enfeebled, and where the removal of the morbid appetite is 
 but a small part of what is necessary to be done to restore the patient 
 to health, it may be proper to allow some substitute, as good wine, 
 opium, or other narcotics. These cases, however, are only exceptions 
 to a general rule, and the practice should be avoided in ordinary cases. 
 Whenever total abstinence is not adhered to, the cure will require
 
 'ASYLUMS FOR INEBRIATES. 15 
 
 more timB, and will be less certain : at any rate, the ground of total 
 abstinence must be gained before the cure is effected ; and all desire for 
 alcohol must be removed, and must have been removed for a long time. 
 It may be even proper that temptation be placed in the way of those 
 whose cure is doubtful, to see if they will, when unobserved, resort to 
 the use of the stimulus so necessary to former comfort. By enjoining 
 total abstinence, I would not be supposed to mean that this is all that 
 is necessary for the cure of intemperance. Both alterative and tonic 
 medicines may be necessary to remove its effects upon the health. A 
 long course of bark or iron, or other tonic remedies^ generous diet, 
 moderate and regular exercise, diversion, and such society as is suited 
 to the taste, avoiding all unfavorable associations, will be indispen- 
 sable to the cure. The individual must not only be satisfied that his 
 disease is curable, and the effects capable of being wholly eradicated 
 from the system, but also that he can return to society, and associate 
 with his friends as he would have done if his misfortunes had never 
 come upon him. This state of feeling will pervade society at last, and 
 the intemperate man, when cured of his malady, will be as cordially re- 
 ceived by his friends as if he had been restored from insanity or severe 
 and protracted disease. 
 
 S. B. W. 
 
 No. VIIL 
 
 The general impression that some substitute must be used when 
 spirituous liquors are taken from the intemperate man, or he would 
 fall into delirium tremens, or sink into irrecoverable debility, is 
 incorrect. If the system is not otherwise diseased, this precaution ig 
 not needed. It is worse than useless, as a general rule. While any 
 substitute is used, the habit is not conquered ; for the substitute haSj 
 in some degree, the effect of the intoxicating article, or it would 
 prove no substitute, and afford no relief. 
 
 The old prisoner, who is put upon bread and water as a punish- 
 ment, lies down and remains perfectly quiet, by which means this 
 scanty supply of nourishment answers the purpose of sustaining him> 
 and he neither suffers from hunger, nor emaciates ; while the youngs 
 inexperienced culprit will rave and be angry, beat his walls, and walk 
 his room, complain stoutly of hunger, and grow poor and feeble. 
 
 So it will be with the intemperate man ; if he is at rest, calm and 
 rational in his views, keeps still, and permits no unnecessary exhaus- 
 tion, by labor or irritation, he will soon get over the suffering which 
 abstracting spirits will occasion him. 
 
 As to wine, it is no substitute, but only a form in which alcohol is 
 disguised. I see no difference at all in the danger of wine and spirit- 
 drinking at this time, for no wine is found that does not contain from 
 one quarter to one half brandy or spirits. Opium is equally objec- 
 tionable, and so are ale, porter, and cider. Nothing containing 
 alcohol should be given, and nothing from which alcohol can be 
 obtained. There may be combinations of disease, in which this rule 
 
 c
 
 16 ASYLUMS FOR INEBRIATES. 
 
 may be dispensed with, or, at least, some deviation from the strict 
 letter of the rule may be allowed. But one thing is certain ; intem- 
 perance loill never be cured while alcohol, in any form, is taken as a 
 drink, hy the subjects of it. 
 
 As respects other remedies that have been prescribed to help the 
 stomach, and keep up the tone of the nervous system, I doubt not 
 they may occasionally be useful, and may be indispensable, when 
 intemperance has led to debility and functional disease, of much 
 more immediate urgency and danger, than the habit itself 
 
 Intemperance is of all degrees, from the gentle craving that warns a 
 man of the hour to take his accustomed stimulus, to the horrid 
 craving, the death-like sinking at the stomach, the agitation and 
 distress of the nervous system so highly excited, that no ordinary 
 resolutions can prevent the individual from partaking of the relief 
 which is offered and urged upon him, from the various sources where 
 it can be so easily obtained. The first may be easily cured, if the 
 individual feels his danger ; but he generally does not, and cannot be 
 made to, till other sufferings are added, and till the system begins 
 seriously to feel the influence, and still more seriously, the abstraction 
 of this bewitching potation. He has now a Herculean labor to 
 perform, and he must have firmness above the ordinary lot of mortals, 
 to get his cure alone, and unassisted by restraints. Can it be sup- 
 posed that an individual under these circumstances is a subject of 
 abuse and neglect, the scoff and ridicule of those around him ? Far 
 otherwise. His situation calls aloud for the sympathy and encourage- 
 ment of his friends ; for all the aid which benevolence and Christian 
 fellowship can extend to him. His sufferings cannot be appreciated, 
 and his resolutions cannot be too much commended. I once had a 
 person under my care, who had used spirituous liquors in great 
 quantities; and, for a long period of time, he Avas placed in circum- 
 stances where it was impossible to obtain it. Naturally vigorous and 
 stout-hearted, although his face was as rough as a pine-apple, and of 
 crimson redness, his constitution seemed to retain no inconsiderable 
 energy, although he had used a large quantity daily for twenty years. 
 It was concluded in consultation by those who had now the care of 
 this unhappy man, whose moral image had become more defaced 
 than the natural, to take away all his stimulants at once, and watch 
 him carefully, and administer to his wants, all that nutrition, of the 
 most savory and grateful kind, which should alleviate in any measure 
 the tempest of suffering, which we supposed he must inevitably meet. 
 His sufferings were unparalleled, both in intensity and duration ; the 
 hardness of his natural ferocity was melted into childishness ; and in 
 the agony of his torments, with torrents of tears flowing over his 
 cheeks, he would beg, with all the eloquence which famished nature 
 could call forth, and inward torments could elicit, that one dram, one 
 glass, should be afforded him. I shall never forget the horror of this 
 scene ; I shall never forget the heart-rending appeals made to me in 
 ray daily rounds ; I shall never forget how far were my feelings from 
 torturing and ridiculing this wretched sufferer, whose every nerve was 
 in torment, whose stomach, rejecting the bland nutrition that was 
 given it, called loudly and imperiously for that bewitching draught.
 
 ASYLUMS FOU INEBRIATES. 17 
 
 which, if the cause of all his horror, was, he well knew, the only 
 means of relief from his present agony. But nothing was afforded 
 him ; his symptoms were watched with care ; nutrition was adminis- 
 tered. In a few weeks he improved ; in a few months he recruited ; 
 in two years he was well, in better health than he had been for many 
 years. His " cancerous nose" was made smooth; and he acknowl- 
 edges, with gratitude, that we saved him from ignominy and an 
 untimely grave. 
 
 S. B. W. 
 
 No. IX. 
 
 The habit of intemperance is more or less dangerous, as it is con- 
 firmed more or less early in life. If the individual have confirmed 
 habits of intemperance before the age of tiocnty, his constitution is 
 usually worn out, and he pays the debt of nature before he reaches 
 thirty. If the habit is delayed till from twenty to thirty, he will rarely 
 survive fifty. But if it is not established till after thirty, he will pursue 
 it for many years, with apparent impunity, often to old age. 
 
 This shows us the difference, in susceptibility, between youth and 
 manhood, and the danger to the young of pursuing any practice which 
 influences the mental and physical system unfavorably. 
 
 It is aJl-important, therefore, that the habits of the young, in this and 
 all other respects, be particularly attended to. All must agree that the 
 subject is too much neglected. Habits of cleanliness, early rising, in- 
 dustry, and study, are rarely formed at any other period of life. Every 
 youth should, therefore, feel the importance of establishing these good 
 habits, and especially habits of total abstinence from ardent spirits, 
 wine, ale, and every thing that icill intoxicate. I say every thing that 
 will intoxicate ; for how often do we hear it repeated, by the more ad- 
 vanced in age, that they have been in the use of spirits, and " don't 
 know how to do without it," that they cannot give up cider, tobacco, 
 &c., as "they have been always used to it." I would advise every 
 young man to get used to nothing ; to establish no habit that will be 
 likely to injure his health, or to make him a slave to an unnatural and 
 morbid appetite. It is unquestionably true, that disease is much more 
 frequently and readily induced by spirits, in youth, than after age. A 
 very large proportion of those persons who have delirium tremens, 
 commenced the use of spirituous liquors early in life ; so also with 
 gout, dyspepsia, and diseased liver ; so with intemperance. There 
 are very few intemperate persons in the community, who did not 
 commence the use of spirituous potations in early life. 
 
 The individual who passes twenty-five years without spirituous 
 liquors, has very little inducement to commence the use of thera 
 afterwards, unless his health fail him, and he resorts to them as a 
 remedy for disease. This is particularly the case at this time, when 
 so much is known of their influence and their danger. 
 
 An institution for the cure of intemperance, before it should be long 
 established, will be available only for the youno-. And, if well con- 
 3*
 
 18 ASYLUMS FOR INEBRIATES, 
 
 ducted, and properly appreciated, will be highly beneficia}, in restoring; 
 to usefulness and to health, to friends and to society, many who have 
 unwarily been led astray, in the dangerous path of the inebriate. For, 
 as evil habits are easily established at this period, so, comparatively, 
 are they easily eradicated, and good ones substituted in their stead. 
 Take the youth by the hand who has unfortunately commenced the 
 career of the drunkard,, place him in seclusion, out of tlie reach of his 
 temptations, and out of the way of all indulgence, — show him kindly, 
 but candidly, the danger of his practice, and the inevitable ruin that it 
 will bring upon him, — point out to him the road to honor, respecta- 
 bility, and usefulness, — furnish him with employment and amuse- 
 ments — means of information, — and you bring him back within the 
 range of moral principle, and under the influence of reason. Keep 
 him till his appetite is removed, till his physical energies are re- 
 established, till all desire for alcoholic drinks is eradicated, — and 
 what should induce him to resume his bad practice? 
 
 If intemperance was a vicious habit only, like theft and lying, 1 
 should have less hope of the efficacy of the means proposed ; but even 
 then, more than I should have of the influence of the best pei=iitentiary 
 discipline, for the removal of these evil practices. Intemperance and 
 intoxication bring more physical distress than theft and lying * of 
 course, the habit once cured, woald be less likely to return. Besides, 
 the motive is less operative, that should induce the recommencemene 
 of the practice, after the appetite is once removed. 
 
 But intemperance is not merely a vicious habit of the nature of these 
 vices, while intoxication bears a very near resemblance to them. In- 
 temperance is a physical evil, and, if thoroughly eradicated, will be 
 no more likely to return than other diseases. 
 
 The recommencement of the practice of drinking will be a moral 
 act, original in its character, having no connection with this formei' 
 habit. Doubtless there would be many who would return to the prac-^ 
 tice of drinking, and again fall into intemperance; as there are many 
 who recklessly expose themselves to dangers and causes of disease, 
 which have on former occasions led to serious sufferings. 
 
 Imprudence and thoughtlessness lead to many of the evils to which 
 life is incident, and the class of men who have been led into intem- 
 perance are often peculiarly obnoxious to them. Often generous, 
 unsuspicious, social and hospitable, their very good nature is not 
 unfrequently the foundation of all their woes: they yield readily to 
 enticement, not so much from a propensity to evil, as from a want of 
 firmness to resist temptation, — not so much to gratify themselves, as 
 to oblige others. How often is it said of the victim of intemperance, 
 " lie wiis the finest young man of the neighborhood — intelligent, kind, 
 and generous. His social feelings led him into company, his generous 
 disposition made him to be hospitable, when hospitality was manifested 
 by the flowing bowl and social glass, of which he partook freely and 
 was ruined." This might be the epitaph of many a young man of 
 genius, who gave promise of great usefulness and eminence; now 
 sunk to an untimely grave, or, what is little better, living in the miro 
 ?md wallowing of intemperance ! 
 
 S. B. W,
 
 ASYLUMS FOR INEBRIATES. 19 
 
 No. X. 
 
 I AM well aware that there are men who will consider this scheme 
 of a Temperance Asylum as Utopian, impracticable, and uncalled for. 
 Others, doubtless, will think more favorably of it. All will allow that 
 this unfortunate class of individuals are in a condition little less than 
 hopeless, while unassisted and unprovided for. Drunkenness has been 
 considered incurable. Of its victim, it has always been said, " He will not 
 forsake his cups ; and if he does, he will return to them again." Abuse, 
 and neglect, and punishments have been his fate ; rejected from decent 
 society, despised and cast off by his friends, he has been often induced 
 to seek the company of associates little likely to favor his own amend- 
 ment. If he has made resolutions to reform, which have occasioned 
 a daily struggle between his sense of propriety and virtue on the one 
 hand, and the cravings of diseased appetite on the other, he has had 
 no credit for them, as the imperious demands of his suffering, tanta- 
 lized stomach, and nervous system, overcome all his resolutions, and 
 again he sinks, to be again reviled, abused, and censured. Is it sur- 
 prising that intemperance sours the temper? If a man, laboring 
 under gout, dropsy, or gravel, should be depised, neglected, and cen- 
 sured, as much as the inebriate is, would he retain his temper better t 
 And yet, in a large proportion of these cases, the same cause produces 
 them all ; the one is as censurable as the other ; and the individual is as 
 responsible for his own sufferings in gout and diseased liver, as the 
 drunkard is for his. 
 
 I repeat, then, what I have before remarked — moderate drinking and 
 intoxication are criminal. Intemperance is disease. Taking a bottle 
 of wine daily is criminal, because it leads to gout and gravel, as well 
 as to moral evils ; but gout and gravel are not criminal in themselves. 
 
 Almost all the physical evils to which man is incident, and many 
 of the moral and mental also, come upon him in consequence of his 
 violating the natural laws of his constitution. Intemperance is one, 
 disease is one, physical and mental imbecility another. Bad education 
 often leads to crime, to disease, and to intemperance. 
 
 All mankind that are exempt from intemperance, are not equally 
 commendable, nor are all those who have fallen into habits of intoxi- 
 cation, or that are in the moderate use of intoxicating drinks, equally 
 censurable. 
 
 Some have had good examples and excellent instruction, and have 
 fallen victims to vice ; others, bad examples and daily encouragement 
 to use inebriating liquors, and have stood aloof, or broken off, and saved 
 their health and virtue. 
 
 The attempt to cure intemperance will, of course, meet with various 
 success, according to the inveteracy of the habit, or the disposition of 
 the individual to submit to the treatment, and respond to the views of 
 those in whose care he is placed. If the desire for alcoholic drinks is 
 removed, and the system is recovered from the shock, and regains its 
 strength and energy, the disease is cured, and will not return, unless 
 the cause is again applied, and moderate or excessive drinking is again 
 resumed. The plain question then is, Can intemperance, in the gener-
 
 r20 asylums" for inebriates. 
 
 ality of cases, be cured without restraint? If not, can it be cured with 
 it? Within the last few years, there have been a very considerable 
 number of cases of voluntary abandonment of ardent spirit, by those 
 who have used it freely and intemperately. But many, very many have 
 made firm resolutions, and commenced with confidence the work of 
 reform, and have failed of its accomplishment altogether. This we 
 know. Many more, doubtless, have done the same secretly, and failed ; 
 so that we have every reason to suppose that intemperance, particu- 
 larly the inveterate form of the evil, will not be extensively cured with- 
 out restraint, without placing ardent spirits entirely out of the reach 
 of its victim, and rendering hopeless all efforts to obtain it. For 
 the more certain the utter uselessness of all efforts to obtain alcoholic 
 drink, the more sure of good resolutions on the subject of abstinence : 
 despair of this often leads to a firm determination to pursue the absti- 
 nence principle with effect and with cheerfulness. The facility with 
 which intoxicating liquors may be obtained, will ever prove the bane 
 of the intemperate. Out of the reach of temptations, he would make 
 a virtue of necessity, and commence his practice upon his new princi- 
 ples of abstinence with vigor and success ; at the same time, within 
 the reach of them, no resolutions can be obtained, or, if obtained, they 
 will soon be abandoned. Those who are given to any particular vice 
 or habit, well know the influence of temptation upon their disposition 
 to indulgence. 
 
 There is another consideration on this subject worthy of attention : 
 it is that those who shall hereafter become intemperate, will transgress 
 with all the knowledge of the subject with which the world at the 
 present day is enlightened. Heretofore, intemperance has overtaken 
 many a man of otherwise virtuous character and correct principles, 
 because he has not understood the subject: he did not know that he 
 was taking to his vitals what would one day destroy his health, ruin 
 his intellect, blast his morals, and undermine his fair character ; dis- 
 covering this, and hearing of the danger he was in, he has stopped 
 ishort and renounced his habit ; but not without much suffering : even 
 such reformations have been rare, although such instances have been 
 quite common. 
 
 But the individual who shall hereafter become intemperate from 
 indulgence in moderate drinking and intoxication, when the danger is 
 better known, will be less likely to be arrested in his career, without 
 some other restraints than such as morals and regard to a fair fame 
 shall afford; he will be more regardless of consequences. The neces- 
 sity of such institutions will not therefore be diminished by the efforts to 
 promote temperance, and although no stigma should be attached to those 
 who are the inmates of such institutions, yet the restraints to which 
 the intemperate would be subject, and the privation of liberty, which 
 would necessarily result from them, would operate as a check to 
 intemperance, and thus prove a preventive as well as a cure of the 
 evil. 
 
 Should such institutions be established by law, and intemperate 
 persons be placed in them by civil process, it is presumable that it 
 may prove a check to the vice of using ardent spirits, and in this way 
 have a salutary influence on society. 
 
 S. B. W.
 
 Asylums for inebriates. 21 
 
 No. XI. 
 
 The present situation of the individuals who are to be benefited 
 by institutions of the character which we contemplate, is truly de- 
 plorable, and demands the commiseration and sympathy of every 
 benevolent mind. Many of them belong to respectable families; have 
 been well educated ; mingled with the best circles in society ; have 
 had honor, and wealth or competency ; families of children, for whom 
 they have had all the affection and tenderness of parents ; wives, 
 whom they tenderly loved, and treated with kindness and indulgence : 
 prosperity attended their efforts ; the smiles of Providence were upon 
 them. 
 
 An incorrect public opinion led them astray ; they, in common 
 with a great majority of mankind, supposed that ardent spirits were 
 at least harmless, and, many supposed, useful and necessary to sustain 
 the laborer, and ward off the common evils of life. They partook 
 freely, and, while not intoxicated, they supposed safely. It was all- 
 important for a man at that time to know how much he could carry 
 and not be intoxicated. Before they were aware, the habit of intem- 
 perance was formed ; the desire for liquor had imperceptibly crept 
 upon them. They felt a restlessness and impatience without it, which 
 led them irresistibly to seek it. After a while, it absorbed much of 
 their thoughts; they sought out places of resort — the tavern, the 
 grocery, public parades of all kinds, to mingle with those who were 
 lovers of strong drink. In this way, their affairs were neglected, their 
 farms were not tilled, their crops were not tended and secured, their 
 workshops were abandoned, their labor was not done ; debts were 
 accumulated; suits were commenced against them; trouble and 
 perplexity drove them to increase the frequency of their drams ; 
 respectable society withdrew from them ; friends complained of them ; 
 their families were neglected, and, perhaps, in their turn criminated 
 them ; recrimination followed ; quarrels of^ten ensued; the unfortunate 
 man found no peace at home, and sought abroad associates of a like 
 character with himself, who could drown together their sorrows in 
 intoxication. 
 
 After a while, the energies of the mind were broken down ; selfish- 
 ness, and a desire to gratify the appetite for intoxicating drink, 
 absorbed all the thoughts. 
 
 If they did not indulge, all the anguish of morbid appetite preyed 
 upon their systems, and harrowed up accunfulated sufferings. If they 
 did indulge, then the wretched feelings of intoxication overwhelmed 
 them — vertigo, morbid sleep, vomiting, languor, relaxation, and 
 stupor. Following it were the morning sickness, thirst, tremors, and 
 shame, which made the situation truly deplorable ; at last they would 
 get sober. Do you think they wished a repetition of these feelings ? 
 Ah ! he must know little of the wretchedness of intemperance, who 
 can for a moment suppose that there is any gratification in the career 
 of the drunkard — a career of torment, mental and physical, without 
 relief, scarcely with abatement or alleviation. He is under the 
 influence of intoxication, with its attendant suffering, or he feels the
 
 23 ASYLUMS FOR INEBRIATES. 
 
 horrors of an unsatisfied appetite, accumulating as he defers the 
 necessary indulgence. Think you that this is pleasure? 
 
 No individual, now in habits of intemperance, ever dreamed, in the 
 commencement of his career, of becoming a drunkard. While he 
 took the glass to refresh him under labor, to increase appetite, or to 
 ward off the influence of vicissitudes of temperature ; while he partook 
 of the hospitable beverage which the customs of society compelled 
 him to partake, in common with his friends, he little thought of the 
 danger to which it exposed him, or the ruin in which it would involve 
 him ! Does not such an individual deserve our sympathies ? Shall 
 he be cast off, neglected, and despised, and no efforts be made to 
 relieve him from his malady, and restore him to society? Shall 
 hundreds and thousands of drunkards be suffered to die annually in 
 this country, (now fully awake to the subject of temperance,) and will 
 the friends of temperance fold their arms and say that nothing shall 
 be tried, and nothing shall be done for them ? 
 
 While the hand of charity and Christian sympathy is extended to the 
 lonely convict, secluded in the cell of his prison ; while asylums are 
 rising up in all parts of the country, for the reformation of juvenile 
 offenders ; while hospitals are erected for the maniac, to restrain 
 him from violence, and to restore him to health and reason ; while 
 a mighty effort is making in behalf of the enslaved African, to en- 
 lighten his understanding, improve his morals, and fit him for freedom 
 in this, or his native country ; while the glad tidings of salvation 
 are extended far and wide, to disenthrall the heathen from the delu- 
 sions of idolatry, and open to him a road to happiness through the 
 Prince of Peace, — shall the intemperate be the only class of unfor- 
 tunates in society, for whose restoration and recovery no efforts shall 
 be made? 
 
 We hope for better things. We believe that, when the attention 
 of the benevolent public is turned to this subject, a new field of 
 enterprise, broad and widely extended as the evil it would eradicate, 
 will be opened to their view. 
 
 We confidently hope it will result in the establishment of such 
 institutions as will be best calculated to restore to comfort and to 
 usefulness this unfortunate portion of mankind. 
 
 S. B. W. 
 
 No. XII. 
 
 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 estab- 
 lishment 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
 
 ASYLUMS FOR INEBRIATES. 38 
 
 minor, perhaps parents and guardians would have a right, by existing 
 laws, to enforce his detention, till a cure should be eflected. 
 
 I laiow the subject is one presenting some difliculties, and before 
 institutions can be placed on the right footing, some legislative enact- 
 ments 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. 
 
 Suppose a respectable physician of well-known character should 
 open a private asylum for the reception of inebriates, giving to the 
 public the outline of his plan of treatment, based upon benevolent 
 principles. Are there not parents enough in this commonwealth who 
 have intemperate sons, that would readily avail themselves of such a 
 favorable opportunity to restore them to respectability and usefulness? 
 And would they not have the same legal right to place them in such 
 an asylum, as they would to place them at a manual labor school, or 
 in a college, or store, or as apprentices to a trade ? 
 
 And would not any town or county, after obtaining permission to 
 hold real estate for the purpose, by existing laws be authorized to 
 establish on a greater or smaller scale such an institution for the deten- 
 tion and recovery of intemperate paupers ? It is conceived that very 
 soon all common drunkards would be sent to such houses by legal 
 authority, instead of being committed to houses of correction. If 
 the first experiment should be successful, and intemperate persons be 
 reformed, other experiments would be made. 
 
 The writer is not versed in legal subjects, and does not know how 
 far restraints on such individuals might be legally imposed. lie is sat- 
 isfied, however, that, if the subject be properly understood, all necessary 
 power would be procured with ease from an enlightened legislature-. 
 The attention of the public has not been turned to this subject; the 
 object of these brief remarks is to make men think ; if the subject 
 deserves consideration, it will doubtless receive it. It is first neces- 
 sary that it be discussed that it may be ultimately understood. 
 
 As respects the disgrace that would be attached to such persons, as 
 were placed in these institutions, public opinion is fast getting right 
 on the subject. Whether it be more creditable to continue habits of 
 intemperance, or seek the means of cure, is not a subject for grave 
 discussion. The individual who went voluntarily to such an asylum, 
 or was placed there by his friends, whose mind and body had become 
 diseased and debased by this practice, who had become, not only a 
 useless member of society, but a heavy tax upon, as well as a reproach 
 to his friends, — restored to health, and returned to society with re- 
 newed vigor of mind, and firm temperance principles, now seeing the 
 danger which he had escaped, and the evils which he had overcomej 
 would not be likely to feel very keenly the disgrace of such confine- 
 ment. There are those who would scoff at him, and ridicule him 5 
 but in this respect his fate would be the common fate of all who com- 
 mence and effect a reformation of character. 
 
 The hardened offender, who has led a life of sin and crime, who 
 becomes conscience-smitten, and looks with anxiety for pardon and 
 forgiveness, and who reforms and leads a religious life, will also find 
 
 D
 
 24 ASYLUMS FOR INEBRIATES. 
 
 a list of his old companions ready to brand him with every opprobrious 
 epithet, while the aspiration of his lieart will be, " Father, foro-ive 
 them, for they know not what they do." 
 
 The moderate as well as the intemperate drinker, who resolves to 
 renounce his habits and sign the temperance pledge, meets with the 
 same difficulties, the same scoffs and ridicule. 
 
 Men who take a stand in favor of virtue are willing to meet this ; 
 they thank their God that they are the scoffed, and not, as heretofore, 
 the scoffer. 
 
 The same will be true with the individual who has been cured of in- 
 temperance in an asylum : grateful for the benefits which he has 
 derived from it, and satisfied of the benevolent character and salutary 
 tendency of such institutions, he will be the most engaged to promote 
 and extend their benefits. 
 
 If reformed and renovated in mind and body, leaving the institution 
 with good principles and ardent zeal in the cause of temperance, why 
 should he not be received with open arms by the moral and religious 
 community, and thus, instead of suffering shame and disgrace, be ele- 
 vated in society above the rank which he has ever held, or, at least, to 
 his former respectability? 
 
 Reformation from intemperance is the first step in the moral im- 
 provement of this class of individuals. All professions, moral and 
 religious, in such persons that do not commence in a thorough reform 
 of their habits, are baseless, and will inevitably be swept away. No 
 good man can hereafter be an intcmpc7-ate man. As information is 
 extended, the intemperate will not remain ignorant of their true con- 
 dition, nor of the remedy. 
 
 The danger of their habits will not be wholly kept out of sight, even 
 to their obscure vision, and they will be willing, in some instances, to 
 become the voluntary inmates of such asylums, that they may be safely 
 conducted through the perils and distresses of the first period of total 
 ahstincnce. 
 
 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 directions 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 par- 
 taking, as he supposed, 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." 
 
 S. B. W. 
 
 No. XIII. 
 
 If the facts stated in this series of numbers are true, and the plan 
 here faintly sketched is capable of being carried into operation; if
 
 ASYLUMS FOR INEBRIATES. ~ii 
 
 in fact, intemperance in general cannot be cured without restraint, and 
 can be cured with it, — what is obviously the duty of the community 
 towards the intemperate 1 and what is obviously the best policy to 
 pursue? If, by an expenditure of one or two hundred dollars, an indi- 
 vidual who is now a burden upon his friends or society, with a prospect of 
 speedily being removed from life by the most degrading of all deaths — 
 the death of the drunkard — can be restored to health, intellect, and 
 usefulness, the dictates of humanity, as well as the true principles of 
 political economy, require that the means of relief be afforded by the 
 efforts of the benevolent, or the benefactions of the state. 
 
 We will suppose a case. A mechanic of industrious habits has a 
 large family, which he supports by his individual efforts. He becomes 
 intemperate, neglects his business, and reduces his family from com- 
 petence to want and suffering. Want and suffering bring disease and 
 discouragements ; and he and his wife, and his children, are transferred 
 to the alms-house, 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 intem- 
 perance one year, and one or two hundred dollars to keep his family 
 from suffering in the mean time, if necessary ; 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 
 alms-house 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 dif- 
 ferent modes of management ! In the first case, nothing to inspire am- 
 bition, with examples of the worst kind constantly before them, intem- 
 perance, vice of all kinds, profanity, obscenity, filth, and rags, (for in 
 general that is the true condition of poor-houses,) how rare it is that 
 an individual emerges from this state of degradation to respectability 
 and usefulness ! On the contrary, if by one year's trial such a man be 
 cured of his intemperance, restored to his family with new principles 
 of virtue to practise and to inculcate — industrious again ; the means 
 of comfort are never lost, and competency will continue to be the 
 blessing of his household — his children will have nothing to dampen 
 their ambition, and will stand an equal chance with others to become 
 useful and valuable members of the community. 
 
 Is not this a subject well worthy the consideration of the benevolent 
 man and the political economist? 
 
 The writer of this was once instrumental in restoring such a man 
 to habits of sobriety, and witnessed the change that was wrought in the 
 man, and his family , by temperance alone. This man was a mechanic, 
 and by his industry he had accumulated property ; he had a virtuous 
 wife and numerous family ; he became intemperate, and by means of 
 it, poor, idle, profane, a gamester, a Sabbath-breaker, a frequenter of 
 houses of dissipation — he ridiculed all sacred things, and especially 
 vented his spleen on temperance men and temperance societies. He was 
 pursuing with rapid strides the downward course to the drunkard's 
 grave ; but Providence had reserved for him a better fate. He attend- 
 ed a temperance lecture, as he declared, to find matter of ridicule far 
 3
 
 2G ASYLUMS FOR INEBRIATES. 
 
 a " fortnight to come." His attention was arrested ; his likeness was 
 so well drawn that his conscience acknowledged the truth of the pic- 
 lure, and applied it to his heart. He went home serious and sober- 
 minded ; liis night was sleepless ; the horror of intemperance, with all 
 its disastrous evils and consequences, was constantly on his mind. He 
 resolved on reformation; he informed his wife of his resolutions; she 
 encouraged him in his efforts, and he broke off his habits. A season 
 of sobriety led him to reflect upon the enormity of his sins and the 
 baseness of his character ; he saw that all was wrong ; his repentance 
 was deep and thorough ; his whole character was transformed. Instead 
 of the bar-room and the gaming table, he frequented the church ; instead 
 of the company of drunkards and revilers, he sought respectable soci- 
 ety, moral instruction, and religious teaching ; instead of blasphemous 
 oaths and imprecations issuing from his mouth, the humble Christian 
 prayer ascended to Heaven, morning and evening. His family were 
 made happy; the woe-worn companion of his life was rendered cheer- 
 ful and took courage; his own health was established, his estate 
 redeemed from mortgages, and his heart, ever grateful to him who 
 awakened his fears, and to his Heavenly Father who carried the arrows 
 of conviction to his heart, poured forth daily thanksgiving. 
 
 Can it be doubted that the records of every such institution would 
 exhibit many cases equally interesting and important? If so, would 
 not these institutions commend themselves to public favor, and receive 
 a due share of public patronage? 
 
 While the arm of benevolence is stayed in this enterprise, and no 
 progress is made in the work of fitting up institutions for the reception 
 of the unfortunate, many a father's anxious inquiry is, Where shall I 
 place my son, that he may be out of the reach of temptation, till the 
 evil which is upon him, that is wearing me down with anguish, and that 
 is prostrating Ids energies, and hastening the decrepitude of age, shall 
 be cured ? 
 
 Many a mother sighs in solitude, that her son should pursue the 
 reckless course of the intemperate, and no retreat be offered him, to 
 hide him from open disgrace, and afford him a chance of restoration. 
 
 Shall that intem[)crance which has wrung and ivill again ivring the 
 hearts of many such parents with anguish unknoitm and unutterable ; 
 which has caused the tears of many a wife to flow in bitterness of 
 soul ; which has strewed the path of many an aspiring and ambitious 
 family with discouragements and adversity ; which has spread desolation 
 over many a houseludd, clothed children in rags, fed them on the bread 
 of wretchedness, lodged them in the leaky hovel, unsheltered from the 
 winds and storm ; — shall that intemperance, which contaminates every 
 youth it touches, withering, \Ai\\ its pestiferous influence, moral worth, 
 intellectual energy, and physical strength, sinking its victim to zero in 
 the scale of being, and entailing perpetual wretchedness upon him; — 
 shall that intemperance be suffered to go on with its deadly and de-' 
 Btructive influence, and no effort be made for its cure ? Are we looking 
 for a remedy in the ilhisive hope, that by temperance societies and 
 individual efforts the evil is to be exterminated? Let us not be thus 
 deluded, but arise to vigorous action, and prepare the only sure meang 
 of relief 
 
 S. B. W,
 
 ASYLUMS FOR INEBRIATES. 27 
 
 No. XIV. 
 
 There are no greater monuments of benevolence in a Christian 
 community, than institutions for tlie relief of insanity, conducted upon 
 principles of kindness and indulgence. 
 
 In them the hapless maniac finds a home, with all the comforts 
 which are compatible with his situation, and all the remedial means 
 which science has devised and experience approved. Here, he is 
 secluded from the insults and abuses of the world, withheld from the 
 means of injuring himself, and withdrawn from the influence of those 
 causes which too often prolong and enhance his sufferings. 
 
 In the United States, the insane bear a proportion to the whole 
 community of about one in a thousand, of which number, in well- 
 regulated hospitals, three fourths, at least, will be restored to reason, 
 if placed under judicious treatment, during the first six months, of the 
 existence of the disease ; while probably not more than one fourth will 
 be restored, whose insanity has existed over one year. 
 
 The effect of all habits upon the physical, as well as the moral 
 character of man, is to be confirmed by time and repetition. This is 
 equally true of insanity and intemperance. Intemperate persons bear 
 a much greater proportion to the rest of community than the insane ; 
 probably not less than eight or ten in a thousand, in the most virtuous 
 and temperate society. Assuming the least number as the ratio, 
 there will be more than four thousand intemperate persons in Massa- 
 chusetts. Intemperance being a disease of less severity than insanity, 
 although similar in character, doubtless a greater proportion of both 
 recent and old cases would be cured in asylums, than of the insane: 
 this would be particularly true of old cases. 
 
 It is estimated that about ten per cent, of drunkards die annually. 
 If this be the fact, then about four hundred persons must annually 
 commence the career of the drunkard, within the limits of this 
 commonwealth ! There is no doubt that, for the !a.st fifty years, this 
 estimate is short of the truth. It is devoutly to be hoped that, for 
 fifty years to come, it greatly overrates it. Now, if the four hundred 
 persons in this state, who commence the career of intemperance 
 annually, could be placed in an asylum, and could be submitted to 
 the means of cure proposed, doubtless nine tenths would be restored 
 to health and to temperance, having wholly got rid of the physical 
 necessity which impelled them onward in their career, contrary to 
 their reason, and in spite of their better judgment. 
 
 Of old drunkards, fewer will be restored, as it will be difficult to 
 remove the appetite, and particularly difficult to renovate the powers 
 of the system, and restore perfect health. It is, then, a fact that a 
 disease exists in this country, which in this comnionwealth destroys 
 annually four hundred victims, and yet no effectual means have been 
 adopted for its cure. 
 
 But the death of four hundred drunkards annually is but an ■ite7H 
 in the sum of the evil which intemperance occasions : disease, 
 poverty, wretchedness, crime, follow in its train. In addition to 
 present wretchedness, the future prospects of numerous families ?ive
 
 28 ASYLUMS FOR INEBRIATES. 
 
 darkened ; discouragement follows ; and the examples of the old are 
 followed by the young; producing mural contamination and mental 
 and physical imbecility. If a father is the victim, his sons may be 
 influenced to pursue the same course, and fall into the same fatal 
 snare. Thus is intemperance communicated, and perhaps even ren- 
 dered hereditary ! 
 
 Is this evil less than insanity? And while the benevolent are 
 actively engaged in the most laudable work of establishing institutions 
 for the comfort and cure of the insane, shall the drunkard be per- 
 mitted to go on in his destructive and contaminating career, and the 
 public look carelessly and indifferently on ? While insanity destroys 
 its Imndrcds, intemperance destroys its tlwusands. Insanity takes its 
 single victim, but contaminates no one. Intemperance extends a 
 widened influence, and brings its sorrows upon many. Insanity 
 wastes the property of a few, by violence, and by its expenses. 
 Intemperance spreads poverty and debts by broad-cast, wherever it 
 prevails. The insane man is considered irresponsible for his acts 
 of destruction, and very properly escapes punishment. The intox- 
 icated man, hardly less bereft of reason, is held responsible for his 
 conduct, and is punished, when sober, for his crimes. It is consid- 
 ered necessary for the safety of the community that the insane man 
 be detained within the walls of a mad-house; because occasionally 
 he may destroy the life of an individual; while murder and 7nan- 
 slaughtcr, and other high crimes against the persons of men, are 
 committed almost exclusively under the influence of intoxication, and 
 to an appalling extent in this and every community, and the public 
 look only at the offence, without inquiring why it is so! The 
 sympathies of the public are wide awake for the maniac, and means 
 are provided, with great expense, for his safety and his cure. Shall 
 the poor drunkard go on to hopeless, inevitable ruin, and no effort be 
 made to save him 7 It is he that suffers punishment and death for 
 the violation of knos. And yet laws are enacted to license and 
 regulate the sale of the cause of his crimes. He becomes a drunkard 
 hy the laio, and suffers the punisliment of the laii\ for becoming a 
 drunkard ! 
 
 Is there no evil here? And shall we acknowledge the evil in all its 
 extent and magnitude, and devise no way for its removal ? Can a 
 doubt be entertained that the remedy here proposed will be effectual ? 
 If it fail, no other ill will arise but the loss of a few thousand dollars. 
 If it succeed, it will open a road to health and happiness for thousands, 
 who have looked at the dark prospects before them with utter despair! 
 What a field is here presented for active benevolence ! A broad 
 ramification of the interminable and exhaustless subject of the Tcm- 
 pcrance lit form! 
 
 This subject will not sleep. It calls loudly for early and serious 
 attention. It cannot fail to commend itself to every individual who 
 will examine its object, and calculate its effect. Efforts must and wdl 
 be made to cure intemperance. If the public are not yet enlightened 
 on the subject, they will be ; and we shall see institutions rising up in 
 all parts of the country, to relieve this unfortunate class of our fellow- 
 men.
 
 ASYLUMS FOR INEBRIATES. 
 
 29 
 
 Who is there, let me ask, that can feel indifferent on this subject? 
 Have we not friends, brothers, fathers, or sons, — that are drunkards? 
 Then indeed we may be considered most happy. 
 
 Can we not recollect early associates, friends, and companions, who 
 have long since met the drunkard's fate, and gone to a drunkard's 
 o-rave, and who, by such an institution, would have been rescued from 
 the destruction which overwhelmed them, and might at this time have 
 held stations of honor and usefulness in society ? 
 
 And who of us can tell how near and dear friends and relatives 
 may hereafter fall victims to the temptations which are every where 
 held out to insnare the unwary, and fascinate those who may have a 
 propensity to use strong drink ? 
 
 God forbid that we should erect asylums for our own children ! But 
 God forbid, if our own children become drunkards, that they should 
 fail to find asylums for seclusion and recovery ! 
 
 S. B. W. 
 
 No. XV. 
 
 It is all-important, for those who have been cured of intemperance, 
 either in asylums or by their own voluntary act, to know how they 
 shall proceed in future, respecting drinks. Some recommend wine to 
 such persons, some ale or strong beer, and others cider. 
 
 The safest course, however, is to abstain wholly and totally from all 
 alcoholic drinks ; by which I mean all drinks that contain the princi- 
 ple which by fermentation produced alcohol. There is scarcely any 
 disease to which the system is liable, if at all severe, that is not more 
 likely to return a second time by a repetition of the causes which first 
 produced it. The susceptibility to disease is in this way increased. 
 Thus gout, and diseased liver and stomach, are more easily produced 
 by vinous or spirituous liquors, in those who have been cured of these 
 diseases, although the cure was complete. So rheumatism, inflamma- 
 tion of the eyes, pleurisy, cholic, &c., return very readily by exposure 
 to causes which have on former occasions produced them. Conta- 
 gious diseases are exceptions to this rule; such as small-pox, measles, 
 chin-cough, &c. In these, the susceptibility is destroyed by the power 
 of disease, and is rarely produced again. For the inebriate who is 
 cured of his habits of intemperance, the label on all intoxicating 
 draughts should be, " Taste not, handle not." In this course there is 
 safety, and in no other. Even cider, although in many instances it 
 may be taken without danger, will induce, in many others, a love of 
 something stronger, and, as the natural tendency is to desire an 
 increase of strength, it will increase the danger of a relapse. On this 
 ?,\ih]Qci, principle should guide a man, and not appetite or fashion, or 
 the opinions of others. After the habit is removed, and no desire 
 remains for stimulating drinks, cider and wine may be resumed 
 for different objects — to avoid singularity, &c. There is great 
 danger in this practice, and it should always be avoided, not because 
 it would always lead to intemperance, but because it will always 
 have that tendency.
 
 oO ASYLUMS FOR INETiRIATES' 
 
 The intemperate man, rescued from his danger, standing aloof rrom 
 all intoxicating articles, is perfectly safe; he can never become intern* 
 perate again. Allow him one drink of cider a day to begin with, and 
 can this be said of him? Certainly not. He must stand firm to his 
 principles of tasting nothing stimulating, both now and forever. Strong 
 beer is worse than cider. Wine is worse than either. 
 
 As respects wine, nothing can be more irrational than to suppose 
 that wine may be used with safety. It is far otherwise. Wine, as 
 found in this country, and especially such as will be generally found 
 in the grocery and hotel, is a wretched compound, entirely unfit for 
 use, from its adulteration, independent of its alcohol. But as an 
 intoxicating article, it is quite equal to the usual forms in which 
 spirituous liquors are used. What advantage, let me ask, has alcohol, 
 diluted with the juice of the grape, over that diluted with water? And 
 why is wine any more harmless than punch? If the acid qualifies it 
 in the one case, it does also in the other. If wine is necessary or use- 
 ful to the sedentary, no argument can show that alcohol is not advan- 
 tageous to the laborious. Neither are necessary or useful ; both are 
 injurious in health. This is the truth, and must, erelong, be the 
 prcvailhig truth, or the cause of temperance will cease to progress. 
 No quarter should be given to the wine-drinker ; he leans upon a 
 broken reed ; it cannot save him from all the ordinary evils to which 
 dram-drinking would expose him, and brings some peculiar to itself 
 Let the respectable classes of society abandon their wine; the use of 
 it, to say the least, does them no good, and does others much harm. 
 
 Strong beer is hardly less objectionable than wine and ardent 
 spirits. It is a compound of hops, opium, and other dangerous 
 narcotics, and very readily intoxicates. If it intoxicateSj it will pro-^ 
 duce intemperance, and all the train of evils which follow. 
 
 If the writer were to settle the question, whether cider-brandy or 
 whisky were as safe, as a drink, as wine or ale, he would decide in 
 favor of the former, for this obvious reason, that alcohol in these 
 domestic articles is pure alcohol mixed only with water; while Cogniac 
 brandy and Jamaica spirits are reduced to low proof by water, and a 
 factitious proof is given them by oil of vitriol, Cayenne pepper, verdi- 
 gris, grains of paradise, and other acid substances, highly deleterious; 
 so also lead, plaster of Paris, the leaves of sloe, logwood, and the like, 
 are added to spoiled wines and damaged cider, to make the common 
 wines found in the groceries and hotels about the country ! And 
 opium, India berry, hemlock, and other poisonous substances, are 
 almost universally made use of in the manufacture of ale and all the 
 varieties of strong beer. Is, then, pure alcohol with water more to be 
 dreaded than alcohol mixed and contaminated with these poisonous 
 substances ? 
 
 The individual who takes the ground of total abstinence will do 
 well to avoid all substitutes and contaminations of alcohol, as well as 
 alcohol itself. 
 
 The question, then, fairly presents itself — What shall be the drink 
 of those persons who have abandoned alcohol in all its forms ? To 
 this question the temperance community would answer, " Principally 
 water." This is doubtless the natural drink of all animals: it is the
 
 ASYLUMS FOR INEBRIATES. 31 
 
 purest and most appropriate drink in its natural state, as received 
 from the fountain ; pure cold tvatcr, the greatest hixury in creation, 
 incomparably more congenial to the taste of the thirsty man than any 
 other, however costly, and however mixed to gratify taste. Yet water 
 may be cooked, and still be a safe and healthy beverage. Prepared with 
 tea or cotfee, or with aromatics and malt in small beer, it is both 
 agreeable and harmless. With cold food, the drink of invalids should 
 generally be warm. For such, weak tea, coffee, or even warm water 
 with milk and sugar, is preferred to cold water; but with warm food, 
 very few are affected unpleasantly by cold drinks, and water is the best 
 of them. 
 
 In very warm weather, vegetable acids add an agreeable quality to 
 drinks, and to the healthy are generally safe. Great latitude may be 
 allowed on the subject of drinks, provided water is the basis ; and no 
 article should be taken, or will answer the purpose of drink, but water, 
 whatever else may be added to it, to increase the variety, or improve 
 the flavor. 
 
 S. B. W. 
 
 No. XVI. 
 
 The present license laws in this commonwealth are worthy of 
 serious consideration. If the government of the state adopt a system 
 of acts legalizing the traffic in ardent spirits and wine, ought they not 
 to support those who are reduced to pauperism, to insanity, and to 
 intemperance, by the means ? It cannot be denied that they do this, 
 I should say pretty effectually, and apparently very cheerfully too. 
 Suppose a town to license half a dozen groceries, and as many 
 taverns. A town having this number of public places ought at least 
 to have a population of three thousand inhabitants. Such a town 
 will have one pauper to about one hundred persons. Three fourths 
 of these are reduced to poverty by intemperance, either directly or 
 indirectly. Such a town will pay, then, about one thousand dollars 
 annually to maintain the pauperism that is occasioned by intemper- 
 ance. I am surprised that there is no more complaint of this tax. 
 Yet it ought not to be complained of, at least by the municipal 
 authorities, nor by the public, while they countenance the sale of 
 spirituous liquors, and render all the facilities in their power for 
 making drunkards. 
 
 Let us examine this subject a little more in detail. The intem- 
 perate man purchases ardent spirits of the merchant. Pei haps this 
 merchant is one of the overseers of the poor in the town, possibly the 
 legislator that helped to make the law; he runs in debt to the mer- 
 chant, gives him his note, and mortgages his property ; this property 
 is not getting better in the hands of a drunkard ; the mortgage is 
 foreclosed, and the property changes hands, perhaps for half or two 
 thirds its value. After a while, the man is taken sick; he is very 
 crazy, — it requires two or three to hold him, — he has delirium 
 tremens. The overseer is applied to, to lend his aid ; he, being very 
 
 E
 
 32 ASYLUMS FOR INEBRIATES. 
 
 friendly to the sick man, and withal very kind and tender-hearted, 
 sends physicians, nurses, bread for his family, medicines, and other 
 stores. The man probably recovers. The bill against the town will 
 be from fifty to one hundred dollars ; but the town is able to pay, and 
 the overseer is very clever, and furnishes all from his own store, that 
 the distressed man and his needy family require. 
 
 Doubtless the sick man requires a little brandy, or spirit, to recruit 
 upon ; his sickness has been severe, and he recovers slowly, for 
 drunkards always get well slowly, and especially when wine and 
 brandy are freely furnished by a kind-hearted overseer, at the expen.se 
 of the town. Perhaps, after a while, he gets well ; his family are 
 lucky, and so are the town, if this man gets well, and his wife and 
 children do not get sick ; if they do, the expense is enhanced, and 
 perhaps the bill is doubled. 
 
 The habits of this man are not improved by this attack of dis- 
 ease, neither is his constitution more firm. After a while, he is sick 
 again ; he is more deranged than before ; his friends advise that he 
 be sent to a hospital for his cure. Here he is kept till the " rum is 
 all out of him," and then he gets well, goes home, his bills are again 
 paid, and all is very well ; the town has done a charitable deed, and 
 the kind-luoi-tnl overseer has increased his reputation for benevolence 
 and philanthropy. His own expenses, and that of his family, 
 are perhaps three or four fold, in this instance, what they were 
 before. 
 
 The writer of this has known many such cases, where insanity was 
 occasioned repeatedly by ardent spirit, and as repeatedly cured ; but 
 the habit and the appetite was not destroyed, and the practice was 
 immediately resumed, when restraint was removed. The following 
 case shows that a more trifling stimulus than spirituous liquor, pro- 
 duces insanity, the subject of which was cured repeatedly in one of 
 the institutions for the cure of that disease in New England. 
 
 An aged female, who had been addicted to an excessive use of 
 snuflT, became repeatedly insane. She was placed in the hospital by 
 the municipal authorities of the town in which she resided. In two suc- 
 cessive attacks, she was very violent and light-headed — calling loudly 
 for snuff for many days. The regulations of the house forbade snuff, 
 tobacco, and all alcoholic drinks. In two or three weeks, the woman 
 was better, in both instances, and after three months was discharged 
 cured. She usually remained well from six to nine months, and then 
 had a renewed attack. One dollar's worth of snuff would give to this 
 hospital a patient, its officers the credit of a cure, and the town a bill 
 of from thirty to fifty dollars ! 
 
 But this is nothing to what ardent spirit will do. For, as before 
 remarked, I have seen many such cases induced by intemperance, 
 cured and sent home with a moral certainty that they would be again 
 induced, by a return of the habit. For insanity will often be recov- 
 ered from, in a much shorter time than it will require to remove the 
 diseased appetite upon which intemperance depends. 
 
 The same is true of crime, also. The man in a fit of intoxication 
 commits a crime, or rather under the influence of intoxicating drink ; 
 he has a trial before a magistrate, and is sent to jail, to await his trial
 
 ASYLUMS FOR INEBRIATES. 33 
 
 at a higher court : here he is detained weeks, or months, as the 
 case may be, and sentenced to the house of correction for months, 
 or a year or more, and returns to his home, degraded, exasperated, 
 blood-thirsty, and rum-thirsty ; during his confinement, his family 
 depending more or less upon the community for support. Who pays 
 all this expense of trial, and support, and punishment? The public; 
 the sober, laborious, temperate man, who puts his money in his pocket, 
 instead of spending it for intoxicating liquor ! 
 
 He often pays for the snuff in the first place, and for the effects 
 afterwards. 
 
 He frequently pays for the rum that brings on the insanity, — that 
 produces the fever, — that makes the drunkard ; — and then pays for 
 the support, and the punishment, or the cure ! Will the community 
 be long satisfied with this routine of cause and effect? 
 
 On this subject we present this novel spectacle. We encourage 
 the commerce in rum, brandy, and wine ; patronize the manufacture 
 of it; make laws licensing its sale; permit it to be sold on public 
 days to youth and children, and cried publicly in the streets. We 
 permit and encourage the poison to be taken, till it produces excite- 
 ment, removes moral restraint, and hurries on to crime, and then 
 punish the criminal, and pay the state all the expenses of the punish- 
 ment ! This is what towns and counties do. This license system 
 ought to be abandoned, and the sale of the article prohibited by law ; 
 this is the right ground. Legislatures have gone round it long 
 enough, and legislated upon cards and dice, and wheels of fortune. 
 Let them go over it now ; cut off the great trunk of moral pollution, 
 and these branches will wither and die of themselves. By intemper- 
 ance alone they live and jlourisli ! 
 
 It is well known that the dealer will exclaim, " You take away the 
 means of my subsistence." True, you do ; and so you take away 
 the means of subsistence from the counterfeiter and the gamester, 
 when you enact laws against these crimes. Is it right that men 
 should subsist, — yea more, get rich, — in a business that produces 
 half the crimes, half the insanity, and three fourths of the pauperism 
 in the commonwealth ? The unfortunate youth who has been cajoled 
 by the adept in crime, to drink till he will lend a hand in passing a 
 single dollar of counterfeit money, must be immured in prison, and 
 suffer the ignominy of a degrading punishment ; while the veteran 
 rum-dealer, who has fitted hundreds for this and like crimes, and who 
 has done more injury by the traffic every day of his long life, than 
 this simple youth has done by this offence, rides in his coach, and 
 enjoys his ill-gotten wealth. But it is said that the currency of the 
 country must be protected and kept pure. So indeed it should ; 
 but is the currency of the country of more consequence than the 
 morals of the community ? 
 
 Besides, this facility of obtaining ardent spirits, and the influence 
 of it upon the feelings and disposition of the youth, may have been 
 the sole reason why he listened to the criminal proposition, and be- 
 came accessary to a more accomplished villain. 
 
 S. B. W.
 
 34 ASYLUMS FOR INEBRIATES. 
 
 No. XVII. 
 
 Let the condition of the inebriate be contrasted, as he is found in 
 the ahns-house, the jail, or the prison, with his condition in the asy- 
 lum, that we here contemplate. In the former, he finds every thino- to 
 debase, to exasperate, and to render him rancorous. Disgusted with 
 the world, and disappointed in the numerous efforts at reformation — 
 humbled by the wretchedness of his condition — trampled under foot 
 as he is, and made the instrument of executing the diabolical desio-ns 
 of others — he drinks deeper of the accursed cup, and yields himself 
 up to despair. No sympathizing hand is extended to afford him relief; 
 no humane countenance beams upon him in his dark and gloomy soli- 
 tude. As his unfeeling keeper conducts the idle gazer through the 
 apartments which he occupies, " he is a drunkard," is the opprobrious 
 epithet and scornful taunt of him who is often but a little elevated 
 above the culprit, either in condition or habits. 
 
 No matter in what way this habit may have crept upon him, whether 
 by sickness, by the example of friends, by the encouragement of par- 
 ents, ("Take a little, my child, it will do you no harm,") or the 
 influence of social friends and gay companions — whether under ex- 
 tenuating circumstances, or in full view of all the danger ; — he is equally 
 despised, abused, neglected. When he is again restored to his liberty, 
 all Avho should pity him, pass by on the other side. Happy he, if 
 some good Samaritan happen that way, and look to him, and " have 
 compassion upon him, and pour oil and wine into his wounds, and 
 take him to an inn," provide for his wants, and give directions for 
 future provision and comfort. 
 
 And let him be taken into a well-conducted asylum. There let 
 every comfort be offered him — fire to warm his benumbed limbs, 
 clothes to cover his naked body, savory food to sustain and tranquillize 
 his sinking, debilitated stomach, cordials to calm the agitation of his 
 nervous system ; and above all, kindness, gentleness, benevolence, 
 beaming from surrounding countenances, and yielding all the aid 
 which his debased and agonizing condition of mind and feelings 
 require. Will he not respond, and will he not be grateful ? Will he 
 not be ready to submit to any system that can be devised, to restore 
 him to health and to usefulness? And now let the system begin. Let 
 him have a neat and quiet sleeping room, to which he can retire for 
 repose, and a day room to meet his companions and unite in conver- 
 sation or amusement. Let him have regular meals of wholesome, 
 nutritious food — books to read, paper and materials to write, imple- 
 ments of labor; instruments for diversion, if he prefer, as the balls, 
 the quoits, the bowl ; opportunities to walk, fcc. 
 
 If he is irritable, calm him — if violent, appease him — if despond- 
 ing, cheer and encourage him. Bring him, as soon as possible, within 
 the compass of reason and reflection. If need be to prepare him for 
 this, give him medicine, and watch the influence of his new practices 
 upon his physical system, and if in any measure they are prejudicial, 
 apply the remedy in due season. 
 
 This done, commence the additional moral treatment of inculcating
 
 ASYLUMS FOR INEBRIATES. 
 
 35 
 
 correct principles and an adherence to certain rules. Let this be done 
 in daily familiar conversation, and occasional lectures, especially on the 
 Sabbath, (the drunkard's holiday.) Daily devotional exercises, and 
 particularly the regular attendance on the religious worship of the 
 Sabbath, will have a very favorable influence. Total abstinence must 
 be engraven on every door post, and placed in bold relief on every 
 promiTient object before them. This must be the all-pervading princi- 
 ple of the establishment ; total abstinence from all alcoholic or vinous 
 potations. He must be taught that if others can indulge, he cannot ; 
 there is but one true and living way for him, and this is total absti- 
 nence from every thing whatever that can intoxicate. 
 
 Satisfy him that this is the only safe principle — that this will again 
 lead him to honor and respectability amongst men, (and it will com- 
 mend itself to his own reason and conscience) — that the least deviation 
 from it will again plunge him into all his former sufl^ering and wretch- 
 edness — that he cannot take one step in this enticing and dangerous 
 road, without being involved in inevitable and irretrievable ruin. 
 
 Let him take one false step, and his case is forever hopeless. If 
 heedlessness lead him to it, that same disregard of principle will much 
 more easily lead him to it a second time. If appetite betray him, 
 then his cure is not completed, and he will return to his habits as the 
 " dog to his vomit." He must knozv and fid that he must never begin, 
 and then he will never be in danger. This he will know and will 
 acknowledge, if he be cured of his infirmity. If he does, he will 
 sooner sacrifice his right hand than recommence a practice foreboding 
 evils so dreadful, both to himself and his family. 
 
 Will not such an individual go forth into the world, fortified against 
 temptation, and ready not only to practise temperance, but to advocate 
 it, and enforce it by precept and example ? Knowing the danger, v/ill 
 he not be a successful advocate with those who are pursuing the course 
 from which he has so recently emerged ] 
 
 But it is needless to add, every reader can see the object of such an 
 institution, and the many advantages it will possess over every other 
 mode of treating intemperance. The restraints — the examples — the 
 absence of unfavorable associates and contaminating influences — the 
 influence of moral precepts and medical prescriptions, and especially 
 of long-continued habits of sobriety and temperance, aided by the cor- 
 rect views of the subject, so fully inculcated, cannot fail to make a 
 powerful impression, and, it is confidently believed, will save thousands 
 from the dreadful end of the drunkard, if fairly and faithfully tried. 
 
 The writer is not tenacious of his particular plan of operation. The 
 object of these brief and desultory remarks is to turn the attention of 
 the public to the subject. 
 
 He is only desirous that the experiment be made ; that at least one 
 institution be established, affording every facility which will be desira- 
 ble to commence and conduct the enterprise. He has now done ; and 
 if he has thrown one ray of light upon the dreary and benighted path- 
 way of the intemperate, he is amply compensated for his toil. 
 
 S. B. W.
 
 36 ASYLUMS FOR INEBRIATES. 
 
 No. XVIII. 
 
 The brief essays, now brought to a close, were written two years 
 ago, for one of the public papers in Boston. Some time previous 
 to that period, the subject was agitated in the state of Connecticut, 
 and was presented to the Medical Convention of the state, at its 
 session, in May, 1830. A committee was appointed, who drew up 
 a report, which was printed. The Medical Convention also appointed 
 a committee to present the subject to the legislature, then in session, 
 which, however, was not done, in consequence of the agitated state 
 of that body, towards the close of its session, produced by some 
 political excitement. Many medical gentlemen, amongst Avhom were 
 the most intelligent physicians in the state, aided, by all their efforts, 
 the designs of its projectors : some circumstances occurred soon after, 
 which put the subject at rest for the time. 
 
 Some time after, a benevolent and highly respectable gentleman, in 
 the metropolis of New England, renewed to the writer the proposition 
 to bring the subject before the public. These Essays were written 
 and published in consequence of this request. They were well re- 
 ceived by many gentlemen of benevolence and intelligence ; others, 
 to whom the project was new, doubted its expediency or practica- 
 bility. Like all new enterprises, it was expected that it would meet 
 objections. 
 
 It is no longer problematical that intemperance can be cured, but 
 it is well known that the insuperable difficulty in the way, in a large 
 proportion of the cases, is the temptation which assails the victim of 
 the habit, in every pathway. In an institution of the character 
 contemplated, the means of cure can be more certainly applied, and 
 the necessary restraints can be imposed. If strength of resolution is 
 sustained by firmness of principle, the inebriate may be cured at his 
 own home ; should either or both these be wanting, an asylum may 
 effect what can never be accomplished elsewhere. Besides, those who 
 shall be called to conduct such institutions will gain experience,which 
 will be valuable, and will finally be able to add to the present knowl- 
 edge of remedial means necessary to conduct the individual safely 
 and pleasantly as possible from his present habits to those of sobriety 
 and abstinence. 
 
 There are many individuals, in every community, who are spending 
 their substance, and bringing poverty upon themselves and fami- 
 lies ; who are contaminating their offspring by the evil example set 
 before them. As such persons bring paupers upon public charge by 
 hundreds, government ought to have the power of arresting them 
 in their career, and of adopting the means of removing the habit by 
 any expedient which will promise success. Benevolent individuals must 
 be the pioneers, and satisfy the public of the feasibility of the plan, of 
 the success and utility of the project. If this can be done, I doubt 
 not that institutions will rise up in succession under the fostering 
 care of the governments of some of the states, till the whole com- 
 munity shall be satisfied of their success, and encourage and patronize 
 them.
 
 ASYLUMS FOR INEBRIATES. 37 
 
 It is but a short time since institutions for the insane poor were 
 contemplated in this country ; and when the legislature of Massachu- 
 setts established the noble charity at Worcester, the public press 
 assailed it, in some parts of the commonwealth, and a large proportion 
 of the community believed it to be unnecessarily spacious, as they 
 declared it could never be needed, and would never be occupied. 
 Instead of this, however, in six months every ward was filled with 
 inmates, and before the first year closed, patients were rejected for 
 want of room : ever since that time it has been in a very crowded 
 condition. In a few months, its accomodations were doubled, to 
 meet the daily increasing demand for admission. At this time, many 
 other states, influenced in no inconsiderable degree by the success of 
 this example, have commenced similar enterprises. Maine is expend- 
 ing forty thousand dollars ; New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Vermont, 
 and New Hampshire, are all making preparations for similar institu- 
 tions, on a scale noble and praiseworthy. Who would have believed, 
 ten years ago, that seven states in the Union would have moved, in 
 the short period of half a dozen years, in this highly benevolent 
 enterprise ? And where is now the respectable individual who does 
 not rejoice that this most hapless calamity is receiving such aid from 
 public and private sources, and that the insane, heretofore cast oflf and 
 neglected, suffering every privation and every cruelty which human 
 nature can bear, are to be admitted to all the means of comfort and 
 cure, which the enlightened philanthropy of modern times can devise 
 for them 1 
 
 So it must be with asylums for inebriates. 
 
 The objections that have deterred benevolent individuals and the 
 public from embarking in this enterprise, are, as far as known to 
 the writer, as follows : — 
 
 First, the extent of the evil to be removed. 
 
 Second, the hope indulged by many, that the present efforts to re- 
 move intemperance will supersede the necessity of any expensive 
 effort for its cure. 
 
 Third, the expense of erecting and maintaining such establishments. 
 
 Fourth, the want of confidence in their success. 
 
 It must be admitted, at this day, as somewhat surprising, that the 
 extent of an evil should be assigned as a reason why we should not 
 adopt the means of its cure ; yet on the subject of intemperance, it 
 appears to be so. The common language of temperance men once 
 was, and to a considerable extent now is, " Let the old drunkards die 
 off, and save the young from the habit." It has, however, been settled 
 by experience, and confirmed by the duration of the experiment, that 
 intemperance can be cured, and the old drunkard can he saved. But 
 we must not confine our attention to the old drunkard only ; the young 
 drunkard continues to present himself for our commiseration and 
 sympathy. Drunkards are still made, and will continue to be, not- 
 withstanding the efforts of temperance societies and temperance men. 
 Why not, then, exert ourselves to accomplish both these objects? 
 They are not incompatible, and are both equally deserving our con- 
 sideration. The evil, to be sure, is great, wide spread, and every 
 where predominant, and, notwithstanding the dreams of the enthusiast, 
 4
 
 38 ASYLtMS FOR INEBRIATES. 
 
 and the confidence of the philanthropist, in the extent and effect of 
 the reform, will continue to be the scourge of our country, and the 
 broad road to ruin for thousands in our land. 
 
 Prevalent, however, as is the evil, it is far less so than idolatry, 
 false religion, ignorance, and vice. And yet we make great efforts, 
 personal and pecuniary, to remove these evils. And no one is dis- 
 couraged in his efforts, because much is to be done ! If there were 
 but one hundred drunkards in the state of Massachusetts, and there 
 was a moral certainty that one half of them could be restored to re- 
 spectability and usefulness, would not the reclaiming of these fifty be 
 considered an object worthy of the untiring and united efforts of the 
 friends of temperance and humanity ? Is it any less so, because thou- 
 sands are scattered through the community, going on in this career 
 of vice, jeopardizing every thing valuable in life, and setting this 
 baneful example, which will be followed by other thousands, entailing 
 misery and poverty on innumerable human beings, in the multiplied 
 evils which intemperance brings in its train?. 
 
 If fifty individuals can be saved in this state annually, by the aid 
 of such an institution, will it not be worth all the labor and expense 
 which it would cost ? It would be no less commendable to save fifty, 
 because thousands could not be reached, or would not submit to the 
 restraints whicli would necessarily be imposed. But if fifty could be 
 saved annually the first ten years of its operation, such success would 
 insure the cure of hundreds and thousands afterwards. 
 
 On the subject of expense, it may be remarked, that if the cost of 
 the public maintenance of intemperate persons could be reserved, 
 transferred, and appropriated to the cure of the evil, it would erect 
 and sustain such an asylum in every city and considerable village in 
 this country. This money is at present certainly badly expended ; 
 if it produces temporary relief, it on the whole increases the evil. 
 
 If the victims of intemperance could early be placed in such 
 asylums, v/here the best effort would be made to restore health, and 
 fortify tiietn from the future return of intemperance, by inculcating cor- 
 rect views, and instilling right principles of abstinence, — it is con- 
 ceived that on the score of political economy, the necessary expen- 
 ditures would be found to be satisfactory, and admitted to be expedient. 
 
 Are we not incurring a fearful responsibility on this subject 1 It 
 will not be sufficient for" us to say that we did not know the necessity 
 of these efforts, or that we wanted confidence in the projects proposed. 
 The evil exists, and can be cured. If no project yet presented is 
 adequate to meet the exigency, let us devise some other, and let it be 
 put in immediate operation. 
 
 Intemperance can he cured. If this be true, it should be cured, and 
 it rests with those whom Providence has provided with the means, to 
 consider faithfully how and when it shall be done. 
 
 S. B. W. 
 
 June 20, 183G.
 
 
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