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Dronlwn. interesting Essay on Drunkenness. It i remarkable, 



v ** as has been ol< Aime I. air, that this sort 



"""*""" of combustion OOOtrrW only in trmaen f-ir advanced in 



lit',-. 



niuxo Thr dUca-i-s brought on by drun!:cnneM are so ma- 



ny, that we can do nothing moreth.in barely cnmnerate 

 them here, for their hitory and manner of produc- 

 tion, we must again refer to Dr Trotter. He divides 

 them inn tuc, >cction-,; those which appear during 

 the drunken paroxysm, and those which are induced by 

 tlie continued habit of drinking. His first section con- 

 tains apoplexy, epilepsy, hy.-teria, convulsions, oneiro- 

 dynia. His second, phrcnitis, rheumatism, pleurisy, 

 gastritis, enteritis, ophthalmia, carbuncles, gutta rosa- 

 cea, hepatitis or diseased liver, podagra or gout, scir- 

 rhusof the Ixiwels, icterus or jaundice, dyspepsia or in- 

 digestion, hy drops or dropsy, tabes, atropnia or ema- 

 ciation of the body, syncope, palpitation, diabetes or 

 excessive discharge of urine, locked jaw, palsy, ulcers, 

 madness and idiotism, melancholy, impotency, prema- 

 ture old age. A most formidable catalogue certainly, 

 but all of which are shewn by him to be often induced 

 by a too free use of vinous liquors. Dr Gregory has 

 observed, that dram drinkers are peculiarly predisposed 

 to gangrene or mortification. 



Habit l n attempting to prevent or cure the drunken habit, 



Kaicdy veiiicnti occurite morlto, is a most invaluable maxim, 

 cured. Let every individual who has the least regard for his 



safety beware. Scarcely any thing can equal the dan- 

 ger of his once giving way. If he indulges ever so 

 little the desire he may feel for the stimulus of vinous 

 liquors, he is in the utmost peril of being ultimately 

 undone. The enemy once admitted, will scarcely ever 

 be afterwards expelled. Many a drunkard has the 

 author of this article had occasion to observe ; and 

 among all the number who have fallen under his no- 

 tice, he does not remember to have seen one of them in 

 whom the habit was cured. Some, from external con- 

 straint, or the powerful influence of the fear of a supe- 

 rior, have been induced to remain sober for a consider- 

 able time, for months perhaps together ; but universal- 

 ly did they relapse when the restraining cause ceased to 

 operate. He once knew a gentleman of good family, 

 so lost by the habit of ebriety, that he has seen him cry 

 like a child when the lady of the house refused to give 

 him a glass of w/iisty in the forenoon. Wine he little 

 valued, as the sensibility of the nerves of his palate and 

 stomach were so much blunted by excessive stimula- 

 tion, that he could hardly distinguish it from water. If 

 denied pocket money to procure whisky, he constantly 

 pawned his shirts or other parts of dress whenever he 

 Lad an opportunity. He died miserably at the age of 

 51, so dropsical, that for the last six weeks of his life 

 he could not be removed from the sitting posture. 



The cure of a confirmed habit of drunkenness, is, as 

 we already said, hardly to be expected. It is so much 

 a disease of the mind, that " herein the patient must," 

 in a great degree, " minister to himself." But then so 

 debased is the mind, so enfeebled, so enslaved, that it 

 is altogether incapable of making the necessary efforts. 

 It becomes the willing slave and victim of the foe. 



It is . i question with some, whether, in the attempt 

 Withdrawn * cu** habitual drunkenness, it would be safe, even if 

 at once. the patient were willing, to leave off the uscofwine 

 or spirits all at once. Dr Trotter has no doubts on 

 tiiis subject. I le does not think that there is any sound- 

 ness in the reasoning, which would prove that it is dan- 

 gerous to withdraw all at once the accustomed stimulus, 



1 



Cue of a 

 drunkard. 



of alcohol. We daily perceive in all parts of the world, 

 men x\ ho, by prot'igacy and hard drinkir 

 tin in i IM - to a j ill ; yet if we consult the rei v 

 the prison, we shall not find that any of tlieM' habitual 

 drunkards died by being forced all at once to commence 

 a sober course of lite. ' As far, (continues the Doc- 

 tor) as my experience of mankind enables me to d, 

 I mi^t give it as my opinion, that there is no safety in 

 trusting the habitual inebriate with any limited portion 

 of liquor. Wherever I have seen the drunkard effectu- 

 ally reformed, he has at once abandoned his pOation." 

 We think this very probable indeed, but at die same 

 time are of opinion, that a habitual drunkard has been 

 very seldom seen effectually reformed. 



See Trotter on Drunkenness; Lettsom on Hard Drink- 

 ing ; Willan's llepoit of the Disrates of London ; DrA. 

 Fothergill on the abuse of Spirituous Liquors ; Junius'.i 

 Character of Drunkards, (u) 



DRUSES, or DEROUO, the name of a free and war- 

 like tribe, who inhabit Mount Libanus. They att' 

 the attention of Europe about the end of the 16th cen- 

 tury, in consequence of the visit of one of their princes 

 to Italy. At this time there wa> much speculation con- 

 cerning their origin, the meaning and derivation of 

 their name, and the nature of their religion ; the pre- 

 valent, but unfounded, opinion being that, as they pro- 

 fessed a species of Christianity, they were the descen- 

 dants of the Crusaders ; and the similarity of their 

 name to that of Dreux, in France, gave rise to the sys- 

 tem of a pretended colony of French, who, under a 

 Count dc Dreux, had established a colony near Mount 

 I.ibanus. At length M. Mitclul, Dragoman of France, 

 at Saide, of which place he was a native, discovered 

 the real derivation of the name of Druses; it takes it~ 

 origin from the founder of the sect of Mohammed Hen 

 Ismael, who was surnamcd F.I Dor/is ; but it is to 

 Messrs Volney ami Niebhur that we are indebted for 

 the history of this tribe, and an account of their go- 

 vernment, religion, manners, &c. 



That they were not the descendants of the Crusa- 

 ders, is evident from the circumstance that they are 

 mentioned in the Itinerary of Bergnnum of Tudelas, 

 who travelled long before the time of the Crusades ; 

 their origin, indeed, goes back as far as the end of the 

 10th century. At this period Hachem, the third of 

 the Fatimite caliphs, sat on the throne of Egypt : his 

 reign was a wild mixture of vice and folly ; at last he 

 carried his madness so far as to wish to pass for God 

 himself. In this impious pretension he was supported 

 by an impostor, named Mohammed Ben Ismael, who 

 came from Egypt. Their reign, however, was short, the 

 false prophet being slain in a tumult, almost in the 

 arms of the caliph, and the latter being assassinated by 

 the emissaries of his sister. The proselytes whom they 

 had made took refuge in the mountains of Libanus, 

 and soon formed an independent society. The Turks, 

 for a long time, paid no attention to this new state, ei- 

 ther overlooking it bv reason of its insignificance, or 

 being occupied with affairs of greater moment. The 

 Druses, emlM)ldened by this inattention, frequently 

 came down from the mountains, and fell on the neigh- 

 bouring country. At length, in 1.588, the Sultan Amu- 

 rath 111. finding that his pachas in vain endeavoured 

 to repress their outrages, resolved to reduce them ; and 

 his general, Ibrahim I'aeha, completely succeeded. 

 Oil their conquest, he changed their constitution, al- 

 lowing them only one chief, instead of a multitude of 

 Siktiks, or lords. This measure, however, rendered them 



Drunken- 

 mat, 



Dru.i-v 





