Were it possible to conceive the existence of a tyrant who should
compel his people to give up to him one-third or more of their
earnings, and require them at the same time to consume a commodity
that should brutalise and degrade them, destroy the peace and
comfort of their families, and sow in themselves the seeds of
disease and premature death--what indignation meetings, what
monster processions there would be! 'What eloquent speeches and
apostrophes to the spirit of liberty!--what appeals against a
despotism so monstrous and so unnatural! And yet such a tyrant
really exists amongst us--the tyrant of unrestrained appetite,
whom no force of arms, or voices, or votes can resist, while men
are willing to be his slaves.
The power of this tyrant can only be overcome by moral means--by
self-discipline, self-respect, and self-control. There is no
other way of withstanding the despotism of appetite in any of its
forms. No reform of institutions, no extended power of voting, no
improved form of government, no amount of scholastic instruction,
can possibly elevate the character of a people who voluntarily
abandon themselves to sensual indulgence. The pursuit of ignoble
pleasure is the degradation of true happiness; it saps the morals,
destroys the energies, and degrades the manliness and robustness
of individuals as of nations.
The courage of self-control exhibits itself in many ways, but in
none more clearly than in honest living.
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