y; but have pursued their
first notions, and have employed their eloquence in displaying the
absurdity of positions never advanced, and the mischief of
consequences which will never be produced.

It is first to be considered, my lords, that this bill is intended,
not to promote, but to hinder, the consumption of spirituous liquors;
it is, therefore, by no means necessary to expatiate upon that which
is presupposed in the bill, the pernicious quality of spirits, the
detestable nature of drunkenness, the wickedness or miseries which are
produced by it. Almost all that has been urged by the noble lords who
have spoken with the greatest warmth against the bill, may reasonably
be conceived to have been advanced for it by those who projected it;
of whom it may be justly imagined, that they were fully convinced how
much spirits were abused by the common people, and how much that abuse
contributed to the wickedness which at present prevails amongst us,
since they thought it necessary to prevent them by a new law.

But, my lords, when they saw that the abuse of distilled liquors was
in a very high degree detrimental to the publick, they saw, likewise,
that the trade of distilling was of great use; that it employed great
numbers of our people, and consumed a great part of the produce of our
lands; and that, therefore, it could not be suppressed, without
injuring the publick, by reducing many families to sudden poverty, and
by depriving the farmers of a market for a great part of their corn.
In the plains of the western part of this island, the grain that is
chiefly cultivated is barley, and that barley is chiefly consumed by
the distillers; nor, if they should be at once suppressed, could the
husbandman readily sell the produce of his labour and his grounds, or
the landlord receive rent for his estate; since it would then produce
nothing, or what is in effect the same, nothing that could be sold.

It is, indeed, possible, my lords, that the Dutch might buy it; but
then it must be considered, that we must pay them money for the
favour, since we allow a premium upon exportation, and that we shall
buy it back again in spirits, and, consequently, pay them for
manufacturing our own product. For it is not to be imagined, that any
law will immediately reclaim the dispositions, or reform the appetites
of the people. They are well known to have drank spirits before they
were made in our country, and to indulge themselves at present in m