grave with poison, he may yet be incited by his own
interest to prevent the progress of this practice, a practice which
tends to the subversion of all order, and the destruction of all
happiness.

It is well known, my lords, that publick happiness must be on a stated
proportion to publick virtue; that mutual trust is the cement of
society, and that no man can be trusted but as he is reputed honest.
To promote trust, my lords, is the apparent tendency of all laws. When
the ties of morality are enforced by penal sanctions, men are more
afraid to violate them, and, therefore, are trusted with less danger;
but when they no longer fear the law, they are to be restrained only
by their consciences; and if neither law nor conscience has any
influence upon their conduct, they are only a herd of wild beasts, let
loose to prey upon each other, and every man will inflict or suffer
pain, as he meets with one stronger or weaker than himself. Thus, my
lords, will all authority cease, property will become dangerous to him
that possesses it, and confusion will overspread the whole community;
nor can it be easily conceived, by the most extensive comprehension
how far the mischiefs may spread, or where the chain of destructive
consequences will end.

If we consider our fleet or our army, my lords, it is apparent, that
neither obedience nor fidelity can be expected from men upon whom all
the ties of morality, and all the sanctions of law have lost their
influence; they will mutiny without fear, and desert without scruple,
and like wild beasts, will, upon the least provocation, turn upon
those by whom they ought to be governed.

But drunkenness, my lords, not only corrupts men, by taking away the
sense of those restraints by which they are generally kept in awe, and
withheld from the perpetration of villanies, but by superadding the
temptations of poverty, temptations not easily to be resisted, even by
those whose eyes are open to the consequences of their actions, and
which, therefore, will certainly prevail over those whose
apprehensions are laid asleep, and who never extend their views beyond
the gratification of the present moment.

Drunkenness, my lords, is the parent of idleness; for no man can apply
himself to the business of his trade, either while he is drinking, or
when he is drunk. Part of his time is spent in jollity, and part in
imbecility; when he is amidst his companions he is too gay to think of
the consequences of negl