1 10 1 https://scottishchapbooks.lib.uoguelph.ca/files/original/75212d54c91ac45a4b41286f78fde6f8.pdf e36c0d731fe157ffc36536bb86f5285b PDF Text Text DIALOGUE BETWEEN JOHN AND THOMAS, ON The Corn laws, The Charter, TEETOTALISM, AND The Probable Remedy for the Present Disstresses. 1 842. PAISLEY: p r i n t e d f o r t h e a u t h o r , b y g. c a l d w e l l , �T . W e e l John what do you think is to come: out o' thae terrible times ? I believe our kintra neer saw a time like this. J. Really they are fearfu' looking times, and I am really at a loss what to think about' them, or how to T . Deed John I'm truly at a loss mysel' to ken what would be the best remedy, but it is plain we would need some remedy soon, for our miseries are every day; is alarming. Hae ye nae idea ava' what can be the cause o' a' this bankruptcy and beggary that is come amang us ? J* It is often my first thochts in the morning, and the last at night, t o fin' out the origin o* a' this distress; whiles I think the Corn Bill has a great effect to hurt our trade, and I hae nae doubt but it has had a bad effect, but how far it would remedy the evil now I'm no very sure, for wi' us no takin' their Corn, they wouldna tak' our Goods, and noo baith Russia, and Prussia, and Holland, a n d Belgium, and France, and America, an' a', has goods. I think our landholders, if they had half an in their head, micht see that. increasing gotte �3 T . I dinna think f e r e far wrang John, altho' I have heard some argue strictly in behalf o' the Corn Bill, and tell us if it wasna the Corn Bill our grun* wadna be sae weel cultivated, and its value wad sink in estimation, but I rather think the lads up by are feart the rents wad sink in their estimation; and is this a' the relief J o h n — t h e takin' aff o* the Corn Laws—that we hae to look for, for the bettering o* our condition? if this is a it is a very forlorn hope. J. I hae nae doubt Thomas but there is ither causes that produce these great grievances amang us. Anither great cause, I believe, is our great National D e b t , which hangs about our neck like a millstane, and I'm afraid will sink us to the bottom if the string is not cut, and what surprises me maist is to see sae little attention paid to economy, to help to pay off this debt. It is grievin' to read o' the thousands, and thousands, and hunders o ' thousands, that is payt awa' every year to placemen and pensioners, for no purpose under the sun, but rank wastery: ane wad think, when they see our kintra sinkin' and sae muckle need for care, that they would be glad to adopt any plan to save u s ; and they ha'e a capital pattern o cheap government laid down to them in America, whar the head o ' the house costs them only £ 6 0 0 0 instead o ' £400,000, which some folk has to pay. T I must confess John you talk very reasonably on the subject, and if your plans could be brought to work, they micht hae a gude effect; but there is a heap o ' folk thinks that if we had the Charter it would work a e v i l s set to right in a short time, but I ' m afraid it will n ° t be easy gotten to mak' a trial o.\ J* I daresay there would be a change, if that could be gotten, but, as ye say, I doubt it will not be gotten in a but I should like to see*t try't, and see what effect u wad hae to Reform matters; but there is ae Reform wonderful' Reform amang us, �4 that we a* hae in our power, and I think every living man and woman should mak* a trial o't to see what effect it wad hae, there's naebody 1 speak to but confesses that there is a world of evils in connection with it, and for that reason I think it is our duty to try it, and that is to abstain from all intoxicating drinks, and I cannot think that any man can be a sincere Chartist or Reformer, unless he be a Teetotaler, for the drinking o' thae drinks completely counteracts his own schemes. 1 . A h , noo John, are ye really gaun to tak a1 the hair o* comfort us puir bodies hae left ? if it wasna for the dribble o* dram I get noo and than, I wad sink un'er my affliction athegither; ye canna deny I'm sure but it raises the spirits and mak's us cheery mony a time, when nae ither thing will do't. J . O yes, Thomas, I must confess it raises the s p i r i t s , and that to an awfu' degree, sometimes to 80, but next morning you will find them sink to 40, being 20 below par, and then what state do ye fin* yoursel* in ? do ye fin' your purse ony benter? do ye fin your head ony sounder, after wallowing in that sinfu drink ? I trow no, Thomas. heale T . Tuts man ye're takin* the very warst look o* the thing ye can tak'; its weel enough kent there's mony a ane tak's a bit suck that disna drive themsel's to thae extre Magistrates, and Councillors too; indeed, the maist o folk that reckon themsel's upish can a' tak' their moderate J. Their moderate dram ! dinna tell me about moderate but independent o' a' that, is't no a shamfu' bad e x a m p l e they set before workin' folk, (for poor folk maun aye be imitating the rich if they can ava) to drink thae 'drink �5 that destroy sae muckle o' our grain in times like this, when poor folk's starvin'; every half mutchin ye drink, Thomas, believe me or no as ye like, destroys as muckle gude good as wad mak' a comfortable meal to a gude big family, and I'm creditably informed that there is as much destroyed in one dist'llery every morning as wad T . Hoot, nonsence, John ye're surely gaun out o't noo athegither, I never dream't o ' ony thing like that, ye wad maist fricht a body frae ever tasting a drap again ; if that was the case ye wad think the hale kintra wad rise up in a mass against it, our legislators wad stop distillation, and our magistrates wad grant nae inae licenses. Hoot toot John, ye're surly far wrang J. No, tweel awat Thomas, I'm nane wrang, for if there was nane o* the drunkard's drink drucken, every inhabitant in Scotland micht hae sax pound o' bread every week they hinna, and that's but ae portion o' the evil that springs frae that curse ; look to the misery and madness, the woes and wretchedness, that it produces; we're tax'd to a pretty degree even noo to support prisons like bastiles, whereas if we wad a drap drinking, a three-storey house wad ha'd a' the criminals in a kintra side. T. Altho* there a wheen fools that mak' themsel's idiots wi' drinkin', we're no a' to be blamed wi't; there's mony a decent respectable minister and magistrate baith that tak' their dram, and disna fill themsel's fou, and if folk wad °only imitate their example there wad be nae great fear o ' gaun wrang. J. Ah, Thomas, Thomas, but it is a bad example Scripture aye approves o' them that tak' nae drink, and A could gie ye plenty o' instances o't if you and I had ; and to finish the whole story, it declares to you, in Habakuk, in plain terms no to be misunderstood, " Woe l o him that giveth his neighbour drink.'' The beginning breakfast the hale town o' �6 to drink is something like beginning to s m o k e or snuff* it is fun at first, but truly it often g r o w s earnest, as w e m o n y a time s e e ; and I think, for m y part, its far better to let it alane a' thegither; and I think it is the duty of every patriot and every Christian to give no countenance to these vile things ; and every man that drinks intoxicating liquor is only assisting to support 4 0 , 0 0 0 men w h o break every L o r d ' s day, b y destroying the bounties of Providence, by converting them into a most destructive and pernicious drink. A n d I think that a man that w o u l d not gie up the use o ' a thing that is baith useless and unnecessary, for the sake o* his suffering fellow creatuies, is nae man ava. T . Y e really gang a great length wi* y o u r teetotalism, y e seem to think it will be a general salve for a' the d o u b t , J o h n , t h o ' we were a' teetotlars the nicht, it wadna better our condition a bawbee, in the present a w f u ' state o ' t h i n g s ; we're gae an' weel teetotal'd the noo, and that sair against our wills, J . Nae thanks to y o u for that kin' o' teetotalism, that's n o the genuine p r i n c i p l e ; besides, I am sure, if we were a' p l e d g e d , and sterling to the cause, w e wad soon see a different state o ' things, for I am quite c o n v i n c e d it wad be a general salve for a' our distresses. In the first place, it w o u l d prevent 4 5 millions bushels of g o o d grain from being destroyed every year, which w o u l d have a great t e n d e n c y to cheapen our f o o d , enabling us to manufacture our g o o d s at a cheaper rate, and to c o p e with other the Corn B i l l ; and besides all this, the miseries and crimes, the misfortunes and calamities, the lunacy ana suicide, the Sabbath desicration and a thousand other evils w o u l d almost entirely vanish from a m o n g us. T . Really J o h n , y e seem to hae't, a' b y the b a c k , and I must confess, there's a g o o d deal o* truth in what y e distre Nation �7 say; but what wad become o' our puir revenue if we were a' to drap drinking, there wad be a bonny cry out then, for we hae facht enough to get the win* rais'd as it is. J. W e e l Thomas* to be plain w i ' y o u , I think the kindra is quite blin on that subject; I ken vera weel w e hae great revenue aff drink, nae less than 16 millions, but folk never think o ' the frightsome expense that thae liquors bring on us, mair I believe, than a' they produce. See the tremendous Jails, Hospitals, and Asylums we hae to support; see the Judges, the Sheriffs, the Fiscals, and the awful army o* Policemen w e hae to p a y ; see the Criminals we hae to f e e d ; the host o ' Witnesses and Lawyers which must be paid for prosecutions and trials; and the enormous sums levied from us in the character of Rogue M o n e y and Prison M o n e y ; see the thousands paid for support of our criminal Colonies, for Freight of Vessels to send them to these Colonies no less than 8 6 0 0 0 peing paid last year for that purpose;—-then say whether or not our country is benefitted by the revenue produced from these destructive drinks. T . I really must confess, John, you have almost made me a Total Abstainer, and I do n o w consider it my duty to give nae langer ony countenance to thae vile drinks j but I think w e hae rather gaen aff the point a w e e ; w e were talking about dull trade, and the causes o ' t : y e surely dinna think that drinking has been the cause o ' sae mony bankruptcies amang us, to crack our credit, derange our business, and cause sic an unparalelled stagnation o' trade. J. D e e d Thomas, I dinna think w e were the least aff the point about the cause o' our dull trade, for I hinna the least doubt in m y mind, but drinking is the cause o ' a' this wretchedness we're labouring under; for, independent o' the great sum �8 keppit rnony a Back Bill, I hae nae doubt but mony o' ane o' thae Win' Bills were drawn and accepted under the influence o' the Bowl; and I am quite satisfied that if a' our trading men had been teetotalers for ten years back, there would neither have been dull trade nor bankruptcies amang us; and our present sufferings are only a just that spring from that source; and so wide is the evil effects of the drinking system, that it has seized upon almost every fibre of commerce, and so long as Alcoholic drinks are encouraged and countenanced by the upper ranks of society, and by our Ministers and Magistrates, I never expect to see things much better, for all classes sink under its demoralizing influence. Our Cabinet Ministers, our Pulpit Ministers, our highest gifted Literary Men, down to our humblest Artisans, all have you a good night, Thomas—I hope you'll go to-morrow and sign the Pledge, and 1 trust we'll soon see better times. T . Good night John. judgement suffered, � https://scottishchapbooks.lib.uoguelph.ca/files/original/418a5ae69aceecd8e087b1bd2ceb2b4d.jpg 35c2d5a4cb0f29e4a9d7c92ed185d501 Omeka Image File The metadata element set that was included in the `files_images` table in previous versions of Omeka. These elements are common to all image files. Bit Depth 8 Channels 3 Height 3248 Width 1946 Document A resource containing textual data. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre text. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Dialogue Between John and Thomas, on The Corn Laws, The Charter, Teetoalism, and The Probable Remedy for the Present Distresses Subject The topic of the resource Chapbooks - Scotland - Paisley Alcohol Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1842 Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Archival and Special Collections, University of Guelph Library, Guelph, Ontario, Canada Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource In the public domain; For high quality reproductions, contact Archival &amp; Special Collections, University of Guelph. libaspc@uoguelph.ca, 519-824-4120, Ext. 53413 Language A language of the resource English Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context <a href="https://ocul-gue.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/01OCUL_GUE/mrqn4e/alma9953133963505154">s0098b48</a> Extent The size or duration of the resource. 8 pages Abstract A summary of the resource. <p dir="ltr"><span>An exposition on economic policy, political reform, the benefits of teetotaling, which is presented as a dialogue between two rustic men as an appeal to the common people. It dwells at some length on the evils of drinking and the benefits that teetotaling would have for the entire country. </span></p> <div><span>&nbsp;</span></div> Is Referenced By A related resource that references, cites, or otherwise points to the described resource. <p dir="ltr"><a title="University of Glasgow Union Catalogue of Scottish Chapbooks" href="http://special.lib.gla.ac.uk/chapbooks/search/">University of Glasgow Union Catalogue of Scottish Chapbooks</a>&nbsp;</p> <div>&nbsp;</div> Is Part Of A related resource in which the described resource is physically or logically included. Chapbook #24 in a bound collection of 34 chapbooks Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource JPEGs and PDF derived from master file, which was scanned from the original book in 24-bit color at 600 dpi in TIFF format using an Epson Expression 10000XL scanner. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Archival & Special Collections, University of Guelph Library, Guelph, Ontario Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Paisley: Printed for the author by G. Caldwell Type The nature or genre of the resource politics # of Woodcuts: 0 Chapbook Date: 1841-1850 Chapbook Genre: politics Chapbook Publisher - Paisley: G. Caldwell