ANCIENT PUNISHMENT OF DRUNKENNESS.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XIII, Issue 123, 24 May 1878, Page 4

ANCIENT PUNISHMENT OF DRUNKENNESS.

The ofTencti of drunkenness was a source of great perplexity to the .ancients, who tried every possible way of dealing wiih if. If none succeeded, probnl-lv it <"*av brcause they did not b/ <»tn p?>rlv Tonph. by intercepting potop of tbo ways ond mpnns by which thi inßidious vice is inched and prepared. Pevere treatment, wps often tried to li'flft ffr'-ct. Tbe Loci-ian*. under Z b 'p«cup, n-ifl'l*** i' a cnpi.-al nffence to dn'pk, wine if it whs no* mixed with wafer; even «n invalid was not exempt from pnnipbme.nt unless by ordpr of a phvpic'^n. Pit'nous. of Mi f y)en*\ nia*'e n Iqw that he who, when (bunk, committed an offence, would pr.ff-*r double the puniehmpnt which hr* would do if eobpr • and Plito, Arißtolle, and Plutarch applauded this as the height of wisdom. The Roman censors could expel a penator for being drunk, and teke away his horse j Mahomet ordered drunkards (o be bastinadoed wiih eighty blows. Oiher nations thought of limiting the quantity to be drunk at one time, or at, one sitting. The Egyptians put some limit, though what it was is not stated. The Spartans also had some limit. The Arabians fixed the quantity at twelve glasses a man; but the size of the glass was, unfortunately, not clearly defined by the historinns. The Anglo-Saxons, went no further than to order Bilver nails to be fixed on the side of drinking cups, so that each might know his proper measure. And it is said that this was done by King Edgar after noticing the drunken habits of the Danes. Lycurgus of Thrace, went to the root of the matter by ordering the vines to be. cut down. And his conduct was imitated in 704 by Tprbulus of Bulgaria. The Swevi prohibited wine to be imported. And tbe Spartans tried tq turn the vic^ into contempt by systemalicaily making their slaves drunk once a year, to show their children how foolish and contemptible men looked in that state. Drunkenness was deemed much more vicious in some classes of persons than in others,, The ancient Indians held it lawful to kill a king when he was drur:k. The Athenians made it a' capital offence for a magistrate to be drunk, and Charlemagne imitated thia by a law tbat judges on the bench and pleaders should do their business fasting. Tbe Cartbagenians prohibited magistrates, governors, soldiers, and servants from any drinking. The Scots in tbe socond century tnude it a capital offeuc - for n_nj**i*tratps to be drunk ; and Constantine 11 of Scoiland, 861, extended a like punishment to young people. Again some laws have absolutely prohibited wine from being drunk by wom»n ; the Massiliana so decreed The Bomnus did tl.e name, and extended prohibition to young men under thirty to foity-five. And the husband end the wife's relations could scourge the" wife for offending, aud tbe hof-bood mu.ht. FronrgH hr-r 'o death. — 'Liberty ofthe Subject," by James Paterson.