1903 The Flowing Bowl by Edward Spencer

SAVORN OFF ! 229 our legislators before 1834 had been that " good malt and hops could injure nobody." From '34 to '45 there was great activity in the temperance ranks throughout the world ; and in '53 the 'United Kingdom Alliance for the Legislative Suppression of the Liquor Traffic was formed, its first president being Sir W. C. Trevelyan. In March '64 a Permissive Pro hibitory Bill was brought into the House of Commons, but although repeatedly re-introduced it never obtained a second reading. Nor is it likely that such a Bill will ever become law as long as the sons of Britannia are living outside a state of slavery. Repressive legislation serves only to stimulate that which it claims to check ; and thus it is that these would-be reformers, whether Prohibitors of the Drink Traffic, Vigilance and Purity Societies, and Anti- gambling Societies have succeeded in making the state of London infinitely worse, as regards drunkenness, chastity, and betting, than it was forty years ago. Poor frail humanity will always do the thing which it ought not to do in preference to fulfil ling its obligations. It has been so since the beginning of the world, and will continue so until the end. Forbidden fruit has ever been the sweetest; and it is characteristic of mankind— and more especially of womankind—to oppose, as far as they can, any attempt at restraint. What has been the effect of closing Cremorne Gardens, the Argyll Rooms, and other public resorts where dancing and revelry were carried on until the small hours, five - and- twenty years ago ?