THE ARGUS ON NOBBLERS.

Southland Times, Volume I, Issue 3, 18 November 1862, Page 2

THE ARGUS ON NOBBLERS.

In a great measure driven from decent society in Melbourne itself t the "nobbier" reigns absolute master in all ourlarger inland towns and throughout the country districts. It is impossible to exaggerate the extent of the influence exercised by this fell tyrant, at a place like Sandhurst, for instance. It 13 not because Sandhurst is actually worse than some other towns that we single it out for an evil pre-eminence in this respect, but because at Sandhurst the vice is peculiarly conspicuous, and assumes itsmost ambitious forms- Thero may be '-nobblers" drunk elsewhere, but Sandhurst is the impurium of nobblers— the capital of Nobblerdom At Sandhurst yon cannot escape the all-pervading evidences of the one dominant spirit. In the great centra Jigging metropolis, Nobbier is King, without question er rivalry — king by the will of the people, if not by divine right. A hundred bars are consecrated to the great looal divinity ; and day and night they are thronged by an army of wot shippers. In nob biers, they liv.> and move and have thier being. I- U tueir only pleasure — their only oxQitement — almost '-'-••Mr only busi'^es. Whatever is done, a nobblei io rue beginning and the end. A nobbier is the necessary preliminary — the necessary termination, to every act. of social intercourse -to every movement of politics — to every scheme of industry. It knows no distinction of class, and it dominates over all the denominations. There is never any excuse needed for a nobbier at Sandhurst

ITospitis, adventus, prrosens sitis atque future, Aut vini bonitas, aut qutelibet altera causa. There is only one of Dean Aldrich's reasons for drinking which does not apply in this case, and that is, the goodness of ihe liquor. The mixture of bad ovandy and water is the universal rite performed by the inhabitants to "welcome, the coming, speed the parting guest" to iuaugurate any affair of business — to open or seal acommercial negotiation — to celebrate anything which is to be celebrated, and generally for any other cause whatever. The whole air iceks with the essence of nobblcrs. The steam of sacrifice is perpetually rising from a hundred temples, and it 13 still the odor of bad British, spirits. The perpetual libation demands a hundred attendant priestesses, whose charms are hired ta lend a keener edge to the frequent nobbier. If limes are good, the nobbier is drunk in jubilation — if times are bad, the nobbier is drunk that good times may return. Every day, and throughout the day, at any hour and for any cause, the nobbier is served with a steadfastness and devotion — with au utter lack of all joviality,— and an entire absence of humor, which serves to give a most extraordinary character to the town of Sandhurst. It would be an interesting calculation were we to reckon up the loss of the colony, through the prevalence of this disgraceful and debasing habit — the 'number of hours spent in a erapuloussimulati ,n of joviality, over dirty and feted bars, which should have been devoted to labor — the loss to the body, through the foul and unwholesome appetite the injury to the mind, by "nobbier" scenes and •" nobbier " companionship. How much ofthebesi intellect and manhood of the nation is wasted on this senseless and joyless habit —how many strong arms and clear heads, diverted from the service of industry, and turned to basest uses— who can estimate? And what is there in the vice that i sat all pleasant or attractive, so that there mightbe an excuse for the gratification? -what is the object of nobbier, when all X8 <« ink and pa d for ? Is it the promotion ot jollity or the greater encouragement of good-fellowship ? The very sight oi a popular bar, in a full stroke of buisness. ought to be sufficient to dispel this miserable delusion. What can be mere melancholy than the whole scene there presented — the various gradations of dr unkennness, all equally brutal and revolting — the dull ribaldry — the barren jests— the hoarse laughter from brandied throats — the sodden faces and bleared eyes, and allthe other sights and souuds of a provincial public house ?

Are these the ways of a young country striving to be great, or are they the mad orgies of an effete^ and dying people, too suddenly raised to wealth and prosperity ? What curse can equal the curse of a habit like this ? We have polif&al cries and social cries, but there is no cry. so much desired — no crusade so holy — as one which should array all the good-sense and intellect and manhood of the country against the foul fiend, Nobbier.