Perhaps the most remarkable thing about such crazes as vegetarianism
is their power to infect even those who do not seriously believe in them with an utter inability to see facts as they really are. On Friday, September 28th, a conference of London clergy, convened by the Vegetarian Society, was presided over by Archdeacon Farrar. Though stating in his address that he was not a vegetarian, Archdeacon Farrar declared that "if ever the day came when vege- tarianism should be widely adopted, it would prove the one absolute remedy for the curse of drink," and went on to say that "he believed that no vegetarian was a drunkard." Yet surely Archdeacon Farrar must know that the High- landers, who are practically vegetarians, are the greatest consumers of whisky in existence, and that the drunkards of India, and they are as bad as any drunkards in the world, are absolute vegetarians. No doubt the English vegetarians, whose simple creed, according to themselves, is contained in the three words, " fruit, grain, nuts," are not drunkards ; but this is not because they are vegetarians, but because they are mild-minded, innocent faddists. Archdeacon Farrar's exaggerations are all the more to be regretted because vege- tarianism, in teaching people how to make use of certain very cheap and very nourishing forms of food, is a real benefit to the world, and ought not to be made ridiculous.
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