be slow in showing themselves, and may never be ascribed to the real cause. If all diseases which terminate in death, could speak out at the grave, or tell their origin upon the coffin-lid, we should witness the most appalling and unexpected disclosures. Happy the man, who so avoids the appearance of evil, as not to shorten his days by what he may call the prudent use of spirituous liquors.

A sin so odious in its nature, and so fatal in its consequences, should be detected in its origin and strangled at its birth; but ordinarily, instead of this, the habit is fixed, and the hope of reformation is gone, before the subject has the least suspicion of danger. It is of the last importance, therefore, that the various occasions of intemperance should be clearly described, that those, whose condition is not irretrievable, may perceive their danger and escape, and that all, who are free, may be warned against such occasions of temptation and ruin. For the benefit of the young, especially, I propose to lay down a map of the way to destruction, and to wave a signal of warning upon every spot where a wayfaring man has been ensnared and destroyed.

1. The first occasion of intemperance, which I shall mention, is found in the free and frequent use of spirituous liquors in the family, as an incentive to appetite, an alleviation of lassitude, or an excitement to cheerfulness. In these reiterated indulgences, even children are allowed to partake, and the tender organs of their stomachs are early perverted, and predisposed to habits of intemperance. No family, it is believed, accustomed to the daily use of ardent spirits, ever failed to plant the seeds of that dreadful disease, which sooner or later produced a harvest of woe. The material of so much temptation and mischief ought not to be allowed a place in the family, except as a medicine, and even then it would be safer in the hands of an apothecary, to be sent for, like other medicines, when prescribed.

2. Spirituous liquors, given in the way of hospitality, are not unfrequently the occasion of intemperance. In this case, too, the temptation is habitual. The utensils are present, and the occasions for their use are not unfrequent. And, when there is no guest, the sight of the liquor, the state of the health, or even lassitude of spirits, may indicate the propriety of the "prudent

use," until the prudent use becomes, by repetition, habitual use, and habitual use becomes irreclaimable intemperance. In this manner, unquestionably, has many a father and mother, and son and daughter, been ruined for ever. Of the guests, too, who partake in this family hospitality, the number is not small who become ensnared; especially among those whose profession calls them to visit families often, and many on the same day.

3. Days of public assembling are extensively the occasions of excess which eventuates in intemperance. The means and temptations are ostentatiously multiplied, and multitudes go forth prepared and resolved to yield to temptation, while example and exhilarated feeling secure the ample fulfilment of their purpose. But, when the habit is once acquired of drinking, even moderately, as it will be called, on all the days of public assembling which occur in a year, a desire will soon be formed of drinking at other times, until the healthful appetite of nature is superseded by the artificial thirst produced by spirituous liquors.

4. In the same class of high temptations are to be ranked all convivial associations for the purpose of drinking, with or without gaming, and late hours. There is nothing which young men of spirit fear less than the exhilaration of drinking on such occasions; nor any thing which they are less able to resist, than the charge of cowardice when challenged to drink. But there is no one form of temptation before which more young men of promise have fallen into irretrievable ruin. The connexion between such beginnings and a fatal end is too manifest to require illustration.

5. Feeble health and mental depression are to be numbered among the occasions of intemperance. Sinking of the spirits, and muscular debility, and mental darkness are, for a short time, alleviated by the application of stimulants. But the cause of this momentary alleviation is applied and repeated, until the habit of excessive drinking is formed, and has become irresistible. Spirituous liquors, too, administered in the form of bitters, or as the medium of other medicines, have sometimes let in the destroyer; and medical prescriptions have thus contributed, without doubt, to increase the number of intemperate drinkers.

6. The distillation of ardent spirits never fails to raise up around the establishment a generation of drunkards. The cheap

ness of the liquor, and the ease with which families can provide themselves with large quantities, the product of their own labor, eventuate in frequent drinking and wide-spread intemperance. In like manner, the vending of ardent spirits, whether in places licensed or unlicensed, is a most afflicting evil. Here those, who have no stated employment, loiter away the day for a few potations of strong drink; and here those, who have finished the toils of the day, meet to spend a vacant hour; none content to be mere spectators. All drink, and few, for any length of time, drink temperately. Here, too, the grown-up children of the neighbourhood, drawn by enticements, associate for social drinking, and the exhibition of feats of courage and premature manhood. The continued habit of dealing out spirituous liquors, in various forms and mixtures, leads, also, to frequent tasting, tasting to drinking, and drinking to drunkenness.

7. A resort to ardent spirits as an alleviation of trouble results often in habits of confirmed intemperance. The loss of friends, perplexities of business, or the wreck of property, bring upon the spirits the distractions of care and the pressure of sorrow. Under these circumstances, resort is had to the exhilarating draught; but, before the occasion for it has ceased, the remedy has converted itself into an intolerable disease. Spirituous liquors, moreover, employed to invigorate the intellect, or to restore nature, exhausted under severe study, have sometimes proved a fatal experiment. Mighty men have been cast down in this manner, never to rise. The quickened circulation does, for a time, invigorate intellect and restore exhausted nature. The adventitious energy imparted, however, impairs the native energy of the mind, and induces that faintness of heart and flagging of the spirits, which cry incessantly, "Give, give," and never, but with expiring breath, say, "It is enough."

8. But the use of ardent spirits, employed as an aid to sustain labor, has been among the most fatal, because the most common and least suspected, causes of intemperance. It is justified as innocent, it is insisted on as necessary; but no fact is more completely established by experience, than that it is utterly useless and ultimately injurious, besides all the fearful evils of habitual intemperance, to which it so often leads. It is well settled, that

there is no nutriment in spirituous liquors. All the effect of them, is, to concentrate the strength of the system for the time, beyond its capacity for regular exertion. It is borrowing strength for the present occasion, which will be needed for the future, without any provision for payment, and with the certainty of ultimate bankruptcy.

II. The signs of intemperance. In the early stages of intemperance, reformation is practicable. The misfortune is, intemperance is a sin so deceitful and ensnaring, that most men go on to irretrievable ruin, amidst many warnings, indeed, but these are to little or no purpose, because they do not understand their voice. It is of vast importance, therefore, that the symptoms of intemperance should be universally and familiarly known. The effects of the habit upon the body and upon the mind should be so described in all its stages, from the beginning to the end, that every one may see, and feel, and recognise these harbingers of ruin, as soon as they begin to show themselves upon him.

1. One of the early indications of intemperance may be found in the associations of time, place, and person. In the commencement of this evil habit, there are many who drink to excess only on particular days, such as days of military display, the anniversary of our Independence, the birth-day of Washington, new year's day, and others of the like nature. When any of these holidays arrive, they bring with them, to many, the insatiable desire of drinking, as well as, it would seem, a sort of dispensation in their opinion, from the sin. There are others, who feel the desire of drinking stirred up within them by the associations of place. They could go from end to end of a day's journey without ardent spirits were there no taverns on the road. But the very sight of these "refuges of pilgrims," awakens the desire. "just to step in and take something." And so powerful does this association become, that many will no more pass the tavern, than they would pass a fortified town, with all the engines of death pointed against them. There are in every city, town, and village, places of public resort, which, in like manner, as soon as the eye falls upon them, create a thirst for drinking; and many, who, coming on business, pass near them, pay toll at them as regularly as at the gates; and this, too, in returning as well as in

coming. In cities and their suburbs, there are hundreds of shops, at which a large proportion of those who bring in produce, stop regularly to receive the customary draught. In every community, also, we may observe particular persons, who can never meet each other without feeling the simultaneous appetite for strong drink. What can be the reason of this? All men, when they meet, are not affected thus. Whoever, then, finds himself tempted, on meeting his companion or friend, to drink what he may call a social glass, ought to understand, that he discloses his own inordinate relish for ardent spirits, and indirectly accuses his friend of intemperance.

2. A disposition to multiply the circumstances, which furnish the occasions and opportunities for drinking, may justly create alarm, that the habit is begun. When persons find occasions for drinking in all the variations of the weather, because it is so cold or so hot, so wet or so dry; and in all the various states of the system, when they are vigorous that they may not be tired, and when tired that their vigor may be restored, they have approached near to that state of intemperance in which they will drink in all states of the weather, and in all conditions of the body, and will drink with these pretexts, and drink without them, whenever their frequency may not suffice.

3. Whoever finds the desire of drinking spirituous liquors returning daily at stated times, is warned to deny himself instantly, if he intends to escape confirmed intemperance.

It is infallible evidence that a person has already done violence to nature, that the undermining process is begun, that the overexcited organs begin to flag, and cry out for adventitious aid, with an importunity, which, if indulged, will become more deeptoned, and importunate, and irresistible, until the power of selfdenial is gone, and he is a ruined man. It is here, then, -beside this commencing vortex, that I would take my stand, to warn off the heedless navigator from destruction. For this is the parting point, between those who flee from danger and hide themselves, and the foolish who pass on and are punished. He who escapes this periodical thirst of times and seasons, will not be a drunkard, as he who comes within the reach of this powerful attraction must retrace his steps, to escape destruction. It