becomes tired, and is exhausted. Now, according to another fundamental law, there is pain, languor, and inexpressible uneasiness spread through the system, as suffering nature, under the awful abuse which has been practised upon her, cries out for help. A man cannot thus chafe, irritate and exhaust his system, and not afterwards feel uneasiness, any more than he can put his hand into the fire, and not feel pain. He violates a law established by God; and must find the way of transgressors to be hard. Hence arise two motives to drink again. One is, to obtain the past pleasure, and the other is, to remove the present pain. But as the system is unstrung and partly worn out, and is also lower down than it was before, the same quantity will not, the next time, raise it up so high; nor cause the wearied organs to move so briskly. Of course it will not fully answer the purpose; will not give so much present pleasure, or produce so much effect, as before. Hence the motive to increase the quantity; and for the same reason, in future, to increase it more, and still more. As every repetition increases the difficulty, and also throws new obstacles in the way of its removal, the temptation to increase the quantity, grows stronger and stronger. The natural life of the system constantly diminishes, and of course in order to seem to live, what there is, must be more and more highly roused, till, in one half, one quarter, or one eighth of the proper time, the whole is exhausted, and the man sinks prematurely to the grave.

There is another principle which tends also strongly to the same result. The more any man partakes of this unnatural, forbidden, and guilty pleasure, which Alcohol occasions, the less susceptible he becomes of the natural and innocent pleasures, occasioned by the use of nourishing food and drink; by the view and contemplation of the works of creation and Providence; by the exercise of the social affections, and the discharge of the various duties of life. It disinclines the mind to look at God, and incapacitates it, not only for the spiritual, but also for the natural pleasures, which his works and ways are adapted to afford. Hence a person under its power becomes more and more destitute of all enjoyment, except that of this mocker. Like Pharaoh's lean kind, it devours all other kinds; and as to enjoyment, becomes to the man, more and more, all in all. And however much he may have, he remains still unsatisfied; nor is his leanness or craving abated. And while its immediate influence becomes to him more and more his only enjoyment, the absence of that, and the experience of its ultimate effects, becomes increasingly the sum and substance of his woes. And thus, by the allurement of his sole pleasure on the one hand, and the terrors of awful wretchedness on the other, he is urged on to death. Of all the expedients which Satan has ever devised to increase the descent and

velocity of a man, on his course toward perdition, and augment the difficulty of his return, the drinking of Alcohol is among the chief. And though the taking it, may seem right unto a man, who is under its power, "the end thereof is the way of death."

From the above, it is evident, that the deranged and exhausted state of the system, from which the uneasiness, when not under the excitement of Alcohol, springs, and which causes the hankering or thirst after the poison, is not a natural state; nor is that appetite a natural appetite. God never gave it, nor is it the fruit of obedience to him; but it is always formed, by a violation of his laws. Hence another reason, why this course, like every other course of sinning, is downward; and the farther a man proceeds in it the steeper it becomes, the swifter his progress, and the more difficult his return. It is the way of disobedience to God; of course the way of death. Such are some of the reasons why men who begin to drink Alcohol, and receive from it nothing but injury, nevertheless, not only continue to drink it, but to drink it in greater and greater quantity.

Let us now consider how it causes death. Alcohol is a substance which is in its nature unfit for the purposes of nutrition. It is not in the power of the animal economy to decompose it, and change it into blood, or flesh, or bones, or any thing by which the human body is, or can be nourished, strengthened, and supported. When taken into the stomach, it is sucked up by absorbent vessels, and carried into the blood; and with that is circulated through the whole system, and to a certain extent, is then thrown off again. But it is Alcohol when taken, it is Alcohol in the stomach, it is Alcohol in the arteries, and veins, and heart, and lungs, and brain, and among all the nerves, and tissues, and fibres of the whole body, and it is Alcohol, when, after having pervaded and passed through the whole system, it is thrown off again. Give it even to a dog, and take the blood from his foot, and distil it, and you have Alcohol, the same which the dog drank. No, not that which he drank; for a dog knows too much to drink it; the same which, in opposition to his knowledge of good and evil, or the instinctive sense which God gave him, and drunkenness had not perverted, you forced upon him. Not even the sense of a dog will permit him to take it, nor can the powerful stomach of a dog digest it. Much less can that of a man. Take the blood from the arm, the foot, or the head, of the man who drinks it, and distil that blood, and you have Alcohol. You may take it from the brain, strong enough, on the application of fire, in an instant to blaze. (See Permanent Temperance Documents, p. 202.) Not a blood vessel however minute, not a thread of the smallest nerve in the whole animal machinery, escapes its influence. It enters the organs of the nursing mother, which prepare the delicate food for

the sustenence and growth of her child. It is taken into the circulations and passes through the whole system of the child; having through its whole course produced not only on the mother, but also on the child, the appropriate effects of the drunkard's poison. This is a reason, why, after the mother has taken it, the babe although before restless, sleeps all night like a drunkard; and a reason also, why such children, if they live, often have an appetite for spirit, and are so much more likely, than other children, to become drunkards. This is a reason, also, why, when the parents have been in the habit of freely taking it, their children are so much smaller, and less healthy than other children; have less keenness and strength of eye-sight; firmness of nerve, or ability of body and mind to withstand the attacks of disease, and the vicissitudes of climates, and seasons; and also a reason why they have less inclination and less talent for great bodily, and mental achievements. By the operation of laws, which no man can repeal, or withstand, the iniquities of the fathers are thus naturally visited upon the children, from generation to generation.

Nor is the increased liability to drunkenness, or diminution of size, and strength of body and mind, the only evils. There is also a greatly increased liability to insanity, and various other diseases. The records of insanity throughout the world show that Alcohol has been, in all countries where it has been used, one of the chief causes of this disease. It penetrates, pervades, and hardens the brn. (See Permanent Temperance Documents, p. 64, 69, 202, &c.) The same may be said with regard to a great number and variety of other formidable and fatal diseases. (See Do. p. 203, 405.) From the fact that it is not suitable, as an article of diet, it follows of course that it must be hurtful, and that it is wicked to drink it, or to furnish it to be drunk by others. All the organs of the body, have as much labor to perform, as is consistent with permanently healthful action, when they have nothing to dispose of, but suitable food and drink. God designed that they should all in that case be diligent in business; and in the structure of the human body, he has given them as much work as they can perform in the proper disposal of suitable diet, and yet remain permanently healthy, and preserve life to the longest time. And if you withhold from them a suitable portion of that which is nourishing, and thus lessen their strength, or load them with that which is not nourishing, and thus increase their labor, you neccssarily produce premature decay and death.

In the taking of Alcohol, you do both of these. You ultimately lessen the nourishment, and you increase the labor of the system. Nor is this all; but, by this poison, you deteriorate the quality of the nourishment which the system does receive. Amidst the bustle, excitement, and irritation, which Alcohol occasions,

the organs cannot furnish nourishment, pure and healthful as they otherwise would. And thus by a threefold process, you work out destruction.

Were the human body transparent and the operations of its organs in sustaining life, visible, every man might see that nature itself, or rather, God by the operations of his providence in sustaining life, teaches that the drinking of Alcohol is wicked, and cannot be continued by a man without hastening his death.

The receptacle for food is the stomach and intestines. From these after being changed, first into chyme, and then into chyle, it is taken up by absorbent vessels and carried into the blood, and conveyed to the right side of the heart. From that it is sent to the lungs; and by coming into contact with the air, and taking out of it, what it needs, in order, with what it has, to nourish the body, it is sent back again to the left side of the heart. From that, it is sent in arteries, or tubes, which God has prepared, for that purpose to all parts of the body, for the purpose of carrying the nourishment which it contains, and which each part needs to its proper place. Along on the lines of these tubes, or canals, through which the blood, with its treasure flows, God has provided a vast multitude of little organs, or waiters, whose office is, each one to take out of the blood, as it comes along, that kind and quantity of nourishment which it needs for its own support, and also for the support of that part of the body which is committed to its care. And although exceedingly minute and delicate, they are endowed by their Creator, with the wonderful power of doing this, and also of abstaining from, or expelling and throwing back into the common mass, what is unsuitable, or what they do not want, to be carried to some other place, where it may be needed; or if it is not needed any where, and is good for nothing, to be thrown out of the body as a nuisance. And strange as it may seem, they are endowed with a power of doing this, with a precision, and an accuracy, and a perpetuity also, which led God himself to say of them, "very good." And had they not been deranged by sin, they might, as a demonstration of the truth of his declaration, have operated, like their Author, in perfection, untired, for ever.

For instance, the organs placed at the end of the fingers, when the blood comes there, take out of it what they need for their support, and also what is needed to make finger nails; while they will cautiously abstain from, or repel that which will only make hair, and let it go on to the head. And the organs on the head, carefully take out that which they need for their support, and also that which will make hair, or, in common language, cause it to grow. While they will cautiously abstain from taking that which is good for nothing, except to make eye-balls; and let it go to the

eyes, and will even help it on. And the organs, about the eye will take that and work it up into eyes, or cause them to grow. And so throughout the whole. And there is, among all the millions and millions of these workers, day and night, all diligent in business, or rather had they not been invaded and assaulted by sin, or something like it, there would have been, the most entire and everlasting harmony. And there is also the most delicate and wonderful sympathy. If one member suffer, all the members instinctively suffer with it; and if one member rejoices, all the members rejoice with it.

And when the blood has gotten out to the extremities and been to all parts of the system and left its treasures along on the way, as they were needed, for, freely it has received and freely it gives, then there is another set of tubes, or channels which God has opened and prepared to take the blood, and with it, what was not needed, or was good for nothing, or had been used till it was worn out, back to the right side of the heart. From this it is sent again with its load to the lungs for the purpose, by expiration, of throwing off what is not needed, and what, if retained, would only be a burden and do mischief; and also, by inspiration, of taking in a new store, and setting out again on its journey round the system. And to give it good speed, the heart, like a steam-engine, worked, not by fires which men can kindle, but by the breath of the Almighty, keeps constantly moving, day and night, summer and winter, through storms and sunshines, sickness and health, till it has landed the immortal passenger, according to his conduct on the voyage, in an eternal heaven, or hell.

Then there is another set of organs, too minute, and too numerous for any man to number, whose office is, to take up refuse matter, and which if retained would be hurtful, and throw it without the body. What other organs reject, and thus show to be a nuisance, these organs seize upon; and in the least possible time, expel from the system. By doing this, they prevent sickness and death.

From the manner in which these various organs, guided, in a healthy state, by the instinctive power of their Author, treat any substances which are taken into the system, and also from the manner in which, as they do their office, these substances treat them, and through them the rest of the body, we may learn the nature of those substances, and also the will of God with regard to the use of them. This is the way in which nature, or to speak more properly, God, by his providence, gives instruction, and makes known his will.

What then is the manner in which these various organs, guided by God, treat Alcohol? First with regard to those organs whose business is, to select and deposit in proper places, a suitable