nce and observation teach us that they are the source of
ruin, and misery, and squalid wretchedness, in a thousand shapes. They
are the three-headed monster; they are the Gorgons with their thousand
snakes; their name is Legion. And shall I yet find advocates for their
use? Will this enlightened community yet say, they are useful and
necessary? All those who have used them, and discontinued the use of
them, say they are totally unnecessary and useless. We see that those
who live without them enjoy more happiness and better health than those
who use them--that they live longer lives. But oh, the folly, the
stupidity, and the delusion of rum-drinkers!

But perhaps it may be said, that the effects and consequences that I
have mentioned, result from the abuse, and not from the proper and
moderate use of ardent spirits; and that on many occasions, in small
quantities, they are useful. Let us examine the circumstances and
occasions when they are said to be necessary; and perhaps I cannot do it
better than in the words of another.

"They are said to be necessary in very _cold weather_. This is far from
being true; for the temporary heat they produce is always succeeded by a
greater disposition in the body to be affected by cold. Warm dresses, a
plentiful meal just before exposure to the cold, and eating occasionally
a cracker or any other food, is a much more durable method of preserving
the heat of the body in cold weather." In confirmation of this, the case
of the vessel wrecked off the harbor of Newburyport, a few years since,
may be adduced. On an intensely cold night, when all the men of that
vessel were in danger of freezing to death, the master advised them to
drink no ardent spirits. He told them, if they did, they must surely
freeze. Some took his advice, while others, notwithstanding his most
earnest entreaties, disregarded it. The result was, that of those who
used the spirits, some lost their hands, some their feet, and some
perished; while the rest survived unhurt.

"They are said to be necessary in very _warm weather_. Experience proves
that they increase, instead of lessening the effects of heat upon the
body, and thereby expose it to diseases of all kinds. Even in the warm
climate of the West Indies, Dr. Bell asserts this to be true. Rum, says
this author, whether used habitually, moderately, or in excessive
quantities, always diminishes the strength of the body, and renders man
more susceptible to disease, a