unfortunate people who
are in the habit of going there to drink. The symptoms of its bite are
terrible. The eyes of the patient become red and fiery; the tongue
swells to an immoderate size and obstructs utterance, and delirium of
the most horrid character ensues. The name of this reptile is, 'THE WORM
OF THE STILL.'" I suspect it is one of the same family which is
infesting the peaceful villages of New England, and whose ravages have
alarmed the country, and caused you this day to leave your homes and
seek its destruction. I would not here inquire minutely into its
history. It is said to have originated in Arabia, the country of the
false prophet. The aborigines of our forests never knew it. They could
proudly tread on the rattlesnake and copperhead, but never fell before
the worm of the still. O woful day when it found its way to our coasts;
when here it first generated its offspring.

Yet there are men who think we belie it; who say that we are needlessly
alarmed; that we are hunting a friend; that we are driving one from our
country without whose aid we can never check the ravages of disease, or
perform our labor, or have any hilarity. It is not, say they, a
poisonous foe. It is a pleasant cordial; a cheerful restorative; the
first friend of the infant; the support of the enfeebled mother; a sweet
luxury, given by the parent to the child; the universal token of
kindness, friendship, and hospitality. It adorns the sideboards and
tables of the rich, and enlivens the social circles of the poor; goes
with the laborer as his most cheering companion; accompanies the mariner
in his long and dreary voyage; enlivens the carpenter, the mason, the
blacksmith, the joiner, as they ply their trade; follows the merchant to
his counter, the physician to his infected rooms, the lawyer to his
office, and the divine to his study, cheering all and comforting all. It
is the life of our trainings, and town-meetings, and elections, and
bees, and raisings, and harvests, and sleighing-parties. It is the best
domestic medicine, good for a cold and a cough, for pain in the
stomach, and weakness in the limbs, loss of appetite and rheumatism,
and is a great support in old age. It makes a market for our rye and
apples; sustains 100,000 families who are distilling and vending, and
pours annually millions of dollars into our national treasury. Had the
wolf possessed the cunning of the fox, she would have told Putnam as
smooth a story as this. But