is in the rye, and the apple,
and the sugar, and the Mussulman has taught us Christians how to distil
it. And so the poet tells us Satan taught his legions how to make
gunpowder. "There are," said he,

"Deep under ground, materials dark and crude,
Of spirituous and fiery spume.
These, in their dark nativity, the deep
Shall yield us, pregnant with internal flame;
Which, into hollow engines, long and round,
Thick ramm'd, at th' other bore with touch of fire
Dilated and infuriate, shall send forth
From far, with thundering noise, among our foes
Such implements of mischief as shall dash
To pieces and o'erwhelm whatever stands
Adverse.
Th' invention all admired; up they turn'd
Wide the celestial soil; sulphurous and nitrous foam
They found, they mingled; and, with subtle art
Concocted and adjusted, they reduced
To blackest grain."

And now, to carry out the argument, gunpowder, and guns, and swords, are
the gift of God, and men must needs use them, and kill one another as
fast as possible.

But nothing, it is plead, was made in vain. Spirit is good for
something, and to banish it from use, and promise that we will "touch
not, taste not, handle not," is contempt of the works of God. I should
like to have seen what the Pomfret hero would have done with a man who
should have stood before him, and said, Don't you destroy that wolf; God
made it, and it may be good for something.

Next, we are checked in our principle of starvation by a set of
thoughtless youth and presumptuous men, who say there is no danger from
the demon if we keep him low. All his ravages have been occasioned by
his being full fed. Let him sip but little, feed him _prudently_, and he
will do no harm.

"Good," says the demon, growling in his den; "that is all I want. The
doctrine of prudent use is the basis of my kingdom. Temperate drinking
has made all the drunkards in the land, and keep it up in all your towns
and villages, and I shall be satisfied."

O the delusion! Prudent use! What is the testimony of every chemist and
physician in the land? Alcohol is a _poison_.

"Not a bloodvessel," says Dr. Mussey, "however minute, not a thread of
nerve in the whole animal machine escapes its influence. It disturbs the
functions of life; it increases for a time the action of the living
organs, but lessens the power of that action; hence the deep depression
and collapse which follow preternatu