ed.
Laws have been passed in nearly all the nations of the world upon
the subject, and these laws, so far as I can see, have done but
little, if any, good.

And the same old question is upon us now: What shall be done with
the victims of drink? There have been probably many instances in
which men have signed the pledge and have reformed. I do not say
that it is not possible to reform many men, in certain stages, by
moral suasion. Possibly, many men can be reformed in certain
stages, by law; but the per cent. is so small that, in spite of
that per cent., the average increases. For these reasons, I have
lost confidence in legislation and in moral suasion. I do not say
what legislation may do by way of prevention, or what moral suasion
may do in the same direction, but I do say that after man have
become the victims of alcohol, advice and law seem to have lost
their force.

I believe that science is to become the savior of mankind. In
other words, every appetite, every excess, has a physical basis,
and if we only knew enough of the human system--of the tides and
currents of thought and will and wish--enough of the storms of
passion--if we only knew how the brain acts and operates--if we
only knew the relation between blood and thought, between thought
and act--if we only knew the conditions of conduct, then we could,
through science, control the passions of the human race.

When I first heard of the cure of inebriety through scientific
means, I felt that the morning star had risen in the east--I felt
that at last we were finding solid ground. I did not accept--being
of a skeptical turn of mind--all that I heard as true. I preferred
to hope, and wait. I have waited, until I have seen men, the
victims of alcohol, in the very gutter of disgrace and despair,
lifted from the mire, rescued from the famine of desire, from the
grasp of appetite. I have seen them suddenly become men--masters
and monarchs of themselves.

MIRACLES, THEOSOPHY AND SPIRITUALISM.

_Question_. Do you believe that there is such a thing as a miracle,
or that there has ever been?

_Answer_. Mr. Locke was in the habit of saying: "Define your
terms." So the first question is, What is a miracle? If it is
something wonderful, unusual, inexplicable, then there have been
many miracles. If you mean simply that which is inexplicable, then
the world is filled with miracles; but if you mean by a miracle,
something contrary to the facts in