enough, but the slavery about which
I talk to you is a slavery not only of the body, but of the soul, and of
the spirit; a slavery not only for this life, but a slavery that goes
beyond the gates of the tomb, and reaches out into an infinite eternity.
The slavery of intoxication, unlike human slavery, is confined to no
particular section, climate, or society; for it wars on all mankind. It has
for its home this whole world. It has the flesh for its mother and the
devil for its father. It stands out a headless, heartless, eyeless,
earless, soulless monster of gigantic and fabulous proportions."

As a _very few_ persons have said my labors in the cause of Temperance were
not, and are not, productive of good, I will give just very short extracts
from a number of letters which I have received from persons who ought to
know:

FRANKFORT, IND., October 18, 1875.

LUTHER BENSON, ESQ.--_My Dear Sir_--Yours of the 14th is before me
for answer, and, although very busily engaged in court, I can not
refrain from answering at some length. First, I will say, "I have
kept the faith." Though "the fight" is not yet over, my
emancipation from the terrible thralldom is measurably complete.
Occasional twinges of appetite yet admonish me to maintain my
vigilance. It was while struggling with one of these that your
letter came like a messenger from heaven to encourage and
strengthen me. Not a day passes but that I think of you, and to
your wise counsel and affectionate admonition, under Providence, I
owe my beginning and continuance in this well-doing. * * * May the
Lord spare you to "open the lips of truth" to those who, like
myself, will perish without a revelation of their danger. With high
esteem and sincere affection, I am, ever your friend, ----

SALEM, MASS., October 29, 1875.

BRO. BENSON--I write you these few lines to cheer your heart, and
assure you that your labor in Salem has not been in vain in the
Lord's cause (the Temperance Reform). Our friend and brother, ----,
from Beverly, was over at our meeting on Wednesday evening last,
and it would do your heart good to see the change in him. He will
never forget Luther Benson, for it was your first speech in Salem
that saved him. ----

I desire now to come down to the very near present, as some claim that my
late _afflictions_ and sore misfortunes have extinguished my capacity