Social Problems And Their Peaceful Solution.

who also , we find , together with other insp ired writers , speaks of it as affording life-g iving eke erf ' nlness and mirth ; nay more , we find our great Teacher not onl y using it Himself , but even creating it miraculously for His servants' enjoyment . What we find so strongly condemned is its

excessive use , which then , as now , brought a mau to misery and sorrow . Were we required to abolish the use of alcohol , we doubt not that it could be done in time , almost , if not quite completely , by forbidding its use by the young , and for

this reason : one of the essential constituents of the body of a man , and even of his blood , is . alcohol ; now it has been found that the human economy will produce as much of this substance as is normally required from other articles of food of itself ;

hence , if the young are not taught to supply it _ directly to the system , the system will , in healthy subjects , supply its own want . Alcohol , once more , is a necessary constituent of the body , because it is a heat-giverand heat is a necessity of

, the animal functions ; but the young are hot-blooded , hence alcohol is , as a rule , utterly unnecessary for them . Possibly as a man advances in years it may become necessary to administer a heatgiving stimulant to the flagging functions

of the body by administering alcohol more or less directly . Well then , administer it , but remember that it is in this way reduced to the level of a medicine the

administration of which is best left to the medical adviser . Hence , we may see that in the majority of cases alcohol is not a necessary of life . Still , in many cases , it cannot be contradicted that , judiciously partaken of , it assumes the character of food ; for we cannot deny that the man who takes a

glass of beer with his meal will consume less solid food , and yet be as well fitted for his work as the total abstainer . Nor must we slur over the third aspect of the question , that alcohol taken in moderation is to many a means of enjoyment , and whilst

we find even this use of it to be in accordance with God ' s revealed word , and whilst we reflect that it is a gift of the Almighty Architect Himself , we cannot , with reason , condemn its moderate use even in this respect . t rom these considerations , then , wo can only come to the conclusion that

Temperance means moderate use , and that it is abuse that we must do battle with and overcome . That there are persons who should forbid themselves , or be forbidden by others , any use of the stimulant , we do not for a moment deny ; such cases , for instanceas where the use of alcohol in

, any shape is incompatible with health ; or , where men , whether by any bodily or mental predisposition to excess , or by an insatiable craving for strong drink induced by their own intemperate habits , which habits of excess have induced a

state of the blood called alcoholization , shonld never partake of such stimulants at all . These extreme cases having been briefly disposed of by the application of total abstinence , we now propose to consider iu what way or ways the immoderate

use of alcoholic liquor can be restrained ; for it is altogether absurd to attempt to deny to sane and sober men that which is to them a positive nourishment and enjoyment . Now , " what is one man ' s meat is another man ' s poison , " is a proverb so old , and so universally unquestioned , that it passes as a truism ; equally true is its

converse ; and , if true with respect to things in general , it is no less true with this one thing in particular that we are now considering—alcohol . There can be no doubt , as we have just seen , that used in moderation alcohol is more or less beneficial to many

constitutions , but here and there we find one to which it is absolute poison : to such an one we would say , as we should of other poisons , by all means avoid its use , but avoid also bigotry , and let those to whom nature has g iven a capacity for its employmentenjoy

, it . There are certain constitutions to which various kinds of meat , vegetables , and fruits are altogether unsuitable ; nay so liable are the bodily functions to change that what , at one time , will do the greatest possible good , will , at another , do the very

same person the greatest possible harm ; should then all such things be forbidden to all alike ? If they were we may rest assured that we should soon all go altogether foodless and drinkless . Nay , even light and air would have to be included in the same category , unsuited as they are to all persons at all times . On the other hand , iu certain cases the most deleterious