water, constitute a plan which every savage, unbewildered by quackish mysteries, knows to be wisest, discreetest, best for securing the blessings of bodily health. But let moderation be known in all things, and despise not the wisdom of Solomon, who tells us that wine has its uses, and strong drink is more suitable than cold slops and wet sheets for a man with a flagging pulse and a sinking heart. A deluge not only renovates, but also destroys; and the Maker of man never designed him to be amphibious, nor to keep his functions in forcible action, like a water-mill under a constant stream, but to enjoy life under a wise use of all that is good, since obedience to divine law allows of no extremes; and temperance implies in mediis tutissimus—an equal danger both from abstinence and excess.

It appears to be pretty clearly ascertained that narcotic poisons are akin to bitters, the latter only containing less carbon. Gentian and quassia, much used by brewers, taken in large quantities, act as narcotics, and the hop so manifestly partakes of the nature of both bitters and narcotics, that it may be classed with either. The Romans used to give something of the sort to those about to be crucified, for the purpose of blunting sensibility. This is referred to by St. Matthew: They gave him vinegar [bad wine] mingled with gall [xohn, some bitter], and when he had tasted, he would not drink. "We commonly observe the effect of beer in the heavy countenance and obtuse understanding and feelings of those who freely use it. Some narcotics, such as opium, act directly on the brain, others on the sympathetic or ganglionic system of nerves, others on the spinal chord, and others, such as tobacco, operate on the nervous system generally. Hence diversified effects on the emotions and intellectual faculties. All those substances which soothe the nerves contain more carbon than hydrogen in their composition; they seem to hinder the blood

from being vitalized properly in the lungs, and Liebig believes that they actually combine with the substance of the brain and nerves, so as to alter their character. Now we can find no difficulty in understanding how the habitual and unnecessary use of such agents must prove injurious, since they produce an unnatural state of the instruments of energy, both as regards body and mind. As St. Augustin says, "How pleasant it is to be without these pleasures!" To forsake them, when accustomed to their action, is to be subject to morbid reaction, to continue them is to disorder every function; therefore, not to use them, except as medicines, is the only safe plan. We see that from the new nature, so to say, induced by habit, it must be extremely difficult for a person confirmed in their abuse to renounce them, a new and strong kind of appetite being created, which to resist is like refusing to yield to hunger or thirst.

Much might be said concerning the use and abuse of tea and coffee; but common sense is beginning again to prevail, and therefore we expect that the numerous nervous disorders due to excessive indulgence in these warm drinks will gradually wear away under a more judicious use of them. Chemistry seems clearly to have proved that the active principles of tea and coffee are precisely similar, and that their elements exist in such combination as, when moderately enjoyed, to favor the mental action of the brain with less risk than under other stimulants; therefore we can discern the wisdom of the Providence which has led to the almost universal employment of these substances in civilized society, and especially among those whose minds are most active. Therefore, let charity and trust in God's goodness command our grateful thoughts, and thus put scandal to flight, when we socially sip from "the cup that cheers, but not inebriates."

CHAPTER XVIII.

THE INFLUENCE OF PHYSICAL AGENTS ON MORAL STATES.

WE habitually distinguish between our moral affections and our intellectual powers, because we discover a difference between right and wrong, true and false. Good and evil relate to affection, truth and falsehood to intelligence. Yet these probably are never practically dissociated, for as intellect is never exerted without some affection being excited, so neither can we enjoy pure reason without enjoying true goodness. Mental operations always influence our moral condition, and either confirm us in error and evil, or tend to restore us to rectitude and happiness. The will must always be at work, and thought be excited, if not directed by desire. Hence wisdom and knowledge, so "far from being one, have ofttimes no connection." The wise man chooses well, he has a right kind of love, and he wishes his mind to expatiate on objects under such associations and motives as God approves; in short, he desires his thoughts, so to speak, to coincide with his Maker's; and therefore the light that is in him, like the sun, diffuses a warm benevolence, brightening what it looks on, and blending earthly things in beauteous harmony while proving its source to be in heaven. But the man of mere knowledge is a shriveled miser, starving his proper affections in vain endeavors to satiate an appetite "that grows by what it feeds on." He accumulates ideas as if

only for the purpose of concealing them. We are made to be moved by desire, to shun or to seek; for will is never dormant, either in thinking or feeling; but we never think to good purpose without improving our affections. The connection between intellect and morality, however, is not sufficiently considered in our education, which, to be correct, must be conducted with especial regard to our physical constitution, as that of sensitive as well as reflective beings. The study and the statistics of insanity and of crime teach us an awful lesson concerning the gigantic evils resulting from ignorant mismanagement of the body in relation to the mind and the moral nature. The contents of the preceding chapter are a sufficient demonstration that mismanagement of the body includes immoral conduct; and indeed it can not be otherwise, since morality means the operation of right motives in controlling the actions of our bodies, and preventing their abuse, by respect for others as well as for ourselves; in short, morality is good manners; not the sweetness of assumed courteousness, covering a bitter heart-that is Satanic villainy; but the embodied habit of good feeling, which constitutes Christian gentleness. Insanity and crime are equally pitiable, and are both to be treated, in a great degree, physically, notwithstanding that both may originate in moral perversity, because, as the mind acts on the body, so does bodily condition and engagement react on the mind. Hence to render the situation agreeable, and to engage the senses and the limbs in such a manner as to divert the thoughts from wrong courses, is the secret of success in the management of pure insanity. Thus the maddest among the inmates of Bedlam are often guided back to happy associations, and even successfully directed to a higher standard of intellect and morality: and thus, too, the other outcasts of society, hardened criminals, may be and are often assisted to attain a noble excellence by

being separated from evil communications for a proper period, and furnished with an appropriate succession of objects and employments to think on and to enjoy. It is, however, proved that discernible material lesion, such as inflammation, softening, hardening, or other alteration in the structure of the brain, is not essential to insanity any more than it is to the impulses which lead to crime; but it is also proved that this malady is experienced almost exclusively by persons whose temperament has been mismanaged; for hereditary transmission, bad education and moral disorder, which are the common causes assigned, all imply that the will has not been directed aright in the use of the body. Of course insanity must be distinguished from the madness consequent on accidental injury, and also from delirium, frenzy, and idiotism, which are manifestly connected either with disordered circulation or defective formation of the brain. This, however, is not the place to enter at large on this subject; the design here is to show that impulsive and insane manifestation of intellect is associated with depravity of will, which invariably arises from the affections being diverted from their proper objects. This is seen very forcibly in that fashionable apology for murder-monomania, an intellectual delusion which those who are most conversant with the subject now suspect to be always consequent on moral dereliction. This we shonld expect, if the axiom be true, that the emotional powers of our minds, together with our affections, are always involved in the use of intellect, and we employ our intellects in keeping with the state of our passions-so that according to the predominant desire will be the direction of our thoughts. This looks exceedingly like a truism, and yet it is very far from being generally acknowledged as a truth. If, however, we look a little closely into the action of physical agents on the brain, we shall discover that the mental excito