Of late years, great exertions have been made, both in this country and in America, to warn the public against indulging in the use of ardent spirits; and powerful medical, as well as moral facts and arguments, have been adduced to demonstrate the unspeakably greater advantages of temperance. These efforts have been followed with astonishing success, and the good which has been already effected is immense. It seems to me, however, that much more might be accomplished, if we did not confine ourselves so exclusively to the mere inculcation of abstinence from intoxicating liquors, but concerned ourselves more in improving the general character, as the surest road to reformation, and in providing resources by means of which the reformation, when once effected, might be fully confirmed. The temperance which is produced by elevation of mind, and an improved state of moral feeling, will be not only much more beneficial in its consequences, but infinitely more proof against temptations, than that which is observed merely in fulfilment of a vow; and unless something be made to come in the place of the enjoyment which is withdrawn, the danger of a relapse will continue to be great. The importance of this principle is perhaps not sufficiently recognised in the otherwise valuable labours of Temperance Societies. Many persons imagine that spirits, taken in moderate quantity, cannot be injurious, _because they feel no immediate bad effects from their use_. If the fundamental principle which I have advanced is sound, and if all the functions of the system are already vigorously executed _without_ the aid of spirits, their use can be followed by only one effect--_morbid excitement_; and it is in vain to contend against this obvious truth. The evil attending their unnecessary use may not be _felt_ at the moment, but nevertheless it is there; and for demonstrative proof of the fact, we are again indebted to Dr Beaumont. On examining St Martin’s stomach after he had been indulging freely in ardent spirits for several days, Dr Beaumont found its mucous membrane covered with _erythematic_ (inflammatory) _and aphthous_ (ulcerous) _patches_, the secretions vitiated, and the gastric juice diminished in quantity, viscid, and unhealthy; although St Martin still _complained of nothing_, not even of impaired appetite. Two days later, when the state of matters was aggravated, “_the inner membrane of the stomach was unusually morbid, the erythematic appearance more extensive, the spots more livid than usual; from the surface of some of them exuded small drops of grumous blood; the aphthous patches were larger and more numerous,--the mucous covering thicker than common, and the gastric secretions much more vitiated. The gastric fluids extracted were mixed with a large proportion of thick ropy mucus, and a considerable muco-purulent discharge slightly tinged with blood, resembling the discharge from the bowels in some cases of dysentery_. Notwithstanding this