thout pity, and will mock
his efforts to free himself from this slavery. The victim of strong
drink is one of the most pitiable creatures on earth, he becomes half
beast, or half demon. Oh, the silent, suffering tongues that whisper
"Don't," but the will lies prostrate, and the debauch goes on. What a
mute confession of degradation there is in the very appearance of a
confirmed sot. Behold a man no longer in possession of himself; the
flesh is master; the spiritual nature is sunk in the mire of
sensuality, and the mental faculties are a mere mob of enfeebled powers
under bondage to a bestial or mad tyrant. As Challis says:--

"Once the demon enters,
Stands within the door;
Peace and hope and gladness
Dwell there nevermore."

Many persons are intemperate in their feelings; they are emotionally
prodigal. Passion is intemperance; so is caprice. There is an
intemperance even in melancholy and mirth. The temperate man is not
mastered by his moods; he will not be driven or enticed into excess;
his steadfast will conquers despondency, and is not unbalanced by
transient exhilarations, for ecstasy is as fatal as despair. Temper is
subjected to reason and conscience. How many people excuse themselves
for doing wrong or foolish acts by the plea that they have a quick
temper. But he who is king of himself rules his temper, turning its
very heat and passion into energy that works good instead of evil.
Stephen Girard, when he heard of a clerk with a strong temper, was glad
to employ him. He believed that such persons, taught self-control,
were the best workers. Controlled temper is an element of strength;
wisely regulated, it expends itself as energy in work, just as heat in
an engine is transmuted into force that drives the wheels of industry.
Cromwell, William the Silent, Wordsworth, Faraday, Washington, and
Wellington were men of prodigious tempers, but they were also men whose
self-control was nearly perfect.

George Washington's faculties were so well balanced and combined that
his constitution was tempered evenly with all the elements of activity,
and his mind resembled a well organized commonwealth. His passions,
which had the intensest vigor, owed allegiance to reason; and with all
the fiery quickness of his spirit, his impetuous and massive will was
held in check by consummate judgment. He had in his composition a calm
which was a balance-wheel, and which gave him in moments of highest
excit