ow the good things he is heir to without a
taste of ardent spirits. They are kept on hand, and often given to him
as medicine, especially where the parents are fond of them themselves.
By this practice, even in the cradle, his disrelish for ardent spirits
is done away. He grows up, and during the first months or years of his
existence, his taste and his appetite are formed. As he runs about, and
begins to take notice of passing events, he sees his father and friends
drink; he partakes, and grows fond of them. In most families, ardent
spirits are introduced and used on every extraordinary occasion. Without
mentioning many, that the knowledge and experience of every man can
supply, I will instance only the case of visitors.

A gentleman's friends and acquaintance call on him. He is glad to see
them, and fashion and custom make it necessary for him to invite them to
the sideboard. This is all done in his best style, in his most easy and
affable manner. The best set of drinking-vessels are brought forward,
and make quite a display. The children of the family notice this; they
are delighted with the sight and the exhibition; they are pleased with
the manners, and gratified with the conversation of the visitors on the
occasion. As soon as they go abroad, they associate the idea of drinking
with all that is manly and genteel. They fall into the custom, and
imitate the example that is set them. Circumstances and situations
expose one to more temptations than the rest. Perhaps his resolution, or
his moral principle, is not so strong; and in this way, one out of
twenty-five of those who live to thirty years of age becomes
intemperate. He becomes so, perhaps not from any uncommon predisposition
to the vice, but is at first led on by fashion, and custom, and
favorable circumstances, till at last he plunges headlong into the
vortex of dissipation and ruin. Our natural disrelish for ardent spirits
is first done away--a relish for them is then created. They next become
occasional, next habitual drinks. The habit gains strength, till, at
last, the daily drinker is swept away by the first adverse gale.

It is on this principle, and let the fact operate as a caution to those
who need it, that many men of fair unblemished characters, who have made
a temperate, but habitual use of ardent spirits in days of prosperity,
have, on a change of fortune, become notorious drunkards; while those
who have refrained in prosperity, have encountered al