I thought I stood by a great river of melted lava, and while I was
wondering from what mountain or vast abyss it came, suddenly the field
of my vision was extended to the distance of several hundred miles, and
I perceived that, instead of springing from a single source, this
rolling torrent of fire was fed by numerous tributary streams, and these
again by smaller rivulets. And what do you think I heard and beheld, as
I stood petrified with astonishment and horror? There were hundreds of
poor wretches struggling and just sinking in the merciless flood. As I
contemplated the scene still more attentively, the confused noise of
boisterous and profane merriment, mingled with loud shrieks of despair,
saluted my ears. The hair of my head stood up--and looking this way and
that way, I beheld crowds of men, women, and children, thronging down to
the very margin of the river--some eagerly bowing down to slake their
thirst with the consuming liquid, and others convulsively striving to
hold them back. Some I saw actually pushing their neighbors headlong
from the treacherous bank, and others encouraging them to plunge in, by
holding up the fiery temptation to their view. To insure a sufficient
depth of the river, so that destruction might be made doubly sure, I saw
a great number of men, and some whom I knew to be members of the church,
laboriously turning their respective contributions of the glowing and
hissing liquid into the main channel. This was more than I could bear. I
was in perfect torture. But when I expostulated with those who were
nearest to the place where I stood, they coolly answered, _This is the
way in which we get our living!_

But what shocked me more than all the rest, and curdled every drop of
blood in my veins, was the sight which I had of this very distillery
pouring out its tributary stream of fire! And O, it distracts, it
maddens me to think of it. There you yourself stood feeding the torrent
which had already swallowed up some of your own family, and threatened
every moment to sweep you away! This last circumstance brought me from
the bed, by one convulsive bound, into the middle of the room; and I
awoke in an agony which I verily believe I could not have sustained for
another moment.

DISTILLER. I will feed the torrent no longer. The fires of my distillery
shall be put out. From this day, from this hour, I renounce the
manufacture of ardent spirit for ever.

DIALOGUE II.

WHOLESALE DEALER'S COUNTING