The bases of the temperance reform: an exposition and appeal./ With replies to numerous objections. By Rev. Dawson Burns.

86 Food Dotstro yal iZt Produclction of;tronig Driik.
field should be as abundant as the wants of man-enough
for his "service" and " gladness "-so richly does he
"bless the springing thereof." It is his will that what is
so supplied should be applied to its intended purpose —
not hoarded for gain, and not wasted by neglect or of
evil design. It is his will that the means of nourishment,
and health, and life, thus beneficently furnished, should
not be changed into the means of impoverishment, disease, and death. If there be aught plain, beyond denial or
doubt, in regard to the Divine will, these things are plain.
Hoqu, tiheit, does tlhe ainnual afirobrzatz'ou of sirty nZil//lzi
bushels of g-rain (not to speak of millions of bushels of fruit) in
the nianufacture of iztoxicatizng ti.uors, co,iort zzit'lh these
expiressions of the Creator's good ileasure? The leading
object of that manufacture is to produce an alcoholic
beverage of some kind, which, when produced, bears the
faintest resemblance to the substance employed in its
production; the nutritious properties almost wholly disappear, and the saccharine element is converted, as far as
possible, into a gas (carbonic acid) which it is poisonous
to breathe, and a liquid (alcohol) that, but for the water
blended with it, would destroy the vital organs with
which it is brought into contact. Here, then, we have a
triple violation of the Divine will. First- Thle sulbfly of
food is rendered less abundant tlhan it mnight be. Distilling
and brewing abstract from the world's store of alimentary
sustenance a considerable portion of what Providence
bestows. The 60,ooo,ooo bushels yearly thus consumned
in the British Isles alone are lost to our food-reserves;
and, though Russian or American markets pour in new
supplies to make good this deficiency, the corn we destroy
is not, and cannot be, restored to us; the world is so much
the poorer in solid sustenance, and the price of food is
raised to us by the additional cost of freightage and importers' profits. Wealth, the most wonderful of all
wealth, the wealth of grain-in more senses than one
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