"
At a later stage the muscular power is paralyzed, the rule of mind over
body suspended, and a heavy, brutal sleep comes, long or short according
to the amount taken. This is the extreme of alcoholism, and death the only
ending to it, as a habitual condition. Alcohol seems a necessary evil; for
that its occasional beneficence can modify or neutralize the long list of
woe and crime and brutality following in its train, is more than doubtful.
"Whatever good can come from alcohol, or whatever evil, is all included in
that primary physiological and luxurious action of the agent upon the
nervous supply of the circulation.... If it be really a luxury for the
heart to be lifted up by alcohol, for the blood to course more swiftly
through the brain, for the thoughts to flow more vehemently, for words to
come more fluently, for emotions to rise ecstatically, and for life to
rush on beyond the pace set by nature; then those who enjoy the luxury
must enjoy it--with the consequences."
And now, at the end of our talks together, friends, there is yet another
word. Much must remain unsaid in these narrow limits; but they are wide
enough, I hope, to have given the key by which you may find easy entrance
to the mysteries we all may know, indeed must, if our lives are truly
lived.
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