stake, a glass too much may obscure his clear intellect and make him
the instrument of loss or disaster? I pursued the subject, and as I
did so was led to this conclusion--that society really suffers more,
from what is called moderate drinking than it does from out-and-out
drunkenness."

"Few will agree with you in that conclusion," returned Doctor
Hillhouse.

"On the contrary," replied Mr. Carlton, "I think that most people,
after looking at the subject from the right standpoint, will see it
as I do."

"Men who take a glass of wine at dinner and drink with a friend
occasionally," remarked Doctor Hillhouse are not given to idleness,
waste of property and abuse and neglect of their families, as we
find to be the case with common drunkards. They don't fill our
prisons and almshouses. Their wives and children do not go to swell
the great army of beggars, paupers and criminals. I fear, my friend,
that you are looking through the wrong end of your glass."

"No; my glass is all right. The number of drunken men and women in
the land is small compared to the number who drink moderately, and
very few of them are to be found in places of trust or
responsibility. As soon as a man is known to be a drunkard society
puts a mark on him and sets him aside. If he is a physician, health
and life are no longer entrusted to his care; if a lawyer, no man
will give an important case into his hands. A ship-owner will not
trust him with his vessel, though a more skilled navigator cannot be
found; and he may be the best engineer in the land, yet will no