256 THE BEASOS WHY. 



"Out of the same mouth proeeedeth blessing and cursing. My brethren, these 

 things ought not so to be." JJLMES III. 



neglected dwellings. The Month which thirsts for morbid gratification of 

 taste, is more worthless than one which is contented with wholesome viands, 

 and ruled by the proper instincts of its duty. "Who that can understand the 

 wonderful structure of the tongue, and the complicated mechanism cf the 

 organs of speech and of hearing, could be found to take pleasure in the utter- 

 ance of oaths, and of words of vulgar meaning? Were those beautiful cords 

 that like threads of silk are woven into the muscular texture of the mouth, and 

 along which the essence of life travels with the quickness of thought, to do the 

 bidding of the will were they given for no higher use than to sin against the 

 God who gave thn, and upon whose mercy their existence every moment 

 depends? 



The actions of the senses must necessarily affect the mind, which is the head 

 steward of the Soul ; and the Soul becomes rich in goodness, or poor in sin, in 

 proportion as the stewardship, held by his many servants, is rightly or wrong- 

 fully fulfilled. As in an establishment where the servants are not properly 

 directed and ruled, they often gain the ascendancy, and the master has no power 

 over them, so with man, when he gives himself up to sensual indulgences. The 

 Soul becomes the slave of the senses the master is controlled \y the sen-ants. 



"\Tith regard to the mechanism of motion, let us take the case of a man who 

 is walking a crowded thoroughfare, and we shall see how active are all the 

 servants of the Soul, under the influence of the mind. He walks along in a 

 riven direction. But for the act of volition in the mind, not a muscle would 

 stir. The eye is watching his footsteps. There is a stone in his path, the eye 

 informs the mind, the mind communicates with the brain, and the nerves 

 stimulate the muscles of the leg to lift the foot a little higher, or turn it 

 on one side, and the stone is avoided. The eye alights on a familiar face, 

 and the mind remembers that the eye has seen that face before. The man 

 goes on thinking of the circumstance under which he saw that person, and 

 partially forgets bis walk, and the direction of his steps. But the nerves of 

 Tolition and motion unite to keep the muscles up to their work, and he walks 

 on without having occasion to think continually, " I must continue walking." 

 He has not to make an effort to lift his leg along between each interval of medi- 

 tation : he walks and meditates the while. Presently a danger approaches him 

 from behind. The eye sees it not knows no more, in fact, than if it were dead. 

 But the ear sounds the alarm, tells the man, by the rumbling of a wheel, and the 

 tramp of horses' feet, that he is in danger; and then the nerves, putting forth 

 their utmost strength, whip the musclfs up to the quick performance of their 

 duty ; the man steps out of the .ray of danger, and b saved. He draws near to 

 a sewer, which is vomiting forth its poisonous exhalations. The eye is again 

 unconscious it cannot see the poison lurking in the air. The ear, too, is 

 helpless ; it cannot bear witness to the presence of that ent-my to life. But the 

 nosedefrc s the noxious agent, and then the ere points out the direction of 

 the sewer, and guides nis footsteps to a path where he may escape the injurious 

 consequences. A clock strikes, the ear informs him that it is the hour of an 

 %ppoiutment; the nerves stimulate the muscles again, and he is hastened 

 nward. He does not know the residence of his friend, but his tongue a&ks fo- 

 him, and his ear makes known the reply. He reaches the spot sits-rc.-ts. 

 The action of the muscks is stayed ; the nerves are for a time time at rest. Th 

 blood which had flown freely to feed the muscles while they were working 



