A Solemn Appeal - James White

with difficulty that I walk, or stand, or even sit,
erect. An inclination to lie down and sleep, which
desire I am sensible I have indulged too much--my
sleep never refreshes me--I rise in the morning
weak and weary, to drag out another miserable day.
Oh! how often have I wished for death, or rather
oblivion, or anything to terminate my woes. I have
of late been much annoyed with constant little
twitchings or spasms in various parts of my body,
and frequently my face. Would to God I had
known what I now know when first tempted to this
health, life, and soul-destroying vice. I feel that I
cannot hold out much longer.'
"Behold, in the following auto-biography of a
patient, the mental anguish and derangement this
practice engenders. After saying that he
commenced the practice at about fourteen years of
age, and had kept it up at intervals for many years,
he writes:
" 'During the whole of this time, I have suffered
the most intense and unmitigated misery. Although
blessed by nature with an excellent constitution,
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