"Incidit in Scyllam, qui vult vitare Charybdím ;” "He who is anxious to avoid Charybdis, falls into Scylla :"

or, as it may be very paraphrastically translated by our homely English proverb, "Out of the frying-pan into the fire."

To the

Now, I want to keep out of both the "frying-pan" and the "fire." I am not at all anxious to take up my position with our fanatical friend in the fryingpan, nor yet, with our red-hot enemy on the coals. I desire to throw a little cold water on both. former I would say "My friend, get out of that frying-pan; it will presently become too hot for you. You are zealous, it is true, and I honour you for it: 'It is good to be zealously affected in a good thing;' but I fear your zeal is 'not according to knowledge.' And to our enemy, to him on the coals, I would, with the deepest indignation, thunder-"Beware, beware! Can one go upon hot coals, and his feet not be burnt?' Take heed that you tempt not by your example others to tread the burning path which you yourself are treading, which is leading, and (notwithstanding all the efforts which those who love their God and their brother, are making) will still lead many to that 'fire which never shall be quenched.""

Well, then, it may be asked-"What are you?" I am, I trust, a rational teetotaller. I abstain from all intoxicating drinks as beverages, because I find overwhelming motives for doing so; motives which powerfully press upon me as a being endowed with reason-as one who is a responsible agent.

I shall now proceed to the treatment of our subject, according to its obvious divisions:-1st, the use; 2ndly, the abuse of Total Abstinence. There are many glorious organizations for the physical and spiritual amelioration of man, at work at the present day, for which we "thank GOD and take courage;" but there is none, I believe, which has done, and is doing so

much good, as the one which we are now advocating. It is admitted readily, even by our most obdurate opponents, that drunkenness is a terrible evil; nay, further, that it is "the queen of vices." In very truth, they are compelled to this admission. When was it, thou wretched culprit, who art about to be delivered up to the tender mercies of a Calcraft,— when was it that thy hand was imbrued in a brother's blood? Was it not when the demon alcohol had maddened thy brain, and nerved thy hand for the hellish blow? When was it, thou poor pitiable outcast, wrapped in tawdry finery which thou hast purchased with the "wages of iniquity," when was it that thou didst first stray from the flowery ways of purity and virtue, into the pestilential bypaths of that shameless sin of which thou hast become the slave? Ah! was it not when he, who professed to love you, proffered the fatal glass which deprived you of your self-control-one of the noblest attributes of our nature-seduced you, and then flung you off for ever? Young woman! no mock modesty shall prevent me from speaking to you a word of exhortation, though it may be considered out of season, and a digression. Flee from the man who would offer you the intoxicating glass, as you would from a serpent. He means not well; his intentions are evil, depend upon it. I speak not unadvisedly. Many many are the sad instances which we meet with, in which alcohol was the chief instrument in seduction. Join our society at once, and you will never regret it. Your honour is never safe (congregated as the sexes are in these manufacturing districts) unless your modesty, the sentinel of your virtue, be ever perfectly sober at her post.

When was it that the young man first addicted himself to the shameless arts of the libertine? When was it that he sowed the seeds of death in his frame? Answer, ye pale shades, who rise from the graves of those who were once the companions of my child

hol, and many of whom were afterwards fellowstulents in academie halls; confront the grisly fiend alcohol, and tell him that it was his poisoned chalice which first caused you to stray from the paths of wisdom, and brought you to an untimely and dishonoured tomb. Truly may it be said, alcohol is the idol of the United Kingdom; an idol before which more victims are crushed than beneath the car of Juggernaut; whose annual holocausts may be reckoned by tens of thousands; and to which the designation the "Antichrist of England" may be aptly applied, inasmuch as it "opposeth and exalteth itself against everything that is called GOD, or that is worshipped."

Well, I suppose we shall not find any one to start up to defend alcohol against the many counts of the dark indictment which we bring against him. I suppose it will not be denied that the monster empties the Church and the Sunday-School, the cottage lecture and the Bible-class. It will not be denied that he is the great antagonist of the clergyman, of the Scripture-reader, and of the city missionary: that he is the corrupter of our youth, and the grand cause of domestic misery: that he is the prolific source of lunacy and suicide: that he is the great Sabbathbreaker and blasphemer: in a word, that he is in himself the pestilent origination of more than half the misery of the world.

We have no difficulty in getting a verdict of "guilty" returned on every count of the indictment. But, when we indignantly request that sentence, proportioned to the enormity of his offences, should be passed upon this gigantic criminal, we find no black cap forthcoming. "Alcohol," says the judge, "it is true that very grievous things have been proved against you. It was only last night, that instigated, aided, and abetted by you, the husband, on his return home, assaulted his poor wife, and deprived her and her unborn babe of life: on yesternight you nerved

the arm of the assassin and the suicide, and pushed that forlorn girl from the bridge into the deep dark river. Indeed, it were impossible to sum up the varied charges which have been satisfactorily witnessed against you: still, if you commit crime only moderately, if you murder only one man out of every twenty, if you make only one man mad out of every thirty or forty, if you ruin only one woman out of every fifty or sixty,-we shall forbear punishing you. Jailer, let that man out of the dock. Mr. Alcohol, I shall still receive you into my house: you shall occupy your usual place at my table to-day." O my Christian friends! is it not thus the anti-teetotallers act? They acknowledge-facts, those conclusive things, compel them to acknowledge-that drunkenness is our great bane; that we are styled by the heathen "the drunken nation:" and yet, they will not adopt a safe and a legitimate method of checking this national disgrace.

Now, what is our mode of procedure? Having satisfied ourselves as to the truthfulness of the abovementioned allegations, we resolve to "touch not, taste not, handle not." Surely, this is a perfectly lawful and simple course. The use of intoxicating liquor is at most indifferent: GOD does not command it, nor does He forbid abstinence. We have seen that many who have cherished this viper in their bosoms, have been stung to death by it; whilst others, though escaping with life, have suffered irretrievable injury. We, therefore, determine to fling away this viper. We will not let it come near us or our's. We try to persuade others to follow our example: and, through the blessing of GOD upon the labours of the "United Kingdom Alliance," we shall soon crush this hydra-headed monster for ever. But, we have subtle and wily antagonists to deal with; interested opponents, men, who have not duly weighed their responsibilities as probationers in this transitory world; men, whose faculties are so obfuscated by the

copious libations which they hourly pour forth to their idol, that they cannot find it in their hearts to pluck him from his throne. But there is another class of anti-teetotallers who, I believe, conscien tiously oppose our movement, and whom we must therefore, respect, whilst we regret that they cannot see eye to eye with us, on this vitally-important question.

Let us, then, before enlarging on the use of which Total Abstinence has been to the community, first clear away the objections which are constantly hurled against us through the public press, and in private society and these may be divided into medical and theological. Now, the gauntlet thrown at our feet by the medical man, has been cheerfully taken up by the members of that profession who have ranged themselves under our banner. On this subject, as on many others, "doctors differ," and who is to decide between them? Some eminent medical men tell us, that the habitual use of alcohol, as a beverage, is decidedly pernicious to both body and mind. Others, equally eminent, assert that when taken moderately (we shall have somewhat to say on that point presently), it is beneficial to both. Well, it is hard for us non-medicals to come to a conclusion on the matter. Now, I appear between these disputants, and I say, loud enough to be heard above the din of contention-"Gentlemen, my only object is truth. I want to be on the safe side. Alcohol is the subject of discussion: what is alcohol?" Now I apprehend that I shall have a unanimous reply. Both parties will, I dare say, be willing to adopt Dr. Christison's definition. I believe he is considered one of the best chemical authorities by the medical profession. He says "The sedative action of alcohol on the brain, constitutes it a powerful narcotic poison. For its effects as such, if rapidly brought on by a large dose, there is no antidote known; the only efficacious treatment consisting of speedy evacuation of the