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Les diagrammes suivants illustrant ia mAthode. rrata o Delure, 1 A □ 32X 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 y,i i< jji. > hlt^ i , I rf> A 4 . s III 1' THOUGHTS ON- PROHIBITION AND THE TOTAL ABSTINENCE PLEDGE, BY REV. D. B. CAMERON, ACTON. PRICE, 10 CENTS. TORONTO : James Bain & Son, i88i. W-x • Jj ■J.W I I .-= 39= THOUGHTS ll*" ON w PEOHIBITIO:^^ AND THE TOTAL ABSTINENCE PLEDGE, BY REV. D. B. CAMERON, ACTON. .1- t I N TORONTO : James Bain & Son, 1881. • / /OM-ti, > iy w^ IKTEODUOTIOJS". f ,4" ■'■ » As some of the so-called temperance party regard rae as opposed to the suppression of drunkenness because I did not aid the recent movement in the county of Halton in support of "the Canada Temperance Act," I feel myself under the necessity of placing ray views before the public. While the contest was in progress, mutterings of dissatisfac- tion with my position on the subject came to my ears. I was warned of serious results if I did not show some favour to the views advocated by prohibitionists, nor was the cau- tion altogether an empty threat, for a respectable member of my session, and some two or three of his friends have not attended church since the vote was taken on the Scott Act. It is but justice to say of these friends, that they are regard- ed as worthy Christian people, and that, though carried away so far by the sophistries of extreme abstainers, I look upon them as worthy people still. Though their present alienation and withdrawal from fellowship with their brethren in the public worship of God are painful, yet I hope that on mature consideration, Christian love will prevail. For the sake of these respected brethren, and others, that may be similarly tempted to schism, I publish my views on temper- ance, so that they may see that my position can be support- ed by some reasonable considerations, and that the prin- ciples advocated by prohibitionists may not be so sound as supposed, nor the total abstinence pledge altogether agree- able to the word of God. A few days before the vote on " the Scott Act" was taken, I received a letter from one who said that he was a re- formed drunkard, and I was therein warned of the remorse I would endure on some future day unless I would change my / course with reference to the prohibition movement, and it also insinuated that I liked strong drink. Well, it is slightly annoying to be lectured on the subject by an old drunkard, though reformed, particularly, when there is no satisfactory evidence that his old lust is at all mortified. Unless spiritually renewed he is as much a drunkard now as ever he was before, and if he die unpardoned, he shall receive the drunkard's doom. It is simply insolence in such persons to condemn the conduct of sober men who live in the fear of God, who have virtually been abstainers for many years, and who, from their own experience, do not kno\> what a crav- ing for strong drink means. Though, in common with many others who view this sub- ject much as I do, I had been indisposed to oppose in a public manner the unscriptural principles of extreme abstain- ers and prohibitionists, I feel that the time is now come when further silence would be a cowardly shrinking from duty. The more I examine the subject, the more I am convinced of the unsoundness and tyrannous character of prohibition, and of the unscripturalness of the total abstinence pledge. Notwithstanding the confidence with which the advocates of the latter were wont to predict that thereby " King Alcohol " would be banished from the land, it has signally failed, and so will prohibition be yet found ineffective. 1' J THE HISTORY OF THE TEMPERANCE MOVEMENT. In the beginning of this century drunkenness prevailed to so alarming an extent in the United States, that it was feared the people would become a nation of drunkards. At that time the country was rapidly filling up with immigrants from Europe consisting largely of restless spirits who, finding themselves free from old world restraints, yielded to their evil propensities, and the Protestant Churches were not able to keep pace with the settlement of the land with a sufficient supply of gospel ordinances. The settlers, destitute of the sanctifying and elevating influences of the word of God, and the wise admonitions of Christian ministers, indulged in excesses, particularly drunkenness and accompanying vices. Some earnest people thought that the most effectual remedy for the evil was total abstinence from intoxicating drink. In 1808 a number of men holding that view formed themselves into a society at Moreau, county of Saratoga, in the State of New York. One of the rules of this society was as follows ; ",No member shall drink rum, gin, whiskey, wine, or any distilled liquors, or compositions of the same, or any of them, except by the advice of a physician, or in case of actual disease, (also excepting at public dinners), under the penalty of 25 cents, provided that this article shall not infringe on any religious rite." The society had other rules prohibiting members under penalties from offiering any of the above liquors. It continued for fourteen years, but did not acccomplish much good. Gradually ministers of the gospel and other philanthoropists moved in the same direc- tion and a society was formed in Boston in 1826, called "The American Temperance Society," to prevent the exces- I / l.\ sive use of intoxicating liquors. In 1829 "The New York Temperance Society" was started, and before the close of the same year 1,000 local societies sprung up with 100.000 members. Rumours of this movement soon reached Britain and Ireland, and in August 01 the same year a society was organized in the latter country, at New Ross, in the county of Wexford, the members of which pledged themselves " to abstain from the use of distilled spirits, except as medicine in the case of bodily ailment, and neither to allow the use of them in their families, nor to provide them for the entertain- ment of friends." About the same time a similar movement was begun in Belfast, by the Presbyterian ministers of the town, the Rev .Dr. Edgar, Rev. Dr. Cooke, and Rev. Mr. Morgan, and before the expiry of 1 2 months 60 societies were organized, with 3,500 members. A similar society was formed in Greenock, Scotland, by Mr. John Dunlop, a justice of the peace for Renfrewshire, who lectured on the subject in Glasgow, Stirling, and other places. In November of that year "The Glasgow and West of Scotland Society" was formed, with a pledge substantially the same as those of the Irish and American .societies. In 1830 its membership in Glasgow alone amounted to 5,072, and throughout Scot- land there were 130 societies, and 25,478 members. In the same year the movement extended to England, and a society was organized at Bradford, another at Warrington, a third at Manchester, and by the close of the year 30 societies were in existence in England, with 10,000 mem- bers. The growth of the movement was rapid, and pro- mised a complete revolution in the habits of the people with regard to the use of spirituous liquors, but its most ardent promoters soon discovered its inefficiency, and vir- tually confessed the same by taking a new departure by forming, and recommending a pledge of total abstinence both from distilled and fermented liquors. The first society with the extended pledge was formed at Preston, in Lan- cashire, and received the well-known name, Teetotal^ from pne Richard Turner, a plasterer's labourer, who often held forth at temperance meetings. In a speech wherein he re- i I % •i . ^ J{> 4 V 7 ferred to the inadequacy of the old pledge, he said in the Lancashire dialect, " I'll hev nowt to do with this modera- tion — botheration — pledge ; I'll be reet down tee-tee-total for ever and ever." '1 iiis extension of the pledge was agreed to, and met with little or no opposition except from Dr. Edgar, of Belfast, who, convinced that it was wrong to for- bid the sober use of fermen»^ed liquor, seeing God created alcohol, and approved of the moderate use of wine, urged a few unanswerable objections to total abstinence. I> THE FACTS ON WHICH DR. EDGAR HASED HIS OBJECTIONS. " I. Fermented liquor, and therefore intoxicating, was used as a customary beverage among the Jews, by the righteous and by the wicked. " 2. Fermented liquor, for customary use, was esteemed by the holiest men a special blessing. " 3. Fermented liquor was commanded by God to be offered to Him in religious service. " 4. Though God, in peculiar circumstances, commanded certain persons to abstain, not from fermented liquors merely, but from every thing which the vine produces, yet the use of fermented liquor as an article of diet and refresh- ment had his full approbation and sanction. " 5. Jesus Christ, when on eaith. Himself used fermented liquor, and created it for the use of others. " 6. Jesus appointed fermented liquor to be drunk in the Eucharist, as a suitable emblem of His atoning blood. " 7. Though prophets and apostles, and Christ Himself, were fully aware of the enormous and multiplied evils aris- ing out of excess in the use of fermented liquor, yet none of them ever pronounced the use of it sinful, or proposed its utter extermination as the means of preventing or curing drunkenness, but on the contrary, they drew a clearly-de- fined line of distinction between the lawful use of such liquor and guilty excess. Their denunciations were hurled • ^ \ 8 agains^, drunkenness, arising from the abuse of that which might be lawfully used. " 8. But notwithstanding all this it is also the doctrine of Scripture, not only th:it there is nothing wrong in abstain- ing, on proper principles, from fermented liquor as an or- dinary beverage, but that circumstances may arise when, in the exercise of Christian charity, and in obedience to expediency, such abstinence may be commendable and right." — British and Foreign Evangelical Review^ vol. xxv. p. 50- Of the above statements the Rev. Dr. Watts, of Belfast, in his admirable criticism on "the Temperance Bible Commentary," says : " The accuracy of the foregoing is be- yond intelligent challenge. It is borne out, not only by what our English Bible teaches, but by the testimony of the Hebrew and Greek originals, as attested by the ripest scholarship of Christendom, and shall abide as a fair state- ment of the teaching of the Word of God respecting intoxi- cating liquor." Of this view of Dr. Watts, the Rev. Dr. Kennedy, of Dingwell, Scotland, writes, " If any one is dis- posed to challenge the correctness of this opinion, let him read, and if he is disposed to argue against it let him at- tempt to reply to the review of ' The Temperance Bible Commentary,' in \hQ British and Foreign Evangelical Revieiu of January, 1876." To the foregoing summary of incontrovertible facts, Dr. Edgar added : " These truths commended themselves to unanimous approval till three or four years since, when a few persons dissatisfied with the sound principles of tem- perance societies, or ignorant of them, imagined that they had found the grand reformer of the world in the convinc- ing argument, that if no roan drinks, no man will become drunken ; and that, therefore, no man should drink I To add strength to this noble efifort of reason, they make an- other grand discovery — ^That as alcohol is poison, therefore it is immoral to use anything which contains it, no matter how diluted or modified. In the midst of their triumph, on account of these immortalising discoveries, the Spirit of nI "c .%' .W SEE •^ 1 ^ Inspiration met them, and held up right before them the open pages of Eternal Truth. What could they do ? They had made the discovery that any use of intoxicating liquor is a sin against our physical nature, an injury to our cor- poreal and mental constitution, and therefore it is impossi- ble that such a poison can receive any countenance from a revelation coming from God. Well, but in spite of them the revelation which all Christendom acknowledges to have come from God, does give it countenance — most favourable coun- tenance. What could be done ? All stood aghast, till at length one or two linguists among them said, " Let us look at the original" — remembering that our version was made in an ignorant age, and in as far as it is the work of inspired men, it has no authority. That they should consult the original I most heartily agree; but I most unequivocally condemn their consulting either the original or a transla- tion to put the Truth of God to the torture, for the purpose of forcing it to speak what pleases them. This is the quin- tessence of infidelity — proud infidelity, which raises up its own empty castle of impiety and falsehood, and then re- fuses to receive a revelation which would lay that castle in ruin. To rebuke and counteract, as far as in me lies, that proud infidel spirit which would compel the Bible to sup- port falsehood, or be silent, I come before you now, as well as to give a warning of the error which, from the platform and the press, is now in circulation ; and to maintain the temperance reformation on the Scriptural basis, on which alone it can stand, and where alone it can prosper. So long as it continues to promote its great object by Scrip- tural means it must prosper — God has said it ; but if ever it should attempt to succeed by anti-scriptural means, from that moment its doom is sealed, and instead of being nur- tured and extended by a kind Providence, it will be swept from the earth with the besom of destruction." — British and Foreign Evangelical Review ^ vol. xxv. p. 50-1. These-are the views of a learned and godly minister of Christ, who was an earnest promoter of temperance on Scriptural principles, and who believed it wise to abstain 10 from all distilled liquors as a beverage, and in that I heartily concur with him, except that, on careful consideration of the subject, I am convinced that the pledge is unscriptural and a snare ; but of that further on, meantime we must consider THE ARGUMENTS OF EXTREME ABSTAINERS AND PROHIBI- TIONISTS. Men of sound common sense in other matters seem to lose their heads when they advocate abstinence and prohi- bition. Of the drunkard they speak as the victim of strong drink rather than a guilty sinner who is a criminal at the bar of God, and who should be treated as such by men. He is represented as ill-used by hotel keepers, and in- jured most of all by moderate drinkers, when, in truth, he is what he is by his own wicked acts. By gratifying the cravings of the flesh, he degrades himself, forgets his res- ponsibilities and destiny, and dishonours God. Though originally created in the image of God, he has transformed (himself into a vile combination of brute and fiend, so that he cannot exercise his reason and conscience as a man. As long as his cherished lusts rule in his heart he cannot draw near to God with liberty and confidence. In a word, he has unfitted himself for the discharge of every social and religious duty. Drunkenness is a heinous sin, and if its guilt is not pardoned, and the lust not mortified, it has the tremendous power of excluding the drunkard from the Kingdom of God for ever. Instead then of coddling him as prohibitionists do, by representing him, in inflated orations on temperance platforms, as the unfortunate victim of the liquor trafliic and the drinking customs of society, he should be told that he has made himself what he is become by wickedly indulging an appetite which he has cherished until it has become his master. When we have told him so much our duty towards kim is not yet fulfilled; we must direct him for deliverance from his guilt and slavery, not to » it* * fi J' A ♦ iV* ri •<« ■ i»FL|iii ^nV^^^^y^i^ «*iJ*P*«l|r" II '•^ a» f ry* «( ^ il'« •'^ /'^ the abstinence pledge, but to Christ, who graciously invites him and all sinners to receive repentance, pardon, and sanctification. About thirty years ago I induced a noto- rious drunkard to sign the pledge, and he kept it faithfully about ten years ; but last summer when on a visit to my native land, I enquired about him, and was told to my mortification that after so many years of a life of sobriety and comfort, he- died a drunkard. I felt the more grieved that it forcibly came home to my mind that I misdirected, and so deceived him by encouraging him to trust in his own honour in keeping the pledge instead of urging him to trust in Christ. This sad mistake of mine I shall not for- get while I live, and by it let zealous abstainers be warned of the danger of recommending the pledge instead of Jesus Christ. Abstainers often say that the dn-'kard is power- less to reform himself, and this he readily believes, and jus- tifies himself thereby. Until lately the pledge was the great sovereign remedy, nor was it observed that, if the drunkard would keep it, it was not true that he had iiO power to keep sober, for if he really kept the pledge, it was by the exercise of manly resolution, but when a man does not become the subject of grace, resolution however determined is too fee- ble to withstand the solicitations of an old lust. Of late it seems the views of abstainers on the value of the pledge have undergone a change, for within the last twenty years they have begun to advocate the prohibition of the liquor traffic by statute. This is a tacit admission of the ineffi- ciency of the pledge, and of the various Associations where- by it was adopted, and who often in heroic raptures at great " temperance demonstrations" declared that by it " King Alcohol" would be banished from the land. In spite, how- ever, of these mighty boastings " King Alcohol" yet rules with too much power. I lately heard a temperance orator say that 60,000 drunkards die annually in Britain, and as many in the United States. I distinctly remember hearing the same statement made forty years ago, and I have been accustomed to hear it often since, but what is astonishing, is, that the number has continued to be excictlv the same 12 during those forty years or more. It is clearly a supposi- tion, and these men in their burning zeal get their brains into such fermentation that they cannot see that their own utterances are really silly. It seems, however, that " King Alcohol" is not defeated yet, and knowing that he is not, they must have prohibition, and this the politicians, to serve '( , their own purposes, have granted by an Act of Parliament, but in a few years it will be found as inefficient as the pledge itself. I well remember when mighty orators assured us that the Dunkin Act would successfully diminish, if not en- ♦ tirely abolish, drunkenness, but now all confess that it was worthless, and the time is coming when similar confessions will be made concerning the Scott Act, and what new nos- ^ trum will be then recommended to the community is hard to say, but we know that the fertile fancies of extreme ab- stainers will be equal to the occasion. It is not at all likely that they will be cured of their infatuation, though ^ God in his providence has so often made their folly mani- fest They do anything rather than use the means pro- vided and recommended by God himself, the gospel of his grace, and the divine ordinance of church discipline. God's * * ' chargeagainst Israel applies to modern temper An'^e reformers " My people have committed two evils ; they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cis- <• terns, broken cisterns that can hold no water," Jer. ii. 13. This reliance on the pledge and prohibition is virtually an infidel declaration that the Gospel has failed, and is not, at least, without aid, able to reform dissolute men. «^ Alcoholic drinks produce great evils, physical, social and ^ moral, and the temperance advocate therefore exclaims, in his own grand style, " the traffic in them should be prohi- bited." It must be admitted that taverns and saloons are m ^w> w^'F'wr'i''^'''''^ 17 who hath sorrow ? who hath contentions ? who hath babbling ? who hath wounds without cause ? who hath red- ness of eyes? They that tarry long at the wine (yagin); they that go to seek mixed wine (mimsak), Prov. xxiii. 29, 30. Mezeg occurs in Can. vii. 2. " Thy navel is like a round goblet, which wanteth not liquor, {mezeg)" and of it Gesenius says that ** Pliny mentions a * vinum aromatites,' made with myrrh and fragrant cane ; " and this seems to be the kind of wine implied in mezeg. . . . Others, from the use of the verb mazag in the kindred dialects, under- stand wine tempered with water." We see that the wine which God gave bountifully to Israel, and of the use of which he approved, was intoxicating. He also commanded it to be presented as a drink offering in daily solemn wor- ship. The people were encouraged to use it joyfully when they appeared before the Lord. " Thou shaft eat before the Lord thy God, in the place which he shall choose to place his name there, the tithe of thy corn, of thy wine (tirosh) and of thine oil. . . . And if the way be too long for thee, so that thou art not able to carry it, . . . then shalt thou turn it into money, . . . and thou shalt bestow that money for whatsoever thy soul lusteth after, for oxen, or for sheep, or for wine, (ubhayayin), or for strong drink {ubhashechar), or for whatsoever thy soul desireth ; and thou shalt eat these before the Lord thy God, and thou shalt rejoice, thou and thine household," Deut. xiv. 23-26. The Saviour drank fermented wine in the houses of those who entertained him. If this were not so, we could not see the meaning of the charge of drunkenness brought against him by his enemies when they called him a "glutton- ous man and a wine bibber." At the marriage in Cana of Galilee, he revealed his Divine power and generosity by turning water into a large quantity of wine, so good that " the governor of the feast " expressed his surprise to the bridegroom, that contrary to custom, he kept the best wine to the last. Christ drank fermented wine, and ap- pointed it to be used in the Lord's Supper as a symbol of his shed blood. In the new testament the word oinos (wine) is used; hirty-three times, and gleukos (new wine) once, and i8 all must admit that these signified alcoholic drinks. " Be not drunk with wine (oino), wherein is excess," Eph. v. i8. *' Others mocking said, These men are full of new wine," (gleukos). Acts ii. 13. It is not necessary to continue this examination further, for any one who will not be satisfied by the passages cited above, that the " unfermented wine " theory receives no countenance from scripture would not be convinced, were we to refer to every single passage in the Bible that has any bearing on the subject. For the further confirmation of candid people in sound views on this subject, we give a statement by Protestant missionaries £Cnd residents in Syria for many years, men who were well qualified to give an opinion on it. " We, the undersigned, missionaries and residents in Syria having been repeatedly requested to make a distinct state- ment on the subject, hereby declare that, during the whole time of our residence in Syria and the Holy Land, we have never seen nor heard of an unfermented wine; nor have we found among Jews, Christians or Mahommedans, any tradition of such a wine having ever existed in the country. [ V T » Rev. W. M.Thompson, D.D. ' 1 II L. H. Calhoun, ■ P ♦ II C. V. A. VanDycke, u II James Robertson, II H. Jessup, ' » John Wortabet, M.D. i \* James Black, Esq., Michael Meshaka, Doctor, Rev. John Crawford, ^ 4' II R. W. Brigstocke, M,D., • 4 M William Wright, B.A. - ;l 1 THE PLEA OF CHRISTIAN EXPEDIENCY. Though in the face of the testimony of intelligent and upright men, of history, and of the word of God, il seems presumptuous and impious to forbid the sober use of alco- holic liquor, yet some moderate abstainers, who will not ven- 19 1 * :r ture to pronoance the sober use of wine sinful advocate their views on the ground of expediency, and urge us to sign the pledge that thereby others might be influenced by our ex- ample to do the same. To enforce their exhortation they refer us to certain well known passages of scripture, " It is good neither to eat flesh, nor to drink wine, nor anything whereby thy brother stumbleth, or is offended, or is made weak," Rom. xiv. 21. If meat make my brother to offend, I will eat no flesh while the world standeth, lest I make my brother to offend," i C«)r. viii. 13. It is evident that the articles of food and drink concerning the use of which the apostle recommended self-denial, on certain occasions for the sake of weak brethren, were otherwise lawful and proper to be used ; and it was for Christians, that is, brethren in the faith that he desired them to act in that way. He did not mean heathens and wicked drunkards. It is to be ob- served that, as soon as one pledges himself to abstain, he passes from expediency to obligation, and has no longer any choice but abstinence. We may admit that such a course might be right, and safe to enter on, if God had promised grace to enable one to keep his pledge ; but if he has not made any such promise, it is rash and presumptuous to under- take the matter in one's own strength. No person is safe in promising or vowing anything that God has not com- manded, and God does not certainly enjoin upon sober men to become pledged members of Total Abstinence Societies, nor are there many of those who do so, whether sober or drunken, that keep their pledge very long. There is usually a short period of inordinate zeal which, as a rule, consumes itself alter a while. A man is at liberty to abstain, if he sees good reason for it, and those who drink to excess should ab- stain ; but no man, nor body of men, ecclesiastical or civil, has any authority from God to impose abstinence on others. We are bound to live soberly and to avoid excess in all things. It is a moral obligation, as the late Rev. Dr. Hodge said, " to abstain from things indifferent, when the use t)t them is the occasion of sin to others. This is a principle the application of which must be left to everyone's con- science, in the fear of God. No rule of conduct founded \ on expediency, can be enforced by church discipline. It was right in Paul to refuse to eat flesh for fear of causing others to offend ; but he could not have been justly ex- posed to discipline had he seen fit to eat it." (Hodge on ist Cor. viii. 13.) On the fourteenth chapter of Romans, he writes : •* It is a great error in morals, and a great prac- tical evil, to make that sinful which is in fact innocent, Christian love never requires this or any other sacrifice of truth. Paul would not consent, for the sake of avoiding offence, that eating all kinds of food, even what had been offered to idols, . . . should be made a sin ; he strenu- ously and openly maintains the reverse. He represents those who thought differently as weak in faith, as being under an error from which more knowledge and more piety would free them." " We should stand fast in the liberty where- with Christ has made us free, and not allow our consciences to be brought under the yoke of bondage to human opinions. There is a strong tendency in men to treat, as matters of conscience, things which God has never enjoined. Wherever this disposition has been indulged or submitted to, it has re- sulted in bringing one class of men under the most degrad- ing bondage to another, and in the still more serious evil of leading them to disregard the authority of God. Multitudes who would be shocked at the thought of eating meat during Lent, commit the greatest moral offences without the slight- est compunction. It is, therefore, of great importance to keep the conscience free ; under no subjection but to truth and God. This is necessary not only on acco4nt of its in- fluence on our own moral feelings, but also because nothing but truth can really do good. To advocate even a good cause with bad arguments does great harm, by exciting un- necessary opposition, by making good men ; who oppose the arguments, appear to oppose the cause ; by introducing a false standard of duty. . . . It is often necessary to assert our Christian liberty at the expense of incurring cen- sure and offending even good men, in order that right prin- ciples of duty may be preserved. Our Saviour consented to be regardetl as a Sabbath-breaker, and even a wine-bibber and friend 01 publicans and sinners. . . . Christ did (J '•I 21 ^ r^ r* / 7, not in these cases see fit to accommodate his conduct to the rule of duty set up. and conscientiously regarded as correct by those around him. He saw that more good would arise from a practical disregard of the false opinions of the Jews, as to the manner in which the Sabbath was to be kept, and as to the degree of intercourse which was allowed with wicked men, than from concessions to their prejudices." It is evident that abstinence from alcoholic liquor, either partial or total, must, on the ground of Christian expedi- ency, be according to a variable, and not a fixed rule, and therefore men should not in the matter be bound by a vow or pledge. Dr. Hodge makes this plain in his work on « The Church and its Polity." " Any rule of duty," he says, " founded on expediency must be variable. If I am bound to abstain from certain things only because the use of them would do my brethren harm, the obligation exists only when his real good would be promoted by my absti- nence. If the obligation arises from circumstances, it must vary with circumstances. If it was Paul's duty at Jerusa- lem to have his head shaved and keep the law, it was his duty at Antioch to disregard the law and to eat with the Gentiles. If it was his duty under one set of circumstances to circumcise Timothy, it was his duty under another not to circumcise Titus. If it was his duty in Corinth to ab- stain from eating meat, it was his duty among the Essenes, who made religion consist in such matters, to eat it. Thus, we doubt not, in our day, it is a duty in many parts of the country to practice on the principles of total abstinence ; in others no such obligation may exist ; and we suspect in others it is an imperitive duty openly to refuse to do it. Jf in any place such abstinence would countenance false doctrines^ or false principles of morals^ or sanction infidel sentiments^ or add weight to infidel measures^ we ought not to give place by subjection^ no^ not for an hour" " It follows also, from the very nature of expediency, that every man must be allowed to decide for himself. He is not to subject his conscience or conduct, to the judgment of others in such cases. If a thing be indifferent in its own nature, if God has neither commanded nor forbidden the i 22 use of it, then I must decide for myself whether it is right to use it or not. It is a question which no man can decide for me, and which depends on whether most good will re- sult from using or not using the thing in question — a point often exceedingly difficult, if not impossible, with any con- fidence to decide. This is the very principle which Paul so strenuously asserted. While he said it was wrong to eat meat with offence (/. e. so as to cause others to sin), he said also, * Let not him which eateth not, judge him that eateth. Who art thou that judgest another man's servant ; to .his own master he standeth or falleth. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind. He that eateth, eateth to the Lord, for he giveth God thanks, and he that eateth not, to the Lord he eateth not, and giveth God thanks.' " Dr. Kennedy writes : " Expediency never can be the ground of any general and peremptory rule of duty as to any specific thing. The general principle is plain and admitted, but the application varies with every man's circumstances, and must be left to each man's conscience. All those general declarations, therefore, of the duty of total abstinence from the use of intoxicating drinks, if they do not rest on the false doctrine, that such is in its own nature sinful, have no foundation at all. Expediency can only sustain the declara- tion that the use is wrong in certain circumstances ; for if it is wrong under all circumstances, it is wrong in its own na- ture. Brethren evidently deceive themselves. They say they take the ground of expediency, and then proceed to make declarations and lay down rules which can have no other foundation than the inherent evil nature of the thing denounced. Would Paul have laid down the general pro- position that eating meat offered to idols was * an offence ' which should exclude a man from the communion of the church. Does he not say the very reverse, and forbid our making the use or disuse of anything indifferent in its own nature a condition of Christian communion ? " A man is at liberty to abstain if he sees cause for doing so, but he has no right to set up a morality that Christ has not sanc- tioned, or to make attempts to impose such morality on others either by ecclesiastical or civil law. *)i» '^'% MJr* ' « I A 23 PROHIBITION. 4r. \\ ^r* » ' i ;♦ This is the latest movement of extreme abstainers, who believe that it is quite right to deprive the people of their God-given liberties, and have therefor^ induced the Legis- lature to grant them an Act of Parliament which gives them some facilities for exercising their tyranny upon their neigh- bours. Said a respectable minister of the gospel lately in an eloquent oration at an enthusiastic Scott Act meeting, in answer to the objection that it is wrong to restrict the liber- ties of the people. Liberties of the people ! said he : every law on the statute book restricts the liberties of the people, and as if half-conscious of the weakness of his argument, he facetiously related the story of the man who attempted to light a candle, but though he applied a match to it several times, it would not burn. In his disappointment and won- der, he put his hand on the candle, and found it covered v/ith a brass extinguisher. As an application of his illustra- tion, he said, some people are so protected with prejudices that 110 light can affect them ; but as we shall see the light that the reverend gentleman exhibited and waved aloft be- fore his audience could not kindle anything, for it was no fire at all, but a cold and gUttering *' will o' the wisp " only fitted to beguile the unwary and simple into the mire of error. " There was a man," said he, " who got a game cock, but the neighbours having been disturbed by its crow- ing, they applied to the magistrate to interfere, and cause him to remove the nuisance. This was done, and so the man's liberty to keep a game cock was restricted." He also referred to another man who was making preparations to erect a wooden house in Toronto within the district where such structures are forbidden ; but after bringing the timber to the ground he was compelled to give up the attempt. After these two references the orator triumphantly said that " men may be justly deprived of their liberty." This seems rather startling, but I hope I shall never be under the gov- ernment of prohibitionists, for they have given no doubtful proofs of their persecuting spirit. No law is just which de- prives people of their God-given liberties ; but no one has -y i<«iH T— 24 a right to have anythhig that is a nuisance to his* neighbors, or that endangers their lives and properties. To restrain a man from disturbing or injuring others does not restrict any liberty that God has given him, while the liberties of his neighbours are preserved by these means. I was lately in- formed that the learned advocate of the " Canada Temper- ance Act," Prof. Foster said at a meeting, that, " since it is proper to suppress the sale of corrupt literature, it is also proper to suppress the liquor traffic." No doubt the learned Professor considered his argument concluswe and uncon- trovertible, and I presume many of his hearers had the same opinion ; but it does not require much discernment to see that the two things are not parallels ; for God coun- tenanced and approved of the use of alcoholic drinks, but he never recommended impure literature. All repressive laws that are not supported by the consciences of the peo- ple are unwise, and clearly tend to the demorilazation of society. This is manifestly seen in our Custom's regulations. Though all citizens are bound to obey the laws of the land as far as they do not ei? force what is sinful, yet many peo- ple cannot resist the temptation of buying goods in a cheaper market beyond the frontiers of the country, and run the risk of detection when bringing them home. In this way any scruples of conscience in the matter they may have are seriously weakened. As far as Customs laws are needed for purposes of revenue they are just and proper ; but the ** Scott Act " is only a fanciful attempt to suppress drunkenness, and will not fail to produce a large amount of cunning shifts, prevarication, falsehood, and even perjury to evade its provisions, and to escape conviction for its viola- tion. Vile and wicked as drunkenness is, craftiness and lying are more devilish vices. These shall inevitably be the miserable effects of this mad movement, if the people of the land do not set their faces against it. It may be re- plied that all criminal laws produce similar evils. Yes ; but they are founded on moral principles, whereas this is not Advocates of prohibition in a very easy and off-hand way treat the plea that taverns with power to sell acoholic liquors A ■■ 25 are needed through the country, for the accommodation of travellers, by assuring us that there would be a sufficient number of houses of entertainment were the sale of intoxi- cating drinks prohibited. This might be so in cities and large towns, but in other parts of the country where such places are equally necessary, or nearly so, the case would be different. On two occasions I travelled in snow-storms j on one of these in company with a friend who met me at a railway station with a sleigh and a pair of horses to bring me sixteen miles to his home ; I set off at half-past three o'clock in the morning in the face of a fierce storm of snow, and as we left the village the snow was so deep on the road that we had to leave the horses standing in the drift, and walk side by side some hundred yards to break the road, and then one of us returned to bring up the team. Thus we continued to do untilabout daylight, when we came to a small hamlet where there was a tavern, and in our thoroughly exhausted condition we hailed it with pleasure. We lost no time in rousing the inmates, and rested there till mid- day. On the other occasion I travelled alone in a similar storm, and after driving twenty-eight miles it began to get dark ; in the twilight I passed a little road-side tavern, but before I went half a mile beyond I found myself unable to see the road and guide my horse through the deep snow. Having to go another eight miles, I considered it would be with considerable danger to myself and the beast, so I re- turned to the tavern, where I found shelter until next morn- ing. I refer to these two instances to show, that were the " Scott Act" in force, there would be no houses of enter- tainment in these and similar places, and persons situated as I was would be in great peril. May it not be possible that the principal promoters of the prohibition agitation are inhabitants of cities, towns and villages, who were never much exposed to the inconveniences of travelling except in a comfortable railway carriage? A zealous prohibitionist lately said at a temperance meeting : " I do not like to see a house with the words, * Licensed to sell spirituous and fermented liquors' painted above the door ; neither do I like to see a father, mother, or minister of the Gospel enter i^MPi*** SSSm 26 , in under such words." Well, if he shall ever happen to be pretty well exhausted on a journey, he will rejoice to see the obnoxious words, and will be quite glad to enter under them* too. MISAPPLICATION AND GARBLING OF SCRIPTURE. Not long ago I heard a minister preach from the passage, "Who hath woe? who hath sorrow? who hath contentions? who hath babbling? who hath wounds without cause? who hath redness of eyes? They that tarry long at the wine; they that go to seek mixed wine, etc." Prov. xxiii. 29-35. Though the gentleman is a good preacher and an honest man, he re- presented h' ext as forbidding any use of wine, and did not observe that it speaks only of those " iAat tarry long at the wine; that go to seek mixed wine.'* His zeal evidently blinded him at the time, for I am satisfied that he is too honest a man to do injustice to the Word of God wilfully. Abstainers freqiiently flourish in the face of " Moderate drinkers," " Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging, and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise," Prov. xx. i, but they take gcod care that they do not refer to the advice of King Lemuel's mother to her son, "Give strong drink to him that is ready to perish, and wine unto those that be of heavy hearts. Let him drink and forget his poverty, and remember his misery no more," Prov. xxxi. 6-7. Not long ago I heard a man with an air of triumph refer to the counsel of the same worthy woman to her son. " It is not for Kings, O Lemuel, it is not for kings to drink wine, nor for Princes strong drink, lest they drink, and forget the law, and per- vert the judgment of any of the afflicted." Prov. xxxi. 4-5. But he evidently did not know that she recommended wine to the heavy-hearted, nor could he believe that it was not God but Solomon's mother that spoke the words. In the ritual of the Good Templars, as given by Dr. Kennedy in his pamphlet on temperance, there are the following quo- tations : " He that loveth wine and oil shall not be rich." Prov. xxi. 1 7, " but in the ritual the words * and oil' are Ott»itted. In Prov. xxiii. 20-21, the counsel is given *be >- 1 A rfji Til ^ im %-i 27 not among wine-bibbers, among riotous eaters of flesh for the •drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty.' But where it is quoted by the Temperance chaplain the words marked by italics are omitted. A passage from the book of Habak- kuk is also mutilated. The Worthy Chaplain is required to repeat the words, ' Woe unto him that giveth his neighbour drink, that putteth the bottle to him and maketh him drunken also,' but he must suppress the words which de- scribe the wicked design of him who incurs this woe — that thou may est look on their nakedness,^ But it is only by 'using the Word of God deceitfully' that any seeming support can be obtained for the cause of Good Templarism." It is men who thus garble and pervert the Word of God who are the leaders of the crusade against the sober use of intoxicating liquor, and on account of their high profession of a disinterested, patriotic, and christian desire to suppress drunkenness and accompanying vices, good men fear to oppose them, and many, in their honest simplicity, support the movement without observing the unscriptural principles they unconsciously maintain. That any useful and perma- nent reformation can be accomplished by those extremists may well be doubted when we consider S THE VANITY OF TEMPERANCE ASSOCIATIONS. Dr. Kennedy says of Good Templarism : " Can any- thing be more opposed to the spirit of Christianity than the assumption of such titles as ane sported by this order. Every one of its members is a * man of letters,' for he can write L O. G. T. after his name. Almost the whole alpha- bet is exhausted in the bestowal of titular dignities ere we reach the highest potentate of the order. There is the W. M., the W. S., the I. G., the L. H. S., the W. F. S., the W. V. T., the R. H. S., the W. C T., the P. W. C. T., till at last we reach the R. W. G. M. I. O. G. T. O. T. W. W., which portentous phalanx of letters indicates that we are in pre- sence of the Right Worshipful Grand Master of the Indepen- dent Order of Good Templars of The Whole World. Now all •this is not merely supremely silly, and therefore a thing to be ■ iwffiijfcjfttwarWiii B 28 I i^i'W laughed at ; it is a most lamentable exhibition of conceit, and is thoroughly unchristian, and is a scheme that is such a thorough exhibition of worldly pride to be successful against the vice of intemperance ! How can this order, with a lack of sobriety stamped on its brow, dare to show face in the cause of temperance ?" As - for the trappings of colUrs, badges, and other gewgaws with which members of this and other temperance organizations decorate themselves, no- thing need be said but that they are ludicrously trifling, and that the professions of their leaders, the W. C, the P. W. C, and so forth, of being engaged in a mighty conflict with vice, is simply laughable. THE PLEDGE OF GOOD TEMPLARS IMMORAL. I have a copy of this pledge before me, and also extracts from the ritual of the Good Templars. The pledge is : " You, in a full belief in the existence and power of Almighty God, and in presence of these witnesses, do solemnly and unreservedly promise that you will not make, bay, sell, use, furnish, or cause to be furnished to others, as a beverage, any spirituous or malt liquors, wine or cider ; and that in all honourable ways, you will discountenance their use in the community. You also p^-^mise that you will not reveal any of iht private work or business of this order to any one not entitled to know the same^ and that in all things you will yield a cheerful obedience to all our laws, rules and usages. You also promise that you will not knowingly wrong a mem- ber of this Order ^ or see one wronged ; and that you will do all in your power to promote the good of this Order, and to advance the cause of temperance. Do you promise ? « Candidate— I do." " The W. M., and all the lodge in concert then say, " * We are witnesses of your solemn obligation.' " The first part of this obligation, unscriptural as I hold it to be, is much the same as the usual total abstinence pledge, except the solemn reference to God. The second part is a prOiUise of secrecy and obedience. The candidate vows to keep the private work of the order secret, and to render .* < i \ l\ 29 a " cheerful obedience to all " tlie " laws, rules, and usages " oiF the society, before he knows what they are. The vow of secrecy is clearly immoral ; for a son or daughter, though a minor, may not tell his or her own parents what is done in tne templars' lodge unless themselves are mem- bers. This is a wicked encroachment on the rights and authority of parents, and cannot fail to introduce insubor- dination and unfaithfulness into families. The promise of implicit obedience to " the laws, rules, and usages " of the order is peculiarly objectionable, because the candidate blindly subjects his conscience to the will of the associa- tion, and binds himself to obey any laws that it may choose to enact, even should they be contrary to the laws of God and his country, for in the pledge there is no exception. THE RITUAL UNSCRIPTURAL. The ritual was some years ago somewhat changed, be- cause the Rev. H. Varley was by conscience forced to withdraw from connection with Good Templarism, and to publish his reasons for doing so. After this the name of Jesus, which was not before referred to at all, was intro- duced into some of the prayers, but in such a way that a Socinian who denies his divinity cannot object. When a candidate is initiated, the P. W. C. T. says : " This vow we have all taken. Let the fidelity with which it is kept by you, be your glory and your shield.^" God is " the glory and shield " of all Christians, but the vow of abstinence and of blind obedience to men is " the glory and shield " of Good Templars. I may well ask how Christian people can be parties to such profanity ? Further on the W. C. T. says : " None hut the brave dare take such a vow." For " brave" he might well substitute "wreckless ;" but Good Templars have daring enough to take a solemn vow that few of them keep for many years, often not for many months. After that address by the W. C. T., the W. Chap, says : " A templar's vow is registered in heaven \ as you value your standing here, and your peace in eternity, keep that vow sacred to the end of life." That is fearfully „,^-^ ««■ mm serious ; there is no room left for a change of opinion on the subject, and expediency is peremptorily excluded. After more of the same kind an address containing garbled quotations from Scripture, as r.oiiced above, is deli- vered to the neophyte by the W. Chap. When this somewhat thin and watery sermon is finished, the Worthy Marshal (every one is Worthy or Worshipful) is ordered to conduct the aspirant to Templar glory, to the Vice-Templar to re- ceive further instructions. " W. M. — Worthy Vice-Templar, ^Ai's friend is on his way to learn more of the teaching of our Order. " W. V. T. — I welcome you on your way. . . . You have listened to the voice of revelation, but temperance is not alone taught in the Scriptures. In nature we find no strong drinks, nothing that can intoxicate. The Almighty and All-wise prepared but one drink — -pure water. . . Think well of these things, and I charge you to be satisfied with the drink furnished by One wiser than we." From this we see that, according to Good Templar teaching, all other liquids, from wine to milk, are not made by God, and should not therefore be used. If all become Good Templars, and faithfully obey the commands of the W. V. T., it will go hard with infants ; for what is wrong to take, cannot be given to others, or permitted to be used by little children. It is men who teach such absurdities, that, in their conceit, would be the reformers of morals in this nineteenth century. Such nonsense might be considered amusing were it not blasphemous. In the closing part of the ceremony at the dedication of their hall or temple, the W^ V. T. {Filling a goblet with water)^ says : " Best and purest of all earthly beverages — God^s best gift to man.'* That is clearly idolatry, or if any prefer the name, hadolatry. In closing the ceremony they sing an ode wherein they pray that the " Star of Temperance " may lead them on their way somewhere, the hymn does not say where, nor do they ask anything better than redemption " from bondage to- King Alcohol." i h. L- 31 " Air. — ^Auld Lang Sync, " "With joy, O Lord, we dedicate Our Temple now to Thee, And crave Thy blessing when we meet In Faith, Hope, Charity. , '* Here may the star of temperance beam A light along our way. And all our hearts united seem In Faith, Hope, Charity. ** From bondage to King Alcohol May all our band be free. And every heart beat in this hall In Faith, Hope, Charity. " May peace her white wings fold about The band that oft may be Here gathered in the bonds of love — Of Faith, Hope, Charity." In connection with the initiation of candidates the fol-- lowing lines are sung : — " Welcome stranger to this Temple, / To our Altar now advance ; Join our band of valiant soldiers. Strike for right and Temperance." Seeing that there is a temple, altar, prayers, hymns, and other solemn ceremonies, we find that Good Templarisui is a new religion that was invented in the nineteenth century, and we are entitled to test its principles by the Word of God j but this is not easily done, because its doctrines and worship are for the most part secret. In this, its rites re- semble the ancient Heathen mysteries, and its worship of water is purely Pagan. As might be expected, it does not recognize the Trinity, but seems to substitute " Faith, Hope and Charity" for the Triune God. In the Good Templar Hymnal there is an ode in praise of the Rechabites : — * ' When Rechab's sons, in days of old, Abjured the ruby wine, And filled their cups of flashing gold With nectar more divine. IMfWMM mmmm mm 32 " They quaffed their liquid diamonds then, , And er life's journey trod — A noble race of faithful men — The chosen sons of God. '* Brave men of old, the world shall own » The greatness of your fame, And o'er intemperances' prostrate throne — Shall blazon Rechab's name. *' Our men your words shall ne'er forget, As custom's chains they break, And all our race shall echo yet The wine we ne'er will take. " We may well ask how did the composer of this lofty strain discover that the Rechabites drank " liquid diamonds" out of " cups of flashing gold," and that they were " the chosen sons of God ?" The poetic genius having in its mysterious flight through the airy realms of fancy, seen the Rechabites quaffing " their liquid diamonds," it knew at once that these ancient water drinkers had become god's, and drank " nectar more divine" than " ruby wine." Of course the Good Templar poet knows that " ruby wine" is divine, but " nectar" is more so. I might refer to another branch of the Abstinence army, the " Sons of Temperance, but having been once a mem- ber of the order, for a year or so, I feel myself restrained from describing their rites, ceremonies, and pledge. I con- sider, however, that I am quite free to state that, on finding the pledge more stringent than any man was justified in pro- mising to fulfil, I withdrew from its membership. As the mat- ter was well known in the neighbourhood at the time, it is no violation of honour to relate it here. The wife of a member of the Lodge, as it was called, was one night seized with a severe attack of cholera, and her husband crossed the street to a hotel for brandy, and the woman was relieved when she drank some of it. Being a frank and honest man, he told next morning what he had done, and was for the act commended by everybody. At their next meeting, the Sons of Temperance proposed to impose the usual fine on him, for a violation of the pledge ; to this, in my ignorance ^.v. 33 of its strictness, I objected on the ground that he simply did his duty, and contended that the pledge did not imply that such an act was a violation. The matter was referred to the Grand Lodge, and some Grand official in reply wrote to the effect that it was unsafe to make exceptions in favour* of the most urgent cases, because undue advantage would be taken of it. This, to my mind, meant that Sons of Temperance could not trust each other's honour. All the members of that Lodge admitted that in similar circum- stances they would act as their brother did. I discovered that the pledge was a snare, and resigned. I may here state that, though I have not held at any time the extreme views advocated by many, I have used very little alcoholic liquor of any kind for the last forty or forty-five years, in- deed, during a great part of that time I have been a strict abstainer, and practically so during the whole time. I have always believed, however, that a sober man is at liberty to use it whenever he has reason to consider it beneficial to him. He has that liberty given to him by God, and should not yield it to any amount of clamour and fanaticism. Any attempt to deprive a christian of the liberty of soberly and thankfully using the gifts of God's providence either by ecclesiastical or civil law, is a tyranny and an unrighteous encroachment on his rights, and ought to be stoutly resisted by all sound thinking men. It is painful to find intelligent and pious christian min- isters, who understand how to interpret the Scriptures, car- ried away by 'the childish arguments of the pleaders of abstinence and prohibition, and even led to use the same unsound reasoning on the subject. I believe such respect- ed brethren are labouring under a serious mistake. They are encouraging the people to become intolerant of all views that do not accord with their own. In many places where prohibition is advocated, it is extremely dangerous to a minister of the Gospel to whisper his dissent from pro- hibitionist views. The moment he is known even to hesi- tate to support that wonderful panacea for intemperance, the " Scott Act," he may expect soon to hear mutterings of the purpose of certain men to withdraw from his ministry, 3 iMHiPPVI 34 and such threats have been carried into eft'ect. This fana- ticism snaps asunder the holy bonds that unite the mem- bers of the church of Christ. If, however, true christian charily exercised due power, it would bear a greater strain than a difference of opinion on prohibition and the absti- nence pledge. Ministerial advocates of the ** Scott Act" are surely not aware of the mischief they do to tiieir brethren who cannot go along with them in the matter, when they invade their congregations, und by inflammatory speeches carry away good meaning people and cause them to deplore the apathy or opposition of their own pastors. It would be more for the interccts of spiritual religion and sound morality to instruct the people in the principles taught in the Word of God on the subject, than to lead them to trust in a mere human invention. Some ardent minds in their inordinate zeal, are attempting to induce Presby- teries and Synods to declare in favour of prohibition. These brethren cannot see the dangerous course to *vhich they would commit the Church. Surely they do not wish to make abstinence i» term of communion, and to set up a rule of conduct for which Christ gave no sanction either by precept or example. Through this unscriptural temperance education, in some parts of the neighbouring Republic, the people will not call a minister unless he is an abstainer. I give here an extract from a letter addressed by a vacant con- gregation to a minister without charge, that lately appeared in the Dai/y Globe: — "Indiana, February, 1881. Rev. Dear Sir, — Are you a married man? If so, how much of a family have you ? What is your age ? Are you a good pastor ? Are you a good orator ? Do you write up a good, able sermon ? Do you appear graceful in the pulpit ? Do you use intoxicants ? Do you use tobacco ? Yours respectfully, Clerk of Session." I do not at all doubt but there are temperance zealots in Ontario who would go the same length, and if encouraged by ministers on temperance platforms, we may see the same % % U ' I I I (in '■« ' %J. •w 'VfK II 35 questions put to probationers by congregations, and thus a false standard of ministerial qualifications and worth will be set up in the place of tlie standard of the Bible. Having said so much in opposition to extremists, I con- sider it proper to state that I have laboured for years in the temperance work, and mean to do so to the end of my life, but I claim the right to do it in my own way. I once did consider the pledge lawful, and induced others to sign it, but I see it to be a snare and therefore improper. As for prohibition, I decidedly object to it ; for if a Christian is free to use wine, he has a right to buy it ; and if he has a right to buy it, another has a right to sell it, nor do I see that any one has a right to prevent his doing so, not even the Legislature. O but, says one, the Legislature may re- strict the liberty of some for the benefit of the whole com- munity. Yes, I admit that it has the power, but not the moral right to do so any more than it has the right to put some to death for the benefit of all the people. This would be murder, and that is tyranny, the philosophy of Caiaphas, when in his cruelty and cowardice he said, " It is expedient for us, that one should die for the people, and that the whole nation perish not." It is false philsophy and morality to deprive any of their God-given rights for the benefit of either few or many. I am persuaded that this movement is unsound, and prejudicial to the interests of true religion. Tt is kindred to the asceticism that the apostle predicted, " commanding to abstain from meats which God hath created to be received with thanks- giving of them which believe and know the truth," ist Tim. iv. 3. Of this system the Romish Church made a terrible use, nor are there wanting indications of her doing so again by turning this new ascetic movement to her own advantage, for already priests, bishops and cardinals are moving in this direction. They discover that total abstinence is in accord with the spirit and principles of their religious system. Why then, say some, should not the Protestant Churches fight with the same weapons ? No, the Church of God must use not the carnal, but the spiritual weapons provided for her by her Head. What then should be done to arrest the pro- 36 grcss of intemperance r If it shall be arrested at all, and I believe it shall, it is not by human devices, but by the means appointed by God ; the faithful preaching of the gospel, administration of scriptural discipline, and the punishment of drunkards as criminals by the magistr .te, but not of others on their account. The Old Testament criminal law provided that, " if a man had a profligate and drunken son, after some remonstrance and chrirtisement, he was to bring him to ' the elders of his city,' and when the case was stated to them, ' All the men of his city, were to stone him with stones, that evil should be put a ay, and that all Israel should hear and fear," Deut. xxi. i8-2i. Though the Mosaic criminal and judicial laws were local and tem- porary, yet they revea' cesiain fundamental principles of a permanent character and of universal application. This passage recognizes the rule that no one should be punished for another by the laws of a country, as also does Deut. xxiv. 1 6. " The fathers shall not be put to death for the children, neither shall the children be put to death for the fathers, every man shall be put to death for his own sin." Prohibitionists desire to punish sober men for the drunkard, and our laws, as far as they take account of the crime, un- fortunately aggravate the misery of wives, children, and others dependent on dissipated men. While fines and im- prisonment punish those innocent persons, they utterly fail to reform the drunkard, he should therefore be chastised in his own person so sharply as to deter him from repeating the crime, and others would " hear and fear," and thus the " evil should be put away." It seems at all events, that something of that nature would be in accordance with the legislation of Infinite Wisdom. In the foregoing pages, I desired not to write an unkind word of any individual, my opposition* is to unsound principles rather than to those who unfortunately advocate them ; for among them there are friends whom I esteem and love. •-• m/ \^ *fl LIST OF BOOKS ITr.IJSlIF.r> AND FOK SALE 1!Y JAMES BAIN & SON, 46 King St. East, Toronto. 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