drink, no associates. Time hangs heavily. The ordinary man cannot, at once, find will sufficient, God helping him, to substitute reading, study, home-staying, or any of the resources of the thoughtful man, for drinking associates. Want of occupation impels him to his old companions, and they furnish the drink. This was American experience. It is human experience, all the world over. To meet this want the Order of Sons of Temperance was started, that it might supply new associates, new influences, new occupations for leisure hours, in harmony with the new resolution. Right well did it fulfil the desires of its promotors. For many a year it was one of the foremost teetotal institutions in the United States. Some of the chief citizens and most ardent temperance reformers found their way into the Division-room, and, through it, into the legislative assemblies, and even into Congress itself. To-day, in North America, the Order musters upwards of fifty thousand members. Canada has opened her territories to its influence. From the Dominion British subjects have fraternised with American citizens, at the meetings of the National Division. The present Finance Minister of the Dominion, the Hon. S. L. TILLEY, is still an active Son of Temperance, and gives the Order the credit of conducting the anti-liquor education of the Canadians, which has borne fruit in excellent legislative enactments against the traffic.

An

In England, the Order saw the light some twentyeight years ago, under a changed aspect. Instead of being, like the Good Templar organization, purely teetotal, a financial feature was added, and it became a teetotal benefit society. The fundamental principles were retained, their operation was restricted. attempt was, indeed, made to obviate this by what was called Honorary Membership-a membership which did not involve pecuniary benefits. And it so far succeeded that, to-day, most of the prominent temperance reformers of the country are Honorary Members of the Sons of Temperance. Still, as a rule, the operations of the society were restricted to those who sought pecuniary benefits in sickness, &c. The result was, the admissions were limited, but, by degrees, branches were established in most parts of the country, as well as in Scotland and Wales, and, at the present time, there are upwards of seventeen thousand paying members. The original idea is, however, thoroughly understood by the membership. The Order is still a society for keeping teetotalers. So well is this done that an average of five per cent. represents the total loss per year through the violation of the pledge. If the Sons did no more there would be a substantial reason for the existence of the organization. But we shall be able to show, that, in addition to this, the Order fulfils other functions, and is, truly, a pillar of temperance.

Page for Cadets of Temperance.

WHAT A CHILD CAN DO.

"PA, I have signed the pledge," said a little boy to his father, on coming home one evening; "will you help me keep it "

"Well, you won't ask me to pass the bottle, papa?"

"You are quite a fanatic, my child; but I promise not to ask you to touch it."

Some weeks after that, two officers called in to spend the evening.

"What have you to drink?" said they. "Have you any more of that prime Scotch ale?"

66

"No," he said, "I have not, but I shall get some." 'Here, Willy, run to the store and tell them to send some bottles up The boy stood before his father respectfully, but did not go.

"Come, Willy; why, what's the matter? Come, run along." He went, but came back presently without any bottles."Where's the ale, Willy?"

"I asked them for it at the store, and they put it upon the counter, but I could not touch it. O pa pa! don't be angry; I told them to send it up, but I could not touch it myself!"

The father was deeply moved, and turning to his brotherofficers, he said: "Gentlemen, you hear that? You can do as you please. When the ale comes, you may drink it, but not another drop after that shall be drunk in my house, and not another drop shall pass my lips. Willy, have you your temperance pledge ?"

"O pa! I have."-" Bring it, then!

And the boy was back with it in a moment. The father signed it, and the little fellow clung around his father's neck with delight. The ale came, but no one drank, and the bottles stood on the table untouched.

Children, sign the pledge, and ask your parents to help you keep it. Don't touch the bottle, and try to keep others from touching it.-The Youths' Temperance Banner. U.S.

WHEN I'M A MAN.

SLIGHTLY ALTERED FROM THE AMERICAN.

When I'm a man, I'll tell you, sir,
What I'll be proud to do;

I'll follow in my father's steps,

Be honest, just, and true.

I will not chew the filthy weed,
Or sport a meerschaum gay;
No smoke shall issue from my mouth,
Throughout the live-long day.

I will not swing a dandy cane,
Or pinch my feet so tight
That every onward step I take
Will seem on shells to light.
I will not taste the beer or wine
And boast of "moderation;
For well I know there's but a step
'Twixt that and degradation.
I will not utter with my lips,
Or harbour in my mind,
A word or thought I could not tell
Unto my mother kind.

I will not speak with disrespect
Of any of God's poor;
Or throw contempt on honest toil,
By word or look, I'm sure.
I'll not defame an enemy,
Or falsely treat a friend;
I'll love the good, and to the poor
I'll either give or lend.
Nor will I ever do a wrong
And then appear so wise
Trying to make it seem all right
To my self-blinded eyes.
I'll have no debts I cannot pay
As soon as they fall due;
And foolish ventures I'll avoid,
Lest I should smart and rue.
Nor will it be so very strange
To carry out this plan;
I'll only follow father's steps
Until I am a man.

"Joe, how many scruples are there in a drachm ?" "Don't know, sur." "Well, remember, there's eight." Eight! poo! dad always takes his without scruples."

DRINK, SICKNESS, AND DEATH.

By Bro. J. J. RIDGE, M.D., B.S., B.A., B.Sc. Lond., Surgeon to the Enfield Division of the Sons of Temperance.

"Fact is stranger than fiction." Never was this more strikingly exemplified than by the law of averages. Thus, we find that, taking the average of fifty years, the temperature of the air at Greenwich falls in a very regular manner until it reaches its lowest point of 36 deg. during the first and second weeks of January; then it commences to rise as regularly, one degree at a time, till it reaches its highest point, 63 deg., in the middle of July; from this point it again decends. We might surely expect that some one day or other would prove an exception, and be distinguished by a variation, being either higher or lower than those near it. But no; throughout one year the rise and fall are, on the average, quite regular.

In the details of human life, complicated as these are, and often apparently capricious in the extreme, we might surely expect more variation. But even here we are confronted with the strange fact, that taking periods of sufficient length, events are repeated with great regularity. The number of suicides, for instance, in every ten years, is remarkably constant. In accordance with the ancient observation, "That which is, is that which shall be hereafter," we may confidently predict that in the course of the next ten years so many persons now living, without the slightest intention at present of committing suicide, will nevertheless destroy themselves.

Yet, it would be absurd to suppose that a certain percentage of suicides is inevitable. The present proportion represents one result of certain social conditions, and were any particular social condition of sufficient importance to be altered in any marked manner, there would necessarily be an alteration in the number of suicides. Supposing that all other conditions remained the same, this alteration would be an accurate test of the influence of the social condition in question, and would reveal its natural tendency, and the degree of its influence.

It is seldom possible to make such social experiments. But they are often made for us, and furnish the watchful statistician with clear evidence of the effect of the condition affected. In no case is this more palpable than in the matter of intoxicating liquor. There are, in every rank and calling, men, women, and children, who differ from their fellows in nothing save their abstinence from alcohol. If any particular person is considered, no true comparison can be drawn; because it is never possible to be sure that all other conditions are the same. But when a large number of persons are taken, then the individual peculiarities lose their disturbing influence in proportion to the number available; just as any crowd of working men would be distinguishable from any other crowd of a similar kind, although no two individuals in them might be precisely alike.

The Sons of Temperance Friendly Society is a case in point. It is framed on the same principle as the other great friendly societies. It contains exactly the same kind of men as they do, save that it does not admit any who are engaged in the liquor traffic. It embraces men in all handicrafts, and in both town and country. It is truly a microcosm of the adult working population of the United Kingdom, save as to the use alcohol. Hence its sickness and mortality ought to correspond with the average, unless the use of these "strengthening and life-giving" (!) alcoholic beverages affect them unfavourably. Let us see.

The figures here given are those of Mr. Neison, the eminent statistician, on the one hand, and those of the London Grand Division of the Sons of Temperance on the other. The latter has not been instituted more than twelve years, and does not admit members above fifty years of age: hence the age of the oldest is not much over sixty. The following table gives the sickness and mortality for six years :

Mr. Neison gives as the proportion of men between sixteen and sixty years of age constantly ill, 2.8304 per cent.; in the Sons of Temperance it is 1-34311 per cent., being rather less than half.

The same authority gives as the average number of days of sickness of members of friendly societies in rural, town, and city districts combined, and between twenty and sixty years of age as 10-9151 days, and between twenty and fifty, as 7.8743 days. In the case of the Sons of Temperance, as shown above, it is 4.9 days. So that, although it contains many who are between fifty and sixty years old, yet the sickness is nearly three days less than that of the other societies between twenty and fifty; and, again, less than half its due share.

The mean

The rate of mortality is equally remarkable. mortality for ten years, of males, in England and Wales between fifteen and fifty-five years of age, is given as 12.63 per 1,000. In the Sons of Temperance it was 9.4 in 1533, or 5.77 per 1,000: again less than half. If the mortality between fifteen and sixty-four is taken, the result is more striking: for those ages the general mortality is 16.55 per 1,000, so that the Sons are only just over one-third.

These facts are not peculiar in one sense. Other temperance benefit societies show the same results, and so confirm their accuracy. Hence the conclusion is irresistible, that, if the members of the Oddfellows, Foresters, and other friendly societies were all abstainers, the amount of their sickness and their death-rate would be reduced to one-half.

It is scarcely necessary to point out the important bearing this has on the financial stability of these societies. It is clear that if members pay the same amount for equal sick benefits in teetotal and non-teetotal societies, either the former pay too much and could safely have their subscriptions reduced onehalf, or the latter pay too little, and are financially unsafe, unless they double their subscriptions. The latter is more nearly correct, and hence every abstainer who joins a drinking club is a splendid example of self-sacrifice for the benefit of his drinking companions.

The illness and premature death of the bread-winner of a family is a terrible matter to the household: hence what untold suffering do these figures suggest as the result of the wide-spread delusion that drink is beneficial to health and life! What other practical alteration would be attended with such striking and immediate results? May the cause of Total Abstinence prosper.

HAVART'S TEMPERANCE ENTERTAINER & TEMPLAR RECITER, for Good Dialogues and Effective Recitations, has no rival. In 12 Penny numbers, or the whole complete, bound in cloth, 1s. 6d.-C. J. HAVART, 61, Allcroft-road, London, N.W.; National Temperance Publication Depot, 337, Strand, W.C.; also of whom may be had "Merry Temperance Songster,' 2d.-[ADVT.]

THE SILVER-CHIME TEMPERANCE HANDBELL RINGERS are renowned for their Sweet-toned Bells and perfect Ringing. Their Melodious Ocarina Quintette. Their Vocal Solos, Duets, and Glees. Their Instrumental Selections. Their Amusing Interludes. Their Variety, Originality, and Novelty. The Healthy Tone of their Entertainments. They are the only performers of Carillon Music-Terms of C. J. HAVART, 61, Allcroft-road, Haverstock-hill, N.W.[ADVT.]