Granny Green.

Of His great grace," she answered; but the oath
She would not take.

And still the tide flowed in,
And drove the people back, and silenced them.
The tide flowed in, and rising to her knee,
She sang the psalm, " To Thee I lift my soul."
The tide flowed in, and rising to her waist,
"To thee, my God, I lift my soul," she sang.
And the tide flowed, and, rising to her throat,
She sang no more, but lifted up her face-
And there was glory over all the sky;
And there was glory over all the sea--
A flood of glory-and the lifted face
Swam in it, till it bowed beneath the flood,
And Scotland's Maiden Martyr went to God.

GRANNY GREEN.

"WHAT

M. A. KIDDer.

AT do you want, sweet Mary Lee,
Coming so early here to me,

A poor old woman, bent and brown,
And you in your best Sunday gown
And muslin apron, white as snow,
What makes your pretty cheeks flush so?
Did mother send you over here
To see how granny was, my dear?"

"Yes, Granny Green; and mother said
She knew you had been sick abed,
And suffered so much dreadful pain,
You thought you'd ne'er get up again.
Rheu-mat-ics, wasn't it, that you had?
Oh! we were very, very glad

When Doctor Hill was heard to say,
'Poor Granny Green walks out to-day.'

"So mother sent you this small gift,
To give you, as she said, a lift,
And brighten up your little home
In wintry days so soon to come!"
So Mary in the brown hand laid
A new bank-note, dear little maid!
While a happier face was never seen
Than that of poor old Granny Green.

123

Recorder.

124

A Dangerous Enemy.

COURAGE.

MARTIN F. TUPPER.

DANGERS do but dare me,

Terrors cannot scare me,

God my guide, I'll bear me
Manfully for ever,-

Trouble's darkest hour

Shall not make me cower

To the spectre's power,

Never, never, never!

Up, my heart, and brace thee,
While the perils face thee,

In thyself encase thee

Manfully for ever,

Foes may howl around me,

Fears may hunt and hound me,

Shall their yells confound me?
Never, never, never!

Constant, calm, unfearing,

Boldly persevering,

In good conscience steering

Manfully for ever,

Winds and waves defying,

And on God relying,

Shall He find me flying?

Never, never, NEVER!

A DANGEROUS ENEMY.

REV. J. YEARSLEY.

JOSEL
OSEPH. "Well, William, I am pleased to meet you.
Many times have I desired an interview with you."
WILLIAM. "Indeed! Why have you been anxious to see

me?"

J. "So that we might converse a little upon the subject of Temperance, as I am afraid your views on the question are not sound."

W. "Certainly my views are diametrically opposed to yours. It seems foolish to speak of drink as being the great curse you represent it. I have heard some of the members of your

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125

Band of Hope speak of it as man's greatest enemy, as the nation's greatest sin, as the parent of vice, as the source of crime, as the rock on which many have been wrecked, as the whirlpool into which many have been drawn; nay, they have gone so far as to say that its very tendency is to injure and destroy."

J. "Whatever opinion you may have of my Temperance friends, I endorse their sentiments; and I believe I can show you that 'where there's drink there's danger'-danger to our homes, to our churches, to our health, and to our nation. People may say we are wild for thinking so: but, foolish or not, I intend to stand by these statements, so convinced am I of the ruinous tendency of strong drink."

W. "Mere assertions go for nothing. Can you give any reliable information to support your statements?"

J. "I can give you the evidence of my senses-and can guarantee that all who see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, will corroborate it. I said there was danger to our homes, but danger is too mild a word: drink works terrible mischief in our homes. If you have ever visited, as I have done, the people at their dwellings; if you have ever seen the filthy habitations, as destitute of furniture as of happiness, which are so common in our midst, and have taken the trouble to enquire as to the cause, you will, I dare say, have met with but one general answer-strong drink. And even those who personally abstain from the evil thing have many times to suffer in their homes through the drunkenness of some relative-it may be a brother, or perchance a sister; a husband, or wife, or child; a father, or that nearer and dearer one yet-a mother! You shudder, at such a thought; yet in many cases it is too true; for it may be said of Drink, as of Death:

It spares nor age nor sex,

Nor beauty's rosy cheek, nor mother's tender love.

Homes have been marred by other causes, but there is no such fruitful and constant cause of domestic misery as strong drink."

126

A Dangerous Enemy.

W. "But how do you prove that our churches are endangered?"

J. "Because thousands have been taken from the church who once occupied a useful position therein."

W. "Did you say thousands?"

J. "I did; for I have gathered from reliable authority that 20,000 members are lost annually to the churches of this country through strong drink."

W. "I regret to hear that."

J. "And if drink is doing this evil in the church, who can tell its effects on the vast multitude who rarely or never go to a place of worship?"

W. "Well, churches are erected, ministers are ordained, and the Gospel is preached, but the people do not attend; there certainly must be some cause for their indifference."

W. "The cause is plain enough. On the very day that our churches are opened in their thousands, Parliament has decreed that the liquor shops in their tens of thousands shall also be opened. Can you have any doubt as to which will prove the stronger in attracting the people? A year or two ago, ten Manchester public-houses were watched during the eight and a-half hours they were open on Sunday, and it was found that 6,000 men, 3,000 women, and 1,000 children entered these ten houses. How can we expect the people in God's House, when they are in the devil's temple?"

W. "You certainly surprise me with your figures."

J. "Perhaps I do. But you would be more surprised if you could but see, in addition to the social misery drink produces and the moral evils attendant upon it, the physical suffering for which it is likewise responsible. Think for a moment of the diseases, accidents, assaults and violence of every form, and premature deaths, caused by drink, and then say if I overstated the fact when I said it was dangerous to health? But apart from what you may consider as extreme cases, we can now say with confidence that there is no necessity for these liquors in the human frame; their whole and sole function being to irritate-or as some say, to stimulate-the system,

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127

instead of nourishing it. In every respect I believe that total abstainers are the gainers; whilst of their work it may truthfully be said:

It's a work of prevention and cure,

A work that is slow and yet sure,

A work that must ever endure.

W. "What can be done to help it on? for I am willing, since hearing what you have said, to lend my aid to the Temperance movement. What must we do?"

J. "Why, in addition to moral suasion, we must do our best to prevent the Government binding the cords of intemperance around the people."

W. "But is it doing this?"

J. "I think so, by giving countenance to, and legalising the traffic in strong drink."

W. "But do you not know that our country is said to be the land of the brave and the home of the free?' We must be careful to maintain our national liberties."

J. "That is why I would interfere with the liquor traffic, and if possible prohibit it. Something else is needed besides commercial prosperity, besides educational facilities, besides a brave army and a gallant navy, to make our land truly noble and virtuous."

W. "What then is required?"

6

J. "I would have written upon the Houses of Parliament the words of the prophet: For that nation and kingdom that will not serve Thee shall perish: yea, those nations shall be utterly wasted.' Can a nation serve God by legalising a traffic that does more to extinguish bright hopes and arrest promising careers, than anything else the world has ever

seen?"

W. "I should think not.”

J.

66

Therefore, if the curse be not speedily swept away, we must suffer as wrong-doers; while it remains, our nation can neither be brave nor free, for

An empire built upon the wrong
Is rotten through and through.