or among the just, by their hypocritical abominations! Your ruin is inevitable, and how mortifying will it be to have those whom you have abused, and called drunkards, sing the requiem over your fallen expectations.This shall be your fate! Hear it and tremble!! Having shown that wine and strong drink were giyen to us as blessings, as much so as wheat, barley, corn, &c. I would direct your attention to those judgments of God which befel the Jews, for an intemperate use of those blessings. Awake ye drunkards and weep, and howl all ye drinkers of wine, because of the new wine, for it is cut off from your mouth. The field is wasted, the land mourneth! for the corn is wasted, the new wine is dried up, the oil languisheth. Be ye ashamed, O! ye husbandmen; howl, O ye vine drossers, for the wheat and for the barley, because the harvest of the field is perished.' Joel i. 5, 10, 11. Here we find that the Jews were deprived of their corn, wine &c. for their wickedness and intemperance. After the judgments of God had had their proper effect in causing the rebellious house of Israel to turn from the evil of their ways, behold the return of God's mercy. 'Let the priests, the ministers of the Lord, weep between the porch and the altar, and let them say spare thy people, O Lord, and give not thine heritage to reproach. Then will the Lord be jealous for his Jand, and pity his people; yea, the Lord will answer aud say unto his people-Behold I will send you corp, and wine, and oil, and ye shall be satisfied therewith; and I will no more make you a reproach among the heathen! 'Be glad then ye children of Zion, and reGod.' joice in the Lord your 'And the fats shall overflow with wine and oil.' Joel ii. 17-19, 23, 24. * * * Here Zion is called upon to rejoice, and to be exceeding glad, for the Lord had restored those blessings which he had taken from them for their intemperance. Here an important question arises. Should our abstinence folks be successful in driving wine from the earth, would they, in imitation of the Lord of hosts, endeavor to cause a return of that 'poison.' Judge, ye candid. Look again at what the prophet saith: 'In that day will I raise up the tabernacle of David, that is fallen, and close up the breaches thereof; and I will raise up his ruins, and I will build as in the days of old. And I will bring again the captivity of my people. of Israel, and they shall build the waste cities and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and they shall drink the wine thereof.' Amos ix. 11-14. I would now solemnly appeal to you, kind reader, and ask, Did the Almighty consider the juice of the grape a 'deadly poison? Did he wish to 'poison' his children? O, shame on the inventions of men! God gave his children wine as a blessing, they abused it, he took it away from them, and punished them accordingly! But did he give it to them again after they had amended their ways? Surely he did, and called upon them to rejoice. Here would have an abstinbeen a glorious time to have formed ence society. But the Almighty, not possessing the wisdom of modern divines, never thought of the subject. O, tell it not in Gath, publish it not in the streets of Askelon.' And here I would draw an argument from the administration of Jehovah, in which both the wisdom and goodness of God shine resplendent. That wine and strong drink were given to the children of Israel under the superintendence of the God of heaven, 1 think has been fully proved. The question arises, for what cause were they given to this people? We answer, as blessings and tests, to try their obedience. God in his all-wise government has, since the creation of man, made use of measures to try the fidelity and obedience of his children. He has given man inventive faculties to work out means for support, and encouraged him in the pursuits of life. Thus-he created the vine which bears the clustering grape, and watered it with the dew of heaven. It grew and multiplied in all parts of the earth. Man, by his ingenuity, extracted the juice therefrom, and found it well-pleasing to the taste. God did not prohibit his creature man from partaking of this invention; but pronounced it a blessing, and permitted him to drink it with a cheerful heart. It became then a test. Should man use it temperately, and not abuse it, he should be commended for his fidelity, and receive a reward. Should he T use it intemperately, then should he be punished for his ingratitude and wickedness. So with the barley, corn, and wheat-created for the sustenance of man. They too, became 'tests;' but man abused them all, and has in every age of the world. But I would ask, has not the Almighty dealt out tribulation and anguish upon every child of Adam for so doing? It is a well established law, that a man cannot drink too much, or eat too much, without suffering misery. The drunkard is troubled with redness of eyes, bloated cheeks, and palsied limbs. The glutton, dyspepsy, gout, and a numerous train of internal and external diseases! But shall we drive from the earth those blessings, because some men have abused them? If God has placed them here as 'tests' to try our obedience, shall we impiously dare to destroy them? destroy what God approves? anmihilate what he has created? We know that God will bring good out of evil, for we see it exemplified in the case of Joseph's brethren; and shall we call in question the means used by the Almighty in the administration of his government? He declares that he doeth his will in the armies of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth.' Let us beware how we oppose the King of Heaven. He will govern his people in justice! What the Al The doctrine of 'total abstinence' is not therefore a bible doctrine; it is at war with God's holy word, and must be considered a human invention. mighty does not approve cannot stand! lost its charm and novelty. The wheels roll very heav Already it has ily, and the 'liberals,' are called to the work to rescue it from oblivion. We are sorry to see some of our order disposed to take hold of this work of extermination; for we believe it is not compatible with reason or revelation. Our brethren no doubt do it out of good motives, but I am confident that they will not be able to revive the work, for like other false doctrines, it has an appointed time. Already there are strong symptoms of her dissolution. Already she's • Past redemption, Ga'en in a galloping consumption, Not a' the quacks, with a' their gumption Her fluttering pulse gi's strong presumption, If the friends of total abstinence would only be temperate in their measures, they might gain more proselytes (and I am confident they would more credit) among men. But they, like the advocates of the false doctrines run into extremes, and are not disposed to hear but one side of the question. When a man engages in the work he professes much benevolence for his fellow men, and would not do any thing to wound a person's feelings. This is a very fair profession, and would to God he would practice it. But wait until he is fairly initiated into office, clothed with a little brief authority,' he soon grows warm on the subject, and before he knows what he is about he conjures up the in |