your friend, but your enemy, who entices you to spend your money, to waste your time, or to degrade yourselves, by an association with the profligate and the profane. Do you seek knowledge? What knowledge do you mean? You go to the public-house to obtain intelligence from the newspaper. But then, what price do you pay for this? You often spend more money than the prime cost of the paper you read; and if you do not, and find it desirable to see the public prints, they can be obtained with ten times more ease, and be read with more profit, than in a place where the reading of them must be connected with the excitement of liquor and the danger of intemperance. But it is useless to pursue this subject. Every person who has frequented a public-house, and favours this tract with his perusal, must be conscious, and must ingenuously confess, that the knowledge acquired in these haunts of dissipation, is not the knowledge of good, but the knowledge of evil; not that of wisdom, but that of folly; not that of happiness and peace, but that of sin, sorrow, and shame. Again I cry, fly the public-house as the house of death;

And shun, oh shun the enchanting cup,
Though now its draught like joy appears!
Ere long it will be fanned with sighs,

And sadly mixed with blood and tears.

KEEP AWAY FROM THE PUBLIC HOUSE.-How many fathers, by the influence of habits contracted in these places, have had to bewail the profligacy of their sons!—how many children the degradation of their parents!-how many wives the unkindness, the crimes, the brutality of their husbands! and how many families have been filled with lamentation, mourning, and woe! What domestic or social virtues have ever been cherished in these places of resort? or what good has ever accrued to the individual, to his relative connexions, or to society at large, by the propensities here nourished, by the language here adopted, by the examples here exhibited, by the principles here maintained? What is the public-house as a place of common resort, but the wicked man's pleasure the drunkard's home-the profligate's delight, where many, who were previously estimable and respectable, have been rendered curses to themselves, and the pests of their miserable families, until they have finally disappeared, and passed through the grave into endless perdition and despair!!!

Remember the advice of the father to his child

Pass by a tavern-door, my son,

This sacred truth write on thy heart; 'Tis easier, company to shun,

Than at a pint it is to part.

KEEP AWAY FROM THE PUBLIC HOUSE.-Every man is possessed of an immortal soul, which in an invisible state is destined to exist through everlasting ages in blessedness or misery, in heaven or hell. To which of these worlds is the public-house the way? Is it not the path to hell, the way to the chambers of death, where hope never cometh? As you value your honour and happiness in this life—as you prize the peace and prosperity of your families-as you desire to avoid the wickedness which has disgraced, and the crimes which have destroyed, so many of your fellow-creatures-as you wish for comfort on the bed of death, and hope for happiness in the world to come-KEEP AWAY FROM THE PUBLIC HOUSE.

Learn wisdom, then, the frequent feast
Avoid for there, with stealthy tread,
Temptation walks, to lure you on,

Till death, at last, the banquet spreads.

Reader-rally to the rescue, and sign the Pledge, for God and your country demand of all to do their duty. You are not, perhaps, a visitor of the ale-tap; you loathe its atmosphere as much as you repudiate the society of its sottish tenants. For their sakes-they, even they, have claims upon your example and sympathies-let your light shine before them as a beacon of safety. Are you the subject of sovereign love? the recipient of a free salvation? Do you rejoice in the love of Him who laid down his life for the lost? If so, walk as He did; not in "revelling, or drunkenness," not conformed to this world, but in soberness, in the spirit as well as the letter; then will men see your good works, and glorify your Father in heaven. Remember, oh remember the value of one immortal soul, saved or ruined by your conduct and instrumentality! Let this thought influence you to decide. The eye of the world is upon you; let not your garments be "spotted" by the leprous taint of the pernicious habits of sensuality and strong drink.

Stereotyped and Printed by J. M. Burton, Ipswich.

POOR WILLIAM

OR,

A SHORT BUT TRUE

;

HISTORY OF A WINE AND SPIRIT MERCHANT.

More than three and thirty years have passed away, since God, in his providence, gave the writer the living of on which he still resides. At that time the gospel was not preached in so many of our Churches as it now is. When, therefore, it first came into the Parish of it excited a great deal of opposition. And as it made manifest the hatred of some, so it called forth the love and kindness of others, who could say, "How beautiful are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace: that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, thy God reigneth." Isaiah lii. 7.

It

Among the few families which soon received the truth in the love and power of it, there was one family in particular which ministered not a little to the comfort of the writer. was a large family, and the future life of two of the sons, as clergymen, is to be attributed to his ministry. Of all the five sons, William was by far the most prepossessing in his person and manners; and as he was one of the first who "believed the things which were spoken," he soon appeared "like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season," and for a time "the leaf also" of his Christian profession did "not wither." He was but a youth, when he seemed to realize in himself those gracious words of the Most High God, our Redeemer, "I love them that love me, and those that seek me early shall find me." Prov. viii. 17.

Not being designed for any other occupation than that of a farmer, he employed himself on his father's farm and as he was "diligent in business," so there is every reason to believe that he was also "fervent in spirit, serving the Lord." At that time the writer had a meeting in his Vestry one evening in the week, which the most serious of his hearers used to

attend. William was seldom or ever absent; and as he returned home, he discoursed by the way of Christ, who seemed to be all his salvation and all his desire. He was neither barren nor unfruitful in the kuowledge of God. The love of Christ appeared to have a constraining influence upon him, and he manifested a deep concern for the sonls of others. As there was no Church in the hamlet in which he dwelt, he formed a Sunday School, taught the children, and brought them to their parish Church. In a word, there was no good work in which he was not willing to engage, and he was as much beloved as he was respected.

The youth soon became a man, and having engaged himself to a pious, amiable, and well-educated young lady in town, he was naturally anxious to marry and settle. As she knew nothing about a farm, she unhappily objected to his taking one. The question then arose, into what line of business he should enter? and as he had a good connexion, the Wine and Spirit trade was proposed. At that time, ALL, even the most pious persons unexcepted, drank wine, &c., in what is termed moderation, and total abstinence, on the principle of Christian Charity, was a thing unheard of; and that truly Christian and benevolent movement, which has distinguished the present from all preceding centuries, was unknown and unlooked for. Wine, beer, and spirits were everywhere drank, and upon all occasions; and that wine and beer were really necessary, and could not be dispensed with, was an opinion so universal, and believed to be so thoroughly established, that no one ever thought of questioning the truth of it, or of trying whether the human system could work on without any such stimulants. As for "ALCOHOL," the writer did not know there was such a word. If the wine had plenty of spirit, and the ale was strong, they were called "good,” and their goodness was estimated according to the strength they had to injure and weaken the human frame.` Because strong to disturb and quicken the pulsation of the heart, and to excite the animal spirits, it was ignorantly believed that they were strong to impart strength. Such, alas! was the universal delusion, which at that time overspread the whole world. No wonder then, that when the opinion of the writer was asked, whether William- should become a Wine and Spirit Merchant? he could see no objection to a young man's going

into such a trade; especially as he was so pious and well principled. He thought his principles would be proof against all its ensnaring temptations, and as he saw no danger in his entering on a business so respectable, as it was then considered, he not only consented, but he actually gave him his very first order.

Having taken a house, he was soon married and settled. For a short time, everything seemed to prosper. But his feet were "set in slippery places," and he soon began to backslide from the ways of religion, and to forget Him to whom he could once look up and say, "My Father, thou art the guide of my youth."-Jer. iii. 4. There was evidently no divine blessing upon anything he did, and his business soon proved to be as great a curse to himself, as it was to others. He had engaged in a trade which looked more to the drunken than to the sober for its support. And though he had done so ignorantly, and little thinking of the sin and misery he might occasion, or of the temptations to which he would be exposed, yet, this did not avert from him what he might have regarded as tokens of the divine displeasure. For when he had found out his error, he would not retrace his steps. Though, at that time the evils of such a business were not acknowledged by us-for how could we acknowledge the evil of any one selling that which we ALL thought it did us good to drink?--yet we saw it was a curse to this young man, and it was not long before we said one to another, "Poor William is too easy and good-natured to be in such a trade ;" and we all wished him out of it. But it is more easy to get into a business, than to get out; and so it proved to him, who continued in his ungodly traffic, daily realizing in his bitter experience, that "there is no peace to the wicked," as each day only found him wandering farther and farther from God, and from those ways, which he knew to be ". ways of pleasantness and paths of peace."

He continued to attend church for some time with his usual constancy. But he did not look up as he used to do, his countenance beaming with delight as he heard the gospel; and this great and fearful change manifested itself more and more. After a time, he would always hold down his head during the sermon, till at length, he usually sat the whole time reclining his head on his hand.