daily watching, and prayer for a blessing, completed the reformation; and six months later the home wore its old aspect of comfort, plenty, happiness, peace.

"Who'll join our ranks and fight with us
Against a giant foe,

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And help to rid our country

Of one great cause of woe?
Who'll volunteer to lend a hand,
A heart, a name, a will,

To drive the monster from our land,
And save our freedom still ?

'Intemperance is the gaint's name,
And this the ill he's wrought-

Well-nigh robbed England of her fame,
Disgrace and ruin brought

To many a home that otherwise

Had bright and happy been ;
Made fiends of men ordained to rise
To heights of bliss unseen.

"Nor is this all, but tongue and pen
Fail half the tale to tell.
Say now, ye noble Englishmen,
Will ye this giant quell?

To battle then! nor faint, nor fear
To enter on the fight;

With dauntless hearts we'll persevere,

And God defend the right."

CHAPTER XII.

The Influence of Impure Literature on the Young.

"If in a picture, Piso, you should see
A handsome woman with a fish's tail,
Or a man's head upon a horse's neck,

Or limbs of beasts, of the most different kinds,
Cover'd with feathers of all sorts of birds:

Would you not laugh and think the painter mad?
Trust me, that book is as ridiculous,

Whose incoherent style, like sick men's dreams,
Varies all shapes and mixes all extremes."

Roscommon.

'ANY friends on whose judgment the writer can implicitly rely, when informed of his purpose to publish this work, strongly urged him to refer to the influence of corrupt literature and bad books, not only on the minds of the young generally, but on the atmosphere of too many homes. There can be no doubt that impure publications are a foe to domestic happiness, and as such it is well the young should be warned of their evil tendency in a work of this descrip

tion.

Much has been done of late to sweeten the poisonous stream at its fountain-head, but much more remains to be done; and while the

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penny dreadfuls" and the exploits of villains are placed within the reach of the young, they should be warned against such trash, and the wholesome food required for the unpampered mental appetite should be provided.

How often do we find in these cheap books and periodicals that the hero or heroine is a perfect monster in human guise or a person of lax virtue. Villainy is made to triumph over goodness, and virtue is allowed to die completely vanquished. Dishonesty is made to appear the best policy, while integrity and uprightness are at a discount. Suggestions are made to the minds of the young that are most baneful in their influence, and if all the truth were known it would be found that in a large number of cases the whole being has become impregnated with poison. The "sowing of wild oats" is regarded as the natural thing to expect, and easily excusable (especially in young men); while the law of cause and effect, and the fearful harvest to be reaped, is carefully hidden from sight. The "fast" life is made to appear the only happy life, the surest way of knowing the world, and this knowledge is exalted into a position of primary importance. One-sided ideas of life are conveyed in a manner to charm the inexperience of youth,

and when too late they find they have been living in a fool's paradise. They are introduced to men and women that are perfect monstrosities, who are placed in circumstances almost incredible if not impossible, whose careers result in a chain of events the most absurd. The fact is that many young married couples even in the present day get their heads filled with false and sentimental notions with regard to the plain, serious, and old-fashioned institution of marriage, and are rendered unfit for the common, every-day duties of life. You may see the female lounging about the house with a cheap novel in her hand, or stuffed into her pocket; her person untidy, her boots down at heel, the furniture undusted, and everything from cellar to garret in domestic chaos. We would urge all who have been victimised by such trash to pitch it into the kitchen grate before it blast the happiness of home, of husband, and children. There is less excuse than formerly for the eager perusal of impure literature. All honour to those who have set an example and laboured earnestly to provide an antidote for the diseased imagination, the corrupted mind, and the depraved taste of the novel reader. All honour to those who are now providing good and wholesome books upon which the young may feed without fear of pollution. And to the credit of the young be it said that they have shown themselves ever ready to appro

priate the good, the true, and the pure when it has been provided. Not only for the sake of the homes of the present would we urge the importance of this subject, but for the sake of the homes of the future. Let us do more than we have yet done in cultivating a love for Bible-reading and Bible study. Let not the best of all books be neglected.

"Its hist'ries fascinate and charm the mind,
Its laws authoritative are, but kind;
Biographies are here-a goodly store,
And prophecies by men inspired of yore.

"Its songs are sweetly tun'd, its psalms Divine
Bear up the soul in ecstasy sublime,

Its supplications help the penitent

To find new strength beyond earth's firmament.

"Its promises throw wide the pearly gates Of New Jerusalem, whose golden streets Reflect the glory of celestial rays

Where night is known no more, nor earth-born days.

"Its gospels and epistles fill the mind

With knowledge of the soundest, purest kind,
In pithy phrase its proverbs wisdom teach,
Its sermons many a wholesome lesson preach.

"Its parables, like pictures fair and grand,
Are painted by a skilful Artist's hand;
Its allegories charm, enchant, refine:

Here earthly tales and heavenly truth entwine.

"This 'bread of life,' how welcome to the poor, And those who taste it love it more and more; A 'lamp' it is, and shows the road to God: Without its light that path had ne'er been trod.