By a Leading Temperance Advocate.

A HAPPY NEW YEAR.

The good old wish which we offer to all our readers points its own moral. There was great practical sagacity in Joseph Livesey's method of arranging to send a temperance tract to every family in Preston on New Year's Day. Christian men and women, who are in sympathy with the efforts of those who are fighting against our national vice, would give a great lift to the work by starting the New Year as total abstainers themselves. As New Year's Day falls on a Sunday, we trust the clergy and ministers will "remember not to forget" to drop a word for temperance in their Watch Night and New Year's Day sermons.

A DISTINGUISHED RECORD.

For upwards of sixty-two years the Dublin Total Abstinence Society has perseveringly held on its way, a record not surpassed by any temperance association in the sister country. When one remembers the "storm and stress" through which Ireland has passed during this eventful period, the fact that this ancient society still survives is a tribute to the enthusiastic labours of its executive officers of which they may well be proud. The old-fashioned method of "signing the pledge" is still kept in the forefront at all the meetings of the society. It rejoices in a coffee palace with a commodious public hall, in the very heart of the city of Dublin, and from year's end to year's end there is one attractive round of lectures, entertainments, clubs, and popular festivities, variously adapted to meet the requirements of the young and old alike. It was at a meeting under the auspices of this association that the late Sir Benjamin Ward Richardson, F.R.S., made the memorable deliverance: "The sale of drink is the sale of disease; the sale of drink is the sale of poverty; the sale of drink is the sale of insanity; the sale of drink is the sale of crime; the sale of drink is the sale of death." The president of the society is a well-known Dublin physician, Dr. E. MacDowell Cosgrave, and the hon. secretary is Mr. Thomas Willson Fair, whose devotion to the cause has made his name a household word in Irish temperance circles.

THE "DICTIONARY" BRIDE.

It will be remembered that last month we mentioned that under the word "abstaining" in the new dictionary, Dr. Murray quoted from the "Clerical Testimony to Total Abstinence," published in 1867, in which the present Bishop of Carlisle stated that a certain "bride was the daughter of an abstaining clergyman." Who was she? Well, first of all, let us clear the way by saying that Dr. Bardsley, in his testimony, cited the case of his own family. He said he was the eldest of seven sons, who were brought up as total abstainers by total abstaining parents. He then added, "To some readers who, upon occasions of family festivities, have been perplexed by their abstaining principles, it may not be uninteresting to learn that when, recently, one of the seven entered the happy estate of matrimony, the bride was the daughter of an abstaining clergyman. Here, then, was a difficulty. Should the wedding-day be regarded as an exception, and a little laxity allowed? The question was decided in the negative, and, notwithstanding the little protests as to 'such a thing never having been heard of before,' and the fear as to what that mythical personage Mrs. Grundy would say, the wedding was conducted on total abstinence principles. Amongst the good things of God provided, the spirits of evil were wanting—but not wanted, for the general remark was 'How little they are missed!'" We ask again, "Who was the bride?" In view of Dr. Bardsley's reference to the mythical Mrs. Grundy, our reply looks just a trifle piquant, for the bride was a Miss Grundy, the daughter of the Rev. George Docker Grundy, M.A., then (and still) Vicar of Hey, near Oldham. We tender our hearty congratulations to this grand old churchman, who graduated in honours at Brasenose College, Oxford, in 1828, was ordained in 1830, and entered upon his present benefice more than sixty years ago!

THE CHILDREN'S FOUNTAIN.

In the Temple Gardens, on the Victoria Embankment, there is a beautiful drinking-fountain, the work of Mr. George E. Wade. It is an exact facsimile of one executed by the same artist for the World's Women's Christian Temperance Union and erected in a prominent position in the city of Chicago. The funds for the purchase of the London fountain were mainly collected by children of the Loyal Temperance Legions, in response to an appeal from Lady Henry Somerset. At the unveiling ceremony, which took place in May, 1897, her Ladyship presented the fountain to the London County Council, and Miss Hilda Muff, who, of all the children, had collected the largest sum, had the honourable privilege of declaring the fountain free to all.

COMING EVENTS.

The friends in Norwich are organising a Sunday Closing Demonstration, to be held in the historic St. Andrew's Hall, on January 24th. The annual business meeting of the London Temperance Council will take place on January 27th. Temperance Sunday for the diocese of Liverpool has been fixed for January 29th, and Bishop Ryle has issued a letter to all his clergy urging the due observance of the day. The annual New Year's SoirÉe of the United Kingdom Band of Hope Union has been fixed for January 30th, and the annual meetings of the same institution will be held in Exeter Hall on May 10th. The seventh International Congress against the Abuse of Spirituous Drinks will be held in Paris from April 4th to 9th.