THE terrible scourge of intemperance is making sad progress in our land. Whole families, men, women, and children, are desolated by it. Beer, domestic wines, cordials, and even medical prescriptions, are all made to contribute to, and swell this river of death. The only safe and sovereign remedy is—total abstinence. This conservative principle, in order to be the most effective, should be fully inculcated in early childhood; for our young men, after stimulating their appetites, often lose all power to stop. Therefore the children in our families and Sunday-schools ought to be early trained in abhorrence of all that leads to this dangerous and vicious course. Drinking leads to falsehood and deception, hypocrisy and dishonesty, impurity, and sometimes to murder. No love of parents or children, husband or wife, reputation, influence, character or wealth is sufficient to restrain.

It is therefore fitting that our youth be early instructed and guarded against the steps toward this great evil. Particularly ought the children in our Sabbath-schools to be made familiar with what God has said on this subject in the Bible. These texts should be often repeated by the scholars and explained and enforced by their teachers. Many fathers will say: "Rather let my son be an abject slave for life than to fall a victim to this degrading, destructive habit of intemperance." The question arises, When and how this can best be taught? We are always careful to protect Sabbath-schools from any diversion from the regular Scripture lesson of the day. The Bible and Bible-teaching is the glory of Sabbath-schools. Therefore we would never allow temperance or missionary work, or singing, or addresses to interrupt it. It is preferable in communities, we think, to take Saturday afternoons for a month or two for this purpose. Say, meet in the largest church at three to four and a half o'clock or three and a half to five o'clock P.M. Organize a Youths' Temperance Society. Appoint a discreet youth of fourteen or sixteen years President, with other officers, with a committee to arrange for each meeting. Secure good, fresh, appropriate speakers, and never allow a dull, heavy orator to occupy the children's attention. Instruction, life-like and adapted must constantly prevail. Some of the older boys, twelve to eighteen years old, may prepare and recite a ten-minute speech or appeal to their associates. The young ladies may write brief essays, giving their views upon the subject, which may be read. Secure as speakers the ministers, lawyers, etc., of the place, who can sustain attention, and who are known to be temperance men. Select and appoint twelve boys and the same number of girls, who shall circulate the pledge and obtain signatures. Continue the meetings only so many weeks as shall be needed and the interest shall be fully sustained, and then discontinue them for a few months. It will be necessary, however, to have some such temperance revival once in six to twelve months, in every place, to keep the cause in the ascendant and save the children, and the meeting and the result will be delightful to all. We have known a thousand pledges taken in this way, within a few weeks, in a country village of twenty-five hundred population.

In some schools the children recite in the monthly concert, texts which tell us what the word of God says about intemperance, and brief addresses are added. Another plan, which succeeds admirably in many Sabbath-schools, is to organize "Bands of Hope," on the plan which originated in Scotland in 1847, and in America in 1855. The pledges exclude not only other intoxicating liquors, but beer, cider, and also tobacco and profanity. They have a regular constitution, and forms of conducting them, with catechisms, hymns, dialogues, etc., all of which may be obtained at a trifling expense.

Their mode of admitting members is very impressive. The Temperance Catechism brings out a mass of facts on "The Origin and History of Temperance Societies," "Nature of Intoxicating Drinks," "Fermentation and Distillation Process," "Brewing," "Alcohol and Mixtures," "Wines of Scripture," "Bible Abstinence," "Tobacco," "Profanity," etc.

Under the head of wine at the Lord's Supper, it holds that the Bible does not say what kind of wine was used, but we think it was unfermented, because at the time of the feast of the Passover the Jews were commanded to put away all leaven, and the word wine does not occur in any of the Evangelists when giving an account of the Lord's Supper. It was the fruit of the vine. Pliny, the Roman historian, has left an account of the various wines used at that time, in which he states that out of three hundred kinds of wine then in common use, only one would burn—that was called Falernian wine; that proves that two hundred and ninety-nine kinds of wine did not contain alcohol, and the chances, so to speak, are two hundred and ninety-nine to one in favor of Timothy's wine being unintoxicating. These extracts will suffice as specimens of what may be found in these little catechisms and tracts. They contain much valuable and needed information, whatever form of temperance effort is made on behalf of the children.

Juvenile Temperance Meetings are conducted, like any other good children's meetings, with much appropriate singing by the children, and prayer and reading of a few Scripture verses, and short, stirring, instructive addresses, so adapted that the interest must never for a moment flag. Sermons by the pastors are also amongst the most valuable ways of promoting sound temperance principles and practice.

Youths' Missionary Associations.

These are usually formed for a definite object—generally to support missionaries; to plant Sabbath-schools in destitute sections; or to aid in supplying poor schools with libraries. Every month they receive letters telling what has been done. They are organized by the appointment of a President, Secretary, Treasurer, and sometimes Collectors. A monthly missionary meeting is held and a yearly anniversary. At these meetings, besides reading the Scriptures, prayer, and singing by the children, reports are given of the doings and results, and letters are read giving details of the good accomplished. Addresses, brief and to the point, are then made by the pastor, superintendent, or one of the teachers, or by some invited friend of the cause. These missionary meetings should always be attended, not only by the pastor, teachers, and scholars, but also by the parents and members of the church and congregation, and should be made very interesting.

It has become quite popular now, in many schools, to organize each class into a distinct missionary circle, with a name and motto, as: "Earnest Workers," "The Harriet Newell Circle," "The Lambs of Jesus," "The Buds of Promise," "Dew Drops," "Little Travellers," "Willing Hearts," "Modest Workers," "Cheerful Givers," "Young Timothies," "The Sowers," "The Guiding Stars," "Youthful Disciples," "Rose of Sharon," "Little Samuels," "The Reapers," "Olive Plants;" etc. Each circle or class reports through a committee every month to the school. Sometimes each class has a small cheap banner, with its name printed on it.