the small frame on which " Granth Sahib" reposes in his numerous envelopes of cotton and silk fabrics. A Guru is always found sitting inside, or at the door of each of these booths. At the middle of this side is a booth or small building, very much superior to the others. It resembles in the interior a small chamber, ornamented with a profusion of the richest gilding, and is furnished with carpets and cushions in the richest style. It has the usual sacred volume, and attending priest.

Some of these Gurus have as fine countenances as I have ever seen; they would be deemed fine looking men in any country. But at the south-east corner was a very different personage. On an elevation of the ground, around a pípal tree, sat a naked fakír, counting his beads, while his eyes glistened from beneath the thick coating of ashes and cow-dung, with which his face and all his body was covered. He appeared to be a young man ; it was painful to look at him, thus deceiving and deceived.

The east side corresponds to the west, and furnishes no additional remark.

When we had got about half way along this pavement, we were met by the thánadár of the city, and a company of guards, whose efforts secured comparative silence among the impudent beggar boys. They had been cheering me, every now and then, with boisterous merriment and clapping of the hands, while a blind beggar was amusing himself, and the crowd, at my expense, by asking alms in tones of mirth, and contriving to obstruct my way as much as my own guard would give him leave.

On returning to the corner, at which we entered, I directed a few rupees to be given to the beggars. The thánádár inquired with surprise, if no offering would be made to the Granth, and if those rupees might not be so appropriated. Repeating the direction already given, I left the place, and was not sorry to find myself again safely on the elephant. We were scarcely mounted, when an officer with a large party of sepoys made his appearance, sent, as he said, by the sirdár, or governor of the city, to protect me, and to see that no person gave any trouble. I mention this incident, as well as some others already given, to show what the Sikhs themselves think concerning the spirit of many of the worshippers who frequent their most holy place. In making due acknowledgment of the sardár's attention, I added, on seeing a large crowd still around, that " the people had treated me with so much politeness, that I was happy not to have needed the services of the military"-a compliment which seemed to give general satisfaction. We then took our leave.

I would add, that I have not seen any religious place in India, not even excepting any of the religious places in Banaras, that seems to me so well adapted to impress the minds of the deluded worshippers with deep devotional feelings. Nor do I re

collect any so pleasing in its whole appearance, nor in which there is so little to offend good taste. It is a place where a Christian would love to see temples to the living and true God, and where he would be delighted to observe the countenances of the crowds of worshippers reflecting love and Christian peace, instead of pharisaical and desperado-hauteur. The Lord hasten the time, when this shall be the kind of remark which the passing visiter will make of the reservoir at Amritsir, and of the people who resort there for religious worship!

C.

SIRS,

II.-Objections to Temperance Societies.

To the Editors of the Calcutta Christian Observer.

We can readily conjecture that the title of this article will tempt not a few to look into it. The many, there is reason to believe, will be pleased with any thing in the shape of arguments against such societies, and the few will wonder what possible objection there can be to institutions which have already done so much good, and which are thought to be so calculated to decrease an evil which has been destructive of the health and happiness of a vast number of mankind. Let both read on; and though they may probably not gain a new idea, they may possibly find the fleeting thoughts of their own minds embodied in a distinct form. The article will, for the most part, accord strictly with its title―Objections to Temperance Societies.

Temperance Societies, if we understand their object aright, are instituted for two purposes: the first, to endeavour, by the dispersion of tracts, and the employment of other lawful means, to impress upon mankind generally the baneful effects of drinking spirituous liquors, and the blessings of the opposite course; the second, to give to all men an opportunity of declaring their determination to abstain entirely from using the abovementioned liquids, excepting for medical purposes.

Now, we have no quarrel with the first of these objects, and hardly any with the second. On the contrary, we think them, with an important limitation in the latter, most laudable. It is impossible, at this time of day, to call in question the horrible effects of drunkenness-to doubt of the almost entire want of necessity for the use of spirits, or the duty of all who profess to be the followers of Christ, or who lay claim to the feeling of philanthropy, to set an example of abstinence from such a destructive poison. Our only quarrel is with the way in which the Temperance Societies endeavour to accomplish the second of their objects. They call on men to subscribe a declaration of their determination of total abstinence. Now, it is to this subscription we object; and we do so on the following grounds:

1. By this subscription men are in danger of being deceived as to the nature of other sins. There are many evils besides that of intoxication, evils as hurtful in their nature, and which have been and are as awfully common. There are, for instance, the sins of adultery and fornication,the sins of extravagance in dress, in furniture, and in equipage,—the sins of gambling and theatre-visiting, and a variety of other things which have ruined the souls and bodies of tens of thousands. Why not, therefore, call for a public declaration against all of these? Why not form societies for the maintenance of purity, for the curbing of extravagance,

for the abolition of the card-table and the theatre, for the prevention of reading novels and romances, and for the discouragement of every thing which is known to be inimical to the welfare of men? Would there not be as much propriety in these as in the other? To us it seems there would; and would it sound worse, to call on men publicly to declare that they will not commit adultery or fornication, than to ask them to abstain from spirits? Is the one less hurtful than the other? We think not. Verily, we have, in the very limited circle in which we have moved, seen as many ruined in every respect by some of the above-mentioned vices as by drunkenness. We would, therefore, have every professing Christian and philanthropic man to abstain, not merely for his own sake, but for the sake of example, from every vice. We would have him pure in the flesh, as plain in externals as the quaker, and as far removed as Christ and the Apostles from all the vanities of earth; but we question whether he ought to make a public declaration, such as the Temperance Societies require, to abstain from any one vice in particular. This were, we think, to give to one sin a greater pre-eminence than to many others equally injurious; and were, perhaps, to be accessory to leading men to think lightly of all sin, excepting of that against which the subscription has been made. And ought this to be the case? Ought we not to hold all sin in abhorrence? Is it not as great an evil for a Christian woman to adorn herself "with broidered hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array," as for a Christian man to take a moderate glass of spirits? Is it not as great a sin to sit in the assembly of play-actors, witnessing the profane play, or listening to the obscene song, as to have a place in the company of the drunkards? And is it not as hurtful to fill the mind with the nonsense of novels and romances, as to fill the body with a little of the intoxicating draught? Why, then, fix upon one vice, and not the others? But perhaps you will say, one thing at a time; declarations against other evils will come by and by." And so they may; and we wish they would; but is there not in the mean time, a danger of leading men to think that there is evil in drunkenness a thing by the way which hardly any one doubts-and no evil in many other things equally hurtful? We are not sure that there is not.

2. But the above rambling paragraph may, if you will, be considered as setting forth a reason unsound or foolish in itself. We ourselves are not disposed to lay any great stress on what may be considered the reasoning, but we are quite indisposed to the abating of an iota from the sentiments employed in the illustration. Let us, however, come to something in our view more substantial, and which will accord better with the title of the article. Our strongest objections to the public declara tion required by Temperance Societies have reference to the positions in which many men are, in consequence of their resolutions, placed. First, we will suppose that a number of the members of a Methodist, an Indepen dant, or a Baptist Church enrol themselves in a Temperance Society as at present constituted. One of them, by tasting spirits, but not to intoxication, abandons his resolution, and forthwith ceases to be a member. What in this case, will his brethren in Church fellowship do with him? Exclude him from the Church they cannot; for nothing less than intoxication will authorize them to take such a step as this. But how can they retain him, and, after such an occurrence, cherish the feeling of Christian love towards him? Must they not regard him as one who has given great cause to the drunkards and the world in general to blaspheme, and as one who has brought a disgrace on religion? cannot see how they can think and feel otherwise; and yet they must commune with him at the table of the Lord. They may expel him from the Temperance Association; but they cannot from the Church. What an

We

anomaly is here! Is the Church-record less sacred than that of the Temperance Society? Now, we seriously ask, ought the members of such Churches to place themselves in such positions-positions in which they must regard a fellow-member as guilty of a great public scandal-as one with whom they cannot walk in an association of great moral importance to the world, and yet as one who is a disciple of their Lord, who has a claim upon their warmest love, and is in every way qualified to hold with them the most intimate and most sacred of all communions? We certainly think not and we cannot help advising all the members of Churches to consider well all the bearings of this important point.

Again, we will suppose a minister of the Gospel to make the declaration required by Temperance Societies: and who ought to do so sooner than the preacher of righteousness? Minister though he be, yet is he but a frail and sinful man, and just as likely to break his resolution as the lowest member of his Church. Now, suppose he does so. We will not imagine that he becomes intoxicated. This would be to make him forfeit, for a time at least, his ministerial office. But he only puts the cup to his lips. And this is enough. The members of his Church, who had united with him in the abstinence resolve, erase his name from their rolls. He becomes exposed in the Church and in the world; his name is repudiated amongst men. The scorners open their mouth wide and laugh. They clap their hands and shout after him, "There goes a member of the Temperance Society." The drunkards hear the cry, and sit down, with greater zest, and with an easier conscience than ever, to their cups. The members of his Church partake of the disgrace. They cannot justly exclude him from the pulpit, for he was not, in his tasting, in the smallest degree intoxicated. Could they shut him out, the matter would be easily adjusted; but this they cannot do, and keep the law of God inviolable. What then follows? Perhaps they feel so acutely, that they cannot rally round him; or perhaps they are so offended, that they cannot do other than leave him: and thus the Church, which was the glory of its neighbourhood, becomes a ruin, and the pieces lie scattered around, the triumph of the world and of hell. And of what, after all, was the poor man guilty? Of nothing that ought, in all fairness, to bring him into such dishonor; and certainly of nothing that will endanger his admission into the kingdom of God above-he only tasted of a drop of spirits. O ye ministers of the sanctuary, beware of the nature of your public resolves. Ye may, by not taking heed thereto, imprudently mar your usefulness, disgrace yourselves, injure, humanly speaking, the cause of Christ, and give to the enemy the most ample opportunity to blaspheme. Is there any thing exaggerated in all this? Is such a thing never likely to occur? Perhaps it has happened ere now. There is certainly nothing in the temperance resolution that acts with the charm of free-masonry. Many have already broken their vows; and many more may do so.

3. It may likewise be questioned, whether the resolution required by Temperance Societies will, in the end, diminish drunkenness. It will, no doubt, do this for a time; and it has already done so. But we all know

the utter inefficacy of mere resolutions. Something more than a resolve is necessary to root out the wicked inclinations of the human heart. Human bonds will never, in the majority of cases, accomplish this. We must have divine grace to eradicate evil from the mind. But suppose the temperance resolution does operate as an open restraint, it may still be questioned whether men, without the grace of God, will not, in consequence, be driven into a situation worse than that they formerly occupied. Will they not be tempted to secret-drinking, and then to a system of prevarication, lies, and hypocrisy to conceal their misdoings? We are almost positive that this has already been the case. And is this.

a position to be preferred? Do we not know that solitary drunkenness is a far more obstinate and deep-rooted evil than open drunkenness? The majority of men, who indulge in the latter vice, do so, not from the mere love of drinking, but from the united love of society and the cup. The secret-drunkard loves the draught for itself, and we believe, that if a history of drunkenness were written, it would inform us, that the solitarydrunkard is a man that is hardly ever cured, excepting by the grace of God-and even, by that with difficulty. Now, ought we to encourage the forming of a resolution, one tendency of which is, first, to tempt men to solitary-drinking, and, next, to lead them to become liars, prevaricators, and hypocrites? for these, if they commence secret-drinking, they certainly will be for a time. Every man has too great a regard for consistency, and for the opinions of the world, immediately to confess his evil deeds.

From what was said, at the commencement of this article, no one, we imagine, will suppose that we are enemies to the principle of temperance. No; God forbid. We have both seen and felt the awful effects of drinking spirits. And it is our deliberate opinion that, except in very special cases, they ought never to be tasted. What, then, the reader may perhaps say, would you wish to be done? Would you abolish Temperance Societies? No; we would abolish only the exacting of the public resolu tion. We would have Christians to unite in disseminating information respecting the consequences of drunkenness,-to set the example of abstinence, to cease to traffic to any extent in such a pernicious drug, and to endeavour, by all means, to impress men with the utter uselessness, and the dangerous tendency and effects, of spirits. But we would have no man to put himself in the positions, nor to subject himself to the tempta tions, which, in our opinion, are likely to result from the public declaration.

We rejoice exceedingly in the good that has sprung from the dissemination of information by the Temperance Societies. The Church and the world are now more awake to the awful consequences of drunkenness than they ever were before. Professing Christians are, at this time, in many places, compelled, by public opinion alone, to abstain from, or to hide, the pernicious drug. And we trust that the day is not far distant when it will be almost as great a scandal to see on the tables of ministers, Mis sionaries, and other Christians, the brandy bottle, as to see the pack of cards, or the prostitute in their houses. Verily, the sound of a minister with a brandy bottle' is an ugly sound.

It is now, from the number of facts adduced, and from the number of medical testimonies given through the medium of the Temperance Societies' publications, in vain to plead, that the human constitution, in any country or climate, absolutely requires the use of ardent spirits. Assertions contradictory of these are, in ninety-nine cases out of a hundred, mere subterfuges, and are made only to conceal a real liking for the cup. Let any one accustomed to such potations really put the matter to a proof, by omitting his usual draughts for a month. He will no doubt feel that for a time he does subject himself to a trial. But let him persevere; and let him, if he feels the experiment very difficult, add prayer to his endeavours-and then let him honestly tell the result.

Nor would we have men to drink either malt liquor or wine on ordinary occasions. We have known some who were as often and as fully intoxicated from wine and beer, as ever they could be from spirits: and we have known others who began with beer only, and that on the ground of a necessity for health's sake, who have ultimately become brandy-drinkers, and drunkards to boot. There can be no doubt, but that there are constitutions which do require the nourishment and stimulus which a small quan