PUBLICATIONS RECEIVED.

Otago Witness, Issue 2399, 22 February 1900, Page 50

PUBLICATIONS RECEIVED.

Windsor Magazine for January opens with ! a brief, but very interesting, article by Holt Schooling, entitled "The Crests of War," in the course of which the writer gave us some interesting figures and facts conperning England's "little army." Scarcely less attrac- , tive is the splendidly-illuEtrated article on , "The Khedive and His Advisers," while "Remember Majuba," "A City of the Dead," and , "The Yountr Idea in Japan " make a trio of capital articles. Fiction, which is always a strong feature in the Windsor, it is unnecessary to ymrticulcuise, though we may mention that there is plenty of it, and all the t ptories are eminently readable. I The Now Zealand Illustrated Magazine for February lies before us, and invites 'kindly criticism and comment. The list of writers' ( names fetill presents variety, and it is cvi- , dent that the cheery little magazine is proving a haven for many a young writer, some of them y>romisivi& j-ooc' work in the future. The illtiatrations are disappointing in the extreme, and go far to prove how fallacious is our colonial art standard, and how utterly false the popular training which substitutes pleasing facility of colour for good drawing. c A Scotch Minister on Alcohol i TO THE KDITOB. j Sir, — The following remarkable pulpit de- j liverance may be of interest to some of your readers: — One Sunday, Mr Gibson, Camo&tie, ' preached from the text "Wine that maketh | glad the heart of man" (Psalms civ, 15).* He ! said: The fanatical teetotaller makes a great j mistake in trying to abolish the drir.'k traffic. Drink is a creation of God, intended for the good of man. Alcohol has done more good than evil in the world. For one that is killed by it there are 100 gladdened and helped. As opium, temperately used, ip a blessing to the ryot of India, so beer is a boon to the workmen of Britain. Take it from him and you deprive him of one of the few solaces of his hard existence. It is a tonic, a stimulant, and a grateful vegetable beverage to him. Kind nature grows the barley and the hops for the ioy and the feeding of her toilworn children. The wine of Europe is given by the Great Miracle-worker to cheer the hearts of the peastntry. It makes their treadmill life possible ; nay, it renders government possible. The labid teetotaller would withdraw it from their lips, but Cod is more merciful. Every autumn He sends it gushing in red rivers out of his beneficent bosom to feed and gladden the people. When God comes to earth He Himself drinks it, and so sanctifies its use through all time. The strongest and greatest races of the world \ue it. All great writers, thinkers, preachers, and workers, with few exceptions, are moderate drinkers. The na- ! tions that do not drink are lagging in the rear of humanity. The Mahommedan is teetotal, but he is given to opium and sensuality. The Turk is sober, but he is the sick man of Europe, sensual too, retrograde, and almost moribund. He has banished the God-plan-ted vine from the Holy Land, and with it progress and virility. The result of his doI ings there is teetotalism and an intellectual j and moial desert. — I am, etc., | MODERATE.