No doubt, when Dr. Murray reaches the letter "P," we shall have a
definition even still more illuminating. The New English Dictionary
viewed from a temperance standpoint would make a delightful study.
Take, for instance, volume one, in which "Alcohol" has more than
a column to itself, while "Ale" has two columns, "Beer" two and
a half columns, and "Abstain," "Abstainer," and "Abstaining" are
treated with a wealth of illustration and meaning derived from such
authorities as Wyclif in 1382 down to J. W. Bardsley (the present
Bishop of Carlisle) in 1867, who is pressed into the service in this
form:--
"ABSTAINING.--Practising abstinence (from alcoholic beverages) 1867.
J. W. BARDSLEY in 'Clerical Testimony to Total Abstinence' 30: 'The
bride was the daughter of an abstaining clergyman.'"
[Illustration: MADAME ANTOINETTE STERLING.
(_Photo: Walery, Ltd., Regent Street, W._)]
Now we will leave it to our fair readers to puzzle over until next
month as to who the blushing bride was who is thus assured of
immortality in the greatest Dictionary the world has ever seen.
"TWO QUEENS OF SONG."
"Example is better than precept," says the old adage, and there
can be no doubt that the example of Madame Antoinette Sterling and
Mrs. Mary Davies in the matter of total abstinence has been of the
utmost value. It was at a reception given by Mr. and Mrs. Frederick
Sherlock at Hackney, in 1892, to the Archbishop of Canterbury
(then Bishop of London), that Madame Sterling, to the surprise of
a delighted audience, volunteered "a few words." The gifted singer
remarked that "she had been nearly all her life a total abstainer.
When on long tours with members of her profession, it had been
rather an aggravation to them to see, when they were pretty well
prostrated, that she was almost or quite as fresh at the end of the
journey as at the beginning. They also complained of the quality of
the wine furnished to them, as well as of water. She took milk and
cocoa, and also water, of which she did not complain, and scarcely
missed one engagement in the seventeen years during which she had
been before the public. She had never had a day's bad health, and
had not suffered from those aches and pains of which she had heard
other people complaining continually." Like Madame Sterling, Mrs.
Mary Davies has upon many occasions shown a deep and practical
interest in philanthropic work.
[Illustration: MRS. MARY DAVIES.
(_Photo: H. S. Mendelssohn, Pembridge Crescent, W._)]
[Illustration: (_Photo supplied by the Press Studio._)
MUSCULAR TRAINING AT THE NAVAL SCHOOL, GREENWICH.]
[Illustration: (_Photo supplied by the Press Studio._)
BUCKET-OF-WATER RACE AT THE NAVAL SCHOOL.]
A FAMOUS BAND OF HOPE.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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