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INTRODUCTION.

HE Heroisms of Common Life are worthy of

THE

far more consideration than they generally receive. A fierce struggle with the insidious enemy of the morality, health, and happiness of the people, daily engages the best powers of many brave hearts, whose victories, often long delayed, are, in their main essentials, as truly heroic as the grandest conquests ever achieved upon the tented field.

That Intemperance is our national bane, is the concurrent testimony of the leaders of opinion in all ranks of society; but so far, an agreement as to the best means of combating the evil has not been generally recognised. That Total Abstinence is a never-failing remedy is sufficiently obvious to require no enforcement: still the difficulty remains that those who most need a restraining influence, as a rule, refuse to submit themselves to its wholesome control. They have not courage enough to make the heroic resolve "In view of the present distress, I will part

company with that fashion which the social customs of the country have fostered for untold generations."

There are, of course, those whose habits of life permit them to become total abstainers without the exercise of any great self-denial, or what we may term the heroic principle. But in many casesprobably the majority of cases-there can be no question the ordeal through which the abstainer has often to pass, demands sturdy determination, unswerving perseverance, and extreme watchfulness. Happily, the object to be attained proves an ample reward for the effort required. Such has been the experience of those "Heroes in the Strife" whose testimonies are given in the following pages,-testimonies which, it should be remembered, have been gained in widely different walks of life.

The friendly welcome accorded to "Illustrious Abstainers" has induced the writer to prepare the present work, in the hope that it may lead some to a knowledge of the truth, that Total Abstinence is suited to all ranks, beneficial under every circumstance, and thoroughly helpful to success in all conditions of life.

Failing this, to borrow the words of the foremost thinker of our time, "One comfort is, that Great Men taken up in any way, are profitable company. We cannot look, however imperfectly, upon a great

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