The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1878-10-05 00:00:00

MR. J. B. GOUGH IN LIVERPOOL.

Mr. John B. Gough, with whose name and fame as an
eloquent advocate of total abstinence from intoxicating
liquor the people on both sides of the Atlantic are familiar,
gave a lecture on Thursday night, in last week, in Hengler's
Circus, Liverpool, the spacious building being occupied to
its fullest extent by an attentive audience, chiefly composed
of respectable artizans, and of persons belonging to the
middle classes, all of whom seemed to be entirely in accord
with the sentiments of the lecturer. Mr. Gough was enthu-
siastically received.—The Liverpool Weekly Albion gives
a long report of Mr. Gough's speech, from which we make
the following extracts :
. Every individual present was ready to agree
with him at first starting that drunkenness was an evil,
and that it was their duty to do everything they pos-
sibly could to remove an evil. (Hear, hear.) . . . Per-
haps it would be best for him that night to advocate
the claims of total abstinence, and to encourage
teetotalism. (Cheers.) He thanked God that day
for the progress in the movement which was
apparent on every side. The pulpit, the medical
profession, and the press—the three most powerful
agencies in the civilised world for the manufacture of
public sentiment—if not entirely with the teetotallers,
did not ignore them as they did a quarter of a century
ago. (Hear, hear.) The movement had gained to such
a height and length and breadth that no sarcastic
pooh-poohing could affect it, no ridicule remove it,
and, thank God, no opposition could hinder it. He
advocated the principle of total abstinence. He would
not repeat what he had said the other night in
Spurgeon's Tabernacle in endeavouring to prove that
the principle of total abstinence was a lawful prin-
ciple, but would speak more particularly of its practical
working. There were those who told them, 'You
teetotallers have an idea that every man who drinks
is a drunkard." No such thing. He was not
dense enough to stand before an audience and say, as
some had said, that a moderate drinker was worse
than a drunkard. There were men who could drink
moderately and had drunk moderately; very probably
there were men and women in that assembly who did
drink moderately, and would perhaps to the end drink
moderately, and there were some in that assembly too
who could not drink moderately. His father was a
moderate drinker all his life. He lived to be ninety-iour
years of age, yet his life was a hard one, and he drank
his glass of ale to dinner, his glass of ale to supper,
and occasionally a little spirits and water before he went
to bed. (A laugh.) His father never was drunk in his
life •he was a steady moderate drinker. A moderate-
drinking Christian his father was, and there were many
moderate-drinking Christians in Liverpool. His
father could drink moderately, but his father's son
could no more drink moderately than they could blow
up a powder magazine moderately, or fire a gun
moderately. Then it would be said, You are a weak-
minded man." Well, let that be said, If he was so
weak minded that he could not arink moderately,
thank God he was strong enough to let drink alone.
(Cheers.) The difficulty with moderate drinking was
this—and they would allow him to speak plainly—that
the moderate drinker set himself up as an example, and
as a good one. He said he set a good example because
he did not get drunk; and he told them that if young men
would only follow his exam ple—ah ! if there were men
who could not follow the example. Hear, hear.)
He remembered once going to see a magnificent church
in course of erection, and he saw pushed out from a
little window about ten feet from the wall and 150
from the pavement a plank and ropes at either end,
the ropes being fastened inside the window, and he
saw a man get out of the window and step on the
platform. Could they do it? (Laughter.) A
man from the side walk halooed to the man above,
who put his hands on his knees, stooped over, and
spoke to the man below. Now he (Hr. Gough)
!pew very well that if he_had ,attempteli to stand
on that platform, the very moment he caught
sight of the depth beneath there would have been
no will, no logic, no argument, no intellect. He
could not help it, he must fall. Then it would be
said. "you are a weak-minded man," and then he
would reply, "I will keep it off the plank." (Laugh-
ter, and hear, hear.) He would like to say one word
to the moderate drinker. The moderate drinker was

iii;II:K:t"-QiCii37e-j-iladi'c; Teal with, because he
never injured himself by drinking, lost no situation,
lost no position or property, and walked the streets re-
Rpeetable and respected, the very gloss of respecta-
bility had not been dimmed. Therefore, the moderate
drinker saw no reason why the total abstinence prin-
ciple should be adopted by him, and if they ever got
him to adopt it it would be in the large hearted spirit of
self•denying benevolence for the good of others, the