The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1878-06-01 00:00:00

NATIONAL TEMPERANCE LEAGUE.

In London, on Tuesday evening, the annual conversazione
of the National Temperance League took place at the City
Terminus Hotel, C•innon-street, the proceedings being of an
interesting and entertaining character throughout. The
chair was taken in the Great Hall by Mr. Samuel Bowly,
president of the league, and he was supported on the plat-
form by the Rev Dean Stanley, Mr. Selway, Rev. J. P.
Chown, Mr. G R Tweedie, &c. The Chairman having briefly
opened the proceedings,

Dean Stanley, who was received with loud applause,
gave an address on "Presence of Mind." He said
they must not expect a very formal lecture from him,
as he had only come there to say a few words on a
subject interesting not only to that meeting, but to
everybody. Many of them would remember that in
the Bible, or rather in the New Testament, there were
several instances in which the Apostle had given
advice to "be careful" and to "be watchful.' No
doubt that meant they were to have their senses
about them, to have presence of mind; and people
could certainly not do that when their heads were I
affected by too much drink. Without further I
preface, he would just give them half -a - I
d izen instances where presence of mind had been of
great significance and importance. Firstly, then, he
would take presence of mind as shown in silence. It
was very difficult under certain circumstances to avoid
giving vent to words which might be extremely
dangerous, such, for example, as when a house was on
fire. A story was told of a beadle, who, finding that
the church had got on fire during a Sunday morning
service, went very silently up the pulpit stairs. The
minister was just about to commence reading his ser-
mon, but the beadle whispered in his ear the words,
"The church is on fire!" Some people might say the
clergyman should at once have given his congregation
warning, but he did not. He brought his sermon
to a close in somewhat less than a minute, shut up
his book, and walked down the pulpit steps. The
people at once left the church, and knew nothing
whatever about the fire until they had arrived outside.
That clergyman was now the Bishop of Rochester, as ,
he deserved to be. The second instance he would
relate was one where a party of sailors were in a boat
out somewhere in the West Indies. The boat cap-
sized when it was about two miles fram the shore,
but all its former inmates managed to climb up on
to its keel. Two young igen, one stronger than the
others, started to swim to shore, and when about
half way there, the stronger of the two being ahead
of his companion at the time, observed a shark
coming towards them. Of course, the most natural
thing for persons placed in such a position to do was
to scream out, but the young man had the presence
of mind not to do that, and the shark turned its head
in another direction, leaving them to reach the shore
in safety. They had the presence of mind to keep
silent. The third of his stories had its scene laid at
Bristol, where some of them would remember that
very terrible riots, respecting the cause of which he
would not say one word, took place about thirty years
ago. There were people listening to him who knew
Queen-square in that town. Well, the rioters went
about burning and destroying, and at last they got to
Queen-square, where they continued the work of
demolition. Their plan was to knock at the door
of a house—they had the humanity even in their
passion to do that—and tell the inmates to come
out, as they intended to burn down the premises.
Thus they would proceed with blazing torches and
brands up the front staircase, setting fire to that, and
go down by the back staircase, serving that in a similar
manner. Thus they went on burning and burning till
they came to a certain house. They knocked at the
door in the usual way, when, to their astonishment,
an old lady rushed out with a red-hot poker in her
hand, and called out to the foremost, "The first that
comes in here I'll run through the body." (Laughter.)
That cowed the mob, and seeing the effect of her
threat, the old lady asked them to spare the house
next door as well as hers, which they did, and de-
stroyed all the rest in the square. So that at this
moment there were two very old-looking houses
which might be picked out in that square, all the
others having had to be rebuilt. This was a great
instance of presence of mind in that old lady with the
red-hot poker. (Laughter.) The fourth example
happened in St. Paul's Cathedral. On the dome of
that edifice there were some very fine pictures, some
by a celebrated artist, Sir James Thornhill. On one
occasion he took a friend with him up in the "stage,"
and pointed with great pride to his work. Back,
step by step, he went, as he mentioned one beauty
and another, until one more would have been
his last if something had not been done. Sir
John's friend was, however, quite silent, and, an idea
seizing him at once, he took up a wet sponge which
happened to be by, and threw it at the head of a horse
in the painting. The artist, afraid the picture would
be injured, stepped forward, and then only became
aware of the danger which he had so narrowly escaped.
Thus presence of mind and silence in Thornhill's
friend had saved him. The next case was one
which occurred in France. There it was not an
uncommon thing for streets to be named after in-
d;viduals who had performed any conspicuous deed.
By that means a lesson was taught if people were
led to ask why a particular state was called by
its peculiar name. In Paris there was the Rue
d'Assaz, and how it came to be called by that name
was this. On one of those unfortunate occasions,
when the English and French were at war, a French
soldier had wandered too for from his comrades, when
he suddenly came upon a small party of English,
who surrounded him, and threatened if he shouted
out a word he would be a dead man. The French-
man immediately called out, at the very top of his
voice, "Friends, I'm shot dead ! " The result was
his comrades came up in time to rescue him. That,
however, was not presence of mind by silence.
but by the opposite mode of action, of which
many proofs might be adduced. The sixth and
last instance would take them to India. When Lord
Lawrence held some very high office in the State,
but before he was made Viceroy, a lawsuit
was going on in the district, where he was located, in
which a rich Indian prince was most deeply interested,
and who would have given any sum that his side
should win. One day, the prince waited upon Lord
Lawrence, and placing a large bag of gold in his lord-
ship's bands, told him it should be his if he would
manage that the results of the trial should be as he
(the prince) wished it. Lord Lawrence replied,
"Young man (for the prince was young), you have
offered me the greatest insult that could possibly be
offered to an Englishman. It will be looked over this
time, in consideration of your youth, sir; but, should
it ever occur again, you shall be deprived of your king-
dom." Of course Lord Lawrence did no more than
any honourable - minded Englishman would have
done, but his presence of mind enabled him at the
very moment to give salutary effect to his reproof.
Cases like he had put before them might be multiplied
by thousands, but he would not go any further then.
He then concluded by saying that he had given them
the six examples of the use of presence of mind he pre-
mised them,. which was best brought about by sobriety
and most injured by intemperance. (Cheers.)
On the motion of the Chairman, a vote of thanks
was unanimously awarded to the Dean, and he created
considerable laughter by telling the meeting he should
best show his presence of mind in silence by saying
nothing in reply.
The meeting, which was most successful through-
out, closed in the usual way,