The Dorset County Express and Agricultural Gazette.
Dorchester, Dorset, England, 1883-05-08 00:00:00

Weymouth Temperance
Mission.

All the vsrions tempmence societies in Weymouth
have united in bolding • six day. ..Temperance Mission
ha the town, commencing on Monday. It be
well remembered that • very ingoometnl mission wag
bald about 12 months ago, and • short time ago the
desirability was wastage lof having • similes InLielon
this year. The Goad Templar*, we believe, were the
first to start the project, and • joint committee was
formed to wait upon the cliff smut temperanoe societies
and obtain their views upon the proposed misson, sod,
they readily felling in with the plan, preparations were
immediately commenced. An energetic committee
wag formed, consisting of representatives from all the
temperance bodies, Mr. W. C. Holmwool being
appoboted hon. secretary, and upon him no small pot,
tion of the labour him fallen. He was entrusted with
the obtaining of gentlemen to address the meetiogs,
and the confidence placed in hie lodgment has not
been misplaced, for he bag obtained the services
of *outs of the most eminent temperance speakers.

MONDAY.

The first meeting of the minion was held In St.
Mary's Schools at eight, when a large audience
gathered. The chair wee taken by the R,v. 3. H.
Scott, thwe being also present the Rev. C. M. Owen,
Southampton, Mr. T. W. Glover, Southampton,
Rev. Canon &enhances, Rey. J. Kennedy,
Rev. W. L. Hind, Her. C. L. Borrows, Rev. T. Bell
Salter, Alderman Thomas, Mr. W. C. Holmwood,
sad Mr. freemen. . _

A 1;;;;77 Reims the Perishing," from R. T.
Booth's temperance hymns, was first sung, after which
the Rev. J. Kssxmor read • short portion of Scripture
—the 6th chapter of Gelation..
The ROT. ilDninoll ISTITHISBOII awn offered up prayer,
and the hymn "0 Christian, Awake ¶" was sung.
The 1311•1111t13 said they were met together that
night to continuo their effort" to Confront • common
and • terrible foe—• foe which was emptying their
churches, bringing distress to their homes, filling their
gaols, sad spending millions of money annually upon
that whioh In most cams was worse than waited, In-
temperance they must all admit was the national sio,
there were other vices which they must all deplore,
but be thought they must all admit that lotemperance
was the national sin of Bunten!. They might go
abroad end visit the capitals of Europe, and no doubt
they would see the drink and hear pinions deplor-
ing the evils of the drink traffic, but they
would never see in the different capitals
of Europe they noleht see that night in • number
of the towns of England, which he and others
might y mention. The expenditure in drink
amounted in one year to £142,000,000. Now, it was
very hard indeed to realise what that meant; but he
saw it put very neatly the other day. A speaker to'd
his hearers that if they put 1:32 10s. up it every letter
in the Bible, they would then have exactly the amount
which was being spent year by year in England upon
drink; or if they mold put a sovereign upon • equate
of onnfifteenth of an inch and go on building until
they reached an height of 143 miles that worth repre-
sent the gam that is being spent annually in England
upon drink. It was • sad fact, sad whet wee the
result of it He was not giving them figures that
could not be authenticated. The result was that they
bed 700,000 habitual drunkard. in England, 1.000,000
occasional drunkards. and, takipg their oountry se a
whole, there were 2,0011,000 oases of drunkenness every
week of the year. He thew these wets startling facts
but they were true, and they were there that night
to deplore them, and, by God's help, they were ready
1112 remedy them (Applause.) It was not only their
national sin, but it wee the west of many sins. It
was prolific of • great many other mows, which they
all wished to remedy. He believed there was no other
Mad of vies to whisk such en appalling number of
MP. Plaid be directly a*nibuted, so that he ricspag
• is qualthas of drink they were cutting at the
root od many other sins, and he believed drunkennem
mag rpot .in. The question was what were they to
I do? They all acknowledged the existence of the evil,
but bow were they to met the drunkenness of Eng-
land/ Is the first place they should recognise IN •
fact that it was • responsibility which rested upon
each one of them. Upon the statesman, bemuse it
was the means of increasing the taxation of the
elwantry ; upon the philanthropist, becomes it lemothd
the ream of man; upon the emancipator, because it
was the slave of humanity ; upon Christian Inlnt4llll,
bemuse this terrible sin of drunkenness barred the
eleathels of Divine Gram and mined men's hearts,
Ifbigh should be temples of the Holy Ghost, until they
beams, as s writer put it, "Earthly, sensual,
and devilish." He (the chairmen) thought they
were now beginning to wake to the fact that
thin Inte their besetting sin as • nation, and it
sitheted every IMO and every women It was not •
question of party politics, or else be sad his
r:trwould not be there that night', but it was
urtanding hindrenos to the gospel of their Lord
and Saviour Jesus Chrkt, end, having seen that they
mica to put their hands to the plough, and keep
them there and not shrink from it as long as it needed
their help. (Applause.) This matter had reached the
throne, and tbolr Waved Sovereign bad referred with
gladness and thankfulness to the diminution in the
revenue, on 'comet of the reduction in the amount
spent in beer and spirits during the past veer. There
were 4,000,000 of total abstalner. in this country.
Some said five or six snillioos, and one out of every ten
recreate in the country wears the Blue Ribbon.
) He thought at showed England was
a=tothat
its great fault, England was making its
revenue by the £s, d, of poor drunkards, not by its
healthy and sound habit., happy homer,
pi basest hearts, represented by her subjects
gilding • willing obedient)e to the laws of the
In • strict measure of integrity. England must
be free and sober, and the will only be free in ;vapor.
Sion as she is sober. They meant to be both. The
question wee—What were they to do to bring this
thoth The first thing they must do was to get out
of the world the social customs which stood as • bar
to the drunkard's reformation. Let them see that the
State used all its powers to prevent souls Wog brought
to • miserable end. They most keep steadily at work
at this object, and he thought they bad men sufficient
reason so far for going on in this work' and when he
law such • goodly number present, be felt encouraged
ilinfe and more. For himself, IM him my he should
rejoins to see a Sunday Closing Bill for all England.
) Not for e county merely, but for all
Mr th
(Hem, beer.) Don't let them have any
legieletion. (Cheers.) He should like to see
sae thing very mesh, especially when he saw that
dnakegaim itm"tint women was on the Increase'
they meth all put their shoulders to the wheel an
never Mach until the Government had withdrwn
the posers' licenses, (Loud applause.) He thought
that if they got those thinee be had mistimed it
would be something to preach about. They must
semember that although legislation did a greet deal
It would not do everything; it wee • valuable
acuttliary, but it was not the mum they should
=bee red on. The craving foe drink which
wee one thing which they must do away
wqh. The punishment which the law inflated was
notosly inefficient but deplorable. In otholinion the
„v.
patuuma said that they mut remember in this
work thst it most be taken up in • spirit of Christian
=end without that nothing could be d It
do ler more than legislation. It must be a
=4
.work. wed eacha..mud go forth to the
showing what the MOO of God meld do for
111th and ththrlag him that only (Aries mold doliver
Vs from the poem of Oa. (Load applause.)