The Dorset County Express and Agricultural Gazette.
Dorchester, Dorset, England, 1874-02-17 00:00:00

TEMPLARS' NEW LODGE ROOM.

On Monday afternoon lost, the officers and members
of (be "Flower of the West" lodge, 1.0.0. T., opened
their new lodge room In Iligh•streot, over Mr. Pose's
Miselon room. The room Is homtly, and of no great
pretensions ; but it btu been made tolerably comfortable
and pet foe iy cica and reoneotatie. At four o'clock •
(indication • rrlm, was oanduoted in V.e room by Bro.
W. Mato, Poole; but only members of (ho order
were admitted.

The rand publio smembly was In the evening; but
first a nublio tea was hell in the kfirsion room. w%en
about 100 sat down, and appeared very irrioh to cuily
Ito moderate dissipation of tho cup that cheers but not
Inebriate,. _

In the evenirg they assemblod urtsire and found
tho room adorned with evergreens aud figs, in homely
style. The room was pretty nearly full.
The choir was teken by Bro. of Poole, ard
before the speeches had goo° far, the ram was mott
inconvenieutly crowded, so that it was extremely
difficult to write, except for those favoured with • seat
among the great ones of the lodge.
The CHAIMIUN said it apniared that most of those
present were brethren and sisters and be hoped that all
would soon 'aeowne so. Pe was glad they had such a
good lodge.roem this side of the water—the drinkshops
were this aide, and the Good Tempters most come this
side also, and they had • prospect of a great and
glorinus work. Be tben lulled unite Templar choir
for the Templars' rallying song.
Choir: "Gather in.' Sweetly and softly sung.
Tie Can Mug exhorted all who feel on interest In
the Temperance conic, to 00026 up to the standard of
Good Templary, which is teetotalism systematised. He
believed they would see other temperance societies
epilog up in the "good time comlog, ' and be would
be ready to join them all. Alcohol is not necessary for
healthy persona, and he did not believe it was 'ireful as
• medicine and it would be better if every drop in the
Ling cm Co-night were thrown away. £130,000,000
are spent yearly on it, and what would be the result if
theee £130,000,000 were need for • good purpou f
There was no question more important before the
public than the Temperance question. In every town
and village thronehout the country, they bad trophies
I of the suocess of teetotalism, and in Good Templary, or
syetematised teetotalism, they had still a mightier
power. He was rejoiced that there are four lodges in
this town working well—(applause). There are also
Juvenile Temples. or Bands of Hope, and though some
of the children may break their pledges yet many keep
I them, and some of the most earnest advocates are
those who were 'lard of Hope boys of some years ago.
They had bed to contend in the pact with the apathy
of the Christian Church; but the Church of England
Temperance Society, though founded on wrong prin.
oiplea, le helping forward the movement. In that
society you can take • white or a blue card, one for
total abstinence, and the other so that you can only
take a little. Bet they found le Southampton that it
was no use to take • little, and the Rev. Bull Wilkin-
son had come ever to their elde, and brought two of lils
curates. In the Baptist body, and the Wesleyan Con-
ference, the Temperance question had received more
and more consideration, and the prospect looked every
where hopeful for the cense.
Duet, Hiss and blaster Brown: "Love at Home."
Very sweetly sung.
Mr. EirAL said they did scot want to "Rob a poor
man of his hoer ; " but to persuade him to give it
They did away with home-made wines also, for although
some said • little gooseberry wine would not hurt; yet
It was of the same kind as the other, and be would cell
It "Gooseberry fool," only that gooaeberry fool was
• great deal better—(applause). Teetotalism was good
for oneself, one's family, neighbours, and for the nation;
and they wanted both drunkards and moderate men to
' sign the pledge. A moderate man was like a person
walking along • dirty road; first he walked on tiptoe,
then, getting • splash, he walked with his foot fiat, and
at last was found in the gutter—Ought,* Be exhorted
all to join the lodge—(applause).
The Citairafee said Templarism finds • home far
thou who, having taken tho pledge, had nowhere to
go to. A young woman he knew had taken to drinking
and was committed to prison for Dot supportiug her
children, but the Good Templar. had found her out,
went to the prison, and she confoued that the night
she wu arrested, she meant to drown tors If—
(eongstion). They waited for her when she (HMO Out,
and ehe jibed the Good Template, end afterwards
Imamu atescly and respectable. Bat though they wore
saving rnauy old drunkards, they princlreilly Loped to
save the young from ever being en oted with the
drunkard's curse. The young icon an interest in
Templary, as there were phoity of effiosl for all,
ella in the old Temperance societies, two or three
monopolised the whole—(he:sr),
Chotr: " Onward," w, II lug.

Mr. Meuse/mode 'said their yleleo Wag SO strong as
to .bole Cloy meant to give nu quarter to the drink
trefil.. lb o called it " thu scoursod traffic," and said
be hated it with • perfect hatred. This might seem
strong langus go ; but he told instences of three or four
friends lo,t by drink. T. ctotslism may be oohed a
hobby horse ; but If so it is ..no shah has token away
a men from misery to jy. People acid " What are
the poor publieane to do?" V.. 11, he would he very
sorry for any man to lose work ; but supposing there
are 700 or 800 people in Weymouth interested in the
tr. flio, is their iut...rest to be wit against that of 14,000
peopa who are injured by the drink? They hat burn
aak• I whet they aid with their money ; but thet we
a piece of imperticenee, the truevy wee made good nee
of somehow, lie bpi ad thy would help to putting
down tho most terrible evil in the land.
Choir: Poor Child of the Drunkard." This was
pathetic and appropriately sung.
Bro. J. A. :111‘811,n said there was a time when •
person almoet had to tucks an excuse for speaking at
temperance meeting; but now the races° 10,,V101 to be
made for not speaking. The first lodge in Bireniogham
was opened iu a cellar about 12 feet square, but now
there arc many lodges and .ledgercoms tnere, In
reference to the effect, on the brain he quoted the
followleg :—" Our brides are seventy-year clock.. The
Angel ot Life winds them up once for all, then closes
the ease, and gives the key Ito the bends of the Angel
of the Resurrection. Tic tact tic-tic Igo the wheels of
thought; our will oennot stop them, Ulu cannot stop
thernselyea ; sleep cannot stall them ; madness only
makes them go faster; death alone con Freak into the
sato, and seising its ever-swinging pendulum, which
we call the heart, silence at last the cliokrog of the
terrible eseepomeet we have smelled oolong beneath our
foreheads. If we could only get at them as we lie on
our pillows and °omit the dead beats of thought after
thought and image after image jeering through this
over-wrought and over-tired organ I Men are very apt
to try to get at the machine by some indirect system of
leverage or other. They clap oaths breaks by means of
opium; they change the meddenlog monotony of the
rhythm by means of fermented liquors. It is boo:rause
the brain is looked up and we cannot touch its move-
ment directly, that we thrust these Coarse tools in
through any crevice by which they may reach the
Luta nor, and so alter its rate of going for a while, and
at last spoil the machine. Who cat. wonder, then, that
men swing themselves off from beams in hempen
lassos ?—that they jump off from parapets into the swift
and gurgling waters beneath ?—that they take counsel
of the grim friend who has but to utter his one
peremptory monosyllable and the rootless waistline is
shivered at • vase that is dashed upon • marble floor r
Aloohel has, day by day brought misery on mankind;
but in Templary they had its antidote. If left to Itself
death would rid the country in on. m, of 80,000
drunkards, but, alas las fast as the ranitre thinned,
they are filled again. By Good Templary the youth of
this land are taken, and given • temperanee education,
they are told that vices has an attraction ; but In
Templary they aro even a saunter attraction, they are
prepared to meet the temptations that encounter them
through life. It had been said that Tesnplary was
American, and no good mild Dome of it. Benjamin
Franklin applied for work in a printing °Moe ; but he
was told that he was an American, and was no good.
Ile picked tip the words, "Can there any good thing
come out of Nazareth ? And he said unto them " Come
and see." Good had some out of Templary, and If
any doubted its being good, let them "Come and see."
Mr. LialaDt, iostasiut, said the threshing fell had
been the parent of • good threshing mashie*, the
needle of a good mewing machine, the old coach of •
good railway, (and he hoped the time would soon come
when we should be able to use it without endangering
our lives)—(hear). So the old system of teetotalism
was a parent that is now laid aside; but it had not died
without an offspring. Ile stalled them all good speed,
and hoped the time wculd soon come when no pubilo-
houses would be required, that the rooms for Good
Templar* would be too few and too small. lie already
ha many pnblichouses saw the ntkoduess of the land,
and said "Good Templarism is doing its work"—
(applause).
I. bob : "The Might for the Right "—(much ap.
platen).
Bro. GUNDRY said very often tho old Temperance
societies dtel not know whence to get the niou..y for
carrying on; but now the Templer orgen4etiou round
plenty of money, end they had aroo member.. Their
meetings are intended to be amusing to a certain degree,
and also instructive. The lodges make you: it members
(some out, and if they cannot spook at first the y are
enreduare I to try &KAM, When they loekcel around,
i
and whom they had, what th. y werei,
l curl whatwere
they are now, it is very encour.gleg.
better hu,,i,et, '5, better fa,Lers, r 'lieu in *eery
way ; and let tie big or little dro'i drinkers c .me aLdi
arid they would do them goo,—(appl doe).
Bro. E. J. Buotv:t said the Teroperanoe yewl had
passed through many tempests, and had ste onold in
melting a great many. The old temperance vcsoil
re-sailed a good many; but, owing to the bulwarks
being too low, many were washed away again. Bat
now thief, an age of imprevemeok the vessel las been
made more eecure, and many individ..als, wl,o would
have been brought back into the vortex et druukenntea,
6,1 been preserved by the frieudly care of those
associated with them in the lodges. From statiaties
given, very nearly Mee-tenths of the rites with which
we are saddled are brought on us by ietexlesting
tide ke, The Orde:isona•mweliiiiih,
andev ho eryCbgrtivaetiap eoervoei.ryi
Ottani hre my oo
welcome to all to j In in the inivautegos, withoh faro
Le i t h.or few nor suioli (applause.)
ng, Bro. MalialiaLLUAT ‘' Alweys think blare
you speak."
Bro. WOOD, from Southampton, saki it was Nasally
useless for brothers to join the Good Templars' lodges
nnless they meant to work—(applanse.)