The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1875-05-08 00:00:00

THE USE AND ABUSE OF THE
WORLD.-CLUB LIFE.

The fifth sermon of the series in course of delivery on
this subject, at St. James's, Piccadilly, London,
was preached on Sunday afternoon, to a large congrega-
tion, by the Rev. F. Pigou, vicar of Doncaster and
Chaplin-in-Ordinary to the Queen.—The following
report of the sermon is from the Dailu News :
"The special topic for the occasion was 'Club Life,'
and the text on which the preacher founded his dis-
course was the lfith, 17th, and 18th verses of the 17th
chapter of the Acts of the Apostles—' Now, while
Paul waited for them at Athens, his spirit was stirred
in him when he saw the city wholly given to idolatry.
Therefore disputed he in the synagogue with the Jews;
and with devout persons, and in the market daily with
them that met with him. Then certain philosophers of
the Epicureans, and of the Stoics, encountered him. And
some said, what will this babbler say 1 other some, He
teemeth to be a setter forth of strange gods: because he
preached unto them Jesus and the resurrection.' In
his opening remarks the rev, gentleman described
the arrival of St. Paul at Athens in or
about the year of our Lord 54 and the scenes in
the midst of which he found himself, including heathen
temples, altars, and statues of gods and heroes, the
masterpieces of Phidias and Praxiteles. The Agora,
translated in the text market,' was really the centre
of Athenian life, and corresponded in many respects
with our modern clubs; and there statesmen and
orators, Conservatives and Reformers, naval and
military men, artists and poets, travelled and
recluse, wits and authors, the country gentleman and
man of leisure, the Epicurean and Stoic, the gourmand
and gamester, the celibate and married, literate and
pleasure seekers, met and enjoyed the society they
sought. The mind of Cicero rested on and revelled
in the Agora with the satisfaction of a gratified taste.
The spectacle filled the mind of the Christian convert
with pain and eadners. He saw self-indulgence
encouraged, tastes pampered, life lived out for this world
as if there were no world to come. The preacher then
proceeded to show, strictly, ae he said, in connection
with his delicate and difficult subiect,' how certain
schools of thought took their rise amid such a state of
society as he had referred to, and found in Athens a
natural and congenial soil for growth and fruit. Having
then sketched the chief features of the Epicurean and
the Stoic systems as opposed to the popular mythology
of Greece, and, having contrasted all these with the dis-
tinctive and elevating principles of Christianity as pro-
claimed at Athens by St. Paul, the preacher said it
was not difficult to bridge over the gulf of cen-
turies, and for the metropolis of Greece to sub-
stitute the metropolis of England. If not her
equal in grace and beauty, London was not behind
Athens in material and intellectual wealth, and in
the familiar evidences of a high degree of civilisation.
There also was the centre of the world's life; and
in the immediate neighbourhood within which that
parish church was situate had they not a faithful
transcript of the Agora of days gone by ? That parish
was the special habitat of—it might almostsbe said to
be monopolised by—clubs. Nine-tenths of those in-
stitutions had gravitated there. A club wag a real
comfort and advantage to a large section of society. It
presented a combination of all classes, opinions, pur-
suits, professions; it gave opportunities of intercourse
with the men most famous in all walks of life; it was
Epicurus' quiet nook, a leisurely lounge, a grateful
rest from the strain of active life; it gave a zest to life
and lifted it out of its commonplaces and even out of
its monotony. All were agreed that clubs had their
value in attracting young men from questionable
society and the coarser pleasures. As a rule the tone
of a club was higher
.now than it
dimewasipinae anddays gcn
by. There was a, certain recognised
con-
sensus of restraint, and to belong to a club was a
guarantee in itself against anything outwardly at least

that was inconsistent with the charaoter of an English
gentleman. All tastes were gratified in a club. The
sensual was not overlooked; for the buildings were
palatial; carpets were soft; chairs and sofas invited
repose; liveried servants were numerous, sharp, and
attentive; eatables and drinkables were of the beat,
quality and aalo,w 'price; and oh! earthly Paradise,
all tills niight be eiloy4tl for a small annual payment
by die brought up as a child amongst very different cir-
numstances, and with a certainty which elsewhere a
large income could not ensure. Was there nosn- ,
tage, asked the man of three or five hundred a Year,.t
in all that as compared with life passed in a dingy, .4
dreary, scantily, furnished lodging, with meals;
indifferently prepared and badly served? ForA
bachelor a club was home. Even for the marrileP
man, if his wife should happen to turn out dull,
unamiable, querulous, and nagging, of no real com-
panionship in the great interests of life, unpractical.
and a bad manager, the temptation was great to take'
refuge in a club. If home, which should be the spot
on earth to which a man fondly turned was that from
which he turned, there must be something radicallT'
wrong in our social life. Club life largely and
ally affected domestic life. It affected what were
called the 'preliminaries of married life.' If parents
made up their minds that a certain income was hope-
lessly, necessary, and that happiness could-:only--be
secured by a certain style of living, the blame rested
with themselves if men of moderate wishes shrank
from what would be incompatible with their means.
Alluding to the evils connected with club life, the
Preacher went on to observe that the luxury,
splendour, and society of clubs were a great
temptation, and were not calculated to pre-
pare a man for the plainness, Eimplicity, and
monotony of married life, and for that self-
denial and contentment with the state in which God
has placed us, on which our own happiness and that
of others sol argely depend. HuAbands, he remarked,
were exposed by club life to the temptation of forget-
ting those dignities, sanctities, and obligations of mar-
ried life which a wife, whether she were amiable or un-
amiable, cheerful or dull, had a right to expect that he
who had married her would remember. Not one of the
least of the evils or abuses of club life consisted in sel-
fish habits engendered and a style of living contracted,
in many cases not in keeping with our private means
or unfitting us for the comparative privations of
home."

onlrbe4-

had been—formed at Royal Marine garrisons, hospitals,
and training ships; and 5,000 "blue jackets' had
signed the pledge,during the year:', The ships to
be employed • in the Arctic Expedition would have
branches a the League on board, and it VMS to be hoped
„it the League's pledge-book would • oon- reach the
.46rth Pole. he masionary to mercha tf 'seamen, had
paid 4,186 v' ':.• to vbssels in the Port :London, and
.1
-nother ~ • annary4 given addreves tik 61,500 chil-
,. t „t!'elyacen . school •_ About 2050 ilefittires
:es.3iad iren delivired by agefits aitillono-
.deputatiops, and sermons had been preached at
stminiter Abbeyi„the City Temple, and the Metro-
Tolcitan Thbeniacle. ',At the Crystal Palace fete, at-
-tended by 38780 persons, there had been no sale of
alcoholic liquOrs at the drinking bars, and the same
rule would-be in operation at the approaching fete at
the Alexandra Palace. The total receipts amounted to
£4,582 2s. ltd., including £2,238 14s. 4d. from sub-
- Fscriptimurittlrl donations. - - • " '
The Rev. Dr. Lachlan Taylor, of Toronto, in the
'cburse of an eloquent speech, stated that in the Pro-
vince of Ontario there were more pledcied teetotallers
'lna- more thinistefs—of the Gospel NiVo were faa al-•
stainers than in any similarly populated district in the
civilized world. Two temperance organizations alone
4bad 60,000 members, and recently no less than 300
vretitioiiiiicl4' by upwards - `-"iif - 100;00 - int:4l
viduals, had been presented to the Dominion Par- '
liament in favour of "the prohibition of the
importation, sale, or manufacture of alcohol, except
for medicinal and mechanical purposes, regulated by
proper safeguards and checks." Three-fourths of the
.Protestant Christianity of the Province were also in
favour of that prohibition. The liquor-shops there
were closed from seven o'clock on Saturday night until
seven on Monday morning, and no omnibuses, trains,
or cars were allowed to run On Sundays. Besides, no
woman was allowed to serve in any bar or tavern in
Canada.

I NOrti

_
Dr. George Elder, of Nottingham, as a medical
practitioner, attested the efficacy of total abstinence,
and urged that alcohol was not a food, but purely
and simply a poison. It was a popular fallacy
that alcohol begat genuine bodily heat, for the
heat that was caused by it implied the first .stage
of congestion or inflammation. It ,was also a delusion
that alcoholic drinks imparted strength. The country
spent 140 millions annually on alcohol, even a mode-
rate use of which would bring on disease, and lessen
both physical and mental activity.
The meeting was afterwards addressed by the-Rev.
Arthur Hall, Dr. Barnardo, the Rev. W. J. Mayers,
of Bristol; the Rev. Simon Sturges, Vicar of War-
grave, and Mr. Thomas Cook, the well-known excur-
sionists, all of whom testified from their experience to
the value of total abstinence and to the ill effects of the
use of alcoholic liquors. The meeting closed shortly
before ten with a vote of thanks to the chairman.