The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1873-03-29 00:00:00

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meeting, and most enthu,iastic during the speaking.

The Archbishop, who was received with rounds of
cheers, commenced by reading a telegram from Liver-
pool, sent by Roman Catholic abstainers congratu-
lating him upon the work to be inaugurated that
night. When the meeting was finished, he said, he
hoped he should be able to send an answer worthy of
the occasion. This meeting was one which gave heart
and confidence to those who had laboured to found the
Catholic Temperance League, for not only was the
hall filled to excess, but at that moment 1,500
men were marching in order to Trafalgar.squaro
to hold a meeting by themselves. The Catholics
were now concluding the Feast of St. Patrick, and that
night was the Octave. As the meeting could not be
held upon St. Patrick's Day it had been resolved to
hold it upon the Octave, and he called upon them to
make an offering unto God and St. Patrick on that
night. The first resolution to be proposed affirmed
that the sin of drunkenness was widespread, and was
increasing, and that therefore it was the duty of all
who had the heart to do it to renounce altogether the
use of intoxicating drink, for two purposes—to reclaim
the intemperate and to sustain the example presented
by the moderate and sober. He declared that the sin
of drunkenness was widespread, and he need not adduce
facts to prove it, for all knew it. But he went further
and said that it WWI extending This was denied'
but how was itpossible for any man to deny it who had
the facts before him! It could not be denied that every
year inert ming capitsl was put into brewing, distilling,
and vending intoxicatieg drink. Then that there was
every year an increissicg amount of drink consumed
was proved by the increase of the revenue from intoxi-
rating drink. Moreover, in all the large towns of
Great Britain the authorities had given evidence
that there was an increase of drunkenness in
their localities. He could appeal to the evidence of
Birmingham, of Liverpool, and he believed, too, of
, Manchester, to show this, and when it was considered
that more than half the population of the country
' were in the towns, and the minority were the country
population, he was justified in asserting that drunken-
ness was on the increase. He could say that this love
of stimulating drink was invading classes not before
under its influence—among women and children—
and in face of these facts it was impossible for any man
with the mere sympathies of humanity, still more for
any man with the faith and love of a Christian, to look
on unmoved and not work, by all means in his power,
to check these einem me evils. He reminded them
that Oliver Plunkett, Archbishop of Armagh, 200 years
ago, and Father Matthew were two great Irishmen
who stood forth to denounce intoxicating drink, and
the latter, he said, was acknowledged to be the Apostle
of the Temperance Movement. Thus Irishmen had
been in the van of tempera-me, and what he now asked
of them was that their offering to St. Pat, ick should be
one of self-denial in the use of these drinks. He was glad
to see that public witness was borne to the order and
sobriety which marked St. Patrick's Day this year in
London. Let no more be heard of the nonsense of
"drowning the Shamrock." They were not there that
night to bind any man to be tempera' e, for they were
all bound to be temperate by their baptism, anti an in-
temperate Catholic broke the vows of his baptism and
smned before God when he thus became a scandal
among men. They were there to found a League of
total abstainers—if men who would go beyond
temperance and would have nothing to do with
drink. Ha urged this upon them for three reasons
—first, because for seme men it was a vital necessity
that they should be total abstainers. He was per-
fectly convinced of that by long experience—by
the experience of a long life, and he was sorry
ti say he knew a multitude of miserable examples
that wherever the power of drink got a permanent
hold there was no way of cure but by a total re-
nouncement of drink. Then it was needed to support
those who were not in the habit of excess, but might be
tempted to it ; and, thirdly, he was perfectly confident
that if men, women, and children renounced the taste
of intoxicating drink there would be a moral power to
carry temperance by example and precept into the
houselosids and lives of the whole population. lie
then touched upon the religious diffieulty which had
arisen in the minds of some in regard to the total disuse
of wine, sacramental and otherwise, and, treating this
as heresy, he said if he thought this idea was among any
of his Huck he would have a bottle of port brought and
every candidate for the pledge made to drink a
glass before being pledged. He warned them, when
they were pledged, not to make themselves disagree-
able in their pride, and he then proceeded to urge that
by intemperance thousands of families Lad been
wrecked, and he could declare that it was riot only
drunkenness which peopled our workhouses With
paupers, but it was the drunkenness.) of parents which
caused tens of thousands of Catholicebildren to be robbed

of their faith, and to be without guides through the
world. Time Catholic children when sent into the
workhouse were draughted into the district schools, and
once placed there, to bring them up in a knowledge
of their religion was morally impossible. He would
appeal to his people and to public opinion on this at no
distant time ; but that night he had been given to under-
tand that a guardi in of the West of Loudon meant to
move that the children of that parish In Catholic
re hools t-hould be recalled. If that step was taken he
should know how to meet it, but in the meantime he
appealed to all classes to break away from thin habit,
that when they laid their heads upon their clyir g
pillows they might have the blessed consciousnes that
their intelligence had never been clouded, their hearts
Ii oi never been inflamed, or their wills impeded by the
curse of intoxicating drink.
Resolutions were carried to form the League, and,
after a long 11w of eloquence, the Archbish- p went to
Trafalgar square to see the meeting assembled there.
When he returned he took the initiatory steps in
pledging the meeting by enrolling names. The meet-
ing did not close until a late hour.