The Sun.
London, England, 1870-05-04 00:00:00

OBSTACLES TO TEMPERANCE.

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Some concise remarks upon the various difficulties
. which lie in the way of a general spread of temperance
through the British nation were made at the meeting of
the National Temperance League by the President, Mr.
Bowly. They must, he said, strive to banish that igno-
rance and delusion which still clouded and, prejudiced the
minds of many thousands of well-educated people, whe
believed that intoxicating drinks were often necessary
either to promote their health, to aid their strength, or
to contribute to their innocent enjoyments. But it
had been proved by long experience as well as by science
that intoxicating liquors were in no case necessary. Much
ignorance prevailed as to what were intoxicating drinks,
and what was their proper use. When he should havi
the happiness of hearing ladies after coming from their
parties say, " Those vulgar people had wine on their
table," then he should expect to see a change in the
habits of the people with respect to drinking. By
whom was the present custom maintained ? By person!,
of the higher classes, who acted under the delusion that
the use of wine was fashionable and a mark of refinement.
He believed, however, the League had in some measure
weakened that impression. No doubt it at first required
some degree of moral courage to suffer one's friends to be
seated around the table drinking water rather than wine.
A great obstacle also presented itself to the progress of total
abstinence in the practice of medical men. Dr. Higgin-
bottom, who was now in his eighty-second year, and who
had adopted the system, had written to him a letter in
which he expressed his regret that a larger number of the
members of his profession did not also adopt it in theb
practice, and become its advocates on the platform. But
there was another difficulty in the way of any rapid
advancement in the adoption of total abstinence—namely
the want of a more cordial co-operation on the part of thu
Ministers of religion. In America almost every minister
of every denomination was a total abstainer. Another
delusion was that they could have national drinking with
out national drunkenness. He believed that to be a Brea;
mistake. All experience shewed it to be an error. Le.
it, therefore, be impressed upon their minds that if the,
must have this national habit of drinking, they must also
have the concomitant vices and misery of drunkenness.

On Monday a man, whose Christian and surname
are Louis Napoleon, was brought up at the Liverpool
Police-court charged with being drunk and disorderly,
for which he was ordered to pay the customary fine of ss.
and costs.

SNOW IN YORKSHIRE.—May came in very
roughly. Three thunderstorms, with snow and hail, trae
versed the North and East Ridings on Sunday. At night
the temperature fell below freezing point, and there was
snow on Monday on the high moors.
Mn. PEABODY'S WILL.—The will of the late
George Peabody was admitted to probate on the 13th of
April in Essex county, Massachussetts. It appears that he
left only about 150,000 dols., the whole of which is
bequeathed to his relatiVes.

DRY SERAIONS.—To be dry, this seems the most
unpardonable of all sins in the preacher. Who spmpa-
thises not with both pastor and people when hearing that
story of the dripping clergyman coming out of the rain
into the old woman's cottage ? " I'm wet through, Nanny,
you see." " Ah, never mind, sir (cruel retort), yell
be dry enough when ye get into the pulpit."—People's
Magazine.

MEXICAN AFFAIRS.—News from Mexico published
by the New York papers, shows that the position of
affairs is not much improved. The authorities at
Mazatlan seized an American steamer, the Forward, on
the plea that she was employed by General Vega. The
captain protested and claimed 1,000 dols. a day
for her detention. It was not known what
course the American authorities would take in
the matter. Colonel Lucas Pinto, an adherent of Lozada,
surrendered himself to the authorities, and was ordered to
appear before Governor Rubi. On the way there he
was shot. The Legislature demanded an explanation,
but the Governor pleaded ignorance.
NEWFOUNDLAND AND THE MOTHER COUNTRY.—
The Newfoundland House of Assembly has addressed
Earl Granville on the withdrawal of troops from the
colony. The memorialists state that capitalists come to
Newfoundland to make fortunes but go to England to
spend them, thus contributing to the revenue of the
mother country, while they leave Newfounnland poor.
The colony, says the address, is unable to provide for its
own defence, as the bulk of its property is owned in Great
Britain. The colonists support their claims by pleading
the devoted loyalty of the people and the position which
Newfoundland occupies with regard to the Atlantic
Cable. Meanwhile the other British American provinces
are somewhat unsettled in their mutual relations. Prince
Edward's Island has, through its legislato:s, rejected the
resolution in favour of confederation with Canada by 19
to 5, and the Nova Scotia House of Assembly has unani-
mously passed a resolution condemning the "national
policy " of the Canadian Government.
A SINGULAR WEDDING.—Much excitement was
caused in a district of the ancient city of York, known as
Walmgate, where the Irish most thickly congregate, by the
marriage, on Thursday, of a couple who, like the city, have
earned the title of ancient. The happy swam was
William Green, a chip hawker, of the age of 83, who had
lost a wife within the last six months ; and the bride was
a widow of the name of Kendall, whose husband died but
a few months ago, and who was just one summer short of
"three score and ten." The church of St. Dennis, at which
the hymenial knot was tied, was crowded during the cere-
mony, and on the happy couple leaving they were saluted
with a perfect shower of emblems of good luck in the shape
of old shoes. The weight of one of these, however,
smashed the cab window, and he who hurled it had to
"pay the piper," and had it not been for the police the
bride and bridegroom had promise of rough usage. The
church bells rang in honour of the marriage of the lovely
couple, who are spending the honeymoon in the parish
which has witnessed them made one.

NOTHING NEW.—Some remarkable cases, once
more testifying that there is nothing new under the sun,
were told to the medical society of London. Mr. Francis
Mason said that in 1790 there was a girl who lived
for two years without eating or drinking, and alluded
to the case of another girl, who, in 1807, was known
as the sleeping beauty, remaining in a state of complete
somnolence frequently for nine days. He spoke also of
remarkable cases of voracious appetite, a patient
eating 379 pounds of food in six days, and of a woman
who ate every day two, and sometimes three, quartern
loaves, besides large quantities of beefsteak. He related
a case of more recent date, 1838, similar to that of the
Siamese twins. The division of the uniting band was
contemplated, but the children died before the operation
could be performed. An inspection after death shewed
how improper such a proceeding would have been, for
although there were two hearts, there was but one enve-
loping membrane or pericardium.

STORY OF A £5 NOTE.—One evening in the last
month a lady called at the shop of one of our Wrexham
tradesmen, and in payment of a small account due to him
tendered a£s note of the Bank of England. He took the
note in his hand to go upstairs to the patent Milner for
the necessary change. It being dusk at the time,
he called to his servant girl to provide him
with a light. She went in a hurry, here,
there, and everywhere, looking for a piece of paper
to light the candle with, but could find none.
Her master, who is a man of authority, and accustomed
to have his orders obeyed instanter lost his temper by her
delay, and, as the sequel shews, this caused another and
to him more serious loss. Knowing his customer was
waiting, and wishing to be " prompt at every call," he,
hurried back to his shop to procure a light,
but as he went, in his hurry, he left the note on the
kitchen table. The girl still continued searching,
and, coming to the place where her master had been
standing, found on the table the very thing she wanted—a
bit of paper. In a twinkling it was twisted up and thrust
into the fire. Her master came back the next moment,
and seeing the lighted paper in her hand, and also ob-
serving that it gave a dun indifferent light, he took it out
of her hand, and with a " pshaw " threw the piece of
"flimsy" into the fire, never dreaming it was the £5
note. The note was instantly missed, but was nowhere
to be found, and the truth was at last made evident
that the girl had made a light of the note, and that
the master completed its destruction by throwing
the remnant into the fire. The tradesman's chagrin was
great when he had to draw from his coffers almost the
whole amount of the note and hand it over to the lady.
For several days the ghost of the note haunted him, and
to get rid of the troublesome destroyer of peace
it was resolved to " take its number " and.
bring it before the authorities. But diligent in-
quiries failed to discover the figures, and it was
determined to lay before the powers that gave it birth a
round unvarnished tale." For this purpose a memorial
was drawn up to the governors and directors of the Bank
of England, Threadneedle-street, London, and signed by
some of the moat influential men in the town. When it
was presented for sio-nature to the gentleman from
whose house the note had been paid, he in the most
handsome manner expressed his sorrow for the luckless
tradesman, and signified his intention of making good
half the loss in case the Bank of England would give
I
no hope. n due time the memorial was presented
to the powers who reside in Threadneulle-street,
and an answer came down which dashed to the
ground all hopes of help from that quarter.
It stated that the rule of the company was, " Never
to pay a note unless they had the means of identifying
it." All hope of securing the " promise to pay " being
demolished by this reply, the gentlemau referred to, at
once handed over half the loss to the unlucky tradesman.
—Wrexham. Advertiser. To the story of our Wrexham
contemporary there is only to be added an expression of
wonder that a£s note could not have been settled "
with less trouble.