The morning star and Catholic messenger., 1874-12-27
In Observation-Disclosures Mathew.
IFatber Nugent I'm Liverpool Times

iFetber Nugeut In Liverpool Times
On the Feast of the Immaculate Concep
the prince of Temperance Apostles
passed from this life to his eternal reward
1t is but eighteen years ago. and still what
gulf of time it seems. Eighteen yeart
ago and all ireland and England incurred
his death. The impress of his great work
stamped e.' ped the land. Tempe,apce societies
hourished in every town and hamlet. So
briefly was the virtue ambitioned by all
classes of men. The Catholic and the Pro
testant We'd the one with the other in the
noble work of self sacrifice, and for once in
the history of the three Kingdoms it might
be said that the people was sober.
Ihe marvellous growth and the gigantic
proportions of the Temperance cause in
Father Mathews time can scarcely be con-
ceived or measured. In Catholic Ireland,
the tree was planted aud the face of the
land was covered with it's branches. In
England, wherever the sound of Father
Mathews voice was beard, there leaped in
the distant land of America, the presence
of Father Mathew gave birth to societies
that live to-day, and bear testimony to the
universal character of his work. But no
sooner had the grave closed DER him, no
sooner had the sorrowing mother dried her
tears for the loss Of the saviour of her SOD,
no sooner had the prodigal mOurned his
spiritual parent, than the holy work of
Temperance scented to fall off a little. The
countless thousands that had knelt and
taken the pledge at the hands of Mathew
began somewhat to forget their promises,
but they remembered the good priest. So
long as his name was numbered amongst
the living, SO long did men remain true to
the cause and to themselves, but when he
was called away from them, then the mem
ory of his labors began to fade. For that
falling off the blame is almost entirely at
tachable to the frailty of our wretched hu-
nan nature, and the want of sufficiently
steadfast organization. How are things
now Look on the face of society in this
year of grace, and what picture presents
itself Drunkenness oerspreads the land,
and in it's wake are mingled irrelgiop,
crime, and poverty. Glance for a moment
at the history of twenty years ago. Con-
trast the two Ieriods, and honestly draw
your conclusions. 1t il as evident as the
midday sun, that drunkenness is one of
the greatest vices of the age. Its effects are
patent to the world. Are cur churches
empty7 Go seek the cause in the prevail
ing orgies of the Saturday bacchanalians.
Are our schools but thinly attended
Question the mother as to the drunken
answer in, her own daily life. Is our
criminal list day by day growing greater 2
Search for the truth in the coroners' in
quests, and in the summing up of the
judge or, if you prefer it, pass an hour
with the culpIit in his prison, or with the
condemned in his o.,ll. Should you be
compassionate, spend a few hours in the
pruper-houses of the three Kingdoms and,
if your nerves are steeled, creep through
the galleries of lunatic asylum and gaze
on the wreck of reason, and then peruse
the official and medical Statistics. When
you have accomplished one of those tasks,
look back on the life and times of Father
Makhnw Coo hot ie<o Tod !;
work and see what results were effected.
The guiding motive of the life of
Father Mathew was his love for souls,
and prayer was his weapon. If taking
the pledge made the man no better a
Catholic, and the Catholic no better q man,
would be vain. Experience, however, and
the testimony of many of the priests of the
Church, demonstrate that the cause es.
poused by Father Mathew is a holy and re-
ligious one. Did Ireland's noble son strHg-
gle for shadows Z Assuredly not. Has
Father Matthew's work died out altogether
amongst usf Certainly not. The fabors
of his life have not been lost aad his
prayers were not offered up IL vain. Fol
though the clouds of mans intellect and
reason may have withered and dried up for
a time the good seed of Temperance, still
the prayers of the faithful priest have as
cended to the throne of God, and as this
the Feast of Mary immaculate, so let vi
hope that she, the Mother of Purity, viii
plead the cause of one who during his lif,
bonored her and sought with all the eager
ness of his soul to win the hearts of mer
towards her purity and faith. "'Tis tht
work of God," said his Lordship the Bishoi
of Stafford, and the words find n responsiy,
echo in the hearts of many thousands o
the children of the Church. The spirit o
Father Mathew still breathes and live
amongst us, and to-day the Cathol
Leagues and =Crnsades are striking doe
their roots, are organizing themselves int
firm and serried ranks, and promise t.
rival the days that gladdened the heart G
u Mathew. In the great seaport of Liver
pool, the children of st. Patrick have re
vivified the cause of Temperance, and ther
it found its spring-time. Not quickly, per
haps, but surely, the movement has sprea
and is spreading, and almost every town c
busy Lancashire has now . branch of tn
Crusade or of the League. London ha
been long laboring in the cause under tn
illustrious Archbishop of Westminster