The Wheeling daily register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1864-1878, 1876-01-22
TEMPERANCE ADDRESS.
Delivered Mt North street N. l..
Church, Jan. %, 1875, by Rev. w. &.
r..asxs II go aa@ tN n F Il

,erauce cause was held at the North
treet NJ. E. Church, Thursday evening,
he Goth inst. A number of brief adj
lresses were delivered which were we'll
the audience. The opening
address was delivered by the Rev. VIC.
Griffith, which we publish by request.
The meeting adjourned to meet again in
two weeks from the same evening.
Mr.. Griffith said:
AS a member of the Church of Christ
and especially as a minister of the Cos
pei, am glad to aid in the overthrow
and suppression of every form OF vice.
No Christian can doubt his duty in this
respect, for to be Christian is to be an
enemy to all evil. We are to renounce
sin, the flesh and the devil. and not only
that, but every one who takes upon him
sell the vows OF a Christian covenant
is sporn to labor to the extent of nj;
ability for the overthrow and termina-
ton of all wickedness. The very purpose
and object of the church in the world, is
the extlrpation of sin, and the restoration
of righteousness and holiness. Assum-
ing, as the evil Of intemperance has, such
enormous proportions AS to be called the
curse of the nation, it has been singled
out and made prominent as an object OF
attack both upon the part of Christians
and of those who, though not
Christians, have the social and moral
welfare OF the country at heart. Per-
haps no vice can be compared to this, in
the extent to which it prevails; certainly
not in its destructive and pernicious
effects upon society. "War has des-
troy ed its thousands; intemperance its
tens OF thousands
In order to diminish. and, if possible,
put an end to this great and crying evil,
various organizations, or temperance So
cietles, outside and independent OF the
Church, have, from time to time, been
formed: temperance conventions have
been called, and in some places, what are
known as "liquor crusades," have been
inaugurated, mainly by women. 1t may
be questioned whether these independent
movements have not lessened the activi-
ty of the Church, as Church, In the
cause of temperance.
These bodies have attracted attention
to IL Themselves, as Temperance Reformers;
and, to a considerable degree, attention
has been diverted from the Church as
our agent in the cause. The Church,
herself, has come to rely more upon these
outside appliances than upon her own
power. She has really confded the
whole work to them. This is certainly
wrong.
These bodies them selves, felt the need
of her sympathy and cooperation. They
openly acknowledge their own made
quacy to the task they assume, and now
and then some youthful aspirant to fame
in our temperance conventions, takes &C.
casion to pour out viols of wrath upon
the devoted head OF the church, in de-
clamatory denunciations. That Is not
the best way, however, TO evoke the zeal
of the church Violent and swelling de-
nunciations never made a convert to
temperance; por will it secure the needed
co. operation of any church. What Is
needed is the calm and dispassionate con-
sderation of her duty before God, by the
church herself, within her own walls;
and it would afford me much pleasure to
see meetings similar to this, called IN all
the churches of the city, with that view;
for, just in proportion, as the church
realizes her responsibility to- the
great Head of the church, in
this matter will she put forth
her exertions. Why have the in
dependent bodies, to which l have refer
d-temperance conventions and cru
sades-been formed? Evidently because
there has been an apparent inability on
the part of the Church to cope with the
great evil. Had she been equal to the
emergency, appreherd, mo outside or
ders would have arisen. And why has
she been apparently unequal to the task?
Why have her efforts failed to be COM
mensurate with the demands of the
hour? Why has this great curse swept
over the land, and found Judgment
almost with as much rapid
ity as though no barrier existed2 1t has
been because the Church has failed to
realize her duty.
am one of those who believe tn the
ordained and adequate power for the cure
of all evil Is the Church, and that it is the
only adequate power. 1t is of Divine
origin; it has the Divine blessing upon it,
and to it has been given the promise of
Divine aid and assistance. have no
knowledge that any other body or order
has such a promise; nor do l believe that,
without Divine aid and corporation,
human efforts to suppress vice are avail
able
We are co-workers with God. "Not
by might, nor by power" Now do not
il weigh against any organization for the
amelioration of man, that exist outside of
the church. Wherever they done good,
little or much, l rejoice But no society
or convention is comparable to the liv-
ing child of God for the extinction of
any evil. Every other body necessarily
reforms from the outside. 1t seeks by
pledges, by resolutions, and by agencies
and appliances, mainly human, to bring
about change of habit AS Christians,
we know the iutility Of all such endeav
ors for permanent reformation. / am
ready to concede that good has been done.
You may number the drunkards that
have been reformed by temperance con-
ventions or leagues, land they are not
many you may point to the members
who have been prevented from becoming
l gladly acknowledge all,
and wish the numbers were greater. But
if you speak comparatively, affirm that
no order or organization is the equal of
the Church. l advocate morality; / tell
the liar he ought to cease lying; l urge
the swearer to abandon his habit, but
how much good would have ever been
done in the world, in this way, indepen-
dent of the Church? You might have
established as many schools Of morality
in our country as existed among the an
cient Greeks and Romans, and they
would have done about as much good.
But for the operations of the Church, the
whole nation would be stepped in all
manner of vice. | affirm tha. whsteyer
good has been done IN the cause of tenn