Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1879-11-26
Welcome to Cough.

A vast audience assembled at Worcester,
Mass, last week to give q suitable reception
TO their townsmap, Mr.. John B. Cough, on his
arrival home from England. This remark
able man said so many good things in hi'
reply to the address Of welcome by the
mayor, especially touching the progress Of
temperance in Great Britain, that we CLEAN
some Of them for publication. There has
been, said Mr.. Cough, great change
among the people in regard to the temper
ance cause the clergy and other prominent
men are engaged in the work, which is solid,
serious and God-fearing on all sides. There
is no frivolity about it. The use Of wine on
the table is in disfavor, and far better SEN
timent in favor of total abstinence prevails.
Mr.. Cough spoke of the Wasbingtonian
movement in this country thirty-five or forty
years ago, and said it failed because there
was not Christianity in it, and without
Christian support it could not succeed. The
Church of England Temperance Society is
the largest temperance organization in Eng
land; il has fourteen thousand clergymen
pledged to total abstinence. The leading
men of the church and of the medical pro-
fessions are outspoken in their sympathy
with the movement, and some Of the most
eminent physicians do not hesitate to de-
clare that intoxicating liquors are necessary
only in extreme cases Of sickness. Mr..
Cough thought that drunkenness is about
the same, or is on the increase among the
lower classes, and this is what is alarming
the better classes. Beer drinking makes
men brutal great deal of it is drunk by
people who say it is healthful, but it is the
greatest curse of the age, and God forbid
that the people Of the United States ever
become slaves to beer drinking. Men in
England drink twenty or more half-pint
glasses of beer at one sitting, and say they
do not get drunk, but no sane man believes
such a statement. The constant use of beer
brings on new diseases in the human sys-
tenn, and in this way is doing vast injury
to the people. He said the Anglo-Saxon
race is naturally Of mild temper, and re-
sponsive to appeals for sympathy and char
ity, but one would think from the frequent
murders, assaults and other brutal displays
caused by beer-drinking, that the race is
british, and lost to the finer feelings of civ
ilized man. In commercial view the ex-
pense and waste is enormous, and large
per cent Of the money spent for liquor is the
hard earnings of the poor man. He criti-
cised sharply those men who engage in the
liquor traffic, and give their money to build
churches. He would have nothing to do
with such men or such business; they will
find their settlement at the judgment day.
Drink levels all men scholars, men of cul-
ture and men of wealth who become victims
of intemperance, come to a level with the
poorest creatures on earth. 1t is this i'm
mense destroying power Of drink and the
brutality it causes that has awakened the
people Of England and the United States to
the necessity of doing something to counter
act the injury. He was glad to see the peo-
pie in that city oppose the issuing of licenses
for the sale of liquor, and hoped no more
would be given. He would have no COM
promise in the matter, as it don't pay to
compromise with wrong. Reference was
made to whiskey drinking in Scotland,
where the people claim there is less brutal
ity than in England, where beer is drank,
and to the desperate fight men have with
their appetites. Reformed men need and
ought TO receive all the assistance necessary
to hold them up when once they have started
on the right course he knew all about it,
and in vivid language depicted the struggle
which takes place when man gives up his
drink. In speaking of the desire of people
for amusement and recreation, he criticised
sharply the practice Of allowing small chill.
dren to take part in the Pinafore perform
ances, and was sorry to see it announced
that the temperance club was to have dance
at their hall. If the reformed men want to
dance, let them go to dance hall, but, by
all means, keep the club-room dignified. He
would do all he could to assist the reform
clubs, but implored them not to do anything
which will repel people who would like to
assist them. In concluding, he appealed to
young men to avoid the treacherous wine,
and to try and elevate themselves so as to
enjoy the good things Of life, and avoid the
path that leads to shame and death.