The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1886-01-18
TEMPERANCE MEETING.
Address Delivered by volney 3. cush-
ing Last Evening.

The temperance meeting under the au-
spices of the Woman's Christian Temper
ance Union and the Law and Order League
at the First Free Baptist church last evening
was attended by large number. After
singing by the choir and prayer by Rev. Mr..
Lowden, the pastor, and Mr.. Geo. L. KIM
ball, president of the Law and Order League,
Mr. Volney B. Gushing, the speaker of the
evening, was introduced. Mr.. Cushing has
a pleasing presence and his excellent adj
dress was listened to with close attention.
He spoke in brief as follows:
When an army prepares to attack an
enemy, it first attempts to find out how
strongly it is entrenched: The first thing Tor
the army fighting against lntemperance is TO
ascertain how strong are the entrenchmentS
of our enemy. Alcohol has many useful and
legitimate ends and alcoholic liquor was
thought by the ancients to be the invention
of the gods. Men have always been work
ing to undermine receptions and the people
of former times who believed in this decep-
ton of drink and those of to-day who enter
tain similar belief are terribly deceived.
We are constrained to believe that alcohol is
a curse not blessing, a deception not dis
peller of sorrow, and devil not child OF
God.
How then is our foe entrenched? First he
is entrenched behind appetite, much of which
is lDQeTlUcQ. we diC blO luOAulIC1lto VI tuO
past and the sins of former generations show
themselves in the later 1t is not understood
that fully developed appetite for strong
drink comes to men as an inheritance but
rather that condition under which a moder-
ate indulgence in liquor Will lead to results
with which everybody is familiar. Another
entrenchment of the foe is that of con-
VITALITY or amity. 1t is not strange that a
boy should desire to treat and be thought
generous, and it is not to be wondered at
1xrla, ho f0 drink A how ic mt a
fool and when he sees men he has been
taught to respect, drinking whenever they
are on an excursion or in society, he natural
ly thinks the evil of intemperance not so
black as painted by the temperance fanatics.
Again the foe is intrenched behind avarice.
The love of money, If made subordinate to
higher things is honorable and right, but
great number of men exalt this desire Tor
gold and tolerate evils because they are
profitable. The manufacture and sale OF IN
toxicating liquors Is paying business, 1t IN
wolves a large amount of capital which has
been invested in this pursuit for long time.
Avarice is consequently one of the greatest
obstacles to the army of temperance workers.
siege and long SIEGE Nothing can be ac-
complished by spasmodic effort. The eX-
ertion must be continued and made with en-
thusiasm. Faith in self is means with
lost in trying to subdue an appetite for
drink because he became impatient with
himself Men who have been successful
have had this quality, as had Disraell who
said when hssed in the House of Commons,
''The time will come when you will be glad
to hear me- Above faith in self is faith in
the Deity. God works slowly. Scientists
tell us of the ages during which the world
was forming and the time taken to form the
coal and slate.
Before bringing his address to close, Mr..
Cushing spoke Of the work accomplished by
the women and congratulated his hearers
entirely suppressed in the State, it had been
made difficult thing for men to obtain
liquor. He said that the temperance .ques--
ton is growing in Importance and reminded
the audience that on the conducting OF the
work in this State depended the success of
the movementin the West
Rev. Mr.. Lowden said few words in re-
gard to the work of women and the audience
urac dicnoiccad with tho hanndintinn