The Shropshire Examiner and all round the Wrekin advertiser. — 1874-12-12 (Wenlock, Shropshire, England)

LADIES, AND THE BEER.  The way in which the industrial classes have been blamed for increasing the revenue by drinking intoxicants, must have been observed by most people, and whilst it would be idle to deny but that they can do their share of it, yet, we have had a strong conviction for some time past that the blame has been put too much to one class, whilst the other has been sheltered by the powerful influences which those who have gold generally manage to secure for themselves. However, truth, like murder, will leak out in time; and we must confess to a feeling of pleasure,when, at a vestry meeting of the Church of England Temperance Society, Canon Mather, alluding to the drinking customs of society, observed that the evil was to be found not only amongst the working classes,lant in the upper classes of society. He himself knew of five ladies of Clifton who had become so addicted to it, that they could not govern themselves. And we will add to the worthy Canon's remarks, " had become habitual drunkards." New we have no wish ta exult over such a lamentable fact, but, taking the Canon's remarks as true, what a state society must be in at Clifton, if the Canon knows "five ladies" who cannot govern themselves in this most important matter of "takings glass." No one would suppose that Canon Mather said what was not true, nor would anyone disbelieve that what he has seen, must have been hurtful to a naan ,  of his standing in soci,ty. He has charge of one oft most fashionable as well as the richest churches in Ibis tot. We accept his statement as being absolutely true, tsei we believe his assertion was not made without positive proof. Such being the case, what can we think of our aiistocratic neighbours? It is an old saying "That people who live in glass houses should never threw stones," and we trust that when the Bishop of the diocese feels disposed to prate about the drunkenness and the brutality of the working classes, he will think of that statement of Canon Mather. We should advise his lorfi. ship to become a total abstainer before lending himself to advocate temperance to the people whilst he sticks to his glass of " Old Port," like some monk of old. The Bristol Scripture Readers' Association has a fine field before it, and we would suggest that, in place of havi4 an Hospital Sanday, as has been suggested, that seal lection be made through all the factories and workshops in the city, for the purpose of employing some rrfined City Missioner or Smipture Reader, to teach "Society. the way it ought to go. There are some sixty churches in the city, and if we take Canon Mother's as a fair sample of the whole, we shell have a small army of three hundred tipplers. We would rather it we, not so; we believe that it could not be said of them all, but, taking the Canon's assertion, we he. lieve it to reveal a state of society few could conccive of. We care not to throw stones at such people, but if education, if wealth, and all the luxuries that spring from it, produce such a moral cancer, what woad, that the ill-fed, the badly-clothed, and over.worked man or woman should fall into bad habits, and sometimes give way to those coarse habits which are ins great measure due to the circumstances which surroundthem. Let then those who rail at others look at home, and those datk blots on our social system may then be erased. We return our thanks to the Rev. Canon, and trust that his manly and out-spoken utterance will lead to a reform where it is sadly needed.