The Blackpool Herald. — 1886-05-28 (Blackpool, Lancashire, England)

OBJECT OF THE MEETING. The Chairman said although the annual meeting was held the first Monday in March, he had convened that meeting directly after the election of representatives, in order to get the new members into harness, and that they might have a taste of the work that had to be done. He was glad to see so many laymen present.  Letters were presented to the meeting from various gentlemen who were unable to attend. Mr. George Curwen, of Fleetwood, in apologising for not being able to be present, expressed himself strongly in favour of the first clause in the rules of the Churuh of England Temperance Society —that of total Abstinence—and hoped somethin g might be dont to establish temperance missions in the district.  Men's Christian Association,- or in some other way had been nobly occupied, what a blessing it would have been to him. Mr. Balmer proceeded to speak of the Kirkham murderer. What a terrible plight that man was in to-day A few weeks ago they would have said, had he foretold what would happen, "Is thy servant a dog that he should do this thing ?" Last Sunday, if they had met that youth who perished in the sea, and was now in his grave, he would perhaps have laughed at their warning and asked the same question. Therein lay our danger. The Kirkham murderer was in circumstances somewhat different to the youth he had spoken of, , and his case was so complex and painful that it was not in any wise desirable to recount the circumstances. It was sufficient to say that there were one or two elements in his CaBo which we should not overlook. First, he formed an illegal companionship with a woman who was not his wife. He did not say who was the greater sinner—the man or the woman—he was not their judge ; but the man seemed to have gone wrong—he would not say did go wrong, because the case was yet to come up for judgment—by forming an evil companionship. He (the preacher) was often concerned for the young people of Blackpool, for, as a lady once said to him, it was easy to sin through the doors of pleasure in these days, and that beautiful town, with its charming air and glorious sea, might become the occasion of moral ruin. According to the public report, the man was troubled with debt. He did not say that a man should never be in debt, because he thought it was as well sometimes for us to trust one another, and there were moments in the lives of the best men when they had to borrow money, but he did say that debt whenever it could be avoided should be avoided. It was a heavy millatone It became the occasion of many a struggle, and was often followed by bad conclusions. After referring to a recent suicide at Birmingham, the preacher stated that debt, extravagant living, evil companionships, the want of proper self • control, and the failure to submit to the controlling influence of God were followed by shipwreck, by the wreck of body, of material interests, and of soul. Mr. Balmer then held up as examples to young men Abraham Lincoln, James Garfield, and Joseph Arch, the lastnamed of whom he (the preachet) would set before a dozen lords. Speaking of Mr. Arch's history, as detailed in his speech in the House of Commons, he said he believed with him that we should make it as easy for a man to be a member of a Board of Guardians as a Member of Parliament. They made strange men guardians—in that locality at any rate. Proceeding, he said he wanted the young men to see that there was a glorious path before them. They must remember that godlessness was wickedness and misery, but godliness with contentment was great gain. Let them look at the case of that poor fellow who recently committed suicide in their own town. At the inquest a woman said she thought he must have gone upstairs and got a razor while she was fetching the brandy. Was there nothing in that? The man was low spirited, and there were few things that made men low spirited like brandy. It , lowered the action of the heart. This was not a mere teetotal theory, but a scientific fact. It at first raised the action of the heart, and in some emergencies it might serve a valuable purpose, but it would be found that when it raised the action it would sink lower than it was at the start. Having mentioned the large number of recent suicides and attempted suicides, the preacher said we ought to wrestle with the drink demon as a man would wrestle with a tiger or any wild beast that was threatening to devour his family. They should be in earnest to stop the desolation. One thing he observed was that when men went wrong they were not prepared to accept the consequences of their wrong doing. The man at Kirkham had gone wrong. Why did he not face it up ? He pitied the man for going wrong, but why should he have involved his innocent children in his suffering, in that awful crime? Be should have faced his difficulties like a man. There were plenty of ways of dealing with them without committing murder. If they should go wrong, if they had I gone wrong, dont let them do another wrong to make up for it, Let them face the mistake with the manly resolution to do the beat they could to make amends for it. The rev, gentleman concluded his discourse—which lasted an hour—with an earnest appeal to his hearers to come to the cross of Christ and accept him as their saviour.  - -