LECTURE.

Evening Star, Issue 4162, 29 June 1876, Page 4

LECTURE.

" Certain Social Evils " was the subject of a lecture delivered by the Rev. Dr. Koseby <m Sunday evening last. The lecturer began by speakug of man's social nature, its benefits and its powerful influence. He then went on to show how tho social principle had been perverted, debased, and abused. He spoke of the terrible .affinities of sin. Bat, he continued, ?t was a bitter reflection I Mat the most frequent instances of vice | arose from the abuse of impulses which were in themselves -natural and .innocent. Love •f activity, the desire of lively excitement and enjoyment-what could be more innocent than that? Yet most instances of vice arose under the influence of society, simply from tbat source. Bmt, turning now (said the lecturer) to a meoifie consideration of some of those social evils of which-he had just been speaking in oeneral, it would surprise no one that ho jriaeed first in the enumeration the habit of social drinking. The lecturer then spoke of the extent to which this, habit pervaded Bocictt life. Every occasion of congratulation and festivity was made an occasion of drinking. The baptism and wedding, the daily meal, the fireside chat, their social and domestic gatherings, work and amusement, business and bargains, oontract and release, the beginning of an undertaking and its completion,- meetings and partings, health, sickness, and death—all furnished occasions of social drinking. And the aggregate of these ! occasions was really very serious. Some of them perhaps would be startled te hear that they in New Zealand contrived to spend such a sum annually in drink as, supposing the sutire community to be grouped into families of five persons each, would amount for each such family to a sum of 12s per week. Such an averago,| of course, represented an enormous excess on the part of thousands of the.r fellow-colonists. And to what ena? He (the lecturer) did not care to deny that there was a small number for whom these narcotic stimulants might be necessary, and of course there was a large number who so used them as to suffer no appreciable harm ; but what were they to say of the rest ? He {the lecturer) forclose declamation -.the facts spoke lor themselves ; 'they stood in no need of any weak rhetoric of his. And obr iwve (he continued) the Btronghold of this evil was their social life. And il he might say so, its very citadel was five custom of inviting others, on all and snndry occasions, without rhyme or reason, fc> come and have a drink—the custom of feestingi The rev. gentleman urged his Inarers to discourage, and endeavor to restrain this universal custom of social drinking, and especially to discountenance the Irabit of treating. They prayed for the ««ming of Christ's kingdom; he would like to know what hindered its coming if the «R3toms to which he had referred did not. Me prayed them to do their best to get at ~, teasjb that lumbering ' obstacle pushed out ««f tfceway. . , ~ The next class of social evils to whieh he would refer was one which arose out of man's desire for amusement. That desire was, in itself, of course, not only most innoceat, but was the means of supplying a real want in the human economy. Recreation was as necessary for man as work, and. recreation of some sort or ether they would find all men seeking. Some sought it in very pe<. uliar forms, but all in some form. He believed thnre w<. re some people to Whcm a series of prayermtetings.was as really a recreative relief from labor as a golf tournament. Nay, he be.ieved there might be as much dissipation in frequent atteiidauee upon crowded and excited religious meetings as in attendance. at. a ball, lie t-olieved multitudes of care less unspiritual souls attended revival meet ings for exactly the same leason—love of excitement as "others went to the play. Such was tne universal crav.ng for excitement, and so strange sometimes the forms in which it wub pursued ! It was not wonderful that among these foiins of excitement ?j that of games of chance four d a very early place in man b Eocial development. ITiere was always a degree of excitement in watching the event of a chance. A nd when that event was: made the means of deciding something of considerable interest to one's self, the excitement might be raised to a v,ery high pitch indeed. How far such ...:. games., might,be considered harmless was a question really impossible of ~ solution, for while there were some to whom they were ' not dangerous at all, there were others to whom nearly all iorms and degrees of, Such games presented a fatal temptation to excess. How serious a temptation they often presented, especially to the young, they all knew, alas, too well. He (the lecturer) could not but regard with deep sorrow the strong inducements held out in -this community to • draw men into the practice of gaming. He observed that one publichouse after another had taken occasion to advertise its three month's billiard tournament,"" prices for . the. million, at sixpence a break;" and he observed, too, that one Loan and Discount Society after another had opened its doore to the million, to provide, among other uses, the wherewithal to stake upon the event of these contests. It was easy to predict what the effect would be in the case •' of scores of the young and thoughtless. They would not know where they were till they found themselves confirmed gamblers. The lecturer then, speaking of the best ; means of discouraging a social mischief like that of gamiug, said he knew no effective method of discouraging betting but never to bet one's self. Men held strange notions on the subject of example. Few men had a sufficiently nice discrimination to distinguish degrees. They that if to stake a certain amount was narmless, there could be no-, harm in Btaking double or ten times the amount. And, indeed, he (the lecturer) thought it would puzzle some ef them to set forth themselves the grounds of the mischievous casuistry by which they sought to establish a distinction, •f the theatre (continued the lecturer) he might speak in the same strain as he had spoken of gaming. The ideas of the theatro was innocent and even noble. But he was afraid, taking the stage as it was, it would be difficult for any man who feared God and wisely loved his fellow-men to say much in its favor. The third social evil reviewed by the leoturer was what might be designated Fashion —extravagant personal expenditure. The leoturer showed, on economic grounds, on considerations connected with labor and production, that such expenditure was wrong. There was no tioh in oither morals, science, or religion, forspending moneyinmereluxurywhichmight be spent in providing food for the hungry and clothing for the naked. '' In duo time," continued the lecturer, quoting,from Ruskin, ''when we have nothing better to set people to work at, it may bo right to let them make lace and out jewels ; but, as long as there are any who have no blankets for their beds and no 1 rags for their bodies, so long it is blanket making and tailoring we must set people to ■. work at—not lace. The last evil dwelt upon by the lecturer was that known by pre-eminence as the social evil. The lecturer spoke with delicate reserve, and yet plainly, concerning its prevalence, its gravity, and the sad interior ' M&tory of fraud, treachery, and wickedness i ..•• - j ; -' je|tioii (hased on tie. ground of morality and

religion, of the national "safety, and bf'indf-1 vidual character) of such endeavors as he ' had jnst been making, to point ont sjjots of moral and alarming disease, manifest in their social life, and their appropriate remedies.