A TEMPERANCE ADDRESS.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XIII, Issue 215, 19 October 1878, Page 5

A TEMPERANCE ADDRESS.

The Rev. A. Richards of the United State?, who has been visiting Auckland for the benefit of his health, recently delivered a lecture on Temperance, from which the following is an extract : — He said that he had no eet epeech;; he seldom prepared a speech, but generally took things and thoughts as they came aloug ; he fired without' ordeiy, and hit somebody, He did not- claim to be a Britisherfbufc his ancestors came from England. The question wbiebweß now stirring all Jfingland to/Jtsv foundations was how to remove the' - ;- awful curse of intemperance, which , was sweeping over the earth and hurry-,. iog its thousands annually to deitruc-"' truction. Over Nova Scoliu, New Brunswick, as well as in the United Sta(e3, there was a great tidal wave passing, and the question at ths, heart of every thinking man was what shall be done with the graat rum cursfc, as&gj. called it, which is the greatest curse of the world to-day ? Everythiig seemingly had been done to put down the drink traffic ; still the curse existß. Id aome of the cities and towns of America 1 , attempts/ had been made to drive it out; and, in some instances it had Ween drifen ianderground, but not effectually \deslr6yed. There were plenty of temperance organizations, and they had all done some" good; but,amid these organizations khjd question 1 came up : How can a working andi really effective institution be established — one that shall go to the roofs of the Upas tree ? Hence arose tbe " Temple of Honor," the most-active and successful of temperance* institutions. The brethren of thisNQrder went to tbe apparently lost and depraved, enlisted tbe syrapathips "of men. 1 and womeD, and daily prayed for ihe divine blessing upon their efforts to reclaim t|ie fallen^ and restore them to positions of .trUßfi and honorable exertion. In many instances much persuasion was necessary, and whon brought back the chap lain of the Lodge would put his hand upon the trembling inebriate, and pray fervently to God that he would lea 1 him by His Spirit and strengthen him in his vows,.' The lecturer cited examples of men who had thus been reformed, and who were now a blessing to themselves and to society. The Temple was invariably opened and closed with prayer, a course which he would etrongly recommend. Ona remarkable iDa^auce of the reformation of & drunkard of 22 yearo, living in New London waa pathetically stated. The members had great work in bringing bint to the Temple, but aft6r being im. plored successive y by eleven of them, tbe twelfth man won him over. He head loFt his situation, character, and ail that he possessed in the world exmpt a weeping wife and starving children, but when the prayer went up and the hand of kindness was upon his shoulder, the mm was sensibly struck, eayiug that wa9-the first prayer he believed that had ever. bison dffered up ! to the throne of heaven on his behalf. He then made a solemn pledge uever to touch, the drink again, anri, aa be kept his word, his former employer, Mr .Boiid, re-stored-him to the lucrative position he had formerly held, Mr Richards next tieited of the social and domestic advantage of the system adopted in tbe Temple of. Honour. They had a weekly prayer mealing, alter' which some kaowu drunkard iv the neighbourhood was selected and he had oo peace until brought back iutp the fold of sobriety. He next treated of the general stinginess of total .übatainera, which hasi become a proverbial characteristic of them. It was impossible to keep tho wheels going without grease. In America every member of the Temple contributed bis fair and regular quota towards the. funds ; and every bio. bar, in tbe event of death, had the satisfaction of knowing that his wife and family were provided for. If he (the lecturer") died to-morrow, Mrs Richards would receive from that source 5000 dollars. Hence the Temple of Hocour was the best Life Insurance Company ia the world. He had conversed with the 'Auckland ladies, and they were all struck with tlie one idea, that in all their undertakings end meetings they had neglect, d prayer. He believed thp God was in the movement, and sucoesd was impossible without his help. The lecturer gave a n,qm,ber of facta from his own observation, tanohing the <; rum curse," and cited saveral touching illustrations, permeated wiih American humour, concluding an excellent practical discourse, by persualing all present, who were still trifling with the enemy, to let the driuk alone, and stand ia the face of. nature, of the Churcb, and of Heaven, and vow : "I will neither touch nor taste tbe accursed thing," He sincerely believed that the time would come when the great ' rum curse " would be swept for. ever from tb,a earth, and humanity bo free: