LONG BUSH.

Southland Times, Issue 1234, 8 April 1870, Page 3

LONG BUSH.

(FROM OTTB OWS COBBESPOKDENT.) The, Rev. Mr Stobo lectured thii evenihg in the school-room on the sub. )ect of total abstinence. The rev "lecturer was introduced by the Rev. T Alexander, who intimated that he him self was principally concerned in getting Mr Stobo to address the people of Long Bush on the subject of total abstinence with the view of erecting a standard o: opposition to the increasing evil of in temperance in the district. He hopec that their 6wn convictions, strengthenec by the expositions of his friend, woulc result that evening in the formation of t hand in connection with either of th< societies in town, whose object it is tc cheek intemperance. Mr Stobo was received with cordia marks of esteem by an audience of ovei seventy persons— chiefly young men. Few ladies graced the meeting, doubtless owing to the severity of the weather. The lecturer treated his subject in its religious, social, physiological, and political aspects. "Whatever inferences might be wrested from certain portions oi the scriptures, he said, it was undeniable that temperance was classed among Christian virtues, and that intemperance, or drunkenness, which in Eastern countries is rare, was branded as a vice of the deepest dye. "We were explicitly told' that "a drunkard cannot enter the kingdom' of Heaven." He would not multiply passages to confirm the truth of -what he advanced, a few would suffice. After quoting a few apposite portions of scripture, the lecturer entered on the social bearing of the question. He gave a historical sketch of the intemperate habits of our ancestors, from the time when it was considered a gentlemanly accomplishment to be able to drink deeply, and when to retire sober from a convivial party was stigmatised as effeminate and degenerate. Intemperance was then by no means . confined to a particular class of society — it was a national characteristic. A gradual improvement was to be noted in each successive generation, but not commensurate with the enlightenment of the people,' Certain prejudices became engrained in the national mind, and this vice had left many relics of its preponderance. A bargain cannot be concluded, a friend cannot be entertained, a marriage cannot be solemnized, a child cannot be baptized, not even a deceased friend interred, without the use of intoxicating liquors. On each and all of these occasions the custom is unnecessary and undesirable— on some positively disgraceful. These customs were the relics of a bygone barbarism, and it should be an object with us to erase them from our national habits. And if it was incumbent on us as Christians and patriots to suppress what is called the use of intoxicating liquors, how much more their abuse ? But from what was called their use sprang what all acknowledge as their abuse— drunkenness, which entailed so much misery on families, and originated discord among friends. It was a question often asked, " "When was a man drank ?" All admitted that when physically and mentally incapable through the use of intoxicating liquors, a man was drunk. Some would allow that when either the mental or physical faculties were prostrated, a man was drunk. But he would go farther still, and say that when by imbibing alcoholic liquors, the reason in the, slightest degree lost its jußt control over the passions, a man was intoxicated. And to insure himself against that, a man must become a total abstainer. He had searched for other means of counteracting that evil, but couldfind none. The rev. gentleman enlarged on the social evil of intemperance, and enlivened this portion of his address with several anecdotes of a ludicrous character that excited the resibility of his audience to an extraordinary degree. He then entered on the deleterious effects of intoxicating liquors on the physical constitution of man, remarking at the same time that a sound body was necessary to a sound mind. People, when cold, took alcoholic drinks to excite heat. There could be no question that spirits administered to persons perishing from cold had produced excellent medicinal effects. The medical profession found alcohol in many and various cases a most valuable drug. Everyone knew that the mo3fc virulent poisons in the hands of a medical practitioner were of invaluable service to man, but drugs should never be taken as food or beverage. Thus taken the body became impervious to their medicinal virtues. The heat of the body was maintained by a slow process of combustion, produced by the union of the inhaled oxygen of the air with the carbon of the body. The blood was diffused in the lungs to be exposed to the air we breathe, and there the carbon in the blood came in contact with the oxygen in the air we breathe. Alcohol imbibed was immediately absorbed into the blood, and: took precedence of the natural carbon in mingling with the oxygen inhaled. An extraneous heat of a violent nature was theresult. and the blood passed from the lungs charged with the carbon that should have been there consumed. This foul blood was carried over the body, and showed itself in the red and purple hue, and the bloated face of the drunkard. This could not fail to be prejudicial to health : it too frequently wasthe cause of death. The lecturer gave some statistics of parishes in Scotland where no licenses to sell drink were granted, comparing these with others where licensed houses were open, showing the difference in the local poor rates to be much in fkvor of the parishes free of licensed houses. He then passed to an account of the value of the spirits consumed in this province, which seemed enormous. He spoke at large of the unproductive character of the industry of producing and selling spirituous liquors, aa3 finished by declaring it was a disgrace to- a Christian government to be so largely supported by the vices of the eommunit j. 'Mr Eraser, of the Society

of the Sons of Temperance, being present, was called by Mr Stobo to address the meeting. Mr Eraser explained the basis on which their society was founded, and invited the audience to join it. No less than seventeen pledged themselves to teetotalistn, and many more intend to join the band. Mr Alexander, on behalf of the meeting, thanked Mr Stobo foi the interest he was taking in their welfare, and for the able lecture to which they had listened. The most profound attention was given to the lecturer throughout the whole evening, and not a few who would have scoffed at the idea of such a movement here, left with altered feelings. March 31st.