ALCOHOLOGY.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 368, 20 April 1910, Page 8

ALCOHOLOGY.

I WATER, WIT AND WISDOM. \ (Publisliou by ArriingL-uu-nt). All these virtues and graces were exhibited in the life and suyings of that great and good man, Sir Wilfrid Lawson, whose .portrait' may now be seen in a shop window hi Devon street. As an exponent of the benefits derivable from water, as a beverage to the total ex- / elusion of all intoxicants, Sir Wilfrid I stands out prominently for both precept | and practice; or, rather, to reverse the order, practice and precept, for he pracI tised total abstinence before he did J much in the way of advocating it. The i son of a baronet who in his turn was the descendant of a Jong line of baronets, lie might lay> claim to distinction ! on account of his birth; but his claim |is on much, higher grounds—on what he I was and on what he did. As an opponj ent of alcoholic liquws as beverages, he followed in, the way of his father, when ! a teetotaller had a great deal more to | put up with in the way of scornful opI position tha,n in tliese days, he may I claim a leading place. He was never a I scholar at any .public school or univer- ] sity, but by private tuition and stuuy ' lie became a ripe scholar, turning all , his. abilities into the channels of public service., Sir Wilfrid (then Mr. Wilfrid) entered Parliament, in 1859, and with I one or two short intervals, was a memvber. of the House until his death, and , was from the, very first an outspoken , advocate-of. all progressive liberal measures,; being chiefly noted for his steady : jadivpcacji of teniperance legislation, free,j,trade,);,peac.e, religious equality, electoral .reform arid opposition to the House of VLoi'ds.;, It was,,.however, on the temperance, .question that he, was chiefly regarded as the. leader; from 1802 until iris death he. w.as, the.great Parliamentary ■ advocate of no-license; he used to say .that-every temperance reformer came to the.house with a new licensing Bill in his sjeeve,,but he (Sir Wilfrid) had none, for lie wanted "no" license for the sale ,of;alcohol. No one ever doubted his ■ sincerity and eErnestness as a teetotal- . ler, But he was also the best answer ■i:to. those,;: who regard total abstinence from, alcohol as a kill-joy. No one saw the fun and pleasure of life better than -he, his;wit and his wisdom went hand , in;. hand; as, one who knew him intivmately (Mr. E. ■>~ Horyoake) said: "Sir Wilfrid'never jested with principle, and he never'gave us a- jest instead of a .principle." ,He always went the straight road; and proved the truth of one of his own, proverbs: "No man ever got 'lost,on the straight road." Sir Wilfrid Lawson may be truly said to have died in harness. He-was at his post in the Commons on the Thursday and died on the ■following Sunday, respected and • lamented by alb parties. He had opponents, but no enemies. At his funeral services in Westminster and also at his Cumberland home, where he was buried, were gathered of the noblest and best in the land: Premier, Cabinet Ministers, Lords, Commoners, reformers and philanthropists. His name is henceforward inscribed with those who sought not •fame but a place for useful service; with Father Mathew, Archbishop Temple, sir B. W. Richardson, Lord Shaftesbury, and the long list of those who served their day with all faithfulness. Of him we may say that he was one "who never turned his back but marched breast forward; never doubted clouds would break; never dreamed, though right were worsted, wrong would tri-1 iimph; held we fall to rise, are baffled i to fight better, sleep to wake."