AN APPEAL TO THE CLERGY.

Press, Volume LVI, Issue 10481, 20 October 1899, Page 2

AN APPEAL TO THE CLERGY.

(Published by arrangement.) . I,ia_ appeal to tihe bishops and clergy of car (IT-rri., for it« only when the whole Church wakes up to a sense of ber duty in this matter (the temperance cause) that we way hope ,to meet wit-, success. I do feel <-srt the past conduct of a large number of the dsqgy in irferenca to this question is k-Wed mock to be regretted. After taking a Every interest in the eon-nan welfare of my fatbw working men for upwards of a quarter of a century, and observing the eflscta off the drink curse which has been iarosd upon them, producing, as it does, a truly and awful amount of poverty, misery, cr-ne, cruelties, murders, disease, and sending tans of tho_»nda of human beings to • d-U-kard's grave year by year, to think of she bearing of -his upon their eternal condition, viewing it Sn the fight of the New Testament, and the teaching of the book of Ckm_non Prayer, overwhelm, my soul. I_m btutalU-Og system is the main cause of the mosses being forced into heathenism or even worse; for not only immorality but in_de_ty is rife throughout the country, and how could we expect any other result? When preao___g recently at St. Andrew's C&nzrdh, Anco-ts, the Bishop of Manchester stated that "In a Marjche-ter parish con-wndng 1233 houees, tihe clergyman found as a result of personal enquiries, that -he heads of 907 families openly profeased that neither they nor their housefcdUs attended any plaice of workup. 93 fasn>lie* caßed tbemseflves Church of England people, 94 called themselves Roman Car_o_os, and t_w rest were made up of different d-non—nation., the Wesleyans being strongest with 54 families. The fact that 907 fa___ie_ out of 1233 never attended public worship was a scandal and a pe_il to ' soewty." A <&ergjmm, Who had spent marry years in -hear-ben lands told mc he found on his return ttfiiat ho had jeft civt__atton behind, and come home to barbarism. What a disgrace to our nation. There is a sdhoot in every pariah, and during the last quarter of a century, with the exception of tihe last few years, our country has passed r_rot**h such a period of prosperity as few countries in the world ever did; and yet wo are in this l_merrtaWe condition. The love for strong drink has counteracted to a great extent the effects of the Gospel of C_xi_t, and proved to the world that Christianity in in the nineteenth century, has failed to grapple e_eotu_ny with hnmora-ty and sin. I would earnestly ask those clergy who have hitherto stood aloof from, or in the way of, temperance week, in the name of the suffering, perishing masses to stand in the way no longer, but at least to gi~r*ihe people the opportunity of understanding this question by sermons, lectures, liter_ture, etc. This is not only a moral but a physical question. Intemperance puts a physical impediment in the way of a spiritual ianpreasion. How wmtter-bly sad it is to see so many of one's fellow cre-tures ruined for time, and, I fear, eternity, and in many instances through not having a correct knowledge of this subject. I again appeal <to the energy, in the name of a&l that is good, to come oat like men and take their places right in the front ranks of the TBrnperaneo Army as captains of tens, of ____reo_. or of thousands in their various pariahee. The day has now come when thejr most do it, the state of the country imperatively de__i_jd_ it of them, for the shocking *tf*te of things roontiooed by the Bisfliop of M_ne_ester is but too true a picture of the country generally, as «bown by the recent religious census. Would it not hove been better for mi-ions of English men and women to have been.bom in the darkest corner of heathen Africa where neither Christianity or civilization has ever been heard of? And why? Not because (__ristfcurity and _vi___tio_ are not the greatest of blessings, but because the conditions under which tflsey live are such as to make it practically kopossi-Se for them to benefit by the advantages that would otherwise be the greatest possible blessing to them, and at the cane time they are responsible for these advantages. Some will no doubt say that the dank is God's goad creature, and on that ground jaat-fy the existing tempta-

tions; but suppose a sfliepherd, entrusted with his master's flock;, was to allow a number of W-hres to estabMi .themselves among the sheep and when the master, seeing that his flock was _eiEg destroyed, called him to account for hiis cor_l_ct, t'he man, was to say, "0, sir, don* speak in that way of the wolves, I felt I ougiht to a_ow them to reroa'm in the foSd, because you know, sir, tihey ore Cod's good creatures." I think the injured master would e_y, "Yes, -they may be God's good creatttres, but -bey are out of i-heir place in any .heepfold." What he would do with the _hßp_«rd I will leave the J reader to jud|ge; birt one thing lam certaki of that fee would say it w_s hopeless to aittenrpt to rear a flock under such conditions, Ot_era will say, "Preach t_e Gospel." Ye 3, very good, but __s not that been done, and what are the res_rt3 as far as the masses are concerned? And why is it so? Is it that the Gospel has lost its power? Certainly' not The real reason is that there is a (mighty __Mvplaced 'hirndrance in the way. l The ima_jea _re buried beneath the demoral-ism-g influence of the liquor traffic, fast bound by the Chains of their sins. There is the stone to be taken away, and the grave clothes to be loosed, and for ages <tihe Lord Cod Almighty ihas been calling upon His Church to "Take away the stone," Chat He may give newness of life to the dead in sin; but the Church has turned a deaf ear to the heavenly voice, and has not until lately rebuked the r_ttkj__l sin, but has been to some extent, an apology for its existence, ] and alfcwed it to find a refuge under her shadow. I would therefore invite all who are so disposed to join in a comimon petition to the T_rone of God day by day to send to the secretary of the Church of England Temperance Society, St. Matthew's Branch, for the form of words as used by tihe members of the said Branch. 124