BISHOP HADFIELD ON TOTAL ABSTINENCE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XIII, Issue 4667, 28 October 1876, Page 7

BISHOP HADFIELD ON TOTAL ABSTINENCE.

TO THE EDITOK. Sib,—ln y our *? sue oi tlle 21st instant I read some brief extracts from a speech made bv Bishop Hadfield at a receat meeting of Ke Wellington Diocesan Synod. The subject, "Total Abstinence," ia one in which many of your readers are so strongly Interested, that 1 ask for space in your columns for a few words in reply. To those trho do not receive clerical verbiage with the same benign resignation aa they take phyaic, and who <io not respond " amen" alike to cliring nonsense as to the most profound both, its glare of sophistry will be BuQicient. jt is then to tho unthinking portion that I desire my words to reach, and if my arguments should appear trite you will kiudly remember that they are coeval with the false teaching 3 of moderation, and thus are the most fitting replies. The reverend gentleman recognises drunkenness as a flagrant sin. In Ins eyes the drunkard is a beast, to be scorned, but the man or woman that can [wise the oscillating reed of moderation is" the incarnation of wisdom. Intelligent minds r,re divided as to whether drunkenness be a 1 e:u, a punishment, or the ripe fruit of mis- ' fortune, but so as to meet my opponent on his own ground, I will for the time allow j drunkenness to be a sin. But, if we allow Ihat drunkenness be a sin, -we are bound to admit tbat though there may be many shades of sin, he only who drinks not at all has in this particular washed away his guilt; for fr.iiH whence does drunkenness arise ? Not from total abstinence. Were there no steps of gradation between perfect sobriety aud continued inebriation, the palling abyss would stand out in its true horrors, and in •2j years drunkenness would have disappeared from lack of tbat essential support jrhich it received from moderation. If the drunkard be a beast to be scorned, then that poor wreck of humanity, lying like a filthy t;g in the gutter, that layman, priest, or bishop, as the case may be, sleeping off the effects of a champagne supper, and that elegant and hfghly accomplished lady unconscious from an overdose of " medicinal comfort," are one aud all beasts sunk so low in the scale of degradation as to merit the scorn —of whom ? " Let him -who ia withoni sin cast the first stone." Surely not the scorn of those who drank with them from

the same bottle, but who stopped just at that line where its bewildering lights reveal fallen votaries in exaggerated ugliness. But !Q this life of inconsistencies, all who play with fire are ever ready to anathematize those who burn their fingers, and none hurl t:ronger maledictions against drunkenness, aud loathe the drunkard so heartily, as they who indulge in moderation, and the nearer they approach to the verge of drunkenness the more immoderate become their language and mien. That dipsomaniac was once a firm believer in the fallacy of perfect self-control, and, doubtless, he too denounced the sin, snd scorned the sinner, but ia his self-suffi-ciency forgot : " Let him who thiuketh he iiands take heed lest he fall." So in an evil tour the fatal " drop too much " taken and ihe dignity of niau for ever departed. I irust that the worthy bishop, and all those who are near and dear to him may ever be kept in the path of strict sobriety, but history tells of heroes, prophets, priests, and kings fallen by its power, and everyday experiences prove that neither genius, learning, I position, nor strength is proof against its seductive influence. Like Bishop iladtield I cannot shut my eyea to the existence of iaeir sins, nor do I find that total abstainers ever do. 1 would not assert that chis world purged from every stain of intemperance would be without spot or blemish, but I do contend that the piinciples of total abstinence have raised the moral tone of society in every part of Christendom. If we appeal to those who are competent to judge, we recei%-e ihe assurance that in this day disease, misery, and crime are so intimately related to ' ■ moderation " as to be always in proportion to the amount of intoxicating liquors that are consumed. If ocular demonstration b3 required, go visit those spots that are not cursed with t!ie vile drink traffic. He who jvisdom speaks must live it 100, and they shall garner the largest sheaves who can tell how first they lived, then spoke the true. Did all the combined aDatheuas of '" moderalionists " ever close one of those vile ainkpots of iniquity which load thu moral atmosphere with pestiieutial vapours ? Did the burning eloquence of a wlue sipping pastor ever touch the heart of the inebriate, and convince him of the error of his ways?

•' Sow truth if ye tbe true would reap, for who sows the false shall reap the vaiu." Ministers of the Geapei wield a migtity power for good or for evil, and with them remains the issue. Advanced thinkers are compelled to admit that modern preaching is to a large extent a failure, and are we turprised when we find ineu u , the tiiot rank ao far warped as to declare that it is no part of Christianity to "deal with special sins '! Timidity and lack of honesty repair by salves and plasters. With duu deference i retnrn that cup, for total absiiuence dote give a renewed body by licuntr touching, handling, nor tasting tiie uucleau thing. As the pioneer of Christianity, total abstinence has done, is doing, and is destined to do a mighty work amongst every grade of society. I trust that the itev. jjir. Jdervey may tirosecute his good work, aud Wellington yet be blessed witii a braueL irom the Church of England Temperance Society, which shall take deep root and yield its leaves for the healing of its people.—l am, &c, Auckland, October 23, IS7G.