TEMPERANCE COLUMN.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 20379, 10 April 1928, Page 2

TEMPERANCE COLUMN.

[Th» matter under this treading la pnb listed at 'the request 01, and is supplied try. the United Temperance Relorm Council In pursuance ol the desire to inculcate the principles o( temperance.! “In things useful and beneficial, moderation; in things hurtful or injurious, total abstinence; is the true definition of the biblical word, ‘Temperance. ENKRATEIA: A TALK TO YOUNG PEOPLE. By K. M. B. Stephenson, J.P. I was discussing temperance matters with a lady some time ago, and she said, in a very superior manner, “ I believe in temperance in all things—not total abstinonce.” Now, people who talk like that (and you will find quite a number of them) really don’t know what they say nor whereof they affirm, if they imagine that the word “ temperance ” means simply “ moderation.” Perhaps it does mean that nowadays to some people, but not when our Bible was translated 300 years ago. The Greek word rendered “ temperance is “ Enkrateia,” and there is really no English word strong enough to represent it. “ Self-mastery ” is perhaps the nearest we can get to it, but that is far too weak. It is derived from “ kratos ” (“strength”), and contains the idea of firmness, and of absolutely crushing down and destroying an evil thing. As -a Greek scholar once told me, “it is a steam roller of a word! ” It was the kind of word that frightened Felix. You remember how, “ when Paul reasoned of righteousness, temperance, and judgment to come,” Felix was terrified (R.V.), and simple “ moderation ” would never have done that. I want to tell you something of what two very great poets, who knew the real meaning of the word have to say about it. The first is Dante, who, passing through the terrace of purgatory where the sins of gluttony and drunkenness are punished and purged away, hears a voice speaking to him, and, turning, is overwhelmed by a blaze of crimson light, far more brilliant than any molten glass or metal. It is the Angel of Temperance, glowing with consuming fire, to destroy all evil things, but also with the flame of love (no cold, pale, ascetic figure, but like Milton’s archangel— .

“ Celestal rosy-red, Love’s proper hue ”) He touches Dante’s forehead with his wing, removing the scar of sin upon it, and the aft of that divine pinion is “ae the breeze of a May morning, full of the scent of flowers and grass,” while the blessing is pronounced on those who are masters of their lower nature. (What an exquisite image of what “ true temperance ” means!) And the second is marvellous story of Guyon, in the “ Fierie Queene.” Spenser was a Cambridge scholar, and, of course, knew and his Knight of Temperance, “ who in all shows goodly masteries,” is armed from head to hafel—- “ His carriage was full comely and upright. His countenance demure and temperate, But yet so stern and terrible in sight That cheered his friends and did his foes amate."

It is Guyon who finds the young knight, Mordaunt, dead, by the poisoned cup of the wicked enchantress, Acrasia, and when his wife has slain herself for 1 grief, it is Guyon who has to bury them both and take charge of the helpless bane, whose tiny hands are red with its mother’s blood. And not even Ciuyon can wash out that stain, it is indelible, and all his life tho child must bear the mark of his parents’ sin and folly. The noble Knight of Temperance solemnly vows to Lod that he will never rest until tho tragedy is avenged, and ho has sought' out and punished tho foul sorceress

Meanwhile he loads himself with the dead man’s armour, giving the- babe in charge bo his companion, and sets out on foot on his quest, for his noble steed has been stolen by a cowardly thief while ho was engaged in his deed of mercy. Isn't this just exactly what the temperance folk have to do to-day? To help, if it. may be, the dying; to bury the dead; to protect ■ and care for the orphan; to trudge along -the dusty road of life burdened with other people’s responsibilities :-rthis is twentieth century knighthood, anß the true chivalry of all time. So, all through the seeppd book of the “Faerio Queoue, ’ Guyon ptces afoot, having lost horse and golden saddle and trappings, but not his Queen’s picture, nor his heavenly guide, and they are the things that matter. (His noble charger is restored to, him, but not till long afterwards when his quest is accomplished). After passing through temptations of every kind, he comes at last to the Enchanted Island of Evil Pleasures, at the first entrance of which stands a jolly and apparently ' friendly Genius, with magic staff and a huge “ mazer ” bowl of strong drink, in which he would have Guyon pledge him; but the Knight of “Enkrateia " breaks his staff and overturns his bowl and strides on. At the second gate, all wreathed with a vine bearing many-coloured grapes, sits a lovelv lady, who offers Guyon drink jn a golden cup. How plainly the poet teaches that the poisoned draught opens tho door to every evil thing; and had he meant “moderation,” as some people think, Guyon might have just tasted, and thanked the fair lady. (But ho would have beep changed into a brute) No he dashes the cup from her hand, broken, to the ground, and marches on, with clear eyes and brain, to the very heart of tho Enchanted Gardens, where he takes captive the sorceress and lavs waste her house. Well may J"hn Milton write of “ our sage and serious poet Spenser, whom I dare be known to think a better teacher than Scotus or Aquinas, and who describe true temperance under tho person of Guyon.’’ . It is, indeed, a vigorous virtue!

So if anybody talks nonsense to you about the virtue of taking a little intoxicating stuff moderately, just tell him (or her) what “ Enkrateia ” really means. He that contendeth in the games, masters himself in all things. Tlie word does not occur in the Gospels, but the thing does: If thy right hand cause thee to stumble, cut it off ! If thy right eye is a hindrance to thee, pluck it out. “hat is the ‘temperance” of the New Testament. —“ White Ribbon and Wings. DRY BANQUETS.

A Burns festival banquet without whisky, wine, or even “ tippeny" is hardly thinkable. Yet two such banquets have recently been held, and Burns Clubs generally are reported as moving, more or less slowly, in the “ dry/’ or, at least the “moist,” direction. On these occasions the ghost of Tam o’ Shanter, if present, would certainly take a disgruntled departure. The portent is full of promise; the spirit of wine is recognised as alien both to the spiirt of poetry and the spirit of genuine good fellowship: a truth which may be commended to the consideration of the ancient order of frothblowers, whose cult, by the way, seems to be declining.—Band of Hope Chronicle. MEDICATED WINES.

It was with considerable pleasure we read the strong condemnation of these socalled “ medicated wines” uttered by,Professor Hay, of Liverpool University, at the British Medical Association meetings, Edinburgh. He said: “They all knew that there was on the market a number of so-called medicated wines which were sold to and taken by many people in the belief that there was some peeuliaf tonic property in them. This was not to be wondered at when they saw the advertisements which covered the wines. It was difficult ‘to know how far these wines were ordered or prescribed by the medical profession. The manufacturers said that they were recommended by them, and he believed that there was a certain amount of truth in that. But these wines were to be condemned. They had a high alcoholic content, which was not shown on the bottle. The restorative value was negligible. SUICIDES. Dr Suzanne Serin has just completed a study of 307 cases of suicide in Paris. It shows that the main causes arc psycho pathic states, alcoholism, private cares in curable disease, and poverty. One-third of the cases she regards as of psycho pathetic origin, half of these presented distinct mental abnormalities, including melancholia, dementia procox, epilepsy and trail matic psychoses. The other half showed defective mental balance in alcoholic or epileptic individuals, where suicide was not, she thought, directly related to the alco holism or epilepsy. Another third of the cases. proved directly duo to alcoholism it self, apart from alcoholic mental affee tions.—Lancet, December 4, 1926.