"THE COMING MAN."

Colonist, Volume XXVIII, Issue 4085, 12 March 1885, Page 3

"THE COMING MAN."

Nearly seven hundred persons assembled in the Provincial Hall Jast night to hear MrE. T. Booth deliver his address on " the Coming Man." On the platform weie the RevF. I. Jones, Rev. L. Moore, Rev. H. J. Lewis, Mr Fearnley, Mr J. Holloway, Mr T. Field, and Mr Piper. The Rev C. W. Jennings prasided, and the Rev, Ji..Moore and Mr T. Field conducted the praying and; reading; ■.■ " „:'•'•,.( Mr Booth was received with much applause, and after .a., few introductory remarks and hurnorousaiiecdotes bearing da the. sharpness of boys of the present day, he said speaking On the „ , ; ■■:.'■■■■: '■■'•: ''PRESENT KESPONSIBILITY. ' ; Trie present generation has a great responsibility resting upon them 'as to what the future man should be-.; Emerson .says that •we are fired'with a hope to reform men r but, 'that after many failures we'find that we must begin earlier in the school, but we must begin earlier, still in. the. home. ; This,,is, pnly another way of,saying preyentipn js, better than cure.' How to cure was the old problem in medicine, how to,-pr, event, is the question of modern science. ' Save the drunkard, and cure his.appetite, was: the old cry. Educate the young; 'and thus, prevent their acquiring the appetite, is the demand of to-day; Formationnot reformation;'shbuld'rbe'sthe watchword of.every home, and school.,; (Ax>plause.) THE HOME AND THE SCHOOL. ' ' I have my own opinion as .to what should be taught in the,home.and in the,school: ; ,; I belieVe it is the.jiiace'of the school to make a manlea'rned.1' 'Ikriow'that'itis the^lace of the home :to' rhake'-him'good.! The school should fit him ;to meet and bear the response bilities of his age, the home must provide him with a character which .will; enable him to run the real race .of fife;* but that schobU ing is incomplejie, and,that, home .culture, is; unfinished, which does- not comprehend a thorough knowledge of the nature and effects of alcohol. If you ask why it is that there are not more of the learned engaged in this reform, why there are not more ministers burling the thunders of the pulpit against "'drink'1, a rid" more" of the wise" writing and pleading on our behalf, my answer .is, thai in the past children have been brought up in the home, passed through the Sunday*school, and graduated in the universities without one word'oi warning from this, their greatest foe. What"would you think of mej a father, who has.already reached the summit of lifeV journey,"and has begun the descent of the sunny side" who has found at every stop deadly, pitfalls and yawning chasms, and on either hand fiery serpents of temptation- serpents in whose coils this body has quivered as,did tlae body of Laoeoon in tbe toils of the Python. What woald you think if I were to say I am going to let my boys start out on thia same journey of life without one word of warning of these pitfalls, or one weapon lor their defence. Now, I could understand this ignoring the power of strong drink were it a respecter of' persons, if it had an/ regard' whatever for birth, wealth, or■ genius. I could understand this silence il it passed by the aoble, and lingered not with the good; if only the poor and ignorant were touched and hurt by it; but no, it is the one universal leveller of the age, the dynamite of society. The scholar and fooL are alikeaffeclled by it, and it will down a'bishop as' quickly

as it*will a chimney sweep. Yes;,the rich and thei poor, the learned and the ignorant, are alike destroyed by a thing tbey'have never been taught to fear. , - AN' AM'EATj-TO WOMEN. Now, this reform ■in a peculiar way appeals Jto woman, in a peculiar way appeals., to the mother. It would'lead back her loved ones who have strayed, it would restore to her heart audi home those joys of which she had'been robbed. It comes to her young with' a chart,! of' the, sea of life; a sea wide and terrible,, bub - upon which all must sail a long i and eventful voyage. The wise maysuffer wreck, the foolish must. 'It comes' "with* this chart, containing all' the rocks ■ of danger and treacherous shoals. And it, places the Cross, the lighthouse of the world, at'the entrance of that haven" where they can anchor to trie rock >vithiri the veil, and though the storms may wrenchafad'toss,- and the tides, swing them in their ebb and flow,"'yet. they shall not be mfqved. Mothers—God has given you a''Wonderful power; the power to fashion the mind of the Coming Man.; He has bestowed uponyou~this"power to a degree he has not upon the father. It is a wonderfulhonor, a glorious distinction, and the wise men of the world^have recognised it in every} age. We honour the man that gives to the world a beautiful painting or a magnificetit statue, and we wreathe his brow with laurels, and his name finds a place in history. And how much more should we honour the mother. " The marble will crumble away to dust,:,and the painting roll- together;:as _ a scroll, but the mind that she fashions will live for all time, throughout all eternity, and this power, mother, you cannot delegate to another:"' No,teacher, no priest, no living soul can fashion the mind of your child as you' can. WHAT IS EXPECTED OP THE CHURCII AND , SCHOOL. But the church and the school must sup-' i pie merit? the work of- thcihoaie;. From the pulpit arid'in the Sunday schooi; the claims; of our reform must be continually presented;; and whilst teaching the young to hate pro-' fauity, gambling, arid licentiousness, teach '-them: to avoid s)rorig drink as a sin against }!God"arid'ihan^ along with holiness teach temperance. RELIGIOUS EDUCATION IN. SCHOOLS. It is not within my province to deal witlv the question of religious education in..public schools. ' I mean the particular ' kind; of religious instruction that (should be given! in State schools; the person to give such instruction, the hours when and the amount of time, to be devoted are questions.i:with which I have nothing to do. But the Bible—the word of the living Grid to dying men—should at all times and everywhere find a place in the public school. (Applause.) The Bible does not belong to. any one,sect; its truths and teachings are not for any one locality.;^ it is the book universal for all time, and fA all mankind. And I have a right to demaua that the coming .man, the coming generations, shall not be cut off from its teachings. Keep the Bible in the school. Oh, but, says one, would you force a teacher who did not believe.in the B.ible„to read ifc daily ? No; I: would riot. TO'ißieet that case, and all like it, I would suggest ttiao the children of each school or section be permitted to select and nominate their-own reader from among themselves, and you can depend upon it that 'the children will not go wrong. They will select one who will read God's Word with dignity and reverence. DO NOT WttHHOLp' THE BIBLE. Ladies and gentlemen, I have Btudied, this question from every aspect, and iv many parts of the world, and I give you, as my most profound conviction, that you can do no greater violence to the will of God, arid no greater injury to the minds of the children, than by withholding the Bible from the public school. (Cheers.) Throw it out', and you give a slap in the face to Him who said, li Suffer little children to come unto, me, and forbid them not." And where,'l ask, are: they to find Him, His teaching?, and His truths in all their purity, if not in 'the Holy Bible ? Certainly not in the poor examples we set by our imperfect lives. I believe that when yon refuse to include the5 reading of the Bible along with the teaching of the arts and sciences, you rob the child of his birthright, and you orphan, him for time, and perhaps for eternity. . Nowhere else on this disquieted earth, iri no other book given, is there to be found an answer to the most solemn question that the soul of man has ever asked, or the mercy of God has ever answered! " What must I do to be saved?" Teach the child the necessity of the question, and give him free access to its only solution. TEACH THE TRUTH ABOUT ALCOHOL. But next to the Bible and its truths, I would have the truth about alcohol taught to every child. I would have a law that would make it obligatory for e^ery teacher to teach it in the regular curriculum of the school. Along with reading, writing, and spelling, I would have hygiene and physiology taught, with a special reference to alcohol—what it will -do for man, and what it will make man do to man. Give the coming man this knowledge, and the traffic that you refuse to destroy, on moral and religious grounds, he will [.destroy on. secular and .scientific grounds. I am not asking your authorities to undertake some new and untried scheme, but one that has been weighed in the balance, and nowhere found wanting. So completely has it met the case, and th-3 hopes of its friends, that no one has been found to suggest the slightest change. Five of the great States of America, including the empire State of New York, have passed a law that compelled the teachers in all the public schools to leach, and all the children to learn, the Alpha arid Omega of the liquor traffic ; 500,000 children in the State of New York are learning to-day all that it can do for the bodies and souls of men. Now, we have a right to demand such a law for this colony. The only education that the majority .of your children will receive will be m your public schools—schools that are regulated by the GoYernrhent. Now, the' State requires, every citizen to be.,honest, upright, and' obedient to the law of the land; Wilf the knowledge of geography make a man honest? Will the ability to write a beautiful ' rourid ■ hand make hiiri upright ? ojr because,he can spell correctly, will he be obedient, just, and good ? No, not by;.any "means—never; Now, I don't wish to under:. '■ Value these things, for 1 know tlie; value of ■an education—l.know its worth by;-feeling most keenly the want of it, I would-.hever dare to. say what a backwoods preacher once said.'for'l should expect to receive" the same answer he -did. It Whs ata conference, and the difficulties of the theological college were consuming:a great deal.of valuable tiihe, arid any. backwoods friend.became impatient, and saidr some- pretty,. sharp■: things .against the : college, arid concluded by remarking that he thanked God-he'bad never been, to college. Well, said the chairman,'if our brother means to'thank God for what he doesn't know," all'l have to say is he has got a, good deal,to Ibe thankfulfor. ' (Laughter.)' ' >"'• ' •"•';' '\ SCHOOLS EVERYWHERE, I'DBLICHOUSES NOWHERE. • Yes, I believe in. the'school ; and my. • motto is a.public-school-on every hilltop and no, publiehouse in the valley. You may take the rising generation, crowd the braiu with the world's,wisdom, its civilisation aud culture;- ibut : leave- the heart untouched, arid wliat would you have ? One blossom of Eden ?w6uld..otttbi6bmVtherii..alli(/Now, why do I plead for the .public..school;; ,whyiip : thkt morality and temperance shall be taught in them? I will tell you. Just so long?as you withhold the inalienable rights of the' children of this Colony. Besides, over against1 the immorality of tbe-publichouse'you must teach virtue in the public school; against the drunkenness, you must teach total abstinence, and in the place of tno blasphemy, lu-eutions-ness. and vice of the publiclvu^o, in (-rod's ;nam.e teach gocduess and purity in the public school Now when the home and the school have done their full duty to the Coming Man he will be ready to take his place lie^idu those men who nre fitted to make a State. And the first thing that he will learn is tkafc the highest statesmanship will remove the cause, rather thai! seek to mend the effect; that is, he will find it wise,r to prevent crime than it is to punish the criminal. Wiseij 10 prohibit an evil than it is to try and regulate' it. He will learn that all philosophy teaches the stern truth that it i 3 impossible 101.cerise a wrong or to permit injustice at al, and hope to regulate the measuie of it. He frill lenrn that all history and all knowledge teaches another truth, that the State that receives a revenue from the vices and nn- , molalities of its people is sooner or, Liter destroyed by their vices and immoralities. He will learn that God has: but two ways of dealing with- evil', prevention and , prohibition. He never- licenses it or 'tries to regulate it. (Applause.) Sir, keep from the public schools the Biblo,

and without morality and temperance; and. I i can tell jou that the ignorance of ,this Colony has more to fear from, the publichouse^binit has to hope for from' the 'public school.1' Thel grand mistake that people make is,in supposing''that the school /is the only place where, children are educated. Let me tell you thai the publican is "no less an .educator ,than theschoolmaster: 'lade'ed." 1 he is not only' a teacher but a trainer,..and bis'institution, requires no college for .graduating his pupils. They are all finished on the' premises, and on.lhe first floor.. Poverty/igrioi'anee, crhrie, and licentiousness, in all their branches', 'in all their grades, are taught by this übiquitous instructor. Ladies and gentlemen, this is the. teacher,.this is the school, that neutralises' all your educational agencies.' Itlies square across the pathway of life; it shuts tip.the road to the public school; it barsthe way to the house of God. A MAN OV PEACE. ' ' [ The Coming Man will be a man of peace. Pie will learn that it is Wiser to plarit'potatoes than dead soldiers, to exterminate rabbits than kill men, to buy dredges'than gunboats. He will be in fayor of peace and improvement, and will move heaven and earth, or. try to, to biing abuirt a state of things fitting and' appropriate to the ' appearance of ithe Lord in all His glory. ' I respect and .admire 'the strong feeling of love and patriotism you have for what you'eall '"Home." But as long as you teach your children to talk about 'an-' other land' as the'"mother country," how can you expect the highest type' of pat'i iotism and reverence foryaur own? The land yeu live in is your country, and you should tGfcch your children so. - The Coining man will y be- | licve in saving'and not'd'estvoying. Butcher- | ing and hanging people 'Will be thoroughly obnoxious' to him, consequently he will abolish capital punishment. , j THE UNITY OF THE' EXGI.ISH-SPEAKINCi BACK. I Next to federation of colonies, the njost important is to unite in sympathy all of ;the great English speaking raceANpw,;l7o,ooo,poo | ep'eak the language. It isiestiinated;that in j another century 800,000,000 will' "a'p^ak/i it.. This vast army, with the Word of God as; its | crest, will be the; ageucy; that will sweep: through the wilderness of ignorance, through | the lied ! Seas' of •difficultyr-and plant ;the banner of the Cross on every hilltop. Free from the evils that now. beset us, and -aided by the glorious gospel' of truth, the future race would,move ouwards aud heavenwards. THE PROGRAMME OF THE FUTURE. [ 111 social .reform lam a protectionist. The protection of the home I believe in. Arid I would use all the powers, civil,.religious, and' political to do it/ I<believe inio'cal option as one of these powers. Indeed, prohibition .would be a 1 good thing.,UWhat is'it that has such a reflex influence upon your homes as the evils of the drink traffic? Lower the ■Standard of: yoiir horrie,;; and'you destroy the virtue ;arid' honor of.your family. , That Government which would not removethijeyils which would-destroy those beautiful;"peaceful, well-kept homes of the industrious" ou&ht to be swept from' the face of the earth. Success is sure to attend every effort mkde under the regis of "the--"glory of God. The Christian workers of the future will be strong and numerous^ They are the Corning Men, Clear the way, for they are the future Vomers in the land, and will be the future lawmakers. Arid when our Conimatider shall give the word " forward 1" in the name of God, our, country, and our homes, our forces shall triumph, and there shall be a scattering of blessings o'er the land. : (Loud and continued applause.) ' The above,is only a mere sketch of the lecture, which was full of wholesome truths, humorous anecdotes, and thrilling incidents. The applause of the audience was frequent, and at times prolonged, particularly when the lecturer spoke of the unity that exists between England and America. The total pledges number 559, and the ribbons taken 1023. ; To-night the subject will be " Mary," when Mrs Nightingale, of Bichmond, will preside.