CONGREGATIONAL UNION.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 5794, 12 February 1897, Page 4

CONGREGATIONAL UNION.

TEA. AND PUBLIC MEETING.

The annual tea meeting of the Union was held in the Trinity Church schoolroom at 6.30 p.m. The schoolroom was comfortably filled. The tables were presided over by the ladies of Trinity and Liuwood congregations.

After the tea, a public meeting was held in the church, Mr W. H. Lyon occupying the chair.

Mr J. W. Jago read a paper on "Drink, Drinking and Drunkenness." He said that lie purposed to approach the subject on its physical side. It had long appeared to him that social reformers had given too exclusive attention to the moral aspects of this drink question, and had in a large measure overlooked the underlying and fundamental facts, a recognition of which was essential to a right understanding of the drink controversy. Ho took it that the drink question was primarily a question for solution by the scientist rather than by the moralist ; by the chemist rather than by the ecclesiastic; by the physiologist and not by the philosopher or the metaphysician. The prevalence of drunkenness had been assigned to man's natural depravity, bad environment, sordid conditions, poverty, unwholesome occupations; but to any or all of these drinking had to be super-added ere there could be drunkenness. Drinking was the necessary antecedent of drunkenness. He felt, after dealing with the subject exhaustively, that he might be faced with the question raised .in tlie recent meeting of the Presbyterian Synod of Otago and Southland — • "Is the use or sale of intoxicating liquor sinful ? " In reply he would ask, " What is sin ? " Is it sinful to unnecessarily but habitually introduce into the physical organism a physical agent,- the direct tendency of which is to lower all the functions of life, to be a destroyer of the body, a beguiler of the brain ? Is it sinful to sustain a fallacy and perpetuate a usage which, ■wherever they have obtained a hold on society, have resulted in the horrors of drunkenness ? Is it sinful by act and deed to create an environment and develop a moral atmosphere which renders drunkenness, with all its moral, social and physical consequences, possible ? Did not the World's Redeemer come amongst men that He might destroy the works of the devil ; and was it not the duty of the Church, which, was the body of Christ, to carry on to their finai consummation the operations which He came to initiate; and could we point to any .thing in human society which was more surely the work of the devil than the social drinking customs of society ? When these questions and others of a kindred nature were answered, it might be time enough to discuss the question of the abstract sinfulness of drinking a glass of wine. As his last word on this subject he took his stand behind the declaration of the Wise Man: "Wine is a mocker; strong drink is raging, and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise. At the last it biteth like a serpent." An address on " Christian Citizenship " was then delivered by the Eev. J. Eeed Glasson.

An Englishman, living in Hammersmith, claims to be a direct descendant of the Pharaohs and rightful heir to the Egyptian throne.