Temperance by W. N. Glenn

Seventh-day Adventist Missionary Society · Oakland, California · Mar 10, 1881

Temperance.

By W. N. Glenn

OAKLAND H. AND T. CLUB.

The regular meeting of the Oakland Health and Temperance Club was held Sunday evening, the 6th inst. There was an unusually large audience present, indicating an increasing interest in the cause of temperance. The meeting was opened by singing, “Father We Come to Thee,” from “Temperance and Gospel Songs,” followed by prayer by Eld. Corliss.

Col. C. N. Goulding, of Ohio, late U. S. Consul at Hong Kong, delivered a stirring lecture. He said that although he was far from home, the interest of the people here was his interest; what was for the benefit of our families was for the benefit of his family—the interest of the whole country was one. He referred to the pride of country generally felt by American citizens, and then made the startling assertion that this great country was controlled and governed by whisky. And what is said of the nation at large may be said of nearly every city in the Union. The speaker exposed the swindling nature of the liquor business, as well as the poisonous compounds sold and drank in the saloons. He was particularly severe upon the saloon-keepers, who toil not, yet display diamond pins and rings, and fine clothes paid for by the earnings of the laborer and artisan; these are the saloon-keeper's slaves.

He claimed that everybody knew temperance to be right; no one would choose a drunken physician to attend his family, or choose to have a case tried before a drunken justice. The rum-seller follows the business for the money there is in it, and his excuse is not that it is right, but that if he doesn't sell the liquor some one else will; and this excuse was deftly applied to other crimes, such as murder, robbery and theft, as illustrative of the fallacy of the plea.

The speaker made a special appeal to young men, alluding to many prominent and talented men who had died prematurely and filled drunkards' graves. He dwelt emphatically upon the erroneous idea that they could drink and let it alone just as they pleased. He had been thus deluded for twenty-seven years; had lost position, property, and his manhood, all the time saying that when whisky became his master they would part company.

An earnest appeal was also made to Christian professors, urging them to let their light shine for the temperance cause. Of the many apt illustrations brought out during the lecture, none were more forcible than that of the blind man who carried a lantern in a dark night, not that it assisted him in his journey, but to keep others from stumbling over him. The remedy proposed for the evils of the liquor traffic is law-prohibition, and the speaker claimed that more progress is being made in the temperance reform than is generally conceded; that never since Sumter was fired upon, have the people been more thoroughly aroused upon any subject than they are now upon the temperance question. We hope this is true. Col. Goulding proposes to carry on a vigorous crusade in this city and San Francisco.

After singing by the choir, Elder S. N. Haskell was called upon, and as his manner is, turned to the Bible. He read in Num. 6:1-4, the first temperance pledge we have any record of: “And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, when either man or woman shall separate themselves to vow a vow of a Nazarite, to separate themselves unto the Lord, he shall separate himself from wine and strong drink, and shall drink no vinegar of wine, or vinegar of strong drink, neither shall he drink any liquor of grapes, nor eat moist grapes, or dried. All the days of his separation shall he eat nothing that is made of the vine tree, from the kernels even to the husk.”

In a few comprehensive remarks it was shown how Adam, the head of the first race, and Noah, the head of the second race, had both fallen through the indulgence of appetite. God would have those who were set apart to his service free from all intemperate influences, and the reason for forbidding the use of the sweet wine was because there was but one step between that and the stronger liquor. He instanced Daniel and others as illustrations that God would specially bless with superior wisdom and prosperity those whose lives and habits were strictly temperate.

The remarks of both speakers were highly appreciated, and the entertainment exceeded that of any meeting we have had for several months. Sixteen new signatures were added to the various pledges, making 221 now on the Club roll. W. N. GLENN, Sec.