A Large Temperance Meeting
On Sunday, by request of the president of the temperance society,
I spoke upon the subject of temperance. The meeting was held in
the soldiers’ military gymnasium, the largest hall in the city. An
American flag was placed as a canopy above the pulpit; this was
an attention which I highly appreciated. There were about sixteen
hundred assembled. Among them was a bishop of the State Church,
with a number of the clergy; a large proportion were of the better class
of society.
I took up the subject from a religious stand-point, showing that
the Bible is full of history bearing upon temperance, and that Christ
was connected with the work of temperance, even from the beginning.
It was by the indulgence of appetite that our first parents sinned and
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fell. Christ redeemed man’s failure. In the wilderness of temptation he
endured the test which man had failed to bear. While he was suffering
the keenest pangs of hunger, weak and emaciated from fasting, Satan
was at hand with his manifold temptations to assail the Son of God, to
take advantage of his weakness and overcome him, and thus thwart
the plan of salvation. But Christ was steadfast. He overcame in behalf
of the race, that he might rescue them from the degradation of the fall.
He showed that in his strength it is possible for us to overcome. Jesus
sympathizes with the weakness of men; he came to earth that he might
bring to us moral power. However strong the passion or appetite, we
can gain the victory, because we may have divine strength to unite
with our feeble efforts. Those who flee to Christ will have a stronghold
in the day of temptation.
I showed the importance of temperate habits by citing warnings
and examples from Bible history. Nadab and Abihu were men in
holy office; but by the use of wine their minds became so beclouded
that they could not distinguish between sacred and common things.
By the offering of “strange fire,” they disregarded God’s command,
and they were slain by his judgments. The Lord, through Moses,
expressly prohibited the use of wine and strong drink by those who
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