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Temperance

Wellingborough News, 8th April 1882, transcribed by Kay Collins

TEMPERANCE—On Wednesday evening last a lecture was delivered in the Temperance Hall by Mr. W. Mart, of Derby, who attended as a deputation from the United Kingdom Alliance. Mr. R. Yates took the chair. Mr. Mart at the outset gave an interesting and instructive account of the Temperance movement, and contrasted its position now with the position it occupied in the country 40 years ago. He showed that the principle taught by Temperance advocates in the past that alcohol was the enemy of man, though denounced as foolishness then, was now verified as being the truth by the testimony of the greatest and best men of the medical profession. In every thing that was for the benefit of man and for the good of the country he was a free trader, but he advocated prohibition because the liquor traffic was a gigantic evil. Referring to the Sunday Closing movement, he said Scotland had tried it for half a century, Ireland got it in 1878, Wales obtained it last year, and he trusted England would soon have it, for it was a disgrace to any Government, whether Liberal or Tory, that such a traffic should be allowed to be carried on on the Sunday. It was a fact that if the liquor traffic went up the condition of the people went down, and it was therefore an enemy to the prosperity of the country. In support of this he quoted a number of judicial statistics, and cited the opinions of several eminent men. He then noticed the Temperance work that had been accomplished by the Salvation and Blue Ribbon Armies, and closed an able address by urging all to be up and doing, for although much had been done, there remained much to do. A vote of thanks was accorded to the lecturer, and also to the Chairman, and on the motion of Mr. Geo. Bass, a vote of thanks was accorded to the reporter, Mr. E. J. Whitney, for the way in which he had reported the meetings of the Temperance Society. There was a respectable audience present.



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