Religious and educational aspects of temperance / by various authors.

Date:
[1874?]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Religious and educational aspects of temperance / by various authors. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    47/172 (page 43)
    •13 blessing them, may, ere long, be herded with the vilest criminals through the curse of strong drink ! That restless, eager boy, whose bright eyes sparkle as he listens to the story of David’s exploits or Daniel’s endurance, may, ere many years be past, write you a piteous entreaty to visit him in that prison to which he has been brought by the evil ‘ ices and bad companions associated with intoxicating The evidence on this subject is appalling. That of one chaplain (the Rev. W. Caine) is, that out of 724 prisoners in the county gaol at Manchester, 644 had been Sunday-school scholars, and eighty-one had been Sunday-school teachers ! Of 1,000 prisoners, 711 confessed themselves drunkards, and of these a large number were under twenty years of age ! The Rev. George T. Coster gathered much evidence on this subject, and his conclusions were that at least 64 per cent, of all prisoners had attended Sunday-schools; whilst Mr. Simmons, the governor of Canterbury Gaol, states that of 22,000 prisoners with whom he came in con- tact during fifteen years, he never met with one prisoner who was a teetotaller, and that 92 per cent, attributed their downfall to intoxicating drinks and their attendant vices. At Portland Prison Mr. Clifton, the governor, said 30,000 prisoners had passed under his care, and when they left the prison he asked each one what was the beginning of their getting into trouble, to which the answer, without one exception, was, “ Drink.” Ought not such facts to startle all our Sunday-school teachers, and make them anxiously to enquire, “ Lord, what wilt Thou have me to do ?” Some amongst you are already total abstainers, and have thus, by your example, already made some progress in influ- encing your scholars in the matter of temperance. One of the best ways to reach the children is by instituting Bands