CHAPTER XXII.
A TEMPERANCE Society was organised among the young people of the congregation in the year 1880. At the outset it numbered 82 members, and met fortnightly in the class-room; in its second year the number enrolled was 140. The first office-bearers were:—Messrs Robert Chisholm (president), Manly (vice-president), A. Wright (secretary), Hendry (treasurer), and Aitken (guard). In 1882 the name of the society was changed to "The Welcome-All Total Abstinence Society," and in connection with it the "Welcome-All Band of Hope" was formed. The roll of the society now numbered 206 members, and that of the Band of Hope 204 members. At the request of these societies the minister preached a sermon on temperance, which was largely attended. The first of a series of open quarterly meetings was attended by upwards of 300 persons. The total membership of the two societies reached 778 in 1883. The success of these important agencies was largely due to the untiring zeal and energy of the young people connected with the Bible Classes. In 1884 the office-bearers made the following appeal:—"The temperance agencies of the congregation are entitled to the practical sympathy and encouragement of the membership, for the reformation they are organised to promote is of vital importance to industrial, social, and religious prosperity."
The connection of the Band of Hope with the Welcome-All Society was discontinued in 1885, and its management taken over by the Sabbath School committee. For a time the work in connection with this valuable organisation seems to have flagged to a considerable extent, but a revival of interest and effort has recently set in with every prospect of success. The following extract is taken from a recent Knox Church Quarterly Statement:—"In order to bring before the scholars of the Sabbath Schools the importance of the subject of Gospel temperance, and to instruct them in the evils of intemperance,
