Robert Rae, the excellent secretary to the league. Beside him is a fair-faced, chatty, pleasant minister, the Rev. Thomas Phillips, the Metropolitan Agent of the League. He is a good preacher, an intelligent speaker, and a capital reporter of a meeting. Who is that broad venerable-looking man? That is Mr. William Spriggs. But come to dinner, kind reader. Here in this saloon we will dine with the committee and friends. A good dinner it is, but the waiters have, you see, put wine glasses for us, and look! here is the Crystal Palace “wine list.” The waiters evidently feel very solemn. Look at that big waiter. Watch his face. "Waiter!" "Yes, sir." "What's this?" "A wine glass, sir." "Fill it." Waiter brightened up. "With p-u-r-e w-a-t-e-r." Waiter feels faint, fills the glass with water, and with a deep sigh retires into private life. Don't laugh; that joke has made him ill.

To return. Mr. George Cruikshank,-that middle-sized, bright-visioned, lithe, gentlemanly vice-president, very like Sir Charles James Napier, will help you to some mutton. Who is that next to him? That I am told is John Plummer, of Kettering, a self-educated man, and a useful writer. Who sits next to him? Oh! that courteous gentleman, with a pleasant word for everybody, and who wears a white waistcoat? Yes. That is Mr. John Hilton, formerly one of the agents of the Alliance, and now of Bromley, a man whose speeches are always worth hearing. There is a tall, stout, cheery man, opposite Mr. Hilton. That is Mr. Mate, a newspaper proprie tor, and a faithful friend of our movement. Next to him is a minister. That is the Rev. George W. M'Cree, one of the Secretaries of the United Kingdom Band of Hope Union, and editor of its publications. Order for the President of the League-Samuel Bowly, Esq. "You will please to excuse me leaving the table, but it is time for the meeting in the centre transept." Hear, hear," say all the diners, and away we go, the waiters, we are afraid, feeling sorry that we have not left any wine for them to drink.

66

Here we are in the central transept, the most magnificent arcade in the world. From this point we can survey the crystal dome, the vast aisle, the Shakespeare house, the Handel orchestra, the great organ, and long rows of statuary, festoons of banners, fragrant flowers in immense vases, graceful plants fresh and green, lagoons of clear water within marble banks, and best of all, crowds of merry folk.

The great meeting is convened, and we will, if you please,

go and sit on the platform and hear the speeches. Samuel Bowly, Esq., is chairman, and has risen to speak. He is a finelooking man, a member of the Society of Friends, a good, clear, genial, forcible speaker, and has long done valuable service to the Temperance movement. He says:

"I presume that this is not so much a meeting for discussing the great question of total abstinence as to afford an opportunity to the friends of this cause to shake each other by the hand and bid one another Godspeed in our onward course. I can imagine that there are many persons who are friendly to this cause in various parts of the country labouring apparently under many discouragements, and supported by few around them, who will feel their faith confirmed and their courage renewed by meeting on this occasion so many thousands of those who are their fellowworkers in various parts of the country. I think we may very well on this occasion look back a little over the thirty years we have been advocating this cause, and congratulate ourselves that, under God's blessing, we have done so large an amount of good. Thousands and tens of thousands of homes have been made happy, hundreds of thousands of drunkards have been reclaimed, many a poor suffering wife has had her husband restored to her in comfort and in peace, tens of thousands of poor children have been clothed, and fed, and trained in that which was virtuous instead of vicious; and I ask, with all this good, where is the being that we have injured?"

That was well put, and evoked loud cheers. Here comes the next speaker. The Rev. H. T. Breay, B.A., of Birmingham.. The rev. gentleman, in the course of speech, said:

"Not very long ago there were in Birmingham, at one time, eighteen clergymen of the Church of England who had signed the teetotal pledge. There are not so many now, because they have been thought so well of by those who have influence in the Church that they have been promoted to higher positions in the ministry (cheers); and we know that when a man of influence leaves a town he takes a great many after him, and so, what with rectors and incumbents going up higher and taking a lot of curates with them, we do not stand in so advantageous a position, numerically, at the present moment, as we did; but I would tell you that there are in Birmingham about eleven parochial total abstinence societies, presided over by the clergyman of the Church, and worked by those who help them in every good work (cheers). Now, can you suppose that a clergyman can throw himself heart and soul into this movement without enlisting the sympathies of those about him-without taking with him his Scripture readers and his Sunday school teachers? Well, as a happy example of insensible influence, I would just, without the smallest particle of egotism, I hope, instance my own case. The bell of our church is pulled by a total abstainer (laughter); the organ is played by a total abstainer; the hymns of praise which ascend to God in the church are, to a great extent on the part of the choir, sung by total abstainers (cheers). We have two Scripture readers who are total ab

noon.

stainers, and a great number of our Sunday school teachers are of the same class; and I am not altogether without hope that we shall yet have the beadle (great laughter). Now, all this has been done, my friends, without the clergyman saying a single word to any one of those officers personally, and not by his using his influence, and saying, 'Now, you must sign the pledge if you want to stay where you are.' I would never condescend to such a thing as that (applause). If a man is not convinced, he ought to have more argument and more facts; and we total abstainers ought to show the same Christian courtesy and forbearance which we expect from others. It is a matter of peculiar gratification to me, when I reflect that all those good people have come into our ranks through simply seeing the real work which is, I trust, being done in the parish and in the church. Once a year we have the subject thoroughly ventilated in the pulpit. Our parochial Temperance society holds its anniversary, and it commences it on a Sunday by a special service in the church in the afterI always take care on that day to announce the services, and both in the morning and evening to preach to the ordinary congregation on the subject of total abstinence. This is followed by a meeting on the Monday, which is the anniversary meeting of our association; and, at our meeting last year, we had the great pleasure of the presence and advocacy of the president of the National Temperance League, who occupies the chair to-day (cheers). Now, I am quite sure that in addition to the direct influence of a clergyman in this matter, there is also an indirect influence for good. The people, when you go amongst them, never ask you to take wine, because they know it would insult you, and they almost begin to apologise to you if they think it necessary to take it in your presence. I take this as an omen for good; and I am quite sure that if we have God's favour with us, and are enabled by His grace and help to persevere in this good cause, those of us who are young in years, and have not lived to the average age of men, may yet see the time when we shall be able to cry 'Victory!'”

In our humble opinion Mr. Breay's speech contained rather too many allusions to "the church.” He alluded to it about a dozen times in the course of his brief speech. He must beware of that kind of speaking. It is not quite compatible with the non-sectarian character of our platform. Suppose Mr. Chown had said as much about "the Baptist denomination" as Mr. Breay did about "the Church," how would that have been relished? But here is the Rev. J. P. Chown, of Bradford, to speak for himself. He proceeds:

"I rejoice, then, in this great Temperance cause, because it not merely sets itself against intemperance, but is quite certain to secure its destruction. You may tell me of many things that Temperance will do and will not do, but here is one thing that it will do at any rate-it will destroy intemperance. You may tell me that the morning light does not feed the hungry, does not clothe the naked, does not heal the sick. I know it does not; no wise man will say it would; but then it brings about a

state of things more favourable for the result than if darkness remained, and most assuredly it chases away darkness. It does that; and just so with Temperance-whatever else it may do or may not do, it certainly does chase away intemperance, and with that nine-tenths of all the evil that afflicts humanity. Then, as the chairman has reminded us so beautifully and powerfully at the commencement of the meeting, the Temperance cause does work in a glorious manner as well as for a glorious end. It is not long since this crystal roof rang and vibrated with shouts, such as, I suppose, only English lungs can pour out, when that noblesouled liberator of Italy stood somewhere about here and received the honours that the nation rejoiced to pour before him. His was a glorious work indeed. I happened to be down in Sicily the moment he landed and passed through the leading streets of Messina. I saw from the balcony, where the Neapolitan soldiers had been firing npon the citizens an hour before, something of the terrible enormities of the misrule from which that noble man had delivered that glorious land; but then that could not be done without noble souls falling in the battle. It could not be done without wives being made widows, and children orphans, and parents childless. Our great cause does its work without such results; it is not merely that it does not make wives widows, but it gives husbands back to widowed wives, and children back to parents, as well as parents back to children. Its weapons inflict no wound but upon the enemy that needs to be destroyed; and its army is never weakened by any of its exertions, but gathers strength and prosperity from every blow it strikes, in its onward march to victory. It is in a course that is brighter and brighter unto the perfect day. And it is not merely that the Temperance cause sets itself against intemperance, or will seek its destruction, but it scatters a thousand blessings all around. At the same time, it does not merely strike the poison cup out of the man's hand, but it puts in his grasp the cup out of which he drinks peace, and health, and joy. It not only melts the fetters off the limbs of the bond-slave, but it put a robe upon his shoulders, and sets a seal of honour upon his brow. It is not merely that it delivers him from the curse, but it gives him a blessing; and on these accounts, and a thousand others that might be named, looking at it merely in its relation to intemperance, I say as we all say, "Heaven bless and prosper the Temperance cause."

And as he thus pronounced his benediction on the movement the crystal dome rang with mighty cheers. Mr. Chown is an admirable speaker. His mind is like his body-broad and massive. He has a pleasant face, an ample brow, and a sonorous voice, and always gains the favour of his hearers.

What next? Anything. We sauntered through the courts, looked at the Chimpanzee, ate an ice, shook hands with old friends from everywhere, had our photograph taken, and chatted with Band of Hope children.

There are the great fountains playing. Shafts of water, trees of water, plumes of water, garlands of water, all bright and beautiful. Ah! see they are sinking-they are gone.

And now we are off to hear 1,500 children sing; but stop; what are all these gentlemen sitting together for? There's Samuel Bowly, John Taylor, William Tweedie, John Hilton, the tall form of Jabez Inwards, G. W. Murphy, and John Rees, George W. M'Cree, Robert Rae, and many more. Oh! see an artist is taking them for a group of portraits. It is done. Hark, the children are singing, and off we go-mingling with "the distinguished advocates "-to hear them. The choir is furnished at the request of the National Temperance League, by the United Kingdom Band of Hope Union, a manifestation of fraternal feeling in which we heartily rejoice.

Looking from the Shakespeare house the spectacle of the children is both imposing and affecting. How the multitude of little faces flashes in the light! How stately their banners look in their midst! How sweetly they sing! Blessings on the children for evermore.

Under the able leadership of Mr. Frederic Smith, the children sing most beautifully. Their smiling faces and sweet voices make all the spectators thrill with delight. First comes the chant, "Wine is a mocker," then "Truth is growing," then "Hark! the lark," and these are followed by a touching domestic song the words of which are as follows:

Never forget the dear ones around the social hearth,
The sunny smiles of gladness, the songs of artless mirth;
Though other scenes may woo thee in other lands to roam,
Never forget the dear ones that cluster round thy home.
Ever their hearts are turning to thee when far away,
Their love so pure and tender is with thee on thy way;
Wherever thou may'st wander-wherever thou may'st roam,
Never forget the dear ones that cluster round thy home.

Never forget thy father, who cheerful toils for thee,
Within thy heart may ever thy mother's image be;
Thy sister dear, and brother-they long for thee to come,
Never forget the dear ones that cluster round thy home.

This piece was encored. Mr. Smith glances at the Rev. G. W. M'Cree, who laughs and then nods consent, and off goes the choir again in still more sprightly style. "The Great and Good," ""The Standard," and "When shall we meet again?" are followed by "See our oars," which is encored. Here a little comedy ensues. Mr. Smith sits down beside Mr. M'Cree, and the two smile, and then consult. Then, amid the loud cheering of the people, Mr. Smith resumes his place. Cheers ring through the palace. "Encore!" Mr. Smith slowly shakes his head