The example of the teetotalers was followed by other reformers. The Preston Temperance Advocate, of October, 1837, says:—"A tea-party was held at Salford, in honour of the return of Joseph Brotherton, Esq., M.P., for this town, to which he was invited. It was attended by 1050 persons, nearly 900 of whom were ladies, and the spectacle presented to the eye by such an assemblage was one of the most pleasing which I have ever witnessed." The Anti-Corn-Law League also adopted similar means of bringing their friends and subscribers together. "On the 23rd of November, 1842," writes Mr. Archibald Prentice, the historian of the movement, "the first of a series of deeply-interesting soirées in Yorkshire, in furtherance of the great object of Corn-Law Repeal, was celebrated in the saloon, beautifully decorated for the occasion, of the Philosophical Hall, Huddersfield. The occasion, says the Leeds Mercury, was one of high importance, not only for the dignity and benevolence of the object contemplated, but for the enthusiastic spirit manifested by the assembly of both sexes, of the first respectability, extensive in number, and intelligent and influential in its character. More than 600 persons sat down to tea, and more than double that number would have been present had it been possible to provide accommodation." Mr. Prentice records many other tea-meetings attended by 600 and 800 persons. "In Manchester," writes Mr. Henry Ashworth, "a number of ladies took up the Corn-Law question, and held an Anti-Corn-Law tea-party, which was attended by 830 persons."
WATERING A TEA-PLANTATION.
A hymn was specially composed for use at temperance gatherings, its purport being to show the superiority of tea-meetings over public-house meetings. It consisted of eight verses, and was printed in the Moral Reformer of February, 1833. One verse will give an idea of its character:—
"Pure, refined, domestic bliss,
Social meetings such as this,
Banish sorrow, cares dismiss,
And cheer all our lives."
Total abstinence has not yet found much favour among artists, who too often paint the fleeting pleasures of the wine-cup rather than the enduring pleasures of temperance; but in Mr. Collingwood Banks we have an artist who can sing the praises of a cup of tea as well as paint the charms of a fireside tea-table. To him we are indebted for the following song, which ought speedily to become popular among temperance societies:—
"THE CUP FOR ME.
"Let others sing the praise of wine,
Let others deem its joys divine,
Its fleeting bliss shall ne'er be mine,
Give me a cup of tea!
The cup that soothes each aching pain,
Restores the sick to health again,
Steals not from heart, steals not from brain,
A friend when others flee.