wo hundred persons at one tea-party-How they brewed their tea-How the Anti-Corn-Law League reached the people-Sin

took the purveying and management of our tea-parties. Each took a table accommodating from sixteen to twenty persons, and presided in person. And, oh! what hearty, jolly, comfortable gatherings we used to have in the old Music Hall in Blackett Street, amidst the abundance of singing hinnies, hot wigs, and spice loaf, served up in tempting display, tea of the finest flavour served in the best china from the most elegant of teapots, accompanied with the brightest of spoons, the thickest of cream, and the blandest of smiles! It is much to be regretted that

birthplace of the temperance movement in England, the town of Preston. Here lives Joseph Livesey, the patriarch of the movement

in similar characters the motto, 'happiness.' The tables were divided and numbered, and eighty sets of brilliant tea-requisites, to accommodate parties of ten persons each, were placed upon the table, with two candles to each party. A boiler, also capable of containing 200 gallons, was set up in Mr. Halliburton's yard, to heat water for the occasion, and was managed admirably by those reformed characters. About forty men, principally reformed drunkards, were busily engaged as waiters, water-carriers, &c.; those who waited at the tables wore white aprons,

account shows very clearly that the early temperance gatherings will contra

re richly ornamented with evergreens and appropriate mottoes. The tables were laid out with tea-equipages interspersed with flower-pots filled with roses. When the parties sat down, in number about 2500, a most imposing sight presente

ost interesting and gratifying sight, from the spirit of cordiality and good-feeling which pervaded it, and cannot but have the most beneficial effect upon society." For the benefit of societies which had not adopted this new and successful method of reaching the public, the secretary of the Bristol Society gave the following account of a Christmas tea-party:-"The tables were provided with tea-services, milk, sugar, cakes and b

b. in each. At the top there is an aperture, into which the boiling water is conveyed by a pipe from the boiler, and at one corner there is a tap, from which the tea when brewed is drawn out. It may be eithe

substitute which would be at once harmless, as well as stimulating. In tea he found exactly what he wanted. He needed, moreover, company of an elevating kind; and in the tea-party he found the craving for the companionship of men and women fully satisfied. It was by this agency chiefly that the converts to teetotalism were kept together and instructed in the principles of total abstinence from all intoxicating liquors; and we a

his aspect of tea-meetings:-"There should be," he contends, "moderation even in tea-drinking, and when we hear of four or five hours at a stretch being spent over this process at public gatherings, as it seems the good folks do in some parts of the Isle of Man, one cannot but feel there

bscribers 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 manifes

A TEA-P

superiority of tea-meetings over public-house meetings. It consisted of eight verses, and was

ined, dome

etings su

rrow, car

r all ou

ing 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 char

CUP F

sing the pra

deem its

bliss shall n

a cup

soothes eac

e sick to h

heart, steals

when ot

rowns, what po

way the fa

vile effec

ekoe o

e old man you

, Congou,

the burthe

me cup

he grave Cel

g mind, and

bless that

across

nd vales give

shrub of pr

each son of

ant cup

Methodist Free Churches. The lines possess little poetical merit, but are worth quoting on account of the pleasure with which they ha

h'd spirits

sympathie

h friendshi

tea, a cu

ss seizes o

t no liber

e captive p

tea, a cu

s given an

coldness b

o make them

tea, a cu

ourse be slu

cause to whic

to set the t

tea, a cu

of use or

friendly c

y aids the

tea, a cu

ly let us

n upon whic

to move a c

tea, a cu

-party attended by 500 persons; but if large gatherings are fewer, small ones are more frequent. Every chapel, every church, every day-school, every Sunday-school, every religio

hood; by the milkmaids and the ploughmen, who make sad havoc with the cake. Wonderful, also, is the amount of tea consumed. In

nouncement of "a knife and fork tea" at a Primitive Methodist Chapel never fails to secure a good attendance of the members and friends. In Lancashire such meetings are not unfrequently called "tea-fights," probably on account of the scramble for sandwiches which characterizes the proceedings. But neither cake nor sandwich is sufficient to tempt all who are interested in these social entertainments. The promoters would

decoctions be superintended by an experienced friend; serve up nice and hot, but wit

e bread, some currant-cake-home-baked if possible, without dripping or lard; two o

ads according to season; also provide a liberal supply of figs, muscatels, almonds, nuts, oranges

he latter part of the feast. Fruits should have the place of honour. The plates or baskets of

dies, who will see that the tables are tastefully laid out, and that everybody

e is a greater capability of enduring fatigue; the mind is rendered more susceptible of the innocent pleasures of life, and of acquiring information. Whole classes of the community have been rendered sober, careful, and provident. The wasted time that followed upon intemperance kept individuals poor, who are now thriving in the world and exhibiting the results of honest industry. Men have become healthier, happier, and better for the exchange they have made. They have given up a debasing habit for a

that tea and other similar beverages have done a good deal to displace spirituous and fermented liq