them or not; and upon another fact, that if philanthropists would succeed in carrying out good intentions they must take society as they find it, to make the best of it, and not wait for that "good time to come" but never coming, when society will make itself what they have so ardently desired to see it. One noteworthy object of the promoters of the cheap concerts was to raise the musical taste of the audience, so that in course of time, compositions and productions of a sterling character might be appreciated by such as could at first bestow applause on mere frivolity. And this to some extent was seen to have been accomplished. At the entertainment given on the 7th of March, the day on which the Princes Alexandra made her public journey through London, four new national songs were sung (three of them by a local composer who, 37 years after, now guides the historic pen), and which with two selections from Shakespeare's writings were so well received as to prove that the objects of the promoters were in course of attainment.
The Prince of Wales' Marriage. The tea-meeting at the Temperance Hall in honour of the Prince of Wales' marriage was so largely attended that many persons could not obtain a seat. The decorations of the hall on that occasion both outside and in, were among the most chaste of the local displays on that auspicious day, and did credit to those who laboured assiduously to achieve it. The tea was a free gift to such members of the society as were disposed to avail themselves of it. The new national anthem was sung and some duets were played by ladies on the piano and harmonium, but beyond that and the sociability of the tea there was nothing to report, it being the desire not to deprive the company of the out-of-door amusements of the evening.
A Later Gathering was that of Wednesday, March 18th, when the Hall was again filled to overflowing. Mr Church, a talented musician, presided at the piano, and the "sons and daughters of song" provided, without stint, for the entertainment of the company. It was noticed at this gathering - a sort of "free - and - easy" - that the same attempts as at the Saturday concerts to raise the tone of the harmony was persevered on, and with good effect, this last meeting being in every way an improvement on the first.
Mr. T. Hudson, of the United Kingdom and General Provident Institution, occupied the platform, on the evening of the 17th of March, and discoursed pleasantly for an hour and a half on the Fictions of Poetry and the Facts of Experience in relation to our Drinking customs". In the course of his remarks the lecturer said he had been over 25 years a teetotaler, and it must therefore be conceded to him that he had had some amount of experience. There were several opinions as to whether the question should be advocated statistically, religiously, physiologically or chemically, but he was persuaded that in whichever phase it was viewed, the whole question of our drinking customs could not be defended. He then gave an amusing sketch of Bachhus sitting astride of a beer barrel, the attractions of the beer houses and gin palaces, the -
