THE LOWER ROOM MEETING. WHILST the foregoing meeting was being held, another, equally crowded, was engaged in the lower hall. The Hon. Judge MARSHALL, of Nova Scotia, presided, and delivered an opening address. It was moved by HENRY MUDGE, Esq., Mayor of Bodmin; seconded by the Rev. HENRY GALE, B.C.L., Rector of Treborough, near Taunton, and supported by Mr. GEORGE DODDS, Secretary of the Newcastle Temperance Society: : "That this meeting, on behalf of the friends of Temperance and Prohibition in the United Kingdom, tenders a most cordial welcome to the distinguished Temperance Reformers from other countries, who are attending the International Convention now sitting in London; and begs, through them, to convey a fraternal greeting to the various societies they represent, praying most earnestly that their persistent efforts against the use and sale of intoxicating liquors may speedily result in the realisation of their great object—a sober community. This was responded to by Pastor BöтTCHER, of Hanover, and Mr. D. FILBYE, of Hamburg. The second resolution was moved by the Rev. T. HUTTON, M.A., Rector of Stilton, near Peterborough; seconded by the Rev. ALEXANDER MACKEY, Antrim; and supported by P. P. CARPENTER, Esq., Ph.D., Manchester:: "That this meeting rejoices to recognise the vast progress of the Temperance movement since the World's Temperance Convention in 1846, • and most earnestly calls upon all Temperance organisations, in every part of the world, to base the advocacy of the question upon the principles of medical science, political economy, social justice, and Christian philanthropy." The third resolution was moved by Mr. Councillor FARISH, of Chester: and seconded by the Rev. Professor KIRK, of Edinburgh : "That the practice of Total Abstinence from all intoxicants is the only safe and sufficient basis for a permanent Temperance Reformation, and that, in order to accomplish the work of the Temperance Reformation, and realise the blessings of a sober community, this meeting fully believes that the Traffic in intoxicating liquors must be rendered illegal; that it would be just and expedient for the Legislature of every country, either to pass a direct prohibitory enactment, in accordance with the national sentiment, or to arm the people with power to suppress the Traffic within separate parochial or municipal boundaries, as suggested by the United Kingdom Alliance.” A vote of thanks to the Chairman was moved by Mr. H. TWELVETREES, seconded by the Rev. Professor KIRK, and unanimously carried. THE SOIREE AND CONVERSAZIONE. A SOCIAL meeting, held in the Hanover Square Rooms, on Thursday evening, was the last gathering in connection with the Convention. There was a large attendance of ladies and gentlemen, the latter including many of the leading members of the Convention. Tea and coffee and other refreshments were provided. Fruit essences, with iced water, were largely in demand. The company assembled at half-past seven o'clock. Between eight and nine o'clock the majority collected in the Large Hall, to hear brief addresses. The chair was taken by Mr. WILFRED LAWSON, M.P. Mr. HAUGHTON, of Dublin, alluded to instances of drunkenness in persons of superior social advantages. Mr. LEWIS, of Edinburgh, said they had entered upon an era in which they must work as men, and use the political engine; and they must see that their action was of a decidedly practical character, and adapted to the end in view. They must not compromise with expediency, but war against the Traffic as a system in all its branches. In Scotland, they had been diverted from the real issue by having their attention directed to mere branches and phases of it. Years had been spent in dealing with the Sabbath Traffic, and the result was an illicit Traffic had been created on that day which caused innumerable evils. They had been dealing with details. They ought to demand of the Government a law to prevent food being wasted in the manufacture of drink. There were many connected with the movement who entertained mistaken views. Some said, "We must have the community Teetotalised." But so long as the Traffic continued, it would make men drinkers faster than they could be made Abstainers. How could Teetotalers succeed under those circumstances? Mr. JAMES TEARE spoke at some length. He sketched the history of the Temperance and Total Abstinence movements in connection with his own labours, and related one or two amusing incidents. Teetotalism and Prohibition were each, he said, part and parcel of the other. Professor GROSVENOR, of New York, said that the language used by Temperance men was sometimes not strictly philosophical, when they talked about the circumstances which made their labour difficult, and when they talked about ministers and churches as rather standing in their way than aiding them. In America, at first, they regarded these things as discouraging circumstances; but at length they came to see that they had made a mistake, and that these were not discouragements at all, but were the very things that were presented to them to be conquered. He submitted the following as a suggestion, and not as a formal resolution :- "The moral influence of the literary institutions of every country being great, directly and indirectly, on the habits of the communities in which they exist, and on the world at large, which is pre-eminently true of colleges and universities, and their example not always, if generally, being favourable to the cause of Temperance, it is respectfully recommended to the friends of this holy cause that the governors and instructors of such institutions be earnestly appealed to, that they exert their power and influence for the discouragement of all use of every sort of intoxicating liquors by the students, and that it be recommended to the students to form Temperance Societies among themselves." The company then spent half an hour in promenading and in conversation, and revisited the refreshment-room. On their re-assembling, the chair was taken by the Rev. Canon JENKINS. Mr. GEORGE DODDS, of Newcastle, spoke upon the criminality of the Traffic, contending that the publican who took money from a man knowing that he had robbed his family of it, was morally a receiver of stolen property. Mr. REWCASTLE suggested the propriety of a memorial to the Queen from the wives, mothers, and daughters of England, praying that she would discountenance the Traffic in intoxicating liquors. Such a memorial had been determined on twelve months ago, but Her Majesty's bereavement had caused the project to be abandoned. After a few words from the Rev. J. C. STREET upon the success of the Convention, Mr. FILBYE, of Hamburg, delivered a parting address. He came to the Convention with large expectations, which had been more than realised. The Rev. CHAIRMAN then closed the proceedings. After speaking of the success of the Convention, he reminded the meeting that their strength and success depended upon the Giver of every blessing. In compliance with a request of the chair, the audience united in silent prayer and thanksgiving, and so were concluded, with the solemnity with which they were opened, the proceedings of the International Temperance and Prohibition Convention. SUPPLEMENTARY PAPERS. (COMPRISING PAPERS ACCEPTED, BUT RECEIVED TOO LATE TO BE INSERTED IN THE PROGRAMME OF THE CONVENTION.) Drunkenness in India. By LIEUT. E. A. PHILLIPS. "TWO WO months ago we directed attention to the alarming increase of intoxication in India, during the past fifteen years, contemporaneously with the rise of excise revenue, just one hundred per cent. "We not only gave facts and figures from official Blue Books, proving that the object of the excise subordinates is to increase the revenue by demoralising the people, but we tested the figures by the experience of a quiet town like Serampore, in which, in five years, the number of liquor and drug shops has risen from five to thirty-eight, while the Christian population is less than it was when the place was the head-quarters of the railway employés. We appealed to the experience of our readers elsewhere for a confirmation of the statement that the vice of drunkenness― the fruitful mother of all crime-is increasing at an alarming rate in a country which, by religion and prejudice, is of notoriously abstemious tendencies. That appeal has been answered by correspondents and by the local press in a manner which calls for action on the part of Govern ment. "We shall confine our attention to Calcutta for an example, on a somewhat exaggerated scale. We admit of what the Abkaree* department is doing in every town and threatens to do in every village of India. "In the year 1861-62, just closed, excise licenses were granted to the following extent :— "Seventy-two doasta shops (liquor made from rice, and drunk chiefly by Hindoos); sixteen paure (toddy) shops (frequented chiefly by Mahommedans); twelve chandoo shops (preparation of opium for Chinamen); twenth-eight muddut shops (opium and tobacco); twelve gunja shops (Indian hemp); fifteen shops for retailing imported wines, spirits, &c.; five seamen's boarding-houses (licensed). "Besides these, there are many shops which carry on the Traffic without a license. We have failed to obtain any reliable information in regard to Abkaree means both the business itself and the revenue arising therefrom. U the quantity of liquor consumed during 1861-62, but for the previous year the Abkaree revenue was :— .Rupees 5,60-000 = £56,000 Rupees 4,40-000 = £44,000 From Calcutta, about ..... Rupees 10,00-000 £100,000 "This represents an enormous consumption; and the results are seen in the fact, that in the year ending 1858-59, the number of persons brought before the Calcutta police courts, for being drunk and riotous, were 6,376. "There is not a magistrate in the country who could not produce facts illustrating the necessary connection between intoxication and crime in India, still more terribly than is done in the case of England by philanthropists. There is hardly a professional criminal in India who is not addicted, habitually, to the vice of intoxication. "When we compare the facts we have given above with the tables of Abkaree revenue, which we published two months ago, we cannot write in too severe a style of moral censure of Government, not for taxing vice, but for encouraging vice for the sake of the tax. "We Christian rulers deal with our subjects as the Americans did with the Red Indians. It is not that we permit men to drink who are already drunken, but we provide facilities for a temperate people becoming drunkards, in order to derive a profit from their ruin. It is the interest, the declared object of the Abkaree department, to demoralise the people. Its officials say to the police, We shall make criminals; it is your part to catch them.' "If Government doubt this, let them call for a recent correspondence between the police and revenue authorities of Calcutta. . "The houses are many of them hot-beds of all sorts of iniquity, and should be swept away as public nuisances. We call upon Government for inquiry and action. The Abkaree department is immoral in its constitution, is the deliberate supporter and promoter of vice and crime."-From the "Friend of India," June 19th, 1862. There are a great number of people in England who believe that this Liquor-Traffic is not half so black as it is painted. They cannot stand being told that it is a corrupt tree, root and branch, and bringing forth corrupt fruit, and nothing else, accordingly; or that it is an Ethiopian who cannot change his skin. They believe there is some good at bottom, after all; that perhaps if it had change of air and country, in which its virtues might have some room for development and its little failings-for there is nothing perfect in this world, every one must allow a chance of escape from the popular gaze, it might, after all, become more tractable and humane, and eventually prove that its real character had been grossly misrepresented and injured by its foes. But where shall it go for the trial? "Not here," says the resolute North American chief in the extreme West; and, as he splits with his |