nd--to
feel it. In this condition then were they--depending on the scanty aid
which her poor exertions could afford them, eked out by the miserable
pittance that he extorted as a beggar--when the intelligence arrived
that the great Apostle of Temperance had appointed a day on which to
hold a teetotal meeting in the town of Ballykeerin.

It is utterly unaccountable how the approach of Father Matthew, and of
these great meetings, stirred society into a state of such extraordinary
activity, not only in behalf of temperance, but also of many other
virtues; so true is it, that when one healthy association is struck it
awakens all those that are kindred to it into new life. In addition to a
love of sobriety, the people felt their hearts touched, as it were, by
a new spirit, into kindness and charity, and a disposition to discharge
promptly and with good-will all brotherly and neighborly offices.
Harmony, therefore, civil, social, and domestic, accompanied the
temperance movement wherever it went, and accompanies it still wherever
it goes; for, like every true blessing, it never comes alone, but brings
several others in its train.

The morning in question, though cold, was dry and bright; a small
platform had been raised at the edge of the market-house, which was open
on one side, and on it Father Matthew was to stand. By this simple means
he would be protected from rain, should any fall, and was sufficiently
accessible to prevent any extraordinary crush among the postulants.
But how will we attempt to describe the appearance which the town of
Ballykeerin presented on the morning of this memorable and auspicious
day? And above all, in what terms shall we paint the surprise, the
wonder, the astonishment with which they listened to the music of the
teetotal band, which, as if by magic, had been formed in the town of
Drumnabogue, where, only a few months before, the meeting of which we
have spoken had been held. Indeed, among all the proofs of national
advantages which the temperance movement has brought out, we are not to
forget those which it has bestowed on the country--by teaching us what
a wonderful capacity for music, and what a remarkable degree of
intellectual power, the lower classes of our countrymen are endowed
with, and can manifest when moved by adequate principles. Early as
daybreak the roads leading to Ballykeerin presented a living stream of
people listening onwards towards the great rendezvous; but so much
did