the 25th June, 1844, Mrs. Dalgarno held forth in the Scots' School, at a special meeting of the Melbourne Total Abstinence Society, on the demoralizing and woeful effects of indulging in intoxicating liquors. S o m e of the Licensed Victuallers vowed they would " m a k e it hot" for her, and took the necessary measures for doing so. T h e m o m e n t the lecturess entered, the place was rushed by a band of rowdies led by Mr. Phillip Anderson, landlord of the Commercial Inn, which stood on the site of Rocke's Furnishing Warehouse in Collins Street East. Anderson was a stout-built, broad-shouldered Scotchman, with a face ablaze with what some would designate "grog-blossoms," and fists that would not discredit a pugilist. H e and a few select followers hit out right and left at the " water-demons," and on the following day Anderson was s u m m o n e d to the Police Court to answer for his misconduct. T h e presiding Magistrates were Messrs William Hull and James Smith, and on behalf of the defendant half-a-dozen technical objections were offered. Mr. Hull, one of the Justices, was a wholesale wine and spirit merchant, and, as such, was supposed to entertain (involuntarily no doubt), strong sympathies with the retailers. H e was also given at times to the expression of somewhat peculiar opinions from the Bench, and on this occasion indulged in the weakness. H e began by doubting the legality of such a meeting as the one held, in a Corporate town, without the sanction of the Mayor, which had not been obtained, and then proceeded to censure Mrs. Dalgarno for presuming to appear on a public platform. H e pronounced it as against Scriptural teaching, and at variance with the N e w Testament, in which St. Paul forbids it. It was stated there that "It is a shame for a w o m a n to speak in public;" and further that " A w o m a n should never speak before meii^' Hull's colleague, though highly conscientious, was easily " bossed " by a stronger mind, and the result was that the Bench held that no malice had been proved, and dismissed the charge ; but rather illogically intimated that the Temperance Society should be protected, and no further molestations of the meetings would be permitted. A few days after, a Mr. James Buchanan, the keeper of the Scottish Hotel, situated where the Gaiety Theatre, in Bourke Street East, stood, casually meeting Mr. Henry Frencham, the then President of the Society, and T o w n Auctioneer, called him to account for the circulation of calumnious reports about the reputation of his establishment, and Frencham's rejoinder not being considered satisfactory, the publican administered a dose of horsewhip which it took the teetotaller some time to forget. This necessitated another appeal for redress, and before the same Magistrates, w h o only fined theflagellator2s. 6d., though cautioning the complainant that as he was a public official, it behove him to keep a civil tongue in his head. Mrs. Dalgarno, during more than one visit to Melbourne, delivered some very effective discourses. A perfect mistress of the subject, she did good service in a cause in which she took a deep interest. Towards the end of the year 1844 a Total Abstinence Band was established. It formed an agreeable attraction at the meetings of the Society and in occasional public processions. Soon after there sprang into existence an "Australia Felix Total Abstinence Society," which acted as a valuable auxiliary to the other. THE TEMPERANCE HALL,
In Russell Street, was the result of continuous exertions prosecuted under formidable difficulties, which reflects undying credit upon the zeal and energy of the early teetotallers. I regret it is not in m y power to supply as fully as I could wish any detailed particulars of the foundation of the building. T h e sources of reference to which I had access are silent on the subject, and a courteous application addressed by m e to the Secretary at the Hall was not deemed worthy even of an acknowledgment—a marked exception to the manner in which I have been generally treated in hunting up information for m y sketches of Old Melbourne* I am, however, under obligation to Mr. E d m u n d Ashley, whose services in promoting the spread of total abstinence in Melbourne have been extremely valuable. I must, therefore, be content with stating that, in the month of December, 1846, the foundation-stone of the Hall was laid by the Right Worshipful Master of the Australasian Kilwinning Lodge of Freemasons, with the Masters of the other Masonic Lodges in Melbourne. The building was completed in September, 1847.
It only right to note that the Secretary subsequently explained that the author's communication did not reach hin
ED.
