We were now once more in England, with its old-fashioned villages, and
at eleven miles from Carlisle we reached Wigton, whose streets and
footpaths were paved with boulders and cobble-stones; here we stayed for
refreshments. A further eight-miles' walk, some portion of it in the
dark, brought us to Aspatria, but in the interval we had passed Brayton
Hall, the residence of Sir Wilfrid Lawson, Bart., M.P., the leader of
the Legislative Temperance Movement for the abolition of the Liquor
Traffic, and who, at a later date, was said to be the wittiest member of
the House of Commons. As Chairman of the United Kingdom Alliance, that
held its annual gatherings in the great Free Trade Hall in Manchester, a
building capable of seating 5,000 persons, so great was his popularity
that the immense building, including the large platform, was packed with
people long before the proceedings were timed to begin, there being left
only sufficient space for the chairman and the speakers. The interval
before the arrival of these gentlemen was whiled away by the audience in
singing well-known hymns and songs, and on one occasion, when Sankey and
Moody's hymns had become popular, just as the people were singing
vociferously the second line of the verse--
See the mighty host advancing,
Satan leading on!
[Illustration: CARLISLE CASTLE]
Sir Wilfrid appeared on the platform followed by the speakers.
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