CHINA 77 



Stevens by a charming old lady eighty years of 

 age, whose father bought the set to which it 

 belonged as a wedding present for his bride. 

 At about that time he built a sailing vessel. 

 There was no temperance societv in the coun- 

 try then and nearly everybody drank, yet this 

 young man believed it wrong to use alcoholic 

 liquors, so when the new ship was finished and 

 ready to go out to sea, he gave it the name 

 "Temperance." The first trip made by "the 

 good ship Temperance" was from Belfast to 

 Boston, and it was a wedding journey for the 

 young owner and his bride. On the voyage 

 they used the wedding china, a few pieces of 

 which have been kept through all these years us 

 a reminder of the gallant ship "Temperance" 

 that sailed the seas long, long ago. 



Now for the story of Parson Smith and his 

 tea-set. I do not mean a tiny tea-set like those 

 you play with when your friends come to see 

 you and you serve make-believe tea, but I mean 

 a big tea-set with china cups and saucers, tea- 

 pot, sugar-bowl and cream pitcher, that Par- 

 son Smith and his wife used on their dining- 

 room table every day. Pretty cups they arc, 

 white outside, with a band of gilt around the 



