twenty-five minutes past seven
The friends of Joseph Wright and their companions had made it publicly known , and a matter of open boasting , that they intended to be there ; and this announcement was the inducement to a number of idle men and boys to attend the meeting in the hopes of having some diversion . But Thomas Bradly and his friends were quite equal to the occasion ; they were fully alive to the intention of their adversaries , and acted accordingly . As the opponents of temperance entered the hall , members of the Temperance Society contrived to slip in with them , and so to distribute themselves over the seats that no large number of the other side could be gathered in a compact body together . By the time the minute-hand of the clock over the chairman 's seat had reached twenty-five minutes past seven -- the meeting being advertised to begin at half-past seven -- the hall was densely packed from one end to the other , the only unoccupied places being one or two seats close under the platform . Punctually at the half-hour the party from the committee room walked on to the platform , headed by the vicar ; while at the same moment Thomas Bradly , followed by James Barnes , emerged from a side door near the platform , and the two friends placed themselves on two of the vacant foremost chairs . The entrance of these two parties was greeted by a roar of mingled cheers , laughter , and a few groans and hisses . Mr Maltby advanced to the front of the platform , and there was instantly silence .