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WOMAN  AND  TEMPERANCE: 


OR, 


THE  WOBK  AND  WOKKEKS 


OP 


ITA«.iT,n    N 


S  MR 


) 


BY  FRANCES  E.  WILLARD, 


PRESIDENT  OF  THE  NATIONAL  W.  0.  T.  U. 


"O    WOMIN,    (!R**T    IS    TOT     FAITH  !      BE    IT    UNTO    THEE    EVEN    AS    THOU 

wilt.  — Words  of  Christ. 


PUBLISHED   BY 

PARK  PUBLISHING   CO. 

HARTFORD,  CONN. 

J.  S.  GOODMAN  &  CO.,  CHICAGO,  ILLS.;  W.  E.  BLISS, 

DES  MOINES,   IOWW;  WALKER  &  DAIGNEAU 

BATTLE  CHEEK,  MICH. 


Copyrighted,  1883. 

By  the  Park  Publishing  Co., 
hartford,  conn. 


In  Loving  and  Loyal  Recognition  and  Remembrance 

this  book  is  dedicated 

to  the  memory  op  my  generous  benefactor, 

THE  LATE  JAMES  JACKSON,  OP  Paterson,  N.  J., 
AND  TO  HIS  DAUGHTER  AND  MY  TRUE  FRIEND, 

KATE  A.   JACKSON, 

TO   WHOSE   MUNIFICENCE  I  OWE   EVERY  ADVANTAGE  OP  THE 
YEARS  I   SPENT  ABROAD. 


PREFACE. 


This  book  is  a  collection  of  "  Field  Notes,"  roughly 
jotted  down  by  one  whose  rapid  transit  left  no  choice  of 
style  or  method.  It  has  been  put  together  under  diffi- 
culties, which,  could  they  be  known,  would  go  far  toward 
excusing  its  defects.  The  publisher's  wish,  to  present  some 
of  the  author's  addresses  and  personal  observations  of  the 
work,  has  antagonized  her  preference  to  devote  these  pages 
entirely  to  showing  forth  the  deeds  of  her  beloved  coad- 
jutors. Under  these  difficult  conditions,  the  attempt  to 
compromise  has  met  the  moderate  success  herein  exhib- 
ited. Our  work  has  grown  so  greatly  that  its  would-be 
veracious  chronicler  is  well  nigh  bewildered  by  the 
embarras  de  richesse,  for  the  choice  names  omitted  so 
far  exceed  in  number  those  referred  to  that  there  is  no 
satisfaction  in  the  final  result.  My  table  is  crowded  with 
collected  notes  of  our  work  and  workers,  which  must  be 
reserved  until  some  future  day.  But  there  is  this  conso- 
lation :  the  women  to  whom  I  have  written  for  "  some 
account  of  their  life  and  works  "  have  not,  as  a  general 
rule,  replied  at  all,  and  when  they  have  done  so  the  words 
"  too  busy  toiling  to  tell  what  has  been  wrought "  have 
recurred  so  frequently  that  the  names  "  conspicuous  for 
their  absence  "  belong  to  those  who  will  account  them- 
selves most  fortunate.  But,  with  all  its  faults,  this 
birds-eye  view,  giving  some  notion  of  about  fifty  leaders, 
among  the  two  hundred  and  fifty  worthy  to  be  introduced, 
will  have  a  certain  value  as  a  record  of  events,  and  will, 
let  us  hope,  be  useful  as  an  exponent  of  the  aims  and 


. 


D  PREFACE. 

methods  of  a  temperance  society,  concerning  which  John 
B.  Gough  said,  what  we  would  not  have  dared  to  claim 
ourselves,  that  "  it  is  doing  more  for  the  temperance  cause 
to-day  than  all  others  combined." 

F.  E.  W. 
"Rest  Cottage,"  Evanston,  III.,  March  7, 1883. 

#%  Some  of  the  sketches  that  follow  were  written  for 
the  Independent,  The  Christian  Union,  Our  Union,  The 
Signal,  etc.,  and  have  been  transferred  by  editorial  per- 
mission. 


1.  Portrait  of  the  Author  on  Steel, 

2.  Mrs.  E.  J.  Thompson, 

3.  Mrs.  Geo.  Carpenter, 

4.  Mother  Stewart, 

5.  Mrs.  Abby  F.  Leavitt, 

6.  Mrs.  Mary  A.  Woodbridge, 

7.  Mrs.  Margaret  E.  Parker, 

8.  Mrs.  Margaret  B.  Lucas,   . 

9.  Mrs.  W.  A.  Ingham, 

10.  Mrs.  J.  F.  Willing,  . 

11.  Mrs.  Emily  Huntington  Miller, 

12.  Mrs.  Annie  Wittenmyer,     . 

13.  Mrs.  Mary  T.  Burt,  . 

14.  Mrs.  S.  M.  I.  Henry, 

15.  Mrs.  Hannah  Whitall  Smith, 

16.  Mrs.  Mary  T.  Lathrop, 

17.  Miss  Lucia  E.  F.  Kimball,  . 

18.  Mrs.  Mary  H.  Hunt, 

19.  Mrs.  Lucy  Webb  Hayes, 

20.  Miss  Esther  Pugii,     . 

21.  Mrs.  J.  Ellen  Foster, 

22.  Mrs.  Mary  A.  Liyermore,  . 

23.  Mrs.  C.  B.  Buell,   . 


Page. 
Frontispiece. 
51 
61 
81 
89 
99 
115 
119 
123 
149 
155 
161 
169 
185 
193 
207 
215 
243 
257 
315 
319 
419 
435 


a> 


8 

ILLUSTRATIONS. 

24. 

Mrs.  Z.  G.  Wallace,    .        .                       , 

.     477 

25. 

Mrs.  Bent  with  her  Cornet,        ,            , 

.     513 

26. 

Mrs.  Sarah  K.  Bolton, 

.  .    525 

27. 

Mrs.  Sallie  F.  Chapin, 

.    541 

28. 

Mrs.  Caroline  E.  Merrick, 

.     561 

29. 

Miss  Elizabeth  "W.  Greenwood,    . 

.     581 

30. 

Mrs.  J.  K.  Barney,   . 

.     585 

81. 

Mrs.  Elizabeth  Comstock,  . 

.     589 

32. 

Mrs.  Letitia  Yodmans, 

.     599 

33. 

The  Future  Legislator, 

.     605 

CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  I. 
FRANCES  E.  WILLARD. 

Ancestry  and  birth — Character  of  parents — Early  life — Travel  and 
life  abroad — The  "Human  Question" — Elected  President  of 
Woman's  College — The  Teacher — Character  and  methods — In- 
troduction to  the  public — Impressions  of  a  journalist — Char- 
acter and  aims — Call  to  the  temperance  work — Earlier  work — 
Gospel  work — Journalism — Birth  of  "  Home  Protection" — The 
great  petition — Elected  to  the  presidency  of  the  National  W.  C. 
T.  U. — Work  —  Incidents  —  Southern  tours — Character  as  a 
woman — As  a  leader  of  women — As  a  type.         .        .        ,        .19 

CHAPTER  II. 
PRELIMINARY. 

The  W.  C.  T.  U.  compared  with  other  Societies — "Without  a 
pattern  and  without  a  peer." 39 

CHAPTER  III. 
"W.  C.  T.  U." 

Its  object— Hygiene — The  "  Religion  of  the  Body  " — Dress,  econo- 
my of  time — Value  of  a  trained  intellect — The  coming  of  Christ 
into  five  circles:  Heart;  Home;  Denominationalism;  Society; 
Government — Home  protection — "  The  Old  Ship  Zion,  Hal- 
lelujah!"— Motto:  "  Mary  stood  the  cross  beside. "     .        .        .42 

CHAPTER  IV. 

"LET  IT  BE  NOTED"; 
Or  why  the  Author  is  not  a  Critic. 48 

(9) 


10  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  V. 

THE  FIRST   CRUSADERS. 

Mrs.  Judge  Thompson  of  Hillsboro',  Ohio — First  Praying  Band — 
First  Saloon  Prayer-meeting— Mrs.  George  Carpenter  of  Wash-* 
ington  Court  House — Story  of  the  great  victories — Scene  at  a 
National  W.  C.  T.  U.  Convention — Presentation  of  the  Crusade 
Bedquilt 50 

CHAPTER  VI. 

"MOTHER  STEWART." 

Ancestry— A  Teacher— A  Good  Samaritan  in  War  Times— De- 
fends a  Drunkard's  Wife  in  Court— Enters  a  Saloon  in  Disguise 
—A  Leader  in  Two  Crusades— Visits  England— Goes  South- 
Critique  of  London  Watchman 80 

CHAPTER  VII. 
MRS.  ABBY  FISHER  LEAVITT. 

"Leader  of  the  Forty -three  "—The  shoemaker  and  the  little  white 
shoes 88 

CHAPTER  VIII. 
MRS.  MARY  A.  WOODBRIDGE. 

President  of  the  Crusade  State,  and  Recording  Secretary  of  the 
National  W.  C.  T.  U.— A  Nantucket  Girl— Cousin  of  Maria 
Mitchell — Western  education— Baptized  into  the  Crusade — 
Speaks  in  fifty  Presbyterian  Churches— The  author's  glimpse 
of  the  Crusade— The  Crusade  in  Calcutta— Margaret  Parker 
— Mrs.  Margaret  Lucas .  101 

CHAPTER  IX. 
"THE  SOBER  SECOND  THOUGHT  OF  THE  CRUSADE." 

Chautauqua,  Summer  of  1874 — Poetic  justice— Dr.  Vincent — 
Mrs.  Ingham's  sketch— Mrs.  E.  H.  Miller's  circular.  .        .        .121 

CHAPTER  X. 

THE  WOMAN'S    NATIONAL   TEMPERANCE  CONVENTION 
FOUNDED  AT  CLEVELAND,  O. 

The  First  Woman's  National  Temperance  Convention,  Cleve- 
land, Ohio — Red-Letter  days  —  Officers — Resolutions,  etc.  — 
Representative  Women — A  brave  beginning 127 


CONTENTS.  11 

CHAPTER  XL 

PARLIAMENTARY  USAGE  VERSUS  "RED  TAPE." 

Mrs.  Plymouth  Rock  and  Friend  Rachel  Halliday  engage  in  a 
discussion 136 

CHAPTER  XII. 
OUR  MANY-SIDED  WORK. 

143 

CHAPTER  XIII. 
MRS.  JANE  FOWLER  WILLING. 

President  of  the  First  National  Convention — An  Earnest  Life 
and  Varied  Work — Speaker — Organizer — Teacher — Author.      .  147 

CHAPTER  XIV. 
MRS.  EMILY  HUNTINGTON  MILLER. 

Mrs.  Emily  Huntington  Miller — Secretary  of  Chautauqua  pre- 
liminary meeting — Author,  Editor,-  Home-maker.       .        .        .  154 

CHAPTER  XV. 

MRS.  ANNIE  WITTENMYER. 

First  President  of  the  W.  C.  T.  U.— War  Record— Church  Work 
—Philanthropy 160 

CHAPTER  XVI. 
MRS.  MARY  T.  BURT. 

Second  Corresponding  Secretary  of  National  W.  C.  T.  U. — An 
Episcopalian — Editor  of  "Our  Union" — President  of  New 
York  State  W.  C.  T.  U 168 

CHAPTER  XVII. 

WOMAN'S  CHRISTIAN  TEMPERANCE  UNION  WORK  FOR 

THE  INDIVIDUAL. 

Gospel  Temperance,  or  the  Light  of  Christ  shining  in  the  circle  of 
one  heart — "The  Lord  looseth  the  Prisoners" — A  reformed 
man's  speech — Woman's  Christian  Temperance  Union  work  in 


12  CONTENTS. 

the  Church  universal — Its  wholly  unsectarian  character — "Let 
her  not  take  a  text " — Our  Evangelists — Mrs.  S.  M.  I.  Henry — 
"  The  Name  "—Mrs.  Hannah  Whitall  Smith — "  How  to  prepare 
Bible  Readings" — Mrs.  Mary  T.  Lathrop — Miss  Jennie  Smith — 
Mrs.  T.  B.  Carse— Miss  Lucia  E.  F.  Kimball— The  Indian 
Chief  Petosky — The  first  temperance  Camp-meeting — Alcohol 
at  the  Communion  Table — How  one  woman  helped — That  fos- 
sil prayer-meeting — Woman's  Christian  Temperance  Union 
Training  School — "  The  Master  is  come  and  calleth  for  thee."      176 

CHAPTER  XVIII. 
W.  C.  T.  IT.  WORK  FOR  THE  HOME. 

"  Combination  view  " — Cburch — Saloon — School-house — Home — 
Mother  and  boy — Philosophy  of  our  plan  of  work — Doctor, 
Editor,  Minister,  Teacher,  must  all  stand  by  the  Christian 
mother — Society  the  cup-bearer  to  Bacchus — The  sovereign  citi- 
zen—Education of  the  saloon — The  arrest  of  thought — Mrs. 
Mary  H.  Hunt,  National  Superintendent  of  Scientific  Depart- 
ment  235 

CHAPTER  XIX. 

THE  W.  C.  T.  U.  IN  SOCIETY. 

The  Light  of  Christ  in  the  circle  of  society — The  hostess  of  the 
White  House— Sketch  of  Mrs.  L\icy  Webb  Hayes— Memorial 
portrait — Lincoln  Hall  meeting — "The  Two  Bridges" — Mrs. 
Foster's  address — Presentation  at  Executive  Mansion — President 
Garfield's  reply — "Through  the  Eye  to  the  Heart" — Lucy 
Hayes  Tea  Parties,  Impressions  of  the  Garfields — Society  work 
of  young  women — Mrs.  Francis  J.  Barnes  of  New  York — Miss 
Anna  Gordon — Y.  W.  C.  T.  U.  of  Michigan  University — Wel- 
lesley  College — Kitchen  garden — Miss  McClees — Sensible  girls 
— "The  W.  C.  T.  U.  will  receive  "—Nobler  themes— "All  for 
Temperance" — Miss  Esther  Pugh,  Treasurer  of  National  W. 
C.  T.  U 255 

CHAPTER  XX. 
THE  W.  C.  T.  U.  IN  THE  GOVERNMENT. 

Mrs.  Judith  Ellen  Foster — A  Boston  girl,  a  lawyer,  an  orator — 
Her  work  part  and  parcel  of  the  W.  C.  T.  U. — As  wife, 
mother,  and  Christian — Philosophy  of  the  W.  C.  T.  U.  in  the 
Government — The  Keithsburg  election,  or  the  "Women  who 


CONTENTS.  13 

dared  " — The  story  of  Roekford— Home  protection  in  Arkansas 
—A  practical  application— Observations  en  route— The  famous 
law— Extract  from  Fourth  of  July  address — Local  option — Plan 
for  local  campaign — How  not  to  do  it — How  it  has  been  done — 
Temperance  tabernacles— History  of  Illinois'  great  petition- 
About  petitions — Days  of  prayer — Copy  of  the  petition— Home 
protection  hymn— Mrs.  Pellucid  at  the  Capitol— A  specimen 
Legislature — Valedictory  thoughts — Temperance  tonic — Yankee 
home  protection  catechism — A  heart-sorrow  in  an  unprotected 
home — The  dragon's  council  hall — Home  guards  of  Illinois — 
How  one  little  woman  saved  the  day  in  Kansas — Election  day 
in  Illinois — Incidents  of  the  campaign — A  Southern  incident — 
Childhood's  part  in  the  victory 321 

CHAPTER  XXL 

MRS.  MARY  A.  LIVERMORE, 

Our  Chief  Speaker,  and  President  of  the  Massachusetts  W.  C.  T.  U. 

Seen  from  afar — Personal  reminiscences — A  racy  sketch  of  her 
Melrose  home — Sermon  on  Immortality — Incidents  of  early 
years — Religious  character — Her  coadjutors — Elizabeth  Stuart 
Phelps'  Letter  to  Massachusetts  W.  C.  T.  U 418 

CHAPTER  XXII. 
CAROLINE  BROWN  BUELL, 

Corresponding  Secretary  National  W.  C.  T.  TJ. 

The  universal  Brown  family — A  vigorous  ancestry — An  itinerant 
preacher's  home — The  War  tragedy — Her  brother's  helper — 
Hears  the  Crusade  tocsin — A  noble  life — That  Saratoga  Con- 
vention  437 

CHAPTER  XXIII. 
MY  FIRST  HOME  PROTECTION  ADDRESS. 

450 

CHAPTER  XXIV. 

WOMEN'S  BRIGHT  WORDS. 

Priscilla  Shrewdly  and  Charlotte  Cheeryble — One  woman's  expe- 
rience— Our  letter  bag — From  a  Pennsylvania  girl — From  an 
Illinois  working  man — From  a  Michigan  lady — From  a  Missouri 


14  CONTENTS. 

lady — From  Rockford,  Ills. — From  a  reformed  man  in  Phila- 
delphia— From  a  new  York  lady — The  temperance  house  that 
Jack  built — One  day  in  a  temperance  woman's  life — From  a 
New  England  girl's  letter — Concerning  the  word  "Christian" 
— From  Senator  and  Mrs.  Blair 460 

CHAPTER  XXV. 

MRS.  ZERELDA  G.  WALLACE,  OF  INDIANA. 

Our  Temperance  Deborah — Her  place — A  character — Incidents — 
The  Newspaper — A  Bible  Student — Home  life — Her  Temper- 
ance Baptism — Figures  in  "  Ben  Hur  " — A  Christian.         .        .476 

CHAPTER  XXVI. 

"PERSONAL  LIBERTY." 

"The  Open  Secret." 486 

CHAPTER  XXVII. 

THE  MODOCS  OF  THE  LAVA  BEDS  IN  THE  INDIAN 

TERRITORY. 

A  Quaker  conquest — Miss  Willard  among  the  Modocs.  .        .  504 

CHAPTER  XXVIIL 

MRS.  L.    M.    N.    STEVENS  OF   MAINE.— MRS.  F.   A.   BENT, 
WITH  HER  GOLDEN  CORNET. 


511 


CHAPTER  XXIX. 


LIFE  AND  WORK  OF  JULIA  COLMAN. 

Superintendent  of  the  Literature  Department  of  the  National  W.  C.  T.  U. 

516 

CHAPTER  XXX. 
OUR  JOURNALISTS. 

Mrs.  Sarah  K.  Bolton — Miss  Margaret  E.  Winslow — "Crowned  ' 
— Mrs.  Mary  Bannister  Willard — "John  Brant's  wife,  who  was 
not  a  Crusader  " — A  sketch 524 


CONTENTS.  15 

CHAPTER  XXXI. 
OUR  SOUTHERN  ALLIES. 

Mrs.  Sallie  F.  Chapin  of  S.  O—  Sketch  of  her  life— Address  at 
Washington — Mrs.  Georgia  Hulse  McLeod  of  Md. — Mrs.  J.  C. 
Johnson  of  Tenn.— Mrs.  J.  L.  Lyons  of  Fla.—  Mrs.  W.  C.  Sib- 
ley of  Ga. — Miss  Fannie  Griffin  of  Ala. — Other  representative 
Southern  ladies — Mrs.  Judge  Merrick  of  New  Orleans — Address 
at  Saratoga  on  my  Southern  trip — Texas  and  temperance.  .  540 

CHAPTER  XXXII. 

GLIMPSES  OF  THE  WOMEN  AT  WORK. 

Miss  Elizabeth  W.  Greenwood — Miss  F.  Jennie  Duty  of  Ohio, 
the  Minister  at  Large — Mrs.  J.  K.  Barney  of  Rhode  Island,  the 
Prisoner's  Friend — Mrs.  Henrietta  Skelton,  the  German  Lec- 
turer— Mrs.  Elizabeth  L.  Comstock,  the  Quaker  Philanthropist 
— One  husband's  birthday  gift.     .  580 

CHAPTER  XXX1IL 

THE  CANADIAN  LEADERS. 

Mrs.  Letitia  Youmans,  the  Lecturer — Mrs.  D.  B.  Chisholm,  Pre- 
sident of  Ontario  W.  C.  T.  U. ,  etc 598 

CHAPTER  XXXIV. 

THE  CHILDREN. 

Miss  Lathbury's  poem — Boy's  Temperance  speech — How  to  reach 
the  children. .  604 

CHAPTER  XXXV. 
HOW  TO  ORGANIZE  A  W.  C.  T.  U. 

How  ought  a  Local  W.  C.  T.  U.  to  conduct  a  Public  Meeting?     .  612 


APPENDIX. 

Constitution  and  Plan  of  Work  for  a  local  W.  C.  T.  U— Plan  of 
work  of  1874— Plan  of  work  for  1883 633 


A  CARD. 

We,  the  undersigned,  representing  as  we  do  the  fifty  thou- 
sand women  belonging  to  our  National  W.  C.  T.  U.  all  over 
these  United  States,  desire  to  make  a  statement  of  facts. 

When  we  found  that  the  publishers  of  this  book  wished  our 
National  President,  Miss  Frances  E.  Willard,  to  be  its  author, 
we  at  once  realized  the  delicate  position  in  which  she  was 
placed  as  regarded  her  personal  share  in  our  work,  and  we 
determined  to  take  that  matter  into  our  own  hands.  "We  felt 
that  the  story  of  the  work  would  be  utterly  incomplete  without 
the  story  of  one  of  the  chief  workers,  and  we  also  felt  that  it 
must  be  told  fully  and  truly  from  our  standpoint  or  not  at  all. 
We  therefore  secured  the  services  of  our  gifted  Mary  A. 
Lathbury  to  prepare  this  sketch,  and  are  ourselves  reponsible 
for  it  in  every  particular,  Miss  Willard  not  having  seen  its 
contents  until  it  was  in  print.  The  book  is  altogether  hers, 
but  this  chapter  is  ours  and  ours  alone. 

Mrs.  Mary  A.  Woodbridge,      I  Mrs.  Z.  G.  Wallace, 


Rec.  Secretary  National  W.  C.  T.  U. 

Mrs.  L.  M.  N.  Stevens, 

Assistant  Recording  Secretary. 

Miss  Esther  Pugh, 

Treasurer. 

Mrs.  Sallie  F.  Chapin, 

Superintendent  Southern  Work. 


President  Indiana  W.  C.  T.  U. 

Mrs.  Mary  T.  Burt, 

President  New  York  W.  C.  T.  U. 

Mrs.  J.  E.  Poster, 

Superintendent  of  Legislative  Dep't. 

Mrs.  T.  B.  Carse, 

Pres.  W.  T.  P.  Association,  Chicago. 


Mrs.    Hannah   Whitall    Smith, 

Superintendent  Evangelistic  Dep't. 


(!') 


FRANCES    E.  WILLARD, 

OF  ILLINOIS. 

BY  MARY  A.    LATHBURY, 

Author  of  "  Out  of  Darkness  into  Light,"  etc. 


Ancestry  and  birth — Character  of  parents — Early  life — Travel  and 
life  abroad — The  "Human  Question" — Elected  President  of  Wo- 
man's College — The  Teacher — Character  and  methods — Introduction 
to  the  public — Impressions  of  a  journalist — Character  and  aims — 
Call  to  the  temperance  work — Earlier  work — Gospel  work — Jour- 
nalism— Birth  of  "Home  Protection" — The  great  petition — Elected 
to  the  presidency  of  the  National  W.  C.  T.  U. — Work — Incidents — 
Southern  tours — Character  as  a  woman — As  a  leader  of  women — As 
a  type. 

66  "      TE  shall  be  like  a  tree,"  sang  the  Psalmist  of  the 

J L  coming  man,  the  highest  type  of  the  race.   Why 

all  men  are  not  of  New  England  elms,  or  California 
pines,  may  be  accounted  for,  perhaps,  but  for  the  fact  that 
there  are  so  few  "  large  "  women  in  these  days,  who  shall 
account  ?  The  tree  that  lifts  its  fearless  face  to  heaven, 
spreads  its  arms  to  the  four  quarters  of  the  earth,  and 
sends  its  roots  to  feed  from  a  hundred  secret  springs,  was 
never  grown  in  a  box,  nor  cut  by  conventional  pruning- 
knives.  This  mental  and  moral  "largeness"  is  as  dis- 
tinctly the  birthright  of  women  as  of  men ;  but  the 
former  have,  as  a  class,  been  dwarfed  in  the  training. 
Some  have  risen  to  exceptional  moral  height,  with  little 
lateral  increase,  while  others  have  put  forth  root  or 
branch  in  the  one  direction  open  to  free  growth. 

It  is  probable  that  Frances  E.  Willard  came  into  her 
inheritance,  in  part,  through  fortunate  parentage,  for  she 

(19) 


20  FEANCES   E.    WILLARD. 

is  sprung  from  that  strong  New  England  stock  which, 
when  transplanted  into  Western  soil,  often  finds  the  best 
conditions  of  growth. 

Major  Simon  Willard,  who  traced  his  line  of  descent 
to  the  time  of  the  Conquest,  came  to  America  early  in 
the  seventeenth  century.  The  ancestor  of  Senator  Hoar 
and  Major  Willard,  with  a  few  others,  founded  Concord, 
Mass.,  the  literary  centre  of  New  England.  One  of  the 
Willards  was  president  of  Harvard  University,  and  his 
son  vice-president.  One  was  pastor  of  the  old  South 
Church,  and  another  the  architect  of  Bunker  Hill  Monu- 
ment. Miss  WTillard's  grandfather  (who  was  a  grandson 
of  Major  Simon  aforesaid)  was  pastor  of  one  church,  at 
Dublin,  near  Keene,  N.  H.,  forty  years,  and  was  a  chap- 
lain throughout  the  Revolutionary  War.  Mrs.  Emma 
Willard,  the  distinguished  educator  of  Troy,  N.  Y..  is  of 
the  family,  which  through  its  generations,  has  thrown  its 
activities  largely  into  education,  politics,  and  the  pulpit. 
The  family  motto  is  "  G-audet  patentia  duris"  (patience 
rejoices  in  hardships),  and  the  family  name,  Willard, 
means  "  one  who  wills." 

Miss  Willard's  mother  was  of  excellent  New  England 
parentage.  Her  maiden  name  was  Mary  Thompson  Hill, 
and  she  is  closely  related  to  the  Clements,  being  a  cousin 
of  Rev.  Dr.  Jonathan  Clement,  of  blessed  memory  in  the 
Congregational  annals  of  New  England.  Both  parents 
were  natives  of  Caledonia  County,  Vermont,  removing 
early  to  Western  New  York,  where  their  third  daughter, 
Frances  Elizabeth,  was  born,  in  Churchville,  near  Roch- 
ester. When  she  was  three  years  of  age  the  family 
removed  to  Obcrlin,  0.,  where  for  five  years  both  parents 
devoted  themselves  to  study  (although  both  had  been 
teachers),  and  then  removed  to  Wisconsin.  As  "  brain 
and  brawn  "  were  wisely  used  in  the  development  of  his 
large  farm  near  Janesville,  J.  F.  Willard  soon  became  a 


FRANCES   E.    WILLARD.  21 

leader  in  movements  tending  toward  the  development  of 
the  State.  His  farm  was  known  to  be  the  field  of  suc- 
cessful experiments,  receiving  premiums  at  the  annual 
fairs,  and  he  was  appointed  president  of  the  State  agri- 
cultural and  horticultural  societies.  He  was  also  promi- 
nent in  politics  for  years,  and  a  member  of  the  State 
Legislature. 

Mrs.  Willard  was  a  woman  of  grand  ideas  and  aspi- 
rations, which  were  only  to  be  wrought  out  indirectly 
through  her  children.  As  her  daughter  once  said  of  her: 
"  My  mother  held  that  nature's  standard  ought  to  be 
restored,  and  that  the  measure  of  each  human  being's 
endowment  was  the  only  reasonable  measure  of  that 
human  being's  sphere.  She  had  small  patience  with 
artificial  diagrams  placed  before  women  by  the  dictum  of 
society,  in  which  the  boundaries  of  their  especial  'sphere' 
were  marked  out  for  them,  and  one  of  her  favorite 
phrases  was,  '  Let  a  girl  grow  as  a  tree  grows — according 
to  its  own  sweet  will.'" 

"  She  looked  at  the  mysteries  of  human  progress  from 
the  angle  of  vision  made  by  the  eye  of  both  the  man  and 
the  woman,  and  foresaw  that  the  mingling  of  justice  and 
mercy  in  the  great  decisions  that  affect  society  would  give 
deliverance  from  political  corruption  and  governmental 
one-sidedness." 

During  the  years  between  eight  and  eighteen  the  child 
Frances  grew  in  the  free  air,  with  leagues  of  prairie 
around  her,  her  only  companions  her  brother  and  sister; 
her  books  few,  including  no  novels;  her  teachers  a  wise 
and  gifted  mother,  and  a  bright,  talented  governess — 
Miss  Annie  R.  Burdick — to  whom  she  was  devotedly 
attached.  Education — not  described  by  text-books  and 
departments — was  her  daily  food  and  inspiration,  and 
was  brought  to  the  children  through  a  thousand  avenues 
that  only  a  mother,  with  the  divine  intuitive  gift  that 


l2  FEANCES    E.    WILLAED. 

Froebel  had,  could  have  opened.  There  were  "  sermons 
in  stones,  books  in  the  running  brooks."  The  world's 
work  was  reproduced  in  miniature  in  the  little  household, 
that  the  children  might  learn  to  take  part  in  it.  The)7 
had  a  board  of  public  works,  an  art  club,  and  a  news- 
paper, edited  by  Frances,  who  also  wrote  a  novel  of  four 
hundred  pages  which  has  never  seen  the  light.  Poems 
were  written  —  a  home-republic  was  formed,  and  the 
children  trod  their  little  world  with  the  free  step  and  the 
abandon  that  helped  them  to  conquer  it  in  after  life.  One 
took  in  life  too  largely  for  her  early  strength,  and  died  at 
nineteen,  and  another  fell  in  the  midst  of  the  work  he 
began  as  a  boy-journalist.  The  other,  with  a  strength 
that  is  almost  miraculous,  lives  to  fulfill  the  unique 
destiny  she  always  saw  before  her — undefined,  yet  certain, 
when  she  was  still  a  child. 

At  eighteen  years  of  age,  school-life,  in  the  conventional 
sense,  began.  After  a  term  at  Milwaukee,  in  the  college 
founded  by  Catherine  Beecher,  the  family  plan  was 
changed,  the  farm  sold,  and  Evanston,  111.,  chosen  as  the 
home ;  for  the  parents  still  wisely  held  to  the  plan  of 
combining  home  and  school ;  and  as  a  college  could  not 
come  to  the  home,  the  home  must  go  to  the  college. 
The  father  became  a  banker,  of  the  well-known  firm  of 
Preston,  Willard  &  Kean,  Chicago.  In  this  beautiful 
suburban  town  the  pretty  cottage  was  built,  which  to 
mother  and  daughter  are  now  sacred  as  the  father's  last 
gift.  He  died  in  1868.  Here  the  daughters  graduated, 
and  Mary,  the  one  sister,  lovely  and  beloved,  was  called 
into  larger  life — and  from  this  point  Frances  Willard 
began  to  take  up  life  with  a  new  earnestness. 

The  question  that,  as  a  little  child,  she  had  taken  to 
her  father — "  I  don't  see  Christ ;  I  don't  feel  Him ;  tvhere 
is  EeV — became  the  one  question  to  be  settled  beyond 
doubt.     And  the  fact  that  the  beatific  vision  she  longed 


FRANCES   E.    WILLARDi  23 

to  attain  proved  to  be  a  revelation  of  "  Christ  in  us  " — 
the  life  of  her  own  spirit — is  the  secret  of  her  present 
relation  to  the  moral  issues  upon  which  she  has  laid  her 
hand.  Some  years  of  teaching  followed  in  Evanston, 
Pittsburg,  Pa.,  and  Lima,  N.  Y.  While  teaching  in  the 
Female  College  at  Pittsburg,  Pa.,  she  wrote  "  Nineteen 
Beautiful  Years,"  a  most  interesting  and  touching  memoir 
of  the  gifted  Mary.  It  was  published  in  1864  by  the 
Harpers,  and  is  a  little  shrine  holding  much  of  the  early 
life  of  both  sisters.  In  1868-70,  as  the  guest  of  her 
friend,  Miss  Kate  Jackson,  she  journeyed  through  Europe 
and  the  East. 

The  rare  opportunities  of  study  in  Paris,  Berlin,  and 
Rome  were  thoroughly  improved,  and  nearly  every  Euro- 
pean capital  was  visited.  In  the  "  College  de  France  "  and 
"  Petit  Sorbonne  "  they  attended  the  lectures  of  Laboulaye 
and  Guizot  the  younger,  Legouve",  Chasles,  Franck  the 
historian,  Chevalier  the  political  economist,  and  a  score 
of  lesser  lights.  In  one  of  a  series  of  delightful  letters, 
since  published  by  her  under  the  general  title  of  "A  School- 
mistress Abroad,"  we  come  upon  this  characteristic  bit, 
after  a  ramble  among  the  relics  of  French  royalty : 

"  It  is  good  not  to  have  been  born  earlier  than  the  nine- 
teenth century ;  and,  for  myself,  I  could  have  rested  con- 
tent until  the  twenty-fifth,  by  which  date  I  believe  our 
hopeful  dawn  of  Reason,  Liberty,  and  Worship  will  have 
grown  to  noon-day.  Oh  !  native  land — the  world's  hope, 
the  Gospel's  triumph,  the  Millenium's  dawn  '  are  all  with 
thee,  are  all  with  thee  ! '  " 

The  ladies  traveled  in  Palestine,  Egypt,  Greece,  and 
Asia  Minor,  looking  into  foreign  mission  stations  on  their 
way,  sailing  from  Italy,  and  returning  by  the  Danube. 
While  absent  Miss  Willard  wrote  often  for  home  papers — 
the  New  York  Independent,  Harper's  Jfonthl?/,  Tlie  Chris- 
tian Union,  and  Chicago  journals.     She  gathered  much 


24  FRANCES    E.    WILLARD. 

material  for  literary  work,  and  the  experience  added 
breadth  to  her  sight  of  character  and  countries.  Witness- 
ing the  condition  of  women  in  the  East  and  in  the 
greater  part  of  Europe,  she  was  led  to  a  problem  which 
has  had  large  answer  in  her  later  life  :  "  What  can  be 
done  to  make  the  world  a  wider  place  for  women  ? " 

The  "  human  question,"  which  she  often  affirms  is 
much  more  to  her  than  the  "  woman  question,"  began  to 
shape  itself  in  her  mind  and  weigh  heavily  upon  her  heart. 
Jean  Francjois  Millet,  brooding  over  the  burdened  peas- 
antry, who  were  almost  on  the  plane  of  the  dumb  clods 
of  the  fields  in  which  they  wrought,  threw  upon  canvass 
the  pathetic  pictures  which  go  far  toward  redeeming 
French  art  and  awakening  the  French  heart,  It  was  the 
"  human  question  "  which  possessed  him.  It  was  this 
question  also,  reaching  out  for  solution  to  the  circle  near- 
est her — her  own  sex — that  knit  the  brows  and  dropped 
a  shadow  into  the  clear  eyes  of  our  young  traveler  all  the 
way  from  Paris  to  the  Volga,  and  through  the  East. 

From  that  time  she  has  been  a  lover  of  women.  She 
saw  that  woman's  condition  has  kept  back  civilization,  as 
the  stream  does  not  rise  higher  than  the  spring  that  feeds 
it ;  and  she  coveted  for  her  countrywomen  the  "  best 
gifts,"  to  hold  and  to  impart. 

In  1871  she  was  elected  President  of  the  Woman's 
College,  at  Evanston,  (an  institution  with  none  but 
women  among  Trustees  or  Faculty,)  and  there  developed 
her  plan  of  "  self-government "  for  the  students,  which 
was  watched  by  many  with  extreme  interest,  and  is  now 
pursued  with  success  by  several  educators.  On  the  union 
of  the  College  with  the  University,  when  it  became 
impossible  to  carry  out  her  plan  of  government,  she 
resigned  her  position. 

One  of  her  pupils  during  this  time  (now  the  wife  of  a 
college  President)  writes  thus  of  Miss  Willard  in  a  private 


FRANCES   E.    WILLARD.  25 

letter  to  a  friend,  after  a  graphic  account  of  her  rare 
work  in  the  class-room  : 

"  In  the  most  important  part  of  her  work  as  an  educa- 
tor— the  development  of  character — I  can  speak  from  the 
most  intimate  knowledge.  In  this  I  doubt  if  she  ever 
had  a  superior,  and  but  for  Arnold  of  Rugby,  I  should 
have  said  an  equal.  Her  power  over  the  girls  who  came 
under  her  influence  was  most  extraordinary.  It  is  an 
amusing  fact  that  some  people  regarded  it  with  a  mixture 
of  wonder  and  fear,  as  something  a  little  allied  to  witch- 
craft— an  inexplicable  spell  not  founded  in  reason.  But 
she  never  used  her  personal  power  of  winning  friends  for 
the  mere  purpose  of  gaining  the  friends.  She  never 
seemed  to  do  anything  from  policy,  nor  to  think  whether 
she  was  "  popular"  or  not.  She  was  always  planning  for 
our  happiness  and  welfare,  and  would  go  to  any  amount  of 
trouble  to  gratify  us.  Then  she  was  always  reasonable. 
She  never  insisted  that  a  thing  must  be  simply  because 
she  had  said  so,  but  was  perfectly  willing  to  see  and 
acknowledge  it  if  she  herself  was  in  the  wrong.  Her 
ideals  of  life  and  character  were  very  high,  and  she  suc- 
ceeded in  inspiring  her  girls  with  a  great  deal  of  her  own 
enthusiasm.  I  never,  at  any  other  period  of  my  life, 
lived  under  such  a  constant,  keen  sense  of  moral  respon- 
sibility, nor  with  such  a  high  ideal  of  what  I  could  become, 
as  during  the  years  in  which  I  so  proudly  called  myself 
one  of  '  her  girls.'  " 

Says  another,  now  near  her  in  the  work  of  life : 
"  Were  one  to  ask  the  salient  features  of  her  work  as  a 
teacher,  the  reply  should  be :  the  development  of  indi- 
vidual character  along  intellectual  and  moral  lines ;  the 
revelation  to  her  pupils  of  their  special  powers  and  voca- 
tion as  workers,  her  constantly  recurring  question  being  not 
only  '  What  are  you  going  to  be  in  the  world  ?'  but  '  What 
are  you  going  to  do  ? '  so  that,  after  six  months  under 
2 


26  FRANCES   E.    WILLARD. 

her  tuition,  each  of  her  scholars  had  a  definite  idea  of  a 
life-work." 

From  a  concise  report  of  Miss  Willard's  method  of 
self-government  already  published,  we  quote : 

"  Practically  she  opened  school  without  rules,  but  when 
an  error  in  conduct  occurred  she  stated  it  (impersonally) 
in  chapel,  submitted  a  rule  to  cover  the  case,  and  put  its 
adoption  to  vote  among  the  young  ladies ;  and  she  never 
failed  in  the  unanimous  adoption  of  the  rule  offered,  even 
the  guilty  condemning  their  own  acts.  Thus  her  rules 
became  a  growth  that  shadowed  all  defects,  with  "  the 
consent  of  the  governed,"  and  were  seldom  violated.  She 
did  not  even  call  them  rules,  but  '  regulations  of  the  code 
of  courtesy,'  the.  point  being  that  to  obey  them  was 
merely  the  courtesy  of  each  toward  all.  Pupils  who 
kept  the  code  through  a  half  year  entered  a  'Eoll  of 
Honor  Society.'  This  was  the  intellectual  gymnasium  of 
the  college,  and  was  made  measurably  responsible  for  the 
behavior  of  its  members,  being  allowed  certain  privileges, 
such  as  attendance  upon  evening  lectures,  etc.,  without 
special  permit,  but  strictly  upon  their  honor  as  to  points 
of  propriety ;  and  the  young  lady  who  preserved  a  blame- 
less record  in  this  society  during  one  year  was  advanced 
to  the  '  corps  of  the  self-governed,'  having  no  school  moni- 
tor but  the  following  pledge  : 

"  'I  promise,  by  God's  help,  so  to  act  in  respect  to  my 
conduct  and  habits  that,  if  every  member  of  this  college 
acted  in  the  same  way,  the  greatest  good  to  the  greatest 
number  would  be  secured.' 

"  Miss  Willard  found  this  system  to  secure  not  only 
good  order,  but  also  respectful  affection  for  teachers,  and 
to  develop  in  her  pupils  a  womanly  self-respect  and  dig- 
nity of  character." 

About  two  thousand  pupils  have  been  under  her  instruc- 
tion in  the  different  colleges  in  which  she  taught. 


FRANCES    E.    WILLARD.  27 

• 

There  was  apparently  more  of  accident  than  design  in 
Miss  Willard's  introduction  to  the  public  as  a  speaker. 
While  in  Palestine  she  had  visions  of  a  new  crusade 
which  the  Christian  women  of  her  country  might  enter 
upon,  and  the  development  of  a  new  chivalry — the  chiv- 
alry of  justice — which  gives  to  woman  a  fair  chance  to 
be  all  that  God  designed  her  to  be.  She  spoke  of  it  in  a 
women's  missionary  meeting  in  Chicago,  after  her  return. 
The  next  day  a  Methodist  layman  of  wealth  called  upon 
her,  and  after  urging  upon  her  the  development  and  use 
of  God's  gift  to  her — the  ability  to  stand  before  assemblies 
"  in  His  name  " — he  proposed  to  gather  an  audience  for 
her  in  one  of  the  large  city  churches,  if  she  would  address 
it.  She  laid  the  matter  before  her  mother  (blessed  be 
the  mothers  who  have  open  vision  !),  who  said :  "  By  all 
means,  my  child,  accept ;  enter  every  open  door." 

She  did  accept,  and  spoke  to  a  large  audience  that 
received  her  with  the  utmost  cordiality.  Several  city 
papers  reported  her  words,  so  that  within  two  weeks  she 
had  received  scores  of  requests  to  speak  from  all  parts  of 
the  northwest. 

As  it  was  soon  after  this  that  she  entered  upon  her 
work  in  the  Women's  College  at  Evanston,  she  gave  her- 
self few  opportunities  to  speak  in  public  gatherings  ;  but 
notwithstanding  this  she  was  ranked  by  many,  among 
them  an  editor  of  the  New  York  Independent,  as  holding 
the  "  first  place  among  women  who  speak." 

From  an  article  by  James  Clement  Ambrose,  whom  we 
have  already  quoted,  in  Potter's  American  Monthly  for 
May,  1882,  we  extract  the  following  graceful  tribute  to 
Miss  Willard : 

"  As  a  public  speaker,  I  think  Miss  Willard  is  without 
a  peer  among  women.  Willi  much  of  the  Edward  Everett 
in  her  language,  there  is  more  of  the  Wendell  Phillips  in 
her  manner  of  delivery.     She  is  wholly  at  home,  but  not 


28  FRANCES   E.    WILLARD. 

forward  on  the  platform,  with  grace  in  bearing,  ease  and 
moderation  in  gesture,  and  in  her  tones  there  are  tears 
when  she  wills.  It  is  the  voice  books  call  '  magnetic ' — a 
spell  is  in  it  to  please  and  carry  away.  It  is  musical  and 
mellow,  never  thin,  and  on  an  exceptionally  distinct 
articulation,  winds  away  to  remotest  listeners  as  sound 
from  the  silvery  bells  of  the  Sabbath.  Altogether  she 
wears  the  emphasis  of  gentleness  under  profound  convic- 
tion. She  never  impresses  her  hearers  as  a  speaker  on 
exhibition,  yet  she  has  not  despised  the  use  of  aids,  but 
early  in  her  public  work  took  counsel  of  a  celebrated 
elocutionist,  and  she  attributes  much  of  her  ease  in 
speech  to  her  mother  as  a  model.  In  her  seasons  of 
larger  leisure  she  has  been  a  wide  reader  of  the  thought- 
ful authors.  To  Arnold  of  Rugby,  Frederic  W.  Robertson, 
and  John  Stuart  Mill,  especially  in  his  '  Subjection  of 
Women,'  she  concedes  the  greatest  influence  over  her 
mind.  Among  women,  they  whose  writings  have  done 
most  to  mould  her  are  Elizabeth  Barrett  Browning, 
Margaret  Fuller,  and  Frances  Power  Cobbe." 

In  October,  1874,  a  voice  that  had  been  thrilling  her 
strangely  wherever  she  heard  a  sound  of  it,  came  to  her 
with  a  personal  appeal.  It  was  from  the  Woman's 
Christian  Temperance  Union,  and  the  invitation  to  work 
with  them  was  gladly  accepted.  She  saw,  with  the  clear 
intuition  which  is  peculiar  to  her,  that  the  little  "  root 
out  of  dry  ground"  was  His  promise  of  that  which  was 
to  cover  the  land  with  a  banyan-like  growth.  Said  she, 
later:  "  I  was  reared  on  a  western  prairie,  and  often  have 
helped  to  kindle  the  great  fires  for  which  the  West  used 
to  be  famous.  A  match  and  a  wisp  of  dry  grass  were  all 
we  needed,  and  behold  the  magnificent  spectacle  of  a 
prairie  on  fire,  sweeping  across  the  landscape,  swift  as  a 
thousand  untrained  steeds,  and  no  more  to  be  captured 
than  a  hurricane !     Just  so  it  is  with  the  Crusade 


FRANCES   E.'  WILLARD.  29 

When  God  lets  loose  an  idea  upon  this  planet,  we  vainly 
set  limits  to  its  progress ;  and  I  believe  that  Gospel 
Temperance  shall  yet  transform  that  inmost  circle,  the 
human  heart,  and  in  its  widening  sweep  the  circle  of 
home,  and  then  society,  and  then,  pushing  its  argument 
to  the  extreme  conclusion,  it  shall  permeate  the  widest 
circle  of  them  all,  and  that  is,  government." 

So  closely  identified  had  she  become  with  the  woman- 
hood of  our  country,  that  the  question  came  very  dis- 
tinctly to  her  as  a  representative  woman,  "  Who  knoweth 
if  thou  be  come  into  the  kingdom  for  such  a  time  as 
this?"  The  old  feeling  of  being  born  to  a  work,  a 
"  destiny,"  had  passed  over  from  her  own  personality  to 
the  sex  with  which  she  is  identified,  as  it  is  now  passing 
over  to  the  race,  the  "woman  question"  becoming  the 
"  human  question  " 

There  is  much  to  be  written  from  this  point  which 
cannot  be  brought  within  the  limits  of  this  sketch.  It 
would  be  an  unnecessary  re-writing  of  the  history  of  the 
Woman's  Temperance  Movement.  This  seed  of  the  king- 
dom, after  its  wonderful  planting  in  Ohio  during  the 
winter  and  spring  of  1873-4,  was  beginning  to  bear  fruit 
through  the  Middle  and  Western  States.  In  August  of 
that  year,  at  Chautauqua,  the  "  birthplace  of  grand  ideas," 
the  Women's  Christian  Temperance  Union  was  born.  A 
convention  was  called  for  November  of  the  same  year,  at 
Cleveland,  Ohio,  and  the  National  W.  C.  T.  U.  was  then 
organized,  with  Miss  Willard  as  Corresponding  Secretary. 
It  was  at  this  Convention  that  she  offered  the  resolution 
which,  springing  from  the  inspirations  and  the  aspirations 
of  the  hour,  has  proved  to  be,  in  its  spirit,  a  glory  and  a 
defence  :  "  Realizing  that  our  cause  is  combated  by  mighty 
and  relentless  forces,  we  will  go  forward  in  the  strength 
of  Him  who  is  the  Prince  of  Peace,  meeting  argument 
with  argument,  misjudgment  with  patience,  and  all  our 


30  FRANCES   E.    WILLARD. 

difficulties  and  dangers  with  prayer."  Her  work  grew 
with  the  growth  of  the  Union,  and  that  growth  was 
largely  due  to  the  tireless  pen  and  voice  and  brain  of  its 
Corresponding  Secretary. 

While  holding  this  office  there  occurred  two  episodes — 
apparent  digressions — which  did  not,  however,  sever  her 
connection  with  the  Temperance  work.  In  1876-7,  on 
invitation  from  Mr.  Moody,  she  assisted  him  in  the  Gospel 
work  in  Boston  for  several  months.  Her  hope  in  under- 
taking this  enterprise  was  that  the  Temperance  work 
might  be  united  with  the  Gospel  work,  and  brought  with 
it  to  the  front.  The  meetings  for  women,  filling  Berkeley 
and  Park  Street  churches,  and  her  words  before  the  thou- 
sands gathered  in  the  great  Tabernacle,  are  memorable. 

Says  one  who  lives  "  in  the  Spirit "  as  few  women  do, 
"  I  have  never  been  so  conscious  of  the  presence  of  the 
Divine  power,  the  unction  of  the  Holy  One,  in  the  minis- 
try of  the  Word,  as  under  the  preaching  of  Miss  Willard." 

In  this  connection  we  are  tempted  to  quote  from  a  pub- 
lished statement  recently  made  by  Miss  Willard : 

"  The  deepest  thought  and  desire  of  my  life  would  have 
been  met,  if  my  dear  old  Mother  Church  had  permitted 
me  to  be  a  minister.  The  wandering  life  of  an  evangelist 
or  a  reformer  comes  nearest  to,  but  cannot  till,  the  ideal 
which  I  early  cherished,  but  did  not  expect  ever  publicly 
to  confess.  While  I  heartily  sympathize  with  the  progres- 
sive movement  which  will  ere  long  make  ecclesiastically 
true  our  Master's  words,  'There  is  neither  male  nor  female 
in  Christ  Jesus' ;  while  I  steadfastly  believe  that  there  is 
no  place  too  good  for  a  woman  to  occupy,  and  nothing  too 
sacred  for  her  to  do,  I  am  not  willing  to  go  on  record  as 
a  misanthropic  complainer  against  the  church  which  I 
prefer  above  my  chief  joy." 

The  second  episode  was  in  1878,  when  Miss  Willard 
undertook   a   forlorn  hope  —  the   chief-editorship  of  the 


FRANCES   E.    WILLARD.  31 

Chicago  Post,  a  daily  evening  paper,  from  which  position 
her  only  brother,  Oliver  A.  Willard,  had  been  suddenly 
stricken  down.  With  the  generous  enthusiasm  and  faith 
in  the  right  that  is  a  part  of  her,  she  took  up  the  work, 
assisted  by  her  brother's  widow,  and  bravely  carried  it  to 
the  result  long  foreseen  by  all  who  knew  the  financial 
incubus  that  had  for  years  been  wearing  out  its  life.  But 
her  love  was  larger  than  her  strength. 

Oliver  Willard  was  an  only  son  and  brother,  the  pride 
of  the  family,  of  which  no  member,  perhaps,  was  more 
gifted,  genial,  and  beloved.  He  had  the  best  advantages 
of  education,  and  made  a  brilliant  record  as  speaker, 
writer,  and  editor.  His  last  year  was  the  brightest  of  his 
life,  for  he  turned  to  God  for  strength  as  never  before, 
although  he  had  known  much  of  what  Christ  can  do  for 
human  hearts.  He  conducted  a  Bible-class  of  one  hund- 
red young  men,  and  spoke  in  religious  and  temperance 
meetings  with  remarkable  power.  Few  have  made  more 
convincing  appeals  to  tempted  men  than  he  did.  He  died 
in  the  calmness  of  Christian  faith,  saying  to  his  beloved 
wife,  "  All  your  prayers  for  me  are  answered."  .  The 
wife,  Mrs.  Mary  Bannister  Willard,  is  a  rarely  gifted 
woman,  with  special  talent  and  experience  in  journalism. 
She  was  the  dearest  school  friend  of  Miss  Willard,  and 
they  are  now  side  by  side  in  the  work  of  the  W.  C.  T.  U., 
she  being  the  editor  of  the  organ  of  the  National  Union, — 
Our  Union- Signal,  published  at  Chicago. 

Miss  Willard  is  the  originator  of  the  Home  Protection 
movement.  It  came  to  her  like  a  revelation  in  the  spring 
of  the  centennial  year,  on  a  Sabbath  morning,  in  Colum- 
bus, the  capital  of  the  "  Crusade  State."  As  she  then  and 
there  knelt  before  God,  it  was  borne  in  upon  her  spirit 
that  the  ballot  in  woman's  hand  as  a  weapon  of  "  home 
protection,"  ought  to  be  "  worked  for  and  welcomed." 

She  has  been,  from  the  first,  some  years  in  advance  of 


32  FRANCES   E.    WILLARD. 

the  times  ;  but  with  the  patience  characteristic  of  faith  and 
foresight,  she  has  endeavored  to  "  slow  "  her  steps  to  the 
pace  of  the  more  cautious  and  hesitant  among  her  co-la- 
borers, that  the  unity  of  the  spirit  might  be  kept  in  the 
bond  of  peace.  She  does  not  believe  in  the  "  total  de- 
pravity of  inanimate  things,"  and  has  no  fear  of  a  vote  or 
a  ballot-box,  if  they  can  be  used  by  men  or  women  as  a 
means  of  defence  against  the  influx  of  evil.  She  does 
believe  in  the  Word,  which  says ;  "  All  things  are  yours." 
Believing  that  whatsoever  dwarfs  woman  dwarfs  man, 
she  has  looked  with  strong  desire  toward  the  day  when 
women  shall  be  able  to  speak  and  act  for  the  help  of 
humanity  cf  both  sexes ;  and  from  advocating,  as  she  did 
in  the  beginning  of  the  Home  Protection  movement,  a 
limited  suffrage  for  women  —  local  option  —  that  should 
help  to  control  the  sale  of  liquor  in  their  own  locality,  she 
came  in  August,  1881,  to  earnestly  urge  upon  a  convention 
of  temperance  workers  at  Lake  Bluff  complete  enfranchise- 
ment, and  in  that  gathering  of  representative  men  and 
women  from  twelve  States,  all  identified  with  the  tem- 
perance reform,  the  following  plank  was  almost  unani- 
mously placed  in  the  platform  of  the  National  Home  Pro- 
tection party,  then  organized : 

"A  political  party  whose  platform  is  based  on  constitu- 
tional and  statutory  prohibition  of  the  manufacture  and 
sale  of  alcoholic  beverages  in  the  State  and  the  nation  is 
a  necessity  :  and  in  order  to  give  those  who  suffer  most 
from  the  drink  curse  a  power  to  protect  themselves,  their 
homes,  and  their  loved  ones,  the  complete  enfranchise- 
ment of  women  should  be  worked  for  and  welcomed." 

At  the  national  convention  of  the  W.  C.  T.  U.  in 
Washington,  two  months  later,  this  advanced  position  was 
not  formally  endorsed,  but  every  State  union  was  declared 
free  to  labor  for  suffrage  if  it  chose.  In  the  South  Miss 
Willard  has  made  no  public  allusion  to  this  branch  of 


FRANCES  E.   WILLARD.  33 

temperance  work,  though  frankly  stating  her  opinions 
whenever  questioned  on  the  subject.  Recognizing  the 
right  of  each  State  to  select  such  methods  as  are  adapted 
to  its  sentiment,  she  has  desired  the  ladies  of  the  South 
to  make  their  own  free  choice,  and  this  mooted  question 
has  not  come  up  at  all. 

The  growth  of  the  idea  is  equally  marvelous.  It  was 
first  projected  in  the  form  of  petition  in  Illinois  in  1879, 
while  Miss  Willard  was  president  of  the  State  union.  It 
promised  nothing;  it  only  petitioned;  but  there  was  so 
much  of  promise  —  more  of  prophecy  —  in  the  whole  move- 
ment, that  we  already  seem  to  see  the  cap-stone  lifted  to 
its  place  "  with  shoutings,  crying  '  Grace,  grace  unto  it ! '" 

She  and  her  indefatigable  coadjutors  wrought  like  bees 
all  through  Illinois,  and  the  result  was  a  petition  over  two 
hundred  and  fifteen  yards  long  and  containing  180.000 
names  (80,000  of  them  voters),  one  of  the  largest  petitions 
ever  sent  to  any  legislative  body.  It  was  placed  on  the 
calendar  of  the  House  as  the  "Hinds  bill"  (named  from 
the  Senator  who  presented  it).  Most  efficient  among  the 
thousands  who  aided  in  preparing  the  great  petition  was 
Miss  Anna  Gordon  of  Boston — Miss  Willard' s  private 
secretary  — whose  quiet  and  persistent  labors  have  accom- 
plished so  much  to  increase  the  efficiency  of  her  chief  in 
the  last  six  years  of  their  united  toil. 

The  bill  was  laid  in  apparent  death,  but  the  spirit  of  it 
was  by  no  means  "  laid."  It  is  seen  in  almost  every 
State  in  the  Union,  and  it  bore  a  banner  at  the  polls  in 
Iowa  in  the  spring  of  '82,  where  Miss  Willard  had  spoken 
in  thirty  towns,  and  Mrs.  J.  Ellen  Foster  had  wrought 
like  Judith  of  old.  Later  it  was  publicly  wedded  to  the 
Independent  Prohibition  Party. 

The  cry  "  For  God,  and  Home  and  Native  Land," 
which  Miss  Willard  sent  out  as  wings  to  the  young  Home 
Protection  idea,  has  since  become  the  motto  of  the  National 


34  FKANCES   E.    WILLAED. 

W.  C.  T.  U.,  and  is  fast  being  wrought  into  the  fibre  of  a 
national  party. 

In  1879  Miss  Willard  was  elected  to  the  presidency  of 
the  National  Union,  and  since  that  time  this  body  of 
workers  has  expressed  in  a  marked  degree  in  its  delibera- 
tive councils,  and  in  the  work  of  State  and  local  organi- 
zations, the  spirit  and  wisdom  of  its  leader.  Says  one  of 
her  fellow-workers :  "  In  the  temperance  field,  she  is  the 
same  as  in  the  educational ;  constantly  developing  methods 
of  work  and  individual  workers,  so  that  the  Woman's 
Christian  Temperance  Union  has  brought  out  nearly  forty 
distinct  departments." 

As  an  organizer  Miss  Willard  has  no  equal  among  our 
women.  Her  office  is  not  only  to  plan  work,  but  to  be 
the  life  and  inspiration  of  the  workers.  And  in  order  to 
be  this  she  not  only  freely  uses  her  pen  (she  and  her 
secretary  wrote  ten  thousand  letters,  aside  from  literary 
work,  during  1881),  but  is  almost  constantly  on  the  wing, 
going  at  the  call  of  the  cause  to  plant  or  encourage  new 
organizations ;  to  confer  with  workers  in  council ;  to  speak, 
at  the  request  of  leading  thinkers  and  workers,  of  the 
moral  questions  of  the  day  from  a  woman's  point  of  view, 
and  always  and  everywhere  to  give  enough  of  herself  to 
others  to  quicken  the  currents  of  life  and  touch  new 
springs  of  activity  into  motion. 

At  the  close  of  the  Hayes  administration,  when  that 
representative  of  the  best  American  womanhood,  Lucy 
Webb  Hayes,  retired  from  the  White  House,  the  women 
of  the  country,  led  by  Miss  Willard,  executed  a  plan  for 
placing  the  portrait  of  Mrs.  Hayes  in  the  Presidential 
mansion.  It  was  painted  by  Huntington,  at  one  time  Presi- 
dent of  the  Academy  of  Design,  New  York,  and  afterward 
engraved  by  Barrie,of  Philadelphia.  After  its  unveiling  at 
a  great  meeting  at  Lincoln  Hall,  it  was  presented  by  Miss 
Willard  to  President  Garfield  in  the  White  House,  and 


PRANCES   E.    WILLARD.  35 

now  hangs  in  the  Green  Parlor  in  a  carved  frame 
executed  by  the  ladies  of  the  Cincinnati  Academy  of 
Design. 

Miss  Willard's  two  trips  through  the  south  in  1880-81 
and  1881-82  were  important  steps  in  the  only  true  policy 
of  "  reconstruction."  In  the  first  she  was  accompanied 
through  some  of  the  States  by  Mrs.  Georgia  Hulse  McLeod 
of  Baltimore,  a  cultured  southern  lady,  who  assisted  in 
the  organization  of  societies.  In  Charleston  she  met  Mrs. 
Sallie  F.  Chapin,  a  lady  of  large  influence  and  ability,  who 
has  since  become  superintendent  of  the  southern  work. 
At  this  time  she  organized  Women's  Christian  Temper- 
ance Unions  in  Maryland,  Virginia,  North  and  South 
Carolina,  Georgia,  Florida,  Alabama,  Mississippi,  Arkan- 
sas, Tennessee,  and  Kentucky,  and  included  in  the  trip 
the  Indian  Territory.  The  second  trip  included  points  in 
Arkansas,  and  thirty  towns  in  Texas,  Louisiana,  Missis- 
sippi, and  several  other  States. 

At  the  present  writing — the  close  of  1882 — she  begins 
a  third  southern  and  western  tour,  when,  if  successful  in 
carrying  out  her  plans,  she  will  have  presented  the  gospel 
of  temperance  to  the  important  towns  of  each  State  and 
Territory  of  the  Union,  and  the  provinces  of  Canada. 

"  It  is  a  hard  life,"  sighs  somebody,  reading  this  sketch 
in  the  sheltering  home,  surrounded  by  love  and  luxury. 
But  here  the  words  of  the  Lord  Jesus  sound  strangely 
prophetic:  "There  is  no  man  that  hath  left  house,  or 
brethren,  or  sisters,  or  father,  or  mother,  or  wife,  or  chil- 
dren, or  lands  for  my  sake  and  the  gospel's,  but  he  shall 
receive  an  hundred  fold  now  in  this  time — houses,  and 
brethren,  and  sisters,  and  mothers,  and  children,  and 
lands,  with  persecutions,  and  in  the  world  to  come  eternal 
life."  To  illustrate  this  comes  the  recollection  of  a  late 
letter  of  invitation  to  visit  Miss  Willard  in  one  of  the 
rarest  homes  in  this  or  any  land,  in  which  the  following 


36  FRANCES   E.   WILLARD. 

passage  occurs :  "  You  may  feel  as  free  as  the  air,  for  as 
long  as  Frank  is  here  it  is  her  house,  and  she  is  to  order 
all  its  goings  out  and  comings  in." 

And  this  is  one  of  the  thousands  of  homes  all  over  our 
country  that  are  hers,  and  the  people  in  them  are  her 
sisters,  and  brethren,  and  fathers,  and  mothers,  in  a  sense 
that  must  grow  more  strong  and  blessed  forever,  because 
the  relationship  and  the  possession  is  founded  in  the 
heavens. 

One  who  knows  her  life  thoroughly  as  a  woman,  and  as 
a  leader  of  women,  says: 

"  To  no  one  more  than  to  Miss  Willard  do  those  words 
of  Christ  belong,  '  Whosoever  of  you  will  be  the  chiefest 
shall  be  servant  of  all,  for  even  the  Son  of  Mali  came  not 
to  be  ministered  unto,  but  to  minister.'  They  are  ex- 
pressed in  the  spirit  of  her  life  and  conduct  as  in  that  of 
no  other  woman  I  have  ever  known." 

And  as  we  glance  at  the  marginal  reading  of  "  servant 
of  all" — "bond-servant'''' — we  are  reminded  that  the  in- 
crease of  service  that  has  come  to  her  in  these  last  years, 
and  her  consciousness  of  it,  has  laid  upon  her  still 
stronger  bonds  to  serve,  and  the  bondage  is — love. 

There  are  many  things  from  this  point  of  view  which 
those  who  arc  nearest  her  in  the  work  of  life,  and  in  the 
sight  of  the  eternal  verities,  would  be  glad  to  have  here 
expressed  for  them,  for  her  friends  feel  always  that  the 
woman  is  larger  than  her  work,  and  their  love  for  her  is 
far  greater  than  their  admiration  for  what  she  has  done. 
But  a  sense  of  what  she  would  prefer  forbids  more  than 
this  meagre  outline  of  her  life  and  work.  It  must,  how- 
ever, be  added  that  as  an  educator  of  women  in  the  wider 
sense;  as  an  emancipator  from  conventionalities,  preju- 
dices, narrowness;  and  as  a  representative,  on  a  spiritual 
plane,  of  the  new  age  upon  which  we  are  entering,  she 
take3  her  place  with  the  foremost  women  of  our  time. 


FRANCES   E.    WILLARD.  87 

The  annual  meeting  of  the  National  Women's  Christian 
Temperance  Union  for  1882,  in  Louisville,  Ky, — held  a  few 
months  before  the  writing  of  this  sketch — not  only  illus- 
trated the  results  of  the  educating  influence  of  a  woman 
upon  women,  but  was  in  a  remarkable  degree  a  proof  of 
what  may  prevail  in  congress  or  conventicle  if  only  the 
Spirit  of  Christ  rule  the  heart  of  the  ruler.  A  citizen 
thus  comments  upon  it  in  the  Evening  Post: 

"  I  was  a  much  interested  witness  to  the  proceedings 
of  the  Women's  Christian  Temperance  Union  on  Wednes- 
day, and  was  vividly  struck  with  some  of  the  differences 
between  it  and  male  convocations  of  similar  size  and 
scope.  The  suavity  and  dignity  of  the  presiding  officer, 
Mis  5  Willard,  the  mild  and  even  affectionately  respectful 
manner  of  each  sister  to  all  the  others,  impressed  me  with 
the  peculiar  fitness  of  women  to  preside  over  and  conduct 
the  business  of  a  large  audience.  There  was  no  jarring  and 
grating  about  parliamentary  ethics;  no  discord,  no  calling 
to  order,  but  business  was  done  decently  and  in  order, 
and  impressed  me  as  being  as  far  ahead  of  any  male 
assemblages  which  meet  in  our  city  as  a  prayer-meeting 
is  ahead  of  a  corn-husking." 

Says  another  who  looked  deeper :  "  God  was  there,  and 
we  all  knew  it." 

At  the  election  of  officers,  when  the  tellers  declared 
that,  without  one  dissenting  vote,  Frances  E.  Willard  was 
re-elected  President  of  the  National  Union,  by  representa- 
tives from  thirty  States,  a  wave  of  joy  broke  over  the 
whole  assembly.  The  great  audience  rose  to  its  feet  with 
a  single  impulse,  and  by  waving  of  handkerchiefs  and  the 
singing  of  a  doxology,  expressed  the  feeling  of  the  hour. 

Loyalty  to  the  woman,  in  or  out  of  her  work,  is  shared 
alike  by  men  and  women,  for  the  former  are  never  an- 
tagonized by  her  in  speech  or  spirit,  and  the  latter  know 
that  while  she  has  great  faith  in  men,  she  has  greater 


38  FRANCES    E.    WILLARD. 

faith  in  men  and  women,  or,  as  she  has  expressed  it, 
the  "going  forth  hand  in  hand,  of  the  two  halves  of 
humanity."  A  profound  belief  in  the  second  incarnation 
of  Christ  in  the  body  of  humanity  accounts  for  the  fact 
that  with  her  the  race  interest  overshadows  the  love  of 
self  or  of  her  sex. 

The  "largeness"  referred  to  at  the  opening  of  this 
paper  belongs  no  more  to  her  mental  and  moral  nature 
than  to  the  affectional,  as  all  who  know  her  "  heart  to 
heart"  will  testify.  Nor  will  these  testify  alone.  The 
young  girl  with  gifts,  and  no  money — the  woman  who 
has  lost  heart  and  hope — the  young  collegian  struggling 
with  his  doubts — the  poor  fellow  who  is  in  the  "last 
ditch" — even  a  stranger,  perhaps — will,  with  scores  of 
their  class,  speak  with  a  glow  of  the  power  of  her  sym- 
pathy— the  real  interest  which  can  never  say  to  famish- 
ing souls  or  bodies,  "  Be  ye  warmed  and  filled,"  without 
adding  money,  time,  or  influence  to  place  them  in  relation 
with  a  means  of  support  and  hope. 

Miss  Willard  is  distinctively  a  woman  of  the  future. 
She  is  not  a  prophetess,  but  a  prophecy,  and  one  of  the 
types  of  the  larger  and  diviner  womanhood  which  our 
land  shall  yet  produce,  and  which  all  lands  shall  call  the 
"  fittest." 


CHAPTER  II. 

PRELIMINARY. 

The  W.  C.  T.  U.  compared  with  other  Societies — "Without  a  pattern 

and  without  a  peer." 

I  SHALL  try  to  sketch,  in  the  most  practical  manner, 
a  subject  of  transcendent  interest  and  importance. 
More  than  any  other  society  ever  formed,  the  Woman's 
Christian  Temperance  Union  is  the  exponent  of  what  is 
best  in  this  latter-day  civilization.  Its  scope  is  the  broad- 
est, its  aims  the  kindest,  its  history  the  most  heroic.  I 
yield  to  none  in  admiration  of  woman's  splendid  achieve- 
ments in  church  work  and  in  the  Foreign  Missionary 
Society,  which  was  my  first  love  as  a  philanthropist,  but 
in  both  instances  the  denominational  character  of  that 
work  interferes  with  its  unity  and  breadth.  The  same 
is  true  of  woman's  educational  undertakings,  glorious  as 
they  are.  Her  many-sided  charities,  in  homes  for  the 
orphaned  and  the  indigent,  hospitals  for  the  sick  and 
asylums  for  the  old,  are  the  admiration  of  all  generous 
hearts,  but  these  are  local  in  their  interest  and  result 
from  the  loving  labors  of  isolated  groups.  The  same  is 
true  of  the  women's  prisons  and  industrial  schools,  which 
are  now  multiplying  with  such  beneficent  rapidity.  Nor 
do  I  forget  the  sanitary  work  of  women,  which  gleamed 
like  a  heavenly  rainbow  on  the  horrid  front  of  war ;  but 
noble  men  shared  the  labor  as  they  did  the  honor  on  that 
memorable  field.  Neither  am  I  unmindful  of  the  Woman's 
Christian  Association,  strongly  intrenched  in  most  of  our 
great  cities,  and  doing  valiant  battle  for  the  Prince  of 

(39) 


40  PRELIMINARY. 

Peace ;  but  it  admits  to  its  sacramental  host  only  mem- 
bers of  the  churches  known  as  "  Evangelical."  Far  be  it 
from  me  to  seem  indifferent  to  that  electric  intellectual 
movement  from  which  have  resulted  the  societies,  literary 
and  aesthetic,  in  which  women  have  combined  to  study 
classic  history,  philosophy,  and  art;  but  these  have  no 
national  unity  ;  or  to  forget  the  "  Woman's  Congress," 
with  its  annual  meeting  and  wide  outlook,  but  lack  of 
local  auxiliaries;  or  the  '-Exchanges,"  where  women, 
too  poor  or  proud  to  bring  their  wares  before  the  ]  ublic, 
are  helped  to  put  money  in  their  purse,  but  which  lack 
cohesion;  or  the  State  and  associated  charities,  where 
women  do  much  of  the  work  and  men  most  of  the  super- 
intendence. But  when  all  is  said,  the  Woman's  Chris- 
tian Temperance  Union,  local,  State,  and  national,  in  the 
order  of  its  growth,  with  its  unique  and  heavenly  origin, 
its  steady  march,  its  multiplied  auxiliaries,  its  blessed 
out-reaching  to  the  generous  South  and  the  far  frontier, 
its  broad  sympathies  and  its  abundant  entrance  minis- 
tered to  all  good  and  true  women  who  are  willing  to 
clasp  hands  in  one  common  effort  to  protect  their  homes 
and  loved  ones  from  the  ravages  of  drink,  is  an  organiza- 
tion without  a  pattern  save  that  seen  in  heavenly  vision 
upon  the  mount  of  faith,  and  without  a  peer  among  the 
sisterhoods  that  have  grouped  themselves  around  the 
cross  of  Christ. 

In  the  fullness  of  time  this  mighty  work  has  been  given 
us.  Preceding  ages  would  not  have  understood  the  end 
in  view  and  would  have  spurned  the  means,  but  the  nine- 
teenth century,  standing  on  the  shoulders  of  its  predeces- 
sors, has  a  wider  outlook  and  a  keener  vision.  It  has 
studied  science  and  discovered  that  the  tumult  of  the 
whirlwind  is  less  powerful  than  the  silence  of  the  dew. 
It  has  ransacked  history  and  learned  that  the  banner  and 
the  sword  were  never  yet  the  symbols  of  man's  grandest 


"FOR  god  and  home  and  native  land."  41 

victories,  and  it  begins  at  last  to  listen  to  the  voice  of 
that  inspired  philosophy,  which  through  all  ages  has  been 
gently  saying :  "  The  race  is  not  always  to  the  swift, 
neither  the  battle  to  the  strong." 

Beyond  the  history  of  its  origin  but  little  can  be  writ- 
ten here  concerning  that  spiritual  prairie  fire  in  the 
West,  immortalized  by  fifty  days  of  prayer,  persuasion, 
and  victory,  and  called  "  The  Woman's  Temperance 
Crusade."  Its  documentary  history  has  been  already 
furnished  by  Mrs.  Wittemeyer ;  its  spirit  lives  in  the 
organic  form  of  the  "  W.  C.  T.  U.,"  whose  white  ribboned 
host  is  in  the  field  to-day  fighting  "for  Crod  and  Home 
and  Native  Land." 


CHAPTER  III. 

"W.  C.  T.  U." 

Its  objects — Hygiene — The  "Religion  of  the  Body" — Dress,  econo- 
my of  time — Value  of  a  trained  intellect — The  coming  of  Christ 
into  five  circles:  Heart;  Home;  Denominationalism ;  Society;  Gov- 
ernment— Home  protection — "The  Old  Ship  Zion,  Hallelujah!" — 
Motto:    "Mary  stood  the  cross  beside." 

THE  W.  C.  T.  U.  stands  as  the  exponent,  not  alone 
of  that  return  to  physical  sanity  which  will  follow 
the  downfall  of  the  drink  habit,  but  of  the  reign  of  a 
religion  of  the  body  which  for  the  -first  time  in  history 
shall  correlate  with  Christ's  wholesome,  practical,  yet 
blessedly  spiritual  religion  of  the  soul.  "  The  kingdom 
of  heaven  is  within  you" — shall  have  a  new  meaning  to 
the  clear-eyed,  steady-limbed  Christians  of  the  future, 
from  whose  brain  and  blood  the  taint  of  alcohol  and  nico- 
tine has  been  eliminated  by  ages  of  pure  habits  and  noble 
heredity.  "  The  body  is  the  temple  of  the  Holy  Ghost," 
will  not  then  seem  so  mystical  a  statement,  nor  one  indi- 
cative of  a  temple  so  insalubrious  as  now.  "  He  that  de- 
stroyeth  this  temple,  him  shall  God  destroy,"  will  be  seen 
to  involve  no  element  of  vengeance,  but  instead  to  be  the 
declaration  of  such  boundless  love  and  pity  for  our  race, 
as  would  not  suffer  its  deterioration  to  reach  the  point  of 
absolute  failure  and  irremediable  loss. 

The  women  of  this  land  have  never  had  before  such 
training  as  is  furnished  by  the  topical  studies  of  our 
society,  in  the  laws  by  which  childhood  shall  set  out  upon 
its  endless  journey  with  a  priceless  heritage  of  powers 
laid  up  in  store  by  the  tender,  sacred  foresight  of  those 

(42) 


DRESS. — ECONOMY   OF  TIME.  43 

by  whom  the  young  immortal's  being  was  invoked.  The 
laws  of  health  were  never  studied  by  so  many  mothers, 
or  with  such  immediate  results  for  good  on  their  own 
lives  and  those  of  their  children.  The  deformed  waist 
and  foot  of  the  average  fashionable  American  never 
seemed  so  hideous  and  wicked,  nor  the  cumbrous  dress  of 
the  period  so  unendurable  as  now,  when  from  studying 
one  "  poison  habit,"  our  minds,  by  the  inevitable  laws  of 
thought,  reach  out  to  wider  researches  and  more  varied 
deductions  than  we  had  dreamed  at  first.  The  econo- 
mies of  co-operative  house-keeping  never  looked  so  attrac- 
tive or  so  feasible  as  since  the  homemakers  have  learned 
something  about  the  priceless  worth  of  time  and  money 
for  the  purposes  of  a  Christ-like  benevolence.  The  value 
of  a  trained  intellect  never  had  such  significance  as  since 
we  have  learned  what  an  incalculable  saving  of  words 
there  is  in  a  direct  style,  what  value  in  the  power  of 
classification  of  fact,  what  boundless  resources  for  illus- 
trating and  enforcing  truth  come  as  the  sequel  of  a  well- 
stored  memory  and  a  cultivated  imagination.  The  puer- 
ility of  mere  talk  for  the  sake  of  talk,  the  un worthiness 
of  "  idle  words,"  and  vacuous,  purposeless  gossip,  the 
waste  of  long  and  aimless  letter-writing,  never  looked  so 
egregious  as  to  the  workers  who  find  every  day  too  short 
for  the  glorious  and  gracious  deeds  which  lie  waiting  for 
them  on  every  hand. 

But  to  help  forward  the  coming  of  Christ  into  all  depart- 
ments of  life,  is,  in  its  last  analysis,  the  purpose  and  aim 
of  the  W.  C.  T.  U.  For  we  believe  this  correlation  of  New 
Testament  religion  with  philanthropy,  and  of  the  church 
with  civilization,  is  the  perpetual  miracle  which  furnishes 
the  only  sufficient  antidote  to  current  skepticism.  Higher 
toward  the  zenith  climbs  the  Sun  of  Righteousness,  making 
circle  after  circle  of  human  endeavor  and  achievement 
warm  and  radiant  with  the  healing  of  its  beams.     First 


44  OPEN   SESAME. 

of  all,  in  our  gospel  temperance  work,  this  heavenly  light 
penetrated  the  gloom  of  the  individual,  tempted  heart 
(that  smallest  circle,  in  which  all  others  are  involved), 
illumined  its  darkness,  melted  its  hardness,  made  it  a 
sweet  and  sunny  place — a  temple  filled  with  the  Holy 
Ghost. 

Having  thus  come  to  the  heart  of  the  drinking  man  in 
the  plenitude  of  his  redeeming  power,  Christ  entered  the 
next  wider  circle,  in  which  two  human  hearts  unite  to 
form  a  home,  and  here,  by  the  revelation  of  her  place  in 
His  kingdom,  He  lifted  to  an  equal  level  with  her  hus- 
band the  gentle  companion  who  had  supposed  herself 
happy  in  being  the  favorite  vassal  of  her  liege  lord. 
"  There  is  neither  male  nor  female  in  Christ  Jesus  ; "  this 
was  the  "  open  sesame,"  a  declaration  utterly  opposed  to 
all  custom  and  tradition,  but  so  steadily  the  light  has 
shone,  and  so  kindly  has  it  made  the  heart  of  man,  that 
without  strife  of  tongues,  or  edict  of  sovereigns,  it  is 
coming  now  to  pass  that  in  proportion  as  any  home  is 
really  Christian,  the  husband  and  the  wife  are  peers  in 
dignity  and  power.  There  are  no  homes  on  earth  where 
woman  is  "  revered,  beloved,"  and  individualized  in  char- 
acter and  work,  so  thoroughly  as  the  fifty  thousand  in 
America  where  "  her  children  arise  up  and  call  her 
blessed,  her  husband  also,  and  he  praiseth  her"  because 
of  her  part  in  the  work  of  our  W.  C.  T.  U. 

Beyond  this  sweet  and  sacred  circle  where  two  hearts 
grow  to  be  one,  Avhere  the  mystery  of  birth  and  the  hal- 
lowed face  of  child  and  mother  work  their  perpetual 
charm,  comes  that  outer  court  of  home,  that  third  great 
circle  which  we  call  society.  Surely  and  steadily  the 
light  of  Christ  is  coming  there,  through  the  loving  tem- 
perance Pentecost,  to  replace  the  empty  phrase  of  punctilio 
by  earnest  words  of  cheer  and  inspiration ;  to  banish  the 
unhealthful  tyranny  of  fashion  by  enthroning  wholesome 


CIRCLE   THAT   INCLUDES    ALL    HEARTS.  45 

taste  and  common  sense;  to  drive  out  questionable 
amusements  and  introduce  innocent  and  delightful 
pastimes;  to  exorcise  the  evil  spirit  of  gossip  and  domes- 
ticate helpful  and  tolerant  speech  ;  nay,  more,  to  banish 
from  the  social  board  those  false  emblems  of  hospitality 
and  good  will, — intoxicating  drinks. 

Sweep  a  wider  circle  still,  and  behold  in  that  ecclesias- 
tical invention  called  "  denominationalism,"  Christ  com- 
ing by  the  union  of  His  handmaids  in  work  for  Him ; 
coming  to  put  away  the  form  outward  and  visible  that  He 
may  shed  abroad  the  grace  inward  and  spiritual ;  to  close 
the  theological  disquisition  of  the  learned  pundit,  and 
open  the  Bible  of  the  humble  saint ;  to  draw  away  men's 
thoughts  from  theories  of  right  living,  and  centre  them 
upon  right  living  itself ;  to  usher  in  the  priesthood  of  the 
people,  by  pressing  upon  the  conscience  of  each  believer  the 
individual  commission,  "  Go,  disciple  all  nations,"  and 
emphasizing  the  individual  promise,  "  Lo,  I  am  with  thee 
always." 

But  the  modern  temperance  movement,  born  of  Christ's 
gospel  and  cradled  at  His  altars,  is  rapidly  filling  one 
more  circle  of  influence,  wide  as  the  widest  zone  of 
earthly  weal  or  woe,  and  that  is  government.  "  The  gov- 
ernment shall  be  upon  His  shoulder."  "Unto  us  a  King 
is  given."  "He  shall  reign  whose  right  it  is."  "He 
shall  not  fail,  nor  be  discouraged  until  he  hath  set  judg- 
ment in  the  earth."  "  For  at  the  name  of  Jesus  every 
knee  shall  bow,  and  every  tongue  confess  that  Christ  is 
Lord  to  the  glory  of  God  the  Father."  "Thy  king- 
don  come,  thy  will  be  done  on  earthy  Christ  shall 
reign— not  visibly,  but  invisibly  ;  not  in  form,  but  in  fact; 
not  in  substance,  but  in  essence,  and  the  day  draws  nigh ! 
Then  surely  the  traffic  in  intoxicating  liquors  as  a  drink 
will  no  longer  be  protected  by  the  statute  book,  the  law- 
yer's plea,  the  affirmation  of  the  witness,  and  decision  of 


46  BUT  SOME   DOUBTED. 

the  judge.  And  since  the  government  is,  after  all,  a  cir- 
cle that  include  all  hearts,  all  homes,  all  churches,  all 
societies,  does  it  not  seem  as  if  intelligent  loyalty  to 
Christ  the  King  would  cause  each  heart  that  loves  Him 
to  feel  in  duty  bound  to  use  all  the  power  it  could  gather 
to  itself  in  helping  choose  the  framers  of  these  more 
righteous  laws  ?  But  let  it  be  remembered  that  for  every 
Christian  man  who  has  a  voice  in  making  and  enforcing 
laws  there  are  at  least  two  Christian  women  who  have  no 
voice  at  all.  Hence,  under  such  circumstances  as  now 
exist,  His  militant  army  must  ever  be  powerless  to  win 
those  legislative  battles  which,  more  than  any  others,  af- 
fect the  happiness  of  aggregate  humanity.  But  the  light 
gleams  already  along  the  sunny  hilltops  of  the  nineteenth 
century  of  grace.  Upon  those  who  in  largest  numbers 
love  Him  who  has  filled  their  hearts  with  peace  and  their 
homes  with  blessing,  slowly  dawns  the  consciousness  that 
they  may — nay,  better  still,  they  ought  to — ask  for  power 
to  help  forward  the  coming  of  their  Lord  in  government 
— to  throw  the  safeguard  of  their  prohibition  ballots 
around  those  who  have  left  the  shelter  of  their  arms  only 
to  be  entrapped  by  the  saloons  that  bad  men  legalize  and 
set  along  the  streets. 

"  But  some  doubted." 

This  was  in  our  earlier  National  Conventions.  Almost 
none  disputed  the  value  of  this  added  weapon  in  woman's 
hand, — indeed,  all  deemed  it  "  sure  to  come."  It  was 
only  the  old,  old  question  of  expediency  ;  of  "frightening 
away  our  sisters  among  the  more  conservative."  But 
later  on  we  asked  these  questions :  Has  the  policy  of 
silence  caused  a  great  rallying  to  our  camp  from  the 
ranks  of  the  conservative  ?  Do  you  know  an  instance  in 
which  it  has  augmented  your  working  force  ?  Are  not 
all  the  women  upon  whose  help  we  can  confidently  count, 
favorable  to  the  "  Do  everything  Policy"  as  the  only  one 


MOTTO.  47 

broad  enough  to  meet  our  hydra-headed  foe  ?  Have  not 
the  men  of  the  liquor  traffic  said  in  platform,  resolution, 
and  secret  circular,  "  The  ballot  in  woman's  hand  will  be 
the  death-knell  of  our  trade  ? " 

And  so  to-day,  while  each  State  is  free  to  adopt  or 
disavow  the  ballot  as  a  home  protection  weapon,  and 
although  the  white-winged  fleet  of  the  W.  C.  T.  U.  in  a 
score  of  States  crowds  all  sail  for  constitutional  prohibi- 
tion, to  be  followed  up  by  "  Home  Protection,"  still  though 
"  the  silver  sails  are  all  out  in  the  West,"  every  ship  in  the 
gleaming  line  is  all  the  same  a  Gospel  ship — an  "old 
sh  ip  Zion — Hallelujah  !  " 

MOTTO  FOR  THE  W.    C.    T.    U. 

"Jews  were  wrought  to  cruel  madness, 
Christians  fled  in  fear  and  sadness, 

Mary  stood  the  cross  beside. 
At  its  foot  her  foot  she  planted, 
By  the  dreadful  scene  undaunted, 
Till  the  gentle  sufferer  died. 

Poets  oft  have  sung  her  story, 
Painters  wreathed  her  brow  with  glory, 

Priests  her  name  have  deified. 
But  no  worship,  song,  or  glory, 
Touches,  like  the  simple  story, 

Mary  stood  the  cross  beside. 

And,  when  under  fierce  oppression, 
Goodness  suffers  like  transgression, 

Christ  again  is  crucified. 
If  but  love  be  there,  true-hearted, 
By  no  fear  or  terror  parted, 

Mary  stands  tlie  cross  beside." 


CHAPTER  IV. 

"LET  IT  BE  NOTED"; 

Or  why  the  Author  is  not  a  Critic. 

THE  W.  C.  T.  U.  is  a  sort  of  mutual  admiration 
society,  or  to  put  the  matter  more  accurately,  it  is 
doing  more  than  any  other  one  influence  to  develop  among 
women  that  esprit  du  corps,  for  lack  of  which  they  have 
been  so  sharply  censured.  Therefore,  no  apology  is  made 
for  the  good  things  hereinafter  related,  concerning  those 
who  have  not  yet  attained  obituary  honors. 

"  I  thought  before  you  died  I'd  just  tell  you  how  much 
I  have  always  loved  and  honored  you."  This  sentence, 
from  a  letter  recently  received,  has  in  it  matter  for  reflec- 
tion. It  hints  at  one  of  the  most  unaccountable  errors 
in  our  conduct  of  life's  relationships.  We  speak  our 
words  of  praise  too  late.  We  blow  the  trumpet  of  our 
approbation  at  the  earnest  worker's  ear — but  not  until 
Death's  ringer  has  closed  it  up  forever.  We  utter  at  the 
graveside  the  tender  words  that  might  have  kept  sensitive 
souls  with  us  in  a  new  lease  of  life.  We  build  monu- 
ments with  money  that,  if  bestowed  upon  the  living  toiler, 
would  have  re-enforced  the  wasted  energies  and  re-awak- 
ened  the  declining  courage.  Dear  friends,  these  things 
ought  not  so  to  be.  I  can  speak  freely  to  you  who  have 
been  far  more  generous  with  me  than  I  deserve.  Let  us 
as  Temperance  women  be  more  thoughtful — all  of  us 
hereafter — lest  we  sing  with  sad  regret  some  day,  above 
the  wearied  and  unconscious  forms  of  beloved  workers 

fallen : 

"Strange  we  never  heed  the  music, 
Till  the  sweet-voiced  bird  is  flown." 

(48) 


DEFECTS   PRESENT   THEMSELVES.  49 

It  is  believed  that  the  sketches  now  to  follow  will  for- 
ever release  their  author  from  the  clutches  of  that  style 
of  remorse  !  For  the  rest,  while  not  oblivious  to  faults 
in  the  leaders  herein  described,  it  has  seemed  best  to 
observe  the  rule  of  Coleridge  in  matters  of  criticism ; 
"  Never  look  for  defects ;  they  will  present  themselves 
unbidden."  As  to  treating  of  said  defects,  the  author 
has  been  largely  governed  by  the  spirit  of  the  motto  found 
on  a  sun  dial  at  Naples  :  "  I  count  only  the  hours  that  are 
serene." 


CHAPTER  V. 
THE  FIRST  CRUSADERS. 

Mrs.  Judge  Thompson  of  Hillsboro',  Ohio— First  Praying  Band — 
First  Saloon  Prayer-meeting— Mrs.  George  Carpenter  of  Wash- 
ington Court  House— Story  of  the  great  victories — Scene  at  a  Na- 
tional W.  C.  T.  U.  Convention— Presentation  of  the  Crusade  Bed- 
quilt. 

DECEMBER   TWENTY-THIRD,    1873, 

THE  date  is  memorable.  Some  day  its  anniversaries 
will  be  ranked  among  our  national  festivals.  True, 
in  Fredonia,  New  York,  the  protest  of  women  against  the 
snares  men  legalize  under  the  name  of  "saloons"  and 
"  sample  rooms"  had  begun,  under  the  leadership  of  Mrs. 
Judge  Barker,  eight  days  before.  True,  in  Washington 
Court  House,  Ohio,  on  the  24th,  noble  Mrs.  Carpenter 
led  a  heroic  band  to  a  far  grander  victory.  But  the  first 
eddy  of  that  Whirlwind  of  the  Lord,  which  in  a  few  weeks 
had  swept  over  the  great  State  of  Ohio,  and  grown  to  the 
huge  proportions  of  the  Woman's  Temperance  Crusade, 
began  in  Hillsboro',  Ohio,  December  23,  1873.  By  com- 
mon consent  of  her  sisters  in  the  united  churches  of  the 
village  where  almost  her  whole  life  had  been  spent,  Mrs. 
Eliza  J.  Thompson  was  chosen  to  lead  the  first  band  on 
its  first  visit  to  a  saloon.  Never  did  character  and  cir- 
cumstance conspire  to  form  a  central  figure  better  suited 
to  the  significant  occasion.  "The  first  Crusader,"  a  gen- 
tle-mannered lady  of  sixty  years,  had  been  from  her 
early  days  a  member  of  Christ's  church  and  always 
prominent  in  charitable  work,  thus  endearing  herself  to 
the  class  whose  antagonism   her  new  departure  would 

(50) 


I 


MRS.  E.  J.  THOMPSON. 


MRS.    E.   J.    THOMPSON.  53 

naturally  arouse.  She  is  a  wife,  mother,  and  grand- 
mother, loving  and  beloved;  with  marks  upon  her  face 
n\'  the  grief  which  renders  sacred,  which  disarms  criticism, 
and  in  this  instance,  has  a  significance  too  deep  for  tears. 
She  is  the  only  daughter  of  Governor  Trimble,  than  whom 
Ohio  never  had  a  chief  magistrate  more  true. 

Nearly  forty  years  before,  she  had  accompanied  that 
noble  father  when  he  went  as  a  delegate  to  the  earliest 
national  temperance  convention,  which  was  so  small  that 
its  opening  meeting  was  held  in  the  dining-room  of  a 
Saratoga  hotel  of  that  period.  Going  with  him  to  the 
door  of  this  dignified  assembly,  where  the  white  cravats 
of  the  clergy  were  a  feature  of  prominence,  the  timid 
Ohio  girl  whispered,  "  0,  papa,  I'm  afraid  to  enter,  those 
gentlemen  may  thing  it  an  intrusion.  I  should  be  the 
only  lady,  don't  you  see  ?"  Upon  this  the  Governor  re- 
plied, "My  daughter  should  never  be  afraid,  even  if  she 
is  alone  in  a  good  cause,"  and  taking  her  by  the  arm,  he 
drew  her  into  the  convention.  What  a  prophecy  was  the 
first  entrance  of  a  woman — and  this  woman — upon  a  tem- 
perance convention  made  up  of  men  !  Read  its  fulfillment 
in  her  now  happy  home,  her  lawyer  husband's  leadership 
of  the  home  protection  movement  in  Ohio,  and  in  the 
procession  of  white-ribbon  workers  that  belts  the  world 
to-day. 

Kneeling  hand  in  hand  with  this  dear  friend  and  leader, 
in  the  room  where  first  the  "  Crusade  Psalm  "  was  read  and 
prayer  of  consecration  offered,  my  heart  was  newly  laid 
upon  the  altar  of  our  blessed  cause.  Upon  the  thousands 
of  faithful  temperance  women  all  over  the  land,  let  me 
lovingly  urge  some  special  annual  commemoration  of  the 
twenty-third  of  December,  as  a  day  in  which  all  our 
hearts  shall  be  warmed  with  new  love,  stirred  to  fresh 
zeal,  and  lifted  into  clearer  faith. 

It  is  worth  while  to  preserve  in  her  own  language  the 


54  DIO  lewis'  lecture. 

account  of  that  strange  "  call "  which  came  to  Mrs. 
Thompson  in  1873.  She  wrote  it  out  for  a  near  friend 
in  the  following  words  : 

"  On  the  evening  of  Dec.  22,  1873,  Dio  Lewis,  a  Boston 
physician  and  lyceum  lecturer,  delivered  in  Music  Hall, 
Hillsboro,  Ohio,  a  lecture  on  '  Our  Girls.' 

"  He  had  been  engaged  by  the  Lecture  Association 
some  months  before  to  fill  one  place  in  the  winter  course 
of  lectures  '  merely  for  the  entertainment  of  the  people.' 
But  finding  that  he  could  remain  another  evening  and 
still  reach  his  next  appointment  (Washington  C.  H.),  he 
consented  to  give  another  lecture  on  the  evening  of  the 
23d.  At  the  suggestion  of  Judge  Albert  Matthews,  an 
old-line  temperance  man  and  Democrat,  a  free  lecture  on 
Temperance  became  the  order  of  the  evening. 

"T  did  not  hear  Dio  Lewis  lecture  (although  he  was 
our  guest),  because  of  home  cares  that  required  my  pres- 
ence, but  my  son,  a  youth  of  sixteen,  was  there,  and  he 
came  to  me  upon  his  return  home  and  in  a  most  excited 
manner  related  the  thrilling  incidents  of  the  evening — 
how  Dr.  Lewis  told  of  his  own  mother  and  several  of  her 
good  Christian  friends  uniting  in  prayer  with  and  for  the 
liquor  sellers  of  his  native  town  until  they  gave  up  their 
soul-destroying  business,  and  then  said, — '  Ladies,  you 
might  do  the  same  thing  in  Hillsboro  if  you  had  the  same 
faith,' — and,  turning  to  the  ministers  and  temperance  men 
who  were  upon  the  platform,  added,  'Suppose  I  ask  the 
ladies  of  this  audience  to  signify  their  opinions  upon  the 
subject?'  They  all  bowed  their  consent,  and  fifty  or  more 
women  stood  up  in  token  of  approval.  He  then  asked  the 
gentlemen  howr  many  of  them  would  stand  as  '  backers,' 
should  the  ladies  undertake  the  work,  and  sixty  or  sev- 
enty arose.  '  And  now,  mother,'  said  my  boy,  '  they  have 
got  you  into  business,  for  you  are  on  a  committee  to  do 
some  work  at  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  morning  at 


THE   JUDGE   LUKEWARM.  55 

nine  o'clock,  and  then  the  ladies  want  you  to  go  out  with 
them  to  the  saloons.' 

k-  My  husband,  who  had  returned  from  Adams  County 
court  that  evening  and  was  feeling  very  tired,  seemed 
asleep  as  he  rested  upon  the  couch,  while  my  son  in  an 
undertone  had  given  me  all  the  above  facts ;  but  as  the 
last  sentence  was  uttered,  he  raised  himself  up  upon  his 
elbow  and  said,  'What  torn-foolery  is  all  that?'     My  son 
slipped  out  of  the  room  quietly,  and  I  betook  myself  to 
the   task    of    consoling    my   husband   with    the    promise 
that  I  should  not  be  led  into  any  foolish  act  by  Dio  Lewis 
or  any  association  of  human  beings.     But  after  he  had 
relaxed  into  a  milder  mood,  continuing  to  call  the  whole 
plan,  as  he  understood  it,  '  tom-foolery,'   I  ventured  to 
remind  him  that  the  men  had  been  in  the  'tom-foolery' 
business  a  long  time,  and   suggested  that  it  might  be 
'God's  will'  that  the  women  should  now  take  their  part. 
(After  this  he  fell  asleep  quietly,  and  I  resumed  my  Bible 
reading.)     Nothing  further  was  said   upon  the   subject 
that  had  created  such  interest  the  night  before  until  after 
breakfast,  when  we  gathered  in  the  '  family  room.'     First, 
my  son  approached  me  and  gently  placing  his  hand  upon 
my  shoulder,  in  a  very  subdued  tone  said,  '  Mother,  are 
you  not  going  over  to  the  church,  this  morning?'     As  I 
hesitated,  and  doubtless  showed  in  my  countenance  the 
burden  upon  my  spirit,  he  emphatically  said,  '  But,  my 
dear   mother,   you   know  you   have   to   go.'      Then   my 
daughter,  who  was  sitting  on  a  stool  by  my  side,  leaning 
over  in  a  most  tender  manner,  and  looking  up  in  my  face, 
said,  '  Don"t  you  think  you  will  go?'     All  this  time  my 
husband  had  been  walking  the  floor,  uttering  not  a  word. 
He  stopped,  and  placing  his  hand  upon  the  family  Bible 
that  lay  upon  my  work-table,  he  said  emphatically,  '  Chil- 
dren, you  know   where  your  mother  goes  to  settle  all 
vexed  questions.     Let  us  leave  her  alone,'   withdrawing 


56  146th  psalm. 

as  he  spoke,  and  the  clear  children  following  him.  I 
turned  the  key,  and  was  in  the  act  of  kneeling  before  God 
and  his  '  holy  word '  to  see  what  would  be  sent  me,  when 
I  heard  a  gentle  tap  at  my  door.  Upon  opening.it,  I  saw 
my  dear  daughter,  with  her  little  Bible  open,  and  the 
tears  coursing  down  her  young  cheeks,  as  she  said,  'I 
opened  to  this,  mother.  It  must  be  for  you.'  She  imme- 
diately left  the  room,  and  I  sat  down  to  read  the  wonder- 
ful message  of  the  great  'I  Am'  contained  in  the  146th 
Psalm. 

"No  longer  doubting,  I  at  once  repaired  to  the  Presby- 
terian church,  where  quite  a  large  assembly  of  earnest 
people  had  gathered. 

"  I  was  at  once  unanimously  chosen  as  the  President  (or 
leader)  ;  Mrs.  Gen.  McDowell,  Vice-President ;  and  Mrs. 
D.  K.  Finner,  Secretary  of  the  strange  work  that  was  to 
follow. 

"  Appeals  were  drawn  up  to  druggists,  saloon-keepers, 
and  hotel  proprietors.  Then  the  Presbyterian  minister 
(Dr.  McSurely),  who  had  up  to  this  time  occupied  the 
chair,  called  upon  the  chairman-elect  to  come  forward  to 
the  '  post  of  honor,'  but  your  humble  servant  could  not ; 
her  limbs  refused  to  bear  her.  So  Dr.  McSurely  remarked, 
as  he  looked  around  upon  the  gentlemen :  '  Brethren, 
I  see  that  the  ladies  will  do  nothing  while  we  remain ;  let 
us  adjourn,  leaving  this  new  work  with  God  and  the 
women.' 

"  As  the  last  man  closed  the  door  after  him,  strength 
before  unknown  came  to  me,  and  without  any  hesitation 
or  consultation  I  walked  forward  to  the  minister's  table, 
took  the  large  Bible,  and,  opening  it,  explained  the  inci- 
dents of  the  morning;  then  read  and  briefly  (as  my  tears 
would  allow)  commented  upon  its  new  meaning  to  me. 
I  then  called  upon  Mrs.  McDowell  to  lead  in  prayer,  and 
such  a  prayer!     It   seemed   as   though   the   angel   had 


mrs.  gen.  Mcdowell's  prayer.  57 

brought  down  *  live  coals'  from  off  the  altar  and  touched 
her  lips — she  who  had  never  before  heard  her  own  voice 
in  prayer! 

'•As  we  rose  from  our  knees  (for  there  were  none  sitting 
on  that  morning),  I  asked  Mrs.  Cowden  (our  M.  E.  min- 
ister's wife)  to  start  the  good  old  hymn  '  Give  to  the 
winds  thy  fears'  to  a  familiar  tune,*  and  turning  to  the 
dear  women,  I  said:' As  we  all  join  in  singing  this  hymn, 
let  us  form  in  line,  two  and  two,  the  small  women  in 
front,  leaving  the  tall  ones  to  bring  up  the  rear,  and  let 
us  at  once  proceed  to  our  sacred  mission,  trusting  alone 
in  the  God  of  Jacob.'  It  was  all  done  in  less  time  than 
it  takes  to  write  it ;  every  heart  was  throbbing,  and  every 
woman's  countenance  betrayed  her  solemn  realization  of 
the  fact  that  she  was  "  going  about  her  Father's  business." 

As  this  band  of  "  mysterious  beings"  first  encountered 
the  outside  gaze,  and  as  they  passed  from  the  door  of  the 
old  church  and  reached  the  street  beyond  the  large 
churchyard,  they  were  singing  these  prophetic  words : 

"Far,  far  above  thy  thought, 
His  counsel  shall  appear, 
When  fully  He  the  work  hath  wrought 
That  caused  thy  needless  fear." 

On  they  inarched  in  solemn  silence  up  Main  street,  first 
to  Dr.  Wm.  Smith's  drug  store.  After  calling  at  all  the 
drug  stores,  four  in  number,  their  pledge  being  signed  by 
all  save  one,  they  encountered  saloons  and  hotels  with 
varied  success,  until  by  continuous,  daily  visitations,  with 
persuasion,  prayer,  song,  and  Scripture  readings,  the 
drinking  places  of  the  town  were  reduced  from  thirteen 
to  one  drug  store,  one  hotel,  and  two  saloons,  and  they 
sold  "very  cautiously."  Prayer  meetings  were  held  dur- 
ing the  entire  winter  and  spring  every  morning  (except 
Sunday),  and  mass  meetings  in  the  evenings,  at  the  M. 


*The  tune  was  "  St.  Thomas." 


58  FIRST   SALOON   PRAYER-MEETING. 

E.  church  one  week  and  at  the  Presbyterian  the  next. 
This  is,  in  brief,  the  story  for  which  you  have  asked." 
-  Mrs.  Thompson  also  gives  this  record  of 

THE   FIRST   SALOON   PRAYER-MEETING. 

"  After  visiting  the  drug  stores,  on  the  24th  of  Decem- 
ber, 1873,  our  'band'  slowly  and  timidly  approached  the 
'first  class  saloon'  of  Robert  Ward  on  High  street,  a 
resort  made  famous  by  deeds  the  memory  of  which  nerved 
the  heart  and  paled  the  cheek  of  some  among  the 
'  seventy '  as  they  entered  the  '  open  door '  of  the  '  witty 
Englishman,'  as  his  patrons  were  wont  to  call  the  popular 
Ward.  Doubtless  he  had  learned  of  our  approach,  as  he 
not  only  propped  the  door  open,  but,  with  the  most  perfect 
suavity  of  manner,  held  it  until  the  ladies  all  passed  in  ; 
then,  closing  it,  walked  to  his  accustomed  stand  behind 
'  the  bar.'  Seizing  the  strange  opportunity,  the  leader  * 
addressed  him  as  follows :  '  Well,  Mr.  Ward,  this  must 
seem  to  you  a  strange  audience.  I  suppose,  however, 
that  you  understand  the  object  of  our  visit.'  Robert  by 
this  time  began  to  perspire  freely,  and  remarked  that  he 
would  '  like  to  have  a  talk  with  Dio  Lewis.'  Mrs.  T.  said  : 
'  Dr.  Lewis  has  nothing  to  do  with  the  subject  of  our 
mission.  As  you  look  upon  some  of  the  faces  before  you 
and  observe  the  furrows  of  sorrow,  made  deep  by  the 
unholy  business  that  you  ply,  you  will  find  that  it  is  no 
wonder  we  are  here.  We  have  come,  not  to  threaten — 
not  even  to  upbraid — but  in  the  name  of  our  Heavenly 
Friend  and  Saviour,  and  in  His  spirit  to  forgive,  and  to 
commend  you  to  His  pardon,  if  you  will  but  abandon  a 
business  that  is  so  damaging  to  our  hearts  and  homes ! ' 

"The  embarrassment  and  hesitation  of  the  saloon- 
keeper were  at  once  improved  upon.  The  'leader'  said, 
softly,  as  she  looked  around  upon  those  earnest  faces : 

*Mrs.  Thompson. 


PRAYER   IN    A   SALOON.  59 

'Let  us  pray.'  Instantly  all,  even  the  liquor  seller  him- 
self, were  upon  their  knees!  Mrs.  Dr.  McSurely  (wife  of 
the  Presbyterian  minister)  was  asked  to  lead  in  prayer 
by  Mrs.  Thompson  as  they  bowed  together,  but  she  de- 
clined. The  'spirit  of  utterance'  then  came  upon  the 
latter,  and  perhaps  for  the  first  time,  in  a  saloon,  w  the 
heavens  were  opened,'  and,  as  a  seal  of  God's  approval 
upon  the  self-sacrificing  work  there  inaugurated,  the 
'  Spirit'  came  down  and  touched  all  hearts. 

As  they  arose  from  prayer  dear  Mrs.  Daggett  (now  in 
Heaven)  broke  forth  in  her  sweet,  pathetic  notes,  all  join- 
ing with  her, 

"  There  is  a  fountain  filled  with  blood, 
Drawn  from  Immanuel's  veins; 
And  sinners  plunged  beneath  that  flood, 
Lose  all  their  guilty  stains." 

The  scene  that  followed  was  one  fit  for  a  painter  or  a 
poet,  so  beautifully  was  the  spirit  of  our  holy  religion 
portrayed.  Poor  wives  and  mothers,  who  the  day  before 
would  have  crossed  the  street  rather  than  walk  by  a 
place  so  identified  with  the  woes  and  heart-aches  of  their 
"  lost  Eden,"  were  now  in  tearful  pathos  pleading  with 
this  deluded  "  brother "  to  accept  the  world's  Redeemer 
as  his  own.     Surely  "  God  is  Love." 

*  History  of  the    Woman's    Crusade  at  Washington 

Court  House,  Ohio. 

On  the  evening  of  December  24,  1873,  the  Lecture 
Association  of  Washington  C.  H.  had  in  its  course  a  lec- 
ture on  "  Our  Girls,"  by  Dio  Lewis.  During  the  evening 
he  dwelt  somewhat  largely  upon  the  havoc  being  made 
by  tobacco  and  ardent  spirits,  and  offered  to  suggest  a 

*  Wishing  to  have  these  important  historic  facts  at  first  hand,  I 
have  obtained  this  sketch  from  Mr%  Ustick,  Secretary  of  the  Praying 
Band  at  Washington  C.  H.,  Ohio.  Mrs.  George  Carpenter,  the  central 
figure  in  this  marvellous  picture,  is  wife  of  the  Presbyterian  pastor 
there. 


60  WASHINGTON    COURT    HOUSE,    OHIO 


new  plan  for  fighting  the  liquor  traffic,  which,  he  asserted, 
if  carefully  adhered  to,  would  close  every  saloon  in  the 
place  in  one  week's  time. 

The  proposition  was  heartily  accepted,  and  a  meeting 
appointed  for  Christmas  morning,  at  10  o'clock,  in  the 
Presbyterian  church.  At  the  designated  hour  on  Christ- 
mas morning  a  large  congregation  assembled  in  the  Pres- 
byterian church,  eager  to  see  the  plan  of  Dr.  Lewis  inau- 
gurated with  all  earnestness  and  prayer.  "Awake! 
Awake  !  Put  on  thy  strength,  0  Zion  !  "  was  sung  by  the 
choir ;  prayer  by  one  of  the  pastors,  and  reading  a  Bible 
selection  by  Dr.  Lewis,  who  at  once  proceeded  to  his  work. 
He  told  the  story  of  his  mother's  experience  and  efforts; 
his  faith  in  woman's  prayer,  patience,  and  love,  for 
the  cure  of  intemperance,  and  his  own  unsuccessful 
attempts  to  organize  the  women  in  various  cities  for  the 
past  twenty-one  years.  For  one  hour  argument,  illustra- 
tion, appeal,  and  demonstration  followed  in  rapid  succes- 
sion, until  at  the  conclusion  of  the  address  the  entire 
audience  were  ready  to  heartily  indorse  the  plan  pre- 
sented, and  there  was  organized  one  of  the  grandest  re- 
formatory movements  of  the  age — the  movement  now  so 
well  and  fitly  known  as  the  Woman's  Crusade. 

On  motion  of  Dr.  Lewis,  three  secretaries  were  elected, 
and  instructed  to  report  the  names  of  all  the  women 
present,  as  a  committee  of  visitation,  whose  duty  it 
should  be  to  go  in  a  body  to  each  of  the  saloons,  and 
personally  appeal  to  the  proprietors  of  the  same  to  stop  the 
business  at  ©nee  and  seek  other  means  of  livelihood.  This 
committee  was  to  enlist  for  the  war — that  is,  until  the  work 
was  accomplished.    Fifty-two  women  enrolled  their  names. 

On  motion  of  Dr.  Lewis,  a  secretary  was  appointed  to 
take  the  names  of  a  number  of  men,  to  be  called  a  "  Com- 
mittee of  Responsibility,"  who  should  furnish  pecuniary 
means  needed  in  the  prosecution  of  this  work.  Thirty- 
seven  men  gave  their  names  as  members  of  this  committee. 


MRS.  GFJ).   CARPENTER. 


THE   APPEAL.  f>3 

On  motion  of  Dr.  Lewis,  the  chair  appointed  Mrs.  Geo. 
Carpenter,  Mrs.  A.  C.  Hirst,  Mrs.  A.  E.  Pine,  and  Mrs. 

B.  Ogle,  as  a  committee  to  draw  up  an  appeal  to  our 
citizens  engaged  in  the  liquor  business.  Closing  appeals 
of  stirring  power  were  made  by  Dr.  Lewis  and  Rev.  A. 

C.  Hirst,  and  after  a  vote  of  thanks  to  Dr.  Lewis  for  his 
work  among  us  the  meeting  adjourned,  to  convene  in  the 
Methodist  Church  and  hear  the  reports  of  the  committees 
appointed. 

v  Temperance  was  the  all-absorbing  theme  on  that  day, 
around  every  Christian's  board  and  upon  all  the  street 
corners,  rln  the  evening  a  prayer-meeting  was  held  in 
the  M.  E.  Church,  at  which  time  the  Chairman  of  Com- 
mittee on  Appeal,  Mrs.  Geo.  Carpenter,  reported  the 
following : 

APPEAL. 

"  Knowing,  as  you  do,  the  fearful  effects  of  intoxicat- 
ing drinks,  we,  the  women  of  Washington,  after  earnest 
prayer  and  deliberation,  have  decided  to  appeal  to  you  to 
desist  from  this  ruinous  traffic,  that  our  husbands,  broth- 
ers, and  especially  our  sons,  be  no  longer  exposed  to  this 
terrible  temptation,, and  that  Ave  may  no  longer  see  them 
led  into  those  paths  which  go  down  to  sin,  and  bring  both 
body  and  soul  to  destruction.  We  appeal  to  the  better 
instincts  of  your  own  hearts,  in  the  name  of  desolated 
homes,  blasted  hopes,  ruined  lives,  widowed  hearts,  for 
the  honor  of  our  community,  for  our  happiness ;  for  our 
good  name,  as  a  town ;  in  the  name  of  the  God  who  will 
judge  you,  as  well  as  ourselves;  for  the  sake  of  your  own 
souls,  which  are  to  be  saved  or  lost,  we  beg — we  implore 
you,  to  cleanse  yourselves  from  this  heinous  sin,  and  place 
yourselves  in  the  ranks  of  those  who  are  striving  to  ele- 
vate and  ennoble  themselves  and  their  fellow-men;  and 
to  this  we  ask  you  to  pledge  yourselves." 

Which  appeal   was  adopted,  and  has  since  been  used 


64  THE  STRANGE   PROCESSION. 

very  generally — not  only  in  Ohio,  but  in  several  other 
States. 
^X  On  Friday  morning,  December  26,  1873,  the  meeting 
convened  pursuant  to  adjournment,  in  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church .y  The  services  were  opened  with  sing- 
ing and  prayer,  and  reading  of  the  Scriptures.  One  hun- 
dred copies  of  the  Appeal  to  Liquor  Sellers  were  ordered 
to  be  printed  and  circulated  throughout  the  community. 
Mrs.  J.  L.  Vandeman  and  Mrs.  Judge  McLean  were  ap- 
pointed to  lead  the  procession,  Mrs.  A.  E.  Pine  to  lead 
the  singing,  Mrs.  M.  V.  Ustick  as  Secretary,  and  Mrs. 
Geo.  Carpenter  as  Captain  and  Reader  of  the  Appeal. 

And  now  came  the  most  interesting  moment  of  this 
meeting.  More  than  forty  of  the  best  women  in  the 
community  were  to  go  forth  on  their  errands  of  mercy .^ 
There  was  much  trembling  of  hearts,  much  taking  hold 
on  God,  much  crying,  and  supplication  in  prayer.  Such 
a  scene  was  never  witnessed  in  Washington  C.  H. 

Down  the  central  aisle  of  the  church  inarched  these 
women  to  their  work,  while  the  men  remained,  continu- 
ing in  prayer  to  God,  that  He  would  be  with  these  Avomen 
as  they  should  go  from  place  to  place,  with  Christian 
song  and  prayer,  to  appeal,  face  to  face,  in  their  various 
places  of  business,  to  those  men  who  were  at  work  selling 
liquor — the  tolling  of  the  church  bell  keeping  time  to  the 
solemn  march  of  the  women  as  they  wended  their  way  to 
the  first  drug  store  on  the  list. 

(The  number  of  places  within  the  city  limits  where 
intoxicating  drinks  were  sold  was  fourteen  —  eleven 
saloons  and  three  drug-stores.)  Here,  as  in  every  place, 
they  entered  singing,  every  woman  taking  up  the  sacred 
strain  as  she  crossed  the  threshold.  This  was  followed 
by  the  reading  of  the  appeal,  and  prayer ;  then  earnest 
pleading  to  desist  from  their  soul-destroying  traffic,  and 
to  sign  the  dealer's  pledge. 


THE  GOSPEL   PLEA.  65 

V  The  novel  procession  created  the  wildest  excitement 
on  the  streets,  and  was  the  subject  of  conversation  to  the 
exclusion  of  all  others.  >  The  work  of  the  ladies  was 
thoroughly  done.  Not  a  den  escaped.  The  procession 
entered  by  the  front  door,  filling  both  the  front  and 
back  rooms.  Prayer,  followed  by  Bible  arguments,  was 
the  answer  to  the  excuses  of  these  men.  Down  into  the 
cellar,  everywhere,  they  went  with  the  same  eloquent 
plea :  "  We  pray  you  to  stop  this  ! "  "  We  mean  you  no 
hurt !  "  "  We  beg  you  to  desist !  "  In  tears  the  mothers, 
wives,  and  sisters  pleaded  for  their  cause. 

/C  Thus  all  the  day  they  went  from  place  to  place,  without 
stopping  even  for  dinner  or  lunch  till  five  o'clock,  meeting 
with  no  marked  success.  But  invariable  courtesy  was 
extended  them  ;  not  even  their  reiterated  promise,  "  We 
will  call  again,"  seeming  to  offend. 

No  woman  who  has  ever  entered  one  of  these  dens  of  ini- 
quity on  such  an  errand,  needs  to  be  told  of  the  heart- 
sickness  that  almost  overcame  them  as  they,  for  the  first 
time,  saw  behind  those  painted  windows  or  green  blinds, 
and  entered  the  little  stifling  "back-room,"  or  found  their 
way  down  winding  steps  into  the  damp,  dark  cellars,  and 
realized  that  into  such  places  many  of  those  they  loved 
best  were  slowly  descending  through  the  allurements  of 
the  brilliantly  lighted  drug-store,  the  fascinating  billiard- 
table,  or  the  enticing  beer-gardens,  with  their  syren 
attractions. 

A  crowded  house  at  night  to  hear  the  report  of  the 
day's  work  betrayed  the  rapidly  increasing  interest  in 
this  mission.    V 

Saturday  morning,  December  27th,  after  an  hour  of 
prayer,  an  increased  number  of  women  went  forth  again, 
leaving  a  number  of  men  in  the  church,  who  continued 
in  prayer  all  day  long.  Every  few  moments  the  tolling 
bell  cheered  the  hearts  of  the  Crusaders  by  pealing  forth 
the  knowledge  that  another  supplication  had  ascended 


1 


66  THE    FINAL    TRIUMPH. 

for  their  success  ;  meanwhile  notes  of  progress  being  sent 
by  the  secretary  to  the  church  from  every  place  visited. 

On  this  day  the  contest  really  began,  and,  at  the  first 
place,  the  doors  were  found  locked.  With  hearts  full  of 
compassion,  the  women  knelt  in  the  snow  upon  the  pave- 
ment, to  plead  for  the  Divine  influence  upon  the  heart  of 
the  liquor  dealer,  and  there  held  their  first  street  prayer- 
meeting. 

At  night  the  weary,  but  zealous  workers  reported  at 
mass-meeting  the  various  rebuffs,  and  the  success  in  hav- 
ing two  druggists  sign  the  pledge  not  to  sell,  except  upon 
the  written  prescription  of  a  physician. 

The  Sabbath  was  devoted  to  union  mass  meetings,  with 
direct  reference  to  the  work  in  hand ;  and  on  Monday  the 
number  of  ladies  had  increased  to  nearly  one  hundred. 
That  day,  December  27th,  is  one  long  to  be  remembered 
in  Washington  as  the  day  upon  which  occurred  the  first 
surrender  ever  made  by  a  liquor-dealer,  of  his  stock  of 
liquors  of  every  kind  and  variety,  to  the  women,  in  an- 
swer to  their  prayers  and  entreaties,  said  stock  being  by 
them  poured  into  the  street.  Nearly  a  thousand  men, 
women,  and  children  witnessed  the  mingling  of  beer,  ale, 
wine,  and  whisky  as  they  filled  the  gutters  and  were 
drank  up  by  the  earth,  while  bells  were  ringing,  men  and 
boys  shouting,  and  women  singing  and  praying  to  God, 
who  had  given  the  victory. 

But,  on  the  fourth  day,  the  campaign  reached  its  height ; 
the  town  being  filled  with  visitors  from  all  parts  of  the 
country  and  adjoining  villages.  There  was  another  public 
surrender  and  another  pouring  into  the  street  of  a  larger 
stock  of  liquors  than  on  the  previous  day,  and  more 
intense  excitement  and  enthusiasm. 

Mass  meetings  were  held  nightly  with  new  victories 
reported  constantly,  until  on  Friday,  January  2d,  one 
week  from  the  beginning  of  the  work,  at  the  public  meet- 
ing held  in  the  evening,  the  secretary's  report  announced 


ITS   EFFECT   ON    NEIGHBORING    TOWNS.  (IT 

every  liquor  dealer  unconditionally  surrendered  :  some 
having  shipped  their  liquors  back  to  wholesale  dealers, 
others  poured  them  in  the  gutters,  and  the  druggists  all 
signed  the  druggist's  pledge. 

Tims  a  campaign  of  prayer  and  song  had,  in  eight  days, 
closed  eleven  saloons,  and  pledged  three  drug-stores  to 
sell  only  on  prescription. 

At  first  men  had  wondered,  scoffed,  and  laughed,  then 
criticized,  respected,  and  yielded 

Morning  prayer  and  evening  mass-meetings  continued 
daily,  and  the  personal  pledge  was  circulated  till  over  one 
thousand  signatures  were  obtained.  Physicians  were 
called  upon  to  sign  a  pledge  not  to  prescribe  ardent 
spirits  when  any  other  substitute  could  be  found,  and  in 
no  case  without  a  personal  examination  of  the  patient. 

A  property-holder's  pledge  was  also  circulated — pledg- 
ing men  not  to  rent  or  lease  property  to  be  used  as  sa- 
loons, nor  to  allow  any  dealings  of  the  liquor  traffic  to  be 
carried  on  upon  any  premises  belonging  to  them.  This 
pledge  was  generally  signed  by  holders  of  real  estate. 

During  this  week  came  a  plea  for  help  from  Hills- 
boro.  In  answer  to  that  call,  on  Monday,  January  12th, 
a  committee  consisting  of  Profs.  Morehouse  and  Dean, 
and  Mrs.  Geo.  Carpenter,  Mrs.  Judge  McLean,  Mrs.  Judge 
Priddy,  and  Miss  Anna  Ustick,  went  to  Hillsboro, 
spent  the  evening  in  attendance  upon  a  mass-meeting 
there,  and  the  next  forenoon  in  prayer  and  conference 
with  the  workers,  returning  in  time  to  attend  the  mass- 
meeting  at  home,  bringing  with  them  encouraging  words. 

By  this  time  the  new  method  of  fighting  whisky  be- 
gan to  attract  the  attention  of  the  press,  and  people  in 
surrounding  places  ;  and  meetings  were  announced  to  be 
held  in  every  village  and  school  district  in  the  county. 
Committees  of  ladies  and  gentlemen  were  sent  out  from 
"Washington  C.  H.,  to  assist  in  these  meetings.  Commit- 
tees were  also  sent,  by  request,  into  all  adjoining  counties, 


68  A    MISSIONARY   OF    EVIL. 

the  meetings  being  constantly  kept  up  at  home,  and  all  the 
while  gaining  in  interest.  Early  in  the  third  week  the  dis- 
couraging intelligence  came  that  a  new  man  had  taken  out 
license  to  sell  liquor  in  one  of  the  deserted  saloons,  and 
that  he  was  backed  by  a  whisky  house  in  Cincinnati  to  the 
amount  of  $5,000,  to  break  down  the  movement.  On  Wed- 
nesday, the  14th,  the  whisky  was  unloaded  at  his  room. 
About  forty  women  were  on  the  ground,  and  followed  the 
liquor  in,  and  remained,  holding  an  uninterrupted  prayer- 
meeting  all  day  and  until  eleven  o'clock  at  night. 

The  next  day — bitterly  cold — was  spent  in  the  same 
place  and  manner,  without  fire  or  chairs  ;  two  hours  of 
that  time  the  women  being  locked  in,  while  the  proprie- 
tor was  off  attending  a  trial.  On  the  following  day,  the 
coldest  of  all  the  winter  of  1874,  the  women  were  locked 
out,  and  stood  on  the  street  holding  religious  services  all 
day  long. 

Next  morning  a  tabernacle  was  built  in  the  street,  just 
in  front  of  the  house,  and  was  occupied  for  the  double 
purpose  of  watching  and  prayer,  through  the  day  ;  but 
before  the  night  the  sheriff  closed  the  saloon,  and  the 
proprietor  surrendered ;   thus  ended  the  third  week. 

A  short  time  after,  on  a  dying  bed,  this  four  days' 
liquor  dealer  sent  for  some  of  these  women,  telling  them 
that  their  songs  and  prayers  had  never  ceased  to  ring  in 
his  ears,  and  urging  them  to  pray  again  in  his  behalf ;  so 
he  passed  away. 

About  this  time  came  word  from  Columbus  that  the 

Adair  Liquor  Law  was  in  great  danger  of  being  repealed ; 

consequently  the  following  communication  was  sent  to 

every  known   temperance   organization   throughout   the 

State : 

Washington  C.  H.,  Jan.  30,  1874. 

To  the  Secretary  of  Women's  Temperance  League  at : 

Dear  Sister  :— By  order  of  the  entire  board  of  our  Temperance 
League,  we  send  you  an  earnest  request  that  you  immediately  appoint 


a  reporter's  graphic  account.       69 

a  committee  of  not  less  than  six  of  the  most  earnest  and  effective 
workers,  who  shall  be  ready  at  an  hour's  notice  to  respond  to  the  call 
embodied  in  the  following  resolution: 

Besotted,  That  the  secretary  of  this  meeting  be  requested  to  corre- 
spond with  the  ladies  in  all  places  where  the  temperance  movement  is 
now,  or  may  be  progressing,  asking  the  same  to  appoint  a  delegation 
to  appear  at  Columbus,  when  called,  if  any  action  of  the  legislature, 
threatening  the  safety  of  the  Adair  Liquor  Law,  may  be  contemplated. 

"  Please  notify  us  of  your  decision  in  the  matter,  forwarding  us  one 
name  to  whom  we  may  telegraph  if  necessary." 

[Signed  by  the  Secretary.] 

Responses  poured  in  from  all  Leagues  addressed,  the 
word  "  Ready."  But  the  law  remained  undisturbed  that 
winter. 

At  this  time  the  Cincinnati  Commercial  sent  a  reporter, 
Mr.  J.  H.  Beadle,  to  investigate  the  rise  of  this  movement, 
from  whose  graphic  pen  we  quote  the  following,  as  a 
correct  word-picture  of. the  occurrence: 

"  I  reached  Washington  C.  H.  at  noon  of  January  20th, 
and  seeking  Mr.  Beck's  beer-garden  found  him  in  a  state  of 
terrible  nervousness,  as  the  ladies  had  spent  the  forenoon 
in  front  of  this  place.  He  evidently  regarded  me  as  a 
spy,  but  was  much  mollified  when  assured  that  I  was  only 
a  journalist,  and  made  a  voluminous  complaint  in  '  High 
Dutch'  and  low  English  : 

"  'I  got  no  vitnesses.  Dem  vimens  dey  set  ub  a  schob 
on  me.  But  you  don't  bin  a  'bitual  drunkard,  eh  ?  No, 
you  don't  look  like  him.  Veil,  coom  in.  Vot  you  vant, 
beer  or  vine  ?  I  dells  you,  dem  vimens  is  shust  awful. 
Py  shinks,  dhey  build  a  house  right  in  der  street,  und  stay 
mit  a  man  all  day,  singin'  und  oder  foolishness.  But 
dhey  don't  get  in  here  once  agin,  already.' 

"  In  obedience  to  his  invitation,  I  had  entered  by  the 
side  door — the  front  was  locked  and  barred — to  find  four 
customers  indulging  in  liquor,  beer,  and  pigs'  feet.  One 
announced  himself  as  an  '  original  Granger,'  a  second  as 
a  '  retired  sailor,'  while  the  others  were  non-committal. 


70  THE    ADAIR   LAW. 

They  stated  that  two  spies  had  just  applied  for  admission 
— 'men  who  would  come  in  and  drink,  then  go  away  and 
swear  they  were  habitual  drunkards  under  the  Adair  law' 
— and  that  accounted  for  ]\lr.  Beck's  suspicions  of  me. 

"The  Adair  law  I  find  everywhere  to  be  the  great 
horror  of  saloon-keepers.  It  allows  any  wife  or  child,  or 
other  relative  directly  interested,  to  prosecute  for  the  sale 
of  liquor  to  husband  or  father ;  and  almost  any  one  may 
prosecute  for  the  sale  of  liquor  to  a  '  habitual  drunkard.' 

"  Whether  such  a  law  be  just  or  constitutional,  there  is 
much  dispute ;  but  it  is  evident  that  it  gives  great  oppor- 
tunity for  fraud  and  blackmailing.  It  is,  however,  just 
now  the  strong  rock  of  defense  of  the  Ohio  temperance 
people ;  and  it  may  be  that  by  its  enforcement  some 
saloon-keepers  have  been  driven  out  of  the  business  who 
would  have  withstood  the  prayers,  of  an  archangel  and 
all  the  tears  that  sorrowing  pity  ever  shed. 

"  Mr.  Beck  kept  open  house  nearly  all  that  night ;  the 
sounds  of  revelry  were  plainly  heard,  and  in  the  morn- 
ing several  drunken  men  came  into  town,  one  of 
whom  tumbled  down  in  a  livery  stable  and  went  to  sleep 
on  a  manure  pile,  from  which  he  was  carried  to  the 
lock-up.  Matters  were  evidently  coming  to  a  crisis,  and 
I  went  out  early;  but  the  ladies  reached  there  in  force 
just  before  me.  I  met  Mr.  Beck  hurrying  into  town  to 
consult  his  lawyer,  or,  as  he  phrased  it,  'to  see  mein 
gounsel  vhen  I  no  got  some  right  to  my  own  broberty.' 

"  The  main  body  of  the  ladies  soon  arrived,  and  took 
up  a  position  with  right  center  on  the  door-step,  the  wings 
extending  each  way  beyond  the  corners  of  the  house,  and 
a  rearward  column  along  the  walk  to  the  gate.  In  ludi- 
crous contrast  the  routed  revelers,  who  had  been  scared 
out  of  the  saloon,  stood  in  a  little  knot  fifty  feet  away, 
still  gnawing  at  the  pigs'  feet  they  had  held  on  to  in 


a  lady's  pb  lter.  71 

their  hurried  flight :  while  I  took  a  convenient  seat  on 
the  fence.     The  ladies  then  sang: 

'O  do  not  be  discouraged,  for  Jesus  is  your  friend, 
He  will  give  you  -race  to  conquer,  and  keep  you  to  the  end.' 

••As  the  twenty  or  more  clear,  sweet  voices  mingled  in 

the  enlivening  chorus, 

•  I'm  glad  I'm  in  tins  array,'  etc., 

the  effect  was  inspiring.     1  felt  all  the  enthusiasm  of  the 

occasion:  while  the  pigs'-feet  party,  if  they  did  not  feel 

guilty,  certainly  looked  so.     The  singing  was  followed  by 

a  prayer  from  Mrs.  Mills  Gardner.     She  prayed  for  the 

blessing  of  God  >>n  the  temperance  caus-e  generally,  and 

in  this  place  particularly;  then  for  Mr.  Beck,  his  family 

and  his  friends,  his   house  and  all  that  loved  him,  and 

elosed  with  an  eloquent  plea  for  guidance  in  the  difficult 

and  delicate  task  they  had  undertaken.     In  one  respect 

the  prayer  was  unsurpassed  :  it  was  eminently  fitting  to 

the  place   and    occasion.     As   the   concluding  sentences 

were  being  uttered,  Mr.  Beck  and  his  'gounsel'  arrived. 

The  ladies  paid  no  attention  to  either,  but  broke  forth  in 

loud  strains  : 

'  Must  Jesus  bear  the  cross  alone? 
Xo,  there's  a  cross  for  me,' 

when  the  lawyer  borrowed  some  of  my  paper,  whispering 
at  the  same  time,  '  I  musl  take  down  their  names.  Guess 
I  shall  have  to  prosecute  some  of  them  before  we  stop  this 
thing.' 

"  I  should  need  the  pen  of  an  Irving  and  the  pencil  of 
a  Darley  to  give  any  adequate  idea  of  the  scene.  On  one 
side  a  score  of  elegant  ladies,  singing  with  till  the  earnest- 
ness of  impassioned  natures  ;  a  few  yards  away  a  knot  of 
disturbed  revelers,  uncertain  whether  to  stand  or  fly; 
half-way  between,  the  nervous  Beck,  bobbing  around  like 
a  case  of  fiddle-strings  with  a  hundred  pounds  of  lager- 
beer  fat  hung  on  them,  and  on  the  fence  by  the  ladies  a 


72  a  lawyer's  plea. 

cold-blooded  lawyer  and  an  excited  reporter,  scribbling 
away  as  if  their  lives  depended  on  it.  The  scene  was 
painful  from  its  very  intensity. 

"  The  song  ended,  the  presiding  lady  called  upon  Mrs. 
Wendel,  and  again  arose  the  voice  of  prayer,  so  clear,  so 
sweet,  so  full  of  pleading  tenderness,  that  it  seemed  she 
would,  by  the  strength  of  womanly  love,  compel  the  very 
heavens  to  open  and  send  down  in  answer  a  spark  of 
divine  grace  that  would  turn  the  saloon-keeper  from  his 
purpose.  The  sky,  which  had  been  overcast  all  the  morn- 
ing, began  to  clear,  the  occasional  drops  of  rain  ceased  to 
fall,  and  a  gentle  south  wind  made  the  air  soft  and  balmy. 
It  almost  seemed  that  nature  joined  in  the  prayer.  Again 
the  ladies  sang, 

'Are  there  no  foes  for  roe  to  face? ' 

with  the  camp-meeting  chorus : 

'  O,  how  I  love  Jesus, 
Because  he  first  loved  me.' 

As  the  song  concluded,  the  lawyer  suddenly  stepped  for- 
ward and  said :  '  Now,  ladies,  I  have  a  word  to  say  before 
this  performance  goes  further.  Mr.  Beck  has  employed 
me  as  his  attorney.  He  can  not  speak  good  English,  and 
I  speak  for  him  here.  He  is  engaged  in  a  legitimate  busi- 
ness, and  you  are  trespassers  on  his  property  and  right. 
If  this  thing  is  carried  any  further  you  will  be  called  to 
account  in  the  court,  and  I  can  assure  you  that  the  court 
will  sustain  the  man.  He  has  talked  with  you  all  he 
desires  to.  He  does  not  want  to  put  you  out  forcibly,  as 
that  would  be  unmanly,  and  he  cfoes  not  wish  to  act 
rudely  ;  but  he  tells  you  to  go,  and,  as  his  attorney,  I  now 
warn  you  to  desist  from  any  further  annoyance.' 
"Again  the  ladies  sang, 

'  My  soul,  be  on  thy  guard, 
Ten  thousand  foes  arise,' 


A   MASS   MEETING.  73 

when  Miss  Annie  Ustick  followed  with  a  fervent  prayer 
for  the  lawyer  and  his  client ;  but  they  had  fled  the  scene, 
leaving  the  house  locked  up.  After  consultation  the 
ladies  decided  to  leave  Mr.  Beck's  premises  and  take  a 
position  in  the  adjoining  lot.  They  sent  for  the  '  taber- 
nacle,' a  rude  frame  building  they  had  used  in  front  of 
Slater's  saloon.  This  they  erected  on  an  adjoining  lot, 
put  up  immense  lights  to  illuminate  the  entrance  to  the 
beer  garden,  and  kept  up  a  guard  from  early  morn  till 
midnight." 

For  two  weeks  religious  services  were  held  in  the 
Tabernacle  day  and  night,  and  the  women  were  con- 
stantly on  duty,  at  the  end  of  which  time  an  injunction 
was  granted  Mr.  Beck,  and  the  Tabernacle  was  taken 
down.  Suits  were  then  in  progress  against  the  two  beer 
sellers,  under  the  Adair  Law,  and  judgments  were  being 
obtained  in  various  amounls,  the  ladies  appearing  in  force 
in  the  court  room  during  each  trial,  thus  giving  their 
moral  support  to  their  suffering  sisters. 

On  Friday,  February  6th,  another  man  opened  a  beer 
saloon  in  a  new  locality.  The  ladies  immediately  visited 
him  by  committees,  and  thus  spent  the  day.  Next  day, 
however,  they  took  up  their  stand  in  front  of  his  door, 
continuing  their  services  late  into  the  evening,  at  which 
time  their  force  was  increased  by  the  entire  congregation 
at  mass  meeting,  who  chose  to  conclude  their  services  in 
unison  with  the  watchers  before  the  saloon. 

Temperance  was  still  the  pulpit  theme  on  the  Sabbath, 
and  on  Monday  morning,  February  9th,  all  the  business 
houses  were  closeu1  from  8  to  9,  to  attend  the  business 
men's  prayer  meeting.  Large  delegations  were  present 
from  adjoining  villages  at  that  early  hour.  At  the  meet- 
ing there  came  a  messenger  from  this  man  stating  that 
he  would  give  up  his  business,  which  announcement  was 
received  with  cheers.  It  was  then  decided  that  all  wjio  were 


74  THE    "LAST    MAN"    SURRENDERS. 

not  enjoined  from  so  doing  should  march  out  to  Mr.  Beck's 
beer  garden,  where  the  proprietor  met  them  at  the  gate, 
and  after  a  brief  consultation  with  a  committee  appointed 
for  that  purpose,  he  publicly  announced  :  "  You  comes  so 
many  I  quits.  I  will  never  sell  any  more  beer  or  whisky." 
Again  the  crowd  gave  vent  to  their  feelings  in  cheers. 
Messengers  were  dispatched  to  the  women  who  remained 
praying  in  the  church,  to  join  them.  All  the  bells  com- 
menced ringing,  and  the  procession,  numbering  200 
strong,  started  out  to  Sullivan's  beer  house,  now  the  only 
remaining  saloon  in  the  township.  Marching  up  Court 
Street  the  number  increased,  and,  amid  the  most  profound 
silence,  the  men  and  women  pursued  their  journey. 
About  half-way  there  the  man  in  question  was  met  and 
interviewed.  He  asked  two  days  to  consider,  which  were 
granted.  The  procession  then  returned,  the  bells  all  the 
time  ringing  out  their  chimes  upon  the  crisp  morning  air. 
Meetings,  morning  and  evening,  continued  with  unabated 
interest,  and  at  each  came  to  us  the  cry  from  other  points  : 
"  Come  and  help  us." 

On  Wednesday  morning,  February  11th,  at  mass  meet- 
ing in  the  Presbyterian  Church,  Mr.  Sullivan  came  and 
publicly  pledged  himself  to  "  quit,  forever,  the  liquor 
business."  A  general  rejoicing  and  thanksgiving  followed 
this  surrender  of  the  "  last  man." 

Thus,  through  most  of  the  winter  of  1874,  no  alcoholic 
drinks  were  publicly  sold  as  a  beverage. 

As  Dr.  Dio  Lewis  had  .signified  his  intention  of  again 
visiting  our  village  on  Tuesday,  February  17th,  that  day 
was  appointed  as  one  of  general  rejoicing  and  thanksgiv- 
ing. Accordingly  arrangements  Avere  made  for  a  mass 
meeting  to  be  held  in  Music  Hall  at  2  P.  M.  At  1.80  a 
thousand  people  were  gathered  at  the  depot  awaiting  the 
arrival  of  the  train.  Promptly  at  the  hour,  Dr.  Lewis, 
accompanied  by  quite  a  corps  of  newspaper  men,  alighted 


GREETING   TO    DR.    LEWIS — HIS   REPLY.  75 

from  the  car.  and  was  greeted  with  music  from  the  band 
and  cheers  from  the  vast  concourse  of  people,  who  im- 
mediately proceeded  to  the  hall, where  the  following  brief 
words  of  welcome  were  addressed  to  him  by  Mrs.  Geo. 
Carpenter : 

" Dr.  Lewis:  In  the  name  of  the  women  of  Washing- 
ton, I  welcome  you.  Eight  weeks  ago,  when  you  first 
came  among  us,  you  found  us  a  people  of  warm  hearts, 
generous  impulses,  fully  alive  to  the  evils  of  intemperance, 
and  needing  only  the  magnetism  of  a  master  mind  to 
rouse  us  to  a  determined  resistance  of  its  ravages.  Yours 
was  that  mind.  Dr.  Lewis,  your  hand  pointed  out  the 
way.  You  vitalized  our  latent  activities,  and  roused  us 
all,  men  and  women  together,  and  we  have  gone  forth  to 
the  battle  side  by  side,  as  God  intended  we  should,  our- 
selves perfect  weakness,  but  God  mighty  in  strength. 
He  sent  you  here.  He  put  the  thought  into  your  heart. 
He  prepared  our  hearts  to  receive  it.  And  now  He  has 
brought  you  among  us  again  to  gladden  you  with  the 
fruition  of  hope  long  deferred — to  see  the  seed  sown  years 
ago  by  your  mother  springing  up,  budding,  and  bearing- 
fruit.  Dr.  Lewis,  I  welcome  you  to  the  hearts  and  homes 
of  Washington."' 

Dr.  Lewis  replied  substantially  as  follows : 
Madame  and  Friends:  I  cannot  make  a  speech  on  this 
occasion.  I  have  always  been  on  the  frontier,  always 
eno-a<rcd  in  the  battle  of  reform.  And  now  to  find  some- 
thing  really  accomplished — to  find  a  town  positively  free 
from  the  curse  of  liquor-Helling — it  really  seems  as  if 
there  is  nothing  for  me  to  do.  I  feel  as  one  without 
working  harness.  But  I  will  say  this  :  none  but  God  can 
ever  know  how  much  I  owe  to  this  town,  nor  how  fortu- 
nate it  was  for  me  and  for  many  others  that  I  came  here. 
I  will  not  say  that  this  is  the  only  community  in  which 
the  work  could  be  begun.     The  heroism  and  self-sacrifice 


76         men's  ballots  defeat  women's  prayers. 

displayed  in  other  places  would  make  such  a  remark  in- 
vidious," etc.,  etc. 

After  the  response  by  Dr.  Lewis,  the  remainder  of  the 
afternoon  was  spent  in  general  speech-making.  The 
evening  was  occupied  in  listening  to  a  lecture  by  Dr. 
Lewis,  and  the  day  fitly  closed  by  an  informal  reception 
given  the  orators  of  the  occasion,  at  the  home  of  one  of 
the  crusaders. 

At  the  spring  election  for  Mayor  and  City  Council, 
Temperance  was  made  the  issue,  and,  from  motives  of 
policy,  the  Temperance  men  brought  out  conservative 
candidates.  The  other  party  did  the  same  thing.  The 
whisky  party  were  successful,  and,  emboldened  by  that 
success,  many  of  the  former  saloonists  gradually  reopened 
their  business.  Since  that  time  five  of  these  men  have 
gone  to  render  to  God  an  account  for  their  violated  vows. 

The  summer  was  given  up  to  the  defeat  of  the  license 
clause  in  the  new  Constitution,  which  was  to  come  before 
the  people  on  the  18th  of  August. 

Mass  Temperance  picnics  were  a  prominent  feature  of 
the  season,  and  the  untiring  zeal  of  the  workers  was 
crowned  with  success  on  election  day. 

During  the  intervening  years  weekly  Temperance 
League  meetings  have  been  kept  up  by  the  faithful  few, 
while  frequent  Union  mass  meetings  have  been  held,  thus 
keeping  the  subject  always  before  the  people. 

To-day  the  disgraceful  and  humiliating  fact  exists  that 
there  are  more  places  where  liquors  are  sold  than  before 
the  crusade.  * 

In  the  almost  decade  of  years  which  has  flitted  by  since 
these  events  occurred,  the  reformation  started  here  has 
belted  the  world.  In  many  of  the  lines  of  work,  Fayette 
County  is  showing  herself  worthy  of  the  spirit  which 
could  inaugurate  so  wonderful  a  movement.  For  while 
Dr.  Dio  Lewis  inaugurated  a  similar  movement  in  three 


THE    CRUSADE    QUILT.  77 

other  places  during  the  same  winter  before  it  was  started 
here,  results  proved  that  it  would  have  been  classed  as 
the  idle  vagary  of  a  bewildered  brain,  but  for  the  mar- 
velous success  which  attended  it  first  in  Washington  and 
gave  it  a  "  local  habitation  and  a  name,"  which  struck 
fire  there,  and  has  been  answered  by  flame  upon  every 
hilltop  in  almost  every  State  of  our  land. 

Scene  at  a  National  W.  C.  T.  U.  Convention  (1877). 

PRESENTATION    OP    THE    CRUSADE    QUILT. 

The  afternoon  of  the  last  day  of  the  Convention  at  Bal- 
timore, in  1877,  was  the  occasion  of  a  most  interesting  and 
enjoyable  event.'  At  three  o'clock  the  "  crusade  quilt" 
was  presented  to  Mrs.  E.  J.  Thompson,  of  Hillsboro,  Ohio, — 
Leader  of  the  First  Praying  Band  of  the  "  Crusade." 

The  quilt  contained  a  square  of  a  different  color  for 
each  State  represented,  and  had,  in  embroidery,  upon 
each  square  the  device  and  motto  of  the  several  auxiliary 
organizations.  It  was  a  beautiful  evidence  of  woman's 
skill  and  taste  in  needle  handicraft,  and,  as  it  hung  in 
graceful  folds  from  the  gallery,  was  a  banner  of  which  no 
body  of  men  or  women  need  have  been  ashamed. 

At  the  suggestion  of  Mrs.  Wittcnmyer,  all  the  crusaders 

in  the  Convention — by  which  was  meant  every  woman 

who  had  gone  into  a  saloon  and  prayed  and  remonstrated 

with    the    keeper  and   with    the    drunkards  —  arose  and 

united  in  singing  the  hymn  which  "the  band  of  seventy" 

sang  when  they  started  the  movement  in  the  town  of 

Hillsboro,  beginning : 

' '  Give  to  the  winds  thy  fears, 
Hope  and  be  undismayed." 

The  author  of  this  book  made  the  first  speech  of 
presentation,  which  was  thus  reported  in  the  Baltimore 
papers : 

What  is  there  in  the  dry  and  humdrum  subject  of 
4 


78  A   SPIRITUAL   PRAIRIE   FIRE. 

temperance  to  give  these  inspirations  ?  That  work, 
my  friends,  has  in  it  thrilling  sentiment  and  a  deep 
romance,  as  superior  to  the  ordinary  impulses  of  life 
as  the  poetry  of  action  is  greater  than  the  poetry  of 
words,  by  as  much  as  the  doing  of  one  kind  act 
excels  the  fine  morality  of  a  page  of  Shakespeare,  by 
as  much  as  one  deed  of  self-sacrifice  overshadows  the 
sweet  and  tender  sentiments  of  a  Dickens  or  a  Haw- 
thorne !  Two  days  before  Christmas,  1873,  down  in  the 
quiet  town  of  Hillsboro,  in  the  Buckeye  State,  the  sweet- 
voiced,  saintly-faced  woman  you  see  before  you,  dropped 
her  knitting  and  arose  to  bring  salvation  to  a  manhood 
that  was  vitiated  and  depraved.  Far  away  on  every  hand, 
like  wild  prairie  fire,  went  the  flame  enkindled  by  this 
spark.  The  quiet  school-teacher  in  Illinois,  with  her 
college  full  of  girls,  felt  that  here  was  scope  for  all  her 
dreams.  Women  throughout  this  great  and  glorious  land 
became  aware  that  it  was  time  for  them  to  enter  into 
business  for  themselves.  I  am  reminded  at  this  moment 
of  how  you  started  this  mighty  ball  a-rolling.  When  you 
told  your  husband,  he  said  to  you,  "It's  all  tomfoolery, 
Eliza,"  and  you  replied  to  him  that  the  men  had  been 
monopolizing  this  tomfoolery  so  long  that  it  was  about 
time  the  women  were  taking  a  hand.  I  am  reminded 
too,  that  these  are  bonds  of  sympathy  so  strong 
uniting  the  women  of  this  Union  that  nothing  but  death 
can  sever  them.  I  am  made  to  feel  that  it  means  much 
for  God  to  let  a  moral  idea  loose  upon  this  earth,  and  to 
believe  as  the  sum  and  substance  of  philosophy  that  God 
designs  that  Christ  shall  reign  within  the  homes  and 
institutions  of  this  country.  We  look  to  Hillsboro  as  to 
the  Mecca  of  our  crusade,  and  have  nothing  to  regret  as 
we  go  back  to  the  time  when  women  were  praying  on  the 
sanded  floors  of  dram  shops,  surrounded  by  the  drunken 
and  the  curious.  It  must,  indeed,  be  a  women's  conven- 
tion that  would  make  so  curious  a  testimonial  as  a  quilt. 


MRS.    LATHROP's   SPEECH.  79 

^This  one  contains  the  autographs  of  3,000  women,  and, 
among  other  curious  things  sewn  in  the  centre-piece,  a 
prophecy  to  be  opened  in  the  year  1976,  and  not  before./ 
Within  ils  folds  are  hidden  all  our  hearts.  The  day 
will  come  when,  beside  the  death-sentence  of  a  woman 
who  was  burned  as  a  witch  in  Massachusetts,  beside  the 
block  from  which  a  woman  was  sold  as  a  slave  in  South 
Carolina,  and  besides  the  liquor  license  that  was  issued  by 
the  State  of  Illinois  to  ruin  its  young  men,  there  will 
hang  this  beautiful  quilt,  to  which  young  men  and  women 
will  point  with  pride,  and  say,  "  There  is  the  name  of  my 
great-grandmother,  who  took  part  in  Ohio's  great  crusade." 
X Mrs.  Lathrop,  of  Michigan,  also  spoke.  She  said  the 
quilt  was  an  evidence  of  woman's  patience  in  matters  of 
detail  —  a  quality  that  had  been  valuable  in  temperance 
reform.  She  considered  that  the  results  of  the  Union's 
four  years  of  labor  were  simply  the  results  of  answered 
prayer.  One  of  these  results  was  the  tramp  of  thousands 
of  children  throughout  the  land  toward  maturity,  some 
with  feet  incased  in  kid,  and  more  with  copper-tipped 
shoes,  every  one  with  a  temperance  pledge  in  the  pocket, 
and  the  resolution  in  their  hearts  never  to  drink,  nor  to 
use  tobacco,  nor  to  swear.  I  am  glad  it  was  none  of  us 
wild  Western  women  that  started  this  movement.  It 
was  this  quiet  lady,  whose  sweet,  low  voice  can  scarce  be 
heard  in  this  assembly,  that  led,  and  it  was  in  a  Presby- 
terian church,  the  least  radical  of  all,  that  it  was  planned. 
Miss  Willard  has  spoken  of  the  next  Centennial.  Let  us 
hope  to  meet  at  the  next  Centennial  on  the  hills  of  Para- 
dise, and  trust  that  we  may  then  be  able  to  look  down 
upon  a  country  redeemed  from  the  curse  of  alcohol. 

Mrs.  Thompson  spoke  affectingly  in  response.  She 
explained  that  when  the  quilt  was  made  by  the  women  of 
Ohio,  from  the  ten-cent  contributions  of  over  3,000  mothers 
and  daughters,  she  had  no  idea  it  would  ever  become 
hers  as  a  testimonial  of  the  National  W.  C.  T.  U. 


CHAPTER  VI. 


MOTHER  STEWART."* 


Ancestry — A  Teacher — A  Good  Samaritan  in  War  Times— Defends  a 
Drunkard's  Wife  in  Court— Enters  a  Saloon  in  Disguise — A  Leader 
in  Two  Crusades— Visits  England— Goes  South — Critique  of  Lon- 
don Watchman. 

1\  /TRS.  ELIZA  D.,  known  the  world  over  as  "  Mother 
_1_V_1_  Stewart,"  is  a  native  of  Ohio,  born  in  Piketon, 
April  25, 1816.  On  the  maternal  side  she  is  a  granddaugh- 
ter of  Col.  John  Guthery  of  Revolutionary  fame,  one  of  the 
earliest  pioneers  of  the  State,  and  founder  of  Piketon. 
Her  father,  James  Daniel,  a  man  of  superior  talent  and 
courtly  manners,  was  a  native  of  Virginia.  Left  an 
orphan  before  she  was  twelve,  she  was  very  early  thrown 
upon  her  own  resources,  and  soon  began  to  develop  the 
characteristics  which  have  won  for  her  an  enviable  repu- 
tation among  the  representative  women  who  have  done 
their  share  in  molding  western  character. 

With  few  of  the  facilities  afforded  the  youth  of  to-day, 
she  acquired  a  sufficient  education  to  teach,  then,  alter- 
nately teaching  and  attending  first  Marietta  Seminary, 
then  Granville,  she  reached  a  good  position  among  the 
educators  of  her  State. 

In  her  sixteenth  year  she  made  a  profession  of  religion, 
and  united  with  the  Methodist  church. 

She  has  been  married  twice ;  her  second  husband, 
Hiram  Stewart,  is  still  living,  is  a  staunch  advocate 
of  the  principles  she  teaches,  and  seconds  his  wife  in  all 
her  labors. 

*  Contributed. 

(80) 


MOTHER  STEWART. 


MOTHER   STEWART  A    LAWYER.  83 

Mother  Stewart  has  known  all  the  sorrow  and  bereave- 
ment, but  none  of  the  joys  of  motherhood — none  of  her 
children  living.  But  she  took  to  her  great  motherly 
heart  two  bright  sons  of  her  second  husband,  and  with 
conscientious  devotion  educated  and  prepared  them  to 
lake  (heir  places  among  men. 

These  brief  glimpses  give  us  an  intimation  of  the  way 
by  which  the  Lord  led  her;  and  though  often  passing 
through  the  valley  of  tears  and  by  Marah's  bitter  fountain, 
He  never  forsook,  but  made  her  meet  for  His  use  in  the 
coming  years. 

When  the  war  came,  while  husband  and  sons  went  to 
the  front,  she  devoted  her  time  to  gathering  and  forward- 
ing supplies  to  the  sick  and  wounded  soldiers,  and  aiding 
their  families,  finally  going  herself  to  the  scene  of 
action,  where  from  the  "  boys  in  blue  "  she  received  the 
name  she  wears  as  a  crown,  and  by  which  she  loves  to 

be  called. 

We  may  be  sure  that  such  a  woman  could  neither  be 

blind  nor  silent  on  the  subject  of  the  liquor  curse.  So  we 
find  her  more  than  twenty  years  ago,  by  voice  and  pen, 
throwing  her  influence  on  the  side  of  temperance.  Inci- 
dents of  this  period  are  not  without  interest,  marking  her 
as  an  advanced  thinker,  and  foreshadowing  her  work  of 
later  years. 

But  later,  in  January,  1872,  having  addressed  a  large 
audience  in  her  own  city,  and  obtained  a  pledge  from  the 
ladies  to  stand  by  the  drunkards'  wives  in  prosecuting 
saloon-keepers  under  the  Adair  law  recently  passed,  she 
went,  a  few  days  after,  into  the  court-room,  where  a  test 
case  was  being  tried,  and  was  induced  by  the  prosecuting 
attorney,  Geo.  Rawlins,  Esq.,  to  make  the  opening  plea  to 
the  jury.  A  lady  in  the  court-room,  and  winning  her  case 
against  one  of  the  best  lawyers  in  the  city,  created  quite 
a  sensation.     Henceforth  the  poor  women,  fancying  that 


84  a  drunkard's  wife's  appeal. 

at  last  they  had  found  a  sympathizing  and  helpful  friend, 
brought  her  their  tales  of  sorrow,  and  besought  her  aid. 
Again,  in  October,  1873,  a  woman  came  and  with  stream- 
ing tears  repeated  the  old,  sad  story.  Having  little  hope 
of  success,  Mother  Stewart  first  thought  to  send  her  away, 
but  finally  taking  her  to  the  law  firm  of  which  her  friend 
Rawlins  was  a  partner,  stated  the  case,  and  asked  if  they 
could  do  anything.  Mr.  E,.  said  he  would  take  the  case  if 
Mrs.  Stewart  would  help  him,  and  without  hesitation  she 
consented  to  do  so.  Now  came  the  thought, "  Only  through 
prayer  can  we  prevail  against  this  liquor  power."  She 
invited  influential  ladies  of  the  different  churches  to  come 
to  the  court-room,  and  when  there  exhorted  them  to  con- 
tinue in  prayer,  while,  amid  great  enthusiasm,  she  won 
this  case. 

At  this  time  appeared  in  the  city  paper  her  "Appeal  to 
the  Women  of  Springfield,  from  a  Drunkard's  Wife," 
which  added  not  a  little  to  the  excitement.  People  were 
slow  to  believe,  so  little  had  they  thought  on  the  subject, 
that  even  one  woman  in  Springfield  was  suffering  as  this 
pitiful  appeal  indicated.  Next  going  to  the  ministers,  she 
requested  them  to  preach  on  the  subject,  suggesting  as  a 
text,  "  Am  I  my  brother's  keeper  ? "  to  which  they  readily 
assented.  Then  with  a  petition  signed  by  over  six  hun- 
dred ladies,  and  accompanied  by  a  large  delegation,  she 
visited  the  council  chamber,  and  in  a  brief,  telling  speech 
besought  the  council  to  pass  what  was  known  as  the 
"  McConnelsville  Ordinance,"  prohibiting  the  sale  of 
liquors  within  the  corporation.  The  subject  was  new,  but 
it  was  taken  up  by  the  city  benevolent  society,  and  a  com- 
mittee appointed  to  wait  on  the  ministers  and  ask  their 
co-operation  in  inaugurating  mass-meetings.  The  minis- 
ters pledged  their  hearty  support,  and  the  first  meeting 
was  held  on  December  2d. 

But  by  this  time  calls  were  coming  to  Mother  Stewart 


MOTHER   S.    VISITS   EUROPE.  85 

to  "  Wake  up  the  women ! "  It  seemed  to  be  impressed 
on  the  minds  of  the  people  that  somehow  deliverance,  or 
at  least  help,  must  come  by  the  hand  of  woman.  On  this 
evening,  having  been  invited  to  Osborn,  Green  Co.,  she 
addressed  a  meeting  and  organized  the  first  Women's 
Union,  Mrs.  Lee  being  elected  president  and  Mrs.  Har- 
grave  secretary. 

Next,  observing  with  what  impunity  the  saloon-keepers 
plied  their  trade  on  Sunday,  Mrs.  Stewart  might  have 
been  seen — if  she  could  have  been  recognized  under  her 
effective  disguise — entering  a  saloon  on  Sunday,  buying 
and  carrying  away  a  glass  of  liquor,  for  which  the  saloon- 
keeper was  duly  prosecuted. 

Soon  after,  Dr.  Dio  Lewis  came  West,  presented  his 
plan  of  saloon  visitation  first  to  the  ladies  of  Hillsboro', 
who  at  once  accepted  it,  then,  other  towns  in  rapid  suc- 
cession following,  the  excitement  spread  like  a  flame  on 
tin.'  prairies. 

Henceforth  Mother  Stewart  was  in  constant  demand, 
lecturing,  organizing,  leading  out  bands,  and  rallying  the 
forces  to  the  deepening  conflict. 

About  this  time,  impressed  that  she  had  a  message  to 
deliver  to  our  sisters  across  the  seas,  she  was  praying  for 
an  open  door,  when  an  invitation  came  from  that  enthusi- 
astic worker,  Mrs.  Margaret  Parker,  of  Dundee,  Scotland, 
and  others,  to  visit  Great  Britain.  Here  her  welcome  was 
so  warm  that  her  visit  was  an  ovation  throughout  the  king- 
dom. The  English  say  few  women  ever  visited  their 
shores  who  received  the  attention  paid  to  Mother  Stewart, 
the  Crusader.  Throwing  all  her  enthusiastic  nature  into 
her  work,  she  attracted  great  throngs  to  her  meetings, 
and  infused  a  new  spirit  into  the  staunch  workers  over 
there.  The  London  Times,  and  other  leading  journals, 
greatly  aided  her  by  the  extended  and  flattering  reports 
they  gave. 


86  THEN  THE  SUNNY  SOUTH. 

The  result  of  her  meeting  was  the  formation  of  the 
British  Women's  Temperance  Association,  which  is  wield- 
ing a  blessed  influence  among  all  classes  in  that  country. 
Once  more  turning  her  eyes  towards  our  sisters  of  the 
sunny  South  she  said,  Why  shall  we  not  invite  them  to 
join  our  holy  alliance  ?  and  was  crying  to  her  Heavenly 
Father, "  Here  am  I,  send  me,"  when  she  was  made  Chair- 
man of  the  Committee  on  Southern  work  by  the  National 
Convention  that  met  at  Indianapolis  in  1879. 

She  at  once  entered  upon  her  duties,  visiting  various 
points;  introduced  our  gospel  temperance  work,  every- 
where receiving  the  proverbial  Southern  welcome  and 
the  cordial  support  of  the  ministers,  as  well  as  of  the 
most  eminent  ladies  of  the  South. 

Though  a  veteran,  Mother  Stewart  is  still  full  of  fire 
and  enthusiasm,  and  able  to  do  effective  service  in  the 
cause  she  loves  and  to  which  she  has  devoted  her  life. 
Of  her  on  the  platform  we  quote  from  the  London  Watch- 
word : 

"  Her  voice  is  sweet,  and  though  not  loud,  is  clear,  and 
sometimes  penetrating.  She  goes  straight  to  the  point, 
speaking  with  all  the  artlessness,  originality,  and  verve 
of  one  full  of  the  subject  and  charged  with  a  mighty  mis- 
sion, yet  talking  naturally,  and  expressing  just  such 
thoughts,  narrating  such  facts,  and  making  such  appeals 
as  occur  at  the  moment,  couched  in  racy  but  idiomatic 
Saxon. 

"  One's  heart  goes  out  to  Mother  Stewart,  standing 
there,  pleading  for  help  in  her  righteous  cause.  If  not 
large  in  frame,  she  has  a  spirit  powerful  enough  to  rouse 
and  inoculate  a  vast  legion  of  supporters  ;  her  eye  flashes, 
her  ardent  feelings  and  aspirations  heighten  the  color  in 
her  face ;  now  and  then  the  voice  will  falter  just  a  little, 
to  prove  how  womanly  she  is.  And  oh,  how  well — though 
it  may  be  briefly — she  pleads !     Hearing  and  reading  her 


VETERANS   OF   EARLY  .DAYS.  87 

speeches  are  very  different.  A  report  fails  to  convey  the 
native  raciness,  the  undefinable  charm  of  her  manner, 
though,  in  reading,  our  words  seem  to  come  back  to  us 
from  over  the  sea,  and  we  can  trace  how  strongly  the 
northern,  Saxon  elements  of  our  language  flourish  in 
congenial  soil,  as  we  look  at  those  sharp,  short  terms ; 
terse,  brief,  and  pungent." 

•As  the  gathering  army  presses  forward,  let  us  not  for- 
get the  veterans  of  the  earlier  day  ! 


CHAPTER  VII. 

MRS.  ABBY  FISHER  LEAVITT. 

"Leader  of  the  Forty-three" — The  shoemaker  and  little  white  shoes 

u 


T 


HERE'S  lots  of  human  nature  in  folks."  Did 
"  Samivel  Weller"  say  that,  or  was  it  the  "  Widow 
Bedott "  ?     Both  are  philosophers. 

A  human  being  is  like  a  huge  church  organ — with 
many  pipes,  and  stops,  and  banks  of  keys.  And  the  kind 
of  music  that  you  get  depends  upon  the  sort  of  player 
that  you  are.  Some  call  out  only  discords,  some  strike 
the  minor  chords  alone,  others  evoke  the  music  of  laugh- 
ter or  of  joy,  while  others  still  compass  the  whole  diapa- 
son "  from  grave  to  gay,  from  lively  to  severe,"  and  are 
particularly  skilled  in  bringing  out  the  sweet  and  tremu- 
lous vox  hum  ana. 

If  Mrs.  Leavitt  has  this  rare  last-mentioned  gift;  if 
she  is  one  whom  we  all  thoroughly  and  heartily  love ;  if 
she  makes  us  do  what  she  likes,  yet  never  domineers ;  if 
one  minute  she  sets  us  laughing,  the  next  calls  an  argosy 
of  pocket-handkerchiefs  into  requisition ;  if  she  seems  to 
us  to  be  "  made  up  of  every  creature's  best,"  what  is  the 
explanation  ?  Her  history  gives  it  so  plainly  that  "  he 
who  runs  may  read."  From  this  unique  character-study 
there  is  much  to  learn. 

This  prominent  figure  of  the  Crusade  owes  much  of  her 
efficiency  in  that  great  movement,  to  her  strong  frame 
and  firm  health,  equilibrium  of  brain  and  heart,  and  varied 
experience.  This  "  human  pippin,"  as  I  am  fond  of  calling 
her,  grew  on  a  hardy  New  England  stock,  where  vigorous 
sea  breezes  charged  the  air  with  vital  salts ;  it  mellowed 

(88) 


MRS.  ABBY  F.  LEAVITT. 


A    HUMAN    PIPPIN.  91 

in  the  sunshine  of  the  South,  and  got  its  final  flavor  in 
kindly  Indiana  valleys,  and  on  the  prairies  of  proud  Iowa. 
Best  of  all,  does  Mrs.  Leavitt' s  courage  never  falter  and 
her  devotion  to  the  dear  Temperance  Gospel  never  flag ? 
This  is  the  explanation:  Her  life  is  set  to  the  sweet  music  < 
of  her  favorite  hymn,  which  she  was  singing  when 
arrested  for  praying  on  the  streets  of  Cincinnati — "Rock 
of  Ages,  cleft  for  me." 

Bangor  was  her  birth-place  and  early  home.  There 
seems  a  justice  more  than  poetic  in  the  coincidence  by 
which  so  many  of  our  best  workers  have  been  placed  by 
birth  or  education  under  the  influence  of  that  grand  old 
prohibition  school-master,  the  State  of  Maine.  In  1854, 
at  the  age  of  nineteen,  Miss  Fisher  graduated  from  the 
Young  Ladies'  High  School  of  her  native  town.  She 
went  South  as  a  teacher  soon  after  leaving  school,  and 
succeeded  admirably,  remaining  until  the  war  broke  out. 
In  the  autumn  of  1861  she  become  Principal  of  a  Gram- 
mar School  in  Evansville,  Indiana,  and  remained  there 
until  1866,  when  she  married  Samuel  K.  Leavitt,  a  lawyer 
of  Evansville.  Four  years  later  Mr.  Leavitt  was  ordained 
a  minister  of  Christ,  and  was  immediately  called  to  the 
charge  of  the  First  Baptist  Church  of  Keokuk,  Iowa, 
where  he  enjoyed  a  pleasant  and  successful  pastorate 
until  1872,  when  he  was  invited  to  the  First  Baptist 
Church  of  Cincinnati,  where  he  and  the  "  help "  so 
"meet"  for  a  Christian  minister  of  his  enlightened  views 
concerning  women  in  the  church,  are  still  laboring  side 
by  side.  Ministers  who  mourn  and  lament  "  the  deadness 
of  the  church,"  and  then  say  in  prayer-meetings,  "  The 
brethren  will  please  occupy  the  time,"  would  find  in  the 
genial  pastorate  of  Mr.  Leavitt  many  matters  worthy 
their  thought.  Besides  leading  in  plans  for  the  promo- 
tion of  home  and  foreign  missionary  work,  teaching  in 
Sunday-school,  visiting  the  poor,  and  interesting  herself 


92  LEADER  OF  A  PRAYING  BAND. 

particularly  in  the  young  people  of  the  church,  Mrs. 
Leavitt  was  State  Secretary  of  the  Baptist  Women's 
Foreign  Missionary  Society  of  Ohio,  where  her  efforts 
•  have  resulted  in  a  marked  increase  in  contributions  to 
the  work. 

When  the  crusade  burst  upon  the  women  of  Ohio,  she 
recognized  in  it  the  hand  and  call  of  God,  was  among  the 
first  to  take  her  place  in  the  ranks  of  workers,  and,  on  the 
principle  of  the  "  survival  of  the  fittest,"  was  at  once  pro- 
moted to  the  leadership  of  the  "  Praying  Band."  Day 
after  clay  for  weeks,  accompanied  by  a  long  procession  of 
noble  Christian  workers,  she  visited  saloons,  holding  reli- 
gious services  within  whenever  permission  was  granted, 
but  outside,  if  it  was  refused,  and  always  closing  up  the 
day's  work  with  an  earnest  Gospel  meeting  in  the  church 
from  which  the  bands  had  gone  out  in  the  morning.  The 
church  would  be  filled  to  overflowing  with  crowds  of  men 
and  women  who  were  hungry  for  salvation.  At  these 
meetings  hundreds  signed  the  pledge,  and  asked  the 
prayers  of  Christians.  On  the  16th  of  May,  1874,  while 
engaged  in  this  work,  Mrs.  Leavitt,  with  forty-two  oth- 
ers, wives  of  clergymen  and  other  leading  citizens,  was 
arrested  and  taken  to  jail.  It  is  a  strange  and  thrilling 
story,  as  she  tells  it,  and  none  else  could  do  it  justice. 
Suffice  it  that  the  mayor  said  the  women  shouldn't  pray 
upon  the  sidewalk's  edge,  though  beer  barrels  and  blowsy 
drunkards  are  permitted  to  obstruct  the  passageway  so 
often  in  that  city,  swimming  in  "  lager."  Hardly  believ- 
ing the  threat  against  them  would  be  executed,  they  went 
out  as  usual.  Being  denied  admission  to  a  saloon,  they 
knelt  upon  the  pavement,  and  just  as  Mrs.  Leavitt  began 

singing, 

"  Rock  of  ages,  cleft  for  me," 

a  burly  policeman  laid  his  hand  on  her  shoulder,  saying, 

"  You  are  my  prisoner." 

"  Let  me  hide  myself  in  thee," 


CURIOUS   COUNTRY   AND    LAWS.  93 

sang  on  the  clear,  untroubled  voice,  and  they  marched  to 
jail,  continuing  the  hymn.  There  they  held  a  prayer- 
meeting,  in  the  midst  of  which  stood  the  mayor,  unable 
to  escape,  while  hard-faced  men  were  weeping  on  even- 
side.  They  were  locked  into  a  corridor,  and  Mrs.  Leavitt 
talked  through  the  grated  doors  with  several  of  the  pris- 
oners. She  found  a  woman  who  had  been  arrested  because 
of  drunkenness.  "It  is  a  curious  conundrum,"  said  Mrs. 
Leavitt.  with  that  contagious  smile  lurking  in  the  corner  of 
her  mouth,  "  that  here's  one  woman  locked  up  for  getting 
drunk,  and  another  equally  locked  up  for  trying  to  get 
people  not  to  be  drunk.  Curious  country  this  is,  any- 
way ! " 

After  their  arrest  the  ladies  changed  their  plans  of  work, 
going  to  saloons  in  companies  of  two  and  three  instead 
of  by  eighties  and  hundreds.  Gospel  temperance  meetings 
were  held  in  churches,  jails,  and  hospitals,  cottage  prayer- 
meetino-s  in  neighborhoods,  and  constant  efforts  made  to 
extend  the  work  of  carrying  the  bread  of  life  to  those 
whom  some  one  has  aptly  called  the  "  elbow  heathen," 
who  jostle  us  as  we  walk  along  the  city  pavement; 
"  the  great  humanity  that  beats  its  life  along  the  stony 
streets,"  and  may  justly  bring  up  to  the  bar  of  God  the 
accusation  against  its  well-to-do  neighbors,  "No  man 
cared  for  my  soul." 

When  the  Praying  Band  of  Cincinnati  was  reorganized 
into  the  Woman's  Christian  Temperance  Union,  Mrs. 
Leavitt  was  chosen  president,  and  has  never  lowered  the 
white  flag  of  temperance.  The  headquarters  of  the 
Union  on  Vine  street  are  open  every  day  for  a  Gospel 
meeting,  often  conducted  by  her,  and  hundreds  of  wayward 
boys,  away  from  their  homes  and  tempted  on  every  side 
by  rum  shops,  bless  the  day  they  first  heard  her  kind  and 
earnest  voice,  and  knelt  beside  her  while  she  commended 
their  souls  to  God. 


94  MRS.    LEAVITT. 

» 

During  the  trying  days  of  1874,  previous  to  the  October 
election,  when  the  rum  power  was  using  every  endeavor 
to  iijduce  the  people  of  Ohio  to  vote  for  a  law  licensing 
the  traffic  in  and  sale  of  intoxicating  drinks,  Mrs.  Leavitt, 
with  hosts  of  temperance  women,  spoke  in  halls,  churches, 
tents,  and  groves  against  license. 

When  the  result  of  the  election  was  announced,  and 
the  State  was  saved  from  the  disgrace  of  a  license  law, 
many  men,  good  and  true,  thanked  God  for  temperance 
women  who  were  willing  to  lift  up  their  voices  "  for  God 
and  home  and  native  land." 

Mrs.  Leavitt  was  for  years  treasurer  of  the  Woman's 
National  Union,  and  her  appeals  for  help,  at  once  so  witty 
and  convincing,  were  among  the  "  humors  of  the  conven- 
tion." She  was  the  first  woman  elected  by  the  first 
National  Convention  for  president  of  the  Woman's 
Christian  Temperance  Union,  which  position  she  at  once 
declined. 

Among  the  ablest  and  most  constant  friends  of  our 
national  paper,  Mrs.  Leavitt  should  ever  be  remembered. 
For  two  years  a  member  of  its  publishing  committee, 
she  has  invested  much  time,  thought,  and  prayer  on  its 
behalf.  It  is  especially  fitting  that  her  friends  (and  the 
term  includes  everybody  who  has  ever  seen  or  heard  of 
her)  should  have  the  pleasure  of  getting  some  hint,  at 
least,  about  her  from  the  engraving  and  this  sketch. 
Somehow  its  preparation  has  been  peculiarly  a  labor  of 
love,  and,  unconsciously,  my  pen  has  been  betrayed  into  a 
freedom  of  expression  to  be  explained  partly  by  the  genial 
character  of  the  subject,  and  partly  by  the  tender  regard 
of  the  writer.  Garrulous  as  this  presentation  may  ap- 
pear, there  has  been  under  every  word  the  grateful 
remembrance  of  this  dear  friend's  faith,  tranquil  and 
pure  as  a  June  sky.  In  days  never  to  be  forgotten,  this 
serene  trust  in  Christ,  this  unalterable  love  for  Him,  and 


A   TOUCHING   STORY.  95 

devotion  to  His  cause,  have  been  to  one  tired  heart,  at 
least,  as  "  the  shadow  of  a  great  rock  in  a  weary  land." 

THE    SHOEMAKER   AND   LITTLE   WHITE   SHOES. 

Mrs.  Leavitt  has  often  told  the  following  story  from 
the  platform : 

"  One  morning  during  the  Crusade,  a  drunkard's  wife 
came  to  my  door.  She  carried  in  her  arms  a  baby  six 
weeks  old.  Her  pale,  pinched  face  was  sad  to  see,  and 
she  told  me  this  sorrowful  story :  '  My  husband  is  drink- 
ing himself  to  death  ;  he  is  lost  tq  all  human  feeling  ;  our 
rent  is  unpaid,  and  we  are  liable  to  be  put  out  into  the 
street ;  and  there  is  no  food  in  the  house  for  me  and  the 
children.  He  has  a  good  trade,  but  his  earnings  all  go 
into  the  saloon  on  the  corner  near  us  ;  he  is  becoming 
more  and  more  brutal  and  abusive.  We  seem  to  be  on  the 
verge  of  ruin.  How  can  I,  feeble  as  I  am,  with  a  babe 
in  my  arms,  earn  bread  for  myself  and  children  ? ' 

"  Quick  as  thought  the  question  came  to  me,  and  I 
asked  it :  '  Why  not  have  that  husband  of  yours  con- 
verted ? ' 

"  But  she  answered  hopelessly,  '  Oh,  there's  no  hope  of 
such  a  thing.     He  cares  for  nothing  but  strong  drink.' 

" '  I'll  come  and  see  him  this  afternoon,'  said  I. 

"  '  He'll  insult  you,'  she  replied. 

"  '  No  matter,'  said  I ;  '  my  Saviour  was  insulted,  and 
the  servant  is  not  above  his  Lord.' 

"  That  very  afternoon  I  called  at  the  little  tenement 
house.  The  husband  was  at  work  at  his  trade  in  a  back 
room,  and  his  little  girl  was  sent  to  tell  him  that  a  lady 
wished  to  sec  him.  The  child,  however,  soon  returned 
with  the  message,  '  My  pa  says  he  won't  see  any  one.' 

"  But  I  sent  him  a  message  proving  that  I  was  indeed 
in  earnest.  I  said, '  Go  back  and  tell  your  pa  that  a  lady 
wishes  to  see  him  on  very  important  business,  and  she 
must  see  him  if  she  has  to  stay  till  after  supper.' 


96  a  fool's  rejoinder. 

"  I  knew  very  well  that  there  was  nothing  in  the  house 
to  eat.  A  moment  afterward  a  poor,  bloated,  besotted 
wreck  of  a  man  stood  before  me. 

" '  What  do  you  want  ? '  he  demanded  as  he  came  shuf- 
fling into  the  room. 

" '  Please  be  seated  and  look  at  this  paper,'  I  answered, 
pointing  to  a  vacant  chair  at  the  other  end  of  the  table 
where  I  was  sitting,  and  handing  a  printed  pledge  to  him. 

"  He  read  it  slowly,  and  then,  throwing  it  down  upon 
the  table,  broke  out  viplently  : 

"  '  Do  you  think  I'm  a  fool  ?  I  drink  when  I  please, 
and  let  it  alone  when  I  please.  I'm  not  going  to  sign 
away  my  personal  liberty.' 

"  '  Do  you  think  you  can  stop  drinking  ? ' 

"  '  Yes,  I  could  if  I  wanted  to.' 

"  '  On  the  contrary,  1  think  you're  a  slave  to  the  rum- 
shop  down  on  the  corner.' 

"  '  No,  I  ain't,  any  such  thing.' 

"  '  I  think,  too,  that  you  love  the  saloon-keeper's  daugh- 
ter better  than  you  do  your  own  little  girl.' 

" '  No,  I  don't,  either.' 

" '  Well,  let  us  see  about  that.  When  I  passed  the 
saloon-keeper's  house  I  saw  his  little  girl  coming  down 
the  steps,  and  she  had  on  white  shoes,  and  a  white  dress, 
and  a  blue  sash.  Your  money  helped  to  buy  them.  I 
come  here,  and  your  little  girl,  more  beautiful  than  she, 
has  on  a  faded,  ragged  dress,  and  her  feet  are  bare.' 
,      "  '  That's  so,  madam.' 

" '  And  you  love  the  saloon-keeper's  wife  better  than 
you  love  your  own  wife.' 

"  '  Never  ;  no,  never  !  ' 

"  '  When  I  passed  the  saloon-keeper's  house,  I  saw  his 
wife  come  out  with  the  little  girl,  and  she  was  dressed  in 
silks  and  laces,  and  a  carriage  waited  for  her.  Your 
money  helped  to  buy  the  silks  and  laces,  and  the  horses 


TEMPTATION   OF   THE    DEVIL.  97 

and  the  carriage.  I  come  here  and  I  find  your  wife  in 
a  faded  calico  gown,  doing  her  own  work ;  if  she  goes 
any  where,  she  must  walk.' 

'"Yon  speak  the  truth,  madam.' 

" '  You  love  the  saloon-keeper  better  than  you  love 
yourself.  You  say  you  can  keep  from  drinking  if  you 
choose  ;  but  you  helped  the  saloon-keeper  to  build  him- 
self a  fine  brick  house,  and  you  live  in  this  poor,  tumble- 
down old  house  yourself.' 

"'I  never  saw  it  in  that  light  before.'  Then,  holding 
out  his  hand,  that  shook  like  an  aspen  leaf,  he  continued, 
'You  speak  the  truth,  madam — I  am  a  slave.  Do  you 
sec  that  hand  ?  I've  got  a  piece  of  work  to  finish,  and  I 
must  have  a  mug  of  beer  to  steadjr  my  nerves,  or  I  can- 
not do  it;  but  to-morrow,  if  you'll  call,  I'll  sign  the 
pledge.' 

"  '  That's  a  temptation  of  the  devil ;  I  did  not  ask  you 
to  sign  the  pledge.  You  are  a  slave,  and  cannot  help  it. 
But  I  do  want  to  tell  you  this :  There  is  One  who  can 
break  your  chains  and  set  you  free.' 

" '  I  want  to  be  free.' 

" '  Well,  Christ  can  set  you  free,  if  you'll  submit  to 
Him,  and  let  him  break  the  chains  of  sin  and  appetite 
that  bind  you.' 

"  '  It's  been  many  a  long  year  since  I  prayed.' 

" '  No  matter  ;  the  sooner  you  begin  the  better  for  you.' 

"  He  threw  himself  at  once  upon  his  knees,  and  while 
I  prayed  I  heard  him  sobbing  out  the  cry  of  his  soul  to 
God. 

"  His  wife  knelt  beside  me  and  followed  me  in  earnest 
prayer.  The  words  were  simple  and  broken  with  sobs, 
but  somehow  they  went  straight  up  from  her  crushed 
heart  to  God,  and  the  poor  man  began  to  cry  in  earnest 
for  mercy. 

" '  0  God  !  break  these  chains  that  are  burning  into  my 


98  A   HOME   RESTORED. 

soul !  Pity  me,  and  pity  my  wife  and  children,  and  break 
the  chains  that  are  dragging  me  down  to  hell.  0  God ! 
be  merciful  to  me  a  sinner.'  And  thus  out  of  the  depths 
he  cried  to  God,  and  He  heard  him  and  had  compassion 
upon  him,  and  broke  every  chain  and  lifted  every  burden ; 
and  lie  arose  a  free,  redeemed  man. 

"  When  he  arose  from  his  knees  he  said  :  '  Now  I  will 
sign  the  pledge,  and  keep  it.' 

"  And  ho  did.  A  family  altar  was  established,  the 
comforts  of  life  were  soon  secured — for  he  had  a  good 
trade — and  two  weeks  after  this  scene  his  little  girl  came 
into  my  husband's  Sunday-school  with  white  shoes  and 
white  dress  and  blue  sash  on,  as  a  token  that  her  father's 
money  no  longer  went  into  the  saloon-keeper's  till. 

"  But  what  struck  me  most  of  all  was  that  it  took  less 
than  two  hours  of  my  time  thus  to  be  an  ambassador  for 
Christ  in  declaring  the  terms  of  heaven's  great  treaty 
whereby  a  soul  was  saved  from  death,  a  multitude  of  sins 
were  covered,  and  a  home  restored  to  purity  and  peace. 


MRS.  MARY  A.   WOODBRIDGE. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

MRS.  MARY  A.  WOODBRIDGE. 

President  of  the  Crusade  State,  and  Recording  Secretary  of  the 
National  W.  C.  T.  U.— A  Nantucket  Girl— Cousin  of  Maria  Mitchell 
— Western  education — Baptized  into  the  Crusade — Speaks  in  fifty 
Presbyterian  Churches — The  author's  glimpse  of  the  Crusade— The 
Crusade  in  Calcutta — Margaret  Parker. 

rrpHB  .sketch  drawn  by  Rev.  A.  M.  Hills,  the  gifted 
L  -J-  pastor  of  my  gifted  friend  is  so  excellent  that  I 
give  it  in  full :] 

"  A  brilliant  writer  has  said  :  '  A  radiant  and  sparkling 
woman,  full  of  wit,  reason,  and  fancy,  is  a  whole  crown 
of  jewels.  A  poor,  opaque  copy  of  her  is  the  most  that 
one  can  render  in  a  biographical  sketch.'  I  feel  the 
truth  of  this  remark  in  attempting  the  task  laid  upon  me 
— to  give  a  word-picture  of  Mrs.  Mary  A.  Woodbridge. 

"  Mary  A.  Bravton  was  born  in  Nantucket,  Mass.  Her 
father,  Isaac  Bravton,  was  for  a  score  of  years  captain  of 
a  whaling  vessel  which  cruised  in  the  Pacific.  But  he 
was  destined  to  rule  over  a  wider  domain  than  a  ship's 
deck,  and  to  command  more  men  than  a  ship's  crew. 
His  townsmen,  appreciating  his  rare  qualifications  of 
heart  and  mind,  sent  him  to  the  Massachusetts  Legisla- 
ture in  the  days  when  Edward  Everett  was  Governor,  and 
when  that  body  was  composed  of  as  able  and  distinguished 
members  as  ever  sat  in  the  Congressional  halls  of  any 
State. 

"  Mr.  Bray  ton  afterward  moved  to  Ohio,  and  was  elected 
to  the  Legislature,  where  he  won  deserved  distinction  for 
his  ability.     He  was  the  author  of  the  bill  by  which  the 

(101) 


102  MRS.    MARY   A.    WOODBRIDGE. 

public  institutions  of  the  State  are  still  controlled.  He 
was  also  afterward  an  associate  upon  the  bench  with 
Benjamin  F.  Wade. 

"  The  mother  of  Mrs.  Woodbridge  was  a  sister  of  the 
great  astronomer,  William  Mitchell,  father  of  the  famous 
Prof.  Maria  Mitchell,  of  Vassar  College,  and  of  Prof. 
Henry  Mitchell,  of  Smithsonian  Institute. 

"It  is  not  surprising  that  the  daughter  of  such  parents 
should  have  unusual  intellectual  powers.  Mary  early 
gave  brilliant  promise.  When  she  was  but  six  years  of 
age,  Horace  Mann,  the  famous  educator  of  Massachusetts, 
passed  a  day  in  Nantucket  examining  the  public  schools. 
To  his  great  delight,  the  precocious  little  girl  went 
through  the  multiplication  table  backward  and  forward 
up  to  the  twenties.  When  she  had  finished,  he  laid  his 
hand  kindly  on  her  head  and  said :  '  Well,  my  child,  if 
you  persevere  you  will  be  a  noted  woman.'  There  can 
be  no  doubt  in  the  minds  of  those  who  know  her  best  that 
she  was  at  once  the  pride  and  the  torment  of  all  her  in- 
structors. 

"  It  must  have  been  morally  impossible  for  her  to  be  a 
'  proper-nice  '  child.  She  was  too  full  of  intense  vitality, 
too  mirthful,  too  keenly  alive  to  the  ridiculous,  and  too 
adept  and  merciless  as  a  mimic,  to  be  a  model  of  good 
behavior  to  schoolmates.  To  outstrip  her  companions  in 
intellectual  feats  in  the  school-room,  and  then  to  be  their 
ringleader  in  semi-innocent  mischief,  must  have  been  as 
natural  to  her  as  to  breathe — a  thing  altogether  to  be 
expected. 

"  Mary  was  nine  years  of  age  when  her  father  moved  to 
Ravenna,  0.,  from  which  time  she  studied  either  under 
private  instructors  or  in  an  excellent  private  school  in 
Hudson,  0. 

"  She  was  converted  at  the  age  of  fourteen,  and  married 
at   seventeen   a   promising  young   merchant — Frederick 


HER   WONDERFUL   PERSEVERANCE.  103 


"Wells  Woodbridge.  She  was  mother  of  three  children 
when  but  little  more  than  twenty.  Such  an  early  mar- 
riage and  such  a  family  would  have  been,  with  most 
women,  the  end  of  all  studv  and  intellectual  achievement; 
but  it  was  not  so  with  her.  She  never  lost  her  enthusiasm 
for  books,  nor  her  thirst  for  knowledge.  She  had  too 
much  energy  of  character  and  power  of  perseverance  to 
be  balked  by  difficulties.  Her  mind  must  have  food,  and 
she  fed  it,  studying  with  her  book  on  a  rack  before  her, 
while  her  quick  hands  were  engaged  with  household 
tasks.  She  took  lessons  in  German  and  French,  and 
recited  in  her  own  house  while  holding  one  of  her  babes 
on  her  knee  and  quieting  another  at  her  side.  She  was 
at  that  time  presiding  over  a  family  of  twelve,  having  the 
entire  management  of  her  domestic  affairs  and  performing 
many  of  the  commonest  duties  herself.  For  the  first  six 
years  of  her  married  life  she  lived  at  Ravenna ;  then  the 
family  moved  to  Newburgh,  now  a  part  of  Cleveland,  0., 
where  for  twenty  years  she  lived  the  life  of  a  cultured 
Christian  matron,  and  an  unusually  brilliant  member  of 
society,  yet  otherwise  undistinguished  from  the  multitudes 
around  her.  Six  years  ago  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Woodbridge 
returned  to  Ravenna.  She  entered  again  upon  the  same 
uneventful,  everyday  life.  Thus  she  might  have  lived  to 
the  end  of  her  days  unknown  beyond  her  social  circle,  had 
she  not  been  summoned  from  her  seclusion  by  the  stirring- 
events  of  the  next  few  months. 

"  The  Crusade  came — came  with  the  suddenness  and  the 
power  of  Pentecost ;  bringing  also,  like  it,  a  baptism  of 
the  Holy  Ghost.  In  common  with  thousands  of  others  of 
her  Ohio  sisters,  she  felt  the  movings  of  the  Spirit. 
Her  eyes  were  opened,  to  see  in  a  new  light  the  woes 
caused  by  intemperance.  She  went  to  her  closet,  and 
there,  when  alone  with  her  God,  heard  the  Pi  vine  voice 
asking,  '  Whom  shall  I  send  ? '     She  had  the  grace  given 


104  SHE  HEADS  THE  CRUSADE. 

her  to  lay  herself  upon  the  altar  in  consecration,  with  the 
prayer,  '  Here  am  I ;  I  will  be  or  do  whatever  pleaseth 
Thee.' 

"  But  she  did  not  yet  understand  the  vision  nor  realize 
that  a  live  coal  had  touched  her  lips.  She  had  been  a 
professing  Christian  for  thirty  years,  but  had  never 
spoken  a  word  in  public  or  offered  an  audible  prayer. 
Soon  she  attended  a  great  union  meeting,  which  had 
come  together  in  the  excitement  of  the  hour  without  any 
one  having  been  appointed  to  preside  when  gathered.  It 
was  thought  best  that  this  should  be  done  by  a  woman. 
Who  should  it  be  ?  One  after  another  thought  of  her,  and 
she  was  asked  to  take  the  place.  She  was  utterly  over- 
come with  fear  and  a  sense  of  inability,  and  pleaded  to  be 
excused.  Her  aged  father  came  to  her  side  and  tenderly 
reminded  her  of  her  consecration  vow,  and  then  left  her. 
Her  pastor  came  a  second  time,  when,  with  a  struggle, 
she  said  to  one  standing  by :  '  Doctor,  ask  the  audience 
to  rise  and  sing  '  Coronation ' ;  I  never  can  walk  up  the 
aisle  with  these  people  looking  at  me.'  As  they  sang 
she  went  forward,  trembling  with  weakness  and  praying 
every  step,  '  Lord,  help  me  !  Lord,  help  me  ! '  She  called 
upon  a  brother  to  pray,  then  she  read  a  verse  of  Scripture, 
and  began  to  say  she  knew  not  what.  But  God  put  His 
own  message  into  her  anointed  lips.  The  depths  of  her 
woman's  heart  were  moved.  Self  was  forgotten  in  her 
message.  She  pleaded  for  the  degraded  victims  of  drink, 
for  their  heart-broken  wives  and  mothers,  for  their  suffer- 
ing and  degraded  children.  Her  words  poured  forth  in 
tender  and  resistless  eloquence,  till  the  multitude  were 
moved  as  one  man.  The  strong  were  melted  to  tears. 
Christians  wept  and  prayed  together.  A  cool-beaded 
judge  arose  and  solemnly  declared  that  he  had  never  been 
in  an  audience  so  manifestly  moved  by  the  Holy  Ghost. 

"  In  that  one  sacred  hour  she  was  lifted  by  the  provi- 


SPEAKS   IN    FIFTY   CHURCHES  IN    ONE   YEAR.  105 

dence  of  God  into  a  new  life.  Her  mission  had  come. 
Like  St.  Paul,  she  had  had  a  revelation,  and  she  has  not 
since  thai  time  been  disobedient  to  the  heavenly  vision. 
No  single  experience  could  well  make  a  more  marked 
change  in  a  woman's  life.  It  may  be  truly  said  of  her 
that  during  the  years  since  the  crusade  "  she  hath  done 
what  she  could." 

"At  once  the  little  country  churches  around  began  to 
call  upon  her,  and  she  would  speak  to  them  on  foreign 
missions,  Sabbath-school  work,  or  temperance,  as  the 
case  might  be.  No  opportunity  to  do  work  for  Christ 
or  humanity  was  slighted,  and  no  occasion  was  ever  too 
insignificant  for  her  to  give  her  best.  And  she  still  re- 
tains the  same  beautiful  spirit.  She  drinks  deeply  the 
spirit  of  her  Master,  who  would  address  either  the  multi- 
tudes on  the  mountain-side  or  the  one  wicked  woman  at 
the  well.  Though  constantly  pressed  by  urgent  invita- 
tions to  the  great  cities,  she  will,  when  opportunity  per- 
mits, preach  at  the  missions  of  her  pastor  in  country 
school-houses  in  his  absence. 

"  She  now  fills  the  offices  of  Recording  Secretary  to  the 
Woman's  National  Christian  Temperance  Union,  and 
President  of  the  State  organization  of  Ohio. 

"  Her  husband  is  in  closest  and  fullest  sympathy  with 
all  her  work,  always  assisting  by  every  means  her  part, 
while  performing  his  own  share  in  the  church  or  in  the 
broad  fields  outside. 

"As  my  thought  in  the  near  relation  of  pastor  goes  over 
her  work,  I  am  reminded  that  she  has  spoken  in  more 
than  fifty  Presbyterian  churches  during  the  last  year 
from  the  pulpit;  and  she  speaks  from  a  text !  Whisper 
this  in  the  ear  of  that  New  York  Presbytery  which  tried 
and  solemnly  warned  one  of  its  ablest  members  for  admit- 
ting the  saintly  Miss  Smiley  into  his  pulpit.  The  fact  is, 
even  Presbyterian  prejudice  about  women  speaking  in 


106  A    GREAT   POWER   FOR   GOOD. 

meeting  melts  away  under  the  influence  of  the  sweet 
womanliness,  the  dignity,  the  power,  and  the  tender, 
Christ-like  spirit  of  such  an  one. 

"  A  few  such  as  she  would  do  much  to — yea,  will — bring 
her  sex  into  their  true  liberty,  and  wipe  out  the  preju- 
dices created  by  a  few  unwomanly  advocates  of  woman's 
rights  who,  a  few  years  ago,  engaged  the  attention  of  the 
public  mind,  but  now,  happily,  have  dropped  out  of  sight. 

"  In  addition  to  all  this  public  effort,  and  official  duties, 
Mrs.  Woodbridge  also  edits  weekly  several  columns  of 
the  Commomvealth,  a  temperance  paper.  As  a  temper- 
ance worker  she  is  in  the  advance  line,  advocating  prohi- 
bition and  home  protection. 

"  A  statesman  is  he  who  can  govern  and  create  states- 
men around  him.  A  soul  is  great  that  can  make  others 
great.  Measured  by  this  standard,  Mrs.  Woodbridge  is 
a  great  power  for  good.  Many  a  woman  comes  under 
her  influence  for  a  day,  and  receives  an  uplifting  inspira- 
tion which  is  never  lost.  As  with  cultured  intellect  and 
loving  heart  she  pleads,  like  an  anointed  prophetess,  for 
the  souls  of  dying  men  and  for  the  holiest  interests  of 
humanity  in  home  and  States,  many  another  heart  throbs 
with  holier  emotions  and  worthier  ambitions  than  it  has 
been  wont  to  feel,  and  the  God-given  talents  are  brought 
out  and  laid  in  tearful  yet  joyous  consecration  on  the 
altar  of  the  Lord. 

"  It  yet  remains  for  me  to  write  a  word  about  her  home- 
life.  Many  persons  can  coruscate  in  brilliant  rhetoric 
before  an  audience,  whose  home  and  private  life  do  not 
bear  inspection.  Mrs.  W.  does  not  belong  to  that  class. 
Her  home  is  beautiful,  her  hospitality  most  gracious,  and 
all  the  affairs  of  the  household  move  off  with  the  order- 
liness and  precision  of  machinery.  Her  home  life  is  the 
fitting  complement  of  that  which  is  seen.  Her  family, 
until  quite  recently,  has  always  been  very  large,  because 


THE    AUTHOR'S   GLIMPSE   OF    THE   CRUSADE.  107 

no  one  ever  became  an  inmate  of  the  household  who  did 
not  prolong  his  stay.  A  clerk  who  came  to  stay  a  week 
tarried  three  years.  Her  father-in-law  came  to  make  a 
visit,  and  staid  eleven  years — till  death.  Her  own  father 
came  to  the  home  one  week  after  Mr.  and  Mrs.  W.  were 
married,  and  he  still  abides  with  them.  One  other  char- 
acteristic I  must  not  fail  to  mention — a  grace  as  rare  as 
it  is  beautiful.  Above  any  other  person  I  ever  knew  she 
carries  in  her  roomy  heart  the  joys  and  the  sorrows  of 
others.  The  little  tokens  of  remembrance  which  she 
sends  to  the  sick  and  the  feeble,  and  the  comforting  notes 
which  go  from  her  hand  and  heart  to  the  sorrowing  and 
troubled,  are  simply  innumerable.  To  sum  up  her  char- 
acter— humility  and  power,  grace  and  strength,  courage 
and  earnestness  strive  in  her  for  the  mastery.  I  cannot 
say  which  has  it. 

"  Happy  is  the  father,  honored  is  the  husband,  blessed 
are  the  children,  favored  is  the  friend,  and  fortunate  is 
the  cause,  that  commands  the  advocacy  of  such  a  woman." 

MY   GLIMPSE   OF   THE   CRUSADE. 

Right  here,  under  the  wing  of  my  beloved  friend 
and  associate,  let  me  put  in  my  only  personal  experience 
of  the  Crusade. 

Never  can  I  forget  the  day  on  which  I  met  the  great 
unwashed,  untaught,  ungospelled  multitude  for  the  first 
time.  Need  I  say  it  was  the  Crusade  that  opened  before 
me,  as  before  ten  thousand  other  women,  this  wide, 
"  effectual  door  ? "  It  Avas  in  Pittsburg,  the  summer 
after  the  Crusade.  Greatly  had  I  wished  to  have  a  part 
in  it,  but  this  one  experience  was  my  first  and  last  of 
"going  out  with  a  band."  A  young  teacher  from  the 
public  schools,  whose  custom  it  was  to  give  an  hour  twice 
each  week  to  crusading,  walked  arm-in-arm  with  me. 
Two  school-ma'ams  together,  we  fell  into  the  procession 


108    author's  first  "gospel  temperance  work." 

behind  the  experienced  campaigners.  On  Market  street 
we  entered  a  saloon,  the  proprietor  of  which,  pointing  to 
several  men  who  were  fighting  in  the  next  room,  begged 
ns  to  leave,  and  we  did  so  at  once,  amid  the  curses  of  the 
bacchanalian  group.  Forming  in  line  on  the  curbstone's 
edge  in  front  of  this  saloon,  we  knelt,  while  an  old  lady, 
to  whose  son  that  place  had  proved  the  gate  of  death, 
offered  a  prayer  full  of  tenderness  and  faith,  asking  God 
to  open  the  eyes  of  those  who,  just  behind  that  screen, 
were  selling  liquid  fire  and  breathing  curses  on  his  name. 
We  rose,  and  what  a  scene  was  there !  The  sidewalk 
was  lined  by  men  with  faces  written  all  over  and  inter- 
lined with  the  record  of  their  sin  and  shame.  Soiled 
with  "  the  slime  from  the  muddy  banks  of  time,"  tattered, 
dishevelled,  there  was  not  a  sneering  look  or  a  rude  word 
or  action  from  any  one  of  them.  Most  of  them  had  their 
hats  off ;  many  looked  sorrowful ;  some  were  in  tears ; 
and  standing  there  in  the  roar  and  tumult  of  that  dingy 
street,  with  that  strange  crowd  looking  into  our  faces — 
with  a  heart  stirred  as  never  until  now  by  human  sin  and 
shame,  I  joined  in  the  sweet  gospel  song : 

"Jesus  the  water  of  life  will  give, 
Freely,  freely,  freely!" 

Just  such  an  epoch  as  that  was  in  my  life,  has  the 
Crusade  proved  to  a  mighty  army  of  women  all  over  this 
land.  Does  anybody  think  that,  having  learned  the 
blessedness  of  carrying  Christ's  gospel  to  those  who 
never  come  to  church  to  hear  the  messages  we  are  all 
commanded  to  "  Go,  tell,"  we  shall  ever  lay  down  this 
work  ?  Not  until  the  genie  of  the  Arabian  Nights  crowds 
himself  back  into  the  fabulous  kettle  whence  he  escaped 
by  "  expanding  his  pinions  in  nebulous  bars  " — not  until 
then  !  To-day  and  every  day  they  go  forth  on  their  beau- 
tiful errands — the  "  Protestant  nuns,"  who  a  few  years 
ago    were   among   the    "  anxious   and   aimless "    of    our 


APOSTOLIC   SUCCESSION.  100 

crowded  population,  or  who  belonged  to  trades  and  pro- 
fessions over-full— and  with  them  go  the  women  fresh 
from  the  sacred  home-hearth  and  cradle-side,  wearing 
the  halo  of  these  loving  ministries.  If  you  would  find 
them,  go  not  alone  to  the  costly  churches  which  now 
welcome  their  voices,  while  to  those  who  are  "  at  ease  in 
Zion"  they  gently  speak  of  the  great,  whitened  harvest. 
But  go  to  blacksmith  shop  and  billiard  hall,  to  public 
reading-room  and  depot  waiting-room,  to  the  North  End 
in  Boston,  Water  street,  New  York,  the  Bailey  coffee 
houses  of  Philadelphia,  the  Friendly  Inns  of  Cleveland, 
the  Woman's  Temperance  Room  of  Cincinnati,  and  Lower 
Parwell  Hall,  Chicago,  and  you  will  find  the  glad  tidings 
declared  by  the  new  "  apostolic  succession,"  dating  from 
the  Pentecost  of  the  Crusade. 

THE   WOMAN'S    CRUSADE   IN    CALCUTTA. 

The  Crusade  wave  spread  fast  and  far.  As  its  result 
we  have  the  Woman's  Christian  Temperance  Union  of 
Great  Britain  and  Canada,  while  in  Australia  and  the 
Sandwich  Islands  there  are  local  auxiliaries,  and  isolated 
societies  in  India  and  Japan.  Mrs.  Tiele  of  Albany,  and 
that  lovely  young  missionary,  Miss  Susan  B.  Higgins  of 
Boston  (so  "early  crowned"),  started  a  grand  work  in 
Yokohama.  Rev.  Joseph  Cook,  newly  returned  from  his 
trip  around  the  world,  says  they  are  watching  women's 
work  everywhere  from  the  other  side  the  globe  with  ear- 
nest hope.  Mrs.  May  of  Calcutta,  secretary  of  the  ladies' 
branch  of  "  Bengal  Temperance  League,"  writes  the  fol- 
lowing remarkable  account. 

"  HOW    WE    BEGAN   IT. 

"It  is  now  more  than  two  years  since  we  commenced  our 
work  in  Calcutta,  and  as  1  review  the  past  my  heart  is 
full  of  gratitude  to  God  for  the  success  he  has  seen  fit  to 


110  WORK    IN   CALCUTTA. 

vouchsafe  us.  It  was  suggested  through  reading  about 
'  The  Woman's  Crusade  in  America,'  and  Dr.  Thoburn, 
of  the  American  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  thought 
that  a  similar  work  might  be  done  in  this  city. 

"Never  shall  I  forget  our  first  Sunday  in  Flag  street. 
This  street  is  one  of  the  lowest  parts  of  Calcutta,  and  one 
side  of  it  is  principally  devoted  to  grog-shops  and  board- 
ing-houses, which  on  Sunday  afternoon  are  pretty  well 
filled  with  men  more  or  less  intoxicated.  A  little  party 
of  four  ladies  left  our  carriage  and  asked  for  permission, 
through  a  gentleman  who  that  day  accompanied  us,  to 
sing  in  one  of  the  grog-shops.  The  manager  refused, 
saying :  '  If  you  are  not  gone  I  will  throw  water  over 
you ;  you  are  ruining  our  trade.'  Denied  an  entrance, 
we  four  women  sang  the  Gospel  at  the  door,  and  learning 
that  we  must  ourselves  make  the  request,  in  every  other 
drinking-saloon  we  gained  admission. 

"On  this  first  Sabbath  we  only  sang,  but  ever  after  we 
talked  to  the  men  pointedly,  each  addressing  the  little 
group  nearest,  and  usually  making  some  remark  suggested 
by  the  hymn.     After  singing  the  one  commencing  with 

"  'Art  thou  weary,  art  thou  languid, 

Art  thou  sore  distrest? 
"  Come  to  me,"  saith  One;  and  coming, 
Be  at  rest,' 

one  fine,  manly  fellow  responded,  saying,  '  I  am  weary. 
I  want  to  come  to  Jesus.'  We  directed  him  to  the 
Saviour.  Before  leaving,  it  is  our  rule  as  far  as  possible 
to  ask  them  to  join  in  prayer,  and  while  one  of  us  leads 
many  bow  with  uncovered  heads,  and,  may  Ave  not  hope, 
join  in  our  supplications  from  the  heart  ? 

"As  I  was  kneeling  one  sailor  said,  '  Don't  be  too  long, 
missus,  for  it  is  eight  years  since  I  knelt  in  prayer.'  On 
another  occasion,  while  we  were  singing, 

"  '  J°y,  j°y>  joy!  there  is  joy  in  Heaven  with  the  angels, 
Joy,  joy,  joy!  for  the  prodigal's  return,' 


THE  TESTAMENT   IN   GREEK.  Ill 

my  attention  was  drawn  to  a  young  officer,  who  looked 
quite  out  of  place  there.  He  sang  most  heartily,  while 
the  tears  flowed  down  his  face.  Then  followed  the  con- 
fession of  a  mother's  prayers  and  a  father's  counsel  dis- 
regarded, and  of  twelve  years'  pleadings  with  God  by  his 
parents  for  the  prodigal's  return.  He  was  induced  by  us 
to  attend  the  service  in  the  evening,  and  gave  himself  to 
Christ.  His  account  of  himself  was  :  '  It  was  that  hymn 
about  the  prodigal  that  broke  my  hard  heart.'  I  have 
since  learned  that  his  father  is  an  earnest  minister  in 
England. 

"  We  take  tracts  in  sixteen  different  languages,  as  sailors 
from  every  land  are  to  be  found  in  Calcutta.  It  touched 
our  hearts  to  see  the  delight  of  a  Greek  one  day  on  receiv- 
ing a  Testament  in  his  own  language.  He  literally  danced 
with  joy,  and  then  sat  down  to  read  the  precious  book.  It 
seemed  so  strange  to  hear  him  and  his  companions  con- 
versing in  that  strange  language. 

"  Thus,  from  Sunday  to  Sunday,  our  work  progresses. 
During  the  cold  season  as  many  as  forty  or  fifty  are 
induced  to  go  to  God's  house,  and  many  remain  behind  to 
be  instructed  in  the  way  of  salvation.  But  as  a  whole  it 
is  a  work  of  faith,  and  results  will  only  be  known  in  the 
Great  Day. 

TAKING    UP    THE    CROSS. 

"  One  Sunday  we  found  five  sober  men  striving  to  induce 
their  shipmates  to  leave  the  grog-shop.  Failing  in  the 
attempt,  they  were  leaving,  ashamed  of  the  bad  company. 
After  assuring  them  we  knew  they  had  not  been  drinking, 
we  gave  each  a  tract.  One  was  entitled,  '  I  wish  I  could 
see  my  father  again.'  'That's  me,'  said  the  man  who 
took  it,  '  My  father  has  died  while  I  have  been  making 
the  voyage  here.  He  was  a  good  father  to  me,  and  I  do 
want  to  see  him  again.'  We  told  him  that  if  lie  would 
serve  God  here  his  wish  would  be  realized.     This  little 


112  JUST   IN   TIME. 

group  of  five  listened  most  attentively  while  we  entreated 
them  to  come  to  Jesus,  explaining  the  sacrifices  they  will 
have  to  make  in  giving  up  old  companions  and  bearing  the 
sneers  of  ungodly  friends,  etc.  They  replied,  'We  know 
all  that,  but  we  don't  mind,'  and  on  the  spot  they  pro- 
fessed to  receive  Christ,  and  told  us  they  would  not  care 
about  the  scoffs  of  their  shipmates,  but  would  kneel  right 
down  and  pray  to  God  to  keep  them  from  sin  every  morn- 
ing and  night.  Nothing  strikes  us  more  than  the  child- 
like simplicity  of  the  sailor.  He  just  takes  God  at  His 
word,  and  therefore  '  receives '  as  well  as  '  asks.' 

JUST    IN    TIME. 

"  At  one  saloon  I  felt  an  unaccountable  prompting  to  go 
to  the  end,  where  a  gentleman  sat  in  such  a  position  as 
to  prevent  our  seeing  his  face.  His  manner  and  bearing 
seemed  strangely  out  of  place  there,  and  he  was  so  morti- 
fied to  be  found  in  a  grog-shop  by  ladies  that  I  felt  half 
sorry  that  I  had  spoken ;  but  trusting  in  the  One  who  had 
led  us  thither,  I  said :  '  You  seem  to  be  depressed,  and  I 
am  come  to  tell  you  of  a  Friend  who  will  be  with  you 
always,  even  to  the  end  of  the  world.'  The  word  about 
God's  love  touched  him,  and  he  broke  down  and  wept 
bitterly.  It  was  some  moments  before  he  was  sufficiently 
composed  to  speak  ;  his  heart  was  too  full.  Then  followed 
a  sad  story  of  deep  distress,  which,  alas,  was  beyond  our 
powder  to  ameliorate.  We  took  him  home,  and  then  he 
astonished  us  by  saying :  '  You  saved  my  life  to-day.  I 
was  bent  on  committing  suicide.  I  felt  as  though  no  one 
cared  for  me,  but  the  few  kind  words  made  me  feel  life 
was  precious  after  all.' 

MORE   SUCCESSES. 

"  In  the  saloon  an  officer  with  two  midshipmen  arrested 
our  attention.     They  expressed  and  looked  great  surprise 


AN    ANTIDOTE    PROVIDED.  113 

at  seeing  ladies  there.  We  explained  to  them  our  object, 
and  invited  them  to  our  evening  service.  They  came,  and 
we  had  a  conversation  with  them  afterwards.  The  officer 
promised  never  to  frequent  such  places  again,  and  I  have 
since  learned  that,  although  surrounded  by  temptations, 
he  has  kept  his  word,  and  more,  he  has  become  a  total 
abstainer.  After  four  months'  absence  from  Calcutta  the 
midshipman  returned,  and  this  time  we  met  in  God's 
house.  Flag  street  was  forsaken  for  the  house  of  prayer. 
"  At  one  of  the  largest  houses  we  met  a  man  disposed 
to  argue  the  point  of  the  propriety  of  our  singing  hymns 
there.  We  told  him  this  was  our  only  opportunity  of 
speaking  to  him.  He  talked  much  and  loudly,  but  after 
we  had  prayed  he  became  much  more  reasonable,  and 
said :  '  Tell  me  what  time  service  begins,  for  I  believe  I 
shall  go.     I  have  the  tract  you  gave  me  in  my  pocket.' 

AN   ANTIDOTE   PROVIDED. 

"  Three  sober  men  were  sitting  at  another  table.  We 
said  :  '  What  pleasure  can  it  be  to  you  to  be  here,  where 
there  is  so  much  confusion  and  noise  ? '  They  replied : 
'  We  have  no  other  place  to  go.'  I  am  thankful  to  be 
able  to  add  that  a  gentleman  has  provided  a  "  House  of 
Rest,'  a  '  Seaman's  Coffee  and  Reading-room,'  where 
these  poor  men,  whose  life  is  full  of  toil  and  tempta- 
tion, can  spend  their  leisure  time  in  peace,  free  from  the 
snares  and  temptations  which  are  spread  for  them  at  the 
grog-shops,  and  where  they  will  be  surrounded  by  good 
and  holy  influences.  He  has  fitted  it  up  beautifully,  in 
home  fashion,  with  matting  and  comfortable  seats;  there 
is  a  reading-room,  spacious  and  airy,  wdiere  are  little 
tables,  at  which  two  or  three  can  enjoy  a  quiet  chat 
together,  also  two  rooms  adjoining  for  singing,  Bible- 
classes,  etc.,  but  the  attendance  is  voluntary.  Tea,  coffee, 
lemonade,  and  other  refreshments  are  sold  at  a  moderate 


114  EQUAL   RIGHTS   WITH   MEN. 

price.  The  whole  place  is  very  inviting,  and  brightly 
lighted  up  with  gas.  Pray  that  the  hearts  of  the  men 
who  frequent  this  place  may  be  illuminated  by  God's  Holy 
Spirit." 

MRS.    MARGARET   ELEANOR   PARKER, 
President  of  the  International  Woman's  Christian  Temperance  Union. 

The  position  and  character  of  our  transatlantic  cousin 
combine  to  render  her  an  attractive  picture  for  our  gal- 
lery. 

Margaret  E.  Parker,  of  Dundee,  Scotland,  may  be  set 
forth  in  a  sentence  as  a  modest  gentlewoman  with  a  life 
devoted  to  noble  purposes  and  philanthropic  deeds.  Born 
of  an  old  Tory  or  Conservative  line,  and  reared  with  all 
the  prejudices  of  aristocratic  birth,  her  generous  heart 
has  over-leaped  these  barriers,  and  in  the  face  of  opposi- 
tion which  would  have  crushed  a  soul  less  brave,  she  has 
become  a  philanthropist  and  a  reformer. 

Her  beneficent  activities  began  in  that  department  of 
church  work  where  women  have  always  been  allowed  an 
"equal  right"  with  men,  viz. :  that  of  paying  off  church 
debts  and  raising  funds  for  "  church  extension."  Noth- 
ing succeeds  like  success,  and  as  Mrs.  Parker  has  never 
been  associated  with  a  losing  enterprise  her  name  has 
become  the  synonym  for  victory.  Whether  conducting  a 
charitable  fair,  circulating  a  temperance  petition,  organ- 
izing Mother  Stewart's  lecture  campaign,  or  the  British 
Woman's  Temperance  Union,  she  is  always  gently  con- 
fident, untiringly  diligent,  and  sure  to  win. 

"An  orthodox  of  the  orthodox,"  she  worked  for  woman 
suffrage  side  by  side  with  the  party  of  John  Stuart  Mill; 
a  wife,  mother,  and  housekeeper  of  the  New  England 
school,  she  addressed  the  British  Social  Science  Congress 
on  the  question  of  capital  and  labor;  a  modest,  soft- 
voiced  woman  from  the  home-hearth  and  the  cradle-side, 


MRS.  MARGARET  E.  PARKER. 


YANKEE   NOTIONS.  115 

she  marshaled  "  the  bonnets  of  bonny  Dundee,"  leading 
a  procession  of  sixty  of  her  townswomen  to  the  headquar- 
ters of  the  magistrate,  where  they  presented  a  no-license 
petition  with  nine  thousand  names  of  women  —  all  this 
in  the  days  of  our  "Crusade,"  and  under  its  blessed 
inspiration.  Mrs.  Parker  is  a  great  admirer  of  our  coun- 
try, and  this  was  not  the  first  time  she  had  taken  up  its 
bright  ideas.  Indeed,  our  own  John  B.  Gough  counts 
her  among  his  most  valued  converts,  for  at  one  of  his 
lectures  in  Dundee,  some  twenty  years  ago,  Mrs.  Parker 
and  her  husband  first  saw  their  duty,  as  Christian  parents 
and  members  of  society,  to  become  total  abstainers. 
Many  of  us  have  seen  her  "  bring  down  the  house  "  by 
telling  how,  in  their  zeal,  they  banished  not  only  wine 
bottles,  decanters,  and  glasses  from  their  sideboard,  but, 
forgetting  that  they  should  continue  to  drink  "Adam's 
ale,"  sent  away  their  tumblers  also !  Concerning  her 
appreciation  of  "  Yankee  Notions,"  Mrs.  Parker  once 
wrote  :  "  I  have  an  American  cook  stove  in  my  kitchen, 
an  American  sewing-machine  in  my  sitting-room,  and  all 
the  American  books  I  can  get  in  my  library,  and  now  I 
must  have  your  wide-awake  American  paper,  the  Boston 
Woman's  Journal.'''' 

Active  as  she  had  always  been  in  reforms,  the  Crusade 
movement  stirred  Margaret  Parker's  heart  as  nothing 
else  had  ever  done.  The  presentation  of  her  temperance 
petition  to  the  authorities  of  Dundee  struck  the  key-note 
for  the  United  Kingdom,  aroused  Christian  women  to  a 
sense  of  their  responsibility,  and  led  to  the  organization 
of  temperance  unions  in  Dundee  and  many  other  towns. 
The  press  having  brought  to  her  the  name  of  Mother 
Stewart  of  Ohio,  as  prominently  connected  with  the  Cru- 
sade, Mrs.  Parker  invited  her  to  Scotland,  and  arranged 
a  temperance  trip  for  her  which  greatly  enlisted  the  public 
interest,  and  from  which  resulted  a  meeting  at  Newcastle- 


116  HER   REPINED   MANNERS   AND   READY   WIT. 

on-Tyne.  Delegates  from  all  parts  of  the  Kingdom  were 
present ;  women  who  had  never  heard  their  own  voices 
on  a  platform  before  spoke  with  fluency  and  convincing 
earnestness,  and  proceeded,  with  all  due  observance  of 
parliamentary  forms,  to  organize  the  "  British  Women's 
Christian  Temperance  Union."  Mrs.  Parker  was  elected 
president  of  this  new  society,  and  was  sent  as  a  delegate 
to  the  Woman's  International  Temperance  Convention 
which  met  in  the  Academy  of  Music,  Philadelphia,  in 
June  of  the  Centennial  year.  There  Mrs.  Parker  was 
unanimously  elected  President  of  the  Woman's  Interna- 
tional Christian  Temperance  Union,  the  avowed  object  of 
which  is  "  to  spread  a  temperance  Gospel  to  the  ends  of 
the  earth."  Twice,  since  the  Crusade,  Mrs.  Parker  has 
visited  our  country  to  study  the  spirit  and  methods  of  the 
Woman's  Temperance  work.  A  charming  little  book, 
entitled  "  Six  Happy  Weeks  among  the  Americans," 
records  her  impression  of  the  land  she  had  so  long 
desired  to  see.  A  reception  was  given  her  by  Sorosis, 
and  she  was  elected  a  member  of  that  society  and  of  the 
"  Woman's  Congress."  Mrs.  Parker  is  not  an  orator, 
but  her  refined  manners  and  gentle  presence,  combined 
with  her  strong  sense  and  ready  wit,  made  her  one  of  the 
favorite  speakers  at  the  great  Chicago  Convention  called 
by  the  National  Temperance  Society,  of  which  Mr.  J.  N. 
Stearns  is  Secretary.  We  very  frequently  hear  the  mis- 
application of  our  Lord's  statement  that  "  a  prophet  is 
not  without  honor  save  among  his  own  kindred."  We 
have  no  prophets  nowadays,  but  observation  teaches  that 
people  in  general^  and  even  the  much-abused  "  women 
with  a  career,"  are  apt  to  be  honored  and  beloved  by 
their  own  townsfolk  if  they  deserve  to  be.  Mrs.  Parker's 
record  illustrates  this.  Nowhere  is  her  influence  so  great 
as  in  her  own  city.  Twice  she  has  been  offered  a  place 
on  the  School  Board  of  Dundee,  which  she  has  declined 


HER    WORK    IX    DUNDEE.  117 

only  that  she  may  give  her  time  to  the  work  of  the  local 
Woman's  Temperance  Union,  of  which  she  has  heen 
President  since  its  organization,  and  to  the  duties  of  her 
more  distinguished  but  hardly  more  onerous  office  as 
President  of  the  International. 

Naturally  enough,  we  wish  to  know  something  of  the 
home  life  of  a  woman  so  prominent  in  public  work  —  for 
there  is  one  test  on  which  Society  has  a  right  to  insist  in 
the  name  of  its  deeper  right  of  self-preservation.  If,  by 
taking  on  themselves  the  burdens  of  government,  of  phi- 
lanthropy, of  carrying  the  Gospel  message,  women  are  to 
forget  to  light  the  hearth  and  trim  the  evening  lamp  ;  if 
the  voices  of  their  little  ones  arc  to  be  drowned  in  the 
applause  of  multitudes,  then  Home  shall  fall,  "  and  when 
Home  falls,  the  world." 

"  To  the  word  and  to  the  testimony  !  "  What  does  our 
British  sister  teach  us  on  this  vital  question  ? 

She  is  the  wife  of  Edward  Parker,  proprietor  of  an 
extensive  manufactory.  She  had  six  children  —  five  sons, 
one  daughter  —  until  her  noble  Harry  was  lately  called 
away.  Our  Union  has  contained  nothing  more  tender  and 
beautiful  than  the  account  of  this  young  man's  death. 
During  the  childhood  of  her  sons  and  daughters,  Mrs. 
Parker  gave  herself  up  to  their  happiness  and  training,  and 
a  more  loving  and  harmonious  family  circle  cannot  be 
found.  Mr.  Parker  is  a  man  of  broad  and  generous  soul, 
who  delights  in  his  wife's  ability  and  work,  and  heartily 
enters  into  and  fosters  all  her  plans.  Their  elegant  resi- 
dence, "The  Cliff,"  is  beautiful  for  situation,  "looking 
off  upon  the  German  Ocean  and  old  St.  Andrew's  of 
classic  memory."  In  the  best  sense  it  is  a  model  Scotch 
home.  Here  "  the  latch  string  is  out,"  for  all  men  and 
women  whose  chief  aim  is  to  make  the  world  a  more 
sunshiny  place  because  they've  lived  in  it.  Here  is 
"society"  in  a  true  and  royal  sense,  undreamed  of  by 


118  MRS.    MARGARET   LUCAS. 

the  votaries  of  fashion  and  of  pleasure.  As  Antoinette 
Brown  Blackwell  aptly  puts  it,  "After  all,  a  mother's 
child  is  but  an  incident  in  her  life.  Love  it  as  she  will, 
it  will  grow  up,  and  in  a  few  years  it  is  gone.  But  a  life 
tvork  remains  for  a  life  time  1 "  Thus,  those  who  by  their 
gifts  of  brain  and  heart  were  formed  to  be  in  some  sweet 
sense  mothers  to  those  outside  their  homes,  may  bring  to 
the  wider  ministries  of  life's  long  afternoon  the  culture 
of  soul  they  acquired  in  the  ministries  of  the  cradle  and 
the  fireside. 

Mrs.  Parker  closed  her  annual  address  before  the 
British  Woman's  Temperance  Union,  at  its  meeting  in 
London,  with  these  words,  which  may  fitly  put  a  period 
to  our  hasty  sketch  : 

A  mighty  conflict  is  before  us.  Shall  we,  standing  here  beside  the 
Cross,  place  ourselves  in  God's  hands  to  do  His  work?  I  believe 
many  hearts  here  respond,  "By  Thy  grace  I  will."  I  stand  before 
you  to-day  under  the  shadow  of  a  great  sorrow,  coming  as  I  do  from 
the  grave  of  a  dear  son  of  seventeen  years.  He  has  left  a  bright  record 
of  work  done  for  the  Master  in  the  cause  of  temperance.  His  dying 
words  to  me  were,  "Go  on  in  your  blessed  work  while  it  is  day,  for 
the  night  cometh."  And  so  say  I  to  you  —  work  while  it  is  day,  the 
night  cometh.  Time  is  so  short,  eternity  so  great,  and  the  ravages  of 
strong  drink  so  fearful,  that  it  behooves  us  to  rise  in  the  might  and 
the  power  with  which  God  has  endowed  us,  and  in  the  name  of  the 
perishing,  and  the  God  who  cares  for  them,  demand  that  the  traffic  in 
strong  drink  shall  cease. 

At  present  Mrs.  Parker  is  living  in  England  with  her 
family,  and  working  side  by  side  with  her  successor  as 
President  of  the  British  Women's  Temperance  League, 
Mrs.  Margaret  Lucas,  sister  of  Hon.  John  Bright,  M.P. 

MRS.    MARGARET  LUCAS, 
President  of  the  Woman's  Temperance  League  of  Great  Britain. 

In  this  well-known  lady  we  have  a  fitting  illustration  of 
what  may  be  wrought  for  the  great  outside  world  in  the 
serene  hours   of  life's   long   afternoon  by  the  wife  and 


n 


SSs 


MRS.  MARGARET  B.   LUCAS. 


A   GOOD    TEMPLAR.  119 

mother  whose  meridian  years  were  occupied  with  the 
cares  and  duties  of  her  home.  Of  Quaker  ancestry  and 
training,  the  sister  of  John  Bright,  ablest  and  best  be- 
loved of  British  Commoners,  with  wealth,  position,  and 
an  honored  name,  Mrs.  Lucas  brought  to  our  ranks  gifts 
many  and  rare.  She  had  long  been  a  Good  Templar, 
having  affiliated  with  that  order  of  true-hearted  men  and 
women  because  of  her  deep  sympathy  with  their  aims  and 
spirit.  She  visited  the  United  States  some  years  ago, 
but  though  cordial,  how  different  the  welcome  she  then 
received  from  what  awaits  her  now  could  she  be  persuaded 
to  "  cross  over."  There  is  not  a  W.  C.  T.  U.  of  all  the  three 
thousand  that  would  not  exhaust  both  resources  and  in- 
genuity to  do  her  honor.  Mrs.  Lucas  is  sixty-three  years 
of  age,  is  well  preserved,  erect  and  vigorous.  She  has 
but  one  daughter,  Mrs.  Thomasson,  wife  of  a  member  of 
Parliament,  and  one  son,  a  deaf  mute,  who  with  his  lovely 
family,  lives  near  her.  She  was  perfectly  devoted  to  her 
children  until  they  grew  to  maturity  and  were  settled 
near  her  in  their  beautiful  homes.  Now  they  are  so  de- 
voted to  her,  that  although  she  is  very  desirous  to  make 
her  American  sisters  a  visit,  they  will  not  hear  to  her 
making  another  trans-Atlantic  voyage.  But  she  goes* 
from  one  end  to  the  other  of  the  United  Kingdom  with- 
out harm  or  seeming  fatigue,  speaking  and  organizing 
branches  of  the  flourishing  society  of  which  she  is  Presi- 
dent. She  is,  like  her  distinguished  brother,  a  very  great 
friend  of  America,  and  it  was  by  her  kindness  and  that 
of  Margaret  Parker  that  our  editor,  Mrs.  Mary  B.  Wil- 
lard,  was  enabled  to  make  researches  so  extended  and  val- 
uable, into  the  varied  and  mighty  temperance  movement 
of  Great  Britain  on  the  occasion  of  her  recent  visit. 

Margaret  Lucas  at  sixty-three,  organizing  the  women 
of  her  country  for  work  in  the  great  cause  ;  Neal  Dow  at 
seventy-eight,  campaigning  for  prohibition  in  Wisconsin ; 


120  WELL    PRESERVED    ABSTAINERS. 

Rebecca  Collins  of  New  York  at  the  same  age,  honorary 
president  of  the  Metropolitan  Union,  Mother  Hill  of  New- 
ark at  eighty,  attending  onr  conventions,  and  my  own  dear 
mother  at  seventy-three,  president  of  the  W.  C.  T.  U.  of 
Evanston,  these,  with  hundreds  of  like  examples  speak  well 
for  the  brain  and  brawn  of  the  "  teetotallers." 


CHAPTER  IX. 

"THE  SOBER  SECOND  THOUGHT  OF  THE  CRUSADE." 

Chautauqua,    Summer  of   1874 — Poetic    justice — Dr.  Vincent— Mrs. 
Ingham's  sketch— Mrs.  E.  H.  Miller's  circular. 

OXCE  more  appears  the  poetic  justice  ever  recurring 
in  this  unique  movement  of  the  W.  C.  T.  U.  Rev. 
Dr.  John  H.  Vincent,  the  noble  founder  of  that  delight- 
ful sylvan  University,  is  perhaps  the  most  quietly  uncom- 
promising opponent  of  women's  public  work  to  be  found 
among  the  enlightened  tribes  of  men.  And  yet,  right 
here,  with  his  cordial  endorsement,  on  the  15th  of  August, 
1874,  good  and  gifted  women  gathered  fresh  from  the 
Crusade  pentecost,  and  prayed  and  planned  into  perman- 
ent organic  form  the  work  which  has  since  sent  hundreds 
of  temperance  Esthers  and  Miriams  to  the  platform  and 
the  polls.  The  history  of  these  small  beginnings  is  thus 
'  graphically  told  by  Mrs.  Mary  B.  Ingham  of  Cleveland, 
who  can  say  truthfully  concerning  them,  "  all  of  which  I 
saw  and  part  of  which  I  was." 

THAT   CHAUTAUQUA    COMMITTEE   MEETING. 

"  The  handful  of  corn  upon  the  tops  of  the  mountains 
grew  apace  after  its  wonderful  planting  in  Ohio  during 
the  winter  and  spring  of  1873-4.  The  fruit  thereof  shook 
like  Lebanon  throughout  the  Middle  and  Western  States, 
and  in  August  of  that  year  many  of  the  seed-sowers  had 
gathered  upon  the  shore  of  Lake  Chautauqua  for  a  fort- 
night in  the  woods.  In  primitive  fashion  we  dwelt  in 
tents,  or  sat  in  the  open  air  about  the  watch-fires  kindled 
at  the  first  National  Sunday-school  Assembly.     Women 

(121) 


BIP.THI  NT)   ID.L: 

who  had  dr;      .   near  to  God  in   saloon  prayer-m^ 
felt  their  hearts  aflame  again  as  they  recounted  the  w 
.1  the  great  uprising. 

••  H        -        '  hautauqua.  the  birthpl 

>ur  union  o:  _  ..   fced.     D    is  time  the  story 
tten,  and    there  is   no  mo. 
place  for  its  rehearsal  than  in  this  goodly  jw 
city  of   L  He,  where  South  and  North  meet       .  sath 

the  olive  branch  to  rejoice  over  its  achievements  ai. 
its  all 

••  '  toe     .  ighi  day  a  very  few  ladies  were  in  conversa* 
upon   fche   subject  that  filled  their  hearts,  inspiring  the 
though!   that  the  tempei  -  needed   the  unv 

effort  of  all  the  women  of  the  country-     The  suggestion 
came  from  Mrs-   Mattie  McClellan   Brown  of  Alliai. 
OIi!'j.     Mrs.  Gr.  W.  Manly,  leader  of  the  praying-band  of 
A  kron,  accepted  the  idea,  and  it  was  said  :  •  Why  not  take 

ps   right  here  toward   its  formation?'     Upon  furt". 
consultation  it  was  decided  to  call  a  meeting  of  the  lac! 
notice  of  which  was  read  from  the  platform  of  the  ai.    - 
torium   by   Rev.  Dr.   Vincent.     Mrs.  Jennie  F.  Willing 
of  Illinois,  a  guesl   of  the  assembly,  maintained  that  - 
important   a  mo1  ement  should   be  controlled  by  women 
engaged  in  active;  Christian  work,     la  order  to  arran. 
the  preliminaries  of  the  announced  meeting  Mrs.  Willing 
invited    Mrs.  Brown,  Mrs.   Manly.  Miss   Emma   Janes  of 
Oakland,  California,  and   Mrs.  Ingham  of  Cleveland,  to 
meet  I"'''  <"  a  new  board  shanty  on  Asbury  avenue. 

"  The  Woman's  National  Christian  Temperance  Union 
was  born,  not  in  a  manger,  hut  on  a  floor  of  straw  in  an 
apartmenl  into  which  the  daylight  shone  through  hol<  - 
and  crevices.  In  a  half  hour's  space  every  detail  w  a 
prepared,  including  a,  proposed  formation  of  a  committee 
on  organization, to  take  place  that  very  afternoon  succeed- 
ing the  regular  3  o'clock  session  of  the  assembly.     At  the 


~-^__^ 


THE    CHAUTAUQUA    MEETING.  125 

temperance  prayer-meeting  at  4  o'clock  p.m.,  under  the 
canvas  tabernacle,  were,  perhaps,  fifty  earnest  Christian 
women  ;  of  them  were  several  from  Ohio,  Mrs.  H.  H.  Otis 
of  Buffalo,  Mrs.  Niles  of  Hornellsville,  and  Mrs.  W.  E. 
Knox  of  Elmira,  N.  Y.  Mrs.  Willing  was  leader  of  the 
prayer  service,  and  acted  as  presiding  officer  of  the  busi- 
ness session  convened  afterward.  At  this  conference 
women  were  chosen  to  represent  various  States,  an  ad- 
journment being  had  to  the  following  day. 

"At  the  hour  appointed,  August  15,  1874,  a  large 
audience  had  gathered,  Mrs.  Jennie  F.  Willing  in  the 
chair,  and  Mrs.  Emily  Huntington  Miller,  secretary.  As 
results  of  the  deliberation,  the  committee  on  organization 
was  formed,  and  the  chairman  and  secretary  of  the  Chau- 
tauqua meeting  were  authorized  to  issue  a  circular  letter, 
asking  the  Woman's  Temperance  Leagues  everywhere 
to  hold  conventions  for  the  purpose  of  electing  one  woman 
from  each  Congressional  district  as  delegate  to  an  organ- 
izing convention  to  be  held  in  Cleveland,  Ohio,  November 
18,  19,  and  20,  1874.  The  call  duly  appeared.  The 
writer  of  this  paper  was  nominated  from  Ohio,  but  with- 
drew her  own  name,  substituting  that  of  Mrs.  Brown, 
who  was  known  to  have  made  the  original  suggestion. 

"  Vicissitudes  have  occurred  during  the  eight  years 
passed,  but  all  tend,  in  our  onward  march  to  the  fore- 
front of  battle,  to  bring  nearer  to  that  which  overcoming 
faith  and  labor  are  sure  to  win — victory ! 

"  Independent  organizations,  with  large  membership, 
have  multiplied  on  both  sides  of  the  ocean  until  a  score 
are  in  active  operation  as  the  outgrowth  of  the  great 
awakening. 

"More  than  all,  better  than  all,  the  'Rock  of  Ages' 
women  are  proving  themselves  worthy  of  the  title,  and 
are  praying  to-day  even  more  earnestly  than  when  with 
sublime  faith  they  went  out  into  the  streets  and  saloons 


126  THE   CHAUTAUQUA    CIRCULAR. 

of  Ohio,  believing  that  ere  long  our  Lord  will  say  to  us, 
'  0,  woman,  great  is  thy  faith ;  be  it  unto  thee  even  as 
thou  wilt.' " 

As  a  matter  of  history,  Mrs.  Miller's  Chautauqua  carol 
is  here  subjoined : 

woman's  national  temperance  league. 

During  the  session  of  the  National  Sunday-school  Assembly  at 
Chautauqua  Lake,  several  large  and  enthusiastic  temperance  meet- 
ings were  held.  Many  of  the  most  earnest  workers  in  the  woman's 
temperance  movement  from  different  parts  of  the  Union  and  different 
denominations  of  Christians  were  present,  and  the  conviction  was 
general  that  a  more  favorable  opportunity  would  not  soon  be  pre- 
sented for  taking  the  preliminary  steps  towards  organizing  a  national 
league,  to  make  permanent  the  grand  work  of  the  last  few  months. 

After  much  deliberation  and  prayer,  a  committee  of  organization 
was  appointed,  consisting  of  one  lady  from  each  State,  to  interest 
temperance  workers  in  this  effort.  A  national  convention  was  ap- 
pointed to  be  held  in  Cleveland,  Ohio,  during  the  month  of  Novem- 
ber, the  exact  date  to  be  fixed  by  the  committee  of  organization.  The 
chairman  and  secretary  of  the  Chautauqua  meeting  were  authorized  to 
issue  a  circular  letter,  asking  the  Woman's  Temperance  Leagues  to 
hold  conventions  for  the  purpose  of  electing  one  woman  from  each 
Congressional  district  as  a  delegate  to  the  Cleveland  convention. 

It  is  hardly  necessary  to  remind  those  who  have  worked  so  nobly 
in  the  grand  temperance  uprising,  that  in  union  and  organization  are 
its  success  and  permanence,  and  the  consequent  redemption  of  this 
land  from  the  curse  of  intemperance.  In  the  name  of  our  Master — in 
behalf  of  the  thousands  of  women  who  suffer  from  this  terrible  evil — 
we  call  upon  all  to  unite  in  an  earnest,  continued  effort  to  hold  the 
ground  already  won,  and  move  onward  together  to  a  complete  victory 
over  the  foes  we  fight. 

The  ladies  already  elected  members  of  the  committee  of  organiza- 
tion are:  Mrs.  Dr.  Gause,  Philadelphia;  Mrs.  E.  J.  Knowles,  New- 
ark, N.  J.;  Mrs.  Mattie  McClellan  Brown,  Alliance,  Ohio;  Mrs.  Dr. 
Steele,  Appleton,  Wis.;  Mrs.  W.  D.  Barnett,  Hiawatha,  Kansas; 
Miss  Auretta  Hoyt,  Indianapolis,  Ind. ;  Mrs.  Jennie  F.  Willing, 
Bloomington,  111. ;  Mrs.  Ingham  Stanton,  LeRoy,  N.  Y. ;  Mrs.  Fran- 
ces Crooks,  Baltimore,  Md. ;  Miss  Emma  Janes,  Oakland,  Cal. 

Jennie  F.  Willing,  Chairman. 

Emily  Huntington  Miller, 

Secretary  of  the  Chautauqua  Meeting. 


^ 


CHAPTER  X. 

TtfE  WOMAN'S  NATIONAL  TEMPERANCE   CONVENTION, 
FOUNDED  AT  CLEVELAND,  O. 

The  First  Woman's  National  Temperance  Convention,  Cleveland, 
Ohio — Red-Letter  days — Officers — Resolutions,  etc. — Representative 
Women — A  brave  beginning. 

NOVEMBER  18th,  19th,  20th,  1874:  red-letter  days 
in  the  history  of  the  Crusade. 
Well,  it  began  with  prayer — I  mean  away  back  at 
Chautauqua  Lake  Sunday-school  camp-meeting.  "Honor 
to  whom  honor  is  due."  And  a  Western  pilgrim  to  Cleve- 
land, the  Mecca  of  the  Crusade,  may  mildly  mention  that, 
in  the  capacity  of  "  a  chiel  amang  ye,  takin'  notes,"  she 
learned  that  Mrs.  Mattie  McClellan  Brown,  of  Alliance, 
0.,  first  thought  out  "  this  Convocation."  Nay,  better 
than  that — the  idea  of  it  was  put  into  her  heart  as  an  in- 
spiration, while  she  knelt  in  prayer  at  Dr.  Vincent's 
camp-meeting.  She  named  this  to  a  lady  kneeling  by 
her  side,  Mrs.  Russell,  of  Chicago,  and  they  at  once 
brought  it  before  the  prayer-meeting  in  which  it  had  been 
given  to  them,  and  all  the  people  said,  "  Amen."  Promi- 
nent and  earnest  women,  encouraged  by  the  best  men, 
moved  forward  actively  in  getting  this  idea  before  the 
women  of  the  country.  Mrs.  Jennie  F.  Willing  and  Emily 
Huntington  Miller  were  appointed  to  send  out  the  invita- 
tion ;  Mrs.  Brown,  the  "prime  mover,"  and  Mrs.  Mary 
B.  Ingham,  of  Cleveland,  a  woman  of  marvelous  energy, 
combined  their  efforts  with  those  of  the  ladies  above 
mentioned.  Temperance  women  all  over  the  land  were 
delighted  with  the  idea.    State  conventions  were  held  and 

(127) 


128        CRUSADERS  NEED  NO  INTRODUCTION. 

delegates  appointed,  and  on  the  morning  of  November 
18th  we  were  "  with  one  accord  in  one  place,"  gathered 
up  from  Maine  and  Oregon,  from  Alabama  and  Iowa, 
from  Massachusetts  and  Colorado,  and  many  States 
between. 

And  we  began  with  prayer.  In  the  lecture-room  of  the 
"Second  Presbyterian  church,  an  hour  before  the  Conven- 
tion was  to  jopen,  we  gathered  for  a 

PRxlYER-MEETING. 

Sitting  there,  listening  to  the  mild  voices  of  that  mild- 
faced  throng,  singing, 

"Jesus,  I  my  cross  have  taken," 

one  could  but  feel  that,  as  heaven  looks  down  on  things, 
this  was  the  hopefulest  of  convocations  since  that  one  in 
Philadelphia  in  which  they  wrote  of  "  life,  liberty,  and 
the  pursuit  of  happiness." 

When  our  prayer-meeting  ended,  and  we  went  in 
rambling  procession  to  the  church,  what  a  general  hand- 
shaking there  was,  and  "Where  are  you  from?"  and 
"  Crusaders  need  no  introduction,"  were  words  often 
repeated. 

In  the  spacious  auditorium  of  the  Presbyterian  church, 
the  Convention  was  called  to  order  by  Mrs.  Jennie  F. 
Willing,  of  Bloomington,  111.  We  were  seated  in  delega- 
tions, according  to  our  States  and  Congressional  Districts, 
after  the  most  approved  method.  We  chose  our  commit- 
tee on  temporary  organization,  with  one  member  from 
each  State,  which  reported  the  following  list  of 

OFFICERS    OF    THE    CONVENTION. 

President — Mrs.  Jennie  F.  Willing,  Illinois. 

Vice-Presidents — Mrs.  S.  K.  Leavitt,  Ohio ;  Mrs.  Ex- 
Governor  Wallace,  Indiana  ;  Mrs.  J.  Backus,  Vermont ; 
Mrs.    Matchett,   Pennsylvania ;    Mrs.    Professor    Marcy, 


THIS  LOOKS    LIKE   BUSINESS.  129 

Illinois;  Mrs.  Gifford,  Massachusetts;  Mrs.  Dr.  Steele, 
Wisconsin  ;  Mrs.  Mary  T.  Lathrop,  Michigan  ;  Mrs.  Helen 
E.  Brown,  New  York ;  Mrs.  E.  A.  Wheeler,  Iowa ;  Mrs. 
Otis  Gibson,  California ;  Miss  Lizzie  Boyd,  West  Vir- 
ginia. 

Secretaries — Miss  Auretta  Hoyt,  Indiana;  Mrs.  Mary 
T.  Burt,  New  York. 

Treasurer — Mrs.  Mary  B.  Ingham,  Ohio. 

These  ladies  were  duly  elected. 

Mrs.  Dr.  McCabe.,  of  Delaware,  0.,  President  of  the 
State  League,  then  made  a  most  admirable  address  of 
welcome. 

To  this  Mrs.  Mary  C.  Johnson,  of  New  York,  responded 
in  words  litting  and  beautiful. 

Some  discussion  arose  as  to  the  rights  of  those  who 
had  not  brought  credentials,  but  the  following  resolution, 
offered  by  Mrs.  Wittenmeyer,  of  Philadelphia,  settled  the 
question  : 

Resolved,  That  the  several  State  delegates  be  allowed  to  add  to  their 
number  from  representatives  from  each  State,  to  the  number  of  Con- 
gressional Districts  in  that  State. 

This  matter  disposed  of,  the  Convention  addressed  it- 
self to  business,  of  which  there  was  no  lack,  the  following 
list  of  committees  indicating  its  general  character: 

Committee  on  Credentials — Miss  Auretta  Hoyt,  Indian- 
apolis, Ind. ;  Mrs.  S.  J.  Steele,  Appleton,  Wis. ;  Mrs.  H. 
N.  K.  Goff ,  Philadelphia,  Pa. ;  Mrs.  W.  A.  Ingham,  Cleve- 
land, 0. ;  and  Mrs.  Joel  Foster,  Montpelier,  Vt. 

On  Business — Mrs.  Almira  Brackett,  Biddeford,  Me. ; 
Mrs.  E.  R.  Backus,  Springfield,  Vt. ;  Mrs.  E.  A.  Bowers, 
Clinton,  Mass. ;  Mrs.  E.  A.  Wheeler,  Cedar  Rapids,  la.  ; 
Mrs.  A.  M.  Noe,  Indianapolis,  Ind. ;  Mrs.  Peter  Strykcr, 
Rome,  N.  Y. ;  Mrs.  H.  M.  Wilkin,  Paris,  111. ;  Mrs.  S.  R. 
Leavitt,  Cincinnati,  0.  ;  Miss  Lizzie  Boyd,  Wheeling,  W. 
Va. ;  Miss  Emma  Janes,  Oakland,  Cal. ;  Mrs.  J.  A.  Brown, 


130  OF  WHICH    THEIR   WAS   NO   LACK. 

Milwaukee,  Wis. ;  Mrs.  Mary  T.  Lathrop,  Jackson,  Mich. ; 
Mrs.  S.  B.  Chase,  Great  Bend,  Pa. 

On  Circular  Letter  to  Foreign  Nations — Mrs.  Lathrop, 
Michigan  ;  Mrs.  S.  B.  Chase,  Pennsylvania  ;  Miss  Emma 
Janes,  California. 

On  Resolutions — "Mother"  Stewart,  Ohio;  Mrs.  Gov- 
ernor Wallace,  Indiana ;  Miss  Willard,  Illinois ;  Mrs. 
Butler,  New  York  ;  Mrs.  Collins,  Pennsylvania  ;  Mrs. 
Black,  Pennsylvania;  Mrs.  Brown,  Ohio;  Mrs.  Goff, 
Pennsylvania. 

On  Constitution — Mrs.  J.  Ellen  Foster,  Iowa;  Mrs.  L. 
M,  Boise,  Michigan  ;  Mrs.  Finch,  Indiana ;  Mrs.  Witten- 
meyer,  Pennsylvania;  Mrs.  Runyon,  Ohio;  Miss  Boyd, 
West  Virginia ;  Mrs  Gifford,  Massachusetts  ;  Mrs.  Ken- 
yon,  New  York;  Mrs.  Brown,  Wisconsin;  Mrs.  M.  Davis, 
Vermont ;  Mrs.  J.  Dickey,  111. 

On  Finance — Mrs.  Dr.  Leavitt,  Cincinnati,  0. ;  Mrs. 
Peter  Stryker,  Rome,  N.  Y. ;  Mrs.  S.  P.  Robinson,  Penn- 
sylvania ;  Mrs.  Foster,  Iowa  ;  Mrs.  M.  Valentine,  Indiana. 

On  Memorial  to  Congress — Mrs.  Annie  Wittenmeyer, 
Philadelphia ;  Mrs.  Governor  Wallace,  Indiana ;  Miss 
Frances  E.  Willard,  Chicago. 

On  Constitution  for  National  Temperance  League — Mrs. 
M.  M.  Finch,  Indiana  ;  Mrs.  Wittenmeyer,  Pennsylvania  ; 
Mrs.  Runyon,  Ohio  ;  Mrs.  L.  M.  Boise,  Michigan  ;  Mrs.  J. 
Dickey,  Illinois  ;  Mrs.  S.  A.  Gifford,  Massachusetts  ;  Mrs. 
J.  A.  Brown,  AYisconsin  ;  Mrs.  Dr.  Kenyon,  New  York  ; 
Mrs.  J.  E.  Foster,  Iowa ;  Mrs.  M.  Davis,  Vermont ;  Miss 
Lizzie  Boyd,  West  Virginia. 

On  Address  to  the  Young  Women  of  America — Mrs. 
Mary  T.  Lathrop,  of  Michigan,  Chairman. 

On  Letter  to  American  Women — Mrs.  Marcy,  Illinois ; 
Mrs.  Johnson,  New  York  ;  Mrs.  Leavitt,  Ohio. 

On  Juvenile  Organizations — Mrs.  E.  J.  Thompson, Ohio; 
Miss  Willard,  Illinois  ;  Mrs.  A.  M.  Noe,  Indiana. 


NATIONAL   TEMPERANCE   PAPER.  131 

On  Est  alii  tiling  a  National  Temperance  Paper — Mrs. 
Annie  Wittenmeyer,  Pennsylvania ;  Mrs.  S.  J.  Steele, 
Wisconsin  ;  Mrs.  S.  K.  Leavitt,  Ohio;  Mrs.  S.  A.  Gifford, 
Massachusetts;  Mrs.  E.  E.  Marcy,  Illinois;  Miss  Emma 
Janes,  California  ;   Mrs.  M.  C.  Johnson,  Brooklyn. 

Passing  by  the  discussions,  which  were  sufficiently 
lively,  but  (as  was  stated  by  a  delegate  present,  who  had 
been  so  happy  as  to  witness  thirty  conventions)  not  at  all 
extreme,  "  considering,"  Ave  will  give  a  resume  of  the 
results  arrived  at  by  this  significant  assembly. 

1.  Resolutions  were  adopted  as  follows,  embodying  a 
sufficiently  exhaustive  "  confession  of  faith  :  " 

Whereas,  Much  of  the  evil  by  which  this  country  is  cursed  comes 
from  the  fact  that  the  men  in  power  whose  duty  it  is  to  make  and 
administer  the  laws  are  either  themselves  intemperate  men  or  con- 
trolled largely  by  the  liquor  power;  therefore, 

1.  Resolved,  That  the  women  of  the  United  States,  in  this  conven- 
tion represented,  do  hereby  express  their  unqualified  disapprobation 
of  the  custom  so  prevalent  in  political  parties  of  placing  intemperate 
men  in  office. 

2.  Resolved,  That  we  will  appeal  to  the  House  of  Representatives,  by 
petition,  for  their  concurrence  with  the  Senate  bill  providing  a  com- 
mission of  inquiry  into  the  effects  and  results  of  the  liquor  traffic  in 
this  country. 

3.  Resolved,  That  we  respectfully  ask  the  President  of  the  United 
States,  Senators,  Representatives  in  Congress,  Governors  of  States, 
and  all  public  men,  with  their  wives  and  daughters,  to  give  the 
temperance  cause  the  strength  of  their  conspicuous  example  by  ban- 
ishing all  wines  and  other  intoxicating  liquors  from  their  banquets 
and  their  private  tables. 

4.  Resolved,  That  we  will  endeavor  to  secure  the  co-operation  of 
great  manufacturing  firms  in  our  effort  to  pledge  their  employees  to 
total  abstinence,  and  that  we  will  ask  these  firms  to  consider  the 
advantages  to  sobriety  of  paying  their  men  on  Monday  rather  than  on 
Saturday  evening. 

5.  Resolved,  That  we  respectfully  request  the  physicians  to  exercise 
extreme  and  conscientious  care  in  administering  intoxicating  liquors 
as  a  beverage. 

6.  Resolved,  That  as  the  National  Temperance  Society,  and  Pub- 
lishing House  in  New  York — J.  N.  Stearns,  Publishing  Agent— pre- 


132  CONSTITUTION   OF   W.    N.    C.    T.    U. 

sents  the  best  variety  of  temperance  literature  in  the  world,  consisting 
of  books,  tracts,  The  National  Temperance  Advocate  and  The  Youth's 
Temperance  Banner,  we  hereby  recommend  the  ladies  of  America  to 
encourage  the  dissemination  of  this  literature  in  connection  with  their 
work. 

7.  Resolved,  That  all  temperance  organizations  of  our  land  be  in- 
vited to  co-operate  with  us  in  our  efforts  for  the  overthrow  of  intem- 
perance. 

8.  Resolved,  That  all  good  temperance  women,  without  regard  to 
sect  or  nationality,  are  cordially  invited  to  unite  with  us  in  our  great 
battle  against  the  wrong  and  for  the  right. 

9.  Resolved,  That  in  the  conflict  of  moral  ideas,  we  look  to  the 
pulpit  and  the  press  as  our  strongest  earthly  allies,  and  that  we  will, 
by  our  influence  as  Christian  women  and  by  our  prayers,  strive  to 
increase  the  interest  in  our  cause  already  manifested  by  their  powerful 
instrumentalities,  gratefully  recognized  by  us. 

10.  Resolved,  That  we  will  pray  and  labor  for  a  general  revival  of 
religion  throughout  our  land,  knowing  that  only  through  the  action 
of  the  Holy  Spirit  on  the  hearts  of  the  Church  and  the  world  will  they 
be  warmed  to  a  vital  interest  in  the  temperance  cause. 

11.  Resolved,  That  recognizing  the  fact  that  our  cause  is  and  will 
be  combatted  by  mighty,  determined,  and  relentless  forces,  we  will, 
trusting  in  Him  who  is  the  Prince  of  Peace,  meet  argument  with 
argument,  misjudgment  with  patience,  denunciation  with  kindness, 
and  all  our  difficulties  and  dangers  with  prayer. 

A  constitution  was  adopted  as  follows : 

PREAMBLE. 

"We,  the  women  of  this  Nation,  conscious  of  the  increasing  evils  and 
appalled  at  the  tendencies  and  dangers  of  intemperance,  believe  it  has 
become  our  duty,  under  the  providence  of  God,  to  unite  our  efforts 
for  its  extinction. 

CONSTITUTION. 

1.  This  Association  shall  be  known  as  the  "Woman's  National 
Christian  Temperance  Union. " 

2.  The  officers  of  the  Union  shall  be  a  President,  one  Vice-President 
from  each  State,  a  Corresponding  Secretary,  Recording  Secretary,  and 
a  Treasurer.  Said  officers  shall  constitute  a  Board  of  Managers,  to 
control  and  provide  for  the  general  interests  of  the  work. 

3.  Each  State  organization  may  become  auxiliary  to  the  Union  by 
indorsing  its  Constitution. 

4.  Each  Vice-President  shall  make  to  the  Corresponding  Secretary 
an  annual  report  of  the  work  in  her  State. 


ITS    FIRST    OFFICERS.  133 

5.  The  Annual  Meeting  of  the  Union,  at  which  time  its  officers 
shall  be  elected,  shall  be  in  November,  the  time  and  place  to  be  fixed 
by  the  Board  of  Managers;  said  officers  to  be  elected  by  ballot. 

6.  The  Annual  Meeting  shall  be  composed  of  delegates  chosen,  one 
from  each  Congressional  district,  by  the  Auxiliary  Woman's  Temper- 
ance Unions. 

7.  Each  State  organization  shall  pay  annually  to  the  National  Fund 
an  amount  equal  to  five  cents  per  member  of  each  Auxiliary  Union. 

8.  This  Constitution  may  be  altered  or  amended  at  any  Annual 
Meeting  of  the  National  Union,  by  a  vote  of  two  thirds  of  the  dele- 
gates present. 

The  following  ladies  were  elected  officers  for  the  ensu- 
ing year  of  the  Woman's  National  Christian  Temperance 
Union : 

President — Mrs.  Annie  Wittenmeyer,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 

Vice-Presidents — Mrs.  Mary  A.  Gaines,  Saco,  Me.; 
Mrs.  Joel  M.  Haven,  Rutland,  Vt. ;  Mrs.  S.  A.  Gifford, 
Mass.;  Mrs.  L.  N.  Kenyon,  N.  Y. ;  Mrs.  S.  B.  Chase, 
Great  Bend,  Pa.;  Mrs.  E.  J.  Thompson,  Hillsboro',  Ohio; 
Mrs.  Rev.  S.  Reed,  Ann  Arbor,  Mich. ;  Mrs.  E.  E.  Marcy, 
Evanston,  111. ;  Mrs.  S.  J.  Steele,  Appleton,  Wis. ;  Mrs.  Z.  G. 
Wallace,  Indianapolis,  Ind. ;  Mrs.  M.  J.  Aldrich,  Cedar 
Rapids,  Iowa ;  Mrs.  R.  Thompson,  San  Francisco,  Cal. 

Corresponding  Secretary — Miss  Frances  E.  Willard, 
Chicago,  111. 

Recording  Secretary — Mrs.  Mary  C.  Johnson,  Brook- 
lyn,  N.  Y.  " 

Treasurer — Mrs.  W.  A.  Ingham,  Cleveland,  Ohio. 

Thus  much  for  the  official  decisions  reached  by  the 
first  National  Convention  of  temperance  workers  who 
were  women. 

Aside  from  this,  we  had  good  talk  and  plenty  of  it,  at 
which  some  hint  is  given  elsewhere.  Four  mass-meetings 
were  held  during  the  Convention.  Dr.  J.  M.  Walden,  of 
Cincinnati  (Chief  Knight  of  the  new  Crusade),  presided 
at  the  first — a  quite  exceptional  honor,  no  other  member 
of  the  regnant  sex  being  allowed  to  lift  up  his  voice 
6 


134  THE    EVER-FEMININE    DRAWETH    ON. 

throughout  the  whole  Convention.  Mrs.  S.  K.  Leavitt, 
one  of  Ohio's  strongest  and  best  women,  eonducted  the 
second ;  Mrs.  Br.  Donaldson,  of  Toledo  (whose  mind 
seems  as  incisive  as  the  blade  which  bore  that  name), 
was  generalissimo  of  the  third,  and  Miss  Auretta  Hoyt, 
of  Indiana,  as  "  genuine  "  as  she  is  practical,  carried  on 
the  fourth. 

Crowded  houses  signalized  these  meetings,  and  Crusade 
hymns  were  pleasantly  interspersed  with  the  excellent 
music  furnished  by  trained  singers  of  Cleveland. 

Some  salient  features  of  the  Convention  may  be  re- 
ferred to  in  closing  this  shadowy  outline  of  what  was  a 
picture  full  of  life,  color,  and  "  tone."  This  was  a  rep- 
resentative gathering,  not  only  numerically  and  geograph- 
ically, but  in  respect  to  character  and  to  achievement. 
We  had  a  bright  little  lady  lawyer,  Mrs.  Foster,  all  the 
way  from  Iowa,  to  be  chief  of  our  Committee  on  Consti- 
tution, and  to  set  us  right  on  legal  points  in  general. 
We  had  a  thorough-going  lady  physician,  Mrs.  Harriet 
French,  of  Philadelphia,  who  was  competent  to  tell  us  of 
the  relation  of  alcohol  to  medicine.  We  had  three  or 
four  editors,  any  quantity  of  teachers,  two  college  pro- 
fessors, Quaker  ministers,  looking  out  with  dove-like  eyes 
from  their  dove-colored  bonnets ;  and  besides  these,  three 
licensed  preachers  of  the  Methodist  persuasion,  besides 
business  women  not  a  few,  and  gray-haired  matrons  from 
scores  of  sacred  homes,  all  up  and  down  the  land. 
Goethe's  prophetic  words,  "The  ever-feminine  draweth 
on,"  received  new  confirmation  when,  at  the  close  of  our 
last  mass-meeting,  one  of  our  ablest  speakers,  Mrs.  Mary 
T.  Lathrop,  of  Michigan,  after  a  telling  address,  made  a 
brief  prayer,  and  then  stretched  out  her  hands  and  gave 
us  the  apostolic  benediction.  And  this  in  the  pulpit  of  a 
Presbyterian  Church ! 

We  bespeak  for  the  work  done  by  this  Convention  the 


SOMETHING   PRACTICAL.  135 

thoughtful  study  of  every  man  and  woman  who  may  read 
these  lines. 

"Something  practical"  is  what  our  people  clamor  for, 
and  justly.  Well,  we  have  here  a  plan  of  organization 
that  is  meant  to  reach  every  village  and  hamlet  in  the 
Republic;  a  declaration  of  principles  of  which  only 
Christ's  religion  could  have  been  the  animus;  an  appeal 
to  the  women  of  our  country,  another  to  the  girls  of 
America,  and  a  third  to  lands  beyond  the  sea;  a  memo- 
rial to  Congress,  and  a  deputation  to  carry  it ;  a  National 
Temperance  Paper,  "of  the  women  for  the  women;"  a 
centennial  temperance  celebration  projected;  and,  finally, 
a  financial  plan,  involving  two  cents  a  week  for  each 
member. 

A   BRAVE    BEGINNING. 

Surely,  a  generous,  comprehensive  plan  for  "  new  be- 
ginners" to  devise. 

Not  least  in  value  was  the  decision,  deliberately  reached, 
after  a  free  discussion,  to  stand  by  the  name  as  well  as 
the  faith  of  Him  to  whom  woman  owes  all  she  has  come 
to  be.  That  name,  "  Woman's  National  Christian  Tem- 
perance Union,"  has  volumes  in  it  which  this  gainsaying 
age  may  profitably  ponder. 

There  is  no  harshness  in  the  utterances  of  the  Conven- 
tion, as  there  was  none  in  its  spirit,  but  the  earnest  words 
of  one  of  the  ablest  workers  in  the  cause,  fitly  express 
the  deep  conviction  which  prevailed  there : 

"  Woman  is  ordained  to  lead  the  vanguard  of  this  great 
movement  until  the  public  is  borne  across  the  abysmal 
transition  from  the  superstitious  notion  that 'alcohol  is 
food'  to  the  scientific  fact  that  'alcohol  is  poison;'  from 
the  pusillanimous  concession  that  'intemperance  is  a 
great  evil'  to  the  responsible  conviction  that  the  liquor 
traffic  is  a  crime." 

And  while  woman  leads,  her  courage  and  her  hope  all 
come  from  Him  who  said,  "Lo!    I  am  with  you  ahvay." 


CHAPTER  XL 

PARLIAMENTARY  USAGE   VERSUS  "RED  TAPE." 

Mrs.  Plymouth  Rock  and  Friend  Rachel  Halliday  engage  in  a  dis- 
cussion. 

Time— Just  after  the  Xational  TY  C.  T.  U.  Convention. 
Place — A  Pullman  car,  eastward  bound. 

Persons— A  Xew  England  delegate  to  the  Woman's  Temperance 
Convention  and  a  Philadelphia  "Friend,"  also  a  delegate. 

MRS.  PLYMOUTH  ROCK—'-  Well,  Cousin  Rachel, 
I  must  say  I've  added  largely  to  my  stock  of  ideas 
at  our  Convention.  I'm  First  Vice-President  of  the 
Union  in  Cobblestone,  and  I  mean  to  have  our  business 
carried  on,  after  this,  in  a  parliamentary  manner.  By 
the  way,  do  you  remember  the  price  of  that  book,  '  Rules 
of  Order,  by  Major  Roberts?'  (Consults  her  memoran- 
dum book.)  0,  here  it  is ;  seventy-five  cents,  and  the 
publisher  is  S.  C.  Griggs,  Chicago." 

Rachel  Halliday — Wb  I  tell  thee,  Martha,  I  believe  thee 
is  under  a  delusion.  Thee  says  thee  has  added  to  thy 
stock  of  ideas,  but  I  tell  thee  plainly  thy  stock  of  spirit- 
uality has  not  increased.  This  parliamentary  code  is 
grievously  oppressive,  to  my  mind." 

Mrs.  P.  R. — 4,I  think  I  must  plead  guilty  to  the  charge 
you  make  about  my  state  of  mind :  but  that's  my  own 
fault,  and  not  to  be  set  down  against  the  thoughtful, 
deliberative  assembly  of  which  I'm  proud  to  have  been  a 
quiet  member.  After  all.  1  think  religion  is  a  very  broad 
word,  and  to  transact  business  for  God  and  humanity 
may  be  quite  as  religious  as  to  pray." 

(136) 


A    DIALOGUE.  137 

Mrs.  Rachel — '"Diligent  in  business,  fervent  in  spirit. 
serving  the  Lord,'  is  a  favorite  text  with  me,  but  thee 
sees  it  was  borne  in  upon  my  mind  that  we  had  too  much 
red  tape — we  magnified  our  office.  Now  I  don't  object 
to  an  order  of  business,  nor  even  to  "moving  and  second- 
ing,'' for  we  have  something  like  that  in  Friends'  meeting, 
but  when  thee,  my  cousin  Martha,  who  used  to  be  content 
to  sit  by  me  in  the  meeting-house  and  commune  with  thy 
heart  and  be  still,  when  thee  popped  up  and  said  to  the 
President,  'I  rise  to  a  question  of  privilege,'  I  tell  thee 
I  hung  my  head." 

Mrs.  P.  R. — (Briskly.)  "And,  indeed,  I  should  like 
to  know  why '.'  You  ought  to  have  been  proud  of  me, 
for  I  don't  believe  there  were  a  dozen  women  in  the  Con- 
vention who  could  have  done  it.  Did  you  raise  your 
diminished  head  in  time  to  see  how,  by  that  move,  I  got 
the  floor  in  time  to  explain  my  position  on  the  Bible 
wine  question,  thus  setting  myself  right  with  my  home 
constituency  : " 

Mrs.  Rachel — "  Thee  knows  it  is  quite  beyond  me,  the 
whole  of  it,  and  I'm  very  willing  to  remain  in  ignorance. 
But  even  with  thy  views  thee  surely  wouldn't  defend  a 
Christian  woman  getting  up  as  they  did  there  and  offer- 
ing an  '  amendment  to  an  amendment  ?'  I  don't  know 
when  I've  had  such  an  exercise  of  the  mind  as  I  did  over 
that." 

Mrs.  P.  R. — "  In  the  first  place,  I  should  certainly  de- 
fend a  woman  for  'getting  up*  to  offer  what  you  mention, 
for  it  would  be  impolite  to  the  president  and  inconvenient 
to  the  convention  for  her  to  speak  when  sitting  down.  In 
the  second  place,  if  there's  one  thing  I'm  glad  I've  found 
out  about  it's  this  particular  point.  Let's  see.  how  did 
Mrs.  Clerecut  illustrate  it  to  Hypatia  and  me  ?  0,  I  re- 
member :  '  A  motion  made  and  seconded  is  the  house  :  an 
amendment  is  the  addition  to  the  house ;  an  amendment 


138  PLYMOUTH   ROCK   TRIUMPHS. 

to  an  amendment  is  the  wood-shed  of  the  house ;  and  you 
vote  upon  the  wood-shed  first.'  " 

Mrs.  Rachel — (Loosing  her  drab  bonnet-ribbons  and 
gazing  helplessly  toward  the  ventilator.)  "  Martha,  thee 
is  going  clean  daft.  If  I  did  not  remember  thine  ancient 
propensity  to  tease  thy  poor  cousin,  I  would  be  seriously 
concerned  for  thee.  Now  check  thy  merriment  and  tell 
me  truly  what  is  the  good  of  thy  profane  little  book  with 
its  rules  of  order;  of  the  endless  committees,  secreta- 
ries, rulings,  reports,  and  so  on  ?  They  may  do  very  well 
for  the  world's  people,  but  I  am  persuaded  that  Christian 
women  have  no  call  to  make  use  of  such  devices." 

[At  this  juncture  Mrs.  Plymouth  Rock  takes  off  her 
gloves,  rubs  her  energetic  little  hands,  and,  laying  aside 
all  defensive  tactics,  makes  a  lively  onslaught  upon  the 
citadel  of  her  cousin's  prejudice.  With  index  finger 
pointed  straight  at  the  placid  features  of  her  antagonist, 
she  thus  proceeds :] 

"  There's  no  use  mincing  matters,  Rachel.  You  see 
things  as  you  do,  because  of  your  bringing  up.  You're 
non-combative  to  that  degree  that  old  Apollyon  and  all 
his  hosts  couldn't  ruffle  your  feathers  a  particle.  But  I'm 
not  so.  '  The  Sword  of  the  Lord  mid  of  Gideon '  is  the  most 
musical  sentence  in  the  Old  Testament,  to  ears  like  mine. 
And,  with  all  due  deference,  I  know  more  about  this  busi- 
ness than  you  do.  Haven't  I  seen  in  the  Union  at  Fac- 
toryville,  near  Cobblestone,  just  because  Mrs.  Holdfast  is 
persistent  as  gravitation,  and  wise  in  parliamentary 
usage  as  the  chief  justice,  that  she  carries  everything  to 
suit  herself,  and  our  dear,  meek  women  sit  by  as  if  de- 
mented ?  You've  got  to  take  this  world  as  it  is,  and  not 
as  it  ought  to  be,  and  the  facts  are — for  any  quantity  of 
women  told  me  so  at  the  convention — that  in  many  a 
locality  the  woman  who  '  knows  the  ropes ' — as  men 
would  say — moulds  the  policy  of  the  Union,  and  the  rest 


"  TOO   MUCH   RED   TAPE."  139 

are  blown  like  thistle-down  before  the  breeze.  For  there 
seems  to  be  a  sort  of  mysticism  in  the  minds  of  women 
about  this  matter  of  parliamentary  usage.  And  because 
Mrs.  Holdfast  looks  so  alarmingly  wise  when  she  says, 
'  The  chair  rules  that  Mrs.  Pretty  man  has  the  floor,' 
poor,  dear  sister  Prettyman  forgets  what  she  wanted  to 
say.  Now  the  whole  thing  is  easily  learned,  and  some 
women  will  most  assuredly  proceed  to  learn  it,  and  for 
my  part  I  mean  that  in  our  Union  all  the  members  shall, 
and  then  they  won't  be  so  easily  cowed  by  one  or  two 
master  spirits." 

Mrs.  Rachel  —  (Neither  silenced  nor  convinced.) 
"  But  where's  the  utility  of  it,  when  one  has  learned  it  ? 
Answer  me  that  thou,  Martha, '  careful  and  troubled  about 
many  things.'  " 

Mrs.  P.  R. — «  Well,  take  an  example.  There  was  a 
delegate  from  the  West  who  knew  of  a  young  lady  who 
would  have  added  much  strength  to  the  committee  on 
young  women's  work,  and  whom  she  wanted  to  nominate 
to  a  place  on  that  committee.  Up  got  some  wide-awake 
leader,  and  moved  that  the  old  committee  on  young 
women's  work  be  continued  through  the  year,  and  in  the 
twinkle  of  an  eye  the  motion  was  carried  through.  Mean- 
while, this  lady  felt  like  a  boat  stranded  high  and  dry, 
and  went  off  lamenting  that  the  bright  girl  who  would 
have  worked  so  well,  and  in  whose  appointment  there 
would  have  been  such  fitness,  couldn't  be  '  put  on,'  and 
she  bitterly  cried  out,  '  Too  much  red  tape.'  But,  in  fact, 
there  was  too  little.  Rather,  there  was  too  much  ignor- 
ance inside  her  own  particular  cranium.  If  she  had 
studied  as  our  temperance  women  arc  surely  going  to 
study,  she  would  have  found  out  this  :  That  a  body  called 
'  a  convention '  can,  like  an  individual  body,  change  its 
mind  while  it's  alive,  and  it  isn't  dead  till  it's  adjourned. 
Any  decision  it  comes  to  can  be  reversed — any  action 
can  be  nullified." 


140  ORDER    HEAVEN'S    FIRST   LAW. 

Mrs.  Rachel — (Aside) — "Nullified!  0  my!  What 
is  she  coming  to  ?" 

Mrs.  P.  R. — "  So  that  lady  could,  in  any  one  of  half  a 
dozen  ways,  have  called  attention  to  her  pet  idea  of  add- 
ing this  young  woman  to  the  committee — only  she  didn't 
know  how.  Some  of  us  told  her  this,  but  she  went  off 
grumbling,  '  When  a  thing's  done,  it's  done,  according  to 
my  way  of  thinking.'  Ah,  cousin,  knowledge  is  power. 
Parliamentary  rules  are  the  result  of  centuries  of  expe- 
rience in  conducting  the  proceedings  of  deliberative 
bodies,  while  one  person  acts  as  the  mouth-piece,  keeps 
matters  well  in  hand,  and  impartially  gives  to  every  dele- 
gate, according  to  certain  prescribed  regulations,  a  chance 
to  bring  forward  her  views,  and  to  affect  the  decisions  of 
many  women  of  many  minds." 

Mrs.  Rachel — "  I  see  thee  does  really  make  a  point 
about  a  few  who  know  this  rigmarole  unduly  influencing 
the  rest,  and  concerning  that  dear  woman  who  felt  so  set 
back  about  her  plan  for  the  young  lady,  but  I  see,  too, 
thee  does  not  even  try  to  answer  my  chief  objection — 
that  all  this  takes  out  the  freedom  and  spirituality  from 
our  meetings." 

Mrs.  P.  R. — (Taking  her  cousin's  hand,  and  waxing 
eloquent.)  "Now,  I  confess  I  want  you  on  my  side  in 
this.  For,  if  there  is  a  Christian,  you  are  one,  and,  like 
you,  I  would  say,  give  '  rules  of  order '  to  the  wind,  if  for 
their  sake  we  must  lose  one  bit  of  spiritual  power.  But 
'  order  is  heaven's  first  law.'  '  Let  everything  be  done 
decently,  and  in  order,'  is  a  sacred  command.  What 
cleanliness  and  neat  arrangement  are  to  a  room,  and 
what  good  manners  are  to  an  individual,  just  that,  rules 
and  regulations  are  to  an  assembly.  I  was  talking  about 
all  this  to  Judge  Fairmind,  in  whose  home  I  was  a  guest 
through  the  convention.  He  said  what  delighted  him 
most  in  our  proceedings  was  the  prompt  application  of 


METHOD   IN   MADNESS.  141 

parliamentary  rules,  the  evident  knowledge  of  them 
among  a  majority  of  delegates,  and  the  good  nature  in 
their  observance  ;  also  the  way  in  which  by  means  of  them 
Ave  got  through  such  a  great  amount  of  business  in  those 
four  days,  and  the  ease  with  which  we  turned  from  the 
regular  order  of  business  to  hymns  of  praise  and  words 
of  prayer.  He  said  it  was  to  his  mind  a  foretaste  of  the 
good  time  coming,  when  methods  useful  in  themselves, 
but  hitherto  secular,  shall  be  informed  by  the  spirit  which 
giveth  life.  Then,  cousin,  you  cannot  deny  that  the  utmost 
Christian  forbearance  and  gentleness  characterized  the 
deportment  of  every  member,  and  '  rules '  did  not  prevent 
frequent  prayer  even  while  a  question  was  pending. 
Moreover,  you  never  saw,  and  never  will  see,  a  lovelier 
sight  than  the  election,  so  simple  and  unpremeditated, 
nominations  all  made  in  open  meeting,  and  hymns,  tears, 
and  prayers  coming  in  as  freely  as  if  no  'red  tape'  were 
in  the  world." 

Mrs.  Rachel — "  There  is  much  in  what  thee  says, 
Martha;  thee  is  an  excellent  woman  after  all, — most  ex- 
cellent. I  cannot  quite  see  as  thee  does,  but  I  confess 
there  is  a  method  in  thy  madness,  to  say  the  least.  But 
as  for  me,  I  am  quite  sure  thee  will  never  convert  me 
over  to  a  real  and  lively  affection  for  thy  little  book  of 
rules.  Nevertheless  I  will  follow  thee  part  way — but  not 
so  far  as  '  an  amendment  to  an  amendment,'  and  thee  will 
never,  never  hear  thy  cousin  say  'I  rise  to  a  point  of 
order,'  or  '  I  call  for  the  ayes  and  noes.' " 


CHAPTER  XII. 
OUR  MANY-SIDED  WORK. 

IT  has  been  prophesied  that  the  temperance  reform, 
which  has  now  marshaled  into  its  ranks  both  men 
and  women,  gospel  and  law,  shall  one  day  bring  about 
the  enfranchisement  of  women  as  an  instrument,  and 
the  brotherhood  of  races  as  a  result  of  its  triumph  over 
humanity's  worst  foe.  Be  this  as  it  may,  one  who  surveys 
the  field  from  various  sides,  and  whose  whole  life  is  bound 
up  with  the  battle,  finds  evidences  multiplying  constantly 
of  the  many-handed  hold  upon  the  people's  life  which  this 
reform  has  gained. 

A  few  of  these  straws  upon  the  current,  growing  every 
day  more  strong  and  deep,  may  help  the  courage  of  some 
overburdened  heart,  for  that  there  are  so  many  ways  of 
working  is  an  inspiring  feature  of  the  situation. 

For  instance,  a  lady  said  to  me  in  Denison,  Texas  :  "  I 
didn't  go  to  your  temperance  meeting  in  the  Opera 
House  last  night,  but  I  staid  at  home  and  took  care  of 
five  babies  beside  my  own,  so  that  their  mothers  could 
attend,"  and  her  eyes  twinkled  as  she  added,  "  Wasn't 
that  real  temperance  work  ?  " 

Again  :  "  Give  me  those  notices.  I  can  take  them  to  a 
printer  who  will  strike  them  off  as  his  mite  for  the 
treasury ; "  thus  gently  whispers  a  young  mother  whose 
voice  we  never  hear  "  speaking  out  in  meeting,"  but 
whose  heart  is  in  our  work. 

A  young  girl  writes  :  "  Here  are  twenty-five  letters, 
leaving  me  as  many  more  to  copy  for  you.  Be  sure  to 
have  something  else  ready  for  me  to  do  when  these  are 

(142) 


PLENTY   OF  ROOM    FOR   WORK.  143 

finished.  It  isn't  much  that  I  can  accomplish,  but  you 
don't  know  the  pleasure  I  have  in  putting  even  a  tiny 
thread  into  the  great  cable  of  work  and  prayer  that  is  to 
bridge  the  fiery  sea." 

Just  here  an  energetic  voice  chimes  in  :  "  I  don't  speak 
— thumbscrews  wouldn't  force  a  Avord  from  my  lips — but 
I  know  a  pair  of  temperance  workers  who  never  tire  of 
talking,  and  whom  the  people  like  to  hear,  whose  glove- 
buttons,  dress-braids,  and  general  mending  would  be  in  a 
sorry  plight  if  I  didn't  carry  the  needle-case  and  thimble 
which  they  get  so  little  time  to  use." 

"  Well,  my  talent  doesn't  lie  in  that  direction,"  says  a 
quiet,  motherly-faced  lady,  taking  out  her  purse,  and  pay- 
ing the  street-car  fares  of  her  two  guests,  as  she  speaks, 
"  but  God  has  given  me  a  pleasant  home,  and  I  delight  to 
open  its  doors  for  our  temperance  apostles." 

"  I  fear  we  are  too  likely  to  forget  how  many  ways 
there  are  of  helping,  and  to  think  because  we  neither 
speak,  write,  nor  organize,  our  activities  are  unimportant," 
replies  a  lady  from  Ohio,  temporarily  sojourning  in  the 
Eastern  city  where  the  scene  of  our  conversation  is  laid. 

She  continues  :  "  The  beauty  of  our  work  is,  that  there 
is  in  it  a  place  for  every  willing  head  and  hand  and  heart. 
It  was  just  so  in  the  Crusade.  I  know  women  who  went 
just  that  they  might  count  one  in  the  procession.  A  dear 
old  grandmother  who  never  missed  going  out  with  us 
said,  '  I  don't  amount  to  much  ;  I  can  only  go  along  and 
cry.'  A  servant-girl,  an  Irish  Catholic,  whose  mistress 
led  our  band,  says,  '  Sure,  an'  I  can  hold  th'  umbrelly 
over  yer  head,  mum,  and  keep  the  sun  or  the  rain  off 
while  you  pray.'  In  that  same  band  was  a  young  lady 
who  had  spent  years  in  the  Musical  Conservatory  at 
Paris,  but  who  sang  through  storm  and  shine,  and  when 
her  beautiful  voice  showed  signs  of  failing,  said,  in  reply 
to  the  protests  of  her  friends,  '  I  have  no  gift  too  good  to 


144  COMFORTED    THREE   BABIES. 

lay  upon  the  altar  of  the  woman's  temperance  crusade.' 
Even  our  silent  neighbors,  the  lower  animals,  came  to  our 
help.  Mrs.  Hitt  of  Urbana,  one  of  our  grandest  leaders, 
had  a  great  dog,  which  walked  beside  her  with  stately  step 
all  through  those  wonderful  days,  and,  by  his  presence, 
added  not  a  little  to  the  interest  of  our  long  procession." 

"  Somehow,  there's  a  homelikeness  in  everything  that 
women  do ;  there  must  be  in  the  very  nature  of  the  case," 
remarks  guest  number  two,  "  and  bringing  this  very 
element  out  into  religious  work,  and  eventually  into  gov- 
ernment, is  to  be  one  of  the  blessed  results  of  this  new 
movement,  as  I  look  at  it.  Why,  this  home  feature  is  the 
ear-mark  in  everything  that  women  say,  and  the  trade- 
mark on  everything  they  do."  (Draws  a  letter  from  her 
pocket.)  "For  instance,  here  is  a  contribution  to  our 
paper,  with  this  note  : 

"  '  November  8. — Your  request  that  I  should  contribute 
to  the  next  number  of  our  paper  was  received  last  night, 
while  I  was  rocking  my  baby  to  sleep.  It  is  now  half-past 
ten  in  the  morning.  I  am  sans  cook,  sans  nurse,  sans 
everything  save  my  own  two  hands  ;  but  I  have  managed 
to  get  breakfast,  wash  the  dishes,  put  my  house  in  toler- 
able_order,  comforted  the  three  babies,  swallowed  a  license 
victory  in  our  town,  and  here's  the  article,  subject  to  the 
editorial  guillotine.  Do  not  judge  me  severely,  remember- 
ing all  the  facts,  and  that  two  of  the  little  chicks  have 
been  beside  my  desk,  emulating  their  mother's  quill-driv- 
ing in  a  slightly  distracting  way.  But  woman's  door  of 
opportunity  for  blessed  work  swings  wide,  and  I,  for  one, 
am  bound  to  enter.' 

"And  here  is  another  note,  illustrating  this  same  point. 
The  chairman  of  our  committee  on  '  Out-door  Gospel ' 
writes  it — a  woman  gifted  as  she  is  gentle,  and  brave  as 
she  is  modest." 

"  Yes,  women  go  at  everything  in  such  a  homelike 


EVERYBODY   COUNTS   ONE.  145 

fashion,"  muses  guest  number  one,  as  the  trio  alight  from 
the  jingling  cars,  and  wend  their  way  to  the  delightful 
home  where  they  are  to  find  the  rest  they  so  much  need. 
"  Down  in  Maine,  last  summer,  in  a  large  meeting  for 
ladies,  to  which,  as  a  natural  consequence,  men  gathered 
in  great  numbers,  a  noble  temperance  worker  of  that 
State  arose  and  said :  '  There  is  a  woman  beside  me  who 
wishes  me  to  ask  this  question  :  What  can  I  do,  who  have 
no  talent,  no  money,  and  no  influence,  to  help  forward 
this  reform?'     It  was  not  hard  to  answer.     In  the  first 
place,  everybody  counts  one.     Everybody  can  pray,  can  set 
a  good  example,  can  join  herself  to  a  union  of  temperance 
women,  if  there  is  one,  and  if  there  isn't,  can  stir  about 
until  one  shall  be  formed.     It  was  a  poor  washerwoman, 
who  came  on  Saturday  evening  to  a  distinguished  pastor, 
saying :  '  0,  sir,  I've  heard  of  the  woman's  crusade  ;  I've 
prayed  that  we  might  have  it  here,  and  I  believe  God  tells 
me  to  ask  you  to  do  something  about  it ' ;  and  as  she  wept 
the  good  man's  heart  was  stirred.    Next  day  he  announced 
a  meeting  for  his  church,  the  other  pastors  followed,  a 
week  later  the  town  was  in  a  blaze ;  a  fortnight  later 
not  a  saloon  remained.     A  human  being  is  a  wonderful 
potency,  and  can  accomplish  prodigies.     The  trouble  is, 
we  underestimate  our   powers.     Whoever  comes  along, 
shakes  us  by  the  shoulder  and  helps  us  to  believe  in  our- 
selves, does  us  an  immense  service,  almost  the  greatest. 
And  the  Woman's  Temperance  Unions  of  this  land  are 
revealing  to  hundreds  of  women  their  gifts,  and  to  hun- 
dreds more  their  possibilities.     '  The  silent  sisters,'  who 
do  not  help  with  voice  or  pen,  are  yet  as  indispensable  as 
any.     They  '  hold  up  the  prophet's  hands  ; '  they  furnish 
the  grateful  rest  beside  the  wells  of  Elim ;  their  sturdy 
good  sense  keeps   the   balance   between  real  and   ideal 
safely  adjusted ;    they  are   the   '  joy  and   song '   of  the 
talking   fraternity,  even  as    the   latter    are    their   pride 


146  NEW   AYENUES   OF   USEFULNESS. 

and  glory.  Choice  gifts  indeed  '  the  silent  sisters '  bring 
into  the  common  treasury.  Largely  from  their  wealth  or 
industry  we  gather  the  sinews  of  war.  To  their  social 
position,  and  the  prestige  of  names  they  or  their  fathers 
or  their  husbands  have  made  as  towers  of  strength,  we 
are  indebted  for  the  vantage-ground  we  hold  in  public 
estimation.  Their  homes  are  our  shelter,  their  hearts 
our  resting-places." 

"  0,  blessed  bond,  the  sweetest  that  my  life  has  known ; 
and  marvelous,  benignant  age  which  welcomes  all  of  us  to 
new  avenues  of  usefulness,  and  eloquent,  persuasive  voice 
which,  in  the  ears  of  high  and  low,  rich  and  poor,  of 
ignorant  and  taught  among  us  women,  calls  at  this  hour, 
'  The  Master  is  come  and  callethfor  thee!'  " 

Just  then  the  tea-bell  rang,  and  guest  number  one 
awoke  to  the  fact  that  in  her  enthusiasm  she  had  well- 
nigh  crossed  the  line  that  separates  a  colloquy  from  an 
oration. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

MRS.  JANE  FOWLER  WILLING. 

President  of  the  First  National  Convention — An  Earnest  Life  and 
Varied  Work— Speaker — Organizer— Teacher — Author. 

THE  life  of  aimless  reverie  must  be  replaced  by  the 
life  of  resolute  aim" — so  said  a  teacher  once, 
addressing*  her  girl  pupils.  If  I  had  chosen  to  bring 
forward  an  illustration  of  the  last  half  of  the  antithesis, 
I  could  not  have  done  better  than  to  name  the  gifted 
woman  whose  pen  and  brain  picture  I  here  present. 
Among  the  many  sagacious  observations  of  my  father, 
which  are  recorded  in  memory's  standard  edition  of 
"  Household  Words,"  is  this  :  "  If  you've  got  the  victory 
in  you,  you'll  succeed  in  life ;  that's  all.  If  it's  in,  it's 
in,  and  will  come  out,  on  the  principle  of  a  steam  engine, 
a  streak  of  lightning,  or  a  gunpowder  plot.  But  what's 
wanting — well, '  What's  wanting  can't  be  numbered.'  " 

This  is  homely  as  it  was  home-made  philosophy,  but 
all  the  same  it  hits  the  mark,  and  applies  to  the  case  in 
hand. 

Look  at  this  life  a  little  : 

Mrs.  Willing  was  born  in  Burford,  Canada  West, 
January  22,  1834.  When  she  was  eight  years  old,  her 
parents  removed  to  Illinois,  and  she  grew  up  in  the  sur- 
roundings of  country  life,  and  with  such  scanty  schooling 
as  the  Prairie  State  could  furnish  in  that  early  day. 
Even  this  was  almost  steadily  interfered  with  by  her  own 
ill  health,  and  was  abbreviated  by  her  marriage  at  the 
age  of  nineteen  years.     Few  proverbs  are  truer  than  this, 

(147) 


148  MRS.    WILLING. 

that  "blood  will  tell" — perhaps,  however,  " brains "  is 
better  for  the  initial  word.  Mrs.  Willing's  maternal 
grandfather,  Rev.  Henry  Ryan,  her  mother,  Mrs.  Horatio 
Fowler,  and  her  In-other,  Rev.  Dr.  Charles  H.  Fowler 
(recent  editor  of  the  N.  Y.  Christian  Advocate),  may  be 
mentioned  as  three  points  in  a  family  quadrilateral,  which 
she  herself  completes,  of  characters  altogether  excep- 
tional in  mental  vigor  and  in  force  of  will.  The  mother 
was,  in  native  strength  of  mind,  fully  the  peer  of  her 
father  and  her  children.  Mrs.  Willing  sketched  her 
mother's  life  in  the  Ladies'  Repository,  a  few  years  since. 
Without  teachers,  she  had  mastered  many  of  the  school's 
hardest  lessons  in  the  sciences  ;  without  travel  or  society, 
she  knew  the  world ;  in  history  she  was  a  marvel  of 
accuracy  and  research ;  and  there  was  no  great  question 
touching  human  weal,  either  in  times  past  or  present,  to 
which  she  had  not  given  eager  and  intelligent  attention. 
She  lived  lonely  and  unknown  among  our  Illinois  prairies, 
but  she  crowded  behind  that  massive  brow,  which  none 
who  saw  it  can  forget,  more  of  aspiration  and  intellectual 
achievement  than  many  who  "  ransack  the  ages,  spoil  the 
climes "  in  their  pursuit  of  knowledge,  hindered  by  no 
difficulties  which  wealth  and  opportunity  can  mitigate. 

It  counts  for  much  to  have  had  such  a  mother,  and  the 
stimulus  of  such  a  brother's  endeavor  and  achievement. 

But  all  who  know  the  Rev.  Dr.  W.  C.  Willing  will 
agree  that,  in  the  development  of  those  intellectual  gifts 
which  his  wife  has  employed  in  activities  so  helpful  to 
the  church  of  Christ,  his  influence  has  been  only  second 
to  that  of  her  own  earnest  and  unflagging  purpose. 

For  the  sake  of  womankind  in  general,  not  less  than 
from  a  sentiment  of  generous  loyalty,  we  should  be  quick 
to  recognize  such  knights  of  the  new  chivalry  as  he  has 
proved  himself  to  be.  Instead  of  setting  himself  to  stifle 
the  aspirations  of  his  wife  toward  learning,  literary  work, 


MRS.  JENNIE  F.  WILLING. 


woman's  educational  association.  151 

and  public  speaking,  he  has  delighted  in  and  steadily 
encouraged  them.  From  the  day  when,  as  a  girl  of  nine- 
teen, she  gave  to  him  the  sacred  right  to  influence,  almost 
controllingly,  her  aims  and  life,  he  has,  like  the  strong, 
brave  man  he  is,  said  to  his  wife,  "  I  have  no  greater 
pleasure  than  in  helping  you  up  to  the  level  of  your  best." 

In  spite  of  the  fortunate  circumstances  mentioned,  the 
problem  of  an  education  was  not  easy  of  solution  for  a 
young  minister's  wife,  with  home  and  church  cares  crowd- 
ing upon  her  attention,  in  a  western  village,  twenty  years 
ago.  The  record,  if  it  could  be  written,  would  be  full  of 
incentives  to  many  a  noble  girl  who  reads  these  lines.  I 
have  heard  Mrs.  Willing  tell  of  the  book  fastened  against 
the  window-sill  and  read  to  the  rhythm  of  the  flatiron,  or 
kneaded  into  the  brain  while  the  hands  were  busy  per- 
forming a  work  quite  analogous  upon  the  bread.  Elihu 
Burritt,  pounding  iron  and  ideas  at  once,  is  a  heroic 
figure.  Why  not  equally  heroic  this  quiet  woman  at  her 
kitchen  table  with  her  books  and  thoughts  ? 

Well,  something  is  pretty  sure  to  come  of  work  like 
that.  Later  on  we  find  our  friend  installed  as  Professor 
of  the  English  Language  and  Literature  in  Illinois  Wes- 
leyan  University  at  Bloomington,  an  institution  of  first 
grade.  Largely  through  her  influence  a  "  Woman's  Edu- 
cational Association  "  was  formed  in  connection  with  the 
University,  and  this  organization  has  provided  a  home 
where  cheap  board  is  furnished  for  young  women  who 
are  struggling  to  secure  a  higher  education.  We  find 
her  preparing  essays,  serials,  sermons,  and  orations  —  all 
of  them  evincing  vigor  of  thought,  in  clear-cut  forms  of 
expression,  and  abounding  in  classic,  historic,  and  scien- 
tific allusions  which  could  only  come  from  a  cultured 
intellect. 

All  the  achievements  of  her  pen  and  voice  move  along 
religious  lines.     For  surely  the  philanthropies  in  which 


152  FOUNDS   W.   F.   M.   SOC.   IN   THE   NORTHWEST. 

she  has  wrought  so  well  are  outgrowths  of  His  Gospel, 
whose  angel  heralds  announced  the  coming  of  "  peace  on 
earth,  good  will  to  men." 

In  1869  she  was  elected  one  of  the  corresponding  sec- 
retaries of  the  Woman's  Foreign  Missionary  Society  of 
the  M.  E.  Church.  This  position  she  has  filled  ever  since, 
having  care  of  the  four  States  lying  about  Chicago.  In- 
deed she  may  be  said  to  have  created  the  position  and  the 
society  in  the  States  under  her  jurisdiction,  for  her 
patient,  persistent  work  brought  order  out  of  chaos  and 
changed  apathy  to  enthusiasm.  When  the  Crusade 
sounded  its  muster-drum,  Mrs.  Willing  was  among  the 
first  to  enlist  in  the  new  army.  She  did  excellent  service 
in  Bloomington,  sandwiching  temperance  work  between 
college  recitations  and  speaking  eloquently  night  after 
night.  She  presided  at  the  preliminary  meeting  held  at 
Chautauqua  Lake  S.  S.  Assembly  in  1874,  in  which  the 
first  arrangements  were  made  for  calling  a  convention  to 
organize  our  National  W.  C.  T.  U. ;  she  issued  the  call 
for  the  Cleveland  Convention,  and  presided  over  it  in 
November  of  the  same  year.  She  was  the  first  editor  of 
our  national  paper,  and  was  for  years  President  of  the 
W.  C.  T.  U.  of  the  State  of  Illinois. 

Mrs.  Willing  is  already  well  known,  for,  aside  from  her 
writings,  she  has  delivered  sermons  and  addresses  in  most 
of  the  chief  pulpits  of  her  denomination  in  all  the  large 
cities,  both  East  and  West.  In  1873  she  was  licensed  as 
a  local  preacher  in  the  M.  E.  Church,  and  is  usually  oc- 
cupied, on  Sabbaths,  preaching  in  the  pulpits  in  or  near 
Chicago.  In  no  character  has  she  appeared  to  better 
purpose  than  as  a  minister  of  the  New  Testament.  Her 
revival  meetings  are  scenes  of  especial  power.  She  is 
also  a  somewhat  voluminous  writer,  her  latest  book  (pub- 
lished by  D.  Lothrop  &  Co.,  Boston)  being  a  strong  temper- 
ance story  entitled  "  The  Only  Way  Out."     The  others 


MORE    BEYOND. 


153 


are  "  Through  the  Dark,"  "  Diamond  Dust,"  «  Chaff  and 
Wheat,"  and   '  Rosario." 

Like  all  strong  souls,  Mrs.  Willing  has  for  her  motto 
"plus  ultra"— more  beyond.  In  car  or  steamer  she  is 
always  busy  with  book  or  pencil,  yet  keenly  observant  of 
the  lessons  best  learned  from  the  changeful  page  of 
human  life,  and  she  stands  to-day  in  the  prime  of  her 
years  and  strength.  With  rare  culture  of  manner  and  of 
utterance,  with  her  clear  brain,  steady  purpose,  and  con- 
secrated heart,  we  may  expect  even  more  of  her  future 
than  we  have  recorded  of  her  past,  As  I  think  about  her, 
the  question  asked  of  Queen  Esther  comes  to  my  memory, 
and  my  affirmative  reply  will  be  echoed  by  all  who  share 
my  information  of  her  work  : 

"  Who  knoweth  whether  thou  art  come  to  the  kingdom 
for  such  a  time  as  this  ? " 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

MRS.  EMILY  HUNTINGTON  MILLER. 

Mrs.  Emily   Huntington  Miller— Secretary  Chautauqua  preliminary 
meeting — Author,  Editor,  Home  maker. 

JUST  after  our  October  Convention,  in  1877, 1  called 
one  morning,  by  order  of  our  Publishing  Company,  at 
a  pretty  cottage  in  my  own  home  town  of  Evanston,  the 
"  classic  suburb  "  of  Chicago.  The  door  was  opened  by 
dark-eyed  Fred,  known  as  "  a  regular  mother's  boy " 
among  the  neighbors  round  about.  It  occurred  to  me,  as 
he  uttered  his  smiling  "  Good  morning,"  that  I  had  not 
seen  him  before  since  I  watched  him  proudly  acting  as 
escort  to  his  mother  when  she  started  from  our  railroad 
station  for  Chautauqua,  to  give  her  "  Home  Papers  "  before 
the  S.  S.  Assembly,  a  few  months  earlier.  Fred's  mother 
was  at  her  writing-table  in  the  sunny  cottage,  with  its 
pretty  book-cases,  charming  pictures,  most  of  them  illus- 
trative of  child-life,  its  bay-window  full  of  vines,  ferns, 
and  flowers,  and,  blending  all,  its  cheery  air  of  home. 
Busy,  as  she  always  is,  filling  varied  literary  engage- 
ments, she  readily  promised  to  comply  with  the  official 
request,  of  which  my  friend  and  I  were  bearers,  that  she 
should  "  write  for  Our  Union."  For  Emily  Huntington 
Miller  was  Secretary  of  the  meeting  held  at  Chautauqua  the 
summer  after  the  Crusade,  which  sent  out  the  "  call "  for 
a  National  Convention,  whence  resulted  the  society  of 
which  our  paper  is  the  "  official  organ."  Whoever  has 
read  her  stories — and  what  child  has  not  ? — knows  that 
she  is  a  staunch  temperance  woman. 

(154) 


/  ft    //A 


MRS.  EMILY  HUNTINGTON  MILLER 


MRS.    EMILY   HUNTIXGTON    MILLER.  157 

In  those  memorable  winter  days  when  the  Crusade  was 
everybody's  theme,  when,  in  the  university  at  Evanston, 
hundreds  of  young  men  and  women,  newly  aroused  to  in- 
terest in  what  they  had  considered  a  trite  and  hopeless 
subject,  were  debating,  orating,  and  writing  essays  on 
temperance,  the  high-water  mark  of  expression  was  not 
reached  until  Mrs.  Miller  gave  a  lecture  on  the  "  Home 
side  of  the  Question.'" 

Our  friend  was  born  in  Brooklyn,  in  1833,  and  is  a 
daughter  of  Dr.  Thomas  Huntington,  a  good  man  and  a 
rio-hteous :  and  her  mother  was  one  of  those  women 
whose  children  rise  up  and  call  her  blessed.  Her  grand- 
father, General  Jed  Huntington,  of  Revolutionary  fame, 
was  one  of  Washington's  staff  officers.  Huntington,  the 
great  artist,  is  her  cousin.  She  was  educated  at  noble 
old  Oberlin  College,  where  she  met  among  her  fellow- 
students  Mr.  John  E.  Miller  (brother  of  Lewis  Miller, 
"of  Chautauqua"),  to  whom  she  was  married  in  1859. 
This  alliance  is  one  of  the  number,  happily  increasing  in 
these  later  days,  in  which  the  blending  of  two  lives  to 
form  the  beacon-light  of  home  dims  no  ray  of  native  bril- 
liancy in  the  gentler  of  the  two.  Himself  a  man  of 
educated  tastes,  at  first  a  professor  of  ancient  languages, 
and  afterward  a  publisher  and  prominent  S.  S.  worker, 
Mr.  Miller  never  seems  so  thoroughly  well  pleased  as 
when  listening  to  an  appreciative  comment  on  his  wife's 
achievements.  They  have  had  four  children,  of  whom 
three — all  of  them  boys — are  growing  up  into  the  "whole- 
souled  "  sort  of  men  who  never  sneer  at  "  intellectual 
women."* 

"  The  Little  Corporal "  was  perhaps  the  most  vigorous 
and  attractive  literary  child  of  the  great  war.  Alfred  L. 
Sewell,  of  Evanston,  a  Chicago  publisher,  resolved  to  help 
the  Sanitary  Commission  by  getting  the  children  all  over 

*  The  recent  death  of  Mr.  Miller  removes  one  of  the  truest  friends 
of  the  W.  C.  T.  U. 


158  THE    LITTLE    CORPORAL. 

the  land  to  buy  pictures  of  "  Old  Abe,"  the  Wisconsin 
War  Eagle.  So  grandly  did  the  boys  and  girls  respond, 
not  only  purchasing  for  themselves,  but  securing  sales 
among  their  friends,  that  a  fabulous  number  of  pictures 
were  disposed  of,  and  thousands  of  dollars  were  poured 
into  the  treasury  of  the  Commission,  under  the  auspices 
of  the  magnificent  Sanitary  Fair,  conducted  by  Mrs.  Liver- 
more  and  Mrs.  Hoge.  Mr.  Sewell  resolved  to  have  a 
paper  through  which  to  communicate  with  his  army  of 
juvenile  helpers,  and  founded  The  Little  Corpora/ — the 
brightest  and  best  beloved  child's  paper  ever  seen,  except 
that  noble  Youth's  Companion,  down  to  the  epoch  of  >St. 
Nicholas  and   Wide  Awake. 

In  the  first  number  of  this  paper,  Emily  Huntington 
Miller  (already  known  to  a  large  circle  of  readers  through 
her  contributions  to  various  newspapers  and  magazines) 
began  a  juvenile  series.  This  was  the  chief  feature  of 
The  Corporal  at  the  beginning,  and  from  then  until  the 
time  when,  as  one  of  Chicago's  misfortunes  resulting  from 
the  great  fire,  the  paper  was  merged  into  the  glowing- 
splendors  of  iSt.  Nicholas,  Mrs.  Miller's  pen  was  always 
busy  brightening  its  pages.  Indeed  the  best  part  of  her 
life,  thus  far,  has  been  put  into  her  favorite  paper.  For 
ten  years  she  was  associated  with  it  editorially ;  at  first 
as  Mr.  Sewell's  associate,  and  afterwards  taking  the  entire 
supervision.  Aside  from  this  work,  Mrs.  Miller  has  con- 
tributed, with  more  or  less  regularity,  both  poetry  and 
prose  to  many  papers  and  magazines  of  the  best  class,  and 
has  written  several  juvenile  books,  Nelson  &  Phillips, 
of  New  York,  having  published  six  of  these,  "  The  Royal 
Road  to  Fortune  "  and  "  The  Kirkwood  Library."  S.  C. 
Griggs  &  Co.,  of  Chicago,  published  "  What  Tommy  Did," 
an  illustrated  story,  which  is  having  a  large  sale  ;  and  E. 
P.  Dutton  &  Co.,  of  New  York,  have  brought  out  her 
latest  story,  "Captain  Fritz."  Mrs.  Miller's  "Home 
Papers,"  given  at  Chautauqua,  are  now  in  press. 


MRS.    MILLER'S    HOME   PAPERS.  159 

Besides  her  literary  work,  Mrs.  Miller  has  prepared  and 
given,  with  great  acceptance,  lectures  on  temperance,  also 
on  missionary  and  educational  subjects.  She  is  promi- 
nently connected  with  the  Woman's  Foreign  Missionary 
Society  of  the  M.  E.  Church,  and  is  a  Trustee  of  the 
Northwestern  University  at  Evanston. 

All  objections  to  an  exceptional  career  for  women  (and 

especially  for  women  who  have  husbands,  children,  and 

homes),  find  conspicuous   refutation  in   the  fragile  yet 

indomitable,  modest  yet  independent,  loving  and  beloved, 

yet  brave  and  business-like  little  woman  whom  I  have 

here  the  honor  to  introduce.    On  one  thing  she  particularly 

prides  herself,  viz. :  her  ability  to  make  bread  and  darn 

stockings  with  any  woman  living.     But  her  husband's 

especial  pride  was  in  the  sweet  poems  that  he  often  wrote 

down  fresh  from  her  own  lips,  and  the  manly,  wholesome 

characters,  the 

"  Creatures  not  too  bright  or  good 
For  human  nature's  daily  food," 

which  she  embodies  in  her  storv  books. 

Talk  of  the  "  chivalry  "  of  ancient  days  !  Go  to,  ye 
mediaeval  ages,  and  learn  what  that  word  means.  Be- 
hold the  Christian  light  of  this  nineteenth  century,  in 
which  we  have  the  spectacle,  not  of  lances  tilted  to 
defend  "  my  lady's  "  beauty,  by  swaggering  knights  who 
could  not  write  their  names,  but  of  the  noblest  men  in  the 
world's  foremost  race,  placing  upon  the  brows  of  those 
most  dear  to  them,  above  the  wreath  of  Venus,  the  hel- 
met of  Minerva,  and  leading  into  broader  paths  of  oppor- 
tunity and  knowledge  the  fair  divinities  who  preside  over 
their  homes. 


CHAPTER  XV. 

MRS.  ANNIE  WITTENMYER. 

First  President  of  the  W.  C.  T.  U.— War  Record— Church  Work- 
Philanthropy. 

ANEW  YORK  journalist  thus  describes  the  varied 
enterprises  which  have  been  helped  forward  to 
success  by  the  gifts  and  energy  of  this  indefatigable 
Christian  worker : 

"  Mrs.  Wittenmyer's  maiden  name  was  Turner.  She 
was  born  in  Ohio,  but  her  early  home  was  Kentucky. 
Her  grandfather  was  a  graduate  of  Princeton  College, 
and  an  officer  in  the  war  of  1812.  Her  father  was  a 
native  of  the  State  of  Maryland,  her  mother  of  Kentucky, 
so  that  she  inherits  the  warm,  fervid  temperament  of  the 
South,  united  with  the  cool,  calculating  reason  of  the 
North.  She  attended,  for  several  years,  a  seminary  in 
Ohio,  where  her  education  was  carried  much  farther  than 
was  usual  for  young  ladies  at  that  time.  She  was  mar- 
ried in  her  twenty-first  year,  and  enjoyed  many  years  of 
happy  married  life.  She  was  very  prominent  in  the 
Church  in  consequence  of  religious  zeal  and  enthusiasm, 
and  also  for  her  great  activity  in  all  charitable  enter- 
prises. At  the  beginning  of  the  late  war,  Mrs.  Witten- 
myer  was  appointed  by  the  Legislature,  Sanitary  Agent 
for  the  State  of  Iowa.  Secretary  Stanton,  of  the  War 
Department,  gave  passes  for  herself  and  supplies  through 
the  army  lines,  and  a  letter  of  instruction  to  army  officers 
to  cooperate  in  her  enterprise  for  the  relief  of  the  sol- 
diers.   In  this  worthy  endeavor  she  continued  throughout 

(160) 


MRS.  A N  N I E  W I TT  E  X  M  YER. 


MRS.    ANNIE    WITTENMYER.  163 

the  entire  war,  changing  her  relation  to  it,  however,  by- 
resigning  her  position  as  Sanitary  Agent  for  Iowa  to 
enter  the  service  of  the  Christian  Commission.  Here 
she  had  the  oversight  of  two  hundred  ladies,  and  she 
developed  in  this  work  her  plan  of  special  diet  kitchens, 
to  the  great  advantage  of  the  health  of  our  soldiers.  The 
first  kitchen  was  opened  at  Nashville,  Tenn.  In  it  was 
prepared  food  for  eighteen  hundred  of  the  worst  cases  of 
sick  and  wounded  soldiers.  These  kitchens  were  super- 
intended by  the  ladies  under  her  direction.  In  this  work 
she  had  the  assistance  of  the  Surgeon-General,  Assistant 
Surgeon,  and  all  the  army  officers,  both  military  and 
medical.  General  Grant  was  a  personal  friend,  and  did 
all  in  his  power  to  facilitate  her  efforts. 

"  By  invitation  of  the  Surgeon-General,  she  met  the 
Medical  Commission  appointed  to  review  the  special  diet 
cooking  of  the  army.  The  work  of  this  commission  led 
to  a  thorough  change  in  the  hospital  cooking  of  the  army, 
which  was  lifted  to  a  grade  of  hygienic  perfection  far 
above  anything  before  known  in  military  affairs,  and 
from  which  it  is  not  likely  to  fall  again  to  the  old  stand- 
ard. It  is  simple  justice  to  add,  what  is  a  matter  of  his- 
tory in  the  United  States  Christian  Commission,  that 
these  improvements  in  the  diet  kitchens  of  the  army 
were  the  means  of  saving  thousands  of  valuable  lives, 
and  of  restoring  noble  men  to  health  and  usefulness. 

"  About  the  close  of  the  war  Mrs.  Wittenmyer  set  in 
motion  the  idea  of  a  '  Home  for  Soldiers'  Orphans,'  and 
became  herself  the  founder  of  the  institution  bearing  this 
name  in  Iowa.  It  is  not  generally  known  that  this  enter- 
prise originated  with  the  brave  woman  who  had  cared 
for  the  husbands  and  fathers  through  the  perils  of  camp 
and  hospital  life.  When  the  fact  that  such  an  institution 
was  to  be  opened  in  Iowa  was  generally  known,  hundreds 
of  soldiers'  orphans  became  the  wards  of  the  State.  By 
7 


164  HER    WORK    DURING    THE    WAR. 

request  of  the  Board  of  Managers  of  the  Iowa  Home,  she 
went  to  Washington  City,  and  obtained  from  Secretary 
Stanton  (other  departments  cooperating),  the  beautiful 
barracks  at  Davenport,  which  cost  the  Government  forty- 
six  thousand  dollars,  and  hospital  supplies  amounting  to 
five  or  six  thousand  more,  subject  to  the  approval  of  Con- 
gress, which  was  afterwards  obtained.  The  institution 
thus  founded  and  equipped,  has  accommodated  over  five 
hundred  children  at  one  time,  and  it  still  maintains  in  a 
flourishing  condition  under  the  care  of  the  State. 

"  Mrs.  Wittenmyer  next  conceived  the  idea  that  the 
vast  amount  of  talent  and  energy  brought  into  activity  by 
the  philanthropies  of  the  war  should  be  maintained  on  a 
Christian  basis  in  the  Church.  Bishop  Simpson,  always 
ready  to  aid  in  any  movement  promising  greater  useful- 
ness for  women,  entered  heartily  into  the  plan,  and  the 
Methodist  Church  established  a  Home  Missionary  Society 
of  women,  organized  for  the  express  purpose  of  minister- 
ing to  the  temporal  and  spiritual  needs  of  strangers 
and  the  poor.  This  organization  was  made  a  General  Con- 
ference Society  at  the  session  of  1871,  and  Mrs.  Witten- 
myer was  elected  its  Corresponding  Secretary.  During 
the  year  1876,  over  fifty  thousand  families  were  visited 
under  its  auspices. 

"  At  the  commencement  of  this  new  work  Mrs.  Witten- 
myer removed  to  Philadelphia  and  founded  her  paper 
known  as  The  Christian  Woman,  an  individual  enterprise 
which  proved  exceptionally  successful.  More  recently 
she  established  a  juvenile  paper  called  The  Christian 
Child.  In  addition  to  this  large  publishing  work,  she 
carried  forward  all  the  enterprises  of  the  society  above 
described  and  known  as  '  The  Ladies'  and  Pastors'  Chris- 
tian Union,'  traveling  in  its  interest  thousands  of  miles, 
and  speaking  in  every  State  from  Maine  to  California. 

"  When,  as  an  outgrowth  of  the  Crusade,  the  temperance 


woman's  temperance  camp-meeting.  165 

women  met  in  'heir  first  national  convention,  after  Mrs. 
Lcavitt  (-Leader  of  the  43')  had  declined  the  presi- 
dency to  which  she  had  been  chosen,  Mrs.  Wittenmyer 
was  elected  to  that  post.  She  wrought  earnestly  for  the 
society  in  all  its  earlier  years.  Twenty-three  States  were 
organized  as  auxiliary  to  the  National  Union,  and  a  paper 
founded  as  its  organ.  Mrs.  Wittenmyer  also  labored  tire- 
lessly in  the  lecture  field,  speaking  sometimes  six  even- 
ings in  the  week,  besides  traveling  hundreds  of  miles. 
She  attended  all  the  large  conventions,  of  which  forty-six 
were  held  in  1875.  At  the  second  annual  meeting  of  the 
National  Woman's  Christian  Temperance  Union,  held  in 
Cincinnati,  November,  1875,  she  presided  with  marked 
ability,  and  was  re-elected  president  for  the  Centennial 
year  by  a  unanimous  vote  of  the  delegates. 

"  One  of  the  most  notable  acts  which  characterized  her 
administration  was  the  presentation  to  Congress  (in  Feb- 
ruary, 1875)  of  a  huge  petition  on  behalf  of  our  local, 
State,  and  National  unions,  asking  for  the  prohibition  of 
the  liquor  traffic, -on  which  occasion  a  'hearing'  was 
granted  by  the  Congressional  judiciary  committee.  An- 
other act  even  more  important  was  the  sending  of  a  let- 
ter of  inquiry  to  the  International  Medical  Association, 
which  met  in  Philadelphia  in  the  summer  of  the  Centen- 
nial year.  This  led  to  another  hearing  before  a  commit- 
tee of  celebrated  physicians  of  Europe  and  our  own 
country,  and  resulted  in  the  well-known  '  Resolutions,' 
expressive  of  the  most  important  medical  opinion  agiinst 
intoxicants  on  record,  when  we  consider  the  representa- 
tive character  of  those  who  gave  it.  Still  another  official 
act  was  the  holding  of  the  first  '  Woman's  National 
Camp-Meeting'  at  Ocean  Grove,  which,  conducted  wholly 
and  addressed  largely  by  women,  commanded  the  earnest 
attention  of  the  thousands  present  to  the  close,  and  was 
equally  remarkable  for  spiritual  and  intellectual  power. 


166  "a  woman's  woman." 

We  believe  the  first  woman's  camp-meeting  on  record 
was  held  in  Iowa  the  previous  year,  and  it  was  quite  in 
keeping  that  one  whose  public  work  began  in  that  noble 
young  State  should  have  conducted  the  first  east  of  the 
Alleghanies. 

"  At  the  annual  meeting  in  Newark,  1876,  Mrs.  W.  was 
elected  a  third  time  to  the  chief  office  in  the  gift  of  the 
temperance  women  of  America,  and  by  a  unanimous 
vote. 

"  It  was  a  pleasant  sight  to  see  Mrs.  W.  in  her  cheery 
Philadelphia  home,  with  her  efficient  secretary,  Miss  Mer- 
chant, and  her  exemplary  son,  Charlie,  around  her,  all  of 
them  blithe  and  busy  as  so  many  bees.  In  addition  to 
the  care  of  her  two  papers  and  the  duties  of  her  office  as 
president,  this  ceaseless  worker  has  written  several  books, 
among  them  a  '  History  of  the  Woman's  Temperance  Cru- 
sade.' For  three  years  past  she  has  been  chiefly  engaged 
in  Pennsylvania,  doing  excellent  service  in  the  great  cause 
of  constitutional  prohibition. 

■"  Mrs.  Wittenmyer  is  devoted  to  the  advancement  of 
her  sex  in  usefulness  and  opportunity.  First,  last,  and  al- 
ways she  is  '  a  woman's  woman.'  Her  editorials  '  cry 
and  spare  not'  against  the  tyranny  of  prejudice  and  cus- 
tom. She  tilts  a  free  lance,  and  deals  blows  worthy  of  a 
more  stalwart  arm.  'The  See  Trial'  ('none  so  blind 
as  those  who  won't  see')  was  the  occasion  of  several 
cogent  arguments  from  her  pen,  to  prove  that  women 
'have  a  right  to  preach  or  speak  in  the  pulpit,'  and  she 
once  added  to  the  larger  of  the  two  editions  of  her  paper 
a  department  headed  '  Pulpit  of  The  Christian  Woman,' 
in  which  a  '  sermon '  appeared  monthly  from  the  pen  of 
some  member  of  the  rapidly-growing  sisterhood  of  evan- 
gelists. 

"  The  Crusade  spirit  abides  with  Mrs.  Wittenmyer  ;  the 
gospel  work  is  her  delight,  and  her  hymn  of  '  Victory/ 


CRUSADE   HYMN.  167 

written  for  the  convention  at  Newark,  embodies  her 
declaration  of  faith  as  a  temperance  reformer.  The  first 
verse  of  this  hymn  forms  a  fitting  close  to  this  sketch : 

"  The  Lord  is  our  refuge  and  strength, 
His  promises  never  can  fail ; 
"We've  learned  the  sweet  lesson  at  length, 
His  grace  over  sin  can  prevail. 

"In  the  sweet  by  and  by, 

We'll  conquer  the  demon  of  rum;  . 
In  the  sweet  by  and  by 
The  kingdom  of  heaven  will  come." 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

MRS.  MARY  T.  BURT. 

Second  Corresponding  Secretary  of  National  W.  C.  T.  U. — An  Episco- 
palian— Editor  of  "  Our  Union" — President  of  New  York  State  W. 
C.  T.  U. 

[This  gifted  woman  was  one  of  the  secretaries  of  our 
first  National  Convention,  and  has  since  borne  a  part  so 
prominent  in  the  work  that  a  sketch  of  her  comes  in 
appropriately  here.] 

MARY  TOWNE  BURT,  the  daughter  of  a  gentleman 
of  English  birth  who  was  educated  for  the  Episco- 
pal ministry,  is  claimed  as  a  daughter  of  the  Queen  City — 
Cincinnati.  Her  father  died  when  she  was  four  years  of 
age,  on  his  return  voyage  from  his  native  shores,  which  he 
had  visited  on  business.  Upon  the  widowed  mother  then 
devolved  the  trust  of  rearing  the  children,  of  whom  there 
were  three — a  daughter  older  than  Mary  (now  Mrs.  Pom- 
eroy,  a  member  of  the  W.  C.  T.  U.  of  Chicago),  and  a 
son  younger.  No  stronger  proof  of  this  mother's  fitness 
for  and  fidelity  to  her  trust  is  needed  than  the  fact  that 
they  arise  and  call  her  blessed,  and  her  affectionate  testi- 
mony to  their  ever-watchful  tenderness  for  her  comfort. 
She  removed  to  Auburn,  N.  Y.,  when  Mary  was  twelve. 
Until  sixteen  the  young  girl,  all  unconscious  of  the  pow- 
ers within,  yet  a  faithful  student,  attended  the  public 
schools  of  Auburn.  She  then  became  a  pupil  of  Professor 
M.  L.  Browne,  at  the  Auburn  Young  Ladies'  Institute. 
Here  her  talents  made  her  an  especial  favorite,  and  Pro- 
fessor Browne  offered  her  every  facility  if   she  would 

(168) 


MRS.  MARY  T.  BURT. 


AROUSED  BY  THE  CRUSADE.  171 

remain  with  him,  but  this  was  not  practicable.  Her 
home  at  this  time  was  with  her  uncle,  John  T.  Baker, 
who,  with  his  wife,  regarded  the  young  girl,  now  just  on 
the  threshold  of  womanhood,  with  warm  affection. 

Four  vears  after  leaving  school  she  married  Edward 
Burt,  son  of  one  of  Auburn's  oldest  and  most  honored 
residents.  Soon  after  this  she  was  confirmed  a  member 
of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  by  the  venerable 
Bishop  Coxe. 

For  a  long  time  she  was  much  withdrawn  from  society 
by  frail  health,  and  learned  in  the  solitude  of  her  cham- 
ber and  under  the  loving  hand  of  her  Father  the  lessons 
which  can  only  be  learned  thus,  but  which  polish  and 
perfect  heart  and  mind.  Her  husband's  health  also  fail- 
ing, in  1872  they  spent  three  delightful  months  at  Nassau, 
and,  beside  the  present  enjoyment,  reaped  lasting  benefit 
in  strength  and  vigor. 

When  the  Crusade  swrept  over  the  land,  it  aroused  Mrs. 
Burt,  as  it  did  the  thousands.  She  engaged  the  Opera 
House  and  delivered  a  lecture  on  temperance,  March  24, 
1874,  before  a  most  cultured  and  refined  audience,  Pro- 
fessor Browne,  her  former  instructor,  presiding.  Tem- 
perance was  no  new  thought  to  her;  her  father  and 
mother  were  both  strong  advocates,  and  the  principles 
had  been  instilled  into  her  earliest  training.  Her  mother 
(now  residing  with  her)  gives  her  fullest  sympathy  to  all 
her  present  work.  In  Auburn  a  W.  C.  T.  U.  was  organ- 
ized and  Mrs.  Burt  elected  President,  which  position  she 
held  two  years.  When  the  women  were  called  to  a  na- 
tional council  in  Cleveland,  0.,  in  the  autumn  of  1874, 
Mrs.  Burt  was  made  one  of  the  Secretaries,  thus  coming 
to  the  front  in  the  National  Union  at  its  inception.  Dur- 
ing the  winter  of  1875,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Burt  removed  to 
Brooklyn,  and  in  the  fall  of  1876,  at  the  Newark  Conven- 
tion, she  was  made  a  member  of  the  publishing  committee 


172  SHE    EDITS    "  OUR    UNION." 

of  Our  Union,  and  elected  its  publisher.  In  thus  taking 
charge  of  an  enterprise  very  dear  to  her,  her  success 
proved  her  abundant  qualification  for  the  arduous  service. 
The  paper  had  been  started;  was  almost  an  experiment; 
had  no  capital  but  the  love  and  faith  of  the  W.  C.  T.  U., 
and  was  largely  in  debt.  She  took  hold  of  her  new  task 
with  energy  and  vigor,  enlarged  and  improved  the  paper 
in  many  ways,  pushed  its  interests  with  the  intensity  of 
personal  love ;  and  during  the  subsequent  year  its  sub- 
scription list  was  nearly  doubled.  Her  work  on  our  paper 
can  best  speak  for  itself  to  the  thousands  who  know  its 
results.  The  next  year  Mrs.  Burt  assumed  the  position 
of  managing  editor,  and  here  still  further  endeared  herself 
to  the  constituency  of  our  W.  C.  T.  U.  At  the  same  time 
they  were  becoming  better  acquainted  with  her  personally, 
for  she  had  been  elected  Corresponding  Secretary  at  the 
Chicago  Convention,  the  duties  of  which  position  she 
filled  during  two  years. 

Severe  afflictions  have  been  hers,  the  loss  of  a  gifted 
and  only  brother  being  among  them.  But  with  a  win- 
some patience  she  has  borne  every  cross,  endearing  her- 
self greatly  to  our  sisterhood  of  workers  by  her  attractive 
manners  and  sincerity  of  spirit.  Cautious  in  counsel, 
and  gifted  in  utterance,  Mrs.  Burt  is  a  rare  favorite  in 
State  and  nation.  She  is  President  of  the  State  W.  C. 
T.  U.  of  New  York,  and  actively  engaged  in  building  up 
the  work  at  large,  as  well  as  in  her  Brooklyn  home. 

DEFINITION  ESS    OP   RESULTS    TO    BE    EXPECTED. 

Does  any  definite,  permanent  result  ever  come  of  this  restless  agita 
tion,  this  endless  scries  of  meetings,  these  perpetual  prayers,  these 
hundreds  of  Bands  of  Hope,  the  tons  of  Temperance  tracts,  in  short, 
this  ferment  extending  from  one  end  of  our  country  to  the  other? 

We  answer  boldly,  Yes!  A  result  is  coming,  more  definite,  more 
permanent,  more  clearly  within  measurable  limits,  than  could  be 
hoped  for  in  any  other  moral   reform  now  in  progress.      And  we 


AN    ILLUSTRATION.  173 

believe  that  the  responsibility  for  this  work,  and  the  credit  of  its  final 
assured  success,  depends  mainly  upon  the  women  of  America  as  they 
shall  be  led  onward  by  their  sisters  of  the  National  W.  C.  T.  U. 

Whatever  of  supposed  enjoyment  comes  from  pleasures  which  are 
outside  the  moral  law,  falls  mainly  to  the  share  of  the  men,  while  the 
dreadful  penalties  must  be  borne  mainly  by  the  women;  and  most  of 
all  by  the  good  and  innocent  women.  The  drinking  man  has  a  tem- 
porary respite  from  care  and  sorrow  in  the  cup,  which  is  unshared 
by  the  wife  and  daughter  who  are  starving  or  pining  at  home.  The 
disgrace  and  penalty  of  social  transgressions  are  comparatively 
unshared  by  the  man  in  the  world's  estimation.  Not  only  the  finer 
moral  nature  of  woman,  but  even  her  self-interest  also,  are  both 
involved  in  sobriety  and  chastity. 

To  the  women  of  America,  therefore,  we  look  for  the  complete 
reformation  of  the  drinking  habits  of  our  country;  and  happily  we 
do  not  look  in  vain. 

An  illustration  is  often  better  than  an  argument,  and  we  give  one 
of  many  in  the  history  of  the  town  of  Millville,  N.  J.,  a  place  of  about 
ten  thousand  inhabitants,  calling  attention  to  the  painful  past  of  its 
history,  its  comfortable  present,  and  its  hopeful  future,  in  connection 
with  the  work  of  the  Woman's  Christian  Temperance  Union  there. 

Its  principal  interests  are  the  manufacture  of  glass,  and  an  iron 
foundry.  A  generation  ago  it  was  conspicuous  for  its  immorality, 
resulting  from  the  almost  universal  use  of  liquor.  The  whisky 
flasks  were  carried  even  into  the  workshops  and  freely  used  there. 
The  writer  remembers  when  it  was  not  always  considered  safe,  during 
times  of  agitation  on  the  wages  question,  for  the  Philadelphia  pro- 
prietors to  visit  their  own  factories.  Many  of  the  men  were  brutal, 
their  wives  wretched,  their  children  ragged. 

The  churches  had  done  all  they  could  to  stem  the  ever  increasing 
tide  of  evil,  but  seemed  powerless  beyond  a  certain  point.  Temper- 
ance societies  of  men  alone  made  noble  efforts,  but  the  evil  remained 
unchecked. 

At  last  the  women  were  roused.  The  future  of  their  brothers,  their 
husbands,  their  sons,  and  of  their  daughters  also,  from  whom  they 
longed  to  avert  the  suffering  many  of  themselves  had  borne,  was  all 
at  stake.  Enthusiastically,  yet  wisely  and  prudently,  they  used  their 
influence  for  the  abolition  of  the  seductive  snares  spread  for  those 
they  loved.  They  talked,  they  prayed,  they  worked,  and  gradually 
public  Bentiment  changed,  until  the  question  of  whether  or  not  the 
liquor  traffic  should  be  licensed  in  Millville  became  the  principal 
issue  in  all  the  local  elections. 

The  women  could  not  vote,  but  they  could  influence  the  voters,  and 
they  did  it  faithfully  and  vigorously.     At  one  time,  when  the  strength 


174  A    SPIRITED    LADY. 

of  the  two  parties  was  nearly  balanced,  and  in  the  town  council  a 
butcher  held  the  deciding  vote  as  to  licensing,  the  women  went  to 
him  and  told  him  if  he  should  cast  his  vote  in  favor  of  license,  they 
would  never  again  purchase  any  meat  of  him.  In  consequence  of 
their  remonstrances  he  withheld  his  vote,  and  the  licenses  were 
refused. 

Another  year  the  three  hotels  of  the  town  announced  that  they 
could  not  afford  to  keep  open  if  they  were  not  allowed  to  sell  liquor, 
and  they  all  joined  to  refuse  accommodation  to  travelers.  This  was 
met  by  a  spirited  lady  who  had  the  largest  house  in  the  town,  and 
who  opened  her  comfortable  home  to  travelers,  thus  showing  the 
hotels  that  they  were  not  indispensable.  Two  were  turned  into 
boarding-houses,  and  the  third  is  now  a  well-ordered  Temperance 
hotel. 

The  women  held  meetings,  paid  private  visits,  distributed  litera- 
ture, brought  attractive  lecturers  to  the  town,  and  worked  in  every 
way,  both  publicly  and  privately,  to  abolish  the  evil  traffic.  And  for 
ten  years  now  there  has  not  been  a  single  licensed  place  in  Millville  to 
tempt  its  inhabitants  to  drink,  nor  a  single  man  whose  business  it  was 
to  draw  young  men  from  their  homes,  and  to  enrich  themselves  at  the 
cost  of  the  demoralization  of  their  fellow-men  and  the  misery  of  their 
neighbors'  families. 

Instead  of  three  taverns,  the  town  now  has  three  music  stores. 
Instead  of  thousands  of  dollars  squandered  in  the  fiery  stimulants  for 
the  men,  six  thousand  dollars  are  now  annually  spent  in  cottage 
organs  for  their  homes.  The  drunkards'  wives  who  used  to  cower 
and  suffer,  now  rejoice.  The  daughters  are  sent  to  school ;  the  chil- 
dren are  well  fed  and  well  clothed ;  and  it  would  be  hard  to  find  any- 
where a  more  prosperous  or  happier  manufacturing  community. 

The  question  of  license  or  no  license  was  for  many  years  stoutly 
contested  at  the  polls,  but  the  influence  of  the  women  has  finally 
triumphed,  and  the  question  has  ceased  even  to  come  up  before  the 
nominating  conventions,  so  nearly  unanimous  has  become  the  senti- 
ment of  the  people.  Even  those  who  once  were  addicted  to  drink  are 
thankful  now  to  have  a  temptation  which  they  are  too  weak  to  resist 
removed  from  them,  and  join  in  the  prohibition  vote. 

With  the  removal  of  the  drinking  places  of  resort,  however,  a  need 
arose  of  a  place  of  innocent  recreation  for  the  many  young  workmen 
who  were  boarding,  and  consequently  had  no  comfortable  place  in 
which  to  spend  their  evenings.  The  W.  C.  T.  U.  met  this  want 
partly  by  securing  a  pleasant  room  where  the  boys  of  the  town  were 
entertained  nightly  with  books  and  music  and  pleasant  company. 
This  proved  so  successful  that  a  larger  enterprise  was  set  on  foot,  and 
within  the  last  year  there  has  been  erected,  at  an  expense  of  nearly 


MELVILLE   MECHANIC'S  INSTITUTE.  175 

twenty -five  thousand  dollars,  mainly  supplied  by  the  worknieD  of  the 
town,  the  Millville  Mechanics3  Institute,  a  substantial,  elegant  struc- 
ture, fifty  by  sixty  feet  It  contains  a  large  gymnasium,  used  for  the 
present  as  a  skating  rink;  baths,  which  are  patronized  by  hundreds; 
an  elegantly  furnished  library  and  reading-room,  opened  in  the  after- 
noons to  ladies,  and  drawing  several  hundred  young  men  in  the 
evenings  weekly;  a  newspaper  and  amusement  room,  where  about 
three  hundred  men  every  evening  read  the  papers  and  play  innocent 
games  of  skill;  a  large  auditorium,  holding  about  seven  hundred 
teats,  which  by  the  constitution  of  the  Institute  is  given  free  of  charge 
to  the  W.  C.  T.  U.  forever;  and  several  class  rooms  which  are  in  con- 
stant use  for  adult  evening  classes,  some  of  whom  are  for  the  first 
time  learning  to  read.  Two  acres  of  ground,  fronting  on  the  beautiful 
Maurice  river,  are  appropriated  to  tennis,  croquet,  base  ball,  and 
other  out-door  games. 

From  a  definite  past  involving  much  of  sorrow  and  degradation, 
Millville  has  advanced  to  a  definite  present  of  comparative  virtue  and 
elevation,  and  looks  forward  to  a  definite  future  of  still  greater  devel- 
opment in  virtue  and  intelligence. 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

WOMAN'S  CHRISTIAN  TEMPERANCE  UNION  WORK  FOR 

THE  INDIVIDUAL. 

Gospel  Temperance,  or  the  Light  of  Christ  shining  in  the  circle  of  one 
heart — "  The  Lord  looseth  the  prisoners  " — A  reformed  man's  speech 
— Woman's  Christian  Temperance  Union  work  in  the  Church  uni- 
versal— Its  wholly  unsectarian  character — "Let  her  not  take  a  text " 
—Our  Evangelists— Mrs.  S.  M.  I.  Henry— "The  Name"— Mrs.  Han- 
nah Whitall  Smith— "How  to  prepare  Bible  Readings  "—Mrs.  Mary 
T.  Lathrop— Miss  Jennie  Smith— The  Indian  Chief  Petosky— The 
first  temperance  Camp-meeting— Alcohol  at  the  Communion  Table — 
How  one  woman  helped— That  fossil  prayer-meeting— Woman's 
Christian  Temperance  Union  Training  School— "  The  Master  is 
come  and  calleth  for  thee." 

4 '  nn  HE  Lord  looseth  the  prisoners."  This  was  the  first 
1  message  of  the  Woman's  Temperance  Crusade. 
The  Bible  was  read  in  ten  thousand  haunts  of  sin ;  "  the 
Rock  of  Ages  women,"  as  saloon-keepers  began  to  call  them, 
pointed  the  men  enslaved  by  drink  to  the  Gospel  declara- 
tion :  "  If  the  Son  shall  make  you  free,  you  shall  be  free 
indeed."  Never  before  had  this  message  of  hope  been 
carried  straight  from  the  church  to  the  dram-shop  and  its 
deluded  votaries.  The  church-bells  had  said  "  Come,"  to 
souls  possessed  of  sin,  but  now  their  daily  chimes  said 
"Go,"  to  saints  enlightened  by  the  Holy  Spirit.  The 
mountain  had  not  come  to  Mahomet,  and  at  last  Mahomet 
went  to  the  mountain.  "  How  can  we  reach  the  masses  ?" 
had  long  been  the  question.  "  By  going  where  they  are," 
was  now  the  answer — not  in  empty  words  and  paralytic 
theories,  but  vital,  glowing  deeds.  To  get  the  flask  out  of 
a  man's  side  pocket  was  not  enough  :  the  New  Testament 

(176) 


"let's  make  common  cause."  177 

must  be  placed  there  in  its  stead.  The  pledge  was  good, 
but  men  must  have,  as  a  drinking  man  has  said,  "  The  Lord 
behind  the  pledge."  Attendance  at  church  increased  one 
hundred  per  cent,  during  the  fifty  days  of  that  Crusade 
which  routed  the  liquor  traffic, "  horse,  foot,  and  dragoons," 
out  of  two  hundred  and  fifty  towns  and  villages.  "  What 
must  we  do  to  be  saved  from  our  sin  ?"  "  Sirs,  we  would 
see  Jesus?"  were  questions  which  pastors'  hearts  had  ached 
to  hear.  Thank  God !  on  every  side  they  heard  them  now ! 
In  general  terms,  the  invitation  of  the  women  who 
went  to  saloons  and  returned  to  the  church,  followed  by 
hundreds  of  penitent  drunkards,  was  this:  "Brother: 
You  are  not  a  sinner  above  all  the  Galileans,  though 
down  on  you  has  tumbled  the  tower  of  public  disgrace 
and  shame.  It  is  true  you  have  that  very  inconvenient 
sort  of  sin  that  cannot  be  covered  away  out  of  sight.  It 
advertises  you  by  the  breath  which  poisons  all  the  air 
about  you;  it  advertises  you  by  the  zig-zag  steps  you 
make  along  the  street,  so  that  he  who  runs  may  read ;  it 
advertises  vou  bv  the  trademark  of  the  drink  demon 
stamped  upon  your  cheek,  so  that  even  little  children 
know.  But  what  if  the  demon  of  envy,  malice,  or  pride; 
of  ambition,  greed,  or  appetite  in  other  forms  should  set 
his  mark  upon  the  faces  of  us  all  —  would  any  cheek  be 
fair?  Nay,  verily;  not  one,  except  as  Christ  has  lifted 
us  above  the  level  of  the  self  that  was,  into  the  victory 
over  sin.  And  so,  because  He  has  thus  helped  us,  we 
have  come  to  tell  thee,  brother.  "We  have  brought  with 
us  the  Declaration  of  Independence— our  total  abstinence 
pledge — and  we  ask  thy  name.  But  we  would  not  single 
thee  out,  like  a  specimen  in  a  museum  to  be  labeled  and 
certified  and  set  up  to  be  gazed  upon ;  we  would  not  treat 
thee  like  a  black  sheep  in  this  great,  good-natured  flock. 
No,  not  at  all !  You  take  the  pledge — we'll  take  it  too  ; 
you  wear  the  badge  of  ribbon,  blue  or  red — we'll  wear  it 


178  "THE    HORIZONTAL    PALM." 

too,  and  we  will  make  that  pledge  and  badge,  not  on  your 
part  the  confession  of  past  degradation,  but  on  the  part  of 
all  of  us  the  kindly  bond  of  a  present  brotherhood  and 
sisterhood." 

Going  to  the  drinking  class  in  such  a  spirit,  what  won- 
der that,  though  we  had  been  told  "  their  hearts  were 
hard,"  we  found  they  could  be  cleft  in  twain  by  the 
sledge-hammer  blow  of  the  kind  word  and  helpful  deed. 
It  is  one  thing  to  reach  down,  but  quite  another  and  a 
better  to  extend  what  Elihu  Burritt  used  to  call  "  the 
horizontal  palm."  The  women  had  no  theory  about  "the 
removal  of  the  appetite  for  drink,"  any  more  than  for 
other  miracles  of  grace.  Nobody  has  ever  claimed  that 
the  lions  failed  to  attack  Daniel  in  the  den  because  their 
teeth  had  been  extracted,  nor  did  the  Crusaders  stop  to 
query  whether  a  diseased  stomach  was  miraculously 
restored — and  if  they  had,  it  is  quite  likely  they  would 
not  have  claimed  any  such  physiological  miracle.  But 
the  fact  remained  that  men  who  had  been  drinking  forty 
years  left  off  their  cups  and  have  never  touched  them 
since.  "  The  expulsive  power  of  a  new  affection,"  Horace 
Bushnell  would  have  called  it,  and  perhaps  with  truth. 
The  rationale  is  not  so  vital  as  the  result.  Peter  did  not 
find  the  waves  turned  to  a  solid  path  for  his  feet,  and  yet 
he  walked  upon  them  safely  just  so  long  as  he  looked 
into  Christ's  face.  It  is  just  so  with  the  soul.  Faith 
forms  the  nexus  with  God's  power,  and  faith  alone.  It 
is  absolute  truth  in  spiritual  dynamics  that  "  Prayer 
ivill  cause  a  man  to  cease  from  sinning,  even  as  sin  ivill 
cause  a  man  to  cease  from  prayer." 

Glorious  were  the  trophies  of  the  Crusade  along  the 
line  of  faith  and  prayer.  Many  and  delightful  are  the 
books  in  which  their  memory  is  embalmed.  Heroic  are 
the  figures  that  make  up  the  reformed  men's  group. 
Francis  Murphy,  the  typical  irishman,  stands  there,  a 


DARE    TO    DO    RIGHT.  179 

royal  and  brotherly  heart,  saved  "  by  the  kind  touch  of  a 
Christian's  hand,"  and  going  forth  to  his  glorious  mission 
on  both  sides  of  the  sea,  "  with  malice  toward  none  and 
charity  for  all."  Hundreds  of  thousands  have  risen  up 
from  the  ashes  of  dead  hopes  to  clasp  that  strong  hand 
as  Brother  .Murphy  cried  in  earnest  tones:  "Come  and 
sign  the  pledge,  while  we  sing  '  I  hear  Thy  gentle  voice 
that  calls  me,  Lord,  to  Thee.' "  Dr.  Henry  A.  Reynolds, 
the  Harvard  graduate  and  gallant  Knight  of  the  Red  Rib- 
bon, stands  there,  proudly  confessing,  "I  attribute  my 
salvation  from  a  drunkard's  grave  to  the  "Woman's  Tem- 
perance Crusade  of  Bangor,"  and  with  his  gentle  wife 
journeys  both  east  and  west,  organizing  Reform  Clubs 
dedicated  to  his  manly  motto,  "  Dare  to  do  Right,"  and 
rallying  the  manhood  of  Michigan  behind  him,  five 
hundred  thousand  strong.  J.  K.  Osgood,  founder  of  the 
fust  reform  club,  is  a  dignified,  pathetic  figure  in  this 
group,  and  in  every  State  we  count  as  the  most  loyal 
friends  of  woman's  work  the  men  who  themselves  have 
borne,  and  labored,  and  had  patience,  not  only  in  the 
mighty  work  of  personal  reform,  but  in  the  Christ-like 
effort  to  help  others  into  "  the  victory  that  overcometh, 
even  our  faith."  Some  sketches  of  this  Gospel  temper- 
ance work,  by  which  the  heart-circle  is  filled  with  light, 
will  now  be  given. 

A    REFORMED     MAN'S    SPEECH A    VOICE     FROM     THE    RANKS. 

We  live  in  an  age  in  which  a  suspicion,  at  least,  has 
lodged  itself  in  the  average  mind,  that  the  secret  of  a 
happy  life  is  somehow  mixed  up  with  the  practice  of 
"  going  about  doing  good."  True,  it  has  taken  many  gen- 
erations for  the  "enthusiasm  of  humanity,"  that  blessed 
wave  the  flow  of  which  began  at  the  foot  of  Calvary's 
cross,  to  rise  so  high  that  it  threatens  to  submerge  all 
other  ideals  of  the  good  supreme.     But,  none  the  less, 


180  ROUGH    AND    READY. 

"  it's  coming  up  the  heights  of  time,"  and  in  the  sparkle 
of  its  foaming  crest, 

"This  poor  old  world  is  getting  brighter." 

Almost  every  minister,  evangelist,  and  "  without  leave  or 
license  "  preacher  of  the  time,  from  Dr.  John  Hall  and 
Dwight  L.  Moody  down  to  the  humblest  itinerant  cru- 
sader, has  for  the  burden  of  a  speech  to  which  the  common 
people  listen  gladly,  this  notion,  stated  in  incomparable 
language  by  the  Master :  "  It  is  more  blessed  to  give  than 
to  receive  !"  It  is  good  for  us  to  hear  "  that  same  "  from 
the  ranks  of  those  who,  in  the  Master's  day,  were  called 
"  the  publicans  and  sinners."  Theirs  is  a  different  point  of 
view,  and  science  teaches  that  a  fresh  angle  of  vision  often 
helps  to  greater  vividness  of  sight.  Journeying  about 
through  the  New  England  States  in  the  interest  of  our 
dear  "  National,"  I  have  listened  to  scores  of  admirable 
speeches  for  "  the  cause."  Among  them  all,  however, 
none  has  impressed  me  quite  so  much  as  the  following, 
by  a  reformed  man  at  Old  Orchard  Beach,  where  we  had 
one  of  the  grandest  temperance  camp-meetings  on  record. 
He  was  a  "  rough-and-ready  "  sort  of  fellow,  this  premium 
orator  of  mine ;  short,  stout,  and  ruddy-faced,  with  sign- 
post gestures,  steady,  earnest  voice,  and  the  "  chopping," 
Yankee  style  of  articulation.  He  didn't  mince  matters  a 
bit,  but  when  he  was  called  came  sturdily  forward,  and 
talked  on  this  fashion  : 

"  I  shan't  speak  mor'n  three  minutes.  Can  tell  all  I 
know  inside  o'  that.  Yonder  sets  Dr.  Reynolds  of  Ban- 
gor, who  goes  about  and  gets  up  reformed  men's  clubs. 
I  want  you  all  to  look  at  him.  Wal,  I  picked  up  a  paper 
on  my  work-bench,  and  I  read  one  o'  that  man's  temper- 
ance speeches.  Nothin'  so  dreadful  remarkable  in  it,  to 
be  sure,  but  I  tell  ye,  with  me,  it  just  happened  to  strike  in. 
I'm  but  an  unlearned  fellow,  as  you  see  —  a  carpenter  by 


MAKES    A    TELLING    SPEECH.  181 

trade — a  drunkard,  too,  by  trade,  for  twenty  years.  Wal, 
now,  will  you  believe  it  ?  I've  lived  in  a  nice  town  here  in 
Maine  all  that  time,  and  I'm  a  white  man  and  a  Yankee 
to  boot,  and  in  all  these  twenty  years  never  a  minister 
or  a  Christian  of  any  sort  ever  came  near  enough*  to  me 
to  tell  me  I  was  goin'  to  hell.  Never  one  of  'em,  man, 
woman,  or  child,  ever  opened  their  heads  to  me  about  my 
sins  or  my  soul.  They  preached  well  and  they  prayed 
well,  and  they  sang  first-rate,  up  at  the  meetin'-house. 
.Sometimes  I  used  to  hear  'em  as  I  went  by  to  where  I 
got  my  liquor.  But  I  never  went  to  nieetin'  in  all  them 
years.  Ye  see,  I  didn't  want  to  go,  and  I  hadn't  decent 
enough  clothes  anyway,  and,  besides,  nobody  ever  asked 
me  ;  but  I  wasn't  such  a  hard  fellow  after  all,  for,  as  I 
tell  you,  this  little  speech  of  the  doctor  over  there — God 
bless  him ! — telling  how  he  had  reformed,  and  how  bad 
he  wanted  everybody  else  to  do  the  same — it  just  whirled 
me  right  round  on  my  heels,  and  I've  been  walkin'  away 
from  the  beer  mug  ever  since. 

"  Now  jist  a  word  of  what  you  good  folks  call  exhortin'. 
There's  lots  o'  men  like  me  that  ye  could  save  by  only 
half  tryin'.  Why  didn't  ye  never  come  to  my  house  all 
them  years  ?  now,  why  didn't  ye  ?  That's  a  big  question  ! 
I  aint  a  blamin'  nobody.  The  ministers  they've  got  their 
hands  full  a  studyin'  their  sermons  ;  bnt  why  didn't  some 
o'  the  high  privates  come,  or  the  reg'lar  rank  and  file  ? 
Now,  I  tell  you,  that's  the  doctrine.  Go  for  us  fellows  ! 
That's  the  way  the  Master  did.  Don't  it  speak  some- 
where in  the  Good  Book  about '  My  people  perishin'  for 
lack  o'  knowledge  ?' 

"  Why,  now  I'm  reformed,  it  seems  to  me  I  can't  do 
enough  to  bring  other  men  to  the  comfort  that's  in  my  life 
and  my  home.  I  go  miles  and  miles,  after  my  day's 
work,  when  I  hear  of  a  poor  drunkard,  such  as  I  used  to 
be.     And  if  it's  so  much  to  me  jest  to  be  temperate,  what 


182  MUST   DEPEND   ON   THE   LADIES. 

must  it  be  to  be  all  made  over  new,  as  you  Christians  tell 
about  ?  "  Mercy  on  us  !  I  shouldn't  think  you'd  taken  a 
bit  o'  rest  from  carry  in'  the  glad  tidings  to  us  poor 
wretches,  who  hain't  really  had  half  a  chance  o'  our  lives 
from  tile  start. 

"  But  it's  all  so  new  to  me,  you  know,  that  mebbe  I'm 
too  fast.  I  don't  mean  no  offense,  and  I  do  remember 
that  Christ  said,  i  go,  go,  go,  unto  all  the  world,'  and  I'm 
sure  that  means  into  the  back  alleys  and  down  among  the 
dirty  little  houses  in  your  own  village,  as  well  as  away 
over  to  the  Chinese. 

"  I've  about  made  up  my  mind  we've  got  to  depend  on 
them  that  was  first  at  the  sepulchre  and  last  at  the  cross 
to  do  this  business.  Ladies,  won't  you  take  hold  and 
help  ?  Won't  you  seek  out  the  fellows  that  don't  go  to 
church  ?  Speak  a  kind  word  to  their  wives,  and  set  down 
with  'em  in  their  houses,  and  jest  tell  'em  about  this 
Jesus  you  love  so  much,  and  who  went  about  doin'  good ; 
for  if  you  do,  I  tell  you — and  I'm  one  o'  the  fellows, 
you'll  save  'em  every  time,  just  as  true  as  twelve  inches 
makes  a  foot.  Now,  I'm  a  carpenter,  remember,  and  I 
know  when  I've  hit  the  nail  on  the  head,  even  if  I  don't 
know  much  else." 

VV.    C.    T.    U.    WORK   IN   THE   CHURCH   UNIVERSAL. 

After  the  heart  and  home  circles  have  the  light  of 
Christ  through  Gospel  Temperance,  the  work  of  the  W. 
C.  T.  U.  widens  to  its  best  evolution  in  the  religious 
homes  of  the  people,  collectively  known  as  "  the  Church." 
Going  out  on  the  street  to  pray  signified  a  good  deal 
when  one  comes  to  think  about  it.  First  of  all,  it  meant 
going  outside  denominational  fences.  The  Crusaders  felt 
that  "unity  of  the  Spirit"  was  the  one  thing  needed,  nor 
feared  to  join  hands  witli  any  who  had  the  Bible  and 
the  temperance  pledge  for  the  two  articles  in  their  "  Con- 


BRIDGET    WITH    HER    BEADS.  183 

fession  of  Faith,"  who  rallied  to  the  tune  of  "  Rock  of 
Ages,"  and  had  for  their  watchword  "  Not  willing  that 
any  should  perish."  Of  this  blessed  fact  the  illustrations 
from  that  wonderful  epoch  are  well  nigh  numberless. 
We  give  but  one  : 

In  front  of  a  saloon  that  had  refused  them  entrance, 
knelt  a  crusading  group.  Their  leader  was  the  most 
prominent  Methodist  lady  of  the  community.  Her  head 
was  crowned  with  the  glory  of  gray  hairs ;  her  hands 
were  clasped,  her  sweet  and  gentle  voice  was  lifted  up  in 
prayer.  Around  her  knelt  the  flower  of  all  the  churches 
of  that  city — Congregationalists,  Baptists,  Presbyterians 
— many  of  whom  had  never  worked  outside  their  own 
denominations  until  now.  At  the  close,  an  Episcopal 
lady  offered  the  Lord's  prayer,  in  which  joined  Unitarians, 
Swedenborgians,  and  Universalists  ;  and  when  they  had 
finished,  a  dear  old  lady  in  the  dove-colored  garb  of  the 
Friends'  Society  was  moved  to  pray,  while  all  the  time 
below  them  on  the  curbstone's  edge  knelt  Bridget  with 
her  beads  and  her  Ave  Marie. 

"LET    HER    NOT   TAKE    A    TEXT." 

I  have  wondered  sometimes  whether  "  our  ministerial 
brethren  "  draw  the  line  between  our  ministrations  and 
their  own,  on  a  technicality  or  on  a  principle.  Once  upon 
a  time,  in  a  country  village  where  it  was  the  excellent 
practice  for  three  evangelical  ministers  to  join  in  a  tem- 
perance service  one  Sunday  night  in  the  month,  it  hap- 
pened that  two  of  the  ministers  were  to  be  absent  upon 
the  regular  evening.  The  remaining  one  had  preached 
the  previous  month,  and  was  not  ready  with  another  ser- 
mon on  that  topic.  So  he  sent  to  a  lady  temperance 
speaker,  sojourning  in  the  place,  an  invitation  to  occupy 
the  pulpit,  saying,  however,  that  he  "  should  not  expect 
her  to  take  a  text."    She  accepted  the  invitation  and  filled 


184  "NOT   ONE   BUT   FORTY   TEXTS." 

up  the  allotted  time  to  the  entire  satisfaction  of  the  min- 
ister, as  she  afterwards  learned.  She  then  apologized  for 
not  sending  any  definite  rejoinder  to  his  message,  saying 
that  she  presumed  it  would  be  all  right,  as  she  had  taken 
"  not  one  but  forty  texts."  No  one  seemed  to  think  she 
had  passed  the  bounds  of  decorum  in  explaining  the 
bearing  of  many  Bible  passages  upon  the  subject  of  tem- 
perance. But  if  she  had  taken  one  and  explained  its 
bearing,  or  made  it  a  "  point  of  departure"  as  is  often  the 
case  when  our  brethren  "  take  a  text,"  who  could  have 
answered  for  the  consequences  ?  Since  then  I  have  often 
seen  the  same  distinction  made,  but  I  have  sought  in  vain 
for  the  principle  involved.  I  hear  women  giving  Scripture 
readings  with  great  acceptability,  involving  comments 
on  a  large  scale,  using  a  much  wider  and  more  difficult 
range  of  thought  than  is  commonly  given  to  a  sermon 
with  one  text,  and  I  am  more  perplexed  than  ever.  Can 
any  one  inform  me  ?  What  makes  the  difference  ? 
Where  is  the  line  ?  How  many  texts  must  we  take  in 
order  to  keep  within  our  proper  "  sphere  ?  " 

OUR   TEMPERANCE   EVANGELIST,    MRS.  S.  M.  I.  HENRY,   OP 

ILLINOIS. 

Under  the  sway  of  a  Christian  civilization  the  tendency 
is  toward  individuality  of  character,  and,  as  a  natural 
sequence,  of  vocation  also.  Hence  this  is  the  age  of 
specialists  and  experts.  "  This  one  thing  I  do,"  must  be 
the  motto  of  that  man  or  woman  who  would  condense 
into  a  year,  results  once  thought  sufficient  for  a  life-time. 
Perhaps  no  field  of  labor  illustrates  this  practical  truth 
more  clearly  than  our  well-beloved  "  W.  C.  T.  U."  Since 
we  emerged  from  the  nebulous  period,  and  sought  specific 
work,  through  superintendencies,  national,  state,  and 
local,  the  change  has  been  as  from  a  picture  in  Berlin 
wools  to  a  clear-cut  steel  engraving.     Among  those  who, 


MRS.  S.  M.  I.  HENRY. 


MRS.    S.    M.    I.    HENRY.  187 

while  their  gifts  would  have  made  them  successful  in 
almost  any  field,  showed  their  wisdom  by  the  careful  cul- 
tivation of  one,  Mrs.  Henry,  for  years  our  Superintendent 
of  the  National  Department  of  Evangelistic  work,  stands 
prominent. 

Long  before  either  of  us  had  asked  concerning  the 
blessed  cause  of  Temperance,  "  Is  all  this  anything  to 
me  ? "  I  had  read  with  great  interest  the  poems  of  Sarepta 
M.  Irish,  in  the  Ladies'  Repository.  The  same  love  for 
humanity  and  loyalty  to  its  best  Friend,  that  characterized 
her  earliest  lines,  shines  forth  in  her  Temperance  ad- 
dresses, books,  poems,  and  daily  life. 

Sarepta  M.  Irish,  afterward  Mrs.  Henry,  was  born  in 
Albion,  Erie  County,  Pennsylvania,  November  4,  1839, 
of  Xew  England  stock.  Her  father  was  an  architect 
before  he  was  a  preacher.  He  was  sent  out  to  N.  W. 
Illinois  as  a  missionary  in  1840,  in  the  days  when  Indians 
and  wild  deer  roamed  the  prairies.  His  daughter  retains 
a  distinct  recollection  of  both.  The  former  used  to  come 
often  to  the  little  parsonage,  stack  their  arms  at  the  gate, 
and  enter.  She  has  now  a  wampum  garter  that  a  chief 
t  10k  off  and  tied  about  her  neck  because  she  kissed  his 
pippoose  when  she  was  a  tiny  child. 

Her  great  grandfather,  on  the  mother's  side,  was  a 
surgeon  in  the  Revolutionary  War ;  her  grandfather  a 
captain  of  militia  in  the  war  of  1812.  Her  father's  family 
were  Quakers. 

She  learned  to  read  from  her  Bible — a  little  calf-bound 
copy  that  her  grandmother  gave  her  when  a  very  little 
child.  Her  father  taught  her  himself  until  she  was  nine- 
teen. She  had  hardly  ever  attended  school  until  she  went 
to  Rock  River  Seminary,  at  Mount  Morris,  Illinois,  under 
the  kind  reign  of  President  Harlow.  During  the  first 
term  she  was  called  home  to  see  her  father  die.  This 
was  an  irreparable  loss  to  her,  for  they  were  more  to  each 


188  PLEASANT   HOME   LIFE. 

other  than  can  be  expressed ;  he  seemed  her  life.  He 
had  been  an  invalid  for  eight  years,  and  she  was  his  con- 
stant companion,  reading  and  writing  for  him.  She  even 
used  to  do  her  thinking  aloud  to  him.  He  was  a  remark- 
able man,  drawing  young  people  to  him  even  when  con- 
fined to  his  room,  and  winning  them  to  all  things  pure 
and  true  by  his  real  love  for  them,  and  by  the  genuine 
greatness  of  his  own  noble  nature.  I  think  none  ever 
forgot  him  who  knew  him.  Sarepta  was  fond  of  literary 
pursuits  from  childhood,  and  her  mother,  with  a  patience 
which  would  surprise  us  in  any  but  a  mother,  humored  all 
her  poetic  fancies,  so  that  her  life  until  her  marriage  was 
like  a  dream,  knowing  no  care,  feeling  no  responsibility. 
Mrs.  Henry  says: 

"  I  do  not  remember  when  I  was  converted.  I  was  given 
to  God  honestly  by  my  parents,  and  taught  that  I  be- 
longed to  Him,  and  that  an  obligation  of  Christian  living, 
binding  as  a  contract,  rested  upon  me.  The  time  came 
when  I  chafed  under  this  yoke,  and  when  there  was  great 
danger  of  wreck  to  my  soul  on  the  shoals  of  skepticism, 
and  had  not  my  father  been  the  judicious  man  he  was,  I 
should  doubtless  have  gone  down.  But  he  was  a  wise 
man ;  he  never  dogmatically  stated  anything  to  me,  but 
placing  himself  at  my  side,  in  the  work  of  seeking  truth, 
so  directed  my  mind  in  its  processes  that  I  came  out  on 
the  bright  side  of  an  undimmed  faith  that  shines  like  a 
great  sun  in  a  cloudless  heaven  to-day  and  always ;  no 
mists  having  ever  been  able  to  hide  its  beauty  from  my 
eyes." 

Her  school  life  was  spent  at  Mount  Morris,  Illinois, 
where  began  an  acquaintance  with  many  choice  men  and 
women  who  helped  her  future.  Rev.  Dr.  John  H.  Yin- 
cent  was  her  pastor,  brother,  and  friend,  and  with  his 
wife  took  her,  when  a  fatherless  and  almost  heart-broken 
child,  under  their  tender  care,  and  made  it  possible  for 


SCHOOL  LIFE   AND   MARRIAGE.  189 

her  to  rally  and  go  on  after  her  bitter  bereavement.  Her 
boarding-place  was  in  the  home  of  Rev.  B.  H.  Cartwright. 
A  portion  of  every  day  was  spent  with  him  and  his  wife 
in  their  study,  and  a  tie  was  formed  then  that  has  but 
strengthened  with  the  years. 

She  had  nothing  but  the  promise  of  God,  back  of  her 
pen,  as  the  means  of  an  education,  and  the  Lord  and  her 
friends  know  much  better  than  she  does  how  she  got 
along.  She  was  paid  very  liberally  for  her  pen  work, 
however,  and  so  spent  two  years  at  school.  She  had  many 
convictions  that  she  ought  to  enter  the  foreign  missionary 
field,  and  had  there  been  the  as-encies  at  work  then  that 
are  now  so  successful,  she  would  doubtless  have  done  this. 
Our  friend  was  married  to  James  W.  Henry  of  New  York, 
March  1,  1861,  four  days  after  Lincoln  was  inaugurated, 
and  just  on  the  eve  of  the  civil  war.  Her  husband  was  a 
scholar  and  a  man  of  deep  and  tender  nature,  a  poet  of 
no  mean  order,  a  teacher  by  profession,  but  the  principle 
involved  in  the  war  was  deep  as  his  life,  and  he  enlisted 
when  the  first  call  was  made  for  men.  He  was  not, 
however,  mustered  in  at  first,  because  he  was  a  trifle 
under  regulation  height,  so  they  went  East,  to  his  home, 
and  settled  down  on  a  farm,  where  the  years  that  the  war 
allowed  to  them  were  spent.  Here  was  born,  in  June, 
their  daughter  Mary,  who  has  been  so  much  to  her  dear 
mother  all  these  years.  It  was  during  the  first  year  of 
her  life,  and  while  she  was  cradled  in  her  mother's  arms, 
that  Mrs.  Henry's  first  book — "  Victoria" — was  written. 
That  poem  grew  with  her  first  beautiful  year,  but  was 
not  published  until  Mr.  Henry  was  a  soldier.  He  enlisted 
again  in  October,  1864,  in  the  185th  Xew  York  Regiment, 
Company  E.  Her  oldest  son,  Alfred,  was  born  the  4th  of 
the  next  April,  just  ten  days  before  Lincoln  was  assassi- 
nated. The  husband  came  home  an  invalid  in  July,  1865, 
having  been  in  every  battle  and  on  every  long  march  of 


190  BECOMES   A   WRITER. 

the  closing  campaign  conducted  by  the  5th  Corps.  He 
lived  over  four  years,  bravely  battling  disease,  but  was 
finally  conquered  and  went  to  his  rest  in  the  cemetery  of 
his  native  valley.  Arthur,  the  youngest  son,  was  nearly 
three  years  old  when  his  father  died.  Mrs.  Henry  was 
left  absolutely  helpless  to  all  appearances,  but  she  had 
her  faith  and  the  word  of  God,  and  she  went  to  work  to 
rear  her  children  for  God  and  her  country.  It  would 
take  a  volume  to  tell  the  story  of  the  faithfulness  of  our 
Heavenly  Father  to  this  helpless  group — the  mother  and 
her  babes.  Mrs.  H.  taught  for  the  next  three  years  ;  for 
the  first  two  and  a  half  in  the  village  where  she  had  lived, 
but  later  on  returned  to  her  Illinois  home.  She  began 
teaching  in  Rockford,  under  Professor  Barbour,  in  the 
public  school,  and  was  trying  to  get  her  children  settled 
in  a  little  home  where  she  could  have  them  with  her, 
when,  in  answer  to  her  cry  to  God,  a  wonderful  deliver- 
ance came  to  her  in  a  time  of  great  need,  the  details  of 
which  would  transcend  the  limits  of  this  sketch.  As  a 
result  she  was  settled  sweetly  at  home  in  a  cosy  little 
place  where,  at  her  study  table,  she  worked  out  the  prob- 
lem of  daily  bread  with  her  pen,  writing  the  "After 
Truth"  series,  for  which  she  was  paid  a  fair  price  down. 
The  Crusade  found  her  at  this  study-table,  and  she  was 
called  out  of  the  quiet  she  had  always  known  before. 
She  was  a  most  timid  woman.  No  one  ever  expected  her 
to  do  anything  in  public,  but  under  the  pressure  of  a  con- 
viction that  had  to  be  answered,  she  made  the  call  for  the 
Christian  women  to  come  together,  and  became  the  mouth- 
piece of  a  W.  C.  T.  U.,  March  27,  1873. 

She  made  her  first  public  address  in  the  State  Street 
Baptist  Church,  Rockford,  during  the  Crusade,  to  an 
audience  that  overflowed  into  the  street,  and  with  as 
little  embarrassment  as  she  has  ever  since  experienced. 
She  was  very  conservative  and  always  looked  to  the  time 


"WHAT   IS   THE   BOY   WORTH?"  '  191 

when  she  would  return  to  literary  work ;  but  as  the  years 
pass  it  becomes  more  and  more  evident  that  it  was  a  life- 
work  to  which  she  was  then  called.  A  Reform  Club  was 
organized  the  year  after  she  began  her  work.  "  Pledge 
and  Cross  "  tells  the  story  of  its  redemption.  She  gave 
five  full  years  to  active  temperance  work  in  Rockford,one 
year  of  Gospel  work  in  Michigan,  and  has  been  three  years 
in  the  field  in  Illinois.  In  July  of  1879,  Mrs.  Henry  re- 
moved to  my  own  town  of  Evanston,  to  educate  her 
children  in  our  university.  Mary  is  a  sophomore,  and 
has  been  her  mother's  housekeeper  all  these  years  ;  but 
for  her  Mrs.  H.  could  not  have  done  her  work.  Alfred  is 
also  in  the  course  of  the  Northwestern  University,  and 
Arthur  has  begun  his  studies  there.  The  boys  have  made 
it  possible  for  their  mother  to  do  her  work  by  faithfully 
keeping  her  words  in  their  hearts  during  her  absence,  and 
their  promise  to  be  loyal  to  mother,  sister,  and  God. 

Mrs.  Henry  was  one  of  our  most  effective  speakers  at 
the  capitol  of  Illinois  when  we  presented  the  great  "Home 
Protection  Petition."  She  made  the  memorable  plea  from 
the  point  of  view  of  a  widow  with  fatherless  children, 
and  asked  the  same  power  to  protect  them  from  the 
dram-shops  which  their  father  would  have  possessed  had 
he  not  given  his  life  for  his  country.  Her  lecture  on 
"  What  is  the  Boy  Worth  ? "  is  a  masterly  presentation 
of  the  most  vital  question  of  the  hour,  and  has  been  given 
with  telling  effect  in  scores  of  towns  and  cities.  The  new 
book,  "  Roy,  or  The  Voice  of  his  Home,"  is  one  of  Mrs. 
Henry's  best,  and  our  young  folks  will  be  delighted  with  it 
and  its  still  happier  sequel, "  Mabel's  Work."  "  Pledge  and 
Cross"  has  had  the  largest  sale  of  any  book  of  its  kind, 
and  conveys  the  very  essence  of  the  Gospel  Temperance 
Crusade.  All  are  published  by  J.  N.  Stearns,  58  Reade 
street,  New  York,  and  ought  to  be  read  aloud  in  every 
local  union.  The  Temperance  Training  Institute  is  a 
8 


192  THE   NAME. 

happy  invention  of  Mrs.  Henry,  by  which  normal  Sunday- 
School  methods  are  applied  to  the  elucidation  of  our  work, 
and  the  spiritual  side  is  strongly  emphasized.  Dr.  Yin- 
cent  has  invited  Mrs.  Henry  to  prepare  a  series  of  Biblical 
Temperance  Lessons  for  the  Sunday-School  Teacher,  which 
will  be  a  mighty  power  in  the  Church.  Mrs.  Henry  is  also 
superintendent  of  our  National  Training  School  for  Tem- 
perance Workers. 

THE  NAME. 

BY  MRS.  8.  M.  I.  HENRY. 

God's  name  is  Love.  • 

He  wrote  his  name  in  stars;  and  from  the  shining  throng, 
And  from  the  heavens,  there  rolled  a  swelling  tide  of  song. 
The  earth,  which  from  the  Hand  Divine  to  motion  sprung, 
And  quivering  'mid  the  hosts  of  heaven,  in  floods  of  glory  hung, 
Had  not  an  eye  to  read  the  Name;  for  praises,  had  no  tongue. 

God's  name  is  Love. 
He  wrote  his  name  again  in  every  changing  hue, 
And  set  it  high  upon  the  clouds,  a  promise  great  as  true. 
Men  saw  the  ensign,  but  forgot  the  wondrous  name  it  bore; 
The  earth  beneath  the  archway  swept,  forgetful  as  before, 
And  yet  God  kept  the  hues,  and  wrote  that  one  Name  o'er  and  o'er. 

God's  name  is  Love. 
He  wrote  it  yet  again  all  o'er  the  meadows  fair, 
In  grass,  and  rose,  and  lily-bells,  that  man  might  read  it  there. 
His  sweetest,  tenderest,  dearest  name  he  beaded  with  the  dew, 
And  called  the  winds  to  publish  it  each  breaking  morn  anew. 
Man  saw  and  heard,  but  in  his  heart  the  Name  he  never  knew. 

God's  name  is  Love. 
And  when  each  chosen  sign  of  earth,  or  sea,  or  sky 
Had  been  employed  to  fix  and  hold  man's  restless  eye, 
From  out  his  heart  of  love  God  drew  a  wondrous  plan, 
By  which  to  seize  the  wandering  gaze,  and  touch  the  heart  of  man. 
He  wrote  his  name  in  blood,  on  Calvary's  rugged  hill, 
And  heaven  was  veiled,  and  all  the  earth  with  awe  grew  still. 
The  dead  stepped  from  their  graves  to  see  and  read  the  wondrous  sign, 
And  man,  with  heart  grown  tender,  owned  the  Signature  Divine. 


MRS.  HANNAH  WHIT  ALL  SMITH. 


"  FRIENDS   INDEED."  195 

MRS.    HANNAH    WHITALL    SMITH,    NATIONAL    SUPERINTENDENT 
OF   EVANGELISTIC    WORK. 

There  is  no  nest  so  likely  to  fledge  philanthropists  as  a 
Quaker  home.  Beyond  any  other  religious  society  have 
"  Friends  "  nourished  every  reform  based  upon  the  elev- 
enth commandment  and  the  sermon  on  the  mount.  The 
gospel  temperance  movement  in  this  land  has  no  leader 
more  trusty  and  tried  than  Hannah  Whitall  Smith,  a 
"Friend  indeed,"  by  ancestry  and  for  many  years  by 
membership.  In  all  our  meetings,  the  dove-like  plumage, 
peaceful  face,  and  sweet  "  thee  and  thou  "  utterance,  tell 
us  that  in  the  army  which,  with  the  sword  of  the  Spirit, 
fights  the  rum  power,  even  the  women  of  the  "  Quaker 
church  "  will  take  up  arms. 

The  father  of  our  beloved  "  Hannah"  was  known,  in 
his  day,  as  "  the  best-loved  merchant  of  Philadelphia." 
His  gifted  son-in-law  has  characterized  him  thus :  "  He 
was  a  bright,  cheery,  joyous,  yet  Cromwellian  soldier, 
clapped  by  mistake  under  the  broad-brim  of  a  Quaker ; 
but  this  extinguisher  was  never  able  to  hide  his  gladsome 
piety.     And  the  daughter  is  her  father  over  again." 

Her  mother  was  a  portly  Quaker  matron,  not  unlike 
Elizabeth  Fry  in  appearance — one  of  the  purest  Quaker 
types,  and  the  soul  of  everything  beautiful  and  good. 

Hannah  has  two  sisters  and  one  brother — the  latter  at 
the  head  of  the  great  firm  of  Whitall,  Tatum  &  Co.,  who 
operate  at  Millville,  N.  J.,  the  largest  white  glass  factory 
in  the  world — employing  two  thousand  hands.  This  firm 
is  so  loyal  to  the  temperance  reform  that  no  orders  are 
accepted  by  them  from  men  whose  bottles  or  glasses  are 
to  be  used  to  contain  intoxicating  drinks.  Their  relations 
to  their  employees  involve  no  conflict  between  capital  and 
labor.  An  elegant  "  Mechinics'  Institufe,"  with  library, 
reading-rooms,  bath-rooms,  etc.  (the  whole  costing  twenty- 
five  thousand  dollars),  has  been  built  by  their  operatives. 


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A   DAUGHTEE'S   B9HHAIB.  197 

type  of  cultured  ': young  Americans/'     Charming  "  Marie- 
chen  "  writes  me  from  Smith  College  : 

"You  ask  me  Mother's  traits.  She  seems  to  me  per- 
fectly unselfish,  and  she  carries  this  into  the  smallest  de- 
tails. For  instance,  if  there  is  any  choice  :  h  ts  at  the 
fire,  or  dishes  at  the  table,  she  always  prefers  everybody 
before  herself.  Sometimes  I  think  Mother  is  too  carel  -  - 
of  herself ;  and  yet  I  feel  more  and  more  each  year  that 
the  strong,  unconscious  influence  of  her  self-forgetfuh. 
leads  us  as  no  formal  teaching  could.  She  never  preaches 
'  in  the  bosom  of  the  domestic  circle.'  We  can  never  _  I 
her  to  repeat  her  sermons  and  Bible  talks  to  us.  •  What 
did  thee  talk  about  ? '  we  ask.  'Goodness — my  child! '  is 
her  invariable  reply. 

••  She  has  always  treated  her  children  like  reasonable 
human  beings,  never  in  all  her  life  giving  one  of  us  an 
arbitrary  •  Yes '  or  •  No,'  but  always  showing  us  the 
principles  behind.  She  always  gives  us  a  chance  to  m.. 
our  own  decisions,  counting  self-discipline  worth  all  the 
rules  in  the  world.  We  think  she  leaves  us  free  to  de- 
cide for  ourselves  and  we  pride  ourselves  on  our  frc 
but  all  the  while  the  steady  influence  of  her  si 
exerted  almost  unconsciously  to  us.  constrains  us  to  love 
the  right.  Mother  never  condescends  to  us,  but  treats  our 
little  affairs  as  if  they  were  of  the  d  si  importance. 
We  are  her  friends  as  well  as  her  children.  She  does  not 
talk  down  to  us  from  a  height,  but  lifts  us  up  beside  her. 
Indeed  there  is  perfect  confidence  between  us.  She  isn't 
too  curious  though,  or  interfering.  That's  not  her  way. 
Some  mothers  worry  their  daughters  dreadfully — by  in- 
sisting on  reading  all  their  lc  -.  for  instance.  But  our 
mother  never  acts  that  way.  Confidences  are  never 
dragged  from  us.  and  as  a  consequence,  we  love  to  tell  her 
everything.  I  suppose  I  ought  to  hint  tenderlv  at  her 
faults, but  really  I  can't  seem  to  think  of  any,  unless,  j  s .- 


198  A3   A    HOUSEKEEPER.     ■ 

haps,  she  trusts  us  too  much,  admires  us  more  than  we 
merit,  and  makes  us  have  too  good  a  time." 

One  day  Mrs.  Smith  went  to  this  bright  eldest  daughter 
and  said,  "  I  want  thee  to  read  this  tract  of  mine  and  tell 
me  what  thee  thinks,"  whereupon  Maricchcn  answered, 
"  0  mother,  I  don't  need  to  read  thy  tracts  to  know  that 
they  are  good — thee  lives  them."  There  isn't  much  flavor 
of  "  Mrs.  Jcllaby "  in  such  a  testimony !  Indeed  it  is 
the  crowning  glory  of  the  W.  C.  T.  U.  that  the  patroness 
of  "  Boorioboola  Gha"  Mission  has  never  yet  cast  in 
her  lot  wi;h  us.  Says  one  who  knows  her  life  better 
than  any  oilier :  "  Hannah  is  no  doctrinaire.  She  is 
the  most  practical  woman  I  ever  saw.  Why  her  genius 
for  housekeeping  is  something  wonderful.  From  year's 
end  to  year's  end  there  isn't  a  screw  loose  in  this 
establishment.  Were  you  ever  in  one  that  went  more 
as  if  it  ran  on  wheels  ?  I  don't  believe  a  more  con- 
tented, obedient,  grateful  company  of  servants,  nor  a 
service  more  eagerly  rendered,  can  anywhere  be  found. 
But  it  isn't  strange  that  with  such  a  magnificent  and 
abiding  concept  of  the  Fatherhood  and  Motherhood  of 
God  she  should,  by  her  grip  on  that  great  principle,  find 
herself  '  seated  in  heavenly  places  in  Christ  Jesus,'  and 
so  be  a  pervasive  harmonizer  in  her  own  home,  as  every- 
where. I  never  met  a  person  less  affected  by  either  praise 
or  blame,  or  sustained  at  a  more  uniform  elevation  above 
life's  pettiness  and  frailties."  Truly  may  it  be  said  of 
the  woman  whose  views  of  Christian  experience  have  in- 
fluenced more  lives  than  those  of  any  other  since  Madame 
Gnyon,  "Her  children  arise  up  and  call  her  blessed — her 
husband  also,  and  he  praiseth  her."  "  The  Christian's 
Secret  of  a  Happy  Life,"  which  has  been  translated  into 
Russian  by  a  Countess,  into  German  by  a  daughter  of  the 
historian  Nicbuhr,and  into  many  other  foreign  languages, 
and  which  to-day  is  moulding  character  into  conformity  with 


HER   WORK    IN   ENGLAND.  199 

Christ  wherever  the  English  tongue  is  spoken,  was  first 
lived  out  in  this  quiet  Philadelphia  home.  "  I  learned 
my  theology  in  the  nursery  with  my  children  "  is  the  fre- 
quent observation  of  her  whom  the  world  knows  as  "  H. 
W.  S."  "  The  story  of  Frank,  or  Record  of  a  Happy 
Life,"  has  been  translated  into  eight  languages  and  had 
a  wider  circulation  than  any  religious  biography  of  our 
day,  unless  we  except  "  The  Dairyman's  Daughter."  The 
meetings  addressed  by  Mrs.  Smith  at  Brighton  and  Ox- 
ford, in  1875,  each  'gathered  up  seven  thousand  persons 
from  all  Europe — men  and  women  of  the  noblest  aims  of 
culture,  anxious  only  to  know  the  way  of  God  more  per- 
fectly. Mrs.  Smith  was  a  guest  in  many  patrician 
homes,  and  was  welcomed  to  Broadlands,  formerly  the 
seat  of  Lord  Palmerston,  as  the  trusted  friend  of  his 
successors,  Lord  and  Lady  Mount  Temple,  and  their  circle, 
but  who  would  dream  of  the  honors  she  has  shared,  by  any 
allusion  she  has  ever  made  ?  Other  women  with  a  tithe  of 
her  achievements  count  themselves  famous  and  are  oc- 
cupied with  their  "  career,"  but  worldly  prestige  has  few 
charms  for  one  who  has  found  such  anchorage  in  God  as 
holds  Hannah  Smith's  life-barque  firm. 

An  English  paper  reports  her  meetings  at  Brighton, 
thus:  "So  great  is  the  demand  to  hear  Mrs.  Smith  that 
she  is  obliged  to  deliver  her  exposition  in  the  Corn  Ex- 
change, and  then  immediately  afterward  in  the  Dome,  and 
as  each  of  these  gigantic  buildings  will  hold  more  than 
3,000  persons,  her  congregation  is  larger  than  Mr. 
Spurgeon's.  Punctually  to  the  moment,  like  Mr.  Moody, 
she  steps  to  the  front  of  the  platform,  dressed  in  Quaker 
simplicity,  and  then  speaks  for  fifty  minutes  by  the  clock, 
without  hesitating  for  a  moment.  Her  freshness,  her 
profound  spiritual  insight,  are  as  remarkable  as  her  sur- 
prising fluency."  The  correspondent  of  another  English 
paper,  who  listened  more    critically,  declares  that  "for 


200  HER    STYLE    AS    A    SPEAKER. 

fluency  of  utterance  and  vigor  of  expression,  she  is  un- 
questionably one  of  the  most  wonderful  of  all  the  female 
orators  it  has  been  my  fortune  to  hear,  and  by  all  she  is 
recognized  as  the  leading  spirit  of  the  Convention.  Mrs. 
Smith  has  little  of  the  feminine  in  her  style  of  oratory. 
Both  as  to  their  form  and  expression  her  addresses  are 
the  most  vigorous  and  masculine  of  any  that  are  to  be 
heard  at  these  gatherings.  Decision  marks  every  sentence 
she  utters.  The  pathetic  element  is  almost  wholly  absent. 
As  an  expositor  of  the  Bible  she  is  trenchant  and  often 
powerful." 

From  Times  of  Refreshing : 

"  However  worn  the  subject  may  be,  it  becomes  fresh 
and  new  as  Mrs.  Smith  groups  rapidly  and  clearly  her 
texts,  and  pours  out  in  the  homeliest  language  a  stream 
of  vigorous  thought.  Avoiding  all  vexed  questions,  all 
dark  uncertainties,  the  fruits  of  her  devout  study  of  the 
Scriptures  become  at  the  feast  as  the  already  drawn 
water  turned  into  wine — sweet,  healing,  and  leading  to 
an  atmosphere  of  soul-rest  hitherto  unconceived  of  by 
many.  If  we  might  characterize  in  one  phrase  the  sub- 
stance and  result  of  her  teaching,  it  would  be  The  Sun- 
shine of  True  Faith. 

"  The  personality  and  work  of  Christ,  the  authority  of 
Scripture,  the  simplicity  of  faith,  the  absurdity  of  unbe- 
lief, the  baptism  of  the  Spirit,  and  the  infinite  love  of  God 
to  us — these  subjects  form  the  staple  of  her  addresses. 
Her  grasp  and  vigorous  use  of  the  types  and  analogies  of 
the  Old  Testament  Scripture  form  most  useful  features 
of  her  teaching. 

"The  effect  of  Mrs.  Smith's  addresses  was  greatly 
increased  by  her  strong  but  restful  voice,  which  rang 
through  the  grove  more  distinctly  than  that  of  any 
speaker  present.  The  clear-cut  articulation  of  her  sim- 
ple sentences  relieves  the  hearer  of  all  effort  in  following 


THE   "  HOBBY   PARTY."  201 

the  subject.  Consecrated  talent  and  careful  research, 
aided  by  a  fine  physique  of  unusual  vigor,  fit  this  lady 
for  her  special  vocation.  A  frank  naivete  of  manner 
adds  to  the  brilliant  charm  which  wins  the  heart,  while  it 
irresistibly  convinces  the  intellect.  Curiously,  the  clergy- 
men, notwithstanding  any  scruples  as  to  the  preaching  of 
women,  are  always  found  the  most  diligent  attenders  of 
her  meetings." 

With  calls  coming  to  her  from  almost  every  State  and 
both  sides  of  the  sea,  this  loyal  wife  and  mother,  who  so 
dearly  loves  to  preach  "the  unsearchable  riches  of  Christ," 
remains  contentedly  at  home  to  cheer  and  cherish  those  who 
need  her  most,  going,  perhaps,  to  some  obscure  suburban 
church  near  by  to  speak  on  Sabbath  evening,  and  faith- 
fully attending  Friends'  meeting-  and  Sabbath  School.  At 
her  writ  ing table  she  spends  several  hours  each  day  preparing 
articles,  bible  leaflets,  letters  of  consolation  and  help  ;  and 
carrying  on,  by  the  aid  of  her  secretary  and  the  printed 
circulars  constantly  sent  out,  her  new  duties  as  our 
superintendent  of  evangelistic  work.  Every  few  weeks 
she  gives  a  "  hobby  party,"  one  of  her  own  happy  inven- 
tions, as  a  mode  of  sociability,  and  greatly  enjoyed  by 
her  children.  Notes  are  sent  to  thirty  or  forty  friends, 
inviting  them  to  meet  certain  philanthropists,  scientists, 
or  religionists,  as  the  case  may  be,  who  are  distinguished 
by  the  cultivation  of  their  specialty,  and  each  will  meta- 
phorically pace  his  favorite  equine  up  and  down  before  the 
gathered  circle,  hoping  to  secure  the  prize  of  their  pre- 
ference and  adhesion.  The  truth  of  God,  of  nature,  of 
humanity — these  are  always  the  ends  sought.  Good  cheer 
for  heart  and  soul,  as  well  as  weary  hand  and  brain, 
these  are  always  to  be  had  in  the  beautiful  Germantown 
home,  the  "  House  Beautiful,"  as  one  of  our  leaders  calls 
it.  "What  a  procession  it  would  be  if  all  those  whom  that 
broad  roof  and  motherly  heart  have  sheltered  should  form 


202  WOMEN   EVANGELISTS. 

in  line !  To  my  own  knowledge,  not  less  than  a  score  of 
Christian  workers  have  there  found  solace  within  the  last 
few  weeks,  not  as  mere  visitors,  but  as  those  welcomed  to 
their  own  "  ingle  side." 

The  development  of  women  as  evangelists  is  the  dearest 
wish  and  purpose  of  H.  W.  S.,  and  she  hopes  ere  long  to 
found  a  training  school  for  this  specific  work.  "  Greater 
must  be  the  company  of  them  that  publish  the  glad  tid- 
ings ;"  this  is  the  key  note  of  her  present  work.  The 
noble  Saxon  word  "  lady,"  means  "  giver  of  bread  ;"  ere 
long  it  shall  acquire  a  heavenlier  significance,  "  lady,  giver 
of  the  Bread  of  Life."  Our  temperance  hymn,  "  Rescue 
the  Perishing,"  can  have  no  narrower  significance.  "  But 
Mrs.  Smith  is  always  so  cheerful — can  she  have  known 
much  sorrow?"  This 'inconsiderate  speech  has  been 
made  so  often  in  my  hearing  that  I  intrude  upon  the 
sacred  privacy  of  what  would  be  unutterable  grief  to  a 
less  sunlit  heart.  Three  graves  of  lovely  children  are 
in  the  family  burial  ground.  The  eldest  born  lies  there 
— a  heavenly-minded  girl.  "  Frank,"  the  Princeton  col- 
legian, with  his  bright  promise  and  rare  Christian  charac- 
ter— the  world  knows  about  him.  Within  three  years 
Mrs.  Smith's  noble  father  and  tender  mother  have  passed 
onward,  and  her  choicest  blossom,  the  child  most  like 
herself,  the  pride  of  her  home,  little  Ray,  died  but  two 
years  ago.  Besides  all  these  bereavements,  there  have 
been  other  sorrows  harder  to  bear — misconceptions,  injus- 
tice, bitterness  worse  than  death.  But,  to  the  praise  of 
that  dear  Name  above  all  other  names,  let  it  be  said  this 
Christian  heart  knows,  proves,  illustrates,  always  and  in 
all  life's  changeful  discipline,  the  victory  that  overcometh, 
even  faith.  No  sentence  is  so  familiar  to  her  friends, 
from  those  dear  smiling  lips  that  open  but  to  speak  brave 
and  tender  words,  as  this:  "I  cannot  be  unhappy— -for 
always  1  have  God." 


SHE    GIVES   THE   STORY    OF    HER   RELIGIOUS   LIFE.      203 

The  true  heart  which  has  interpreted  New  Testament 
ideals  of  Christian  experience  to  millions  of  inquiring 
readers  ought  surely  to  be  heard  as  a  witness  on  her  own 
behalf.  Hence  this  letter  is  given  just  as  it  came  from 
her  hand,  in  reply  to  my  inquiry  : 

My  Dear  Frank:— Thee  asks  for  the  story  of  my  religious  life,  and 
I  am  very  willing  to  send  it  to  thee,  because  there  is  nothing  in  it 
peculiar  to  myself  alone,  but  its  secret  is  one  open  to  every  other 
human  soul.  And  this  secret  is  simply  that  of  entire  surrender  and 
perfect  trust,  to  the  best  I  know,  on  whatever  plane  my  soul  has 
found  itself. 

I  have  gone  through  many  "  experiences,"  I  have  had  many  differ- 
ing "views,"  I  have  embraced  and  outgrown  many  "dogmas."  But, 
through  all  and  in  all  my  one  attitude  of  soul  has  had  to  be  just  this 
of  consecration  to  the  best  light  I  had,  and  of  faith  in  the  best 
God  I  knew.  And  out  of  all  or  in  all,  whether  they  have  proved  to 
be  truth  or  error,  I  have  found  that  my  Divine  Master  to  whom  I  had 
surrendered  myself,  has  been  able  to  give  me  food  convenient  for  me, 
and  has  made  all  things,  even  my  mistakes,  work  together  for  my 
eternal  good.  "When  I  have  made  mistakes,  and  they  have  been  many, 
they  have  all  come  from  a  want  of  one  or  other  of  these  two  things, 
either  want  of  obedience  or  want  of  faith.  "When  I  have  been  helped 
and  blessed,  it  has  all  come  through  these  two  channels  of  consecra- 
tion and  trust.  At  every  moment  these  have  been  necessary  on  my 
part;  and  at  every  moment  when  these  have  been  active,  God  has 
never  failed  to  respond  with  his  wondrous  grace. 

I  was  brought  up  very  guardedly  in  the  Society  of  Friends  by 
devoted  parents,  and  was  always,  as  we  say.  "religiously  inclined." 
But  not  understanding  this  simple  way  of  surrender  and  trust,  I  spent 
many  weary  years  in  legal  striving,  resorting  in  vain  to  every  expe- 
dient my  soul  could  devise  for  gaining  the  favor  of  the  God  who  was, 
I  thought,  angry  with  me,  and  had  turned  His  back  upon  me.  At  the 
age  of  twenty-six  I  suddenly  discovered  that  all  the  while  this  very 
God  had  been  loving  me,  and  that  He  was  my  Saviour  and  my  Friend, 
and  only  wanted  me  to  give  myself  up  to  Him  and  trust  Him.  I  saw 
that  Jesus  had  died  for  me  because  He  loved  me,  and  that  all  my  sins 
had  been  taken  away  by  Ilim.  And  I  heard  and  obeyed  His  divine 
call,  "Come  unto  Me  all  ye  that  are  weary  and  heavy  laden,  and  I 
will  give  you  rest."  Up  to  my  light  I  surrendered  myself  to  this 
Almighty  Saviour,  and  up  to  my  strength  I  trusted  Ilim,  and  began 
to  obey  Him. 

There  followed  on  this  at  first  great  joy  and  a  wonderful  victory 


204  "thy  will  be  done." 

over  sin.  But  failing  to  keep  in  the  continued  attitude  of  obedience 
and  trust,  not  understanding,  in  fact,  the  vital  necessity  of  keep- 
ing there,  I  very  soon  began  to  slip  back  to  the  old  level  of  conflict 
and  failure,  and  found  myself  at  last  living  in  the  seventh  of  Romans, 
with  the  sorrowful  experience  of  finding  a  law  within  me  that  "  when 
I  would  do  good  evil  was  present  with  me,"  so  that  the  "  good  that  I 
would,  I  did  not;  while  the  evil  that  I  would  not,  that  I  did."  This 
seemed  all  wrong  to  me,  and  contrary  to  the  Scriptural  idea  of  the 
Christian  life,  and  I  tried  in  many  ways  to  remedy  it,  but  all  in  vain. 
The  same  legal  strivings  to  which  I  had  resorted  when  seeking  the 
forgiveness  of  my  sins  were  again  renewed,  only  now  on  a  different 
plane ;  and  for  nine  years  I  struggled  to  gain  the  victory  over  sin  by 
my  own  efforts,  just  as  I  had  before  struggled  by  my  own  efforts  to 
gain  reconciliation  with  God. . 

During  all  this  time  I  never  doubted  the  fact  of  my  being  an  heir  of 
God,  and  a  joint  heir  with  Christ,  but  this  assurance  only  seemed  to 
add  to  my  burden;  for  to  believe  one's  self  to  be  a  child,  and  yet  to  be 
unable  to  act  like  a  child,  could  not  but  be  a  source  of  bitter  sorrow. 

At  last,  in  the  year  1867,  the  Heavenly  Father  threw  into  my  company 
some  dear  Christians  who  knew  a  better  way.  They  taught  me  that  I  was" 
the  clay  and  God  was  the  Potter,  and  that  lie  alone  could  make 
me  into  a  vessel  unto  His  honor.  They  showed  me  that  if  I  would 
surrender  myself  up  to  His  workmanship  and  would  trust  Him  to  do 
the  work,  He  would  accomplish  for  me  all  that  I  had  been  so  wearily 
and  so  vainly  trying  to  do  for  myself.  Again  I  saw,  as  I  had  seen  at 
first,  that  surrender  and  trust  were  the  imperative  conditions  of  my 
spiritual  life.  It  was  made  clear  to  me  that  they  were  the  two  wings 
of  the  soul,  without  both  of  which  it  could  not  rise,  and  again  I  conse- 
crated and  trusted  up  to  the  fullest  measure  of  light  that  was  given  me. 
I  chose  Christ  to  be  my  Master  and  Owner  and  Potter  and  Keeper  for- 
ever, and,  having  chosen  Him,  I  trusted  Him  and  obeyed  Him. 

This  is  all  there  was  about  it  as  far  as  I  was  concerned,  and  this  is 
all  there  ever  has  been  about  it  since  on  my  side.  As  a  dear  little  girl 
said  one  day,  I  have  had  nothing  to  do  but  "just  to  mind."  But  on 
His  side  what  has  there  not  been?  "What  heights  and  depths  of  love, 
what  infinite  tendernesses  of  care,  what  wise  lovingness  of  discipline, 
what  grandeur  of  keeping,  what  wonders  of  revealing,  what  strength 
in  weakness,  what  comfort  in  sorrow,  what  light  in  darkness,  what 
deliverance  from  bondage,  what  uplifting  from  anxiety,  what  easing 
of  burdens;  in  short,  what  a  God  and  Saviour! 

No  wonder  that  as  the  years  have  gone  on  this  life  of  yielding, 
trusting,  and  obeying,  which  at  first  was  hard,  has  become  the  very 
delight  of  my  heart;  and  that  to  say,  "Thy  will  be  done,  "  seems  to 
me  now  the  sweetest  song  of  the  soul. 


COMES   INTO   THE   TEMPERANCE   WORK.  205 

Moreover,  as  the  result  of  this  attitude  of  heart  towards  God, 
there  has  come  in  the  very  nature  of  things  an  acquaintance  with 
Him.  We  soon  learn  to  know  the  Master  whom  we  trust  and 
follow.  And  because  we  know  Him  we  cannot  but  love  Ilim,  for 
who  could  know  Him,  ever  so  little,  and  not  love  Him  best  of  all! 

"  "Who  that  one  moment  has  the  least  descried  Him, 

Faintly  and  dimly,  hidden  and  afar, 
Doth  not  despise  all  excellence  beside  Him, 

Pleasures  and  powers  that  are  not  and  that  are? 
Aye,  amid  all  men  hold  himself  thereafter, 

Smit  with  a  solemn  and  a  sweet  surprise; 
Dumb  to  their  scorn,  and  turning  on  their  laughter 

Only  the  dominance  of  earnest  eyes." 

More  and  more  I  realize  that  I  am  nothing,  but  that  He  is  all  and 
in  all.  /  have  no  wisdom,  nor  goodness,  nor  strength,  but  He  is 
everything  tbat  is  glorious,  and  good,  and  loving,  and  true,  and  just; 
and  He  is  mine  and  I  am  His,  and  therefore  all  must  be  well.  All 
my  needs,  and  all  my  perplexities,  and  all  niy  sorrow  are  met  and  an- 
swered by  the  fact  of  God.  Not  what  He  does,  not  what  He  gives, 
not  what  He  says,  but  simply  and  only  what  He  is.  Not  anything 
from  Him,  nor  anything  for  Him,  but  He  Himself,  the  _God  who  is 
revealed  to  us  in  the  face  of  Jesus  Christ,  He  is  the  one  universal 
answer  and  solvent  of  every  need.  His  ways  or  His  plans  I  might 
misunderstand,  but  goodness  of  character  I  cannot  mistake,  and  it  is 
His  character  that  is  my  impregnable  fortress  of  refuge  and  of  rest. 
"God  is"  gives  perfect  peace  in  everything. 

This  has  been  my  life's  lesson,  to  learn  to  "know  God."  I  have 
advanced  only  a  very  little  way  as  yet  in  this  knowledge;  but  all  that 
has  come  to  me  has  come  along  this  one  pathway  of  surrender,  trust, 
and  obedience,  and  by  no  other.  And  as  I  abide  steadfastly  in  these,  I 
believe  grander  outlooks  will  be  continually  given  me,  and  I  shall 
find  it  more  and  more  true  as  our  Saviour  said,  that  "this  is  life  eter- 
nal, to  know  the  only  true  God,  and  Jesus  Christ  whom  Thou  hast 
sent." 

This  pathway  lies  open  to  all,  and  everyone  who  walks  in  it  will 
know.     My  coming  into  the  temperance  work  was  after  this  fashion: 

At  the  time  of  the  Crusade  I  was  in  England,  engaged  in  religious 
work.  My  American  friends  sent  me  over  the  newspapers  containing 
the  accounts  of  the  marvelous  pentecostal  baptism  on  the  Christian 
women  of  our  land.  My  soul  was  stirred  within  me.  I  recognized 
my  Master's  voice  calling  me  to  a  consecration  of  myself  to  the 
same  work,  and  as  I  sat  before  an  English  open  fire  in  the  drawing- 
room  of  our  London  house,  I  joined  that  Crusade.     In  my  heart  I 


206  BIBLE    READINGS. 

said,  "Those  women  are  my  sisters,  and  their  work  is  my  work, 
from  this  time  forward  until  my  life  ends."  It  was  as  real  a  transaction 
as  was  ever  made,  though  no  outward  act  was  performed  and  no  audi- 
ble word  was  said.  As  soon  as  I  returned  to  America  I  put  my  name 
on  the  pledge  roll  of  the  nearest  W.  C.  T.  U.,  and  joined  the  ranks  of 
the  workers.  And  from  that  time  to  this  the  fire  has  burned  with 
ever-increasing  fervor.  To-day  the  National  W.  C.  T.  IT.  of 
America  seems  to  me  one  of  the  grandest  instrumentalities  for  the 
Lord's  work  that  this  world  has  ever  known,  blessing  equally  both  the 
workers  and  those  for  whom  we  labor. 

"how  to  prepare  bible  readings." 

[Practical  Suggestions  sent  out  to  the  W.  C.  T.  U.  by  Mrs.  Smith.] 

For  your  study  of  the  Bible  you  require  four  things: 
I.     A  Bible,  with  references,  if  possible. 

II.     A  complete  "Analytical  Concordance."     [You  can  now  get  a 
a  very  good  copy  for  25  cts.] 

III.  A  blank-book  that  can  be  ruled  in  columns. 

IV.  An  undisturbed  desk  or  table,  where  you  can  keep  the  above 
three  things,  with  pen  and  ink,  always  ready.  Having  provided  these 
few  necessary  things,  proceed  as  follows : 

I.     Commit  yourself,  in  a  few  words,  to  God,  asking  for  light  and 
guidance,  and  expecting  to  receive  them. 

II.     Choose  a  subject  appropriate  to  the  occasion. 

III.  Find  in  the  Concordance  all  the  words  referring  to  this  sub- 
ject, and  select  from  among  the  texts  given  such  as  seem  to  you  best 
to  elucidate  it,  noting  them  down  under  their  appropriate  headings  in 
your  blank-book. 

IV.  Read  over  these  selected  texts  carefully,  and  make  a  list  of  the 
most  striking  on  a  separate  piece  of  paper,  putting  them  in  the  order 
that  will  best  develop  the  lesson.  Begin  this  list  with  a  familiar  text, 
and  gradually  progress  to  those  not  so  well  known,  letting  each  suc- 
cessive text  develop  the  subject  a  little  more  clearly  than  the  last. 
Close  the  list,  if  possible,  with  some  practical  instance  from  Bible 
history,  or  some  typical  illustration. 

V.  Having  thus  prepared  your  list,  open  your  Bible  at  the  first 
text,  and  on  the  margin  beside  it  write  the  reference  to  the  second  text 
on  your  list.  Turn  to  this  second  one  and  write  beside  it  the  reference 
to  the  third.  Turn  to  the  third  and  write  beside  it  the  reference  to 
the  fourth.     And  so  on  through  the  whole  list. 

VI.  On  a  blank  page  at  the  end  of  your  Bible  write  down  an  index 
of  all  the  subjects  you  have  thus  studied,  with  a  reference  at  each  to 
the  first  text  on  your  list  concerning  that  subject.  If  you  have  no 
blank  leaves  at  the  end  of  your  Bible,  gum  the  edge  of  a  half  sheet  of 
note  paper  and  fasten  it  in. 


MRS.   MARY  T.  LATHROP. 


MRS.    MARY   TORRANCE   LATHRAP.  207 

VII.  If  you  prefer  it  you  may  write  a  list  of  all  your  chain  of  texts 
on  the  margin  beside  the  first  text,  so  as  to  have  them  all  before  you 
at  once  to  choose  from. 

VIII.  By  this  plan  you  will  have  a  complete  chain  of  texts  on  any 
given  subject  running  all  through  your  Bible  itself,  each  verse  referring 
you  to  the  next  one  you  wish  to  read,  without  having  the  trouble  of 
loose  slips  of  paper  to  embarrass  you.  Also,  having  once  studied  out 
a  subject,  you  have  it  all  ready  for  any  future  use;  and  by  turning  to 
your  index  list,  you  can  at  a  moment's  notice  open  your  Bible  at  the 
foundation  text,  and  can  then  turn  to  one  text  after  another  through 
the  whole  course  of  your  lesson,  without  hesitation  or  embarrassment. 

MRS.  MARY  TORRANCE  LATHRAP  OF  MICHIGAN.* 

When  God  plans  a  great  moral  reform  movement  that 
will  lift  society  out  of  the  ruts  of  indifference  and  stagna- 
tion to  the  level  of  righteous  intent  and  heroic  action,  He 
always  prepares  beforehand  the  workers  for  His  work. 

The  Woman's  Temperance  Crusade  was  one  of  those 
remarkable,  providential  uplifts  that  brought  together  at 
the  feet  of  the  Master  many  of  His  chosen  and  trained 
workers.  It  was  the  coming  of  "the  hour  for  the  women 
and  the  women  for  the  hour"  in  a  great  social  reform 
movement. 

In  the  brilliant  galaxy  of  women  that  has  added  luster 
to  the  Woman's  National  Christian  Temperance  Union, 
which  is  a  direct  outgrowth  of  the  Crusade,  Mrs.  Lathrap 
is  a  star  of  the  first  magnitude.  When  the  Lord  called 
the  women  of  the  nation  to  temperance  work,  through 
the  Crusade,  she  was  ready  to  answer  out  of  an  uttermost 
consecration:  "Here  am  I,  Lord;  send  me." 

She  came  to  the  first  temperance  convention  of  women, 
a  prepared  worker,  and  took  rank  at  once  as  one  of  the 
most  forceful  and  eloquent  advocates  of  the  cause. 

Her  broad  and  varied  experience  in  connection  with 
the  "Ladies'  and  Pastors'  Christian  Union,"  and  the 
"Woman's  Foreign*  Missionary  Society,"  had  made  her 
familiar  with  the  needs  of  humanity,  and  given  her  a 
wide  outlook  in  the  direction  of  social  reforms. 

*  By  Mrs.  Wittenniyer. 


208  A   WESTERN   GIRL. 

But  the  secret  of  her  remarkable  power  was  in  her 
entire  devotion  to  God  and  duty,  and  the  deep  undertone 
of  her  religious  life,  "that  like  a  billow  in  mid-ocean 
never  breaks  upon  the  beach"  of  human  discontent. 

Mary  Lathrap,  nee  Torrance,  was  born  on  a  farm  in 
Central  Michigan,  April  25th,  1838,  only  twelve  miles 
from  the  city  of  Jackson,  where  she  now  resides. 

Her  childhood  was  spent  amid  the  hardships  of  pioneer 
life,  for  at  that  early  period  there  were  no  railroads 
west  of  Detroit,  and  the  vast  resources  of  the  State  were 
undeveloped. 

She  was  educated  at  Marshall,  Mich.,  where  she  lived 
during  her  girlhood  days.  And,  although  her  education 
had  only  the  finish  of  the  common  schools,  yet  she  had 
superior  teachers,  who  directed  her  in  an  after-course  of 
reading  and  study,  which  took  her  far  beyond  the  ordinary 
school  course.  At  fourteen  she  began  to  write  for  the 
county  paper,  under  the  nom  de  plume  of  "  Lena." 

Strangely  enough,  her  first  public  speech  was  a  tem- 
perance poem.  She  has  since  written  very  many  beauti- 
ful things.  One  of  her  temperance  poems,  "  The  Dead 
March,"  has  been  republished  in  most  of  the  newspapers 
of  the  country,  and  is  frequently  used  by  elocutionists  in 
their  public  readings. 

She  was  converted  at  the  early  age  of  ten  years.  The 
light  flashed  suddenly  into  her  soul  as  she  walked  home 
from  the  Presbyterian  Church  where  the  family  statedly 
worshiped.  Her  conversion  was  clear  and  strong ;  and, 
child  as  she  was,  the  deep  convictions  of  that  hour  and 
the  solemn  witnessing  of  the  Spirit  to  her  covenant  with 
God  were  so  vivid,  that  she  has  been  held  through  all 
these  years  faithful  to  her  vows.  She  desired  to  unite 
with  the  Church,  but  she  was  thought  to  be  too  young  to 
be  brought  into  the  fold  at  once.  She  was  too  timid  to 
try  again,  and  so  was  harmed  by  the  delay,  and  was  not 


HER   DESIRE   TO   PREACH.  209 

received  into  the  Church  till  she  was  nearly  eighteen. 
But  she  had  a  good  strong  Scotch-Irish  Presbyterian 
mother,  who  held  her  to  the  white  line,  and  who,  though 
left  alone  to  rear  her  family,  maintained  a  strict,  godly 
rule  over  her  children,  who  now  "  rise  up  to  call  her 
blessed."  In  her  old  age  the  mother,  with  work  well 
done,  sits  in  sweet  content  beside  Mrs.  Lathrap's  hearth- 
stone, calmly  and  joyfully  awaiting  the  messenger  who 
shall  bear  her  away  to  her  mansion  and  her  crown. 

Mary  Torrance  taught  in  the  public  schools  of  Detroit 
from  1862  till  1865,  when  she  was  married  to  Carnett  C. 
Lath  rap,  then  assistant  surgeon  in  the  Ninth  Michigan 
Cavalry. 

Dr.  Lathrap,  who  is  a  genial,  whole-souled  gentleman, 
has  always  had  a  reverent  faith  in  his  wife's  special  call 
to  Christian  work,  and  has  in  every  way  possible  helped 
her  in  it,  even  at  the  sacrifice  of  his  own  comfort.  They 
have  not  been  blessed  with  children,  but  a  young  girl, 
Dr.  Lathrap's  niece,  is  a  member  of  the  family,  to  whom 
they  are  both  devotedly  attached. 

Soon  after  her  conversion,  Mary  Torrance  had  the 
most  profound  exercise  of  mind  on  the  subject  of  preach- 
ing the  Gospel ;  and,  although  but  a  child,  and  brought 
up  in  a  Presbyterian  Church,  where  the  voice  of  a  woman 
had  never  been  heard,  yet  her  convictions  were  so  strong 
that  life  seemed  to  her  a  failure  unless  she  could  do  the 
one  thing  that  to  her  was  all-important — preach  the 
Gospel. 

Two  years  after  her  marriage  she  removed  with  her 
husband  to  Jackson,  and,  as  Dr.  Lathrap  was  a  member 
of  the  Methodist  Church,  she  united  with  that  church  by 
letter,  where  they  still  maintain  their  membership. 

Through  all  these  years  the  call  to  preach  Christ's 
Gospel  has  never  left  her.  Day  and  night,  even  in  her 
most  careless  moments,  it  has  sounded  down  into  the. 


210  HER   SUCCESS. 

depths  of  her  innermost  soul.  Her  gifts  and  graces  were 
so  remarkable,  that  the  Quarterly  Conference  of  the 
Methodist  Church  granted  her  a  license  to  preach.  Dur- 
ing the  last  eight  years  she  has  held  a  local  preacher's 
license,  which  has  been  renewed  from  year  to  year  till 
last  year,  which  was  not  done,  owing  to  a  derangement 
in  the  District  Conference  plan.  But  the  anointing  that 
comes  from  above  still  abides.  Her  preaching  is  with 
power  and  the  demonstration  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  Bishop 
Simpson,  after  listening  to  one  of  her  sermons,  came  for- 
ward and  said,  reverently, "  God  has  certainly  called  and 
anointed  our  sister  to  preach  His  Gospel." 

The  deep  earnestness  of  her  soul  is  manifest  in  every 
word  she  utters.  The  truths  she  brings  to  others  have 
taken  deep  root  in  the  subsoil  of  her  own  soul,  and  are 
couched  in  such  clear,  ringing,  eloquent  words,  that  the 
attention  of  the  most  careless  listener  is  at  once  riveted. 
There  is  no  effort  at  oratory,  no  clap-trap  of  wit  or 
words  to  win  applause,  for  she  is  as  free  from  ambition 
as  a  little  child.  But  I  have  often  seen  her  hold  the 
earliest  attention  of  six  or  seven  thousand  people,  many 
of  .them  standing,  for  over  an  hour,  by  her  clear  logic, 
original  thought,  and  her  deep  earnestness  in  putting  the 
Truth.  When  she  speaks  on  temperance  or  preaches  the 
Word,  her  silver  trumpet  gives  no  uncertain  sound,  for 
she  hears  a  voice  ever  behind  her  saying,  "  Take  heed 
what  ye  speak."  And  the  power  of  this  voice  is  intensi- 
fied by  the  unusual  individuality  of  her  soul.  In  the 
presence  of  duty  she  stands  alone  with  God,  as  though 
there  was  not  another  being  in  the  universe.  This  soul- 
consciousness  of  God  makes  her  unusually  true  and  truth- 
ful to  the  very  core  of  her  being.  As  a  friend,  she  is 
frank,  honest,  generous,  and  ardent.  She  does  not 
change  friends  with  every  new  moon,  but,  while  she  con- 
stantly makes  new  friendships,  her  fidelity  is  unwavering 


TO    WORK    IN    MICHIGAN.  211 

to  old  friends  right  through  the  years,  unless  she  finds 
them  untrue  in  moral  character.  As  a  speaker  on  the 
temperance  question,  she  has  been  so  popular  in  Michigan 
that  her  lime  has  been  greatly  taken  up  in  work  in  that 
State. 

She  is  President  of  the  State  W.  C.  T.  U.,  and  earn- 
estly engaged  with  the  workers  of  Michigan  in  efforts  to 
secure  prohibition  by  constitutional  amendment.  As  one 
of  the  secretaries  of  the  "  Ladies'  and  Pastors'  Christian 
Union,"  a  home  missionary  society,  die  has,  during  the 
last  ten  years,  addressed  a  very  large  number  of  the 
annual  conferences.  She  has  also  done  a  large  amount 
of  work  for  the  "  Woman's  Foreign  Missionary  Society." 
After  she  was  licensed  she  preached  her  first  six  sermons 
by  invitation  of  the  pastor  in  the  Congregational  Church 
of  her  own  town.  The  church  was  crowded,  and  the 
impression  was  profound.  Since  then,  as  an  evangelist, 
she  has  labored  in  many  churches  with  great  success. 
Often  in  her  revival  meetings  her  intense  interest  for  the 
salvation  of  souls  brings  her  into  fellowship  with  the 
Master  to  such  an  extent  that  for  the  time  she  would  wil- 
lingly die  to  save  souls. 

Naturally  she  is  witty  and  light-hearted,  and  has  a  keen 
sense  of  the  ridiculous,  but  grace  has  so  tempered  her 
spirit  that  her  wit  and  joyousness  of  life  is  without  levity 
or  uncharitableness. 

She  has  always  felt  a  deep  interest  in  the  welfare  and 
elevation  of  her  own  sex.  And  at  the  State  Convention 
of  the  Women's  Christian  Temperance  Union  in  1878,  at 
Grand  Rapids,  Mich.,  she  read  a  paper  which  stirred  the 
audience  on  the  question  of  working  for  the  reformation 
of  fallen  women,  as  I  have  never  seen  an  audience  stirred 
before  or  since.  A  resolution  looking  to  immediate  action 
was  at  once  passed  unanimously,  and  a  petition  to  the 
Legislature    prepared   for   circulation.     Twelve   hundred 


212  A  girls'  reform  school. 

extra  copies  of  the  speech  were  circulated,  and  Mrs. 
Lathrap,  Mrs.  Dr.  Morse  Stewart  of  Detroit,  and  Mrs. 
Church  of  Greenville,  appointed  as  a  committee  to  take 
charge  of  the  matter.  Mrs.  Lathrap  and  others  went  to 
Lansing  and  got  a  bill  through  the  Legislature  appro- 
priating $30,000  for  such  an  institution  as  they  desired. 
It  is  to  be  located  at  Adrian.  The  land  has  been  secured, 
and  before  another  year  goes  by  it  will  be  opened  for 
inmates. 

Ladies  have  been  appointed  by  the  Governor  of  Michi- 
gan to  serve  with  the  men  charged  with  this  responsibility. 
Mrs.  Lathrap's  consecrated  voice,  which  is  so  strong  to 
plead  with  the  erring  and  to  plead  for  the  fallen,  has  won 
for  Michigan  what  is  needed  for  every  State — a  girls' 
reform  school.  In  all  Mrs.  Lathrap's  labors  in  this  country 
and  Canada,  everywhere  she  gathers  in  the  multitudes  and 
makes  them  feel  the  power  of  truth.  Her  words  are 
hooks  that  hold,  and  are  remembered  and  bring  forth 
fruit  through  the  years,  and  doubtless,  when  the  angels 
gather  in  the  harvest,  she  will  have  many  sheaves  to  lay 
at  the  Master's  feet. 

MISS    JENNIE    SMITH,    OUR    RAILROAD    EVANGELIST.  * 

At  the  time  of  the  Crusade,  Jennie  Smith,  our  valued 
Railroad  Evangelist,  was  a  helpless  invalid,  having 
been  confined  to  her  couch  for  many  years  without  once 
being  able  to  put  her  foot  to  the  floor.  Her  soul  was 
stirred  within  her  like  all  the  rest  by  the  great  awakening 
of  God  that  swept  so  many  Christian  women  into  the 
ranks  of  the  temperance  reformers,  but  she  could  do  very 
little  to  help. 

In  1878,  however,  the  Lord  gave  her  a  wonderful  deliv- 
erance. She  had  been  taken  to  a  homeopathic  hospital  in 
Philadelphia  in  the  hope  of  benefit  from  a  new  treatment, 
and  had  been  relieved  of  some  very  distressing  symptoms. 

*By"H.  W.  S." 


MISS   JENNY   SMITH.  213 

But  she  still  continued  a  helpless  invalid,  utterly  unable 
to  be  even  lifted  up  in  bed.     She  says,  concerning  it : 

"  All  my  hopes  were  shattered,  not  because  my  physi- 
cian had  given  up  the  case,  but  because  I  thought  I  saw 
plainly  that  the  treatment  was  continued  more  to  gratify 
me  than  from  confidence  in  its  success,  and  especially  I 
was  forced  to  believe  that  my  back  was  worse  instead  of 
better.  I  found  I  could  not  say,  '  Thy  will  be  done,'  to 
suffer  on.  I  felt  compelled  to  overcome  this  feeling,  and 
on  the  night  of  April  22,  1878,  I  passed  through  the 
severest  struggle  of  my  life.  The  question  came  before 
me  as  to  whether  I  would  be  willing  to  be  a  helpless  and 
suffering  invalid  all  my  life  if  by  this  means  I  could  more 
effectually  reach  the  souls  around  me.  During  my  illness 
I  had  traveled  on  a  wheeled  couch  a  great  deal,  and  when 
on  railroads  had  of  course  been  obliged  to  go  as  baggage. 
This  had  brought  me  into  intimate  association  with  the 
railroad  employees,  and  their  uniform  and  chivalrous 
kindness  to  me  in  my  helplessness  had  won  my  heart. 
As  I  passed  through  the  struggle  on  this  never-to-be-for- 
gotten night,  there  came  before  me  as  in  a  vision  all  the 
railroad  employees  in  the  nation,  a  mighty  multitude  of 
hungry  souls,  and  I  said  in  the  very  depths  of  my  being, 
'  Yes,  Lord,  I  am  willing  to  suffer  forever,  if  I  may  only 
help  these  men  who  handle  my  couch  on  the  railroads.' 
This  gave  victory,  and  I  felt  myself  to  be  more  swallowed 
up  in  the  will  of  God  than  ever,  and  to  desire  only  an 
incoming  of  Divine  power  to  do  the  work  that  seemed 
laid  upon  me.  The  next  evening  I  summoned  to  my  bed- 
side a  few  sympathizing  friends,  and  told  them  I  felt  an 
assurance  that  if  they  would  unite  with  me  in  waiting  on 
the  Lord,  He  would  bestow  the  needed  power." 

After  a  most  solemn  consecration  of  body,  soul,  and 
spirit  to  Him  for  His  use  either  in  sickness  or  health,  the 
little  circle  prayed  and  waited,  realizing  very  vividly  the ' 


21 -A  OUR   RAILROAD    EVANGELIST. 

Divine  presence  in  their  midst.  Between  eleven  and 
twelve  Jennie  felt  a  shock  of  life  go  through  her  from 
head  to  foot,  and  immediately  lifted  herself  up  in  bed  for 
the  first  time  in  sixteen  years.  She  then  said,  "  I  believe 
the  Lord  would  have  me  rise  up  and  walk,"  and  her  phy- 
sician helped  her  to  her  feet.  She  walked  a  few  steps, 
and  kneeled  in  thanksgiving,  and  then  retired  to  rest  with 
a  heart  full  of  praises.  From  that  moment  her  restoration 
to  strength  and  health  was  very  rapid,  so  that  in  a  short 
time  she  was  entirely  well,  and  was  able  to  undergo  more 
exertion  and  fatigue  than  most  of  her  friends  around 
her. 

She  at  once  began  to  use  her  renewed  and  consecrated 
powers  in  the  work  of  the  Lord  for  the  uplift  of  humanity, 
and  the  call  she  had  heard  on  that  memorable  night  to 
help  the  railroad  men  was  never  out  of  her  mind.  But 
she  could  not  see  any  way  of  carrying  it  out,  and  could 
only  wait  and  trust.  In  the  fall  of  1881  she  attended  the 
National  Woman's  Christian  Temperance  Union  Conven- 
tion held  in  Washington,  and  there  told  out  the  desires 
of  her  heart.  And  our  women,  hearing  the  divine  call  in 
her  longings,  inserted  in  the  grand,  broad  platform  of  our 
National  Woman's  Christian  Temperance  Union  a  plank 
in  the  shape  of  a  department  called  "  Work  among  Rail- 
road Employees,"  and  she  was  made  its  superintendent. 
This  gave  her  a  backing,  and  a  door  was  soon  opened  for 
her  through  the  Woman's  Christian  Temperance  Union 
of  Baltimore  on  the  line  of  the  Baltimore  &  Ohio  Railroad, 
where  she  has  worked  with  wonderful  success  for  several 
months.  A  rich  harvest  has  already  been  gathered  as  the 
result  of  her  labors,  over  one  thousand  souls  having  been 
brought  into  the  kingdom  of  Christ  from  among  the  rail- 
road men  and  their  families.  A  marvelous  change  has 
been  wrought  in  the  whole  morale  of  the  shops  and  depots 
belonging  to  the  company,  as  well  as  along  the  line.     As 


MISS  LUCIA  E.  F.  KIMBALL. 


MRS.  T.  B.  CARSE.  215 

one  man  said,  "  We  hardly  know  ourselves  on  this  road 
any  more.  Where  we  used  to  meet  each  other  with  oaths 
and  blasphemy,  we  now  hear  the  greeting,  '  God  bless 
you,  brother.  Praise  the  Lord  for  his  goodness  to-day.'  " 
Drinking  has  been  almost  abolished  along  the  line  as  far 
as  the  work  has  extended ;  "  Railroad  Temperance  Unions  " 
have  been  formed,  and  all  the  converts  have  been  pledged 
to  total  abstinence  and  the  temperance  cause. 

In  many  other  fields  of  work  Jennie  Smith  has  been 
blessed  and  owned  by  the  Lord  of  the  harvest,  and  has 
brought  in  rich  sheaves.  But  nowhere  is  she  so  happy 
and  so  much  at  home  as  among  her  "  Railroad  boys."  And 
nowhere  does  she  receive  a  more  loyal  respect  and  devo- 
tion than  from  them. 

The  work  is  still  going  on,  and  she  is  hoping  and  pray- 
ing that  other  workers  may  be  raised  up  to  join  her  in 
this  long-neglected,  but  most  needy  field. 

MISS   LUCIA    E.    F.    KIMBALL, 
Superintendent  National  Sunday-School  Department, 

AND    MRS.    T.    B.    CARSE, 
Founder  of  The  Signal. 

In  the  spring  of  1874  the  tidal  wave  of  the  Crusade 
struck  Chicago — that  city  of  mighty  antitheses.  Three 
thousand  dram  shops ;  three  hundred  churches  ;  Dwight 
L.  Moody,  the  evangelist ;  Mike  McDonald,  the  gambler ; 
Philip  Bliss,  the  greatest  gospel  singer  of  our  age,  and 
Majors  Whittle  and  Cole,  the  lay  preachers,  offset  by 
socialists  the  most  incendiary,  and  infidels  the  most  pro- 
fane ;  the  Washingtonian  and  Martha  Washington  Homes, 
and  the  "  Rehoboth "  for  women  inebriates,  offset  by 
that  moral  "  Burnt  District,"  known  as  the"  Black  Hole," 
— these  are  a  few  among  unnumbered  contrasts  that 
reveal  the  hot  contest  between  Christ  and  the  devil  in 
the  most  marvelous  city  of  modern  times.     A  thrilling 


216  UPRISING   OF   CHICAGO   "WOMEN. 

volume  might  be  written  on  the  efflorescence  of  woman's 
philanthropy  in  Chicago.  There  is  no  depth  of  misery 
and  shame  into  which  the  sweet  leaves  of  its  healing  have 
not  brought  cleansing  and  light.  The  day  seems  all  too 
short  for  the  tender  ministries  to  which  the  gentler  members 
of  Christ's  church  have  gone  forth  in  that  city  which,  with 
all  its  faults,  is  so  liberal  and  appreciative  of  the  work  of 
women.  But  I  must  not  suffer  the  warm  sympathy  I  feel 
for  that  noble  army  of  workers  to  beguile  me  from  the 
present  duty  of  delineating  two  among  the  hundreds  of 
devoted  women  whom  I  know  and  love,  in  the  city  where 
my  philanthropic  work  begun.  One  morning,  as  I  was 
preparing  the  usual  Friday  "  Chapel  Talk  "  for  my  dear 
college  girls,  in  the  sunny  home  parlor  at  Evanston,  Mrs. 
Charles  II.  Case  of  Chicago — half  an  hour  distant  by  rail 
— called  to  invite  me  to  speak  at  a  temperance  meeting 
in  her  own  church,  Union  Park  Congregational,  Rev.  Dr. 
Helmer,  pastor.  "  The  tidal  wave,"  referred  to  in  the 
opening  sentence  of  this  chapter,  was  at  its  height.  In 
ten  days  canvass  by  the  temperance  ladies,  fourteen 
thousand  names  had  been  secured  to  a  petition  to  the 
Common  Council  asking  for  the  enforcement  of  law 
against  the  dram  shops,  which  request,  presented  by  the 
best  women  in  the  city  (led  by  Mrs.  Rev.  Moses  Smith), 
had  been  summarily  disregarded,  and  the  ladies  rudely 
hissed  at  by  a  whisky  mob.  Great  audiences  assembled 
at  noontide  to  discuss  the  situation.  Pastors  gave  their 
influence  in  favor  of  the  women's  movement,  and  a 
W.  C.  T.  U.  was  already  organized.  Out  of  my  quiet, 
bookish  life,  where  I  had  only  been  stirred  sufficiently  by 
the  great  events  daily  reported  in  my  brother's  paper,  to 
get  my  rhetorical  classes  at  work,  debating  the  questions 
of  total  abstinence  and  prohibition,  this  invitation  beckoned 
me,  and  the  next  Sabbath  night,  before  an  immense 
audience  in  the  elegant  city  church,  I  tried  to  speak. 


A   MODEL   W.  C.  T.  U.  217 

Two  ladies,  among  the  many  I  met  there,  especially  im- 
pressed me.  Indeed,  Mrs.  Case  had  said:  "We  have 
two  members  in  our  church  who  can  become  mighty  for 
God  and  temperance,  if  they  consecrate  themselves,  as  I 
believe  they  will,  to  this  new  work."  One  was  Mrs.  T.  B. 
Carse,  a  name  beloved  wherever  known  by  all  right- 
minded  people,  for  her  work's  sake.  She  is  now  president 
of  her  district  and  of  the  Central  W.  C.  T.  TJ.  of  Chicago^ 
a  society  which  has  reached  out  wider,  stronger  arms  of 
help  and  blessing  than  any  other  in  the  United  States. 
It  has  maintained  a  daily  gospel  meeting  for  eight  con- 
secutive years,  in  which  thousands  have  been  brought  to 
temperance  and  Christ.  It  founded  the  "Rehoboth,"  a 
name  given  by  Mrs.  Carse  to  the  refuge  for  inebriate  wo- 
men who  are  taken  there  from  the  police  court,  and  if  they 
pass  their  novitiate,  are  graduated  into  the  beautiful 
"Martha  Washington  Home"  outside  the  city,  and  thence 
into  the  church  and  back  to  a  reputable  life.  It  has' 
placed  four  matrons  at  the  four  police  stations,  and  in- 
duced the  city  government  to  help  maintain  them  there. 
It  sends  special  missionaries  (like  Mrs.  Skelton  and  Mrs. 
01>enauer),to  the  wards  where  foreigners  are  congregated, 
t<>  speak  to  them  in  "their  own  tongue  wherein  they  were 
born;"  also  supports  a  temperance  missionary  among  the 
colored  people.  It  keeps  open  headquarters  the  year 
around,  where  men  come  to  sign  the  pledge,  and  whence 
temperance  literature  is  circulated  throughout  the  city 
and  the  northwest.  It  maintains  meetings  in  various 
parts  of  the  city,  and  in  the  breezy  enthusiasm  of  its  work 
is  a  reminder  of  the  primitive  church  whose  practical 
Christianity  it  so  grandly  illustrates.  It  carries  on  a 
lecture  course — the  chief  one  of  our  great  city — attending 
to  all  the  details  of  so  huge  an  enterprise,  furnishing 
elevating  recreation  to  the  people"rand  putting  money  in 
its  purse  for  the  benignant  uses  of  the  temperance  reform. 
9 


218  OKIGIN    OF    "THE  SIGNAL." 

And  at  the  head  of  those  glorious  women  who  have  stood 
shoulder  to  shoulder  in  tins  glorious  work,  is  Mrs.  T.  B. 
Carse,  whose  good  fortune  it  is  to  have  a  lovely  home  and 
time  at  her  command,  and  whose  noble  boys,  David  and 
John,  beloved  by  all  of  us,  are  the  joy  of  their  mother's 
heart,  and  illustrate  that  discriminating  remark  of  a 
great  man,  "  Commend  mo  to  a  Christian  widow's  sons  as 
models  of  good  bringing  up." 

But  as  the  "Founder  of  The  Signal"  Mrs.  Carse  will 
longest  be  remembered.  I  shall  never  forget  the  look  of 
exaltation  with  which  she  came  to  me  at  Old  Orchard 
Beach  some  years  ago,  and  said :  "  I  had  a  vision  last 
night  of  the  paper  we  must  have  at  the  West  to  repre- 
sent our  broad,  progressive  work;"  and  then,  with  her 
beaming  countenance  and  earnest  words,  she  laid  her 
plan  before  me,  adding  impressively:  "I  have  prayed 
much  about  this,  and  it  is  to  be."  Those  who  know 
her  magnificent  energy,  tireless  perseverance,  and  win- 
ning manners,  will  not  wonder  that  Mrs.  Carse  raised 
thousands  of  dollars  requisite  for  this  enterprise  from 
our  generous  Chicago  merchants,  Robert  D.  Fowler, 
Chicago's  temperance  Maecenus,  and  his  earnest-hearted 
wife,  contributing,  with  true  English  liberality,  beyond 
others.  So  we  had  a  weekly  paper,  with  wider  space 
and  fresher  news,  and  later  on  Our  Union  (whose  pres- 
ence in  the  home,  Mary  T.  Lathrap  happily  called 
"  analogous  to  that  of  a  refined  Christian  lady,")  merged 
its  destiny  with  that  of  its  wide  awake  sister  of  the  west. 
So  much  for  nine  years'  work  of  one  brave  temperance 
woman. 

MISS   KIMBALL 

spoke  on  the  evening  of  my  own  timid  debut  in  the  Con- 
gregational Church  at  Union  Park.  Of  fine  bearing, 
pleasant  voice,  and  clear  enunciation,  filling  that  great  audi- 
torium without  apparent  effort,  I  recognized  at  once  in  her 
gifts  and  earnestness  peculiar  fitness  for  the  oncoming 


MISS   LUCIA    KIMBALL.  210 

work.  Why  should  it  not  be  so  ?  Miss  Kimball  was 
born  and  reared  in  Maine,  of  parents  noble  in  the  truest 
sense,  who  in  their  childhood,  seventy  years  ago,  took  a 
firm  stand,  amid  much  contradiction,  for  total  abstinence. 
No  shadow  of  intemperance  ever  darkened  their  home 
or  that  of  their  children.  Indeed,  it  is  a  noteworthy 
fact  that  fully  ninety  per  cent,  of  our  temperance  women 
are  not  such  because  of  any  personal  experience  or  sorrow, 
but,  on  the  contrary,  have  had  life-long  immunity  from 
this  greatest  scourge  of  home.  What  a  libel  it  is  upon 
human  nature,  touched  by  God's  grace,  when  the  dreary 
commonplace  is  uttered  concerning  any  of  our  workers, 
"  Well,  I  suppose  she  has  suffered,  and  so  she  takes  an 
interest  in  this  movement."  Was  that  the  reason  why 
our  Master  "took  an  interest"  in  poor,  dazed,  bereft 
humanity,  or  did  God  "  so  love  the  world"  as  to  send  the 
Sinless  One  for  our  redemption  ? 

Foremost  in  every  reform  that  tended  toward  the  uplift- 
ing of  the  race,  the  father'of  my  gifted  friend,  often  when 
standing  almost  alone,  was  wont  to  utter  this  golden  sen- 
tence— often  on  her  lips  in  her  references  to  him :  "  I 
must  do  what  I ought ;   God  will  take  care  of  the  rest.'1'' 

In  a  letter  recently  received,  Miss  Kimball  says  :  "  You 
know  how  utterly  opposed  I  am  to  being  written  up,  and 
I  trust  you  will  bear  this  in  mind."  Being  made  aware 
that  something  would  be  stated — her  prominent  position 
in  our  counsels  making  this  inevitable — she  wrote :  "If 
anything  must  be  said,  I  do  want  my  parents  to  have 
credit  for  any  effort  to  do  good  that  I  may  have  put  forth," 
and  later :  "  To  my  mother  I  owe  what  no  words  can 
express."  A  beautiful  book,  "  In  Memoriam  of  our 
Mother,"  has  been  written  by  Miss  Kimball  for  circulation 
only  among  the  family  friends,  but  the  reading  of  which 
is  like  breaking  an  alabaster  box  of  ointment,  so  fragrant 
of  all  rare,  sweet  virtues  is  the  life  disclosed. 


220  MARY   LYON    AND   MT.    IIOLYOKE. 

Miss  Kimball  is  a  graduate  of  Mt.  Holyoke  Seminary, 
that  school  upon  which  Mary  Lyon's  memory  rests  like 
the  halo  of  a  saint,  where  the  essence  of  New  England 
character  and  culture  is  as  balmy  and  penetrating  as  the 
perfume  of  trailing  arbutus  on  its  hillsides,  and  whence 
have  gone  forth  more  consecrated  young  lives  on  em- 
bassies for  Christ  more  distant,  adventurous,  and  widely 
varied  than  from  any  other  one  spot  upon  the  globe. 

To  any  person  of  intelligence  "  a  Holyoke  graduate " 
stands  upon  blessed  vantage  ground  in  any  work  for 
Christ.  The  trained  intellect  might  be  found  elsewhere, 
but  its  combination  with  trained  sensibilities,  conscience, 
and  will, — with  self-control  and  dedication  to  duty  as  an 
ultimate  principle  of  action,  have  nowhere,  in  my  judg- 
ment, been  so  grandly  illustrated  or  so  strongly  accentu- 
ated as  at  "  South  Hadley." 

Miss  Kimball  was  for  several  years  a  teacher  in  Chicago, 
but,  like  many  another,  resigned  her  position  and  left  a 
vacancy  in  the  overcrowded  ranks,  that  she  might  join  the 
newly  recruited  "Army  of  the  White  Ribbon."  She  at  once, 
as  might  have  been  expected  from  her  training,  dedicated 
herself  to  a  specialty.  Here  again  the  preparation  of  the 
heart  is  seen.  No  institution  of  its  kind  ever  gave  the 
place  to  Bible  teaching  which  Mary  Lyon  insisted  on  at 
Holyoke.  Five  times  did  she  study  the  cover  off  her  own 
leather-bound  copy  of  the  Holy  "Word,  and  I  remember 
the  sweet  awe  that  came  to  my  heart,  when  I  rose  to 
speak  in  the  "  Chapel "  where  she  had  stood  so  often  to 
talk  and  pray  with  "  her  girls,"  as  I  remembered  how 
she  used  to  come  to  a  duty  so  sacred  straight  from 
the  "  silent  hour "  with  that  beloved  Bible  under  her 
arm.  Naturally,  then,  a  generation  later,  we  have  in 
Lucia  Kimball,  a  pupil  of  this  Bible-studying  seminary, 
one  fitted  by  long  training  to  make  the  introduction 
of  Sunday-school  temperance  teaching  her  special  work. 
It  was  her   thought   to   have  this    branch  of   Christian 


INDIAN   CHIEF   PETOSKEY.  221 

instruction  systematically  carried  on  by  putting  into 
the  International  Series  the  Quarterly  Temperance  Les- 
son, on  the  principle  that  thus  only  would  it  be  regularly 
taught,  and  for  the  reason  that  the  universally  confessed 
curse  of  Christian  civilization  is  intemperance.  The 
largest  Sunday-school  petition  ever  known  was  the  one 
circulated  by  her  for  this  object,  presented  at  the  great 
Atlanta  Sunday-school  Convention  in  1878,  and  at  that 
time  acceded  to.  Subsequently,  however,  the  Quarterly 
Lesson  was  thrown  out  by  the  International  Commit- 
tee at  its  Saratoga  session,  notwithstanding  a  petition 
again  set  on  foot  by  Miss  Kimball  containing  names  of 
ministers  and  Sunday-school  superintendents,  no  others 
being  invited  to  sign.  But  our  friend  works  right  on, 
visiting  Sunday-school  leaders,  petitioning  lesson  pub- 
lishers, and  speaking  in  her  earnest,  polished  way  to 
audiences  from  Maine  to  Great  Salt  Lake. 

Miss  Kimball  is  an  attractive  writer,  as  her  two  books, 
"  Faith  Hayne "  (a  temperance  story)  and  "  More  than 
Conquerors"  (biographies  of  saintly  women),' abundantly 
testify.  She  is  invited  to  do  literary  work  enough  to 
keep  even  her  busy  brain  fully  employed,  and  writes  for 
some  of  our  leading  religious  weeklies,  but  allows  nothing 
to  interfere  with  the  beautiful  mission  for  childhood's 
weal  and  home's  protection,  to  which  her  rare  and  culti- 
vated powers  are  dedicated.  She  delights  in  her  mission, 
hints  at  no  hardships,  advertises  no  sacrifice,  but  works 
right  joyously  and  bravely  on. 

THE   INDIAN    CHIEF    PETOSKEY   AND    THE   PLEDGE. 

A  rare  incident  occurred  at  the  second  camp-meeting  in 
Petoskcy,  Mich.  It  was  at  the  close  of  the  last  of  three 
meetings  held  on  the  day  allotted  to  the  subject  of  tem- 
perance. An  Irish  lady,  beautiful  and  cultured,  who  had 
given  her  time  and  talents  to  the  temperance  work,  was 
inviting  all  who  would  to  sign  the  pledge  aud  permit  her 


222  MRS.    KATE   M'GOWAN. 

to  tie  on  the  red  ribbon.  The  night  was  one  of  extreme 
beauty  ;  the  harvest  moon  shed  its  silvery  light  upon  those 
assembled  beneath  the  shelter  of  God's  own  canopy,  who 
had  come  up  there,  amid  the  stillness  of  the  forest,  to  wor- 
ship Him.  The  air  was  echoing  the  last  strains  of  "  Ho  ! 
my  comrades,"  and  the  atmosphere,  was  laden  with  pray- 
ers, when  through  the  centre  aisle  an  aged  chief  was  led 
by  two  of  his  tribe.  One  hundred  and  four  summers  had 
he  seen,  and  still  time  had  left  gently  her  touch  upon 
him.  He  walked  with  the  step  of  dignity  which  marks 
so  peculiarly  the  Indian,  and,  in  touching  musical  cadence, 
he  said;  "I  am  Petoskey,  chief  of  the  Indian  people.  I 
want  to  take  the  pledge  from  the  white  lady,*  and  let  her 
fingers  tie  the  red  ribbon  on  old  Petoskey's  coat."  It  was 
a  scene  fit  for  a  painter,  as  there,  amid  such  sacred  sur- 
roundings, the  white  lady  descended  the  platform  and 
with  a  beaming  face  told  of  hope  and  an  anchorage  be- 
yond. With  a  voice  full  of  tears,  she  said :  "  My  dear 
brother,  far  away  from  beyond  the  blue  Atlantic  I  have 
come,  from  my  home  in  the  Emerald  Isle,  where  one  I 
loved  lies  sleeping,  to  take  you  by  the  hand,  and  to  call 
you,  chief  of  the  Indian  tribe, '  my  brother.'  I  welcome  you 
as  you  clasp  hands  with  us,  workers  in  this  sacred  cause  of 
temperance,  a  cause  which  means  not  alone  patriotism  and 
nationality,  but,  blessed  be  God,  it  means  religion.  I  shall 
go  on  my  way  stronger  as  I  remember  that  up  here  in  the 
wilds  of  Northern  Michigan  our  numbers  are  strengthened 
by  Petoskey's  signature."  Pointing  upward  the  old  man 
said,  in  his  native  tongue  :  "  I'll  meet  you  beyond  that 
sky,  where  we  shall  need  no  more  moon  or  sun,  for  He 
will  be  the  light  thereof."  And  so  Petoskey  signed  our 
temperance  pledge. 


*  This  was  Mrs.  Kate  McGowan,  an  Irish  lady,  gifted  and  beauti- 
ful, whose  one  year  of  blessed  service  and  whose  tragic  death  are 
known  to  Western  workers. 


FRANCIS   MURPIIY's   CAMP-MEETING.  223 

THE    FIRST   TEMPERANCE    CAMP-MEETING. 

The  first  temperance  camp-meeting  ever  held  convened 
at  Old  Orchard  Beach  camp-ground,  September  8, 1874. 
It  was  a  witty  and  blessed  invention  of  Francis  Murphy. 
The  attendance  from  the  first  was  large,  but  on  succeed- 
ing days  a  vast  and  enthusiastic  multitude  greeted  those 
who  had  come  from  many  States  with  their  rich  experi- 
ence of  work  in  the  great  cause. 

Following  the  opening  exercises,  a  business  meeting 
was  held  at  the  stand,  to  which  the  ladies  were  invited — 
doubtless  the  first  instance  of  their  participation  in  the 
"  cabinet  councils  "  of  such  an  enterprise.  Mrs.  Hartt, 
of  the  Woman's  Temperance  Union,  Brooklyn,  N.  Y.,  was 
asked  to  pray,  and  her  appeal  to  God  for  guidance,  and 
for  the  constant  presence  and  inspiration  of  the  Holy 
Spirit,  met  an  earnest  response  from  all  those  workers,  of 
so  many  different  "  ways  of  thinking  "  in  religious  things. 
Francis  Murphy's  exclamation  after  the  prayer :  "  Let  us 
trust — let  us  just  trust — 0  let  us  come  together  in  God's 
name,"  was  prophetic  of  the  spirit  that  predominated  in 
the  meeting  from  its  first  hour. 

The  first  evening  meeting  was,  like  those  which  fol- 
lowed it,  delightful.  It  was  just  "  sitting  together  in 
heavenly  places  in  Christ  Jesus."  Dear  old  "  Camp- 
meeting  John  Allen  "  opened  the  meeting  by  repeating, 
with  his  face  all  aglow  with  pleasure,  and  with  his  own  in- 
imitable tone  and  gesture,  the  whole  of  Paul's  Epistle  to 
Timothy.  He  seems  to  have  the  Bible  "  all  by  heart." 
Experiences  and  prayer  filled  up  the  hour  that  followed. 
It  may  be  interesting  to  group  here  a  few  notes  of  testi- 
monies in  the  social  meetings  : 

Mr. testified  that  "  the  appetite  for  liquor  which 

he  had  indulged  during  twenty -five  years  was,  upon  his 
conversion  to  Christ,  instantly  taken  away." 

Mr.  J.  K.  Osgood  (founder  of  the  first  reform  club) 


221  FATHER    HART. 

said :    "  Temperance  and  Christianity  must  go  hand  in 
hand  together — we  can  never  separate  them." 

Capt.  Sturdevant  :  "  I  am  glad  to  go  into  the  gutter 
to  bring  men  out,  give  them  the  pledge,  get  them  upon 
the  total  abstinence  platform,  and  into  the  arms  of  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ.  No  drunkard  shall  ever  have  a  cold 
shoulder  from  me,  unless  it  is  made  cold  by  taking  off 
my  coat  that  I  might  put  it  upon  him." 

An  old  gentleman,  living  near  by,  told  this  "  pointed  " 
anecdote : 

"  Father  Hart  was  a  good  old  man,  a  preacher  here  in 
Maine  in  the  old  times.  A  retired  sea-captain  was  the 
only  temperance  man  in  the  town  where  Father  Hart 
lived.  He  tried  to  get  his  dear  old  pastor  to  sign  the 
total  abstinence  pledge,  but  he  refused,  saying, '  I  don't 
care  much  about  drink — you  all  know  that ;  but  I  don't 
like  this  idea  of  signing  away  my  liberty.'  Soon  after, 
he  called  at  the  grocery,  and  the  man  who  kept  it,  and 
who  was  a  notorious  drinker  and  rumseller,  came  up  very 
cordial-like  and  said,  '  The  Lord  bless  you,  father  Hart, 
I'm  glad  to  see  you  ;  I  hear  you've  got  grit  enough  not  to 
sign  the  pledge,  and  I  bless  the  Lord  for  it ; '  and  as  he 
spoke  he  came  up,  half  tipsy,  and  leaned  on  Father  Hart's 
shoulder.  The  old  dominie  jumped  up,  saying,  '  Bless  my 
soul !  What  have  I  done  ?  Give  me  a  pledge — quick — 
somebody !  I'll  not  consent  to  be  a  post  for  a  drunkard 
to  lean  against.' " 

Rev.  Dr.  Carruthers  of  Portland,  said  :  "  The  best 
possible  method  of  getting  rid  of  any  sin  whatever  is  not 
to  do  it.  The  best  possible  cure  for  intemperance  is — 
temperance.  Moderation  in  drinking  is  very  likely  to  go 
on  to  excess  in  drinking.  I  spent  many  years  in  Russia, 
a  country  overrun  with  drunkenness  through  the  direct 
influence  of  the  government  itself,  which  monopolizes  the 
entire  liquor  traffic — every  cork  bearing  the  imperial 
stamp  of  the  State. 


EMPRESS    CATHARINE.  225 

!<A  great  Russian  statesman  went  to  the  Empress 
Catharine  and  urged  her  to  have  the  traffic  stopped. 
'But,'  argued  she,  'it  yields  the  largest  part  of  our  reve- 
nue.' '  Yes,'  he  replied,  '  but  in  encouraging  your  people 
to  drink,  you  are  cutting  down  the  tree  with  one  hand 
while  you  gather  its  fruit  with  the  other.'  The  Empress 
did  not  heed  this  warning  of  her  wise  counsellor.  Sev- 
enty years  have  passed,  and  Russia  is  now,  through  all 
her  vast  territory,  a  nation  of  drunkards." 

Rev.  I.  Luce  :  "  I  haven't  much  faith  in  the  temper- 
ance of  political  parties.  I  haven't  much  hope  of  a  man 
if  he  stands  and  alone  in  his  own  strength  only.  I  have 
faith  in  a  man  if  his  hands  cling  to  those  of  Christ," 

A  Brooklyn  lady  gave  this  experience :  "  I  was  told 
that  a  rumseller  wished  to  see  two  or  three  Christian 
ladies,  begging  that  they  would  come  quietly  and  pri- 
vately to  his  saloon.  Then  it  flashed  over  me:  'Now 
if  I  were  anxious  about  myself  spiritually,  should  I 
want  a  procession  of  women  to  file  in,  and  severally  and 
collectively  take  my  case  in  hand  ?  No,  I  should  be  like 
this  man — I  should  want  a  very  few  only,  and  that  they 
should  come  quickly,  privately.'  And  so  I  thought, 
'  Why,  that  we  can  do,  any  of  us,  at  any  time,  in  the 
spirit  of  our  Master;'  and  from  that  clay  saloon-visiting 
was  divested  of  its  terrors.  Nearly  a  thousand  have  been 
visited  by  our  ladies  in  Brooklyn,  and  the  work  is  only 
just  begun.  And  we  have  never  been  treated  rudely. 
These  men  are  courteous  to  us  and  willing  to  listen  to 
what  we  have  to  say,  and  I  could  tell  you  Avhat  would 
greatly  encourage  your  hearts,  had  I  time  to  speak  of  the 
results  of  our  efforts.  I  could  tell  you  of  men  who  are 
Christians  to-day  who  were  saloon-keepers  six  months 
ago;  of  young  men  whom  we  have  found  in  these  places, 
who  have  signed  the  pledge,  and  are  now  standing  nobly 
by  us  as  we  go  on  in  this  work  to  which  God  has  called 
us." 


226  HOW  ONE  WOMAN  HELPED. 

MRS.  MARY  E.  HARTT,  OF  BROOKLYN  W.  C.  T.  U. 

A  reformed  man  introduced  Mrs.  H.  as  "  the  Grace 
Darling  of  the  Crusaders,"  who  were  rescuing  the  drunk- 
ard from  his  wreck  of  shame  and  woe.  She  said  she 
"  came  only  as  a  Christian  woman  from  her  home,  not  as 
a  Temperance  lecturer."  She  told  a  touching  incident 
on  this  wise :  After  one  of  the  saloon  prayer-meetings 
held  in  Brooklyn  last  spring,  a  woman  came  to  her,  say- 
ing that  as  she  left  the  meeting  she  overheard  two  rough 
men  talking.  One  said  :  "  Jim,  come  on  now  and  get  a 
drink."  "  No,"  was  the  answer,  "  I  shan't  drink  to-night. 
I  can't  forget  the  way  that  lady  who  led  the  meeting 
spoke  about  our  mothers.  I'm  going  to  go  home.  I 
won't  drink  to-night."  Said  Mrs.  Hartt :  "  I've  never  seen 
Jim,  I  never  shall  here ;  but  I've  presented  him  to  God 
in  prayer  many  and  many  a  time,  and  I  expect  that  poor 
Jim  and  I  shall  meet  in  Heaven."  She  continued: 
"  Dear  sisters,  men  and  methods  have  failed  in  this  work. 
They  have  not  been  equal  to  the  great  emergency.  But 
God  has,  in  these  last  days,  taught  us  as  never  before  the 
power  of  prayer,  and  I  believe  that  by  this  means  He  will 
exterminate  this  curse  of  intemperance  from  our  land. 
Let  me  say  to  each  one  here  :  Consecrate  yourself  to  this 
work  of  God.  If  you  feel  that  you  have  not  the  power, 
go  to  your  closet  upon  your  knees  before  God  ;  and  if  you 
will  take  it,  He  will  surely  bestow  the  power  richly  upon 
your  soul."  There  was  a  dash  of  drollery  in  one  of  Mrs. 
Hartt's  sentences,  which  it  will  do  no  harm  to  quote.  In 
the  first  part  of  her  excellent  exhortation  she  said  :  uMy 
sisters,  begin  notv,  and  dorft  come  trailing  in  afterward, 
when  this  thing  has  become  popular." 

HOW    ONE    WOMAN    HELPED. COMMUNION   WINE. 

While  numbers  of  us  have  been  descanting  on  the  evils 
of  using  fermented  wine  at  the  communion  table,  one  lady 


COMMUNION   WINE.  227 

of  my  acquaintance  has  been  quietly  at  work  proving  her 
faith  by  works.  She  is  a  member  of  our  W.  C.  T.  U., 
and  recounts  the  matter  to  me  in  this  fashion : 

"  I  have  alwavs  felt  sure  our  Bible  wasn't  on  the  wine- 

■ 

drinking  side  of  the  argument,  and  equally  sure  that  the 
Church  ought  not  to  be  there  either. 

"  More  than  that,  I  haven't  believed  that  the  Church 
desired  or  meant  to  be  on  the  wrong  side.  I  was  confident 
the  majority  of  communicants  would  prefer  an  unfer- 
mented  wine,  if  well  made  and  fit  for  use  on  an  occasion 
so  sacred. 

"  Some  time  ago  our  Church  decided  not  to  use  fer- 
mented wine,  but  somehow  a  sort  of  logwood  decoction 
got  into  the  chalices,  which  was  entirely  out  of  place  and 
harmful  to  our  cause.  Some  of  the  deacons  said :  '  We 
can't  have  such  a  mixture  as  this — it  will  not  answer ; ' 
and  they  were  right.  The  matter  troubled  me.  At  last 
I  said  to  my  husband  :  '  I  can't  go  out  much  to  the  tem- 
perance meetings  or  take  an  active  part  in  the  work  of 
the  Woman's  Union,  but  I  can  prepare  wine  enough  for 
our  church  of  eight  hundred  members,  for  all  the  com- 
munions of  this  year,  and  I'll  do  so.'  It  was  no  easy 
undertaking.  It  kept  me  in  my  kitchen,  wide-awake  and 
on  the  alert,  for  several  days  ;  but  I've  got  the  wine  all 
bottled  up,  and  the  people  are  well  pleased  with  it."  Let 
some  lady  in  each  church  go  and  do  likewise,  and  she 
will  have  helped  our  many-sided  cause  in  a  noble,  efficient 
way. 

RECIPE    FOR   UNFERMENTED   WINE. 

"  Take  twenty  pounds  Concord  grapes  (Ohio  grapes 
preferred),  and  add  two  quarts  of  water.  After  crushing 
the  grapes,  put  them  into  a  porcelain  kettle ;  when  at  a 
boiling  heat  the  juices  separate  from  the  pulp  and  skins. 
Then  strain  through  a  tin  sieve  or  cullender,  using  a  little 


228  "that  fossil  prayer-meeting." 

more  water.  Add  six  pounds  granulated  sugar.  After 
the  sugar  is  all  dissolved,  strain  through  a  thick  cloth. 
Then  heat  hot  and  pour  immediately  into  stone  bottles, 
and  seal  tightly  while  hot.  The  above  will  make  three 
gallons. 

"  If  properly  strained,  it  will  be  clear  and  of  a  bright 
color.  The  quality  of  the  grapes  will  make  a  great  differ- 
ence in  the  quality  and  quantity  of  juice.  Some  judgment 
will  be  necessary  as  to  the  quantity  of  water  added.  The 
above  quantity  will  make  three  gallons  of  wine,  and  if 
properly  put  up  in  perfect  bottles  and  well  sealed  will 
keep  any  length  of  time ;  but  all  air  must  be  kept  from  it 
till  wanted  for  use.  Bottles  that  will  hold  the  quantity 
needed  for  each  communion  would  be  best.  Two  gallons 
will  serve  eight  hundred  communicants." 

The  foregoing  is  furnished  by  the  lady  whose  unob- 
trusive but  valuable  "  temperance  work  "  I  have  chroni- 
cled, in  the  earnest  and  prayerful  hope  that  it  may  serve 
the  cause  she  loves. 

"THAT    FOSSIL    PRAYER-MEETING." 

She  was  paying  a  visit  to  the  home  of  her  birth ;  one  of 
our  gentlest  and  most  gifted  workers.  In  a  distant  part 
of  the  country  she  had  joined  us,  and,  in  the  warm,  vivid 
atmosphere  of  the  Woman's  Christian  Temperance  Union, 
her  dormant  talents  had  budded  and  blossomed  out  into 
lovely  words  and  deeds  "  for  God  and  home  and  native 
land." 

So  well  had  she  wrought,  that  her  name  was  beloved 
by  a  large  constituency  of  the  most  earnest  and  intelli- 
gent soldiers  of  Christ,  both  east  and  west.  Dutifully 
she  went  to  prayer-meeting  in  the  "  Sleepy  Hollow  "  vil- 
lage of  her  "auld  lang  syne."  It  belonged  to  one  of 
those  churches  whence  the  edict  has  gone  forth,  "Let  no 
one  speak  but  the  holy  men."     Two-thirds  of  those  who 


IS   THEEE   NO    REMEDY?  220 

faithfully  maintained  this  meeting  and  "held  up  the 
hands"  of  this  pastor  were  holy  women;  but  they  had 
been  strictly  taught  to  "  keep  silence  in  the  churches." 

In  Sabbath-school  their  ministrations  were  the  delight 
of  the  young  and  the  strength  of  the  organization;  but 
then  Sabbath-school  was  held  in  the  chapel.  At  the  lit- 
erary society  and  sociable  the  women  were  the  life  of  the 
occasion,  and  their  nimble  tongues  were  in  constant  requi- 
sition to '"make  the  occasion  pleasant  and  successful"; 
but  the  prayer-meeting  was  a  place  quite  too  sacred  and 
decorous  for  their  participation,  though,  very  likely,  if 
the  excellent  deacons  had  been  asked,  "Why  is  this 
thus  ?  "  they  would  have  found  no  better  answer  than 
that  "  regulation  phrase  "  of  the  conservative  mind  from 
the  days  of  the  Sanhedrim  and  Pharisees  of  Christ's  era 
down  to  the  barbarous  races  of  our  own  time :  "  It  is 
our  custom." 

A  few  minutes  at  the  opening  of  this  fossil  prayer- 
meeting  were  redeemed  by  a  carefully  prepared  disserta- 
tion from  the  pastor  on  some  topic  previously  announced. 
Then  came  a  hymn  of  painfully  attenuated  continuosity ; 
then  came  what  a  naughty  youth  once  called  "  That 
Prayer,"  enunciated  at  weekly  intervals  for  the  last  half 
century,  by  Deacon  Dutiful ;  and  then  followed  that  pause 
(every  reader  is  familiar  with  it),  dull,  dismal,  dun-colored, 
settling  like  salt-marsh  fog  over  the  assembly  and  pierc- 
ing to  the  joints  and  marrow  by  reason  of  its  borcan  frig- 
idity. The  Quaker's  pause,  in  their  meetings  of  devotion, 
is,  at  least,  placid  ;  is  often  comforting,  and  always  calm; 
but  the  pause  of  the  Fossil  Prayer-Meeting  is  awesome,  if 
not  actually  uncanny.  A  hymn  is  absolutely  the  only 
way  out,  and  is  welcomed  with  an  eagerness  that  half 
takes  away  one's  breath.  Then  follow  other  oft-time 
prayers,  until  from  three  to  five  have  been  not  "  offered," 
but   sedulously  solicited,  interspersed   with  "  remarks " 


230  OUE   TRAINING   SCHOOL. 

not  unfamiliar  as  to  their  wording,  and  still  less  so  as  to 
their  scope,  all  well  separated  by  repetitions,  pauses,  and 
singings,  and  so  on  to  the  end.  Now  it  did  not  occur  to 
these  devout  and  well-intentioned  prayer-meeting  killers, 
that  our  earnest-hearted  friend  might  possibly  have  said 
a  word  to  edification ;  or,  if  it  did,  their  scruples  pre- 
served them  from  any  such  unseemly  "  branching  out." 
It  did  not  occur  to  them  that  the  great,  warm-hearted 
temperance  movement,  best  known  as  "  Christian,"  had 
in  it  matter  of  infinite  pith  and  moment  to  the  interests 
of  that  very  "fossil  remain"  of  which  they  formed  a  part. 
Did  they  ever  observe  the  lack  of  growth  in  that  meeting, 
the  absence  of  young  people  (except  certain  saintly-faced 
and  silent  maidens)  and  the  dislike  of  Sunday-school 
scholars  to  attend  ? 

Why  must  these  things  be  ?  Is  the  wine  of  God's 
spirit  being  indeed  poured  into  new  vessels  ?  Are  Christ's 
gleaners  flocking  to  fresh  fields  because  the  old  are  spoiled 
by  drouth  ?  And  is  this  process  to  go  on  in  certain 
grand  and  estimable  denominations  until  the  prayer-meet- 
ing yields  to  the  inevitable  law  of  non-survival  of  the 
unfittest,  and  over  its  vacant  courts  are  written  the  words 
which  come  into  my  mind  whenever  I  attend  such  a 
specimen  as  I  have  here  described :  "  Behold  your  house 
is  left  unto  you  desolate." 

W.    C.    T.    U.   TRAINING    SCHOOL. 

The  training  school  for  temperance  workers  is  a  new 
feature  of  our  W.  C.  T.  U.  The  general  outline  of  study 
to  be  pursued  is  the  following,  prepared  by  the  commit- 
tee in  charge : 

1.  The  origin,  history,  aims,  and  methods  of  the  temperance  reform 
to  be  systematically  taught  in  a  series  of  studies  to  be  determined, 
and  lectures  to  be  given  by  a  faculty  appointed  by  the  Woman's  Na- 
tional Christian  Temperance  Union;  the  studies  to  extend  through 


THE   MASTER    IS    COME.  231 

one  year  and  be  pursued  at  home,  the  lectures  to  be  given  in  the  sum- 
mer at  some  leading  Christian  resort 

2.  Written  examinations  to  be  held  there,  on  the  entire  course,  and 
certificates  given  in  accordance  with  the  results. 

3.  A  model  W.  C.  T.  l\.  with  young  ladies'  and  children's  branches, 
to  be  organized,  officered  by  officers  of  the  Training  School,  and 
made,  so  far  as  possible,  to  illustrate  the  methods  taught. 

4.  The  faculty  of  the  school  to  be  chosen  by  the  Executive  Committee 
of  the  Woman's  National  Christian  Temperance  Union,  and  author- 
ized to  select  and  employ  such  specialists  in  physiology,  hygiene, 
medicine,  and  different  branches  of  philanthropic,  legal,  and  political 
work,  as  will  in  their  judgment  conduce  most  to  the  success  of  the 
object  in  view,  viz. :  sending  out  into  our  local,  State,  and  National 
work  the  largest  possible  number  of  women,  -especially  trained  in  our 
system  and  methods. 

A  "school  of  the  prophetesses"  (or  evangelists),  in- 
tended as  a  help  to  women  engaged  in  Gospel  work, 
will  also  be  held  every  summer,  in  connection  with  this 
training  school. 

TEE  MASTER   IS    COME. 

Dear  Sisters : 

Our  Lord  is  a  most  uncomfortable  master  when  he  is 
but  one  of  many.  "  Some  for  self  and  some  for  Thee," 
is  an  offering  pitiable  indeed.  It  involves  a  miserable  life, 
as  all  half-hearted  life  must  always  be,  entailing  in  worldly 
enjoyment  anxiety,  and  in  religious  duty  irksomeness. 
"  How  much  of  my  hold  upon  the  world  can  I  retain  ?  " 
This  is  the  constantly  recurring  question  of  those  who 
take  Christ  as  a  master  only.  In  this  spirit  the  young 
convert  asks :  "  Can  I  not  dance,  if  very  careful  when 
and  where  ? "  "  Can  I  not  have  a  game  of  cards,  if  only 
church  members  make  up  the  party?"  UA  master?" 
The  Christian  who  takes  Christ  as  such  is  like  the  timid 
bather  who  steps  into  the  edge  of  the  wave,  where  sand 
and  gravel  frietionize  him,  and  floating  is  impossible; 
when  if  he  would  launch  out  into  the  sea,  the  swell  of  its 
great  billows  would  bear  him  up.     Those  who,  in  child- 


232  A   BIBLE   STUDY. 

like  faith,  have  chosen  Christ  as  the  Master,  are  always 
beckoning  gleefully  to  loiterers  near  the  shore,  calling- 
out  in  blessed  reassurance,  "  It  is  better  farther  on  !  " 

Let  us  remember  that,  whether  for  weal  or  woe,  we  all 
have  masters.  Our  forms  of  speech  afford  unconscious, 
and  hence  all  the  more  convincing,  proof  of  this. 
"  The  Goddess  of  Fashion,"  "  Bacchus,  God  of  Wine," 
"  Mammon,"  all  these  expressions  grow  out  of  the  instinct 
of  worship  and  obedience  to  something  higher  than  our- 
selves. "Be  ye  not  many  masters,"  is  the  dictate  of 
worldly  prudence  not  less  than  of  the  heavenly  philoso- 
phy of  him  who  adds  the  blessed  reason,  "For  one  is 
your  master,  even  Christ."  So  let  us  seek  a  clear  idea 
of  who  our  master  is  and  why  he  is  so,  for  unity  of  pur- 
pose must  characterize  every  life  which  is  to  manifest 
development  that  is  natural  and  genuine.  If  iron-filings 
are  to  fall  into  line,  the  magnet  must  first  be  held  near 
them.  The  heart  that  is  not  polarized  will  never  turn 
toward  Christ,  but  turning,  his  attraction  will  grow 
stronger  with  every  throb  of  that  steadfast  heart.  We 
want  our  lives  to  have  unity  and  to  be  full  of  benignant 
strength,  and  there  is  One  who  can  make  them  so,  as  all 
have  proved  who  have  tried  Him.  He  was  as  much 
made  to  be  our  Master  as  light  was  made  for  our  eyes, 
air  for  our  lungs,  love  for  our  hearts. 

The  process  by  which  Christ  becomes  our  Master  is 
analogous  to  that  by  which  any  master  is  chosen  by  pupils 
intelligent  and  earnest.  We  must  take  his  ways  in  the 
place  of  our  own.  We  must  make  his  words  ours,  his 
maxims  our  laws,  his  slightest  will  our  cherished  wish. 
In  brief,  we  must  consecrate  our  thought,  affection,  pur- 
pose, to  our  Master.  In  proportion  as  students  in  a 
school  do  this,  they  make  swift  progress  in  the  branches 
taught.  A  music-master  requires  the  pupil's  unresisting 
hand  to  be  laid  upon  the  key-board  in  thorough  abandon- 


CONSECRATION   AND   FAITH.  233 

ment  to  the  master's  will.     Utterly  flexible  to  his  com- 
mand  it  must   become  before  he  can  impart  to  it  the 
secret  of   his  skill,  and  you  must  put  yourself   wholly 
under  his  tuition-he  cannot  teach  you  till  you  do      So 
in  a  strict  .ruse,  the  hand  is  consecrated.     Then  comes 
faith  in  him  to  whom  this  consecration  has  been  made 
and  just  how  to  distinguish  the  latter  from  the  former 
act  ia  difficult,  since  by  the  laws  of  mind  the  consecration 
is  impossible,  except  on  a  basis  of  faith  in  him  to  whom 
its  powers  are  yielded.     Thrice  happy  are  they  who,  wel- 
coming with  glad  obedience  the  Mastership  of  Him  who 
gave  Himself  for  us,  can  say  with  honest  hearts,  "For 
me  to  live  is  Christ."     0,  how  that  simplifies  a  life;  how 
it  chastens  and  makes  holy! 

The  Master  is  come.     For  what?    First  of  all  to  give 
y«»u  personal  security  and  individual  peace.     Some  per- 
sons pause  all  their  lives  long  to  ponder  this  wonderful 
tact.     He  is  come.     No  longer  down  the  dim  ages  does 
humanity  gaze  with  wistful  eyes,  longing  "until  the  day 
dawn  and  the  shadows  flee  away."    Nay,  "It  is  finished  " 
He  is  come  in  the  full  provision  for  making  us  at  one 
with  God.     In  the  open  Bible  is  the  constantly  recurring 
invitation,  to  the  "peace  that  floweth  like  a  river,  making 
life  s  desert  places  bloom  and  smile." 

But,  blest  with  all  spiritual  blessings  in  Christ  Jesus 
let  us  not  forget  that  the  Master  is  also  come  in  the  mar- 
velous opportunity  of  this  "the  Gospel  age."     To  Chris 
tian  women  this  coming  is  most  of  all  significant.     We 
have  all  along  been  amateurs  in  doing  good,  but  we  are 
learning  m  the  blessed  latter  dispensation  of  these  days, 
that  to  do  good  is  the  business  of  life-is  just  what  Chris- 
bans  are  for,  not  as  their  secondary  business,  but  as  their 
irst-before  riches,  before  knowledge,  before  honor,  all 
these  tailing  into  line  after  those  other  occupations  with 
which  the  Master  was  so  busy  when  He  trod  the  ways  of 


234  "SAVED   TO   START   WITH." 

men.  This  business  of  being  such  people  and  doing  such 
things  as  shall  help  make  those  about  us  more  like  what 
they  ought  to  be,  grows  daily  in  the  comprehension  of  all 
thoughtful  disciples  of  our  Lord.  We  are  learning  more 
and  more  about  the  blessedness  of  the  Benignant  Life ; 
understanding  more  perfectly  the  truth  that  not  in  the 
acquisition  of  a  language,  not  in  the  mastery  of  a  piano 
key-board,  not  in  acquaintance  with  current  literature 
lies  the  secret  of  the  happiest  life,  but  that  to  guard 
the  ninety  and  nine  which  went  not  astray,  to  train  their 
tender  steps  to  love  the  safe,  sure  path,  and  then  to  go 
out  after  the  hundredth  who  has  wandered 

"Away  on  the  mountains,  bleak  and  bare, 
Away  from  the  tender  shepherd's  care," 

in  this  lies  the  sweetest  of  human  joys. 

A  grand  old  word  is  that  Saxon  word  "  lady,"  meaning 
"  giver  of  bread."  But  "  the  Master  is  come "  in  the 
deeper  insight  which  leads  us  to  revise  this  definition  in 
accordance  with  the  latest  researches,  so  that  it  reads, 
"  lady,  giver  of  the  Bread  of  Life."  In  the  sweet  evangel- 
ism of  home,  some  are  bestowing  their  best  energies — 
and  this  world  has  no  employment  that  is  more  sacred — 
while  daily  increasing  numbers  are  giving  their  leisure 
hours  in  the  larger  home  of  Christian  philanthropy,  where 
society  becomes  the  foster  parent  of  thousands  worse  than 
motherless.  Let  us  work  from,  rather  than  toward  the 
cross.  "  Saved  to  start  with,"  (as  a  sweet  girl  phrased 
it  once,)  let  us  strike  out  into  the  desert  from  the  sweet 
oasis  of  our  "  rest  of  faith,"  bearing  the  waters  of  life 
to  those  who,  on  the  barren  sands,  cheated  by  the  mirage 
of  wordly  pleasure  and  parched  by  the  soul's  insatiable 
thirst,  stretch  towards  us  their  feverish  hands  for  help 
and  succor. 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

W.  C.  T.  U.   WORK  FOR  THE  HOME. 

"  Combination  view  "  —  Church  —  Saloon  —  School-house  —  Home  — 
Mother  and  boy — Philosophy  of  our  plan  of  work — Doctor,  Editor, 
Minister,  Teacher  must  all  stand  by  the  Christian  mother — Society 
the  cup-bearer  to  Bacchus — The  sovereign  citizen — Education  of  the 
saloon — The  arrest  of  thought — Mrs.  Mary  H.  Hunt,  National  Super- 
intendent of  Scientific  Department. 

IN  the  evolution  of  the  W.  C.  T.  U.,  the  light  of  Christ 
having  illumined  the  tempted  human  heart,  comes 
next  to  the  next  larger  circle  made  up  of  two  united 
hearts.  Lord  Erskine  said  that  "twelve  honest  men 
inside  a  jury  box,  were  the  best  results  of  civilization." 
But  we  may  say  more  truly  that  the  bright,  consummate 
blossom  of  our  Christian  civilization  is  what  Wintrier 
pictures  as  "the  dear  home  faces  whereupon  the  fitful 
firelight  paled  and  shone,"  as  those  bound  by  the  tender 
tie  of  kindred  and  affection  gather  around  their  family 
altar  and  their  fireside  hearth.  This  Home,  then,  is 
the  shrine  for  whose  high  sake  all  that  is  good  and 
pure  on  earth  exists.  It  is  the  fairest  garden  in  the  wide 
field  of  endeavor  and  achievement,  the  place  where  we 
are  best  beloved  that  we  are  anywhere,  and  in  it  dwell 
those  who  love  us  best  that  they  love  anybody.  Yet, 
from  the  curse  of  the  drink  habit  and  the  liquor  traffic, 
home  is  like  the  shorn  lamb,  to  which  no  wind  is  tem- 
pered. Gaze  on  the  "  combination  view  "  which  life's  real 
stage  presents,  and  compare  its  actual  pathos,  its  strange 
romance,  with  that  mimicry  we  rightly  name  "  the  play." 
For  life  is  the  only  drama  worthy  of  our  study.     Upon 

(235) 


236  "  A    COMBINATION    VIEW." 

its  real  stage  behold  a  "  combination  view."  Study 
home's  environment.  Think  of  a  Christian  mother's 
tragic  fight  to  save  her  boy  and  discover  whence  is  the 
origin  and  what  is  the  philosophy  of  our  simple  "  plan  of 
work  "in  the  W.  C.  T.  U. 

Behold  on  one  corner  of  the  street  a  church,  stately 
and  beautiful,  its  tall  spire  pointing  like  a  finger  up  toward 
(Jod,  and  leading  your  heart  thither.  Behold  upon  the 
other  corner  of  that  same  street  a  school-house,  with  its 
widely  welcoming  door  inviting  boys  and  girls  to  enter 
and  drink  at  the  pure  fountain  of  knowledge.  But  be- 
tween these  two,  behold  an  institution  equally  Ameri- 
can, equally  guaranteed  by  our  laws,  more  than  equally 
fostered  by  our  politics,  more  than  equally  patronized  by 
our  people.  The  youngest  child  that  reads  these  lines 
knows  what  I  mean,  for  this  third  institution,  so  cozily 
sandwiched  in  with  church  on  one  side  and  school-house 
on  the  other,  has  a  sanded  floor,  and  curtains  half  way,  a 
screen  across  the  front  so  that  you  do  not  see  what  is 
going  on  inside,  and  fumes  coming  out  of  it  which,  if  you 
are  pure  and  cleanly  in  your  habits  of  life,  incline  you 
to  pass  by  upon  the  other  side.  But  there  is  another  fea- 
ture of  this  "  combination  view."  Indeed,  if  there  were 
not  this  book  would  have  no  being,  because  the  sacred 
theme  of  woman's  temperance  work  would  not  have  been. 
Just  across  the  way  from  the  dram-shop  stands  the  Home. 
What  docs  the  Woman's  Christian  Temperance  Union 
propose  doing  to  rear  defences  round  the  place,  even  as 
the  hills  are  round  about  Jerusalem  ? 

First,  it  has  made  a  study  of  the  situation.  It  lias 
found  that  among  the  little  children  who  come  to  Sunday- 
school  and  sit  on  the  front  seat  with  their  feet  far  from 
the  floor  there  are  just  as  many  boys  as  girls,  with  faces 
just  as  innocent  and  sweet.  But  it  has  found  that  in  the 
intermediate  classes  of  the  Sunday-school  there  is  a  de- 


THE   GOSPEL   OF   PREVENTION.  237 

plorable  weeding  out  of  the  boys;  that  in  the  Bible-class 
young  men  are  conspicuous  for  their  absence,  and  that  on 
communion  Sabbath  two-thirds  of  those  who  partake  of 
the  emblems  of  Christ's  sacrifice  are  women. 

But  in  the  homes  of  our  fortunate  membership  (for 
ninety  per  cent,  of  our  workers  never  knew  the  drink- 
curse  there),  are  fathers  and  husbands,  sons,  brothers, 
and  lovers  too  noble  and  true  for  us  to  accept  the  cynical 
explanation  that  "  girls  naturally  take  to  good  ways  and 
bovs  to  evil  ones."  Our  women  believe  that  special 
efforts  should  be  made  to  help  the  mother  in  her  unequal 
warfare  with  the  dram-shop  for  the  preservation  of  her 
boy.  It  is  plainly  perceived  by  them  that  something  is 
wrong  in  the  popular  division  of  responsibility  by  which, 
although  the  father  may  be  a  moderate  drinker,  the  fail- 
ure  of  the  boy  to  grow  up  good  and  pure  is  adjudged  to  be 
his  mother's  fault.  Hence  their  studies  of  the  science  of 
heredity  and  cognate  subjects  and  their  careful  circulation 
of  scientific  treatises,  with  a  view  to  opening  the  dull  eyes  of 
the  public  to  the  changeless  law  of  God  that  "  whatsoever 
a  man  soweth  that  shall  he  also  reap."  But  this  is  not 
enough,  for  girls,  equally  with  their  brothers  inheriting 
the  taste  for  stimulants,  seldom  develop  it ;  hence  in  the 
environment  we  must  seek  for  farther  explanation.  How 
many  of  us  can  think  of  homes  where  a  noble  Christian 
mother  taught  total  abstinence  to  her  boys  and  girls  alike, 
enforcing  pure  precepts  by  a  spotless  example,  from  which 
the  boys,  though  often  by  nature  more  amenable  to  gos- 
pel truth  than  their  sisters,  have  gradually  sunk  away 
into  the  slavery  of  the  drink  habit.  And  so  the  W.  C.  T. 
U.  has  arranged  its  careful,  systematic  plan  of  work  with 
strict  reference  to  the  child  in  the  midst  who  is  also  in 
the  market-place,  where  they  are  bidding  for  him — the 
men  who  keep  saloons.  For  they  must  constantly  recruit 
their  patronage  from  the   ranks  of  our  youth,  or  it  will 


238  METHODS  OP  THE  DEAM  SHOP. 

ultimately  fail.  This  is  a  matter  of  business  with  them, 
and  of  business  only.  As  one  of  them  said  to  our  own 
Mrs.  Hunt  of  Boston,  "  Just  so  long  as  there  is  eight 
cents  profit  on  a  ten-cent  drink,  so  long  I  shall  stick  to 
my  trade."  What  then  can  such  a  man  do  to  render  his 
success  absolutely  certain  save  precisely  what  he  does, 
viz. :  carefully  study  the  natural  and  innocent  tastes  of  boys 
and  of  young  men — their  taste  for  amusement,  fondness 
of  variety,  and  love  of  young  company — that  he  may  lead 
them  into  his  trap  with  games,  songs,  stories,  object  les- 
sons, literature,  all  mingled  skillfully  with  the  bewilder- 
ment of  tobacco  and  alcoholic  drinks  ? 

The  W.  C.  T.  U.  naturally  asks  the  question,  What  are 
the  little  foxes  that  spoil  the  vines,  with  their  beautiful, 
tender  grapes  ?  What  are  the  errors  in  a  boy's  training, 
and  the  failures  of  this  church  and  school  near  by  to  take 
sides  with  the  mother  in  the  fight  to  save  her  son  ?  Alas, 
perhaps  the  dear  lady  herself  has  never  studied  hygiene, 
or  the  laws  of  physical  life,  especially  the  relation  of  food 
to  the  appetite  for  stimulants.  Let  us  then  begin  just 
there  with  the  scientific  gospel  of  whole  wheat  flour,  a 
diet  largely  farinaceous,  simplicity  in  dress,  abundant 
ventilation,  and  generous  exercise. 

But  these  great,  moulding  forces  of  society — how  can 
we  secure  their  allegiance  to  our  plan  of  rescue  for  that 
boy  ?  How  shall  they  be  intelligently  arrayed  in  solid 
phalanx  so  that  the  sum  total  of  society's  benignant  force, 
at  least,  shall  come  up  to  the  help  of  the  Lord,  the  mother 
and  the  boy  against  the  mighty  hosts  of  the  saloon  ? 

"  Benignant  forces,  did  you  say  ?  Why,  they  are  on 
your  side  already,"  replies  the  untrained  well-wisher  who 
"  doesn't  belong." 

Are  they,  indeed  ?  Let  us  investigate.  Here  is  the 
boy,  with  his  mother,  in  the  fortress  of  home.  Into  that 
stronghold   comes   the   family   physician,  "  revered,  be- 


"THESE   THINGS    OUGHT    YE   TO    HAVE   BONE."  239 

loved."  How  often  he  prescribes,  not  "  for  external 
application  only,"  the  alcoholic  stimulants  against  which 
the  boy  has  been  so  sedulously  warned.  Into  that  strong- 
hold comes  the  newspaper  year  after  year,  with  its  plea 
for  the  "  superior  manliness "  of  moderate  drinking. 
Into  that  stronghold  come  men  of  kind  heart  and  good 
business  standing,  whom  the  boy  has  seen  going  day  after 
day  to  the  saloon  just  opposite.  Out  of  that  stronghold 
goes  the  boy  to  Sunday-school,  and  though  lie  may  be 
taught  many  good  things  and  true,  may  grow  familiar 
with  the  wanderings  of  the  Israelites,  able  to  enumerate 
the  sacred  mountains,  or  tell  the  story  of  the  cross,  he  is 
not  taught  the  Pauline  doctrine  of  total  abstinence  for 
others'  sake ;  he  does  not  study  about  the  Bechabites,  the 
Xazarites,  the  Hebrew  children,  Sampson,  John  the  Bap- 
tist— total  abstainers  all,  and  spoken  of  with  highest 
praise  for  this  high  virtue.  He  is  not  shown  the  daily 
application  of  that  deep  principle,  "  The  body  is  the 
temple  of  the  Holy  Ghost ;  he  that  destroyeth  this  temple 
him  shall  God  destroy  " — not  in  vengeance,  but  as  the 
sequence  of  a  law  full  of  benignity.  Perhaps  if  questioned 
as  to  this  neglect,  the  Sunday-school  teacher  (noble  and 
well-intentioned  though  he  be)  will  answer,  as  indeed 
I  have  often  heard  him  :  "  It  might  be  well  to  teach  these 
tilings,  but  then  we  have  so  much  to  do.  You  see,  there 
is  the  lesson  to  be  said,  and  the  golden  text,  the  general 
questions,  the  singing,  giving  out  of  books,  besides  the 
foreign  missionary  exercises,  and  we  really  can't  find 
time."  This  familiar  explanation  always  reminds  me  of 
what  my  little  sister,  who  detested  mathematics,  said  one 
day  as  she  came  running  in  from  school  and  flung  her 
slate  and  book  upon  the  table  as  she  called  out  triumph- 
antly :  "  Mother,  I'm  quite  too  busy  going  to  school  to 
study  Vithmetic !  " 

Perhaps,  indeed,  some  of  our  good  friends  in  Sunday- 
school  are  as  "  far  back  "  as  a  worthy  old  gentleman  in 


240  THE   ARREST   OF   THOUGHT. 

Illinois  who  was  asked  by  the  W.  C.  T.  U.  to  introduce  a 
quarterly  biblical  temperance  lesson  into  his  class,  and  to 
whom,  on  his  replying  that  there  were  no  suitable  pas- 
sages, the  ladies  read  the  story  of  the  sons  of  Jonidab, 
whereupon  this  veteran  teacher  exclaimed:  "Well,  I've 
belonged  to  the  church  nigh  on  to  forty  years,  and  I 
didn't  know  there  was  any  such  a  piece  in  the  Bible! " 

The  boy  sits  in  the  old  family  pew  at  church  and  seldom 
hears  a  temperance  sermon,  though  there  is  no  prohibition 
argument  stronger  than  "  Every  plant  that  my  Heavenly 
Father  hath  not  planted  shall  be  rooted  up.'*  and  no  total 
abstinence  text  for  childhood  like  "  Keep  thyself  pure." 
The  boy  sees  the  pastor  set  out  upon  the  sacramental  table 
intoxicating  wine,  and  offer  it  as  the  symbol  of  the  Life  by 
which  we  live.  He  knows  that  his  mother  would  not  suffer 
that  cup  to  stand  on  her  own  table,  or  its  contents  to  pass 
her  lips  at  home.  He  knows  how  good  and  noble  is  this 
minister,  and  mightily  indeed  would  mother  s  total  absti- 
nence  teachings  be  bolstered  up  if  pastor  and  Sunday-school 
teacher  but  confirmed  them.  They  never  do,  however,  in 
their  official  capacity  at  least,  and,  though  the  lips  are 
silent,  the  hard  young  head  grows  skeptical  concerning 
mother's  notions,  and  concludes :  "  They're  well  enough 
for  girls,  but  for  a  boy  it's  different,  you  know ! "  He 
goes  over  to  the  public  school,  and  finds  there  a  well- 
intentioned  woman  who  would  gladly  aid  and  abet  his 
mother's  plans  for  his  physical  salvation  ;  but  one  thing 
she  lacketh,and  that  is  just  what  doctor,  editor,  preacher, 
and  Sunday-school  teacher  lacked  before  her.    What  is  it  ? 

THE    ARREST    OF    THOUGHT. 

Gladly  would  she  instruct  him  in  the  laws  of  physi- 
ology, chemistry,  and  hygiene,  as  opposed  to  the  drink 
and  the  tobacco  habits,  but  it  simply  does  not  occur  to 
her  even  as  it  did  not,  in  former  days  at  least,  to  the 
other  worthies  I  have  named. 


THE  boy's  temptations.  241 

"  Evil  is  wrought  for  want  of  thought  more  than  for 
want  of  heart." 

Suppose  that  in  this  day  of  science-worship  the  school 
should  echo  the  mother's  total  abstinence  teachings; 
suppose  that  with  the  majesty  of  law  and  dignity  of  learn- 
ing, the  State  should  require  and  the  teacher  inculcate 
lessons  like  these  ?  Then  indeed  it  would  be  "  manly  "  to 
let  strong  drink  alone  ;  then  it  would  be  steadily  wrought 
into  the  warp  and  woof  of  boyish  character  and  habit  to 
"  abstain  from  fleshly  lusts  that  war  against  the  soul." 

But  the  boy  goes  out  into  society,  and  perhaps  the  hand 
of  beauty  or  of  fashion  presses  into  his  the  cup  that 
cheers  and  then  inebriates ;  perhaps  the  "  nearer  oue  still 
and  the  dearer  one  yet  than  all  other  "  persuades  him  for 
a  love  sweeter  just  then  than  mother's,  to  pledge  her 
health  in  wine.  Perhaps  some  man  of  influence  who 
takes  a  social  glass  merely  to  close  a  bargain,  to  conciliate 
an  opponent,  to  win  a  vote,  or  simply  to  comply  with  an 
elegant  custom,  asks  "  mother's  boy"  to  treat.  And  thus 
what  ought  to  be  the  benignant  force  of  that  larger  home 
we  call  society,  fails  in  the  imminent  and  deadly  breach 
of  temptation  to  be  "  a  power  not  of  herself  that  makes 
for  righteousness "  in  the  anxious  mother's  well-beloved 
son. 

But  all  the  way  toward  manhood  that  dram  shop,  so 
social,  so  seductive,  has  been  just  across  the  street.  In- 
deed the  boy  has  run  the  gauntlet  of  scores  and  hundreds 
of  such  places,  and  not  unscathed,  as  he  went  out  into 
life  to  take  his  chances  witli  the  rest.  He  has  found  out  that 
in  municipal  council  room,  legislative  hall,  and  national 
congress,  the  so-called  guardians  of  the  public  weal  have 
been  the  guardians  of  the  liquor  traffic.  He  has  found 
that  the  government  of  the  nation  his  mother  taught  him 
to  love  next  to  his  home  and  God,  throws  its  protecting 
aegis  around  the  dram  shop  rather  than  the  home. 


242  MRS.    MARY   H.    HUNT. 

Dear  friends  who  read  these  lines,  written  in  sorrow, 
not  in  anger,  seeing  these  things  are  so,  what  manner  of 
persons  ought  we  to  be  who  compose  the  W.  C.  T.  U.  ? 
Heaven  be  thanked  that  our  "  plan  of  work,"  developed  in 
nine  years  of  prayer,  study,  and  experience,  is  simply 
this :  to  bring  about  the  arrest  of  thought  in  the  intellect 
and  conscience  of  husband,  father,  physician,  editor, 
pastor,  teachers,  fashionable  leaders,  and  official  law- 
makers, so  that  perceiving  their  relation  to  the  mother's 
anxiety  and  the  boy's  temptation,  they  may  discharge 
their  duty. 

But  we  do  not  forget  that  all  homes  have  not  a  Chris- 
tian mother  to  be  the  priestess  of  their  altar  fires.  Alas, 
some  women  are  intemperate,  and  many  women  need 
missionary  work  done  in  their  own  hearts ;  many  children 
are  orphaned  or  worse  than  motherless.  Hence,  for 
home's  sake,  we  have  special  lines  of  work  radiating 
thither  as  a  centre,  even  as  all  roads  once  led  to  Rome. 
The  Bands  of  Hope,  the  Reading  Rooms  and  Friendly  Inns, 
Police  Station,  Rescue  work  for  Women,  and  many  other 
branches  will  be  mentioned  in  their  appropriate  place. 
But  be  it  understood,  once  and  forever,  that  it  is  for  home's 
sweet  sake  we  toil,  striving  to  rear  high  the  defences 
around  that  sacred  citadel  of  health,  happiness,  and  relig- 
ion, and  knowing  if  they  are  not  reared,  then  home  shall 
fall,  and  when  home  falls — the  world ! 

MRS.    MARY   HANCHETT   HUNT, 

Superintendent  of  the  department  for  introducing  the 
study  of  scientific  temperance  into  our  schools  and 
colleges,  is  a  native  of  Canaan,  Connecticut.  The 
Taughtonia  Mountains,  in  their  course  through  western 
Massachusetts,  with  the  beautiful  Housatonic  winding 
through  their  valleys,  give  to  that  region  the  rugged  and 
picturesque  scenery  for  which  it  is  famous.     Their  rocky 


MRS.  MARY  H    HUNT. 


HER    PURITAN    ANCESTORS.  243 

peaks  and  wooded  hills  reach  over  into  northern   Con- 
necticut, and  there  in  the  town  of  Canaan,  one  Fourth  of 
July  morning,  a  little   girl  was   born  whose  quick  brain 
and  true  heart  were   destined   to  do  more  for  America's 
real  independence  than  most  statesmen  of  our  day  have 
either  dreamed  or  realized.     Pier  father,  Ephraim  Han- 
chett,  and  his  brothers  were  iron  manufacturers,  brineine 
their  ore  from  the  Salisbury  mines,  first  discovered  and 
opened  by  their  great-great-grandfather.     This  far-away 
ancestor,  fresh  from  his  Welsh   home  and  training,  saw 
the  ore  cropping  out  from  these  rough  rocks,  bought  the 
mountain  side  from  the  Indians  for  a  song,  built  his  forge 
on  the  stream  hard   by,  and  here,  in  this  primitive  fash- 
ion, were  the  beginnings   of  the  famous  Salisbury  iron 
works.     He   was    thrifty    and   industrious,    accumulated 
what  was  a  fortune  in  those  days,  and  dying,  left  it  to  his 
only  son.     This  son  died  in  middle  life,  leaving  a  large 
family    of     boys.     Only    Ephraim    (grandfather   of    our 
Mary)  remained  near  the  old  home  in  Canaan.     His  wife 
(Mary's  paternal   grandmother)  was  a  woman    of  strong 
Christian  character,  who  reared  her  boys,  Ephraim,  Isaac^ 
and  John,  to  fear  God,  and   abhor  strong  drink.     When 
the  great  thought  of  the   Temperance  Reform  came  to 
Rev.  Dr.  Lyman  Beecher,  in  his  parish  on  Litchfield  hills, 
seeking  the  co-operation  of  his  brother  ministers  in  his 
county,  he    came  to  Canaan  ;  securing  the  hearty  sym- 
pathy and   help  of  "Parson   Cowles,"   of  the   Congrega- 
tional Church.     Meetings   were  called,  the  people&gath- 
ered  to  hear  Beecher's  burning  words,  and  to  begin  the 
mighty  battle  against  intemperance  that  is  raging  still. 
Then    and    there    was  organized  the    Litchfield    County 
Temperance  Society,  witli   Rev.  Dr.  Lyman  Beecher  for 
President,   and   Ephraim  Hanchett,  Jr.,   father   of    our 
scientific    temperance    apostle,    one    of    its    Yice-Presi- 
dents— his  mother's  training  had  been  prophetic  of  this 


244  REV.  PETER   THACHER. 

new  office,  which  found  him,  a  young  man,  with  that  sus- 
tained enthusiasm  of  humanity  and  already  markedly 
developed  Christian  character,  that  made  him,  by  all  the 
forces  of  his  nature,  a  life-long  friend  and  ardent  sup- 
porter of  both  the  temperance  and  anti-slavery  causes. 

But  it  was  only  distilled  liquors  they  fought  against  at 
first.  Every  family  had  its  cider  barrel.  The  decanter 
from  which  they  had  been  wont  to  treat  their  minister 
and  other  friends  was  put  away,  but  a  pitcher  of  cider 
was  set  in  its  place.  Had  the  Mary  Hunt  of  to-day  been 
present  in  good  Lyman  Beechcr's  meetings,  and  had  not 
the  prevailing  prejudice  frowned  upon  the  woman  who 
should  dare  to  rise  and  utter  her  convictions,  they  would 
soon  have  learned  that  since  alcohol  is  the  favorite  ingre- 
dient in  cider,  as  well  as  in  rum,  and  since  the  appetite 
for  alcohol,  as  for  all  other  poisons,  insensibly  grows  by 
what  it  feeds  on,  all  beverages  containing  it  are  danger- 
ous and  should  be  included  in  the  pledge. 

Upon  her  mother's  side  Mrs.  Hunt  is  descended  from  a 
long  line  of  Puritan  ancestrv,  dating  back  to  "  Rev.  Peter 
Thacher,  a  distinguished  minister  of  the  gospel  in  Sarum, 
England,  in  the  sixteenth  century."  An  ancient  memoir, 
still  extant,  says  :  "  He  was  a  man  of  talents,  and  pos- 
sessed a  liberal  and  independent  mind  ;  he  dissented  from 
the  established  church,  and  being,  in  consequence,  har- 
rassed  by  the  spiritual  courts,  resolved  to  turn  his  back 
on  royal  and  ecclesiastical  folly  and  persecution  and  emi- 
grate to  New  England  for  the  enjoyment  of  religious 
freedom."  The  death  of  his  wife  altered  his  determina- 
tion. There  is  still  in  existence  a  letter  which  lie  wrote 
to  the  bishop  of  the  diocese,  in  which  he  firmly  declines 
reading  certain  directions  of  the  vicar-general,  which  he 
said  were  "  against  his  conscience  and  would  tend  to  dis- 
turb the  order  of  worship."  "  Many  of  this  family,  with 
puritanical  zeal  and  courage,  opposed  the  prelatic  power," 


OLD    SOUTH    CHURCH,  BOSTON.  245 

says  this  old  record.  His  son,  Thomas  Thacher,  then  in 
his  early  minority,  turned  from  the  University  of  Cam- 
bridge (England),  disgusted  with  the  prevailing  ecclesi- 
astical tyranny  to  which  he  must  have  been  subjected, 
and,  with  his  father's  brother,  Rev.  Anthony  Thacher, 
of  the  celebrated  St.  Edmund's  Church,  Salisbury, 
England,  sailed  for  this  country,  landing  in  Ipswich, 
Mass.,  June  4,  1635.  Completing  his  preparation  for  the 
ministry  under  the  tuition  of  Rev.  C.  Chauncy,  in  Ply- 
mouth, young  Thomas  Thacher  was  ordained  pastor  of 
the  Congregational  Church  in  Weymouth,  Mass.,  January 

2, 1644. 

When  the  Old  South  Church  was  founded  in  Boston  he 
was  installed  its  first  pastor  February  10,  1670,  and  con- 
tinued in  that  station  until  his  death.  Thacher's  Island, 
in  Boston  harbor,  received  its  name  from  the  fact  that 
Rev.  Anthony  Thacher  and  wife  were  thrown  upon  its 
shores,  the  sole  survivors  of  a  shipwreck,  in  which  his 
cousin,  Rev.  Anthony  Avery,  and  family,  who  came  with 
them  from  England,  were  lost,  Whittier's  beautiful 
poem,  "  Swan  Song  of  Parson  Avery,"  has  immortalized 
this  scene.  Most  of  the  male  descendants  of  these  Thach- 
ers,  like  their  ancestry  in  England,  were  ministers,  fill- 
ing, in  their  respective  generations,  some  of  the  most 
influential  pulpits  in  eastern  Massachusetts.  Among 
them,  the  Old  South,  the  New  North,  the  New  South,  and 
tiie  Brattle  Street, — Congregational  churches  in  Boston, — 
and  many  churches  of  the  same  order  in  the  suburban 
towns.  Upon  their  scholarly  and  noble  lives  New  Eng- 
land annals  dwell  at  length. 

"When  Peter  Thacher,  fourth  generation  from  Rev. 
Peter — of  Sarum,  England — was  ordained  pastor  of  the 
Congregational  Church  in  Attleboro',  Mass.,  November 
30,  1748,  he  was — according  to  family  tradition — the 
fourteenth    oldest    son,  in  succession,  employed   in  the 


246  WONDROUS    THINGS    AND    WONDROUS    RESULTS. 

work  of  the  gospel  ministry."  An  old  lady  of  Milton, 
Mass.,  recollected  hearing  sermons  from  Thachers  of  five 
generations  in  direct  succession. 

On  the  commencement  of  the  controversy  between  the 
American  colonies  and  our  English  ancestry,  these  men, 
in  their  various  generations,  are  recorded  as  "  opposing 
with  noble  zeal  and  courage,  the  various  stages  of  British 
encroachments  on  colonial  rights,  from  their  pulpits  and 
the  press  of  those  days."  The  early  New  England  pul- 
pit shaped,  not  only  the  future  history  of  that  section, 
but  directly  and  indirectly  that  of  the  nation.  James 
Thacher,  M.D. — sixth  generation  from  the  first  Rev. 
Anthony — was  a  surgeon  in  the  Revolutionary  army. 
When  eighty  years  old,  he  closes  an  historical  paper  in 
the  Xeiv  England  Magazine  of  July,  1834,  with  these  sig- 
nificant words:  "Eor  seven  years  and  a  half  I  was  in 
the  service  of  our  country  in  the  great  rebellion  of  1775, 
and  participated  in  the  glorious  consummation  of  Inde- 
pendence. ...  I  have  a  recollection  of  days  fraught 
with  wondrous  things  and  wondrous  results.  I  have 
seen  our  precious  liberties  and  freedom  wrested  from  the 
hands  of  the  oppressors,  by  the  immense  sacrifice  of 
lives,  of  treasures,  of  oerils,  and  of  sufferings.  How- 
many  have  I  seen  at  the  hour  of  death  exclaiming :  '  1 
die  for  my  country!'1  I  now  see  the  fair  heritage  of  our 
fathers  in  imminent  danger  of  being  sacrificed  at  the 
shrine  of  a  reckless,  sordid  spirit  of  party  interest.  I 
have,  seen  public  offices  courting  competent  men  to  fill 
them,  and  I  have  seen  them  filled  by  men,  who,  with  a 
religious  conscientiousness,  acquitted  themselves  of  duty. 
But  this  seems  already  to  be  antiquated  morality  ;  for  I 
now  see  unworthy,  incompetent  men,  seeking  and  laying 
claim  to  public  offices,  as  a  reward  for  desecration  and 
unfaithfulness.  My  fellow-citizens.  I  have  seen  the  days 
that  tried  men's  souls.     I  claim  the  privilege  of  age  to 


CHURCH    IN    MALDEN.  247 

forewarn  you,  that,  unless  you  view  your  elective  fran- 
chise in  a  light  more  precious  than  heretofore,  ere  loug 
you  will  have  no  office  to  bestow  ;  all  will  be  anarchy, 
confusion,  ruin,  and  despair.  0!  how  great  would  be  my 
consolation,  could  my  benediction  avail  for  the  meliora- 
tion of  my  beloved  country's  welfare  !" 
Plymouth,  June,  1834. 

Rev.  Peter  Thacher,  D.D.,  pastor  of  a  Congregation- 
alist  church  in  Maiden,  Mass.  (fifth  generation),  was 
chosen  by  that  town  a  member  of  the  convention,  called 
in  1780,  to  form  a  Constitution  for  the  Commonwealth  of 
Massachusetts.  "Few  were  more  active  or  influential" 
in  that  important  work. 

From  such  a  maternal  ancestry  Mrs.  Hunt  is  descended, 
— the  ninth  in  the  generations  since  the  Rev.  Anthony 
and  Thomas  Thacher  came  to  this  country.  What  won- 
der, then,  that  this  same  gift  of  intellect,  of  Christian 
sensitiveness,  of  humane  and  patriotic  zeal,  of  choice 
and  fluent  speech,  should  crop  out  in  a  feminine  de- 
scendant, under  the  influence  of  these  more  tolerant  days ! 
Surely,  the  fact  is  a  salient  illustration  of  her  favorite 
subject  of  heredity. 

The  little  girl  Mary,  on  Canaan  Hill,  was  bright  and 
frolicsome,  committed  from  the  first  to  the  sunny  side  of 
every  circumstance,  and  brim  full  of  a  harmless  fun,  that 
was  held  in  check  by  a  quickened  conscience  ;  for  there 
was  born  in  her  heart,  when  she  was  less  than  nine  years 
old,  the  love  for  and  faith  in  the  God  of  her  fathers 
which  has  been  the  controlling  inspiration  of  her  life. 
This  early  experience  toned,  but  by  no  means  shaded, 
her  natural,  happy  girlhood. 

Says  one  who  shared  her  life  as  a  child : 

"In  our  long  daily  walks  across  the  fields  to  the  little 
brown  school-house,  her  busy  brain  and  hands  were 
always  finding   treasures.     She  spied  and  bore  off   the 


248  MRS.  HUNT    IN    A    LOCUST    TREE. 

first  pussy-willows  leaning  over  the  brook  we  crossed  on 
stepping-stones,  and  brought  home  in  her  apron  to  her 
disgusted  mother  some  little  grasshoppers,  the  fruits  of 
her  research  into  a  sheltered  nook,  when  the  March  sun 
had  coaxed  them  from  their  hiding-place,  as  proof  that 
the  long,  dreary  winter  was  gone.  The  principal  value 
of  a  tree  in  her  eyes  then  was  the  good  seats  on  the  limbs, 
the  higher  up  the  better.  She  did  not  stop  to  analyze 
her  delight  in  the  beautiful  landscape  about  her  home. 
The  squirrels  and  the  birds  were  her  friends,  but  books 
were  then  her  trial.  She  learned  easily,  but  the  monoto- 
nous lessons  were  irksome.  She  was  too  full  of  fun  to 
apply  herself  to  study,  so,  of  course,  was  often  in  disgrace 
with  her  teachers.  The  teachers  complained,  the  parents 
reproved,  but  it  availed  little.  One  summer  day,  after  a 
serious  talk  with  mother  about  a  certain  arithmetic  les- 
son for  the  next  morning,  Mary  asked  permission  to 
climb  into  her  favorite  locust  tree  and  sit  there,  promising 
that  she  would  "  get  it  then."  The  picture  of  that  fun- 
loving  girl,  perched  high  in  the  leafy  locust  branches, 
with  book  and  slate,  studying  a  little,  and  watching  the 
birds  more,  is  one  long  to  be  remembered.  But  her 
play-days  were  almost  over.  At  fifteen  she  came  to  real- 
ize that  life  had  problems  for  her  solving,  needing  honest 
preparation.  Conscience  and  ambition  were  roused.  A 
change  came  over  the  spirit  of  her  dreams.  The  intel- 
lect of  this  nature-loving  child  began  to  assert  itself. 
She  heard  voices  calling :  '  Face  the  other  way.'  The 
dog's-eared,  worn  school-books  which  had  been  her  trial 
she  now  took  up  in  quite  another  spirit.  With  a  deter- 
mined will  and  earnest  purpose  she  studied  to  learn. 
Her  teachers  were  surprised  and  delighted  at  her  pro- 
gress. In  one  year  of  bard  study  she  had  gone  over  the 
work  of  two.  At  sixteen,  with  some  misgivings,  she 
engaged  to  teach  a  country  school,  and  surprised  herself 


HER    EDUCATION.  240 

and  friends  by  her  power  of  waking-  the  love  of  study 
even  in  the  dullest  and  most  wayward  of  her  pupils. 
The  turbulent,  lawless  children,  who  had  been,  the  term 
before,  the  terror  of  the  neighborhood,  were  now  well- 
behaved,  studious  boys  and  girls." 

A  \ car  of  teaching  was  followed  by  study  at  Amcnia 
Seminary,  X.  Y.,  where  Rev.  Gilbert  Haven,  afterwards 
Bishop  Haven,  was  president.  A  little  later  on,  we  find 
her  a  student  at  Patapsco  Institute,  near  Baltimore, 
where  Mrs.  Almira  Lincoln  Phelps  presided  as  principal. 
For  the  influence  of  these  eminent  educators,  at  that 
formative  period  of  her  life,  Mrs.  Hunt  is  very  grateful. 
She  graduated  with  honor  from  Patapsco,  and  was  at 
once  chosen  as  a  teacher  in  this  same  institution.  As  a 
student,  the  natural  sciences  were  her  specialty,  and  in 
this  department  she  taught  with  a  success  foreshadow- 
ing our  coming  superintendent  of  scientific  instruction. 

When  extending  the  invitation  to  become  one  of  the 
faculty,  Mrs.  Phelps  said  to  her,  "  I  have  always  designed 
to  keep  you  here.  Added  to  other  qualities,  you  carry 
your  own  sunshine  with  you,  and  are  always  true."  But 
she  did  not  keep  her  long,  for  in  the  autumn  of  the  fol- 
lowing year  she  was  married  to  Mr.  Leander  B.  Hunt,  of 
East  Douglass,  Mass.  In  the  coming  years,  hers  was  the 
home-life  of  the  wife  and  mother,  of  the  lady  in  society, 
dispensing  hospitality  with  a  liberal  hand,  and  a  helper 
in  benevolent,  Sunday-school,  and  church  work. 

The  two  younger  of  her  three  children  died  in  infancy, 
but  she  had  two  step-children,  who  bear  witness  to  her 
fidelity  in  words  of  love  that  could  not  be  more  tender 
were  they  writing  of  their  own  mother. 

In  the  autumn  of  1865,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Hunt  removed  to 
Hyde  Park,  then  a  Boston  suburb,  just  springing  out  of 
the  Avilderness.  The  Congregational  church  was  but  a 
handful  of  people,  worshiping  in  a  hall.     The  novelty  of 


250  HER    FIRST   PUBLIC    SPEAKING. 

the  situation  and  the  need  of  work  fired  her  enthusiasm, 
and,  with  a  company  of  devoted  ladies,  she  toiled  hard  to 
build  up  the  church  and  to  help  crystallize  the  new 
society  on  a  religious  basis. 

She  was  quickly  recognized  as  a  leader,  and,  before 
she  realized  it,  was  organizing  and  helping  set  in  motion 
forces  that  have  shaped  the  character  of  this  enterprising 
place. 

In  the  misfortunes  that  attended  the  family  about  this 
time  the  strength  and  heroism  of  Mrs.  Hunt's  character 
was  exhibited.  She  had  been  active  as  a  Christian  since 
her  childhood,  but  now  she  learned  those  more  advanced 
lessons  of  the  faith  in  God  which  trusts  unfalteringly  in 
the  dark,  and  the  real  consecration  that  lays  all  on  the 
altar  of  a  Heavenly  Father's  unexplained  will.  Thus 
does  God  fashion  with  sunshine  and  storm  and  the 
primer's  knife  His  chosen  fruit-bearing  vines. 

A  member  of  the  church  of  her  fathers  (the  Congrega- 
tionalist),  she  had  been  brought  up  to  believe  "a  woman 
should  keep  silence  in  the  churches."  Her  first  depart- 
ure from  this  ancient  custom  was  at  the  earnest  request, 
almost  command,  of  her  pastor,  Rev.  P.  B.  Davis,  that 
she  should  relate  to  the  Friday  night  church  prayer- 
meeting,  as  she  had  to  him  privately,  something  of  her 
spiritual  experiences.  From  that  time,  in  response  to 
the  solicitations  of  Christian  friends,  her  voice  was  often 
heard  in  the  prayer-meetings  of  her  church — and  her  first 
lessons  taken  for  the  larger  utterance  waiting  her. 

To  the  education  and  training  of  her  only  surviving 
child,  Alfred  E.  Hunt,  she  devoted  herself  until  he  grad- 
uated from  the  Mass.  Institute  of  Technology  in  Boston, 
in  1876,  and  went  out  to  make  a  man's  place  for  himself 
in  the  world. 

Home  cares  were  lessened.  She  had  lost  her  relish  for 
general  society.     Always  a  student,  even  in  her  busiest 


EEV.  JOSEPH    COOK'S    LECTURES.  251 

years,  the  Bible  grew  more  and  more  to  supplant  other 
books,  and  now  she  turned  to  its  study  with  a  zeal  that 
increased  with  her  leisure  to  gratify  it,  little  herself 
dreaming  whereunto  it  would  lead  her.  As  she  studied, 
'•  a  great  hunger,"  as  she  says,  "  came  into  her  heart  to 
do  more  for  the  Master."  She  supposed  this  would  be 
met  with  perhaps  new  "additions  to  the  large  Bible  class 
of  ladies,  who  recall  her  teaching  with  enthusiasm ;  or 
another  burdened  soul  to  comfort;  or  another  poor  family 
to  look  after. 

The  Woman's  Temperance  Crusade,  five  years  before, 
swept  over  the  country,  reaching  the  East,  gathering  into 
its  ranks  of  workers  many  noble  women,  but  not  yet  the 
Leader  of  our  Educational  Department. 

With  much  timidity  and  shrinking,  in  response  to 
appeals,  she  had  given  a  few  Bible  Readings  in  the  mis- 
sion churches  of  Punkapaug,  Milton,  and  Clarendon  Hills 
near  her  home.  That  the  people  listened  when  she  spoke 
encouraged  her. 

And  now  accidentally,  or  providentially,  her  thoughts 
were  turned  to  the  physiological  or  scientific  side  of  the 
Temperance  question.  These  impressions  were  intensi- 
fied by  listening  to  Rev.  Joseph  Cook's  lectures  on  "Alco- 
hol and  the  Brain."  With  absorbing  interest  she  began 
to  read  on  this  phase  of  a  hitherto,  to  her,  trite  and  com- 
mon-place topic.  On  every  page  she  saw  fresh  evidence 
in  natural  law  of  the  relation  of  the  Temperance  Cause 
to  the  uplifting  or  downfall  of  the  race,  and  to  the  answer 
to  the  prayer  '.'Thy  kingdom  come."  The  ancestral  fires 
were  glowing  in  her  spirit,  and  when  a  friend  who  had 
heard  her  Bible  Readings  urged  her  to  give,  in  a  distant 
country  town,  a  Temperance  talk,  she  did  not  dare  say 
"  No." 

On  the  Easter  Sabbath  night  of  1879,  in  the  town  hall 
in    Leominster,  Mass.,   she    gave   her    first   Temperance 


252  MASSACHUSETTS  W.  C.  T.  U. 

address.  When,  a  few  weeks  later,  the  Mass.  W.  C.  T.  U. 
appointed  her  a  vice-president  of  the  State  Society,  she 
was  ready  to  do  with  her  might  what  she  could.  The 
unpopularity  of  a  cause  to  which  convictions  and  con- 
science were  committed  was  no  barrier  to  this  descendant 
of  the  Puritans.  In  the  solitude  of  her  home,  over  no 
personal  experiences,  but  the  scientific  works  of  Drs.  Rich- 
ardson, Lees,  Story,  Hargreaves,  Carpenter,  and  others, 
she  had  been  converted  to  no  ephemeral  interest  in  the 
Temperance  work — so  clearly  to  her  vision  her  Master's 
cause.  The  rapidly  developing  gift  of  public  speech  had 
found  its  mission,  and  quickly  attracted  attention. 

In  less  than  six  months  from  the  first  "  arrest  of 
thought "  on  this  subject  which  had  so  fired  her  enthusi- 
asm, she  was  speaking  three  and  four  times  a  week  in  its 
interests,  under  the  auspices  of  the  Mass.  State  W.  C.  T. 
U. — shrinking  and  trembling  at  her  own  temerity,  yet 
longing  to  utter  the  alarm  she  felt  for  the  future  of  a  race 
poisoning  itself,  soul  and  body,  with  alcohol.  The  follow- 
ing autumn,  at  the  repeated  solicitations  of  the  Boston  W. 
C.  T.  Union,  she  accepted  a  position  which  made  her  their 
advocate  for  this  reform  in  the  churches  of  the  city  where 
so  many  of  her  maternal  ancestry  had  preached  the  Gos- 
pel of  Grace  and  Freedom.  With  so  little  previous  plat- 
form experience,  this  was  a  severe  test  of  her  faith  in  the 
promise,  "  Go,  and  I  will  be  with  thy  mouth."  The 
result  proved  the  genuineness  of  the  call.  Pulpits  from 
which  no  woman  had  ever  spoken  before  were  opened  to 
her,  and  before  the  year  closed  the  work  and  worker 
received  the  hearty  indorsement  of  the  most  eminent 
men  as  well  as  the  public  of  that  cultured  city. 

It  was  an  early  conviction  with  Mrs.  Hunt  that  the 
success  of  the  Temperance  reform  depends  upon  the  uni- 
versal education  of  the  successive  generations  of  the 
people  as  to  the  real  nature  and  physiological  effects  of 


SCIENTIFIC    TEMPERANCE.  253 

alcoholic  beverages.  To  accomplish  this,  in  this  country, 
she  now  devoted  her  life.  She  quickly  saw  that  the 
public  school  system  of  America  must  be  the  vehicle, 
and  that  suitable  text-books  must  be  prepared.  Dr.  Rich- 
ardson's  Lesson  Book  on  Temperance,  just  published, 
was  too  advanced  for  the  common  schools — the  Alma 
Mater  of  the  masses.  An  extended  correspondence  and 
consultation  with  friends  of  the  cause,  of  longer  expe- 
rience, led  her  to  invite  Miss  Coleman  to  write  "Alcohol 
and  Hygiene,"  a  book  now  used  in  many  intermediate 
schools  in  this  country.  At  the  close  of  her  year's  en- 
gagement in  Boston,  the  books  being  ready,  the  National 
Woman's  Christian'  Temperance  Union,  at  their  annual 
meeting  in  that  city,  in  1880,  created  the  Department 
for  the  Introduction  of  Scientific  Temperance  Instruction 
in  Schools  and  Colleges,  and  made  Mrs.  Mary  H.  Hunt 
its  Superintendent,  sending  her  out  commissioned  to  make 
real  her  vision  of  hope.  Cordial  hearings  were  granted 
her  by  popular  and  scholarly  audiences  in  different  States, 
as  she  unfolded  the  plan  of  educating  all  classes  in  child- 
hood and  youth  to  abhor  strong  drink,  by  teaching  them, 
as  a  regular  branch  of  study  in  the  schools  from  text 
books,  graded  from  the  comprehension  of  the  primary  to 
the  higher  students,  what  Alcohol  is  and  what  it  does  to 
the  living  body  of  the  drinker  as  well  as  the  character. 
People  had  said  before,  "  The  Temperance  Reform  must 
begin  with  the  children."  This  was  a  showing  how  to 
"  begin"  effectively.  "  It  is  just  the  thing  to  do,"  "  I 
wonder  this  has  not  been  done  before,"  enthusiastic 
hearers  said.  As  the  work  developed,  it  became  evident 
that  other  than  moral  arguments  were  needed  with  Boards 
of  Education  with  beer  and  whisky-drinking  constituents. 
Said  a  polite  chairman  of  a  Board  of  Education,  "We 
must  teach  what  the  law  requires  man."  "  Now  if  the 
law  of  the  State  only  required  this  about  Alcohol  taught, 


254  LAW    IN    MICHIGAN. 

we  could  do  it."  "  And  the  law  of  the  State  shall  ere 
long  require  you,"  mentally  rejoined  our  earnest-hearted 
Superintendent,  who  began  at  once  planning  and  working 
to  that  end,  and  the  Michigan  Legislature  enacted  the 
following  law  in  1883 : 

CHAPTER  III. 

"  Sec.  15.  The  district  board  shall  specify  the  studies  to  be  pur- 
sued in  the  schools  of  the  district:  Provided  always,  That  provision 
shall  be  made  for  instructing  all  pupils  in  every  school  in  physiology 
and  hygiene,  with  special  reference  to  the  effects  of  alcoholic  drinks, 
stimulants,  and  narcotics  generally  upon  the  human  system.  ...  No 
certificate  shall  be  granted  any  person  to  teach  in  the  schools  of  Michi- 
gan who  shall  not  pass  a  satisfactory  examination,  after  September 
first,  1884,  in  physiology  and  hygiene  with  particular  reference  to  the 
effects  of  alcoholic  drinks,  stimulants,  and  narcotics  upon  the  human 
system. " 

Vermont  passed  a  similar  law  in  November,  1882.  To 
few  is  it  given,  to  work  so  broadly  for  the  future  as  our 
leader  of  the  educational  forces,  with  her  noble  band  of 
State  Superintendents  of  her  Department,  is  doing. 

Perhaps  no  woman  in  our  great  national  society  has 
risen  so  rapidly  to  eminence  as  Mrs.  Hunt.  The  bent  of 
her  mind  is  scientific,  and  she  brought  special  preparation 
to  her  work,  having,  as  a  student,  excelled  in  the  natural 
sciences  and  made  a  careful  study  of  the  best  and  latest 
researches  in  England  and  France,  as  well  as  here,  con- 
cerning the  effect  of  alcoholic  stimulants  upon  the  tissues 
of  the  body  and  the  temper  of  the  soul. 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

THE  W.  C.  T.  U.  IX  SOCIETY. 

The  Light  of  Christ  in  the  circle  of  society— The  hostess  of  the 
While  House -Sketch  of  Mrs.  Lucy  Webb  Hayes— Memorial  por- 
trait—Lincoln Hall  meeting— "The  Two  Bridges  "—Mrs.  Foster's 
address— Presentation  at  Executive  Mansion— President  Garfield's 
reply—"  Through  the  Eye  to  the  Heart"— Lucy  Hayes  Tea  Parties, 
Impressions  of  the  Garfields — Society  work  of  young  women — 
Mrs.  Frances  J.  Barnes  of  New  York  —  Miss  Anna  Gordon  — 
Y.  W.  C.  T.  U.  of  Michigan  University— Wellesley  College— Kitchen 
garden  — Miss  McClees  — Sensible  girls  — "The  W.  C.  T.  U.  will 
receive"— Nobler  Themes— "All  for  Temperance "  —  Miss  Esther 
Pugh,  Treasurer  of  National  W.  C.  T.  U. 

THE  next  evolution  of  the  W.  C.  T.  U.  is  into  the 
domain  of  Mrs.  Grundy.  This  ought  to  be  conge- 
nial soil  for  the  growth  of  every  kind  of  helpful  thought. 
Society  should  be,  and  will  certainly  become  in  the  resti- 
tution now  going  forward,  a  larger  home  for  all  who 
dwell  there.  The  social  sentiments,  under  that  mild 
sway  which  Christian  hearts  confess,  are  those  which 
most  ennoble  human  nature,  because  widest  in  scope  and 
most  general  in  endowment.  When  the  Golden  Rule 
shall  be  wrought  into  deeds  within  the  social  realm; 
when  in  that  charmed  circle  "  all  men's  weal  shall  be 
each  man's  care,"  then  will  the  strong  be  glad  to  bear  the 
burdens  of  the  weak,  and  total  abstinence  will  be  "  the 
fashion."  But  the  key  note  of  social  observances  is  set 
high  up  in  the  octave  of  society.  When  Dr.  Guthrie,  of 
Scotland,  turned  his  wine  glass  right  side  up  at  a  banquet 
(and  that  means  up  side  down,)  it  changed  "  the  custom  " 
of  thousands  in  the  bonnie  land  of  cakes  and  ale.     When 

(255) 


256  HE    HOSTESS    OF    THE    WHITE    HOUSE. 

Lady  McDonald,  of  Canada,  banished  alcoholics  from  her 
dinner  table,  and  Sir  and  Lady  Leonard  Tilley  gave  to 
seven  hundred,  guests  an  evening  entertainment,  elegant 
in  its  appointments  as  befitted  their  high  station,  yet 
without  wine;  when  the  good  Queen  of  England  said, 
"  Every  person  at  my  table  shall  obey  his  conscience," 
thus  rebuking  those  who  sneered  at  the  total  abstainers — 
then  the  light  shone  into  a  wider  circle  of  influence  for 
the  W.  C.  T.  U.  Significant  indeed  is  the  fact  that  the 
grandest  as  well  as  earliest  pioneer  in  the  highest  rank  of 
American  social  life  was  a  daughter  of  Ohio,  and  an  ear- 
nest friend  of  the  Women's  Temperance  Crusade. 

MRS.  PRESIDENT  HAYES, 
The  Hostess  of  the  White  House. 

Probably  there  is  no  woman  in  the  United  States  who 
has  been  more  earnestly  prayed  for  or  so  much  beloved 
by  the  W.  C.  T.  U.  as  Mrs.  Rutherford  B.  Hayes.  A 
plain,  straight  forward  account  of  her  life  and  character 
is  here  attempted,  from  sources  the  most  trustworthy. 

Dr.  Webb,  the  father  of  Mrs.  Hayes,  died  when  she 
was  an  infant,  but  any  account  of  her  which  makes  no 
reference  to  her  mother  is  like  the  play  of  "Hamlet" 
with  Hamlet  left  out.  When  her  daughter  was  about  ten 
years  old,  Mrs.  Webb  determined  that  she  would  remove 
from  Chillicothe  to  Delaware,  Ohio,  with  her  two  sons 
and  her  little  girl,  the  youngest  of  the  family.  The  Ohio 
Wesleyan  University  had  been  recently  established  there, 
and  was  the  magnet  which  attracted  this  sagacious  mother. 
Subsequently  she  took  rooms  in  the  College,  and  here  for 
two  years  Lucy  recited  with  her  brothers.  Mrs.  Webb  was 
of  the  best  blood  in  the  land,  as  many  think,  for  she  was 
of  New  England  ancestry.  Her  convictions  of  right  and 
her  loyalty  to  duty  had  the  three-fold  intensity  of  inherit- 
ance, education,  and  personal  experience.     The  Bible  was, 


MRS.  LUCY  WEBB  HAYES. 


THE    MOTHER    OF    MRS.    HAYES.  259 

with  her,  judge,  jury,  and  advocate,  on  all  questions  con- 
cerning practical  every-day  life.  Three  letters  lie  before 
me  from  those  who  were  personally  acquainted  with  Mrs. 
Webb.     This  is  their  testimony: 

"  She  was  a  woman  of  solid  worth,  rare  common  sense, 
and  symmetrical  Christian  character.  lam  sure  if  the 
course  of  Mrs.  Hayes  is  such  as  to  command  the  respect 
of  the  true  hearted  people  of  our  land,  she  inherits  the 
ability  to  make  it  so  largely  as  a  legacy  from  her  mother." 

Another  letter,  from  an  altogether  different  quarter, 
employs  precisely  the  same  phrase  as  the  first : 

"  The  mother  of  Mrs.  Hayes  was  a  lady  of  rare  com- 
mon sense,  in  which  the  daughter  strongly  resembles  her." 

A  third  has  this  : 

"There  is  one  trait  in  the  character  of  Mrs.  Hayes 
which  I  should  like  to  emphasize  for  the  sake  of  any  who 
may  read  your  sketch.  She  absolutely  will  not  talk 
<■  gossip.'  Even  in  the  intimate  confidences  of  daily  inter- 
course, she  is  as  guarded  as  in  the  presence  of  the  multi- 
tude. The  executive  mansion  has  for  its  mistress  one 
who  is  a  living  exemplification  of  Christ's  Golden  Rule. 
Except  in  very  rare  instances,  when  some  act  of  oppres- 
sion to  the  poor  or  the  defenceless  outrages  her  sense  of 
right,  she  is  always  thoroughly  kind  in  expression.  I 
think  this  trait  of  carefulness  for  the  feelings  of  others  a 
gift  from  her  mother,  who  had  a  nature  exceedingly  genial 
and  kind.  It  is  indeed  a  blessed  thing  for  our  country  that 
such  a  woman  had  the  training  of  our  President's  wife." 

Dear  reader,  perhaps  that  little  girl  of  yours  is  yet  to 
be  the  hostess  of  the  nation.  Will  you  not  give  her  just 
as  good  advantages  for  the  discipline  of  her  mind  as  you 
afford  her  brothers,  and  for  her  heart  a  daily  exhibition  of 
the  faith  that  works  by  love  ? 

So  shall  she  make  the  humblest  station  high. 
So  shall  she  'mong  the  highest  take  her  seat 
And  find  herself  at  home. 


260  MRS.    HAYES    AS    A    STUDENT. 

Two  years  at  the  Ohio  Wesley  an  University  were  fol- 
lowed by  several  years  of  study  in  the  Cincinnati  Wes- 
leyan  Female  College,  of  which  Rev.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  P.  B. 
Wilbur  had  the  management.  Many  of  the  noblest 
women  of  the  West,  foremost  in  missionary,  temperance, 
and  other  Christian  work,  were  graduated  here.  Under 
the  influence  of  these  gifted  educators  and  their  succes- 
sors, the  daughters  of  Ohio  have  matured  characters  full 
of  the  benignant  strength  which  discipline  of  mind  can 
only  give  when  Christ  in  the  heart  tempers  and  mellows 
the  clear  light  it  has  imparted.  One  of  these  students,  a 
life-long  friend  of  Mrs.  Hayes,  and  foremost  among  the 
women  philanthropists  of  our  day,  writes  as  follows : 

"Lucy  Webb  was  a  first-class  student.  I  was  a  mem- 
ber of  the  same  class  in  botany  and  other  studies  with 
her,  and  I  have  reason  to  recall  my  feeling  of  mingled 
annoyance  and  admiration,  as  our  teacher,  Miss  De  Forest, 
would  turn  from  us  older  girls  to  Miss  Webb,  who  sat  at 
the  head  of  the  class,  and  get  from  her  a  clear  analysis 
of  the  flower  under  discussion,  or  the  correct  transposition 
of  some  involved  line  of  poetry.  Somewhat  of  this 
accuracy  was  doubtless  due  to  the  fact  that  she  had  been 
trained  in  the  severe  drill  of  the  0.  W.  University.  She 
remained  in  the  Ladies'  College  of  Cincinnati  until  she 
completed  its  course  of  study." 

While  yet  in  her  teens,  she  met  Rutherford  B.  Hayes, 
who,  after  his  graduation  at  Kenyon  College,  Ohio,  had 
opened  a  law  office  in  Cincinnati.     He  writes  of  her : 

"  My  friend  Jones  has  introduced  me  to  many  of  our 
city  belles,  but  I  do  not  see  any  who  make  me  forget  the 
natural  gaiety  and  attractiveness  of  Miss  Lucy." 

One  of  her  friends  gives  these  interesting  items : 

"  It  was  my  good  fortune  to  be  a  guest  at  the  small  and 
unpretentious  wedding  of  Lucy  Webb,  in  1852.  The  only 
attendant  of  the  young  pair  was  a  beautiful  child  of  eight 


HER    CHARACTERISTICS.  2G1 

years,  the  daughter  of  the  bridegroom's  only  sister.  A 
few  days  ago,  this  same  child,  now  the  wife  of  a  dis- 
tinguished citizen  of  Columbus,  0.,  sat  beside  her  aunt, 
Mrs.  Hayes,  acting  once  more  as  her  attendant,  and 
looking  down  from  the  gallery  on  the  sublimely  simple 
ceremonies  of  the  inauguration  of  R.  B.  Hayes  as  Presi- 
dent of  these  United  States.  It  has  been  a  marriage  of 
almost  ideal  happiness,  and  to  overstate  the  devotion  of 
Mrs.  Hayes  to  her  home,  her  husband,  and  her  children, 
would  be  almost  impossible.  The  heroism  she  displayed 
in  sharing  her  husband's  army  life  has  been  the  theme  of 
many  an  admiring  newspaper  reporter.  There  are  some 
incidents  connected  with  this  chapter  in  her  history  which 
would  enhance  its  beauty  and  impressiveness,  but  they 
are  too  sacred  for  our  pen." 

Her  characteristics  are  perhaps  sufficiently  indicated  in 
the  foregoing  statements.  "  Bright  loveliness  and  devo- 
tion to  principle  "  are  given  as  the  chief.  What  might 
have  been  positive  and  almost  angular  in  another,  is  so 
tempered  by  sweetness  and  gaiety  of  spirit,  that  she  is  the 
most  influential  of  all  persons  with  her  husband.  "  His 
heart  doth  safely  trust  in  her." 

Mrs.  Hayes  has  been  from  childhood  an  earnest  Chris- 
tian, a  member  of  the  Methodist  Church.  Her  expres- 
sions of  sympathy  for  the  suffering  and  her  constant 
benefactions  to  the  poor,  are  not  offered  through  the 
accepted  public  channels,  but  rather  so  quietly  that, 
prominent  as  her  social  position  has  long  been,  they  are 
almost  lost  to  the  public  gaze.  Her  unostentatious 
habits  are  well  known  to  our  people  already.  Since  the 
Republic  was  founded,  its  shoddy  element  has  never 
received  a  more  substantial  rebuke  than  from  the  simple 
costume,  gentle  home  life,  and  quiet  manners  of  this  model 
"  Lady  of  the  White  House." 

To  dress  "  as  becometh  women  professing  godliness," 


262  HER   COSTUME. 

yet  not  so  as  to  attract  special  attention,  is  the  endeavor 
of  a  larger  number  of  thoughtful  ladies  to-day  than  in  any 
previous  age,  and  the  women  of  the  church  are  fortunate 
in  having  such  a  leader  as  Mrs.  Hayes.  Notice  the  quiet 
good  taste  of  her  costume,  the  simple,  natural  dressing  of 
the  hair,  the  modestly  covered  throat,  and  fair,  un- 
punctured  ears  of  this  noble  Christian  matron — this 
"  Cornelia,"  whose  "  jewels "  are  the  three  bright  boys 
and  sweet  young  girl  who  call  her  mother. 

HER    TEMPERANCE    RECORD. 

To  us  this  is  a  subject  of  peculiar  interest,  and  especial 
effort  has  been  made  to  get  at  "  the  truth,  the  whole 
truth,  and  nothing  but  the  truth."  Although  she  never, 
so  far  as  has  been  learned,  participated  in  the  crusade 
work,  she  sympathized  heartily  with  those  who  did  so, 
and  was  at  least  a  nominal  member  of  the  Executive 
Committee  of  the  League  in  Fremont,  Ohio.  An  officer 
of  that  society  writes :  "  Occasionally  her  noble  face 
brightened  our  meetings  with  prayer.  General  Hayes 
gave  us  the  use  of  his  hall  for  our  temperance  mass 
meetings  and  daily  prayer  meetings.  I  have  attended 
receptions  at  his  residence  after  his  election  as  Governor, 
and  never  was  a  drop  of  anything  stronger  than  coffee 
offered  to  his  guests.  The  temperance  women  of  America 
may  congratulate  themselves  on  having  a  Christian 
woman,  true  as  steel,  in  the  White  House,  and  as  such 
she  is  certainly  entitled  to  our  confidence,  and  I  should 
deprecate  any  course  on  our  part  that  savored  of  dictation 
or  distrust." 

Mrs.  Hayes  has  been  the  most  eloquent  of  temperance 
lecturers  to  those  about  her,  by  reason  of  her  total  abstin- 
ence from  the  products  of  the  vineyard,  the  brewery,  the 
still,  and  yet  she  never  "  speaks  in  public."  Her  home 
life   is  most  lovely,  her  children  are  models   of  noble 


ORIGIN    OP    WHITE    HOUSE   PORTRAIT.  iM-'} 

behavior,  her  charities  arc  unobtrusive  and  unfailing  as 
the  dew. 

For  the  last  two  years  Mrs.  Hayes  lias  been  associated 
with  her  friend  Mrs.  Dr.  John  Davis,  also  Mrs.  Dr.  Rust, 
Mrs.  A*.  R.  Clark,  and  other  leading  ladies  of  Cincinnati 
and  elsewhere,  in  the  Woman's  Home  Missionary  Society 
of  the  M.  E.  Church,  of  which  she  has  accepted  the 
Presidency.  It  will  cooperate  cordially  with  the  W.  C.  T.  U. 
in  temperance  work  among  the  ignorant  and  ungospelled 
masses  of  the  South,  and  on  the  far  frontier. 

Two  years  after  the  great  crusade  we  began  the  new 
century  with  a  temperance  man  from  the  Crusade  State 
as  President,  and  an  earnest  Christian  temperance  woman 
for  the  hostess  of  the  White  House. 

In  this  we  trace  a  "justice"  both  "poetic,"  and,  what 
is  vastly  better,  providential. 

THE    HAYES    TESTIMONIAL    COMMISSION. 

This  was  formed  on  the  suggestion  of  Rev.  Frederick 
Merrick,  a  well-known  professor  in  Ohio  Wesleyan  Uni- 
versity. Dr.  Merrick  privately  addressed  letters  to 
temperance  leaders,  suggesting  a  temperance  memorial  of 
the  noble  course  pursued  by  Mrs.  Hayes  in  banishing  from 
the  White  House  all  intoxicating  liquors  as  a  drink.  The 
plan  met  with  earnest  approval  and  a  "  commission"  was 
appointed,  in  which  by  Dr.  Merrick's  request  and  that  of 
the  W.  C.  T.  U.  of  Delaware,  0.,  I  accepted  the  "  laboring 
oar."  But  for  the  cooperation  of  Miss  Esther  Pugh  I 
could  not  have  discharged  the  duties  of  this  arduous 
position,  in  addition  to  those  already  assumed.  In  the 
interest  of  the  movement,  thousands  of  documents  were 
sent  out  and  addresses  delivered  in  all  the  leading  cities. 
Our  local  unions  did  most  of  the  "  honest,  hard  work," 
the  Good  Templars  showing  the  same  fraternal  and  help- 
ful spirit  they  have  uniformly  manifested  toward  us.     It 


261  THE   COMMISSION    IN    WASHINGTON. 

was  decided  that  the  memorial  should  take  the  form  of  a 
portrait  of  Mrs.  Hayes,  to  be  presented  to  the  nation 
through  the  incoming  President.  David  Huntington,  of 
New  York,  President  of  the  National  Academy  of  Design, 
was  chosen  as  the  artist.  An  elegant  frame  was  carved, 
under  the  superintendence  of  Ben.  Pitman,  by  pupils  of 
the  Cincinnati  Art  School,  and  presented  by  ladies  of  that 
city,  and  a  photo-gravure  of  the  picture  executed  by  Barrie, 
of  Philadelphia.  It  is  hoped  that  this  representation  of 
the  painting  may  be  sold  so  extensively  as  to  lay  the 
foundation  of  a  fund  for  the  free  distribution  of  temper- 
ance literature.  All  the  work  done  by  the  commission 
was  a  free  gift,  and  whatever  income  may  be  realized  for 
the  fund  will  be  applied  to  the  purpose  named. 

PRESENTATION   OF   THE   PORTRAIT   AT   THE  WHITE   HOUSE. 

On  the  7th  of  March,  1881,  while  Washington  was  in 
splendid  spirits  and  gala  attire,  our  commission  was 
represented  there  by  its  executive  committee  and  other 
leading  ladies  of  our  society.  Mrs.  Clara  L.  Roach, 
President  of  our  auxiliary  in  the  District  of  Columbia, 
with  her  capable  coadjutors,  had  made  all  needed  prepara- 
tions for  us.  Mrs.  Senator  Blair  and  her  noble  husband 
had  not  spared  pains  to  help  ;  Miss  Caroline  Ransom,  the 
gifted  artist,  had  rendered  invaluable  service ;  and  Rev. 
Dr.  Lanahan,  from  the  first  our  wise  and  genial  counsel- 
lor, was  untiring  in  his  efforts  on  our  behalf. 

Some  of  us  were  in  the  brilliant  Senate  Chamber  on 
Inauguration  Day.  Most  of  us  heard  President  Garfield's 
inaugural,  and  all  witnessed  the  unrivalled  pageant  of  the 
streets.  On  the  afternoon  of  that  day  President  Hayes 
and  Mrs.  Hayes,  with  their  sons,  came  privately  to  see 
the  picture.  Most  of  our  committee  being  present,  Mrs. 
Hayes  warmly  greeted  her  old  friends,  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Mer- 
rick, and  spoke  kindly  to  each  of  us,  saying,  in  her  simple, 


UNVEILTNG   OP   THE   PORTRAIT.  265 

friendly  fashion:    "I  have  done  nothing  worthy  of  all 

•*  CD  J 

this,  and  I  do  not  know  how  to  thank  you  for  your  kind- 
ness." 

In  the  evening,  at  Lincoln  Hall,  public  exercises  were 
held,  and,  in  the  presence  of  an  immense  audience,  the 
picture  was  unveiled  by  Dr.  Merrick.  It  is  ten  feet  in 
height  and  seven  in  width,  the  frame,  with  its  monogram, 
clusters  of  grapes,  and  symbolic  leaves  and  flowers,  being 
a  casket  worthy  of  the  jewel  it  enshrines.  Mrs.  Hayes, 
plainly  but  richly  dressed  in  velvet  and  lace,  stands  in  the 
foreground  of  a  pleasing  landscape,  the  only  reminder  of 
the  picture's  motif  being  a  bas-relief  upon  a  pedestal, 
representing  a  symbolic  figure  of  Temperance  leaning 
upon  an  urn,  whence  flows  good,  old-fashioned  cold 
water,  "  sparkling  and  bright  in  its  liquid  light."  Banked 
with  rare  flowers,  the  great  picture  was  the  center  of  a 
stage  adorned  by  the  W.  C.  T.  U.  of  Washington  with 
plants  and  vines,  until  the  ladies  seated  behind  the  bright 

CD 

footlights  seemed  in  the  midst  of  a  brilliant  parterre,  to 
which  the  rarest  charm  was  added  by  a  magnificent 
basket  of  flowers  sent  from  the  conservatories  of  the 
White  House  by  Mrs.  President  Garfield.  Only  a  synop- 
sis can  be  furnished  of  the  addresses  made  on  that  occa- 
sion, and  my  own  is  given  first  only  because  its  "  official  " 
character  renders  this  the  decorous  order. 

ADDRESS. 

Before  we  can  at  all  estimate  the  significance,  to  the  Temperance 
Cause,  of  her  example  whom  we  are  here  to  honor,  we  must  turn  away 
from  the  victories  already  gained  and  contemplate  the  mountains  of 
difficulty  that  loom  up  ahead  of  our  advancing  hosts.  For  there  are 
three  mighty  realms  of  influence,  which  the  Temperance  Reform,  based 
as  it  is  on  science,  experience,  and  the  golden  rule,  has  hardly  yet 
invaded.  The  world  of  the  fine  arts,  of  romance,  and  of  fashion  still 
sneer  at  our  total  abstinence  "  Daniel  come  to  judgment,"' and  deny 
him  a  place  in  their  stately  halls  and  at  their  festal  boards.  From  the 
days  of  Homer  and  Virgil  to  those  of  Tennyson  and  Longfellow,  the 
poets  have  been  singing,  in  tuneful  cadences,  the  praise  of  wine. 


266  GENIUS   MUST   BE   OUR   ALLY. 

From  Praxiteles  to  Powers,  the  sculptors  have  delighted  to  idealize 
the  coarse  features  of  Bacchus,  and  those  types  of  female  beauty 
which  correlate  with  his.  From  the  antique  frescoes  of  Pompeii, 
through  gorgeous  pictures  of  the  Italian,  Dutch,  French,  and  Spanish 
schools,  down  to  .those  of  Meissonier  and  Bougereau,  the  choicest 
pigments  of  the  painter  have  been  lavished  to  furnish  forth  convivial 
feasts,  and  throw  a  halo  around  the  orgies  of  the  satyr  and  the  merry- 
making of  the  priest. 

Music,  too,  has  always  been  the  alluring  Circe  of  the  wine  cup, 
whose  captivating  charm  in  classic  days  lent  a  fascination  not  its  own 
to  the  triumphal  procession  of  staggering  bacchanals,  and  drinking 
songs  are  to-day  the  favorites  of  those  college  glee  clubs,  successors  to 
the  antique  choruses,  which  help  to  demoralize  young  manhood  in 
the  bewildered  years  of  the  second  and  third  decades.  But  what 
shall  be  said  of  the  wizard  pen  of  the  romancer,  with  its  boundless 
sweep  through  time  and  space?  Alas,  with  what  borrowed  livery  of  the 
imagination  has  it  not  disguised  the  dangers  of  the  moderate  drinker, 
and  bedecked  the  brutal  pleasures  of  the  debauchee !  Heroes  have  been 
men  mighty  to  drink  wine,  and  heroines  have  found  their  prototype 
in  Hebe,  cup-bearer  to  the  gods.  From  the  sensuous  pages  of  the 
Greek  romancers,  through  mediaeval  tale  and  legend,  the  reeling  pages 
of  Fielding,  the  chivalric  pageantry  of  Scott,  the  splendid  society  drama 
of  Thackeray,  and  the  matchless  character  panoramas  of  Dickens, 
down  to  our  own  society  novelists;  in  all  the  witching  volumes  over 
which  the  beaming  eyes  of  youth  have  lingered,  the  high  lights 
of  convivial  enjoyment  have  been  brought  out  in  most  vivid  word 
painting,  and  its  black  shadows  as  studiously  concealed.  Now,  be  it 
remembered,  that  the  poet,  the  artist,  and  the  novelist,  mighty  inter  - 
.preters  of  nature  and  the  soul,  will  always  maintain  their  empire  over 
the  human  heart  so  long  as  it  is  a  willing  captive  to  the  love  of 
beauty,  and  the  beauty  of  love.  So  that  until  we  win  an  assured 
place  for  the  Temperance  Reform  in  these  supremely  influential 
realms  of  thought  and  expression,  our  success  cannot  be  considered 
permanent.  Until  Genius,  with  her  starry  eyes,  shall  be  gently 
persuaded  to  lay  her  choicest  trophies  at  the  feet  of  Temperance, 
there  will  remain  for  us  much  territory  to  be  possessed.  But  be 
it  ours  to  form  a  solemn  covenant  and  one  never  to  be  broken, 
with  the  high  priests  of  the  aesthetic  and  emotional,  so  that  the 
most  romantic  Reform  in  Christendom,  the  most  poetic,  ideal,  and 
generous  shall  be  fitly  celebrated  by  sculptor's  chisel,  artist's  brush, 
and  novelist's  enchanting  pen.  The  beautiful  portrait  soon  to  he 
displayed,  painted  by  the  noblest  master  of  his  art  in  all  the  land,  is 
the  avant-couricr  of  many  a  trophy  which  our  cause  is  yet  to  win. 

But  the  question  will  be  asked,  How  is  this  reciprocity  to  be 


MRS.    GRUNDY    MUST   BE   WON.  267 

achieved?  The  answer  is  nol  far  to  seek.  One  other  question  yields 
it:  What  is  thai  other  realm,  even  more  potent  in  its  influence  than 

that  of  the  fine  arts  or  the  romancer?  Who  build  the  libraries,  the 
picture  galleries,  the  academies  of  music?  Who  have  the  leisure  and 
resources  to  cultivate  that  line  discrimination  which  alone  satisfies  she 
exigent  demands  of  the  artistic  temperament?  Who  but  that  class, 
small,  yet  most  potent,  which  by  wealth,  position,  culture — one  or  all 
of  these  —  is  called  the  "fashionable  class,"  because  its  example 
becomes  the  law  of  the  social  world?  That  which  is  fashioned  is  shaped 
or  moulded,  and  the  shaping,  moulding  power  of  the  fashionable 
class  has  abundant  illustration  in  this  audience  and  everywhere.  A 
queen  wore  high-heeled  shoes  to  conceal  the  shortness  of  her  stature, 
when  lo,  for  women  tall  and  short  there  went  forth  a  dispensation  of 
high  heels.  A  prince  had  a  wry  neck  and  pul  on  standing  collars, 
when  behold,  standing  collars  became  the  rule  for  all  men  every- 
where. A  lady  of  the  court  decided  that  the  abnormal  frontal  con- 
figuration of  her  cerebrum  would  be  best  concealed  by  bangs,  and 
you,  young  ladies,  know  how  that  "bang "  has  reverberated  throughout 
Christendom  ! 

Now,  key  to  concert  pitch  the  significance  of  facts  like  these;  lift  it 
above  the  paltry,  evanescent  fashion  of  an  hour  to  the  level  of  a 
fashion  having  such  moral  significance  as  sets  the  joy-bells  ringing  in 
the  hearts  of  hopeless  mothers  and  unhappy  wives.  Think  what  is 
meant  to  that  total  abstinence  cause,  wdiich  seeks  God's  glory 
through  man's  conformity  to  the  indwelling  lawr  of  a  clear  brain  and 
steady  hand,  when  the  first  lady  of  the  Republic,  instead  of  cherishing 
intoxicating  liquors  in  their  immemorial  place  of  honor  as  the  emblem 
of  hospitality  and  kindness  and  good-will,  banished  them  from  cellar, 
side-board,  and  table,  as  the  enemies  of  her  home  and  of  the  guests  to 
whom  she  would  do  honor! 

"From  the  days  of  Alexander  the  Drunk  to  the  present,  wine  has 
freely  flowed  in  the  houses  inhabited  by  the  world's  rulers.  Lucy 
Webb  Hayes  has  stopped  that  flow  in  one."  The  keynote  of  social 
observances  is  set  high  up  in  the  octave  of  society.  "Where  Mc- 
Gregor sits  is  head  of  the  table."  The  first  question  in  fashionable 
life  is  not  "What  ought  I  to  do  ?"  but,  "What  will  Mrs.  Grundy 
say  about  it  ?"  "It  is  not  for  kings,  O  Lemuel,  it  is  not  for  kings 
to  drink  wine,"  had  been  for  ages  the  reproving  voice  of  inspira- 
tion, and  those  to  whom  it  spoke  had  turned  a  deaf  ear  to  its 
counsel  and  squandered  their  priceless  opportunities  for  good,  so  that 
it  was  left  for  h  Christian  Queen  of  American  Society  to  be  the  first 
who  should  not  only  hear  but  heed  this  voice  of  God. 

What  arithmetic  can  calculate  the  sum  total  of  homes  restored, 
hopes  brightened,  temptations  routed,  brains  clear,  that  would  have 


2G8  THE    TWO    BRTDGES. 

been  clouded,  eyes  bright  that  would  have  been  blood-shot  or  tear- 
stained,  but  for  this  one  woman's  brave,  thoughtful,  loving  deed  !  It 
has  been  like  a  beam  in  darkness,  a  torch  held  up  in  the  gloom,  "  a  light 
in  the  window  for  thee,  brother,"  a  beacon  flaming  grandly  out  on 
the  most  dangerous  headland  of  the  Republic's  coast,  and  it  shall 
grow  and  gather  light  and  mount  up  to  the  zenith  like  another  sun, 
shedding  its  genial  rays  into  the  darkest  heart  and  most  desolate 
home.  It  is  for  this  we  honor,  and  shall  always  love  her,  the  gentle 
lady  of  the  White  House,  who  deserves  the  grateful  homage  of  this 
Nation  more  than  many  a  hero  in  whose  honor  statues  have  been 
carved,  odes  written,  and  paens  sung.  It  is  for  this  that  many  loving 
hands  have  wrought  in  the  Testimonial  Commission,  and  millions  of 
loving  hearts  will  perpetually  enshrine  her  memory.  What  shall  be 
the  decision  of  our  new  President  and  his  wife  we  cannot  tell,  but  we 
can  wait  and  pray.  By  nature,  he  belongs  to  the  people  of  church  and 
home  and  philanthropic  guild;  we  know  he  has  a  great,  kind  heart, 
and  his  gentle  wife  has  sent  us,  on  this  happy  evening,  these  beautiful 
flowers,  in  token  of  her  interest  and  good  will.  God  bless  and  guide 
them  both! 

The  chief  aim  of  our  temperance  workers  in  this  day,  is  to  cause  an 
arrest  of  thought  concerning  the  reasonableness  of  total  abstinence,  in 
the  minds  of  the  intelligent  and  well  disposed.  There  are  many  ways 
of  doing  this,  but  none,  perhaps,  more  effective  in  our  practical  age 
than  the  argument  from  experience  and  observation.  The  guest  at  a 
dinner  whence  the  hostess  had  banished  wine  was  met  by  logic  of  this 
sort,  when  he  petulantly  murmured  in  the  ear  of  his  next  neighbor, 
"  At  this  rate  it  won't  be  long  till  these  fanatics  will  announce  that  we 
must  dispense  with  mustard  on  our  roast  beef."  Whereupon  the 
answer  was:  "  If  taking  too  much  mustard  on  roast  beef  had  saddled 
this  country  with  taxes,  disrupted  its  homes,  dishonored  its  manhood, 
agonized  its  women  and  children,  emptied  its  churches,  and  crowded 
its  jails  and  poor-houses  to  overflowing,  I  think  I  would  be  willing  to 
take  my  roast  beef  without  the  mustard  to  the  end  of  time. "  Analo- 
gous to  this  line  of  thought  is  that  which  seven  years  of  honest  hard 
work  have  impressed  upon  the  temperance  women  of  America. 
Going  out  with  the  Gospel  life- boat,  these  Grace  Darlings  of  Christ's 
Church  have  rescued  the  wrecks  of  manhood  just  as  they  were  sink- 
ing beneath  the  seething  flood  of  intemperance ;  but  faster  than  they 
could  pull  these  out  of  the  swift  tide  others  came  floating  down,  until 
at  last  the  women  resolved  to  go  higher  up  stream  seeking  the  cause 
of  this  awful  waste  of  human  life,  when,  behold,  they  found  two 
bridges  upon  which  endless  processions  of  people  were  crossing.  One 
was  of  solid  masonry,  so  strong  that  the  heaviest  railroad  train  or  a 
caravan  of  elephants  could  hardly  cause  a  vibration  of  its  mighty 


"the  royal  line."  269 

arches,  which  rested  on  the  massive  piers  of  science,  and  the  golden 
rule.  Across  the  entrance  was  carved  this  motto,  Abstain  from  fleshly 
lusts  which  war  against  tlie  soul.  Behold  the  healthful  happy  throng 
upon  the  grand  teetotal  bridge!  Remember  they  are  at  a  premium 
with  life  insurance  companies,  and  in  time  of  pestilence  they  are  of 
all  classes  most  likely  to  escape;  remember  too,  that  from  their  ranks 
the  successful  arctic  and  tropical  explorers  have  been  taken,  also  the 
champion  athletes  of  every  kind.  Watch  where  they  move,  the  early 
pioneers,  Billy  J.  Clark  and  Lebbeus  Armstrong,  the  doctor  of  medi- 
cine and  t  lie  doctor  of  divinity  arm  in  arm.  See  Lyman  Beecher  and 
Justin  Edwards,  side  by  side ;  Pierpont  the  poet  and  Delevan  the  man 
of  wealth;  gentle  Father  Matthew  and  his  army  of  followers,  John 
Hawkins  and  his  Baltimore  comrades,  with  the  Washingtonians 
behind  them,  Sons  of  Temperance  and  Good  Templars,  with  their 
brotherly  mottoes  and  bright  regalia;  the  Catholic  Total  Abstinence 
Society;  Neal  Dow,  and  John  B.  GougTi,  the  first  saying  "total  absti- 
nence for  the  individual  and  total  prohibition  for  the  State,"  the  other 
ruefully  declaring,  "  I  could  no  more  drink  moderately  than  you  could 
fire  off  a  gun  moderately."  Look  where  fall  into  line  Francis  Mur- 
phy, with  "  malice  toward  none,  and  charity  for  all,"  his  blue  ribbon 
army  following,  and  Dr.  Reynolds,  Knight  of  the  Red  Ribbon,  with 
the  manhood  of  Michigan  behind  him,  "Daring  to  do  right,"  See 
the  long  procession  of  the  W.  C.  T.  U.  with  the  badge  of  white  and  its 
favorite  motto,  "For  God  and  home  and  native  land."  Proud  are  all 
these  to  serve  as  guard  of  honor  to  Lucy  Webb  Hayes,  who  moves  for- 
ward with  the  step  of  a  queen,  saying,  ' '  Why  should  not  America  set  its 
own  fashions  and  develop  its  own  individuality  ?  Why  should 
Europe  furnish  our  social  precedents  ?  They  have  standing  armies ; 
we  do  not  imitate  them;  they  have  crowns,  we  do  not  wear  them!  " 

"  Now  I  beheld  with  eyes  serene 

The  very  pulse  of  the  machine! 
A  being  breathing  thoughtful  breath, 

A  traveler  between  life  or  death, 
A  perfect  woman  nobly  planned 

To  warn,  to  comfort  and  command, 
A  creature  not  too  bright  or  good, 

For  human  nature's  daily  food, 
And  yet  a  spirit,  still  and  bright, 

With  something  of  an  angel's  light." 

But  look  again,  the  Church  moves  forward;  the  Bishops  of  York, 
Exeter,  and  Gloucester,  Canon  Farrar  and  Canon  Wilberforce,  side 
by  side  with  five  thousand  of  the  leading  clergy  of  the  Church  of 
England,  true  to  the  glorious  motto  of  "  Noblesse  oblige." 


270  "  MODERATION    BRIDGE." 

Here  follows  the  Methodist  Church,  -with  Bishop  Simpson  at  its 
head,  the  Society  of  Friends,  Spurgeon  and  Moody,  Theodore  Cuyler, 
and  William  E.  Dodge,  Edward  Everett  Hale  and  Dr.  Miner,  with  the 
flower  of  all  the  clergy  from  both  sides  of  the  sea.  And  next  march 
those  noble  leaders  in  the  State,  who,  amid  the  jeers  and  cavils  of  the 
majority,  have  borne  and  labored  and  had  patience,  Sir  Wilfrid  Law- 
son,  temperance  chief  in  England's  Parliament,  and  our  own  noble 
Senator,  Henry  W.  Blair,  the  Temperance  leader  of  the  American 
Congress,  God  bless  him. 

Behind  them  march  Justice  Strong  and  Secretary  Windom,  Sena- 
tors Dawes  and  Logan,  with  a  goodly  following  in  Congress.  Next 
come  Governor  St.  John,  of  Kansas,  the  hero  of  the  Constitutional 
Amendment,  and  Governor  Plaisted,  of  Maine,  with  the  red  ribbon  in 
his  button-hole ;  then  the  Governors  of  Massachusetts  and  of  Georgia, 
with  a  procession  of  their  peers  in  rank,  while  countless  myriads  fol- 
low from  all  classes  of  our  rich  #nd  varied  civilization,  both  North  and 
South,  and  behind  them  all  comes  the  quick  tread  of  childish  feet,  as 
the  Sunday-school  and  Band  of  Hope  send  their  recruits,  carrying  bright 
banners,  on  which  gleam  the  talismanic  words,  Tremble,  King  Alcohol, 
we  shall  grow  up  !  Thank  God  for  the  total  abstinence  bridge,  so  safe 
and  solid,  and  for  those  who  walk  thereon  for  their  own  and  others'  sake ! 

But  stretching  across  the  dark  and  swollen  river  of  intemperance  is 
another  bridge,  rocking  and  rickety,  standing  on  the  outworn  piles  of 
custom,  precedent,  and  self-indulgence,  with  "Moderation"  carved 
upon  its   entrance,  and  about  half-way   across,    one  long,    swaying 
narrow  plank,  where,   with  great  circumspection,  and  a  very  level 
head,  some  balance  themselves  successfully,  as  did  Blondin  at  Niagara. 
Great  and  motley  is  the  throng  that  sets  out  upon  this  bridge,  unmind- 
ful of  warning  voices  in  the  air  calling,  Be  not  deceived,  God  is  not 
mocked,  whatsoever  a  man  soweth,  that  shall  he  also  reap!     Wine  is  a 
mocker !    At  the  last  it  biteth  like  a  serpent  and  stingeth  like  an  adder. 
The  ignorant,  the  sensual,  and  base  are  here,  with  the  trade-mark  of 
the  drink  demon  burnt  into  their  cheeks;  the  young  and  rash  are  here, 
and,  strange  to  say,  in  the  great  army  march  thousands  of  the  gifted 
and  the  good,  whose  eyes  are  holden  by  the  tight  cords  of  antiquated 
but  relentless  social  usage.     Ministers  march  here  with  Bible  under 
arm,  ear-marked  with  the  proof -text  of  their  special  pleading,  and 
unmindful  of  the  spirit  of  His  philosophy  and  life,  who  to  a  benighted 
age  declared,  "  I  have  many  things  to  say,  but  ye  cannot  bear  them 
now."    Many  walk  carefully  the  narrow  plank,  and  with  a  fortunate 
heredity,  and  an  exceptionally  balanced  organization,  cross  in  safety 
and  beckon  to  the  deluded  throng  behind  them,  who  sway  to  right 
and  left,  and  tumble  headlong  into  the  surging  flood.     Men  of  most 
brain  grow  dizzy  first,  because  strong  drink  darts  to  the  brain  as  a 
panther  leaps  upon  a  deer.     Hence,  when  men  boast  of  how  much 


ILLUSTRIOUS    VICTIMS.  271 

liquor  they  can  drink  without  being  overcome,  they  unwittingly 
reveal  their  close  relationship  to  evolutionary  ancestors!  Listen  to 
Byron's  dirge,  one  of  the  most  illustrious  of  the  brilliant  geniuses  who 
have  fallen  from  Moderation  Bridge: 

"My  days  are  in  the  yellow  leaf, 
The  flower  and  fruit  of  love  are  gone, 
The  worm,  the  canker,  and  the  grief 
Are  mine  alone." 

Listen  to  Robert  Burns : 

"  Then  gently  scan  your  brother  man, 
Still  gentler  sister  woman; 
Though  they  may  gang  a  kennin'  wrang, 
To  step  aside  is  human," 
And  then  he  steps  aside,  to  rise  no  more. 
Listen  to  Edgar  Poe,  crying  out  in  his  remorse: 

"  Take  thy  beak  from  out  my  heart, 
And  thy  form  from  off  my  door!" 
Quoth  the  raven — "  Nevermore!" 

Listen  to  the  tortured  moan  of  Charles  Lamb,  of  Richard  Brinsley 
Sheridan,  of  "Webster,  of  Tom  Marshall,  of  poor  Dick  Yates,  and  the 
pitiful  procession  of  poets,  wits,  and  orators  who  have  made  the 
awful  plunge  from  Dr.  Crosby's  bridge.  Remember  that  the  tendency 
of  yesterday  becomes  the  habit  of  to-day  and  the  bondage  of  to-mor- 
row. Remember  the  testimony  of  that  officer  of  justice,  who  said:  "I 
never  yet  in  my  lifetime  of  experience  sent  a  total  abstainer  to  the 
poor-house  or  the  jail."  Remember,  all  who  have  fallen  into  the  dark 
river  of  intemperance  have  fallen  from  Moderation  Bridge,  none  from 
the  other.  Remember,  if  there  were  no  drunkard  on  earth  to-day  and 
moderate  drinking  should  continue,  there  would  be  plenty  of  them 
to-morrow.  Look  once  more  at  the  procession  headed  by  half  a  mil- 
lion drunkards  dropping  into  the  tide,  a  million  moderate  drinkers, 
two  millions  of  occasional,  fashionable  drinkers,  and  behind  them  all 
the  boys  and  young  men  of  our  land — and  then,  as  you  shall  face  the 
record  in  eternity,  I  call  on  you  to  choose  on  which  bridge  you  will 
cross,  as  a  brother  of  humanity,  a  patriot,  a  Christian! " 

To  Dr.  Merrick  the  thought  of  this  work,  now  ap- 
proaching its  culmination,  was  first  given,  and  his  was 
the  pleasant  office  of  displaying  to  the  eager  throng  the 
artist's  work.     He  spoke  as  follows  : 

dr.  merrick's  address. 
It  is  the  declaration  of  Him  whose  every  utterance  is  truth,  and 
whose  are  the  kingdoms  of  this  world,  that  "righteousness  exalteth  a 
nation,  but  >in  is  a  reproach  to  any  people;"  that  "  it  is  not  for  kings 
to  drink  wine,  nor  princes  strong  drink,  lest  they  drink,  and  forget 
the  law,  and  pervert  judgment."  The  same  high  authority  declares 
11 


272  REV.    DR.    MERRICK  S    ADDRESS. 

drunkenness  to  be  a  sin,  and  because  it  is  a  sin,  and  the  destruction  of  all 
man's  highest  interests,  pronounces  a  solemn  woe  upon  him  who  gives 
his  neighbor  drink. 

Drunkenness,  though  confined  to  no  age  or  people,  is  eminently 
the  reproach  of  our  modern  civilization.  The  evil  is  wide-spread  and 
deep-rooted.  It  is  the  vice  of  no  particular  class.  It  is  found  in  the 
palace  of  royalty,  as  well  as  in  the  hovel  of  the  peasant ;  in  halls  of 
legislation  and  seats  of  learning,  as  well  as  in  the  marts  of  trade  and 
the  guilds  of  industry.  It  pervades  every  department  of  society.  Cul- 
ture, social  standing,  and  political  position  furnishing  but  slight  power 
to  resist  its  solicitations,  while  the  wreck  and  ruin  which  follow  in  its 
path  defy  description.  The  very  earth  groans  under  the  tread  of  this 
monster  vice.  That  it  is  destructive  of  individual  welfare,  of  domes- 
tic peace  and  social  order;  that  it  is  the  most  prolific  source  of  pauper- 
ism and  crime;  that  it  demands  an  enormous  waste  of  the  public 
resources,  and  heavily  burdens  the  people  with  needless  taxation, 
thus  retarding  human  progress  and  greatly  depressing  the  standard  of 
civilization,  is  unquestionable. 

Modern  science  in  unveiling  this  mystery  of  iniquity,  shows  these 
results  of  the  use  of  intoxicating  beverages  to  be  inevitable.  She  not 
only  confirms  the  teaching  of  Revelation,  that  "wine  is  a  mocker,  and 
strong  drink  raging,"  but  explains  that  from  the  action  of  alcohol 
upon  the  human  organism,  it  must  be  so.  It  follows  from  a  law  as 
inexorable  as  fate.  How  to  check,  and  finally  to  eradicate  this  great 
evil,  is  becoming  one  of  the  vital  questions  of  the  age;  one  worthy 
the  serious  attention  of  statesmen,  as  well  as  of  philanthropists. 

Though  not  my  purpose  now  to  attempt  a  portrayal  of  the  evils  of 
intemperance,  or  to  discuss  methods  of  reform,  I  may  be  allowed  to 
say  that  the  vice  is  many-sided,  and  that  one  of  its  most  salient  points 
is  social  custom.  The  social  glass  is  undoubtedly  the  most  frequent 
initial  step  to  drunkenness.  Plato  recognizes  the  fact.  Lord  Brougham 
quotes  his  remarks  approvingly,  and  finds  their  illustration  in  English 
society.  John  Bright,  for  this  reason,  urges  the  higher  classes  to 
banish  the  intoxicating  cup  from  their  tables.  Luther  styled  this  cus- 
tom the  "sauf  teufel"  of  Germany.  Bismarck  has  taken  up  the 
watchword,  and  is  sounding  it  through  the  Fatherland.  Lead- 
ing statesmen  of  France,  as  Guizot,  Thiers,  and  Jules  Simon,  with 
many  others,  have  not  only  seen  and  lamented  the  evil  of  social 
drinking,  but  have  set  the  example  of  abstinence. 

Undoubtedly,  whatever  is  done  to  render  unfashionable  the  wine 
cup  at  social  gatherings,  tends  greatly  to  diminish  the  amount  of 
drunkenness.  Many  appreciating  this  fact,  have  ceased  to  treat  their 
guests  to  intoxicating  beverages.  But  no  other  instance  of  this  has 
occurred  so  marked,  and  influential  for  good,  as  that  of  her,  who  for 
the  past  four  years  has  been  the  honored  mistress  of  the  White  House. 


LETTERS.  273 

The  moral  courage,  the  exquisite  tact,  the  inimitable  grace  with  which 
this  change  was  effected,  command  our  highest  admiration.  "While 
cheerfully  recognizing,  and  heartily  commending  what  others  have 
done  in  encouragement  of  this  most  desirable  reform,  we  must  be 
allowed  to  say,  in  the  words  of  the  ancient  prophetess,  "Many 
daughters  have  done  virtuously,  but  thou  excellest  them  all." 

Appreciating  its  moral  grandeur,  and  recognizing  the  beneficial 
results  that  have  followed,  and  which  must  continue  to  follow  this 
act,  the  friends  of  temperance  and  good  order  throughout  the  country, 
irrespective  of  party  affiliations,  have  caused  to  be  executed  a  memo- 
rial painting  as  their  testimonial  to  the  noble  example  thus  furnished 
in  the  exclusion  of  intoxicating  drinks  from  the  table  of  the  Executive 
Mansion  for  the  past  four  years. 

I  esteem  it  a  high  honor  to  be  permitted,  in  this  distinguished 
presence,  to  unveil  a  portrait  of  her  whom  the  people  delight  thus  to 
honor — late  the  mistress  of  the  Presidential  Mansion — Mrs.  Lucy 
Hayes.     Eccam! 

With  his  closing  words  Dr.  Merrick  drew  aside  the 
screen  and  gave  the  lovely  picture  to  the  view  of  an 
admiring  audience,  which  testified  its  pleasure  by  con- 
tinued applause.  Both  eye  and  ear  were  charmed  ;  for  to 
afford  opportunity  to  enjoy  the  sight,  music  filled  the 
interval.  Mrs.  Woodbridge's  name,  as  President  of  Ohio 
W.  C.  T.  U.,  was  next  on  the  programme,  and  although 
not  fully  recovered  from  recent  illness,  she  had  come  to 
Washington  to  fill  her  appointment,  but  her  suffering 
returned  with  such  intensity  that  she  was  obliged  to  leave 
the  platform,  to  the  very  great  disappointment  of  her  many 
friends. 

LETTERS. 

Mrs.  Alford,  Corresponding  Secretary  of  the  Committee, 
read  extracts  from  the  large  number  of  letters  received, 
expressive  of  full  endorsement  of  the  movement,  and  of 
regret  at  inability  to  be  present  at  this  time  so  fraught 
with  interest.  Rev.  Dr.  Cuyler,  Felix  R.  Brunot,  Mrs.  E. 
J.  Thompson,  Mrs.  Elizabeth  Thompson,  Neal  Dow,  Dr. 
Holland,  John  G.  Whittier,  General  Hancock,  Mrs.  E.  G. 
Hibben,  President  Woolsey,  Mrs.  Livermore,  Gov.  Little- 


274  MRS.    FOSTER,   OF   IOWA. 

field,  Mrs.  Dr.  McCabe,  Mr.  Huntington,  the  artist,  and 
Mrs.  M.  A.  Marshall,  sent  messages  of  regret. 

Bishop  Jaggar  of  the  Episcopal,  and  Bishop  Simpson 
of  the  M.  E.  Church,  Hon.  Wm.  E.  Dodge,  and  many 
others  had  already  written,  expressing  entire  sympathy 
and  hearty  unity  with  the  movement. 

Mrs.  Fanny  Barnes,  of  New  York,  now  spoke  a  few 
graceful  and  forcible  words  in  behalf  of  the  young  ladies 
of  the  country,  after  which  Mrs.  Judith  Ellen  Foster  was 

introduced. 

mrs.  Foster's  address. 

In  no  way  can  we  estimate  more  clearly  the  civilization  of  any  age 
or  time  than  in  the  study  of  the  laws  of  that  age,  or  time,  or  people, 
for  law  is  the  crystallization  of  ideas,  and  the  embodiment  of  senti- 
ment. Through  the  whole  Justinian  code,  in  the  Magna  Charta,  and 
bill  of  rights  in  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  in  the  Constitution 
of  the  United  States,  in  the  constitutions  and  statutes  of  the  various 
States,  in  the  ordinances  of  our  cities,  in  the  petty  regulations  of  our 
school  districts  do  we  see  this  illustrated.  It  is  so  under  despotism. 
Law  is  the  crystallization  of  the  despot's  thought  or  will.  It  is  so 
under  all  forms  of  aristocracy.  Law  there  is  the  embodiment  of  the 
sentiment  of  a  few  or  part  of  the  people.  Particularly  true  is  this  of 
our  American  civilization,  of  our  age  and  time,  for  here  every  man 
makes  his  direct  impress  upon  the  law.  I  wish  every  woman  did. 
Then  do  you  ask,  dear  friends,  why  I  am  here  to  speak  of  the  depart- 
ment of  temperance  work  that  I  represent — the  legislative  ?  Because 
I  know  that  any  example  like  this  will  help  to  give  us  righteous  law. 
Because  I  know  that  when  the  women  of  America,  and  the  men  of 
America  shall  think  and  feel  as  this  noble  woman. thought  and  felt, 
the  laws  on  our  statute  books  will  be  a  terror  to  evil  doers  and  praise 
to  them  that  do  well ;  and  thus,  dear  friends,  representing  as  I  clo  the 
department  of  legislation  of  the  Woman's  National  Christian  Temper- 
ance Union,  I  rejoice  to-night  to  know  that  sometime  the  will  of  that 
brain  shall  be  crystallized  into  law;  and  thus  I  appeal  to  you,  dear, 
good  women,  if  you  honor  her  and  her  example,  make  it  yours;  men, 
if  you  honor  her  example,  make  it  yours,  and  then  by  and  by  it  shall 
be  the  voice  of  the  law.  We  have  said  much  of  woman's  work,  but, 
gentlemen,  our  interests  and  yours  are  one;  what  helps  you  helps 
us,  and  what  helps  us  helps  you.  I  remember,  as  I  stand  here  to- 
night, that  it  was  the  hand  of  a  man  that  painted  this  beautiful 
picture.     But  I  remember  also  that  a  day  or  two  ago  I  stood  in  the 


A    PLEA    FOR   BETTER    LAW.  275 

studio  of  a  lady  of  our  city,  and  I  beheld  a  woman*  painting  the 
glorious  picture  of  a  glorious  man — General  Thomas,  the  hero  of 
many  a  battle.  I  said :  '  That  is  all  right ;  you  paint  us  and  we  will 
paint  you.' 

Dear  friends,  I  come  from  the  West,  where  the  Mississippi  rolls 
down  to  the  Gulf,  and  as  I  look  over  this  audience,  I  see  men  from 
my  own  State;  see  others  from  brave,  grand  Kansas,  that  not  only 
helped  to  free  the  slaves,  but  has  been  the  first  in  the  sisterhood  of 
States  to  put  a  protest  against  the  rum  traffic  into  its  organic  law. 

There  are  men  here,  too,  whose  homes  are  where  the  Golden  Gate 
opens  upon  the  beautiful  Pacific.  If  I  were  to  bring  a  garland 
to-night  from  the  homes  of  these,  it  would  be  of  grain,  such  as  is 
grown  upon  our  prairies  that  roll  and  roll  and  laugh  out  loud  in 
streams  of  joy,  so  glad  they  are  the  soil  is  free — of  flowers,  also,  that 
grew  upon  our  prairies,  not  so  delicate,  perhaps,  as  those  greenhouse 
tints,  but  of  richer  hues  and  deeper  green,  and  I  should  have  it  tied 
by  a  ribbon  of  gold  and  silver  taken  from  our  mountains,  wherein  is 
hid  the  wealth  of  nations — and  then,  having  laid  it  before  this  queen, 
I  would  pray  that  dews  distilled  from  our  rivers  might  fall  softly 
upon  it  and  keep  it  ever  fresh. 

I  cannot  do  the  Avork  which  comes  to  me  to-night,  unless  I  give  you 
one  last  appeal.  A  great  English  statesman  has  said:  "It  is  the 
business  of  civil  law  to  make  it  hard  to  do  wrong  and  easy  to  do 
right."  The  woman  we  are  here  to  honor  has  made  it  easy  to  do  right 
and  hard  to  do  wrong;  and  thus  in  her  own  dear  self  she  has  accom- 
plished that  which  is  the  end  and  aim  of  all  legislation,  is  it  not? 
But,  dear  friends,  we  want  every  one  of  you  to  put  his  sentiment 
where  it  shall  be  as  wide  as  the  possible  limit  of  his  influence.  Men, 
we  come  to  you  to-night  as  women,  and  we  ask  of  you  legislation  con- 
cerning this  terrible  traffic  that  is  the  enemy  of  us  all.  We  want  you 
to  put  away  the  liquor  traffic  by  law — we  cannot  do  that;  we  can 
reign  in  the  parlor;  we  can  reign  in  the  home,  but  the  parlor  and  the 
home  are  set  over  against  the  saloon;  we  want  you  to  put  away  the 
saloon ;  we  want  you  to  be  as  brave  in  your  work  as  she  has  been  in  hers ; 
we  know  this  means  a  good  deal  for  some  of  you ;  you  will  excuse 
me  if  I  say  to  you  that  in  my  acquaintance  with  men  that  are  assembled 
together  to  make  the  laws,  a  great  many  who  seemed  ready  to  do 
great  things  somehow  lacked  the  courage  to  do  so.  When  I  am  about 
to  talk  to  an  audience  in  Massachusetts,  I  speak  about  the  Legislature 
of  New  York.  In  New  York  I  speak  about  the  Legislature  of  Mas- 
sachusetts. But  here  I  am  in  Washington.  Who  shall  I  talk  about  ? 
You  have  come  from  everywhere.  Can  I  talk  about  the  Legislature 
of  Iowa?  I  would  not,  if  I  could,  slander  my  own  State.  I  have 
met  in  the  Legislature  of  Iowa  three  classes  of  men.     The  first  great, 

*Miss  Ransom. 


27ti  "THE    UNIVERSAL    JOINT." 

grand  men — men  who  have  clear  intellectual  convictions;  men  who 
grasp  the  situation  and  take  it  in,  who  have  conscience  behind  their 
intellects  to  press  them  to  do  a  thing  if  they  see  it  is  right  to  be  done. 
Magnificent  men  they  are;  as  Holland  has  said:  "Men  whom  the 
lusts  of  office  could  not  kill,  whom  the  spoils  of  office  could  not  buy; 
nun  who  had  influence  and  a  will;  men  who  had  honor  and  who 
would  not  lie;  men  who  could  stand  and  face  a  demagogue  and  damn 
his  treacherous  villainies  without  winking."  But  of  this  class  there 
arc  not  enough  to  carry  any  measure. 

There  is  another  class  of  men — clean,  well  shaven,  wearing  good 
clothes,  and  very  courteous  in  manner.  They  smiled,  they  spoke 
kindly,  and  took  our  hands  in  friendly  greeting  when  we  pleaded  for 
total  abstinence  and  its  blessings  and  righteous  laws.  They  looked 
kindly  and  said:  "Why,  dear  women,  you're  all  right;  of  course  you 
are."  So  we  left  them,  thinking  we  had  their  votes;  but  we  didn't 
always  have  them.  We  noticed,  when  counting  over  the  list  after- 
wards, that  some  were  absent  and  some  voted  against  us.  I  think  I 
have  found  the  solution  of  this  trouble.  I  have  noticed  that  those 
men  were  constructed  in  such  a  manner  that  they  could  not  help  it. 
They  swayed  to  and  fro  like  a  pendulum,  first  this  way  and  then  the 
of  her,  and  it  happened  that  they  swayed  the  other  way  when  the  vote 
was  counted.  This  class  illustrates  that  principle  in  mechanics  known 
as  the  universal  joint.  I  will  tell  you,  ladies,  what  that  is.  It  is  a 
ball  in  a  socket,  shaped  so  as  to  go  every  way;  sometimes  so,  some- 
times so.  It  don't  make  any  difference ;  it  will  go  either  way.  It  is 
very  useful,  you  see — it  prevents  friction  in  a  great  many  places. 
Now  these  men  must  have,  somewhere  about  the  base  of  their  spine, 
a  universal  joint.  As  I  said  before,  I  don't  think  these  gentlemen  are 
to  blame.  It  is  the  way  they  are  put  up.  So  they  go  and  go  in  every 
direction. 

But  we  must  have  the  votes  of  these  men,  because  they  count  so 
many.  We  must  have  them  on  our  side,  if  we  are  to  have  righteous 
law.  How  shall  we  get  these  votes?  When  mechanics  do  not  want 
the  universal  joint  to  turn  they  set  it,  and  then  it  stays.  If  Ave  can 
set  these  men  it  is  all  right — if  you  can,  somehow  or  other,  prop  them 
up  so  that  they  will  stay  up,  they  are  all  right.  How  shall  they  be 
sel  ?  Reinforce  such  men  with  their  poor,  weak  will — reinforce  them 
by  such  an  example  as  this  (pointing  to  the  picture).  Women,  set 
them  right  by  your  example  in  the  parlor;  men,  set  them  right  by 
your  example  in  the  store,  in  the  shop,  in  the  political  caucus,  in  the 
bank,  on  the  farm — everywhere  set  them,  and  they  will  do  very  well. 

Then,  again,  there  is  another  class  of  men.  They  are  few — thank 
God,  very  few.  They  are  bad  men — men  who  drink  licpzor,  and  love 
it;  men  who  "grovel  in  the  soil  and  feed  on  garbage."    What  shall 


mi:-,  garpibld's  flowers.  277 

we  do  with  such  men?  They  don't  know  anything  ahout  the  prayers 
of  women.  We  can  only  hold  over  them  a  club.  What  shall  the 
club  be?  Your  will,  men,  backed  by  your  vote.  Let  such  men  know 
they  cannot  occupy  positions  of  honor,  positions  of  trust,  unless  they 
are  right  on  moral  questions.  Gentlemen,  by  the  teachings  of  our 
Christianity,  by  the  sweet  influences  that  come  from  the  home,  by 
our  prayers — by  all  these  things  we  may  succor  and  encourage  and 
hold  up  the  weak.  But  you  must  hold  over  the  others  the  club  of 
jour  vote. 

And  now,  dear  friends,  I  leave  my  message  with  you.  I  am  con- 
strained to  say  this.  I  know  I  am  standing  to-day  in  the  nation's 
capital.  I  know  I  am  surrounded  by  the  representatives  of  the  great- 
est and  most  glorious  nation  that  the  sun  shines  on,  and  I  love  its  flag 
as  I  do  nothing  else  save  the  cross  of  Christ ;  but  I  do  want  to  say  to 
you,  old  men,  whose  heads  are  white — you  who  occupy  positions  of 
trust  in  the  gift  of  the  people — some  of  you  drink  liquor;  the  people 
onlv  tolerate  you  because  of  your  years  of  service.  Young  men,  don't 
you  expect  anything  from  the  American  people  unless  you  are  sober! 
When  these  men,  whose  heads  are  white,  have  passed  away,  there  will 
be  a  better  sentiment  than  there  is  now.  When  the  tempter  smiles 
upon  you  as  you  move  among  your  accaiaintances  in  society,  see  that 
you  yield  not.  We  are  sorry  for  them.  But  you,  young  men,  know 
better.  By  and  by,  if  women  (did  I  say  iff  I  am  speaking  prophecy 
to-night) — wTien  we  occupy  positions  in  the  Government — when  we 
women  shall  not  only  plead,  but  hold  the  club — when  we  can  do  that 
there  will  be  no  hope  for  you  if  you  use  intoxicating  drink.  You  had 
better  begin  to  make  your  record  now.  It  won't  do  to  wait  until  that 
time ;  then  it  will  be  too  late. 

THE   FLOWERS   FROM   MRS.    GARFIELD. 

To  Rev.  Mr.  Power,  the  pastor  of  President  Garfield's 
Church,  was  committed  a  beautiful  part  of  the  even- 
ing's service — the  presentation  of  Mrs.  Garfield's  basket 
of  flowers  to  the  president  of  the  Commission.  His  few 
sentences  were  especially  felicitous,  and  my  off-hand  reply 
was  so  well  received  by  the  audience  that  its  closing 
sentences  are  given  *  :  "As  we  have  prayed  for  Lucy,  so 
we  will  pray  for  Lucretia :  God  bless  James  A.  Garfield 
and  Lucretia,  his  wife  !  " 

*The  next  day  I  was  invited  to  lunch  at  the  White  House,  and 
President  Garfield  told  me  those  words  "had  won  his  heart.'' 


278  president  garfield's  notes. 

With  the  benediction  by  Rev.  Mr.  Power,  the  evening 
services  closed  upon  a  delighted  audience.  But  all  this 
was  only  preliminary  to 

THE   CEREMONY   AT   THE   EXECUTIVE   MANSION. 

Previous  to  the  inauguration  I  had  written  President 

Garfield,  asking   him   to   name   a   elate  when   he   could 

receive   the   portrait.      The   following   is   the  General's 

reply : 

Mentor,  Ohio,  February  21,  1881. 
Dear  Miss  Willard: — Yours  of  the  16th  inst.  came  duly  to  band. 
I  shall  be  glad  to  consult  your  convenience  in  the  matter  to  which 
your  letter  refers,  but  it  is  impossible  for  me  at  this  date  to  fix  a  time 
for  receiving  you  and  your  friends.  It  will  be  better  for  you  to  send 
word  to  me — say  on  the  5th  of  March,  when  a  definite  arrangement 

can  be  made.  Very  truly  yours, 

J.  A.  Garfield. 

After  the  arrival  of  the  Commission  in  "Washington, 
the  following  correspondence  between  the  Commission  and 
the  President  took  place : 

Washington,  D.  C,  March  5,  1881. 

To  the  President  : — The  Executive  Committee  of  the  Commission 
on  a  Temperance  Testimonial,  from  the  people  to  Mrs.  President 
Hayes,  desires  to  present  her  portrait,  painted  by  Huntington  for  the 
Commission,  to  you  personally  as  the  nation's  representative,  at  the 
earliest  practicable  date.  We  are  instructed  to  request  that  this  testi- 
monial may  be  placed  in  the  east  room  of  the  White  House,  where  it 
will  be  at  all  times  easy  of  access  to  the  public. 

The  Commission  awaits  the  pleasure  of  the  President. 

Frances  E.  Willard,  President,  C.  Cornelia  Alford,  Cor.  Sec'y, 
Frederick  Merrick,  Esther  Pugh,  Treasurer, 

Mary  A.  Woodbridge,  M.  B.  O'Donnell. 

Executive  Mansion,        ) 
Washington,  March  5,  1881.  f 

Dear  Madam:— The  President  directs  me  to  acknowledge  the 
receipt,  through  the  kindness  of  Mr.  Jones,  of  your  note  of  this  morning, 
and  also  desires  me  to  ascertain  the  probable  number  of  persons  who  will 
attend  at  the  presentation.  It  is  very  desirable,  if  not  imperatively 
necessary,  that  the  number  be  as  small  as  possible. 

Upon  the  receipt  of  this  information  the  President  will  send  you 


THE    BAST    BOOM.  '279 

the  day  and  hour  when  it  will  be  most  practicable  for  him  to  receive 

the  portrait. 

Awaiting  your  answer,  I  am, 

Very  respectfully, 

J.  Stanley  Brown,  Sec. 

/.  Stank ij  Brown,  Private  Secretary  to  President: 

Dear  Sir:— Please  convey  to  the  President  our  thanks  for  his 
prompt  reply  and  kind  consideration.  We  will  not  invite  more  than 
twenty-live  or  thirty,  and  fewer  if  he  expresses  that  preference.  As 
the  President  is  busy,  we  venture  to  suggest  Tuesday,  March  8th,  at 
10  a.  is..,  if  agreeable  to  him,  as  the  portrait  will  be  at  Lincoln  Hall 
until  after  the  public  exercises  on  Monday  evening,  the  7th. 

Respectfully, 
Frances  E.  Willard,  President  of  Commission. 

Executive  Mansion,  ) 

Washington,  March  5,  1881.  J 

Miss  Willard: — The  President  desires  me  to  inform  you  that  the 
time  (March  8th)  named  in  your  note  of  this  morning,  is  entirely  sat- 
isfactory to  him. 

Very  respectfully, 

J.  Stanley  Brown. 
In  accordance  with  this  arrangement,  the  portrait  was 
conveyed  to  the  Executive  Mansion,  Tuesday  morning, 
March  8th,  and  hung  on  the  east  wall  of  the  east  room, 
near  the  picture  of  Martha  Washington.  At  ten  o'clock 
the  members  of  the  Commission,  with  a  few  invited 
guests — among  them  Mrs.  Senator  Blair  and  Miss  C.  L. 
Ransom,  the  artist,  and  intimate  friend  of  Mrs.  Garfield 
— Mrs.  Chase,  of  Pennsylvania ;  Mrs.  Foster,  Mrs.  Barnes, 
Mrs.  Merrick,  Rev.  Dr.  Lanahan  and  wife,  several  members 
of  Washington  W.  C.  T.  U.,  and  a  few  other  ladies  and 
gentlemen — assembled  in  front  of  the  picture,  and  soon 
President  and  Mrs.  Garfield,  accompanied  by  Private  Sec- 
retary Brown  and  Mrs.  Gen.  Sheldon,  entered  the  room. 
As  the  President  and  party  advanced,  Miss  Ransom  led 
me  forward  and  introduced  me  to  the  President  (with 
whom  I  had  already  a  pleasant  acquaintance).  Both 
then  advanced  until  we  stood  directly  before  the  picture, 
and  with  much  inward  trepidation  1  addressed  my  noble 
friend  as  follows : 


280  THE    BROTHERHOOD    OF    MAN. 

Mr.  President — We  are  here  to  present  to  the  nation,  through  its 
honored  chief,  a  temperance  testimonial  from  the  men  and  women, 
high  and  low,  rich  and  poor,  fortunate  and  unfortunate,  who  have 
loved  her  whose  pictured  presence  is  now  before  us,  because  they 
felt  that  she  was   the  defender  of  their  homes  ;  because  amid  the 
fogs  of  a  time-worn  social  conservatism  she  held  steadily  aloft  the 
torch  of  an  example  safe,  gentle,  and  benignant.     We  stand  in  the 
presence  of  one  whose  utterances  and  character  are  known  to  all  the 
nation.     I  do  not  forget  how  in  the  tumult  and  strife  of  a  great  polit- 
ical convention  James  A.  Garfield  of  Ohio  said,  "  Remember  it  is  in 
the  home  where  the  sovereign  citizen  has  his  wife  and  children  gath- 
ered around  him  that  God  prepares  the  verdict  of  the  American  peo- 
ple."   I  do  not  forget  that  he  reminded  the  women  of  Cleveland  when 
they  came  to  Mentor  with  their  congratulations,  that  in  every  army 
there  are  three  classes:  the  scouts,  who  go  ahead;  the  soldiers  who  do 
the  fighting;  and,   within  all,   the  home  guards,  and  that  he  said, 
"  God  bless  the  women,  they  are  America's  home  guards."    I  do  not 
forget  that  in  his  inaugural  he  reminded  us  by  the  sacred  words,  "A 
little  child  shall  lead  them,"  that  the  tenderness  and  sweetness  of 
childhood  had  a  place  in  his  thought  in  that  supreme  hour;  and  so 
standing  here  I  feel  very  much  at  home,  as  do  we  all,  in  this  kind  and 
brotherly  presence.     Mr.  President,  whom  do  we  represent  ?    We  are 
a  part  of  your  constituency,  and  we  represent  a  great  deal  of  earnest 
hard  work  done  in  the  name  of  God,  and  home,  and  native  land.    We 
represent  a  volume  of  prayer  rising  like  incense  to  God  from  the  very 
first  hour  that  we  knew  the  burden  which  had  been  laid  upon  you ; 
and  always  have  we  sought  a  blessing  also  from  on  high  upon  her 
who  is  the  mother  of  your  sons  and  of  your  sweet  young  daughter, 
and  upon  her  who  bore  and  cherished  you.     We  represent  that  num- 
berless throng  who  have  a  right  to  be  heard  in  this  presence  because  of 
all  that  they  have  suffered.     We  cannot  speak  to  you  of  the  graves  of 
the  living  and  the  graves  of  the  dead  that  have  strewn  our  pathway, 
because  of  the  cup  that  tempts  only  to  destroy.     Our  principles  and 
our  endeavors  are  the  inevitable  outcome  of  the  philosophy  of  our 
century.     Well  is  it  understood  by  the  scholar  President !    For  one 
dominant  purpose  runs  through  all  our  modern  civilization.     Science 
spells  it  out  slowly  from  the  writing  in  the  rocks,  from  scattered 
monuments  and  fossil  languages  and  pronounces  it  the  Unity  of  Man. 
Statesmanship  discovers  that  the  woes  of  one  nation  are  the  misfortune 
of  all,  and  so  frames  treaties  and  forms  alliances  of  mutual  defence 
and  service  in  the  name  of  the  Solidarity  of  Man,  but  Christianity  per- 
ceiving the  higher  significance  of  all  these  studies  and  their  practical 
results,  prays,  pleads,  and  labors  for  the  Universal  Brotherhood  of  Man. 
Among  the  applications  of  this  great  underlying  principle  none  is 


president  garfielu's  reply.  281 

gaining  ground  more  rapidly  than  the  practice  of  a  free  and  voluntary 
total  abstinence,  for  our  own  and  others  sake,  from  those  alcoholic 
drinks  which  have  alienated  more  hearts,  dissolved  more  homes,  pois- 
oned the  air  with  more  cruel  words,  and  moved  kind  hands  to  more 
hateful  deeds  than  any  other  agency  outside  of  Pandemonium. 
"  Where  is  thy  brother  ?  "  is  to-day  the  central  question  in  that  larger 
home  which  we  call  social  life,  answered  by  a  thousand  kindly  chari- 
ties, but  most  significantly  answered,  as  we  believe,  by  the  great 
army  of  total  abstainers,  which  in  the  present  military  exigency  is 
calling  all  up  and  down  the  land  for  volunteers.  We  are  here  to 
leave  in  your  care  the  picture  which  symbolizes  so  much  of  hope  and 
glad  expectation  for  the  future.  We  are  here  because  it  is  women 
who  have  given  the  choicest  hostages  to  fortune.  Beyond  the  arms 
that  shield  them  long  the  boys  go  forth  and  come  not  back  again,  and 
the  mother  heart  prays  that  society  may  hedge  them  round  about 
with  loving  safeguards  and  restraints;  and  fervent  is  our  hope  that  a 
steady  signal  light  may  shine  forth  for  them  from  the  conspicuous 
windows  of  the  Presidential  Mansion.  As  members  of  the  Church  of 
Christ,  we  appeal  to  you  to  help  hasten  the  time  when  all  men's  weal 
shall  be  each  rnhn's  care,  and  we  pray  God's  blessing  upon  you,  upon 
your  wife,  and  upon  those  that  cluster  around  you  in  your  home. 
Well  has  the  laureate  said  concerning  the  "  good  time  coming,"  which 
the  triumph  of  the  temperance  cause  shall  help  us  to  usher  in: 

"Ring  out  old  shapes  of  foul  disease, 
Ring  out  the  narrowing  lust  of  gold, 
Ring  out  the  thousand  wars  of  old. 
Ring  in  the  thousand  years  of  peace. 

"  Ring  out  a  slowly  dying  cause, 
And  ancient  forms  of  party  strife, 
Ring  in  the  nobler  modes  of  strife, 
With  sweeter  manners,  purer  laws. 

"  Ring  in  the  valiant  man  and  free, 
The  larger  heart,  the  kindlier  hand, 
Ring  out  the  darkness  of  the  land, 
Ring  in  the  Christ  that  is  to  be." 

THE   PRESIDENT'S  REPLY. 

Miss  Willard,  ladies  and  gentlemen:  The  very  appropriate  gift  to 
the  Executive  Mansion  which  you  have  brought,  the  portrait  of  its 
late  mistress,  I  gladly  accept.  It  shall  take  its  pfece  beside  the  por- 
traits of  the  other  noble  women  who  have  graced  this  house.  She  is 
my  friend.  Nothing  I  can  say  will  be  equal  to  my  high  appreciation 
of  the  character  of  the  lady  whose  picture  is  now  added  to  the  treas- 
ures of  this  place.  She  is  noble;  the  friend  of  all  good  people.  Her 
portrait  will  take,  and  I  hope  will  always  hold  in  this  house  an  hon- 


282  MRS.    WOODBRIDGE   PRESENTS   A   RESOLUTION. 

orcd  place.  I  have  observed  the  significance  which  you  have  given 
to  this  portrait  from  the  standpoint  you  occupy,  and  in  connection 
with  that  work  in  which  you  are  engaged.  First,  I  approve  most 
heartily  what  you  have  said  in  reference  to  the  freedom  of  individual 
judgment  and  action  symbolized  in  this  portrait.  There  are  several 
sovereignties  in  this  country.  First,  a  sovereignty  of  the  American 
people  ;  then  the  sovereignty  nearest  to  us  all — that  sovereignty  of  the 
family,  the  absolute  right  of  each  family  to  control  its  affairs  in 
accordance  with  the  conscience  and  convictions  of  duty  of  the  heads 
of  the  family.  In  the  picture  before  us  that  is  bravely  symbolized. 
I  have  no  doubt  the  American  people  will  always  tenderly  regard  this 
household  sovereignty,  and  however  households  may  differ  in  their 
views  and  convictions,  I  believe  that  those  differences  will  be 
respected.  Each  household,  by  following  its  own  convictions  and 
holding  itself  responsible  to  God,  will,  I  think,  be  respected  by  the 
American  people.  What  you  have  said  concerning  these  evils  of 
intemperance  meets  my  most  hearty  concurrence.  I  have  been  in  my 
way,  and  in  accordance  with  my  own  convictions,  an  earnest  advo- 
cate of  temperance,  not  in  so  narrow  a  sense  as  some,  but  in  a  very 
definite  and  practical  sense.  These  convictions  are  deep,  and  will  be 
maintained.  Whether  I  shall  be  able  to  meet  the  views  of  all  people 
in  regard  to  all  the  phases  of  that  question  remains  to  be  seen.  But 
I  shall  do  what  I  can  to  abate  the  great  evils  of  intemperance.  I 
shall  be  glad  to  have  this  picture  upon  these  walls,  and  shall  be  glad 
to  remember  jour  kind  expressions  to  me  and  my  family,  and  in  your 
efforts  to  better  mankind  by  your  work  I  hope  you  will  be  guided  by 
wisdom,  and  that  you  will  achieve  a  worthy  success.  Thanking  you 
for  this  meeting  and  greeting,  I  bid  you  good  morning. 

The  party  were  then  introduced  to  President  and  Mrs. 
Garfield,  and  spent  a  few  moments  in  pleasant  conversa- 
tion. Mrs.  Woodbridge, on  behalf  of  the  National  W.  C. 
T.  U.,  presented  the  resolution  adopted  at  the  Boston 
Convention,  reading  as  follows  : 

"  We  heartily  endorse  the  movement,  and  make  it  our  own,  which 
proposes  a  suitable  testimonial  to  Mrs.  Lucy  W.  Hayes,  the  honored 
wife  of  our  Chief  Magistrate,  whose  brave  stand  for  total  abstinence 
at  the  White  House  has  been  so  successful,  and  who  has  thus  pre- 
sented a  noble  example  for  imitation;  and  we  recommend  that  the 
Woman's  National  Christian  Temperance  Union,  before  adjourning, 
appoint  a  suitable  committee  of  ladies  to  visit  her  successor  as  soon  as 
possible  after  the  Presidential  election,  to  urge,  with  gentle  and  cour- 
teous entreaty,  that  the  good  work  begun  by  Mrs.  Hayes  may  not  be 
interrupted  on  her  retirement  to  private  life. " 


THROUGH  THE  EYE  TO  THE  HEART.        283 

The  company  went  through  the  conservatory,  and  Miss 
Ransom,  ever  watchful  to  promote  the  pleasure  of  all, 
arranged  for  a  reception  by  the  elder  Mrs.  Garfield,  and 
viwh  one  enjoyed  a  handshake  and  friendly  word  with 
"  Grandma." 

PRATER  MEETING. 

[Miss  Pugh  gives  the  following  account.] 
"  It  was  announced  that  the  committee  and  friends  of  the  Commis- 
sion would  adjourn  to  "Temple  Cafe"  for  a  prayer-meeting.  And 
here,  in  a  few  moments,  about  fifty  gathered,  to  commit  the  words 
and  work  of  the  day  to  God,  and  to  ask  his  blessing  upon  our 
President  and  his  household.  The  meeting  was  a  pentecostal  season, 
wherein  we  sat  together  in  heavenly  places  in  Christ  Jesus,  great  lib- 
city  being  given  in  prayer  and  praise,  the  Holy  Spirit  brooding  over 
all,  melting  all  into  unity  before  God.  It  seemed  almost  impossible 
to  close  this  precious  season,  and  when  we  finally  parted  it  was  with 
hearts  tilled  with  thanksgiving  for  the  presence  and  power  under 
which  we  had  met.'' 

THROUGH  THE  EYE  TO  THE  HEART. 

The  saloon-keepers  understand  this  new  proverb, — 
"  Through  the  eye  to  the  heart."  "  King  Gambrinus," 
in  garb  of  green  and  red  and  purple,  flourishing  aloft  his 
foaming  mug  of  beer,  and  bestriding  a  huge  cask  of  the 
same  refining  beverage,  sits  above  the  doors  of  all  lead- 
ing dram-shops.  In  Kansas,  just  after  the  prohibition 
law  went  into  force,  I  saw  a  picture  displayed  jn  the 
empty  windows  of  the  closed  saloons,  which  was  artfully 
contrived  to  arouse  the  dormant  appetite  of  every  drink- 
ing man  who  looked  sorrowfully  toward  the  scene  of  his 
former  exploits.  A  generous  glass  of  ale,  brimming 
with  beaded  foam,  was  done  in  colors  carefully  laid  on, 
and  this  tempting  but  now  impossible  draught  was  sur- 
rounded by  separate  hands,  all  the  fingers  of  each  one 
being  represented  in  most  ardent,  expectant  attitudes 
of  grasping,  clutching,  and  clawing  all  in" vain,  to  reach 
the  coveted  but  unattainable  glass.  The  tobacconist,  with 
similar  wit  and  shrewdness,  attracts  attention  to  his 
demoralizing  wares  by  placing  before  his  door  a  statu- 


284  TEMPERANCE    AND    THE    FINE    ARTS. 

esquc  Indian  maiden,  who  offers  a  bunch  of  artificial 
cigars,  while  to  get  the  real  ones,  of  which  she  sets  the  fool- 
ish young  man  thinking,  he  must  go  inside.  But  our 
temperance  reformers  have  been  inexplicably  slow  to 
appreciate,  and  still  slower  to  apply  the  principle  illus- 
trated on  every  hand  by  their  opponents.  Patriotism  is 
silently  taught  in  every  homo  by  pictured  faces  of  our 
nation's  heroes  looking  down  upon  us  from  the  walls. 
Religion  has  its  noble  object-lessons  in  engravings  from 
great  masters,  but  temperance,  pure  and  lovely  handmaid 
of  them  both,  is  left  without  a  witness  even  in  the  dwell- 
ings of  our  standard-bearers.  Not  a  dozen  times  in  my 
nine  years'  temperance  sojourn  in  almost  forty  States, 
have  I  found  a  temperance  picture  even  in  a  temperance 
home.  Dear  friends,  can  we  not  have  an  "  arousement " 
on  this  subject  ?  Do  we  not  need  an  "  arrest  of  thought" 
here,  as  really  as  those  for  whom  we  labor  need  that 
same  "  arrest "  on  the  total-abstinence  question  ?  Are 
we  not  strangely  blind  to  the  silent,  sure,  and  permeating 
influence  of  that  which  passes  "  through  tbe  eye  to  the 
heart "  ?  Nay,  more,  as  women,  should  we  not  manifest 
more  strongly  our  appreciation  of  the  first  national  en- 
graving, secured  through  woman's  influence,  of  a  woman's 
face,  <si  which  the  annals  of  our  history  make  mention  ? 
And  such  a  woman !  So  strong,  yet  gentle;  so  true  to 
her  possibilities  of  help  to  ignorant,  tempted,  and  sorrow- 
ful humanity. 

What  has  not  been  wrought  of  pure  and  healthful  influ- 
ence for  the  total-abstinence  movement  by  thirty  years  of 
"  The  Old  Oaken  Bucket "  engraving  on  the  walls  of  a 
thousand  homes  ?  And  what  may  we  not  expect  of  benefi- 
cent sentiment  to  be  educated  and  enforced  by  "  line  upon 
line  and  precept  upon  precept,"  not  in  abstract  formula, 
but  incarnated  in  a  presence  so  noble,  and  enforced  by  a 
character  so  earnest  and  attractive  as  that  of  Lucy  Webb 


barrie's  photogravure.  285 

Hayes  ?  "  Biography  is  history  teaching  by  example," 
and  that  lesson  can  in  no  other  way  be  made  so  vivid  as 
by  keeping  that  example  before  the  radiant  eyes  of  youth 
in  home  and  school-room  and  public  institution.  Right 
well  have  many  of  the  temperance  societies  wrought  for 
the  Hayes  portrait  testimonial.  Grateful  and  glad  ought 
we  to  be  that  in  the  White  House  hangs  a  frame  of 
majestic  proportions,  the  finest  ever  executed  in  America, 
earve'd  by  women's  skilled  fingers  in  the  Cincinnati  Acad- 
emy of  Design,  and  paid  for  by  the  gifts  of  women, 
beaded  by  Mrs.  A.  R.  Clark,  of  that  city,  and  that 
inside  this  frame  is  a  noble,  full-length  painting  of 
Mrs.  Hayes,  by  Daniel  Huntington,  the  finest  artist  in 
America.  But  if  this  national  picture  in  its  high  place 
teaches  perpetually  its  glorious  lesson  to  the  traveling 
public,  why  shall  not  Barrie's  beautiful  photo-gravure 
(30  x  20  in  size)  teach  the  same  lesson  to  the  great, 
blessed  democracy  of  those  who  stay  at  home,  especially 
to  our  young  folks  in  their  impressible  and  clear-cut  days  ? 
Should  we  not,  then,  order  the  photo-gravure  as  a  birth- 
day, Christmas  anniversary,  or  every-day  present  for  son, 
daughter,  pastor,  teacher,  physician,  or  representative  in 
Congress,  as  the  case  may  be  ?  Remember,  this  is  no  pri- 
vate speculation,  but  a  national  enterprise,  beginning  and 
ending  with  "  We,  the  people  of  these  United  States,"  (and 
for  this  once  it  means  not  only  men,  but  Ave  women,  too !) 
Our  brothers  have  helped  us, though,  as  they  always  do  and 
always  will  when  we  are  in  dead  earnest.  The  I.  0.  G.  T. 
and  S.  of  T.  have  sent  out  special  circulars  urging  their 
auxiliaries  to  secure  this  work  of  noble  sentiment  as  well 
as  art.  Remember,  too,  that  all  the  money  beyond  actual 
cost  of  the  engraving  will  be  used  to  buy  and  circulate 
temperance  literature,  thus  directly  advancing  our  cause. 


286  "THE   MOST   BRILLIANT   OP   THE   SEASON." 

LUCY   HAYES   TEA-PARTIES. 

This  method  of  blending  social  recreation  with  work 
for  the  cause  is  becoming  so  popular  with  our  girls,  and 
so  many  reports  have  come  to  us  of  successful  enterprises 
of  this  kind,  that  wc  give  a  few  brief  notices.  Such  a 
tea-party  was  held  in  the  town  hall  at  Brattleboro',  Ver- 
mont. A  line  collection  of  antiquities  was  got  together, 
among  them  teaspoons  130  years  old,  and  crockery 
which  once  graced  the  table  of  King  James  of  Scotland, 
supposed  to  be  at  least  300  years  old.  "  Hayes  mottoes,"  in 
red,  white,  and  blue,  ornamented  the  hall.  The  persona- 
tions were  good ;  speeches  and  singing  enlivened  the  occa- 
sion, and  the  receipts  were  most  encouraging. 

Another  Lucy  Hayes  tea-party,  of  which  a  full  account 
has  been  sent  us,  was  held  at  Port  Chester,  N.  Y.,  on 
February  22d. 

Another  of  these  enjoyable  affairs  took  place  at  Green- 
wich, Washington  county,  N.  Y.  The  dresses  were  bright 
and  picturesque  ;  the  supper  —  served  in  old-fashioned 
china,  and  cooked  after  the  manner  of  "  ye  olden  time  " 
was  excellent. 

Still  another  was  given  at  Poughkeepsie,  several  hund- 
red citizens  being  present.  The  exercises  were  much 
the  same  as  usual  in  such  cases.  One  little  girl  recited  a 
poem  from  Our  Union,  and  a  young  lady  personated  its 
editor,  and  sold  many  copies  of  the  "Lucy  Hayes"  num- 
ber.   George  and  Martha  Washington  were  the  life  of  the 


evening. 


THE   MOST   BRILLIANT    OP   THE    SEASON. 

A  "  Lucy  Hayes  Reception "  was  given  by  the  Boston 
Y.  W.  C.  T.  U.,  in  Odd  Fellows  Hall.  About  three  hund- 
red persons  were  present.  The  entertainment  consisted 
of  music,  dramatic  recitations,  and  refreshments.  Many 
of  the  regular  and  honorary  members  of  the  Union  were 
dressed  in  costume,  representing  distinguished  characters 


REMINISCENCES    OF   PRESIDENT   GARFIELD.  287 

of  the  olden  time — General  and  Mrs.  Washington,  Governor 
and  Mrs.  Bradford,  Governor  and  Mrs.  Winthrop,  John 
Alden  and  Priscilla,  Roger  Williams  and  his  wife,  etc.,  etc. 
Mrs.  Hayes  was  personated  hy  a  lady  who  looked  the 
part  to  perfection,  and  aroused  a  suspicion  among  the 
more  unsophisticated  that  the  Union  had  induced  the  real 
Mrs.  Hayes  to  grace  the  reception.  The  costumes  were 
beautiful  and  striking,  and  made  the  hall  look  like  a 
flower  garden.  Pledge  books  were  circulated,  and  an 
opportunity  was  afforded  to  all  to  inscribe  their  names. 
The  Union  secured  a  number  of  new  members,  and  a  sub- 
stantial addition  to  its  treasury.  Part  of  the  proceeds  will 
be  devoted  to  the  Lucy  Hayes  memorial  fund,  and  the 
remainder  to  the  work  of  the  Y.  W.  C.  T.  U. 

IMPRESSIONS   OF   THE   GARFIELDS. 

I  first  met  General  Garfield  in  1876,  when  we  went  to 
Washington  with  the  "  Home  Protection  Petition."  Some 
of  our  committee  had  sent  their  cards  to  him  in  the 
House  of  Representatives,  and  he  came  out  hurriedly  into 
the  ante-room,  evidently  much  preoccupied,  and  while 
they  presented  our  plans  to  him,  I  stood  at  a  little  dis- 
tance "to  take  him  in,"  for  his  name  had  attracted  me 
years  before,  and  I  believed  him  to  be  the  most  complete 
embodiment  of  American  ideas  and  Christian  statesman- 
ship the  country  had  seen  for  many  a  day.  He  remained 
but  a  moment,  listening  gravely  to  what  was  said,  and 
promising  to  give  it  due  consideration.  Pleading  an  im- 
pending vote  in  the  House,  which  he  must  not  miss,  he 
bowed  with  courteous  dignity  and  disappeared.  As  I  photo- 
graphed for  memory's  magic  gallery  that  tall,  well-knit, 
and  robust  form,  soldierly  bearing,  and  strong,  regnant 
countenance,  in  which  "  the  manhood  of  strength  and  gen- 
tleness "  was  mirrored,  I  thought:  This  is  the  victorious* 
Norseman  of  old,  with  his  giant  strength,  his  eyes  blue  as 


288  A    CHANCE    ACQUAINTANCE. 

a  Scandinavian  fiord,  and  complexion  clear  as  the  sky  of 
the  midnight  sun,  but  heart  mellowed  by  the  light  that 
fell  upon  the  hills  of  Galilee. 

In  1878,  taking  the  palace  car  at  Elmira,  New  York, 
one  afternoon,  young  Dr.  Adele  Gleason  bade  me  good-bye', 
and  left  the  train  after  it  had  begun  to  move.  Anxiously 
I  followed  her  to  the  door,  and,  returning  when  she  was 
landed,  saw  a  tall  man  whose  chair  was  just  ahead  of  mine, 
leaning  out  of  the  window,  then  turning  to  ask  me  hur- 
riedly "  if  that  young  lady  was  safe  "  ?  I  did  not  look  up 
so  far  as  his  face,  hence  did  not  recognize  him  ;  but,  reply- 
ing that  she  was,  began  to  write  and  read,  as  is  my  custom, 
in  the  only  study  I  have  known  for  years  —  the  great, 
swift,  roaring  train,  to  whose  rhythm  one's  thoughts  keep 
time.  After  a  while  I  noticed  that  my  little  nugget  of  a 
traveling  bag,  packed  to  suffocation  with  books  and 
papers,  was  out-ranked  by  the  huge  and  handsome  port- 
manteau which  the  tall  man  opened,  and  that  from  under 
his  great,  soft,  felt  hat  he  was  peering  into  the  books, 
magazines,  and  manuscripts  which  formed  a  large  part  of 
his  outfit. 

"  That's  James  A.  Garfield,"  I  said  to  myself  when  I  had 
noted  him  more  carefully,  for  I  had  just  been  reading  his 
great  speech  on  hard  money,  delivered  the  night  before  at 
Rochester.  Busily  he  read  on,  and  I  could  not  help  see- 
ing—  even  if  I  had  wished  to  —  that  the  Princeton  Review 
and  "  Milman's  History  of  the  Jews "  were  among  his 
current  studies.  Later  on,  when  the  New  York  dailies 
reached  us,  he  bought  them  all,  with  that  desire  to 
"hear  both  sides"  which  has  given  such  splendid  equi- 
poise to  his  character,  and,  turning  to  me,  he  frankly 
said  he  "  heard  the  young  lady  ask  me  when  I  was  to 
speak  next,  wondered  whether  I  was  as  tired  of  it  as  his 
campaign  was  tiring  him" — at  the  same  time  offering 
me  the  Tribune.     I  replied  that  "  I  never  made  acquaint- 


A    GOOD    TALKER.  289 

ances  upon  the  cars,  but  believed  this  was  General  Gar- 
field, of  whom  my  friend,  Mrs.  Woodbridge,  of  Ohio,  had 
often  spoken."'  "  The  same,"  he  said ;  whereupon  J  told 
my  name,  address,  anil  employment.  We  shook  hands 
cordially,  ami  from  then  until  I  got  off  at  Paterson,  N.  J., 
we  talked  on.  I  think  the  General's  conversation  that 
day  would  fill  a  good-sized  book,  and  1  have  often  charac- 
terized the  range  of  subjects  by  saying  that  "  he  treated 
of  everything  from  protoplasm  to  Omnipotence."  So 
rapid  was  his  thought,  so  clear  and  forcible  the  stream 
of  his  utterance,  so  considerate  and  kindly  his  criticism, 
so  varied  and  available  his  information,  that  I  learned 
more  about  him,  and  profited  more  largely  by  his  knowl- 
edge than  it  would  be  in  the  power  of  most  persons  I  have 
met  to  reveal  and  teach  in  half  a  lifetime.  He  talked  of 
books,  science,  and  invention,  —  of  great  characters,  and 
foreign  travel. 

He  told  me  of  his  life  —  nearly  everything  that  I  have 
since  seen  in  books ;  of  his  religious  history  ;  that  in  his 
church  all  men  are  preachers,  and  the  Bible  the  only 
creed  ;  of  his  school  and  college  days,  and  of  Mark  Hop- 
kins, and  Miss  Almeda  Booth,  the  former,  president  of 
Williams  College  when  he  went  there,  and  the  latter  pre- 
ceptress at  Hiram,  and  a  woman,  (much  older  than  himself 
and  long  since  dead,)  for  whom  he  seems  to  have  felt  the 
deepest  reverence.  He  talked  of  the  Credit  Mobilier,  and 
other  legislative  scandals.  After  telling  how  deeply  he 
was  wounded  by  seeing  his  name,  for  the  first  time  after 
so  many  years  of  public  life,  associated  with  imputations 
of  dishonor,  lie  felt  that  God  said  to  him  in  the  depths  of 
his  soul :  "  You  know  that  you  meant  to  do  right,  and  I 
know  it  —  that  is  enough."  Aftej  which  he  never  worried 
about  the  matter  any  more.  Among  other  things,  we 
talked  of  temperance,  and  he  said  strong  drink  was  never 
a  snare  to  him — he  had  better  uses  for  his  faculties  and 


290  MRS.    LUCRETIA    GARFIELD. 

for  his  time.  "Now  and  then,  on  a  public  occasion,  or 
the  drinking  of  a  toast,"  he  said  he  tasted  wine.  I  begged 
him  to  'think  how  significant  the  gesture  of  his  hand 
would  be  (and,  to  my  mind,  more  eloquent  than  any  ges- 
ture employed  in  a  great  speech,)  as  it  waived  aside  the 
cup  that  tempts  so  many  to  their  ruin.  He  listened 
kindly,  but  was  not  convinced.  He  talked  of  the  South, 
and  its  great  men,  its  generous  sympathies  and  bright 
outlook  for  the  future,  and  most  of  all  he  dwelt  upon 
Lamar,  of  Mississippi,  with  a  brother's  fondness.  As  I 
went  my  way,  the  thought  that  stayed  longest  with  me 
concerning  this  big-hearted,  big-brained  man's  career,  was 
this :  He  is  foreordained  to  be  our  President !  I  never 
saw  him  again  until  he  walked  sturdily  into  the  Senate 
chamber  on  Inauguration  day,  and  as  soon  as  he  was 
seated  on  President  Hayes's  right  hand,  looked  smilingly 
up  to  the  gallery  where  his  mother,  his  wife  and  children 
sat,  and  bowed  to  them.  An  hour  later,  he  stood  on  the 
steps  of  the  Capitol  and  pronounced  his  inaugural  with  a 
forcefulness  of  utterance  which  carried  the  words  to  my 
ear  far  away,  and  at  the  close,  amid  the  hurrahs  of  the 
acres  of  human  beings  around  him,  stooped  to  kiss  his 
noble  mother  and  faithful  wife.  On  the  next  Friday  the 
President  received  our  memorial  portrait  of  Mrs.  Hayes, 
and  on  the  next  a  note  from  Mrs.  Garfield  invited  Miss 
Ransom,  the  artist,  to  bring  me  to  the  White  House  to 
lunch. 

I  hardly  know  how  to  do  justice  to  the  impression  made 
upon  my  mind  by  Mrs.  Garfield.  "  Pure,  womanly,"  ex- 
presses it,  if  one  had  been  so  fortunately  trained  that  tbe 
"sweet  reasonableness"  of  a  strong  mind,  tempered  by 
the  "  gentleness  of  Chrj^t,"  go  into  the  definition  of  that 
royal  word,  "  womanly."  Looking  across  the  wide  lunch 
table  at  his  wife,  the  President  said  to  me  :  "  I  can  hardly 
believe,  as  1  see  her  sitting  there,  that  she  who  has  taught 


A  PROPHETIC  UTTERANCE.  291 

Latin  to  my  boys,  was  learning  it  of  me  a  score, of  years 
ago";  and  again:  "Don't  blame  the  dear  little  woman 
yonder  if  all  your  hopes  are  not  fulfilled";  and  again, 
when  I  said  we  temperance  women  wished  he  would  read 
Canon  Farrar  and  Dr.  Richardson,  he  replied:  "What- 
ever you  send  me  I  will  carefully  read;  only,  if  you  want 
me  to  be  sure  to  get  it,  mail  it  to  my  wife."  Then,  laugh- 
ingly, he  said :  "  When  I  replied  to  you  ladies,  the  day 
the  Hayes  portrait  came,  you  may  have  deemed  me  unsat- 
isfactory ;  but  I  thought  I  would  rather  take  the  part 
of  '  I-go-not-sir-and-went,'  than  '  I-go-sir-and-went-not '  " ; 
and  he  added, — "  You  will  respect  my  convictions,  I  am 
confident,  whatever  the  result."  I  told  him  we  certainly 
would,  do  so,  but  how  the  gentle  words  of  Mrs.  Garfield 
cheered  me  when  she  said  :  "  I  hope  I  shall  not  disappoint 
your  expectations."  So,  with  thoughtful,  friendly  words 
the  time  sped  on,  and  I  could  but  feel,  looking  upon  the 
delicate,  responsive  face  of  the  wife,  noting  the  noble  son's 
quiet  attention  to  his  mother,  and  the  ay  hole-hearted 
ways  of  Mollie  Garfield  and  the  boys,  that  here,  if  I  had 
ever  seen  one,  was  the  typical  American  home.  How 
little  did  President  Garfield  dream  that  day,  as  he  told 
me  of  his  mother's  anxiety  lest  harm  might  come  to  him, 
and  added  "  I  suppose  a  man  in  my  position  is  an 
attractive  target  to  a  crank,"  that  a  few  weeks  later  the 
whole  nation  would  be  thrilled  by  the  terrible  story  of  a 
snake  in  the  eagle's  nest ! 

SOCIETY   WORK    OF   YOUNG   WOMEN. 

From  the  beginning  of  our  work,  young  women  have 
held  an  honored  place  in  the  W.  C.  T.  U.  It  was  a  dear 
Ohio  girl  who  selected  for  her  mother  the  first  scripture 
ever  read  in  a  saloon,  the  146th  Psalm,  now  historic  in  our 
annals.  In  Cincinnati  was  another,  a  charming  girl,  who 
always  took  the  arm  of  her  grandmother  when  the  long, 


292  "  HONOR   FOR   HONOR."        , 

solemn  procession  marched  from  the  church  to  the  rum- 
shop,  singing-  "  Rock  of  ages,  cleft  for  me,"  and  who,  when 
challenged  by  the  words,  "  I  will  sign  if  you  will,"  uttered 
by  a  drunken  workman  who  owed  the  roof  over  his  head 
to  her  father's  clemency,  put  her  fair  autograph  upon  the 
pledge  she  had  opened  on  a  saloon  table,  wet  with  the 
drippings  of  potations  upon  which  her  visit  had  blessedly 
intruded.  We  also  recall  the  brave  Arkansas  girl  who, 
when  a  saloon-keeper  raised  his  pistol,  and  dared  the 
praying  women's  band  to  cross  his  threshold,  sprang 
lightly  to  his  side,  singing  "  Never  be  afraid  to  work  for 
Jesus,"  and  laid  her  gentle  hand  upon  his  weapon. 

Let  it  be  thoughtfully  remembered  by  young  women, 
and  by  the  mothers  to  whom  they  look  for  counsel,  that 
home,  if  it  is  to  be  the  sacred  shrine  that  we  would  have 
it,  demands  not  only  a  priestess  but  a  jjriest  to  keep  its 
altars  pure  and  bright.  As  Mrs.  Lathrop  often  says 
"  There  must  be  honor  for  honor,  purity  for  purity,  total 
■  abstinence  for  total  abstinence." 

To  all,  with  equal  force,  comes  the  voice  of  God  declar- 
ing that  "  to  be  carnally -minded  is  death,  but  to  be 
spiritually-minded  is  life  and  peace." 

Clearly,  then,  young  women  must  require  of  men  whom 
they  admit  to  their  society  and  to  their  homes,  a  purity 
of  personal  life  such  as  they  have  not  in  the  past  required. 
But,  on  the  other  hand,  it  is  their  duty  to  do  all  in  their 
power  to  make  this  nobler  habit  of  life  less  difficult  of 
attainment  by  offsetting  the  temptations  of  the  saloon  (be  it 
the  grimy  grog-shop,  the  gilded  "  restaurant,"  or  costly  "  bil- 
liard hall  ")  by  the  attractions  of  the  temperance  reading- 
room  and  literary  or  musical  reunion.  Undertakings  of 
this  character  may,  with  propriety,  engage  the  efforts  of 
young  women,  and  have  been  successfully  carried  on  in 
many  places  since  the  great  temperance  awakening. 

In  their  own  social  circle  they  can  do  still  more  by 


MISS  CxORDON's  address.  293 

scattering-  all  about  them  the  light  of  a  pure  example, 
and  of  gently  uttered  argument  in  favor  of  total  abst  i- 
nence  as  the  only  personal  security.  The  autograph 
pledge-book  upon  the  parlor  table  would  be  in  itself  an 
influence  for  good  of  incalculable  value.  It  would  call 
attention  to  the  subject,  occasion  argument,  and  result 
often  in  the  confirmation  of  good  principles  or  the  con- 
viction of  bad  ones. 

Recently  in  Cleveland,  the  work  of  the  Young  Women's 
Christian  Temperance  Unions  was  clearly  outlined  in  the  fol- 
lowing brief  address  by  Miss  Anna  Gordon : 

Our  good  friend  Mrs.  Ingham  has  urged  me  to  take  the  witness 
.stand  to-night  and  testify  to  the  work  that  young  women  are  doing 
in  the  temperance  reform.  It  is  now  more  than  five  years  since  my 
own  heart  was  specially  enlisted  in  this  branch  of  Christian  endeavor, 
and  nothing  has  ever  given  me  so  much  happiness  as  to  see  the  young 
women  of  our  land  rallying  to  the  call  of  the  W.  C.  T.  U.  In  every 
State  of  the  North,  and  in  nearly  all  the  Southern  States,  young 
women  are  organized  in  separate  societies,  have  taken  the  total  absti- 
nence pledge,  donned  the  white  ribbon,  and  dedicated  their  fresh  young 
energies  to  the  cause  of  "  God,  and  home,  and  native  land."  Their 
work  may  be  properly  divided  under  three  heads.  First,  influence  in 
society;  second,  self-education  on  all  questions  pertaining  to  the 
temperance  reform;  and  third,  teaching  the  children.  We  begin  by 
forming  a  society  which  is  really  a  social  club  with  total  abstinence 
as  its  basis.  Young  gentlemen  are  invited  to  join  as  honorary  mem- 
bers. Thus  we  secure  their  names  to  our  pledge  in  a  delicate  way 
which  does  not  offend  their  pride,  and  gradually  they  become  inter- 
ested in  temperance  work  by  association  with  their  young  lady  friends, 
who  are  actively  engaged  in  it. 

I  recently  attended  a  fortnightly  reception  given  by  one  of  the 
young  women's  societies  of  Baltimore.  It  was,  in  fact,  an  evening 
party,  to  which  all  came  in  their  best  attire,  and  there  were  as  many 
young  gentlemen  present  as  ladies.  Upon  a  signal  from  the  presiding 
officer  of  the  evening  (an  honorary  member,  by  the  way),  a  hush  came 
over  the  happy  group,  and  a  significance  was  given  the  entertainment  • 
soon  to  follow,  by  an  impressive  reading  of  the  Scripture  lesson,  begin- 
ning "Put.  on,  therefore,  the  whole  armor  of  God." 

Then  came  the  programme  prepared  for  the  occasion,  consisting  of 
a  well- written  essay,  two  or  three  select  readings,  good  music, 
promenading,  and  refreshments,  the  young  men  taking  an  equal  part 


294  MRS.    BARNES   OF  NEW   YORK. 

in  the  exercises,  and  evincing  just  as  much  interest  as  the  young 
ladies.  The  open  pledge  book  on  the  centre  table  gave  an  oppor- 
tunity for  new  names  to  be  added,  and  who  can  tell  what  a  shelter 
from  temptation  and  safeguard  from  the  formation  of  bad  habits  that 
society  may  prove  to  those  who  are  so  much  more  tempted  than  young 
women  are  by  false  social  usages,  which  this  society  will  help  to 
render  obsolete  ?  Thus  it  will  be  seen  that  the  central  thought  of  our 
work  is  to  add  a  noble  moral  significance  to  social  gatherings  and 
entertainments  of  young  people,  so  that,  as  I  have  heard  many  a 
sweet  girl  say,  "We  may  have  our  pleasant,  social  evenings  all  the 
same,  and  yet  be  doing  good  to  somebody."  Who  can  estimate  how 
much  or  how  far-reaching  is  this  "good  ? "  What  homes  it  brightens 
even  now,  what  mothers'  hearts  it  renders  glad,  what  wayward  lives 
it  helps  to  chasten,  and  in  the  future  what  joy  in  other  homes,  not 
formed  as  yet,  shall  linger  as  its  blessed  sequel  ! 

But  while  the  social  side  of  this  work  is  its  most  important  feature, 

the  Y.  W.  C.  T.  IT.  branches  out  in  varied  forms  of  active  usefulness. 

Its  regular  meetings  are  made  interesting  and  profitable  by  topical 

study  of  scientific  temperance,  by  debates,  and  occasionally  a  literary 

or  musical  programme,  after  business  is  laid  aside. 

Bands  of  Hope  for  children,  and  night  schools  for  boys,  are  often 
conducted  by  our  young  ladies,  and  many  other  lines  of  work,  sug- 
gested by  the  needs  of  different  localities,  are  successfully  pursued. 
I  was  glad  to  see  that  the  Young  Women's  Temperance  League  of 
Cleveland  had  arranged  for  a  special  course  of  lectures  on  the 
chemistry  of  alcohol  and  its  effects,  and  that  they  were  enterprising 
enough  to  have  the  excellent  one  given  recently,  well  reported  for 
the  press.  In  Rochester,  N.  Y. ,  the  young  women  go  to  the  public 
schools,  by  permission  of  the  Board  of  Education,  and  give  lessons  to 
the  children  on  the  scientific  aspects  of  the  temperance  question.  In 
many  cities,  the  kitchen  garden,  so  successful  in  Cleveland,  which 
teaches  the  household  arts  to  girls,  is  a  charming  feature  of  our  work. 
Dear  young  ladies  of  this  audience,  let  me  urge  upon  your  thought 
an  interest  in  this  temperance  work.  It  will  help  to  teach  you,  as  it 
has  helped  to  teach  me,  the  secret  of  a  happy  life. 

If  you  are  in  doubt  as  to  what  you  are  capable  of  doing,  let  me 
leave  with  you  my  favorite  motto:  "  Get  thy  spindle  and  thy  distaff 
ready,  and  God  will  give  thee  flax. " 

MRS.    FRANCES    J.    BARNES, 
National  Superintendent  of  Young  Women's  C.  T.  U. 

There  is  a  lovely  Quaker  home  in  Skaneateles,  N.  Y., 
where  temperance  workers  are  always  welcome.  A  lady 
"  who  has  the  Gospel  in  her  looks "  presides  over  this 


INCIDENTS   OF   CHICAGO    WORK.  295 

"  Weary  Women's  Rest."  "  Saint  Letitia  "  we  call  her, 
as  we  smooth  her  soft,  bright  silver  hair,  and  she  looks 
up  with  deprecation  in  those  kind  eyes ;  for  Quakers 
don't  believe  in  titled  saints,  though  their  "  Society  "  has 
furnished  more  real  ones  than  any  other  of  the  same 
dimensions  since  time  began.  A  well-to-do  merchant,  C. 
W.  Allis  by  name,  is  joint  partner  in  this  establishment, 
and  "  Daughter  Fanny  "  is  the  joy  and  pride  of  both.  It 
is  hard  to  write  with  judicial  calmness  of  a  friend  so  dear. 
She  was  not  known  to  me  until  her  bright  girlhood  and 
school  days  were  over,  and  as  Mrs.  Fanny  J.  Barnes,  the 
wife  of  a  young  lawyer,  she  came  to  Chicago  from  New 
York  in  1875.  I  was  holding  a  meeting  in  the  lecture- 
room  of  the  Clark  Street  Church,  and  had  observed  a 
stylish-looking  young  lady  seated  beside  my  good  Quaker 
friend,  Mrs.  Isabella  Jones.  "  I  wonder  what  she  came 
for,"  was  in  my  mind,  for  temperance  was  not  what  it 
has  since  grown  to  be  in  fashionable  circles.  What  was 
my  delight  when  this  sweet-faced  lady  came  forward  with 
Mrs.  Jones,  and  declared  her  readiness  to  "  do  anything 
she  could  to  help."  So  frankly  was  this  said,  and  so  truly 
his  my  "younger  sister"  (as  I  have  often  called  her) 
lived  up  to  those  words  that,  on  the  instant,  she  grew 
dear  to  me.  In  those  days  of  our  novitiate,  how  pleas- 
antly we  wrought,  "  true  yoke  fellows,"  with  never  a  jar 
or  a  difference  from  then  fill  now.  Fanny — I  must  call 
her  so,  even  if  she  is  a  "  National  Superintendent " — used 
to  come  over  from  her  elegant  home  at  the  Sherman 
House  to  my  dingy  office  in  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.,  and  there 
Ave  planned  our  small  campaigns  ;  but  how  huge  they 
seemed  to  us  then!  We  helped  to  carry  on  that  blessed 
"three-o'clock  gospel  temperance  meeting"  in  Lower 
Farwell  Mall,  where  so  many  men  have  found  Christ 
in  the  eight  years  of  its  steady  work.  We  held  after- 
noon and  evening  meetings  in  church  parlors ;  we 
12 


296  "an  atom  op  temperance  dust." 

spoke  at  the  Newsboys'  Home ;  we  received  temperance 
calls  on  New  Year's  Day;  we  climbed  together  up  the 
stairs  of  printing  offices,  and  swung  aloft  in  the  dizzying 
"elevator"  to  editorial  sanctums  ;  we  went  to  Springfield, 
and  spoke  in  the  stately  Hall  of  Representatives  for 
"  Home  Protection."  Not  for  some  years  did  my  gentle 
friend  differentiate  into  her  chosen  work  for  girls,  by 
which  she  is  now  known  wherever  the  W.  C.  T.  U.  has 
gained  a  foothold.  In  her  New  York  home,  with  such 
grand  friends  as  Mrs.  Margaret  Bottome,  Mrs.  Mary  Lowe 
Dickinson,  and  that  true-hearted  "  Lady  Bountiful,"  Mrs. 
James  Talcott,  Mrs.  Barnes  is  steadily  building  up  the 
different  departments  of  a  model  Y.  W.  C.  T.  U.  Mrs. 
F.  W.  Evans  is  her  Secretary  and  staunch  ally.  There 
is  no  prettier  sight  in  bewildering  New  York  than  the 
charming  home  of  Mrs.  Barnes,  in  whose  manifold  and 
bright  mosaic  her  own  identity  seems  tangled,  where  she 
sits  with  quiet  young  Mrs.  Evans,  "  planning  the  National 
work."  "  The  Boys'  Loyal  Temperance  Legion "  is  a 
great  success,  and  parlors  are  soon  to  be  opened  for  the 
Y.  W.  C.  T.  U.  But  in  that  mighty  Babel  the  laborers 
are  few,  and  I  have  letters  half  droll  and  half  pathetic, 
from  my  gentle  friend.  In  one  of  them  she  said  :  "  Think 
pitifully  of  me  —  prayerfully  too  —  for  in  this  roaring 
Gotham  I  am  the  veriest,  futile  atom  of  temperance  dust." 
Mrs.  Barnes  has  the  choice  endowment  of  a  sunny, 
loving  spirit,  a  versatile  mind,  a  piquant  style,  and  happy 
gifts  of  speech  and  pen.  She  might  be  a  poet  if  she  only 
had  time;  of  this  her  "Easter  Lilies"  is  sufficient  proof. 
At  the  Louisville  National  Convention  (1882)  she  gave 
her  annual  report  in  a  delightful  fashion.  Coining  before 
the  great  audience  with  an  exquisite  basket  of  flowers, 
and  gracefully  "suiting  the  action  to  the  word,"  she  gave 
a  "  floral  report "  of  the  young  women's  work,  represent- 
ing the  different  localities  by  flowers  indigenous  to  them 
or  whose  language  was  appropriate. 


"LITTLE   OPPORTUNE."  299 

From  every  word  and  deed  of  Mrs.  Barnes  shines  forth 
the  gentleness  of  the  true  Christian  lady.  Her  work  as 
an  ambassador  of  Christ  is  but  begun. 

ANNA    A.    GORDON. 

On  a  dim  February  day  in  1877,  Berkeley  Street  Con- 
gregational Church,  Boston,  was  crowded  with  women. 
They  had  come  over  from  the  great  Tabernacle  meeting, 
held  every  forenoon  by  Mr.  Moody,  and  were  now  to  have, 
as  was  the  daily  custom  during  the  three  months  of  that 
marvelous  revival,  a  noon  meeting  of  their  own. 

The  lady  who  was  to  lead  found  herself  in  a  trying 
position,  for  the  organist  was  late.  Turning  to  the 
audience,  she  called  for  a  volunteer  musician.  There 
was  an  ominous  silence — a  craning  of  necks  to  see  if 
anybody  would  come  forward — but  no  response.  The 
dilemma  became  painful,  and  the  request  was  renewed  in 
terms  of  entreaty.  "  Was  this  music-famed  Boston,  and 
yet  not  a  lady — not  a  young  lady — even  would  come  for- 
ward for  His  dear  sake,  in  whose  name  we  were  met,  to 
lead  us  in  a  hymn  of  praise  ?  "  A  moment's  pause  ensued, 
and  then  along  the  aisle,  with  quiet  step,  came  a  slight 
figure  in  the  garb  of  mourning.  A  winsome,  spiritual 
face  smiled  deprecatingly  into  that  of  the  leader,  and  a 
gentle  voice  said  simply:  "I  will  try." 

This  was  sweet  Anna  Gordon's  "first  appearance  on 
any  stage"  but  from  that  day  she  has  been  quietly  going  for- 
ward in  the  work  of  the  W.  C.  T.  U.,  with  whose  varied 
methods  she  is  as  familiar  as  any  person  living,  and  which 
she  has  served  without  money  and  without  official  honors, 
in  a  spirit  so  gentle,  unselfish,  and  meek  as  to  win  for  her 
a  place  in  every  heart. 

It  is  worth  while  to  look  below  the  surface  in  a  life  so 
unique  and  a  character  so  rounded. 

Anna  Adams  Gordon  was  born  in  Boston,  christened 


300  A   PHILANTHROPIC    FAMILY. 

by  Rev.  Nehemiah  Adams,  for  one  of  whose  daughters 
she  was  named,  and  became  a  member  of  the  Congrega- 
tional Church  in  Auburndale,  a  Boston  suburb,  at  the  age 
of  twelve.     A  lovelier  Christian  home  cannot  be  found 
than  that  from  which  she  had  the  rare  fortune  to  derive 
both  "  nature  and  nurture."     Her  father,  James  M.  Gor- 
don, was  for  ten  years  Treasurer  of  the  American  Board 
of  Commissioners  for  Foreign  Missions,  and  among  his 
seven  children  no  one  inherits  so  much  of  his  strong  yet 
strangely  gentle  individuality.    Her  mother  is  the  incarna- 
tion of  unselfish  character.     Both  have  rare  vocal  gifts, 
and  the  morning  hymn   at   family  worship,  led  by  the 
parents,  with  their  four  daughters  and  three  sons  taking 
the  different  parts,  has  lifted  many  a  tired  soul  almost  to 
the  gates  of  paradise.     In  later  years,  after  Anna  became 
my  faithful  friend  and  invaluable  Secretary,  how  many 
times  lias  the  music  at  this  fireside  rested  me  as  neither 
psalm  nor  sermon  could!     For  these  were   Christians, 
every  one,  and  sang,  not  with  the  understanding  only,  but 
the  Spirit.     As  I  went  out  from1  the  sweet  shelter  of  their 
home,  how  often  have  they  chanted,  as  is  their  custom  on 
the    morning   of   a   guest's    departure,  the    121st  psalm 
("  The  Lord  shall  bless  thy  going  out  and  thy  coming  in 
from  this  time  forth,  even  forever  more  ")  !     In  such  an 
atmosphere  was  trained  the  oldest  child,  now  Alice  Gor- 
don Gulick,  the  well-known  missionary  to   Spain,  who, 
equally  with   her   husband,  carries    on   the   church  and 
school  at  San  Sebastian.     In  such  a  home  lived  Mary,  the 
second  daughter  with  her  sweet  gift  of  song,  whose  death, 
two  years  ago,  removed  one  of  the  loveliest  spirits  that 
ever  passed  from  earth  to  heaven.     What  wonder  that  of 
the  five  children  now  living  one  is  in  the  foreign,  and  one 
(Prof.  Henry  Gordon,  of  Trinidad,  Colorado),  in  the  home 
missionary  field,  a  third  (Anna)  in  the  temperance  work, 
while  Miss  Bessie  Gordon— the  peer  of  any  in  beauty  of 


A    GENTLE    HEART.  301 

character — stays  at  home,  that  her  parents  may  not  be 
lonely,  and  is  the  center  of  the  Young  Women's  work  of 
Auburndale,  and  a  second  brother,  amid  the  temptations 
of  a  young  business  man  at  the  South,  holds  firm  to  his 
religious  principles,  of  which  total  abstinence  is  one. 

Mount  Holyoke,  that  glorious  monument  of  glorious 
Mary  Lyon,  was  the  schooling  place  of  these  earnest 
women  workers,  and  carried  forward  the  development 
so  auspiciously  begun  by  their  inheritance  and  home 
environment. 

But  the  depths  of  the  young  soul  whose  history  we 
would  depict  were  never  stirred  until  sorrow  troubled  the 
pool.  She  had  gone  quietly  along  the  pleasant  path  of 
life,  studious  of  books  and  music,  observant  of  the  splen- 
did object  lesson  afforded  by  her  native  city,  thoughtful 
when  the  noble  men  and  women  who  were  so  often  guests 
in  her  home  had  told  of  the  world's  sin  and  sorrow.  She 
was  tender  in  heart,  so  that  she  needed  not  the  lovely 
lesson  of  Cowper's  lines, 

"  Never  to  blend  thy  pleasure  or  thy  pride 
With  sorrow  of  the  meanest  thing  that  feels." 

She  had  a  love  of  nature  so  acute  that  when  a  little 
child  of  three  years  old,  she  was  coming  home  from 
church  in  early  spring,  she  broke  away  from  her  mother's 
guiding  hand  to  run  in  at  an  open  gate  and  kneel  beside 
a  bed  of  violets,  the  first  she  had  ever  seen  in  bloom ; 
while  she  threw  her  little  arms  around  the  wee,  shy 
posies,  and  cried  out,  almost  with  tears,  "  0,  mamma,  I 
didn't  know  that !  " 

She  had  spent  a  year  abroad,  chiefly  in  Spain,  and  would, 
perhaps,  have  been  a  missionary  but  for  the  ii  home  ache  " 
for  her  parents  and  her  native  land.  But  the  eternal  stars 
outshine  only  when  it  is  dark  enough.  Her  blithe  young 
spirit  had  up  to  this  time  dwelt  at  ease.  Rowing  her 
adventurous  boat  along  the  classic  Charles,  or  skating 
merrily  over  its  frozen  surface  ;  the  life  of  sleighing  par- 


802  HOW  life  unfolds! 

ties,  picnics,  and  Christmas  festivities, — no  hand  had  cast 
the  plummet  line  of  a  great  purpose  into  her  deepest 
heart.  Less  than  a  month  before  we  met  in  the  dim 
church  of  Berkeley  street,  Anna  had  seen  the  light  die 
out  forever  from  eyes  she  dearly  loved ;  her  noble  brother 
Arthur,  a  gifted,  heavenly-minded  boy  of  eighteen,  her  life- 
long comrade,  had  suddenly  died.  She  had  never  before 
seen  death,  and  it  was  terrible.  Closing  his  eyes  with 
her  own  firm,  tender  touch,  she  knelt  beside  the  bed,  and 
in  such  heart-break  as  the  soul  knows  but  once,  dedicated 
her  life  to  Christ  in  the  service  of  humanity.  Every- 
thing was  different  after  that.  She  saw  what  life  is  for. 
She  knew  it  could  not  be  to  her  a  summer  holiday.  Timid 
by  nature,  and  conservative  in  training,  her  first  hope  was 
that,  with  her  passionate  love  of  music,  it  might  be  her 
vocation  to  inspire  and  lift  up  human  hearts  through  the 
medium  of  the  organ.  But  there  was  other  work  for  her. 
She  had  never  heard  a  woman  speak  yet  her  prejudices 
were  not  difficult  to  overcome.  Soon  we  were  steadfast 
friends.  She  played  for  me  all  through  the  Boston  meet- 
ings, and  in  Park  Street  church  stood  tremulously  before 
the  audience,  and  for  the  first  time  publicly  witnessed  for 
Christ  in  language. 

One  day  I  placed  in  Anna's  hand  a  bundle  of  letters, 
containing  invitations  for  me  to  speak  through  the  New 
England  States.  "  Please  answer  these,"  I  said,  "  making 
out  a  trip  for  me  at  your  discretion."  This  was  another 
of  the  "  new  departures,"  all  of  which  she  has  taken  so 
quietly.  Ten  days  later  she  brought  me  a  neat  little  book 
with  the  trip  admirably  arranged,  every  train  carefully 
marked,  the  name  of  every  place  of  entertainment  indi- 
cated ;  in  short,  the  whole  trip  so  minutely  planned  that 
I  went  through  it  like  an  express  package  labeled  "  witli 
care."  From  that  time  this  clear-brained,  quick-witted 
girl  has  been  my  secretary,  traveling  with  me  in  nearly 


A    VOCATION'.  303 

every  State  and  Territory  of  the  nation,  an  "organized 
Providence"  superintending  every  detail  of  my  life  and 
work.  But  she  has  been  far  more  than  this.  The  famous 
Home  Protection  campaign  of  Illinois,  by  which  in  nine 
weeks  we  secured  180,000  signatures,  and  festooned  the 
Eall  of  luM  rcsentatives  at  Springfield  with  a  petition  one- 
fifth  of  a  mile  long,  was  more  largely  Anna  Gordon's  work 
than  that  of  any  other,  though  until  now  this  had  not 
beeu  avowed.  The  three  trips  South  were  chiefly  planned 
by  her.  Indeed,  she  is  so  superior  to  any  one  I  have  ever 
known  in  arranging  a  lecture  trip  that,  after  a  month's  expe- 
rience with  a  well  known  lyceum  bureau,  during  which  I  was 
exploited  over  the  country  with  as  little  regard  to  comfort 
as  if  I  had  been  an  alligator,  I  returned  to  Miss  Gordon's 
fostering  care  with  inexpressible  relief  and  gratitude. 
But  in  the  young  women's  work  her  place  is  second  to 
none.  She  often  speaks  in  public,  and  always  with  accept- 
ance ;  she  organizes  with  a  skill  and  method  which  her 
"  senior  partner "  vainly  emulates  ;  and  writes  letters, 
"  between  times,"  with  the  quiet  persistency  of  a  perpetual 
motion.  Sometimes  I  look  up  from  the  steady  grind  of 
work  "on  the  cars"  and  see  "far-away  thoughts"  in  the 
little  woman's  face,  when,  lo !  a  few  minutes  later,  she 
places  a  sweet  bit  of  verses  in  my  hand ;  sometimes  gay, 
but  often  full  of  pathos.  These  she  never  permits  to  see  the 
light,  though  I  have  surreptitiously  confiscated  one  or  two 
wee  manuscripts  for  our  paper.  My  purpose  in  giving  these 
details  of  this  young  woman's  life  work  is  two-fold.  I  know 
she  has  thousands  of  friends  who  will  enjoy  and  be  helped 
by  them ;  but,  more  than  that,  I  see  in  fancy  the  faces  of 
the  bright  girls  I  love,  in  homes  all  over  this  broad  land, 
bending  over  the  pages  where  this  record  of  a  gracious 
young  life  is  made,  and  I  pray  that  some  sweet  sense  of 
the  power  to  "go  and  do  likewise"  may  stir  their  gentle 
spirits  as  they  read. 


304  WELLESLEY    COLLEGE. 


THE   YOUNG  WOMEN   AT   SCHOOL. 

One  evening,  in  1878,  the  W.  C.  T.  U.  held  a  meeting 
in  the  great  Lecture  Hall  of  Michigan  University,  at  Ann 
Arbor.  It  Avas  my  part  to  speak  of  young  women's  influ- 
ence. A  message  was  handed  me,  when  I  had  finished, 
to  this  effect :  "  The  lady  students  of  the  university  are 
coming  forward  to  put  their  names  upon  the  pledge  roll 
and  receive  the  red  ribbon.  They  do  this  as  a  sacred 
duty,  in  the  interest  of  their  brother  students,  and  ear- 
nestly request  that  there  may  be  no  applause."  Knowing 
the  uproarious  customs  of  collegians,  I  feared  the  petition 
had  been  made  in  vain,  for  the  galleries  were  filled  with 
young  men.  But  no  ;  in  perfect  silence  those  brave  girls 
moved  forward  down  the  aisle,  and  in  silence  registered 
their  names,  and  took  the  badge  of  the  Reform  Club. 
Professor  Olncy,  whose  mathematical  works  are  so  well 
known,  and  who  is  one  of  the  noblest  temperance  men  in 
all  the  land,  was  chairman  of  the  meeting.  When  the 
young  ladies  had  resumed  their  seats,  Robert  Frazer,  a 
gifted  lawyer,  reformed  man,  and  alumnus  of  the  univer- 
sity, asked  permission  to  speak.     He  said : 

"  Mr.  Chairman  :  I  have  always  been  conservative  on 
the  question  of  women's  higher  education  and  wider  work. 
To  the  extent  of  my  power  I  opposed  their  admission  to 
the  privileges  of  my  alma  mater.  But  to-night  I've  had 
a  change  of  heart,  and  I  say,  God  forgive  me,  and  God 
bless  them !  They'll  save  us  men  if  we  give  them  half  a 
chance.  And  now,  boys,  you've  been  gentlemen  and 
respected  the  wish  of  these  young  ladies.  But  I  say  we've 
had  a  glimpse  of  the  moral  sublime,  and  here  goes  for 
three  cheers  for  the  girls  that  signed  the  pledge.  Hip- 
Mp-hurrah  I '" 

Wellesley  College,  that  palatial  school  founded  by 
Henry  F.  Durant  of  Boston,  and  presided  over  by  gifted 


HOUSEHOLD    ARTS.  305 

Miss  Alice  Freeman,  Ph.  D.,  has  a  thriving  Y.  W.  C.  T.  U. 
of  one  hundred  members  and  furnishes  a  course  of  lectures 
in  the  interest  of  temperance,  besides  conducting  a  Band  of 
Hope  in  a  manufacturing  village  near  by.  Its  president 
is  a  young  lady  in  her  senior  year.  Alleghany  College 
Meadville,  Pa.,  has  also  a  model  society  among  its  lady 
students,  and  invited  Hon.  Neal  Dow  to  give  an  address  upon 
••  ( lommencement  Day."  The  good  accomplished  by  these 
associations  is  beyond  computation.  They  furnish  "society" 
in  the  best  and  noblest  sense.  Their  pleasures  are  such 
as  do  not  "  perish  in  the  using." 

THE    KITCHEN    GARDEN. 

The  "newest  thing"  in  Y.  W.  C.  T.  U.  work  is  the 
••kitchen  garden."  Miss  Mary  McClees  of  Yonkers, 
X.  Y.,  is  at  the  head  of  this  department  in  the  National 
Union,  and  is  most  successful  in  her  work,  having 
organized  in  Baltimore,  Louisville,  and  elsewhere.  The 
general  plan  is  to  teach  by  object  lessons  the  complete 
duty  of  a  housekeeper,  keeping  time  to  the  movements  of 
bed-making,  table-setting,  sweeping,  etc.,  by  music  and 
songs  that  teach  just  how  to  do  these  things  properly. 
Each  girl  has  a  doll's  bed  completely  fitted  out,  and  makes 
it,  to  music,  in  the  most  approved  style  :  the  rhymes  sung 
helping  to  fix  firmly  in  the  mind  the  very  best  rules  for 
exercising  the  art.  Breakfast  and  dinner  are  prepared 
and  served — in  fancy's  eye.  as  to  the  food — but  with  tabic, 
cloth,  napkins,  and  crockery  complete.  Sweeping  and 
dusting  are  carried  out  to  perfection,  also  tending  the 
door,  going  to  market,  and  many  other  exercises.  Intef- 
spersed  with  these  lessons  can  be  temperance  songs  and 
lessons,  ad  libitum,  and  the  giving  out  of  temperance 
books  and  stories.  Mrs.  F.  R.  Tuttle  is  superintendent 
of  this  work  in  Cleveland,  and  to  see  her  teaching 
these  girls  to  make  a  graceful  bow  is  a  picture,  indeed 


306  GIRLS   OF   SPIRIT. 

—the  model  being  so  full  of  womanly  attractiveness. 
A  lady  recently  came  to  Miss  Minnie  Gillette  of  that 
city,  at  the  close  of  her  charming  kitchen  garden  exhi- 
bition, and  said  she  would  like  to  engage  one  of  the  class 
as  a  servant — which  is  precisely  what  the  temperance 
ladies  hope  may  result  from  the  general  introduction 
of  this  work,  to  the  great  advantage  of  both  mistress  and 
maid. 

This  branch  of  work  enlists  fashionable  young  ladies 
who  would  not  be  likely  to  interest  themselves  in  more 
direct  temperance  methods,  but  who  in  this  way  learn  to 
understand  the  relation  of  ■  good  food  and  good  house- 
keeping to  habits  of  sobriety.  Beginning  with  the  kitchen 
garden,  they  are  quite  likely  to  take  all  the  degrees  of 
temperance  work  in  the  natural  evolution  of  their  knowl- 
edge and  experience. 

SENSIBLE    GIRLS. 

A  number  of  Maine  girls  have  formed  a  protective 
union,  and  adopted  a  series  of  resolutions  for  their 
government.  The  following  extract  from  the  constitution 
and  by-laws  gives  a  very  fair  idea  of  the  nature,  aims,  and 
objects  of  the  society :  "  That  we  will  receive  the  atten- 
tion of  no  self-styled  young  gentleman  who  has  not 
learned  some  business  or  engaged  in  some  steady  employ- 
ment ;  for  it  is  apprehended  that  after  the  bird  is  caught 
it  may  starve  in  the  cage.  That  we  will  promise  marriage 
to  no  young  man  who  is  in  the  habit  of  tippling  or  using 
tobacco,  for  we  are  assured  that  his  wife  will  come  to  want 
and  his  children  go  barefooted.  That  we  will  marry  no 
young  man  if  he  is  not  a  patron  of  his  neighborhood  news- 
paper, for  it  is  not  only  a  strong  evidence  of  his  want  of 
intelligence,  but  that  he  will  prove  too  stingy  to  provide 
for  his  family,  to  educate  his  children,  or  encourage  insti- 
tutions of  learning  in  his  community." 


THE    AUTHOR'S    PLEA    TO    TOURISTS.  307 


AN   APPEAL   TO   MEMBERS    OP   THE   W.  C.  T.  U.  WHO   ARE 

GOING    ABROAD. 

Bear  sisters,  —  Your  loyalty  to  the  "Muster  Roll 
Pledge  "  of  the  great  total  abstinence  army  is  about  to 
be  tested  on  the  field.  Perhaps  the  captain  will  ask  you 
to  take  wine  with  him  at  the  very  first  dinner  "  on  board." 
Unquestionably  the  good  physician  will  prescribe  cham- 
pagne as  the  specific  for  sea  sickness.  Absolutely  a 
chorus  of  "  more  experienced  "  travelers  beyond  the  sea, 
will  warn  you  against  the  danger  of  drinking  water,  far 
more  than  they  would  against  the  danger  of  drinking 
drams.  But  your  sisters  are  persuaded  that  we  shall 
hear  better  things  of  you.  Like  a  lovely  girl  to  whom  one 
of  us  said  good-bye  this  morning,  wishing  her  "  bon 
voyage,"  and  saying,  "  Be  loyal — don't  touch  wine;"  you 
will  answer,  "  Trust  me — I  will  not  forget." 

In  carrying  out  this  noble  resolution,  you  may  be 
fortified  by  facts  like  these:  Mr.  Thomas  Cook,  the  most 
persistent  of  tourists,  says  that  in  his  lifetime  of  voyag- 
ing, including  trips  around  the  world,  he  has  been  a  strict 
teetotaller,  and  with  the  happiest  results. 

Bishops  of  the  Methodist  Church  who  travel  in  Asia 
and  Africa,  as  well  as  Europe,  have  told  me  concurrent 
experience  in  exactly  the  same  line  ;  also  ministers  re- 
presenting many  denominations  have  corroborated  this 
testimony. 

Some  of  our  own  members  joined  parties  last  summer, 
in  which  they  were  the  only  total  abstainers,  and  by 
parity  of  reasoning,  the  only  ones  who  escaped  the  harm- 
ful effects  against  which  their  companions  vainly  attempted 
to  provide. 

Boiled  water  or  milk  can  always  be  had,  and  will 
always  lie  far  safer  than  any  stimulating  drink.  May 
you,  dear  friends,  exhibit  the  courage  of  your  convictions 


308  new  year's  day. 

as  you  journey,  and  come  back  to  us  with  pledge  un- 
tarnished and  health  restored,  or  unimpaired,  is  the  earn- 
est prayer  of  your  sister  and  friend. 

"  THE   W.    T.    U.    WILL   RECEIVE." 

So  far  as  I  can  learn,  the  first  announcement  of  this 
kind  on  record,  was  made  in  the  Chicago  papers  a  few 
days  before  the  New  Year  in  1875.  A  dozen  of  our 
leading  ladies  spent  the  day  at  headquarters  in  the 
Y.  M.  C.  A.  We  had  nearly  a  hundred  calls,  many  signers 
to  the  pledge,  and  some  brief  prayer  meeting  scenes,  which 
my  heart  recalls  with  fervent  gratitude.  The  announce- 
ment that  follows  we  made  to  our  unions  at  large  in 
1877: 

"  The  first  New  Year's  Day  of  America's  second 
century  is  just  at  hand.  How  may  we  fitly  signalize  it, 
as  workers  in  a  reform  which  means  as  much  more  to 
our  country's  future  than  civil  service  or  currency  re- 
forms, as  home  means  more  than  bank  or  office  ?  In  the 
long  past,  women  with  Circean  blandishments  have  done 
what  other  women,  gentle  and  loving,  have  ignorantly 
imitated,  and  by  means  of  both,  the  New  Year  festival 
has  been  too  often  a  reminder  of  bacchanalian  feasts.  But 
in  the  land  we  love,  civilization's  choicest  flower,  the  world's 
hope,  and  scene  of  Christ's  most  blessed  triumphs,  it  shall 
not  be  so  any  more.  There  is  a  '  right  about  face '  in  the 
attitude  of  public  sentiment.  Banished  from  presidential 
receptions,  governors'  banquets,  and  social  reunions,  '  the 
wine  cup  in  the  jeweled  hand'  is  rapidly  becoming  a  relic 
of  the  past.  The  appeals  sent  forth  by  so  many  of  our 
unions  in  these  two  years  succeeding  the  Crusade,  have 
not  been  useless.  Let  us  repeat  them  through  the  local 
press  this  year,  in  every  town  where  our  organization 
exists,  and  make  them  specially  emphatic;  and  whenever 
practicable,  let  us   do   more   than   this.     Last   year,  in 


THE   "  EVERYBODY   CHORUS."  309 

many  places,  the  ladies'  temperance  headquarters  were 
adorned  with  evergreens  and  mottoes,  in  some  instances 
made  attractive  by  'refreshments,'  and  here  a  committee 
appointed  for  the  purpose  received  the  calls  of  gentlemen 
interested  in  the  cause,  and  of  those  also  who  wished  on 
that  auspicious  day  to  'turn  over  a  new  leaf.'  Many  a 
poor  fellow  would  screw  his  courage  to  the  sticking  point 
of  signing  the  pledge  under  the  impetus  of  Christian 
sympathy  thus  expressed,  who  otherwise  might  fail.  We 
do  not  speak  at  random,  but  testify  of  what  we  have  seen 
in  the  office  of  our  union  at  Chicago,  where  we  have  spent 
the  two  most  delightful  '  New  Years'  of  our  lives — as 
much  sweeter  than  the  ceremonious  'occasions'  of  other 
davs.  as  it  is  sweeter  to  minister  of  heavenly  things  than 
to  be  ministered  unto  of  earthly  things.  Shall  it  not  be 
then  that  along  with  other  '  social  events  pertaining  to 
the  season,'  we  shall  see  in  many  a  newspaper  the 
significant  announcement,  '  The  W.  C.  T.  Union  will 
receive.'  (By  the  way,  an  adorned  '  mite  box,'  with 
appropriate  inscription,  might  give  a  secondary  meaning 
to  the  words,  which  friends  of  temperance  would  doubt- 
less heed!)" 

NOBLER   THEMES. 

Doubtless  it  is  well  that  our  temperance  women  think  but 
little  of  the  incalculable  advantage  of  the  movement  to 
themselves.  Among  unsympathetic  outsiders,  however, 
no  observation  is  more  frequent  than  that  "  The  W.  C.  T. 
Unions  are  accomplishing  good  things  for  women,  even  if 
they  are  not  doing  much  for  temperance."  For  ourselves 
we  prefer  that  concerning  woman's  kingdom,  which,  we  are 
persuaded,  is  closely  related  to  the  kingdom  of  Heaven, 
it  should  also  be  truly  said,  "  It  cometh  not  by  observa- 
tion." 

The  "Human  Question,"  including  in  it  the  woman  ques- 
tion, as  a  circle  includes  an  arc,  is  the  objective  point  we  aim 


310  CHRIST    THE    HTOH    PRIEST    OF    INDIVIDUALITY. 

at ;  for  the  "  Everybody  Cliorus  "  is  to  our  ears  the  most 
inspiring  music  this  side  the  hallelujah  chorus  of  Heaven. 
We  want  no  solo  of  bass  or  soprano — we  want  no  Paganini 
twanging  one  string,  even  though  his  art  were  magical. 
Give  us  the  orchestra !  But  all  the  same,  we  are  thank- 
ful to  note  the  rapid  development  of  our  members  in 
power  and  clearness  of  mental  grasp,  vigor  of  expression, 
business  ability,  knowledge  of  parliamentary  usage,  and 
many  other  particulars  which  tend  toward  that  person- 
ality which  is  the  glory  of  the  home  as  of  the  State. 
For  as  it  is  the  study  of  a  florist  to  differentiate  and  per- 
fect the  undeveloped  into  the  individualized  plant,  so  in 
God's  glorious  human  garden  there  is  no  work  so  signifi- 
cant to  the  well-being  of  all,  as  the  fullest  evolution  of 
each  into  his  best — her  best.  Beyond  all  who  have  ever 
lived,  Christ  was  the  prophet  and  the  priest  of  individu- 
ality. In  Sparta  the  person  existed  but  for  the  State ;  in 
a  Christian  civilization,  all  offices  and  ordinances  find 
their  raison  d'etre  in  the  person,  and  justify  their  being 
only  in  so  far  as  they  develop  and  ennoble  him — and  her. 
But  in  turn,  this  is  for  the  sake  of  the  whole.  In  no  par- 
ticular have  we  been  more  impressed  with  this  growth  of 
our  Christian  workers,  than  in  their  themes  of  conversa- 
tion. Truly  "  their  speech  bewray eth  them."  They  learn 
to  look  beyond  home's  four  walls,  and  take  an  interest  in 
the  larger  home  of  social  and  governmental  life.  The 
widening  march  of  our  society  is  quite  correctly  indi- 
cated by  the  increasing  number  of  women  who  read  the 
newspapers  and  can  tell  you  what  the  legislature  is 
doing !  When  two  of  our  members  meet,  they  condense 
their  observations  on  the  weather,  the  servant  girl,  and 
the  family  ailments,  that  they  may  discuss  the  new  plan 
of  district  work  and  the  conduct  of  City  Council  and  State 
Legislature.  The  opinions  of  Canon  Farrar  and  Dr. 
Richardson  are  as  familiar  to  them  as  were  the  views 


VAPIDITY  OF  TABLE  TALK.  311 

held  by  Mrs.  A.  concerning  Mrs.  B.'s  milliner,  in  the  days 
of  our  grandmothers.  God's  great  gift  of  speech  never 
willingly  but  often  ignorantly  abused  by  women,  was 
never  turned  to  nobler  uses  than  in  the  seven  years  past. 

But  there  remaineth  much  territory  to  be  possessed. 
The  solitude  of  the  masculine  intellect  must  be  still  fur- 
ther invaded.  We  could  mention  a  home  of  beauty  and 
thrift,  whose  hospitable,  board  is  surrounded  by  lovely 
daughters  and  noble  sons,  and  whose  head  is  a  man  of 
rare  and  gifted  nature,  and  yet,  so  thoroughly  has  "  small 
talk  in  the  family,"'  that  relic  of  oriental  habitude,  perme- 
ated the  modes  of  expression  even  in  this  Christian  home, 
that  the  table  talk  is  a  dreary  waste  of  platitudes.  In- 
terested in  every  great  cause,  conversant  with  all  the 
philanthropic  movements  of  the  day,  and  ready  to  bear  a 
generous  part  therein,  these  Christian  people  content 
themselves  on  intellectual  husks,  when  there  is  bread 
enough  to  spare.  The  different  dishes  and  their  flavor ; 
the  history  and  mystery  of  the  day's  doings  in  the  kitchen 
and  among  the  pets ;  the  false  reports  of  "  Old  Probs,'' 
these,  with  impossible  conundrums  and  puns,  altogether 
unpardonably  fill  up  the  hour. 

Emerson  says,  "  We  invariably  descend  to  meet,"  an 
observation,  the  subtilty  of  which  is  illustrated  by  a  mil- 
lion tea-tables  even  at  this  hour.  Let  us  hope,  however, 
that  this  statement  is  historic  only,  and  not  prophetic. 
For,  behold  !  in  the  sitting-room  or  on  the  piazza,  the  gen- 
tlemen of  the  household  referred  to,  adjourned  from  tea, 
begin  with  one  accord  to  talk  of  themes  more  level  to 
their  intellectual  status.  Affairs  of  church  and  State,  the 
hading  editorial  in  a  great  metropolitan  daily,  Cook's 
lectures,  Croshv"s  sermon,  Cladstone's  land  bill,  Garfield's 
Southern  policy,  all  these  come  to  the  surface,  and  in  dis- 
cussing them  how  quick  their  utterance,  how  intelligent 
their  analysis.     Meanwhile  the  sisterhood  go  their  way. 


312  NEW   JERSEY  WORKERS. 

and  if  they  think  their  thoughts  concerning  these  discrep- 
ancies between  household  gossip  and  post-prandial  con- 
versation, no  looker-on  in  Venice  is  the  wiser  for  their 
lucubrations.  Brethren  and  sisters,  these  things  ought 
not  so  to  be,  and  to  help  unify  the  thought  and  talk  of  home, 
our  W.  C.  T.  U.  is  one  of  the  grandest  institutions  that 
has  been  invented  up  to  date. 

"  ALL  FOR   TEMPERANCE." 

So  far  as  possible,  this  should  be  our  motto  and  our 
rallying  cry.  Let  us  claim  everything  that  is  good, 
whether  it  be  great  or  small,  as  ours  by  affinity  and 
adoption.  The  other  day,  at  Newark,  N.  J.,  in  the  Tem- 
perance Convention  of  Essex  County,  we  had  a  fresh 
illustration  of  what  I  mean.  Noble  men  and  true  had 
called  the  meeting;  that  devoted  Newark  W.  C.  T.  U. 
was  out  in  force,  with  the  Christian  Reform  Club  its 
"  Guard  of  Honor."  Rev.  Dr.  L.  H.  Dunn  was  in  the 
chair.  We  were  in  thorough  working  humor — you  could 
see  the  spirit  beaming  in  each  face.  Dr.  Dunn  came  for- 
ward at  the  close  of  a  speech,  and  said,"  Sing  'Auld  Lang 
Syne.' '  Now,  it  is  a  blessed  tune,  and  full  of  sweetness 
and  tender  memories ;  but  we  could  by  no  means  tolerate 
its  bacchanalian  allusions.  Think  of  an  audience  of  zeal- 
ous temperance  campaigners  declaring, 

"  We'll  tak'  a  right  good  Willy  waught," 
Or— 

"We'll  tak'  a  cup  o'  kindness  yet, 
For  auld  lang  syne. " 

But  in  these  days,  when  temperance  claims  all  good 
things  for  its  own,  our  genial  chairman  readily  found  a 
a  way  out. of  the  difficulty  by  the  following  amendment: 
"  Sing,  'Am  I  a  soldier  of  the  Cross  ? '  to  the  tune  of  'Auld 
Lang  Syne.'  "  These  words  cut  the  Gordian  knot,  and  if 
ever  hearts  and  voices  joined  with  "  a  right  good  will," 
it  was  in  the  last  verse  : 


THE   NEW    A.ULD   LANG    BYNE.  313 

"Thy  saints,  in  all  this  glorious  war, 
Shall  conquer  though  thejr  die ; 
They  see  the  triumph  from  afar, 
By  faith  they  bring  it  nigh." 

Since  then  the  following-  beautiful  version  of  "Auld 
Lang  Syne  "  has  come  to  light.  It  is  destined  to  replace 
the  words  which  embalm  social  customs  from  which  our 
more  kindly  and  enlightened  age  is  fast  emerging.  So 
the  good  work  goes  on,  and  shall  deepen  and  extend  until 
poetry,  music,  and  romance — last  of  all  citadels  to  yield — 
become  strongholds  of  total  abstinence  sentiment  as  now, 
alas !  thev  are  of  the  sentimentalism  which  looks  with 
toleration  upon  inebriety. 

Tlie  Neto  Old  Lang  Syne. 

"  It  singeth  low  in  every  heart, 
We  hear  it,  each  and  all, 
A  song  for  those  who  answer  not, 
However  we  may  call. 

"  They  throng  the  silence  of  the  breast, 
"We  see  them  as  before, 
The  brave,  the  kind,  the  true,  the  sweet, 
Who  walk  with  us  no  more. 

"  'Tis  hard  to  take  life's  burden  up, 
When  these  have  laid  it  down, 
They  sweetened  every  jojr  of  life, 
They  softened  every  frown. 

"But  O,  'tis  good  to  think  of  them, 
When  we  are  troubled  sore; 
The  brave,  the  kind,  the  true,  the  sweet, 
Who  walk  with  us  no  more. 

"More  friendly  seems  the  great  Unknown, 
Since  they  have  entered  there ; 
To  follow  them  were  not  so  hard, 
However  they  may  fare. 

"  They  cannot  be  where  God  is  not, 
On  any  sea  or  shore ; 
What  e'er  betides,  Thy  Love  abides, 
Our  God  forever  more." 


314  "she  was  dependable." 

miss  esther  pugh, 

Treasurer  of  National  W.  C.  T.  U. 

Two  of  our  workers  were  talking  about  epitaphs.  Said 
No.  One :  "  Of  all  others  jet  penned,  I  would  prefer  to  merit 
these  words  upon  my  tombstone,  '  She  was  dependable.' " 
At  this  her  comrade  answered  :  "  Whether  you  or  I  merit 
so  much  may  be  an  open  question;  but  I'll  tell  you  who 
does,  and  that's  our  '  watch-dog  of  the  treasury,' — Esther 
Pugh." 

This  is  high,  ante-funeral-oration  praise,  but  we  are 
safe  in  putting  it  on  record.  One  look  into  our  Esther's 
face,  with  its  broad  forehead  arching  above  those  solemn 
brows  and  steadfast  eyes,  would  settle  that  question  in 
the  most  doubtful  mind.  Like  many  another  woman  of 
forceful  life,  "  she  is  her  father  over  again,"  the  resem- 
blance in  features  being  no  stronger  than  in  character. 
He  was  a  man  of  iron  mould  and  spotless  reputation — a 
Quaker  of  the  Quakers,  long  the  publisher  of  a  leading 
Cincinnati  daily  paper, and  well  reported  for  what  a  good 
pastor  of  mine  used  to  call  "  common  religion,"  or  Chris- 
tianity applied  to  business  dealings  and  other  e very-day 
affairs. 

The  mother  was  all  sweetness  and  loveliness  in  char- 
acter, and  was  idolized  by  her  strong-natured  husband 
and  daughter.  Miss  Pugh  was  a  leader  at  the  dawn  of 
the  Crusade ;  indeed  the  Quakers  have  such  sensible, 
primitive  views  about  "  following  the  Master,"  that  it  did 
not  seem  an  unheard-of  stepping  out  to  them  to  "  go  tell " 
the  gospel  story  to  those  who,  of  all  others,  were  least 
likely  to  conic  and  hear  it  inside  the  Lord's  especial 
courts. 

Waynesboro,  Ohio,  was  the  scene  of  exploits  that  have 
been  often  recounted  in  the  annals  of  "  the  great 
uprising,"  and  which  Miss  Pugh  narrates  with  exceeding 
vivacity,  having  been  foremost  in  that  band. 


MISS  ESTHER  PT.GH. 


"bricks  without  straw.*'  317 

It  was  in  strict  accordance  with  spiritual  dynamic  laws 
that,  from  those  days  to  these,  Esther  Pugh  has  been 
closely  identified  with  the  W.  C.  T.  U.  She  had  the 
brain,  the  heart,  and,  best  of  all,  the  will  to  do  this  work. 
At  first  an  officer  in  the  Cincinnati  Union,  then  in  the 
State,  and  now  for  years  in  the  National,  she  knows  our 
W.  C.  T.  U.  by  heart,  and  its  friendships,  work,  and 
inspirations  have  been  her  solace  in  many  recent  sor- 
rows—  lor  father,  mother,  and  the  sheltering  home 
conserved  by  their  presence,  all  have  passed  away  in 
these  last  years. 

Esther  Pugh  is  a  woman  for  difficult  emergencies. 
Some  of  us  know  how  she  has  "  stood  in  the  gap"  when 
any  lint  a  veteran  would  have  beat  a  retreat.  As  editor 
and  publisher  of  Our  Union,  she  has  faced  duties  at  once 
irksome  and  difficult,  but  always  with  a  fortitude  little 
less  than  heroic.  As  the  responsible,  though  not  the 
actual  head  of  the  "  Hayes  Commission,"  she  had  thrust 
upon  her  the  burden  of  grave  decisions  and  heavy  financial 
obligations,  which  she  assumed  without  fee  or  reward, 
and  carried  with  a  skill  and  faithfulness  worthy  of  all 
praise.  But  as  Treasurer  of  the  National  W.  C.  T.  U. 
she  has  earned  the  right  to  our  profoundest  gratitude. 
The  forlorn  hope  of  an  empty  exchequer  occupies  a 
position  to  the  last  degree  unenviable,  and,  alas,  too  often 
thankless.  If  the  facts  could  be  known  concerning  her 
letters,  circulars,  interviews,  and  appeals  for  money  to 
pay  the  actual  current  expenses  of  printing,  postage,  rent, 
etc.,  at  our  New  York  office ;  if  the  picture  of  our 
Treasurer,  kneeling  in  prayer,  with  the  unpaid  bills  before 
her  and  sometimes  with  tears  upon  her  cheeks,  could 
come  to  tin'  knowledge  of  the  good  people  who  "believe 
in  temperance,"  Esther  Pugh's  relation  to  our  great  and 
growing  work  would  not  be  so  difficult  as  it  has  been  up 
to  this  day. 


318  AN   EMPTY  TREASURY. 

But  I  must  not  sketch  my  friend  in  lines  too  somber, 
for  despite  her  trying  role  as  custodian  of  an  empty 
treasury,  she  is  a  woman  of  most  cheerful  spirit,  sees  the 
droll  as  well  as  the  serious  side  of  every  situation,  and 
brightens  her  letters,  as  she  always  does  her  conversation, 
with  rare  sallies  of  wit  and  pleasantry. 


MRS.  J.  ELLEN  FOSTER. 


CHAPTER  XX. 

THE  W.  C.  T.  U.  IN  THE  GOVERNMENT. 

Mrs.  Judith  Ellen  Foster — A  Boston  girl,  a  lawyer,  an  orator — Her 
work  part  and  parcel  of  the  W.  C.  T.  U. — As  wife,  mother,  and 
Christian— Philosophy  of  the  W.  C.  T.  U.  in  the  Government— The 
Keithsburg  election,  or  the  "Women  who  dared" — The  story  of 
Rockford— Home  protection  in  Arkansas — A  practical  application — 
Observations  en  route — The  famous  law — Extract  from  Fourth  of 
July  address — Local  option — Plan  for  local  campaign — How  not  to 
do  it — How  it  has  been  done— Temperance  tabernacles — History  of 
Illinois'  great  petition — About  petitions — Days  of  prayer — Copy  of 
the  petition — Home  protection  hymn — Mrs.  Pellucid  at  the  Capitol 
— A  specimen  Legislature — Valedictory  thoughts — Temperance  tonic 
— Yankee  home  protection  catechism — A  heart-sorrow  in  an  unpro- 
tected home — The  dragon's  council  hall — Home  guards  of  Illinois — 
How  one  little  woman  saved  the  day  in  Kansas — Election  day  in 
Iowa — Incidents  of  the  campaign — A  Southern  incident — Child- 
hood's part  in  the  victory. 

MRS.    JUDITH    ELLEN    FOSTER,    OF   IOWA. 

A  SKETCH  of  our  Superintendent  of  the  Legislative 
Department  fitly  opens  the  chapter  on  our  work 
"  in  the  Government." 

"Blood  will  tell"  is  a  pithy  proverb,  and  one  well 
illustrated  in  our  "  Temperance  Portia's  "  vigorous  brain, 
firm  hand,  and  generous  heart.  Her  father,  Rev.  Jotham 
Horton,  was  a  typical  son  of  New  England,  born  in  Bos- 
ton in  1789 ;  her  mother,  a  native  of  Duxbury,  on  Cape 
Cod,  was  a  descendent  of  General  Warren,  of  Revolution- 
ary fame.  Under  the  preaching  of  Bishop  Hedding  her 
father  was  converted,  and  began  to  preach  in  the  Metho- 
dist Church  before  he  was  twenty-one  years  of  age. 
When  convicted  of  sin  he  was  also  convicted  of  the  duty 

(321) 


322  A   TEMPERANCE   PIONEER. 

and  beauty  of  total  abstinence,  and,  when  he  pledged  to 
the  church  his  soldiership  under  the  Captain  of  our  sal- 
vation, he  pledged  himself  never  to  touch  intoxicating 
liquors.  This  was  long  before  he  ever  heard  of  a  tem- 
perance organization  outside  the  Nazarites  and  Recha- 
bitcs,  so  highly  recommended  in  the  Bible.  For  four 
years  he  worked  in  his  father's  blacksmith  shop,  and 
when  the  men  drank  rum  "  between  the  heats  "  he  drank 
water,  notwithstanding  the  derisive  laugh  of  his  com- 
rades. They  perished  ignobly,  but  he  endured,  becoming 
one  of  New  England's  most  successful  preachers,  fore- 
most in  all  reforms  ;  dowered  with  "  the  hate  of  hate,  the 
scorn  of  scorn,  the  love  of  love,"  and  in  his  gifted 
daughter  still  breathes  and  speaks  his  lofty  and  indomi- 
table spirit.  Terrible  in  denunciation  and  strong  in 
argument,  he  hated  sin,  loved  righteousness,  and  was  a 
redoubtable  soldier  of  Christ.  Mrs.  Foster's  mother  was 
a  quite  different  type,  the  daughter  of  a  sea-captain, 
reared  in  the  quiet  of  a  New  England  farm,  she  never 
met  the  world  till  called  to  stand  beside  this  fiery  cham- 
pion of  the  cross.  Beautiful  in  face  and  form  and 
graceful  in  manner,  she  was  the  ideal  complement  of  her 
husband.  When  Judith  (for  I  can  but  call  her  thus, 
believing  that  the -Iowa  liquor  traffic  shall  yet  turn  out  to 
be  her  Holofernes,)  was  not  quite  seven  years  old, 
she  lost  this  lovely  mother.  Born  at  Lowell,  Mass., 
November  3,  1840,  motherless  at  seven,  and  an  orphan  at 
twelve  years  of  age,  Judith  Ellen's  short  life  had  already 
comprehended  the  most  significant  vicissitudes,  when  her 
oldest  sister,  Mrs.  Charles  Pierce,  wife  of  a  wealthy  business 
man  of  Boston,  received  the  young  girl  into  her  home  and 
directed  her  education,  first  in  the  public  schools  of 
Boston,  then  at  Charlcstown  Female  Seminary,  and  last 
at  the  Genesee  Weslcyan  Seminary,  Lima,  N.  Y.  Her 
musical  education  was  carried  on  in  Boston,  under  the 


MOTHER    AND    LAWYER.  323 

best  teachers.  After  leaving  school  she  taught  briefly, 
but  at  twenty  years  of  age  (18G0)  she  was  married  to  a 
promising  young  merchant  of  the  city. 

Concerning  this  painful  episode  in  her  history,  the  fol- 
lowing facts  are  furnished  by  a  friend :  "  This  union, 
desired  and  approved  by  mutual  friends,  promised  naught 
but  joy  and  blessedness ;  but  clouds  soon  gathered,  and 
after  years  of  poverty  and  toil  and  wanderings  to  and 
fro,  and  vain  attempts  to  cover  up  and  bear  the  shame 
that  came  because  she  bore  his  name,  nothing  was  left  of 
this  sad  marriage  but  two  children  for  her  to  love  and 
rear.  In  the  home  of  a  brother  she  put  on  widow's 
weeds,  sadder  far  than  those  that  come  at  death." 

Having  secured  a  divorce,  slie  was  married  to  Hon.  E. 
C.  Foster,  who  is  a  prominent  lawyer  and  politician  of 
Iowa,  a  life-long  temperance  man,  and  earnest,  working 
Christian. 

She  read  law  first  for  his  entertainment,  and  afterwards, 
by  his  suggestion  and  under  his  supervision,  she  pursued 
a  systematic  course  of  legal  study,  with,  however,  no 
thought  of  admission  to  the  bar.  She  read,  with  her 
babies  about  her,  and  instead  of  amusing  herself  with 
fashion  plates  or  fiction,  such  learned  tomes  as  Black- 
stone  and  Kent,  Bishop  and  Story.  She  never  had  an 
ambition  for  public  speaking  or  public  life.  Although 
reared  in  the  Methodist  church,  she  had  never,  until  about 
the  time  of  the  crusade,  heard  a  woman  preach  or  lecture, 
but  when  that  trumpet  blast  resounded,  she,  in  common 
with  her  sisters,  responded  to  the  call,  and  lifted  up  her 
voice  in  protest  against  the  iniquity  of  the  drink  traffic. 
Her  acceptance  with  the  people  just  at  the  time  when  she 
had  completed  her  legal  studies,  seemed  a  providential 
indication,  and  her  husband  said  :  "  If  you  can  talk  before 
an  audience,  you  could  before  a  court  or  jury";  and  he 
insisted  upon  her  being  examined  for  admission  to  the 


324  A    HOUSE    ON    FIRE. 

bar.  Prior  to  this  time  she  had  prepared  pleadings  and 
written  arguments  for  the  courts ;  but  without  formal 
admission  she  could  not  personally  appear.  She  was 
examined,  admitted,  and  took  the  oath  to  "  support  the 
constitution  and  the  laws."  This  triumph  won  the  appro** 
bation  of  friends  and  the  increased  hatred  of  the  liquor 
party,  who  knew  that  it  meant  not  only  warfare  upon  the 
temperance  platform,  but  in  the  legal  forum  also.  The 
night  of  the  day  on  which  she  was  admitted  to  practice 
saw  her  home  in  Clinton,  Iowa,  in  flames.  There  was 
little  doubt  that  the  fire  was  kindled  by  two  liquor-sellers 
whom  Mr.  Foster  had  prosecuted,  and  who  had  just 
returned  from  the  county  jail.  Mrs.  Foster  was  the  first 
woman  admitted  to  practice  in  the  State  supreme  court. 
She  has  recently  defended  a  woman  under  sentence  of 
death,  and  after  a  ten  days'  trial,  in  which  our  lady  law- 
yer made  the  closing  argument,  the  verdict  of  the  jury 
was  modified  to  imprisonment  for  life.  Mrs.  Foster 
enjoys  the  absolute  confidence  and  support  of  her  husband 
in  her  legal  and  temperance  work.  He  was  its  instigator, 
and  more  than  any  other  rejoices  in  it. 

Mrs.  Foster  has  lost  two  little  girls.  Two  sons  remain, 
one  of  whom  is  a  student  in  the  Northwestern  University, 
at  Evanston,  111.,  and  another  often  accompanies  his 
mother  in  her  work.  In  her  own  home  Mrs.  Foster  is 
universally  honored,  and  for  her  beloved  Iowa  she  has 
grandly  wrought  from  the  beginning  until  now,  when, 
more  by  her  exertions  than  those  of  any  other  individual, 
the  constitutional  amendment  has  been  ratified  by  the 
people.  Mrs.  Foster's  life,  since  the  crusade  of  1874,  is 
part  and  parcel  of  the  W.  C.  T.  U.  She  has  never  been 
absent  from  one  of  our  national  conventions,  and  her 
quick  brain,  ready  and  pointed  utterance,  and  rare  knowl- 
edge of  parliamentary  forms,  Have  added  incalculably  to 
the  success  of  these  great  meetings.    There  is  not  a  State 


u  THESE   ARE   MY   JEWELS."  325 

at  the  North  in  which  our  cause  is  not  to-day  more  pow- 
erful than  it  would  have  heen  but  for  her  logic  and  her 
eloquence.  Whether  making  her  famous  two  hours'  argu- 
ment for  the  constitutional  amendment,  as  she  did  night 
after  night  for  successive  months  in  the  Northwest,  writ- 
ing a  treatise  on  that  great  subject,  as  she  has  lately  done, 
or  following  the  intricacies  of  debate  in  a  convention  and 
conducting  a  prayer-meeting  between  the  sessions,  whether 
leading  the  music  of  an  out-door  meeting,  answering  Dr. 
Crosby  at  Tremont  Temple,  Boston,  pleading  for  woman's 
ballot  in  Iowa,  or  for  prohibition  in  Washington  ;  whether 
playing  with  her  boys  at  home,  reading  Plato  in  the  cars, 
preaching  the  gospel  from  a  dry-goods  box  on  the  street 
corner  of  her  own  town,  or  speaking  in  the  great  taberna- 
cle at  Chautauqua,  Mrs.  Foster  is  always  witty,  wise,  and 
kind,  and  thorough  mistress  of  the  situation.  Her  hus- 
band's heart  doth  safely  trust  in  her,  and  her  boys  glory- 
in  a  mother  who  can  not  only  say  with  Cornelia,  of  Rome, 
"  These  are  my  jewels,"  but  whose  great  heart  reaches 
out  to  restore  to  the  rifled  casket  of  many  another  woman's 
home,  whence  strong  drink  has  stolen  them,  these  gems 
of  priceless  cost.  Best  of  all,  she  loves  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  and  above  her  chief  joy  desires  and  labors  to  build 
up  His  kingdom  on  the  earth. 

PHILOSOPHY   OF   THE    W.    C.    T.    U.   IN   THE   GOVERNMENT. 

When  a  ray  of  light  starts  forth  from  the  Sun  of  Right- 
eousness, men  may  not  limit  its  flight  nor  prescribe  its 
influence.  When  the  fisherman,  in  "Arabian  Nights," 
broke  the  strange  kettle,  and  the  genie  emerged  and  "  ex- 
panded its  pinions  in  nebulous  bars,"  it  was  a  waste  of 
words  to  order  the  apparition  back  into  the  limits  which, 
once  for  all,  it  had  escaped.  When  the  Woman's  Chris- 
tian Temperance  Union  began  its  evolution,  the  law  of 

spiritual  force  predicted  its  expansion  till,  in  the  fullness 
13 


326     "  THE  SIDE  ALWAYS  WINS  THAT  HAS  MOST  VOTES." 

of  time,  its  leaven  should  leaven  the  whole  lump.  What 
if,  in  fifty  days,  the  crusade  by  its  prayers  and  persuasions 
routed  the  liquor  traffic,  "  horse,  foot,  and  dragoons,"  out 
of  two  hundred  and  fifty  towns  and  villages  ?  Did  they  not 
spring  up  again  like  so  many  Canada  thistles  ?  What  if,  on 
three  hundred  and  sixty-four  days  in  the  year,  women 
wrought  patiently  to  build  defences  around  their  homes 
with  their  moral  suasion  weapons,  did  not  the  voters  carry 
them  away  as  with  a  flood  upon  election  day,  intrenching 
the  triumphant  dram-shop  behind  the  sheltering  aegis  of 
the  commonwealth  ?  What  wonder,  then,  that  by  the 
most  natural  gradations ;  by  growth  rather  than  by  a 
forcing  process  ;  "  by  evolution  rather  than  by  revolution," 
as  Joseph  Cook  so  aptly  puts  it,  the  W.  C.  T.  IL,  passing 
through  the  stages  of  petition  work,  local-option  work, 
and  constitutional-prohibition-amendment  work, have  come 
to  the  conviction  that  women  must  have  the  ballot  as  a 
"  home  protection  "  weapon  ? 

The  long,  slow  marches  of  the  years  ;  the  logic  of  events, 
and  the  argument  of  defeat  in  our  warfare  against  the 
dram-shop  ;  the  strange  discovery  that  the  Ten  Command- 
ments and  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount  are  voted  up,  or 
voted  down,  upon  election  day ;  the  reiterated  lesson  in 
temperance  arithmetic  that,  in  spite  of  home,  and  church, 
and  school;  in  spite  of  Y.  M.  C.  A.,  and  W.  C.  T.  IT., 

WHEN    VOTERS    MEET    VOTERS,    THE    SIDE   ALWAYS   WINS    THAT 

has  most  votes  —  all  these  have  led  us  up  to  our  conclu- 
sion. The  men  of  the  liquor  traffic  have  themselves  con- 
tributed not  a  little  to  our  schooling.  In  their  official 
organs,  secret  circulars  to  political  aspirants,  and  by  the 
mightier  eloquence  of  votes  paid  for  with  very  hard  cash, 
they  have  united  in  the  declaration  (here  given  in  their 
own  words)  :  "Woman's  ballot  will  be  the  death  knell  of 
the  liquor  traffic  !  " 

On  the  other  hand,  when  our  simple-minded  temperance 


"WHOSE   PUBLIC   SENTIMENT?"  327 

women  have  gone  to  reputable  men  of  affairs  with  the 
question  :  "  Why  is  the  sale  of  strong  drink  protected  by 
law  in  our  commonwealth?"  the  answer  has  invariably 
been  :  "  Because  the  public  sentiment  seems  to  require  it." 

But  we  slowly  learned  to  follow  up  that  question  with 
another  far  more  significant,  "Whose  public  sentiment; 
that  of  the  church?"  Oh,  no;  two-thirds  of  the  church 
are  women,  and  well  do  they  understand  that  Christ's 
cause  has  no  enemy  so  bitter  and  redoubtable  as  the  traf- 
fic in  strong  drink. 

"Whose  public  sentiment;  that  of  the  home?"  Oh, 
no;  the  home  guards  have  learned  by  pitiful  experience 
that  home  —  the  shrine  for  the  sake  of  which  all  that  is 
pure  and  good  on  earth  exists — has  no  enemy  so  subtle 
as  the  dram-shop. 

-Whose  public  sentiment?"  Why,  that  of  men  who 
make  and  sell  the  poisonous  beverages ;  men  who  drink 
them,  and  other  men  dependent  for  patronage  in  business, 
professional  life,  and  for  political  preferment  on  those 
who  drink  and  sell. 

These  classes,  as  the  outcome  of  deliberate  choice, 
based  upon  selfish  motives,  saddle  the  liquor  traffic  on 
our  communities,  year  after  year.  But  all  the  while  they 
were  outraging  the  "public  sentiment"  lodged  in  the 
brain,  heart,  and  conscience  of  the  women  in  their  homes  ! 

Moreover,  the  class  thus  unrepresented  in  the  most 
important  decision  that  local  government  involves,  is  not 
committed  to  the  liquor  interest  by  any  of  the  motives  out 
of  which  the  choices  grew  whose  outcome  was  the  license 
ballot  in  the  fateful  box.  They  are  not  entangled  with 
business  interests  or  partnerships;  they  have,  as  a  rule, 
no  connection  with  professional  life;  no  aspirations  for 
political  preferment.  By  nature,  and  by  the  circumstances 
of  their  lives,  they  would  bring  to  this  decision  a  set  of 
motives   altogether  new,  and  of   resultant  choices  alto- 


828  THE    HILL   DIFFICULTY. 

gether  different.  By  not  utilizing  this  "  public  sentiment K 
at  the  point  where  a  conviction  can  pass  into  a  vote,  and 
a  heart-break  into  a  law,  we  temperance  women  became 
convinced  that  good  men  conspicuously  exhibited  their 
lack  of  the  serpent-like  wisdom  which  is  as  authoritatively 
enjoined  on  Christian  soldiers  as  is  the  dove-like  harm- 
lessness. 

But  while  convinced  that  woman's  ballot,  for  purposes 
of  home  protection,  must  be  the  outcome  of  the  temper- 
ance reform  in  its  governmental  phase,  our  W.  C.  T.  U. 
everywhere  falls  in  with  the  prevailing  sentiment  as  to  its 
legal  work.  In  the  South  there  is  no  effort  to  introduce 
the  "  home  protection  movement,"  as  this  work  for  the 
ballot  is  called.  In  Kansas  and  Iowa  the  women  worked 
hard  for  prohibition,  and  were  proud  and  grateful  that 
the  votes  of  men  secured  a  boon  so  blessed.  In  Pennsyl- 
vania and  Michigan  they  are  "  the  power  behind  the 
throne,"  in  the  present  efforts  towards  the  same  end. 
But  all  the  same,  their  eyes  have  been  opened  to  see  that 
(as  a  gifted  one  has  said)  "  while  prohibition  is  the  nail, 
woman's  ballot  is  the  hammer  .that  must  drive  it  home." 
For  while  the  issue  is  to  a  great  extent  non-partisan  dur- 
ing the  period  of  legislating  for  the  prohibitory  amend- 
ment itself,  it  must  at  once  cease  to  be  so  when  the 
executive  officers  who  alone  give  its  provisions  force  are 
to  be  chosen.  For  example,  when  in  each  locality  the 
magistrate,  the  sheriff,  the  constable  are  to  be  chosen, 
then  the  liquor  interest  will  rally  its  forces  under  one 
party  banner,  and  the  temperance  forces  under  another. 
Precisely  here  comes  in  the  "dead  pull"  in  tugging 
prohibition  up  the  Hill  Difficulty ;  precisely  here  the  votes 
of  women  will  turn  the  scale  for  temperance.  Is  this 
doubted  ? 


christ'r  soldiers  counted  at  the  ballot-box.  329 
the  keithsburg  election  ;  or  "  the  women  who  dared." 

•'  The  things  which  are  impossible  with  men  are  possible  with  God." 
"All  things  are  possible  to  him  that  believeth." 

The  following  letter  was  written  by  Miss  Lois  Smith 

of  Rhode  Island,  in  reply  to  the  query,  "  What  about  the 

Keithsburg  election?" 

Monmouth,  111.,  April,  1880. 
My  Dear  Friend — To  begin  at  the  beginning:  While  attending  a 
district  convention  at  Bushnell,  111.,  last  week, "I  became  acqnainted 
with  the  fart  that  the  Town  Board  of  Keithsburg,  111.,  had  recently 
passed  a  "Home  Protection  Ordinance"  (and  that  unanimously),  and 
that  women  over  eighteen  years  of  age,  residing  in  the  town,  were  by 
its  provisions  invited  to  vote  "for  license  "  or  "  against  license,"  on 
Monday,  the  5th  day  of  April,  1880.  The  Keithsburg  W.  C.  T.  U., 
through  a  committee  of  twelve  ladies,  had  explained  the  ordinance, 
and  read  the  invitation  to  vote  to  every  woman  in  the  town  (the  work 
of  this  canvassing  committee  told  on  election  day,  I  assure  you).  Now, 
thought  I,  "seeing  is  believing"  it  is  said,  and  so  I  at  once  resolved 
that  ' '  Naomi "  and  I  would  be  there  to  see.  We  accordingly  made 
our  way  to  Monmouth,  stopped  for  the  night  at  the  hospitable  residence 
of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Kirkpatrick,  and  next  morning,  in  company  with 
Mrs.  M.  L.  Wells  of  Springfield,  and  Mrs.  E.  G.  Hibben  of  Peoria 
(the  newly-elected  successor  of  Frances  E.  Willard),  President  of 
Illinois  W.  C.  T.  U.,  we  set  off  for  "the  seat  of  war."  Keithsburg  is 
a  town  of  about  fifteen  hundred  inhabitants,  in  Mercer  county, 
Illinois,  on  the  Mississippi  river,  "beautiful  for  situation,"  and  but 
for  the  unenviable  fact  of  being  the  only  "  license"  corporation  in  the 
county,  would  be  a  thriving  little  town.  Upon  our  arrival  at  Keiths- 
burg we  were  received  at  the  depot  by  Mrs.  Slocum,  the  energetic 
President  of  the  W.  C.  T.  U.,  with  a  carriage  and  horses,  and  speedily 
transferred  to  her  own  and  other  homes  of  Keithsburg. 

PRELIMINARY  MEETING. 

At  half -past  three  o'clock  p.  m.  we  met  the  ladies  of"  the  W.  C.  T.  U., 
and  some  of  the  citizens,  in  the  Presbyterian  Church  for  conference. 
The  meeting  was  held  at  the  close  of  the  preparatory  sermon  previous 
to  the  Sacrament  of  the  Lord's  Supper.  I  sat  in  amazed  meditation 
and  reflected.  Here  we  are,  holding  this  meeting,  and  talking  about 
the  voting  of  women,  in  immediate  connection  Avith  this  especial 
religious  service,  in  a  Presbyterian  meeting  house  !  Shade  of  the 
Puritans  !  How  this  world  is  moving  on  !  The  meeting  was  opened 
with  prayer  by  Lois  L.  Smith;  Mrs.  Hibben  and  Mrs.  Wells  addressed 


330  ELECTION    DAY   PRAYER   MEETING. 

the  ladies  present,  and  Messrs.  Pepper  and  Taliaferro  answered  the 
questions  concerning  the  ordinance,  etc.,  closing  with  prayer  by  Cassie 
L.  Smith. 

There  was  a  temperance  mass  meeting  held  in  the  evening, 
addressed  by  Mr.  Pepper,  at  the  M.  E.  Church. 

SABBATH. 

The  use  of  the  M.  E.  Church  was  kindly  given,  and  meetings  held 
in  the  forenoon  and  evening.  At  eleven  a.  m.  Mrs.  Hibben  read  the 
Scripture  lessons,  and  prayer  was  offered  by  Cassie  L.  Smith.  The 
following  telegram  from  Miss  Frances  E.  Willard  was  read:  "Eager 
eyes  are  watching  you  from  a  thousand  darkened  homes.  God  help 
you  to  be  brave  and  true  ! "  Lois  L.  Smith  spoke  as  God  gave  her 
utterance,  from  Ephesians  0:  12,  13,  "For  we  wrestle  not  against 
flesh  and  blood,"  endeavoring  to  show  the  true  nature  of  the  liquor 
traffic  (i,  e.,  actuated  by  Satanic  power),  and  the  means  to  be  used  for 
its  overthrow,  viz. :  a  holy,  consecrated  Church,  using  such  weapons 
as  God  has  ordained. 

At  half-past  two  p.  M.  a  Children's  Meeting  was  held  in  the  Presby- 
terian Church,  conducted  by  Cassie  L.  Smith. 

At  half-past  four  p.  M.  Mr.  I.  M.  Kirkpatriek  of  Monmouth,  whose 
interest  in  the  occasion  was  such  that  he  had  procured  a  substitute  for 
an  engagement  that  he  had  made  to  speak  in  a  neighboring  town  on  that 
day,  in  order  that  he  might  be  present  at  the  Keithsburg  election, 
spoke  with  apparently  Methodistic  fire  and  fervor  at  the  most  public 
street  corners,  using  a  lumber  wagon  for  a  pulpit,  after  the  fashion  of 
pioneer  Methodist  preachers. 

The  evening  meeting  was  addressed  by  Mrs.  Hibben  and  Mrs. 
Wells.  The  singing  during  the  day  and  at  nearly  all  the  subsequent 
meetings  was  led  by  a  grand  choir  of  young  women,  of  whom  there 
are  a  goodly  number  in  the  Keithsburg  W.  C.  T.  U.,  which  is  but 
four  months  organized,  and  numbers  seventy  members.  Their  singing 
contributed  much  to  the  interest  and  success  of  the  meeting. 

ELECTION  DAY. 

Monday  at  seven  a.m.,  a  prayer-meeting  of  rare  spiritual  power 
was  led  by  Mrs.  Hibben,  who  opened  the  meeting  by  announcing  the 
hymns,  "Where  He  leads  we  will  follow,"  and  "  Triumph  by-and- 
bye."  Reading  121st  Psalm  and  124th  Psalm.  Requests  for  praj-er  : 
for  the  salvation  of  six  men  with  whom  I  talked  yesterday;  for  four 
young  ladies  who  are  undecided;  for  Keithsburg  W.  C.  T.  U.,  and  for 
the  young  men  and  young  women  of  Keithsburg.  This  request  was 
made  by  Mrs,  Taliaferro,  and  accompanied  by  a  tearful-  exhortation 
for  many  loved  ones.     Mrs.  Hibben  led  in  prayer  for  these  requests, 


A    PBESBYTERIAN    LADY    FROM   THE   SOUTH.  331 

and  was  evidently  helped  with  the  divine  unction  while  she  prayed. 
Singing:  "I  will  sing  of  my  Redeemer,"  followed  by  the  reading  of 
Dean  Trench's  poem  on  prayer,  "Lord  what  a  change  within  us  one  diort 
hour."  Prayer  by  ( lassie  L.  Smith  for  following  requests:  for  the  men  of 
Keithsburg  who  are  wavering;  for  young  men,  ahout  whom  there  is  a 
spceial  whisky  influence;  for  little  hoys  of  Keithsburg.     Also  prayer 

drs.  Wells.  Singing:  "  Hallelujah,  'tis  done."  Mrs.  Hihben  then 
read  a  letter  from  a  reformed  man,  a  German,  and  formerly  an  infidel. 
Other  prayers  and  requests.  Singing:  "  I  need  Thee  every  hour." 
Cassie  L.  Smith  then  asked  the  question:  "  Who  will  be  on  the 
Lord's  side?"  and  nearly  every  person  present  arose,  among  them  a 
number  who  were  not  professing  Christians;  then  Lois  L.  Smith  led 
in  a  prayer  of  consecration,  "while  heaven  came  down  our  souls  to 
greet,  and  glory  crowned  the  mercy  seat."  "Blest  be  the  tie  that 
binds  "  was  then  sung,  and  the  first  company  of  women,  forty-seven 
in  number,  proceeded  quietly  to  the  place  for  voting.  It  was  my  rare 
good  fortune  to  take  on  my  arm  an  aged  Presbyterian  lady,  of 
Southern  birth  and  education,  who  could  hardly  tell  how  such  strange 
things  had  come  about,  but  was  nevertheless  not  behind  in  her  duty 
on  this  important  day,  and  also  to  attend  Baby  Slocum  in  his  phceton 
while  his  papa  and  mamma  went  together  to  deposit  their  ballots. 
During  the  day  the  Keithsburg  band  volunteered  their  services, 
"because  it  was  the  first  time  the  Avomen  ever  voted,  you  know." 

The  election  proceeded  very  quietly,  and  all  hands  agreed  there 
never  was  such  an  election  day.  Several  men  who  bad  always  voted 
"for  license,"  came  with  their  wives  and  voted  "against  license." 
One  man  who  had  always  voted  the  whisky  ticket  said:  "  I  could 
stand  everything  but  the  woman's  prayers.  I  shall  vote  no  license." 
He  was  present  at  the  seven  a.  m.  prayer-meeting.  Young  Mr. 
Taliaferro  said  that,  so  far  as  he  could  learn,  all  the  young  men  who 
voted  for  the  first  time,  voted  the  "anti-license  ticket  "  for  town  board 
as  well  as  "against  license." 

At  five  p.  m.  of  election  day.  One  hundred  and  fifty-four  women 
have  voted  up  to  this  time.  One  lady  said,  "  I  have  lived  to  see  my 
prayers  answered.  My  son  and  three  daughters  have  voted  together 
against  whisky."  Banners  are  out  with  "Bad  luck  to  whisky,"  and 
"  Down  with  License."  The  band  is  playing  and  the  enthusiasm  rises. 
Temperance  ahead.  Men  who  have  formerly  voted  whisky  are  run- 
ning their  teams  to  gather  up  votes  for  "temperance."  Much  to  our 
regret  Mrs.  Hibben  was  obliged  to  leave  on  the  afternoon  train  for 
( Ihicago.  "  God  bless  you  women,"  she  said,  as  the  omnibus  in  winch 
we  accompanied  her  to  the  depot  passed  the  voting  place  where  the 
women  were  hard  at  work. 


332  GOSPEL   TEMPERANCE   "RETURNS." 

EVENING  OP  ELECTION  DAY. 

Meeting  at  the  M.  E.  Church  at  half-past  seven  p.  m.  The  singers 
were  on  hand,  and  sang  with  inspiration,  although  many  of  them  had 
been  working  hard  all  day,  and  were  very  weary. 

Lois  L.  Smith  read  Psalms  81  and  82.  (I  didn't  dare  read  "Then 
sang  Deborah,"  until  the  election  returns  were  announced,  although  I 
had  two  places  in  my  Bible  opened,  awaiting  developments.) 

Cassie  L.  Smith  led  the  expectant  congregation  in  prayer.  The 
choir  sang  again,  and  just  then  the  messenger  came  with  the  election 
returns,  and  our  hearts  swelled  unutterably  full  of  thanksgiving  to 
the  prayer-answering  God  as  the  announcement  was  made,  "No 
license  in  Keithsburg  !  A  clean  sweep  for  temperance  ! "  The  figures 
were  slightly  incorrect.  The  following  is  the  official  statement  kindly 
furnished  to  me  by  the  clerk.  (Three  women  were  among  the  judges 
and  clerks  of  the  election) : 

Anti-license  for  Town  Board,  -        -        -        -        517 

For  license, -        -        451 

(These  tickets  were  of  course  only  voted  by  men.) 

ON   THE  QUESTION   OP   LICENSE   OR   NO   LICENSE. 

Women  voting  against  license, 159 

Men,        ---                -                ...  98 

Men  for  license, -  1 

Not  one  woman  for  license.  The  intense  enthusiasm  of  the  hour 
is  impossible  to  describe.  The  choir  sang  "Hurrah!  hurrah!"  and 
"Glory,  Hallelujah!  "  After  the  excitement  had  measurably  subsided, 
Mrs.  Wells,  who  had  been  announeed  as  the  speaker  for  the  evening, 
began  her  address,  but  she  was  soon  interrupted  by  the  band,  who 
came  at  once  on  their  reception  of  the  joyful  news,  to  serenade  "the 
women." 

Mrs.  President  Slocum  immediately  invited  them  to  take  seats  in 
the  church,  and  for  two  hours  the  people  rejoiced  greatly  with  songs 
and  speech  making.  Several  men  signed  the  pledge— one,  the  son  of 
an  invalid  mother,  for  whom  many  prayers  had  been  offered.  'Twas 
a  wonderful  day!  The  answers  to  prayer  were  so  marked  that  we 
were  constrained  to  say,  as  one  after  another  the  requests  that  were 
made  at  the  early  morning  prayer  meeting  were  fulfilled:  "  Give  unto 
the  Lord  the  glory  due  unto  His  name."  A  deep  undercurrent  of 
spiritual  power  pervaded  the  community,  and  I  was  reminded  of  the 
saying  of  good  Esther  Pugh,  as  she  tells  of  the  days  when  the  crusade 
began,  "Our  chief  thought  was,  God  is  here."  God  was  there,  at 
Keithsburg.     I  paused  at  one  time  on  the  street  and  looked  down  its 


THE   "HOME   GUARDS"    IN   ROCKFORD.  333 

length  toward  the  river,  and  T  wished  I  could  photograph  the  whole. 
Young  men  and  maidens,  old  men,  women  and  children,  all  working 
for  the  right,  ami  not  a  tew  faithful  women  were  endeavoring  to  win 
souls  for  Christ  along  the  highway.  There  is  now  a  demand  for 
revival  work  thai  seems  to  be  so  imperative  that  it  is  difficult  to  denj', 
but  our  engagements  are  fixed.  It  is  impossible  to  remain.  It  was 
an  eventful  day,  but  the  end  is  not  yet.  "So  may  all  thy  enemies 
perish,  O  Lord." 


THE   STORY   OF   ROCKFORD. 

Illinois  has  hardly  another  town  so  beantiful  for  situa- 
tion as  Rockford,  on  the  rolling  river  beloved  by  some  of 
us  from  childhood's  sacred  days.  The  crusade  took  a 
deep  hold  here,  and  Mrs.  Henry  lived  out  the  pages  of  her 
well-known  book,  "  The  Pledge  and  Cross,"  in  the  real 
work  of  Rockford  W.  C.  T.  U.  Here  have  "  borne  and 
labored  and  had  patience,"  those  elect  ladies,  Mrs.  Backus, 
Mrs.  Wilkins,  and  Mrs.  Melancthon  Starr,  with  their 
worthy  coadjutors.  Conservative  by  nature  and  by  prac- 
tice, this  W.  C.  T.  U.  was  reluctant  to  fall  into  line  when 
the  White  Ribbon  Regiment  of  Illinois,  moved  gently  to 
the  front  and  planted  firmly  "  once  for  all"  its  Home 
Protection  Banner.  Twelve  towns  of  the  Prairie  State 
permitted  women  to  vote  on  the  question  of  license,  and 
in  them  all  the  "-Home  Guards"  fulfilled  the  predictions 
of  their  friends  by  outlawing  the  liquor  traffic.  As  year 
after  year  passed  on,  and  our  Rockford  sisters  learned  by 
what  they  suffered  from  the  mighty  power  by  which  the 
sovereign  citizen  throws  around  the  dram-shop  the 
guarantees  and  safeguards  of  the  State,  they  took  a 
solemn  resolution.  In  pursuance  thereof,  a  petition  was 
carried  to  the  city  council  (T.  B.  "Wilkins,  the  hus- 
band of  Mrs.  Wilkins,  being  mayor)  asking,  that  since 
by  the  laws  of  Illinois,  the  question  of  licensing  dram- 
shops is  left  discretionary  with  the  local  authorities,  they 
should  pass  an   ordinance  under  which  they  should  be 


334       BRIDGET   AND   GRETCHEN    VOTE   FOR   THE  RIGHT. 

pledged  to  grant  no  licenses,  if  by  popular  vote  of  men 
and  women  over  twenty-one  years  of  age,  the  majority 
should  declare  against  license.  Such  an  ordinance  was 
adopted,  and  the  spring  campaign  was  entered  upon  with 
energy,  the  ladies  canvassing  the  city  with  their  petitions, 
and  going  to  the  polls  two  thousand  strong.  Now,  be  it 
remembered  that  Rockford  is  a  manufacturing  town,  with 
a  large  foreign  population,  but  that  notwithstanding  this, 
hundreds  of  poor  women  and  foreign  women  put  on  their 
best  Sunday  attire  and  marched  in  the  procession  that 
day  to  drop  in  their  no  license  ballots,  while  but  two 
women  (and  they  homeless  and  debased)  voted  in  favor 
of  continuing  dram-shops  among  the  institutions  of  a 
town  in  which  mothers  were  to  rear  their  children. 
Mrs.  Wilkins  wrote  me  as  follows : 

Manufacturers,  ministers,  merchants,  doctors,  lawyers— all  classes, 
indeed— came  with  their  wives  to  the  polls,  with  as  much  good  feeling 
and  dignity  as  they  would  manifest  in  going  to  church.  Young 
women  came  alone  or  in  pairs.  We  had  a  quiet,  pleasant  day— no 
disturbances  or  need  of  police  in  the  whole  city.  Even  our  enemies 
confessed  in  the  papers  next  day  that  their  prophecies  concerning  that 
election,  viz.,  that  the  best  women  would  not  vote,  and  we  should 
have  disorder  at  the  polls,  had  failed. 

But  note  the  sequel.  While  women,  under  the  special 
ordinance,  were  voting  on  the  "  non-partisan  "  question 
of  "license  or  no  license,"  the  liquor  interest  had  its 
party  ticket  in  the  field,  and,  though  good  men  wrought 
valiantly,  there  was  not  enough  who  "  stood  up  to  be 
counted "  to  make  a  majority ;  consequently  a  license 
board  was  elected,  the  ordinance  under  which  the  women 
voted  was  at  once  repealed,  and  dram  shops  flourished 
like  the  green  bay  tree. 

Note  also  that  if  the  women,  too,  had  been  permitted  to 
vote  for  the  officers  themselves,  as  well  as  on  the  abstract 
question  of  license  (that  is,  for  the  enforcer  as  well  as 
the  enforcement  Act),  the  majority  would  have  been  over- 


MEN    AND    WOMEN    OUTLAW    SALOONS    IN    ARKANSAS.    335 

whelming  for  prohibition.     An  ounce  of  fact  is  worth  a 
ton  of  theory. 

"  HOME   PROTECTION  "    IN   ARKANSAS. 

We  met  in  the  Hall  of  Representatives  at  Little  Rock, 
where,  in  1880,  through  the  efforts  of  temperance  men 
and  women,  a  law  was  passed  by  which,  within  three 
miles  of  a  church  or  school-house,  the  sale  of  intoxicating 
liquors  could  be  prohibited  by  the  will  of  the  majority  of 
the  men  and  women,  expressed  in  the  form  of  their  signa- 
tures to  a  petition.  Delegates  to  this  grand  jubilee  were 
present  from  all  parts  of  the  State,  the  majority  being 
ministers,  lawyers,  and  editors,  those  three  mighty  factors 
in  the  problem  of  public  sentiment.  Unlike  most  of  our 
Northern  States,  Arkansas  boasts  a  judiciary  wherein 
almost  every  member  is  a  friend  of  this  law  by  which  the 
people  actually  rule. 

These  dignified  gentlemen  were  out  in  force,  and  their 
opinions  had  great  weight  with  the  audiences  which  for 
three  days  and  evenings  assembled  in  the  historic  hall. 
My  notes  of  several  leading  addresses  will  best  reproduce 
the  impression  which  has  so  renewed  my  strength  as  a 
temperance  advocate. 

Rev.  H.  R.  Withers,  a  pioneer  preacher  and  editor, 
spoke  somewhat  as  follows  : 

Nearly  forty  years  ago  Dr.  R.  L.  Dodge,  a  young  medical  mission- 
ary from  Vermont,  was  sent  out  by  the  American  Board  of  Foreign 
Missions  to  help  evangelize  the  Creek  Indians.  He  rode  two  thousand 
miles  on  horseback,  from  Danville,  Pa.,  to  Fort  Gibson.  Ten  years 
later  he  established  the  first  temperance  paper  ever  known  in  the  then 
wild  State  of  Arkansas.  He  had  a  heart  as  big  as  the  wilderness 
around  him  and  true  as  the  stars  that  lighted  his  pathway  through  the 
forest.  Pun;  and  clear,  but  small  and  almost  unheeded,  he  sent  forth 
his  clarion  voice  for  prohibition.  Yonder  he  sits,  God  bless  him,  full 
of  years  and  honors,  the  noblest  Roman  of  them  all!  Are  we  not 
glad  he  has  lived  to  see  this  day?  Look  over  the  map  of  our  be- 
loved  State,    where   we  and   our  wives  have  so  long  labored  and 


336  A   EEALLY   "  CHIVALRIC  "    LAWYER. 

had  patience,  trace  the  line  from  Fort  Smith  to  Little  Rock  and  all 
along  the  Iron  Mountain  Road,  look  over  the  counties,  and  from 
three-fourths  of  them  you  will  find  the  liquor  traffic  routed,  horse, 
foot,  and  dragoons.  Women  did  it !  We  men  put  the  weapon  of  law 
in  their  hands,  and  they  have  wielded  it  like  true  daughters  of  the 
Church,  the  State,  the  home'.  We  welcome  you  to  the  first  temperance 
jubilee  that  Arkansas  has  ever  known,  because  never  before  had  the 
sovereign  people  an  opportunity  to  assert  its  conviction  and  to  avenge 
its  heartache. 

The  next  speech  was  by  Col.  Porter  Grace,  a  leading- 
lawyer,  and  I  will  sum  up  in  my  report  what  I  heard  him 
say  in  public  and  in  private  on  this  question.  Learning 
that  he  was  the  member  of  the  committee  which  reported 
to  the  Legislature  the  wishes  of  the  temperance  people 
for  this  bill,  I  was  desirous  to  know  his  motive.  This 
was  his  testimony : 

In  my  career  as  a  lawyer  I  have  prosecuted  or  defended  one  hundred 
and  thirty  men  for  homicide  in  my  part  of  the  State.  Fully  nine- 
tenths  of  all  my  cases  at  court  have  been  directly  traceable  to  the 
liquor  traffic.  I  have  seen  women  suffer  so  much  that  I  determined 
to  befriend  them,  if  I  could.  Two  facts  stood  out  in  bold  relief  as  the 
result  of  my  experience:  first,  intoxicating  drinks  are  at  the  bottom 
of  crime;  second,  the  women,  as  a  class,  not  only  do  not  drink,  but 
are  set  against  the  habit.  Then  came  the  question:  "What  can  be 
done  to  protect  the  homes?"  Our  Legislature  had  not  got  up,  nor 
down,  nor  around  (just  as  you  please  to  call  it)  to  the  idea  of  the  full 
ballot  for  women.  So,  as  I  could  not  put  that  in  their  hands,  I 
resolved  to  do  my  level  best  to  give  them  the  vote  by  signature.  We 
asked  for  this  law,  and  secured  it  by  a  large  majority.  Be  it  said  to 
the  everlasting  credit  of  women  withal  that,  as  a  class,  without  regard 
to  color,  they  stood  for  the  right  when  we  gave  them  the  power. 

I  learned  that  the  Woman's  Christian  Temperance 
Union  in  fourteen  counties  sent  in  petitions  to  the  Legis- 
lature, and  that  first  called  the  attention  of  Col.  Grace 
and  his  committee  to  the  immediate  demand  on  the  part 
of  the  people  for  this  measure.  Senator  Mitchell,  who 
was  the  chief  champion  in  the  Senate,  said  : 

I  was  always  opposed  to  the  ballot  for  women;  but  they  have  so 
nobly  vindicated  their  right  to  it  in  our  State,  and  by  their  quiet  and 


THEN'    AND    NOW.  337 

divine  action  have  done  so  much  more  to  increase  the  sum  of  human 
welfare  here  than  any  single  force  has  ever  before  done,  that  I  am 
prepared  to  use  my  influence  to  invest  them  with  full  sovereignty  pro 

Hon.  H.  M.  McVeagh,  one  of  the  most  gifted  lawyers 
in  the  State,  said : 

I  come  from  Osceola,  in  the  northwest  county  of  our  State.     A  few 

years  ago  we  were  given  up  to  drink.    I  have  often  heard  Judge , 

who  sits  there  at  my  left,  discharge  the  jury  because  they  were  too 
drunk  to  serve.  I  have  seen  members  of  the  grand  jury,  when  a 
murder  ease  was  being  tried,  fall  asleep  because  of  drunkenness,  and 
start  up  when  nudged  by  a  lawyer,  and  say:  "What— case — we — 
a-tryin'  now."  Then  the  only  code  was  that  you  must  be  able  to 
In  ild  more  than  the  other  fellow.  That  was  where  your  gifts  and 
prowess  came  in.  Arkansas  had  no  use  for  a  man  who  didn't  drink. 
My  friend,  the  judge,  will  corroborate  this  statement.  There  was  a 
\  oung  man  in  our  county  who  achieved  the  position  of  sheriff  when 
only  twenty  two  years  old.  He  was  a  graduate  of  Mississippi  Univer- 
sity, and  worth  $40,000  in  his  own  right.  He  was  the  handsomest 
man  in  the  State,  and  married  a  beautiful  young  woman.  From 
taking  an  occasional  glass,  he  went  down  in  five  years  so  that  he 
spent  one-half  of  his  time  in  jail  for  stealing  the  wherewithal  to  buy 
liquor,  and  the  other  half  whipping  his  mother  and  his  wife.  After 
several  times  trying  to  kill  himself,  he  died  suddenly,  a  common 
drunkard  and  pauper.  Yes,  we  were  given  to  drink;  but  I  want  you 
just  to  imagine  the  change,  when,  to  say  nothing  of  our  closed-out 
saloons,  a  river  steamboat  stopping  at  our  wharf  shuts  up  its  bar!  One 
of  our  drinkers  went  on  board  but  yesterday  and  tried  to  get  a  glass. 
"  No,"  Baid  the  captain,  "I  have  no  mind  to  be  shut  up  in  Osceola 
jail."  Imagine  the  change  when  owe  marshal  says:  "You  might  as 
well  abolish  my  office.  For  one  month  I  have  had  no  cases  of 
drunken  and  disorderly  conduct,  and  not  a  single  arrest  save  one  for 
thieving.''  You  may  imagine  the  change  when  a  mean-spirited  busi- 
ness man  in  our  community  said  to  an  old  resident:  "You  can't  keep 
up  your  town.  Xo  arrests,  no  fines.  You  can't  even  keep  your  side- 
walks  in  repair."  And  some  fanners,  standing  by,  laughed  their  con- 
tempt for  the  speech,  and  one  of  them  said  to  the  rest:  "  What  a  pity 
it  is,  boys,  that  a  lot  of  us  can't  be  jerked  up  by  the  marshal,  carried 
out  to  court,  and  sawed  up  into  the  right  length  for  sidewalks." 

I  want  you  to  remember  that  no  outsider  came  to  help  us.  We've 
aad  no  "  movement"  and  no  excitement.  Our  political  leaders  have 
stood  aloof;  but  the  law  had  sharpened  a  weapon  for  us.  The  majesty 
of  the  people  registered  their  decree  according  to  the  motto,  prophetic 


338  "ONE    BIG    MURPHY   MEETInV 

as  it  now  seems,  of  our  dear  old  State:  " Regnat  populos."  Arkansas 
is  religious.  Go  out  into  our  backwoods,  and  you  will  find  a  Bible  in 
tbe  bouse  and  bowed  beads  around  the  table,  asking  God's  blessing  on 
the  daily  bread.  "The  people  of  the  rural  dee-stricts,"  as  they  are 
sometimes  called,  can  be  trusted  to  take  their  own  destiny  in  their 
hands,  only  you  must  let  them  all  come  to  the  front  in  solid  phalanx 
against  their  foe.  For  law  is  merely  public  sentiment  organized.  The 
Supreme  Court  has  declared  our  law  constitutional;  so,  tbe  other  day, 
when  a  saloon-keeper  lost  his  case  in  the  District  Court,  somebody 
asked  him  if  he  was  going  to  appeal  it,  and  he  answered,  with  an  oath: 
"  Wbat  use  would  it  be,  when  the  Supreme  Court  has  turned  itself 
into  one  big  Murphy  meeting?  " 

Rev.  Dr.  Winfield,  one  of  the  most  gifted  men  in  the 
Methodist  Church,  South,  made  the  closing  speech  of  the 
evening.     He  spoke  with  exceeding  pathos,  saying : 

I  have  cast  in  my  lot  with  Arkansas  and  worn  out  my  life  in  her 
service.  I  bave  a  right  to  complain  of  the  stinging  injustice  done  me 
by  the  laws  that  tempt  my  boy  to  ruin,  so  that  it  is  a  positive  danger 
for  him  to  pass  along  these  streets  of  Little  Rock.  And  I  claim  for 
my  home  at  tbe  capital  the  protection  already  given  to  other  towns, 
so  that  the  provisions  of  this  law  may  extend  to  a  city  of  the  first 
class. 

Dr.  Winfield' s  wife  is  President  of  the  W.  C.  T.  U.  of 
the  capital,  and  Dr.  Dodge's  of  the  State.  The  most 
important  question  before  the  Convention  was  whether, 
at  the  next  session  of  the  Legislature,  the  temperance 
people  should  try  for  a  constitutional  amendment  or  to 
extend  the  present  law  to  the  largest  towns.  It  is  note- 
worthy that,  notwithstanding  the  prevailing  enthusiasm 
for  constitutional  prohibition,  the  unanimous  advice  of  the 
judges  present — than  whom  I  never  saw  a  body  of  more 
intelligent,  whole-hearted  temperance  men — was  to  adhere 
to  the  present  form,  but  to  enlarge  its  scope.  This  was, 
after  full  discussion,  acceeded  to  by  a  unanimous  vote. 
The  argument  of  the  saloon-keepers,  made  by  their  lawyer 
before  the  Supreme  Court,  has  in  it  matter  for  reflection 
by  those  who  consider  the  weapon  of  law  a  "  carnal  one  " 
in  woman's  hands,  even  though  it  prove  "  mighty  for  the 


A    PRACTICAL   TEST.  :'>•"'»'.» 

pulling  down  of  strongholds."  I  quote  from  the  printed 
"brief"  furnished  me  by  Col.  Wittick,  one  of  the  leading 
lawyers  of  the  Stale  : 

None  but  male  persons  of  sound  mind  can  vote;  but  their  rights 
s»e  destroyed,  and  the  idiot,  alien,  and  females  step  in  and  usurp  their 
rights  in  popular  government.  Since  females,  idiots,  and  aliens  cannot 
,  they  should  not  be  permitted  to  accomplish  the  same  purpose  by 
signing  a  petition;  for  the  signature  of  an  adult  to  a  petition  is  the 
substance  of  a  ballot  in  taking  the  popular  sense  of  the  community. 
It  merery  changes  the  form,  and  is  identical  in  effect. 

May  God  hasten  the  day  when  all  good  people  'who 
oppose  tliis  kk  Home  Protection  Movement"  shall  see  that 
they  have  allies  whom  they  can  but  detest,  and  when  this 
most  Christian  method  of  temperance  work  shall  become 
universal  in  this  Christian  land. 

A    PRACTICAL    APPLICATION    OF    THE    ARKANSAS    LAW. 

With  this  keen  threshing  instrument  of  a  "  Home  Pro- 
tection "  law  in  hand,  let  us  look  in  upon  the  little  town 
of  Ball  Knob,  Ark.  The  population  is  made  up  of  men 
engaged  in  quarrying  for  a  railroad,  and  the  saloon-traps 
catch  these  poor,  undeveloped  souls  as  they  emerge  from 
the  paymaster's  car,  which  comes  along  the  track  once  a 
week,  and  divert  their  wages  from  supplying  the  flour- 
barrel  at  home  to  supplying  the  till  of  the  dram-shop. 
.Merchants  have  been  obliged  to  "  garnishee  "  the  earnings 
of  these  men  in  the  interests  of  the  hungry  wife  and  chil- 
dren at  home,  as  the  only  means  of  preventing  the  dis- 
ruption of  their  families.  But  members  of  the  Women's 
Christian  Temperance  Union  started  out  one  bright  morn- 
ing, on  a  preconcerted  signal,  and  quietly  canvassing  the 
town,  secured  the  names  of  a  majority  of  the  people  to  a 
petition  against  the  leeches  that  were  gorging  themselves 
on  the  blood  of  "industry  and  famishing  the  homes  of  the 
poor.  Within  twenty-four  hours  the  liquor-dealers  had 
"folded  their  tents  like  the  Aral),  and  as  silently  stolen 


340  CONVICTION    CORRELATED    WITH    LAW. 

away,"  leaving  women's  hearts  full  of  a  strange  new  joy. 
They  had  not  even  known,  so  ignorant  were  they,  that 
any  such  door-  of  escape  had  been  opened  to  them  by  this 
benignant  law.  Some  of  them  could  not  write  their  own 
mimes,  but  gratefully  made  the  sign  of  the  cross.  0 
blessed  cross !  symbol  beloved  of  that  Christ  who  lifts 
woman  up  out  of  her  degradation,  and  places  her  feet 
upon  the  beautiful  mountains  of  privilege  and  hope. 

This  illustration  is  but  one  among  scores  that  might  be 
cited,  the  total  influence  of  which  has  been  to  shut  up  the 
saloons  in  three-fourths  of  the  counties  of  Arkansas.  So 
will  it  always  be  when  our  Christianity  becomes  so  prac- 
tical that  the  united  force  of  all  good  men  and  women  can 
be  brought  to  bear  against  the  liquor  traffic  at  the  point 
where  conviction  can  be  correlated  with  law. 

OBSERVATIONS  EN  ROUTE. 
( From  a  Letter  Home.) 
Winter  of  1882 :  It  is  a  gala  day  for  all  good  people  in 
Arkansas.  Little  Opportune  and  I  are  on  the  train,  tak- 
ing a  ten  hours'  ride  from  the  capital  to  the  border  of 
Indian  Territory,  where,  in  the  wickedest  town  of  the 
State,  we  are  to  hold  four  temperance  meetings  to-morrow 
(Sabbath),  and  to  get  a  foothold  for  our  dearly  beloved 
Women's  Christian  Temperance  Union.  On  the  train 
men  are  talking  of  nothing  else  save  this  local  option  law, 
which  has  recently  gone  into  effect,  and  by  the  provisions 
of  which  women  as  well  as  men  have  the  vote  by  signa- 
ture on  the  question  of  licensing  saloons.  It  is,  in  effect, 
the  very  same  law  for  which  we  worked  so  hard  in  Illinois. 
As  a  prominent  lawyer  just  said  to  me  on  the  cars,  "  We 
have  been  so  cursed  in  Arkansas  by  drink,  the  homes  and 
the  women  have  been  so  oppressed,  that  when,  in  response 
to  the  petitions  of  the  Women's  Christian  Temperance 
Union,  and  the  hard  work  of  Colonel  Grace,  J.  L.  Palmer, 


-A    BLIND    TIGER.'1  341 

and  others,  the  last  Legislature  said  to  our  people,  '  Up, 
and  at  'em.r  you  may  be  sure  we  didn't  stand  on  cere- 
mony. The  women  have  displayed  a  loyalty  and  earnest- 
ness beyond  all  praise,  and  in  three-fourths  of  our  counties 
prohibition  is  the  law.  We  are  fortunate  in  having  the 
press  and  the  lawyers  almost  solid  on  our  side,  as  well  as 
the  ministers,  and  so  we  get  thorough  enforcement." 

As  we  flv  along  on  the  train  from  town  to  town,  it  is 
a  strange  and  blessed  sight'  to  see  every  saloon — and 
there  are  always  so  many  in  sight  from  the  depot — her- 
metically sealed,  the  lonesomest  looking  places  I  have 
ever  beheld  outside  the  glimpse  I  had  in  Egypt  of  the 
Desert  of  Sahara.  A  good  minister  seated  behind  me — 
the  Rev.  Mr.  Boone — has  just  shown  me  his  elegant  gold- 
headed  cane,  given  him  by  the  temperance  people  of 
Morrillton  in  return  for  his  hard  work  in  getting  up  the 
death-dealing  petition  that  closed  out  the  liquor  traffic 
there.  Perhaps  their  appreciation  was  enhanced  by  the 
fact  that,  as  the  good  man  was  leaving  their  town  when 
his  work  was  ended,  a  venomous  saloon-keeper  came  to 
the  depot  and  spat  in  his  face.  Having  done  this,  the 
miserable  fellow  took  out  his  pistol  and  said,  "  Come  on ; 
I'm  ready."  "  Oh,  no,"  replied  the  good-natured-looking 
minister,  "  I  should  be  no  match  for  you  in  the  use  of  the 
weapons  you  have  chosen." 

Just  now  we  passed  a  town  at  which  the  temperance 
man  pointed  triumphantly,  saying,  "They  had  a  blind 
tiger  here"  (meaning  the  secret  sale  of  grog),  "but  the 
good  folks  closed  him  out  yesterday  to  the  tune  of  $500 
and  costs." 

The  machinery  of  the  law  is  superb.  No  "  remon- 
strance" or  counter  petition  is  permitted.  The  simple 
question,  "  Do  we  want  dram-shops?"  is  answered  by  the 
signatures  of  men  and  women,  and  that  settles  the  mat- 
ter— not  for  a  year  only,  but  "  once  for  all."     In  not  a 


342  HARD-SHELL    BAPTISTS. 

single  case  where  the  vote  has  been  taken,  has  it  lavored 
the  abomination  of  desolation.  The  outrages  upon  the 
homo  have  been  borne  so  long  that  "wrath  has  been 
treasured  up  against  the  day  of  wrath."  Too  often  the 
"drug-store  nuisance"  succeeds  that  of  the  saloon,  and 
prescriptions  at  so  much  apiece  fly  thick  as  autumn  leaves 
from  the  hands  of  recreant  members  of  the  medical  fra- 
ternity. Not  so  here.  Each  doctor  makes  public  affidavit, 
under  pains  and  penalties,  that  only  in  cases  of  extreme 
necessity  will  he  so  prescribe.  The  only  people  aside 
from  saloon-keepers  who  have,  so  far  as  I  can  learn, 
antagonized  the  law,  are  the  "  Hard-shell  Baptists." 
They  have  joined  in  the  hue  and  cry  that  "  alcohol  is  a 
good  creature  of  God,"  and  angrily  declared  that  women 
had  better  stay  inside  their  own  proper  sphere,  and  let 
politics  alone. 

General  Erwm,  of  Des  Arc,  and  his  earnest-hearted 
wife,  gave  me  a  most  interesting  account  of  their  work  in 
that  remote  but  wide-awake  community.  It  seems  they 
have  a  Woman's  Christian  Temperance  Union  of  fifty 
members  ;  a  flourishing  Juvenile  Society,  which  has  care- 
fully studied  Di\  Sewall's  "  Stomach  Plates,"  and  Julia 
Colman's  "  Catechism."  They  have  thus  built  up  a  solid 
and  intelligent  sentiment,  and  when  the  law  declared  that 
women  might  have  power  equal  to  men  in  the  decision  of 
this  great  home  question,  thus  for  the  first  time  in  the 
history  of  their  town  expressing  the  actual  public  senti- 
ment in  a  concrete  form  on  the  question  of  the  dram- 
shops, there  was  no  question  as  to  the  result.  Mrs.  Erwin 
took  her  horse  and  buggy  and  went  in  one  direction,  her 
husband  rode  on  horseback  in  another,  and  obtained  the 
decision  of  "  We,  the  people  of  Des  Arc,"  and  within 
twenty-four  hours  the  death-knell  of  the  saloons  was 
sounded. 

This  is  only  a  specimen  case.     In  Forrest  City  the 


AX    ARKANSAS   MAN.  343 

Woman's  Christian  Temperance  Union  quietly  and 
secretly  districted  the  town,  went  out  to  their  work  in  the 
morning,  and  before  sundown  announced  that  Hut  had 
the  majority  upon  their  books. 

Among  all  the  delegates,  though  many  had  far  1  tetter 
education,  none  was  endowed  with  a  nobler  manliness 
than  General  Erwin,  '"born  and  reared  in  Prairie  County, 
and  proud  to  be  a  native  of  redeemed  Arkansas,"  as  he 
told  us;  a  brave  officer  on  the  Confederate  side  during 
the  late  unpleasantly,  but  hearty  in  his  expressions  of 
delight  at  "the  .co-operation  of  the  two  sections  in  this 
home  protection  work."  He  was  for  twenty  years  a 
moderate  drinker  ;  and  spent  his  money  freely  in  treating 
at  the  bar.  One  day  he  heard  the  saloon  men  boasting 
of  the  patronage  he  brought.  "Bless  my  heart!"  said 
he  ;  "  these  fellows  aint  agoin'  to  make  a  spring-board  o' 
me  to  ruin  no  more  likely  young  men."  So  he  signed  the 
pledge.  He  also  and  at  once  gave  up  tobacco.  It  was  a 
great  encouragement  to  hear  the  earnest  words  of  this 
great,  generous-hearted  man,  who  came  into  our  women's 
meeting  to  report  for  his  wife,  who  was  too  timid.  "  She's 
a  major  hand  with  her  pen,"  he  said,  looking  proudly  at 
the  dark,  earnest  face  of  his  wife ;  "  beats  me  all  hollow 
at  that ;  but  I  have  to  do  the  talking  for  the  family." 
"  We  had  some  trouble  to  get  our  most  conservative  wo- 
men started  out  in  this  petition  work,"  he  added  ;  "  but 
we  jest  collected  'em  up,  and  my  wife,  she  prayed  and  I 
argued,  and  they  got  to  see  that  it  was  '  for  God  and  home 
and  native  land'  they  was  a-workin',  and  that  they  was 
a  military  company  in  the  great  Union  army  of  the  Wo- 
man's Christian  Temperance  Union,  that  belongs  to  the 
South  as  much  as  to  the  North,  and  so  you  see  it  just 
knocked  the  pins  out  from  under  their  little  timidity,  and 
the  women  saved  the  day." 

So  shall  it  be  ere  long  all  over  this  great  country,  when 


344  a  "home  protection"  law. 

the  "  human  question  "  comes  squarely  to  the  front,  and 
the  unit  of  our  race,  formed  from  the  fractions  man  and 
woman,  adds  united  strength  to  the  Prohibition  vote  in 
the  name  of  humanity  and  God.  The  Woman's  Christian 
Temperance  Unions  have  borne  themselves  most  nobly  in 
this  great  uprising — the  like  of  which  has  not  been  seen 
since  the  crusade  of  1874.  Having  been  the  first  to  peti- 
tion for  the  law,  they  have  quietly  districted  the  towns, 
and  gathered  in  the  priceless  signatures,  thus  for  the  first 
time  in  the  history  of  this  wild  Western  State,  having 
expressed  the  real  public  sentiment,  and  made  the  power 
of  the  church  actively  felt  as  a  force  which  can  overmaster 
the  saloon. 

THE    FAMOUS    "  HOME    PROTECTION "    LAW    OF    THE    STATE    OF 
ARKANSAS.       APPROVED    MARCH    21,    1881. 

Let  me  earnestly  commend  to  the  careful  attention  of 
all  our  workers  the  following  statute,  declared  by  the  best 
attorneys  of  Arkansas  (when  it  shall  extend  to  cities  of 
the  first  and  second  class)  to  be  superior  to  any  measure 
yet  enacted.  Their  reason  is  that  while  in  effect  strictly 
prohibitory,  it  rests  upon  the  widest  basis  of  active  public 
sentiment,  and  furnishes  the  simplest  machinery  for  en- 
forcement.    The  italics  are  my  own. 

Be  it  enacted  by  the  General  Assembly  of  the  State  of  Arkansas : 

Section  1.  That  whenever  the  adult  inhahitants  residing  within 
three  (3)  miles  of  any  school-house,  academy,  college,  university,  or 
other  institution  of  learning,  or  of  any  church  house  in  this  State, 
shall  desire  to  prohibit  the  sale  or  giving  away  of  any  vinous,  spiri- 
tuous, or  intoxicating  liquors  of  any  kind,  or  any  compound  or 
preparation  thereof  commonly  called  tonics  or  bitters,  and  a  majority 
of  such  inhabitants  shall  petition  the  county  court  of  the  county 
wherein  such  institution  of  learning  or  church  house  is  situated,  pray, 
ing  that  the  sale  or  giving  away  of  the  intoxicating  licpiors  enumerated 
in  the  premises  be  prohibited  within  three  (3)  miles  of  any  such 
institution  of  learning  or  church  house;  whereupon  said  county  court, 
being  satisfied  that  a  majority  of  such  inhabitants  have  signed  such 


"  OLD    KING    MAJORITY. "  345 

petition,  shall  make  an  order  in  accordance  with  the  prayer  thereof, 
and  (h,  n  aft*  r  it  shall  be  unlawful  for  any  person  to  vend  or  give  away 
any  spirituous  or  intoxicating  liquors  within  the  limits  aforesaid; 
Provided,  that  this  ad  shall  not  affect  persons  who  may  have  already 
obtained  a  license  to  sell  spirituous  liquors  in  any  locality  wherein 
this  act  shall  be  put  in  force,  until  such  license  shall  expire; 
and,  provided  further,  that  nothing  in  this  act  shall  be  construed  as 
affecting  or  repealing  any  special  law  now  in  force  prohibiting  the 
sale  or  giving  away  of  spirituous  or  intoxicating  liquors  in  any 
particular  locality. 

Sec.  2.  For  the  purposes  of  this  act,  females  as  well  as  males  are 
competent  subscribers  to  the  petition  herein  provided  for. 

Sec.  3.  That  this  act  shall  not  be  construed  as  prohibiting  the  use  of 
wine  for  sacramental  purposes,  or  to  prevent  the  prescribing  and 
furnishing  of  alcoholic  stimulants  by  a  regular  practicing  physician 
to  the  sick  under  his  charge,  when  he  may  deem  the  same  necessary;  but 
before  such  physician  shall  be  authorized  to  so  prescribe  and  furnish 
such  alcoholic  stimulants,  in  order  to  protect  himself  from  the  penalty 
of  this  act  he  shall  file  in  the  office  of  the  county  clerk  of  the  county 
in  which  he  resides,  an  affidavit  which  shall  be  in  the  following  form, 

to  wit : 

I, ,  do  solemnly  swear  (or  affirm)  that  I  am  a  regular  practic- 
ing physician,  and  that  I  will  not  prescribe  or  furnish  any  vinous  or 
alcoholic  stimulants  to  any  one,  except  it  be,  in  my  judgment,  a 
necessity  in  tlie  treatment  of  the  disease  with  which  he  shall  be  at  the 
time  afflicted. 

Sec.  4.  Be  it  further  enacted,  That  the  provisions  of  this  act  shall 
not  apply  to  cities  of  the  first  and  second  classes,  in  Avhich  a  regular 
police  force  is  maintained. 

Sec  5.  That  any  person  violating  the  provisions  of  this  act  shall 
be  deemed  guilty  of  a  misdemeanor,  and  upon  conviction  either  in  the 
circuit  court  or  before  any  justice  of  the  peace,  shall  be  fined  in  any 
sum  not  less  than  twenty-five  dollars,  nor  more  than  one  hundred 
dollar-. 

Sec.  6.  That  all  laws  in  conflict  with  the  provisions  of  this  act  be 
and  hereby  arc  rep.  alcd,  and  this  act  take  effect  and  be  in  force  from 
and  after  its  passage. 

"  HOME    PROTECTION." 
(Extract  from  Fourth  of  July  Address  at  "  The  Independent's"  Celebration,  1879.) 

KIV:    MAJORITY. 

Once  more  will  the  time  honored  declaration  be  made  to-day  by  a 
thousand  Fourth  of  July  orators,  that  "the  Americans  are  a  free 
people."    But  1  insist  that  we  are  governed  by  the  most  powerful 


346  "  SWEET   REASONABLENESS." 

king  whose  iron  rule  ever  determined  the  policy,  moulded  the  institu- 
tions, or  controlled  the  destinies  of  a  great  nation. 

So  pervasive  is  his  influence  that  it  penetrates  to  the  most  obscure 
and  distant  hamlet  with  the  same  readiness,  and  there  wields  the  same 
potency  as  in  his  empire's  capital;  nay  (with  reverence  be  it  said),  he 
is  like  Deity  in  that  his. actual  presence  is  co-extensive  with  his  vast 
domain.  Our  legislatures  are  his  playthings,  our  congressmen  his 
puppets,  and  our  honored  President  the  child  of  his  adoption. 
We  do  not  often  call  him  by  his  name,  this  potentate  of  million  hands 
and  myriad  voices;  but,  to  my  thinking,  nothing  is  to-day  so  vital  to 
America  as  that  we  become  better  acquainted  with  our  ruler.  Let  me 
then  present  to  your  thought  his  Majestic  Highness,  King  Majority, 
Sovereign  Ruler  of  these  United  States. 

KING  ALCOHOL. 

Permit  me  now  to  introduce  a  different  character,  who  comes  to  the 
court  of  King  Majority  as  chief  ambassador  from  the  empire  of  his 
Satanic  Majesty.  Behold!  I  show  you  the  skeleton  at  our  patriotic 
banquet.  It  has  a  skull  with  straightened  forehead  and  sickening 
smile;  but  bedecked  with  wreaths  of  vine,  clusters  of  grape,  and 
heads  of  golden  grain — King  Alcohol,  present  at  court  in  radiant 
disguise.  With  a  foaming  beer-mug  at  his  lips,  he  drinks  the  health 
of  King  Majority;  and  placing  at  his  feet  a  chest  of  gold  labeled 
"  Internal  Revenue,"  he  desireth  conditions  of  peace. 

THE   QUESTION. 

Behold  in  these  two  figures  the  bewildering  danger  and  the  ineffable 
hope  of  the  Republic!  How  can  we  rouse  the  stolid  giant,  King 
Majority?  How  light  in  those  sleepy  eyes  the  fires  of  a  holy  and 
relentless  purpose?  How  nerve  once  more,  with  the  resistless  force 
that  smote  African  slavery  to  death,  the  mighty  sinews  of  the 
Republic's  sleeping  king? 

AN   ANSWER. 

How?  Only  by  "  sweet  reasonableness:"  only  by  ceaseless  persua- 
sion; only  by  noble  examples;  only  by  honest  hard  work,  based  upon 
fervent  and  effectual  prayer. 

Human  heads  and  hearts  are  much  alike.  I  remember  that  the 
great  Temperance  Crusade  of  1874  found  me  with  a  beer  keg  in  my 
cellar,  a  fatal  haziness  in  my  opinions,  and  a  blighting  indifference  to 
the  temperance  reform  upon  my  will.  But  how  did  its  intense  pathos 
melt  my  heart;  how  did  its  mighty  logic  tune  the  lax  cords  of  opinion 
to  concert  pitch;  how  did  its  miracle  of  prayer  bring  thousands  to 
their  knees,  crying,  "Lord,  what  wouldst  thou  have  me  to  do?"  For 
myself,  I  could  never  be  the  same  after  that.     As  a  woman,  a  patriot, 


"  MAKE   A    CHAIN."  347 

a  Christian,  my  heart  is  fixed  in  deathless  enmity  to  all  that  can 
intoxicate.  The  same  influences  which  so  transformed  one  brain  and 
heart,  arc  steadily  at  work  to-day  in  a  thousand  quiet  ways. 

The  sobei  second  thought  of  the  Woman's  Temperance  Crusade 

was  organization.  The  voice  of  God  called  to  them  from  the  lips  of 
his  prophet:  "  Make  a  chain,  for  the  land  is  full  of  bloody  crimes  and 
the  city  is  full  of  violence."  And  so  in  every  town  and  village  we 
are  forming  these  chains  of  light  and  of  loving  helpfulness,  which  we 
call  'Women's  Christian  Temperance  Unions."  We  have  already 
twenty-three  Slates  organized,  with  thousands  of  local  auxiliaries. 
Every  day  brings  fresh  accessions  of  women,  translated  out  of  the 
passive  and  into  the  active  voice  on  this  great  question  of  the  protec- 
tion of  their  homes.  Of  the  nine  thousand  papers  published  in  this  coun- 
try, timet  housand  have  had  temperance  facts  and  figures  regularly 
provided  by  members  of  our  societies.  Temperance  literature  is  being 
circulated;  Our  Union,  the  official  organ  of  the  Women's  Temperance 
Society,  has  a  large  subscription  list;  Sabbath  schools  are  adopting  our 
plans  of  temperance  instruction;  and  hundreds  of  juvenile  societies 
are  inscribing  on  their  banners:  "Tremble,  King  Alcohol!  We  shall 
grow  up."  Friendly  inns  and  temperance  reading-rooms  are  multi- 
plying; gospel  meetings,  conducted  by  women,  are  reaching  the 
drinking  class  in  hundreds  of  communities;  the  Red  and  Blue  Ribbon 
movements  have  attained  magnificent  proportions;  and  all  this  many- 
sided  work  is  fast  concentrating  its  influence  to  place  the  ballot  in  the 
hand  of  woman,  and  thus  capture  for  the  greatest  of  reforms  old  King 
Majority.  Magnificent  is  the  spectacle  of  these  new  forces  now  rally- 
ing to  the  fray.  Side  by  side  with  the  500,000  men  whose  united 
energies  are  expended  in  making  and  selling  strong  drink,  we  are 
working  day  by  day.  While  they  brew  beer  we  are  brewing  public 
sentiment;  while  they  distill  whisky  we  are  distilling  facts;  while  they 
rectify  brandy  we  are  rectifying  political  constituencies;  aiftl  ere  long 
their  fuming  tide  of  intoxicating  liquor  shall  be  met  and  driven  back 
by  the  overwhelming  flood  of  enlightened  sentiment  and  divinely 
aroused  energy. 

OBJECTION.  — "  PROrriUITIOX  A  FAILURE." 

"To  be  sure.  King  Majority  gave  prohibition  to  Maine;  but  pro- 
hibition doesn't  prohibit,"  interrupts  Sir  Sapient,  who--'  remark  fur- 
nishes a  striking  illustration  of  the  power  of  the  human  mind  to  r<  - 
knowledge,     .lust   take  the  spyglass  of  observation,  and  behold  from 
Kittery  to  Calais  the  gleaming  refutation  of  your  error. 

Less  than  thirty  years  ago  they  had  four  hundred  open  hotel  bars 
and  ten  miles  of  saloons.  To  day.  Dr.  Hamlin  of  Constantinople,  tells 
us  that,  coming  home  after  forty  years  absence,  he  finds  his  native 


348  THE   STATE   OF   MAINE. 

State  thoroughly  renovated  from  the  liquor  traffic.  General  Neal  Dow 
testifies  that  the  law  has  absolutely  driven  the  sale  of  strong  drink  out 
of  all  rural  districts ;  and  in  the  larger  towns,  instead  of  the  free,  open 
sale  of  former  years,  it  is  crowded  into  secret  places,  kept  by  the 
lowest  class  of  foreigners.  Ex-Governors  Dingley  and  Perham,  and 
Senator  Blaine  and  Representative  Fry  declare  that  prohibition  is  as  well 
enforced  as  the  law  against  stealing;  and  even  sensational  journalists 
have  not  told  us  that  thieves  flourish  in  the  Pine  Tree  State.  Mr. 
Renter  of  Boston,  President  of  the  National  Brewers'  Convention, 
held  in  St.  Louis  four  weeks  ago,  says:  "Formerly  Maine  produced 
nearly  ten  thousand  barrels  of  beer  annually;  but  this  has  fallen  to 
seven  barrels,  in  consequence  of  the  local  enforcement  of  prohibitory 
law."  Surely  this  gentleman  should  be  considered  as  good  authority 
on  this  subject,  as  a  convict  is  of  the  strength  of  his  prison  bars! 

MAINE  AN  EXCEPTION. 

But  you  say  "Maine  is  different  from  any  other  State."  Why  so? 
Are  not  its  citizens  of  like  passions  with  other  men?  Turn  your  glass 
upon  a  panorama  of  Maine  as  it  was  in  former  days.  See  yonder 
stalwart  workers  in  the  harvest-field  paying  vigorous  addresses  to  the 
little  brown  jug;  observe  its  ubiquitous  presence  at  the  logging  bee, 
the  "raising,"  the  wedding,  and  the  funeral;  see  it  pass  from  lip  to 
lip  around  the  fireside  circle;  observe  the  Gospel  minister  refreshing 
himself  from  the  demijohn  of  his  parishioner  and  host;  and  be  assured 
that  within  the  memory  of  men  now  living  these  were  every  day 
events.  I  have  this  testimony  from  the  most  honored  residents  of 
Maine,  whose  recitals  involved  the  words,  "  all  of  which  I  saAv,  and 
part  of  which  I  was."  But,  as  gallant  Neal  Dow  hath  it,  "Maine  was 
sown  knee-deep  with  temperance  literature  before  we  reaped  the  har- 
vest of  prohibition."  Let  us  note  the  evolution  of  this  seed-planting. 
Land-owners  found  that  two-thirds  of  their  taxes  resulted  from  the 
liquor  traffic  (largely  in  cost  of  prosecuting  criminals,  and  taking  care 
of  lunatics  and  paupers);  so  they  concluded  that  legalizing  saloons  for 
the  sake  of  the  revenue  was  penny  wisdom  and  pound  foolishness. 
Business  men  discovered  that  the  liquor  traffic  is  a  pirate  on  the  high 
seas  of  trade,  that  the  more  the  grog-shop  is  patronized  the  fewer  cus- 
tomers there  are  for  flour  and  fuel,  boots,  shoes,  and  clothes;  and  so, 
in  self-defence,  they  declared  for  prohibition.  Church  people  found 
that  fifteen  times  as  much  money  went  to  the  dram-shop  as  to  the 
church,  and  that  the  teachings  of  the  one  more  than  offset,  those  of  the 
other  with  the  young  men  of  the  State;  so  they  perceived  they  could 
not  conscientiously  ally  themselves  with  the  liquor  traffic  by  their 
votes.  Those  interested  in  education  learned  that  enough  money  was 
swallowed  in  drinks  that  deteriorate  the  brain,  to  furnish  a  school- 


OFFSET   THE   VOTE   OF   CORK    AND    HAMBURG.  349 

house  for  every  fifty  boys  and  girls,  and  to  set  over  them  teachers  of 
the  highest  culture;  and  they  xiw  it  was  unreasonable  to  defend  the 
liquor  traffic.  In  short,  the  majority  came  to  believe  that,  between 
the  upper  and  nether  millstones  of  starving  out  saloons  on  the  one 
hand,  and  voting  them  out  on  the  other,  they  could  be  pounded  to 
death;  and  they  have  so  pounded  them.  The  question  of  selling  as  a 
beverage  the  drinks  which  we  know  by  centuries  of  demonstration 
will  so  craze  men  that  they  commit  every  crime,  and  show  the  subtlest 
cruelty  to  those  they  love  the  best,  is  not  to-day  in  Maine  an  open 
question  with  either  party,  any  more  than  trial  by  jury  or  imprison- 
ment for  theft.  True,  the  people  had  a  thirty  years'  war  before  the 
declaration  of  this  blessed  peace:  but  what  are  thirty  years,  when 
crowned  at  last  by  the  surrender  of  King  Alcohol  to  King  Majority? 

KEY  TO   THE  POSITION. 

"Ah!  but,"  pursues  our  doubting  friend,  "Maine  is  a  peculiar 
State,  in  this;  it  has  few  foreigners,  with  their  traditions  of  whisky 
and  of  beer." 

I  grant  you,  there  we  are  at  disadvantage.  But  go  with  me  to  the 
Cunard  wharves  of  Boston,  and  to  Castle  Garden  of  New  York,  and, 
as  the  long  procession  of  emigrants  steps  across  the  gangway,  you  will 
find  three  times  as  many  men  as  women.  How  can  we  offset  their  vote 
for  free  liquor,  on  Sundays  and  all  days?  Surely,  the  answer  to  this 
question  is  not  far  to  seek.  Strengthen  the  sinews  of  old  King 
Majority,  by  counting  in  the  home  vote  to  offset  that  of  Hamburg  and 
of  Cork,  and  let  American  customs  survive  by  utilizing  (at  the  point 
where,  by  the  correlation  of  governmental  forces  ' '  opinion  "  passes 
into  "  law  ")  the  opinion  of  those  gentle  "  natives  "  who  are  the  neces- 
sary and  tender  guardians  of  the  home,  of  tempted  manhood  and 
untaught  little  children. 

Hands  which  have  just  put  aside  the  beer-mug,  the  decanter,  and 
the  greasy  pack  of  cards  are  easting  ballots  which  undermine  our 
Sabbaths,  license  social  crimes  that  shall  be  nameless,  and  open 
250,000  dramshops  in  the  shadow  of  the  church  and  public  school. 
I  solemnly  call  upon  my  countrymen  to  release  those  other  hands, 
familiar  with  the  pages  of  the  Book  of  God,  busied  with  sacred  duties 
of  the  home  and  gracious  deeds  of  charity,  that  they  may  drop  in 
those  whiter  ballots,  which,  as  God  lives,  alone  can  save  the  State! 

THE   WOMEN   OF   ILLINOIS. 

Kind  friends,  I  am  not  theorizing.     I  speak  that  I  do  know,  and 

testify  what  I  have  seen.     Out  on  t he  Illinois  prairies  we  have  resolved 
to  expend  on  voters  the  work  at  first  bestowed  upon   saloon-keepers. 
We  have  transferred  the  scene  of  our  crusade  from  the  dram-shop  to 
14 


350  "  A    PULL    ALL   TOGETHER." 

the  council-room  of  the  municipal  authorities,  whence  the  dram-shop 
derives  its  guaranties  and  safeguards.  Nay,  more.  The  bitter  argu- 
ment of  defeat  led  us  to  trace  the  tawny,  seething,  foaming  tide  of 
beer  and  whisky  to  its  source;  and  there  we  found  it  surging  forth 
from  the  stately  capitol  of  Illinois,  with  its  proud  dome  and  flag  of 
stripes  and  stars.  So  we  have  made  that  capitol  the  centre  of  our 
operations;  and  last  winter,  as  one  among  the  many  branches  of  our 
work,  we  gathered  up  175,000  names  of  Illinois's  best  men  and  women 
(80,000  being  the  names  of  voters),  who  asked  the  Legislature  for  a 
law  giving  women  the  ballot  on  the  temperance  question.  In  prose- 
cuting our  canvass  for  these  names,  we  sent  copies  of  our  "Home 
Protection  Petition"  to  every  minister,  editor,  and  postmaster  in  the 
State;  also  to  all  leading  temperance  men  and  women,  and  to  every 
society  and  corporation  from  which  we  had  anything  to  hope. 

In  this  way  our  great  State  was  permeated,  and  in  most  of  its  towns 
the  petition  was  brought  before  the  people.  The  religious  press  was  a 
unit  in  our  favor.  The  reform  clubs  of  the  State,  with  ribbons  blue 
and  red,  helped  us  with  their  usual  heartiness  and  efficiency.  And 
what  shall  be  thought  of  the  advance  in  public  sentiment,  when  (as 
was  often  done)  all  the  churches  join  on  Sabbath  night  in  a  "  Union 
Home  Protection  Meeting,"  and  ministers  of  all  denominations  (Pres- 
byterians included)  conduct  the  opening  exercises,  after  which  a 
woman  presents  the  religious  duty  of  women  to  seek,  and  men  to 
supply  the  temperance  ballot;  and,  to  crown  all,  conservative  young 
ladies  go  up  and  down  the  aisles  earnestly  asking  for  signatures,  and 
the  audience  unite  in  singing: 

"  Stand  up,  stand  up  for  Jesus, 
Ye  soldiers  of  the  Cross ; 
Lift  high  His  royal  banner, 
It  must  not  suffer  loss." 

Friends,  it  means  something  for  women  of  the  churches  to  take  this 
radical  position.  America  has  developed  no  movement  more  signifi- 
cant for  good  since  the  first  dawning  of  the  day  we  celebrate. 

The  State  of  Indiana  stands  with  us;  only  there  the  temperance 
women  have  worked  out  the  problem  of  deliverance  further  than  we, 
and  asked  the  ballot  on  all  questions  whatsoever.  They  do  the  same 
in  Minnesota  and  in  Iowa ;  while  at  the  East  the  W.  C.  T.  U.  of  grand 
old  Maine  endorses  the  temperance  vote,  and  Rhode  Island  sends  to 
Illinois  resolutions  of  approval,  while  Massachusetts,  under  Mary  A. 
Livermore,  has  declared  for  home  protection,  and  is  preparing  for  the 
fall  campaign;  and  within  a  few  days  Ohio,  the  Crusade  State,  which 
is  the  mother  of  us  all.  has  fallen  into  line.  The  most  conservative 
States  are  Connecticut,  New  Jersey,  Pennsylvania,  and  New  York; 
but  in  each  of  these  there  are  many  brave  women  who  but  bide  their 


MONET    AND    AMBITION    THE    VULNERABLE   POINTS.      351 

time  for  this  same  declaration,  and  the  whole  twenty-three  States 
already  joined  in  the  Woman's  National  Christian  Temperance  Union 
will  ere  long  clasp  hands  in  the  only  work  which  can  ever  fulfill  the 
glorious  prophecy  of  the  Crusade.  History  tells  us  that  on  the  morn- 
ing of  December  23d,  1873,  when  in  Hillsboro',  Ohio,  the"  pentecostal 
power  fell  <>n  the  "praying  band"  which  first  went  forth,  the  leading 
men  of  that  rum-cursed  town  went  out  from  the  church  where  their 
wives  and  mothers  had  assembled,  saying:  "We  can  only  leave  this 
business  with  the  women  and  the  Lord."'  History  has  repeated  itself 
this  winter  in  our  Illinois  crusade.  Men  have  placed  money  in  our 
hands  to  carry  on  the  Home  Protection  work,  saying:  "The  women 
of  America  must  solve  this  problem.  Our  business  relations,  our 
financial  interests,  our  political  affiliations  and  ambitions  have  tied  our 
hands;  but  we  will  set  yours  free,  that  you  may  rid  us  of  this  awful 
curse." 

WOULD   WOMEN    VOTE   EIGHT? 

Yet  a  few  men  and  women,  densely  ignorant  about  this  movement, 
have  been  heard  to  say:  "  "Who  knows  that  women  would  vote  right?" 
I  confess  that  nothing  has  more  deeply  grieved  me  than  this  question 
from  the  lips  of  Christian  people.  Have  distillers,  brewers,  and  saloon- 
fei  epers,  then,  more  confidence  in  woman's  sense  and  goodness  than 
she  has  herself?  They  have  a  very  practical  method  of  exhibiting 
their  faith.  They  declare  war  to  the  knife,  and  the  knife  to  the  hilt 
against  the  Hume  Protection  movement.  By  secret  circulars,  by 
lobbyists  and  attorneys,  by  the  ridicule  of  their  newspaper  organs,  and 
threats  of  personal  violence  to  such  women  of  their  families  as  sign 
our  petition,  they  display  their  confidence  in  womankind. 

The  only  town  in  Illinois  which  sent  up  a  delegation  of  citizens 
openly  to  oppose  our  petition  was  Belleville,  with  its  heavy  liquor 
interest  and  ten  thousand  German  to  three  thousand  American 
inhabitants;  and  among  our  204  legislators  there  were  no  other  dozen 
men  whose  annoyance  of  the  Home  Protection  Committee  was  so  per- 
sistent and  so  petty  as  that  of  the  Senator  who  openly  declared  he  was 
there  to  defend  the  voted  interests  of  his  Peoria  constituents,  who  in 
1878  paid  to  the  government  a  million  dollars  revenue  each  month  on 
ardent  spirits.  Nay,  verily,  woman's  vote  is  the  way  out  of  our  misery 
and  shame,  "  our  enemies  themselves  being  judges;"  and  none  see  this 
so  clearly  asthe  liquor  dealers,  w  hosealligator  eye  is  their  pocket-book, 
and  the  politicians,  whose  Achilles  heel  is  their  ambition.  Tin-  women 
of  the  Crusade  musl  come  once  more  to  judgment — not,  as  aforetime, 
with  trembling  lip  and  tearful  eye;  but  reaching  devout  hands  to  grasp 
the  weapon  of  power,  and  crying  with  reverent  voice,  "  The  sword  of 
the  Lord  and  of  Gideon!  " 


352  WOMEN   VERSUS   LICENSE. 

HOW   WOMEN   DO  VOTE. 

But,  after  all,  "  seeing  "  is  a  large  part  of  "  believing "  with  this 
square-headed  Yankee  nation;  so  let  us  seek  the  testimony  of  expe- 
rience. 

In  Kansas  the  law*  provides  that  the  signatures  of  women  shall  be 
requisite  to  a  petition  asking  for  a  dram-shop  before  that  boon  shall  be 
conferred  upon  any  given  community.  This  arrangement  wrought 
such  mischief  with  the  liquor  dealers  that  they  secured  an  amendment 
exempting  large  towns  from  such  bondage.  But  in  small  towns  and 
villages  it  has  greatly  interfered  with  the  traffic,  and  has  so  educated 
public  sentiment  that  prohibition  can,  with  impunity,  form  the  theme 
of  a  Governor's  inaugural,  and  Kansas  is  on  the  war-path  for  a  law 
hardly  less  stringent  than  that  of  Maine. 

In  Des  Moines,  Iowa,  a  few  weeks  since,  as  a  test  of  popular 
opinion,  the  women  voted  on  the  license  question;  twelve  declaring 
in  favor  of  saloons  and  800  against  them.  In  Newton,  Iowa,  at  an 
election  ordered  by  the  council,  172  men  voted  for  license  to  319 
against — not  two  to  one  against  it;  while  the  women's  vote  stood  one 
in  favor  to  394  against  licensing  saloons.  In  Kirkville,  Mo.,  ten 
women  favored  the  liquor  traffic,  twenty  declined  to  declare  them- 
selves, and  500  wanted  "no  license."  In  our  Illinois  campaign, 
which  resulted  in  90,000  names  of  women  who  expressed  their  wish 
to  vote  against  saloons,  not  one  woman  in  ten  declined  to  affix  her 
name  to  our  petition. 

THE   CATHOLIC   CHURCH,    GERMANS,    ETC. 

The  attitude  of  the  Catholic  Church  was  friendly  to  our  petition, 
many  priests  urging  their  people  to  sign.  Irish  women,  as  a  rule, 
gave  us  their  names,  and  saloon-keepers'  wives  often  secretly  did  so. 
Scandinavians  were  generally  enthusiastic  for  the  petition.  Germans 
opposed  us;  but  the  reply  of  one  of  them  indicates  the  chivalric 
nature  which  will  come  to  our  aid  when  the  invincible  argument 
against  beer  shall  be  brought  in  contact  with  German  brain 
and  German  conscience.  He  said:  "If  it  is  not  the  pledge,  I  will 
sign  it.  I  cannot  give  up  my  beer;  but  I  want  to  help  the  ladies." 
To  be  sure,  German  saloon-keepers  were  universally  and  bitterly 
antagonistic,  and  had  much  to  say  about  "women  keeping  inside 
their  proper  sphere." 

ARGUMENT  FKOM  THE  NATURE  OF  THE  CASE. 

But  the  convictions  which  supply  me  with  unalterable  courage  and 
unflagging  enthusiasm  in  the  Home  Protection  work  are  not  based 
upon  any  proof  I  have  yet  given.  No  argument  is  impregnable  unless 
founded  on  the  nature  of  things. 


GREAT   NATURE'S    ARGUMENT.  353 

The  deepest  instincts  and  the  dearest  interests  of  those  who  have 
the  power  to  enact  a  law  must  be  enlisted  for  its  enforcement  before 
it  will  achieve  success.  For  instance,  the  Fifteenth  Amendment  to 
the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  is  going  to  be  enforced  by  the 
ballots  of  the  colored  men  who  once  were  slaves,  just  so  long  as  those 
men  retain  their  reason  and  their  color.  By  parity  of  reasoning,  if 
you  can  enlist  in  favor  of  a  local  option  or  prohibition  law  the  dearest 
interest  of  a  class  in  the  community  which  in  all  ages  of  wine  and 
beer  and  brandy  drinking  has  not  developed  (as  a  class)  the  appetite 
for  them  nor  formed  the  habit  of  their  use,  you  will  have  something 
trustworthy  on  which  to  base  your  law.  We  temperance  people  have 
looked  over  at  the  rum  power  very  much  as  the  soldiers  of  Israel  did 
at  Goliath  of  Gath.  We  have  said:  "He  has  upon  his  side  two  of 
the  most  deeply-rooted  instincts  of  human  nature — in  the  dealer  the 
appetite  for  gain,  and  in  the  drinker  the  appetite  for  stimulants— and 
we  have  nothing  adequate  to  match  against  this  frightful  pair." 

But,  looking  deeper,  we  perceive  that,  as  God  has  provided  in 
Nature  an  antidote  for  every  poison,  and  in  the  kingdom  of  His  grace 
a  compensation  for  every  loss,  so  in  human  society  He  has  ordained 
against  King  Alcohol,  that  worst  foe  of  the  social  state,  an  enemy 
beneath  whose  blows  he  is  to  bite  the  dust.  Take  the  instinct  of  self- 
protection  (and  there  is  none  more  deeply  seated):  What  will  be  its 
action  in  woman  Avhen  the  question  comes  up  of  licensing  the  sale  of 
a  stimulant  which  nerves  with  dangerous  strength  the  arm  already  so 
much  stronger  than  her  own,  and  which  at  the  same  so  crazes  the 
brain  God  meant  to  guide  that  manly  arm  that  it  strikes  down  the 
wife  a  man  loves  and  the  little  children  for  whom  when  sober  he 
would  die?  Dependent  for  the  support  of  herself  and  little  ones,  and 
for  the  maintenance  of  her  home,  upon  the  strength  which  alcohol 
masters  and  the  skill  it  renders  futile,  will  the  wife  and  mother  cast 
her  vote  to  open  or  to  close  the  rum-shop  door  over  against  that 
home? 

Then  there  is  a  second  instinct,  so  much  higher  and  more  sacred 
that  I  would  not  speak  of  it  too  near  the  first.  It  is  as  deep,  but  how 
high  it  reaches  up  toward  Heaven — the  instinct  of  a  mother's  love,  a 
wife's  devotion,  a  sifter's  faithfulness,  a  daughter's  loyalty!  Friends, 
this  love  of  women's  hearts  was  given  for  purposes  of  wider  blessing 
to  poor  humanity  than  some  of  us  have  dreamed.  Before  this  century 
shall  end  the  rays  of  love  which  shine  out  from  woman's  heart  shall 
no  longer  be,  as  now,  divergent  so  far  as  the  liquor  traffic  is  concerned; 
but  through  that  magic  lens,  that  powerful  sun  glass  which  we  term 
the  ballot,  they  shall  all  converge  their  power,  and  burn  and  blaze  on 
the  saloon,  till  it  shrivels  up  and  in  lurid  vapors  curls  away  like  mist 
under  the  hot  gaze  of  sunshine.    Ere  long  our  brothers,  hedged  about 


354  OBJECTIONS    ANSWERED. 

by  temptations,  even  as  avc  are  by  safeguards,  shall  thus  match  force 
with  force ;  shall  set  over  against  the  dealer's  avarice  our  timid  instinct 
of  self-protection,  and  match  the  drinker's  love  of  liquor  by  our  love 
of  him.  When  this  is  done  you  will  have  doomed  the  rum  power  in 
America,  even  as  you  doomed  the  slave  power  when  you  gave  the 
ballot  to  the  slave. 

OBJECTIONS— WOMAN'S  INFLUENCE. 

"But  women  should  content  themselves  with  educating  public  sen- 
timent," says  one.  Nay,  we  can  shorten  the  process;  for  we  have  the 
sentiment  all  educated  and  stored  away,  ready  for  use  in  brain  and 
heart.  Only  give  us  the  opportunity  to  turn  it  to  account,  where  in 
the  least  time  it  can  achieve  the  most !  Let  the  great  guns  of  influence, 
now  pointing  into  vacancy,  be  swing  to  the  level  of  benignant  use, 
and  pointed  on  election  day  straight  into  the  faces  of  the  foe!  "No; 
but  she  should  train  her  son  to  vote  aright,"  suggests  another.  But  if 
she  could  go  along  with  him,  and  thus  make  one  vote  two,  should  we 
then  have  a  superfluous  majority  in  a  struggle  intense  as  this  one  is  to 
be?  And  then  how  unequal  is  her  combat  for  the  right  to  train  her 
boy !  Enter  yonder  saloon.  See  them  gathered  around  their  fiery  or 
their  foamy  cups,  according  to  the  predominance  in  their  veins  of 
Celtic  or  of  Teuton  blood.  What  are  they  talking  of,  those  sovereign 
citizens?  The  times  have  changed.  It  is  no  longer  tariff  or  no  tariff, 
resumption  of  specie  payments,  or  even  the  behavior  of  our  Southern 
brethren  that  occupies  their  thought.  No.  Home  questions  have 
come  elbowing  their  way  to  the  front.  The  child  in  the  midst  is  also 
in  the  market-place,  and  they  are  bidding  for  him  there,  the  politicians 
of  the  saloon.  So  skillfully  will  they  make  out  the  slate,  so  vigor- 
ously turn  the  crank  of  the  machine,  that,  in  spite  of  churches  and 
temperance  societies  combined,  the  measures  dear  to  them  will 
triumph  and  measures  dear  to  the  fond  mother  heart  will  fail.  Give 
her,  at  least,  a  fair  chance  to  offset  by  her  ballot  the  machinations 
which  imperil  her  son. 

WOMEN  CANNOT  FIGHT. 

"  But  women  cannot  fight,"  you  say,  "and  for  every  ballot  cast  we 
must  tally  with  a  bayonet."  Pray  tell  us  when  the  law  was  promul- 
gated that  we  must  analyze  the  vote  at  an  election,  and  throw  out  the 
ballots  of  all  men  aged  and  decrepit,  halt  and  blind?  Do  not  let  the 
colossal  example  of  Judge  David  Davis  so  fill  our  field  of  vision  that 
we  cannot  perceive  brain,  and  not  bulk,  to  be  the  rational  basis  of 
citizenship.  Avoirdupois  counts  greatly  among  the  Zulus;  but  it  is  a 
consideration  far  less  weighty  with  the  Americans  than  it  was  before 
the  Geneva  Arbitration.  I  venture  the  prediction  that  this  Kepublic 
will  prove  herself  the  greatest  tighter  of  the  nineteenth  and  twentieth 


"WOMEN    DO    NOT    WISH    TO    VOTE."  355 

centuries;  but  her  bullets  will  be  molded  into  printers'  type,  her  Gat- 
ling  guns  will  be  the  pulpit  and  the  platform,  her  war  will  be  a  war 

of  words,  and  under  the  white  storm  of  men's  and  women's  ballots 
her  enemies— the  saloon,  and  the  commune— shall  find  their  only 
shroud. 

"woman's  right." 

Of  the  right  of  w<  »man  to  the  ballot  I  shall  say  nothing.  All  persons 
of  intelligence,  whose  prejudices  have  not  become  indurated  beyond 
the  power  of  logic's  sledge-hammer  to  break  them,  have  been  con- 
vinced already.  For  the  rest  there  is  no  cure  save  ne — the  death 
cure — which  comes  sooner  or  later,  and  will  open  more  eyes  than  it 
closes.  Of  the  Republic's  right  to  woman's  ballot  I  might  say  much. 
Well  did  two  leaders  of  public  thought  set  f  ^rth  that  right  when 
Joseph  Cook  declared  that  "woman's  vote  would  V  to  the  vices  in 
our  great  cities  what  the  lightning  is  to  the  oak  ;"  and  when  Richard 
S.  Storrs  said:  "If  women  want  the  suffrage,  they  will  be  sure  to 
have  it;  and  I  don't  know  but  when  it  comes  it  will  turn  out  to  be 
the  precious  amethyst  that  drives  drunkenness  out  of  politics." 

WOMEN   DO   NOT  WISH  TO  VOTE. 

"But  women  do  not  care  to  vote."  This  is  the  "last  ditch"  of  the 
conservatives.  The  evolution  of  temperance  sentiment  among  women 
hitherto  conservative  refutes  this  argument;  yet  I  confess  there  are 
many  who  do  not  yet  perceive  their  duty.  But  Jack's  bean-stalk 
furnishes  only  a  tame  illustration  of  the  growth  of  women  in  this 
direction  in  the  years  since  the  Crusade.  Of  this  swift  growth  I  have 
already  given  abundant  proof.  It  is,  in  my  judgment,  the  most  solid 
basis  of  gratitude  on  this  national  anniversary. 

During  past  years  the  brave  women  who  pioneered  the  equal  suf- 
frage movement,  and  whose  perceptions  of  justice  were  keen  as  a 
Damascus  blade,  took  for  their  rallying  cry:  "Taxation  without 
representation  is  tyranny. "  But  the  average  woman,  who  has  nothing 
to  be  taxed,  declines  to  go  forth  to  battle  on  that  issue.  Since  the 
Crusade,  plain,  practical  temperance  people  have  begun  appealing  to 
this  same  average  woman,  saying:  "  With  your  vote  we  can  close  the 
saloons  that  tempt  your  boys  to  ruin;"  and  behold!  they  have  trans- 
fixed with  the  arrow  of  conviction  that  mother's  heart,  and  she  is 
ready  f<>r  the  fray.  Not  rights,  but  duties;  not  her  need  alone,  but 
that  of  her  children  and  her  country;  not  the  "woman,"  but  the 
"human  "  question  is  stirring  women's  hearts  and  breaking  down 
their  prejudice  to-day.  For  they  begin  to  perceive  the  divine  fact 
that  civilization,  in  proportion  as  it  becomes  Christianized,  will  make 
increasing  demands  upon  creation's  gentler  half;  that  the  Ten  Com- 


356.  LOCAL   OPTION    ONE   ROAD   TO   PROHIBITION. 

mandments  and  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount  are  voted  up  or  voted  down 
upon  election  day;  and  that  a  military  exigency  requires  the  army  of 
the  Prince  of  Peace  to  call  out  its  reserves. 

LOCAL   OPTION. 

In  the  grand  sweep  of  sentiment  for  constitutional 
amendment  we  must  not  forget  the  great  advantages  of 
local  option  as  an  educator,  not  less  than  as  a  practical 
measure  of  temperance  reform.  Its  usefulness  has  been 
splendidly  demonstrated  in  Maryland  and  other  States, 
and  with  the  woman's  ballot  to  give  it  a  consistency  effi- 
cient on  the  day  when  enforcing  officers  are  chosen,  it 
would  be  a  mighty  power. 

But  some  have  said  that  local  option  is  an  inconsistency, 
for  no  community  would  ever  place  a  bill  against  stealing 
before  the  people  for  their  option,  and  the  liquor  traffic  is 
a  crime  as  bad  as  stealing.     But  no  law  was  ever  enacted 
against  stealing,  except  as  the  result  of  an  option  (a  free 
choice)  in  the  Legislatures  of  State  and  Nation.     It  was 
voted  upon,  and  men  voted  as  they  chose.     The  immense 
public  sentiment  in  favor  of  such  a  law  caused  the  vote  to 
be  unanimous,  and  this  will  some  day  be  the  case  with 
prohibitory  law.     Meanwhile,  in  States  where  the  senti- 
ment would  not  yet  give  us  a  prohibitory  law  (which  we 
could  only  get  by  a  local  option  in  the  locality  known  as 
the  "Halls  of  Legislation"),  let  us  not  say  to  less  con- 
spicuous  places — municipalities,   for  instance — that   be- 
cause the  whole  State  will  not   they  may  not  vote  the 
legalized  dram-shop  out  of  their  boundaries.     Since  in  a 
representative  government  we  can  pass  no  law  except  by 
leaving  it  open  to  the  chances  of  a  "  local  option,"  and 
since  this  same  option  is  the  only  possible  method  by 
which  we  cnn  delegate  to  localities  under  a  government 
"of  the  people,  by  the  people,"  power  to  enact  in  the 
territory  nearest  them,  and  in  which  they  are  most  inter- 


HOW   NOT    TO    DO    IT.  357 

ested  a  prohibitory  law,  therefore,  local  option  is  a  neces- 
sity per  se,  and  the  surest  forerunner  of  that  more  general 
form  of  local  option  popularly  known  as  prohibition. 

PLAN  FOR  LOCAL  CAMPAIGN  "  TO  CARRY  NO- 
LICENSE." 

I. — HOW   TO   DO   IT. 

1.  Complain  all  the  preceding  year  of  the  utter  failure 
of  no-license,  and  do  nothing  whatever  to  secure  its 
enforcement,  though  you  voted  (or  worked)  for  it  at  the 
last  election. 

2.  Tell  (in  private)  what  astonishing  "dead  letter" 
tokens  you  see  every  time  you  go  down  town  ;  but  never 
give  your  evidence,  influence,  or  money  to  help  convict 
the  law-breakers. 

3.  Never  speak  in  pulpit  or  prayer-meeting  about  the 
law.  Treat  it  as  a  Gentile,  that  has  no  place  in  the  courts 
of  the  Lord. 

3.  Let  it  be  generally  understood  that  the  best  people 
in  town  are  utterly  discouraged  and  disgusted  with  pro- 
hibition, and  ready  to  return  to  license, "  since  it  helps  to 
keep  up  the  sidewalks,  at  least." 

5.  Aroused  by  the  straightforward  arguments  of  an 
earnest  temperance  worker,  imported  by  somebody  three 
days  before  election,  come  out  brighter  than  ever — per- 
haps because  of  this  temporary  eclipse — and  declare  that 
it's  a  shame  to  let  the  town  go  by  default.  Induce  the 
temperance  sojourner  to  remain.  Whisper  softly  when- 
ever convenient  that  there  are  to  be  meetings  held;  but 
don't* mention  the  fact  out  loud.  Light  up  the  church 
dimly  ;  gather  in  a  couple  of  hundred  excellent  people 
who  need  no  repentance  ;  furnish  no  music,  save  as  Dea- 
con Fugue  "raises"  "Old  Hundred"  higher  than  the 
church-gable  ;  and  expect  the  dead  community  to  be  gal- 


358  "  WAITING    FOR   WORK  !" 

vanized  into  ghastly  and  imbecile  motion  at  the  eleventh 
hour. 

Forget  that  the  rum  party  held  secret  caucuses  while 
you  were  asleep  ;  selected  their  candidates  while  you  were 
scolding  at  the  law;  and  canvassed  for  votes  while  you 
were  busy  getting  reconverted  !  In  brief,  though  you  are 
harmless  as  a  dove,  don't  on  any  account  allow  yourself 
to  be  wise  as  a  serpent. 

II. — HOW    IT    HAS    BEEN    DONE. 

1.  The  W.  C.  T.  U.  co-operated  with  other  temperance 
societies  and  with  the  churches  in  raising  a  fund  by  pri- 
vate subscription  and  public  pledges. 

2.  This  was  placed  in  the  hands  of  an  Executive  Com- 
mittee or  "  Home  Protection  Alliance,"  and  by  them 
invested  in  securing  speakers  and  circulating  prohibition 
documents.  These  last  were  given  out  at  all  public  meet- 
ings, left  in  all  stores  and  offices,  hung  up  on  lamp-posts, 
in  street-cars,  and  everywhere,  and  carried  to  all  homes  by 
judicious  sub-committees.  Tracts  in  their  own  language 
are  sure  to  gain  the  attention  of  Germans  and  Scandina- 
vians. A  column  of  carefully  selected  facts  and  arguments 
was  supplied  every  week  in  the  year  for  the  weekly  press 
by  women  specially  appointed,  who  used  their  scissors  to 
excellent  purpose  on  the  teeming  columns  of  the  temper- 
ance papers  furnished  them  by  the  Executive  Committee. 

When,  as  has  been  computed,  a  million  words  of  tem- 
perance logic  can  be  had  for  the  price  of  a  drink,  and  the 
cost  of  a  yoke  of  oxen  invested  in  such  words  will  so 
revolutionize  public  sentiment  that  local  option  is  carried 
in  a  whole  county,  where  is  the  sense  or  grace  in  temper- 
ance people  who  complain  that  "  they  don't  know  what  to 
do,"  and  arc  "  only  Availing"  for  work  ? 

3.  Temperance  meetings  were  regularly  held  through- 
out the  year,  "  to  workup  public  sentiment."     The  first 


everybody's  war.  359 

six  months  they  were  held  every  fortnight :  the  next 
three,  every  week;  the  last  two,  several  times  a  week; 
and  the  last  month,  even-  night.  These  meetings  were 
handsomely  placarded  through  the  town,  and  thoroughly 
advertised  in  press  and  pulpit.  The  managers  of  a 
theatrical  company  could  hardly  have  taken  more  pains 
to  invite  people  to  come  than  did  this  temperance  com- 
mittee. During  the  last  month  a  band  of  music  played 
every  night  in  front  of  the  hall  where  the  best  interests 
of  the  community  were  to  be  discussed  by  earnest,  prac- 
tical men  and  women,  devoted  to  the  cause.  Often 
speakers  were  met  at  the  depot  by  the  White-ribbon 
Brigade  and  the  Reform  Club.  All  speakers  were 
instructed  to  use  no  bitter  epithets  nor  harsh  personal 
allusions.  Facts,  logic,  persuasion,  embellished  by  narra- 
tives, brightened  by  wit — these  were  their  sufficient  stock 
in  trade.  Ministers  of  the  Gospel  bore  a  prominent  part 
in  this  work,  speaking  from  their  pulpits  on  Sunday,  and 
steadily  lending  their  influence  to  the  work.  Children 
from  the  public  schools  recited  selections,  witty  and  sad ; 
young  men  declaimed;  young  women  read  and  sang. 
There  was  a  place  for  everybody,  and  grandly  were  those 
places  filled. 

4.  Two  or  three  weeks  beforehand,  at  a  large  public 
meeting,  the  people's  ticket  was  announced,  having  been 
agreed  upon  by  the  Executive  Committee,  appointed  at 
the  beginning  of  the  campaign,  and  consisting  of  a  mem- 
ber from  each  church  and  two  from  each  temperance 
society.  The  men  chosen  as  municipal  officers  were 
remarkable  for  something  besides  their  devotion  to  the 
temperance  cause.  They  stood  well  in  the  community  : 
had  thoroughly  practical  and  liberal  views  concerning 
town  affairs;  were  thorough  financiers;  and  hard-headed 
men  of  business  could  pick  no  flaw  in  their  integrity. 
They  were  not  the  sort  of  nominees  whom  you  can  pick 


360  "  people's  ticket." 

up  the  evening  before  to  "  fill  a  gap,"  which  will  be  wider 
the  day  after  election  than  at  any  previous  date.  They 
were  solid  citizens,  who  would  never  have  come  forward 
thus,  save  on  the  call  of  a  committee  which  had  shown 
skill  equal  to  its  earnestness,  and  common  sense  no  whit 
behind  the  clear  grit  it  had  exhibited. 

The  candidates  made  brief  addresses,  and,  from  mayor 
to  constable,  pledged  themselves  to  a  faithful  execution  of 
the  laws.  Now  came  the  seething  of  the  caldron,  which 
had  been  heated  long.  The  town,  already  districted  by 
the  committees  on  circulating  documents,  was  thoroughly 
canvassed  once  more — this  time  with  a  petition  similar  to 
that  which  follows : 

"We,  the  undersigned,  voters  and  women  of  legal  age  within  the 

corporate  limits  of  the  town  of ,  do  respectfully  and  earnestly 

petition  all  persons  who  will  support  the  following 

people's  ticket 


to  affix  their  signatures  to  this  paper;  women's  names  being  a  promise 
to  vise  their  influence  in  favor  of  the  ticket,  and  men's  names  being  a 
promise  to  vote  the  said  ticket  on  election  day." 

MEN.  |  WOMEN. 

Thus  every  signature  was  not  only  a  personal  agree- 
ment, but  had  also  the  force  of  a  request  to  all  other 
residents  of  the  community.  This  canvass  was  conducted 
chiefly  by  women  carefully  chosen  for  their  discretion  and 
their  gentleness.  The  results  of  it  were  published  in  the 
local  papers,  figures  being  given,  but  not  names. 

5.  Election  day  arrived.  The  ladies  had  secured  per- 
mission   to    decorate   the    engine-house    with    wreaths, 


"  A    LOCAL    HABITATION."  361 

flowers,  and  patriotic  mottoes.  They  furnished  a  tooth- 
some free  lunch  next  door,  to  which  everybody  was 
invited,  and  where  the  temperance  pledge  was  offered,  and 
the  people's  ticket  and  a  buttonhole  bouquet  furnished  to 
all  who  would  accept  them.  Hundreds  of  voters  were 
fed  and  won,  and  scores  of  homes  were  brightened  by  new 
resolves  that  day  ;  and  toward  night  the  church-bells 
rang  out  the  tidings  of  a  victory  that  had  been  earned,  a 
success  that  had  been  organized,  as  all  true  successes  are. 

6.  But  the  Executive  Committee  did  not  stop  here. 
The  headquarters  were  still  kept  open,  and  a  secretary 
employed  who  kept  a  bright  lookout  for  opportunities  to 
strengthen  the  hands  of  the  authorities  in  that  enforce- 
ment  of  law  which  alone  makes  it  respected  and  enduring. 

To  the  W.  C.  T.  Unions  which  are  "waiting  for  work" 
this  plan  is  recommended  for  study.  Its  most  important 
suggestions  may  be  universally  applied,  and  its  campaign 
lasts  all  the  year  round. 


TEMPERANCE   TABERNACLES. 

A  local  habitation,  a  name,  and  an  earnest,  practical 
woman  who  could  give  her  entire  time  to  the  work  would 
quadruple  the  results  attained  by  our  W.  C.  T.  Unions. 
Compare  the  work  done  by  those  equipped  in  this  way 
with  that  of  the  general  run  of  our  societies,  and  learn 
once  more  that  God  has  chosen  in  this  world  to  work  by 
means.  In  many  Western  towns  a  great,  rough,  one- 
story  hall  is  the  rallying  place  of  our  forces,  and  demon- 
strates to  the  enemy  that  which  he  hates  to  think — 
namely,  that  we  have  come  to  stay.  The  Temperance 
Tabernacle  of  Atlanta,  Illinois,  is  a  tine  illustration.  First 
an  enthusiasm  was  aroused  by  a  series  of  meetings  con- 
ducted by  a  reformed  man.  Before  that  had  time  to  sub- 
side, several  clear-headed  men  of   business  invited  the 


362  THE    GREAT    PETITION. 

people  to  take  stock  in  shares  of  $10  each  in  a  building 
which  should  be  the  temperance  headquarters  for  meet- 
ings, concerts,  etc.,  and  which  could  be  rented  as  a  hall 
to  any  one  who  would  pay  a  fair  price.  This  ten  dollars 
was  understood  to  be  a  gift,  the  "  certificates  of  shares  " 
— like  many  others  supposed  to  be  more  valuable — being 
mere  souvenirs  of  the  transaction.  A  piece  of  ground 
was  purchased  for  a  nominal  sum ;  lumber  and  hardware 
merchants  furnished  the  material  at  cost  rates ;  masons 
and  carpenters,  painters  and  glaziers  gave  their  services 
at  half  price ;  women  made  handsome  mottoes  and 
decorations ;  and  the  place  speedily  became  the  favorite 
audience-room  of  all  the  country  round.  Add  to  this  a 
reading-room  and  an  office  for  the  Secretary  of  the  W.  C. 
T.  U.,  and  we  should  have  a  base  of  operations  worthy 
the  magnitude  of  our  endeavor.  Here  our  Sunday 
Gospel-meetings  would  be  held,  the  poor  feeling  them- 
selves especially  welcome  and  at  home;  here  would  be 
the  great  mass  meetings  of  the  no-license  campaign,  the 
depository  for  temperance  literature  and  subscription 
books  of  our  paper;  here,  by  frequent  sociables  and 
entertainments,  we  could  help  replenish  our  treasury ; 
and  here  perhaps,  some  day,  as  the  rallying  point  of 
beneficent  influence  for  all,  might  be  located  the  ballot-box, 
which  is  always  either  the  coffin  or  the  throne  of  the  saloon. 

HISTORY   OP   THE   GREAT    HOME    PROTECTION   PETITION 

IN    ILLINOIS. 

[As  a  matter  of  history  and  for  future  comparison  with 
other  campaigns,  the  following  is  copied  :] 

October  10th,  1878. — The  Annual  Meeting  of  the  Illinois 
Woman's  Christian  Temperance  Union,  at  Monmouth, 
ordered  the  petition  to  be  prepared,  which  was  accordingly 
done  by  Miss  Willard,  assisted  by  W.  P.  Black,  an  attor- 
ney-at-law,  of  Chicago. 


ITEMS    OF    HISTORY.  363 

December  5th. — The  draft  prepared  was  accepted  by 
the  Executive  Committee  of  the  State  Union. 

December  12th. — The  first  presentation  was  made  by- 
Miss  Willard,  at  Geneseo  ;  but  no  great  effort  was  made 
until  January. 

January  1st,  1879. — Less  than  1,000  names  had  been 
obtained. 

March  1st. — The  petitions  were  called  in  for  presenta- 
tion, the  entire  canvass  having  occupied  but  about  two 
months  or  nine  weeks.  The  signatures  were  pasted  on 
strong  white  muslin,  eighteen  inches  wide,  bound  with 
red  ribbon  on  one  edge  and  blue  on  the  other.  The  entire 
supervision  of  this  (the  first)  petition  and  putting  it 
together  were  the  weighty  task  of  Miss  Anna  Gordon, 
Miss  Willard' s  private  secretary,  and  the  work  was 
admirably  done.  Prominent  business  men  of  Chicago, 
chief  of  whom  was  R.  J.  Fowler,  Esq.,  furnished  the  funds 
for  postage,  printing,  and  necessaries. 

March  ith  ([Evening'). — There  was  a  reception  in  the 
Governor's  rooms  at  the  Capitol,  with  addresses  by  a 
number  of  ladies  and  gentlemen. 

March  5th  (Evening). — There  was  a  mass  meeting  in 
the  Representatives'  Chamber,  previously  granted  for  that 
purpose.  The  petition  was  gracefully  festooned  around 
the  chamber,  and  stirring  addresses  were  delivered  by 
ladies  of  the  Presentation  Committee,  and  by  Mrs.  Foster, 
the  lady  lawyer  of  Clinton,  Iowa,  who  was  present  by  in- 
vitation of  the  ladies  and  presented  the  legal  aspects  of  the 
case.  The  Presentation  Committee  were  :  Miss  Frances 
E.  Willard,  President  of  W.  C.  T.  U.  of  Illinois ;  Mrs.  T. 
B.  Carse,  President  of  Chicago  W.  C.  T.  U. ;  Mrs.  L.  1. 
Hagans,  Mrs.  Willis  A.  Barnes,  Mrs.  C.  H.  Case,  Mrs.  D. 
J.  True,  all  of  Chicago ;  Mrs.  Prof.  Fry  and  Mrs.  A.  R. 
Riggs,  of  Bloomington  ;  Mrs.  C.  H.  St.  John,  of  Eureka; 
Mrs.  M.  II.  Villars,  of  Pana;    Miss  Mary  A.  West,  of 


364  LADIES    SPEAK    IN    THE   LEGISLATURE. 

Galesburg ;  Mrs.  E.  W.  Kirkpatrick,  of  Monmouth ;  Mrs. 
H.  A.  Calkins  and  Mrs.  E.  G.  Hibben,  of  Peoria;  Mrs.  M. 
L.  Wells  and  Mrs.  R.  Beach,  of  Springfield;  and  Miss 
Anna  Gordon,  of  Massachusetts  (Mrs.  M.  Wait,  of  Gales- 
burg, former  President  State  W.  C.  T.  XL,  and  Miss  Kate 
Ross,  of  Abingdon,  also  members,  were  unable  to  be 
present). 

March  6th. — Presentation  of  the  petition  to  the  House 
of  Representatives,  with  an  address  by  Judge  Hinds,  of 
Stephenson  County.  Three  of  the  ladies — Miss  Willard, 
Mrs.  Foster,  and  Mrs.  St.  John — by  invitation  of  the 
House,  on  the  motion  of  Hon.  Sol.  Hopkins,  then 
addressed  the  House,  this  being  the  first  time  a  lady  had 
ever  spoken  in  an  open  session  of  the  Illinois  Legislature. 
The  number  of  signatures  to  the  petition  was  110,000,  of 
men  over  twenty-one  and  women  over  eighteen  years  of 
age,  about  half  of  these  being  voters. 

April  9th  (Evening). — Mass  meeting  in  the  Senate 
Chamber,  with  supplemental  petition  exhibited  in  like 
manner  as  above,  which  petition  contained  at  least 
70,000  additional  names,  all  secured  in  less  than  four 
weeks.  The  putting  together  of  this  last  petition  was  the 
work  of  the  women  of  Springfield,  under  supervision  of 
Miss  Barnett. 

April  10th. — Presentation  in  the  Senate  by  Senator 
Taliafero.  An  effectual  objection  being  made  to  the 
ladies  speaking  in  open  session,  a  motion  for  a  recess  of 
thirty  minutes  prevailed,  and  Miss  Willard  occupied  the 
time  in  speaking  on  the  objects  of  the  petition.  Twenty- 
four  senators  voted  for  the  recess,  and  nineteen  against 
it.  Three  senators  left  the  chamber,  returning  at  the 
close  of  the  recess. 

The  Presentation  Committee  was  the  same  as  before, 
with  the  addition  of  the  following  persons:  Mrs.  H.  A. 
Allyn,  of   Springfield ;    Mrs.    R.   Greenlee,  Mrs.   M.  A. 


REFLEX    INFLUENCE   OF   PETITIONS.  3G5 

Cummings,  Mrs.  J.  B.  Hobbs,  and  Miss  Lucia  Kimball, 
of  Chicago;  Mrs.  G.  H.  Read,  of  Blooming-ton  ;  Mrs.  H. 
W.  Barwood  and  Mrs.  H.  C.  Cullom,  of  Joliet;  Mrs.  S. 
B.  Mooney,  of  Pana  ;  Mrs.  S.  M.  I.  Henry,  of  Rockford; 
and  Mrs.  M.  A.  Taliafero,  of  Keithsburg. 


* 


ABOUT   PETITIONS. 

Persons  of  small  thoughtfulness  are  wont  to  say,  when 
our  petitions  are  not  granted :  "  How  much  time  and 
money  have  been  lost."  But  they  forget  the  reflex  influ- 
ence of  such  work ;  the  entire  change  in  public  sentiment 
which  a  thorough  canvass  has  often  wrought  in  a  locality, 
and  the  indirect  results  achieved.  If  we  mean  that  crowds 
shall  gather,  there  must  be  something  for  them  to  rally 
around,  and  a  petition  to  which  their  signatures  are 
sought  affords  this  nucleus.  Our  Home  Protection  cam- 
paign  in  Illinois  has  crystalized  the  thoughts  of  the  people 
around  the  idea  of  a  law  against  the  liquor  traffic.  Ser- 
mons and  speeches  by  the  score  have  reached  and  con- 
vinced them  by  the  thousand,  and  the  louder  voice  of  the 
press,  coming  with  cogent  and  oft-repeated  arguments,  has 
changed  the  views  of  tens  of  thousands.  The  quiet  house- 
to-house  canvass  of  an  army  of  women  who  could  not 
speak  in  public  has  brought  home  to  th'e  fireside  and  the 
wife  and  mother,  with  little  time  to  read,  reasons  enforced 
by  practical  illustrations  taken  from  everyday  life ;  and 
thus  hosts  of  friends  for  woman's  temperance  ballot  have 
been  raised  up  where  all  were  passive  and  inert  before. 
Of  the  832  towns  that  voted  on  the  question  of  license 
while  our  campaign  was  in  progress,  645  declared  for  no 
license — a  much   larger  number  than  ever  before;  and 

*  The  entire  number  of  names  on  the  petition  was  180,000.  It  is 
now  under  the  care  of  the  Chicago  Historical  Society,  and  will  be 
brought  to  light  once  more  when  what  it  asked  for  is  an  achieved 
power  in  Illinois. 


366  A    RELIGIOUS    MOVEMENT. 

experienced  men  say  it  was  largely  clue  to  the  Home 
Protection  Petition  work  of  the  W.  C.  T.  Unions.  It  has 
also  reacted  most  favorably  on  all  departments  of  our 
society,  greatly  extending  the  knowledge  of  our  methods, 
multiplying  our  organizations,  and  bringing  out  an  army 
of  helpers  of  whom  we  had  not  known  before. 

Similar  results  would  attend  the  circulation  of  a 
petition  to  the  county  or  municipal  authorities  on  any 
phase  of  our  manifold  cause.  Let  us  remember  that,  in 
giving  prominence  to  this  branch  of  work,  Ave  are  but 
transferring  the  Crusade  from  the  saloon  to  the  sources 
whence  the  saloon  derives  its  guaranties  and  safeguards. 
Surely  this  does  not  change  our  work  from  sacred  to 
secular !  Surely  that  is  a  short-sighted  view  which  says  : 
"It  was  womanly  to  plead  with  saloon-keepers  not  to 
sell;  but  it  is  unwomanly  to  plead  with  law-makers  not 
to  legalize  the  sale  and  to  give  us  power  to  prevent  it." 
No  wonder  the  Ohio  Crusaders,  who  have  spent  hours  in 
the  stifling  atmosphere  of  the  saloons,  do  not  deem  it 
indelicate  to  enter  airy  council-rooms  and  stately  legis- 
lative halls;  and  they,  like  the  W„  C.  T.  U.  of  Illinois, 
have  enlisted  for  a  seven  years  campaign,  or  one  of  four- 
teen years,  if  need  be,  not  expecting  immediate  success, 
but  going  forth  in  the  crusade  spirit  of  dependence  upon 
God  and  consecration  to  His  service.  "  The  letter  killeth, 
but  the  spirit  giveth  life."  Methods  constantly  change, 
but  motives  must  have  their  spring  in  everlasting  truth 
and  righteousness. 

DAYS    OP   PRAYER. 

The  "Home  Protection  Crusade"  for  woman's  temper- 
ance ballot  is  the  natural  successor  of  the  Temperance 
Crusade  of  1873-4,  and  simply  changes  its  objective 
point.  If  rightly  understood  and  faithfully  pursued,  the 
new  movement  will  do  much  toward  fulfilling  the  sacred 
prophecies  of  its  divine  forerunner.     Then  let  our  work 


COPY    OF    THE    GREAT    PETITION.  367 

be  begun,  continued,  and  ended  in  prayer.  Let  every 
document  prepared  or  sent  out,  every  address  delivered, 
every  name  asked  for  the  petition  be  accompanied  by 
breathings  of  the  soul  to  God  for  a  right  spirit  in  our- 
selves and  a  heavenly  blessing  on  our  endeavor.  Let  not 
the  noon-hour  of  united  prayer  for  our  W.  C.  T.  Unions 
and  their  work  be  overlooked,  and  let  stated  days  of 
prayer  be  appointed  by  the  officers  of  the  State  Union,  at 
the  opening  of  the  campaign,  and  on  the  day  when  the 
committee  present  the  petition  to  the  Legislature.  Ever- 
more,  as  our  growing  hosts  move  forward,  may  our 
watchword  be  : 

"Praytr  is  the  Christian's  vital  breath — 
The  Christian's  native  air  " 

COPY    OF    THE    GREAT    PETITION. 

As  a  matter  of  interest  and  suggestion,  an  exact  copy 
of  the  petition  is  here  given  : 

Home  Protection  Petition,  Illinois  W.  C.  T.  U. 

[Editors  please  publish  aud  temperance  people  circulate.] 
FOR  GOD  AND  HOME  AND  NATIVE  LAND. 

[Among  the  many  prominent  religious  newspapers  which  have 
editorially  endorsed  this  petition  are  the  following:  Christian  Union, 
Independent,  and  Witness,  New  York.  Northwestern  Christian  Advocut, , 
Advance,  Interior,  Standard,  and  Alliance,  Chicago;  The  Golden  Rale 
and  Zion's  Herald,  Boston.] 
To  be  returned  to ,  at ,  by  the day  of ,  without  fail. 

[X.B.— This  petition  will  lie  presented  at  the  State  Capital  at  the 
earliest  possible  date  in  the  session  of  the  Legislature,  which  convenes 

on  the day  of 1ST—,  by  the  following  committee: - — — 

Any  number  of  copi  s  will  be  sent  to  any  address,  if  desired;  but  it  is 
also  earnestly  requested  that  persons  interested  in  utilizing  the  in- 
fluence of  woman  against  the  legalized  traffic  in  strong  drink  will 
have  printed  or  written  copies  of  the  petition  made  and  circulated 
from  house  to  house.  Let  them  also  be  sent  to  editors,  ministers, 
Sunday-school  and  public  school  teachers,  and  to  all  Reform  Clubs 
and  other  temperance  societies.  All  ministers  and  temperance  speakers 
are  requested  to  presenl  the  petition  to  their  audiences  after  a  sermon, 
address  or  exhortation  on  the  subject  of  which  it  treats.  The  follow- 
ing method  of  securing  si -natures  in  audiences  is  recommended: 
Previous  to  op.  ning  ih  ■  meeting,  place  in  each  pew  a  narrow  strip  of 
paper,  with   the  words  "Names  of  men  over  twenty -one"  written 


368  HOW    TO    GET    SIGNATURES. 

across  the  top,  and  "  Names  of  women  over  twenty  -one  "  half  way 
down  the  strip.  After  reading  the  petition,  at  the  close  of  the  meeting, 
call  attention  to  these  papers  and  constitute  the  gentleman  or  lady 
sitting  in  the  end  of  each  of  each  pew  or  seat  nearest  the  aisle  a  com- 
mittee of  one  to  see  that  all  in  that  seat  have  the  opportunity  to  sign  the 
slip  of  paper.  Let  one  person  be  in  attendance  in  each  aisle  with  pencils 
to  lend,  and  let  this  person  gather  up  the  slips  as  soon  as  signed. 
These  autographs  are  to  be  sent  to  headquarters,  to  be  pasted  upon  the 
petition.  While  the  signing  proceeds,  such  hyms  as  "America"  or 
Miss  Lathbury's  "Home  Protection  Hymn"  may  be  sung  by  the 
choir.  AVhen  the  largest  number  of  signatures  possible  has  been 
obtained,  send  the  list  of  autograph  signatures,  stating  plainly  where 

they   were   obtained   and   paying   postage    in  full,  to ,    at 

Headquarters  State  W.  C.  T.  U.,  in .      AVrite  on  one  side 

only,  giving  name  of  town  and  county  on  each  list  of  names.  Paste 
more  paper  on  the  petition  as  required.  Names  may  be  signed  in 
pencil,  and  autographs  only  are  desired.] 

To  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  of  the  State  of  Illinois : 

Whereas,  In  these  years  of  temperance  work  the  argument  of 
defeat  in  our  contest  with  the  saloons  [has  taught  us  that  our  efforts 
are  merely  palliative  of  a  disease  in  the  body  politic,  which  can  never 
be  cured  until  law  and  moral  suasion  go  hand  in  hand  in  our  beloved 
State ;  and 

Whereas,  The  instincts  of  self-protection  and  of  apprehension  for 
the  safety  of  her  children,  her  tempted  loved  ones,  and  her  home, 
render  woman  the  natural  enemy  of  the  saloons;  therefore,  your  peti- 
tioners, men  and  women  of  the  State  of  Illinois,  having  at  heart  the 
protection  of  our  homes  from  their  worst  enemy,  the  legalized  traffic 
in  strong  drink,  do  hereby  most  earnestly  pray  your  honorable  body 
that,  by  suitable  legislation,  it  may  be  provided  that  in  the  State  of 
Illinois  the  question  of  licensing  at  any  time,  in  any  locality,  the  sale 
of  any  and  all  intoxicating  drinks  shall  be  submitted  to  and  determined 
by  ballot,  in  which  women  of  lawful  age  shall  be  privileged  to  take 
part,  in  the  same  manner  as  men,  when  voting  on  the  question  of 
license. 

BACK  OF   THE  PETITION. 

[Please  have  this  printed  in  local  papers.] 

Among  the  many  prominent  religious  newspapers  which  have 
editorially  endorsed  this  petition  are  the  following:  Christian  Union, 
Independent,  nmXWitness,  New  York;  Northwestern  Oh ristian  Advocate, 
Advance,  Interior,  Standard,  and  Alliance,  Chicago;  The  Golden  Rule 
and  Zion's  Herald,  Boston. 

In  a  recent  "Monday  Lecture,"  Rev.  Joseph  Cook  of  Boston, 
spoke  thus : 

"  There  stands  a  noble  statehouse  in  the  cornfields  near  Springfield, 
Illinois,  and  Lincoln's  grave  lies  under  its  shadow.  Above  his  grave 
a  Legislature  will  be  petitioned  this  winter  by  ladies  of  Illinois,  to  give 


JOSEPH    COOK    ON   "HOME   PROTECTION."  369 

women  of  legal  age  the  right  to  vote  in  cases  of  local  option  under 
temperance  laws.  ...  In  New  Hampshire  the  line  has  already  been 
broken  as  to  the  exclusion  of  women  from  participation  in  the  settle- 
ment of  questions  closely  touching  the  home.  Let  it  be  noticed  that 
New  Hampshire,  a  conservative  .New  England  State,  has  just  given  to 
women  the  right  to  vote  on  all  questions  concerning  the  school  laws. 
I  am  not  a  woman  suffragist.  Do  not  applaud  this  platform  under  the 
mi-taken  idea  that  I  am  a  defender  of  extreme  positions  as  to  woman's 
rights.  I  am  meditating  on  that  theme.  But  this  I  dare  say,  that  one 
of  the  fragments  of  self-protection  for  women— namely,  a  right  to 
vote  concerning  temperance  laws,  when  the  question  of  local  option 
is  up— I  am  willing  to  defend,  and  intend  to  defend,  to  the  end  of  the 
chapter.  Great  natural  justice  is  on  the  side  of  such  a  demand. 
Woman's  interests  are  among  the  chief  ones  concerned;  and  as  to 
family  divisions,  why,  they  come  largely  from  temperance  laxness. 
Woman  surely  has  political  intelligence  enough  to  understand  the 
difference  between  license  and  no  license,  especially  wdien  she  has 
suffered  under  a  lax  execution  of  the  temperance  laws.  The  difference 
is  so  plain  between  local  freedom  and  no  local  freedom  to  sell  liquor 
that  woman,  without  anjr  great  participation  in  the  turmoil  of  politics, 
might  be  expected  to  have  an  intelligent  vote  on  this  subject.  I  know 
that  many  cultivated  and  refined  women  say  the}'  do  not  wTant  women 
to  vote,  because  they  do  not  want  to  increase  the  amount  of  ignorant 
suffrage.  Well,  I  respect  the  intelligence  and  the  refinement  of  the 
ladies  who  make  such  remarks;  but  I  believe  that  on  most  moral  ques- 
tions woman  is  likely  to  be  more  intelligent  and  certainly  more  dis- 
interested than  man.  I  am  told  by  many  of  the  best  authorities  that 
women  who  are  opposed  to  female  suffrage  at  large  are  usually  in 
favor  of  this  modified  measure.  I  am  assured  that  a  majority  of  the 
thoughtful,  cultivated  women  of  the  United  States,  or  certainly  of  the 
Northern  States,  can  be  expected  to  favor  this  demand  for  a  vote  to  be 
given  to  women  in  questions  of  local  option,  concerning  temperance 
laws.  If  a  majority  of  women  want  such  a  vote,  Heaven  grant  their 
desire!  Women  would  be  united  on  this  topic.  Woman's  vote  would 
be  to  city  vices  depending  on  intemperance  what  the  lightning  is  to 
the  oak.     God  send  us  that  lightning! "     [Applause.] 

HOME  PROTECTION  HYMN. 

(Sung  at  our  "Rallies"  in  the  West.) 

BY  MARY  A.    LATIIBCRY. 

Tune:  "Arise  and  Shine."  Gospel  Hymns  No.  2. 

O  trust  ye  in  the  Lord  forever! 

Strong  is  His  arm,  and  wide  His  love; 
He  keepeth  truth,  He  faileth  never, 

Though  earth,  and  sea,  and  heaven  remove. 


370  MARY    A.    LATHBURY'S    HYMN. 


Chokus  : 


Sing  to  the  Lord  !  He  goes  before  us ; 

His  strength  is  ours,  His  truth  shall  stand 
Till  east  and  west  shall  join  the  chorus, 

"For  God,  and  home,  and  native  land." 

Be  strong,  O  men  who  bear  in  battle 

For  us  the  banner  and  the  shield, 
For  strong  to  conquer,  as  to  suffer, 

Is  He  who  leads  you  in  the  field. 

Lift  up  your  eyes,  O  women,  weeping 

Beside  your  dead  !     The  dawning  day 
Has  rent  the  seal  of  death  forever, 

And  angels  roll  the  stone  away. 

Room  for  the  right !    Make  room  before  us 

For  truth  and  righteousness  to  stand, 
And  plant  the  holy  banner  o'er  us 

For  God,  and  home,  and  native  land. 

Easter,  1879. 

MRS.    PELLUCID    AT    THE    CAPITAL   OF    ILLINOIS. 

Mrs.  Pellucid*  was  my  companion  at  the  capitol,  where 
with  other  ladies,  we  spent  several  weeks  in  the  endeavor 
to  secure  legislative  support  for  our  Home  Protection 
measures.  One  of  the  members,  when  earnestly  appealed 
to,  replied  with  a  rueful  grimace:  "  Ladies,  when  I  tell 
you  the  leading  towns  in  the  district  I  represent,  you  Will 
see  that  I  cannot  do  as  you  wish,"  and  he  rattled  off  such 
names  as  "  Frankfort,  Hamburg,  and  Bremen,"  wished  us 
"the  success  that  our  earnestness  merited,"  and  bowed 
himself  out. 

"  Why — what — does — he — mean  ?  "  inquired  my  lovely 
conservative,  in  astonishment. 

A  committee  clerk  stood  by,  who  answered,  briskly : 
"Why,  ladies,  Mr.  Teutonius  represents  a  district  in 
which  German  voters  are  in  the  majority ;  therefore,  he 
cannot  support  your  bill." 

"  Why,  I  thought  a  lawmaker  was  to  represent  his  own 

♦Otherwise  Mrs.  E.  G.  Hibben,  a  cultured  Presbyterian  lady  of  Peoria,  and  my 
successor  as  President  of  the  W.  C.  T.  U.  of  Illinois. 


MRS.    PELLUCID    AT    THE    CAPITAL.  871 

judgment  and  conscience,"  murmured  the  sweet-voiced 
lady. 

"  His  judgment,  yes  ;  for  that  tells  him  on  which  side 
the  majority  of  votes  in  his  district  is  located.  His  con- 
science, no;  for  that  would  often  cost  him  his  chances 
for  a  political  future,"  answered  the  well-instructed  youth. 

"  O-o-oh!  "  softly  ejaculated  Mrs.  Peilucid,  in  the  key  of 
E  flat,  minor  scale. 

By  this  time  Mr.  Politicus  entered,  in  response  to  our 
invitation  of  course,  he  never  would  have  come  on  his 
own  motion.  After  a  brief  conversation,  he  pledged  him- 
self to  vote  for  our  bill,  and  to  make  a  speech  in  our 
favor.  Nevertheless,  if  you  should  glance  over  the  list  we 
are  carefully  preserving  and  industriously  circulating  in 
Illinois,  of  men  who  voted  against  us,  you  would  find  his 
name.  But  he  is  an  honest  fellow  in  his  way,  and  we  owe 
it  to  a  motion  made  by  him  that  women  were,  for  the  first 
time  in  history,  allowed  to  speak  before  the  Legislature 
of  Illinois.  He  explained  his  desertion  of  the  temperance 
cause  on  this  wise  :  "  I  tell  you,  ladies,  I've  got  to  go  back 
on  you.  I'm  the  leader  of  my  party  in  the  House,  and 
they've  cracked  the  party  whip  mighty  lively  around  my 
ears.  The  long  and  short  of  it  is,  I've  got  to  represent 
the  fellows  that  voted  me  in." 

Poor  Mrs.  Pellucid!  How  appealing  was  her  voice,  as 
she  replied:  "But  I  am  sure  your  better  nature  tells  you 
to  represent  us."  Mr.  Politicus  brought  his  great  fist 
down  on  the  table  with  a  stalwart  thump,  and  said: 
"  Course  it  docs,  madam,  but  Lord  bless  you  women,  you 
can't  stand  by  a  fellow  that  stands  by  you,  for  you  hain't 
got  any  votes."  Just  here  a  young  lady  of  the  group 
piped  up:  "Oh'  but  we  would  persuade  our  friends  to 
vote  for  you."  "Beg  pardon,  miss  ;  but  you  couldn't  do 
npthin'  of  the  kind,"  said  he.  "  Don't  you  s'pose  I  know 
the  lay  o'  the  land  in  my  district  ?"     The  young  lady  now 


372  "SENATOR   READYRIGHT.'1 

grasped  the  other  horn  of  the  dilemma,  saying,  desper- 
ately :  "  But  we  will  get  the  temperance  men  in  your  dis- 
trict to  vote  against  you  if  you  desert  us  in  this  manner." 
His  rejoinder  was  a  deplorable  revelation  to  our  simple- 
minded  company  :  "  Never  a  bit  on't,  miss.  The  temper- 
ance men  are  an  easy-going  lot,  and  will  vote  the  party 
ticket  anyhow.  Old  dog  Tray's  ever  faithful !  We've 
ignored  them  for  years  ;  but  they  come  up  smilin',  and 
vote  the  Republican  ticket  all  the  same.  You'll  sec ! " 
"  But  won't  you  stand  by  us  for  God  and  home  and  native 
land  ! "  pleaded  Mrs.  Pellucid,  with  a  sweetness  that  would 
have  captured  any  man  not  already  caught  in  the  snares 
of  a  gainsaying  constituency.  The  worthy  politician 
thumped  the  table  again,  and  closed  the  interview  by  say- 
ing :  "  You  women  are  altogether  too  good  to  live  in  this 
world.  If  you  could  only  vote,  you'd  have  this  Legisla- 
ture solid.  But,  since  you  can't,  I'm  bound  to  stand  by 
such  a  conscience  as  I've  got,  and  it  tells  me  to  stick  to 
the  fellows  that  voted  me  in.  Good  morning  !  "  And  he 
got  speedily  out  of  the  range  of  those  clear,  sad  eyes. 
Mr.  Readyiight  (an  ex-Senator)  came  in.  With  all  the 
vehemence  of  his  Irish  nature  he  anathematized  the 
"  weak-kneed  temperance  men."  "  Sure  as  you're  living, 
Politicus  told  you  the  truth,"  said  he.  "The  temperance 
men  are  the  foot-ball  of  parties.  There's  none  so  poor  to 
do  'em  reverence.  Where  are  the  plucky  young  fellows 
that  were  here  when  we  gave  Illinois  her  present  local 
option  law  ?  "  (By  the  way,  that  law  bears  the  name  of 
this  valiant  Senator,  who  is  by  the  same  token  a  Demo- 
crat.) "Where  are  they?  Out  in  the  cold,  to  be  sure. 
Did  the  temperance  folks  remember  their  services  and 
send  'em  back  ?  Not  a  bit  of  it.  But  the  whisky  men 
didn't  forget  the  grudge  they  owed  'cm ;  and  they're  on 
the  shelf  to-day— every  last  man  of  'em."  "  I  tell  you," 
and  the  wise  old   gentleman  gesticulated  wildly  in  his 


"THE  FOLKS  THAT  VOTED  HTM  IN."        373 

wrath,  "  until  you  women  have  the  power  to  say  who  shall 
make  the  laws  and  who  enforce  'em,  and  to  reward  by  re- 
election them  that  are  faithful  to  your  cause,  and  punish 
by  defeat  them  that  go  back  upon  it,  you  may  hang  jour 
bonnets  on  a  very  high  nail,  for  you'll  not  need  'em  to 
attend  the  funeral  of  the  liquor  traffic !  "  "  AVhy," 
exclaimed  one  of  the  ladies,  confusedly,  "  you  don't  mean 
to  say  that  the  temperance  ballot  is  not  enough,  and  that 
we  must  follow  in  the  footsteps  of  Susan  B.  Anthony  ? " 
The  sturdy  old  gentleman  walked  to  the  door,  and  fired 
this  Parthian  arrow  back  at  us  :  "  Susan  could  teach  any 
one  of  ye  your  a-b-abs.  This  winter's  defeat'll  be  a  pay= 
ing  investment  to  ye  all,  if  ye  learn  that  a  politician  is 
now  and  ever  will  be  the  drawn  image,  pocket  edition, 
safety-valve,  and  speakin'  trumpet  of  the  folks  that*  voted 
him  in." 

The  ladies  drew  a  long  breath.  "I  begin  to  see  men 
as  trees  walking,"  slowly  murmured  sweet  Sister  Pellucid. 

"  But  we  must  bide  the  Lord's  time,"  warningly  uttered 
an  old  lady,  who  had  just  arrived.  To  her  the  brisk 
committee  clerk  ventured  this  answer :  "  But  Senator 
Readyright  says  you'll  find  the  Lord's  time  will  come  just 
about  twenty-four  hours  after  the  womeu  get  their  eyes 
open ! " 

A  temperance  member  of  the  House  is  the  last  caller 

whom  I  will  report.     He  spake  in  this  wise :  "  Ladies,  1 

pretend  to  no  superior  saintship.     I  am  like  other  men, 

only  I  cdine  from  a  district  that  would  behead  me  if  I 

did  not  stand  by  you.     I  have  a  pocket  full  of  letters, 

received  today  from  party  leaders  at  home,  assuring  me 

I  run  no  risk."     At  the  close  of  three  weeks  of  such  a 

school  as  this,  one  of  our  radicals  asked  Mrs.  Pellucid, 

chief  of  conservatives,  this  pointed  question:     "  Are  you 

still  for  the  Home  Protection  vote  alone,  or  for  the  ballot 

on  all  questions?"     She  replied  in  thrilling  tones  and 
15 


374  "THE   SALOON   MUST   GO." 

most  explicit  words  :  "  Any  temperance  woman  who  could 
have  shared  our  bitter  experience  here  without  desiring 
to  vote  on  every  officer,  from  constable  to  President,  would 
be  either  a  knave  or  a  fool." 

MAKE    SELF-INTEREST    OUR   ALLY. 

This  lady  reasoned  that,  since  we  are  solemnly  bound 
to  be  wise  as  serpents,  we  must  harness  self-interest  to 
our  on-moving  chariot.  The  great  majority  of  men  who 
are  in  office  desire  to  be  re-elected,  by  fair  means,  if  they 
can ;  but  to  be  re-elected  anyhow.  Only  in  one  way  can 
they  bring  this  to  pass  and  tlyit  is  by  securing  on  their  side 
old  King  Majority.  If  we  furnish  them  with  a  constituency 
committed  to  the  proposition  "  The  saloon  must  go,"  then 
go  it  will,  and  on  the  double  quick.  Let  the  city  council 
know  that  women  have  the  ballot,  and  will  not  vote  for 
them  if  they  license  saloons,  and  they  will  soon  come  out 
for  prohibition.  Let  the  sheriff,  marshal,  and  constable 
know  that  their  tenure  of  office  depends  on  their  success 
in  executing  the  law  thus  secured,  and  their  faithfulness 
will  leave  nothing  to  be  desired.  Let  the  shuffling  justice 
and  the  truckling  judge  know  that  a  severe  interpretation 
of  the  law  will  brighten  their  chances  of  promotion,  and 
you  will  behold  rigors  of  penalty  which  Neal  Dow  himself 
would  wince  to  see. 

There  is  also  great  force  in  the  consideration  that  if 
women,  not  themselves  eligible  to  office,  had  the  power  to 
elect  or  to  defeat  men  (who  will  alone  be  eligible  for  a 
long  while  yet),  the  precise  check  might  by  this  arrange- 
ment be  supplied,  which  would  keep  politics  from  forming 
with  the  worst  elements  of  society  that  unholy  alliance 
which  is  to-day  the  grief  of  Christians  and  the  despair  of 
patriots.  Belonging  to  no  party  ourselves,  we  might  be 
able  to  lift  the  Sabbath,  the  temperance  movement,  and 
kindred  moral  questions  out  of  the  mire  of  merely  partisan 


THE    PRIMARIES.  375 

politics  into  which  they  have  fallen.  It  is,  at  least,  worth 
trying.  Into  the  seething-  caldron,  where  the  witch's 
broth  is  bubbling,  let  us  cast  this  one  ingredient  more. 
In  speaking  thus  I  am  aware  that  I  transcend  the  present 
purpose  of  my  constituency,  and  represent  myself  rather 
than  "  the  folks  that  voted  me  in  ! " 

PLANS    FOR    THE    FUTURE. 

Our  temperance  women  in  the  West  are  learning  that, 
while  the  primary  meetings  are  the  most  easily  influenced, 
they  are  the  most  influential  political  bodies  in  America. 
Ere  long  the  W.  C.  T.  Unions  will  attend  these,  beginning 
in  the  smaller  and  more  reputable  communities.  We  are 
confident  that  nothing  would  be  so  effective  in  securing 
the  attendance  of  the  respectable  voter  as  the  presence  at 
the  primaries  of  "his  sisters  and  his  cousins  and  his 
aunts."  To  be  "  in  at  the  birth"  of  measures  vital  to  the 
well  being  of  society  seems  to  us,  in  the  light  of  last  win- 
ter's experience,  a  more  useful  investment  of  our  influence 
than  to  be  "  in  at  the  death."  At  Springfield  we  found 
the  enemy  entrenched,  while  in  the  primaries  his  soldiers 
are  not  yet  even  recruited.  "We  intend  also  to  open  in 
each  locality  books  of  record  ;  and,  by  thorough  canvass 
to  secure  an  informal  registration  of  all  men  and  women 
— the  former  as  to  how  they  will,  and  the  latter  how  they 
would  (mournful  potential  mood  !)  vote  on  the  question 
of  permitting  saloons.  Every  such  effort  helps  to 
obliterate  party  lines;  or,  more  correctly,  to  mass  the 
moral  elements  by  which  alone  society  coheres,  against 
the  disintegrating  forces,  which  of  themselves  would  drive 
us  into  chaos  and  old  night. 

New  England  must  lead.  Let  not  the  west  outstrip 
you  in  this  glorious  race.  I  appeal  to  the  women  of  the 
east.  Already  New  Hampshire  and  Massachusetts  have 
placed  in  your  hands  the  educational  vote,  which  has  a 


376  TO   THE   WOMEN   OF   NEW   ENGLAND. 

direct  bearing  on  the  temperance  question,  since  by  its  use 
the  mothers  of  this  land  can  place  on  the  school  com- 
mittees those  who  will  make  the  scientific  reasons  for 
total  abstinence  a  regular  study  of  the  children.  I  beg 
you,  by  its  use,  to  testify  your  fitness  and  desire  for  the 
more  powerful  weapon  it  foretells.  It  comes  to  you  as 
the  gift  of  a  few  earnest,  persistent  women,  who  steadily 
asked  your  legislators  to  bestow  it,  even  as  they  will  the 
larger  gift,  if  you  as  diligently  seek  it.  Your  undertak- 
ing will  not  be  so  gigantic  as  ours  in  Illinois,  for  with  us 
34  in  the  Senate  and  102  in  the  House  must  first  agree  to 
a  constitutional  amendment,  and  then  the  concurrence  of 
two-thirds  of  our  voters  must  be  secured.  Another  con- 
trast further  illustrates  the  favorable  conditions  here. 
Negro  suffrage  at  the  South  was  forced  upon  vide  areas 
occupied  by  a  voting  population  bitterly  hostile  to  the 
innovation.  Here  woman's  vote  must  first  be  granted  by 
free  consent  of  a  majority  of  the  representatives  chosen 
directly  by  those  who  are  already  citizens;  and  by  operat- 
ing over  the  small  area  of  a  single  State  at  a  time  it  would 
arouse  no  violent  upheaval  of  the  opposition.  Besides, 
the  large  excess  of  women  here  makes  this  the  fitting 
battle-ground  of  a  foregone  victory.  Women  of  New 
England !  among  all  the  divisions  of  our  great  White 
Ribbon  Army  you  occupy  the  strategic  position.  Truly, 
your  valiant  daughter,  Illinois,  earlier  flung  down  the 
gauge  of  the  new  battle ;  but  your  blood  is  in  our  veins, 
your  courage  nerves  our  hearts,  your  practical  foresight 
determines  our  methods  of  work.  I  come  from  the  prai- 
ries, where  we  are  marshaling  forces  for  a  fresh  attack, 
and  solemnly  adjure  }tou  to  lead  us  in  this  fight  for  God 
and  home  and  native  land.  Still,  let  dear  old  New  Eng- 
land take  her  natural  place  in  the  forefront  of  the  battle; 
and  from  an  enemy  more  hateful  than  King  George  let 
the  descendants  of  our  foremothers  deliver  Concord  and 


"thebe's  a  light  about  to  beam."  377 

Lexington,  and  wield  onee  more  in  Boston,  with  its  eight 
miles  of  grog-shops,  the  sword  of  Bunker  Hill !  To 
chronicle  the  deeds  by  which  your  devotion  shall  add 
fresh  luster  to  names  renowned  and  hallowed,  the  Muse 
of  History  prepares  her  tablet  and  poises  her  impartial 
pen. 

Friends,  there  is  always  a  way  out  for  humanity,  but 
evermore  in  earth's  affairs  God  works  by  means.  To-day 
he  hurls  back  upon  us  our  complaining  cry  :  "  How  long  ? 
0  Lord  !  how  long  ? "  Even  as  he  answered  faint-hearted 
Israel,  so  he  replies  to  us :  What  can  I  do  for  this  people 
that  I  have  not  done  ?  "  Speak  unto  the  children  of 
Israel  that  they  go  forward." 

"  There's  a  light  about  to  beam, 
There's  a  fount  about  to  stream, 
There's  a  warmth  about  to  glow, 
There's  a  flower  about  to  blow. 
There's  a  midnight  blackness 

Changing  into  gray ; 
Men  of  thoughts,  of  votes,  of  action, 

Clear  the  way  I 

Aid  that  dawning  tongue  and  pen ; 
Aid  it,  hopes  of  honest  men ; 
Aid  it  paper,  aid  it  type, 
Aid  it,  for  the  hour  is  ripe, 
And  our  earnest  must  not  slacken  into  play. 
Men  of  thoughts,  of  votes,  of  action, 
Clear  the  way  ! 

A  LOOK  AT  THE  ILLINOIS  LEGISLATURE. 

(a  specimen  op  all.) 

A  peep  from  the  ladies'  gallery  of  the  "  Thirty-second 
General  Assembly  "  of  Illinois  may  not  be  amiss  on  this 
opening  day  of  the  session.  Of  course,  it  will  be  from  a 
temperance  point  of  view.  The  liquor  men  are  already  on 
hand.  u  Early  and  often,"  is  their  motto,  which  we  shall 
some  day  be  wise  enough  to  emulate.     They  have  a  pair 


378  "our  representatives." 

of  lawyers  with  them,  and  their  lobbying  will  be  contem- 
poraneous with  the  first  appearance  of  a  Solon  on  the 
scene.  But  the  temperance  people  are  also  on  the  alert. 
This  afternoon  we  have  a  consultation  meeting  with  the 
local  W.  C.  T.  U.;  and  on  the  15th  we  begin  a  series  of 
meetings  culminating  in  the  "  Alliance  Convention " 
(Jan.  18  and  19),  at  which  all  temperance  societies  will 
be  represented. 

The  Hinds  bill,  by  which  women  have  a  voice,  through 
petition,  on  local  license  questions,  will  be  promptly  pre- 
sented, and  a  lively  contest  kept  up,  as  the  friends  of  tem- 
perance rally  to  the  standard  raised. 

But  I  must  not  forget  to  look  up  from  these  pencilings  to 
the  moving  panorama  before  me.  With  eye  and  ear  I 
must  act  as  your  reporter.  It  is  twenty  minutes  of 
twelve,  and  the  opening  exercises  begin  at  noon.  In  the 
ladies'  gallery  are  gathered  many  of  our  true-hearted 
temperance  women.  Behind  me,  a  couple  of  politicians 
are  talking.     One  says  : 

"They'll  meet  and  sit,  and  what'll  they  do?  They've 
got  nothing  to  do — that's  the  fact  of  the  business.  We 
want  no  new  legislation.     Things  are  in  splendid  shape  !  " 

Happy  man,  to  be  endowed  with  powers  to  squint  thus 
at  the  human  race,  seeing  but  half  of  it.  There  are  a 
score  of  women  within  ear-shot  of  him  who  will  not  rest 
until  the  "  home  guards  "  have  somewhat  to  say  about  the 
home  question  of  the  dram-shop. 

At  my  left,  a  veteran  employee  is  giving  to  a  bright 
young  lady  scribe  minute  accounts  of  the  state  and  stand- 
ing of  the  members  as  touching  the  Hinds  bill.  "Favor- 
able to  Hinds  bill."  "  Voted  for  us  last  time."  "  Bitter 
against  us."  "  A  promising  young  man,  but  has  been 
bought  by  whisky  votes."  These  are  the  statements 
which  the  swift  pencil,  "  when  found,  makes  a  note  on." 
In  the  men's  gallery  (ought  I  to  say  gentle-men's  ?)  are 


"THY    KINGDOM    COME."  379 

"sovereigns*'  in  considerable  numbers,  with  hat  on  head 
and  pipe  in  mouth.  Already  the  air  is  blue  and  sickening 
with  tobacco  smoke;  members  walking  up  and  down, 
puffing  in  one  another's  faces.  I  am  glad  to  say  these 
ill-bred  personages  constitute  less  than  a  tenth  of  the  153 
in  the  House.  What  forlorn  mothers— or  fathers— they 
must  have  had.  It  is  interesting  to  note  that  the  men 
who  smoke  almost  invariably  wear  their  hats.  Selfish- 
ness and  ill-breeding  are  twin-born.  At  11.50  the  mem- 
bers are  nearly  all  assembled.  Somebody  beside  me 
says,  "A  better  looking  collection  than  in  '79;  more  fine 
foreheads  ;  better  clothes,  and  fewer  red  noses."  Another 
says,  "  Not  a  dozen  bald  heads — mostly  men  of  middle 
age."  Another,  "  Look  at  the  Democrats !  They  are  on 
their  good  behavior,  and  well  they  may  be.  Less  smoking 
on  their  side  than  on  the  Republican." 

But  the  hour  strikes,  the  gavel  falls,  Secretary  of  State 
Harlow  calls  the  House  to  order,  and  calls  on  Dr.  Wines 
to  offer  prayer.  Almost  every  head  is  bowed,  a  few  old 
men  rising  instead ;  the  great  hall  is  as  quiet  as  a  church, 
while  slowly  and  tenderly  fall  on  our  ears  the  words  first 
spoken  by  the  world's  elder  Brother  and  Redeemer  when 
he  said,  "  After  this  manner  therefore  pray  ye." 

How  unutterably  significant,  at  such  a  time,  in  such  a 
place,  were  the  words  that  floated  on  the  mild  air  of  Judea, 
and  into  the  ears  of  a  dozen  fishermen,  but  which,  coming 
from  lips  divine,  had  life  immortal  in  them.  That  we 
are  partly  barbarous  yet,  was  signified  by  the  effigy  of 
manhood  who,  with  feet  on  desk,  head  erect  and  cigar 
in  mouth,  puffed  right  on  through  the  prayer.  Secretary 
Harlow  now  reads  his  graceful  valedictory,  "  After 
twenty-six  years  of  public  life,"  which  is  kindly  received 
with  applause,  the  roll  of  members  is  called,  and  certifi- 
cates presented.  And  now  the  fight  begins  by  the  nomi- 
nation of  temporary  chairman ;  on  the  Republican  side, 


380  OURS    IS    THE    FUTURE. 

Mr.  John  M.  Pearson ;  on  the  Democratic,  Mr.  Young- 
blood.  Of  course,  this  is  a  form,  for  the  "  party  that 
saved  the  Union "  has  eleven  majority.  Mr.  Pearson  is 
duly  elected,  conducted  with  much  ceremony  to  the  chair, 
makes  a  sensible  speech  one  minute  long,  and  the  House 
proceeds  to  other  uninteresting  business. 

The  general  impression  is  that  this  House  is  not  as 
favorable  to  temperance  measures  as  it  might  have  been 
had  not  so  many-of  our  good  people  slept  while  the  enemy 
sowed  tares.  Still,  there  are  decided  gains  in  some  quar- 
ters, and  we  have  a  basis  of  hope.  The  election  of  Gen. 
H.  H.  Thomas  in  the  Republican  caucus  last  evening  is  a 
gain  for  the  temperance  side.  The  forces  will  soon  be 
organized,  and  we  can  better  judge  of  the  situation.  The 
air  is  full  of  rumors  as  to  the  "  position  "  of  our  members, 
many  preferring  to  maintain  the  character  of  "  lookers-on 
in  Venice  "  for  a  while.     But  we 

Bate  not  one  jot  of  heart  or  hope ; 

Ours  is  the  future,  grand  and  great, 
The  safe  appeal  of  truth  to  time, 

So  we  can  wait. 

VALEDICTORY  THOUGHTS,  1878. 

Beloved  Sisters  of  the  W.  C.  T.  U.,  of  Illinois: 
For  fifteen  months  I  have  been  honored  by  the  leadership 
of  the  ".women  who  dared."  My  life  has  witnessed  no 
other  period  of  equal  length  into  which  so  much  happi- 
ness has  been  crowded,  for  in  no  other  have  I  been  blessed 
with  such  transcendent  opportunities  of  usefulness.  For- 
ever it  remains  God's  universal  law  that  the  more  constant, 
effective,  and  beneficent  our  reaction  on  the  mass  of 
humanity  about  us,  the  more  steadfast  and  rational  is 
that  joy  in  us  which  this  world  cannot  give  nor  take  away. 
Profoundly  then  I  thank  you  for  the  fulcrum  and  the  lev- 
erage vouchsafed  to  me  by  your  love  and  confidence,  but 
most  of  all,  by  your  intelligent  and  energetic  cooperation. 


memory's  review.  381 

But  by  your  will  and  that  of  other  women  like  you,  both 
East  and  West,  I  am  transferred  to  the  leadership  of  all 
the  States  instead  of  one,  and  it  is  essential  that  my  rela- 
tionship to  all  should  be  that  of  impartial  interest  and 
endeavor :  hence  the  dissolving  of  our  earlier  relation- 
ships by  the  executive  committee's  acceptance  of  my  resig- 
nation. 

Yet  I  linger  in  the  doorway  of  my  dear  prairie  homo, 
and  before  turning  my  face  eastward,  send  from  a  loving 
heart  the  benediction,  God  bless  thee,  Illinois !  In  long- 
procession  thy  legions  go  marching  through  my  memory 
with  banner,  prayer,  and  song — the  Home  Protection 
army  of  that  great  campaign,  which  was  the  Sumter  gun 
of  America's  latest  and  most  heroic  anti-slavery  war. 
Behold  them  marching  in  the  van,  those  brave,  true- 
hearted  warriors  of  God,  who  from  a  thousand  pulpits 
preached  and  prayed  that,  woman's  pleading  might  give 
place  to  woman's  power.  See  the  rallying  clans  of  the 
reformed  men,  always  our  chivalric  guard  of  honor,  as 
they  fall  into  line,  with  ribbons  blue  and  red,  singing 
"  Rally  round  the  flag,  boys,  rally  once  again."  See  the 
luavy  columns  of  artillery,  the  noble  legion  of  editors 
Christian  and  editors  secular,  the  Gatling  guns  of  the 
metropolitan  press  leading  the  grand  advance !  Notice 
the  veteran  corps  of  the  old  line  temperance  societies 
marching  along  with  closed  ranks  and  what  the  greatest 
captain  of  the  age  has  called  "the  swing  of  conquest," 
and  see  filling  up  our  broadest  prairies  the  swift  advancing 
lines  of  the  grand  army,  the  one  hundred  and  eighty 
thousand  men  and  women  who  signed  the  muster-roll  of 
the  great  petition  as  volunteers.  Here,  with  steps  so 
rapid  they  can  hardly  grade  them  to  the  company's  music, 
march  the  business  men  of  Chicago,  who  provided  the 
sinews  of  war  for  our  campaign  ;  the  Swedes  of  the  Nord 
Seitj   the  miners  of  Streator,  the  moral  aristocracy  of 


382  NOBLE   LEGISLATORS. 

Peoria,  stronghold  of  our  relentless  foe,  and  the  hest  blood 
of  Springfield,  where  Lincoln's  memory  makes  st§rn 
hearts  kind  ;  while  southern  Illinois,  the  "  Egypt "  of 
our  misapprehension,  moves  forward  with  tens  of  thou- 
sands, led  by  kindly  old  Cairo,  where  the  gallant  "  Club" 
and  liberal-hearted  "  Union "  share  the  honors  each  has 
earned.  Next  these  deploy  the  students  from  our  schools, 
young  men  and  women  with  no  geometrical  formula  for 
bounding  anybody's  "  sphere,"  but  content  to  let  God's 
"  Thus  far  and  no  farther,"  written  in  the  nature  of  things, 
replace  the  crude  "Thus  far  and  no  farther"  which  has 
rung  from  custom's  pinched  lips,  checking  woman's 
buoyant  steps  in  all  the  ages  past.  The  Present  doffs  its 
cap  to  these  as  they  file  onward,  and  salutes  them  as 
"  burgomasters  of  the  future." 

There  are  ninety  thousand  women  in  this  procession, 
the  advance  guard  of  an  army  which  is  gathering  from 
every  State,  and  the  music  of  their  marching  feet  is 
keyed  to  the  tune  of  "Home,  Sweet  Home."  Set  for  the 
defence  of  a  principle,  they  have  wrought  into  the  granite 
of  deeds  what  others  have  been  content  to  "declare"  in 
"resolutions"  meagerly  enforced  by  pitifully  small  "peti- 
tions," and  their  record  is  the  guiding  "  signal "  light  of 
the  countless  hosts  who  shall  come  after  them. 

But  who  are  these  now  passing  up  through  the  shining 
ranks  of  the  great  white-ribbon  army,  as  the  gentle  sol- 
diers gaze  on  them  with  eyes  that  cannot  see  for  tears  ? 
Ah,  theirs  are  memorable  faces,  theirs  are  names  to  be 
emblazoned  on  our  banners  and  our  hearts ;  the  seventy- 
eight  who  voted  for  our  bill,  headed  by  Senator  Taliafero 
and  Judge  Hinds,  the  brave  Republican  and  Democrat 
who  presented  our  petition  at  the  capital.  Forget  them ! 
Nay,  not  we !  See  where  they  march,  brave  Speaker 
James  and  Chairman  Black,  noble  Peters  of  Watseka, 
German  of  the  Germans,  forerunner  of  the  army  that  ere 


ILLINOIS    WOMEN.  383 

long  shall  keep  their  Wacht  am  Rhein  for  the  protection  of 
our  homes  ;  sec  where  they  march  and  hear  the  soft  "  God 
bless  you,"  of  a  hundred  thousand  tremulous  voices  as 
Whiting,  Ford  of  Galva,  Dysart,  Neal,  and  Tice  march  by, 
heading  the  total  of  ninety  votes  we  mustered  in  both 
Houses  at  "  headquarters."  Other  men  there  were  fought 
in  the  ranks  of  the  Black  Dragon,  when  the  battle  raged 
under  the  capitol's  great  dome ;  in  whose  sight  greed 
of  office,  of  party,  and  of  gold  were  stronger  than 
God's  eternal  justice,  and  more  regarded  than  the  tears 
of  the  oppressed.  Their  names  shall  pass  into  a  swift 
oblivion,  but  some  tall  shaft  upon  the  generous  soil  of  the 
first  Home  Protection  battle  ground,  shall  yet  bear  down 
to  happier  generations  the  names  of  the  true  and  loyal 
knights  who,  even  now,  wear  fadeless  honors  in  memory's 
review. 

Farewell,  dauntless  vice-presidents,  you  who  have  borne 
and  labored  and  had  patience  ;  noble  sisters  of  the  pen 
and  the  exchequer,  wide  awake  general  superintendent  of 
the  "  ninety-and-nine  "  that  went  not  astray,  tireless  office 
secretary,  indomitable  founder  of  the  Signal,  beloved 
editor,  who  in  sorrow's  night  hast  earned  the  title  "  bravest 
of  the  brave,"  and  manly  publisher,  whose  royal  spirit 
deems  it  an  honor  to  help  our  woman's  enterprise,  and 
accepts  exile  from  his  country  for  the  dearer  love  he  bears 
our  cause  ;  farewell,  heroic  presidents  of  the  local  Unions, 
who  "  hold  the  fort "  amid  the  storms  of  defeat,  the 
gloom  of  apathy  ;  farewell  to  you,  unvanquished  soldiers 
of  the  rank  and  file,  whose  faithful  courage  often  puts  to 
blush  our  own.    God's  blessing  be  upon  you,  each  and  all. 

Step  to  thy  rightful  place,  *  Elizabeth,  Queen  of  the 
Home  Protection  army  in  the  pioneer  prairie  State. 
Trained  under  the  guns  of  the  enemy,  Peoria  sends  her 


*Mrs.  Elizabeth  Grier  Hibben,  the  new  president. 


384  "  TEMPERANCE   TONIC." 

choicest  daughter  forth  to  a  broader,  but  not  a  fiercer 
battle  ground.  Thy  gentleness  hath  made  thee  great. 
The  future  shall  bring  us  tidings  of  such  victories  as 
shall  make  the  Past  appear  the  tyro  that  she  is. 

Attack  the  enemy  in  squads,  this  winter,  with  the  local 
ordinance  and  petition.  Yoke  last  year's  enthusiasm  to 
this  year's  discipline  ;  by  your  success  in  local  elections, 
throw  the  ordinance  into  the  courts,  where  the  decision 
can  but  establish  its  validity,  and  next  autumn  send  back 
to  the  legislature  the  friends  who  stood  by  us,  and  do 
your  utmost  to  retire  those  who  were  false  or  faint  of 

heart. 

Strike  till  the  last  armed  foe  expires; 
Strike  for  your  altars  and  your  fires ; 
Strike  for  the  freedom  of  your  sires, 
God,  home,  and  native  land. 

TEMPERANCE   TONIC   FOR   VOTERS. 

The  following  pledge,  used  by  the  W.  C.  T.  U.,  has  been 
extensively  circulated,  the  final  sentence  being  changed 
to  suit  the  prevailing  sentiment  in  different  localities. 

Copy  of  pledge  to  be  written  in  little  book  and  given  to 
women  appointed  for  the  purpose  in  every  W.  C.  T.  U. 

I,  the  undersigned,  a  voter  of  ,  hereby  pledge 

myself,  as  an  act  of  justice  to  the  mothers,  Avives,  and 

daughters  of  ,  who  can  get  no  representation  at 

the  polls  except  through  their  fathers,  husbands,  brothers, 
and  sons,  that  I  will  attend  every  primary  meeting,  caucus, 
and  election  wherein  the  temperance  question  is  directly 
or  indirectly  involved,  and  that  I  will  then  and  there  give 
my  influence  and  vote  in  favor  of  such  men  and  measures 
;is  will  advance  the  cause  of  the  total  prohibition  of  the 
liquor  traffic  (or  of  local  option)  ;  (or  of  the  ballot  for 
women  as  a  weapon  of  protection  for  her  home  from  the 
outrages  of  the  liquor  traffic ;  or  the  triumph  of.  the  con- 
stitutional prohibitory  amendment.) 


UTHE   WORLD   MOVES."  385 

A  YANKEE   HOME   PROTECTION   CATECHISM  ;   OR  ONE  QUESTION 
ANSWERED    BY   ANOTHER. 

Question. — Is  work  for  woman's  full  ballot  a  "  side 
issue"  in  temperance  reform? 

Answer. — Do  the  brewers  so  regard  it? 

Q. — Would  men  who  never  voted  prohibition  them- 
selves give  us  women  the  power  to  do  so  ? 

A. — Have  they  done  so  in  Arkansas? 

Q. — Is  not  the  subject  of  prohibition  less  unpopular  than 
that  of  woman's  ballot  ? 

A. — Is  the  superior  popularity  of  prohibition  indicated 
by  the  fact  that  four  States  have  the  suffrage  amendment 
now  pending,  and  two  have  the  prohibition,  and  that  in 
twelve  States  the  woman's  educational  ballot  is  a  part  of  the 
.^tate  government?  Or  by  the  fact  that  while  neither 
branch  of  Congress  has  a  temperance,  both  have  a  suffrage 
committee  now  in  full  blast  ?  Or  by  the  further  fact  that, 
while  in  the  House  of  Representatives  they  would  not  so 
much  as  grant  a  commission  to  investigate  the  results  of 
the  liquor  traffic,  they  have  granted  the  woman's  suffrage 
committee  aforesaid  ? 

Q. — Is  not  the  home  protection  movement  less  popular 
than  it  was  years  ago  ? 

A. — Do  you  rely  for  proof  of  this  upon  the  fact  that  the 
S.  S.  workers  of  Illinois,  at  their  recent  temperance  meet- 
ing, and  the  Congregational  ministers,  at  their  annual 
association,  resolved  to  stand  by  the  W.  C.  T.  U.,  which 
is  thoroughly  pronounced  for  woman's  full  ballot  ?  Or 
upon  the  fact  that  our  leading  temperance  women  are 
freely  invited  to  speak  in  Presbyterian  churches  on  Sab- 
bath evenings,  when  their  utterances  about  the  ballot  are 
sure  to  have  no  uncertain  sound  ?  Or  upon  the  fact  that 
at  the  District  Convention  held  this  spring,  our  "  women 
of  the  churches,"  confessedly  conservative,  have  stood  up 
so  unanimously  for  the  ballot,  when   the  question  was 


386  LOGIC    OF    FACTS. 

called,  that  it  has  been  declared  "  positively  cruel"  to  put 
the  negative  ? 

Q. — Is  it  not  easier  to  get  prohibition  than  the  ballot 
for  women  ? 

A. — Do  the  foregoing  facts  (not  fine  spun  theories) 
point  in  that  direction  ?  Is  it  easier  for  a  legislator  to  go 
to  his  whisky  constituents  and  say,  "  I  voted  to  submit  a 
prohibition  amendment,"  or  "  I  voted  to  submit  an  equal 
franchise  amendment?"  Which  sounds  the  worst  in  the 
distiller's  ears?  Did  you  know  that  a  large  element 
among  the  "liberals" — Germans  and  others — believe  it 
an  act  of  justice  to  let  all  the  adult  population  share 
directly  in  making  the  laws  by  which  they  are  governed  ? 
Had  you  heard  that  the  editor  of  a  leading  German  beer 
paper  said  to  one  of  our  workers,  "  I  hate  to  have  the 
women  vote,  because  they  will  vote  against  beer;  but  I 
shall  cast  my  ballot  on  their  side  because  I  believe  in  your 
American  Declaration  of  Independence  ?" 

Q. — Will  not  the  majority  of  foreigners  vote  against 
temperance  ? 

A. — Then  has  not  temperance  something  to  gain  from 
letting  women  vote,  since  at  least  two  foreign  men  come 
to  us  where  one  foreign  woman  comes,  and  the  proportion 
of  native  born  women  to  native  born  men  is  in  our  favor  ? 

Q. — Did  not  Kansas  declare  for  prohibition  without 
woman's  help  ? 

A. — Is  it  not  true  that  for  fifteen  years  previous  to 
carrying  the  amendment,  Kansas  had  allowed  the  signa- 
ture of  a  woman  to  count  just  as  much  as  that  of  a  man  on 
license  questions,  thus  giving  to  women  the  "  vote  by  sig- 
nature?" Did  not  that,  according  to  the  admission  of 
Kansas  people,  help  mightily  in  building  public  sentiment 
for  prohibition  ?  And  does  not  Governor  St.  John  declare 
they  must  give  women  the  ballot  that  they  may  help  to 
elect  such  officers  in  the  large  cities  of  Kansas  as  will 


"HOME   PROTECTION  "    NOT    A    "HOBBY."  387 

make  the  law  something  more  than  a  rusty  sword  in  a 
still  more  rusty  scabbard? 

Q. — Will  not  the  ballot  come  to  women  in  due  season 
without  the  special  efforts  of  temperance  women? 

A. — Is  it  not  true,  as  Garfield  said,  that  things  don't 
turn  up  in  this  world,  but  somebody  must  go  to  work  and 
turn  them  up?  If  the  "ballot  by  signature"  in  women's 
hands  closed  the  grog  shops  in  three-fourths  of  the  coun- 
ties of  Arkansas,  is  it  not  in  harmony  with  temperance 
for  the  W.  C.  T.  U.  to  hasten  its  advent  to  the  utmost  ? 

Q. — Have  not  the  woman  suffragists  come  into  the 
W.  C.  T.  U.  for  the  purpose  of  using  its  forces  in  the 
interest  of  their  cause  ? 

A. — Will  you  please  furnish  a  list  of  those  who  have  so 
entered  our  work?  Is  there  a  general  officer  of  the 
National  W.  C.  T,  U.  who  has  ever  been  affliated  with 
the  suffrage  movement  except  as  a  W.  C.  T.  U.  worker? 
Is  there  a  State  President  except  Mary  A.  Livermore  and 
Mary  T.  Lathrap  (now  a  conservative)  who  ever  spoke  in 
a  suffrage  meeting  ?     Let  us  have  facts. 

Q. — Have  not  those  W.  C.  T.  Unions  that  have 
included  work  for  the  ballot  among  their  methods  become 
hobbyists  and  laid  down  the  Gospel  to  take  up  the  ballot? 

A. — Which  has  most  auxiliaries  and  the  greatest  num- 
ber of  temperance  schools,  evangelistic  meetings,  etc. — ■ 
the  Home  Protection  States  or  the  conservatives?  (Look 
in  the  annual  reports  of  the  National  W.  C.  T.  U.  and 
see.)  Which  State  furnished  for  years  the  national 
superintendent  of  the  evangelistic  work  ?  (Illinois — and 
a  more  fervent  Christian  worker  or  a  more  pronounced 
Home  Protectionist  is  not  to  be  found  in  America  than 
Mrs.  Henry.)  Which  furnishes  the  superintendent  of  the 
Sunday-school  work?  Illinois.  Of  "  unfermented  wine  at 
the  sacrament?"  Illinois.  On  which  side  have  the 
veterans  of  the  crusade  ramrod  themselves?  "  Bv  their 
fruits  ve  shall  know  them." 


388  A    SCENE    FROM    REAL    LIFE. 

Q. — Is  not  the  Bible  opposed  to  woman's  ballot? 

A. — Do  you  refer  to  the  place  where  it  says  "  male  and 
female  created  he  them  and  called  their  name  Adam?"  or 
to  the  account  of  Miriam  and  Deborah,  Huldah  and 
Esther,  Anna  and  Elizabeth,  and  the  Marys?  or  to  the 
Apostle's  declaration :  "  There  is  neither  male  nor  female, 
but  ye  are  all  one  in  Christ  Jesus  ?"  Nay,  as  the  outcome 
of  our  Christian  civilization  let  us  have 

"  Two  heads  in  counsel,  two  beside  the  hearth  ; 
Two  in  the  tangled  business  of  the  world ; 
Two  in  the  liberal  offices  of  life; 
Two  plummets  dropped  to  sound  the  abyss  of  science, 
And  the  secrets  of  the  mind. " 

A    HEART-SORROW   IN   AN    UNPROTECTED    HOME. 

The  accompanying  letter  so  stirred  my  heart  when  I 
received  it  that  I  determined  to  pass  it  along  to  the 
good  and  thoughtful  people  who  will  read  this  book,  and 
ask  them  to  think  it  over : 

Dear  Sister: — Thanking  you  as  far  as  words  can  do  it,  for  the 
kind  mention  you  always  make  of  me,  for  your  tender  sympathy, 
which  has  bound  me  to  you,  I  will  give  you  a  picture  of  my  life  since 
my  arrival  on  Saturday,  and  if  it  will  help  to  open  blind  eyes,  or 
rouse  to  thought  one  indifferent  mind,  use  it  as  you  will,  only  for  my 
dear  son's  sake  suppress  the  name. 

I  came  home  after  the  week's  work — work  1  tried  to  do  lovingly  as 
for  the  Master,  looking  gladly  toward  the  rest,  and  the  welcome  of 
home  faces  and  sweet  home  voices. 

My  boy  had  reached  it  before  me ;  he  had  been  at  work  this~week, 
after  many  months  without  employment.  Part  of  his  wages  he  left 
with  a  friend,  saying  "it  would  be  safer  so."  He  knew  his  weakness 
to  withstand  the  tempter's  lures.  Then  he  went  to  make  some  pur- 
chases, which  he  intended  as  a  pleasant  surprise  towards  home 
comfort — went,  as  he  thought,  safe  in  his  loving  desire  to  make  home 
bright  in  atonement  for  the  many  dark  days  he  had  caused  there. 

After  a  few  hours  he  came,  with  unsteady  feet,  brain  heated  and 
bewildered;  the  face  that  God  had  made  so  fair  swollen,  flushed,  dis- 
figured; the  beautiful  eyes,  that  were  to  have  watched  for  his  mother's 
home  coming,  bloodshot  and  wild  in  their  brightness.  This  was  on 
Saturday  night.     On  God's  holy  day  he  stole  out,  and  drank  again 


A    TEMPERANCE    ALLEGORY.  oS!) 

and  again  to  quench  the  thirst  that  it  but  enkindles  anew.  To-day 
when  the  mother  pleaded,  when  her  hand  would  have  held  him  back, 
keeping  him  within  home's  shelter,  the  lips  she  used  to  kiss  so  lovingly 
cursed  the  day  that  he  was  born,  cursed  the  mother  that  gave  him 
birth,  the  mother  who  would  die  to  save  him  now,  and  went  out 
again  on  the  road  that  leads  to  death.  The  law  has  no  redress  for  me, 
no  restraining  influence  for  him.  He  is  of  age,  say  the  lawyers;  the 
men  of  whom  he  buys  liquid  tire  are  licensed  to  sell  it.  "What  are  we 
mothers  to  do?  Shall  we  sit  quietly  down  and  watch  the  ending,  the 
dark,  dreary  ending?  God  help  us.  God  give  us  strength  to  put 
aside  our  timid  shrinking.  Let  us  petition — petition — until  we  have 
the  right  to  say  by  our  actions  as  well  as  our  prayers  that  this 
slaughter  of  souls  must  cease.  I  must  do  what  alone  is  left.  If  the 
law  hedges  about  the  rumseller  because  he  has  a  voice,  a  tribute  for 
the  revenue,  a  vote  that  intimidates  even  those  who  wish  well  to  the 
temperance  cause,  if  he  and  his  saloon  are  protected,  why  should  not 
I,  who,  because  I  am  a  woman,  need  it  more,  have  Home  Protection 
for  my  helpless  ones,  myself,  my  weak  and  wandering  boy,  avIio  but 
for  rum's  traffic  would  be,  with  his  rich  gifts  of  heart  and  mind,  an 
ornament  to  society,  a  power  for  good  in  the  land? 

Yours, 
A  Sufferer,  if  not  wholly  a  Suffragist. 

THE    DRAGON'S    COUNCIL    HALL A    TEMPERANCE   ALLEGORY. 

Behold  his  Satanic  Majesty  in  cabinet  council  assem- 
bled, with  his  minions  and  his  emissaries  just  returned 
from  this  sin-stricken  earth.  Each  brings  the  latest  news 
concerning  the  endless  conflict  between  darkness  and 
light,  ignorance  and  wisdom,  sin  and  righteousness.  Each 
gives  the  most  carefully  considered  suggestions  for  the 
building  up  of  Satan's  kingdom — for  the  multiplication  of 
murders,  robberies,  outrages,  and  conflagrations.  "  Permit 
the  suggestion,  your  Majesty,"  says  one  brimstone-colored 
satellite,  "that  you  will  build  a  new  distillery  at  Spiritsville, 
for  at  that  point  the  church  people  are  growing  rapidly  in 
power."  "Not  at  all,"  tartly  replies  he  of  the  horns  and 
hoofs;  "don't  you  know  better  than  to  be  always  showing 
your  hand  in  that  fashion  !  Do  this  instead  :  Put  it  into 
the  heart  of  John  Barleycorn,  proprietor  of  the  distillery 
I  have  already  there,  to  subscribe  a  thousand  dollars 
toward  finishing  the  church." 


390  WAYS  THAT  ARE  DARK. 

The  order  was  entered  in  lurid  letters  on  the  books, 
and  Emissary  No.  2  proceeded  to  report :  "  In  Temperance- 
ville  they  have  so  few  saloons  that  the  young  men  are 
rapidly  getting  out  from  under  thy  sway,  and  I  humbly 
suggest  the  imperative  necessity  of  a  special  order  on  the 
Stygian  Manufactory  for  six  well-instructed  and  experi- 
enced imps,  who  shall  put  it  into  the  heads  of  six  men 
now  engaged  in  other  business  to  open  six  saloons,  as 
business  is  so  lively  at  Cincinnati  and  Peoria  that  we  can 
spare  none  of  our  already  enlisted  forces."  "  Tut,  tut !  " 
roared  the  devil ;  "  I  can  beat  that  device,  with  only  half 
trying.  Send  a  beer-drinking  pastor  to  Temperanceville, 
and  let  him  preach  in  favor  of  the  Business  Men's  Mod- 
eration Society,  and  show  up  the  idiotic  theories  of  those 
stiff-necked  teetotalers."  No.  3  iioav  ventured  to  suggest 
that  in  Tippleton  the  women  had  opened  a  Sunday- 
afternoon  meeting,  and  had  given  out  that  they  should 
offer  a  free  lunch  at  the  polls  on  the  approaching  election 
day.  He  therefore  asked  for  a  detailed  escort  of  fiends, 
who  should  be  commanded  to  set  fire  to  the  Temperance 
Reading  Rooms  and  drive  the  President  of  the  W.  C.  T. 
U.  raving  distracted."  "  You  are  a  callow  young  limb  of 
perdition  to  go  so  clumsily  about  your  business,"  roared 
the  devil.  "  I  won't  send  a  special  squad,  for  they  are  all 
employed  in  the  saloons  working  up  the  voting  lists 
against  the  next  election,  in  the  interests  of  the  whisky 
governor ;  but  do  you  go  and  put  it  into  the  head  of 
Deacon  Setbones  to  prove  to  that  W.  C.  T.  IL  President 
that  the  Scriptures  do  plainly  teach  that  it's  a  sin  and 
shame  for  a  woman  to  speak  in  any  public  place,  and  that 
the  whole  spirit  of  Christianity  is  set  against  the  insane 
notion  of  a  woman's  undertaking  to  preside  at  an  election- 
eering lunch  clown  at  the  polls." 

And  now  comes  the  last  and  most  lugubrious-looking 
messenger,  with  this  doleful  story  to  relate  :  "  I  ask  that 


His    SATANIC    MAJESTY    AROUSED.  391 

pestilence  and  famine  be  let  loose,  for  I  am  terribly 
alarmed  for  the  stability  of  thy  kingdom  in  the  province 
of  which  Chicago  (otherwise  Beeropolis)  is  the  chief  city; 
for  be  it  known  unto  your  majesty  there  is  a  serious 
revolt  among  those  whom  thou  hast  kept  in  strict  subordi- 
nation, lo,  these  centuries!  The  women  are  rousing  them- 
selves to  the  cry  of  'Home  Protection,'  studying  into  the 
structure  of  the  Government,  tracing  back  to  their  source 
the  temptations  that  have  so  admirably  succeeded  in 
capturing  boys  and  men  for  thy  great  armies.  These 
frightful  women,  neglecting  their  proper  sphere  and  the 
submission  that  has  been  so  long  their  convenient  char- 
acteristic, have  actually  dared  to  publish  figures  showing 
that  the  majority  of  voters  are  on  thy  side,  and  that  thus 
thou  dost  hold  thyself  in  power  by  keeping  thine  ambas- 
sador, King  Alcohol,  intrenched  among  the  people." 
Here  the  fiendish  messenger  turned  a  sickly  yellow  and 
gasped  with  rage,  as  he  concluded  his  awful  revelation  in 
these  words :  "  They  even  ask — and  many  ministers, 
church  editors,  and  other  strong  allies  of  Him  whom  thou 
didst  tempt  and  crucify  are  asking  for  them — the  power 
to  vote  upon  all  questions  relating  to  the  sale  of  alcoholic 
drinks." 

0,  what  a  scene  was  that !  The  devil  quaked  in  every 
limb,  his  sharp  knees  smote  together,  and  a  howl  of  hell- 
ish hate  and  rage  rang  through  the  sulphurous  air  of  the 
dark  council  chamber  as  he  cried: 

"Away  with  you,  fools  that  you  are!  Talk  of  letting 
loose  famine  and  pestilence !  If  things  have  reached  this 
pass — if  the  women  have  discovered  that  the  side  always 
wins  which  has  most  votes — let  me  make  haste.  I'll  send 
no  stupid,  clumsy-footed  subaltern  in  an  emergency  like 
this!  I'll  steal  in  among  those  timid  and  silly  rebels 
who  have  always  hated  me  and  sought  the  triumph  of 
Him  who  wore   the   thorn-crown,  and  from   a   thousand 


392  REPLY    TO    CHAPLAIN    Itf'CABE. 

pulpits  I'll  declare  that  woman  leaves  her  home  on  this 
vile  errand  at  the  peril  of  society  ;  that  you  cannot  carry 
temperance,  much  less  the  Gospel,  into  politics ;  and  that 
en  the  day  when  woman  votes  the  home  will  fall  in  ever- 
lasting ruin,  and  woman  turn  herself  into  a  Jezebel. 
Mxue,nt  omnes. 

THE    HOME   GUARDS    OF    ILLINOIS. 

In  his  eloquent  sermon  at  Lake  Bluff,  near  Chicago, 
Chaplain  McCabe,  while  fully  and  frankly  avowing  his 
belief  in  woman's  vote  as  a  means  of  advancing  the 
temperance  cause,  stated  some  difficulties.  As  the  Lake 
Bluff  Temperance  Convocation  was  called  by  the  W.  C.  T. 
Union  of  Illinois,  whose  work  for  the  temperance  ballot  is 
well  known,  Miss  Willard  briefly  replied  to  the  points 
made  by  the  chaplain,  and  the  following  is  an  abstract  of 
her  impromptu : 

She  said  :  "  Our  good  chaplain's  first  objection  is  that  :'  It 
is  unwise  to  enlarge  the  law-making  power  while  the 
law-executing  power  is  not  increased."  But  the  beauty  of 
it  is  that  in  the  nature  of  things  this  can't  be  done.  The 
persons  whom  you  add  to  the  law-making  power  (for 
instance,  women  with  the  temperance  ballot  on  the  Local 
Option  question)  are  by  this  new  prerogative  translated 
out  of  the  passive  and  into  the  active  voice ;  they  become 
interested  in  the  enforcement  of  law.  The  chaplain 
draws  a  humorous  picture  of  woman's  weapons,  showing 
how  inappropriate  the  sewing-machine  and  darning-needle 
would  be  as  engines  of  war,  but  Mrs.  Plum  of  Streator, 
one  of  our  vice-presidents,  can  tell  you  of  women  who, 
having  first  changed  the  public  sentiment  of  that  com- 
munity by  years  of  holding  meetings,  circulating  temper- 
ance literature,  and  canvassing  for  the  Home  Protection 
petition,  finally  secured  local  prohibition  for  the  first 
time  in  the  history  of  that  mining  town,  and  then,  with 


INCREASE   OF   HOME   PROTECTION.  393 

their  knitting  in  their  hands  and  their  darning-needles, 

for  audit  I  know,  went  over  to  the  court  and  prosecuted 
infractions  of  the  law. 

The  difficulty  presented  is  fancied,  not  real,  and  vanishes 
in  the  light  of  practical  experience.  The  Home  Protec- 
tion movement  in  Illinois  did  more  to  awaken  and  solidify 
both  law-making  'and  law-enforcing  power  than  any 
movement  our  State  has  ever  seen.  This  is  the  admission 
of  our  practical  workers,  who  go  from  one  part  of  the 
State  to  the  other,  and  of  the  dram-shop  keepers  them- 
selves. Of  832  towns  that  voted  on  the  question  of 
license  in  the  Spring  of  1879,  following  our  campaign, 
645  voted  uno  license,"  a  vastly  larger  proportion  than  at 
any  previous  time.  If  to-day  women  are  not  the  law- 
executing  power  in  Illinois,  where  our  local  unions  have 
grown  at  the  rate  of  100  a  year  since  the  Home  Protec- 
tion movement  was  inaugurated,  what  class  in  our  State 
constitutes  that  power  ?  The  chaplain  would  have  known 
all  this,  and  h  ■;  heart  would  have  been  cheered  by  it,  if 
the  great  circle  around  which  he  swings  in  his  broader 
orbit  had  not  led  him  outside  our  State  for  the  most  part. 

Second  objection  :  "  Would  not  men  vote  as  readily  for 
prohibition  as  for  woman's  temperance  ballot,  and  is  not 
that  the  more  direct  way  of  coming  at  the  difficulty?" 

Until  it  can  be  proved  that  every  man  who  opposes  or 
dares  not  vote  for  prohibition  also  opposes  or  dares  not 
vote  for  woman's  temperance  ballot,  this  objection  is  but 
chimerical.  But  it  can  never  be  thus  proved.  On  the 
contrarv,all  experience  points  the  other  way.  Some  men, 
unlike  our  brave  Chaplain  McCabe,  were  unwilling  to  go 
themselves  to  the  war,  but  quite  ready  to  sacrifice  upon 
the  shrine  of  patriotism  all  of  their  wives'  relations.  In 
like  manner,  men  are  constantly  saying  to  us,  "You  women 
must  do  this  work.  Your  hands  will  soon  be  free  to 
undertake  it.     We  will  give  money  to  help  you  on3  but 


894  BEHIND   THE   POLICEMAN'S   STAR. 

our  business  interests  and  political  ambitions  arc  a  ball 
and  chain  to  us."  Others,  who  are  not  frank  enough  to 
say  this,  show  by  their  actions  that  they  think  it. 
Besides,  there  is  a  large  class  who,  though  not  awake  to 
the  value  of  prohibition,  do  earnestly  believe  in  woman's 
vote.  Listen  to  intelligent  conversation  upon  this  subject, 
and  you  will  find  this  to  be  true. 

Third  objection :  "  Behind  the  policeman's  star,  which 
is  the  symbol  of  the  majesty  of  law,  the  offender  sees  the 
executive  power  of  force  residing  in  the  strong  arm  of 
manhood.  When  women  are  ready  to  carry  the  sabre  and 
ride  to  the  cavalry  charge,  then  their  law-making  power 
will  avail  something  tangible  for  temperance." 

Nay,  let  us  think  a  little  farther  as  to  what  is  behind 
the  star  on  that  policeman's  breast.  If  he  is  in  Canada 
or  England,  a  woman  named  Queen  Victoria  is  behind  it! 
But,  jesting  aside,  everywhere  that  humanity  has  risen 
above  brute  force  into  the  realm  of  law,  you  will  find 
Christ's  philosophy  prevailing.  Go  back  along  the  life- 
path  of  your  statesman,  your  legislator,  who  made  those 
statutes  by  which  the  Anglo-Saxon  race  is  lifted  from 
brute  force  to  the  level  of  constitutional  law,  and  you  will 
find  a  home,  a  mother's  training,  a  Christian  cradle 
hymn,  a  child's  sweet  prayer.  Put  men  by  themselves  in 
camp  and  wilderness,  and  how  long  is  law  their  arbiter 
rather  than  the  matched  strength  of  arm  with  arm  and 
blow  for  blow?  It  is  pure,  ennobled  Christian  woman- 
hood, with  her  teachings  and  example,  that  has  made  law 
possible  to  the  Anglo-Saxon  race.  Reverently  let  it  be 
said,  behind  the  policeman's  star  gleams  the  Star  of 
Bethlehem.  We  women  of  Illinois  believe  in  force.  It 
rules  the  world;  it  always  will.  Force  of  brain,  of  heart, 
of  conscience — these  are  the  vital  powers  that  move  the 
world.     It  was  said  of  a  great  chieftain: 

"  One  blast  upon  his  bugle  horn 
Was  worth  a  thousand  men!" 


MAKE   WAY   FOR   LIBERTY.  395 

It  was  said  of  a  great  gencral- 

"  I  have  brought  you  Sheridan  all  the  way 
From  Winchester  down  to  save  the  day." 

We  believe  in  force  of  patriotism  and  leadership.  They 
will  always  win,  and  women  have  them  in  abundant 
measure.  It  was  not  the  bayonet,  but  the  schoolmaster, 
that  conquered  at  Sedan.  In  Switzerland  it  was  not 
brute  force  that  triumphed,  but  such  a  spirit  in  the  people 
as  that  of  Arnold  of  Winkelreid,  when  he  opened  his 
arms  to  gather  to  his  faithful  breast  a  sheaf  of  Austrian 
spears,  and  fell  crying  "Make  way  for  liberty!"  But 
should  it  come  about  that  woman's  help  was  needed  on 
the  battlefield  in  driving  back  the  rum  power  for  the 
defence  of  home,  there  are  plenty  of  women  in  this  con- 
vention who  would  lead  a  regiment  just  as  ably  and 
successfully  as  they  now  preside  over  a  county  convention. 
We  temperance  women  of  America  believe  in  One  who 
shall  yet  be  crowned  the  King  of  nations,  as  He  is  now 
the  King  of  saints,  and  we  are  ready  to  do  and  dare  and 
die  for  Him.  0  Christ,  it  is  not  brute  force  that  has 
carried  on  the  triumph  of  Thy  cross  since  the  little 
procession  of  fishermen  and  women  started  out  along  the 
hillsides  of  Judea!  No,  it  has  been  one  mightier  far,  for 
love  force  has  won  the  battles  by  which  Thy  cross  grows 
regnant  day  by  day.  Prayer  force,  even  as  the  chaplain 
says,  is  mighty  to  the  pulling  down  of  strongholds. 
Prayer,  from  the  blessed  days  of  the  Jhio  crusade,  has 
been  raising  a  citadel  around  our  workers,  high  as  the 
hope  of  a  saint,  deep  as  the  depths  of  a  drunkard's  despair. 
If  prayer  and  womanly  influence  are  doing  so  much  as 
forces  for  God  by  indirect  methods,  how  shall  it  be  when 
that  electric  force  is  brought  to  bear  through  the  battery 
of  the  ballot-box  along  the  wires  of  law  ? 

We  mean  to  go  straight  on.  Illinois  will  never  call  a 
halt.  Let  other  States  work  for  a  prohibitory  amendment, 


396  A    KANSAS    INCIDENT. 

and  may  God  bless  them,  but  we  will  experiment  along 
another  line,  first  making  sure  of  a  trained  constituency 
for  prohibition,  and  then  seeking  constitutional  law.  Wo 
shall  have  the  womanhood  of  this  State  with  us.  In 
Keithsburg,  white  and  black,  high  and  low,  Catholic  and 
Protestant  women  made  common  cause  when  invited  to 
register  their  opinion  on  the  saloon  question.  We  have 
three  American  women  to  one  woman  foreign  born  to  help 
to  offset  the  vote  of  Hamburg  and  of  Cork.  We  mean  to 
be  as  good-natured  as  sunshine,  but  as  persistent  as  fate, 
and  may  God  defend  the  right! 

HOW  ONE  LITTLE  WOMAN  SAVED  THE  DAY. 

A    KANSAS    INCIDENT. 

Neither  poet  nor  oainter  need  wish  a  more  dramatic 
subject  than  is  afforded  by  the  history  of  how  the  consti- 
tutional amendment  for  prohibition  came  to  be  submitted 
to  the  people  of  Kansas.  For  fifteen  years  that  brave 
young  State  had  been  under  a  blessed  process  of  educa- 
tion by  means  of  a  local  option  law,  by  which,  in  cities  of 
the  second  class,  women  had  an  equal  voice  with  men 
concerning  the  legal  status  of  the  dram-shop.  But  though 
this  method  secured  to  the  smaller  towns  immunity  from 
the  saloon,  it  did  not  reach  the  cities,  and  temperance 
legislators  were  anxious  for  a  more  sweeping  law.  Then 
it  was  that  the  liquor  interest,  dreading  a  statute  like 
that  of  Maine,  and  not  expecting  their  proposition  to  be 
accepted,  made  the  suggestion  that  no  legislation  should 
be  had,  but  the  whole  matter  referred  to  the  people. 
Whereupon  the  temperance  men  turned  their  jest  to 
earnest,  and  for  the  first  time  in  history  a  resolution  was 
adopted  to  submit  to  popular  vote  a  constitutional  amend- 
ment for  the  total  prohibition  of  the  liquor  traffic.  It  is 
not  generally  known  that  one  little  woman's  heart  was 


A    CHANGE   OF   VOTE.  897 

the  pivot  on  which  this  mighty  movement  turned,  but 
nothing  is  more  true.  For  while  the  resolution  to  submit 
passed  the  Senate  without  special  difficulty,  in  the  House 
il  trembled  in  the  balance.  Public  feeling  was  at  fever 
heat,  debate  was  long  and  full  of  animation,  not  to  say 
recrimination.  Temperance  men  and  women  flocked  to 
the  capitol,  and  the  liquor  men  were  out  in  force.  At 
last  the  issue  was  joined  at  midnight,  after  a  stormy 
closing  debate.  The  roll  of  ayes  and  noes  was  called, 
while  every  ear  in  the  vast  assembly  that  rilled  galleries 
and  corridor  was  strained  to  catch  the  responses  of  these 
men,  "  dressed  in  a  little  brief  authority,"  but  none  the 
less  men  of  destiny  to-night.  Busy  pencils  kept  the  tally, 
and  when  the  voting  ceased  a  sigh  from  many  a  temper- 
ance man's  heart  accompanied  the  words :  "  "We've  lost 
our  cause  by  just  one  vote ! " 

But  look,  a  woman,  gentle,  modest,  sweet,  advances 
from  the  crowd.  What,  is  she  going  down  that  aisle, 
where  woman  never  trod  before,  and  in  among  that  group 
of  party  leaders  ?  Yea,  verily,  and  every  eye  follows  her 
with  intense  interest,  and  the  throng  is  strangely  still  as 
she  goes  straight  to  her  husband,  takes  his  big  hands  in 
her  little  ones,  lifts  her  dark  eyes  to  his  face,  and  speaks 
these  thrilling  words  :  "  My  darling,  for  my  sake,  for  the 
sake  of  our  sweet  home,  for  Kansas'  sake  and  God's,  I 
beseech  you  change  your  vote."  When  lo !  upon  the 
silence  broke  a  man's  deep  voice :  "  Mr.  Speaker,  before 
the  clerk  reads  the  result  I  wish  to  change  my  vote  from 
no  to  aye  /'  How  loud  rang  out  the  cheers  of  men  :  how 
fell  the  rain  of  women's  tears,  for  love  had  conquered,  as 
it  always  will,  at  last,  and  the  voices  of  the  people,  when 
heard  in  Kansas,  said :  "  Give  us  prohibition  for  home's 
and  children's  sake."  So  Kansas  leads  the  van,  and  one 
little  woman  saved  the  day. 
16 


398  woman's  work  in  iowa. 

the  battle  in  iowa. 

The  victory  gained  June  27  th  in  Iowa  was  the  culmina- 
tion of  a  hard-fought  campaign,  extending  over  eight 
courageous  years.  As  everybody  knows,  our  great  Civil 
War  was  followed  by  a  period  of  apathy  in  the  temper- 
ance reform,  public  opinion  having  been  solely  occupied 
with  one  absorbing  issue,  and  our  citizen  soldiery  return- 
ing from  the  field  with  personal  habits  and  moral  standards 
reduced  to  lower  levels  by  their  long  loss  of  home's  sweet 
safeguards  and  exposure  to  the  life  of  camp  and  field. 

In    1874   came   that   mighty    reaction   known   as   the 
Woman's  Temperance   Crusade,   by   which   the  peaceful 
weapons  of  prayer  and  persuasion  drove  the  saloons  from 
250  towns  in  fifty  days  ;  by  which  crime  was  diminished 
by  nine-tenths,  and  attendance  at  church  was  increased 
100  per  cent.     Although  these  results  were  largely  tem- 
porary, the   sober  second   thought  of  that  crusade  was 
organization,  and  the  "  Woman's  Christian  Temperance 
Union,"    now   extended   over    the    entire    Republic,   the 
Dominion  of  Canada,  and  the  Kingdom  of  Great  Britain, 
is  the  most  effective  temperance  society  as  yet  known  to 
philanthropic  annals.     From  the  beginning  this  society 
lias  had  a  splendid  growth  in  Iowa,  and  under  the  leader- 
ship of  Mrs.  Judith  Ellen  Foster,  Mrs.  M.  J.  Aldrich,  Mrs. 
L.   D.  Carhart,  Mrs.  V.   M.   Moore,  Mrs.  A.  M.  Palmer, 
Mrs.  M.  F.  Goode,  Mrs.  Dr.  Thrall,  Mrs.  Florence  Miller, 
Mrs.  Thickstun,  Mrs.  M.  J.   Callanan,  and  others,  it  has 
wrought  with  an  energy  and  patience  worthy  of  all  praise. 
By  their  invitation  and  help,  Francis  Murphy  of  Maine, 
John  W.  Drew  of  New  Hampshire,  I.  C.  Bonticon,  and 
Capt.   Linscott  of    Michigan,  and   other  leaders    among 
reformed  men,  wrought  valiantly  in  years  past  to  persuade 
drinking  men  to  cease  patronizing  the  saloons.     By  their 
efforts  also  Bands  of  Hope  were  organized  in  every  town, 
pledged  to  total  abstinence  from  strong  drink,  tobacco, 


MRS.    FOSTER   TAKES   THE   PLATFORM.  309 

and  profanity.  By  their  efforts  reading-rooms  were 
opened,  Gospel  meetings  held,  literature  scattered,  and 
audiences  convened  in  every  corner  of  the  commonwealth 
where,  with  gentleness  of  utterance  and  strength  of  argu- 
ment, moral  and  legal  suasion  (the  two  millstones 
between  which  intemperance  is  to  be  crushed)  were  pre- 
sented to  the  intellect  and  conscience  of  the  Hawkeye 
State.  From  the  first  these  women  were  convinced  of  the 
reasonableness  of  these  twin  methods  of  attack,  and  never 
ceased  to  urge  them  upon  public  attention.  When,  in 
1875,  the  temperance  men  nominated  Chaplain  Lozier  for 
Governor  on  an  independent-prohibition  ticket,  the  con- 
science of  the  W.  C.  T.  U.  was  with  the  movement, 
though  the  society  was  then  too  weak  to  make  itself  felt, 
and  the  brave  chaplain  received  but  1,400  votes.  When, 
in  1877,  Hon.  Elias  Jessup,  a  State  Senator,  was  nomi- 
nated by  a  convention  of  the  Temperance  Alliance,  and 
twelve  thousand  independent  votes  were  cast  for  him, 
Mrs.  Foster,  the  most  gifted  and  influential  woman  in  the 
State,  took  the  platform  on  his  behalf. 

When,  in  1879,  the  Republicans  heard  the  sound  in  the 
mulberry  trees,  and  knew  that  the  people  were  preparing 
to  assert  themselves,  judging  the  signs  of  these  times  by 
the  fact  that  there  was  greater  defection  from  their  ranks 
and  discontent  within  than  had  heretofore  been  known, 
they  agreed,  by  request  of  the  W.  C.  T.  IT.,  and  the  brave 
men  who  had  worked  side  by  side  with  them,  to  submit 
to  the  people  a  constitutional  amendment  forever  pro- 
hibiting the  manufacture  and  sale  of  intoxicating  liquors 
(including  ale,  wine,  and  beer)  as  a  drink.  Mrs.  Foster 
was  the  first  in  the  State  to  make  this  public  recommen- 
dation. She  did  so  at  the  annual  convention  of  the  State 
W.  C.  T.  U.,  at  Burlington,  in  1878,  as  Superintendent  of 
the  Department  of  Legislative  Work.  Mrs.  Foster  and 
her  husband,  E.  0.  Foster,  Esq.,  are  both  lawyers,  and  had 


400  iowa's  petition. 

carefully  studied  this  subject,  having  heard  Aaron  M. 
Powell  of  New  York  make  an  address  upon  it  at  the 
Chicago  Temperance  Convention  in  1875,  knowing  also 
the  opinions  and  work  of  the  Hon.  S.  D.  Hastings,  of 
Wisconsin,  an  early  champion  of  the  constitutional 
method,  and  being  conversant  with  the  noble  undertaking 
of  Senator  Henry  W.  Blair  of  New  Hampshire,  at  Wash- 
ington. To  the  everlasting  credit  of  the  Republican 
party,  be  it  said  that  they  acceded  to  the  appeals  made 
them  by  the  people  of  Iowa  in  the  form  of  a  petition, 
drafted  by  Mrs.  Foster  for  the  W.  C.  T.  Unions,  and  by 
them  carefully  circulated  throughout  the  State.  The 
question  that  followed  and  stirred  the  heart  of  every  tem- 
perance man  and  woman  in  Iowa  was  now  before  them. 
Having  passed  this  measure  once,  will  the  dominant 
party  have  courage  to  do  so  again  at  the  next  biennial 
session  ?  But  the  party  stood  manfully  to  its  pledge — 
placed  in  its  platform  at  the  next  State  convention  pre- 
cisely the  resolution  which  the  ladies  asked — namely, 
reiterating  the  same  form  of  amendment  as  before,  and 
pledging  its  submission  at  a  special  election. 

Governor  Sherman,  who  has  frankly  championed  the 
amendment,  was  nominated  and  elected  with  a  full 
understanding  of  that  fact ;  the  Speaker  of  the  House 
was  chosen  on  that  issue ;  the  election  of  James  H.  Wil- 
son, Iowa's  grand  new  Senator,  was  another  temperance 
victory ;  and  by  excellent  majorities  the  Legislature  again 
voted  to  submit.  Mr.  Clarkson,  of  the  Des  Moines 
Register,  the  ablest  and  most  influential  paper  in  the 
State,  battled  from  the  first  for  the  amendment.  The 
strong  men  of  the  State  took  up  the  war-cry ;  Senator 
Wilson's  magnificent  speech  was  scattered  by  thousands ; 
James  Wilson, "  of  Tama,"  was  true  as  a  canny  Scotsman 
only  can  be ;  Aaron  Kimball,  a  State  Senator  and  Chair- 
man  of    the   Amendment   Association,   gave   time   and 


A    HOST    OF    HELPERS.  401 

money  to  the  battle;  the  best  lawyers  in  the  State  took 
the  stump  ;  the  pulpit  was  solid,  a  thousand  sermons  a 
Sunday  being  brought  to  bear  upon  the  people  from  texts 
like  these :  "  Woe  unto  him  that  justifieth  the  wicked  for 
a  reward."  "Every  plant  that  my  Heavenly  Father  hath 
not  planted  shall  be  rooted  up."  Speakers  were  invited 
from  other  States.  Governor  St.  John,  of  Kansas,  from  the 
gdorious  standpoint  of  victory  attained,  told  them  how 
fields  were  won;  George  W.  Bain,  of  Kentucky,  "with 
malice  toward  none  and  charity  for  all,"  plead  with  his 
matchless  eloquence  the  sacred  cause  of  Home  versus 
Saloon ;  John  B.  Finch,  a  lawyer  from  Nebraska,  dealt 
blows  of  logic  that  resounded  throughout  the  State ; 
George  Woodford,  of  Illinois,  put  a  reformed  man's 
pathos  into  his  powerful  plea ;  Mrs.  S.  Skelton,  of  Ger- 
many, the  daughter  of  a  Darmstadt  professor,  talked  to 
our  German  friends  in  the  beloved  language  of  their 
fatherland ;  Mrs.  Fixen,  of  Minnesota,  spoke  their  own 
tongue  to  the  Scandinavians  ;  John  Sobeski,  of  Poland, 
one  of  the  most  genial,  witty,  and  delightful  of  speakers, 
won  all  win)  heard  him;  and  "Steamboat  Frank,"  the 
converted  Modoc,  through  a  good  Quaker  interpreter,  Ira 
D.  Kellogg,  of  Indian  Territory,  warned  the  pale  faces 
against  the  fire-water.  During  the  month  of  June  one 
hundred  speakers  were  constantly  in  the  held,  not  to 
mention  local  workers.  Mrs.  Goode  rallied  the  children, 
teaching  them  "The  Constitutional  Amendment  Cate- 
chism," until  they  knew  as  much  as  most  lawyers  on  that 
weighty  subject,  and  went  back  to  reason  with,  as  well  as 
to  persuade,  the  voters  in  their  homes.  The  committee 
at  headquarters  kept  up  a  steady  cannonade  with  temper- 
ance literature,  sending  to  every  chairman  of  a  county  or 
a  township  regular  and  frequent  assignments  of  printed, 
arguments.  There  were  statistics  for  the  farmers, 
prepared  by  a  leading  temperance  woman  and  said  to 


402  FALSE   STATEMENTS. 

have  been  one  of  the  most  helpful  of  campaign  documents; 
speeches  by  Senator  Wilson  and  Judith  Ellen  Foster,  by 
Governor  St.  John  and  many  others  ;  also  the  publications 
of  J.  N.  Stearns  and  D.  C.  Cook— these  went  by  cart- 
loads, paid  for  by  the  business  men  of  Iowa.  The 
opposition  tried  similar  tactics.  Two  men,  with  "  Rev." 
prefixed  to  their  names,  took  the  stump;  also  an  editor 
or  two.  We  will  kindly  drop  their  names  into  the  same 
oblivion  into  which  their  sorry  work  has  fallen.  A  pam- 
phlet on  "Personal  Liberty"  (said  to  be  by  Henry  Clay 
Dean)  was  circulated,  and  manifestoes  by  a  German  Free 
Thinker,  who  was  chairman  of  the  "Anti-Amendment 
Association." 

Letters  from  Kansas  were  sent  out,  claiming  that  there 
was  more  liquor  sold  than  ever,  and  yet  winding  up  with 
the  assertion  that  all  foreign  immigration  was  driven  away, 
because  there  was  nothing  to  drink.     Statements  about 
Maine,  to  the  effect  that  in  illiteracy,  crime,  etc.,  the  old 
Pine  Tree  State  brings  up  the  rear  of  the  Union,  caused 
people  of  intelligence  to  smile.     Statistics,  duly  watered, 
striving   to    prove    the    teetotal    failure    of    prohibition 
wherever  tried,  were  offset  by  counter  statements  from 
Neal   Dow  and    Governor   St.   John.      Many  Democrats 
came   out  in    strong  advocacy  of   the   amendment,  and 
many  Republicans  in  bitter  opposition.     There  was  but 
one  subject  discussed  on  the  cars,  one  in  the  stores,  shops, 
offices,  and  on  the  pavement,  and  that  was  the  amend- 
ment,    Temperance  workers  spoke  two  and  three  times  a 
day,  and  rode  across  the  country  in  the  dead  of  the  night, 
to   catch    the   train    for   next    forenoon's    appointment. 
Governor  St.  John  spoke  in  Cedar  Rapids  at  8  a.  m.  to  an 
immense  audience,  and  at  Missouri  Valley  Junction,  from 
the  steps  of  the   railroad   station,  "  every  man,  woman, 
child,  and  dog  in  town  "  being  present,  by  actual  count. 
(I  have  it  from  an  "  eye-witness.") 


DEMOCBATS   JOIN   THE   THRONG.  403 

Arriving-  on  short  notice  at  a  wayside  station,  and 
urged  to  speak  to  an  impromptu  audience,  the  present 
chronicler  was  vastly  amused  to  hear,  between  the  pauses 
of  her  address  on  "  Personal  Liberty,"  the  boy  of  the 
period  ringing  his  mother's  dinner-bell,  as  he  perambu- 
lated  the    streets    and    shouted,  in   his   shrill   falsetto: 

" Lecture  al  Blank's  Hall,  now — now — now.     Miss , 

of  Illinois  ;  everybody  invited." 

Can  we  ever  forget  such  days  ?  Never  did  those  sacred 
words,  "  The  People,"  have  significance  so  full  of  comfort. 
No  "fence-mending"  politicians,  no  wheedling  dema- 
gogues, no  imperious  "  bosses "  could  prevail.  "  The 
cause"  had  radiated  out  from  the  quiet  prayer-room  into 
the  wide,  free  area  of  a  mighty  State;  "the  plan"  had 
been  adopted  by  a  great  party;  "the  appeal"  of 
woman's  heart  was  to  become  the  dictum  of  the  sovereign 
citizen  :  the  hope  of  the  gentle  had  become  the  purpose 
of  the  strong.  What  one  of  America's  great  leaders  said 
was  coming  true:  "The  verdict  of  the  people  can  always 
be  trusted  when  they  have  had  a  fair  chance  to  hear  the 
evidence."  For  eight  years  the  Commonwealth  of  Iowa 
has  been  studying  this  question ;  for  four  years  that 
splendid  State  has  been  one  great  debating  club.  What 
wonder  that  on  the  27th  of  June  the  jury  thus  summed 
up  the  evidence :  "  In  the  interest  of  the  Home,  the 
Saloon  must  henceforth  be  an  outlaw.  The  Lord  reigneth ; 
let  the  earth  rejoice." 

ELECTION   DAY   IN   IOWA. 

"  All  of  which  I  saw,"  can  only  be  said  by  the  Omnis- 
cient, of  so  great  a  movement  as  that  in  Iowa.  One  little 
glimpse  in  a  single  pleasant  village  came  to  me.  Marion, 
near  Cedar  Rapids,  is  one  among  the  fifteen  hundred 
polling-places  of  the  "  Hawkeye  State."  Out  of  its  ninety- 
nine  counties  seventy-five  gave  a  majority  of  over  fifty 


40-4  ELECTION    DAY    IN    IOWA. 

thousand  on  the  27th  of  June  for  a  constitutional  amend- 
ment prohibiting  the  liquor  traffic.  Marion  has  about 
one  thousand  voters,  of  whom  nine  hundred  cast  their 
ballots,  and  of  these  seven  hundred  were  for  prohibition. 
As  Mrs.  L.  H.  Carhart,  the  earnest-hearted  President  of 
the  Woman's  Christian  Temperance  Union,  lives  in 
Marion,  I  determined  to  spend  the  "  day  of  days  "  with 
her,  after  having  visited,  by  her  invitation,  twenty  towns 
and  cities,  "  speaking  unto  the  children  of  Israel  that  they 
go  forward,"  and  urging  upon  them  our  temperance  war- 
cry,  "  The  sword  of  the  Lord  and  of  Gideon."  Picture  a 
lovely  tree-embowered  village,  a  fair  June  day,  a  popula- 
tion voluntarily  turned  out  of  doors,  but  all  so  orderly 
and  quiet  that  an  almost  Sabbath  restfulness  is  in  the  air. 
Promptly  at  nine  o'clock  the  deep  tones  of  the  Court 
House  bell  summon  the  Sunday-school  children  to  the 
Methodist  church,  whence,  headed  by  the  Band  of  Hope, 
they  are  to  march  to  the  park,  just  opposite  the  polls. 
Soon  after,  the  Presbyterian  bell  calls  the  women  to  their 
all-day  prayer-meeting,  the  voters  not  being  invited,  for 
the  motto  is,  "  The  home  expects  every  man  to  do  his 
duty — at  the  polls."  As  a  matter  of  fact,  I  rang  a  church 
bell  for  the  first  time  in  my  life  on  the  27th  of  June,  we 
women  having  it  all  our  own  way  ;  pastors,  deacons,  and 
laymen  spending  the  entire  day  at  the  City  Hall,  most 
of  them  not  even  going  to  dinner.  Toward  night  some  of 
them  came  by  way  of  jubilee  to  tell  us  what  a  victory  was 
gained,  the  good  Methodist  minister  and  the  principal  of 
the  high  school  taking  the  lead  when  the  closing  hours 
arrived.  The  bell  rang  every  hour  to  denote  that  a  new 
meeting  was  begun.  Some  of  our  good  friends  said, 
"Enter  into  thy  closet  and  shut  thy  door,"  and  inveighed 
against  the  frequent  bell,  but  gentle  Mrs.  Carhart  said : 
"  '  With  the  heart  man  believeth  unto  righteousness,  and 
with  the  mouth  confession  is  made  unto  salvation ; '  that 


MRS.  carhart's  steps.  405 

bell  is  the  voice  of  the  Christian  people  of  this  village 
confessing  him  k  upon  whose  shoulder  the  government 
shall  be.' " 

But  while  the  chastened  voices  of  their  mothers  sang 
"Rock  of  Ages"  at  the  church  on  the  corner,  near  the 
City  Hall,  what  a  din  (heir  young  hopefuls  were  making- 
two  blocks  away,  at  the  Methodist  rendezvous.  Having 
<•])* 'lied  the  women's  prayer-meeting,  Mrs.  Carhart's  swift 
steps  passed  on  to  where  the  clamoring  throng  were  deck- 
ing themselves  with  badges,  and  dividing  the  spoils  of 
flags  and  banners.  There  was  a  strong  tendency  mani- 
fest for  "all  to  be  corporals,"  and  to  indicate  the  fact  by 
hoisting  some  insignia  aloft,  perceiving  which,  with  ready 
tact,  the  ladies  in  attendance  improvised  mottoes  and 
wreaths  of  evergreens,  fastened  to  bits  of  lath,  broomstick, 
or  hoe-handle,  and  the  boys'  hearts  were  set  at  rest. 
Meekly  the  girls  marched  forth  two  by  two,  and  stood 
upon  the  order  of  their  going  until  carefully  graded 
according  to  their  height,  when,  with  plume  and  banner 
gay,  they  led  off  to  the  lovely  park  with  the  boys  follow- 
ing ;  such  mottoes  as  "  Please  vote  for  the  Homes  of 
Marion,"  "  Tremble.  King  Alcohol,  we  shall  grow  up," 
"  Stand  aside,  gentlemen,  here  come  the  future  voters," 
while  the  star-spangled  banner,  stuck  in  hat  bands  or 
borne  aloft  in  eager  little  bands,  made  its  mute  but  elo- 
quent appeal.  Up  and  down  through  the  streets  they 
marched,  the  ladies  forming  their  guard  of  honor,  and 
finally  drawing  up  in  the  park,  they  sang  in  their  clear, 
cheery  tone : 

"  My  drink  is  water  bright,  water  bright,  water  bright, 
My  drink  is  water  bright,  from  the  crystal  springs." 

This  was  followed  by  : 

"  Get  ready  for  the  jubilee,*' 
Hurrah!  hurrah! 
When  this  our  country  shall  be  free, 
Hurrah!  hurrah! 


406  REJOICING   OVER   THEIR   SUCCESS. 

The  girls  -will  sing,  the  boys  will  shout, 

When  alcohol  is  voted  out, 
And  we'll  all  be  gay 

When  temperance  rules  our  land. " 

These  musical  exhortations  were  applauded  by  the 
grave  citizens  in  the  great  group  across  the  way,  and  thus 
encouraged,  the  children  sang  "  Keep  to  the  Right,"  gave 
a  three  times  three  for  the  amendment,  and  retired  in 
good  order  from  the  field. 

Meanwhile,  about  three  doors  from  the  City  Hall,  a 
beautiful  flag  had  been  flung  to  the  breeze,  and  the 
announcement  of  "  W.  C.  T.  U.  Free  Lunch  for  all " 
greeted  the  eye.  Here  a  committee  of  ladies  worked 
hard  all  day,  and  fragrant  coffee  sent  forth  its  pleasant 
invitation  on  the  breeze.  Voters  were  constantly  passing 
in  and  out,  temperance  men  would  enter  and  confidentially 
allow  the  leading  ladies  to  peep  at  the  "  tally,"  which  they 
carefully  kept,  and  here  were  brought  to  us  the  telegrams 
from  all  over  the  State  :  "  Day  fine,  voters  all  out,  ladies 
all  out,  business  suspended,  prospects  good " — words 
which  we  could  hardly  see  for  tears  of  joy  and  hope. 
The  lunch-room  was  adorned  with  those  pretty  things 
that  women  bring  from  home — plants,  trailing  vines, 
brackets,  pictures,  and  flowers  ;  Washington,  and  Martha 
by  his  side,  Lincoln  and  Garfield,  our  greatest  and  best. 
"  Oh,"  said  the  active  local  president,  "  they  call  this  a 
fast  age,  and  so  it  is,  but  in  a  blessed  sense  fast  when  you 
come  to  the  temperance  question.  Neither  Washington 
nor  Lincoln  saw  greater  things  for  God  and  home  and 
native  land  than  we  shall  see  and  share  in." 

An  old  gentleman,  past  eighty,  came  in  after  casting 
his  vote,  and  as  he  took  us  by  the  hand  he  said:  "To 
think  I  have  lived  to  see  this  day,  and  to  help  on  its 
victory !  Now  lettest  thou  thy  servant  depart  in  peace, 
0  Lord,  for  mine  eyes  have  seen  thy  salvation."  The 
dear  old  man  called  it ."  voting  for  the  improvement,"  and 


THE    AMI    FELLOWS    BLANK,  407 

wo  women  thought  he  had  stumbled  on  the  right,  if  not 
tlic  legal  phrase.  Every  few  minutes  some  temperance 
man  would  rush  in  with  such  incidents  as  these  :  "  Ladies, 
what  do  you  think  ?  Blank,  the  brewer,  took  his  team 
and  went  into  the  country  for  a  sick  man  he  felt  sure 
would  stand  by  him.  The  poor  fellow  was  hardly  able  to 
come,  but  he  did  :  and  when  the  brewer  had  helped  him 
in  and  offered  him  a  ballot  against  the  amendment,  what 
did  he  do  but  fumble  in  his  pocket,  fetch  out  one  of  our 
kind  that  his  wife  had  got  for  him,  and  put  it  in,  with  all 
the  anti  fellows  looking  blank  enough."  Another  man 
went  to  vote,  while  the  saloon-keeper  who  brought  him 
was  entangled  in  an  argument  by  our  minister.  He  voted 
all  right,  and  when  the  saloon-keeper  found  it  out  he 
looked  like  a  cat  that  has  lost  its  mouse,  and  said  :  "  How 
dare  he  ?  Why,  the  fellow  owes  me  this  very  minute  for 
at  least  one  keg  of  beer!"  A  man  who  has  always 
patronized  the#saloons  came  to  Dr.  C.  and  said:  "I'm 
about  wrecked.  I've  paid  the  money  into  these  places 
that  belonged  to  my  family,  and  ought  to  have  gone  into 
flour  and  coal;  but  I  tell  you  I'm  bound  to  strike  one 
blow  for  the  right,  now  that  I've  got  such  a  grand 
chance." 

All  day  .ong  at  the  polls  stood  the  Congregational 
minister,  with  sprained  and  painful  ankle,  supporting 
himself  by  leaning  on  his  cane,  pleading  good-naturedly 
with  voters,  holding  men  who  had  come  to  peddle  anti- 
amendment  ballots  in  endless  argument,  and  lifting  up 
his  heart  to  Hod  for  victory.  All  day  long  the  best  brain 
and  brawn  of  Marion  were  all  things  to  all  men,  that  by 
all  means  they  might  win  the  most.  It  is  like  the  nil- 
admirari  school  of  fossiliferous  communities  to  speak 
about  "  keeping  clear  of  politics,"  but  the  lust  men  of  the 
bravest  State  in  the  Republic  do  not  so  speak.  They 
"go  in  to  win,"  as  runs  their  own  forcible  phrase,  and 


408  FLOWERS    AND   OTHER   SYMBOLS. 

they  honor  the  mothers  that  bore,  the  teachers  who 
taught,  the  preachers  who  exhorted,  and  the  homes  that 
are  proud  of  them.  The  only  man  whom  I  saw  in  Marion 
who  seemed  out  of  tune  with  the  "  Gloria"  of  the  day  was 
a  crumpled  up,  cranky,  and  slightly  intoxicated  old 
Englishman  (no  fair  exponent  of  that  splendid  race),  who, 
after  we  had  given  him  lunch  and  when  we  offered  him 
the  right  kind  of  a  ballot,  fired  up  with  these  words : 
"  You're  too  late  ;  I  voted  'fore  I  came  to  lunch.  I'm 
dead  set  agen  your  law  and  I'll  always  be  dead  set  agen 
it,  because  I'm  opposed  to  this  here  female  rule  !  " 

There  was  no  more  "  telling "  work  than  that  of  the 
young  ladies  and  the  children.  They  stripped  the  gar- 
dens of  their  choicest  flowers,  made  them  up  into  bouquets, 
and  gave  them  out  to  men  who  agreed  to  vote  for  the 
amendment.  I  saw  many  a  man  in  his  shirt  sleeves 
wearing  a  bunch  of  flowers,  the  symbol  of  home's  sweet- 
ness, love,  and  purity.  I  saw  colored  men  whose  whole 
faces  were  one  smile  of  delight  as  fair  fingers  proffered 
them  a  sprig  of  violets  and  mignonette,  because  they 
said  they  would  vote  for  the  amendment.  I  saw  a  rough 
farmer  in  "  stogy  boots "  carefully  putting  his  flowers 
aside,  "  to  take  home  for  my  wife,"  he  said. 

When  sunset  came  and  we  knew  we  had  the  victory, 
and  knew  that  the  saloon-men  were  saying,  "  Now,  are 
you  folks  going  to  jeer  at  us  and  get  up  a  big  blow-out 
over  this  thing  ? "  it  was  sweet  and  memorable  to  hear 
the  womanly  voice  of  the  president  saying,  in  that  last 
hour  of  prayer,  "  Let  us  remember  the  Gospel  exhortation, 
'  Be  pitiful,  be  courteous.'  "  In  keeping  with  this  spirit 
were  the  resolutions  passed  next  day  by  the  State  W„  C. 
T.  U.,  ''pledging  the  good  word,  good  will, and  patronage 
of  the  women  of  Iowa  to  those  whose  business  has  been 
declared  illegal  whenever  they  enter  on  any  occupation 
that  is  beneficial  to  society."     No  wonder  there  was  joy 


INCIDENTS   <>F   THE    CAMPAIGN.  409 

in  the  homes  of  Iowa.  The  women  have  been  so  intent 
upon  their  temperance  work  that,  as  Mrs.  J.  Ellen  Foster 
said  (she  who,  more  than  any  other,  has  wrought  for  the 
glorious  consummation)  :  "  It  has  filled  our  very  souls. 
Why,  the  frogs  in  the  swamps  have  croaked  ' 'Mendment ' 
in  my  ears  :  the  birds  in  the  branches  have  twittered 
''Mendment;'  the  little  lambs  have  bleated,  and  the 
mother  sheep  baaed,  and  the  cows  in  the  pastures  have 
mooed  '  'Mendment ; '  and  there  is  no  other  word  in  Iowa 
until  we  win." 

In  the  winning  how  many  hearts  rejoice!  Iowa  sent 
eighty-three  thousand  men  to  fight  the  South,  but  those 
gentle  women  yonder,  whom  we  were  once  taught  to  call 
implacable,  prayed  all  day  long  for  the  success  of  this 
greatest  battle  ever  fought  by  the  Hawkeye  State.  I 
have  their  kind  letters  from  "all  along*  shore"  of  the  sea- 
board and  the  Gulf,  desiring  me  to  tell  the  women  of 
Iowa  of  their  love  and  their  prayers.  From  Maine  to 
Oregon,  from  Charleston  to  Sacramento,  from  New 
Orleans  to  Salt  Lake,  the  temperance  women  were  on 
their  knees  that  day.  In  Chicago  our  best  pastors  led  the 
meeting  of  our  Union  at  Farwell  Hall,  and  it  was  a 
millennial  ray  to  see  in  the  great  secular  papers  a  tele- 
gram with  such  a  heading  as  "  Availeth  much.  Let  us 
take  courage." 

"  God  's  in  his  heaven; 
All  's  right  with  the  world," 

or,  as  Mrs.  Stowe  divinely  puts  it,  "  Whatever  ought  to 
happen  is  going  to  happen." 
Evanston,  III. 

INCIDENTS  OF  IOWA'S  CONSTITUTIONAL  AMENDMENT  CAMPAIGN. 

German  speakers  addressed  audiences  in  their  native 
tongue.  Mrs.  Skeldon,  daughter  of  a  Heidelberg  profes- 
sor, Avon  votes  by  hundreds  among  her  own  people,  both 


410  A    SOUTHERN    INCIDENT, 

through  her  addresses  and  the  circulation  of  her  paper, 
Der  Bahnbrecher.  Scandinavian  ministers  stood  at  the 
polls,  church  directory  in  hand,  to  check  off  their  voters 
and  be  sure  they  had  the  prohibition  ballot.  A  conference 
of  German  ministers  came  out  unanimously  in  its  favor. 
There  was  no  lighting;  no  rough  behavior  at  the  polls. 
The  ladies  went  the  night  before  and  decorated  the  city 
halls,  engine  houses,  and  other  places  where  the  ballot- 
box  was  set  with  pictures,  mottoes,  evergreens,  and 
flowers.  "  Please  vote  to  protect  our  homes,"  "  The 
father's  constituency  is  his  family,"  "Iowa  expects  every 
man  to  do  his  duty,"  "  For  God,  and  home,  and  native 
land,"  were  some  of  these. 

In  several  cities  the  stores,  offices,  etc.,  were  closed, 
and  the  notice  posted  up,  "  Gone  to  work  for  the  Amend- 
ment." "The  Band  of  Hope"  marched  in  the  procession, 
singing  "  Home,  sweet  home,"  "  Dare  to  do  right." 

"Get  ready  for  the  jubilee, 

Hurrah!  hurrah! 
"When  dear  Iowa  shall  he  free, 

Hurrah!  hurrah! 
The  girls  shall  sing,  the  boys  shall  shout, 

When  alcohol  is  driven  out, 
And  we'll  all  be  gay 

When  temperance  rules  our  land." 

Speaking  in  twenty  of  the  chief  towns,  I  had  told 

A    SOUTHERN    INCIDENT 

which  had  touched  my  heart,  as  related  by  a  temperance 
gentleman  in  Texas.  It  was  the  story  of  a  Kentuckian 
who  after  years  of  hard  drinking  had  reformed,  had  got 
the  flask  out  of  his  side  pocket  and  the  New  Testament 
in  there  instead,  and  had  fastened  his  weak  and  wavering 
will  to  God's  will  omnipotent,  by  belts  of  faith  and  bands 
of  prayer.  On  the  morning  of  election  day  his  wife  said 
to  him,  timidly,  "  John,  have  I  been  a  good  wife  to  you, 


FOR  SALLIE  AND  THE  CHILDREN.  411 

and  tried  to  make  our  home  pleasant,  and  to  help  yon  in 
your  struggle  for  a  better  life?"  and  he  answered,  "Why 
Sallie,  if  you  hadn't  stood  by  me  and  helped  me  like  a 
saint,  as  you  are,  I'd  never  have  won  this  fight.  You've 
been  God's  own  special  providence  to  me  from  the  first 
day  I  ever  saw  your  face."  And  then  she  said,  with  tears 
in  her  gentle  eyes,  "  Dear  John,  you  know  I  never  said  a 
word  about  your  politics  before,  but  if  I've  been  a  comfort 
to  you,  do  please  go  to-day  and  vote  against  the  saloon 
for  my  sake  and  that  of  our  little  ones."  John  made  no 
reply,  but  went  straight  out  of  the  house  and  over  to  the 
polls.  His  old  cronies  called  out,  "Why,  where  have  you 
kept  yourself  so  long,  old  fellow?  We've  missed  you  and 
m< mined  you,  but  you've  got  around  in  the  very  nick  o' 
time:  the  fight's  pretty  tough;  stand  up  for  your  old 
friends:  here's  your  regular  regulation  ballot,"  and  they 
handed  him  one  with  "  license"  in  large  letters.  But  a 
temperance  man  stood  by  with  earnest  face  and  a  bunch 
of  different  votes.  "See  here,  I  reckon  I'll  sample  your 
lot,"  said  John,  turning  to  him,  and  receiving  a  clean 
temperance  ballot.  Then  the  reformed  man  held  up  the 
first  that  all  might  see,  tore  it  into  little  bits  and  scattered 
it  to  the  winds,  but  afterward,  with  heaven's  own  sunshine 
on  his  face,  he  held  the  temperance  ballot  aloft  and  said: 
"Boys,  I've  always  joined  with  you  before,  but,  by  the 
grace  of  God,  here  goes  a  vote  for  Sallie  and  the  children.'''' 
It  has  been  a  great  comfort  to  me  to  hear  from  different 
parts  of  the  State  of  Northern  men  as  noble  as  this 
generous  Southron,  who  said,  as  they  cast  in  their  ballots 
on  the  27th  of  June,  in  Iowa,  "  Well,  I  do  this  just  as 
John  did.  away  down  South,  'for  Sallie  and  the  children.'" 
So  the  great  cause  binds  us  with  new  and  tender  ties, 
and  shall  yet  blot  Mason  and  Dixon's  line  out  of  the 
heart  as  well  as  off  the  map,  and  give  us  in  a  sense  we 
had  not  known  before  a  really  re-United  States,  and  may 
God  speed  the  day  ! 


412  THE    CHILDREN    IN    IOWA. 

A  lovely  omen  -was  the  unbroken  circle  of  prayer  in  our 
TV.  C.  T.  Unions  on  Iowa's  behalf.  Letters  are  coming  to 
me  from  all  parts  of  the  South,  asking  me  to  tell  the 
ladies  there  of  the  meetings  held  and  the  earnest  petitions 
from  tender  hearts  that  God  would  deliver  their  fair 
young  State  from  the  cruelty  of  the  rum  power.  Let  me 
here  gratefully  acknowledge  these  sisterly  messages  on 
behalf  of  those  to  whom  they  were  so  kindly  sent. 

childhood's  part  in  iowa's  victory. 

"  To  the  children  of  the  State,  whose  hearts  and  songs 
were  the  sunshine  that  never  left  the  banner  of  the 
amendment,  let  no  one  forget  the  fullest  measure  of  grati- 
tude." This  sentence  is  from  the  Iowa  State  Register, 
which,  in  circulation  and  influence,  stands  at  the  head  of 
journalism  in  that  commonwealth,  and  is  edited  by  Mr. 
Clarkson,  a  noble  man  and  brilliant  writer,  whose  utmost 
strength  has  been  exerted  for  the  success  of  prohibition, 
and  whose  paper  has,  by  unanimous  consent,  done  more 
to  .ensure  the  recent  victory  for  temperance  than  any  other 
sino-le  force.  Mr.  Clarkson  was  himself  a  member  of  the 
Cadets  of  Temperance  twenty  years  ago,  and  is  a  con- 
spicuous illustration  of  results  to  be  expected  from  honest, 
hard  work  among  the  children.  Perhaps  there  is  no 
parallel,  in  the  history  of  a  great  reform,  to  the  efforts 
made  for  temperance  education  among  the  children  of 
Iowa  for  eight  years  past,  and  to  the  power  exerted  by 
them  in  securing  the  result  by  which  the  liquor  traffic  in 
that  State  was  recently  outlawed  by  a  majority  of  over 
fifty  thousand  in  seventy-five  out  of  its  ninety-nine  coun- 
ties. 

As  the  genius  of  temperance  does  not  belong  to  that 
class  in  society  who  "  reap  where  they  have  not  sown,  and 
gather  where  they  have  not  strewn,"  it  will  be  instruc- 
tive to  study  the  methods  by  which  the  children  have 


MRS.    M.    F.    GOODE.  413 

become  one  grand  "  cold-water  army."  In  the  first  place, 
the  translation  of  Christian  women  out  of  the  passive  and 
into  the  active  voice  on  this  question  has  had  an  immense 
influence  on  their  little  ones  at  home.  I  know  of  more 
than  one  mother  in  Iowa  whose  little  boy  would  go  two 
blocks  out  of  his  way  rather  than  pass  a  saloon.  The 
Woman's  Christian  Temperance  Union  is  perhaps  stronger 
in  that  Slate  than  in  any  other ;  and  the  table-talk,  the 
juvenile  literature  that  comes  into  the  homes,  indeed,  the 
whole  atmosphere,  is  tinged  with  an  influence  that  leads 
toward  purity  in  the  conduct  of  life,  and  away  from 
"  fleshly  lusts  that  war  against  the  soul."  Then,  in  many 
localities,  the  "Woman's  Christian  Temperance  Union  has 
succeeded  in  getting  the  Temperance  Lesson  Book  of  Dr. 
Benjamin  Ward  Richardson,  and  the  Alcohol  and  Hygiene 
of  Miss  Julia  Colman,  into  the  public  schools,  where  the 
effects  of  strong  drink  on  the  tissues  of  the  body  and  the 
temper  of  the  spirit  have  been  regularly  taught.  We 
have  not  yet  succeeded  in  securing  a  legislative  enactment 
by  which  the  teaching  of  this  branch  is  as  obligatory  as 
that  of  grammar  and  arithmetic,  but  expect  to  do  so  at 
the  next  session,  petitions  having  been  largely  circulated 
to  this  end.  Minnesota  has  the  honor  of  being  the  first 
State  to  adopt  such  a  law,  and  Iowa  will  doubtless  be  the 
second. 

But  the  "  good  general,"  as  she  is  called,  of  the  juvenile 
temperance  forces,  is  Mrs.  M.  F.  Goode,  a  widow  with 
children  of  her  own,  whose  home  is  in  Tillesca,  Iowa,  but 
whose  praise  is  on  the  lips  of  her  great  Band  of  Hope 
Army  throughout  the  State.  As  Superintendent  of 
juvenile  temperance  work,  this  lady  has  done  more  than 
any  other  in  our  ranks  along  this  special  line  of  duty. 
She  is  of  just  the  nature  most  agreeable  to  childhood, — 
strong,  healthful,  cheery,  and  loving-hearted,  with  such 
motherly  ways  that  every  boy  and  girl  turns  as  instinct- 


41-4  THE   SUNDAY-SCHOOL   OP    [OWA. 

ively  to  her  as  chickens  to  the  mother  hen.  She  has  no 
"holy  horror"  in  look  or  tone,  but  has  a  warm  hand  to 
lift  with  if  anybody  wants  to  climb,  and  a  gift  of  making 
the  climb  itself  attractive,  She  is  the  sort  of  person  who 
can  and  does  with  impunity  stop  a  crowd  of  boys  emerg- 
ing from  a  shooting-gallery,  gathering  them  around  her 
in  the  street  as  she  makes  a  platform  of  the  curbstone's 
edge,  and  calling  out:  "Now,  my  young  men,  I  wish 
every  one  of  you  thai  chews  or  smokes  tobacco  would  just 
lift  up  your  hand."  On  the  occasion  of  which  I  write, 
among  twenty  boys,  fifteen  lifted  their  hands,  and  all 
were  under  sixteen  years  of  age. 

Mrs.  Goocle  has  organized  the  Band  of  Hope  throughout 
the  State,  in  which  the  reasonableness  of  total  abstinence 
is  taught  by  lessons,  experiments,  and  blackboard  illus- 
trations. The  children's  reading  is  largely  supervised  in 
the  interest  of  temperance  as  opposed  to  the  Jesse  James 
pictorials,  and  the  triple  pledge  (against  intoxicating 
liquors,  tobacco,  and  swearing)  intelligently  made. 

Added  to  these  instrumentalities  are  two  others  of 
paramount  importance.  The  ministers  of  Iowa  preach 
against  the  making  and  the  use  of  intoxicating  liquors  as 
a  drink,  with  almost  concurrent  testimony  and  power, 
while  the  Sunday-school  is  earnest,  clear,  and  systematic 
in  its  teaching.  The  Quarterly  Temperance  Lesson  and 
Exercises  have  been  generally  introduced,  and  meet  the 
hearty  approbation  of  the  people.  The  recent  Sunday- 
school  convention  at  Waterloo  was  a  real  temperance 
jul alee.  All  our  leading  speakers  were  invited,  and 
among  those  present  to  whom  time  was  given  were  Mrs. 
J.  Ellen  Foster,  the  leading  exponent  of  temperance  reform 
in  the  Woman's  Christian  Temperance  Union  of  Iowa; 
Colonel  George  W.  Bain,  the  Southern  orator ;  Mrs.  M. 
J.  Aldrich,  a  Presbyterian  lady  of  Cedar  Rapids,  who 
gives  constant  and  most  efficient  service  to  the  cause ;  and 
Mrs.  A.  M.  Palmer,  our  State  evangelist. 


INCIDENTS.  415 

Let  me  conclude  with  a  few  incidents  of  the  memorable 
day  (June  27th)  when  the  people  of  Iowa  voted  so  to  amend 
their  constitution  as  forever  to  prohibit  the  manufacture 
and  sale  of  intoxicating  liquors,  including  wine,  beer,  and 
ale,  as  a  drink. 

Mrs.  Goode  had  issued  "Military  Order  No.  — "  to 
her  Band  of  Hope  ;  namely,  that,  "  at  9  a.  m.  they  should 
meet  at  an  appointed  rendezvous,  wearing  their  badges, 
and  carrying  flags  and  banners,  and  should  march  through 
the  streets  with  a  band  of  music  at  the  head  of  their 
battalion,  singing  near  the  polls  their  cold-water  songs, 
giving  three  cheers  for  the  amendment,  and  returning  in 
good  order  to  the  starting-place."  These  young  folks 
were  not  raw  recruits, — many  a  time  had  they  marched 
before.  They  were  not  ignorant  of  the  import  of  this 
day.  "The  Constitutional  Amendment  Catechism"  had 
been  so  carefully  studied  at  their  regular  meetings  that 
little  people,  eight  years  old,  knew  the  difference  between 
constitutional  and  statutory  law — and  the  reasons  of 
superiority  in  the  first.  They  knew  the  facts  and  figures 
— having  them  illustrated  by  diagrams  and  pictures. 
"  How  much  grain  is  used  in  our  breweries  ?  "  "  What 
is  Iowa's  annual  drink  bill?"  "  What  proportion  of  our 
taxes,  crime,  pauperism,  lunacy,  comes  of  strong  drink  in 
our  State  ? " 

These  and  a  score  of  such  subjects  had  been  thoroughly 
set  forth  in  the  Socratic  method,  and  few  voters  were 
better  informed  than  these  boys  and  girls.  They  had 
also  been  urged  to  repeat  all  this  at  home,  and  to  plead 
with  fathers  and  brothers  to  vote  aright.  With  a  woman's 
tact,  Mrs.  Goode  had  told  them  that  at  present  the  theory 
of  our  government  is  that  the  father  represents  "the 
people"  in  his  home,  and  that  is  why  we  say  "  we,  the 
people  of  Iowa,"  will  vote  on  these  great  public  questions 
and  decide  them.     So  she  urged  the  children  to  get  papa 


416   '         TREMBLE  KING  ALCOHOL. 

to  take  the  census  in  his  own  home,  and  go  to  the  polls 
to  represent  not  himself  only,  but  his  constituency. 

It  is  well  known  in  Iowa  that  the  children  did  a  vast 
amount  of  delightful  and  most  effective  electioneering  at 
their  own  home  hearths ;  and  on  the  final  day  barefooted 
urchins  went  timidly  up  to  well-dressed  business  men,  and 
said,  "  Please,  sir,  won't  you  vote  for  my  mother  and  me  ? — 
my  father  is  a  drunkard."     Little  boys  marched  up  and 
down  through  the  crowd  of  voters  with  banners  wreathed 
in  evergreen,  whereon,  in  fleecy  white  letters,  cut  from 
cotton  batting,  were   the  words,  "Please  vote   for   the 
home,"  or  "  Tremble,  King  Alcohol,  we  shall  grow  up," 
or  "  Our  guns  are  ballots,  our  bullets  are  ideas."     Little 
girls  went  out  two  by  two,  with  baskets    heaped  with 
button-hole  bouquets,  and  while,  at  a  little  distance,  fond 
motherly  eyes  watched  their  proceedings,  they  said  to 
voters :  "  Won't  you  put  in  a  ballot,  sir,  for  the  amend- 
ment ? "     And  if  they  said  they  had,  or  would,  the  little 
fingers  handed  up  a  dewy  bunch   of  flowers.     I  gained 
new  hope  for  poor  humanity  as  I  saw  rough  men  care- 
fully pinning  childhood's  sweet  gift  of  "posies"  on  their 
checked  shirts ;  Germans  and  Swedes  fastening  a  sprig  of 
mignonette  in  their  old  hat-bands  ;  and  colored  men,  with 
gleaming  ivories,  tying  a  full-blown  rose  to  the  only  button 
left  upon  a  threadbare  coat,  and  saying,  "  Yes,  honey,  dis 
chile  is  fur  de  'men'ment  every  time." 

In  one  of  the  river  towns  the  mayor  brought  in  a 
bloated  German  beer-drinker  to  vote  the  "whisky 
ticket,"  when  the  German's  children,  fresh  from  the  Band 
of  Hope  procession,  hurried  forward,  the  little  girl  throw- 
ing her  arms  around  her  father's  neck,  and  saying,  with 
tears,  "  Papa,  please  vote  for  us  at  home,"  and  the  boy, 
who  was  a  cripple,  taking  him  by  the  hand,  with  the  same 
plea.  "  Ach,  mein  Gott,  dis  vas  too  much  !  "  exclaimed 
the  German,  breaking   away   from   the   man   who   had 


A    TOUCH    OF   NATURE.  417 

counted  on  him,  and  going  up  to  the  ballot-box  with  the 
vote  his  little  daughter  gave  him,  while  she  held  one 
hand,  and  the  lame  hoy  hobbled  on  the  other  side  as 
guardian.  Not  an  eye  that  looked  upon  the  group  could 
see  it  clearly  because  of  tears.  "A  touch  of  nature 
makes  the  whole  world  kin." 

Truly  "a  little  child  shall  lead  them."  Truly  that 
little  child  is  "  the  fortress  of  the  future,"  standing  away 
out  on  the  frontier  of  time.  Let  us  furnish  the  fortress 
with  provisions,  weapons,  ammunition  ;  and  eager  hearts 
shall  ''hold  the  fort"  when  Ave  grow  weary.     God  bless 

"  The  little  soldiers  newly  mustered  in." 


CHAPTER  XXI. 

MRS.  MARY  A.  LIVERMORE, 

Our  Chief  Speaker,  and  President  of  the  Massachusetts  W.  C.  T.  U. 

Seen  from  afar — Personal  reminiscences — A  racy  sketch  of  her  Melrose 
home — Sermon  on  Immortality — Incidents  of  early  years — Religious 
character — Her  coadjutors — Elizabeth  Stuart  Phelps'  Letter  to  Mas- 
sachusetts W.  C.  T.  U. 

IN  the  seclusion  of  Evanston,  our  idyllic  suburban  vil- 
lage, we  read  much  during  the  later  years  of  the 
war,  about  Mrs.  Livermore  and  her  great-hearted  associate, 
Mrs.  A.  H.  Hodge  of  Chicago.  As  the  projectors  of  those 
mammoth  "  sanitary  fairs,"  which  were  a  national  astonish- 
ment, these  ladies  loomed  like  colossal  figures  in  the  imaerina- 
tion  of  one  obscure  school  teacher,  who  would  have  deemed 
it  the  height  of  impertinence  to  seek  acquaintance  with 
women  so  distinguished.  Their  Amazonian  courage  seemed 
to  be  equaled  only  by  their  motherly  tenderness.  Now 
canvassing  the  great  Northwest  for  hospital  supplies; 
then  conducting  a  fail"  which  yielded  one  hundred  thousand 
dollars  as  a  net  profit  to  the  sanitary  commission,  and 
anon  watching  over  the  wounded  in  hospitals  and  on  the 
field,  those  women  were  heroines  to  be  gazed  en  from 
afar,  but  also  loved  and  prayed  for  as  one's  "  very  own." 
Years  after,  during  my  residence  abroad,  mother  wrote  a 
letter  full  of  enthusiasm  relative  to  a  "  woman's  conven- 
tion "  she  had  just  attended  in  Chicago,  in  which 
occurred  these  words:  "Mrs.  Mary  A.  Livermore,  who 
presided  throughout  the  session,  is  a  queen  among  women. 
Of  stately  presence,  deep,  melodious  voice,  and  most 
womanly  nature,  she  was  head  and  shoulders  above  every 

(418) 


'  J II  1 


MRS.   MARY  A.  LIYERMORE. 


SEEN   FROM    AFAR.  421 

other  person  present.  Would  not  such  a  woman  adorn 
the  U.  S.  Senate  ?  Yea,  verily,  far  beyond  most  of  the 
men  who  get  themselves  elected  to  that  august  body,  and 
I  fervently  hope  she  may  live  to  take  the  seat  fur  which 
nature  has  certainly  ordained  her."  As  my  mother  is  to 
me  "  final  authority"  upon  a  theme  like  that,  I  was  more 
than  ever  an  admirer  of  Mary  A.  Livermore.  On  my 
return  home  I  found  that  Mrs.  Hodge  had  become  a 
resident  of  Evanston.  I  soon  enjoyed  the  rare  pleasure 
of  being  associated  with  her  in  the  work  of  our  new 
college  for  ladies.  We  planned  the  "  Woman's  Fourth  of 
July,"  a  mammoth  celebration,  at  which  ten  thousand 
people  were  amused  and  fed,  the  entire  proceeds  going  to 
the  new  educational  enterprise  to  which  we  were  devoted. 
In  our  frequent  meetings,  how  often  Mrs.  Hodge  spoke  to 
us  of  her  gifted  associate,  and  in  reply  to  my  fusilade  of 
questions — for  nothing  on  this  planet  attracts  me  like  a 
noble,  grandiose  woman — I  learned  more  of  Mrs.  Liver- 
more  than  the  numerous,  eagerly-scanned  biographies  had 
ever  taught.  As  Mrs.  Hodge  waxed  eloquent  over  her 
choice  theme,  some  of  us  used  to  say,  "It  takes  one  gifted 
woman  adequately  to  describe  another."  How  she  dwelt 
upon  the  "reserve  power"  of  her  friend — that  surest 
mark  of  a  great  nature ;  the  subtle  keenness  of  perception; 
the  fertility  of  resource;  the  intrepidity  of  execution!  I 
learned  that  Mrs.  Livermore  was  as  gifted  as  though  not 
industrious,  and  as  industrious  as  though  not  gifted. 
"Often,  when  we  were  at  the  front  after  a  battle,"  said 
Mrs.  Hodge,  "  and  I  had  gone  to  my  bed  in  utter  exhaus- 
tion after  a  day's  nursing,  I  would  hear  the  pen  of  that 
indomitable  woman  scratching  away  into  the  night  or 
unto  the  dawn.  Articles  for  her  husband's  paper  in 
Chicago,  appeals  to  the  people  for  supplies,  letters  to  the 
anxious  friends  of  wounded  soldiers, — these  she  would  toss 
off  at  electric  speed,  resuming  her  hospital  work  betimes, 
next  day." 


422  MRS.    HODGE. 

I  was  newly  reminded  of  these  words  when  the  press 
circulated  a  touching  incident  which  recently  occurred  in 
a  Michigan  town  where  Mrs.  Livermore  lectured.  A 
woman  from  the  country,  who  had  taken  a  long  ride  over 
rough  roads  to  hear  her,  came  timidly  forward  at  the 
close,  and  carefully  producing  a  thin,  gold  ring,  gave  it  to 
the  famous  lecturer,  saying :  "  Do  you  remember  writing 
out  the  dying  message  of  a  soldier  to  his  wife,  and  by  his 
wish,  sending  this  ring?"  Mrs.  Livermore  was  obliged 
to  confess  that  she  had  written  so  many  such  letters  she 
could  not  remember  this  specific  case,  upon  which  the 
aged  woman  explained,  with  tears,  that  the  soldier's 
widow  was  her  only  child,  who,  dying,  had  charged  her 
mother  to  give  back  this  ring  to  Mrs.  Livermore  if  she 
ever  had  the  opportunity. 

It  was  to  Mrs.  Hodge  we  were  indebted  for  the  long- 
coveted  pleasure  of  hearing  Mrs.  Livermore  at  Evanston. 
She  came  and  gave  us  a  lecture  for  the  benefit  of  our  new 
enterprise,  in  which  her  generous  heart  was  deeply  inter- 
ested. The  church  was  packed,  the  scene  historic,  as  the 
two  foremost  women  of  the  war  sat  side  by  side,  the 
senior  a  Presbyterian  of  conservative  training  and  the- 
ology, the  junior  a  liberal  in  her  views  (perhaps  the 
intellectual  rebound  of  an  adventurous  spirit  from  a  Bap- 
tist deacon's  training),  but  both  too  intellectual  and 
royal-hearted  to  permit  divergent  "  views "  to  alienate 
them  in  their  philanthropic  deeds. 

"  What  shall  we  do  with  our  daughters  ? "  was  the 
theme.  Happy  was  the  aspiring  girl  (and  our  college 
was  out  in  force)  who  heard  its  invulnerable  logic,  its 
tender  pathos,  and  its  ringing  eloquence.  What  would  I 
not  have  given  to  be  this  woman's  auditor  when  I,  like 
them,  was  in  my  teens  !  The  admiration  and  love  then 
kindled  in  my  breast  and  heart  for  Mrs.  Livermore  have 
been  perennial.     Never  have  I  had  more  inspiring  talks 


MELROSE.  423 

with  gifted  persons  than  with  "  our  Temperance  Great 
Heart,"'  as  I  like  to  call  her,  at  Melrose,  Mass.,  or  the 
Twin  Mountain  House,  where  I  have  been  her  guest.  To 
write  out  some  account  of  these  to  me  memorable  occa- 
sions, especially  to  describe  that  genial,  loving  fireside 
circle  in  her  heart's-ease  of  a  home,  was  on  my  mind 
when  the  following  racy  sketch  by  Virginia  F.  Townsend, 
the  talented  author,  came  in  my  way.  Every  temperance 
woman  in  the  land  will  read  it  with  keen  pleasure.  It  is 
called 

A   NIGHT   AT   THE    HOME   OF   MARY   A.    LIVERMORE. 

" '  Melrose  !  '  shouted  the  conductor.  I  was  out  on  the 
platform  in  a  moment,  with  the  rest  of  the  human  pack- 
ages, staring  curiously  up  and  down  the  quaint  old  town, 
which  strikes  one  at  first  sight  as  comfortably  taking  its 
ease  and  the  world  at  large  in  a  peaceful,  Rip- Van-Winkle 
sort  of  atmosphere.  Melrose,  however,  is  only  seven 
miles  from  Boston,  and,  despite  the  air  of  serene  respect- 
ability with  which  it  confronts  a  stranger,  must  come  in 
for  its  share  in  the  seasoning  of  Attic  salt,  and,  no  doubt, 
get  to  the  heart  of  it,  is  well  tinctured  with  heresies  and 
radicalism.  It  was  the  late  afternoon  of  one  of  those 
June  days  Lowell  sings  about  so  felicitously,  when  I  made 
my  way  through  the  shadows  of  the  pleasant,  dreamy  old 
street  to  the  home  across  whose  threshold  I  was  now  to 
pass  for  the  first  time.  A  soft,  poetic  sunshine  was  on 
leaves  and  flowers ;  there  were  hushes  of  winds  among 
locusts  and  maples,  and  the  sweet  twitter  of  robins 
through  the  stillness  when  I  found  mvself  at  the  house 
where  I  was  to  pass  the  night.  A  quiet,  unpretending 
New  England  home  stood  before  me,  finished  up  in 
browns,  even  to  the  blinds,  a  veranda  across  the  front, 
and  June  roses  in  a  very  glee  and  riot  of  blossoming — the 

extreme  simplicity  of  the  whole  in  fine  harmony  with  the 
17 


424  mrs.  livermore's  home. 

old  town  and  the  shadowy  street,  even  though  the  presid- 
ing divinity  here  was  the  strong,  earnest,  intent  soul  of 
Mary  A.  Livermore.  I  may  as  well  say  at  this  point  that, 
measured  by  hours  and  interviews,  we  were  almost 
strangers  to  each  other.  A  brief  meeting  or  two,  a  letter 
sent  me  when  the  heart  of  the  writer  was  at  white  heat 
with  the  work  and  the  glory  of  the  Chicago  Sanitary 
Fair,  comprised  our  personal  acquaintance ;  yet,  despite 
this  fact,  I  was  certain  that  hostess  and  guest  would  meet 
to-night  not  as  strangers  do.  If  one  does  not  feel  at 
home  with  the  first  glance  at  the  house,  one  is  certain  to 
the  moment  he  is  across  the  threshold. 

"  The  parlor  which  received  me  was  a  place  to  dream 
in  for  a  day,  with  pictures,  and  engravings,  and  pretty 
brackets  that  gave  color,  and  grace,  and  a  certain  artistic 
effect  to  the  whole  room,  while  that  subtle  charm  of  a 
real  home  atmosphere  brooded  over  all.  I  had  expected 
to  find  in  Mrs.  Livermore  a  good  housekeeper;  indeed, 
come  to  think  of  it,  I  never  knew  a  literary  woman,  in  the 
highest  sense  of  that  word,  who  did  not  prove  herself  in 
her  own  home  a  capable  domestic  l  manager ' ;  and  having 
been  in  more  than  one  of  these  homes  I  am,  despite  the 
traditional  blue  stocking,  entitled  to  speak  ex-cathedra  on 
this  matter.  My  own  room,  too,  when  I  went  into  it, 
proved  the  very  '  pink  essence '  of  order  and  comfort, 
with  pictures  and  brackets  again,  and  delicate  little 
artistic  touches  everywhere.  I  sat  down  by  the  window, 
too  content  for  any  thing  but  watching  the  sunshine  in 
the  cherry  and  locust  trees  outside,  and  waited,  but  not 
long.  There  was  a  rap  at  the  door — no  soft,  appealing- 
flutter  of  fingers,  but  prompt,  strong,  decisive — and, 
getting  up,  I  confronted  Mrs.  Livermore.  She  was  a  tall, 
dignified,  matronly  presence,  an  earnest,  intent,  attractive 
face,  with  a  smile  that  comes  suddenly  and  breaks  up  the 
gravity  with  a  sweet  archness,  a  voice  full  of  a  clear, 


soldiers'  gift.  425 

ringing  helpfulness  and  decision,  and  the  more  you  see 
of  her  the  more  you  grow  into  a  sense  of  her  reserve  force 
and  her  wonderful  magnetic  power,  and  comprehend  what 
a  shrewd  physician  meant  when  he  said:  'The  Lord 
made  you  up,  Mrs.  Livermore,  to  do  a  big  job  of  work  in 
this  world.'  1 1  should  have  come  to  you  at  once,'  she 
said,  with  her  cordial  warmth  of  speech  and  manner,  '  but 
my  husband's  congregation  at  Hingham  gave  us  a  recep- 
tion yesterday,  and  this  morning  I  was  obliged  to  take 
the  six  o'clock  train  into  Boston  to  see  to  the  getting  out 
of  the  paper,  so,  when  I  learned  you  were  coming,  I 
primed  myself  with  a  couple  of  hours'  sleep.'  We  took 
our  supper  alone  together  that  night.  A  silver  goblet 
stood  by  my  plate, and  when  I  had  taken  my  first  draught 
Mrs.  Livermore  remarked  :  '  That  goblet  was  given  me  by 
the  soldiers  at  the  Chicago  Sanitary  Fair.'  Perhaps  I 
was  unusually  thirsty  that  night;  at  any  rate,  it  seemed 
to  me  as  I  drained  the  goblet  that  no  water  had  ever 
tasted  so  sweet.  The  silver  was  simple  enough,  with  its 
chasing  and  Latin  inscriptions,  but  it  spoke  to  me  of 
weary  iourneys  through  days  and  nights  in  '  mud- 
spankers,'  over  the  wide,  lonely  plains  of  the  Northwest ; 
of  burdens  under  which  a  strong  man  might  well  have 
faltered,  always  with  calm,  unflinching  courage ;  of 
wounded  men  in  dreary  hospitals  starting  at  the  sound  of 
the  clear,  helpful  voice,  and  glancing  up  with  tearful  joy 
as  that  woman's  shadow  fell  into  their  pain  and  lone- 
liness. 

"  Before  we  had  finished  our  supper  Mr.  Livermore 
entered — a  tine-looking,  rather  portly  gentleman,  who 
evidently  has  a  relish  for  a  joke  and  a  profound  faith  in 
looking  on  the  bright  side  of  things.  He  reminded  me  of 
some  jolly  English  squire,  who  would  enjoy  riding  to 
cover  in  the  dew  and  sunshine  of  an  autumn  morning, 
and  spurring  on  horse  and  hound  to  the  chase  with  the 


426  THE  CREAM  OP  THE  EVENING. 

bravest,  but  he  is  in  reality  the  pastor  of  a  Universalist 
church  at  Hingham.  'We  exchange  works  sometimes,' 
said  his  wife,  with  a  laugh.  '  When  there  is  a  high 
pressure  of  business  on  me  he  obligingly  spares  me  the 
trouble  of  writing  an  editorial,  and,  in  turn,  I  occasionally 
preach  for  him.'  Despite  the  appalling  fact  that  his  wife 
is  an  editor,  a  lecturer,  an  occasional  preacher,  and  a 
leader  in  the  Woman's  Rights  Movement,  nobody,  seeing 
them  half  an  hour  together,  could  doubt  that  the  Hingham 
pastor  was  a  proud  and  a  happy  husband. 

"  After  supper  we  went  over  the  house,  and  Mrs.  Liver- 
more  took  me  into  her  sanctum,  a  quiet  little  nook,  and 
as  orderly  as  Sir  Walter  Scott's  library  at  Abbotsford. 
From  the  back  windows  the  idyl  of  Mrs.  Livermore's 
home  burst  suddenly  upon  me  in  the  shape  of  '  Crystal 
Lake,'  a  delicious  little  sheet  of  water  on  whose  shores 
her  house  stands.  It  was  just  at  sunset,  and  the  winds 
were  out,  and  there  was  a  very  dazzle  of  silver  waves 
along  the  banks  as  I  first  caught  sight  of  the  little  lake 
between  its  low-lying  shores.  Here,  too,  lay  a  dainty 
little  row-boat,  just  fitted  for  the  fairy  stream  it  was  to 
navigate. 

"  But  the  cream  of  the  evening  was  yet  to  come.  At 
last  we  were  quietly  settled  down  in  Mrs.  Livermore's 
own  room  for  the  'talk'  we  had  been  so  lono;  promising 
ourselves.  It  was  a  talk  which,  following  no  law,  glanced 
all  over  Mrs.  Livermore's  life.  The  stately  matron  was 
again  a  child,  with  Copp's  Hill  Cemetery  for  her  play- 
ground, and  without  a  fear  of  the  quiet  sleepers  under  her 
riotous  sport.  She  drew  herself  a  wild,  impetuous,  over- 
flowing '  tom-boy  '  of  a  girl,  brimming  with  fun  and  mis- 
chief;  the  strong,  native,  vital  forces  in  her  bringing  her 
forever  to  grief,  yet  never  permanently  checked ;  the 
champion  always  of  the  poor  and  friendless ;  and  a 
strange,  underlying   sadness  getting    sometimes    to    the 


A  deacon's  daughter.  427 

surface  throutrh  all  the  boisterous  mirth  and  mischief. 

o 

This  woman  was  evidently  cut  out  011  a  grand  pattern 
from  the  beginning.  The  royal  Hebrew's  injunction  of '  not 
sparing  the  rod'  was  faithfully  observed  in  the  training  of 
the  eager,  intense,  tumultuous  New  England  girl.  She  was 
sent  supperless  to  bed;  she  was  defrauded  of  that  crown- 
ing treasure  and  delight  of  childhood,  Saturday  afternoon  ; 
she  was  scolded  at  and  urged ;  and  she  cried  herself  sick, 
or  would  if  any  such  thing  had  been  possible  to  the  fibre 
that  went  to  the  making  of  the  stout,  robust  little  figure, 
and  wished  she  was  dead,  and  then  broke  the  cords  which 
held  her  a  prisoner  in  the  chair,  and,  mounting  that, 
made  it  serve  for  a  pulpit  and  preached  to  the  walls, 
warning  sinners  to 'flee  from  the  wrath  to  come,' while 
father  and  mother  would  stand  listening  outside  in 
amused  bewilderment  at  the  child's  passionate  eloquence. 
Sometimes,  too,  the  old  Baptist  deacon  would  look  mourn- 
fully at  his  daughter,  and  say :  '  If  you  had  only  been  a 
boy.  Mary,  what  a  preacher  in  that  case  you  would  have 
made !  I  would  certainly  have  educated  you  for  the 
ministry,  and  what  a  world  of  good  you  might  have  done!' 
But  it  never  so  much  as  entered  the  Boston  deacon's 
heart  that  this  strange,  impulsive,  fiery  little  soul,  whose 
sex  he  so  keenly  deplored,  had  her  own  work  to  do  in  the 
world,  and  would  yet  hold  vast  masses  breathless  under 
the  power  of  her  logic,  the  magic  charm  of  her  eloquence. 
But  the  years  went  on,  and  the  Boston  deacon's  daughter 
grew  into  girlhood  and  womanhood,  with  her  marvelous 
energy,  with  her  keen,  alert  mind,  with  her  hungry  greed 
of  knowledge,  with  her  swift  scorn  of  sophistries,  but 
with  the  warm,  generous  heart,  a  little  steadied  with  the 
gathering  years,  as  swift  and  helpful  now  as  in  those  old 
days  when  it  danced  in  Copp's  burying-ground,  and  was 
the  champion  of  all  the  poor,  neglected  children. 

"'When  we  were  married,'  said  Mrs.  Livermore,  with 


428  EDITRESS    OF   THE   WOMAN'S    JOURNAL. 

that  humor  whose  current  plays  and  sparkles  through  all 
the  earnestness  of  her  talk,  '  our  capital  consisted  of  books. 
I  did  all  my  own  work.  I  cut  and  made  my  husband's 
coats  and  pants.  There  is  no  kind  of  house  work  with 
which  I  am  not  familiar.  I  defy  anybody  to  rival  me  in 
that  line.  My  drawers,  my  closets,  my  whole  house  are 
always  free  for  inspection.' 

"  It  is  marvelous,  when  you  come  to  think  of  it,  the 
amount  of  mental  and  physical  strain  which  this  woman 
manages  to  undergo.  There  is  the  constant  wear  and 
tear  of  nerve  and  brain.  For  three  weeks  at  a  time,  dur- 
ing the  lecture  season,  she  assures  me  she  has  not  slept 
on  a  bed,  except  such  poor  substitutes  of  one  as  lounges 
on  cars  and  steamboats  afford.  Even  during  the  summer 
her  engagements  are  so  numerous  that  the  evening  I 
passed  with  her  was  the  solitary  one  she  could  command 
for  the  ensuing  month.  She  was  to  speak  in  a  few  days 
in  Clifton,  N.  Y.,  and  to  lecture  before  the  graduating 
class  of  the  divinity  school  in  Canton,  this  being  the  first 
time  in  the  history  of  American  institutions  that  such  an 
honor  has  been  awarded  to  a  woman.  Add  to  this  her 
constant  reading,  her  duties  as  chief  editress  of  the 
Woman's  Journal,  the  letters  that  must  be  answered,  the 
ocean  of  manuscripts  that  must  be  waded  through.  One 
cannot  help  sympathizing  with  the  sentiment  of  the  dis- 
tich which  she  quoted  to  me  as  a  sample  of  the  avalanche 
of  rhyme  which  poured  down  on  the  Woman's  Journal : 

"Art  thou  not  tired,  my  dear  M.  A.  L., 
"Working  forever,  so  hard  and  so  well  ?  " 

'  There  were  actually  four  pages  in  this  key,'  she  said. 
Of  course  no  woman  could  bear  all  this  physical  and  men- 
tal strain  without  the  foundation  of  an  admirable  phy- 
sique. With  few  exceptions,  she  has  always  enjoyed 
splendid  health.  The  stamina  of  her  Puritan  grand- 
mother seems  to  have  been  bequeathed  unweakened  to 


Ili:i:    [NCESSANT    LABOR.  429 

Mary  A.  Livermore.  Then,  there  are  the  constant  claims  on 
her  time  and  charity.  As  an  instance  in  point,  one  year 
she  found  homes  for  thirty-three  children,  worse  than 
orphans. 

••  •  1  never  in  my  life.'  she  said,  'turned  anybody  away 
who  came  to  mo  for  help.  I  never  willfully  wronged  a 
human  being.'  How  few  of  us  could  in  our  inmost  souls 
say  these  words  ! 

••Amid  our  talk  there  shine  two  sentences  of  my 
hostess  which  have  come  back  to  me  so  often  and  which 
seem  two  such  clear  crystals  of  truth  that  I  cannot  choose 
but  write  them  here.  One  was,  '  A  Divine  discontent 
must  pursue  all  human  lives ; '  and  the  other,  '  Life  is 
lonely  to  every  soul.' 

••  I  hit  the  pleasantest  hours  have  an  end,  and  we  were 
on  the  flood-tide  of  our  talk,  and  Mrs.  Livermore  wore 
the  look  of  an  inspired  sybil,  and  the  hours  were  wearing 
toward  midnight,  when  the  Hingham  pastor,  with  his 
pleasant  face  and  his  air  of  the  English  squire,  broke  in 
upon  us,  saying,  quietly,  that  to-morrow  would  demand 
too  heavy  a  toil  for  the  night's  lost  sleep,  and  he  must 
send  us  to  bed.  I  entreated  him  to  furnish  us  some  cor- 
dial that  would  hold  us  awake  and  alert  for  the  precious 
hours  of  that  one  night,  but  it  was  evident  that  his  phar- 
macy yielded  no  such  inspiring  draught,  and  his  wife  —  I 
must  tell  the  honest  truth  here  —  seemed  disposed  to 
'  obey '  him  with  as  much  meekness  and  alacrity  as  though 
she  regarded  that  obnoxious  verb  a  binding  part  of  the 
marriage  covenant  —  as  though  she  had  never  stood  upon 
a  platform,  or  preached  from  a  pulpit,  or  gone  down 
bravely  to  the  hospitals  and  bound  the  quivering  limbs  of 
poor,  wounded  soldiers,  or  held  a  cooling  draught  to  their 
fevered  lips  —  nay,  even  as  though  the  woman  whom  Bos- 
tun  long  ago  gave  to  Chicago,  and  whom  Chicago,  after 
the  grand  work  of  the   Sanitary  Fair  was  accomplished, 


430  i:  WILY  LIFE. 

gave  back  in  the  prime  of  her  womanhood  and  the  ripe- 
ness of  her  intellect  to  Boston,  had  never  waved  the  banner 
and  raised  the  war-cry  of  the  Woman's  Journal?' 

Since  Mrs.  Townsend's  sketch  was  written,  Mrs.  Liver- 
more  has  ceased  to  edit  this  foremost  paper  of  the 
woman's  movement,  and  concentrates  her  powers  on 
lycemn  lecturing  and  the  temperance  reform,  preaching 
frequently  on  Sabbath  nights  in  the  pulpits  of  almost  all 
denominations.  I  shall  never  forget  a,  sermon  on 
"  Immortality  "  delivered  by  her  in  Chicago.  It  had  the 
motherhood  of  God  in  it,  no  less  than  His  Fatherly  char- 
acter, and  seemed  to  me  to  supply  the  "  missing  link " 
"which  I  had  always  felt  rather  than  known  in  the  dis- 
courses of  men.  None  but  a  mother  —  and  one  as  true 
and  tender  as  Mrs.  Livermore  has  always  been  —  could 
have  talked  as  she  did  about  the  love  of  God. 

Some  facts  of  her  early  life  must  be  referred  to  before 
I  close.  Mary  Ashton  Rice  (her  maiden  name)  was 
born  in  Boston,  Dec.  19,  1821,  and  at  fourteen  years  of 
age,  graduated  with  high  honors  from  Hancock  school, 
taking  the  Franklin  medal.  She  at  once  entered  the 
Charlestown  Female  Seminary,  a  Baptist  institution ; 
remained  there  three  years  as  teacher  and  pupil,  being 
advanced  to  the  position  of  instructor  in  Latin,  Italian, 
and  French.  She  also  acquired  enough  Greek  to  render 
her  eligible  to  enter  Harvard  University,  and  she  actually 
went  with  a  few  daring  young  schoolmates  like  herself  to 
President  Quincy,  then  at  the  head  of  that  conservative 
institution,  and  sought  admission.  It  seemed  hardly  pos- 
sible for  the  good  man  to  regard  their  intention  as  serious, 
and  to  say  they  got  no  countenance  whatever  is  a  feeble 
image  of  their  discomfiture. 

The  childhood  of  Mary  Livermore  was  no  humdrum 
affair,  but  quite  as  remarkable  in  its  way  as  her  later  his- 
tory.    She  always  had  a  great  heart.     The  family  was  in 


EARLY   LIFE.  431 

moderate  circumstances,  and  she  was  so  anxious  to  be  a 
helper  rather  than  a  burden  that  she  went  privately  to  a 
shop  and  took  some  shirts  to  make  at  six  cents  apiece. 
Her  mother,  finding  this  out,  wept  at  this  proof  of  her 
little  girl's  devotion.  "The  platform  spirit  Avas  in  her 
earlier  than  this,"  writes  one  who  furnished  me  these  items, 
"  for  she  would  go  into  the  shed,  set  up  blocks  of  wood 
for  an  audience,  and  then  orate  to  her  heart's  content, 
getting  so  earnest,  almost  to  tears,  over  her  theme,  which 
was  often  drawn  from  "Fox's  Book  of  Martyrs,"  of  which 
her  father  was  a  diligent  expounder.  So  strong  an  impres- 
sion did  this  book  make  upon  her  childish  imagination 
that  "  playing  martyr  "  was  among  her  favorite  pastimes, 
and  in  that  character  she  even  burned  in  the  old-fashioned 
fire-place  a  handsome  doll  given  by  her  grandmother.  At 
the  age  of  ten  she  was  so  gifted  in  composition  that  her 
teacher,  Master  Field  of  Hancock  school,  couldn't  believe 
she  wrote  the  essays  whose  authorship  she  claimed,  and 
to  test  the  matter  she  was  shut  up  in  a  recitation  room 
with  paper  and  pencil  only,  and  upon  the  theme  assigned 
to  her  —  "  Self-government"  !  she  wrote  a  composition  so 
remarkable  that  all  doubts  vanished,  and  she  was  thence- 
forth taken  into  special  favor." 

It  would  be  a  study  of  absorbing  interest  to  trace  the 
religious  history  of  this  earnest-hearted  woman.  No 
passage  in  her  many-sided  life  is  more  characteristic  or 
suggestive.  But  this  is  not  the  place  for  that  delineation. 
Mrs.  E.  R.  Hanson  of  Chicago,  in  her  attractive  book, 
"Our  Woman  Workers,"  published  at  the  office  of  The 
Star  and  Covenant,  has  given  this  history  in  full.  Happily 
we  have  emerged  upon  an  era  when  the  theory  of  Chris- 
tian life  is  by  all  thoughtful  people  held  in  abeyance  to 
the  Christian  life  itself.  Measured  by  this  standard, 
every  true  heart  must  pay  glad  homage  to  the  character 
and  deeds  of    Mary  A.  Livermore.      Grand   leadership 


432  CO-WORKERS. 

invariably  develops  a  royal  "following,"  and  the  W.  C. 
T.  U.  of  Massachusetts  is  an  emphatic  illustration  of  this 
rule.  We  have  no  abler  women  than  those  who  are 
grouped  around  this  noble  leader,  and  to  recount  their 
work  would  be  pleasant  indeed.  But  their  chief  has 
"  made  history  "  at  such  a  rate  herself,  that  space  is  lack- 
ing for  the  notes  I  had  designed  of  Mrs.  L.  B.  Barrett, 
her  schoolmate  and  life-long  friend,  Mrs.  P.  S.  J.  Talbot, 
the  devoted  "  member  for  Maiden,"  Mrs.  Rev.  Dr.  Gordon, 
the  model  President  of  Boston  W.  C.  T.  IT.,  Mrs.  Fenno 
Tudor,  that  wealthy  woman  with  a  wealthy  heart,  Miss 
Elizabeth  S.  Tobey,  who  leads  the  work  of  the  young  women, 
Mrs.  Emily  McLaughlin,  and  Mrs.  Mary  G.  C.  Leavitt, 
the  gifted  lecturers,  and  many  of  their  earnest-hearted 
sisters.  I  am  confident  these  loyal  workers  will  applaud 
my  decision  to  curtail  these  personal  notices,  that  I  may 
enrich  my  book  with  the  matchless  letter  of  Elizabeth 
Stuart  Phelps,  written  for  their  last  annual  meeting : 

CONDITIONS  OF  TEMPERANCE  WORK. 

Ladies  of  the  Christian  Temperance  Union: 

You  have  asked  me  for  an  address  which  I  am  disabled  from  giving; 
for  an  address  which  I  am  not  in  health  to  write.  Yet  I  find  it  diffi- 
cult to  pass  by  with  silence  your  kind  recognition  of  my  sympathy 
with  the  cause  for  which  you  are  "  toiling"  so  "  terribly." 

Those  wisest  of  words,  of  one  of  the  wisest  of  men,  never  return  to 
me  with  more  force  than  when  I  am  brought  to  bay  before  these  moral 
ferocities  of  society  such  as  it  is  your  privilege  and  your  pain  to  com- 
bat, We  must  "toil  "  as  "terribly"  to  save  a  soul,  as  to  discover  a 
star, — to  purify  a  village,  as  to  win  a  continent.  Most  of  us,  at  the 
outset  of  life  and  labor,  have  to  learn,  perhaps,  that  philanthropic 
effort  is  not  intellectual  ease.  "A  scholar,"  it  has  been  well  said,  "is 
the  result  of  the  abnegation,  of  the  sacrifice,  of  generations."  Let  me 
remind  you  that  it  takes  no  less  of  precedent  and  of  cost  to  make  a 
reformer.  The  mushrooms  of  our  little  kindly  impulses  sprout  up 
every  day  and  in  any  nature.  The  aloe  of  the  great  moral  martyr 
demands  its  century  to  blossom  in.  What  ancestries  of  pure  blood, 
humane  culture,  religious  sensitiveness,  go  to  his  creation !  The  suc- 
cessful philanthropist  is  never  an  accident.      Heredity  and  circum- 


LETTER    FROM    ELIZABETH    STUART    PHELPS.  4'.)-) 

stances  hem  him  in,  and  urge  him  on  to  his  inevitable  sequence.  The 
consistent,  unfaltering  life  of  balanced  usefulness  is  as  much  a  conse- 
quence of  ordered  causes  as  fame,  or  the  gallows.  Such  a  life  is  not  a 
thing  that  comes  by  wishing.  Mere  zeal  can  never  make  a  power  of 
a  good  intention.  It  is  a  drawn  game,  perhaps,  yet,  in  the  history  of 
the  world,  which  works  the  deepest  mischief,  head  without  heart,  or 
heart  without  head?  Good  works  mean,  above  all  else,  good  thoughts. 
Humanity  is  nothing  if  it  is  not  common  sense.  Benevolence  without 
wisdom  becomes  maleficence.  These  are  old  saws  which  every  kind 
of  effort  in  social  progress  must  resharpen  for  use,  but  there  are  few 
directions  in  winch  we  are  forced  to  hack  away  with  them  so  often,  or 
so  hard,  as  in  this  one  work  of  reforming  the  laws,  which  make  it 
almost  impossible  for  men  to  live  sober,  and  of  dealing  properly  with 
the  man  when  he  is  drunk. 

I  have  little  knowledge  to  offer  you  but  that  of  a  limited  invalid 
experience  in  the  great  effort  which  needs  the  health,  the  heart,  and 
the  hope  of  the  country  to  urge  it  on.  You  are  veterans  in  a  cause 
where  I  am  but  a  raw  and  disabled  recruit.  Yet  if  on  the  battle-field 
you  would  pause  to  hear  a  whisper  from  the  hospital,  I  can  only  give 
you  the  one  thing  that  the  work  itself  has  given  to  me: 

It  is  not  so  much  a  work  of  the  emotions  as  it  has  been  superficially 
supposed — and  often  practically  proved — to  be.  It  is  more  a  work  of 
reflection  than  we  are  forewarned  to  consider  it.  We  have  made  our 
share  of  mistakes  in  this  point  of  the  compass.  Our  praying  bands  at 
street  corners,  and  State-houses  draped  with  petitions,  and  vicious 
men  spoiled  by  lavish  womanly  tenderness,  have  had  their  dramatic, 
but  their  pitiable  aspects.  Now  we  are  coming  to  the  undramatic,  the 
unemotional,  the  dogged  hard  wTork  without  brilliant  effects.  Perhaps 
now7  we  must  learn  that  hardest  of  tasks — how  to  hope  without  the 
excitement  of  el  ctric  returns. 

Nothing  impresses  me  so  much  about  this  reform  as  the  eternity  of 
it.  It  goes  on,  and  goes  on,  in  our  individual  experience,  like  Car- 
lyle's  "  everlasting  No,"  perhaps  like  the  golden  ring  of  love  itself, 
wherein  there  seems  no  beginning  and  no  ending  to  our  joy. 

This  I  have  learned— that  there  is  no  end.  There  can  be  no  end  to 
our  education,  to  our  mistakes,  to  our  strain  of  muscle  and  strength  of 
nerve,  to  our  courage  that  must  break  up  and  out  like  trodden  flame, 
to  our  patience  that  should  sleep  like  the  deepest  depth  of  mid-ocean, 
or  the  bluest  heighl  <>i'  mid-heaven,  behind  and  below  all  the  little  blus- 
ter that  goes  to  make  up  the  storms  of  progress. 

It  takes  a  good  many  drops  of  the  heart's  blood  to  save  one  drunk- 
ard, but  it  takes  as  many  brain-cells.  It  calls  for  the  fire  of  a  soldier, 
but  the  repose  of  a  saint.  We  must  be  men  in  daring,  but  women  in 
devotion — girls  in  enthusiasm,  hut  aged  in  discretion — dizzy  wilh 
fervor,  but  poised  with  wisdom.     Like  all  else  in  life,  it  is  an  infinitely 


434  DISPOSING    OF    MORAL    PROBLEMS. 

more  complex  thing  than  we  know  till  we  have  tried  it,  to  handle  the 
great  forces  of  tempted  human  souls. 

If,  dear  friends,  when  all  is  done,  each  woman  of  you  has  hut  re- 
stored one  diseased  nature,  has  only  helped,  by  the  weight  of  one  indi- 
viduality, to  the  creation  of  that  public  sentiment  which  will  some  day 
make  it  almost  as  disreputable  to  tolerate  drunkenness  as  to  get  drunk, 
is  it  worth  while  ? 

It  seems  to  me  that  the  answer  to  this  question,  whereon  the  law 
and  prophets  of  the  matter  hang,  rests  altogether  with  our  individual 
selves.  There  is  a  cheap  and  easy  way  of  disposing  of  such  moral 
problems,  as  if,  forsooth,  the  force  of  any  one  creature  successfully 
expended  on  any  one  other  must  be  of  necessity  good  politico-spiritual 
economy.  This  is  not  true.  It  does  not  follow  that  it  is  always  worth 
while  to  do  every  good  deed  that  presents  itself  to  us.  The  value  of 
our  efforts  depends  quite  as  much  upon  the  results  to  ourselves  as 
upon  the  effect  on  those  for  whom  we  sacrifice  ourselves. 

Are  tee  the  better,  nobler,  richer  in  nature,  larger  in  grace,  for  the 
reform  or  philanthropy  which  we  have  selected  to  be  the  outlet  of  our 
restless  nerve,  or  our  compressed  consecration?  We  have  a  right  to 
ask  ourselves  this  question.  The  drunkard  is  not  the  only  soul  to  be 
considered.  The  delicate  woman  who  has  the  variousness  and  sweet- 
ness of  all  human  uses  and  pleasures  open  to  her  choice — she  who  com- 
mands the  welcome  and  the  warmth  of  so  many  a  social  value — she 
too  shall  be  estimated  as  a  factor  in  this  sum.  Sometimes  she  too 
must  ask  herself,  in  very  honesty,  the  question  which  lookers-on,  in 
easy  phrasing,  ask  her, — Is  she  wasted? 

Women  of  this  Union  !  banded  together  to  go  down  into  the  dens 
and  slums  and  horrors,  thence  to  lead  out  woe  and  shame  and  vice — 
Are  you  wasted  ?  You,  who  turn  from  your  children's  evening  prayer 
to  lead  a  "reformed  man"  safely  home  past  the  fifteen  grog-shops  he 
must  pass  before  he  can  reach  Ms  children's  waiting  faces — and  then 
back  again  to  kiss  your  own  babies  in  their  sleep — are  you  wasted? 

Wasted?  Nay,  then,  you  are  saved,  at  spiritual  usury.  Wasted? 
Nay,  for  it  is  your  own  fault  if  you  do  not  treble  your  own  value  by 
this  work.  I  have  no  fears,  and  speak  with  no  uncertain  sound,  on 
this  one  point,  at  least.  Whatever  individual  mistake  may  do  with  it, 
the  work  of  saving  tempted  men  and  women  from  this  one  form  of 
ruin  can  be  made  the  source  of  the  deepest  growth  in  womanly  char- 
acter, and  the  sweetest  blessedness  of  womanly  content. 

If  you  are  wasted  in  the  "passion  for  people  who  are  pelted; "  if 
you  are  wasted  in  lifting  the  miserable  out  of  the  mud;  then  He  was 
wasted  who  saved  Magdalene  and  Matthew.  Then  Gethsemane  was 
a  waste,  so  also  was  Calvary.  Then  life  itself  is  a  waste,  and  the  high 
value  of  humanity  a  pitiful  deceit.  Praying  God  to  speed  and  guide 
you,  I  am,  Sincerely  your  friend, 

Elizabeth  Stuart  Phelps. 


MRS    C.    B    BUELL. 


CHAPTER  XXII. 
CAROLINE  BROWN  BUELL, 

Corresponding  Secretary  National  W.  C.  T.  U. 

The  universal  Brown  family— A  vigorous  ancestry— An  itinerant 
preacher's  home— The  War  tragedy— Her  brother's  helper— Hears 
the  Crusade  tocsin— A  noble  life — That  Saratoga  Convention. 

THOMAS  HUGHES  opens  his  well-known  story  of 
English  school  life,  "  Tom  Brown's  School  Days  at 
Rugby,"  with  an  amusing  and  graphic  characterization  of 
the  universal  Brown  family,  who,  he  says,  "  for  centuries, 
in  their-quiet,  dogged,  home-spun  way,  have  been  subduing 
the  earth  in  most  English  counties  and  leaving  their 
mark  in  American  forests  and  Australian  uplands,  *  *  *  * 
getting  hard  knocks  and  hard  work  in  plenty,  which  was 
on  the  whole  what  they  looked  for,  and  the  best  thing  for 
them ;  and  little  praise  or  pudding,  which  indeed  they, 
and  most  of  us,  are  better  without." 

The  subject  of  this  brief  and  very  imperfect  sketch  is 
an  honorable  offshoot  and  fair  sample  of  a  respectable 
branch  of  the  prolific  Brown  family.  Her  paternal 
ancestry  was  early  transplanted  from  Old  to  New  Eng- 
land, where  both  history  and  tradition  agree  that  they 
grappled  manfully  with  the  labors,  hardships,  and  dan- 
gers of  pioneer  life  in  the  then  howling  wilderness, 
now  known  as  New  Hampshire.  These  sturdy,  square- 
headed,  broad-shouldered,  God-fearing  Englishmen  reared 
their  long-lived  progeny  who,  in  due  time,  grew  up  to 
make  good  citizens  and  sterling  patriots ;  and  when  the 
fulness  of  the  time  was  come  in  a  later  generation, 
Caroline's    grandfather    became    a   rampant   rebel,    and 

(437) 


438  ANCESTRY. 

shouldering  his  gun,  marched  to  Bunker's  Hill,  and 
helped  to  "  fire  the  shot  heard  round  the  world."  His 
wife,  too,  was  of  like  vigorous  stock — not  like  the  puny, 
dainty,  spindling  girls  of  this  period,  reared  only  in  hot- 
house luxury;  but  she  was  a  hearty,  healthy  Yankee 
woman,  who  nurtured  her*  little  family  of  fifteen  boys  and 
girls,  born  in  the  parental  likeness,  and  yet  found  time  to 
read  so  largely  that  far  and  near  it  was  a  marvel,  as  it 
was  in  the  case  of  Goldsmith's  village  schoolmaster,  "  that 
one  small  head  could  carry  all  she  knew."  Withal,  she 
was  a  politician  who  was  able  to  hold  her  own  in  an 
argument,  and  "  even  when  vanquished  she  could  argue 
still."  Both  she  and  her  husband  lived  to  a  good  and 
ripe  old  age,  as  did  their  fathers  and  mothers  before 
them,  and  they  died  near  a  hundred  years  old,  full  of 
honors. 

The  pioneer  spirit  also  possessed  the  maternal  ancestry, 
which  was  imported  into  New  England  in  the  earliest 
period  of  its  history,  in  the  little  "  Mayflower,"  and  colon- 
ized finally  in  Connecticut. 

Sprung  from  such  robust  stock,  Caroline  Brown  first 
saw  the  light  in  the  old  Bay  State,  being  the  only  daughter 
of  an  itinerant  Methodist  minister;  and  so,  lest  the 
history  and  traditions  of  the  Brown  family  should  be 
rudely  broken,  she  had  her  early  experiences  of  life  amid 
the  hard  knocks  and  diversified  trials  that  constitute  the 
sunshine  and  shadow  of  a  Methodist  itinerant's  family 
life.  Thus,  unused  to  enervating  surroundings,  and  forced 
to  struggle  with  adverse  circumstances  and  conditions, 
she  grew  to  early  womanhood  with  a  sound  physical  con- 
stitution and  a  gradually  developed,  vigorous  mental 
character.  Burning  with  desire  for  larger  intellectual 
culture,  she  embraced  every  means  afforded  her  to  that 
end,  and  supplemented  the  discipline  of  trial  and  the 
tuition  of   experience   with   earnest  study    and    diligent 


MARRIAGE.  430 

reading  as  opportunity  offered,  both  in  and  outside  the 
regular  curriculum  of  school  life.  In  such  a  school,  by 
such  severe  discipline,  were  developed  the  traits  which 
have  made  her  so  wise  a  counsellor  and  so  judicious  an 
adviser. 

She  had  arrived  at  the  blush  and  beauty  of  maidenhood 
when  the  grand  event  occurred  that  changed  the  tenor  of 
thousands  of  lives,  and  hers  was  not  to  be  the  exception. 
The  great  civil  war  broke  out;  the  life  of  the  nation  was 
imperiled ;  the  call  was  made  for  men  to  come  and  stand 
in  the  imminent  deadly  breach.  Frederick  W.  H.  Buell, 
a  noble,  manly,  brave,  pure-hearted,  and  patriotic  young 
man.  of  Connecticut  nativity,  was  among  those  who 
responded.  The  day  before  he  left  home  for  the  camp  he 
cl  timed  his  bride,  and  she  was  left  alone.  Thenceforward, 
the  story  runs,  as  in  so  many  narratives  of  those  sad 
•  lavs — thank  God!  they  are  only  a  dream  now — the 
dreadful  nightmare  of  a  dreary  night  of  sorrow  and 
death!  With  intensest  interest  she  followed,  day  by  day, 
the  movements  of  the  regiment  with  which  he  marched, 
and  not  he  alone,  for  one  of  her  brothers  marched  with 
him,  and  later  her  grey-haired  father,  as  the  chaplain  of 
the  regiment ;  for  husband,  three  brothers,  and  father — 
all  the  male  members  of  the  family — were  enrolled  in  the 
army  or  navy,  and  she  and  her  mother  were  left  alone 
as  the  ••  Home  Guard"  through  those  eventful  years. 
Sometimes  she  lost  sight,  for  a  while,  of  the  regiment, 
while  the  awful  tempest  of  Avar  swept  over  it,  and  her 
loved  ones  were  lost  in  the  smoke  and  dust  of  the  battle, 
as  at  Cold  Harbor,  or  Drury's  Bluff,  and  then  the  cloud 
would  lift  for  a  little  while,  and  the  straining  eyes  would 
be  relieved,  while  peace  and  sunshine  for  a  brief  space 
would  fall  on  the  battle-torn  banners.  So  the  awful 
tragedy  of  the  war  went  on;  the  struggle  was  almost 
over,   and  hearts  "  weary  with   waiting  for  the  war  to 


440  WIDOWHOOD. 

cease"  began  to  take  courage,  because  the  end  seemed  so 
near;  till,  on  a  winter  night,  early  in  a  new  year,  without 
one  word  of  warning,  for  the  young  lieutenant  was  well 
when  she  last  heard, 

"Home  they  brought  her  -warrior  dead." 

So  the  great  grief  of  her  life  came  to  that  young  and 
untried  heart.  It  was  a  lightning-stroke  from  a  clear  sky 
— sharp,  swift,  decisive,  terrible  !  But  Caroline  Buell  had 
early^  learned  to  trust  in  God.  She  did  not  rebel,  neither 
did  she  despair,  but  until  he  grew  to  man's  estate,  her 
noble  boy  was  her  first  care,  as  he  has  always  been  the 
solace  of  the  loving  heart  that  said  in  its  hour  of  greatest 
grief,  "  Sweet  my  child,  I  live  for  thee." 

Thus,  years  passed  on — they  had  little  of  history  in 
them — till  called  by  the  death  of  her  eldest  brother's  wife 
to  give  her  aid  and  comfort  to  the  bereaved  family,  she 
hastened  to  take  the  care  of  his  motherless  children. 
Here  she  spent  more  than  three  years  of  earnest  and 
unselfish  labor,  leaving  on  the  hearts  of  those  she*  cared 
for  impressions  for  good  that  will  never  be  erased.  It 
was  here  she  was  found  when,  in  1876,  she  was  chosen  to 
be  the  Corresponding  Secretary  of  the  W.  C.  T.  U.  of 
Connecticut,  which  had  been  organized  in  some  measure 
the  preceding  year.  She  entered  at  once  heartily  into  the 
work  devolved  upon  her,  and  gave  to  the  organization  the 
benefit  of  her  great  natural  executive  ability,  so  that 
speedily  the  Woman's  Christian  Temperance  work  in 
Connecticut  was  put  into  orderly  and  effective  shape.* 
Annually,  since  that  period,  Mrs.  Buell  has  been  honored 
by  re-election  to  the  Corresponding  Secretary's  position, 
though  she  would  have  gladly  chosen  to  decline  it. 

*  It  was  in  her  first  year  as  Corresponding  Secretary  of  the  Con- 
necticut Union  that  she  devised  the  plan  of  quarterly  returns,  that 
has  been  since  very  largely  adopted  all  over  the  country  by  the  various 
State  Unions. 


WORE.  441 

In  1880  the  National  W.  C.  T.  U.,  at  its  session  in 
Boston,  elected  Mrs.  Bnell,  very  unexpectedly  to  herself, 
to  be  Corresponding  Secretary  of  that  body.  She  entered 
at  once  upon  her  work,  and  by  her  pen  and  upon  the 
platform  has  abounded  in  labors  in  behalf  of  the  cause 
and  the  organization.  The  difficult  duties  of  the  position 
she  has  so  efficiently  discharged  that  she  has  been  twice 
re-elected  by  nearly  unanimous  votes. 

In  person  Mrs.  Buell  is  about  medium  height  and  size ; 
graceful  in  form  and  carriage,  easy  in  address,  of  fine 
personal  presence  ;  fair,  open  countenance,  keen,  dark 
eyes,  and  hair  now  silvering  prematurely.  Upon  the 
platform,  as  a  speaker  before  an  audience,  she  is  always 
self-poised,  self-unconscious,  earnest,  and  impressive.  In 
her  mental  characteristics  she  does  honor  to  the  stock 
from  whence  she  sprung,  for  she  has  the  "  quiet,  dogged, 
homespun  "  perseverance  which  Thomas  Hughes  assigns 
to  her  family — the  getting-hold-of  and  never-letting-go 
disposition  of  mind  that  that  will  "  fight  it  out  on  this 
line,  if  it  takes  all  summer." 

.Mrs.  Buell  is  a  woman  of  singularly  gentle  nature  and 
quiet  manners,  combined  with  altogether  exceptional 
force  of  character.  Unselfish  to  a  fault  and  altogether 
free  from  personal  ambition,  the  hearts  of  her  friends  do 
safely  trust  in  her,  and  no  woman  in  our  ranks  is  more 
devoutly  loyal  to  God  and  home  and  native  land. 

THAT    SARATOGA    CONVENTION,    OR    MEN,   WOMEN,    AND 

TEMPERANCE. 

Time,  June  21  and  22,  1881 :  place,  the  big,  handsome 
Methodist  church  at  Saratoga;  people,  many  of  the 
representative  temperance  men  and  women  of  America, 
to  the  number  of  400,  with  a  spicy  sprinkling  of  Canada 
thrown  in.  "  Sir,  we  had  good  talk,"  said  old  Sam  John- 
son, after  an  evening  with  the  wits  and  wisdoms  of  Lon- 


442  THE  SARATOGA  CONVENTION. 

don.  "  Good  talk  "  it  was  that  crowded  full  those  two 
delightful  days — the  echo  of  grand  triumphs  and  the 
bugle  blast  of  victories  yet  to  be.  The  quick,  incisive 
brain  that  planned  it  all  was  J.  N.  Stearns.  The  clear- 
headed, available  men,  ready  for  every  good  word  and 
work,  were  J.  L.  Bradley  (husband  of  our  Nellie  H. 
Bradley)  and  C.  H.  Meade,  of  Buffalo,  N.  Y.  The  men 
of  wise  and  thunderous  speech  were  Judge  Black,  of  Lan- 
caster, Pa.,  and  Rev.  Dr.  Peck,  of  Brooklyn.  Dr.  S.  J. 
Gordon,  of  Boston,  the  "  Temperance  Hercules  "  of  that 
city,  was  our  mellow-voiced  president,  so  tolerant  in 
spirit  that  he  shared  that  honor  with  two  of  the  vice- 
presidents,  selecting  impartially  from  the  ranks  of  Adam 
and  Eve  as  well,  the  latter  piece  of  poetic  justice  never 
having  been  previously  awarded. 

Joshua  L.  Bailey,  the  Quaker  gentleman  of  Phila- 
delphia and  prince  of  coffee-house  founders,  who  feeds 
twenty  thousand  a  dajr  on  the  best  fare  at  the  least  rates 
of  any  man  in  America,  was  first  vice-president,  and  a 
first-class  presiding  officer.  Our  gentle  Eliza  Thompson, 
all  the  way  from  Hillsboro,  Ohio,  was  the  second,  and  her 
bright,  crisp  speeches  enlivened  the  proceedings  not  a 
little.  Age  is  said  to  contribute  to  garrulity,  but  there  is 
not  a  woman  in  our  ranks  who  can  make  a  point  so 
briefly  and  at  the  same  time  so  well  as  this  same  Cru- 
sade mother  of  us  all.  Forty-five  years  before  this  date 
she  attended  the  first  temperance  convention  ever  held  in 
Saratoga,  being  then  a  merry  girl  and  coming  with  her 
father,  Governor  Allan  Trimble,  of  Ohio.  As  she  entered 
the  dining-room  of  the  hotel  where  the  first  committee 
meeting  was  held,  and  saw  a  few  men,  but  no  woman 
present,  she  said  to  her  father:  "I  can't  go  in  alone," 
when  he  replied :  "  Never  be  afraid  to  stand  alone  in  a 
good  cause,  my  child." 

Little  did  she  think  that,  a  long  lifetime  later,  she  was 


DELEGATES.  443 

to  prove  so  true  to  this  exhortation  by  leading  the  van  of 
the  Crusade.  The  foregoing  is  her  first  speech  at  the  last 
convention,  only  the  application  was  made  by  us  delegates. 
On  the  platform,  beside  Brother  Stearns,  sat  the  Corre- 
sponding Secretary  of  our  National  W.  C.  T.  U.,  Mrs.  C. 
B.  Buell,  and  beside  her  Mrs.  L.  D.  Douglass,  of  Mead- 
ville,  Pa.,  Assistant  Lady  Secretary ;  and  there  was 
another  gentleman,  C.  K.  Sambling,  from  noble  old 
Oberlin,  Ohio,  queen  of  total  abstinence  towns. 

Dr.  Eaton,  pastor  of  the  church,  welcomed  the  delegates 
in  royal  fashion,  and  Mother  Stewart  replied  in  her  best 
vein.  "  Our  Temperance  Portia,"  Mrs.  Judith  Ellen 
Foster  (I  tell  her  she  is  Judith,  and  the  liquor  traffic  in 
Iowa  is  to  be  her  Holofernes)  read  an  admirable  paper  on 
her  favorite  theme  of  "  Constitutional  Amendment." 
This  is,  as  a  "  third-party  "  delegate  remarked,  sotto  voce 
(the  "current  craze"),  all  allusions  to  it  being  received 
with  enthusiasm  and  adopted  without  dissent.  A  grand 
thought  it  is,  and  one  which,  within  twenty-five  years, 
will  be  brought  out  in  every  State. 

But  without  woman's  ballot  it  will  never  universally 
"  materialize,"  and  this  is  distinctly  perceived  by  many 
in  our  ranks.  Aside  from  this  "common  consent" 
theme,  the  two  most  vital  subjects  seemed  to  be  an 
organized  ballot  for  temperance  men  and  the  effort  to 
secure  that  death-dealing  little  weapon,  the  ballot  bullet, 
for  women.  The  first  was  long  and  earnestly  debated, 
and  advanced  opinion  is  clearly  shown  in  the  fact  that 
Judge  Black's  resolution  was  unanimously  carried.  This 
is  as  follows : 

Whereas,  The  Beer  Brewers'  Association,  and  kindred  liquor 
dealers'  organizations,  during  a  score  of  years  past  have  declared  the 
traffic  in  intoxicating  drink  to  be  a  legitimate  part  of  American  com- 
merce, entitled  to  and  demanding  for  it  the  protection  of  law  and  the 
fostering  care  of  the  State  and  National  Governments,  denying  the 
right  to  prohibit  or  restrict  the  same,  have  yearly  avowed  their  pur- 


444  judge  black's  resolution. 

pose  to  vote  for  no  man  who  favored  legislation  in  the  interests  of 
temperance,  and  constantly  have  used  their  political  franchise  for  the 
continuation  of  their  trade ;  in  the  past  have  received  the  countenance 
of  political  parties  in  support  of  the  positions  and  selfish  interests 
thus  assumed,  securing  through  such  aid  the  rescinding  of  constitu- 
tional enactments  and  the  repeal,  modification,  or  impairment  in 
efficiency  of  acts  of  Congress  and  of  the  State  restrictive  of  their 
business,  and  by  many  and  other  influences  have  secured  the  election 
of  friends  and  the  defeat  of  supposed  opponents.  Having  thus 
deliberately  resolved  and  acted  by  the  consent  and  co-operation  of  the 
party  press  leaders,  they  have  forced  the  liquor  question  into  National 
and  State  politics,  making  their  traffic  an  issue  in  State  and  municipal 
elections,  and  in  their  interest  largely  secured  the  administration  of 
government  law.     Therefore 

Resolved,  That  the  interests  of  the  public  peace  and  welfare,  the 
defence  of  personal  liberty,  the  safety  and  protection  of  home,  with 
faithfulness  to  avowed  convictions,  demand  from  the  friends  of 
temperance,  good  government,  and  free  institutions  the  acceptance  of 
this  field  of  contest  and  their  gage  of  battle,  and  this  convention 
declares  it  to  be  the  duty  of  every  temperance  voter  to  cast  his  ballot 
at  every  election  only  for  such  candidates  for  public  office  as  may  be 
relied  upon  on  this  liquor  question  to  use  official  power  and  place  for 
securing  the  enactment  and  due  execution  of  law  for  the  prohibition 
of  the  manufacture,  sale,  or  importation  of  alcoholic  liquors  for  drink- 
ing uses.  That  an  organized  ballot,  whether  under  the  name  of 
Prohibition  Party,  or  for  securing  and  maintaining  amendment  of  the 
National  and  State  Constitutions,  or  general  or  local  prohibition,  or 
the  restraint  of  the  liquor  trade  in  view  of  the  platform  declarations 
of  present  parties,  against  the  prohibition  of  such  trade,  and  of  the 
machinations  and  organizations  of  the  brewing,  distilling,  and  liquor- 
selling  interests  for  political  ends,  has  become  a  present  and  impera- 
tive necessity  in  order  to  purify  our  politics  and  legislation,  and  save 
our  free  institutions  from  the  blight  of  the  God-defying  and  virtue- 
despising  liquor  business.  That  adhesion  to  party  allied  with  liquor 
manufacturers  and  sellers  is  to  give  aid  and  comfort  to  the  enemy, 
and  is  treason  to  temperance.  Prayer  and  the  ballot  should  be  as 
inseparable  as  faith  and  works. 

Resolved,  That  we  recommend  the  immediate  organization  in  every 
election  district  of  all  voters  favorable  to  the  prohibition  of  the  liquor 
traffic,  and  pledged  to  support  only  sueh  candidates  as  will  accept  and 
promote  the  constitutional  and  statutory  prohioition  of  the  liquor 
traffic. 

Resolved,  That  the  hearty  participation  of  woman  in  the  organiza- 
tion and  work  for  temperance  is  received  and  acknowledged  thank- 


INCIDENTS   OF   THE   CONVENTION.  445 

fully,  as  a  boon  from  a  beneficent  God,  and  we  claim  and  shall 
persistently  demand  for  her  legal  power  to  aid  and  defend  her  home 
and  children  from  the  curse  of  rum  as  fully  as  she  now  holds  her 
equal,  created  social  and  religious  privileges  and  duties  with  man,  and 
equal  duties  and  responsibilities  demand  equal  power  and  liberty. 

George  Vibbert  of  Massachusetts,  gifted  and  nobly 
loyal  defender  of  the  prohibition  party  (which  was  founded 
by  Judge  Black),  insisted  that  its  name  should  be 
inserted,  but  the  grand  old  judge,  in  an  admirable  speech, 
said  :  "  The  principle  is  in  the  resolution  which  I  drafted, 
I  don't  care  for  the  name.  I  am  called  James  Black,  but 
if  you  changed  it  to  John  Smith  I  should  be  the  same 
man.  The  idea  is  what  I'm  after."  And  to  his  "  idea" 
tile  convention  certainly  acceded.  As  for  the  "Home 
Guards,"  they  are  "third  party"  almost  to  a  woman.  As 
one  said  to  me,  "  I  wouldn't  give  a  penny  for  the  differ- 
ence between  Republican  beer  and  Democratic  whisky," 
and  another,  "I'll  have  nothing  to  do  with  either  party, 
for  bofb  are  held  together  by  barrel  hoops,"  and  a  third 
party  whispered,  as  the  fiery  Vibbert  made  his  telling 
points,  "  I  know  just  what  his  line  of  argument  will  be, 
I've  had  it  in  the  top  of  my  head,  and  the  bottom  of  my 
heart,  lo,  these  many  days." 

Our  dauntless  Mrs.  T.  B.  Carse,  founder  of  The 
Signal  and  President  of  the  Chicago  W.  C.  T.  II.,  related 
the  experience  of  the  recent  Chicago  campaign,  and 
declared  to  the  committee  on  resolutions  that  if  they  had 
survived  such  an  experience  they  would  never  again 
question  the  imperative  need  of  the  "organized  temper- 
ance ballot"  with  a  vertebrate  candidate  behind  it.  Rev. 
Dr.  D.  C.  Babcock,  one  of  the  best  minds  in  the  conven- 
tion, read  an  excellent  essay,  in  which  he  advises  the 
effort  first  to  secure  satisfactory  nominations  from  some 
existing  party,  and  when  they  fail  to  furnish  thorn,  then 
the  coming  out  independently  This  position  was  taken 
by  Mrs.   Foster  and  other   able   advocates,   and   finally 


446  INCIDENTS    OF   THE    CONVENTION. 

represented  the  majority,  though  there  was  a  tremendous 
ground  swell  for  a  party,  be  it'  first,  second,  or  third, 
wherein  dwelleth  the  righteousness  of  a  steady,  uncon- 
promising  front  to  the  foe,  and  I  confess  my  convictions 
lead  me  there,  with  the  "  old  guard,"  the  anti-slavery 
party  of  the  new  war,  the  independents  who  are  deter- 
mined to  know  nothing  among  you  but  the  extermination 
of  the  rum  power,  and  to  crystallize  around  this  change- 
less purpose  a  new  departure  in  politics.  To  this  com- 
plexion it  must  come  at  last — and  ivhy  not  now?  No 
speaker  made  a  more  delightful  impression  than  my 
beloved  "Deborah" — Mrs.  Gov.  Wallace  of  Indiana.  By 
special  invitation  she  "  spoke  her  mind,"  but,  with  her 
rare  good  sense,  she  spoke  it  briefly.  Men,  she  said,  had 
conquered  the  forces  of  nature.  She  thanked  them  for 
the  inventions  which  had  freed  woman's  hands  from 
slavery  to  the  spinning-wheel,  the  loom,  the  needle,  that 
they  might  busy  themselves  with  the  moral  and  spiritual 
problems  of  the  child's  training,  the  home's  development, 
the  State's  purification.  Her  strong,  gentle,  motherly 
words  were  applauded  to  the  echo  by  the  noble,  brotherly 
men  of  that  incomparable  convention,  and  we  women 
could  have  cried  for  joy.  Indeed  I  have  never  in  any 
previous  assembly  seen  a  truly  Christian  republic  so 
admirably  forecast  as  here.  Down  to  the  smallest  and 
up  to  the  highest  particular,  womanhood  was  recognized 
as  a  help  so  meet  for  manhood  that  its  place  was  by  his 
side,  not  at  his  feet,  and  those  gentlemen  were  so 
thoroughly  civilized  that  they  gloried  in  the  facts  for 
which  we  were  so  proudly  grateful.  When  our  noble- 
hearted  president  was  escorted  to  the  chair,  General 
Wagner,  Judge  Black,  and  Dr.  Babcock  laughingly  stood 
back  to  let  the  two  ladies  of  the  committee  of  five  conduct 
the  ceremony,  and  giving  an  arm  to  each,  the  president 
mounted  the  platform  amid  applause.     It  was  so  all  the 


INCIDENTS    OP   THE   CONVENTION.  447 

way  through,  and  on  the  second  day  a  dignified  Presby- 
terian doctor  of  divinity,  from  Philadelphia,  made  an  off- 
hand speech  (received  with  a  storm  of  hand  clapping),  in 
which  he  said  "  He  was  thoroughly  converted.  He  hadn't 
a  word  to  say  and  never  should  have  again  against  a 
woman  doing  anything  in  this  world  that  she  pleased.  If 
any  man  would  deprive  the  women  in  this  convention  of 
the  ballot,  he  wasn't  worthy  to  be  set  with  the  dogs  of 
the  flock.  The  cerebrum  of  woman  would  never  be 
questioned  as  to  its  size  or  quality  again  by  the  gentlemen 
who  were  so  fortunate  as  to  attend  this  nineteenth  century 
convention.  The  question  was  not  whether  women  needed 
the  vote,  it  was  how  in  the  world  this  government  had 
got  along  at  all  without  their  casting  it." 

The  resolution  on  this  question,  drawn  by  Judge  Black, 
after  admirable  discussion  by  that  Bayard  of  our  cause, 
A.  M.  Powell  of  New  York,  Rev.  Mr.  Montgomery,  the 
whole-souled  Irish  minister  of  Connecticut,  George  Vib- 
bert,  and  others  in  favor,  and  by  Mrs.  Wittenmyer 
against  (who  was  called  out,  and  spoke  earnestly  and 
well),  was  carried  with  but  twelve  dissenting  votes,  and 
only  one  of  these  was  from  a  woman.  Hon.  Felix  R. 
Brunot,  of  Pittsburgh,  made  a  droll  explanation  of  his 
negative  vote,  saying  that  while  he  could  make  a  good 
speech  against  woman's  ballot,  he  could  make  a  much 
better  one  in  favor,  and  he  wanted  to  quote  a  Scripture 
often  overlooked  in  citing  authorities  on  the  affirmative 
side,  and  that  was  from  Acts  in  these  words,  "  Let  her 
drive!"  He  said,  however,  that  he  was  opposed  to  the 
resolution  not  on  its  merits,  but  because  he  thought  it 
would  retard  the  prohibition  movement. 

Mrs.  Mary  H.  Hunt  made  a  brief,  clear  speech  on  the 
scientific  aspects  of  total  abstinence,  and  Mrs.  Mary  C. 
Johnson  spoke  in  a  very  happy  vein  of  the  willingness  of 
conservative  women  like  herself,  taught   by  the  severe 


448  INCIDENTS   OF   THE    CONVENTION. 

reverses  of  past  years  along  the  line  of  prohibition,  to  use 
the  ballot  when  we  have  it  in  our  hands,  "  although  we 
do  not  clamor  for  it." 

But  the  charm  of  those  two  days  beguiles  me  into  the 
prolixity  I  have  condemned.  It  would  be  pleasant  to 
write  at  length  of  Rev.  Dr.  Peck's  splendid  speech,  in 
which  he  came  out  for  the  first  time  in  favor  of  "  the 
organized  ballot,"  and  of  John  B.  Gough's  magnificent 
utterances,  among  others  this,  "  While  I  can  speak  against 
this  awful  crime,  I'll  speak ;  when  I  can't  do  that,  I'll 
whisper;  and  when  that  fails  me,  Til  just  make  motions — 
they  say  I'm  good  at  that!" 

I  want  also  to  mention  the  great  satisfaction  felt  in  the 
selection  of  such  a  superb  committee  on  resolutions,  with 
Rev.  A.  G.  Lawson  of  Brooklyn  at  its  head,  one  of  the 
noblest  Romans  of  them  all. 

Brief  speeches  were  made  by  Mrs.  Leavitt  of  Boston, 
Mrs.  Washington  of  New  Jersey,  late  of  Iowa;  Miss 
Esther  Pugh  ;  Miss  Colinan,  our  indomitable  superintend- 
ent of  temperance  literature;  Professor  Poster,  who 
strongly  represented  the  Canada  delegation  headed  by 
Sir  Leonard  Tilley,  and  many  others.  New  England  was 
well  represented  by  Mrs.  L.  B.  Barrett,  Mrs.  Dr.  Gordon, 
Miss  Wendell,  Charles  Hovey,  Eugene  Clapp,  and  others. 
The  South  had  but  few  delegates,  but  the  leader  of  the 
Southern  delegation,  Hon.  Mr.  Daniels,  Local  Option 
champion  of  Maryland,  was  a  host  in  himself.  The  only 
colored  man  was  from  New  Jersey.  His  unique  excuse 
for  going  beyond  time,  "If  I  say  it  all  now,  you  won't 
have  to  hear  me  again,"  brought  down  the  house. 

The  tobacco  question  was  vigorously  handled,  and  no 
resolution  was  more  applauded  than  the  one  denouncing 
the  vile  weed.  The  Hayes  memorial  was  heartily  en- 
dorsed. 

Surely  this  convention  took  its  place  upon  the  picket 


INCIDENTS.  449 

line  of  progress.  Best  of  all,  it  did  so  in  the  name  of 
Christ.  Earnest  and  devout  were  these  men  and  women 
all.  Prayer-meetings  in  the  morning;  noon  hour  observed 
on  Tuesday,  by  dear  Mother  Hill's  request;  the  Bible 
insisted  on  as  "  the  only  permanent  temperance  docu- 
ment " — these  are  the  signs  of  that  power  by  which  God's 
militant  host  shall  surely  conquer,  and  His  Son  shall 
reign  "  whose  right  it  is." 


18 


CHAPTER  XXIII. 

MY   FIRST   HOME   PROTECTION    ADDRESS. 

THE  following  address  is  the  first  I  ever  gave  on  the 
theme  dear  to  my  heart.  It  came  to  me  in  its 
entirety,  as  to  the  name  and  argument,  while  alone  on 
my  knees  one  Sabbath  in  the  capital  of  the  Crusade  State, 
as  I  lifted  my  heart  to  God,  crying,  "  What  wouldst  thou 
have  me  to  do "  ?  This  was  in  May  of  the  centennial 
year.  At  that  time  I  was  corresponding  secretary  of  the 
National  W.  C.  T.  U.,  and  was  making  a  trip  through  the 
State  under  the  direction  of  Mrs.  Dr.  L.  D.  McCabe,  then 
president  of  the  Ohio  W.  C.  T.  U.  I  at  once  wrote  my 
superior  officer,  Mrs.  Wittenmyer,  asking  permission  to 
give  this  address  at  our  projected  centennial  temperance 
meeting  in  the  Academy  of  Music,  Philadelphia.  She 
declined,  and  I  went  to  Chautauqua,  where  by  invitation 
of  my  good  friend,  Dr.  John  H.  Vincent,  I  was  to  speak. 
There  I  met  that  brave  champion  of  Home  Protection, 
Rev.  Dr.  Theodore  L.  Flood,  who  several  years  later  debated 
this  question  in  the  great  auditorium  there,  and  won  not 
only  his  cause  but  the  gratitude  of  women  everywhere. 
Dr.  Flood  urged  me  to  give  my  new  speech  then  and 
there,  none  of  our  W.  C.  T.  U.  having  at  that  time  pub- 
licly taken  a  position  so  decided.  Going  to  Dr.  Vincent 
1  frankly  stated  the  case ;  but,  while  he  pleasantly  said, 
"  Our  platform  is  free  to  those  whom  we  invite,"  1  felt  his 
preference  so  strongly  that  I  refrained  from  speaking  out 
my  deepest  thought.  Going  on  to  Old  Orchard  Beach, 
where  Francis  Murphy  was  the  presiding  genius",  I  asked 
again  if  I  might  bring  on  my  pet  heresy.     "  0,  yes,  speak 

(450) 


BIRTH    OF   HOME   PROTECTION.  451 

right  on  till  you're  understood,"  replied  that  tolerant  soul, 
in  his  rich  brogue,  although  he  did  not  then  agree  with 
the  views  I  felt  constrained  to  declare.  And  so  in  the 
fragrant  air  of  Maine's  dear  "  piney  woods,"  with  the 
great  free  ocean's  salt  spray  to  invigorate  lungs  and  soul, 
I  first  avowed  the  faith  that  was  within  me.  There  is 
something  wonderfully  novel  and  inspiring  in  the  outlook 
of  a  pioneer  along  fresh  lines  of  reform  work.  All 
around,  my  good  friends  looked  so  much  surprised  —  and 
some  of  them  so  sorry  ! 

The  "Woman's  Congress  at  St.  George's  Hall  gave  me 
my  next  Home  Protection  audience,  and  there  I  felt 
at  home.  This  was  no  new  gospel  to  Maria  Mitchell, 
president  of  that  society,  nor  to  Elizabeth  Churchill,  who 
grasped  my  hand  with  a  sister's  warmth  and  cheered  me 
on  to  the  fray.  And  the  fray  came.  In  Newark,  N.  J., 
we  held  our  third  annual  meeting  (or  "  Convention"),  of 
the  National  W.  C.  T.  U.,  and  by  this  time  my  soul  had 
come  to  "  woe  is  me  if  I  declare  not  this  gospel."  Welcome 
or  not,  the  words  must  come.  In  a  great,  crowded  church, 
with  smiles  on  some  faces  and  frowns  on  others,  I  came 
forward.  Our  gifted  Mary  Lathrop  had  told  a  Avar  story 
in  one  of  her  addresses,  about  a  colored  man  who  saw 
a  boat  bearing  down  upon  the  skiff  drawn  up  to  shore  in 
which  he  and  three  white  men  were  concealed.  If  he 
could  only  push  off  instantly  they  would  be  saved,  but  to 
show  himself  was  fatal.  But  he  did  not  hesitate ;  calling 
out,  "  Somebody's  got  to  be  killed,  and  it  might  as  well 
be  me,"' he  launched  the  boat  and  fell  with  a  bullet  in  his 
heart.  In  that  difficult  hour  this  story  came  to  me,  and 
as  I  told  it  some  of  my  good  friends  wept  at  the  thought  of 
ostracism  which,  from  that  day  to  this,  has  been  its  sequel 
—  not  as  a' rule,  but  a  painful  exception.  When  I  had 
finished  the  argument,  a  lady  from  New  York,  gray-haired 
and  dignified,  who  was  presiding,  said  to  the  audience : 


4.r)2  FIRST   ADDRESS. 

"The  National  W.  C.  T.  U.  is  not  responsible  for  the 
utterances  of  this  evening.  We  have  no  mind  to  trail  our 
skirts  in  the  mire  of  politics."  She  doubtless  felt  it  her 
duty  so  to  speak,  and  I  had  no  thought  of  blame,  only- 
regret.  As  we  left  the  church,  one  of  our  chief  women 
said :  "  You  might  have  been  a  leader  in  our  national 
councils,  but  you  have  deliberately  chosen  to  be  only  a 
scout." 

THE    ADDRESS. 

The  rum  power  looms  like  a  Chimborazo  among  the  mountains  of 
difficulty  over  which  our  native  land  must  climb  to  reach  the  future 
of  our  dreams.  The  problem  of  the  rum  power's  overthrow  may  well 
engage  our  thoughts  as  women  and  as  patriots.  To-night  I  ask  you 
to  consider  it  in  the  light  of  a  truth  which  Frederick  Douglass  has 
embodied  in  these  words  :  "  We  can  in  the  long  run  trust  all  the 
knowledge  in  the  community  to  take  care  of  all  the  ignorance  of  the 
community,  and  all  of  its  virtue  to  take  care  of  all  of  its  vice."  The 
difficulty  in  the  application  of  this  principle  lies  in  the  fact  that  vice 
is  always  in  the  active,  virtue  often  in  the  passive.  Vice  is  aggres- 
sive. It  deals  swift,  sure  blows,  delights  in  keen-edged  weapons,  and 
prefers  a  hand-to-hand  conflict,  while  virtue  instinctively  fights  its 
unsavory  antagonist  at  arm's  length;  its  great  guns  are  unwieldy  and 
slow  to  swing  into  range. 

Vice  is  the  tiger,  with  keen  eyes,  alert  ears,  and  cat-like  tread,  while 
virtue  is  the  slow-paced,  complacent,  easy-going  elephant,  whose 
greatest  danger  lies  in  its  ponderous  weight  and  consciousness  of 
power.  So  the  great  question  narrows  down  to  one  of  two(?)  methods. 
It  is  not,  when  we  look  carefully  into  the  conditions  of  the  problem, 
How  shall  we  develop  more  virtue  in  the  community  to  offset  the 
tropical  growth  of  vice  by  which  we  find  ourselves  environed  ?  but 
rather,  How  the  tremendous  force  we  have  may  best  be  brought  to 
bear,  how  we  may  unlimber  the  huge  cannon  now  pointing  into 
vacancy,  and  direct  their  full  charge  at  short  range  upon  our  nimble, 
wily,  vigilant  foe  ? 

As  bearing  upon  a  consideration  of  that  question,  I  lay  down  this 
proposition :  All  pure  and  Christian  sentiment  concerning  any  line  of 
qonduct  which  vitally  affects  humanity  will,  sooner  or  later,  crystallize 
into  law.  But  the  keystone  of  law  can  only  be  firm  and  .secure  when 
it  is  held  in  place  by  the  arch  of  that  keystone,  which  is  public  senti- 
ment. 

I  make  another  statement  not  so  often  reiterated,  but  just  as  true, 
viz. :  The  more  thoroughly  you  can  enlist  in  favor  of  your  law  the 


THE    ADDRESS.  453 

natural  instincts  of  those  who  have  the  power  to  make  that  law,  and 
to  select  the  officers  who  shall  enforce  it,  the  more  securely  stands  the 
law.  And  still  another:  First  among  the  powerful  and  controlling 
instincts  in  our  nature  stands  that  of  self-preservation,  and  next  after 
this,  if  it  does  not  claim  superior  rank,  comes  that  of  a  mother's  love. 
You  can  count  upon  that  every  time;  it  is  sure  and  resistless  as  the 
tides  of  the  sea,  for  it  is  founded  in  the  changeless  nature  given  to  her 
from  God. 

Now  that  the  stronghold  of  the  rum  power  lies  in  the  fact  that  it 
has  upon  its  side  two  deeply  rooted  appetites,  namely:  in  the  dealer, 
the  appetite  for  gain,  and  in  the  drinker,  the  appetite  for  stimulants. 
We  have  dolorously  said  in  times  gone  by  that  on  the  human  plane 
we  have  nothing  adequate  to  match  against  this  frightful  pair.  But 
let  us  think  more  carefully,  and*we  shall  find  that,  as  in  nature,  God 
has  given  us  an  antidote  to  every  poison,  and  in  grace  a  compensation 
for  every  loss;  so  in  human  society  he  has  prepared  against  alcohol, 
that  worst  foe  of  the  social  state,  an  enemy  under  whose  weapons  it  is 
to  bite  the  dust. 

Think  of  it!  There  is  a  class  in  every  one  of  our  communities — in 
many  of  them  far  the  most  numerous  class — which  (I  speak  not  vaunt- 
ingly ;  I  but  name  it  as  a  fact)  has  not  in  all  the  centuries  of  wine,  beer, 
and  brandy-drinking  developed,  as  a  class,  an  appetite  for  alcohol,  but 
whose  instincts,  on  the  contrary,  set  so  strongly  against  intoxicants 
that  if  the  liquor  traffic  were  dependent  on  their  patronage  alone,  it 
would  collapse  this  night  as  though  all  the  nitro-glycerine  of  Hell  Gate 
reef  had  exploded  under  it. 

There  is  a  class  whose  instinct  of  self-preservation  must  forever  be 
opposed  to  a  stimulant  which  nerves,  with  dangerous  strength,  arms 
already  so  much  stronger  than  their  own,  and  so  maddens  the  brain 
God  meant  to  guide  those  arms,  that  they  strike  down  the  wives  men 
love,  and  the  little  children  for  whom,  when  sober,  they  would  die. 
The  wife,  largely  dependent  for  the  support  of  herself  and  little  ones 
upon  the  brain  which  strong  drink  paralyzes,  the  arm  it  masters,  and 
the  skill  it  renders  futile,  will,  in  the  nature  of  the  case,  prove  herself 
unfriendly  to  the  actual  or  potential  source  of  so  much  misery.  But 
besides  this  primal  instinct  of  self-preservation,  we  have,  in  the  same 
class  of  which  I  speak,  another  far  more  high  and  sacred — I  mean  the 
instinct  of  a  mother's  love,  a  wife's  devotion,  a  sister's  faithfulness,  a 
daughter's  loyalty.  And  now  I  ask  you  to  consider  earnestly  the  fact 
that  none  of  these  blessed  rays  of  light  and  power  from  woman's 
heart,  are  as  yet  brought  to  bear  upon  the  rum  shop  at  the  focus  of 
power.  They  are,  I  know,  the  sweet  and  pleasant  sunshine  of  our 
homi  >;  they  are  the  beams  which  light  the  larger  home  of  social  life 
and  send  their  gentle  radiance  out  even  into  the  great  and  busy  world. 


454  THE   ADDRESS. 

But  I  know,  and  as  the  knowledge  lias  grown  clearer,  my  heart  was 
thrilled  with  gratitude  and  hope  too  deep  for  words,  that  in  a  repuhlic 
all  these  now  divergent  beams  of  light  can,  through  that  magic  lens, 
that  powerf  id  sun-glass  which  we  name  the  ballot,  be  made  to  converge 
upon  the  rum-shop  in  a  blaze  of  light  that  shall  reveal  its  full  abomina- 
tions, and  a  white  flame  of  heat  which,  like  a  pitiless  moxa,  shall  burn 
this  cancerous  excrescence  from  America's  fair  form.  Yes,  for  there 
is  nothing  in  the  universe  so  sure,  so  strong,  as  love ;  and  love  shall  do 
all  this — the  love  of  maid  for  sweetheart,  wife  for  husband,  of  a  sister 
for  her  brother,  of  a  mother  for  her  son.  And  I  call  upon  you  who 
are  here  to-day,  good  men  and  brave — you  who  have  welcomed  us  to 
other  fields  in  the  great  fight  of  the  angel  against  the  dragon  in  society 
— I  call  upon  you  thus  to  match  force  with  force,  to  set  over  against 
the  liquor-dealer's  avarice  our  instinct  of  self-preservation;  and  to 
match  the  drinker's  love  of  liquor  with  our  love  of  him !  When  you 
can  centre  all  this  power  in  that  small  bit  of  paper  which  falls 

"  As  silently  as  snow-flakes  fall  upon  the  sod, 
But  executes  a  freeman's  will  as  lightnings  do  the  will  of  God," 

the  rum  power  will  be  as  much  doomed  as  was  the  slave  power  when 
you  gave  the  ballot  to  the  slaves. 

In  our  argument  it  has  been  claimed  that  by  the  changeless  instincts 
of  her  nature  and  through  the  most  sacred  relationships  of  which  that 
nature  has  been  rendered  capable,  God  has  indicated  woman,  who  is 
the  born  conservator  of  home,  to  be  the  Nemesis  of  home's  arch 
enemy,  King  Alcohol.  And  further,  that  in  a  republic,  this  power 
of  hers  may  be  most  effectively  exercised  by  giving  her  a  voice  in  the 
decision  by  which  the  rum-shop  door  shall  be  opened  or  closed  beside 
her  home. 

This  position  is  strongly  supported  by  evidence.  About  the  year 
1850  petitions  were  extensively  circulated  in  Cincinnati  (later  the 
fiercest  battle  ground  of  the  woman's  crusade),  asking  that  the  liquor 
traffic  be  put  under  the  ban  of  law.  Bishop  Simpson — one  of  the 
noblest  and  most  discerning  minds  of  his  century — was  deeply  inter- 
ested in  this  movement.  It  was  decided  to  ask  for  the  names  of 
women  as  well  as  those  of  men,  and  it  was  found  that  the  former 
signed  the  petition  more  readily  and  in  much  larger  numbers  than  the 
latter.  Another  fact  was  ascertained  which  rebuts  the  hackneyed 
assertion  that  women  of  the  lower  class  will  not  be  on  the  temperance 
side  in  this  great  war.  For  it  was  found — as  might,  indeed,  have  been 
most  reasonably  predicted — that  the  ignorant,  the  poor  (many  of  them 
wives,  mothers,  and  daughters  of  intemperate  men),  were  among  the 
most  eager  to  sign  the  petition. 


THE    ADDRESS.  455 

MANY  A   HAND   WAS   TAKEN   FROM   THE   WASH-TUB 

to  hold  the  pencil  and  affix  the  signature  of  women  of  this  class,  and 
many  another,  which  could  only  make  the  sign  of  the  cross,  did  that 
with  tears,  and  a  hearty  "God  bless  you."  "  That  was  a  wonderful 
lesson  to  me,"  said  the  good  Bishop,  and  he  has  always  believed  since 
then  that  God  will  give  our  enemy  into  our  hands  by  giving  to  us  an 
ally  still  more  powerful,  woman  with  the  ballot  against  rum-shops  in 
our  land.  It  has  been  said  so  often  that  the  very  frequency  of  reitera- 
tion has  in  some  minds  induced  belief  that  women  of  the  better  class 
will  never  consent  to  declare  themselves  at  the  polls.  But  tens  of 
thousands  from  the  most  tenderly-sheltered  homes  have  gone  day  after 
day  to  the  saloons,  and  have  spent  hour  after  hour  upon  their  sanded 
floors,  and  in  their  reeking  air — places  in  which  not  the  worst  politician 
would  dare  to  locate  the  ballot  box  of  freemen — though  they  but  stay 
a  moment  at  the  window,  slip  in  their  votes,  and  go  their  way. 

Nothing  worse  can  ever  happen  to  women  at  the  polls  than  has  been 
endured  by  the  hour  on  the  part  of  conservative  women  of  the  churches 
in  this  land,  as  they,  in  scores  of  towns,  have  plead  with  rough,  haE- 
drunken  men  to  vote  the  temperance  tickets  they  have  handed  them, 
and  which,  with  vastly  more  of  propriety  and  fitness  they  might  have 
dropped  into  the  box  themselves.  They  could  have  done  this  in  a 
moment,  and  returned  to  their  homes,  instead  of  spending  the  whole 
day  in  the  often  futile  endeavor  to  beg  from  men  like  these  the  votes 
which  should  preserve  their  homes  from  the  whisky  serpent's  breath 
for  one  uncertain  year.  I  spent  last  May  in  Ohio,  traveling  constantly, 
and  seeking  on  every  side  to  learn  the  views  of  the  noble  women  of 
the  Crusade.  They  put  their  opinions  in  words  like  these:  "We 
believe  that  as  God  led  us  into  this  work  by  way  of  the  saloons, 

HE   WILL   LEAD   US  OUT  BY  WAY  OF  THE   BALLOT. 

"We  have  never  prayed  more  earnestly  over  the  one  than  we  will  over 
the  other.     One  was  the  Wilderness,  the  other  is  the  Promised  Land." 

A  Presbyterian  lady,  rigidly  conservative,  said:  "For  my  part,  I 
never  wanted  to  vote  until  our  gentlemen  passed  a  prohibition  ordi- 
nance so  as  to  get  us  to  stop  visiting  saloons,  and  a  month  later 
repealed  it  and  chose  a  saloon-keeper  for  mayor." 

Said  a  grand-daughter  of  Jonathan  Edwards,  a  woman  with  no 
toleration  toward  the  Suffrage  Movement,  a  woman  crowned  with  the 
glory  of  gray  hairs — a  central  figure  in  her  native  town — 

AND  AS  SHE   SPOKE   THE   COURAGE   AND  FAITH  OF   THE  PURITANS 
THRILLED   HER  VOICE — 

"If,  with  the  ballot  in  our  hands,  we  can,  as  I  firmly  believe,  put 
down  this  awful  traffic,  I  am  ready  to  lead  the  women  of  my  town  to 
the  polls,  as  I  have  often  led  them  to  the  rum  shops." 


456  THE   ADDRESS. 

We  must  not  forget  that  for  every  woman  who  joins  the  Temper- 
ance Unions  now  springing  up  all  through  the  land,  there  are  at  least 
a  score  who  sympathize  but  do  not  join.  Home  influence  and  cares 
prevent  them,  ignorance  of  our  aims  and  methods,  lack  of  consecration 
to  Christian  work— a  thousand  reasons,  sufficient  in  their  estimation, 
though  not  in  ours,  hold  them  away  from  us.  And  yet  they  have 
this  Temperance  cause  warmly  at  heart ;  the  logic  of  events  has  shown 
them  that  there  is  but  one  side  on  which  a  woman  may  safely  stand 
in  this  great  battle,  and  on  that  side  they  would  indubitably  range 
themselves  in  the  quick,  decisive  battle  of  election  day,  nor  would 
they  give  their  voice  a  second  time  in  favor  of  the  man  who  had  once 
betrayed  his  pledge  to  enforce  the  most  stringent  law  for  the  protec- 
tion of  their  homes.  There  are  many  noble  women,  too,  who,  though 
they  do  not  think  as  do  the  Temperance  Unions  about  the  deep  things 
of  religion,  and  are  not  as  yet  decided  in  their  total  abstinence  senti- 
ments, nor  ready  for  the  blessed  work  of  prayer,  are  nevertheless 
decided  in  their  views  of  Woman  Suffrage,  and  ready  to  vote  a  Tem- 
perance ticket  side  by  side  with  us.  And  there  are  the  drunkard's 
wife  and  daughters,  who  from  very  shame  will  not  come  with  us,  or 
who  dare  not,  yet  who  could  freely  vote  with  us  upon  this  question; 
for  the  folded  ballot  tells  no  tales. 

Among  other  cumulative  proofs  in  this  argument  from  experience, 
let  us  consider,  briefly,  the  attitude  of  the  Catholic  Church  toward 
the  Temperance  Reform.  It  is  friendly,  at  least.  Father  Matthew's 
spirit  lives  to-day  in  many  a  faithful  parish  priest.  In  our  procession 
on  the  Centennial  Fourth  of  July,  the  banners  of  Catholic  Total 
Abstinence  Societies  were  often  the  only  reminders  that  the  Republic 
has  any  temperance  people  within  its  borders,  as  they  were  the  only 
offset  to  brewers'  wagons  and  distillers'  casks,  while  among  the 
monuments  of  our  cause,  by  which  this  memorable  year  is  signalized, 
their  fountain  in  Fairmount  Park— standing  in  the  midst  of  eighty 
drinking  places  licensed  by  our  Government— is  chief.  Catholic 
women  would  vote  with  Protestant  women  upon  this  issue  for  the 
protection  of  their  homes. 

Again,  among  the  sixty  thousand  churches  of  America,  with  their 
eight  million  members,  two-thirds  are  women.  Thus,  only  one-third 
of  this  trustworthy  and  thoughtful  class  has  any  voice  in  the  laws 
by  which,  between  the  church  and  the  public  school,  the  rum 
shop  nestles  in  this  Christian  land.  Surely  all  this  must  change 
before  the  Government  shall  be  upon  His  shoulders  "Who  shall  one 
day  reign  King  of  nations  as  He  now  reigns  King  of  saints." 

Furthermore,  four-fifths  of  the  teachers  in  this  land  are  women, 
whose  thoughtful  judgment,  expressed  with  the  authority  of  which  I 
speak,  would  greatly  help  forward  the  victory  of  our  cause.     And, 


THE   ADDRESS.  457 

finally,  by  those  who  fear  the  effect  of  the  foreign  element  in  our 
country t  let  it  be  remembered  that  we  have  sixty  native  for  every  one 
woman  who  is  foreign  born,  for  it  is  men  who  emigrate  in  largest 
number  to  our  shores. 

When  all  these  facts  (and  many  more  that  might  be  added)  are  mar- 
shaled into  line,  how  illogical  it  seems  for  good  men  to  harangue  us 
as  they  do  about  our  "duty  to  educate  public  sentiment  to  the  level 
of  better  law,"  and  their  exhortations  to  American  mothers  to  "train 
their  sons  to  vote  aright."  As  said  Mrs.  Governor  Wallace,  of 
Indiana — until  the  Crusade  an  opponent  of  the  franchise  —  "  What  a 
bitter  sarcasm  you  utter,  gentlemen,  to  us  who  have  the  public  senti- 
ment of  which  you  speak,  all  burning  in  our  hearts,  and  yet  are  not 
permitted  to  turn  it  to  account." 

Let  us,  then,  each  one  of  us,  offer  our  earnest  prayer  to  God,  and 
speak  our  honest  word  to  man  in  favor  of  this  added  weapon  in 
woman's  hands,  remembering  that  every  petition  in  the  ear  of  God, 
and  every  utterance  in  the  ears  of  men,  swells  the  dimensions  of  that 
resistless  tide  of  influence  which  shall  yet  float  within  our  reach  all 
that  we  ask  or  need.  Dear  Christian  women  who  have  crusaded  in 
the  rum  shops,  I  urge  that  you  begin  crusading  in  halls  of  legislation, 
in  primary  meetings,  and  the  offices  of  excise  commissioners.  Roll  in 
your  petitions,  burnish  your  arguments,  multiply  your  prayers.  Go 
to  the  voters  in  your  town — procure  the  official  list  and  see  them  one 
by  one — and  get  them  pledged  to  a  local  ordinance  requiring  the  votes 
of  men  and  women  before  a  license  can  be  issued  to  open  rum -shop 
doors  beside  your  homes;  go  to  the  Legislature  with  the  same;  remem- 
ber this  may  be  just  as  really  Christian  work  as  praying  in  saloons  was 
in  those  other  glorious  days.  Let  us  not  limit  God,  whose  modes  of 
operation  are  so  infinitely  varied  in  nature  and  in  grace.  I  believe  in 
the  correlation  of  spiritual  forces,  and  that  the  heat  which  melted 
li  .ills  to  tenderness  in  the  Crusade  is  soon  to  be  the  light  which  shall 
reveal  our  opportunity  and  duty  as  the  Republic's  daughters. 

Longer  ago  than  I  shall  tell,  my  father  returned  one  night  to  the 
far-off  Wisconsin  home  where  I  was  reared;  and,  sitting  by  my 
mother's  chair,  with  a  child's  attentive  ear,  I  listened  to  their  words. 
He  told  us  of  the  news  that  day  had  brought  about  Neal  Dow  and  the 
great  fight  for  prohibition  down  in  Maine,  and  then  he  said:  "I  won- 
der if  poor,  rum-cursed  Wisconsin  will  ever  get  a  law  like  that?" 
And  mother  rocked  a  while  in  silence  in  the  dear  old  chair  I  love,  and 
then  she  gently  said: 

"YES,    JOSIAH,    THERE'LL   BE   SUCH   A   LAW  ALT,   OVER   THE   LAND 
SOME   DAY,    WHEN   WOMEN   VOTE." 

My  father  had  never  heard  her  say  so  much  before.  Tie  was  a  great 
conservative;  so  he  looked  tremendously  astonished,  and  replied,  in 


I   >s  T1IK    ADD11KSS. 

his  keen,  sarcastic  voice:  "  And  pray  how  w  ill  you  arrange  it  bo  that 
women  shall  vote? "  Mother's  chair  went  to  and  fro  a  little  faster  for 
a  minute,  and  then,  looking  not  into  his  face,  but  into  the  flickering 
flames  of  the  grate,  she  slowly  answered:  "  Well,  I  say  *o  you,  as  the 
apostle  Paul  said  to  his  jailor,  '  You  have  put  US  into  prison,  we  being 
Romans,  and  you  must  come  and  take  us  out." 

That  was  a  seed  thought  in  a  girl's  brain  and  heart  Years  passed 
On,  In  which  nothing  more  was  said  upon  this  dangerous  theme.  My 
brother  grew  to  manhood,  and  soon  after  he  was  twenty-one  years 
old  he  went  with  his  father  to  vote.  Standing  by  the  window,  i  girl 
of  sixteen  years,  a  girl  of  simple,  homely  fancies,  not  at  all  strong- 
minded,  and  altogether  ignorant  of  the  world,  I  looked  out  as  they 
drove  away,  my  father  and  my  brother,  ami  as  I  looked  I  felt  a 
strange  ache  in  my  heart,  and  tears  sprang  to  my  eyes.  Turning  to 
my  sister  Mary,  who  stood  beside  me,  I  saw  that  the  dear  little  inno- 
cent seemed  wonderfully  sober,  too.  1  said:  "Don't  you  wish  we 
could  go  with  them  when  we  are  old  enough?  Don't  we  love  our 
country  just  as  well  as  they  do?  "  and  her  little  frightened  voice  piped 
out :  "  Yes,  of  course  we  ought.  Don't  I  know  that?  but  you  mustn't 
tell  a  soul— not  mother,  even;  we  should  be  called  strong  minded." 

In  all  the  years  since  then  I  have  kept  diese  things,  and  many  others 
like  them,  and  pondered  them  in  my  heart;  but  two  years  of  struggle 
hi  this  temperance  reform  have  shown  me,  as  they  have  ten  thousand 
other  women,  so  clearly  and  so  impressively,  my  duty,  that 

l    11  V\  E    P  \SSED  THE   KUBICON   OF   SILENCE, 

and  am  ready  for  any  battle  that  shall  be  involved  in  this  honest 
declaration  of  the  faith  that  is  within  me.  "Fight  behind  masked 
batteries  a  little  longer,"  whisper  good  friends  and  true.  So  1  have 
been  fighting  hitherto:  but  it  is  a  style  of  warfare  altogether  foreign 
to  my  temperament  and  mode  of  life.  Beared  on  the  prairies,  I 
seemed  pre  determined  to  join  the  cavalry  forces  in  this  great  spiritual 
war,  and  I  must  tilt  a  free  lance  henceforth  on  the  splendid  battle- 
field of  this  reform;  where  the  earth  shall  soon  be  shaken  by  the  onset 
of  contending  hosts;  where  legions  of  valiant  soldiers  are  deploying; 
where  to  the  grand  encounter  marches  to-day  a  great  army,  gentle  of 
mein  and  mild  of  utterance,  but  with  hearts  for  any  fate;  where  there 
are  trumpets  and  bugles  calling  strong  souls  onward  to  a  victory 
which  Heaven  might  envy,  and 

"Where,  behind  the  dim  Unknown, 
Standeth  God  within  the  shadow, 
Keeping  watch  above  His  own." 

T  thought  that  women  ought  to  have  the  ballot  as  I  paid  the  hard- 
earned  taxes  upon  my  mother's  cottage  home — but  1  never  said  as 


THF    ADDRESS.  459 

much— somehow  the  motive  did  not  command  my  heart.  For  my 
own  sake,  I  had  not  courage,  but  I  have  for  thy  sake,  dear  native 
land,  for  thy  necessity  is  as  much  greater  than  mine  as  thy  transcend- 
ant  hope  is  greater  than  the  personal  interest  of  thy  humble  child. 
For  love  of  you,  heart-broken  wives,  whose  tremulous  lips  have 
blessed  me:  for  love  of  you,  sweet  mothers,  who,  in  the  cradle's 
shadow,  kneel  this  night  beside  your  infant  sons,  and  you,  sorrowful 
little  children,  who  listen  at  this  hour,  with  faces  strangely  old,  for 
him  whose  footsteps  frighten  you;  for  love  of  you  have  I  thus 
spoken. 

Ah.  it  is  women  who  have  given  the  costliest  hostages  to  fortune. 
Out  into  the  battle  of  life  they  have  sent  their  best  beloved,  with 
fearful  odds  against  them,  with  snares  that  men  have  legalized  and 
set  for  them  on  every  hand.  Beyond  the  arms  that  held  them  long, 
their  boys  have  gone  forever.  Oh!  by  the  danger  they  have  dared; 
by  the  hours  of  patient  watching  over  beds  where  helpless  children 
lay :  by  the  incense  of  ten  thousand  prayers  wafted  from  their  gentle 
lips  to  Heaven,  I  charge  you  give  them  power  to  protect,  along  life's 
treacherous  highway,  those  whom  they  have  so  loved.  Let  it  no 
longer  be  that  they  must  sit  back  among  the  shadows,  hopelessly 
mourning  over  their  strong  staff  broken,  and  their  beautiful  rod;  but 
when  the  sons  they  love  shall  go  forth  to  life's  battle,  still  let  their 
mother-  walk  beside  them,  sweet  and  serious,  and  clad  in  the  gar- 
ments of  power. 


CHAPTER  XXIY. 

WOMEN'S  BRIGHT  WORDS. 

Priscilla  Shrewdly  and  Charlotte  Cheery ble  —  One  woman's  experi- 
ence— Our  letter  bag — From  a  Pennsylvania  girl — From  an  Rlinois 
working  man — From  a  Michigan  lady — From  a  Missouri  lady — 
From  Rockford,  Ills. — From  a  reformed  man  in  Philadelphia — 
From  a  New  York  lady — The  temperance  house  that  Jack  built — 
One  day  in  a  temperance  woman's  life — From  a  New  England  girl's 
letter — Concerning  the  word  "Christian" — From  Senator  and  Mrs. 
Blair. 

MRS.  A. :  "  Nobody  need  grumble  to  me  about  "  third 
party  "  as  though  it  was  something  dreadful.  I'd 
like  to  know  if  Illinois  isn't  governed  by  one  to-day.  A 
"  third  party  "  that  is  throttling  the  best  life  of  our  com- 
munities, and  its  name  is  "  whiskyite." 

Strange  that  a  truth  so  simple  should  be  so  hard  to 

discover  by  the  average  mind  !     Second,  Mrs.  B ,  a 

gray-haired  leader,  with  a  most  quizzical  smile,  was 
speaking  of  the  hubbub  caused  at  Springfield  by  the  "  local 
election,"  because  the  tempcrancers  wanted  to  put  a  living- 
issue  ticket  before  the  people.  She  said :  "  You  ought  to  have 
seen  our  voters.  They  reminded  me  of  nothing  so  much 
as  our  old  hens  when  the  sun  was  eclipsed.  For  both  hens 
and  voters  were  '  struck  of  a  heap.'  They  didn't  know 
whether  to  go  to  roost  as  they  did  at  night,  or  to  get 
under  the  shed  as  they  did  when  it  rained.  But  they 
seemed  to  feel  that  something  had  to  be  done  right 
straight  away,  so  they  took  to  whirling  round  and  round 
like  a  parcel  of  crazy  Janes,  and  nobody  could  guess  where 
they  would  fetch  up  at  last.  A  terror  of  great  darkness 
was  upon  'em,  and  more  than  that  we  shall  never  cer- 

(460) 


TESTIMONY.  16] 

tainly  know  till  the  secrete  of  the  artful  dodger's  heart 
BhaU  !"•  revealed."  .Mrs.  0.  i<»  the  I  on  |  common  council 
of  (in)  harmonious  workers  at  Bloomington:  "Gentle- 
men, it  is  of  no  use  to  expecl  me  to  give  up  my  news  on 
the  Bubjecl  of  the  woman's  ballot  as  the  mad  to  prohibi- 
tion—  for,  like  Josiah  Allen's  wife, ' I'm  up  on  ni\  cast- 
iron  principles,  ami  nothing  on  this  earth  can  thai 
me."  All  of  which  items  were  refreshing  to  "a  chiel 
amang  ye  takin1  notes,"  ami  now  she  prints  'cm. 

TESTIMONY    FROM   Tin:   0THEB   SIDE;  (GIVEN    BY   A  w.  c.  r.  r. 

WOMAN.  ) 

A    year   ago   last    winter,    when    (he   W.   ('.   T.    I'.  was 

laboring  at  Springfield  for  the  passage  of  the  Binds  bill, 

a  gentleman  was  journeying  in  the  central  part  of  the 
State,  ami  in  crossing  the  river  on  the  ire.  Btopped  on  an 
island  in  the  only  habitation  there,  to  tret  warm.  The 
house  proved  to  he  a  saloon.  Presently  a  man  came  in 
for  his  grog.  As  he  raised  the  glass  he  said :  ••  l  wish  to 
God  there  was  none  of  this  stuff  ever  made."  "0,  don't 
wish  dat,"  said  the  Dutchman  at  the  bar,  "  Dat  time  come 
Boon  enough."  -No."  returned  the  drinker,  "  It'll  never 
come — this  miserable  whisky'll  always  be  manufactured." 
••You  t i nk  so?  Nein,  I  tell  yon  uein.  Wat  dem  vim- 
mens  doing  at  Springfield?  Dem  vimmens  down  dere 
now.  Den  dey'll  vote.  Den  veie'll  de  beer  and  whisky 
be?"     Echo  answers,  ••  Where?" 

PRISCILLA     SHBEWDLY    AND    CHABL0TTE    CHEEBYBLE;     OR, 
BEHIND   TIIK   SCENES. 

Two  of  our  beloved  ''temperance  women"  were  sitting 
up  k,to  talk  the  meeting  over."  For  Plumptou  had 
enjoyed  the  sensation  of  a  mass  meeting  in  the  interest  of 
the  reform  dear  to  their  hearts.     Moreover,  to-morrow 

was  the  day  set   for  the  annual  election  of  officers  in  the 


402  BEHIND    THE    SCENES. 

W.  C.  T.  U.,  whose  varied  fortunes  they  had  watched 
since  the  crusade  that  swept  them  into  the  temperance 
work.  With  such  an  achievement  just  behind,  and  such 
a  crisis  just  before  them,  it  wasn't  to  be  supposed  that 
they  could  quietly  lie  down  to  dreams. 

Mrs.  Cheeryble  was  the  hostess,  and  welcomed  Miss 
Shrewdly  to  the  easiest  chair  in  her  snug  sitting-room, 
brought  her  a  dish  of  hot  oyster  soup  and  the  fleece-lined 
slippers  in  which  her  guest  delighted.  Then,  having 
ensconced  her  own  plump  figure  in  the  low  rocking-chair 
on  the  other  side  of  the  fireplace,  she  uttered  a  single 
syllable,  but  one  whose  inimitable  inflection  "  spoke  vol- 
umes "  of  cuteness  and  curiosity.     "  Well  ? " 

Miss  Shrewdly  was  not  the  woman  to  hesitate  about 
taking  the  initiative.  Her  opinions  were  to  be  had  "  on 
call "  by  any  who  wanted  them ;  nay,  they  were  often 
forthcoming  without  even  that  small  provocation. 

"  Well,  did  you  say  ? "  was  her  sprightly  rejoinder. 
"  It  may  do  for  you,  perhaps,  to  use  that  word  in  connec- 
tion with  such  proceedings  as  were  had  in  Smith's  hall  to- 
night, but  then  you're  the  easiest  soul  that  ever  sat  still 
and  saw  other  people  inaugurate  and  carry  to  a  triumph- 
ant conclusion  the  failure  they  are  foreordained  to  make 
but  never  to  suspect." 

"  Why,  I  thought  our  president  did  better  than  usual ; 
she  hasn't  studied  '  Roberts's  Rules  of  Order '  in  vain," 
was  the  kindly  reply.  "  I  really  enjoy  seeing  such  women 
come  to  the  front." 

"  I  should  think  you  did,"  replied  her  guest,  "  and  I 
agree  with  your  husband,  who  I  wish  were  here  to  stand 
by  me  in  the  argument,  that  the  mistake  of  your  life, 
Charlotte  Cheeryble,  is  that  you  take  such  a  rose-colored 
view  of  people  and  their  possibilities ;  you  seem  to  see  in 
them  what  nobody  else  does,  and  what  certainly  never 
comes  to  the  surface.     Then  you  lack  backbone ;  you're 


BEHIND    THE    SCENES.  463 

as  roly-poly  in  your  policy  as  in  your  figure,  and,  if  you'll 
pardon  the  allusion — here  we  are,  thirty  good  and  true 
women  of  the  W.  C.  T.  U. ;  we  all  like  you  and  can  work 
harmoniously  with  you  as  our  leader;  when  you  say  that 
you'll  leave  the  Union  by  the  door,  the  minute  sectarian- 
ism enters  by  the  window,  somebody  moves  we  table  the 
resolution  excluding  Universalists ;  when  you  tell  us  it's 
a  shame  for  us  to  withhold  our  dues  from  the  National 
Union,  even  Misses  Prune  and  Prism  open  their  lips  in 
smiles  and  their  pockctbooks  in  greenbacks  — " 

"BEWARE,  OH,  PURITAN  MAIDEN,  PRISCILLA," 

interrupted  the  hostess  with  a  smile  like  a  small  sunrise, 
"  your  logic  is  sadly  at  fault.  The  indictment  accuses  me 
of  being  an  invertebrate,  of  the  species  known  in  science 
as  roly-poly.  The  evidence  acquits  me  by  recounting 
deeds  of  prowess  worthy  of  the  Iron  Duke." 

"  Not  a  bit  of  it,  queen  of  the  sophists,"  retorted  Pris- 
cilla  Shrewdly,  putting  aside  the  soup  plate  she  had  emp- 
tied, and  addressing  herself  actively  to  the  case  in  hand, 
"  birds  that  can  sing  and  won't  sing  are  the  naughtiest  of 
all,  and  women  who  can  cause  things  to  come  to  pass,  who  are 
bom  leaders  and  yet  won't  lead,  but  will  allow  themselves 
to  be  set  aside,  as  you  do,  and  bring  disgrace  upon  us  by 
allowing  an  empty-headed,  pushing  woman  like"  — 

"  No  harshness,  my  high-toned  friend,"  quickly  inter- 
rupted her  hostess.  "  Remember  the  second  word  in  the 
name  we  bear  —  Woman's  Christian  Temperance  Union." 

"  You're  right — you're  always  right,"  and  Priscilla 
came  over  to  her  friend's  side  of  the  hearth  and  grasped 
her  hand.  "  Nevertheless,"  and  Miss  Shrewdly  stood 
before  Mrs.  Cheeryble  gesticulating  with  less  of  grace 
than  vigor,  "  nevertheless,  I  will  say  that  in  such  a  meet- 
ing as  we  had  to-night,  with  a  great  crowd,  grand  gospel 
singing,  and  rousing  speeches   by  reformed  men,  Mrs. 


464  BEHIND    THE    SCENES. 

Blank's  manner  of  presiding  was  a  regular  wet  blanket — 
there ! "  and  the  flush  on  her  cheeks  was  hardly  less 
brilliant  than  the  light  in  her  eyes.  "  Nay,  more,"  and 
now  her  friend  saw  that  it  was  useless  to  protest,  for 
Priscilla  had  reached  the  point  known  in  such  phenomena 
as  "  dangerous,"  "  I  hold  that  it  ought  not  to  be  possible 
for  such  an  exhibition  to  be  made  before  the  eyes  of  all 
Plumpton.  We  women  are,  in  a  sense,  on  trial.  While 
the  public  is  willing  to  let  us  make  the  attempt,  it  is  keen- 
eyed  to  note  the  failure.  Ours  will  be  a  lost  cause  in 
Plumpton  if  this  sort  of  thing  continues.  I  can  see  her 
now,  standing  before  that  magnificent  audience,  and  (don't 
interrupt  me ;  I  won't  speak  as  harshly  as  I  feel  and  the 
facts  warrant)  mumbling  the  Crusade  Psalm.  0,  what  a 
psalm  it  is,  and  how  you  would  have  read  it!  So  she 
dulled  the  keen  edge  of  their  interest,  and  even  the 
reformed  men  couldn't  sharpen  it  with  all  their  force  and 
fire.  Then,  nobody  could  hear  hardly  anything  she  said, 
save  when  she  said  she  '  wan't  a-goin'  to  close  without 
takin'  a  collection  for  these  poor  fellows ' ;  whereat  the 
audience  filed  out,  and  the  "  fellows  "  took  on  an  apoplec- 
tic hue.  No,  Charlotte,"  —  and  now 'the  speaker  renewed 
the  attack  by  a  full-arm  gesture  right  in  the  face  of  her 
mild-mannered  opponent  —  "I  believe  in  the  survival  of 
the  fittest,  and  if  you  don't  see  fit  to  take  the  presidency 
at  to-morrow's  election,  I  think  I  shall  have  some  sort  of 
fit  myself.  One  thing  is  sure,  I  won't  be  reelected  treas- 
urer if  you  don't  take  the  presidency  ! " 

"Has  the  lady  done?  Has  she  completely  done?" 
inquired  the  gentle  matron,  taking  Priscilla's  hand  and 
leading  her  back  to  the  easy  chair  whence  she  had  been 
borne  upon  the  whirlwind  of  her  emotions.  "  That  oyster 
soup  must  surely  have  been  medicated.  Another  time  I 
shall  give  you  milk  to  restore  you  after  the  reading  of 
your  report.     Why,  Silly,  for  you  merit  the  nickname, 


BEHIND    THE    SCENES.  465 

though  you've  caught  me  with  guile,  your  speech  is  a 
regular  electioneering  tirade,  a  campaign  document  com- 
mitted to  memory.  Where's  your  '  slate  ? '  Have  you 
the  ticket  all  ready,  and  nothing  for  the  Union  to  do  but 
just  say  'aye,'  a  sort  of  human  equivalent  to  the  '  bah '  of 
so  many  sheep  ?  No,  mademoiselle.  You  reminded  me 
that  the  people  are  on  the  lookout  to  see  how  we  women 
steer  our  boats  in  the  rapids  of  public  life..  I  will  remind 
you,  in  turn,  that  if  an  inefficient  presiding  officer  is  a 
snag  in  the  stream,  an  office-seeking  membership  is  a 
bottomless  whirlpool.  Have  we  then  read  the  history  of 
men's  failures  in  vain?  Can  we  think  of  nothing  better 
than  to  bring  a  rapier  rather  than  a  bludgeon  with  which 
to  do  the  same  deed  ?  It  is  your  dream  that  by  the 
suffrages  of  women  the  end  shall  come  to  our  long  and 
dreary  contest.  Sometimes  I  share  the  hope.  But  I 
should  pray  that  the  time  might  never  come,  if  I  thought 
that  on  the  larger  stage  of  national  politics  women  would 
be  guilty  of  the  meanness  we  sometimes  see  displayed  in 
our  smallest  temperance  meetings.  Be  assured  I  will 
never  countenance  anybody,  even  you,  in  coming  to  me 
with  harsh  words  of  another,  or  getting  me  to  aid  and 
abet  your  '  pipe-laying,'  as  the  politicians  call  it,  for  my- 
self as  her  successor." 

This  was  rather  strong  meat  for  the  discerning  Pris- 
cilla.  "  I  guess  I'll  go  home,"  she  said,  looking  down 
piteously  at  the  pretty  slippers  with  a  curled  up  kitten 
embroidered  on  each  toe.  "  Charlotte,  you're  too  harsh  " 
— Miss  Shrewdly's  nether  lip  began  to  quiver — "  I  know 
I've  spoken  plainly,  but  I've  told  the  truth,  and  you  are 
well  aware  of  it.  Come  now,  do  you  think  Mrs.  Blank  a 
good  presiding  officer  ? " 

"  Well,"  said  Mrs.  Cheeryble,  once  more,  this  time  with 
the  falling  inflection,  "  I  have  made  up  my  mind  to  tell 
her — not  the  Union — that  before  another  meeting  I'd  like 


466  one  woman's  experience. 

to  go  over  to  the  church  with  her,  and  listen  while  we 
practice  speaking,  so  as  to  be  heard  in  every  part  of  it.  I 
will  also  suggest  a  little  more  care  for  the  feelings  of 
others  in  alluding  to  the  object  of  the  collection.  Mrs. 
Blank  is  a  true  and  noble  woman,  one  of  our  best  workers 
and  most  earnest  Christians.  This  was  her  first  public 
meeting,  and  she  was  somewhat  embarrassed.  I  believe 
she  is  capable  of  doing  admirably,  however,  with  practice." 

"  And  now,  in  conclusion,"  with  these  words  the  gentle 
lady  took  Priscilla's  hand  once  more,  "  I  knew  from  the 
staccato  way  your  head  moved  about  after  the  meeting, 
that  you  were  afflicted  with  an  attack  of  '  caucus,'  and 
determined  to  help  you  through  to  the  best  of  my  ability." 

Priscilla  smiled — what  else  had  she  to  do  ? — and,  taking 
her  friend's  bright  face,  "  fair,  fat,  and  forty,"  in  her  slim 
hands,  inquired : 

"And  how  does  Judge  Cheery ble  propose  to  have  can- 
didates chosen  and  business  conducted  on  this  foot-stool, 
anyway  ? " 

"  Roly-poly  as  I  am,  I  expect  to  have  considerable  influ- 
ence in  choosing  ours,"  she  archly  replied,  "  and,  in  a 
word,  my  '  policy,'  as  you  call  it,  may  be  outlined  thus — 
A  fair,  full  trial  to  all,  and,  on  my  part,  by  God's  grace, 
obedience  to  the  blessed  precept, '  Whosoever  will  be  great 
among  you,  let  him  be  your  minister,  and  whosoever  will 
be  chief  among  you,  let  him  be  your  servant,'  and  that  we 
ponder  more  these  wondrous  words  of  Christ :  '  I  am  among 
you  as  him  that  serveth.'  " 

ONE   WOMAN'S   W.    C.    T.    U.    EXPERIENCE. 

[This  came  to  me  from  a  leading  worker  whose  name  I  am  not  at 
liberty  to  give.] 

No  arguments  changed  me,  and  I  am  happy  to  say  not 
one  person  in  all  the  convention  opened  her  lips  indi- 
vidually to  me  in  regard  to  Home  Protection.     I  had 


ONE  woman's  experience.  467 

thought  I  had  consecrated  myself  to  the  Lord,  to  work  for 
Him  both  in  the  Church  and  in  temperance  work  ;  I 
thought  I  was  willing  to  use  any  weapon  for  truth,  justice, 
and  virtue  that  He  might  place  in  my  hand.  But  when 
I  came  into  convention  the  conviction  kept  forcing  itself 
upon  me  that  I  was  not  wholly  consecrated  to  His  ser- 
vice ;  I  was  not  willing  to  do  anything  and  everything  for 
Him.  There  was  that  fearful  ballot — woman  "lmsexing 
herself,"  etc.,  etc.,  according  to  Dr.  Bushnell,  whose  argu- 
ments you  know,  and  of  which  every  letter  I  have  hitherto 
endorsed.  The  question  came  to  me,  and  with  it  the  con- 
viction that  the  women  who  stood  before  me,  and  whose 
words  I  heard,  were  consecrated  women — not  ambitious 
seekers  of  power.  I  had  never  been  thrown  with  our 
workers  before  ;  I  had  seen  very  little  in  the  narrow  limits 
of  my  horizon,  and  the  prejudices  of  old  made  me  feel 
unjustly,  no  doubt,  that  all  advocates  of  suffrage  were 
party  aspirants  and  grumblers,  who  were  shrieking  over 
the  wrongs  of  women.  God  had  been  so  good  to  me,  I 
did  not  think  that  women  had  such  a  hard  time  after  all ; 
nor,  in  fact,  do  I  now.  But  here  were  these  gentle  tem- 
perance women,  wholly  and  solely  working  for  the  free- 
dom of  our  land  from  the  tyranny  of  rum.  1  felt  I  was 
not  doing  all  I  could  to  help.  I  simply  laid  my  heart  bare 
before  my  God  and  asked  Him  to  make  me  willing  to  do 
His  will — to  gather  up  my  prejudices  as  a  bundle,  and  lay 
them  aside.  They  did  not  vanish  like  mist  before  sun- 
shine ;  they  remained  tangible  and  tough,  but  I  laid  them 
aside.  I  do  not  array  them  before  me  any  more,  and  I 
feel  so  much  lighter  in  my  heart  and  conscience. 

This  is  the  story  of  my  conversion.  It  came  to  me  after 
nights  of  waking  and  weeping,  for  I  felt  the  dear  Lord  was 
preparing  me  for  something,  and  when  the  hour  of  trial 
came  He  did  not  want  me  to  be  burdened  with  that  bun- 
dle.    In  Methodist  parlance,  my  way  grows  brighter  and 


468 


LETTERS. 


brighter.  This  is  for  you.  It  would  sound  very  strange 
and  far-fetched  to  many  ears,  even  absurd,  that  a  woman 
should  be  morally  and  religiously  converted  to  Home 
Protection.  I  feel  I  was  actually  converted  by  the  Lord's 
Spirit,  and  led  to  a  deeper  feeling,  if  not  deeper  knowl- 
edge, of  the  truth. 

OUR   LETTER    BAG. 

Writing  and  receiving  ten  thousand  letters  and  postals 
a  year,  most  of  this  and  my  newspaper  work  being  done 
on  the  cars,  I  have  had  glimpses  into  so  many  hearts  and 
homes  that  it  seems  selfish  to  keep  such  riches  all  to 
myself.  A  few  specimen  sentences  are  here  given  in  this 
';  open  letter  "  of  a  book. 

FROM  A  PENNSYLVANIA  GIRL  OF  FOURTEEN. 

"I  saw  in  the  paper  that  you  would  send  word  how  to  form  a 
juvenile  society  to  anybody  that  asked  you,  and  I  thought  may  be  I 
could  do  good  in  that  way.  Our  town  is  in  a  dreadful  state;  it  seems 
as  if  whisky  almost  ran  along  the  streets,  and  the  boys  and  young  men 
almost  all  drink.  Yesterday  1  saw  a  boy  of  fifteen  lying  under  a  rail 
fence,  dead  drunk.  If  we  could  have  a  temperance  society  that  was 
real  interesting,  so  they  would  like  to  come,  I  thought  it  might  do 
good,  and  I  will  help  along  all  I  can,  if  you  will  tell  me  how." 

FROM  AN   ILLINOIS  WORKING  MAN. 

"You  spoke  about  a  catechism  that  was  to  be  used  in  the  children's 
temperance  societies,  to  show  them  the  evil  of  strong  drink.  I  would 
like  to  buy  one,  to  use  in  my  own  family,  so  my  boys  will  know 
better  than  to  form  the  habit,  for  it's  ignorance  that's  the  matter  with 
a  great  many  people  that  become  drinking  men. " 

FROM  A   MICHIGAN   LADY. 

We  are  bound  to  have  the  temperance  cause  brought  up  in  every 
ministerial  gathering,  in  every  Sunday-school  convention,  at  every 
camp  meeting,  and  to  '  keep  it  before  the  people '  just  so  far  as  our 
influence  permits.  It's  grand  to  be  in  a  work  where  the  more  it  is 
talked  about  the  better  you  are  pleased." 


LETTERS.  409 

FROM   A   LADY   IN    HANNIBAL,    MO. 

"After  our  defeats  we  were,  for  awhile,  lulled  into  our  old  poppy- 
dreams  again,  when  somebody's  good  genius  started  a  pair  of  us  off 
to  St.  Louis  to  the  Woman's  State  Convention,  and  that  roused  us  for 
a  new  endeavor.  My  life  is  a  busy  one.  I've  two  juvenile  voters, 
dear  little  fellows,  to  train  'for  the  right  side,'  but  my  spare  time  I 
pledge  to  direct  work  in  the  temperance  cause.  A  good  friend  and 
co-laborer  has  promised  to  as>i>t  me  in  taking  charge  of  a  weekly 
column  in  one,  and  perhaps  two,  of  our  papers.  Our  Union  meets 
every  Thursday  p.  m.  We  hope  soon  to  have  a  Sabbath  p.  m.  service, 
when  all  good  temperance  Christians  may  unite  to  worship,  and  to 
hold  it  in  a  part  of  the  city  where  worldly  men  do  congregate. 

"  Is  not  the  report  of  the  National  Brewers'  Association  encouraging 
to  us?  Even  our  own  Missouri,  which  we  have  so  lamented  over  as 
being  at  the  very  rear  of  the  marching  hosts,  reports  that  38  out  of 
130  breweries  have  "shut  up  shop  "  within  a  year.  Well,  it's  a  grand 
age  in  which  to  have  a  part,  and  by  God's  grace  I  will  not  be  wholly 
unworthy  of  its  matchless  opportunities  of  good." 

FROM  ROCKFORD,    ILLINOIS. 

Our  Fourth  of  July  celebration  produced  an  excellent  impression  on 
the  public  mind.  No  cannon,  no  sky-rocket,  no  broken  thumbs,  but 
three  hundred  boys,  in  simple  uniform  of  black  pants,  white  shirts, 
drali  caps,  and  red,  white,  and  blue  ribbons,  headed  by  a  reformed 
and  Christian  colonel,  and  followed  by  a  hundred  sweet  girls  in  white 
dresses  and  white  sashes,  singing  cold  water  songs.  The  speech  of 
young  Captain  Wellington  was  excellent,  setting  forth  that  their 
weapons  were  spiritual,  and  their  war  one  of  ideas  and  against  the  old 
Goliath  of  rum.  This  idea  of  military  music  and  drill  combined,  with 
hurrahing  for  the  pledge,  and  teaching  the  common  sense  of  total 
abstinence,  is  going  to  win  the  boys  of  our  land  as  nothing  else  can. 

FROM    A  PRINTER. 

I  don't  want  you  to  think  I  will  take  your  counsel  as  a  tedious 
lecture.  I  am  not  so  great  a  coward  as  to  shrink  from  good  advice 
which  I  know  I  ought  to  follow.  I  see  in  the  many  illustrations  which 
aic  constantly  before  me,  of  the  printers  who  have  been  ruined  by 
whisky,  and  yet  who  still  retained  many  brilliant  qualities,  that  the 
only  way  for  one  of  my  trade  is  to  make  a  pledge  and  keep  it,  for 
there  is  no  class  so  constantly  thrown  in  the  way  of  temptation,  by 
the  very  character  of  their  work.  I  k*ow,  and  you  can  imagine  how 
hard  it  is,  about  one  o'clock  at  night,  when  a  man  is  exhausted  and 
sleepy  from  over-work,    and    he  hears,   while  dreaming    over    the 


470  FROM    A   REFORMED   MAN   IN    PHILADELPHIA. 

manuscript  on  his  case,  "  Come,  have  something  to  brighten  you  up!" 
to  refuse  that  which  will  stimulate  him  to  complete  his  task.  Strong 
drink  possesses  a  fascination  which  the  strongest  find  hard  to  resist, 
and  under  which  the  noblest  minds  are  reduced  to  commit  the  basest 
actions.  If  I  was  philosophical,  I  would  regulate  my  actions  by 
previous  examples,  but  as  I  am  not — " 

FROM  A  REFORMED  MAN   IN   PHILADELPHIA. 

I  am  holding  firmly  to  my  pledge,  by  God's  help,  and  write  to  you 
ladies  to  ask  your  prayers,  and  to  encourage  you.  In  returning  from 
Chicago,  for  the  first  time  in  years,  I  found  I  could  travel  without 
staying  myself  up  by  drink.  Every  afternoon,  at  three  o'clock,  I  get 
down  my  "  Gospel  Songs,"  and  my  wife  plays  the  melodeon,  and  we 
sing  the  hymns  I  have  heard  there.  My  wife  wants  me  to  thank  you 
that  she  has  her  husband  back  again,  and  we  both  pray  God  to  keep 
us  true  to  Him.  I  shall  go  to  the  Ladies'  Temperance  Prayer-Meeting 
here.  What  a  blessed  thing  it  is  that  a  man  can  now  find  such  a 
haven  of  rest  in  almost  every  city  or  village  in  our  land. 

Dear  friends,  who  have  read  these  echoes  of  the  greatest 
battle  now  being  fought  on  earth,  will  you  not  buckle  on 
your  armor  and  join  the  gentle  host  that  is  daily  increas- 
ing in  numbers  and  in  courage,  and  marching  on  to 
certain  victory  in  the  name  of  the  Captain  of  our  salva- 
tion, who  is  the  "  Prince  of  Peace." 

WHO    WILL    TAKE    OUR    PLACES? 

Here  are  some  sweet,  warm  words  from  a  gifted  and 
very  influential  lady  at  the  East.  I  wish  I  might  write 
who  for  the  general  encouragement,  but  hardly  feel  free 
to  do  that.  The  letter  is  from  Ocean  Grove,  N.  Y.,  and 
here  are  a  few  sentences : 

I  have  taken  several  steps  within  a  week — and  some  inward  bounds 
besides !  At  a  young  people's  meeting  the  other  morning  I  told  them 
my  experience.  Mrs.  Foster  of  Iowa  had  spoken,  and  had  said  she 
knew  the  time  was  before  her  when  she  would  be  tired.  She  was 
speaking  especially  to  the  young  ladies.  Colonel  Bain  followed, 
addressing  the  young  men.  I  was  then  called  on  to  speak  by  the 
leader  of  the  meeting,  and  I  told  them  of  our  friendship  since  last 


WESTERN    WOMEN    ONDAUNTED.  471 

winter  when  you  were  in  New  York  city,  and  how  I  then  signed  the 
pledge  and  joined  the  W.  C.  T.  U.  Also  of  how  I  reproached  myself 
in  the  presence  of  the  women  in  that  city  who  had  worked  so  hard 
and  grown  so  tired.  I  then  called  on  all  the  ladies,  young  and  old, 
who  would  join  me,  to  pledge  ourselves  that  we  would  come  up  to  the 
help  of  yourself  and  Mrs.  Foster,  and  turning  to  her  asked  if  it 
wouldn't  rest  her  a  little  if  she  could  see  a  new  band  of  workers 
coming  to  the  front  ?  The  tears  were  on  her  cheek  as  her  reply.  Then 
1  asked  Colonel  Bain,  that  royal  man,  if  he  would  like  to  have  the 
young  men  do  the  same  ?  You  may  know  how  he  answered.  And 
last  of  all  I  asked  for  the  vote — the  brave,  fresh  volunteers — and  it 
would  have  cheered  your  heart  to  see  the  young  men  and  women  who 
rose.  They  were  lovely,  cultivated  girls,  and  our  boys  here  on  vaca- 
tion from  their  colleges.  We  are  coming — do  not  be  discouraged  ! 
The  great  wTave  hardly  touches  our  New  York  shore,  but  it  is  coming. 
We  are  on  the  watch.  March  forward — the  imperial  reinforcements 
will  yet  arrive  ! 

Undaunted  as  are  the  women  of  the  West,  "  Strong  in 
the  strength  that  God  supplies  through  His  eternal  Son," 
it  is  nevertheless  like  a  "  Dinna  ye  hear  the  slogan?"  to 
know  how  true  their  hearts  are  beating  away  toward  the 
rising  sun !     God  bless  us  every  one ! 

THE   TEMPERANCE   "  HOUSE   THAT   JACK   BUILT." 

Our  temperance  women  have  a  marvelous  versatility. 
Witness  the  following  droll  bit  of  rhyme  and  reason  from 
Mrs.  E.  E.  Orendorff  of  Delavan,  Illinois,  President  of 
the  local  W.  C.  T.  U.  My  bright  friend  sends  me  her 
impromptu,  with  the  following  explanation : 

"  How  our  town  expenses  can  be  kept  up  without 
license  money  seems  to  puzzle  many.  Improvements  to 
be  made,  sidewalks  built,  repairs  attended  to,  and  the 
treasury  low.  They  shake  their  heads  and  point  to  the 
income  to  be  derived  from  licensing  the  liquor  traffic. 
Sixteen  years  ago  there  were  no  sidewalks  in  Delavan. 
A  little  west  of  the  main  street  the  ladies  had  a  long,  low 
building,  erected  of  rough  boards,  in  which  were  held 
exhibitions,  concerts,  etc.,  for  the  purpose  of  raising 
money  for  a  sidewalk. 


472  A    DELEVAN    DITTY. 

"  One  of  the  songs  they  sang  ran  as  follows : 

For  the  right  and  the  might  and  the  truth  shall  be, 
And  come  what  there  may  to  stand  in  the  way, 
That  day  the  world  shall  see. 

"Their  efforts  were  successful;  they  drove  nails  and 
sawed  boards,  and  Delavan  had  a  sidewalk.  Now  when 
the  nails  start  up  and  I  view  the  broken  places,  I  tremble 
lest  our  people  may  think  license  necessary  to  keep  up 
repairs,  and  up  and  down,  see-saw,  through  my  brain — 
after  the  manner  of  the  "  House  that  Jack  Built " — go 
these  words: 

This  is  the  town  of  Delavan ; 

Once  there  were  women  that  built  a  walk 

In  this  town  of  Delavan. 

Now  here  are  men  that  talk  and  talk, 

Though  once  there  were  women  who  built  a  walk 

In  this  town  of  Delavan. 

There  are  the  sidewalks  broken  and  worn, 
And  here  is  the  Town  Board  all  forlorn, 
And  there  are  the  men  that  talk  and  talk, 
Though  once  there  were  women  who  built  a  walk 
In  this  town  of  Delavan. 

The  treasury's  bare  of  silvery  chink, 
And  the  lovers  of  alcohol  bound  to  drink, 
And  here  is  the  Town  Board  all  forlorn, 
And  there  are  the  sidewalks  broken  and  torn, 
And  here  are  the  men  that  talk  and  talk, 
Though  there  were  women  that  built  a  walk 
In  this  town  of  Delavan. 

But  list!  a  voice!    Don't  lessen  your  joys! 

And  sidewalks  I'll  build  if  you'll  give  me  your  boys — 

For  the  treasury's  bare  of  silvery  chink, 

And  the  lovers  of  whisky  arc  bound  to  drink, 

And  here  is  the  Town  Board  all  forlorn, 

And  there  are  the  sidewalks  broken  and  torn, 

And  there  are  the  men  that  talk  and  talk, 

Although  there  were  women  that  built  a  walk 

lu  this  town  of  Delavan. 


ONE  day's  experience.  473 

But  look  at  the  women,— just  look  at  them  rise, 

They  know  'tis  old  Satan  in  friendliest  guise, 

And  the  gay  and  the  staid,  the  aged  and  fair, 

All  come  to  the  rescue  with  work  and  with  prayer, 

And  they'll  give  all  their  joys  and  glittering  toys, 

They'll  give  all  their  time,  but  they  won't  give  their  bops. 

Though  the  treasury's  bare  of  silvery  chink, 

And  lovers  of  alcohol  bound  to  drink, 

And  though  the  Town  Board  is  all  forlorn, 

And  though  the  sidewalk  's  broken  and  worn, 

Yet  there  are  men  that  can  work  and  talk, 

And  women  here  that  can  build  a  walk, 

In  this  town  of  Delavan." 

ONE  DAY  IN  A  TEMPERANCE  WOMAN'S  EXPERIENCE. 

There  is  not  a  better  worker  in  Christendom  than  the  one  who  wrote 
me  this  letter.  She  is  a  State  President,  and  has  led  her  hosts  to  a 
victory,  grand  as  that  which  Miriam  sang. 

"  I  certainly  believe  and  act  the  ' do-everything  policy'  about  as 
much  as  anyone  I  know,  in  more  ways  than  in  temperance  work.  You 
would  laugh  to  know  how  often  I  change  my  employment;  sometimes 
copying  from  poll-books,  writing  letters,  dress-making,  plain  sewing, 
when  my  husband  is  away,  acting  chore-boy,  raking  door-yard,  solicit- 
ing for  temperance  work,  holding  a  temperance  social  in  my  house, 
and  at  last  extremity,  instead  of  oysters  must  have  a  chicken  pie — so 
prepare  the  chickens  and  make  five  chicken  pies  in  the  afternoon, 
stopping  to  answer  calls,  receive  donations,  answer  questions;  in  the 
evening,  play  hostess,  wait  on  table,  etc.,  etc.,  and  withal  think,  think, 
think." 

PROM  A  NEW  ENGLAND   GIRL'S  LETTER. 

"  Sunday  doesn't  satisfy  me  any  more  when  I  have  to  hear  the  Rev. 

Mr. 's  abstract  disquisitions  on  some  Scripture  passage,  in  place 

of  a  sermon  which  might  electrify  into  action  every  dormant  soul  in 
his  congregation.  How  long  must  this  continue?  'Oh,  wad  some 
power!'  Well,  I'm  ready  to  shout  for  joy  and  sing  praises  to  the 
Lord  when  I  think  of  the  Y..  W.  C.  T.  U.  fairly  set  agoing  at  last  in 
this  good  town.  The  influence  it  will  have  in  quickening  the  con- 
sciences of  these  indifferent  people;  the  reflex  influence  on  the  girls 
themselves;  the  talk  it  will  create  on  a  subject  discussed  so  little  here- 
tofore— all  this  is  beyond  human  measurement.  It's  a  wonderful 
thing  to  be  brought  thus  out  of  one's  little  round  of  personal  cares  and 
interests;  and  I'm  sure  we  girls  little  dream  of  all  that's  going  to  come 
of  it,  and  of  the  effect  upon  our  characters  in  all  the  future.  And  to 
think  that  the  most  conservative  girl  in  the  Episcopal  church  has  been 

made  our  President !  " 
19 


474  SKETCHES. 

* 

CONCERNING   THE  "WORD    "CHRISTIAN." 

Frequent  letters  have  this  query,  and  I  publish  my  reply  to  one, 
which  is  equally  suited  to  all : 

"  Is  it  best  in  this  rationalistic  community  to  hold  firmly  to  our  princi- 
ples as  implied  in  our  name — "Woman's  Christian  Temperance 
Union?" 

Answer — God  forbid  that  we  should  boast  save  in  the  Cross  of 
Christ.  Nail  that  signal  to  the  mast.  "  By  this  sign  conquer."  "  If 
I  forget  thee,  O  Jerusalem,  let  my  right  hand  forget  her  cunning,  and 
my  tongue  cleave  to  the  roof  of  my  mouth."  Hoist  your  flag  and  let 
the  people  rally  around  it.  Bring  the  regiment  up  to  the  colors.  No 
compromise  prospers;  no  "expediency"  will  stand  the  test  of  time. 
Truth  is  magnetic — do  not  be  afraid.  The  cross  attracts — the  multi- 
tude will  gravitate  toward  it  like  the  tides  to  the  sun. 

FROM  SENATOR  AND  MRS.    BLAIR. 

U.  S.  Senate  Chamber,  Washington. 
My  Dear  Mrs.  Buell — I  found  on  my  desk  in  the  Senate  this  morn- 
ing an  exquisite  basket  of  flowers,  presented  by  the  Woman's  Chris- 
tian Temperance  Union. 

I  can  think  of  nothing  so  like  them  in  beauty  and  sweetness  as  those 
who  gave  them  to  me,  while  the  immortal  natures  of  the  givers  supply 
all  that  is  wanting  in  the  fading  hues  and  dying  perfumes  of  these 
selectest  treasures  of  the  gardens  of  earth. 

Please  accept  my  sincerest  thanks,  and  convey  to  those  who  have 
thus  delicately  manifested  this  personal  regard,  and  more  than  full 
appreciation  of  whatever  slight  service  I  may  have  rendered  the  great 
cause  of  "  God  and  Home  and  Native  Land,"  these  acknowledgments 
of  my  appreciation  of  their  confidence  and  regard. 

I  am,  Dear  Madame, 

Very  Respectfully, 

Your  Obedient  Servant, 

Henry  W.  Blair. 
Mrs.  Buell,  Corresponding  Secretary  of  W.  C.  T.  U. 

Washington,  D.  C,  October  31,  1881. 
Mrs.  Chapin,  and  the  Ladies  of  the  South  : 

Saturday  evening  the  cheers  and  hearty  good  will  of  the  ladies  melted 
my  heart. 

Ten  minutes  later  I  would  have  given  much  to  speak  what  I  now 
write,  but  I  am  not  one  of  those  who  can  be  satisfactorily  surprised. 
Let  me  now  say  to  you  that  I  was  deeply  touched  by  your  gift  of 
flowers,  because  of  the  kindliness  which  I  know  prompted  its  bestowal. 


LETTER  FROM  MRS.  BLAIR.  475 

No  one  could  appreciate  the  gracious  sentiment  of  those  roses  more 
than  I  did.  They  stand  for  affection.  Let  them  be  "for  a  sign" 
"between  thee  and  me,"  and  "  between  thy  people  and  my  people" 

The  love  of  woman  has  always  been  a  great  factor  in  affairs,  civil 
as  well  as  religious,  and  between  us,  whose  swords  have  severed  and 
wounded,  it  is  eminently  fitting  that  this  strong  compelling  force 
should  unite  and  heal. 

Come  and  see  us.  What  you  did  for  Miss  Willard  in  the  Somh  shall 
be  done  for  you  in  the  North.  If  you  think  us  cold  and  stern,  look 
on  us  in  our  homes.  You  will  find  that  in  the  crevices  of  our  rough 
ledges  the  hare-bells  grow,  and  all  along  our  highways  bloom  the 

forget-me-nots. 

Sincerely  yours, 

E.  N.  Blaik. 
October  14,  1881. 


CHAPTER  XXV. 

MRS.  ZERELDA  G.  WALLACE,  OF  INDIANA. 

Our  Temperance  Deborah — Her  place — A  Character — Incident — The 
Newspaper— A  Bible  Student — Home  life — Her  Temperance  Bap- 
tism— Figures  in  "Ben  Hur" — A  Christian. 

IN  his  essay  on  Friendship,  Emerson  uses  the  follow- 
ing language  :  "  A  new  friend  is  a  great  hope — a  sea 
to  swim  in  ;  but  soon  we  find  its  shores ;  it  was  only  a 
pond  after  all." 

Experience  has,  doubtless,  enforced  the  truth  of  the 
great  thinker's  statement  in  repeated  instances  for  all  of 
us,  but  surely  our  grand  Zerelda  Wallace  furnishes  to 
those  who  are  so  happy  as  to  call  her  "  friend  "  a  striking 
contrast  to  his  illustration. 

By  the  resources  of  her  mind,  the  stores  of  her  memory, 
the  treasures  of  her  judgment,  the  power  of  her  conscience, 
aud  the  magnanimity  of  her  heart,  she  reminds  us  of  the 
line,  "  Still  there's  more  to  follow,"  and  verifies  her  title 
to  the  epithet  often  applied  to  her,  "  The  noblest  Roman 
of  them  all."  As  illustrations  of  her  character,  take  a 
few  instances  from  the  National  Conventions  of  the  W. 
C.  T.  U.,  at  four  of  whose  sessions  she  has  been  not  only 
a  presence,  but  a  power. 

In  1874,  when  in  Cleveland  the  crusade  clans  rallied  to 
the  slogan  of  "organization,"  and  we  met  for  the  first 
time,  gathering  to  the  call  from  eighteen  different  States, 
I  remember  whispering  to  a  friend  as  Mrs.  "Wallace  came 
forward  to  speak,  "  Who  is  that  senatorial  and  motherly- 
looking  lady  ?" 

As  she  stood  before  us,  in  her  exceeding  simplicity  of 

(476) 


MRS.  Z.  G.  WALLACE. 


A   SENATORIAL-LOOKING    WOMAN.  479 

dress,  manner,  and  utterance,  I  did  not  dream  she  had 
presided  at  many  a  gubernatorial  levee,  graced  the  salons 
of  Washington,  and  "brought  up"  gifted  General  Lew 
Wallace,  now  our  Minister  to  Turkey,  and  what  is  more, 
the  author  of  "Ben  Hur."  But  there  was  something  in 
thai  benignant  face,  that  rich  alto  voice,  those  earnest 
words,  and  that  solemn iy-brandished  silver  spectacle-case, 
which  made  a  more  profound  impression  on  my  mind 
than  any  other  of  all  the  noble  personalities  in  the  Con- 
vention. 

Although  Mrs.  Wallace  had  been  nominated  Chairman 
of  the  Committee  on  Resolutions,  it  seemed  to  us  that 
Mother  Stewart,  as  more  closely  identified  with  the  Cru- 
sade, should  occupy  that  position,  and  I  therefore  moved 
the  substitution  of  Mother  Stewart's  name,  which  was 
effected  by  a  large  majority.  Immediately  after,  I  went 
to  Mrs.  Wallace,  and  the  first  words  I  ever  addressed  to 
her  were  words  of  explanation  and  apology.  Grasping 
my  hand  warmly,  she  said  :  "  When  you  know  me  better, 
my  friend,  you  will  discover  that  in  this  sacred  cause  I 
have  lost  sight  of  all  personal  considerations."  Magnani- 
mous heart !  How  many  times  since  then,  in  the  clash  of 
preferences,  have  you  proved  true  to  that  high  declara- 
tion !  What  a  victory  will  it  be  for  us  all  as  professed 
followers  of  Him  "  who  was  meek  and  lowly  in  heart," 
when,  in  our  wide  domain  of  National,  State,  and  local 
societies,  we  can  say  as  honestly  as  was  then  said,  "  1 
have  lost  sight  of  personal  considerations  in  this  sacred 
cause.''''  At  the  next  National  Convention  (Cincinnati, 
1875),  our  "  Temperance  Deborah  "  stood  up  all  alone  and 
sounded  the  first  note  for  Home  Protection.  Having 
prayed  much  over  her  "Resolution,"  and  written  it  with 
great  care,  she  came  before  the  Convention,  in  St.  Paul's 
M.  E.  Church,  and  presented  the  first  resolution  asking 
woman's  1  >allot  on  t lie  temperance  question.  This  was 
adopted,  without  debate,  by  an  almost  unanimous  vote. 


480  OUR  TEMPERANCE  DEBORAH. 

It  is  a  matter  of  unique  interest  to  know  the  history  of 
a  character  at  once  so  judicial  and  so  womanly  as  our 
"  Temperance  Deborah."  My  heart  rejoices  in  the  fact 
that  Mrs.  Wallace  is  a  Southerner.  Looking;,  as  I  do, 
with  eager  and  expectant  eyes  to  the  women  of  the  South, 
where  I  have  invested  so  much  work,  it  is  an  augury  of 
good  to  hail  in  one  of  our  noble  leaders  a  daughter  of 
that  sunny  land.  Kentucky  is  her  native  State,  and  her 
father  was  Dr.  Saunders,  a  prominent  physician  there. 
She  was  the  youngest  of  five  daughters,  and,  unlike  many 
narrow  souls,  her  father  taught  his  daughters  as  he  had 
himself  been  taught,  and  talked  with  them  of  all  great 
questions,  religious,  political,  and  scientific.  You  may 
select  women  thus  broadly  and  blessedly  trained  by  many 
signs  infallible. 

Among  these  a  temperance  traveler  has  learned  to 
include  the  reading  of  the  daily  newspaper.  Whatever 
daughter  of  Eve  contrives,  under  the  new  dispensation  of 
Trial  by  Newspaper,  to  suppress  her  interest  in  the 
human  race  to  that  degree  which  renders  the  morning 
paper  an  unattractive  object  must,  indeed,  have  early  been 
indoctrinated  with  the  superstition  that  "  women  have  no 
business  with  matters  and  things  outside  the  house."  If 
one  must  judge  by  the  fraction  of  women  who  read  news- 
papers on  the  cars,  and  in  their  homes  as  well,  the 
generous  training  which  enables  Mrs.  Wallace  to  say, 
with  the  poet  Terence,  "  I  am  human,  and  whatever 
touches  humanity  touches  me,"  is  small  indeed. 

But  the  Bible  was  the  foundation  of  all  her  education 
and  culture.  At  the  age  of  twelve  she  had  committed  it 
to  memory  as  far  as  the  book  of  Chronicles,  and  its 
truths  had  been  heeded  so  honestly  that  at  fourteen  years 
of  age  she  joined  the  "  Christian"  Church.  At  nineteen 
she  became  the  second  wife  of  David  Wallace  of  Indianapo- 
lis, whose  three  sons  she  reared,  besides  six  children  of  her 


HER   EVENINGS   AT    HOME.  481 

own ;  and  she  has  put  aside  the  public  duties  crowding 
upon  her  now  that  she  might  be  a  mother  to  a  quartette 
of  grand-children  bequeathed  to  her  care  by  their  parents' 
death. 

She  has  earned  the  right  to  repudiate  with  dignity  the 
aspersions  of  those  who  say  that  an  interest  in  public 
affairs  mars  the  gentleness  of  womanhood,  and  to  declare 
that,  having  cradled  three  generations  in  her  arms,  she 
thinks  her  home  record  may  well  pass  muster.  Here  let 
me  quote  from  a  brilliant  sketch  of  Mrs.  Wallace,  recently 
published  in  a  leading  journal  of  the  West : 

"  By  virtue  of  her  social  position  and  rare  mental 
qualities,  Mrs.  Wallace  might  have  been  what  is  known 
as  a  '  leader '  in  social  circles  ;  but  that  kind  of  glory  was 
not  to  her  taste.  She  cared  for  society  only  as  she  found 
in  it  men  and  women  of  grand  ideas  and  splendid  purpose. 
Her  husband  was  a  man  of  fine  literary  culture,  and 
together  they  enjoyed  every  new  book,  every  speech  or 
sermon,  and  every  newspaper  that  came  in  their  way. 
She  tells  how  delightful  were  their  evenings  at  home, 
when  the  babies  were  put  to  bed,  and  she  sat  with  her 
foot  on  the  rocker  of  the  cradle  and  listened  to  Mr. 
Wallace  as  he  read  the  latest  political  speech  or  newest 
book,  which  they  discussed  with  the  zest  of  professional 
critics.  Everything  Governor  Wallace  wrote,  speech, 
essay,  or  argument,  was  submitted  to  her  for  criticism  or 
approval.  Though  she  knew  nothing  of  equity,  he 
complimented  her  by  saying  that  her  unerring  sense  of 
justice  at  once  lighted  upon  any  defect  or  discrepancy  in 
jurisprudence,  while  her  fine  literary  taste  was  invaluable 
in  regard  to  rhetorical  symmetry.  As  her  stepsons  grew 
older  she  read  law  with  them,  and  is  to-day  better 
educated  in  the  science  of  jurisprudence  than  any  woman 
not  a  professional  lawyer." 

Mrs.  Wallace  has  been  a  widow  twenty-two  years.    She 


482  HOW    SHE    BECAME    A    LECTURER. 

was  left  with  a  home  but  no  income,  and  thus  many  years 
of  her  widowhood  were  spent  in  providing  means  for  her 
children's  support  and  education. 

The  story  of  how  she  was  aroused  to  a  sense  of 
responsibility  as  an  individual  factor  in  society,  as  a 
citizen,  is  this :  About  nine  years  ago,  when  the  temper- 
ance question  was  agitated  with  remarkable  vigor,  a 
meeting  was  called  in  its  interest  at  one  of  the  churches, 
to  which  Mrs.  Wallace  went.  Though  deeply  interested 
in  the  exercises,  when  she  was  appointed  on  a  committee 
she  made  several  ineffectual  attempts  to  rise  and  beg  that 
she  be  excused  from  duty,  so  great  was  her  dread  of 
publicity.  A  little  later  she  listened  to  an  eloquent 
lecture  on  the  evils  of  intemperance  from  Mr.  Curry,  at 
Fort  Wayne,  and  then  for  the  first  time  felt  that  it  was 
her  imperative  duty  to  do  what  she  could  to  check  the 
devastating  vice.  One  day  afterward  a  lady  was  visiting 
her,  and  they  talked  together  on  this  subject  with  all  the 
earnestness  and  interest  of  zealots.  At  last  her  friend 
said,  "  Mrs.  Wallace,  if  you  would  consent  to  go  before 
our  next  meeting  at  Masonic  Hall,  and  talk  exactly  as 
you  talk  to  me,  I  believe  it  would  do  good."  She  was 
prevailed  on  to  consent  to  appear,  though  she  trembled  at 
the  very  thought  of  the  trial  it  would  be  to  her,  and  was 
upheld  only  by  an  unfaltering  sense  of  duty.  She 
hurriedly  wrote  out  her  speech,  and  in  excess  of  fear 
stood  before  her  audience.  "  But,"  said  she,  "  the  moment 
I  began  to  speak  all  terror  left  me,  and  the  devotion  I  felt 
for  my  theme  gave  me  an  almost  superhuman  confidence." 

She  did  not  become  a  woman  suffragist  until  about  five 
years  ago.  Her  convictions  came  with  the  suddenness  of 
electricity,  and  through  a  humiliation  and  a  scourge,  as 
most  higher  developments  do  come.  She  was  appointed 
by  the  temperance  women  to  speak  before  the  Legislature 
against  the  repeal  of  the  Baxter  temperance  law.     Before 


SHE    ADDRESSES    THE   LEGISLATURE.  483 

this  her  contact  and  association  with  men  had  been  of 
such  a  fortunate  nature  as  to  lead  her  to  suppose  that  she 
had  only  to  prove  to  them,  singly  or  in  bodies,  that  a 
cause  was  just  and  right  in  order  to  have  them  support  it 
with  all  their  souls.  The  appointed  day  came,  and  in 
company  with  a  hundred  or  more  women,  she  went  to  the 
legislative  halls  to  address  the  "  august  body."  For  the 
first  time  in  her  life,  she  says,  she  was  made  to  feel 
ashamed  of  being  a  woman.  As  soon  as  she  entered  she 
discerned  the  spirit  of  the  "  honorable  body."  Nudges, 
leers,  and  even  winks,  went  significantly  around  the 
membership.  Most  of  them  could  scarcely  conceal  their 
contempt  for  women  in  general,  and  temperance  women 
in  particular.  Mrs.  Wallace's  quick  acumen  read  the 
minds  of  the  law-makers  at  once,  and  she  suffered  an  all 
but  mortal  humiliation.  She  had  prepared  her  speech  in 
the  full  belief  that  it  was  to  be  delivered  to  thoughtful, 
intelligent,  well-bred  gentlemen.  It  opened  with  a  modest 
disclaimer  of  any  wish  to  usurp  man's  "  rightful  place " 
in  government  or  to  be  "  mixed  in  the  issues  of  politics," 
and  begged  that  the  assembly  would  consider  the  cause 
she  presented  as  being  specially  a  woman's  cause,  etc. 
She  laughs  in  good-natured  scorn  at  her  lack  of  knowledge 
when  she  talks  of  that  occasion,  and  says:  "I  am  happy 
to  say  that  it  is  the  last  time  I  ever  gave  voice  to  such 

*  o 

opinions."  The  "  honorable  body  "  heard  her  through  in 
a  bored  sort  of  way,  the  shoulder-shrugging  and  con- 
temptuous leering  being  kept  up  mildly  throughout.  The 
general  air  and  hinted  language  of  the  "  honorable  body" 
was  to  the  effect  that  they  would  let  "  the  ladies,  God 
bless  'em,"  talk  ;  it  would  be  an  affliction,  but  they  would 
submit  to  it  in  a  gallant  spirit.  When  Mrs.  Wallace  sat 
down,  a  Marion  County  representative,  a  senator,  arose 
and  said  something  to  the  effect  that  representatives 
could  not  always  vote  as  they  would  like  to,  or  as  con- 


4^i  HOW   SHE    BECAME    A    WOMAN-SUFFRAGIST. 

science  dictated.  They  were  not  there  to  represent  their 
own  convictions,  but  to  represent  their  constituency,  and 

-  constituency  wanted  liquor  license ;  therefore  he 
should  vote  liquor  licens  .  '-Instantly/'  says  Mrs. 
Wallace,  "there  flashed  into  my  mind  the  question  :  'Win- 
am  I  not  one  of  this  constituency  which  Marion  County's 
representatives  must  vote  to  please?'"  After  adjourn- 
ment Mrs.  Wallace  shook  hands  with  the  senator,  and 
said  to  him:  "  You  are  against  our  cause,  but  I  am  still 
grateful  to  you,  because  you  have  made  me  a  woman- 
suffragist.  You  have  proved  to  me  how  trifling  a  cipher 
an  unfranchised  person  is  in  the  eyes  of  a  Legislature." 
From  that  day  to  this  she  has  made  it  a  part  of  her 
religion  to  labor  for  the  removal  of  woman's  political 
disabilities,  and  to  establish  a  distinct  idea  in  the  public 
mind  of  the  rights  of  the  race  without  regard  to  sex  or 
color. 

A  deep  sense  of  individual  responsibility  alone  actuates 
her  in  her  public  work.  For  all  women  who  are  unjustly 
discriminated  against  in  law  and  life  she  feels  an 
unutterable  sympathy — a  yearning  to  give  them  the 
helping  hand  which,  in  drafting  the  Constitution,  the 
founders  of  the  Republic  failed  to  remember. 

She  is  one  of  the  few  women  who  do  not  fall  behind 
tin-  times.  She  will  be  interesting  and  capable  of  teaching 
the  thinking  people  as  Long  as  she  lives,  because  she  will 
always  be  well  versed  in  the  thought  of  the  age.  She 
takes  a  newspaper  on  every  leading  phase  of  thought, 
and  critically  rends  them  all.  She  regards  the  decent 
and  dignified  press  as  the  great  educator." 

Mrs.  Wallace  has  been  from  the  beginning  of  our  work 
Indiana's  best  beloved  and  most  influential  leader.  The 
noblest  and  best  political  men  in  that  State  are  her  friends 
and  allies.  She  might  have  made  a  name  that  would 
have  lived  in  history.  A  man  of  equal  ability  would 
have  been  entitled  to  lead  a  party  or  to  organize  a  cabinet. 


\  • 


T    J- 


- 


CHAPTER  XX VI. 
"PERSONAL  LIBERTY." 

"The  Open  Secret." 

THE  main  points  of  the  following  were  made  in  my 
Iowa   addresses  during  the  constitutional   amend- 
ment campaign : 

ADDRESS. 

Kind  Friends  :  The  stereoscopic  view  is  most  complete  because  it 
presents  the  same  object  under  two  angles  of  vision.  By  plain  analogy- 
prohibition,  like  other  moral  issues,  gains  in  clearness  and  perspective 
when  we  bring  to  bear  upon  it  the  different  bflt  united  vision  of  man- 
hood and  of  womanhood.  Fitting  is  it,  then,  that  Governor  St.  John 
should  be  succeeded  on  the  platform  by  J.  Ellen  Foster,  and  repre- 
sentatives of  jour  voters'  Temperance  Alliance  by  those  of  our 
W.  C.  T.  IT. 

There  is,  moreover,  historic  and  poetic,  as  well  as  scientific  justice 
in  a  woman's  plea  for  prohibition.  Not  long  ago  I  sat  beside  Neal 
Dow,  in  his  Portland  home,  and  learned  from  him  that  thirty  years 
ago  in  that  very  room  came  a  broken-hearted  wife,  once  the  school- 
mate of  his  own,  beseeching  him  to  bring  her  drunken  husband  from 
a  saloon,  the  name  of  which  she  gave.  General  Dow  went  at  once  to 
the  proprietor,  stated  the  case,  made  a  plea  on  behalf  of  the  sorrowful 
housewife,  and  was  ordered  out  of  the  saloon,  the  keeper  saying, 
' '  There's  my  license  on  the  wall ;  this  man  is  one  of  my  best  custom- 
ers; I'll  not  offend  him." 

General  Dow  then  asked:  "Do  you  mean  that  you  will  go  right  on 
selling  whisky  to  him  ?  "  and  received  this  reply:  "I  shall  sell  to  him 
just  as  long  as  he  can  pay  for  his  drinks." 

General  Dow  left  the  saloon  with  these  words:  "The  people  of 
the  State  of  Maine  will  see  how  long  you'll  go  on  selling."  For  then 
and  there  was  born  in  his  soul  the  purpose  of  a  deadly  contest  with 
the  liquor  traffic  through  prohibitory  law. 

Remember,  then,  dear  friends,  that  I  am  speaking  on  behalf  of  homes 
no  less  bereft,  and  women  no  less  desolate  than  those  whose  misery 
touched  the  compassionate  heart  and  moved  the  mighty  will  of  him 
whose  name  stands  peerless  upon  history's  page  as  the  father  of  pro- 
hibitory law. 

(486) 


THE    KEY-NOTE   IS    u  HAPPINESS."  487 

The  psalm  of  life  was  set  by  our  Creator  to  the  key-note  of  "happi- 
ness." The  very  word  betokens  this.  Happiness  is  made  up  of  that 
which  happens,  and  these  haps  have  been  in  the  sum  total  so  much 
more  pleasurable  than  painful  that  we  call  them  happiness.  Out 
under  the  pleasant  sky  we  listen  to  nature's  cheerful  testimony  and 
find  that  disease  and  casualty  form  the  exceptions,  but  health  and 
soundness  arc  the  rule.  Man  is  slowly  learning  the  significance  of 
nature's  harmony  and  joy.  Our  own  age,  more  than  any  other,  has 
evolved  the  fact  that  the  philosophy  and  formula  of  God's  world  is 
summed  up  in  the  words  "according  to  law."  Not  the  smallest  infrac- 
tion from  the  benignant  law  of  "their  being's  end  and  aim "  seems  to 
be  willfully  made,  through  all  the  joyous  ranks  from  the  firefly  in  the 
grass  to  the  sun  in  the  sky. 

But  here  is  man  himself,  the  eager  student  of  all  these  laws  and 
their  attendant  harmonies;  man,  with  the  mystical,  magical  brain 
which  can  contain  God's  thoughts  and  photograph  a  universe  on  the 
sensitive  plates  of  memory;  man,  with  his  head  lifted  toward  the 
stars,  and  in  his  eyes  a  light  which  never  shone  on  sea  or  shore;  who, 
with  clear  brain  and  steady  pulse,  was  meant  to  be  the  calmest,  the 
most  joyous,  the  most  fortunate  of  all,  but  who  has  sold  himself  a 
slave  to  misery,  disease,  and  death  by  trampling  on  the  kindly  law 
written  in  his  members  by  his  heavenly  Father. 

Here  is  man's  brain,  with  its  fine  and  delicate  mechanism,  by  which 
the  body  is  controlled  as  Theodore  Thomas  controls  an  orchestra,  as 
the  engineer  controls  his  train,  or  the  operator  his  line  of  telegraph. 
Given  so  much  clear  thought,  and  you  will  get  so  much  clear  action; 
given  so  much  disordered  thought,  and  you  will  get  so  much  disor- 
dered action.  No  law  of  mathematics  is  less  variable;  no  statement 
of  geometry  more  axiomatic.  Consider  this  thinking  machine,  in  its 
snug,  round  box  on  the  top  of  the  head.  Thirty  years  of  scientific 
study  have  yielded  us  some  priceless  certainties  concerning  it.  In  an 
idiot  this  brain  weighs  about  twelve;  in  a  good  level  head  about  fifty, 
and  in  a  "philosopher"  about  sixty  ounces.  In  composition,  it 
bears  a  resemblance  to  the  white  of  an  egg;  and  into  its  innumerable 
convolutions  are  dipped  the  ends  of  the  great  system  of  nerves  which 
form  the  telegraphic  network  of  the  body,  and  it  is  traversed  by  one- 
sixth  of  the  entire  circulation.  Quiet  and  healthful  is  the  ripple  of 
the  nerve  vibrations  which  center  in  the  brain,  when  the  blood 
pumped  into  its  delicate  network  is  calm  and  healthful  in  its  flow,  and 
rational  messages  go  from  it  then  to  every  portion  of  the  body's  intri- 
cate machinery.  But  man,  in  his  ignorance  of  all  these  laws,  has  been 
accustomed  to  go  forth  into  the  fragrant  fields  and  shady  vineyards, 
and,  with  the  brook  at  which  he,  like  all  other  animals,  was  meant  to 
slake  his  thirst,  tinkling  its  disregarded  invitation  in  his  ears,  he  has 


488  PRACTICAL    PHYSIOLOGY. 

gathered  the  kindly  grains  and  fruits  of  the  earth  provided  for  his 
food,  and  by  soaking,  bruising,  and  boiling  them  has  got  for  himself 
a  set  of  mixtures  and  decoctions  known  as  "intoxicating" — which 
literally  means,  according  to  the  dictionary's  rough  truthfulness, 
"poisoning  beverages."  Now  the  attractive  ingredient  of  all  these 
drinks  is  alcohol,  of  which  brandy,  rum,  whisky,  and  gin  contain,  in 
varying  proportions,  from  fifty-four  to  eighty-eight  per  cent. ;  wine 
from  eight  or  nine  to  twenty -five  per  cent. ;  ale  and  beer  from  one  to 
ten  per  cent.  The  effects  of  these  drinks  are  shown  by  the  law  of 
Massachusetts,  which,  though  not  a  temperance  State,  defines  as  "intox- 
icating" all  beverages  containing  three  per  cent,  of  alcohol.  But  it  is 
the  changless  law  of  alcohol,  when  brought  in  contact  with  vital  tis- 
sues, that,  though  by  the  liquid  quality  of  the  beverages  in  which  it  is 
mixed  it  seems  to  appease,  it  really  creates  thirst.  It  does  this  by 
absorbing  the  fluids  of  the  body,  notably  of  the  brain,  because  in  the 
brain,  as  has  been  shown,  there  is  so  much  fluid  to  absorb.  Hence, 
the  more  brain  a  man  has,  the  less  liquor  he  can  stand  up  under,  and 
the  less  brain  the  more  impervious  he  is  to  the  assaults  of  alcohol, 
which  helps  to  explain  why  the  epoch  of  our  revolutionary  ancestors 
may  have  been  less  darkened  by  drunkenness  than  our  own.  The 
alcohol  in  drinks  acts  in  exact  proportion  to  the  quantity  imbibed 
upon  the  albuminous  matter  of  the  brain  precisely  as  fire  acts  upon 
water,  lapping  it  up  with  a  fierce  and  insatiable  thirst,  which  still, 
like  the  horse-leech's  daughter,  keeps  crying  "Give!"  until  its  hot 
lips  have  sucked  out  the  last  particle  with  which  they  came  in  contact. 
For  it  cannot  be  too  strongly  stated  that  the  affinity  of  alcohol  for 
moisture  is  like  a  feverish  and  consuming  passion,  and  the  blistered 
nose,  burnt  brain,  and  parboiled  stomach  of  the  man  who  makes  a 
business  of  drinking  are  nature's  perpetual  object-lessons  to  illustrate 
that  alcohol  is  the  redoubtable  enemy  of  an  organism  made  up,  as  the 
human  body  is,  of  seven  in  every  eight  parts  water.  It  should  also 
be  said  that  the  tendency  of  the  appetite  for  alcoholic  drinks  is  toward 
self -perpetuation,  so  that  the  life  of  the  drinker  is  likely  to  be  com- 
prised in  two  periods,  in  the  first  of  which  he  could  leave  off  drink- 
ing if  he  would,  and  in  the  second  he  would  do  so  if  he  could.  For 
it  has  been  truly  said  that  alcoholic  beverages  are  the  only  ones  on 
God's  footstool  which  have  no  power  of  self-limitation.  One  glass 
says  two,  two  say  three,  and  so  on,  and  this  because  the  more  this 
liquid-absorbing  ingredient  is  swallowed  the  dryer  one  literally 
becomes.  "All  the  physiologists  who  oppose  the  temperance  reform 
do  not  touch  the  Gibraltar  of  that  argument." 

But  the  statement  that  an  appetite  for  alcoholic  drinks  is  inherent 
with  mankind  has  been  so  often  made  that  its  very  reiteration  has 
given  it  the  semblance  of  truth.     The  appetite  may  be  well  nigh  as 


LOVE    OF    LIQUOR    NOT    INHERENT.  489 

universal  as  savagery  and  sin,  but  that  fact  should  be  our  strongest 
incentive  to  lift  men  to  a  higher  plane  of  knowledge  and  enjoyment. 
With  just  as  much  reasonableness  might  it  be  said  that  the  appetite 
for  tobacco  is  universal  among  Americans,  because  in  the  years  since 
its  discovery  and  Sir  Walter  Raleigh's  bad  example  that  habit  has 
been  so  generally  acquired.  Moreover,  one-half  the  human  race, 
its  (rentier  half,  has  never  found  either  of  these  tastes  "inherent" 
to  itself.  But,  on  the  other  hand,  we  find  that  the  men  of  greatest 
physical  achievement  have  not  belonged  to  the  drinking  class.  Lieut. 
Schwatka  and  his  companions  on  their  sledge  journey  of  three  thou- 
sand miles  in  the  arctic  zone;  Hanlan,  the  champion  oarsman;  suc- 
cessful travelers,  pedestrians,  jockeys,  and  pugilists  are  all  witnesses 
of  incontestible  authority  in  support  of  this  fact.  Nor  is  it  irrelevant 
to  instance  the  health  and  strength  of  the  huge  vertebrate  animals, 
whose  general  structure  is  analogous  to  man's,  but  which  are  water- 
drinkers,  every  one. 

If,  then,  a  great  curse  afflicts  our  race;  if  science  shows  that  the 
tendency  of  occasional  indulgence  in  alcoholic  beverages  is  toward 
their  habitual  use,  rather  than  away  from  it;  if  the  appetite  is  no 
more  inherent  than  other  evil  appetites  which  civilization  must  wage 
war  upon — what  lines  of  remedy  naturally  suggest  themselves  whereby 
man  may  be  restored  to  the  normal  condition  of  happiness  which 
comes  only  through  obedience  to  God's  laws,  as  wrought  into  our 
constitution? 

1.  Suppose  that,  with  a  knowledge  of  all  these  facts,  a  being,  wise 
and  good,  should  come  from  loftier  regions  and  alight  upon  our  poor 
old  planet  earth.  Is  it  not  probable  that — as  the  celestial  visitant 
observed  that  by  keeping  out  of  the  fire  we  avoid  being  burned — it 
would  occur  to  him  that,  in  like  manner,  by  keeping  the  products  of 
the  wine-press,  the  brewery,  the  still  outside  of  our  lips,  we  tempted 
mortals  might  avoid  the  pitiful  consequences  which  sooner  or  later  are 
likely  to  prove  the  sequel  to  their  use?  Thousands  have  seen  and  fol- 
lowed this  straight,  sure  pathway  to  personal  security  and  beneficent 
example;  they  are  among  the  wisest  and  kindest  of  our  race;  they  are 
at  a  premium  with  the  life  insurance  companies.  Other  thousands 
sneer  at  the  simplicity  of  the  expedient,  or  murmur  at  the  fancied 
hardships,  and  we  must  good-naturedly  assail  them  with  the  Gatling 
gun  of  press,  platform,  and  pulpit,  and  keep  up  our  cannonading  at 
eye-gate  and  ear-gate  until  the  arguments  which  have  convinced  us 
shall  do  their  work  on  them. 

Our  German  friends  will  not  be  easily  convinced,  because  the  con- 
siderations urged  are  comparatively  new  to  them,  but  a  people  so 
intelligent  and  kindly  will  finally  be  among  the  mere  trophies  of  a 
reform  which  has  for  its  motto:    "Come,  let  us  reason  together." 


490  PRO   AND   CON. 

Their  own  great  chemist,  Baron  Liebig,  says  that  "  there  is  more 
nutriment  in  as  much  flour  as  can  be  held  on  the  point  of  a  table- 
knife  than  in  nine  quarts  of  the  best  Bavarian  beer."  Their  own 
Martin  Luther  characterized  the  brewing  business  as  of  the  devil; 
their  own  Bismarck  declares  it  is  the  great  demoralizing  power  of  the 
German  Empire,  and  at  the  last  session  of  the  Reichstag  their  own 
Minister  of  Finance  proposed  a  tax  upon  it  because  of  its  deteriorating 
influence  on  the  health,  morals,  and  manners  of  the  people. 

PRO  AND  CON. 

It  is  true  that  at  the  sixth  brewers'  congress,  in  St.  Louis,  a  medical 
pamphlet  on  the  virtues  of  beer  was  ordered  printed,  and  this  remarka- 
ble statement  was  made :  "  It  ought  to  come  before  the  public,  not 
as  an  issue  of  the  brewers,  but  of  well-known  and  distinguished 
physicians."  It  is  also  true  that  such  an  issue  was  forthcoming,  in 
which  the  theories  of  "inherent  appetite,"  and  that  "beer  is  food," 
were  advocated  by  distinguished  names,  supposed  by  the  unsuspecting 
public  to  be  perfectly  disinterested  in  their  utterances.  But,  per  con- 
tra, take  the  following  from  Sir  Henry  Thompson  and  Mr.  Darwin. 
(The  speaker  here  read  the  unqualified  statements  of  the  gentlemen 
referred  to,  that  even  fermented  liquors  were  very  deleterious  to 
health,  and  continued.)  When  such  scientific  instruction  as  the  fore- 
going is  furnished  in  our  public  schools,  and  with  the  dignity  of  the 
State  to  emphasize  it,  we  shall  not  see  the  boys  of  our  country  baited 
with  beer,  and  led  onward  into  the  coarse  habits  which  deteriorate  the 
tissues  of  the  body  and  the  temper  of  the  soid. 

But,  in  general  terms,  the  question  now  before  the  people's  jury  in 
the  State  of  Iowa  is  this:  Ought  a  civilized  nation  to  legalize  and 
derive  revenue  from  the  sale  of  alcoholic  compounds  to  be  used  as 
beverages,  when  it  has  been  proved  by  centuries  of  awful  demonstra- 
tion that  such  use  results  in  untold  misery  and  ruin?  Ought  an  intel- 
ligent nation  to  protect  a  traffic  which  sets  two  schools  of  ignorance 
and  vice  over  against  each  public  school  house  in  the  land?  Ought  a 
home-loving  nation  to  tolerate  an  institution  which  is  the  arch  foe  of 
woman's  peace  and  childhood's  purity?  Ought  a  Christian  nation  to 
foster  the  saloon  system,  which  empties  churches,  scoffs  at  the  law  of 
Christ,  and  can  succeed  only  in  the  proportion  that  His  gospel  fails? 

Twenty  years  from  this  time  it  will  seem  as  unaccountable  that,  on 
this  subject,  there  should  be  a  difference  of  opinion  among  good  men, 
as  it  does  now  that  twenty  years  ago  men  just  as  good  took  texts  from 
the  New  Testament,  from  which  to  prove  African  slavery  divine. 
But  at  the  present  stage  of  public  enlightenment  it  will  be  urged,  not 
among  the  ignorant  alone,  but  also  as  the  honest  opinion  of  intelligent 
and  estimable  men,  that  a  law  prohibiting  the  liquor  traffic  is  "a  dan- 
gerous infringement  of  personal  liberty." 


CIVIL    LIBERTY    NOT    ABSOLUTE. 


491 


Let  us  seek  the  meaning  of  this  current  phrase. 

The  poet  Cowper  represents  Robinson   Crusoe  in  these  familiar 

lines:  out 

I  am  monarch  of  all  I  survey, 

My  right  there  is  none  to  dispute, 
From  the  centre  all  round  to  the  sea, 

I  am  lord  of  the  fowl  and  the  brute. 

But  when  Crusoe  saw  upon  the  sandy  shore  of  his  desolate  island  a 
foot-print  not  his  own,  that  very  moment  he  was  no  longer  monarch 
and  no  longer  lord.     From  that  moment  his  personal  liberty  was 
divided  by  two;  from  that  moment  self-hood  (that  pitiful  pivot  on 
which  so  many  windmills  turn),  had  to  take  cognizance  of  otherhood. 
Ever  after  that,  "I"  (that  tall  telegraph  pole  of  a  pronoun)  had  to 
take  note  of  y-o-u,  with  its  pathetic  echo  of  "  I  owe  you."     Or,  to  put 
the  matter  somewhat  differently:  Out  on  his  island  Robinson  could 
reach  forth  his  nimble  fingers  and  gather  whatever  seemed  to  him  good 
for  food,  aud  nobody  was  there  to  interfere.     But  suppose  him  trans- 
ferred to  this  capital  city  of  Iowa,  and  practicing  the  same  light- 
fingered  method  in  your  grocery  store,  good  citizen,  or  at  your  pantry 
shelf,  dear  lady!    What  a  catastrophe  would  then  occur!    Out  on  his 
island  he  could  appropriate  what  he  liked  for  clothing,  but  let  him 
try  the  same  method  in  your  tailoring  establishment,  my  friend— it 
wouldn't  work  at  all.     Out  on  his  island  he  had  the  freedom  of  the 
place,  and  might  shout  hello  at  the  top  of  his  lungs,  but  just  let  him 
try  it  on  in  this  audience!    Why,  I  have  scores  of  brothers  present, 
not  known  to  me  by  name,  who  would  take  the  intruder  by  the  collar 
and  march  him  down  this  aisle  upon  the  double  quick.     This  very 
audience,  by  its  kindly  attention  and  courteous  quiet,  is  a  splendid 
object  lesson  to  illustrate  my  point,  that  a  citizen's  liberty  is  relative, 
not  absolute,  and  I  am  confident  you  will  accept  the  definition  I  would 
now  offer  you,  viz. :  That  all  law,  from  the  days  of  Justinian's  code 
down  to  your  own  Iowa  amendment  that  is  to  be,  is  but  a  drawing  of 
the  circuit  of  one  person's  liberty  just  so  large  around  and  far  across 
as  is  consistent  with  the  number  of  circles  to  be  drawn  within  a  given 
space.     Take  this  audience  again—it  is  an  illustration  perfectly  in 
point.     Within  these  four  walls  the  circles  must  be  small,  for  there  is 
only  so  much  space,  and  there  are  so  many  circles  to  be  drawn.     You 
have  all  resigned  the  abstract  right  of  unrestricted  locomotion  and 
vocal  utterance.     Your  personal  liberties  are  very  much  abridged 
thereby,  but  there  is  the  given  space,  the  four  walls  of  this  auditorium, 
and  here  the  many  circles  to  be  drawn ;  the  elbow  room  is  thus  defined 
with  accuracy  almost  mathematical. 

It  is  just  so  in  the  wide  but  crowded  realm  of  civilization.     Centu- 
ries of  the  gentle  teaching  of  Christ's  gospel  are  requisite  to  clarify  the 


492  CIVILIZATION    PROVES   IT. 

intellectual  vision,  so  that  we  can  dwell  together  in  this  good  and 
pleasant  estate  of  brotherly  kindness,  and  mould  our  laws  so  that  they 
shall  illustrate  Gladstone's  motto,  "  The  State  should  make  it  as  easy 
as  possible  for  everybody  to  do  right."  Three  classes  are  outside  the 
charmed  circle  of  our  civilization— the  idiot,  the  savage,  and  the  child. 
The  first  has  no  brain  to  be  impressed  by  such  considerations  as  I  have 
tried  to  urge,  hence  he  cannot  form  one  in  our  social  compact,  but  we 
provide  for  him  the  conditions  suited  to  his  imbecile  condition. 

The  savage  has  the  freedom,  but  at  the  same  time  submits  to  the 
privations  of  "all  out  doors,"  and  yet  unless  he  is  the  very  "last  of 
the  Mohicans,"  he  observes  certain  unwritten  laws  of  brotherhood, 
dividing  his  venison  steak  and  his  buffalo  robe  with  a  needy  comrade. 
"Baby  is  King"  has  passed  into  a  proverb.  He  pulls  your  hair  or 
doubles  up  his  tiny  fist,  and  thrusts  the  same  into  your  eye.  But  let 
anybody  else  try  it,  and  how  soon  you  will  develop  that  unconscious 
but  clear-cut  theory  of  a  restricted  liberty  in  the  benignant  basis  of 
which  you  live  and  move  and  have  your  being.  Behold  with  what 
persistence  the  enginery  of  civilization  takes  that  little  child  in  hand 
to  teach  it  what  are  the  dimensions  of  the  home  circle  of  personal 
liberty. 

Before  he  can  speak  he  has  learned  to  divide;  to  keep  the  peace;  to 
fold  his  little  hands  while  papa  asks  the  blessing.  The  little  angular 
fragment  of  human  character,  under  the  attrition  of  home  life,  grows 
smooth  and  symmetrical,  as  the  pebbles  on  the  shore  of  my  own  Lake 
Michigan  are  rounded  and  polished  by  the  untiring  waves.  Then  after 
a  while  the  mother  hands  her  child  over  to  the  school.  Having  taught 
2,000  pupils  in  my  time.  I  know  how  our  work  supplements  that  of 
the  home.  "You  must  not  be  tardy,  little  man."  "Why?"  "Be- 
cause the  rest  of  us  can't  wait  for  you."  And  so  on  with  respect  to 
silence,  order,  and  good  lessons.  Then  comes  the  church  to  teach  the 
reasonableness  of  all  these  inroads  upon  personal  liberty  that  they  are 
based  upon  the  golden  rule,  and  that  "what  is  good  for  the  hive  is 
good  for  the  bee."  Now,  if  these  three  agencies  have  done  their 
work  well,  a  man's  personal  liberty  will  never  be,  consciously  to  him. 
restricted  by  law.  Its  crude  requirements  will  sweep  far  outside  the 
circle  of  his  cultured  and  brotherly  conduct  of  life.  .Christianity,  and 
the  institxitions  growing  out  of  it,  were  meant  to  work  this  very  trans- 
formation. 

I  am  happy  to  address  an  audience,  most,  if  not  all,  of  whose  mem- 
bers doubtless  look  upon  the  laws  of  the  land  (prohibitory  and  all)  as 
I  do.  For  I  was  so  fortunate  in  my  mother,  my  teachers,  and  my 
pastors,  that  law  is  a  kind  brother  to  me,  and  that  alone.  Its  clutches 
I  have  never  felt — shall  never  feel.  It  is  the  law  that  gives  my  mother 
the  title  deed  to  her  quiet  home  at  Evanston;  it  is  the  law  that  hedges 


MEUM    AND   TUUM   INVOLVED.  493 

her  daily  path  anil  mine  with  a  thousand  guarantees  and  safeguards. 
It  is  the  law  which  says,  even  to  the  snorting  iron  horse  that  hears 
me  safely  over  uncounted  thousands  of  swift  miles,  "  Thus  far  shalt 
thou  Lro  and  no  further."  But  "no  man  feels  the  halter  draw  with 
good  opinion  of  the  law,"  and  it  conies  as  a  stem  schoolmaster  and  a 
remorseli  as  avenger  to  those  who,  failing  to  have  or  to  heed  the  lessons 
Of  home,  school,  and  church,  project  their  ignorant  and  lawless  indi- 
viduality across  the  wide  sweep  of  its  sharp,  relentless  circle,  to  their 
wounding  and  their  hurt. 

With  this  clear  understanding  we  turn  now  to  Robinson  Crusoe  and 
other  solitary  souls  like  him,  inviting  them  to  enter  the  civilized,  the 
social,  the  human  family,  and  sit  down  by  its  broad  and  cheerful 
hearth.  We  say  to  them:  "  You  shall  share  with  us  in  the  long  result 
of  time.  All  that  art  yields  and  all  that  nature  can  decree  shall  be 
poured  like  a  libation  at  your  feet.  You  must  give  up  many  things, 
but  you  shall  gain  a  thousand  fold  for  all  that  you  relinquish.  Con- 
quest over  the  forces  of  nature,  instead  of  slavery  to  them,  shall  be 
given  you  by  our  clear  eyed  men  of  science  and  the  magic  wand  of  our 
inventors.  For  you  our  philosophers  shall  ponder,  travelers  explore, 
and  poets  sing;  for  you  our  artisans  put  forth  the  manly  energies  of 
the  strong  arm  or  skillful  hand.  The  very  viands  on  your  table,  the 
very  garments  on  your  back,  shall  be  the  product  of  splendid  prowess 
and  tireless  energy  of  thousands,  who  have 

Ransacked  the  ages, 
Spoiled  the  climes 

for  you.  Come  in  with  us  and  we  will  do  you  good.  But  remember 
there  are  two  parties  to  this  contract.  Meum  and  Tuum  are  both 
involved;  hence  the  swift  question  what  will  you  do  for  this  great  and 
generous  firm  of  We,  Us  &  Company?  What  shall  your  relation  be 
to  that  magnificent  everybody  who  knows  so  much  more  than  any- 
body? Ah,  that's  the  question.  There  comes  in  the  crucial  test  of 
what  you  are.  For  civilization  has  her  enemies — implacable  vindic- 
tives — and  chief  among  them  the  drink  habit  and  the  liquor  traffic. 
What  attitude  will  you  take  toward  them?  Shall  your  example  be 
like  a  torch  held  up  in  the  gloom?  '  A  light  in  the  window  for  thee, 
brother. '  Will  you,  of  your  own  free  and  voluntary  choice,  enact  a 
prohibitory  law  for  one  in  the  legislature  of  your  intellect,  declare  it 
constitutional  in  the  supreme  court  of  your  judgment,  and  enforce  it 
by  the  executive  of  your  own  benignant  will?  That  is  what  we  come 
to  urge  upon  your  conscience  along  the  lines  of  moral  suasion." 

"But  no,"  you  say,  "  I  will  eat,  drink,  wear,  speak,  just  what  I 
please."  Nay,  friend,  you  cannot  speak  what  you  please.  It  will  be 
easy  for  you  to  utter  words  so  blasphemous  or  so  unfit  for  cars  polite 
that  you  will  trench  on  the  sharp  circle  of  the  law.     It  will  be  easy  for 


494  MAJORITIES    MUST   EULE. 

you  to  appear  among  us  in  such  garb  that  we  shall  hand  you  over  to 
the  courts. 

Edmund  Burke  says  that  when  man  enters  the  civil  out  of  the  soli- 
tary state,  he  relinquishes  the  very  first  of  personal  liberties  upon  the 
threshold.  What  is  that?  The  liberty  to  defend  himself — he  must 
resign  his  ease  to  judge  and  jury.  If  at  the  outset  he  gives  up  so 
much,  surely  (while  we  may  only  plead  with  him  not  to  patronize  the 
products  of  the  vineyard,  the  brewery,  the  still)  we  may  require  him 
to  earn  his  living  by  honest  sweat  of  brow  or  brain — not  to  absorb  it 
like  a  leech  out  of  the  body  politic,  giving  no  quid  pro  quo.  And  so 
we  come  with  the  question,  "What  business  do  you  intend  to  follow? 
In  your  contract  with  society  it  is  important  to  have  an  answer  to  this 
question  before  we  let  you  in."  "I  shall  start  a  gambling  house." 
"  O,  no,  you  won't,  my  friend;  the  principle  of  gambling  is  a  princi- 
ple of  getting  something  for  nothing,  and  would  be  utterly  subversive 
of  society."  "Well,  then;  I  will  have  a  shop  to  sell  vile  literature." 
"O,  no,  you  won't;  we  shall  interfere  with  your  personal  liberty  just 
at  that  point  in  the  sacred  interest  of  childhood  and  of  home." 

"I  will  set  up  a  tannery,  a  slaughter-house,  a  powder-mill  alongside 
of  your  houses."  "  No  you  will  not;  for  we  will  declare  them  a  nuis- 
ance on  the  instant. 

"  You  may  not  even  build  a  house  of  such  material  as  you  happen 
to  prefer.  We  legislate  on  all  these  matters  in  the  interest  of  the 
majority. " 

"  Well,  then;  I  will  start  an  opium  den." 

"  No;  we  will  have  an  ordinance  against  that  whenever  you  attempt 
such  an  atrocity.  We  are  not  so  ignorant  as  you  suppose.  There  is 
a  history  about  opium.  Taken  in  small  quantities  it  seems  to  do  no 
harm  at  first,  and  exceptionally  strong  constitutions  bear  up  under  its 
curse  for  a  long  period.  But  it  is  a  poison,  and  the  law  of  poisons  is 
its  law,  viz. :  The  tendency  of  yesterday  becomes  the  habit  of  to-day 
and  the  bondage  of  to-morrow.  It  makes  maniacs  out  of  some  men, 
and  its  tendency  is  that  way  in  the  case  of  all,  either  directly  or  by 
transmission  to  their  children.  What  legislation  can  do  to  root  out 
your  shop  it  will,  and  it  is  much  to  make  an  outlaw  and  an  Ishmaelite 
out  of  any  man's  method  of  getting  gain." 

"But  if  you  are  so  hard  on  me,  I  will  start  a  saloon  instead." 

"  No  you  will  not,  my  friend;  and  for  the  self -same  reason  that  we 
will  not  tolerate  the  traffic  in  opium — poison  gathered  from  poppies — 
we  will  not  let  you  sell  the  alcohol  poison  distilled  from  fruits  and 
grains.  The  opening  of  your  saloon  would  be  the  opening  of  Pan- 
dora's box.  It  would  light  the  incendiary's  torch,  impel  the  random 
bullet  and  the  pernicious  knife  stroke,  and  descend  in  heaviest  blows 
on  the  gentlest  and  most  innocent  among  us.     Fifty  per  cent,  of  the 


GOOD   OP   SOCIETY   DEMANDS   IT.  495 

insanity  comes  of  strong  drink;  seventy-five  per  cent,  of  the  crimes 
have  their  inspiration  in  the  dram-shop;  eighty  per  cent,  of  our  pau- 
pers and  ninety  per  cent,  of  our  worthless  youths  emerge  from  drunk- 
ard's homes.  The  personal  liberty  the  dealer  really  seeks  is  his  own 
liberty  to  enslave  a  class.  His  practice  proves  too  much  against  his 
theory.  In  proportion  as  the  slavery  of  the  drink  appetite  enchains 
his  patrons  are  his  own  receipts  increased.  Ours  is  a  country  where 
each  man  is  supposed  to  he  king  over  one— that  one  himself— but 
when  the  integers  in  the  problem  of  free  government  are  systematically 
converted  into  ciphers  by  the  effects  of  strong  drink  and  the  education 
of  the  saloon,  then  is  the  danger  widespread  and  appalling.  The 
home,  too,  has  its  rights  which  the  saloon  is  bound  to  respect. 

"The  child  in  the  midst  is  also  in  the  market  place,  and  the  men 
who  deal  in  alcohobc  stimulants  are  swift  to  bid  for  him.  We  propose 
to  stop  this  auctioneering  for  the  best  beloved  of  tender  mothers' 
hearts.  The  protection  of  society  must  be  withdrawn  from  the  saloon, 
and  its  sheltering  segis  thrown  around  the  home.  The  enlightened 
influence  of  society  must  be  condensed  and  brought  to  bear  through 
the  electric  battery  of  the  ballot-box  along  the  tingling  wires  of  law. 
With  all  kindly  regard  for  our  German  population,  we  propose  to 
level  up  and  not  down,  to  go  forward  and  not  back,  and  to  lend  a 
hand  to  those  who  mourn  over  their  strong  staff  broken,  and  their 
beautiful  rod. 

" Listening  to  crude  arguments  for  'personal  liberty,'  heard  every- 
where in  Iowa,  from  the  lips  of  the  ignorant,  the  thoughtless,  and  the 
base,  we  remember  the  infinite  pathos  of  Madame  Roland's  words, 
that  noblest  of  patriots  and  martyrs  in  the  lawless  days  of  the  French 
Revolution.  Condemned  to  death  by  those  who  knew  her  love  and 
loyalty  to  France,  she  trod  the  scaffold  with  firm  steps,  and  said  as 
her  last  words,  '  O,  Liberty !  what  crimes  are  committed  in  thy  sacred 
name.'" 

SOME   QUERIES   ANSWERED. 

Aside  from  the  foregoing  argument  concerning  personal  liberty, 
Miss  Willard's  address  contained  answers  to  queries  constantly  made 
by  press  and  people.  These  were  considered  under  the  title,  "Amend- 
ment Question  Box,"  and  are  here  answered  in  condensed  form: 

Question.  The  Iowa  amendment,  which  is  to  be  submitted  to  our 
voters  on  the  27th  of  June  declares  that  "no  person  shall  manufac- 
ture for  sale,  sell,  or  keep  for  sale  as  a  beverage,  any  intoxicating 
liquors  whatever,  including  ale,  wine,  and  beer,"  and  requires  the 
legislature  to  prescribe  regulations  of  enforcements  and  penalties  for 
violation.  Now,  then,  is  not  this  contrary  to  the  constitution  of  the 
United  States? 

Answer.     All  persons  of  fair  intelligence  (with  the  exception  of 


49(3  OPINIONS   OP   JUDGES   TANEY  AND   GRIER. 

Senator  Voorhees  of  Indiana)  know  that  Judge  Taney  and  Judge 
Grier,  of  the  United  States  Supreme  Court,  long  ago  rendered  decis- 
ions explicitly  declaring  that  prohibitory  law  is  in  no  wise  contrary  to 
the  letter  or  to  the  spirit  of  the  national  constitution. 

m 

OHIO   AND   IOWA   COMPARED. 

Q.  "What  is  the  difference  between  the  constitution  of  Ohio  and 
that  proposed  for  Iowa? 

A.  That  of  Ohio  says  no  saloon  shall  ever  be  licensed  to  sell  liquor, 
but  it  does  not  say  that  liquor  shall  not  be  sold.  That  of  Iowa  (if 
amended)  will  prohibit  both  sale  and  manufacture.  The  former  is 
negative;  the  latter  positive.  Ohio  says:  "The  State  declines  to 
receive  revenue  from  the  liquor  business,"  but  fails  to  say,  "The 
business  shall  not  be  carried  on.w 

Iowa  says  to  manufacturer  and  dealer,  "Close  out  your  saloon,  or 
we  will  close  you  out."  And  yet  Governor  Foster  of  Ohio,  and  the 
Chicago  Tribune,  and  the  anti-amendment  papers  of  Iowa  delight  to 
confuse  the  minds  of  the  people  as  to  their  difference,  although  it  is 
as  great  as  the  difference  between  black  and  white,  imbecility  and 
action,  something  and  nothing,  life  and  death. 

WHY  NOT  A   STATUTE  ? 

Q.  But  we  object  to  putting  the  police  power  of  the  State  into  the 
constitution.     Why  not  let  it  go  in  a  statute  instead? 

A.  The  constitution  enunciates  principles;  the  statute  provides  for 
carrying  them  into  practical  effect.  The  principle  of  anti-slavery  was 
imbedded  in  the  fourteenth  and  fifteenth  amendments  of  the  national 
constitution;  the  statutes  carried  that  principle  into  effect.  In  like 
manner  the  pending  amendment  in  Iowa  declares  a  great  principle, 
places  it  beyond  the  fluctuations  of  politics,  and  empowers  the  legisla- 
ture to  render  it  efficient  by  statutory  law.  But  aside  from  all  other 
arguments,  the  people  being  sovereign,  being  themselves  the  original 
source  of  power,  may  put  into  their  constitution  whatsoever  they 
please. 

CAN  IT  BE   ENFORCED  ? 

Q.  But  if  we  find  it  so  difficult  to  enforce  our  present  law,  what 
reason  have  we  to  think  the  new  one  would  work  any  better? 

A.  In  the  first  place,  a  new,  stronger,  and  more  direct  expression 
of  the  people's  will  (for  the  present  statute  was  from  the  legislature 
only)  would  give  great  additional  force  to  the  execution  of  law.  In 
the  next  place,  the  present  law  opens  the  door  for  perjury,  as  every 
body  knows  who  has  tried  to  enforce  it.  The  wine  and  beer  clause 
makes  it  almost  a  dead  letter,  just  as  the  liquor  dealers,  who  went  to 
such  pains  to  secure  it,  knew  would  be  the  case.     For  it  is  a  historical 


ARGUMENT    FOR   PROHIBITION.  4i»7 

fact  that  the  only  towns  in  Iowa  where  the  present  law  is  not  a  dead 
letter,  are  those  where  (as  in  Grinnell)  the  people  have,  by  local  ordi- 
nance, prohibited  the  sale  of  ale,  wine,  and  beer,  as  well  as  the  distilled 
drinks.  As  things  are  now,  saloons  are  a  legal  institution,  and  to 
prove  just  what  kind  of  intoxicating  liquors  are  sold  inside  them, 
whether  beer  or  brandy,  whisky  or  wine,  is  well  nigh  impossible. 
Under  the  amendment,  the  very  existence  of  a  saloon,  the  very  pres- 
ence of  its  outfit  and  paraphernalia  would  be  prima  facie  evidence  of 
violated  law.  Now,  if  a  man  has  a  saloon,  the  presumption  is  that  he 
sills  only  wine  and  beer;  then,  if  he  had  a  saloon  or  any  symptoms  of 
one,  the  presumption  is  that  he  is  violating  law. 

DOES  PROHIBITION   PROHIBIT? 

Q.  "Ah,  but,"' we  hear  on  every  side,  "prohibition  doesn't  pro- 
hibit."    How  is  that? 

A.  The  temperance  people  do  not  claim  that  prohibition  is  per- 
fectly carried  out,  any  more  than  other  laws.  They  admit  that  after 
its  adoption  in  any  State  it  will  require  a  long  time  to  secure  its  com- 
plete enforcement  in  large  cities;  but  history  shows  that  it  is  immedi- 
ately effective  in  villages  and  towns,  and  gradually  becomes  so  in 
cities,  its  force  being  educational  and  always  beneficial.  Aside  from 
individual  statistical  testimony,  there  are  three  ways  in  which  the  fact 
that  prohibition  is  not  a  failure  can  be  proved.  First,  by  the  positive 
statement  of  those  who  are  enemies  to  prohibition.  Henry  Reuter, 
at  one  time  President  of  the  Brewers'  Association,  admits  that 
"unfriendly  legislation  has  driven  the  brewing  business  from  Maine; " 
and  no  one  denies  that  distilleries  are  banished  from  the  favored  pre- 
cincts of  that  State.  At  the  National  Liquor  Dealers'  League, 
recently  held  at  Chicago,  the  following  declaration  was  made  by 
Peter  Lieber,  a  well-known  brewer  of  Indianapolis.  Upon  being 
elected  temporary  Chairman,  he  made  a  speech  of  acknowledgment, 
in  the  course  of  which  he  said :  "  Gentlemen,  the  history  of  prohibition 
is  a  history  of  success."  But  actions  speak  louder  than  words,  and 
the  actions  of  liquor  dealers  from  Maine  to  California  prove  that  they 
detest  and  dread  this  law.  They  combine  against  it  everywhere,  and 
we  know  that  men  do  not  compass  sea  and  land  to  make  one  proselyte 
in  a  State  Legislature  or  municipal  council  unless  their  business  suffers 
from  the  law  they  so  remorsely  fight.  Besides,  it  is  a  plain  principle 
of  political  economy  that  no  business  ever  yet  succeeded  better  because 
the  law  was  against  it.  Again,  the  opponents  of  prohibition  prove 
too  much  when  they  say  in  one  breath  that  beer-loving  foreigners  are 
leaving  Kansas,  and  in  another  that  there  was  never  so  much  liquor 
sold  and  drank  there  as  under  prohibition.  Finally,  no  law  is  self- 
executing.     The  officers  and  people  may  be  a  failure,  but  not  the  law; 


498  DOES   LICENSE   REGULATE. 

for  a  law  is-never  a  failure,  save  when  its  principle  is  wrong.    But  wc 
turn  the  tables  on  our  objector  with  this  question: 
If  prohibition  does  not  prohibit, 

DOES  LICENSE    "  REGULATE  ?  " 

Let  Chicago  answer,  with  her  three  thousand  licensed  and  three 
hundred  unlicensed  dram-shops  open  on  the  Sabbath  day;  with  her 
drunken  boys  and  abandoned  girls  thronging  these  haunts  of  infamy ; 
with  her  drunkards  freely  obtaining  liquor  enough  to  keep  flourishing 
the  crop  of  arrests  for  criminal  assault;  with  her  jails  crowded  by 
murderers,  her  vile  "concert"  saloons  in  violation  of  an  ordinance 
which  declares  a  penalty  for  every  exhibition  of  the  kind;  with  her 
horrid  scenes  at  the  police  courts,  where  drunken  men  and  women 
are  sent  to  the  bridewell  and  the  jail,  but  no  indictment  found  against 
the  saloon  keepers  who,  in  open  violation  of  law,'  sold  them  the  liquor 
that  sent  them  there,  and  who  will  do  so  again  as  soon  as  they  can  get 
them  back  into  their  clutches.  Chicago,  with  her  municipal  authori- 
ties and  executive  officers  solemnly  sworn  to  enforce  the  license  law, 
is  a  suggestive  commentary  upon  the  comparative  excellences  of 
license  and  prohibitory  laws;  and  remember  Chicago  is  but  a  type  of 
every  town  and  city  in  the  land. 

"But  let  us  discriminate  between  the  sale  of  whisky  and  of  beer," 
is  the  specific  offered  by  some  well-meaning  people.  The  Duke  of 
Wellington  was  of  this  number,  and  thought  he  had  won  a  greater 
victory  than  Waterloo  when  he  secured  the  passage  of  the  "beer 
act "  in  the  British  Parliament.  For  thirty-nine  years  this  remained 
in  full  force,  and  meanwhile  England  sank  deeper  and  deeper  in 
drunkenness.  The  Convocation  of  Canterbury,  a  department  of  the 
English  Church  which  has  ecclesiastical  supervision  over  fourteen 
millions  of  persons,  then  instituted  a  careful  inquiry  into  the  results 
of  this  same  beer  act.  Let  me  give  you  the  summing  up  of  the  testi- 
mony taken  from  the  lips  of  thousands  of  witnesses,  not  themselves 
temperance  people  either,  but  for  the  most  part  public  officers  of  the 

law: 

"  This  ale  and  beer  act,  though  introduced  for  the  avowed  purpose 
of  repressing  intemperance  by  counteracting  the  temptation  to  exces- 
sive drinking  of  ardent  spirits,  has  been  abundantly  proved  not  only 
to  have  failed  of  its  benevolent  purpose,  but  to  have  served,  through- 
out the  country,  to  multiply  and  intensify  the  very  evils  it  was 
intended  to  remove." 

If  ever  history  learned  a  costly  lesson  that  she  might  teach  it  to 
posterity,  it  was  this  one,  which  America  ignores  to-day. 

But  the  evils  of  beer  legislation  must  not,  in  this  connection,  be 
overlooked.     We  live  in  a  Republic  where  each  man  counts  one  in 


WHY   NOT    HIGH   LICENSE.  499 

every  decision  by  which  public  opinion  crystalizes  into  law.  The 
brewers  are  fast  becoming  dictators  to  those  in  power.  I  quote  Mr. 
Schade,  the  editor  of  their  organ  at  Washington : 

"  No,  gentlemen,  first  personal  and  then  political  liberty.  First 
beer,  then  politics.  If  we  want  to  succeed,  we  must  do  it  at  the 
ballot-box." 

I  quote  Mr.  Clausen,  president  of  the  tenth  Brewers'  Congress : 

"Unity  is  necessary,  and  we  must  form  an  organization  which  not 
only  controls  a  capital  of  $200,000,000,  but  which  also  commands 
thousands  of  votes.  By  our  efforts  the  former  minority  in  the 
Assembly  of  New  York  State  was  changed  to  a  majority  of  twenty  in 
our  favor." 

It  is  as  dangerous  to  the  Republic  to  be  governed  by  an  oligarchy  of 
beer-brewing  and  beer-drinking  citizens  as  by  a  single  wicked  tyrant. 
Yet  our  cities  are  rapidly  being  thus  governed,  and  no  one  can  read 
the  Congressional  record  and  see  the  steady  concessions  to  the  brewing 
interest  without  being  aware  that  beer  is  already  the  determining 
factor  in  our  politics.  Before  this  blear-eyed,  foamy -mouthed  mon- 
ster Legislatures  bow  the  knee,  municipal  authorities  grovel  in  the 
dust,  crying:  "Great  is  Gambrinus  of  the  Teutonians. "  When  a  million 
blurred  and  muddled  ballots  are  cast  into  the  box  on  election  day,  the 
Goddess  of  Liberty  may  well  veil  her  face  in  shame. 

WHY  NOT  HIGH  LICENSE. 

Q.  But  would  not  high  license  work  as  well  and  be  a  more  practi- 
cable measure,  at  the  same  time  adding  to  the  public  revenue? 

A.  In  the  first  place,  the  piinciple  is  wrong,  and,  in  the  next 
place,  the  increased  tax  to  pay  the  cost  of  taking  care  of  the  results  of 
the  liquor  traffic  (crime,  pauperism,  etc.)  render  the  method  penny 
wise  and  pound  foolish.  Besides,  high  license  saddles  the  saloon 
system  upon  the  community,  renders  it  impossible  to  prove  up  cases 
of  violated  law,  and  surrounds  the  dram-shop  with  an  air  of  attractive- 
ness and  respectability  in  the  last  degree  dangerous  to  young  men. 

OUTLAWING  DISTILLERS. 

Q.  But  do  we  not  break  faith  with  the  manufacturers  by  outlawing 
their  business,  heretofore  legal? 

A.  No  more  than  we  do  when  any  other  kind  of  business  is  condemned 
by  law.  This  is  a  risk  to  be  taken  by  liquor  dealers  at  the  outset,  as 
they  very  well  know.  Of  course  this  condemnation  always  involves 
loss,  but  we  may  be  measurably  consoled  in  this  case  by  contemplating 
the  enormous  g ;ains  of  the  past — "the  eight-cent  profit  on  a  ten  cent 
drink,"  by  which  saloon-keepers  have  enjoyed  a  higher  interest  on 
their  investment  than  any  other  class  of  men.  In  general  terms,  all 
20 


500  HOW   ABOUT    DRUGGISTS? 

progress,  all  inventions,  bear  heavily  for  a  while  upon  a  class.  But 
public  policy  must  be  considered,  and  pro  bono  publico  and  sur- 
vival of  the  fittest  must  prevail.  The  question,  therefore,  resolves 
itself  into  this:  Shall  we  let  those  people  engaged  in  the  liquor  traffic 
suffer,  or  shall  we  leave  defenceless  the  people's  homes? 

HOW   ABOUT  DRUGGISTS? 

Q.  But  is  not  this  simply  a  method  of  transferring  sales  of  drink 
from  saloon-keepers  to  druggists? 

A.  To  some  extent  this  will  be  true,  but  you  have  now  to  contend 
against  the  double  evil,  for  these  two  institutions  stand  side  by  side. 
Under  the  amendment  you  will  simplify  the  problem  and  know  just 
whom  you  are  fighting.  In  Arkansas  they  have  hedged  the  druggists 
about  by  requiring  a  sworn  pledge  from  every  physician,  under  heavy 
penalty,  that  he  will  not  furnish  a  prescription  to  those  not  actually 
ill,  and  they  also  keep  a  list  of  all  prescriptions  open  to  public  inspec- 
tion and  render  the  druggist  who  violates  the  law  liable  to  fine  and 
imprisonment. 

IS  THIS  TIME   PREMATURE? 

Q.  But  has  the  time  arrived  for  such  a  sweeping  measure?  Is  not 
this  action  premature? 

A.  Let  this  be  answered  by  the  fact  that  two  separate  Legislatures, 
at  intervals  covering  four  years,  representative  bodies  coming  directly 
from  the  people  and  supposed  to  know  the  wishes  of  their  constituents 
(yea,  verily,  and  the  political  results  to  themselves)  have  by  large 
majorities  placed  the  amendment  squarely  before  the  people.  Besides, 
as  Senator  Wilson  so  pithily  puts  it,  "  If  there  is  doubt  remaining  as 
to  whether  this  is  the  time,  we  propose  to  set  it  at  rest  on  the  27th  of 
June." 

IS  IT  A  SUMPTUARY  LAW? 

Q.  But  is  not  this  a  sumptuary  law? 

A.  In  no  sense  of  that  much  misunderstood  term.  Sumptuary  laws 
flourished  in  the  days  of  ancient  Rome,  and  at  certain  oppressive 
periods  of  English  history,  and  aimed  to  regulate  personal  and  house- 
hold expenses  in  such  a  way  that  more  money  would  pass  into  the 
treasury  of  the  State.  How  often  a  dinner  party  could  be  given,  of 
how  many  courses  it  could  consist,  and  how  many  guests  might  be 
invited  at  a  time — these  were  matters  regulated  by  law.  Now,  the 
brewers  even,  will  not  maintain  that  it  is  a  sumptuary  law  by  which 
saloons  are  closed  upon  election  day,  for  this  is  done  as  a  measure  of 
public  safety,  no  man's  personal  habits  being  thereby  legislated 
against.  But  if  the  public  conscience  becomes  sufficiently  enlightened 
to  perceive  that  the  saloons  are  a  danger  not  only  upon  election,  but 
every  other  day,  and,  thus  perceiving,  extends  the  provisions  of  the 


THE   QUESTION    OF   HEALTH.  501 

law.  is  it  sumptuary  in  the  last  case  any  more  than  in  the  first?  By 
parity  of  reasoning  it  is  not.  Sumptuary  law  regulates  personal 
habits,  prohibition  assails  a  harmful  business;  sumptuary  law  inter- 
feres with  the  driuk(  r,  prohibition  with  the  seller;  the  first  is  oppres- 
sive, the  second  legitimate. 

WHAT   SHALL  BE  DONE  WITH  BUYERS. 

Q.  But  ought  not  the  drunkard  to  bear  his  part  of  the  blame,  and 
does  not  this  kind  of  legislation  unjustly  discriminate  against  the 
seller? 

A.  These  things  ought  ye  to  have  done,  and  not  have  left  the  other 
undone.  Doubtless  the  drinker  ought  to  have  been  dealt  with  as  to 
the  results  of  his  crime,  and  he  can  be  by  the  statutes.  Let  us  not 
then  throw  away  so  good  a  tool  as  the  amendment  because  it  is  not 
perfect.  As  a  general  principle  you  can  deal  with  a  barrel  of  whisky 
in  the  shop  of  the  seller  more  readily  than  in  the  flask  or  stomach  of 
the  consumer. 

THE   QUESTION   OP  HEALTH. 

Q.  But  after  all,  is  it  not  true  that  alcoholic  stimulants,  taken  in 
moderation,  are  good  for  people's  health? 

A.  No;  because  men  of  the  greatest  physical  endurance  do  not 
belong  to  the  drinking  class,  as  -is  proved  by  the  statistics  of  life- 
insurance  companies,  by  the  death-rate  in  cases  of  pestilence  and  sun- 
stroke, also  by  the  record  of  successful  explorers,  pedestrians,  oars- 
men, etc.  The  same  fact  is  also  proven  from  the  changeless  tendency 
of  the  appetite  for  alcoholic  drinks  toward  self -perpetuation,  so  that 
one  glass  says  two,  two  call  for  three,  and  so  on.  "  All  the  physiolo- 
gists living  cannot  touch  the  Gibraltar  of  this  argument."  Science, 
experience,  and  the  golden  rule  unite  to  answer  this  last  question  with 
the  most  emphatic  negative.  But,  let  it  be  remembered,  this  amend- 
ment  limits  no  man  as  to  what  he  shall  drink.  Do  not  let  us  confound 
things  that  are  different.  Shall  the  liquor  traffic  be  legalized?  The 
amendment  answers  no!  May  we  all  take  for  our  motto  the  words  of 
Christ :  ' '  Every  plant  that  my  Heavenly  Father  hath  not  planted  shall 
be  rooted  up." 

Friends,  there  is  always  a  way  out  for  humanity.  Progress  never 
calls  a  halt,  but  beats  her  drums  and  waves  her  banners  far  up  the 
heights  where  courageous  voices  shout  "Excelsior."  When  Sir  Wil- 
fred Law  son's  local  option  resolution  was  adopted  in  Parliament  last 
spring,  The  London  Times  made  a  comment  which  has  in  it  the  explo- 
sive force  of  nitro-glycerine,  for  it  declared  that  "this  measure  would 
never  succeed  until  woman  had  the  ballot." 

The  day  will  come,  and  is  not  distant,  when  to  offset  the  vote  of 
Cork  and  Hamburg,  the  "home  vote  "will  be  counted  in,  not  out. 


502  AN   OPEN   SECRET. 

This  expectation  is  based  on  the  fact  that  the  thoughtful  classes  in  the 
community  are  already  committed  to  the  movement  that  State  after 
State  is  steadily  enlarging  the  scope  of  woman's  power;  that  in 
four-fifths  of  the  Woman'  Christian  Temperance  Unions  the  movement 
has  been  formally  indorsed,  and  that  press  and  pulpit  are  ranging 
themselves  in  favor  of  the  change. 

Dear  ladies,  let  us  be  of  good  courage.  The  gentlemen  of  this  audi- 
ence will  not  decline  to  represent  us  at  the  polls.  Constitutional  pro- 
hibition will  be  secured  in  this  generous,  wide-awake  "Hawkeye 
State,"  through  manhood  suffrage.  But  when,  on  the  issue  of  enforce- 
ment the  question  becomes  partisan,  as  assuredly  it  must,  Barak  will 
call  Deborah  to  his  side  in  the  Prohibition  party  of  the  future,  and 
humanity's  full  voice  will  then  be  heard  giving  everywhere  a  temper- 
ance majority  "  For  God  and  Home  and  Native  Land." 

"  Somewhere  beneath  the  vaulted  sky, 
Or  underneath  the  slumbering  sod, 
Wrath  broods  its  thunders  ere  they  fly, 
Pale  Justice  steels  her  toughening  rod ; 
When  wealth  and  power  have  had  their  hour, 
Comes  for  the  weak  the  hour  of  God." 

THE   OPEN   SECRET. 

Here  follows  a  fair  sample  of  revelations  coming  to  me 
continually  as  a  temperance  worker.  This  is  from  a  for- 
mer schoolmate — the  gayest  and  one  of  the  most  gifted  in 
our  college.     She  is  writing  of  her  husband : 


,  Michigan. 

"  Last  Sunday,  for  the  first  time,  I  was  obliged  to  have  help,  Ned 
was  so  bad.  I  had  not  slept  for  three  successive  nights.  Every 
evening  I  had  hunted  him  up  and  brought  him  home,  but  he  would 
slip  away  about  four  o'clock  in  the  morning.  I  had  been  to  the 
saloons  and  begged  them  not  to  sell  him  liquor.  One  man  denied  that 
he  kept  it,  swore  at  me,  and  ordered  me  out  of  his  place.  O,  my 
friend,  where  has  God  gone?    He  certainly  has  forsaken  this  town  of 

.     Three  gentlemen  staid  with  Ned  all  day  Sunday  and  Sunday 

night  and  Monday.  He  is  so  penitent  when  it  is  over,  and  promises 
never  to  touch  strong  drink  again.  Sometimes  it  will  be  several 
months  before  he  does,  and  then  some  one,  perhaps  a  prominent  man, 
and  one  who  knoios  his  weakness,  will  invite  him  to  take  a  drink,  and 
with  one  glass  he  loses  all  control.  I  have  humiliated  myself  again 
and  again  by  being  pleasant  to  men  I  despised,  just  that  I  might  influ- 
ence them  to  let  Ned  alone,  and  then,  perhaps,  have  failed.     I  have 


POOR  NED  !  503 

been  in  saloons  full  of  quarrelsome  men,  late  a*  night  and  all  alone, 
to  persuade  my  husband  to  come  home.  I  have  questioned  lawyers  to 
know  if  I  can  not  prevent  liquor  dealers  from  selling  to  him.  They 
always  shake  their  heads.  The  trouble  is  they  are  afraid  to  do  any- 
thing about  it.  The  liquor  dealers  control  our  lawyers,  some  of  our 
ministers,  and  all  our  public  schools.  Why,  we  have  a  forty  thousand 
dollar  school-house  built  from  the  taxes  on  our  saloons.  I  could  not 
get  a  single  newspaper  to  publish  that  little  announcement  you  sent 
me  of  a  W.  C.  T.  U.  Convention.  I  took  it  to  a  pastor  and  asked  him 
to  use  his  influence  to  get  it  in,  but  he  shook  his  head  and  said  "  it 
was  of  no  use  to  try."  Poor  Ned!  He  is  such  a  grand,  good  fellow 
when  he  is  sober  that  only  the  welfare  of  my  boys  would  make  me 
wish  to  leave  him,  and  that  not  always,  but  sometimes.  It  is  such  a 
relief  to  talk  straight  out  of  my  tired  heart.  I  have  repressed  my 
feelings  and  shut  up  my  troubles  so  long  that  I  am  in  great  danger  of 
changing  into  an  icy -hearted  woman— -who  used  to  be  so  merry.  Dear 
friend  of  better  days,  please  do  not  forget  to  pray  for  me,  for  my 
faith  does  not  grow  stronger." 


CHAPTER  XXVII. 

THE  MODOCS  OF  THE  LAVA  BEDS  IN  THE  INDIAN 

TERRITORY. 

A  Quaker  conquest — Miss  Willard  among  the  Modocs. 

Ocean  Grove,  N.  J.,  August,  1881. 

FIGURE  to  yourself  three  scenes  :  The  first  is  in  the 
lava  beds  of  Oregon.  Here  the  fierce,  wild  Modoc 
Indians  are  scalping  General  Canby  and  the  Rev.  Dr. 
Thomas,  while  Colonel  Meacham  is  left  upon  the  field  for 
dead, — and  all  this  comes  to  pass  under  a  flag  of  truce. 
In  the  desperate  fight  squaws  redden  their  hands  in  the 
white  men's  blood,  for  so  desperate  is  the  struggle  that 
women's  hearts  become  as  hard  as  those  of  life-long 
warriors.  News  of  the  slaughter  is  quickly  carried  along 
telegraphic  wires,  and  throughout  the  civilized  world  the 
name  of  "  Modoc "  becomes  the  synonym  of  savage 
cruelty. 

The  second  scene  transports  us  to  the  simple  Quaker 
home  of  Asa  and  Emeline  Tuttle,  of  the  Quapaw  agency, 
Indian  Territory.  He  is  a  Quaker  preacher  from  the 
State  of  Maine,  and  she  a  teacher  from  the  State  of 
Indiana,  and  to  both  there  came,  many  years  since,  "  a 
deep  concern  "  for  their  red  brethren,  insomuch  that  they 
dedicated  their  lives  to  each  other  and  also  to  that  Indian 
peace  policy,  which  was  the  happiest  Presidential  thought 
of  General  Grant.  Beloved  by  her  Indian  pupils,  and 
delighted  with  the  work  in  which  she  and  her  husband 
have  been  so  grandly  useful,  Emeline  Tuttle,  from  the 

(504) 


AMONG   THE   MODOCS.  505 

day  on  which  she  learns  of  the  horrid  Modoc  fight,  sighs 
for  new  worlds  to  conquer ! 

With  an  earnestness  which  hecomes  like  a  fire  in  the 
bones,  she  covets  these  heathen  for  her  inheritance,  and 
these  uttermost  parts  of  the  earth  for  her  possession. 
Often  in  the  twilight  she  goes  away  alone  into  a  little 
grove  and  prays  with  a  fervor  that  would  frighten  her  did 
she  not  feel  it  "  borne  in  upon  her  soul,"  as  the  Quakers 
say,  and  in  the  night  she  wakes,  with  tears  of  joy  upon 
her  face  from  dreams  in  which  the  Modocs  have  indeed 
been  given  her  to  teach.  So  praying,  trusting,  and  mean- 
while teaching  her  Indian  school,  the  days  "go  on,  go 

on. 

Nearly  a  year  passes,  when  behold,  one  autumn  after- 
noon a  shabby  railroad  train  rolls  along  the  prairie,  and 
from  some  creaking  old  cars  are  literally  dumped,  almost 
at  Mrs.  Tuttle's  feet,  the  horrible,  marauding  Modocs  of 
the  Lava  Beds.  They  are  in  paint,  and  blankets,  and 
tattooing,  with  rings  in  their  noses  and  (pardon,  ladies)  in 
their  ears  also.  Unkempt,  uncleanly,  huddled  together  in 
squatting  attitude,  with  untaught  hands,  brains  cobwebbed 
by  superstition,  and  bodies  diseased  by  strong  drink; 
without  habits  of  industry,  instincts  of  home,  and  knowl- 
edge of  Christianity ;  this  band  of  savages  is  turned  over 
to  Brother  Asa  and  Sister  Emeline  to  see  what  the  New 
Testament  and  the  total  abstinence  pledge  can  do  for 
them. 

Seven  years  or  thereabouts  have  flown,  and  on  Saturday 
evening,  the  23d  of  May  last,  it  was  my  fortune  to  be 
landed  in  the  Modoc  settlement,  to  spend  a  few  days  with 
Mrs.  Turtle,  now  vice-president  for  the  Indian  Territory 
of  our  National  W.  C.  T.  U.  And  this  is  the  last  scene 
of  the  "  dissolving  view  "  of  sloughed-off  barbarism — the 
dawn  of  a  new  manhood  in  Christ  Jesus.  Driving  along 
the  fragrant  prairie  we  passed  farm  after  farm  belonging 


506  A   SABBATH    AMONG   THEM. 

to  different  members  of  the  tribe.  Under  the  guidance 
of  a  kind  Quaker  farmer  fences  were  building  and  crops 
being  planted,  while  on  every  hand  comfortable  log-houses 
were  to  be  seen.  In  a  neat  white  cottage,  I  found  my 
Quaker  friends,  and  in  great  peace  and  quietness  slept 
the  sleep  of  the  weary  that  night  in  a  community  where 
the  hands  that  used  to  clasp  scalping-knives  had  grown 
familiar  with  plough-handles,  and  the  voices  that  yelled 
the  lava  beds'  war-whoop  now  sang  the  Moody  hymns. 

The  next  day  was  the  Sabbath,  and  trooping  from  every 
side  came  the  swarthy-faced  men,  women,  and  children  of 
this  strange  race.  In  a  pretty  building,  seated  with  Hol- 
brook's  furniture,  and  answering  the  double  purpose  of 
church  and  school,  we  gathered  for  morning  service.  It 
had  been  decorated  in  honor  of  my  visit,  and  the  motto 
of  our  W.  C.  T.  U.  was  arched  in  evergreen  letters  behind 
the  simple  pulpit :  "  For  God,  and  home,  and  native  land." 
The  Sunday-school  lesson  for  that  day — which  the  Modocs 
studied  in  common  with  all  other  Christians!  —  was 
"  Answers  to  Prayer,"  and  after  a  scripture  recitation,  in 
which  all  the  younger  ones  participated  with  remarkable 
clearness  of  English,  I  was  asked  to  tell  them  once  more 
the  story  of  the  temperance  crusade — the  greatest  prayer 
movement  of  the  nineteenth  century.  They  had  heard  it 
often  from  Mrs.  Tuttle's  lips,  but  listened  with  all  the 
more  appreciation  on  that  account.  The  Indian  "Ugh," 
of  which  we  hear  so  much,  was  frequently  employed,  and 
when  I  had  finished  that  thrilling  and  pathetic  story  of 
"  The  Women  who  Dared,"  those  Indians,  with  their  tall 
heads,  swart  faces,  and  beaming,  dark  eyes,  sang  "  Rock 
of  Ages"  (our  crusade  hymn),  as  I  have  seldom  heard  it 
sung  in  church  or  prayer-meeting. 

The  invitation  was  then  given  for  any  to  speak.  Colonel 
D.  R.  Dyer  of  Illinois,  agent  of  this  reservation,  and  an 
earnest  temperance  man,  spoke  of  his  determination  to 


PRINCESS    MARY   AND    CAPTAIN    JACK.  f)07 

enforce  in  his  domain  the  prohibitory  law  with  which  the 
entire  Territory  is  blessed.  Asa  Tuttle  recounted  the 
splendid  growth  of  public  sentiment  among  the  Modocs, 
until  now  every  man,  woman,  and  child  wears  the  ribbon 
and  belongs  to  the  Woman's  Christian  Temperance  Union, 
and  most  of  them  are  members  of  the  Society  of  Friends. 
The  Indians  then  stood  forward  one  by  one  to  speak,  an 
exercise  of  which,  by  the  way,  they  highly  approve.  With 
inimitable  reverence  "  Scar-Face  Charlie,"  "  Long  George.'' 
"  Steamboat  Frank,"  and  others  pointed  to  the  great  gilt- 
edged  Bible  as  the  book  that  makes  the  white  man  what 
he  is,  and  with  impressive  gravity  to  the  bottles  of  alcohol 
I  had  jnst  used  in  an  experiment,  as  the  "fire-water" 
which  has  reduced  the  Indian  to  degradation. 

Princess  Mary,  sister  to  Captain  Jack,  was  present ; 
also  his  two  wives,  comely-faced  women,  but  with  no 
oratorical  ambitions.  Steamboat  Frank's  wife  spoke  with 
more  freedom  and  eloquence  than  any  other  person,  and 
the  Modocs  recognize  her  as  decidedly  superior  to  her 
husband,  albeit  he  is  the  "preacher"  of  the  tribe.  The 
perfect  equality  of  men  and  women  in  the  Lord's  house 
has,  of  course,  been  thoroughly  set  forth  by  these 
enlightened  Quakers,  and  is  thoroughly  accepted  by  the 
Indians,  abhorrent  as  would  have  been  the  thought  seven 
years  ago.  A  Cherokee  lady  named  Mrs.  Arnold,  the 
post-mistress  at  Yinita,  I.  T.,  had  accompanied  me  to  the 
.Modoc  settlement,  and  it  was  indeed  suggestive  to  see  in 
her  the  fruit  of  generations  of  Christian  training,  as  she 
came  gently  forward,  saying,  "  I  am  so  glad,  dear  friends, 
that  you  have  embraced  temperance  and  the  gospel,  for 
they  have  redeemed  our  Cherokee  nation ;  and  we  are 
proud  of  our  Indian  blood,  and  are  doing  all  we  can  to 
make  the  Cherokee  name  respected,  even  as  you  will 
make  the  name  of  Modoc  noble  and  honorable." 

And   now   four   little   Modoc   girls   came  forth,   with 


508  A   MODOC    BENEDICTION. 

bright,  handsome  faces,  roguish  looks,  and  in  their  hands 
a  pretty  bead  basket,  trimmed  with  gay  ribbons.  In  perfect 
English  and  musical  unison  they  thanked  me  for  my 
visit  (Hiawatha  fashion,  "  Since  you  come  far  to  see  us"), 
and  said  that  as  "poor  little  Modoc  girls,  they  hadn't 
much  to  give,  but  had  made  this  little  basket  to  remind 
me  of  them  when  I  was  far  away,"  concluding  with  the 
sweet  Bible  benediction,  "  The  Lord  bless  thee  and  keep 
thee ;  the  Lord  make  His  face  to  shine  upon  thee  and  be 
gracious  unto  thee;  the  Lord  lift  up  His  countenance  upon 
thee  and  give  thee  peace."  Well,  when  those  fresh  yonng 
voices  ceased,  it  was  very  quiet  in  the  little  church,  for  I 
tried  in  vain  to  speak,  and  we  all  cried  together.  Some- 
how it  was  so  blessed  and  so  wonderful — the  change  in 
these  "  Modocs  of  the  lava  beds,"  and  the  dear  gospel 
temperance  cause  which  brought  us  face  to  face  had 
renewed  so  many  ruined  lives  of  those  who  sat  about  me, 
that  "  I  wished  in  vain  that  my  tongue  might  utter  the 
thoughts  which  arose  in  me."  But  after  awhile  I  told 
them  that  though  I  had  been  welcomed  by  noble  people 
in  nearly  forty  States  and  Territories  for  the  temperance 
union's  sake,  by  Governor  St.  John  of  Kansas,  and 
Governor  Colquitt  of  Georgia,  in  words  most  brotherly, 
and  though  I  had  talked  with  the  Great  Chief  at  the 
White  House,  I  had  never,  until  these  little  Modoc  girls 
spoke  kindly  to  me,  been  so  deeply  touched  by  human 
words  that  I  had  vainly  tried  to  make  reply. 

In  conclusion:  intelligent  men  and  women  in  the 
Indian  Territory  desire  me  to  urge  two  considerations 
upon  our  people  at  home.  First:  The  importance  of  trade 
schools.  Head,  heart,  and  hand  must  all  be  educated, 
if  we  would  bind  the  Indians  to  us  in  a  covenant  never 
to  be  broken.  It  is  a  proverb  that  "  no  Indian  can  build 
a  bridge."  So  little  of  our  Yankee  skill  have  they  by 
heredity  or  rearing,  that  for  this  reason  we  should  make 


PROJECT   OF   A    UNIVERSITY.  509 

all  the  more  strenuous  efforts  for  their  development  in 
this  respect.  Many  a  youth  and  maiden  (especially  the 
latter)  have  returned  to  their  tribes  after  years  of  school- 
ing, and  by  reason  of  their  inability  to  show  any  practical 
results  of  their  efforts,  have  become  the  butt  of  ridicule, 
and  have  been  forced  by  their  friends  to  resume  their 
blanket,  paint,  and  moccasins.  But  let  them  return  skilled 
in  some  useful  art,  and  they  will  "  hold  their  own  "  and 
lead  others  to  desire  similar  acquirements,  greatly  ad- 
vancing their  tribes  in  the  outward  forms  of  civilization. 

Second:  The  advantages  of  having  the  schools  in  the 
territory.  The  reflex  influence  of  the  faculty  and  institu- 
tion on  surrounding  Indian  communities  would  be  strong 
and  beneficent.  Students  would  suffer  less  in  health  and 
heart  than  they  do  by  this  virtual  exile  from  home  and 
country;  would  also  be  less  liable  to  the  alienations  from 
their  people  which  now  ensue.  A  favorite  project  is  a 
university  for  the  Five  Nations,  at  their  capital,  Telequah, 
with  a  board  of  trustees  selected  from  the  tribes,  and  the 
Indian  commissioner  at  the  head. 

Third:  There  as  here,  the  prohibitory  law  does  not 
enforce  itself.  Without  vigilant  efforts  on  the  part  of  the 
agents,  it  is  but  a  rusty  sword  in  a  still  more  rusty 
scabbard.  Under  perfidious  Commissioner  Hayt  (whose 
entire  wits  were  absorbed  in  fraudulent  attempts  to 
make  money  out  of  his  office)  the  prohibitory  law  was 
largely  a  dead  letter  in  towns  and  villages.  But  since  the 
advent  of  Commissioner  Hiram  Price  of  Iowa,  a  thorough, 
active  temperance  man,  there  is  a  vigorous  tension  of  the 
reins,  with  a  marked  approval  on  the  part  of  all  save 
those  who  "  feel  the  halter  draw." 

In  Colonel  Dyer's  reservation  (the  "  Quapaw  ")  there 
has,  however,  been  strict  enforcement  for  years,  and  no 
better  object  teaching  on  the  merits  of  prohibition  can  be 
desired  than,  is  here  furnished.  Fourteen  mounted  Indians 


510  MINUS   BAR-ROOMS   AND   GROG-SHOPS. 

in  Uncle  Sam's  uniform  strike  terror  to  the  hearts  of  men 
with  big  box,  little  box,  carpet-sack,  or  bundle,  suspected 
of  containing  the  products  of  vineyard,  brewery,  or  still. 
Missionaries  come  and  go  at  pleasure,  travelers  camp  out 
minus  escort  or  weapons  ;  ladies  drive  their  spirited  horses 
hither  and  yon  with  none  to  molest  them  or  make  them 
afraid.  We  must  revise  our  ignorant  fancies  of  Indian 
Territory  by  the  fact  that  it  abounds  in  churches,  school- 
houses,  and  homes,  but  is  minus  bar-rooms  and  grog- 
shops. God  speed  the  day  when  Massachusetts  may  have 
a  record  equally  encouraging. 


CHAPTER  XXVIII. 

MRS.  L.   M.   K   STEVENS   OF    MAINE.— MRS.   F.   A.  BENT, 
WITH  HER  GOLDEN  CORNET. 

NOTWITHSTANDING  her  earnest  plea  to  be  left 
out  of  this  veracious  chronicle,  "Mrs.  Stevens  of 
Maine  "  is  a  figure  too  central  for  such  treatment.  Her 
native  pines  are  a  true  symbol  of  the  rectitude  and  whole- 
someness  that  individualize  the  character  of  this  brave 
and  womanly  coadjutor  of  Neal  Dow  in  the  later  temper- 
ance work  of  Maine.  As  president  of  the  State  W.  C.  T.  U., 
and  recording  secretary  of  our  national  society,  Mrs.  Ste- 
vens has  been  conspicuous  in  much  of  the  most  thorough 
work  we  have  inaugurated.  As  she  said  to  a  friend, 
"  When  I  heard  about  the  Ohio  crusade,  I  thought,  '  That 
means  me,  too ! '  I  joined  the  army  then  and  there,  and 
have  marched  right  along  ever  since."  For  seven  years 
she  has  conducted  meetings  in  her  own  city,  and  all  kinds 
of  temperance  work  are  as  familiar  to  her  as  knitting 
stockings  was  to  her  grandmother.  She  has  a  generous 
and  well-to-do  husband,  glad  and  proud  of  his  wife's  work, 
and  one  lovely  child — her  "  sunbeam,"  a  bright  girl  of  fif- 
teen, who  already  writes  debates  on  prohibition  and  the 
ballot  for  woman  as  a  "  Home  Protection  "  weapon.  Mrs. 
Stevens  is  of  fragile  physique,  and  her  health  was  delicate 
until  the  temperance  work  welcomed  her  to  a  life  largely 
spent  in  the  open  air.  The  streets  of  Portland  have  not 
a  sight  more  familiar,  and  surely  none  more  welcome 
to  all  save  evil-doers,  than  Mrs.  Stevens  in  her  phaiton 
rapidly  driving  her  spirited  horse  from  police  station  to 
Friendly  Inn ;  from  Erring  Woman's  Refuge  to  the  sher- 

(511) 


512  MRS.    L.    M.    N.    STEVENS. 

iff's  office.  The  round  of  her  duties  for  the  day- 
would  be  far  more  thrilling*  than  the  dilettante  society  nov- 
elist knows  how  to  imagine,  much  less  depict.  Histories 
full  of  the  real  heart-throb,  and  the  romance  of  actual 
misery  are  poured  into  her  ears  as  she  kneels  to  pray 
beside  some  newly-arrested  woman  at  the  jail.  Betrayer 
and  betrayed  sometimes  accept  her  gentle  arbitration ; 
friendless  boys  from  country  homes  owe  to  her  the  open 
door  into  a  better  way  of  life  ;  drunkards  consecrate  them- 
selves to  Christ  in  her  meetings;  time-serving  officials 
dread  her  evidence  at  court ;  saloon-keepers  hate  the  keen 
scrutiny  of  her  fearless  investigation.  She  often  says  to 
the  devoted  women  associated  with  her:  "  When  I  enlisted 
in  the  W.  C.  T.  U.  warfare,  it  was  for  life,  and  when  the 
day  is  darkest  my  courage  is  the  best."  In  a  letter  to  one 
of  them,  she  refers  to  her  religious  experience  in  words 
so  characteristic  that  we  borrow  them : 

"  I  was  but  twelve  years  old  when  my  only  brother  died, 
and  the  expression  of  the  minister  who  said,  'He  died 
like  a  Christian  and  a  philosopher,'  lodged  in  my  childish 
head.  From  that  time  the  problem  of  a  religious  life 
came  to  be  mixed  in  with  mathematical  and  other  problems. 
My  invalid  mother  was  a  Baptist,'  my  scholarly  father 
was  a  Universalis!,  and  to  me  there  were  things  unreasona- 
ble and  things  beautiful  in  both  beliefs.  But  the  thing 
most  beautiful  of  all  was  the  love  of  Christ,  and  so  when 
I  came  to  a  place  where  it  seemed  to  me  I  needed  a 
church  home,  I  could  but  choose  it  where  the  creed  to 
which  I  must  subscribe  did  not  limit  His  love  and  power, 
but  asserted  it  to  be  strong  enough  somehow  and  some- 
where to  restore  all  souls  to  holiness  and  happiness.  So 
you  see,  my  religious  '  confession  of  faith'  is  not  thrilling 
at  all,  like  most  of  our  dear  women's,  but  to  me  it  is 
meaning-full,  and  I  am  happy." 

Mrs.  Stevens,  though  disagreeing  with  the  majority  of 


MRS.  M.  A.  BENT,  with  her  cornet. 


MRS.    F.    A.    BENT.  515 

our  W.  C.  T.  U.  in  her  theory  of  the  future,  is  in  perfect 
unity  with  us  as  to  methods  and  plans,  and  joins  us  in 
the  sacrament  of  sacred  deeds. 

MRS.    F.    A.    RENT,    OF    PORTLAND, 

the  charming  cornetist  of  our  National  W.  C.  T.  U.  Con- 
ventions, is  a  niece  of  Mrs.  Stevens,  the  wife  of  a  young- 
business  man  of  Portland,  who  is  himself  a  fine  amateur 
musician.  Playfully  taking  his  instrument  one  day,  his 
wife  found  she  could  make  music,  too,  and  henceforth, 
encouraged  by  his  generous  aid,  the  gifted  little  woman 
lias  been  going  on  with  her  study  of  this  inspiring  instru- 
ment under  the  best  Boston  teachers,  and  now  she  is  glad 
to  lay  her  gifts  and  acquisitions  on  the  altar  of  the  tem- 
perance reform. 

The  pretty,  slight  figure  with  the  golden  cornet  has 
been  for  years  one  of  the  pleasant  features  of  the  national 
meeting.  In  Louisville  a  leading  pastor  playfully  said, 
"  Mrs.  Bent,  you  at  least  can  blow  your  own  horn,"  where- 
upon the  bright  little  woman  replied,  "  0,  no,  sir ;  you 
mistake ;  I  am  only  blowing  Maine's  prohibition  bugle, 
and  I  expect  to  do  so  until  the  echoes  fly  from  all  the 
States." 

In  the  Mammoth  Cave  excursion  of  our  delegates,  the 
golden  cornet  enlivened  the  long  ride,  and  sent  old  "Coro- 
nation" sounding  through  the  wierd  "Star  Chamber"  in 
a  fashion  not  easy  to  forget. 

The  muster  roll  of  Maine  is  too  ample  for  my  book. 
Miss  Mary  Crosby  and  Mrs.  Crossman  of  Bangor,  Mrs. 
Hunt  of  Augusta,  and  Mrs.  George  S.  Hunt  of  Portland, 
are  among  the  leaders. 


CHAPTER  XXIX. 

LIFE  AND  WORK  OF  JULIA  COLMAN,* 

Superintendent  of  the  Literature  Department  of  the  National  W.  C.  T.  U. 

THIS  well-known  temperance  worker  came  of  mingled 
Puritan  and  Huguenot  blood.  The  Colman  family 
from  England  settled  in  Wethersfield,  Conn.,  in  1634. 
About  the  year  1800  her  grandfather's  family  moved 
"  away  out  west "  to  Northampton,  Montgomery  County 
(now  Fulton  County),  New  York,  which  was  her  native 
village.  Her  mother,  Livia  Spier,  was  of  Welsh  ancestry, 
who  came  to  Boston  eight  generations  since. 

Her  father,  Rev.  Henry  R.  Colman,  a  clergyman  of 
the  M  E.  Church,  after  several  years  itinerancy  in  the 
Troy  Conference,  went  in  1810  to  Wisconsin  as  mission- 
ary to  the  Oneida  Indians,  and  settled  near  Green  Bay. 
Here  the  child  Julia  took  lessons  in  self-denying  labor, 
and,  in  her  juvenile  efforts  to  communicate  with  these 
untaught  children  of  the  forest,  laid  the  foundation  of 
that  simplicity  and  directness  of  style  for  which  her 
writings  are  noted,  and  which  constitute  both  the  charm 
and  success  of  her  extended  literary  productions.  There 
were  no  schools  in  that  then  wild  region  which  she  could 
attend,  but  the  lack  was  supplied  by  careful  home  teach- 
ing, and  the  privation  only  excited  her  youthful  energies 
to  greater  exertion.  In  true  Yankee-girl  fashion,  she 
early  commenced  teaching  in  Calumet  and  Fond-du-lac 
Counties,  "living  in  the  parlor" — as  boarding  around 
from  family  to  family  was  there  termed — and  indus- 
triously continuing  her  own  studies  as  she  could.    During 

*This  sketch  was  furnished  by  Mrs.  Helen  E.  Brown  of  New  York. 

(516) 


MISS   JULIA    COLMAN.  517 

this  period  she  commenced  the  study  of  botany,  analyzing 
and  classifying  over  three  hundred  specimens  before 
having  the  aid  of  any  teacher.  This  was  a  rare  achieve- 
ment, strikingly  indicating,  and  at  the  same  time  helping 
to  develop  the  faculty  for  accurate  observation  with  which 
nature  had  endowed  her,  and  training  her  into  those 
habits  of  careful  research  which  have  since  proved  so 
useful  in  other  departments. 

When  Lawrence  University,  at  Appleton,  opened  its 
doors  for  students,  Miss  Colman  was  in  the  first  classes. 
She  remained  there  for  nearly  two  years,  and  then  spent 
two  years  at  Cazenovia  Seminary,  New  York,  under  Rev. 
Dr.  Bannister,  graduating  in  the  first  class  in  the  colle- 
giate or  five  years'  course.  Her  specialties  were  the 
languages  and  moral  science,  with  unusual  aptitude  in 
physiology  and  chemistry. 

After  a  year  or  two  longer  in  teaching,  she  deliberately 
chose  literary  pursuits,  accepting  a  position  in  the  edi- 
torial office  of  the  Methodist  Sunday-school  Union  and 
Tract  Society,  where  she  remained  over  thirteen  years,  as 
librarian  and  assistant  to  Drs.  Kidder,  Wise,  and  Vincent, 
making  acquaintance  with  editorial,  publishing,  and 
benevolent  society  work,  which  has  been  of  the  greatest 
value  to  her  in  her  present  position.  During  a  portion  of 
this  time  she  assisted  in  editing  the  Sunday-School  Advo- 
cate, which  then  had  a  circulation  of  nearly  400,000,  and 
where  her  articles,  signed  "  Aunt  Julia,"  attracted  much 
attention. 

Here  she  commenced  a  crusade  against  tobacco  by 
inducing  the  boys  to  form  local  "Anti-Tobacco  Leagues," 
to  learn  about  tobacco,  and  to  work  against  it,  especially 
by  distributing  anti-tobacco  literature.  She  provided 
them  with  a  manual  and  other  requisites,  and  over  one 
hundred  such  leagues  were  formed  in  different  parts  of 
the  country.  They  were  ephemeral,  as  boys'  societies 
necessarily  are,  but  they  aimed  in  the  right  direction,  and 


518  NOT  AN  ADMIRER  OF  TOBACCO. 

doubtless  did  something  towards  checking  a  great  and 
growing  evil.  It  was,  at  all  events,  a  foreshadowing  of 
future  work. 

Translations  from  the  French  and  German  of  articles 
for  the  National  Magazine  and  letters  for  the  Christian 
Advocate,  the  preparation  of  a  number  of  small  books  for 
the  children  on  natural  history,  anti-slavery,  and  temper- 
ance, were  among  the  literary  labors  of  that  period  ;  while 
benevolent  efforts  in  the  large  Sunday-school  of  Greene 
Street  church,  where  for  five  years  she  was  lady  superin- 
tendent, constituted  her  outside  work.  These  constant 
and  pressing  demands,  however,  finally  proved  too  much 
for  her  health,  and  she  relinquished  a  portion  of  them  for 
a  series  of  studies  in  medicine  and  physiology.  Through 
these  she  found  her  way  into  restored  health,  which  has 
continued  almost  unbroken  to  the  present  time.  She  was 
also  providentially  led  in  this  way  into  an  acquaintance 
with  the  medical  and  scientific  aspects  of  the  temperance 
question.  Are  not  the  Lord's  ways  as  far  above  ours  as 
the  heavens  are  higher  than  the  earth  ?  Thus  it  is  that 
He  chooses  one  and  another,  develops,  adapts,  and 
ordains  them  that  they  may  go  and  bring  forth  fruit,  and 
that  their  fruit  may  remain. 

Previous  to  this,  the  subject  of  our  sketch  had  been, 
like  most  others,  largely  unmoved  by  the  needs  of  tem- 
perance. She  saw  and  deplored  the  great  evil  of  intem- 
perance ;  but,  like  those  around  her  in  the  Church  of 
God,  she  sat  with  folded  hands,  because  she  could  see  no 
effective  method  of  checking  it.  The  question  had  never 
come  to  her  practically,  either  in  her  own  person  or 
among  her  kindred  ;  but  now,  in  the  course  of  these  later 
studies,  her  eyes  were  opened.  She  was  taught  of  God 
to  see  the  immense  responsibility  of  the  medical  pro- 
fession in  the  use,  and  especially  in  the  moral  sup- 
port  given    by  them    to    the    use,  of   alcoholic   liquors. 


DELIVERS   ONE   HUNDRED    LECTURES.  519 

She  immediately  began  to  study  and  write  on  the  question, 
and,  not  finding  sufficient  access  to  the  public  through  the 
press  at  her  command,  she  prepared  a  lecture  on  "Alcohol 
our  Enemy,"  which,  after  a  good  deal  of  earnest  effort 
and  patient  waiting,  she  was  permitted  to  deliver.  It  was 
in  March,  1808,  before  a  crowded  house  in  the  church  of 
which  she  was  then  a  member,  in  the  presence  and  with 
the  assistance  of  her  pastor  and  other  influential  friends, 
the  lecture  was  given,  and  was  subsequently  repeated 
many  times  in  other  places. 

Finding  her  time  and  interest  engrossed  in  this  topic  of 
temperance  and  in  the  kindred  subject  of  food  and  diet, 
she,  in  the  autumn  of  1867,  severed  her  long  connection 
with  the  Methodist  Publishing  House,  where,  however 
pleasant  it  might  be,  there  was  little  chance  (being  a 
woman)  of  advancement.  She  then  gave  two  courses  of 
lectures  on  "  Food  "  in  the  Dixon  Institute,  Brooklyn,  N. 
Y.,  wrote  a  long  series  of  articles  on  that  subject  for  the 
Ladies'  Repository,  and  still  more  for  the  Rural  Neiv 
Yorker,  for  Home  and  Health,  Science  of  Health,  etc.,  etc., 
besides  temperance  articles  for  the  National  Temperance 
Publishing  House,  and  for  the  Youth's  Temperance  Visitor 
in  Maine.  Through  the  latter  she  was  led  incidentally  to 
a  long  series  of  engagements  to  lecture  in  that  State  on 
temperance.  This  gave  her  the  much-desired  opportunity 
of  studying  the  temperance  problem  upon  that  soil,  and 
learning  the  conditions  which  led  to  its  wonderful 
advancement  and  success  there.  During  the  winter  and 
spring  of  1870  and  1871  she  filled  nearly  one  hundred 
engagements,  speaking  sometimes  before  Methodist  con- 
ferences and  sometimes  before  teachers'  institutes,  where 
she  faithfully  advocated  temperance  teaching  in  the  day- 
school,  sounding  the  first  notes  on  that  topic. 

She  finally  concluded,  however,  that  she  could  reach  a 
greater  number  by  the  pen,  if  exclusively  devoted  to  this 


520  LESSONS   FROM   NATURE. 

subject,  and  thus  more  effectively  promote  a  cause  in 
which  her  interest  was  becoming  more  and  more  en- 
grossed. She  wished  also  to  take  a  course  of  lectures  in 
medicine,  which  she  preferred  to  do  at  different  colleges, 
that  she  might  learn  the  various  ideas  about  the  uses  of 
alcohol  in  medicine.  She  gave  especial  attention  during 
this  period  of  study  to  the  chemical  course.  This  broken 
method  did  not  favor  her  taking  a  diploma,  which,  how- 
ever, was  offered  her.  But  she  declined  the  honor,  as 
she  did  not  propose  to  practice,  and  did  not  care  to 
flourish  a  medical  title.  She  also  paid  much  attention  to 
the  chemistry  and  preparation  of  food,  making  investiga- 
tions in  several  health  institutions,  and  subsequently  pub- 
lished no  less  than  seventy-five  consecutive  articles  on  this 
subject  in  the  Monthly  Science  of  Health  and  Phrenological 
Journal. 

It  was  while  carrying  out  some  of  these  engagements, 
so  that  she  could  not  give  her  personal  attention  to  the 
cause,  that  the  remarkable  temperance  crusade  swept 
over  the  land.  But  when,  in  the  summer  of  1875,  she 
retired  to  an  inland  country  town  for  needed  rest,  taking 
with  her  for  preparation  the  "  Twenty  Tracts  on  Temper- 
ance"— now  twenty-five — issued  by  the  Methodist  Book 
Concern,  she  engaged  actively  in  the  new  temperance 
work.  She  helped  to  start  in  that  town  a  local  Temper- 
ance Union,  and  became  Superintendent  of  the  first  so- 
called  "  Temperance  School."  In  this  she  used  the 
catechism  on  alcohol,  which  she  had  written  and  pub- 
lished three  years  before,  and  worked  out  the  method 
afterwards  developed  in  her  "  Lessons  from  Nature,"  pub- 
lished in  Our  Union  in  1877,  and  more  fully  in  the 
Juvenile  Temperance  Manual.  Accounts  of  this  school 
in  the  papers  and  elsewhere  attracted  attention,  and  at 
the  National  Convention  of  the  W.  C.  T.  U.,  in  Newark, 
in  1876,  Miss  Colman  was  elected  to  edit  one  page  of 


DISTRIBUTION   OP  TEMPERANCE   LITERATURE.  521 

"  Our  Union"  for  the  children,  preparing  lessons  explana- 
tory of  the  catechism.  She  was  also  made  Chairman  of 
a  "  Leaflet  Committee,"  which  was  the  starting  point  of 
the  present  extended  and  constantly  extending  literature 
work,  of  which  she  has  been  for  six  years  the  indefatigable 
and  eminently  successful  Superintendent. 

Her  work  in  this  department  aims  to  devise  effective 
measures  for  the  distribution  of  temperance  literature, 
favoring  special  topics  to  harmonize  with  other  lines  of 
work,  and  more  particularly  the  accurate  knowledge  of 
the  nature  and  effects  of  intoxicants  as  indispensable  to 
getting  rid  of  them.  This  is  to  be  followed  with  tract 
after  tract,  and  then  courses  of  readings  on  each  topic,  as 
"  Readings  on  Beer,"  already  issued.  These  are  designed 
for  the  local  unions,  to  be  accompanied  by  the  distribution 
of  the  tracts  and  hand-bills,  one  kind  at  a  time.  These  will 
lead  to  the  study  of  books  which  will  become  a  part  of  a 
loan  and  reference  library,  and  which  may  be  made  availa- 
ble and  effective  by  the  efforts  of  the  members  of  the 
unions. 

Miss  Colman  aims  not  so  much  to  produce  new  publi- 
cations as  to  utilize  the  best  of  what  are  published.  What 
is  lacking  she  supplies,  as  in  the  Union  Leaflets  (71), 
especially  adapted  to  the  various  needs  of  the  woman's 
work ;  the  Beer  Series  of  Handbills  (57) ;  the  Gospel 
Scries  (30),  etc.  A  large  share  of  her  attention  has  been 
devoted  to  the  work  for  children.  For  this  she  has 
written  the  "Catechism  on  Alcohol,"  "Juvenile  Temper- 
ance Manual,"  "  The  Temperance  School,"  and  adapted  a 
variety  of  tracts,  leaflets,  chromo,  and  hymn  cards,  mak- 
ing a  complete  system  of  requisites.  More  recently  she 
has  written  "  Alcohol  and  Hygiene,"  a  school  text-book, 
intended  to  precede  Richardson's  "  Temperance  Lesson 
Book"  in  the  graded  schools.  This  has  been  well  re- 
ceived.    She  has  also  commenced  a  series  of  "  Leaflets 


522  DIME   COLLECTIONS. 


for  Young  People,"  suited  for  distribution  with  others  in 
schools  and  colleges,  meeting  a  felt  want  in  the  work. 

In  a  similar  manner  she  has  classified  a  great  variety 
of  the  best  tracts,  handbills,  and  leaflets  into  sets,  accord- 
ing to  their  character,  so  that  it  is  easy  to  procure  speci- 
mens of  tracts  for  definite  uses  ;  and  her  directions  are  so 
simple  and  clear  that  the  work  of  tract  distribution  is 
becoming  both  pleasant  and  effective. 

She  has  also  suggested  and  planned  the  dime  collection 
system  to  supply  the  wants  of  her  department,  as  churches 
provide  for  their  tract  work,  by  their  tract  collections. 
This  plan  was  adopted  by  the  National  Convention  at 
Boston  in  1880.  But  it  does  not  provide  for  her  personal 
expenses,  which  she  supplies  mostly  by  her  contributions 
to  the  press  outside  of  her  department  labors,  or  by  edi- 
torial work  like  that  she  bestowed  upon  the  "  Young 
People's  Comrade."  Tims  she  can  say,  like  Paul,  while 
preaching  by  voice  and  pen  the  gospel  of  temperance: 
"  These  hands  have  ministered  unto  my  necessities," 
"  that  we  might  not  be  chargeable  to  any  of  you." 

Surely  the  Lord,  who  sees  "  the  end  from  the  begin- 
ning," the  Master  Workman,  the  Divine  Husbandman, 
knows  where  and  how  to  find  workers  for  his  work,  and 
work  for  his  workers ;  and  we  can  but  stand  aside  and 
admire  his  adaptations.  lie  has  by  nature  endowed,  by 
education  lilted,  by  discipline  cultured,  and  by  grace  made 
willing  this  his  disciple,  and  lias  brought  her  to  the  place 
where  her  peculiar  talents  and  gifts  may  have  free  and 
ample  exercise. 

And  he  has  also  opened  and  prepared  the  field.  Just 
when  his  trained  and  obedient  servant  stood  ready,  ask- 
ing "  Lord,  what  wilt  thou  have  me  to  do  ? "  came  the 
crisis  in  the  great  temperance  reform  when  the  printed 
word  was  needed  to  be  scattered,  as  the  sower  sows  the 
seed,  upon  the  ploughed  ground ;  seed  that  is  to  grow, 


A   SEED-SOWER.  523 

we  "  know  not  how,"  but  which  will  surely,  by  the  grace 
of  God,  germinate  and  bear  fruit  abundantly  to  his  glory. 
Miss  Colman  is,  emphatically,  our  seed-sower;  and  we 
garland  her  name  with  the  precious  words  of  inspiration, 
"  Blessed  are  ye  that  sow  beside  all  waters,"  and  "  In 
due  season  ye  shall  reap  if  ye  faint  not." 


CHAPTER  XXX. 

OUR  JOURNALISTS. 

Mrs.  Sarah  K.  Bolton— Miss  Margaret  E.  Winslow — "Crowned" — 
Mrs.  Mary  Bannister  Willard — "John  Brant's  wife,  who  was  not  a 
Crusader," — A  sketch. 

MRS.    SARAH    K.    BOLTON. 

MRS.  BOLTON  of  Cleveland,  Ohio,  is  a  woman  of 
special  gifts  and  culture  as  a  journalist.  She  has 
the  rare  art  of  putting  much  in  little  space  ;  is  one  of  the 
best  informed  women  in  America,  and  has,  withal, 
unbounded  pride  and  faith  in  women,  sparing  no  pains  to 
bring  them  out  and  help  them  up.  She  was  one  of  the 
original  crusaders,  and  by  voice  and  pen  has  stood  by  that 
great  movement  from  the  first,  has  written  its  history,  and 
also  put  it  in  the  form  of  an  attractive  narrative  entitled 
"  The  Present  Problem,"  and  set  forth  our  work  in  most 
influential  quarters  on  both  sides  of  the  sea.  As  a 
member  of  the  editorial  staff  of  the  Boston  Congrega- 
tionalist  Mrs.  Bolton  did  us  excellent  service,  and  earlier, 
as  assistant  corresponding  secretary  of  the  National 
W.  C.  T.  U.,  she  kept  articles,  paragraphs,  and  enlight- 
ening excerpts  before  the  public  which  did  more  toward 
setting  our  new  methods  before  the  people  than  any  single 
agency  has  ever  compassed  up  to  this  time.  After  spend- 
ing some  years  abroad  with  her  husband  and  only  child 
in  study  and  travel,  Mrs.  Bolton  has  recently  returned  to 
Cleveland,  where  she  is  actively  aiding  her  philanthropic 
husband,  Charles  E.  Bolton,  Esq.,  in  a  most  successful 
enterprise  for  reaching  the  masses  with  first-class  lectures 

(524) 


MRS.  SARAH  K.  BOLTON. 


MISS   MARGARET   E.  WINSLOW.  527 

and  reading  matter.  There  is  material  for  study  in  this 
new  departure,  by  which  a  counter  attraction  to  saloon 
tastes  and  comradeship  is  offered  in  the  city  where,  of  all 
others,  the  crusade  attained  most  permanent  success. 
Mrs.  Bolton  is  in  her  early  prime,  and  if  she  lives,  her 
record  will  be  second  to  few  if  any  of  our  "  twentieth  cen- 
tury women"  of  the  W.  C.  T.  U. 

MISS   MARGARET   E.    WINSLOW,    EDITOR    OP   "  OUR   UNION." 

Mrs.  Willing,  Mrs.  Bent,  Miss  Winslow,  and  Miss  Pugh 
— these  are  the  names  of  the  faithful  quartette  whose 
thankless  task  it  has  been  to  edit  Our  Union.  All  of 
them  are  women  of  brains  and  energy,  and  each  did  better 
in  her  place  than  we  had  any  right  or  reason  to  expect. 
"We  set  before  them  the  impossible  task  of  making  a  fifty- 
cent  monthly  paper  sufficiently  fresh,  varied,  and  attract- 
ive to  suit  the  tastes  of  a  great  constituency  whose  standard 
had  been  set  by  the  choicest  religious  weeklies  and  cost- 
liest monthly  magazines.  Making  "  bricks  without  straw " 
would  be  as  a  bagatelle  in  the  comparison.  That  our 
editors  did  so  well  is  a  marvel,  and  Ave  who  criticised  so 
freely  merit  the  retribution  invoked  by  one  of  them  in  a 
moment  of  impatience  :  "  I  wish  you  had  to  take  my  place 
for  just  one  month."  But  even  this  anathema  was  tem- 
pered with  mercy,  for  she  might  have  said  "  one  year." 

Among  our  journalistic  martyrs,  already  promoted  to 
apotheosis  in  the  firmament  of  every  well  regulated  W. 
C.  T.  U.  memory,  Margaret  Elizabeth  Winslow  is  chief, 
for  she  filled  the  position  at  two  separate  times,  and  during 
the  longest  period  of  any.  Miss  Winslow  is,  like  our 
leaders  generally,  well  descended.  She  was  born  of  Puri- 
tan antecedents,  in  New  York  city,  and  has  spent  most  of 
her  life  in  Brooklyn,  and  Saugerties  on  the  Hudson.  She 
was  educated  partly  at  the  Abbot  Institution  in  New  York, 

and  partly  at  Packer  Institute,  of  which  she  is  a  graduate, 
21 


528  LITERARY   WORK. 

and  in  which  for  twelve  years  she  was  a  teacher.  The 
last  year  of  her  stay  she  held  the  position  of  composition 
teacher,  and  had  charge  of  the  Art  Department  of  Pic- 
tures, Coins,  etc.  At  the  age  of  nineteen  she  united  with 
the  Episcopal  church,  of  which  she  has  remained  a  loyal 
member.  She  spent  1869-70  in  Europe  studying  and 
traveling  in  England,  France,  Italy,  and  Germany.  She 
became  acquainted  with  many  foreign  Protestants,  and  on 
coming  home  was  made  one  of  Mr.  Albert  Woodruff's 
"Foreign  S.  S.  Association"  (Italian  Committee),  and 
still  fills  that  position. 

Eight  years  ago  Miss  Winslow  began  writing  for  the 
press,  and  still  has  articles  in  the  N.  Y.  Observer,  N.  Y. 
Evangelist,  Independent,  Christian  Union,  Churchman, 
Christian  at  Work,  Christian  Advocate,  Christian  Register, 
S.  S.  Times,  St.  Nicholas,  etc.  She  is  the  author  of  five 
or  six  story  books  of  pure  spirit  and  style,  published  by 
the  National  Temperance  Society ,  American  S.  S.  Union,  etc. 

Miss  Winslow  signed  the  pledge  and  wrote  temperance 
compositions  when  but  eight  years  old.  At  fifteen,  she 
declined  to  come  into  the  parlor  on  New  Year's  Day  if 
wine  was  offered,  and  carried  her  point. 

The  crusade  in  Ohio  roused  her  interest  and  enthusiasm. 
A  friend  said,  "  Are  you  going  to  kneel  on  the  pavements 
before  liquor  saloons  ? "  "  By  no  means,"  she  replied, 
"I  am  a  lady."  Dr.  Dio  Lewis  came  to  Brooklyn  fresh 
from  the  great  awakening  in  Ohio.  The  Packer  Institute 
teacher  attended  several  temperance  prayer-meetings, 
and  was  present  at  the  one  (March  17th,  1874)  at  which 
the  first  Brooklyn  W.  C.  T.  U.  was  organized.  Desiring 
to  attend  the  daily  meetings  which  followed,  she  per- 
suaded the  editor  of  the  New  York  Witness  to  accept 
reports,  and  every  day  for  fourteen  weeks  went  directly 
from  school  to  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  in  Brooklyn,  where  these 
meetings  were  held.     Here  was  uttered  her  first  public 


"HER   ORDINATION."  529 

testimony  for  Christ.  One  evening  Miss  W.  went  with 
fifteen  ladies  to  a  prayer  meeting  in  a  liquor  saloon.  In 
a  letter  to  one  of  her  friends  she  thus  graphically 
describes  the  scene : 

"  1  shall  never  forget  that  sight.  Before  us  was  a  bar- 
ricade of  tables  smeared  with  deadly-looking  rings.  From 
the  walls  large  pictures  looked  down  upon  us,  such  pic- 
tures as  I  had  never  seen  before.  The  room  was  thronged 
with  men  and  boys,  and  the  hall  whose  door  was  open 
behind  ns,  with  women  and  girls  of  the  lowest  description. 
The  front  room  was  separated  by  a  screen,  over  and 
between  the  interstices  of  which  gleamed  curious  eyes  and 
grimy  hands.  The  meeting  began ;  there  was  singing 
and  prayer,  the  ladies  spoke,  one  after  another,  in  the  old 
prayer-meeting  fashion,  with  shut  eyes,  trembling  and 
tear-choked  voices.  The  audience  became  disorderly. 
Boys  tripped  each  other  up,  girls  tittered,  and  a  drunken 
man  in  the  middle  made  faces,  to  the  great  distress  of  a 
sweet  little  girl  of  seven,  who  accompanied  him.  The 
leader  of  the  meeting  whispered  to  me,  "  Can't  you  say 
something  ? "  "  I, — "  was  my  exclamation,  drawing 
myself  up,  "I  speak  in  meeting;  I,  an  Episcopal  lady  ?" 
"AVhy  did  you  come  then?"  she  asked,  sadly.  Audi 
thought,  "  Why  did  I  come,  indeed  ?  was  it  from  curiosity 
only  ?  I  profess  to  hold  in  my  hand  and  heart  the  one 
divine  remedy  fur  all  the  crime  and  misery  in  this  world, 
part  of  which  is  now  before  me,  and  conventionality  shut 
my  lips  from  offering  it  as  I  felt  I  could ! " 

In  an  instant  I  was  on  my  feet.  I  felt  as  though 
invisible  hands  lifted  me  there.  I  was  conscious  that 
those  hundreds  of  eyes  were  all  fastened  upon  me ;  there 
was  a  dead  silence,  and  I  found  myself  not  talking  tem- 
perance, but  painting  a  word  picture  of  the  crucified 
Christ.  Sixteen  of  the  saloon  habitues  present  that  night 
were,  as  we  had  reason  to  hope,  converted  during  the  fol- 
lowing week.     This  was  my  ordination." 


530  INTRODUCTION    OP   THE    WHITE   RIBBON. 

From  that  time  Miss  W.  spoke  at  temperance  gather- 
ings, missions,  prisons,  etc.,  in  Brooklyn  and  elsewhere. 
She  also  took  part  in  Mr.  Moody's  work  in  Brooklyn,  and 
later  in  New  York.  Later  on  she  went  to  Florida,  but 
was  present  at  the  National  W.  C.  T.  U.  Convention  held 
in  Newark,  1876  ;  was  chosen  editor  of  Our  Union.  She 
declined  re-appointment  to  the  position  for  a  principle — 
because  she  objected  to  the  Home  Protection  movement. 
Becoming  somewhat  less  conservative,  she  accepted  this 
position  again  in  1880,  and  retained  it  until  the  paper 
was  united  with  The  Signal  in  1883. 

It  was  a  burst  of  inspiration  from  Miss  Winslow,  rela- 
tive to  its  simplicity  and  purity,  which  at  the  Chicago 
Convention  determined  us  to  wear  the  white  ribbon  as 
a  badge  rather  than  the  red,  white,  and  blue  which  was 
strongly  urged  by  many. 

Our  friend's  poetic  gift  is  perhaps  her  best.  The  poem 
on  Garfield  is  among  the  very  best  evoked  by  that  pathetic 
theme,  and  the  one  "  To  Mrs.  Hayes  "  is  beautiful.  Miss 
Winslow's  exceptional  talents  and  culture,  with  her  great 
native  refinement  of  character,  render  her  an  honored 
and  admired  member  of  our  great  fraternity. 

CROWNED. 

(MRS.    LUCY  WEBB    HAYES.) 

Not  the  fair  chaplet  of  her  girlhood  hours, 

The  mingled  rose  and  lily -bloom  of  flowers ; 

Not  the  bright  coronal  that  crowns  the  bride, 

The  matron  comeliness,  the  mother  pride; 

Nay,  not  the  artist  wreath  she  well  may  win 

Of  bays,  like  those  that  crowned  the  proud  Corinne, 

Is  woman's  best  adornment. 

She  may  claim 
Her  coronation  at  the  hands  of  fame 
Or  love,  and  men  will  worship;  but  the  crown 
Before  whose  radiance  earth  and  heaven  bow  down, 
Inspiring  poets  and  seraphic  lays, 
And  drawing  from  the  Master's  lips  high  praise, 


MRS.    MARY    B.    WILLARD.  531 

Is  hers  who  for  the  righteous  cause  and  good, 

In  her  great  Leader's  name,  did  what  she  could. 

And  so,  "elected  lady,"  as  to-day 

Our  loving  reverence  a1  thy  feet  we  lay, 

And  in  our  nation's  mansion-house  of  pride 

Place  thee  and  our  lands'  mother  side  by  side. 

We  build  no  monument  of  soulless  stone, 

Engrave  no  tales  of  glittering  triumphs  won, 

But  bid  the  witchery  of  thy  holy  eyes 

Speak  forth  the  soul  in  God's  own  wisdom  wise 

To  do,  and  strong  to  dare  for  man  and  right, 

And  thus  assert  the  woman's  purest  might. 

Upon  thy  brow  we  place  no  crown  of  flowers, 

No  jeweled  diadem  in  gift  is  ours, 

But  glowing  canvas  and  rich  carving  mean 

That  our  act  crowns  thee  womanhood's  fair  queen; 

That  loves  bold  daring,  woman's  highest  praise, 

Circles  its  aureole  round  our  Lucy  Hayes; 

That  by  the  soul  who  does  as  she  has  done, 

The  noblest  crown  of  woman  will  be  won. 

Margaret  E.  Winslow. 

MRS.    MARY   BANNISTER   WILLARD, 

Editor  of  The  Union  Signal  (organ  of  the  National  W.  C.  T.  U.) 

In  March,  1858, 1  first  met  this  endowed  and  distinctive 
woman,  who  was  then  my  sister  Mary's  class-mate  in-  the 
Northwestern  Female  College  at  Evanston — now  a  depart- 
ment of  the  University.  She  was  known  to  me  at  first  as 
the  eldest  daughter  of  Rev.  Dr.  Henry  Bannister,  for 
for  many  years  Principal  of  Cazenovia  Seminary,  New 
York  (which  was  her  birthplace),  and  Professor  of 
Hebrew  in  Garrett  Biblical  Institute  at  Evanston,  the 
western  theological  school  of  the  Methodist  church.  She 
was  known  to  me  when  months  passed  by  as  a  student  to 
whom,  by  native  gifts  and  life-long  scholarly  surroundings, 
intellectual  work  was  a  source  of  unfailing  delight,  and 
supremacy  in  the  recitation  room  was  a  foregone  con- 
clusion. Some  of  us  took  high  rank  in  special  branches, 
but  "Mary  Bannister"  shone  conspicuous  in  Greek  and 


532  "all  one'1  and  "all  won." 

algebra  alike.  Rhetoric  and  chemistry,  debate  and  essay- 
writing  seemed  to  be  "  all  one  "  (and  "  all  won  "  also,  I 
sometimes  ruefully  thought)  to  that  clear,  intent,  and 
many-sided  brain.  But  she  was  not  ambitious,  and 
plumed  herself  so  little  on  her  achievements  that  her  very 
modesty  would  have  made  her  a  universal  favorite,  had 
she  not,  in  addition  to  it,  possessed  the  gift  of  comrade- 
ship beyond  almost  any  person  whom  I  have  met. 
Withal,  she  was,  though  of  marked  poetic  temperament, 
and  devoted  to  music,  the  most  practical  young  woman  in 
the  college.  It  was  a  proverb  among  "us  girls"  "that 
little  Mary  Bannister  can  make  any  article  of  food  known 
to  a  civilized  cuisine,  and  every  article  of  her  wardrobe 
from  hat  to  shoe."  Some  minds  are  opaque ;  some,  like  a 
mirror,  reflect  the  passing  scene ;  others,  like  a  magnet, 
draw  to  themselves  after  their  kind.  The  friend  I  am 
describing  is  of  this  last  variety ;  what  she  acquires  she 
retains,  and  having  been  attracted  only  to  the  noblest 
realms  of  thought,  she  might  well  say,  were  she  not  too 
unassuming  even  to  think  the  poet's  words: 

"My  mind  to  me  a  kingdom  is." 

Intent  upon  a  useful  life,  she  taught  for  one  year  after 
completing  the  classical  course  of  study,  spending  some 
months  at  the  South,  but  at  the  close  of  that  period  she 
married  my  only  brother,  Oliver  A.  Willard,  and  until  his 
death,  nearly  sixteen  years  later,  found  in  her  home  and 
children — of  whom  four  remain  to  her — labors  and  cares 
which  to  her  loyal  heart  meant  the  putting  aside  of  the 
"  career "  to  which  by  nature  and  training  she  was 
exceptionally  called. 

Among  the  many  noble  traits  of  my  brother,  there  is 
none  which  I  remember  with  more  pleasure  than  the  pride 
he  always  manifested  in  his  wife's  gifts.  He  was  passion- 
ately fond  of  books,  had  a  choice  library,  and  delighted  in 
high  themes  of  conversation. 


[UK    SIGNAL    AND    OUR    UNION.  533 

So  the  home  life  of  this  young  pair  rose  at  once  above 
the  commonplace  level  at  which  so  many  men,  even  of 
culture,  are  content  to  remain  in  household  converse. 
Together  they  read  their  favorite  authors,  with  constant 
notes,  queries,  and  commentary ;  together  they  talked  of 
every  plan  and  purpose  they  had  formed.  When  my 
brother  became  an  editor,  it  was  to  his  wife  that  he 
turned  for  criticism  as  well  as  praise.  She  was  cognizant 
of  all  his  literary  work,  and,  as  years  passed  on,  wrote  not 
a  little  for  the  columns  of  his  paper,  The  Chicago  Evening 
Mail  (later  The  Evening  Post).  When  his  death  occurred, 
in  1878,  after  an  illness  of  less  than  three  days,  it  was 
her  heroic  thought  to  undertake  the  herculean  task  of 
carrying  on  the  paper.  Surely  a  spirit  so  indomitable 
was  never  enshrined  in  form  so  fragile.  I  could  but 
think,  and  would  have  deemed  myself  indeed  disloyal  had 
I  refused  to  stand  beside  my  life-long  friend  and  sister  in 
a  breach  so  "  imminent  and  deadly."  But  the  long- 
gathering  financial  storm  soon  broke  upon  us  and  upon 
the  friends  who  had  been  so  true  and  helpful.  My  sister 
then,  after  an  interval  of  office  work,  became  editor  of 
The  Signal,  now  consolidated  with  Our  Union.  In  these 
three  years  of  her  widest  opportunity  she  has  abundantly 
demonstrated  her  ability  as  a  journalist,  and  gained  a 
grand  constituency  of  friends  and  coadjutors.  She  has 
also  developed  exceptional  ability  as  a  speaker  and 
organizer,  few  women  in  Illinois  having  more  influence  in 
our  State  councils.  The  summer  of  1881  she  spent 
abroad,  combining  temperance  observations  with  those  of 
a  tourist,  and  by  her  addresses  since  her  return  giving 
us  at  the  West  more  information  concerning  our  British 
temperance  cousins  than  we  have  acquired  from  any  other 
source. 

She  is  a  woman  of  abounding  spirituality,  whose  intui- 
tions   of    Christ,    conscience,   and    immortality,    supple- 


534  TEMPERANCE    SKETCH. 

mented  by  life-long  Bible  study,  anchor  her  firmly  in  a 
broad,  deep,  living  faith,  which  no  outward  circumstance 
of  bereavement  or  disaster  has  in.  the  least  degree  dis- 
turbed. 

In  her  cosy  Evanston  home  she  maintains  a  delightful 
Christian  hospitality,  and  the  picture  to  which,  of  all 
others,  my  eyes  most  fondly  turn  is  that  of  the  twin  cot- 
tages (of  which  my  mother's  "Rest  Cottage"  is  one), 
where  the  tranquil-hearted  grandmother,  the  true  and 
tender  daughter-in-law,  and  the  bright  children,  busy  with 
their  studies,  share  "  the  dearest  spot  on  earth  "  to  them 
and  me. 

JOHN   BRANT'S  WIFE — WHO   WAS   NOT   A    CRUSADER. 

I  close  this  sketch  with  a  charming  temperance  picture 
by  our  editor,  Mary  Bannister  Willard. 

She  was  only  an  ordinary  woman  who  bore  no  great 
part  in  the  society  of  the  brisk  little  Indiana  town  in 
which  she  lived,  felt  no  great  burden  of  soul  for  the 
various  reforms,  and  heard,  or  least  heeded,  no  call  to 
religious  and  secular  crusades.  Her  duty,  John  Brant's 
wife  always  said,  began  and  ended  at  home ;  and  well  it 
might,  if  she  thoroughly  fulfilled  it,  since  in  the  seven  or 
eight  years  of  her  life  with  John,  four  little  children  had 
called  her  mother.  Called  her  so  still,  each  at  the  rate 
of  seventy-seven  times  per  diem,  and  the  clamor  of  their 
voices  scarcely  ever  left  her  ear.  If  she  went  out  of  an 
afternoon  to  a  social  tea,  it  was  still  there ;  very  much, 
she  said,  in  a  quaint  sort  of  a  way,  as  once  when  she  was 
driving  away  from  a  camp-meeting — the  echoes  of  the 
prayer  and  praise  seemed  all  lodged  in  the  crown  of  her 
Shaker  bonnet,  and  she  carried  them  all  the  way  home. 

One  can  readily  see  that  such  a  woman,  with  such  pre- 
occupations, would  not  be  found  in  the  van  of  the  tem- 
perance crusade.     John  himself,  too,  was  of  the  rank  and 


JOHN    BRANT    AND    HIS    WIFE.  535 

file,  led  sometimes,  bul  never  leader— a  master  mechanic 
who  kept  good  faith  with  his  employers,  and  was  conse- 
quently in  a  thrifty  way,  and  never  out  of  work.  A  good 
family  man,  too,  who  kept  things  snug  and  trim  at  home 
in  the  house  and  yard,  looked  alter  the  marketing  and  the 
children's  shoos  with  an  attention  that  your  professional 
man  often  fails  to  devote  to  such  ignoble  things. 

In  a  general  way,  both  those  honest  people  were  living 
religious  lives,  going  regularly  to  a  little  church  where 
they  heard  a  plain  gospel  discoursed  in  simple  speech, 
having  cast  their  lots  in  with  this  rather  primitive  people 
on  a  Sunday  when  the  elder  "opened  the  pale."  All  this, 
however,  was  not  to  them  at  all  inconsistent  with  John's 
flask  of  ale  put  up  daily  in  the  tin  pail  which  carried  his 
luncheon.  If,  indeed,  any  thought  had  been  bestowed 
upon  it,  it  was  only  that  economy  and  thrift  demanded 
that  the  ale  should  be  drawn  at  home  from  the  five  gallon 
cask  that  cost  very  little,  rather  than  taken  by  the  glass 
at  the  saloon  nearest  his  work,  at  five  cents  a  glass. 
John's  wife  sakl  it  "  heartened  him  amazingly ;  not  that 
he  had  a  taste  for  liquor — it  was  simply  like  a  new  back- 
bone in  the  middle  of  the  day  ;  it  helped  him  to  do  his 
afternoon  work  better,  and  so  to  earn  his  daily  bread." 

When  the  Xew  Dispensation  of  Temperance  was  fairly 
inaugurated,  however,  new  ideas  began  to  creep  in  under 
Mrs.  John's  thinking  cap.  They  wedged  themselves  into 
her  roughly  crystalized  consciousness,  sank  down  and 
lodged  dee])  in  her  soul.  It  was  many  days  before  she 
ventured  to  speak  of  them  to  John,  and  when  she  did  it 
was  met  with  such  coarseness  of  rebuff  as  might  have 
filled  her  with  encouragement  if  she  had  only  been  more 
of  a  philosopher — showing  that  the  arrow  had  entered 
his  soul  also.  Things  went  on  as  usual  for  days,  only 
that  the  pangs  grew  severer  each  morning  that  his  wife 
filled  his  canteen.  She  did  it  under  a  sort  of  protest 
these  days,  but  soon  the  siege  began. 


5o6  THE  FLASK    FILLED    WITH    COFFEE    INSTEAD  OF    BEER. 

First  it  was—"  John,  shan't  I  fill  the  flask  with  coffee 
to-day  ?  "  The  next  day—"  John,  mayn't  I  fill  the  flask," 
etc.;  the  next—"  Please,  John,  let  me  fill,"  etc.  John 
Brant  was  not  wholly  unmoved  when  his  wife  said 
"  please."  There  was  enough  of  the  love  of  their  courtina- 
days  left  in  him  to  give  her  a  kiss  and  bravely  succumb. 
At  night  he  said,  "  Your  coffee  is  as  good  coffee,  Mary,  as 
man  ever  drank,  but  it  didn't  go  to  the  right  spot  to-day. 
Twasn't  hot,  you  know." 

The  next  morning,  however,  he  accepted  the  coffee- 
filled  can  without  a  word,  which  meek  submission  was  the 
sorest  trial  Mary  had  yet  had  to  bear.  It  almost  ended 
the  crusade.  A  few  hours  after,  she  went  down  into  the 
woodhouse  to  see  Mike,  the  wood  sawyer,  and  get  a  few 
lengths  of  the  solid  hickory  cut  a  little  smaller  for  the 
dining-room  stove. 

Strange  to  say,  Mike  wasn't  there.  Strange,  for  only  a 
moment  before  she  had  heard  the  whirr  of  his  saw  dis- 
tinctly. She  came  back  to  her  work  ;  soon  the  music  of 
the  saw  began  again,  but  an  unexpected  interruption 
delayed  her  going  down  for  the  second  time.  When  at 
last  she  was  ready  to  go,  there  was  no  Mike  again.  He 
came  rushing  up  the  street,  however,  wiping  his  lips  with 
an  old  bandana,  and  into  the  woodhouse  as  cheery  and 
heartsome  as  few  men  feel  after  working  five  or  six 
hours. 

"I'd  jest  stipped  round  the  corner,  mem,  faylin  the 
nade  of  a  wee  dhrop.  Sich  a  goneness  come  to  the  pit  o' 
me  stummick  along  of  this  old  saw  and  this  hickory 
wood,  mem.  An'  thin  it's  the  dyspepsy,  I'm  thinkin', 
that  gives  me  no  joiy  o'  me  food  savin'  for  a  glass  of 
whisky  now  and  thin.  It  hairtens  me  up,  loike,  an'  it's 
not  so  mony  bits  o'  comfort  a  poor  mon  loike  me  has,  I 
kin  till  ye,  mem." 

"Heartens   him   up"— just   the   words  she  had  used 


THE    "  WEE    DHROP  "    AT    DOWNTE'S.  537 

about  John's  ale ;  but  then  this  was  whisky.  Did  every- 
thing drift  that  way?  Would  nothing  else  answer  as 
well?  The  coffee  didn't  answer  John  as  well,  for  it 
wasn't  hot.  She  might  try  Mike  with  hot  coffee,  seeing 
he  was  right  here,  handy. 

"  Mike,"  said  she,  "  if  you  won't  go  to  Downie's  any 
more  to-day  for  whisky,  every  time  you  feel  that  goneness, 
come  up  into  the  kitchen  and  I'll  give  you  a  cup  of  hot, 
strong  coffee.     See,  now,  if  that  won't  do  just  as  well." 

"  Och,  mem,  an'  whin  did  ye  jine  wid  those  perrayin' 
wimmen  ?     Shurc,  an'  it's  all  along  o'  thim." 

"  No,  Mike,  it's  only  an  experiment.  John's  trying  it 
too,  only,  poor  fellow,  he  don't  get  his  coffee  hot,  as  you 
will." 

"  The  Virgin  kape  ye,  mem.  I'll  come  intil  yer  experi- 
ment shure,  though  me  rheumatics  is  that  bad,  mem,  it's 
hopin'  I'll  git  up  thim  stairs,"  and  Mike's  eyes  rolled 
desparingly  at  the  short  flight  of  steps  to  the  warm 
kitchen. 

.Mike's  rheumatics  did  not  stand  in  the  way  of  his  com- 
ing once,  twice,  three  times  during  the  next  three  hours, 
and  each  time  the  cup  was  ready,  steaming  hot  and  well 
creamed.  And  Mrs.  John  could  really  scarcely  see  that 
the  smack  of  his  lips  and  the  flourish  of  the  old  bandana 
were  not  as  hearty  and  grateful  as  after  the  "  wee  dhrop  " 
at  Downie's. 

"  I've  got  my  idea — I  am  going  on  my  crusade"  she 
cried  so  suddenly  and  vehemently  that  the  little  twelve- 
year-old  "  help  " — Biddy  Mahan — started  alarmed.  The 
idea  was  infectious,  however.  It  crept  slowly  into  Biddy's 
head,  and  after  leaving  her  in  charge  of  the  children  and 
the  coffee  dispensary,  Mrs.  John  found  her  young  lieu- 
tenant hanging  surprisingly  on  to  her  skirts  and  mutter- 
ing, "Would  ye  mind  steppin'  round  to  mother's,  Mrs. 
Brant,  to  see  if  she's  a  bit  comfortable  loike,  and  jist  to 


538       THE  AGE  OP  MIRACLES  NOT  PASEED. 

find  out  how  me  faythcr  is  doin' — the  prayin'  women  got 
a  hold  on  him  the  other  day,  and  mother  'n  me  sort  o' 
hopes  it'll  last  him." 

Mrs.  Brant  went  straight  to  Pownie's,  thinking  as  she 
went,  "  How  can  it  last  them  when  there's  nothing  to  take 
the  place  of  whisky  ?  " 

She  marched  up  to  the  bar,  her  courage  undaunted  by 
the  straggling  customers  on  the  outskirts  and  two  or  three 
loafing  inside.  They  moved  aside  to  let  her  pass  without 
a  jeering  word,  for  John  Brant's  wife  was  not  a  crusader, 
but  a  keeper-at-home — a  woman  they,  in  their  rough  way 
respected.  "  Mr.  Downie  (her  voice  was  clear  and  her 
tone  so  respectful — who  had  called  him  aught  but  Old 
Downie  or  Jack  before  ?)  I've  never  been  here  before. 
I'm  not  one  of  the  crusading  women.  God  forgive  me 
that  I  haven't  been  !  but  I've  come  to  tell  you  that  I'm 
going  to  run  opposition  to  you  unless  you  come  on  to  my 
side.  I'm  going  to  keep  saloon  in  my  own  house,  and  sell 
hot  coffee  at  three  cents  a  cup,  and  a  nice  fresh  roll, 
buttered  with  the  best  butter  I  can  make,  for  one  cent 
more ;  or  (here  was  the  pivot  on  which  turned  destinies 
so  high,  so  grandly  high  that  Providence  took  the  burden 
off  little  Mrs.  John's  shoulders  and  poised  it  on  the 
Almighty  Arm)  you  may  have  my  idea,  the  good  will  and 
all,  turn  out  your  whisky  and  sell  my  coffee  and  buttered 
rolls  instead — for  I'll  make  'em  for  you  ;  then  I'll  know 
these  poor  fellows  are  getting  the  worth  of  their  money." 

Sec  how  Providence  undertook  for  her,  and  then  tell 
me  the  age  of  miracles  is  past !  The  poor,  blear-eyed, 
trembling  creatures  that  Jack  Downie  had  been  killing 
inch  by  inch  all  these  years  straightened  up  into  men, 
gave  one  triumphant  yell  as  the  demon,  exorcised  by 
unseen  forces,  left  their  poor  decaying  bodies,  and  out  into 
the  miserable  little  street  that  Mrs.  John  had  hardly  ever 
so  much  as  entered  before — it  was  so  miserable-— rolled 


OLD    DOWXIE   SKINS    THE    PLEDGE.  539 

the  one  old  whisky  barrel  that  constituted  Downie's  stock 
in  trade.  Trade  had  been  getting  duller  and  duller,  and 
even  the  glass  bottles  and  decanters  that  followed  were 
not  so  full  as  common ;  but  Bond  street  seemed  cleaner 
than  ever  before,  though  sprinkled  smartly  with  glass 
splinters  and  whisky.  Mrs.  Brant  stood,  like  many 
another  who  has  invoked  Omnipotence  to  his  aid,  utterly 
stunned  at  the  results. 

"  B — bless  me,"  said  Peter  Hayncy,  changing  his  curs- 
ing to  blessing  at  a  comrade's  nudge,  "I'm  that  busted,  I 
believe  if  anybody  had  a  pledge  here  now  I'd  sign  it." 

Who  should  bring  out  the  desired  pledge  but  Old 
Downey  himself.  "  The  wimmun  stuck  it  at  me  this 
mornin',"  he  apologized;  and  there,  sure  enough,  closely 
folded  inside  the  rum-sellers,  lay  the  drunkard's  pledge — 
quite  suggestive  of  the  fitness  of  things,  and  in  sweetest 
accord.  On  the  rolling  surface  of  the  empty  barrel  Jack 
Downie  steadied  his  hand  and  wrote  his  name  to  the 
first.  The  barrel  was  tilting,  and  so  were  the  signatures ; 
here  and  there  over  the  paper  the  scrawls  meandered  up 
and  down,  but  there  were  ten  names ,  deciphered  on  the 
drunkard's  pledge  that  night,  and  one  of  them  Biddy 
Mahan  nearly  blotted  out  with  tears. 

"  I  must  really  get  back  now,"  said  plain,  ordinary  Mrs. 
Brant ;  "  John  and  the  babies  will  soon  be  needing;  me." 

Just  then  Biddy's  pleading  "  look  after  fayther,"  came 
to  her  remembrance.  She  darted  back,  forgetting  for  a 
minute.  "  It's  all  right,  I  guess,"  she  said  to  herself, 
returning,  "  he's  looked  after." 

To  crusaders  at  large. — Moral :  Nature  abhors  a,  vacuum. 
"  Goneness  at  the  pit  o'  the  stummick  "  is  a  factor  in  the 
problem  of  the  crusade.  Can  you  eliminate  it  by  any 
better  than  Mrs.  Brant's  way  ? 


CHAPTER  XXXI. 

OUR  SOUTHERN  ALLIES. 

Mrs.  Sallie  F.  Chapin  of  S.  C— Sketch  of  her  life— Address  at  Wash- 
ington—Mrs. Georgia  Hulse  McLeodof  Md.— Mrs.  J.  C.  Johnson  of 
Tenn.—  Mrs.  J.  L.  Lyons  of  Fla.— Mrs.  W.  C.  Sibley  of  Ga.— Miss 
Fanny  Griffin  of  Ala.— Other  representative  Southern  ladies— Mrs. 
Judge  Merrick  of  New  Orleans— Address  at  Saratoga  on  my  South- 
ern trip — Texas  and  temperance. 

"  THE   SUNNY   SOUTH." 

WITHIN  three  years  three  temperance  trips  have 
been  made  to  the  South,  of  which  some  account 
will  be  made  later  on.  Never  was  welcome  more  cordial 
or  cooperation  more  hearty  vouchsafed  to  strangers  in  a 
strange  land.  Never  in  the  North  has  a  deeper  interest 
been  shown  or  have  larger  results  been  achieved  in  the 
same  space  of  time.  Among  the  noblewomen  "to  the 
manor  born "  wTho  will  ever  stand  as  pioneers  of  the 
W.  C.  T.  U.  in  the  South  are  those  whose  life  history  is 
briefly  outlined  in  this  chapter. 

MRS.    SALLIE   F.    CHAPIN   OF   CHARLESTON, 

stands  at  the  head  of  our  Southern  work  as  superintendent. 
By  intellect,  culture,  and  influence  this  lady  may  justly 
be  called  "  representative."  There  is  hardly  a  distin- 
guished South  Carolinian  of  her  epoch  with  whom  she  has 
not  been  acquainted.  W.  Gilmore  Sims,  the  novelist,  was 
a  fireside  friend  ;  the  pen  with  which  the  ordinance  of 
secession  was  signed,  was  given  to  Mrs.  Chapin  by  her 
gifted  brother,  a  leader  in  the  movement.  Her  well- 
known   novel,    "  Fitzhugh  St.  Clair,   the    rebel    boy   of 

(540) 


IS.  SALLIE  F.  CHAP1N. 


MRS.    SALLIE    F.    CHAPIN.  543 

South  Carolina"  (published  by  Claxton,  Remscn  &  Co., 
Philadelphia),  is  dedicated  to  the  children  of  the  Southern 
Confederacy,  and  devoted  to  a  statement  of  the  causes  of 
the  war  from  a  Southern  point  of  view.  "  With  all  its 
phases  she  was  familiar.  Living  in  a  besieged  city,  where 
the  crashing  of  shells  was  heard  from  morning  till  night, 
almost  in  sight  of  bloody  battlefields,  her  efforts  in  the 
hospital  of  Charleston  and  vicinity  were  constantly 
demanded  and  freely  made." 

As  a  writer  and  conversationalist,  Mrs.  Chapin  has 
been  compared  to  that  brilliant  daughter  of  the  North, 
Gail  Hamilton,  a  Southern  gentleman  having  said,  "  Per- 
sonal friends  of  these  two  ladies  find  them  congenial 
spirits  in  boldness  of  thought  and  independence  of  utter- 
ance, though  in  politics  far  apart  as  the  poles.  Both  are 
intense  believers  in  womanhood — the  one  being  acknowl- 
edged as  the  ablest  literary  champion  of  woman's  rights, 
while  the  other  is  equally  forcible  and  possibly  more  elo- 
quent on  woman's  wrongs."  Wherever  Mrs.  Chapin 
travels  at  the  North — and  she  has  made  repeated  visits 
in  the  interest  of  the  W.  C.  T.  U. — she  rouses  the  enthu- 
siasm of  the  people  by  her  noble  presence  and  bearing, 
refreshing  humor,  and  great-hearted  sympathy.  Her 
speech  in  Washington  at  the  National  Convention  was  an 
event.  Foundry  church  never  held  so  delighted  an  audi- 
ence. Entirely  unaccustomed  to  public  speaking,  Mrs. 
Chapin  seems  born  for  the  platform,  to  which  she  trans- 
fers all  the  graces  of  the  drawing-room.  At  the  Chicago 
Convention  (August  23,  1882),  where  the  independent 
temperance  party  was  launched  under  the  new  name  of 
"  Prohibition  Home  Protection  Party,"  Mrs.  Chapin  was 
made  a  member  of  the  executive  committee,  and  since 
then  has  populari/.ed  the  movement  wherever  she  has 
spoken  in  the  South.  In  common  with  many  others,  she 
believes  it  to  be  the  key  to  the  position  for  a  really  reunited 
States. 


544  HER    EARLY    HISTORY. 

Iii  a  letter  to  one  of  lier  associates,  Mrs.  Chapin  thus 
naively  replies  to  questions  concerning  her  past  life : 

"  Like  the  old  knife-grinder,  dear  friend,  '  I  have  no  his- 
tory.' My  maternal  ancestry  were  Huguenots,  who  came 
to  this  country  in  1685,  after  the  revocation  of  the  Edict 
of  Nantes.  Two  of  my  great-grandfathers,  Vigneron  and 
Tousager,  were  revolutionary  officers,  and  were  both  killed. 

My  maiden  name  was  Moore.  My  grandfather  Moore 
was  one  of  the  inevitable  three  brothers  who  always  "came 
over."  He  settled  in  Charleston ;  the  others  in  New 
York,  and  Kentucky.  He  was  a  man  of  large  means,  so 
that  my  father,  although  an  itinerant  Methodist  preacher, 
was  not  dependent  on  the  church  for  the  education  of  his 
children.  We  lived  in  our  own  house,  and  were  attended 
by  servants  who  had  always  been  in  the  family. 

I  was  born  in  Charleston,  but  a  great  fire  having 
burned  our  home  and  all  that  was  in  it,  together  with 
other  houses  belonging  to  my  father,  we  removed  to  the 
upper  part  of  the  State.  My  father's  property  was  all 
uninsured,  for  at  that  time  many  of  our  ministers  thought 
it  as  absolutely  wrong  to  insure  as  some  of  them  now 
think  it  is  for  women  to  speak  for  Christ.  The  world 
moves — thank  God  for  it. 

I  was  raised  and  educated  in  Cokesbury,  Abbeville 
county,  then  celebrated  for  having  the  best  educational 
advantages  in  this  State. 

From  a  school-girl  I  have  been  a  literary  scribbler.  My 
first  newspaper  effort  was  made  in  reply  to  an  article 
which  we  school-girls  did  not  altogether  endorse,  written 
by  one  who  is  now  the  learned  and  distinguished  judge  of 
Florida.  He  was  at  the  "  vine-and-oak  "  age,  and  made 
the  vines  altogether  too  twiney  to  "  suit  our  tastes  ;  so  I 
pointedly  set  forth  my  views,"  and  I  am  afraid  I  will  have 
to  take  him  in  hand  again,  for  by  the  Advocate  I  see  he  is 
still  worried  lest  the  women  of  the  nineteenth  century 


SHE  DISAGREES  WITH  A  FLORIDA  JUDGE.      545 

will  overleap  the  bounds  prescribed  by  Paul  for  our  brawl- 
ing- Corinthian  sisters,  ages  ago.  He  forgets  that  it  would 
be  just  as  sensible  for  us  in  this  country  and  age  to  go  to 
foot-washing  (which  is  equally  commanded),  as  to  carry 
out  this  other  rule,  specifically  made  for  that  particular 
time  and  people.  Paul  lays  down  the  grand  principle 
that  "  there  is  neither  male  nor  female  in  Christ  Jesus  " ; 
but  we  do  not  often  hear  him  quoted  as  making  a  declara- 
tion so  grand.  But  if  not,  why  not  ?  Let  the  conserva- 
tives reply  !  To  attend  one  W.  C.  T.  U.  convention  and 
hear  some  of  our  women  speak,  would  put  these  obsolete 
ideas  about  woman  on  the  platform  to  everlasting  flight 
from  all  sensible  brains. 

I  married  young,  and  had  one  of  the  most  devoted  hus- 
bands God  ever  gave  to  a  woman.  We  were  both  fond  of 
society,  and  entertained  largely. 

M  r.  Chapin  was  one  of  the  founders  of  the  Y.  M.  C.  A. 
of  Charleston,  and  was  its  chief  officer  for  years.  This 
brought  to  our  knowledge  a  great  many  strangers,  and 
during  the  winter  months  we  were  seldom  without  a 
house  full  of  Northern  friends.  The  remembrance  of 
these  delightful  years  often  comes  to  me  as  a  haunting 
memory  of  the  "  dead  that  return  not."  My  mother  and 
father  both  died  during  the  war ;  the  latter  dying  in  the 
pulpit  at  a  union  camp-meeting,  while  on  his  knees  in 
prayer.  He  was  laid  out  in  the  altar,  with  his  head  pil- 
lowed on  the  Bible  and  hymn-book.  My  brother  had 
been  killed  "  at  the  head  of  his  brigade,  in  the  thickest  of 
the  fight,"  the  dispatch  said,  and  that  broke  my  father's 
heart.  My  brother  was  a  lawyer  and  an  editor.  My 
father  had  superintended  the  closing  up  of  his  law  office 
and  [lacked  away  his  books  the  day  before  he  died,  and  it 
is  supposed  it  was  too  great  a  trial  for  him.  I  have  writ- 
ten enough  to  make  half  a  dozen  books  if  it  was  collected, 
but  I  have  published  only  one  book — Fitzhugh  St.  Clair, 


546  FOR    HOME    PROTECTION. 

the  Rebel  Boy  of  South  Carolina.  I  was  president  of  our 
Soldiers'  Relief  Society  during  the  war,  and  worked  day 
and  night  in  hospitals  and  with  my  needle.  We  lost  (as 
almost  every  one  did)  a  great  deal  by  the  war,  and  then 
after  it,  for  three  successive  years,  my  husband  lost  by  the 
caterpillar  his  cotton  crop.  These  repeated  troubles 
proved  too  much  for  him  and  caused  his  death  by  conges- 
tion of  the  brain.  I  was  so  prostrated  and  paralyzed  by 
the  suddenness  of  the  shock  that  I  did  not  leave  my 
house  for  a  year.  Life  had  become  an  intolerable  burden, 
and  but  for  the  temperance  work,  I  am  sure  I  should  ere 
this  have  been  in  my  grave.  This  work  has,  unsought 
for  and  unplanned  for,  been  put  into  my  hands  by  God  so 
manifestly,  that  I  dare  not  doubt  it;  and  whenever  I  grow 
discouraged,  something  occurs  to  assure  me  that,  imper- 
fect and  feeble  as  my  efforts  are,  God  blesses  them,  and 
"  the  Master  has  need  of  even  me." 

Mrs.  Chapin  is  a  great-hearted  woman,  as  is  proved  by 
her  attitude  on  the  "  Home  Protection  "  question.  Reared 
a  conservative,  she  was  approached  on  her  visit  north  by 
some  good  ladies,  who  deplored  the  liberal  spirit  of  our 
National  W.  C.  T.  U.  toward  such  States  as  desired  to 
work  along  this  line,  and  was  urged  to  take  a  stand 
against  this  policy.  "  Why  should  I  ? "  answered  Mrs. 
Chapin,  in  her  spirited  but  pleasant  way,  "  Why  should  I 
insist  that  the  whole  army  keep  step  to  the  slowest  foot 
in  the  last  battalion  ?  If  those  brave  women  of  the  West 
find  the  ballot  helpful  to  their  work,  let  them  seek  it  by 
all  means — we  of  the  South  shall  not  object;  we  can't  and 
be  consistent,  for  we  believe  in  State  rights,  don't  you 
know.  To  be  sure  this  branch  of  work  would  never  do 
for  us — nothing  would  hinder  our  work  more  at  the 
present  juncture  of  affairs,  but  why  can't  we  live  and  let 
live?"  But  Mrs  Chapin  is  her  own  best  interpreter,  and 
I  close  this  sketch  of  one  dear  as  a  sister  to  me,  with  her 


MRS.  CHAPIN'S    SPEECH    IN    WASHINGTON.  547 

own   bright   words    and   original    poem,    given    at    our 
Washington  meeting  in  1881 : 

RESPONSE    ON    BEHALF    OP    THE    SOUTH     (WASHINGTON,    D.  C., 

1881)    TO    ADDRESSES    OF    WELCOME. 

BY   MRS.    SALLIE  P.    CHAPIN. 

I  thank  you,  .Miss  President,  for  the  kind  and  cordial 
greeting  you  have  given  my  section  in  this,  the  nerve 
center  of  the  nation. 

It  is  said  by  those  who  understand  atmospheric  and 

serial  phenomena,  that,  at  a  certain  height  in  the  air,  all 

sounds  are  as  one,  and  they  are  all  set  to  the  key  of  C.    I 

think  the  same  phenomena  must  be  produced  by  coming 

to  the  Convention  of  the  W.  X.  C.  T.  XL,  for  here  I  have 

found 

No  North,  no  South,  no  alien  name, 
Firm  in  one  cause  we  stand ; 
Hearts  melted  in  the  sacred  flame 
For  God  and  native  land. 

Ruskin  says  that  when  the  women  of  Christendom 
resolve  that  war  shall  cease,  it  will  cease.  I  see  before 
me  to-night  earnest,  consecrated  women  representing 
every  State  in  the  Union ;  and  from  the  shores  of  that 
broad  ocean  whose  surging  billows  dash  and  break  against 
the  sea  wall  of  my  native  city,  to  where  the  Golden  Gate 
lets  out  into  the  broad  Pacific,  all  are  here,  brought 
together  by  the  threatening  of  a  common  peril,  and  all 
deeply,  earnestly  resolved  that  this  war  against  our 
homes  and  dear  ones  shall  cease. 

All  have  come.  They  have  brought  their  best  thoughts 
and  richest  experiences  to  cast  them  into  the  common 
stock,  and  we  have  come  from  the  South.  We  are  in 
Washington,  so  I  suppose  we  must  be  asking  for  a  place ; 
I  believe  everybody  who  comes  here  does  that !  We  have 
not  come  to  ask  for  a  place  from  Congress  or  the  Presi- 


548  CAME   TO    MAKE   THE   SIXTH   WICK 

dent  at  the  Capitol;  we  will  ask  our  own  peerless 
president.  We  want  a  place.  We  have  come  for  it  and 
you  will  have  to  find  out  what  that  place  is.  I  think  as 
platform  orators  we  will  not  be  a  success,  and  the 
departments  seem  to  be  all  filled.  Mistress  Livermore, 
whose  title  to  Queen  of  the  Platform  I  have  never  heard 
disputed,  will  tell  you  that  the  thousands  of  emigrants 
who  are  landing  at  Castle  Garden  every  week  will  not, 
without  prohibition,  be  able  to  determine  who  shall  make 
the  laws  and  govern  this  grand  nation.  Mrs.  Foster,  our 
gifted  lawyer,  the  chronometer  by  which  we  set  our  legal 
opinions,  will  tell  you  that  although  the  rum-seller  has  the 
image  and  superscription  of  Caesar  upon  his  credentials, 
chartered  wrongs  and  legalized  crimes  are  not  different 
from  other  abuses.  Mrs.  Hunt  has  the  "  Key  to  the 
Situation."  She  has  let  in  rays  of  light  upon  our 
ignorance,  and  our  schoolboys  now  know  what  alcohol  is, 
and  our  rum-sellers  will  soon  know  it,  or  she  will  tell 
them  if  they  want  to  know.  And  the  rest  of  the  ladies 
are  all  equally  good  in  their  line,  so  there  really  seems  to 
be  no  vacancy  for  us  on  the  platform.  But  we  want  a 
place.     We  have  come  for  a  place. 

At  Montauk  light-house  a  Douglass  lamp  illuminates  the 
water  for  miles  around.  This  lamp  has  six  wicks,  one 
within  another.  When  I  was  there  this  Summer  we  asked 
the  keeper  if  it  would  burn  with  five.  He  said  '  Yes,  but 
it  burned  better  with  six."  We  have  come  to  make  the 
sixth  wick.  I  don't  think  we  can  add  one  scintilla  to 
your  bright  galaxy,  for  we  have  no  crusade  victories  to 
report.  We  are  a  mighty  quiet  people  down  there  where 
I  come  from.  We  are  afraid  to  have  our  voices  heard. 
You  don't  know  how  much  afraid  of  it  I  am.  But  I  came 
at  Miss  Willard's  request.  She  had  all  things  her  own 
way  down  South,  as  a  stranger  last  Winter,  ainMiere  she 
just  queens  it  right  royally  over  us  all.    She  has  said  that 


NO   NORTH, NO   SOUTH.  549 

I  must  respond  to  this  address.  We  have  come  to  be  the 
sixth  wick.  Well,  here  we  are.  What  are  you  going  to 
do  with  us  ? 

Dr.  Hepworth  said  that  when  he  was  in  Europe  he  was 
told  by  all  means  to  see  the  stained  glass  windows  of  the 
Milan  Cathedral,  they  are  so  very  beautiful.  He  sought 
the  spot,  he  said,  and  looked  at  the  windows.  There  was 
the  cathedral  and  there  the  windows;  the  conditions,  too, 
were  all  met,  for  the  sun  was  shining  on  them,  but  he  saw 
nothing  to  admire;  he  went  on  the  other  side  of  the  street 
and  looked  up,  and  was  disgusted,  and  made  a  note  to  that 
effect  in  his  note  book.  He  walked  off  and  met  his  wife 
and  told  her  how  much  disappointed  he  was;  the  windows 
were  so  terribly  overrated.  She  proposed  that  they  should 
return.  They  did  so.  When  they  reached  the  place  he 
started  to  cross  the  street  again.  She  said  to  him,"  Why, 
what  arc  you  going  to  do?"  "  Cross  over  here."  "Why, 
go  inside,  go  inside,"  she  said.  He  went  inside  ;  and  oh, 
such  radiance  of  glory  as  those  broken  rays  made  as  they 
fell  upon  the  tesselated  pavement — a  whole  heaven  of 
rainbows.  And  so  we  Southrons  want  to  come  inside ! 
That  is  what  we  have  come  here  to  do. 

I  have  been  North  this  summer;  I  have  attended  a 
great  many  of  these  temperance  meetings,  and  your  love 
has  been  to  my  darkened  life  what  I  did  not  suppose  could 
ever  come  there  again,  and  I  wanted  my  Southern  sisters 
to  come  and  know  you  as  I  know  you,  and  then  I  knew 
they  would  love  you  as  I  do,  with  all  my  heart. 

"  No  North,  no  South."  We  have  a  South,  and  we  have 
a  problem  at  the  South.  Temperance  at  the  South  is  a 
peculiar  thing.  You  know  a  cloud  coming  between  the 
sun  and  us  causes  the  mercury  to  sink  in  the  thermometer. 
Well,  last  summer,  week  after  week,  accompanied  by 
Bishop  Stevens  of  the  Episcopal  Church,  we  went  to  the 
colored  churches,  and  we  got  thousands  of  names  signed 


550  WARDS   OF   THE   NATION. 

to  a  petition  for  prohibition,  and  wo  thought  everything 
was  going  on  well.  The  colored  people  are  naturally 
religious.  They  were  so  before  the  war.  Their  recreations 
were  religious ;  their  plantation  melodies  full  of  hallelujahs, 
and  they  would  have  been  so  yet  if  it  had  not  been  for 
the  sediment  that  settled  down  among  us  after  the  war. 
Now  they  are  demoralized  ;  taught  by  bar-room  teachings 
they  speak  flippantly  of  sacred  things,  and  they  say  they 
want  whisky  and  more  of  it. 

A  minister  of  the  Gospel  told  me  that  he  heard,  only  a 
few  weeks  ago,  a  corner  shop  rum-seller  say  to  a  Western 
distiller,  that  the  barrel  of  whisky  he  had  bought  from 
him,  doctored,  had  turned  out  twelve  barrels  of  whisky 
for  the  colored  people  that  he  had  bought  it  for.  Now, 
what  kind  of  liquor  do  you  suppose  that  was  ?  And  that 
is  the  kind  of  liquor  that  is  being  sold  to  these  newly 
enfranchised  people,  and  they  are  drinking  it ! 

Do  you  call  them  free  ?  Ah,  they  are  in  far  more 
abject  slavery  than  we  ever  held  them  in.  You  have  clone 
only  half  of  your  duty.  You  have  got  to  have  prohibi- 
tion, prohibition!  Instead  of  worshiping  their  God  they 
worship  their  party.  I  tell  you  it  is  time  for  honest 
people  to  come  out  from  parties  ;  they  have  had  their  day. 
Slavery  is  dead,  forever  dead.  It  is  not  among  the  current 
issues  of  the  day  any  longer,  and  although  I  cannot  truth- 
fully say  I  think  it  was  exactly  fair  for  us  who  had 
nothing  to  do  with  bringing  it  here  to  have  to  bear  all  the 
expense  of  getting  it  away,  we  would  not  have  those 
people  put  into  slavery  again,  not  upon  any  consideration. 
To  Christian  owners  they  were  a  responsibility  greater 
than  children.  Who  is  responsible  for  them  now  ?  They 
have  been  alienated  from  us.  Who  is  responsible? 
They  are  the  wards  of  the  nation.  What  is  the  nation 
doing  for  them  ?  Licensing  bad  men  to  sell  them  burn- 
ing, fiery  poison ;  that  is  what  it  is  doing,  and  it  should 


MAKING    A    NEW   PLATFORM.  551 

not  boast  of  enfranchising  them  until  it  banishes  the 
saloons  which  overwhelm  them  in  a  bondage  far  more 
terrible.  The  nation  ought  to  take  care  of  them  as  it  does 
of  the  Indian  and  the  soldier.  Before  the  war  it  was  an 
offence  punished  by  law  to  sell  liquor  to  a  slave  ;  then  you 
never  saw  a  slave  drunk;  now  the  best  of  them  get 
drunk,  and  the  religious  among  them  deplore  it  deeply. 
It  is  the  duty  of  the  nation  to  give  us  prohibition,  that  is 
it  !   We  could  work  together  in  a  prohibition  movement. 

In  this  new  platform,  which  we  of  the  South  have  come 
to  licli)  you  build,  we  should  have  an  educational  qualifica- 
tion. What  do  these  men  that  landed  at  Castle  Garden 
a  few  weeks  ago — whisky,  beer-drinking  Irish  and 
Germans,  and  their  wives  not  much  better  than  they — 
what  do  they  know  about  using  the  ballot  ?  The  idea 
that  they  are  the  men  that  are  in  five  years  to  make  out- 
laws is  a  disgrace,  and  we  will  never,  never  have  a 
Christian  country  again  until  we  put  an  educational  plank 
in  our  platform.     We  need  it,  we  ought  to  have  it. 

But  I  am  not  here  to  talk  politics.  I  only  came  to  ask 
for  a  place  and  to  speak  for  my  people.  I  Avanted  to 
come  inside.  I  wanted  you  to  know  us.  We  do  not  know 
one  another,  that  is  the  trouble. 

A  few  years  ago,  when  the  yellow  fever  raged  in  Charles- 
ton, one  who  had  been  an  officer  in  the  Federal  army  and 
fought  bravely  during  the  whole  war,  and  at  its  close  came 
South  and  went  into  business,  took  the  fever.  I  went  to 
see  him.  He  wasn't  a  very  near  neighbor  of  mine,  but, 
as  he  was  sick  and  a  stranger,  I  thought  I  would  stretch 
the  etiquette  of  the  occasion.  A  lady  said  to  me  the  other 
day  the  Southern  people  made  neighbors  four  and  five 
squares  off.  When  I  called  on  him  he  was  very  glad  to 
see  me;  but  I  saw  him  signaling  to  his  wife,  and  she 
turned  his  picture  with  the  epaulets  on  the  shoulder  to 
the  wall.     I  never  felt  so  badly  in  all  my  life  ;  that  I,  who 


552  •  peesident  Arthur's  salute. 

had  professed  religion  from  a  child,  that  I  could  be 
thought  to  have  a  resentful  feeling  toward  that  man 
because  he  fought  as  God  gave  him  the  right  to  fight — 
according  to  his  light — even  as  we  did !  I  told  him  to 
turn  out  his  picture  from  the  Avail,  I  wanted  to  see  it ;  I 
believed  in  a  man  fighting  for  his  colors.  Magnanimity 
is  the  greatest  virtue,  I  believe,  in  the  world,  and  I  tried 
to  cultivate  it  then  and  there ! 

When  I  was  in  Canada  this  summer,  I  saw  a  monument 
raised  by  England  that  pleased  me — a  monument  built  to 
Wolf  and  Montcalm — and  upon  it  was  the  inscription: 
"  We  give  them  a  common  tomb,  and  posterity  will  give 
them  a  common  history."  But,  then,  our  own  President, 
the  other  day,  did  something  that  was  beautifully  courteous 
when  he  had  the  British  flag  saluted.  It  was  the  flag  of 
the  Queen,  the  royal  woman  who  stretched  out  her  hand 
across  the  water  to  the  widow  of  a  man  not  born  in  the 
purple.  It  was  a  beautiful  courtesy ;  it  was  right,  the 
newspapers  to  the  contrary  notwithstanding,  although  I 
also  go  with  the  papers;  that  is,  whenever  they  think  as 
I  do  I  go  right  with  them !  But  I  thought  that  President 
Arthur  did  just  the  right  thing  in  that  when  he  ordered 
the  British  flag*  saluted,  and  said  it  was  not  so  much  a 
want  of  bravery  as  it  was  that  the  British  were  outnum- 
bered one  hundred  years  ago. 

"  You  have  careful  thoughts  for  the  stranger, 
Kind  words  for  the  sometime  guest; 
But  for  your  own,  the  bitter  tone, 
Though  you  love  your  own  the  best." 

There  is  a  brave  nation  nearer  to  you  than  England. 
Did  you  ever  tell  them  they  were  outnumbered  ?  Your 
children  will,  but  those  who  would  feel  it  will  then  be 
dead  and  gone.  Speak  those  words.  It  will  grapple  them 
to  you  with  hooks  of  steel.  Speak  to  them  as  did  our 
president,  who,  as  she  went  from  home  to  home,  carried 


ASKS   FOR   A   PLACE.  553 

all  hearts  captive,  and  you  know  we  don't  approve  of 
women  speaking  down  there.  Oh,  say  kind  words ;  it  is 
so  much  better  than  bitter  ones,  and 

"  Angels  look  downward  from  the  skies 
Upon  no  holier  ground, 
Than  where  defeated  valor  lies, 
By  generous  foemen  crowned." 

We  have  come  for  a  place.  That  is  what  brought  us 
here.  We  knew  this  was  the  place  to  come — Washing- 
ton. Everybody  wants  a  place  here.  We  are  not  going 
to  ask  President  Arthur  for  it.  We  would  not  be  pre- 
pared to  fill  it  if  he  was  to  give  it  to  us.  That  is  not 
what  I  want.  We  are  not  voters  down  where  I  came 
from.  If  peace  comes  to  this  country  it  will  come  through 
the  women,  and  we  have  come  for  this  place  inside  of  your 
hearts.  We  want  you  inside  of  ours.  Down  at  the  South 
Ave  are  quick  to  resent,  but  easy  to  forgive.  Didn't  we 
vote  for  your  man  who  had  fought  against  us,  every  one 
us !  We  were  better  to  him  than  you  were !  And  we 
gave  allegiance  to  the  man  you  elected,  and  when  the 
assassin  struck  him  it  went  "to  the  heart  of  everybody  at 
the  South  :  they  forgot  their  own  private  sorrows  to  think 
of  the  sorrows  right  here.  If  you  knew  us*  better  you 
would  love  us  more. 

Now  we  have  come.  Here  we  are.  We  have  come  for 
a  place.  We  want  you  to  give  it  to  us  right  in  your 
hearts — right  in  your  hearts.  I  used  to  be  the  staunchest 
Democrat,  and  I  think  a  great  deal  of  Hancock  yet ;  but 
Mr.  Arthur  did  beautifully  the  other  day  at  Yorktown — 
he  really  did !  I  like  him.  I  have  given  my  allegiance 
to  Mr.  Arthur.  I  really  have,  though  I  am  not  going  to 
ask  him  for  a  place  ! 

I  want  you  to  hear  how  we  women  mean  to  build  a 
platform. 

22 


554  PLEA    FOR   RECONSTRUCTION. 

Then  let  us  build  what  men  in  vain  , 

Have  sought  to  rear  these  hundred  years, 
And  failed  in  throes  of  heart  and  brain, 

And  torture  deep  and  blood  and  tears; 
A  platform  broad  as  all  the  land, 

Where  North  and  South  and  East  and  West, 
In  grand  and  high  accord  may  stand, 

Arm  linked  with  arm  and  breast  with  breast. 

Where  Maine  may  bring  her  plank  of  pine 

To  mortice  with  palmetto  beam, 
And  round  the  stately  elm  entwine 

Vines  from  the  bayou's  turbid  stream; 
White  stanchions  set  in  granite  rock 

From  old  New  Hampshire's  bosom  brought, 
Will  stand  all  storms  nor  heed  their  shock, 

With  Alabama  iron  wrought. 

Where  Mississippi  hand  to  hand 

With  Minnesota  asks  to  be, 
Seeking  redemption  for  our  land, 

Struggling  to  set  the  nation  free; 
And  Florida  from  out  her  groves 

Of  tropic  fruit  and  towering  palm, 
Stands  with  brave  Kansas  whom  she  loves, 

And  joins  her  in  the  inspiring  psalm. 
Where  all  the  old  and  grand  thirteen 

Who  broke,  as  one,  the  tyrants'  sway, 
May  with  their  sister  States  be  seen 

Engaged  again  in  deadliest  fray. 

Yes,  women,  build;  for  be  ye  sure 

Ye  build  far  better  than  you  know; 
And  that  your  building  will  endure 

Till  time  itself  will  be  no  more. 
Ye  hold  alone  the  place  sublime; 

No  claims  of  section,  creed,  or  pride, 
Nor  thought  of  color,  class,  or  clime 

Your  love-embattled  ranks  divide. 
Deep  unto  deep  with  answering  cry, 

Atlantic  and  Pacific  pleads, 
Hold,  women,  to  your  purpose  high, 

And  prove  your  faith  by  words  and  deeds  I 


MRS.    GEORGIA    H.  M'LEOD.  555 

The  cruel  gulf  by  carnage  made 

Is  bridged  for  aye  by  mortal  blood, 
And  where  our  slaughtered  chief  was  laid 

The  arch  of  peace  there  spans  the  flood. 
With  every  sound  of  discord  stilled, 

High  on  that  glorious  arch  we  stand, 
With  one  resolve  each  heart  is  filled, 

To  strike  for  home  and  native  land. 

Late  Yorktown's  doubly  sacred  sod 

Saw  foes  as  friends  again  arrayed, 
So  for  our  cause,  for  home,  for  God 

Be  our  white  banners  high  displayed! 

GEORGIA    HULSE    M'LEOD. 

Mrs.  McLeocl,  daughter  of  Dr.  Isaac  Hulse,  of  the 
United  States  Navy,  was  born  near  Barrancas,  Florida, 
at  the  naval  hospital,  of  which  her  father  was  then 
surgeon.  She  very  early  evinced  a  taste  for  literature 
and  a  predilection  for  poetry,  in  which  she  was  encour- 
aged by  Mrs.  Lydia  H.  Sigournev,  of  Connecticut,  and 
Dr.  Thompson,  historian,  of  Long  Island,  her  father's 
friend.  In  her  childhood  she  mingled  much  in  French 
society,  the  naval  officers  of  French  men-of-war  being 
frequent  guests  of  her  father  when  in  port ;  and,  in  order 
to  complete  her  French  education,  she  was  sent  to  a 
convent  school,  taught  by  native  Parisians,  where  she 
remained  some  years. 

In  her  early  girlhood  she  contributed  to  several 
periodicals,  under  various  noms  de  plume.  Before  com- 
pleting her  school  education,  she  wrote  "  Sunbeams  and 
Shadows"  and  "Aunt  Minnie's  Portfolio,"  published  by 
Messrs.  Appleton  &  Co.,  New  York,  and  afterwards 
republished  by  Routledge  &  Co.,  London,  under  the  title 
of  "  Gertrude  and  Eulalie." 

In  1853  she  was  married  to  the  Rev.  Alexander  W. 
McLeod,D.  D.,  a  well-known  theological  writer  and  editor 
of  the  official  organ  of  the  \Yesleyan  Methodists  of  the 


556  HER   WRITINGS. 

lower  provinces.  Her  later  works  are  "  Ivy  Leaves," 
published  in  Halifax,  Nova  Scotia,  followed  by  "  Thine 
and  Mine,"  published  by  Messrs.  Derby  &  Jackson,  and 
"  Sea  Drifts,"  by  Carter  &  Brothers,  New  York.  She  has 
in  preparation  a  work  entitled  "  Unprotected  Homes,"  a 
prohibition  story. 

"  Her  writings,"  says  an  able  critic,  "  evince  steady 
growth  and  culture,  marked  by  fine  sensibility  and  high- 
toned  morality."  Mrs.  McLeod  is  widely  known  and 
loved  for  her  pure  womanliness  and  exalted  piety,  as  well 
as  for  her  gifts  of  mind.  For  many  years  she  was  prin- 
cipal of  the  "  Southern  Literary  Institute  for  Young 
Ladies,"  located  in  Baltimore,  which  became  one  of  the 
most  popular  and  successful  educational  institutions  in 
the  South,  her  pupils,  scattered  through  the  different 
Southern  States,  to  this  day  holding  her  in  veneration 
and  affection.  On  account  of  ill  health,  at  the  earnest 
solicitation  of  her  friends,  she  reluctantly  gave  up  the 
school ;  and  on  the  organization  of  the  Woman's  Christian 
Temperance  Union  of  Maryland  she  was  unanimously 
elected  Corresponding  Secretary,  a  position  she  still 
holds. 

For  eighteen  years  it  was  her  privilege  to  correspond 
with  Henry  W.  Longfellow,  who  took  much  interest  in 
her  and  her  works,  and  of  her  fugitive  poems  coming 
under  his  notice,  and  which  lie  pronounced  good,  were 
"Under  the  Sea,"  "The  Old  Tower,"  "Exiled,"  "Tribute 
Leaf,"  in  memoriam  of  Charles  Green,  Esq.,  Savannah, 
Ga. ;  the  last  being  characterized  by  him  as  "a  poem  of 
exquisite  pathos." 

Mrs.  McLeod,  being  an  advocate  for  State  rights, 
warmly  espoused  the  cause  of  her  section  in  the  late  war. 
Her  love  for  her  sunny  South  land  has  grown  with  the 
years,  and  the  organization  of  Woman's  Christian  Tem- 
perance Unions  in  every  Southern  State  has  brought  to 
her  the  joy  of  an  answered  prayer. 


TENNESSEE,  FLORIDA,  AND   GEORGIA.  557 

MRS.  J.  C.  JOHNSON 

is  a  Presbyterian  lady  of  Memphis,  Tenn.,  and  has  been  a 
leading  pioneer,  having  come  into  the  work  when  Mrs. 
Wittenmyer  and  Mrs.  Denman  of  New  Jersey,  went 
South  011  an  organizing  trip  in  187G.  Mrs.  Johnson  was 
associated  with  Mrs.  Jefferson  Davis  in  the  Woman's 
Christian  Association  of  Memphis,  and  maintains  also  a 
home  for  women  desiring  to  reform.  She  and  her  noble 
husband  entered  heartily  into  our  work,  and  she  has  been 
for  years  President  of  the  W.  C.  T.  U.  of  Tennessee. 

MRS.  REV.  DR.  J.  L.  LYONS, 

of  Jacksonville,  Pla.,  has  been  our  leader  in  that  State 
for  many  years.  Formerly  a  missionary  in  Syria,  Mrs. 
L.  "  takes  naturally  "  to  active  service  for  Christ,  and, 
with  the  earnest  ladies  associated  with  her,  has  made  our 
society  a  felt  force,  sending  petitions  (local  option)  to 
the  Legislature,  the  effect  of  which  was  plainly  visible  at 
Tallahassee  on  my. recent  visit. 

MRS.  W.  C.  SIBLEY, 

President  of  W.  C.  T.  U.  of  Georgia,  is  a  Southern  leader, 
the  daughter  of  the  distinguished  Judge  Thomas,  of 
Columbus,  Ga.,  and  the  wife  of  W.  C.  Sibley,  President  of 
Sibley  Cotton  Mills,  with  one  exception  the  largest  manu- 
factory in  the  South.  From  her  elegant  home,  where  she 
is  surrounded  by  seven  charming  sons  and  daughters, 
Mrs.  Sibley  goes  forth  with  her  kind  husband's  hearty 
endorsement,  speaking  (Presbyterian  though  she  is)  to 
her  Christian  sisters,  "  that  they  go  forward."  I  shall 
never  forget  her  words  when,  without  previous  consulta- 
tion, she  was  elected  President  of  the  local  W.  C.  T.  U. 
of  aristocratic  old  Augusta.  She  came  forward  at  the 
close  of  the  meeting  held  in  Rev.  Mr.  La  Prade's  church 
one  Sabbath  afternoon,  and  said,  as  she  took  my  hand 


558  MISS   FANNIE   GRIFFIN. 

warmly  :  "  I  am  surprised  that  the  lot  should  have  fallen 
on  me ;  but,  since  it  has,  I  promise  you  I  will  try  to  use 
this  sacred  office  solely  in  the  interest  of  the  homes  of 
our  beautiful  city."  Nor  shall  I  forget  how  this  sweet- 
natured  lady  stood  before  a  great  audience  at  the  W.  C. 
T.  U.  Convention  of  Atlanta,  all  unused  to  public  speak- 
ing as  she  is,  and  gently  said:  "Dear  friends,  I  am 
grateful  that  so  many  are  here;  but  I  tell  you  truly  if 
there  were  not  another  to  stand  between  the  dram-shops 
of  Georgia  and  its  homes,  so  dearly  do  I  love  this  temper- 
ance cause.  Iivould  stand  there  all  alone." 

MISS    FANNIE   GRIFFIN, 

of  Montgomery,  Ala.,  is  one  of  the  most  gifted  young 
women  I  have  met  North  or  South.  She  it  was  who  said 
to  me  on  my  first  visit,  in  1880 :  "  The  war  was  terrible, 
but  had  its  compensations.  It  developed  individuality — 
it  gave  many  of  us  to  ourselves  in  a  deeper,  wider  con- 
sciousness of  power.  It  set  me  at  work,  and  I  am  thank- 
ful for  it.  A  bee  is  worth  more  than  a  butterfly,  no 
matter  how  prosaic  the  one  and  poetic  the  other."  It 
was  she  also  who  said  :  "  1  am  not  '  reconstructed,'  please 
take  notice  !  I  was  just  as  loyal  to  my  highest  beliefs  as 
you  were  to  yours.  Always  you  were  taught  to  spell 
Nation  with  a  capital  N,  and  I  to  spell  Alabama  with  a 
capital  A.  It  was  my  best  beloved  land;  it  was  my 
Nation.  What  could  I  do  but  follow  its  fortunes  in  victory 
or  defeat  ?  But  let  that  pass.  I  can  clasp  hands  with 
you  warmly  in  this  new  warfare.  Let  us  be  friends." 
And  so  we  are  "  for  always."  I  spent  a  delightful  even- 
ing with  Miss  Griffin  and  gifted  Will  Hayne — only  child  of 
the  poet  and  his  lovely  wife — in  the  home  of  Captain  Bush, 
of  Montgomery.  Miss  Follansbce,  principal  of  the  leading 
ladies'  school  of  that  exclusive  city,  was  President  also  of 
the  "  Chautauqua  Circle,"  which  met  at  Captain  Bush's, 


ENLARGING  THE  SPHERE.  559 

"round  the  evening  lamp."  We  had  good  talk — well 
worth  reporting — but  I  give  from  its  full  quiver  only  this 
Parthian  arrow  fired  by  Miss  Griffin  at  a  gentleman  who 
"didn't  altogether  believe  in  women's  speaking"  : 

"No  doubt,  sir,  you  have  moulded  and  rounded  the 
pretty  little  tea-cup  that  represents  our  '  sphere; '  but  you 
forget  that  the  great  reservoir  of  the  nineteenth  century 
is  pouring  in  its  wealth  of  knowledge  and  of  opportunity ; 
the  poor  little  limits  arc  quite  drowned  out ;  the  fragile 
cup  is  broken ;  there  is  no  help  for  it.  Now,  since  the 
pouring-in  process  cannot  cease,  is  there  anything  to  do 
but  to  enlarge  the  sphere?" 

I  can  give  no  idea  of  the  vivacity  and  electric  force 
with  which  Miss  Griffin  speaks.  She  is  the  lady  princi- 
pal of  the  public  schools  in  Montgomery  ;  is  up  and  at  her 
books  by  6  a.  m.,  studies  French,  German,  literature,  his- 
tory, etc.,  and  is  my  "  temperance  stand-by"  in  the  capi- 
tal city  of  Alabama,  aided  by  the  true-hearted  women  I 
have  named,  and  several  of  their  friends.  Time  would 
fail  me  to  map  out  the  galaxy  of  our  new  allies  in  the 
South.  Who  that  saw  it  can  forget  the  group  of  southern 
delegates  at  the  Louisville  convention.  Even  as  they 
crowded  that  broad  platform,  the  space  around  me  as  I 
write  these  lines  is  peopled  witli  the  gracious  and  win- 
some presences  of  those  who,  by  reason  of  our  blessed 
work,  have  become  sisters  beloved  to  me  and  all  of  us. 
How  their  kind  faces  beam  on  me.  There  are  Mrs.  Fran- 
cis Crook  and  Mrs.  Summerfield  Baldwin  of  Baltimore, 
and  the  score  of  other  women  that  cheery  Mrs.  Dr. 
Thomas  leads,  Mrs.  Judge  Cochrane  of  Virginia,  and  her 
associates  ;  Mrs.  John  Staples  of  North  Carolina,  and  the 
the  true  hearts  at  Raleigh  ;  Mrs.  Bishop  Wightman,  Mrs. 
Harley  Walters,  and  their  coadjutors  of  the  Palmetto 
State,  Mrs.  Shropshire,  my  beloved  friend  in  Rome,  Ga., 
with  loyal  Miss  Missouri  H.  Stokes,  gentle  Mrs.  Witter  of 


560  MRS.    JUDGE    MERRICK. 

Atlanta,  capable  Mrs.  Webb  of  Savannah,  and  Mrs.  Alice 
Cobb  of  Macon,  who  has  a  gift  at  causing  things  to  come 
to  pass ;  there  too  is  Mrs.  Judge  Horton  of  Mobile,  Ala., 
Mrs.  Gen.  Stewart  of  Oxford,  Miss.,  Mrs.  Samuel  Watson 
of  Memphis,  Mrs.  Col.  G.  W.  Bain  "  of  ours "  in  Ken- 
tucky, Mrs.  Dr.  Dodge,  President  of  Arkansas  W.  C.  T. 
U.,  with  noble  Mrs.  Winfield,  Mrs.  Sample,  and  Mrs. 
Erwin  "  of  Des  Arc  ; "  there  is  dear  young  Texas  with  its 
sixteen  towns,  where  the  seed  of  the  W.  C.  T.  U.  was 
sown  in  joy  one  year  ago,  where  Mrs.  Senator  Maxey 
stands  at  the  head;  Mesdames  Johnson  and  Hathaway, 
Preston  and  Acheson,  Underbill ;  but  how  the  names  and 
faces  throng!  It  Avere  idle  to  attempt  a  "muster  roll " 
so  endless.     Among  our  Southern  allies 

MRS.    JUDGE   MERRICK    OP   NEW   ORLEANS, 

shall  be  the  rare  theme  of  a  closing  sketch.  In  reply  to 
my  note  asking  for  data,  this  beloved  comrade  in  arms 
wrote  me  as  follows : 

"  The  life  of  a  woman  who  has  staid  at  home  all  her 
life,  and  been  pleasantly  shaded  by  a  distinguished  hus- 
band, offers  poor  material  to  the  biographer." 

Mrs.  Merrick's  case  is,  however,  an  exception  to  this 
rule,  by  reason  of  her  rare  antecedents,  training,  and 
character.  As  a  lady  whom  she  had  benefited  once  said 
of  her :  "  Why  I  was  so  outspoken  with  Mrs.  Merrick  I 
cannot  tell,  unless  because  I  felt  that  in  her  I  had  found 
a  woman  whose  great  heart  could  sympathize  and  help 
not  only  her  own  immediate  circle,  but  the  whole  of 
womankind." 

Captain  David  Thomas,  the  father  of  Mrs.  Merrick, 
belonged  to  an  old  South  Carolina  family,  and  was  born 
in  the  "Edgefield  District."  He  was  a  commissioned 
officer  under  Gen.  Jackson,  who  was  his  special  friend, 
and  he  served  in  the  war  of  1812.     President  Longstreet 


MRS.  CAROLINE  E.  MERRICK. 


HER    HISTORY.  563 

(author  of  the  famous  "Georgia  Scenes")  was  another 
friend,  and  delivered  an  eloquent  eulogy  on  Captain 
Thomas  at  the  commencement  exercises  of   Centenary 

College,  Jackson,  La.,  of  whose  Board  of  Trustees  the 
captain  was  an  influential  member.  He  was  a  stoical, 
philosophical  man,  and  could  be  thoroughly  depended 
upon  as  friend  or  enemy.  All  hough  he  had  a  line  vein 
of  humor,  which  his  daughter  inherits,  he  was  stern  and 
rigid  in  his  notions  of  family  government.  His  children 
were  under  no  circumstances  allowed  to  spend  a  night 
from  home,  nor  to  make  the  smallest  visit  unaccompanied 
by  aunt  or  mother.  He  was  a  conscientious,  consistent 
Christian  man,  universally  respected  and  beloved,  and. 
possessing  common  sense  enough  to  amount  to  positive 
genius.     This  is  his  gifted  daughter's  testimony. 

Caroline  Elizabeth  Merrick  was  born  at  Cottage  Hall, 
parish  of  East  Feliciana,  La.,  on  the  24th  of  November, 
1825.  Her  mother  died  when  she  was  seven  years  old. 
The  father  said,  "  a  step-mother  is  far  better  than  none," 
so  he  soon  gave  one  to  his  four  little  girls  and  two  boys. 
They  lived  on  a  plantation,  five  miles  from  Jackson,  but 
the  professors  in  the  well-known  college  located  there, 
which  is  the  Alma  Mater  of  some  of  the  South's  most 
celebrated  men,  were  frequent  visitors,  and  their  learned 
conversation  and  discussions  around  the  fireside  could  but 
cultivate  in  the  bright,  attentive  little  girl  a  love  of  books 
and  noble  themes. 

In  a  private  letter,  Mrs.  Merrick  thus  writes  with 
generous  enthusiasm  of  her  stepmother: 

"  I  owed  most  of  all  to  my  father's  third  wife  (I  was 
the  seventh  child  of  the  second),  whose  name  was  Susan 
Brewer,  and  who  was  for  ten  years  associated  with  that 
eminent  teacher  and  divine,  Rev.  Dr.  Wilbur  Fisk,  as 
preceptress  of  Wilbraham  Seminary.  Two  years  later  she 
came  to  Tuscaloosa,  Alabama,  where  she  had  the  highest 


564  TRIBUTE   TO    HER    STEP-MOTHER. 

reputation  as  an  educator,  being  called  by  Dr.  Fisk  'the 
pioneer  in  the  cause  of  woman's  education  in  the  South,' 
for,  in  addition  to  her  own  work,  she  brought  no  less  than 
sixty  northern  hi  dies  of  the  highest  character  to  us  as 
teachers.  She  had  a  high  reputation  as  a  writer,  and 
after  my  father's  death,  spent  two  years  abroad  visiting 
nearly  every  capital  of  Europe  and  the  East,  and  publish- 
ing her  observations  in  book  form.  After  her  marriage  she 
devoted  herself  entirely  to  her  step-children,  training  us 
in  the  most  careful  and  methodical  manner.  She  was  a 
great  and  gifted  woman.  Her  eloquence  in  prayer,  her 
love  of  learning,  and  her  power  in  conversation  were 
unrivaled.  Every  one  who  met  her  was  forced  to 
recognize  her  gifts,  and  in  nearly  the  above  words,  I  had 
an  inscription  made  upon  the  monument  she  raised  to  her 
parents  in  Wilbraham,  Mass.,  her  native  village,  where 
she  lies  buried." 

This  lady  was  the  maternal  aunt  of  Edwin  T.  Merrick, 
who  is  a  cousin  of  our  honored  Rev.  Dr.  Frederick  Merrick 
of  Delaware,  0.  (projector  of  the  Hayes  memorial  port- 
rait). It  was  from  this  fact  that  the  young  people  became 
acquainted,  when  E.  T.  Merrick,  a  rising  young  lawyer, 
came  to  the  South,  and  in  1840  our  Caroline  became  his 
wife.  They  lived  in  Clinton,  La.,  fifteen  years,  where 
three  of  her  children  were  born.  In  1855  her  husband 
was  elected  Chief  Justice  of  the  State,  and  they  removed 
to  New  Orleans,  where  their  home  has  been  ever  since, 
except  the  four  years  of  the  war,  during  which  they  lived 
at  Myrtle  Grove  plantation.  Mrs.  Merrick  sometimes 
refers  to  her  exciting  war  experiences,  for  Myrtle  Grove 
was  alternately  within  the  Federal  and  Confederate  lines, 
yet  she  thinks  upon  that  period  now  as  the  happiest 
epoch  of  her  life,  notwithstanding  many  privations  and 
trials.  Every  faculty  of  her  mind  was  in  lively  exercise, 
for  she  was  thrown  entirely  upon  her  own  resources,  and 


A    "CHARACTER."  565 

the  very  dangers  and  uncertainties  of  the  times  enhanced 
the  value  of  whatever  good  or  happiness  which  presented 
itself.  Then  while  her  mother  heart  went  out  in  trembling 
anxiety  for  her  young  son  who  had  left  college  to  join  the 
army  in  Virginia,  she  found  comfort  in  her  baby  boy  and 
his  lovely  sisters,  who  were  her  constant  companions.  In 
her  husband's  long  absences  on  his  official  duties,  Mrs. 
Merrick  carried  on  the  plantation,  supplied  the  stores, 
often  making  hazardous  voyages  for  this  purpose  on  river 
and  bayou ;  cared  for  the  wounded  of  both  armies,  and 
wrote  sketches  in  dialect  fresh  from  the  lips  of  her 
faithful  servitors,  not  a  whit  inferior  to  those  by  "  Uncle 
Remus."  These,  it  is  hoped,  will  some  day  see  the  light. 
Mrs.  Merrick  is  that  rare,  unique,  refreshing  specimen  of 
humanity,  "  a  character."  Neither  wealth,  culture,  nor 
social  prestige  have  been  able  to  deprive  her  of  this 
crowning  charm — a  strong,  irrepressible  individuality. 
For  instance,  as  secretary  of  St.  Ann's  ,  Charitable 
Asylum,  she  submitted  to  her  husband,  in  his  capacity  of 
legal  adviser,  a  will,  witnessed  by  the  officers  of  that 
institution  (all  of  them  ladies),  in  which  a  sum  of  money 
was  bequeathed  for  its  use.  "  Why,  my  dear,"  said  the 
Judge,  "  that  document  is  not  worth  the  paper  on  which 
it  is  written.  Women  cannot  be  witnesses  of  wills  in 
Louisiana!"  and  he  showed  her  the  statute  where  the 
"  incapables  "  are  enumerated  as  "  insane,  idiotic,  felons, 
and — women,"  and  the  capables  designated  as  "  all  males 
above  the  age  of  sixteen  years."  At  this  Mrs.  Merrick's 
righteous  indignation  was  stirred.  She  set  out  with  a 
petition  for  the  removal  of  these  and  all  other  legal 
disabilities  of  women  (for  she  has  a  thorough  fashion  of 
doing  well  what  she  thinks  it  worth  while  to  set  about  at 
all),  and  though  she  had  never  spoken  above  that  low, 
velvety  "parlor  voice"  for  which  she  is  distinguished, 
she  went  before  the    Constitutional  Convention   of   her 


566  THE    PEEPARING   LOAF. 

native  State  and  made  a  rousing  speech  in  defence  of  her 
position.  This  was  on  June  16,  1879.  Be  it  remembered 
that  in  this  she  had  the  hearty  sympathy  of  her  noble 
husband  and  high-minded  children.  "  Go,  by  all  means," 
said  the  Judge,  when  she  asked  his  consent,  "  you  have 
always  desired  to  do  something  for  your  own  sex — and 
here  is  your  opportunity." 

Two  other  brave  women  spoke  with  Mrs.  Merrick,  one 
representing  the  reformatory  forces  of  New  Orleans 
(Mrs.  Saxon),  the  other  standing  for  women  in  profes- 
sional life  (Dr. ),  but  the  friendly  legislators  (for 

there  were  some)  said  Mrs.  Merrick  must  represent  the 
potent  voice  of  society.  As  a  result  of  these  addresses, 
the  Constitution  declares  women  eligible  to  all  school 
offices  in  the  State,  which  is  the  prophetic  crumb  of  the 
surely  preparing  loaf. 

One  day  Mrs.  Merrick  playfully  remarked  to  the  Presi- 
dent of  a  "  female  college  "  (for  that  is  still  the  name 
throughout  the  South)  that  "  she  marvelled  greatly  to  see 
that  women  were  never  invited  to  address  the  '  sweet  girl 
graduates,'  and  wondered  what  a  senior  class  of  young 
men  would  think,  should  a  lady  presume  to  discourse  to 
them  of  their  duty  and  destiny ; "  whereat  the  sensible 
president  urged  her  to  come  and  talk  to  his  fair  girls. 
She  did  so,  nothing  loth,  and  the  address  is  described  as 
inimitably  witty  and  wise.  At  its  close  she  turned  to  the 
lords  of  creation  present  and  said,  with  her  handsome  face 
beaming  with  drollery :  "  And  now  a  few  words  to  the 
gentlemen,  God  bless  them !  We  wouldn't  forget  them 
for  the  world.  Are  they  not  the  delight  of  our  hearts  and 
the  sunshine  of  our  homes?"  The  noble  lords  saw  how 
adroitly  she  had  turned  the  tables  of  their  own  "  from 
time  immemorial"  regulation  speeches  upon  them,  and 
her  peroration  "  brought  down  the  house." 

It  was  this  speech  of  hers  that  made  us  acquainted,  for 


"the  gentlemen — <;od  bless  them."  567 

I  read  an  account  of  it  and  said  in  my  heart :  "  That  is 
the  lady  who  can  make  the  W.  C.  T.  U.  a  success,  even 
in  the  volatile  city  of  the  Mardi  Gras."  So  I  wrote  Rev. 
D.  L.  Mitchell,  Secretary  of  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  (an  organi- 
sation which  has  been  the  kindest  of  older  brothers  to  our 
W.  C.  T.  U.),  and  inquired  if  he  thought  her  influence 
could  be  enlisted.  Subsequently  I  learned  that  the 
gracious  purpose  to  help  nie  had  already  been  born  in  her 
heart,  not  because  she  was  specially  interested  in  my 
mission,  but  for  the  equally  good  reason  that  she  liked  to 
help  women,  and  as  a  southern  lady,  she  desired  to  show 
me  kindness.  I  shall  never  forget  her  first  letter,  written 
in  January,  1882,  perfumed  with  rare  flowers  from  her 
garden,  nor  the  reception  awaiting  Anna  Gordon  and  me 
as  we  arrived  after  a  weary  ride  from  Houston,  Texas, 
and  beheld  awaiting  us  before  the  wide  open  doors  of  a 
beautiful  home  this  queenly  lady,  who  clasped  us  in  her 
arms,  saying :  "  Welcome  to  my  home  and  heart,  and 
remember  all  that  I  have  is  yours."  Wise  in  her  genera- 
tion, Mrs.  Merrick  said:  "First  of  all,  the  keynote  of 
society  must  be  set  at  concert  pitch.  I  am  going  to  give 
you  a  reception."  How  thoughtfully  and  lovingly  she 
planned  it  all,  decorating  her  parlors,  banking  up  the 
mantels  with  flowers,  and  adorning  the  walls  with  beau- 
tiful vines.  What  an  air  of  the  higher  social  converse 
she  imparted  by  choice  music  and  classic  Shakspearian 
scene,  and  how  delightful  was  the  company  she  gathered, 
of  men  and  women  well  known  in  Xew  Orleans  society, 
literature,  and  art. 

But  the  flower-wreathed  punch  bowl  held  only  lemonade, 
and  the  elegant  table  offered  nothing  stronger  than  "the 
cup  that  cheers  but  not  inebriates."  For  Mrs.  Merrick 
had  signed  the  pledge  since  our  arrival,  and  joined  our 
W.  <'.  T.  U.  A  few  days  later,  with  great  reluctance, 
yet  gently  obedient  to  a  call   she  couldn't  disregard,  she 


568  MRS.    BISHOP    PARKER   AND    OTHERS. 

became  president  of  our  work  in  the  city  and  the  State. 
Soon  after,  an  elegant  banquet  was  given  to  John  Mc- 
Cullough,  the  great  actor,  at  the  residence  of  Mrs.  Mer- 
rick's   son-in-law.       Wine    was    freely    offered,   but   she 
turned  her  glasses  right  side  up — or  upside  down.     Her 
friends  looked  on  in  amazement  as  she  explained  with 
gentle  grace  that  she  had  "joined  the  noble  army  of  the 
W.  C.  T.  U."     And  so  she  gave  a  temperance  lecture  in 
a  circle  not  often  penetrated  by  a  white  ribbon  soldier, 
God  bless  her  true  heart !     There  are  no  brighter,  better 
women  anywhere  than  Mrs.  Merrick's  coadjutors.     Mrs. 
Bishop  Parker  is  Corresponding  Secretary  for  New  Or- 
leans,   and   I    never    see    her   without    recalling   Dinah 
Mulock's  words,  "Douglas,  Douglas,  tender  and  true." 
Her  husband,  one  of  the  most  influential  bishops  of  the 
South,  stands  by  her  in  this  "new  departure,"  and  a  more 
loyal  heart  was  seldom  wedded  to  a  stronger  brain.     Mrs. 
Dr.  Lyon,  wife  of  a  leading  physician  of  the  city,  is  also 
Mrs.  Merrick's  true  yoke-fellow  in  every  good  word  and 
work.     Mrs.  Dr.  Lendrum,  wife  of  a  chief  Baptist  pastor, 
Miss  Anna  Prophet,  a  prophet  indeed,  with  her  lovely 
gifts  of  brain  and  heart,  Misses  Brewer,  Lyon,  Mitchell, 
dear  Mrs.  Harp,  the  "  charter  member "  who  never  was 
discouraged,  all  these  are  representatives  of  the  strong 
and  varied  forces  at  work  in  the  Crescent  City  for  our 
cause.     There  never  was  a  convention  more  illustrative 
of  the  religious  spirit  of  our  work  than  that  presided  over 
recently  by  Mrs.    Merrick,   opened  with   an  extempore 
prayer  by  an  Episcopal  minister,  and  enlivened  by  the 
inspired  impromptus  of  Christian  women  whenever  speak 
in  public.     As  Mrs.  Merrick  said,  "  It  was  prayer-meeting, 
love-feast,   and    church   sociable    combined."      Whoever 
fears  the  effect  of  a  "woman's   convention"  upon  any- 
thing but  sin,  would  have  been  thoroughly  disabused  of 
his  (or  her)  anxiety  by  witnessing  the  gentle  strength  of 


ADDRESS    AT   SARATOGA.  569 

those  who  were  "  brought  out "  by  the  first  assembly  of 
the  sort  ever  held  in  New  Orleans.  We  had  a  charming 
report  from  the  W.  C.  T.  U.  at  Baton  Rouge  by  a  Catholic 
lady  ;  a  thrilling  appeal  for  work  among  the  Germans, 
from  the  wife  of  the  leading  Lutheran  minister,  a  song  of 
praise  from  a  faithful  teacher  among  the  colored  people, 
sandwiched  between  Mrs.  Judge  Merrick's  beautiful 
address  and  Mrs.  Judge  Parker's  melodiously  read 
"Report."  As  the  former  has  said,  "There  is  always  a 
strong  cohering  influence  in  high  aims  directed  toward 
benignant  ends,"  and  this  memorable  convention  was  a 
beautiful  commentary  upon  that  sentiment. 

I  have  been  reluctant  to  dwell  upon  the  sorrows  so 
bravely  borne  by  my  beloved  friend  in  the  loss  of  her 
beautiful  and  gifted  daughter  Laura,  who  died  of  yellow 
fever  in  1878,  and  Clara,  whom  she  lost  in  September, 
1882.  Both  had  been  belles  in  New  Orleans  society,  both 
were  married,  and  both  left  young  and  lovely  children. 
As  so  many  others  have  said,  so  this  deep,  motherly 
heart,  well  nigh  broken,  testified:  "This  temperance 
work  has  come  to  me  like  a  beam  of  heavenly  sunshine 
in  the  great  darkness  of  my  grief." 

AN     ADDRESS     DELIVERED     AT     THE     NATIONAL     TEMPERANCE 
CONVENTION,    SARATOCxA    SPRINGS,  N.  Y.,  JUNE    21,  1881. 

In  the  spring  of  1863  two  great  armies  were  encamped 
on  either  side  of  the  Rappahannock  River,  one  dressed  in 
blue  and  the  other  in  grey.  As  twilight  fell  the  bands  of 
music  on  the  Union  side  began  to  play  the  martial  music, 
"The  Star  Spangled  Banner"  and  "Rally  Round  the 
Flag,"  and  that  challenge  of  music  was  taken  up  by  those 
upon  the  other  side,  and  they  responded  with  "  The 
Bonnie  Blue  Flag  "  and  "  Away  Down  South  in  Dixie." 
It  was  borne  in  upon  the  soul  of  a  single  soldier  in  one  of 
those  bands  of  music  to  begin  a  sweeter  and  more  tender 


570  THREE  CHEERS  FOR  HOME. 

air,  and  slowly  as  he  played  it  they  joined  in  a  sort  of 
chorus  of  all  the  instruments  upon  the  Union  side,  until 
finally  a  great  and  mighty  chorus  swelled  up  and  down 
our  army — "  Home,  Sweet  Home."  When  they  had 
finished  there  was  no  challenge  yonder,  for  every  Con- 
federate band  had  taken  up  that  lovely  air,  so  attuned  to 
all  that  is  holiest  and  dearest,  and  one  great  chorus  of 
the  two  great  hosts  went  up  to  God;  and  when  they  had 
finished,  from  the  boys  in  o-rey  came  a  challenge,  "  Three 
cheers  for  home  ! "  and  as  they  went  resounding  through 
the  skies  from  both  sides  of  the  river  "  something  upon 
the  soldiers'  cheeks  washed  off  the  stains  of  powder." 

Dear  friends,  I  am  proud  to  belong  to  an  army  which 
makes  kindred  those  who  have  stood  in  arms  against  each 
other.  I  am  glad  to  come  from  the  sunny  South,  my 
own  dear  South  as  I  can  say  to-night,  after  three  months 
of  journeying  and  of  working  in  its  principal  cities  and 
towns,  during  which  the  whole  fourteen  Southern  States 
were  visited,  and  to  bring  back  good  tidings  of  great  joy 
which  shall  be  for  all  us  people.  My  forerunner  in  all 
that  work  was  a  secessionist  of  the  secessionists,  Mrs. 
Georgia  McLeod,  whose  son  gave  a  right  arm  in  the  Con- 
federate service,  and  who  herself  had  to  have  the  English 
flag  above  her  door  to  prevent  her  being  sent  off  to 
Fortress  Monroe.  But  she  is  reconstructed  now,  and  she 
has  just  as  warm  a  heart  beating  for  the  temperance 
cause  as  I  have;  and  as  our  hands  were  clasped  in  sisterly 
friendship  we  thanked  <rod  with  tears  that  there  was  one 
cause  which  brought  us  into  such  sweet  harmony. 

And  so  we  started  with  our  faces  to  the  South.  A  letter 
came  to  us  from  Richmond,  and  it  said:  "This  is  a 
bootless  errand ;  it  will  be  a  most  disastrous  failure,  for 
there  are  three  great  disadvantages  under  which  you  will 
labor — to  go  there  as  a  woman,  a  Northern  woman,  and  a 
Northern   temperance    woman."      Far    be    it   from    thy 


BANQUO'S    GHOST.  571 

servant  to  draw  conclusions,  but  we  found  out  afterward 
tl nit  that  discouraging  letter  was  written  by  a  Northern 
man  in  the  Custom-house!  The  doors  of  the  Methodist 
Church  South  were  opened ;  a  Quaker  sat  in  the  chancel ; 
the  people  gathered  ;  we  were  welcomed  warmly  and 
cordially.  A  convention  was  held  in  North  Carolina,  at 
which  Mrs.  McLeod  was  present,  where  Governor  Jarvis 
had  not  only  the  flag  of  North  Carolina,  but  the  Stars 
and  Stripes  waving  beside  ft.  He  came  out  and  said  he 
was  not  afraid  to  stand  by  the  temperance  people.  It  was 
the  winning  issue,  because  it  was  a  live  issue. 

It  was  Banquo's  ghost  that  would  not  down  for  any 
politician,  and  he  meant  to  be  on  the  right  side.  In  that 
convention  at  Raleigh,  composed  of  five  hundred  delegates, 
half  were  colored  men.  The  prejudices  against  color  gave 
way  at  the  eloquent  utterances  of  some  of  the  speakers, 
and  as  former  masters  waved  their  hats,  the  temperance 
women  thanked  God  that  the  color-line  was  broken  at  last 
by  the  Southerners  themselves.  So  let  us  take  new  heart 
and  hone  as  our  cause  branches  out. 

Going  on  to  South  Carolina,  in  a  great  church  crowded 
with  the  intelligent  and  thoughtful,  a  number  of  pastors 
being  present,  I  was  gently  led  forward  to  speak.  By 
whom  ?  By  Colonel  Stevens,  whose  battery  fired  first  on 
Sumter's  flag,  but  who  is  transformed  into  Bishop  Stevens 
of  the  Episcopal  Church,  and  who  is  one  of  the  most 
ardent  temperance  men  in  all  the  South.  He  had  no 
difficulty  with  me  nor  I  with  him,  though  I  was  Northern 
to  the  very  heart's  core.  My  hostess  in  Charleston  was 
Sallie  F.  Chapin,  who  wrote  a  secession  novel,  and  was  at 
the  head  of  the  sanitary  commission  in  the  rebel  army  of 
that  State.  She  was  so  thorough  in  her  rebellion  that 
when  one  of  our  officers  said,  "  I  must  have  your  military 
map,"  she  went  into  her  inner  room,  reduced  it  to  frag- 
ments, took  it  to  the  Union  officer,  and  said,  "  Officer, 


572  GOVERNOR    COLQUITT. 

there's  your  map."  That  woman,  so  thoroughgoing  in 
her  secession,  is  now  glad  that  the  slaves  are  free.  I  never 
met  one  with  whom  I  had  more  heartfelt  sympathy. 
Though  she  was  invited  to  Saratoga  and  Long  Branch 
last  summer,  she  still  stayed  in  Charleston  and  wrought 
for  her  temperance  boys,  whose  glory  is  that  Mrs.  Chapin 
is  their  leader.  Let  us  be  encouraged,  as  these  grand 
women  are  coming  up  to  the  help  of  the  Lord  against  the 
mighty,  by  weaving  strong  bands  of  sympathy  that  are 
stretching  across  what  we  used  to  call  the  bloody  chasm. 
Something  happened  to  us  in  the  South  which  is  not 
often  seen  in  the  North,  and  that  was  to  have  an  Episcopal 
Church  opened  to  us  to  form  a  temperance  society.  Some- 
thing else  happened  in  Georgia,  and  that  was  to  have  a 
judge  of  a  court  preside  at  our  meeting.  He  said  to  me, 
"  As  you  have  not  time  to  organize  a  Woman's  Christian 
Temperance  Union,  I  pledge  my  hand  you  shall  find  one 
when  you  come  along  next  winter,"  and  he  has  sent  me 
the  names  of  the  society. 

Governor  Colquitt,  in  Georgia,  stood  forth  in  his  own 
church  on  Sunday  night  and  welcomed  us  with  warm  and 
brotherly  words.  The  Methodist  Southerners  are  more 
devout  than  those  at  the  North,  and  yet  on  Sunday  night 
they  applauded  the  sentiment  that  the  North  and  the 
South  would  be  united  on  the  temperance  reform. 

Going  on  to  Florida,  with  its  sunshine  and  its  beautiful 
skies,  we  found  that  the  Woman's  Union  had  introduced 
a  petition  to  the  Legislature  for  a  local  option  law,  and 
had  quite  a  good  showing  for  a  State  which  had  not  much 
experience  in  that  line,  and  the  minority  vote  which  a 
prohibitory  law  received  last  winter  in  many  of  the 
Southern  States  was  so  strong  that  it  would  prove  a 
Waterloo  to  the  majority  to  get  many  such  votes  in  the 
North. 

Passing   on   to   Alabama,   I   met   a   beautiful   girl,  a 


RE-UNITED    STATES.  573 

thorough  Southerner,  who  became  a  teacher  in  the  college 
at  Montgomery.  "  The  war  was  a  grand  thing,"  she  said, 
"  for  it  taught  us  the  beauty  and  desirability  of  earning 
our  own  bread  and  of  being  self-dependent.  You  of 
the  North  were  taught  to  spell  nation  with  a  big  N ;  I  was 
taught  to  spell  Alabama  with  a  big  A."  She  is  ready 
now  to  spell  temperance  as  we  do.  Rev.  Dr.  Yedder,  a 
distinguished  preacher  in  Charleston,  tried  to  describe  to 
them  the  meaning  of  the  four  cabalistic  letters  which 
stand  for  the  name  of  our  woman's  society.  This  bright- 
minded  man  came  forward  and  said:  "  It  has  puzzled  me 
to  know  what  the  ladies  mean  by  W.  C.  T.  U.  I  have 
been  thinking  it  over  lately,  and  I  have  come  to  the  con- 
clusion that  it  means  about  this — that  if  all  the  temperance 
people  arc  united,  if  the  women  form  a  society  and  the 
men  do  their  duty  at  the  polls,  the  four  letters  will  pretty 
soon  come  to  mean,  '  We  Come  to  Unite;'"  and  said  he, 
"if  the  temperance  people  make  common  cause,  it  won't 
be  long  until  the  rum  power  will  know  that  they  also 
mean  fc  We  Come  to  Upset.'  Is  not  that  just  what  we 
have  come  for  ?"  I  thought  to  myself  "  We  Northerners 
will  have  to  be  very  bright  and  wide-awake  to  keep  ahead 
of  the  Southerners  at  that  rate,"  and  my  heart  rejoiced 
in  the  great,  potential  fact  of  fraternity  between  once 
severed  sections  of  our  great  Republic — the  helping  to 
weave  that  cloth-of-gold  web  which  shall  tangle  in  its 
meshes  all  our  hearts,  and  give  us  once  for  all  a  really 
"  Re-United  States."'  What  a  marvel  of  God's  providence 
is  this,  in  our  many-sided  work!  The  small,  sweet 
courtesies  of  life,  in  which  our  Southern  friends  so 
charmingly  excel,  will  blossom  richly  when  engrafted 
upon  a  Northern  stem,  and  the  practicality  of  our  colder 
clime  will  mingle  with  the  grace  of  their  sunny  land,  to 
form  as  beautiful  a  combination  as  the  world  has  ever 
seen.     It  is  impossible  for  any  one  who  has  not  worked 


574  TEXAS    AND    TEMPERANCE. 

among  them  to  do  justice  to  the  mingled  sweetness  and 
fervor  of  the  Southern  women  when  enlisted  for  our 
cause,  while  the  enthusiasm  and  courage  of  men  in 
high  position  there — judges,  governors,  senators — may 
well  provoke  to  emulation  our  Northern  patriots  of  cor- 
responding grade.  But  in  all  these  inspiring  considera- 
tions, there  is  nothing  so  significant,  to  my  own  thought, 
as  the  renewed  and  boundless  triumph  of  Christ's  church, 
and  the  uplifting  of  half  a  race  to  the  level  of  equal 
participation  in  the  government.  These  two  great 
"  Government  movements  must  go  forward  side  by  side. 
The  government  can  never  be  upon  His  shoulder  "  until 
the  Deborahs  and  Miriams,  the  Hannahs,  Elizabeths,  and 
Marys  of  His  church  shall  exercise  not  only  their  present 
indirect,  but  their  direct  vital  and  energetic  influence  upon 
the  decisions  through  which  law  is  formulated  and  the 
enforcer  is  chosen  behind  the  law  as  its  executive.  Let 
us  be  patient  while  we  toil,  for 

"  The  heavenly  forces  with  us  side! 
The  stars  are  watching  at  their  post." 

A    LETTER    FROM    THE    SOUTH TEXAS    AND    TEMPERANCE. 

Texas  is  stirring  up.  The  ministers  and  lawyers  are 
taking  a  hand  at  this  temperance  reform,  and  I  predict 
the  philanthropic  future  of  this  great  State — thirty-five 
times  as  large  as  Massachusetts — will  keep  pace  with  its 
material  progress.  They  have  a  local  option  law,  and  I 
learn  the  following  facts  from  Rev.  Mr.  Young,  a  whole- 
souled  worker  in  Paris,  Texas  : 

Rockwall  County  has  had  prohibition  four  years.  At 
the  end  of  the  second,  the  doors  of  the  jail,  like  the  gates 
of  Gospel  grace,  stood  open  night  and  day.  This  year 
they  have  empaneled  no  jury,  and  have  no  cases  to  try. 

Grimes  County,  with  GOO  freedmen  to  vote  and  125 
whites,  carried  prohibition.  Score  a  long  credit  mark  for 
the  colored  race. 


MRS.    MARY   S.    HATHAWAY.  575 

Oak  Grove  County  had  but  one  man  in  it  who  voted 
against  prohibition,  and  he  was  a  foreigner,  and  has  since 
moved  away,  to  the  relief  of  the  community. 

Joe,  a  workingman  of  Deuison,  Texas,  used  to  drink 
right  along,  and  spent  the  lion's  share  of  his  wages  in 
that  way.  A  few  months  ago  he  left  Texas,  and  worked 
for  ninety  days  in  Parsons,  Kansas.  When  he  came 
home  he  began  to  fix  up  his  house,  to  paper,  paint,  and 
beautify.  His  family  physician  happening  in,  said: 
"  Why,  Joe,  you've  got  handsomer  paper  on  your  walls 
than  I  have;  what's  changed  the  looks  of  things  so 
around  here  ?  " 

"  0,  I  went  up  to  Parsons,  Kansas,  where  they  have 
prohibition,"  the  man  replied,  "saved  $100  clear  cash  on 
my  drink  bill,  and  gave  it  to  my  wife." 

In  Paris  (La  Mar  County)  the  W.  C.  T.  U.  has  the 
credit  from  the  gentlemen  of  leading  the  campaign,  where 
a  grand  success  has  been  won.  They,  too,  have  organized 
a  colored  W.  C.  T.  U.  Mrs.  Mary  S.  Hathaway,  their 
Secretary,  a  Mississippi  lady  of  fine  education  and  great 
intellectual  gifts,  is,  to  my  mind,  "  come  unto  the  king- 
dom for  such  a  time  as  this." 

Concerning  results  at  Paris,  the  mayor  makes  affidavit 
that  while,  during  a  period  of  three  months  and  ten  days 
while  the  sale  of  drink  was  licensed,  there  were  one 
hundred  and  thirty-five  cases  on  his  docket,  of  which 
eighty-four  were  for  drunkenness,  there  were,  during  the 
same  period  under  prohibition  the  year  following  (October 
22,  1881,  to  January  31,  1882)  only  thirty-eight  cases,  of 
which  twenty-three  were  for  drunkenness.  This  shows 
that  not  only  the  total  number  of  cases,  but  the  cases  of 
drunkenness,  fell  off"  almost  seventy-five  per  cent. ;  and 
no  other  reason  can  be  assigned  than  the  prohibition  of 
the  sale  of  liquor. 

The  minds  of  good  people  are  also  being  stirred  up  to 


576  LAWS   NOT   ENFORCED. 


"  clear  ideas "  concerning  enforcement  of  law.  For 
instance,  a  business  man  and  a  judge,  here  in  Dallas,  were 
discussing  the  all-absorbing  theme,  last  evening,  at  a  din- 
ner where  I  was  among  the  guests. 

Said  the  business  man :  "  We  temperance  people  have 
been  too  much  in  a  hurry  for  a  certain  form  of  pro- 
hibition—  the  more  strict  the  better  —  and  have  not 
watched  as  carefully  as  we  should  the  machinery  of 
enforcement.  But  that  is  where  the  saloon  men  fix  their 
scrutiny.  They  don't  care  how  much  law  we  have,  so 
that  it  is  non-effective.  Indeed  some  of  them  are  almost 
ready  to  say  with  the  Old  Bourbon  member  of  the  Maine 
Legislature  :  '  I'm  for  the  law,  if  you  want  it  so  bad,  but 
I'm  dead  set  agin  its  enforcement.'  Too  often  our  statute, 
on  which  we  bestow  so  much  pains,  is  like  a  suspension 
bridge  with  no  railroad  track  laid  down  by  which  we  may 
get  any  good  of  it." 

"  Yes,"  said  the  judge,  "  we  make  a  fatal  failure  just 
there.  For  instance,  we  let  these  fellows  appeal  their 
cases  when  we  ought  to  give  the  minor  courts  final  juris- 
diction in  the  matter.  So  they  drag  along  from  month  to 
month, and  the  temperance  people  get  discouraged.  Then 
the  liquor  advocates  publish  figures  about  the  great 
increase  of  cases,  the  courts  being  clogged,  etc.,  and  the 
thoughtless  read  these  figures  just  as  they  did  those  of 
Senator  Beck,  of  Kentucky.  You  know  he  claimed  the 
jails  of  Maine  are  just  as  full  as  those  of  his  own  paradise 
of  whisky  and  murderers,  but  he  omitted  to  state  that 
while  Kentucky  fills  its  prisons  with  blood — criminals 
crazed  and  cruel  by  reason  of  drink — Maine  crowds  hers 
with  saloon-keepers  who  try  to  violate  the  prohibitory 
law ! " 

"  Yes,"  replied  the  business  man,  "  and  how  blind  our 
industrial  classes  are  to  facts  like  these.  A  policeman 
here  gets  one  dollar  for  every  drunkard  he  arrests.     So 


AN  "arrest  of  thought."  577 

they  Keep  it  up  in  a  lively  manner,  and  we  boast  that  few 
such  unsightly  objects  are  seen  upon  our  streets.  But 
what  arc  the  facts?  The  saloon-keeper  gets  paid  by  the 
man  whom  he  makes  drunk,  and  oftentimes  is  in  league 
with  the  police  to  make  as  many  men  drunk  as  possible 
(at  so  much  per  head)  and  then  have  them  arrested  by 
the  police,  who  divide  the  fines  with  the  saloon-keeper,  so 
he  gets  two  prices  for  every  man  made  drunk,  and  at  the 
same  time,  by  keeping  these  '  finished  specimens' of  his 
work  out  of  sight,  deceives  people  into  saying:  '  This  is  a 
remarkably  temperate  town — how  few  intoxicated  men 
one  sees.'  They  play  this  game  constantly  on  the  colored 
men — year  in  and  year  out.  But  where  does  that  dollar 
line  come  from?  0,  from  the  pockets  of  our  industrial 
class — our  men  of  business  who  have  accumulated  prop- 
erty that  can  be  taxed.  The  grog-shops  dance  and  we 
meekly  pay  the  piper;  we  beat  the  bush — they  catch  the 
bird  !     What  a  set  of  fools  we  have  been  anyhow ! " 

It  is  to  this  "  arrest  of  thought "  on  the  part  of  "  We, 
Us,  and  Company,"  all  up  and  down  the  land,  that  I  look 
for  the  downfall  of  the  most  outrageous  system  of 
oppression  that  ever  a  deluded  people  permitted  to  be 
fastened  upon  upon  it  like  a  leech  and  an  abomination. 

I  heard  a  Southern  lady  say  recently :  "  When  as  a 
member  of  the  W.  C.  T.  U.  I  had  to  go  out  to  the  wood- 
pile and  persuade  the  colored  man  there  to  vote  for  pro- 
hibition, I  had  a  thought  that  never  came  to  me  before, 
and  I  went  in  and  said  to  my  husband  :  '  I  have  got  to  the 
place  now  that  I  want  to  vote  myself,'  and  he  answered 
heartily  :  '  I  wish  you  could,  Maria  ."  " 

Thus  the  world  moves  !  Upon  this  question,  however, 
I  say  nothing  to  these  friends.  My  work  is  to  take  the 
sentiment  as  I  find  it,  and  crystalize  as  much  of  it  as 
possible  into  organic  form.  The  woman's  ballot  is  not 
a  living  issue  in  the  South  outside  of  Arkansas,  and  even 


578  MISS  ANNA  GORDON  SPEAKS. 

there  I  do  not  think  it  best  to  agitate  it.  Two  or  three 
evenings  ago  we  had  an  immense  meeting  in  the  Opera 
House  at  Denison,  in  the  interest  of  local  prohibition. 
The  Episcopal  minister  was  on  the  platform  with  us,  as 
earnest  as  any  one  present.  The  ladies  presided  over  the 
meeting,  and  the  pastors  conducted  the  devotional  exer- 
cises. Next  morning  I  attended  the  Presbyterian  church 
with  my  hostess  (a  church,  by  the  way,  with  forty-five 
women  and  nine  men,  yet  in  which  none  of  the  sisters 
take  part).  Before  me  sat  a  dear,  bright  little  woman — 
an  officer  of  the  W.  C.  T.  U.  She  turned  and  whispered 
playfully : 

"  I  made  my  contribution  to  the  temperance  cause  by 
taking  care  of  five  little  babes,  so  that  their  mothers 
might  go  to  your  meeting  at  the  Opera  House ! " 

To  "  a  heart  at  leisure  from  itself  to  soothe  and  sym- 
pathize," how  many  ways  there  are  to  contribute  to  the 
great  golden-rule  cause  of  temperance! 

I  must  not  close  without  telling  you  that  Anna  Gordon 
speaks  in  all  my  day  meetings,  is  a  great  favorite  with 
them,  and  at  Sherman,  where  five  hundred  went  away 
after  the  Court  House  was  filled,  they  called  for  an  "  over- 
flow meeting,  and  "a  speech  by  Miss  Gordon" — so  good 
an  impression  had  she  made  on  Sabbath  afternoon.  But 
the  demure  little  maiden  was  not  present,  and  so  escaped 
the  trying  ordeal. 

We  are  both  well  and  happy,  and  more  than  glad  we 
came.  From  the  north  we  hear  nothing — seeing  only  the 
local  papers,  save  with  rare  exceptions.  But  we  are  sure 
the  W.  C.  T.  U.  is  alive  and  flourishing.  Do  not  for  a 
moment  imagine  that  we  expect  to  reach  that  place  of 
which  a  Kentucky  hard-shell  preacher  spoke  when  he 
prayed  that  "  A  blessing  might  rest  upon  all  places  where 
the  foot  of  man  hath  never  trod,  and  which  the  eye  of 
God  hath  never  seen."     Never  were  we  in  the  midst  of  a 


PROPHECIES.  679 

livelier  or  more  cosmopolitan  population,  and  Texas  is 
yet  to  head  the  column  of  the  States  in  moral  power,  as 
she  does  to-day  in  enterprise  and  territory. 

As  I  extend  my  observations,  meet  the  noble  workers 
of  different  States,  study  the  varying  methods,  and  march 
onward  with  the  great  temperance  army,  there  is  one 
thought  more  frequent  than  any  other,  one  question  which 
constantly  recurs :  Who  am  I  that  any  part  should  be 
given  me  in  this  magnificent  ivork  of  God?  Nothing  in  all 
my  life's  experience  has  so  helped  me  to  an  understanding 
of  passages  like  these :  "  They  must  have  clean  hands 
who  bear  the  vessels  of  the  Lord!"  "What  carefulness 
this  wrought  in  you ;  what  clearing  of  yourselves." 
"  Who  is  sufficient  for  these  things  ?" 

Verily  "they  builded  better  than  they  knew,"  the 
grand  old  veterans  who  laid,  in  love  to  God  and  hope  for 
many,  the  foundations  of  this  noblest  of  reforms.  Its 
reflex  influence  upon  our  own  aims  and  purposes  in  life  is 
good  beyond  all  computation.  We  have  indeed  given 
hostages  to  fortune  ;  we  cannot  forget,  in  the  high  calling 
wherewith  we  are  called,  that  glorious  old  motto,  "noblesse 
oblige.'''' 

So  transcendent  is  the  significance  of  this  reform,  that 
the  time  is  not  distant  when  those  who  are  now  but 
"lookers-on  in  Venice"  will  forget  that  it  was  not 
inaugurated  by  themselves  alone. 


23 


CHAPTER  XXXII. 

GLIMPSES  OF  THE  WOMEN  AT  WORK. 

Miss  Elizabeth  W.  Greenwood — Miss  F.  Jennie  Duty  of  Ohio,  the 
Minister  at  Large — Mrs.  J.  K.  Barney  of  Rhode  Island,  the  Pris- 
oner's Friend — Mrs.  Henrietta  Skelton,  the  German  Lecturer — Mrs. 
Elizabeth  L.  Comstock,  the  Quaker  Philanthropist — One  husband's 
birthday  gift. 

ELIZABETH   W.    GREENWOOD. 

MISS  ELISABETH  WARD  GREENWOOD  was  born 
in  Brooklyn,  N.  Y.,  in  1850.  Living  on  the  Brook- 
lyn Heights,  she  had  every  inducement  which  health  and 
society  could  offer  to  lead  a  fashionable  and  selfish  life, 
but  at  the  age  of  fourteen  "  a  strange  power,  which  men 
feel  but  never  see,"  crept  into  the  secret  chambers  of  her 
heart,  and  commenced  the  quiet  work  of  chiseling  her 
soul  into  the  image  of  her  Lord  and  Saviour,  and  from 
that  time  she  was  filled  with  an  absorbing  ambition  to 
embody  her  highest  ideal  of  intellectual  Christian  woman- 
hood. 

The  earlier  years  of  her  life  were  entirely  devoted  to 
severe  study.  Of  these  years  Dr.  Charles  E.  West,  Presi- 
dent of  the  Brooklyn  Heights  Seminary,  writes :  "Never 
was  pupil  more  diligent  in  study  and  more  successful  in 
attaining  knowledge."  After  graduating,  in  1869,  she 
took  a  post-graduate  course,  and  then  spent  some  time  in 
her  Alma  Mater  as  a  teacher  of  the  higher  branches,  and 
in  giving  weekly  lectures  in  the  Senior  and  Junior 
departments.  Then  came  years  of  continued  study  and 
literary  pursuits. 

As  the  temperance  enthusiasm  spread  from  Ohio  east- 

(580) 


MISS  ELIZABETH  W.  GREENWOOD. 


MISS   GREENWOOD.  583 

ward,  Miss  Greenwood  became  deeply  interested  in  the 
movement  in  her  own  city,  and  soon  found  in  its  variety 
of  work  an  arena  for  her  versatility  of  talent.  Beginning 
in  the  W.  C.  T.  U.,  and  many  of  the  churches  of  Brooklyn, 
her  work  has  extended  to  nearly  all  the  conservative 
churches  of  our  large  cities  and  towns  in  the  East ; 
while  she  has  been  equally  at  home  in  its  jails,  asylums, 
factories,  and  saloons. 

With  a  clear  voice,  a  logical  mind,  and  a  rich  fund  of 
illustration,  with  ease  and  grace  of  manner,  and  an 
indescribable  magnetism,  she  removes  all  prejudice  against 
woman's  work,  and  delights  all  who  listen,  even  to  little 
children.  Though  so  deeply  interested  in  the  varied 
departments  of  the  temperance  work,  Miss  Greenwood's 
heart  is  especially  drawn  to  the  exposition  of  the  word  of 
God.  In  her  rural  summer  home  among  the  hills  of 
Berkshire,  whither  she  goes  for  rest,  she  has  given  Bible 
expositions  to  large  and  intelligent  audiences  on  the 
Sabbath,  and  there  as  elsewhere  they  have  been  most 
helpful.  As  National  Superintendent  of  Juvenile  Work, 
State  Superintendent  of  Scientific  Instruction,  President 
of  the  Brooklyn  Woman's  Christian  Temperance  Union 
on  the  Hill,  and  the  Juvenile  Union,  in  frequent  work 
abroad  as  a  lecturer  and  evangelist,  and  in  the  supply 
each  Sabbath  evening  of  a  pulpit  in  her  own  city,  her 
hands  and  heart  are  full  of  work  for  the  Master. 

These  doors  of  service  have  been  opened  by  Providence, 
without  human  effort,  and  her  steady  success  has  been 
owing  not  only  to  her  varied  ability,  but  to  a  deep  and 
increasing  consciousness  that  without  the  spirit  of  God 
her  words  will  be  in  vain.  This  consecration  gives  an 
earnestness  which  is  truest  eloquence,  and  adds  to  her 
character  its  greatest  charm. 


584  AN   OHIO   LEADER. 

MISS   F.    JENNIE   DUTY. 

The  Ohio  temperance  work  would  in  no  sense  be  fully 
represented,  were  not  something  said  of  Miss  F.  Jennie 
Duty.    A  young  lady  of  superior  mental  endowments,  most 
attractive  in  face  and  manner,  of  good  family,  she  has 
won  for  herself  not  only  the  devotion  of  the  poor,  but  the 
honor  of  the  whole  city.     For  two  years  £he  was  identified 
with  the  Ohio  Female  College  at  Cincinnati,  and  later 
principal  of  Wheeling  Female  College,  but  she  gave  up 
this  work  to  devote  herself  entirely  to  temperance.     From 
the  earliest  days  of  the  crusade  she  has  been  untiring, 
both  in  the  city  and  State  work.     Her  executive  ability 
has  been  unsurpassed,  while  her  devotion  to  the  work,  and 
power,   especially    in    saving    souls,   is    rarely   equaled. 
Largely  through  her  instrumentality  nine  meetings  are 
held  weekly  at  Central  Place  Friendly  Inn,  and  her  Bible 
addresses  are  listened  to  with  delight  by  large  audiences. 
A  "  Temperance  Union  Church  "  has  been  formed  with 
simple  articles  of  faith,  believing   in   God  the    Father, 
Jesus  Christ  the  Son,  and  in  the  Holy  Spirit,  in  the  Bible 
as  the  word  of  God,  in  salvation  only  by  the  Saviour,  in 
the  judgment  and  resurrection.     Every  person  who  assents 
to  these  articles   of   belief,   takes   the   total   abstinence 
pledge.     Several  hundreds  are  members  of  this  church, 
of  which  Miss  Duty  is  the  required  leader.     She  is  chair- 
man of  the  Inn  work  in  the  national  organization,  and 
has  given  much  thought  to  this  branch  of  labor.     She  is 
also  the  Superintendent  of  a  large  Sunday-school  at  the 
Inn.     In  the  effort  for  constitutional  prohibition  in  the 
State,  she  has  been  a  leading  spirit.     Her  energy,  good 
judgment,  and  fearless  devotion  to  right  made  her  co- 
workers justly  proud  of  her,  while  her  devotion  to  her 
parents,  and  the  assistance  rendered  to  her  dear,  aged 
father  in  his  business,  emphasize  the  tender  womanliness 
which  is  the  crowning  charm  of  her  character.     Mrs.  J. 


MRS.  J.  K.   BARNEY, 


MRS.    J.    K.    BARNEY.  585 

S.  Prother,  the  President  of  the  League,  a  most  efficient 
woman,  Mrs.  E.  H.  Adams,  the  Secretary,  an  able  writer 
and  thinker,  Mrs.  Charles  Wheeler,  a  devoted  and  noble 
woman,  deserve  especial  mention. 

MRS.    J.    K.    BARNEY    OF    PROVIDENCE,  R.  I. 

Our  gentle  Mrs.  Barney  is  the  daughter  of  Dr.  John  A. 
Hammond,  a  physician,  and  was  born  in  Massachusetts. 
When  but  thirteen  years  of  age  she  was  a  regular  con- 
tributor to  several  public  journals.  Her  strongest  early 
proclivity  was  for  the  work  of  foreign  missions,  although 
in  those  days  very  few  women  were  sent  out.  Ill  health 
and  the  strong  opposition  of  friends  prevented  the  fulfill- 
ment of  this  purpose,  and  in  185-1  she  was  married  to 
Josiah  K.  Barney  of  Providence,  R.  I.,  where  her  home 
has  since  been,  with  the  exception  of  several  years  on  the 
Pacific  Coast.  Immediately  after  the  organization  of  the 
Woman's  Foreign  Missionary  Society  of  the  M.  E.  Church, 
she  made  her  first  attempts  at  public  speaking  in  its 
interests,  and  has  always  been  closely  identified  with  its 
work.  Previous  to  this  time,  however,  she  had  become 
greatly  interested  in  prison  and  jail  work,  and  was  one 
of  the  founders  of  the  Prisoners'  Aid  Society  of  R.  I. 
Mrs.  Barney  was  among  the  earliest  workers  in  the 
W.  C.  T.  U.  of  Rhode  Island,  was  chosen  its  President  in 
its  first  year,  and  has  filled  the  office  ever  since  with 
great  acceptance.  It  is  but  justice  to  say  that  no  woman 
in  the  State  wields  an  equal  influence  or  possesses  the 
confidence  of  all  classes  of  people  to  an  equal  degree. 

The  devotion  of  the  W.  C.  T.  U.  of  "  Little  Rhody  "  to 
their  accomplished  leader  is  conclusive  proof  of  her 
devotion  to  the  work. 

But  Mrs.  Barney  is  best  known  to  us  as  National 
Superintendent  of  Prison,  Jail,  Police,  and  Almshouse 
Visitation.  The  following  extracts  from  her  last  annual 
report  arc  of  great  interest : 


586  A   PLEA    FOR    PRISONERS. 

"  We  recommend  for  the  coming  year  the  continuance 
of  efforts  to  secure  the  appointment  of  police  matrons  in 
all  cities.  The  agitation  of  this  question,  if  not  resulting 
immediately  in  all  desired,  will  lead  to  greater  care  and 
lessen  existing  abuses.  It  frequently  occurs  that  young 
women  are  arrested  on  suspicion;  afterwards  proved 
innocent.  They  feel  disgraced  and  disheartened,  and  the 
next  step  down  is  an  easy  one.  Women  are  taken  to  the 
stations  who  for  the  time  being  are  wholly  irresponsible 
and  utterly  regardless  of  all  the  proprieties  of  life.  Sick, 
filthy,  and  with  their  clothing  torn  from  them  in  such  a 
manner  that  common  decency  demands  for  them  womanly 
care  and  protection.  Let  us  see  to  it  that  it  is  supplied 
as  soon  as  possible. 

We  should  also  continue,  with  increased  earnestness, 
the  efforts  to  secure  the  appointment  of  matrons  in  all 
prisons  and  jails  where  women  are  committed.  It  will 
usually  be  found  that  women,  after  serving  their  time  in 
jails  and  houses  of  correction,  seem  less  amenable  to  good 
influences.  Girls  and  young  women,  arrested  for  petty 
offences,  are  exposed  in  these  places  to  the  influence  of 
those  convicted  for  felony,  and  who  are  called  dissolute 
and  abandoned  characters.  A  matron  could  guard  against 
many  of  these  evils,  and  inspire  in  the  hearts  of  some  of 
them  a  desire  for  a  better  life. 

It  is  a  standing  rebuke  to  our  civilization  that  women 
are  arrested  and  given  into  the  hands  of  men  to  be 
searched  and  cared  for,  tried  by  men,  sentenced  by  men, 
and  committed  to  our  various  institutions  for  months — 
and  even  years — where  only  men  officials  have  access  to 
them,  and  where  in  sickness,  or  direst  need,  no  womanly 
help  or  visitation  is  vouchsafed  them.  In  Washington, 
where,  upon  an  average,  fifteen  women  per  day  are  com- 
mitted, such  a  state  of  tilings  exists. 

The  demand  should  be  persistently  made  for  the  com- 


THE   PAUPER   CHILD.  587 

plete  separation  of  the  sexes,  and  for  the  classification  of 
prisoners,  separating-  juvenile  from  older  criminals.  The 
old  jails  of  our  land  are  a  standing  reproach  to  us  as  an 
enlightened  people. 

The  almshouse  work  has  received  increased  attention 
this  year.  Hundreds  of  these  inmates  who  were  living  in 
more  than  pagan  darkness,  have  heard  the  story  of  Jesus' 
love  and  have  caught  the  first  gleam  of  hope  which  they 
have  known  for  weary  years. 

One  of  the  most  pitiful  sights  found  in  these  places  is 
the  pauper  child.  Many  of  them  illegitimate  offspring  of 
imbecile  mothers,  they  inherit  a  fearful  proclivity  to  vice 
and  crime  from  their  vicious  and  pauperised  parentage, 
and  they  are  environed  with  such  conditions  that  the 
chances  of  their  escape  from  utter  degradation  seem  hope- 
less. Something  must  be  done  to  save  them  and  it  must 
be  done  quickly. 

These  points  so  briefly  touched,  and  many  others  closely 
connected  with  them,  and  which  will  be  obvious  to  a 
thoughtful  mind,  should  be  thoroughly  investigated.  Let 
light  in  upon  these  abuses  through  the  press  and  the 
public  will  demand  their  removal.  So  much  has  already 
been  accomplished  that  it  gives  us  a  glimpse  of  what 
might  be  expected  if  the  work  could  be  thoroughly  taken 
up  in  each  State. 

'Let  the  sighing  of  the  prisoner  come  before  thee,'  and 
'  the  blessing  of  those  ready  to  perish  be  upon  thee.' 

Number  of  States  reporting  officially  or  otherwise,  35." 

Aside  from  her  work  in  prisons,  where  her  presence  is 
as  the  coming  of  light  into  gloom,  Mrs.  Barney's  labors 
as  an  evangelist  have  been  very  acceptable,  her  sermons 
being  spoken  of  in  terms  of  high  commendation  by  pastors, 
and  her  services  sought  by  nearly  all  denominations.  The 
public  duties  of  our  friend  have  never  eclipsed  her  home 
life,  and  the  conscientious  fulfillment  of  her  duties  as  a 


588  OUR   GERMAN   SUPERINTENDENT. 

wife  and  mother  is  a  marked  and  gracious  feature  in  her 
character.  But  her  wide  sympathies  take  in  the  home- 
less, and  her  sweet  ministries  have  won  for  her,  beyond 
any  other  in  our  ranks,  the  title  of  "  The  Prisoner's 
Friend." 

MRS.    H.    SKELTON, 
Our  German  Superintendent. 

Practically  this  important  department  began  with  the 
discovery  by  Mrs.  Lathrap  of  Mrs.  H.  Skelton,  then  a 
Canadian  worker  just  beginning,  but  now  well  known 
throughout  our  borders.  Elsewhere  in  this  volume  her 
work  is  mentioned  with  that  of  her  co-laborers.  In  a 
pleasant  volume  recently  written  by  Mrs.  Skelton,  entitled 
"  The  Christinas  Tree,"  she  presents  much  of  her  home 
life.  She  was  born  in  Gissen,  Germany,  where  her  father 
was  three  years  connected  with  the  University.  He  was 
then  called  to  Darmstadt,  and  later  as  a  professor  to 
Heidelberg,  where  he  died  when  Henriette  was  but  fifteen. 
Soon  after  her  mother  died,  and  the  children  removed  to 
Canada,  where,  later  on,  the  daughter  married  Mr.  Skelton, 
who  was  for  many  years  traffic  superintendent  of  the 
Northern  Railroad.  He  died  ten  years  ago,  leaving  his 
wife  with  one  son,  a  fine  young  man,  living  in  Toronto. 
Thus  the  gifted  brain  and  warm  heart  of  Mrs.  Skelton 
were  liberated  for  blessed  service  in  carrying  the  temper- 
ance gospel  to  her  own  people  in  our  land,  speaking  to 
them  in  their  own  tongue  wherein  they  were  born.  In 
this  work  she  has  been  most  successful,  for  the  German 
mind,  beyond  almost  any  other,  is  approachable  upon  the 
plane  of  u  Come,  let  us  reason  together." 

Der  Balinhrecher  is  a  temperance  paper  founded  by 
Mrs.  Skelton,  and  now  conducted  by  Professor  Adolph 
Schmitz  of  Chicago ;  and  with  Mrs.  Skelton  we  have  Mrs. 
Emma  Obenauer,  and  Mrs.  H.  W.  Harris,  all  of  whom  are 
building  up  our  work  with  commendable  earnestness  and 
skill. 


MRS.  ELIZABETH  COMSTOCK. 


A   BARE    INHERITANCE.  591 

ELIZABETH    L.    COMSTOCK. 

The  scene  is  laid  in  England.  The  time  is  half  a  cen- 
tury ago.  We  enter,  in  imagination,  a  quiet  Quaker 
home.  The  father  and  mother  are  seated  near  a  lady 
visitor,  whose  face  and  stately  figure  are  enhanced  by 
manners  which  combine  the  elegance  of  society  with  the 
sweetness  of  a  saint.  Upon  a  cushion  beside  this  won- 
derful lady  a  little  girl  is  kneeling,  her  bright,  observant 
r\  es  fixed  on  the  eloquent  face  of  her  mother's  guest,  who 
is  speaking  in  a  voice  as  rich  as  her  face  is  beautiful. 
Let  us.  too,  listen  with  the  rest. 

"  I  met  an  old  friend  to-day,  as  I  was  going  to  my  dear 
prisoners  at  Newgate,"  thus  the  lady  speaks,  "and  she 
declared  it  was  a  mystery  that  I,  who  had  known  the 
rarest  pleasures  of  the  gay  world,  I,  a  daughter  of  the 
Gurneys,  should  be  content  to  spend  my  time  with  out- 

sts  and  with  thieve-.  But  I  told  her  that  God  had 
revealed  to  me  so  plainly  what  life  is  for,  that  I  could 
no  longer  be  deceived  by  the  allurements  of  the  world.  I 
told  her  that  I  never  knew  real  happiness  until,  in  my 
dear  Master's  name,  I  learned  to  go  about  doing  good." 

As  she  said  this,  Elizabeth  Fry,  once  the  elegant  woman 
of  society,  now  the  Quaker  preacher  and  "  prison  angel," 
bent  down  and  laid  her  gentle  hand  on  the  head  of  the 
little  girl,  her  namesake,  with  the  words,  "  Remember 
what  I  tell  thee,  dear  Elizabeth:  to  be  Christ's  messen- 
ger to  those  who  know  him  not,  that  is  the  happiest  life." 
Elizabeth  L.  Comstock,  whose  kind  face  looks  out  upon 
us  from  this  page,  has  shown  by  her  whole  life  that  Eng- 
land's foremost  woman  philanthropist  did  not  speak  these 
words  to  her  in  vain.  The  blessed  compensations  of  the 
Gospel  have  a  pleasant  illustration  in  the  influences 
which  gave  direction  to  these  two  women's  lives.  Good 
William  Savery,  a  preacher  in  the  Society  of  Friends, 
went  from  America  to  England  on  a  religious  mission. 


592  TWO    LIVES   IN   OUTLINE. 

There  in  the  Friends'  meeting-house  at  Norwich,  Elizabeth 
Gurney  formed  one  of  his  congregation,  and  his  discourse 
made  such  an  impression  upon  her  that  she  changed  her 
mode  of  life  to  that  prescribed  by  the  most  rigid  and 
orthodox  of  his  sect.  The  change  was  consummated  by 
her  marriage  with  Joseph  Fry,  who  was  a  "Plain  Friend." 
A  few  years  later  she  joined  the  ministry,  and  thence- 
forward devoted  herself  to  works  of  the  purest  piety  and 
benevolence.  Owing  to  her  unwearied  exertions,  im- 
portant reforms  were  effected  in  the  prison  systems,  not 
only  of  Great  Britain,  but  also  of  France  and  Germany, 
and  she  spent  nearly  forty  years  laboring  among  the  poor 
and  criminal.  But  the  wave  of  benignant  influence  to 
which  her  life  may  be  compared,  was  started  by  an 
American,  who,  not  as  a  mere  tourist  or  adventurer,  but 
in  the  name  of  God  and  for  His  glory,  went  to  the  dear 
Motherland.  In  turn,  Elizabeth  Fry's  life  and  words 
inspired  her  gentle  namesake,  who  came  to  our  shores, 
and  whose  philanthropic  career  has  made  her  name  a 
household  word  in  ten  thousand  American  homes.  Dur- 
ing our  late  war,  Elizabeth  Comstock  spent  her  time  in 
camps  and  hospitals,  and  talked  of  the  love  and  mercy  of 
our  Heavenly  Father,  and  of  the  dear  names  of  mother 
and  home  to  our  hundred  and  ninety-five  thousand  sick 
and  wounded  soldiers.  In  the  last  twenty  years  she  has 
devoted  most  of  her  time  to  the  visitation  of  prisons,  hos- 
pitals, poor-houses,  and  various  benevolent  and  reforma- 
tory institutions.  She  has  visited  prisoners  on  both  sides 
of  the  Atlantic.  Of  these,  a  hundred  and  twenty-two 
thousand  were  in  criminal  prisons,  and  thirty  thousand 
were  prisoners  of  war.  Besides  these,  eighty-five  thou- 
sand inmates  of  poor-houses  have  heard  from  her  lips  of 

'  The  home  for  the  homeless  prepared  in  the  skies, 
The  rest  for  the  soul  that  on  Jesus  relies, 
The  joy  in  believing,  the  hope,  and  the  stay 
That  this  world  can  not  give  nor  this  world  take  away." 


WORK  AT  HOME  AND  ABROAD.  593 

Thus  she  carried  out  her  avowed  purpose  in  life  :  "  To 
bear  our  Father's  messages  of  love  and  mercy  to  the 
largest  household  on  earth — the  household  of  affliction." 
These  experiences  have  thoroughly  aroused  her  to  the 
importance  of  laboring  in  the  temperance  cause,  for  she 
expressly  says  in  her  public  addresses  that  she  "  has  found 
upon  investigation  and  inquiry  that  seventy-five  per  cent, 
of  those  confined  in  State  prisons,  county  jails,  and  city 
Bridewells  are  there  (directly  or  indirectly)  through  intem- 
perance.    In  alms-houses  the  percentage  is  still  larger." 

The  Woman's  Temperance  Crusade  began  during  a 
visit  to  her  native  land,  and  she  rendered  signal  service 
to  the  ladies  in  England  in  gospel  temperance  work,  hav- 
ing held  over  three  hundred  meetings,  chiefly  in  the  large 
cities  and  towns.  But  our  own  country  has  shared 
liberally  in  the  temperance  work  of  this  beloved  bearer  of 
good  tidings. 

Accompanied  by  our  dear  Mrs.  Thompson  of  Hillsboro', 
Ohio,  she  went  east  by  invitation  of  the  enterprising- 
Brooklyn  Woman's  Temperance  Union,  and  the  two 
addressed  large  audiences  in  many  of  the  principal 
churches  of  that  city,  rousing  the  interest  of  the  fortunate 
class — so  difficult  to  reach,  yet  so  important  to  secure. 
Mrs.  Comstock  has  also  held  Gospel  temperance  meetings 
in  many  of  our  large  cities  and  towns,  both  east  and  west, 
besides  speaking  at  our  northern  conventions  of  men  and 
women.  Her  home  is  in  Rollin,  Michigan,  where  she 
resides  with  her  husband  and  daughter.  Ill  health  has 
alone  prevented  her  from  active  co-operation  in  the  "  Red 
Ribbon  Movement,"  which,  within  a  year,  under  the 
leadership  of  Dr.  Reynolds,  has  brought  Michigan  into 
the  foremost  rank  as  a  temperance  State.  God  bless 
Elizabeth  Comstock,  and  may  the  sinful  and  the  sorrow- 
ing long  be  comforted  by  her  tender  invitations  to  the 
Lamb  of  God,  who  taketh  away  the  sin  of  the  world. 

Evanston,  August  7,  1877. 


594:  "UNION    HALL"    OF    MANISTEE. 

ONE   HUSBAND'S   BIRTHDAY   GIFT. 

Some  ricli  men  give  their  wives  a  set  of  diamonds  on 
their  birthday.  These  gleam  on  the  breast  or  hang  in  the 
ears,  a  la  sauvage,  exciting  envy  as  they  flash  their  cold 
splendors,  and  doing  no  mortal  one  atom  of  good.  R.  G. 
Peters,  of  Manistee,  is  a  rich  man,  but  not  one  of  that 
great  class  whose  lavish  personal  and  home  expenditures 
utter  the  daily  prayer,  which  a  wag  has  thus  expressed  in 
words  :  "  0  Lord,  bless  me  and  my  wife,  my  son  John  and 
his  wife,  us  four  and  no  more."  The  birthday  gift  of 
this  successful  lumber  merchant  to  his  gentle  wife 
Evelyn,  was  a  home  for  the  W.  C.  T.  U.  of  Manistee  (of 
which  she  is  President),  and  it  cost  him  twenty-five  thou- 
sand dollars.  Yesterday  Mrs.  Henry,  Anna  Gordon,  and 
I  participated  in  the  dedication  services  of  this  beautiful 
place,  all  the  places  on  the  long  and  varied  programme 
being  filled  by  women  and  children  (saving  and  except- 
ing the  benedictions). 

The  building  is  a  gem — Milwaukee  brick,  slate  roof, 
five  chimneys,  picturesque  sky  line,  frescoed  walls,  amphi- 
theatre shape  ;  chairs  for  twelve  hundred  persons  ;  "  tem- 
perance school "  rooms ;  library ;  dining-room  for  two 
hundred,  with  table  linen,  crockery,  and  silver ;  kitchen 
furnace,  and  everything  according  to  the  most  recent 
improvements.  "  W.  C.  T.  U."  in  gilt  letters  greets  the 
eye  from  the  handsome  gable,  from  the  elegantly  painted 
drop  curtains,  and  from  the  flower-adorned  front  of  the 
si  age.  "For  God  and  Home  and  Native  Land,"  in  sky 
blue  letters  of  hope,  beams  from  the  gallery  front;  flags 
of  all  nations  hang  along  the  circle  of  the  upper  tier  of 
seats,  while  David  C.  Cook's  bright  colored  pledge  roll  is 
conspicuous  below.  The  scene  on  Sunday  afternoon, 
when  a  hundred  children  sat  on  the  platform,  surrounded 
by  blooming  plants;  and  three  hundred  more  faced  them 


"RISE,   TEMPLE,   RISE."  595 

in  the  centre  of  the  "  Union  Hall  "  (for  that  is  the  "  chris- 
tened  name"),  while  Mrs.  Peters,  with  her  happy  face, 
called  off  the  parts,  and  the  older  people  looked  on  con- 
tentedly, was  a  most  lovely  sequel  of  the  crusade.  Our 
dear  Mrs.  Henry  certainly  merits  "special  mention"  for 
her  part  in  all  these  preparations,  of  which  her  own  gifted 
brain  and  heart  have  been  the  inspiration.  She  it  was 
who  started  the  free  kindergarten  and  temperance  school, 
who  wrote  the  two  beautiful  dedication  hymns,  and  whose 
responsive  reading  of  Solomon's  dedication  service  of  the 
temple,  and  whose  tender,  motherly  prayers  in  offering 
this  womanly  gift  of  a  Temperance  Hall  to  God,  were 
the  most  impressive  and  blessed  part  of  the  services. 
She  had  trained  the  choir  of  a  hundred  children  to  sing 
the  hymn  she  had  written  for  their  meeting,  and  to  "  suit 
the  action  to  the  words."  As  their  little  hands  went 
gradually  up  and  up  and  up,  to  symbolize  the  words,  they 
constantly  repeated  "Rise,  temple,  rise,"  to  a  sweet, 
swinging  air,  there  was  hardly  a  dry  eye  in  the  house. 
If  I  were  a  minister,  I  would  rather  hear  those  pure 
young  voices  chant  the  dedication  hymn  of  my  church 
than  all  the  prima  donnas  in  Christendom.     Listen  to  the 


song 


Brick  and  stone  and  timber  fair, 

Rise,  temple,  rise; 
Upward  through  the  sunny  air 

Rise,  temple,  rise. 

"Walls  so  grand  and  doors  so  wide, 

Rise,  temple,  rise; 
We  are  coming  side  by  side, 

Rise,  temple,  rise. 

Little  eyes  have  watched  you  grow, 

Rise,  temple,  rise; 
You  were  built  for  us,  you  know, 

Rise,  temple,  rise. 


596  EXERCISES. 


You  were  built  for  temperance,  too, 

Rise,  temple,  rise; 
All  things  good  and  pure  and  true, 

Rise,  temple,  rise. 


Chorus , 


Rise,  temple,  rise, 
Rise,  temple,  rise, 
Rise,  temple,  rise. 


Then  after  prayer,  Mrs.  Peters  read  the  First  Psalm, 
then  a  beautiful  pledge-song  was  sung,  and  Mrs.  Henry 
made  a  speech ;  then  after  I  tried  to  transfer  to  the  walls 
four  temperance  pictures,  which  they  could  see  with  their 
eyes  shut,  the  hymn,  "  My  Country,  'Tis  of  Thee,"  was 
sung  with  great  unction  by  the  youthful  choir  carefully 
trained  to  all  this  by  an  accomplished  vocalist.  It  seemed 
a  "fair  play,  turn-about"  when  their  voices  rang  out  on 
"Our  mother's  God,  to  Thee,  Author  of  Liberty." 

Mrs.  Stancel,  the  Secretary  of  the  society,  then  sur- 
prised Mrs.  Peters  by  presenting  to  her  the  large  flower- 
stand  that  had  been  a  chief  feature  of  the  ornamentation, 
being  filled  full  of  bouquets  brought  by  the  children. 
The  gracious,  gentle  mistress  of  ceremonies  responded  in 
a  few  earnest  words,  while  bright  tears  of  joy  sparkled  in 
her  eyes. 

Directly  after  this  meeting,  our  modest  Anna  Gordon 
held  a  private  session  with  the  girls  of  Manistee,  concern- 
ing which  I  learned  that  it  was  of  deep  spiritual  power, 
and  resulted  in  most  valuable  accessions  to  the  member- 
ship. 

At  night  the  hall  was  packed  again,  and  Mrs.  J.  F. 
Nuttall,  a  lovely  singer  ("  with  the  spirit "  not  less  than 
"  with  the  understanding")  gave  us  "  Nearer,  my  God,  to 
Thee  "  to  that  tender,  pathetic  tune  of  "  Robin  Adair." 
I  tried  to  illustrate  the  history,  aims,  and  methods  of  our 
beloved  W.  C.  T.  U.,  especially  enforcing  the  work  of  pre- 
vention and  transformation  (juvenile  and  evangelistic), 


the  "lord's  parlor."  597 

and  at  the  close  our  clear-voiced  chorus  sang,  "  0,  prodi- 
gal child,  come  home." 

The  churches  were  closed,  and  all  the  leading  pastors 
were  with  us  on  the  platform.  Letters  of  appreciation 
were  read  from  President  (on  behalf  of  Mrs.)  R.  B.  Hayes, 
Xcal  Dow,  Mary  A.  Woodbridge,  Esther  Pugh,  Mrs. 
Stevens  of  Maine,  etc. 

Dear  sisters,  everywhere,  let  us  go  and  do  likewise. 
There  is  but  one  R.  G-.  Peters,  but  there  are  many  noble 
men  and  women  who  will  gladly  help  us  to  a  "  local 
habitation "  for  the  W.  C.  T.  U.  We  might  rather  use 
the  name  coined  by  the  Quaker  lady,  who  encouraged  a 
timid  sister  to  pray  in  a  public  place  by  saying,  "  Where 
the  temperance  women  meet,  there  is  the  '  Lord's  parlor." 
It  looked  just  like  such  a  parlor — that  restful,  homelike 
"  Union  Hall,"  with  its  pleasant  circles  of  thoughtful 
people  at  the  dedication  services  upon  the  Sabbath  day. 


CHAPTER  XXXIII. 


THE  CANADIAN  LEADERS. 


Mrs.  Letitia  Youmans,  the  Lecturer — Mrs.  D.  B.  Chisholm,  President 
of  Ontario  W.  C.  T.  U.,  etc. 

THE  briefest  possible  definition  of  our  Canadian  sister 
is  found  in  Paul's  sententious  words,  "  much,  every 
way."  Whether  we  consider  her  ample  avoirdupois  or 
the  remarkable  breadth  of  her  views,  the  warmth  of  her 
heart  or  the  weight  of  her  arguments,  the  strength  of  her 
convictions  or  the  many-sided  brilliancy  of  her  wit,  the 
vigor  of  her  common  sense  or  the  wide  extent  of  her 
influence,  Mrs.  Youmans  is  a  woman  altogether  remarkable. 
Like  most  natures  which  unite  so  many  royal  qualities, 
and  whose  kindness  and  simplicity  are,  after  all,  their 
crowning  Charm,  Mrs.  Youmans  is  a  combination  in  her 
ancestry  and  her  experience  of  widely  varying  elements. 
Her  father,  John  Creighton,  was  an  Irishman,  her  mother 
was  a  Yankee,  and  she  herself  was  born  and  reared  in 
Canada.  She  had  the  advantage  of  a  close  companionship 
with  nature,  having  been  brought  up  on  her  father's  farm 
near  Coburg,  where  she  was  born  in  1827.  Dr.  Van 
Norman,  now  a  well-known  educator  in  New  York  city, 
was  her  earliest  teacher,  and  from  his  school,  the  "  Bur- 
lington Academy,"  at  Hamilton,  she  graduated  with  high 
honor,  at  the  age  of  twenty  years.  Here  Letitia  Creighton 
remained  two  years  as  a  teacher.  "From  her  early  days 
[says  a  Canada  paper]  she  manifested  in  a  remarkable 
degree  what  have  since  become  the  most  prominent  traits 
of  her  character,  namely :  an  intense  desire  for  knowledge, 
an  almost  unlimited  capacity  for  hard,  intellectual  toil,  an 

(598; 


MRS.  LETITIA  YOUMANS. 


MRS.    LETITTA    YOUMANS.  601 

unwavering  determination  to  devote  herself  to  the  realiza- 
tion of  a  high  ideal  of  life,  and  an  intense  sympathy  with 
sorrowing  and  suffering  humanity.  The  practical  view 
she  took  of  whatever  most  interested  her,  prevented  this 
sympathy  from  being  dissipated  into  mere  sensibility,  and 
made  her  an  earnest  and  active  promoter  of  whatever  had 
for  its  object  the  amelioration  of  the  condition  of  others. 
"While  at  the  Academy  she  was  not  more  distinguished 
among  her  schoolmates  for  hard  work  and  rapid  progress 
than  for  her  zeal  in  enlarging  the  school  library,  in 
projecting  and  sustaining  a  literary  periodical  for  the 
improvement  of  herself  and  fellow-students,  and  in  setting 
on  foot  and  maintaining  in  operation  schemes  of  active 
benevolence." 

At  one  of  the  Old  Orchard  Temperance  Camp  Meetings, 
Mrs.  Youmans  told  us  that  a  speech  made  by  Neal  Dow 
in  her  home  at  Picton,  thirty  years  ago,  convinced  her 
that  the  liquor  traffic  is  "  the  gigantic  crime  of  crimes," 
and  that  right  reason,  enlightened  conscience,  and  wise 
statesmanship,  all  demand  its  prohibition. 

Though  always  sympathizing  with  the  temperance 
cause,  as  with  every  form  of  philanthropy,  the  day  of 
Mrs.  Youmans'  active  public  labors  was  long  postponed. 
She  was  married  at  the  age  of  twenty -three,  and  from  that 
time  lived  quietly  in  Picton,  Province  of  Ontario,  until 
the  trumpet  call  of  the  "  Women's  Temperance  Crusade  " 
woke  in  her  heart  the  deepest  echo  it  had  ever  known. 
She  had  already  organized  a  Band  of  Hope,  numbering 
hundreds  of  the  children  of  her  neighborhood,  and  the 
first  autumn  after  the  memorable  crusade  year  (1874), 
Mrs.  Youmans.  unheralded  and  uncredentialed,  appeared 
in  Trinity  M.  E.  Church,  Cincinnati,  at  the  first  annivers- 
ary meeting  of  the  W.  N.  C.  T.  Union.  She  modestly 
stated  that  she  had  "  come  to  learn,"  but  was  courteously 
invited   to  address  an   evening   mass   meeting,  and  her 


602  UXION   JACK    AND   STARS    AND    STRIPES. 

powerful  voice  rang  out  for  the  first  time  over  the  historic 
battle-ground  of  the  new  and  mighty  war.  Her  American 
sisters  were  electrified.  What  a  magazine  of  power  was 
here,  and  what  an  explosion  it  would  cause  among  the 
conservatives  of  the  Dominion !  From  that  time  to  this 
the  name  of  Mrs.  Youmans  has  been  beloved  and  honored 
in  "  the  States  "  even  as  it  had  alreadv  been  "  in  her  ain 
countree,"  and  at  nearly  all  the  great  summer  meetings 
she  has  been  our  invited  guest,  always  accompanied  by 
her  husband,  a  dignified  and  genial  gentleman,  who  is 
very  proud  of  her.* 

Her  cheery  greetings  and  unfailing  bonhommie  have 
greatly  helped  to  strengthen  the  ties  between  the 
two  sides  of  the  line,  and  her  favorite  prediction  about 
"  the  women  tying  together  across  Lake  Erie,  the 
Union  Jack  and  Stars  and  Stripes  with  ribbons  that 
arc  total  abstinence  badges,  while  the  Yankee  eagle  soars 
above  and  the  British  lion  crouches  beneath,"  never  fails 
to  "  bring  down  the  house." 

Mrs.  Youmans  was  for  years  President  of  W.  C.  T.  U. 
of  Ontario,  and  by  her  great  gifts  as  a  speaker,  and  her 
remarkable  energy  and  effective  work,  has  done  more 
than  any  oilier  one  to  make  the  W.  C.  T.  U.  known  in 
Canada.  Talented,  earnest,  and  consecrated  women  have 
rallied  to  her  side,  and  an  amount  of  solid  achievement 
might  already  be  reported  sufficient  to  transcend  the 
limits  of  a  sketch  like  this.  The  groat  advance  of  the 
temperance  movement  in  the  county  of  Prince  Edward, 
the  triumph  of  the  Scott  Act  (prohibitory),  the  address 
before  a  convention  of  members  of  Parliament  in 
Montreal,  all  these  are  matters  of  well-known  history  in 
Canada.  Clear  and  logical  as  are  all  of  her  appeals,  Mrs. 
Youmans  is  never  so  effective  as  on  her  favorite  theme  of 
"  Home  Protection,"  though  she  declines  to  give  to  those 

*  Mr.  Youmans  has  lately  died. 


LETITIA    YOUMANS.  603 

words,  dear  to  our  Illinoisans,  the  broader  significance 
they  have  acquired  upon  the  prairies.  Her  addresses, 
founded  on  the  books  of  Esther  and  Nehemiah,  are  among 
the  most  forcible  appeals  ever  uttered  for  prohibitory  law. 
All  honor  to  brave  Letitia  Youmans,  and  may  "  the  ripe, 
round  mellow  years  "  of  her  life's  benignant  afternoon  be 
crowded  full  of  trophies  for  the  Master  whom  she  loves. 

It  would  be  pleasant  to  write  of  other  Canadian  leaders, 
for  the  terms  of  our  temperance  "Reciprocity  Treaty"  are 
such  that  we  are  well  acquainted.  Mrs.  D.  B.  Chisholm 
of  Hamilton,  is  the  admirable  successor  of  Mrs.  Youmans 
as  President.  Mrs.  Tilton  of  Ottawa  (a  lady  of  great 
influence  at  the  capital),  is  President.  Dr.  Jennie  K. 
Trout,  a  noble-hearted  Scotchwoman  of  Toronto,  is  one  of 
the  clearest  heads,  and  Miss  Minnie  Phelps  of  St. 
Catharines,  among  the  most  progressive  of  the  workers. 
The  Neal  Dow  of  Canada  is  Professor  George  E.  Foster, 
who  resigned  his  position  in  the  University  of  New 
Brunswick  to  take  the  field  for  temperance  reform,  and  is 
now  a  member  of  Parliament.  He  has  always  been  a 
staunch  friend  of  our  W.  C.  T.  U. 


CHAPTER  XXXIV. 

THE  CHILDREN. 

Miss  Lathbury's  poem— Boy's  Temperance  speech— How  to  reach  the 

children. 

[Note.— Miss  Lathbury,  founder  of  the  Chautauqua  "Look-up 
Leirion,"  author  of  books,  poems,  etc.,  "our  special  artist"  to  the  W. 
C.T.  U.] 

"BY  THIS  "WE   CONQUER. 
(Inscribed  to  our  "  Bands  of  Hope.") 

Hark !  in  the  air  a  song, 

With  an  undertone  below 
Like  the  marching  of  a  mighty  throng; 

What  coming  host  hath  so 
Sent  Hope  a-singing  through  the  land, 

Her  wings  with  light  aglow  ? 

The  children  are  afield! 

They  march  to  meet  their  King; 
Each  bears  a  standard  and  a  shield, 

And  each  an  offering; 
•      And  all  the  air  is  ringing  with 

The  songs  of  faith  they  sing. 

What  shield  is  this  they  bear? 
What  standard  doth  the  Lord 

Uplift  beside  the  waters,  where- 
According  to  His  Word — 

The  fierce  incoming  floods  are  stayed, 
The  breath  of  Heaven  stirred? 

A  lifted  cross  I  see, 

And,  in  a  sacred  sign, 
The  flag,  in  holy  unity, 

Enfolds  its  form  divine ; 

And  from  its  floating  blue  the  stars 

Forever  shine  and  shine. 

Mart  A.  Lathbury. 

(604) 


TlIK  FUTURE  LEGISLATOR. 


boy's  temperance  speech.  607 

everybody's  war. 

[Dear  mothers  and  teachers,  can  you  not  use  this  when 
a  young-  hopeful  comes  to  you  with  the  ever-recurring 
question:  '-Where  shall  1  find  a  piece  to  speak  at 
school?"  I  prepared  it  with  the  said  irrepressible  "  in 
my  mind's  eye,  Horatio  !  "] 

I  wonder  how  many  of  these  young  folks  know  that 
there  is  a  great  war  going  on  in  this  city,  on  the  west  side, 
north  side,  south  side — going  on  all  over  the  State  from 
end  to  end,  and  all  through  the  land  of  the  Star-Spangled 
Banner  from  Maine  to  Florida,  and  Massachusetts  to 
California?  Haven't  you  heard  the  rattle  of  muskets, 
booming  of  cannon,  beating  of  drums  ?  No  ?  Well,  pray, 
where  do  you  keep  your  ears  ? 

Haven't  you  seen  any  barracks,  arsenals,  fortresses, 
fortifications  ?     Where  do  you  keep  your  eyes  ? 

Why,  this  very  night  you're  in  one  of  the  forts  belong- 
ing to  our  side — that  is,  the  loyal  troops.  I've  seen 
bullets  and  bombshells  shot  out  of  this  pulpit  that  have 
given  no  small  fright  to  the  enemy  and  no  small  courage 
to  my  heart  when  times  looked  dark.  I  want  you  to  be 
duly  impressed  with  the  fact  that  there  is  a  war.  We 
call  it  an  irrepressible  conflict  and  a  fight  against  spiritual 
darkness  in  high  places.  The  captain  on  our  side  is  He 
of  whom  you  often  sing : 

"Oh!  surely  the  Captain  may  depend  on  me, 
Though  hut  an  armor-hearer  I  may  be." 

The  Lord  of  Hosts  is  His  name.  The  captain  on  the 
other  side  is  described  in  these  lines  from  another  of  your 
hymns : 

"  See  the  mighty  host  advancing,  Satan  leading  on." 

The  recruiting-offices  of  our  side  are  the  church,  the 
Sunday-school,  the  home  ;  while  those  of  the  enemy  are 
breweries,  distilleries,  and  grog-shops.     To  join  our  army 


608  TREMBLE,   KING   ALCOHOL  ! 

you  sign  the  muster-roll  called  "  The  Total-Abstinence 
Iron-Clad ; "  to  join  theirs  you  clink  beer-mugs  and 
brandy-glasses  and  hurrah  for  blear-eyed  old  King  Gam- 
brinus.  The  uniform  of  the  enemy's  soldiers  is  an  old 
coat  out  at  the  elbows  and  a  shocking  bad  hat,  and  their 
badge  a  fiery  red  nose ;  while  we  have  transferred  the  red 
to  a  ribbon  in  the  button-hole.  Our  soldiers  are  well  but 
plainly  dressed,  and  the  girls  and  women  among  them 
wear  a  pretty  knot  of  white  ribbon.  The  weapons  of  the 
enemy  are  a  shillalah  or  a  doubled-up,  pin-cushiony  fist; 
they  aim  straight  at  the  brain  or  at  the  heart.  Our 
weapons  aim  there,  too,  only  for  the  first  we  have  keen 
thoughts,  and  for  the  last  tender,  pleading,  and  eloquent 
pathos.  The  soldiers  on  the  other  side  arc  bewildered, 
untaught  youth,  ignorant  men,  and  vicious  dotards  ;  on 
our  side  the  smallest  boy  or  girl  is  up  to  regulation 
height,  gray  hairs  exempt  nobody,  you  can't  hire  a  substi- 
tute if  you  would,  and  when  you  come  to  think  it  over 
you  really  don't  want  to  if  you  could.  Best  of  all,  ours  is 
an  army  in  which  your  mothers,  gentle  and  soft-voiced 
and  very  much  afraid  of  guns  and  gunpowder,  can  yet 
keep  step  with  the  sturdy  and  the  strong,  keeping  time  to 
the  company's  music  as  they  march  calmly  forward  in 
the  name  of  "  God,  and  home,  and  native  land."  Now, 
my  youthful  hearers,  are  you  enlisted  soldiers  ?  Have 
you  "  pledged  perpetual  hate  to  all  that  can  intoxicate," 
from  cider  to  champagne  ?  If  not,  why  not  ?  Come,  we 
want  you  to  bear  aloft  a  banner  in  your  firm,  young 
hands,  and  to  inscribe  upon  it:  "  Tremble,  King  Alcohol! 
we  shall  grow  up  !  " 

HOW   TO    REACH    THE     CHILDREN HOW    TO    REACH    THEM    IN 

THE     PUBLIC      SCHOOLS THE      COLD-WATER     BOYS     AND 

SISTERS    OP    THE    REGIMENT. 

Two  of  the  temperance  societies  in  Massachusetts  have 
tried  to  introduce  temperance  work  into  the  public  schools. 


PRIZES   FOR   ESSAYS.  609 

A  circular  was  sent  out,  setting  forth  the  fact  that  intem- 
perance is  one  of  the  deadliest  foes  to  the  country ;  that 
total  abstinence  is  the  only  effective  example,  and  speak- 
ers were  sent  to  present  these  and  other  facts  to  the 
young  people.  This  has  been  done  with  marked  success 
in  a  State  requiring  prohibition,  at  least  on  its  statute 
book.  Seventy  per  cent,  of  the  young  people  (at  least 
sixty  or  seventy  thousand)  signed  the  total  abstinence 
pledge.  Prizes  were  offered  to  schools  of  a  higher  grade 
for  essays  showing  the  evils  and  cure  of  intemperance. 
Ninety  schools  accepted  the  offer,  and  five  thousand 
children  competed  for  the  prizes.  Thus  they  were  set  to 
ransacking  libraries — there  was  an  incalculable  amount 
of  reading  done  by  those  children — and  when  the  essays 
were  decided  upon,  a  crowd  of  men  and  women  said : 
"  We  must  go  and  see  how  these  young,  intellectual  gladia- 
tors fight ! " 

The  year  before  I  left  the  Northwestern  University  in 
Evanston  I  commenced  the  work  in  my  own  classes,  and 
I  set  them  to  work  debating  on  the  question.  Some  of 
the  most  rousing  debates  I  ever  heard  were  presented 
there. 

"We  have  a  juvenile  work  in  connection  with  our 
Woman's  Temperance  Union.  We  make  the  children 
officers  or  corporals.  We  make  a  good  share  of  them 
vice-presidents,  responsible  for  good  order.  Vice-presi- 
dents Nos.  1,  2,  3  provide  entertainments,  and  so  on. 
When  they  have  public  meetings,  fathers  and  mothers, 
brothers  and  sisters  come  to  look  on.  We  all  know  there 
is  a  certain  magnetism  about  the  children  that  makes  us 
all  interested  in  what  they  do,  so  we  lay  burdens  and 
duties  on  them,  and  give  them  honors,  while  older  people 
guide  the  helm. 

I  will  tell  you  what  I  have  seen  at  Rockford,  111.,  my 
adopted  State.     We  met  in  a  large  town  hall  and  organ- 


610  TOBACCO  ALSO  PROSCRIBED. 

ized  a  company.  It  is  a  good  plan  to  have  town-hall 
meetings  for  children  in  a  good  cause.  This  came  about 
in  this  wise  :  Two  or  three  boys  going  home  from  Sunday- 
school  said : 

"  Why  not  have  a  society  of  our  own  ?  " 
"First  rate;  let's;  and  what  shall  be  our  pledge  ?" 
"  We  do  pledge  ourselves   to   abstain   from  all  intoxi- 
cating liquors,  from  cider,  and  tobacco." 

There  was  a  good  deal  of  talking  over  cider ;  the  boys 
agonized  over  the  tobacco  question,  and  their  mothers 
prayed  with  them,  and  finally  they  thought  they  could 
give  it  up.  The  ladies  heard  about  it,  and  they  put  an 
advertisement  in  the  Rockford  papers  :  "  Any  boys  who 
want  to  fight  against  rum  and  sin,  meet  the  temperance 
ladies  in  the  town  hall  on  such  a  day."  This  caused  a  rally 
among  the  boys.  We  proposed  to  them  to  enlist  under 
this  their  own  original  pledge  :  "  We  do  solemnly  promise 
to  abstain  from  the  use  of  all  intoxicating  liquors,  and 
from  cider  as  a  beverage  ;  also  from  the  use  of  tobacco  in 
any  form,  and  to  do  all  in  our  power  to  promote  the 
temperance  cause."  We  met  those  who  agreed  to  sign 
(three  hundred  strong  they  were)  in  the  large  hall,  and, 
with  the  help  of  a  military  officer  who  was  also  a  reformed 
man,  we  organized  three  companies,  A,  B,  and  C,  with 
the  regular  company  officers.  They  have  badges  of  ribbon 
about  three  inches  wide,  a  different  color  for  each  com- 
pany. The  first  has  green,  printed  thus  ;  "  Cold  Water 
Boys,  Company  A." 

Children  like  to  march,  hop,  skip,  and  jump.  They  like 
gymnastics,  and  thus  we  organize.  They  are  learning  the 
regular  military  drill.  Each  company  has  an  appropriate 
banner;  they  are  full  of  enthusiasm,  and  are  enlisting 
recruits.  On  Decoration  Day  they  were  out  in  full  force. 
They  were  drawn  up  in  the  public  square,  and  Mrs.  Henry 
came  forward  and   administered  the  pledge  to  them  as 


"  SISTERS   OF   THE   REGIMENT."  611 

they  stood  with  hats  in  their  left  hands,  and  right  hands 
lifted  in  solemn  gesture  of  assent.  Then  they  gave  three 
cheers  for  the  pledge  and  marched  out.  There  is  nothing 
dangerous  in  these  military  arrangements.  We  are 
organizing  the  girls  into  "  Sisters  of  the  Regiment "  to 
help  the  Cold  Water  Army  in  its  campaign  against  the 
rum  power,  somewhat  as  the  Sanitary  and  Christian 
Commission  Societies  were  to  the  army. 

We  see  the  saloon-keeper's  boys  marching  side  by  side 
with  the  temperance  man's  boys ;  and  when  those  boys 
hurrah,  they  hurrah  for  the  pledge. 

24 


CHAPTER  XXXV. 

HOW  TO  ORGANIZE  A  W.  C.  T.  U. 

How  ought  a  Local  W.  C.  T.  U.  to  conduct  a  Public  Meeting? 

I.    THE    PRELIMINARIES. 

THESE  are  of  two  kinds :  First,  Notices  to  the  public. 
Second,  Opening  exercises. 
Your  notices  should  be  printed  in  all  the  local  papers 
at  least  one  week  beforehand,  and  sent  to  each  pulpit  on 
the    Sabbath   previous.      The  following  form  is  recom- 
mended : 

To  the  ladies  of : 

The  National  W.  C.  T.  U.  has  twenty-five  auxilaries, 
and  is  the  largest  and  most  influential  society  ever  com- 
posed and  conducted  exclusively  by  women.  It  has 
nearly  three  thousand  local  auxiliaries  and  hundreds  of 
juvenile  organizations.  It  is  a  lineal  descendant  of  the 
great  temperance  crusade  of  1873-4,  and  is  a  union  of 
women  from  all  denominations,  for  the  purpose  of  edu- 
cating the  young,  forming  a  better  public  sentiment, 
reforming  the  drinking  classes,  transforming  by  the 
power  of  Divine  grace  those  who  are  enslaved  by  alcohol, 
and  removing  the  dram-shop  from  our  streets  by  law. 

Mrs. of ,  duly  authorized  by W. 

C.  T.  U.  to  undertake  this  work,  will  speak  in on 

at o'clock  on  the  history,  aims,  and  methods 

of  this  society.      All  ladies  are  earnestly   requested  to 
attend.     The  presence  of  pastors  is  respectfully  invited. 

(612) 


HOW   TO    BEGIN.  613 

On  the  same  slip  put  the  following: 

ATTENTION,    BOYS    AND    GIRLS ! 

You  have  a  friend  who  would  like  very  much  to  meet 

and  talk  with  you  at on at o'clock. 

She  will  show  you  some  interesting  experiments,  black- 
board exercises  and  charts.  Please  come,  and  we  will  try 
to  organize  a  Band  of  Hope.  Yours  for  clear  heads  and 
true  hearts.  Mrs. 

This  should  be  sent  to  Sunday-schools  and  public 
schools  as  well  as  to  pulpit  and  press.  It  is  a  false — let 
us  rather  say  an  ignorant — delicacy  which  hesitates  to 
give  full  information  through  all  legitimate  channels,  of 
the  time,  place,  and  object  of  any  attempt  to  build  up 
Christ's  kingdom  by  benefiting  the  race  for  which  he 
died. 

But  our  workers  have  gone  hundreds  of  miles  to  form 
a  local  union  only  to  find  a  single  stray  line  in  the  corner 
of  one  newspaper  as  the  only  notice  given,  or  a  brief  men- 
tion at  a  rainy  Sunday  morning  service  their  only  herald. 
Not  thus  does  the  enemy  permit  his  opportunities  to  go 
by  default. 

Second,  The  opening  exercises.  Let  these  be  informal, 
but  full  of  earnestness.  Many  a  time  have  I  seen  the 
devotional  spirit  frozen  out  by  the  mechanical  air  of  the 
leader,  added  to  the  slow  process  of  hunting  up  and  dis- 
tributing hymn  books,  waiting  for  the  organ  key  to  be 
sent  for ;  persuading  some  reluctant  musician  to  come 
forward,  and  so  on  to  the  doleful  climax  of  failure.  Sup- 
pose you  just  omit  all  that — come  forward  at  once  with 
some  pleasant  allusion  to  a  familiar  hymn  as  "  one  of  the 
special  favorites  in  our  work,"  strike  up  yourself,  or  have 
some  one  ready  to  do  so  without  loss  of  time.  As  to 
Scriptural  selections,  I  could  spend  a  whole  day  exhibit- 


614  THE   ORGANIZATION. 

ing  the  choice  cabinet  of  jewels  in  delightful  variety  and 
marvelous  adaptation  to  our  needs,  which  the  past  years 
of  studv  have  disclosed.  As  I  listen  to  our  women,  East 
and  West,  in  local  meetings  and  conventions,  I  am  im- 
pressed by  none  of  their  beautiful  gifts  so  much  as  that 
they  are  indeed  workmen  who  need  not  be  ashamed, 
rightly  dividing  the  Word  of  God.  From  Mrs.  Leavitt 
of  Cincinnati,  with  her  "  Saloon  Keeper's  Psalm  (the 
tenth),  to  Mrs.  Carhart  of  Iowa,  reading  Miriam's  Song 
at  the  jubilee  in  June  ;  whether  it  be  Sanballat,  Gideon's 
Band,  Deborah  and  Barak,  Queen  Esther,  Joel  (second 
chapter),  or  the  Prodigal  Son,  and  Good  Samaritan,  our 
workers  have  proved  themselves  mighty  in  the  Scriptures 
ever  since  those  wondrous  school  days  when  they  learned 
to  read  their  Bibles  in  the  grog-shops  of  the  land.  Their 
"  Crusade  Psalm  "  (the  146th)  is  unrivaled  for  expository 
use.  It  is  capable  of  being  wrought  into  a  delightful 
evening's  "  Bible  Reading,"  but  this  must  be  greatly 
abridged  in  your  opening  exercises.  Suppose  you  study 
its  ten  verses  for  the  purpose  of  finding  our  bugle  call, 
our  key  word,  exhortation,  basis,  complete  plan  of  work, 
prophecy,  and  philosophy,  and  song  of  jubilee — for  all  of 
these  and  vastly  more  are  there ! 

If  a  pastor  is  present  ask  him  to  offer  prayer, 

II.    THE    ORGANIZATION. 

And  now,  with  preliminaries  arranged,  the  spirit  of 
praise  and  prayer  evoked,  a  secretary  pro  tern,  appointed 
to  keep  the  important  record  of  "  first  things,"  and  a 
group  of  women  gathered  around  you  in  home  or  church 
parlor,  what  are  you  to  say  and  do  that  they  shall  love 
our  cause  and  work  with  us  ? 

First,  Don't  take  too  much  for  granted.  Don't  think 
because  these  are  women  of  general  intelligence  and 
Christian  experience  they  are  also  clear  in  their  respective 


FIRST    STEPS.  615 

minds  as  to  the  history,  mystery,  and  methods  of  the  W. 
C.  T.  U.  On  that  subject  you  had  better  take  it  for 
granted  they  are  outside  barbarians.  At  least  I  was  of 
this  description  when  the  crusade  of  1874  struck  the 
classic  suburb  of  Evanston.  Fancy  the  ignorance  of  one 
who  had  never,  that  she  knew  of,  seen  a  saloon  and  yet 
had  lived  for  nearly  twenty  years  within  a  few  miles  of 
Chicago.  Imagine  the  illiteracy  that  had  never  once  laid 
eyes  upon  a  temperance  paper  nor  heard  the  name  of  J. 
X.  Stearns.  Conceive  of  the  crudity  that  led  me  in  my 
sober  senses  to  make  a  bee  line  to  Boston,  that  I  might 
learn  of  Dr.  Dio  Lewis  the  whole  duty  of  a  "vV.  C.  T.  U. 
woman,  and  for  the  same  reason  to  Portland  that  I  might 
sit  at  the  feet  of  Xeal  Dow. 

But  all  this  is  hardly  more  absurd  than  the  revelation 
of  failure  (after  I  thought  myself  a  veteran  in  our  ranks) 
made  to  me  the  most  unwittingly  by  a  dear  old  lady  down 
in  Delaware,  who,  after  I  had  talked  an  hour  by  the  clock 
on  the  "  Aims  and  Methods  of  the  W.  C.  T.  U."  said  in  a 
droll  soliloquy,  as  she  scrawled  her  name  upon  my  mem- 
bership card  :  "  I'm  sure  I  don't  know  what  she  wants  us 
to  do,  but  I  reckon  it's  a  good  deal  intemperance  work  as 
it  is  in  goin'  to  prayer  meetin'  of  a  dark  night — I  can't 
see  but  a  step  to  a  time,  but  when  I've  taken  one  step, 
why  I'm  there  and  the  lantern's  there  too,  and  we  just  go 
along  to  the  next.  So  if  the  Lord  has  got  temperance 
work  for  me  to  do  he'll  give  me  light  to  do  it  by."  Learn 
then,  dear  temperance  workers,  that  in  this  day  of 
specialists  you  are  safe  in  assuming  that  your  group  of 
good  women  have  minds  as  vacant  as  a  thimble,  and 
about  as  much  expanded  on  the  scope  and  working  and 
laws  of  the  W.  < '.  T.  U.  Their  interest  is  general,  not 
specific ;  they  have  come  on  purpose  to  find  out  what  it  is 
your  business  (not  theirs)  to  know.  Therefore,  take 
nothing  for  granted  save  that  each  of  them  is  fitted  out 


616  DO   NOT   BE   DISCOURAGED. 

with  brain  and  heart  and  conscience  on  which  you  are 
to  act  by  knowledge,  sympathy,  conviction. 

Second,  Don't  assume  the  role  of  Sir  Oracle.  Teach 
without  seeming  to  do  so.  Carefully  skip  around  all  such 
"  hard  words  "  as  "  Take  notice,"  "  I  call  your  attention," 
"  Do  you  understand  ? "  and  on  no  account  conclude  a 
sentence  with  that  irritating  grammatical  nondescript 
"  See  ? "  Put  yourself  in  the  attitude  of  a  learner  along 
with  the  rest.  Thus  your  style  will  be  suggestive  and 
winsome  rather  than  authoritative  and  disagreeable.  I 
shall  never  forget  Bishop  Warren's  opening  words  to  a 
room  full  of  young  people  in  a  southern  school.  He  stood 
before  them  with  a  face  wise,  kindly,  and  benignant,  and 
gently  called  them  "  Fellow  students." 

Third,  Don't  despise  the  day  of  small  things.  You 
have  no  reason  to  be  discouraged  because  your  audience 
is  small.  I  have .  organized  seventy  women  into  a  weak 
society  and  seven  into  a  strong  one.  Well  do  I  recall  a 
winter  afternoon  in  1870,  when,  complying  with  an  invi- 
tation previously  given  by  my  first  Bible  class  teacher  (of 
auld  lang  syne),  Mrs.  Governor  Beveridge,  as  we  call  her 
now,  half  a  score  women  of  Evanston  went  to  a  mission- 
ary meeting  in  that  lady's  parlor.  Its  object  was  to 
organize  a  Woman's  Foreign  Missionary  Society,  and 
though  I  had  traveled  in  several  Oriental  countries,  and 
as  a  tourist  seen  something  of  evangelistic  work  there,  I 
found  myself  rudimentary  in  knowledge  beside  one  who 
had  made  the  subject  a  specialty  and  brought  Mrs.  Wil- 
ling's  thoroughness  of  grasp  to  the  theme  of  woman's 
niartyrology  in  lands  unsunned  by  Christ.  Less  than  a 
dozen  names  were  that  day  enrolled  to  form  our  local 
auxiliary.  A  dozen  years  have  passed,  and  through  the 
influence — direct  and  indirect — of  this  society,  nearly 
forty  young  people  have  gone  out  from  Evanston  to  the 
foreign  field,  to  say  nothing  of  thousands  of  dollars 
gathered  and  dispensed  through  its  treasury. 


A    SPEECH    IN    OUTLINE.  617 

Fourth,  Don't  fail  thoroughly  to  premeditate  your 
"  impromptus."  The  Holy  Spirit  seems  better  pleased  to 
inspire  the  process  of  reflection  and  composition  than  to 
atone  for  what  Miss  Ophelia  called  "  shiftlessness,"  by  an 
eleventh  hour  inspiration.  We  want  no  scattering  fire  in 
our  public  utterances,  but  the  sober  second  thought  of 
your  brightest  and  most  studious  hours.  As  a  general 
outline  speech  I  would  offer  the  following : 

1.  Very  brief  allusion  to  the  origin  and  progress  of 
temperance  movements,  with  earnest  acknowledgment  of 
what  has  been  done  by  the  Church,  the  Washingtonian 
movement,  Good  Templars,  Catholic  Total  Abstinence 
Society,  etc. 

2.  Brief  and  pictorial  (not  abstract)   account  of  the 

Woman's  Crusade. 

3.  Organization  as  its  sequel — origin  of  National  W. 
C.  T.  U.,  at  Chautauqua  in  1874. 

4.  Growth  of  the  Society  in  the  United  States,  in 
Canada,  England,  and  elsewhere,  evolution  of  its  work, 
number  and  variety  of  its  departments ;  notwithstanding 
this  general  uniformity,  the  National  like  a  photograph  of 
imperial  size  ;  the  State  a  cabinet,  the  local  a  carte  de  visite. 

5.  Why  we  have  superintendents  instead  of  com- 
mittees to  insure  individual  responsibility.  Illustrate  by 
blackboard  with  our  departments  written  out. 

6.  Reasons  why  women  should  join  us.  I  have  often 
givqn  these  in  anecdotal  form,  telling  just  what  women, 
old  and  young,  grave  and  gay,  had  said  to  me  about  the 
convictions  resulting  from  their  own  observation  and 
experience  which  had  led  them  into  temperance  work. 

7.  Appeal  from  considerations  embodied  in  our  motto 
1.  For  God;  2.  For  home  ;  3.  For  native  land. 

This  address,  mixed  with  the  Word  of  God  and  prayer, 
both  in  its  preparation  and  recital,  should  be  followed  by 
a  humble  petition  for  II is  blessing. 


618  EULES    OF    ORDER. 

Fifth,  Don't  fail  to  suit  the  action  to  the  word.     Ask 
for  a  motion  to  organize,  stating  it  in  due  form  and  re- 
questing any  lady  who  has  the  matter  at  heart  to  make 
it.     Get  a  second  to  the  motion  and  make  a  few  inci- 
dental remarks  about  the  importance  of  that  etiquette  of 
assemblies  which  we  call  parliamentary  usage.     Recom- 
mend them  to  buy  Roberts'  Rules  of  Order,  and  learn  a 
little  of  it  at  each  meeting.     When  it  comes  to  a  vote 
after  the  parliamentary  interval  for  remarks,  mention  that 
you  are  tired  of  your  own  voice  and  anxious  to  hear 
theirs,  adding  in  your  clearest  tones,  "  All  in  favor  of 
that  motion  will  please  to  say  aye,"  and  let  your  final 
word  be  in  the  most  decided  sense  a  rising  circumflex. 
You  will  be  surprised  to  see  the  readiness  with  which  you 
can  thus  call  out  the  voices  of  the  timid,  partly  out  of 
good  nature  and  partly  because  their  musical  perceptions 
lead  them  to  put  a  climax  to  your  incomplete  inflection 
by  their  own.     Do  not  go  through  the  dumb  show  of  "  the 
lifted  hand,"  nor  the  imbecility  of  "  manifest  it  by  the 
usual  sign"  (when  there  are  several  signs),  but  call  out 
that  most  inspiring  response,  the  human  voice  divine. 
Remember  too,  that  thus  you  educate  women  out  of  the 
silence  which  has  stifled  their  beautiful  gifts  so  long. 
Next  follows  the  form  of  constitution  for  local  auxiliaries, 
which  should  be  gone  over  rapidly,  reading  only  the  im- 
portant points,  and  remarking  that  this  is  the  form  usually 
adopted  and  subject  to  revision  at  their  regular  meetings. 
(Mrs.  Buell,  our  National  Corresponding  Secretary,  at  53 
Bible  House,  New  York,  furnishes  the  best.)     After  a 
viva  voce  vote  on  this,  read  with  emphasis  our  pledge.     It 
includes  total  abstinence  from  wine,  beer,  and  cider  as  a 
beverage.     Explain  about  the  annual  membership  fee  of 
fifty  cents ;  exhibit  Our  Union-Signal,  stating  price,  and 
send  out  ladies  previously  appointed  to  solicit  member- 
ships and  subscribers. 


MINOR    MATTERS.  619 

This  moment  is  the  crucial  test.  To  it  everything  has 
pointed — failing  to  secure  its  objects  you  will  fail  indeed. 
But  just  at  this  point  we  are  too  often  unpardonably 
heedless.  What  would  be  said  of  the  angler  whose 
awkwardness  at  the  critical  moment  should  frighten 
away  the  fish  he  was  about  to  impale  ?  Or  the  farmer 
who  should  forget  his  scythe  when  going  to  the  hay-field? 
But  how  often  have  we  seen  such  a  stale,  flat,  and  un- 
profitable half  hour  succeed  the  aforementioned  address, 
that  it  seemed  as  though  a  premium  was  put  upon  a 
general  stampede  of  the  auditors.  "  Has  any  one  a  pencil 
to  take  names?"  is  a  question  equally  pregnant  and 
imbecile,  while  vandal  hands  have  made  a  raid  upon  stray 
hymn-books,  and  their  fly-leaves  have  been  ruthlessly 
confiscated  to  take  the  place  of  the  enrolling  tablets, 
conspicuous  for  their  absence.  The  best  way  is  for  the 
leader  of  the  meeting  to  keep  up  a  running  fire  of  pleasant 
explanation  or  of  reply  to  questions  invited  by  her  from 
the  pews.  Among  the  questions  which  her  clear-cut 
preliminary  statements  should  anticipate  are :  "  Must  we 
pay  the  membership  fee  when  we  give  our  names  ?  "  (No, 
not  unless  it  is  convenient.)  "  Can  young  ladies  join  ?  " 
(Most  gladly.)  '"Does  this  mean  all  kinds  of  cider?" 
(It  does.)  "  Then  I  cannot  join."  Well,  you  can  at  least 
attend  the  regular  meetings  of  the  union  to  follow  this,  in 
which  the  cider  leaflets  will  be  discussed,  and  become  an 
associate  if  not  a  regular  member  (only  the  latter  are 
eligible  to  office).  It  should  lie  explicitly  stated  that  by 
our  new  basis  of  organization,  adopted  at  Washington,  we 
are  cut  it  lid  in  the  National  Convention  (beside  our  State 
officers)  to  one  delegate  for  each  five  hundred  members, 
and  as  we  desire  for  a  large  representation,  we  are 
anxious  to  enroll  the  names  of  all  women  who  are  suffi- 
ciently intelligent  and  devoted  friends  of  temperance  to 
take  the  pledge  and  pay  the  fee,  even  though  they  arc 


620  BE    BRIEF    AND    CRISP. 

unable  to  do  any  work  or  to  meet  with  us  regularly.  The 
use  to  be  made  of  the  fee  should  be  distinctly  stated. 
Draw  a  fifty-cent  coin  on  the  blackboard — or  make  a 
drawing  of  the  same — and  have  it  hung  up.  Divide  it 
into  equal  parts,  representing  that  one  of  these  remains 
to  be  used  in  the  local  work,  the  other  going  to  the  State 
treasury  to  extend  the  organization,  save  that  one-fifth  of 
it  is  taken  out  and  sent  to  the  National  W.  C.  T.  U.  to 
carry  on  its  work.  Explain  that  the  National  has  never 
had  a  salaried  officer  until  within  three  years,  and  now 
but  pays  the  current  expenses  of  its  Corresponding 
Secretary  at  the  headquarters,  53  Bible  House.  Bring 
forward  Our  Union-Signal  and  solicit  subscribers  to  the 
national  organ;  speak  of  the  Hayes  memorial  portrait 
and  exhibit  the  ten  cent  a  share  cards  by  which  children 
so  readily  raise  the  five  dollars  requisite  to  secure  a  copy 
of  the  same.  Give  references  to  the  National  Temperance 
Publishing  House,  58  Reade  Street,  New  York,  and  D.  C. 
Cook,  Chicago,  by  no  means  forgetting  our  own  literature 
department,  conducted  by  Miss  Colman,  at  76  Bible  House, 
New  York.  Distribute  the  Annual  Leaflet  of  the  National 
W.  C.  T.  C,  which  has  all  needed  information  as  to  who 
and  where  are  our  superintendents  of  departments.  If 
there  is  a  piece  of  fine  music  prepared,  or  if  you  have  an 
interesting  speaker  present  besides  yourself,  it  will  be  well 
to  mention  that  attraction  as  a  counter-inducement  to 
those  inclined  to  go. 

But  all  these  exercises,  from  your  first  bow  to  your 
closing  Benedicite,  must  be  marked  staccato,  and  must  be 
made  brief  and  crisp,  or  your  group  of  guests  (for  such, 
do  not  forget,  they  are)  will  file  out  and  hie  itself  away. 
The  change  from  one  exercise  to  another,  if  effected  with 
sufficient  ingenuity  to  avoid  jumbling,  will  help  to  hold 
your  audience,  but  most  will  depend  upon  your  compliance 
with  the  suggestion — 


ARE    YOU    MASTER    OF    THE    SITUATION.  621 

Sixth,  Don't  fail  to  keep  your  wit,  wisdom,  and  patience 
well  to  the  front.  Somebody  will  come  to  you  then  and 
there  will  be  sotto  voce  gossip,  with  legends  and  histories 
of  societies  previously  organized  and  now  fossiliferous,  or 
the  prayer-meeting  killer  of  the  neighborhood  will  stray 
in  and  begin  his  sanguinary  work  upon  your  feeble  bank- 
ing of  a  society;  or  Miss  Contretemps,  of  the  contrary 
part,  will  state  her  objections  to  the  pledge,  or  Madame 
Pharisee  feel  called  upon  to  explain  that  she  never  was 
cursed  with  this  demon  in  her  own  home  and  therefore 
can  not,  etc.,  etc.,  drowsily  oblivious  of  the  statement 
you — should — have  made,  that  ninety  per  cent,  of  our 
members  share  the  exemption  which  she,  with  small  good 
taste,  parades.  Now  is  the  time  to  prove  what  manner 
of  spirit  you  are  of.  Does  your  courage  rise  with  danger  ? 
Are  you  fertile  in  resource  ?  You  are  being  tested  now 
as  they  test  steam  engine  boilers.  The  force  is  applied — 
the  tension  noted — and  the  strong,  well  wrought  metal 
holds  its  own,  but  the  thin,  flaw-eaten,  gives  way  in  its 
weakest  part.  Are  you  master  of  the  situation  ?  "  He 
that  ruleth  his  spirit  is  better  than  he  who  taketh  a  city." 
Now  is  your  chance  for  mastery.  Many  of  these  annoy- 
ances may  be  prevented  by  circulating  the  question  papers 
before  the  meeting  opens  and  asking  that  any  emery, 
comment,  or  criticism  be  written  and  placed  in  the 
question-box,  to  be  circulated  before  the  meeting  is  closed. 
This  gathering  up  of  questions,  as  well  as  the  circulation 
of  the  various  documents  I  have  mentioned,  should  be 
attended  to  by  the  Secretary  pro  tern. — to  be  appointed  at 
the  opening  of  the  meeting. 

Seventh,  Don't  be  precipitate  in  choice  of  standard 
bearers.  In  this  choice  will  be  involved  the  success  or 
failure  of  your  entire  movement.  You  are  trying  to 
launch  a  life-boat,  but  if  the  captain  be  near-sighted  and 
the   mate  a  blunderer,  your  craft  will  swamp  before  it 


622  THE   DIFFICULTIES. 

gets  beyond  the  breakers.  The  worst  of  it  is  that  you  are 
at  the  mercy  of  the  raw  hands  avIio  must  select  these 
officers  from  their  own  newly-enlisted  crew.  In  this 
choice  the  element  of  deliberation  is  important,  for  while 
you  will  be  often  urged  to  select  the  officers  then  and 
there,  "for  fear  we  cannot  get  the  women  together 
again,"  my  experience  is  that  in  the  long  run  we  get 
better  results  by  a  careful  canvass  of  the  pros  and  cons. 
Too  often  when  we  try  to  finish  up  the  business  of  elect- 
ing at  first  meeting,  we  discover,  later  on,  that  the  finish 
was  an  extinguisher.  From  a  recent  confidential  letter 
I  make  this  extract: 

A  W.  C.  T.  U.  was  recently  organized  in  our  village  and  there 
isn't  a  quarrel  in  the  neighborhood  that  was  not  represented  on  our 
board  of  officers. 

As  you  will  naturally  conclude,  I  do  not  expect  the 
liquor  traffic  in  that  locality  need  stand  in  special  fear  of 
said  society.  This  was  away  down  east,  but  a  remark 
made  to  me  on  the  frontier  has  in  it  equal  food  for  reflec- 
tion. It  was  from  a  new  worker,  and  was  so  simply  said, 
and  with  so  much  of  large-eyed  wonder  "  for  the  cause," 
that  if  not  so  tragic  I  would  have  deemed  it  vastly 
comical:  "Why,  do  you  know,  that  until  our  new  Presi- 
dent was  elected  I  did  not  know  that  anybody  could  be  an 
officer  at  all  and  yet  be  such  a  poor  one ! " 

Alas  for  the  applications  of  this  utterance,  which  all  of 
us  have  seen  !  Now,  while  we  cannot  hope  to  avoid  these 
calamities  in  the  present  partially  developed  condition  of 
woman's  work ;  while  it  is  doubtless  true  that  girls  now 
acquiring  the  systematic  training  of  our  public  schools 
and  colleges  will  make  the  more  efficient  officers  of  our 
future  work,  it  is  nevertheless  possible  for  us  to  secure,  in 
a  majority  of  instances,  excellent  services  from  the  good 
women  of  the  present.  But  here,  as  always,  the  prelimin- 
ary part  of  the  recipe  is:  "  First  catch  your  hare,"  and  I 


SUGGESTIONS.  623 

am  confident  a  cnoice  specimen  will  be  caught  by  appoint- 
ing (by  previous  consultation)  such  a  committee  on 
nomination  as  will  represent  the  different  churches  and 
social  circles,  and  adjourning  to  a  day  not  distant  when 
said  committee  shall  report.  It  should  also  include, 
among  its  duties,  the  preparation  of  a  plan  of  work  for 
the  society,  and  the  organizer  should  furnish  it  with  a 
model  from  our  State  or  National  minutes,  with  a  leaflet 
of  the  National  containing  our  list  of  superintendents  of 
departments.  In  appointing  the  list  of  Vice-Presidents, 
insist  on  one  from  each  denomination,  including  Catholics, 
dews,  etc.,  and  appoint  one  "at  large"  to  represent  the 
great  and  kindly  outside  fraternity  which  has  this  cause 
at  heart.  Insist  on  a  Superintendent  of  Temperance 
Literature,  who  shall  also  be  Librarian  of  your  Loan 
Library  and  agent  for  our  journalistic  organ.  Make  these 
Superintendents  members  of  your  Executive  Committee — 
which  should  meet  weekly,  while  the  W.  C.  T.  U.  meets 
monthly  and  has  a  religious,  literary,  and  business 
programme.  Fix  the  government  of  both  meetings  at 
five — so  that  the  exceeding  deference  which  causes  our 
good  women  to  lose  so  much  time  rather  than  "  act 
without  the  prescribed  number,"  may  not  endanger  their 
results  of  work.  Wear  the  white  ribbon  yourself,  and 
urge  all  to  do  the  same.  Close  your  meeting  by  singing 
"  Blest  be  the  Tie  that  Binds." 

I  have  suggested  that  you  follow  this  meeting  at  once 
by  another  for  the  children.  This  is  of  paramount 
importance  for  its  own  sake;  also  to  conciliate  public 
sentiment  and  give  your  new  society  that  sine  qua  non  of 
its  existence,  to  say  nothing  of  its  success — somethii\g 
to  do. 


624  PUBLIC    MEETINGS. 

HOW    OUGHT    A    LOCAL    W.    C.   T.    U.    TO    CONDUCT    A   PUBLIC 

MEETING  ? 

Not  on  the  hap-hazard  method,  which  too  often  prevails 
in  our  temperance  meetings.  It  is  found  in  those  of  men, 
notwithstanding  fifty  years  experience,  and  naturally 
enough,  but  most  unfortunately,  in  those  of  women  also. 
"  Who  shall  preside  ?"  "  What  shall  we  sing?"  "  Who 
shall  take  the  collection?"  Questions  like  these  asked 
under  fire  of  the  eyes  in  the  audience,  might  do  for 
children,  but  are  pitiable  from  "  grown  folks." 

Not  on  the  "  cut  and  dried  "  method,  where  the  Presi- 
dent reads  every  word  she  says,  and  if  her  sight  is  blurred, 
or  her  spectacles  are  mislaid,  finds  herself  all  out  at  sea. 

"  Mrs. ,  Secretary  of — no — Treasurer  of  the  Wo- 
man's Association,  no — the  Female  National — no — Na- 
tional Female— no— the  W.  C.  T.  U."  That  comes  of 
"losing  your  mind."  Put  somebody  to  the  fore  who  don't 
lose  hers  (or  his). 

The  common  sense  method  is  the  right  one. 

1.  Plan  matters  thoroughly  beforehand.  Rehearse  if 
necessary — you  do  this  for  a  wedding,  and  we  shall  never 
wed  the  W.  C.  T.  U.  to  the  people's  heart  until  we  con- 
duct our  meetings  without  hitch  or  flaw.  Keep  the 
machinery  out  of  sight.  Let  everything  be  natural,  but 
let  it  be  clear-cut,  systematic, "  ship  shape."  For  instance : 
1.  Advertise  well,  insist  on  an  opportunity  for  Sunday 
announcements  from  the  pulpits  and  schools.  Don't 
make  the  blunder  of  ignoring  the  children.  They  can  be 
instructed,  grounded,  confirmed,  and  this  is  the  place  to 
do  it  in.  Some  speaker  may  miss  the  old  folks,  but  if  he 
has  any  skill  at  all  in  taking  aim,  he  will  be  sure  to  hit 
the  youngsters.  Childhood  is  the  fortress  of  the  future — 
furnish  it  with  rations  and  with  weapons,  and  it  will  hold 
the  fort  when  we  are  mustered  out. 

2.  Don't  be  afraid  to  hold  your  meetings  in  a  church, 


REMEMBER    THE    MUSIC.  625 

you  may  warm  up  a  cold  one;  enlist  their  apathetic  but 
well-meaning  minister,  elder,  or  deacon;  touch  the 
conscience  of  a  drowsy  layman  or  woman.  The  church 
is  a  good  place  in  which  to  do  good  work. 

3.  Don't  let  your  music  go  by  default.  You  discount 
your  speaker  one -half  at  the  start  by  this  culpable  neglect. 
Reformers  are  a  sympathetic,  natural,  poetic  sort  of  folk. 
Besides,  don't  forget  that  a  hymn  with  the  gospel  ring  in 
the  united  voices  that  sing  it ;  a  solo  from  some  sweet 
woman's  heart  and  voice,  or  from  that  of  some  good  and 
true  man,  a  chorus  lifting  the  audience  to  concert  pitch,  will 
utterly  transform  your  audience  as  to  its  receptivity,  its 
support,  its  mental  elevation.  The  poor,  tired  talker  goes 
into  the  church  hoping  for  a  benediction  from  psalm,  and 
prayer,  and  song.  If  you  have  no  method,  no  music,  no 
amenity,  it  will  all  be  taken  patiently,  turned  to  account 
as  a  means  of  discipline  by  the  disappointed  speaker,  but 
you  will  lose,  and  lose  immeasurably,  in  the  results  you 
had  hoped  to  witness,  and  (gently  be  it  uttered)  you 
deserve  to.  But  that  is  not  the  point.  What  signify 
speakers,  W.  C.  T.  U.,  or  audience,  in  such  a  calculation? 
They  are  mere  ciphers,  but  there  looms  up  the  great, 
pure,  loving,  divine  "cause" — and  that  "Cause"  is  but 
another  name  for  Christ,  with  tender  and  sorrowful  eyes, 
saying,  "  Could  ye  not  watch"  (could  ye  not  sing,  plan, 
work)  "with  Me  one  hour?" 

"Seeking  to  save,  not  willing  that  any  should  perish." 
"  Every  plant  that  my  Father  hath  not  planted  shall  be 
rooted  up" — these  are  our  watchwords — this  our  basis  of 
operations,  ami  yel  we  gather  the  people  and  then  spoil 
the  result — because  of  our  ignominious  neglect.  Singers, 
have  you  no  duty  here?  How  are  you  investing  your  sweet 
and  beautiful  gifts?  Do  you  build  them  into  the  cause 
of  temperance,  or  are  you,  too,  "  wounding  the  Lord  in 
the  house  of  His  friends?" 


626  THE  WORD  IN  THE  WORK. 

4.  Make  the  place  fair  and  gracious  with  flowers.  See 
the  saloon  windows  decked  with  vines  and  potted  plants. 
Notice  the  desecration  of  the  arbor  vitae — that  noblest  of 
evergreens — to  be  a  mere  sign-post  for  bloated,  beery,  old 
King  Gambrinus.  Shall  we  not  claim  the  tender  and 
ennobling  ministry  of  God's  thought  in  plant  life  and 
flower  language  for  these  meetings,  held  in  His  name  and 
for  the  good  of  His  dear,  benighted  children  ?  I  would 
have  also  the  flag  of  my  country  always  before  my  eyes 
when  I  speak  in  her  sacred  name,  but  though  the  request 
is  regularly  made,  it  is  complied  with  on  an  average  once 
a  year. 

5.  Let  the  President  of  the  W.  C.  T.  U.  preside  and 
go  forward,  quietly  to  her  duty,  as  a  matter  of  course. 
Provide  seats  in  pulpit  and  chancel  for  the  pastors,  and 
ask  them  to  participate  in  the  opening  exercises,  on  call 
of  the  President.  We  desire  to  treat  him  with  special 
courtesy;  we  need  their  help;  we  shall  almost  inavariably 
have  it  if  we  are  considerate  and  wise.  Do  not  have  long 
opening  exercises — there  is  so  much  "  more  to  follow." 
The  remark  is  often  made  (often  by  the  minister,  I  am 
sorry  to  say),  "  We  Avill  omit  Bible  reading."  No,  we  will 
not.  This,  of  all  others,  is  not  the  o'clock  o'  the  century 
for  Christians  to  leave  the  keystone  out  of  the  arch,  or 
for  W.  C.  T.  U.  women  to  adjourn  the  "  Home  Book " 
lesson.  On  the  other  hand,  let  the  reading  be  brief  and 
appropriate  to  the  occasion. 

The  10th  ("Saloon  Keeper's")  psalm;  the  147th 
("Crusade")  psalm;  the  parable  of  the  Good  Samaritan, 
"  Prodigal  Son,"  or  the  song  of  Barak  and  Deborah  (i.  e., 
its  main  features),  all  are  just  to  the  point.  Indeed  I 
wish  our  temperance  papers  would  publish  "outlines"  for 
these  headings,  with  hymns  attached.  Let  the  President 
distinctly  designate  the  number  of  verses  to  be  sung,  and 
let  the  choir  abide  this  decision  (which  it  generally  does 


A   WELL-APPOINTED   MEETING   A    WORK   OF   ART.        627 

not — making  up  in  length  as  a  general  rule  what  it  lacks 
in  strength  of  melody  and  spirit). 

6.  Immediately  on  the  conclusion  of  the  address  take 
your  collection.  Wait  for  a  hymn  at  this  juncture  and 
your  audience  will  file  out.  Now  comes  the  crucial 
test  of  your  "  level  headedness,"  dear  manager.  Choose, 
with  all  the  wisdom  of  the  united  society,  the  man  (or 
woman,  and  the  latter  usually  succeeds  best),  who  shall 
attend  to  this  part  of  your  religious  exercises.  Who  in 
your  town  has  "  a  gift "  for  showing  to  the  people  the 
sacred  side  of  this  dedication  of  their  substance  to  the 
Lord  ?  Who  can,  while  doing  this,  interest  and  perhaps, 
later  on,  harmlessly  amuse  and  "hold  the  people  ?"  That 
is  the  man  for  you  (or  the  woman — usually  the  last), 
(live  to  this  blessed  genius  a  list  of  those  who  are  to  take 
the  collection,  and  just  where  they  are  to  begin  (make 
a  draft  on  your  best  soldiers  of  rank  and  file  in  the 
W.  C.  T.  IT.),  and  let  them  go  forth  promptly. 

Let  the  collection  baskets  be  ready  beforehand  in  front 
of  the  pulpit.  An  audience  very  properly  criticises  those 
who  bungle  with  it.  An  audience  is  the  guest  of  the  W. 
C.  T.  U.  for  the  time,  and  everything  should  be  made  just 
as  lovely  and  pleasant  for  this  guest  as  possible.  Don't 
keep  it  waiting  for  your  incoherent  whispered  consulta- 
tions; don't  let  it  feel  uncomfortable  by  reason  of  your 
own  lack  of  poise  and  mastership.  Rehearse,  practice, 
become  perfect.  A  well-appointed  meeting  is  a  work  of 
art.  Treat  your  audience  as  carefully  and  charmingly  as 
you  would  a  guest  in  your  own  home.  I  am  always 
sure  you  will  do  beautifully  by  me;  treat  your  audi- 
ence as  well.  It  will  take  thought,  planning,  courage 
that  comes  of  consecration  and  prayer.  In  asking  the 
collection,  set  forth  clearly  the  objects  of  your  society. 
It  helps  to  familiarize  the  public  with  them.  Public 
intelligence  as  to  your  aims  and  good  will,  as  to  your 


628         LOOK  TO  THE  ENROLLING  TABLETS. 

motives,  forms  a  large  share  of  your  capital  stock  for  the 
cause.  Be  definite  :  business  men  like  that.  But  to  this 
end  you  need  not  make  a  scape-goat  of  your  poor  lecturer, 
drag  him  (or  her)  to  the  front  and  expatiate  on  the 
"  needs  of  the  hour "  in  a  bold  and  literal  sense.  You 
may  state  in  general  terms  that  a  temperance  meeting 
does  not  "happen" — it  is  not  a  sort  of  spontaneous, 
fungus  growth,  but  comes  as  the  result  of  definite  aims 
and  engagements.  Also,  if  you  choose,  mention  that  our 
workers  and  officers  in  all  temperance  societies  (without 
exception,  almost)  are  unsalaried,  and  must  meet  current 
expenses  with  current  receipts,  and  that  a  part  of  the  regu- 
lar work  of  the  W.  C.  T.  U.  is  to  hold  these  meetings  for 
the  education  of  public  sentiment.  If  the  children  were 
taught  to  bring  a  nickel  or  a  penny  to  every  temperance 
meeting,  and  to  earn  it  as  well,  the  temperance  education 
they  are  receiving  would  be  far  more  symmetrical.  A 
few  weeks  ago  a  dear  little  four-year-old  girl  came  up  the 
aisle  to  me  with  five  cents,  saying  she  earned  it  for 
the  temperance  meeting.  I  thought  it  the  very  choicest 
nickel  I  had  ever  seen. 

7.  But  now,  while  the  collection  proceeds,  let  all  work 
to  secure  membership  in  your  society.  Send  out  eight  or 
ten  or  twelve  ladies  with  our  "  Enrolling  Tablets  " — half 
of  them  going  to  the  rear  of  the  church,  half  to  the  front, 
and  meeting  in  the  middle  of  the  house.  Perhaps  your 
lecturer  will  read  the  pledge  for  you  and  try  to  entertain 
the  audience  during  this  effort.  If  you  carefully  work  up 
this  matter  you  will  be  constantly  adding  to  the  pledged 
population  of  your  town  ("  gentlemen  as  honorary  mem- 
bers," you  know);  and  also  augmenting  your  financial 
resources  at  "  fifty  cents  apiece."  Besides,  by  the  present 
arrangement,  we  have  no  representation  in  national  (and 
soon  shall  only  have  in  State)  councils,  save  on  the  basis 
of  our  paid-up  memberships. 


ENTERTAIN    YOUR   SPEAKER.  629 

Now  then,  we  approach  the  close.  Let  the  President 
cordially  thank  the  audience  for  its  presence  and  atten- 
tion :  for  the  memberships  and  collection.  If  she  can  put 
in  a  kind  remembrance  of  the  children  and  their  good 
behavior,  it  will  not  be  lost.  Also  thank  the  choir. 
Then  have  a  good,  full-chested  doxology,  and  then  the 
benediction. 

Postscript. — Don't  forget  the  following  items  either : 
To  entertain  jour  speaker  in  a  quiet  home  (with  a  fire  in 
the  room  always,  in  winter).  Xot  to  expect  much 
socially,  in  the  way  of  calls,  invitations  to  tea,  etc.;  for 
if  you  do,  your  already  over-worked  talking  machine  will 
have  so  little  vitality  left  that  you  will  be  punished  by  a 
sleepy  speech  at  night.  One  of  the  most  distinguished 
lecturers  in  this  country  always  says,  when  invited  to 
meet  callers  or  go  out  to  a  meal :  "  You,  my  dear  friends, 
love  the  cause — so  do  I.  You  shall  take  your  choice.  I 
will  put  myself  into  collocpiial  talking  or  into  the  evening 
lecture, — just  which  you  think  is  best.  I  cannot  do  you 
any  credit  in  both  of  these  roles  !  "  Dear  friends,  remember 
this,  the  best  rule  is :  "Enter  into  one  house  and  there 
abide."  Finally :  report  your  lectures, — not  in  the  way 
of  compliment,  but  give  your  best  points  to  the  editors. 
Get  your  quickest,  brightest  members  to  do  this  for  all 
the  papers  of  your  town.  Thus  you  mould  public  senti- 
ment in  the  great  class  that  does  not  move,  and  therefore 
must  be  moved  upon;  that  will  not  hear  with  its  ears, 
hut  will  with  its  eyes,  if  you  put  the  thoughts  before  them 
in  the  pages  of  their  local  paper.  Utilize  the  public 
meeting  by  distributing  temperance  literature  at  the  close, 
and  advertising  National  and  State  Temperance  papers. 
Yet  again:  When  you  introduce  your  speaker,  give  the 
full  name,  the  official  status  (if  lie  has  one),  and  where 
lie  "  hails  from."  It  does  a  stranger  good  to  be  announced 
as  from  somewhere  in  particular. 


G30  "BUT    WHAT    (AN    I    DO?" 

Positively,  last  time:  T)<m't  be  tardy  in  beginning, 
[mitate  Moody  in  this, — be  on  the  minute.  Enter  from 
rear  of  church  whenever  feasible.  Rise  yourself,  and  ask 
the  audience  to  do  so,  during  singing.  It  deadens  a 
meeting  to  have  everybody  sii  stolidly  through  the  music. 
The  foregoing  suggestions  grow  out  of  evils  thai  1  have 
seen  under  the  sun,  and  arc  respectfully  submitted. 

"BUT,   AFTER    ALL,    WHAT     CAN    I    DO?" 

.Many  a  Christian  woman,  earnest  and  true,  "will  lay 
down  the  hook  1  have  written  on  purpose  for  them  with 
this  question  in  her  heart.  May  I  suggest  some  of  the 
answers  which  have  come  to  my  own  mind,  first  remind- 
ing my  readers  that  they  need  not  neglect  home's  sacred 
ministries  for  any  other  ?  Take  the  time,  rather,  that 
has  been  given  to  things  that  were  unnecessary,  to  super- 
fluous sewing,  calling,  visiting,  reading,  resting,  reverie, 
and  this  alone  for  this  "Home  Missionary  Work." 

1.  Deal-  sister  in  Christ  Jesus,  you  can  kneel  lie  fore 
God  and  ask  him  to  show  you  what  he- would  have  you 
to  do.  Vou  can  also  ask  his  daily  blessing  on  the  held, 
and  on  the  workers  there. 

2.  You  can  begin  in  your  own  home  in  the  lullaby 
song,  the  twilight  story,  the  family  pledge,  with  "line 
upon  line  and  precept  upon  precept,"  to  train  your  sons 
and  daughters  to  he  total  abstainers. 

3.  You  can  prepare  the  way  for  consistent  precepts 
by  a  perfect  example,  abstaining  scrupulously  yourself, 
not  only  from  even  partaking  of  or  offering  the  beverage, 
hut  the  medicinal  use  and  culinary  use  of  intoxicating 
drinks;  and  you  can  study  to  prepare  food  that  shall  he 
so  wholesome  that  it  will  not  "lie  like  lead"  upon  the 
stomach,  which  often  craves  a  drink  to  "wash  down" 
an  ill-conked  meal. 

4.  You  can  study  to  make  your  own  home  so  attract 


THIS  YOU  CAN  DO.  631 

ive,  by  reason  of  its  cleanliness,  its  simple  yet  attractive 
adornings,  its  books,  music,  and  games,  and,  above  all,  by 
its  sweet,  Christian  atmosphere,  that  its  attractions  for 
your  sons  will  not  be  outmatched  by  those  of  the  saloon. 

5.  Yon  can  organize  your  Sunday-school  class  into  a 
temperance  society,  getting-  each  member  to  sign  the 
pledge,  and  by  prayer  and  personal  influence  securing  the 
conversion  of  each ;  for,  after  all,  as  a  reformed  man 
said,  with  shaking  voice  and  tearful  eyes,  "  If  I'm  to 
stand,  ladies,  it's  got  to  be  the  Lord  behind  the  pledge  !  " 

6.  You  can  personally  pray  for  and  appeal  to  any 
intemperate  man  of  your  own  acquaintance ;  visit  the 
homes  of  inebriates  to  lend  them  "  the  helping  hand,"  if 
needed,  to  pray  with  and  for  them,  and  to  use  your  influ- 
ence for  their  restoration  to  manhood. 

7.  You  can  go  to  the  prison  in  your  vicinity,  visit 
the  inmates,  talk  with  them  of  Christ,  pray  with  them, 
leave  little  books  and  papers  full  of  blessed  lessons,  and 
get  them  to  sign  the  pledge. 

8.  You  can  circulate  Brother  Randolph's  temperance 
papers  and  publications.  A  dollar  bill  will  secure  you  a 
good  many  papers  and  tracts. 

9.  You  can  go  quietly,  with  the  loving  spirit  of  Christ 
in  your  heart,  and  gentle  words  on  your  lips,  to  the  home 
of  the  saloon-keeper,  and  talk  with  his  wife  and  family, 
and  put  some  temperance  publications  in  their  hands. 

10.  You  can,  with  one  or  two  lady  friends,  go  to  any 
saloon  in  your  neighborhood,  and  talk  and  pray  with  its 
keeper,  and  those  who  frequent  its  bar,  taking  your 
pledge-book,  and  seeking  signatures. 

11.  But  you  can  never  do  these  things  at  all,  in 
any  effective  and  true  sense,  until  your  own  heart  is  full 
of  Christ's  love  and  consecrated  fully  to  his  service,  and 
unless  your  practical,  good  Samaritan  help  goes  hand  in 
hand  with  your  prayer  and  faith. 


630  "BUT    WHAT    CAN    I    DO?" 

Positively,  last  time :  Don't  be  tardy  in  beginning. 
Imitate  Moody  in  this, — be  on  the  minute.  Enter  from 
rear  of  church  whenever  feasible.  Rise  yourself,  and  ask 
the  audience  to  do  so,  during  singing.  It  deadens  a 
meeting  to  have  everybody  sit  stolidly  through  the  music. 
The  foregoing  suggestions  grow  out  of  evils  that  I  have 
seen  under  the  sun,  and  are  respectfully  submitted. 

"BUT,    AFTER    ALL,    WHAT     CAN    I    DO?" 

Many  a  Christian  woman,  earnest  and  true,  will  lay 
down  the  book  I  have  written  on  purpose  for  them  with 
this  question  in  her  heart.  May  I  suggest  some  of  the 
answers  which  have  come  to  my  own  mind,  first  remind- 
ing my  readers  that  they  need  not  neglect  home's  sacred 
ministries  for  any  other  ?  Take  the  time,  rather,  that 
has  been  given  to  things  that  were  unnecessary,  to  super- 
fluous sewing,  calling,  visiting,  reading,  resting,  reverie, 
and  this  alone  for  this  "  Home  Missionary  Work." 

1.  Dear  sister  in  Christ  Jesus,  you  can  kneel  before 
God  and  ask  him  to  show  you  what  he-  would  have  you 
to  do.  You  can  also  ask  his  daily  blessing  on  the  field, 
and  on  the  workers  there. 

2.  You  can  begin  in  your  own  home  in  the  lullaby 
song,  the  twilight  story,  the  family  pledge,  with  "  line 
upon  line  and  precept  upon  precept,"  to  train  your  sons 
and  daughters  to  be  total  abstainers. 

3.  You  can  prepare  the  way  for  consistent  precepts 
by  a  perfect  example,  abstaining  scrupulously  yourself, 
not  only  from  even  partaking  of  or  offering  the  beverage, 
but  the  medicinal  use  and  culinary  use  of  intoxicating 
drinks ;  and  you  can  study  to  prepare  food  that  shall  be 
so  wholesome  that  it  will  not  "  lie  like  lead  "  upon  the 
stomach,  which  often  craves  a  drink  to  "wash  down" 
an  ill-cooked  meal. 

4.  You  can  study  to  make  your  own  home  so  attract 


THIS   YOU   CAN   DO.  631 

ive,  by  reason  of  its  cleanliness,  its  simple  yet  attractive 
adornings,  its  books,  music,  and  games,  and,  above  all,  by 
its  sweet,  Christian  atmosphere,  that  its  attractions  for 
your  sons  will  not  be  outmatched  by  those  of  the  saloon. 

5.  You  can  organize  your  Sunday-school  class  into  a 
temperance  society,  getting  each  member  to  sign  the 
pledge,  and  by  prayer  and  personal  influence  securing  the 
conversion  of  each ;  for,  after  all,  as  a  reformed  man 
said,  with  shaking  voice  and  tearful  eyes,  "  If  I'm  to 
stand,  ladies,  it's  got  to  be  the  Lord  behind  the  pledge  !  " 

6.  You  can  personally  pray  for  and  appeal  to  any 
intemperate  man  of  your  own  acquaintance ;  visit  the 
homes  of  inebriates  to  lend  them  "  the  helping  hand,"  if 
needed,  to  pray  with  and  for  them,  and  to  use  your  influ- 
ence for  their  restoration  to  manhood. 

7.  You  can  go  to  the  prison  in  your  vicinity,  visit 
the  inmates,  talk  with  them  of  Christ,  pray  with  them, 
leave  little  books  and  papers  full  of  blessed  lessons,  and 
get  them  to  sign  the  pledge. 

8.  You  can  circulate  Brother  Randolph's  temperance 
papers  and  publications.  A  dollar  bill  will  secure  you  a 
good  many  papers  and  tracts. 

9.  You  can  go  quietly,  with  the  loving  spirit  of  Christ 
in  your  heart,  and  gentle  words  on  your  lips,  to  the  home 
of  the  saloon-keeper,  and  talk  with  his  wife  and  family, 
and  put  some  temperance  publications  in  their  hands. 

10.  You  can,  with  one  or  two  lady  friends,  go  to  any 
saloon  in  your  neighborhood,  and  talk  and  pray  with  its 
keeper,  and  those  who  frequent  its  bar,  taking  your 
pledge-book,  and  seeking  signatures. 

11.  But  you  can  never  do  these  things  at  all,  in 
any  effective  and  true  sense,  until  your  own  heart  is  full 
of  Christ's  love  and  consecrated  fully  to  his  service,  and 
unless  your  practical,  good  Samaritan  help  goes  hand  in 
hand  with  your  prayer  and  faith. 


632 


THE   WORLD    WANTS   FACTS. 


But,  per  contra,  if  you  begin  this  day  simply  and 
honestly  to  do  any  of  these  things,  or  any  other  true  and 
womanly  thing  in  this  cause  which  your  own  heart 
suggests,  how  you  will  "  grow  in  grace  !  "  How  your  own 
deepest  nature  will  be  lighted  up  by  God's  own  smile  ! 
How  sweetly  you  will  learn  what  Christ  can  become  to 
the  soul  that  goes  gently  and  lovingly  upon  his  errands! 

Dear  Christian  sister  who  reads  these  lines,  you  are 
one  of  the  "  living  epistles  "  by  which  this  critical  age  is 
deciding  how  it  will  answer  the  question,  "  What  think 
ye  of  Christ  ?"  You  are  a  leaf  out  of  the  world's  Bible. 
It  "  wants  facts."  In  God's  name,  give  it  the  shining- 
fact  of  your  .  loving,  helpful  life  "  hid  with  Christ  in 
God." 


APPENDIX. 


Constitution  and  Plan  of  Work  for  a  local  W.  C.  T.  U. 
Plan  of  Work  of  1874.     Plan  of  Work  for  1883. 

[It  is  hoped  that  many  pastors  and  Christian  women  who  read  this 
book  may  be  interested  to  form  a  local  society.  All  needed  informa- 
tion has  been  already  given  except  the  following  forms.] 

TO  PASTORS  AND  TEMPERANCE  PEOPLE. 


CONSTITUTION  FOR  A  LOCAL  W.  C.  T.  U. 

ARTICLE  I. — NAME. 

This  society  shall  be  called  the  Woman's  Christian  Temperance 

Union  of ,  auxiliary  to  the  "W.  C.  T.  U.  of state  and  of  the 

United  States. 

ARTICLE  II. — OBJECT. 

Tin-  object  of  this  Union  shall  be  to  educate  public  sentiment  up  to 
the  level  of  total  abstinence,  to  train  the  young,  reform  and  save  the 
inebriate,  and  hasten  the  time  when  the  dram-shops  shall  be  banished 
from  the  streets  by  law. 

ARTICLE   ni. — MEMBERSHIP. 

Any  lady  may  become  a  member  of  this  Union  by  signing  the 
pledge  of  total  abstinence  from  all  intoxicatim:;  liquors  (including 
wine,  beer,  and  cider)  as  a  beverage,  and  paying  fifty  cents  a  year  into 
the  treasury  of  the  Society.  Any  gentleman  may  become  an  hon- 
orary member  by  signing  the  same  pledge  and  paying  fifty  cents 
annually  (or  one  dollar  as  may  be  decided  by  the  new  union). 

ARTICLE  IV. — OFFICERS. 

The  officers  shall  be  a  president,  vice-president  from  each  church, 
corresponding  secretary,  recording  secretary,  treasurer,  and  librarian, 
who  together  with  the  various  superintendents  of  departments  shall 
constitute  an  executive  committee  to  plan  and  lead  the  work. 

(633) 


634  APPENDIX. 

ARTICLE  V. — DUTIES  OP  OFFICERS. 

The  president  shall  preside  at  all  meetings  and  give  general  directions 
for  the  work  of  the  society ;  the  vice-presidents  shall  preside  in  turn 
in  the  absence  of  the  president,  and  use  their  influence  to  secure 
members  in  their  respective  churches.  The  corresponding  secretary 
shall  conduct  all  correspondence  with  lecturers,  state  and  national 
officers  and  superintendents,  and  shall  report  annually  to  the  corres- 
ponding secretary  of  the  state,  give  a  full  account  of  all  that  has  been 
attempted  and  accomplished,  with  a  history  of  the  society  from  the 
beginning.  The  recording  secretary  shall  notify  the  public  through 
the  press  and  pulpit  of  all  meetings,  and  keep  a  full  record  of  the 
same.  She  shall  also  furnish  each  vice-president  with  a  small  blank- 
book,  having  Article  III  (membership)  written  therein,  so  that  each 
church  may  be  carefully  canvassed  for  names.  The  treasurer  shall 
personally  collect  the  membership  fees  as  promptly  as  possible,  shall 
have  the  care  of  all  money  raised  by  the  society,  and  shall  pay  out  the 
same  upon  the  president's  order,  countersigned  by  the  recording 
secretary.  The  librarian  shall  have  charge  of  all  books,  charts, 
leaflets,  and  handbills  belonging  to  the  society,  lending  them  or  giving 
them  away  according  to  the  wishes  of  the  society,  and  shall  superin- 
tend the  putting  up  of  hooks  or  tin  boxes  in  the  depots  and  other 
public  places,  and  keep  them  supplied  with  literature,  also  superinten- 
ing  the  distribution  of  the  same  in  public  meetings.  She  shall  be 
agent  of  Our  Union  (the  official  organ  of  our  societies),  and  may  call 
for  a  committee  on  literature  to  aid  her  if  she  desires,  of  which  com- 
mittee she  shall  be  chairman.  She  will  also  circulate  the  "class 
papers  "  of  David  C.  Cook,  of  Chicago,  according  to  his  plan,  through 
the  post-office. 

ARTICLE  VI.—  SUPERINTENDENTS  OF  DEPARTMENTS. 

There  shall  be  the  following  superintendents  of  departments:  On 
forming  juvenile  societies.  On  Sunday-school  work,  to  secure  a  Bible 
temperance  lesson  once  each  quarter,  also  to  introduce  temperance 
books  into  the  Sunday-school  libraries  and  papers  into  the  Sunday- 
schools.  On  introducing  Miss  Julia  Colman's  ' '  Alcohol  and  Hygiene  " 
and  Dr.  Richard's  "Temperance  Lesson  Book"  into  all  public  and 
private  schools.  On  selecting  extracts  from  temperance  books  and 
papers,  to  be  published  regularly  in  the  columns  of  the  press,  also  to 
specially  report  the  work  of  the  W.  C.  T.  U.,  local  and  national,  for 
the  press.  On  holding  public  meetings,  at  least  once  a  month,  also 
gospel  temperance  meetings  on  the  Sabbath  day,  at  hours  that  are  not 
in  conflict  with  church  services.  These  meetings  to  be  provided  with 
good  music  and  addresses  by  such  gentlemen  or  ladies  as  the  Union 
may  be  able  to  secure.     On  inducing  the  churches  to  hold  Union 


APPENDIX.  635 

temperance  prayer-meetings  at  stated  intervals.  On  social  entertain- 
ments, such  as  lawn  parties  and  temperance  receptions,  at  which  the 
pledge  is  to  be  offered— this  committee  to  be  composed  of  young  ladies. 
On  temperance  reading  room, — this  committee  is  discretionary.  On 
finance— to  be  composed  of  both  ladies  and  gentlemen. 

ARTICLE  YII. — MEETINGS. 

The  meetings  of  the  executive  committee  shall  be  held  weekly,  and 
those  of  the  Union  once  a  month,  at  which  time  a  programme  shall 
be  provided,  by  which,  after  the  devotional  exercises  and  business, 
there  shall  be  a  brief  address,  essay,  debate,  recitation,  or  reading  from 
some  temperance  book.  This  programme  to  be  arranged  by  the  ex- 
ecutive committee. 

ARTICLE  VIII. — ANNIVERSARY. 

The  Annual  Meeting  shall  be  held  on  the  anniversary  of  the  organi- 
zation of  the  Union,  at  which  time  reports  shall  be  made  by  officers, 
superintendents  and  standing  committees;  an  address  is  also  to  be  pro- 
vided and  an  effort  made  to  secure  members  for  the  society,  and  sub- 
scribers for  Our  Union. 

ARTICLE  IX. — AMENDMENTS. 

This  constitution  may  be  altered  or  amended,  at  any  regular  meet- 
ing, by  a  two-thirds  vote  of  the  members  present. 

ORDER  OF  EXERCISES  FOR  MEETINGS  OF  EXECUTIVE   COMMITTEE. 

I.  Devotional  exercises. 

II.  Minutes  of  previous  meeting. 

III.  Reports  from  each  officer,  viz. : 

1.  President — General  outlook. 

2.  Each  vice-president — From  her  own  church,  number  of  mem- 
bers gained  and  what  the  church  is  doing. 

3.  Report  of  letters  written  and  received  by  corresponding  secretary. 

4.  Report  of  money  received  and  expended  by  treasurer. 

5.  Report  of  superintendent  of  juvenile  work? 

fi.     Report  of  superintendent  of  temperance  literature. 

7.  Report  of  superintendent  of  Sunday-school  work. 

8.  Report  of  superintendent  of  securing  space  for  temperance  items 
in  local  press. 

9.  Report  of  superintendent  of  scientific  temperance  instruction 
in  public  and  private  schools. 

10.  Report  of  superintendent  of  public  meetings. 

11.  Report  of  superintendent  of  social  entertainments. 

12.  Report  of  superintendent  of  temperance  reading  room  (or 
restaurant). 


636  APPENDIX. 

13.     Report  of  finance  committee. 
IV.     Consideration  of  new  business. 
V.     Closing  hymn  or  prayer. 

The  order  of  exercises  for  the  regular  monthly  meeting  of  the  W. 
C.  T.  U.  is  just  the  same,  except  that  the  president  shall  provide  for 
an  essay,  reading,  recitation,  music,  or  something  special,  for  the 
edification  of  members.  Miss  Coleman's  "  Beer  Series,"  Eli  Johnson's 
"Drinks,  and  how  they  make  them,"  best  extracts  from  temperance 
speeches  and  papers,  short  addresses  from  pastors,  physicians,  ladies, 
— all  will  be  of  great  service. 

Parliamentary  usage  may  be  studied.  (Get  "Roberts'  Rules  of 
of  Order,"  S.  C.  Griggs  &  Co.,  Chicago.)  The  "  Duties  of  Women,"* 
by  Frances  Power  Cobbe,  may  be  read  and  discussed,  and  in  many 
ways  the  W.  C.  T.  U.  may  be  made  not  only  a  philanthropic  but  also 
an  intellectual  circle. 

LIST   OF   PUBLICATIONS  FOR   SUPERINTENDENTS   OF   DEPARTMENTS. 

Juvenile  work;  Sunday-school  work ;  scientific  instructions ;  temper- 
ance literature;  legislative  work;  young  women's  work;  relation  of 
intemperance  to  labor  and  capital;  influencing  the  press;  evangelistic 
work;  friendly  inns,  restaurants,  etc. ;  prison  and  police  station  work; 
unfermented  wine  at  the  Lord's  Table;  Drawing-room  meetings; 
work  among  the  Germans;  hygiene;  securing  day  of  prayer  in  week 
of  prayer ;  work  among  colored  people ;  work  among  railroad  employes ; 
presenting  our  cause  before  influential  bodies;  on  introduction  of  the 
Hayes'  Testimonial  into  schools,  etc. ;  unfortunate  women ;  relative 
statistics ;  State  and  county  fairs. 

The  foregoing  list  is  intended  to  exhibit  the  many  lines  of  work 
entered  upon  by  the  National  W.  C.  T.  U.,  and  may  prove  suggestive 
and  helpful  to  the  local  societies. 

Send  for  all  needed  literature  to  the  National  Temperance  Publish- 
ing Society,  New  York,  and  Revolution  Temperance  Publishing  House, 
Chicago. 

' '  LOOK  ON   THIS  PICTURE,  THEN  ON   THAT. " 

The  plan  of  work  given  below  was  submitted  to  the  first  National 
W.  C.  T.  U.  Convention  at  Cleveland,  in  1874.  To  show  the  growth 
of  nine  years'  work,  it  is  followed  by  our  plan  for  1883. 

PLAN  OF  WORK. 

I. — OF    ORGANIZATION. 

Since  organization  is  the  sun-glass  which  brings  to  a  focus  scattered 
influence  and  effort,  we  urge  the  formation  of  a  Woman's  Temperance 
Union  in  every  State,  city,  town,  and  village.     We  will  furnish  a 

*For  this  book  send  25  cts.  to  Geo.  H.  Ellis,  Publisher,  Boston. 


APPENDIX.  637 

Constitution  for  .auxiliaries,  with  all  needed  information,  to  any  lady 
applying  to  corresponding  secretary. 

II. — OF   MAKING  PUBLIC   SENTIMENT. 

The  evolution  of  temperance  ideas  in  this  order  :  the  people  are 
informed,  convinced,  convicted,  pledged.  With  these  facts  in  view 
we  urge: 

First. — Frequent  temperance  mass  meetings. 

Second.  The  careful  circulation  of  temperance  literature  in  the 
peoples'  homes  and  in  saloons. 

Third. — Teaching  the  children  in  Sabhath-Schools  and  public 
schools,  the  ethics,  chemistry,  physiology,  and  hygiene  of  total  absti- 
nence. 

Fourth. — Offering  prizes  in  these  schools  for  essays  on  different 
aspects  of  the  subject. 

Ffth. — Placing  a  copy  of  the  engraving  known  as  "The  Railroad 
to  Ruin,"  and  similar  pictures,  on  the  walls  of  every  school-room. 

Sixth. — Organizing  temperance  glee  clubs  of  jroung  people  to  sing 
temperance  doctrines  into  the  people's  hearts  as  well  as  heads. 

Seventh. — Seeking  permission  to  edit  a  column  in  the  interest  of 
temperance  in  every  newspaper  in  the  land,  and  in  all  possible  ways 
enlisting  the  press  in  this  reform. 

Eighth. — Endeavoring  to  secure  for  pastors  everywhere  frequent 
temperance  sermons,  and  special  services  in  connection  with  the 
weekly  prayer-meeting  and  the  Sabbath-School  at  stated  intervals,  if 
they  be  only  quarterly. 

Ninth. — Preserving  facts  connected  with  the  gene.al  subject,  and 
with  our  work,  in  temperance  scrap-books,  to  be  placed  in  the  hands 
of  a  special  officer  appointed  for  this  purpose. 

III. — OP  JUVENILE  TEMPERANCE   SOCIETIES. 

Catholicism's  wisest  words  are  these:  Give  us  the  first  ten  years  of 
the  children's  lives,  and  you  may  have  the  rest. 

In  our  judgment,  one  of  the  great  hopes  of  the  ultimate  triumpn 
of  Temperance  Reform  lies  in  the  thorough  training  of  the  youth  of 
the  land  in  such  principles  and  practices  of  temperance  as  will  show 
them  the  fatal  dangers  of  drinking  and  criminal  guilt  of  selling 
liquors;  and  to  end,  we  earnestly  entreat  the  friends  of  the  cause,  and 
especially  the  pastors  of  churches  and  superintendents  of  Sabbath- 
schools  throughout  the  State,  to  take  immediate  measures  in  their 
respective  cities  and  towns  for  the  formation  and  perpetual  continu- 
ance of  temperance  societies,  to  be  composed  of  the  children  and 
youth. 


638  APPENDIX. 

IV. — OF  THE  PLEDGE. 

If  nobody  would  drink,  then  nobody  would  sell. 

First. — We  urge  the  circulation  of  the  total  abstinence  pledge  as 
fast  and  as  far  as  facilities  permit,  life  signatures  being  sought,  but 
names  being  taken  for  any  length  of  time,  however  brief. 

Second. — We  have  a  special  pledge  for  women,  involving  the 
instruction  and  pledging  of  themselves,  their  children,  and  as  far 
as  possible  their  households ;  banishing  alcohol  in  all  its  forms  from 
the  sideboard  and  the  kitchen,  enjoining  quiet,  persistent  work  for 
temperance  in  their  own  social  circles. 

Third. — We  earnestly  recommend  ladies  to  get  permission  to  place 
a  pledge-book  in  every  church  and  Sabbath-school  room,  where  it 
shall  be  kept  perpetually  open  in  a  convenient  place,  indicated  by  a 
motto  placed  above  it.  Also  that  each  member  of  our  unions  keep  an 
autograph  pledge-book  on  her  parlor  table,  and  carry  one  in  her 
pocket. 

V. — OF  SACRAMENTAL  WINE. 

We  do  not  see  that  the  passage,  "Woe  unto  him  that  putteth  the 
bottle  to  his  neighbor's  lips"  has  in  it  any  "saving  clause"  for  the 
communion  table.  We  know  that  many  who  have  thought  their 
appetite  completely  overcome  by  months  of  abstinence  have  fallen  by 
the  odor  and  the  taste  of  the  cup  at  the  Lord's  table. 

We  strongly  recommend  our  unions  everywhere,  to  appoint  a  com- 
mittee of  ladies  in  each  church  who  shall  try  to  enlist  the  pastor  and 
church  officials  in  offering  only  unfermented  wine  at  the  communion 
table. 

VI. — OF   TIIE  ANTI-TREAT   LEAGUE. 

"Come,  let's  take  something  together,"  has  been  to  thousands  the 
key-note  of  destruction.  We  are  laboring  for  the  organization  of  a 
league  which  shall  enroll  as  members  those  who,  though  nol  ready  to 
sign  the  pledge,  are  willing  to  refrain  from  "putting  the  bottle  to 
their  neighbor's  lips  "  by  pledging  their  honor  that  they  will  neither 
"be  treated"  nor  "treat." 

VII. — OF  TEMPERANCE    COFFEE    ROOMS. 

If  we  would  have  men  forsake  saloons,  we  must  invite  them  to  a 
better  place,  where  they  can  find  shelter,  and  food,  and  company. 
We  would  open  small,  neat  coffee-rooms,  with  reading-rooms 
attached,  which  the  ladies  might  supply  with  books  and  papers  from 
their  own  homes,  and  by  solicited  friends.  When  practicable,  there 
should  also  be  Friendly  Inns,  connected  with  which  there  might  be 
provided  for  those  willing  to  compensate  by  their  labor  for  their  food 
and  lodging,  a  manufacturing  shop,  comprising  many  trades. 


APPENDIX.  639 

Vm. — HOME   FOR   INEBRIATE   WOMEN. 

These  should  be  established  in  the  cities, — our  unions  soliciting  aid 
from  the  State  and  municipal  governments,  and  from  the  general 
public  for  this  purpose. 

IX. — THE   REFORMED    MEN'S   CLUBS, 

recently  projected  in  New  England,  will  be  powerful  auxiliaries  in 
our  work,  and  we  urge  the  Women's  Unions  to  help  establish  them  in 
every  community. 

X. — A   BUREAU    OF    INFORMATION. 

Already,  by  means  of  correspondence,  our  choice  of  unions  has 
been  a  medium  of  communication  between  parents  and  their  absent 
sons,  by  means  of  which  the  former  in  their  homes  have  lent  a  help- 
ing hand  to  the  latter  amid  their  temptations.  We  suggest  careful 
attention  to  this  important  branch  of  our  beneficent  task. 

XI. — COUNTER  ATTRACTIONS  OF  HOME. 

Much  has  been  said  about  our  negligence  in  rendering  our  homes 
attractive  and  our  cuisine  appetizing,  and  not  always  without 
reason.  We  therefore  recommend  that  in  our  unions  essays  on  the 
science  and  art  of  making  home  outwardly  wholesome  and  attractive 
be  read,  books  on  that  subject  circulated,  and  all  possible  effort  made 
to  secure  a  more  scientific  attention  to  the  products  of  the  kitchen 
and  a  higher  aesthetic  standard  for  the  parlor. 

XII. — HOME    MISSIONARY    WORK. 

Private  visitation  of  those  who  drink  and  those  who  sell  we  con- 
template still  further,  our  aim  being  to  go  in  a  spirit  of  prayerful  and 
helpful  kindness. 

XIII. — GOSPEL    TEMPERANCE   MEETINGS. 

We  recommend  our  unions-  to  hold  these  meetings  iu  the  streets, 
billiard-halls,  and  churches,  making  them  protracted  if  the  interest 
warrant  it ;  offering  the  Gospel  cure  for  intemperance;  going  through 
the  audience  to  get  persons  to  come  forward  and  sign  it,  to  the 
tune  of  "Jesus,  lover  of  my  soul,"  investing  the  act  with  all  the 
solemnity  and  enthusiasm  of  a  religious  service. 

XTY. — FOUNTAINS. 

We  urge  our  unions  everywhere  to  signalize  the  coming  hundroth 
birth-day  of  America  by  erecting  in  every  village,  and  town,  and  city 
fountains  of  water,  inscribed  with  such  mottoes  as  shall  show  what 
sort  of  dnnk  the  women  of  America  believe  in,  and  as  shall  be  a 
sermon  in  their  persuasiveness  to  our  fathers,  brothers,  and  sons. 


640 


APPENDIX. 


XV. — OF  MONEY. 

Our  cause  cannot  forego  the  sinews  of  war,  be  it  peaceable  or  pro- 
fane. We  must  have  money.  Our  financial  plan  asks  each  member 
to  give  a  cent  a  week  toward  the  temperance  cause,  and  we  urge  this 
feature  as  one  of  great  importance.  Let  us  say  that  all  needed  infor- 
mation under  any  or  all  of  the  preceding  heads  will  be  gladly  fur- 
nished on  application  with  stamp  to  our  corresponding  secretary. 

XVI. — TRYSTING   TIME   WITH   GOD. 

Our  work  came  forth  to  us  from  God.  The  miracle  of  the  Crusade 
was  wrought  by  prayer.  Let  us  women  of  America,  and  of  all 
lands,  dedicate  the  evening  twilight  hour  to  prayerful  thoughts  about 
this  greatest  of  all  reforms.  Wherever  we  are  let  us  lift  up  our 
hearts,  whether  alone  or  in  company,  in  the  closet  or  on  the  street, 
and  ask  God's  blessing  on  the  temperance  work  and  on  those  whom 
it  would  help.  Let  us  form  the  habit  of  keeping  sacredly  at  heart 
some  moments  of  this  hour  as  our  trysting  time  with  God. 


CONCLUSION. 

Dear  sisters,  we  have  laid  before  you  the  plan  of  the  long  cam- 
paign. Will  you  work  with  us?  We  wage  our  peaceful  war  in 
loving  expectation  of  that  day  "when  all  men's  weal  shall  be  each 
man's  care,"  when  "nothing  shall  hurt  or  destroy  in  all  my  holy 
mountain,"  saith  the  Lord;  and  in  our  day  we  may  live  to  see 
America,  beloved  mother  of  thrice  grateful  daughters,  set  at  liberty, 
full  and  complete,  from  foamy  King  Gambrinus  and  fiery  old  King 
Alcohol. 

Plan  op  Work  of  the  National  W.  C.  T.  U.  for  1883, 

SHOWING  THE  AIMS,  METHODS,  AND  BOUNDARIES  OF  THE  DEPARTMENTS  OF  WORK, 
WITH  A  LIST  OF  NATIONAL  SUPERINTENDENTS,  AND  THEIR  SECRETARIES  AND 
STANDING    COMMITTEES. 


Note  1.  No  Superintendent  of  a  National  Department  fulfills  her 
official  obligation  unless  she  steadily  labors  to  secure  in  each  State  and 
Territory  a  Superintendent  with  whom  she  is  in  constant  co-operation 
for  the  objects  herein  set  forth,  and  each  State  Superintendent  is  in 
duty  bound  to  secure,  so  far  as  practicable,  the  appointment  of  a  local 
Superintendent  in  each  W.  C.  T.  U. 

2.  For  all  needed  information  and  documents  relative  to  these 
departments  address  their  respective  superintendents. 

3.  In  the  order  of  evolution,  the  departments  of  work  are 
embraced  under  the  following  general  classification:    I.  Preventive. 


APPENDIX.  G41 

II.  Educational;  III.  Evangelistic;  IV.  Social;  V.  Legal,  to  which 
is  added,    VI.  The  Department  of  Organization. 
Total  number  of  departments,  28;  committees,  2. 

I.    PREVENTIVE. 

1.  HEREDITY. 

Supt.— Mart  Weeks  Burnett,  M.  D.,  Room  1,  Central  Hall,  Chicago,  111. 

This  department  aims  to  enlighten  the  members  of  the  W.  C.  T.  IT. 
by  wise  and  careful  words  concerning  the  relation  of  prenatal  influ- 
ences and  natal  inheritance  to  the  appetite  for  intoxicating  drinks. 
Its  methods  are  the  circulation  of  books  and  leaflets,  addresses  by 
lady  physicians  before  the  local  unions,  and  meetings  for  women  in 
connection  with  District,  State,  and  National  Conventions. 

2.  HYGIENE. 

Supt.—  Mrs.  Dr.  J.  H.  Kellogg,  Sanitarium,  Battle  Creek,  Mich. 

Aims  to  extend  the  reverent  study  of  God's  health  decalogue,  with 
a  view  to  returning  sanity  in  our  methods  of  daily  living.  The  study 
of  the  laws  of  health,  including  their  relation  to  food,  dress,  cleanli- 
ness, exercise,  ventilation,  and  the  entire  physical  conduct  of  life  are 
among  the  methods ;  also  a  department  of  hygiene  in  the  Union-Sigiial 
(our  official  organ),  and  instruction  in  the  art  of  home-making  as  super- 
added to  "  Housekeeping." 

II.    EDUCATIONAL. 
1.      SCIENTIFIC   INSTRUCTION. 

Supt.— Mrs.  Mart  H.  Hunt,  Hyde  Park,  Mass. 

Secretary. — Mrs.  C.  C.  Alford,  315  Monroe  street,  Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 

Aims  to  introduce  such  text-books  in  chemistry,  physiology,  and 
hygiene  as  inculcate  the  scientific  importance  of  total  abstinence  into 
the  curriculum  of  all  schools,  seminaries,  and  colleges,  but  especially 
into  all  normal  and  public  schools,  and  to  secure  such  legislation, 
local  and  State,  as  shall  make  the  study  and  teaching  of  the  laws  of 
health,  with  special  reference  to  the  effects  of  stimulants  upon  the 
human  system,  obligatory  throughout  the  entire  system  of  public 
education. 

2.      SUNDAY-SCHOOL  WORK. 
Supt.— Miss  Lucia  E.  F.  Kimball,  644  W.  Monroe  street,  Chicago. 

Aims  to  teach  the  same  habits  and  principles  as  the  foregoing,  but 
strictly  from  a  Bible  point  of  view,  and  by  means  of  exercises  and 
lessons  regularly  prepared  by  established  Sunday-school  publications, 
and  taugb*  on  a  quarterly  Sabbath  dedicated  to  this  purpose. 


642  APPENDIX. 

3.      JUVENILE  "WORK. 

Supt.— Miss  Nellie  H.  Batlet,  78  Lincoln  avenue,  Chicago,  111. 

This  department  aims  to  instruct  boys  and  girls  in  the  reasonable- 
ness and  duty  of  total  abstinence  from  alcoholic  stimulants,  tobacco, 
and  profanity,  by  a  regular  course  of  study,  scientific,  ethical,  and 
governmental,  systematically  taught  in  juvenile  temperance  unions, 
bands  of  hope,  or,  with  the  military  feature  added,  in  cadets  of  tem- 
perance. Prizes  are  also  offered  for  the  best  essays  and  debates,  our 
engraving  of  the  Mrs.  Hayes'  Memorial  Portrait  being  adapted  to  this 
use.  Entertainments,  exhibitions,  etc.,  are  given,  through  which 
public  sentiment  is  moulded  and  money  made  for  the  society.  Pro- 
hibition and  Home  Protection  principles  may  also  be  here  illustrated 
and  impressed. 

4.      TEMPERANCE    LITERATURE. 

Supt.— Miss  Julia  Colman,  76  Bible  House,  New  York. 

Aims  to  prepare  and  circulate  books,  papers,  leaflets,  etc.,  for  the 
general  education  of  public  sentiment,  but  especially  for  topical  study 
in  all  the  departments  of  W.  C.  T.  U.  work,  that  our  local  meetings 
may  be  made  interesting  and  profitable,  and  our  members  thoroughly 
educated  in  all  branches  of  Temperance  Reform. 

Miss  Colman  keeps  on  hand  every  variety  of  temperance  literature. 

5.      INFLUENCING  THE   PRESS. 

Supt.— Mrs.  Caroline  B.  Buell,  53  Bible  House,  New  York. 

Aims  to  keep  the  press,  both  religious  and  secular,  thoroughly 
informed  concerning  the  movements  of  the  W.  C.  T.  U.,  by  means  of 
a  weekly  bulletin  from  headquarters,  also  to  set  forth  wisely  and 
steadily  the  history,  aims,  and  methods  of  our  work,  securing  edito- 
rials and  editorial  paragraphs  helpful  to  the  education  of  public 
sentiment  in  favor  of  every  department  of  our  work,  particular  atten- 
tion being  paid  to  the  metropolitan  press  in  the  twelve  large  cities, 
also  to  the  associated  press  and  co-operative  newspapers,  a  superin- 
tendent to  be  secured  in  each  State  and  a  special  correspondent  in 
each  large  city ;  capital  cities  to  receive  special  attention  during  polit- 
ical campaigns  and  sessions  of  the  Legislature. 

6.      CONFERENCE  WITH  ECCLESIASTICAL,  S.  8.,  EDUCATIONAL,  MEDICAL, 

AND  OTHER    ASSOCIATIONS. 

Supt.— Mrs.  Emily  McLaughlin,  4  Story  street,  So.  Boston,  Mass. 

Aims  to  secure  the  presentation  of  our  work  before  all  the  societies 

above  mentioned,  and  any  others  of  suitable  character,  in   towns, 

counties,  districts,  States,  and  the  nation,  and  that  the  W.  C.  T.  U. 

may  be  known  and  appreciated  in  influential  quarters.     The  method 


APPENDIX.  643 

is  to  endeavor  through  members  of  these  associations  to  secure  the 
passage  of  a  resolution  approving  our  work,  and  committing  the 
associations  themselves  to  do  all  in  their  power  in  their  respective 
fields  to  advance  the  cause  of  total  abstinence  and  prohibition. 

7.      RELATIVE   STATISTICS. 

Snpt.— Mrs.  Frances  Crook,  cor.  Madison  avenue  and  Townsend  street,  Balti- 
more, Md. 

Aims  to  make  the  people  more  intelligent  regarding  the  waste, 
pauperism,  and  crime  resulting  from  the  liquor  traffic,  by  gathering 
the  latest  statistics,  properly  classifying  and  placing  them  before  the 
people  in  leaflets  and  through  the  press.  These  will  be  of  service  to 
our  speakers  and  writers,  and  should  come  before  the  public  in 
every  possible  way.  A  chart  exhibiting  relative  statistics  to  the  eye 
by  means  of  lines  and  colors  would  be  of  service. 

Tobacco  statistics  might  be  very  properly  included  with  the  fore- 
going. 

8.      TRAINING  SCHOOLS. 

Snpt— Mrs.  S.  M.  I.  Hexrt,  Evanstown,  HI. 

Aims  to  furnish  careful  systematic  instruction  by  skilled  specialists 
in  all  departments  teaching  our  work,  not  only  the  theory,  but  the 
practice ;  the  former  by  means  of  a  course  of  study  and  reading,  to  be 
pursued  at  home,  upon  which  written  examination  will  be  based,  and 
the  latter  by  conducting  "model"  meetings  of  a  local,  juvenile,  and 
Y.  W.  C.  T.  U.,  a  model  Sunday-school  temperance  lesson,  model 
Gospel  institutes,  conventions,  etc.  In  this  school,  organizers,  corre- 
sponding secretaries,  superintendents  of  departments,  etc.,  will  be 
trained  and  certificates  of  proficiency  awarded.  At  first  this  will  be  a 
summer  training  school,  but  it  is  hoped  that  eventually  it  may  become 
permanent,  and  attract  hundreds  of  earnest  women  who  desire  to  enter 
on  a  Christian  vocation. 

HI.    EVANGELISTIC. 
1.       EVANGELISTIC. 
Snpt.— Mrs.  H.  W.  Smith,  4653  Germantown  avenue,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 

Aims  to  increase  the  interest  of  our  society  in  Bible  study,  espe- 
cially with  reference  to  the  exposition  of  temperance  principles,  by 
regularly  furnishing  them  with  lesson  leaflets  for  use  in  local  meet- 
ings, and  to  carry  the  Gospel  cure  to  the  drinking  classes  by  holding 
evangelistic  services  in  reading-rooms,  depots,  theatres,  etc. ;  also  by 
inviting  pastors  to  preach  upon  the  temperance  question,  securing  a 
union  temperance  prayer-meeting  of  the  cburches  once  a  quarter, 
on  the  regular  prayer-meeting  night;  enlisting  the  people  to  build 


644  APPENDIX. 

temperanoe  tabernacles  for  the  masses,  and  holding  Gospel  temper- 
ance institutes  for  the  training  of  women  in  methods  of  conducting 
evangelistic  services. 

2.   EVANGELISTIC  WORK  AMONG  THE  GERMANS. 

Supt.— Mrs.  Emma  Obenauer,  157  La  Salle  street,  Chicago,  111. 

Aims  to  bring  our  work  before  the  Germans,  on  the  religious  plane, 
and  by  the  same  methods  enumerated  under  the  superintendency  of 
evangelistic  work  so  far  as  may  be  practicable. 

3.      PRISONS  AND   POLICE   STATIONS. 
Supt.— Mrs.  J.  K.  Barney,  Providence,  R.  I. 

Aims  to  carry  Gospel  Temperance  to  men  and  women  in  prisons, 
jails,  and  alms  houses,  to  co-operate  in  the  work  of  Prisoners'  Aid 
Associations;  to  aid  in  establishing  women's  reformatory  prisons  and 
Industrial  Homes  for  the  criminal  class;  to  secure  the  appointment  of 
women  on  State  boards  of  charities;  and  the  maintenance  of  matrons 
in  all  prisons  and  police  stations  where  women  are  arrested  or  im- 
prisoned. The  Gospel  and  police  matron  work  is  directly  related  to 
the  W.  C.  T.  U.,  and  carried  on  by  personal  visitation,  by  letter  and 
literature.  The  other  branches  are  co-operative  with  outside  organ- 
izations, and  involve  letters  and  petitions  to  influence  legislatures  aud 
corporations.  In  this  way,  philanthropic  work  on  a  grand  scale  may 
be  instigated  and  inspired  by  our  societies. 

4.      WORK  AMONG  INTEMPERATE  WOMEN. 

Supt.— Mrs.  Geo.  S.  Hitnt,  Portland,  Me. 

Aims  to  establish  under  State  patronage  and  by  private  beneficence, 
Christian  temperance  homes  for  the  drinking  class  among  women,  in 
two  departments,  one  for  those  who  can  pay  for  treatment,  another 
for  those  who  cannot;  also  to  circulate  appropriate  literature  through 
the  post-office  and  by  personal  visitation,  in  homes  cursed  by  the  in- 
temperance of  women. 

5.      WORK   AMONG   R.    R.    EMPLOYES. 

Supt.— Miss  Jennie  E.  Smith,  Mountain  Lake  Park,  Md. 
Miss  Adelaide  Sherman,  Secretary. 

Aims  to  carry  the  Gospel  and  temperance  pledge  to  R.  R  employes, 

and  to  organize  among  them  Gospel  and  temperance  clubs,  or  "  R. 

R.  Unions." 

6.       SOLDIERS  AND   SAILORS. 
Supt.— Mrs.  S.  A.  McClees,  Yonkers,  N.  Y. 

Aims  to  reach  the  army  and  navy  with  Gospel  temperance,  also 
the  pledge  and  temperance  literature,  through  co-operation  with  com- 


*  APPENDIX.  6-45 

manders  and  chaplains,  by  correspondents,  articles  in  papers  read 
by  soldiers  and  sailors,  and  personal  visitation.  The  methods  of  Miss 
Agnes  Weston,  of  England,  will  be  largely  followed  in  this  work. 

7.      TO  SECURE  THE  USE   OF   THE   UNFERMENTED   JUICE  OF  THE   GRAPE 

AT  THE  LORD'S  TABLE. 

Supt.— Miss  Mary  Allen  West,  Galesburg,  111. 

Aims  to  convince  all  good  people  that  the  pure  juice  of  the  grape 
should  be  substituted  for  wine  at  the  Lord's  table,  in  deference 
to  the  golden  rule  and  the  Pauline  doctrine  of  regard  for  the  weaker 
brother.  Circulation  of  literature  and  appeals  to  ministerial  assem- 
blies are  the  methods  employed. 

8.      SECURING  DAY  OF  PRATER  IN  WEEK  OF  PRAYER. 

Supt.— Mrs.  Ellen  M.  Watson,  112  Smithfield  St.,  Pittsburg,  Pa. 

Aims  to  secure  by  petitions  from  ecclesiastical  and  philanthropic 
bodies  to  the  alliance,  by  articles  in  the  secular  and  religious  press 
and  by  private  correspondence,  in  the  annual  programme  of  the 
Evangelical  Alliance,  a  day  of  prayer  in  the  week  of  prayer,  to  be 
devoted  to  the  temperance  reform. 

IV.  SOCIAL. 

1.      YOUNG  WOMEN'S  TEMPERANCE  WORK. 

Supt.— Mrs.  Frances  J.  Babnes,  73  East  Fifty-fourth  6treet,  New  York.    Mrs. 
F.  S.  Evans,  Secretary,  71  East  Fifty-fourth  street,  New  York. 

Aims  in  enlist  young  women  to  form  separate  societies  ("  Y.  W.  C. 
T.  Unions  ")  for  the  purpose  of  making  total  abstinence  a  fashionable 
social  custom,  to  the  end  that  young  men  may  be  held  to  a  higher 
standard  of  personal  habits,  and  thus  shielded  from  contamination, 
by  a  power  analogous  to  that  which  has  effectually  restrained  their 
Bisters;  also  to  teach  young  women  the  scientific  and  ethic  reasons  for 
total  abstinence  and  prohibition,  and  to  develop  a  new  army  of  trained 
temperance  workers,  to  whom  the  care  of  the  children's  work  may  be 
at  once  entrusted,  and  who  will  eventually  replace  the  veterans  of  the 
W.  C.  T.  U. 

The  methods  are  first,  a  social  club  (the  Y.  W.  C.  T.  U.  itself)  in 
which  young  gentlemen  become  honorary  members  by  signing  the 
pledge  and  paying  the  membership  fee  of  50  cents  per  year;  private 
and  public  entertainments;  a  systematic  course  of  reading,  and  work 
in  bands  of  hope;  night  schools  for  boys,  reading-rooms,  kitchen 
gardens,  etc.,  etc. 


646  APPENDIX. 

2.      PARLOR  MEETINGS. 

Supt.— Mrs.  Margaret  Bottome,  117  East  17th  street,  New  York. 
Aims  to  reach  the  conservative  class  who  do  not  attend  public 
temperance  meetings.  Invitations  are  sent  as  to  a  reception,  and  brief 
devotional  exercises  are  followed  by  a  bible  talk,  or  practical  temper- 
ance subjects  are  treated,  and  objections  replied  to  in  conversational 
style ;  literature  may  be  given  out  at  the  close,  or  the  autograph  pledge 
book  circulated.  Sometimes  gentlemen  come  in  at  the  conclusion  of 
these  exercises,  and  refreshments  are  served. 

3.      KITCHEN   GARDEN. 

Chairman  of  Committee.— Miss  Mart  C.  McClees,  141  Warburton  street,  Yonkers, 
N.  Y.  Miss  Hallie  Quiglet,  Louisville,  Ky.  Mrs.  A.  C.  Robinson,  Baltimore, 
Md. 

Aims  to  enlist  the  efforts  of  young  ladies  in  teaching  by  object 
lessons  the  household  art  to  poor  girls;  with  a  view  to  ameliorating 
the  conduct  of  life  in  their  homes,  present  and  future,  and  preparing 
them  to  earn  their  own  living  as  skilled  servants.  Specific  temper- 
ance instruction  may  be  incorporated  with  these  lessons. 

4.      FLOWER  MISSION. 

Supt.— Miss  Jennie  Cassedat,  216  East  Chestnut  street,  Louisville,  Ky. 

Aims  to  graft  our  work  upon  this  beautiful  philanthropy.  Bouquets 
to  be  tied  with  white  ribbon  and  a  scripture  verse  or  selection  to  be 
attached,  relative  to  temperance,  our  literature  to  be  circulated  to 
accompany  flowers,  and  the  total  abstinence  pledge  offered  at  appro- 
priate times.  Also  an  effort  made  to  induce  all  ladies  engaged  in  this 
department  to  meet  for  topical  study  according  to  the  course  prepared 
by  our  corresponding  secretary. 

5.      STATE  AND  COUNTY  FAIRS. 

Supt.— Mrs.  Mart  A.  Leavitt,  Vernon,  Iud. 

Aims  to  bring  temperance  ideas  and  practices  in  contact  with  the 
people  at  these  and  other  great  holiday  gatherings  by  means  of  a 
booth  (suitably  designated  by  mottoes  and  pictures  and  other  decora- 
tions) where  temperance  drinks  are  sold  and  literature  circulated;  also 
to  secure  if  possible  favorable  reference  to  the  subject  in  public 
addresses,  made  either  by  those  appointed  by  authorities  of  the  fair, 
or  if  this  is  impracticable,  presentation  of  the  subject  by  our  own 
speakers.  This  department  protests  against  the  sale  of  intoxicants  on 
holiday  occasions,  and  makes  systematic  effort  to  secure  the  enact- 
ment and  enforcement  of  laws  to  this  end. 


APPENDIX.  647 

6.  RELATION  OF  TEMPERANCE  TO  CAPITAL  AND  LABOR. 
Supt.— Mrs.  M.  C.  Nobles,  Atlantic  Highlands,  New  Jersey. 
Aims  to  induce  employers  to  require  total  abstinence  in  employees, 
to  extend  the  discrimination  in  favor  of  abstinent  habits  to  every 
branch  of  insurance  risks,  to  induce  all  organizations  of  working  men 
to  introduce  the  same  discrimination  into  their  societies,  etc.  The 
methods  are  circular  letters,  personal  appeals,  articles  for  the  press, 
and  efforts  to  secure  editorial  co-operation. 

V.  LEGAL. 
1.      LEGISLATION  AND  PETITIONS. 

Supt.— Mrs.  J.  Ellen  Foster,  Clinton,  Iowa. 

Aims  to  secure  prohibition  by  constitutional  and  statutory  law  in 
every  State  and  Territory,  and  to  secure  a  prohibitory  amendment  to 
the  National  Constitution.  Methods  are  varied  as  the  manifold  work 
of  the  W.  C.  T.  U.  All  roads  lead  to  Rome,  and  every  purpose  and 
plan  point  to  the  consummation  defined  under  this  all-embracing 
"  aim."  Specifically,  petitions  to  legislative  bodies,  systematic  efforts 
to  enforce  existing  law,  and  a  course  of  study  and  reading  for  local 
unions  are  included  under  this  department. 

2.  FRANCHISE. 
Snpt.— Mrs.  M.  G.  C.  Leavitt,  115  Warren  ave..  Boston,  Mass. 
To  aid  those  States  that  desire  to  utilize  for  temperance  purposes 
the  school  ballot,  if  already  conferred,  or  to  secure  in  whole  or  in  part 
the  ballot  for  women  as  a  weapon  of  protection  to  their  homes  from 
the  liquor  traffic  and  its  attendant  evils.  Methods— Circular  letters, 
with  instructions,  forms  of  petition,  etc.;  distribution  and  sale  of 
appropriate  literature;  articles  to  the  press;  correspondence  and  public 
addresses. 

(N.  B.  — Neither  this  nor  any  other  department  of  work  is  obliga- 
tory upon  any  Union,  local  or  State.) 

VI.'    DEPARTMENT  OF  ORGANIZATION. 
1.     'SOUTHERN   WORK. 
Supt.— Mrs.  Sallie  F.  Chapin,  Charleston,  S.  C. 

Aims  to  secure  a  thorough  systematic  organization  of  all  the 
Southern  States  upon  a  basis  of  paid  memberships  in  each  local  W.  C. 
T.  U.  (at  50  cents  a  year),  and  the  introduction,  as  rapidly  as  possible, 
of  all  our  departments  of  work  in  each  State  and  local  W.  C.  T.  U. 
The  work  among  colored  people  in  the  South  contemplates  the 
organization  of  separate  W.  C.  T.  Unions,  local  and  State. 


648 


APPENDIX. 


2.      WORK  AMONG  GERMANS. 
Supt.— Mrs.  Henrietta  Skelton,  Lake  Bluff,  111. 

Aims  at  organizing  our  society  among  the  German  population  to 
such  a  degree  as  may  be  practicable;  introducing  Sunday-school 
temperance  lessons  and  other  literature,  and  giving  addresses  in  their 
own  language;  circulating  Der  Bahnbreclier,  published  at  Chicago, 
and  edited  by  Prof.  A.  Schmitz  (organ  of  the  German  Total  Absti- 
nence Association),  and  co-operating  with  that  Society  so  far  as  in  our 
power.     Send  to  A.  F.  Hofer,  McGregor,  Iowa,  for  German  leaflets. 

3.      WORK  AMONG  THE    SCANDINAVIANS. 
Supt.— Mrs.  N.  H.  Harris,  Lake  Bluff,  111. 
Aims  and  methods  the  same  as  the  German  work. 

4.      WORK  AMONG  THE  COLORED  PEOPLE   OP   THE   NORTH. 

Supt.— Mrs.  Chas.  Kinney,  Port  Huron,  Mich. 

Aims  and  methods  identical  with  those  described  under  work 
among  the  colored  people  South.