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  • Ch.£^'i\ WOMAN AND TEMPERANCE: THE WOEK AND WORKERS OP By FRANCES E. WILLARD, FKX8n>ENT OP THE NATIONAL W. 0. T. V. "O Woman, orkat is tht faith! Be it unto thbb itzn as thou WILT." — Words of Christ. (FOURTH EDITION.) hartford, conn.. Park Publishing Co. WALKER & DAIGNEAU, Battle Creek, Mich.; J. M. OLCOTT, Inbianapoli? Ind.; J. S. GOODMAN & CO., Chicaho, III.; PHILLIPS & HUNT, San Francisco, Gal. 1884. COPTBiaHTED, 1883. By the Park Publishing Co., hartford, conn. In LovrNG ajjd Loyal Recognition and Rkmbmbrancr TiriS BOOK IS DEDICATED TO THE MEMORY OP MY GENEROUS BENEFACTOR, THE LATE JAMES JACKSON. OF Patekson, N. J., AND TO HIS DAOGHTER AND MY TRUE FRIEND, KATE A. JACKSON, TO WHOSE MUNIFICENCE I OWE E^'BRY ADVANTAGE OF THJ! YEARS I SPENT ABROAD. I>REFACE, 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 6 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," Eyanston, III., Marcli 7, 1883. * the Independent, The Christian Union, Our Union, Thi^ Signal, etc., and have been transferred by editorial per- mission. 1. Portrait of the Atjthor on Stbkl, 2. Mrs. E. J. Thompson, 3. Mrs. Geo. Carpenter, 4. Mother Stewart, 5. Mrs. Abbt F. Lbavitt, 6. Mrs. Mary A. Woodbbidge, 7. Mrs. Margaret E. Parker, 8. Mrs. Margaret B. Lucas, . 9. Mrs. W. A. Ingham, 10. Mrs. J. F. Willing, . 11. Mrs. Emily Huntington Milleb, 12. Mrs. Annie "WrrTENMYBE, . 13. Mrs. Maby T. Burt, . 14. Mrs. S. M. I. Henry, 15. Mrs. Hai^nah Whttall Smith. 16. Mrs. Mart T. Lathbap, 17. Mrs. Maby H. Hunt, 18. Mrs. Lucy Webb Hates, . 19. Miss Esther Pugh, . 20. Mrs. J. Ellen Fosteb, 21. Mrs. Maby A. Livtcrmore, . 22. Mrs. C. B. Bubll, . Page. Frontispiece. 51 61 81 89 99 115 119 123 149 155 161 169 185 193 207 243 557 815 819 419 435 (7) ILLUSTRATIONS. 23. Mbb. 24. Mrs. 35. Mrs. 26. Mbs. 37. Mrs. 38. Mrs. 29. Miss 30. Mrs. 31. Mrs. 32. Mrs. 33. Thb Z. G. "Wallace, Bent with her Cornet, Sarah K. Bolton, Sallib F. Chapin, W. C. Sibley, . Caroldte E. Merrick, Elizabeth "W. Greenwood, J. K. Barney, . Elizabeth Comstock, . Letitia Toumans, Future Legislator, . 477 513 535 541 557 561 581 585 589 599 605 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- (Jospel -work- Journalism— Birth of " Home Protection "—The great petition— Elected to the presidency of the National "W. C. X. U. Work — Incidents — Southern tours— Character as a woman— As a leader of women— As a type CHAPTER II. PRELIMINARY. The W. C. T. V. compared with other Societies— "Without a 19 39 pattern and without a peer." .... 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." ... 43 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 gO CHAPTER VII. MRS. ABBY FISHER LEAVITT. "Leader of the Forty -three "—The shoemaker and the little white shoes. ... ... ... 88 CHAPTER Vm. MRS. MARY A. WOODBRIDGE. President of the Crusade State, and Recording Secretary of th« 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. \q\ 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 — Ofiicers— Resolutions, etc. — Representative Women— A brave beginning 127 CONTENTS. 11 CHAPTER XI. PARLIAMENTARY USAGE V£!IiSUS "RED TAPE." Mrs. Plymouth Rock and Friend Rachel Halliday engage in a discussion. .... 136 CHAPTER XII. OUR MANY-SIDED WORK. 142 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 unsect^rian character — "Lst her not take a text " — Our Evangelists — Mrs. 8. M. I. Henry — "The Name ' — Mrs. Hannah Whitall Smith — "Hove 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. 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 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-SThe hostess of the White House— Sketch of Mrs. Lucy 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. Frances 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. .ludith 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 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 unprotected home— The dragon's council hall— Home guards of niinois— 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 XXI. MRS. MARY A. LIVERMORE, Our Chief Speaker, and President of the Massachueetta 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 XXn. 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 ^"' CHAPTER XXni. 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— Prom 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 XXVn. THE MODOCS OF THE LAVA BEDS IN THE INDIAN TERRITORY. A Quaker conquest — My visit among the Modocs. . . 504 CHAPTER XXVni. 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 tlie National "W. C. T. U. "-' . 516 CHAPTER X:XX. 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. C— 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 XXXn. 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. Oomstock, the Quaker Philanthropist —One husband's birthday gift. . 580 CHAPTER XXXm. THE CANADIAN LEADERS. Mrs. Letitia Youmans, the Lecturer— Mrs. D. B. Chisholm, Pre- sident of Ontario W. C. T. U. , etc. 598 CHAPTER XXXIV. ROLL OF HONOR. . . -604 CHAPTER XXXV. THE CHILDREN. Miss Lathbury's poem-Boy's Temperance speech-How to reach ^^^ the children. . . ■ • CHAPTER XXXVI. HOW TO ORGANIZE A W. C. T. U. How ought a Local W. 0. T. U. to conduct a Public Meeting? . 618 APPENDIX. „i„„v.„„ Work for a loc work of 1874— Plan of work for 1883. Constitution and Plan of Work for a local W. C. T. U.-Plan of ^^ 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 B. 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, Eec. Secretary National W. C. T. U Mrs. L. M. N. Stevens, ABsistant Recording Secretary. Miss Esther Pugh, Treasurer. Mrs. Sallie F. Chapin, Superintendent Southern Work Mrs. Z. G. Wallace, President Indiana W. O. T. TJ. Mrs. Mary T. Burt, Preeident New York W. C. T. U. Mrs. J. B. Poster, Superintendent of Legislatiye Dep't. Mrs. T. B. Carse, Free. W. T. P. Aeaoclation, Cliicago. Mrs.^ Hannah Whitall Smith, Superintendent Byangelistlc Dep't. (17) FRANCES E. WILLARD, OF ILLINOIS. BY MART A. LATHBUKT, Author of " Out of Darkness into' Light," etc. Ancestry and birth — Character of parents — Early Ufe — 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. '' ~1 TE shall be like a tree," sang the Psalmist of the _| 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 FKANCES E. WILLARD. is sprung from that strong New England stock which, when transplanted into Western soU, 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 WiUards 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 Willard'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 " Gaudet 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 tliird daughter, Frances Elizabeth, was born, in Churchville, near Roch- ester. When she was three years of age the family removed to Oberlin, 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 moveraeiits 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 a'nd inspiration, and was brought to the children through a thousand avenues that only a mother, with the divine intuitive gift that 22 PRANCES E. WILLARD. 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. They had a board of public works, an art club, and a news- paper, edited by Prances, 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 slie 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 Bvanston, 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; where is Re?" — became the one question to be settled beyond doubt. And the fact that the beatific vision she longed PRANCES E. WILLAED. 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 l\and. 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 pubHshed in 1864 by the Hai^rs, 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, Legouv^, 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 Monthly, The Chris- tian Union, and Chicago journals. She gathered much 24 PRANCES 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 Pran9ois Millet, brooding over the burdened peas- antry, wlio 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 V.olga, 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 tlie 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. 26 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 slie ever had a superior, and but for Arnold of Rugby, I should have said an equal. Her power over tlie girls who came under her influence was most extraordinary. It is an amusing fact that some people regarded it witli 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 lierself 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. WILLAKD. her tuition, each of her scholars had a definite idea of a Hfe-work." Prom 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 tlie 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 'Roll 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 wliich 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 tliat within two weeks she had received scores of requests to speak from all parts of the northwest. As it was soon after tliis that she entered upon her work in tlie 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. With 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 PRANCES 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. WILLAED. 29 When God lets loose an idea njion 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 " destin)%" had passed over from her own personality to the sex with which slie 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 tlie 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 " birtliplace 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. WILLAED. 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 : " Tlie 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 fill, the ideal whicli 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. W7LLABD. 31 Chicago Post, a daily evening paper, from whicli 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. WILLAED. 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 of 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, tlieir 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. 38 temperance work, though frankly stating her opinions wlienever 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 equallj' 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 onl}- petitioned ; but there was so much of promise — more of prophecy — in the whole move- ment, that we already seem to see the cai)-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 eflicient 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 FEANCES E. WILLARD. 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 tliat 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 ])lacing 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 FRANCES 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 P. 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, Avith 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 i'aANCES E. WXLLARD. passage occurs : " You maj 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 chiefcst shall be servant of all, for even the Son of Man 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 ser\ice that has come to her in these last years, and her consciousness of it, has laid upon her still stronger bonds to serve, and tlie bondage is — love. There are many things from this point of view which those who are 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 jione. But a'scnse 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 Jiow age upon which we are entering, she takes her place with the foremost women of our time. FRANCES B. WILLAKD. 37 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, Miss 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. Prances 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 PRANCES 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 bodj' of humanity accounts for tlie 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- pathj' — 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. PRELIMINAEY. The W. C. T. U. compared witli 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 licroic. I yield to none in admiration of woman's splendid achieve- ments in church work and in the Foreign Missionary Society, w'hich was my first love as a philanthropist, but in both instances the denominational character of tluit 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 humes for the orphaned and tlie indigent, hospitals for the sick and asylums for the old, are the admiration of all generous hearts, but these are local iu 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. Noi- do I forget the sanitary work of women, which gleamed like a heavenly rainbow on the horrid front of war ; but noble 77ien 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 public, 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 histoi-y and learned that the banner and the sword were never yet the symbols of man's grandest "FOE 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 "/or Grod and Home and Native Land." CHAPTER m. "W. 0. 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. 0. 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 dc- 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 journej^ with a priceless heritage of powers laid up in store by the tender, sacred foresight of those (42; SEBSS. — ECONOMY OF TIME. 43 by whom the young innnortal'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 liand. 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 philauthropy, and of the church with civilization, is the perpetual miracle which furnislies tlie only sufficient antidote to current skepticism. Higher j 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 lie 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, where 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 riglit 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 earth.'" 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 goTOrnment 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 — aslc for power to help forward the coming of their Lord in government — to throw tlie safeguard of their prohibition ballots around those who have left the shelter of their arms onl}' 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 trafhc 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 ship Zion — Hallelujah ! " MOTTO FOR THE W. C. T. V. "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 hut love be there, true-hearted. By no fear or terror parted, Mari/ stands the cross beside." T CHAPTEE IV. "LET IT BE NOTED"; Or why the Author is not a Critic. HE W. C. T. U. is a sort of mutual admiration I society, or to put tlie 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 wlio have not yet attained obituary honors. " I thought before you died I'd just tell you how much I have always loved and lionored 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 finger 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 faUen : ' ' 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 Prajdng 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-THIED, 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 tliat Whirlwind of the Lord, which in a few weeks had swept over the great State of Ohio, and grown to tlie 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 (60) ^ Air- MRS. E. J. THOMPSON. MRS. E. J. THOMPSON. 63 naturally arouse. She is a wife, mother, and grand- mother, loving and beloved ; with marks upon her face of 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, tlian whom Oliio never had a chief magistrate more true. Nearly forty years before, slie 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, tliose gentlemen may thing it an intrusion. I should l)e the only lady, don't you see?" Upon tliis the Governor re- plied, " My daughter should never be afraid, even if she is alone in a good cause," and taking her by tlie arm, lie drew her into the convention. Wliat a prophecy was tlio 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, lier lawyer husband's leadership of the home protection movement in Ohio, and in the procession of white-ribbou worker's 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 tliat 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 tlie evening. " I 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 cam(^ to me upon his return liome 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 yon 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 how 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. 65 nine o'clock, and then the hidies want 3'ou to go out with them to tlie saloons.' " 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 tom-foolery is all that?' My son slipped out of the room quietly, and I betook myself to the task of consoling my husband witli the promise that I should not be led into any foolisli 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 tlic men had been in the ' tom-foolerj- ' business a long time, and suggested that it might be ' God's will' that the women should now hike 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 a]jproached me and gently placing his hand upon my shoulder, in a very subdued tone said, ' Motlier, 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 sittuig 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-tal)le, he said empliatically, ' 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 dear 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 lieard a gentle tap at my door. Upon opening it, I sa>\- 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 wondei'- ful message of the great ' I Am ' contained in the 146tli Psalm. "No longer doubting, I at once repaired to the Presbj'- 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. McSnrely 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 MBS. GEN. Mcdowell's prater. 67 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 tliy thought, His counsel shall appear, "When fully He the work hath wrought That caused thy needless fear." On they marclied 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 readmgs, 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 PKAYER-MEETING. E. church one week aud 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 tlie drug stores, on the 24th of Decem- ber, 1873, our 'band' slowly and timidly aj^proached 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 tlie ' 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 perfe'ct 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 witli 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 Heavenl\- 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. PRATER IN A SALOON. 69 ' 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 perliaps for the first time, in a saloon, ' 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 fouutain filled with blood, Drawn from Iinmanuel's veins ; And sinner.s 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, wlio 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 witli this deluded " brother " to accept the world's Redeemer as his own. Surely " God is Love." * History op 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 liy tobacco and a rdent sjurits, and offered to suggest a * Wishing to have these important historic facts at first hand, I have obtained this sketch from Mrs. Ustick, Secretary of the Praying Band at Washington C. H., Ohib. Mrs. George Carpenter, the central figure in this marvellous picture, is wife of the Presbyterian pastor there. a 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 lieartily accepted, and a meeting appointed for Christmas morning, at 10 o'clock, in tlie 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, 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 tlie women in various cities for the past twenty -one years. For one hour argument, illustra- tiou, appeal, and demonstration followed in rapid succes- sion, until at the conclusion of the address the entire audience were ready to lieartily 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 eacli of the saloons, and personally appeal to the proprietors of the same to stop the business at once 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 tliis work. Thirty- seven men gave their names as members of this committee. MRS. GEO. CARPENTER THE APPEAL. 63 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. Temperance was the all-absorbing theme on that day, around every Christian's board and upon all the street corners. In the evening a prayer-meeting was held in the J\[. E. Church, at which time the Cliairman 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 Imsbands, broth- ers, and especially our sons, be no longer exposed to tliis terrible temptation, and that we may no longer see them led into those paths which go down to sin, aud 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 hves, 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, aud has since been used 64 THE STRANGE PROCESSION. very generally — not only in Ohio, but in several other States. On Friday morning, December 26, 1873, the meeting convened pursuant to adjournment, in the Methodist Episcopal Church. 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 comnmnity. 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 marched these women to their work, while the men remained, continu- ing in prayer to God, that He would be with these women 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 tlie 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 bytlie reading of the appeal, and . prayer ; then earnest plending to desist from their soul-destroying traffic, and to sign the dealer's pledge. THE GOSPEL PLEA. 65 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. 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. 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 tlie Crusaders by pealing forth the knowledge that another supplication had ascended 66 THE FINAL TRIUMPH. for their success ; meanwhile notes of progress being sent by the secretary to the church from every phice 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- meetiug. At night tlie 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. Tlie Sabbath was devoted to union mass meetings, with direct reference to tlie 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. Nearl}^ 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, wlio had given the victoiy. 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 surroider and another pouring into tlie 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 NEIGHBOEING TOWNS. 67 every liquor dealer unconditionally surrendered : some having sliipped their liquors back to ^dlolesale dealers, otliers poured them in the gutters, and the druggists all signed the druggist's pledge. Thus 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. Pliysicians were called upon to sign a pledge not to prescribe ardent spirits wlien 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 1)C 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. Moreliouse 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 tlie 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 MISSIONAEY 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 th€ 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 ivatching 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 : Washinoton C. H., Jan. 30, 1874. To tJie Secretary of Women's Temperance League at .• Dear Sister: — By order of the entire board of our Temperauce League, we send you an earnest request tliat you immediately appoint A ebporter's graphic account. 69 a committee of not less than six of the most earnest and effective worliers, who shall be ready at an hour's notice to respond to the call embodied in the following resolution: Resolved, 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 Mr. Beck's suspicions of me. " The Adair law I find everywhere to he 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 01 no 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 tliere 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 tlie saloon, stood in a little knot fifty feet away, still gnawing at the pigs' feet they had held on to in A lady's prater. 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 grace 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 this army, ' etc. , the effect-was inspiring. I felt all the enthusiasm of the occasion ; while the pigs'-feet part}', if they did not feel guilty, certainly looked so. The singing was followed hj a prayer from Mrs. Mills Gardner. She prayed for the blessing of God on the temperance cause generally, and in this place particularly ; then for Mr. Beck, his family and his friends, his house and all that loved him, and closed 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 tlie 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? No, there's a cross for me,' when the lawyer borrowed some of my paper, whispering at the same time, ' I must 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 all 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 LAWTEE 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 me 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 liim 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 does 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 loti 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 amounts, 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 tlieir 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 closed 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 who were 74 THE " LAST MAN " StJERENDERS. 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 tliat pui-pose, 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 puljlicly pledged himself to " quit, forever, the liquor business." A general rejoicing and thanksgiving followed this surrender of the " last man." Thus, tlirough 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 were made for a mass meeting to be held in Music Hall at 2 p. m. At 1.30 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 : " Br. 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 engaged in the battle of reform. And now to find some- thing really accomplished — to find a town positively free from the curse of liquor-selling — 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 liow fortu- nate it was for me and for many others tliat I came here. I will not say tliat this is the ouly 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 tlie 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 tlie former saloonists gradually reopened their business. Since tliat 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 tlie 18th of August. Mass Temperance picnics were a prominent feature of the season, and the untiring zeal of the workers was crowned witli success on election day. During the intervening years weekly Temperance League meetings liave 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 tlie world. In many of the lines of work, Fayette County is showing herself wortliy 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 OF 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 tlie suggestion of Mrs. Wittenmyer, 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 PIEE. 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 HaAV- 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 remhided at tliis moment of how you started this mighty ball a-roUing. 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 notliing but death can sever them. I am made to feel that it means much for God to let a moral idea loose upon this eartli, 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 di'unkeu 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 its 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." 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 tliis 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 alcoliol. Mrs. Thompson spoke affectingly in response. She explained that when tlic quilt was made by tlie 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. MRS. ELIZA D., known the world over as " Mother 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 cliaracteristics which have won for her an enviable repu- tation among the representative women who have done tlieir share in molding western character. With few of the facilities afforded the youth of to-day, she acquired a sufficient education to teach, tlien, 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. 88 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 take their 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 lier time to gathering and forward- ing supplies to the sick and wounded soldiers, and aiding tlieir families, finally going herself to the scene of action, where from the " boys in blue" slie received the name she wears as a crown, and by whicli 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 attorne}', 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 drunkaed's wife's appeal. at last they had found a sympathizing and helpful friend, brought her theii- 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 coald do anything. Mr. R. 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 witliin 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 bo 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 ha\-o 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 the 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 Crusadei-. 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 TffEN THE SUNNY SOUTH. The result of her meeting was the formation of the British Women's Temperance Association, wliich 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 tlie 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 whicli she has devoted her life. Of her oil the platform we quote from the London Watch- word : " Her voice is sweet, and though not loud, is clear, and sometimes penetrating. She goes straiglit to the point, speaking with all the artlessness, originality, and verve of one full of the subject and cliarged with a miglity 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 slie is. And oh, how well — though it may be briefly — she pleads ! Heai'ing and reading her VETERANS OP EARLY DATS. 87 speeches are very different. A report fails to convey the native raciuess, 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 sti-ongly 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 Vn. MES. ABBY FISHER LEAVITT. " Leader of the Forty-three " — The shoemaker and little white shoes. " rp HERE'S lots of human nature in folks." Did _JL " 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 ai-e. 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 hiimana. 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, whei'e 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 hifluencc of that grand old prohibition school-master, the State of Maine. In 1854, at the age of nuietecn, 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 A\'as immediately called to the charge of the First Baptist Church of Keokuk, Iowa, where he enjoyed a pleasant and successful pastoi'ate until 1872, when he was invited to the First Baptist Church of Cincinnati, where he and tlie " 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 <'-enial 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 PRATING 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 iu 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 day for weeks, accompanied by a long procession of noble Christian workers, she visited saloons, holdino- reli- gious services within whenever permission was granted, but outside, if it was refused, and always closing up tlie day's work with an earnest Gospel meeting in the cluirch from which the bands had gone out in the morning. The church woTild 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, tliough 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 tlie 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 every 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 cornei' 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- meetings 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; " tlie 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. LEATITT. During the trying days of 1874, previous to the October election, when the rum power was using every endeavor to induce 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 w^omen 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 witt.v 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 aji- pear, thei-e has been under every word the g;rateful remembrance of this dear friend's faith, tranquil and pure as a June sky. In days never to be forgotten, tliis 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 to 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 liis 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 tliought the question came to me, and 1 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 sec him this afternoon,' said 1. " ' He'll insult you,' she i-eplied. " ' 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. Tke husband was at work at his trade in a back room, and bis little girl was scut 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 Avishes 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 ^tood before me. " ' What do 3'ou 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 violently : " ' 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, I 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 comg 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.' " ' You 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 see that hand ? I've got a piece of work to finish, and I must have a mug of beer to steady 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 fosyou.' " 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. " ' God ! break these chains that are burning into my 98 A HOME RESTORED. soul ! Pity me, and pitj' my wife and children, and break the chains that are dragging me down to hell. 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 he arose a free, redeemed man. " When he arose from his knees he said : ' Now I will sign the pledge, and keep it.' " And he did. A family altar was established, tlic 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 bhie 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 f(ji- Christ in declaring the terms of lieaven'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. rrpHE sketch drawn by Rev. A. M. Hills, the gifted *- -L 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. Brayton was born in Nantucket, Mass. Her father, Isaac Brayton, 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. Brayton 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 tlie twenties. When she had finished, he laid his liand 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 study 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 nuiltitudes around her. Six years ago Mr. and Mrs. Woodbridge returned to Ravenna. Slie 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 mo-sdngs 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 Divine 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 offei'ed 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 slie 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 licart were moved. Self was forgotten in her message. She pleaded for the degraded victims of drink, for tlieir heart-broken wives and motliers, 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-headed 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 TEAR. 105 deuce of God into a new life. Her mission had come. Like St. Paul, she had had a revelation, and she has not since that time been disobedient to the heavenl}' 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, ChrisWike spirit of such an one. " A few such as she would do much to — yea, will — bring her sex into their true libert}', 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 ofhcial duties, Mrs. Woodbridge also edits weekly several columns of the Gommomvealth, 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 lieart she pleads, like an anointed prophetess, for the souls of dying men and for the holiest interests of humanity in liome 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 forme 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 wliich is seen. Her family, until quite recently, has always been very large, because THE author's glimpse OF THE CRUSADS). 107 no one ever became an inmate of the liousehold 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 canre 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 tlie 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 chai- 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 OP 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 wliich I met the great imwashed, untaught, ungospelled multitude for the first time. Need I say it was the Crusade that opened before me, as before ten thousand otlier women, this wide, "effectual door?" It was 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 tl public schools, whose custom it was to give an hour twi each week to crusading, walked arm-in-arm witli mi'. Two school-ma'ams together, we fell into the procession 5 11! ce lO.S author's first 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 us to leave, and we did so at once, amid the curses of iiic 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 tlie gate of dealli, 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. Wo rose, and what a scene was thci'e ! The sidewalk was lined by men with faces written all over and inter- lined with the record of their sin and shame. .Soiled witli " the slime from the muddy banks of time," tattered, dislievelled, 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 wove 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. 109 Crowded population, or who belonged to trades and pro- fessions over-full — and with them go the women fresli 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 Far well Hall, Chicago, and you will find tlie 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. Viele of Albany, and that lovely young missionary, Miss Susan B. Higgins of Boston (so " earty 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 tlie other side the globe witli ear- nest hope. Mrs. Ma}' 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 I 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 ; 3'ou 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 o\\\y sang, but ever after we talked to the men pointedly, eacli addressing the little group nearest, and usually making some remark suggested by the hymn. After singing tlie 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 liim to the Saviour. Before leaving, it is our rule as far as possiltle to ask them to join in prayer, and while one of us leads man)- bow witli uncovered lieads, 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, " 'Joy, joy, joy! there is joy in Heaven with the angels, Joy, joy, joyl for the prodigal's return,' THE TESTAMENT IN GEEBK. Ill my attention was drawn to a joung officer, who looked quite out of place there. He sang most heartily, while the teai-s 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 liis 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 Ijroke 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 laud are to be found iu 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 maaiy as f(n-ty or lifty are induced to go to God's house, and many rcnuiiu 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 Gz'cat 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 liavo 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 he 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 woidd not care about the scoffs of their shipmates, but would kneel rigiit 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 gentleniaii 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-sliop by ladies that 1 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 power 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 Avords 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 AKTIDOTE PROVIDED. 113 at- seeing ladies tliere. 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 tiiat, although surrounded by teniplatiuns, he has kept his word, and more, he has become a t(jtal 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 opjwrtunity of speaking to him. He talked much and loudly, but aft-cr we had prayed he became much more reasonalile, 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 : 'Wo 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 liome fashion, with matting and comfortable seats; there is a reading-room, spacious and airy, where are little taljles, at which two or fhree 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. Pi-ay that the hearts of the men who frequent this place may be illuminated by God's Holy Spirit." Preeideut 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 pui-poses 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 ci'ushed a soul less brave, she lias become a philanthropist and a reformer. Her beneficent activities began in tliat department of church work where women have always been allowed an "equal right" with men, viz. : that of paying off chm-ch 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 fail-, 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, motlier, and housekeeper of the New England school, she addressed tlie 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 ■ sh^ marshaled " the bouaets 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 Jolm B. Gotigh counts her among his most yalued 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 banislicd 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 1 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 lieart as notliing 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 tlie name of Mother Stewart of Ohio, as prominently connected with the Cru* sade, Mrs. Parker invited her to Scotland, and ari-anged a temperance trip for lier which greatly enlisted the public interest, and from which resulted a meeting at Newcastle- 116 HEE RfiFINED MANNERS ANt) READY WIT. on-Tyne. Delegates from all parts of the Kingdom were present ; women who had never heard tlieir 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 mianimously 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 tlie 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 IN DONDEE. 117 onl}' that she may give her time to the work of tlie local Woman's Temperance Union, of which she has been President since its organization, and to the duties of lier 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 are to be drowned in the applause of multitudes, then Home shall fall, " and when Home falls, the -yvorld." " To the word and to the testimony ! " What does our British sister teach us on tliis vital question? She is tlic wife of Edward Parker, proprietor of on extensive manufactory. She liad six cliildren — live S(jns, one daughter — until her noljle Harry was lately called away. Ock 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 heai-tily 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 MKS. MAKGARET 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. Lore it as she will, it will grow up, and in a few years it is gone. But a life ivork remains for a life time ! " 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 amiual 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. SliuU we, standing here beside the Cross, place ourselves iu God's hands to do His work? I believe many hearts here respond, "By Thy grace I will. " I stand before 3'ou 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 stiong driuk 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 driuk shall cease. At jjresent 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, Jfrs. JIargaret Lucas, sister of Hon. John Bright, M.P. MRS. MARGARET LUCAS, President of the Woman's Temperance League of Great Britain. Ill tliis wel]-kno\ra lady we have a fitting illustration of wliat may lie wroiiglitfor the great outside world in the serene hours of life's long afternoon by the wife and MRS. MARGARET B. LUCAS. A GOOD lEMPLAR. 119 mother whose meridiau 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, liaving 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 j'ears 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 lier 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 fi-iend 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 PEESERVKD ABSTAINERS. Rebecca Collins of New York at tlie same age, honoraiy president of the Metropolitan Union, jMother Hill of New- ark at eighty, attending our 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. ONCE more appears the poetic justice ever recurring ill 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 scut Inmdreds 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 througliout 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) 122 BIRTHPLACE OF GEAND IDEAS. who had drawn near to God in saloon prayer-meetings felt their hearts aflame again as they recounted the won- ders of the great uprising. " It Avas at Chautauqua, the birthplace of grand ideas, that our union originated. It is time the story of its beginnings was written, and there is no more fitting place for its rehearsal tiian in this goodly presence— the city of Louisville, where South and North meet beneath •the olive branch to rejoice over its achievements and con- . secrate anew its altars. " One bright day a very few ladies were in conversation upon the subject that filled their hearts, inspiring the thought that the temperance cause needed the united effort of all the women of the country. The suggestion came from Mrs. Mattie McClellan Brown of Alliance, Ohio. Mrs. G. W. Manly, leader of the praying-band of Akron, accepted the idea, and it was said : ' Why not take steps right here toward its formation ? ' Upon further consultation it was decided to call a meeting of the ladies, notice of which was read from the platform of the audi- torium by Rev. Dr. Vincent. Mrs. Jennie F. Willing of Illinois, a guest of the assembly, mahitained that so important a movement should be controlled by women engaged in active Christian work. In order to arrange the preliminaries of the announced meeting Mrs. WiUing invited Mrs. Brown, Mrs. Manly, Miss Emma Janes of Oakland, California, and Mrs. Ingham of Cleveland, to meet lier in a new board shanty on Asbury avenue. " The Woman's National Christian Temperance Union was born, not in a manger, but on a floor of straw in an apartment into which the daylight shone through holes and crevices. In a half hour's space every detail was 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 MRS. W. A. INGHAM. THE CHAUTAUQUA MEETING. 125 temperance prayer-meetiug 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 P. 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 secretaiy of the Chau- tauqua meeting were authorized to issue a circular letter, asking the Woman's Temperance Leagiies 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. Tlie call duly appeared. The %\riter 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, liave 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 wortliy of the title, and are praying to-day even more earnestly than when with sublime faith they went out into the streets and saloons 12Q THE CHAUtAUQUA CIRCULAR. of Ohio, believing that ere long our Lord will say to ns, '0, woman, great is thy faith; be it unto thee even as thou wilt.' " . ^, , 1 As a matter of history, Mrs. Miller's Chautauqua card is here subjoined : woman's national tempehance 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 m the woman s temperance movement from difierent parts of the Union and different denominations of Christians were present, and the conviction w.s 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 la«t few months. After much deliberation and prayer, a committee of organizatMu waa 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 orgamzation. The chairman and secretary o£ the Chautauqua meeting were authorized o 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. Bamett, Hiawatha, Kansas; Miss Auretta Hoyt, Indianapolis. Ind. ; Mrs. Jennie F^ WiUmg. Bloomington, 111.; Mrs. Ingham Stanton, LeRoy, N. ^.; Mrs. Fran- ces Crooks, Baltimore, Md. ; IMiss Emma Janes, Oakland, Gal. Jennie F. Willing. Chairman. Emily Huntington Miller. Secretary of the Chautaugua Meeting. CHAPTER X. THE 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 18tli, 19tli, 20tli, 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 inorning of November 18tli 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 open, we gathered for a PRAYER-MEETING. Sitting there, listening to the mild voices of that mild- faced throng, singing, "Jesus, I m}' cross have taken," one could but feci 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 jjursuit 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 Blooming-ton, 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, \\-hich 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 w^elcome. To this Mrs. Mary C. Johnson, of New York, responded in words fitting 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 : Resolmd, 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 Poster, 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 Stryker, 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 TUEIK 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. Pinch, Indiana ; Mrs. Wittenmeyer, Pennsylvania ; Mrs. Runj'on, Ohio ; Mrs. L. M. Boise, Michigan ; Mrs. J. Dickey, Illinois ; Mrs. S. A. Gifford, Massachusetts ; Mrs. J. A. Brown, Wisconsin; Mrs. Dr. Kenyon, New York; INIrs. 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 ; ^[rs. Johnson, New York ; Mrs. Leavitt, Oliio. On Juvenile Organizations — Mrs. E. J. Thompson, Ohio ; Miss Willard, Illinois ; Mrs. A. M. Noe, Indiana. NATIONAL TEMPERANCE PAPER. 131 On Establisliing 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," we will give a rSsum6 of the results arrived at by this significant assembly. 1. Resolutions were adopted as follows, embodying a sufficiently exhaustive " confession of faith : " Whekeas, Much of the evil by which this country is cursed comes from the fact tliat the men in power whose duty it is to make and administer tlie laws are either themselves intemperate men or con- trolled largely by the liquor power ; therefore, 1. Mesolved, That the women of the United Stat€8, 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. Eeaolved, 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. Besol-eed, 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. Resolmd, That we respectfully request the physicians to exercise extreme and conscientious care in administering intoxicating liquors as a beverage. 6. Eesolved, That as the National Temperance Society, and Pub- lishing House in New York — J, N. Steams, Publishing Agent — pre- 132 CONSTITUTION OF W. N. C. T. V. sents the best variety of temperance literature in tlie 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. Resol-md, 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 Cliristian 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 wai-med to a vital interest in the temperance cause. n. R/'Solced, 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 difiieulties and dangers with prayer. A constitution was adopted as follows: PREAMBLE. We, the women ot this Nation, conscious of the increasing evils and appalled at the tendencies and dangers of intemperance, believe it has l)ecome our duty, under the providence of God, to unite our efforts for its extinction. COKSTITTITION. 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 ofiicers 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 Secretar)' an annual report of the work in her State. ITS FIRST OFFICERS. 133 5. The Annual Meeting of the Union, at wliioh 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 Prances 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 tlie 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 EVEB-FEMININK DRAWETH ON. throughout the whole Convention. Mrs. S. K. Leavitt, one of Ohio's strongest and best women, conducted the second; Mrs. Dr. Donaldson, of Toledo (whose mind seems as incisive as the blade which bore that name), was generalissimo of the third, and Miss Auretta Ho\ t. of Indiana, as "genuine" as slie 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 achievenwnt. 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, "Tlie 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. Ig5 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 tlie 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, finallv, 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 tiiis 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 alway.' T- " CHAPTER XI. PARLIAMBNTAKY USAGE VERSUS "RED TAPE." Mrs. Plymoutli Rock and Friend Rachel Halliday engage in a dis- cussion. TniE— Just after the National W. C. T. U. Convention. Place— A Pullman car, eastward hound. Persons— A New 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 liave 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—" I tell thee, Martha, I believe thee is under a dehision. 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.— "I think I must plead guilty to tlie 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, I 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 wJien 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 yoii 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 offel" 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 seeonded 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, 1 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 pei:suaded 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 ApoUyon and all his hosts couldn't ruffle your feathers a particle. But I'm not so. ' The Sword of the Lord and 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 tlian 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 Aviso when she says, ' The chair rules that Mrs. Prettyman 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 are 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 revei'sed — any action can be nullified." 140 ORDER heaven's FIRST LAW. Mrs. Rachel — (Aside) — "Nullified! 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 oil grumbling, ' When a thing's done, it's done, according to my way of thinking.' Ah, cousin, knowledge is power. Parliamentary rules ai'e 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 ^voman who felt so set back about her plan for the young lady, but 1 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 thatj 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 METHOn 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 we got through such a great amount of business in those four days, and the ease with which w^e 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 tlie utmost Christian forbearance and gentleness characterized the deportment of every member, and ' rules ' did not prevent frequent prayer even while a qucstiou was iiending. Moreover, you never saw, and never will see, 'a lovelier siglit 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; tliee 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. Nevertlieless I will follow tlice 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 Xn. OUE 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-lianded 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, leading me as many more to copy for you. Be sure to have something else ready for me to do when these are (142) PLENTY OP 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 enei'getic voice chimes in : " I don't speak — thumbscrews wouldn't force a word 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 tliiuk 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 COMPORTED THREE BABIES. lay upon the altar of the woman's temperance crusade.' Even our silent neighbors, the lower animals, came to our lielp. 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 evei-ything 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 eventuallj^ 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. Tlie c'liairmau of our committee on 'Out-door Gospel' writes it — a woman gifted as she is gentle, and brave as shq is modest." "Yes, women go at everything in such a homelike EVEETBODY COUNTS ONE. 145 fashion," muses guest number one, as the trio alight from the jingling cars, and wend their way to the delightful liome 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 heljj forward this reform?' It was not hard to answer. In the first place, everyhody 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 c 146 NEW AVENUES 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 wc hold in publi estimation. Their homes are our shelter, their hearts bur resting-places." " 0, blessed bond, the sweetest that niy life has known ; and marvelous, benignant age which welcomes all of us to new avenues of usefulness, and eloquent, persuasive voice wliich, in the ears of high and low, rich and jioor, 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. MK8. 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 tlic 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 strealc 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 dav. 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 brother. Rev. Dr. Charles H. Fowler (recent editor of the N. Y. Chrhtian 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 aspii'ation 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. Prom 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 crov.d- 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 oi 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 lias 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 lias 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 tlie 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- "^Xance story entitled " The Only Way Out." The others MOBE BEYOND. 163 are " Through the Dark," " Diamond Dust," " Chaff and Wheat," and 'Rosario." Like all strong souls, Mrs. Willing has for her motto ^^pliis 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, I 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 si^iiling " 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, slie 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) 'I ' MRS. EMILY HUNTINGTON MILLER MRS. EMILY HUNTINGTON MILLER. 157 In those memorable winter days when the Crusade was everybody's theme, when, m the university at Bvanston, 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. Tliomas Huntington, a good man and a righteous ; and her mother was one of tliose women •w^hose 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. Tliis alliance is one of the number, happily increasing in these later days, in which the blending of two lives to form the bcacon-ligbt 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 Corporal — the brightest and best beloved child's paper ever seen, except that noble YoutKs Companion, down to the epocli of St. Nicholas and Wide Aivake. 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 St. 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 " Tlie Kirkwood Library." S. C. Griggs & Co., of Chicago, published " What Tommy Did," an illustrated story, which is having a large sale ; and E. P. Button & 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 story books. Talk of the " chivalry " of ancient days ! Go to, ye mediasval 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. MKS. ANNIE WITTENMYER. First President, of the W. C. T. U.— War Record— Church Work- Philanthropy. ANEW YORK journalist thus describes the varied enterprises which liave been helped forward to success by the gifts and energy of this indefatigable Christian worl