Chapter XIII · (continued 2)

They wended their way homeward. The beauty of the scene was destroyed by the sight they had witnessed. A new feeling of responsibility was awakened by that afternoon walk. What could be done to protect the young, and rescue the old, from the ravages of intemperance? was the question constantly recurring to her mind.

During the following winter, the idea of a Woman’s Temperance Union came to her mind; and feeling sure of the beneficial results of such an organization, she did not rest until one was formed, in May, 1874. The first meeting was held in a private parlor. About forty ladies were present; and after a season of earnest prayer, they banded themselves together, under the name of the “Woman’s Temperance Union of Eastford.”

The usual officers were chosen, and a committee appointed to canvass the town, and particularly to visit every woman, and get her co-operation and her name signed to the pledge. This committee performed their work faithfully; and at a meeting held in the vestry, June 17th, made their report, that none were left unvisited; they had met a cordial welcome at nearly every house, and had obtained one hundred and eighty-two names. It was voted to continue to circulate this pledge; also to organize a Band of Hope. This was done July 17th.

A public meeting was held in the Congregational Church, August 3d, which was crowded. The exercises were conducted entirely by women and children, and consisted of original addresses by the ladies, and singing and recitations by the “Band of Hope.” After the exercises were concluded, a pledge was presented to the gentlemen for their signatures, and received a majority of the names of those present.

Temperance tracts and almanacs were bought and distributed in the families; subscriptions were made to various temperance papers, both for children and adults; every means was taken to interest the public in temperance.

It was thought best to make an appeal to the men upon the importance of voting no license. This was done at a public meeting, held October 4th. At this meeting it was manifest that there had been a great change in public feeling upon the temperance question. The landlord of the village hotel had been visited, but he was protected by both town and government license, and for a time he remained unmoved. But temperance sentiment increased, and he was forced out, and the hotel became a temperance house.

At the next election, the town again voted license, and the hotel passed into the possession of a rum-seller. But it is no longer respectable in Eastford to sell rum, and, after the lapse of three years, there has been but two or three violations of the pledge.

The same officers still continue in the Union. The prayer-meeting is held monthly, and we are waiting God’s time, feeling sure that the day will come when right shall be might in the strength of the Lord.

PLAINVILLE, CONNECTICUT.

I am indebted to Mrs. G. A. Moody for the following facts:

During the summer and fall of 1874, after the ever-memorable Crusade of our Western sisters, the Master seemed to be calling upon the Christian women of our State, saying, “Go, work in my vineyard.”

Meetings for prayer sprang up in various sections, almost simultaneously.

In Plainville, a small town of only fifteen hundred inhabitants, the minds of some of the sisters were thoroughly exercised in this matter. Some eighteen or twenty earnest Christian women held a meeting, and much interest was manifested.

Meetings were continued for several weeks, without any organization or much new effort. Earnest prayer was constantly offered: “Lord, what wilt Thou have us to do?”

Immediately after the formation of our State Union, in March of 1875, we organized at Plainville as a Woman’s Christian Temperance Union, auxiliary to the State and National Unions.

About this time our first work was given us.

The husband of one of our dear sisters owned a hotel, and rented it. This house seemed given to us to pray and labor for, that it might be redeemed from the curse of liquor-selling, and made pure.

It was built for a liquor-saloon or hotel, and for thirty years or more a constant stream of death and destruction had issued therefrom.

It seemed much to expect, but we knew that with our God all things were possible, and only being instruments in His hand victory was sure.

We had felt at first that we could never visit saloons, as our dear sisters in New York and the West had done, but we were led into this saloon almost unconsciously. We conversed earnestly with the proprietor and his wife; with the young men we found there; labored with the owner, and looked to our great Captain for success. It was but a little while that we were called to wait: gloriously did the way open.

One of our Christian men, in a good business, bought out the hotel, and having completely renovated it from cellar to attic, opened a temperance hotel and boarding-house, which is constantly a source of comfort and pride to our town.

The first Sabbath after the house was thus opened a meeting for praise and thanksgiving was held in it, by the Women’s Christian Temperance Union; and when we saw the place which had been occupied by the bar used as a platform—saw some three or four young men who had drank at that bar enroll their names, and heard the songs of praise, the prayers and testimonies for Christ in those rooms where the bacchanalian song had so long resounded, we could only say, “Behold what God hath wrought.”

In giving in his testimony at that time, the new proprietor said he felt something almost like a hand upon his shoulder, touching him, and a voice telling him to buy the building.

We had none of us said anything to him about it, and did not know that he had any thought of such a thing, until we heard that he was bargaining for the property.

Since that we have many times visited saloons, sometimes to converse with the proprietors, sometimes to help a wife to rescue her dear husband.

God has also given us souls rescued from the power of rum—washed and made clean in Jesus’ blood. And just as I write, our hearts are rejoicing over a new work: the formation of a Temperance Corps (or Reform Club), by Mr. Warren.

It was one of the most earnest temperance meetings ever held in our town. Many who were never before pledged came forward—some, hard-drinking men. Seven such Unions have been formed in Hartford county.

In Bristol the dear sisters visited the saloons and conversed with the keepers. One of them was soon taken sick. He spoke of their visit, on his sick-bed, and said he should never keep a saloon again; but he was not spared to test his good resolution. They continue to visit saloons, as they feel they are led.

In Southington the women have held two prayer-meetings in one of their saloons.

I was privileged to be present at one of these meetings. Soon after it commenced the men came in from other saloons, until fifty or sixty men and boys were standing listening with earnest attention to the words of Scripture, songs, and prayers. Exhortations and personal appeals followed. The tears trickled from many eyes, and we expect results from that meeting.

And so the work goes on. It has been said by some that the Crusade was over, but in “the land of steady habits” we feel it has but just begun.

We, perhaps, move rather slowly, but now that we are started we intend to hold on in this work till every rum-shop is closed, every drunkard saved, and all our children are safe in the fold. In Plainville we have a Children’s Temperance Union, numbering seventy members. We have also presented a neat little pledge to each teacher in our Sabbath-school; these are triple pledges, including tobacco and profanity, as well as intoxicating drinks. For we feel, that while we labor to reform men, it is very necessary that we keep our children from forming these dreadful habits. And so we labor on as the dear Lord leads, one hand lifted to the throne, the other linked in with the thousands of Christian sisters, forming a band that encircles the world.

And we shall never cease, while life shall last, to labor for Christ and humanity.

NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT.

A meeting was called, July, 1874, by Mrs. Rebecca A. Morrill. Only four ladies responded to that call. Other meetings were held in the Centre Congregational Church, and in the First M. E. Church. Of one of these meetings a lady says: “As I stepped into the church, eight were bowed in prayer in a room where a thousand people could have been seated. Only eight souls responded to the call for prayer for the success of the temperance cause, and I said, ‘Here am I, Lord: send me.’” But the meetings continued, and the work went on, and these women baptized by the Holy Spirit went out into the lanes and alleys of the city, into the homes of the drunken and the sinful, to tell the old, old story of Jesus and his love.

After some months spent in labor, a society was organized, and saloon visiting undertaken. While some of the women remained in the rooms to pray, others would go out into the saloons to invite men to the prayer-room. Each Saturday evening especially, this work was pressed with zeal. They were generally treated with respect, but sometimes forbidden to sing, and asked not to remain long. In other places singing and prayer were allowed, and men stood with uncovered heads, and a profound stillness was observed during the religious exercise.

Most of the dealers admitted that they were doing wrong, and the drinkers that they were on the downward course, especially if they have become confirmed drunkards. There is, however, a large class of young men who see no danger. Sometimes they found fifty or sixty men in the saloons under thirty years of age. Many followed these women from the saloon to the prayer-room, and were saved by the power of grace, and are now in the church of Christ.

At Fair Haven, a beautiful suburban village, a wonderful work of grace was wrought. Very many too poor to ride in the street cars would walk two or three miles in the cold December and January evenings to be present at the place of prayer. Scores of these were converted, and a Union was formed at Fair Haven.

A glorious work was commenced among the children, and hundreds of children and youth were enrolled on their pledge-books. Neighborhood meetings were held, hundreds of families visited, and the interest of the people kept up by frequent mass-meetings. The membership now numbers about ninety.

STAFFORD, CONNECTICUT.

An earnest, persistent temperance work has been carried on in this town; Revs. J. H. James and N. D. Parsons taking the lead in the outdoor work. Prior to the election of 1875, women circulated the following appeal to voters: “We, your sisters, wives and mothers, earnestly pray you, our brothers, husbands and sons, and legal protectors, to defend our hearts and homes from the desolation of rum, by voting no license.” This petition was widely circulated in the village, and only three women out of 333 refused to sign it. The majority for license the year before had been 100, but the effect of this petition and their influence was to secure a no license majority of 124.

During the month of August, 1875, while an outdoor public mass-meeting was being held, a party of roughs and drunkards, who had been attending a horse-race near a bush tavern, came to the meeting-place and stoned the speakers, Revs. J. H. James and N. D. Parsons. But they went forward with the work, for the people of Stafford were aroused that such an indignity and outrage should be perpetrated in their midst.

One dealer in Stafford was a man of a great deal of influence. He persisted in following the business, notwithstanding the vote, and he had such influence over his customers, and used his money so freely, that it was difficult to get evidence; but the women prayed, and the men labored, and in due time he was in the clutches of the law, and the State fine was $300, and the United States fine $700, which ruined him financially and socially.

BRIDGEPORT, CONNECTICUT.

A Woman’s Temperance Union was organized February 26th, 1875, only a few taking an interest; the society beginning with fifteen members; but the few continued in prayer and work till the fall of 1876, when they secured the services of Dr. Reynolds. During his stay a Reform Club of forty members was organized. A room was opened for the Reform Club, in which the ladies also held their meetings. In connection with this a reading-room was opened, and a Sabbath-school organized for the reformed men and their children. Saturday evening prayer-meetings and Sabbath afternoon meetings have been held regularly and largely attended. Many of the men have been brought to feel their need of a higher power to help them resist temptations. The ladies have visited the saloons to some extent; some are visited every week. One man so visited gave up the business, and sent in a request for prayer. Men are brought from the saloons to the meeting; one man who had in this way been induced to attend the prayer-meetings afterwards got drunk, and was sent to jail, where he had time to think on the kind words of instruction given, and to give his heart to Christ. When released from jail, he went to the rooms, signed the pledge, and gave testimony of the power of God to save to the uttermost. He says that before his conversion, he had taken an oath on the Bible to stop drinking, and yet such was the power of appetite over him, that he would be drunk before night, but now the appetite has been taken away from him, and he hates the smell of drink. One man, sixty years old, who had been a saloon-keeper, and for many years a drunkard, was strangely drawn to their rooms, and was led to give up drink and tobacco in every form, and to consecrate himself to Christ. And still the good work goes on, and the interest is increasing.

HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT.

During the winter of 1875-76, a few of the Christian women of Hartford, Connecticut, feeling distressed in regard to the extent of the use of intoxicating liquors in their city, felt it their imperative duty as followers of Him who came to rescue man from degradation and sin, to do all in their power to arrest the progress of this terrible evil.

Accordingly, an association was formed in January, 1876.

In the summer two places were opened by the Union for the free gift of cold water to the passer-by. So that the old excuse of men for drinking beer, or something stronger, because they could not find a place where they could get a good drink of ice-water in the city, might be removed.

In one of these rooms a young woman was employed, for a small compensation, to dispense the water, and temperance papers and tracts were also given to all who would receive them.

As the summer passed away and the colder days came, coffee was substituted for ice-water, and the small sum of five cents was charged for a cup of coffee with a roll; the ladies feeling that even the poor would have more self-respect if they paid for what they received. This little room was so well patronized, that the ladies were urged to add to their bill of fare, so that a cheap dinner might be furnished to people of small means. Soup and baked beans were added, and many poor laboring men were thus aided. A pledge-book was kept in the room, and temperance papers were placed upon the tables. On Monday evening of each week a temperance praise and prayer-meeting was held in the coffee-room, which, during the past winter, was very fully attended; sometimes there being sixty or seventy present.

A small melodeon was hired, and the music drew in many from the street. A large number signed the pledge after these meetings, and some cases of wonderful reformation have occurred. Most of those who promise to give up the use of liquors do it with the determination to lead a life of prayer and trust in God.

A small library of temperance books and stories is in one corner of the room, and young men and boys are invited in, evenings, to read; but as they have no room except the eating-room, they have not been able to carry out this part of the work as successfully as they hope to do at some future time.

Early in the work of the Union a committee was appointed to visit the jail, and the startling fact was ascertained that more than three-fourths of the prisoners, including male and female, were brought there through the influence of alcoholic drinks. The ladies were allowed to converse with the female prisoners, and good books and papers were left with them to read.

Another coffee-room, with lodgings connected, was opened in February, 1877, under the care of an earnest Christian man, who was to watch over and guard such reformed men as were permitted to board there. Owing to the low state of the treasury, only a small building could be hired, which accommodated but six or eight lodgers.

But want of means obliged the Temperance Union to give up this “Friendly Inn” in July last, much to their regret, for they felt it to be a centre of great good. The part of the city where it was located was filled with drinking-saloons. A temperance prayer-meeting was held in the room every Friday eve, and the crowds who gathered in the room and about the door showed their interest in it. These meetings have been continued since the coffee-room was closed. Many have signed the pledge, and some hope they have commenced a Christian life through the influence of the meetings. Wall-pockets, with tracts and papers, have been placed by the Temperance Union in many of the fire-engine houses in the city, and also in the State hospital.

Slowly, but it is hoped surely, the little work goes on; clouds often gather over the pathway of those who are leading as well as those who are being led, but the humble work done in the name of the Master is laid with earnest prayer at His feet.

The ladies of the following towns have engaged in the work with more or less success, often battling against fearful discouragements:

East Hampton, Essex, Bethany, Deep River, Willimantic, Jewett City, West Haven, Danbury, and South Norwalk.

DELAWARE.

A good work has been done in Delaware during the last three years. Immense mass-meetings have been held in Wilmington from time to time, and petitions to the Legislature been extensively circulated. On Tuesday, February 16th, 1875, the Woman’s Temperance Union of Wilmington, joined by temperance women from other parts of the State, paid a visit to the State Legislature. It was my privilege to accompany the delegation and aid in the services. A special train was chartered, and two or three hundred went down from Wilmington, and the number was augmented at every station on the route. The excitement in Dover was intense; as notice of this visit had been given, people from towns and neighborhoods within a circle of twenty miles crowded into Dover. The citizens of the town met and welcomed the Woman’s Temperance Union, and provided entertainment.

At three o’clock, by previous arrangement, they proceeded in a body to the State House. The building was already filled to its utmost capacity, but the sergeant-at-arms cleared the way for the visitors. The members of both houses were in waiting, and received their lady visitors in a cordial and gentlemanly manner. As soon as the speaker called the house to order, Mrs. Stevens stepped in front and knelt in prayer. It was a solemn moment. Every head was bowed, and every heart throbbed under the searching power of the Divine Spirit, and many eyes were wet with tears, while she prayed to Almighty God for the deliverance of her State from the thraldom of the liquor traffic. The prayer was followed by the singing of two verses of

Mrs. Smith and Mrs. Israel, of Wilmington, and the writer of these pages, were privileged to address the Legislature.

A mass-meeting was held in the evening, which was attended by nearly every member of both houses. One senator said, grasping my hand, “The effect of this will not be lost. There were some of us who could join your Crusade song in the beginning, but there are others who have been won to-day.”

“I MADE HIM WHAT HE WAS.”

About this time a saloon-keeper in Dover, Delaware, who patronized his own bar very liberally, stepped into a back room where men were at work about a pump in a well. The covering had been removed, and he approached to look down, but being very drunk, pitched in, head foremost. He had become so much of a bloat by the use of strong drink, that it was impossible to extricate him in time to save his life.

There was great excitement in the town. Men and women who had never been inside of his saloon before, were the first to rush to the rescue, and to offer sympathy to the bereaved family. As he was being dragged from the well, and stretched out dead upon the saloon floor, a wholesale liquor-dealer from Philadelphia stepped in. After the first shock at thus finding one of his good customers dead, he turned to a prominent lady, a Crusader, and said, pointing to the wrecked victim, “I made that man what he was. I lent him his first dollar, and set him up with his first stock of liquors, and he’s now worth $10,000 or $15,000.”

Looking him full in the face, she responded:

“You made that man what he was—a drunkard, a bloat, a stench in the nostrils of society, and sent him headlong into eternity, and to a drunkard’s hell. What is $15,000 weighed against a lost soul, a wasted life, a wife a widow, and children orphans?”

He turned deadly pale, and without a word left the house.

What is all the business and all the revenue to the millions whose homes are despoiled, whose children are beggared, and whose loved ones are sent headlong to a drunkard’s grave and a drunkard’s hell? Let us put ourselves in the place of that mother, whose son is pursued day and night by this demon, till the hairs of his head become serpents, and live coals burn into his flesh to the very bone, and, fighting devils, he leaps out into eternity, and then ask, Are my hands clean? Do I love my neighbor as myself? Am I doing all I can to stay the tide that is bearing so many down, and may yet bear me down?

During the spring and summer of 1877, immense daily mass-meetings were held in Wilmington, in the Opera House, and in a large tent. The meetings were crowded, and 15,000 signed the pledge. Taken as a whole, there has been a great advance in Delaware within the last few years.

THE OUTLOOK AFTER THE CRUSADE.