Chapter V: Chicago, Illinois

Early in March, 1874, it was announced that the city council had determined to repeal the law requiring saloon-keepers to close their doors on the Sabbath day. Petitions against the repeal of the law were extensively circulated, and the moral sentiment of the city thoroughly aroused.

A meeting was called for the next Monday afternoon, March 16th, at Clark Street M. E. Church. The house was packed to its utmost capacity, the front seats in the gallery being filled with saloon-keepers. Many ministers were on the platform. Mrs. Wirts called the meeting to order, and Mrs. Rev. Moses Smith was elected chairman. There was deep interest. One present says: “The intensity of feeling was something to be felt, but can never be described.” During the devotional exercises every Christian heart realized that the Holy Spirit was present.

The first business of the meeting was the appointment of a committee of fifty to present the petition to the common council. Mrs. Rev. Moses Smith and fifty others were designated to visit the council chamber.

Mrs. Smith gives the following particulars of this visit:

“About seven o’clock, when the streets were comparatively quiet, we formed in procession and marched silently to the council chamber. On reaching the hall, the door was found locked, and guarded by a drunken janitor, armed with a revolver and dirk. Rev. Arthur Mitchell, D. D., and Rev. Arthur Edwards, D. D., who had greatly aided in the afternoon meeting, came to our aid, and succeeded in getting the door unlocked, and with their own hands lighted the gas. As many of the ladies as could be seated passed in to await the coming of the council, while the others returned to the church.

“At eight o’clock the council came to order, and the clerk announced the first business on the docket to be the final vote on the repeal of the Sunday law. Then ensued a struggle: the more reckless were determined to repeal the law before the ladies’ petitions could be presented; others, even of the rum party, with an eye to future elections, favored making the listening to the petition the first business in order. After a long discussion, the motion prevailed to listen to the petition.

“In the meantime a mob had gathered around the building, pressing through the long corridors even into the council chamber. There was hooting and yelling, and throwing of bricks, and threats from some of the more desperate.”

After the presentation of the petition, Mrs. Moses Smith was permitted to address the council. She said: “_Gentlemen of the Common Council_: We came not here to address you. We desire not to take one moment of your time. We come with a petition bearing the names of 16,000 women, and we feel that we represent the women of the city, and that we represent the cause of righteousness and of God; and we feel, too, that we are the power behind the throne, which may be felt at another election, though it was not at the last. We only entreat you in the name of our Father in heaven, and as you have the personal responsibility before you, not to open the saloons to our young men and to our children on God’s day.”

Mrs. Smith was escorted from the building by Dr. Mitchell, preceded by an armed policeman.

She says: “The moment I stepped out of the room an infuriated yell went up that fairly shook the building.” Saloon-keepers had offered free rum to all who would join the mob. Although several thousand of the most desperate men in the city were gathered in that surging, hissing crowd, the ladies passed through and returned to the church without any serious injury. Regardless of the petition, the law was repealed, but the mob had done more for the cause of temperance than the granting of the petition could have done.

We give the following detailed account from the _Chicago Times_, of March 17th:

“It was well the ladies proceeded at an early hour to the council chamber, though this precaution entailed upon them nearly three hours’ wait. As soon as they had been admitted, the rabble began to gather on the outside, blocking up all the avenues of approach. Adams street was crowded by, perhaps, the most ruffianly crowd ever gathered in the city--a crowd in duty bound to insult everybody bearing the semblance of a lady. It had been gathered from the saloons and slums of the city to give the bummer aldermen a moral support. The leaders had sent out the command: ‘Rally your forces; we must counteract the influence of the women.’ Accordingly, every saloon had stood treat to all the dead-beats who would ordinarily be ordered out of the place, on condition that they would make ‘Rome howl!’ about the city hall. The move was a complete success, and a more unmannerly and disgraceful mob never outraged propriety and threatened the peace of the city. As soon as the council chamber was filled, the corridors were crowded with a filth-reeking crowd. The doors were slammed in their faces, and then a howl of indignation arose, that made the old rookery shake from its foundations to the skylights. As often as a vote resulted in favor of the bummers, the news was conveyed to the mob, and the most unearthly yells would be sent up, reverberating through the council chamber to the stopping of all business.

“The air within was stifling, and frequently ladies would beg escorts from Captain Buckley to seek the open air. Such requests were always granted, but it was almost as much as their lives were worth for the ladies to work their way through the mob. As soon as the doors opened to pass them, the crowd in the corridors, getting sight of a bonnet, would break out in cheers, yells, hoots, groans, and cat-calls. This sort of thing was kept up until the lady reached the street, and there the cries would be taken up by the rabble outside, and the lady would generally be accompanied by a mob of several thousand, a block or two, all yelling like demons possessed. A number of ladies fainted during the ordeal. These diversions were of frequent occurrence, and the shouting and yelling were interminable during the whole time that the ladies were in the council chamber. But the closing scene was the most disgraceful of all.

“It was the most outrageous proceeding ever witnessed in a civilized community. It must now be counted among the other delusions dispelled in this age, that men, no matter in what position in life, entertain a natural regard for the fair sex. The mob on last evening completely refuted this flattering unction. Savages would have shown more respect to captive Amazons. When the vote on the whiskey ordinance was declared carried, the ladies rose to depart. A posse of police then proceeded to break a way through the crowd. Having succeeded in this difficult task, the ladies filed out of the hall between two rows of officers. On either side stood a glaring mob--a shouting, a groaning, a hooting, a demoniac mob. The most obscene phrases were bandied about; the foulest epithets were applied. Women passing along the corridors through this lane of filth, hid their faces in their hands; dropped their veils; shrank within themselves; hurried forward on the run; stopped sometimes as if ready to sink, but gathering renewed strength, started forward again, pressed by the ladies behind them, all eager to reach the open air.

“But when the open air was gained, the situation in nowise improved. Egress was had by the door in the rear leading to the alley next to the Grand Pacific. Thousands were crammed into this space--a howling menagerie. The police cleared the sidewalk, but the crowd lined the verge, and poured a volley of blasphemy and obscenity at the procession of ladies. When La Salle street was reached, other thousands were awaiting their approach, and these howled even louder than those who greeted them in the alley. The noise was positively hideous, and this hooting, yelling, blasphemous mob, of five thousand roughs, the very offscourings of the saloons, flanked and followed them clear to the door of the church. Jostling them on the way; spitting tobacco juice on their dresses; pulling at their chignons; in some cases tripping them up; knocking off the hats of their escorts,--brothers, husbands, or sons,--giving the latter kicks, cuffs, and digs in the ribs; and all the while the hooting, yelling, howling continued, and not infrequently members of the procession would sink to the ground, swooning from very fright.

“It was a terrible ordeal these ladies were compelled to pass. It is safe to say that never before, in this country, did an equally respectable body of ladies receive such brutal treatment. The rage of the mob following the cart of Marie Antoinette to the guillotine was not more demoniac, and probably far more courteous. For much of this, that low-bred demagogue--Hesing’s henchman--Jack Rehm, superintendent of police, is responsible. The ladies called on him for protection, and he refused it; the mob ruled in the very head-quarters of the police. This bummer, with the star of the chief, was in league with the rabble; he was a party to the plot to congregate all the scum of the city hall; no pretence at order made on the outside; the police, as they say in Paris, ‘fraternized’ with the mob; they knew which side the powers that be were on.”

So far from intimidating the women of Chicago, it made them a thousand times more determined. Perhaps many of them were not aware, up to that time, of the hideousness of the rum power, and the degradation and vileness of its votaries. Their eyes are opened. They see they have a giant to fight, and yet it is not for them to fight; this wonderful movement is _all of God, in answer to prayer_. Millions of prayers are going up to God, and a wonderful spiritual influence in answer to these prayers is being poured out upon the people of all lands. The temperance question is on the crest of this wonderful tidal wave.

The _Chicago Tribune_ and _Northwestern Christian Advocate_ give substantially the same account, and unite to deplore and condemn the affair as a disgraceful outrage on decency and propriety.

ORIGIN OF CHICAGO DAILY TEMPERANCE PRAYER-MEETING.

After the visit to the mayor, rejection of petition, mob procession, etc., the temperance women of Chicago did not lose heart. They maintained a daily prayer-meeting in the lecture-room of Clark Street M. E. Church, at which numbers of drinking men signed the pledge, and sought “the Lord behind the pledge,” as one of them expressed it. During the frightful heat of that summer, the attendance fell off sometimes. Mrs. O. B. Wilson, the President, a plethoric lady, in feeble health, and past the prime of life, would ride miles in the street cars, from her home on one of the south side avenues, to the place of meeting in the Y. M. C. A. building, meeting there but one other lady, and she from a distance equally great on the north side of the city. At last, for a few weeks, the meeting was relinquished. When Miss Frances E. Willard, who had just entered the temperance work, and been made President of the Chicago Union, returned from old Orchard Beach, with the fresh enthusiasm and faith stimulated by that meeting, she, with Mrs. Louise S. Rounds, her special friend and coadjutor, proposed the re-establishment of the daily gospel meeting. They laid their plans before the ladies at the regular meeting, and advocated giving more publicity to the effort, and especially the effort to secure attendance of the drinking, swearing, “elbow heathen” of the streets. They proposed circulating a little hand-bill of invitation, putting out a sign with “Everybody welcome! Come and sign the pledge!” and also placing notices in the daily papers. The debate was long and animated. Some of the ladies said, “You’ve seen how difficult, almost impossible it is to sustain any sort of a meeting. A failure will be disastrous, and we cannot hope to succeed.” Others said to Miss Willard, who gave all her time to the office, “You’ll have to conduct the meeting all alone; and though profitable to you, it will not fulfil what you are aiming at, for if nobody comes, you surely cannot reach the masses.” But at last, by a small majority, the proposition carried.

Miss Willard, in the simplicity of her heart, went to Miss Cushing, Librarian of the Y. M. C. A., and obtained her promise that if the prediction came true, and she found herself absolutely without any one to kneel beside her in prayer, Miss Cushing might be called upon to help her “keep up the meeting.”

But this exigency never arose. The first day seven were present, the majority of them drinking men. Rapidly the numbers increased, until the office, which, by packing, would hold forty, was crowded, and the doorway and hall. Then the Y. M. C. A. gave the use of lower Farwell Hall (where their noon meeting is held) and the attendance grew until two, three, and four hundred would convene at three P. M. daily.

Humanly speaking, the elements of success were: Dauntless determination; thorough advertising of meeting and persistently keeping it before the public--large placards of welcome, hand-bills circulated on the streets, notices of the press; accounts of the occurrences at the meeting, as well as mere announcement; having it _accessible_--in heart of city, _down-stairs_, level of street, good lively music and excellent instrumental accompaniment; regularly-appointed leaders (the week beforehand, so they could prepare), going into reading-room of Y. M. C. A., and daily inviting the loungers there, with utmost kindness, to attend.

Mrs. L. S. Rounds, Corresponding Secretary, gives the following account of the work during the last year:

“Since the 1st of October, 1876, I have had charge of the work. We have a membership of about seventy-five. Our daily temperance prayer-meeting is _the_ feature of our work. Held in the very centre of the city, we have had, since the above date, an average daily attendance through the winter of two hundred and fifty, and during these past summer weeks an average attendance daily of eighty-five to one hundred.

“These meetings are held from three to four each day, Sundays excepted--always led by some lady, excepting a few weeks during the winter, when the meetings were led by Brother Sawyer, Mr. Moody’s co-laborer.

“The influence going out from these meetings is felt in all the surrounding States, and letters come to us nearly every day from persons who have been helped by them. At the close of each meeting the pledge is presented.

“Besides this daily meeting, we have weekly meetings under our auspices, at the following points:

“_Bethel Home_, where a meeting has been sustained about three years. There a _mighty_ work has been done: _thousands_ passing through the Home have been in our meetings, possibly, only once--others several times, and the seed thus sown has fallen upon many a poor, weary heart. The Superintendent of the Home says that about twenty thousand persons pass through the Home yearly. The larger portion of these come into our meetings. They are poor wanderers, going up and down in the world, seeking work, rest, and homes. The most of them are drinking men. It is one of the most promising points of our work, and _thousands_ of these poor outcasts have signed the pledge here and begun a better life.

“_Burr Mission_ is also a grand field for labor--a hard one, but all the more blessed, because of the joy it gives of seeing the cross of Christ win its way in the worst of places. Earnest Christian women have stood firm at their post here, and God has blessed them wonderfully. Hundreds have signed the pledge. Much house to house visiting is being done here, with blessed results.

“_Twenty-fifth street and Portland avenue_ is another point where we have planted our temperance work. Here we have much help from Christian men and women living in the neighborhood.

“_At 221 West Madison street_ we have another point of work. This meeting has only been in progress a few months, and yet the interest is remarkable, and much good is being done. Many Christians attend this meeting, held every Monday night.

“And last, but by no means least, we have a new point of work in the extreme south part of the city, in the midst of a drinking class of people, called--

“_Our Forty-seventh Street Work._ A gospel temperance meeting was started here about six weeks ago, a hall secured, and meetings held _twice_ every week. The entire neighborhood seems aroused. Some opposition was met with at first, but the whiskey men are finding out that we have come to stay. A noble Christian man, under the direction of our Union, has charge of the work, and we send speakers and watch its interests. At _every_ meeting large numbers sign the pledge. The work here promises grand things.

SUMMARY OF WORK.

“The Chicago Union holds, _every week, twelve_ gospel temperance meetings. At all of these, the pledge is presented, and the Saviour offered as the Physician for sin-sick souls. At all of these meetings an opportunity is given for any one to present requests for prayers either for himself or for friends, and also to give testimony as to what the Lord is doing for him.

“No reformed man is allowed to take part in our meetings who ignores Christ’s power to save, or scorns His help, no matter how good a _temperance_ man he may be. _We never run in debt._ It is an understood rule that we shall _never_ go beyond the means in hand. Clinging to this, we found ourselves one day with only forty-five cents in the treasury, but all bills were paid, and before others came in the Lord supplied our needs.

“Not _one dime_ from our treasury goes to relief work. In a great city like this, constantly running the risk of being imposed on by untruthful and indolent people, we saw the wisdom of adopting this rule, and have adhered to it strictly. We find that those we help the least, _materially_, do the best for _themselves_, and this is a fact worthy of consideration. Much of the so-called _charity_ of the world is but adding fuel to the fire which is burning out our social life. Every man ought to be taught that he must depend upon _God_ and _himself_.

“Our temperance women cannot learn the lesson too soon, that there is _no end_ to the long procession who care more for the bread that perisheth, than for that of eternal life.

“Our objective point is the uplifting of _public sentiment_. Pulling drunkards out of the gutter is good work, but to keep them from getting in is better. Our hope is in the children. To this end the juvenile work interests us much. In nearly all the evangelical Sunday-schools of the city, we have introduced a review lesson on Temperance, prepared by Miss Kimball, the chairman of that department. It has proved _very acceptable_; and Sunday-schools out in the towns and villages in the State have sent to us for it.

“God give us the children for Christ and temperance, is our cry; and we hear Him say, ‘According to your _faith_ be it done unto you.’

“To-day, at the close of this hot August month, with the fall and winter work close upon us, our Chicago Union stands bravely at the front, where, thank God, she has _always_ stood.

“To recapitulate:

“We hold _twelve gospel temperance meetings every_ week, counting in our six _daily_ meetings, the attendance of which yesterday was 120, averaging daily from 80 to 100! Our regular _business_ meeting every week. During the past _eleven_ months (first three of which is in the last report), between 1,500 and 1,600 have signed the pledge; and we feel safe in saying that there have been from _three_ to _five hundred conversions_. May God continue to bless the temperance cause, and to Him be all the glory.”

JACKSONVILLE, ILLINOIS.

After an all-day prayer-meeting, the women were invited to meet and organize, which they did on March 16th, 1874, enrolling at the first meeting 200 names, as workers. They caused to be placed on record, the following solemn statement: “We now buckled on the armor, and go forward; there is no retreat, no failure; we do not expect to lay down our armor until life’s work is done. Our motto is, Jehovah nisi: the Lord my banner; and with this unfurled, floating in the air--which is wafted from the heavens above us--we go forth to conquer for Him who gave His life for us.”

A pledge was drawn up, and circulated among the druggists, to which most of them signed their names. Committees were appointed to visit the owners of the buildings where saloons were kept, hoping, as nearly all were church members, they would be convinced of the wrong they were doing. Total abstinence pledges were circulated throughout the city, and over two thousand names were enrolled on the pledge-books.

One day, a member of the Union, seeing a man come out of a saloon, said, with a kind look, “My friend, you do not frequent the saloon at such a time as this?” He answered, “I have done so.” After some conversation, they separated; he went home and related the circumstance to his wife, and expressed a willingness to sign the pledge. The wife found out the name of the lady, visited her and urged her to present the pledge to her husband, which she did. The man wrote his name to the pledge, declaring solemnly that he would never break it; and has kept it faithfully, and taken a stand on the Lord’s side, and united with one of the churches.

A man came into the meeting one day, who seemed very much affected and interested. He said he lived eight miles from the town, was in the habit of drinking, and had been for thirty years; as he was coming into town, his wife wished him to attend the meeting where they prayed for those who wanted to be free from the bondage of drink, so instead of going to the saloon, he went to the prayer-meeting.

Not long afterwards, while the women were praying before a saloon, a wagon stopped, and the occupants desired to see some of the women; it was the man just mentioned, with his family. They all wanted to sign the pledge; the shadow had been lifted, they had now a happy home, the man had reformed.

Mrs. L. H. Washington, who was the President of the Union at that time, says:

“We met daily, asking our Father to lead us, and use us against the evil, which threatened all that was precious In life. We did this, however, in the beginning, without any expectation of going into the saloons. For myself, I had an abhorrence of drinking-places, from which happily my father, brothers and husband, had kept aloof.”

After two weeks of dally meetings, we began to visit the saloons.

Our band, which commenced with five, soon numbered seventy-five. We were almost invariably treated with respect, not that the saloonists were glad of our company, but they knew that their only hope of maintaining their position and business was in appearing as much like gentlemen as they knew how.

There were some exceptions to courteous treatment, generally from those under the influence of liquor. One saloon-keeper, who was much intoxicated, seized a gun, and aimed it at the women, but it was wrested from him, by his patrons. When sober he always invited us in, (we did not enter without permission,) and frequently followed to other saloons with apparent interest. Another saloon-keeper, also intoxicated, said: “What do you bring your Jesus here for? take Him to the church, and crucify Him there. You are working for money, any way.”

We immediately acknowledged that we had received nearly a thousand dollars to open a pleasant free reading-room, where all were invited, and we wanted all who worked for money to take good care of it, and make their homes pleasant, and their wives and children happy, and we urged all to come and partake of the “water of life freely, without money, and without price.”

One of the most deeply solemn prayer-meetings I ever attended, was held in a saloon, by appointment, and with the consent of the proprietor. Intelligence and wealth, ignorance and poverty, were represented in the band. Anguished hearts were laid bare; wrongs and solicitudes which had been carefully covered over for years, awakened ready sympathy, and all clasped hands against a common foe.

Saloon patronage was greatly reduced; many unaccustomed to attend church, on invitation came, and some were gathered into the fold.

It was almost the universal opinion, that with the burning eye of public sentiment turned upon the liquor traffic, it must go down. The saloonists were evidently trembling, not so much at the power of God whom they did not fear, as at the power of the earthly counsel, from whom they bought silence and favor, by paying $500 per annum. So insecure did they feel, and so low had their patronage been reduced, that they did not replenish their stock.

One liquor agent, who, when he visited the city, usually sold from $1,500 to $2,500 worth of liquors to the drug stores and saloons, stated, that he could not sell one dollar’s worth. We afterwards learned that he came into our daily meeting to see what the women were doing, to so interfere with his business.

I was riding in the cars one night. We reached the city of Peoria about midnight. This city is noted for its whiskey making, and a man entered, and engaged in conversation with a passenger, from which I learned, they were both engaged in the liquor business.

“Times are dull, dull,” was the salutation that passed between them. A pocket flask was produced, and the quality of its contents tested with evident relish.

“Doesn’t it beat the devil? You can’t sell whiskey in these days.” (I thought myself, that the devil was badly beaten.)

“Where have you been this round?”

Several places were indicated.

“Did you stop at Jacksonville?”

“Yes, but they’ve got a Crusade and a revival, too, and there’s no use to try to sell there.”

“Things look rather dark.”

“I think they do: Why, there are 30,000 barrels of whiskey in the bonded warehouses of Peoria, to-day, and no sale to speak of. B----’s distillery must shut down, if times don’t brighten. Why if this thing keeps on three months longer, every whiskey man in the country will be busted.”

Alas! that the adversary of souls should have so many allies, and one so powerful in the love of money.

In our city, many who commended crusading, and were loud in their praises, and hoped the women would not give up, when the time came for voting, failed to back their praises with their votes. “Temperance work,” they said, “was a Christian work, a work of moral suasion, and since men would drink, it was best and safest to make them pay for it.” And so they bargained for the evil, which their wives prayed to prevent, and hindered the good work.

We were cast down, but not altogether discouraged. We wept, it is true, but had not our Master wept over Jerusalem? Jerusalem was destroyed, but His blessed cause lives, and the light then overshadowed, is brightening the uttermost parts of the earth.

I learn from the records that on April 9th the following petition was prepared: “_To the Honorable, the Mayor and City Council of the City of Jacksonville_:

“The undersigned, residents of Jacksonville, respectfully ask that no license to retail intoxicating drinks shall be granted by the city of Jacksonville. To you who have full power to grant or deny our prayer we appeal as mothers, wives, daughters, sisters, to aid in preventing a traffic that causes evil, and only evil, and by which our sex and young children are the greatest sufferers.”

This petition was circulated, and the names of 1,650 women annexed, and presented to the council at their first meeting by a committee appointed by the Union. This petition was placed, by vote of said council, in the hands of the chairman of the committee on ordinances, where it slept, with naught to disturb its repose, until its resurrection by the Union a year afterwards. It is now nicely rolled up and occupies a place with the records kept by the Secretary of the temperance society.

And yet, with all these discouragements, the Secretary, Mrs. E. J. Bancroft, records the purpose of the society in the following tender words:

“Let us, members of the Union, keep heart to heart, having charity among ourselves as to ways and means of doing good. Work and wait, looking to Him who gave the cause into our hands--the burden into our hearts.”

ROCKFORD, ILLINOIS.

I am indebted to Mrs. S. M. I. Henry, Corresponding Secretary, for the following facts:

The city of Rockford, Illinois, on the Rock river, has had rather a remarkable history. About twenty years ago its numerous Christian counsellors set themselves to frame a municipal law for the liquor traffic, which, while it licensed, should at the same time prohibit; and the government was run on this double-faced principle for a series of years, during which manufactories multiplied, homes were built after the most luxurious style, churches were erected until they stood one for every thousand of her population, schools were perfected, and her youth grew up and entered business, and reared houses of their own; when it suddenly appeared to the women that their proud and beautiful city had a saloon for every church, and more than matched the church in point of influence.

Under the terrible pressure of facts, the women came together, on the 27th of March, 1874, and organized a Woman’s Temperance Union, having but the one object, of saving the men of our city from the curse of rum. The wife of the mayor, Mrs. Gilbert Woodruff, was made the President of this organization, with a Vice-President from every church in the city. Mrs. S. M. I. Henry was elected Secretary, and Mrs. H. W. Carpenter, Treasurer.

Thoroughly organized, the Union began its work--holding public meetings, canvassing the city with pledges and petitions, studying the laws of the State and city, looking up the city records for facts to be used in public and private; and, greater than any of these, imploring the God of heaven daily for relief from the death-grip of this enemy. The pledges were signed by a good proportion of the _temperance_ people, and a few drinkers.

The petition to the council, not to grant licenses, was signed by 2,325 women, 1,357 men, over age, and was presented to the council by twenty-one ladies--and was _not granted_. We worked on one year, without any apparent result--passed the anniversary, and began the second year with nothing but faith. By very great efforts, we raised the means to secure the services of Francis Murphy, who came to Rockford, about the 10th of April, 1875. The people thronged to hear him, and thus became interested in the idea and fact of reformation for the drunkard. Some hard drinkers signed the pledge at his meetings, who have stood true until now.

Just before Mr. Murphy came, the business men who were in sympathy with our work organized an alliance, which is still in good, substantial working order, and is a power in our city.

In July, 750 of our Union opened rooms for temperance gospel work, and Mrs. Henry, the Corresponding Secretary, was placed in charge, in which position she still remains. These rooms have become one of the institutions of the city, and have been the scene of many thrilling incidents in the work of individual reform. A pledge-book is kept on the table, and about four hundred names have been enrolled, of those who, in the midst of a downward course, have resolved to reform, and sought the temperance rooms and called for the pledge, unsolicited by us. Of this number more than ninety per cent. stand true.

On the 15th of October, 1875, a Reform Club was organized in the rooms, beginning with seven members, all men rescued, by the grace of God, through the gospel temperance work, from the lowest depths. This club now numbers over one hundred men of like experience, many of whom have been converted, and are humbly following Christ.

At the beginning of the second year of our Union, Mrs. John Backus was elected President, Mrs. Woodruff being first Vice-President; and Mrs. Starr, Recording Secretary; Mrs. S. B. Wilkins, Treasurer; the Corresponding Secretary, Mrs. Henry, being retained. These officers were re-elected at our last annual meeting. At that meeting, the Corresponding Secretary in making her report referred to the strange fact, that not one of our members had been called away by death, and that no one had ever seceded from us. But to-day, six months after, we cannot say this: two of our dearest fellow-workers have gone up to represent us in the court of the King.

Mrs. Mary A. Phelps, and Mrs. Gilbert Woodruff, our first Vice-President. No one reading these two names, in this connection, can know what it means to us. They were beloved and honored among us, and we are left _stricken_, yet following on.

Our work is peculiarly _gospel_ work. During the years, our weekly gospel meetings for the men, our monthly meetings for the young people, weekly Thursday afternoon meetings of the Union, and weekly club meetings on Friday evening for men only, are all carried on, nothing being allowed to interfere. During the summer, afternoon meetings are held in the public park, every Saturday, at three o’clock, conducted by the women; and occasionally some good pastor of a city church visits us of a Sabbath evening, with his people, to hold a gospel temperance meeting.

We have done a great deal of saloon visiting, not crusading, and tract work, with good results. A great deal of relief work comes to us every winter. Last winter the charity of the churches was distributed through our agency, and we had thirty-five families on our list, whose comfort was the daily care of our Union all winter. Cause of this want--_drink_. Result of the gospel temperance relief work--reformation, and conversion in several instances.

Out of the W. T. Union of our city have grown several organizations, all working in harmony with us, and each other, viz.: the Rockford Temperance Alliance, the Rockford Reform Club, Spafford Lodge, I. O. G. T., and the Temple of Honor.

We were sure, at first, that our call was of God, but to-day, looking back over three and a half years of constant work in this cause, we _know it_.

We praise Him for the past, and trust Him for the future.

BLOOMINGTON, ILLINOIS.

Mrs. A. E. Sanford, of Bloomington, gives the following account of work there:

The two months of prayer and conference preceding the work of saloon visiting, was a season of earnest praying and patient hard work. Saloons were visited every day, their keepers and occupants conversed with, urged to sign the pledge, become Christians, and give up the miserable business of selling and drinking liquors. Several gave up the business, many signed the pledge, and much good resulted from the loving labors of God’s loyal women.

April 20th, 1874, was a memorable day in the history of Bloomington. The city council, in answer to the importunate entreaties of the women to make prohibition regulations, had promised to leave the decision to the popular vote. At an early hour the ladies convened at the First M. E. Church, and after spending one hour in agonizing prayer, went out in companies to the different wards, to influence, if possible, the voters. Quiet, timid women, with calm, resolute courage, in many of whose faces shone the peace and trust born of abiding faith in God, took their places with hearts full of prayer, and hands full of prohibition tickets, and in the drizzling, cold rain, fought for the cause they loved.

Ministers, Christian men and women, and the Faculty of Wesleyan University, all worked together tirelessly, for they thought much depended on that day’s work. Many a voter, who had little faith in the “no license plan,” was induced to try the experiment; many a poor inebriate, seeing in prohibition his only hope of reform, and many a man, who cared little for the result, was induced to vote the prohibition ticket.

At the church the women gathered all day and prayed; lunch was served also there; reliefs sent to those who had worked at the polls till strength gave way. Not a word of disrespect or roughness was given to the ladies, though they mingled with rough men, accompanying them to the polls to see the proper tickets deposited.

When the polls closed, men and women, interested in prohibition, gathered at the church to await “returns.” As the news came in, shouts of praise, and songs of rejoicing mingled together; and when the victory was declared, the grand long-metre doxology sung with quivering lips and streaming eyes, attested how deep had been the interest, and how profound was the thanksgiving.

But alas! how short-lived was our triumph. The council, disappointed in the result, “dilly-dallied” about carrying the popular vote into execution, until in June they passed the mockery of a prohibition ordinance, making the sale of less than one gallon illegal. But even this mockery accomplished good. Young men and boys were less frequently found in saloons; drunken men were seen less frequently upon the streets; and a visible improvement was manifest until fall, when even that ordinance was repealed, and “license” became the rule. Those were dark days for the friends of temperance.

Since 1876, nearly half the saloons which had existence here have been closed. The Washingtonian Club has grown out of the prayers and efforts of the Union. Every week a few sign the pledge; and steadily, though slowly, the temperance sentiment is gaining ground and winning sympathy.

The ladies of the Union meet weekly, not in the large numbers which characterized the Crusade days, but a few are always there, “stretching their hands to God,” and believing that the right must triumph in God’s good time; and so we are not discouraged, but hoping.

MOLINE, ILLINOIS.

I am indebted to Mrs. M. E. Stewart for the facts connected with the heroic work of the women of this town:

Long before the great tidal wave of temperance had rolled over Ohio, Indiana, and other States, there were anxious hearts in Moline. There were sleepless nights, and agonizing prayers, and many times was the question repeated mentally, “What, oh, what can be done to stay the terrible curse of intemperance?” But when the glad news of what was being done in our sister States flashed across the wires, we thanked God, and took courage, hoping that a spark from the spreading fire might alight in our own city. At length our desires were realized, and on the 20th day of April, 1874, at three o’clock P. M., about twenty women met for prayer and discussion, and, before separating, organized, and appointed committees for various duties, drafting Constitution and By-laws, and drawing up petitions.

The meeting was earnest and spirited, and the great burden of heart seemed to be that the city council, manufacturers and business men, should take a decided stand on the side of temperance, by not licensing the sale of spirituous liquors, and by giving employment to men of steady habits only, and by discountenancing intemperance in every form.

Our next meeting was held on the 24th of April. Forty ladies were present. The “Woman’s Total Abstinence League,” as the Society was called, had for its President Mrs. M. M. Hubbard, a woman of large motherly heart, one on whose brow were lines of thought and care, and whose hair was being silvered with age, and one whose heart was imbued with the work. Vice-Presidents, Mrs. M. A. Gordan and Mrs. M. A. Stephens. Secretary and Treasurer, Mrs. M. E. Stewart.

After that meeting, no time was lost, but active and persistent labor was ours. The city was divided into districts, and thoroughly canvassed with a petition to the city council in favor of “no license, and prohibition.” From house to house, from shop to shop, and from manufactory to manufactory did the earnest, anxious canvassers go, earnestly pleading with all to sign the petition “for no license.” Day after day they walked through drenching rain, snow, sleet, wind and storm, so that it might be completed before the election of new city officers.

The roll contained 2,100 names and measured sixty-nine feet; and after a meeting of solemn, earnest prayers, a committee was appointed to carry it to the council room. It was presented to the mayor, who listened attentively, and responded by saying, that “both he and the council were in sympathy with our petition, and would do all they could to grant the favor.”

The hearts of the old council had been touched, and to quiet conscience, they had repealed the license law, and left a clean page for the new officials.

The first vote taken on the matter was a tie, requiring the mayor’s signature or vote to decide, which he refused to give, fearing he might offend either party, and thus the question was left undecided, and for two months there was no license. Meanwhile we did all in our power to prevent action in favor of license. We held meetings for prayer, sent articles on temperance to the newspapers, plead with the manufacturers and capitalists, to employ only men of strict temperance principles; plead, too, before “our wise ones, that the policy of no license was, and always would be, the wisest political economy--a financial gain to the commonwealth.”

Although there was no license, the liquor-selling and drinking went on, and law was being violated, and work--hard work--and prayer was our daily motto.

The mayor and council were frequently visited, always after earnest prayer. Saloon-keepers were visited and appealed to in the kindest and most tender terms to give up their occupation, and engage in some business that might command the patronage of all. The druggists were visited with the pledge, which was signed by each of them, but alas! we only too well knew, that some of them did so as a mere pretence, never intending to keep their promise.

The churches were also most thoroughly canvassed with the pledge, and, although many responded eagerly, yet our hearts were saddened to know that quite a number of God’s professed followers did not fully comprehend the spirit of the great apostle, when he said, “If meat make my brother to offend, I will eat no flesh while the world stand.”

Drunkards’ families were visited, and a kind and helping hand extended to the poor inebriate.

Many little incidents occurred during such visits, which were worthy of note, but I shall only mention two, giving them in the canvasser’s own words:

“In the northern part of our city are a number of poor, unfinished and unpainted houses, nothing of interest surrounding them. One cold, dark, dreary day, I called at the door of one of them: my rap was answered by a gruff voice from within, that seemed to come from some hollow cave. The door opened, and I stood face to face, in the presence of a man upon whose brow was stamped God’s bitter curse, ‘No drunkard shall enter the kingdom of heaven.’ I followed him, and found that I had entered a place of wretchedness and suffering. No fire, no furniture, except a broken table, one or two chairs, an old stove, and a bed of rags on the floor. Three poor children greeted me with kind and somewhat cheerful faces, a welcome indeed, in such a place of want and destitution.

“I told them I had come to get their father to sign the pledge, and hoped to bring joy and comfort to them. After hearing the pledge read, he wrote his name, exclaiming as he did so, ‘No man has more need to sign your paper, woman, than I,’ wishing, at the same time, ‘that intemperance could be done away with;’ then, sinking upon the floor, he exclaimed, ‘Father, have mercy, what has drink done for me! taken my children, my wife, my property.’

“The oldest child, a girl of fourteen, coming and throwing her arms around my neck, inquired if I had ‘come to save her father from a drunkard’s grave.’ ‘Would he come home once more sober?’ ‘Once more bring joy and comfort to his home?’ Two interesting children, a girl of eight and a boy of ten, came and took me by the hand and with trembling voices, asked if I had ‘come to save their father.’ I inquired for their mother. ‘She was dead four years since. She used to pray with us, for this good time coming, when father would be kind and have a pleasant home.’ She inquired if I ‘was the good angel, God had sent.’ The father hearing the sad, tearful voices of his children, came and took me by the hand, and asked me to pray with him. In that dark and dreary room, believing God would hear and answer prayer, I asked them to repeat with me the Lord’s prayer, ‘Our Father, which art in heaven.’

“Visiting still further among the poor, I called upon a family in more comfortable circumstances. Poverty and wretchedness had not yet stamped their blight so plainly upon their home. Still sorrow and sadness had found their way, and were gnawing at the hearts of its occupants. An aged mother, a young wife, a beautiful babe; must the finger of scorn be pointed towards them, a drunkard’s family? I told them my mission. I had come to get their names to our petition. In bitter anguish they told me of sorrow and suffering. How they had waited his coming in trembling and in fear: how they had gone out in the darkness of the night, mother and daughter, wandering among the haunts of vice to find no comfort.

“He, upon whom they once leaned for support, was too intoxicated to know them. In bitter anguish they had returned to their home, so cold and desolate, to await his coming. The young wife asked if anything could be done to save her husband from a drunkard’s grave. Inquiring if they ever prayed for him, or those who sold him drink, I received the answer, ‘Prayer! What good would prayer do?’ I entreated her to pray for him, and for her enemies; told her prayer would prevail before God; to pray for the time when this terrible monster intemperance would be done away; for her son God had given her, that he might not follow in the footsteps of his father. Assuring her all our labors were backed by faith and prayer; that we would continue our prayers with hers, the prayers of the drunkards’ wives and children, until they reached to heaven. She threw herself at my feet, exclaiming, ‘Let me come, then, Lord, and consecrate myself to Thee.’”

Our meetings were always characterized by a deep devotional spirit, great zeal and earnestness in the work. Social positions, if they differed, were for the time levelled, and denominational differences forgotten.

Our League grew, and soon numbered ninety-three, but only a part were willing for active service, so that the labor devolved upon the few.

The ministers joined with us heart and hand, and in sermons, hymns and prayers, held aloft the temperance banner. By their enthusiasm they incited the people to action, and temperance meetings became the order of the day.

Mass-meetings were held alternately in each church. A Union Temperance Prayer-meeting was organized, and sustained for a year. A part of the League had pledged themselves to be always there, if possible.

And those who held on were amply repaid, for their own hearts were warmed and cheered, and often the blessed prayer-room seemed a very Bethel. After much prayer the saloons were visited.

On June 2d, after earnest prayers, discussion, and great shrinking from so unpleasant a duty, the picket work began; a few only volunteering to assist in the labor. That great excitement was created by this arrangement will be seen by the following, taken from our city paper, the _Moline Review_:

“A STREET RIOT.--Every friend of good order in Moline must feel disgusted with the riotous crowd that assembled at the corner of Main and Atkinson streets on Wednesday evening, and, in defiance of law, blockaded the streets and disturbed the peace for hours. There was no occasion for this public disturbance; there is no excuse for it; and the good name of the city requires that a repetition shall not be permitted to occur.

“But in this connection some explanation of what drew the crowd together is required. It appears that the Ladies’ Temperance League deputed two of their number to obtain and record the names of all persons who enter Shroeder’s saloon, which is located on the corner of the streets already named. Early in the morning the ladies began the duty assigned them, and remained at their post until noon without any notable occurrence. In the afternoon kegs of beer were placed in the middle of the street, and freely drank by a small crowd of men. This continued until six o’clock in the evening, the crowd constantly swelling in numbers. By eight o’clock the crowd had grown from a score to hundreds. A wagon was placed in the middle of the street and beer flowed freely. The crowd was ordered by the mayor in person to disperse, but it refused to do so. By nine o’clock from 300 to 500 men, women, and children had congregated. Shouts, jeers, speeches, and profanity were indulged in. Challenges were boldly shouted for the friends of temperance to defend their views by arguments; common decency was outraged, religion mocked, and the name of the Deity loudly proclaimed as authority for drinking. This state of affairs continued without hindrance until eleven o’clock, when the crowd, out of sheer exhaustion, dispersed.”

It was on the evening of the general prayer-meeting when the above scene occurred; and, during the hour of prayer, could be heard, far from the place, the shouts and yells of the enraged bacchanalians. Earnest prayers went up to our Father for the poor, wretched votaries of alcohol.

After that evening the pickets never remained on duty later than six o’clock in the evening, as we did not deem it wise. Notwithstanding remarks and severe criticisms, the pickets proved faithful, and with pencil and paper took notes as the hours went by.

Many little incidents, both ludicrous and amusing, occurred whilst we were on picket duty.

One very hot afternoon, when two were at their post, a man came driving up like Jehu, and when near, drove clear around us, staring all the while, as if he had never before seen two women. He then turned, crossed over to the saloon, went in, and no doubt quenched his thirst. He then came out, jumped in his buggy, and came back, stopping just in front of us, when he took out a pencil and paper and began to write, as we supposed at first, but we subsequently learned that he was drawing our likenesses, and afterwards they were hung up in the saloon on exhibition, and when we passed by, we could hear remarks about the correctness of the drawings. The man himself, his manner, etc., during the whole scene, was exceedingly ludicrous, and yet he never spoke a word; we, meanwhile, retaining our dignity, and apparently indifferent to it all, and yet really peeping out from under our sun-hats, we could see the whole, and were greatly amused.

Out of the picket work grew many rumors, incorrect ideas, and many unjust and unkind remarks. But during the whole time we were too busily engaged to notice, or give a second thought to anything of the kind. Our hearts were in the work; we had counted the cost; were willing to make great sacrifices, and knew well before we began, that we should be misunderstood and misrepresented; but we had also learned from the words of the blessed Master, that “The servant is not above his Lord.”

There was one thing, however, for which we were not prepared. We were not ready for the unjust remarks and criticisms of those who professed not only strong temperance principles, but also Christianity.

However, the picket work proved effectual, and the business of one particular saloon wasted away like the dew before the summer sun.

This saloon had been notorious for decoying our American young men within its gilded net, and because we were anxious to save our boys, we placed our heaviest guns near by.

Men not lost to shame, would turn away when they saw the pickets, and young men would come to us, and ask us for the pledge, saying, they were disgusted with the drink habit, and weary of their thraldom, and desired to lead better lives.

It also proved a grand discipline to ourselves, for some of us, who so greatly deplored the sin and misery of strong drink, knew but little of its heinousness or extent, until we learned it upon picket duty.

The work was begun for two reasons: one, that we might obtain evidence of violation of law; and the other, that our presence might deter our American youth from entering and forming the habit of strong drink.

But a deep and lasting impression was made upon ourselves. Our souls were sickened and saddened, and our determination deepened and strengthened, never to abandon the cause, until our old and young men should be saved from the soul and body destroying influence of alcoholic stimulants.

During the picket term, we also made arrangements for a temperance convention and celebration, which convened on the 4th of July, and with the help of our Davenport and Rock Island sisters, proved quite a success.

There was also a petition presented to the county guardians. Though able and earnest, and signed by the leading ladies of Rock Island county, the petition was refused, and license granted.

The appeal was signed and presented by the following ladies:

Mrs. M. M. Hubbard, President; Mrs. M. E. Stewart, Secretary; Mrs. J. W. Spencer, President; Mrs. M. B. Hays, Mrs. M. R. McCalister, Mrs. T. J. Robinson, Mrs. T. F. Abbot, Mrs. C. C. Starr, Mrs. Margaret E. Ells, and Mrs. Helen Moffit.

In the midst of our arduous labors we did not forget that justice is justice, and that those men whose “business was licensed by law, and protected by law, should be of all men the most willing to be judged by law;” and so, accordingly, in the month of May a legal committee was appointed to “take notes of evidence of all violations of law which came under their notice, or to their knowledge.” An attorney was also retained, and the work assumed a definite form.

Of course such proceedings called forth a variety of remarks, such as, “Oh! don’t use the law in your work,” and “What do these women know?” “They cannot prove anything.” “Of course, law is made for the lawless, and law must be enforced if men steal our money, or murder our citizens; but this is different; and really it will agitate matters too much, if you prosecute men for violations of the liquor law.” But we believed our Father, a God of justice as well as an answerer of prayer, and most wonderfully did He open the way for us, as the sequel will show.

Our testimony often came from sources both surprising and unexpected; and through the dust and heat we toiled on, “occasionally gaining a word of cheer, but never failing to hear of our mistakes.”

Early in July a modified and somewhat restricted license law went into force. Under the old law there was an unlimited flow of rum, brandy and whiskey; but this ordinance permitted only the sale of wine and beer. Under the old law the saloons were nominally required to close at eleven o’clock at night, but in fact ran on undisturbed by watch or police--rolling balls and clinking glasses--until twelve, one and two.

By the new law they were required to close at ten o’clock, and no games of any kind were permitted to be played in the saloons. Under the old license there was paint on the windows, and screens at the doors; by the new ordinance, “he, the saloon-keeper, shall keep the windows in his said bar, or place of business, free of paint or any other matter, whereby free view of the inside of his said bar, or place of business, through said windows, would or might be obstructed from the outside thereof; that persons of ordinary stature, standing on such ground, can easily see the interior of such bar or place of business, or anywhere therein; whereby any obstruction would be made to a clear view of the interior of said bar or place of business, from the outside thereof.”

If this was not all we could have desired, yet we felt it was a step in the right direction.

The mayor also told us that instead of twenty saloons, there should be licensed but eight or ten. But after the number was complete, one unfortunate evening, when the mayor could not be there, the license faction of the council increased the number to fifteen, which so annoyed the opposing party that one left in disgust.

The mayor’s ordinance, however, produced an effect, one which the saloon-keepers did not greatly enjoy; many being deterred from entering, for fear of being seen from the outside by the passer-by; and billiard playing being prohibited, much of the former charm was broken.

And thus we felt that God had answered prayer.

About this time, Dr. William Ross (since then deceased), an enthusiastic lecturer, came to our city, and by his earnestness incited the people to financial action and united effort to suppress all illegal traffic in ardent spirits. The people responded nobly, the result being the subscription of over $200,000, to be assessed at the discretion of a board of managers. The board was composed of some of our best men, who, for a time, stood firmly by their pledges.

If any one inquired what was to be gained by our lawsuits, even if we did win, we answered, “Much, every way:” but as one definite result, we knew that minors and inebriates who were connected with our cases could not now find so easy access to the intoxicating bowl, and we also knew, that some unconscious parents were suddenly brought to a knowledge of where their minor sons spent much of their leisure and money.

The picket work continued, and the days sped on. Many weary, oh, so weary days were ours; but One was ever with us, to comfort and sustain. The summer months passed rapidly by, for our hearts and hands were filled, and we scarce took note of time.

September came, and we sent our witnesses of the violation of the law to the grand jury of Rock Island county.

Having thoroughly proved, in the meantime, that “the municipal courts would grant small, if any, justice in cases brought to their notice by women,” we had had overwhelming evidence of the violations of the city law.

Three cases were brought before the city court, but each one lost. With sadness we recall the ungentlemanly conduct of the opposing lawyer, in his questioning one of the witnesses, a most excellent Christian woman, who now rests from all her labors, where her heart is not saddened, or her ear pained, by the coarse ribaldry of bacchanalian revelry.

During the trials of the cases, the same lawyer would leave the court-room and still further excite his stimulated brain. And our experience proved, that when the city employed its police, they were not very much troubled at violations of the new ordinance, and our only hope must be under the State law.

The pickets took evidence of the violation of the State law; and a book, containing a list of names of witnesses of the violation of said law, was sent to the foreman of the grand jury, who refused to lay the cases before the jury. The State’s attorney then sent word to the President of the League that she or other members of the society must present the cases themselves. Accordingly, the President and legal committee attended court, and presented our cases, during which time, other members met for prayer and supplication to the God of justice, that we all might be constantly led by the Spirit.

Some of the members of the grand jury were liquor-dealers and drinkers, yet such was the character of the testimony laid before them, that they were compelled to bring in twenty-two indictments against the liquor-sellers of Moline.

The cases were not reached until near the close of the term of the Circuit Court, when five cases were tried. We were not allowed to retain a temperance man on the jury, or one who believed the selling of liquor to be a moral wrong.

We watched the empanelling of the jury with great anxiety. How our hearts sank within us as we saw one after another, the friends of temperance, dismissed from the jury! Yet we rejoiced to know that there were staunch temperance men in the county.

Three men were summoned, two of whom were drunk, and one idiotic. The opposing counsel fought for hours to retain such upon the jury; but through the earnest appeals of the women, and honest efforts of our attorneys, who were noble and staunch men, they were dismissed, and their places filled by liquor-men who were not so fully under its influence. And before such a jury, men whose moral perceptions were blunted, and whose hearts were calloused, were our cases tried. But Jehovah remembered his people. Three of the five rum-sellers were convicted, sentenced to fine and imprisonment; one confessed, and one was acquitted.

Several members of the League attended the trials, and were soundly berated by the opposing attorneys for neglecting, so they said, homes and family. So, to take that weapon out of their hands, some of the ladies took their children, knitting, etc., with them, thus losing no time, and yet seeing with their own eyes, and hearing with their own ears, the injustice and wickedness of men whose hearts seemed calloused to all that was good, pure and noble. Many lessons were also learned, not to be forgotten.

Some of our witnesses were taken to saloons and treated by opposing lawyers, being followed to the doors by two of our ladies, who took cognizance of the painful fact.

The testimonies of some of the witnesses were very touching, that of one heart-broken wife and mother bringing tears to the eyes of many.

One case was tried and gained at the next term of court; sentence, fine and imprisonment. The next on the docket was that of a saloon-keeper who had just lost his wife, and, being left with a large family, his case was postponed until the next court, but, through the sympathies of our women in his behalf, was ultimately dropped.

The trying of our cases revealed many things relative to the liquor traffic which before were unknown to us, and thus our experience was enlarged, and lasting impressions made upon our hearts, and we said, “We will never give up the ship,” but will labor on to raise the fallen.

Time flew on apace, and as the picket and legal work had frightened many of our members, the League was greatly diminished in numbers, and the hard labor was all performed by a few, who were most wonderfully sustained by a loving Father, through faith and prayer.

Death entered our circle, and one whom we dearly loved passed over to her rest. Sickness and removals at last compelled us to suspend for a time, and ten long months passed by before we resumed our meetings. In the meantime, another mayor came into authority, and the screens were again placed at the doors, and paint upon the windows of the saloons; the billiard tables were returned; all law, both city and State, violated, and yet no one to interfere.

But we, a little band of women, still meet to plead with God in prayer for a better day. And we believe it will come, for Jehovah, the God of Israel, is ever on the side of right!

Our little band has been made auxiliary to the State and National Union, and our name changed to “Woman’s Christian Temperance Union.”

We are watching, waiting, praying
For a brighter day to dawn,
When our watchword shall be Freedom!
Freedom, of Jehovah born.

When our loved and proud republic--
Land for which our fathers died--
Soil made sacred by the struggle
They encountered side by side:

When this land, o’er which our banner,
Symbol of the free and brave,
Floats aloft in all its glory,
Shall no longer know a slave!

Oh, thou mighty God of nations,
We would stretch our hands to thee;
Hear our prayer for deliverance;
Come, oh, come, and set us free!

MISCELLANEOUS.

The Crusade work was carried on with more or less success, in addition to the towns already named, in Springfield, Galesburg, Dickson, Joliet, Pontiac, Matamora, Oswego, Farmer City, Yorkville, and Sparta. The good work has gone on in Illinois. There are now fifty-four Woman’s Temperance Unions in the State, nine temperance reading-rooms, two friendly inns, and a large number of children gathered into juvenile organizations.

WEST VIRGINIA.