Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1874-05-01
Letter from Mrs. zina Fay Peirce.
To the 81 Adams Ladies. irho are engaged an
the Woman's Temperance Crusade:


movement has reached St Albans, and that
YOU have honored my sister, Mrs frames
| W Smith. by choosing her as the presidlhS
officer of your meetings, makes me ieel 80
much that il has come within the sphere "i
my natural interest, that II emboldens me
TO send YOU the thoughts which have been
passing through my mind while watching
It's birth and progress.
The women who 50 strangely and unex-
pectedly are dealing in their own way with
one of the most Inveterate vices OF our COM
mon humanity. ought to consider IN the
| first place that TO attain their ends they
/ have invoked the tremendous agency oil
/ kRAYER-Or IN other wOrds-that despair
I inc OF the finite help of man, they are cali
/ Ing upon the MosT HIGH for His INFINITE
/ help. and infinite wisdom, to enable them
/ 10 reach a difficulty which hitherto has BAT
| lied all human effort.
The solemn question then arI>e--aaVins
/ taken the Most High into their weak and
J finite human cOuncils-hOw lar are women
prepared To 20 with Him in working out the
I salvation of the humanity which he has ere
ated How far are We prepared to make
/ study of It's aHircrsdl instinct passions, and
/ consequently needs-and, having discovered,
] 10 find innocent and eevatinc ways to salts
/ fy them?
This is a side Of the question which has
/ hitherto been overlooked in the Temperance
/ Reform but which il seems the women OF
/ the West are partially aware Of, for we read
/ that if they are praying To shut up bar
roms. they are also laboring 10 open read
! inr rooms And this Is right. since 10 ac-
eomplish any lasting good work. prayer
and effort must always 90 together low
/ ! wish that the women OF the East weuld
take a sill broader and deaper view Of tins
] /. L.. , how - a rfV
al conclusions which would enable them IN
very truth. To begin practical regeneration
/ of modern society w hat can woman do 10
I extirpate vice. answer Frs make rlr-
/ tue pleasant.
There Is q parable OF oar Saviour which
the Christian Church has not as vet. II
seems to ne. really iaid 10 heart 10 Is this,
"Whe the unclean spirit Is gone ont OF
man. he walketh through dry place.. seek
I ing rest and finding none Then he saith.
/ | will return 10 my house from whence !
came out, and when be l. come he hudeth
+ it empty. swept and garnished. Then
goeth he. and taketh with himself seven
/ other spirits more wicked than himself and
they enter in and dwell there. and the last
state of that man l. worse than the first
Even So shall il be also unto this wicked
generation Matthew XII 10 -.
Now. Christian teachers and parents 10
general make no distinction between Innu-
I cent pleasures and actual vices. Many and
many a clergyman, many and many pl0u~
woman Is as much shocked ID a young man
drinks a glass OF beer. plays game of bill
lizards or a game OF cards, or II young
woman goes u dancing party. a. ID they
. drank whiskev or gambled AndYei ] asa.
what l. the harm. the sin, the vice, oil
game of billiards, any more than game OF
croquet2 Or what l- the SIN OF "a game ul
+ whist or euchre. any more than ~ game
4 Of backgammon Or what is the wicked
nes~ of dancing Ia the gayeiyoi one 5 heart,
any more than there Is III skating Or
what is the crime OF elas- OF ale or beer
any more than there Is 10 cup OF coffee
EVERYBODY mus, admit that there j. no
harm fff-fnNcqll in any one OF these acts
When then Is the harm l ask You Will
answer First. in the association, second,
IN the exec
on We. there it isl The hr~t harm is IN
the a--oc.atiua-iu the places where Young
men have T. 20 10 order l. get their game
of billiards or their game oi cards. or their
cav dance Ur their clf ui beer. Blt
whose fault IS % thar they have u seek
these things away from the -Iciety ot thclr
mother their wiye~. their sisters and their
lady friends
NV own observation and experience
limited !. j. true-lead- me O. the belief
That it l- principally the fault ot the women
and the cicrrymcn for ihcy have haui-Ac1
sl many pleasure and iululgencie-. limo
. cent lu themselves. from the family circle
and the social circle. That young men have
& 90 &, low and lIsrepuabie hauut- o. get
the recreation. tile euJoymeni- the sa}ctN,
and the fn-ii you WILL NOT i'e frightened
az thc term-that their high spirits and
vigorous Yuan- bodies require. anu l4--
being 90 tlH-e haunt~. away from a.. ibVse
they love an1 revere. ana surrounded hy
+ drunkaru- anu lneruuc@- thf} experience
The s.11Hl hfrh alluded l'-iIeH are Temp
ted 90 drink u exce--, o. gamble. and even
O. give the rem q worse passions ~i--.
u mas been often remarked hN travellers.
That American are the sadlest .aa-5Hl
I though really tue most 9-perou- nation
IN the woodland this Is because While they
do know how O. Work they don know Low
/ o. play-they dn not know now o. ENJOY
/ tncm-clyes-.oW o. Use d h'-iIal nf D spare
T evening when they nave one blt human
/ nature needs recreation Do Graves some
thlnE merry ana 4eii EAtlu-- e~pecial-t 10
/ Youth. and t Dc does NOT ger tins. reaction
often sets DID, winch clrrle~ o. man ul DIS
ieet viii IT. herce cravings laf silm-iant7
ana ior Vile dissipation
Let Us see now tueY manage these things
10 permany There they have what are
called beer raTlen-- ana O. these husbands
and wiye- and children 90 together Inc
men smoke ana tine women Euli, anu both
I SIP beer ny coffee, cnai with each other as
ncighhor and listen g. tuc music which Is
/ lnvarlaoly iurnl-Ae- 1ct the 1ernan-
are a- sober ana hardw or6lnE ana thrifty
F a. any people in4l can DC l0un-- dancing
/ ls NOT cJnlnt-, WIKI thcil- u the y uns-
/ but old men anu elderly women dance
along Win their clnlren ana ever grand
I children az their socla- gatherings. An
I English commissioner who was sent out %
Germany "a lev years ago 10 ind our why
from year % Year many English artisans
and their wiyc- grew more degraded. shift
les and drunken, while the German opera
tiye-, though working Two hours q daY
] more. seemed In every way superior T. them.
attributed the difference after o SIX months
+ residence among the latter o. the tact that
after their WORK the husband and wife often
/ tidIed themselves mp anu went together o.
the beer rQfeg, T. spend the evening m
/ social recreation And q higher grade Of
F the same thing exists i0r the better classes
/ \ German professor ana ms wife who
reside Do Cambridge. and vino spent last
summer 10 Germany travelling, told me
that wherever they were. they went 10 O
/ beer cafe every night In Germany temper
T ance societies exist, for the dlmuuu0n Of
/ alcoholic drinking. but they would no more
/ think OF crusading against beer, than they
would against coffee. 10 Bavaria. where
/ j. made the best beer IN the world, II Is
saying that there are DO nervous persons
and there is little doubt, that d American
women. instead of ndulEins IN the destruc-
tive habit of drinking tea three times day,
would drink il but once and at dinner take
pint OF mild beer. IN TWENTY-FIVE years
their present paAJr, Saliowne~s, thiuness,
and nervousness would DE changed o. com
parative bloom. beauty and health. In
temperate fla-arfn."ig Is running American
women quite as much as Incorporate