River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1877-01-11

Your readers may be interested In 4
brief account of the great temperance
revival now in progress in Pittsburg.
This work was commenced some four
weeks ago under the direction OF Mr..
Francis Murphy. and has continued
with such wonderful success that the
day | left Pittsbnrg, Jan. 3, more than
seren thousand had signed the pledge,
and large number professed CONVEX
sion to God. Mr.. Murphy's methods
in this work are peculiar. Coming
into place, he engages large and
central church or hall, where nightly
meetings are held. During the day, he
visits the homes Of the drunkards, and
labors personally with them. The
evening meetings are strictly religious
in their character. and one. to enter
casually, would think he was in an
old-fashioned mountaineering. 4 large
force of singers lead the congregation
in some religious hymns, stirring and
| lively: fiye-minute speeches are made
by ministers, and others present; and
lecture of twenty minutes length
delivered by Mr.. Murphy himself.
The pledge is then unrolled, and calls
are made for signers. Those who sign
are Immediately put to work can
wasting the city. which is divided INTO
districts. The reformed men are also
often called on to relate their expert
ence in fiye-minute talks. Some of the
most soul-stirring and pathetic words
| ever listened II, came from the lips
of these men. The meeting often
assumes the character of Il Methodist
class-meeting. where the simple recit-
al is followed by appropriate songs
and responses of -" Amen" and "God
bless you."
The work commenced small, but has
now assumed such proportions that
three large churches are filed nightly
these under Mr.. Murphy's immediate
supervision. Besides these, in differ
ent parts of the city meetings are
held, conducted by some of the re-
formed men, appointed to the work by
Mr.. Murphy. The last evening that |
| was in the city. thirteen such meetings
were held.
The signers OF the pledge embrace
men of almost every class in society,
from the moderate drinker TO the con-
frmed outcast. Lawyers, merchants,
and saloon-keepers, meet on one COM
mon platform. Some of the larg est
saloon-keepers in the city have aban-
doned their business and signed the
pledge.
heard the testimony of one of the
leading criminal lawyers of the state.
Tie said that for thirty years he had
| never passed a sober Christmas, until
this one and now he rejoiced that he
was sitting at the feet of Jesus,
clothed and in his right mind.
And now, a word about Mr.. Murphy
| himself: He is an freshman, about
forty years of age. His boyhoOd was
passed among the scenes of labor and
privation incident to the lot of poor
| Irish peasant. He sailed for Canada
in his sixteenth year. came to the Unit.
ed States two years after, and married
a lady in Maine. Seven children were
i 81 81 = Il
are living in Sterling. III, lis wife
died in l670 and it Wac in that same
year he took that step in the reform
movement he has since seen grow to
such grand proportions. Previous to
this, strong drink had reduced his fam
| lily and himself to misery and want.
lie tried various make-shifts for a liv-
| ing; among others, that of keeping a
saloon. But. whatever he tried or
whatever he did, liquor cast blight
upon it all: and he at last found him.
self an Outcast and pariah among his
fellow-men, until. ultimately, the pris-
on doors closed upon life apparently
wasted. In the prison he was convert
ed. Through the darkness came the
light, and no walked forth from the
| prison an apostle of temperance.
| During the past six years he has la
| bored constantly in this cause. His
| success in the New England states has
been remarkable. lie IS man of great
| elOquence. Without any of the cut
| ture of the schools, he yet possesses
! abilities far above ordinary men. and
\ magnetism that draws men toward
| him. There is IN irresistible charm
about his addresses. They abound in
passages-and these neither few nor
hrief--0Fer which the very Genius of
eloquence seems to have breathed his
richest enchantment. His soul is on
tire with the subject, and he melts and
moves the vast audience at viii.
Ills religious convictions are also
intense, and his quaint, trustful reli-
ance upon the Supreme Being has all
the simplicity of child. Under all
his simplicity and mildness, however,
is a force of will that speaks the man
born to lead his fellow-men.
Such is Francis Murphy, the man
who to-day is doing more practical
good in the cause of sobliety than all
the other temperance advocates living.
III.
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Local CoRRESpoN nEN &c