Middletown transcript., 1883-11-23

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But those who knew the maid aver
That it was T who followed her.
W H., IN the Century " Bric-a- -Brdc." ;"
ANNUAL ADDRESS OF ANNA H.
MARTINDALE,
President of the W. C. z. q. Of DeIa0are,
AT THE FOURTH ANNUAL CoNvEN
TION AT LAUREL, Nov. 18th,
14th and 18th, 1888.
DEAR SISTERS With gratitude t,
our Heavenly Father, who has pre-
served and prospered our sacred work
we greet you once more and welcom
you to this Fourth Annual Convention
of the w. G. T. U. Of Delaware. Al
we gather to-day the holy cause which
we are banded together to advance
rises vividly upon our thought and W.
find that the grandeur of it has growI
upon US since last we met +; as Oul
National President said, two weeks
ago, at Detroit, "Our relationships arr
to Christ's Church, that of defender
to the Home, that of protector to the
Nation, that of purifier = We are
beginning more and more to realize the
vastness of the work we have to dc
and the solemnity of the battle yet to
be fought for the lives and characters
Of our dear and exposed people. We
are also gladly conscious that the CON-
bat is rapidly deepening everywhere.
AS we gather here in this beautiful
Autumn time, the grand swell of this
agitation rocks the nation as it has
never done before. The time for ignor-
ing temperance issues and treating
them with indifference has passed
away ; communities, parties, social and
literary organizations have heard so
loud a clamor at their doors,-indeed
have been startled by such sudden in
undations of temperance conviction,
as in Iowa and Ohio, that they are COM
PEELED to ask, "What does it mean ~
And all this is due, in large measure,
to the persistent and widespread ur-
gency of woman's work. The amount
and variety of service rendered by our
women is one Of the marvels of the
times. They have gone everywhere
carrying this white banner-into jails,
prisons, almshouses, as well as churches,
parlors and schools into Congress and
the White House itself {; into railroad
stations, department offices and trains,
and, in many States, to the polling
places everywhere working, teaching,
praying and praising. Think Of the
w. e. T. U. holding Temperance
meetings in Jewish synagogue and in
Episcopal vestries, and of scientific
temperance instruction legally enforced
in three States in one year. Think of
the Church of England establishing
Woman's Temperance Union think
of our good National President who,
by the last of December, will have
represented this movement in every
one of the forty-eight States and Terri
tories of our land this year, and of a
hundred women who have travelled,
spoken and organized as constantly as
she and finally, if you can realize it,
think of commission appointed to
report plans for the organization of a
Worlds W. G. T. U. 1t is not a
matter Of wonder that the rapid fight
of these messengers Of temperance has
astonished friends and foes. We hear
many notes of alarm from organs Of
the liquor interest. The uprising ter
rifles them so that correspondent of
the Albany Times speaks out in this
language: "Men who value their per-
sonal liberty have no time to lose in
this matter This prohibition business
is threatening the whole country"
Yes, 1t IS threatening the whole coun-
try, with the reign of "Peace, good
will to men and Glory to God in the
Highest" !" Such are the encourage
ments which greet us to-day and call
for glad rejoicings and renewed conse-
Grafton to our benign mission. While
the work in our little Diamond State
has not been all that our zeal prophe-
sled, it has yet been, in many ways,
encouraging. In general respects, we
have been greatly helped by the over
flow Of influence from other States into
ours. Many ladies not yet fully COM
mitted to us have, by the very neces-
sity Of things, been compelled to hear
and read great many facts about the
progress Of the work, and secret i'm
pressions have surely been made which
will, we trust, soon blossom into active
1t has been year, for
some Of US, of toll and anxiety. In
some places, as was, perhaps, natural,
our objects have been misunderstood,
and we have come in for a share of
Misrepresentation and criticism. We
have not, however, forgotten to be glad
that we are counted worthy to suffer
for Christ's sake. Since the
of our State Union there
has not been, in any one year, so much
done as in this. Soon after the last
meeting we arranged for a
canvassing of the State, and,
fortunately, secured the services of
Mrs. M. G.. G. Leavitt, cultured lady
af Massachusetts,, who commenced her
work in the lower part of the State,
visiting the towns, lecturing and form
ing local unions, and closed at Will
mington. This proved to be a very
successful venture. Many new unions
were planted, and the expense involved
was substantially met by the public
collections taken. The report of the