The Monitor. [volume] (Woodstown, N.J.) 1884-1892, 1884-06-20

doom all upon whom he blows his Satanic
breath.
In the winter of 1S69-70 an open temper
ance society was organized with president
secretary and treasurer. Temperance ad-
dresses were delivered and the pledge was
circulated and signatures obtained from all
who could be induced to sign. few meet
ings were held, few pledges made, and then
the open temperance society went the way of
SO many of its predecessors. Sine die records
all its subsequent history.
Then it was that a call was made for a
meeting to be held on March IA, 1870, to see
what could be done to abate the food of in
temperance that was flowing in on u.s. Thir-
teen persons responded to the call, and that
meeting unanimously decided to make appli-
cation for charter aud request the Grand
Lodge of New Jersey, l. o. of &. T., to insti-
tute Lodge of Good Tomplars in Epgle-
wood. The preliminaries were arranged, and
one month later April II, 1870, Englewood
Lodge, No. 1903, I. O. of e. T., started on her
career with 25 charter members, and has
steadily pursued her course for IA years with
this one ambition: ''To rescue the fallen
and to save others from falling" To write
the history of the lodge would require the
acumen of omniscience, because it would de-
mand the tracing and unfolding of all the in
fuences exerted upon those who have been
associated with us during these IA years.
From this task we shrink even to the men
tioning of a single name, for there have been
SO many faithful workers among us that to
single out individual names for mention
would discriminate unfavorably against others
who have equally contributed to our history.
And then those who in every relation of life
have exemplifed the principles of our noble
&1oi, ,oc@,,
those who have betrayed every principle of
our creed we, true to the pledge of the Good
Templar, draw the veil of silence, and with
the angels weep over their fall.
As we have said we began our lodge with
25 members and increased in membership un-
til we reached 240, the highest number re-
turned to the Grand Lodge The lowest
number returned was 26. Our present men,
bership is So The whole number of persons
who have joined our lodge during the IA
years is 592. These figures are suggestive.
They furnish food for the thought of Engle-
wood people. The only temperance society
in such community as ours, and such sta
tistical record
And now in conclusion | notice briefly one
or two criticisms of our lodge and order,
Says one Your lodge is failure because
you do not keep all who unite with you and
take the pledge" In reply | answer: In
good old book, whose teachings the Good
Templars inculcate, / read of home where
there was plenty and to spare. The father
with all his wealth of love was there Sobriety
and virtue were in that home. The younger
son recklessly turned his back upon the home
and wandered into far country, and there in
want. clad in rags and shame, starving, feed
ing swine and would fain been feeding with
hon, fOr Ooy r1tn
me, friends, did this rash prodigars act and con-
dition initiate against the home he had SO I'M
gratefully left? The father was there. The
good home was there And so our lodge is
here Our altar is here. Sobrety and virtue is
here. Refuge and shelter and safety are
here, plenty and to spare and all the prodi-
gals who have wandered from the paternal
home into the far country of intemperance or
moderate drinking and are feeding on the
husks of convivial pleasure while they wal
low with swine in the mire, cannot initiate
against it or cast shadow over the lustre of
our lodge home.
Says another, Your lodge is failure be-
cause the rum-shops and saloons are increas-
ing on every side, the floods of intemperance
are rising higher and higher all around u.s."
In the same old book find my answer. God
said to righteous Noah, "Build an ark, " and
the ark was made. And the food came, it
rose higher and higher but the ark mounted
proudly on the crest of the wave. Many per-
ished all around in that shoreless sea- and the
flood rose still higher. Tell me, was the
ark failure because the people persisted and
the waters eliminated in mighty flood
Was it not rather accomplishing just its mis-
sion-to ride on the food and save those on
board? Just so this lodge and our order.
Our ship Temperance was launched on the
sea of intemperance, and although rum shops
increase, and the black waters are surging and
sweeping multitudes to destruction, our ship
is not failure, but proudly rises on the crest
of every dark billow of intemperance, bearing
its precious freight with certain safety. Our
crews are manning the lifeboats; we throw
rope to any drowning victim in this murky
tide, and to all who would escape the deluge
of intemperance we say, Come on board.
And now as with her white winged sails she
speeds away towards the harbor of happy
life and peaceful end, we sing our bene-
dicton in a paraphrase of Longfellow's
Sc Launch of the Ship"
Sail on temperance ship in state,
Sail on fraternal union, strong and great
Humanity with all it's fears,
With all the hopes of future years,
Is hanging breathess on thy fate.
We know what master laid thy keel,
What workman wrought thy ribs OF steel,
Who made each mast and sail and rope.
What anviis rang, what hammers beat.
In what a forge, and what heat,
Were shaped the anchors of thy hope.
Fear not each sudden sound and shock
IT'S of the wave and not the rock,
IT'S but the tapping of the sail,
And not a rent made by the gale;
II, spite of rock and temDpSt'S roar.