Sword and shield. (Clinton, Miss.) 1885-1888, 1885-12-12


to the w. G. T. u. to tell the story,
and Just here, / may mention that
his presence there was a "blessing
from the Lore which maketh rich
and added no sorrow" He went
at the request of Bro. w. II. Patton,
of Shubuta, his own interest in the
great cause of temperance also
prompting, and truly from that time
until now, his words OF sympathy
and good Will have cheered us
through many trial places. OF
what
Bro. w. III. Patton
has been to us, / must confess "the
half can never be told" To say he is
our righs'hand man does not express
it. In every emergency he has come
to our relief, with prayers, counsel,
means and sympathy. Truly we can
say, he was sent of God to our aid,
while at the same time he has done
it as unto the Lord. From God
alone can his reward come.
Some time early in December last,
I received a letter from Mrs. Steele,
asking that / would take the office
of State President, in which office
she had been retained by the Winona
Convention, although in her letter
she had positively declined reelection
or re-appointment. Twas much per-
picked as to duty in this case andat
first felt that / must decline emphat-
ically, so conscious was | Of utter in
competency to fill the place. But
when / thought of our sisters poor
health, and knew what burden this
responsibility must be to her. | could
not forget our Masters injunction,
"Bear We one anothel's burdens" and
| remembered l had so recently said,
"Here Lord am / What wilt thou
have me to do in this great work {" |
could not draw back DR.. Steele
had written to Miss Willard and
Mrs. Chaplin concerning it, and |
now hold the office under their
So much personal should not have
come up in this report, but for the
fact that of its being necessary for
our locals to understand how 1--WE
came to be" and as this is cur first
delegated Convention. it is the only
opportunity we have had ofexpfain-
ing.
Looking unto Jesus, l have gone
forward, supported by many prayers,
and l can truly say, far beyond my
has He blessed the work,
proving the Apostles word. "He is
able to do abundant, exceedingly
above all that we ask or think accor-
ding to the power that worketh in
u.s." Many mile-stones, dear sisters,
have l been enabled to set up, to
mark the places of answered prayer,
and it may be on the other side
when we rest meath the shade of the
trees, our King may have us talk of
how He led us by the way to prove
how true were the words he lett us
"Lo, / am with you alway, working
with you, even unto the end of the
world"
Mrs. IL. L. Wells.
In January last, Miss Willard
wrote me that one of our National
organizers, Mrs. M. L. Wells, of
Indiana, was in the South, and might
be at liberty to come to us, after
finishing her engagement in Tennes-
see. | at once asked her assistance.
She agreed to come after Temper
ance week at the Exposition. Our
perpIexities came in trying to map
out the best route for her to take.
We had not a dollar in our
State Treasury. She was willing to
do as so many of our dear self-sacri-
ficing National workers. are doing,
depend upon collections to get from
place to place. / will not try to tell
of the cups and downs" of our cam
paign. Suffice to say, the blessing
of our Lord attended her labors, and
after six weeks OF pioneer work she
left us, having done a work for tenn
perance and Prohibition that will
tell out in Eternity's dawn.
Gov. st. John.
Directly under the auspices of our
w. G. Z. u, Gov. st. John came
to the eastern portion of our State.
To his stirring words, we owe
much of the increased sentiment in
favor of Prohibition. Our people
gave him hearty welcome. Many
hearts were won by his eloquence
and genial social conversation and
piety, in homes where he was enter
tanned. Our only regret is that pre-
vious engagements allowed him only
a short time in Mississippi, We
trust his steps may again be turned
Southwark, and that larger scope
of our State may have the benefit Of
his convictions and earnest appeals,
as well as experience in State Pro-
hibition. For he says that ''Prohi-
bition does prohibit !"
Luther Benson.