Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1890-02-27
", c. e. L. NOTES.
RETRCSPECpION.
by MOTHER STLTART.

S.HzstI3ssslzlA business ass.l'"d, and Inc
-I far-reachint, Iesnlts. the
Woman'a Cruz .'t. ii
forever staud apart froLt, and above
any other Christian effort Of the nine-
teenth centuary. / know ofnole gent
er, indeed, in all the centuries r, ach-
ing back to the day OF p,ntvcost.
j am well aware TIT - those WIN
were not in, or at least witnesses of il,
this assertion will ssem extravaga.lt
and lmpro bable. So unlike was it t.,
any work ever before attam oted by
women, and yet 50 ma,.ife<ting the
spirit and power of the Friend of sir
ners, that it inspired the beholier wiJh
strange awe aud reverence. To those
who did not witness it, it will f>reveg
remain an ineXpIicabIe mystery The
seemed endowed with a power that
made their songs anI prayers and per
suasions Irresistible, causing til tears
to flow ami the hand to trembIe rs the
conscience-smitten dealer sign d the
pledge to give up his soEl-dsstroying
business.
AsI write, am reminded tat siv-
teen years ago Tonight. Decent er ,.
was lielI the fist Of that wonderful
series of mass meetings in oar city,
(Springfield, o. J that continued with
unabated Interest for long months; and
that last night was the anniversary OF
the organization Of the first Woman
League, as we then callel them, a our
neigh boring town OF osborn. TS3
weeks later. as | was busily engaged
in the work that had come into my
hands, Brother Harry Phillips handed
me paper saying: Mother Stewart,
l wish you could start that work here. ="
1t was an acCunt OF tie women uf
Fredonia, \. Y, visiting and prayIn !;
in the saloons. How like the blast OF
a trumpet did it thrill my soul. l.
seemed like the bugle call Of All arch
angel to the women to go forth to holy
war. Yes, I thought, Oh that We
might. But while my zeal was atlame,
my heart was faint. But as was pom
derfng and iHquiring of the Lord,
few days later another report came to
us. The women Of Hilisboro, OF our
state, had taken up the work. Then
Washington G. H., and Wilmington
followed in quick succession, and il
was not long till on nearly all the
streets of the land were seen women
marching, and the air was laden with
the sound ofprayer and song. Oh,will
those blessed season" ever return?
1t would require volume to tell all
the blessed results of that glorious
work. i marked and beautiful feat
ura was that it perm "atod all the
churches, and Christians were drawn
into closer bond OF fellowship than
ever before. 1t was an interesting fact
that she who led the first band III FIRE.
donna, Mrs. Judge Barker, was an ac-
tive and devoted member Of the Epis-
copal Church; Mrs. Judge Thompson,
the leader of the first bard in HILLSIDE
70, has been q lifelong aud active nlen-
Der Of the NJ. +. Church; hrs Rev.
George Carpenter, the wonderfully IL
ergetic leader at Washington &. H., is
a member Of the esbyterian Church;
and Of " lmigt0n, was that genl
spirited Quakeress RhOda Wh0rthing
toa. Beautifully, step ~ step, were
those praying women led as the work
opened up before the u, and women
who had not dreamed they held such
rich gifts in their keeping, were f und
in the pulpits and on rCstrums with
burning words swaying great audienc
es. But they erelong discovered that. |
because of the domination of the liquor
power in the government, and over
the political parties, a long siege was
before them, and that tie better to
hold their forces together. it was nee
essary to organize local, county and
state, and finally on The 18th of No
vember, 1874, the National Union was |
formed at Cleyelan nd. But | am adj |
monished by the limit prescribed, that |
of the marvellous work accomplished, |
and being to-day prosecuted by this |
greatest organized body of women il |
the world, dare not att mpt to speak, |
nor to more than refer to the censure |
they have received from some guar
tiers, because, after the betrayal oftheir |
confidence by the political party il
power, they transferred it to that young |
and vigorous party that is working
for the principles to which
they are pledged. They would have
been false TO their holy calling if they
had done less.
It is not cluimed that SO immense an
amount of work by such diversity Of
talent could be carried on without
some friction. The wonder would be
that there was not more, if we did not
know that i'll this work the women
have learned seif-dis cipline. self-re-
straint, and forbearauce one with an-
other.
This great movement was born Of
prayer and sustained by Christian love
and charity. These are the graces that
must win the world fer Jesus. Let NOT
the Woman's Christian Temperance
Union ever forget whence alone com
eth Its strength.
An old dr,Inl,arJ waII-T,nnrn i'm |