Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1893-03-16

ehc cNeuiuS VI JdhuhTy lJtn, ana the great
Synod Hall in Edinburgh witnessed the re-
markable exhibition Of the presentation Of
testimonial by DIR. Blaikie of the Uni
versity, signed by the official representa-
tives of every denomination 10 Scotland,
| together with the testimonials Of each Of
| the national temperance societies
| more notable instance Of the result of
Miss Wizards life mission could not be
instanced than such recognition from
this most conservative body Of christians
who have for so long resisted the work and
influence of women. 1t Is however no
matter Of wonder that the work and worth
thus recognized in the mother country;
for wherever the temperance cause has a
champion, wherever the cause of social
purity has an exponent, whenever the la
Dor movement lifts up Its voice. whenever
woman, with the sunlight of the glad new
day upon her face. stretches forth her
hand to God, there her name Is loved cher
ished and revered Tried by Jury of her
peers. even amid the clashing opinions OF
this transition age. when the old is unwill-
Ing to die and the new seems hardly ready
to be born. there would still come the YER
| dict. ''she is fair opponent, she is kind
iy comrade; as Lincoln said, she has
"hrmness in the right as God gives her to
see the right, and moves along her chosen
path with malice toward none and charity
for ALL" From that more august and per
haps impartial jury, beyond the circle of
reform, comes the verdict. prophetic Of
that which history shall one dav record,
''she made the world wider for woman and
happier for humanity" We know that
America owes her greatness to the ster-
ling worth Of those intrepid Puritan pto-
neers, who were the best gift of the old
world TO the new. So Frances Willard,
who has in her veins that pure New Eng
land blood, owes to her ancestry much of
the strength and courage that must ever
be the basis of reformers character
Away on Wisconsin farm amid the ce-
dars sweet and fragrant and the whisper
inspiration of her life from the mother
whose strong and sunny spirit made glad
the solitary place, and who brought into
the prairie wilderness a most intrepid in
tellect and culture exceptionally rare
The brightness OF her own great nature
made that 'desolate" place "blussom a.
the rose" for her children. Dn that coun-
try farm Coleridge. Wordsworth and Pope
were household friends That enthusiasm
for humanity which characterizes Frances
Wlllard's work was breathed into her ac-
tive mind by one born and bred in the
great free-soil State Of the north, whose
delight It was to teacn her little girl to
read from the Slaves Friend"
What wonder that in after years one of
the greatest achievements of Frances VII.
larl's life was her mission of reconcilia- J.
tion to the women Of the south, while yet
the sears Of war throbbed in their breasts,
and new made graves stretched wide be-
tween sections that had learned the misery
Of hatred. 1t was the white ribbon taken
ny utT ltnutT Hanus that OHunu lnpse
wounds. and gently drew the noble hearted
women of that sunny land into the ho>pit-
able home circle Of the W. G.. T. L.
Sacrifice Is the foundation OF all real
success. and it was a crucial morsent in
Miss W Wlllard's life when she resigned the
brilliant position of Dean of the first
women's college connected with univer
sity in America, and went out, pennilcs-
alone and unhcralded, because her spirit
had caught the rhythm of the womcn'-
footsteps as they bridged the distance be-
tween the home and the saloon in the Pen
tecostal days of the temperance crusade F..
She has relinquished that which women
hold the dearest, the sacred. sheltered life
of home. Around her hearth no children /.
wait to greet her. But she has lost that I.
life only to tnd it again ten thousand fold. T.
She has understood the mystery OF the .
wider circle of love and loyalty and the .
world is her home as truly as John Wcs- /
ley said 1t was his parish" She has un-
derstood the diviuer motherhood that
'iaiiHs tht oiphautt itai - 'i humanity /
as her heritage. and chorus of chldren's |!
voices round the world cherish aud hail |
her name. for "organized mother love" is
the best drdnition Of the W. C. T. L. ,
Well may We say in the words of our
great poet:
"Liye and take comfort. tnon wilt leave behind /
Powers that shall work for thee,
Earth. air and skies;
There's not q breathing of the common wind
That will forget thee. thou
Hast great allies:
Thy friends are eXaltstions, agoncs and love,
And mans unconquerable mind
ISABEL SOMERSET
Eas CaStl.. Eab