To make the story as short as possible, I will simply state that all
but the first one on whom the ladies called--Hank Otis--stopped at
once (doubtless at first to see how the thing would turn out) and
then the ladies went down early in the morning and crowded into
Hank's den. He came in, just out of bed, and was astonished to find
his "grocery" crowded full of women. He had sworn to his cronies
that if he ever caught "them women here, I will pitch 'em all into
the street;" but on that morning, looking into the earnest faces of
the crowd gathered about him, it occurred to him that pitching them
into the street might not be a popular neighborhood movement, and so
he did the next best thing--sent for his big easy chair, had a
pillow brought for his head, another chair and pillow for his heels,
and then cried out:
"Ladies, I am glad to see you; I an always glad to see my neighbors,
especially the ladies. Now, ladies, do take seats (there was not
another chair in the room) and go on; I shall be delighted to hear
you."
They did go on; they cried, begged, plead, argued, reasoned and
expostulated; they read from the Bible, they prayed, sang, and kept
it up till twelve o'clock. A relative and very dear friend of mine
was one of the company, and she has told me that she never witnessed
such a scene,--it was enough to break a heart of stone.
About twelve o'clock, they said:
"Good morning, Mr. Otis; we will come again to-morrow morning."
"Do come, ladies, and come early; I hope you will never pass without
dropping in. I am always glad to see my neighbors, especially the
ladies."
The women went next morning before Hank was out of bed; as soon as
he came in and took his chair, they began with singing and prayer.
Pretty soon Otis pretended to be asleep, and snored prodigiously;
but they knew he was awfully wide awake. During the whole forenoon
they sang, prayed, begged, plead, expostulated, and then sang and
prayed again.
About noon Otis noticed that they suddenly ceased, and he wondered
what was to come next. He opened one eye a little, and saw they were
pulling out their luncheons. He groaned in spirit, but comforted
himself with the reflection, that he could sit as long as they could
stand. Soon they began again with prayer, and after another hour
they closed with a song, and saying:
"Good afternoon, Mr. Otis; we will come again to-morrow morning,"
they left him.
Hank had nothing to say, for he felt that soon he must give way. But
the next morning he was up early, and ready to receive them.
They began, and when they came to the part where they said, "we will
support your family with our needles; we should be proud and happy
to do so, if you will only close your place," he could stand it no
longer, and springing to his feet, cried out:
"There is one thing I want to know, and that is, how long is this
infernal business going to last?"
One of the earnest mothers replied:
"What God has in reserve for us we can't say, but if He permits us
to live, we shall come here every day till this place is closed. Mr.
Otis, you think we are joking, that it is a foolish whim of ours;
but, sir, we have entered into a solemn vow to struggle against this
curse, which threatens to engulf our all, as long as God gives us
the breath of life."
"Ladies, how long will you give me to stop?"
"You will have to take your own time."
"Well, in ten days I will stop, and on my honor as a gentleman, I
will never begin again, in this town!"
"Oh, Mr. Otis," exclaimed one poor sufferer, "don't go on ten days;
my poor Sam may become a drunkard in that time; stop now, and God
will bless you."
"Well, ladies, I will pour out my liquors to-morrow morning at nine
o'clock, and that shall be the last of it."
The next morning the whole village was there to see; the liquors
were brought out with a great flourish, poured into the gutter, and
they ran down into the stream below.
Although that village was so situated as to be peculiarly exposed to
the evils of intemperance, and although this happened many years
ago, I believe that not one glass of strong drink has been sold
within its precincts, from that day to this. Those brave women have
ever stood ready to attack, with their own peculiar weapons, the
enemy who would open a pitfall for their sons.
Here and there, throughout the country, earnest mothers, wives,
sisters and daughters have undertaken to exterminate the
neighborhood grog-shops; and while men have constantly failed, these
determined women have rarely failed to achieve a complete victory.
_Women rule in the social sphere, and are responsible for its
vices._
In all this world, there is no other spectacle so bewildering and so
sad, as this queen of the social sphere, living in the midst of
drunken howls, the sickening fumes of tobacco, and in a hot-bed of
licentiousness, and hiding the magic wand with which she might
dispel every social iniquity, and then standing before a mirror,
paint her cheeks and eyebrows, and adjust her curls, and ribbons,
and flowers, and bows and jewelry.
It is no mere figure of speech, to say that God will hold her
responsible for all this silly, shameless abandonment and betrayal
of her high and sacred trusts!