Miss Scott, 26 Albert street, Ottawa, is Superintendent of this Department.



CHAPTER X.

A DREAM.

No. 1.

I went to the regular meeting of a W.C.T.U., called for 3 P.M. I entered as the clock struck. The room was full of chairs and benches, a large room with few windows and dark corners. There were three hymn books on the table, and a dusty Bible. The clock ticked on, five minutes passed, ten minutes, and one timid woman entered, took no notice of me, but sat with her eyes fixed on the floor, a sad faced woman I saw as I looked more closely, a tired, hopeless expression in the droop of her figure. Five minutes more and two busy women came in with a rush. "What! nobody here? I wish people would be punctual," said one, "I can only stay half an hour," "I have another meeting," said the other. The sad faced woman and I were invisible, it seemed, as neither by look nor act did they acknowledge our presence. Then three more strolled in leisurely, one saying, "Oh, Mrs. A., is this meeting at three or half past? I really forget the hour." Afterwards a few young ladies came in, and seated themselves in a row, keeping up a whispered conversation in which the pronouns he, she, and I, were often heard. At half-past three the President came in, saying, "I am afraid I am a little late, my watch does not seem to be quite right." Taking a hymn book, she asked, "What had we better sing, Mrs. B., have you any choice?" No choice being signified, the leaves were turned over and over, and "Plunged in a gulf of dark despair" selected and read. "Will some one start the tune? Mrs. C. will you?" Mrs. C. looked around, waited a minute, and then asked, "Is it common or long meter?" Another pause. The little timid woman began a familiar tune, and had the privilege of singing the first two lines alone. The hymn finished, the President said, "As it is so late, we will dispense with the reading of the Scriptures. I will ask Mrs. A. to lead in prayer," at which Mrs. A. shook her head. "Mrs. C. then will you?" "Excuse me," said Mrs. C., so to the back of her chair the president prayed in a very subdued tone, and I knew just when she was through by the little rustle and moving of the chair as she arose. The secretary now read the minutes, after which the president said, "Those in favor of the minutes will signify it." Two or three hands went up. The treasurer's report was then presented, but no action taken on it. Although this was a large town there seemed to be no committees at work, but each member had been furnished with a pledge book, in which to obtain signatures. No one had any success to report, had quite forgotten it, except the little woman mentioned. She produced her book where the names of half-a-dozen were scrawled with a good thick pen and plenty of ink. Her report was received in silence. The president, secretary, and treasurer talked across the table in very low tones, the rest of the company whispered a little, finally Mrs. —— said, looking at her watch, "My half-hour is more than up, I must go." She walked out, followed by the young ladies. The low tones at the table ceased, the books were closed, the ladies put on their extra wrappings and went home. The little woman and I were left alone. "Will you let me see your book?" I asked. "Oh yes," said she. "I got some of the young men boarding with me to sign, and I hope they'll keep it. I pray they may. I thought the sisters would be glad. I wish I could do more, but it does not seem worth while for me to come to the meetings. I cannot talk much, and I have so much to do at home. I can work quietly there and among my acquaintances." As I passed the young ladies on the way home, I overheard one say, "I am not going to the Union meetings any more. Two or three do all the talking, and we can't hear what they say." That evening, as I heard in my dream, the president said to her husband, "I think once in two months is often enough to hold our Union meetings. There seems to be nothing to do." Then I thought, in my dream, that another year had passed, and I came again to the same town, and wended my way to the place of meeting where I had been aforetime. Meeting a gentleman near the door I asked him if the Union still met there. "Oh," said he, "the W.C.T.U. That died out months ago. Women don't know very much about business, you see, it is hard for them to keep together."

Was it all a dream?

A DREAM.

No. 2.

A bright spring day I thought it was and I walked to the room of the Y.M.C.A., where a Union meeting was to be held. It was not quite three o'clock, but I met three or four ladies going in, who asked me if I was coming to the meeting, and upon my answering "Yes, if I may," she said, "Oh, certainly, come right in." One of them placed a seat for me as I went in, and brought me a hymn book, asking if I was a stranger in town and if I was a member of any Union. As I said I was a member of —— Union, she said, "Oh! then, you must tell us of the work there." Then moving away, and coming back with a lady, she introduced her as the president of the Union, and the president expressed her pleasure at meeting another sister interested in the work. Looking around the room, I saw a bouquet of flowers on the table, writing materials and reports. Just then the clock struck three, the president took her chair, gave out the hymn, "Work for the Night is Coming,' read the 146th Psalm, and engaged in prayer. The secretary then read the minutes. As the president asked, "Is there any objection to the minutes?" one lady said that the first resolution at last meeting was moved by Mrs. B., instead of Mrs. A. This was corrected and the minutes approved, no other objection being offered. The treasurer's reports and reports of different committees were read and adopted. The pledge books produced, and many signatures had been obtained. The president said, "Let us sing the doxology over this," and it was sung very heartily. I noticed that all the members spoke to "Mrs. President," not to each other, and there was no whispering. The officers at the table spoke so that all could hear. A short paper was then read on "How we may best help in Scott Act work." At the invitation of the writer this paper was discussed, some points objected to, additional methods proposed, and every body was interested and had learned something. The chairman of the Literature Committee said she would exchange books in the loan library at the close of the meeting. Miss S. was asked to prepare a paper for the next monthly meeting, and after a few words of earnest prayer offered by a young lady at the request of the president, the meeting adjourned. The president walked quickly to the door and shook hands heartily with each member as she passed out, asking kindly after sick ones and erring ones of the families. "You must come and see me to- morrow morning, and tell me all about it," I heard her say to a troubled sister. It was now ten minutes past four o'clock. As I walked along I overtook the troubled one, and said to her, "You had a good meeting to-day." Her face brightened as she replied, "Oh, we always have. I would not like to miss one of our meetings. It always helps me to go there and hear of the good work being done, and it makes me stronger to do my share of it. These meetings make you feel as if somebody cared for you." A group of young ladies were chatting with some gentlemen at the opposite corner, and I heard a clear, sweet voice say "We want you both as honorary members of our W.C.T.U. We are going to have some readings from Dickens and we need your help; you will join, won't you?" To which the gentlemen replied they "would be delighted," etc. Then my dream took me to a cozy home where a young man, just out of his teens, was saying to a lady I had seen before, "Mother, now the warm weather is coming, and you are not very strong, you had better give up your meetings." "Oh, no, my son," the lady said, "there is so much to be done, and it is such a pleasure to work with our ladies, we must keep right on." In my dream I came again. This time the Union met in a beautiful room of their own, furnished as a bright, pleasant parlor, with flowers and pictures and piano. Their numbers had increased, for the ladies came in groups till the room was nearly filled. I saw some of the old faces, the president was the same, a little older in appearance, her walk a little slower. As she took her place, the sun shone out full in my face and I awoke.

Was this, too, only a dream?



CHAPTER XI.

CONCLUSION.

To every child of God there comes a time, sooner or later, when a light from heaven having shone round about him, and seeing the great need of the world, he stands. Paul-like, before God, and asks: "Lord, what wilt Thou have me to do?" As the answer came in the olden time, "I will shew him what things he must suffer," so the answer comes in these later days, and many of God's dear children have come to this Christian temperance work through suffering.

As Christian women, we have come down from the mount of consecration, where we have talked with Jesus, and at its base, have been met by the demon of Intemperance in every form. Friends have brought their loved ones to us, beseeching us to cast out the evil spirit, or, it may be, the monster has come into our homes, and household treasures here and there lie prostrate and helpless in the dust before God. With sad, shrinking hearts we look for a moment, then, with a twofold incentive, we take up our work. For the sake of our dear Saviour who did so much for us, whose face, sometimes, in our holiest hours, by faith we see, and whose voice we still hear, "Lo! I am with you always," and for the sake of the loved and the lost, or, more happily, the loved and reclaimed, we come to our work.

This work is intensely practical, and brings into requisition all the forces which go to make up Christian character. It means patient, persevering, persistent, self-denying labor; it means an intelligent consecration of time, money and ability which God may have given us, to be used in the carrying out of the good at which we aim; it means entering into fellowship with Christ, (in a very feeble sense, it is true,) in His broad sympathy with humanity, in His sacrificing love; it means, many times, to have our names cast out as evil, to brave the sneer and ridicule of fashionable society, to be willing to be misunderstood by those nearest and dearest to us; to some it means all this and more; still, with a firm conviction of duty, of being called of God, we come to this work. It may extend no further than our own homes, our own circle of friends; but if each build over against his own house, how strong the walls would be, how quickly they would rise!

We look out into the night and see here and there a star glimmering in the darkness, and we say, "How dark the night is; how few stars are to be seen!" We wait and watch, and soon the clouds are rolled away; we see the stars one by one coming out from the blackness, until the blue vault above us is covered with heavenly diamond dust, and we rejoice in its brilliancy.

So in our work. We see here and there a star coming out of the darkness; only a few to be seen after all the working and watching. By-and-by, God, in answer to our prayers, and giving the reward to faithful toil, shall roll away the clouds and mists that gather so thickly about our work here. We shall see not only here and there a star glimmering, but a host of shining ones, that God hath brought out of the darkness and covered over with an arch of His promises, where He has written, "They shall be mine in that day when I make up my jewels.' In that day, when we shall be permitted to see the polished gems in the keeping of the Holy One, we shall realize that no work for the Master has been done in vain. Here we toil amid the damp and fog and darkness, often underground, with no lamp save the promise of God, which is "a lamp to our feet, and a light to our path;" there we shall be with Him and behold His glory. Here, the sadness, the weariness, the discouragement, the "Why, Lord?" and "How?" there, the "Well done!" "Enter thou!" questions answered, longings satisfied, eternal rest and peace.

Shall we not, for this joy set before us, consecrate ourselves anew to this Christian work, that, at the last, as Paul stood in his later days, we may stand and say, "I have finished my course?" and, following closely in the footsteps of Jesus, our great Teacher, giving all the praise and all the glory to Him who is our strength and our righteousness, we may be able to say, reverently and with deep humility, "I have finished the work Thou gavest me to do."



CONSTITUTION, BY-LAWS

AND

ORDER OF BUSINESS OF A

WOMAN'S CHRISTIAN TEMPERANCE UNION.

(LOCAL.)

ARTICLE I.—NAME.

This Association shall be known as the Woman's Christian Temperance Union of ——, auxiliary to the W.C.T.U. of the Province of ——.

ARTICLE II.—OBJECTS.

The objects of the Union shall be to meet together for prayer and conference, to educate public sentiment up to the standard of total abstinence, train the young, save the inebriate, and secure the legal prohibition and complete banishment of the liquor traffic.

ARTICLE III.

Any woman may become a member of this Association by signing the Pledge and Constitution, and by the payment of fifty cents per year into the Treasury.

Any woman, practically a total abstainer, but having an objection to signing the Pledge, may become an "associate member" of this Association, by the payment of the regular fee.

Gentlemen may become honorary members of this Association by signing the pledge and by the payment of the regular fee.

Honorary and Associate members are entitled to all the privileges of members, except the vote.

PLEDGE.

I hereby promise, God helping me, to abstain from all distilled, fermented and malt liquors, including wine and cider, as a beverage, and to employ all proper means to discourage the use of and traffic in the same.

ARTICLE, IV.—OFFICERS

The officers of this Association shall be a President, Vice- Presidents, one from each church, when practicable, a Corresponding Secretary, Recording Secretary, Treasurer, and Auditor. These officers (excepting the Auditor), with the Superintendents of the different departments, shall constitute the Executive Committee.

ARTICLE V.—AUXILIARYSHIP.

Each Local Union shall pay to the funds of Provincial Union a sum equal to six and a quarter cents per member, quarterly, this amount to be taken from the fifty cents membership fee.

ARTICLE VI.—ANNUAL MEETING.

An Annual Meeting shall be held in the month of September of each year, at which reports of Secretary and Treasurer shall be presented, which, if possible, shall be published afterwards in the daily newspapers. At this meeting, officers and committees and superintendents shall be elected for the ensuing year, and such services held as may tend to promote the objects of the Association.



BY-LAWS.

ARTICLE I.—DUTIES OF OFFICERS.

Section 1. President.—It shall be the duty of the President to preside at meetings of the organization, and supervise its general interests, and she may with any three members of the Union call special meetings, due notice being given to the members.

Section 2. Vice-Presidents.—It shall be the duty of each Vice- President to preside in her turn in the absence of the President, and to enlist women of her own church in the work.

Section 3.—It shall be the duty of the Corresponding Secretary to conduct the correspondence of the Union, and report to the Corresponding Secretary of the Provincial Union quarterly, on receipt of blank forms (having first submitted her report to the local Union), giving such items of general interest as will enable said Secretary to judge correctly of the condition of the Union. She shall also prepare the report for the Annual Meeting of the local Union.

The Corresponding Secretary shall also prepare a short report for the Provincial Convention in October (first submitting it to the local Union), and sending it with the delegate to the Annual Meeting, or forwarding it to the Provincial Secretary two weeks before the date of meeting.

Section 4.—It shall be the duty of the Recording Secretary to keep a record of the proceedings of the Union, and notify members and the public of its meetings.

Section 5.—It shall be the duty of the Treasurer to collect all membership dues, and to devise ways and means to increase the funds of the Association. She shall receive and hold all money collected for the use of the Union, keeping an exact book account and making a monthly report of the same. She shall pay no bills, except on an order signed by the President and Recording Secretary. She shall forward regularly the quarterly fee to the Treasurer of Provincial Union.

ARTICLE II.—ELECTION OF OFFICERS.

The officers shall be elected by nomination and ballot. Nominations may be made either by a committee appointed for that purpose, or on motion of any member.

If there be more than one person nominated for any office, a ballot shall be taken, tellers having been appointed for that purpose. The one having a full majority of all the ballots cast shall be declared elected.

[If there be more than two persons balloted for, and the one having the highest number of votes, has not a majority of all the votes given, then the one having the lowest number of votes shall be struck off before proceeding to the next ballot. More than one name may be struck off, provided that the sum of all the vote—so struck off is not equal to, or greater than, the number of votes given to the lowest remaining one.]

ARTICLE III.—DEPARTMENTS OF WORK.

If the demands of the work justify it there shall be the following departments of work: Juvenile Work, Temperance Literature, Influencing the Press, Evangelistic Work, Parlor Meetings, Heredity and Hygiene, Scientific Temperance Instruction, Kitchen Garden, Flower Mission, Unfermented Wine, Inducing Physicians not to Prescribe Alcoholic Stimulants, Relation of Intemperance to Capital and Labor, Prison and Gaol Work, Young Woman's Work, Work among Railroad Employees, Work among Soldiers and Sailors, Legislation and Petitions and such others as the needs of the locality seem to call for and recommended by the Provincial Union.

ARTICLE IV.—MEETINGS.

The regular meeting of the Union shall be held weekly, fortnightly or monthly, as the Union may decide. The first meeting in the month shall be a devotional meeting. If possible, mass meetings shall be held quarterly.

The Executive and other Committees shall meet as often as may be deemed advisable.

ARTICLE V.—QUORUM.

A quorum shall consist of such members as shall be present at a regular or special meeting, due notice of such meeting being given to the members.

ARTICLE VI.—DELEGATES TO THE PROVINCIAL UNION.

Delegates to the Provincial Union are received on the following basis: Two for each Union, and one additional delegate for every ten paying members of each Union. The expenses of general officers for postage, stationery, etc., shall be borne by the Union. Travelling expenses of delegates to Annual Convention, shall, where at all practicable, be borne by the Union sending those delegates.



ORDER OF BUSINESS.

Devotional Exercises.

Reading Minutes of Last Meeting.

Treasurer's Report.

Unfinished Business.

Reception of Communications.

Reports of Committees.

Reading of Paper on Temperance Question

Discussion.

Regular Course of Reading.

Discussion.

Miscellaneous Business.

Adjournment.



[Transcriber's Note: The spelling "philanthrophy" occurs in the original. Also, in the list of numbered items in chapter 6, the numbering skips from 3 to 5, but no content seems to be missing. We have left these as they were in our print copy.]

THE END