From Wealth to Poverty Part 15

There were present Judge McGullett, Capt. McWriggler, Sheriff Bottlesby, Capt. Flannigan, John Sealy, Esq., Stanley Ginsling, and as many of the magistrates of the town and county as could be induced to come. All were jubilant that so many of the latter responded to their invitation; for they considered their presence indicated their sympathy with them. Rivers, in a private conversation that he managed to have with Sealy, said with a chuckle:

"We have them as good as beaten already, for we have here the princ.i.p.al part of the men before whom the cases must be tried."

"That's so," replied Sealy, "but we will have some hard fighting to do first."

The party broke up in the small hours of the morning. During the course of their night's debauch there was a great deal of speechifying, and the epithets fanatical, humbug, etc., were used _ad infinitum_. Over the state of nearly every one of the party it is well to cast the veil of oblivion. But what may be expected of a town or a county that has such men to administer justice and to hold its most responsible positions.

CHAPTER XXV.

THE FRIENDS OF TEMPERANCE REJOICING OVER THE VICTORY.

"I am certain, friends, from my knowledge of the places from which we have not yet received any returns, that our victory is a.s.sured; for I think we may depend upon those we have received as being correct, and those which are yet to be reported will help to swell the majority.

"We should be very thankful, as we are gaining a greater victory than what was antic.i.p.ated by even the most sanguine of us. Our opponents seemed to have been paralysed, and were routed horse and foot.

"I am more thankful than I can find words to express that such is the case. When I remember the many who are miserable, degraded drunkards, without shame, and many of them without honor, who a few years ago were respectable citizens and worthy of our esteem and our confidence, but who have been thus degraded by the drink traffic; when I remember the number of those we once knew, and some of them amongst the most brilliant in intellect, the purest in morals, and the best loved of our citizens, who were cut off in their prime by this fell destroyer--who, if it had not been for alcohol, might have been with their friends--their hope, their joy, and their pride; when I think of the miserable, desolate homes--the brokenhearted wives--the wretched, starving little ones, whom rum has made so, then I thank G.o.d for this victory.

"I have no children of my own. G.o.d, in His mercy, has taken them 'one by one.' They are now where no destroyer can enter; but my friends and neighbours have children, and I see, with alarm, that some of them are being led to their ruin by those who frequent the rum-shops in our town; for their sakes I rejoice that this temptation is about to be removed.

"As I was on my way to this meeting to-night, I called upon one who was once a happy wife, but who now is a very wretched one, for her husband has been nearly ruined by this awful curse; one who, as those who know her best can testify, is a cultured lady, and her husband was once every way worthy of her, but he is now a poor, dilapidated wretch--a wreck, mentally, morally, and physically; and she is now prostrated upon what, in all probability, will be her death-bed, brought low by the hards.h.i.+p and mental anguish she has endured; for she and her children--and G.o.d never blessed a mother with better ones--have been reduced to abject poverty through rum. As I was leaving, she grasped my hand in both of her emaciated ones, and said, 'Oh, Mr. Gurney, may G.o.d give you the victory to-day! and if the prayers of a wretched wife and mother can affect the issue, He will. We are being brought to utter ruin, and if liquor is not kept from my husband we shall soon both be in our graves, and our children will be orphans in a cold, cold world. Oh! tell them that a worse than widowed wife, who is now very near the grave, but who was a happy wife and mother until the drink-curse blighted her hopes and destroyed her home, is now praying for the victory. May G.o.d bless you!'

"I am certain, friends," continued Mr. Gurney, "there are hundreds of such wives in our town and county, and thousands within the bounds of our fair Dominion who are praying for our success."

When Mr. Gurney, who was chairman of the temperance meeting, which was held in the Sons of Temperance Hall, in Bayton, on the evening of the polling day, sat down, there was a lady arose to address the meeting. When she stood up the audience was immediately hushed into silence. She had a beautifully modulated voice, full and round as the notes of a flute, over which she had perfect control, and that could be heard to the furthest corner of the room.

The speaker was Mrs. Holman, who has since been recognized as one of the most able prohibition speakers in Canada. Her first attempts at public speaking was when she addressed the Ladies'

Temperance a.s.sociation of the town of Bayton, of which she was president, and then she was inducted to talk to the Sunday-school children upon the same topic. Her friends were so much impressed with her ability as a speaker, they urged her to come out and publicly address meetings upon this subject. At first she could not be persuaded to do so; the ordeal was too severe, for she was naturally sensitive, and her refined mind shrank from appearing upon the platform, where she would be subjected to the taunts of rough and vulgar men. But finally her sense of duty overcame every restraining influence, and she came forward as the eloquent pleader for the wretched drunkards and their wives and mothers, and their poor, helpless children, the last mentioned of whom, as she eloquently expressed it, were subjected to unmentionable and almost unimagined indignities, and had to suffer untold, misery through the curse of intoxicating liquor.

She, upon the occasion to which we refer, said:--"Friends, we have gained a great victory to-day. There has been in this struggle, arrayed upon opposite sides, light against darkness, philanthropy against, selfishness, virtue against vice, heaven against h.e.l.l; and I do thank G.o.d for the help He has given us. The prayers of the vast majority of the great and good in our land, of the poor, suffering and wretched wives and mothers, have been ascending like an incense of a sweet-smelling savor in our behalf to-day; from many a sad heart whose life has been made wretched and whose home has been made desolate, has gone up the prayer, 'G.o.d help the Temperance Cause.' These prayers have been answered." And she added, looking upward: "Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto Thy name give glory for Thy mercy." Her face shone with a seraphic glow, as she thus offered the glory and praise unto Him to whom all glory belongeth; and she seemed, like one of old, to be holding intercourse with G.o.d. The impression that these words, with their concomitant action, had upon the meeting was indescribable.

"But," she added, "something whispers to me that the hardest part of our fighting is yet before us. Our victory has been secured in a manner so easy that I think they intend to make the greatest resistance now when we imagine we have nothing to do but enjoy its triumph. I have been informed they intend to fight the Act in every possible manner, and, as they are inspired by their selfishness, you may rest a.s.sured they will not be very particular as to the means employed to accomplish their end. I have reasons for believing that the greater part of the hotels, and groggeries in this county will not only be kept open to sell, in defiance of the law, but also to give rum away, when they can in no other manner accomplish their diabolical purpose of making men drunk.

This town and county is to be made a perfect saturnalia of drunkenness, and the Licensed Victimizers--I cannot call them by any other name--promise to pay all the cost, though it should amount to a hundred thousand dollars. Friends! What care they for the misery and crime this cruel, heartless course will entail upon this country? They are utterly regardless of the men who are now pure, who may be degraded and wrecked, both in soul and body, and sent to drunkards' graves and a drunkard's eternity. They think not of the poor wives who will be beaten and bruised, and it may be murdered, by husbands who have become besotted and brutalized by drink; nor of the poor, innocent little children who will be neglected and have to endure barbarity and hunger because of this course. Their traffic has entirely hardened their hearts; they care not who suffer so they prosper. G.o.d will require a fearful reckoning from them some day.

"Now, friends, it is for us to do our duty--to work, to sacrifice, to suffer, and, having done all, to stand. Let us each and every one resolve that now we have carried this Act, that when the time comes for it to become law it must and shall be respected; and that those who violate it with impunity shall be punished.

"I congratulate the men and women who have prayed and worked in the good cause for the success which has crowned our efforts. Let us be firm to our purpose, and let nothing daunt us or keep us from performing our duty, and G.o.d will uphold and bless the right."

When Mrs. Holman sat down there was loud applause, and many were the vows audibly registered that, G.o.d helping them, they would be true.

Just then an old lady, with hair of snowy whiteness and a face which, though beautiful with the goodness and benevolence which it expressed, was marked and seamed with care, arose. Her trembling limbs had scarcely strength to sustain her body, emaciated though it was with care and suffering. She attempted two or three times to speak, but not a word escaped from her quivering lips; and the tears gus.h.i.+ng from her eyes followed each other in quick succession down her cheeks; and, finally, her pent-up feelings found expression in short, convulsive sobs. Her inability to speak because of her emotion had a greater power to move the meeting than the most fervid eloquence could have had. Soon there was scarcely a dry eye in the room, and many were sobbing in sympathy with her inexpressible woe. Her voice was finally heard, and though low and quavering, the sweetly modulated tones indicated a cultivated mind and loving nature:

"I thank my heavenly Father," she murmured, "for this day's victory. He only knows what I have suffered; Rum has blighted and ruined my fondest antic.i.p.ations. It has changed a life radiant with joy into blackest desolation. It robbed me of peace in my young womanhood. It made my middle age one terrible struggle with poverty and despair, and has left me in my old age--bereft of all my natural supports--like an aged tree in a desert; withered and alone.

"I had a husband, and G.o.d and my own heart know how pure and true he was. It first robbed him of his manhood and his purity, and then murdered him. No tongue can depict, no mind can imagine, the torture, the agony I suffered during the years that he was sinking deeper, deeper into the unholy abyss; nor my utter despair when they brought him home to me dead, slain by rum, and I was left with my helpless little ones to struggle on alone. And now my only son, for whom I toiled, and wept, and prayed, and who was--as many of you know--worthy of a mother's love, is a wretched drunkard. Oh! I pray that this victory may be the means of his salvation, that my grey hairs may not go down in sorrow to the grave."

When she took her seat there was not a person in the room but was visibly affected.

Several others made good speeches, but one of the most telling of the evening was made by the Rev. J. H. Mason. He, though a young man, had won for himself an enviable reputation as a brilliant preacher and humble Christian worker. In fact, he had manifested, by what he had accomplished and by the hold he had gained of his people's affections, that he was eminently qualified for the position he occupied.

He was now pastor of the most influential church in Bayton, and had thrown himself, heart and soul, into the campaign which was now ended. He said he had borne calumny and insult in the cause, and expected he would still have to endure it; but, G.o.d helping him, he would, in the future as in the past, do his duty, and had no doubt but every one who had worked for the end now accomplished would do the same.

They were about to close the meeting when a man arose and asked permission to read a communication from the _Globe_. Permission was given, and he read amid the profoundest silence, the following:

"A BAYTON MAN KILLED ON THE RAILWAY TRACK! THE LAST OF A WILFUL SON.

"The engineer of the morning train from Belleville thought he noticed something upon the track, shortly after leaving the city.

He whistled down brakes, and the train was stopped. Upon going back the horrible discovery was made of the dead body of a man, with both legs cut off just above the knee.

"The body was lying on the south side of the track, face downward, and the remnants of his legs on the inside between the rails. Upon his head was a wound which may have rendered him senseless at the moment of the fatal occurrence. The man was well dressed and appeared to be respectable. It is supposed he fell from the train which had immediately preceded the one by which he was found. The coroner was sent for and, upon searching the dead man's pockets, nothing was found but a letter, enclosed in a mourning envelope, and addressed to Willie Fleming, Bayton. The letter reads as follows, and founds the only clue to his person and character:

"BAYTON, June 20th, 187--.

"MY DEAR SON WILLIE,--"I received your letter last week, after I had almost given up hope of hearing from you again. My son, remember that 'hope deferred maketh the heart sick.' Please do not cause your poor old mother again to suffer such pain and anguish.

"My darling boy, you have had another warning not to indulge in strong drink. I would to G.o.d, my son, you would take it. Your course is cruel, and is slowly but surely killing me. G.o.d forgive the man who first led you astray, and the men, some of them in high position in this town, who have helped on the work.

"Oh! my son, I long to see you, and my daily prayer to our heavenly Father is that you may become--as you once were--pure and good. I hope you are now steady and giving good satisfaction to your employers. No more at present from your heart-broken MOTHER.

"P.S.--Write as soon as you receive this, and it will save me a great deal of mental anguish. M. F."

When the man had finished reading, he said: "Most of you know that that communication brings me the news of the awful end of my only brother. I am on my way to break it, as gently as possible, to my mother, but I could not resist the impulse--even in this hour of awful woe--to come in and read it to you all, that you might be influenced to greater zeal and n.o.bler sacrifices in the temperance cause. You know how bright his prospects were a short time ago, but he has been murdered in his prime by whiskey, and I have no hesitancy in saying that the man who was the chief instrument in his destruction is a hotel-keeper in this town who is the strongest opponent of this prohibition movement.

"Oh, friends! be true to your principles, that many may be saved from a similar fate; and pray to G.o.d for my poor old mother, for I am afraid this will break her heart."

"I have one request to make," said the Rev. Mr. Mason, "before this meeting breaks up: Let every person in this room who has heard that communication read, which comes laden with anguish to a broken-hearted mother, and sorrow to such a large circle of relatives and friends, now enter a solemn vow before high heaven, to do all they can to banish this our curse from this town and country. All that will thus promise, please stand upon your feet."

In an instant every person stood up.

"My friends," said Mr. Mason, "remember your vow; and remember, this sad case is only one of many thousands. Oh! what millions of lives have been and are still being blighted! What hearts are being blasted and broken by this fearful traffic! May G.o.d give us all power to resist temptation, and throw all our soul into our endeavors in this cause. Let us now sing, as we never sang before,

"'Praise G.o.d, from whom all blessings flow.'"

After singing, the benediction was p.r.o.nounced and the meeting broke up.

CHAPTER XXVI.

IN WHICH THE READER LISTENS TO A TETE-A-TETE BETWEEN MOTHER AND DAUGHTER.

A mother and daughter were conversing on what would appear, from their earnestness, to be a very important subject, in a cosy drawing-room of a beautiful brick villa, situated in the suburbs of Bayton. Their surroundings would lead the careful observer to the conclusion that they were in easy if not affluent circ.u.mstances.

Though the effect of the room's furnis.h.i.+ng would cause one to be possessed with the idea that there was more wealth than refinement;-- there was too much coloring, too much gauze and glitter, to be reconciled with any considerable degree of aesthetic taste or true culture.