Two Decades | Page 7

the women have been
awakened to the vast evils thereby entailed; and, relying upon divine
guidance and support, we feel that the present time is particularly
auspicious for that renewal and vigorous action on the part of friends of
temperance which the exigencies of all so urgently demand; therefore,
Resolved, That we, the temperance women of the State of New York,
do organize a state temperance league, in the belief that we can the
better aid, encourage, and fortify each other in the suppression of this
growing vice, and in the creation of a universal and moral sentiment for
temperance and sobriety; and to this end there should be much earnest
prayer for God's wisdom to direct, His power to insure success, linked
with persistent personal effort.
Resolved, That it is our duty and privilege to stand firm in our example
of total abstinence by abandoning the use of all intoxicants from our
tables and from every department of domestic life.
Resolved, That, in the judgment of this convention, one of the great
hopes of the ultimate triumph of the temperance reform lies in a
thorough training of the youth of the land in such principles and
practices of temperance as will show them the fatal danger of drinking
and the criminality of selling liquors; and we earnestly entreat the
friends of the cause, and especially pastors of churches and
superintendents of Sunday-schools throughout the state, to take
immediate measures in their respective cities and towns for the

formation in perpetual continuance of temperance societies to be
composed of youths.
Resolved, That the educational authorities of the state be and are hereby
respectfully and earnestly requested to cause to be introduced, as soon
as practicable, into all schools, text-books treating of the nature of
intoxicating liquors and of the effects upon the human constitution, and
that Sunday-schools introduce into their libraries literature inculcating
positive principles which will develop wholesome temperance
sentiment.
Resolved, That we earnestly ask all good men to cooperate with us in
our labor, and also by their votes to complete the work to which all our
energies and our prayers are consecrated.
For the accomplishment of these objects we shall religiously employ all
the means God has placed within our reach, and constantly invoke His
aid and guidance.
This first convention was marked by deep spiritual power. No step was
taken without the manifest guidance of the Holy Spirit.
The sweet gale, or Dutch myrtle, grows in moorland fens. It is a
humble plant, but fragrant; where it grows abundantly the miasma of
the bog is neutralized by its balsamic odors and antiseptic qualities,
disease is displaced and health established. So the sweet fragrance of
the Woman's Christian Temperance Union of the State of New York,
planted at Syracuse, has been carried by prayer and faith to all New
York, "giving beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, and the
garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness."

[Illustration: MRS. ALLEN BUTLER.]
MRS. ALLEN BUTLER.
(FIRST PRESIDENT)

Lucy Wood was born in Greenbush, Rensselaer County, New York, in
1820. Her educational advantages were those offered by the public
schools of her native county. Having decided musical tastes she
improved the opportunities offered at the city of Albany for their
cultivation, early dedicating her gift of song to the causes she loved.
She became a Christian when thirteen years old, and by a long and
useful Christian life has adorned her profession. In 1841 she was united
in marriage with Allen Butler, and soon after removed to Syracuse,
then a village of about six thousand inhabitants. During her life of more
than half a century in Syracuse she has been identified with many of the
Christian and benevolent institutions of the city, as well as those of her
own church, to which she is devotedly attached.
Frail in health, her interest in a cause often exceeded the strength to
work for it. This was the apparent condition of things when the crusade
with whirlwind power swept over the land. A life-long advocate of total
abstinence, her interest in the cause could not be restrained, and gently
her Heavenly Father led her in this work, first to a little gathering of
temperance women, at which, after much importunity, she conducted
the exercises. Some months later she became the chosen leader of these
women. It was from this consecrated band, over the signature of Mrs.
Butler with others, that the call for the first state convention of
temperance women was made.
Who more appropriately than she could call that convention to order?
And when the State League, afterwards the Woman's Christian
Temperance Union, was organized, it was no surprise that Mrs. Allen
Butler was elected president, a position she retained for five years.
These were years of anxiety but