USA > Ohio > Highland County > Hillsboro > Hillsboro crusade sketches and family records > Part 14
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LETTERS OF CONDOLENCE AND SYMPATHY.
The following are extracts from some of the let- ters of condolence received by the family :
Bishop David Moore wrote from Brooklyn, No- vember 13th :
"This moment my eye fell upon the announcement in The Western Christian Advocate of your noble mother's coronation. I am sorry for you who remain, but for her I have only joy. What a woman, what a mother, what a leader she was!
"May the Lord comfort and sustain you both ! "In deep sympathy, DAVID H. MOORE."
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Bishop John H. Vincent wrote December 8th from Kansas (en route) :
"MY DEAR FRIENDS,-The shadow fell upon you. And it lingers still and will linger long. She was a good mother-noble, earnest, faithful, and gifted. One can have only one mother. You feel the loss keenly. The sense of loneliness is hard to bear.
"Accept my sincere sympathy in this dark day. Think how bright it is just beyond the river !
"May the light of Heaven fall on you all as a family continually ! Sincerely yours,
"JOHN H. VINCENT."
Rev. Dr. Gilbert, editor Western Christian Advo- cate, December 26th, remarks in a letter to the family : "We can understand how even the Christmas will be distinctly modified this year, but you have a rich heritage in the memory of such a mother. And it was with profound sorrow that we learned in the first instance of her illness; and with the fullest sympathies for all the family we have expressed our condolence."
Rev. Helber D. Ketcham, presiding elder of the Day- : ton District, exclaims :
"How Christian she was! Indeed, she was the most gifted woman we ever met. We admired her greatly. We are with the bereaved family in thought and prayer. May the Friend who was the Companion of the Shadow and Valley, to whom you have lifted your hearts in joys and sorrows, not forsake you now !"
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Rev. Isaac F. King writes from Hong Kong, De- cember 15, 1905, his regret in the accident, and goes on to remark: "To my mind, Mrs. Thompson is one of the mnost lovely and most distinguished characters I have ever met."
A most worthy article, by Miss Nannie Bowles, appeared in The Hillsboro Magasine, and the local papers gave due attention to interesting incidents in the life of Mrs. Thompson.
The Rt. Rev. Daniel S. Tuttle, presiding Bishop of the House of Bishops, Episcopal Church :
"I want to send to you and Mrs. Rives and family the assurance of my deep sympathy. With your mother all is well. Death, to such a follower of the loved and loving Savior, is peace, rest, love, Home. God mercifully have us in His holy keeping, and bring us, too, there with our loved ones by and by! What a sweet and helpful and effective militant life for the Master and for His 'little ones' your dear mother lived! I have been greatly interested and touched in reading the memorials."
The following is taken from the letter of the Rt. Rev. Boyd Vincent to the family :
"Of course, at her time of life, her death was in no way surprising, though it seems pitiful that it should have been the direct result of an accident. She was so beautiful in person, as well as in life and char- acter, that it would have been our human way to have
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had her simply translated by an almost imperceptible change to the life beyond. But somehow it was best as it is! The pang of parting with those who gave us life and love, no matter how long it may be post- poned, can never be entirely done away. But you will find comfort at length in thankfulness that she was spared to you so long, that such a holy spirit was en- tering in this way on its reward of fuller existence in the world above, and that it was a life so full of happiness to you her children, and of blessing to all who came into contact with her."
Senator J. B. Foraker sent for himself and Mrs. Foraker a telegram of sympathy, and Congressman Nicholas Longworth said in his letter of condolence to Mrs. Rives :
"Mrs. Thompson's work for temperance was noble, and was of real service to the cause. Her life was an example of what a good woman can do, and her death is a loss to Ohio."
Another man in political life said : "We have been fighting the battles over again in Ohio which she and those consecrated women fought in 1873."
Rodney Trimble, M. D. (cousin of Mrs. Thomp- son) wrote at the New Year, when looking at her photograph sent to him by the family :
"What a wonderful face she had! May a faith and courage like unto hers sustain you all, and bring the victory of peace and joy at last."
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Hon. Robert Roberts, of Burlington, Vermont :
"The notice announcing the death of your beauti- ful mother is received. My impression of her gracious personality is still more vivid. It is indeed fortunate that you could have kept her with you so long, al- though it now makes her loss the harder to meet. You have my most sincere sympathy."
President Charles F. Thwing says (December 9th) : "As noble as that article is, yet it does not and can not convey that peculiar charm of personality which your mother represented."
Colonel Thomas Wentworth Higginson says (Jan- uary 2, 1905) :
"Thank you for sending me the magazine with the notice of your mother, who always seemed to me re- markable in the powers she retained into old age. It is evident, as one grows older, that age really depends very much upon the individuality of temperament, and to those whose tendency is to action it is very diffi- cult to lay it aside."
From Mrs. May Wright Sewall, under date of December 18, 1905 :
"I think it would be quite improper for me to send you on this occasion any words of condolence. So much longer than is the average time for us to enjoy our mothers, have you enjoyed yours, that there must long ago have come to you what I consider a source of very great happiness; viz., an ability to appreciate your mother while she was still living; and added to
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this, in your case, has been the pleasure of living to see her appreciated by others. Some thirty years ago, I think it is, Miss Willard, whom I had known when I was in college at Evanston, gave me my first impres- sion of the mother of 'the Crusade.' I thought then, as I think now, that she was undoubtedly chosen of God to lead the little band which unconsciously, build- ing better than they knew, inaugurated a great world movement whose end is not yet. Instead of condoling with you, my dear Mrs. Tuttle, I congratulate you on her long life, useful to the end of it and useful far. beyond the apparent end of this world's phase of life. I have placed the sketch of your mother's life on the reading table in the residence of the school, hoping that some girl's heart will be touched by it, some girl's ambition spurred to effort whose end shall be outside herself. Cordially yours."
From Mrs. William E. Dodge:
"Mother desires to thank you heartily for thinking of her and for sending the message which tells us that your dear mother has gone home. Mother sends her sympathy, and yet her congratulations, that such a sainted life was given to the world. Mother Thomp- son certainly did a wonderful work, and those of us who have learned to know and to admire the great work of the National Woman's Christian Temper- . ance Union have also learned to admire the beautiful lives that were the beginnings of all that great work. One can not grieve at the going home of such a life, and yet I can well understand how lonely the home
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will seem without her, and both my mother and I want to send our sympathetic thoughts.
"Faithfully yours,
GRACE H. DODGE."
Mrs. Hannah J. Bailey wrote, November 25th, from Pasadena :
"We are bereft of our best and bravest pioneer leader. The realization of our own bereavement makes us feel sad, while we are assured that it is well with her, and that she is happy with the Lord and with the loved ones gone before. You and your sister and brothers have my sincere sympathy in your great loss of the sweet companionship of your blessed mother. She was one whom the entire White Ribbon army de- lighted to honor, and her name will never cease to be spoken with reverence in our annual conventions."
Mrs. Sarah M. Perkins, whose death occurred so soon after the death of Mrs. Thompson, had written to the family only a few days before :
"She has seen God! She will be busy about her family, about us all, her co-workers, and will still love us and bring us comfort."
These seem wonderful words expressed by one to be so soon and so suddenly called hence.
Mrs. McCabe, of Delaware, Ohio's first president Woman's Christian Temperance Union :
"How full my heart is of her memory, and how mindful I am of your bereavement! She was charm- ing to the last with the old, inherited colonial grace and, still better, the Christian spirit and positive char- acter. I was startled by the tidings of her departure."
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Mrs. Henrietta Monroe, Ohio's second president Woman's Christian Temperance Union, calls a little memento from Mrs. Thompson's room "a priceless treasure." "Character is revealed by even the choice of garments, and your mother's toilets were in keeping with her lovely self. When I first saw her she wore soft grays with touches of black. Will you and your brothers and sister permit me to be your friend the remaining days of my life? I can not say much now to comfort you, but I can pray, 'The Lord bless thee and keep thee : the Lord make His face to shine upon thee and be gracious unto thee: the Lord lift up His countenance upon thee and give thee peace.'"
Mrs. Annie Clark, now the president of the Ohio Woman's Christian Temperance Union, wrote in The Messenger:
"It is a sad coincidence that in this Crusade num- ber of The Messenger we record the funeral of our Mother Thompson. By her passing to her reward at this anniversary season our minds should revert to, and be thankful for, the movement which began in such consecration and hardship, and has developed with such power."
Mrs. McSurely, one of the original Crusaders, wife of the Rev. Dr. W. J. McSurely, wrote from Oxford, Ohio :
"It is hard to realize the dear mother is no longer in the old home. I count it a great privilege and blessing to have known her; and to have been one of those so near to her in the beginning of her great
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work. Words would feebly express my love and ad- miration for our leaders, whom we all delighted to honor. She rests from her labors and truly her works do follow her."
Mrs. Sarah K. Bolton, of Cleveland, wrote: "She was so noble and strong, even so gentle, I admired her greatly."
Belle Kearney, the very talented Mississippi woman who has just made a courageous tour in Russia and elsewhere, and who formed a Woman's Christian Temperance Union in Bethlehem of Judea, writes:
"Her great life has been a benediction to the whole earth. Her beautiful spirit will now go on from height to height. God help us, who are left, to follow the way that she led so nobly! May the peace of God abide with her family !"
Katherine Lente Stevenson, President Massachu- setts Woman's Christian Temperance Union :
"I was on the Pacific Coast when the news came to me. She had no friend who appreciated her more, and none who loved her better. We cherish and revere her memory as the mother of our great work, and I know how rejoiced she must be as she looks down from heaven's heights, to see how splendidly that work is going on."
Anna A. Gordon wrote, November IIth, from Evanston :
"I do not know how to tell you of the tender pathos in my heart as I try to realize your precious mother's
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entrance into the 'Sweet Beyond.' My thought has been continuously with you since the sad message came just as our Convention had closed, and we were starting on a succession of trips terminating to-day in our arrival here in this dear sacred home of one who, with your sainted mother, walks in light. I know every step of the Via Dolorosa you are treading, and I feel sure the light from your mother's face is reflected in your own, and you are able to enter into her joy even in your great grief. I can not be too grateful that we made our Woman's Christian Tem- perance Union pilgrimage to your home in 1903, and attempted to tell our beloved one of our gratitude and love. God comfort you all! Yours sincerely."
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TRIBUTES FROM TEMPERANCE UNION.
The local Woman's Christian Temperance Union, and also the Woman's Relief Corps, of which Mother Thompson was a member, by their resolutions, floral offerings, and kind attentions, paid handsome tribute to her they delighted to honor.
Permission was asked of the family to name the Hillsboro Woman's Christian Temperance Union the "Mother Thompson" Union. The society of her native town, and of which she had always been president, leave the chair vacant in her honor, but the work is carried on by an able, consecrated "Mother in Israel," Mrs. M. S. Morgan, Vice-President at large. There are also six vice-presidents, representing the different
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Churches, and the other faithful officers remaining the same.
The following paragraphs are taken from the trih- ute of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union of Hillsboro:
"Many loving tributes were paid to the memory of Mrs. E. J. Thompson by the ministers of her town, and several from other places, on the day her body (beautiful even in death) was hidden from our sight to await the resurrection. But we, as the local Wo- man's Christian Temperance Union, over which she presided ever since its organization in 1874, must add our humble tribute also, as we feel that, next to the family, we are the greatest mourners.
"To see and know her duty as she did on that memorable day of the beginning of the Crusade against saloons, was for her to do it trusting in God for the consequences. The fruit of the Spirit, which is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance, shone brightly through all her life; but if there were any that predominated, they surely were gentleness (although so firm and strong) and faith. How vividly we recall the gentleness with which she presided at our weekly meetings, through all those long, weary, waiting years, always ready with the 'soft answer' for any who miglit seem a little inclined to be critical or fault-finding ; always empha- sizing the fact that our Union was not only a Temper- ance Union, but a Christian Temperance Union, and always teaching us by precept and example to strive to be guided by the Spirit of Christ!"
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MISSIONARY MEMORIAL.
The following memorial was read at the meeting of the Ladies' Missionary Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church :
MRS. E. J. THOMPSON.
"It seemeth such a little way to us Across to that strange country, the beyond; And yet not strange, for it has grown to be The home of those of whom I am so fond."
A serene closing to a long and beautiful life, was the home-going of Mrs. E. J. Thompson from her own heart's beloved here, to the loved ones already passed into the inner glories.
Does not our dear Heavenly Father grant more than the full allotment of years to some saintly souls . that we may see the blessedness and beauty of godly age, fulfilling his own incessant word, "Thine age shall be clearer than the noonday?"
As a child Eliza J. Trimble received the inviting touch of the Master, and thenceforth became an ear- nest, true follower of her Lord.
When the voice of the Spirit spake to a few of the seer-like souls of heathenism, saying, "Send out women by women to be My evangels, to win their Christless sisters to Me," Mrs. Thompson was readily responsive to the request of our then pastor, Rev. G. F. Marlay, to accept the presidency of our newly-formed auxil- iary of the Woman's Foreign Missionary Society.
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Hers was a wise, gentle, tactful leadership, retain- ing it until Hillsboro became the Bethlehem of the Crusade movement, and to Mrs. Thompson was in- trusted the initiative of what is now a world-wide beneficence, her own name a fair and fadeless one.
To her the heavenly gates have opened wide, she has entered the living presence of the blessed Jesus to go no more out forever.
. NATIONAL WOMAN'S CHRISTIAN TEMPERANCE UNION.
The National Woman's Christian Temperance Union had sent the following telegram which has been considered quite remarkable in its construction :
"Los ANGELES, CAL., November 4th.
"HENRY B. THOMPSON AND FAMILY,-We sorrow with the bereaved household. We thank God for her gentle, great life, now crowned with immortality.
' "L. M. N. STEVENS AND NATIONAL OFFICERS."
Mrs. Stevens's letter, which followed, read :
"You must know that you have our tenderest sym- pathy, which is shared by all White Ribboners every- where. We do not think of her as dead, but alive for evermore, and we know that
'Life is ever Lord of death, And love can never lose its own.'
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Our great Convention had closed when the message came ; but as we told our comrades as we met them on the way, they would reverently bow their heads. She was beloved and honored. 'She will go never from our hearts away,' but be an inspiration and help to all who desire to see our nation freed from its greatest evil. May you all be divinely blest and up- borne, is my prayer."
WORLD'S WOMAN'S CHRISTIAN TEMPERANCE UNION . AND NATIONAL BRITISH WOMAN'S TEMPER- ANCE ASSOCIATION.
RIPLEY, DERBYSHIRE, ENGLAND,
TO THE FAMILY OF MOTHER THOMPSON :
My Dear Friends,-I have just heard of the home- going of Mother Thompson. I at once write you and send my own loving sympathy, and to express on behalf of her world-wide organization the universal gratitude we feel toward your honored mother as one of the first pioneers of the Woman's Christian Tem- perance Union in the United States of America.
Most lovingly I congratulate you on her victories, her unswerving testimonials, and on the beautiful life which has now become a glorified one. God bless you all, and give you His peace !
Affectionately yours, AGNES E. SLACK,
Hon. Secretary W. W. C. T. U.
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FROM LADY SOMERSET.
THE COTTAGE,
REIGATE, February 15th.
MY DEAR FRIEND,-In the picture-gallery of my mind there is very vividly depicted the portrait of your dear mother as I first saw her. I recall the great meet- ing at Tremont Temple, the first I ever attended in America, the crowds outside the building, that vast audience, the rows of delegates. I can hear the inspi- ration of Frances Willard's words, and the loving wel- come which was accorded me because I came to rep- resent the same cause in the old country; and in the midst of excitement and enthusiasm the president sum- . moned to her side a slender woman with silver hair, and the great mass-meeting rose to do homage to one to whom they owed their very existence. I do not recollect the few words your mother spoke. I only remember the deep impression they made upon me, as she said that neither power nor influence nor elo- quence are necessary for the inception of great move- ments. As the frail form stood there with the setting sun of this world shining on her, how clearly I saw that what is needed is a heart filled with the Spirit of God and a life obedient to His will! In a few brief words she gave the story, which was already so well known to those present, of the first meeting in the church of Ohio, and I knew that the call to work had come to the women of America on the day that she had quietly risen up to follow the behests of God-
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the day on which she had given herself a willing in- strument for His purposes, and had trodden the path of submission in the footsteps of the mother who is "blessed among women." And now she has joined the great soul who stood by her side that day, and has entered into that fuller knowledge for which this · life is but the preparation. For a while she is hid from your eyes, but the communion of saints is not broken, and her spirit is not far. May the work that she be- gan grow and prosper, develop and mature, not per- haps always along the lines laid down by the founder ; for methods may change, outlooks may grow wider, but the principle remains and the inspiration endures. Believe me, yours in sincere affection,
ISABEL SOMERSET.
23 TRULL STREET, May 23, 1906.
MY DEAR MRS. TUTTLE,-I want to beg your par- don for this tardy acknowledgment of your letter of last February to Mrs. Hunt. When I read it to her she smiled reminiscently and said: "A great mother of a great movement. I shall be very glad to write Mrs. Tuttle a few words showing my appreciation of that noble pioneer in temperance work who blazed the way for us all." Often after that she referred to the matter and said, "I must write to Mrs. Tuttle as soon as I feel a little stronger." But that time never came, and now they are face to face, your mother and our great leader of scientific temperance.
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Both being dead, yet speak, and their work will live on after them to the end of time.
Very sincerely yours,
HENRIETTA AMELIA MIRICK, Sec'y.
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SOME FINAL REFLECTIONS.
In those last months of life when she could not attend Church these lines of Mrs. Hemans remind us of her sweet spirit :
"I may not tread with them those pathways, Yet O, my God, I bless ---
My chastened heart and all its throbbings stilled To one deep calm of loveliest thankfulness."
The pastoral calls of her minister, Rev. W. A. Deaton, and the kindly Christian sympathy of his wife, were coveted pleasures she anticipated. Mr. Deaton gathered up the impression of her noble life well when he said at the funeral, "The greatness of Mrs. Thomp- son. consisted in her consecrated womanhood."
Neither family devotion nor medical aid could have hoped to hold much longer this noble, sainted woman, even if a pitiful accident, a hip-joint fracture, had not occurred.
The seven weeks of her last illness were character- ized by unusual cheerfulness, patience, and perfect resignation to God's will. A heavenly expression upon her face, which all remarked, emphasized the words of
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a social friend, Mr. E. L. Ferris: "Mrs. Thompson had brilliant faith."
It comes as a solace to all who loved her, the ten- der care in the last illness. Twice her son, J. B. Thompson, made the long journey from Salt Lake City to be near her; and her four children and only grandson were with her. Trained and devoted nurses aided her physicians and surgeons, Dr. W. W. Glenn and Dr. H. M. Brown, in their care of the case; and a favorite cousin, Mrs. Ann Kirby Smith, was yet spared to be near her at the last. November 3d, at noon, a glorious sun flooded the southern window in the sacred room where three generations had lived, and where at last she died.
So gently each breath lifted the exultant spirit of Mother Thompson to "the Holy City and her Savior," which, among her last words, she told her beloved children she beheld before the heavenly reward was eternally hers.
"Now is done thy long day's work; Fold the palms across thy breast, Fold thine arms-turn to thy rest." MARIE THOMPSON RIVES.
"One far-off divine event To which the whole creation moves,"
had finally come. She was indeed beloved. Why? Because for years she had had
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"A heart at leisure from itself To sooth and sympathize." soothe
"Gather my saints together unto me; those that have made a covenant with me with sacrifice." (Psa. 1, 5.)
SOME WORDS UTTERED IN HER LAST ILLNESS.
"Prayerful men and women can accomplish much in every direction to eliminate evil. The temperance work has been a prayerful, consecrated work."
"I am, first of all, a Crusader, then a prohibitionist, and I never shall say a word against the anti-saloon men ; but I do not understand the machinery of poli- tics."
"Charity should rule every action."
"I think our President desires to see things from all sides. One of the most beautiful pictures since the coming in of the Mayflower was the President of the United States taking his own little Bible and reading to the men that afternoon at the seaside-and it was no haphazard work: he had his spiritual marks all made out." Then she paused, as if she were thinking very seriously. I asked if she were not weary. "No," she replied, "I was thinking there is only one way to understand this accident. Job had made a great success of life, and received much praise and recog- nition, and 'shall I receive good and not evil at the hands of the Lord?' he exclaimed. You remember his last days were his best."
were
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MEMORIALS.
Four trees were planted at the old home a fort- night later, two oaks, one beech, one elm-in memory of Governor Allen Trimble and Rachel Woodrow, his wife; James Henry Thompson and Eliza Jane Trimble Thompson-by a loving son.
"What does he plant who plants a tree? He plants in sap and leaves and wood, In love of home and loyalty And far-cast thought of civil good- His blessing on the neighborhood, A Nation's growth from sea to sea Stirs in his heart who plants a tree." (Richard Watson Gilder.)
On the granite placed by the other son which now marks the cemetery mounds of Judge and Mrs. Thomp- son, there is engraven by the devoted family,
"E'en down to old age all my people shall prove My sovereign, eternal, unchangeable love."
VII. PRESS NOTICES.
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SECOND EDITION.
Hillsboro Crusade Sketches and Family Records. By Mrs. Eliza Jane Trimble Thompson, her two daughters and Frances E. Willard. Jennings & Graham, Cincinnati. Price, $1.25, 12mo., Four- teen Illustrations. Green Linen Binding. Sil- ver Lettered.
Press Notices of the First Edition of " Hillsboro Crusade Sketches and Family Records."
ST. AUGUSTINE, FLA., FEB. 7TH, 1896.
This lovely, artistic book (more so than any we have put forth to embalm the Crusade) has just arrived, and I wish to send my congratulations and to say how much I think it will help the cause. It must be reviewed at once for "The Union Signal " and other papers. Enclosed is a check for books which I should like sent to England as gifts from me; 25 to Lady Somerset, I to Canon Wilberforce, to Sir Wilfred Lawson, etc. (she gives the names). I want English Leaders to know the authentic sources of our move- ment which contains their leader's endorsement. (She means her- self by the " leader.")
How charming are the dear sketches! I can see the delicate hands and minds of your daughters all through. Heaven bless you all. Your loving friend,
FRANCES E. WILLARD.
Predominant among the organized extra-ecclesiastical forces that operate for the advent of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ is the Woman's Christian Temperance Union, which, originating in an impulse of reform, has culminated in an impact for reconstruction
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of society and State. This little volume contains seven chapters, the first two being events in the lives of Governor Allen Trimble and his only daughter. The following chapters contain the history of the Hillsboro Crusade, the story of Mrs. Thompson's sun-set years by her daughter, Mrs. Rives, and the outook over the field from the point of view of the sister's in-reform, Frances E. Willard and Lady Henry Somerset. The book is illustrated with portraits, photo- engravings of historic places, and reproductions of india-ink sketches from the brush of Mrs. Tuttle, who, in the " Family Records," gives us close and satisfying views of the noble stock whence Mrs. Thompson sprang, which adds greatly to the interest of the volume. -Western Christian Advocate, Feb. 5th and 25th, 1896. Cincin- nati, Ohio.
The 250,000 members of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union and all who are interested in that association will welcome the story of the movement which was the spontaneous expression of the desperate earnestness of brave women to make an end of the wrongs and sufferings of their helpless sisters. This movement was, by its very nature, short lived, but it planted the seeds of a work that has grown to such proportions that it is a recognized power in the affairs of the nation. Dauntless courage and in- domitable determination have characterized it from the beginning, and its fruits will abide .- The Churchman, March 21st, 1896.
The late RT. REV. F. D. HUNTINGTON, LL.D., L.H.D., S. T.D., after receiving a copy of this book, wrote the following :
"A heroic and saintly lineage accounts for them, but the per- sonal quality and specialty can not be lost sight of. There is some- thing in the daughters which does not appear in the ancestry, remarkable as that is. Why is it that faces like that of Jane Allen Trimble are not born and bred and seen any more? That of Miss Willard belongs to a different epoch; Mrs. Thompson's to the transition period. I question whether there is any form of literary work more fruitful and effective in character building than biog- raphies of this kind, if written in this way. Of the great cause to which the mother's public life has been so signally devoted, I sup-
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pose it may be said without dispute, that it represents the reform most needed in the United States, resisting an evil which, as it seems to me, exceeds any that can be named in enormity, peril and destructiveness.
" In reading the book it does not occur to me that there is a style at all, and that, I take it, is the perfection of literary merit, i. e., that the diction should be so suited to the subject, the thought, the feeling, the purpose, that it should not take attention to itself. The unity, all of it, seemed to befit the theme and the scene, i. e., to be graceful, natural, well bred, lucid, and animated."
REV. WILLIAM C. WINSLOW, LL.D., L.H.D., S.T.D., wrote :
" Lady Somerset, whose eloquent portrait is a fitting sequel to these absorbingly interesting sketches, closes the story with a letter to the author in which she says: 'We all think your sketches should appear in book form, and marvel that you have so clear and bright a pen, both figuratively and literally, after your life-time of care and toil.'
" This is a book that leaders in humanitarianism will richly ap- preciate, and that a mighty array of men and women will catch in- spiration from, whether on the battlefields of their lives or for their fellows, or in the hour of cloister, or home when some impulse of bravery and of re-consecration to work is their greatest need.
" The frontispiece not merely arrests the eye ; it is a study, an inspiration before turning one of the 207 leaves, every one of which has a lesson or an incident, The tributes of Mrs. Tuttle to her grandparents and parents are models of good taste and condensation, and her skill as an artist is admirably seen in the sketches which illustrate the narrative. Mrs. Rives pays a beautiful tribute to her mother in 'Approaching Life's Sunset' and we may well imagine the faithful devotion of both daughters to their dear and honored parents."-The Boston Commonwealth, April 25th, 1896.
'. PROGRESS," Feb. 29th, 1866, St. John, New Brunswick. BY " PASTOR FELIX," REV. ARTHUR J. LOCKHART.
In reviewing this book " Pastor Felix " gives a long extract from Judge Thompson's portion, and says that these events have become
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historic and occupy a prominent place in the permanent records of the State. The persons who were concerned in the movement were the most respectable in the community ; the leader being a daughter of the late ex-Governor Allen Trimble, and worthy the excellence of her lineage. Mrs. General McDowell, and others, have departed, but Mrs. Thompson still remains and wears the honors of her "beautiful years" with a grace as charming as youth itself. The "old home" in which she resides is a shrine in which is deposited many a relic and souvenir ; to which comes many a visitor and where some dis- tinguished ones have found with the others a cordial welcome and a congenial habitation. The old " Crusade Church " ( Presbyterian ) was last year taken down, and a new structure of stone is in process of erection on its site.
Genesis, for me, is the most interesting of the Old Testament. The genesis of anything commands wide attention. If it be of a movement, and that movement lives and grows, interest is increased.
Mrs. E. J. Thompson's " Hillsboro Crusade Sketches " is essen- tially of the beginnings of the woman's movement against the saloon in support of purity and the home.
January Ist, 1903, marked the consummation of woman's work against the saloons in Hillsboro, for that day the saloons were closed under the Beal local option law.
To understand what persistent, prayerful work is demanded one needs to read Mother Thompson's delightful little book.
HARVEY G. FURBAY.
" They are instinct with personality and speak in terms of the human will and the soul."
" Hillsboro Crusade Sketches and Family Records," is the sug- gestive title of a daintily bound volume which embodies the history of the great temperance movement and the family history of her whom we delight to honor. That mother and daughters unite in this graceful work is not the least of its many engaging features.
The early history and vivid pictures of pioneer life and later ex- periences of the family, from the vigorous pen of Mrs. Tuttle, to- gether with extracts from the writings of her uncle, Rev. J. M.
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Trimble, D. D., and others, with choice photogravures of the homes of the family, from sketches in India ink by her sympathetic brush, revive pleasant memories in those familiar, and awaken a thrilling interest in those who have only this means of seeing Mrs. Thompson and her quaint ancestral environment .- Hillsboro Gazette, August 28th, 1896. MRS. EMMA SCARBOROUGH.
A new book dedicated "to the white ribbon workers in all lands " has just been brought out by Cranston & Curts, Cincinnati. It is of special interest as coming from the pen of Mrs. Eliza Jane Thompson, together with chapters by her daughters and Miss Willard. It is beautifully illustrated with pictures of homes and historic scenes and portraits, including pictures of Miss Willard, Lady Henry, and especially a most beautifully executed one of Mrs. Thompson for the frontispiece.
But of course the point of greatest interest centers around the Crusade Sketches which are as thrilling and vivid as anything written by Sir Walter Scott of the old Middle Age Crusades, and stir one like stories from Napoleon's Old Guard, only with a higher, holier exaltation. Miss Willard has added her reminiscences and first impressions of Mrs. Thompson .- The Union Signal, Feb, 28th, 1896, Chicago, Ill.
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