In years past, indications had not been wanting of some such possible uprising, as drops precede the full shower, for, in 1856, at Rockport, Mass., some 200 women had assembled and, proceeding to several places where intoxicating liquor was sold, had entered and destroyed the liquor they found. That was an impulse born of suffering, and finding expression in action impulsive and unusual; but, not being followed up by organization, it soon ended. In 1869, in Rutland, Vt., and at Clyde, Ohio, the women organized to suppress the liquor traffic, visiting saloons, securing pledges, holding prayer meetings, etc., but the great movement, which has given to woman new power in this temperance work, and opened up to her new avenues of usefulness, so long closed, is known as the Woman's Crusade. It began about the same time in three different places in the month of December, 1873, Fredonia, N. Y., Hillsboro, Ohio, and Washington Court House, Ohio, were the first scenes of action. There the first contests were waged and the first victories won. Timid Christian women, who had never heard their own voices in public prayer, were suddenly called to the front and a message given them of God. Dr. Dio Lewis visited Hillsboro in December, 1873, and there gave two lectures, one of them a lecture on temperance, in which he referred to his mother's struggles as a drunkard's wife, doing her best to support her family, and finally, with a few other praying women, visiting the saloon-keeper who sold liquor to her husband, and pleading with him to give up his business, with which request he, at last, complied. At the close of the lecture, Dr. Lewis called upon all, who were willing to follow his mother's example, to rise, an invitation to which about fifty ladies responded. Many gentlemen in the audience promised to stand by them. A meeting was held the following morning in the Presbyterian church, at which Mrs. Judge Thomson was chosen leader. After much prayer and consultation, the ladies started out in procession, seventy-five in number, and proceeded, singing the familiar hymn, "Give to the winds thy fears," first to the drug stores, and then to the hotels and saloons, which they fearlessly entered, asking permission to sing and pray. In nearly every case, the permission was given during that first day, and a few saloon-keepers yielded to the entreaties of these earnest Christian women, and promised to give up selling liquor. As the days went by, the thirteen drinking places of the town were reduced to three, while in Washington Court House, Ohio, in one week, yielding to the persistent appeals of the "praying women," all the drinking places were closed, the three drug stores selling only on prescription. Here, while the ladies went in bands from place to place, meeting often with insult and abuse now that the saloon-keepers had recovered from their first surprise, the gentlemen remained in the church to pray. As the fresh toll of the bell announced that another