During the summer of 1874, when the reaction which had checked the “Crusade” was recognized as something permanent by the more thoughtful and observant of the women who had been engaged in it, they paused for deliberation, and took counsel together.  Great victories had been won in the brief season during which they were masters of the field; and now that the enemy had rallied his forces, and intrenched himself behind law, public opinion, politics and the State, should they weakly give up the contest?  Not so.  They had discovered wherein the weakness, as well as the strength, of their enemy lay, and had come into a new perception of their own powers and resources.

ORGANIZATION.

The first step taken was to call conventions in the various States where the Crusade had been active.  These were attended by delegates chosen by the local praying-bands.  The result was the organization, in some of the States, of what were known as “Temperance Leagues.”  Afterwards the word “Unions” was substituted for Leagues.  Having organized by States, the next thing was to have a National Union.  In August of that year, the first National Sunday-School Assembly was held at Chautauqua Lake, near Buffalo, New York.  Many of the most earnest workers in the temperance Crusade, from different parts of the United States, and from the various denominations of Christians, were present, and the conviction was general that steps should at once be taken towards forming a National League, in order to make permanent the work that had already been done.  After much deliberation, a committee of organization was appointed, consisting of a woman from each State.  This committee issued a circular letter, asking the various Woman’s Temperance Leagues to hold meetings, for the purpose of electing one woman from each Congressional district as a delegate to a National Convention, to be held in November, at Cleveland, Ohio.  A single paragraph from this circular will show the spirit that animated the call.

“It is hardly necessary to remind those who have worked so nobly in the grand temperance uprising that in union and organization are its success and permanence, and the consequent redemption of this land from the curse of intemperance.  In the name of our Master—­in behalf of the thousands of women who suffer from this terrible evil, we call upon all to unite in an earnest, continued effort to hold the ground already won, and move onward together to a complete victory over the foes we fight.”

Delegates representing sixteen States were present at the convention, which held its first session in Cleveland, commencing on the 18th of November, 1874, and lasting for three days.  Prominent among its members were active leaders of the Crusade, but, besides these, says Miss Willard, “there were present many thoughtful and gifted women, whose hearts had been stirred by the great movement, though until now