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of  the  East,  having  traversed  the  vast  fields  there,  presented  and
lifted  thousands  from  the  slough  of  degradation  into  which  the
habitual  use  of  alcoholic  beverages  had  thrown  them,  gradually
moved  Westward  conquering  and  to  conquer. The  fii'st  intro-
duction of  the  order  into  this  portion  of  Indiana  was  about  the
year  1843,  soiae  three  years  or  more  subsequent  to  its  most
auspicious  commen<;ement  in  the  Monumental  City. Here,  as
elsewhere,  its  introduction  was  hailed  by  the  friends  of  good  order
and  reform  with  heartfelt  satisfaction;  by  those,  however,  who,
from  a  fear  of  being  deprived  of  the  freedom  guaranteed  by  the
great  Charter  of  American  Liberty,  marshaled  themselves  in  the
ranks  of  the  drunken  and  dissolute  of  society,  with  defiant  sneers
or  silent  iudiiference. Notwithstanding  some  of  those  adverse
manifestations,  the  meetings  were  well  attended  and  the  niunber
who  signed  the  {irescribed  pledge  in  their  own  behalf  and  for  the
benefit  of  others,  was  great,  compared  with  the  aggregate  of  the
population. The  societies  organized  here  continued  to  flourish^
exerting  an  influence  for  good  for  a  number  of  years,  the  efi'ects
of  which  are  observable  in  the  manners  and  characteristics  of  our
people  to-day. Though  the  societies  so  formed,  in  the  course  of
time,  through  a  want  of  the  vitalizing  energy  consequent  upon
continued  success,  disbanded,  yet  the  spirit  of  the  teachings  re-
mained and  the  good  results  obtained  continued  also— tangible
evidences  that  the  work  had  not  been  in  vain — monuments  mark-
ing the  former  existence  of  a  movement  destined  to


The  work  thus  forwai'ded  by  the  molding  hands  of  the  Wash-
ingtonians  constituted  a  safe  foundation  of  an  order  possessing
less  of  the  public  promiscuous  enthusiasm  characterizing  the
earlier  organization,  but  promising  and  foreshadowing  a  working
system  not  subject  to  the  gaze  of  the  outer  world,  with  secrets
behind  the  vail  of  the  most  attractive  significants — beautiful
symbology  representing  the  prime  virtues — "  Love,  Purity  and
Fidelity."  The  beneficent  order  was  known  as  the  Sons  of  Tem-
perance. It  was  a  legitimate  outgrowth  of  the  Washingtonian
system  preserving  most  or  all  of  its  attractive  features,  omitting
those  not  well  received,  and  adding  new  ones  calculated  to  inter-
est and  sustain  the  members,  while  cultivating  temperance  as  the
cardinal  element,  embellishing  the  ceremonies  with  the  chaste
and  elegant  lessons  of  Christian  duty  and  obligation. 