Daily Richmond Whig. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1865-1869, 1866-01-17
RICHMOND WING.
WEDNESDAY MoRNING.-JAN. Il, 1866
Whittier is Society priftingl

There is a great outcry in the United States,
in France and in England against the lax mo-
rality Of this age and gentle woman, who en-
chants alike "saint, savage and sage" is
accused Of being at the bottom Of the mischief,
The most powerful civilizing and refining agent
is true womanhoOd. 1t was woman, true
woman, with her mOdssty and virtue, that in
spired the knights Of a nobler age, when com
merce had not corrupted and Purtauism lad
not hardened the hearts Of men. The true
knight wOrshipped woman, and was sworn to
protect and rescue all damsels in distress. As
far back even as the beginning Of the sixth
century, when the good King ARTHUR reigned,
OF is tabled to have reigned, in Britain, he is
represented by the poets to have founded his
famous order Of the Knights Of the Round
Table, 4" who, when they received the accolade,
were sworn among other oaths and Obligation
ITO ride abroad redressny human wrongs,
To speak no SANDER; no, nor listen 90 II;
To lead sweet lives ian pure-t chastity;
To love one maiden, only cleaye % her,
And worship her By years OF noble deeds
Until they won her.
The days Of chivalry have passed. Trade
and ascetic Purtanism have revolutionized
everything. True manhood has lost its nobleSt
embellishments, and truo womanhOod many of
its enchanting graces. There are none now, in
this stern, cold, money making, and yet luXu-
rious age, to rescue damsels in distress and to
deliver them from their opprcssors and sedu-
GERS. Many Of them seem, indeed, il we may
credit what we read and hear, not 10 desire to
be rescued. If men 60 about like roaring lions
seeking to devour them, they appear TO place
themselves in their way for the very purpose of
being devoured. They would appear indeedto
resort to all their arts, and to employ all their
charms and destinations to tempt men TO for
hidden pleasures. What mean Lthose fearful
enchantresses that we read Of in P1ris-the
Lorettes-whose faultlcss and exquisite costume
is the envy Of the ladies, and whose charms
intoxicate the meu' What mean those crowds
of dancing girls that appear in all the opera
houses and theatres of London What mean
those troops Of girls who appear every night
fromthe Alhambra Palace, in Leicester square,
to the Agricultural Hall, at IsGngton, TO eX-
hibit themselves, 90 encountered with as little
the London Rerier), before crowd Of specta-
tors 1t is not the "poetry Of motion" says
the ReUiel0-'' They are simply prurient to the
" depravcd, and to the undcpraved disgusting.
&" Sensuality alone, and that OF the coarsest, is
stimulated and INDUCED by advertisements
81 which particularly insist upon the loveh-
" ness OF the performers, and by sights which,
- within the limits OF decent language, are in
a. describable. Already our nobleSt matrou>
q have found reason to complain that theirsouS
" openly display their intimacy with the
% AnonymaS, who exhibit their horse breaking
&c abilities in Hyde Park; and even their high
&" bred daughters form the style Of their con-
. verSation on such vicious and vulgar models.
What mean the voluptuous, almost indecent
dances that are coming into vogue, beside
which the waltz, which was tabooed by our
grandmothers and mothers, is most scrupu-
lousy modest
What means the army of "pretty waiter
girlS" in their partnership Of sin with the
keepers of saloons in the Northern cities
These things all mark fearful moral de-
clension-a most fatal lapse from yirtue-the
Inauguration Of a general demorahzation-an
approaching era of criminal and licentious
luxury.
The world is bad enough at best-when all
the influences Of woman, with her gifts Of
beauty, and her mOdcsty and virtue are en-
ployed to restrain man from vicious courses,
and to elevate and refine him. How must it
be when female beauty and wit are used 10
decoy him into the paths Of debauchery and
vice-when at every door sits temptress to
witch him with her lOveliness and 10 allure
him by her arts
ADAM fell through the temptiugs OF his wife
the sons of ADAM are beset by legions Of the
tempting daughters of Eve. Their virtue will
scarcely prove superior to his.
The fruits of all this may be seen in shock
ing statistics like the following: An Paris, one
in every twenty-five Of the females met on the
streets, is an abandoned woman in New York
one in every twenty-five in Chicago, one in
every thirty-Seven. Such are the statistics
that have lately fallen under our attention.
For their correctness We cannot answer. They
are, however, given as the results of careful
calculation.
What are we all coming to ? Where, and
how is this all to end With sin at the helm,
and beauty at the PROV, society is in full sail,
propelled by wind and current. Scylla is one
side, Charybdis on the other, and Syrens are
all around.