The new Northwest. [volume] (Portland, Or.) 1871-1887, 1873-11-28

Whom the ways OF sin delude,
Could be won, by love and kindness,
To the paths of rectitude.
When the orphan needs some clothing,
She Dorcas, too. might be,
And the widow she could succOr
In her depth OF poverty.
God has promised TO befriend them,
But He needs the means whereby
To convey His promised blessing,
And their many wants supply.
II may be her lot is scanty,
And she seeks some friendly aid;
II the rich would help the needy,
Great improvement could be made.
Again am constrained to affirm and
applaud. To be "Dorcas" is splendid.
Lackidaisieal young men are in their
glory in "Dorcas" meetings. They are
here enabled to eat half dollars worth
of nice confectionery for quarter, or
ten cents. They here have splendid
opportunity to exhibit their lily-white
hands and display magnificent voices.
BY all means, let's have "Dorcas" sOci-
eties, and lots of them.
Then the rescuing of dragged, home
less, friendless children" is work which
is indeed necessary. But, for the sake
of my argument, Il regret that the poet did
not state that far grander work would
be accomplished by bringing about such
a condition of society as should elevate
humanity above the possibility of be-
ing ragged" or homeless or "friend-
less" If l were speaking on the other
side should say that if women could
help make the laws and manage the
world, they'd soon get something better
to do than patching up the blunders
made by man in his futile attempts to
be a sheltering oak. 1t is crying shame
to our civilization that there arc "rag-
ged, homeless, friendless children" Itis
libel upon our boasted enlightenment
that We have need of penitentiaries and
jails and alms-houses and asylums for
the insane. But again 1 forget that
am making an opposition speech.
believe. irmothers' daughters
Lived more wise and virtuously,
There would be more wives; then woman
In her proper sphere would be.
God has formed the oak, so sturdy,
To withstand the wintry storm,
And it braves Il bold and nObly
In its most impeiuous form.
But more beautiful the lily,
Full OF mOdesty's perfume,
Choosing the sequestered valley,
There in humility 10 bloom.
So the woman shines more lovely
In the home Of love and truth,
Screened from all life's outward struggles
by the husband OF her youth.
You know, gentlemen, that mothers
sons Arrays live "wise and virtuously,"
consequently they are always "hus-
bands" and are neUer out of their "proper
sphere" Glancing back through the
stanzas last read find they are a little
mixed, but you can't always expect a
poet to be sensible in every thing he
writes; so you will please overlook the
fact that all women don't get husbands;
that all husbands are not ''sturdy oaks"
and that many of them are very slender
saplings. Like the hard-shell preacher,
az am not speaking on that branch Of
the subject"
Here is something that just suits me-:
Christ knew well the strength OF woman.
when, upon the expiring tree,
| He exclaimed, from this same moment
John thy guardian son shall be.
/ Cried he not in tones most tender,
Take my mother 10 thy home,
! Cheer her heart, and make her happy,
Till bid her to me Gomez
/ Thus 10 is a woman's duty
To make home her special care,
As 1t loses its enchantment
II her presence is not there.
Isaid thatthis just suited ME; but some
how the closing stanza knocks the pith
all out of my opposition argument. The
fact is, home without man in it
closes its enchantmentr just as quick
as it would without woman in it. o,
how many wives are there tonight
looking with ghastly faces out into the
darkness, wondering where their truant
husbands And o, how many of these
husbands spend their nights, till the wee
small hours of the morning, in gam.
bling and drunkenness, leaving the home
, and hearthstone desolate! How many
mothers gaze anxiously out into the
night, from homes which are aught but
, homelike, reaching out the bleeding
tendrils of anguish-torn hearts, calling
, vainly for the return of the one 'fnfant
! boy" who never went astray while un.
der her guidance and teaching" bu
r who now is beyond the pale of "thing,
, which ne'er for her had birth;" conse
{ quently he enters dens whose step,
, take hold on hell, and goes straight ia
ruin.
, Forgive me if again l quote:
, II more mothers knew their mission
Greater would the Nation be;
Less OF sin and degradation,
More Of truth and honesty.
I am afraid 1 am not making a goo,
point for the opposition here, but tn
business is new TO me. / am doing tht
best can.
Hers to meet the loved one, smiling.
When his daily tolls are o'er.
5 Greeting him with fond embraces
As he enters at the door.
I guess our poet is Sparkling som
/. Olympia girl. His poetry is a littl
e moonshiny just here, and men inspire,
y by the tender sentiment are apt to b