Knoxville daily chronicle. [volume] (Knoxville, Tenn.) 1870-1882, 1873-04-20
FALLEN WOMEN.


Plea to the Church TO Do Her Duty.
EDITORS CHRONICLE: In Friday morn
ing's issue, Calv0so," in an article,
"Where Does the Responsibility Rest"
expresses pretty well my views on the sub
ject, with the exception that he is rather
mild; but permit me to say / cannot see
that he fully answered the question he
proposed. 1 take the ground that, to a
great extent, the responsibility rests upon
the female portion of our society, as well
as the male portion, and upon the church.
The libertine, with his sweet persuasions
and seductive smiles, brings to ruin some
beautiful and heretofore virtuOus girl, and
makes boast of his many c0nquests-yea,
he is noted to great extent as a seducer,
and yet he is not cast out from society. A
young lady who boasts, of her virtue, will
take the arm of this scOui1ClreL and accom-
pany him to church, while, should she
meet her fallen sister, the victim of her
companion, she would cast upon her a
frOwn of whitening contempt.
Let us 60 little farther. They arrive
at church. The man after listening to a
soul-stirring sermon, becomes seemingly
alarmed over his condition and approaches
the anxious seat. Oh! behold the great
joy manifested over the return of the prod
igal, and God is praised that another sonl
is saved. That is all right and good, for
every Christian should rejoice over the SAL
other picture attracts my sight. What fe-
male is this approaching the mercy seat
with down-cast eyes and throbbing heart
who seems deeply affected? The question is
soon answered by the looks of scorn cast
upon her by her virtuous sisters. She is a
girl that has been led astray by some viii
famous scoundrel, but now has been awak-
ened to her wrong. Methinks see the
girl who accompanied the seducer to the
church, and rejoiced over his profession,
cast a look of utter contempt upon this
poor, unfortunate creature, and from ear to
ear the whispering goes on: She must be
gotten away from here, she will ruin the
meeting; good people will not come up to
the altar, &C., &c. Great God! it is no
wonder that the interest in the meeting
ceases right there. But it is not the fault
of this unfortunate creature but of their
own wicked hearts, for where such spirit
exists the love of God certainly does not
exist. Let them ask the question, would
the Saviour, were he among us, order
this poor fallen creature out of the church
without blessing? Would not the answer
be "He that is without sin among you
throw the first stone?n The idea that it
will keep good people from going to the
anxious seat, is simply ridiculous. If the
are good, they have no business there, and
ifnot, and they feel they are sinners and
need Saviour, they are just in the same
condition the woman is in, and before they
can ever hope for pardon they must arrive
at the point that they feel they are just as
great sinner as the woman. The fact is
when a person is truly awakened to a
sense of their lost and ruined condition
and they have formed the resolution to
"arise and return to their fathers house. y
the fact that some poor, fallen woman has
formed the same resolution will not keen
them from carrying out their hearts de-
sire. But should it have that effect, then,