National Republican. (Washington City (D.C.)) 1872-1888, 1874-04-03

To the Editor afthe National Republican:
SIR: There has been already so much written
pro and con the subject OF temperance 1t may al.
most seem to the unthinking that 1t is exhausted,
and after all the real sufferers are not the ones
who have given Us the benefit of their experience.
We hays not touched the depth Of the question
yet. In every woman's heart that has been
pierced by the terrible curse Of drink lies hope
less, helpless despair, because her wonanhood
makes her so powerless to avert her unhappy fate.
She sees her loved ones in their proud manhood
start out from their cosy resIdss, her loving kiss
on their lips, her faithful eyes watching the re-
treating figure, and she turns back to the thought
full routine Of her daily mil.st.atons that are u
give his fet8fn happy Welcome with prayer In
her heart, ''God give him strength" Give him,
the law giver, the legislator, thu statesman, the
protector, the man! Her education, the natural
instincts Of her clinging nature each point to him
as her support, the prop Of her weaker physical
and reasoning faculties, and she looks with fond
pride upon tho very manhood which is the signet
Of his superior strength. And the nights come to
her that do not bring him.
The hours glide away in which she keeps
vigil, her little ones In the sleep she hopes may
not be disturbed by realization Of the fear that
numbs her pulse. And then he comes, perhsps
alone, perhaps led by stranger hands, that must
desecrate the very sanctity Of her privacy by the
help she is unable to give her loved Into her
chamber the curious eyes must be admitted, and
all the depth Of her degradation as wife, mother,
sister of drunkard, Is 6ersd to gaze profane.
Then alone she must meet the groahs, oaths,
threats and disgusting sickness that follows de-
bauch. She must sit patient while hef protector,
in the flush of glorious manhood, lies before her
with the taint of the bar-room and the brothel en-
the lips she has kissed. And there Is no cureI II
she we're to follow his footsteps into the gilded
samplc-room where vice Is made SO tempting by
Its respectable soeiabity she would be sneered ut
as unsexing herself. and he pitied as the son or
husband Of such a bold, unwomanly woman. Were
she to prosecute q rum-seller for the living he
wrests from herself and her babes, lawyer and
Judge would laugh At the weakness that would
dare to fight the license II is their pleasure In
dorse. And there is no cure! Haunting in her
face at every corner she passes is the sign of
death; death to morality, to peace, to happiness,
to life! And there is no cure! In her closet she
wrestles with God, begging FOR . miracle begging
Him to alter the beautiful laws by which
He rules the earth. and turns the stony heart OF
q dealer in human blood. Ali no. In the divine
order of creation God made us perfect with fresh,
pure appetites and desires, aad the fieshly bodies
have fed these appetites till they only lusts-
lusts Of wine, lusts OF meat, and lusts Of women.
These are the devils. These are sll Of sin, ard
the closet will not reach them. God listensswith
plying ear, but he will not, cauno. touch lls;I
and he whispers In q uonan's heart that she is 10
bruise the serpent by tbs power Of her voice in
loud, outspoken prayer; that is, to knock at the
ono open niche In the wine-sellsr's soul. He will
not listen to God-his Is . STILL small voice; but
he must hear the wall Of broken vomanhood, that
cries to him for the food he has taken from her
hungry babes; for the clean, white heart he has
blsckened with his filthy fluid; for the lives he
has crushed in crushing bright intellects and glo-
rious manhood. Rouse up, sistersI God has
called you. The day has passed when you may
lie under the wheels OF this Internal Juggernaut.
The day is gone when you are to bring into the
world race of imbecfles and idiots-drunkards'
childrenI The very supineness Of your protectors,
who stand BY and listen to the degrading words
with which the dram-giver answers your pstition,
and witness the vile sneer in which he meets your
praYer-all prove how little you may
hope for protection from men. Demand of these
vampires the souls they exist upon; demand the
gold they have robbed you Of; and, when patience
and peaceful entreaty shall fail, God will teach
you what your next work Is to be. The destiny of
the nation is in your keeping. As men degene.
rate woman rise, and to-day the intellect Of this
country shines under the gentler lineaments Of
weak woman. And God give us strength for the
great work he has shown US we have to do.
LEIGH HOWARD.