Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1874-03-05

An OPES LETTER TO ANY Girl WHO
CLAIMS IT They tell me that you are what
the world calls fir,. that all the little at
fractions which nature has given you have
been subordinated to base uses. and yon
have openly boasted of the conquests you
have made through the power Of coquetrv.
Pause. beg you; it is not yet too late;
YOU cannot know whittier this tendancy is
leading you. or you would never have en-
tered the path. There are many reasons
why you should pause. The fact that you
are SO dcbasipg your womanhoo1 proves
cnaclusivcly that you could never have
known the power Of passion that has
many times made angels of demons. Oh
you blush. 1t is well: it gives hope for
the future. it tells that you are not dead
10 reason and shame. Shall | tell you
Why you are on the brink Of terrible dan
ger? Does not your heart tell you that
some time. Us ih-ye enters into the heart
of every man and woman. sooner or later,
love stronger than death aud true as
truth. so 1t must come to you. and in your
sou! Of sous you must fec! that the oaly
man worthy the admiration aud love OF
any woman is Que that would not for an
instant tritie with the affections of ano;h-
err! Do you think that the true man
whom you could honor as husband would
care to take to his embrace n wife whose
lips had been suliied by careless and pro-
miscuous contact with any who had CHANGED
to BE- the playthiug of the hour? You
may plead. il: cxtcuuation of your fault.
that you were engaged to those caresses
you permitted. but in the several iustan-
ces referred TO. discovered before it was
too la:e that YOU had mistaken a passing
fancy for lifelong affection. Ii is no cx-
cuse at ALL Indeed. it proves you weak
cr than before. You have no right to
promise yourself in marriage to man
whom you are not sure you cannot love un-
Ill death. These are not to be made mat
tcrs OF haste-and when you so far forge,
your womanly dignity to snap a, any
chance bait that may be offered. to find
out later that you are mistaken, you mus,
not wonder that your name is banded
carelessiy about among your masculine
acquaintances. and the better kind Of men
begin TO shun you.
There is n difference. my young friend
between prudishncss and womanly self.
respect. and you will always find ,ha, any
man, high or low. pure in thought or
thoroughly dtbased. will not forget the
Difference due to true woman. You
ought 10 know instinc,ively that familiari-
~ is no evidence of manly regarI. aud the
preferred carcss too often springs from a
motive so base that | need not name it -
Guard yourself. then. that when the time
Goes come in which you can truly say to
any man tha. he is more to YOU than all
else. you will have no reluctance to lay
before him the history Of your pas. life.
unspo,ted by the breath of suspicion. un-
tarnished by practices not open to the
world; and. when the time does come. as
you would have true sympathy and hap
pincss in the future. give each other your
confidence regarding the past; les there
be no scaled pages. no for.,o,te details.
whose ghos,ly presence will haunt you
ever after. and, if discovered. cas-, shad
ow between you and him who has trusted
you.