Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1876-02-20
Lectures, Concerts and Other Sunday
Night Amusements Condemned
by the Protestant Pastors
Association.
Victoria WOOdhull's BOldest, Freest and
Most Advanced Utterances Re-
peated and Reviewed.
An Appeal Against Press Interviews,
and to the People to Refrain from
COuntenaneing Sunday Amuse-
ments.

EDITORS APPEALING Pastors as
socistion Of Mo mphis feel constrained
by q solemn sense of duty to make ap-
| peel to the friends of religion and of
christian civilization to unite with US in
maintaining, by peaceful and kindly
measures, the sanctity Of the Sabbath
and the purity Of the public press, en-
asngered OF late by certain develop
ments which have shocked the moral
sense Of many among US, especially
such as are charged with the RESPONSE
bility Of training the children. And in
order that our testimony msy 90 before
our friends and fellow citizens in this
united form, We avail ourselves of the
common medium OF the prees, which in
this case seems all the more proper be-
cause the press has been used to dissent
nate and increase the evil complained
of. the recent events alluded to will at
once suggest themselves-ve mean the
| pubic exhibitions and lectures in the
Ihester on the Sabbath and during the
hours of public worship. And especi-
ally is this dissertation of Gods
hoIy day 10 be deplored in the
case of one who has attained, through
her publications and hsrangues. world.
wide notoriety as the advocate of the
modern abomiuatiOn known as freq
love between the sexes. The evil was,
We regret to say, unnecessarily agg,A-
waited by detailed reports OF this lecture
and Of interviews with the same party,
repiete with sentiments abhorrent to de-
cancy, subveTsiYe of domestic purity,
and blssL hemOus as regards the founder
OF chrisiiapity. 1t is grief to US, IN
common with hundreds Of our best citi-
fhQt cVFnh iFs1Tf aadnat fhT1INk 70
ObtTuded upon the at eutiOn OF children
and youth whose parents sought, IN
! many cases vainly, to shield them from
such contamination. Ii order to sub
stantiate cur protest with any who may
not r3cSll the words used, We will recite
few sentences, as found In cur city pa
pe1s: "MarTiage ends in the
prostitution of the wife, In nine cases
out of te9." Again: 1.-THE condition of
married women to-day throughout the
country Is more TO be deplored than the
Ifs OF hsrlOl"! That there are evils
connected with married life no one will
deny. Christianity seeks to alleviate
them by healing that innate depravity
of our fallen nature from which they
spring. With what success she hiss done
this let Intelligent men say who can
compare ancient heather society with
the present, or the condition of woman
now in pagan lands with her honoTed
place in christendom. But do husbands
in Memphis allow such wholesale slan-
der go Qnrebuked? Are children to see
their parents thus denounced as the
vilest characters? Again, speaking OF
the great company of fallen women IL
the land, this reckless talker sffitms
that they are supported "above all by
our high church dignitaries." 1t is not
to be supposed that improved assertions
from suca source can seriously sffoct
the Judgments OF sensible people, but IL
may be proper 10 say thai, in our
opinion, any one among US who claims
70 know even one such "hjgh dignitsry"
in Memphis, is guilty OF gFea. wrong
against The churches and society by fail
ing to expose the tIansgressOr
TO copdign punishment and scorn.
Once more we cite from the published
interview words relating to Jesus Christ:
QuestjOn-Do you believe in the d.
vinity of Christ in Trinitariau serss ?
Answer believe that Jesus Christ CDqs
the result Of a perfect tCve anton; be-
Iieve that ne was the concentration o.
the essences Of all the Christs that were
crucifisd before him, and believe that
there was some superior intelligence that
overshAdoWed the mother at the time OF
conception; l lieve in that divine prin. |
ciple that recognises God Ia every |
thing" Amid this mass Of loose VERDI |
age which most people would find il |
hard work to turn into pain, sensible |
English, it is impossible that intelli- |
gent christians, and especially such a.
may have read church history, should |
fail to recognise an old and persistently |
repeated SANDER of inidelity, the coars- |
est and most Objectionable that can be |
spoken against the christian doctrines |
OF the incarnation, and alsO against the |
purity OF our Lords virgin-motheT, the |
modest, chsste and pious Mary. Now
1t signifies very little what may be the
sentiments upon religious and social |
topics Of strOling females who 90 /
about In the character of Lecturers" |
Ii lie quite possible that suoh persons do |
not possess the facilities, intellectual or
mora, to estimate the depth of infamy
implied in these words-infamy TO her |
whom christians consider blessed |
among wOmen;n infamy to Christ, vino
is represented as the child Of lawless
passion, and infsmy to Almighty God,
who is supposed to look with favor upon
such unhOly things. But 1t might be
we'll for such as in their hearts cherish
any reverence for christianity to be care
ful in bestOwing their patronage and
their applause, lest they be found, mad
vertently 1t may be, fighting against
the ultimate hopes Of mar, We are
? fsuaded that correct apprehension OF
.ueh sentiments will save mRny from
such temptation as carried them to the
sunday night lecture at the Memphis
Tnestsr. And for this reason, as the
Of many christian organ.
iZ4iions in the CITY, We cali upon all
friends Of religion and Of human happi.
ness to discOu1tensnce sush uuseemIy
violations Of the Sabbath aud covert as.
saults upon the sanetity Of our homer.
Ard especially, recognizing In the daily
press great power which, in its Iegiti-
mate sphere, Is q converter with US
in promoting the welfare Of society,
we do most earnestly appeal 10 the
editors and pToprietors of such
Journals 70 frown upon all impurity
and give US newspapers which may be,
with safety ard profit, admitted into
our houses and schools as educators CT
cur children.
The above paper was adopted by the
Pastors association OF Memphis, COM
posed of the following ministers: David
Walk, &, Isndrum, D D.; s. 3. Suratt,
], o. Stedmap, DID John s. Park, J.
II: Evans, Eugene Daniel, ]. L, Chsnd-
Ter, William E. Bogg1, D. D.; w. B.
John E. Craig, a. Q. Culton,
l.. C. Taylor, James A. Heard, DID ;
John n. Wsddell, DID; John G.
Z. NJ. Richardson, NJ. Il.
Brown and G. II Hkafnhank