The Monitor. [volume] (Woodstown, N.J.) 1884-1892, 1886-10-22
THE WHITE CROSS AND SOCIAL
PURITY

beautiful watering place in England at the
seaside. Going out blithely one bright
morning together, talking ~thoughtlessly il
their pleasant fashion along a narrow
ledge where the path was more dangerous
than they who were unaccustomed knew,
suddenly one of them grew dizzy, became
bewildered, her foot slipped, and with a
pitiful and sobbing cry she fell over the
sheer precipice upon the boulders away
down below, where the waters foamed and
were beaten into spray. And her young
companion, rushing up the path, screamed,
"Oh, she has fallen, she is lost; come and
help u.s." She called the men of the vii
lage near by, workingmen, who heard the
sound Of sorrow and of helpless weakness.
And these kind hearted fellows took a
shutter off a house as they passed along,
went downs path very difficult and very
dangerous, and in two hours they had
reached the place where this fair young
life lay broken among the rocks. They
put their rough coats owe. this shutter
which they had brought, they lifted the
poor tortured form, with barely the breath
of life yet remaining in it, to their should
ers, and so upon this litter, i'll a sorrowful
procession, worked their way back to the
village again. And women drew their lit
tie ones close to their sides, and said, 'Ah,
sec how sorrowful it is; she fell; she was
dashed to pieces on the rocks" And strong
men were not ashamed of the tears upon
upon their checks as they said 50 ~pitifully,
She has fallen; she is lost; and yet she
was SO young and fair
But every day in this nation, the most
civilized and the most blessed on which
the sun shines, from a height infinitely
%loltier, down to 4 depth that is ~fatliomless,
fair young ladies, growing bewildered,
slipping over tho brink, fall into Il ruin
that We awe called ~remcdiless, fall into
their shame and degradation. We have
seen it happen, and have not lifted up a
hand to prevent it. At least | speak for
myself. | speak for my own sorrow aud
regret that in past years | Thought this
iific Va GU maui hoih, VI HiC L VII
speaking, had no part nor let in any work
to which | would put my hand.
| have not come here to defend specific
ally the cause Of women. That never in
tercstcd me as a separate consideration.
The two fractions, equal as they are, that
make up the integer OF humanity, have
interested me always equally. | have
found one needed more help. have found
one was trying to work with the left hand,
grasping the short arm of the lever. !
found women had never had a fair chance
in the world, and so | gladly dedicated my
life to their cause. But ever and amor the
thought of the cause of manhood came to
me with equal power. 1t is the human
question | have been speaking about this
hour and always. Man and woman rise or
fall together, dwarfed or Gvdlike, bound
or free. When men asked me in 1874 why
| did not work for women, | answered that
| did. When we bring out the pledge and
offer it to men who are under the bondage
of drink, We are helping the women who
love these men. They seemed to think |
had made II tolerable answer, but they
were not quite satisfied and said, 1--WE
mean women that no one seems TO care
about" So after awhile we helped to start
the Martha Washington Home in Chicago,
and the Rehoboth, and we made efforts to
reach these women in a dilettant, arms
Ianntb faSbinp u11iat, voc nnt S,,aaialIu
successful.
When this grand movement came which
made it possible for me to speak and you
to hear, with none TO c~riticise except the
brutal and The base, when this change
came over the spirit of the dream Of our
people, then We dared to do what in our
hearts we had wanted to do always. Do
not tell me that women nave not cared for
the down trodden and oppressed. They
have not dared, that is just the truth Of
the matter. Noble ladies have written me
from New Orleans since | took up this
work, and said they were glad we had the
courage to do so, but they could not touch
it in the Crescent City.
Whoever touches the origin of the social
evil has come very close to the origin ofti.e
evil itself. That the world has lost its
equilibrium we know right well;
that it shall regain it only when there
is a different law upon this sub
ject, many of us believe. That time shall
come when Christ's law shall be observed
by Christians, to say the least. He said to
the woman overwhelmed with shame,
"Neither do | condemn thee; Go and san
no more" and to the men who stood up in
their pharisaical independence, LET him
who is without sin among you east the first
stone" Thus by the guiding lights of
science and the New Testament, with their
law of equal purity for two, we shall come
out of the wilderness, and into the blessed
daylight of a new and glorious dispense
ton. That is why | believe so much in
the new movements which Chautauqua
has done more than any other institution TO
%inaugurate and emblazon before the peo-
pie, viz, education, industry, and self
help for woman.
The time shall come when the daughters
| of America, with bread winning weapons
in their hands, with a wide outlook,
and the possibilities of a grand and indie
pendent career, whether in the smaller OF