The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1888-07-25
SHE ANSWERS THE PREACHER.
A Fashionable Woman Who Believes
the Majority of Humanity Sinful.
From the NeD York Grarhic.

a faSnlonaDlo woman VINO 6eneVoS
the Majority of Humanity Sinful.
From the New York Grarhic.
"There is nothing on earth more fare ical
to me, said one of the gayest of married
society women, ethan the ser mons of
preachers about the wretched inward lives
and heartsickness of society women.
II just read sermon the other day in
which an uproarious revivalist was deplor
ing the misery of hollow life. What does
this sanctimonious old brother know about
hollow lives! Why does he take hollow
lives to ring his changes upon3 Why don't
he speak of the hopeless lives of women at
the wash tub and the cooking stove. There
are just as many Goddess women at those
occupations as in the whirl of society. Won
en- can be hollow anywhere. Society has
nothing to do with it. We are more caviled
at simply because we make a show. We
dress well and drive in carriages, and the
crowd stares, and good, religious people
pointing out some one among us, shake their
heads i'll pity and say:
look at that gay butterfly creature,
She married that old man for his money
She is utterly heartless, and yet she must
suffer sometimes when midnight leaves her
alone with her soul
Not nearly 50 wretched, my dear good
people, is this heartlesS devOtee of fashion
as young girl living in the country near
Atlanta who recently married a rich old
codger for his ducats The old fellow makes
her work, she hates him and has no diver
sions in the way of balls, operas and fine
clothes. Women in every station Of life
are constantly selling themselves. It's not a
crime patented by fashionable society.
There are more alleviations to sale mar
riage in gay life than any other. People
may talk conscience till they die, but con
science can be kept pretty quiet in the body
of beautiful woman surrounded by ad-
miration and luxury"
'But don't you believe that there is such
thing as pure, high, christian lifeF'
Certainly | do, and | believe it's the
only life that brings all perfect peace, but
how few women of any class know such a
lIfei The ma jority of humanity is sinful.
There is seltishness and want of heart equal
ly distributed i'll every class. A lot of rant
ing is done about the worldly mother who
leaves her children to the care of servants.
OF course such a woman is not an ideal
mother, but the children are not as much to
be pitied as those of the equally heartless
mother of lower class who Is too slovenly
and triflmg to take proper care of her off
spring and too poor to hire sci wants to take
care OF them. | tell you the preachers are
all wrong The worldly society woman,
Lext to the perfect and rarely found chris
tan woman Is the happiesU on earth.
"In my girlhool | gave romance a few
smiles and tears. played at love, but my
rearing by worldly mother did not leave
me with large amount of heart at elgh-
teen We were in moderate circumstances,
and my mother taught me to think money the
greatest good | had quite desperate love
affair the year before | made my money
match. He was blonde and sang to lor. |
met him the other day threadbare with a
4 l.a J.,
had that exhausted, hacked look common to
men with empty pockets and large families.
~ was driving by in my carriage with
my page and my two little girls. | leaned
over and kissed the lot as prayer of thank
fulness. for my present happy state welled
up from my heart"
And you didn't have an instant's heart
throb or a momentary regretm
DO You know, lifting her large, laughing
ewes, that | Won dn't De the wife of that
seedy singer and the mother of those decid
edly rusty little brats for anything in
chrlstendOm.
at was little hard to give him up at
the time. We made beautiful pictures of
love in a cottage, and all mat, but when my
husband came along with money and four
story brown stone residence, the cottage
tumbel, never to be regretted"
But now could you bear to marry man
without loving him. 1t seems TO me
woman must love or hate the man she mar
ries."
80 I've read in books and been told by
romantic young women. I'm neither a
novel heroine nor the embodiment of ro-
nance.
my husband is not an Apollo. He has stiff,
black hair and very largo teeth, two things
had ever rallied against IN early girlhood,
and he is not AS old as my desire TO become
a widow would have him; still ,as husband
he is about the best a woman could have.
He pays my bills and never grumbles, is
submissive, accompanying, thinks me the
most beautiful woman on ca til, and likes
for me to 20 out aud have attention"
but what are you going to do when you
grow old and the attention ceases|
II won't care for the kind Of admiration
then that | have now. The young fellows
will be nico TO me then for my girls. They
are both Lovely cEillren, and will mako
handsome women. snail be young again
In their love affairs and entertainments"
Are you bringing them up with the
same view Of lto presented by your own
motherF
"Why, Of course; my girls must marry
rich. If they really fall in love with rich
men. shall CONSIDER their destiny complete
but II not, ! snail urge the marrying OF
money without love as the next best thlng,
and ,halibc content in believing their lives
a. happy d, my own"