The Monitor. [volume] (Woodstown, N.J.) 1884-1892, 1890-07-25

The evening" entertainment opened with
: very gratifying selection OF music, after
which were a few words OF Welcome in
connection with Social Parity, as follows:
This being the second Parlor Meeting 1t
has ever been my pleasure to attend, l am
at q loss 10 ku0s just what 70 say 10 those
who have gathered with US on this coca
sion. other than to bid o ahearty well
come. since ! know the stranger as well as
friend is always welcomed TO all W. L. L.
| L. gatherings. knowing both parties are
benefited by thus mingling together.
At the parlor meeting as / understand
II. all social questions should be given pre-
cedence. and To ms mind there is 10 more
important department Of the forty or
| more of W. C. T. L. work than that of
| Social Purity. which surely is prc-emineDt-
is a social question. And although | be-
| lieye We all recognize the Importance OF
this department, yet we all have more or
less deIicacy. false or otherwise, in attack
| ing il. yet knowing that " ithout a strict OBJ
| servance of its rules our health, physically
| and morally, cannot be what it should and
our superstructHre of character and spirit
| uailty would be likely to totter and fall re-
CARELESS of consequences.
From the signal Notes" in a June
number Of that paper, quote these lines
sLet us take care how we speak Of those
who have fallen on life's field. Help them
up-don't heap scorn upon them. We did
not see the conflict; we do not know the
scars" It seems to me we are too apt 10
heap scorn pom our fallen brother or SIS
ter. although the former seems to have a
t~enacity for standing up at the expense Of
his partner, who has fallen down in the
depths. therefore it becomes MS to be
4. ct Let -a aarea+h I0nr hrathar m
stumble. We should learn the value Of "sb-
staining from all appearance of evil, and
there is so much comes under his part of
this in, portant question. There are two
scenes that come before my minds Wis
ion as | ponder, which seem to have every
appearance Of evil, yet it is a question with
many whether they are really injurious 70
good society. The one is the baseball
ground, the other the card table. The for
mer is not so much of a social question,
since it is sholly an open air pastime, and
presumably has no attractions Tor eur
young ladies; yet, has ii? Are they ever
found in attendance at these boisterous
gatherings where there is always so much
tendency TO evil and never of the good?
The card-table which has become so fash
ionable in late years, and sad am TO say
it. is infinitely a social question. and b
are it's influences? Were souls ever
brought hearenward through its myster-
les? Does it engender kindly feeling in the
heart? Is il a necessary or essential
branch of education? These questions
may all be answered t%ruthfully. | believe
yo1 will ali agree. with the emphatic mon
osyllable-'fno.' What are its influences
then? Disobedience, ingratitude, quarrel
ing, swearing, drinking and a great list of
= ~ .-rn- q
great many young ladies raise their hands
in holy indignation and declare that is not
the result from card playing q refer to
euchre cards. which they have ever indul-
ged in. Girls, do yeu realize how much
Influence yon have upon the young man
hood with whom You come in contact? Do
you know how q questionable pastime be-
comes a desirable one when these dear
boys know yon indulge in it? Let me cite
two instances of this influence which have
come under my personal notice. One is a
young man, whose parents had always
forbidden card playing in their home, it
having too much of a bar-room faint about
il, and there being other sources from
which as much and more benefiei al pleas
ure might be derived. Being thus taught,
be with his sisters, learned to entertain on
IL a repu'sive feeling toward them, and as
sociating them always with humanity OF
the lowest type. But within a few years
it has become a game in fashionable 20
society, which makes il very desirable for
a young man to know so he may enter a
certain set which is To his liking. 4 short
time ago | heard this young man say
wish knew how to play euehre.n To the
reply d~issuading him, he replied:-'Well,
A and B play" mentioning two young
ladies Of his acquaintance, .and | don't
know why | shouldn't" This is a desire
Of disobedienee to the principles which his
parents endeayorsd to instill into his
nature, and those young ladies by their in
nuence, caused it. The other is Of a boy
whose family having forbidden the game,
Stunned it accordingly, even refusing
when a favorite lady teacher of his tried
to persuade him to learn, saying there was
no harm in it, etc. In the course Of years
this boy reached manhood. left country
for city life, and when urged by compan
ions 10 take a hand with them, yielded,
still remembering his teachers ideas.
What followed? Those qualities mem
toned, it'll many like ones added in their
train. in short, a diseased, broken life.
Where does the responsibility lie? lshnd-
der to answer the question, therefore leave
it With each Of you. 20 let MS endeavor
to abstain from all appearance of evil,
and bear in mind
ave all have some influence, Tor good or
for III,
To guide them Alright, or tolead them astray.~
Misses Ida and Emma Turner then
played a beautiful selection entitled The
Shepherds Evening Song" which carried
our soul away off to the lofty hills Of
Switzerland where shepherds grow, as it
were. But We are "expisodin, again, as
Samantha would say, and pardon Us for
we admit We have been reading Sweet
Cicely." Miss Aldred, of Philadelphia,
then recited with much force Samantha
Aliens Views" regarding the relative po-
! sition Of the sexes as to their selection of
amusements, contending what was good
for Thomas vas equally as good for
Tirzah Ann, endeavoring to impress on
the minds of the mothers that in that day
of final accounts, God would question as
closely as TO the purity of the sons as of
the daughters, and for US to bear in mind
that all Gods angels were not she ones.
Little Miss Clayton recited Down by the
Sea" so nicely that we were, in our mind,
| beside the briny waters being famed by
its breezes. Miss Aldred recited a seIec-
ton, the plot Of the story being laid in a
town of the swiss mountains, to which a
daughter Of that country Of Tell came,
from an adjacent province, to save the
city from being captured by the enemy.