The sun., 1894-03-31
An Upde.ervcd Feminine Defence.

horts the women Of that State not to be
"too hard on Col. BRKoKrNRIDoE." She
asks for him consideration at their hands
on the same ground on which It was asked
by his counsel at Washington, namely. that
"he was the victim Of q smooth-tongued
siren, and with . mans passion, which Is
different from woman's. he could not tear
himself from her."
The condemnation which listens to no
excuse OF palliation, she would visit on Miss
POLLARD alone. The moral OF the case, In
her view, is that women do not punish such
an offence In q woman severely enough.
LET the ladies' be sterner with their own
SEX" she says, land such disgraceful
things as the BREcKINRIDGE case will In the
future be unknown" She thus imposes on
women O moral obligation different from
that to which she holds men. on the plea
that the discrimination Is justified by the
difference In their "passions."
Undoubtedly this discrimination Is often
made by women. There Is q feminine dis
position TO extenuate In men a licentious-
ness which they refuse utterly to tolerate
in women. Thus they are already stern
toward "their own SEX" but lenient to men.
That this sternness could hardly be made
tenderness toward COL BREoKINRIDGE and
her uncompromising denunciation Of Miss
POLLARD. The woman know the man was
married. she says. and therefore she was "a
brazen brute" But to Col. BRECKENRIDGE.
who also knew that he was married. she has
no osuch term Of indignant reproach to apply.
She insists that something Is due him." in
|. spite Of his perfdy. but she has no tolera-
/ tion for Miss POLLARD. The inference from
her letter is that q man ie a brute natu-
rally and necessarily. but that a woman can
make herself brute only by violating and
outraging her natural instincts.
1t Is that discrimination in favor Of mon
rather than any failure Of women to be suf-
fciently stern with their own SEX" which
incites "such disgraceful things as the
BRECKNRIDaE case" and 1t win continue
to incite them In the future. A cowardly
man takes advantage Of this feminine dis
position to palliate masculine depravity on
the theory that IL is natural In man.
Such base fellow is always ready to de-
fend himself by saying that "the woman
tempted me-" that he was led astray by
"smooth-tongued siren. and with a mans
passion. which Is different from a woman's.
he could not tear himself from her.
The distinction. however, is justified
neither In morals nor by the constitution
Of man. 1t cannot be accepted without do
stroying the safeguards Of society. II IL
centiousness in men Is excusable because OF
1t. whenever they yield to any other Of their
brutal instincts they are equally defensible.
1t makes OF men savages who are not
amenable to the moral law, and restricts the
| obligations OF that law and its enforcement
to women only. II women do not keep
men straight by keeping straight them
| selves. 1t makes the iniquity of men par
| donable. It is merciful toward a mans In
| fidelity. but the woman with whom he Of
fends it denounces numerically as "a brazen
brute who knew he could not marry her."
| But he knew. also. that he could not marry
her and. moreover. he had solemnly pledged
himself to fidelity to his wife. while his par
amour was free from the pledge OF mar
riage. and was under obligation to the gen.
eral moral law only.
| Mrs. BULLITT Is all wrong about men.
They are fully as capable as women Of obey
| ing their moral and civil obligations. They
are no less capable Of self-restraint. and So
ciety advances from savagery 80 far as they
exercise that capability. The institution of
marriage. established In barbarism even. Is
for the protection OF men no less than wo-
men. and its obligations rest on them
equally. 1t is tho centre about which
the social organization is built up. and an
outrage against 1t. whether committed by
a woman or by man, Is a capital offence
against society, as all men know. man
might as well expect excuse for yielding to
any other brutal impulse punishable by the
law of society. as to expect palliation Of his
perhdy In the marriage relation. II he
cannot control his brutal passions under
criminal temptation. he is not fit to be
abroad in civilization. He ought to be
locked up as a wild man dangerous to So
ciety. II he shows himself to be beast in
his lasciviousness. more especially in spite
OF the obligations and the protection OF mar
rlage. he is unfit for association with decent
women. So far from deserving extenuation
because he is a male being. he deserves the
severer punishment. II a mans passion is
different from a woman's and naturally
the more destructive. the more 1t needs to
be curbed by social punishment for its dis
orderly display. 1t should be kept the more
closely in check by society. theless disposed
he himself is TO hold 1t In restraint.
Instead of the lesson OF the BREcKRRIDGR
/ DcluB db olI5s bILllII Ns LndL
ladies should be "steTner with their own
sex" it Is. therefore. that they should bo
sterner with men. Feminine depravity Is
inpocuous, except so far as it is supple
mented by the deprayity Of man. which is
usually its original cause. By holding men
up to their moral obligations strictly.
women will be- relieved from the
necessity OF being "sIerner with their own
sex" By exUusing in men a moral rotten
ness which they make disgraceful and in
tOlerable in a woman. they neutralizs to a
large extent the beneficial effects OF their
condemnation Of feminine corruption. They
encourage the multiplication by men Of
the "srnooth-tongued sirens who make
willing victims OF msa.
Moreover, no man worthy OF the name
would ask or accept mercy for himself.
which was denied TO the woman with whom
he had offended. He would not make the