San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1895-05-19
CONTRIBUTED SCRAPS.

by moral principle IS meant
truthfulness, honesty in all deal
ings and justice. These constitute
the bed rock Of moral principle.
Then comes temperance, decorum
and charity.
A person who habitually lies
cannot be said to possess moral
principle. He is apt to be dis.
honest and unjust.
The number Of juvenile thieves
demonstrates criminal neglect
on the part of parents to instill
moral principle into the minds of
their children. instruction is al
most useless, where parents suffer
their children to roam at large
about the streets and to associate
with boys, who have broken down
the partition between right and
wrong.
One unprincipled and thievish
boy will mislead and corrupt a
dozen or more boys by his talk
and his example.
1t is the duty of parents to keep
their children away from evil COM
panions, but, not withstanding it
is most important duty, it is
wofully neglected.
Girls are often rnined by a COM
binatlon of parental indulgence
and want OF control. Discretion
and prudence have to be nourished
and cultivated in the young of
both sexes. Girls, who are desti-
tude Of discretion and prudence
fall an easy prey to the libertine.
The growing frequency of prose-
cutIons for seduction under prom
Use of marriage, attests neglect of
duty on the part Of parents. They
have given their daughters too
much latitude in attending thea
tres, parties and balls, and have
not exercised proper care in ascer-
tanning the principles and charac-
tiers Of the men who escort them to
places OF amusement.
1t is not true, that girls who are
seduced, are blameless, since pru-
dence and discretion on their part
would have saved them from that
calamity.
Even a promise Of marriage does
not and cannot exonerate a girl
who is seduced, since prudence and
discretion on her part would have
averted the calamity. And in
many of the prosecutions for Sc.
duction under promise OF marriage,
if the truth could be arrived at, no
such promise ever existed.
Girls should remember, that
more than half Of the engagements
to marry, are broken and come to
nought, and never rely implicitly
on promise Of marriage. Men
are very uncertain at their best
estate; hundreds make promises Of
marriage without any intention of
fulfilling them, merely to win the
confidence and trust of a girl
whose head is full of romantic no.
tions about love and constancy,
picked up from sentimental novels.
Girls should be made to under
stand, that it is a fact, that men
recoil from marrying the women,
who have allowed themselves to
be seduced even under a promise
OF marriage.
There is absolutely no excuse for
a single woman, who is seduced by
a married man, because she is
aware Of his being married, and
that any professions of love from
him to her are downright insults
to her.
Honorable love is backed by an
offer Of marriage. A married man,
who makes love to a single woman,
only seeks to accomplish her ruin
by winning her love.
AS Owen Meredith says in
"Lucile," "save the man in the
boy-save the woman in the girl"
and it means, we must implant
moral principles in boys and girls
land be careful in forming good
habits in them and keeping evil
companions away from them.
By the by, Lucille" is a book
that cannot be read too often. 1t
eally deserves to be studied. 1t is
,cintillant with thought,-brim-I
ming over with pathos, replete
With dramatic scenes and sage
objections.
There is no finer female character
han "Lucile" to be found in dra-
pas, poems, or novels. 1t sheds
Istre on the female sex and en-
obles our common humanity. |
Lucille" was a tender, noble and |
bving woman, and it was love.
nat purified and exalted her. 1t |
ould be well for every woman to
BAD and study the poem of "Lu-
le." 1t helps either man or
oman to have a noble model and |
aim to accomplish noble deeds
milar to those of his, or her
osen model.
1t is better to shoot at the sun
RI In, Tho dirt EGI .npilov |