The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1895-06-29
ADVICE TO MARTYRS.
BY MRS. HAITI TYING GR1swoLD.

Ooi VI WOHlcA Wy OTuukon nuSDdnUS,
or OF young girls by half-drunken,
jealous lovers, so-called-is one of
the most appalling facts of these
later days. Day by day as you scan
the columns of the great city dailies,
you read of these crimes. took note
of the matter for several weeks re-
Gently, and every issue chronicled
such murder. Quite often the murder
was committed because the woman
had refused to live longer with the fe.
rocious brute. Many times it was the
elimination of long series of afro
cities. In some cases both wife and
children were murdered.
In some instances the murderer
had the good sense to blow his own
brains out Immediately afterward.
In no case did he do this until after
he had shot or butchered some one
else.
These crimes do not appear to
cause single ripple upon the sur
face of society. They are SO much
matter-of- course that they are not
even commented on. Gentle women
and chivalrous men pass them by as
being of no concern to them. Would
it be possible for any other series of
foul crimes to be thus passed over?
And then extreme cases that end in
murder are only small portion of
the crimes of violence which women
suffer at the hands of men debased
and half crazed with drink. I have
recently heard of one man who had
spent the entire night in driving his
wife and little girl out of the house
with horsewhip, and then driving
them in again. I have heard of an
other wife who tried to get refuge
in neighbor's houses in such strait,
and who was refused any protec-
tion or assistance, because the neigh
bors did not want to offend the
husband. Indeed these instances
are common. No one wants to get
into an alteration with a drunken
man; and his family in many in
stances may be murdered before any
one will interfere.
Now, until public sentiment can be
aroused as to the duty of the public
to defend its helpless women and
children from the violence of drunken
sons, husbands and fathers, l believe
in preaching new crusade. | be-
lieve it is the duty of every temper
ance man and woman in the whole
country, to advise every wife of such
drunken husband to refuse to live
with him and to keep herself and child
rem away from knowledge of his ex-
ces ses.
Let her take the children tothe poor
house, if there be no other resource,
but let her not continue to live with,
and bear children by, man so i'm
bruted. 1t is the duty of no woman
to continue to live with an habitual
drunkard. 1t is her first and most
sacred duty to take herself away from
him. Selfsacrifice is a virtue that
can easily be carried too far. We
have preached the duty of wives far
too much. Let us harp a little while
upon the duty of husbands to lead
sober and serious lives, and not fol-
low out course which can lead only
to destruction.
When / see wives growing old now,
who have for years lived the life of
sorrow and humiliation which the
wife of drunkard must lead, and
who are still bound to the repulsive
object of their long devotion, sacri-
ficing everything else in life that they
may feel they have done their duty
to him, long to tell them what
mistaken sense of duty theirs has
been. In most cases the wife has
sacrificed her children to this idea as
well as herself. In many cases she
has continued to bring new victims
into the world as the years went on;
which l cannot but hold as crime,
instead of virtue. She has never
known an hour free from this blight.
Her children never knew such an
hour. Usually the man himself
would have been cared for as well as
he deserved without her life long
sacrifice. l feel that it should be
proclaimed to her from the house
tops, to free herself at all hazards
from such death-in-life. Only let
her be fully persuaded, before she
takes action, and then at all hazard
stick to her determination. Let her
not waver and lose the sympathy of
her friends by her folly. The laws
now, in many States, make habitual
drunkenness cause of divorce; they
should do so in all. Too long have