The Portland daily press., 1895-06-03
A PLEA FOR PURITY.
Mrs. Leavitt the World Famous w.
C, T. U. Missionary.
Talks Plain Talk and Declares Great
Truths at the Y. Nj. G. A Great
Movement by Women That the Time
May Come When No Pure Woman VIII
Marry An Impure Mana Pledge.

|
Mrs. Mary Clement Leavitt, honorary
president of the WCT.U., who is now
approaching the three score years and
ten and who has travelled many years in
many countries in temperance and mis-
sion work, visited Portland yesterday,
and made three addresses In the morn
ing she spoke in the Plymouth church,
in the afternoon at the YMCA. rooms
and at the evening at Williston church.
She spoke to large audience of men
at the Y. NJ. c. A, and her subject was
personal purity. She said that she had
rarely gone out of this country to her
missionary work, when she was appealed
to by clergymen of New Zealand to take
part in purity reform Why do speak
to you, an audience of men, upon this
subject? Why should 1 not, woman of
my age I was wife, am mother
and grandmother.
| The Bible says that God made women
to be holy mothers of children who might
| in the future be fit for Heaven. And if
| God designed women for holy mothers,
He designed men for holy fathers
The smallest look abroad recalls sad
departures from this line If you read
the Bible through, you will find that
the only relation of man and woman that
is holy is that of the man and wife-the
one man and the one woman true to
each other.
If we look into the nations we shall find
that the observance of this law of God
has been departed from, the nations have
perished-
The infamous, shameless, unmention-
able Turk is the result of polygamy.
You see that I am an old woman, am
of family of nine children in minis
ter's household have taught school for
25 years, and scholars of all ages l know
that God sends the boy babies into the
world as pure and modest as the little
girls. When was seven years old, told
time in my life / can't think of it with
out shame today, nearly 80 years after.
God may blot out our sins, but not the
memory of them. :
For the sake of women I want to speak
of this subject today. If only a few
stepped apart from the path we all hon-
or, if those few were deemed so vile that
men who had sinned with them would
not recognize them In the street, would
there be many such? But there are so, 900
women in London alone who lead the
/ life Of shame, so-called the life Of plea
sure. How long, is, this life? Statistics
show that these women live. but three
years after they enter it.
1t takes at least II, 900 virgins to supply
the lust of London every year. Almost
everyone of these, if left alone by sinful
men and horrid old women, would never
have left the paths of virtue. Those who
have worked among them say that SO
out of 100 were naturally pure in heart.
They enter this life mostly because some
villain has won their heart and after
making them in the sight Of God, wife,
really makes them a victim and finally
deserted ~ and eften oIitca ST from home
they enter this life of shame.
The guilt lies with men. How would
the PROGRESSES do their business if they
were not paid by men, *aS t9
I,ve tried in vain to get legislators to
cut the one link in this horrible chain.
I've tried to make the business of the
procuress an unbailable offense Nearly
always when arrested, she confesses, but
her rich patrons go her bail. They say
that the law will not allow them to make
this an unbailable offense. Change the
laws then. The offense should be on the
same plan as murder.
1t is very strange that I cannot get
this reform taken up in the purity socie-
ties of America, or at the purity con-
ventions in Geneva and Stockholm.
What is the next point? If you want
your own daughters and sisters to be safe
you must teach purity to the rising gene
rations But we shall never have the
right line of action in this matter till
men learn to realize that woman is a
God given creature destined to be the
best type of wife and mother, and she
can never deyelope that part of her char
acter till she has opportunities.
Now, my friends, I want to speake to
you on your own behalf Too easily we
condone impurity in young men, while
we are harsh in regard to the impurity
of young women.
The time should come when the
young man who has dragged himself
through the slime of impurity will be OBJ
liged to marry, if he does marry, wom-
an who is impure.
1 thank God that many women, even at
the altar, if they learned of the impurity
of their prospective husbands, will turn
back, rather than join their pure lives
to one that is impure.
We want to teach our sons that women
are in earnest in this matter and that il
they desire a pure girl for wife they
must lead pure life themselves Thank
God this new era for women is coming,
Then, too, pure life is the best fol
man. Scientists tell us that it is just as
easy for man to live a life of purity
in good health, as it is for woman
There are thousands of PHYSICIANS, and
1 wish knew them by name in order tt