San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1897-02-14

gle valid reason for such underValua-
ton. If your life is of no worth 1t is
by implication your own fault, and
the crime against your own intelli-
gence by which the value Of yourself
is deprecated cannot be eXpiated 10y
your recklessly putting that life out
of being.
Whatever you lose in the loss of that
life the world loses. Your life comes
nearer to you than any other life and
therefore should be more valued by
you than any other life, unless the
plain conditions of duty and relation
compel otherwise. You are bound
to save your life, not TO sacrifice it,
by every ruling of equity, every con-
sideratiOn of right. This would COM
pei you in the right exercises of your
powers to take every possible precau-
ton to save life from all that would
cut it off prematurely. weaken its en-
ergieS, lessons it's force or power in
the world, make you of less
value as a man or woman.
You have no right to weak
en- your bodily powers by any excess.
To do it is to sin against your own
body. and the human that does that
is no longer human but inhuman.
You have no right to weaken your
bodily powers in any way. because
that weakness is entailed upon the
wife you marry and the children you
bring into the world through her. No
more then has she any justification
for a course that in any way lowers
the tone of her system. cuts the vital
ty out of her muscles and nerves and
leaves her physically weak. 1t matters
not how this weakness is engendered,
by obedience to the dictates of fash
ion. by disregard of the plain laws of
health, indulgence in passions or
pleasures that leave their bar sinister
upon all the forces of her being. There
is no sin on earth so great as the sin
against self. because there is no atone
ment for it, no escaping its consequent
ceS. no gathering up again the drop
ped threads that mar the life that
comes from yours.
Let the mOraliStS rant about duty.
concern and care for others, acts of
charity. religious deYotiOnS and all til"
rest. The first duty the woman owes
on earth is to herself, that having
sound body it may be within her pow
erS to beget a sound body in her III
tplligent motherhood. The obligation
that rests on her here is shared with
her husband. and there is no escape
from it. Excuses that eat out Vltall-
ty. corrupt the energies of life, sap
the sources of physical and intellect
ual strength, breed disease i'll brain
and blood and tissue and nerves are
a positive crime against the individ-
ual and against the home and all that
the home originates and represents.
The salvation of self from all by
which in mind or body Il man or Wo-
man is enfeebled or corrupted Is tn"
greatest of all salvatiOns. and it haH
no savior save that of the individuals
themselves.
The gospel of herOiCS has been
preached long enough. The salvation
of others has been dinned into the
ears of the child and the adult until
the salvation of self has been lost
sight of. This salvation must extend
to the pocket book well as to the
body. 1t is the duty of every NAH
and woman to make home the birth
place and cradle Of comfort and this
cannot he done without tn" salvation
of the pocket book. As the Garner of
the bread of the house. the purvcyOr
of its comfort. you as father have no
right to SQuander on yourself for per
SOnal pleasure or the treating of
friends that which of right belongs to
wife and children to make them per
fectly comfortable. Luxury is their
right if that be within your power.
| There is nothing too good for self if
it is shared with wife and babes.
The wife is sworn on the same altar
as her husband, and it is her place to
second every attempt of home saliva
| ton that is made by her
other half. Fathers and moth
ers of the Light COngrega-
ton. Hear the gospel of self. Heed
its creed. l believe in self, myself and
the self that is in my house. Put
these first. Labor for these first. Save
yourself first. Build your house first.
Save your own body first. your own
mind first. your funds first save them
for yourself first. The opposite of this
gospel has been preached long enough.
and the world is worse off on account
Of it. Labor for your own. Pray for
your own. Pray with your arms and
head and feet and pocket book. Pray
for your wife and babies. Until you
save them. and yourself in saving
them. let others largely alone. There
is no cheap bid for approval in this
preaching, but there is Il whole LOT of
common sense in it,