The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 18??-1935, 1900-06-08
THE "GOOD.FELLOW" GIRL.
tJohn j. ingalls, In Sunday Post Dispatch


cal 1t reform. &c seems more like
revolution. They are substituting
the hott and the club for the home {,
comradeshIp for marriage and 30
helnianisn for domestic life. With
wealth, leisure aud luxury they are
establishing social code that de-
mands fidelity only to those who are
faithless and that forgives every
thing In n woman except old-fa5h-
ioned goodness.
The recent records of the divorce
courts in New York and all our
great cities justify the apprehension
that quite uo many of the lair sex
ale ubjustly inspected of Innocence
as are falsely accused uf wrong
doing. 1t is commonly SAID that The
world is growing better. Probably
it ls-in spots. There are many
good people who pay tithes OF
anlse atonement and contrition sun
day and forget the weightier MATE rs
of the law every other day In the
week.
Numerous eminent divines quarrel
devuutly concerning creeds, aud de-
liver eloquent dlscOurses about the
geUealogy OF Abraham and the blast
If the trumpeC that threw down the
walls of jericho.
Universities, colleges, libraries, and
museums are endowed by contribu-
tons to the conscience fund from
the deathbed repentance Of contrite
pirates and extortIoners, who, hav-
ing burned the candle TO Mammon
- ii Ia. 2 hn in
face of the Lord. This is nearly the
most corrupt and greedy age since
Nero played first violin at the burn
ing OF Rome.
Those who have seen the fresi oes
/ and sculptures of Pompeii can com.
prehend why that composite heap
was buried under the cinders and
ashes of Vesuyius; why the site Of
| So ION and Gomuirah Is forgotten
Why al cient Corinth was despoiled
and its inhabitants tXtirpated
There was no other medicine fol
such depIavity and degradation
Most travellers who know the gin
mills OF London by sight and have
walked the Strand after nightfall, VI
have visited the Moulin Rouge OF
witnessed the viciousness OF Berlin
and Vienna and Venice, know thai
every capital in Europe can give
odds to Pompeii and Corinth.
A fatal contagion infects our so
| cieGy aud portends individual de
ge neration aud national decay. NJ
nation can long survive loss o.
moral integrity Or the sanctity of the
home. No one can observe withou
alarm the invasion of our country
by this foreign pestllence and the
amazing changes that are going OF
in The social condition. A deluge o
French ana English sewage i,
| polluting literature, art and the
stage. Plays clarifying iLfidelity
making marriage jestand sneerins
at virtue as rustic prudery are sup
plemente d by numberless novels tina
treat natures holiest mysteries witt
the brutal candor of the clinic ant
the disse citing table Eager, throng
ing multitudes listen to such play
as 1.-The Degenerater" "Sappho" ant
The Turtle"
1t Is unfortunate from the mora
standpoint that the best of mankinC
are not invulnerable. There is n
armor proof against temptation. |
Is still more discouraging that goOt
people are generally uninterestinl
ana that we remember with mos
pleasure those persons and events "
ought to forget. Il Is prodigiou
task to lift man. community
from baIbarism into enlightenment
and civilization, and a still create
task TO keep him there. The ten
dency Is to relapse. The gravitatiol
Is to the gutter. 1t requires the con
stant active co operation of the con
sentative forces o. religion, educa
ton, laws, habits and customs t.
maintain even external order ant
deceney.
Break down the barriers o
modesty aud shame in woman, ,e icl
the young that the distinction be
tween right ana wrong Is an in
version of theology, the conscience
Is an imperitnent interior ence witt
the natural enjoyment of life, tina
vice wears velvet and virtue goes il
rags, and the evil Is irreparable
This Is the fatal process that is nov
going on through the decadence o
art, literature and the stage.
| 1t is developing type of woman
kind of which Helen of Troy ant
Cleopatra and Messalina are his
toric representatives-the woman o
the world--the up tot date woman
the eno-of-the century woman, tn
jolly good fellow girl, who goes t
the races with one man and bets
drinks cocktails aud smokes cigar
cites, goes to midnight suppers wit
auother, and Is introduced to pugi
lists by third and listens to In
nuendoes, double entendres and un
printable stories.
Such Is the extreme nineteenth
century protest against puritanlsm
The home is the unit of the state
and the social law hitherto has beeI
that woman's place Is home-not q
a slave or drudge, but as compan
len colleague and spiritual guardian
walking not a palh of roses but Q
love, faith, duty and supremeness /
that kingdom. The properly reare
and educated young woman antlci
pates marriage and maternity as he
natural destiny. The racetracE
high kicking, skirt dancing and coo
songs are not favorable preliminai
les.
Even the most staid and cynical
men in their better intervals tuF
reverently to the higher ideat {
the
Perfect woman, nobly planned.
TO warn. 10 comfort and command,