The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1902-02-07
WOMAN's DEBT.
What She Owes Christianity for
I PresepF Position in Life.
An EIocient Address on the Subject
Bv Rev. A. B. C. Dunno at St.
Johns Catholic Church.


church last evening by Rev. Arthur
B. G. Dunno, on "The Debt Woman
Owes to Christianity" was well at
tended and was lecture of very high
order. Rev. Dunno is a fine speaker, |
possessed of much humor which flows
spontaneously throughout his entire
address, keeping his audience In con- |
slant good humor. He is broad MIND |
ed in his views and gave not only |
women, but men as we'll, much good
advice which could we'll be needed to
their general benefit. Nothing less
than very full synopsis of his lee
ture would do him justice, and we
have not space for that and can only
give few of his leading thoughts.
He opened by saying that this is the
golden age of women, for never before
in history has she bad as great in
ieunce as she has today over man. He
then dwelt briefly upon the power and
influence women exerts over young
men and asked what the power was
that raised woman from the level of
paganism to her present high position.
He answered this by saying that some
say it is by process Of evolution He
did not believe in this process of evO-
luton by which woman would be
made. to rise from the ape family.
She is of much finer clay.
Some say it is the result of education.
But this could not be entirely so, for
in the golden days of literature of
Greece, and art of Rome, woman was
the most abject slave of man. Educa-
ton alone did not free and raise her
up. What was it then. The power of the
Christian religion The speaker then
went back to the creation of Adam
and rapidly traced the life of woman
through paganism to the commence
ment of the Christian era Referring
to the Bible story of the creation of
Eve, he said God was most wise in
his selection. He did not take the
bone from Adam foot, for that would
have given Adam the advantage over
her. Nor from his head, for then Eve
could have tainted Adam of a lack OF
brain, but from his side next to his
heart, denoting that woman was to go
side by side with man and that his
thought and affection was ever to sur
round her. He briefly described the
life of the pagan woman, and how
she was sold in marriage, and said
good likely girl often brought two
head of cattle on the slave block.
Such things, he said, were not entirely
unknown in our day in this free land
of ours. But it was not among the
poor, but among the rich. The million
aire bedecked and bediamond his
daughter and put her upon the block
for sale, none the less slave block be-
cause bedecked with diamonds and
jewels. Then he called for scions of
the worthless, worn out, diseased,
effete nobility to come and take her.
But he did not do as we'll as the pagan
father of old, for that person often got
two head of cattle for his daughter,
while our millionaire gets but one,
and of poor stock.
The birth of Christ marked the free
ing and rise of woman. Eloquently
he told the story of her progress up
ward, how she has entered all the fields
of life, to the gain of the world, and
how she has become the equal of man,
socially and intellectually. He also
pointed out the dangers which sur
round her, and made a most eloquent
appeal to man to honor her purity.
There is NJ such force in the world as
a pure woman. Many a young man
has been saved from blighting career
by the thoughts of pure, lovi' z sis
ter bidding into woman. One of his
strongest phillippies of the danger tc
woman and to society was against the
divorce evil In the east he said, Ont
out Of every nine married couples
were divorced. He alluded to the di
vorce evil as serpent that wrapped
itself around the heart of man and o
woman and crushed the life out o
each 1t did more and worse.
broke up the home, crawled up owe
crib wound it's Shiny length aroun
the babe and crushed the best there
in life out of it. He discussed mar
riage at some length and said it wa
no longer disgrace for woman to re
main single. Some had higher mis-
sion in life than marriage. ALI wome
are not fit for marriage, do not kno,
how to make home, have never bee
taught the art, and when they stan
in the court room, where the blus
of true womanliness is lost to them
the Judge hands them the diploma {
their failure.
He spoke of what Christianity hs
done for the wife and mother and til
chance it has opened for her for powt
and influence through her home lift
In referring to the mission whic
woman might have, which woul
cause her to forego the vows of ma
ried life, he spoke of the work of ii
sisters in the Catholic church as
example and eloquently followed the
through life upon their errands
mercy.
AS word painter Rev. Dunno n
remarkable powers and his closiI
appeal to both women and men +
higher ideals in life along Christia
standard was most eloquent and fore
full