Democratic messenger. [volume] (Snow Hill, Md.) 1869-1973, 1904-10-22

II comes from him who is the embOd-
led law of the Kingdom of God.
The divine law, in the first place.
makes no Discrimination between the
masculine and The feminine sins. 1t
does not come 10 man and smilingly
say. "Ilnsl,nnd. you have right to be
Il libcrtinc. while your wife must tread
the narrow path of virtue" 1t does
not say. "l;rother. here in the saloon
of responsibility you can get drunk.
but If your sister is found in that sa-
loon she VIII be disgraced for life" 1t
does not say that man can tell vile
stories and frequent the low race
tracks AMI be the companion of pu-
gilisiic thugs ana dissolute characters
and still he respected, while woman,
having done wrong, can never be al
Lowell to enter again into the associa-
ton of the good AID the true and the
respectable But the divine law does
say this: 20 men. if the sin that this
woman has committed is to be punish
eel by stoning. every one of you who
has committed the same sin deserves
to be stoned also" A blasphemy from
mans lips in the sight of God is
just as vile and culpable as bias
phemy from woman's lips. The sins
of inanias and Ahab are as evil as
the sins of Sapphira and JeZebel. And
yet from time immemorial the world
has always had two criminal courts in
which il has judged its moral delin-
quents. The one is the court of mer-
cy'' for masculine offenders; the other
is the court of no hope" in which
lyny eyeI Judge IIardheart sits upon
the bench. charging the jury of mo
regrets" and sentencing woman de-
PENDANT after woman defendant to
life impris )nment in the ''penitentiary
Of despair"
The rule Is one condemnation for
masculine sins and another for femi-
nine. We all know that the pharisaical
ideas of old are common at the present
time. InGecd. ! 20 even further than
this. | sometimes think that. as far
us the world is concerned. many people
are prone IL admire men if they are
not loo good. If they have an immoral
besmi! cllinent of their record. They
are not glad when they say. He is a
square. true man" but they are happy
WHEN they can say. lie is wild fell
low but mighty nice" 1t is on account
of this tc;.ency of the human race to
jude mans sins differently from wom-
ans sins that we often find men in
public places boasting of their evil
deeds as though they were the signs
of true manhood and nobility. y few
weeks ago | was riding in California
railroad train opposite two men. One
was famous eastern contractor.
What WAS my amaZement to find that
his conversation was divided into al
most equal parts. The one was to tell
his companion the hard work he was
doing hy the day, and the other was tc
tell how many times lie got drunk by
night and how he could outdrink every
one of his business associates with
whom he was accustomed to deal. Had
any woman dared in public car &c
acknowledge such debaucheries every
man. woman and child sitting within
sound of Ter voice would have looked
ned as much as the eastern lepers
who with sticks and stones are driven
forth from the habitations of man and
| quarantincd by themselves as menaces
to the public safety.
Deal Justly With the ErrinE.
The highest compliment which in
chivalric times could he given about Il
father was. Ills daughters were ali
virtuous and his sons were all brave"
But why should not the sons be virtu-
Gus as well as the daughters! And
yet. man-O bitter man, . censorious
and guilty an-thou art ready to con-
denim thy sister when thou art not
ready Ia condemn thyself. Joseph Par
ker in one of his great addresses de-
scrbes Il brother minister who had
driven an crring and yet repentant
daughter away from his home Joseph
Parker pleaded and prayed with the
angry father Ia take her back. but
she has diSgraced my home" said he
Il cannot. | will not take her back"
But. man." said Joseph Parker. lin
your younger days have not you your
self also been guilty of SIM" Yes"
said the father but | am man and
she is Il woman. The world Judges
mans sins differently from Il woman's
sins" THAT is So" said Parker. Man
Judges mans sins differently from wo-
mans sins. but Christ Judges both the
sins the same. He that is without sin
among you. let him first cast Il stone
at her"
Another characteristic of the divine
law is that ii recognizes no distinction
of rank or station. As the divine law
makes no distinction between sexes.
1t also makes no distinction between
/ the sins of the upper and the lower
social classes 1t does not have one
criminal code for the palace and
another for the hut. 1t does not Ii. 81
one for the wealthy Wall street finan-
cier who manipulates the railroad
stock and waters it and cheats thou
sands of small investors out of their
all. and another for the groceryman
who has false weights and never sends
n full pound of coffee or tea or sugar
to his customers when they pay for n