The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1907-05-01

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! guilty of the latter infringement of
the law than of the former. Many a
man and many a oma who would
not dare to go the full length of open
evil. will do themselves real damage
and endanser the safety of their i'm
mortal souls through the harboring
Of ungodlv, sensual thoughts. And
! of two things I am very positive of
| which the first is this: that it is hard
er to keep the mind clean than to re-
frain from outward evil: and the Sec
ond is this, that pure thoughts will
induce and produce uprightness OF
act. If as James said. it is easier to
control a horse than the tongue, I am
sure that it is easier to control the
tongue than the mind. And the truth
of God is this, that steadfast endeav-
or for purity of heart and mind will
meet with sure success and will as
sure nobility Of action.
We need a sanctifed purity CT
rife. I am disguised and would
be disheartened, did I not trust in
God. over the amount of unblushing
crininality 7 see and meet in my per-
sonal experiences. Men who are sure
that immortality is fair for men but
woefully wrong for the wives of men.
Women who boast that the men they
know have seen the seamy side of
life and who love them better for it.
Mere girls who think that the only
way to reap wheat is to SOW wild oats
"a theory that only works in the
seeding and harvesting of sin. Moth
ers and fathers who are so lost to
shame that they desire their sons to
indulge themselves in a little OF all
sorts of evil that they may be men OF
real experience. Such nonsense as 1t
is, and OH the folly of it all. For
sooth the only way to cleanliness OF
heart is through the depth of sin
they would have us think. The only
way to Christ is through the depths
of hell.
1t is not so. 1 know ignorance is
not necessarily virtue. And con-
trariwise, I am heartily in favor
of the proper and cody instruc-
ton Of our youth of both sexes upon
the mighty and central truths and
mysteries Of human life. But the
true way to wisdom is not through
vicious and degrading personal ex-
p~erience with sin, but rather at our
mothers knees. The right way to
knowledge is through the true and
noble teachings of men and women
whose experience is untouched with
sin. No man is a better man because
he has drunk the cup of sin to the
dregs. The only experience that is
e~ternally worth while is the expert
ence that is good, upright. inspiring.
Resistance to temptation is OF mucn
value to give power; but a TALL into
sin does no man the highest good.
We want to insist that morals
are most of Importance in this
world. No unclean man deserves the
hand and the loyalty of a pure wom-
an. None but the clean deserve the
fair. The man of unchaste life de-
serves ostracism as much If not o
than the woman who has sinned.
Those fragrant p~olygamists who
faunt their sin before u faces I'M
der the guise of legal marriage de-
serve our seorn no less than does the
polygamy of Mormonism. The man
of unclean life has no right to the
hearts of the true womanhood or TINS
country, and for my part were l a
woman I would rather live and die
unmarried and earn my bread by the
sweat of my brow than to risk my
earthly happiness into the hands OF
any man of immoral life, no matter
what his wealth, position or ability
might be. The womanhood OF this
country should preserve the virtue OF
this land and should put a premium
upon nobility of character and saIcti-
ty of life.
The need to-day is not so much
for schools for the culture OF
the intellect and for 1nstruction
in the arts and sciences-tne
need is rather for colleges where
the art of pure living and the practice
of virtue may be taught, The world
wants not more brains first, but more
character. The importance OF clean
living and high thinking must be
taught and preached as paramount
and fundamental-for they &c the
centre and the circumference OF all
life. The integrity Of the marriage
relation must be maintained. Inc
demand for a moral manhood as es-
sential to any and all success must
be enforced. Men must be made to
understand that purity is the stand
ard of true worth, and tina clean
manhood is real might.
We must educate u youth to the
value of goodness. We must teach
our girls that character is more OF &C.
count than any material requirement
or possession. We must tell our boys
that manliness is not recklessness,
but rectitude; that only the pure life
pays And tell them why!