The Washington herald., 1919-01-31

There is no allure for her in the So
called gay life" She knows II for
what IL Is, the deariest and the sad
dest thing on earth. Gethsemane OF
weeping and wailing for women.
No chance of her being tempted
again by any man. She has eaten OF
the tree of kntwledge and the bitter
taste of its Dead Sea apples will be
on her lips when she dies
She has known what IL was TO feel
herself an outoast: to see women
draw their skirts away from her In
the streets; to have men free to offer
her any insult, TO be a waif without
home. friends or social position. and
If by any good fortune she wins back
to place in the sun she holds on
to II with a realization of its worth
and passion of gratitude that the
woman who has always been respect
able. and has had home and posi-
ton, can never know.
That the woman who has strayed
a-field can come back is amply proven
by the fact that there are thousands
of such women living noble, useful
lives. atoning by their good deeds for
the error of their youth. and they are
loved and respected in the communi-
tics ia winch lnty uWeH.
Whether a man will be happy with
such a woman IL he married her de-
pends upon the man, and upon how
big minded and generous he is.
Very few men measure up TO this
standard, and this makes such mar
riages. as a general thing, a disas-
trous experiment that brings happi-
ness to neither party.
40
slaves of convention, and lack the
strength of mind to decide things for
ourselves. Convention has taught
women that II is the proper thing for
them to be forgiving and TO wipe of
the slate for the men they marry on
their wedding day and let them be-
gin fresh account But convention
has taught men TO be unforgiving to
women. and to hold up, the score Of
their pasts against them.
Therefore, n man remembers his
wife's sins against her, no matter
how far in the past they have been,
nor how she has repented them, nor
lived them down, and he holds these
over her head, a sword of Damocles
of whose falling she lives in perpetual
dread.
Perhaps, now and then, a man is
TO be found great souled enough TO
really forgive a woman who has had
a murky past, but such men are as
rare as hens teeth. The average
man. no matter what sort OF a life
he has lived. nor how wide the field
of wild oats that he has sown. de-
mands that his wife shall be like
Caesars, above reproach. He ex-
poets the woman he marries to ac-
cept him as he is, without question.
and to be satisfied and happy IL he
Is true to her and lives a blameIess
life in the present
But his jealousy cannot endure
the thought that there have been
other men in her life and other
kisses on her lips. Nor can his pride
endure the suspicion that people
gossip of her behind his back and
wonder that he should have picked
her out.
The man who marries a reformed
woman nearly always gets a wife
who is rigid in her propriety, and
who worships him with q passion
OF gratitude. But the woman gets
a husband who is forever suspicious
Of her, and ashamed OF her in his
soul. and who is apt to repreach her
with her past in moments Of anger.
Therefore, such marriages are sell
dom happy.
Copyright. 1913, by the Wheeler Syndicate. Incl
he = a aTa tn 49,.