Year: 1859




men is 10 make US believe in devil. Of
rather that no particular devil is neces
sary.


Ii may or may not be true, as some in.
sisi, that this foul cancer in society car
never be eradicated; but we ought al
least to insist upon it that the shame shal
be fairly divided, that the SHINING man
shall be fairly divided. that the SHINING
man shall be branded as deeply as the sin
ming woman. Suppose every guilty man
bore the mark of shame in his face, in
Broadway, in market or at church, how
long would the evil continue? But the
meanass ofmau has thrust the whole shame
upon woman.


In some respects communities may
stand like individuals in relation to this
evil. The position of our own city of New
York is not unlike that of woman in the
passage before us in that respect. Guilty
it is unquestionabiy, and certainly most
vehemenlly accused. And who are the
accusersi They are mainly those who
share its guilt. They are men from other
communities who sojourn here for time,
swell the current of its abom nation, add
to the food Of its shame, and then go back
TO the pure and peaceful country, to join
in a chorus of horror and indignation, add
to the food Of its shame, and then 90
back to the pure and peaceful country, to
join in a chorus of horror aue Indignation
at the exceeding sinfulness of New York.
New York is bad enough, but not so dark
as it has been painted-bad enough, but
let the commu' ity without participation in
the sin of New York, first cast the stone.
"They went out, beginning at the eldest,
even unto the last, being convicted by their
own conscience"


Mr.. Chaplin next spoke of the various
classes of profligates. He knew of moth
ing so horrible and awful to contemplate
as profigate old mana sinner without
even an excuse. The father of a family,
perhaps the principles of his sons are un-
derminded by his baseness, and the very
air his daughters breathe is tainted. For
the young man who is about yielding to
the tempter there should be raised the voice
of warning. The best and purest might
bear indirect relations to this shameful
phase of life; they might be implicated
through neglect and indifference.


In the great house OF the abandoned
were hundreds and thousands who strug-
gle to the last, and yielded TO temptation
only through positive and imperitive want.
In London, probably one fourth of the
whole number resorted to the streets only
to exc out living. In this city, one br"-
en-hearted creature yielded to the tempter
only to save a dying and crippled sister
from being turned into the streets TO starve.
But another heart was broken by the
shameful self-sacrifce;. the sick and Grip
pied sister lived only few weeks. The
survivor said: 81 do not like this life; |
would do almost anything to get out of it.;
but now having once done wrong, can
not get any work" And this is the evil
TO be covered up with smooth tissue paper
of decency and deicacy. 1t is indicate
to talk about it. Is it indelicate 10 starve
and die?


We are connected with this matter by
our opinions as TO woman's sphere of en-
ployment. Better wages are demanded
for women. Many sewing women have
but one or two dollars week, to keep off
death and the devil with. One poor wo-
man made caps at two cents apiece
Would her munifcent employer be willing
to show himself? He would probably
need all the caps the poor woman ever made
to hide his humble sense of merit. Many
honorable and pure women have to do with
this matter. When they dress themselves
in garments cheaply purchased they may
have dressed up soul for the sacrifice, or
sewed a thread in a shroud. Could the
veil be lifted. would they not see on their
gay white dresses strange dark spots and
crimson patterns that they knew not Of
spots of inextinguishable red that all the
seas cannot wash away? Mingled in the
wreatbs of flowers on their fair heads,
would thy not see the grass that grows on
graves?


There is another point in the text worthy
of attention in closing-the idea of pardon.
This opens the question of remedy and pre-
vention. The first idea is to get rid of the
sin. How it is to be remedied is a ques-
tion which the wisest cannot answer. Some
maintain that it can only be palliated, but
as Christians we are bound to fight against
every sin, to believe that it may be over
come, and to strive to that end. Every
man must see to his own individual life
and soul. We talk of society, but it is an
abstraction; society is made up of iudividu
al life. The second idea is that of repent
ance and reformation. If God pardons,
who shall refuse? If these poor abandon
ed ones are good enough for Him to take
up, who shall reject them? Yes society
makes Dante's hell of this shameful life,
closes the door, and writes over it, "No
hope" 1t would not be encouraging sin
to encourage repentance-to say TO the
sinner that she may be restored to useful
ness and happiness. We have hardly learn
ed yet the alphabet of Christ's charity
Recently, in western city, poor creature
closed her shameful career BY suicide, and
they would hardly let her bones rest in the
grave. A Christian minister could scarce
ly be found, willing to breathe prayer over
the harlot's bones, ere they mingled with
their kindred dust.


Every man of us depends day by day,
and hour by hour, on the mercy of God,
tor who is there tina. can fathom bis own
heart, and say that in some way be has
not sinned as deeply as the fallen women?
Mercy is justice in this case. Christ has
prepared the true test: "Let him that is