“But it was ever thus. The first Adam, the ‘lord of creation,’ tried to shield himself by accusing Eve and putting upon her the punishment of his transgression. And all Adams from that time to this have imitated his weakness and meanness by doing the same thing. Let the strong bear the burdens of the weak, is I believe a Scripture injunction, but men have reversed this and put upon the weak and powerless the burdens they are too cowardly to bear themselves. In these days the Adams abound and, no matter of what crime they may be guilty, some daughter of Eve must be made to sorrow, not only over the fall of a loved one but by seeing herself publicly accused of being in some way accessory to the crime.
“If a man commits suicide, it is forthwith charged to unpleasant domestic relations. If another, in a fit of insanity, takes himself out of the world his wife’s extravagance is the cause. So, too, ‘the extravagance of the wife’ is offered as an excuse for the reckless spendthrift and defaulter. If a man deserts his wife and family and goes after strange women, the wife is in some way to blame for it; and if he gratifies his lust by the ruin of innocent girls, there are enough of his fellows to come to his defense by implicating his wife as the guilty cause of his ruin. And so on to the end of the chapter, the same old story: ‘The woman whom Thou gavest me did it.’ What a pitiful sneaking plea to come from the self-styled ‘lords of creation,’ the boasted superiors of woman!
“I object to this frequent blaming of women for the misdeeds of men and in the name of all womanhood protest against its injustice.
“A. B.”
WOMAN’S RIGHT TO PREACH.
On this subject Mrs. Bloomer wrote as follows:
“The question of woman’s right to preach has been agitated more since the action of the Brooklyn presbytery in arraigning Dr. Cuyler for allowing Miss Smiley to occupy his pulpit than ever before. Instead of this action having the effect of preventing a repetition of the offense, or of convincing the people of its wrong or sinfulness, and silencing women preachers, the discussion has resulted favorably to the women and encouraged them in their good work.
“Two weeks ago Miss Smiley preached on Sunday both in a Methodist and Presbyterian church in Buffalo, N. Y., by invitation of the pastors of the churches, and she has preached in other orthodox churches since the Brooklyn trial, and no one has been called to account for a transgression of the rules.
“In St. Louis, the women of the Union Methodist church lately held a meeting to express their sense of the propriety and need of an ordained ministry for women in the church. The meeting is said to have been spirited and earnest, and embraced many of the leading women of the Methodist church and of other denominations. They offered their own prayers, made their own speeches, and called no man to their aid. The proceedings and speeches are reported at length in the Democrat, and reflect much credit upon the able women engaged in them. The following memorial reported by the committee was unanimously adopted:
“‘To the General Conference of the Methodist Church. Fathers and Brethren: We the undersigned members of the Methodist church respectfully but earnestly petition your venerable body to take such action, at your coming session in Brooklyn, New York, as may be necessary to allow women to be ordained as preachers, subject only to such requirements as are defined in our discipline.’