“Drink and the desire to drink.” We will alter an old saying, and render it, “When a woman drinks she is lost.” It will be conceded that the habit of intoxication in woman, if not an indication of the existence of actual depravity or vice, is a sure precursor of it, for drunkenness and debauchery are inseparable companions, one almost invariably following the other. In some cases a woman living in service becomes a drunkard; she forms acquaintances among the depraved of her own sex, and willingly joins their ranks. Married women acquire the habit of drinking, and forsake their husbands and families to gratify not so much their sexual appetite as their passion for liquor. Young women are often persuaded to take one or two glasses of liquor, and then their ruin may be soon expected. Others are induced to drink spirits in which a narcotic has been infused to render them insensible to their ruin. In short, it is scarcely possible to enumerate the many temptations which can be employed when intoxicating drinks are used as the agent.
“Ill-treatment of parents, husbands, or relatives” is a prolific cause of prostitution, one hundred and sixty-four women assigning it as a reason for their fall. In consideration of their important relations to society, it may be well to inquire, What are the duties of parents, husbands, and relatives?
In all countries where the obligations of the marriage contract are recognized, one of its most stringent requirements is found in the necessity to provide for the children of such union. This is acknowledged as a moral duty on account of the relationship between parents and children; it is recognized as a religious duty because specially enjoined in Holy Writ, and it is regarded as a civil duty because the future welfare of any community must depend upon the training of its future citizens.
As to the moral duty, what arguments would be effectual to prove to a hard-hearted parent the necessity of bestowing a kindly education upon his child? Surely nature itself would supply all the necessary reasons. The still, small voice of conscience will whisper to him, I have been the instrument of bringing this child into the world, and I am therefore responsible for its welfare. And even plain, old-fashioned common sense (despised as it is since a certain philosophy has come into fashion) would say, I am the father of a child, and it is my interest to do the best I can for it.
The religious duties are abundantly enforced in the Scriptures. These, while requiring in explicit terms the obedience of children to their parents, and annexing to such commandment the only promise which the Decalogue contains, are equally plain in specifying the duties of parents. These points are acknowledged by all sects and parties; and commentators or preachers, however much they may differ on questions of theology, or articles of faith, or rules of Church government, are unanimous upon the extent of parental obligation.
The civil duties are important for the reason already assigned. Children will be our successors in this arena, as we have succeeded the patriot fathers who achieved our independence, and made us the people that we are. The principles enunciated by every shot fired during the Revolutionary war have descended to us, but we are only trustees for their safe transmission to the next generation, and we shall be recreant to our duty, false to the memory of our ancestors, and traitors to our country, if we allow our children to assume the responsibilities that will naturally devolve upon them without due preparation for the sacred trust.
Having thus briefly alluded to the duties of parents, it remains to give some information as to the manner in which such obligations are performed, selected from the returns received in the progress of this investigation.
L. M., a very well educated girl: “I was seduced at eighteen years of age, and forced to leave home to hide my disgrace.” Admitting that this girl had been led into an error, the plain duty of her parents, in every point of view, was to endeavor to reform her instead of driving her from home. Human nature, in its most favorable condition, is fallible; all are liable to error; but as all hope for forgiveness, so should they forgive. This is the doctrine of the sublime prayer taught by our Savior to his apostles; this is the duty of humanity. “The bruised reed He will not break,” is a Divine promise from which poor finite man might draw a valuable lesson.
E. B.: “My parents wanted me to marry an old man, and I refused. I had a very unhappy home afterward.” This case was directly in conflict with the dictates of nature. She had formed an attachment for a man who would, in all human probability, have made her a good husband, and caused her to remain a virtuous member of society; but her parents wanted her to marry an old man, and, in consequence of refusal, treated her with unkindness. She has now, poor girl, to answer for her sin of incontinence, but who can tell what other offenses would have been laid to her charge had she married as desired by her parents? How many awful deeds recorded in the annals of criminal jurisprudence have been produced by ill-assorted marriages! How many outrages, how much bloodshed, owe their origin to such a cause! Parents who, for their own selfish purposes, would drive a daughter into a marriage repugnant to her feelings, deserve the severest condemnation. So far from performing their duty in the matter, they are acting in diametrical opposition to it.
C. B.: “My stepmother ill-used me.” The stepmother in this case stands in the place of the natural parent. In assuming the duties, she assumes all the responsibilities of the relation, and is equally guilty as if this girl were her own child. Women’s feelings, in a normal state, are generally kind, gentle, and forgiving; but when they are perverted, she becomes more inveterate than man. So it was in this instance.