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By
(preface)
The following Address was given at Cambridge in May, 1879, and is published at
the request of the Committee of the Social Purity Alliance.
On the other hand, I felt a difficulty in regard to answering the question
which may be and is asked by you, "What can we
do practically to promote Social Purity, and to combat
the evil around us?" The part in this work which belongs to men launched
into the world, to fathers of families, to mothers, to women in
general, and to the mass of the working classes, is not exactly the part which you can take at present. To all these classes of persons I have been more accustomed to speak than to persons of your age and your position.
Yet, at all ages, and in all positions, there is a moral responsibility in
regard to this question, even though the time or the call to action may not have
yet come. I have endeavoured to think carefully what is the nature of the
responsibility laid upon you--what is the nature of the active effort, if
any, which is demanded of you; and I venture to give you the result of my
thoughts. Observe, so far as I take upon myself to indicate to you your own part,
I do it with reserve, and am subject to correction: but when I speak of
principles in this matter--when I tell you of what men and women generally
ought to be and do in regard to it; when I speak of justice and injustice, of
selfishness and cruel wrong, and of the redress of that wrong--I speak with
no reserve, with no hesitation, but with immoveable conviction, and from a
somewhat deep and wide experience. As a woman, addressing men on
the subject most vital to us next to our relations with God, I speak also with authority.
It will be useful to consider first what it is that lies at the root of the
evil which we are gathered together here to-day to consider, with a view to
opposing it. The root of the evil is the unequal standard in morality; the false
idea that there is one code of morality for men and another for women,--which
has prevailed since the beginning, which was proclaimed to be false by Him who
spoke as the Son of God, and yet which grew up again after his time in Christian
communities, endorsed by the silence of the Church itself, and which has within
the last century been publicly proclaimed as an axiom by almost all the government
of the civilized and Christian world.
This unequal standard has more or less coloured and shaped the whole of our
social life. Even in lands where a high degree of morality and attachment to
domestic life prevails, the measure of the moral strictness of the people is too
often the bitterness of their treatment of the erring
woman, and of her alone. Some will tell me that this
is the inevitable rule, and that
the sternest possible reprobation of the female sinner, as being the most deeply culpable, has marked every age and all teaching in which the moral standard was high. No!--not every age, nor all teaching! There stands on the page of history one marked exception; and, so far as I know, one only--that of Christ.
I will ask you the question of to-day, therefore, in this connection,
"What think ye of Christ?" Come with me into his presence. Let us go
with Him into the temple; let us look at Him on the occasion when men rudely
thrust into his presence a woman, who with loud-tongued accusation they
condemned as an impure and hateful thing. "He that is without sin among
you, let him first cast a stone at her." At the close of that interview, He
asked, "Woman, where are those thine accusers?" It was a significant
question; and we ask it again to-day. Where, and
who, are they? In what state are their
consciences? Beginning from the eldest even to the youngest, they went out,
scared by the searching presence of Him who admitted not for one moment that
God's law of purity should be
relaxed for the stronger, while imposed in its utmost severity on the weaker.
Almost as soon as that holy Teacher had ascended into the heavens, Christian
society and the Church itself began to be unfaithful to his teaching; and man has
too generally continued up to this day to assert, by speech, by customs, by
institutions, and by laws, that, in regard to this evil, the woman who errs is
irrevocably blighted, while the man is at least excusable. As a floating straw
indicates the flow of the tide, so there are certain expressions that have become
almost proverbial, and till lately have passed unchallenged in conversation and in
literature, plainly revealing the double standard which society has accepted. One
of these expressions is, "He is only sowing his wild oats;" another
is, that "a reformed profligate makes a good husband." The latter is
a sentiment so gross that I would not repeat it, if it were not necessary to do
so--as a proof of the extent of the aberration of human judgment in this
matter.
Here we are at once brought into contact with the false and misleading idea
that the essence
of right and wrong is in some way dependent on sex. We never hear it carelessly or complacently asserted of a young woman that " she is only sowing her wild oats." This is not a pleasant aspect of the question; but let us deal faithfully with it. It is a fact, that numbers even of moral and religious people have permitted themselves to accept and condone in man what is fiercely condemned in woman.
And do you see the logical necessity involved in this? It is that a large
section of female society has to be told off--set aside, so to speak, to
minister to the irregularities of the excusable man. That section is doomed to
death, hurled to despair; while another section of womanhood is kept strictly and
almost forcibly guarded in domestic purity. Thus even good and moral men have so
judged in regard to the vice of sexual immorality as to concede in social opinion
all that the male profligate can desire. This
perverse social and public opinion is no small incentive to immorality. It
encourages the pernicious belief that men may be profligate when young without
serious detriment to their character in after-life. This is not a belief
that is borne
out by facts. Marriage does not transform a man's nature, nor uproot habits that have grown with his years: the licentious imagination continues its secret blight, though the outward conduct may be restrained. The man continues to be what he was, selfish and unrestrained, though he may be outwardly moral in deference to the opinion of that "society" which, having previously excused his vices, now expects him to be moral. And what of that other being, his partner--his wife--into whose presence he brings the secret consciousness, it may be the hideous morbid fruits, of his former impurity? Can any man, with any pretension to true manliness, contemplate calmly the shame--the cruelty--of the fact that such marriages are not exceptional, especially in the upper classes?
The CONSEQUENCES of sins of impurity far outlast
the sin itself, both in individuals and in communities. Worldly and impure men
have thought, and still think, they can separate women, as I have said, into two
classes;--the protected and refined ladies who are not only to
be good, but who are, if possible, to
know nothing except what is good; and those poor
outcast daughters
of the people whom they purchase with money, and with whom they think they may consort in evil whenever it pleases them to do so, before returning to their own separated and protected homes. They forget that even if they could by the help of modern impure legislation, leave all the physical consequences of their evil deeds behind them, they cannot so leave the moral consequences. The man's whole nature is lowered and injured who acts thus. But the evil does not stop with his own debasement; he transmits a degraded nature to his children. The poison is in his soul. His children inherit the mixed tendencies of their parents--good and bad; and what security has this prosperous man of the world that the one who is to inherit foul blood and warped brain may not be his daughter! Have these successful sinner ever thought of Nemesis coming in such a shape as this?
The double standard of morality owes its continued existence very greatly to
the want of a common sentiment concerning morality on the part of men and women,
especially in the more refined classes of society. Men are driven away
at an early age from the society of women, and thrown upon the society of each other only--in schools, colleges, barracks, etc.; and thus they have concocted and cherished a wholly different standard of moral purity from that generally existing among women. Even those men who are personally pure and blameless become persuaded by the force of familiarity with male profligacy around them, that this sin in man is venial and excusable. They interpret the ignorance and silence of women as indulgent acquiescence and support.
Women are guilty also in this matter, for they unfortunately have imitated the
tone and sentiments of men, instead of chastening and condemning them; and have
shown, too often, very little indeed of the horror which they profess to feel for
sins of impurity. Now we have the profound conviction that not only must as many
men and women as possible severally understand the truth concerning their
relations to each other, but also that they must learn that lesson in each
other's presence, and with each other's help. A
deeply-reaching mutual sympathy and common knowledge must (if we are ever
to
have any real reform) take the place of the life-long separation and antipathetic sentiments which have prevailed in the past.
Obviously, then, the essence of the great work which we propose to ourselves,
is to Christianize public opinion, until, both in theory and practice, it shall
recognize the fundamental truth that the essence of right and wrong is in no way
dependent upon sex, and shall demand of men precisely the same chastity as it
demands of women. It is a tremendous work which we have on hand. Licentiousness
is blasting the souls and bodies of thousands of men and women, chiefly through
the guilt of the men of the upper and educated classes. The homes of the poor are
blighted--the women among the poor are crushed--by this licentiousness,
which ever goes hand-in-hand with the most galling tyranny of the
strong over the weak. The press and the pulpit, apparently dismayed by the
enormity of the evil, the one sometimes in sympathy with it, the other losing
faith in the power of God and in spiritual revival, have ceased altogether to
administer any adequate
rebuke. In our homes and in social circles mistaken delicacy has come to the aid of cowardice, and the truth is betrayed even in the house of its friends. The warnings of God are concealed, and young men and women are left to be taught by sad and irremediable experience the moral truths which should be impressed upon them early in life by faithful instructors.
You ask, What can we do? It appears to me that the direct work of rescuing
women is not altogether suitable for you. Such work attempted by young men seems
to me often to involve an element not favourable to the end desired. You must not
refuse, if you can do it, to save one who crosses your path, any more than to save
a drowning man if you saw one in the water; but I do not think direct rescue work
is precisely that to which you are at present called. As to active work among
yourselves--among other men--you can judge perhaps better that I. But
for you this is the great time of preparation. It is
now that you must attain to that strength of principle
and clearness of conviction which will enable you to act when the
time comes, and to act aggressively against this evil.
Having attained to a just judgement in this matter there is one thing you can
do; that is, to help to form a just public opinion around you. We know how strong
public opinion is in schools and universities; how misleading it often is. Public
opinion is to the community what conscience is to the individual--it may be
warped or it may be enlightened. You will thus be preparing both the written and
the unwritten law of the future, by forming right opinions around you; for laws
are to a great extent the outcome of public opinion. It is public opinion which
gives sense to the letter, and life to the law.
Learn first, and above all things, to be just.
Never even mentally endorse any hasty or unjust assertion which you may hear on
this subject of the relations of men and women. Accustom yourselves even rather
to doubt every assertion which you may hear made in masculine society concerning
women and concerning the subject before us. I ask you most earnestly to do this,
because, as I have already said, there are many falsehoods current in society on the whole subject of the relations of the sexes, and of the possibility of virtue,--falsehoods which are honestly repeated by honest people, in the belief that there is some foundation of truth in them. These falsehoods and unequal judgments are at the root of so much of grievous practical cruelty and wrong, that, when once seen to be false, we must have no mercy for them, though we must be gentle and patient with those who are misled by them.
Men have asserted for ages past that on this subject of the "social
evil" women cannot judge, because they do not know the strength of
men's natures, etc. Now I do not assert that the judgment of women taken
alone would be complete or wholly just. But neither is the judgment of men on
this subject complete or wholly just. It is impossible that it should be so. The
verdict of both halves of humanity must be heard. Men alone have spoken hitherto.
Never have they honestly asked the counsels of women on this subject, nor (till
now) has the verdict of women been heard. The judgments you com-
monly hear expressed are still those judgments formed by men alone; therefore it is that I ask you, when you hear them expressed, to hold your own judgment in abeyance, and to wait. I urge it also, because it is so good and so strengthening a habit of mind for you to cultivate. Learn to dread the harbouring even of an unjust or untrue thought on this question. Learn to doubt carelessly expressed current opinions uttered by men about women, and echoed by women. Each time you endorse by repetition in words, or even in your inmost thoughts, an unjust and untrue opinion on this question, you have given a slight warp to your own mind; and you are on the road, if you do not take care, to injustice in act as well as thought.
Let me remind you of Christ's words: Why do
ye not of yourselves judge that which is right?" You are young, and
you think older men must judge more wisely? By all means seek the opinion of
older men; but having sought it, then once and again, judge
ye for yourselves that which is right.
Nothing can acquit you of the responsibility for the free and independent
exercise of those powers with which God has endowed you. "
Prove all things; hold fast that which is
good." "Believe not every spirit; but try the spirits whether they
are of God."
I believe that the sense of justice has grown weak among my countrymen, not
only on this question, but generally. With the enfeebling of the sense of
justice, the love of freedom, and consequently of public
spirit, have greatly decayed. The decay of public spirit is a bad sign. I
speak of this to you, for many of you may hereafter be in public positions:
you will at least--all of you--be able to influence public opinion more
or less.
The Christian and the Christian minister have gone as far from this sense of
justice as other men. In the best times of our country, the sense of justice and
the love of freedom have been in the greatest vigour. But now we find men, in the
full profession of Christianity, and often sincere and devout believers in Christ,
yet daily false to great principles. God
is certainly just as well as merciful. His mercy continues to be preached; but the great principles of justice, of which He Himself is the source, are practically forgotten; and in many men the sense of justice is enfeebled almost to extinction.
I would entreat you therefore not to be too much guided on this vital question
of human life which we are now considering, by the verdict of certain cliques, or
sets of men, however high a scientific, philosophical, or ecclesiastical authority
they may seem to profess. Sets of men, cliques, and professions, are extremely
apt to go wrong, through the preponderance, in their interests or special points
of view of their particular set or class. They pull each other into wrong views;
and here the strong re-assertion of the individual
conscience, enlightened from about, is often the only thing to save men
from continued and dangerous error.
In illustration of how far sets of men may depart from principle, I may mention
that the Church in America was at one time the bulwark of slavery: children
were torn from the
arms of their mothers, and sold as slaves for the support of missions to the heathen; theological colleges were endowed by legacies in slaves, and men quoted Scripture in support of the deed. The Rev. Thomas Wotherspoon said, "I draw my warrant from the Scriptures to hold the slave in bondage; the principle of holding the heathen in bondage is recognized by God." The Rev. Robert Anderson wrote, in an epistle to the Presbytery of West Hanover--"Now, dear Christian brethren, I humbly express it as my earnest wish that you quit yourselves like men. If there be any stray goat of a minister among you tainted with the dangerous principles of Abolitionism, let him be ferreted out, silenced, excommunicated, and left to the public to dispose of in other respects. Your affectionate brother in the Lord." The Right Rev. Bishop Hopkins, from Vermont, said, in a public lecture: "From its inherent nature slavery has been a curse and blight wherever it exists; yet it is warranted by the Bible. What effect had the Gospel in doing away with slavery?--none whatever. Therefore as slavery is recognized by the Bible, every Christian
has a right to own slaves, provided they are not treated with unnecessary cruelty."
There are men in our own day who attempt to throw the sacred mantle of the
Scriptures over the vile thing against which we are leagued. Mr. Lecky dwells
with a poetic sentiment upon the tragic figure which ever appears upon the page of
history--the "priestess of humanity charged with the mournful office of
bearing the sins of the people," whose sacrifice to the demon of lust is the
necessary preservative of the purity of our homes! More than one modern writer
has endeavoured to prove that harlotry is an institution in harmony with the
Divine economy of the world, and is glad to quote Augustine and other fathers of
the Church who expressed their admiration of the apparently stern but really
benevolent design of the Eternal Father in the setting apart, from age to age, of
a class of women, predestined to wrath, to be ministers to those passions in man
which would otherwise bring "disturbance into society, confusion of
offspring, and other inconveniences."
I have heard that in heathen times there were
temples of Venus, where there were priestesses who were also the victims of shameful lust. But I believed that eighteen centuries ago Eternal Love had appeared upon the earth.
Is it not time that the woman's voice should be heard in this
matter--that she should have a veto upon that immoral claim which men have
passed on to their descendants, generation after generation, to the sacrifice, in
the interests of impurity, of vast armies of her sisters, women born with
capacities, as others, for honourable relationships and spiritual perfecting?
Women have at last spoken, thanks be to God! These
blasphemies have at last been called up for judgment before the tribunal of the
public conscience, and an open denial has been given to the "old and
chartered lie."
I have asked you not to be too much guided by class opinion or the verdict of
particular professions. It is well, however, that the voice of those sections of
society who suffer the most directly and sorely from organized impurity should be
heard with respect, more especially when uttered after a long compelled silence,
or forced out by the pressure of exceptional pain
or wrong. Next to the women who most directly suffer, in fact or through sympathy, from this social wrong, the working classes in general are they whose position in respect to it most urgently claims for them a hearing. They are not the class who make themselves heard by writing books and articles.
In your future life, some of you will no doubt come in contact more or less
directly with the industrious poor; and it may not be premature to possess
yourselves of the point of view from which they almost universally regard this
grave question. We have had special opportunities during the last ten years for
gauging the opinion of the working classes on this subject, and we have found
their verdict almost unanimously in accord with justice. No doubt it is the most
truly educated class which has supplied to this cause
its most high-minded and powerful workers. But speaking generally, it
cannot be said that the highly educated and privileged classes have shown either
discernment or zeal in this matter. The following letter was written by an
Italian working man to the journal the Emancipazione, in
Rome:--
Rome, 1876.
"Worthy Editor,--You will surely allow a little
space in your paper to a working man to state his opinion upon this beautiful
emanation of our national wisdom--Regulated Prostitution! and observe, that
what I write would be written by thousands of my companions. Men of education
tell us that the social evil is a necessity. No doubt we shall have a revised
dictionary composed by these gentlemen some day. Meanwhile, I ask you the favour
to be allowed to tell these persons what the working men think. Tell them, then,
that if gentlemen who have nothing better to do than to eat and drink and enjoy
themselves, believe that evil to be a necessity, we working men do
not believe it. If they think that they ought to
spend not only the money, but the morality of the nation, to maintain a healthy
standing army by the sacrifice of the honour of our daughters, we working men do
not think this. These gentlemen who make such a noise
about the necessity of this vice too often forget, I think, that in order to
satisfy that necessity, the dishonour of the daughters
of the people is indispensable; for as yet no society of worshippers of these
medical theories has been found ready to sacrifice their own daughters to satisfy
this necessity. Tell these gentlemen that we working men know what is lawful and
what is unlawful, what is moral and what is immoral, better than they do. We
answer them that God and conscience existed before their science, and that if
their high education produces, such fruits, the sooner they get
uneducated the better it will be for their own souls,
and for the souls of those whom they endeavour to influence. We poor fellows, who
are constrained to labour twelve or fourteen hours a day, know too well that food
is indeed a necessity, but we do not forget that it is
a duty to satisfy that necessity lawfully.--Yours, for justice'
sake,
"A Working Man."
Another working man of Southern Europe says:
benevolent heart is not a sufficient guide in matters of justice.
rather than in solitude, to clear up your own views and strengthen your
convictions. Nothing is more helpful or more useful as a corrective for our own
defects, and at its best, nothing is more elevating than communion with men and
women who are enlightened and wise; but I believe that not only is this good
missed, but a positive evil is encountered when this habit of conferring with man
takes the place of communion with God. There is far too much talk in these
days.
full stature of your individual manhood, and if you are to have any influence for
good. Resolve then to bring these subjects into the presence of God, and, asking
him to illuminate your intellect, and to free your mind from all weakness and
prejudice, ponder them, wrestle with them if need be, having none but God as
witness of your effort.
and not speak plainly to you of the attitude the State has assumed toward
organized vice. Probably you will some day be in positions of trust, perhaps some
of you in Parliament; in any case all of you will be able, more or less directly,
to influence the public mind, if you desire to do so. I have undertaken to
suggest to you what you may now be preparing yourselves to do practically in the
future, rather than what you should do during your University career; and in this
view of the matter I should deeply regret any omission on my part which might
prevent your joining some years hence the "noble army," of which I
shall now speak to you.
parts of the Continent. The system had been previously introduced by our
Government into our colonies, and a certain revenue has continued to be derived by
the Government from the licenses sold by it to traders in debauchery.
*
openly to declare as their belief, and as the basis of this legislation, the
doctrine of the necessity of vice for man, and of the
impossibility of self-restraint; and then was called forth the public
denial of that doctrine. For the first time in the world's history
women came to the front in the controversy. The whole
cruelty of the law falling on their own sex for the fancied preservation of the
health of men, woke up the womanhood of this land, and now of the world, in a way
which reminds us of the words of sacred prophecy, "When the enemy cometh in
like a flood, the Spirit of the lord shall raise up a standard against him."
It is the weak hands of women which bear up this standard. Never till the
woman's public defiance of this law, and of the Government which made it,
was heard--never till this sacred cry of revolt was uttered aloud, did this
war against impurity begin in earnest. How then should I be silent on this
topic?
the personal hostility we have aroused. No amount of "rescue work"
among women, no quiet propagandism of social purity among men, would ever have
excited this hostility. The opposition we meet is a cheering token--a proof
that we have struck a vital point in the evil thing. The pioneers in this crusade
had somewhat to bear: nor must you imagine that you, entering later this
field of battle, will have an easy time of it.
sure and the world's praise, to which it surely educates us. No work with a
less definite aim or of a less militant character will ever thus excite the
hostility of the enemy. This is too well proved by the patronizing approval of
ordinary "rescue work" given even by the most violent partisans of
State regulation of vice.
says, with a stern irony: "Thus each set of persons will have a
well-defined task assigned them. The one will precipitate victims
wholesale into the gulf, while the other will draw a few out of that gulf."
Immoral men know that for every victim you save, they can easily get another to
fill her place, so long as public opinion is unchanged, and male profligacy is
condoned.
You will thus find an élite of men and women
to whom we can introduce you, acquaintance with whom will greatly enrich your
experience, and stimulate you to action.
faith together), and when the animal nature has grown as strongly as the moral
nature, and along with it the animal appetites, and when appetites burst their
traditionary restraints, and man in himself has no other notion of enjoyment save
bodily pleasure and the accumulation of wealth, he passes (and, above all, the
Englishman passes) by a quick and easy transition into a mere powerful
brute."
women determined to promote its abolition, and, by God's help, to effect a
moral revival, not at home only, but abroad; and they promptly carried their
crusade to every country on the Continent of Europe.
autonomy of the individual, against the Socialism (whether represented by
imperialism or democracy) which makes no account of the individual, and is ever
ready to coerce, oppress, or destroy the human being in the supposed interests of
an aggregate of human beings which it calls SOCIETY,
or THE STATE. The soul of each human being was
created free and responsible before God; and every human law which has in it any
of the Divine character of his law, recognizes the inviolability of the
individual. The "nation within the nations" will have to labour, by
holding fast its faith in God, to hold fast those great principles of justice
towards man, which are slipping away from us.
unchaste shall henceforth be dealt with "not as human beings, but as foul
sewers," or some such "material nuisance," without souls,
without rights, and without responsibility.
dare by that single act of destruction, to purchase this advantage to the many!
It will do it at its peril. God will take account of the deed not in eternity
only, but in time; it may be in the next, or even in the present generation.
by the central attacking phalanx. Economic agencies in connection with the
employment of women, "Preventive" and "Rescue" societies,
"Leagues" among students and other men, etc., are now formed on the
Continent in connection with our work; and almost all are, in some sort, the
offspring of the parent movement.
in this cause, that every such man, honestly regretting the past, becomes doubly
my brother, as every repentant woman is doubly my sister. If I could not say
this, in vain should I have learned for myself the glad tidings of perfect and
everlasting forgiveness and oblivion for sins past; and most unworthy should I be
to confess my own and only hope to be in Him who, once from his cross on Calvary,
and now from his throne in heaven, says: "Thy sins and thine
iniquities shall be remembered no more for ever:" they shall be
"cast into the depths of the sea," they shall be "no more
mentioned to thee again for ever." We invite all without exception,
whatever their judgment of themselves, whatever their past may have been, to
accept this full redemption, and to join us in this holy war.
the true nature of humility is often imperfectly understood. It is so far from
implying a cringing attitude before our fellow men, that it induces the very
opposite--a courageous independence of character, and (what often seems to
those who do not understand the secret) a bold self-reliance. It is a
virtue not easy of attainment. When the young escape the graver moral perils,
they sometimes fall into other errors which they do not suspect, a certain conceit
and want of simplicity which are not beautiful in the sight either of God or man.
I beg you to bear with me if I entreat you to avoid that characteristic which we
sometimes call "priggishness," which arises from the absence of true
simplicity. Why is it that this fault is so odious that one can hardly love the
person who is tainted by it, be he ever so pure and blameless in his life? I think
it is because we all recognize readily in others the beauty of simplicity, and
feel the absence of it to be a fundamental defect in the character.
"Simplicity" means truth, and honesty, and modesty, and the absence of
any mental or moral swagger, or self-conceit.
humble." True humility is not a want of enterprise nor a subtle resource of
idleness; it is not a lack of courage, nor is it the meekness which shrinks from a
rude encounter; it is not the abandonment of responsibility; it is not hostile to
the claims of civil or public interests, nor is it the parent of political
incapacity. "It implies the greatest of all victories within the human
soul; it is the full recognition of the insignificance of self before the power
and majesty of God; the force which is apparently forfeited by the casting down of
self-reliance in the character, is more than recovered when the
soul rests in perfect trust on the strong arm of God." In fact, that which
is commonly called "self-reliance" is simply (in the
spiritually instructed) this perfect trust in Another; and the lowliest attitude
of the soul before God, if sternly and absolutely sincere, is that which brings
down the richest blessings to earth.
other of it. We need to make common cause against so gigantic an adversary. Many
will welcome you with outstretched hands and joyful hearts.
begin with, as the very fact of their enterprise shows: and to them that
have, more shall be given. "They are living fast and loftily. The weakest
of them who drops into the grave, worn out, has enjoyed a richer harvest of time,
a larger gift out of eternity, than the octogenarian self-seeker, however
he may have attained his ends."
London: Morgan & Scott, 12, Paternoster Buildings.
"What an outcry there would be among these gentlemen were we to seize
their property for our common use, and get Parliament to legalize that robbery.
But they have taken our daughters for their common use, and have legalized
In regard, then, to this question, which may be called a question of
life and death for the nations of the world, I would
say to you, use your present time of preparation wisely. "Get wisdom, and
with all thy getting, get understanding." I know not what
"wisdom" is, if it be not that illumination of the intellect, that
holy light in the understanding which, together with every other good and perfect
gift, cometh down from the Father of lights. It is a light which does not
necessarily come through high education, nor is it won by the unaided exercise of
the reasoning powers, though it implies and demands the faithful cultivation and
exercise of those powers. It must be asked of God. In this, and other great
questions of human life we frequently find men of kind hearts and honest
intentions going far astray, for want of that illuminated intellect which is the
gift of God. The
Page 25
But in order to arrive at the truth in these great subjects, in order to attain
a clear insight and immoveable conviction in these great matters of principle,
there is one thing which I am convinced is indispensable,
i.e., a certain amount of solitude. You must learn
courageously to isolate your own soul, and to retire from the presence of your
fellow men. No deep inspiration was ever won, no truly great character was ever
formed without solitude: as Lacordaire has said, "The heart suffers,
if it is not lost, by continual contact with men; man forms himself in his own
interior, and nowhere else."
It is not out of place, perhaps, when asked to suggest what you can do, to urge
upon you the present thoughts. I do so the more earnestly because in a place like
Cambridge, where you are living so near together, there is a great temptation to
be always dropping into each other's rooms. The facilities for hearing what
so-and-so thinks are so readily in your reach, that it is natural to
seek in intercourse with your friends,
Page 26
Do not be surprised if I beg you to avoid the habit of much talk even on grave
questions. "In all labour there is profit; but the talk of the lips tendeth
only to poverty." It requires a degree almost of heroism, when pressing
business and voices on all sides seem to be claiming us, to close our chamber door
and lock out, not only our fellow men, but their opinions and judgments and
every-day sayings, which are so apt to follow us into our retirement. When
we can so easily get the advice of good men, it requires some force of character
to determine to work out alone the problems which
trouble us. And yet IT MUST BE DONE, if you are to
rise to the
Page 27
It was suggested to me that I should speak to you on the all-important
subject of SOCIAL PURITY; and that it might be
better to postpone the consideration of the subject of that legislation for
regulating vice against which a great international "league" is now
contending. I understand the feelings which prompted this suggestion; but when I
shall have explained myself, I think those who made the suggestion will also
understand my feeling about the matter.
The truth is, I should not deem it to be perfectly honest in me to stand before
you to-day to speak to these vital questions, and at the same time to be
silent concerning that special work to which God in his providence has called me.
I should be guilty of a kind of infidelity to the special charge I received from
God, were I to deal only with the subject of SOCIAL
PURITY,
Page 28
You should know then, that never, till we dared to challenge the public
authorities of the world as we have now done, was this question brought fully into
the light of day, and the public conscience in any
measure awakened, as we now see it to be.
In 1869, our Parliament passed those Acts--under a misleading
title--which organize and regulate prostitution in the manner in which it has
been organized for nearly a century in many
Page 29
Now I wish you to try to realize that this Act introduced into England not only
an immoral principle and demoralizing procedures, but the most violent
infringement of all the first principles of just law and of jurisprudence,
legalizing that which in all lands, until recent times, has been held to be
illegal. The danger for the whole community is imminent when the safeguards of
law and constitutional right are swept away for any portion of that community.
This is far too large a part of the subject for me to enter on here; it has called
forth the efforts of the ablest jurists on the Continent, and learned books have
been written in condemnation of this unnatural, this bastard law enacted in
England.
___________________For confirmation of this
statement, see the Report of the Government Commission of Hong Kong, 1878.
Page 30
But God overruled for good the enactment of this masterpiece of tyranny and
immorality. It awakened the slumbering conscience of our people. It is to this
that you owe it, my friends, that there is now a "holy war" being
waged openly against impurity, in which you are invited to join: how then
could I be silent on this point?
Our public appeal, and our open war against the Government establishment of
vice, has been fruitful for social rousing and reform, as no movement which we
know of in this direction has yet been. It has forced the enemy to come forth
from the ambush in which he had lurked, concealed but destructive, for so many
centuries. Our open defiance of governments, and of that false public opinion
which made it possible for governments to enact such a law, has done what
years--even centuries--of more silent and private work had never done,
and could never do. It compelled the enemy to show himself, and to declare his
nature and principles. It forced men once more to call things by their right
names. The upholders of this law were obliged
Page 31
Some may still fail to see how the aim of the abolitionists of the State
regulation of vice is at all a direct blow at the root of the evil. There is a
great significance in the bitter opposition and
Page 32
You will not find great people coming forward, eager to give their names to
this crusade, or to have the honour of crowning the edifice, as they do in the
cause of Education and some social reforms, when others have patiently and
laboriously laid the foundations. The highly educated (though there are many
noble exceptions), the refined and fastidious of the more privileged classes, will
continue to oppose us with silent scorn and avoidance. Yet, though some of us may
say with St. Gregory Nazianzen, "More stones were thrown at me than other
men had flowers," there is great reward in this work; and not the least part
of that reward is the humble and courageous indifference to the world's
cen-
Page 33
The saving of the female victims of vice, is after all, not a thorough reform,
in the largest view of this sorrowful question.
During the present hopeful agitation in Paris against State regulation, many
articles have appeared in leading Parisian journals imploring the abolitionists to
turn their efforts to the excellent work of "rescue." Le
Temps, in a leading article, ardently entreats all good men and women to
rally round a work (the work of rescue), which "not only will
wound no one, but will receive protection in high
quarters, and the assistance of influential individuals." It beseeches them
"to occupy themselves with repentant women, and to leave the Government
freely to act in its own province." M. Humbert, our Continental secretary,
commenting on this,
Page 34
Our work is world-wide. Let me introduce you to it a little. These are
days of international action. No nation now "liveth to itself or dieth to
itself," any more than the individual. This campaign of ours has taught us
English more than any other previous event, to lay aside our insular character and
prejudices, and to love our foreign neighbours as if they were our own
compatriots. As you have asked practical suggestions from me, I would suggest
that you should learn to be quite familiar with some modern languages, more
especially French, and that in foreign travel you should seek, not health and
enjoyment alone, but an acquaintance with the efforts and conflicts of reformers
of other lands.
Page 35
England holds a peculiar position in regard to this question. She was the last
to adopt this system of slavery, and she adopted it in that thorough manner which
characterizes the actions of the Anglo-Saxon race. In no other country has
the social vice been regulated by a law. It has been understood by the Latin
races, even when morally enervated, that the law could not, without risk of losing
its majesty and force, sanction illegality, and violate justice. In England
alone, the regulations are law. Their promoters, by
their hardihood in asking Parliament to decree
illegality and injustice, have brought on, unconsciously to themselves, the
beginning of the end of the whole system throughout the world.
The Englishman is a powerful agent for evil, as for good. In the best times of
our history, my countrymen possessed pre-eminently vigorous minds in
vigorous bodies.
"But, when faith decays (religious and moral
Page 36
There is no creature in the world so ready as the Englishman to destroy, to
enslave, to domineer, and to grow fat upon the destruction of the weaker human
beings whom he has subjected to his bold and iron will.
But, together with this development towards evil, there has been in our country
a counter-development. Moral faith is still strong among us, especially in
certain sections of society. It was in England, then--in England which
adopted last the hideous slavery--that there
arose first a strong and national protest and
opposition to that slavery. English people rose up against the wicked law before
it had been in operation three months. English men and
Page 37
The progress of our cause has been truly marvellous. Yet, on the other hand,
it is obvious that the partisans of this evil legislation have recently been
smitten with a kind of rage for extending the system everywhere; and that they are
on the watch, with an activity and adroitness almost superhuman, to introduce it
wherever we are off our guard, or not strongly represented. This fact seems to
point to a more decided and bitter struggle on the question than we have yet
seen.
We now need to call up among us--to pray for and beseech Heaven to grant
us--more of aggressive and militant virtue than
we yet see among us. To live purely and blamelessly ourselves is not now enough;
we must have the fibre of soldiers; the courage, if need be, of leaders of a
forlorn hope, over whose dead bodies our fellow-soldiers will march to
victory.
Page 38
An energetic member of our executive committee, M. Pierson, of Zetten, in
Holland, says: "I look upon legalized prostitution as the system in
which the immorality and incredulity of our age are crystallized; and that in
attacking it we attack in reality the great enemies which are hiding themselves
behind its ramparts. But if we do not soon overthrow
these ramparts we must not think our work is fruitless. A great work is already
achieved: sin is once more called sin instead of '
necessary evil;' and the true standard of
morality, as an equal standard for men and women, for
rich and poor, is once more lifted up in the face of all the nations."
These are times, it would appear then, in which we, in all lands, seem summoned
to join hands with all who call upon the name of the Lord--with all who love
justice--in order that by our combined strength we may be able to oppose the
evil which "cometh in like a flood." What we have to do seems to me
now to be this: to form a nation within the
nations--a nation which will recognize the supremacy of the moral law,
and which will contend for the dignity and
Page 39
This legalization of vice, which is the endorsement of the
"necessity" of impurity for men, and the institution of the slavery of
women, is the most open denial which modern times have seen of the principle of
the sacredness of the individual human being. It is the embodiment of Socialism
in its worst form.
An English high-class journal confessed this, when it dared to demand
that women who are
Page 40
When the leaders of public opinion in a country have arrived at such a point of
combined scepticism and despotism as to recommend such a manner of dealing with
human beings, there is no crime which that country may not presently legalize,
there is "no organization of murder--no conspiracy of abominable
things--that it may not, and in due time will not, have been found to embrace
in its guilty methods." It is for the newly-born "nation within
the nations" to protest that there is no such thing as a
political whole, which is entitled to violate or
dispense with the smallest right of the meanest worm that crawls its floor; that
there is no such thing as a national unity of so splendid a tradition that the
smoke of one personal wrong
may not quench it.
Were it possible to secure the absolute physical health of a whole province, or
an entire continent by the destruction of
one--only one--poor and sinful woman, woe to
that nation which should
Page 41
I have now told you something of our vast league against this great evil; and I
earnestly invite you to join it. It appears to me that God has been pleased in a
special manner to bless that work, in bestowing upon it a marked vivifying and
fructifying power. The attitude of those who entered this conflict was (and
needed to be) very aggressive and very courageous; and I think this may teach us
that if we fear not, but go forward in the power of
God to the direct and open attack of any instituted evil, He will so give us his
blessing that we shall see the spiritually and morally dead arising around us, and
energies quickened on all sides for true reform. Numberless societies and
moralizing agencies have taken their rise from ours. The "Social Purity
Alliance" which you are invited to join, and of which some of you are now
members, took its rise from the energy awakened
Page 42
I dare to hope that after this appeal it will be impossible for any one of you
individually and personally to wrong or sin against any woman. Even in some
future moment of strong temptation and of weakness of will, the memory of this
hour will have a restraining influence. You will not so sin against your mother,
your sister, against one whom you may in future win as your wife--one whom
perhaps you even now love. You will not so sin against me, who, as the exponent
of the long-endured sufferings and wrongs of women, stand and plead with
you today.
But even if there were a man here present in whose mind there dwells some
bitter memory of the past, or who feels himself unworthy to pronounce the name of
PURITY, I would say to him, not from myself alone,
but for all my fellow-workers
Page 43
"He that to-day shall shed his blood with me,
Shall be my
brother: be he ne'er so vile;
This day shall gentle his
condition."
LASTLY, suffer me to say one word more. I
believe the secret of true manliness lies, more than in anything else, in
humility; and yet
Page 44
Page 45
I can feel very leniently towards young persons who fall into this or any other
error, because of the respect and tenderness I have for youth; but I imagine this
pedantic tone of mind is very little likely to commend the good principles of any
young man infected by it to persons of his own age. There are persons of all ages
in whom it is so ingrained that it seems to require some great and overwhelming
sorrow, or some grievous self-knowledge, to bring them to an attitude of
perfect and absolute simplicity before God, and to destroy the root whence all
affectations or character and manner take their rise.
There is a tendency in these days to undervalue the grace of humility; or
rather, its true nature is misunderstood. Humility, so far from destroying moral
force, increases it; it destroys, or at least sternly represses that petty egotism
which assumes such a variety of subtle forms, and through which the strength of
the soul evaporates. "It keeps even a John the Baptist waiting in the
desert till his appointed time; and then, when the hour is come, it opens upon the
world the whole force of a soul which is strong because it is
Page 46
I invite you to ponder well these things. And when the time comes for you to
go forth more actively into the world, I beg you to join yourselves to this great
work in some branch or
Page 47
I sometimes think, looking at the gathering multitude of our
fellow-workers at home and abroad, that the words descriptive of the
abolitionists of negro slavery in America, are not inapplicable to some of these
opponents of a still greater and more widely-spread slavery.
"One must experience," it was said, "something of the
soul-sickness caused by public opposition and hatred, to enter fully into
their trials. Those who are living in peace can form but a faint conception of
what it is to have no respite, no prospect of success within any calculable time.
The grave, whether it yawns beneath their feet, or lies on the far horizon, is, as
they well know, their only resting-place. Nowhere but among such people as
these can an array of countenances be beheld so little lower than the
angels'." Ordinary social life is spoiled for them; but another life,
which is far better, has grown up among them. They had more life than others to
Page 48
We never have been, and may never be, called to suffer as these martyrs of
America suffered; but I love to read and think of their labours and their
fortitude. It is very strengthening to do so, in connection with a struggle which
has so many of the essential features of all the great and noble conflicts of the
past; and it is good to hold communion of spirit With the confessors and martyrs
of other times, "who stretched out their strong arms to bring down Heaven
upon our earth."