Lynn Morals and Woodhull
The increase of arts and sciences and the radiation of honest history point out the march of civilization and a nation’s prosperity; but its theatricals and lectures are said to indicate its taste.
If this axiom applies strictly, what we wish to learn at this time is, Did the lecture of Victoria Woodhull meet the taste and indicate the tone of character of those who attended it? Must we admit that there are in our very midst men and women claiming respectability who could be made even to listen to the most detestable and loathsome inculcations of vice from one who outrages decency, insults human nature and disgraces the name of woman? That she should be allowed a public hall in which to disclaim her abominations almost discourages humanity in its ennobling efforts. Was that fate of SodomGen 18:20 And the Lord said, Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grievous; Gen 18:21 I will go down now, and see whether they have done altogether according to the cry of it, which is come unto me; and if not, I will know. Gen 18:22 And the men turned their faces from thence, and went toward Sodom: but Abraham stood yet before the Lord. Gen 18:23 ¶And Abraham drew near, and said, Wilt thou also destroy the righteous with the wicked? Gen 18:24 Peradventure there be fifty righteous within the city: wilt thou also destroy and not spare the place for the fifty righteous that are therein? Gen 18:25 That be far from thee to do after this manner, to slay the righteous with the wicked: and that the righteous should be as the wicked, that be far from thee: Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right? Gen 18:26 And the Lord said, If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will spare all the place for their sakes. Gen 18:27 And Abraham answered and said, Behold now, I have taken upon me to speak unto the Lord, which am but dust and ashes: Gen 18:28 Peradventure there shall lack five of the fifty righteous: wilt thou destroy all the city for lack of five? And he said, If I find there forty and five, I will not destroy it. Gen 18:29 And he spake unto him yet again, and said, Peradventure there shall be forty found there. And he said, I will not do it for forty’s sake. Gen 18:30 And he said unto him, Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak: Peradventure there shall thirty be found there. And he said, I will not do it, if I find thirty there. Gen 18:31 And he said, Behold now, I have taken upon me to speak unto the Lord: Peradventure there shall be twenty found there. And he said, I will not destroy it for twenty’s sake. Gen 18:32 And he said, Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak yet but this once: Peradventure ten shall be found there. And he said, I will not destroy it for ten’s sake. Gen 18:33 And the Lord went his way, as soon as he had left communing with Abraham: and Abraham returned unto his place. Gen 19:1 And there came two angels to Sodom at even; and Lot sat in the gate of Sodom: and Lot seeing them rose up to meet them; and he bowed himself with his face toward the ground; Gen 19:2 And he said, Behold now, my lords, turn in, I pray you, into your servant’s house, and tarry all night, and wash your feet, and ye shall rise up early, and go on your ways. And they said, Nay; but we will abide in the street all night. Gen 19:3 And he pressed upon them greatly; and they turned in unto him, and entered into his house; and he made them a feast, and did bake unleavened bread, and they did eat. Gen 19:4 ¶But before they lay down, the men of the city, even the men of Sodom, compassed the house round, both old and young, all the people from every quarter: Gen 19:5 And they called unto Lot, and said unto him, Where are the men which came in to thee this night? bring them out unto us, that we may know them. Gen 19:6 And Lot went out at the door unto them, and shut the door after him, Gen 19:7 And said, I pray you, brethren, do not so wickedly. Gen 19:8 Behold now, I have two daughters which have not known man; let me, I pray you, bring them out unto you, and do ye to them as is good in your eyes: only unto these men do nothing; for therefore came they under the shadow of my roof. Gen 19:9 And they said, Stand back. And they said again, This one fellow came in to sojourn, and he will needs be a judge: now will we deal worse with thee, than with them. And they pressed sore upon the man, even Lot, and came near to break the door. Gen 19:10 But the men put forth their hand, and pulled Lot into the house to them, and shut to the door. Gen 19:11 And they smote the men that were at the door of the house with blindness, both small and great: so that they wearied themselves to find the door. Gen 19:12 ¶And the men said unto Lot, Hast thou here any besides? son in law, and thy sons, and thy daughters, and whatsoever thou hast in the city, bring them out of this place: Gen 19:13 For we will destroy this place, because the cry of them is waxen great before the face of the Lord; and the Lord hath sent us to destroy it. Gen 19:14 And Lot went out, and spake unto his sons in law, which married his daughters, and said, Up, get you out of this place; for the Lord will destroy this city. But he seemed as one that mocked unto his sons in law. Gen 19:15 ¶And when the morning arose, then the angels hastened Lot, saying, Arise, take thy wife, and thy two daughters, which are here; lest thou be consumed in the iniquity of the city. Gen 19:16 And while he lingered, the men laid hold upon his hand, and upon the hand of his wife, and upon the hand of his two daughters; the Lord being merciful unto him: and they brought him forth, and set him without the city. Gen 19:17 ¶And it came to pass, when they had brought them forth abroad, that he said, Escape for thy life; look not behind thee, neither stay thou in all the plain; escape to the mountain, lest thou be consumed. Gen 19:18 And Lot said unto them, Oh, not so, my Lord: Gen 19:19 Behold now, thy servant hath found grace in thy sight, and thou hast magnified thy mercy, which thou hast shewed unto me in saving my life; and I cannot escape to the mountain, lest some evil take me, and I die: Gen 19:20 Behold now, this city is near to flee unto, and it is a little one: Oh, let me escape thither, (is it not a little one?) and my soul shall live. Gen 19:21 And he said unto him, See, I have accepted thee concerning this thing also, that I will not overthrow this city, for the which thou hast spoken. Gen 19:22 Haste thee, escape thither; for I cannot do any thing till thou be come thither. Therefore the name of the city was called Zoar. Gen 19:23 ¶The sun was risen upon the earth when Lot entered into Zoar. Gen 19:24 Then the Lord rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the Lord out of heaven; Gen 19:25 And he overthrew those cities, and all the plain, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and that which grew upon the ground. Gen 19:26 ¶But his wife looked back from behind him, and she became a pillar of salt. Gen 19:27 ¶And Abraham gat up early in the morning to the place where he stood before the Lord: Gen 19:28 And he looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the plain, and beheld, and, lo, the smoke of the country went up as the smoke of a furnace. Gen 19:29 ¶And it came to pass, when God destroyed the cities of the plain, that God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow, when he overthrew the cities in the which Lot dwelt. a fable? No, it was the inevitable result of its sins; and we should entertain no hope of escaping its doom if we should deserve its punishment. It can but surprise us, to say the least, that there exists in the enlightened mind such ignorance of morals. Did the gray-haired father take his son to the sacrifice and never reflect on the danger, morally, that son thereby incurred? or did the mother accompany her modest daughter to the scene of sacrifice gilded with the rhetoric of vice, and return home to pray “lead us not into temptation”Matt 6:13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen. ?
A purer, more happifying and ennobling social system awaits us, or a degradation it would be painful to contemplate. For one, we honor the Puritan faith and fidelity of our mothers and fathers in the relations of husband, wife, or parent, and say let well enough alone. And if the present age has departed, as it surely has, from the good old landmarks let the haste be to return to the Father’s houseLuke 15:11 ¶And he said, A certain man had two sons: Luke 15:12 And the younger of them said to his father, Father, give me the portion of goods that falleth to me. And he divided unto them his living. Luke 15:13 And not many days after the younger son gathered all together, and took his journey into a far country, and there wasted his substance with riotous living. Luke 15:14 And when he had spent all, there arose a mighty famine in that land; and he began to be in want. Luke 15:15 And he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country; and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. Luke 15:16 And he would fain have filled his belly with the husks that the swine did eat: and no man gave unto him. Luke 15:17 And when he came to himself, he said, How many hired servants of my father’s have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger! Luke 15:18 I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee, Luke 15:19 And am no more worthy to be called thy son: make me as one of thy hired servants. Luke 15:20 And he arose, and came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him. Luke 15:21 And the son said unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son. Luke 15:22 But the father said to his servants, Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet: Luke 15:23 And bring hither the fatted calf, and kill it; and let us eat, and be merry: Luke 15:24 For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found. And they began to be merry. Luke 15:25 Now his elder son was in the field: and as he came and drew nigh to the house, he heard music and dancing. Luke 15:26 And he called one of the servants, and asked what these things meant. Luke 15:27 And he said unto him, Thy brother is come; and thy father hath killed the fatted calf, because he hath received him safe and sound. Luke 15:28 And he was angry, and would not go in: therefore came his father out, and entreated him. Luke 15:29 And he answering said to his father, Lo, these many years do I serve thee, neither transgressed I at any time thy commandment: and yet thou never gavest me a kid, that I might make merry with my friends: Luke 15:30 But as soon as this thy son was come, which hath devoured thy living with harlots, thou hast killed for him the fatted calf. Luke 15:31 And he said unto him, Son, thou art ever with me, and all that I have is thine. Luke 15:32 It was meet that we should make merry, and be glad: for this thy brother was dead, and is alive again; and was lost, and is found. , and not to a brothel, or to the sermons of a Lorett on these subjects.
The effect of such a lecture as was delivered on Thursday evening at Music Hall is not understood. Doubt it as you may, no mind listened to it and went away not disgusted with it, that was not injured by it, and some great chord thrilled that will echo the moans of the damned.
The ancient “Babylon” that has “become drunk with the blood of the saints”Rev 17:1 And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will shew unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters: Rev 17:2 With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication. Rev 17:3 So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns. Rev 17:4 And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication: Rev 17:5 And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH. Rev 17:6 And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration. knoweth her power for a season. If the wretched spectaculars of our theatres, the spurious novels from our public libraries, the lectures from the “Hulls”Editorial Note: An allusion to Victoria Woodhull. of humanity, and the cloaks that cover professions, were only annihilated, once and forever, I should like to remain on terra firma a century longer; but in the present state of things “I would not live alway,”Job 7:16 I loathe it; I would not live alway: let me alone; for my days are vanity. or care to wait a century for the hope to be fulfilled. Let it not be forgotten that the prostration of virtue is the downfall of individual and of national honor and enlightenment.