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4 OUR YOUNG WOMEN. <c: ■ ' • .• \-4-a ■ * A A ® WI, OB IIRIIIII IHSiI ■ Wtt&J. ' gKH r^fe—-Jtiw |l ’ | L. | .i i Msii Westminster Chapel, Dr. Campbell Morgan's Church. ‘‘The woman being deceived, was in the tran gression.” 1 Timothy 2:14. O hearted man, and with real fatherly care he went to her and said: “My child, what do you want?” “Oh, sir,” said she, “I am on my way from fath er’s home to live in ‘Hell-dom.’ They have told me I can't stay there any longer, for I have lost my good name. My story is too sad to tell, but I was not made for a dive like I am going to live in. It kills me almost.” There are hundreds and thousands like her in every city. They may not be wailing for the same thing, but they are wailing just the same. The devil knows that his best work is done when he gets a woman down in sin. The Convention of Demons. A man is reported to have dreamed that he died, and went straight to hell; and there he attended a convention of devils. The subject under consid eration was how they might take a certain delight ful little city, the city from which he had come. One after another got up, and had this and that to say. After awhile, one very wise and philosophic devil said: “I have a plan that will work better than anything you have suggested. Turn loose on that town one hundred of the prettiest and most accomplished women you can find, and then fill them full of sin. There is no town or city in this world that cannot be overthrown by one hundred such women.” How true is this! The first energy of the Church and the home, and the city should be in the direc tion of saving the women and keeping them saved. We ought not to wait until after they have gone to the devil, but save them before they go. I do not know why it is, but it is true that ever since I began my ministry, my chief concern has been work in behalf of women. I do not mean to say that I One of a Series of Sermons Being Preached by Dr. Broughton in Westminster Chapel, London. NE Christmas Eve night, a policeman w’as walking to his beat, supposing that everything was quiet and orderly, when suddenly he heard the sobs and sighs of a woman. He did not know at first from whence they came, but soon lo cated them in a dark little alley-way that led into what was called “Hell dom.” The policeman was a kind- The Golden Age for September 27, 1906. am not interested in men, but God has somehow laid upon my heart the work of women. 1 think it is wise, for as the women go, the men go. Women have it in their power to establish any code of morals that they elect to establish. Satan has always made his most insidious attacks upon women. You read the history of the fall of empires and nations; the one thing that has contrib uted more than all things else to their overthrow has been bad women. It is likewise true of the de velopment of nations and empires. Woman, when she makes up her mind to dedicate her heart to that which is true, is an angel from Heaven, but when she wants to be bad, she can be the devil incarnate. Everybody knows that a hundred bad women will curse us more than a scourge of yel low’ fever. The important question, therefore, in any com munity is how to keep the devil from damning our women. The first need is old-fashioned mothers who watch their girls, and keep them out of mischief. There is a. vast difference between mothers. The curse of the present day is the curse of bad mothers. Many mothers are turning their children over to the Sunday school, kindergartens, servants and the like to have them trained. In this respect, these good things have been misused. No institution on the face of this earth should take the place of a mother’s training. The greatest pulpit ever erect ed is the fireside. The greatest preacher God ever gave this world is mother. There is no kindergar ten teacher like a good mother. I do pity the girl who has no mother. My heart is made to bleed every time I meet a girl who has to face temptation, and has no mother to go to. Betsy the Thief. Sometime ago, I picked up a little booklet, the title of which was “Betsy, the Thief.” The story . was about like this: A beautful, black-eyed girl was arrested for steal ing. There were so many sensational fea tures about the arrest, the papers wrote her up, and published her picture. When the day for the trial came, she touched the elbow of the lawyer, and said, “Please let me make a statement to the judge.” She arose in the presence of the court, the room being crowded with men, and looking the judge in the face, the tears streaming down her beautiful face, said: “Your honor, please, I am guilty of the charge. But, judge, I have never had a mother.” Every eye in that house was dancing in tears. The judge took his handkerchief from his pocket, and wiped the tears from his own eyes. Im mediately a man arose and said, “Your honor, pleasfe, how much did she steal?” By that time every one in that house was ready to go down in his pocket and pay the girl out. Oh, young woman, have you no mother? God bless and keep you. The only place you can be secure is under “the shadow of the Almighty.” Man, do you know such a girl? Then, if you have one speck of manhood in you, you will spill the last drop of your blood to protect her. Mother and Marriage. A girl, in order to be saved from a life of sin, (and I am not speaking of any special sin) needs to be taught that there is something else for her be sides getting married. I believe in marriage. Under proper circumstan ces, I like to see a couple marry, and start out in life. But I do believe it would be a thousand times better for our women if they were less anxious for matrimony. A mis-match is the very best way to go to the devil. Read the records of our courts. Look at the large increase in divorce applications, and you will see in part how the devil uses mis-matches in marriage. I do not know anything more serious than the con templation of marriage. As one stands before the marriage altar, and takes the vow, then is the most women. solemn and sacred contract that was ever formed in earth or Heaven. Selecting a ’Husband. Then, there should be more common sense exer cised in the selection of a husband. “Oh!” you say, “I love him.” Yes, you love him. There are lots of women that love just any thing. They love dogs, cats—anything. It has not been long since a woman was actually wedded to a dog. I know lots of them wedded to two-legged dogs here in Atlanta. I want to give three principles for women to remember: (a) You set it down as a fact that the man whose hand you take at the marriage altar must have a character. It does not make any difference about what he promises, if he has not love enough for you before you become his wife to establish a character, he is not worthy of you. Character will live and make you happy forever. No character and all the money of the Roth childs will make you live in hell. (b) He must have no bad habits. If he drinks, that settles it. I would not marry a man who drinks if he were clothed in gold. To have a man come home staggering and reeling like a lunatic, and come in my presence with his brain on fire with whiskey and his breath smelling like a beer keg, is more than I would stand. God pity you, dear wife, if you are in that fix. Make up your mind, I will live on the street before I will marry a man who drinks whiskey. I would not marry a man that smokes cigarettes, if I were in the marrying business. I would not smell the odor for all the money I could get. The man who smokes cigarettes ten years will commit every crime in the catalogue of crime, if it suits him. They will destroy his moral manhood. (c) He should have employment. I w’ould not marry a man in this world if he were out of a job. I certainly would not propose to go to keeping a boarding house the next day after I was married. The man who is not employed will serve the devil as sure as he lives. He would have to have a job. If nothing else, I would have him sit down and play with his fingers, just to keep him from being idle. Environments That Damn. If a young woman would be kept from ruin, she must fight the influence of bad environments. Prof. Austin, of Cambridge, tells the story of the abduction of a child by an orang-outang, which I think contains a lesson for us all at this point. “In 1864, a young boy by the name of Tuba was missing from one of the Borean villages. His peo ple began to fear that some terrible accident had befallen him, and concluded to ferret out the mvs tery. “Having armed themselves, they soon start ed out and searched through the jungle for four days without finding any trace of the lost boy. On the fifth day, they came to the Sakarang River, where every one of them went in bathing. They went down the river a short distance, when one of the number fortunately discovered some clothing on the nearest bank, which, on examination, proved to be that of their missing friend. Close beside it lay the sumpitan, or blow-pipe, and the short sword which he always carried with him. “A little later, the party heard his voice, and after dressing, they set out in search. They fol lowed a narrow ravine which led from the river scanning every nook and hole, searching under cov erts of leaves and dead, fallen branches, but in vain They were on the point of retracing their steps, when they again heard the voice. “It was the voice of the boy and strange as it may appeal he was soon discovered high in a tree naked, and a large orang-outang was his compan ion. A rifle shot soon brought her to the ground, where they finished her with knives. Then the