ABSTRACT
God is good! Our appetites were not given for our destruction. Why do we abuse the good gifts of Nature? why do we thwart the pure instincts which should lead to healthful enjoyment? Because a man swears falsely that he is called by God to superintend the morals of society, does it follow that honest folks should allow his pretensions to interfere between them and their happiness? Because a man tells a lie, does he thereby acquire power to sanctify vice, or to license virtue? – Rose Clifford might not have argued to this conclusion; she might not have thought all this; but she felt it, and acted in accordance with her feelings – she did not call them convictions. Because she was a woman, Society cursed her, and tore her heart out. She was branded with a fouler mark than that of Cain, and unrelentingly scourged to death.
