Harvey Goodwin

“ A drunken man is an abomination; but if a drunken man be an abomination and a horror in the sight of man and in the sight of God, what shall we say of a drunken woman? And yet, my sisters, there are such persons. ”

“ That is the thing which makes a young woman beautiful. It is not the cut of her face, the colour of her eyes, the length of her hair, the manner in which she dresses herself, or the number of ribbons she puts on. ”

“ It would seem that when a woman is depraved by that horrible vice, it sinks into her gentler nature, and defiles her pure body, more completely and hopelessly than it does the rougher natures and coarser bodies of us men. ”

“ He may say, perhaps, "I do give way sometimes, but you know, Jane, if you will only marry me, and take care of me, you are just the person to keep me right—you are my guardian angel. If you will only marry me, I shall be such an improved character that you will never have cause to find fault." ”

“ There is one point which I should like very much to press upon you in speaking of the likeness and the difference between men and women. Women have a power which men cannot possibly have. They are the mothers of the people of England. You, women, have the chief charge of young English men and young English women during the most impressible time of life. You have the moulding of the character of those who are to form the next generation. ”

“ There is a great deal of philosophy in that, and I would say that "aggravation" in a cottage is much more "aggravating" than "aggravation" in a large house, where you can get away from it. And therefore I wish to assure you how much I sympathise in your cottage difficulties. Poor people who have to live in cottages have an amount of trouble, an amount of trial of temper to go through, which richer people do not know very much about. ”

“ Let a man have the love of God in his heart; let his life be conducted in the fear of God; let it be clear that his whole life is enlightened by the light of God; and then it will be safe to live with that man as your husband. The love of God and the love of man—they ever go together. Jesus Christ said that the first commandment was to love God ”

“ If two people quarrel in a cottage, it is a very uncomfortable kind of quarrel. You cannot easily one of you get out of the way of the other. I remember reading in one of Charles Dickens' books a little bit of fun about a couple who travelled the country—I forget their business, but it was some itinerant sort of business—and who had to live the greater part of their lives in a cart. A cart is smaller than a cottage, so that there you have to sit side by side. ”

“ Therefore if a man professes to love you, first be sure that he loves God; and if he loves God then you may believe that his love for you if professed will be pure and honourable love, such as you may safely accept, and be happy in accepting.
I will conclude by saying that if you read the New Testament, as I trust you do, you will find this to be a very striking point in the life of the Lord Jesus Christ—the prominent part in the history of that life which women were permitted to take. ”

“ But there is a sense, and a very high and important sense, in which there is a perfect equality between man and woman. They are equal in the sight of God. God made man, and God made woman to be his companion ”

“ There is one thing that will happen in the best-regulated families, and that is the baby will sometimes cry. Suppose little Jack has got a bad cold, or has taken something that does not agree with him, and can't sleep, and you don't want to make him sleep by any artificial means—you don't give him Godfrey's Cordial, I hope—I am not a physician, but I know that that method is wrong—well. Jack can't sleep, and a poor woman is kept up at night, and cannot sleep because her baby is crying: there may be another child in the room: perhaps he is poorly too ”

“ There are some things that a man can do, and you cannot do; and on the other hand, there are a number of things that you can do and men cannot do. I am old-fashioned enough to think it a wise thing that men should be men, and women should be women. It is too much the fashion, I think, with some women to make themselves as like men as they possibly can. That is a mistake. There are a great many things which a man has to do, and which you have not to do. If there was a sack of coals to be carried to the other end of Carlisle, I should choose a man rather than any one of you to carry it. ”

“ The first shall be that honoured and honourable woman, who was permitted in the providence of God to be the mother of the Lord. It is beautiful to observe how she brought up her only Child, how she loved Him, how she took care of Him, and how under her fostering care He condescended to grow up to be that which He ultimately became. ”

“ Perhaps she has to get dinner ready for her husband, and at the same time has her sick child to look after. It is undoubtedly a life involving a great deal of work and anxiety. I mention this not because I can tell you how this is to be cured, but because I wish to say how much I think that persons like myself, who in God's providence have not had to suffer from poverty, ought to sympathise with you: and I trust we do sympathise with you. Poverty and its troubles cannot altogether be got out of the way ”

“ But the threat to the child would nevertheless be of very evil consequence; and therefore I would say to every mother—Whatever you do, take care that you never lose your temper when you are dealing with a child. It is absolutely impossible, if you do, that the child can grow up to respect his mother. ”

“ I never before had the opportunity or the pleasure of addressing an immense assemblage containing none but women; and you know that when we undertake to do a thing for the first time, we are apt to do it clumsily. If any one of you were put to a job to which you were not accustomed, say the making of a bonnet, or the making of a pudding, there would be some danger that the bonnet would not fit, and that the pudding might be a little heavy ”

“ My mother also taught me the Church Catechism; and I have a vivid recollection of the manner in which she made me bow my head at the name of Jesus Christ, when I repeated the Apostles' Creed. It is a good thing to be taught as a child to bow the head at that sacred name. ”

“ Never take a fellow on trust; do not take a man who wants you to reform him. It is very much like having a hedge between you and a bull. If a bull be dangerous, keep him on the other side of the hedge ”

“ I will do my best; and you will pardon my defects, even though my pudding should be a little heavy.
It was, I suppose, a sense of justice which led me to suggest to the committee of the Church Congress, that we should give you girls and women an evening, as we gave an evening to the men. Why should we not? You are just as good; I should not be the least surprised if you were a good deal better. At all events you have as much right to be talked to, if you are willing. I know you like talking yourselves ”

“ You may depend upon it, it is an unsafe undertaking to say that you will take a man for better for worse, for richer for poorer, and be his companion for life, unless you are pretty certain that he is a God-fearing man. ”

“ Hitherto I have been speaking chiefly about married people, about mothers and so forth; but I ought to bear in mind that our invitation was to "working women" generally, and I daresay I have got before me a large number of young women who are not married, but who all possibly may look forward to that condition at some future time. ”

“ These things do not constitute real beauty in any young woman, much less in a Christian young woman. But what does constitute beauty is pure, modest simplicity of character. Moral and spiritual qualities are those which everyone who has a high estimate of womanhood contemplates with satisfaction and delight. Therefore I say to you young women, "Whatever you do, be pure, be modest ”

“ It is the question of marriage. When you are going to marry, inquire whether the young man to whom you are attached—and who, I hope, will be attached to you—is sober and steady; and if he is not, then don't have him. ”

“ I trust there are none here to-night, so don't think I am speaking personally; but there are such persons. Female drinking has increased of late years, and that which was considered almost impossible some years ago is now proved to be only too possible. ”

“ That is man's work; and the best arrangement is that the man should do that which is appropriate to him, and the woman should do that which is appropriate to her. It is the man's business to work hard for the family, and the woman's business to keep a clean and tidy home ”

“ I have no doubt that there are many persons here who live in poor, small houses; and I have no doubt that it is a very much more difficult thing to avoid little troubles and vexations in such places than in a large house. If there is a large house, with twelve or fourteen rooms in it, and the man and wife have a tiff, one can go into room No. ”