Victoria Welby

“ Those among us who are mothers, or who have the charge of young girls, must remember that watchfulness is most necessary. When a girl goes wrong it is often far more the fault of her mother than her own. She has probably been allowed in her school days to run about the streets of an evening, hearing and seeing mischief of all kinds, and, when older, has been allowed to receive her sweetheart alone at hours which are most unseemly; or her dishonour has been openly winked at, and held to be nothing wrong at all, as it was "under promise of marriage." ”

“ I must remind you once more that I am only speaking to you as one woman may speak to another, on a subject about which a woman can speak to women better than a man could do, and that I know well that except for the mercy of God in surrounding me with loving care and good example in my own girlhood, I might have been no better than those of whom I have been speaking. ”

“ Every woman who has ever said that or thought that, feels it in the depths of her heart till the end of her life. She is no longer the same; she can never respect herself or feel that her husband respects her, as if she had kept herself as a Christian girl should keep herself until the day of her marriage. She may be a good wife, a devoted mother, but there is something wanting; whenever she opens her Bible she sees with an inward pang, that the fault of which she was once guilty is there spoken of as severely as any sin can be ”

“ Think of how much good we might do if it came to be said that in this village you might be sure that a girl was "steady" as it is called. "Ah, she comes from Newton, then we can trust her, she'll not let the lads run after her or get into trouble," people would say; but this happy result, which we might hope would soon spread elsewhere—for it is wonderful what example will do—can only be attained by all of us setting this object steadily before us, and determining that from this time forward we will do our very utmost to keep the girls of this parish from evil. ”

“ Or what if the man dies suddenly, without having had time to marry her, or what if she dies with this wilful sin on her soul, perhaps unrepented of? My dear friends, to count on a tardy marriage, to make things right, as it is called, is to tempt God in the most presumptuous manner: it does not undo one atom of the past, nor can it avert the displeasure of God. It is too late for any of us to destroy the past ”

“ Remember (I am now speaking more especially to those who live in small cottages) that you should all take the utmost care to teach your children decent and modest habits. You can do this much more than you think, if you will only try. Things which seem to you mere trifles may do harm to a child, and teach it bad habits, or take away its innocent ignorance. I beg you, dear friends, to take especial care about your sleeping rooms. As far as you possibly can do it, let none but very little boys and girls sleep in the same room, or at least without a partition, or good screen. ”

“ One is, that because I feel God has in His goodness given me the means of shielding my little daughter from all knowledge of evil which all here have not, therefore I am earnestly anxious to help as I may the mothers of this parish to bring up their little girls pure in heart, pure in word, and pure in deed.
The other reason is, that in large towns it is well known that there is far more carefulness on these subjects (in spite of destitution and overcrowding of which we in the country have no idea) than there is in rural districts. ”

“ We can all work together, whatever our station may be, towards the blessed end which I have set before you; and we may rest assured that if we will only try our best, and determine to do His will, God will help us, and make our labours successful. ”

“ Among the Irish, it is well known that the girls, however poor they may be, always keep their characters above reproach; at least it is the rarest thing possible for an Irish girl to misconduct herself. ”

“ Also in Ireland, in some parts of which the most miserable poverty prevails, and where people live in mud hovels shared with animals, the girls are almost always as pure and virtuous as the daughters of the rich could be. In London, if a girl misbehaves she is said to have "lost her character;" she is shunned by relations and friends, and often falls into the most dreadful misery in consequence. The fear of this of course acts in a very wholesome manner, and often keeps a thoughtless girl from sin. ”

“ Welby to talk about this, or to wish things bettered; but she does not know what the difficulties are of those who lead hard-working lives, and have but small cottages, many of them, to live in. She can bring up her children out of sight and sound of temptation and evil of every kind; but we cannot, it is of no use trying—the girls must just take their chance. ”