They wished to get wives for themselves
and this was the plan by which they got them.
The Romans made a great feast; had games; invited the Sabine
nation to come with their wives and daughters, which they did. In the
height of the footraces and archery, the Romans rushed in among their
invited guests and each snatched a woman. The Sabines returned and
prepared for war. The lines of battle were drawn. The stolen women
had a conference and decided to stop the war. They rushed in between
the Sabine men, their former husbands and fathers, and the Romans,
their last husbands, and forebade bloodshed by saying: "You will have
to kill each other over our dead bodies."
If those heathen women by their act could reconcile two nations, is
it not a rebuke to women in this Christian age for their cowardice in not
coming forward and demanding recognition in the matter of being a
go-between, for one class of men are arrayed against another..
A hundred thousand of our sons are being sent to drunkard's graves
and a drunkard's hell every year. By a bold stand for the right, to defend
our loved ones, let us rush between and stop this deadly strife, with the
same heroism of the women of Rome, "over our dead bodies." Women
will get the ballot in time, but it can be hastened only by women themselves.
It will be a great victory for mankind when women can veto the
curse of mankind. The mother impulse is stronger with women than any,
and when she can protect her offspring, she will make a greater effort
to do so than now.
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