Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1886-02-05
rAlnAGE's SERMON.
n;scourse of the Series on
"rhe Marriage Ring"
suggestions as to What a Woman
fn''" ,,.o,1 in Choosing a Husband
h'" n,t God a Safe Guide In
needing the Question.

Nnuc But w"
oecidinc the Question.
hollow Rev. T. De Witt Tai
Nes',o,,,d sermon of his course ON
ases wi ae Ring,' delivered recently
he n..o,,lvn Tabernacle. The text for
!. discourse was:
Grant YOU that we may find rest'
The low in in the house Of her husband.
nr. Talmage said:
a p was the prayer of the pious Naomi
Dr. pn,b and orpah, and is an appropriate
NV y. nav i'll behalf of unmarried wom-
Payt' Naomi, the good old soul, knew
nAV ,%o dnvjl would take their cases in
na' = Cod did not, SO she prays: The
anu :, rant you that we may I'M rest,
o'' Won, in the house of her husband"
arn AZ T.: series of sermons on "The Mar
!" Pine last Sabbath gave prayer
'assl CHRISTIAN advice to men in regard
ul anu .olaction of a wife, and to-day l give
10 s same prayerful and Christian advice
III mnmen in regard to the selection Of a
hand, but in all these n saying
n thot T hope will be appropriate for
um aces and all classes.
ata snplaud the celibacy of a multitude of
! y vino. rather Than make unfit selec-
W." have made none at all. 1thas not been
Va vaos of opportunity for martial contract
d ~ ~ i mart. but their own culture and re-
Q i sn and their exalted idea as to what
sy,h,nd ought to be, have caused their
,NInotnre. They have seen so many
.non,an marry imbeciles, or r%ufians, or in
wont sots, or lifelong incapables, or
.s aniicent n%othings, or men who
hafora marriage were angelic and
Forward diabolic, that they have
s sao, alarmed and stood back, They saw
~ many boats go into the maelstrom
a,. thsy steered into other waters.
pottor for a woman to live alone, though
sho live a thousand years, than to be
,nroyed to one of these masculine fail
urss with which society is surfeited.
The patron saint of almost every fam
;y circle is some such unmarried woman,
.nd among all the families of cousins she
moves around, and her coming in each
housc Is the morning, and her going away
is the night.
In my large circle of kindred, perhaps
twenty families in all, it was an Aunt
phn}e. Paul give a letter of introduce
tion to one whom he calls "Phebe, our
sister," as she vent up from Cenchrea
TO Rome, commanding her for her kind
ness ana Christian service, and implor-
inc for her all courtesies. l think Aunt
Phrbe was named after her. Was there a
sickness in any of the households, she
was there ready to sit up and count
out the drops of medicine. Was there
a marriage, she helped deck the bride for
the altar. Was there a new soul incar-
mated, she was there to rejoice at the
nativity, Was there a sore bereavement,
she was there to console. The children
rushed out at her first appearance crying,
"Here comes Aunt Phnbe,' and but for
parental Interference they would have
pulled her down with their caresses, for
she was not very strong, and many severe
illnesses had given her enough giimpses of
the next world to make her heavenly
minded. Her table was loaded up with
Bakers Saints Rest" Doddridge's
"Rise and Progress" and jays "Morning
and Evening Exercises" and John Bun
vans "Pilgrim's Progress" land like books,
which have fitted out whole generations
for the heaven upon which they have
already entered.
Had she a mission in the world? Ger
talnly. As much as Caroline Herschel,
frst amanuensis for her illustrious brother,
and then hisassistant in astronomical cal
%cuIatlons, ANA then discovering worlds for
herself lNjnpr ~ ,;,,,t, .,t,l,| ~. ~
age, stlli busy with the stars till she sped
beyond them: as much as had Florence
Nightingale, the nurse of the Crimea; OF
Grace Darling, the of the
Long Stone Lighthouse; or Mary Lyon,
the teacher OF Mount IIolyoke Female Sem.
mary; or Hannah Moore, the Christian
a~INloress of E%.ngland; or Dorothea Dix.
tnr angel OF mercy for the insane; or Anna
LlleFldge, among the wounded of Black.
bufl $ Fort; or Margaret Breckenridge, al
'icNspurg; or Mary Shelton, distributing
roses and grapes and cologne in Western
h"SPfals; Or thousands of other glorious
women like them, who never took the mar.
rage sacrament. Appreciate all this, my
SISTER, and it will make you deliberate be-
rie you rush out Of the single state into
''o''iel, unless you are sure of betterment
deliberate and pray. Pray and deliber-
ae' AS showed you in my former ser.
"'g"' a man ought to suplicate divine
s"''aice III such a crisis; how much more
Important that you solicit it! 1t is easier
" d man to find an appropriate wife thar
woman to find a good husband. This is
matter of arithmetic, as l showed in 6
,p'hef discourse. Statistics show that in
massachusetts, and New York States
"ohen have a majority of hundreds OF
thousands. Why this is we leave others t.
suiihlse. 1t would seem that woman is
siavorlte with the Lord, and that there
y ne mas made more of this kind. From
II order of the creation in Paradise, it is
e'noeht that woman is an improved edi'
OF man. But whatever be the reason
VI IL, the fact is certain that she whe
oeiects a husband has a smaller number O.
people 10 select from than he who selects s
"i therefore, a woman ought to be es
pec'ally careful in her choice of lifetime
sompanionship. She can not afford tt
n"Ae a mistake. If a mar err in his selec,
Wv" ne can spend his evening at the club
I si1 uull MS sensibilities 10y tobacco smoke
- women have no club room for refuge
ana would find it difficult to habituate her
se,i 10 cigars. If a woman make a bae
~ Vi marital selection. the probability i!
rl'' nothing but a funeral can relieve it
"i'otce Cases in court NAV interest tn,