The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1886-03-25
TALMAGE's SERMON.
Seventh Sermon OF the Series On
"The Marriage Ring"

The Wife's Duty to Her Husband-To Re-
member His Struggle in the Daily Bat
tie of Life, and Keep Herself At
tractive-Ante-Natal Murderers.
Rev. T. Dewitt Talmage took for the
subject of the seventh discourse of his
series on "The Marriage Ring" "The Du-
ties of Wives to Husbands" His text
was:
The name of his wife, Abigail; and she
was a woman of good understanding, and
of a beautiful countenance. Il Samuel,
xxv.3.
The ground in Carmel is white, not with
fallen snow, but the wool from the backs
Of three thousand sheep, for they are be-
ing sheared. And hear the grinding Of
the iron blades together, and the bleating
of the fiocks, held between the knees Of the
shearers while the clipping goes on, and
the rustic laughter of the workmen. Nabal
and his wife Abigail preside over this home
stead. David, the warrior, sends a dele
cation to apply for aid at this prosperous
time of sheep shearing, and Nabal per-
emptorily declines his request. Revenge
is the cry. Yonder over the rocks come
David and four hundred angry men with
one stroke to demolish Nabal and his
sheepfolds and vineyards. The regiment
march in double-quick, and the stones of
the mountain loosen and roll down as the
soldiers strike them with their swift feet,
and the cry of the commanaier is, "For-
ward! Forward!n
Abigail, to save her husband and his
property, hastens to the foot of the hill.
She is armed, not with sword or spear, but
with her own beauty and self-sacrifice,
and when David sees her kneeling at the
foot of the crag he cries: "Holdi Hold!n
Abigail is the conqueress! One woman in
the right mightier than four hundred men
in the wrong! A hurricane stopped at the
sight of water lilly! A dew drop dashed
back Niagara! By her prowess and tact
she has saved her husband and saved her
home, and put before all ages an illustrious
cody and prudent, and self-sacrifcing
and vigilant, and devoted to the interests
of her husband, and attractive.
AS, Sabbath before last, / took the re-
sponsibility of telling husbands how they
ought to treat their wives-and, though
noticed that some of them squirmed in
their pews, they endured it WE'LL now
take the responsibility of telling how
wives ought to treat their husbands. hope
your domestic alliance was so happily
formed that while married life may
have revealed in him some frailties
that you did not suspect, it has also dis
played excellences that more than over
balanced them. suppose that il could
look into the heart of hundred wives
here present and ask them where is the
kindest and best man they know Of, and
they dared speak out, ninety-nine out
of q hundred of them would say: cat
the other end of this pew" Though
sometimes you may have snapped each
other up little quick, think the most of
you are as well paired as a couple
OF whom have read. The wife said
to her husband: 81 have made up my
mind to be submissive Notwithstanding
all the misfortunes that have come upon
u.s." They had lost their children, he had
lost his health, and hence, the income of
his profession, and the wife had Tempo
rarity lost her eyesight. "Yes,n said the
husband, 1--WE ought to be submissive.
Let me see what we have to submit to.
First, we have home; we can submit to
that. Then we have food and raiment; we
can submit to that. Then we have a great
many friends; we can submit to that. We
have . Heavenly Father to provide for as
-" "Stop! Stop!n said the wife, ~ will
talk no more about submission"
hope, my sister, you have married a
man as Christian and as we'll balanced as
that. But even il you were worsted in the
conjugal bargain, YOU can not be worse of
than this Abigail in my text. Her hus :
band was coarse and ungrateful, an in
ebriate, for on the very evening after her
heroic achievement at the foot of the hill,
where she captured whole regiment with
her genial and strategic behavior, she re-
turned home and found her husband SO
drunk that she could not tell him the story,
but had to postpone 1t until the next day.
So, my sister, ] do not want you to keep
saying within yourself as proceed: "That
Is the way to treat perfect husband;n for
y w oAc W IcxAStuuoF b18b no W1l0 was ever
worse swindled than this Abigail Of my
text. At the other end of her table sat a
mean, selfish, snarling, contemplate sot,
and If she could do so well for bastard,
how ought you to do with that princely
and splendid man with whom you are to
walk the path OF lifes
counsel the wife to remember in what
severe and terrific battle of life her hus.
band Is engaged. Whether in professional
or commercial or artistic or mechanical
life, your husband from morning to night
is in Solferino il not Sedan. It is a
wonder that your husband has any nerves
or patience or suavity left. To get liv-
ing in this next to the last decade Of the
nineteenth century is struggle.
II he come home and sit down
preoccupied, you ought to excuse him. Il
he do not feel like going out that night for
walk or entertainment, remember he has
been ont all day. You say he ought to
leave at his place of business his annoy-
ance and come home CHEEKY. But il man
has been betrayed by business partner,
or customer has jockeyed him out Of a
large bill of goods, or protested note has
been flung on his desk, or somebody has
called him liar, and everything has gone
wrong from morning TO night. he must
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