The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1886-03-18
TALMAGES SERMON.
Sixth Discourse Of the Series on
"The Marriage Ring"
Dress as Related to Morals-Evil Effects
Of Improper Attire-The Responsibility
of the Stage for Its Undress Uni
form Parades.

form Parades.
Rev. I. Dewitt Talmage took for the
subject of his sixth discourse Of the series
on "Tne Marriage Ring" Costume and
Morals,n taking for his text:
Moreover the Lord said: Because the
daughters Of Zion are naughty and walk
with stretched forth necks and wanton
eyes, walking and mincing as they go. and
making a tinkling with their feet, in that
day the Lord will take away the bravery of
their tinkling ornaments about their feet,
and their cauls and their round tires like
the moon, the chains, and the bracelets, ana
the muffiers. the bonners, and the ornaments
of the legs, and the headbands, and the tab-
lets, and the suits of apparel, and the man
ties and the wimples, and the crisping pins,
the glasses, and the fine linen, and the hoods,
and the vails.-Isaiah ILL.,, l6, 1873.
This is q Jerusalem fashion plate. It
puts as $500 years back, and sets us down
in an ancient city. The procession of men
and women is moving up and down the
gay streets. 1t is the height of the fash
ionable season. The sensible men and
women move with so much modesty that
they do not attract our attention. But
here come the naughty daughters of Jeru-
salem! They lean forward; they lean very
much forward; so far forward as to be un-
natural webbing, wriggling,
flirting, or as my text describes it, they
sswalk with stretched forth necks, walking
and mincing as they CO." They have in
most astounding style arranged their bon
nets and their walls and their entire ap-
parel, and now go through the streets TAX
ing more of the pavement than they
are entitled to, sweeping along with skirts
that the text describes as ground tires like
the NOON" See! That is a princess!
Look! That is a. Damascus sword
maker! Lookl That is Syrian mer-
chant! The jingling of the chains and
the clashing of the headbands. and the
exhibitions of universal swagger, attract
the attention of the Prophet Isaiah, and
he brings his camera to bear upon the
scene, and takes picture for all the
ages. But where is that scene? Van
ished. Where are those gay streets? YER
min-covered population pass through
them. Where are the hands, and the
necks, and the foreheads, and the shoul-
ders, and the feet that sported all that
magnificence? Ashes, ashesl
That we should all be clad is proved by
the opening of the first wardrobe in
Paradise, with it's apparel Of dark green.
That we should all as far as our means
allow US be beautifully and gracefully
appareled, is proved by the fact that God
never made wave but he gilded it with
golden sunbeams, or a tree but he gar
landed it with blossoms, or sky but he
studded it with stars, or allowed even the
smoke of q furnace to ascend but he
columned and turreted, and doled and
scrolled it into outlines of indescribable
gracefulness. When / see the APPLE
orchards of the spring and the pageantry
of the autumnal forests, come to the
conclusion that If nature ever does join
the Church, while she may be Quaker
in the silence of her worship, she
never will be Quaker in the style of
her dress. Why the notches of fern
leaf or the staman of water lily? Why,
when the day departs, does it let the fold
ing doors of Heaven stay open so long,
when it might go in SO quickly. One sum-
mer morning saw an army Of million
spears, each one adorned with diamond
of the first water-I mean the grass with
the dew on it. When the prodigal came
home his father not only put coat on his
back, but jewelry on his hand. Christ
wore beard, Paul, the bachelor apostle,
not afflicted with any sentimentality, ad-
mired the arrangement of woman's hair
when he said in his epistle:
II q woman have long hair it is a glory
unto her.
There will be fashion in Heaven as on
earth, but it will be different kind of
fashion. It will decide the color of the
dress, and the population of that country,
by q beautiful law, viii wear white.
| say these things as a background to
my sermon to show you that have no
prim, precise, prudish or cast-iron theories
on the subject of human apparel; but the
goddess of fashion has setup her throne in
this country, and at the sound of the tim
brels we are all expected to fall down and
worship. Her affairs smoke with the sacra :
fee of the bodies and souls of 10000
victims. In her temple four people stand
in the organ-loft, and from there comes
down cold drizzle of music, freezing on
the ears of her worshippers. This god
dess of fashion has become rival of the
Lord of Heaven and earth, and it is high
time we unlimbered our batteries against
this idolatry. When come to count the
victims Of fashion find as many mascu-
line as feminine. Men make an easy TRADE
against women, as though she were the
chief worshiper at this idolatrous shine.
and no doubt some men in the more con-
spicuous part of the pew have already cast
glances at the more retired part of the
pew, their look prophecy of generous
distribution. My sermon shall be as ap-
propriate for one end Of the pew as for the
other.
Men are as much idolaters of fashion as
women, but they sacrifice on different
part of the altar. With men the fashion
goes to cigars and club-rooms and parties
and wine suppers. In the United States
the men chew up and smoke one hundred
millions Of dollars worth of tobacco every
year. That is their fashion. In London,
mot long ago, man died who started in
life with $s50, 900. But he ate it all up in
gluttonies, sending his agents to ali parts
Of the earth for some rare delicacy for the
palate, sometimes one plate OF food costing
him three or four hundred dollars. He ate
up his whole fortune and had only one
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