The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1886-03-03
DR.. TALhAGB'S SERMON.
COSTUME AND MORALS.

Rev. Dr. Talmage chose for his sixth dis
course in the series upon the Marriage
Ring" the theme, Costume and Morals. u
The text was: Moreover the Lord said, Be-
cause the daughters of Zion are naughty and
walk with stretched-forth necks and wanton
eyes, walking and mincing as they 60, and
making 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, and the muf1ers,
the rings, and nose jewels, the changeable
wimples, and the crisping pins, the glasses,
and the fine linen, and the hoods, and the
wells Isaiah Ill, 16, IS, 10, q, %. The
pastor said:
This is Jerusalem fashion plate. It puts
us back 2,5OQ years and sets us down in an
ancient city. The professions Of people are
moving up and down the streets. The season
is at the height of the fashion. While SEN
sible men and women pass along without at
tracing our attention on those streets, my
text calls attention to the daughters of Jerusa-
lem who 20 leaning far forward, leaning very
far forward, so much forward that it is unnat-
ural teetering, wobbling, wriggling, flirting,
or as nv text SAYS, 'Walk with stretched forth
necks and mincing as they CO." In an
astounding style they have arranged their
bonncts and their wells and their entire ap-
parel, and they are going through the streets
taking more of the pavement than they are
entitled to, sweeping along with skirts which
nv text describes as 'round tires like the
moon" See that is princess. Look! that
is Damascus sword-maker Look!
that is Syrian merchant. The
jingling of the chains, the flashing Of the
headbands and the exhibitions of the universal
swagger attract the attention Of the prophet
Isaiah and he brings his camera to bear upon
the scene and takes picture for all ages.
Where is that scenel Vanished. Where are
tion pass through them. Where are the hands,
the necks. the foreheads, the shoulders, the
plate that sported all that magnifcence9
Ashes! Ashes That we should all be clad
is proved by the opening Of the first ward
robe in Paradise with its apparel of dark
green. That we should all be beautifully
and gracefully appareled so far as our means
may allow is proved by the fact that
God never made wave but He gilded it, or
tree but He garlanded it with blossoms, or
sky but He studded it with stars, Or allowed
even the smoke Of furnace to ascend except
it be scrolled, and arched, and turreted, and
lowered and domed. and pillared in outline
Of indescribabls gracefulness. When see the
apple orchard in the springtime and the
autumnal pageantry of the forest, I come to
the conclusion that if nature ever does join
the church, while she may be Quaker in
the silence of her worship, she will never be
the notches on fern leaf? Why the
stamen in water lily2 Why wheu
the day departs does it leave the folding
doors wide open so long when they. might be
quickly closed2 On summer morning have
seen an army of a million spears each
adorned with diamond of the first water. I
mean the grass with the dew on it. When the
prodigal got back his father not only put
coat on his back, but put jewelry on his
hand. Christ wore beard. Paul. the bachelor
apostle, affected with no sentimentality, ad-
mired the arrangement Of woman's hair
when he said, IF she wears long hair it is a
glory unto her." There shall as certainly be
fashion in heaven as on earth, only diff
ferent style of fashion. 1t will decide the
color o. the dress, all the population in thnt
land wearing white. say these things as
know that / have no prim, precise, prudlsh
or cast-iron theories in regard to human ap-
pa e.; that the fact is that the goddess Of
ia hion has lifted q throne, and at the sound
ing of the timbrels we are all expected to
bow down and worship There are thousands
Of victims smoking on the altar in her
temple. -Four people in the organ loft stand
while there drizzles down some cold music
that freezes on the ears of worshipers have
noticed that there are as many masculine
victims as femenine Men sometimes
make easy TRADE against woman as
though she were the chief worshiper at the
shrine, and have no doubt that in the more
conspicuous parts Of the pews some have al
ready turned and looked at the more retired
parts of the pews. prophecy Of q generous
distribution of the sermon to others. But
what say to day shall be as appropriate for
one end of the pew as for the other. Men ara
as much the disciples Of fashion as are women,
although they may sacrifice en- different
part of the altar. 1t is the wine suppers Of
the clubhouse, or the yachting expeditions,
or the cigars. That is their fashion. One.hun-
dred million dollars worth Of tobacco
smoked and chewed up by the men in Ameri-
ca every year That IS their fash
ion. In England a man was left
$3.50, 900 as fortune. He went all through
it. He sent his agent to all parts Of the
palate and sometimes he had a dish that
would cost $500 or s400. After a while he
got down to his last guinea, and with that he
bought a woodcock, had it well dressed and
cooked, sat down and ate it, gave two hours
to digestion, then walked out on Westminis-
ter bridge, leaped into the water and died,
doing on large scale what you have seen
people do on small scale. Men are as'much
the victims Of fashion as are women. It is not
through any superiority of simplicity they DO
not have the same attire Such appendages
would be blockade of all business. What
would the long sashes and the trails three OF
our yards long do on the stock market? But
there are men who sacrifice themselves in
these directions, and some of them have boots
so tight they cannot walk in tie paths Of
righteousness, and others buy apparel they
never pay for, or 60 through the str. .ets great
stripes of color, animated ckeckboards Isay
these things because want to show you that
I am impartial in the discussion, and that the
sexes according to the language of the surro-
gates office shall ''Share and share alike
If God will help me, mean this morning to
set b. fore you what are the evils of improper
DRESS and also Of the excessive discipleship
of fashion. state what the most Of you
know to be true when I declare that much
of the wonlanly attire seen in society to-day
is the cause of the temporal and eternal dam
nation of multitude of men: There is
shameessneSs in what is called high life that
calls for most potent protest. In some di-
rections there seems to be strife to
see how near they can 60 to
the edge of indecency without falling
over. The tide Of masculine dissoluteness
will never be stopped until much of the bold
ness of womanly attire ceases and there be
complete reformation in many directions l
am in full sympathy with that officer of the
law who in Philadelphia last winter, or win
ter before last, at a levee went up to So
called lady Of sparse and incompetent apparel
and told her she must either leave the house
or habilitate herself Immediately. It is high
time for the good women and the sensible
women to either protest in behalf of the dig
nifty of their sex, and if the women of the
household do not understand the terrible
extreme to which this evil has gone,
then let husbands implead their wives and