The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1886-01-24
THE CHOICE OF A HUSBAND.
TaImage's Second Sermon of the Series
on "The Marriage Ring"
A Tribute to Women Who Have Nobly Lived
Alone-The Divine Hand the Only Guide
for Woman in This Supreme Crisis.
Report of Tabernacle Sermon.

Report of Tabernacle Sermon.
The Rev T. Dewitt Talmage, D. D., preached
to-day in the Brooklyn Tabernacle the second Of
his series of sermons on ''The Marriage Ring"
Having spoken last Sunday on '"fhe Choice of
q Wife" he to-day preached on ''The Choice of q
Husband" Selecting his text from Ruth !, 9,
s.The Lord grant you that We may find rest each
of you in the house of her husband" the elo-
nuent preacher said:
This was the prayer of pious Naomi for Ruth
and Orpah. and is appropriate prayer now in
behalf of unmarried womanhood. Naomi, the
good old soul, knew that the devil would take
their cases in hand if God did not. so she prays
j'.The Lord grant that you may find rest, each Of
you in the house of her husband
In this series of sermons on ''The Marriage
Ring" I last Sabbath gave prayerful and Chris
,tian advice to men in regard to the selection of
q wife, and to-day give the same prayerfui and
christian advice to women in regard to the selec-
4ion Of a husband, but in all these sermons say
ing much. that hope will be appropriate for all
ages and all classes.
applaud the celibacy of multitude of women
who rather than make an unfit selection, have
made none at all. 1t has not been lack of OPP
portunity for marital contract on their part. but
their own culture and refinement, and their ex-
allied idea as 70 -aat q husband ought to be,
have caused their declinature. They have seen
80 many women marry imbeciles, or ruffians, or
incirient sots, life time incapables, or magnif
cent noth!ngs or men who before marriage,
were angelic and afterward diabolic, that they
have beer alarmed and stood back. They saw 80
many boats go into the maelstrom that they
steered into other waters Better for woman
to live alone though she live thousand years,
than to be annexed to one of these masculine fail
ures, with which society is surfeited The patron
saint Of almost every family circle is some such
unmarried woman, and among all the families of
cousins she moves around. and her coming in
each house is the morning, and her going away
is the night
In my large circle of kindred perhaps twenty
families in all. it was Aunt Phoebe. Paul
gave letter of introduction to whom he
sails "Phobe, our sister," IS she went up from
Cenchrea to Rome, commencing her for her
kindness and Christian service, and imploring
for her all courtesies. / think Aunt Phoebe was
named after her. Was there sickness in any of
the households. she was there ready to sit up and
count out the drops of medicine. Was therea
marriage. she helped deck the bride for
the altar. Was there soul incar-
mated, she was there to rejoice at the
nativity. Was there a bereavement,
she was there to console. The children rushed
ont at her first appearance, crying, Here comes
Aunt Phoebe" 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 glimpses
or the next world to make her heavenly
minded. Her table was loaded with Baxter's
Saints Rest Dodridge's Rise and Progress"
Jays Morning and Evening Exercises" John
Runyan's Pilgrims Progress, and like books
which have fitted out whole generations for the
Eeaven upon which they have already entered.
DE Witt" she said to me one day, twice in
my life have been overwhelmed with the
love OF God that tainted away and could hardly
be resusctated. Don't tell me there is no heaven
have seen it twice." If you would know how
her presence would soothe anxiety, or lift
burden or cheer a sorrow, or leave blessing
on every room in the house. ask any of the
Talmages. She had tarried at her early home,
taking care of an invalid father, until the bloom
of life had somewhat faded; but she could inter
est the young folks with some three or four
tender passages in her own history, so that We
ali knew that it was not through lack of oppor-
tunity that she was not the queen of one house
hold, instead of being a benedition
whole circle of households AT about seventy
years of age she made her last visit to my house,
and, when she sat in my Philadelphia church. l
was more embarrassed at her presence than by
all the audience, because felt that in religion
had got no further than the a b C, while she had
learned the whole alphabet and for many years
had finished the and z. When she went out of
this life into the next what shout there must
have been in heaven, from the front door clear
up to the back seat in the gallery! l saw the
other day, in the village cemetery OF Somerville,
N. j., her resting-place the tom bstone having on
1t the words which thirty years ago she told me
she would like to have inscribed there, namely,
''The Morning Cometh."
Had she mission in the world? Certainly
AS much as Caroline Herschel, first amanuensis
for her illustrious brother, and then his assistant
in astronomical calculations and then discover
ing worlds for herself, dying at ninety eight
years of age, still busy with the stars till she
sped beyond them; as much as had Florence
Nightingale the nurse of the Crimea; or Grace
Darling. the heroine of the Longest light
house; or Mary Lyon, the teacher of Mount Ho-
yoke Female Seminary; Hannah More the
Christian authoresss of England or Dorothea
Dix, the angel of mercy for the insane: or Anna
%ha In1 4f nn1~1 ,,ux
Ford; or Margaret Breckenridge, at Vicksbure;
or Mary Shelton distributing roses, and grapes,
and cologne in Western hospitals; or thousands
OF other glorious women like them who never
took the marriage sacrament Appreciate all
this, my sister, and it will make you deliberate
before you rush out of the single state into an
other, unless you are sure of betterment
Pray and deliberate. AS showed you in my
former sermon, a man ought to supplicate Divine
guidance in such crisis how much more impor-
tant that you solicit i'll 1t is easier for a man to
find an appropriate wife than for woman to
find good husband This is matter of arith-
metic as showed in my former discourse. Stats
ties show that in Massachusetts and New York
States women have a majority of hundreds of
thousands Why this is we leave others to sur
mise. 1t would seem that woman was a favorite
with the Lord, and that, therefore, he has made
more of that kind. From the order of the crea-
ton in Paradise it is evident that woman is an
improved edition of man. But whatever
be the reason for it, the fact is certain
that she who selects a husband has a
smaller number sof people to select
from than he who selects a wife. Therefore, q
woman ought to be especially careful in her
choice of lifetime companonship She cannot
afford to make mistake. If man err in his
selection. he can spend his evenings at the club,
and dull his sensibities by tobacco smoke but
woman has no club room for refuge. and would
fine it difficult to habituate herself to cigars If
woman make bad job of marital selection.
the probability is that nothing but funeral
can relieve her. Divorce cases in court may
interest the public but the love-letters of mar
ried couple are poor reading. except for those
who write them. Pray God that you be deliv-
cred from irrevocable mistake
Avoid alliance with despiser of the Christian
religion, whatever else he may have or NAV not
have. do not say he must needs be religious