The Windham County reformer. (Battleboro, Vt.) 1876-1897, 1886-07-30
Talmage on Marriage.

81 have no words sufficiently eloquent to sci
forth my admiration of good womanbood
Good and true women were never so numerous
as they are to-day. The women of this coun.
try are better educated than the men, and if
things go on in the same ratio it will be diff
cult for the men to find enough ignorance in
the opposite sex to make an appropriate con-
Sort" The ladies in the congregation smiled
at this and looked at one another complacently,
of am under delusion.in this hope to cor
tinue in the delusion until l embark from this
| planet.
"There are vast number of people who
ought not to be married. There are 9400 900
more women in England than men, and about
the same number in this country. The moral
of such fact is that thousands of women
should regard 1t as a duty to take measures so
as effective that they should be able to take
care OF themselves. Another fact is that there
are very large number Of men who re not
NIT De married, and It'll fine to say that II a
woman loses her integrity and her honor is not
fit to be married. then it is equally true that a
man who is untrue to the best promptings of
his moral nature and is impure IS not fit to be
married. l am, therefore, this morning, as a
religious teacher and as one who will have to
give account of his stewardship, about to give
you some advice that should be adopted when
you choose wife.
"Martin Farquhar Upper, the poet, recon-
mended men to pray and seek divine guidance
before they choose wife. He and all people
who advised the same thing were laughed at
when they said this. Many of those who
laughed then are laughing now on the other
side of their mouth. Some goodiand wise men
have wrecked their lives by this neglect. There
was John Wesley-as good man as ever lived
was chained to woman who did all she
could to destroy his influence and sat in City
Road Chapel making mouths at him while he
preached. Then there are women who are
scolds, and who look on you like a March |
northeastern. Then there are the opium eating |
women-400, 900 in America to-day-who will |
have their drug althoughit cost them the great |
est treasure of their household. l urge you to |
ask divine guidance, because society is full of |
artiticiality. After her dressmaker, her hair |
adjuster, her jeweer, and other mysterious
agencies have transformed woman, now can
an unsophisticated man discern the real mean
ing of these physiological hierogyphics Men
are by these means swndled they make bar
gain for a sample, and when the goods come to
be delivered they find they are not evual to the
sample. They marry sweet tempered woman
as they suppose, and sle turns out Jezebel;
they marry a woman as meek apparently as
the sainted Mary, and they get Lucrezia Bor
gia, when they thought they had Martha
Washington. May not, therefore, ask you to
seek divine guidance before you choose wife
for there is no worse predicament on earth than
to be unequally yoked together.
adam had not a large number to select
wife from, land Judging from the mistake he made
am glad he was limited to Eve or none. If
you take divine direction you will make no
mistake. A great deal has been said about
woman being taken from the ribs of Adam.
But there are twenty-four ribs aud there are
twenty three possibilities to one that you will
get the wrong rib John Milton, the poet, who
was blind was told that his wife was rose,
and he replied, 81 am not much of judge of
color; but think it is very likely so, for l feel
the thorn Look at Solomon. whose married
life was as unhappy as it was multitudnous,
and among the wise observations of his expert
ence in this matter is this "A continual drop
ping on very rainy day and a contentious
woman are alike
"lf in this matter you make no mistake You
will have two heavens, one here below and one
hereafter but If you make mistake yea will
have two bells, one here and one hereafter"