The Russellville Democrat., 1888-02-09
PHARMACIES SERMON.
Fourth Sermon of the Series to the
 Women of America.
The "Doninton Of Fashio1" ani It's Sway Over Its votaries--Dress the Index ofNational and Individual Morale
 Some sharp Hnts.

Men" Took for his subject the "Lomini- on of Fashion" His text was from Deuteronomy xxii., !;
 The woman shall not wear that which per teiueth unto a man. neither shall a man put on q womaus garments: for all that do so are abomination unto the Lord thy God.
 Dr. Talmage said: In this, the fourth sermon of the series of sermons. l wish those who hear to bear in mind that take into consideration not only those whom have before me on Sabbath days, but the wider audienc opened through the printing press; and while some things may not be particnlarlv appropriate for one locality, they arc appropriate for many other localities And here l will tell secret that haye never before toll in public. Aboat twenty years ago began to pray that God would open to mo the oppor- tunitv Of preaching through the secular newspaper press. The religion papers in which my sermons had been publ lshed ehiehv went tu positively religious fami- lies. Sl asked God for the wider field in which t, proclaim tha great truths of re- Iigion and good morals. In Q strange way the answer cam. And the syndlc' stps having charge of these matters in- form me that every week there are now i3 Gl0.G0l copies of my disc3urses pub iished in this country. and about i,ORoOJ in othel lands whsth ,r English speaking countries or hy translation in many for eign tongues. I want people tn under- stand that it is all in answer to prayer to God that this opportunity has come, and pray for grace to occupy the fiel q. It is not. therefore, presumpt ptu)us when l give wide scope to the5s discoursos and ad- dress tnem "to tine women of Am erica, with important hints to meu."
 God thought wOmanly attire of enough importance to have it discussed in the B ble. Paul the apostle, by no means a sentimeutaist. and accustomed to dwell on the great themes ot God and the resur- rection, writes about the arrangement of woman's hair and the style of her iew- ell~v, and in my text Moses, his ear yet fl led with the thunder of Mount Sinai, declares that womanly attire must be in marked contrast with masculine attire and infractlon of that law excites the indignation of high Heaven. Just III proportion as ths morals of country or any age are depressed is that law defed. Show me the fashion plates of any century from the time of the deluge to this and I will tell you the exact state of public morals |.
 
 ago seemed about to break down this di vine law, but there was enough of good In American society to beat back the in- decency. Yet ever and anon we have inn ported iron, France, or perhaps invented on this side the sea, a style that proposes as far as pcss ihle to make women dress like men, anl thousands of young women catch the mode, until some one goes fo, Fo, in irY,it itaf if m a sf and tho whole custom, by the good sense of American womanhood, is obliterated
 The costumes of tho countries are diff ferent, and in the same country may change. but tn re is a diviney ordered dissimi itv which must be forever ob- served. An divergence from this is ad- miuistra ys of vice, and runs against the keen thrust of the text which says:
 The woman shall not wear that which per taineth unto man. neither shall man put on a woman's garments. for all that do so are abom- nation unto the Lord, thy God.
 Many yeas ago French authoress, signing herself George Sand, by her cor rupt but brilliant writings depraved homes and libraries innumerable, and wasa liter- ary grandmother of all tue present French and American authors who have written things so much worse that they have made her putrefaction quite presentab'e. That French authoress put on masculine attire. She was consistent. Her writings and her behavior were perfectly accord . ant.
 My text. by implication, abhors mascu- line women and womenly men. What 6 sickening thing it is 10 see man copy ing tho speech, tue walk, the manner of a woman. The trouble is that they do not imItate a sensible woman, but some female imbscile. And they simper, and they go with mincing step, and lisp, and scream at nothing, and take on q languishing look and bang their hair, and are the nauseation of honest folks of both sexes. 0. man, be manl You belong 70 quite respectable sax. The starting figure of the human race was a man. Do not try to cross over, and so become n hybrid, neither ons nor the other, but a failure, half-way between.
 Alike repugnant are masculine women. They copy a lian's stalking gait and go down the street with the stride of a waking beam. They wish they could smoke cigarettes and some of them do. They talk Loisterously and try to sing bass. They do not laugh, they roar They can not qniie manage the broad
 
 conversation k often a half-swear, and if they said 70 Lord" in earnest pra yer ns often as they said it in lightness, they would be high up in sainthood.
 Withal there is an assumed rugosity of apparel, and they wear mans hat only changed by being in two or three places smashed in and dead canary clinging to the general wreck, and mans coat, tucked in here and there according to unaccoun able aesthetics. 0 woman, stay a woman You also belong to a very respectable sex. The second figure of the human race was a woman and sometimes second edition of volume is the first edition improved and corrected. Do not try to cross over. If you do you will be a failure as woman and only a mondescrpt of a man. We already have euo1gh intellectual and moral bankrupts in our sex without your coming over to make worse the deficit.
 In my text, as by a parable or figure of speech, 1t is made evident that Moses, the inspired writer, as vehemently as our- selves, reprehended the effeminate man aud the masculine woman;
 The woman shall not wear that which per taiueth unto a man, neither shall man put on a womaus garments; for all that do so are abomlnatiou unto the Lord thy God.
 My text also sanctions fashions h. deed, it sets a fashion. There is great deal of sen ,eless cant on the subject of fashion. woman or man who does not regard 1t is unfit for good neighborhood. The only question Is, what is right fashion and what Is wrong fashion. Before 1 stop I want to show you that fashion has been one of the most potent of reformers and one of the viest of usurpers. Sometimes it has been an angel from Heaven, and at others 1t has been the mother of abominations. As the world grows better there will be as much fashion as now, but 1t will be righteous fashion. In the future life white robes always have been and always will be in the fashion,
 There are men who pride tn emselves on their capacity to stick" others. They say, "I have brought him down; didu't make him squirm!" Others pride them. selves on their outlandish apparel They l.