The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1888-01-19
THE TABERNACLE SERMON,
"The Women Who Fight the Battles OF
Life Alone"

Able to BE Her own Supervisor and
Achieve Her Own Destihy-The Story OF
the Dove aud the Yulture.
BROOKLYN, Jan. S.-The Rev. T. De
Witt Talmage, d. D., preached al the
Tabernacle this morning the first of o
series Of sermons to the women of America,
with practical hints to men. The subject
Of this discourse was "The Women Who
Fight the Battles Of Life Alone," and the
text was from Proverbs xiv, /: Every
wise woman buildeth her house." DIR.
Talmage said:
Woman mere adjunct to man, an ap-
,pendix to the masculine volume, an ap-
'pendage, sort of aft6Hthought, some
thing thrown in to make things even
that Is the heresy entertained and implied
by some men. This is evident 10 them:
Woman's insigni6cance as compared to
man is evident to them, because Adam was
first created and then Eve. They don't
read the whole story or they would find
that the porpoise and the bear and the
hawk we're created before Adam, 80 that
this argument drawn from, priority OF
creation might prove that the sheep and
the dog were greater than man. No! We
man was an independent creation, and waA
intended, if she chose, to live alone, to
walk alone, act alone, think alone, and
tight her own battles alone. The Bibla
says il is not good for man to be alone,
but never says it is not good for woman to
be alone, and the simple fact is that many
women who are harnessed for life in the
marriage relation would be athousand- fold
better off if they were alone. God makes
no mistake, and the fact that there is such
large majority Of women in this land
proves that He intended that multitudea
of them should go alone.
Who are these men who, year after year,
hang around hotels and engine houses
and theater doors, and come in and out to
bother busy clerks and merchants and me-
chanics, doing nothing even when there is
plenty to do? They are men supported by
their wives and mothers. If the statistics
of any of our cities could be taken on this
sUbiect you would find that vast multitude
of women not only support themselves, but
masculines. A great legion Of men amount
to nothing, and woman by marriage
manacled to enc OF these nonentities needs
coincidence. A woman standing outside
the marriage relation is several hundred
thousand times better off than a woman
badly married. Many bride, instead of a
wreath of orange blossoms, might mora
properly wear bunch of nettles and night
shade, and instead of the Wedding March
more appropriate tune would be the Deat
March in Saul, and instead of banquet OF
confectionery and ices there might be more
appropriately spread table covered with
apples of Sodom, which are outside fair
and inside ashes.
Many an attractive woman of good sound
sense in other things has married one Of
these men to reform him. What was the
result? Like when dove noticing that a
Vulture was rapacious and cruel set about
TO reform it and said 81 have mild dis
position, and like peace, and was brought
up in the quiet of dove cote, and will
bring the vulture to the same liking by
marrying him." So one day, afteE the
vulture had declared he would give up his
carnivorous habits and cease longing for
blood Of flock and herd, at an altar of rock
covered with moss and llchen the twain
we're married, bald headed eagle ofticiat-
ing, the vulture saying: "With all my
dominion of earth and sky thee endow,
and promise to love and cherish till death
do us part" But one day the dove in her
flight saw the vulture busy at a carcass and
cried: "Stop that! Did you not promise
me that you would quit your carnivorous
and filthy habits il married your" Eyes,
said the vulture, "but If you don't like my
way you can leave" and with one angry
stroke of beak and another fierce clutch oi
claw the vulture left the dove eyeless and
wingless and lifeless. And flock Of
robins flying past cried 10 each other ani
said: "See there! that comes from Z
doves marrying vulture to reform him.
Many q woman who has had the hand Of
o young inebriate offered, but declined il, ,ol
who was asked to chain her life to man
selfish or of bad temper and refused the
shackles, will bless God throughout all
eternity that she escaped that earthly pan.
demonium.
Besides all this, in our country abou
/ 900, 900 men we're sacrificed in our civi
war, and that decreed /, l,0O0,000 women t.
celibacy. Besides that, since the war sew
eral armies of men as large as the Fedora
and Confederate armies put together have
fallen under malt liquors and distillet
spirits so full of poisoned ingredients tina
the work was done more rapidly, and tht
victims fell while yet young. And if 90,
600 men are destroyed every year by stropf
drink before marriage, that makes in tn,
twenty three years since the war |, 10000
men slain, and DEGREES 1,50O,OOO women Il
celibacy. Take then the fact that 81
many women are unhappy in their mar
riage, and the fact that the slaughter o
2,150.0 men by war and rum combinet
decides that at least that number of woG1eu
shall be unbalanced for life, my text comes
in with a cheer and a potency and appro-
priateness that never saw in it before
when it says, every wise woman buildett
her house" that is, let woman be her owr
architect, lay her own plans, be her OWL
supervisor, achieve her own destiny.
In addressing these who will have tC
fight the battle of life alone | congratulate
you on your happy escape. Rejoice for
ever that you will not have to navigate the
faults of the other sex, when you have
faults enough of your own. Think OF thu
bereavements you avoid, of the risk o.
unassimilated temper which you will no
have TO run, Of cares you will never have
to carry, and of the opportunity of outside
| usefulness from which marital life woulC
have partially debarred you, and that yot
are free to go and come as one who hat
the responsibilities of household car
seldom be. God has not given you a hare
lot as compared with your sisters. Whel
young women shall make up their mind
at the start that masculine companionshil
| is not necessity in order to happiness, nnC
4 that there is strong probability that the,
will have to fight the battle alone, the!
will be getting the timber ready for thei
own fortune, and their saw and ak am
plane shsrpened for its construction, sine,
avery wise woman buiIdeth her house.
Asno boy ought to be brought up with
out learning some business at which b,
could earn livelihood, so no girl ough
to be brought up without learning thu
science Of Belf-support. The difficulty i
that many family go sailing on the higl
tides OF success, and the husband anC
father depends on his own health ant
acumen for the welfare OF his household
but one day he gets his feet wet, and ii
three days pneumonia has closed his life
and the daughters are turned out on col'
world to earn bread, and there is nothing
the family come in and hold consultation