The western sentinel. [volume] (Winston-Salem, N.C.) 1887-1926, 1888-02-02
DOMINION OF FASHION.
DR.. TALMAoE'S FOURTH SERMON TO
THE WOMEN OF AMERICA.


euiine Woman and a womanIy Man
Are Alike Repusnant.
BROOKLYN, Jan. 29.-The Rev. T. De-
Witt Talmage, d. D., preached today in
the Brooklyn Tabernacle the fourth of
the series of :" Sermons to the Women of
America, with Important Hints to Men, -
The subject of the sermon was: ''Domin-
ion of Fashion" and the text was from
Deuteronomy xxi, s: "The woman shall
not wear that which pertaineth unto a
man, neither shall a man put on a wo-
mans garment: 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, wish those who hear to
bear in mind that take into considera-
ton not only those whom I have before
me on Sabbath days, but the wider audi
snce opened through the printing press;
and while some things may not be par
ticularly appropriate for one locality,
they are appropriate for many other local
tiles. And here 1 will tell a secret that
have never before told in public. About
twenty years ago I began to pray that
God would open to me the opportunity of
preaching through the secular news
paper press. The religious papers in
which my sermons had been published
chiefly went to positively religious fam
lies. So asked God for the wider field
in which to proclaim the great truths of
religion and good morals. In a strange
way the answer came. And the syndi-
Gates having charge of these matters
inform me that every week there are
now $4,000, 900 copies of my dis
courses published in this country, and
about four million in other lands, whether
English speaking countries or by transla-
ton in many foreign tongues. 1 want
people to understand that it is all in an
swer to prayer to God that this opportu-
nifty has come, and / pray for grace to
occupy the field. 1t is not, therefore,
presumptuous when give wide scope to
these discourses and address them ssto
the women of American, with important
hints to men,
God thought womanly attire of enough
importance to have it discussed in the
Bible. Paul the Apostle, by no means
a sentimentalist, and accustomed to dwell
on the great themes of God and the
resurrection, writes about the arrange
ment Of woman's hair and the STYLE of
her jewelry, and in my text Moses, his
ear yet filed with the thunder of Mount
Sinai. declares that womanly attire must
be in marked contrast with mas
culine attire, and infraction of
that law excites the indignation Of
high heaven. just In proportion as the
morals of country or an age are de-
pressed is that law defied. Show me the
fashion plates of any century, from the
time of the delugs to this, and I will tell
you the exact state Of public morals.
To-
seemed about to break down this divine
law, but there was enough of good in
American society to beat back the in
decency. Yet ever and anon we have
imported from France, or perhaps in
vented on this side of the sea, style
that proposes as far as possible to make
women dress like men, and thousands of
young women catch the mode, until some
one goes a little too far in imitation of
mascujnity, and the whole custom by the
good sense of American womanhood IN
obliterated.
The costumes Of the countries are diff
ferent, and in the same country NAV
change. but there is a divinely ordered
dissimilarity which must be forever OBJ
served Any divergence from this is
administrative of vice and runs against
the keen thrust of the text, which saws:
1.-THE woman shall not wear that which
pertaineth unto man, neither shall a
man put on a woman's garment: for all
that do SO art denomination unto the Lord
thy Cod"
Many years ago French authoress.
signing herself George Sand, by her cor
rupt but brilliant writings depraved
homes and libraries innumerzble, and
was literary grandmother of all the
present French and American authors
who have written things so much worse
that they have made her putrefaction
quite presentable. That French authoress
put on masculine attire. She was con-
sistent. Her writings and her behavior
were perfectly accofdant
My text by implication, abhors mascu-
line women and womanly men. What a
sickening thing it is to see. a man copy
ing the speech. the walk, the manner OF
a woman. The trouble is that they do
not initiate q sensible woman, but some
female innbeeile. And they shipper, and
they go with mincing step, and lisp, and
scream at nothing, and take on lam
look, and bang their hair. and
are the nauseation of honest folks Of both
sexes. Oh, man, be q mani You belong
to quite respectable sex. The startling
figure of the human race was man. Do
not try to cross over, and SO become a
hybrid. neither one nor the other, but a
failure, half way between.
Alike repugnant are masculine women.
They copy mans stalking gait and go
down the street with the stride. of q
They wish they could
slnoiie cigarettes, and some of them do.
They t:I1 Loisterously and try to sing
bass. They do not laugh, they roar.
! hey cannot quite manage the broad pro-
family Of the sex they rival. but their
conversation is often . half swear: and If
they '-%id '-Oh, Lord" Ia earnest prayer
rs often ar they say il In liGhtness they
wtul,i be high up in sainthood. Withai
here Is an assumed ruGosits Of apparel,
and they wear mans hat only changed
by being in two or three places smashed |
III isi,d q tsead canary clinginR to the gess-
sral wreck. and a mans coat tucked In
here and there according to an unacc0ante
able eSfhetics. Oh, woman. stay n
woman! You also belong to a very re-
spectacle sex. The second figure Of the
human race was a woman, and senas-
ZINES second edition Of volaanne IS the
nrst edition improved and eoweeAel Do
not try to cross over. If you do you viii
be fixture as woman and only a nom
descriPt Of d man. We already have
enough Intellectual and neral bankrupta
d eur sex without your coming over to
make worse the deficit
In my text, as By parable or figure
Of speech, h Is made evident that Moses.
the inspired writer, rs xehemently as our
selves, rePrehended the effenninate man
and the masculine woman: s'The woman
shall not wear that which pertainetb
unto a man, neither shall q man uut ON