Dodge City times. [volume] (Dodge City, Kan.) 1876-1892, 1888-01-19
TALMAGE'S SERMON.
Opening Discourse of the Series to
the Women of America.
"The Women Who Fight the Battle OF
Life Alone"-Advice in Relation to
the Choice OF Occupation for
Honorable Self-Support.

the Choice OF Occupation Tor
Honorable Self-Support.
Hev. T. Dewitt Talmage has Inaugural
t. his promised series of sermons to the
women of America, with practical hints
for men. The subject of the opening dis
course was: ''The Women Who Fight
the Battle of Life A!one," and the text:
Every wise woman buildeth her house.
Proverbs xiv, I.
DR.. Talmage said: Woman is mere
adjunct to man, an appendix to the mas
culine volume, an appendage, sort of
after-thouyht, something thrown in to
make things even-:hat is the heresy en-.
tertained and implied bv some men. This
is evident to them: Woman's insigrif-
canoe 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 were created
before Adam, so that the argument drawn
from priority of creation might prove
that the sheep and the dog were greater
than man. No, woman was an indepen-
dent creation, and was intended, j.. she
chose. to live alone, TO walk alone, act
alone, think alone, and fight the
battle of life alone. The Bible
says it is not good for man to be alone,
but never says it is not good for woman to
be alone, aud the simple fact is that many
women who are harnes sed for life in the
marriage relation would be thousand
fold better off if they were alone. God
makes no mistake. aud the fact that there
is such large majority of women in this
hot ho infon1ol that Ypn1ti.
tudes of them should go alone.
Who are these men who year after year
hang around hotels and engine houses
and tbeater doors, and come in and out to
bother busy clerks and merchants and
mechanics, doing nothing even when there
is plenty to do? They are men supported
by their wives and mothers. II the
statistics Of any OF or cities could be
taken on this subject you would find
that vast multitude Of women not
only support themselves, but ma sculines.
A great legion of men amount to nothing,
and woman by marriage manacled to
one of these nonentitieS needs coincidence.
A woman standing outside the marriage
relation is several hundred thousand times
better off than woman badly married.
Many bride, instead of a wreath Of
orange blossoms, might more properly
W ear a bunch OF nettles and nigh tShade,
and instead of the wedding march more
appropriate tune would be the Dead
March in Saul, and instead Of a banquet
of confectionery and ices there might be
moro appropriately spread table covered
with apples of Sod ON, which are outside
fair and in side ashes.
Many an attractive woman OF good,
sound sem Sc in other things, ha. married
one of these men to reform him. What
was the result? Like when q dove, notic-
ing that a vulture was rapatious and
cruel, set about to reform it. ana said:
Il have mild disposition and l like
peace, and was brought up in the quiet of
a dove cote, and I will bring the vulture
to the same liking by marrying him."
So one day, after the vulture had de-
clared he would give up his carnivorous
habits and cease longing for blood of
flock and herd at an altar OF rock COW
cred with moss and lichen, the twain
were married, a bald-headed eagle offici-
ating, the vulture saying:
"With all my dominion of earth and
sky 1 thee endow, and promise to love
and cherish till death do us part"
But one day in her flight the dove
saw the vulture busy at a carcass, and
cried:
''Stop that! did you not promise me
shat you would quit your carnivorous
and filthy habits il l married vou?"
'Yes," said the vulture, ''but if you
don't like my way you can leave" and
with one angry stroke Of bsak and an
other fierce clutch of claw the vulture
left the dove eyeless, and wingless, and
lifeless. And a flock of robins flying past
cried to each other and said:
''See there! that comes from a dove's
q vulture to reform him."
Many woman who has had the hand
of young inebriate offered, but declin ed
it, or 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
pandemonium.
Besides all this, in our country ABOUT
one million men were sacrificed in our
civil war, and that decree1 one million
women to celibacy. Besides that, since
the war, several armies of men as large
as the Federal and Confederate armies
put together have fallen under malt
liquors and distilled spirits so full of
poisoned ingredients that the work was
done more rapidly, and the victims fell
while vet young. And if fifty thousand
men are destroyed every year by strong
drink before III arriage, that makes in the
twenty three years since the war one
million, one hundred and fifty thousand
men slain, and DEGREES ono million, one
hundred and fifty thousand women to
Take then the fact that SO
many women are unhappy in their mar
riage, and the fact that tn, slaughter Of
two million, one hundred and fly thOuS-
and men by war and rum con- oined, de.
cides that at least that number OF
" omen shall be unbalanced for
life. My text comes in with cheer, and
a potency, and appropriateness that 1
never saw in it before, when it says:
''Every wise woman buldeth her house,
That is, let woman be her own architect,
lay out her own plans, be her own super
visor. achieve her own destiny.
As no boy ought to be brought up with
out learning some business at which he
could earn livelihood, so no girl ought
to be brought up without learning the
science eff elf-support. The difficulty is
that many a family so sail Ing on the high
tides OF success, and the husband and
father depends OH his own health and
for the welfare of his household;
but one day he gets his fee. wet. and in
three days pneumonia has closed his life,
and the daughters are turned out on q
cold world to earn bread. and there is noth-
ing practical that they can. do. The
friends of the family come in and hold
"G,ve music les sons" says an outsider.
Eyes, that is useful calling, and if
you have great genius for it go on in that
direction. But there are enough music
teachers now starving to death in all our
r,,>xps opI cities m occu,,y oil tta y;a NO