The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1888-02-15
REV. DIR. TALMAGE.
THE BROOKLYN DIVINE'S SUN
DAY SERMON.
Subject: Dominion Of Fashion"

TEXT: "The ,con,an shall not ,vear tha
1Uhich peYtaineth unto a man. neither shall
man put on ,roman'S garment: for al
that do so are abomination unto the Lor
thy God. d."-Deuteronomy xii. 5.
In this, the fourth sermon of this series o
sermons. wish those who hear to bear il
mind that take into consideration not onl,
those whom i have before me on Sabbati
days, but the-wider audience opened through
the printing press, and while some thing
may not be particularly appropriate for on
locality, they are appropriate for many othe
localities. And here l will tell a secret tina
I have never before told in public Abou
twenty years ago began to pray that Cox
would open to me the opportunity of preach
ing through the secular newspaper press
The religious papers in which my sermon:
had been published chiefly went positively
religious families. So l asked God for the
wider field in which to proclaim the great
truths of religion and good morals In 6
strange way the answer came. And the syn
dicates having charge of these matters in
form me that every week there are now
in this country and about 1000, 000 in other
lands. whether EngliSh-speaking countries OF
by translation in many foreign tongues.
want people to understand that it is all ir
answer to prayer to God that this oppor
tunity has come, and pray for grace to oc
cupy the field II is not, therefore, pre-
sumptuous when give wide scope to these
discourses and address them "to the women
Of America, 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 sentimental
ist, and accustomed 70 dwell on the great
themes Of God and the resurrection, writes
about the arrangement 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 masculine
attire, and infraction of that law excites the
Indignation Of high heaven. Just in proper
tion as the morals of a country or an age are
depressed is that law detied. 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. BloomeriSm in
this country years ago seemed about to break
down this divine law, but there was enough
of good in American society to beat back the
indecency. Yet ever and anon we have i'm
ported from France, or perhaps invented 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 little too far
in imitation of masculiniry, and the whole
custom, by the good sense Of American
womanhood, is obliterated.
The costumes OF the countries are different,
and in the same country may change, but
there is divinely ordered dissimilarity
which must be forever observed. Any di-
vergence from thisis administrative of vice
and runs against the keen thrust Of the text,
which says: "The woman shall not wear
that which pertaineth unto man, neither
shall man put on woman's garment: for
all that do so are abomination unto the Lord
thy God"
Many years ago French authoress, sign
ing herself George Sand, by her corrupt but
ries innumerable, and was literary grand
mother of all the present French and Ameri
can authors who have written things so
much worse that they have made her putre-
faction quite presentable. The French au-
thoreSs put on masculine attire. She was
consistent. Her writings and her behavior
were perfectly accordant.
My text by implication abhors masculine
women and womanly men. What a sicken-
ing thing it is too see man copying the
speech. the walk, the manner Of. woman.
The trouble is that they do not initiate
sensible woman, but some female imbecile.
And they simper, and they go with mincing
step, and lisp, and scream at nothing, and
take on a languishing look, and bang their
hair, and are the nauseation Of honest folks
Of both sexes. Oh, man. be a man! You be-
long to quite respectable sex. The starting
figure Of the human race was man. Do
not try to cross over, and so become hybrid,
neither one nor the other, but failure, half
way between.
Alike repugnant are masculine women.
They copy mans stalking gait and 60 down
the street with the stride of walking BEAM
They wish they could smoke cigarettes and
some of them do. They talk boiSterously and
try to sing bass. They do not laugh, they
roar. They cannot quite manage the broad
profanity Of the sex they rival, but their
they said "Oh, Lord!" in earnest prayer as
often as they say it in lightncss they would
be high up in sainthood. Withal there is an
assumed rugosity of apparel, and they wear
q mans hat only changed by being in two
or three places smashed in and a dead canary
clinging to the general wreck, and a mans
coat tucked in here and there according to an
unaccountable esthetics On, woman, stay
woman! You also belong to a very respect
able sex. The second figure of the human
race was woman, and sometimes a second
edition of volume is the first edition i'm
proved and corrected. Do not try to cross
over. II you do you will be failure as
woman and only ncndescript Of man.
We already have enough intellectual and
moral bankrupts in our sex without your
coming over to make worse the deficit
In my text, as by parable or figure Of
speech, it is made evident that Moses. the in
spired writer, as vehemently as ourselves,
reprehended the effeminate man and the
masculine woman: THE woman shall not
wear that which pertatneth unto a man,
neither shall man put on womans gar
ment: for all that do so arc abomination unto
the Lord, thy God.n
Ny text also sanctions fashion. Indeed, 1t
sets fashionl There is great deal Of sensa-
tioaal cant on the subject CT fashion. A wo-
man or man who does not regard it is unfit
for good neighborhood. The only question is
what is right fashion and what is wrong
fashion. Before | stop l want to show you
that fashion has been one of the most potent
of reformers and one of the viiest Of usurperS.
Sometimes it has been an angel from Heaven
and at others it has been the mother Of abomi-
nations 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 is great outcry againsr this SUBJ
nilsson to social custom, as though any con-
sultation Of the tastes and feelings Of Others
were deplorable, but without it the world
would have neither law, order, civilization
nor common decsncy. There has been a
canonization OF bluntness There are men
and women who boast that they can tell you
all they know and hear about you, especially
If it be unpleasant. Some have mistaken
rough behavior 70: frankness, when the two
qualities do not belong to the same family.
You have no right with your eccentricities
to crash in upon the sensitiveness Of others.
There is no virtue in walking with hoofs over
fine carpets. The most jagged rock is GOV,
cred with blossoming moss. The storm tEa'
comes Earring down In thunder straws rain
DOW colors upon the sky, and silyery drop
on orchard and meadow.
There are men who pride themselves on
their capacity to "stick" others. They say
DR. Liz, 5o~n nidn>t | make