The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1888-02-09
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.

honorable SeIf-SuppOrt.
Rev. 7. Dewitt Talmage has Inaugural
ted 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 Alone" and the text:
Every wise woman buildeth her house.
Proverbs xiv, /.
Dr. Talmage said: Woman is mere
adjunct to man, an appendix to the mas.
culine volume, an appendage, sort of
after-thought, something thrown in to
make things even-that is the heresy en-
tertained and implied by some men. This
is evident to them: Woman's insignifi-
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-
6ent creation, and was intended, if she
chose, to live alone, to walk alone, act
alone, think alone, and fight the
battle of life alone. The Bible
says tits 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 harnes sed for life in the
marriage relation would be thousand
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 multi
tudes 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
mechanics, 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 subject you would find
that vast multitude of omen not
only support themselves, but ma scuIines.
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 OF than q woman badly married.
Many bride, instead of a wreath of
orange blossoms, might more properly
wear q bunch of nettles and nigh tshade,
and instead of the wedding march a more
appropriate tune would be the Dead
March in Saul, and instead of a bang uet
of confectionery and ices there might be
more appropriately spread a table covered
with apples of Sod ON, which are outside
fair and in side ashes.
Many an attractive woman of good,
sound sense in other things, has married
one of these men to reform him. What
H., IT,
ing that vulture was rapacious and
cruel, set about toreform it, and said:
ST have a mild disposition 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, 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, bald-headed eagle offici.
ating, 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 in her fight the dove
saw the vulture busy at a carca IS, and
cried:
''Stop that! did you not promise me
that you would quit your carnivorous
and filthy habits if married your"
"Yes," said the vulture, shut if you
don't like my way you can leave" and
with one angry stroke of beak 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 doves
marrying vulture to reform him."
Many woman who has had the hand
of a young inebriate offered, but declin ed
it, or who was asked to chain her life to a
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 decreed 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 yet young. And if fifty thousand
men are destroyed every year by strong
drink before marriage, that makes in the
twenty three years since the war one
million, one hundred and fifty thousand
men slain, and DEGREES one million, one
hundred and fifty thousand women to
celibacy. Take then the fact that so
many women are unhappy in their mar
riage, and the fact that the slaughter of
two million, one hundred and fly thous
and men by war and rum combined, de-
cides that at least that number of
women shall be unbalanced for
life. My text comes in with cheer, and
potency, and appropriateness that
never saw in it before, when it saws:
''Every wise woman buildeth 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 Of self-support. The difficulty Is
that many a family go sailing on the high
tides Of success, and the husband and
father depends ON his own health and
acumen for the welfare of his household:
but one day he gets his feet wet, and in
three days pneumonia has closed his life,