The Brookhaven leader., 1888-02-09
TALNiGE'S SERMON.
Fourth Sermon of the Series to the
Women of America.
The "Dp'nininn OF Fashion" and It's Sway
Over Its Votarie--DresS the Index
of National aud Individual Morale
Some Sharp Hints.

Lev. 7. Dewitt Talmage In the fourth
OF the series of ''Sermons to the Women
of America. with Important Hints to
Men" Took for his subject the "Domini.
on Of Fashion" His text was from
Deuteronomy xii, D:
The woman shall not wear that which per
taincth unto a man, neither shall man put
on a woman's garments: for all that do SO are
abominaton 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 consideration not only those whom l
have before me on Sabbath days, but the
wider audenc opened through theprinting
press; and while some things may not be
particu arly appropriate for one locality,
they are appropriate for many other
localities. And here l will tell a secret
that have never before told in public.
About twenty wears ago l began to pray
that God would open to me the oppor-
tunity of preaching through the secular
newspaper press. The religious papers in
which nv sermons had been publ lshed
chicfly went to positively religious fami-
lies. So | asked God for the wider field in
which to proclaim the great truths of re-
ligion and good morals. In a strange
wav the answer came. And the syndic-
ates having charge of these matters in
form me that every week there are now
13 600 900 copies of my disc0urses pub
lished in this country, and about 4,O0O,O wv
in other lands, whether English speaking
countries or by translation in many for
eign tongues. | want people to UNDER
stand that il is all in answer to prayer to
God that this opportunity has come, and
] pray for grace to occupy the field. 1t is
| not Therefore. presumptuous when l give
wide scope to these discourses aud ad-
dress them 'to the women of America,
with important hints to men,"
God thought womanly attire of enough
Importance to have it discussed in the
B ile. Paul the apostle, by no means
sentimentalis'. and &C customed to dwell
ON the great tn am"s Of God and the resur-
rection, writes about the arrangement of
woman, hair aud the style of her jew
elrv. AMI in nv text Moses, his ear yet
f.lal with the thunder of Mount Sinai,
| declares that womanly attire must be
| in marked contrast with masculine
attire and nfraction Of that law
| exritas the Indignation Of high
| Heaven. Just IN proportion "a
the morals of country or any age are
| depressed is that law defed. Show me
| the fashion ylates of any century from
| the time of the deluge to this and l will
tell you the exact state of public morals.
/ Bloomerism in this country years
| ago seemed about to break down this dl-
! vine Jaw, but there was enough of good
| in American society to beat back the n-
| deceucv. Yet ever and anon we have i'm
| ported from France, or perhaps invented
OH this side the sea, style that proposes
| as far as poss ible TO make women dress
| like men, and thousands of young women
| catch the mode, until some one goes
| little too far in imitation of masculnity,
| and the whole custom, by the good sense
! of American womanhood, is obliterated.
The costumes of the coun tries are diff
ferent, and i'll the same country may
change, but there is a diviney ordered
| dis6imilarity which must be forever OBJ
served. ANY divergence from this is ad-
ministrative of vice, and runs against the
| keen thrust Of the text, which says:
The woman shall not wear that which per-
| taineth unto man, neither shall man put on
| Woman's garments for all that do so are aoom-
! nation INTO the Lord, thy God
| MANY wears ago French authoress,
signing herself George Sand, by her cor
rupt but brilliant writings depraved homes
| and libraries innumerable, and wasa liter
| arv 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 consistent. Her writings
and her behavior were perfectly accord :
ant.
Nv text, by implication, abhors mascu-
| line women and womenly men. What a
sickening thing it is to see a man copying
the speech, the walk, the manner OF a
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
| lancuishing look, and bang their hair, and
are the uauseaton of honest folks of both
sexes. o, man, be man! You belong
to quite a res pectable sex. The starting
| figure of the human race was a man. Do
not try to cross over, and so become
hybrid neither one nor the other, but a
| failure, halfway between.
Alike repugnant are masculine women.
| They copy a mans stalking gait and go
down the street with the stride of a
waking beam. They wish they could
smoke cigarettes, aud some of them do.
They talk boisterously and try to sing
bass. They do not laugh, they roar.
| 1neN can nOL quite HdHdSo INC piOau
| profanity of the sex they rival, but their
conversation is often a half-swear, and
if they said 80 Lord" in earnest pra yer
as often n they said it in lightness, they
would b. high up in sainthood.
In my tox', as by a parable or figure of
speech it is made evident that Moses, the
inspired writer, as vehemently as our
| solves, reprehended the effeminate man
| ard the masculine woman:
| The woman shall not wear that which per.
| taineIh unto a man, neither shall a man put on
a womau's garments; for all that do so are
| abOmination unto the Lord thy God.
My text also sanctions fashions. In
deed, it sets a fashion. There is a great
| deal of stn seleSs cant on the subject of
fashion. A woman or man who does not
The only question is, what is right fashion
and what is wrong fashion. Before l stop
i want to show you that fashion has been
one of the most potent of reformers and one
of the vilest of usurpers. Sometimes it has
been an angel from Heaven, and at others
it has been the mother of denominations.
As the world grows better there will be as
much fashion as now, but it will be IA
| righteous fashion. In the future life white
robes always have been and always will
be in the ia shion.
There are men who pride tn emselves on
their capacity to "stick" others. They
| say: II have brought him down; didn't
make him squirm" Others pride them
selves on their outlandish apparel They
| boast ON being out of the fash
To-, hat