The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1888-01-20
TALMAGE'S SERMON.
Opening Discourse Of the Series to
the Women OF America.
"Ths Women Who Fight the Battle oil
LILO Alon~"--Advioe i'm Relation to
the Choice of Occupation for
Honorable Self.Supp0rt.

| AOuOr0DI0 Solt.SuppOfts
! Iev I. 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 Alone" and the text:
| Every wise woman buildeth her house.
| Proverbs xiv, l.
DIR. Talmage said: Woman Is a mere
adjunct to man, m appendix to the mas.
culine volume, an appendage, a sort Of
after.thought. something thrown in to
make things even-tha. Is the heresy on
tertained and implied bv 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 tho 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 il 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 bs thousand.
fold better Off il they wore alone. God
| makes no mis- take. and the fact that there
is such q large majority Of women in this
land proves that he intended that multi
| tudes of them should 60 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. II the
statistics of any of our cities could be
taken on this subject you would find
| that a vast multitude OF women not
only support themselves, but ma sculines.
A great legion of men amount to nothing,
and a 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 a woman badly married.
| Many a bride, instead OF a wreath Of
| orange blossoms, might more properly
| wear bunch Of nettlcs 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 net
of confectionery and ices there might be
moro appropriately spread table covered
with apples of Sod ON, which are outside
fair aud in side ashes.
Many an attractive woman of good,
| sound sens in other things, ha. married
| one of these men to reform hin. What
Ia, 10 vxyla n he,
| ing that vultu-e was rapaHious and
cruel, set about to re- form it. and said:
Il have mild disposition and like
peace. and was brought up in the quiet of
| a dove-cote, and will bring the vulture
to the same liking by marrying him."
So one day, after tho vulture had de-
clnred he would give up his carnivOrous
habits and cease longing for blood Of
flock and herd, ut an altar of rock COW.
cred with moss and lichen, the twain
were married, a bald-headed eagle ofIici-
atinC, the vulture saying:
"With all my dominion of earth and
sky l thee endow. and promise to love
and cherish til death do us part"
But one day in her flight the dovc
saw the vuiture busy at q carcass, and
cried:
sStop that! did you not promise mo
shat you would quit your carnivorous
and filthy habits if married vou:"
"Yes," said tho vulture, ''but il you
don't like my way you can leave" and
with one angry stroke Of beaS and an
other fierce clutch of claw the vulture
left the dove eyeiess, and wingless, and
lifeless. And n flock Of robins flying past
cried to each other and said:
"See there! that comes from q doves
marrying a vulture to reform him."
Many q woman who has had the hand
of young inebriate offered, but declin ed
it, or who was asked to chain her life to q
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 aDout
one million men We're sacrificed in our
civil war, and that decree1 one million
women to ceiibacy. Besides that since
the war, several armies OF mon as large
Us 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, aud 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
rage, and the fact that ths slaughter of
two million, one hundred and fly thous
and men by war and rum con: 5ined, de.
cides that at least that number OF
women shall be unbalanced for
life. Ny text comes in with a cheer, and
a potency, and appropriateness that
never saw in it before, when it says:
'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 no
could earn livelihood, so no girl ought
TO he brought up without learning the
science ef self-srpport. The difficulty is
that many a family go sailing on the high
tides of success, and the husband and
father depends OH his own health and
acumen for the welfare Of his households;
but one day he gets his feet wet. and in
three days pneumonia has closed his life,
and the daughters are turned out on o
cold world to earn bread. and there is noth-
ing practical that they can do. The
friends OF the family come in and hold
consultation.
"G;ve music lessons" says an outsider.
Eyes, that is a useful calling, and if
you have great genius for it so on in that
direction. But there are enough music
teachers now starving to death in gil our
towns and cities to occupy all the piano
stools and SONS and chairs and front