Milford chronicle., 1888-02-03
DOMINION OF FASHION.
DR.. TALMAoE's FOURTH SERMON TO
THE WOMEN OF AMERICA.


Arc Alike RePugDant.
BRooKLyN, Jan. 29.-The Rev. 7. De Witt
Talmage, D. D., preached today in the
Broolvn Tabernacle the fourth of the series Of
''SerTnons to the Women of America, with
Important Hints to Men" The subject Of
the sermon was: Dominion of Fashion" F"
and the text was from Deuteronomy xxi, 8:
1.-THE woman shall not wear that which per-
taineth unto man, neither shall a man put
on a wonan's garment: for all that do SO are
abomination 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 / have before me on Sabbath
days, but the wider audience opened through
the printing press and while some things
may not be particularly appropriate for one
locality, they are appropriate for many other
localities. And here I will tell secret that
/ have never before told in public. About
twenty years ago began to pray that God
would open to me the opportunity of preach
ing through the secular newspaper press,
The religious papers IN which my sermons
bad been published chiefly went to positively
religious families. So asked God for the
wider field in which to proclaim the great
truths of religion and good morals. In a
strange way the answer came. And the syn
dicates having charge of these matters in
form me that every week there are now
1860, 600 copies of my discourses published
in this country, and about 100000 in other
lands, whether English speaking countries or
by translation in many foreign tongues. l
want people to understand that it is all in
answer to prayer to God that this oppor-
tlnity has come, and pray for grace to oc-
cupy the field 1t is not, therefore, pre-
sumptuous when give wide scope to these
discusses 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
list, and accustomed to 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 filled with the thunder Of
Mount Sinai, declares that womanly attire
must be in marked contrast with masculine
attire. ard infraction of that law excites the
indignation of high heaven just in proper
ton as the morals Of a country or an age are
fashion plates 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 divine law, but there was enough
of good in American society to beat back the
indecencv. Yet ever and anon we have i'm
imported from France, or perhaps invented
on this side the sea, a style that proposes, as
70, l-a lra
men. and thousands of young women catch
the mode, until some one goes little too far
in imitation of masculinity, and the whole
custom, by the good sense of American wo-
manhood, is obliterated.
The costumes of the countries are different,
and in the same country may change, but
there is a divinely ordered dissimilarity
which must be forever observed. Any di-
vcrrence from this is administrative of vice
and runs against the keen thrust of the text,
which saws: ''The woman shall not wear
that which pertaineth unto man, neither
shall a man nut ON a woman's garment; for
all that do so are abomination INTO the Lord
thy Cod"
Many years ago a French authoress, sign
ing herself George Sand, by her corrupt but
brilliant writings depraved homes and libra
ries innumerable, and was a 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. That French au-
thoress put on masculine attire. She was
consistent Her writings and her behavior
were perfectly accordant.
NV text by implication abhOrs masculine
women and wOmanly men What a sicken-
ing 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 a
sensible woman, but some female imbecile
And they simper, and they 60 with mincing
step. and lisp, and scream at nothing, and
take on a ianguishing 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 a respectable sex. The starting
figure of the human race was a man. Do
not try to cross over, and so become a hybrid,
neither one nor the other, but failure, half
way between.
Alike repugnant are masculine women.
They copy u mans stalking gait and go down
the street with the stride of a 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
conversation is often a half swear; and if
they said stOh, Lordln in earnest prayer as
often as they say it in lightness they would
be hirh up in sainthood. Withal there is an
assumed rugosity Of apparel, and they wear
mans hat, only changed by being in two
or three places smashed in and a dead canary
clinging to the general wreck, and mans
coat tucked in here and there according to an
unaccountable esthetics Oh, woman, stay a
womanl You also belong to a very respect
able sex. The second figure Of the human
race was woman, and sometimes a second
edition of a volume is the first edition inn
proved and corrected. Do not try to cross
over. If YOU do you will be a failure as a
woman and only nondescript Of a 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 a parable or figure Of
speech, it is made evident that Moses, the in
spired writer, as vehemently as ourselves,
reprehcnded the effeminate man and the
masculine woman: "Ihe woman shall not
wear that which pertaineth unto man.
neither shall man put on woman's gar
ment: for all that do so are abomination unto
the Lord thy God.n
NY text also sanctions fashion. Indeed, il
sets fashionl There isl great deal Of sense
less cant on the subject Of fashion 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 want to show You
that fashion has been one of the most potent
of reformers and one Of the yilest Of usurpers
Sometimes it has been an angel from HEAVIER
and at others it has been the mother Of abom
nations As the world grows better there
will be as much fashion as now, but it vii
be a righteous fashion. In the future lif'
white robes always have been and alwayi
will be in the fashion
Thera is q great outcrY aRainst this sub