Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1894-08-10
THE IDOL OF FASHION
REV. Or. TALMAcE DEPICTS THE
TRAGEDY OF DRESS.

lie Says the Goddess CT Fashion Has Be
come a Rival of the Lord Of Heaven and
Earth--An Eloquent Discourse on the
Evils Of Dress.
BROOKLYN, Aug. Brew. Dr. Tai
mage, who is now in Melbourne on his
rouno the world tour, has chosen as the
subject Of his sermon today through the
press 1.-THE Tragedy Of Dress, " the text
selected being l Peter iii, 3, /, "Whose
adjoining let it not be that outward
adjoining Of plating the hair and tho
wearing Of gold or Of putting on Of ap-
pa-el, but Let it be the hidden man Of
tho heart"
That VIC should all be clad is proved
by the opening Of the first wardrobe in
paradise, with its apparel Of dark green.
That we should all, as far as our means
allow rs, DO beautifully and gracefully
apparcled is proved by the fact that God
never made wave but he gilded it with
golden sunbeamS, or a tree but be gar
landed it with blossoms, or 4 sky but he
studded it with stars, or allowed even the
smoke Of n furnace to ascend but he
columnod and turreted and domed and
ecrolled it into outlines OF indescTibable
eraccfulncss. When see the apple or
c.ards Of the spring and the pagoantry
Of the autumnal forests, l come to the
conclusion that, If nature does ever join
the church, while she may be a Quaker
in the silence Of her worship she never
will be a Quaker in the style Of her
dress. Why the notches Of fern leaf
or the stamen Of water lily? Why,
when the day departs, does it let tho
folding doors Of heaven stay open 90 long
when it might 60 in so quickly?
One summer morning l saw an army
of a million spears, each one adorned
with a diamond Of the first vater-I
mean the grass, with the dew on it.
When the prodigal came home, his IA
ther not only put a coat on his back,
but ievelry on his hand Christ wore
a beard. Paul, the bachelor apostle, not
afflicted with any sentimentality, adj
mired the arrangement Of woman s
hair when he said in his epistle, IF a
woman have long hair it is a glory I'M
to her. "
There will be a fashion In heaven as
on earth, but it will be a different kind
of fashion. 1t Will decide the color Of
the dress, and the population Of that
country, by a beautiful law, will wear
white. l say these things as a back
ground to my sermon to show you that
! have no prim, precise, prudish or cast
iron theories on the subject Of human
apparel. But the goddess Of fashion has
set MP her throne in this world, and at
the sound Of the timbrels we arc all e1-
pected to fall down and worship. Tho
Old and New Testament Of her Bible are
the fashion plates Her affairs smoke
with the sacrifice OF tho bodies, minds
and souls Of 10000 victims. In her
temple four people stand in the organ
loft, and from them there comes down
a cold drizzle Of music, freezing on the
ears of her worshipors. This goddess
Of fashion has become y rival Of the
Lord Of heaven and earth, and 1t is high
time that we unlimbered our batteries
against this idolatry. When l come to
count the victims Of fashion, l find as
many masculine rs feminine. Men make
an easy TRADE against woman, as though
she were the chief worshipor at this
idolatrous shrine and no doubt some
men in tho more conspicuous part Of the
pew have already cast glances at the
more retired part Of the pew, their look
q prophecy Of a generous distribution,
Nv sermon shall be as appropriate for
one end Of the pew rs for the other.
Men are as much the idolators Of fash
Ion rs women, but they sacrifice on a
different part Of the altar. With men
the fashion goes TO cigars and clubrooms
md yachting parties and wine suppers.
In the United States the men chew up
md smoke 500, 600, 900 worth Of to-
bacco every year. That is their fashion.
IN London not long ago man died who
started in life with $50, 600, but he ate
It all up in gluttonies, sending his
agents to all parts Of the earth for some
fare delicacy for the palate, sometimes
bne plate Of food costing him $500 or
300. He ate up his whole fortune and
had only q guinea left With that he
ought @ woodcock and had it drosscd
ID the very best style, ate it, gave two
.0urs for digestion, then walked out on
Westminster bridge and threw himself
INTO the Thames and died. doing on
large scale what you and ] have often
.ecn done on 4 small scale. But men do
aot abstain from millinery and olabora-
lion Of skirt through any superiority Of
humility It is only because such ap-
bendages would be a blockade to bust
hess. What would sashes and trains y
tards long do in a stock market? And
ret men are the disciples Of fashion
lust as much as women. Some Of them
rear boots 50 tight they can hardly
talk in the paths Of righteousness. And
here are men who buy expensive suits
If clothes and never pay for them, and
rho 90 through the streets i'll great
Stripes Of color like animated checker
boards 1 say these things because !
rant to show you that am impartial
n my discourse, and that both sexes,
n the language Of the surrogate's Office,
hall "share and share alike" AS God
hay help me, shall show you what are
he destroying and beautiful influences
f inordinate fashion.
The first baleful influence 1 notice is
fraud, illimitable and CHASTITY. Do
iou know that Arnold Of the Reyolu-
ION proposed to sell his country in or
Ter to get money to support his wife's
wardrobe? l declare here before God
nd this people that the effort TO keep
ID expensive establishments in this
ountry is sending more business men
o temporal perdition than all other
ausos combined What was it that sent
iilman to the penitentiary, and Phila-
elphia Morton to thewatering Of stocks,
nd the life insurance presidents TO per-
ured statements about their assets, and
las completely upset our American
nances? What was it that overthrow
the United States secretary at Washing