The Londonderry sifter. (South Londonderry, Vt.) 1883-19??, 1894-08-10

with silver handles at the side OF tho
coffin of extraordinary brightness II
will be found out that the undertaken
Is cheated ont Of his legitimate expenses.
Do not send to me to preach the funeral
sermon Of man who dies like that !
will blurt out the whole truth and tell
that he was strangled to death by his
wife's ribbons Our countries are dress.
cd to death. You are not surprised to
find that the putting up Of one public
building in New York cost millions Of
dollars more than 1t ought to have cost
when you find that the man who gave
out the contracts paid more than e6,-
900 for his daughters wedding dress
Cashmeres Of thousand dollars each
are not rare ON Broadway. II is estimat-
ed that there are 10, 900 women In these
two cities who have expended ON their
personal array "a. 900 year.
What are men to do in order to keep
up such home wardrobes? Stealp That
Is tho only respectable thing they can
do! Daring the last 10 years there have
been innumerable fine businesses ship.
wrecked on the wardrobe. The tempta-
ton comes in this way: A man thinks
more of his family than Of all the world
outside, and if they spend the evening
in describing to him the superior ward
robe of the family across the street that
they cannot bear the sight of the man
is thrown on his gallantry and on his
pride Of family and without translat-
ing his feelings into plain language he
goes into extortion and issuing false
stock and skillful penmanship in writ
ing somebody else's name at the foot Of
promissory note, and they oil go down
together-the husband to the prison,
the wife to the sewing machine, the
children to be taken care Of by those
who were called poor relations. Oh,
for some new Shakespeare to arise and
write the tragedy Of human clothesl
Will you forgive me if say in ters-
est shape possible that some Of the men
have to forge and to perjure and to
swindle to pay for their wives dresses?
will say 1t whether you forgive me
OF not!
Again, inordinate fashion is the foe
of all Christian almsgiving. Men and
women put so much In personal display
that they often have nothing for God
and the cause of suffering humanity. A
Christian man cracking his Palais Roy
al glove across the back by shutting up
his hand to hide the cent he puts into
the poorbox. A Christian woman, at
the story Of the Hottentots, crying CO.
pious tears into $25 handkerchief and
then giving 3 cent piece to the colleo-
ton, thrusting it under the bills so peo-
pie will not know but 1t was $40 gold
piece. One hundred dollars for incense
to fashion; 2 cents for God. God gives
us 90 cents out or every dollar. The
other 10 cents by command Of his Bible
belong to him. Is not God liberal ao-
cording to his tithing system laid down
in the Old Testament? Is not God lib
eral in giving us 90 cents out Of dollar
when he takes but 10? We do not like
that. We want to have 90 cents for our
selves and for God
Now, Iwould great deal rather steal
10 cents from you than from God. !
think one reason why great many peo-
pie do not get along in worldly accumu
lation faster is because they do not OBJ
serve this divine rule. God says, We'll,
if that man is not satisfied with 80 cents
of dollar, then I will take the whole
dollar, and will give it to the man or
woman who is honest with me-" The
greatest obstacle to charity in the Chris
tian church today is the feet that men
expend SO much money on their table,
and women SO much on their dress, they
have got nothing left for the work Of
God and the worlds betterment. In my
first settlement at Belleville, N. j., the
cause Of missions was being presented
one Sabbath, and plea for the charity
Of the people was being made, when an
old Christian man in the audience lost
his balance and said right out in the
midst Of the sermon, ''Mr. Talmage,
how are we to give literally to these
grand and glorious causes when our
families dress as they dor" l did not
answer that question. It was the only
time in my life when had nothing to
say.
Again, inordinate fashion is distrac-
ton to public worship. You know very
we'll there are good many people who
come to church just as they 60 to the
races-to see who will come out first
What futter it makes in church when
some woman with extraordinary display
Of fashion comes in! What love Of
a bennett says some one. "What a
perfect fright say 500. For the most
merciless critics in the world are FASH
ion critics. Men and women with souls
to be saved passing the hour in wonder
ing where that man got his cravat or
what store that woman patronizes.
In many Of our churches the prelim-
mary exercises are taken up with the
discussion Of wardrobes. It is pitiable
Is it not wonderful that the Lord does
not strike the meeting houses with
lightning? What distraction Of public
worship! Dying men and women, whose
bodies are soon to be turned into dust,
yet before three worlds strutting like
peacnks, the awful question Of the
souls destiny submerged by the ques-
ton Of navy blue velvet and long fan
train skirt long enough to drag up the
church aisle, the husbands store, Office,
shop, factory, fortune and the admira-
ton Of half the people in the buildingi
Men and women come late to church to
show their clothes People sitting down
in pew or taking up hymnbook, all
absorbed at the same time in personal
array, to sing:
Rise, my soul, and stretch thy wings;
Thy better portion trace.
Rise from transitory things
Toward heaven, thy native place.
/ adopt the Episcopalian prayer and
say, GOOD Lord, deliver usl''
Iusatiate fashion also belittles the in
tellect Our minds are enlarged or they
dwindle just in proportion to the i'm
portance of the subject on which we
constantly dwell. Can you imagine any
thing more dwarfing to the human in
tellect than the study of fashion? see
men on the street who, Judging from
l At~as~ II 4 IL Il