Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1894-08-10


His Bible belong TO Him. Is not Col liberal
according TO His tithlng system laid down
in the Old Testament Is not God liberal IN
giving US ninety cents out Of a dollar Wnen
He takes but ten? We 10 not like thai. we
want >. nave ninety-nine cents Tor ourss'eS
IA or Tor God. 1870,
Sow I would a great deal rather @teh' ten
cents from YOU than from God thlnA ouo
reason why a great many people 10 hot se'
along in worldly accumulation lHs'e'
cause they do not observe this divine rule:
God saws well. If that man is not satishsd
with ninety cents OF n dollar. then VIII
take the whole dollar, and | will give II 10
| the man or woman who Is honest WIN ne
The greatest obstacle TO charity IN the Inr's-
tian church to-day Is the TACT thAt men en-
pend so much money on their table, anu ""-
| men so much on their dress, they have go
! nothing lett for the work OF God ani the
yorld's bettsr.re l. In NV first settlement
AT Belleyllle " j.. the cause oi missions
was being presented one Sabbath, ana pea
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 10 give literally to those grand and glort-
Gus causes when our families dress as they
do?" did not answer that question. II
was the only time in my life when | had
nothing TO say.
! Again, inc. dinate fashion is distraction to
public worship. You know very we'll there
! are good many people VINO come to church
| lust az they 90 10 the races-to see who will
| come out lrst. What Il hutter II make. in
church when some WON III with eXtraorii-
nary display Of fashion comes in What a
| love OF a bonnet says one. WHAT per
! feet fright :" says 500. For the most merci
less critics in the world are fashion critics.
, Men and women with souls TO be saved pass
ing the hour In wondering where that man
got his cravat or what store that woman
patroniH1s.
In many of our churches the preliminary
exercises are taken up with the discussion
OF warirobes. 1t is pitAble. Ia it not Won
| derui that the Lord does not strike the
| meeting houses with lightning What dis
| traction OF public worship Dying men and
! and women, whose bodies are soon 10 bo
! turned into dust, vet before three worlds
dence, and with lavender Kid gloves that
make tighter 1T. And II you buy this thing
and wear II you will wish you had bought
| something else and worn II. And the frets
OF such a life will bring the crows feet to
your temples before they are due, and when
| YOU come to die you will have miserable
time. have seen men and women OF fash
ion die. and | never saw one OF them die
we'll The trappings of, there they lay on
the tumbled pillow, and there were just two
things that bothered them-a wasted life and
r coming eternity. could not pacify them
for their body, mind and soul had been ex-
hausted in the worship OF fashion, and they
| could not appreciate the gospel When |
| knelt by their bedside, they Were mumblng
out their regrets aud saying 80 God o
God ~ Their garments hung up in the
wardrobe, never again 10 be seen by them.
Without any exception. far rs my mem
DRY serves me. they diei without hope and
went into eternity unprepared..
The most ghastly deathbeis on earth are
the one where aman dies otdelirium tremens
and the other where woman dies after hav-
| ing sacrificed all h ar faculties OF body mind
and soul In the worship OF fashion. Ny
friends, we must appear in judgment to an
swer for what we have worn on our bodies as
well AS for what repentsncss we have exer-
clsed with our souls.
On that day see coming in Beau Brum-
mel OF the last century without his CLOAK,
like which all England got . cloak. and with
out his cane, Ike which all England got
cane, without his snufrbox, like which all
| strutting like peacocks the awful question
OF the souls destiny submerged by the ques-
ton OF navy blue velvet and long fan train
skirt. long enoug TO drag up the church
aisle, the husbands store, Office. shop fac
tory, fortune and the admiration Of half the
people In the building Men and women
People sitting down In a pew or taking up
hymnUook, all absorbed at the same time In
personal array, to sing
Rise my soul aud stretch thy wings:
Thy better portion trace.
Rise from transitory thugs
Toward heaven, tiny native place.
l adopt the Episcopallan prayer ani say,
Good Lord, deliver us =,
Insatiate fashion also bnittles the intel
lect. Our minds are enlarged or they dwin-
die Just in proportion to the importance of
the subject on which We constantly dwell
Can you imagine anything more dwarhng TO
the human intellect than the study OF fash
ionl see men on the street who. Judging
from their elaboration, must have taken two
hours to arrange their apparel After few
years of that kind OF absorption, which one
Of McAllisters magnitying glasses will be
powerful enough to make the mans charao-
ter visible2 They all land In idocy
| have seen men at the summer watering
places. through fashion, the mere wreck OF
what they once were. Sallow OF cheek
Meagre OF limb. Hollow at the chest. Show
ing no animation save In rushing across "A
room to pick up ladys fan. Simpering
along the corridors the same compliments
they simpered twenty years ago New
York lawyer at United States Hotel, Sara
toga, within our hearing, rushed across a
room to say to sensible woman, "You are
AS sweet as peaches " The fools OF fashion
are myriad. Fashion not only destroys the
body, but 1t makes idIotic the intellect
Yet, my friends, have given YOU only the
milder phase of this evil. Ii shuts a great
multitude out OF heaven. The first peal OF
thunder that shook Sinai declared, "Thou
shalt have no other God before Me-" and
you will have TO choose between the goddess
OF fashion and the Christian God. There
are great many seats In heaven, and they
are all easy seats, but not one seat for the
devotee OF fashion. Heaven is Tor meek and
quiet spirits Heaven Is for those who think
more Of their souls than OF their bodies
Heaven Is for those who have more Joy In
Christian charity than In dry goods religion.
Why, II you, with your idolatry OF fashion,
should somehow get into heaven you would
be for putting a French roof on the "house
OF many mansions" Give up this idolatry
of fashion or give up heaven. What would
you do standing beside the Countess o
Huntington, whose Joy 1t was to build
chHpels for the poor, or with that Christian
woman OF Boston who fed 1000 children OF
the street at Faneuil Hall on New Years
day, giving out rs IA sort Of doxology at the
end OF the meeting pair Of shoes TO each
one of them, or those Decreases OF modern
society who have consecrated their needles
TO the Lord, and who will get eternal reward
for every stitch they take?
Oh men and women, give up the idolatry
OF fashion The rivalries and the competi.
tons OF such lifo are u stupendous wretch.
edness. You will always find some one with
brighter array and with more palatial rest.
England got a snufrbox-he. tho fop OF the
ages, particular about everything but his
morals, and Aaron Burr without the letters
that down to old age he showed In pride 20
prove his early wicked gallantrIes, and Alb
salon without his hair, and Warehouses
Pompadour without her titles. and Mrs
Arnold, the belle Of Wall street. when that
was the center OF fashion, without her frlp-
! peries OF vesture.
And in great haggardness they shall 90
away into eternal expatriaton, while among
the queens OF heavenly society will be found