The united opinion. [volume] (Bradford, Vt.) 1881-1970, 1898-01-21
WOMEN ENCOURAGED
Or. TALMAGE's WORDS OF CHEER TO
THE GENTLE SEX.

Girls should Be Taught to Take Care of
themselves.
PLAYWRIGHT 1898. by American Press Asso-
ciation1
WASHINGTON, Jan. 16.-This sermon
of DR.. Talmage is great encourage
ment to women who have to earn their
own living, as well as to all toilers with
hand or brain; text Proverbs xiv, /,
"Eyery wise woman buildeth her
house.
Woman a mere adjunct to man, an
appendix to the masculine volume, an
appendage, a sort of afterthought, some
thing thrown in to make things even
that is the heresy entertained and i'm
piled by some men. This is evident to
them, because Adam was first created,
and then Eve. They don't read the
whole story, or they would find that the
porpoise and the bear and the hawk
were created before Adam, so that this
argument, drawn from priority of crea-
tion, might prove that the sheep and
the dog were greater than man. NO
Woman was an independent creation
and was intended, if she chose, to live
alone, to work alone, act alone, think
alone and fight her battles alone. The
Bible says it is not good for man to be
alone, but never says it is not good for
woman to be alone, and the simple fact
is that many women who are harnessed
for life in the marriage relation would
be a thousandfold better off if they were
alone.
Who are these men who year after
year hang around hotels and engine
houses and theater doors and come III
and out to bother busy clerks and mer-
chants and mechanics, doing nothing
when there is plenty to do? They are
men supported by their wives and moth
ers. If the statistics of any of our cities
could be taken ON this subject, you
would find that vast multitude OF wo-
men not only support themselves, but
masculines. A great legion of men
amount to nothing, and woman by
marriage manacled to one of these non
entities needs coincidence. A woman
standing outside the marriage relation
is several hundred thousand times bet
ter off than q woman badly married.
Many bride, instead of wreath OF
orange blossoms, might more properly
wear bunch Of nettles and nightshade,
and instead of the wedding march
more appropriate tune would be the
dead march in "Saul," and instead of
q banquet Of confectionery and ices
there might be more appropriately
spread a table covered with apples of
Sodom.
Mistakes of Marriage.
Many an attractive woman Of good
sound sense in other things has married
one of these men to reform him. What
was the result? Like when dove, no.
ticing that a vulture was rapacious and
cruel, set about to reform it and said,
81 have a mild disposition, and like
peace and was brought up i'll the quiet
of dovecot, and l will bring the vul-
ture to the same liking by marrying
him, - so one day, after the vulture de-
clared he would give up his carnivorous
habits and cease longing for blood OF
flock and herd, at an altar of rock COW
cred with moss and lichen the twain
were married, Il baldheaded eagle off
ciating, the vulture saying, with all
my dominion of earth and sky | thee
endow and promise to love and cherish
till death do us part" But one day the
dove in her fright saw the vulture busy
at a carcass and cried "Stop that! Did
you not promise me that you would quit
your carnivorous and filthy habits if |
married you?'' Eyes, " said the vulture,
"but if you don't like my way you can
leave" And with one angry stroke Of
the beak and another fierce clutch of
the claw the vulture left the dove eye
less and wingless and lifeless, and a
flock Of robins flying past cried to each
other and said "See there That comes
from a dove marrying vulture to re-
form him."
Many woman who has had the hand
of a young inebriate offered, but de-
clined it, or who was asked to chain
her life TO man selfish or of bad tenn
per and refused the shackles, Will bless
God throughout all eternity that she es-
capped that earthly pandemonium.
Husbands Not Necessary.
Besides all this, i'll our country about
1000, 600 men were sacrificed IN our
civil war, and that decreed LOCO, 600
women to celibacy. Besides that, since
the war several armies of men as large
as 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, and the victims fell
while yet young. And if 80, 600 men
are destroyed every year by strong drink
before marriage that makes in the 33
years since the war ] $50, 600 men slain
and DEGREES 1850, 900 women to celib-
acy. Take, then, the fact that so many
women are unhappy in their marriage
and the fact that the slaughter of
2,550,0 men by war and rum COM
bined decides that at least that number
of women shall be unaffiancd for life,
my text comes in with a cheer and po-
tenoy and appropriateness that you may
never have seen 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 supervisor, achieve her own des-
tiny.
- L