Democratic messenger. [volume] (Snow Hill, Md.) 1869-1973, 1902-04-26
DEATH OF DR.. TA[MAGE
hakes Appropriate Reprinting
HIS FAMOUS SERMON
Considered by Many the Mas
terpiece of the Great
Pulpit Orator
'On the Choice Of a Wife. "
Marriage Not For All-Multitudes Who
to Marry-Some Eminent Biunderers-
Avoid NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. Quail
ties-Beauty u Benediction.

discourse is one of a series of sermons on
domestic life delivered several years ago
by the late Rev. DIR. I. DE Witt Talmage,
and by many admirers Is considered his
pulpit masterpiece. In commemoration
of his death it is now republished. 1t was
founded on the text, Judges xiv, 3: rs
there never a woman among the daugh-
tiers OF thy brethren, or among all my
people. that thou goest to take a wife OF
the uncircumcsed Philistines:'
Samson, the giant, Is here asking con-
sent of his father and mother TO mar
rage with one whom they thought unfit
for him. He was wise III asking their
counsel, but not wise in rejecting it. Cap
tivated with her looks, the big son wanted
TO marry a daughter OF one OF the hostile
families, a deceitful, hypocritlcal, whining
and saturnne creature. who afterward
made for him 2 world OF trouble till she
quit him forever. In my text his parents
forbade the banns, practically saying:
when there are so many honest and
beautiful maidens OF your own country,
are You so hard put TO for lifetime part
ner that you propose conjugalty with this
foreign hirt! Is there such dearth OF
lilies in our Israelitish gardens that You
must wear on your heart a Phil:stine
thistleg Do you take a crabapple because
there are no pomegranates; Is there never
a woman among the daughters of thy
brethren, or among all my people. that
cised Philistines:"
Excuseless was he for such choice in a
land and amid a race celebrated for fe;
male loneliness and moral worth, land
and race of which selfdenying Abigail
and heroic Deborah. and dazzling Miriam,
and pious Esther. and glorious Ruth. and
Mary, who Rugged to her heart the blessed
Lord, were only magnificent specimens.
The midnight folded in their hair, the
: lakes of liquid beauty in their eye, the
gracefulness of spring morning in their
posture and gait, were only typical of the
greater brilliance and glory OF their soul.
Likewise exeuseiess is any man in our
time who makes lifelong alliance with any
one who, because of her disposition, or
heredity, or habits. or intellectual vanity
or moral classification, may be said to be
of the Philistines.
The world never owned such opulence
OF womanly character or such splendor OF
womanly manners or multitudinous in
stances OF wifely, mOtherly. daughterly.
sisterly devotion. as 1t owns to-day. |
have not words to express my admiration
for good womanhood. Woman is not
only mans equal, but in affectional and re-
Hgious lture, which Is the best part of
US, sb' IS seventy-five per cent. his SUI
peric-. Yea, during the last twenty years,
through the increased opportunity opened
for female education. the women OF the
country are better educated than the ma
jority of men: and if they continue to
advance mentally at the present ratio, be-
fore long the majority of men will have
difficulty in finding in the opposite sex
enough ignorance to make appropriate
consort. If l am under a delusion as TO
the abundance of good womanhood abroad,
consequent upon my surroundings since
the hour / entered this life until now, [
hope the delusion will last until l embark
from this planet So you will understand.
II say IN this course OF sermons some
thing that seems severe, l am neither
cynical nor disgruntled.
There are in almost every farmhouse in
the country, in almost every home of the
great town, conscientious women. worship
ful women, self-sacrihcing women, holy
women, innumerable Marys. sitting at the
feet of Christ: innumerabe mothers, help
ing TO feed Christ in the person of His
suffering disciples; a thousand capped and
specialized grandmothers Lois, bending
lowed IRON early grlhood: and tens of
thousands of young women that are dawn
ing upon us from school and seminary.
that are going to bless the world with
good and happy homes, that shall eclipse
all their predecessors, fact that will be
acknowledged by all men except those who
are struck through with moral decay from
toe to Uranium; and more inexcusable
than the Samson of the text is that man
who, amid all this unparalleled munifi.
cence of womanhood. marries a fool But
some of ysu are abroad suffering from
such disaster. and to halt Others Of you
from going over cne same precIpice, 1 cry
out in the words of my text: Us there
never a woman among the daughters OF
thy brethren. or among all my people. that
thou goest to take a wife of the uncir
cumcised Philistines:"
That marriage is the destination of the
human race Is a mistake that / want tc
correct before l go further. There are
multitudes who never will marry, and still
greater multitudes who are not fit td
marry: In Great Britain to-day there are
nine hundred and forty-eight thousand
more women than men, and that, l UNI
derstand, is about the ratio in America
BY mathematical and inexorable law, YOU
see, millions OF women will never marry
The supply for matrimony greater than
the demand. the first lesson of which is
that every woman ought to prepare to
take care OF herself If need be. Then there
are thousands of men who have no right
to marry, because they have become so
corrupt OF character that their offer OF
marriage Is an insult to any good woman
: Society will have to be toned up and cor.
rected on this subject, so that it shall
reallze that II woman who has sacrificed
her honor is untitled for marriage. so Is
any man who has ever sacrificed his pur.
ity What right have you. o masculine
beast. whose life has been loose to take
under your care the spotlessness OF a vir.
GIN reared IN the sanctity of a respectable
homer Will a buzzard dare to court a
dove?
But the majority of YOU will marry, and
have right to marry, and as your re-
llgious teacher / wish to say to these men,
IN the choice of a wife first of all seek
divine direction. About thirty-five wears
ago, when Martin Farquhar Upper, the
English poet, urged men to prayer before
they decided upon matrimonial association,
people laughed. And some of them have
lived to laugh on the other side of their
mouth.
The need of divine direction / argue
from the fact that so many men, and
some OF them strong and WISE have
wrecked their lives at this juncture Wit.
ness Samson and this woman of Timnathl
Witness Socrates, pecked of the historical
Xantippei Witness job whose wife had
nothing to prescribe for his carbuncles
but allopathic doses of profanitv, Witness
Ananias, liar, who might perhaps hav.
been cured by truthful spouse, yet mar
rying as great a liar as himself-Sapphira
Witness John Wesley. one Of the best
men that ever lived, united to one of the
most outrageous and scandalous OF women,
who sat in City Road Chapel making
mouths at him while he preached Wit
ness the once connubial wretchedness of
John Ruskin, the great art essayist, and
Frederick w. Robertson, the great preach.
er. Witness a thousand hells on earth
kindled by unworthy wives, termagants
that scold like n March northeastern; fe-
male spendthrifts. that put their hus.