The Washburn times. [volume] (Washburn, Wis.) 1896-1976, 1910-05-26

[[1NWMI9 sesa.&
&5NlVJ'+E[,PiTl~>
FOLLY ON FOLLOWING FASHION.

by ItSV. JOIN AuuSTSOu Jay hS'
Text: The daughters of Zion are
naughty, and walk with stretched
forth necks and wanton eyes, walking
and mincing as they go, and making
a tinkling with their feet
therefore thy men shall fall by the
sword, and thy mighty in war. -
Isaiah ill.,, &c. 20.
1t is evident from the reading of
the old prophecy of Isaiah that the
daughters of ancient Jerusalem were
in many respects similar to the
daughters of modern America. They
cared much for outward adornment,
paid particular attention to changing
styles and lived for the qualification OF
the senses Here and there among
them, it is true, there were noble and
righteous women Women who were
content to live the simple life. Women
who we're satisfied with the results OF
honest toll Women who were willing
to do with their might the work Civ
en- them to do" Women who were
we'll pleased and satisfied to live with
in their income.
But, as appears from reading of
the writings of Isaiah, the great ma
jority of them lived for the sensations
they might create or experience, the
style they might present, the envy
they might arouse in the breasts of
the less fortunate.
When a nations women give them
col f0 1ohf Of ri a Y16
fashion, forgetting faith and frugali-
ty, then the men of that nation be-
come weak, effeminate. the easy prey
for people stronger than themselves
When Richard Ill, as portrayed to-
US in wonderful character delineation
by the Bard of Avon, listened ito the
I voluptuous musings of the lutte" and
"darceG attendance on my ladies'
whims" then he became soft and weak
himself When he came in contact
with a powerful feminine mind, them
he rallied himself and showed the
masculine stuff of which he was
made When the women of imperial
Rome were content to live sober and
qiuet lives, then Rome and her armies
we're unconquerable. The decline and
fall of the Roman empire is directly
traceahle to the corruptions of her
women, their desire for finery and
their willingness. to sacrifice all that
men should hold dear for the sake Of
purple and fine linen.
AS the women of a country are, so
will the men of that country be. What
was true of The women of Sparta, Car
thage, Rome, and the women of our
own country forty-fve and fifty years
ago, was true of the women of Jeru-
salem at the time Isaiah wrote. They
nodded the thought of the men, they
shaped the characters and determined
the destiny of the nation. Many a
man. can trace the beginnings of his
failures to the eXtravagances of the
women folk of his family, who, not
satisfied with the fruits of honest toll,
demand that they be supplied with
large sums of money, so that they may
fellow in the train of some society
dame, whose income is far beyond her
ability to wisely expend.
1t is right that a woman should
dress neatly and with a display of in
telligent taste, but why dresses, coats,
capes, bonnets, shoes, gloves and the
infinite variety of incidentals that so
to make up a modern woman's ward
robe should be discarded simply at the
behest of Dame Fashion, is more than
the preacher or any other "nelo man"
can understand. But a woman makes
reply, ct is better for woman to be
dead than out Of fashion" Probably
it is for that kind of a woman. But
for woman who desires to be a true
helpmeet for her husband, who be-
lieves that the training of children
God has given her is a sacred duty,
who wishes to be sharer in the de-
velopment of the nation-for such a
woman there are many things worse
than being out of style.