Rensselaer Republican, Volume 20, Number 24, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 16 February 1888 — WOMANLY AMBITION. [ARTICLE]

WOMANLY AMBITION.

A*Mar is No Belter Than Hi. Wife Will Let Him Be. The R»»poo»lb|llly Keating t’por Her Caur.r, •«<! Which Peeides thn Acte ot leainidnalr, Vennllinn and Nations. I I ■ ill I Rev. Dr. Talmage, in the Brooklyn Tabernacle, last Bunday, preached the sixth of his series of “Sermons to Women of America, with Importent Hints for Men.” The subject was: “Wifely Ambition, Good and Bad,” and the text was from I. Kings, xxi., 7: “Arise, and eat bread, and let thine heart be merry: 1 will give thee the vineyard of Naboth.” Dr. Talmage said: One day King Ahab, looking out of the window of his palace at Jesreel, said to bis wife Jezebel: “We ought to have these royal gardens enlarged. If we could only get mat fellow Naboth, who owns that vineyard but there, to trade or sell, we could make it a kitchen garden for onr palace.” “Fetch in Nauoth,” says the King to one of his servants. The plain gardener, wondering why he should be called into the presence of His Majesty, comes in, a little downcast in his modesty and with very obaequi oua manner bows to the King. The King Bays: “Naboth, I want to trace vineyards with you. I want your vineyard for a kitchen garden, and I will give a great deal better vineyard in place of it, or, if you prefer money for it 1 will give you cash.” “Oh, no,” Buys Naboth, “1 can not trade off my little place, nor can I sell it. It is the old homestead. I got it ol my father and be of his father, and I can not let the old place go out of my bands.” In a great state of petulancy King Ahab want into the bouse and flung himself on the bed, and turned his fact to the wall in a great pout. His wife Jtzebel comes in and she saya: “What is the matter with you? Are vou sick?”

“Oh.” he says, “I feel very blue. I have Bet my heart on getting that kitcli en garden, and Naboth will neither trade nor sell, and to be defeated by a comnaon gardner is more than I can stand.” "Oh, pt>baw,” says J« zibel, “don’t go on that way. Get up and eat yonr dinner and stop moping. I will get for you that ki’chen garden.” Then Jtzibel borrowed her husband’s signet or seal, for then, as now, in thoee lands Kings never signed their names, but bad a ring with lhe royal name engraved on it. and that impressed on a royal letter or document was the signature. She stamped her husband’s name on a proclamation, which resulted in getting Naboth tried for treason against the King, and two perjured witneeses swere their Fouls away with the life of Naboth, and he was stoned to death and his property came to the crown, and so Jezabel got for her husband and herself the kitchen garden. But while the wild street dogs were rending the dead body of poor Naboth, Elijah, the prophet, tells them of other canines that will after a while have a free banquet, saying: “Where dogs lick the blood of Naboth shall dogs lick thy blood, even thine.” And sure enough, three years after, Ahab wounded in battle, bis chariot dripping with the carnage, docs stood under it lapping his life’s blood. And had been his chief adviser in crime, stands at her palace window and sees Jehu, the enemy, approaching to take possession of the palace. And to make herself look as attractive as possible, and queenly to the very last, she decorated her person, and, according to the Oriental custom, closed her eyes and ran a brush dipped in black powder along the long eye-lashes, and then from the window she glared her indignation upon Jehu. Ashe rode to the gates in his chariot, he shouted to the slaves in her room: “Throw her downl” But no doubt the slaves halted a moment from such work of assassination, yet, know ing Jezebel could be no more to them «nd the conqueror Jehu would beeverything. as be shouted again: Throw her down!” they sex-id her and bore her, struggling and cursing, to the window casement and hurled her forth till she came tumbling to the earth, striking it jnst in time to let Jehu's horses trample Jier and the chariot wheels roll nverfrpr While Jehu is inside at the table refreshing himself after the excitement he ordered his servants to go out and bury the dead Queen. But the wild street dogs had for the third time appeared on the scene, and they had removed all her body except those parts which in all ages, dogs are by a strange instinct or brutal superstition kept from touching after death—the palms of the hands and the soles of the feet.

All this appalling scene of ancient history was the result of a wife’s bad advice to a husband—of a wife’s struggle to advance her husband’s interests by unlawful means. Ahab and got the kichen garden of Naboth, but the dogs got them. The trouble all began when this mistaken wife aroused her husband out of his melancholy bv the words of the text: "Arise and eat bread, and let thine heart be merry. 1 will give thee the vineyard of Naboth.” The influence suggested by this subject is an influence you never before heard discoursed on, and may never hear again, but a most potent, and semiomnipotent influence, and decides the course of individuals, families, nations, centuries and eternities. I speak of wifely ambition, good and bad. How important that , every wife have her ambition—an elevated, righteous and divinely approved ambition! And here let me say what I am most anxious for is that woman, not waiting for the rights denied her or postponed, promptly and decisively employ the rights she already has in possession. Some say she wilPbein a fair way to get all her rights when she gets the right to the ballot box. I wish that the experiment might be tried and settled, I would like to see ail women vote and th -n watch the result Ido not know that it would change anything for the better. Most wives and daughters and sisters would vote as their husbandj and fathers and brothers voted. Nearly all fsmiles that I know are solidly Republican or Dernoc'atic or Prohibition. Those families all voting would make more votes, but no difference in the result. Besides that, as now at the polls, menace bought up by the thousands, women would be bought up by the thousands. The more voters the more opportunityfor political corruption. I

W« have several million mor* voters now than are for public good. ' A* to women’s waxes to be corrected by woman’s vote, 1 have not much faith in that. Women are iunder on women than men are. Masculine employers are mean enough in treatment of women, but if you want to bear beating -own of prioea and wages in perfection, listen how some women treat washer women and drees makers and female servants. Mrs. Shy lock is more merciless than Mr. Rbylock. Women. I f«ai, will ‘never get righteous wages through woman’s vote. And as to unfortunate womanhood, women are far more cruel and unforgiving than men are. After a woman has made a shipwreck of her character men generally drop her; but women do not so much drop her as hnrl her with the force of a catapult clear out and off, and down and under.

No one can so inspire a man to noble purposes as a noble woman, and no one so thoroughly degrade a man as a wife of unworthy tendencies. While in my text we have illustration of wifely ambition employed in the wrong direction, society and history are full of instances of wifely ambition glorously triumphant in right directions. 0, woman, what is your wifely ambition, noble or ignoble? Is it high social position? That will then probably direct vour husband, and he will climb, and scramble, and slip, and fall, and rise, and tumble, and on what level or in what depthor on what bight he will after a while be found I can not even guess. The contest for social position is the most satifactory contest in all the world, because it is eo ‘uncertain about you getting it, and so insecure a possesson after yon have obtained it, and so unsatisfactory even if you keep it. The whisk of a lady’s fan blow it out. The growl of one bear or the bellowing of one bull on Wall street may scatter it. Is the wife’s ambition the political preferment of her husband? Then that will probably direct him. What a Godforsaken realm is American politics those best know who have dabbled in it. After they have assessed a man who is a candidate for office which he d n es not get, or assessed him for some office attained, and he has been whirled round and round and round among the drinking, smoking, swearing crowd who often get conti ol of public aflairs, all that is left of his self-respect or moral stamina would find plenty of room bn a geometrical point whicnis said to have neither length, breaoth or thickness. Many a wife has not been satisfied till her husband went into politics, but would afterward have given all she possessed to get him out.

Iknewahigly moral man, useful in the church and possessor of a bright home. He had a useful and prosperous business, but his wife did not think it genteel enough. There were odors about the business, and sometimes they would adhere to his garments when he returned at night. She insisted on his doing something more elegant although he was qualified for no business except that in which he was engaged. To please her he changed his business and in order to get on faster abandoned church attendance, saying alter be had made a certain number of hundreds of thousands of dollars he would return to the church and its services. Where is that family today? Obliterated. Although succeeding in business for which he was qualified, he undertook a style of merchandise for which he bad no qualification, and he soon went into bankruptcy. His new style of •business put him into evil association. He lost his morals as well as his money. He broke up not only his own home, but broke up another man’s home, and from being a kind, pure, generous, moral man as any of you who sit here to-day, has become a homeless, penniless libertine. His wife’s ambition tor a more genteel business destroyed him and disgracec her and blighted their only child. But suppose now there be in our homes, as thank God there are in hundreds of homes here represented, on the wifely throne one who says not only by her words but more powerfully by her acriom: "My husband onr destinies are united; let us see where industry, honesty, common sense and faith in God will put us. lam with you in all your enterprises. I can not be with you in person as.you go to your daily business but I will be with you in my prayers. Let us see what we can achieve by having God in our hearts, and Godin our fives, and God in our homes. Be on the side of every thing good. Go ahead and do your best, and though every thing should turn out different from what We have calculated, you may always count two who are going to help you. and God is one and lam the other.” That man may have feeble health, and may meet with many obstacles and business trials, but he is coming gloriously through, for he is reinforced and inspired and spurred on by a woman’s voice, as much as was Barak by Deborah when berera with nine hundred iron chariots came on to crush him and his army, and Deborah shouted into the ear of Barak: “Up! for this is the day in which the Lord hath delivered Sisera into thy hands.” And the enemy fell back, and Sisera’s chariot not getting along fast enough in the retreat,the General jumped out and took it afoot, and ran till be came to a place where a woman first gave him a drink of milk and then sent a spike through his skull., nailing him to the floor. Some of us could tell of what influence upon us has been a wifely ambition consecrated to righteousness. As my wife is out of town and will not shake her head because I say it in public, I will state that in my own professional life I have often been called of God, as 1 thought, to run into the very teeth of public opinion, and all outsiders with whom I advised told me I had better not; it woulU ruin me tnd ruin my church, and at the same time I was receiving nice little letters threatening me with dirk and pistol and poison if I persisted in attacking certain evils of the day, until the Commissioner of Police considered it his duty to take his place in our Sabbath services with forty officers scattered through the house for the preservation of order; but in my home there has always been one voice to sa'Go ahead and diverge not an inch from the straight line. Who cares, if only God is on our tide?” And though sometimes it seemed as if I w»s going out against nine hundred iron chariots, I went ahead, cheered by the domestic voice: “Up! for this is the day in which the Lord hath delivered Sisera into thine hands.” A man is no better than his wife will let him be. Oh! wives of America, swing your scepters of wifely influence for God and good homes! Do not urge your husbands to annex Naboth’s • V ’ ——-

vineyard to your palace of success, whether right or wrong, lest the dogs that come out to destroy Naboth come out also to devour yon. Righteousness will pay best in hie, will pay best in death, will pav best in the judgment, will pay best through all eternity. What a noble, wifely ambition, the determination, God helping, to aecom pany her companion across the stormy sea of this life and together gain the wharf of the Celestial City! o<«x him along with you! You cannot drive him there; you cannot drag him then ; but you can coax him there That is God’s plan. He coaxes us all the way—coaxes ns ont of our sins, coaxes ns to accept pardon, coaxes us to heaven. If we reach that blessed place it will be through a prolonged and divine coaxing. By the same procets take yonr companion, and then you will get th°re as well and all your household. Yon will stand in the rest and see yor husband come in. and see yonr cbihflren come in, if they have not preceded you. Glorified Christian wife! Pick up any crown you choose from off the King’s footstool and wear it; it was promised you long ago, and with it cover up all the scars of yonr earthly conflict