The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1875-05-01 00:00:00

Iliiii

THE DEAN OF CHESTER ON
" FASHION."

In London, on Sunday afternoon, the fourth of
the series of sermons on The Use and Abuse of
the World " at St. James's Church, Piccadilly, was
preached to a large congregation by the Very Rev.
the Dean of Chester (Dr. Howson), whose special
topic of discourse was Fashion."

Prayers having been read by the Rector, the Rev.
J. E. Kempe, the Dean gave out as his text part of
the 31st verse of the 7th chapter of St. Paul's First
Epistle to the Corinthians—" The fashion of this world
passeth away." Having in his introductory remarks
intimated that he intended to speak chiefly of
" fashion' " as the word is now most commonly
understood in connection with dress he remarked on
the extraordinary rapidity with dress,
fashion in
that sense will Lwade and introduce variety into a
country which previously had been in that respect
for ages immovable. In various parts of Europe
fifty years ago, he said, there were indigenous customs
which had prevailed during a long period without
change. Now, fashion, stretching her hand from
Paris, had touched those regions, and successive
varieties of dress pursued their course there, so far
as the possibilities of the case allowed, in the same
mode as elsewhere. Domestic servants fifty years
ago did not feel the necessity which they now felt
of following with eager steps, so as sometimes almost
to surpass, the mode of the day. One of the most re-
markable instances of this liability to sudden change
was to be found at that moment in Japan, where, in
the midst of a high civilization, and after an imme-
morial resistance to change, the familiar costume of
our London streets was beginning to be copied. In
dealing with that subject religiously, he thought it
would be a mistake to speak of it as though that
great power which they were so ready to condemn
was altogether evil, without any admixture; on the
contrary, it seemed to him that in some respects it
was positively good. The mere fact that it existed at
all invested it with something of the claim of a law
of human life. Human nature had its laws irrespec
tive of sin, and the harm of fashion resided rather in
abuse than in the thing itself. They ought to be pre-
pared to find some good in fashion and they might
even expect to find some religious advantages. Fashion
varied the monotony of social life, and added greatly
to its interest. Changing customs brought before the
notice of the mind many things of real value that
would otherwise be overlooked, and many things,
through the operation of the same cause, were usefully
laid up in the museum of the past. This point the
preacher illustrated by a reference to the architecture
of the Middle Ages. Another advantage of fashion,
he observed, was that it evidently stimulated manu-
factures and trade, promoted the remunerative employ-
ment of many persons, and gave an impulse toinven-
tivenesa. Further, to those who wish to live an
orderly, simple, Christian life, so that the mind might
not be disturbed by minor matters, such as those
which concerned dress, surely it was a benefit to have
some such things fixed and determined for them. As
the case stood, subjects which might otherwise
occupy a great deal of thought, and might either
excite incessant scruples or stimulate a never-resting
love of display, were taken out of the region of
individual choice. The mere existence of fashion
set some troublesome questions at rest, and left
the mind free, accepting such things as a matter
of course, to treat them with the indifference that
belonged to them. Again, fashion was a teat
of training in more ways than one, and that both
collectively and individually. Fashion in any age must
be more or leas a reflection of the character of the
age. Here the preacher entered into the question
of the relation of fashion to public opinion, and in
doing so he glanced at the reign of Charles 11. as a
time when fashion in very bad fcrms had peculiar
Dower, and at the foundation of that period of the
Royal Society, when, in the words of a brilliant
essayist, " it was almost necessary to the character
of a fine gentleman to have something to say about
air pumps and telescopes, and even fine ladies thought
it becoming to affect a taste for science." Thus (con-
tinued the preacher) fashion became an early hand-
maid to that of physical science which, if it now
reigned somewhat intolerantly over a considerable ox-
tent of the intellectual world, had filled our lives with
unnumbered blessings. He then proceeded to consider
the evils and dangers of fashion. The first evil which
he mentioned was undue pre-occupation of mind.
Under the pressure of the law of fashion the
thoughts were mastered by subjects which were not
worthy to exercise any such mastery. If the truth
were told, if a careful self examination were followed by
an open confession, they would hear curious revelations
of even religious minds preoccupied, unsettled, and
made trivial from this cause during service at church.
The gossamer speculations of fashion floated through
the brain far too easily in combination with the very
sound of the words of the Prayer Book. Next, it
followed from all this that fashion involved pecuniary
loss in two ways, first by causing capricious disturb-
ances of industrial employment, and next by creating
a great temptation to extravagance. In the higher
ranks the imperious power of fashion could not be
said to add much to the happiness and comfort of
domestic life. It was evident that in many cases
if the prevalent mode were followed at all hazard
heavy guilt rested on those who had surrendered
their lives to vanity and folly. Another great
evil was the cruelty of fashion. All selfishness
was cruelty, and subservience to fashion was itself
a selfish habit of mind. At first sight, indeed, the
fashion of the world might appear to be sympathetic,
but it was not so in any true sense. The language
which the votary of fashion used to himself was this—
"l will do what others do "—(in other words "I will
do what I like")—" whatever becomes of those around
me." Could anything be more different from the lan-
guage of Christian ethics? Another evil of fashion
was that it drew us on into certain courses of conduct
and certain modes of speech through the force of mere
imitation. To sum up the case against fashion in one
word, she sought to guide our life by setting before us
a false standard. The Bible declared that whatever
we did, whether it was great or small, we were to do
it "to the glory of God." In conclusion, the preacher
dwelt on the precautions and remedies against the
danger and the harm of fashion in a manner harmonis-
ing with the principle thus referred to.