Phenix gazette. [volume] (Alexandria [D.C.]) 1825-1833, 1828-11-24
MOURNING APPAREL.
But now he is dead, Wherefore :. sh agm! Il

These remarks dShiho' W"u'"ibF aPPsa>'S
are admitted with the sincerest kindness to-
wards the affiic,ed. These uappinss OF griei
Sem indifferent aud childish where there IS re al
grief and where there is not, they are mock
ery. The principal objections against the Gus
tom Of wearing mourning apparel, are, that 1t
is useless, inconvenieDt, and expensive.
For wha, use does it serve? To remind me
,ha, am in affection? do not wish to be so
nointed out. Shall the sable garb be adopted
then. because it is grateful to my teel,ng'-be-
cause il is kind of solace to me! can gain
no consolation from II.
Blu, if the custom is useless, It's Inconve-
niepce forms a still greater objection, 1t is
inconyeniert, because il throws the care OF par
chasing and making clothes, upon family, at
the very moment, when on every account IL
most needs seclusion and qnjctness-when,
worn out with care and watching, anC sorrow,
j, needs retirement and relief. There is
shocking unseemliness, had almost said sa-
crilege, in turning the house OF death INTO
shon for the dress maker! Who that has ever
witnessed VIVA, is passing, on one of these oc-
casions-who that has seen the broken hearted
victims of affection brought forth IN be dress
ed I'M as oaCeants and harassed with inquiries
nbont mourning gowns and bonnets, or heard,
intermingled with their signs and tears, paitry
and vain discussions shout the adjustment OF
mournin, caps and rihbons--whn, l say, has
no, Eel, that al This is inconvenient, ill.timed
and unbecoming, beyond what any force OF Ian
guage can express!
b. the creates, objection af:er all, TO the use
Of mourning apparel, is the expense. mat tue
expeuse presses heavily upon The poor is a mat
Ter very well known, and believe very gene
rally regretted. But this is not ALI II presses
heavily upon the body Of the community. None
bu, the opulent, in fact, can afford it. There
are few families in the country, with whom the
expense Of mourning apparel does not form
burdensome addition to the bills OF the mer-
! chant. Besides, this is the mos, expensive kind
of appareI; and there is always on these occa>
sions-from haste and the neutrality-suspicious.
of an afflicted mind, about worldly things
there is a great deal Of extravaganza aud waste.
And more than all, this expense comes at
time. when Of all times it can be least easily
borne. II comes in addition to all the expenses
of sickness, the paying of attendants, aud the
charges Of the physician. 1t comes, perhaps,
at the verv moment The main supper, and re-
lance Of family is taken away. when the
husband, the father, the provider, is cut Off
when he has departed from the world with no
feeling Of distress so deep, as that ne was to
leave destitute those who were dearer 10 him
than life-then il is, that the desolaie and de-
priyed upder false notion Of showing respect
TO him, are obliged, by the customs OF society,
10 abrdge the already narrow means on which
,hey have to rely. How many are the cases in
which considerable portion, and even the
whole of what remains for the widow and the
fa,berless, is expended, not in providing for
bsis wants, but in merely orraytng them Tor
cir dssolate condition. Brooks Daily Men.