The Massachusetts spy, and Worcester County advertiser. [volume] ([Worcester, Mass.]) 1825-1831, 1829-06-10

. he logged, to the Gland of steady habits
chuckllng III his good fortune, and the I'M
profitable roguery of the Brigadier, who had
nothing for his consolation but the compunc-
TONS of conscience the gibes and taunts
OF his enemies, and the never ceasinp rail-
iery OF his friends. And RuggIes and has
bull" is the standing jest in that section of
the country "to this day" The moral of
the tale IS comprised in the well known
proverb, Honesty is the best policy"
ARIsTIDEs.
From the Massachusetts, BOSTON, Journal.
HINTS TO PEOPLE OF MODERATE
FORTUNE.
i Perhaps there never was a time when
the depressing effects of stagnation in bust
ness was SO universally felt, all the world
( over, as they are now. Yet who that pass
/ es through Cornhill at one o'clock, for any
other fashionable place and sees the bright
array of wives and daughters, as various in
their decorations Us the insects, the birds,
and the shells, would believe that the com
munlty were staggering under a weight
which almost paralyzes its movements !?
Every thing is so cheap" says the ladies,
1" that it is ineXcusable not to dress we'll"
! But do they reflect why things are 80
cheap? Do they know how much wealth
has been sacrificed, now many families ru-
ined, to produce this boosted result? Do
they not know enough of the machinery oi'
society to suppose that the stunning effects
of crash after crash may eventually be felt
by those on whom they depend for support?
LuXuries are cheaper now than necessa-
ries were a few years since; yet it is la
mented fact that it costs more to live now
than it did formerly. When silk was nine
shllings per yard, seven or eight yards
snfced for a dress now it is four or five
shlLllngs, sixteen or twenty yards will hard
ly satisfy the mantua-maker.
/ If this extravaganza was confined TO the
wealthiest classes, it would lie productive
of more good than evil. But if the rich
have a new dress every fortnight, people of
moderate fortune will have one every
month. In this way finery becomes the
standard of responsibility; and a mans
cloth is of more consequence than his char
acter.
Men Of fixed salaries spend every cent of
their income, and then leave their children
/ to depend upon the precarious charity and
reluctant friendship of world they have
wasted their substance to please. Men
who rush into enterprise and speculation,
keep their credit by splendor,-and should
they sink, they and their families carry with
them extravagant habits to corrode their
spirits with discomfort, perchance to tempt
gant," said one of my acquaintance the 9TH
band does hbe~l tGKsvn i help it? My hus-
daughters dress more meanly than those
with whom they associate" "Then, my
dear lady,, your husband has not as much
moral dignity and moral courage as
thought he had. He should be content to
see his wife and daughters respectable for
neatness, and good taste, and attractive
manners" "This all sounds very we'll IN
talk" replied the lady, "but say what you
will about pleasing and intelligent girls,
nobody will attend to them unless they
dress in fashion. If my daughters were to
dress in the plain, neat style you recon-
mend, they would see all their acquaintance
asked to dance more frequently than them
selves. and not a gentleman would join
them in Cornhil."
81 do not believe this in so extensive a
sense as you do. Girls may appear genteel
without being extravaganza; and though
some fops may know tho approved color for
a ribbon, or lie newest arrangement for
! trimming, believe gentlemen OF real char
acter merely notice whether lady's dress
is generally in good taste, or not. But,
d. granting your statement to be true, IN its
widest sense. of what consequence is 1t /?
How much will the whole happiness Of your
daughters life be affected by her dancing
some fifty times less than her companions,
or wasting some few hours less in the emp
ty conversation of coXcombs? a man Oft
en- admires style Of dress which he would
not venture to support in wife. EXtrava-
gance has prevented many marriages, and
rendered still more unhappy. And should
your daughters fail in forming good con-
neXions, what have yon to leave them save
extravagant habits too deeply rooted to be
eradicated ? Think you those who now
laughed at them for a soiled glove, or an
questionable ribbon, will assist their pow
erty, or cheer their neglected old age? No.
They would find them as cold and selfish
as they are vain. A few thousands in the
bank are worth al the fashlonaGIe friends
in Chrisiendom."
/; Whether my friend was convinced or mol
| cannot say Z; but / saw her daughters in
Conhll the next week with new French
hats and blonde wells.
1t is really melancholy to see how this
fever Of extravaganza RACES, and how it is
sappng the strength OF our happy country
, 1t has no bounds-it pervades all ranks, and
5 characterzes all ages.
, Ikno,c The eoife Of pGvicr, rcho spends
her three hundred gear IN "outioarC
t adorning," and who aciU not comdcseend t
: speak to her husband, l0hite engaged IN h.
t honest calling.
Mechanics who should have too high
: sense of their own responsibility to resor
to such pitiful competition, will indulge
| their daughters in dressing like the wealth
lest and domestic would certainly leave
4 you, should you dare advise her to lay NJ
3, one cent of her wages.
r "These things ought not to be-" Ever.