Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, Va. [W. Va.]) 1852-1859, 1853-01-06


The following observations on the custom of
wearing mourning, must strike most of our readers
as exceedingly appropriate. a custom in itSaifby
no means wrong, It is one which, when inD9fipbly
observed, is attended with many inconyeniences
innd a9surdities.
.'qt now he i dead, wherefore should fastG Can
.FThese remarks against mourning apparel are
submitted with the sincerest sympathy and kind
ness towards the afiicted-these trappings of woe
seem childish, and Indifferent where there is real
grief-and whore there is not, they are mockery.-
The principal objections 10 the custom Of wearing
mourning apparel are, tisGssiess ine0nDsRisnt
and eEpensiUe. ~ fffETH sEFt3 =. & E{fif
"Forwhat use does it serve3 to remind me, that
am in lfaiction,l l do not need any such me-
mento. Fopoint out to Others as mourner
l do not wish to be so pointed out Shall the sa-
Sble garb be adopted then, because it is grateful
feelings it is kind of solce 10 me b. i
can gain no consolation from it. But if the custom
is useless its inconvenience forms still greater
objection. 1t is announcement, because it throws
the care Of purchasing and making clothes upon
o family, at the very moment, when on every &C.
count, it most needs seclusion and repose-when
worn out with care, and watching, and sorrow, it
Ii needs retirement and relief There is a shocking
upSeemlineSS, had almost said, a sacriIege, in
turning the hour Of death into shop for the dress
maker! Who ever witnessed what is passing on
+ one ofthese occasions-who that have been the
brOken-hearted victims of aictionS brought forth to
be dressed up as pageants, and haE1assed about
mourning gowns and bonnetS, or heard, inteGmin-
gled with signs and tears paltry and vain discuss
d nIot,N odf
ribbonS-who say, has not felt that all this is n
convenient, i'll timed and unbecoming, beyond
what any force of language can express ?-.tesideS
all this, TO ladies' in bad health and feeble constu-
+ tons, in warm Gather, it is not only oppressive
but undoubtedly an unhealthy dress. 81 f
"But the greatest objection after all, to the use
of mourning apparel is the expense. That the ex-
pense presses heavily upon the poor, is matter,
that must be conceded and regretted, and this is
not all, Expresses heavily upon body of the COM
manity. None but the afluent can afford it. 1t
is the most expensive kind of apparel-aud there
is always on those occasions-rrom wa.te- and the
natural Indifference of an afflicted mind, about
worldly things-there great deal of extravaganza
and waste; and more than this, it often comes at
time when it can least easily be borne. 1t coiLes
in addition TO all the expense of Sickness Itcomes
perhaps, when the main support and reliance Of
family is taken away-when the husband, the
father, the providel is cut of-when he has depar-
ted from the world with no feeling of distress so
deep, that he was to leave destitute those earer
to him than life-then it is that the desolat. aud
distressed, under the false notion of showing re-
spect to him, are obliged by the custom of society
to abridge the narrow means on which they have to
rely. How many are the causes in which con
siderable portion, and even the whole that remains
for the widow and the fatherless, is expended, not
in providing for their wants. but in merely G,rgn-
ging them for their destitute condition. tits time
that an intelligent community abandoned this an
tiQuated. expensive, inconvenient and worse than
useless custom or fashion, 90 . Ea x. 70