Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1857-09-16
To NV Elderly Friends.


ourselves upon the wanc. Declining ladies, es
pecially married ladies' are given, | think, tc
neglect their personal appearance, when they
are conscious that the bloom Of their youth is
gone. do not speak Of state occasions, of SCI
dinner parties and full dress balls, but of the
daily meetings of domestic life. Now, however
is the time, above all others, when the wife
must determine to remain the pleasing wife, and
retain her John Anderson's affections to the
last, by neatness, taste, and appropriate variety
of dress. That lady has fast growing daught-
ers. strapping sons, and husband hard at work
at his office all day long, is no reason why she
should ever enter the family circle with crum.
pied hair, soiled cap, or untastened gown. The
prettiest woman in the world would be spoiled
by such sins in her toilette. The mornings du-
ties. even in store-room and kitchen, may be
performed in fitting, tidy costume and then
changed for parlor habiliments, equally tidy and
fitting. The fashion of the day should always
be reflected in womans dress, according to
her position and age; the eye Graves for variety
as keenly as the palate and then, honestly pro-
test, whatever her age, naturally good look
ing woman is always handsome. For, happily,
there exists moro than one kind of beauty
There is the beauty of infancy, the beauty Of
youth, the beauty of maturity, and, believe me,
ladies and gentlemen, the beauty of age if you
do not spoil it by your OWN want Of judgement
At any age, q woman may be becomingly and
pleasingly dressed.
The other error-the more pardonable of the
two, because it shows an amiable love of ap-
probation and desire to please, though it i'm
plies yeakness-isa a continuation of the costume
and decorations of youth after they have ceased
Il. l.. G.... oto r>., u, 1vaoror,c
must say that ladies in general are less addicted
to the mistake than men. The number of quin-
ouagenaiian females who display themselves in
society in white muslin trocks, with their locks
in ringets, and girls pink sash tied behind, is
considerably less than that of old bucks, with
their padded substitute for muscular grace, their
wigs, their jewelry, their perfumes, and even
their rouge. Badness, in men, is neither dis.
l6gurement nor disgrace. To soothe your per-
sonal vanity, you may call to mind that many
Young and handsome men are bald to console
iyour intellectual dignity, remember that "ca1oa,
prompti.n ready are the bald-an invaluable
quality in the affairs of life. AS rule, the
harder we fogies try to convert ourselves into
Iboyish cupids, tho less do we succeed.
There is great truth in Aphonse Karr's re-
marks that modern men are ugly because they
don't wear their boards. Take fine man OF
forty with handsome round Medician beard,
not a pointed Jews beard, look at him well, SO
as to retain his portrait in your minds eye; and
then shave him close, leaving him, perhaps, out
of charity, couple of mutton chop whiskers,
one on each cheek, and you will see the humil-
Iiating difference. And if you select an old man
of seventy for your experiment, and convey q
snowy.bearded head that might sit for a por-
trait in a historical picture, into close-scraped
weazen-faced visage, like an avaricious French
peasant on his way to haggle for swine at q
monthly francmarche, the descent from the SUBJ
lime to the ridiculous is still more painfully ap-
parent. Beard or no beard must remain at
present an open question in England; there are
social influences of practical nature in the way,
however we may decide as to the theory. A
servant would hardly be allowed to consider his
beard as his own. A bearded tradesman might
be thought by many customers to be giving him.
self airs and to be assuming undue consequence.
MANY find fault with boards as too aristocratic,
too vulgar, too foreign. too phioSophic, too
symptomatic of Socialism, in short, too, they
don't quite know what; forgetting all the while
that the beard was planted on the chin of man
bv the some Power that adorned the lion with
his mane and the peacock with his plumes.-
But, certainly, it is the artistic interest of US
elderlies, as far as our own personal appearance
is concerned, that boards should at least be to-
Grated.
Perfumes are better altogether discarded by
we'll dressed gentlemen who are past the age of
dandihood. Extreme personal cleanliness is the
most judicious cosmetic we can use. Our mo-
ney is more wisely laid out on Windsor soap
and huckaback towels than on eau de Cologne
and essence of millefeurs. False teeth are per-
missable or not, according to their object and
and their animus. An accidental deserter from
an otherwise even and goodly set may have a
substitute bought for him without reasonable
blame. Teeth that really and truly help either
to eat or to articulate are 10 more than the nat
ural tools to carry on the business OF life. But
if YOU cause your two or three remaining stumps
to be extracted in order 10 make room for q
complete set of pearly ivores, both top and bot
tom, with patent spring hinges, which you want
to display at the opera while you smile at the
girls in the boxes, or ogle the dancers on the
stage through your binocular glass,-then, you
are no better than foolish old fellow ; and do
not forget the proyerb, 'lhere is no fool like an
old fool"
take it for granted that you have made your
will. Many elderlies (who grow older and older
every day, whether they know it and like it or
not,) look upon will-making as an unpleasant or
painful operation of the same class as bleeding
or tooth drawing. They will submit to it un-
der the influence of chloroform, and not other
wise. assure you they are mistaken, having
tried it myself and found it q very comfortable
anodyne against several uneasy sensations; of
course to have that healing virtue the last will
and testament must be fair and just one, with
nothing set down in malice or caprice. People
will sometimes avenge themselves in their wills
of affronts, little or great, real or fancied, that
have been put on them. People also often re-
pent of the harsh resolutions they have made.
Now. if personal reconciliation has taken place,
or even if the offending party is only forgiven in
the secret chamber of the complainantS heart,
the record of estrangement in black and white
ourht not to remain uncancelled a single hour.
Death may step in, without previously sending
| in his card, and may convert free pardon into
vindictve sentence, thus battling the dilatory
testator, who thought and meant to have made
his peace with all men before departing hence.
| Merciful change of mind may come too late to
be carried into execution-a strong reason for
not fixing on parchment an unmerciful resou-
ton in black and while. At the last death bed
at which was present Others had retired, aud
was left alone with the sinking patient. Con-
sciousness and intellect remained clear to the
last: but, as strength ebbed away, the eyes a.
lone remained eloquent, while the lips continued
to move in the attempt to speak, without the
faculty of uttering sound. guessed pretty
nearly what the lnoribund person was wishing
to saw at least felt sure of the tenor of it, be-
cause the previous conversation, while speech
was possible, had been an expression of thanks
and blessings, with good advice and judicious
observations. But, thought, had those unnt-
terable last words been, instead of what they
were. an unavaling expression Of forgiveness, q
desire to restore some young offender to his
suspended rights, now forfeited forever-what
an awful struggle must take place in the mind
of him who feels himself quitting earthly