Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1864-01-07
TO MRS. ROYAL PURPLE JONES,
concerning her Absorbing Devotion TO her own
Person,
BY TIMOTHY TITCONR.

AAAOSS g the
dWeillng-place and associate and minister of
the human soul-the possessor of those ex-
qulslte senses through which the soul feeds
and breathes and receives knowledge and in
spiration-its first home-the vestibule Of
It's 1T. immortality give it honor. It Is
thing of dignity sacred thing-sacred 20
its possessor, and sac ed to those to whom in
sacred love it may be given. Whenever the
soul rises to a true appreciation of its own
worth, it pays honor to the body which bears
it. Barbarism wanders in negligent naked
ness, but civilization, of whatever type, hon
ors the body-covers it from sight-drapes
and protects it with reference to ideas of
comfort and taste. Innocence, like that pos
sessed by infancy, may feel no shame with
out drapery, but virtue, a very different
thing, grows crimson when uncovered.
The human body Is a thing of beauty as
well as of dignity. All civilized nations have
recognized this fact and all have striven,
more or less effectually, to reveal or enhance
that beauty by dress. 1t costs almost as much
to clothe civilization as to feed it and hui
man ingenuity is taxed to it's utmost, and all
departments of nature are laid under tribute
to produce the fabrics with which civilization
enrObes itself.
This domain of dress is one which Fashion
has conquered and made peculiarly her own,
and it ought to be a matter of interest to YOU.
madam, as [ doubt not it will be to people
generally, to note how far that power has
sophisticated the idea of personal dignity on
which dress is based. Up to a certain point
of beauty of fabric and elabOrateness of or
namcntation, dress can be carried lcgitimately
and with no violence to personal dignity; but
beyond that point, there must always come a
resort to the barbaric idea, which must neces-
sarily bring personal degradation. Barbarism,
without any thought Of personal dignity-of
bodily sacredness-hasg ratifcd its vanity and
desire for distinction by means Of marks and
gaudy ornaments. 1t has tattooed its skin,
hung rings in its nose, worn beads Oh its neck
at its girdle, at its knees-stuck feathers in
its hair, and daubed paintup its face. This
kind Of ornamentatiOn-an exhibition of per-
sonal vanity-is the highest expression of the
highest idea which barbarism has ever enter
tanned concerning the human body The pea
cock the turkey-cOck and the horse all apDar-
emily have this same vanity in degree. This
vanity that touches the person, that feels
qualification in ornaments and trappings, has
not the slightest natural connection with that
better idea which finds in graceful drapery
the re lge and shield of the dignity belonging
to the living tenement of the human soul.
You will see therefore, that whenever fashion
carries dress to extremes or beyond the point
of giving the body a graceful and becoming
covering, it always resorts to barbarism to
help it QUITO partial nakedness, or to Jewels
and precious stones and trinkets and ribbons
and laces and all possible sorts of ornaments.
The fashionable belle of Newport and Sara
toga enters the assembly room of the dining
hall only to show that she is sister Of the
- IL, Al IL
controls them both.
The curse of Eden seems to have been the
subsection Of the soul to the service the body
When | reflect upon the relative dignity and
Importance of the soul and the bOdv-the
Immortality of the one and the mortality of
the other the heavenly alliances of the one
and the earthly alliances of the other the
Godlke capacities of the one and the brutal
appetites of the othcr-it astonishes me to
realize that the souls work i'll this world is,
in the majority of eases, simply that of pro-
curing food and raiment and shelter for the
body 1t astonishes me to realize that under
every form of civilization the body is The
souls tyrant and leads it by the nose. Nat
uralIy the body is uppermoat in the general
thought. Men must have food and clothing
and shelter or die; they must win all these
for their children, or loose them SO, under
the circumstances of our life, and the usages of
our civilization, the body is necessarily Il con
slant topic of thought. 1t is not strange,
therefore, that the soul often forgcts that it is
master, and loses sight of its own dignity and
destiny in its habitual devotion to the salts
faction of bodily wants
But this, Mrs. Royal Purple Jones, is not
your trouble. You are not obliged to work
for n living Your money has been earned
for YOU by other hands, and your devotion to
your body is voluntarily and not compulsory
Your soul with all its fine capacities, and its
possibility of culture and of goodness, is the
willing and devoted slave of the body in which
it lives. Your person is the central motive
of your life Now that | call your attention
to the fact will you tell me, or attempt to
realize to yourself, how much time and how
much thought you devote TO the nar that
adorns your head ? How much of both do
you give to the little matter Of eyebrows ?
how much to your teeth-how much to your
face as a whole, with all the considerations of
cuticular texture and complexion ?-how
much to your hands how much to your
arms?-how much to your neck how much
to your feet ?-how much to your general
CONFORMATION Madam, YOU are in love with
your own body, and the keenest delight of
your whole life consists in having that body
admired and praised. The sense of personal
modesty and dignity which flies to dress for
refuge, has really no place in YOU. | do not
mean that you are an immodest women, but
that this sense of personal sacredness has
been overcome by personal vanity so far that
you dress rather to show than to hide your
body-to attract attention to your person
than to make it the modest and inconspic-
uous tenement of your soul. What is it that
most absorbs your time What is it that
most absorbs your money? Is it not dress !?
Think of the silks that you buy, and the study
that you bestow upon their selection and man
ufacture into garments Think of the hats
and the gloves and the jewelry and of the in
tense and absorbing interest which attend
their purchase and first wearing! Think of
your constant observation and criticism of
the dress of your friends | believe YOU will
admit to yourself, if not to me, that l have
found YOU out-that know where YOU have
your life.
When YOU attend a party, what is the high
est object you contemplate? Do you attend
for the purpose of enjoying the conversation
of dear friends, or to minister to the pleasure
of others by your own gifts of conversations
or to enjoy the sight of pleasant faces, or to
hear music, or to engage IN dancing, or such
othef alnuSementS as may De lnuulSeu IN d: Is
it for all or any of these that you attend Is
ii not rather to show your dress, and to dis,
play, for the admiration of the gentlemen, and
the envy of the ladies like yourself, your
richly draped and deliberately ornamented
person? Would you nave single motive to
attend party if you were obliged to dress
inconspicuously and plainly? Is it not true
that your one absorbing thought with relation
to such attendance concerns the dressing and
adornment of your person? And when YOU
return from it do you think of anything ex.
cept the simple question as to how you look,
ed. and how you compared or contrasted with