Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1866-08-24
Where Now 3!

Said he II met two ladies and they were
coming in bareheaded; they were otherwise
well dressed, but it seemed to me strange in
the city for ladies to be going about without
bonnets." 'But they must have had bon
nets" "Wcll, it may be, but | could not
see them. One of them had a flower stuck
in her hair
Afterwards, | saw those two ladies', and
they each had a round piece of lace on the
top of the hcad,-a mere head-dress, and
not even with strings under the chin. But
what arc we to do? say they, if the subject
ever comes mp; "We can find nothing else
in the shops. A bonnet is not to be found -
1t is true, fashion is very arbitrary and ty-
rannical, and the more so the longer and the
more fully we obey her. There is no slav-
cry that so rapidly tightcns its own chains.
But the question is-must we bow the neck
to this slavery?
Ever since newspapers were, and | know
not how long before, it has been constant
amusement resorted to at every interval, to
i''ii ~ hbiiNh = N'lNSS' dNllibl anu tAtluN
agance have been castigated within an inch
of their lives. You will find remarks by
the old Greeks and Romans. and so on thro
all the dark ages, and then through the
brighter ones, all railing against fashion and
extravaganza. In an old New York paper
of the last century, saw the other day a
TRADE and prophecy which, by altering
the date, would have suited admirably this
day and this meridian. The country was
going to ruin; extravaganza and luxury
were lcariully and rapidly increasing, and
were consuming the very vitality of the peo-
pie; il something We're not done soon il
would be too late to stay the resistless tide
Perhaps things toned mp to final con-
| summation; but certainly we have advanced
with rapid strides since those days, and
stand confessed the most cXtrayagant nation
on the face of the earth The question is
cannot women of common sense take their
stand and resist this tide, and preserve mod
Grafton in dress and expenditure for them
selves and their children?
Now | am not strenuous about bOnnets
it is Il mere matter of custom; some Span
ish ladies never had a bonnet, and their wells
must be a better covering as they wear
them, than the mushrooms so many here put
on the tops of their heads But it has been
the custom of the country to wear bonnets
or hats for protection from cold in winter
and from the hot sun in summer, and il
seems more decorous to our ideas to wear
some covering, more modest if you WILL
But one mischief is, that these small things
are just as costly and eXtravagant as those
used to be that were large enough to cover
the head. So we gain nothing on that
score. But can we not by any means get
up public sentiment, a principle against
this outrageous extravaganza? We all know
what il is; the number and variety of gar
ments and the quantity used in their con-
struction. The quantity also of trimmings
and fripperies, and the tasteless glitter of the
decorations. The woman
"With rings on her fingers and bells an her toes"
is fairly outdonc, and one is forciby remind
ed of the daughters Of Judah, with their
"changeable suits Of apparel, the mantles
and the wimples and the crisping pins. the
cauls and the round tires like the moon, the
/ head-bands, and the tablets, and the ear
rings They are promised very sorry
conclusion to all their linery, and little Won
der. Are they not barbarous and heathen-
ish? What have Christian, republican wom-
en- in these days to do with such follies?
"a word more' as the preacher saws
"anu am done" There Is altogether toe
much of this charge of extravaganza laid al
the door ofwomen. What they spend makes
more show, and some women are more eX-
travagant than some men. But one who
knows the ins and outs of the world. the
money spent in lotteries and "gifts,n in bet
ting and gambling, in horse-races and fast
horses, in speculation and wild schemng, in
cigars and wines, to say nothing of stronger
luXuries and less innocent indulgences, comes
to this conclusion, that the waste of money
is not all on one side. A man will soon
drink up in wine the value of a shawl which
his wife wears and is called eXtravagant
Is she not the wiser Of the two? She has
at least something to show for her money
beyond "redness of eyes" and an achinn
head and shaking hand.
Look at the amount merely of taxes Oh
tobacco in this country, and judge if you car
what immense resources vanish in smoke
after having well scorched those who burned
them For have the word of wise man
who kaOlcs, that no man who uses tobacco
escapes entirely unscathed. He suffers fol
his indulgence as any man must who plavi
with poison, however slow. Seventhly ant
lastly, who so is wise, will understand.