Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1866-11-22
From The New York Round Table !

sorbed admiration Moralists may say that
such emotions are confined to the triste gam
bers who tbrong Broadway corners with
their pallid faces aud precise costumes, and
who have no employment of morning for
their bIoodshot eyes except to feast them
upon such scraps of loveliness as fortune
sends within their rspscious ken. They
may say they are confined to dspper gym.
nasts Of counters, to grocers' apprentices, to
spruce Wall street clerks-in general to the
inexperienced, the thoughtless, or the pru-
rient, who have not learned to restrain their
lush imaginations, or who luxuriously give
way to and revel in their erotic fancies--
But such an explanation, satisfactory as it
may be to the purest Of optimism, will nct
hold water. 1t is unfounded in fact. The
myriad eyes which are riveted on pausins
vehicles, unloading their beyies Of fair ones.
the longing regards which are fastened on
the playhouse stairs, the intense curiosity
which focalizss near the pavement on .
windy day, do not belong exclusively to the
calew, the vicious and the underbred. b.
no manner Of fmeans Let Us have the truth
above all things and about all things, though
the heavens fall. These selfappointed in
spectors OF symmetry and connoisseurs of
beauty, are quite as often of higher grade
and less questionable breeding. They fre-
quently include gentlemen of mature age
and professional pursuits. Among then,
may be observed lawyers Of judicial note.
brokers OF auriferous fame, merchants of
green backed solidity. gentlemen Of leisure
and yet of unimpeachable social position.
and sometimes, since the truth must be
written, gentlemen with whom the white
cravat is an insignia of their cloth. Who.
ever passes through our principal streets any
fine day, say at four in the afternoon,l can
see, if he uses his eyes, proofs strong as hely
writ of the justice Of our assertions He will
then see generous opportunities afforded by
fashion, aided ty puffs from kindly Bereas,
by muddy pavements and by mountainous
steps of omnibuses, are enjoyed with avidity
by the educated as well as the ignorant, BY
the old boys as well as the young ones, By
learned doctors as well ss laymen, By great
majority of the lordly sex; in fact. without
noticeable distinction Of class or condition
A thing of beauty, 0 Keats, is indeed a joy
forever, they all seem to sing, and since the
darling women so beautifully afford US the
delicious chance to gaze, why should We not
gaze our Gil to be happy? Jesting apart,
there is no doubt but that plenty of fastid-
ous as well as coarse inded men have
thoughtlessly fallen into the habit Of enjoy
ing in strangers what, were it the case of
their own wives. daughters or sisters, and it
were brought before their own observation,
they would certainly shrink from. mortified
and offended. 1t must be admitted that it
is distastelul TO pen such reflection; but
We write ofthings not as we would have
them, but as they are.
And is all this entirely shocking and de-
mora lizing Perhaps it is when too con-
eretely considered; but abstractedly there
is no reason why it should be so at all. That
there exists an immense attraction about
ladies' ankles is certainly no proof OF a
want CT maDliness where it is observable.
If woman's delicacy is shocked by the
idea Of too free an exhibition, so far as her
own case is concerned, she has it under en-
tire control, and there is no less Of horrid
example to illustrate the enormity of the
practice and to suggest infalllLe methods
for its correction. On the other hand,
pretty foot and shapely ankle are indutit-
ably strong attractions in woman. and if
she chooses to show them, she will never
lack admirers 10 appreciate the privilege -
There is nothing intrinsically more i'm
modest in showing the lower limbs than in
showing the upper ones, and as the latter
are usually revealed without covering and
the former are not, the distinction, ,ai any,
is on the safe side. Decidedly, there is less
suggestion of indelicacy even in a revela-
tion extending to the knee than in the over
liberal exposure of the bosom, too often
seen in society, and which fashion still ap-
pears to sanction. A nice foot and ankle,
well booted, aud a rounded continuation well
hosed, however attractive, a. We have seen
them to be. do not convey. save to very
Il IL =,
Dicant associations as does the braZenreveal-
ment Of those parts Of the figure which de-
cent women. even in barharous nations, have
ever jealously veiled as the sacred symbols
of maternity. No! such Developments to
healthy mind are not entirely shocking and
demoralizing. There is only danger that,
like all pleasant, piquant, or slightly equiv.
ocal things, they may be carried too far
or to be more exact. that the skirts may be
tilted too high. ..r
Excess in all fashions instantly implies
vulgarity. In this nne the remark is point
edly applicable. The mode ct present JUS
tifies modest chsrns which five years ago
would have been voted quite outrageous
! But they should he cautious to avoid being
coniounGed with those whom they blush to
/ hear named, but with whom they are of a
surety very sure TO he confouDded, when
they bow to Dame Fashion too low and lift
their petticests too hiph. A crinoline was
introduced in London last year, called, iii
our masculine blunder We mistake not, a
patent adjustable jupon. which was intend
ed to afford the usual advantages of ezten-
sion and convenient support of skrts, while,
by superior fl xbiliiy and occult ingenuity
it ''csme in TO the figure on emergency. so
as to prevent the slIuriDg displays to which
gentlemen seem SO partial. But it did not
appear to become popular there, and prob.
ably would prove to be no more so here
the ladies can hest tell why. Perhsps the
better way TO bride too lavish an sbsndon
ment 10 an enticibg fashion will lie in ths,
contraction of crinolinon amplitudes fol
which, We learn, the dsspetic fat has JUS
gene forth. Still, when the skirts are mar
rowed, they may yet be drawn 10 an un
seemly height; and here there seems no re
source for those who love and respect th
precious sex hut to counsel them to goo
taste and moderation. We should be ute
hypocrites were we TO aver that we desir
to do away altogether with othe eharmin
elmpses we have been accustomed to
regaled with; and the ladies' themselve
!, would not for moment believe it were "
co say so. We by no means advise them t
yield too ,mucn to puritauicalg Intolerance O