The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1866-08-30
Painted Ladies'.
FHonl The ". !. ROnnIh 7hLIc

street, now in Rotten Row, in the morn
ing at the Crystal Palace, in the even
ing mt the opera houses, congratulated
himself that however at some points
his fair countrywomen might be out
shOne by their English cousins, there
was one wherein comparison would
make In their faVOr;-one,
too, SO significant in the story ID told OF
the crowning flower, the sweetest grace
of wOmanhOOd, that he thought it fair
ly Outweighed ephemeral deficiencies
which n hypercritical taste might inn
pute. He had been for some time alb
sent from home, and he came to the
conclusion that however beautiful and
charming EnglishwOmen, collectively
speaking, might be, when the crucial
test OF this flower and grace was nppli-
ed. the sought for charm of feminine
mOdeSty was rarer there than with our
selves. He reflected that in America
there was no difficulty, mt least for man
of the world, i'll mt once distinguishing
II lady from member of the delni-
monde: while i'll England precisely such
AN embarrassment continually arose.
In New York the distinction was OBJ
ViouS Mt Il glance; i'll London the ClO-
sest observation was as likely as not to
lead to Il false conclusion. Nor could
the dilemma be Inscribed to inoXperi-
ence, or to II foreigners want of percep-
ton, since the first assumption would
have been at variance with tho facts,
and as regarded the second, the sharp
est men about town in London were
universally making the same Obsorva-
ton.
Such things show best, or worst, by
daylight; not only in themselves but in
virtue of the license which evening
dress and gaslight are by common con-
sent permitted TO imply. The Crystal
Palace with its morning opera concerts
and flower shows is frequently crowded
by thousands OF fashionable people of
both sexes. 1t afforded, therefore, an
excellent field for observation; and
such scrutiny, often and carefully re-
pcnted, showed uneQuivocHlly, i'll cases
so numerous as to constitute II rule,
that it was impossible to distinguish
modest females from the vicious
young ladies OF family from kept mis-
treSSes or the Cyprians of the town.
The similitude was far from being con-
fined to the appointments of dress.
The ilnring skirts, the cOQuettish hats,
the cXtravagantly pronounced cOiDMTcS
might have been identical and the dis
tinction preserved in feature and ex-
preston. Nay, even, rs was unhappily
the case, tho bold look and salient
manner of the unfortunate class could
have been closely initiated without ne
ceSSitating blunder, since, when the
eyes and skin are seen in their natural
condition, an indescribable but we'll
understood something always tells the
story. But it was precisely here that
the confusion arose. Not the dress
alone was similar, or the manners in
part mistakeable, the mask itself was the
same. Paint and whitewash, with
whose absence beauty was once thought
compatible-India ink, formerly con-
fined to the exigencies of the foOtlights
were daubed with unsparing hand on
the countenances alike of ladies and
courteZans. y woman's natural front
was scarcely to be found; for hardly n
creature in crinOline ofnny age or rank
could be seen but her face was "enam-
eled."
There is a small difference, alas! in
this lamentable respect, between the
BelgrnVia of 'G5 and the Fifth Avenue
of '66. The wave of licentiOuS and
meretricious display has swept over
American society in its turn, and our
daughters and sweethearts flnunt the
streets all aglare with rouge, powder,
and painted brows, undistinguishnble,
through indulgence i'll habits SO gross
and demorHlizing, from the veriest
wnntons of the pave.
The extent and tendency of the evil
are unquestiOnable. The shUrtness of
the step from the appearance to the
practice Ofthe vico, is proverbial. Many
people, i'll fact, can already poiAt to
instances where, with fatal facility, it
has been taken. There are girls in
houses of infnmy to day, by the dozen,
of reputable parentnge and education,
whose first backsliding sprang from
this cause; the pointed admiration and
the attention to which their ConSpicu.
Gus appearance gave rise having invi-
ted the temptation which led to their
fall. Similar cases are constantly oc-
RnrFinU. md Nyhn InI11Ot thOf
such circumstances, they will continue
to occur and to increase until the evil
which so abundantly furnishes their
occasion shall be abated? Go into the
wealthiest and gayest quarters of the
town and you shall see Inaidens of
fifteen tripping, along in scores with
their young cheeks beChalked and
bedizened i'll manner that almost puts
to shame cOryphee of the grand
opera. You shall see the coarse leer,
the significant gesture, oftentimes the
following i'll their track with salacious
purpose, of those of the opposite sex
who ever, in great cities, are living in
wait to destroy. The morning perfor-
mances at the various places of anuse-
mcnt tecm with evidences of the nox-
iouS drift of these brazcn enornities
The indelicacicS which were denounced
as connected with the prepOSterOus
crinoline are exaggerated to the last de-
BILE line of fdemarcation between virtue
and depravity, and supplies a plausible
excuse tor the worst possible differences
to such as choose to draw them. If the
same weariness of remonstrance is to
succeed the advent of the. latter which
was shown after the introduction of the
former fashion, the consequences will
be prOportionately darker ones.
Men will soon cease to believe in the
chastity of young women who are ut
such pnins to suggest that they do not
possess 1t. Tho young women will soon
cease to value what they are not uc-
credited with possessing What seems
Il superficial habit will then rankle into
COrrupting disease, whose end would
be the resolution of our better classes of
society into II bad imitation of the
Partisan demi-nLOndc. If fathers and
brothers are pOwerleSS to interdict fIce-
painting, mothers and matronS unable
or unwilling to prevent it, it is plainly
the business of the press to take up the
subject, and by vigorous and well-di-
rected assaults to overwhelm it with
the weapons of ridicule and contempt.
The Emancipation OF speech.
Under this head, the New York CttL-
=clL says:
"There is one description of slavery
at the South, which was long enfOr-
ced by southernerS and connived
ut by men of northern birth and resi-
dence, emancipation from which must
be decreGd and established before peace
and prosperity can prevail in our re-
very of speech. Since the war it has
been fully established at the North, as
is recognized by the fact of the recon-
mendation at the PHILADELPHIA ConVen-