The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1869-09-16
Artieles.
The Vanity of Dress,


There is no absurdity in the article OF
dress which has not received the stamp
of fashion. and which may not receive it
again. Imagine what extravagance you
wIll-rest assured it has already been in
vogue in female attire, and may be so
aeain. Heaven defend us from entering
into details, or we might find ourselves
in labyrinth from which escape would
he difficult.
Let us rather deduce a moral from our
subject.
Madame L-is is by no means rich,
vet her love Of dress amounts to pas
sion. In fact, she loves it more than she
does her husband and her children (who
paw the penalty of her tolly) and intin-
itely more than she does her God, whose
service she neglects; "a,
God has, however, given her daugh-
ter. of whose beauty she is inordlnately
proud. But instead Of showing her graf
iitude for this gift, she has moulded the
child from her earliest Infancy ir' all the
caprices of vanity. She regarded her
from her very childhood as kind of doll
which was to be decked with lace and
ribbons and to be exposed to the gaze OF
every one like some rare gem. The
child was rot slow to profit by such les
sons; now she is more deeply versed in
the mysteries of the toilet than most mil
liners. and she even exceeds her mother
in pretonsions, which is saying a good
deal. Her teachers failed in irnparting
to her any kind Of useful knowledge, and
she grew up ignorant, proud, lmpertlnent
and foolish.
Her mother impatiently awaited the
time when she might dispose OF her III
marriage, feeling assured that crowds OF
admirers would contend for the prefer
ence of go charming girl. She had
coniured up the most brilliant visions for
the future of her beautiful Idalie (sncn
was the Cytherean name she had recelv
cd at the baptismal FONT, and anticipated
her triumphs. But things turned out
very opposite 10 her expectations no
one came forward TO make the ,ll-impor-
tant offer. 1t was in vain that ldalle
paraded her charms on the boulevards
at all the public fetes, in the drawing
rooms of her friends, and at the theatres
No desirable husband was forthcoming
Stung with disappointment. she added TO
her original attractions, the cocluetry OF
seeming devotion; but as far as she was
concerned, men who frequented the
churches were not less prudent than
those who never entered them.
She might easily have OWNED the cause
of this coolness on their part, had she
not been so infatuated with the charms
of her own person. Men Of good sense
invariably prefer a modest and serious
womar to an empty.headed coquctte.
Those who, being poor, wish to make
their fortunes, are fully aware low costly
an appendage woman of this desscr'p,
ton proves to her unfortunate husband.
while those already in possession OF am
ple means know the exact value OF these
actresses in real life In neither class do
they find admirers who esteem them snffl-
cicntly to offer them marriage, though ot
course they have no objection 70 dancing
with them at evening parties.
As time advances the brilliant ldalle
perceives that her ribbons begin to fade,
her lace to get shabby. even her personal
charms to vanish, and still she ls as far
IN ever from the matrimonial trlnmph>
she had expected and which her moth"'
had seen in prophetic visions some fit n
wears before. The latter unable to com
prehend how it s. attributes il to some
kind of fatality. complains about it I"
everybody, and is duly laughed at by
everybody for her pains-as usually hap
nous. How is it that the mother and
daughter are the only persons ignorant
of the real state OF the case! In the
part Of the town in which they reside
the hallucinations of Idalie and mother
form the grand topic of conversation
and will ere long assume proverbla
form.
The greater the efforts they make tc
attract attention and TO repair, the inevl
table ravages of time, the more ridicu
lous they render themselves, and thf
more they expose themselves to the
laughter of others. Ii it not full time
for them to open their eyes. to blush foi
their errors, to renounce their empty pre-
tensions. and to turn their ambition to-
wards that other life in which they must
ere long render strict account of the
manner in which they have ernployed the
one given to them here below
An editor, out West, ofconrsc, speak.
ing OF IL r que who lives in his vicinity
M roecol L,s hrok en- every bank