New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1869-07-01
LETTER IND PRUNELLA.

The social philosophers agree, just at present,
in the investigation of the absorbing phenomenon
Woman. They clap hcrundcr their glasses, and
make a daily viyiscction Of her. Physiology
morality, mcntallty-shc has no finest secret OF
them all which her inqusitors will not have of
her with their bold eye and measuring brain.
Every day the statement of the sum of all is
rendered, and every new day aggregates
that sum with uDcOnsidered items. The
latest investigator. having pinned Woman IN
| the Patent Office to the objcct-stand beneath
the lens announces that he discovers in her an
absolute incapacity of invention. Even her
cradles will not sell, he declares; but 1t may be
! that the good sense of mothers agrees to abol-
ISL all cradles, for which, in the name OF
speeches. babyhoOd, Childrcn's Aid Societies
should render them thanks. A Ncw-York lady
has indeed, contributed to the useful industries
an abdominal corset and sldrt-supportcr; but
it could not be ascertained whether they were
" TO be worn together" Could not be asccr-
tanned by this vain man, we suppose. Nor was
the machine intended to appeal to his narrow
Intelligence. Did Hole-in-thc-Day, or whatever
typical red man may have visited his Great
Fathers cabinet of inventions, comprehend the
Waltham watch, or the inscrutable presses 2
We make no doubt that the abdominal corset
and skirt.supporteI, either rs an entire and
perfect chrysOlite of that unyielding armOr so
dear to Fashion and the waiting worm, Or
perhaps for the sake of the laundress-as q
divisible delight, is all that its stoutest de-
voice could desire And the Massachusetts
lady who has given to the world new ilut-
ing-iron, and her compatriot who offers it
min az ha
membered For they are building better than
they know. They are demonstrating prOpo-
stion dear to us the proposition that the in
ventive skill and most thoughtful consdcra-
ton of women must be bent to illustrate, at
least modification of their present attire
before they can contend at all equally with
men for the legitimate prizes of life
The present prevalent dress of women is both
absurd and vulgar, absurdity being the IRA
tional deduction Of ends from means, and vul-
garity, the setting Of the sensational. the sham,
above the significant, the real. We arc not
sure that the fact that women have not seen
the terrible ills Of their own system of dress
and resolved unanimously on its reform, does
not go far to prove them incapable both of
that fine discrimination and that dircctncss
and unanmty of action which must underlo
all reforms. A man swings along to his business
in broad English shoes; in the coarsest and
usefulest of rough suits; reasonably Indifferent
to rain or sun; lungs free, spine unchafed
eyes shaded, body, alert, brain clear. A wo-
man minces to her business, or nips along tho
avenue, in narrow walnut-heeled boots; in the
unusefullest of fine suits, COMPRISING her
waist, binding her arms, impeding her
movements; bulfcted by the rain and
beaten by the SUM- lungs half filed
with half-aerated blood, spino hot and chafed,
eyes unshadcd save by the parasol which itself
confesscs the inadeqpacy Of the hat; body Ian
guild, brain dull. If the body be more than
aiment, doctrine as artistic MS Christian,
then this subordnation Of tie body to raiment
is the essence Of vulgarity. Aud the long dress
Of Tic house is worse than the short dress Of