The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1870-02-07
THE UGLIFYING PROCESS.

A good deal is written and said from time
to time on the connection between dress and
art; and all those who lament the unneces-
sary ugliness with which fashion invests
often everyday hfe acknowledge the diff
Guilty of finding a remedy. Where grave
interests are concerned, the heroic spirit of
propagandism is not wanting; but much as
persons of artistic nature may be shocked
by conventional absurdities of costume,
they seldom feel strongly enough on
the subject to propose and carry out inno-
vations. II seems worth while to brave
ridicule and opposition for the sake of an
idea or o political opinion, whereas an in
convenient or unhealthy fashion of dress ap-
pears more in the light of personal griev-
ance. Good taste is so often outraged by
other domestic fashions, that to run amuck
against this one would by no means solve
the vexed question. The architecture of our
streets and the appointments of our houses,
the love of display exhibited in our entertain
ments, the snobbishness of many of our
social usages-all these things fret a sensitive
mind and would attain greater prominence
but for more engrosslng interests. We natu-
rally submit ourselves to host of social
tyrannies on small scale, rather than spend
our strength in struggling with inferior enc
mics. We suffer domination as disagreea-
BILE as it is illogical, because we give out 80
much force in combating less bearable evils.
bing dress of picturesqueness and beauty, of
turning everyday hospitalities into formal
and retributive things, of filling our drawing
rooms with costly, conventional upholstery,
of imposing upon us trains of over-paid,
over-fed snobbish domestic servants, we
have not nearly made out the bill of
attainder Greatly as we may deplore
the aesthetic bearings of this excessive love
of display, its moral bearings are still
more deplorable. For neither with bodily
nor with mental discomforts do the evils of
artificial existence begin and end. This in
ordinate craving for the sort of equality be-
slowed by the vulgar upon outward appear
ance is as incompatible with peace of mind as
with dignity of character The pursuits of
wealth for petty ends, the frittering away Of
energies on matters essentially trivial, the
daily notifications that are sure to wait upon
o foolish ambition, the vsxations of spirit
absorbed by selfish aims, have a very small
margin indeed for the sort of repose
without which life must be
unsatisfactory and undignifed. We can
understand the restlessness of really noble
nature disquieted by questions of immense
range and Importance. The restlessness OF
minds bent upon small social successes is
quite another thing Easily, then, is ex
planned the sharpened, pitiful, WORKOUT
type of physiognomy so sadly common
among u.s. The worship of fashion is an
nglifying process. Not only is character
deteriorated by an increasing desire fo
what is in itself contemplate
falsely estimated by the majority, but healtl
is undermined, and if health goes, beauty il
not slow to follow. We contend, then, tina
we are not only making ourselves older ant
gloomier, but uglier, by this never -endin,
struggle with society. Just as pain o
avarice, or any strong emotion constantly
called into play, leaves its indeGble stamp o.
do to Ah1
whatever of greatness or singleness of pun
pose may once have been written there, an
inscribe their own story instead. Whe
existence is q hand-to-hand struggle wit
unworthy circumstances, when the motive
for living are turned into selfish channels
when young and old are inflated with pas
sion for luxury, il is little wonder that tn
beauty of expression which invariably ac
companies elevation of thought and com
pleteness of character, moral and intelle'
fual should be 80 rare among us. We al
nglified by civilization, or rather "
allow GENERALIZATION to uglify us.
large cities a man finds himself burdene
with wife and increasing family, not b
cause he cannot earn the wherewithal f,
their support, but because he cannot fiji
the wherewithal for their superduities. III
young women of the better ranks of socie
are brought up to dress according to Il
last dicta of Partisan milliners, with lit
regard to consequences. The young men al
brought up to expect to have money for the
amusements. The little ones in the nurse
cannot go without their juvenile parties, bi
dresses, and abundance of new books-eaC
annual supply being more costly and unchil
like than the last Every year the appoin
ments of even a modest household becon
more and more costly. Every year the S
called necessaries of life increase. What re
ders that care-worn, harassed look of Engli
men and women the rule, and calm co
tented expression the exception? People WI
live in sunny climates, where civilizati
lags and existence is comparatively eas
attribute the prevailing melancholy to o
fegs and grey skies but this is unfair.
is not SO much sunshine that we want,
freedom from care and general habit
repose. Whilst social life is cucumber
with all kinds of frivolities, and co
ventional agreement with prevailing CT
tom seems to beth ought the first duty
rational beings, repose is the portion of
few and not of the many. In season a
out of season, culture is preached, and U
doubtedly intellectual education sprea
wider and wider; but culture and educati
generally are Of little use so long as th
remain theories. single protest ma
against fashionable extravaganza, whether
dress, etiquette, or domestic economy, d.
more service than the most telling @stheti
discourse. Arguments carry little weil
when the very persons who proclaim what
highest and best in theory make no sta
against what is unworthy and irrational
practice. OF course there are not want
men and women who boldly refuse all &C
,,ron,isa with IsaoeE alike inexDodi