Rutland weekly herald. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1859-1877, 1871-08-17
Too Nice.

We have all heard Of tie story Of the
foolish Midas, whose wish was that every
thing he touched might be turned Into
gold, was graliied. lie soon repented,
as we learn, of the fatal generosity OF the
gods when the very bread and meat
changed at his lips to the precious metal.
That Midas ears finally grew into those
of an ass was the fit termination, and not
the most incredible part of his history.
We can discover among us some OF the
descendants of Midas without even look
at their ears. Their asinine propensities
are enough to point them out, without
any other indication of their race. We
may pass by, for the present, the more
characteristic of their kind, and examine
some of the less marked specimens.
1t is wonderful how people systematic
ally deprive themselves Of many of the
enioyments and comforts of life by turn
ing things which are intended for use into
mere articles of fnery. There can be
nothing more Midas like than this prac
tice, which often prevails to such an ex
tent as to convert the utmost abundance
into total restitution. Labor is perform
ed and money spent without stint, and
yet with no other result than restricted
case and diminished comfort.
You can trace the parctice everywhere,
throughout all the course of daily life.
1t is visible in the dwelling, the furniture,
the books, the equipage, the clothes
Most people, in our cities at least, have
bigger and finer houses than they can well
use, take care of, or pay for and daily
living in a house without even feeling at
home is of all wretchedness the most
wretched. The furniture, moreover, is
often too nice for use, the carpet too deli
cate to be trod by the common boot, the
chairs and sofas of too choice stuff for
close proximity with the everyday coat
and gown. The best room in the house
is thus not seldom made the worse for the
family, for every member regards it as he
might chamber of horror, into which he
does not put his foot without fear and
trembling. There is many man who
keeps carriage too fine for use, and
breads every time he rides in it the APP
proach of a shower or dirt-cart. At
night he is forced to submit to the demo-
cratic street car or omnibus, for darkness
conceals and endangers the fnery of his
equipage.
There are some who boast of their
libraries, and yet live themselves, and
keep others, in ignorance, because their
books are too nice for use. Their gilt
edges and choice bindings are only safe
under glass, lock and key so they re-
main sealed to the curious, and might as
well be so many dnmmieS of wood, such
as in fact, are occasionally found filling
up the vacant places of the shelves in
book case of grand libraries.
There are thousand ways in which
the clothes originally, without doubt, in
tended for comfort and protection are turn
ed into sources Of annoyance and danger.
Obedience to fashion and desire for show
have metamorphosed the essential cover
ings of the body into so many corporal
tortures. The hard bound beaver hat
and chignon, the spider-waist and tight |
bodied coat, the pinching boot, high heeled |
shoe, are but few of the various instru-
ments of suffering which men and women
have contnved to make out of the simplest
articles of clothing. Human and civilized
though such people pretend to be, it is not
difficult to discern through all their artifi-
ces Of dress the asses ears Of the Midas
breed. Whatever might be useful they
turn by their touch into the snowy AID in
Children even, in spite of the earnest
of nature, are not spared this
absurd and cruel process of transforming
the snowy. The desire for display is
apparent in their education, their manners,
their dress and daily walks. Is the pur-
pose OF most of the so-called accomplish
ments of the girls school to produce use
full or snowy women ? Are the mincing
ways and tricks of behavior so carefully I
intended to make children gen
teel, as it is called, or aimable? is the
dress of kind or a make suitable for
freedom Of movement, so essential to the
healthy development of the young, or
adapted only to the stiffness of formal
presentation to company Are the pro- $
of the starched and bedzened {
child for the promotion OF its health, or
the qualification of mothers vanity and
love of display? While we commend to
all propriety of conduct and delicacy of
taste, we should warn them against being
too nice. -Harper's Basar.