Rutland weekly herald. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1859-1877, 1871-09-14
THE RUTLAND HERALD
The Fashionable Lady.

Nothing great ever was or ever can be
accomplished without labor,-severe pa
tent toll. Genius, which so astonishes
ne world with its achievements, and de-
liahts with tho brilliant display of its
povers-works harder than the laborious
business man Of useful mediocrity, or the
msrest mental drudge. Giant intellect
must make giant eforts to over-leap the
crsgs aud chasms--the precipices and de-
fying barriera that environ the citadel OF
excellence Even the poet whose pen
seems to move by inspiration, has to work
himself up into the world and retain his
elevation only By the severest thought.
t. il only while on tho wing that he sweeps
through the atmosphere OF fancy, and
glthers for bis girdle the brightest gems
1t is a mistaken notion that genius has
only 10 raise bis wand, and the statue
spriuss tort hperfect from the marble, Or
poems sWeetly sing themselves forth in
Eolian strains. Without labor what
would Homer, Milton. or Webster have
accomplished for genius or the world ?
He who lsbors1sot, performs nothing
worthy of man, nothing worthy OF exis'
tence. Labor is the strong trump which
brings in one strong suit in the game of
life.
DOES the fashionable lady who recog-
u;.oa - +Ln I ,bo.n, orIo bar aorv,pt and
deems it derogstoryr to her gentility to
work, realize how absolutely she is de-
pendent upon labor for the display she
proudly makes, and the luxuries and ele-
gauoies so protusely lavished upon her +
The laborers of the whole world are
toiling for her, as she indolently floats
down the stream of life. For her use the
starving population of Ireland are raising
AK, and manufacturing the finest linens !;
and the nuns of France, and needdlewo-
men of Scotland are diligently working
laees and embroideriee of the most deli
cate texture Cashmere sends her SPLEEN
did shswls, and sunny Italy the silks and
finest paintings. The patient subjects of
the Celestial Empire are carefully picking
for her use the youngest and sweetest
leaves of the tea plant, and from her sill
yer spoon, made of Peruvian ore, she sips
the celebrating beverage. The chemists
OF Paria, Cologne and London are taxing
science for cosmetics and perfumery. The
Arab, with swiftest steed, chase the os.
trich across desert plains the plumsge of
which SO gracefully waves in her hat; and
Siberian hunters are trapping the warm
furred beaver and otter Brussels and
Turkey are weaving carpets for her par
lcrs. Bulwer, and Dickens, and Cooper are
studying for new fiction to crafty her
taste; the poor latOrer of Java cultivates
the rich favored coffee, which dispels her
morning lapguor; the English miner, who
lives the life Of subterapean gloom, more
forlorn and wretohed than African slav.
cry, digs the ore from which her knife
and scissors are manufactured. For her
ose India sends and every time contrib
utes its choicest fruits; the expert Creole
on his feotest horse, is lassooing the wild
cattle of South America for the material
TO stuff the chair in which she lszily rocks
or the lounge on which she drowsily re.
clines.
1t would be amusing and interesting TO
trace the history of the articles in the
houdoir of the fashionable lady to see
them shapes by myriads Of hands passing
along from point to point, and oonverg-
ing from every direction to her world of
ense. Her wants and tastes make levies
directly or indirectly on the workshop of
all civilized nations, and the products Of
every cultivated soil Everything around,
except the air sha hrchthes, the earth she |
trsads, and The waters sportively playing
or heavily heevinG in ocean surg is the
product Of lahor--but not a single thing
II work OF her toll. How entirely de-
pendent being is she how completely
helpless, bow wholly destitute when
stripped of the productions Of other heads
end hands. Ard what is her life To
elPep AWAY the h' ufN VI mprDlhR, 10 peDu
the day in exploring shapes for new ar
ticlee Of dress and the night in exhibiting
them Mt the ball the opcr+, the concert or
fashionable party. Any variation in her
daily existence il only n substitution of
other frivolties. Such is the false arti-
fetal eentility.
Some may say that this is but the emu
merstion of commonplace ideas yes,
they are, but it is foil time that fashion
able ladies Of modern society who so
superciliously despite labor and the labor
or, reflect how nttc'ly dependent they are
upon labor for their pleasures ard frivoli-
ties, and that their lives are wasted in
the whirlpool of fashionable life, and that
they who labor Do' do little worthy Of
the race OF their existence.