St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1871-07-07
OHr !SHHi0y CiOfhrs.

IN the following communication from
"kTlland," The well known correspond
cnt "t the Con Irc"alinnaliSt, To which W,
trust our readers OF both sexes will "iv,
: duc heed:
At Il little social gathering the other
evening, our pastors wiir-wlIp Is 10y nt
means one Of the aggressive kind-ccc
irIiI"l the whole company hy asserting
that shc l"n%"d 10 90 and live somewhere
where ihci" was not Snrl IA high de"rcc
"l civilization. Al which oulra"eou,
statement, from o..e ordinarily 50 uu,lr
m"nsilailvc, the assembled body Of nur
friends. refined ladies' and gentlemen OF
culture, were sperclIlcSs with amazrmcnt,
until the cause Of the trouble came out.
- much dress! SO much changing of
style, such eNartion of time and money
and brains Such wcarincsS and worry
and envy and .lcalnusly and general vcx
alton of spirit.
She, personally, was not drawn into
it, She trusted she had stamina enough
To withstand it. She hoped her ..har.c
tr: as il woman and 4 Christian was well
enough established To admit of her walk
ING INTO the pastoral pew on every sue
rcedln% Sabbath, in the same plainly
made black silk dress, il she chose 81 TO
do. But certain ladies had dclicl,c!v
Intlmatcd that Sin her POSITION" her
husband "having 50 large salary" the
congregation being So stylish" and
tins bcIn= an ace when people dress 50
much more than they used to-" would il
not he better to adj to her hair, "very
beautiful and Il great deal of it. we know,
and y"n do it up 81 beautifully, but it i
the fashion IL wear more And more
trimming, etc, etc Two old dow
a"erN had dared to say this 10 Chris
ilan lady, whose attire WAS a model of
refinement and cle"ant TASTE but alway,
- quiet and simple that she was indeed
contrast To them.
Let Inc now BEGIN at the beginning.
Our congregation is the largest, and, |
am sorry (" say, the most fashionable in
town The members OF the church, As
Il general thing, are comparatively
plainly dressed people, and would be-
glad 10 remain 50. But if they can with
stand the torrent that is now bearing
down upon uS. they will prove their
StcadiaStneSS indeed.
We have the families OF an cx-con-
gresham, an cx-forcign minister, and
some retired merchant princes amons Us
-aIack the day, They have money
cnou4h: they are fresh from WaShin"- /
ton winters and summers at SARATOGA. /
They are in continued communication /.
with drcSSmakcrs they are full of fash !
ions. There is Il constant ORDERING of
new clothes and the chirt concern of /
litr-atcr Getting thcm-is To wear them.
some OF these people are Christians. but
who would know il
Ii comes out that frequently when
these ladies' are absent from church
when they are known 10 h. in town and
in good health, and with no apparent
are kept away simply
because the new hats did not arrive in
season the drcssmaker did not gct the
new suit finished on Saturday, or the
trimmings on II did not suit: or worse
and worse, 1t WAS not possible to "ct
their halr done up in season for the
morning service, and they were too tired
with the labor OF dressing 10 20 IN the
afternoon. Their hair, God gave them
for an ad"rnment surely, but never
meant it should be cause for Sab
bath breaking.
And when they come, how ir:lrluly
and wonderfully are they made up, A.
one secs group Of them passing into the
rcstibule, it is like looking at Il pageant.
a barbaric court, or the lightly painted
figures OF 4 panorama-like almost any
thing but 4 company OF Christian women
attircd for the worship of God. Little
heels rap, strcamcrs float, laccs and lis
sues iluttcr, flowers trcmble there is a
grcat show of crimps and curl, and
braIds; there seems Ia he wings and
ilouncr' and ilutings and rufllcs and folds
and pleats and notchcs and scullops and
there are il.scls and nimps :
and irInYcs-all manner of decorations
and draperies, which give the imprcs-
SION Of an immense display OF BARRIERS
and mlllIners wares; the shops seem to
have been plundcred, and the robbers |
are carrying away Ill they can pile on :
their heads and hang around their nrcks
and waists. But no: they are only {
i'll their Sunday clothes, going TO church.
They are only wearing the showiest and t
most ovcrpowcringiy costly of their mis- /
ccllaneous articles OF attire. They have /
put them ON that they may make the t
most of the occasion. They are not mas .
lueradcrs, but worshippcrs! And all t
ihis costume does not prevent them from ,
being Christians. Certainly not. c
My pretty neighhor pposite-whose Il
picty no one ever donbtcd-who look, !
'uch AN embodiment OF womanly rood !
aste, as | see her walking in her Garden /
't morning in some softly flowing dress, 4
md with her own brown hair wound in :
, braid about her shapely head, is Just Il
Is much Christian, when following in t
he wake of Mrs. Senator G. WHO t
,oes with a painful motion up the aisle, n
by her mulitudinous clothes, IL
md all the symmetry Of her head de- =
troycd by the stupcndous pile of some
hing supposed TO be her own hair, but
which every lady knows is not. v
What if she had not moral courage z
nough TO appear in public in the style v
If dress which she likes best AMI which "
he knows is most becoming to her, shall !,
We assert that she is any less OF Chris "
ian on that account! But would not IA