The Middlebury register. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1850-1882, 1873-10-21

FASHION IN NATURE AND ARr.-But
what is fashion 1t is simply the common
way of doing things. Things must be
done. We all agree to that. The hui
man animal was not sent furred or hairy
into the world. 1t must dress itself In
this climate it must dress itself a good
deal. The bear aud the beaver have no
opportunity Of setting or following the
fashions They go in a fore ordained
groove. The ducks neck aud the pea
cocks tail are wonderful specimens Of
splendor in attire, but neither duck nor
peacock has any hand in the matter. To
man alone is given the high art Of using
taste, judgment, genius, in his clothes.
And high art it is, in spite Of all our de-
nunciations. Man and his Maker are the
formers of all the fashions of the world.
Man devses his own dress. The Creator
devises the dress of all the beasts of the
field, The birds of the air, the fish of the
sea If we are to be taught by example,
there need be inherently no limit to vari-
ETY. and splcndor Of costume. So far as
usefulness is concerned, all the birds
might just as well DC gray. Does fish
taste any better because his scales SHIN
mcr like opal in the sunshine ? Man may
wreak himself on invention, but he can
never hope to surpass the splendor of the
beetle and the butterfly. Why is the cut
of u coat, the tint of a gown, unworthy
of the human mind, when the Creator
has so clothed the grass Of the field which
to-day is and tomorrow is cast into the
oven A woman trims her hat, but God
made the feather.
1t is not whether you shall or snail not
follow the fashion it is what fashion and
whose fashion shall we follow. 1t is
whether you shall follow unin,cligently
or intelligently, moderately or extrava.
gantly. Mr.. Nordhoff's party came across
man at work in very scanty attire. Out
of respect to bis visitors, the man, after
receiving them, slipped into the bush
and reappeared clad in hat and shirt,
confidently believing, no doubt, that he
III ',u' "pp'v'vu hiInsvir cUsmopoll-
tan, But in rejecting Hawaiian attire
be had not become wholly American, and
while the first may have been somewhat
startling, the second was ridiculous into
the bargain. And when to this you add
that the gentle and gracious Hawaiians
are dying out at the rate of 60 per cent
In forty years, and partly, at least, under
the weight Of their clothing and in the
heavy shade Of their close houses, it is
surely time to pause aud consider whether
fashion, in Hawaii and elsewhere. may
not have its own sufficient reasons for
being, "lf life and death are the same,
why do you not kill yourself?" asked
rash man of a Stole. because they are
the same replied the Stole. Why not
dress like the people who are alive and
Will make remarks, rather than like the
people who are dead and tell no tales ?
1t is certainly plcasanter to be inconspicu.
GUS than conspicuous. There are follies
and WITNESSES in fashion. There is CD.
portunity for individual taste and choice.
Nevertheless, the wisest thing for people
in general to do is to follow the fashion
that prevails. 1t is only in exceptional
cases that they will obtain larger result
OF satisfaction at less outlay Of trouble
by setting up their own standard. Dress
is too important to be denounced, too
signifi can't to be neglected, but to pliable
to found fight on Gail Hamilton IN
The Baear.