The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1875-10-09
Cur @lio.


lpy hoTtiJinS garments, nor are tney u
be condemned as forward if they speak
beyond monosyllables or enter into IA.
tional conversation with even a stranger
but the spirit Of adventure in these bold
rowing, unblushing days, has certainly
been carried to dangerous point On
these texts writer in the number ofthe last
Saturday Rerie1 discourses most wisely,
aud utters sentiments which are worthy Of
careful perusal and serious consideration.
Thirty years ago, he says, it would have
been almost impossible to mistake a mod
Est woman for the reverse but nowadays
women appear to be no longer persuaded
that modesty Is at once their distinctive
charm and their best protection. On the
one hand, they talk of doubtful subjects
on the other, they paint and dye, and
dress in the most exaggerated Haunting
fashion. There is no intention among any
such Of being the desert rose, wasting its
sweetness, or hiding the light of personal
charms under bushels Of concealing drap-
cry. The craze for notoriety, excitement,
attention, has touched them, almost all,
and the bloom is rubbed off long before
the fruit is ripe.
Women say their lives are dull, and
therefore they are driven into questiona-
bic paths for excitement and diversion
hence we find certain tone in present
manners, of which we see the expression
in the greater license Of talk allowed be.
tween the sexes, in the almost universal
prevalence Of slang, in the undeniable fast.
ness Of young women and girls, and in the
lounging familiarity characteristic of the
modern youth-but those of them who
have kept to their duties, and made their
happiness at home, do not find their lives un.
interesting or their hours heavy. On the
contrary, they find their portion by nc
means a meagre one, and they are glad tc
confess that, it they do all they have to dc
they have no time left for repining and
none for the prosecution Of adventures. y
We say it advisedly, as a rule--no rule ol
course being without occasional exceptions
that good girl, who is careful in hel
manners and modest in her dress, need moi
get into trouble anywhere. That indefn,
able something, which men are very rarely
backward in recognizing, makes her a:
safe with a stranger as with the mythiC
lion; a woman who is really on guard al
every point is very unfortunate, indeed, il
she cannot travel without annoyance. If
besides being beautiful, she is free in her
manner and audacious in her attire, should
she wonder If she runs the risk of being
mistaken? II is n bad sign when men
cease to respect women of their own, or
indeed, of any class, but the women are
themselves to blame for the intolerably
Aippant and impertinent tone pervadinp
young society.
We do not want to 60 back to the for.
malities of Sir Charles Grandson, and
there is winning charm in naturalness
not to be had from the most perfected ar
ti6ciality. Nevertheless, slight return
to Old World forms of courtesy, little
dash Of that stately reverence of speech
and demeanor which our forefathers exag.
gerated into pedantry, would be gain in
times when the young men give, as their
greatest praise Of girl, "there is no non
sense about her." meaning no bashfulness,
no reserve, no girlish, shrinking modesty
while the girls justify the compliment by
calling the young men "dear boys" and
sometimes, when they have less nonsense
even than usual, and desire closer assim-
ilation of style, "oldme
This is the form which is taught and
held up for admiration in the ladies' nov
els of the day, and it is impossible to ex-
aggerate the degree in which these writ
ings may have tended to corrupt and de :
grade the sex who chiefly write and read
them. All these things are patent. Pat
ent, too, is the inference that when wo-
man, from no fault Of her own, falls into
trouble, she suffers for the mistakes and
follies of her class and the time. Person.
ally she may be wholly blameless, but with
all these lines Of demarcation blurred,
these distinctive characteristics confused,
it is almost inevitable that there should be
mistakes. Until we come to moro ethe-
real condition of existence, the burden Of
self-protection must to a large extent, we
fear, rest on the women themselves; the
burden is not heavy aud the penance it
includes is not very bitter Ii only that
modest women must show what they are
by series Of negatives, and take care
not to expose themselves to misconstruc-
tion by an attractiveness of out door
dress, doubtful manner of speech, aud
Bohemian bonhonmiie Of behavior which
shift the labels, mislead their companions,
and end in the confusion of mistaken
affinity, by which they themselves are the
greatest sufferers in the end. 1t requires
very practiced eye indeed to discern il
the pretty young woman, alone, with
rOuged cheeks, blackened eyelids, whitened
forehead, painted eyebrows and dyed hair,
clothed in railnent ofstartling picturesque
ness, and in fancy hat Of marvellous con.
struction, and as becoming as marvellous
II the pretty puppet dressed up for show,
has turned out into the crowded streets
only to be admired by passers.by.