Ottumwa weekly courier. (Ottumwa, Wapello County, Iowa) 1872-1899, 1876-03-08
WILL the LESSON NE TH ROwN
AWAY1

port vain expense. corfnpts the l',rest souls
While Mrs. Bclknap is smothcrine
with shame, the women of Washing.
ton, who have fitted about i'm her re.
fiected glory like moths around a
candle, will heap upon her fall mount.
aims Of reproaches. She was the
woman Of all women in Washington
whom they admired, hut did moi
love. Her beauty, her arrogance, her
address, her apparel. her jewels, laces
and entertainments, formed The CHIEF
topics Of conversation among those
whose sole business in life is to gilt.
ter as If they were golden. Thi:
wretched woman. whose descent has
nothing Of splcndor, except ihe Gre,
membrance Of happier things" which
Dante calls 1.-THE greatest sorrow,
possessed no talent except successful
ostcntation; nevertheless, the women
Of the Capital, generally speaking
recognized her as the queen Of tho
regime, and her court was considered
much more regal than that of tho
! White House itself. Indeed. the sem
sible wife of the President has never
attempted to rival the displays Of the
brilliant Mrs. Belknap, and has cX.
hibiied snnul sense and womanl.
prudence IN the management of hci
own household, leaving 10 sHch wo:
men as the foolish wife of the Sccrc.
tary of War the congenial task OF
mimickine the pageantry and cxtrav.
agancc of petty European prince.
doms.
The very women in Washington
who have most intensely admired and
most seduloHsiy initiated the now
disgraced Kentucky belle, will be thu
loudest and most vulgar aud nnfcel
ing in swelling tue story Of hel
gaudy infamy. Those especially
whom she has snnbbfd will now hart
their revenge. "Womcn," We are Told
"like princes. find few real friends,
and the Woman Of Fashion sacrifice:
wilfaliy the little AnNber she might
otherwise worthily win. for fashion
and friendship are irrce0ncilable
The trade of society" is hypocrisy
hypocrisy iH STYLE. hypocrisy in man.
ners, hypocrisy IN words, hypocrisy
in action, hypocrisy in thought itself
What woman, habitually hypocpite
in every relation of life, could remain
honest when her sole study was os.
tentation, and her husbands resonrc-
es were meagre! But how much bet
ter thaR she are the numerous DANES
of high station and low degree who
will now so soiubly .dcnoupee Der
whom, until she fell, they daily sought
to follow?
Will the destruction Of this wolnai'S
fame and the impeachment of her
guilty husband exercise any pcrma-
ncnt effect upon the criminal excuses
of Washington society. or the "soci-
ETY." of other cities? VIII thc butter
flies Of the national garden develop
thinking power enough To reflect to
their own benefit upon ihc ruins Gf a
gorgeous establishment, whose SUI
perappoiHtments were paid for by the
transformation OF Cabinet officer
into common thief? FneEe is no
denying the pitifui irD,h that this
terrible stain upon the nations honor
has beoN inflicted by woman's
hand. Can sufficient remorsc be
awakened in the sex 10 induce them
to attempt its removal: Probably
not. The optimist may hope, and the
pessimists may growl, but the truth
lies between them. The ovcrwhclm.
ing tide Of fashionable folly cannot
be turned by even spch dam; the
stream will bMpry me Beiknap debris
under Its torgetfq.l waves, ; and ID rush
along to hurry others ~ similar
destruction.
Perhaps the lesson of the Delknap
episode may not be wholly lost. If il
arrest the career Of hypocrisy and
extravaganza and hypocrisy, md the
insane passion for display, In which
the majority of the people associated
with the Government and conspic-
uops in society" all over the Country
have been INDUCING for the past ten
years, the centennial Of The Republic
will mark the beginning of a ealMcr
and more virtuous era, more akin TO
that In which the foundations Of the
nation were laid with virtue and de-
corum, as well as with Strength
Ch"ogO journal.