The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1878-05-03

head, the more attractive is she to eyery pure
taste.
There is, unfortunately, more than one
way in which the love of fnery Is bred in a
child. little girl is much in the house.
and much in the society of the ladies of the
mouse, whoever they may be- | beg leave
to inquire of the mothers of my little friends
what subject they are accustomed to hear
discussed most frequently, and with the
most intense personal interest was boy
who loved most to be out of doors. and in
later years, have spent more time in the
library than in the parlor and ask, there.
fore, for information. / think that at odd
times in my life have heard allusions made
to dress among my lady acquantances; and it
has been iDtimated to me by those who ought
to know, that there is 10 subject so absorb.
ing and of such constant interest in female
circles as that of personal adornment.
This may be q slander, but | am afraid
that it is not; and if not, how natural is il
that the child who witnesses this devotion to
dress in its mother, or its adult acauaintan-
ces, should grow up with the impression
that personal adornment is the great end of
life, How many mother owes it to her
own vanity and vulgarity that her little cne
leases her for trinkets and fnery that she
can poorly afford, and would gladly dispense
with, but which she finds it hard in her
motherly sympathy to deny her. How many
family circles are there which are little more
than schools of personal vanity, where girls
are trained to love of dress from the date
OF their first consciousness of the difference
between rag and ribbon. And this l de-
clare to be terrible abuse, which leaves its
mark upon the soul while life lasts
do not assert that sll fondness for dress
in children springs from pare ental planting
and fostering, or from home influence and
example. Children are thrown into as
sociations with their neighbors, aad they
notice differences of dress, and come quickly
to learn among their mates that dress has
much to do with the social standing. They
cannot understand that overdress is vulgar
so they beg for articles that will place them
upon an equal footing with their mates, and
many mother, against her own best iudg.
ment, yields to the urgent entreaty of her
loved ones, and gives them only what will
only feed base appetite that grows upon
its food. 1t is very, very hard to deny the
strong wish Of a much beloved child, but
there is always cruelty in gratifying it when
harm lies in the grai6cation. Thus the cru
city of ones neighbor to her little daughter
is also cruelty by that neighbor to mine or
to yours, and that over.dressed child may
spoil neighborhood, or do it serious dam.
age. ...|
The girl is mether of the woman, as the
boy is father of the man and we are train
ing up in America race of women who
will be a. much more devoted to dress than
their mothers, as their mothers excel in their
love OF personal sdornments to the women
OF the last generation. The nation is pros
porous. Mutitudes of men acquire sudden
wealth who know no wsy of giving express
sion to their freshly won Independence save
in expensive establishments and costly Dress
They do not layish their money upon them
selves, but they give their wives free rein
and these pile the dry goods and iewelry
upon themselves and their daughters This
is the way of declaring their position, and
advertising their vulgarity but they have
an influence upon the young and easily dal-
zled minds, and help to vitiate taste al
ready sufficiently corrupt. Fashion, import
ed monthly from nstion of the most friyo-
lous women under heaven, sweep. every
thing into its vortex; and all chastity of
taste, all discrimination OF proprety and fit
ness, all consultation of position and ability
and all consideration of the paramount in
terests and duties of womanhood are lost.
Into this vortex of vanity and worldliness
we are bearing our daughters by every ex-
cltement of and ministry to their taste for
hnery and vulgar display, Is it not cruel ?
Don't you feel more kindly toward the Ia
borer with the shingle than you did9 do.
Let me not be misunderstood. love beau
ty in children, in women, and in their appa-
rel. What | desire to see is beauty,
beauty without vain display; beauty that
shall not exalt these perishable persons above
the imperishable spirits which inhabit them;
beauty of dress that shall be the natural eff.
ierescence Of simple tastes and pure instincts
and modest minds; beauty that attracts
without dazzling, and pleases without exct-
ing Jealousy in the beholder or vanity in
the possessor. This is the sort of beauty !
like, and you, and everybody who knows
anything. So take care of those little girl,
OF yours with millinery. They are to marry
our boys one of these days, and for one
feel particular about my grand children be,
ing related to fools on the mothers side