The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1888-01-30


nor common decency. There has been a
caRonization of bIuntness. There are men
and women who boast that they can tell YOU
all they know and hear about YOU, especially
/ if il be unpleasant. Some have mistaken
rough behavior for franknes,, when the
two qualities do not belong to the same
! family You have no right with your &c
centricities to crash in upon the sensitive
ness of others There is no virtue in walk
ing with hoofs over fine carpets. The
most Jagged rock is covered with blossom
| ing moss. The storm that comes iarring
down in thunder strews rainbow colors
upon the sky and silvery drops on orchard
and meadow
There are men who pride themselves on
their capacity to stick Others. They say:
Il have brought him down; didn't make
him sQuirmw Others pride themselves OH
their outandish apparel They loast of
being out of the fashion. They wear a
queer hat. They ride in an odd carriage.
By dint of perpetual application they would
persuade the world that they are perfectly
Indifferent to public opinion. They are
more proud of being ''out of fashion" than
others are of being in. They are utterly
and universally disagreeable. Their rough
! corners have never been worn Off They
prefer a hedgehog to lamb.
The accomplishments Of life are in nowise
Good manners and a respect for the tastes
of Others are ind spensable. The good book
speaks tavorabiy of those who are 'pecu-
harn people; but that does not sanction the
behavior of queer people. There is no eX-
cuse, under any circumstances, for not being
and acting the lady or gentleman. RudenesS
is sin. We have no words too ardent to ex-
press our admiration for the refnements of
society. There is no law, moral or divine, to
laIa .ta
of gold, or gems for the person, artistic dis
play in the dwelling, gracefulness of gait
and bearing, polite salutation or honest
compliments and he who is shocked or Of
Tended by these had better, like tho old
Scythians, wear tiger-skins ana take one
wild leap back into midnight barbarism.
AS Christianity advances there will be bet
ter apparel, higher styles of architecture,
more exquisite adornments sweeter music,
grander pictures, more correct behavior
and more thorough ladies and gentlemen.
But there is another story to be told.
Wrong fashion is to be charged with many
of the worst evils Of society, and its path
has often been strewn with the bodies of the
slain. 1t has often set up false standard
by which people are to be judged Our
common sense, as well as all the divine in
timations on the subject, teach us that peo-
pie ought to be esteemed according TO their
individual and moral attainments. The man
who has the most nobility of soul should be
first, and he who has the least of such quail
ties should stand last. No crest, or shield,
or escutcheon can indicate ones moral
peerage. Titles of Duke, Lord, Esquire,
Earl, Viscount, or Patrician ought not to
raise one into the first rank. Some of the
meanest men ! have ever known had at the
end of their name D. D., LII. and f. r.
S. Truth, honor, charity, heroism, self
sacrifice should win highest favor; but inOr-
dinate fashion says: Count not woman S
virtues: count her adornments" " Look not
at the contour of the head, but see the way
she combs her hair Ask not what noble
deeds have been accomplished hv thatman's
hand; but is it white and soft" Ask not
what good sense is in her conversation, but
''In what was she dressedf' y Ask not whether
there was hospitality and cheerfulness in
the house, but In what stve 10 they live?
AS consequence, some of the most lgno-
rant and vicious men are at the top, and
some of the most virtuous and intelligent at
the bottom. During the last war we sud-
denly saw men hurled up into the highest
social positions. Had they suddenly re-
formed from evil habits, or graduated in
science, or achieved some good work for So
ciety? No. they simply had obtained a
government contract.
This accounts for the utter chagrn which
when they lose their property. Hold up
your head amid financial disaster like a
Christian Fifty thousand subtracted from
a good man leaves how muchs Honor !;
truth: faith in God; triumphant hope, and
kingdom Of ineffable glory, over which he
is to reign forever and ever.
If tie owner of millions should lose a
penny out of his pocket would he sit down
on a curbstone and cryi And shall a man
OIL INP efi ircr i'm,
self out with grief because he has lost
worldly treasures3 You have only lost
that in which hundreds of wretcbed misers
surpass you; and you have saved that which
the Caesars, and the Pharoahs, and the
AlexanderB could never afford.
And yet society thinks differently, and
you see the most intimate friendships broken
up as the consequence OF financial embar-
rassments. You say to some one: How is
your fIiend?" The man looks bewildered
and says: II do not know" You eply 4:
''Why, you used to be intimate" We'll -
says the man, "our friendship has been
dropped. The man has failed
Proclamation has gone forth: "Velvets
must 60 up and plain apparel must come
down" and the question is: How does the
coat fit"' not "Who wears itP The power
that bears the tides OF excited population up
and down our streets and rocks the world Of
commerce, and thrills all nations, trans
atlantic and cis-atlantc, is clothes. 1t de-
cides the last offices Of respect; and how
long the dress shall be totally black; and
when it may subside into suots OF grief on
silk, calico OF gingham. Men die in good
circumstances, buJ by reason Of extrava-
giant funeral expenses are well nigh insol-
vent before they get buried. Many men
would not die at all if they had TO wait until
they could afford it.
Wrong fashion is productive Of a most
ruinous strife. The expenditure of many
households is adjusted by what their neigh
bors have, not by what they themselves can
afford to have, and the great anxiety is as
to who shall have the finest house and the
most costly equipage. The weapons used in
the warfare Of social life are not Mlnie rifles
and Dahlgreen guns, end Hotchkis5 shells,
but chairs and mirrors, and vases, and
Gobelins and Administers. Many house
hold establishments are ike racing steam
boats propelled at the utmost strain and
risk and just coming TO terrific explosion
"Who cares" say they, 'if we only come
out aheadP'
There is no one cause to-day Of moro
financial embarrassment and of more dis
honesties than this determination at all
hazards to live as well as or better than
other people. There are persons who viii
risk their eternity upon ono pier mirror or
who will dash out the splendors of heaven
to get another trinket
MY house is too small" " But, says
some one, you cannot pay for a larger
''Never mind that, my friends have Better
residence and no will l." "a dress OF thnt