The Bolivar bulletin. [volume] (Bolivar, Hardeman County, Tenn.) 1865-1888, 1888-02-10


tiger-skins and take one wild leap back
into midnight barbarism. As Chris istianity
advance there will be better apparel,
higher styles of architecture, more ex-
quisite 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 soc iety, 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 we'll as
all the divine intimations on the subject,
teach US that people ought to be es-
teemed 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 qualities
should stand last. No crest, or shield, or
escutcheon can indicate ones moral peer
age. Titles of duke, lord, esquire, earl,
viscount or patrician ought not to raise
one in to the first rank. Some of the
meanest men / have ever known had at
the end of their name d. D., Ii. d. and
F. R. S.
Truth, honor, charity, heroism, self
sacrifice should win highest favor; but
inordinate fashion says: 'Count not a
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 accom-
plished by that woman's hand; but is it
white and soft?" Ask not what good sense is
in her conversation, but, 'In what was she
dressed?" Ask not whether there was
hospitality and cheerfulness in the house,
but: ''In what style do they live?"
As a consequence, some of the most ig-
norant and vicious men are at the top,
and some of the most virtuous and intell-
gent at the bottom. During the last war
we suddenly saw men hurled up into
the highest social positions. Had they
suddenly reformed from evil habits, or
graduated in science, or achieved some
good work for society? No, they simply
had obtained Government contracti
This accounts for the utter chagrin
which people feel at the treatment they
receive when they lose their property.
Hold up your head amid financial disas-
ter like Christian! Fifty thousand sub
tracted from a good man, leaves how
muchf Honor, truth, faith in God, tri :
umphant hope, and kingdom of ineffable
glory, over which he is to reign forever
and ever.
If the owner of millions should lose a
penny out of his pocket, would he sit
down on a curb stone and cryP And
shall a man possessed of everlas ting
fortunes wear himself out with grief be-
cause he has lost his worldly treasuresl
You have only lost that in which hum
dreds of wretched misers surpass you. and
you have saved that which the Cae sars
and the Pharoahs and tho Alexanders
could never afford.
And yet society thinks differently, and
you the most intimate friendships
broken up as the consequence of financial
embarrassments. You say to some one:
Elbow is your friendY The man looks be-
wildered, and says: 81 do not know"
You reply: 'Why, you used to be inti-
mate" "Wel" says the man, "ouI
friends hip has been dropped. The man
has failed"
Proclamation has gone forth: ''Velvet Is
must go up and PLAIN apparel must come
down." and the question is: GLOW does
the coat fit" not ''Who wears it," The
power that bears the tides of excited pop
ulation up and down our streets, and
rocks the world Of commerce, and thrills
all nations, trans satlantlc and cisatlantic,
is clothes. 1t decides the last offices
of respect, and how long the dress
shall be totally black, and when il
may subsde into spots Of grief on silk,
calico or gingham. Men die I'm good
circumstances, but by reason of extrava-
CANT funeral expenses are well nigh in
solvent before they get buried. Many
men would not die at all If they had to
wait until they could afford ii.
There is no one cause to-day of more
financial embarrassment and of more dis
honesties than this determination at all
hazards to live as well or better than other
people.
There are persons who will risk their
eternity upon one pier mirror, or who viii
dash out the spendors of Heaven to get
another trinket 'tMy house is too
small" "But" says some one. "you can
not paw for a larger" "Never mind that.
my friends have a better residence and so
will J." "a dress of that style and mate
rial must have. I can not afford it by a
great deal, but who cares for that2 My
neighbor had one from that pattern, and ]
must have one" There are scores of men
in the dungeons of the penitentiary who
| risked honor, busness-svery thing, in
! the effort to shine like others. Though
the Heavens fall they must be ''in the
fashion"
The most famous frauds of the day have
| resulted from this feeling. 1t keeps hun
dreds of men struggling for their COM
mercial existence. The trouble is that
some are caught and incarcerated II their
| larceny be small If it be great. they es
| cape and build their castle on the Rhine
Men get into Jail not because they steal
but because they did not steal enough.
| Again: Wrong fashion makes people
unnatural and untrue. It q a factory
| from which has come forth more hollow
preteHses and unmeaning batteries and
| hypocricies than tho Lowell mills evoi
turned out shawls and garments. Fashi on
| is the greatest Of all Lara II has made
/ society insincers. You know 81 what n
/ believe. When people ask you 20 come
/ you do not know whether or not they
want you to come. When they send their
/ regards you do not know whether it Is
/ an expression of their heart or
an external civility. We have
1 learned to take almost ev
cry thing at a discount. Word Is sent
/ ''not at home" when they are only too
/ lazy to dress themselves. They saw
| ''The furnace has just gone out, i" when in
4 truth they have had no fire In 10 a. win
! ter. They apologize for the unusual bar
renness Of their table when they nevei
/ live any better. They decry their mos
/ luxurious entertainm 3nts to win a shower
/ of approval.
| They apologize for their appearance az
/ though it were unusual when always al
| home they just look so. They would make
| you believe that some nice sketch on the
/ wall was the work of a master painter.
! at was an heirloom and once hung on the
walls OF "A castle; aud duke gave it Ga
/ their grandfather" People who Will
not lie about any thing else viii lie about
/ picture. On a small income we mast
/ make the world bel ieve that we are am u
/ ent, and our life becomes a cheat, a
| coun terfeit and sham.
! Few people are natural and unaffected.
1 When / say this { do not mean to sluI
I cultured manners. IL Is right that We
+ should have more admiration for the
+ sculptured marble than for the unhewr
/ block Of the quarry From many circles
1 in life fashion has driven out yivacltv and
! enthusiasm. a frs IN dignity instead
! floats about the room and iceberg eriud'
+ against iceberg. You must not laugh ont.
right; it is vulgar. You must smile. You
must not dash rapidly across the room;
vou must glide. There is "a round o Z bow s
4 aud crime aud anfferfae and fha rpe