The Russellville Democrat., 1888-02-09

into midnight barbarism. AS Christianity 1 advance there wilt be bettsr apparel, 1 higher styles of architecture, more ex- l quisite adornments, sweeter music. l grander pictures, more correct behavior and more thorough ladies and gentlemen. But there Is another story to be told. l Wrong fashion is to be charged with many of the worst evils of soc iety, and 1 it's path has often been strewn with the bodies of the slain It has often set up l false standard by which people are to be 1 judged. Our common sense, as well as all the divine intimations on the subject, 1 teach us that people ought to be es- teemed according to their individual and
 moral attachments. The man who has | the most nobility of soul should be first, i and he who has the least of such qualities shonld stand last No crest, or shield, or
 escutcheon can indicate one's moral peer. age. Titles of duke, lord, esquire, earl,
 viscount or patrician ought not to raise one in to tho first rank. Some of the meanest men have eve- known had at the end of their name l. D., LL. D. and | F. R. s.
 Truth, honor, charity, heroism, self
 sacrifice should win highest favor; but l inordinate fashion says: Count not a
 woman's virtues; count her adornments." | Look not q the contour Of the head, but
 see tho way she combs her hair" Ask
 not what noble deeds have been accom- l plished by that woman's hand; but is 1t
 white and soft?" A sk not what good sensei Is
 in her conversation, but, "In what was she
 dressedu Ask not whether there was
 hospitality and cheerfulness in the house.
 but: "In what style do they ivef"
 As a consequence, some of the most ig-
 norant and vicious men ar'o at the top, | and some of the most virtuous and inteili. gent at the bottom. During the last war
 we suddenly saw men hurled up into 1 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 contract! This accounts for the utter chagrin which peopl, feel at the treatment they receive wfien they lose their property.
 Hold up your head amid financial disas- ter like Chris tian! Fifty thousand sub tractod from a good man, leaves how
 muchg 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 @ penny out of his pocket, would he sit down on curb-stone and cryg And
 shall a man possessed of everlasting fortunes wear himself out with grief b9- | cause be has lost his worldly treasuress You have only lost that in which hun
 dreds of wretched misers surpass you. and 1 you have saved that which the Cg sars
 and the Pharoahs and the Alexanders
 could never afford.
 And yet soc ;ety thinks differently, and you sec the most iu innate friendships | broken up as the cons quence of fin anc al | embarrassments Neu say to some one:
 "How is your friend2' The man looks be-
 wildered and says "l do not know"
 You reply: "Why, you used to be inti-
 mate" "Well," says the man, Sour
 friends hip has been dropped. The man
 has failed"
 Proclamation has gone forth: "Velvets
 must go up and pain apparel must come | down." and the question is: "How 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, transatlantic and cisatlantic,
 is clothes. It decides the last offices
 of respect, and how long the dress
 shall be totally black, and when it
 may subside into spots of grief on silk,
 calico or gingham. Men q @ in good
 circumstances, but by reason of extrava- 1 gant funeral expenses are well nigh n-
 solvent 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 k adiu'ted by what their neighbors hay @, not by what they them
 selves 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 Mimic rifles, and Dahlgren guns, and Hotchkiss shells, but chairs,
 and mirrors, and yases, and Gobelins, 1 and Axmn steIs. Many household estab- | lishmeuts are like racing steamboats pro- peIed at the utmo7t strain and risk, and | just coming to a terrific explosion. ''Who cares" say they, 'If we only como out aheadW
 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 ono pier mirror, or who wll l dash out the Spendors of Heaven to get
 another trinket. My house is too
 small" But" says some one, ''you can not pay for e larger" "Never mind that
 my friends have better residence and so will I"- "A dress uf that style and mate. l rial must have. l can not afford it by a | great deal but who cares for that? My l neighbor had one from that pattern, and
 must have one" There are scores of men l in the dungeons of ihe pententiary who
 risked honor. busmess--svery thing, in
 the effort 10 shine like others Though
 the Heavens fail they must be .iu the i fashion" The most famous frauds of the day have
 resulted from this feeling. It keeps hum
 dreds of men struggling for their com
 mercial existence. The trouble is that some are caught and ncarcerated if 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 is a factory | from which has come forth more hollow l pretenses and unmeaning flatter!es and | hypocrcies than the Lowell mills ever | turned out shawls and garments. Fashion
 is the greatest of all liars. It has made | so cie ty insincere. You know not what to
 believe. When people ask you to 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
 learned to take almost ev- cry thing at a discount. Word is sent 1 ''not at home" whom they are only too lazy to dress themselves. They say, 'The furnace has just gone ont" when in | truth they have had no fire in it all win .
 ter. They apologize for the unusual bar renness of their table when they never | live any better, They decry their most | luxurious entertainments to win a shower | of approval
 They apologize for their appearance as though it were unusual. when al ways at homo thaV iust look So Thev xVouid mi ka