The Atlanta constitution. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1885-19??, 1888-01-31

ior the reinements OF society. There is no
law, moral or divine, to forbid elegance,
OIL demeanor, or ornaments of gold, or
gems Tor the person. artistic display in the
dwelling, gracefulneSs of gait and bearing, po-
lite Salutation or honest compliments; and he
who is shocked or offended by these had better,
IKE the old Scythians, wear tiger-skins and
take one wild leap back into midnight barbar-
ism. AS Christianity advances there will be
! better apparel, higher styles of architecture,
more exquisite adornments Sweeter music,
gfander 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 peo-
PIE are to be judged. Our common-sense, as
well as all the divine intimationS on the sub
Ject, teach us that people ought to be esteemed
according TO their individual and moral attain
ments. 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 esoutcheon can indicate ones
moral peerago. Titles of duke, lord, esquire,
eall, VlScount or patrician ought not to
raise one into the first rank. Some of the
meanest men L have ever known had at the
end OF their name DID, LID. and f. Il. S.
Truth, honor, charity, heroism, self-sacrifice
should win highest favor but inordinate fash
ION says: Count not woman's virtues !;
count her adornments." "Look not at the con-
tOuI VI lIl6 ncttu, DuG see Jne way she COMBS
her hair ASK not what noble deeds have
been accomplished by that mans hand, but is
1t white and soft?' Ask not what good sense
Is in her conversation, but sin what was she
dressed Ask not whether there was hospi-
tally and cheerfulness in the house, but GIN
what style do they live?"
AS consequence, some of the most ignorant
and vicious men are at the top, and some of
the most virtuous and intelligent at the bot
tom. During the last war we suddenly saw
men hurled up into the highest social posi-
tons. 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!
ms accounts Tor the utter chagrin which
people feel at the treatment they receive when
they. lose their property. Hold up your head
amid financial disaster like Christian! Fifty
thousand subtracted from a good man leaves
how much? Honor truth faith in God ;
triumphant hope; and a 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 curb
stone and cry? And shall man possessed of
everlasting fortunes wear himself ont with
grief because he has lost worldly treasure
You have only lost that in which hundreds of
wretched misers surpaSs you; and you have
saved that which the Caesars, and the Pha-
raohs, and the Alexanders could never afford.
And yet society thinks differently and you
the consequence of financial embarrassments
You say to some one "How is your friend 2"
The man looks bewildered and says: 81 do
not know" You reply: why, you used to
be intimate" WELL" says the man, "our
friendship has been dropped. The man has
failed"
Proclamation has gone forth, 'Velvets must
go up and plain apparel must come down."
and the question is ''How does the coat fit %
not "Who wears it?' The power that bends
tide n a lat nm nd
streets, and rocks the world Of commerce, and
thrills all nations, transatlantic and ciS-
Atlantic, is clothes. 1t 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 bingham. Men
die in good circumstances, but by reason of eX-
traYagant funeral expenses well nigh in
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 most ruin
Gus strife. The expenditure of many house
holds is adjusted by what their neighbors
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
equlpage. The weapons used in the warfare
of social life are no mimic rifles and Dahlgren
guns, and Hotchkiss shells, but chairs, and
mirrors, and vases, and gobelins and axmin-
sters. Many household establishments are
like racing steamboats, propelled at the utmost
explosion. "Who cares" say they, 'if we
only come out ahead?'
There is no one cause today of more finan-
cial embarrassment and of more dishonesties
than this determination at all hazards to live
as well as cor better than other people.
There are persons who will risk their eternity
upon one pier mirror or who will dash out the
spendors of heaven to get another trinket.
"bLy house is too small" But" says some
one you cannot pay for larger" ''Never
mind that. my friends have q baftar racidapca
and SO will l. "a dress of that style and
material L must have. l cannot afford it by O
great deal; but who cares for that? Ny neigh
Dor had one from that pattern, and / must
dungeons of the penitentiary who risked
hcnor, business, everything, in the effort to
shine like others. Though the Heavens fall
they must be sin the fashion"
The most famous frauds of the day have re-
suited from this feeling. 1t keeps hundreds
Of men struggling for their commercial exist
ence. The trouble is that some are caught
and incarcerated if their larceny be small. If
it be great they escape 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 I'M
natural and untrue. 1t is factory from
which has come forth more hollow pretenses
and unmeaning batteries and hypocrsieS
than the Lowell mills ever turned out shawls
liars. 1t has made society 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 whethcr-it is
an expression of their heart or an external
civilty. We have learned TO take almost
everything at a discount Word is sent mot
at home when they are only too LAZY to
dless themselves. They say The furnace has
just gone out" when in truth they
have had no fire in it all
winter. They apologize for the unusual bar
rennesS of their table when they never live
any better. They decry their most luxurious
entertainments to win shower OF approval.
They apologize for their appearance as though
ii were unusual, when always at home they
look Just 50. They would make you believe
that some nice sketch on the wall was the
work Of a master-painter. at was an heir
loom and once hung on the walls Of castle:
and a duke gave it to their grandfather"
People who will not lie about anything else
viii lie about picture. On small income
We must make the world believe that We are
aaiuent, and our life becomes a cheat, couu-
terfcit ana sham.
Few people are really natural and unaf-
ected. When ] say this / do not mean to
STAR cultured manners. 1t is right that We
should have more admiration for The sculp-
turcd marble than for the uuhrwn block Of