The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1888-02-09


lfferent to public opinion. They
nore proud of being @out of fashion" ths
hhers are Of being in. They are utter
md universally disagreeablo. Their roug
,orners have never been worn OF. The
prefer u hedgehog TO lamb.
The accomplishments of life are in n
wise productive of effeminacy or enerva
ion Good manners and a respect 70
the tastes of others are indispensable. Th
Good Book speaks fayorably OF those who
are peculiar people; but that does not
sanction the behavior of queer people.
There is no excuse, under any circum-
stances, for not being and acting the lady
or gentleman. Rudeness is sin. We have
no words too ardent to express our admira-
tion for the refnements of society. There
is no law, moral or divine, to forbid ele-
gance of demeanor, or ornaments of gold,
or gems for the person, artistic display in
the dwelling, gracefulness of gait and
bearing, polite salutation or honest COM
pliments; and he who is shocked or
offended by these had better, like the old
Scythians, wear tiger skins and take one
wild leap back into midnight barbarism.
AS Christianity advances there will be
better apparel, higher styles Of architect
ure, more exquisite adornments, sweeter
music, grander pictures, more correct be-
havior 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. II has often set up false
standard by which people are to be Judged.
Our common sense, as we'll Gs the divine
intimations on the subject, teach us that
people 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 qualities should stand last.
No crest, or shield, or escutohson can iu-
dictate ones moral peerage, Titles of
duke, lord, esquire, earl, Yiscount, or
patrician ought not to raise 1ne into the
first rank. Some of the meanest men |
have ever known had at the end of their
name DID,, LII. D., and F. r. S. Truth,
honor, charity, heroism, self-saSriiGe
snould win highest favor; but inordinate
fashion says: "Count not a woman's
virtues count her alornments. "Look
not at the contour of the head, but see the
way she combs her hair. Ask not what
noble deeds have been accomplished by
that man hand; but is it white and soft?"
Ask not what good sense is her conversa-
not whether there was hospitality and
cbeerfulness in the house, but ain what
style do they live?"
As Il consequence, some of the most
ignorant and vicious men are at the top,
and some of the most virtuous and intelli-
gent are at the bottom. During the last
war We suddenly saw men hurled into the
highest social positions. Had they sud-
denly reformed from evil habits, or grad
uated in science, or achieved some good
work for society? No they simply had OBJ
tanned government contract!
This accounts for the utter chagrin
which people feel at the treatment they re-
ceiye when they lose their property. Hold
up your head amid financial disaster like
a Christian! Fifty thou and sUbtractsd
from a good man leaves how much?
Honor, truth, faith in God, triumphant
hope, and a kingdom of inetfable glory,
over which he is to reign forever and ever.
If the owner of millions should lose
penny out of his pocket would be sit down
on n curbstone and cry? And shall man
nossessed of everlasting fortune wear him
elf out with grief because he has lost
worldly treasure? You have only lost that
in which hundreds of wretched misers
surpRss you; and you have saved that which
the Caesars, and the Pharaohs, and the
Alexanders could never afford.
And yet society thinks differently, and
you see the most intimate friendships
broken up as the consequence of financial
embarrassments. You say to some one:
"How is your friend?" The man looks
bewildered and says: Il do not know"
You reply: "Why, you used to be inu-
mate" "Well, says the man, "our friend
ship 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 tit?" not "Who wears it?" The
power that bears the tides of excited popu-
lation up and down our streets, and rocks
the world OF commerce, and thrills all ma
tions, trans- Atlantic and els Atlantic, is
clothes. 1t decides the last offices Of re-
spect; and how long the dress shall be to-
tally black; and when il may subside into
spots of grief on silk, calico or gingham.
Men die in good circumstances, but by
reason of extravagant funeral expenses are
we'll nigh insolvent before they get buried.
Many men would not die at all if they had
; 10 wait untilthey could afford it.
= Wrong fashion is productive of a most
ruinous strife. The expenditure of many
| households is adjusted by what their neigh
can afford to have; and the great anxiety is
rs to who shall have the finest house and
the most costly equipage. The weapons
used in the warfare of social life are not
! MIME rifles, and Dahlgren guns, and
! Hotchkiss shells, but chairs, and mirrors,
! and vases, and Gobelins, and Administers.
! Many household establishments are like
| racing steamboats, propelled at the utmost
| strain and risk, and just coming to ter
! rife explosion. "Who cares" say they,
"if we only come out ahead?"
! 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 we'll or better than
| other people. There are persons who will
| risk their eternity upon one 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 a better
residence rpd so will l.. "A dress of that
style and material | must have. | cannot
afford it by great deal; but who cares for
| that? My neighbor had one from that
! pattern, and l. must have one." There are
I scores Of men in the dungeons Of the peni
tentiary who risked honor, business
| uerything, 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 CONNER
cial existence. The trouble is that some
80 "Nvz.h+ and incarceratedif if their larceny
be small. II 1t be great they escape and
build their castle on the Rhine. Men get
into jail not because they steal, but be-
cause they did not steal enough.
Again: Wrong fashion is incompatible
with happiness. Those who depend for
their comfort upon the admiration of
others are subject to frequent disappont-
| mani COmehndv will criticisa THAR ~, -