The Pulaski citizen. [volume] (Pulaski, Tenn.) 1866-current, 1888-02-02
Proclamation has gone forth: "T

Proclamation has gone forth: 'sVel-
vets must go up and plain apparel must
CONS down." and the question is: S'How
does the coat fit?" not .'Who wears it?''
The power that bears the tides Of excited
population up and down our streets, and
rocks the world of commerce, and thrills
all nations, Transatlantic and Cis-At-
lantic, is clothes It decides the last
Offices Of respect; and how long the dress
shall be totally black; and whetit may
subside into spots of grief on silk, calico
or gingham. Men die in good circum-
stances, but by reason of extrayagant
funeral expenses are well nigh insolvent
before they are buried. Many men would
not die at all if they had to wait until
they could afford it.
Wrong fashion is productive of most
ruinous strife. The expenditure Of many
households is adjusted by what their
neighbors have, 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 vases, and Gobclins,
and Administers. Many household
establishments are like racing steam
boats propelled at the utmost strain
and risk, and just coming to a terrific
explosion. ''Who cares, say they, sif
we only come out ahead?''
There IS no one cause today of more
financial embarrassment and of more dis
honesties than this determination at all
hazards to live as well as on better than
other people. There are persons who
will risk their eternity upon one pier
mirror or who will dash out the splen-
dors of heaven to get another trinket.
''My house is too small" But" says
some one, ''you cannot pay for larger"
'iNever mind that, my friends have a
better RESIDENCE and SO will l." IA dress
of that style and material I must have,
I cannot afford it by great deal; bui
who cares for thata Ny neighbor had
one from that pattern, and must have
one." There are scores of men in the
dungeons of the penitentiary who risked
honor, business 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 resulted from this feeling. 1t keeps
hundreds of men struggling for their
commercial existence. The trouble is
that some ere caught and incarcerated if
their larceny be small. If it be great
they escape and build their castles 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. 1t is & factory
from which has come forth more hollow
pretenses and unmeaning batteries and
hypocrisies than the Lowell mills ever
turned out slawls and garments. Fashion
is the greatest of all 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 whether it is
an expression of their heart or an ex-
terna civility. We have learned to take
almost everything at a discount. Word
is sent mot at home" when they are
only too lazy to dress themselves. They
say, ''The furnace has just gone out, y
when in truth they have had no fire in
it all winter. They apologize for the
unusual barrenness of their table, when
they never live any better. They deery
their most luxurious entertainments to
win shower of approval. They apollo
gize for their appearance, as though it
were unusual, when always at home
they look just so. They would make
you believe that some nice sketch on the
wall was the work of {. master painter.
sIt was an heirloom and once hung all
the walls of castle, and duke gave it
to their grandfather - People who will
not lie about anything else will lie about
picture. On a small income we must
make the world believe that we are
affluent, and our life becomes cheat, a
counterfeit and sham.
Few people are really natural and un-
affected. When I say this do not mean
to slur cultured manners. 1t is right
that we should have more admiration fo1
the sculptured marble than for the un-
hewn block of the quarry. From many
circles in life fashion has driven ouI
vivacity and enthusiasm. A frozen dig
nifty instead floats about the room and
iceberg grinds against iceberg. You
must not laugh outright; it is vulgar
| You must smile. You must not dasl
rapidly across the room, you must glide
There is round of bows, and grins, anG
batteries, and obs and abs, and sim
perings, and namby pambyism--a worlt
of which is not worth one good
round, honest peal of laughter. From
such hollow round the tortured CUES
retires at the close of the evening, anC
assures his host that he has enjoyed him
SELF
Thus social life has been contorted anC
deformed, until, in some mountain cabin
where rustics gather to the quilting O
the apple pairing, there is more goot
cheer than in all the frescoed ice house.
of the metropolis. We want in all th
higher circles of society more warmth o
heart and naturalness of behavior, ans
not SO many refrigeraters.
Again: Wrong fashion is incompatible
with happiness. Those who depend 70
their comfort upon the admiration o
others are subject to frequent disappoint
ment. Somebody will criticise their ap
pearance, or surpass them in brilliancy
or will receive more attention. Oh, tn
| J6cllOuSy tll Ot;tld liiu iCSi IOui ii
ings of those who move in this bewildere
mazel Poor butterf1iesl Bright wing
do not always bring happiness. "Sh
that iveth in pleasure is dead while sh
liveth." The revelations of high lif
that come to the challenge and tn
fight are only the occasional crop
pings out of disquietudes that are, un
derneath, like the stars Of heaven TO
multitude, but like the demons of the pi
for hate. The misery that will to-nigh
In the cellar cuddle up in the straw
not SO utter as the pfincsly disquietud
which stalks through splendid drawn
rooms, brooding over the sights and Of
fenses of luxurious life. The bitterness
Of life seems not SO uniting when drum
out of pewter mug, as when it poul
, from the chased lips of a golden chalict
In the sharp crack of the voluptuary
pistol, putting an end to his earthl
misery, / hear the continuation that in
hollow. fastidious life there is no peac'
/ | Again: Devotion to wrong fashion
productive of physical disease. mept;
n