The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1890-01-29

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prominent attributes of the human
character, and il sometimes seems re-
markable 10 what an extent many
otherwise sensible and well-bred per-
sons will carry their love of display.
All persons have natural wish To at
tract admiration; some by the brilliancy
of their wit; some by their knowledge
of arts and sciences; some by their
beauty; some by the costliness and
style of their dress; and many, i'm order
To crafty the latter wish, will undergo
deprivations and personal inconven-
fences that are surprising to soberly
contemplate.
An exhibition of good taste in the Sc
lection of dress is praiseworthy quail
ity. Shallow people in dressing them
selves betray the Stiffness of their char
acter. A man of intelligence shrinks
from anything in dress that makes him
ridiculously conspicuous in crowd.
Simplicity and neatness in attire must
then be taken as evidence of sound
understanding Many woman's rep
utation has been endangered by a sense
less and vulgar display in her outward
adOrnings.
The love of finery has brought many
a man and woman To grief. 1t Is gen
orally conceded that fine clothes are a
necessary passport To fashionable So
ciety, and some people will undergo any
amount of Inconvenience in order to
be considered fashionable. A desire
for 'fine feathers" a passion for
"style," wish To keep up an exhibition
of good appearances, are the direct
cause of half the grief and misery that
fills the world. To these sources we
may, with good reason, attribute the
many defalcations that daily occur;
to these sources we may further trace
much of the petty theft and crime that
is becoming painfully common in our
metropolitan society Ii is stated,
ON good authority, that lady of high
social rank was recently detected in
the act of "shop-lifting" being too
poor, as she affirmed, to purchase such
dresses rs she desired for her two
daughters, whom she wished to make a
brilliant appearance in society in order
to gain wealthy husbands. For her
crime the mother was sentenced To i'm
prisonment. This is but one case of the
many that are of daily occurrence and
so long as this folly is encouraged, SO
long will many resort to disreputable
means to crafty their vanity and false
pride.
Beauty and style are not the surest
passports to spectability-someo of the
noblest specimens of womanhood that
the world has ever seen have presented
the plainest and most prepossessing APP
pearance. A woman's worth is To be
estimated by the real goodness of her
! heart, the greatness of her soul, and
the purity and sweetness of her char
acter; and woman with kindly dis
position and cultivated mind and
agreeable temper is lovely and attrac-
tive; be her face ever SO plain and her
! figure ever so homely, she makes the
best of wives, and the truest ofmothers.
She has higher purpose in living than
the beautiful, yet vain and supercilious
woman, who has no higher ambition
than to flaunt her fnery on the streets,
or to CRAFTY her inordinate vanity by
eXacting flattery and praise from a
! fashionable crowd whose compliments
are as hollow as they are insincere.
Much of the folly Sf the present day
is attributable to our eXtravagant age.
We are living in fast age, as well as
an eventful age, and men without judg-
ment and reason are more plenty than
sages. Every day brings us the unwel-
/
! berry, malfeasance or defalcation in
which persons of influence, and sup
posed responsibility, are painfully and
seriously involved. And if we only
take into careful and candid considera-
ton the cause of this unfortunate state
of society; if we will go down deep be-
meath the surface of common things,
we will find that almost every crime
and misdemeanOr is as much the fault
of the age as it is of the individual.
A majority of men have an innate de-
sire to keep up show of good appear
ances. Businessmen of high moral and
social standing are compelled in many
instances, when on the verge of bank
ruptcy, by this unfortunate and pervert-
ed public sentiment, to 90 on recklessly
in their career OF extravaganza and
folly, and to keep up a costly display,
instead of lessening their living eXpen-
SEES, and striving to do something to
satisfy their creditors, or to provide for
| their families when the impending
crash comes.
Young men who have been reared
under Christian influences, who hold
responsible positions on a meagre sal
AIRY, are impelled by the same influence
to live beyond their means; and that
they may go in the best society or in
dulge in fashionable vices, that are
painfully common, they are often in
duced to embezzle the funds of their
employers, or resort to other ways of
obtaining the means of satisfying de-
sires that are equally deplorable.
Young and beautiful girls, well Bred
educated and accomplished, who are
in every way capable of living noble
and exalted womanhood are led astray
by this same pitiable public sentiment.
The more memorable the demands of
fashion are, the more desperate are the
means to which woman will resort to
crafty her passion for dress. The love
of fashionable finery, and the sin of
reckless extravaganza, sends thousands
of beautiful women to ruin annually.
For all this disgrace, exposure and
infamy, we solemnly affirm that public
sentiment is as responsible as the in
diVidual state of society that en-