Delaware gazette and state journal. (Wilmington, Del.) 1883-1902, 1896-11-12

| You and I and everybody else longs tc
| find out for ourselves. Sometimes We
draw back whom our finger tips are
| burned. Sometimes we don't, And
| when we are not warned in time OF
the folly Of many things, when the
scorched finger tips are not enough,
what IA wonderful old age of repentance
| is before us. An old Ege of repentance
is not beautiful. Have you ever seen
40 old lady with white hair, whose
checks were as rosy as her grand
daughters? She is far more beautiful
than tho younger woman, and she
represents fhe old age which is still
animated by hope. II is a wonderful
state of affairs when one ia 10 and
opens one's eyes each morning with
delightful expectancy-and vet, there
such an old age. 1t is gotten by living
a healthy life; by living life that is
healthy-mentally. morally and physi-
cally.
!, The dirtiest nations in the world are
the most immoral. They tend to the
meanest vices and they have the mar
rowest ideas. When one's skin Is al
lowed to- dry up, when only ones face
is acquainted with publication by
water, what can be expected of the
bodyY Don't you think it is an in
suit, not only to yourself but to your
Maker, to disregard the laws of clean
Illness? 1t often seems to me that, in
stead of being so uppish about our
privilege to vote, about the fact that
all men are equal-and thoy are not
that we should get up and hurrah for
the popularity of the bath tub. l
never had any belief in those old saints
who sat up on pillars and never washed
themselves. l can't believe that
Thanksgiving or prayers of any kind are
welcome in the sig hit of God when they
are uttered by lips that might be
clean, but are not. 1t seems to me that
Gods idea in making man in His own
image was to inculcate in man the
necessity-no. the respect-due to Him
in keeping that image clean.
An unclean body is an insult to it's
Maker. 1t may be taken as truth
that a nation VIGOROUSLY dirty is one
where vice is rampant, virtue un-
known, truth not valued. honesty not
appreciated, and anarchy prevalent. If
it is dreadful to think OF man as not
approaching the value Of water, how
much worse is it to think of woman
of whom you cannot say "Shs is
sweet! She is exquisite! She is
dainty She is delightful! can i'm
agins that man may become SO de-
moralized that he would forget the
duty he owed his body; but woman
well, when woman has reached that
condition death should be the sentence
pronounced upon her. And not only
death, but quick death. l am not
interested in the business of any plum
Der. but this apotheosis of the bath tub
was caused by seeing an Italian
woman. She sings, l am told, like
lark. She converses, am told with
the ability of cultured woman, but
she would be more attractive to me If
she were less we'll acquainted with
music and more intimately with soap.
Even now, when she is young, her skin
looks like parchment. What will she
be when she is old? II she only points
moral and adorns tale she will rot
have lived in vain, but the moral she
must point to is this: ''Be clean, be
clean, be always and ever clean.'' And
the tale which she adorns? We'll, it is
this poor story. 1t is true it doesn't
amount to much, but If it will only
suggest to somebody who is in doubt
how much may be gained by the use
of water and soap, then. indeed, l will
not have lived in vain.
All the denominations of desolations
go together-anarchy and dirt. Vice
and dirt. Ugliness and dirt. While
beautiful can exist without
perfect neatness Cleanliness beautifies
that which, before it was clean, lacked
beauty. Cleanliness and health go
hand n-hand, and personally, don't
believe goodness can exist without
II is much easier to be
cody when you are clean than when
you are dirty. And il we reach point
in the history Of the world when we fall
down and worship craven images, lot
one of the images be bath tub.
topped by a cake of soap, and
draped in Turkish towel. You
are inclined to scott at the religion
Of cleanliness Try it. Then you
will scott no longer. but will give
to it the reverence il claims, and say
as your creed, External cleanliness is
the price Of liberty, of conscience and
Of soul. " And SO agree with Bah
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