The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1898-06-16

the satirist and the increasing good sense
of the community, and not from legisla-
ton, that moral improvements are brought
about. Vices are killed by scorn and
ridicule and public disapprobation, and
not by Act OF Parliament.
1t is competent, therefore, for any one
who can afford it to spend a thousand
guineas on orchids to adorn single ban
quet, but it is also within the right of the
moralist or political economist to enquire
if extravaganza such as this is for the
public good or evil.
One of the many proclamations of
Queen Elizabeth against ''the excess of
apparel mentioned ''the wasting and I'M
doing of great number of young gentle
men, otherwise serviceable; and that
others, seeking by show of apparel to be
esteemed as gentlemen, and allured by
the vain show of these things, not only
consume their goods and lands, but also
run into such debts and shifts, as they
cannot live out of danger of laws without
attempting unlawful acts.'' And SO she
threatened to have them rated in the
subsidy books according to the costliness
of their dress. Yet while Elizabeth babe
had in her wardrobe three thousand
dresses that had only been worn once.
We read in Stuart times of five hundred
pounds for knight cloak of embroidery
for :. lady's gown at fifty pounds yard;
cl one lady wearing over hundred thou
sand pounds worth Of jewels at a time;
Of gentlemen in ''crimson velvet and
beaten gold:' of duke one blaze of
diamonds from head to foot, and these he
often shook from linn to see the maids of
honour scramble for them: and of the
great and wise Sir Walter Raleigh wearing
on court days seven thousand pounds
worth OF precious stones ON his shoes,
having his armour of solid silver, and his
sword and belt aflame with diamonds,
rpbies and pearls.
was far in excess Of ours. Nevertheless,
there is still vast room for improvement.
From the highest to the lowest the pTac-
tice is much too prevalent of living be
yond one 5 means Of making a grander
show than ones position warrants; of
dwelling in houses out of proportion to
income; and, generally, of aping those
who are superior in wealth and rank 1t
is not the rich alone who are thus guilty.
The middle classes and the poor are equal
ly, and often much more, ostentatious in
their way. We are told that costermongeTs
wear the most gorgeous and most eXpen-
sive silk handkerchiefs that can be obtain
has the costliest is the most killing in
the eyes of his fair ones. The poor prefer
snowy furniture, cheap and fragile, to the
humber but more substantial articles.
They had rather own sham veneer than
solid reality. 1t is the same in dress.
Good woollen material is the cheapest,
summer and winter y ct SNOWY, tlimsy,
unhealthy fabrics take its place. The
stomach is often starved that the back
may bear finery. Education and parental
training ale made subsidiary to appear
ances. The young are early taught the
important lesson that ''to seem is OF
more value than ''to be. - This soldid
and patty hypo tlisy permeates society
from end to end, and is the source Of
much ignorance and crime, folly and al
sorts OF prostitution. People are afraid
to acknowledge their true position. and
ashamed to be thought poor a these days
when any clever rogue may become rich.
Is it any wonder that peculation Of all
kinds is 50 common as it is that among
thousands Of the honest there are hun
dreds of the dishonest; thar boys Il their
teens gamble like hoary sinners; and that
maidens sell their virtue foI paltly jewel
or SNOWY article Of dress?
Notwithstanding all these things ours is
a splendid race, full Of energy and ambi-
ton, but the latter should be tempered
always by modesty ami straightforward
ness We do not need to appear greater
than we are. In this, as in all things,
honesty is not only best, but is the best
policy, and ostentation proves itself an
insidious vice whicl. degrades whatsoever
and whomsoever it touches. An excellent
motto for all of us is
'Esse guam vider'