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Miscellany: Letters From Michigan: Number V

Miscellany: Letters From Michigan: Number V image
Parent Issue
Day
15
Month
January
Year
1844
Copyright
Public Domain
OCR Text

After the reputation of Sócrates had attracted a considerable number of pu pils to his school of philosophy and moráis, he observed a grcat difference among them in regard to their personal appearance. While somo were scrupulously nice and exact in this respect, others were careless and slovenly, and some took especial p'ains to exhibit their contempt of dress. One of these, by name Antisthenes, afterwards called the Cynic, was rebuked by Sócrates for his ostentatious display of his ragged cloak, "Take care." said he, "I see pride through a hole' His fellow Cynic, Diogenes, who lived in a tub, made the contempt of dress one öi the cardinal points in his philosophy. About two thousand years afterwnrds, Lord Chesterfielcl, then the high priest of fashion in Europe, remarked that Diogenes was a wise man for dcspising dress, but a fooi for shovving it.Smce the fall of Adam and Eve, all their civilized posterity have worn garmentsofsome kind, and have displayed the follyand absurdity consequent upon the fall as completely in their dress and personal appearance as in any other particular. All kinds of extravagantes have been resorted to, to implore thegiftsof nature. In some coüntries, they squeeze the wrist so as to produce death, in others the feet are so compressed that the unfbrtunnte owners become cripples for life. Some daub themselves all over with bear's greaseor fish oil, while others prefer the fragrance of Cologne water. - Some color the nails, some the eyelids, some the eyebrows. some the eyes, some the cheeks, others the hair. Some scour their teeth to make them white, some color them, some file them sharp. Some wear rings on their ñngers, some in the ears, some in the nose. Some wear their fcair long, some shave it close, some powder it, some tie it in a cue. Some wear long beardsjsorne shave. In Europe the men wear the tröwsers, in Asia the women. The actual difference between the rcasonableness of' these various customs lis much less than is generally supposed.It has been truly said, that were the best dressed persons in the world convened together in one vast assembly f'rom every tribe and kindred and tongue and people and natión, the person who first begun to laugh at the others, would display not only the most ill breeding, but the greatest deficiency in good sense. The fashion of dress is usually considereda female weakness. But it is. far from being confincd to the ladies. In a large portion of the other sex, and by no means the most sensible part it, it is displayed to an extent quite as great, and by modes equally ridieirious. While the fashionable belles of our cities promenade the streets in all their glory, the appearance oftheir male satellites is equally indicative of the ruling passion. Their fect are uncomfortably squeezed into fashionable boots, their garments have the latest nicety of the fashion, a brilliant " safety chain dangles from their necks, while a jewel glistens in their bosoms, their whiskers are trimmed with the barber's greatest skill, their fingersadorned with rings,and their gioved hands flourish, with imposing grace, a fashionable cañe. Itis a melancholy consideration,that with a large proportion of these, this love of display, which is thus evinced to be their ruling passion, isunaccompanied by any mental or moral qualifications. Th.ey have ho aspiring ambition for great achievements of any kind either good or evil. They are ignorant without a desire of knowledge carelessof the opinión of the wise and good, and unrestrained by fixed moral principies. Their greatest unhappiness is to be out of fashion: their greatest enjoyment is the praise of simpletons. They float down the stream of time, the envy or admiration of each other, but the contempt of the noble minded, and the pity of the benevolent and generous hearted. In all these respects, they will compare withthe silliest of the female sex. . Persons of the best understandings, of both sexes, have ever despised this passion for dress, while they have conformed to the custom of those of the same rank with themselves. We are told by travellers that the greatest statesmen of England are less splendidly attired than the footmen that wait upon them. It is worthy of remark, ihat this love of personal display is found to be excited most strongly in individuals, according to the number of persons by whom they are surrounded, who can appreciate these exhibitions of personal taste. The 'Exquisite' of Broadway would pay far less attention to his toilet, were he to become a hermit for life; and in proportion as he iscut off from society, hiseiïbits toobtain their praise wiíl diminish. Henee it has been truly remarked. that it is the eyes of other people that ruin us. Were every one bnt ourselves blind, we should have no occasion for fasliionable clothing, fine houses, or fino furniturA.The fashions are now under the especial care of a few 'Bloods' and 'Exquisites' ofbothsexes in two oi1 three citics on each side of the Atlantic. These, in conjunction with their tailors and ïnilliners, give law to the civilized world; and their continunl changos, whether absurd or wise, must be followed by all who hope to attain the distinction of being fashionable. The pintes of the fashions are displayed in every tailoi-'s shop, and circulated throug-hout tlie country in the Ladies' Monthly Mngnzines, thus making the fasiiions as changable as the moon. By these means. even here in Michigan, the tennnts of onr log houses, can eiroy the benefit of those new graces which were invented in Paris somc twelve or eighteen months since. This foolish passion for personal display and ostentation was attempted tobe chccked among the Romans by what werc called sumptuary laws, forbidding more than certain amounts to be expended inparticular modes of dress and equipngo. Put tbiswas'far from bcing eiïbctual. The Sacred Writers rcgardod a pássíon for dress as utterly unworthy of a spiritual and immortal being, and in many places nointedly eondemned it. The Apostle Paul expressly forbids the plaiting of the hair, the use of expensive clothing, and of jewels and costly ornarnents.- Some denominations of Christians havo undèrtaken to enforce the Apostle's injunction upon their members. But their success in carrying out the spirit of the sacred rule.may well bequestioned. Thcy raay, indeed., have banished a few superfluous buttons frora the coat, or bows from the bonnet, but whére the passion for display exists, it wil] find some channel by whicli it may be gratified; and of many it may be said, that if they had no vent for an exhibition of their fashionable excellencies, they would doubtless be proud of their own humility and plainness of appearance. The proper rule to be adopted by sensible persons in reference to the variable fashions of dress and personal appearance; is, to conform to' all the customs of those- ' ■ with whom we associate when they do not interfere with our health. comfort, orthe principies of rectitude. This has been the uniform custom of the wisest and best of every age. And we have the declaration of the Apostle, that he {:became alT things to all men," that he followed the customs of Jews and Romans indifferent] y, as he happened to be placed among them. But he was careful to inform us that his object was the' extensión of the benign influences of that 'Gospel which hepreached. He was a man -mu ch knowledge of the world. and was well awere, that a non-conformlty to the conventional rule of society, would excite the prejudices of the ignorant and bigoted, and thereby hinder the progress of his benevolent work.

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Subjects
Signal of Liberty
Old News