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VOLUME I.
OXFORD, X, a, WFDXFSDAY, OCTOBICR 20, 1875.
NUMRER 42.
OUXWAKD A»OM,SiIIi|«.
A very great outcry is being
made just now by sober peo))le
against the excessive display and
extravagance of the fashionable
inode oi dress, and the press and
the pulpit are both invoked to
lend their aid in putting down
what seems to bo a portentous
and growing ewl. There is, per
haps, some extravagance in all
this demmeiatiou. It would br
well to settle the palneiples of
dre.S3 in a moderate and liberal
tone, for in this, as in all other
questions, there is a good deal to
bo said on both sides.
Many Christians believe that
plainness and simplicity of attire
is the only and absolute rule for
all Christian woruen, being one of
the duties most clearly taught in
the Bible. They quote St. Peter
triumphant!)', and argue that to
dress gaily and sumptuously is
])rima facie evidence of woHdJi-
ness and vanit)-. I am not at all
sura that this is so. If we search
the Scriptures for indications of
God’s will and pleasure in the
matter of dross, we shall find
mucli tliat seems to look with
eomphiceucy on splendor of at
tire, and advocates attention to
e.xterna!s. When the olim-ch is
described in its faii-est, most al
luring and most ti'iumphant form,
it is as a bride adorned with ei'e-
rv circumstance of elegance. The
nmdei woman in t!ie Book of
I'r'iverbs Is commended for tire
ricnije.5S and good taste of her at
tire. (jud liiuiself represents liim-
•seii as ducking his church as a
man would his beloved spouse
With ornaments and jewels of
Jnice. In msiiig' these figures the
tsci'ipture condescends to tlie nat
ural and innocent instincts of the
Inmiaii heart. Dre.ss i.s an iiu-
jiortHiit element in the canditions
of life. We cannot ignore it. No
denunciation nor severity of crit-
ici.sm can destroy its influence
founded deep in human nature,
and mo doubt intended to- serve
iiiqioitant purjioses. Tliey who
deckle it as of no consequence,
and unm'orthy the attention of a
‘rational issiiiortal creature,’must
ha\-e gotie through life blind, or
liave studied the book of nature
and of Providence with a pervert
ed mind.
Dress is a subject of especial
importance to woman. God meant
her to he lovely and attractive ;
to have influence, that .she may
use it for good: to chai-m, that
she may charm wisely. I believe
it is the duty of every woman to
make herself agreeable and to
look as well as slio can. The
married woman ivho neglects her
dresses well, in good taste, and
becomingly, has an immense ad
vantage over the wowau who
iloes not.
So much being settled in favor
of attention to dress, the next
point is, what are its limitations i
How far may a Christian woman
c-ouforin to the mode, and yet re
tain her consi.stency and an uu-
wouuded coii.science!
Common sense must defiuo some
of these limits. We'are to con
sider what we can afford, wiuit is
suitable to our station in life, and
to the date written down in tlie
f.iinily Bible opposite our name.
Tliere ought to be a certain truth
fulness in dress. More is proba
bly said about extravagance than
there is need for. Cheap goods
are plentiful, and a forty-cout
poplin made up with all the in
tricacies of polonaise and flounce,
is quite as effective at a little dis
tance as a much costlier article.
As I write I see a “calico” going
by my door made up as elabor
ately as if it were an Irish poplin.
It looks very prettily. The
young girl who has it on will
wear it for a “second-best dress”
for half the winter. Her best
dices will not cost over thirty
cents—her hat, which to be sure
is prodigiously tall and bas a red
rose and a black feather, will not
cost more than, four dollars. She
looks rather sliowy to be sure,
but uo one can say she is (h-ess-
ed eitraviigautly. She propably
could not buy a low-crowned hat
if she tiled, and she would lock
rather queer ivitJi it if she had it.
Yet, when censors begin their de-
tiunciatioii, they' generally liave
in mind somo .such figure of a
young woman in moderate cir-
cum,stances dj'e^,sed, as they sup-
pe.se, in imitatiou of a milliouire’s
ilaughter,
person sins against her marriage '^n,’ but we can insist that it
vows. The young woman wlio is
indifierent to her appearance and
the impression she makes on
others, is deficient in the finest in
stincts of her sex, and does what
she can to defeat one of the ends
for whicli she was created. There
can be no sin in studying the be
coming and availing one’s self of
the aids of dress in heightening
Ihe charms of nature. I am much
more inclined to call it a Chris
tian duty to dress well. What
ever increases a good woman’s in
fluence enlarges lier means of do
ing good; and, all other thinus
heiug equal, the woman who
Tlie mode of dress just uoiv is
showy. It is hai'dly jiossible to
make even “a calico” up plainly.
'Good taste and modesty must be
called in. I think some of the
looped over-skirts are picturesque,
but we ought to remember that
the fashions are designed in the
hot-beds of Parisian vice and fol
ly. Some of the figures in the
fashion plates of Demorest, and
Godey, and Le.s]ie, and the rest,
are simply inousti'oue, A modest
eye, though it be artistically an
uncultivated one, will detect at
once the e-ustumes which liave
been devised b)' a wanton imagi
nation and w'liich offend the fine
sense of parity. Some of them
seem designed to exhibit woman
merely as an animal, dressed for
exhibition with no other tliau the
lowest animal motives.
We cannot ignore the ‘fasli-
secrated to God’s service when
she gave herself to Him. Tlie
que.stioii “can I afford it ?” ought
always to bo supplemented ivilh
“ought I. to afford it f’ The ar
ticle may be tasteful and suitalile,
and cveiy ivay reasonable. So
far, so good. But if it bo also
superfluous, it will hardly be an
act of self denial to surrender it,
ill consideration of the claims of
the church of God, and tlie calls
of charity on every baud, 'i’o
every woman’s own' eouscievu'O
wo must leave it, and wo recom
mend that it should bo made the
siicject of serious reliecliou. It is
not a ti-iliing matter by any
means. How to dress Woll, bow
far to bo guided by fashion, and
how much to speud, are quesiions'
that will require some balancing
of motive to answer.
Not one in fifty who would de
cide as did a frioud of mine who,
having been recently married,
was about to make a visit with
her husband to a distant city to
bo inti'oduoed to a numerous cir
cle of new connections. Her
wardrobe was prepared with somo
care, all but the bonnet. That
was to bo bought after her arrival
Meantime an agent for jij of our
church boards preached for us,
and presented the claims and ne
cessities of Foroiirii Missions in
such moving terms that my friend
eliall be modest. It must bo mod
est if we mean it to be attrac
tive.
Every Christian woman and
indeed 1 may sii)', every sensible
wom.an who knows hoiv weak hu
man nature is, will keep very
strict guard over the natural and
laudable desire to look well and
be attractive. It lies very near
the borders of vanity and supreme
selfishness, fatally near for many
of tlie sex. Slio who makes a
conscience of dressing well must
also make a conscience ql not
misapplying and WKStiug her
time and money wliicli she cou-
deliberately luiiided to him the
sum she had devoted to the pur
chase of a new bonnet, and w'ore
for tlie next six mouths a very
plain iu'tido indeed. There was
really somo heroism a.bout such
ail act of self denial, under the
circumstances. Did she do quite
right f Somo of the best friends
she had blamed her gently. C hief-
h' I believe on the ground that
hei’ hu.s'band was not pleased, and
that her old bonnet did not make
a good impressioii among his re
latives. They thought she ought
to have managed differently—
giving to the Mission Fund, but
not just then—M'aitiug a little and
ocoiiomiziug in some other de
partment. Every one must have
her onii way of mautiging as it is
to lier own conscience she must
answer. A Christian woman
ought to dross suitabl)’, tastel'ully,
becomingly, and—CMScientioasly.
—N Y. Observer.
THE WAY TO FEACEEUI. OLI!
A«E.
A few days ago there came in
to our office a venerable gentle
man of this city, eighty-six years
of age. His vision was clear, his
hearing acute, his hand steady,
his fr.culties uninqiairod, his form
erect, and his step as vigorous
and elastic as that of a man in
middle life. He ha.s not been in
regular business for somo years,
but is still engaged in attending
to various affairs, and is at pres
ent snperint-onding the building
of a fine brown-stone bouse by
the side of his own residence. lie
traverses the streets of the city
almost every day on foot, oiijo^'s
excellent health, and is as playiul
and gonial in spirits as a ) sung
man. In a word, the vital force
which he exhibits is a wonder to
liis friends and ins vast circle of
acquaintances. lie may, perhaps,
be remembered by many of our
clergymen as a sjiare, white-hair
ed, smooth-faced gentleman, prc:.- of more th.-in goldem worth.
ent at the sessions of the Synod
ot Pennsylvania for a number ol
sncces.sivc years past, even up to
tlie last annual convention at Nor
ristown.
Whilst engaged in conversa
tion in our office, one of the
e.iitoriiil fraternity propounded to
him the question whether he had
ever mudo up liis mind to ivhai
to attribute his remarkable vigor
at an ago wliich feiv men ever
reach. Ho answered, with a
jiromptness tnnl inipressiveuess oi
manner wliich showed tiiat he
had considered the subject, and
that lie was settled and clear iii
his conviction as to the cause.s
ivhich, under God, had maiuly
detormiiied tiio matter.
“I will toll you,” he said. “In
the first place, I joined myself to
the chmch when very vonng,
taking an active part from tho be-
ginnino-. This throw mo in close
acquaintance and rolationshij)
with good, upright, and honora
ble men. It gave to me a circle
of virtuous friends, and something
to occupy my attention, whicli
was alwa)'s to my profit. It gave
me proper jirinciples of action,
and put mo itito society wliere
such principles were most approv
ed and exemplified. I was thus
sustained in and habituated to
correct living, nliioh, above all,
has done tho most toward giving
me long life and a comfortable
and enjoyable old age.
In the next place, I was fortu
nate in my couuoctions with an
honorable business house, man
aged by good peojile, ou correct
principles. Tiioro w-as industry
and faithful application inculcated
and exhibited, but no hasting to
be rich, no daring adventure or
rech!essues.>i which creates and
brings so much trouble upon men,
disturbing their lives and siiort-
enitig their days. Those princi
ples and safe habits I grew into,
and have always practiced, living
mouerateh' and never po-ssessed
vfitli the wasting fever to be
wealthy. 1 liavo been fortunate
and unfortunate, but never de-
pfU’ted from the requirements of
lionor or integrity in business af
fairs, w'hich I have found to be
safe and good. I liave thus ac
quired a competency' for my
W'ants and comfort in my life, to
wliich I owe much of wliat my
friends look upon as astonishing
in mo.
I can UOIV walk, and sleep, and
hear, and see, and enjoy my ex
istence as much as over. 1 have
always been active and regular in
my habits, cheorfnl in my dispo
sition, cultivating constancy in
my IrieiidsJiips, and calm and con
siderate earnestness in my efforts
to do good and promote peace
and happiness among my felknv-
meii. 1 have tried to maintain a
good conscience, and to fill such
place in the world as Providence
assigned me witliout discontent or
fretting impatience to make lor
myself a different lot. And so I
am what I am.”
We were so impressed with tho
patritirohiil words, and with the
beauty of the picture in living re
ality before \m, that ive felt at
once impelled, as if by a special
call, to make this record of them,
n-hero they may meet the eye ot
some to ivhom they may' become
facts, inliuencos, and virtues to
wliich our ve^ierabio friend as
cribes tho extraordinarv length,
vigor and liappiness of his life,
are indeed, the boat conservators
ot earthly well-being ; and where
their clear and full effects arC' al
lowed to bear eontinuously upon
a man from y’outh on, there iPav
we always look for tho best and
longest enjoyment of this world,
and the best preparation for tliat
which is to come.—Yhiludelphia
I'lxehav.gc. .
A lyriter in the Co'den Age
enumerates son.e of the sacrifices
offered up to the “logic of con-
“Some kept idle,
veutioimlity'-
because they are in the set where
work is voted low, and ‘careers’
not always open ■, soiis .put
into professions uusuited fotliem,
and where they Can never tho
roughly succeed, because those
in lyhich they would liave been
perfect are also those the special
set to w'hich tliey' belong vote
low'; dauglitei's kept unmarried
because the men considei-ed of
their ow n degree do iiot come
fonvard, and the men wlio do
come forward—-good, honest, su.b-
s.antiai fellows-—arO men consicH
ered beneath tlieni in degree : ed
ucation founded on the accom
plishments fashiouahle in tlie set,
and leaving know'ledge in the
reim all these are the sacrifices
our present bogy demands, tithe.s
paid him W'ithout a murmur, aiid
as if quite tlie right tiling to do,
When we can say that we take
life and things according to tlieii'
intrinsic value, and not by the es
timate of this bogy-j we may then
say that, so far as this goes, we
are free men, and have slipped so
much ol our shackles.
No SuocEf-.s Without Work.--^
Wlieii Charles Dickens said that
all ho !iad accomplised liiid been
achieved by dilligent, patient,
persevering ajiphcation, lie ontv
.stated w'liat had been the expe-
rfonce of every successful man.
Nothing i,s more important to
young men than that they should
early learn and frilly comprelieml
this great truth. It is stop by
step, by toilsome effort added to
toilsome effort, that all great
achievement.s are made. As has
been well remarked, there is no
royal road to learning. Neithoi'
is there any royal road to any
thing else of groat value in tliis
life. Work, steady, long-contin
ued and regular application, is tho
only price for which any'thing
worth tlie having can be bought
There is^ no great success of
any kind without great labor,
S6me8>©ly.
“What i.s the use of being In tho
world unless you are sotmiodg V
said a boy,
‘‘Sure eiimigh, and I moan to
be,” answered bis friend.' “I be
gan this very' day'. I mean to be
somebody',”
Ashton looked George in tho
face,
“Bogan to-day !—how ? What
do you mean to be V'
“A Christian boy', and so grow
up to b© a Christian man,” said
George,
“1 beiiovG tliat is the greatest
somebody' for us to be,”
George i.s liglit. There is no'
higher manhood than Ghristiait
manhood.—0«r Ltltlc fleopk.