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About The west shore. (Portland, Or.) 1875-1891 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 1, 1875)
WEST SHORE. October. TTT K, . T ...:n hnl I my rOOIllj I i uim& only lo read as we ran. But not alone are the small-fry of writers and wits and humor ists to be proved implicated in this very common and almost universal practice. We find that even learned and dignified personages sages, divines, philosophers and scholars, some of the world's most honored and best known, have stooped to aim a shaft at the petticoats, to assail the pride or the vanity of the fair sex in the tendcrest part. The gentle and philosoph ical Addison, in the Spalalor and also in the Guardian, in good natnred satire hit off what ho conceived to be the follies and foibles of his time, but it is noteworthy that his mild raillery and entertaining irony is oftcner and more pointedly directed against the fnsliinnnhlo flames and maidens than against the gallants and fops. To the styles of ladies' dress we know as "low-necked " and as "short," he resolutely stood op posed, and makes one of his shocked and protesting correspondents say that the lady who keeps all muffled or wrapped up while at home, but appears divested of much that she should be careful to wear when in so ciety, and thereby exhibits so much of her charms to more than satisfy the desire of her lover, and to leave nothing to the ex quisite bliss of eager imagination virtuously warmed and honestly indulged, docs but simulate the folly of the showman who places his principal attractions at the door of his exhibition place for the outside crowd to see, and leaves but little for those who pay to enter to enjoy, He may cry out " Pray, gentlemen, walk in I" as often as it pleases him lo do so, but they, having al icai'y viewed the rarest of his offerings to free gratification if not to tiresomeness, pay no heed to his solicitous invitation in his own behalf, and walk away to be better and less publicly entertained. The venerable and amiable sage pithily remarks that though the ladies have white skins and beautiful faces and lovely forms, it is not expected by cither worthy suitors or devoted husbands that they should go less than decently clad to demonstrate their possession of such precious licrsonal gifts from Nature, or to manifest their proper pride in the rare en dowment. So quaintly and amusingly docs he comment upon the sort of fichui of this day llut the ladies of fashion in his day wore which Addison calls a "modesty piece," that we would commend the pe rusal of that number of the Guardian lo our lady readers, and to the married as well as the maidens. And also, wherein he re fers to the difference inaugurated by the married ladies in those days from the regu lation of l.ycurgus for the matrons of Siarta. The great law-giver obliged the maidens to expose, or rather disclose, their charms in order to excite the Spartan youths to honorable union; this accomplished they were lo dress with severe discretion, so that no part of their person below the neck should be exposed or seen. But the great Knglish essayist and moralist called atten tion to the fact that they were llie matrons and not the maidens who were the readiest to reveal to the gaze of all " The yielding marble of their snowy breasts;" and to this in mild expression but in strong sense he opposed his influential pen. But Addison has long since gone to the immortal life fiom out of this world, and Imperious Fash ion, universal queen of an unsliaken realm, which diners only in degree and never in kind whether between the tones where highest civiliiaiion and grandest barbarism exists, or in those wild and barren regions where only the lowest grades of human be ings grovel and survive, is il as despoti call)' regnant as she was when the lovely successors to the fig-lal and to the ml of richest stuffs in the most ancient periods among the world s wealthiest tribes and na li.xu surrendered their beauteous forms to Uie cunning of her garniture and the skill ner costliest adornments. Resulted not to enter upon ihe danitcr- ous ground of criticism ounelves.-niind-ful of that paraphrase, of how "Fooli nun in where Angels go to dress," and also of the fate of AcUeon for having barely glanced at Diana where she had gone to undress, no living mortal in man's shape that may appear can persuade or constrain us to say a word in raillery or satire as to the "latest agony" of this day (which, if it be not an agony the use of the word is paralyzed in one sense, our Don Giovanni avows), the "pull back" style; but "goodness gra cious," as Tom Collins says, wouldn't we like to read what Addison might have hu morously and satirically written upon the swelling subject. And, worse to befall suppose the ladies should control the press and become the critics to slash away at ran dom at men's fashions! Whewl How the " Wrecks of matter and crush of worlds " of little people in their own fancy greatly important would be scattered upon the shores of remorseless oceans ever dashing fresh victims in its rollers to the unpitying sands, and from beneath the overpowering weight of indignant and long persecuted but at length paramount and avenging fem ininity would in the end be extricated fragments of padding and batting and all that, from vests and coats and pantaloons torn out, and remnants redolent still of the original perfumes which had been used in the process of the toilet of the arch exqui sites who were in their day the lady-killers," and on whom the lirrinnyes of long- endured but galling outrages upon female forms inflicted at length paid off old scores. To point a moral and adorn a tale here let us men reflect on what might happen if the dear ones should, according to Readc, put themselves in our place and compel us into that we have forced them, and then go for us " in print on the score of our absurdities or extravagance in dress, and in slavishingly following the fashions 1 Wouldn't they have us or, Snobs might, referring to his own case, dolorously wonder, Would they, or his fond particular, have him ? Yet which of us, with columns at our disjiosal that have been so used, or who have been given to such ungraceful and un- gallant criticisms, could fairly consider the exchanges from the ladies as retorts discour teous or undeserved ? They would simply cause us to feel "how it is ourselves," and in the study, perchance, from such engaging teachers this rhymes with charming crea tures what an impressive and blissful les son wc might learn? Thus would Wo man's Wrongs lead finally to Woman's Rights, and Fashion's Queen should main tain her sway undisputed, let "pull-backs" or circumventing crinoline as extremes will oppose or meet lo cry her from her everlasting throne. And this brings us to discover that this long article on the sub ject proves the correctness of the Persian King that no matter what it is men will do or suffer, be sure we may that, after all, oman is at the bottom of it she the ful crum, we the lever. matter, it A STRANGE ENEMY. A Irue record of incidents which occured here not many years ago. The affair made some talk in private circles, but never "got into the papers. For obvious reasons I have substituted fictitious names in the sub joined narrative. D. G. F. 1 never liked him. Nsv mi whf.U H. lure fairly recoiled from him in terror when mv elance first mi his cmnll eves, as he suddenly passed through the nxepuun-parior, wnere 1 sat gayly chatting with Limtrnant rhnrla TKa 1 . noticed my terrified start, and the change of color which doubtless accompanied it, for he snranir un instantly anrt wniil.l t.,-. followed the intruder had I not promptly uuxseu mm, anu, wun torced smile, en deavored to resume the conversation 10 un pleasantly interrupted. "And you will not give me the picture, r.uiny r asxeo. tne Lieutenant, alter a few moments neadinrr crwminrr a trb tlllt) which 1 had Ulrltr hml nUn ' V -ii. mn jive ii ro me r ne echoed, sadly, alter reading his answer in my countenance; uui wumj you will show it to me I Certainly I will," 1 mswered, quicklr, nail regretting the coquetry which had prompted me to deny him at all in the "It is in to you in an instant. Risimr from my seat as I spoke, I hastened into the hall. Good gracious I there he stood, at the very foot of the stair urav motionless, as though he had been listening to our conversation. I sprang DacK into tne room wun a. ucuiug uta,., and tears of vexation gushing to my eyes. "You have seen him againl" exclaimed the Lieutenant, starting from his seat. But before the door was reached my hand was upon his arm " wo, l urgea, uo not go; ii wui uc useless, and excite an unnecessary alarm in the household. In a moment he will go away, and I will then get you the picture, and laugh at my folly at the same time." "Your folly in getting me the picture?" bantered the Lieutenant, gayly. " Forgive me, ranny, he added, hastily, ana an anxious cloud passed over his countenance. "This matter is more serious with you than I at all imagined. Surely there is" "Say no more about it, I interrupted, trying to smile. " There are some influ ences which it is useless to attempt to ex plain. We can only recognize them, and, it aaA i. el.-,.r.l. In ,i.am t ashamed of the weakness on my part which you nave witnessed tnis morning, ana must trust to vour eenerositv not to intemret it too harshly." tie prcssea my hand respectlully, and was silpnt. Hilt lyhrit mranl thai ehrpu-rl almost sarcastic smile, when, a moment afterward, as we heard the hall door shut heavily, he said, "Your enemy is probably out of the way now; will vou brine me the picture ?" this "enemy, as, alas I the Lieutenant hsrl rtnlu Inn llart I.J lit myself, a lodger in my boarding-house. The landlady, Mrs. Hone, heard me sym- n-.lt.alir.nll.. ...I,an in r.nnr..lnnn T I.!-.-A r'uiii..ii.aiir nut.ii, ii. williucilic, A llllllCU at the annoyance he caused me, and, in t i:- ' I i - . , ... -. nei pctuuur piuaseuiugy, promisea to na the house of him " as soon as she possibly COuld: hilt hPGfrprl mr tn cavnnlhinn- .f ha , -DO . w ..wv.....r, VI ..lb matter in the meantime, for there was notning, snc said, which she dreaded so much M "ll stir" amnnrr tinr Iwinl.M among her lady boarders she was sure i,.l.: i : ' ..u . . . . ... una uumucss wouiu maKe a stir it any thing could." I promised to remain silent, though more than Once afterward I u-ao lMnml m gret my hasty acquiescence. There was l- win: . ... , ,Wm..b ...an, W1U. whom I was a favorite, living on the third floor, who, could his assistance have been asked. WOulrl Hniihtlpca sunn t,a .irMl.j , ..vuw uw,. im,w fciii.-,n;u the removal I so much longed for. As for leaving, myscu, tnai was impossible. I was an orohan a rlpm.nHr.nt m n n-ani,t... .iiwgii iuvunu unue, wno, Deing once com- luiuwy Ktuicu in lure, none s excellently kept house, would not of course be tempted to leave it extent for com .w . . .. i ..tw.v fJV.GIIl and tangible reason than IJcould offer. netner my tormentor, knew my senti ments toward him but 1 never, during the uneasy days that nun nurrying along the hall, or stealthil V mucin it mv riun hU.. its very door-sill, but I felt an involuntary au mm uiuicu.ry suppressed the crv that arose to mv lino rw t MAt v: vhvv uici mill on the stairway, and, scarce conscious of what I was doing, I bounded past him with iri t ' ,usneu into my room. vL- i "J TLteII lhat my whole wins .milieu me creature, and felt a pre- senumcnt 01 com mo- v rrnm v.:. Not one word had we ever exchanged, and I do believe if he had spoken to me I should have fainted with terror; but his restless, intense ahnre ),-,.t m ,t -- m.w.v ..uu. uinc met min, and lhat was enough. There h antipathy between us; we ..v. .. iu uc enemies. In the mrianlimn n... T . l . . gone back to the Modoc campaign. He hflr! aflrr all l ..... " . .. . my picture wun him, and mv hart a Brt nni.. .i .. . . . ' and are beloved in return, and are doomed iuic ro oe parted, with chances of danger and death between them and their loved ones, can know of the eagerness with which I awaited his first letter? Soon it came, one glorious summer afternoon with its more glorious news: "Our army u moving rapidly, and we shall occupy the Lava Beds (the Modoc stronghold) in a few sfu'"'nt' Weshallconquerl" ihe letter said, "and some of us must fall but, living or dying, dearest, remember that one heart shall" I read no more; forw thc.bare thought of the possibility of losing my hero the half-reaJ sheet fell from my Lds, and there, in the solitude of my room, I leaned upon the window-sill and wept long and ule, r- brave- noble 'overl If he should perish what would the world or the light o Heaven itself be to me ? Suddenly . rustling outside of my slightly-opened door aroused me; and recalled ti n le ter. I stooped to pick it up. mat gone i Bewildered and alarmed I hastily shook the folds of my dress, and searched floof, table, and chair, quite certain that no other human being had been in the room since I had entered it with tne letter wnen the door opened wider, and our landlady's head, decked in all the pride of her gor geous dinner-cap, was thrust into the apart ment. Her lace was paier man usual, ana her manner somewhat flurried, as she laughingly exclaimed, Miss fanny, it you leave your love- letters lying about the halls you can't ex pect to keep your secrets long. Not that I have learned them, she added, quickly; "but some less trusty personage might have picked it up, you know." "Mrs. Hone," I gasped, scarcely heeding her words as I almost snatched the precious sheet from her hands, "I entreat you to tell me how you came in possession of this letter." "Why, I've told you already," she re plied, rather sharply, "I picked it up in the entry just outside of your door. It was no ghost dropped it there either (so you needn't turn so white), but only that R " A sudden thought seemed to check her intended confidence, for she muttered something about people being so "awful nervous," and breaking into a disagreeable laugh, nastily left the room. A moment afterward I heard her angry voice checking Betty, the house-maid, for some real or fan cied neglect of duty; with the sharp repri mand not to "leave that door open again if she valued her place." That doorl Could she mean my door ? And was I, as far as practicable, to be kept shut up in my room, so that Ht might wan der unrestrainedly about the house ? And what had meant my landlady's flurried manner, her sudden reticence, if in some way my tormentor had not been concerned in this mysterious occurrence? For though I by this time knew well enough wha had taken the letter, how it had been ac complished without my knowledge was a mystery. It was not more than a week since I had first spoken to Mrs. Hone of the object of my fears, and already she would flush up angrily if I even alluded to the conversation and her solemn promise to relieve me of his odious presence. She had even gone so far as to say that "some persons were too fidgety for comfort; and for her part she couldn't, for the life of her, see what there was to make such a fuss about. Goodness knew I she didn't want any such creature as him in her house, and if I thought she did I was mistaken, that was all 1" After this singular change of feeling evinced itself I kept my own coun sel in the matter, though I was fully re solved to avail myself of the first opportunity of persuading my uncle to change his boarding-place. This was the way in which matters stood on the day that my letter was so mysteri ously borne away almost from my very hands. After recovering it I eagerly read it through again and again shuddering, in spite of myself, at a certain passage which the reader shall have the privilege of perusing. The Lieutenant, considerate iri all things, had evidently tried to express himself so as to annoy me as slightly as possible; but it thrilled me for all that Here is the passage: tl."?ka''nJ m7?w Finny, you must know that there cam! into our tent fait night what eemed to m. the nry identical bein who h from No. 123? II to, it wu himself. If not, it Hm. ntTi J c?lor.' ame. He bad the identical quick, glancing eye, harp white teeth, and pointed noU. Can tier. TS 5 u mg!' f" " from yPMhr with ;on that 1 felt such an instinctive aversion to him f I made a dash at the fellow, but he escaped into the darkness as m jsterionsly as he had come. Oar ojptoin and a few of our boy. were in the bent at III A tlntiV ahri suihaJ 4. I. - a . . , "wou w ua uiucd uioDiitiea M my T1fttnt tnnsml. J -a . . , . , L .... ovUH, win my remarking (u i quietly wt down tinong them again), 'That fallow rru Ti . , iTCUiYUig aiM DDlMUDff tOUCIt I Th.y all prot.tml that they had tm no one enttr .... . ugtiu mi- an explanation, Dot l 5 u a rtmi their my,tiad n" " ,17 -v-.vt.vu. wmciueuce, ai Man, waa it not t Doea it portend any thing f t To me it would have been a terrible Circumstance, and sn T i-,u ply; but my brave hero knew not the weaning or iear. At last after nvirlmiy !.. .uumg WIC plenum, epiauc over (l am ashamed to tell how many u..., . sougm tne bedside of my uncle, and endeavored to render the long summer alternoon less tedious to the dear surTerer. He was aged, and the natural infirmities of his years had been hastened and increased by a slow, incurable disease. How my heart went forth toward him as, with loving hand, 1 brushed hack the beautiful silver locks from his temples, longing that my touch might heal as well as soothe! Ere long he passed into a tranquil slumber, and carefully adjusung the sashes so that the soft brcese might play refreshingly about