NEW CLOTHES.

Otago Witness, Issue 1585, 8 April 1882, Page 5

NEW CLOTHES.

(Globe.) Probably no one has everyet realised, much less written upon, the vast influence of new clothes in our social economy. It sounds very frivolous, of course. We shall be told that only the most vain and foolish of women regard the subject as of any importance whatsoever, and that the whole tendency of moral literature and moral teaching is to minimise the unhappy influence which the temptation of now and costly clothing certainly does possess for some of them. The fact is, we are too much disposed to regard the subject of dress as one of feminine interest merely, whereas, when we consider it, we shall find that new clothes are, . as a rutej the outward and visible sign of every advance in life ; more than that, that they do, by means of the inward graces of which they are the symbols, convey more enjoyment than any other material pleasure whatsoever, because they minister, in different ways, to every susceptibility which human nature owns. What is the proudest moment ef childhood to a boy ? Is it not when, with mingled shyness and delight, he first assumes the toga virilisj somewhat ignobly represented in modern days by the knickovbocker ? Then, indeed, doos he feel himself a man. With the assumption of. that much-prized garment comes all at once the contempt for nursery and petticoat government which no other force would have encouraged the boy to indulge; he begins to imitate, so far as in him lies, the sayings and doings of men, and to assume lofty airs to his elder sisters ; in short, the knickerbocker suit does more for him in an hour than teaching and example would do without it in a year towards turning the baby into the boy. A few years later, perhaps, the neat civilian jacket I may be exchanged for the glories of a naval cadet's uniform. It may be doubted whether the glory of Nelson returning to England after Trafalgar was in any way comparable to the thrill which he and every other Brittania boy has felt when first those gilt buttons aderned his person— the symbol, to an English lad, of all the daring, the love of adventure, the spirit of enterpise which are the best traditions of our boyhood, and of which the sea is sure, at one time or other of his life, to appear the only legitimate field. Let every veteran in either service say whether, finding his name sent up for promotion, or reading a glowing newspaper account [ of his prowess, or any of the more solid satisfactions of his profession, ever brought hip the moment of rapture which he experienced when he first displayed the Queen's uniform to the admiring eyes of the home circle, or walked abroad in it with the feeling that the eyes of Europe were upon him. Of the extraordinary tradition of English social life which makes the uniform- of a soldier treated as if it were something disgraceful, we need not speak now ; that its effects are m every way to be regretted we feel no doubt, but it has always been one of the curious characteristics of British wrong-headedness to disdain the use of secondary motives. As for many years the Church, not understanding personal enthusiasm, treated it as a sort of heresy and thrust if outside her borders, so the country, having endowed her soldiers with a uniform, systematically endeavours to crush out the natural pride in it and enjoyment of it which are so closely bound up with the military spirit in every civilised country. M. Gustavo Droz, in one of those charming volumes of essays which are comparatively unknown in England, although some of them have passed through more than a hundred editions in their native country, has treated of the subject under the fanciful title of "Premiere Culotte." That he allows himself considerable latitude as to what may come under this heading is sufficiently evident from one of his examples— that of the delight of a member of Parliament at his first recorded speech. He describes the genial good-temper with which the orator returns home, how he praises the dinner, how affectionate he suddenly becomes to his wife. And why? Because, after six years of inglorious silence, broken only by "Hear, hears," which the papers declined to notice, he has remarked, during an inaudible speech from the Opposition, "Za voix'de V honorable orateur n'arrive pas jusqu' a nous." It is not much, but he finds in those few words the germs of all parliamentary eloquence lie hidden, "as the music of the moon sleeps in the plain eggs of the nightingale." In one word, says M. Droz, "voUii un depute gui vient de remettre sa premiere culotte." The author does not go so far afield for all his examples, and his remarks on the beneficent influence or a new and becoming bonnet on a lady's temper will probably be endorsed by the experience > of every masculine reader. For, putting aside their own instinctive pleasure in adorning themselves, girls very soon find out that the lofty morality of mankind on the subject of the frivolities of dress remains the purest theory, and that if they choose to attire themselves in the modest muslin so enthusiastically described by novelists, with the invariable rosebud drooping from some corner of it, they will run the greatest risk of being passed over by those stern moralists they had hoped to please, in favour of some of the be-flounced and be-furbelowed sisters who are the objects of their most withering denunciations. There is no denying it, most men prefer an elegant and well-dressed even to a pretty woman. " Let never maiden think, however fair," says Tennyson, " she is not fairer in new clothes than old •" and women are quick to learn that one of their most effective weapons is lost when they treat the kubject of dress as unworthy of their consideration, MrsPonsonby de)Tompkyns is as well known in modern society as any typical creation of the century, and our readers will not have forgotten one of her recent appearances, where two learned ladies are speculating on the earnest conversation between two philosophers, and congratulating themselves on the possession of gifts certain to be appreciated by those luminaries, while the philosophers are, in fact, discussing the admirable taste in dress and general fascinations of the worldly and frivolous Mrs Ponsonby de Tompkyns. 'Tis not the frock that makes the monk, we used to be told, but if prejudice would open his closed eyoa ho would be compelled to confess that it goes a long way towards it. There was more truth in the old riddle, which asked what wan Majestry deprived of its externals ? The answer was, "a jest," and its truth wont further than tho mere play upon tho letters. It is the crown and the sceptre which symbolise power and reverence and all that loyal love and worship mean by tho word king ; it is the white robe and veil that symbolise the purity and modesty of the maiden bride ; it is the ermine and the wig in which the terrified criminal sees embodied the forces of law, order, and civilisation arrayed against him. It is through tho medium of clothes that wo express to the outer world the depth or slightness of our mourning for the lost ; they help us to declare joy and sorrow, success and failure ; they are an unwritten language, which everybody can understand, though not all can successfully speak, and yet we perversely persist in treating them as a mere superfluous folly, unworthy the serious consideration of a, reasonable being.