Fragments
135
Dress—We as a people do not believe it our duty to go out of
the world in order to be out of fashion. If we have a plain, neat,
modest, comfortable style of dress, and others choose to adopt it, shall
we change our dress in order to be different from them?—No; we
should not be singular in our dress for the sake of differing from the
world: they would despise us for so doing. Christians are the light
of the world, the salt of the earth. Their dress should be neat and
modest, their conversation chaste and heavenly, and their deportment
blameless.
Shunning Duty—Those who, having had the light upon the sub-
ject of eating and dressing with simplicity, in obedience to moral and
physical laws, still turn from the light which points out their duty, will
shun duty in other things. By shunning the cross which they would
have to take up in order to be in harmony with natural law, they blunt
the conscience; and they will, to avoid reproach, violate the ten com-
mandments. There is with some a decided unwillingness to endure the
cross and despise the shame.
Woman’s Rights—There are speculations as to woman’s rights,
and her duty in regard to voting; but many women have had no disci-
pline which would qualify them to understand the bearing of important
questions. They have lived a life of fashion and self-gratification.
Women who might develop a good intellect, who might perfect a noble
character, are mere slaves to custom. They lack breadth of thought and
intellectual culture. They can talk understandingly of the latest styles
of dress, or of the next party or ball; but they are not prepared to act
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wisely in political matters. They are mere creatures of circumstance.
Exercise—Air is the free blessing of Heaven; it invigorates the
whole system. Deprived of pure air, the body becomes diseased, torpid,
and enfeebled.
Physicians often advise invalids to visit foreign countries, to go
to some mineral spring, or to traverse the ocean, in order to regain
health; when, in nine cases out of ten, if they would eat temperately,
and engage in healthful exercise with a cheerful spirit, they would
regain health, and save time and money. Exercise, and a free, abundant
use of the air and sunlight,—blessings which Heaven has bestowed
upon all,—would in many cases give life and strength to the emaciated
invalid.