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Christian female of dangers to which she will expose her religious life by marriage with a heathen, and enumerates some of the interruptions, troubles and perils to which she will be liable.

"When the wife wishes to observe a day of special devotion, the husband appoints it for the baths; if a fast is to be kept, the husband makes a feast on the same day. If she wishes to leave home for a religious object. never does household business fall more upon her hands. And who would allow his wife, for the sake of visiting the brethren, (who are sick,) to go about from street to street, the round of strange cottages, even the poorest? Who would willingly bear her being parted from his side, for nightly meetings, if needs be? Who would endure, without anxiety, her being away all night at the solemnities of Easter? Who would let her go without suspicion to that feast of the Lord which they defame? Who would suffer her . . . to offer water for the saints' feet? to wait upon them with their food and drink? to long for them, and have them in her thoughts? If a stranger brother come, what lodging could he expect in an alien's house? And if a present is to be made to any, lo, the barns and fruit stores are closed." "Canst thou keep it secret when thou markest thy bed or thy body with the sign of the cross? When thou risest in the night to pray, wilt thou not appear to be practising a kind of magic?"

These words of the austere African point out a few of the trials to be met by a Christian wife united to a pagan husband. It would be easy to suggest still others, but the purpose of this article does not require it.

But one might fairly charge the account here given of Christian women in the first three centuries with a grave defect, should it omit all notice of their dress. For as females are endowed by their Creator with more personal beauty than men, so, too, have they commonly shown more interest in the work of adorning that beauty. Gifted with a nicer appreciation of the graceful and pleasing, and conscious, to some extent, of their superior charms, they have often sought to make the most of their advantages, using the resources of art to multiply the fascinations of nature. In so far as her regard to personal appearance is the growth of original peculiarities in woman, and is perfectly normal, it deserves unqualified commendation. If God has distinguished sister from brother, by giving her a keener sense and relish for the beautiful, a finer taste in displaying, or a greater skill in augmenting it, these mental characteristics are to be recognized as the gift of Supreme Wisdom, and turned to good account in social life. Refinement should

be wedded to virtue; good taste should weave the robes of piety. Christianity exalts and purifies the faculties of our nature; she invites all the charities, amenities and graces to follow in her train. Her glory is then most peerless when it is reflected by all things lovely and of good report. This was understood by the apostles. They pronounce no benediction upon soiled garments or matted locks. Barefooted friars and black-veiled nuns are the offspring of a later age. Nor does it appear that Christian females, at first, chose any peculiarities of dress. They may have been distinguished by the modesty and simplicity of their attire, but not otherwise. We are authorized with this restriction to say, that wherever they resided, they freely appropriated the costume used in that place by persons of their own sex. It was not their wish to attract notice either by the meanness, or the oddity, or the splendor of their dress.

But ere long, false notions began to prevail in the Church. A legal spirit took possession of many. It was thought best to discipline the soul more sternly. Pride was assailed from without, and mortified by a garment of rags. Appetite was put to coarser fare, and starved into submission. Avarice was expelled, vi et armis, by alienating whole estates in a day. All natural affections were looked upon as traitors to the soul, and were handled with conscientious severity.

The exact point of time when this spirit began to infringe upon the rights of good taste among females, cannot now be ascertained. A few stray leaves alone have floated down from the earliest period of the Church; and only here and there a word on those faded leaves bears any relation to the subject before us. Many questions, therefore, which curiosity would propose must remain unanswered. Still, but a few generations had passed after the establishment of Christianity, before some undertook to heal the soul by chastising the body. At a later period we read of Christian women who sought, by cruel austerities, to scale the heights of virtue. Chrysostom commends Olympias "for the incredible modesty of her attire, not much better than that of the poorest beggar;" and speaks of its plainness and simplicity, as

"the bright and beautiful colors of her virtue, whereby that wisdom and divine philosophy which lay hidden in her mind was externally painted and shadowed out." She possessed great wealth, and belonged to a noble family; yet she not only wore the coarsest garments, but practised watching and fasting till her fragile body was almost destroyed. A similar course was taken by great numbers. Choosing celibacy as holier than marriage, they paid but the minimum of attention to dress, looking upon inelegance, rudeness, and, sometimes, a want of neatness in their apparel, as genuine marks and teachers of humility. Views and conduct so unnatural are the ever-ripening fruits of a blind enthusiasm, which pours oil instead of water upon the flame of pride.

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And yet we must confess, that even patristic writings are interspersed with praises of the single life and of coarse apparel. Many passages bear unequivocal testimony in favor of refusing to marry. Many Christian teachers imitated Paul in not taking a wife, but failed to copy his moderation in extolling such a course. In a treatise designed for the use of virgins, Cyprian calls them "the flower of the ecclesiastical plant," "the beauty and ornament of divine grace," ""a perfect and stainless work," "the image of God answering to our Lord's sanctity," and "the most illustrious part of Christ's flock." This is hurtful adulation. Yet we must conclude the good Father, when he wrote these phrases, had in mind an ideal class; for the subsequent chapters of his treatise are a swift witness against the more obvious interpretation. Many virgins, we are made to understand, had laid aside their jewels, but not their vanity. In default of gold and gems, they aimed to attract notice by rude attire and self-conquest. And often since that age have those who would fain become "the observed of all observers," being inwardly conscious of their peculiar gift, resorted to the same method, and compassed their desire by means of a clownish dress and demeanor.

But on the other hand, some who devoted themselves to a single life, still gratified their love of elegance and society. Cvprian complains that opulent females of this class

asserted a right to be lavish of expense in decorating their persons. He affirms, that by walking abroad in a sumptuous habit, fitted to increase their charms, they attracted the eyes, and drew after them the sighs of young men, enkindled the tinder of desire, and infused the poison of forbidden love; and he warns them against forfeiting their special nearness to Christ by such conduct. To the assertion, that it was proper for them to do as they pleased with their own, he replied:

"True; provided only you do not misuse the blessings of heaven. A voice has been given to man, yet vile and amatory songs are not to be sung. Neither because God has made incense, and wine, and fire, are you bound to sacrifice unto idols. Use your wealth, but for salutary purposes. Let the poor perceive that you are rich; let the indigent know that you are opulent." Virgins who have put on Christ cannot put on silk and purple; adorning themselves with gold, and pearls, and necklaces, they lose their ornaments of heart and soul."

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If any one is prompted by curiosity to survey the whole troop of evils following, at that time, in the train of celibacy, let him read the pages of Cyprian and his fellow teachers in the early Church. The peculiar sanctity ascribed by these very men to such a life multiplied the number, stimulated the vanity and corrupted the virtue of those who made choice of it. Yet, during the first three centuries, only a small minority of Christian females abjured wedlock. Ninetenths of them, probably, chose to preside in the domestic circle, and perfect the sacred economy of home by their presence. Nor did these, it was thought, in all cases abstain from extravagance in dress. Very many," says an African Father, "feel the same solicitude in regard to beauty of person and splendor of apparel as before their conversion, and it is impossible to distinguish them by their appearance from the heathen." Especially was this true of Christian women in great cities like Carthage and Alexandria, where luxury spread her softest couch, and vanity put on her costliest robe; where the "finest web of the Indian loom" was coveted more than virtue, and flattery abroad was sweeter to the heart than love at home. In such towns, cover her head

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it was not unusual for the pagan lady to

with a net of woven gold, to load her ears and neck, her

arms and fingers, with sparkling jewels, and to hesitate at no expense in procuring the choicest fabrics for tunic and cloak. A writer whom we have more than once had occasion to quote, uses these graphic and pertinent words:

"By a few small gems a great patrimony is displayed. Forty thousand dollars are strung in pearls on a single thread. Forests and islands are borne off on a slender neck; from a pair of thin ears depends a whole fortune; and the left hand sports away the contents of a full purse on each particular finger. Thus, through the strength of ambition, will one slight form carry about the produce of many estates."

Another writer compares such a woman to an Egyptian divinity. After describing the groves, porticoes and vestibules of a temple by the Nile, the courts surrounded with pillars, the roofs resplendent with gems and precious stones, and the halls glittering with gold, silver and amber, he observes, that the immediate residence of each god is hidden from view by a veil wrought with curious devices, and adds:

"If now, eager to behold what is most excellent, you seek the idol which inhabits this temple, a priest of grave and venerable aspect, chanting a pæan in the dialect of Egypt, and raising slightly the mysterious veil, will afford you cause for boundless laughter at his divinity; for you will not discover within such a god as you made haste to see, but a weasel, or crocodile, or serpent, or some other wild beast fitted to dwell in the gloomy cavern, or deep pit, or muddy fen, but wholly unworthy of this gorgeous temple. Yet like to such a divinity do those golden ladies appear, who busy themselves in curling their locks, painting their cheeks, staining their eye-lids, coloring their hair, and ornamenting this Veil of flesh by the practice of any other soft art, in order, by imitating the Egyptians, to attract unhappy lovers. Bestowing little care upon house or family, they empty their husbands' purses for the materials of seeming beauty, that many eyes may follow them. All day long they are employed at the toilet, and then at evening they glide forth to shine in the lamp-light; for intoxication and partial obscurity add a finish to their meretricious coating of charms."

It is not surprising that men of genuine piety, lifted above the world by a sublime faith, and supported by the prospect of an eternal weight of glory, were moved to denounce all this with severity, as unbecoming to the followers of Christ. They felt-as every earnest believer must feel that fashionable display does not spring from true lowliness and purity. They heard the plea, that religion is of the heart, and may be cherished there in secret before God, though it is not paraded in the eyes of men. Against

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