Mustering

“ The cattle upon the thousand hills are dressed by the hand divine. Who, studying God in his works, can doubt, that he will smile upon the evidence of correct taste manifested by his children in clothing the forms he has made them? ”

“ God hath said: ‘O My servants, take ye heed that ye often commemorate Me, so that sincerity may abound.’ The more that sincerity prevails, the more do the rays of the light of truth shine into the heart. The hotter a baker’s oven is, the more bread will it bake; if cool, it will not bake at all. ”

“ They were earning, by the sweat of their brow, a food which sustained their lives from day to day,—God endowing them with both the power to toil and the reward of toil. They might toil for a bread that would sustain another different kind of life in them,—a life not of hours and instants, but eternal. ”

“ Their manners and movements are unaffected and elegant; they dress in exquisite taste; and with a grace peculiarly their own, their manners have a fascination and witchery which is perfectly irresistible. ”

“ In truth, this was a new development of mind I had never seen before, clinging with a firm grasp to a bundle of filthy, forbidding garments, as the only craft by which to save his life; choosing uncleanliness to decency, at an age too when all the young emotions of pride generally spring up in fondness for new and pretty garments. ”

“ "there's a large mustard-mine near here. And the moral of that is—'The more there is of mine, the less there is of yours.'"
"Oh, I know!" ”

“ Many of our delicate dishes, as well as our way of serving food, are their inventions. They have taught us to dress only in garments of sober colours. They have instructed us in the proper spirit in which to approach flowers. They have given emphasis to our natural love of simplicity, and shown us the beauty of humility. ”

“ As I set my foot across the threshold into the house, I saw a pure white bed of butter, on which I sat down, but I sank down into it up to the tips of my hair. Hard work had the eight strongest men in the house to pull me out by the top of the crown of my head. ”

“ Some make the comparison to refer to the quality of the mustard-seed, which is, when bruised, sharp and penetrating; "If you have an active growing faith, not dead, flat, or insipid, you will not be baffled thus." ”

“ Preserve, then, as you value the means of usefulness, the perfect play of your mental powers—so easily trammelled by the clogging of the machinery of the body—the unadulterated taste that is content with a sufficiency of wholesome, well-cooked food to satisfy the demands of healthful appetite. ”

“ In a former chapter we spoke of the dress and fashion in reference to health, and must here offer a few further observations in reference to taste, or the adaptation of dress to the individual temperament or style of beauty.
By temperament is always meant the peculiar constitution of the individual, such as the develop­ment of the body, whether it be slight, meagre, plump, or fat; the colour and structure of the skin, whether it be fair or dark, coarse or fine; the colour and quality of the hair; the colour of the eyes ”

“ With thy own Body and Blood refresh my soul, that in the strength of that food I may walk even to the high mountain of thy glory, where thou shalt feed with the fat of wheat thy Elect, whom thou hast fed here for a time with the bread of tears, and satisfy them with the plenty of thy house. ”

“ At this, he marvelled exceedingly and said to the lady, “O damsel, I see these meats to be many [and various of hue] , but the taste of them is one.” “God prosper the king!” replied she. “This is a parable I have set for thee, that thou mayst be admonished thereby.” “And what is its meaning?” asked he. “May God amend the case of our lord the king!” answered she. “In thy palace are ninety concubines of various colours, but their taste is one.” ”

“ I throw down my work because I have fought my fight and conquered it, am mistress of what I will in my household craft. Think you that I love the molding of butter and the care of poultry, or to spin, to cut, to sew, because I do them and do them well? ”

“ Just as I wore correct wedding garments at a wedding, and would far rather have cut my throat with a knife than carry food on it from plate to mouth, so, in the face of any of life's moral or emotional crises, I clung to what instinct and cultivation told me were the correct sentiments. ”

“ These great Laws are not always put before young minds with due simplicity: we obscure them by our jargon. All children know that if they spread a pat of butter on a slice of bread, the bigger the slice is, the thinner the butter will be. ”

“ But it may be objected, What is the use then of a graceful embodiment of conceptions, if the object of the discussion or treatise, which is simply and solely to produce knowledge, is rather hindered than benefited by ornament? To convince the understanding this gracefulness of clothing can certainly avail as little as the tasteful arrangement of a banquet can satisfy the appetite of the guests, or the outward elegance of a person can give a clue to his intrinsic worth. ”

“ Fashion should be sacrificed to taste, or, at best, followed at a distance; it does not do to be entirely out, nor completely in, what is called "fashion," many things being embraced under that term which are frivolous, unmeaning, and sometimes meretricious. ”

“ It is right and beautiful in any man to say, 'I will take this coat, or this book, or this measure of corn of yours,' — in whom we see the act to be original, and to flow from the whole spirit and faith of him ”

“ Contrary to the teachings of some so-called 49missionaries, I believe that neatness in arranging food, dress, or whatever pertains to order and pleasantness, is the most essential part of a Christian duty. For surely if the body is cherished as the image of our Maker, the soul-salvation is a possibility. ”

“ As he ripens in years, he breaks through that icy covering which in his earlier years surrounded him, and he shakes off the chains of etiquette or bears them with a grace which proves that to him they are not a restraint, but an ornament. ”

“ When thou sittest down to eat, put a knife to thy throat, that is, bridle thy appetite; set not thy heart upon tasting every meat, and be careful to take food in obedience to the necessity rather than the gratification of nature. ”

“ Many of my readers, I may venture to say, would not fancy some things in such a bill of fare, if presented to them even in the bush. Whether the mind be endowed with a faculty of taste, and whether that faculty exclusively governs us in the articles of food, clothing, furniture, architecture, painting, and other things, are questions that have never yet been satisfactorily determined. ”

“ In those times, the requirement was that everything, down to the household utensils, even of the most modest description and destined for the use of the poorer classes, be inspired with a breath of beauty. ”

“ Artificial manners, and such as spring from good taste and refinement, can never be mistaken, and differ as widely as gold and tinsel. How captivating is gentleness of manner derived from true humility, and how faint is every imitation! ”

“ But you soon made those borrowed graces give way to more natural charms; you destroyed the result of our labours: we were compelled to despoil ourselves of those ornaments, now become tiresome to you, and to appear before you in the simplicity of nature. For me, modesty counted as nothing ”

“ Yet, I have heard some few ladies boast of that incapacity, as something meritorious, and declare that they considered the quality, the preparation, and even the taste of food, as things entirely beneath the attention of a rational being; their own minds being always occupied with objects of far greater importance. ”

“ Think also of the poor purveyors of food, who note their masters' tastes with delicate skill, who know what special flavours will sharpen their appetite, what will please their eyes, what new combinations will rouse their cloyed stomachs, what food will excite their loathing through sheer satiety, and what will stir them to hunger on that particular day. ”

“ Wherever thou goest, go with modesty and composure, without hurrying thy steps, or laughing with those whom thou meetest, nor casting thy eyes thoughtlessly first to one side and then to the other. Employ thyself diligently in spinning and weaving, in sewing and embroidering ”

“ How delightful a little honesty would be, by way of a change! Of all the rascality spread like butter on bread over the surface of the globe, certainly the butter lies thicker on the confines of each territory. ”

“ The hands that feed, and lick the hands that smite you?
Receive the fruit of your foul deeds you must.
Your precious gems shall crumble into dust,
And that you deemed fair pulse or wholesome wheat
Shall turn to ashes even while you eat,
"And scare your very hunger. ”

“ More and more any element of a meal and of social life, the word soup or meat, the word gown or dance, brought up at once the picture of the woman, which had in the meantime lost every element of personal relation. ”

“ But on this subject we have put a sufficient number of arguments into the mouth of Lælius, in our books on a Republic.
XIX. Now apply the same arguments to modesty, or temperance, which is a moderation of the appetites, in subordination to reason. Can we say that a man pays sufficient regard to the dictates of modesty, who indulges his lusts in such a manner as to have no witnesses of his conduct? ”

“ They have given their pleasant things, their jewels and pictures, and all the furniture of their closets and cabinets, which they used to please themselves with looking upon, they have sold these to buy bread for themselves and their families, have parted with them for meat to relieve the soul, or (as the margin is) to make the soul come again, when they were ready to faint away. They desired no other cordial than meat. ”

“ We read the Arabian tales and pity the doomed lady who must amuse her lord and master from day to day or have her head cut off; how much better is a mouth without bread to fill it than no mouth at all to fill, because no head? ”

“ I believe you put on this modesty to be contradicted—besides, we know that you can shine with the first. You have eyes that are unequaled; you are graceful, elegant, even of distinguished bearing. What do you want more, bag of bones? ”

“ It is one of the chief contributions to the phenomena of modesty furnished by civilization. The claims of modesty having effected the clothing of the body, the impulse of modesty finds a further sphere of activity—half-playful, yet wholly imperative—in the clothing of language. ”

“ Mark the emphasis on "apparently"; but do not most of us live only in appearances, in phenomena, in the world wherein ginger is hot, and meat satisfies hunger, and drink quenches thirst, and women appease desire? ”

“ For the gourmande, or glutton, duty and amusement go hand in hand. Her dainty devices and harmonies appeal to her imagination and fancy; they play gently with her emotions; they develop to the utmost her pretty sensuousness. Mind and body alike are satisfied. ”

“ Heaven keep every Christian from their gravies, which are made of one-third meal and two-thirds butter, or when a change is needed, one-third butter and two-thirds meal: And Heaven guard every one from their naive vegetables which, boiled away in water, are brought to the tables just as God made them! ”

“ By having an opinion and determination, I would not be understood to mean an obstinate perseverance in trifles, which borders on obstinacy—by no means, but only an adherence to those rules and maxims which have flood the test of ages, and will forever establish the female character, a virtuous character—altho' they conform to the ruling taste of the age in cookery, dress, language, manners, &c. ”

“ I have sought to emphasize the unquestionable, but often forgotten, fact that modesty is in its origin independent of clothing, that physiological modesty takes precedence of anatomical modesty, and that the primary factors of modesty were certainly developed long before the discovery of either ornament or garments. ”

“ What has been rendered sometimes supportable by circumstances, an extravagant taste, the desire of being distinguished from the crowd, or to command their attention; true taste, and especially the art of pleasing, has always proscribed. We meet with women every day whose features are shaded with this ornament of virility. ”

“ As it regards dress, every individual will necessarily exhibit, to a greater or less extent, the degree in {136} which taste has been cultivated. A person of real refinement of taste will always have the dress consistent with the circumstances of fortune, the relative rank in life, the station and character, the hour of the day, the particular pursuit or profession, and the period of life. ”

“ We have ample warrant for affirming that garments, even in this world, subserve a spiritual as well as a natural use; that they are required not less to satisfy the wants and appetencies of the soul, than the immanent needs of the body. ”

“ But such a long representation of the moral sense by the sense of the beautiful has made us forget this master. When we have so long practised this rule of obeying at once the suggestions of taste, and when we have found the result always satisfactory, taste ends by assuming a kind of appearance of right. ”

“ As a general thing I don't believe in sermons served as restaurants serve beef—in slices. I believe in teaching truths, rather, as one whips cream, dropping in the moral as an almost imperceptible flavoring. ”