The Golden Missionary Penny, and Other Addresses (Paperback)

This historic book may have numerous typos, missing text or index. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. 1868. Not illustrated. Excerpt: ... Itottrig rmcifig anb fris Cestemmt "Continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them; and that from a child thou hast known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus."--2 Tim. iii. 14, 15. jOU have all heard, my dear children, of two things called Fashion and Custom. I would compare Fashion to a haughty tyrant on a throne--she gives commands to the world She arranges and alters our habits, our manners, and our dress; she meddles with everything, from the cut of our hair to the shape of our shoes. CUSTOM, on the other hand, is a judge on a bench. He wears scarlet robes, and is very wise. When FASHION issues a decree--when, for instance, she says, "Let all little girls wear hats instead of bonnets;" or, "Let all old gentlemen wear great-coats instead of cloaks"--then CUSTOM looks grave, as a judge should, and thinks whether it is a good and wise decree or not. If it is, he confirms it, and makes everybody do it; if it is not, he looks knowingly and says, "Friends, you must please her majesty for a while, but she will soon forget it, and then you may do as you were doing before." So it comes to pass that Fashion and Custom together change the world--they make quite a new thing of it in the course of a century. Were our great-grandfathers to rise from their graves, they would scarcely recognize us as English people--we wear such different dresses to what they did; and, as for the places they lived in and the scenes amongst which they moved, they would not know them at all How they would stare at the six-story houses in our cities, and the blazing shopwindows with one pane of glass How they would scream and scamper at the sight of a...