This rage is, in essence, tawdry and vulgar. It is cheap in everything but money.
EAR RINGS AND OTHER TRINKETS.
What a barbarism to bore a hole in the flesh, and stick in a trinket. I have seen several ears in which the ring had cut its way out, making a slit, and a new hole had been punched in one of the pieces.
Men have fallen into this vulgar barbarism. American savages offer many instances of men with gold or silver trinkets in the ears. But among lower savages in different parts of the world the custom is quite general, and many of them add an ornament in the nose.
My own wife, in her girlhood, had her ears pierced, but I have never seen them embellished with trinkets.
FINGER RINGS, ETC.
What a vulgar show you sometimes see among the demi-monde,—a dozen great gold and jeweled rings on the fingers, two large rings or hoops about the wrists, a great buckle in the belt, a gold chain about the neck, a gold watch, several charms, a locket or two, a breast-pin,—what a barbarous, vulgar show; poor things, I suppose they think it helps to advertise their unhappy trade.
My dear girls, leave this trinket show to the Indians, and use no other jewelry than a neat small pin to hold the collar, and a delicate small chain to guard your watch. The watch should be in a pocket, and not slipped under the belt. The belt must be mischievously tight to hold the watch. To wear a watch pushed half way under the belt, is to constantly expose it to accident, and, at best, to make a vain announcement of the fact that you have one.
In England it is a common remark, that you may know a nobleman by his plain dress, and by the absence of all jewelry. And I will add, that everywhere you may know a shoddy pretender by an excessive display of jewelry.
No person of really fine culture delights in an exhibition of trinkets or gew-gaws of any kind. The refined soul cannot make an ornamental parade.