he needed the services of a superintendent and
teacher, and considered herself fortunate when the trustees of the
institution recommended to her a young woman whose tact, knowledge,
perfect manners, and general fitness for the position they extolled in
the highest terms. The young woman was invited by the founder of the
school to call on her at once. Apparently she possessed all the
required qualifications; and yet, without assigning any reason, Mrs. V.
absolutely refused to give her a trial. Long afterward, when
questioned by a friend as to the cause of her seemingly inexplicable
conduct in refusing to engage so competent a teacher, she replied: "It
was a trifle, but a trifle in which, as in an Egyptian hieroglyphic,
lay a volume of meaning. The young woman came to me fashionably and
expensively dressed, but with torn and soiled gloves, and half of the
buttons off her shoes. A slovenly woman is not a fit guide for any
young girl." Probably the applicant never knew why she did not obtain
the position, for she was undoubtedly well qualified to fill it in
every respect, except in this seemingly unimportant matter of attention
to the little details of dress.

From every point of view it pays well to dress well. The knowledge
that we are becomingly clothed acts like a mental tonic. Very few men
or women are so strong and so perfectly poised as to be unaffected by
their surroundings. If you lie around half-dressed, without making
your toilet, and with your room all in disorder, taking it easy because
you do not expect or wish to see anybody, you will find yourself very
quickly taking on the mood of your attire and environment. Your mind
will slip down; it will refuse to exert itself; it will become as
slovenly, slipshod, and inactive as your body. On the other hand, if,
when you have an attack of the "blues," when you feel half sick and not
able to work, instead of lying around the house in your old wrapper or
dressing gown, you take a good bath,--a Turkish bath, if you can afford
it,--put on your best clothes, and make your toilet as carefully as if
you were going to a fashionable reception, you will feel like a new
person. Nine times out of ten, before you have finished dressing your
"blues" and your half-sick feeling will have vanished like a bad dream,
and your whole outlook on life will have changed.

By emphasizing the importance of dress I do not mean that you should be
like Beau Brummel, the English fop,