Lexington union. (Lexington, Miss.) 1838-18??, 1842-11-12
SHORT PATENT SERMON.
BY DOW, JR.

But virtue once gotten will never decay,
II beauty and virtue in one woman can be,
II she's unmarried, pray send her 10 me.
My hearers-there is quite difference
between beauty and virtue, in regard to
their real worth. The one is short lived
and fieeting, the other is enduring and las.
ting. Beauty is but an ephemeral, aIur-
ing BLAZE, that attracts the foolish insects
OF pride and fashion, oItentimes in single
day, 10 inevitable destruction, and then is
extingushed forever; but virtue is bril-.
liant spark that continues to glow, even
in the embers of declining age, and is des-
tined to shine like a cats eyes in dark
garnet, through the countless ages oil eter.
nifty. Beauty is but a blossom that un-
folds its charms while its petals are wet
with the morning dews of youth. For
1t soon begins to wilt beneath the wilher-
ing noontIde sun Of maurity-that boding
afternoon hour Of existence, the 3 O'Clock,
2. M. of mortals life Immediately succeeds
aud we fad that the bright looks Of the
fond flowers. are too fatally touched with
the corrosive subimate OF Decay to ADM,
of DecrepIude, when lingering leaf oil
Ibean'y may perchance still hang upon the
present shrub, but almost every trace Of
It's former loneliness is obliterated by the
boar frost, and shaken from the gay pinion
Of time. The night Of death then ensues,
and the blossom Of beauty, that ately was
SO Inviting and fair, is crushed in the dust
as void OF attraction as the scattered frag-
menls of toad stool in COW yard -
Beauty, my friends is almost anything
that is fleeing or false. 1t is rainbow
tina; gIows for a moment, and then sinks
into the dark bosom OF its maternal cloud
it is the rosy blush Of morning that soon
pales in the broad glare of day; it is the
crimson winged harb'nger Of summer.
evening that lights itself TO bed with a
blaze of glory; and lie soon found asleeE
beneath The dark mantle night. In short
beauty is like the gaudy colors of figured
calico; very pretty for time, but ex'
ceedingly liable to fade by lew washing,
in the suds of matrimony.
Nv dear friends-now come TO some
thing more substantial, as the man sale
who found bullet 10 the venisOn steak
have reference to female Virtue.
Beauty be but the blossom, surely virtu
is the fragrance of the flower You ma,
strip the corolla of its leaves and endeavo
to preserve them by skill, ingenuity, o
art, and they wither and decay in spite O
your utmost exer:ions; and if you extrac
the fragrance of the flower, and cork it u
tight with the stopple Of prudence, watch
fitness and caution, it will last forever. -
Therefore, we're to make choice fror
the fair daughters of earth, ! should say
give me virtue. | will leave it to you
tastes, my friends, whether you would nc
prefer butter that looks pale and unpalatu
Bile, bur IS rich s. relishing, to that whic
appears fair upon the outside, but IS for
and frowy within. l know, very wei
that you would not choose the latter.
NV hearers what is The worth Of beau
tv without virtue2 1t is but base coun
terfeit coin, that passes current with tn
foolish and unsuspecting, but among tn
wise and discriminating it is decidedly n
90. A woman dccked with the ornament
Of personal attraction, but destitute {
moral superiority, may receive the homag
Of the weak sons of sin, the alteration
whom certainly is not to be priced abo'
the value of July oyster. Look at h
as she flirts and hourishes along that pres
,iferous path that leads straightway
perdition. The lilies OF loneliness grac
her snowy brow-the artificial roses
health seem to bloom upon her cheek
forty Thousand devils are ambushed in h.
inviting eye-nand she seems to hour
for the realms Of endless torment; but m
friends examine her as you would watt
take n look at her insides, and see
shee needs no cleaning. You will fl
that the main spring Of morality, b
wholly lost its elastic tempcr--that Il
regulator Of her thoughts and actions
entirely out OF order-and the baant
vince! Of her mind has ceased TO perlor
lis duty for the want Of single drop
the oil Of resolution, You will see Il
once fruitful soil Of her heart, which nou
I. ished the promising plants of virtue is no
overgrown by the rank weeds Of vice, al
i that every bud of youthful hope is tramplt
to the earth, beneath The giant footsteps
;. that monster Of all monsters. ..
My dear hearers--if there can be four
n such mixture in this aduterated worI
as beauty and virtue combined 10 a sing
individual Of the feminine gender, pra
Q you to send her to me forthwith, as ha'
c notion to take unto myself wife. Ell
the days come when / shall say haveT