New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1844-11-11
That fipt in beauty shall be first in might


for, III, the eternal law,
That hy in beauty shall be fD in might"
Therefore, within the clinical circle of good
society, there is narrower and higher circle,
concentration of its lights, and flower Of cour-
tesy, to which there is always tacit appeal of
pride and reference, as to Its inner and imperial
court, the parliament Of love and chivary. And
this is constituted of those persons In whom
heroic dispositions are native, with the love Of
beauty, the delight in society, and the power to
embellish the passing day. If the individuals
who compose the purest circles of aristocracy in
Europe, the guarded blood of centuries, should
pass in review, in such manner as that we could,
at leisures, and especially, inspect their behavior
we might find no gentleman, and 40 lady, for,
although excellent specimens of courtesy and
high breeding would gratiry US in the assemoiage,
in the particulars, we should detect offence Be-
cause, elegance comes of no breeding, but OF
birth. There must be romance of character, or
the most fastdous exclusion of impertinencies
will not avail. 1t must be genius which takes
that direction: it must be not courteous, but
courtesy. High behavior is as rare in fiction, as
it is in fact. Scott is praised for the fidelity
with which he painted the demeanor and CONVEX
sation of the superior classes. Certainly, kings
and queens, mobiles and great ladies, had some
right to complain Of the absurdity that had been
put in their mouths before the days of Waverley;
but neither does Scott's dialogue bear criticism.
His lords brave each othersn smart epigrammahc
speeches, but the dialogue is in costume, and
does not please on the second reading il is not
warm with life. In Shakespeare alone, the speak
ers do not strut and bride, the dialogue is easily
great, and he adds to 80 many titles that of being
the best-bred man in England, and in Christen-
ted to enjoy the charm of noble manners, in the
presence of man or woman who have no bar
in their nature, but whose character emanates
freely in their word and gesture. A beautiful
form is better than beautiful face; beautiful
behavior is better than beautiful form it gives
higher pleasure than natures or pictures; 1t is
the finest of the fine arts. A man is but little
thing in the midst of the objects Of nature, yet
by the moral quality radiating from his counte-
nance, he NAV abolish all considerations of mag
nitude, and in his manners equal the majesty Of
the world. | have seen an individual, whose
manners, though wholly within the conventions
of elegant society, were never learned there, but
were original and commanding, and held out
protection and prosperity one who did not neeo
the aid of court.suit, but carried the holiday IN
his eve; who exhiarated the fancy by hinging
wide the doors of new modes of existence; who
shook off the captivity Of etiquette, with happy,
spirited bearing good-natured and free as Robin
Hood; yet with the port of an emperor,-if need
be, calm, serious, and fit 10 stand the gaze Of
millions.
The open air and the fields, the street and pub
lie chambers, are the places where Man executes
his will; let him yield or divide the sceptre at
the door of the house. Woman, with her instinct
of behavior, instantly detects in man love OF
triHes, any codness OK imbecllty, or, IN short,
any want of that large, flowing, and magnanl
nous department, which is indispensable as an
exterior in the hall. Our American institutions
have b friendly to her, and at this moment,
esteem Il a chief felicity Of this country, that 1t
excels in women. A certain awkward conscious
ness of iHferiority in the men, may give rise u
the new chivalry in behalf of Woman's Rights.
Certainly, let her be as much better placed In tho
laws and in social forms as the most Jealous re-
former can ask, but | conide 81 entirely in her
inspiring and musical nature that believe only
herself can show US how she shall be served.
The wonderful generosity of her sentiments
raises her at times into heroical and godllke re-.
yions, and verifes the pictures of Minerva, Juno,
or Polymnia; and, by the hrmness with which
she treads her upward path, she convlnces the
coarsest calculators that another road exists,
than that which their feet know. But besides
those who make good in our imagination the
place OF muses. and of Delphic sibyls, are there
not women who fill our vase with wine and roses
to the brim, SO that the wine runs over and fills
the house with perfume; who inspire us with
courtesy; who unlooss our tongues, and we
speak; who anoint our eyes, and we see we
say things we never thought to have said; for
once, our walls Of habitual reserve vanished ana
left US at large; We were children playing Win
children in a wide field of flowers. steep Us,
We cried, in these influences, 10, days ioI weeks
and We shall be sunny poets, and Will Wrlte out In
p,.nv. colored words the romance that you are.
Was il Ha6z OF Firdousi that said of his Persian
Lila. She was an elemental force, and astonished
me by her amount of life, when saw her day
after aay radiating, every instant, redundant Joy
and grace on all around her. She Was solvent
powerful to reeoncile all heterogeneous persons