Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1854-04-12
From Chambers Edinsbtrgh Journal.
Female Beauty In Old England and
New England.

1t is generally allowed that there is more
of what is called chiseled beauty in Amer
ica than in Europe-tbat the features OF the
women are finer, and the head more classl-
cal. But here ends the triumph of our SIS
ters of the West; their busts are far inferl-
or to those we admire at home, and a cer-
tain attenuation in the whole figure gives
the idea of fragIIity and decay.
Andthis idea is correct. What they want
is soundness of constitution and in conse-
quenee of the want, their finely cut faces,
taken generally, are pale instead of fair,
and saIlow when they should be rosy. In
this country, woman is in the prime OF
her attractions at thirty and she fre-
ouently remains almost stationary till fifty,
or else declines gradually and gracefully,
like beautiful day melting into lovely E.
vening. In America, twenty-five is the
farewell line of beauty in woman, beyond
which comes decay at thirty-ive, she looks
weary and worn, her fat chest symbolzlng
the collapsed heart within; and at forty,
you see in her thin and haggard features all
the marks OF premature age.
1t is customary to regard this as the effect
of climate but some think it folly to go to-
an ultimate cause, when the whole system
of artificial life in America offers direct de-
6ance as they assert, to the known hygle-
mic laws. This view is supported with great
intrepidity by woman's journal in ProvI-
dence called the Una-not lady's Maga-
zine fair reader, but regular broad sheet,
written by and for women, whose leading
articles are on women's rights, and whose
advertisements are from women doctors,
women professors, ,women-lecturers, women
everything. Una admits the aeeting char
acter of her countrywomen's charms, and
contrasts more especially Old England win
New England, yielding frankly the pas in
beauty to the former. She hints, we must
own, at some very problematca causes OF
the early loss of female charms in America
such as "the bounding of llle's horizon
by the petty cares that wait on meat, drink,
and raiment; the absence of genial and i'm
proving intercourse, and Of earnest interest
in the hopes and fortunes of the race; and
the little rivalries and little aspirations on
which, for lack of better objects, SO many a
soul is fain to waste its energies"
All this is very well for the phllosophlc
Una, who pays her taxes under protest
since she had no voice IN laying them on /;
but the implied notion that our pretty coun-
trywomen have no petty cares connected
with their food, no little rivalries and little
aspirations, but plenty of earnest interest
in the destinies of the race--ls very COM
plimentary. After Aourishlng little, how
ever, about these grievances, which, we fear
are MOI qcholiy unknown to our English
beauties, she proceeds to the main point
"What,s she asks, "is the diet of New Eng
land generally? Hot biscuit, fat pork, and
tea these are the staples. They are va
red with preserves, made pound Tor pound
and endless varieties OF cake, and thelnev-
liable pie Pastry, which most children in
New England ale not allowed to touch un-
til they get their long frocks or tailed coats
on, is here the everyday food OF young and
old. Salt pork is cheap-that is, greasy
fuIsomeness makes it pail sooner on the ap-
petite than any other meat and so 1T forms
the piece de resistance at almost all tables,
except those whose owners are well 10 DO
in the world. Tea is the great panacea for
all fatigue low spirits, dampness. coldness,
pains in the head and in the back, and in
short, for nearly all the ills that flesh is heir
to the quantity taken by middle-aged and
elderly women almost sulpasses bellef.--
Certainly, to put the average at six or eight
cups day would be setting it low enough.
What mere human beauty could stand
these horrors Fancy Miss Angelina dress
ed for her first ball, and sitting down, be-
fore she goes forth conquerng and to con-
quer, to keep up the stamina with just a
little snack of fat pork, goose-berry jam
and pumpkin pie Is it any wonder that
this young ladv should wither at twenty
five? Yet fat pork has its advocates.--
Cobbett was delighted with the fondness OF
the Americans for "eXtreme JUNCTION" and
on his return to this country, did every
thing in his power to force the greasy dish
upon the English palate, affirming that
dislike to fat pork was decided symptom
of insanity. We may allude, likewise, to
the important part played by hogs lard in
the composition Of cosmetics. The thou
sand and one kinds Of paste and pomatum
for the skin and hair are all OF this substance,
only differing little in the color and per-
fume and in nineteen cases out OF twenty
hogs lard IN bears grease. Why should a
substance improve beauty when absorbed
by the skin, and destroy it when taken IN
to the stomach? This is question we leave
to be settled between Una and the chem
lists.
Another cause Of the unhappy condition
of female beauty In America is stated by
the out-spoken Una to be-the drtiness of
the sex. This is dreadful. Not one wo-
man in ten, she asserts, permits cold water
to touch her whole person every day. and
not one in five performs the same abution
once week; ''whle if the truth could be
at once flashed forth from its hiding place,
il would show still longer intervals, from
the bare thought of which imagination
shrinks." We do not know what is the case
IT. this respect as regards the majority Of
our own country women; and to say the
truth, we are afraid to ask.
The wrath of Una falls next upon the
sleeping accommodations. "Three quarters
of New England" she tells u.s. "sleep in
slightly enlarged collins )" and in our opin-
ion, capital plan it is Tor if the fourth quar-
ter we're slowed with the rest, the people
might as well be in their graves at once
These cofins are called bedrooms, for no
other reason than that they are large enough
to hold bed a light-stand, and wash
stand and they are often rendered redo
lent of sweetness by thlckets of coats,panta-
looms. dresses, and petticoats hung on the
| Ill ), Tb;c &c en- faithful q sketch of the
bedrooms of the middle class Londoners,
that one might fancy Una to be speaking,
hv mistake, on the wrong side of the ques-