Daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, Va. [W. Va.]) 1859-1865, 1865-03-31
Ole 81 s3ynflSI2.ilIigeutet,
About WomSn.

extreme old sge, it seems. needs illusion,
and the mind, in its decline, still Graves
their delicious careas as last good. 40
The other night at the Artists Reeep-
ton, where pictures on the wall aud pic
lures of the wall were many, heard
Young man say, Women never know
when they grow old i" Naturally turned
round and looked at the faces about me.
and saw faces faded and pale, ont Of
which the soft rouudnese Of lines and the
freshness of youth had long sgo vanished /;
countenances set and fixed as in sense Of
loss, under that one firm expression which
tells that all mobility of Nature is gone,
that the Temperament has lost it's exqui-
cite sensitiveuess TO vivid impressions and
no more vibrates at the least touch of pleas
IRE, because the Spring ofIife is past. 7ii'
Some Of the women faces / thus contem-
plated eth retained lingering beauty Of
feature. Others were as hard and cold as
If they had been chiseIed ont Of granite !;
uniulereEting and unloVeable. And abked
myseIf: Why is itT No matter what ia
her age. is not woman bound by all the
laws Of her nature TO look graceful and
amiabIe, even If she does not feel go Self
constituencies mars the loVelines5 of q face
az it does character. All the enchanting
Srsce of childhood emanstes from Hniun
consciousness of itselE. Children are nat
nraI, therefore lovely. And womanr who
never entirely gets ever the iucompletepess
Of childhood ought 10 be uAIursI before she
ia auytbing else. For when Aawomau has
ceased TO be attractive by her simple sym
netry of form, che may be fascinating by
her aweet WomabhOod. If there is a
charning fitness between warm sunny
i.h rr dim
Piled flower face Of girl ToyRIIy rich With
beauty aud all the surrou nding of tasteful
elegance, in which she futters. before us,
there is also q WOful dissoDanoe between
Nature 10 its decay So seen upon face Of
thirty, and the iDgeniousiy elaborate con. |
trivAnees Of fashion that too often pnly |
serve 10 point more to the defects they are
intended either TO repair or 70 mask. ~.
II women only believed it, hundreds of |
them wonld let alone the roses they 80 |
blunderiugly wIeathe around their yellow |
faces, and instead OF diEfguTing themselves |
with unarlistic arrangement OF hair, they |
would discover that simplicity of taste is |
the most becoming grace they can have.
TdSte. not fashion, is the guide 70 follow |
In ill matters of dress. II Ia because the |
French understand that 30 well, that they |
carry the art OF the toilet to its utmost per. |
fiction. Ia France, dress is always har-
monious with the personslity OF the man
or woman; so much SO, that you can al
most tell che age of q person by the way
be or she dresses. Notso with US, certain
~ FOur insane love for Ih0IO betrsys us
in all sorts Of ineougruities of fashion, and
little by little we become nothing more
than velvet or ribbons, while the. years cit |
Cross legged at-the corner of our eyes, and |
we see them nOtl -aIf.J.-. ..I
ZACH age, rhoRsveFs has it's pleasure, |
and should have its own dignity of char
acIer. Faded women we may cherish as
Old women we honor with the thought OF
dur mother in our heart; but women who
bave done with youth, yet insist in think
ing themselves young, or in makiog them.
selves look young, We decidedly object to.
Far more interesting they would be by be.
ing little more genuine. For if it is go
easy to deceive ourselves, We cannot so
deceive others. Lines will |
show, aud wrinkles will show, and every |
tear You ever shed will show. whether you |
believe it or not. There is hut one radi- |
auce to be thrown around your faces, dear |
woman, and that 10 the IN
dimned lustrs OF kindness. All other is |
and as worthless as the paint
and powder you used TO undo the doings of
Time.
But, dear madam, expect very little re.
form in your sex. Between the bonnet
that consumes half your thoughts before
you wear 1t, then gets all our admiration
Afterwatd, and the idle monotouy of allie
too full of leisure to be seasoned with
healthy cheerfulness, you pass from year TO
year as you do from hour to hour, Unaware
of all they take from you, while we, Alas
stand aside and look and smile. Dare you
chide us7 You would do the same 10 our
place We know you we'll enough to know
that, believe me- Well, Fashion has its
way. and will have it in spite of all the
remonstrsnces and Rdmonitions of moral
its.
Fashion ia feminine. Changeable, capri
cious fantastic; bounding from one choice
to another without warning or regret !;
alightiug on come extravaganza, then Nv.
ing to re pudiate it restless, hulteriug, un-
settled 10 lite fsucies, and unsatisied with
its preferences it promises what it never
givss, aud leaves ITS devotees weary and
heart sore on the highway to that shrine Of
blissful conlentment they never attain,
With all Its silks and satin Innings, a
fashionable life is'the drNRriest Of dfsap.
poiuImsnts. No place for the valid suFn-
zion of true AffecIiOuln it. No timeifor the
sweet tender Thoughts OF womauly pity to
fall upon the silent sufferinRs sf the hum
BILE; no tranquil hour in which the soul
may be becaImed and restored to its own
altitude In Winter, balls aud pSrries, par
ties and balls; in Summer, Watering pIa.
ces and flirting; flirting and feeling sad /;
all the year round, IhogPing. That's What
makes our women So lovely and go love
able; or else they become literary, and
drown their Womsnbood in ink pots, or
scratch it away with the end OF their pen,
Shallt make yon a confession here2 Il "a
With one of Geo. Sands most remarkable
works lying half.open on the table Writs
this But Geo. Sand ceased to be Q woman
wRuhiBhGb6se befo1eAhs w6rld the genius
We know aud revere. We do not concern
ourselves with the sex of so potent writer.
II 10 Ps a force power. an influence, and
a master, that We think or her.
But setting aside exceptional talents.
aud considering women writers such al
every villagCaud- farm. house in New.En1-
land msy send as literary recruits among
us We cannot but deplore the facility vim
Oh tNh rk,aR l.,