Des Arc weekly citizen., 1867-06-22
A SHORT PATENT SERMON.
nv "Dow. Tr.


 My hcarers--thcre is quite differ cnce between beauty and virtue, in re- gard to their real worth. The one is short-liying and iecting, the other is enduring and lasting. Beauty is but an cphemeral, alluring blaze, that at tracts tho foolish insects of pride and fashion, oftentimes in single day, to inevitable destruction, and then is ex- tinguished forever; but virtue is Q brilliant spark that continues to grow, even in the embers of declining age !; and is destined to shine, like cats eye in dark tiarret, through the countless ages of eternity. Beauty is but blos- som that unfolds its charms while it's petals are wet with the morning dews of youth. It soon begins to wilt be- heath tho whitening noontidc sun of maturity-that boding after noon hour of existence, the 3 o'clock F. NJ. of mortals life immediately succeeds, and we find that the bright looks of the fond flowers are too fatally touched with the corrosive sublimate of Decay to admit of Decrepitudc, when a lin- geling leaf of beauty may perchance still hang upon the present shrub, but almost every trace of it's former love- Illness is oblitcrated by the hoar frosts and shaken from the grey pinion of time. The night of death then ensues, and the blossom of beauty, that lately was so inviting and fair, is crushed ill the dust, as void of attraction as the scattered fragments of toadstool ill COW yard. Beauty my friends is almost anything that's fleeting and false. It is a rainbow that glows for moment and then sinks into the dark bosom of it's maternal cloud-it is the rosy blush of morning that soon pales in the broad glare of day-it is the crimson winged harbinger of summers evening that lights itself to bed with blaze of glory and is soon sound asleep beneath the dark mantle of night. In short, beauty Is like the gaudy colors of fig ured calico-very pretty for time, but exceedingly liable to fade by a few washings in the hot suds of matri- mony.
 My dear friends-now I come to something more substantial, as the man said who found bullet ill the venison steak. l have reference to female Vir- tue. If Beauty be but the blossom, surely Virtue is the fragrance of the flower. You may strip the corolla of its leaves and endeayor to preserve them by skill, ingenuity, or art, and you will find that they will wither and decay in spite of your utmost exer tiors; and if yos extract the fragrance of the flower, and cork it up tight with the stopple of prudence, watchfulness and caution, it will last forever. There fore were l to make choice from among the fair daughters of earth I l should say give me virtue. I will 1 leave it to your individual tastes, my friends, whether you would not prefer butter that looks pale and unpalatablc, sut it is rich and relishing, to that which appears fair upon the outside, but is foul and frowy within. ] know very well that you would choose the latter.
 My hearers--what is the worth of 1 beauty without virtue? It is but base counterfeit coin, that passet cur rent among the foolish and msuspect- ing, but among the wise and discrimi- hating it is decidedly no go. A wo- man, decked with the ornaments of personal attraction, but destitute of moral superiority, may receive the homage of the weak sons of sin, the adoration of whom is certainly not to oyster. Look at her as she firts and hourishes along that pestifcrous path that leads straightway to perdition. The lilies of lovcliness grace her snowy brow, the artificial roses of health seem to bloom upon her cheek, forty thou sand devils arc ambushed in her invit- ing eye, and she seems to be bound for the gates of paradise, rather than for the realms of endless torment; but my 1 friends examine her as you would a watch, take look at her insides, and sec she needs no cleaning. You will find that the handspring of morality has wholly lost it's elastic temper, that the regulator of her thoughts and &C., tion is entirely out of order, and tho balance wheel of her mind has ceased to perform it's duty for the want of ~single drop of the oil of resolution. You will see that the once fruitful soil of her heart, which nourished the promising plants of virtue, is now overgrown by the rank weeds of vice, and that every bud of youthful hope is trampled to earth beneath the giant footsteps of that monster of all mon- sters.
 My dear hearers-if there can be found such Il mixture in this adultera- ted world as beauty and virtue com bined in a single individual of tho fem mine gender, pray you to send her to me forthwith, as have notion to take unto myselfa wife, ere the days come when shall say have no pleas urc in them, and wife isn't worth the wear of the shoe leather consumed in running after her. Give me q wife who is both good looking and good naturcd, will always be happy, con- tented and satisfied, so long as Provi- dence allows me to stain the fair car