The Idaho world. [volume] (Idaho City, Idaho Territory) 1864-1918, 1875-01-30
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BEAUTY.

nal attraction has been discussed 80
perpetually in every age and in every
country, that it is amusing to f1nd now :
eagerly each generation takes up the
TOPIC, and how, like love, it is always
Young. In general society the attract
i've Qualities of woman, apart from
beauty, lose or gain in Importance, &C,
cording to the fashion. At one period
learning, at another wit, at another
blunt frankness of speech, at another
graceful reticence and lady-like bear,
Ing, may hold sway; but the power OF
beauty is greater than any OF these
qualities, and when it is added to one
or other of them, the owner relgns
paramount. In speaking OF beauty IN
i this way, it is no ordinary type that Is
implied, but beauty of that rare KIND
that has been immortalized in history,
| the loneliness that is capable of run
ming a nation and upsetting Kingdoms.
Our ideas of what constitutes beauty
vary so much that no hard and fast
line can be laid down regarding It.
Such a face as that Of Mary, Queen OF
Scots, in the best portraits OF her, Is
not to be compared with that OF many
lovely portrait of our own time or OF
a century back. But there is no doubt
that her charm of manner her accom-
plishments, and last, but really not
| least the arts of the toilette, acquired
by her in France, made up so fascinat-
| ing a presence, that men gladly sacrl'
feed their hopes in this world and In
the one to come, for her sake. 1t Is
fortunate that there should be more va
riety in taste in ordinary life, and that
we do not all think alike, otherwise the
effect Of beauty might be terrific. II
Helen's charms had been more doubt
| full, Troy might have been saved
That it is possible, though, for whole
community to worship, as beauty, pos
tive ugliness is well-substantiated
fact. We read of an Alpine village,
where goitres were universal, being WIS.,
tied many years ago by very hand
some Englishman. He fell ill of fever,
and on his convalcscence attended the
church to return thanks for his recov-
cry His figure and dress attracted
great attention, and as he went out the
people tiocked round him to admire,
exclaiming, "Ah! would he not be per-
feet if he had but goitre." Keats
tell us that "a thing of beauty is joy
for ever hut then he was not an Al
pine villager when an eye as well as a
throat for goitre, otherwise his. Joy
might not have been wholly unmixed
But even as an. Englishman he made a
mistake. Readers Of history know
that evils have been wrought by the
possession of beauty, and we have on
Ily to look round amongst our own
friends in any class Of society to know
that its joyful effect is very temporary.
A beautiful child is one of the most de-
llightful objects in the world, but this
can rarely be said of lovely woman.
1t is the greatest temptation that can
come to the sex. A girl with pretty
face soon finds that she can please
without troubling to cultivate either
heart or mind; her vanity is fostered
by every glance, even from strangers
in the street; admiration becomes a ne.
cessity to her. and quiet domestic life
a burden. If, as woman she mixes
much in society, all must pay homage;
the attention of the disengaged or uu-
married is not sufficient; and if she
herself should fall in love and marry,
the ruling passion must still be fed. OF
course many women are intensely vain
and enforce admiration without pos
sessing any attractions: and also there
are beautiful women who are as good
as beautiful, and such beauty fulfills
Keats IDEAL. But the following story
may be offered as consolation to the
Unlocking; and although illustrative
of class Of society the antipodes OF
our own, still it touches many ten
der spot in our social life. The Chi
namei in San Francisco are in the hab
it Of scraping together what money
they can, and they then devote it to the
purchase of wife. The price is sent
home to thier parents, and they do the
marketing. The correspondent to the
New York Times states that his office
boy, All Sam by name, has recently i'm
ported a wife through the agency Of
his mother. When Sam brought hel