Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1876-02-02
The Suagspeat of Paris.

Any one who has ever attempted to
criticise anything with complete fair
ness may lind in the Greek fable of
"The Judgment OF Paris" particular
Significance, and may be disposed to
regard the position OF the shepherd of
Mount Ida with serious sympathy. 1t
was hard to be called upon to present
the golden apple to the most fair of
three divinities. The grosser number
who ut first ventured to contend for
the fruit flung upon the banquet table
BY the shrewd Ate had, after smart
scuffle, retired from the field. and three
loveliest amoRg the lovely were left to
do battle for the prize. Sheer fighting,
however. could evidently not settle
the question. the gods, alarmed. re-
fused to speak, and summoned an um-
pire. Paris, nurtured as . shepherd.
yet kinRbOrn, whose life had been .
sweet dream, who had drawn HIS inspi-
ratiOns of beauty from great Natures
promptings, and who was associated
by his decent with the deities of
Olympus, was we'll chosen for this
difficult task-for what better qualities
can be brought TO the appreciation of
quickened by the gifts of inheritance.
and practiced by long dwelling among
woods and streams and on . montain
height. Yet, with all these adyanta-
Res, Paris stood amazed-.turned from
one to the other in trembling doubt,
and at last was decided by . bribe.
The bribe, however. was in itself an
Offering to his aesthetic taste. he could
withstand the promise of kingdom
and of military renowp, he could not
resist the suggestion of Helen's beauty,
for Helen's beanty was told him by the
goddess of love; the two exlstences
seemed commingled, and the vision of
the mortal woman was only piece OF
miraculous beauty of the goddess. The
influence rather than the offer OF the
goddess worked upon the arbitrator,
whose judgement WAS never reversed,
aud We may consider Paris a. the first
fine critic, who had to select not the
fair from the ordinary, but the most
admirable from the excelling, By the
enumeration of the Greek Shepherds
qualifications for the Office of delicate
criticism, it ia evident that the prizes
drawn by the highest excellence de-
pend upon the condition of the recipi-
ents, as well as upon the merits OF the
conquerOr. Beauty has been defined
a. the "harmOniOus effect of nume-
rous parts, all of which the eye is Ca
pable of comprehendinR at the same
time" but in reply to the definition
We have to ask this question. What
eye Z does there exist in art or nature
any one object so perfect in all its
parts that every human eye shall at
once perceive its beautyf So long a.
mankind is divided into sections of the
coarse and the delicate. the educated
and the ignorant, the i'll taught and
we'll taught, the affected and the true,
such an universally acknowledged
perfection cannot be found. In the
first place, there is presumably some
little falling off OF slight excess in
every work. and however considerable
the balance of excellence. there will
be eyes more struck BY the shortcom-
ing than BY the attainment. An ap-
proximatiOn to just appreciation
of beauty in art is ali that theAmost ex-
quisite criticism can hope to arrive at,
and that must be reached by long
study, careful habits of comparison.
and the most res0lute Temple
Rur