Buchanan County bulletin. [volume] (Independence, Iowa) 1869-1891, 1878-04-05

puDlIcIlCu Ill lIlio COlulIlH III ColI pllduCC
with request of that body.-ED.]
Beauty extorts approval from the
most unsusceptible heart, but as to it's
excellence and perfection, there are
about as many opinions as there arc
persons to pass judment upon it. There
are certain general laws, however, gov
erning beauty, that are recognized as es
tablished facts. Graceful outline may
stand as principle No. l. Graceful
movement and poise may &c considered
as something more than auxiliary; they
are essential elements of beauty, for, if
the movements and postures are I'M
couth and barbaric, they actually dctract
from grace of outline. There may, how
ever. be grace of outline in the several
parts as individual members, and still
be great want of general outline and
symmetry of the parts taken collective
ly as a unit. For example. the nose may
be perfect in shape. taken by itself, and
so may the chin, lips, cheeks. brow and
eyes, yet bear no harmonious relation to
each other taken as whole. There
never was a perfect. actual, living beau
ty. as viewed by the eye Of the sculptor
Perfect beauty exists only in the ideal
and sculptors draw their models from
perfect parts selected from individuals
as perfect nose from one, a chin from
another, brow from a third and express
sion from the best models to be found.
If there be want of beauty where the
individual members are nearly perfect
in outline, but i'll balanced as to magni-
tudc and proportion, what deformity
must there be where the nose turns up
ward. downward or sideways, in reckless
disregard for the other features of the
countenance? OF course nature dis
countenanccs all such assumptions.
The following dialogue occurred be-
tween four persons:
George: Celeste would be beautiful
were it not for that enormous nose of
hers.
Helen: You speak as if it were a
crime to possess such nose, when the
girl had to take just such nose as was
given her"
George: "Yes; but that nose would
do credit to the Cardiff giant, while the
other features of her face are beautiful
in the extreme.
Mary: Napoleon used to select his
marshals with reference to the size Of
their noses.
Charles; Napoleon, | think, was in
error, for it has been clearly demon
strated that the brain is not located in
the nose.
Helen: George. | think Celeste s
nose looks better than no nose at all,
and besides, she has truly excellent
qualities of heart; she is forgiving, hum
bic, charitable in word and deed, and
possesses rare intelligence.
George: What you say is all true,
and you, too, have exhibited to me the
beauty of charity, in your defense OF
that truly excellent young woman; from
this | infer there is higher order OF
beauty than that of symmetry of fea-
lures. There is a beauty of the spirit
that makes itself felt, develops into a
beautiful life, conquers pride, impels the
true disciple of Jesus to descend to the
lowly and sorrowing ones that are found
in every community, and, like an angel
of mercy, do what the proud and lofty
scorn to do-relieve the distressed in
body, mind or estate, so far as her Cir
cumstances will admit. This is being
indeed disciple of the meek and lowly
Saviour Those who are unwilling to do
this, follow Him at distance. to say the
least The best representative OF Chns-
tianity | ever saw possessed a beauty of
this kind and was not afraid to stop and
speak kind, encouraging word to one
that everybody else despised. She
sought out for missionary work just
such ones as her Divine Redeemer did
the corrupt and vicious |, who often
witnessed her work of charity, never
knew the person so vile as to curse her.
The profane and obscene hushed their
unholy utterances when she came among
them. She could 90 into the vilest den
of depravity, and bestow her benedlc-
tions in the form of testaments, prayer,
money, exhortation, and sometimes tears,
wrung from as kind heart as ever
throbbed within womans bosom.
| say she could go into such place
with an attendant and come out uncon-
taminated, and leave ray of heavenly
sunshine behind. She was not afraid of
losing caste by doing good, even though
| that good was done to Magdalenes and
! inebrates She recognized the grand
principle that the Saviour declared:
The whole need not a physician, but
the sick, and that other kindred one, Il
came not to call the righteous, but sin
ncrs to repentance. The denunclatlons
of Mrs Grundy, the anathemas OF a
/ false and hollow hearted society, she
cared but little about. She did this
work because she loved the Master, and
felt grateful for the boundless love he
had bestowed upon her She delighted
in self-sacrifcing labor because he was
the idol of her heart, the saviour OF her
soul
How often are we disappointed in
beauty? How often do we find it cou-
pied with pride, vanity, deceit, calumny
and every other satanic device?
How often do we find high moral
worth and extreme physical beauty har-
moniously blended i'll the same person!
am not here to denounce beauty be-
cause it is beauty, but to endeavor
to place some estimate upon its real
value.
| Beauty is wondrous power III the
world to sway the hearts OF mankind,
but the past history of it has oftener
been a history of pride, arrogance,
treachery and vice, than a record of vir-
tue. humility and heaven-born charity.
Beauty that is only the flush of passion
will never elevate anybody; on the 9th
er hand. that high order OF beauty, IN
tellectual beauty, sustained by a sound
morality, is destined to sway the world
in the future as it has never swayed 1t
in the past. ! believe there are forces
lying dormant in mankind moral, intel
lectual and physical forces, which, by
proper physical training, blended with
wise, intellectual and moral culture,
shall yield a sublimer type Of beauty
! than this world has ever yet beheld.
School Report.