Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1878-05-16
Personal Beauty.

| id~tHiatlng tHfH perspuai All men
instinctively admire handsome form aud
face. They 20 To the opera, the theatre,
the church, wherever people congregate,
to feast their eyes upon human beauty.
They pay the highest price for the painted
| counterfeit of II, however imaginary the
semblance, TO adorn their parlor walls.
| We do not wonder that men are so fascin-
sted by IL. and sometimes are so smitten
by the sight OF It that they pine away in
misery II they cannot call its possessor
theirs. We do not wonder that people re-
sort to all devices aud expedieuts to pre-
/ serve and cultivate il, and that the aid of
costly clothing, paints aud cosmetics Is
invoked TO conjnrc mp its srrnblance and
prolorg It's spells. Nor do we wonder that
impositors, who advertise that they will
restore the faded bloom TO the cheek and
I make the plain face ''beautiiul forever"
find dupes enough TO make them rich. a
/ beautiful person-maukind has always
gone down on its knees before it as the
I shrine of god. To be beautiful Is one of
/ the spontaneous ambitions of the human
heart. There Is no use OF disparaging the
/ motive. or OF trying to wink It out of sight
as something to be ashamed of, or 10
shut II out Of the breast as an unholy
thing. It has heavens own autograph
| upon Il. and It's universally and intrinsic
worthiness give IL permission to be. II
should be recognized for what IL *, and
! taken up into the family of motives whose
/ function Il Is 90 spur mankind TO noble en-
deayors aud holy living. 1t is not right.
/ but "A dutyst 10 try to be beautiful.
How TO be beautiful. that is the practi-
J cal question. We begin with adnirlng
/ beauty OF form and feature, a particular
I cut, contour and color Of face aud couute-
/ nance; and these are admirable. But as
we grow Older We perceive that there is a
| higher order OF beauty than this-a beauty
/ of expression which eniolds the features in
/ an atmosphere of iudefinablo fascination
\ "A beauty OF mind, of disposition, of soul,
I which makes Us forget the absence of reg
Z uiar features and lovely tinis where they
are not. and overlook their presence where
I they are Every body has seen men and
/ women of irregular features and ungracc
Z ful form, who, Notwithstanding their phys
ical defects. were so rradiatcd aud gluri-
. fled 10y the outsning of noble thoughts and
I Kind affections that they seemed supremcly
Z beautiful. perfectly developed, sym
metfiCal figure, "a finely chiselled face. del
I lcalcy tinted complexion, L clear eye and
an elegant m,cu are attractive, II not com
mAudius; bat when cuutrastel with this
higher quality and TRANSFERRING spirit OF
F beauty which irradiates the intelligent and
Aiudly lace, informing every feature, aud
f glowing IA look, act aud air, all merely
4 physical prettlness and elegance seem
+ petty. II not contemplate. Not every one
can have the symmetric torn aud he finely
chi.eilrd face; but 10 one is so poor or 80
driorped but be can acquire 4 beauty as
superior TO these a. the diamond IS 10 the
glit It Is set ia.
/ This fact respecting personal beauty,
T tact OF the utmost Importance i so gener-
ally overlooked that il cannot be stated
too often aud urged too strongly upon pub
lie attention; ana tlis fact goes lar 10 de-
termine ths means by which that personal
beauty which every one desires is To be at
tained. There are - great many things
that contribute to personal bcauty-a sim
pie, yarions diet, pare air, proper exercise,
TE%Qt.tr hai} }is CONSTANT pGG0uaiIpn cIe.sO-
things are ut far more Importance. a. Il
means ot increasing beauty OF personihan
people generally imagine. They add itn-
msdiatciy more 70 personal good looks than
the costllesi clothing and The richest orIia-
mcuts. The GLOW OF health on the cheek,
the upTi2A form, and elastic step aud noble
bearing which come from the constant
prsetice OF natures physical command
ments, do unspeahabiy more TO beauufy q
person than any cosmetics art has con-
trlyed. or any decorations human iugenu-
ity has Inverted, or any fashions that have
been spun from the exhaustle,s cunning
( OF the human Imagination. But these are
/ not the only means, Indispensable a. they
T are; they are merely the beginning. They
I furnish merely the materials out of which
true beauty Is built as Indeed, they give
! only the canvas aud outlor, which must
be completed By the artistic and perfect
blending OF ethereal colors and a spiritual
/ expression, 10 represent that highest order
= ga.afa al.
( wins the admiration OF all cultured minds.
IL Is strange that so many people over
I look tact 50 Important as this. A bean
tiiul person l. the natural form of beau
I tlful soul. The mind builds its own house,
The soul takes precedence OF the body, and
shapes the body to its own likeness. n
/ vacant mind takes all the meaning out OF
/ the fairest face A sensual disposition de-
I forms the handsomest features. A cold,
I selfish heart shriyels and distorts the best
I looks. mean, groveIliug spirit takes all
I the dignity out OF the figure and ali the
I character out OF the countenance. \ cher
I ished hatred transforms the most beautiful
\ lineaments into an image of ugliness. 1t
| is as impossible to preserve good looks.
with brood OF bad passions feeding on
/ the blood, a set of low love tramplng
/ through the heart, and selfish, disdainful
/ spirit enthroned In the will, AS to preserve
| the beauty of an elegant mansion with Il
| litter OF swine in the basement. \ tribe OF
| gypsies in the parlor, and owls and vul-
! lures in the upper part, Badness and
| beauty will no more keep company a great
| while. than poison will consort with health
or an elegant carving survive the furnace
lire. The experiment OF putting them to-
| eether has been tried for thousands OF
| years. but with one unvarying result.
Some people imagine that there can be
| no sufficient punishment for sensual indul-
| gence and sinful lie without an everlasr-
| ing prison house OF fire. But the laws of
| the spirit work in finer aud surer ways
than any that the old doctors dreamed of,
making sin punish itself, transforming the
] guilty face, cutting and staining the fea-
| lures and countenance into shapes aud
| hues OF ugliness. Stand on one of the
crowded streets and note the passers by
aud any one can see how vacant mind
has made a vacant eye; how thoughtless.
aimless mind has robbed the features of
expression; how vanity has made every
thing about its victim petty; how irivolity
| has faded the lustre Of the couNenance;
| how baby thoughts have made baby faces:
| how pride has cut disdain into the features
| and made the face chronic sneer; how
| seliishness has shrivelled, and wrinkled,
and withered up the personality; how ha-
tired has deformed and denounced those
| who yielded TO its power; how every bad
passion has turned tell-tale and published
its di.graeeful story in the lines of the face
and the look OF the eye; how the old stain
of every sort of wickedness is branded all
over with deformity and responsiveness
! and he Will get a new idea of what retrl-
button is. This may not be all, but it Is
terrible-this Transforming of a face once
full OF hope and loveliness into detormity
and responsiveness then the rose blushng
ON its stalk. now ashes and brand.
Th re is no sculptor like the mind. The
man who thinks, reads, studies. mediates,
has ut diligence cut in his features, stamped
on his brow and cleaning in his eye.
There is nothing that so refines, polishes
and ennobles face and mien as the constant
presence of great thoughts. The man who
lives in the region of ideas, moonbeams
though they be, Becomes idealized. There
are no arts, no gymnastics, no cosmetics
which can contribute q tithe so much 10
III. -