The comet., 1882-11-11

ANohuol tt0rias3
a German paper, the Leipsic Illus.
trated News, is publishing series d
pictures Of beautiful women, oi
w hlch lt has been remarked as curious
that fully three-f0urths Of them are
English. This fact. Of course. a very
gratifying to our national pride, though
1t may be possible to rejoice little Too
much over 1t. Plagiarism Is not reck-
oned grave crime among the Ger
MANS and, though sl0W-Witted peo-
pie, ghey--or those who have Semitic
c0nnections-are quite equal to the en-
teFprlse of displaying IS "beautifuI
headsn old wornout engravings from
British illustrated papers. But even
were this not the case, we must not
forget what Sir Richard Steel-speak-
ing not as mere scribe, but as one
having acknowledged authority-re-
minds us of-to-Wit, that since the
world began Woman's beauty has been
not merely its delight, but its torment.
II, then, we have more handsome Wo-
men among us than our neighbors, it
would be very easy to prove that the
privilege may have its drawbacks.
Still, the fact that an illustrated, pub
lished in country like Germany,
where we are so cordially hated, is
compelled virtually to admit that it
must seek most of its types Of female
loneliness in England, is more than
curious. In itself it is, we think, sug-
gestive of some significant social gem
civilizations. First of all, is it not an
undeniable fact that English women
are, as rule, handsOmer than their
Continental sisters? Although people
with a mania for foreign travel some
times pretend that they can find at
home no woman fit for the aesthetic
eye to look on, impartial and obser-
want wanderers know the contrary is
the case. In proportion to population
there is no country under the sun
where one finds more pretty women
than in England. Comeliness is, in
deed, the peculiar heritage of English
womanho0d, which term we do not
limit so as to include ladyhood, for in
most countries ladyhood In monoton-
ously diStt2lgue. Let us take any SUBJ
stantial provincial town In England
and compare it with a similar town,
say, in France, and what is the result?
That for one pretty face we are stroll
ing along q French street we will find
three or four in the same time in an
English street. Nay, we might go
further, and add that when we do dis
cover the pretty face in France its
charm is dispelled in most instances
when its owner opens her lips. A
hard metallic voice, such as your
average French woman, whether she
be plain or pretty, usually possesses,
soon disillusiOns those who fancy that
but sweet sounds can issue
from rosebud mouths. In Teutonic
it is true, the faces of the |
women are, perhaps, plumper and |
SnlnnInYginnG in
Latin nations But, alas, your female !
Feuton is not graceful. She is usually |
a terrible dowdy. Her feet are too Of |
ten as fiat as her face, and her car
rage is apt to be cow-liks, as indeed |
1ne must expect in women of the |
vaccine type" On the Contine1R |
in Southern Europe, when |
l fine face flashes out of the prevail |
ng gloom of dreary ugliness, it is |
generally Greek in type, showing /
hat the strain of blood associated |
with classic beauty is still family /
,raceabie in the children of the bar
1arians who Overran the Roman EN-
)ire.
There are, however, as we have
linted, certain generaIiza tious, sug-
yested by the prevalence of ugly
women in Continental Europe which
night fairly be made by the people
Who love to pry into the causes of
hings, and these come to the front
when we ask, Why should our women
n England inherit a richer dover of
beauty than women in other
ands No doubt we shall be told
Innate accounts for the mystery, tIr
azy people, like Montesquieu, always
.et out of a difficulty by invoking
he "climate" or the "peculiaEity Of
he race" Perhaps climate has a lit
lie to do with the matter. A temper
tie climate such as ours seems favor
ble to the development of beautiful
orses, and it may very likely have a
trong influence in faVoring the per-
etuation of race of handsome
7omen. But we take it that there
re social influences at work which are
ar more powerful than the weather.
which is meant not merely
leally perfect features, but a fine,
trong, comely type of physical or
such as carries with it
piritual and more graces Elost attrac-
We to men-is, as we have said, a |
eritage of Englishwomen. 1t is :
lerefore transmissible, but in one
-ay only. By the process known to !
he Darwinian as Sexual selection"
he ''fittestn survive, and in England
lie decree of popular prejudice or taste
that among women the "fittest" are
le cOmeliest. 1t is true we do not
rown all the hideous girl children
hen we find there is no chance of
leir growing into fair women. But
e practically make it certain that !
icy die out, for we object to marry
lem. An ill-favOred woman in Eng |
nd is with rare exceptions q tsocial
ilure;D and though George Elliot in S
"Adam Be6e'' tries to show that
ar hopes of matrimony arc not there : :
re blighted, her whole argument is
itiated by what very often vitiates &
asoning. compassion for unmerited t
I'd irreparable misfortune How |
.er, the great point is that in Eng l
nd, society does not, as it were, con- :
lire. 10 perpetuate race of ugly Wo- i
en-, simply because society has never r
Il been able to divest Englishmen of e
Ieir strong prejudice in favor of mar ;