Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1882-06-14


aim should be to please.
"And let me tell you how that is to be DONE"
Sophia said, putting her paper down for q
moment GA woman can please the eye by her
appearance, her dress, her face and her figure
She cas please the ear by studying the art Of
graceful elocutiOn, not hard to any OF u.s. for by
nature we speak with finer articulation than
you. She can please the mind by cultivating
her own-so far, at least, as to make her good
listener; and as much further as she will she can
please the fancy by ladies' wit, of which all Of
US have share. She can please the heart by
amiability. See here" she continued, growing
graver, you have the key Of my system.
Beauty Of person is only one feature Of true
beauty. Run over these qualities. See how
small part personal beauty or the freshness of
youth plays here. l want you to observe this:
for my art would consist not in making women
attractive who are openly pretty and young, but
In showing them that youth and prettiness,
though articles Of beauty, are neither the only
nor the Indispensable articles"
''Rule TwO.-MOdesty is the ground on which
all woman's charms appear to the best
advantage. In manners. Dress conversation,
remember always that mOdesty must never be
forgotten"
Hardly likely to be-" murmured els it ?"
understand me-" answered Sophia briskly.
81 mean mOdesty in q very extended sense.
There Is nowadays q tendency in women to
rebel against Old-fashiOned mOdesty. The doc
thank Cod" Sophia said (she was the oldest
little mixture of tory and wing and radical ever
compounded on this eccentric earth.) '.But the
first effects of that doctrine on our minds are
little confusing. We are growing more indie
pendent and more individual. Some of us fancy
that to be modest is to be Old-fashioned and of
course We want the newest fashion in all things.
l maintain" said Sophia, growing little warm,
as If she fancied might argue back-"I main
tain that modest woman is the reply of my sex
Tn hpny lyrDov,
woman without modesty than true man with
out courage. But remember, l use the word
mOdesty i'm high sense"
Just what was going to ask" said.
Not prudery," she added. "Prudery is to
mOdesty what brag is to bravery. Prudery is on
the surface; mOdesty is in the soul. Rosalind in
her boys suit is delightfully."- modest, but not"
Sophia said with twinkle of her eye-'nOt
very prudish, is she?'
l assented, and thus made way for
"Rule Three.-Always dress up to your age or
little beyond it. Let your person be the young
est thing about you, not the Oldest"
'Rule FOur.-Remember that what women
admire in themselves is seldom what men adj
mire in them"
sin nine drawing-rooms out of ten" Sophia
said, seeing me give look of inquiry as she
read this article, miranda or COrdelia, as novel
herOines, would be voted bores. Women would
say, We utterly decline to accept these watery
girls as typical OF US; we want smartness and
COrdelia myself. Now this seems to me to eau
ton us against trusting too implicitly or too far
our own notions about ourselves. Another
source Of misunderstanding comes from the
nOve-writers. We are the nOvel-readers, and
the novelist is forced to write herOines to suit
our taste. He does not want to offend us. Thus
1T comes about that even the male novelist is too
often only depicting wOmen's women, after ALL
And l believe scores of modern girls are
seriously misled for this very reason. They be-
1nx,o sd:
them, when in truth they are reading their own
notions handed back to them under pretty dis
guise.
"Rule Five.-women's beauties are seldom
mems beauties
(which" she remarked, els another form OF
what said just now, only here speak of per-
sOnal beauty. My observation is, that If ten
men and ten women were to 60 into the same
company, and each sex choose the prettiest
woman there, they thought you would
rarely find that they choose the same. II this
be SO, we ought not to trust ourselves even as
to our faces without considering that the sex
We are to please must in the end settle the
question, and will settle the question in its own
way.
"Rule Six-Gayety tempered by seriousness
is the happiest manner in society.
"By which l mean," Sophia said, looking at
me with knitted brOws. as if she were about to
explain some matter not altogether clear to her.
self that in all our gayety there ought to be a
hint of self-recOllectiOn. Do you understand
me?"
mot quite" 1 said.
''This know certainly" she replied; "the
most agreeable women have met with-and
think the most regarded-have been women Of
rank who have been trained with due regard
for religion. Their worldly education had made
them mindful Of grace and liveness; their re-
ligIOus education kept these qualities under
particular sort of control, which is perceptibly
different from mere good breeding. 1t seems to
klxok-
enhanced by a vein Of seriousness. Certainly
no woman ought to be mocker.
"Next." she continued, seeing I did not
speak, comes
"Rule Seven.-Always speak low.
81 wonder why put that down. 1t is 80
obvious. In support Of it need only quote
your Shakespeare, who calls it an excellent
thing In woman
"Rule Eight.-A plain woman can never be
pretty. She can always be fascinating ii she
takes pains.
IL well remember" Sophia said after reading
this, to me, rather questionable assertion. "a
man who was great admirer of our sex telling
| me that one Of the most fascinating women he
had ever known was not only not pretty but as
| to her face decidedly plain-ugly. only the word
is rude. | asked my friend, How then. did she
fascinate?' / well remember his reply. Her
| figure, said he, was neat, her dressing was
faultless, her every movement was graceful,
her conversation was clever and animated, and
| sHc always tFlcl 10 pledSc IL was not alone
who called her fascinating; she was one of the
| most acceptable women in society ever knew.
She married brilliantly, and her husband. bar
| rister in large practice, was devoted to her
more than if she had been queen of Beauties
"NOw here" Sophia continued, resuming her
| own 'discourse-'here was a woman who, ex-
cepting fairly neat figure, had not single
natural gift Of appearance. Is not this worth
our thinking abOut-thOse of us women who
care to. please and are not beauties born?
"Rule Nine.-Every year woman lives the
more pains she should take with her dress.
''The dress Of us elderly dames," Sophia said.
laughing, fought to be more of a science than
| 1t is. How often one hears a woman Of fifty
say. %, my dressing days are past!' When"
adds Sophia, 'if she thought about it, they
have only well begun. At least, the time has
come when dress is more to her than ever. Re-
member, from forty to sixty-fve is a quarter of
a century-the third of long life. 1t is pc
riod through which majority of grown-up peo-
| pie pass And yet how little pains women take
how little thought beforehand-to be charm
ing then!
"And now" she went on seeing did not
speak, 'here comes my last rule-as yet:
"Rule TENN ali things let woman ask
what will please the men of sense before she
asks what will please the men of fashion.
81 by no means intend" she added, shat q
T. - h-~x> l. - IL 4