The clarion. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1883-1888, 1886-06-30

you knew-did you notl-that one to whom
you often voGchSafed those gracious inter-
views, in al honor loved you with a morn
than boyiSh lovel OF what did we not talk
Literature, music, pictures, history. gossip
now and then, but somehow one always went
away from that drawing room with a more
cheerful heart, with nobler views and homes
& human life, with a touch of refinement
caught from Sophia. And lovers Sophia
had more than me, as be shall see who reads
on TO the now nearing close.
One morning-yyen l remember it--as
Sophia and myself sat thus alone, Percival
being occupied with fossil. drew from my
pocket that little paper of Beauty Rules, OF
which l told you some time ago, saying that
I should ike her 20 explain these axioms 70
me. She was sitting in low chair, and had
q work-baSket beside her with which she
kept up kind of telegraphic connection in
the shape of thread which Travelled slowly
from the basket to herself, as her fingers
worked out some mystery in wool
~Hand me the paper, she said, laying her
needles and work down. Il viii read them to
you, and explain
But here Sophia was seized with a ut of
laughing, greatly tickled, it seemed, TO find
herself lecturing on beauty TO me
Il never showed these to any one except
yourself, she remarked. when her mirth was
ended And never meant to show them TO
any one at all l daresay YOU viii think
them great rubbish.
And 50 she began with a comic preface,
which was not on the paper at all:
Beauty Rules by Sophia Brent. am
elderly lady, who ought to be thinking of
other things
%ie',le oRe.-A wonsans power in the
world is measured by her power to please.
Whatever she may wish 20 accomplish she
will best manage it by pleasing. a wo-
mans grand social aim should be to please
@And let me tell YOU how that is to be
done, Sophia said, putting her paper down
for moment a woman can please the eve
by her appearance, her dress, her face and
her figure. She can please the ear by study
ing the art of graceful elocution, not hard to
any of us, 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 win she can please the
fancy by ladies Wit, Of which all of US have
a share. She can please the heart by ami
ability. 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 arti-
clesn
In that case" | remarked you win
hardly illustrate your system in pc rson.
To this she Xortpbsafa1 s,,1fla and
courtesy, and read:
"Rule eo,-Modesty is the ground on
which all woman's charms appear to the
best advantage. In manners, dress, conver-
sation, remember always that modesty must
never be forgotten.
Hardly likely to be-" murmured. rs it,"
Understand me, answered Sophia briskly,
81 mean modesty in a very extended sense
There is nowadays tendency i'll women to
rebel against oldfashioned modesty. The
doctrine of liberty is spreading among us, for
which thank God, " Sophia said tshe was the
oldest little mixture of Tory and Whig and
Radical ever compounded ON this eccentric
earth. @But the first effects of that doctrine
our minds are a little confusing We are
growing more independent and more individ-
ual. Some of us fancy that to be modest is to
be old fashioned, and, of course, we want the
newest fashions in all things. | maintain -
Sophia said growing little warm, as if she
fancied might argue back-"I maintain that
a modest woman is the reply of my sex to a
brave man-you can no more have a true
woman without modesty than true man
without courage. But remember, use the
word modesty in a high sense"
Just what | was going to ask" 1 said.
Not prudery,n she added "Prudery is
70 bot ia To b-o
derry is on the surface modesty is in the
soul Rosalind in her boys suit is delight
fully modest, but not" Sophia said with a
twinkle of her eye" not very prudish, is
shes"
[ assented, and thus made way for
"RuIe Three-So the woman's aim is to
please, and modesty is the first principle in
the art of pleasing.
Have you anything to say to that'" she
demanded.
Not a syllable, = 1 replied. 81 play dis
ciple this morning"
''very weI,' She rejoined. I'VE come,
then, To-
''RuIe Four.-Always dress up to your
age or a little beyond it. Let your person
be the youngest thing about you, not the
Oldest
"a very important lesson for women of
forty" Sophia remarked, speaking with a
seriousness which amused me- - The at
tempt to dress for young almost invariably
leads to a reaction in the spectators mind,
and the traces of years become more pail
pable and more significant But slight and
graceful assumption of years in ones dress
has an effect directly opposite May this
rule pass"
/ bowed, and she went on:
@Ruie Fire. Remember that what women
admire in themselves is seldom what men ad-
mire in them.
'In 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 wouad be voted bores. Women
would say: We utterly decline TO accept
these watery girls as typical OF us; we want
smartness and life l don't really care much
for Miranda or Cordelia myself Now, this
seems to me to caution US against trusting
too implicitly or too far our own notions
about ourselves. Another source of misun-
derstanding comes from the novel 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 it comes
about that even the male novelist is too often
only depicting women's women, after all.
And | believe scores Of modern girls are
seriously misled for this very reason. They
believe they are finding out what men think
of them, when in truth they are reading
their own notions handed back 20 them under
a pretty disguise"
Like the cheap wine," l ventured to OBJ
serve, made in England, exported to a
foreign country to be blessed, and then re
turned as fine old sherry-highly finished
wine. :"
Sophia laughed with me at this, and read
on:
@Rlie Sir.-womens beauties are seldom
mems beauties
(which she remarked, "is another form
of what 1 said just now, only here ] speak of
personal beauty. My observation is, that if
ten men and ten women were TO go into the
same company, and each sex choose the pret-
tiest woman there, as they thought, you
would rarely find that they chose the same
If 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 set
tie the question, and viii settle the question
in its own way.
HRule Sesen.-Gayety tempered by serious
ness is the happiest manner IN society.
aBy which mean,n Sophia said, looking at
me with knitted brows, as if she were about
TO explain some matter not altogether clear
to herself, @that in all our gayety there ought
to be hint of self-reeollection. Do You I'M
derstand me n
aNot quite / said.
aThis know certainly she replied; athe
most agreeable women I have met witf-and