Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1889-09-19
The Secret Of Beauty.

prevention of wrinkles and other
marks of age. Certain pastcs and
unguents were recommended, to be
applied daily, and the world Of wo-
men was advised that by bathing,
rubbing and other careful treatment
persovercd in from youth to old age
tho inroads of envious time might
be successfully defed.
Nobody wants to grow old, or ra-
thcr nobody desires to be burdened
with the intirmities or overshadowsd
by the unlovcliness of some kinds OF
old age. We have met old people
so wise, 80 strong, so beautiful, so
every way attractive that their jun
iors palcd beside them. Our hearts
always go ont with revercntial ten
derness to those who arc on life's
westcring slope, if they be found in
the way Of righteousness. But, be-
cause most of us cling to our pre-
sent positions in life, and arc not
yet ready to be left OH the shelf, we
want to remain young. No compli-
ment 50 wins its way, as the ready
word of assurance, spoken in hon
eyed accents, "Why / would have
known you anywhere tho years
stand still with you. You haven't
altered bit since I last met you,
and let me scc-tiiat was 1873 or
therenhont, was it not ?" After s,ieh
salutation, the average pilgrim on
New York or Chicago streets goes ON
his way with jaunticr step, a braver
heart and his intcrlocutor is en-
shrined in memory, as a most dis
Greet and agreeable parsonage.
The other person, who blurts out
an exclamation as to your having
"gonc Off in looks, being thinner,
paler, older or asking if you have
had any special trouble or illness, is
a less appreciated quantity in the
sum of your day. IIc leaves you
dissatisfied, your innocent compla-
cency disturbed, your mental bal
mcc a little upset. His cantlor is
supertluous. The mirror, and the
twingc of neuralgia that now and
then asserts itself, and tho feeling,
sometimes, that the grasshoppcr is-a
burden, are combinations enough of
the fact that you are not so young as
you used to be.
But who that is n busy house
keeper: mother with restless
brood to love and train a wife, with
her good man to keep in happy
comfort and domestic peace; a
church-mcmber, with church en-
gagements pressing; woman in so
ciety, with calls hithcr and yon; who
that has other things to do, shall
find time to cover her face with al.
mond paste or fragrant oils every
day, for the express purpose of keep
ing off wrinkles? Who that wanted
to be beautiful old woman, ever
became SO by bcstowing a large
share of her time on cosmetics and
creams? The idea, on it's face, is
manifest absurdity, and wholly OPP
posed to the conscienccs Of women
who were reprovcd when children
for over much looking in the glass;
who as children were severely cen
sured by sensible mothers, if they so
much rs mentioned the bloom Of
youth, pearl powder, or other lures
and shams, and never told to learn
the verse which says: "Favor is de-
ceitful and beauty is vain; bnt wo-
man that feareth the Lord, she shall
be praised" And, training apart,
can anything be % undignificd as
this sort of toilet care?
The secret of physical beauty is
not in external applications to the
skin. 1t is in fresh air, exercise,
cleanliness, stout shoes, good food,
few drugs, plenty of sleep, a good
conscience, and quiet mind. The
two latter arc factors quite as impor-
tant as any of the former in develop
ing the rcposc and sweetness Of cx-
preston, which imparts to faces a
quality hard to analyzc, harder still
to define, but easily recognized un-
der the name of charm. Many mid
dlc-agcd and elderly women possess
this attribute in so large measure,
that their very look is a bcncdiction,
and we come from their presence
helped and chcercd, when, perhaps,
very little has been said. They have
simply beamcd upon us, and their
sunshine has had its mcllow;ug ef-
feet. Worry is a great producer of
wrinkles, the most mastery workman
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