The record-union., 1893-02-09
FRAGRANCE And FORM.
Is Manner an Index of the Spirit?-.
Power Of Agreeableness.
Amber's Sermon to Young Girls Who
Are Disposed to Mistake the Shad-
secuted for Opinions Sake.

| 1 wonder if the fragrance of rose
would be as delicious 2s it is if the censer
whence it cmanates were less lovely; if,
instead of dawn-tinted petals fine and
soft as silk, the roses cup were made of
the stiff, unyielding substance of the
/ burr, or colored with the neutral hues OF
the cone. With suchia wonderful buzz
ing about in my brain, like a bee in a
hollyhock, 1 am suddenly confronted
with the memory of mignonette bed
that hourished last summer in my gar
den. Not a. single touch of color, not a
line Of grace TO redeem it from positive
plainness, and yet, ye gods! can one ever
forget the sweetness of that garden bed?
How the dews stepped honey out of it,
and the summer showers lent it the fresh
ness OF paradise! How the bees loved it,
and the butterflies came from far and
| near to find it, How the long, slow sum-
mer days brooded above it, and the pur-
pie twilights toyed with it's spicy spirals,
shaking out the perfumes of Araby upon
the enchanted air! Without the beauty
OF the roses the unpretentious, dingy
| pIoom OF the mignonette appeals to the
heart as no scentless flower, however
| lovely, has ever dared to do?
1ou may lncIose spray of orange bios
SONS in box and send it to the ends of
the earth. and when its wrappings are re-
moved, although the flower is withered
ana dead, behold a perfume that fills the
air like spirit voice! Who thinks then
OF the unsightly and withered petals, or
OF the vanished beauty of the flower that
| was once so tair to look upon? But pack
the tairest camellia bud that ever lighted
a summer dusk with its stainless glow
| and send it with message the wide world
over. and when the box is opened what
have you? Simply a dead ilower, and
your message finds no utterance.
MANNER AND LOOKS.
So you see it is the spirit that yields the
only charm that endures in flowers. And
what is true of roses is doubly true of
girls. Mere graceful outline and splen-
did coloring are of small account if there
| be no sweetness in the heart.
"Oho! for the little grandmother and
her chestnut" hear some say, and the
| shadowy corners OF the room are full of
wagging heads. Well, you may laugh at
| the old-fashioned sermon, girls, but let
me tell you right now that beauty with
out sweet manners and good heart is of
less account than empty larders and
| frames without pictures. Fops and
featherheads may look to your gowns
and your faces as criterionS by which to
| judge of your worth, but tops and feath-
| erheads are worse than honey bees that
desert the fading rOSe-their companion
ship is limited TO sunshine and summer
weather, and God knows it is not al
ways June either in flower gardens or in
life.
If. when we are through talking to-
gether to-day, you still tell me that you
would choose an ever so perfect camellia
to the dusty plume of lilac by a wayside
fence the hnDnalV fa IN, IL
garden, all ask is that I may die quick!
For l don't care to go on living when l
have lost my power to argue down osten-
tation and pretension.
There is, and has been for many an un-
counted year, a false system in the world
whereby mothers and fathers rear their
children. To begin with the two-year-
old baby. How is it instructed in the
mysterious code of good behavior? The
nurse, or the mother, seeks first and fore
most to regulate its development along
the line of conventionality.
''SIt up, darling! What will the lady
think?''
Eat with your fork, pet. aWhat will
folks say?"
Turn out your little toes, dear; the
boys and girls will laugh if you don't.'
All the way up to manhood and woman
hood the little one is taught to do as 9TH
ers do; to have no mind or individuality
of its own, but to walk, act, think, eat
and do as other folks do, to keen stem
with the great alike" and never dare
to take run, do a thing, think thought
or speak word that can come under the
dread ban of unconventionality.
y young girl is moved to speak a kind
ly word to a stranger or to Inconvenience
herself to do service to a shabby way
tarer. Up goes old Dame Grundy's hands
in horror.
''What! go out of your way, my child.
| to show that old woman a street or carry
an old mans basket, or help a tired
mother get her children over a crowded
crossing! Why, the very idea is an alb
surdity. Such line OF conduct would
lead people to think you queer. and far
better be dead than that, in the estima-
ton of vanity fair, where your life booth
is stationed.p
WHAT THE WORLD CANNOT FORGIVE.
The world will forgive anything sooner
than individuality. Impurity NAV be
condoned and ingratitude pardoued, but
mind of your own and the courage to
stand by your principles are worse
than prison stripes and brand on the
forehead.
Standing at the threshold of her first
party, the question of the low bodice con-
fronts the young girl. and she intuitively
shrinks from the ordeal. | don't believe
there was ever yet true, womanlv girl
who liked to bare her shoulders to the
public gaze. But it takes only little
ridicule, little urging and little fiat
| terry to change the nature that God started
as a rose into the scentless. dewless.
| blushless shred of artificial perfection
! typifed by the society girl OF modern
times. Such girl is no more to be COM
pared in her final development to the
original intention than the chrome of n
tiger lily to any blessed mignonette bud
OF 1872!
Then, again, my dears, if you would be
beautiful with the beauty that strikes root
in paradise and will finish blooming some
day in heaven, be natural. Be true to
something within you, higher than the
worldly-wise mandate of policy. If it is
your natural impulse to be honest of
speech and quick to resent an injustice: if
you loathe trickery and abominate cum
ming, don't hesitate TO let your tongue
voice your feelings. 1t may not be wise
and it may not be polite, but it is honest,
and honesty is rare and radiant jewel,
which one may be proud to wear in the
face of all men. 1t does not always lead
to popularity, and it sometimes means
defeat, but there are better things in the
sight of heaven than either popularity or
success.
Ii it is your natural impulse TO be svm-
pathetic and kind and on the alert, as it
were, to tighten up burdens and dry
away tears, let no code of conventional
behavior restrain you. Succor the help
less, defend the weak, lend a helping
hand to the stumbling, even if you have
to forego some of life's so-called pleasures
to do so. The peace and comfort of a dy-
ing bed will never be hIndered by mem
ory of what we have done in the world to
stem the awful tide of human sorrow.
Grow for God and not for the world.
Wear your beauty in your heart rather
than in your gown.
rpbara IL NOTHING that will SO oIso1,to1,-