The Montgomery advertiser., 1903-10-11
Montgomery by Co.,

athletic prodigies where the nation would fain see healthy wives ana mothers. It fs good to behold the strong and vigor- ous frames, the rosy cheeks, the grace rul step. the superb and stately figures which have become common among us since this age of exercise so happily dawned. but no one wishes to observe too many of sucn devotees of the gymnasium as are described to us in the subjoined passage from the pen of lady of long experience: I am aware that some have done well at high jumping and in mems athletics, but they are rare exceptions which prove tne rule. They spoil their carriage and department, develop muscle at the expense of gracefulness, give an
 unnatural forward inclination to the head, and, above all, strained tense express sion to the face. You can see tnls for yourself In any gymnasia frequented by ladies, and much the same description applies to most violent exercises per-
 formed by girls and women
 A too ardent passion for exercise tends
 to unsex young woman, the true ideal
 being that she should develop and bring
 to their best uses those special points
 which make her womanhood perfect The
 Greeks. who were masters on this sub.
 1ect, never allowed their women to cross
 the line which separates the glory and the
 beauty of Artomis or Of Pallas from the
 massive dignity of hero or a god. In
 their best statues, and almost nowhere
 else, can be observed to what splendid
 perfection nature can bring her archetype
 of lovely line and form, tue happy female
 soul inhabiting the faultless female body
 The legend Is that in order to execute his
 greatest work-the image of Pallas
 Athene for the Acropolis-the sculptor Phi
 dias selected their several charms from fifteen of the most beautiful maidens in A hfo
 what woman may be, so rare Is it that they do full justice to the building of that palace of flesh with which nature ever strives to endow them. Shall I be
 thought too bold or accused of patriotism
 more complimentary than sincere if ven-
 ture to express the opinion that the re- | nowned artist of antique Hellas might
 have found in Great Britain that which he sought, and without taking nearly so
 much trouble?" Beauty and Grace. "Yet, in sober truth and with no want or respect to ancestors, 1t will hardly be l denied by any good observer that the | rising generation of womanhood does dis play an extraordinary advance in comeli-
 ness, grace of carriage and healthy deve- | opment of the physical side of life beyond that of past generations. Those same high authorities, the ancient Greeks, val ued feminine beauty not merely for it's
 own sake, but because of the harmonius | adaptation of body to soul of which it was the outward and visible sign. If the pagan world could so honor and revere | mere human beauty, there is more than ever reason in a Christian country like | this, and with better and higher knowl- edge, to estimate, as it deserves. the dig nifty of the body and the duty of educat- ing 1t to be the obedient and willing in-
 strument of the spirit Everybody has heard that solemn text. What, know ye not that your bodies are temples of the | living God! It seems far, perhaps, to | contemplate such a height from the low ground if a few casual observations upon | the modern culture of hygiene: but the | road is straight and plain between, and there will be more and more of right liv- | ing and lofty thinking we multiply the number of those who understand and | practice the reasonable use and instruc- tion of the body.'