Year: 1870

7


er on the top of the head than on


cheek and chin. That bald pate,


which is so much dreaded by civilized


Christians, is the sign of responsibility


and beauty in Cairo and Damascus


But it is by no means certain that the


present Oriental custom represents


the ancient custom. We have no evil


dence that Solomon, or David, or ia


cob, or Abraham, anticipated by their


voluntary act the misfortune of Cicero


and Caesar. 1t was certainly the re-


proach of Elisha the Prophet that he


was "bald head ;" has not the wick


ed mOckery Of those needless children


been improved as a solemn warning


of Divine wrath in Sunday-sehOOl adj
dresses without number? Absalom


certainly did not shave his head. No


man in all Israel so much as he was


praised for his beauty. And at the
end of every year when he polled his


hair 1t "weighed 200 sheckels of the


kings weight" What a fortune for


him, if he had lived in our time =


Samson, the hero of Philistine wars.


was strong in his hair; when his locks


were shorn, he could only play with


the women, and had no force of arm
or will. In the earliest time, the


beard more than the hair fell under


the razor, and the painters are proba-


1ly right in showing US Adam as
smooth faced as Eve by his side. But
think of Adam bald, or with a head
like the head of the American histO-
rical Adams!


A question of great interest in re-
gard to hair is of color. What was the
primitive color? What is the sacred
color? What is the best color? Did
Eve have red hair, or yellow hair, or
black hair? What was the color of
the hair of Moses? Are the painters
right in giving black hair to Judas,
while they show John and Paul with
auburn ringlets? There is probably
no good foundation for the prejudice
that red hair is specially religious, or
that the saints in light wear on their
heads the flame which torments the
wicked for ever. In spite of Raphael
and Titan, we may belive thatangels
on earth are as angelic with raven
hair as with hair of Teutonic
hue. The best color of the hair
is that which is natural, which con-
sits with temperament, constitution,
and complexion. No man can i'm
prove his hair by changing its natural
color, by dying it black or red, and
no woman adds to her beauty by al
tering the shade of her curls. A
preacher, who hides his thin light
hair under a heavy black wig and
dyes his beard, may beseech the peo-
pie never so elOquently, but his skin
betrays him they will see the lie
hidden under that wig and he will
never be thecaptain of theirsalvatiOn.
1t is no better TO preach literally un-
der false colOrs than to pretend to be
orthodox when one is heterodOX. Any
incongruity between the color of the
skin and The color of the hair is felt as
an evidence of general insineerity.-
And the effect is ludicrOus when the
Marguerite of Faust shows dark skin
under her yellow hair, or when a
swarthy Hamlet storms under flax
en- wig.


Every color for hair is beautiful, if
it is harmonious with the form and
feature which it adorns. The yellow
haired laddie" may be as handsome
as Adonis, and even the Albino may
have grace in a snowy poll. But iris
in the hair is never pleasant to the
eye. There are dyes that will leave
as their residue, the tints of a faded
rainbow, metallic shades, which are
more fit for harlequin than for de-
cent head. In the application of for
eign hair, too, the law of fitness is not
universally observed. The 'top-knot"
sometimes darkens q lighter braid
which looks out from under it. If
false hair is worn, the only apology
for the cheat is that il is a Spartan
fraud, and is done so well as to escape
detection. The ass in the lions skin
has his imitator in the travelled eXqui-
sites, who bring back from France
such wealth and variety of fancy
hairs, but withal speak French with
the American twang. Old Issac was
and under the hairy hand he /
detected the hypoeritieal tone of his 1
false son. An actor on the popular 4
boards may need various eolOred wigs
and whiskeTs, if he is to appear in all
kinds of characters, but in the ordin-
airy societies of men and women, it is
better to have one color for the head,
and that the color which Nature gave.
Gray hair is right, when the time for
il comes, be this sooner or later; it Is
right for woman as for man. The
gray curls of Mrs. Stanton add to the
charm of her matronly appeals, and
help her youthful looks more than
any metallic oxides. Why should
white be fit and bright color for the
furs which are worn in ornament, but
hateful in ones own hair?


No man certainly would grow old
before his time, and it is good fortune
when in age, the head can keep the
show of youth, provided this show is
honest and lawful, 1t is not well to
become bald or gray before years of
discretion are fairly reached. The
longer the hair can be kept on the
head the better, and the longer it can
retain its natural color the better. The
art is useful art, in
spite of the denominations which it
encourages. And to save these lucu-
Drations about hair from being desul-
.ory and pointless, we may venture to
suggest some rules in the care of the
hair, of some rules which, if followed
wisely and steadily, will supercede the
necessity of such heroic remedies as
not few are driven to try. A reas-
)neble care of the hair, which will I
consume only few minutes of every /
lay, will save much despair, much
and groaning over this lost
and protection of the no
,lest part of the body. #.a-ss.-.