Year: 1873

BEAUTY.


The subject presented for your con-
sideration is sineXhausible, being one,
from whose unfliling fount the igno-
rant and wise alike may drink the
precious draught of knowledge. BY
the consideration of the beauty of the
| universe. let us direct our minds to the
contemplation of all that is high, or
deserving the attention Of man.


We are all cOgniZant of two worlds.
peopled existencies and orders of in
telligence, all arrayed in the beauty
with which the hand of God has cloth
ed them. Our object, then, is to con-
template these various objects as to
their beauty, and, briefly to glance at
the common and distinctive features
of the beauty of each. ..--..


The first form of beauty that we OBJ
serve is inanimate. The effect of this
property of inanimate creation on the
the soul of man is to melt it to tender
ness, to awaken the softer emotions OF
our natures. lnanimate beauty gives,
too, an elevation to the feelings and a
sad, mournful strain of forgotten
like harmony peals forth in the deep
iNNCSSSS vi Tie llcdIl. Al the quiet
hour Of sunset, the tinting of tile float
ing clouds and the shadows on forest
aud field are beautiful. At night, the
ebony Ofheaven pierced by the watch
fires of eternity is beautiful, deeply,
sublimely beautiful. Not only are the
beauties of the inanimate world mani
fest in the mingling of its objects, but
we find, on closer inspection, that in
dlvidual creations are possessed OF this
taliSman to the soul of man. The
glittering drOp,as we'll as the rainbow,
affects us with the sensation of beauty;
though, in the one, its sphere is cir
cumScribed in the other, it possesses
a wider range, and he has more pow
erfuL effect upon the spire. But should
we pause to tell the thousand guises of
beauty? Ah! where would end the
enumeration of brilliant hucS and
cleaning forms of order and symme-
try, of all that touches the soul and pu-
rifles the mind? The forms of beau
ty,are as numerous as the shapes and
likeneSSeS in which the Creator has
moulded matter. The uLh this is true,
we ask a. Is there nothing that diStin-
guiShes the degree of beauty?n Per-
chance there is, for in all that is called
beautiful, we see that nature constant
Is apprOXimates a living ideal. When
the forest is still, it is not beautiful as
when the boughs gently sway 10 the
brceZeS and when the ocean tOSSes be-
meath the hurricane, the soul of man
is even panied at the awful intensity
of beauty. The rose is beautiful, but
when you inhale its fragrance, and it
seems to speak to you in 4 mystic
voice. its beauty is greater and il is
tenfUld dearer. 1t WAS not ignorance,
but the artistic spirit of Greece shat
gave to every fountain its nymph, to
every grove its satyrs and fauns, and
to every postern its geni, that with
pencil of light, sketched on every del
ieate flower the tracery of Heaven.


When we come to animate beauty,
we seem 10 be in a new world, rs in
deed we are. Behold the various
grades of life, from the zoophyte upon
his ocean covered rock, TO man with
his dover of imperial, imperisbable
beauty; and again, tell me does not
the scale of beauty ascend from the
mere animate to the spirit-endowed
creation? 1t does, and i'm each grada-
ton, we see that to admire in proper
ton to its approximation to the high
est of this class, that in which
unite the mere inanimate and the spir-
it endowed creation. In man, the
highest physical development is uni
ted to that which is found nowhere
else-I refer to the soul. Art may
cause the stone to portray the mere
physical eXcelleneies, but Art must he
content to bound her triumphs here.
She may imprint the signet of thought
upon the brow and fashion every limb
with exquisite skill, but ever, she will
want the beauty of life-within that
distinguishes the man from the statue.
To illustrate the true beauty, its depth
and power, inherent in the mind, let
us compare the work of the lapidary
and that of the poet. Most fitly may
these illustrate the difference between
material & psychical beauty. since the
one works with matter, while the 9TH
er bestows his toll upon thought
The one can cause the mind attuned
to the exercise to wander in the fields
of the ViewlesS but beautiful world;
the other can take captive the toll
worn, care-frayed mind can lull it to
rest, and call to its view visionary re-
alitics, that at other moments we but
vaguely suppose to exist. The one
conducts to that which is inferior TO
US, the other opens To view the maies-
ty of the soul, the greatness of action,
the nobleness of being. and the glory
of the morally beautiful. When we
reflect that one is encumbered with
the gross and earthy, and that the 9TH
er is freer than the winds OF heaven,
what wonder that, on the wings of
song. we would voyage out till in
Him, who is All in all. j" we discov-
er the perfection of beauty till we
trace the signs of his presence in the
dead leaf of autumn, and recognize his
beauty as to be revealed in the great
hereafter. Indeed the kingdom of
God is beautiful but all is but the out
cropping of Divinity from the vesture
OF creation.


Then, o man. headstone of the |
nearest likeness of the eter-
nal in thy extern9l form we acknowl- |
edge symmetry, design, unity, and di- |
versity in thy mind we see the beau |
tiful; but in thy moral nature do we |
behold most to admire, for in it we |
recognize the mirror of Divinity. o, |
beware lest, having its purity. this /
glass reflect but a distorted image in |
stead of the fair and radiant likeness |
of Him in whom dwelleth all beauty


ALPHIERE.
Emory Banner.