BEAUTY.

"Give me a look, give me a face
That makes simplicity a grace;
Robes loosely flowing, hair as free:
Such sweet neglect more taketh me
Than all the adulteries of art

Which strike the eye, but not the heart."

-BEN JONSON.

"What is beauty? Not the show

Of shapely limbs and features. No;

These are but flowers

That have their stated hours

To breathe their momentary sweetness, then go. 'Tis the stainless soul within

That outshines the fairest skin."

EAUTY in man or woman, but especially in the latter, is a power and a possession not to be despised. It contributes an important quota to the sum of human hap

piness. It is a positive blessing, when not abused. If women could but look into the hearts of men they would discover that much. of the dissatisfaction with wives, much of the absence from them of husbands, much of the disagreeable in the home, results from indifference to their personal appearance. Many ladies, after the heyday

of youth is passed, seem to make no effort to set off their charms to the best advantage, save as they occasionally spur to some extraordinary display. Often domestic duties, maternity, and its cares,-always a trial to the nerves, strength, and ambition,-exclude them more or less from society until they lose all interest, and become indifferent to its demands. This is followed by inattention to the person. Even dress is neglected, and the deportment loses the queenly grace and gentleness so essential to lady-like bearing.

Others seem to have aimed only to secure a husband. At their wedding receptions, and earlier at their homes, they exhibit rare taste and culture, are exquisite in make-up and brilliant in conversation, but with the wane of the honeymoon they relapse into indifference, indolence, and ennui, as if their lives had been strained to such tension in the effort to catch a husband, that the cord was all but ready to snap when they won the prize, and now the inevitable reaction seems to follow. They are nearly always en neglige in the presence of their husbands; lose all zest for society, or on the other hand exhaust their energies to appear fascinating in company, reserving nothing better for husband and home than languid indifference.

Others, still, appear to believe personal attractiveness, elaboration in dress, and gracious manners are for those particularly whose future is dependent upon their charms-the young and gay; that polish and feminine graces, like perfumes and gems, must be reserved for the circles of the beau monde; that the brush and chisel of time should be allowed to color and hack at pleasure; that the arts de toilette are a

vulgar deception, and all attempts to make themselves beautiful at home, are but waste of time.

Beauty in woman must ever be cultivated; by it she endears herself to her husband, and is admired by the world; without it, though she may have been the idol of a husband's love for years, and the mother of his children, she may drive him to seek it elsewhere. It is impossible to make home happy while abandoning all the little amenities that come of culture, ignoring courtesy, dignity and elegance in the family circle, and putting on those refinements with the dress for social occasions; in other words, having two sets of manners, one for home, and one for society.

To a certain degree, it is a laudable ambition in woman to wish to be attractive. As God made her fair and comely in person, so she should seek to preserve her charms as long as is consistent with due attention to higher duties and aims. All the noted beauties of any age have striven hard to preserve their loveliness. Diana of Poictiers devoted herself assiduously all her life to the arts of the toilet and the methods which assisted nature, looking especially to health, and was as charming at sixty as many at thirty. Ninon de l'Enclos was also celebrated for almost fadeless beauty, so preserving her beauty of contour and freshness of complexion to extreme old age that many believed she had discovered the secret of perpetual youth. Mary, Queen of Scots, whose beauty was conspicuous in its effects upon history, never amid the shifting and tumultuous scenes about her, neglected the details that lent the most brilliant effects to her beauty. Margaret of Anjou was no less devoted to the preservation of her personal charms.