Aims and Aids for Girls and Young Women: On the Various Duties of Life, Physical, Intellectual, And; Moral Development; Self-Culture, Improvement, Dress, Beauty,; Fashion, Employment, Education, The Home Relations, Their; Duties To Young Men, Marriage, Womanhood And Happiness.Weaver, G. S. (George Sumner)
Science
Aims and Aids for Girls and Young Women: On the Various Duties of Life, Physical, Intellectual, And; Moral Development; Self-Culture, Improvement, Dress, Beauty,; Fashion, Employment, Education, The Home Relations, Their; Duties To Young Men, Marriage, Womanhood And Happiness.
Weaver, G. S. (George Sumner)
Conduct of life; Young women
Beauty is two-fold. It is inward and outward. We have been speaking of
outward Beauty. We would now dwell upon inward Beauty--Beauty of spirit,
soul, mind, heart, life. There is a Beauty which perishes not. It is
such as the angels wear. It forms the whitewashed robes of the saints.
It wreathes the countenance of every doer of good. It adorns every
_honest_ face. It shines in the _virtuous_ life. It molds the hands of
_charity_. It sweetens the voice of sympathy. It sparkles on the brow of
wisdom. It flashes in the eye of love. It breathes in the spirit of
piety. It is the Beauty of the heaven of heavens--the Beauty of God and
his Son--the Beauty of "eternal life," "incorruptible, undefiled, and
that fadeth not away." It is not a meteor flashing to deceive; not a
glow-worm, shining to fade; not a glitter, leading to bewilder; not a
charm, working to tempt. No. It is positive, real, lovely, delightful,
glorious, and eternal. It is the life of goodness, the spirit of love,
the brilliance of virtue. It is that which may grow by the hand of
culture in every human soul. It is the flower of the spirit which
blossoms on the tree of life. Every soul may plant and nurture it in its
own garden, in its own Eden. It is Eden renewed--Paradise regained.
Every one may have an Eden--a garden of Eden in his own soul. That is
where the first garden was. It is where the second must be. And that
second when complete will be heaven. This is the capacity for Beauty
that God has given to the human soul, and this the Beauty placed within
the reach of us all. We may all be beautiful. Though our forms may be
uncomely and our features not the prettiest, our spirits may be
beautiful. And this inward beauty always shines through. A beautiful
heart will flash out in the eye. A lovely soul will glow in the face. A
sweet spirit will tune the voice and wreathe the countenance in charms.
Oh, there is a power in interior Beauty that melts the hardest hearts! I
see it in a mother's love; I see it in a sister's tenderness; I see it
in the widow's mite of charity; in the wife's bosom of burning
truthfulness; in the devotion of the saint; in the strong purpose, the
noble resolve, the dauntless ambition for good. I see it in the
affectionate home, the congenial companionship, in the trusting heart of
friendship, and most of all in the Christian spirit and life. How this
beauty wins us, charms us, ravishes our souls. Our hardness all melts
before it. Could Washington come here, and we all stand up in his
presence, how we should forget the Beauty or ugliness of our forms, and
all be moved by the grand and eternal Beauty of his spirit! Could
Josephine, the empress of the French, stand in our presence, how the
plumes of our vanity would come down and the lightness of our frivolity
depart before the charms of her wisdom and virtue! Could the matchless
Mrs. Hemans rise before us in her peerless Beauty of soul, how little
should we prize the fleeting Beauty of these mortal bodies, and how
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account