It must be admitted, by the way, that there are more decidedly _good_
noses among women than among men. The latter are aquiline, Roman,
parrot, pug, snub, thick, thin, long, short, peaked, bottle--some with a
bump in the middle, some with a cleft, or fissure, and some with a
button, or knob, at the end, like that on a man-of-war's boat-hook. In
short, to describe all the various kinds of noses masculine, it would be
necessary for philologians to create a new batch of adjectives, as the
king of England does occasionally of peers.
I have already said, or meant to be understood to say, that Miss
Effingham was somewhat inclined to _embonpoint_. I do not pretend to
know the reason of this: perhaps leanness and emaciation were not
considered _genteel_ when she happened to be educated, as they are
unfortunately by too many of my fair countrywomen; perhaps she never
thought much about it; for I have always observed that very beautiful
women, who prefer revolving in the quiet circle of domestic happiness
and usefulness, are seldom or never very anxiously solicitous about
their beauty; and the consequence is, that they _are_ more beautiful,
and stand the attacks of time far better, than those who choose a life
of fashionable display, and court public admiration. Ladies may lace
tight, eat pickles, and drink vinegar, to make them genteel; but it is
free exercise in the open air, and simplicity of diet, provided it is
nutritious, that confer gentility and grace, and preserve beauty. Will
any man, married or single, and in the possession of his senses, say
that he likes the looks of a horse whose ribs are visible and
_countable_ at half a mile's distance? I am confident the answer will
be, no.
Still there is a wonderful resemblance between a lean woman and a lean
horse, in more points than one; the lady does not, indeed, go upon all
fours, but I can never see a very _genteel_ female, laced into the shape
of an hour-glass, without wishing, from the bottom of my heart, that she
had an extra pair of le--ahem!--ancles, to support her feeble and
tottering frame.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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