Beauty: Illustrated Chiefly by an Analysis and Classification of Beauty in WomanWalker, Alexander
Philosophy
Beauty: Illustrated Chiefly by an Analysis and Classification of Beauty in Woman
Walker, Alexander
Beauty, Personal; Women
"Novelty will also occasion sorrow; as, when a man has been accustomed to
independence, and the comforts which wealth, judiciously managed, may
produce, and his riches are suddenly swept away, he is reduced from
affluence to dependance, from comforts to privations. And when a person
has been used to the society of pleasant friends, and these are removed by
the hand of death, and the clay-cold body alone remains as the
representative of a cheerful and amiable companion, the novelty of this
event will occasion heartfelt sorrow.
"When those who have been accustomed to associate as faithful friends; or,
when a monarch has been surrounded by persons who have pretended feelings
of attachment, and evinced much hypocritical fidelity, and, all at once,
the veil of deception has been drawn aside, and an aspect has presented
itself of a new and treacherous kind, how powerful have been the feelings
of abhorrence and anger!
"And when a person, who has been nurtured in the lap of ease and comfort,
and blessed with that best of all blessings (if it be rightly managed),
the gift of liberty, is torn from his home, and his family, and his
engagements, and carried into a land of slavery, where he is laden with
oppressive chains, and insulted by a cruel task-master, with no chance of
freedom, nor any ray of happiness, how will his spirits sink, and how will
the haggard lineaments of despair be drawn on that countenance which was
formed for cheerfulness! Or, suppose a person who was accustomed to a
dwelling in some verdant valley, undisturbed by storms or the hazards of
the sea; and he was introduced, for the first time, to some of the most
aggravated dangers of that boisterous element. Suppose the winds were
driving furiously over the ocean, and the huge billows were breaking on
the helpless bark, while the darkness of the night was varied only by the
gleam of the lightning, which exhibited breakers, and rocks, and
over-hanging precipices, how would this new and dangerous condition
agitate his mind, and drive him to despair!
"Novelty influences the customs or habits of mankind. On some occasions
novel engagements are pleasing; and thus we practise them again, and
acquire a habit of performing them. For instance, the citizen who has
walked into the country as a novelty, has been pleased with his ramble,
and induced to practise it daily. It sometimes occasions a progress in the
arts; and thus the first attempts at music, at painting, and at sculpture,
have produced a pleasure which has stimulated the person to future and
continued labors.
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.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account