BEAUTY.

God a Lover of Beauty--Every thing in the Universe Beautiful--The

Admirer of Beauty should Reverence its Author--The Love of Beauty

elevating in its Tendency--Its Abuses Fearful--Man a Part of Nature,

and God in all--Woman the most Perfect Type of Beauty--Youthful

Woman exposed to great Temptation--Beauty a Charming, but Dangerous

Gift--The most Beautiful should be the most Pious--Beauty of Person

Worthless without Loveliness of Character--"Strong-minded" Women not

Beautiful--Beauty the Nurse of Vanity--Value of Character

depreciates with Increase of Beauty when substituted for Moral

Worth--Beauty only Skin-deep--Beauty Two-fold: Inward and

Outward--Inward Beauty shines through--Beauty of Soul made

Washington, Josephine, and Channing glorious--Every Woman may be

Beautiful--Cheerfulness, Agreeable Manners, a Correct Taste, and

Kindness should be Cultivated.

We doubt not that God is a lover of Beauty. We speak reverently. He

fashioned the worlds in Beauty, when there was no eye to behold them but

his own. All along the wild old forest he has carved the forms of

Beauty. Every cliff, and mountain, and tree is a statue of Beauty. Every

leaf, and stem, and vine, and flower is a form of Beauty. Every hill,

and dale, and landscape is a picture of Beauty. Every cloud, and

mist-wreath, and vapor-vail is a shadowy reflection of Beauty. Every

spring and rivulet, lakelet, river, and ocean, is a glassy mirror of

Beauty. Every diamond, and rock, and pebbly beach is a mine of Beauty.

Every sun, and planet, and star is a blazing face of Beauty. All along

the aisles of earth, all over the arches of heaven, all through the

expanses of the universe, are scattered in rich and infinite profusion

the life-gems of Beauty. All natural motion is Beauty in action. The

winds, the waves, the clouds, the trees, the birds, the animals, all

move beautifully; and beautifully do the joyous light-words of the skies

dance their eternal cotillion of glory. From the mote that plays its

little frolic in the sunbeam, to the world that blazes along the

sapphire spaces of the firmament, are visible the ever-varying features

of the enrapturing spirit of Beauty. All this great realm of dazzling

and bewildering beauty was made by God. What shall we say then, is he

not a lover of Beauty? Is it irreverence thus to speak? No; but rather

reverence. What reverent soul does not love to look at God in his works?

Go out in the still morning, when the golden gates of day are turning

slowly back to let the morning king come in with a great crown of rosy

light streaking half around the heavens, on his brow; or at noon, when

the whole firmament and the joyous earth are bathed in a golden flood,

soft, and warm, and life-inspiring; or at evening, when even the zephyrs

are folding up their wings with the little birds, and the trees, and the

fields, and the smiling mountain tops are bidding a sweet good-night to

their heavenly king as encurtained in diamond glory he sinks to rest; or

at night, when the stars come out to keep their vigils over the sleeping

earth; go out at such times, and what heart is not bewildered with the

sense of Beauty that steals over it like a divine charm? and through

that beauty is not carried up to God the beautiful and bountiful author

of it all? God hath made every thing beautiful in its time. I envy not

him who is undevout in the presence of so much Beauty. How easily can

the devout spirit go through nature up to nature's God. Who loves nature

should love God. Who admires Beauty should reverence its Author. Natural

beauty inspires piety in a good heart. To commune with nature

intelligently is to commune with God. Who ever loves a flower, a bird, a

landscape view, a rainbow, a star, the blue sky, should love God. God is

in them all. He is in the aisles of the forest, the waves of the deep,

the solitudes of the mountain, and the fragrance of the green fields.

Beauty is of divine origin, and we should admire, ay, and love it too.

It should fill us with sweet thoughts of God, with worshipful emotions,

with reverent aspirings. The love of Beauty we should cultivate within

us as a gift of the good Father, and a shrine at which we may worship

him acceptably. He has not given us this delicate sense of Beauty to be

neglected. It is our duty to preserve it well and cultivate it

diligently. None of us love Beauty too much, if our love is enlightened

and devout. He who has no love of Beauty in his soul is a great way from

God, and very near the earth, the animal. The love of Beauty is refining

and elevating in its tendency. Yet it is too often indulged without a

thought of God or a reverent emotion. It is a love which may be united

with earthly desires, or with heavenly aspirations. It may lead us

downward or upward, according to the use we make of it. It may pander to

pride and vanity, lust and appetite, or inspire to virtue, religion, and

inward life. It is a love which should be brought within the sphere of

moral government as much as the passions of our lower nature. It is a

love, too, which perhaps leads as many astray, corrupts as many lives,

degrades as many natures, as almost any feeling we possess. Its abuses

are fearful in their character and wide in their influence. It is a

power of mind lovely to behold, and even when degraded it is like a

diamond in the dust. So far as the love of natural things is concerned,

there is but little danger of abuse. Nature is always lovely, and always

to be admired. She always reminds us of God and our duty; always teaches

us our own littleness and frailty, and works upon all our passions a

calming subduing influence.

But we may pass from Beauty in nature to Beauty in man. Strictly

speaking, man is a part of nature; but by common usage we often speak of

nature as distinct from both God and man. Really, man is a part of

nature, and God is in it all. Take God away from his works, and where

would they be? They would vanish like a body deprived of its soul. Take

God out of a flower, and it would wither and vanish in an instant. Take

God out of a sun or star, and they would go out as a candle in the wind.

Take God out of any thing--a tree, an animal, a man--and it would cease

to be. So take God out of nature, and there would be no nature. Not that

nature is God, but that there is no nature without God. God is in all

things; he pervades, sustains, and moves all things. The laws of nature,

of which we often speak, are the arteries and veins which God has made,

along which he pours through the great body of his universe the spirit

of his infinite being. Man, then, as a part of this nature, is pervaded

by God. And here, as elsewhere, he has shown his presence in the

surprising Beauty in which he has made his creatures. Yes, man is

beautiful; the natural man, undeformed by abuses, is an object of

Beauty. We speak of man in the generic sense, as including women also.

Woman, by common consent, we regard as the most perfect type of Beauty

on earth. To her we ascribe the highest charms belonging to this

wonderful element so profusely mingled in all God's works. Her form is

molded and finished in exquisite delicacy of perfection. The earth gives

us no form more perfect, no features more symmetrical, no style more

chaste, no movements more graceful, no finish more complete; so that our

artists ever have and ever will regard the woman-form of humanity as the

most perfect earthly type of Beauty. This form is most perfect and

symmetrical in the youth of womanhood; so that youthful woman is earth's

queen of Beauty. This is true, not only by the common consent of

mankind, but also by the strictest rules of scientific criticism.

This being an admitted fact, woman, and especially youthful woman, is

laid under strong obligations and exposed to great temptations. Beauty

has wonderful charms, and hence it is a dangerous gift. We did not make

ourselves physically beautiful. Another hand than ours molded our forms,

tinged our faces with the vermilion of life, colored our hair and eyes,

bleached our teeth and touched our bodies with that exquisite finish

which we call Beauty. Another being than ourselves gave us that

mysterious power of mind by which we discern and are charmed by Beauty.

Then if Beauty hath charms, if it is a possession which we value, we are

under peculiar obligations to its Giver. "Every good and perfect gift

cometh down from the Father of lights." This is one. A charming gift

conferred for pleasure and profit. Who possesses it should be grateful.

Who revels in its charms should be reverent in praise, pure in heart,

holy in life, devout in demeanor, beautiful in character. She who is

most beautiful should be most moved to a pious character and a useful

life. She whose dwelling God hath wrought into the rich fullness of

Beauty almost divine, who is spread over with a profusion of charms

which no eye can behold without ecstasy, is ungrateful and mean in

spirit if she returns not to God the "Beauty of holiness" in her life.

Beauty will not only win for her admiring eyes, but it will win her

favor; it will draw _hearts_ toward her; it will awaken tender and

agreeable feelings in her behalf; it will disarm the stranger of the

peculiar prejudices he often has toward those he knows not; it will pave

the way to esteem; it will weave the links to friendship's chain; it

will throw an air of agreeableness into the manners of all who approach

her. All this her Beauty will do for her before she puts forth a single

effort of her own to win the esteem and love of her fellows. All this is

the direct, immediate, and agreeable result of a gift from her Father in

heaven. How, than, should she feel toward that Father? With what noble

gifts of gratitude and love should she seek to repay Him for this rich

inheritance of Beauty! How useful, how lovely in spirit should she be!

how thankful, how pious, how virtuous, how rich in inward charms! These

are what God asks in return. Think of it, young women, as it really is.

See God clothing your forms with Beauty, rich and ravishing in its

charms; see that Beauty winning for you flowery paths of life, softening

all hearts that approach you, making it easy, ay, almost a necessity,

for them to love and esteem you; think how much you prize it, and how

pleasant it is to your friends; and then think what God asks in return

for this lovely gift. It is that you should be beautiful inwardly as He

has made you outwardly; that you should be grateful, dutiful, merciful,

pure in heart and life, meek, loving, useful, and pious. Does He ask

more than what is reasonable? Can you do less than to love Him for the

rich endowments he has bestowed upon you, less than to obey his

commands, imitate his character, seek instruction from his Son, and be

kind and good to his children?

How can you look upon your own forms or see your features in a mirror,

without thinking of Him who made you thus? How can you look upon any

thing beautiful, or contemplate the sense of Beauty within you, without

reverent feelings toward God the Giver of all?

What does your Beauty avail you unless you are beautiful in spirit,

lovely in character, useful in life? Ah, it is only a mockery, calling

reproaches upon you from all the good, and the reproof of Heaven for

your ingratitude! One of the most unpleasant, if we may not say hateful,

objects in the world, is a cold, vain, heartless, beautiful woman.

I said that Beauty is a dangerous gift. It is even so. Like wealth, it

has ruined its thousands. Thousands of the most beautiful women are

destitute of common sense and common humanity. No gift from Heaven is so

general and so widely abused by woman as the gift of Beauty. In about

mine cases in ten it makes her silly, senseless, thoughtless, giddy,

vain, proud, frivolous, selfish, low, and mean. I think I have seen more

girls spoiled by Beauty than by any other one thing. "She is beautiful,

and she knows it," is as much as to say she is spoiled. A beautiful girl

is very likely to believe she was made to be looked at; and so she sets

herself up for a show at every window, in every door, on every corner of

the street, in every company at which opportunity offers for an

exhibition of herself. And believing and acting thus, she soon becomes

good for nothing else; and when she comes to be a middle-aged woman she

is that weakest, most sickening of all human things--a faded Beauty.

It has long since passed into a proverb, that homely women are good,

that plain women have strong common sense. An eminent writer asks, "Who

ever saw a handsome talented woman?" There is among us a class of

"strong-minded women," brave of heart and deep of soul, high of purpose

and pure of life, who are stirring the country from heart to

circumference by the sterling powers of womanhood which they possess,

and there is not "a beauty" among them. There is a large class of female

writers in every enlightened country, over the productions of whose

genius the world hangs delighted, but there is not "a beauty" wields the

magic pen. There are women engaged in great enterprises of benevolence

and piety, reformers, missionaries, teachers who labor and live for the

causes in which they are engaged, but scarcely a beauty can be found

among them all. But why? Is Beauty uncongenial to talent and worth? By

no means. But Beauty is a dangerous gift, and few beautiful women ever

seek to develop their minds--ever seek to be any thing more than they

are. Worth is _made_, not _given_; Beauty is _given_, not _made_. Women

who have no Beauty make worth. Those who have Beauty are satisfied with

that, and seldom make for themselves much worth. The world has paid

court to Beauty, and Beauty has foolishly become satisfied with itself,

and been willing to be wooed and petted till it has become the weakest

of all weak things. I heard of a man of brilliant talents who is said to

have been ruined by the possession of a beautiful head, adorned with a

beautiful covering of hair. He was a minister of the Gospel, and

entered upon his sacred office with a bright promise of usefulness. He

was so much enamored of his own head, that when he walked the street he

carried his hat in his hand much of the way, apparently to wipe his

forehead, or in seeming thoughtfulness, yet all the while to show his

pretty head to the people he met. This weakness soon permeated his whole

character, and rendered it vain, imbecile, trifling, and ignoble. In a

little while he died a ministerial death--and died of nothing but a

beautiful head. God had richly endowed him with brilliant qualities of

mind and great beauty of person, and he returned only vanity and

weakness for these gifts. Oh, how weak is man! Die of Beauty! Die a

moral death, or live a useless, foolish life because he is wickedly vain

of God's gifts! Beauty is full often the nurse of vanity, and vanity is

the bane of womanhood. I am sorry to say it, and more sorry because it

is so. It is a pity that so lovely a gift from the Hand Divine should be

so wickedly perverted. Beauty ought to inspire rather than weaken its

possessor, ought to elevate rather than depress her. And it would, if

woman-life was rightly appreciated, if the woman-soul was rightly

taught, and the woman-heart of humanity rightly awakened to its grand

capacities and duties. Woman is not alone to blame for this strange and

wicked fire kindled on the altar of Beauty. Man is as guilty as she. He

has praised Beauty and foolishly smiled upon it. He has chosen it for

his companion. He has passed by worth in search of Beauty. So he has

helped women to be vain and trifling. He has not sought to ennoble her

heart so much as to weaken it with flatteries. And he together with her

has suffered as a consequence. Man and woman rise and fall together.

What injures or benefits one does the same to the other.

Take fifty of the most beautiful young ladies that any town affords, and

put them in one company. You would of course have the belles of the

town. What would they talk about? What would they think about? What

would they do? They are as richly endowed with mind as any other fifty

girls in town, but how would they show it? Only in an exhibition of

their personal beauty. You know, young women, that common sense would

have to play "hide-and-seek" in that company. You know that follies and

trifles, fooleries, fashions, foibles, and failings, would occupy their

whole minds. Then let fifty of the young men with whom they are in the

habit of associating enter into their company, and what an exhibition of

Beauty and display would follow! Not one of them would try so much to

show her good sense as her pretty face. Let good sense sit back and look

on, and methinks it would be not a little disgusted.

Take fifty of the plainest young women from the same circles in our

town, and place them under similar circumstances, and, if I mistake not,

their behavior would be much more genteel and becoming, their

conversation much more interesting and intelligent, and their feelings

much more refined and noble. Am I wrong in this supposition? If I am

wrong, I have read woman-life to a poor purpose.

I have often seen sisters, one of whom was plain and the other handsome,

and almost invariably I have found the plain one more sensible and kind,

less vain and frivolous. Indeed, I have generally found value of

character to depreciate with increase of Beauty.

Why is it so? Is Beauty connected with less natural endowments of mind,

less kindness of heart? By no means. Is Beauty an evil in itself

considered? By no means. Is it morally corrupting? Not of itself. The

fault is with those who possess it. They abuse the lovely gift. They

attempt to make it answer in the place of good sense. They weigh it

against goodness of heart, and find it woefully wanting. They substitute

it for moral worth, put it in the place of refinement of manners, try to

make it win for them the esteem and love which can be given only to a

cultivated and noble spirit. And for all these purposes it utterly

fails. Besides this abuse of it, they usually become vain, proud, silly,

and frivolous. It need not be so, but it generally is so. I have often

noticed that people are not generally so vain of their own attainments

as they are of the gifts of God. A beautiful woman is more vain of her

beauty than she is of her personal attainments. A talented man is more

likely to be vain of his natural talents than of the culture he has

given them. A rich singer is more likely to be vain of his voice than of

what he has done to train it. So it is generally; we are more apt to be

vain of what God does for us than of what we do for ourselves. It is so

with the possessor of personal Beauty, and hence beautiful women are so

tempted to vanity and a neglect of all useful culture of mind and heart.

They think their Beauty will carry them through the world, and they need

not strive for worth of character; they may neglect the ordinary means

of culture and improvement, forgetting that a good heart, a true life, a

cultivated mind, and a noble soul can have no possible substitutes;

forgetting that Beauty will soon fade, that nothing makes old age

beautiful but worth, and that another life succeeds this that Beauty of

body can not enter, and in which Beauty of soul is honored and cherished

as of eternal worth.

These facts have long since taught sensible men to beware of beautiful

women--to sound them carefully before they give them their confidence.

Beauty is shallow--only skin-deep; fleeting--only for a few years'

reign; dangerous--tempting to vanity and lightness of mind;

deceitful--dazzling often to bewilder; weak--reigning only to ruin;

gross--leading often to sensual pleasure. And yet we say it need not be

so. Beauty is lovely, and ought to be innocently possessed. It has

charms which ought to be used for good purposes. It is a delightful

gift, which ought to be received with gratitude and worn with grace and

meekness. It should always minister to inward Beauty. Every woman of

beautiful form and features should cultivate a beautiful mind and heart.

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

ashamed should we be of our foolish pride and thoughtlessness! Could we

invite before us the departed Channing, Mayo, Weare, and gaze for one

little moment at the effulgence of virtue and goodness that made them

the charmed centers of their wide circles of influence and usefulness,

how mean should we feel that we ever thought so much of our pretty forms

and faces, and so little of that Beauty which is a fadeless power and a

glorious life in the soul! It was not Beauty of person that made these

men and women so glorious in their day, and so grand in the memories of

the generations that follow them. It was Beauty of soul. So all about us

we have men and women who are living charms in their families and in

their circles of associations; but it is not their Beauty of person that

makes them so. It is another Beauty, inward, living, powerful, which

charges their wisdom, sweetens their actions with love, and tempers

their lives with piety. Oh, how lovely it makes them! We gaze upon them

with reverence. We never once think of their outward Beauty. No, it

would be sacrilege to do so. They have a higher Beauty. We see it

playing on their faces; we feel it in the charm of their presence, and

hear it in the music of their voices. It is the Beauty of virtue,

wisdom, goodness, magnanimity, meekness, piety. There is a cultured

finish in their actions, a refined sweetness in their manners, a

chastened delicacy and power in their lives which give them their

Beauty.

This is the Beauty, young women, to which I would invite your admiring

attention. Now, in the May-morning of your lives, you should search for

the flowery wreaths of spiritual Beauty. If God has arrayed your persons

in the elegance of rich proportions and lively colorings, be thankful,

and make this outward Beauty the symbol of one more rich, lasting, and

priceless within which you will seek to adorn your minds. If your forms

and features are not attractive, then be thoughtful that you may

cultivate your minds, enrich your hearts, beautify your spirits, make

useful your lives without the temptations of an alluring outward

loveliness. Beautiful or not beautiful, it matters little so the mind be

cultivated, the heart subdued, and the life right. Nothing is more

important to young women than that they should early learn to

distinguish between outward and inward attractions, to place a proper

estimate upon each. The true woman-beauty is inward; that which makes

the woman attractive, lovely, useful, esteemed, loved, and happy, and is

deeper than the color on her cheeks or the form of her person. It is in

her mind, and is attainable by her own exertions. Every woman may be

beautiful. Every young woman may shine, attract, and be admired and

loved. She has only to be lovely in spirit and life, to be good and

useful, cheerful and agreeable.

_Cheerfulness_ is a Beauty which every body admires. A cheerful spirit

is a continual feast. It smiles its way through life. It wins crowns for

its possessor. It makes and gives happiness. All sunshine and flowers is

a cheerful heart. It shines in perpetual spring. Its birds are ever

singing, and its joys ever new. Every young woman may cultivate a

cheerful spirit, and throw its charm around her associates. _Agreeable

manners_ is another Beauty of spirit which charms every body. It is the

product of a kind heart and a refined taste. We can not describe it,

though we all know what it is. It is one of the charming graces of

cultivated womanhood. All who will, may possess it. But they can not do

it without effort, culture, and constant watchfulness over the impulses

and habits. To possess agreeableness of manners they must have a

_correct taste_. This is an inward Beauty of rare loveliness. It grows

out of a good judgment and an informed mind. Ignorance and awkwardness

are usually found together. Every young woman may inform her mind,

enrich her judgment, and thus correct and discipline her taste. She may

read; she may think; she may act; she may imitate the good and wise; she

may restrain her folly; curb her impulses; subdue her passions; awaken

good aspirations, and thus by persevering effort she may acquire a

correct taste.

Then she may cultivate _kindness of heart_. She may seek to do good to

all, to feel for their sufferings, pity their weakness, assuage their

griefs, assist them in their trials, and breath everywhere the spirit of

a kind heart.

Thus she may make herself beautiful in spirit. And she may rest assured

that that Beauty will win her laurels of life and joy. It will soon

become apparent to all with whom she associates. It will come out and

sit like a queen on her person. It will speak in all her words and

actions. She will move amid enchantment. No deformity of body can

conceal a beautiful spirit. It will shine through an ugly face, a

shriveled form, a bad complexion. Nothing made of clay can hide it. No

beauty of person can conceal deformity of spirit. A bad temper will look

hateful in the prettiest face. A hollow heart will sound its dirge of

woe through the most perfectly organized form. Peering through all

outward Beauty is seen the hateful demon of a bad heart. Shining

through all bodily deformity are always visible the angel faces of the

virtues that cluster in a beautiful spirit. All wise young women will

rest not till they possess the Beauty of spirit.

Lecture Three.