Human hope is a great present good. It stimulates us to exertion; and preserves us from despair under many of our afflictions: and, if we were wise, the disappointments by which it is crowned would induce us to pursue that better Hope which terminates in a happiness greater than that of which, in this imperfect state, we can have any conception. Spencer, with that power of personification which he so eminently possessed, has drawn two pictures of hope which are admirably discriminating.

HUMAN HOPE.

Hope, a handsome mayd

Of chearful look and lovely to behold;
Iu silken samile she was light arraid,

And her faire locks were woven up in gold;
She always smil'd, and in her hand did hold
An holy water sprinkle dipt in dewe,

In which she sprinkled favours many fold
On whom she list, and did great liking shewe→→
Great liking unto many, but true love to fewe.

CELESTIAL HOPE.

Iler youngest sister, that Speranza hight,
Was clad in blue that her beseemed well,
Not all so chearful seemed she of sight,
As was her sister; whether dread did dwell,
Or anguish in her heart is hard to tell :
Upon her arme a silver anchor lay,

Whereon she leaned ever as befell:

And ever up to heav'n as she did pray

Her stedfast eyes were bent, ne swerved other way.

October 15, 1823.

I

On Beauty.

'Tis beauty that doth oft make women proud;
"Tis virtue that doth make them most admir'd;
The contrary doth make them wondered at ;
"Tis govern at that makes them seem divine;
The want thereof makes them abominable. *

A smooth and stedfast mind,

Gentle thoughts and calm desires,

Hearts with equal love combin'd

Kindle never dying fires;

Where these are not, I despise

Lovely cheeks, or lips, or eyes. †

Ir is not my intention to write a grave philosophical treatise on beauty, but merely to communicate some thoughts which occurred to my mind on the subject, as I took my customary walk a few evenings since.

sexes.

The constituents of external beauty in the human race are not to be considered as the same in both A male beauty must have that appearance of muscular strength and agility, which would be decidedly unpleasing, if not disgusting in a woman. This variety in the beauty of the sexes is in no instance more finely exemplified than in the statues of the Apollo Belvidere and the Venus de Medici. The former possesses all that apparent strength, grace, and agility, which enter into the formation of a masculine beauty; and the latter, on the other hand,

* Shakespeare.

+ Carew.

has softness, regularity of feature, delicacy of form, retiring modesty, and all the other constituents of female loveliness.

There is in beauty, especially in that of the female sex, a certain je ne sçais quoi which is better felt than described; an indescribable something which speaks to the heart in a language, such as oral or written words are incapable of expressing.

Our great poet, Milton, had a just idea of the distinction between masculine and feminine beauty; and he has admirably represented this distinction in his portraits of Adam and Eve :

For contemplation he, and valour, formed ;
For softness she, and sweet attractive grace.

Again: Eve says to Adam

I espy'd thee fair indeed and tall

Under a plantain; yet methought less fair,
Less winning soft, less amiably mild,
Than that smooth wat❜ry image.

Again: Adam tells Raphael of Eve, that

Grace was in all her steps: heav'n in her eye;
In every gesture dignity and love.

I should have but a mean opinion of that man's taste, who on first seeing

"The bendin tue that enchants the world"

should minutely uwell with the air of a connoisseur,

on the abstract beauties of every feature, rather than consider it as a glorious and unequalled whole.the truth is, that beauty cannot be described, it consists less in the form and feature, than in the air, the motions, and the expression of the subject. It has an incomprehensible something which affects the mind and interests the heart.

It is my design in this bagatelle chiefly to confine myself to the consideration of female beauty, which to one of the opposite sex is probably more interesting than any other part of the subject.

It is a curious fact that scarcely ten persons in a hundred agree in their ideas of female beauty.— Some prefer a fair skin, and others a brunette : some consider shortness, and others tallness as most consistent with female beauty. In this diversity of tastes, the philosopher can discern the finger of an all-directing Providence which has over-looked nothing that would prove conducive to the happiness of its creatures, or injurious to their welfare. If all men agreed in their ideas of beauty, society would be a perpetual scene of blood-shed and confusion. Men would in that case solely attach themselves to a particular class of beauties, and cut each others throats from perpetual rivalry.

If we go farther than individuals it will I believe, be generally found that the tastes of most men lead them to prefer the things to which they are most accustomed, and which are the products of their

I 2

native soil; and this remark holds good in the opinions which people of different nations entertain of masculine and feminine beauty. It may not be unentertaining to mention a few of the various opinions on the subject of beauty.

In many parts of the world no woman is thought a beauty unless she be exceedingly corpulent, and she is liked the better if so large as to be a good load for a camel. I understand that the famous Sir Peter Paul Rubens had a taste very much resembling this, and that all his beautiful women are corpulent; nay, that his very Graces are all fat..

In China, says Smith, a woman who has a foot large enough to walk upon, is deemed a monster of ugliness.

In some African nations, the lobe of the ear distended for several inches, slit, and loaded with trinkets, is thought highly conducive to beauty.

The unfortunate Mungo Park relates, that in some places in Africa to which he came, the women and children ran frightened and screaming from him, taking him for a devil on account of the whiteness of his complexion..

The Prince of Anamaboo, who had been so long,. and latterly so much used to the European complexion, yet said of a certain beautiful lady before he left London," That she would be the most charming woman in the world, were she but a negro."