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Article FEMALE MERIT AND VANITY CONTRASTED. ← Page 2 of 2
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Female Merit And Vanity Contrasted.
And now think of a decayed beauty ; who , in the hei ght of her bloom and the career of her conquests , trusted solely to that bloom , and never dreamed of securing those conquests , such as they were , by any thing more solid and abiding . Inexpressibly mortified that both are at an end , she would fain , if possible , keep up the appearance of them still . How ? By a constrained vivacity , by a juvenile
dress , by that affectation of allurement and importance which we so readily pardon to the prime of life , but which in its decline is universally condemned as aukward and unnatural ., Place her in the young assembly we have just supposed ; there let her endeavour to sparkle as in the days of old ; there let her lay traps for admiration amidst the wrinkles of age . How ludicrous , and how melancholy at moment
xne same > what boy or what girl of them ail will not be struck with the impropriety ? Every mark of decay , every symptom of change , will be traced and examined with acuteness . No part of her figure will be overlooked , not a single slip in her behaviour forgiven : whereas if ; warned by the effects of time , she prudently . gave up to her juniors all competition of looks and show , and studied only to make herself agreeable bher conversation and mannersthere is
y , scarcely one of those little critics that would ever reflect upon her years , or that would not be deli ghted with her good sense and obliging deportment . No , my friends , nothing can save you from contempt at that period , if during this you be not at pains to improve your minds . She who is , shall in one sense , and that the best , be
always young . If she should continue single , and her situation or her choice should lead her to cultivate but few acquaintance , amongst them she must ever be loved and valued . If she should be married , and to a man of tolerable judgment , with agreeable temper , he will count himself -happy in such an associate ; he will even be proud of those talents in ¦ her which do honour to his election . I have always remarkedthat
, women of capacity and elegance have possessed the hearts of their ¦ husbands in a degree which is not common ; I mean where those husbands had any worth or discernment . You will easily imagine that I suppose the woman in question too wise and too excellent to affect superiority ; of not to g ive their partners all the credit and consequence possible on every occasion . Between men and women
there is seldom any rivaishi p in what relates merely to intellects ; nor are the former ever much hurt by any conscious inferiority in that respect , where the latter do not show themselves , especially before company , arrogant or pretending . I must not forget to subjoin how much the mental improvements -now enforced will contribute to adorn and animate the companion
, to direct and 'dignify the mistress , to accomplish the mother and the -friend ; to spread a charm over the whole matrimonial state , and to relieve those duller hours that ave apt to steal on the most deli ghtful condition of humanity . Edinburgh ,- FRAT . AQUIL . ROM . Nov . ii , 1793 .
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Female Merit And Vanity Contrasted.
And now think of a decayed beauty ; who , in the hei ght of her bloom and the career of her conquests , trusted solely to that bloom , and never dreamed of securing those conquests , such as they were , by any thing more solid and abiding . Inexpressibly mortified that both are at an end , she would fain , if possible , keep up the appearance of them still . How ? By a constrained vivacity , by a juvenile
dress , by that affectation of allurement and importance which we so readily pardon to the prime of life , but which in its decline is universally condemned as aukward and unnatural ., Place her in the young assembly we have just supposed ; there let her endeavour to sparkle as in the days of old ; there let her lay traps for admiration amidst the wrinkles of age . How ludicrous , and how melancholy at moment
xne same > what boy or what girl of them ail will not be struck with the impropriety ? Every mark of decay , every symptom of change , will be traced and examined with acuteness . No part of her figure will be overlooked , not a single slip in her behaviour forgiven : whereas if ; warned by the effects of time , she prudently . gave up to her juniors all competition of looks and show , and studied only to make herself agreeable bher conversation and mannersthere is
y , scarcely one of those little critics that would ever reflect upon her years , or that would not be deli ghted with her good sense and obliging deportment . No , my friends , nothing can save you from contempt at that period , if during this you be not at pains to improve your minds . She who is , shall in one sense , and that the best , be
always young . If she should continue single , and her situation or her choice should lead her to cultivate but few acquaintance , amongst them she must ever be loved and valued . If she should be married , and to a man of tolerable judgment , with agreeable temper , he will count himself -happy in such an associate ; he will even be proud of those talents in ¦ her which do honour to his election . I have always remarkedthat
, women of capacity and elegance have possessed the hearts of their ¦ husbands in a degree which is not common ; I mean where those husbands had any worth or discernment . You will easily imagine that I suppose the woman in question too wise and too excellent to affect superiority ; of not to g ive their partners all the credit and consequence possible on every occasion . Between men and women
there is seldom any rivaishi p in what relates merely to intellects ; nor are the former ever much hurt by any conscious inferiority in that respect , where the latter do not show themselves , especially before company , arrogant or pretending . I must not forget to subjoin how much the mental improvements -now enforced will contribute to adorn and animate the companion
, to direct and 'dignify the mistress , to accomplish the mother and the -friend ; to spread a charm over the whole matrimonial state , and to relieve those duller hours that ave apt to steal on the most deli ghtful condition of humanity . Edinburgh ,- FRAT . AQUIL . ROM . Nov . ii , 1793 .