DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.20658#0091
BEAUTY. 77
That grace and propriety are inseparably united, maybe demonstrated from the different languages
of both ancient and modern times, in which the words proper or becoming, are, in many cases,
synonymous with beautiful or graceful, and may often be used indifferently the one for the Other.
Those graces which appear very amiable in a little lively beauty, would appear trivial in a cha-
racter designed to express an air of majesty ; and the majestic air of an empress would destroy
the beauty of a young blooming nymph, or country maiden. The same may be said even of the
same character of different ages : the vivacity that gives grace and beauty to youth, would but
tend to increase the deformity of old age; and the solemn air of the latter would, in the same
degree, destroy the amiable beauty of the former. The general at the head of his troops, the
humble supplicant at the rich man's gate, and the pedagogue striking terror into the unwayward
objects of his care, do not differ more in their professions and characters, than in their several airs
and exterior appearance.
The moralist might here descant on the original cause of this part of grace, which, upon ex-
amination, we find principally owing to the different relative situations in society man bears to
his neighbour. In a state of nature, equality almost universally prevails, and man allows no
temporal subordination but what arises from parental authority, ex-ceptthe magic sway of beauty,
and a veneration for superior abilities. A respect for these seems inherent in our nature ; but in
a civilized state the case is far otherwise : our numerous artificial wants, different orders of so-
ciety necessary for extensive subordination, improvements of arts and sciences, the prevailing
force of changing fashion, and a numerous variety of other secondary circumstances, have cre-
ated such a diversity of professions and opinions, and rendered man so immediately dependant'
upon his fellow-creatures, as to have almost transformed him into another being, and created that
variety of motions, gestures, and airs, appropriate to different situations.
Propriety and motion, however, are not the only essentials of grace, they form only a part.
It is evident, other properties must concur to form this invaluable article ; propriety is easily ex-
pressed and understood ; but grace cannot be defined, and can only be known from an intimate
knowledge and contemplation of its beauty.
This invaluable appendage to beauty generally depends upon some trifling circumstance. In
a fine face it is very often difficult to discover exactly where the grace lies, though we see and
acknowledge it: in actions it consists more in the manner of doing things, than in the things
themselves. It is continually varying its appearance, and for this reason it is more difficult to be
considered than any other more inseparable quality: it is better studied in the pictures of Cor-
regio, Guido, and Raphael, than in real life.
The grace of the countenance has its seat principally about the mouth, as beauty has in the
eyes, though it is capable of being seen in every limb of the body. In a very graceful face, by
which I would be understood, a soft, pleasing countenance, there is a certain beaut}', by some
called a deliciousness, that almost always lives about the mouth, in something very nearly re-
sembling a smile ; and sometimes a little dimple is observable in the chin, and at the corners of
the mouth, not fixed, but vanishing almost as soon as it appears, and then appearing again.
G race is undoubtedly the chief of all the constituent parts of beauty, and the only one which is
absolutely and universally admired. The other parts are only relative. One may like a brunette
beauty better than a fair one; some admire little women, others large ones; a person of a mild
temper will be fond of the gentler passions in the face; but one of a bolder turn may choose to have
more vivacity, and more vigorous passions expressed. But grace, though found in few, is pleasing
x . to
That grace and propriety are inseparably united, maybe demonstrated from the different languages
of both ancient and modern times, in which the words proper or becoming, are, in many cases,
synonymous with beautiful or graceful, and may often be used indifferently the one for the Other.
Those graces which appear very amiable in a little lively beauty, would appear trivial in a cha-
racter designed to express an air of majesty ; and the majestic air of an empress would destroy
the beauty of a young blooming nymph, or country maiden. The same may be said even of the
same character of different ages : the vivacity that gives grace and beauty to youth, would but
tend to increase the deformity of old age; and the solemn air of the latter would, in the same
degree, destroy the amiable beauty of the former. The general at the head of his troops, the
humble supplicant at the rich man's gate, and the pedagogue striking terror into the unwayward
objects of his care, do not differ more in their professions and characters, than in their several airs
and exterior appearance.
The moralist might here descant on the original cause of this part of grace, which, upon ex-
amination, we find principally owing to the different relative situations in society man bears to
his neighbour. In a state of nature, equality almost universally prevails, and man allows no
temporal subordination but what arises from parental authority, ex-ceptthe magic sway of beauty,
and a veneration for superior abilities. A respect for these seems inherent in our nature ; but in
a civilized state the case is far otherwise : our numerous artificial wants, different orders of so-
ciety necessary for extensive subordination, improvements of arts and sciences, the prevailing
force of changing fashion, and a numerous variety of other secondary circumstances, have cre-
ated such a diversity of professions and opinions, and rendered man so immediately dependant'
upon his fellow-creatures, as to have almost transformed him into another being, and created that
variety of motions, gestures, and airs, appropriate to different situations.
Propriety and motion, however, are not the only essentials of grace, they form only a part.
It is evident, other properties must concur to form this invaluable article ; propriety is easily ex-
pressed and understood ; but grace cannot be defined, and can only be known from an intimate
knowledge and contemplation of its beauty.
This invaluable appendage to beauty generally depends upon some trifling circumstance. In
a fine face it is very often difficult to discover exactly where the grace lies, though we see and
acknowledge it: in actions it consists more in the manner of doing things, than in the things
themselves. It is continually varying its appearance, and for this reason it is more difficult to be
considered than any other more inseparable quality: it is better studied in the pictures of Cor-
regio, Guido, and Raphael, than in real life.
The grace of the countenance has its seat principally about the mouth, as beauty has in the
eyes, though it is capable of being seen in every limb of the body. In a very graceful face, by
which I would be understood, a soft, pleasing countenance, there is a certain beaut}', by some
called a deliciousness, that almost always lives about the mouth, in something very nearly re-
sembling a smile ; and sometimes a little dimple is observable in the chin, and at the corners of
the mouth, not fixed, but vanishing almost as soon as it appears, and then appearing again.
G race is undoubtedly the chief of all the constituent parts of beauty, and the only one which is
absolutely and universally admired. The other parts are only relative. One may like a brunette
beauty better than a fair one; some admire little women, others large ones; a person of a mild
temper will be fond of the gentler passions in the face; but one of a bolder turn may choose to have
more vivacity, and more vigorous passions expressed. But grace, though found in few, is pleasing
x . to