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.