to
confirm and develope their natural delicacy, gentleness, and sweetness.
The result, is, that whilst men are large of frame and endowed with
great force and strength, the women in Montalluyah scarcely ever exceed
the middle size. They are beautiful, and thoroughly feminine in form and
feature, while in disposition they are sprightly, ingenuous, and
truthful. Their carriage and movement are marked by elegance and grace,
their voice is of melodious softness, and they are altogether
distinguished by a peculiar charm and fascination.

Most of our women are brunettes, with rich black silky hair and eyes--
large and beautiful as those of the gazelle; but the fair with blue eyes
are considered the more beautiful--probably on account of their rarity.

The beauty of the woman, like the muscular development of the man, is
greatly aided by the care now taken of children from their birth. Women
were formerly left to themselves, and many, either from ignorance or
want of thought, neglected to do justice to their proper qualities and
charms, whilst they became enamoured of ostentation and indulged in a
thoughtless extravagance which served to kindle the envy of their
neighbours, and to bring ruin to their husbands. Whilst seeking
extraneous aids to beauty, they neglected the simplest precautions for
its preservation, though, when their charms had faded, they eagerly
sought means to repair what were incorrectly called the ravages of time,
but were only the unavoidable consequences of their own neglect. The
heavenly light of their eyes had become dim; their complexions,
originally of a warm purity, had become of a yellow tinge; their skin,
soft to the touch and beautiful to the eye, had become shrivelled and
hard; their dark and beautiful hair had become grey or fallen off,
deprived of the nourishment which had been prodigally wasted, and the
undulating and elegant form had often sunk into a misshapen mass.

We have now a belief that the harmonious development of the body is not
only physically and aesthetically desirable, but assists in the
healthful development of the mind, to which, for a time, that body
belongs; beauty being regarded as "a precious gift from Heaven which it
behoves every woman to preserve and improve." The exceptions to beauty
are now rare, and women are scarcely less lovely in age than they were
in youth. In many cases time has actually enhanced their attractions,
improved, through the additional charm impres