Page View
The mirror of the graces; or, the English lady's costume: combining and harmonizing taste and judgment, elegance and grace, modesty, simplicity and economy, with fashion in dress; and adapting the various articles of female embellishments to different ages, forms, and complexions; to the seasons of the year, rank, and situation in life: with useful advice on female accomplishments, politeness, and manners; the cultivation of the mind and the disposition and carriage of the body: offering also the most efficacious means of preserving beauty, health, and loveliness. The whole according with the general principles of nature and rules of propriety
(1811)
Preliminary observations on the subject, pp. [9]-19
Page [9]
MIRROR
OF
THE GRJCES.
PRELIMINARY OBSERVATIONS ON THE SUBJECT.
IN discoursing on the degree of consequence,
in the scale of creation, that may be allowed
to the human body, two extremes are gener.
ally adopted.-Epicureans, for obvious reasons,
exalt our corporeal part to the first rank ; and
Stoics, by opposite deductions, degrade it to
the last. But to neither of these opinions can
the writer of these pages concede.
The body is as much a part of the human
creature as the mind. It is the medium
through which our souls see, feel, and act.
By its outward expression of our internal
thoughts, we convey to others a sense of our
opinions, hopes, fears, and affections: we
communicate love, we excite it. We enjoy,
not only the pleasures of the senses, but the
B
Top of Page
This material may be protected by copyright law (e.g., Title 17, US Code).| For information on re-use, see http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/Copyright