SOCIETY OP CENTRAL ILLINOIS. 133 



happy hours in field and dale where all nature smiled and glad earth 

 echoed in return. 



How clearly we remember the honeysuckle that grew at mother's 

 window and the climbing rose vine that smothered in its embrace 

 the old supports of the piazza. ''The orchard, the meadow, the 

 deep tangled wildwood " are all dear in the recollections of childhood. 

 Pity those who have no sweet and tender remembrances of an attrac- 

 tive, though it may have been an humble, home. 



May we not then seek to cultivate within our own domicile that 

 uplifting, ennobling spirit of aesthetics, not the modern idea of tha 

 art, but the broader term that when assimilated, invigorates the 

 soul and leads our thoughts and minds upward toward the Author of 

 all things beautiful. Then may our husbands and children rise up 

 and call us blessed because of the purity and gentleness with which 

 we sanctified our households and caused to pervade their atmosphere 

 that breath of paradise which makes heaven below indeed the 

 '' retreat of the heart." 



Where our love for the beautiful leads to extravagance or prodi- 

 gality, is a point that can be decided only by the. means of the 

 individual concerned. Certain it is more latitude is allowed us in 

 this direction than in many other so-called dispensable expenditures. 



"The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament 

 showeth forth his handiwork." The mountains breathe forth from 

 their lofty turrets his praise, and the brooklet bathes the feet of the 

 little hills to the gentle music of adoration. All ^Jature sings con- 

 tinually of love and beauty, and decks herself in vernal, autumnal 

 and ermine robes, consecutively, that she may appear never in 

 monotonous costume to the Author of her being. If Nature, un- 

 tutored and irresponsible Nature, thus exists as a living example of 

 Divine appreciation, what shall we say of humanity, endowed as it 

 is with all the grace of mind, character and physical perfection? 



The human being naturally adores the beautiful in exterior, but 

 does it seek to express its admiration of divinely-bestowed gifts, by 

 cultivating within itself characteristics worthy of approval ? Within 

 every human creature lies that power. 



The human countenance, no matter how plain or unprepossess- 

 ing it may be in repose, when animated by a pure, lofty and lovely 

 spirit within, is beautiful. There is something so awe-inspiring in 

 the fact that man is created in the image of his Maker that the 

 human form, no matter how contorted by deformitj" or disease, when 

 considered as bearing the impress of the Almighty, is robbed of all 

 repulsiveness. 



Good health is the monitor of physical comeliness. Only in the 

 individual, whose system is in the full vigor of activity, do we find 

 real personal attractiveness. Imitations of a healthy physique or 

 "make up," are always detected, yet it is the duty of each to stay as 



