MISCELLANEOUS. ESSAYS. 
score of convenience. Ifa husband 
chose that his wife should paint, 
perhaps it might be her duty, as 
well as her interest, to comply. 
But, I think, he would not much 
consult his own, for reasons that 
will follow. In the first place, she 
would admire herself the more; 
and, in the next, if she managed the 
matter well, she might be more ad- 
mired by others ; an acquisition, 
that might bring ‘her virtue under 
trials, to which, ‘otherwise, it might 
never have been exposed, In no 
other case, however, can I imagine 
the pra¢tice, in this country, to be 
either expedient or convenient. As 
a general one, it certainly is not ex- 
-pedient, because, in general, English 
women have no occasion for it. A 
swarthy complexion is a rarity here; 
and the sex, especially since inocu- 
lation has been so much in use, 
have very little cause to complain, 
‘that nature has not been kind to 
them in the article of complexion. 
They may hide and spoil a good 
one. But they cannot (at least, 
they hardly can) give themselves a 
better. But, even if they could, 
there is yet a tragedy in the sequel, 
which should make them tremble. I 
understand, that, in France, though 
the use of reuge be general, the use 
of white paint is far from being so. 
In England, she that uses one, com- 
monly uses both. Now all white 
paints, or lotions, or whatever they 
be called, are mercurial, consequent- 
ly poisonous, consequently ruinous, 
in time, to the constitution. The 
Miss B—— above mentiowed, was 
_a miserable witness of this truth, it 
being certain, that her flesh fell from 
her bones before she died. Lady 
C—— was hardly a less melancholy 
proof of it; and a London physi- 
905 
cian, perhaps, were he at liberty to 
blab, could publish a bill of female 
mortality, from this cause, of a 
length that would astonish us. 
¥or these reasons, I utterly con- 
demn the practice, as it obtains in 
England: and, for a reason supe- 
rior to all these, [ must disapprove 
it. I cannot, indeed discover, that 
scripture forbids it in so many 
words. But that anxious solicitude 
about the persons, which such an 
artifice evidently betrays, is (1 am 
sure) contrary to the tenor and spi- 
rit of it throughout. Show me a 
woman with a painted face, and I 
will shew you a weman, whose 
heart is set on things of the earth, 
and not on things above. But this ob- 
servation of mine applies to it only, 
whenit is an imitative art. For, in 
the use of French women, I think it 
is as innocent as in the use of the 
wild Indian, who draws a circle 
round her face; and makes two 
spots, perhaps blue, perhaps white, 
in the middle of it. Such are my 
thoughts upon the matter. 
Vive valeque, 
Your’s, ever, 
W:.€. 
Description of a Village in Benares 
Distriét, from “ Tennant’s Indian 
Recreations.” 
HE mode of living, and the cli- 
mate of India, preclude Eu- 
ropeans, ina great measure, from 
acquiring any intimate or minute 
knowledge of the manners of the 
natives. Unless I had made parti- 
cular enquiry for the express. pur- 
pose of laying before you the fol- 
Jowing account of a village ; 1 might 
have ‘remained in this country for 
3M4 half 
