THE DAUGHTER. 213 



till she is as much a type of female loveliness as the 

 famed Medician statue, which so many generations have 

 conceded to be the model. As a preface, I must acknowl- 

 edge her to be the very handsomest woman I ever saw, with 

 one exception ; and this is saying a good deal for one who, 

 for years, was a constant visitor to ail of the Southern race 

 courses, witnessing the blaze of beauty that was wont to 

 shine in the grand stands at Charleston, Mobile, and New 

 Orleans. Not knowing how many feet and inches is 

 the proper standard for a woman's height, I cannot even 

 guess how tall she may be, and I can only describe her 

 stature, by saying that I believe half an inch either way 

 would very much lessen the grace of her figure. The deep 

 blue of her parent's eye is intensified in hers, and dark- 

 ened, till, in some lights, it becomes almost black, taking, 

 with every feeling, a varying expression, hardly needing 

 the aid of words to convey what is passing in her mind. 

 The slight Koman curve in the old gentleman's nose gives 

 way in hers to the purest Grecian ; the thin and expand- 

 ing nostril, cut as finely as was ever seen portrayed in 

 ancient cameo. The upper lip is curved like the bow of 

 Cupid, while the under is rounded, and slightly fuller. 

 The chin is beautifully turned, and the setting on of the 

 head to the finely moulded neck is perfection itself. The 

 complexion, which I have no words to describe, is the 

 finest English and American combined. Burns' "Lilies 

 dipt in wine" is vivid, without picturing the commingling 

 of tints. Those sea-shells, that are brought from the 

 shores of the Mediterranean, in their delicate pencilings, 

 are the nearest approach I can think of. But in her 

 cheeks the changes are many, now glowing, when ex 

 cited, now subsiding into a clear pearly lustre. Her hair 

 is of the pure golden color, which poets in all ages have 

 rhapsodized about, and which I thought existed only in 

 their fervid and florid imaginings, till I saw Jane P. 



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