- end_line
- 12398
- extracted_at
- 2026-01-30T20:48:26.988Z
- extracted_by
- structure-extraction-lambda
- start_line
- 12342
- text
- the waist; and finally, winding up the operation by kissing round the
whole circle to the great edification of the fair, and to the unbounded
horror, amazement, and ill-suppressed chagrin of the aforesaid sheepish
multitude, who, with eyes wide open and mouths distended, afforded good
subjects on whom to exercise my polished wit, which like the glittering
edge of a Damascus sabre ‘dazzled all it shone upon.’
And then, when the folding-doors are thrown open, as the lacquey
announces supper to be ready, how often have I stepped forward and with
a profound obeisance to the ladies, bowing by the bow of Cupid, and
appealing to Venus for my sincerity, when I wished I had an hundred arms
at their service, escorted them right gallantly and merrily to the
banquet; while those poor, bashful creatures, like a drove of dumb
cattle, strayed into the apartment, stumbling, blushing, stammering, and
alone.
Verily, by my elegant accomplishments and superior parts, by my graceful
address, and above all by my easy self-possession, I have unwittingly
provoked to an irreconcilable degree the resentment of half a score of
these village beaux; whom, although I had rather have their esteem, I
value too little to dread their malice.
By my halidome, sir, this same village of Lansingburgh contains within
its pretty limits as fair a set of blushing damsels as one would wish to
look upon on a dreamy summer day! When I traverse the broad pavements of
my own metropolis, my eyes are arrested by beautiful forms flitting
hither and thither; and I pause to admire the elegance of their attire,
the taste displayed in their embellishments; the rich mesh of the
material; and sometimes, it may be, the loveliness of the features,
which no art can heighten and no negligence conceal.
But here, sir, here, where woman seems to have erected her throne, and
established her empire; here, where all feel and acknowledge her sway,
she blooms in unborrowed charms; and the eye, undazzled by the profusion
of extraneous ornament, settles at once upon the loveliest faces which
our clayey natures can assume. The poet has sung:--
‘When first the Rhodian’s mimic art array’d
The queen of Beauty in her Cyprian shade,
The happy master mingled on his piece
Each look that charm’d him in the fair of Greece.
To faultless nature true, he stole a grace
From every finer form and sweeter face;
And, as he sojourn’d on the Ægean isles,
Woo’d all their love and treasured all their smiles;
Then glow’d the tints, pure, precious, and refined,
And mortal charms seemed heavenly when combined.’
Now, had this same Apelles flourished in our own enlightened day, and
more particularly, had he taken up his domicile in this goodly village,
I could with ease have presented him with many a Hebe, in whom were
united all the requisite graces which make up the beau-ideal of female
loveliness. Nor, my dear M----, does there reign in all this bright
display that same monotony of feature, form, complexion, which elsewhere
is beheld; no, here are all varieties, all the orders of Beauty’s
architecture; the Doric, the Ionic, the Corinthian, all are here.
- title
- Chunk 2