increases the effect of the other. Wit and worth appear to more advantage under a handsome outside. 'Pulchrior in pulchro corpore virtus.' On the other hand, beauty is animated, and, as it were, inspired by the sparkling emanations of mind. But the two effects depend in their origin upon entirely different principles. A more plausible argument might be sustained in support of the theory, that beauty is a mere expression of amiable moral qualities. There is something so agreeable in a smiling, goodhumored physiognomy, that when we are looking at one, we are almost tempted to pronounce it handsome. But a moment's reflection is enough to satisfy us, that this would be a great mistake. A morose expression may deform beauty, and an amiable one is an excellent substitute for it, but is still not the thing itself. This matter is placed in a proper light by Addison, in a passage of his Cato. Juba, a young Numidian prince, is in love with a daughter of Cato; and Syphax, one of his counsellors, is endeavoring to reason him out of his passion (a strange project for a man of so much experience,) by representing to him, that the swarthy damsels of Numidia are possessed of a higher style of beauty. Juba replies in the following terms; ''Tis not a set of features or complexion, It is here distinctly admitted, that beauty consists in the possession of some peculiar personal qualities; a set of features, a complexion, a tincture of the skin; but it is added, that all this is insufficient to secure and retain the affections, without the addition of intellectual accomplishments and moral graces, which the young African prince proceeds, with the enthusiasm of a true lover, to ascribe to his mistress, in the highest degree of perfection. 'The virtuous Marcia towers above her sex; While winning mildness and attractive smiles Soften the rigor of her father's virtues.' All this agrees perfectly with our views. Marcia is described as divinely fair, not because she unites all the wisdom of Cato with the winning mildness and attractive smiles peculiar to herself, (a remarkable combination, by the bye, in a young girl of eighteen or twenty, which was probably her age,) but for another reason, which has already been intimated; the character of her features and complexion. It is this which makes her beautiful; her high intellectual and moral qualities only improve her charms, and heighten their effect upon her enraptured admirer. Burke supposes that the cause of all positive pleasure is a relaxation of the system somewhat below the natural tone, and that the sight of beauty gives us pleasure, because it has the effect of producing such a relaxation. In confirmation of this idea, he gives a description of the manner in which we are affected by it. We must fairly confess, that this theory appears to us to be too metaphysical; but we quote the passage, that our readers may have the opportunity of comparing their own experiences under the circumstances in question, with those of this celebrated person. The head reclines something on one side; the eye-lids are more closed than usual, and the eyes roll gently with an inclination towards the object; the mouth is a little opened, and the breath drawn slowly, with now and then a sigh; the whole body is composed, and the hands fall idly to the sides. All this is accompanied with an inward sense of languor. These appearances are always proportioned to the degree of beauty in the object, and of sensibility in the observer.' 6 The plain truth seems to be, and it is rather surprising to us, that such great geniuses as Burke, Akenside, Jeffrey and a score of others, should have overlooked it, that beauty pleases the eye, for precisely the same reason, for which music delights the ear, and a fine perfume the sense of smell. We cannot tell why we look upon the delicate blue of a clear summer sky with more delight, than upon the gloomy grey of a cloudy November morning; any more than we can tell why the soft breathings of an Æolian harp are more agreeable to the ear, than the filing of a saw. We can only say, in all these cases, that such is the fact. This is a subject, upon which it would be easy to write volumes; but as our present object is only to write a review, and as our readers are not fond of long articles, we must hasten to a close. We have said so much upon the principle of beauty, that we have left ourselves but little room to speak of the means of preserving it. These, however, may be summed up in a few words. With all our respect for our friend L'Ami, we apprehend, that a pleasant humor, a quiet conscience, and plenty of exercise in the open air, will be found to be the best cosmetics. The whole theory upon this point, as far as the preservation of beauty is concerned, is, in fact, very neatly expressed in the ancient adage, Handsome is, that handsome does. ART. VIII.-Memoirs of Oberlin. Memoirs of John Frederic Oberlin, Pastor of Waldbach, in the Ban de la Roche. Compiled from authentic Sources, chiefly in French and German. London. 1829. pp. 362. 8vo. Steinthal, or the Ban de la Roche, is a small canton hidden in the mountains of the German boundary of France. It belonged to the province of Alsace, which was ceded to Louis XIV. in 1648, and divided into the departments of Upper and Lower Rhine. La Roche lies in the latter, within a day's journey of Strasburg. Its area contains about nine thousand. acres of land, constituting two parishes; the Rothau settlement forming one, and the hamlets of Foudai, Belmont, Waldbach, Bellefosse and Zolbach, the other. Waldbach, the central village, and the seat of the parsonage, stands on the acclivity of the Champ de Feu, a mountain which rises three thousand six hundred feet above the sea, and is supposed to be of volcanic origin. The temperature and fertility of the district greatly vary; in the higher parts, the climate is said to be Russian, while the valleys enjoy the soft warmth of a Genevan sky. In the bleak exposures, the snow, in many years, remains from September to June. The prevalent religion is the Lutheran, the toleration of which was guarantied to the inhabitants on their union with France. Owing to its inaccessible site-having only a foot-path leading to the German highway-the barrenness of the soil, and the ignorance of the population, consisting of not more than seventy or eighty families, this district was well nigh forgotten. It furnished no attraction to draw the traveller from his course, or to invite the visits of traders. Its spiritual guardian-the Lutheran Consistory of Strasburg-seem to have assigned it as a place of retirement for their superannuated curates, who contributed nothing to the moral or civil advancement of their charge. The result of this disastrous combination was, that in 1750, the people were on the confines of primitive barbarism. Cut off in their mountain seclusion from intercourse with the moving world, they gradually lost the natural incentives to labor, and gave way to their constitutional inactivity. Their fields lay fallow, or scarcely repaid the tillage, because the cultivators were ignorant of the virtues of manure; they lived in wretched hovels, cut out of the rocks, or dug into the sides of the mountains; the potato-long the staple of the district-being their main, and often their only food. In that year, however, whether accidentally or from compunction, the Church presented a man of enterprise and piety to the hopeful benefice. In the exploratory examination which M. Stouber made of his charge, his first inquiries were directed at the institutions of education. He was, accordingly, conducted to the principal school, (saving the antiphrasis,) where the pupils were rioting in noise and play. The pedagogue was discovered stretched on a pallet in a corner of the room, and candidly disclosed, in reply to the questions of his visitor, that the station of teacher had been conferred on him in consideration of the ability with which he had tended the Waldbach pigs; his age and infirmity disqualifying him for a swine-herd, he professed to teach the children all he knew; which, as he owned, was nothing. The masters in the other villages had no advantage over this veteran, except in youth, and when Stouber endeavored to persuade some of the better informed young men to undertake the task, he found that the office had become so degraded in the public estimation, that there was no prospect of success. He at length adopted the expedient of abolishing the vulgar title of schoolmaster, and a number at once consented to act as Messieurs les Regents. Teachers and a suitable building being provided, the popular prejudice was excited against the innovation, by a dislike of its expensiveness, and the fear of not a few, that their children were to be submitted to some occult mode of acquiring knowledge; of which they thought they discovered alarming indications in the detached letters and syllables, used by the abecedarians. The progress of the pupils in the mystery of reading dispelled these fears; and such, at length, became the emulation for knowledge, that Stouber was encouraged to open a seminary for adults, who were taught on Sunday, and in the evenings of winter. He distributed among them fifty bibles, each divided into three portions, for more extensive circulation. they became convinced that these diminutive copies were as authentic as the large book they had been accustomed to see in the pulpit, they were highly prized and sedulously perused. When Excepting an interval of four years' service in another cure, Stouber resided at Waldbach in the faithful discharge of his duties until 1767, when he accepted the appointment to a church in Strasburg, and prevailed upon Mr. Oberlin to become his successor in the Ban. To the biography and character of this individual we now direct the attention of our readers. Jean-Frederic Oberlin was born at Strasburg, on the last day of August, 1740. His father was a teacher in the gymnasium of that place, a man of good acquirements and respectability, and the instructer of his nine children. To their affectionate mother, also, they were indebted for a sound and prudent inculcation of their moral and religious duties. John Frederic manifested an early inclination to a military life, but readily yielded to the wish of his father that he should embrace a learned profession. Several anecdotes are related of the uncommon benevolence of his disposition in childhood, and the unusual sacrifices and personal courage he displayed in behalf of the suffering or oppressed. These traits are at once recognised as the germs of a character, which expanded into noble developement in his manhood. After the usual preliminary education, Oberlin entered the theological class of the University at Strasburg, and in due time was ordained as a minister. He did not undertake any parochial charge, but served for seven years as tutor in the family of a distinguished surgeon, in whose service he casually acquired a portion of medical knowledge, which was of great use to him afterwards in Waldbach. The following pleasant anecdote is related as an example of the influence he acquired by his exemplary virtues among his fellow-citizens. |