FOR THE PORT FOLIO. THE LADIES OF PHILADELPHIA, MR. OLDSCHOOL,' THE beauty of women is as much a subject of national pride and exultation as the wisdom and valour of men. These being qualities which each sex the most highly prizes in themselves and the most warmly admires in each other, it is perfectly natural that in a community such should equally be objects of general concern. If the skill and prowess of men is exercised in guarding their rights and protecting their country, such is the influence of female charms that they have arrested the warrior's arm in the attitude of assault, averted the horrors of impending war, disarmed the fury of the foe, saved their country from the humiliation of defeat, and secured the restoration of peace and tranquillity. The bewitching fascination of beauty is altogether irresistible. The soldier, whom no dangers can intimidate and no difficulties deter, who unfeelingly has robbed thousands of existence, who stands unmoved at the mollifying spectacles of distress, who has caused the annihilation of families and the desolation of nations, has fallen captive at the feet of woman.— Nothing contributes so effectually to render a woman celebrated, as beauty. It makes her an object of envy among her own sex, while it inspires the opposite with sentiments bordering on veneration. The very mention of her name draws forth encomiums from the one, and excites the malevolence of the other. In every company she is introduced as a principal subject of conversation. Every gentleman is proud of being admitted into the circle of her acquaintance; those that know her make a boast of it, while those who have not that honour, endeavour, by the extravagance of their admiration, to conceal their chagrin. Upon whomsoever she condescends to smile, it seems to give him for the moment the most rapturous bliss. Whoever is so fortunate as to obtain her as a partner in a dance, regards himself as the most favoured of mortals. Even among the women, though an object of envy, she is a pattern for imitation. Her very foibles are copied under the delusive hope that they may impart a portion of her attractive qualities. If she make any change in her dress, different from the common style, it is descried and obeyed as a signal for an alteration in the fashion.Her name is not merely known in the sphere in which she revolves, or in the town in which she was born, or where she lives; but extends far and wide, with a lustre undiminished. A fruitfulness in giving birth to females, endowed with the brilliant attribute of beauty, tends to render particular places illustrious.The charms of women shed a ray of glory around their country. The ladies of this metropolis are justly celebrated for the possession of extraordinary charms. In this particular the umpire of public taste has awarded them a reputation "proudly preeminent." A sweet and interesting expression of countenance, a wholesome ruddiness of complexion, blended with a skin delicately fair, a form graceful and majestic, with a deportment of the most perfect ease, yet full of dignity, may be said emphatically to designate them. In most large cities, the women in general have palid countenances and emaciated forms; but here, from the healthy situation of the town, the breadth of the streets, promoting a free circulation of air, the temperate lives young ladies lead, and the unusual quantity of exercise they take, their constitutions become invigorated, and the roseate bloom of beauty suffuses itself over their cheeks. A voluptuous indulgence in luxury and dissipation is extremely pernicious to the health, and as a consequence thereof diminishes the lustre of female charms. This is a practice to which those more particularly habituate themselves who are resident in large towns; but whether it arises from superior refinement of sentiment or greater purity of heart, it is one in which the ladies here do not indulge; nor do they like nuns immure themselves in cloisters and sedulously shun all intercourse with society; but by judiciously blending pleasures with domestic avocations, avoiding too much gratification on the one hand and too great abstemiousness on the other, they become accomplished women, acquit themselves with elegance in the drawing room, maintain at home their dignity as mistresses of families, while they preserve their beauty from the ravages of disease. It would be preposterous to assert that there are no homely women in this city. In a large concourse of people such are al ways to be found. It is impossible to walk the streets or frequent any public place of amusement, without meeting with many of that description. Their numbers are, however, comparatively small. Indeed few places, in proportion to its population, can on the score of beautiful women, be placed in competition with Philadelphia. But it is not in mere personal charms, that the women of this place possess a superiority. They have much more to recommend them. Were they mere pretty automatons, though their presence might afford a momentary pleasure, yet in a little while we become satiated with the sight and behold them with tranquil indifference. A silly uneducated woman cannot long maintain dominion over the heart of a sensible, well informed man. The charm vanishes, the illusion disappears, the chains that bound him fall. Beauty must first inspire love; but something more durable is necessary to secure it. Every quality that can render them better wives or more entertaining companions, the ladies here are conspicuously possessed of. There is no place in America, perhaps few in the world, where the education of women is superintended with equal care. Seminaries for this purpose abound, under the direction of persons eminently qualified from their learning for the fulfilment of so important a sta tion. The progress of the female mind in literature has been such as to show the susceptibility of their understandings to improvement, while the modest demeanor of that sex in society sufficiently refutes those who illiberally condemn female learning, and asperse it under the repulsive denomination of pedantry. Instead of wasting the precious hours of their lives in trifling amusements and petty occupations, the ladies, in a majority of instances, are now profitably employed in the cultivation of their minds; in consequence of which society has been in every respect benefited. Conversation no longer partakes of the frivolity that once characterised the sex. The husband no longer need blush at the folly of his wife, or dread to spend the long evenings of winter in her insipid company. The very nature of the sex seems to have undergone an exaltation. They appear be ings of a distinct and more noble species. Even their native charms have been greatly enhanced. The eye glistens with intelligence and the countenance beams with animation. Thus doth beauty dwell There most conspicuous e'en in outward form, L. C. FOR THE PORT FOLIO-THE LITERARY WORLD. Among the giants of literature, Johnson and Warburton, are deservedly enrolled. Like Rome, from humble beginnings, they rose to the proudest preeminence. The works of Warburton have been collected by the care of Hurd; but, from some circumstance, without our power to explain, they are not to be found in America, except in the library of two or three private gentlemen. The genius, learning and orthodoxy of this active prelate merit the consideration of some; and the literary world may perhaps, profitably impart the ensuing information. Bishop Warburton was, in a great measure, lost to the world and his friends, some years before his death, by the decay of his intellectual faculties; the body pressing down the mind that mused upon many things: which hath been the case with many a great genius as well as himself. For he was indeed a great genius, of the most extensive reading, of the most retentive memory, of the most copious invention, of the liveliest imagination, of the sharpest discernment, of the quickest wit, and of the readiest and happiest application of his immense knowledge. to the present subject and occasion. He was such a universal reader, that he took delight even in romances, and there is scarcely one, of any note, ancient or modern, which he had not read. He said himself that he had learned Spanish, to have the pleasure of reading Don Quixotte in the original. He was excellent and amiable both as a companion, and as a friend. As a companion, he did not dwell upon little or trivial matters, but disclosed a nicer vein of conversation, was lively and entertaining, was instructive and improving, abounded with pleasant stories and curious anecdotes: but sometimes took the discourse too much to himself, if any thing can be said to be too much of such an inexhaustible fund of wit and learning. As a friend he was ingenuous and communicative, would answer any questions, would resolve any doubts, delivered his sentiments upon all subjects freely, and without reserve laid open his very heart; and the character which he was pleased to give Mr. Pope of being the soul of friendship, was more justly applicable to him, and more properly his own. The same warmth of temper which animated his friendship, sharpened likewise his resentment: but even to his enemies, if he was easily provoked, he was as easily reconciled, especially after the least acknowledgment and submission; so that his friends truly applied to him the saying "Irasci facilis, tamen ut placabilis esset!" He was rather a tall, robust, large boned man, of a frame that seemed to require a good supply of provisions to support it; but he was sensible, if he had lived as other people do, he must have used a good deal of exercise; and if he had, it would have interrupted the course of his studies, to which he was so devoted, as to deny himself any other indulgence; and so became a singular example, not only of temperance, but even of abstinence in eating and drinking; and yet his spirits were not lowered or exhausted, but were rather raised and increased by his low living. His capital work, the Divine Legation of Moses, is left unfinished, to the loss and regret of all who have any regard for genius and learning. It is, indeed, a loss much to be lamented, whatever was the cause, whether he was disgusted at the ill reception, which was given to the work by several of the clergy, for whose use and service it was principally intended, or whether he was diverted from it, by the numerous controversies wherein he was engaged for its defence. But he should have cared for none of these things, and should have proceeded directly and steadily to the end. The viper might have fastened upon his hand, but, like St. Paul, he should have shaken off the beast into the fire, and, like him too, would certainly have felt no harm. |