in a subsequent note that "I can not
reconcile my heart and my manhood to a woman who can get along without
washing her face."

SOME OF THE SECRETS OF BEAUTY.

There is as much a "fashion" in complexion as there is in bonnets
or boots. Sometimes nature is the mode, sometimes art. Just now the
latter is in the ascendant, though, as a rule, only in that inferior
phase which has not reached the "concealment of art"--the point
where extremes meet and the perfection of artifice presents all the
appearance of artlessness. No one of an observant turn of mind, who
is accustomed to the sight of English maids and matrons, can deny
that making-up, as at present practiced, partakes of the amateurish
element. Impossible reds and whites grow still more impossibly red
and white from week to week under the unskilled hands of the wearer of
"false colors," who does not like to ask for advice on so delicate a
subject, for, even were she willing to confess to the practice, the
imputation of experience conveyed in the asking for counsel might be
badly received, and would scarcely be in good taste.

The prevalent and increasing short-sightedness of our times is,
perhaps, partly the cause of the excessive use of rouge and powder.
The wielder of the powder puff sees herself afar off, as it were. She
knows that she cannot judge of the effect of her complexion with her
face almost touching its reflection in the glass, and, standing about
a yard off, she naturally accentuates her roses and lilies in a way
that looks very pleasing to her, but is rather startling to any one
with longer sight. Nor can she tone down her rouge with the powdered
hair that softened the artificial coloring of her grandmother when she
had her day. Powder is only occasionally worn with evening dress,
and it is by daylight that those dreadful bluish reds and whites look
their worst.

On the other hand, there are some women so clever at making up their
faces that one feels almost inclined to condone the practice in
admiration of the result. These are the small minority, and are likely
to remain so, for their secret is of a kind unlikely to be shared. The
closest inspection of these cleverly managed complexions reveals no
trace of art.

Notwithstanding the reticence of these skilled artists, an occasional
burst of confidence has revealed a few of their means of accomplishing
the great end of looking pretty. "Do you often do that?" said one of
those clever ones, a ma