COSMETICS. Poses for the cheeks And lilies for the brows of faded age; Teeth for the toothless, ringlets for the bald; COWPER.. Next to the quack doctors, may be classed those beautifiers of the human countenance-the inventors of cosmetics. Aided by the miraculous power of lotions and tinctures, new beauties reanimate the face, and we behold the roseate bloom of youth smile like morning light on the varnished visage of age. While a superabundance of paints and lotions renovate beauty, the fair artist daily improves in taste; she guides the pencil with such skill over every line of her face, and imitates nature with such elegance, that we may soon be able to boast of female portrait-painters who will excel even Sir Joshua Reynolds himself! One great advantage in favour of female genius, in this instance, is the superior texture of the skin to canvas, or any other artificial ground. It is to be regretted, however, that too many of our female artists grow negligent after marriage, and, reflecting that the portrait is sold, take little pains to improve its tints; nay, it is asserted, that they often become hideously deformed in a few years. This is certainly a great imperfection, for › the works of the most eminent male artists have generally become more estimable in the eyes of the connoisseur in proportion to their age. How are we to solve this problem? Is it because Nature always counteracts any violation of her precepts, that the fair sex, who assume artificial beauties, thus fall a sacrifice to their own imprudence?—the moralist would add-their IMPIETY. One of our ethical writers says, that there are no better cosweties than a severe temperance and purity, modesty and humility, a gracious temper and calmness of spirit; no true beauty without the signatures of these graces in the very countenance." Such puritanical precepts might have been esteemed in the days of yore; but what woman of spirit would now submit to such philosophic self-denial? Severe temperance, modesty, and humility, indeed! No, no, our modish fair ones are too knowing, to venerate the slavish restrictions of morality: "Hourly they give, and spend, and waste, and wear, In this enlightened age, the visage that time had tinc"tured with a philomot hue now assumes the mellow blush of Hebe herself. Circassia sends her bloom to `animate the face of English beauty: exotic blushes are imported as superior to those suffusions formerly celebrated by our poets; and art, wonder-working art, is the creator of fashionable beauty. Hoary locks and wrinkles are banished from this happy metropolis: and washes which render the ladies "ever fair and ever 'young," may be obtained for gold. Those irresistible arms of the ladies of London are chiefly compounded of ingenious chymical preparations. Mercury, that conqueror of the sons of pleasure, and lead, that destroyer of heroes, form the principal ingredients with which the fair-sex so plentifully lacker their epidermis! Ah! spare our beaux, ye fascinating matrons and ever-blooming virgins, nor thus incase yourselves in a coat of mail that at once allures and destroys! The curiosity of our mother Eve first introduced knowledge to the human race, and it may rationally be supposed that the first woman has been excelled by her * As hard words are often unintelligible to the innocent part of the fair sex, it may be proper to inform them, that the epidermis is the outermost skin of the human body. As for the FEMALE PHILOSOPHERS, they know every thing!!! daughters in useful and excellent discoveries. Indeed, from what we can learn, Eve had but a very imperfect idea of dress; nor did she require the aid of cosmetics, for her face and form were already superlatively charming. At length time deprived our lovely mother of her graces, and death triumphed over the fairest part of the visible creation. Our modern belles, on the contrary, have invented tints that set the assaults of time at defiance: their happy skill can adorn the palest cheek with a permanent vermeil hue, and prevent the decays of old age from becoming visible; nay, it is not improbable that their wonderful inventive powers will eventually overcome the ghastly horrors of death, and shine with undiminished charms even in the shroud. The superiority of artificial to natural beauty will appear in all its dignity, if we contrast the permanent bloom of the former with the unfashionable flushings of the latter. A truly modest woman, whose delicate organization delineates every strong emotion in her expressive face, must appear a singular being in the eyes of those modish females, whose faces wear one unchangeable smile. The aspect of the modest woman is like the aurora borealis, while her blushes alternately flash and fade; but the countenance of the accomplished T lady, decorated with COSMETICS, resembles the sub, and shines with unfading glory. CARICATURE AND PRINTSHOPS. The caricature and printshops, which are so gratifying to the fancy of the idle and licentious, must necessarily have a powerful influence on the morals and industry of the people. Caricaturists are certainly entitled to the reward which a well-regulated police will ever bestow on the promoters of immorality and profaneness. Their indefatigable study to ridicule oddities of character might be overlooked, and in a few instances their exhibition of vice to derision may be useful, but the general effect of their productions is the proper standard by which we can duly estimate their merit or demerit.— When brought to the tribunal of reason, it will be found that the greater part of such caricatures, prints, and paintings, as appear in the windows of our printsellers, are injurious to virtue. This humourous mode of satirising folly is very prejudicial to the multitude in many respects:-in the loss of time to those who stop to contemplate the different figures; the opportunities given to pickpockets to exercise their art; and that incitement to licentiousness oc |