It is foolish to wish for beauty. Sensible people never either desire it for themselves or care about it in others. If the mind be but well cultivated$$$ and the heart well disposed$$$ no one ever cares for the exterior. So said the teachers of our childhood; and so say we to the children of the present day. All very judicious and proper$$$ no doubt; but are such assertions supported by actual experience?We are naturally disposed to love what gives us pleasure$$$ and what more pleasing than a beautiful face—when we know no harm of the possessor at least? A little girl loves her bird—Why? Because it lives and feels; because it is helpless and harmless? A toad$$$ likewise$$$ lives and feels$$$ and is equally helpless and harmless; but though she would not hurt a toad$$$ she cannot love it like the bird$$$ with its graceful form$$$ soft feathers$$$ and bright$$$ speaking eyes. If a woman is fair and amiable$$$ she is praised for both qualities$$$ but especially the former$$$ by the bulk of mankind: if$$$ on the other hand$$$ she is disagreeable in person and character$$$ her plainness is commonly inveighed against as her greatest crime$$$ because$$$ to common observers$$$ it gives the greatest offence; while$$$ if she is plain and good$$$ provided she is a person of retired manners and secluded life$$$ no one ever knows of her goodness$$$ except her immediate connections. Others$$$ on the contrary$$$ are disposed to form unfavourable opinions of her mind$$$ and disposition$$$ if it be but to excuse themselves for their instinctive dislike of one so unfavoured by nature; and visa versâ with her whose angel form conceals a vicious heart$$$ or sheds a false$$$ deceitful charm over defects and foibles that would not be tolerated in another.