THE MIRROR OF TRUE WOMANHOOD

 

AN EXTRACT FROM

THE MIRROR OF TRUE WOMANHOOD

‘The Mirror of True Womanhood’ is a book by the Australian author Rev. Bernard O’Reilly (1803-1856). It  was published in 1883 and because of its eternal relevance has been reprinted many times.

The extract that follows illustrates the beauty of simplicity in dress.

Beauty, the highest beauty, does not consist so much in outline and form as in expression; and what  ineffable beauty does not the expression of purity and holiness give o the homeliest countenance of the frailest figure? Certain old earthen earthenware vases were covered with designs of so exquisite, and in colours so cunningly disguised to an ordinary observer, that, in his estimation, they possessed neither beauty, nor value. But, when, at night, a light was placed within them, the whole artifice of the maker was plain, and they were pronounced most beautiful and f inestimable price by the beholder.

            Be ambitious to pace that light --- the light of that supernatural love you know of --- within your daughter’s soul; and fer not but when lighted up with it face and figure will charm all who look upon them. This first labour of yours will only be the beginning of the formation of

                        “A perfect woman, nobly planned

                         To warn, to comfort, and command –

        And yet a spirit still and bright,

        With something of an angel light!”

             If you continue to add to this simplicity and purity of soul that other sister and guardian virtue, self-denial, rest assured that at fifteen and sixteen, your child will add to that angelic expression of countenance

                        “The reason firm, the temperate will,

                         Endurance, foresight, strength, and skill,”

everything, in one word, which can make her “a phantom of delight” to the beholder.

            What man, no matter how high-born, if his heart has not been corrupted by various indulgence, would not prefer such “a vision of purity,” though wearing the simplest attire, to a gaudy worldling dressed out in robe and jewels worth a fortune, and from whose eyes flashes only the fire of earthly passions.

             If you are a wealthy mother, you will understand that by insisting on this this early lo end practice of simplicity, we do not condemn the richness of attire suitable to one’s condition, or the occasional wearing of suitable ornaments.

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8^th March 2021                                                   G.R.Kanwal