THE CONGRESS OF WOMEN.
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body and soul. A face may sometimes be faultless in contour and coloring, and yet fail to satisfy our idea of beauty, owing to a lack of expression. Expression is the painting and sculpture of the soul made manifest by the body, the radiation of character through the channels of expression. Physical exercise will fill those channels of expression when they have become choked by habits of stiffness and self-consciousness, and will restore the graceful suppleness, if not the unconscious grace, of childhood. A harsh, unmusical voice and awkward body can not well express sentiments of affection and sympathy; neither does a shrinking, bashful carriage denote courage and self- respect and kindred attributes which we value in our acquaintances. A fine bearing is a valuable letter of recommendation to any position, because of the qualities of mind supposed to underlie and to be expressed by this means.
When men and women study to know themselves and nature’s laws working in their minds and bodies, and when they are ready to obey those laws as confidently as the chemist obeys the laws of chemical affinity, then shall we see mothers watching and guarding their children against the sins of the body as well as the sins of the soul. Our body, the temple of the immortal part of us, will not be considered bestial any longer, but will be sculptured into Divine beauty by the Divinity within. The lofty carriage and high courtesy of manner will reveal the noble tenant within.