Beauty's Bath [pp. 353]

THE
L A D I E S' REPOSITOR,.
DECEMBER, 1849.
BEAUTY'S BATH.
OuR plate for the present month, the last of the
current year, is, in our opinion, really magnificent;
and by this we do not mean any thing less than
that the engraving is done in the very first style of
the art. Some of our previous plates, we are free
to confess, have been but ordinary pictures, and
one or two have appeared in the Repository during
our editorial administration, which, had it been
possible, we should have never used. We refer
more particularly to the engraving which appeared
in our periodical for July, 1847, and which we
knew, at the time, would bring down a rich blessing
on our unoffending head from our cotemporaries.
The engraving is called " The Morning Walk;" and,
if the reader has in her possession volume seventh of
the Repository, and will turn to the engraving in
question, she will agree with the editor, that the
mother and child, who are taking their morning
walk through the woods and fields, are both actually larger and taller than the trees themselves,
as exhibited in the picture.
But, while we have no hesitancy thus to speak
plainly about the rather indifferent character of
some of our previous engravings, we are equally
disposed to affirm that the majority of our plates
are good, and some of them of a decidedly superior
character. We have no disposition whatever to
call the Ladies' Repository the star of western literature, the Blackwood of America, etc., as some
periodicals have assumed to say of themselves.
But, in justice to ourselves, we must say that, independent of the literary character of our work, we
think we have just cause to be proud of our embellishments; and this we say particularly of our present plate. There is an exquisiteness of finish, a
justness of detail, and a softness and elegance of
execution in the engraving, which we deem incapable of improvement.
Let us, reader, take a moment or two, and examine the picture. The dog in the child's arms, it
seems, is a genuine poodle, of the genus canis
anglicus. Is it not a little singular that this same
pug-dog, whom certain ladies love to pet, is strongly
akin to the terrier and bull-dog? In the Edinburg
edition of the Naturalist's Library, volume tenth,
page two hundred and thirtieth, we find that Sir
VOL. IX. —23
Wm. Jardine has placed the pug and alicant, or lapdog, on the same footing, so far as external appearance is concerned, with the bull-terrier. In temper,
however, the poodle, unlike the bull-dog, is not
very valiant. A naturalist tells us a story of one
of these little pets that was pinched severely by his
master. At the first pinching he cowed down,
without showing any signs of fight. At the second
and third pinchings he still cowed, and, finally,
seeing no end to his tortures, he yelled, at his full
lungs' strength, and sued for peace, which, thus
earnestly asked, wn,, of course, granted by his tormentor. The lap-dog, we believe, seldom shows
much anxiety to get out of danger, and hardly ever
becomes angry when teased.
Here, then, reader, is a lesson for us, taught us,
too, by one of the most insignificant of the brute
creation-a lesson, it is to be feared, which is rarely
learned, or, if learned, as rarely practiced. How
very common, and how very easy it is to get mad,
and then to quarrel, and have a long train of difficulties, and all about nothing! Here it is. One
man says something to another man, which the
latter does not like; the second man gets irritated
by the first man's talk; the first gets angry, because
the second got angry, and so the matter goes on;
words first, blows next, and a final separation as
the end of the matter. What an animal is man! and
how impatient of restraint is he I and how destitute
of patience, compared even to the little pug-dog I
There the poor fellow is in the arms of that little
girl, querling and trembling, lest the next moment
he will be kicking for his life, in the water before
him.
Rare sport, Miss Caroline, for you; but not much,
save misery, for poor Fido!
Well, my dear girl, we had much rather see you
ducking the little fellow than nursing, and kissing,
and fussing over him; and we know that he would
sooner thank you for a bath than for a kiss.
Another look, reader, at the fine bright eyes of
the innocent little girl before you. Did you ever
see any thing more natural? Really, there is something sweet in her expression, and it appears she
must be a good-natured and a kind-hearted creature.
Would you not be willing to own her for your sister, and lead and teach her through life?
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