“BEAUTY THOUGHTS”

Pelorus Guardian and Miners' Advocate., Volume 17, Issue 59, 27 July 1906, Page 7

“BEAUTY THOUGHTS”

“AS WOMEN THINKETH. SO IS SHE HIDEOUS OR BEAUTIFUL. “Beauty is truth—truth beauty—that is all ye know on earth, and all ye need to. know.” When John Keats penned these lines in his “Ode on a Grecian Urn” probably he had no expectation that the essence of them would be the inspiration of a new school of feminine beauty culture, with' its high priestess and fair disciples in all lands. Yet “Beauty Thoughts” is the sole prescription written by Mrs. Jeannette Pometoy, the latest cele-

brity among beauty doctors, who ✓ disdain? all exterior - remedies —regardless .of the fate of masseurs, dermatologists, and cosmetic manufacturers—relying wholly upon th

beautifying influences of thoughts that arc elevating and serene, She tells her fair, and would-be fairer patients, in other words, what Isaac Barrcw wrote in the sixteenth century :

“Smiling always with a never fading serenity of countenance, and flourishing in immortal youth.”

In Paris and London, where titled women arc among her disciple-pat-ients, she is quoted thus ; “The greatest service to beauty is to start in the soul the growth of beautiful thoughts.” “Eyes grow soft frem looking at what is beautiful.” ‘ “Mouths' become tender through the influence of exquisite thoughts.” They declare that proof that she practices most successfully what she preaches is seen in her own serenely handsome face and in the lines of her graceful figure ; that at the age of fifty, she looks barely thirty. They arc echoing her assertion ; “Women need have no age.”

She has a London house in St. John’s Wood, where she receives women of the highest rank in England eager to know just what beautiful objects they should look upon, just what beautilul thoughts they should think in order to overcome their special defects of brow, cheek, lips, chin, or eyes, to hear her preface every individual lecture with the, general text of all her discourses : , “Lasting beauty is from within. It is the only true kind of beauty. Its root is in the soul. As a woman thinkoth, so is she hideous or beautiful.’’

While the carriage of the Duchess of Marlborough is standing before her door she is saying : “Your Grace looks perturbed this morning. There is a crease between the brows. It is very disfiguring, adding at least five years to your apparent age. Your Grace must remove it. By massage ? Oh, dear no By inviting thoughts that are calm and soothing. Take Lev.; with you this copy of ‘A Summer Day in the Lowlands,’ of Julien Dupre’s 'The Meadow,’ or Rosa Bcnheur’s ‘Contented Flock.’ Hang it at the foot of your couch. I wish it to b? the first thing you see in the morning, the last thing before you close your eyes at night. Thus your mind will recover its serenity. Serene thought will become habitual. Your brow will clear, and the expression of your eyes grow softer.” LUSTRE TO.THE EYE, COLOUR TO THE CHEEKS.

It is Lady Gray Egerton’s turn. Her ladyship enters Sirs. Pomeroy's consulting room, looking dull, languid, bored. The High Priestess’s manner becomes animated. Her voice, her manner, every feature aglow with enthusirx.' for the beauty of the world, and all in it. She says :

“Your Ladyship’s thoughts have been misdirected. It is not true that life has become tasteless to you. Your eyes are dull and your complexion colourless, I. -'‘vro your thoughts are so. Your (interest must bo stinV '-d through your most susceptible senses. Your eye and your ear mu«t be charmed. If you have a good print of ‘The Dance of the Nymphs' let it be hung in your boudoir and let your gaze dwell upon its graceful figures again and again. You have none ? I gave my last to the Duchess of Westminster—too bad ! But the right music will do in your case. Have the ‘lnvitation to the Waltz ’ played to you twenty times a day—l promise you it will bring back cheerful thoughts, colour to ycur cheeks, and lustre to your eyes.” The Countess of Warwick enters briskly. She is animated. Her eyes are bright, and her colour good, but the High Priestess is not satisfied. Without preamble she remarks : "Your Ladyship is developing a symptom that causes pie anxiety.”

.“[You mean .my hair?" asks thtf sprightly Countess. "I distinctly saw a gray hair this morning. It grew over my temple." No, a gray hair is no detriment to real beauty. It is your mouth. .Your lips are forming too straight a line. Your thoughts are becoming too practical too matter of fact. The mouth, let mo warn your ladyship, is the surest record of the tendency of a woman’s thoughts. If the corners turn too persistently upward it means undue merriment, with a tendency to flippancy. If they droop they tell Of melancholy. ■ “For, your Ladyship, beware of that straight line of resolve. You have the details of too many enterprises on your mind. You must stop thinking cf your agricultural school, and your working girls. For the present you must abandon all executive tasks. Let your secretary manage these matters for awhile. “I desire that you sliould go to a mask ball. Be ingenuous. Go as a shepherdess. I know it is out of season here in London, but you might give a costume ball to your Warwick Castle. That will start you on the right track. . “You see, your Ladyship must play at something besides being the cleverest and busiest woman in the United-Kingdom. You must think of nothing but'ymdti and romance for a time until your mouth has regained its natural curves."-

She is reputed to be a wealthy woman, beyond the need of being a priestess of any cult. She was born in British India, where she lived until her marriage, and there, she learned what p v, o is teaching—that beauty is from within. She has said that , poverty is not necessarily unfavourable to beauty. It is only ugly thoughts that make ugly features. There must be an inspiration to beautiful thinking. “I would have,” she says, “in the home of every working girl at least one beautiful object for her eyes to rest upon. It does not .matter if it is only a two-cent print of a good painting with the right subject. There must be something that suggests beauty to make her grow beautiful.’*