A spark of that immortal fire,
By angels shared, to mortals given,
To lift from earth our low desire.”
And shall heaven-born love bow to mortal wisdom? Shall the God whom Jove himself obeys, become the slave of Minerva? No! let Love wear the cap and bells of Folly, but shroud him not in the cold cerements of the Goddess of Wisdom! Be assured, the doves of Venus will never nestle under the dusky wings of the sage owl of innupta Minerva, who, herself, could never win a husband, or a lover, from the whole host of Olympus.
Whatever the cause, it is almost indisputable that women’s characters are generally less developed than those of men; and this fact accurately accords with the usual development of their Noses. But for a small hiatus in the prosody, Pope’s line would read equally well thus:—
“Most women have no Noses at all.”
Not, of course, that the nasal appendage is wanting, any more than Pope intended by the original line that women’s characteristics were wholly negative; but that, like their characters, their Noses are, for the most part, cast in a smaller and less developed mould than the Nose masculine.
In judging of the Nose feminine, therefore, comparison must not be made with the masculine, but with other feminine Noses. All the rules and classifications apply to the one as well as the other, but allowance is to be made for sex.
The Roman Nose largely developed in a woman mars beauty, and imparts a hardness and masculine energy to the face which is unpleasing, because opposed to our ideas of woman’s softness and gentle temperament. In a man we admire stern energy and bold independence, and can even forgive, for their sakes, somewhat of coarseness; but in a woman the former are, at the least, unprepossessing and unfeminine, and the latter is utterly intolerable. Woman’s best sustainer is a pure mind; man’s a bold heart.
Moreover, the exhibition of character in women should be different from that in men. From the masculine Roman Nose we may justly look for energy in the active departments of life, but in a woman its indications are appropriately exhibited in firmness and regularity in those duties which legitimately fall to her lot. We do not desire to see a woman so endowed, launch out, uncalled for, into the bustle and turmoil of the world, or endeavour to take the reins of government from her husband, though she may be equally well fitted for the task: but we are content to see her govern her household with energy, and train up her children in a systematic and uniform manner.