The Sun.
London, England, 1857-08-20 00:00:00

LECTURE BY LOLA MONTE&

The celebrated Lola Montes has been lecturing in Canada
on Female Beauty. According to the Cinalian parwq,
the I,ly proceeded to ask where beauty lay'? " Where,"
she said. "shall we look for this source of power? Often,
perhaps, in a men dimple, souetinaes iu the soft shadow of
a drooping eyelid, or a;ain beueath the tresses of a little
fantastic curl. Alas !" and she spoke it most impressively,
" Alas I am ashamed to think what small things will often
move the strongest and bravest of men ! Many times in
my life, in the company of kings and nobles, have I been
forced with sadness to reflect on the words of the sublime
Milton, in which he speaks of woman as—
' Fair, no doubt, and worthy well
Thy cherishing, thy honour, and thy love,
Not thy subjection.'"
Lola considered the English, Irish, and Scotch women to
be the handsomest. Speaking of beauty, she gave the
palm to the well known Duchess of Sutherland, who moved
a natural queen, and was the paragon among the beautiful
aristocracy of England. Lady Blessington was a mar-
vellous beauty ; kings and nobles were at her feet. In
Italy they called her La Diva—the goddess. She was
chanting, with a neck that sat on her shoulders like the
most charming Greek models. She had a wonderfully beau-
tiful hand, and an eye, that when it smiled, captivated all
hearts. She was a far more intellectual style of beauty
than even the Duchess of Sutherland. The present Duchess
of Wellington (when Lola saw her Marchioness of Douro)
was an admirably beautiful woman, with little intellect or
animation. She was a fine piece of sculpture—and as cold
as a piece of sculpture. The most famous beautiful
family in England was the great Sheridan family. There
were two sons, both, said Lola, known to herself, who
were considered the handsomest men of their day. There
were three daughters—the Hon. Mrs. Norton, well known
on this side of the Atlantic through her poetry and her mis-
fortunes : Lady Blackwood and Lady Seymour, the latter of
whom was the Queen of Beauty at the famous Egliuton
tournament. These three were called the three graces
of England. Speaking of French beauties, Lola first
praised the Marquise de la Grange, and afterwards the
Empress Eugenie. When Lola last saw Eugenie, she
(Eugenie) was certainly one of the most vivacious, witty,
and sprightly women of Paris. All the portraits in this
country greatly exaggerated her size, for Eugenie was really
a small woman. Before her marriage with the Emperor, and
when she was the belle of Madrid, she evinced a high ad-
miration for Louis Gottschalk, the pianist, who, by the way",
had carried off unwittingly half a million of hearts from the
United States. Eugenie caused him to be received into
the most aristocratic families of Madrid. Lola then passed
on to sketch the various characteristics of the beauties
of the various countries, and took occasion to hit Lord
Brougham. The Coustantinopolitan ladies, with whom
corpulency was beauty, would, she said, have elicited
from that polished gallant the exclamation, " what quan-
tity." Lola decried all cosmetics. She recommended
three things—temperance, exercise, and cleanliness, as pre-
servatives of beauty. The bath, she said, which was uni-
versal everywhere but in Britain and America, was the best
wash that could be desired, although, indeed, it was men'
tioned that tincture of benzoin, precipitated by water, was
used by the beauties of Charles H.'s reign, and really
brought blood to the surface. Bran might be advantage'
ously used in connection with the bath. A well-cultivated
mind was that which gave not only eloquence to the tongue,
but lustre to the eye, vermillion to the cheek, and lighted
up the whole person as though the whole body thought.
Lola moralised much and well, and when in thls vein dress'
forth the heartiest applause.