The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1869-02-03

vhC pdcSuSO VI tllG NodS6, T6bdlutuS tue uDSu
delicate womanlness we had almost said
girlishness- quite old age, and blushlng
under their gray hairs while they shrink from
anything coarse or vulgar or impure as seEsi-
quarante ans is the French term for the opsn-
ing of the great gulf beyond which love can
not pass; but human history disproves this
date, and shows that the heart can remain
fixed for the final adieu to admiration, and that
the mature siren can be adored by her cwn
contemporaries when the rising generationre-
gard her as nothing better than chimney
the claims of the mature siren in his ssOKey
Farm" and "Miss Mackenzie :" and no one san
deny the intense naturalness Of the characters
and the interest Of the stories. 9G
Another point with the mature womai is
that she is not jealous nor exacting. She kn9ws
the world, and takes what comes with the bhi-
loso.phy that springs from knowledge. If.whe
is OF an enjoying nature-and she cannot te q
siren elSe--she accepts such good as hoats to
the top without looking too deep into the Cup
and speculating on the time when she shall
have drained i to the dregs. Men feel .afe
with her. II they have entered on o teIlcr
friendship with her, they know that there will
be no scene, no tears, no upbraldings, when
an memorable fate comes in to end their p!eas-
ant little drama, with the inevitable wife as sne
scene-shitter: The mature siren knows so welt
that fate and the wife must break in between
her and her friend. that she is resigned Gnrn
the 1irst to what is foredoomed, and so accepts
her bitter portion. when it comes. with dignity
and in silence. Where younger women would
fall into Mysteries and make q scene, perhaps
80 about the world taking their re-
venge in slander, the middle aged wo-
man holds out a friendly hand, aud takes
the back seat gallantly: never showing by
word or look that she has felt her depositnn
She becomes the best friend Of tho new hottse-
hold; and, if any oneis jealous, ten to one 4 is
the husband that Is jealous Of her love fofNais
wife, or perhaps it is the wife herself, who &n-
w M h1o and nov1 t.v,I k<>o LIN
80 much in Mrs. A., and who pouts at hish hx-
traordinary prediction for her, thohph
OF course she would scorn to be jealous -Sas,
indeed, she has no cause. For even q matare
likely to come before young wife in the hArrt
Of her husband. Though the French paint :he
love or woman of forty as pathetic, becs ase
slightly ridiculous and certainly hopeless, yet
that youth is generally supposed to makeshs
first love of q married. woman many years.his
elder, and q mature siren finds her last love in
youth; We have not come to this ycE. in
is to be hoped that we never s.ali
come to it. Many sirens are all verplwelI
for men Of their own age, and ii. is
pleasant to see them stlh loved and adpssrad,
women to something higher than mere pegso-
nal passion; but the case would be very II ssfar-
ent ii they became ghoulish seducorS 0Ashe
young, and kept up the habits pf love = &sfl-
tduRlluB UOylSn HoATVS atlil UEfS
lives. AS they are now, they form charia;,ig
clement in society, and are Of lnfiaite ust to
the world. They are the rip" fruit in the gar
don where else everything ", lid be green snd
lmmature-the last DAYS Of the golden summer
just before the chillscf autumn come on: l,ey
contain in themselves the advantages OF Two
distlnct epochs, and ,ghile possessing as mach
personal charm as youth, possess alsesshe
gains which come BY experience and maturity.
They keep things together as the young asone
could not do: and no gathering of ffien,a is
perfect which has not one or two n,ature sii ns
to give the tone to the resi-, and prevent kax-
cesses. They soften the asoefities OF CO 99lis
handed boys and gif ifiss which 5slsc xunls EsSfoo
HTsnft Asss1 "a sssfss
them in good humor with themselves, by the
courtesy with which they listen to them, and
the patience with which they bear with them
Even the very girls who hate them fiercely as
rivals love them passing we'll as half ma ternal
half ssterly companions and the first person
to whom they would carry their sorrows would
be mature siren, quite capable on her own
part Of having caused them. 1t would be hard
indeed ii the loss OF youth did not bring with
it some compenSations but the mature siren
suffers less from that loss than any other kind
Of woman. Indeed, she seems to have pri-
vate elixir OF her own which is not quite drain
ed dry when she dies, beloved and regretted,
at threescore years and ten leaving behind
her one or two old friends who we're once her
ardent lovers, and who still cherish her mem.
ory as that Of the finest aud most fascin ating
woman they ever knew-something which the
present generation is utterly incapable OF re-
peating.