Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1870-11-27

The life and Cssaracsex of sac Esini-
mine Divinity who Dissolved n
- Pearl yzttia5g yinesar-Some Hzis-
torical Doubts Cleared Up.

toriCal Doubts Cleared Up.
Cleopatra ia supposed by some to have
been native of Pennsylvania, because
she was born on toe banks of the Nile
stream. She was descended from Cheops,
|. who was confectioner of great renown
some of his pyramids being shown
: in Egypt ydeyen 10 the present day.
Bony-part also came from Cheops, as
sll know who have had chops for break
fast. He always retained lively affec-
tion for sthea land of his ancestors, and
resolved to reign over it. He was accus-
toned to gamboling over the world, and
wished to play Pharaoh in Egypt. Pre-
vious to one of his great fights he sent
forty men to the top of one of the pyra-
mids tolook out for stragglers, and mott
fed his troops with the warning-''Forty
sentries look down upon you from the
tops of the pyramids. y At the next fight,
not having soldiers to spare, he had forty
mummies placed there, with the remark,
81 want to see how mummy looks es a
soldier" This gave rise to the tradition
that he had to fight kind of soldiers
called "Mamelukes. The forty CEN
turtles are still there and are called By
Travellers as they get by them, ''The
Dead Past" s5
But we must return to Cleopatra, as
Antony said at the battle of Actium.
Her name was originally Cleo Notwith-
standing her illustrious origin, she was
born in very humble circumstances, and
worked in the cotton fields. She was re-
markable for her punctuality in going to
her work in the morning, and the sound
of her wooden shoes was as good as a
clock to the people of Cairo. As her
pattering steps were heard in the early
morning they were accustomed to say,
Here comes the little patterer." Such
was the origin of the name by which she
was Familiarity known, cleopatra. We
have taken great pains to ascertain this,
as such pathological facts are always in
teresting and important. From sowing
she took to sewing, as she grew older,
and was so very expert as seamstress
that her needle is preserved to this day,
and is conspicuous monument in Egypt.
1t must have grown enormously since she
used it, and it is now much too large to
be conveniently handled. From sewing
she took to being sued, and many sutton
was soon ON his knees TO her, each one
going beyond the last in his protestations
of affection, giving rise to the Latin pro-
verb, "Ne s,ttor ultra crepidana."
Her first marriage was celebrated with
great Pomp. Some historians call him
Pompey the Great, for short. Something
soon happened to HIM, and she was left a
disconsoate widow. As she had laid her
head on Pompey's pillow first, she set that
up as a monument beside her needle,
memorials of her youthful industry and
her earliest love. Next Julius Cesar,
and as soon as he sees her he loves her.
Her cheeks were ct that time very rosy,
or, as the Romans expressed it, ''rubi-
cuud." This gave rise to the story OF
Caesars coming to something rubicund
and plunging in, hit or miss, liberty OF
| death, sink or swim, survive or perish,
and all that. We do not recollect the
whole of the story, but they say it was
! SO. she led him q dogs life by
her extravaganza, with her milliner's and
mantua-maker's bills. They rained il
upon him by the hundreds. They stuck
themselves in his face, crying "Cash-us ;
till the poor man gave up the ghost il
perfect desperation. This originated TIT
story that he was killed by Cassius. Hel
next lover was Antoninus Pie-ous, S,
called from his fondness for pastry. HI
was also called Marcus Antonius. Histo.
rians describe these as two different PEG
pie, but their object in doing so was NJ
doubt to spin out their books.
| AS ''brevity is the soul of w.t." w
think it much better to condense then
into one individual. This Antoninus Pie
Gus came over to Egypt to deYour thu
pyramids, which, he made up his mind
were composed of the most delicat
macaroons incrusted with stone by way o
an icing. He had heard some one So,
that these pyramids would snake q ruin
that would be very picturesque. H
caught the words ''pyramid" and ''mak
ruin," and thus originated his idea
Arriving in Egypt, he was received b
Cleopatra by one of Ter most fsscinatIn
smiles. He was led captive at once b
her coquetry, or her cookery, we canno
say which. She fed him on dissolve
pearls, among other things, her objeC
being to fill up his stomach with Stone:
so that he could not find room there fc
her beautiful pyramids. This was
great improvement on the old Hebrel
method of stoning man to death, an
equally effectual, for history records tina
Cleopatra was the death of him.
Finally, the time came for the beautiful
queen to die Chair and ALL Some writer
affirm that approaching an old wall
gather boquet she was stung in th
breast by an asp. Others say that sh
went to Asp-in-wall and caught Panam
fever, shook like an aspen leaf until SD
shook off her 'mortal COIL" and the
coilsd herself up and died. This last d,
scription is so vivid and circumstanti
that we are inclined to adopt it as true.
Thus ended the life of Cleopatra. "
intended to write of her character, bl
after getting all ready, we found that 81
had lost it.