Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1874-11-27
Ease nasiOsas of Women Net
Y4suUg.

The success of the pei formances gwen
lately at The Theatre Ventadour FIR the
benefit of Miss Virginia Dejazet, may be a
source of consolation opers"ns OF the gen
Tier sex who dread the age when then
charms are lessening. Although the bene-
ficiary is seventy five years of age, the
press and public unanimously acknowl-
edged her unequalltd talent on that occa-
sion. when she seemed as fas mating aid
graceful as she was even in the times OF
the illustrious French snngster. Brrangr !.
But history is full of the accounts of ta
fascnations of women who were no longer
young. THUS, Helen of Troy was OVER
forty when she perpetrated the most Cd
! nous elopempnt on record; and, rs the
| Siege of Troy sted decade, she could
not have been very Juvenile when the i'll
! fortunes of Paris restored her 10 her hus-
| nand, who is reported to have received her
| with unquestionlng love and gratitude
| Prrieles welded the courtesan Aspasia
! when sha was thirty-six. and yet she after
| wards, for thirty years or more, welded
an undiminislitd rtput ttion for beauty
| Cleopatra was past thirty when Antony
| fell under her spell, which never lesSened
until her death, nearly ten years aft er; and
! Liyia was thirty-three when she won the
| cart of Augustus, over whom she main
| tained her ascendancy to the LAST. Turn
| ing to more modern history, where it is
possible to verify dates more accurately.
we have the extraordinary Diana de Poi
tiers, who was tlirty-six when Henry ii
| then D Ike of Orleans, and just half her
| tge) became attached to her; and she was
| leld as the first lady and most beautiful
| woman at court up to the period of the
monarch's death, and of the accession to
t,ower of Catiar:re de Medicis. Anne OF
| Austria was thirty-eght when she was de-
scribed us the hands ,mest queen of Ell
| cope, and when Buckinglta liam and Richie
lieu were her jealous admirers. Nnon d.
l'Enclos, the most celebrated wit and
beauty of her dag, was the idol of thee
generations of the golden youth of France,
and she was seventy-two when the Able
lie Bernis fell inl VI with her. True it is
hat in the case of this lady d rare colnbl-
nation of culture. talents and personal at
fractions endowed their possessor SEEM
ingly with the gifts OF eternal youth. Bi-
anco Capello was thirty weight when the
Grand Duke Francisco of Florence fell
captive to her charms and m tde her his
wife, though he WIS five hears her junior.
Louis XIV welded Mime. de Mamtenon
When she Was forty-thfee years of age.
Catharine Ii of Russia was thirty-tlree
when she seized the Empire of Russia and
captivated the dashing young Gen. Orloff.
Up to the time of her death lat sixty seven)
she seemed to have retained the same be-
witching powers, for the lamentations
were heartfelt among all those who had
ever known her personally. Mile. Mars,
the celebrated French tragedienne, only
attained the zenith of her beauty and
power between forty and fOrty-ive. Ar
That period the loneliness her hands and
arms especially were celebrated throughout
Europe. The famous Nine. Recamier was
Ghirty-eight when Barras WAS busted from
power, and she was, without dispute, dc
,,lared to he the most beautiful woman in
Europe, which rank she held for fifteen
years. Although this list might be still
further extended, our readers-lhose inter-
ested especially will see from it that a
woman need not lore her attractions though
youth be gone, al d, above all, that it her
mind he cultured, her talents real. and her
neart kindly, she will retain power of
never-fading fascination.