Catoctin clarion. [volume] (Mechanicstown, Md.) 1871-1940, 1874-12-15
Enscinations Of Women not Young.

The success Of the performances
rivcn for the benefit of Dejazet may
be a source of consolation to persons
Of the gentlcr sex who dread the age
when their charms are lessenlhg.
Although the beneficiary is seventy
FIVE years of age the press and the
public unanimously acknowledged
her an unequa.lel talent on that oc-
casion when she seemed as fascinating
and graceful as she was even in the
times Of the illustrated French song
ster, Berangor.
But history is full Of the accounts
of the destinations Of women who are
no longer young. Thus Helen o.
Troy was over forty when she pcrpe-
trated the most famous elopement or
record; and, as the siege Of Troy last
ed a decade, she could not have been
very juvenile when the ill.lortuncs o.
Paris restored her to her husband, who
it is SAID, received her with unques
tioning love and gratitude. Per'cIe'
weddei Aspasia when she was thirty
six, and yet she attcrward, for thirty
years or more, yielded an undlmlnsh-
ed reputatian for beauty. Cleopatra
was past thirty when Antony fell I'M,
der her spell which never lessened I'M
til her death, nearly ten years after
and Olivia was thirty-three when she
won the heart Of Augustus, over whom
she maintained her ascendancy to the
last.
Turning to more modern history
where it is possible to verify date:
more accurately, We have an extraor.
binary Diana de Poitiers, who was
thrtv-six years old when Henry II
(then Duke Of Orleans, and just hall
her agc) became attached to her and
she was held as the first lady and most
beautiful woman at court up to the
period of their monarchs death an"
Of the accession to power OF Catherine
Of MeIicis. Anne Of Austria was
thirty. eight when she WAS described
as the hanlsomest queen Of Europe,
and when Buckingham and RicheIle'l
were her Jealous admirers. NInon de
IEnclos, the most celebrated wit amt
beauty of her day, was, the Idol o'
three generations Of the golden H".,. -
of France, end she was &evcnty-t"o
when de Berni3 fell in love with her
True it is that in the case Of tins lady
q rare combination of culture, talents
and personal attractions endowed
their posse8sor seemingly with the
gifts Of eternal youth. Blanca C"peI'
lon was thirty-eight when the grand
Duke Francisco Of Florence fell cap
tive to her charms and made her his
wife, though he was five years her
Junior. Louis the XIV. welded Nine.
de Maintenon when she was forty
three years of age. Catherine II. o:
Russia was thirty three when she
seized the Empire of Russia and cap
tivatel the dashing young general
Orlof. Up to the time Of her death
Cat sixty-seven) she seems to have re-
tanned the same bewitching powers,
for the lamentations We're heartfelt
among all those who had ever known
her personally. Mile. Mars, the cell
ebrated French tragedienne, only at
tanned the zenith Of her beauty and
power between forty and forty-livo.
At that period the loveliness Of her
hands and arms especially were ceIe-
brated throughout Europe. The IA
nous Nine. Recamler was thirty
eight when Barras was onsted from
power, and she was, without dispute
declared to be the most beautiful wom-
an in Europe, which rank she held for
fifteen years.
Although this list might be still
further extended, our readers, those
interested especially, will see from it
that a woman need not lose her at
fractions, though youth be gone, and,
above all, that if her mind be cultur-
Ell, her talents real and her heart
kindly she will retain power OF never
fading fascination.
Times Of general calamity and con-