The New Orleans bulletin. [volume] (New Orleans [La.]) 1874-1876, 1874-10-11
THE AGE OF WOMEN,

Assuredly no question possesses more
anx Gus interest to all unmarried women thar
the ,nomentous one of, when they will lose tn
power TO charm? And it is beyond doubt tina
a dread of the advancing years is much more
rooted in the minds OF the CENTER than Of tn
sterner sex, depressing them, indeed, often a
an absuriIy early age Only the othsl
day we heard a blooming maiden lamentinG
the approa h of her seventeenth birthday, say
ing, with melancholy shake of her prett,
head, 81 am growing 40 horribly old"
| la contrast to this was the remark of gen
tleman, who, being asked his age. repl ed
frankly, :" | am twenty-seven; not that i: mat
tiers mach, for it has always seemed to me thai
mans age was of the least consequence be
| tween Twenty-Five and forty. 1 should no
like to be less than twenty nor more thar
forty; between these periods en- indifferent
to the progress OF time"
1t would be difficult, if not impossible, tt
find woman equally philosophical in her es
innate of the flight of tue years, an exagger-
ated importance being usually attributed to
| the disturbances of "youngness. And yet,
despite all that has been said and sung Of the
loneliness of inmaturity. we doubt if any
woman Of real attractions ever comes into the
full giories of her kingdom until she hss
nearly reached that very age which Seems to
school girls the ultima thule Of youth.
IS difficult perhaps, to realize this, be-
cause 50 many of our theories and fancies are
founded rather on the superstiMons of the past
than on the actualities OF life In former Pc
RODS maiden must be welded as soon as
she reaches the age of womanhood; and as
marriage implied complete subordination aud
seclusion, the hey-day of life lay in the very
b.ief period between childhood and the early
bridal, and rs a consequence an exaggerated
estimate Of the attractions Of girlhood per-
vades all literature.
But, on the other hand, if we turn to the
pages of history, We find them fall Of the
stories of the destinations of women who were
no longer young. Helen of Troy had been
some years married when she perpetrateI the
most famous elopeInent On record and, as
the siege Of Troy lasted q decade, could not
have been very juvenile when the fortunes of
war restored her husband, who appears to
have received her with unquestioning ardor
and delight
Aspasia was considerably past thirty when
she welded p sricles, and she welded an un-
1imlnlshed influence for twenty years or
more. Cleopatra was about thirty when
Anthony fell under her SPELL which never
essened in power to the day OF her death,
nearly ten years later. Livia was nearly thirty
when she won the heart of Augustus, over
whom she maintained her ascendency to the
asst.
But turning 20 more modern history, where |
IS possible to verify dates more accurately, |
We have the extraordinary account of Diane |
le Poictiers, who was thirty-sis when Henry |
l, Chen the duke Of Orleans, and just half !
er sSe, became attached to her, and she was |
ED as the first lady. and most beautiful J
..tn at IN, no of he
cath. twanty-tour years atterwara
Anne o: Austria was thirty-eigh: when she
as described as the handsomess queen in
urope. Ninon de rEnclos, the most cele-
rated wit and beauty of her day, was the |
tored OF three generations Of "her golden
outh of France, and presents tbs most re-
larkable story in history of the duration of
ie powers OF fascination. In the instance of
lis lady, q rare combination OF culture, tai
ats and personal attractions endowed their
assessor seemingly With the gifts Of eternal
)nth.
Blanca Capello was 35 when the Grand
uke Francisco, of Florence, fell captive to
er charms, and made her his wife, though
was five years her junior. Catherine II
rs 80 when she seized the Empire of Russia, ,
ID captiyated the dashing young Gen. !
regory Oriof. Her advantages of person {
I'd mind made her attractive TOR many wears Y
niger, and she is thus described when at the t
e OF 43: Her eyes are blue, large and +
lie; her eyebrows and hair brown her t
ou,h wellproportioned her chin round ; | +
r nose rather long her forehead regular /
d open I; her hands and arms round and
llte hee shape rather full the air of her f
isd full of grace and dignity" Up to the a
ne OF her death, at sixty-seven, she seems d
have retained the power Of inspiring q sin t
re attach.1ent in the hearts Of her fayoritss, t.
? soldiers and her attendants as when at
lgth her splendid career closed. the ;amen- d
Iona were heartfelt among ali those who q
d ever knew her personally.
Mars tine celebrated French 6
ress. was plain and uninteresting in her
nth, her arms and hands being especially e.
and rough; but after she WAS fully matured Il
r beauty increased with every year. and she %
s at the zenith of her attractions between D
rty and forty-hve, at that period the lowell b
s. Of her hands and arms being celebrated
'oughout Europe. Il
The famous Madame Recamier was thirty
ut when the sllied sovereigns entered
RS, ana she was, without Dispute declared
be the most beautiful woman in Europe, q
TX which she had already held, however,
fifteen years.
This list might Re still further swelled, bat
ugh has been given to prove that q woman X
ID not lose her attractions though youth be st
he, and, above oil, that if her mind be cul- til
.ted and her heart kindly, she shall have
yer of never-fading tascination.-Leslie's al
iy's Journal
Mule q Ia Mode. st
The Society for the Promotion Of the ve