The Middlebury register. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1850-1882, 1875-05-18
Beauty Independent of Youth.

Helen of Troy vas over 40 when she
perpetratcd the most famous clopcment
on record, and as the siege Of Troy lasted
decade she must have been quite elder
ly when the i'll fortune OF Paris restored
her to her husband, who is reported to
have received her with unquestiouing
love aud gratitude. Pericles welded
Aspasia when she was 36, and yet alter
ward,for 80 years Or more she held an un-
diminished reputation for beauty. Cleopa.
ira was past 30 when Antony fell under
her spell, which never lessencd until her
death, nearly 10 years after and Livia
was 80 when she won the heart of
Augustus, over whom she maintained her
ascendency to the last. The extraordinary
Diana dc Poictiers was 36 when Henry
Ii, OF France (then duke Of Orleans, and
just half her age) became attached to
her; and she was held as the first lady
and most beautiful woman at court up to
the period of the monarch's death and Of
the accession to power OF Catherine de
Medicis. Anne Of Austria was So
when she was the handsomest queen Of
Europe, and when Buckingham and
Richelieu were her jealous admirers
Ninon de l'Enclos, the most celebrated
wit and beauty of her day was the idol Of
three generations of the golden youth Of
France, and was - when the able de
Bernis fell in love with her. A rare
combination Of culture, talents, and
personal attractions endowed their
possessor seemingly with the gifts of
eternal youth. Blanca Capello was SO
when the Grand Duke Francisco of
Florence fell captive to her charms, and
made her his wife, though he was five
years her junior. Louis XIV. welded
Nine de Maintenon when she was 43
years of age. Catherine III. of Russia
was 33 when she seized the empire of
Russia, and captivated the dashing
young Orloff. Up to the time OF her
death lat G7) she seems to have retained
the same bewitching powers, for the
lamentations were heartfelt among all
those who had ever known her personally.
Mile. Mars the tragedienne, only attained
the zenith Of her beauty and power be.
tween 40 and 45, when the loveliness of
her hands and arms especially was cele-
brated throughout Europe. Nine.
Recamier was SO when she was without
dispute declared to be the most beautiful
woman in Europe, which rank she held
for - years.
MAN IN THE DILUvIAL PERIoD.-The
question was long since raised, whether
traces Of human existance had been, or
were to be. found in the sand and gravel
of the Post-Tertiary or Diluvial period,
which Immediately preceded the present.
Some affirmed the fndiRg of such remains
in these, and the contemporaneous depos-
its Of certain caves, while most geologists
rejected such statements as erroneous, or
at best unauthenticated, plausibly urging
that ancient animal and recent human re.
mains might easily have become inter.
mingled. And such researches were dis.
credited and discouraged by Cuvier's
magisterial dictum, that man did not ex.
list in the Diluvial period, and that it
was, therefore, vain to look for evidences
of his existence.
Some twenty years ago, however, Nj.
Boucher de Perthes discovered a quaint.
ty of rude stone implements, in the Dilu-
vial gravel-beds of Abbeville in the val
ley of the Somme, in intimate connection
with the bones of mammoths. This die.
covery attracting much attention,in 1858
the French Academy of Sciences sent to
the spot committee Of investigation,
composed, be it not forgotten, Of men ut
terly skeptical as to the fact at issue,
This committee, strengthened by the ac-
cession Of several English geologists, work.
ed long and carefully at its task, and the
Academy's discussions upon its reports
were earnest and thorough yet the re.
suit was the complete confirmation of De
Perthes' reputed discoveries and of the
conclusions he had drawn therefrom. Gu.
vier was confuted the existence of man
in the diluvial period was established
Similar discoveries in the open country
and caves Of Germany, Spain, Italy, Eng
land, Belgium and especially France, fol-.
lowed in rapid succession.