Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1879-04-24
WHEN ARE WOMEN MOST
L0vELYl
Some Pointed Answers TO a Pertinent
Question.

New York Sun.l
We have received from a young
lady a question which is so interesting
and invites our consideration to a
theme so delicate and delightful, that
we are fairly forced to answer 1t at
length. This is what she writes
Sir-Will you be kind enough to
tell me, arc young ladies considered
more lovely, and thought preferable,
at the ages from Is to y, or from 2
to % or 20? You will understand me;
| mean do men most admire themY
B.
Before proceeding to our answer,
let us thank our lovely friend for re-
framing from any attempt to bias our
Judgment by giving even a hint Of her
own ace. She probably thought that
if she did so, natural gallantry might
lead us away from a cool, judicial
view of the subject, and tempt us to
give the preference TO the types of
maidenly beauty which appear in
young women of her confessed years.
And we do not deny that such might
have been the case. As it is, we are
left entirely in the dark as to the
class to which she herself belongs
whether she is between Is and y, or
between y and 25-and so we are able
to answer her question on
ITS INTRINSIC MERITS.
LONELINESS in woman, though it may
vary in its character and manifesto
tions at different periods of life, is not
the property of youth only. There is
a great and undeniable charm in the
beauty of Is, to which inexperi-
ence and early romance lend perhaps
additional fascination. A pretty girl
of that age, who has been untouched
by care, and who knows of the world
Through imagination only, is a very
delightful object; and many men may
wish they might take captive her first
affections, Between is and p the
changes of a girl, so far as the charms
of her person go. are not likely to be
great, but in that time, by longer in
tercourse with society and by natural
development, she may grow more com
panionable for
MEN OF MATURITY,
and her carriage and self-control
become better and greater. Those
are important years in a young wo-
mans life, the years during which, in
our climate, the majority of the sex
are married. And yet from p to %
or %, a maiden may and generally
does still further advance in attract
iveness and add to the store of her
charms. She is still young, but she
has outliyed many youthful faneies,
and feels some of the dignity of
womanhood. No better ages than
in a maidens life, and never is
she lovelier. But why stop at 26?
What fairer women are to be found
than many of those between 26 and 30,
and even older? Girls of Is may
look on them as unsought old maids,
and yet they are in their womanly
and may capture hearts which
have been steeled against
GIRLIsH RESERVATIONS.
0ftentimes they make the best Of
and men find a solace and com
panionship in their society which i'm
maturity cannot give. They have the
advantage of experience, and they
have learned the lessons taught by
contact with the world, while
they still may not be ayerse to falling
in love. No, we assure our fair friend,
it is not that a woman is Is, or 26, or
30, which makes her lovely in the eyes
Of men. She may be just as lovely at
one age as another but inasmuch as
most marriages of women occur be-
tween the ages she mentions, it is safe
to assume that the majority of men
prefer to take wives who are not older,
but all mel Of taste and discernment
admire feminine beauty and lowell
ness, whether they show themselves
IN BUDDING YOUTH
or ripper maturity; and we will dare
assert that if our correspondent was
really charming at Is, she will be more
so at 26, or that if she is now lovely
at Is she ought to be lovelier at the
greater age. But let her give no fur
Their thought to the subject. The
beauty that is unconscious is the most
.alluring, and loveliness which exer-
cises It's sway without apparent effort
is sure to make the best conquest.
This we say in full confidence, that
the multitude of weddings which are
to take place in the period after Eas.
ter will confirm the truth of our
words. Let us hope that before
another return of this delightful sea-
son our fair correspondent will be
selecting her bridal outfit, having
found by happy personal experience
that we have wisely answered her
important question.