The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1879-07-16
WORSHIP OF BEAUTY:
Prospects that the Beautiful Mrs. Langtry
VIII visit This Countrywide Curl
osity to See Her Great as
Ever in London.


that Mrs. Langtry is going to America in
the autumn. If it be true, then you will be |
able to test for yourself the English standard |
of beauty. For Mrs. Langtry, though sub |
iected during two seasons to the severest COM |
petition. remains the acknowledged queen |
among those ladies to whom society pays
homage for their good looks. She is still at
the head of the professional beauties, ms peo-
pie choose to call them. The name is con-
venient and has passed into general use. 1t
must not be understood as conveying any
reproach whatever. 1t is to be said OF Mrs.
Langtry-but for the word professional it
would not require saying-that her name
has been for two years or more, on every
body's lips and in every gossiping pa
per without being
ASSOCIATED WITH ANY SCANDAL.
This is true, absolutely true, although it was
the Prince of Wales who first took note of
her attractions, and who first brought her
into notice and made her the most famous
woman in London. 1 don't scruple to write
thus freely about lady whose life is, in the
proper sense of the word, passed wholly in
private society, l don't scruple, l say, be-
cause she has herself borne a great deal of
publicity without objection; and even with
some appearance to liking the kind of celeb
rity to which she has been exposed. For
that matter, / have seen her name often
in American papers, and if she goes to the
United States, she will be sure to find that
her fame has preceded her. Nor does Mr..
Langtrv seem to dislike the renown which
| connects itself with his wife's beauty. The
renown has long since spread all over the
| United Kingdom. heard striking proof of
it last summer / had been staying at a
country-house in Scotland, and on my way
| to another part of the Scottish world was
| passing through Inverness. Mrs. Langtry
| had been there the day before. Inverness.
| is pretty well in the extreme North of Scot
| land and is its last considerable town in
| that direction. A friend whom l met at the
hotel told me then that Mrs. Langtry's arri-
val had been announced in the local paper,
ana that she had been met at the railway
station by great company OF curious spec
tators She had ventured into the street a
little later, and had been mobbed in true
London. fashion. IA. crowd followed her
wherever she went She made the journey
next day down the Caledonian canal and
had been mobbed in the boat. She had
stopped, as most people do, to see the Falls
of Towers-if 1 recollect the name rightly
and had been followed by multitude up the
steep path which leads to them. stopped
there myself day later, and the beggars
who line the road had still something to say
|
passengers appear to have spent their whole
time in alteration before the Langtry shrine
to the utter neglect of the wonderful seem
cry through which the steamboat passes for
nearly the whole length of the canal. In
London ITSELF long as
MRS. LANGTRY's REIGN
has lasted, the curiosity to see her has never
subsidized The occasions for gratifying ii
are, nevertheless, many. You may see her
riding in the Row from II to 2 in the morn
ing; remarkable always for the faultless fit
ting of her habit and for the throng of cava-
liers about her. If not riding, she may be
met walking in the promenade by the side
of the Row Later in the day you may see
her at a flower show, picture exhibition, oil
bazaar Her services are in request fol
charitable purposes, and the stall over which
she presides is fountain of wealth to the
poor. At the last performance of this kind
held in the Duke of Wellingtons riding
school, she appeared as flower girl, and
flowers from her hand fetched fabulou:
prices If YOU liked, she would herself put
them into your bntton-hole; but that was {
boon for which you paid still more dearly
F 1t was darkly limited that one elderly orna
ment of the social world enhanced thu
profits of this particular charity by the salt
, of introductions (good for five seconds) t
, | v.
true than that the Church of Rome in for
mer ages sold indulgences. And yet Their
have been eyewitness to both, and evel
the names of those who paid for the priv
lege If it be Sunday you have a chanc
of finding her in the afternoon at the Zoo
! logical gardens. From to it is possihl
to contemplate her in a carriage, slowly ad
! vancing along the drive from Hyde Park
: Corner to the Albert Memorial. If all thes
! fail YOU, there are still the statloners' an
q photographers windows where pictures c
: Mrs Langtry in every conceivable costum
and attitude abound / dare say some {
them may be had in New York. Mrs. Lang
: try with quill thrust through her hat; Mr.
! Lanptrv with dove in her hands which sh
. is tenderly regarding-not, it is to be sur
posed. ms n "Reminiscences of Nottingham
Mrs Langtry in morning costume an
again in evening dress; Mrs. Langtry wit
a japanese umbrella over her right shoulde
and another yet still the same, Mrs. Langtr
+ with japanese umbrella over her lie
= shoulder; Mrs Langtry in profile, Mr.
3 Langtrv's full face, or three-qnarters, shoul
a YOU prefer that, and either colored or plair
/ Mrs. Langtry in a conservatory framed
q tropical plants, or Mrs. Langtry on the sc,
Q shore listening to the plaintive murmur
e the waves; among these and dozen mol
g you have only to choose.
a
k THE PHOTOGRAPHIC EXHIBITION,
g 1 may say, has gone to great lengths. MI
n Langtry is far from being the only beaut
y whose fame has been extended by such mean
- All her rivals are to be seen in black al
II white, and many who are not her rival
e Mrs CORVALLIS West, Mrs. Hungerfor
IS Mrs Wheeler, Lady jersey, Lady Dude
'e Lady Lonsdale, are all there. In one wi
l. dow not long since ! counted 20 pilot
is graphs of different ladies, all of them belon
/ ing to society, all ladies of fashion or ran
=, or both OF Mrs. Langtry alone there we
~ Is different photographs in the same wi
= dow but l reckon the as only OIL
n in making up the 30 nor do l include al
,e of the royal family.
~ In all this long account / have not said
g. word, as you will perceive, of Mrs. Langtr
he except in the purely public character al
le functions which she either assumes or pc