Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1882-03-21

Book Gays mo liarn shall enter the gates
nf the beautiful city. There is no dis
JUNCTION tween white lies and those OF
darker hue. A faIsehood Is an Qn
truth, whether the matter be great OF
smaIl.-Rurol New Yorker.
DR.. John Lord talks about Cleopatra.
THE FAMOUS GREEK WOMAN WHO
CHARMED CESAR AND MARC ANTO-
NY, AND DID NOT KILL HERSELF
WHEN ANTONY DIED,
New York Timesl
The subject Of Dr.. John Lords Iec-
ture "wednesday morning In ChickeriDg
Hall was Cleopatra, the Pagan Wo.
man." Every seat in the half was oc
cupied. the nsj Fity of the listeners be
sng Iadies. 1t was the largest audience
which has yet asse n'bled ut these morn
ing lectures. and the interest in them
se-ms 10 be increasing Many of the
younger ladies took notes Of the lecture.
Dr. Lord speaks easily aud distinctly,
characters SO grsphicallyth hat the atten
ti0n Of his audience is fixed upon him
from the beginning to the end He said
Of Cleopatra that she has left a fame
hardly second to that of any other wO-
man. but without securing our respect
either as sovereign or a. woman =
Her name Ia forever linked with Julius
Cesar and Marc Antony from the love
with which she inspired the two great
Generals Of the age. She was the in
carnatiOn OF that goddess whom the
Greeks and Romans wOrsbipped under
the name of Venus. She was Queen of
| Egypt before 1t was Incorporated with
the Roman Empire, and when Alexan-
dria was the largest commercial centre
In the wOrld-a Greek city, q city Of
sFts and sciences as well az commerce..
Cleopatra herself was q Greek woman.
and from the ancient coins and medals
it would appear that her features were
severely classic, not African, and she
had no negro blood about her, as Story
| has represented iD his statue. She was
simply beautiful and precOcious Greek
girl, highly educated, when, at four cen,
she q. peared on the stage of history
| She WAS sixteen when she caught the
eye of the great Cesar and made him
her captive. She was twenty-eight
when she mt de the acquaintance of
Antony-when her beauty WAS most
splendid and her intellect in full ma
turity-a luxurious. yet intellectual wo-
man, with charming manners and mu.
sical tones of voice. aud most enticing
seductiveness of perscn. She retained
her hold of Antony until his death for
fourteen years- with an ''infinite vari
ETY." Of attractions, and she retained
this hold on = man who was himself the
louNinO UQDaPnl ohH q ALBANIAN o,.A 0v,..
of the greatest orators of bis day, show.
ing by this that she must have had ex
traOrdinary intellectual gifts as we'll a.
physical graces. for u man like Antony
Was not to be held and ,haiued by 9th
er than very gifted woman for so long
q period.
1t WAS when Antony was In Cilicia
preparing for his Parthi~n expedition
| that Cleopatra was seut for TO answer
the serious accusation of having fur
nished aid to Cassius. On her arrival
AptODy invited her to supper. but she
declined and invited hun Her ban
| quet astOnished the Roman General for
it's superb Magniflcence, aud so be-
witched was Antony with her charms
that he gave, up bisfex pedition aud fol
lowed her to Alexandria . captive and
y slave, to the scandal and disgust of the
Roman world. But for time he made
his escape, went to Rome and married
Octavia, the sister If his rival, thereby
showing that political considerations
were more important to him than was
the love Of Cleopatra. But this did not
last long. In the life aud death contest
bet weeu Antony aud Octavius for the
empire of the world. Antony was van
Qnished, although his forces were supe
rior to those Of Octavius. chiefly in con-
sequeDce of the desertion of the ships
of Cleopatra in the height of the battle
at Actium. Antony iugloriousiy fol-
lOwed her TO her capital. There he made
another stand. at this time without rea
sOpable hope OF success Defeated, he
mortally wounded himself but no, un-
tll be heard the false rumOr that Cleo
patra was dead, and when he discovered
that he had been deceived he caused him
self 10 be drawn up to the window Of the
castle into which Cleopa.ra had retired,
aud expired in her arms. But she did
not die for him. She dried her tears
and prepared to win the favor of Ocfa-
vius as she had won Caesar and Auto
ny-fOr ambitious and selfish ends-
This time her charms failed. She dealt
with cold, polite. astute young man
Finding that she was to be reserved to
grace his triumph at Rome she killed
herself-sOme say by the poison of asps
l. probably by swallowing some potent
poison known so we'll in her times -
This ended the tragedy. Antony had
, surrendered world for the caresses of q
woman. What a fall! He lost fame
and empire, and life, and she her honor,
her virtue. aud her life. The lecturer
did not zee any grand sentiments in her
love, Her higher nature was perverted
by sensuality aud pride. DR.. Lord then
entered upoA the presentation of pa
, gan woman, who, he said, was attrac
tive when virtue had fled The whole
influence of Pagsni-m was TO magnify
All outward life. II degraded the home
1t made home monOtOnous, dreary, anu
, , stupid, and 1t was remarkable that the
hest educaied women were immoral -
There was no value placed upon that
which was most priceless Paganism
did not recognize society, for how can
there be society without women to pre-
side? Society is q Christian invention.
. born among the declining glOries OF
!, chivalry, when the jewels of women
, were eyes besmiug with intellectual
radiance. We do not read that pagat
! women had those restless agi,atiOns y
the soul which marked The women %
Christian civilization, for paganism die
. not recognize the sOul-Only the body
and hence neglected education and tba
. higher culture which make women suct
]. a power in these our better days.
LITTLE THINGS 1t Is bad policy t
, der pise small persons or small things
: A single grape shot settles the destiny
of an empire, and diamond necklace
has contributed largely to bloody rev
+ olution. The gabOIing of geese saved
:, Rome, The accident of two spectacle
glasses at proper focus gave the wOTl,
the telescope. The fall Of an apple re
q vealed to Newton the law which hang
the world in space. the gra cdtst law o
- the material universe. The clinking o
: two hs,nmers upon q blacksmith's an
vii suggested to Pytbagoraa the rela
ltions Of musical sounds We caDnO
: comprehend great truth by intuition
- It l.. only by learning now and then
= and here aud there, a small truth tina
~ avn a ro suahlp0 TO cODatruct Inv Qroa