The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1888-11-19
MRS. WALLACE AND CLEOPATRA.
A New Version OF the Story of Lady
EllenborOugh.

EllenborOugh
New YORK Nov. 17.-Mrs Lew Wallace
has been writing a new book which she
calls Tine Repose in Egypt" In it she
discusses the Pyramids, Suez and Smai the
Obelisks and Alexandria, and. in connec-
ton with her account of the latter city, she
tells some entertaining things regarding
Cleopatra, who, once in the tropical airs of
that old city, rode on swift camels and
floated in gilded barges with Anthony, and,
after years of revel, she was buried there,
with imperial pomp, IN his tomb. For
women who enormously think that beauty
alone pleases, Mrs Wallace pctu CleDp
ira as bewitcIing in manners, hut not per
sonally even pretty. She had commai d of
seven languages, and she knew how to datter
the vanity of men, by adapting herself to
their varying moods and cxerting herself to
be fascinating Her whole aim and study
was to please. and her voice was like a
! musical instrument tuned with MANY
strings The secret of her success with
| Anthony was that she gave him no time to
| think, lest reflection and repentance niglt
| rob her of her hero. Mrs. Wallace saw the
| portrait of Cleopatra at Denderah. and has
i much of interest to say of this woman who
| he in check the generals wars changed
the map of the world, and aided mseries to
| the hard fate of the Egyptians.
One of the pretty word pictures made by
| Mrs Wallace is her account of the BoGpht-
rus at that point where the sweet waters of
Asa meet the rapid currents of this river.
| Here it Isl Would YOU have one day like
| the stuff which dreams are made of, an
| idyllic day, that will stand apart from t! err
| pictu ed memories far and near, go to ,e
| Valley of Sweet Waters, the beauty spot
| of the BoSphoros. In the lazy afternoons
it is the resort of lovely ladies', palhd. as
| lilies, robsd in vaporous draper-s of snow
| drift ard thistle down, scented with rose
| and musk. White wells, dim, mysterious,
| hide their faces, all but the sWimEnu
lustrous ewes. Obi what eyes they Lave!
Bright as stars, black as death, dreamy
pictures theys make, reclining on the i'm.
son cushions of the rocking carique. which
is draped with India shawls o. Persian
hangingS. The armed slave in the Stern is
clad in barbaric splendor, the rowers
wide, white trousers, and scarlet jacket,
stiff with gold embroidery. Greek boat
men, bearing the old names that can never
die"
But by far the most attractive ,rtion of
her book is the account of Lady Ellenbor
ouGh, the Englishwoman, W . Ne 3ertei
hone, husband and children, t. g ard
live in the east. The author tells it at con
siderable length, and with a needless
amount OF reticence as regards real names,
as the world has known her story these
many years.
Lady Ellen--as she calls her--ned from
England to Italy, and. after years of rec1-
less living, went to Greece. her husband
! divorced himself from her, and her large
fortune was at her disposal. She married
| a nobleman in the service of King Ohio, of
| Greece, and lost her husband through the
| queens command. Lady Ellen then went
to the east, and Mrs. Wallace says of her
travels:
''She would be queen again in another
emoire, Zenobia, a ruler in the desert,
and her willing subjects shoul be the
| untamed and untamable BedouinS. To
| fit herself for fresh adventure and sway
their imaginary scepter, Lady Ellen stud
| led Arabic. There are oid citizens of
| Beyrout who remember the stir -among an
idle populnce whea, the great English
| lady landed at the seaport, and, I'M
crowned, yet queen, set out for the
shadowy realm where she should rule by
divine right. Lady Ellen bought a palace
| at Damascus and furnished 1t luxuriously
Said one of her countrywomen, resident at
| Damascus, she was always the perfect lady
in sentiment voice, man aersi speech; for
those who enjoyed her confidence it was a
| treat to pass hours in her society. The yari-
| colored shows of Damascus had a strong
hold on Lady Ellen. and they amused her
| for time, but her palace was filled, and
the monotony of the place palled upon her
| Ono morning she abruptly announced that
| she was tired of Damascus and longed TO
see Bagdad. Why should She be cooped up
| in stone walls when the free desert was
| wooiDg herl She went into the desert under
the escort of Sheik Antar and a small re-
tinue. Very naturally be fell in love with
the unveiled Giaour, aud finally he proposed
to divorce ali his Mosem wives and marry
Lady Ellen. One half the year he would
pass with her in Damascus, and the other
half in the desert. She married him in his
| tent with no witnesses but his amazed COM
| panions. To her horror, she learned that
soe had, in 50 doing, lost her nationality
| and become a Turkish subject. But she
never repented. she made over to HIM her
| palace and her gardens at Damascus, and
| for six months of each year she was on the
desert. For fifteen years she lived this life,
| and was never separated from her husband,
to whom she was devotedly attached. Ii
was said that she never lost anything of
the English lady, nor the softless Of q
woman; to the last she was fresh and
Young, brave, refined and delicate Her
grave is a beautiful shrine-a shady pavilion
of rosy-veined marble pillared with silver
and pearl and celled with vermilion and
blue. She was worshiped by the tribe
and TO this day the Arabs Of the desert sing
the tender romance of their Chief Insen,
whose hair was of amber, whose ewes were
like Sirius when the Nile begins to swell.n
LAURA c. HOLLOWAY.