The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1890-01-13
THE ART OF FASCINATION.
Each Man Has His Ideal, and,
Fortunately, Tastes Differ.
Saturday RevIew.]

| Odlhe nature pays strange freaks witt
mems minis. If one of the many en-
terprising newspapers of the day was tc
lnaugurate competition in which every
man had to give an accurate description
OF the kind of woman most prone to fas
cinate him, many readers would,
think, be astonished.
Noah Webster's definition OF the WORD
fascination is, 1.-The exercise of a power
full or irresistible influence on the affec
tons and passions" and he gives a,
secondary explanation, unseen, mex
plicable influence, witchcraft, enchant
ment." In the words "inexplicable in
tiuence" the learned doctor seems ~
have sur'n'"d mp neatly the whole cues
ton. Who can explain what is fire.
quently the case, that of two men of a:
nearly as possible the same cast of mind,
the one will find woman irresistibly
fascinating, while on the other she
might not exert the slightest attractive
influence? Such problem is as hard to
solve as why the guileless rabbit, instead
of putting his best leg forward and max
ing a bolt, circles round the snake, which
he knows only too well intends to make
meal of him.
The wise heather Aristotle said: mo
man loves but that he is first delighted
with comeliness and beauty, and beauty
is for the most part the bait which lures
victim into the meshes of the snare.
but not always" DR.. Webster, too,
seems to imply by his definition that in
the power of fascination, whether exer-
cised by man or woman, there turks a
certain sexual affinity. Yet one of the
most fascinating women of history was
Germaine Necker, afterwards Nine. de
Stael, though contemporaneous record
tells US that she was anything but a
beauty, and that her dress was not only
hideous, but sinned against every princi-
pie of good taste
Women, however, whose names will
be handed down to posterity as having
founded noted salons, or having pro-
vided the magnetic influence to gather a
brilliant coterie of wit and talent, have,
for the most part, been beautiful. Beau
ty is the common object of all love: as
Jets draw straw, so doth beauty love-"
Beauty will always attract, at any rate
momentarily; but most men, if they find
that a lovely face is but mask cover
ing void Uranium, will cease to futter
around the fame. There are, however,
striking exceptions to this rule on rec
ord.
Perhaps the best instance is that of the
infatuation of Prince Maurice de Talley-
rand, once Able de Perigord and bishop
of Autun, for that lovely blonde, Mime.
Grant, afterward Nine. Talleyrand. Her
gross stupidity was proverbial, and fur
nished amusement for the salons of
Nine. dc Stael and others, which her
husband frequented.
But in the ajority of cases something
more is necessary than comeliness of
face to really fascinate men, especially
such men as the "Prince of Diplomats"
and this something is the instructive
faculty which enables a woman to adapt
her mind to and enter into the spirit of
her companion for the time being.
Thus, in my own experience. / have
seen n learned professor discoursing elo-
quently on the sculpture of ancient Greece
to a young lady whose tastes were in
reality centered in dogs and horses. Had
he known her true proclivities, he would
have stood aghast at such utter barbar-
ism; yet such was her genial, sympa-
thetic influence on his mind that he pro-
nounced her the most charming of her
sex-second only, of course, to his stout
and learned wife. Had the intercourse
been indefinitely prolonged, doubtless
the potency of the spell would have van
ished; for, in reality, there was little or
nothing in common between the two
minds.
The power of fascination inherent in
woman may, however, be divided into
two kinds. All of us have seen the old
lady, generally white haired, with kind
ly, pleasant features, on which time has
set no unfriendly mark, who still retains
all her attractiveness. Note how the boys
and girls adore her; they will go to her
and confide their sorrows, their hopes,
their ambitions, even when they would
not breathe a word to their mothers.
The kindly, living interest in a lads af-
fairs by such an one has time and again
first implanted the impulses in his heart
which eventually led him on to an honor
able career. Quickly, almost by stealth,
the good is done by such, and the good
seed sown which will ripen in after time
into a rich and abundant crop.
On the other hand, we have most of
us seen, perhaps in real life, certainly on
the stage, the fascinating adventures
who, by her enthralling beaute de diable,
enslaves mems souls and leads them ION
the stage) to dare all for her sake. Such
is directly opposed to the sweet old lady
in her old fashioned chair, and these two
form the opposite poles between which
the women who fascinate vary. a