New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1890-09-14
OLD WORLD BEAUTIES.
THE QUEENS OF SOCIETY.

THE LovELIEST WOMEN IN ENGLAND-A MIS-.
CHIEvous lRIsHwoMAN-THD CHARMING
WOMEN OF PRINCIPALS FOR
THE PORTUGUESE.
TO the Editor OF The Tribune.
Sir: Since my arrival in America / have fire.
ouently been called upon by persons acquainted
with my fifteen years OF ofilca! residence in the
various capitals Of the world TO state the name
of the country which, according to my opinion
was entitled TO the palm above all others for the
beauties Of its women. AS these inquiries were in
varahly addressed to me by fair friends who
have been fortunate enough first to see the light
of day in this great land of liberty. have nat
uraly been placed under the obligation Of award
Ing the apple to the United States Not that found
the obligation very oncrous one: for 1t was
hut necessary 70 raise my eyes to cause all hesta
ton Immediately to disappear, at any rate for
the time being The fact is that one country
can put forth any serious claim for the monopoly
Of feminine beauty. although according to my en-
nerience there arc two nations in Europe, name
ly, Switzerland and Portugal, which are entitled
to pre-cminenec for the gracelcssncsS and home
illness of their women. With these two eXcep-
tions beauty may be said to be Of international
character. And since the American nation is
races. the American girl. who like a
butterfly. has Ind the advantage of Gull
ing the ingredients of beauty from the fairest
flowers of every land, instead Of being restricted
to the fora Of merely one, has every chance In
her favor Of winning the stakes for pre-emnent
LONELINESS. The only disadvantage by which she
is handicapped is the difliculty-so far greater
in this democratic community than in Europe
Of preserving the strain free from the contamina-
ton Of plebeian blood-imported OF course, for
/ understand that there Is such article as
that of native American production. Blood and
pedigree are just as desirable in the case of human
beings they are in that of horses and cattle,
and feminine beauty is always incomplete and
unsatisfactory when unaccompanied by the refine
ment and high-breeding which ancestry alone can
furnish.
1t is possible that this assertion may give rise
TO criticism. But striking evidence as TO its
foundation and truth may he obtained by glancing
at tie list of the most lovely women of the
Old World With but few isolated exceptions,
which merely go to confirm the rule. all the
famous beauties Of Europe belong to the classes
rather than TO the masses. What Venus is there
Of the middle or lower classes Of the stage or
of the Jpi-mondc-profesSonals whose stock i'll
trade consists mainly of their good loOks-who
can compare either III face or figure to the peer
less HermiOne. Duchess Of Lcinstcr? IT is true
her beauty is rather that OF the chaSte and
high-bred Diana than that Of the more sensuOus
and plebeian Mother of Cupid. and the daring
decolletage of her court and ball dress. which
would he intocrahle in the case of any other
woman, prOvokes more sense OF improperly
than would the half-drapcd marble statue OF the
Virgin Goddess of the EphcsianS. Although
not brilliant. her intelligence is above the
average, and superior TO that Of her excellent
husband, the Premier Duke of Ireland No breath
of scandal has ever furnished even for a moment
the lustre of her fame and her apparently COM
plete lack of consciousness Of her beauty. her
devotion TO her home, her husband. and to her
child, have endcared her to her sovereign and
TO society alike. Almost equally beautiful are
Lord Feversham's other two daughters, the
Ladies Cvnthia and Helen DuncOmbe. The latter
il about to be married to Sir Edgar Vincent. one
OF the most handsome and fortunate young men
Of the day, who. after spending several years In
Egypt as the de fact9 Prime Minister OF the
Khedive has now. at the age Of thlrty-two. been
transferred to Constantinople. where. as the
Governor of the Imperial Ottoman Bank. he
virtually holds the pursestrngs Of the Turkish
Empire and controls the policy of the latter
in the interest of the British Foreign Office.
Another dainty specimen Of bne-blooded
loneliness is the young MarchiOncss of
CRANKY, the principal friend OF Princess
Beatrice and the future duchess OF Rutland
A wear older than the Princess, her intimacy win
the latter dates back to the days OF her earliest
childhood, much Of which was spent at windsor
where her father, the late Colonel Lindsay. who's"
ancestors were companions OF klng ROhert Bruce
of Scotland held confidential Office in the Queen
household Younger in years though equally
fair, is the Viscountess Of Weymouth, whose birth
twenty years ago as Violet Mordaunt gave rise 70
one Of the most famous causes celebres" Of the
century. Probably the most eloquent 'rion'r !"
AR beauty is the fact that Lord Weymouth's
father, the Marquis Of Bath. who Is famed for
his hauteur and ancestral pride, should have con-
sented TO the marriage, notwithstanding the un-
fortunate circumstances of her birth. 1t would
he difficult to find anywhere A more sweet and
captiyatng face than that Of Lady Aberdeen
whose glance and smile are sufficient 70 charm
the most narrow minded Tory into becoming
Home Ruler, and who during the Niceroyalty OF
her husband at Dublin when Mr. Gladstone was
last in office, almost succeeded in officiating
from the minds Of the Irish the memories Of the
bitter wrongs that they had suffered at the hands
OF England. striknsly handsome woman who
las inherited all the traditional good looks-and
also the length of solc-Of the licrberts is Lazy
de Grey, wife of the eldest son and heir of the
Marquis of Rpon. and sister Of the Mr.. Michael
Herbert who married Miss Wilson, of this city,
about year ago. Lady de Grey, although barely
thirty years of age, has lived much, her first eX-
perience Of matiimony having been marriage
% the late Lord Lonsdale, one OF the
Oost revolving and dcpraved debauchees
e the present generation. Two years after be-
coming widow. She was on the eve OF CONTRACT
ing a second marriage with Sir Edgar Vincent.
But the match broken Of at the very last
moment on the discovery by that clever young
financier that her jonture Of $4,000 year from
the Lonstlae estates lapsed in the event OF her
remarriage, and that her debts amounted 10 eight
or nine times that sum. Lord de Grey, her pres
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