The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1890-05-04

journ in an Egyptian sarcophngus are sure
10 have affected II for the worse; and Il
is, moreover, not at all improbable That
even in a perfect state OF preservation Il
might ,%'In.oh Be- found .a,,o ai'ap Ds ,Ss a,c r@s
that II Cieopatra's nose had been
the eighth Of an inch longer the
whole history Of the world might have
been changed, indulged, perhaps, in
rather q g~ratuituous assumption. Such
urc from our IDEAS OF facial symmetry
would have been recognized and deplored
as such by Mark Antony, whereas. for
aught we know Ii might have constituted,
in his view, n positive addition To her
charms. There Is abundance OF evidence
we need go no further back than 800 or
years of our own history for p~roof-that
the ideal Of feminine beauty may vary
greatly between one AZ !, and another ;and
II we now find Mary Stuart's attractions
much overated, so far as we are able TO
Judge OF them from her few authentic
we should be satisfied with II graces of
Cleopatra? Besides IL is by no means
clear that the daughter OF Ptolemy Au-
lctcs ever had n great reputation as n
professional beauty" More han n
ancient writer denies her claim TO any
such distinction. and such Of her medals
as are extant appear-though again the
personal quotation Of modern taste
may come into confirm the belief that
she was not remarkable for looks. All
concur that she possessed great natural
abilities, which she carefully cultivated;
that she spoke with facility several
languages besides her native Greek and
that she was able to make herself most
agreeable in society," Probably there
was something more about her than this
something which eluded Appian and
Dion Cassius, and other respectable Dry
,..lasy 80 tt,pn lint nf which thor. nrn
traces in Plutarch, and which Shake
speare, the careful student of Plutarch,
seized upon with the true instinct Of the
poet. We cannot suppose that Cleopatra
had no weapons OF attack, no other tolls
Of captivation than belong to any intelli-
gent and vivacious young lady who has
been "well grounded in languages and
has employed the advantages Of a first
rate finishing school. II is difficult To
doubt that ID must have possessed n
\ physical glamour" also-a "beaute du
diablc," which is we'll known TO be the
most dangerous variety Of feminine looks
and which, in all ages OF the world, from
the days of ~Clytemnestra down TO those
of Becky Sharp-who, IL may he remem-
bcrcd, sustained the part of the Argive
queen on n &C aston with much credit
has exercised greater power for the in
~fatuation Of the other sex than perhaps
even the more orthodox and classical fas-
cinations OF the Helens of history.
Cleopatra, at n rate, succeeded i'm
demonstrating her possession of n more
potent wand Of enchantment-judging by
those whom she captivated-than any
other mythical or historical heroine OF the
past. Helen's conauests, after all, and for
all their important consequences, will not
rear % moments comparison with those
of the Egyptian queen. Paris was a poor
creature, i'm whatever way we consider
him mo , by b any VERY means RE, RE-
field or for ability in the council
chamber; and, in fact, SO far as can be
ascertaincd, he was very much what an
American would describe as q mo ac-
count" man among his peers of windy
Troy. Menelaus, perhaps-the petitioner
was hardly better. He certainly cuts no
very conspicuous figure by the side either
of Achilles or of his own brother; and the
mere fact that the famous beauty con-
trived to two such very oStAsary
admirers proves but little as to her fas-
cinations. Besides which il must al
she was assisted by the gods, and
hus enjoyed an unfair advantage over
all competitors. With Cleopatra the case
was very different. Mark Antony him
self, though wanting IN the sterner quail
ties as a leader, was certainly no incon-
siderate n IL must never he Tor
gotten hat n much greater parsonage
than Antony fell n victim to the Egyp-
tian's wiles. Julius Caesar was very .hard
HIT by her ut their first meeting IN Syria,
after the battle of Pharsalia, and, as she
followed him To Rome with the APP.
parent intention Of retaining her ascend.
cncy, there is no saying what fu.
ture she might not nave created for
herself had not the daggcrs of Brutus and
his fellow conspirators cut short his am.
billions. Nothing, however, so forcibly
illustrates her mastery over men as the
s... - hos. snl a,nsaa xttah Anton. Thar
is evidence that he saw her for the first
time and was smittcn by her in Egyp,
when she was barely Is years Of age: and
she was n woman verging upon 10, and
charged with the crime OF numbering her
brother, when she appeared before him
again, n bound him finally la her car.
Thenceforth his history became the lead.
ing case" so to speak, I'm the ~infatuation
of love, just as Cleopatra herself became
the monumental example OF the power OF
woman over man. THE World Well
Lost is the second title of thai great
verse-tragedy of Dryden, which only does
not shine q u among the brightest lights
Of our dramatic literature because its
rays are swollen up and lost in the re.
~splcndence of its Shakespearean rival
and the latter drama has been well named.
A larger stake was never "set' in history
than that for which Antony and Octavius
played AZ Actium; and though il might be
too much to say that the former could i'm
any case rave won the day. il is certain
enough hat all his chances OF vic.
tory were as completely squandercd
in the arms of Cleopatra as the famous
pearl was melted in the goblet Of his para
mour. Vast rs the sacrifice was, how
ever il secms natural and plausible Ia
this day. No more picturesque figure
than that of the woman for whom il was
made has appeared from her own time
down Ia that Of Mary Stuart. whom, in
| decd she rtasatnhlsS i'm her hrn worry har
resource. her natural temperament, her
singular power owe. men, her dramatic
and pathetic death. and we must add also
in the associations of crime and violence
which still cling tn her name.
,I.n lnr Shnrinr IInur.