The Wichita daily eagle., 1894-02-27
WlTCHiNe WOMEN OF HISTORY.
Mon WOrshiped and Obeyed Them
Wherein Lay the Charm?

MON VOTe01peO anu ODeyeu
Wherein Lay the Charm?
What, asks Walter Besant, is woman's
greatest charm? Sweet looks, sweet
speech, sweet smiles, sweet voice, love-
ly eyes, comely head, a graceful fig
ure: all these are gifts and graces to be
ardently desired. Yet there is one gift
that surpasses all the rest. At the
Royal academy, London, there are the
portraits of three women, Lady Ham.
ilton. Mrs Jordan and Sophie Arnould.
The lovely Emma is a type of rustic
beauty at its best-not retined-likely
to become coarse. Mrs. Jordan shows,
behind a charming face, intellect, wit,
cleverness and gentle heart. Sophie
Arnould shows greater wit, greater
cleverness and heart not so
gentle, perhaps. On each of the
faces there is in addition, unmistah'
ably, the same quality, rare and won
derful. II is the quality for which
there is no other word than witchery.
These were all three witches, but IN
stead of being burned at the stake
they set fire to every masculine heart
that approached them. And the noble
procession of fair women-Delilah
Bathsheba, and her contemporary.
Helen of Troy; Aspasia, Cleopatra,
Diana de Poictiers, Mary, queen OF
SCOTS; Nell Gwynne-they were all
witches. and they all possessed the
wonderful, indescribable look which
proclaimed their mysterious power oi
fascination. Many there are who have
this fairies gift in greater or les.
degree. Providentially, few know
their own power, and are content to
bewitch one man alone out of all the
earth.
And what is the secret of this gifti
II is certainly not faultless beauty, for
it is perfectly comprehensive para
dox that as a rule the women who
have been noted for the fascination OF
their beauty were not pretty women
at all Anne Boleyn had many plastic
defects. The duchess Of Burgundy,
who lit up in the old age of Louis XIV.
the court of Versailles and neutraliZed
the morose influence of Nine. de Main
tenon. had goitrous neck and decayed
front teeth, yet she was proclaimed a
beauty. Marguerite de Nslols, with
whom most of the prominent French
men of her day were at some time OF
another desperately in love, had heavy
checks, too prominent eyes, and
thick. hanging under hp. The last
Duchess de Berry would not have been
allowed to 50 much as compete at
beauty show had she presented herself
incognito Sir Walter Scott, who wss !
close to her at mass in the Tuilerjes
chapel, wrote IN his diary that she wae
plain and that her eyes were not fei-
lows
At what age is this charm most
subtle? Swift rvrot. with cruel candor
OF Stella's fading charms. and sert ber
a. birthday gift a rhyned Recipe
20 Restore Her Lost Youth, a. a period
that we should consider the prime Of
life. The caustic dean Of 81 Pstrick's
wondering
Ho~ snSels iook az tsirtyxiy.
proves a sharp contrast 30 the more
modern writer. George Lewes. who. IN
his Life of Goethe, " spesks Of thirty
three as the fascinating period ia .
worlan-s life. being that in which he |
considered her 70 have reached the |
full development 81 her powers |
Of mind md body. And thirty
three was the age ~ which |
Frau ron Stein proved dangerous |
10 the heart Of The pct who had sur |
-ivea the more youthful charms OF 4 |
Gretchen Charlotte znd Lii The 4