The Washington times., 1902-08-01
THE FASCINATION
ABOUT UGLY NEN.

There was. perhaps. as much truth
as boasting in the statement of John
Wilkes. the famous London alder
man and champion of British elect
ors: Ugly as l am, II / can have
but a quarter of an hours start, /
will get the better OF any man. how
ever good-looking, in the graces OF
any woman" says the "Pittsburg
Chronicle-Telegraph." OF Wilkes
abnormal ugliness there was never
any question, for is it not recorded
that the very children in the street
ran away affrighted at the sight
OF him?" And yet his powers of fas-
cination were so great that ladies
ot beauty and fashion WED with
each other for his notice while men
Of handsome exterior and all courtly
graces looked enyiously on
There were. it is said, few beau
ties of the day whose hand Wilkes
might not have confidently hoped to
win; and when he led Mary Mead
to the altar he made a wife of one
o. the richest and most lovely wo-
men of her time. Beauty and the
Beast they call u.s." Wilkes once
said to his friend Potter, "and /
cannot honestly find fault with the
description"
Jean Paul Marat, whose name will
always be associated with the evil
history Of the French Revolution.
was VIGOROUSLY the uglicst man of
his day in Paris. When this reputa-
tion reached his ears, Marat is said
to have remarked, but why limit
my supremacy to Paris ?''-and. in
deed, the restriction was much too
modest. And yet in his earlier years.
when he was the most popular of
court doctors, his very uglipcss
seemed TO exercise such fascina-
ton over aristocratic ladies' that
they crowded his consulting rooms
In order to catch glimpse of and
to exchange words with him under
the fiimsiest pretexts of Imaginary
ailments.
The studied Indifference with
which he treated alike their charms
and their f'attery only made them
the more insistent. until he declared
to friend that he would have to
fly from Paris to escape the persecu-
tion of his fair admirers.
Although there were few palmer
men of his generation than the great
Lord Brougham, and as few who
took so little trouble to ingratiate
themselves into the favor of women.
the brilliant lawyer and statesman
might at one time have picked and
chosen" among the fairest of So
ciety beauties. No man who cared
so little for female society had |
surely ever so much of 1t thrust |
upon him-to such an extent, in
deed. that when anyone asked where |
Lord Brougham was. the usual
answer was, Where the ladies are
thickest." and by following this sig
niicant guide he was generally run
to earth.
Among SO many fair wooers 1t Is
little to be wondered at tina. Broug-
ham succumbed at last-to the
charms of Mrs. Spalding, a widow
who added charming wit to an
Incompatible person."
Still more remarkable was the
story told a few years ago Of one
of the most beautiful of American
heiresses, who conceived a romantic
attachment for one of the freaks OF
a travelling show, and persisted in
marrying him in spite OF all the eff
forts OF her friends and relations.
This singular object of her affec-
lions masqueraded under the title
of THE man-rionkey. or the ugli-
est man In the world" and by COM
mon consent he had an excellent
claim to the title.