Orange County observer. [volume] (Hillsborough, N.C.) 1880-1918, 1905-01-12

at wepty-eight-"a period of 1ife,= accord
ing to Plutarch, "when woman's beauty is
most splendid and her intellect is in full
maturity" Antony summoned her to ap-
pear before him in Cilicia, charged with
having assisted Cassius before the battle
o1 on, rpp bnns the o9ea 5es1 this 81 hp d R
man, and he knew it not. You know
how she answered the summons-not as a
craven culprit, but as the peerless queen
of the south. As she went up the Cydnus
IN her royal barge, the like Of which was
never beheld before or since, the scene
enthralled the fancy Of both Plutarch and
Shakespeare. He who could make words
say what no other man could, had to con-
fess, For her own person, it beggared all
description" Like FURNISHED throne,
her barge burned on the water; the poop
was beaten gold; the purple sails were SO
perfumed that the winds were love-sick
with them; the silver oars kept stroke to
gold pavilion like Venus, "where we see
the fancy outwork nature;" dimpled boys,
like smiling Cupids, were standing on
each side tanning her; gentlewomen, like
Mercedes, tended her. When she arrived
at the city the people rushed out to see
her, leaving Antony alone in the market
place.
LINZ CLV dOAC - ulluS, Su0 came,
she saw, she conquered! Antony was
dazzled, bewitched, enslaved by this siren
queen. Ever afterward. with the possible
exception of three years, he was her slave.
Not satisfied with lavishing silver and
gold and precious stones and silks and
works of art upon her, he threw whole
kingdoms at her feet. as if they were SO
many Roman forget-me-nots. He was as
helpless in her power as bird under the
hvyrn nf1 ne
knows how, at critical moment in the
battle of Actium, Cleopatra. for some
unknown reason. was seen leaving with
her vessels for Egypt. This was signal
for Antony to abandon the battle and
follow his sorceress. For strength, she
gave him weakness. For infatuation. she
gave him deceit. For the sweets of love, she
gave him the eggs of scorpions. For idol
airy, she gave him death. The Egyptian
Delilah had clipped the locks of this Ro-
man Samson and he visit not that his
strength was departed from him.
So far this bewildering woman has only
toyed with strong men. This child of the
palace has held the golden bit of destiny
letween Her teeth of pearl and her gods
have not re:ned her in. But her end il
coming. After betraying Antony, she re-
for just such an emergency. She then sent
her paramour word that she had killed
herself and his grief was such hat he fell
upon his own sword. But he lived long
enough to discover that she had deceived
him again. Dying and soaked in his own
blood he ordered his servants to carry
him to her mausoleum. As the only en-
trance to her retreat left unbarred was
window, he was drawn up by ropes into
her presence and died. And what became
of her-this actor from the palace? You
know the story. How she tried her charms
upon Octavius Caesar and failed. How the
prospect Of being carried prisoner to
rather than be @fled a captive princess up
the Capitoline Hill," she died by her own
hand. Lacking moral sense. she wore
face of brass to the end of the tragedy.
Unlike the sweet-souled Vashti, Cleopatra
had no veil of modesty for her face, and
she asked none for her soul. Darker than
Egyptian night, she has left dark stain
Whittier than the whiteness Of the dawn,
| Vashti, like Shelley's heroine, 'clothed in
| virtues adamantine eloquence, paves her
| path with human hearts!"
Consider, also, that in studying the trag-
| edy of Vashti. we have to reckon with
| when some genius equal to the task of
writing history of beauty appears, men
and women win find perpetual charm in
its glowing pages. It will contain . page
are meteors flashing through the darkness
Of eternal night; the Vashtis are golden
suns burning through womanhood's end
less day!
Indeed, modesty is so inherent an ele-
ment in the great essentials making genu-
| inc beauty that without modesty beauty
is impossible. We are indebted to no hu-
man law for this truth-God has woven
it into the fabric Of our natures. Art
critics tell us that the eighteenth century
was pre-eminently the century of women.
Then, we are told: 3'Her grace possessed
the most prestige, her coquetry the most
| disuuieting elegance and her beauty the
most triumphant authority" It was the
age in which Nine. de Pompodour reigned
| in the court of Louis XIV. The brushes Of
Latour and Boucher have pleaded with all
Of JOY, page of sorrow. page o. peace,
page of war, page of love, page OF
hate. page OF poetry and page of art
But it will contain many pages developing
this thought-the tragedy of beauty.
But along with her beauty, Vashti DOS
sessed that other quality which lends
beauty an enduring freshness and charm
modesty. Vashti owes her place in history
not so much to her beauty as to her mod
| esty. IF beauty made her queen, modes
ty made her woman, which is far better
| AS queen, Xer2es could Danish her; a.
woman, he was defed by her. As queen
he could and did dethrone: as woman
she sits upon throne that has hearts fo,
its cushions and centuries for its pillars
The Dubarrys, the Pompadours, the Mon
tespans have their day and cease to be
but the Vashtis go on forever. The Cly
temnestres, the Aspasias, the Cleopatra