Missouri Valley times. [volume] (Missouri Valley, Iowa) 1874-1931, 1906-09-13
SOME FAMOUS WOMEN

SOME FAMOUS WOMEN
eEAuTlEs WHO HAVE FIGURED IN
Ths FATg OF NATIONS,
She flower and the fragile EnAins
Of Henrietta stuart and Nine. de
PompadoaF-Louisa Of Prussia, who
Won silesia From Napoleon.
1t Is curious that no picture gallery
has ever been made of the beautiful
women who have Influenced history.
From the days Of the great Egyptian
queen many dull page of history has
been lighted up by some fair face that
has brought little human interest into
the dry and cold calculations of kings
and politicians.
Antony was not the last politician
whose course was Influenced by beau
ty. Think of the beautiful Louisa Of
Prussia TESTING with Napoleon for a
kingdom. Il knew that l was to see
the most beautiful queen in existence"
said Napoleon to Talleyrand after q
banquet given in her honor, "but !
have found the most beautiful queen
cad ut the same time the most inter-
esting woman in the world" And LOU
isa had won from him the restoration
of Silesia.
1t is said, indeed, that she laughingly
offered him rose In exchange for the
fortress Of Magdeburg, but Napoleon
was one of the iron men Of the world
He kept the fower-and Magleburg.
A book Of Beautiful Women" by
Hallett Hyatt, has pictures of some OF
the most beautiful women that have
ever lived. and Mrs. Steuart Erskine
has gathered their romantic stories.
One comes upon picture Of Eliza
Farrcn. the actress. who began life by
playing childish parts in strolllns
company and advanced to fame in Lon.
don us Miss Hardcastle in ''She Stops
to Conquer" She became favorite liz
society aud married the twelfth Lord
Derby. when she Lived happily eve,
after" taking her place at court and
in society. No barriers are insurmount-
able to the career of beauty.
Here is the picture Of Madame" the
beautiful Henrietta Stuart, youngest
daughter Of Charles l., who married
the Duke Of Orleans. The features
seem hard and the expression some.
what cold and stately. She would ap
pear woman more Of brain than ten.
derness. In reality she had a sparkling
wit, with that wonderful gift of per
sonal magnetism-"All men loved and
most women adored her." wrote gal
liant Frenchman in his memoirs.
Life In the French court was a con
tinual round Of pleasure, and the days
were passed in ballets and theatricals
In the morning madame would drive
out with her ladies. to be escorted Oh
their return by King Louis XIV and
his court ON horseback. After supper
they would all drive out, accompanied
by Lulli's violins. to watch the moon
light on the water and talk the moon
shine Of lovers.
Five years later madame was the
kings trusty adviser and the only me
dunn Of communication between hin,
anu LIZA OAOlAClp NA1SlIAcS IA. ~ was ~
the spring of 1910 that she brought
about that secret treaty of Dover that
made Charles a Roman Catholic unG
plunged England into war with Hol
land.
That was the summit of rladame's
power. The sequel was CHASTITY and
dramatic. A few weeks later she was
of Ct Gland in, A,,cl, Of Il; ..l, NJ
at her success. A glass of iced chicory
water was brought ut her request, and
she drank it off quickly. Five minutes
later madame was no more. All the
power of her fascination and beauty
was ended by Il secret poison.
AS the pages are turned the portrait.
of II lady in brocaded dress appears
face with very deep forehead and
expressionless lips. This is the famous
Nine. de Pompadour. Her birth was
very humble indeed, but she came in
the way Of Louis Nv, who gave her
unlimited influence till she became
recognized power in Europe For
many years she conducted the foreign
policy Of France, interviewing ambas-
sailors and treating with kings. Re
buffed by Frederick the Great, this
amazing woman made overtures to
Maria Theresa of Austria to divide his
kingdom between them, and, sitting in
her summer house, she gayly arranged
with couple Of diplomats the reparti.
ton Of Europe.
Moreover, but for the freedom she
gave to her personal likes and dislikes,
1t Is not improbable that she would
have accomplished some of the less
wild Of her schemes. Her dramatic
end has often been told. In the midst
Of discussion on affairs of state, as
she sat rouged and powdered in her
chair. the cure who was with her rose
to go. She detained him. Zone mo-
ment, NJ. lie Cure" she said. I've will
take our departure together" And a
few minutes later the beautiful diplo-
matist was dead.
The portrait Of the unlucky Marie
Antoinette. frank, queenly, superb, Of
whom Burke rapturously wrote, "Glit-
tering like the morning star, full of life
and splendor and JOY" is here too. Re-
call her life at the Petit Trianon, that
miniature palace with the Corinthian
pillars, where she wandered about I'M
attended and no one rose at her up
proach. 1t is always grimly pathetic
that the one French queen who little
fulfilled the part that we have been
taught to expect from queen should
have been sacrificed to the mad rage
of the revolution.
Angelica Kaufman was the child of