The Detroit times. [volume] (Detroit, Mich.) 1903-1920, 1908-09-14
The Man and Woman Of SO
BY No Means Dead This Crest of Maturity but 1t
Is Often of the Foolish Kind.
BY ELLA WHEELER WILCOX.

! power. and who made her the object
tof his ehivaif0Hs attentions
Perhaps fifteen years later, when
she was thirty-five and he sixty-tive,
or still later, when the wife OF forty,
possessed of all the ambition and vi
tally of her prime, she found her hus-
; band an old man. weary of the vanitie5
of life. perhaps then she might think
! her choice a mistaken one. That
would all depend upon the nature or
the woman and the type OF man.
Beauty Must Fade.
But the young husband and mature
wife problem is more serious. Post
! ton, power and honors are elements
which enter into the ideal Of an at.
! tractive man, with almost any woman
of any age; but no man Of virile char
acter pictures the lady of his dreams
with these worldly gifts TO bestow
! upon him. Ii Is the nature Of woman
! TO receive, the nature of man TO be.
stow, the external things OF life,
and the moment man begins to
weigh the benefits he will derive from
a marriage with an older woman. that
moment he ceases TO be manly In the
true meaning of the word.
Once in Thousand times, perhaps a
woman Of 80 retains the charms and
fascinations which render her able To
capture the heart OF her youth. Ninon
de L'Enclos was as irresistible at GO,
and even at 20, it is said. as at 20. But
she was wise enough (even II her WIS
dom did not lead to morality 10 avoid
marriage with any of her youthful adj
mirers. She retained the privilege or
being the one to tire, instead or plac'
ing herself in the position OF desert
! ed and neglected old wife OF young
husband.
Ii IS rare indeed, that a Young man
seeks an elderly woman for wife un'
less he has some other object to gain
than domestic felicity. But in spite or
this fact. such women are TO be found
I'm every community who believe in
the urotestations OF love made by de-
signing youths, and resign to their
keeping heart, hand and purse WIFI
out demur or question.
There is a certain pathos in all THIS
which should awaken our pity rather
than call for our ridicule.
II is the maternal and romantic i'm
pulse, both awakened after letharglc
slumber TO a second summer In the
woman's heart, which leads her on to
such follies.
The early romance OF her life faded
perhaps into a mere memory long be-
fore she donned widows weeds. The
husband became engrossed In bust
ness or public affairs, or INDUCED in
infidelities which she concealed and
condoned for prides sake her chill
dren grew out OF her arms and be-
came men and women. and no longer
needed her: she settled into rut or
duty, a mere existence; the afec-
tiona impulses in sort OF apathy.
and imagined she had outlived all
vivid emotion when suddenly she
found herself rich widow; men were
seeking her society: they were paying
her compliments. and up from the
ashes OF her youth rose new emo
tional nature.
And when the young lover pleaded.
she was both woman and mother in
her affections again. but mingled emo
tipn and vanity made her forget that
she was an elderly woman. and that
the young man could not in the nature
OF things be sincere in his protesta-
tons of love.
Alas. poor woman. May wisdom
and common sense guide her to shut
the door gently but firmly on the
young lovers retreating form. and save
her dignity and self-respect from suf-
fering the miseries of neglected old
wife OF young man.
When the woman of 80 marries. let
her choose a mate Of ner own age.
Is II the hcklcness OF women that
makes them interesting?