The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1910-09-21

The Tragedy of
Age

KIEl y, Life Of an Empress" can
&W$gX scarcely have laid down
&a@ the book without having re-,
10y fected with sadness on the
mighty changes that age is likely to
bring, especially to the once brilliant
and admired who In old age, alas!
appear faded, worn and well-nigh for
gotten. /
Contrast the picture Of the beautiful
Eugene in the front of the book with
the one on the last pages, and one
can read with an approach to &C.
curacy the intervening events, stamp
ing their impress on the altered
tenance and whole general appear
ance.
The charming woman in evening
dress, gay, courted, the exposure or all
eyes permitted to behold her lowell
ness, with dropping eyes and queenly
mien, shoulders that slope perfectly
and possessed withal of regal aspect
this picture, we say, bears but little
likeness to the pathetic one of later:
years, with its sad features, STOPPING
shoulders and sable-clad figure.
Reading the eventful story Of the
life, one cannot but feel profound pity
for this woman of so c%heckered a ca
reer. Once at the head of a brilliant
court, admired, flattered, sought and
followed, she reveled in the pomp and
luxury, the homage and adulation OF
the buoyant, vivacious throng. Then
came the terrible disaster that left
her a stricken, childless mother. In!
ternal disturbance, wrecked position
and ultimate expulsion from court cir
cles, the death of the emperor and
downfall of all earthly prospects OF
success orsfame brought rc'grant anu
abiding sense of sorrow and defeat.
With youth departed, title gone n
erectness of figure vanished, one OF
her earlier friends, after meeting her,
wrote in his diary:
"At once recognized the Countess de
Pierrefonds. With the help Of her
long ebony stick she walked over I'd
a parapet overhanging the sea. She
leaned upon it and steadily gazed to-
ward q point where the con-
tours Of Corsica could be d%iscerned.
Her mind apparently travelled back to
the origin and downfall Of the family
with which fate had so strangely
linked her.
"As the cumbersome barouche drove
away, I recalled the whole past-the
Tuileries, the Louvre, Notre Dame
Saint-Cloud, Compiegne, Fonta1ne-
bleau, the Imperial Chaise, the Hun
drel Guards, and, above all, the SUI
preme power and the dazzling beauty
of this woman-of all this nothing re-
mained!"
Early Vanity Without Profit.
And this melancholy chronicle IS
but one that might be told Of count
less cases, not so prominent or wide
~ known, but where ambition, pride
OF place and brightly alluring pros
poets have, by some sad irony of fate,
been dashed to the ground, leaving
disappointment, d%esolation and ruined
prospects to eat like a cruel canker
into heart and soul.
The pensive eyes, with their mourn
full droop, giving one, as 1t were, a
heart-broken gaze, the heavily draped
figure, shrouded midst unrelieyed falls
and folds of somber Grape, tell all too
plainly the story of a lonely and DESC
late old age.
1t is said she sits about in some of
The beautiful, picturesque gardens
brooding, silent and secluded, dream
ing, apparently, all by herself, on joys
and triumphs forever past.
There sit in lonely places today men
and women who have seen leach
earthly hope decay; poor and weak
and old, they yet have laid hold on
eternal riches, and despite the de-
v~astating trials and sorrows of life,
they are looking forward instead Of
backward. It is true that 1t IS given
to but few to have so illustrious a
past to dwell upon as the ex-empress
of France can recall, but the grandeur
| VI LIE UdSI Oliy CLlpLhSiASS W AN
the quiet and the dearth Of her waning
days.
The Need Of All.
After all, rich or poor, high or low,
we all stand in unmistakable need of
the light of a glowing eastern gate"
as age tells it's ~unmistakable story on
face and hair and STOPPING frame. .
Every heightened life holds its own
tragedies. They may have been of a
simple nature, yet hard enough they
have generally been for the ones who
have had to hear them. But, let every
mournful yesterday point to a glad to-
morrow, for by the grace Of God all
past defeats may point to coming VIC
tories. This is no idle speculation, for
We have the promise Of the scriptures
that for the believer In Christ our
light Affections, which are Compare
! tively) but for a moment, work for US
q far more exceeding and eternal
weight of glory, while we look not at
the things that are seen, OF that have
been seen, but at the precious and
IN 49,