Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-02-26
THE WOMAN OF FORTY.
Compensations That Come as the
Years Advance.
From the London Mail.


Can, there possibly be any real COM
pensations for being forty" many WON
en- will ask. with threads of gray
threatening bright hair. figures that have
lost something of past elegance. and the
coming of the crows foot not to be con-
cealed-can there be any compensati ons?T
LAS we have sown. so We shall reap
and the harvest therefore depends on our
selves-and somewhat also on the wealth
er-which IN plain language means cir
constance If we have not sauandered
those gone-by years of our youth We
shall have acquired at least some small
amount of power and influence, the gift
of swayng destiny, if only in a tiny
corner.
The wish that all women have to be
beautiful generally comes from a desire
for this power and influence. What else
did such woman as Nine. de Stael
mean when she said she would give all
her brains to he beautiful? 4 really love-
~ woman knows that her influence is
Nell-nigh limtleSs.
The advance of we'll spent years means
with certainty an increase in wisdom and
understanding These bring reliability
In their train. To he no shirker. but
wise, tactfui and reliable. means TO be
fit to handle the difficult things of life.
Be ready to grapple with responsibilities
and they will soon crowd about you.
Once fitted and ready and longing for
the battle, you always find the fight at
your own door.
The knowledge which brings power is
not bookish knowledge, which often lies
in the brain. a useless unwieldy mass.
To be learned is not necessarily to be
wise. 1t is the wisdom which has come
through combined intuition. observation.
experience and good heart which gives
the woman just entering on middle age
her unique value in society. She has
lived. She knows, and she can help.
At forty one is keenly interested in life.
the world and the worlds ways. TWEEN
ty years later there begin to come a
"A vivid recollection of the past to OBJ
scure the present. Rest time grows
nearer. But at forty woman has
scarce reached her mental prime, so wise
ly and kindly have the gods decreed that
the height of brain power shall follow on
the passing of youthfulness. And Nine.
de Stael would have told us with much
emphasis that brains do count-after all.
In one of Mr.. Anthony Hopes most
popular novels there is a society matron
who reaches the particular age in ques-
ton. She promptly puts off all vestige
of youth by taking TO bonnets and man
ties and combing back the fringe which
was worn by all smart women in those
the world? oh, no: far from it, But the
influence that the ordinary bright woman
exercises did not suffice. Hers should
be a powerful authority with a heavy
certainty about it. The bonnet, the
mantle. the solid folds of velvet were her
insignia of office. the trappings of per-
son of weighty Importance.
There was, of course, more than a
touch of humor about her for those born
with d gift of seeing it, but I quote the
lady as one who had firmly grasped the
fact of sure compensation in middle
age.
The scene shifts. of course. Things
that delighted us in youth have. perhaps,
ceased TO charm Yet appreciation grows
by what it feeds on. The beauty of little
children, the pink and white cheeks of a
girl, the dancing radiance of young lives
appeal TO us who are older with always
growing and increasing delight. If ever
a man lived who had probed the mys-
teries of beauty William Morris was that
man. and he stated emphatically that at
forty woman should be at her hand
soonest. \ developing sense and appre-
citation of the beautiful must lend grace
to the observer.