WOMAN'S BEST AGE.

Timaru Herald, Volume LXXVIII, Issue 12021, 21 March 1903, Page 3 (Supplement)

WOMAN'S BEST AGE.

(Xcw York Sun.) To be young, to be in the fitst flush of youth, is no longer fashionable. Tho fashionable age now for a woman is between thirty and forty. Have not their Majesties the King and Queen of England given notice that the youug person is not to monopolise social attention? Tho doctrine of middle age is being preached in London; and from the innermost centres of Mayfair exclusiveness to the outer circles of Bohemianism the women who are the most popular are those who have lived. The same is tsue of New York. Whatever the reason, the chief interest seems to centre about women who have left the white muslin stage and crept out to the onco dreaded verre of maturity. The women of whom most is heard, whether in New York or in London, have "certainly no longes any right to be considered young. They are frankly middle-aged, and they seem to glory in it. So people seem to have discovered that the period succeeding youth is more desirable than adolescence. The strange thing is that it has not been discovered before, with all tho examples that exist in history. Tho women of Trance and England who were noted for their power and attractions reached tho zenith of their glory after youth had flown. , Those who have lived and seen the world must always have a greater power for swaying humanity than those who are equipped only with, the charm of youth. No one is disposed to underestimate this charm, for it comes to all once, and partakes not' only of tho sweetness of tbe flower, but also of the evanescence. Someone has said that " every face ought to be as beautiful at forty," and another that " no old person has a right to be ugly, because she has had all her life in which to grow beautiful." The transfiguration of. a pleasant smile, kindly lightings of tbe eyes, Testful lines of self-control about the lips, serenity of the face—these things no fitful year or two of goodness gives. Only habitual graciousness within will give them all. It is interesting to remember in connection with this that many of the women who have been famous for their beauty and fascination for men achieved their greatest triumphs between the ages of thirty and forty. Josephine was thirty-three when she married Napoleon, and, judging fronTthe letters written by the absent husband during the early years of their union, she inspired him with intense love and jealousy. It has been said that she was the only woman Napoleon ever really loved. Madame Reeamier was most beautiful between the ages of thirty-five and fifty-five, and Mdlle Mars at forty-five was at the zenith of her triumphs. Diane de Poitiers was thirty-six when she won the heart of Henry 11. The King was half her age, but his devotion never changed. Anne of Austria was thirty-eight when described as the most beautiful woman in Europe, and Buckingham and Richelieu were her jealous admirers. Ninon de IT.tidos, the most celebrated wit and beauty of Iter day, was the idol of three generations of the golden youth of France, and she was seventy-two when the Abba de Berais fell in love with her Bianca Capello was thirty-three when the Grand Duke Francis of Florence fell captive to her charms and made her his wife, s though he was five years her junior. Mdme. i de Maintenon was forty-three when united ■ to Louis, and Catherine IT. of Russia, was ► thirty-three when she seized the Empire of ■ Russia and captivated the dashing young

General Orloff. Up to the time of her death, at sixty-seven, she seems to have retained her powers of bewitchery. Cleopatra was nearly forty when Mark Antony fell beneath her spell, and the most famous beauty the world has ever known, Helen of- Troy, was long past thirty wheni she perpetrated the most notable elopement on record and set the Trojan warriors to fighting for her sake.