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Show 1 ftUTEO FlIHI ERS. j Helen of Troy was over forty when she perpetrated the most famous elopement on record, and, ns the siege ol Troy lasted a decade, she must havo buen quite elderly when the ill fortune of Paris ret to red her to her hiuliand, who is reported to have received her with unquestioning love land gratitude. Ferielts wedded I Aepasia when sho was thirty-six, and yet sho afterward, for thirty years or tnore, held an undiminished reputa-I reputa-I Lion for beauty. C:enpntra was past thirty when Antony fell under her spell, which nevu-r listened untill her death, nearly ten years alter. Li via win thirty-three when sho won the heart of Augustus, over whom she maintained her nscendenev to the i last. The extraordinary Diane- do Poiciiers was thirty-six when Henry HI. of France (then Duke of Orleans, and just half her age) became attached j to her, and she was held us tho tinst , l.uly and niOit beautiful woman At court up t the period of the monarch's mon-arch's death and of tho accession to power of Catherine of Mcdicig. Anne of Austria was thirty-eight when sho was the handsomest queen of Europe, and when Buckingham and Richelieu Riche-lieu were her jealous admirers. Ninon de 1'Euclna, tho moat celebrated wit anil beauty of her day, was the idol of three generations of tho golden youth of France, and was seventy-two when tho Abbe do Bernis fell in love with Iter. A rare combination of culture, talents, and pcn.onal attractions endowed their possessor seemingly witli tho gitls of eternal youth. Blanco Capcllo was thirty-eight when the (jnind Duke Francisco, of Florence, fell captivo to her charms, and made her his wifo, though he was five years-her years-her junior. Louis XIV. wedded Mine, de Main tenon when site was forty lhrce years ol age. Catherine II., of Russia, wns thirty-thrco when she ecied the empire and captivated the dashing young Orhifl. Un to the 1 time of her death (at cixly-seyen) she ! seems to have ri tabled the same bewitching powers, for the lamentations lamenta-tions were heartfelt among thoso who hud over known her, personally, Mdlle. Mfir, tlio tragedienne, only attained the 'j-nith of hrr beauty and power between forty and forty-five, when thu loveliness of her hands and arms especially wim celebrated throughout Europe. Mine, Rccamior was lliirly-cight win n sliu was, without with-out depute, declined to bo the most, beautiful woman in Europe, which rank she held for fifteen years. |