The Magnificent Montez: From Courtesan to ConvertWyndham, Horace
History
The Magnificent Montez: From Courtesan to Convert
Wyndham, Horace
Montez, Lola, 1818-1861
Although a considerable interval had elapsed since she was last in
London, the public had not forgotten the dramatic circumstances under
which she had then appeared at Marlborough Street police court. This
fact, combined with the lure of her subject, "Beautiful Women," was
sufficient to cram every portion of the building with an interested
and expectant audience. They came from all parts. Clapham and
Highgate were no less anxious for guidance than Kensington and
Belgravia. If an entertainment-tax had been levied at that period the
revenue would have benefited substantially. "The appearance on the
platform of the fair lecturer," said one account, "was responsible for
the most extensive display of opera glasses that has been seen in
London since the Empress Eugenie visited the Opera."
By an unfortunate coincidence, the St. James's Hall _premiere_ clashed
with another attraction elsewhere. This was the confirmation that
evening of the dusky King of Bonny by the Bishop of London. Still, a
considerable number managed to attend both items; and, of the two, the
lecture proved the greater draw.
Striking a note of warning at the outset, Lola began by telling her
hearers that, "It is the penalty of Nature that young girls must fade
and become as wizened as their grandmothers." But she had a message of
hope to offer, for, she said, "wrinkles can be warded off and autumn
tresses made to preserve their pristine freshness." The cure was
merely careful dieting and the "abolition of injurious cosmetics and
the health-destroying bodice." Taking the measure of her audience, she
laid on flattery with a trowel. "You have," she assured them, "only to
look into the ranks of the upper classes to see around you the most
beautiful women in Europe; and where this is concerned, I must give
the preference to the nobility of England." Among the examples held up
for admiration by her were the Duchess of Sutherland--"the paragon and
type of Britain's aristocracy"--and "the very voluptuous Lady
Blessington." Approval for the Duchess of Wellington, however, was
less pronounced, since, while admitting her physical charms, Lola
declared her to be "of little intellect, and as cold as a piece of
sculpture."
Claiming to have visited Turkey (but omitting to say when), Lola
offered an item unrecorded in the archives of the British Embassy
there:
"In Turkey I saw very few beautiful women. The lords of
creation in that part of the world treat the opposite sex as
you would geese--stuff them to make them fat. Through the
politeness of Sir Stratford Canning, English Ambassador at
Constantinople, I was kindly permitted to visit the Sultan's
harem as often as I pleased and there look upon the 'lights
of the world.' These 'lights of the world' consisted of five
hundred bodies of unwieldy avoirdupois. The ladies of the
harem gazed upon my leanness with commiserating wonder."
The lecture finished up on a high note:
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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