The Sun.
London, England, 1862-05-01 00:00:00

THE LAST THING IN THE WAY OF

PETTICOATS.

A rumour got abroad that the virtual creator of
crinoline, remorseful when she thought of the ugli-
ness and inconvenience which her creature had,
through lack of looking after, inflicted on the world,
was about to cut its claws, or rather contract its
hoops. No such benevolent motive, we are sorry to
say, appears to have prompted the invention of the
Jupon _Eugenie, of which great work of art a con-
temporary gives a minute description. A superci-
lious feeling towards Parisian "saucy eits," not a
wish to set a graceful fashion to the world, seems
to have led the Empress to give orders for the ma-
nufacture of this new petticoat. " She detests,"
we are told, " everything that is common." Eas
she no liking for flowers and sunlight ? She
" begged her tirewoman to invent something in
the shape of a petticoat that could not be worn
by every bourgeoise. We must not preach a
sermon on such a text as a petticoat—whatever its
texture ; but we connot help saying that it is bad
policy for a lady, who is what she is because her
husband is the elect of the French people, to indulge,
even in reference to dress, in sneers at the "vul-
garity" of a very important section of the Emperor's
constituents. The "peculiar virtue," it is said, of the
new petticoat is that it will cost as much as eight of
those which until lately were worn by the Em-
press, whilst eight francs must be paid to have it
washed. Can the Empress really believe that cost
will prevent the bourgeoises from copying her
jupon? It will be the poor bourgeoise that will
have to suffer, unless for their benefit and her
own gratification she can get a sumptuary law
enacted, forbidding the wives of all men who
do not possess a certain rank to wear
the expensive garment. Surely our autho •
rity must have done the Empress an injustice. She
may wish to give working women increased em-
ployment in the manufacture and washing of new
petticoats, just as her husband enables working men
to obtain remunerative wages in the construction of
new Boulevards. This must be the case, since we
are informed that the embroidered and hem-stitched '
vestment was " purposely so designed to prevent an
immense number of seamstresses being suddenly
thrown out of work by the increased demand for
machine sewing, which is not yet capable of affect-
ing hem-stitch or embroidery." Such a design im-
plies a belief that an " immense number" of the
petticoats wo ald be ordered. Yes, to pinch hus-
bands' and fathers' pockets, not to shrivel up
wives' and daughters' skirts, must have been
the Empress's purpose—benevolent towards
her own sex, but most malicious towards
ours. Of course, the ,Tuperi Eugenie will soon cross
the Channel—perchance it has already crossed. The
new petticoat, therefore, is a matter of masculine
interest in Britain. As far as we can make out the
description to which we have referred, it appears
that in return for his greatly increased expenditure
on feminine "infernal" toggery (we use the adjec-
tive, of course, only in its corporeal sense), Pater-
familias will escape excoriated shins, and obtain the
sight of rather more graceful balloons than those
which at present expand from the waists of his
wife and daughters. A skirt 18 feet round, and
overlaid with nine flounces of an indefinitely
"greater circumference," does not seem, however, a
retrenchment of the present style of ladies' dress by
any means compensating in convenience for the
swollen expense of the incoming mode.—&otsman.

COUNTY COURT FEES.—From to-day (May 1)
the payable on the entry of a county court
p Nev feehich is now 10d. for every pound and inpt (and
a g
frac-
tional part of a pound) i 5 to he increased to 18., and if the
claim or demand exceeds 40s. the plaintiff is to pay an ad-
ditional ls., which is not to be treated as costs in the
action. The affidavit fee has been abolished, but the fees
upon the judgment summonses have been increased.

AMERICAN "SDITORTALS."—An exchange—says
another exchange—comes to us with the notice that " Truth
is crowded out of this issue." This is almost as bad as the
up-country editor who said, "For the evil effects of intoxi-
cating drink, see our inside."

A DECIDED FACT.—The less a man knows, the
wider his mouth opens. It is as impossible fora fool to
keep his jaws shut, as it is for a sick oyster to keep his shell
closed,