Weekly national intelligencer. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1841-1869, 1852-11-27

gaye--because there is less Of il.
The feuetoa thus enjoys present the highest vogue
Dumas and Eugene Sue, and Madame George Sand, the
yirtuous advocate Of ''womans rights, and Lamarune
and Houssaye genus oHe all take their nourshment
in part through the quill that Is they write feuetons
and get well paid for them The avenue TO literary fape
thus living through the steam-press readily i'm
agine how densely it is thronged. The Parisans must
forever have passion for something, and this something
is every thing by and nothing longs" ande fashion
spreads here as rapidly the cholera At the Revival
of Learning in France every thing done la Greque
and Ia Lain Gray-headed went to school to read
Homer and Cicero Grecan tunics and Roman togas
futterng through the Streets and hung loosely around
dancing gentlemen in the salons; Macedonian phaanx
of picked enrolled from the regular army; and
the approach of death learned rected the dying
EXPLANATIONS of Cato and Antonnus, and all this for the
that young lady nowadays lets her dress
dabbe in the mud and sweep the sidewalksbecause it
is fashionable In the middle of the 18th century the
ladies all encased their bodies in whaebone and inflated
their pecoats with hoops but St. Pierre conceived his
Paul and Virginia. and straghtway the ladies of Paris
arrayed themselves in white muslin gowns, and wore
straw hats. At the commencement Of Louis AlVs reign
the hair had been trained to stand erect and sen-
ed then to stand alone with powder and pomatum the
coaeas had to mount step,dders in order properly
Antonete was taken sick Ct fever and lost all her hair
The fact sooner known than every lady appeared
with fiat head During the rage for liberty under the
Republic the 1die dressed their heads after the style of
antique buss and adopted the drapery of ancient
ststues. The Directory having declared that to bear
children for the State the duty of every French
in order to fill up the gaps in society left by the
guillotnc and the noydd every lady instantly aspred
with than Hebrew ardor to win the honors due to
maternity; and instead of the tenuy of figure which
had been before the desperation of the SEX they affected
significant beasont which gave patriotic promise to
the country twas neither very graceful modest it
is true, but then It was fashionable.
As IN her costume in her literaure-France always
has aashon. Tn the days when Abeard gathered in the
gardens of Ste Geneveve his three thousand pupils the
Juror of the tre scholastic philosophy; when Rabe-
las set the whole nation to laughing mockng, and ong
the tongue it the fashion laugh and mock and
lol out the tongue at every thing. When Montagne
specuated and doubted and doubted and specialized all
France looked wise, but shook the head ominously
though after all they knew nothing; they,
suspect, Iapch mistaken. When Des Cartes exclaimed
oago ergo su every body took to psychology and be-
gan study the mind the ladies wrote Cartesan letters
and the "precieuses rdes the salons chatted fami
iary of the Caresian vortices With the literary fash
ions of the 18th century every reader Is familiar. Who
cannot the influence of Baye and Montesquieu, of
Button and Ddero of Jean Jacques and Eoltare, acting
and reactng upon each other and upon societycrack
ing jokes under the guise of natural philosophers hunt
ing epigrams in the pursuit of truth; assuming airs of
acctatcn while describing the charms of nature build
ing the Temple of Gnidus by the side of the Academy
nditing Row page in the Reigieuse and in the
Encyclopedia with prurent pens stirring up the mire and
dirt of scnsuaty, or with the sardonc grin of Mephs
tophees leering at every thing true, and honest and
pure and lovely and of good repor 1t the age of
Rousseau and the Philosophical Patriarch During the
regime Of Napoleon France produced literature and
therefore had literary fashions but under the reign
of his nephew the leton promises to be all the rage
The stted style of writing is longer peculiar school
boys. The piquant, pungent, and pointed is diligently
sought and if not found invented 9arsh cooring takes
the place of Nature gaudy paste take the place of the
cid masters merericious decorations are sedulously
effected instead Of chaste and graceful ornament just
certain ladies Of cracked reputation 60 largely into
paste jewels in lieu Ct the genuine diamond.
If such be at present the literary fashion in France,
then is Monsieur Houssaye, Decte az ThSare Franeais
very Beau Brumme among authors, the Count d0rsay
Of Feuetoniss His nature and tastes exactly fit him
for the function. He is, should judge by birth
lnea descendent Of the Acarnanans and his pendants
all decidedly Sybarite Pleasure and Momgs are the
gods of his idolary He writes please opera girls
and thinks to please al France; for says he call
philosophers, all wQmen actresses" OF course
he cans French men and French women Monsieur can
conceive of no others
In the two mortal volumes before US after wading
through their dreary pages find the Of just one
rofessed philosopher and professional actress VOL
aire aud Mademoisele Gaassin. We need say that
the character of the sage Of Ferney suffers severely under
the hand Of NJ Houssaye for nothing he touches which
he does spoil yotaires weak points sufficiently
obvious before feuilletenist still further discovered
his nakedoess 1t not enough then that we should
know Of Vltare lie appeared the Court of Frederic
H. subsstng cold meats and o stinted allowance Of
sSgar and chocolate purloining wax-esndle-ends and
washing the kings dirty linen" he called il that is
correcting les poSses du roi mqitrea 1t was not
enough that should see the Samson Of ndety grind
ing in the mill of the Phstines must have him also
dawdlng the lap Of Dellah and accordingly M Hous
sage ayors with of yotares amours which
almost rivals Lempreres narrative Of Jupter conquests
in the line. The Yoltaire whom NJ Houssaye loves
to depict is cscochymc old man laden with the
weight Of eighty winters" it is votaire in his giddy
and charming youth y it is Voltare writing stres ga
tdHs to Pmpette du Meyer and making love, very pa-
tonic and philosophical Of course, to Me de Lvry And
then have pendents these in the persons Of Madame
de Ruplemonde and Mile. Lecouvreur, Of Madame de
Viliers and Madame du Chatelet the Nymph Of Grey
whose blue eyes poured much warmth into the phi
losophers heart when he plead for her before the
Brussels tribunals and whose death distressed him. he
said, whole week The Made du Chatelct as is we'll
known, was quite a literary celebrity in her time she