New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1855-05-30
vrEws OF THINGS, ETC. IN PARB-H
THE DEAD WALL.

,ha ~ or science. of commercial cant, pull
humbue as we call it. hyou speak only OF ooid
bvperbole, grant the case; but as Tor other
and nicer qualities, our first masters in that kind
rniobt take French lessons 10 their advantage.
Mark, for example, that enormous yellow poster
with lie great ornate capitals and its columns Of
lesser figures to support the statement, that
xogasin de Noureautes, THAT is dry goods shop
in Che Cbsusse d'Antin contains seven millions
worth Of merchandise to be sold at 40 per cent
reduction from some unmentiOned standard
price1 The stock must all be sold within three
months. Doors open at 10 o'clock, A. NJ Be-
fore the door sit statuesquely, through the day,
two equestrian gems d'armes-horsesa and riders in
full uipment-implyin by their guardian pre-
sence thronging Of eager purchasers. Such,
in the first time of the opening Of the magasin,
was the Inference drawn by the crowd, which 10
turn was drawn by the inference within the
guarded doors. There was shrewd calculation
of the simplicity, gregariOusness and initiative
ness of human nature, that smacks of BlrrfIm.
The autobiography of that thaumaturgst, by
the way, is translated and read here, where his
name is known nearly as well and hOnored-just
as much al with MS. The next bill is of higher
literary sort: ad captandum, 0d populam, al rece
rtnfium, od raRifafem and the other rhetorical ads
of the school-books, are applied with curious skill
to further the sae Of the En- Napoleon. Would
the cotnetic smell as sweet to French nostrils
under any other namel For this is the water Of
the Fist Napoleon, the Grand Emperor, the man
Of destiny. Frances glory The work is divided
in two parts. The first is the HistOrique de FEau
A0polt0n / need not point out It's wealth OF allu-
sion and suggestion-l0w it sets historical RENT
niscence at work and, especially at the close
imagination in play. The passages / cite will re-
veal their merits to the intelligent reader without
the meIetricOus aid of italic type:
"Composod for Napoleon by Deyeux professor Of
chemistry member Of The Academy of Sciences
and first opothecary OF the Emperor. Couisart, his
Maicstys physician, approved this water, and NapO-
Icon desired that its should be reserved exclusively
for his person. lie used it his Journeys, all his
camIopns. He ufed it for his toilette, for preven-
tive OF mlosmac influences, IN his baths and 10 refresh
himself after his greet aigues.. At the death Of tho
Emperor sorow and gratitude required that this water
should remain, as II were, widowed OF him, tUeHre de
hs.) Nj. DeyeuX, junior, heir aud proprietor OF the
recipe aftcrwar conceived the idea that II should be
applied the public good Impressed with the varied
properties of tie Napoleon water, NJ Banuel, chief of
The laboratory of the Faculty of Sciences undertook
10 realize that idea; but Ills occupations at the SOrbOnne
left him neither the time nor ihe possibiiyoi doing so
Here the thread of narration snaps short off,
leaving the attention agape, and the cunning au-
thor slips in, parenthesls-wise, the price OF the
larger and the lesser bottles. But, not to let 50
stale business moral deaden the more generous
effects of his tale he keeps the readers purchasing
and other emotions up to high-water mark, by hur-
ryipg him on through a series OF short, brilliant
para raphs which compose the second part OF the
work 1t treats of the properties and qualities
of the cosmetic as:
"This water leaves after IT feeling rather than on
odoI- (pptot sentiment qune odeur ut Is general
" aniiseI tie and especially anti-spasmOdic; bottle of
II in bath generates lively and delicious sensation
of froshness iehtnoss and youth. In fine, the Eau
Nopo6oR hes answered all the well-known exgencies
and susceptibitcs Of the who has given to il his
name; it will now have the public for judge"
Could anything be finer in its way than this pc
rorationl lis there anything more democratic in
sentiment On all the dead walls of New-l0rk
Here YOU priyatest individual for three common
est franc pieces you put yourself on water-cyol
with tie greatest Emperor Of modern times; you
smell ard feel as once he exclusively felt and smet
and if YOU do not like the sensation as well as he
did, exercise your independent Judgment and say
so Liberty and Equality could no further go in
this direction. Indeed the democratic sentiment
which is something different from political Re
publicanfm-is developed in certain other drec-
tons quite as fully here in the United States.
should say, for instance that French servant, or
certainly French soldier, stood in many respects
nearer to social equality with his employer or his
superior officer than though he occupied the same
relative position in our Republic.
In spite Of their expanse OF varied colors and
their ford style, | find these advertisements Of
the ready made clothing shops the saddest on the
wall Dress coats at % francs; pantaoons, fash
ionable and diStingu6, at less elegant vests for
trine; shirts for song. 1t is too cheap to be
Good in any sense. In my view of the thing the
bright yellow sheet dulls TO the likeness of an old
palimpseste and under the gross commercial legend
Of niraculously cheap bargains ! seem 10 discover
Hoods touching lyric-that sorrOwtu wall.
Eere is something of cheerfuler aspect. The
letter.press, on white ground, framed in by
lively red margin, is not too vouminous to be
Quoted entire. On either side at top, by way Of
proem stand the words Of Promise, Health, Econ
omy follows the subject matter Nectar des IA
miles, Family nectar How eloquent, nay poetic
is its brevtyl OlympSn enjoyment in mortal do
mesticity-the beverage of the gods drunk about
tie hesrth-ston little heaven below. 1t would
be well enough by the way. if we were to rid our
selves of the erroneous notion. which We hold
mainly perhaps from books written by English
street travellers and street observers, that the
French lave no habits nor word corresponding 20
ours of lome They have both As 70 the word /;
tLes SOL even to its etymOlogy, and tOycr (hearth)
in all its better significance are its accurate cor
respondents, as French dictionaries and French
literature sufficiently demonstrate As to the
habit the French are, 10 say the least of it, quite
as Housekeeping and home-lOying as the travelling,
coloni4rg, ioreign-trading, "on-the- continent-re
siding" English, or the adventurous, pioneering,
enigIatug, iortune-seeking, eyer-restess. lOcomO-
tive Americans 1t is common in France for two
and even three generations of family TO live T.
getherpesceiully under the same roof-a sadly rare
case with US
But your travelling, shrewd observer comes to