New-York daily tribune., 1858-07-09

from vohsnt 70 conyentl though she should walk
down The Boulevards in male attire; Joan OF Are.
though she should reapTear there IN FIJI arm9r,
would Lot be iionae. Dress Ia mo%e and in the
extreme OF the mode--thst is, yerv erpeu.ye dress
of which the lOrettes OF Par d. furrish tie modes
TO the virtuous fashionable scmen of this and scme
other capitals, makes che ionse. who, to maintain
her eonne cnaI" .er, must kat herself IN evidence
at balls SOFT os aad places OF public amusement
che mus. be either married woman or 4 iore'~;.
lher is 10 visible distinction, To the eye Of 20
ken an observer as Alphonse Karr between the
married and thc unmarried variety. If married,
then her husband must be Iicb, or ruined, Or
worse.
Nov to the drama. The peT-oDages with whom
/ have TO DO are n. Pommssu, man between
40 and 80 years Old q model OF integrity, honor
and innocence, a notary s clerk WITH an income OF
IL, 600 francs year: Seraphine, bis wife, of whom
be is uxoriou.ly fond having half his age, ard
spending three times bic income-she is the Llonne
II. Lecariier, lawyer, a friend OF Old Pommeau;
Jherese, his wife, young, pere, full OF all good
ness, formerly ward of old POmmeau, whom she
loves ss a father, AID through whose able admins
tration Of her property, To the neglect of his own
affairs she was enabled tc bring large dowry 70
her husband: NJ. BoaiOslon, friend of al the
parties, a man of the (parisian) world. OF tins
last ] may have more 70 say by-and-by.
You Observe this il a domestic drama purporting
70 represent the everyday life and manners OF Paris
10 le5o. The plot, though very ingenious, ia simple.
A. il dc.elops, We End that Seraphne's eKtraya-
CANT expenses are betrayed by Lecamier who, though
be has lost all affection for her, and is seeking the
means of breaking off his criminal relations with his
own and his wies friend, feels bound in honor mean
time to spend his iies property, their chlids lnher-
itaDce, in paying Serapblne's milliIers and dress
mixers bills Accident reveals the true state of
things first 10 Therese, who with exceeding
(EreDch) beroism, suppresses her shame aud rage,
preserving appearances Of affection toward her has-
band and Of friendship for Seraphne, whose brazen
shameless forehead she kisses with her pure lips
and telling several lies with the same pure lips, all
for the sake of old POmneaU, who Is stlll IN uX0-
rous bssfu ignorance OF his wiies, fault. At last
be discOvers-but no. be IL too perslstenty blind
ever to discover what has long been an open secret
TO the rest of the world-the discovery il made
for him Of his wiit's fault.
Here is the main trait of Partisan social man
ners. Friendly and hostile critics, and the dramatic
censOrs who decided that the piece should not be
per(ormcd-a decision which was get aside by the
En- peror at the direct Intervention of Prince Ma
poleon-all agree that there are homes Paurres in
such numbers that their existence may be counted
among the social sores of the time. The very
objections made TO II. Anglers play draw the trait
more distinctly, ard add to il curious shidlDgs. The
existence of the is not questioned, but the pro-
prety of exhibiting undressed sore on the stage
" Thanks to the theater, to history, to novels, to
d" the Versailles of Louis XIV. the Fontainebleau
"of Henry ~. and Francis l., adultery Is almost
" "yenial sin" writes j. Jann; but this prostitution
in adultery this pure venality is too eross-for the
stage. Another objectien, along with thls has been
more strongly pressed by critic 10 the Rerw Con-
tempOT0He, who maintains, not that Serdphinc Is an
unnatural character, but that she is unnatural IN
" bookkeepers house. She does not move IN a class
"Of society where she could spend 80 much on her
"toilette. Nothing obliges to take up this inia-
nous trade. Does she make part of world
" where it is necessary to exhaust ones revenues
in rlinOus tOilettes ," Even in this humble bour-
geois class the critic literally admits tne almost
5...., .in,'' for Ire udds THAT she has lover, !
"can understand, but that she should herself be-
"kept by bim--her position is far from making that
ga necessity" That there ia however, higher,
privileged class weighed upon by the necessity, the
obligation of runous toilette expenses and their
cor sequent yenalty the writer does not leave 10
infer, but explicitly aiirms and alirms it in this
singular manner, as a proposition past dispute:
"Ah! If this woman were married 10 man whose
bigh position constrained her not TO let herself be
"ecipsed BY any rival, should comprehend that
"want or vanity would draw her into this abyss"
NJ. Aueier's answer to this and some other criti-
cisms is equally striking: 1t was important to
" choose the (social) medium where this state of
" things would be most telling. Pommeau as a man
1" in high society, is evidently less dramatic than
" POmmeau the ordinary citizen; besides, If
"by that we narrow our frame, We enlarge our
" idea by showing the existence of this luxurious
"evil (paie du tre) in strata of society to which,
4" before our time, luxury had not descended.
" If the age of the husband furnishes sort of eX
cuse for the nGdelity Of the wife, il in way
" cuses her yenaliy." NJ. Augier treats the CEN
sors with uDgloved hands in bis amusing preface
They refused TO approve the piece on the ground of
It's immortality, because il is dangerous to reveal
- To society the existence of It's secret sores"
That the secret is an an open one is clear enough,
and, as new form of old, permanent vice, is
proper theme for the stage, unless the Office of the
stage is to be confined 10 mere amusement. NJ
Aueer and his collaboration aimed to represent vice
as il really is and without induging in crossness of
terms, they have represented i. without any rose-
color attractive shading This play is not GER
taiply the sort Of read0 TO be recommended IN
boarding schools, neither Is The column of pO-
Ice reports in The Times nor large part
of true history. But the authors here have de.
pended, wisely think, for the moral effect on the
emotions created in the minds OF the audience by
the faithful representation of vice. They do not
punish vice nor reward the virtue Pommean aud
Thtr6se, as We last see them utterly miserable
and Madame Seraph.ne is reported faunt-
ing in all the pride of honnes
toilette in a trout box at the Gymnsse. The
censors insisted that gross visible moral should
run through the piece ike shewer, and suggested
that between the fourth and fifth acts NJ ,dame
"Pommesu should fall victim to the small pOx,
- as the Proyidehtisl chastisement of her deprav-
lily" On this condition they would approve
Les LiOEres PaurTtS, which then, as Augler re-
marks, might have been entitled De I Jtiiue de Ia
aecir. Since vice is not invariably punished
between the fourth and fifth acts, why should it
be on the stage in novels, that pretend to mirror
the world
To turn again to the text of the piece and its
" traits" NJ. PommeaU, the bes; of men, does not
mind utteriug ialsehood out of affection for his
ward Ihfrese 1herese the plrest of women