The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1866-07-24
SOCIETY-ACTRESSES.

"Marais.p The hammer of the tcOnoclast has
not Yet invaded its precincts; The Place
Royale" remaius as represented In engravlngs OF
the seventeenth century; the streets De5 Tour
nelles De la Cerisale, Du Pare Royal, DE la
Perle, Du Petit Muse ST. Paul, and Lecogneux,
and which reveal the splendor OF the era OF tue
hnancipr Lamet and of the superintendent
Fouuuet are still there.
Polhing could be more charming land more
Eprghtly thanfthe society of the Marais IN the
time OF LOUIS XIII. II numbered Marion de
Lorme, Ninon de PEncos, Deshoulieres,
Sevigne, Scudery La Fayette, Scarron, Busy
Rabutln Saiut Evremont La Sabllere, la
Rocheioucaulu, amidst its votares Penetrating
into those salons, whose Florentine tapestries
and old-tashioned furniture are preserved Ike
relics OF the past we fancy we see seate in
those aTm-C hairs ar ladies with hair all in curls,
whose socie,y was so much coveted by the gem
tlPmen and the "Mousquetaires" OF the Jay, and
who are most familiarly known rs the "pre
cieuses.n
OF all the fair ladies of the Marais, who, while
rejecting the gallantry and the spirit OF the
middle ages, first established the empire OF
woman none was more poDdlar or celebrated
than Nlnon de PEnClJs. Sue lived from the time
OF Louis XIII until the end OF the reign OF LOUIS
XIV, and none ot her contemporaries could
boast OF SO many years aud so many irlends.
The delicious collection OF enamels of PetiJot
preserve 10 us The features OF those CHARMING
persons who constituted the preCieuses OF thC
Place Royale. Ninon de PEnclos appears in
them as a very pretty delicate perSonqge mot as
she became afterwards, plump and rotund),
with q llVely eve, nl9n IOfenedu, anu a nali-
open mouth breathing voluptuousness. By her
SIDE is a young girl beaming with INTELLIGENCE,
the proteee OF Ninon de rBnclos, the lover OF
the Chevalier de Mere, and the beloved of the
superintendent of Fouquet who placed her por.
trait at the Chateau de BeauX by the side of that
OF Mademoisee de la Valere), Mademoisee
dAubigne, afterwards Madame Scarron, and
then the allpowerful Madame de Maintenon.
All the incidents of love and gallantry of the
era of Louis XIII attach themselves more or
less 10 the beautiful quarter winch at that time
stretched from the gold palace OF the Touynelles,
with its trelnses OF grape-vines and ls groves OF
cherry trees (whence the names of RueS BeauX
Treillis and De Ia Cerisaie still to be met wItn)
to beyond the Bastille Saint Antoine. When
the old palace OF Charles VII was pulled down,
Mary OF Medicls, full of "reminiscences of Flo
renee, designed streets and squares, with foun-
talns and lofty mansions, amid which the Seine
flowed, Just as the Arno does through PISA and
the city Of the Msdcis. The Arsenal in which
dwelt the morose Suly, was completed in the
time OF Henri ~, and behind was the hotel of
the treasurer Lamet, marvel of Venetian and
Foren,ine architecture. When Henri Nv de-
signed the Place Royae, his idea was to intro.
duce place" like that OF ST. Mark at Venice
In Paris, with shops, galleries, and baths. Tue
gentlemen who promenaded under these Italian
Colonnades wore broad. hrmmed Ielt hats with
red feathers, and boots OF yellow kid with steel
spurs, and black or grew coats thrown, at'er the
fashion OF the SpanIards, over their short coats
and white ruffs. Their adventurous aspect was
heightened by barbiche or barbchon Ca tutt
on the chin, called "roya" at that time, because
introduced by Louis XIII IN opposition to the
Huguenot beard of Henri IVl, but, above ALL
by the fashion Of wearing the rapier, the hand
resting on the hilt, that tine point should stick
up from beneath the mantle like perpetual
challenge 70 step aside into the meadows OF tho
Bastille, the spot where these Gallo "Rodo-
mOnts" were at that epoch ever prlcking one
another in order to win favor in the eyes OF
the tar.
Among the fair and irail ones who paraded
Place ROValp rnViShiOp Princess
Conde, with whom Henry w had fallen deope
Tately in love IN his old age. She and others
dwelt in hotels over the colonnade, or in the
Rues des Tournelles, Des BeauX-Treiliis, De Ia
Cerisaie, or in that OF Saint Antoine, which,
starting from the Church of st. Gervls, the
parish OF armoTers and workers in gold, lust as
Saint Eusache was OF the drapers and butc aers,
stretched to St. Paul, where the "mignons" OF
Henry III lay buried. Close by was the Convent
OF the Celestms, anything but Gloomy, for the
monks we're protessed horticultur1sts, as also
the Convent OF ST. Mary, where the ladies went
at prayer time fer the beautiful sinners
were not wanting at least in the appear
ance of devotion. The Rue des Tourneles
led by an avenue of chesnut trees and an
open meadow TO the green slopes of the Bas-
tile, the terrible dungeon of despotism but
which differed in outward aspect very slightly
from the royal palaces OF the fourteenth century,
Vincennes. the Louvre, and the Tournelles-
having vast pOrches, great central court, and
extensive gardens. The pride of the Rue 81.
Antoine was the Hotel Lesdguieres, enowned
for Its sumptuous decorations. Beyond all was
the Faubourg st. Antoine coloniZed by Germans,
skilful workers in ebony and other valuable
woods. These colonists came mainly from MI
remberg, Cologne, and StrasDourg. The Island
of st. Louis separated the populous quarter of
Notre Dame and the "Vilager OF ST. Marceau
from the arstocracy of the Marais, and the
6nancier RambouIllet received at his chateau of
Reuilly the whole of the society OF the Place
Royale-ladies, magistrates, poets, and " gem
tnshommes d'epee," when the tournaments and
festivals OF the "Place" itself wee over.
The so called ''gentilshommes depee" were not
all Gascons Mousquetaires, cheVauX legers, or
adventurers. They numbered the Condos, the
ROhans, the Epernons, the Guises, and the
Grammonts as we'll as the D'Artegnans, among
their ranks. Every gentleman was at that
epoch duellst. The 'saies d'escrime ct
daImes" themselves, conducted by old gentle
men, were in Louis Kills time called 'acade-
mics" The habit of fighting for the most
trHng cause was so inveterate that gentlemen
were to be seen engaged in mortal com bat at
the corner OF every street. Baron de Cant2l,
celebrated by Madame de Seyigne, had gone
for example, on Easter dav TO the church of St
Paul. An attendant Of the Count BoutevlllC
came to inform him that his master was waiting
for him at the Porte st. Antoine to second HIM IN
combat. The Count started in his tete-daS
garb and light shoes, drewhis rapier as a second
inflicted a severe wound upon the Count de
Pongibaud, and returned home without know
ing anything about the causes which haC
brought about the duel. The historian Gregory
Laity says that this Baron de Chantal was
killed at the defense of the island of Rhe, by
Cromwell, at that time an officer in the Britsl
army. These habits of risking life for the mos
trifng causes induced a peculiar moral con
ditiOn.
Money was disreearGed. Gentlemen gamble
in the tent, or even in rhe trenches, and cheate
and fought for the stakes. They were thougn