The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1866-07-02

|
| women without ever being girls, but as regards
those also who have enjoyed natural or adventl-
uous advantages over their fellows, but are
nevertheless as devoid of color and vitality as
| asplant cultivated in dark cellar. .
As Frenchwomen generally marry at an early
age the husbands influence would probably in
| time counteract the errors of their youthful
| training were matrimony an affair of the heart
| and not sordid calculation of the brain
| Every body who has ever been 10 Antwerp
| knows how love, in the case of Quentin Matsys
| out OF a Mulciber wrought an Apelles: and were
fair chance afforded to that potent magician
there Is no reason why he should not work
| equally marvellous transformations in the case
| OF the lair daughters OF France, even under the
| sway OF the sabre. Unhapplly there Is no
| standing.point for the mighty wizard whence
to apply his lever to move world OF ignorance
ana iilyollty. Men and women in France are
matched according to their respective means
and prospects, and without the slightest
reference to congeniality of tastes and pursuits
On attaining his thrtieth year. saws NJ. PeIlrtan
Frenchman begins to weary of extravagance
and dissipation and settles down to his work ia
sober earnest. In one way or another he
contrlVes TO purchase share in some mercantile
OF professional occupation, and then looks
around him for vile TO act as his Minister of
the Interior, Within the circle of every mar
rlageable young ladys acquaintance there exists
an elderly person, apparently created for the
express purpose of providing herswith husband.
To this matrimonial broker, or Sister of Charity,
II seems the most natural and proper thing in
the world that girl with fortune of her own
should be united to man who ha opens to want
such an article. She therefore names the amount
to the latter and, II the figure suits his views and
expectations, she sets about establishing mutual
relatlOns between the owner OF the fortune and
her chosen client. As soon as the ice is broken
on both sides the suitor solicits PERSONAL
interview, because as the Code confers upon
the damsel the privilege of veto, it NAV be
assumed that she is entitled at least to see the
lace OF the man in whose house il is proposed
she should reside for the remainder of her days.
meeting IS accordingly arranged TO come off
the presence Dnnt
other discreet and experienced matron. At the
appointed time The maiden enters the drawing
room In toilette the very embodiment of sim
pllclty and unstudled elegance,-so thoroughly
has she mastered the art OF concealiug art She
seats herself on low stool by her mothers
SIDE and becomes intensely interested with her
embroidery. The sutor arrives, also got U o tor
the occasion, his outer man fresh from from his
tailor, and with the air of one who expects to
carry the place by assault. Salutations are
politely exchanged and also few remarks on
the current topics of the day. pause then
ensues, until the gentleman gathering himself
together, rushes at the "bull-6nch" before him
and clears 1t at bound. Having expounded
his budget, he takes his leave perfectly satisfied
with the impression he has made, If not with
that which he has himself received. For, all
this time the other high contracting party has
remained silent, or answered only in mono.
syllables, though naturally prepossessed in
favor OF the man who has paid her the compli-
ment of selecting her from among her fellows
to preside over his house. Should the wooer
u.
proceed to the negotiation of the marriage con-
tract, This Is done IN business-like manner
and as between entire strangers. When the
iirevocable deed, little IoSemaKing is is peT Sme
mitted, and the young people see each other
daily, Tor an hour or so at time, and even
walk together in the garden, if there happen to
be one but of course always under the vlgilant
guardianship of the maternal eye. The young
lady is probably not displeased to have a male
companion, though now and then she may,
perchance, be tempted to ask herself why if
this be love, so much fuss should be made about
it. But time and the hour run through the
longest day, and at last the twain become one
one In name, one in interests, but still as widely
severed as the poles in all that concerns the
mind and the heart
Devoid of occupation, destitute of internal
resources, and for the most part neglected by
their husbands, married women in good society,
in France, have only the alternative OF bigotry
or pleasure, and they naturally commence with
the latter-1requenlly in the end croWning a
life of fqtllity, not untainted by sin, with a
fit of sour devotion, just as in olden times men
compounded for lite of lawless sefndulgencs
by being buried in a friar's "garb OF woe." 1t
may be questioned, however, if there is AS
much actual innoohty to the marriage-bed in
the present as in the past geneIuiiU1-not so
much, indeed, through the influence OF religious
belief, or of higher moral standard, as through
the comparative absence of temptation. In fact,
If a woman he not companionable as a wife, she
is not likely to be so as mistress. Besides,
married women have nowadays to contend
chances against them. Frenchmen of the pre-
sent day, If not less frivolous, are certainly less
impTessionable than their predecessors of the
old school of galantry; and having become
practical and prosaic, they have lost their pas
sion for b01neS fortunes. An affair of the heart
takes up time that might be more prohtablY
devoted to affairs OF the Bourse. If not less
expensive, it is less troublesome and less dan
gerous to keep mistress, with regard 10 whom
there need be no restraint and no selfsacr6ce,
except OF q pecuniary nature, and the association
: with whom is terminable at pleasure. 1t
must not be forgotten that the social evil
in France wears a very different aspect to
what it has assumed in England. There is
none OF the coarse brutality, the rampant
shamelessness, that render the ST reefs
OF London impassable after dark for women
who have any respect for themselves, or even
for their sex. But for that very reason il is all
the more to be dreaded Vice, in Paris at
the surest arts of fascination, and arrays
itself in the most attractive colors. There is
nothing to shock or disgust the yet unper.
verted mind, but every thing to throw il off its
guard, to ensnare and finally corrupt 1t in the
absence of good example and precept, or the
fear OF public censure and reprobatOn. When
the Cyprian goddess fled from Horse il was
surely in Paris she. fixed her shrine for there the
most dashing equipages, the most costly robes,
the most sumptuous furniture, the most eXQui-
site daintes, and the ''red, red gold,n are
openly and lavshly laid upon her altar, and it is
her nymphs and priestesses who set the fashion
in dress and in every style of eccentric eXtraVa.
gance. Indeed it was only last spring season
subject of complaint among "the daughters Of
marble" that the respectable women aped their
manners and initiated their costume so closely
and successfully that ii was hard task to dis
tinguish between professionally and ''ama-
teurs." And 1t was regarded as fash of genius