The morning star and Catholic messenger. [volume] (New Orleans [La.]) 1868-1881, 1868-02-23
TEE EMPRESS EueEN1E.


TEE EMPRESS EUGENE.
a correspondent furnishes the following
description of the French Empress -
| Eugene is the most beautiful as she is
the most popular woman in Paris. Her
| style is SO marked, her taste SO decided, her
| form and manners SO unlike the French,
| that she stands alone in the gay capital
the observed of all observers. I'm
like the French women-whO are short
and dumpy, especially in middle lifes7the
Empress is queenly i'll form, tall, slim, and
stately. Unlike the French WOMEN, whose
compilations are dark, sallow, and even
dingy, the Empress's face is as white as ala
baster. Her eye is clear but piercing; her
smile captivating; her brow gracious. Ar
rayed in her regal robes she is simply mag
nificent. Everything about her is in keep
ing. Her taste is unequaled. Everything
is in proportion, and one part is suited to
the other. She knows what will agree with
her complexion, to the exact shade of ribbon.
You can suggest no alteration in her dress.
On state occasions when she greets the
public eye she wears everything regal and
stately that becomes her station. On ordi-
nary occasions her dress is very plain, very
simple, yet very taking. Her hat seems to
be the central point of her dress. If it is
brown or blue, green or crimson, her gloves,
scarf, ornaments, and her apparel CORE
spond. Her spirits are exuberant. her dis
position joyous, and she seems disposed to
enjoy her position. On her last visit to
England she was the guest of the Queen.
A review was held in st. James, Park in
her honor, which she beheld from the bal
cony of Buckingham Palace, in company
with Victoria and Napoleon. She was joy
GUS as school girl. She clasped her hands
and shouted in her French style like a-littfe
girl at the grand display. Her buoyancy
and gleefulness of manner, not to say frivol-
ity, shocked the dignified and sober Queen
of England, and more than 1olce Victoria
laid her hand on the shoulder Of her fair
visitor and reminded her that while such
outbursts of feeling were perfectly natural,
they We're not regal
saw the Empress attended by the i'm
perial -cortege as she went with her husband
to open the Great Exposition. Nothing
could exceed the plainness of her dress.
Amid the gorgeous array of the royal ladies
of France, the brilliant costume of foreign
ministers and dignitaries, the glitter and
gold of the military of France and of
Europe, she stood alone in her simple ele-
gance, the only woman among the thousands
who was more elegant for her plainness.
She understands the French people per-
fectly The pageantry that they like SO
we'll she spreads before their eye. She is
all grace and dignity as she daily drives
out with the imperial carriages, attended
by her husband or son. The Emperor
sinks away in the corner of his carriage,
as if Indifferent to public attention, wearied
with the cares of state, or annoyed by pub
lie attention. He looks at one, and seldom
returns salutation, with frown on his
face, and a I-wish-you -wou1d-1et-me-
alone" sort of look on his countenance. The
Empress sits upright in her carriage, catches
every eye,- returns gracefully and with a
peculiar smile every salutation from the
humblest to the mightiest. All Paris
feels that they have an interest in
her. The street-sweepers, rag pickers,
and beggars= cake off their hats as
she passes. Like the wife of Nabal,
by her benignity she seeks to hide the
churlishness of her husband, Very devout
in her religion, her humanity and benef-
cence to the poor have become a proverb.
She is the patron of sick hospitals and neg
lected children. During the cholera, when
the panic drove nurse from tho pallets of
sufferers, the Empress, in plain dress,
summoned her ladies of honor, drove to the
in spite of all remonstrance, commenced
nursing the sick. Her heroic conduct re-
called the frightened attendants, restored
general confidence, and saved the lives of
large numbers of the sick. The flowers
that she bore with=her she distributed to
the sufferers, and some who died begged
that those flowers might be buried with
them in their collins.
She is woman of unquestioned talent,
shrewdness, and strong common sense. she
has more influence over her husband in ma
tional matters than any of his minister's
She attends the councils of state, and par
ticipates in the deliberations In the alb
sence of Napoleon she is the Regent OF the