Bedford inquirer. [volume] (Bedford, Pa.) 1857-1884, 1869-05-07
THE TWO FRENCH QUEENS OF
FASHION.

Eighteen years ago the President Of the
Republic Of France betrayed the country
which had trusted him, stole It's liberties in
the night, laid robber hauds upon It's treas
ury, dishonored its uoblest citizens By earting
them to Jail in prison vans, murdered in cold
blood several hundred Of innocent men and
women in the streets Of Paris, and trans
ported hundreds more to a hot, unhealthy
region Of the tropics. This was the Ander-
sonyille of usurpatioB. 1t transcended all
that had ever been done in that kind -
Joining to the extreme of dastard'y mean
LESS the extreme Of audacious cruelty, and
being totally devoid Of palliatiou or excuse,
except that invented by the head liar Of the
gang who perpetrated it. The man in
whose name the deed was done appears to
have furnished nothing but the lies; the au
daeity, and what little courage was shown,
being supplied By Others Mr. Kinglake's
chapter upon this usurpation Invasion Of
the Crimea, Vol /. Ch. XIV strikiugly
confirmed by some American narratives to
which the author had not access, exhausts
the subject and avenges the human race,
which, is deeply injured whenever mans
faith in man is lessened by the deliberate
betrayal ofa solemenly accepted trust. Mr.
Kinglake, say, has avenged our outraged
race for which, trust, we are ali duly
grateful to him. Nothing remains but for
France to bring the perfdious wretch to
trial for the special srong done to heJ, and
execute upon him the penalty TO which he
may be condemned
As usual in such cases, a woman was
found willing to share the bed and booty Of
the successful robber She was young
beautiful, well formed, and Of just such
mind as to submit joyfuly to spend half the
day in trying on articles of wearing apparel,
and the other half IN displaying them to a
coucourse Of people. It became, too, and
remains an important part of her duty to
amuse. dazzle, aud debase the women of
France, by wearing rapid succession Of the
most gorgeous, nogel, bewildering costumes,
the mere description Of which has developed
branch Of literature, employs many able
writer's, and mainly supports fifty periodi-
Gals Here is a vain, beautiful woman liY
lag in the gaze of nations, whoha the plum
der ola rich kingdom, with which to buy
her clothes, aud the taste of a continent to
devise them for her; for TO Paris the elite Of
all tailors, dressmakers, milliners, and hair
dressers go from every capital in Europe
Whatever there is ia France of truly noble
and patriotic-and there are as many noble
and patriotic persons in France, as in any
other country-ayeids the vicinity of this
woman; while around her naturally gather
the thoughtess and the interested The
women in this circle initiate her as closely
as women can whose husbands have not sto
len the treasures Of a nation; all except ore,
it is said, aud she Is the real queen of fash
ion
Doth these leading women have certai0
physical defects which they wish to conceal
as well as certain unusual charms, Of which
they intend the most shall be made. One Is
beautiful and tall The other Is ugly and
short, but graceful, vivaciouS and interest
ing. The hair Of one Of them growing
-cant behind, all women felt the necessity
Of carrying a pound of horsehair under their
lwn, and sEelled out in the region of the
back hair to an extent that now seems in
credible. IF the parting Of the hair widens,
and begins to resemble badness, then friz
zing comes in, which covers up the def
cheney. A few gray hairs bring powder into
fashion. Other insuficiencies send panuiers
on their way round the world. For these
women, and especially the one who figures
in the centre Of the group. occupy that con
spicuous place to which for two centuries
past more female eyes have been admiringIy
directed than to any other; and there reside
near them band of writer's who live By
chronicling every new device of decoration
that appears upon their persons. So able,
liberal, and sansiblea journal as the Pail
Mall Gazette finds it necessary to station an
industrious member of its staff within sighr
of these people, for the sole purpose of tell
ing the best women in England what clothes
the worst women ID France wear. | should
suppose, from looking over the periodicals
which publish fashion news, that there must
be in Paris as many as a hundred writers
who derive the whole or part of their income
from describing the dresses worn in the an
cient palaces temporarily occupied by the
usurper and his dependents; and many Of
these writers do their work 50 well, that
their letters are most potent stimulator OF
the passion for dress which Is so easily kin
died in the minds Of the ignorant and imma-
ture.