Smyrna times., 1869-11-03
The Two French Queens of Fashion,
BY JAMES PARTON.

Eighteen years ago the President of the Re-
public of France betrayed the country which
had trusted him, sold its liberties in the night
laid rObber hands upon its treasury, dishonOr-
ed Its noblest citizens by carting them to Jail in
prison vans, murdered in cold blood several
hundreds of innocent men and women in the
streets Of Paris and transported hundreds
more to hot unhealthy region of the tropics.
This was the AndersOnville of usurpatiOn. 1t
tIanscended all that had ever been done in
that klnd--jOining to the extreme of dastardly |
meanne>s to the extreme of audacOus cruelty, |
and being totally devoid Of palliatOn or excuse, !
except that invented by the Head Liar of the |
gang who perpetratedit. it. The man in whose |
name the deed was done appcarsto have furnish |
ed nothing but lies; the audacity, and what little
courage was shown, being supplied by others |
Mr.. Kinglakes chapter upon this usurpatlon
Invasion OF the Crimea, Vol. |. Oh. XIV,
strikingly confirmed by some American nara
tives to which the author had not access, ex-
hausts the subject aud avengeS the human race,
which is deeply injured whenever man faith
in man is lessened by the deliberate betrayal of
a solemnly accepted trust. Mr. Kinglake, [
say, has avenged our outraged race-for which,
trust, we are all duly grateful to him. Moth
ing remains but for France to bring the peri
dious wretch to trial for the special wrong to
| her, 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 sue
cesstul robher. She was young, beautiful, we'll
formed and of just such mind as to submit
joyfuly to spend half the day in trying on arti-
cles Of wearing apparel, and the other halt in
displaying them to cOncourse of people. 1t
became, too, and remains a most important
part Of her duty, to amu>e, dazzle and debase
the women of France, by wearing rapid sue
cesSlon OF the most gorgeous, novel, bewllder-
ing costumes, the mere de. .cripton of which
has developed branch OF literature, employs
many able writer's, and mainly supports fifty
periodicals. Here is vain, beautiful woman,
living III the gaze of nations, who ha> the plum
der of rich kingdom with which to buy her
clothes, and the taste OF a continent to devise
, them for her; for to Paris the elite of all our
tailors, dressmakers, miiIiners aud hairdressers
, go from every capital in Europe. Whatever
there is in France truly noble and patriotic
ana there are many noble and patriotic per-
, sons III France, as in any other cOuntry-avoids
. the vicinity of this wOmin; while around her
) naturally gather the thOughtlesS and the inter
e>ted The women in this circle initiate her as
closely as women can whose husbands have not
stolen the treasures of nation; all except one
i it is said, and she is the real queen Of fashion
: Both these leading women have certain ply
= Sical detects which they wish to conceal, al
= we'll as certain unusual charms, of which they
: intend the most shall be made. One is beauti
!. full and tall. The other is ugly and short, bu
. graceful, vivaciouS, and interesting. The haiI
!. of one Of them growing scanty behind, all wo
:, men felt the necessity of carrying pound o
= horsehalr under their own, and swelled out il
= the region of the back hair to an extent tina
= J, now seems incredible. If the parting of tn
hair widens, and begins to resemble badness
~ then frizzling comes in, which covers up tn
= = deficiency. A few gray hairs bring powder int
! fashion. Other insuthcencies send pannier
= on their way round the world. For these wO
.. men, and especially the one who figures in tn
:, place to which for two centuries past more fe
- male eyes have been admiringly directed tha
:, to any other. And there reside near them
e band of writers who live by chrOnicling ever
= new device of decoration that appears upo
their persons So able, liberal, and sensible
90 journal as the P4U Mall Gazette finds it neces
=, sary to station an industrious member of 1t
:, staff within sight of these people, for the sol
=, purpose of telling the best women in Englan
ho what clothes the worst women in France wea
~ ~ | should suppose, from looking over the per
oT odicals which publish fashion news, tina
~ there must be in Paris as many hundre
% writers who derive the whole or part of their il
y, come from describing the dresses worn in II
nd ancient palaces temporarily occupied by Il
a usurper and his dependents and many OF the
~. a. writer's do their work so we'll that their ette
n are a most potent stimulator of the passion f
no dress which is so easily kindled in the minds
"s the ignorant and immature.
,~ This poor woman, who is the immedia
~ cause Of the mischief, is, we are told, an an
ious and unhappy being, as we'll she may b
an She struggles to concate A forced, hx
ths smile is ever upon her face, when that face
ore an. seen by others In her growing anxiety, S
e. naturally redoubles her efforts to dazzle and
I ,Is guile the people in whose sight she dwes, al
I'M on whose money she dresses. When the Ho
: . comes, hope she will be mercifully judge
,rt for she has already expiated the venial sin
90 yielding TO a temptation which only very
i = peuor woman-one rea ly honest and thoroug
sa bred-could have resisted. 1t is probable Il
nm she now regards the wearing of those tremel
iipp- Gus costumes merely as her contribution
IF wards housekeeping as though she said to
two husband, =" You keep down the men by m
NV zling the press and fattering the army, fUf
'sis ,n the women by wearing the most stunning C
t.s tunes that ever struck envy to the fem
al heart Atlantic Monthly