Ashtabula weekly telegraph. [volume] (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1853-1873, 1869-06-05
The Two French Queers of Fasaion
q ny JAMES PARTON.

Eighteen years ago the President of the Re
public OF France betrayed the country which
had trusted him, stole its liberties In the night
laid robber hands upon its treasury, dislion-
ored its noblest citizens by carting them to
jail m prison vans, murdered in cold blood
several hundreds of innocent men and women
IN the streets Of Paris and transported hun
dreds more 10 hot, unhealthy region of the
tropics. This. was the Andersonvlle of usur-
patton. It transcended all that had ever been
done, in that kipd-joining to the extreme of
dastardly meanness the extreme Of audacious
cruelty, and being totally devoid of palllaton
or excuse, except that invented by the head
har ef the gang who perpetrated 1t. The man
in whose name the deed was done appears to
have furnished nothing but the lies; the au-
dacity, and what little courage was shown,
being supplied by others. Mr.. Kinglake's
chapter upon this usurpation Invasion of the
Crimea, Vol. l. Oh. XIV strikngly confirmed
by some American narratives 10 which the
author had not access, exhausts the subject
and ayenges the human race, which is deeply
injured whenever mans faith in man Is les
sened 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. Nothing re-
mains but for France to bring The perfdious
wretch to trial for the special wrong done 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
ppaafiIl E,I
well formed, and of just such a mind as to
submit joyfully to spend half the day in trying
on articles of wearing apparel, and the other
half in displaying them to a cOncourse of pee
pie. 1t became, too, and remains an important
part of her duty to amuse, dazzle and debasc
the women of France, by wearing rapid sue
cessfon OF the most gorgeous, novel, bewildcr-
ing costumes, the mere description of which
has developed branch Of literature, employs
many able writers, and supports fifty periodi-
Gals. Here Is vain, beautiful woman, living
in the gaze of nations, who has the plunder of
rich kingdom with which TO buy her clothes,
and the taste of continent to devise them for
her. for to Paris the elite Of all tailors, dress
makers, milliners, and hair-dressers go from
every capital in Europe. Whatever there Is
in France of truly noble and pntriotc--and
there are as many noble and patriotic persons
in France as in any other country-avoids the
vicinity Of this woman while around her nat
urally gather the thOughtless and the inter
ested. The women in this circle initiate her
as closely as women can whose husbands have
not stolen Nhe treasures of nation; all ex-
cept one, II Is said, aud she Is the real queen of
fashion. e
Both these leading women have certain phys.
ical defects which they wish to conceal as
well as certain unusual charms of which they
intend the most shall be made One Is beau
dfui and tall The other is ugly and short,
but graceful, vivacious aud interesting. The
hair of one of them growing scatily behind,
all women felt the necessity of carrying a
pound Of horsehair under their own, and swell
out in the region of the back hair to IN extent
that now seems incredible. IL the parting of
the hair widens and begins to resemble bald
ness, then ffizzing comes In, which c0yers up
the deficiency, A fewgray hairs bring powder
into fashion. Other insuf1lcicncies send pan.
niers on their way round the world For these
women, and especially the one who figures in
the center of the group, occupy thai conspicu-
Gus place to which for two centuries past more
female eyes have been admringIy directed
than to any other; and there resides near them
a band Of writers who live by chronicllng every
new device OF decoration that appears upon
their persons. SO able, liberal, aud sensible a
journal as the Pal Nal Gazette finds Il neces.
sary TO station an industrious member of rs
staff within sight of these people for the s,le
purpose Of telling the best women IN England
what clothes the worst women in France wear
1 should suppose, from looking over the peri
odicals which publish fashion news, that there
must be In Paris as many as hundred writers
who derive the whole or part OF their income
nom describing the dresses worn In the ancient
palaces temporarily occupied by the usufper
and his dependents; and many Of these writ
ers dc their work so well, that their lsiteEs ara
most potent s,iniulator OF the passion for
dress which is 20 easily kindled IN the minds
OF the ignorant and immature ..a4,ir
This poor woman, who n the Immediate
cause Of the mischief, IL. We are told, an any.
ious and unhappy being. as well she may be.
She struggles TO concilinte.- A foSced, fixed
smile Il ever upon her face, when that face la
seen by Others. In her growing anxiety she
naturally redoubles her efforts to dazzle and
beguile the people in whose sight she dwells,
and ON whose money she dresses. When the
Hour comes hope she will be mercifnlly
judged, for she has already expiated the
venial sin OF yielding to Temptation which
only very superior wOman-one really hon.
eat and th0roughbred-cou have resisted.
IL IL probable thai she now regards the wear.
ing ~ those tremendous costumes merely a.
her contribution toward housekeeping, as she
by mhzzling tie press and fiatierine the army.
snd I'll fool the women by wearing the most
stunning costumes that ever struck envy 10 the
female heart-Aaanhd Monthly. %, I -