Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1870-01-02

upon! IT is Cora's head, in all its
bizarre grandeur. Al, best BO0tsl
you wOGid not dance the " German ,
with Cora at Delmonic0's, vet you
burn for an extra turn with Belinda's
head, which il only "A bad copy Of
that Of the Quren OF the denliBsOade!
IJ is Tidicuiess to cavil at fashion
To Obj ct to any thing because il is new
or happens to be tile rage Of the mo
ment. But american w0men are con
fessrdiy as pretty, a. bright and as pure
as any the societies of the world know.
When foreigners meet good specimens
abroad, they invariably award them
the palm; e at home they combine
the GplOBl6 Of the English woman
with the nameless grace and vivacity
Of the French. As a rule, they err
neither on the side Of the use frippery
of the Continental, nor Of the over
starched prOprieCy Of a certain class
of British female. And the reason is
simple enough. Their minds. their
charactsrs-and very often their man.
ners even are natural. Their devel-
opment is the result of natural causes,
with few unWhOlesOme restrictions.
Way then, when they go abroad
why, IN the name Of all the gOds!-d0
they become such seTyile imitatOrs OF
what is 50 fer beneath them?
Perhaps when they travel-and Of
late u has become as necessary to he
American as to the BedOuin to fold
his tent-they must initiate But
then why they DO not choose the
purer models OF a not too pure society
that they only Gee from the outside,
must puzzle one who thinks a moment
on the subject.
The whole aim and struggle Of the
French w0man's life is good taste
She is rarely a prude; seldom abe
esprit; she may be neither over bril-
liant nOr too straightlaced; but she is
at equal pains to hide hermOral as her
mental deficiencies, and she makes
war to the knife on the denli-mOnde.
In dress, in carriage, in style, she
strives TO be its very antipOdes.
Why is it, then, that the proper
American women Will transfer into
her circle those very Objectionable
features Jhat even the lax French WO-
man would unhesitatingiy reject?-
that, While the latter walks demurely
through the streets OF Paris in the
gravesC OF dresses, and drives in the
plainest Of wrappings, the former
shows on the Avenue and ia the
Park, in a costume that would inevf
tably excite comment. If not insult.
in the best-gOveFned city Of Europe?
Doubtless French society reVels in
the widest excesses Of fashion, man
ners and mOrals-perhaps the French
woman goes 10 frightiul lengths of eX-
travagance, OF eccentricity, Ofgailant-
ry. But she does all that in an at
mOspheTe so perfectly hedged by
forms, so free from a suspicion OF IN
deTwUrld grOssness, that she new
er he taken for what she 5nOt.
But certain it is, the American wO
men initiate to such a degree that
more than half their most petted fash
ions are c0pies-perhaps exaggeTa-
tions-Of the most gldring vagaries of
the demi-m0htds. They transplant to
their W hre-ides, and uOurish for
the Use Of their unsuSpectiug daugh-
tiers, many a shoot Ihdl cUuid spring
frUm NO soil less rank than chat of the
Nejher Parts--On-times that even
out lOrette the lOrr5Jes, for We have
vet To earn that the i4le-iI not la
menJed-'' litter ever made its APP
prarahce in the QItTtier BrrdI.
1t y a question Uf serious Import to
American morals, This; ami, IN the
vast and Yearly Increasing flow vi
travel TO Europe, should demand at
least divided attention with the choice
0f the best hotel. We can initiate
much that Is foreign with marked all
vantage. Scarcely the most stiff
ue,ked patriot viii deny that the
American kitchen would not suffer for
The Introduction OF French cookery:
We can scarcely aver that French
wines, a. a steady dpple, are much
more harmful than the wine of the
country" to which yOUnEAmeTica is
at least partial; we would not kick
very much against the French ballet.
bad as the imitation may be; French
periodicals, too, are not very much
beyond a certain class of our own III
morals, while their manners are in
disputably better; English books and
English clothes are certainly both adj
uirdbie, acd If young eau Plaster re-
turns home 50 dressed that ais friends
believe hiin an EugIishman-even
though Brummagen-it Is only an in
HOcent weakness.
But if our women mustimitate when
they 90 abroad, in Heavens name let
them initiate the best, where the best
is bad. Let them discard the false
idea that any pure stream can ever
hOw from mat impure fOuntain-head
whence they fish their newest fashions.
Not that our WUmen are the sole
cOpyists; cor men 10 their share.
They learn, while in Paris, to give
very questionable little suppers to IN
questionable young ladies Of the bal
let; 10 dress as unlike Americans a.
possible; to dance cGH-cQH, and to
drink G5Siaths like water, and play
rOQue-et-aOGr-if, indeed, they did not
know the two last when theg went
over. They learn, Immediately on
their return, to sigh for CremOrne,
pine Tor Mabille, and dOat on " the
Derby" to deplOrs the barbarity OF
new countries, and swear they cannot
live in this slow American town.
But these are small matters in the
main. Our young men come back, in
most instances, TO make up, by hard
w0rs, for the very hard play they
have had. And mo5g VI them have
forgotten by spring the nonsense they
uttered when landing in the autumn.
As for the lev who come back hope
lessly ruined, they do not count for
much, for they r made OF such ''per-
ilOus STUFF they would 90 down hill
even in Mr.. Loves balloon.
Bus we have a tender pride in our
women, while they remain such-a
pride in their wOmanhOOd, in their
purity; and it is very bitter to see
them imitate-eVen though they dc
in all inHOcenee-what even aim
less fashion and insane rivalry Of dis
play can never make them.
Though one may touch pitch and
not be deiied, baisam OF FIR is veryapt
10 stick TO the fingers, So, next tune
you 60 to Paris, dear Belinda, look
at Cora without a lorgnette, and
NO more on that head, an 4 IoY'st meF'
CHINA.