The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 1850-1873, 1873-05-09
MASKS AND FACES.
A Venetian Fete In the French Capt.
IFrom the London Telegraph

MASKS AND FACES.
a Venetian Fete I'm the French Capital.
IFrom the London Telegraph
Where are we? The portals which
have Just given us admission to a scene
of fairy-like beauty, are Moorish in
form and in ornamentation, but the
lofty entrance-hall is worthy of an Ital-
ian palazzo for splenSPr, and of an En-
glish country house Tor comfort. But
| there are many more pictures and
works of art scattered about than an
English home can generally boast. You
mention your name to servant, and
walk up spiral staircase, which faces
| the entrance-doOr, and lands you on
four different floors, each marked by
| some separate artistic popularity. But
you have not the wide staircase to your
self. You hear a slight rustic, and,
turning back, you see, to your amaze
ment, not unmingled with horror, a
mummy walking upstairs, close upon
your heels. A veritable mummy is
gliding upward in its case. The coffin
is of Jet black. and all down the front
are hieroglyphics in characters of dull
gold The figure is dark as Erebus,
but there is nevertheless a vague trans
parency about it. and you can feel the
full effect of two great lustrous eyes,
which, in most unmummlfied fashion,
blaze through the black veil. You fall
back instinctively against the wall, and
a decidedly agreeable odor, reminiscent
of Partisan cosmetics, greets you as the
strange ghostly figure glides past. Can
this be dream of ancient Egypt? But
no for here comes a lady with an en-
broidered cap on her head, and covered
from throat to feet with a mass of white
silk shawling. AS she comes down
stairs, however, the shawl is taken up,
and discloses the fact that her remark
ably well-shaped figure is unconcealed
by full diaphanOus trousers. Are we
in modern Greece, then? But this sup
position is no more tenable than the
other, for as you wonder you are ap-
preached by a mass of rose-colored silk
-domino-mantle, hood, mask, and veil,
all of the same delicate hue, and a soft,
rich voice whispers, " E non mi ricon-
osci ingrato ?" Then we are in Rome
en- plein carnival. Yet how can this be,
seeing that the fair masquerade must
be fair, yOu are convinced by the voice, |
although YOU cannot see the smallest !
particle of the speakers persOn-is fol- |
lowed by lady in vapOrOus ball dress |
of white lace, her features being lucki- |
ly but very imperfectly concealed by a |
slip of black satin across her eyes. An |
other wears a yashmack of lace. Not a |
feature is to be discerned, except the |
ewes, which, quite unveiled, shine out |
with luster redoubled by the fleecy |
clouds that encompass them. You pass |
through a set of rooms on one floor, |
some seven or eight in all, which prob
ably have not their match in London
for the wealth of art that hangs on the
walls. There is scarcely a square inch
that is not covered by canvas, over
which the first artists of the day have
lahore with loving zeal. But the az
tistic treasures are dulled tonight by /
the sumptuOus toilets that rustic in a |
perpetual turmoil to and fro. There is |
music being played somewhere, but you |
do not care to inquire where, nor do The |
masquers yet attempt to dance, so much |
more interested are they in each others |
identity.
The breathing becomes difficult in
these lofty rooms, heavy with perfume,
and you remount the spiral staircase. |
On the landing of the next floor you
find a large picture displayed which
furnishes you with themost de Penigme. |
The painting, well executed Tdu reste, |
represents a beautiful woman reclining |
at full length upon sofa, and the fig |
ure has no veil save a black mask,
which she holds across the face. In
the room to which this masked beauty |
guards the entrance we find a number
of uncultivated Cloths, who prefer
the selfish pleasure of cigar to the
charms of female society, and through
the smoky atmosphere can dlmly discern
the lineaments of many who direct the
dramatic tastes of the world. A floor
higher brings us to yet another set of
rooms. where cards are vainly spread;
tonight, at least, the tapis vert has no
attractions to avail against the charms
of unrecOgnized greetings. Yet another
flight of stairs, past windows OF stained
glass, brings us to a long studio hung
round with paintings and Ornamented
with table that groans under the
weight of champagne. Here tongues
are loosened by the flowing bowl, and
we learn that the fairy palace, in which
the Titanias below are holding court,
in which Puck is playing so many tricks
and where dainty sprites unnumbered
are reveling with mortal men, is no
other than the hotel of NJ. Arsene HOus-
save. the famous author of Les Grandes
Danes
Can this be Paris, then, and are these
the men who suffered so bitterly and
who fought so hardly, less than two
wears ago? ITEMS, vous VOLTA chez nous
comment ca va? The speaker behaved
like hero at the beginning of the war,
and he expiated his heroism by an i'm
prisonment of seven bitter months on
the outer frontier of Silesia. But he is
bright and cherry as when L last saw
him at a similar scene, just three years
ahO. Ex uno disco omnes the men are
all laughing and joking as though war
had never carried off two provinces and |
many of their dearest relatives. As to |
the women assembled here, what have |
they to do with anything less frothy |
than tumbler of champagne? And in |
sooth one cannot blame them for max !
ing light of miseries which would crush |
them into helplessness could they be |
felt. At all events, let me not attempt |
to be the memento morn at tete When |
the fr1llness of life beats through every |
heart let me rather try to enter INTO
the spirit of a scene to which, as a
stranger, the host mas paue me WEI
come. He himself is on bed OF sick
ness but, unwilling to postpone mer-
ry-making on which all Paris has been
reckoning for weeks, he has deputed
his son, lannon's Hellenist, to do the
honors of a fiesta which has much that
is classic and more that is essentially
southern in it's outer characteristics.
Such a mixture of classes could not be
witnessed in any other northern capital.
The men assembled within these hos
pitable walls comprised all the notabili
ties of Pals, They wore no masks