New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1874-12-31
VOL.XXXlV....No.lO 1880.
PARTISAN LIFE.
VENUS FROM ASTRONOMICAL AND SOCIAL
POINTS OF VIEW.

OLYMPUS IN DRESS COATS-A MfmbEh Of HE
ACADEMY OF SCIENCES WHO WANTED TO BRING
VENUS TO TEIsMS-AMERICAN WOMEN REPRE-
sKNTING THE CLASSICAL STYLE OF BEAUTY
RRoM REoULAR CORRESPONDENT OF THE TRInUREI
PARIS, Dec I4.-Paris has come back to its masked
balls There is no Carnival without it's more OF
less Comic Opera Balls, and there would be no Paris
without Carnival. ALI the festivities come at once
Yesterday went to o sword festival, where APP
plauded the fencing of Ezpeleta Potocki. Alphonse
do Albania, and Meriguac In France the sword
finishes every education; it should be made part OF
the compulsory course. They have seized Les
LiaboliQueS o volume in which dAurevilly has
shown an internal wit ! think the judge must
have desired to the celebrity OF this original
genus But all these triAes fade away before the
luster OF VOnus.
The Transit of Venus is sole preoccupation for
the last three days. You know that at Paris the
most important events have only week OF echo,
whether it be the death Of guillOtined king, or the
leg of dancer. In three or four days, therefore,
Venus Will have had her share of attention. FER
haps there will remain some trace of her passage
somewhere else than in the archives OF science.
Who knows but the boys will say, "IIast thou seen
Venus I" as they now say" 1t ia SGurf" For the
are now two dictionaries of the Academy, the one
which is always commencing and never finished
under the Dome of the Institute, and that which is
improvised in cafes and greenrooms. You are OF
course familiar with our dictionary OF the tdngae
rerte of which RoQueplan, ThfOphile Gautier and
Henry MurCer have given such picturesque exam
pies While the savants Of the world were securing
the universe to observe the wantOn planet with their
spec.acles we who stayed in Paris have seen Venus
pass by. We find the gods If Olympus every day in
dress coats, even while we burlesque them in the
theater to the music Of Offenbaeh. The poet was
right in excaimlng:
Code Of Great Homeri Oh, my gods revered|
Tue new wit jlers you IN your starry places:
Bat soon the day Will come when YOU YOU 70 h %fa'o'
With stern aud heavenly vengeance to recall
Tie wandering spirits careless Of your fame,
VINO comprehend lot that your Christening power
Survives the sacred altars overthrown.
For nothing dios, and even death has life;
One day they will return In shining forms
These fair ambassadors OF the Infinite;
Aud when they come, the rOsy-fnRered dawn
viii show the nOthingness OF churhsn science
Feigning void heavens above o Awless World
But if Olympus is at Paris it is only represented
ss yet by Venus. You meet her everywhere, not
generally accompanied as of old, by Master Cupid.
but dangling OF her skirts little negro groom, who
serves as her advertisement in the peristye of the
theater OF on the seat of her victoria. But this is
only her pastime. The great comedy OF science has
been played, as you know, at every luminous point
of the globe Venus has made her transit radlantly,
which has permitted the advancement by one step
of the science OF the stars. A hundred years ago
this capricious goddess played saucy trick upon
the travellers who set out to see her divine nudity
Not being in a good humor. she enveloped herself
that day in o cloudy drcssinggOwn, and the inqus-
tive savants could only pack their baggage and
come back Among them, however. there
was an obstinate member Of the Academy of
Sciences at Paris who insisted on bringing her to
terms. He stayed ten years in China but never
succeeded in overcoming her royal willfulness. Ho
certainly deserved little humanity from her, but
never received it, lie came back to Paris. go abso-
lutely forgotten that nobody recognized him. es-
necally not the one who had taken his chair at the
Academy and the one who had become his heir. The
indignant savant brought suit against both OF them,
but could not find an advocate to assume his cause
Nobody likes ghosts. 1t was probably IN relation to
him that the proverb was altered, 1.-The absent are
always wrong-to come back" The poor man died
of grief in the time of the revolution. If he had
lived a little longer the guillOtine might have
proved to him. as to Lavosier, to the son OF Button,
and to Andre Chenier, that science has no chance
against the equality Of the scahold.
Bnt this time Venus showed herself without
Clouds and new calculations are to be made IN re-
gard to the celestial routes IspOke just now OF the
great comedy for this reason: celebrated astron-
omer Of Paris star Of science, who has discovered
more than one star of heaven, has said to me in
strict confidence Here is sealed package; when
our distinguished travellers have returned with
their innu1nerable discoveries, shall communicate
to the Academy of Science the same facts, which l
have discovered to-day, tOasting my toes 10y Ivy own
Preside, safe from the wind and rain"
This is grave, for it weakens the significance OF
astronomy instead of strengthening it remem-
Der one day at an exhibition in Tourane, where the
celebrated Babinet was President of the Section OF
Sciences and was President of that of Fine Arts,
we discussed before the Bishop of the diocese, the
miracle of Joshua took the side of the ecclesias-
TIC against the man of science for the amusement
found in the fury of this worthy man. AT last he
said. After all you are perhaps right. A hundred
wears hence there may come spirit enamOred OF
novelty who will prove that the sun ie not hxeo IN
the midst of the planets, and this lnnoVator may
become as famous as Calico. We who study the
heavens are doing injustice to our fame in not look
ing for noon at fourteen o'clock"
However, until Babinct's prediction is realized,
VIC can still say the sun rises and SETS But 70 re-
turn to Venus. -
For philosophers, lovers and artists, Venue will
ALWAYS be the most majestic symbol OF piastlc
beauty The Christian religion created the Byzan'
tine beauty the seraphc, which appeals only to the
,entiment, but the Renaissance brought MS back to
the ancient worship To be beautiful nowadays, it
ia reouisite to have like Venus perfection OF lines
and dazzling color. We have at Paris-do you
doubt it, Madame i-scarcely anything but Ameri-
can women to represent that Olympian style Of
beauty This question was agitated yesterday at q
dinner given by the Countess of Juvisy, where were
present NJ Emile de Girsrdin, the Princess Of BOur-
bon. Count Potocki and the Countess Potocka,
Alberto Second, aud the Marquise de st. Phal
beautiful American. Mrs. de Forest, the neO-Greek
Henry Houssaye, the painter Cabanel and the his
torian ST. Victor 1t was proclaimed that the first