The herald and mail. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 1873-188?, 1874-07-31

tated 1t, for 1t was so heavy as to ia
tigue the wearer and the hoop is al
ways great relief.
It was reserved for the Emperor
Joseph II, of Austria (who did not fore
see that his royal successor, the present
Empress, would have a waist of sixteen
inches) to Issue an edict against the cor
set. Undoubtedly tight lacing had be-
come a very serious matter, and the
health of the people was suffering. He
threatened all damsels with excommuni-
cation if they persisted in wearing the
corset. Physicians, popes, and bishops
detained against it, and nunneries and
other places where young women were
educated were put under the surveil-
lance of the police of the period, until
every woman was forced-absolutely
forced-to lace tighter than ever, and
put her wits to work to battle king,
kaiser, emperor, pope, and bishop. No
doubt, however, that this crusade did
some good. It may have released some
poor girl from her corset prison who
was dying of spine disease or heart dis
ease, but, like all crusades of the kind
against the personal liberty of the sub
ject, it was not conducive of lasting
good.
Old Catherine de Medici, however,
invented a corset warranted to reduce
the waist to thirteen inches, which may
fairly be appended as a characteristic
cruelty to the history of the authoress
of st. Bartholomew Day. This was a
steel plate, with holes cut in to give il
lightness, closed with immovable hasps.
This was almost a suit of armor, and
10 % lob EGo- e
in closely fitting fortress" Over this
terrible invention the silk basque OF
jacket fitted without wrinkle. Gath.
crime could forgive a great deal to the
ladies of her court, but she could not
forgive them a thick waist or an i'll
fitting dress. She laced her daughters
and her sons, this horrible old Cathe.
rine, until they said of her sons thai
they we're like their mother in slender.
ness of figure, ''only lacking her will
and understanding.
Elizabeth of England was not slow tC
follow the fashions of her royal sister
Who does not remember royal Bess
| stiff as poker, in her "ruff and far
dingale ?" The pictures which she
carefully caused to be painted of her
self, each and every one made her lool
uglier than the last. What tribute il
| is to the feminine tact aud taste of Mary
Queen of Scots, that she, educated al
the court of Catharine de Medici anG
| living near that of Elizabeth, so mod
flied and ameliorated the excuses Of
| the times that she presents, at this mo
ment, the most beautiful study of fe
male costume that the world has evel
! seen
An English physician, writing in 1910
says that it was no uncommon sight t.
see (" a mother lay her daughter down
on the carpet, and, placing her foot OF
her back, break half dozen Iaces il
Tightening her stays !"
The corset was made more stiff thai
ever, back-bOards and steel bars wer
used to correct stopping shoulders, ant
waist must only be a "span."
young lady il tightly laced steel corsets
with board at the back, and her fee
in stocks, as the learned Mary Somer
| vile describes herself at sixteen, mus
have presented a pitiable figure to tn
sympathetic gazer.
Undoubtedly there will always b
foolish mothers who make their daugh
tiers sleep in their corsets, and man
foolish women who viii always dra'
their laces too tight, but the golde,
mean remains-a figure we'll but no
too stifiy supported, a waist slender
round, but not too small for the ada
cent figure, is the grand desideratur
of female beauty.
Nothing is so unbecoming as a to-
tight garment. A shoe which is to
small spoils pretty foot; a GLOW
which squeezes the hand ruins tn
effect and waist injudiciously com
pressed ruins the figure and the face
The blood is forced into the hands an,
arms the figure is pressed out of pro
portion and the whole effect is singU
larly unpleasant. A large woman il
| France, where women have a taste fo
the becoming in dress conferred upol
them by Providence, wears ample dra
peries, loosely fitting garments, and
corset which does her the best pOssibl
service, for it makes her look and fee
at her ease-no labored breathing, Il
unnatural redness, no fear of suffocs
ton she is simply a large. beautiful
object, instead of a pillow tied in tn
middle, with a general air of asphyxis