, 1875-07-23
THE BAKER SCANDAL.
How 1t Ia Regarded In Paris,
French Views a. 10 The Treatment OF I'm
married Women Who Travel
Unattended.

Ntlr Tork EorM. .. ..
PANS, Jnly B.-ls II too much 10 SAY that # all
tho world Is talking Of tho charge nlde agaiubt
Col. Valentino Baker by Miss D!ctiusons I
think not. Tbs English papors nso full Of 1t,
tho frsnct, pnrcss aevoto WIolo columns to the
snhjcct. and hhso aitrhay begun to d.heusH It In
lcadorA Which, raEsaps undesorTol{y, combine
fnHtr,lction with amusement In almoBt equal
proportions. And as for other regions, do not
take In tho Siberian Messenger, or tilo Eorih
and South i'ote CARTE lat IL I had these
al,eets lying on my tablo 1shoull BIZ quito pro-
phrod to find then, doing full Justice to ahe all
AbAurbinE topic. Aud wl.ht Is NIL tho fuss about
mai, and a WOMAN find themselves alono IN O
raiiway' cArrngc, and ttsy begin to talk. Tho,
man presently trisA to kiRs tbo woman, and s,e
tcs!sts tic attempt. uo goes on 10 take further
freet!ons. mi hho opens tho carriagc.tloor.
JUMPS Oh tho stops. nnd stands there: At tlIo
i'nlninont porll ct hor lfc. until tho trata
reaches tho nthtion. wlero ello III rescued and
hor aeaailant III takon into custody. It is noth-
Ing out Of tile oommpn Eay,-tllose' things havo
ah For a tho '1a a Il couno 'et sua IN a
ton to that ho holds vary high administrative
position al AlIcralott, iB, 10 fact gcntlc1nhn,-
ono Of sooiety's gentloacn. II mol cxact!y ono Of
natufo's, and The womaa, In a latly. Ono Of her
atlotfter holds aomething worth having In tho
Church. dood society tn shocked and tho
worlds sympathetic wonlor IL kind of implied
compliment to The dolcscJ Of aoctety's feelings,
and, In some sort, testimony to tho untnpcae!h-
Allo propri0ts of its ordinary behavior. A huti-
dred purAos are stu!on eyory day, and no ono hut
thn nufcrore cares 10 note the losA; but, snppoae
n bishop Woro to tnrn pIckpockot, the post al1
telegraph would mate him famous in both'hem!-
spheres In less than fol,r nnd twonty hours. hut
what to my mind IL still more strikiuB than tho
awakened curiosity OF tito nerspapsrs is tho
nrakenod curiosity Of their readers. Tho two
things arc not always canHs and OBJECT.
1Iera In parfs. for instance, tloy 1laVe
and with tl,elr. creator freedom Of mannors,
tho subject IL often mentioned at dinner tables
and III arawlpg-rooms, lnetoAd OF. beinG-as QUO
feols slto 1t would DO In Englanl-rcsorycd for
tho smokiug-room alono. Twice haTo l baen
out to dnnor ntncc tho affair became KNOWN md
each time wo hayo "talked Col. Dsker" all
through tho meal. It came on with tho 1uh,
and 1t remaiuol With ia till long after the dos
sort, for We took 1t away into tho draming-room,
and when ina1ly heard of, two departing contro-
vcrsialists weto bearing It's now gomeuhat
fatigutuE burden down.staiss into tho atreot.
'The incident il looked upon ~ 3 very marked
trait of EnEliah manners" said my host on tho
last occasion. 1.-The discussion lB no less
No were eix at table; alt tho adios wcro French,
but thero waa an. EnRlishtnau present, and be
WAS faced by ekoptlcal Fronctman. Tie lattor
could not bo brought to beeyo In tho claifnA to
!sytnpathr Of Miss Dickinson, pronounced "Mccs
,Dickconsonn." Why did Miss DicKeoneoan, bs-
lug unmarried, hide b! l!erne!f III railway car
Erago, aud. nboyo sl1, Why did ahe allow horao!f
ttn bo drawn into converHatton by tho first stran
ger she happened to mcet7 t'1ho Colonel il
morally Innocent" crios our skopic. after thus
briefly stating tho ut1fatllomAble mystery Of tho
'l.dys conduct, and he !ooks around the table rs
though defytng any ono tn contradict him.
"What hb means TO say" ohservcs our host, who
IactB Is good-oatured moderator for tho whole
L.
woman who. complains Of any lnanlt offered to
her when sl,c appea!od In public without an
escort iB already Judged. There ts but ono
question to ask Ihy was ahe alone? And al It
Ia impossible ID answer It to ler advantage
:thoro is nothing mo.e to say" IT III ahonina::
ible,n raysthe Englahnsu. st is iusb,' cry all
the Freuchromcn In hrestl. "Co.nc. coEne,"
nays tho Frenchman To his acquaintance from
tie otser side Of to shsit LET us be reaAona-
carriage" says the ether, following him, though
in e1ecrahla French, so az to mnko 4,lro OF miss
Ing no point OF tue nrgninentativo problom.
!" "Yon have opposite to yo,l a jcnne tnees." !"
or, not without emphasis on lilo last vorsls.
Nobody is With the jatne n'ees, Mother
father, nor mother. nor brothcr,--not 80 much
as poor relation three times removed"
'"snpposo ahe hasn't rot poor relation 2"
nation. "My friend" ansnors tho other
aolemnly, "eho must hiro Que. 1}ut lot 1no 500 /;
whoro waH l : or, rathor, whero wero you7 You
were opposite to tho jt4sno nlees. and tho }eune
n7ees is nlone. You talk to her, AZ matter Of
woman again. "Not ! bit Of It." says tho En-
g'ishmau. "nut stop: mean what i ahe does
talk to mo-what thcns Am 1ustifed In pro-
hof \ doliboraso lnsult?" "it IL delicate
point, "Baya the Fronclman. ~ leavc 1t to tho
iadisa." sAnd the ladieB decide In your favor"
replies the hostess quickly. What! arc NO to
bo placed on the satno footing a. tho mell
A1e our young women 70 travel With no more
IT tho ladies'. III is apnard," ssys
TIE third: ut is American, Says tla first ono.
The EaRliehmnu exhibits the deep disgust Of .
s!l!cs; but for all that he nakes desperate at
tempt TO retrtoyo lis fortunes. s'Theu am to
understand that "henevet meet q lady In pub
lie without = protector tnAy offer her any i'm.
9ssof"fS of e. ' r ss.n
Her countrynan looks a her. aud there ls
oloRrly tl,is expression In bis glance, "Do not
bo angry With him; he Is q simple child Of naturo
and liz 1neaus no hnr1n." :. You don't UNDER
stand ono another" says tho host. ''Theree all
allowed to tho French married woman and there
B&raint imposed upon tue French unmarried girl.
In Franco woman bsforo her marriage lives In
far more porfect secluslon than anything you
hear Of among the Turks. It Ia more perfect,
because 1t ts moral 1t IL neclnslon TINT affects
the MUD, ~ we'll ~ her movemonts tn society
aud iu the world. It IL 90 perfect that what haa
lust happened IN England could not, untler any
conceivable CIRCUMSTANCES. hare lappeued hero.
Ayoung lady !s taken to tho railway station BY
ller rotations, put Into a train to make tolera-
bly, long Journey, aud there loft to l,yr own do
yacos aud to chanco. III fact, tue surveillance OF
her family oYar Ler ends almost At the very
point At which It ought to bogtu. That could
no more happen he1o than any other thug
totally, one might gay monstzously, as ysri.
anco with tho habits OF the 0ntire peoplo.
lmAglno an Empress giving public per-
fornauee OIL tlght-tope. and you bavo some.
thing like = parallel absu1dity When 4
doea happen In any other country. French
opinion. ~ you sec, immediately dsoides against
tho wonsn." II know that vol enough" SAYS
tho Triton, "but what want to show IL tuat
its unreasonable. II was imprudcnt, perhaps,
in tbs lady to haye anything TO to stranger,
bus It was nothing worse; II sho had boen mar-
ROD now. 1t would have been quite dlifcEent
Affair."" "Whlt do you mean ~ cry the French
man and the ladies' wlsh ons voice. "WAy, q
married woman, OF oourso, oant.be too scstcum-
Bpeos; she ought not 70 eddsesa any ono. OF
,su or any nne IN addrets her uuleuY he cotnAA