New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1875-05-21
LIFE IN PARIS.
LETTER OF ARSENE HOUSsAYE.

RApHAEI-FORTUNY AND VELAsQUEZ.
IRON A REGULAR CORRESPONDENT of TIE 'Hi"o NhI
PARIS April lin France we crown our io9eios'
in ENGLAND they crown not only the best behaved,
hut also tbe prettiest. England like America, does
,rou 20 take care of beauty as well virtue. Beauty
10 tho image of virtue It is no "soulless eflgy''
To no beautful is to stand halfway between heaven
and earth. ,,
You NAV saw that beauty is the work OF chance
and that tbere ia no OCCASION to reward chance asonc
,oh reward virtue which is an altogether personal
quality. Not at all-beauty is not the worh VI
chance. for monsters produce only mon5'eiS' ~
hiring fair children into the world. you must nave III
vour soul the sentiment of the beautiful. Inc an
clients placed in their nupa chambers inc s'atueSoi
their most beautiful gOddesscs; they pardohea
thing to the sovereign beauty OF Phryne. Inc queen
of England is right, therefore, III hoiuihg nci "o'
of Beauty" for the drawing-room at buckingham
Palace is nothing than an occasion ior Piosoh
ing to her the Court debutantfs who are 10 continue
the high traditions of English beauty. All arisocra-
o;os those Of birth of genius or of fortune, with on
without blasonry present their young giris VINO arc
70 no the fashion and control the fashion during the
coming season. We may say that the Queen thus
nres;des over an Academy of Fine Arts In action.
One day when was presiding at the distribution
of nrizes in the Imperial School of Design ana
speakng in the name of the Minister, some surprise
was excited by my expressing this idea-a trlth De-
fore letter-that the drawing rectihes character
that the love of correct lines makes ones PAIN III
life more straight and serious. 10 support ihS
statement said that neither the galleys nor 'ne
nrisons had ever received designer. The child
who draws is already taking his first lessons in the
beautiful and the good and the fragments OF the
masterpieces which he has under his eyes teach HIM
not only 10 initiate the beautiful, but to make him.
self beautiful.
Mademoisellc Rachel told me one day, at the Duc
dc Morny's, where / was speaking OF her beauty
'You don't imagine-all of you who think me Dcan-
tin, now a-days-how ugly l was at the beginning.
l. who was to play tragedy, had comic mask. was
laughable. with my horned forehead, my nose like q
comma. nv pointed eyes, my grinning mouth. You
can supply the rest yourself. was once taken by
nv father to the Louvre. / did not care much for
the pjctlres although he called my attention to the
tragic scenes of David. But when came among the
marbles a change came over like revelation. L
saw how fine it was to be beautiful. l went out
from there taller than before with borrowed Dig
nifty which was to turn INTO natural grace. Inc
next day looked over collection OF engraV-
ings after the antique. L never received
n lesson so advantageous at the COnservatOire.
If have ever effectively addressed the eyes of my
audience by my attitudes and expressions, it Is be-
cause those masterpieces so appealed to my eyes"
Rachel said this so admirably that we were all moved
by her words; for she talked better than anybody,
when she chose not to talk like Paris gamin ON,
forgot" she continued " must tell you that IL
have become beautiful as you say, though don't
believe q word of it, it is owing to my daily study
how not TO be uger than am. / hare eliminated
what there was of mOnstrous in my face. AS was
ocooy, hon I he making
myself over again, after the ancestral rough-draft
everything, with the help of Providence, went well
The knobs of my forehead retired. my eyes opened
my nose grew straight, my thin lips rounded,
NV disordered teeth were put back in their
places" Here Rachel smiled with that delicate
smile which was 50 enchanting. land then
spr,ad over all certain air of intelligence which
do not p0ssessp She was interrupted by so many
condiments which were the simple truth, that she
could not continue the story Of her imperfectlons'
"Wel" she still said, tho good thing about 1t Is
that did not try to be beautiful for the sake OF
man. as other do but for the sake Of art, dis
daning the commerce of love- as the philosophers
call it," Rachel was applauded that evening as
never before. There were not more than 30 persons
at ~ do Morny's, but they were the toy OF the
basket of all Paris parterre of dilettant which
much better than parterre of kings. And yet she
had not been acting.
At the last tournament of beauty over which the
Queen of England presided there was an unwonted
display of luxury in dress. l do not refer to Her
Majesty, who, of course, persists in her mourning
She wore dress of black mohair, with train
trimmed with Grape embroidered with black dia-
monds of jet. A long vail of white tulle fas-
tened on her head with diadem. She wore the
four royal orders of the Garter the Albert the Bath
and the Victoria The Princess of Wales had on q
dress of Parma-violet velvet; diadem of diamonds
pearls and cmeralds. The Duchess of Edinburgh
was resplendent in sky-bue velvet, with a corde-
ere of precious stones. The Princess Louise, with a
couture d la Montespan, trailed bouquets of
pansics and Irish lace. 1t looked like the
Court of Louis XIV, for the Ouch
oss of Bedford coffee la Mainten0n,
with her diadem, which would make two million
aires. There was also Lady Ermentrude Russell and
Lady Ella Russell both Ia Pompadour. But what
were all these gorgeous coitfures compared with the
slightly rebellious blond hair of that young Aus
tralian beauty of II years. Miss Annie Gray, who
wore no dadem but her youth. Not diamond, not
ruby, not pearl, but eyes and lips and teeth
which were diamonds and rubies and pearls She
could. therefore, defy all the jewelers. of the two
worlds. She did not need to visit their shops to he
hailed TIE Queen of Beauty.
America is making herself much talked about IN
the old world. You already know how your c0un-
tryman, Capt. Boyton, has been swimming the Chan
mel in his lfe-saving dress, an exploit which greatly
damages tho legend of Hero and Leandcr
There has been grand fete at the Elys6es among
all the Chevaers of the Golden Fleece. No one was
wanting but NJ. Theirs. The President of the Re-
public had invited his predecessor, but Madame
Theirs kept him at home saying: "Take care, or
people will make mistakes, for you are the real
President"
NJ. Theirs is content to be president of human
intelligence. He NEEDLES very little in politics, de-
voting all his time To a book which will soon annear