The weekly herald. [volume] (Cleveland, Tenn.) 1876-1888, 1878-02-14
ossar's Hair, NapoleOn's Brooches.

mat Cbsar wa the nrst General anu
statesman Of his age that he conquered
Gaul and laid the foundations Of an en-
pire, which In name, at least, was to
subsist for more than 800 years-these
are, no doubt, facts Of the utmost i'm
portance; but, after all, they are the
dry bones Of history. The Shandean
philosopher is much more interested to
learn that Caesar loved to oil his hair ;
that he sincerely regretted lis scantiness
and that he was excessively pleased
when the Senate conferred on him the
privilege of wearing a laurel crown,
and thus enabled him partially TO ION
ceal the injury which nature or hard
living had wrought. Dress had been
n Of the commonest weaknesses Of
great men, many Of whom were not the
less careful Of their personal appear
ance because they affected an ostenta
tious simplicity. In the national songs
of France, Napoleon is the little Corpor-
al in the plain gray coat; but we may
be sure that the plain coat was carefully
arranged, even as the cooked hat was
d~esignedly worn In a fashion till then
unknown. And, as a matter of fact,
the Emperor did not always array him
self In that s~ober-colored yesture which
Mr.. Tennyson has described as the
symbolic robe of freedom. An English
traveller who visited Paris during the
brief interval Of the Peace of Amlens,
and was introduced to the First Consul
has left on record his establishment at
seeing the great enemy Of England in
scarlet, richly laced, by the way, with
gOld.) 1t may interest some to know
that Napoleon set apart $500 a year for
dress. Unfortunately, he had a weak
ness for white kerseymere breeches;
and, being often wholly absorbed with
cares of State, las courtly chroniclers
apologetically Observer he would con-
stantly spill ink or gravy or coffee upon
the aforesaid garments, which he has.
tened to change as o o as he perceived
the mishap. This circumstance cost
the blameless, but timid, Comte de
Remusat his place as Master of the
Robes. For the Emperor soiled his
clothes, and especially his white
breeches, so frequently and so grievous-
ly, that the imperial tailor (M, Leger)
was constantly receiving fresh orders,
and Gs00 a year became quite insufficient
to meet that ~functionary's little bills.
Now the Comte de Remusat, who knew
that the Emperor hated any disorder in
his accounts, was foolishly afraid to
speak to him on the subject. Mean
while, NJ. Leger became pressing in his
demands for payment. At first he sent
in his bill every month, then every fort
night, then every week, then twice a
week, then every day; but the Master
of the Robes continued to return un-
satisfactory answers. At length M.
Leger, whose patience was exhausted,
took the bold step of complaining to the
Emperor in person, at the very moment
that his Majesty was trying on a new
uniform. With establishment and anger
Napoleon learned that he owed his tailor
FL, 200. The same day he paid the bill
and dismissed NJ. de Remusat from his
post, which was given to M. De
Montesquiou Fezensac, a chamberlain
in the imperial household. II hope,
Monsieur lie Comte," said Napoleon,
bptween a smile and a frown, to the
newly-appointed master, "that you will
not expose me to the disgrace of being
dunned for the breeches | am wearing"
Frederic the Great regulated this de-
partment of expenditure in a much
simpler way. He had but n fine gala
dress, which lasted him all his life, for
he took care not to soil it. His work
day suits were shabbler than those which
gentleman abandon to their valets-the
waistcoat pockets crammed with snuff
and the rest of the apparel literally
sprinkled with the same pungent pow
der. The Kings most amiable weak
ness-if, indeed, 1t can be called one
was his Partially for dogs, Several of
these favorites were allowed to occupy
the best arm chairs in the royal study,
and were not leased when they acted
as dogs will act. "After ALL" said
Frederic, ga Pompadour would cost,
me much more" But Frederic had
other weaknesses which were not equal
ly amlahle.