Evening star., 1880-02-14

imperial, now the royal stables. The intendan,
and the treasurer had apartments. The EN-
hundred thousand francs This was far from
debt. one hundred and twenty thousand francs C.
Sga % 1ee fST of
was but three hundred thousand francs, and
sixty thousand francs for her privy purse. The
reason for this difference was that Mime. Bona
parte was obliged to assist number of her
poorer kinsfolk, and that there were claims on
her In France which did not exist for the Aus
tr1an archduchess; consequently her expenses
were greater: Nine. Bonaparte was very lib
eral in gifts, but, as she never gave
away any OF her own possessions, but
always purchased the presents she made,
her nberalfty greatly increased her debts. Not.
wtthstanding her husbands injunctions, she
could never conform, in her own manner of life,
to order or to etiquette. 1T was his desire that
she should not deal directly with any shop, but
on this point he was forced to yield. Her pri.
Vate apartments were crowded with them, as
also with artists Of all sorts. She had mania
for having her portrait taken, and would bestow
1t on any one whomsoever-relations, friends
attendants, or even tradespeople. Diamonds
Jewelry, shawls, stuffs and finery of every kind
were. continually being brought to her; she
for the most part, forgetting what she had pur-
chased. From the beginning, she gave her lady
OF honor and her mistress OF the robes to un-
derStand that they were not to Interfere with
her dress. She arranged everything with heI
dreSsers. There were, believe six or eight OF
these. She rose at O'Clock. Dressing was
VERY LONG PROCESS,
ana portion OF 1t was devoted to minute per-
sonal embellishments, including paint. This
done, she put on very elegant dressing gown
trimmed with lace and placed herself in the
were embroidered and trimmed with lace.
She changed every article of her attire three
times day, and never wore any but new stock
ings II we came to her door while her hair
WI Oh a Jpnl hoy arrca adr ffad
Wien that stage was passed, large baskets were
brought In, containing gowns, bonnets and
shawls. In summer these gowns were Of mus
lin or cambrlc, richly worked and trimmed: In
winter they were OF woollen materials or of vel
vet. She then selected her dresses for the
day. In the morning She always wore a
full gowns that wrapped her UP a good
deal. She possessed from three to four hun
dred shawls; she sometimes had them made
into gowns or bedquiltS, or cushions for her
dog. She kept shawl round her shoulders
all the morning, and wore it with grace have
never seen equalled. Bonaparte thought that
she wrapped herself up too much, and would
sometimes pull her shawl off and fling it on the
FIRE; she would then send for another. She pur-
chased all that were brought to her. whatever
their price. have known her to give eight ten
or twelve thousand francs for cashmere
shawl This was, In fact, one of the extrava-
gances OF the court; no one would condescend
10 wear shawl that had cost only fifty louis,
and the sums given for those worn by the court
ladies were subjects Of boaSting l have al
ready given an account Of the manner in which
Nine. Bonaparte passed her life; It scarcely ever
varied. She never opened book, she never
never seemed to be dull. She did not care for
theaters; the emperor objected to her going to
them without him, and receiving applause in
,y which h,one,,S he did not share. She took walk
residence which she was constantly en-
bellishing, and on which she had spent
large sums Of money, to the great dspleasure Of
Josephine would shed tears, promise to be more
careful, and go on exactly as before. In the
emo, Bonaparte had to pay. Her evening toilet
was ,Sa e conducted IN the same manner as that Of
the morning. Everthing was of the greatest ele-
gance; a dress or wreath was seldom worn
second time. The EmpresS's hair was generally
dressed, In the evening, with flowers, pearls or
and, the richer her attire, the better she looked
The quietest party, the smallest Dance was an
opportunity for ordering new dress, in spite
palaces; for she had positive mania for hoard
ing. 1t would be impossible for me to name the
sums she spent on clothes of every kind. In
every fashionable shop In Paris there was al
ways something being made for her I have
seen her wear lace trimmings worth forty, fifty.
and even hundred thousand francs. 1t seems
almost incredible that this love Of dress, which
she could so fully crafty, Eever passed away.
At Malm aison, after the divorce, she
LED THE SAME LUXURIOUS LIFE,
and appeared in full dress, even when she eX-
ing that the Emperor of Russia would perhaps
come to see her, she desired her attendants to
dress her in an elegant morning gown. She
treathed her last sigh attired In pink satin, with
ribbons OF the same color. The Empress obliged
US to expend annually very large sum, in order
to make appearance suitable to her extrava-
CANT tastes. Her daughters attire was also very
rich, for such was the fashion Of the court; but
Nine. Louis was both economical and orderly,
and seemed to take no pleasure in adorning her
self. Mime. Murat and Princess Borchese, on the
contrary, gave their whole minds to their per-
sonal adornment. Their court dresses usually
cost from ten to fifteen thousand francs and at
last they had them ornamented with real pearls,
and even diamonds, which cost large sums. Il
may be imagined that, with such taste as the
Empress displayed. and the richness of the gen.
tlemen's uniforms, the court was very brilliant
On certain occasions it was really dazzling, and
foreigners were greatly impressed by its sp,en-
dor