The central Presbyterian. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1856-1908, 1881-09-28

to carry sea wall right along under the
Cliff last year, but the contractor seems to
have done his work badly, as the high
tides sweep all the masonry away. A
walk of this kind is all the more impera-
tive because the streets of the town itself
are so narrow and tortuous that with the
exception of the planks aforesaid, there is
really no place where people can walk
with anything like comfort. At Tron-
Vile one can see to perfection
The Genius of the French People for
Pleasure.
Though but small watering place, it
would require volume to enumerate the
provisions made to crafty and fill the
soft leisure of sojourners. Three mag
nlficent casinos invite to every variety of
qualification. Music, dancing, racing
gambling. ogling, bathing, chattering,
they 60 following in crowds, the "will O.
the wisp" of pleasure. No race on earth
is so infected by practical Epicureanism
as the French. 1t is no accident nor
mere incident in the life of the people.
tbs the malady-the infection in the very
heart blood The twin gods of France
are money-making on the one hand,
and easy, pleasurable existence on the
other. The latter has emasculated the
nation. True, they turn round upon the
empire and pile abuse on Napoleon III,
as the cause of all the shame of France.
The shame of France is the average life
OF the people who pursue as the chief
END OF being, little things; amusing ends,
until they have become incapable of big
ones. Two generations of vitiated life
has led them unknowingly to this Ma
poleon III helped confirm the debasing
system, but he did not originate it. It
came In with Louis Philippe, if not with
Charles X. If France is content to pro-
duce agreeable men and charming wo-
men, to show Europe how to talk and
please, and to set up mere science and
art as the objects of her public life, then
she vii! go on as she Is, nation stagger-
ing under disaster, and incapable of fac
ing it coolly or dealing with it practically.
But if she wishes to gain the respect of
the world as we'll as its sympathy if
she desires to reign and not to amuse-
then she must begin by remodelling the
structure of life, and by relegating pleas
ure to subordinate and not dominant
mOUlVe. buC IL Is
The Extravagant Dress
which most engages ones attention at
this typical French watering place. With
fine open sea and magnificent surf, the
hour OF bathing presents a scene unri-
vailed anywhere in the world. The
highest classes of France take their bath
daily, and the bathing suits are sight
to hehold. Ladies dress in the cabins in
every sort of brilliant costume, walk to
the waters edge in white mantle, re-
sign 1t to maid, and take their plunge
With many yachts at anchor in the har-
Dor, brilliant throng of onlookers, and
a multitude of bathers tumbling like
concourse of fantastic mermaids in the
seas edge, the spectacle is unspeakably
enchanting. But it is
On the Promenade
that one sees the glory of French apparel.
Parls itself does not present richer, had
almost said more riotous toilettes. 1t
may seem like heresy to say this, consid-
ering how great is the reputation of
French women for their taste, but
should like in all humility to ask whether
1t may not be overdone? True vanity
must come out somehow, and since the
vanity of men is LIMITED to the INSULT
cient satisfactions which modern tailors
offer them-to the choice of coats long
or short, to trousers loose or very loose
they blossom out in their wives and
daughters, and seek in them what they
are forbidden to enjoy in their own pro-
per persons. The women have no obiec-
tion to this system, and French women
in particular find the monopoly pecu-
llarly agreeable. The men of France are
therefore, primarily responsible for the
excesses In dress which have attacked
with more or less ferocity, other nations,
because they ask for these extravaganzas.
admire them, and stimulate them. On
the terrace fronting the sea, when a lady
appears with new toilette under the
sun, scores of gentlemen level glasses at
her. Thus she perceives that by dress
she produces a personal efect-admira-
ton, and this is her inspiration, for she
loves to be admired. So begins the harm
which is the talk OF Europe, and the pro-
found injury Of America as well. Wo-
men are what men make them. The
only difference between those of France
and other nations, lies in the fact that
vanity finds its most deft and capable
subject in French womans brain. She
has a sentiment of shape and color. of
varieties and illnesses, proper to herself
and which women Of other races attain