The news and herald. (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1877-1900, 1881-01-01
Politics and Petiooats,

Every French ruler who has run down
the road to ruin--and they arc not a few
who have done so--have had a woman on
one side and priest on the other, both
pushing him and asking him what he was
| afraid of when he WINGED at the sight of
sleeps bristling below with an ugly look.
Nead the history of lucklcss Louis XVI.
Inc poor man saw dangers thickcn around
nm, he tried to conjure them, he pointed
thcm out to his pretty wife, Marie Antol-
nettc, and to her good friend, Nine. De
Lambelle, but both these ladies were of
OPINION that stormclolds always blow over
II you take no notice Of them. They had
never heard of forkcd lightnings and thun-
dcrbolts, but had good deal to say about
Ajax, who armed with single bucklcr,
dared the elements to "come on" Ajax
must have been a lady's man.
so supremcly and good an opinion of
himself as he evinced could only have been
developed bya long course of feminine
adulation, interspersed with occasional
naggings when he vcntured to doubt
whether he could withstand Jovc's thun.
der all by himself. For these fascinating
creaturcs-Queens, Empresses, or she
Presidcnts-all nag until they make mans
soul weary; and if, as was the case with
Marie Antonette, they can get members of
the Church militant to help them, their
courageous spirit knows no obstacles.
Marie Antoinette had redlcggcd Cardinals
around her, who brought encouraging lot
ters fro II the Pope, and these being brought
before the timid King at breakfast time.
convinced him that he could only hope to
have Providence on his side if he struck a
cembativc attitude. Weknow how all this
ended, and we know how it Jared with
another French monarch in our own times
1or llstonlng to an attractive lady now at
Chlselhurst. Napoleon III, had his doubts
about lighting tho !prussians, but the Eu
press Eugcnie had none. When Marshal
LebGuf, the War Minister, came to tell the
imperial pair very frankly, as his duty
commanded, that he did not think the
French Army was leady, Napoleon her
vously twisted his mustachc; but the va
liant Emplcs flushed up and asked whether
forsooth, Marshal Of France was not
ashamed of himself for doubling the might
or his own soldiers the Marshal stalked
out red in the face, AMI upon leaching the
ante chamber asked for psu and sheet of
paper and wrote out his resignation, but at
his juncture the Emperor supcrvened with
soothlng words, and pointed out that lrdies
must be humorcd. The Marshal hesitatcd
but at last gave in, because it is the nature
OF Frcnchman to let ladies have theirown
way. So to humor "Madame" an army of
frcnchmen marched over the border, anI
soon had to march back again faster than
thcy went. Are these lessons written In
letters or flame on the walls of the Elyscc2
NOT they. There is d lady in that palace
ut this moment who wants to see certain
a Un ri lnfn tl,o g. - A
Louis XVI. and Napoleon Ill.,, because
her smiles and the Pope's bencdictlon (scnt
repeatedly by telegram) will guarantee
Womeii have always been active politi-
Mns in France. They did strange things
during the League, arming mems hands
with daggers and promising kisses in re.
ward for assassination. One caused the
DUO de duisc to be tripped up and stab
bed; another urged OH monk to dispatch
Henry ~. Under the Froude, again, the
fair sex had matters all to themselves, and
achieved the great feat of setting five fac
tions by the cars without letting them
know what they were fighting about.
When the great Revolution broke out
damsel called Theroiyne de Mericourt made
herself conspicuous in getting persons of
backward opinions proddcd with spears,
and helped up the Stops of the gulllotine.
She was fine type OF the dark-eyed fury
who scattcrs slaughter about just for tho
fun of the thing, and she was one of the
earliest promoters of that band of trico-
tcuses who used to sit in the public gal
lcries at the Convention, and in the Courts
of Justice cnlivening business by their
loud screams in favor of bellcosc motions,
prescriptions, death sentences, and what
not. The legislators Of those days used to
say that they would vote otherwise than
they did if it were not for the women, and
the same remark might be uttered by many
a Senator and Deputy in these times, when
ladies play no small part IN influencing the
division lists,