The Arkansaw traveler., 1885-01-24
GIRL OF THE PERIOD.
tst. lanes, Gase.se.a

l6ts tAttfcS 0&HcStSst
 There is no country in which demo- cratic principles in politics exist together with SO strong . feeling of conservatism in all social matters as in France. In spite of all the talk about hherte, egalite, ct frsternite s--to which the terrorists used to add, 'sou Ia mort "-the dis tinctions between the different social classes are, by all outward signs at any rate, more strongly marked there than in England. Even on Sunday the cuvrier proudly wears the clean new blouse which distinguishes him from the peeit bourgeois and whereas the British maid-of-al- work, if sent on an errand only three doors of, must don her jacket and feather hat, the Parisian bonne cheer fully retains the white cap and apron which are the badges of her sevitude. In all family matters this adherence to ancient custom is even more noticeable !; and she principle of parental authority, for instance, is far more powerful in France than among ourselves. In country where no man, whatever may be his age, can marry without at least going through the form of asking the consent of his father and mother, and where q girl Is hardly consulted at all on the im- portant subject of matrimony, 1t Is not surprising that unhesitating 6fal sub mission should have come to be looked upon as c matter of course. Great, there. fore, is the dismay of French parents of the old school on discovering that q strange spirit of revolt has been silently but actively at work in their daughters' minds, and that the model French de. moiselle of their youth is gradually de- veloping all the peculiarities and idiosyn- crasies of what 1t was a few years ago the fashion in England to term the girl of the period" Nihilism has invaded tue nursery socialism Is rampant in the school-room while the state of affairs in the salon and in the Bois can only be described as being, in the eyes of an old fashioned French father, completely an- archical.
 Whatever may be the primary cause of this change-whether 1t owes its origin to the general spirit of finsurrecsion agaiass all authority or, as many Ffenchmen think, to the evil example of those in- comprehensible Anglaises and Ameri- caines-of its reality there can be no doubt. The sublime heights of inde- pendence as her American sister, who receives her admirers in her own private drawing-room, accompanies them to the hesitatingly accepts from them gifts of Rowers bon-bons, and even jewelry; but yet does all these startling things with such innocence and simplicity, that the sehse ofpropriety is scarcely ever shocked. But, while still falling far short of this lofty ideal, the French girl of the period Is very different being from the pension naire of twenty years ago, fresh from the Convent des Oiseaux or the Sacre C9ur, with her downcast eyes, her monosyllabic answers, and her never-failinK air of ex- trcme reserve and modesty. Middle aged men can easily remember the days when a French girl of the middle or upper classes oniy joined in dancing to the extent Of mild quadiille with some previously -approved-ef partner, and when drive in the Bois with maman or a per- formance of "Athalie" at the theatre Francais made up the sum-sotal of her daily dissipation. Now the waltz, an- athematised by Byron, has no longer any secrets for her her laugh is heard at the Paiais Royal and the VaTietes the translations of Waiter Scott and Miss Austen, which once satisfied her mothers literary cravings, are discarded for the novels of Daudet and Belot, and in spite of all that M. Max O'Rell may say to the contrary, she is positively learning how to fir.
 Now filtration, which the writer just mentioned has rather neatly defined as "des attentions sans intentions" Is an almost unpardonable crime in French eyes when practiced by an unmarried young lady. Where the attentions !" arc visible the "intentions are always assumed. English parents are generally inclined to take different view of this matter, and to look with indulgence on i" a harmless little hirtation," which they believe can be attended with no danger to a gin Of good principle and we'll balanced mind. A Frenchman would remark on this, that though the ascent of to man gifted with a steady brain and great bodily activity, a cautious parent would not choose to zee his inexperienced boys frolicking among the crevasses and glaciers of the G.ands Mulets. There is . popular sport among Mexican horse men which consists of riding full tilt at yawning precipice, the steed being stopped abruptly on the very brink. Al Preach novelist has not inaptiy com- pared the game of filtration to this form Of sport 1; the sest ofthe amusement being in each case derived from the avoidancc of catastrophe by the closest possible shave. Since this is the universal French view of the subject there can be no sur prise that rart dc Airtex as practiced by unmarried girls for the word as well as the art itscif has become Caliicized), should be looked upon with stern repro bation by the more sedase section of French society. Bat parents, likc other people, are poweriess to struggle against |" the spirit of the age" The existence of the French gih o( the period is an ex- tablished fact; and @ rapid has been her progress is what, for lack of better NQrd, We must tenn fastneGs.n that she