Delaware gazette and state journal. (Wilmington, Del.) 1883-1902, 1896-12-17

w o'tnef Saw UP anu Duy ~, OF TO re-
eeiye II as gift on Christmas morn
ing. AS you open it, here 10 the pie
turo OF Louis XIV, when he was young
and ';andsome; turn over page OF
two and there is another of him, but
it 10 as tiny baby in an elaborate lace
frock that fitted him closely and sug
gests swaddling clothes; here he is in
the arms OF his nurse and at this time
all Francs was thanking God for his
birth.
Later Oh, there'H another picture; it
is when he was dressed as the Sun
| King. Dressed in this magnificent
suit, handsome as only superb young
man can be, glittering with jewels, be
| danced in the ballet called La Nuit,s
and danced 10 we'll that he gained not
only the applause Of all the court, but
| the heart OF Louise La Valiere, u
/ There is a picture Of her as ''Diana, "
and Of that naughty beauty Montespan
as Iris" Then, too, there is d pic
ture OF Louis, the warrior. dressed in
| arnior, ready for the battle Oh, the book
ia full OF pictures There is ons OF
Anne OF Austria and her children, one
OF lady of the day as she sat at her
toilet table, one OF the fashionable ball,
and no end OF clover caricatures, those
caricatures that iloated around Paris
and which the police seized with anger.
Way in the back Of the book is
picture OF De Maintenon, dignified
and stern looking, and having the
school of ST. Cyr as her background.
No fancy costume for the woman who
ruled the King and the Stare, no
frivolty for the woman who foresaw
and dreaded what came to France. No,
her brain was 80 much stronger than
that OF the average woman that even in
her picture she could not pose as they
did. The name OF it? like to tell
ths name OF this book because it is
translated, and that really means that
1t is almost written by woman.
It's worth while saving your money
to get it'll am beginning to accumu-
late the pennies in little tin box.-.
thsn when you have a sufficient number
OF duoats ask for France Under Louis
XIV" by Emile Bourgeois, and trans
lated by Mrs Cashel Hooy. One thing
| this book will do for you; il will knock
out of your head, as it has out OF the
| heads OF good many people, the idea
| that because men were very stately in
| those days, and wore stiff wigs, that
there was not merry life and much
enjoyment.
There is one illustration that con.
vinces me that those days were not as
comfortable as our own. The picture
| is one Of bedroom the room Is abso
lutely bare save for a few stately chairs
and magnificent pictures, tine bed is
huge and funereal looking, and the
| general sensation of whoever slept in
that room must have been that the
cold. cold tomb had been offered for a
nights repose. We may be less digni-
fled nowadays-we are. We may have
worse manners nowadays-w have.
Our men may dress uglier nowadays
they do. Our women may be less beau
tiful-I doubt this.
But one thing am sure Of, and that
ia that the average bedroom of to-day,
with its brass bedstead, daintily
pretty toilet table, it's easy chairs. its
even warmth. and the hundred and one
odd things that go to make IL ilesira-
BILE, ia far and away ahead of the stately
bedchamber in which anything femi-
nine must have felt frightened out of
its wits, and had dreams that we're
CHASTITY. do you remember that the
| first night Marie Antoinette slept 10
France her room was hung with tapes-
try representing the massacre Of the
Innocents?" That shows how much
thought was given to the surroundings
where one slept
1t would be good thing IL we had
the manners of the old time, we might
with advantage copy the virtues of the
past, but do not lot any of US be de.
luded into bringing into fashion the
frightfully bare bedroom in which I'm
for tunate queens. and equally unfortu-
nate ladies' Of the nobility. had to
sleep. II that had been my fate,
should have stayed up all night and
slept in a chair. Nothing would have
gotten me into one of those awful beds,
big enough to conceal two or three as
sassins and cold enough looking to
freeze an Eskimo. unless / had been
promised that the whole court would
sit around me and cheer me up. Those
beds invited murder. imagine that
anybody sleeping IN one wanted to kill
somebody else to get little heated up
Really and truly there arc inanimate
things that invite crime. There was
woman the other night at the theatre
who wore hat--but that's another
story.
There are some of the most delight
full little French Calendars Just the
right size for ones purse or cardcase,
exhibited this Christmas. IL you feel
tempted to give anybody Christmas
card, send one of these instead. Ono
year, had one, and while l possessed
it always dated my letters correctly,
and kent my engagements. This year,
if l dunlt got one l shall buy one
You see, am hoping that one will be
put in my stocking, with some other
things. want a lot of books and n
Noah's Ark want woollydog, aud
new brooch; want bonnet brush
and bottle of mucilage; l want lot
of sweets and a new purse; want
bunch OF yiolets, and-well, l want SO
many things, that shall take great
pleasure 10 looking at them in the
shop windows. | have learned the de-
light of admiring without possessing-
take my advice and learn the same
lesson, for then you can have every
thing in the world that you can long
for, and nobody will go into debt to
get it for you. Have courage enough
not to want gift that costs the giver
his honesty. Such one would never
be accepted, even il it were addressed
to Bah.
"Ham SAM Gets Ten Years.
Samuel Buckner, alias "Ham Sam, "
who was released from New Castle jail
recently. after having been imprisoned
| thrue months as a witness, was SEN