New-York tribune., 1899-11-18
FRENCH MANNERS.
THE OLD REGIME AND THE MODERN
BOHEMIANs.

illustrated by Edouard Cucuel; wo; pp '-
Philadelphia: j. b. Lppincott COMPANY
,,r uonk,ns.s sketches of social life In me
aieval France are brisky frank and ViVio' NO"
and then he pauses leaving part or MS 'aie
untold the modern decencies having 10 oe oo
served: but he is sufficiently explicit 10 niahe NAM
us realize as never before the coarsehess nv"
and ignorance that went cheek by 1owi WIN inc
u.ao,,b rank and power Of old France He re-
minds us Of how little fiction mas oohe W s"o
,orth the phvsical aspects OF the Paris that mas
been in naked nastiness undisgulseo Ny NV
art. Dumas and Hugo witch US with hopie
,,.,oa,sb,n IN the picturesque. the romantic
and the thrilling. but they are discreety siieh'
ho,, tho real habitual life OF the town OF 'ne
Middle Ages. Much of 1t no rohahoei '
,,r,ta NJ ~ he would for, as Mr.. Hopkins oe
o,oras his hook. II he did write Of It, would get
,,o,a h,t q backstair circulation In manuscript
lie noints out the unsanitary conditions OUT 0i
which tho plague arose an exafnpie VI NV
,,ntelIable--it would tax Flauberts genius "o
.avs in fitting the idea with the word 10 SCI 0u.
for publication the literal situation III the 81"
cities of Europe He speaks OF the oe'a'is u '''
toilet as nowadays useful chiefly as iieaH' o-
tracing the origin of epidemics' anu auue'
know OF one book only in modern French VIM"
has the atmosphere Of that forgo''en
which so many writer's of romance nave pr
tended TO recreate for US; an atmosphere "l''N
chokes at this day. 1t Is DooK Pa'"'
tiNc n book crowned by the Academy Vi y"
ut,e book. therefore. which may De resai u'N
os not intended for the reading OF every Oou'
vet the author is obliged 10 relegate sohie Vi '''
-. significant Of his illustrations to the colh-
narrative shelter of an appendix roi many
Centuries the unpaved streets of the CITY laS
cnder sheets Of disgusting mud stuuueu WIN
staenant pools Of waste water from the u"ei
,rgs and mounds of an indescribaDle chai ao'ei
and on the darkest night OF the year 'he va"
euer out of his course might know by the scent
,,ho,her he were within a league or two leagues
Of Paris.
I'm tho middle Of the fourteenth century new
ordinance entoining the cleansing OF tne SUI 80
s .I shutting mn OF swine was carefully neg
1scted as usual and terrible plague was ,s tlis
nonsenuence The faculty of medicine caIleu
upon for a remedy by the King sent 10 iiiiU, ,as m
MIN after long discussion, that the piasutr . We
,be result Of a hostile conjunction OF the Pioie
Mars and Jupiter. Every hve years VI ,o
returned to carry of many ',u,Sed 20 hubble
Tins. vet the open sewer continued W o W. .N
through the centre OF the city-it was no. uilo ~
the beginning Of the seventeenth Cehtui .. ss, 90
any Partisan sewer was aTcheu. lne te,r, 90 rooS m
narrow that a man could jump Loii lOo - W
r"of as across a dyke, let in scarcely any sun
or air; and to add TO these eVlls tne,e We ~
most no law on the subject or purlai, anu nv enw
daad could be laid where one pleased In YOU
aarden or cellar or the middle or the puoiiSS
thoroughfare. If the mud OF Farls , touo itet 80.
your clothes you must cut the Pieoe 0U'' -
burns whatever II toucheS
The medieval Partisan was as dirty as MS
streets. After the public baths fell INTO e'ii
odor washing went out Of fashion ana even '"e
beautiful Queen, Margaret of Navarro poas'eu
.,o. her olovelv hands" had not been washed
for eight days. And at that period there "eie
no forks and no pocket handkerchiefs! Man
uaIs of behavior" writes our author, were a'
na,ns TO instruct the fashionable that they must
M, ennlov as a handkerchief the hand Which
was placed in the dish at table; the use or the
o.hsr Cor that purpose seems TO have been un-
restricted" One of these books. about the n'o-
die n, the seventeenth century. went so far as
IN advise the man Of fashion TO wash his hands
every day, and his face almost as often' AS
late as within eighteen years or the present
century one Of the most famous ana respec'eu
OF the French "arbiters Of elegance ordalheo
that the face should be wiped with fine towel
but objected to the use Of water as rendering the
skin too susceptible"to cold in winter and TO the
action Of the sun in. summer. The lmaslhatioh
refuses 20 dwell on the creased and powdered
heads which were never washed. Cleanliness
in the cloisters we, are told, was considered a
dangerous practice and a piece OF vanity, ana
IN most monasteres two baths year were the
rule Let us be done with this particular
el,nopse OF old time nastness. The silks and
satns and laces Of the beaus and bellies OF the
neriod OF Louis Quatorze are pleasanter to
think of than the people who prinked in them.
Old Paris II we may believe Mr.. T1ghe Hop
kins had a richly supplied larder. but abomi-
nable cooking. He describes the chief meal OF
a modern
farm laborer could not endure. Think of one
enormous earthen dish in the centre. charged tc
its fullest capacity with fish, meat, poultry and
black puddings, and girt with rampant OF
vegetables The entire meal was frequently
heaped In this way into single pot or vessel
into which each guest in turn, or all at once
plunged their naked fists" The grand mon
argue" who fed himself habitually with his fin
gers was a gormardizer and in his day cookery
improved. though it was the fashion TO amazing
ly overlook viands of every kind. A pot II
which all sorts OF poultry and game stew
ing would hang for ten twelve hours ove
the flre-a modern chef would faint at tn,
thought Of II. A great drawback OF the Cour
cuisine was the sckly perfume with which al
most every dish was drenched: Roast meats
were covered with a scented powder capon
were creased with sugar plums. mackerel wa
cooked in fennel pastry stepped in musk
walnuts were eaten with rOsewater and hippo
cras and every other drink were redolent o
musk amber or roses"
II was not until near the close Of the seven
teenth century that guests took soup or mea
on their own plates; and as late as the middl
Of the sixteenth century one glass or goble
did duty for the whole table. The tablecot
was often so maltreated that II was necessar
20 bring in a clean one in the middle of III
feast The seigneur Of the great chateau pre-
ferred TO dine in the kitchen, and did so,
rule but his bedroom he reckoned equa
good place for meals The great sale wa
not often used except on the occasion Of a lavis
banquet Up 10 the middle OF the eighteenth cen