The Washington herald., 1914-07-19

competing sovereignty seated upon q
rival throne and disputing with him foI
the dictatorship of the earth. "A min
| ister of state" he declared, should
never allow a woman to approach his
cabinet" He would establish a quaran-
tine against this insidious enemy and
make the empire exclusively masculine.
Such 4 segregation of the sexes as he
proposed is nowhere more absurdly i'm
| possible than in France, where the great
ladies Of the salons, sharing in the dis
| cussions. the intrigues, and the ambi-
: tions OF philosophers and statesmen, only
| reflect the fashions OF the women OF the
peasantry, who have an equal part with
the men in the colnsels of the cottage.
Even war is not suffered to interrupt
the comradeship Of the sexes in France.
The vivandiere, or canteen woman.
dressed in the finery and mounted on
the horse stolen for her by the soldiers,
with her keg of brandy in front and
her bologna sausage and cheese ell
and next the sister before she melloved
into the mother Of the regiment, unless
indeed she married in the meantime and
became a duchess. like Nine. Sans Gene,
or a baroness or a countess, like many
others of her calling. Her tent was the
club and her purse the bank for officers
and soldiers alike, while she braved
wounds and death in battle by carrying
refreshments to the thirsty and famish-
ing.
army was followed by its love escort"
Such a band Of wives and children, ac-
tresses. dancers, and thousands Of ad-
venturoUs women as never attended any
other than a French military organiza-
ton, brought up the rear Of the Grand
Army in all manner of wagons and
carts. on donkey back and afoot. With
the fortitude of grenadiers, they endured
the heat of Spain and the SHOWS Of Rus
sia, and, pausing at the foot Of tree to
receive a call from the stork. the hardy
mothers, with their babes in their arms,
quickly overlook the advancing columns.
In his earlier campaigns Napoleon triad
hard to shake of this love escort" But.
although he threatened to smudge the
faces Of the women, they defied him, and
there is no record Of such a cruel pun
ishment OF their vanity. He took all
possible precautions against any woman
accompanying his army to Egypt, hut
many slipped aboard the ships as stow
aways or in soldiers uniforms. The etsr-
nal feminine was with him still in his
retreat from Moscow, where women who
had grown families in his camps end
kept step with his legions for sixteen
years followed his footprints in the
snow.
Unmflitant SunFaEettes.
Notwithstanding he had failed in his
efforts to keep them out of his camp, lie |
declared that Women shall have no in
huence at my court" Affecting a brave |
AIR. he exclaimed, What do / care for |
the dttle-tattle Of the drawing-roo ms? |
All care for is the opinion Of decent |
peasants. Yet he made a detective a /
duke to reward Pouches diligence All
skill in providing ears for the walls of |
the salons Of Paris.
TheSittle-tattle-andi II was merely that
Of Nine de Stael annoyed him more than
the roar Of an enemy's battery, and he /
growled, the appearance OF this woman,
like that Of kind Of evil omen, has RI |
ways been the signal of some trouble"
de Stsel was packed OF, are /
her retreat in the chateau that low
stands in a green and mold old age in
the village of Coppet by Lake Geneva
became the capital OF the republic of re-
fractory women in the empire. When /
Nine. Recamier returned from a stealthy
visit to that capital she found herself
10 exile, although there may |
have been other reasons for dispensing
with the presence at court Of that famous
beauty
II the feminists of the day welded no
hatchets and only pens or smiles, Ma
poleon none the less viewed them with !