LADIES LETTER FROM PARIS.

Globe, Volume II, Issue 154, 1 December 1874, Page 4

LADIES LETTER FROM PARIS.

(From a correspondent of the Press,) Paris, October 3. Marshal MacMahon has hardly returned from his tours than M. Thiers sets out, th( one to judge of the wants of the nation, the other to declare them, as if there existed any doubt as to what the people require—to be delivered from the evil of politics, and allowed to gain their daily bread in security and to eat it in peace. Inquiries are being made into the claims of Louis XVI for canonisation. Were his Holiness to confer beatification on all the rivals who pose to govern France according to infallible principles, he would merit to have the Orlnoaue French frigate anchored in Civita Veocnia harbor till the New Zealander took up his position on the broken arches of Loudon bridge to sketch the ruins of St Paul's. Of course, M. Thiers has been very badly treated for presuming to have opinions other than monarchical ones. He is known not to have an angelic temper, and still smarts under his summary ejection from power, but the fact that we are to-day just where we were when he left us, in addition to not knowing where we are going to, act as so many douche baths on the boiling temperament of the plucky and obstinate little Frenchman, who can afford to take liberties with his advanced years, thanks to the most sensible and affectionate of wives, who regards her goodman rather as a father than a husband,the world in return rewarding her, by presuming, from their disparity of years, that she is his daughter. Never was the age so favorable for woman's work; there is Madame Bazaine, a mixture of Indian blood and French intelligence, that has also become famous by studying the wants of her lord and master, and is now the object of a handsome subscription among her admirers and friends, that will compensate her for that famous dark and stormy night's rowing across the gulf of Jouan. The clerk of the weather office in France is "Nick," whether he be "Old," or young, is not clear; but he does the prediction business respecting meteorology, while the astronomers of the country are occupied with the conduct of Venus in not getting out of the sun's own sunshine. "Nick" has been as true as the needle to the pole in his prophecies, so that ladies intend regulating their toilettes after his wisdom, and their garden parties after his sagacity ; he has caused the sea side to be deserted by the devotees of fashionable life before stiff nor'-easters had time to produce sore throats, and the summer birds are now nearly safe for the winter in their cots in the capital ; not that all the retours have been effected, for many fly away into the depths of old castles, to waken up in January when the days commence to lengthen by a few minutes ; in these migrations the weather decides ; the calendar is despised, save that relating to the Saiuta ; swallows and game birds alone rule their flights by the .almanack ; they are ' particular in dates," but then they are under the influence of something mysterious and imperative, admitting of no appeal. Occupied with unpacking, ladies have had but little time to talk about chiffons The most essential aiticle of toilette at the present moment isthe Kaiser top coat, into winch when you have once got, you never leave—wind and weather alone permitting. This, with a dress of some woollen material, a la polonaise, or a corsage cuirasse lacing yon in to the dimensions of a stout walking stick, constitute all the fashions for the moment. If you select silk, it must be embroidered with as much silver and gold work, as to eniible you to astonish the natives, and to pass for a Nabob or a Celestial. Provided the hat be in felt, you can wear it according to whatever color harmonises with your costume, and of whatever shape that will not cause your regular features to be transformed into a Light. Load it with velvet bows, and don't forget the utility of birds and their feathers flocking together in this instauce. Among the " women" —but not—" of our time," the gods be praised, is Mile Dejaaet, aged seventy-six. The dear old actress has been an enfant6 de la troupe since her first teeth, having appe .red ou the stage as early as six years old. Talking about her teeth, they are extraordinarily well preserved, and it is this circumstance which ever imparted that youtht'uluess and haleness to her features. fc>he never lost a tooth, it is said, aud repelled all advances of the dentists to do business under her protection. But what a quantity of dentrijice she must have employed. bo assured we shall have its weight duly recorded one of those days, as soon as the savants have ascertained the weight of our planet, when Venus accomplishes her long expected promenade across the face of the sun, aud when a peifuot cure shall have been discovered for the phylloxera, that terrible insect which is gradually eating up the vineyards of the country, and, though insignificant, cannot yet be despised. Well, it is gratifying to learn Dejazet has been made comfortable for life, even were she to progress a few score of years still, for there are people who never die; they are slightly missed, just as at Nice, where invalids never expire, but retire to bed and forget to waken. The theatrical profession is to be congratulated for it excellent esprit de coips, in coming forward to crown, not the father, but the " mother" of the stage; and the select public is to be thanked for remembering an " auld acquaintance," who for the majority has ever been the "granny," astonishing, whether in public or drawing-room concerts, by the coquettishness of her acting, and the agreeable swagger of her singing ; she could put courage into a corps d'armee by singing one of her drinking songs, and with a drum would set a qu ■' meeting dancing, or draw all the lads una lasses of the village after her to love or glory. St Cloud fete attracted this year a great many lady visitors; the wrecked chateau is to be rebuilt and used as a military school till the wheel of fortune converts it either into a palace or a battery, an hospital or an hospice. The grounds are very lovely, and so explains their attraction for the fair sex Those religiously inclined, in the sense ot being of a pilgrim turn of mind, will visit the "holy places," where explorations are being conducted to discover the bones of martyrs lost to sight since twenty centuries, but still to memory dear. The large alley is lined on each side with booths selling all th< delights of a fair: flutes, six inches or si:; feet long, called mivlitons, are purchased b\ the mirthful, and have the advantage o creating a diversion amidst an internationa contest of barrel organs. There is one shaul where philosophers, cynics, and high hi meet and eat a kind of light honeycombed pancake, hot from the gavffres, waiters arc at baud, with parti-colored ices to extinguish

any feelings of "fusion" that the stomach may expeiience. If inclined for theatricals, he green is covered with them ; if you ..refer a seance for five sous with a sorauamnulant, you have only to make a choice; the Government interferes no farther with the <phinxes or voices, further than that they shall respect the truce of parties, by not prognosticating politics. Ladies of a sporting turn of mind can indulge in Aunt Sally, or°patronise the hydraulic shooting gallery, where if they knock over a Spurgeon consolation pipe in the vertical jet of water, they can claim a rabbit, or make a selection among a choice atock of barndoor fowl ; the beggars arc very plentiful, the authorities permit them to make hay while the sun shines; give, as Charles Lamb recommends, without asking questions or delivering a homily over the smallest contribution.

Poor Mdlle Rothschild is always undergoing examinations for the office of national schoolmistress, according to the newspapers ; to assist her laudable resolution to teach the young idea how to shoot, her aunt accompanies her, duly made up for the work, to join the gentlemen in their search for partridges, hares, and pheasants. It is rather at the close of this month that ladies prefer to display their skill with villanous saltpetre. Among other manly sports for ladies during the winter, is drawing-room skating, a large apartment is set apart, and ladies roll along on wheeled skates ; the costume for this amusement is something of the old Bloomer type, with a kind of tight fireman's belt. In hunting the deer those noble ladies who have been decorated by foreign sovereigns. as there are " orders " for ladies, generally wear all such decorations on their riding habits, as soldiers do their medals. Drawingroom theatricals never were in greater favor than at the present moment among the French aristocracy, which counts its dramatists, its Gounod, its Offenbach, its Patti, and its Carvalho, as are to be found among the real professionals ; high life is not now one of ennui, it is largely occupied with intellectual occupations. For the benefit of those who are about to travel it should be borne in mind, that they can do so in dcml-lncognlto without losing caste ; the progress has the advantage of being less public than full incog-ni-to, which apprises everybody of the passing planet; there is already demi-mourning, representing that stage of sorrow when consolation commences to sat in after the decease of some loved one; demiincotjnito then means flying with one wing. Another advantage is the landlords of the hotels remember the distinction in the bill. The insect show has been very amusing, perhaps instructive. As already observed, all the interest appeared to be concentrated in the phylloxera; he looks hideously ugly when magnified and thrown on a screen. Were it not for this he would not be detected by the naked eye. For example, men sell the* wretch, and but for their solemn assurance you would conclude the pill box was empty. A dot of ink might as effectually represent the specimen of disagreeably, animated nature. It is asserted that a box innocent of every creeping thing, but asserted to contain the phylloxera, edifies an evening party extremely well. The insect is not allowed to be sent through the posh either as a book parcel or registered as a valuable ; dangerous consequences follow wherever he may take his walks abroad. There is one very affecting sight in the .-how. that, of a blind chaffinch confined iu its ceo, hanging from which is a caul headed " Infamy," and as-

sorting that the feathered friend is one of the 60.000 sons of harmony whose eyes are annually put out in order to improve their voice. The cadarre ever plays an important role in moving the stouts of P.iris to rise and mutiny. The mutilated prisoner demands not vengeance but protection, not liberty, but equality and fraternity. The bees in the exhibition are very busy. We can see them improving the shining hour, and admire the wonderful powers of natural observation of Dr Watts, as to how neatly they spread their wax.

In these times of wife-beatings, it is consoling to learn that the anecdote of Henri U. of Navarre, having struck his wife on the click is not true; it is related that the minister, a'.ded by the queen, drew up a petition to his Majesty; the latter was so irritated at the audacity of the request, that he at once proceeded to his wife's chamber to inflict personal chastisement on the minister who, however, had taken time by the forelock and fled; his wrath fell on the queen; he struck her on the face, exclaiming, " Madame, you desire to know too much, presently you will commence to give advice to the King of the French." To conclude with the royal house of France, it may not be generally known that Louis XV was at one time on the point of becoming brother-in-law to his grandson, Louis XVI. The latter was married, when Dauphin, to Marie Antoinette; well, Louis XV negotiated to marry her eldest sister, the Archduchess Elizabeth, who died an abbess, dreadfully disfigured from small-pox. Part of Paris has been supolied with pure water from a crystal river—the Vaunc; quite a profitable business is carried on by bottling the liquid and selling it in the other parts of the city; suicides only drink the Seine water.