OUR PARIS LETTER.

Evening Star, Issue 3883, 4 August 1875, Page 3

OUR PARIS LETTER.

Paris, Jane 12. There is a Hegira now taking pi ;co in the capital ; everyone who desires to be considered as anybody is bound to depart for the sea-side or elsewhere ; provided Paris be quitted honor will bo saved. Not a few persons conform to this iron law of fashion, which comes int > operation after the racing for the Grand Prix, sLii-elike fashion, departing at one side, nni coming back by the other. All this moving to and fro during the rummer season is incomprohensilfle for a city with such special advantages for living cool in the dog days as Paris peculiarly posses' cs, and the best evidence is afforded by the fact that country cousins take up their abode in tbe capital as the migratory part of tbe po' ulalien withdraws. One can hire even furnished apartments not only beside the river, but on the water itself, ' oats now being fitted up like Noah’s Aik, with all the comforts of a home ; and in the float!- g baths you may remain in the water all day, being suppl ed -with your meals therein, and you can have a readier, a story-tc’le”, or even a dervish, to amuse you into the. bargain. What sea-side cm surpass these luxuries? There is this in common with all country parts-fr shness and flowers ; in addition, each of the subu bs of ■ Pana possesses its peculiar at raclion--, and \ people become attached to them ; subscribe as it ‘ wore for a residence for five months in the year as one does to the newspaper of which he is a

constant reader; there is this advantage about the surrounding villages and scenery of Paris : all are beautiful, and no two alike. The apparel, it is said, oft proslaims the man; so .does the choice h# makes of his summer residence For lovers, philosophers, and talking age, perhaps St. Germain carries off the palm, only the forests are so gay that a Jacques could not find there food for his melancholy. “Village fetes” are now very much the mode, and have this singularity, that villagers are never invited to take part in them ; it is a fete, a breakfast, or a dinner, or rather the union of both, for France is at present the land of compromises, organised by some forty or fifty friends, who rail, drive, or boat, according to circumstances, from Paris, enjoy a paper hunt, flirtations, and field sports as interpreted by Aunt Sally; the return home is ever delicious. Bear in mind, the ladies give these picnics, and no gentleman is allowed to contribute as much as the smallest coin of the realm, which for business conveniences is limited to the tenth part of a penny.

At a recent out-door club dinner at St, Germain, a lady aged twenty, extremely handsome and possessing a beautiful figure, was very much remarked; her robe was iu white muslin, bordered with violet velvet, a Rubens bat ornamented with a white feather, but her hair was dressed in a manner altogether new, not only as to form, but, above all, to color. Her hair was long, in curls, and distinguished by all the fantasies of fine art: it was neither black, chestnut, nor red ; it was perfectly white. Now, as nothing is more unfixed in France than the coiffure, it would not be surprising if powder became the rage. Along with these outings to the country proper, there have been several others of a different kind—horse-racings and fancy-fairs ; at the recent Grand Prix race, never did thu Boia de Boulogne witness such a formidable crush, and never was there concentrated in the grand stand such a collection of wealth and fashion. Gentleman’s purses must have b: eu well tried to purchase tickets for lady friends, as a set off for their in vitations. Of course the last Thing spoken of is horses. French ladies will never take to that kind of conversation; for them the paddock and the tribunes are onlv so many out of-d- or drawingrooms ; there gossips and visiting may bo carried on, the sole drawback being that no mi!i----t ii y bands play f r fear of teasing the animals —a kind of zo dogic d garden severity. The Parisians are said to be half mad about the races, but their enthusiasm is not equal to that of the Londoners, for not a citizen would close Mi shop, did the hippie f6te come off on a week day, to go and witness the spe tacle. It takes more than twelve years, observes a philosopher, to make a nation “ horsey.” Perhaps among all the celebrated beauties and fashionables present none was more remarked than the ex-Queen of Naples, as she promenaded, leaning on the arm of the Due de Nemours, She rarely mixes in society, and her misfortunes and heroic antecedents make her interesting. It is notorious that the ex-Queen of Spain has fallen 50 per cent, in public curiosity since her son has ascended the throne. It was observed that there were more ex-monarchs at the race in question than there were real monarchs during a similar spectacle in 1867, along with the Emperor, Madame Macmahon does not profess to be a leader, of fashion ; besides, that rfilc necessitates a good balance at yo-’r bankoi’s. Bh§ wore a plain ecru dress, having for a bonnet a double crown of oats aud white poppies ; the Duchess de Ch iulues had a sky blue toilette, with a Leopold Robert hat aud pale rose’s. It would be impossible to enumerate the toilettes, because the fashion of the day is not for a lady to follow the fashion, but to adopt her fashion. Dressmakers may continue to assert such and such arc the law and prophets, but their occupation in this respect is gone. One can observe the general tendencies m favor, that convenience or circumstances may impose; but for every lad}' to dre-s alike because some ilujanits patronise this or that, would be to dress very badly indeed. To see oue lady iu a charming toilette, then,_ will not be to view all ladies, for features, carriage, form, color, and age will dictate. Talleyrand was often consulted by ladies for their toilettes, and his canon was—he was originally a bishop, you know—that ladies ought never to consult one another, still less their dressmakers ; they ought invariably to decide themselves.

Death has been very Inuy of late. The loss society experiences in Comte de Rdmmat is very great. He was a most agreeable gentleman, and the life of a social party—full of anecdote, and a brilliant ccviscur. In his salad days he was a poet and sang his own compositions, an excellent actor, and a capital reader. Though a grave historian, he never was above making a squib; he was so English in thought and manners that he was familiarly called “ Sir Charles he ordered all his clothes from a London tailor, and he called his chateau near Toulouse a “ cottage,” fe-ling it to be more English; ho foreigner surpassed him in bis knowledge of English philosophy and literature —his writings alone prove it. During his fatal illness—pleurisy, and now raging like an epidemic in Paris—his only delight was to hear his grandson his lessons ; and when his daughter in-law read prayers for him in French, he begged she would do so in Latin, as that reminded him of his early days. Perhaps M. ; hiers will feel most keenly M. de Bemusat’s death They were inseparable chums during sixty years, and throughout that time a shade never intervened between their friendships. Then the event is a -memento mori for the ex-President, and when people arrive at the ago of fourscore they become very superstitious. M. Thiers has at lasi taken possession of his now bouse, built by the nation on tho ruins of that demolished by the Commune. He had bean removing during three months, and when ab was ready for the final departure it was discovered that the day was a Friday, which, being considered unlucky, his lady and sister-in-law would not leave ; it is ranked as fatal to undertake, any important event on a Friday, as it is to have thirteen guests at table, and a statistician has shown that three-fourths of the separated married couples had been we hied on Fridays : there is no help for persons who thus wilfudy rush to misfortune As to separations, much controversy has been indulged in respecting the authenticity of the remains in the tomb dedicated to Abelard and ; -'eloise in the chief city cemetery. Some pamphlets prove’the skeletons are not those of the real lovers, while others swear by all the gods nothing can henceforth be asserted as true, if the tomb be not considered genuine. There is a general disposition to allow the matter to drop, to repair the tomb,

and permit lovers to visit the shrine in good faith and draw courage from the true history—or the legend. One nasty old bachelor accuses Abelard and Hc'oisu of child desertion,

as they never allude to their ton ; but this does not prove the lad was neglected, and it is well known he died a fat monk—proof that the cares of the world affected him but slightly. {To be continued.)