Fine Manners

1895

At the court of Marie Antoinette all emotions and passions were veiled by a mask of politeness. Even the children were taught to speak with wit and tact and courtesy and to bear pain in silence. The little Duc d'Angouleme, 8 years old, when the old Sanbrun entered his presence unexpectedly, said, touching the book in his hand: "Ah, monsieur, I am in the company of Plutarch's men. You could not come at a moment more apropos!"

The Count de Pallance, beheaded in his tenth year, stood erect and calm in the cart until he reached the guillotine. The headsman lifted his long curls. "Merci, monsieur," said the boy, with a bow and a smile. The next moment his head rolled in dust.

The man or woman who showed any signs of pretention or self conceit was not received at court. Profound deference was shown to women and to the aged. Well bred men heard of their own ruin with a bonmot and went out to fight each other to the death with such grace and courtesy that the duel seemed a sacrament of friendship. — Family Magazine.


Her Father's Say

He — What do you think your father would say if we were to run away and get married?
She — Really I don't know, but I imagine he would say I was a bigger fool than he thought I was. — Detroit Free Press.

Peculiar Possessions and Collections

1900

Many people make collections of articles more or less interesting, but possibly few go in for such bulky objects as those chosen by a gentleman of Pontefract, in the north of England. Old doors are the object of his desire and he has a most curious collection. His doors come from old houses, castles and abbeys that have some historical interest. Household Words is responsible for the statement that not long ago he offered as much as five thousand dollars for a door through which, during the French Revolution, Marie Antoinette, Charlotte Corday, Danton and Robespierre passed to the guillotine.

Not quite as interesting in a general sense, but in all probability of quite as much interest to the collector, was a curious collection of corks owned by a Frenchman who died a few years ago at Paris. A fairly good history of his life was to be read on these corks, for he saved every one drawn for the delectation of himself or his friends, and on each he inscribed the date and particular occasion upon which the bottle was opened.

Probably nobody of to-day has a strong desire to bring together a great variety of teas and snuffs. Lord Petersham, however, a noted dandy in his day, had a hobby for collecting various kinds of tea and snuff. All round his sitting-room were shelves, on the one side laden with canisters of Souchong, Bohea, Congou, Pekoe, Russian and other teas, and on the other bearing handsome jars containing every kind of snuff the collector could lay his hands on.

Queen Margherita of Italy is the owner of a curious collection, one that has in it the interest of association. It comprises the foot- and head-gear of royal and imperial personages of different periods. It is said to embrace a sandal worn by the tyrant Nero, a pair of white slippers which belonged to Mary Queen of Scots, shoes worn by Queen Anne and the Empress Josephine, and gloves that were once the property of Marie Antoinette. — Youth's Companion.

She's Proud of Her Title of "Modern Betsy Ross"

1915

In her studio on the top floor of a quaint brick building in Westland avenue, Boston, Mass., Mrs. Amelia Fowler, the famous flag expert, sits quietly in a businesslike frame, and, with needle and thread, works wonders. The photograph shown here was taken recently in the studio. Mrs. Fowler takes a piece of silk and embroiders America's seal on one side. Then she turns it over and embroiders something else in different colors on the other. And neither design shows thru the silk. She is said to be the only person in the world who can do this.

And yet there isn't the slightest inclination on Mrs. Fowler's part to make believe she is endowed with any special ability. She assumes — in fact, says openly — that her accomplishment is due to natural ability combined with hard, conscientious work. Tho she has many employees, she is herself probably the hardest working of all. She's enthusiastic over flag restoration and imparts this enthusiasm to her co-workers.

Mrs. Fowler is known all over the world as an authority on flags, flag restoration and flag history. She is called the "modern Betsy Ross." And she is proud of this title. It will be remembered that Mrs. Elizabeth ("Betsy") Ross, a patriotic lady, made the first "Stars and Stripes" in 1777. Previous to that time several designs had been used for flags. The flag as adopted June 14, 1777, had 13 white stars, arranged in a circle, in a field of blue, and the fly had 13 stripes, alternate red and white, and retained its form until 1795, when Vermont and Kentucky were admitted into the Union; then, by an act of Congress, it was changed to 15 stars and 15 stripes. On March 24, 1818, an act was passed restoring the flag to its original 13 stripes, and ordered "That a new star be added on the 4th of July succeeding the admission of every new State."

Mrs. Fowler does practically all the present flag work for the United States Government. She has restored 173 flags and received $300,000 for her work. She specializes on the "Stars and Stripes," America's emblem. "It means so much to me now, more so, perhaps, than ever before," says Mrs. Fowler. "We should all feel proud of our flag and our country in these days of trial."

George Washington's Love Affairs

He Was Not a Success with Ladies, Till He Met the Widow Custis

In a paper recently read by Chauncey M. Depew in New York, at the reception of the Original Society of Colonial Dames of America, the following account is noted of Washington's social life:

Washington was intensely human as he was supremely great. He loved women, he was fond of sport, he was a great hunter, he was the best horseman of his age, he delighted in balls and parties and was a gallant dancer, he traveled hundreds of miles to witness a trial of speed between famous horses, and in common with the universal habit of his time took his chances in the lottery. While never a drunkard or intemperate in any way, he was a free liver and a generous and jovial host. He seems to have been unhappy in his earlier love scrapes. He was 6 feet 2 inches high, straight as an arrow, perfectly formed, except that he had phenomenally large hands and feet, and his face was pockmarked with the smallpox which he caught at the Barbadoes. The Colonial girl flirted recklessly with him, but never seemed to fall in love with him. He writes to one of his correspondents a letter from Lord Fairfax's, in which he says:

"My place of residence is at present at his lordship's, where I might, were my heart disengaged, pass my time very pleasantly, as there is a very agreeable young lady lives in the same house, but as that is only adding fuel to the fire, it makes me the more uneasy, for by often and unavoidably being in company with her revives my former passion for your lowland beauty, whereas were I to live more retired from young women I might in some measure alleviate my sorrows by burying that which is a troublesome passion in the grave of oblivion or eternal forgetfulness, for, as I am very well assured, that is the only antidote or remedy that I shall be relieved by or only recess that can administer any cure or help to me."

Who was this "lowland beauty?" is a mooted question which probably can never be decided. It has been discovered that he paid earnest attention to and his heart was deeply touched by Lucy Grymes, Mary Bland, Betsy Fauntleroy and Alice Fairfax. Of all these he was absorbed in and devoted to Betsy Fauntleroy. He worshiped at her shrine for several years, until a rival carried her off.

Washington was the most industrious of correspondents, and in his letters revealed his most secret passions and desires. But, though we know how tenderly he loved and how long he grieved over the loss of Betsy Fauntleroy, we are still in doubt as to who was the lowland beauty who seemed to take possession of his heart as soon as the charmer of the house was driven or retired from its portals.

Alas for Betsy. She failed to forecast the future, and as the wife of a Virginia planter lived to see her rejected lover become the greatest man of that or any other age. Washington became more popular with the ladies after his return from Braddock's defeat and the massacre. In that battle he had two horses shot under him, and four bullets through his uniform, and had held his Virginia regiment steady when the veteran red-coated British soldiers had all run away. When he returned, the hero of the hour, every Virginia house sent invitations to the gallant young soldier to come and visit. He was here and there, and everywhere, but his heart was mortgaged beyond redemption to the proud beauty who would not smile upon him. One of these letters of welcome to him is from the Fairfax home. Three young ladies in the house party, write him this letter, which shows his new-born popularity from Braddock's bloody field:

"Dear Sir — After thanking heaven for your safe return. I must accuse you of great unkindness in refusing us the pleasure of seeing you this night. I do assure you that nothing but our being satisfied that our company would be disagreeable should prevent us from trying if our legs would not carry us to Mount Vernon this night. But if you will not come to us to-morrow morning very early, we shall be at Mount Vernon. Sally Fairfax, Ann Spearing, Elizabeth Dent."

From the home of the Randolphs came another invitation, closing with the message that "Mrs. Cary and Miss Randolph join in wishing you that sort of glory which will most endear you to the fair sex."

In order to settle the question of the regularity of his commission as Colonel, Washington made a journey to Boston. Beverly Robinson, a Virginian, had married Susana Phillips, a daughter of Frederick Phillips, the patron of the great manor by the Croton. Robinson entertained his friend, now famous because of his gallantry at Fort Duquesne, at his house, and induced his wife to have her sister, Mary Phillips, as a guest at the same time. Here Washington's susceptible heart was subject to an entirely different charm from the English ladies in the Barbadoes, or the lovely Virginians of his native state. It was the metropolitan girl — the New Yorker — as typical then as now — self-possessed, traveled, with the experience of several seasons in the society of the largest city of the country, familiar with the attention of British officers and titled fortune hunters, a beauty and an heiress. The type was new to Washington, and he fell madly in love. But the proud and finical New York belle saw too many of the woodsman and the Indian fighter to allure her from the refinements of the metropolis to the seclusion of plantation life, and so she gave her hand and heart to Lieut. Col. Roger Morris, to become, with her Tory husband, during the revolutionary war, a fugitive to England, while Washington, in the fortunes of revolution, made their house his headquarters during the campaign in New York.

Washington, however, two years after the Mary Phillips incident, met at a country house Mrs. Martha Dandridge Custis. She was a widow, 26 years of age, and seven months of sorrow. She not only belonged to one of the most distinguished families, but she was the wealthiest woman in the colony of Virginia. Her sorrow was alleviated by the presence of two little angel Custises, Jack and Nellie. Washington wrote to his physician before arriving at this country house in very bad health, that he considered himself a doomed man, and that he was expecting very soon his "decay." This was on March 5, 1758. But the sick man left this hospitable home at Williamsburg on April 1, entirely recovered in health and engaged to the beautiful widow. We know very little of Mrs. Washington except that she was petite, a brunette, very pretty, and could not spell. Washington destroyed all her letters to him on this account. Most of her letters which are in existence were written by Washington and copied by her. But she proved a good wife. She was a born lady and had all the high instincts of a thoroughbred. Jefferson and Madison and Hamilton, who had met her, all seemed to be impressed with her limited educational attainments, and equally impressed with her perfect good breeding. Washington never wandered in his affection for her, and always alluded to her as the partner of all his domestic enjoyments. They lived happily together for forty years. In his last illness he lay for four hours at night with that chill which killed him, because he would not wake his wife and have her get up in the cold. This consideration for her put him almost beyond help when morning came.

He was the most attentive of husbands. Fearing she might overwork herself with the multitude of guests that thronged Mount Vernon, he secured a housekeeper. He saved her the trouble of ordering her own clothes to a large extent. He was a martinet on appearances, and extremely particular, both as to his own clothes and as to hers. White satin and black velvet were his favorite materials for his own coats.

When Washington became General of the army, and the army went into winter quarters this good woman made the long and perilous journeys from her home in Mount Vernon and spent every winter in camp with her husband. At Valley Forge they lived in a hut. She not only looked after him, but presided with grace and dignity at the headquarters table, where his staff and every general officer were welcomed every day. By her kindness and attention to the sick soldiers she did much to prevent the discontent of the army under the great hardships which they endured, and to alleviate the sufferings of the ill and wounded. Both she and the General were passionately fond of dancing, During the war, at winter headquarters, they arranged assemblies on the subscription pattern, the same as those of Delmonico's, Waldorf and Sherry's, and they were called "assemblies." They had especially notable assemblies at Germantown, at Morristown and at Philadelphia. The Washingtons always arranged a winter assembly at Alexandria for the families of the country. Mrs. Washington did not care much for these festivities, but she sacrificed herself because these parties relieved her husband from the tremendous strain to which he was subject both as General of the armies during the revolution and as President of the United States during the formative period of the republic. It was not uncommon for Washington at these assemblies to dance from 10 o'clock until daylight. He was impartial, and tried to secure each lady in the room for a partner.

Fiddling For A Howling Mob

1896

Once Cherubini had to figure as a fiddler in spite of himself.

In the stormy days of 1792 it was a perilous experiment to walk the streets of Paris. During an occasion of more than ordinary excitement the composer fell into the hands of a band of sans-culottes who were roving about seeking musicians to conduct their chants. To them it was a special gratification to compel the talent that had formerly delighted royalty to minister now to their gratification.

On Cherubini firmly refusing to lead them, a low murmur was heard from the crowd, and the fatal word, "Royalist! Royalist!" went up. At this critical moment one of Cherubini's friends — also a kidnapped musician — seeing his imminent danger, thrust a violin into his unwilling hands and bade him head the mob. The whole day these two musicians accompanied the hoarse and overpowering yells of the revolutionary horde, and when at last a halt was made in a public square, where a banquet was served, Cherubini and his friend had to mount empty barrels and play until the feasting was over.


Used Many Quill Pens

In 1768, 27,000,000 quills were shipped from Russia and Poland to England, to say nothing of those which were sent to other countries.


The Penalty of Bachelorhood

In Corea every unmarried man is considered a boy, though he should live to be a hundred years old. No matter what his age, he ranks below the youngest of the unmarried men, despite the fact, perhaps, of having lived long enough to be his father.

It takes a bad man to be a good politician.

Madame Tussaud and Mrs. Wright

1904

This is the centennial year of Madame Tussaud's waxworks, and what faithful tourist in London has not visited that famous show?

The London newspapers duly commemorate its founder, whose life was indeed of singular interest. Born Marie Curtius, the daughter of a Swiss clergyman, she was left a widow while yet in her teens, and went to Paris to assist her uncle in his studio, where he modeled in wax the celebrities of the day, among them Rousseau, Diderot, Voltaire, Mirabeau, and our own Doctor Franklin and Paul Jones. With all these great men she became well acquainted, and some she modeled, for she soon developed marvelous skill. She gave lessons in her art to the king's sister, who soon became so fond of her that she removed her to court, and formally engaged her as a companion.

Then suddenly came the outbreak of the French Revolution. King, queen and nobles were mowed down by the guillotine, and the young artist passed from directing the dainty fingers of Madame Elizabeth to the dreadful task, not to be declined without peril, of modeling the severed heads of the courtiers and great ladies she had known in happier times, as well as those of the fallen chiefs of the Terror — Danton, Marat and Robespierre.

Once she herself fell under suspicion, and was thrown into prison, where she was a fellow captive of the future Empress Josephine. This comradeship secured her many favors when freedom and security came with the rise of Napoleon; but her memories of Paris were too terrible and she removed to London, where she established her waxworks and at once achieved a brilliant success. She lived to the age of ninety, alert, interesting and full of reminiscence to the last.

She was by no means the first woman to succeed as a modeler in wax, and her most notable predecessor in London was an American, Patience Wright, about whom, indeed, Madame Tussaud must have heard many stories from Doctor Franklin, who had been her good friend for many years. Mrs. Wright was a Quakeress, but her peace principles could not restrain a combative tongue when she heard her native land abused, and she roundly lectured her noble and royal customers on their treatment of her "dear America." She did not even spare the king and queen, who had been her frequent and most friendly patrons, good-naturedly accepting the Quaker plainness with which she addressed them simply as "George" and "Charlotte." But scolding was another matter. She lost custom, and planned a removal to Paris. Franklin, whose son was then his secretary, wrote her a letter in which he humorously embodied the young man's fanciful picture of her coming transit with her figures:

"He supposes that you must put them into post-chaises, two and two, which will make a long train upon the road and will be a very expensive conveyance; but as they will eat nothing at the inns, you may the better afford it. When they come to Dover, he is sure they are so like life and nature that the master of the packet will not receive them on board without passes, which you will do well, therefore, to take out, before you leave London, from the secretary's office, where they will cost you only the modest price of two guineas and sixpence each, which you will pay without grumbling, because you are sure the money will never be employed against your country."