From a sprightly letter from Paris to the _Cologne Gazette_, we
translate for _The International_ the following account of the
position of women in the French Republic, together with the
accompanying gossip concerning sundry ladies whose names have long
been quite prominently before the public:
"It is curious that the idea of the emancipation of women should have
originated in France, for there is no country in Europe where the
sex have so little reason to complain of their position as in this,
especially at Paris. Leaving out of view a certain paragraph of the
_Code Civile_--and that is nothing but a sentence in a law-book--and
looking closely into the features of women's life, we see that they
are not only queens who reign, but also ministers who govern.
"In France women are engaged in a large proportion of civil
employments, and may without hesitation devote themselves to art and
science. It is indeed astonishing to behold the interest with which
the beautiful sex here enter upon all branches of art and knowledge.
"The ateliers of the painters number quite as many female as male
students, and there are apparently more women than men who copy the
pictures in the Louvre. Nothing is more pleasing than to see these
gentle creatures, with their easels, sitting before a colossal Rubens
or a Madonna of Raphael. No difficulty alarms them, and prudery is not
allowed to give a voice in their choice of subjects.
"I have never yet attended a lecture, by either of the professors
here, but I have found some seats occupied by ladies. Even the
lectures of Michel Chevalier and Blanqui do not keep back the
eagerness of the charming Parisians in pursuit of science. That
Michelet and Edgar Quinet have numerous female disciples is
accordingly not difficult to believe.
"Go to a public session of the Academy, and you find the '_cercle_'
filled almost exclusively by ladies, and these laurel-crowned heads
have the delight of seeing their immortal works applauded by the
clapping of tenderest hands. In truth, the French savan is uncommonly
clear in the most abstract things; but it would be an interesting
question, whether the necessity of being not alone easily intelligible
but agreeable to the capacity of comprehension possessed by the
unschooled mind of woman, has not largely contributed to the facility
and charm which is peculiar to French scientific literature. Read
for example the discourse on Cabanis, pronounced by Mignet at the
last session. It would be impossible to write more charmingly, more
elegantly, more attractively, even upon a subject within the range
of the fine arts. The works, and especially the historical works, of
the French, are universally diffused. Popular histories, so-called
editions for the people, are here entirely unknown; everything that
is published is in a popular edition, and if as great and various care
were taken for the education of the people as in Germany, France would
in this respect be the first country in the world.
"With the increasing influence of monarchical ideas in certain
circles, the women seem to be returning to the traditions of monarchy,
and are throwing themselves into the business of making memoirs.
Hardly have George Sand's Confessions been announced, and already new
enterprises in the same line are set on foot. The European dancer,
who is perhaps more famous for making others dance to her music,
and who has enjoyed a monopoly of cultivated scandal, Lola Montes,
also intends to publish her memoirs. They will of course contain
an interesting fragment of German federal politics, and form a
contribution to German revolutionary literature. Lola herself is still
too beautiful to devote her own time to the writing. Accordingly, she
has resorted to the pen of M. Balzac. If Madame Balzac has nothing to
say against the necessary intimacy with the dangerous Spanish or Irish
or whatever woman--for Lola Montes is a second Homer--the reading
world may anticipate an interesting, chapter of life. No writer is
better fitted for such a work than so profound a man of the world, and
so keen a painter of character, as Balzac.
"The well-known actress, Mlle. Georges, who was in her prime during
the most remarkable epoch of the century, and was in relations
with the most prominent persons of the Empire, is also preparing a
narrative of her richly varied experiences. Perhaps these attractive
examples may induce Madame Girardin also to bestow her memoirs upon
us, and so the process can be repeated infinitely."
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