The International Weekly Miscellany, Volume I, No. 7

The International Weekly
Miscellany, Vol. 1, No. 7

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Title: The International Weekly Miscellany, Vol. 1, No. 7 Of Literature,
Art, and Science, August 12, 1850
Author: Various
Release Date: October 11, 2004 [EBook #13711]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
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INTERNATIONAL WEEKLY MISCELLANY
Of Literature, Art, and Science.
* * * * *
Vol. I. NEW YORK, AUGUST 12, 1850. No. 7.
* * * * *

WOMEN AND LITERATURE IN FRANCE.
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