poch; and, though the exhibition is no longer comparable to what it
was in former times, when a luxurious extravagance not only in dress,
but in equipages, was displayed, some handsome and well-appointed
carriages are still to be seen. Among the most remarkable for good
taste, were those of the Princess Bagration, and Monsieur Schikler,
whose very handsome wife attracted more admiration than the elegant
vehicle in which she was seated, or the fine steeds that drew it.

Those who are disposed to question the beauty of French women, should
have been at Longchamps to-day, when their scepticism would certainly
have been vanquished, for I saw several women there whose beauty could
admit of no doubt even by the most fastidious critic of female charms.
The Duchesse de Guiche, however, bore off the bell from all
competitors, and so the spectators who crowded the Champs-Elysees
seemed to think. Of her may be said what Choissy stated of la Duchesse
de la Valliere, she has "_La grace plus belle encore que la beaute_."
The handsome Duchesse d'Istrie and countless other _beautes a la mode_
were present, and well sustained the reputation for beauty of the
Parisian ladies.

The men _caracoled_ between the carriages on their proud and prancing
steeds, followed by grooms, _a l'Anglaise_, in smart liveries, and the
people crowded the footpaths on each side of the drive, commenting
aloud on the equipages and their owners that passed before them.

The promenade at Longchamps, which takes place in the Holy Week, is
said to owe its origin to a religious procession that went annually to
a church so called, whence it by degrees changed its character, and
became a scene of gaiety, in which the most extravagant exhibitions of
luxury were displayed.

One example, out of many, of this extravagance, is furnished by a
publication of the epoch at which Longchamps was in its most palmy
state, when a certain Mademoiselle Duthe, whose means of indulging in
inordinate expense were not solely derived from her ostensible
profession as one of the performers attached to the Opera, figured in
the promenade in a carriage of the most sumptuous kind, drawn by no
less than six thorough-bred horses, the harness of which was of blue
morocco, studded with polished steel ornaments, which produced the most
dazzling effect.

That our times are improved in respect, at least, to appearances, may
be fairly concluded from the fact that no example of a similar
ostenta