WOMEN'S CLUBS IN PARIS.

Auckland Star, Volume II, Issue 482, 27 July 1871, Page 2

WOMEN'S CLUBS IN PARIS.

At the end of tho room wns a table littered with papers and boots, and behind it sat a row of women, with red scarfs over their shoulders and red belts about their waists. None took much notice of us at first, being too much occu. pied with the oratory of a fine-looking young woman with streaming black hair, and flashing eyes, who dialated upon the rights of women', amid ejaculations and shakings of the head, and approving pinches of snuff from the occupants of the benches near us. " Men are laches," she cried; "they call themselves the masters of creation, and are.a set of dolts. They complain of being made to fight, and are always grumbling over their woes—let them go and join the craven band at Versailles, and we will defend the city ourselves. We have petroleum, i and we have hatchets and strong hearts, and are as capable of bearing fatigue -as they. We will man tho barricades, and show them that we will be no longer trodden down by them. Suoh as still wish to fight may do so sido by side with us. Women of Paris, to tho front!," She eat down out of breath and rather confused having had to bear up against considerable tittering on account of the imperfection of her French and the strangeness of her similies ; but she looked very handsome, and might have sat for the portrait of one of the heroinos of the First Revolution ; but there was that in her eye which made mo think as I looked at her that I should not like to bo her husband. The next speaker seemed tolerably respectable! wearing a decent black gown and" bonnet, but her disoourse was as rambling and inconsistent as that of her prodeceßsor at tho tribune. " We aro simple women," she began, " but not made of weaker stuff than our grandmothers of '93 Let us not cause their shades to blush for us' but bo up and doing, as they would be were they living now. We have duties to perform If necessary we will fight with the best of them and defend the barricades, but I cannot think that so supreme a sacrifice will bo demanded of us. We will attend on the battle-field and help to bring onr wounded heroes back into the town, and thus save many lives which would otherwise be needlessly sacrificed. Yet another service may bo rendorcd. Wo will establish portable cooking stoves (foumeaux), and cook the raw meat which is served out to the men of our army, which they throw away for lack of means to dress it." Encouraged by the applause which has followed her thus far, shenow degenerated into rant, attacking the priesthood generally, and the confessbnal mimicking the actions used at mass amid the laughter and bravoes of the throng. The whole scene was amusing, and ono which will .myelin the memory among the strange pictures of this agitated time, but there was a false riua about the gathering, a constraint on the part ot the audience, and a forcing of efleet on. _i«_. part of tho speakers, which led to grave doubts of Ua spontaneity.— Tim? Correspondent.