AFFAIRS IN FRANCE.

Globe, Volume II, Issue 137, 7 November 1874, Page 3

AFFAIRS IN FRANCE.

(From the Press ') • Pairs, August 2-5. lie must be a very.indifferent chief .Magistrate indeed-, who in making a tour of the realm he has been elect d to mle, wou'd not receive a .ceaxl milfe fralihe. Marshal MacMahou has- nothing lo complain of in respect to his tour, -the people have shown how they esteem,- his person. Politically the voyage lias ijo Significance, or perhaps a great deal. Everywhere, the Marshal has heard the wish expressed in favor of endowing the country with definite institutions; No where has it been intimated that lie him self was the equal of. a constitution ; no voice was raised in favor of any form '■ f monarchy. The desire is to suppo t the Government of the President, while insisting on measures that would prevent the country from falling from the hands of the Marshal into chaos. The nation is either Monarchist, Bonapartist, or Republican ; clearly it is not Neptennalist, in the sense of considering as defined and definite that which is but a truce full of perils and surprises-. Neither i* the nation Monarchist, be it the antique aristocratic and clerical monarchy of Henry V., or the monarchy bourgeois and parliamentary of the Comte de Paris, with its tortuous and equivocal liberalism, being everything by turns and nothing long. France is at the present moment Republican or Imperialist, liberal or Caesarian democracy. and having refused to constitute the Republic, the pserdo-liberals have driven to the side of the Hecond Empire thousands of electors disgusted with the provisional, and resolved to leave it by any visible door. Now, as the Republic and the Empire form in the eyes of the nation the only two tangible and comprehensible solutions or doors, it is but natural that finding them selves barred out at one, they should crowd the more impatiently to the other. Francois not at all resolved to wait for seven years the good pleasure of the coalised royalists, and she is so greedy for what is permanent, that she will even submit to the Empire and barter her liberty for confident repose, as is evidenced by the recent elections in theNievre and Calvados. It is not in the nature of man to be content with a secur ty which is but provisional, and an order that is only precarious. Nations, like individuals, have the want to know what the future reserves to them.

The country are in a ratio to the town voters as three to four ; now the former, it cannot be denied, are coming round to the Empire, and as all parties in France now appropriate to themselves the epithet of hmi nettes gens, there can be no separation between the sheep and the goats. The Government has no easy task to keep so many good people in order, and the difficulty will not be lessened when the state of siege shall be raised and the pre-s set free. It would be a mistake to judge the future pacification of France by the present more or less compulsory tranquility Towards the close of next month, likely eight or ten partial elections will come off simultaneously; if the Imperialists continue still to score the innings, the aspect of politics will be profoundly changed ; and if the fashion sets in to vote for the Third Empire, that mode will spread. The Republic is very far from being out of the field : but the Government has given it the cold shoulder, and the Assembly has solemnly postponed its recognition to the Greek Calends. The Republicans will still fight fiercer by despair, and can at the last hour vote the Empire, “ which, if not victory, is yet revenge.” M. Pelletan has published a sort of official reply to the blame inflicted by the commission appointed by the Assembly to enquire into the working of the Government of National Defence. Perhaps the Assembly has nominated too many commissions ; enqii'ry was necessary and healthy into the financial peculations; but it was going too far to demand of the Government of the Fourth of September, that picked up power when it fell Lora the worn-out grasp of Napoleon 111. ; why it appropriated that power, why it adjourned the elections, why it did not close the clubs and suppress tlie journals, and why it continued the war without necessity. These points can be viewed in a different light now than when the Prussians were within ten days’ march of Paris, and when there was reasonable hope that Razaine would do his duty. Besides, the voice of the country was then unanimously for war, and to attempt to preach down the desire for it would have been useless, while laying the advocate of it open to the charge of being a Prussian. Also, the deputies who are Royalists now, were then ardent Republicans. Gambetta did excellent service in stirring up the patriotism of the masses ; but he and his colleagues erred in resisting the invasion in the name of the Republic rather than in that of France ; they believed as in 1792, there was something magical in the word Republic, and that it would be able, as of old, 1o take revenge by invading Germany. As it would have claimed all the merit in case of success, it is now condemned to bear the lion’s share of the failure. Then again, this patriotic fever, this preaching up of folly and delusion, did help to keep Parisians in the resisting mood for five months against the besiegers, and without this furious folly the garrison would not be able to hold out three weeks —as the professional commanders knew very well success could not attend the defence. Had the fever disappeared, Paris would have capitulated earlier. It is in not bavins; foreseen the consequences of this siege fever, that the Government was to be blamed, by not stipulating in the articles of capitulation that the population should guard its arm c , and the soldiers surrender theirs. Bismarck advised the contrary, and Jules Favre for neglecting such prudence, demanded pardon of God and man when the Commune burst forth in all its madness and crime. The evasion of B'ziino will save the French Treasury some, thousands of francs.. The fugitive is rapidly being forgotten, or recalled, to be further shown up for his conduct and assertions since his escape. His wife, too, has not much served him by her concocted history of the flight, which no one credits now, as very few did at first. T e trial of the prison officers will show how wide the gates were opened by his b'ibes. uid that there is no romance at all in the matter. The clothes that ho effected his escape in are now in the hands of the Government, and like the famous rope, anything but show that he effected the terrible descent, and the famous plunge into the waves. After the trial of the governor and warders, Madame Tussaud should bid high lor the ex-Marshal’s pantal min. There would he nothing aston siting if the Rev .VI. Layson’s head were turned by the flattery of the Parisian journals of a certain class in honor of his late evolution, and that

he returned to the place from whence ho came. His secession from secession has indieted a deadly blow on the very few admirers he had lu re—followers he never had. When the constitutional Church of France died, it expired with a kind of dignity ; Gobert, the then Archbishop of Paris, deposed his cross, his mitre, and his pontifical ring upon the bureau of the Convention, and handed over the Cathedral of Notre Dame to tlu worship ot the Goddess of Reason. The establishment of the new cemetery at Mery, for the wants of Pails, will diminish the sources of income that the municipality derived from the intra-mural interments estimated at two and three-quarter millions of francs per annum. Now, if it be expensive to live in Paris, it costs a good deal to bn buried, for the rich have to pay by increased expenses for the gratuitous burial of the poor. Out of the total receipts >f the fnnor d tax“B the clergy of the various lienominations recognised by the Slate are paid More than one-half the interments which take pi a-c in Paris are free: it is thus the well-to-do classes that also support the Church. The pompes fnnlbrcs , or undertaker’s company possess the monopoly of conducting the funerals, for which tiny pay the Municipality an annual rent of 350,000 francs. A Radical editor, M Morin, and very much respected even by his opponents, died a ft w days ago. He was known to be a Free Thinker, as proved by his life and writings. When his funeral took place, it attracted a multitude of his political friends, lor these occasions are seized by all parties in turn for making a demonstration. Judge of the horror of the sympathisers on witnessing the hearse drawing up before a church door, and the clergy advancing to receive the body and extend to it all funeral rites. The deceased's family would not listen to their relative being otherwise buried. Gamhctta, Louis Blanc. &c, remained with the procession outside the church. On arriving at the grave a rattling speech in favor of the Republic being immortal, was delivered by old G arnier-PageD. who was followed by the once famous Barodet, whose election for Paris contributed so powerfully to overthrow Thiers. M Barodet addressed himself not to the remains of their friend, b >t to his soul, which did not please the Materialists. It gives one the shivers to listen to a political allocution over an unclosed grave, and the hear hears, and loud cheers.

At the commencement of the present century very few Frenchmen were acquainted with the name of Shakspeare, and those who knew it, were next to ignorant of his works When Napoleon was dead and buried, politics became more tranquil, and home disputes turned upon literature and art. It was in 1828 that Alfred de Vigny created a sensation, not in adapting “Othello” for the stage, but in retaining the pnekethandkerchief scene. The mouchoir. , per so, was. as the French say, “shok ng.” 'To pronounce the word pocket-handkerchief was only equalled in coarseness by using it in public. Mile. Duchesnois. in one of her characters, has in 1820 to allude to that article of to lotto, in connection with “ Marie-Stuart.” Shed re not employ the word, but instead, called it timidly, “ light tissue.” The ice was. however, broken, as she displayed the terrible article before the spectators. When Othello was represente I, despite protests, painful cries, and fainting fits, a spade was called a spade. It must not be concluded that the French did not employ pocket-handkerchiefs; they carried them always at the bottom of a deep pocket, or in a hand bag. but never used them in public. It was the Empress Josephine who smuggled it into court ; she had veiy ugly teelh, and as at her epoch dentists had not discovered the means of our having pearly teeth till nnr death, she invened little mouchoirs trimmed with lace, which she carried playfully to her li>>s—only to dissimulate as mu ;h as possible her infirmity. The I'dies of her Court quickly followed suit. Luxury in [locket handkerchiefs is pushed as far now-a-days as for robes, and snme are even to be encountered embroidered with fine pearls. An ornament of toilette equally extraordinary which has just appeared is the “ dog’s collar,” substitute for a necklace. It is composed of black velvet, with a little fringe of diamonds, or small colored stones and pearls. The majority have the name of the wearer, and the donor . worked in diamonds, the art consisting to puzzle the deciphering of the names.

No coroner’s inquest has ever brought in a verdict —“ Poisoned from eating snails yet persons have succumbed from indulging in this luxury before the univalves have properly digested their repasts on poisonous plants. To reassure Parisians, a word in season has appeared on the rearing and fatting of snails, which are forwaided to the capital from Switzerland, Burgundy, and Provence. Women and children gather the snails wherever they can, but chiefly among the vines; when collected they are separated into pens by walls of sawdust, which they never cross ; in the pen of grass are placed horizontal planks for their acrobatic movements. After being kept with mt food for three days, they are suppli ;d with aromatic herbs, salad, and vegetables in general. I'hey are fit for the grill in the course of eioht days, being compelled to fast same hours in advance. Tme amateurs prefer the snail when it has sealed itself up in its shell for the winter season in a hole in the wall or inside the stump of a tree, hence, why it is one of the fine arts to adulterate the delicacy by serving it up with all the external wintry appearances. The consumption of horse flesh is also on the increase, 1532 horses having been killed for food during the three months ending July, 1874, while only 078 were slaughtered during the corresponding period in 1872. upwards of 108 asses and 7 mules were brought to the block during the same time. On nas-ing by the horse butchers' shops, the meat appears to he bettor bled than heretofore, as it has a less blackish and repulsivo look. Asses’ flesh resembles ordinary beef •so perfectly, that it is to be hoped cooks here ulay no tricks, to pocket the market penny, in purchasing our daily bread. The police have reduced the number of cafe’s where girls are r/'irnons from forty-four to thirty two, and all these entahli-hmen's are so vigil mtly surveyed by the police ns now to be r Hiked properly conducted. The aim of the proprietors ; s to discover the most attractive toilettes imaginable, which employs the inventive powers of the dressmaker. Another object is, to secure, if foi v a few hours the presence of a leading second-class act'ess to pour out glasses of beer The tlu-atres are representing all possible plays that contain scenes of “famous .escapes." Later, perhaps, the evasion of Bazaino may be directly permitted to be drama atised.