PARIS.

Southland Times, Issue 1241, 29 April 1870, Page 3

PARIS.

.» »■ (FEOM OT7E OW2T CO-RESPONDENT.) February 26, 1870. The Ministry, by an almost unanimous vote of the Chamber, have got a new lease of life, and a fresh start. This indemnity absolves them from the delay in carrying out their reforms, their tergiversations, their arbitrary arrests of editors, their Draconian press prosecutions, and their illogical suppressions of public meetings. The Cabinet has a Chamber— not the faithful reflex of the nation,. 'tis true, nor united by common sympathies, but kept in the leash by the threat of dissolution — it has the chief of the State, more than ever anxious and willing to approve of the repealof all that is obnoxious and irritating in the Constitution — it assures, us calm reigns everywhere in Europe, and nowhere more so than in France. " Now's the day and now's the hour" for ministers to apply to existing abuses the Napoleonic maxim, "strike quickly and strike strong." M. Daru, the Foreign Minister-who so ably read the ministerial' bill of fare, assures us the Cabinet is harmonious and cemented, and to strike down one member, is to strike all. From Ollivier's chain, whatever link you strike, Tenth, or ten thousandth, breaks the chain alike. By - the fruits the Cabinet will be judged. Only let the Chief of it, Ollivier, be to himself true — be the honest man he claims to be — and he will succeed in giving France rest, a stable government, free institutions, and ■accomplish that peace which revolutions cannot give. He must eschew alike the fears of the brave, and the follies of the wise — be just and fear not. The nation desires no barricades — no Bocheforts — it wishes to live and let live— to have " peace on earth, and goodwill towards men." The arrest of Don Carlos at Lyons, by the French police, and his forced return | to Geneva, may be said to end his projects of the invasion of Spain. He cannot cross the French frontier, although the Pyrenees no longer exist, and the ! Portugese Government forbids a raid ; from its territory. As his relative, the Duke of Modena, has money enough and to spare, the only chance left is a descent, on the coast. Spain does not want the Don, and it is equally difficult to know what are her desires. The position of the Peninsula defies all calculation and conjecture. France reduces this year her contingent by 10,000 men. This may have the effect of inducing Alexander of Bussia to follow suit, and as Austria is only too willing to join the Holy Alliance of peace, Prussia would be forced to " cave in," and thus necessitate a tranquil carrying out of the Treaty of Prague. Borne is not like a "little heaven I below:" Never was such "strife witnessed in any church. His Holiness is determined to carry the personal infallibility question, even if necessary, by a coup d'HJglise. The French and German bishops thwart the Pontiff by their refusal to accept the new dogma in the " swallow it dog" style. If proclaimed, this new article of faith, so necessary to salvation, as we are assured, will alienate the laity of France from Bome — never firmly attached at any time. It may be the beginning of the end, as the occupation of Borne by the French troops is booked for an early day's discussion. The economic fit is at present on the French, and they do not desire to expend money on Popes or Kaisers, by converting their soldiers into policemen. The " 24th" passed off tranquilly. It was the anniversary of the '48 revolution. The Bepublicans made no display, except Arago, who, in the Corps Legislatif, alluded to the day as one of hope, adding that no one ever dreamed of " observing as a fete the 2nd of December, 1851," the coup d'etat. This was all the . pierate of potash exploded. The second State Ball at the Tuileries came off on Wednesday, and was attended by 3000 persons. The Emperor entered the halls of dazzling lightat ten o'clock, having the Princess Clotilde on his arm ; the Empress having for cavalier, the Arch-duke Albert, uncle of the Emperor of Austria, who looked very j magnificent in his splendid white uniform. At half-past eleven, their Majesties retired to the supper room, each ambassador selecting a pretty girl to accompany him to that sanctum of privilege ; the Turkish Ambassador, that pet of every ball, bringing two ladies, by virtue of his Mussulman rights. The guests danced more than ordinary, because they did not expect to dance at all. The lustres appeared to shed more light, the ladies more i smiles, and the toilettes more diamonds. The Empress, somewhat pale after her influenza, did look like one of those goddesses that painters represent marching upon clouds. Her white robe, with an immense train of white " tulle," sparkling with silver, had two flounces of black lace descending to the extremity of the jupon, a tablier, surrounded with roses, the robe looped up with bouquets of same, a bouquet of precious stones in the corsage, with a diadem of same, completed one of the happiest toilets ever worn by her Majesty for a long time. The season continues to be very inclement, and influenza still reigns supreme. Small-pox also keeps to the crescendo seale — 83 deaths last week, 67 the week before. The pawn offices never had so much to do, and the clerks have been working overtime. The munificence of the Emperor has been privately exercised with " uncle." He has had the clothing and bedding of several thousands of persons returned to them. The burial of Baron Nathaniel Bothschild had brought together an immense concourse of poor persons, among whom existed the belief that the family of the deceased would distribute a Napoleon to every poor person who demanded it. On the: contrary, a large sum was handed over to the parish Charitable Fund, and another to the various Jewish institutions. There was, however, a great

gathering of poor Jews, who " rent their garments, and tore their hair" — true Israelitish grief. The unexpected death of Mr Burlinghame, has brought matters Chinese to the front. So far as Prance is concerned, his negotiations had no practical conclusion — Napoleon did not exactly see the advantages of his policy. For the Parisians, the Embassy was a curiosity, a new thing, soon used up, however. Everyone went to see the Celestials, as the curious do this moment, to see if therepresentative of the deceased Ambassador in Paris has put on white mourning robes. France prides herself on having no Poor Laws, but she has her poor always with her, to whom relief is carried by the usual apostles of charity — the clergy and the sisters, as well as by volunteer relieving officers. There are in Paris several Hospices where the aged poor are succoured. The funds for the maintenance of these establishments are raised by taring with ten per cent, the receipts of the theatres, and other places of amusement in proportion. Managers have for years rebelled against the nightly carrying off of this tenth part of what they possessed, and have " struck" — decline to pay the poors' rate any longer, and double-lock their cash-boxes. It was the first Napoleon who. decreed the tax — formerly the clergy collected the rates from the artistes while damning them at the same time. The tax, after all, comes out of the pockets of the public. It has never prevented any one from going to a theatre, nor has it been the cause of managers' bankruptcy — the most common of all " spectacles." A prince and princess — and Paris is full of them — very wealthy, a trait less common, and both young, were married four months ago. When the husband returned from his club, after dropping a considerable amount of money at baccarat, when pain and anguish wrung the brow, his wife proved a ministering angel, by shying lamps, lustres, and such knickknacks at his head. His Highness has applied for a separation, and his " ladye fair" warmly supports it. The most miserable class of men in France, and above all in Paris, are the apothecaries. Not that sharp misery has worn them to the bones, or that their shops contain but a beggarly account of empty boxes. There is a memento mori expression.in their features perpetually, contrasting sadly and strangely with the gay and hilarious public. Even during revolutionary times, when their shops are permitted to remain open all night, they are as melancholy as mutes. Tet this grave class is also about adopting the " order of the day"— a " strike." It appears the law only allows apothecaries of the " first class" to have their abiding city in Paris. The holders of second class licenses must keep outside the walls — what some of them have not done, but pitched their tents inside — Mnc illoe lachrymce. The misery of Paris is represented by 101,570 individuals, of whom 40,000 are heads of families — the population of the city being under 2,000,000. The average rate of public assistance given to this number of poor, is one centime per day — the tenth part of a farthing, the five-hun-dredth part of a dollar ! Among the list of ; this crowd of wretchedness, figure 4 apothecaries, 10 literateurs, 1 doctor, 1 dancing, master, and 10 professors of languages, 227 scavengers, 2 "Sprinklers of Holy Water" — whom the church ought to pension — and 190 persons who have never had any occupation — a fact that loafers ought to digest. So much for the male sex. Among the women, 1772 milliners, &c, 1137 needle-women, 457 " sugar-candy manufacturers," 10 midwives, 23 governesses, 175 nurses, 108 scavengers — Germany contributes largely her flaxen-haired daughters to sweep Paris — and 221 who never had any profession. Bey. Father Hyacinthe's, or rather Mr Layson's, new journal, La Concorde, will be brought out under the most favorable auspices. His brother, and several other professors of, theology, will be among the contributors, as also the Emperor's chaplain. It will be the organ of the new Catholic party— the church of the future, whose seat would be in Gaul, instead of Borne. Tours, ever gay and exciting, is a town inhabited by many English and a few American families. " Detached villas" remind you of the environs of London. The fact of the High Court of Justice sitting here on the 21st of March, to try Prince Pierre Napoleon, has run up prices to an outrageous height. The six Judges have been named, and the Special Jury, of 36 members, is in course of being drawn from among the Grand Juries of the Empire. Public opinion has greatly calmed down since the Prince shot down Victor Noir, and attempted the same on Fonville— friend of the deceased — and who is the only witness of the crime. Tet the authorities have cited 180 witnesses! The trial will cost the nation 150,000fr. Of course no one expects the Prince will be sent to the scaffold. He will lose his pension as a matter of course, 90,000 f. a year, and, after a short imprisonment, will b 9 banished. He still maintains that Noir struck him in the face before he fired. (Test avoir. Train-Lucas, who obtained 140,000fr. from M. Chaseles, one of the first scientific minds in France, has been sentenced to two years' imprisonment, and a fine of 500fr. The forged letters that he imposed on this good-natured Pickwickian, copies of originals from St. Peter, Lazarus, Mary Magdalen, Alexander to Aristotle, love-letters ' of Cleopatra, business ones from Charles Martell, the Csesars, Charlemagne, «fee, have amused the town, as much as those from Pascal and Newton set the Academy of Sciences to fight over the claims of the discoverer of gravitation. The prisoner, able and intelligent, asserts he only exercised his talent to amuse, like other novelists, and if the philosophers were deceived by his stratagems, it was only a greater proof of his ability. The court did not see the matter in this light, nor M. Chaseles, who bought up all the papers as speedily as they could be manufactured.

Paris never was more tranquil nor better behaved. The riots during the early part of the month. — which by a metaphor were called a revolution— -are as forgotten as last year's snow. The 400 madcaps arrested, are "purging their contempt" by short periods of imprisonment, and will return to their homes wiser men. Even Bochefort, in his comfortable prison, leads as luxurious a life as that other Brutus at large — Baspail. France is becoming aware that Bochefort was not a necessity, and the Corps Legislatif exhibits no symptoms of hysterics at his forced absence. His constituents, too, believe he ought to show more sympathy with the proletaise class, by working fifteen hours a-day at one of the prison trades, and netting his five sous. The " woman taken in adultery" still forms the stock piece at the principal theatres. Lucrecia Borgia supplies a supper of horrors, and the opera of j Guido c Giverna, the resurrection of another Juliet. Although a journal announced that the 22nd inst. was observed throughout the United States as the 138 th anniversary of the death of Washington — which ought to dispose of the question of the. general's nurse, being now among the living-Try et the Parisian- Americans feted the day as the anniversary of his birth, at the minister's. Greater crowds have been seen at former ministerial receptions, yet the official world was fairly represented, and "dancing was kept up till a late hour."