PARIS.

Southland Times, Issue 1526, 19 January 1872, Page 3

PARIS.

(from otje own cobbespondent.) November 15. Everything is tending to confusion, and nothing but untruth is popular. The greatest fibs are swallowed, and he who throws the most dirt becomes the most celebrated. Neither persons nor institutions are respected, neither law nor order reverenced. The prevailing tendency is who can make France most unhappy — most repress her efforts to rise, either by direct action or culpable indifference. Wild talk and mad systems abound, there is no settling down to work, no acting the part of patriotic citizens. It is a grand, ugly rush for place, with the old shibboleths of liberty, &c., certain to conduct to despotism. Society herefrom its base to its summit requires to be enlightened. Political common sense is wanting. The working population is in open war with capital, and this means a combat with civilisation, which daily is deepening. Anarchic passion, revolutionary prejudices, socialistic chimeras infect speech, publications, theatres ; in this propagandism there are displayed indefatigable activity and indomitable courage, and republic or monarchy must be submerged by the rising tide if the upholders of good do not exhibit an audacity equal to that of the workers of evil. Crying out for peculiar forms of government will not charm away the coming catastrophe, but new rules of individual conduct may. As it is, the nation at present resembles the fable of the frogs imploring Jupiter for a King. Generals are ordered not to parade their criticisms in print ; they do so, are ordered under arrest, submit to imprisonment like Nasouty, and while away the tedious hours by preparing other matters for publication. Some, like Cremer, turn an adder's ear to military discipline. The Departmental Councils are bound by law to leave politics out of their deliberations, which with several is the strongest motives to include them. Paris has set a noble example in this respect, by show, ing that some republicans possess administrative ability and deference for the law. There are democrats who complain that the Government distributes its loaves and fishes only to Monarchists and Bonapartists, and when pure republicans are appointed to office — Picard and Ferry for example — the nominations are ridiculed. It looks as if every man desired to be President, as every citizen has half a dozen schemes in his bead for saving society — by enthroning himself. There

is no moderation abroad • but this is a flower that rarely flourishes amidst ruins. There are some men so foul, says the principal Bonapartist journal of its opponents, that they would soil even mud ; and the same thought animates all adversaries. There is a multitude of lies in circulation as to the changes to be effected in the Constitution by M. Thiers, although the President has officially denied the canards. The moral of this persistence in incredulity reflects the dissolute atai-e of the public mmd — a state the result of the systematic habit of French rulers to conceal the truth where it ought to be j laid bare, and pandering to the natural instinct of the ruled, to believe itself a " Messiah people" — the first and only nation on earth. As a step towards overthrowing this system of idolatry, a gentleman a few days ago consulted me on the propriety of founding a weekly journal, containing translations from the foreign press on the condition of his countrymen, whose follies he curses with Uncle Toby oaths. The idea is excellent, but commercially would fail for want of readers, and in a short time he would be regarded with more hatred than a Prussian. The very few newspapers that apologise before indulging in plain speak- ] ing have a limited circulation — those that instil the poison only pay. We are promised in a few days a new journal, to be called the " Nineteenth Century." It modestly aims to be, according to the prospectus, " the Times of France." As usual there is the i parade of publicists, who generally in these speculations contribute one article through private friendship, and so ends their collaboration. The proposed staff i does not represent the men who dare I address the country in words of truth. Subscribers for a year will be presented with one share in the company, equal to lOOfrs ; interest at the rate of five per cent, will be paid for ten years thereon. This with a highly-spiced divorce romance, or the tragedy of " the shot woman and the lost dog," may give the forthcoming journal " the widest circulation in the world." The trade of the city is in a languishing state — one week it " puts forth the tender leaves of hope," and the next " comes a frost, a killing frost." It is the fashion to pay no outstanding accounts, and consequently it is impossible for tradesmen to honor their bills, pay rent, arrears included, and find money to carry on their affairs. Their failures are not called bankruptcies, but " suspension of payments ;" creditors perhaps find consolation in the difference. The present and next month have ever been proverbial as the busiest in Parisian industry per se, preparing for the New Tear toys aud elegant knick-knacks, when children lav in " stocks" of playthings — exhausted in a week—and " heads of families" unconditionally surrender to infantile demands. Even Nuremberg had hitherto to lend its aid to supply the toy trade, when Paris was unable to manufacture the required one miliion and a half of children's drums alone. There is no trade with Germany for such articles now — the Jews decline to deal with the Samaritans, and thousands of skilled artisans are on the hulks. Babydom has sad prospects before it, and those who ministered to its caprices sadder still. The money crisis is very peculiar. First, the difficulty in obtaining any kind of money, and second, on receiving it only in paper. Tbe Banks never dream of paying in gold or silver, but which can be obtained however by deduction for the premium. Whatever new coin may be put in circulation by the Bank of France quickly disappears, and every day paper money becomes more unpopular — a hint that the Government cannot be deaf to, if in authorising the Bank to double its capital — issue more notes — it does not enable the Bank to redeem its paper on demand by negotiable securities. The trial now going on of the prisoners accused of the murder of Generals Thomas and Lecomte has given rise to an incident which has eclipsed the details of that sanguinary drama, and it is said the accused themselves are discontented in seeing public curiosity deserting them. Dr Clemenceau was the mayor of Montmartre on the morning when the authorities plucked up heart ot grace to take the cannon from this Mount Aventine. Desiring to run with the hare and hold with the hounds, he let slip the opportunity that he had at one moment of saving the lives of the first victims of the Commune. He appears nearly daily before the Court Martial trying to "explain," but seems only to make matters worse, and those who testify against him he next to threatens to " call out." Before another of the tribunals an editor was sentenced to transportation for life ; he joined the Federal ranks. The proprietor of the paper appeared to give evidence as to the prisoner's good character, and was astonished to learn from the President of the Court that his journal had supported the Commune, when everyone knew the contrary. French officers would seem to be as ignorant of current history as the geography of their own country. The Communists are becoming a powerful party again. But this time their object will be to revenge the severity of their defeat. Their journals are successfully undermining the government, not in itself an herculean task where the party of order abstains from supporting it. The insurgents insist upon an amnesty as a matter of right, and regard their suppression only as an incentive to commence again. There is foul weather ahead, but no daring pilot-— and the rocks will only be acknowledged when the ship strikes. The health of the city during the last week has not been good. The deaths have risen from 637 to 736 — but no contagious disease has sensibly increased. It is i patients suffering from " chronic " ailments who have succumbed. The weather also has set in with sudden severity. The fogs are thick, clammy, and marrowpiercing. Parisians, refuse to belieye that J

their capital suffers from fogs — the city only differs from others in this respect by having a few less. But what a hurlyburly in the streets while one lasts. It is tongues not lights that serve to guide the benighted. Even the dogs bark, perhaps " to see the sport," and the horses avail themselves of every " block " to let their angry passions ri-*e. When the fog; visits the "provinces the Paris markets are certain to be well stocked with game, for sportsmen, animated with a commercial spirit, knock hares and birds over in every fashion. Can the professors of the " dismal science " explain how it is that when the markets are glutted everything becomes dearer in Paris ? The families accustomed to reside in this city on " grounds of economy" had better give it a wide berth at present. Except in imagination, Paris was never a cheap place to pitch one's tent, and since late events, the cost of living has increased by thirty per ' cent., andyet you observe the same class of people purchasing the same articles — the shops filled with as many luxuries as necessaries. Outside the fortifications the expense of living is not so high, but then the inconveniences are many, particularly iv winter. Just now suburban districts have but little gas, and are infested with sturdy beggars in the daytime, who change into garotters after sunset. M. Thiers has been so ridiculed about I his approaching investiture with the order ! of the " Golden Fleece," sent him by the King of Spain, that it is possible such may laugh him into indefinitely postponing the ceremony. The picadors describe the I little man in spectacles, clothed in medical plush and feathers, suffocating under oriental salaaming, while Communists await to be pardoned, tried, or liberated, and the holders of the lately issued Spanish scrip are boiling with indignation at being taxed. The President ias already sat for his bust and portrait — which may become as widely circulated as others of the nations rulers, for there is hardly a public establishment in France but can boast of an attic devotedto the " fine arts" where the busts or portraits of Charles X., Louis Philippe, Napoleon 111., and the members of their families, lie topsy-turvy in utter forgetfulness as so much old lumber. Sorcerers proper, have been ordered to be authoritatively suppressed in the provinces, yet never were the times more favorable for their conjuring away difficulties, and when every one stands in need of having his " fortune told " — while the troubles are brewing, so as to take time by the forelock. A band of some forty brothers marched the other day along an exterior boulevard shouting Vive VEmpereur! — the passers-by were as much startled as if Vive la Commune had been whooped in their ears. These were real sorcerers ; fifteen months ago a man had the chance of being arrested if i he did not shout Vive VEmpereur when \ paid for doing so, and would certainly be sent to prison if he indulged in that seditious cry of Vive le Republique ! Were he to ejaculate a viva at the present moment, for Henri V, or the Comte de Paris, he would be sent to a lunatic asylum. Autres temps, autres mceurs. On Sunday, Gambetta was to be met with in the Champs Elysees, dragging his rheumatic leg along. The promenaders looked at him as they would at an antediluvian curiosity. To-day a mass is being celebrated at the Madeleine, which, from the crowd present — ladies above all — • suggests something unusual. The gentlemen display bouquets of violets in their buttonholes, the ladies the same on their breasts. It is the anniversary of Saint Eugenie — after whom au ex-empress is named, and remembered to-day. Friends who do not forget, have left for Madrid to present her with valuable aud monster bouquets, with pretty conceits written on their cards therein, and which would not be palatable to be read out either at Versailles, Chantilly, or Lausanne. Other friends have started for England, to compliment the ex-emperor on the occasionbut all this does not bring the exdynasty nearer to France. Indeed Parisians are at this moment most occupied in congratulating each other on the fall in the price of oysters, consequent on the importation of bivalves from Morocco. The crown of France is certainly one of thorns, when "the King of Araucania and Patagonia," like other monarchs retired from business, repudiates ail attempts to bid for it — as he so informs us by letter from his residence at Marseilles. Yet M. Tonneins, a Frenchman, and an attorney to boot, might do worse than serve his country gratis till his late subjects give him a " call." Be assured whenever the moment comes when France shall be invited to decide by plebiscite upon a ruler, his ex-majesty of the Land of Fire will not be forgotten. He has the reputation of having ruled with a rod of iron, and levied no taxes. Madame Brigham Young has come to grief, so " friends will please accept this ' notice." A lady giving this name, has been arrested in a casino, for indulging in what she called the " Utah cancan," which so shocked the delicacy of the i police, that she was invited to follow them. I At the station she averred she had to fly I from the Salt Lake, not finding that " most married " of men — Brigham Young — all her fancy painted. The police are of opinion the lady has never travelled beyond Paris. The French Academy — that Mutual ! Admiration Society — consisting of " Forty Immortals," has just opened its, portals to place a fauteuil for the new Academician — Jules Janin — or J. J. , as he is more familiarly called. The Academy was founded by Cardinal Mazarin ; its members were to represent the creme de la creme of French intellect, whose duty was to give laws of taste to France, and maintain the purity of the language. It ought not to be a political body, but politics enter by the back.door. The Orleanists are in the majority. The exemperor would have given a few of his fingers to be admitted ; he wrote " Julius Csesar," or rather put together the frag-

ments contributed by eminent men to that biography, as his examination thesis, but was informed " there was no use of knocking at the door." His minister Ollivier — of light-headed celebrity — was received by something like a "fluke," and would now be voted out, as also Jules Favre, with unanimity, only the union is like matrimony — till death doth part. The "new arrival is bound to give a dis- | sertation on the character of his predecessor, and the President brackets the history of both. Janin, who succeeds Sainte-Beuve, is the popular theatrical feuilletonists of the Journal des Debats, a post he has occupied since forty years. But he is an eminent litterateur in addition, and has all the Greek and Eoman authors at the tips of his fingers. There are critics who accuse him of mistaking the Piraeus for the name of a man, and , q uoting Latin with perfect independence of quantities. Spots on the sun at most. His earliest work was " The Dead Ass," which Sterne has already immortalized. His rival at that time was the now celebrated Felix Pyat, who displayed the amenities of literature as then existing thus : " Janin is an assassin, a bravo, a lunatic, a valet, a man, venal as ignoble ; a juggler and a blackguard, a miser, and above all, an eunuch." Janin comes from the sunny south, is 67 years of age, possesses a fine head, recalling Louis the Fifteenth's, features very expressive, but jaws rather heavy and red. His nose is remarkably small, teeth extremely white, there is a laughing expression about his mouth, and an irony in his smile. He is a bon vivant, and none can surpass him "in setting the table in a roar" — in improvising a witty song and setting it to music. His only enemy in this life is the gout, and his only ambition, to own all the libraries in the world. He is an Orleanisfc, and the first to congratulate him after his reception were the Due d'Aumale and tbe Duchesse de Chartres. His wife is almost equal to himself in point of erudition, but is nevertheless not a bluestocking. She is her husband's amanuensis, as well as his JEgeria. During the ceremony at the Academy, Janin was too ill to continue the reading of his paper on Sainte-Beuve — and one of his "sponsors " took his place — the poor wife had fainted away in the meantime. SainteBeuve was born at Boulogne-sur-raer, was also a famous feuittetotyiste, whose lundis rank among French classics. He bequeathed the Academy, not his library, but a pincushion full of pins — striking testimony to the quarrels of authors. He was a Free-Thin ker, and in his will directed his remains should not enter a church, nor a priest be allowed to approach his grave. It was he who inaugurated the " flesh-meat banquets " every Good Friday to express his con. tempt for the church, and where Eenan acted as croupier. He aimed to be the Goethe of French literature ; he was equal to that giant in comprehension, but lacked his " Olympian serenity." He was the only distinguished literary man that rallied to the Second Empire, and was rewarded by a Senatorship. He loved ever to change with the times, and as one cannot change always, death relieved him from great embarrassment. When dying, in his last agony, he made his private secretary read Homer to him, and hoped he would not die till the reading of the farewell between Andromache and Hector was finished. Sainte-Beuve, when about writing on any subject, collected all the necessary authorities, arranged his notes, sketched out the ideas, and then went to bed. On rising in the morning he commenced work, or as he said, " unmasked the batteries." The President of the Academy in his reply, full of easy humor and wit, nearly raised a storm, by alluding to "the eighteen years of imperial prosperity." But the incident ended at once. The building was crowded. The Due d'Aumale had to be content with a footstool, and Dr Nelation was accommodated with standing room against a pillar. Jules Janic, on arriving at his modest cottage at Passy, found some friends had placed his bust in the drawing-room during his absence, and crowned it with laurels. He is irritable whenever the Germans are named — whom he considers as " barbarians." They sent a few monster Krupp shells through his library. The Communists are " bandits," as they stole some of his favorite authors.

The Home Minister is becoming a statesman. He has not only told the wild journals if they violate the law, they will be struck down by the law, but has hinted to the Departmental Councils, that whatever views they may have in reference to public education and army reform, they will not confinesuch to empty phrases, but particularise in a practical form what the ameliorations ought to be. He begs his countrymen to descend from the clouds and part company with the immortal principles of wind-bagism. He is " the man for Galway." The French individually are brave, but want competent leaders ; tbey are intelligent, but stand in need of skilful directors. They are as wilful as naughty children, as spiteful as narrow-minded women. They do not act badly for badness' sake — but err from thoughtlessness and constitutional vanity. The nation is determined to have a system of obligatory public education beyond doubt. Frederick William 111. said after Jena, " we have ceded territory, the state has lost in strength and foreign influence, let us bestow all attention on the schools." France is about pursuing a similar course. There may be some difficulty in making public education gratuitous, as people — the richer classes — will object to pay for a benefit of no direct use to them, but that every child must go to a competent school may be considered as a conclusion agreed upon. Beaumarchais said, in France everything ends by a song ; it is to be hoped that the educational war now raging will not terminate in the most modern of ways in this country — barricades and musketry firing. In travelling to Versailles yesterday, some gentlemen in the same compartment — officers in mufti — were

seriously occupied studying manuals of the German language. At St. Cloud, infantry officers were taking riding lessons on cavalry horses, and the dismounted cavalry were learning infantry drill. If maps will do the business, the French army of the future ought to know every pillar and post in Fatherland, as geography is as much studied now as gymnastics. Some excuse must be made for the " latest editions " of the maps of France — those now being issued ignore that Alsace belongs to Germany. Hitherto when a lawyer had done his best to save his client's head, and lo3t. he proceeded to study other briefs. But now he writes letters to an opposition press, and claims pardon for his condemned client. This is the position of the Communists and their counsel. The trials are rapidly ceasing to be considered as violations of the law, and are regarded as political revenge, if the law be bad, change it in a constitutional way, but while it exists, respect it, for it must be enforced. On humane grounds, M. Thiers may be excused for delaying the claims for pardon on behalf of Eossel, &c, but politically he has made a mistake. The sentence should have been carried out, or commuted, long ago. The l! Amnesty" is now a powerful party cry. Yet after months of delay, private soldiers have been executed for deserting to the Commune, while officers like Eossel and Lullier are expected to be pardoned. " That in the captain 'a but a choleric word, Which in the soldier is flat blasphemy." The trial of the accused for the murder of Generals Clement Thomas and Lecomte, has revived feelings of pity and horror. When the remains of the former were being transferred to a lead coffin, his body was black from blows administered before tbe hundred rifles were discharged at him. The balls entered by the soles of his feet. The stockings were exhibited, riddled, in court, thus proving he was fired upon when down. Similarly with General Lecomte, balls had penetrated under the skin from hia legs to his shoulder. The " Bailiffs" have enjoyed their annual banquet — had 42 different dishes, aud seven choice wines. Business must be prosperous. At the late Prefect's dinner, the last orator — an artist — found before he sat down that all the guests had disappeared. It is rumored that the unfortunate speaker to " Our next merry meeting" toast is to bring an action against the Prefect for placing him in a " ridiculous position." People call to see, look at, and laugh at him every day, and promise to elect him for the Assembly to cut Bhort the debates. Drunkenness is very prevalent at present in the streets of Paris, despite the assertion that the Communists had exhausted all tbe stocks of eau de vie. " Brandy for heroes !" Burke could once exclaim. There have been presented 430 petitions to the Assembly to re-institute the law of divorce. Some of the petitions occupy 300 pages of foolscap with their reasons, and allude to the advantages the Alsatians have in this respect by being annexed to Prussia. The members of the Chinese Embassy dress at present like their cousins the Japanese in Paris— black frock coats, rather high silk hats, but no swords— never gloves ; the " tails'* form a chignon on top of the head. Gentleman to beggar girl, giving her sous : " Are you a petroleuse /"— " No, sir, not yet."