PARIS.

Southland Times, Issue 1604, 12 July 1872, Page 3

PARIS.

(from our own correspondent.) May 1. Marshal Bazaine, in his latest pamphlet, 13 considered to have explained nothing. He goes into particulars as to the surrender of Metz, and the starved condition of his army. But people would like to know why he entered Metz, and above all why he remained there, and in addition why he dabbled in the politics of the moment. Bazaine disavows being a politician ; like Dogberry's reading and writing, politics came to him "by nature." It is no secret he intrigued for the crown of Mexico at Maximillian's expense, and his failure to secure the bauble was a great disappointment to his Mexican wife's friends. Why has the Marshal been in such a hurry with a new justification when the Commission of Inquiry into his capitul-ition must publish his examination and their report in a few days ? The gentleman " doth protest too" much, methinks." The soldiers are experimenting hammock beds, instead of the old mattress, and its " lodging on the cold ground." The Prince de Joinville has no other bed in his wigwam but a hammock, and the " old sal';" might treat his constituents to an opinion on the subject. The regiments are further being exercised in mounting and dismounting into railway vans. In 1805, when Napoleon was fitting out his armada for Britain from Boulogne, 25,000 men were so disciplined as to be capable of embarking in ten minutes. Con nected with military matters is the new toy— "the school Chassepot," intended for the college drill. Like the Garibaldi pistol and the " Roman question," it is guaranteed to secure the tranquility of families and the happiness of parents. The misconduct of Vesuvius has turned aside the rush of tourists that were goin^ " to do the Spanish insurrection " For two sous the " eruption" can be witnessed at the Belleville fair, where the proprietor of the panorama " marks tbe progress of the lava in accordance with the telegrams received from his artistic correspondent at Naples." The French do not look with a favorable eye on the troubles in Spain ; the success of Don Carlos would create complications sooner or later ; the Pretender has received a fresh loan from an American banking house ; while the money lasts the insurgents will also. The Spaniards in Paris have no great faith in the bid of Don Carlos for the throne, nor have they confidence that King Amaduus can hold on. Anarchy has the best chance. The arrests made in Lyons are received in Paris with general favor, because they reveal the ramifications of a great Communist conspiracy. But only think of the merchants of the second city of France paying the Revolutionary Committee a monthly fee to protect their warehouses from petroleum in case of an outbreak ! The books of the Committee seized show that upwards of 100,000 frs. have been paid as premiums to this strange insurance office, which in addition compelled their clients to vote for the Red candidates. This may explain the chronic disloyalty of Lyons, and the weak hold the Government possessed there. This unnatural affiliation of the party of order with the men of disorder, is a startling proof of degeneracy. The only advantage Ulysses gained from Polyphemus was the promise that he would be the last reserved to be devoured. At Lyons, Ulysses fears to put out the eye of the Polyphemus monster. Since a long time the proceedings of tbe Court Martials have ceased to be noticed in the journals, but the "bridal parties" that attend to witness the sentences have all the honors of publicity. Blanqui, for the seventieth time in his life, has been again condemned, once for every year of his age. He is now engaged writing the history of the public men he has known during half a century. An enterprising draper has brought out a new veil to " protect the face from the Prussian flies ;" certainly it is not unseasonable, for these peculiar " blacks" strike the face unpleasantly. A newspaper proprietor will present a parasol to ward off similar attacks, to \ every fresh subscriber. j A Lyrical theatre has hit upon the ' device of employing the ambulatory musicians to execute a few bars from the most popular ditty in his opera. The public are certain to go to hear the whole. A chemist announces his ability and readiness to convert the remains of any dear departed at onoe into a powder, which may be used to dry up ink in writing. Droll idea to be able to dredge away a motker-iu-law in daily correspondence ! The present is a very happy moment for young, and it ought to be a gratifying one for adult, France. The youth of both sexes, between 12 and 14 years of age, are preparing for confirmation for their " first communion." Like brides, draped in tulle and lace, and a new missal in white gloved hands, the young girls are to be met with in every street wending their way to the churches. The boys are appropriately clothed also, black cloth jacket and trousers, white j vest and tie, satin armlet, and on entering the church, are provided with a long lighted taper, which is carried in procession to the altar. Each candidate for confirmation is supplied with a special purse, more or less filled with a contribution for the offertory. What is most remarkable in this annual event, neither a father nor grown-up brother is ever to be met with ; it is the mother or sisters who thus charge themselves with this training up the child in the way it should go, and the poorest family submits to the most pinching economy to provide, either by hiring or purchase, the necessary toilette for these marriages with the church. Certificates are given by the clergy to those who have been enrolled as communicants ; the document is framed and glazed, and hung up in the ' young girl's bed-room j when married,

she places her wreath of orange flowers, preserved under a glass shade, beneath the treasured archive. On the part of the lads the annal is never cherished. How then does it arise that the masculine sex, on arriving at manhood, develope into Atheists or Indifferentisls — side with the father, while the mother and sisters go fo mass and respect the ordinances of the church in their j domestic lives? When the first revolutionists had finished by destroying eve^'thing, nothing remained but to defy heaven, and consequently Christianity was officially and solemnly abjured. The evil was not arrested even when Eobespierre officiated as pontiff in the famous fete given in honor of the Supreme Being in the gardens of the Tuileries, and where he avowed his belief in God and the immortality of the soul. j Devoid of the truths of Christianity — for he was a profound student of human nature — Napoleon I. could truly assure the Egyptians the French soldiers were ( " true Moslems." This negation of all religion has never recovered from the shock of the first revolution. Every j fresh emeute shows how well infidelity flourishes — brutal, as at Belleville, or Voltarian, as with Bocheforr, or nothing, as with Littre. Fouche taught his brigades that death was only an eternal sleep ; Klootz that the world alone was eternal, and France the rallying ground for the god-people ; Laplace, " we have no want of an hypothesis of God ;" Voltaire was polite — " We salute the Deity, but will not speak of Hin." The Theophilanthropists have had their day, but have again appeared in a revised form in the liturgy of Alexis Weill, who demands neither Papacy nor Atheism, but Deism pure and simple. Denis, a poor clown, popularly known as " Cognac," reared his only daughter most correctly. She was seduced eight months ago, and a fortnight since went to the circus. In a drunken voice she exclaimed, " Good evening, papa." Denis looked, but said nothing. When his performance was over, he announced to messieurs and mesdames that he was going to drown himself, which created of course much fun. Since then he has been missing, and till yesterday, when his body was fished up in the Seine. A young girl aged nearly 15 years has committed suicide. She tied a handkerchief round her throat, made a pillow of some trashy serial stories, and several of the extreme journals ; she then set fire to some charcoal. Her body was dreadfully burned, and one foot was found unconsumed in the boot, " a yard distant from the body." She left a note begging her parents not to allow her remains to ' enter a church.