PARIS LETTER.

Waikato Times, Volume XXIX, Issue 2376, 1 October 1887, Page 2 (Supplement)

PARIS LETTER.

|i--|!OM iint ou'v i-ii:i;:--.-.i-i>;nKvr|. : I\\i:is, July 13. Of (.lie making of many p:irti««, like books, there is no cud in France. But this proliKcii.-.-:) is not ;.< <-i;li n- exactly to the Gauls. A very respectable dictionary could be compiled of all the j political party namei, p:i«t and nresmit. Only tin- work would require the eney-clopa-lic mind of a Voltaire- to commence, and caution exercised not to enti nst. the task of the forty arm—diarist* at the Academy if its tenniii-itioii be desired before the orthodox " Walker." which is approaching competition with Cologne Cathedral strides. Well, back to our mo'it'/it*, the thirty-eisrht million inhabitants of France are, for the ! moiiieiit at least '• BouhiiL'ists " jr j "Ami li-.uhinrists." This divi.-ion has ! crowded out Paul de Ca-sai'riac's t-.verity - four hour's league of •■ solutionis!-. ' The people fee in the ox-war Miui-t-r a victim, sacrificed to appease Bisnarck and propitiate the inon irehi-ts, so (Jeneral Boulanger seems to airree with liim. Hence, the scene at tie- Lyons raihvav station, when Botilanjrcr set, off for his command at Clermont Kerrand which his admirer.s view as Xeiv Caledonia. They retarded the starting of the engine two hours, to prolong the stay of the departing lover, in the midst of 100,000 admirers. When Mario Antoinette madeher entry into Paris, the Austrian was welcomed with the cheers of the crowd " all her lovers," she was assured, and for whom in later years when they had no bread aho prescribed cakes as a substitute. The locomotive during its compulsory standstill was covered with pictures of the general, a bill poster and his pot of stick-fast hvtving been timely captured. Not content with this, "Long live Boulanger" was chalked on the smoke stack, and "Down with Grtvy " on the wheels. At one timn the engine threatened the human block on the line with Juggernaut pulverizations. There have been loan exhibitions and public peeps at private collections. A very interesting show bazaar could be arranged out of all the Boulanger prose, poetry, papers, pictures and popular jewellery, of which the general is the subject and object. Only popular trinkets become relics very rapidly. I have seen Thiers, Macmahon, G imbetta, and even B.izaine, iu their z-nith-days, immortalised iu every material, from aperient gingerbread down to toxical lead ; in designs for pipe head*, scarf and hair pins, brooches, medals, and watch chains in linked sweetness long drawn out. And these tributes of affection, like all tokens of true love, are as much things of the pa-t as the adored themselves. Now that monarchical nations will not allow the ISS9 Exhibition to come between the wind and their nobility much unoccupied space exists. A fair portion of it mis-lit be allocated to a retrospective gallery of dead lions and their accessories. Every nation could there send exhibits. It would be as pleasant to stroll through as ransacking a drawer of moth-eaten yellow-atomed love letters embalmed in lavender, pansiea and roses of half a century standing. The hardest lesson to learn in politics, and perhaps so as it is the mostelementary, is to hold your tongue and do nothing. The extremists have just been punished heavily for weak judgment in this respect. They attacked the Rouvicr Cabinet without rhyme or reason for playing into the hands of the Royalists, and forming a joint stock company to abduct all the virtues of the republic. Having no case to go before the jury, they were beaten by the tremendous majority of "Unionists and Conservatives " —some 200. Clemenceau and his supporters must have ridden for a fall —they only number 120 iu a chamber of 530. Since M. Grevy made the great error not to send for Ciemenceau, pay him the platonic compliment to accomplish the impossible—form a ministry the President has come in for volleys of a A«.v, and Clemeneeau nas been in chronic sullen anger. His recent discourse was a failure ; it was only stage thunder, thrusting the sword into water. Then again he has not been quite straight with his friend Boulanger ; he has deserted the general in this his hour of need, while hitherto leaving the public to conclude he had linked his fortune with the general's. Time does not appear to intensify enthusiasm for the annual fete of the "glorious Fourteenth." Are festivals, like faiths, becoming deliquescent ? Or, is the crowd becoming cynical in respect to political programmes and tl.eir windy expounders. France sadly needs repose ; she desires neither wars uor rumours of wars, but to work, save, eat, drink, and in a sense play. If some Peter the Hermit could arise, and found an abstention from politics society for France, he would be a more redoubtable foe for Bismarck than Boulanger or Paul Deroulfede. It is said, that no fewer than 17-57 authors have treated that dramatic subject—the French Revolution. The nobility was corrupt, privileged and penniless ; the lower there was no middle classes sound, oppressed, aud starving. The North and South Poles of common misery arrived at their psychological mo ment, 14th July 1759, aud collapsed and exploded. On the ruius rose in time, the burgher class, as the labour or work whether brains or hands stratum, is now breaking through the social court. The taking of the Bastille iu July 176!', was, in the fighting point of view, an insignificant affair. The Bastille was a tower, which flanked the St. Anciinc gate into Paris, aud was built— Im.itir—in the dark age-!, As the Kings lived in the vicinity, it was deemed wise to streughten the outwork, by other towers. It. had eight of the latter in all, aud surrounded by a moat 25 feet wide. From being a fortress, it became a prison; at. first for aristocratic inmates. Ju-tasthe pawn broking establishments existed originally for the use of the rich. Each tower had a name, and oddly enough, the most secure was called •' Liberty," because the incarcerated were allowed to dio thoro. Both sexes wer? qualified for the Bastille. Iu the centre of the court yard was a little palace, wherein the Governor resided, and the most distinguished prisoners. The clock was as famous as that of the Straslmrg Cathedral. It was decorated with sculptured iron bars, aud day and night wore represented by two prisoners an old and young man chained together. The Bastille in its day witnessed many vicissitudes. Cromwell turned out his P irliament, alleging the Lord was done with the members, aud quitting the House last, had the doors locked. The Due de Guise turned his Parliament into the Bistille, and locked it there. Minister Sully employed the building as the Treasury for the nation's farthings, and often had several millions in stock. Tiniour the Tartar suggested hints to the Bastille gaolers, as they adapted iron cages or Jillcltcs, in which special birds were kept. The Due de Nemours was thus provided for during thirteen years. English troops in 143G sought refuge in the Bastille, when Paris was recovered by Charles VII. They we.ro starved into surrender, and had to pay a ransom. In 1640 the Fiocdeurs, after a seige of two days, took the Bastille. The citizens of Paris captured it in July, I7BU, after an attack of four hours. As a prison, the reputation of the P.astillo is execrated in history. Each tower had live stories ; all the rooms were vaulted. In shape they were oct.r'onal, but had only a single hole in the wall to let in air and light. The wails were six feet thick, with doors at each end. The cells, 20 feet under ground, were not a whit more dreadful than those at the summits of the towers. The prisoner might be drowned in the former, or stenehed to death by the in filtration of water from the putrid moat, or frozen or grilled in the attic, following the season. No tire was allowed to the poor prisoners. In fact, once ranked iu this class it was adieu to hope. When Richelieu sent his feudal barons to the Bastille, to break the neck of arislocratisni, the poor for gaol had only the mad-house of liiecta'.

I iii! < iovernor ot the Bastille had :i ■-alary of l o),()(Mifrs. a yo-.ir : lie was moil- • arch ol aI! In- sill I vi-ii - 1, nil*- J as :iij«o- 1 luti-ly a-a IV. tr. If tin- prison-T were rii-ii. Ills life was not dj.-agreeable in the ; citadel : onM eit and ilriuk ns he pleased ; receive his frii-nd-, and if a dandy like the Unc de Kieliv-lien walk on tie* “ slopes," to he admired by jealous ladies. Jt was as the stronghold of arbitrarism that Ino Bastille revolted every lover of fair play. To speak disrespect fully of a royal mistress or a court favourite, the Irtfyr tlr rnrlt.t' signed in blank hy the King, had only to he filled up and handed to the Bastille guards and their Black Maria for execution. Hence it was a court oppression, and Tame observes the court was tleui the tomb of the nation. To demolish the Bastille was to ; overthrow an outwork of royalty: thus j Barlsi-ins, exasperated at the deception. I ext.-.ivaeanee and hcentiou-u-ss of tiecourt, marched a!l--r a ro is-ng piiiliipi - from voung -‘a-intlc IL-sinoiilin.s in the Balds Koval (on dens to take the Bis. Idle. To recognis-- -a-di oilier, a leaf was pluoked and worn in hat or coat. Bator it was found green was the colour of tieKino’s brother's livery : the Comte j d'Arto-.s, suhsci|uentlv Charles X, red i and Idle- ; the colours of Baris were at j one-- adopted, to which white, thesvinhol of coiistitutionahsm, was added. It was thus the tricolor was created. The capture of the B istille cost the lives of 110 citizens, and th-re were 7-i wounded. The defenders had only one killed and one wounded, which illustrates the advantages of lighting behind stone walls. The host men at the assault were the corps of barbers; there were 1000 master barbers, each of whom appeared with five of Ids assistants or apprentices, so that as usual Figure was everywhere. Only' seven prisoners were found in the cells, thus the romantic talcs about the horrors discovered, must be taken witii the grain of salt. The people after the capture, marched with trophies to Uptown hall, anil next to the Parliament, where the keys of the Bastille were deposited, they arc now in the An-hives museum. Next, the citizens attended at X--ti-t: flame, to celebrate a /- /t---wi. and the most brave, to receive civic crowns, (biitc a run set in for ston-s from the Bastille, to be converted into souvenirs, hut the hulk of them were employed to erect the present punt de la Concorde. In 1700 the first hall took place on the partially cleared site of the Bastille, SJ trees in full leaf were brought there, each representing one of the departments. A pike with a Bhygian cap, was placed in the midst of this, the original of the 1-t July festivals. Around was placarded up, “ every body free to dance here.” It was intended to erect a monument commemorative of the fall of the Bastille, in July 1702, the foundation stone and everything was ready, but Louis XVI did not come, after'accepting the invitation. The people scraped his name off the memorials intended to be enclosed in the foundation stone. A month later, the throne was swept away, no monument was erected. Napoleon I. contemplated erecting a fountain on the site, with an elephant dashing up water with his trunk. The plaster model remained in position for some years. It was reserved for Louis Philippe to set nu the present column of July, with the gilt winged Mercury, snapping the chains of absolutism, on the sunup ■. Beneath the monument is a vault. o.to which were ■ brought tile bones of tile few who i were known to have fallen in j the attack of 17-S1), as well as the remains I of the patriots of the revolution of BSolb | These had been temporarily interred in a : grass plot before the Louvre, where numerous Egyptian mummies had been buried, as they were too numerous for the museum. This explains how the Shepherd Kings and members of the 20 Egyptian dynasties have, after thousands of years, been mixed up with French revolutions. Thus France has more ancient claims to Egypt after all than John Bull. Perhaps if this came to the ears of the Sultan, Sir “ Dr.’’ Wolff might likely and positively fur the last time announce his departure. Branzini has disappointed public expecI tation. Bath the ladies of the moudiau, | demi-mondian, and ijuarter-inondiau catei gory agree that the prisoner is not interI esting. For once virtue and vice are in the right. The tickets for tiic trial are at a discount. Many ladies lament to have gone to the expense of an “ assize bonnet. Even young banisters cannot induce their lady friends to join in a champagne lunch in court when the judges retire for half-au-hour's tifm. Branzini is a vulgar cut-throat, who terrorised, not fascinated, women with weak heads and plethoric parses—or no purse at all. All was game for his mercenary ends. Lasciviousness was only a means to rob. He would butcher without the slightest compunction a Sapphic duchess or a poor work girl if he felt he could secure a few louis or a few francs. There is not a spark of delicacy in his crimes, not a redeeming feature in his depraved intelligence. He was a Corsair sailing in society under false colours. Ouf “ Off with his head Deibler.