Paris, in the days of Louis XVIII., Charles X., and Louis Philippe, was, if not a cheap, at least a moderate capital to live in, and also the most intellectual sojourn for a stranger in the world. It is now the dearest of cities, and, with the exception of a few salons, the least intellectual in the world. What Vienna was in the days of Francis II., and of Metternich, Paris is now. What shall I have for Dinner today? what to-morrow? was the title of a work published in Vienna in 1830. There are as futile works published in Paris now, while there is much more speculation at the Bourse than in all the European capitals together. This is the result of a system in which every man hastens to be rich by a sudden coup without labour, thought, or toil, and to enjoy and expend in selfish pleasure the fruits of his illacquired gains. This passion for gambling is called speculation, and the Bourse is its chosen temple. There are daily crowded speculators de bas étage, among whom there are nearly as many women as men, only that these latter remain outside the portals. In summer they are not deterred from their occupation by a burning sun, nor in winter by a drizzling rain. Some of these women have made a little money as femmes de charge or cuisinières, and this they risk, and too often lose, in pursuing chimeras, chanted by courtiers marrons. The doings of the Rue Quincampoix fade into insignificance before the agiotage of 1863. The Bourse of the empire has been well described as Caverne à l'avarice ouverte Où l'on court le danger certain D'être ruiné par la perte Ou deshonore par le gain. Il est trois portes à cet antre L'espoir, l'infamie et la mort ; C'est par la première qu'on entre Par les deux autres que l'on sort. It is the Bourse of the empire which has produced such scandals as the Napoleon Docks, La Prévoyante, la Baleine Française, and the exposure in the cases of Carpentier, Grellet, Charles Thurneyseu, Solar, Mirés, Ernest Baroche, and ever so many others. In heaven's name! let us beware in England how we enter into International Joint-Stock Companies, or seek to acclimatize any offshoot of the Crédit Mobilier. It has been said in England that Mr. Kinglake's book has made the Emperor more popular. I know not how this may be, for I believe a dozen copies of that work have not entered France. I saw one, and only one, copy kept under lock and key in a coffre fort, and I know a distinguished Frenchman who was promised a perusal of it. He was, however, twenty-sixth on the list of names down, and did not look for his turn coming before August or September. I was naturally anxious to verify Mr. Kinglake's statistics of the killed and wounded on the 3rd, 4th, and 5th December, 1851; but I found this task impossible. Accounts were published in the Moniteur, to which I referred, which make the loss of life incomparably smaller than the author of the History of the Crimean War; but no sort of credence is given to these statistics by intelligent men. Not once, but a hundred times, has the Moniteur unblushingly put forth false statements; and three as intelligent and instructed men as France contains informed me that the accounts were cooked. A fourth gentleman, a man of European repute, expressed to me his belief that the statements of Mr. Kinglake were correct. A Jew of the name of Mayer published, eleven years ago, a statement to the effect that there were only 24 soldiers killed and 184 wounded, and that the civilians killed amounted only to 191; but the book of M. Mayer is described 'un affreux petit livre,' abounding in misstatements. In the Faubourg St. Germain, and among the religious and ultramontane Roman Catholics, there is a very strong feeling prevailing on the subject of Poland. This feeling exists through the clergy and hierarchy of France, and collections have been made in Paris and the provinces for the good cause. Lint and surgical instruments have also been provided for the Polish sufferers. This sympathy is creditable to the humanity of both clergy and laity; but it strikes me as strange and inconsistent, that the very identical men and women who are so anxious for the independence of Poland are those who are so bitterly opposed to the independence of Italy. Poland is in truth a fief of the Pope. The Poles are said to be plus catholiques que le Pape de Rome. It is therefore, it seems to me, rather on religious than on political or general grounds that so much sympathy for them is evoked among the parti prêtre. Among the non-religious world there is also a feeling for Poland, not so active and ardent as that exhibited by the Ultramontane party or by the army. In the army, indeed, the feeling in their favour is equally strong and general. It is the opinion of persons very highly placed, that if the Emperor had his hands free as to Mexico he would make war for Poland. This would be a dangerous policy for him, as it would almost certainly lead to a general war. The great drive in Paris is now through the Champs Elysées to the Bois de Boulogne. Thither the Emperor and Empress proceed almost daily, when the weather is at all inviting. Louis Napoleon is sometimes in a carriage and four with outriders, but more generally appears on horseback, followed by a groom. He is uniformly splendidly mounted, sits his horse well, and as a cavalier appears to advantage. He is now in good health, and appears less livid than he did some years ago. Occasionally he dismounts near the lake, and takes a short walk. He leans heavily on his stick, walks slowly, and treads the ground like one whose limbs are feeble. He works daily at his Life of Caesar, and conferred no later than Sunday, the 10th of May, with the Imperial printer, Henri Plon, touching the publication. Two volumes of the work are, I believe, already finished, but it will extend to four volumes. It is quite true that the Imperial author aspires to be a member of the Academy; and it is certain that eighteen, and perhaps twenty, out of the forty will vote for him. Few, very few indeed, will vote against him; but several of the academicians will abstain from voting. MM. Guizot, De Broglie, De Montalembert, Remusat, De Barante, Berryer, Dufaure, and Villemain are said to be among the number of those who will so act. Some there are who aver that M. Thiers will vote for the Imperial candidate, though others contend that he will not vote at all. Should the Academy prove refractory, it is added, it will be broken up, and divided into sections, as in the time of the First Napoleon. The Emperor is a great encourager of expense in male and female habiliments, and also of extravagance in horses and equipages. Hundreds of the finest English riding and carriage horses are now in Paris, purchased by various functionaries of the court, for which prices varying from one hundred to five hundred guineas have been paid. The luxury in broughams is very great. Three hundred guineas is no uncommon price to give for a miniature brougham, hung low, with panels highly varnished, and lined in the interior with expensive silks and velvets. Thirty, twenty, and fifteen years ago, the French carriages were of wretched build, heavy, lumbering, and crane-necked. They were then far behind the Belgian and Viennese, and were not to be named in the same century with the English. Now, so far as the panelling, varnishing, and interior lining and decoration go, the French are before the English, though their springs are not so strong or so well tempered. Napoleon III. has done much to improve the breed of horses, dogs, and all animals useful to man. He is also a great patron of agricultural meetings, of dog-shows, of races, and steeple-chases. He was present at the dog-show, and also at the races of Chantilly and the steeple-chase at Vincennes. This has rendered him very popular with the Jockey Club, which holds its meetings at the Grand Hôtel, Boulevard des Capucins. The riding of Frenchmen and of Frenchwomen has wonderfully improved since 1848. Most Frenchmen now rise in the saddle in a trot as we English do, and ladies canter as boldly as our English Amazons, or 'loud women.' The Empress also encourages horse exercise and sports, and the more questionable, because inhuman and sanguinary, diversion of bullfights. She also encourages extravagance in female attire, and has perpetuated the odious fashion of the crinoline. Fabulous prices are now paid in Paris for female attire, and a dress is rarely worn twice at court parties and balls. A day of reckoning will surely come for all this extravagance. Meantime the people are amused by music, dancing, and cheap bread. There is a people's concert at the Pré Catalan in the Bois de Boulogne, and the band plays daily in the Tuileries. But a good slice is taken off the people's garden, and thrown into the imperial one. The elder and junior Bourbons dared not to have done this, but Napoleon III. has done it, and a popular wit has said, 'Il est bon jardinier, mais pas Le Nôtre.' I waited expressly a week in Paris beyond my time to be present at the trial of the action brought by the Duc d'Aumale against the Prefect of Police. The suit had been several times put off. It was fixed for Wednesday, the 6th May, but at the last moment was deferred to Wednesday, the 13th. On that morning all the élite of the Faubourg St. Germain was in court, with the young Duc de Broglie at their head, and the salle of the first chamber was crowded to suffocation, not merely by barristers, but by distinguished laymen. By the urbanity and politeness of the illustrious M. Dufaure Bâtonnier, of the order of Advocates, and one of the counsel for the plaintiff, I was enabled to take my seat among the Bar, immediately behind him; and this afforded me, the only Englishman present, a perfect opportunity of hearing and seeing all the proceedings. I owe obligations also to my friends Rénault, Albert Gigot, Ernest, Guibord, and Algernon Jones, who, though bearing an English name, is a Frenchman and a French advocate. The ac tion was brought by the Duc d'Aumale against the Prefect of Police for the seizure of the proofs of His Royal Highness's History of the Princes of the House of Condé. The Duc d'Aumale being heir of the House of Condé, inherited all the family papers, and thus became possessed of documents precious for French history. He determined, as a descendant of the great family which did so much for France, to write the memoirs of so illustrious a house, as he had a perfect right and an appropriate title to do. Had the Duc brought down his narrative to modern times, or to the murder of the Duc d'Enghien, the comments of a free pen might have been displeasing or distasteful to a suspicious and arbitrary government. But the Duc finished his narrative at the death of the great Condé, in 1686, and there was not even the slightest passing allusion to modern times. Nevertheless, the Government, represented by the Prefect of Police, of its own mere motion seized all the copies of the work, and it was to recover them that the plaintiff brought his action; he being represented by Maître Hébert, formerly Garde des Sceaux and Minister of Justice, and by M. Dufaure, minister under more than one Cabinet, and now Bâtonnier of the Advocates. The Avocat Impérial, M. Benoist, was first heard; and he contended that the court was incompetent, the defendant being a public functionary, who could not be sued without the permission of the Council of State. This doctrine was combated by Maître Hébert, in an able and incisive argument of great pungency. The peroration of Hébert was eloquent and forcible, and on his sitting down there was considerable applause from the Bar, the last refuge of liberalism and liberty, which was at once checked by the President of the court, M. Benoit Champy. The Avocat Impérial having briefly and tamely replied to Hébert, Dufaure now rose, and in one of the most lucid and masterly arguments I ever heard in a court of justice conclusively showed that an administrative seizure or mandat de perquisition was of no authority whatever before that court, which must be guided by the written law and constitution. The solidity, force, and dialectical skill with which M. Dufaure managed his thesis excited the admiration of his brethren, and a loud expression of applause was heard, which was at once checked. The court rose at five o'clock, without giving judgment; but though_the masterly pleadings of the two advocates excited the greatest interest, yet no paper in Paris dared to give a report of the speeches. It was not even till Wednesday, May the 20th, that the Times noticed the trial, a week after the event. So much for the liberty of the press in France. The scandalous suppression of all mention of the event, however, seems to have aroused public opinion, and ever since the memorable 13th of May the candidates of the opposition for the new elections seem to have been imbued with fresh courage. There is every hope of M. Thiers' return for Paris, and also of the return of Berryer and Marie for Marscilles. It is hoped that M. Dufaure and M. de Montalembert will also be returned; and if this expectation be realized there can be no doubt whatever that Berryer, Dufaure, Montalembert, and Thiers, will be much more than a match for the speaking Ministers Billaut and Baroche, and all their backing, irrespective of the aid which the opposition will have from Jules Favre, Emile Olivier, Ernest Picard, and others. The Emperor must, therefore, either shut up his Chambers, or change his system by appointing responsible ministersresponsible not to the Executive, but to the Legislature. M. Baroche is already used up in his oratory, and parades the same arguments ten times over; and though M. Billaut is more versatile and ingenious, I still he could not stand for ten minutes effectively against such men as Berryer, Dufaure, Montalembert, and Thiers. It is plain that a crisis has at length come, in which the Emperor must choose one of two policies. He must either go onward by extending the liberty of speech, of discussion, and the press, or he must abruptly close his Chambers. In This is inevitable even if only twelve or fifteen able and independent men be chosen, against whom the official orators would be unable to contend. Meanwhile independent candidates crop up on every side, so that it is evident public opinion is awakened, and public spirit aroused. This is owing to the injudicious and unwise conduct of M. Fialin Persigny, who has outraged the public feeling by his administrative interference. He has recommended candidates with an insistency and indecency without parallel. presenting such men as M. de Jaucourt, M. Grammont, Caderousse, and M. Rolle to the electors of Seine and Marne, the Côte d'Or and Vaucluse, he has gone too far in blind devotion to his master and his mate. But his imprudence will only recoil on himself. In introducing these gentlemen individually to the electors, he may say, with the character in Scribe's comedy, Voilà mon homme, ou plutót celui de ma femme. But France, though reduced low, is not yet so degraded as to elect led captains at the bidding of a minister adventurer without one qualification for his office. INDEX ΤΟ VOLUME LXVII. Adrian-a Tale, 81 A Fortnight in Ireland in the Lent of A Fortnight in Paris in the May of 1863, to the renowned Cities of Wari and Arnold, Matthew: Maurice de Guérin, 47; A Scene in the Farm and the Convent,- Athens, a Day at, by Frances Power Cobbe, Baldwin, Astley H.: The North Wind, 46; Cities of, by an F.R.G.S., 135, 273, 407 Calendar of Letters, Despatches, and State Carpenter, Mary: On the Treatment of Chapter, a, on Innocents, 333 City of Peace, the, by Frances Power Cobbe, Civil War, the, American Literature and, Cobbe, Frances Power: A Day at the Dead Sea, 226; A Day at Athens, 601; The Concerning Cutting and Carving, with some Convicts, Female, on the Treatment of, by Currency, the Principles of, by Bonamy Cutting and Carving, Concerning, with Dante and Beatrice, by Matthew Arnold, 'Das Ende Polens,' Translation of Count Day at Athens, a, by Frances Power Cobbe, Day at the Dead Sea, a, by Frances Power Decipher, the, of Ancient Inscriptions, 121 Edward Sutherland: The Polish Captivity under Russia, Prussia, and Austria, 746 England's Mission in the East, Laing's, |