OCR Text |
Show OUR PARIS LETTER. i'RENCU I'OUTICS AXD FRAYZES Is- csease of chime the drama cubio-sities. lR' (uUr Oorroai.onJoi:oe o tlie 11b l .) Paris, August 4. AN UNSETTLED PROBLEM. For the next threo raoutlia the political po-litical destinies of France must remain re-main an enigma. The partial elections elec-tions have been suppressed, and the journal are unsafe guides, bo that no materials esiut to judge the feelings of the country. The republican party does not enter on the long vacation with any eclat- Unable to vote the dissolution, auQeriug from many minor defeats, failing to abolish the state of seige these are not agreeable agree-able reminiscences with which to go to the country. Were the people resolute to have the new constitution applied, they could make their influence influ-ence felt on thoae wavering deputies who are neither fish, nor flesh, nor good red herring. Similarly, the ministry would not be so openly re-actionery, re-actionery, so undisguised!)' hostile to the republic, were public opinion unmistakably un-mistakably earnest and determined. Mucn political lnainerenusm Deyona doubt is being developed, the consequence conse-quence of hopes deferred, and the absence of virile and unequivocal government. The vacation will then be devoted to a further - struggle, and perhaps the last, between conducting the republic by its friends or its foes. For the lriends of the new constitution, constitu-tion, they have but to play their old role the non posxumus of patience and sagacity. They have but one foe, imperialism, and all hostility against the republio is so much advantage ad-vantage for the Bonapartists. As for the monarchists, the ministry who represent them even know that they have no place in the field. If the republicans re-publicans remain fruo to themselves, and do not grow faint in their uphill up-hill fight, they will ultimately compel com-pel the dissolution, and consequently ! the ejection of the reactionists from power. It is a pretty game and mess as it stands. PRAYERS FOR THE REPUBLIC. Prayer, according to St. Jerome, 'Mb a groan," and " patience" following fol-lowing Buddha. These definitions are somewhat borne out by the discussions dis-cussions taking place respecting the omission by most of the dioceses of France, and commencing with that or Versailles, to cnani me prescriueu prayers for the republio, which being now the law of the land.is entitled to iti Domiiie salvam fac rempublicam from the clergy it pays, and in accordance with the concordat executed by Pius VI and Napoleon I. In the French official chapels at Rome, in Paris, and one or two more dioceseB, in the Protestant churches, and the synagogues, syna-gogues, tho republic is duly prayed for. The foreign Protestant clergy offer up a voluntary prayer of courtesy courte-sy for the " president of the French," others for the " chief of tho state," and some for the " president of the French republic;" but never a word is put in lor the assembly; that body, by common consent, being considered past praying for. The higher clergy in France are monarchal, the humbler inclined to conservative democracy. Some republicans attach very little importance to the prayers of the cltrgy, and which they Bay, were not wanting for Charles X, Louis Phil-lippe, Phil-lippe, the second republic, and Napoleon Na-poleon III, but the clergy ought not tlie lees be compelled to obey as well as to resnect the law of the land. The cabinet promises to bring the clergy round to do their duty in the course of three months. The clergy organs, more ultramontane tnan tue pope himself, regard praying for the republic 'is the abomination of desolation; deso-lation; it would be quite right, however, how-ever, to do so for the Comte de Chain-bord. Chain-bord. Those amusing piests, the Bonapartists, object to obligatory praying, as well as to compulsory schooling, lorgetting (or the occasion occa-sion that it was Napoleon I that made the concordat. CRIMINAL STATISTICS. The statistics of crime ia France for the year 1873, point a general moral, whilu painting the condition of the country.- Beyond all doubt, ignorance is the great producing agent of crime. Instead of diminishing diminish-ing in France, crime augments, despite too the Beverer application of the law. The increase is most marked in the recommital of prisoners. pris-oners. The liberated convict is certain cer-tain to return to jail that "normal school of crime." Ten years ago the number ot prisoners that were sentenced sen-tenced a second time was 31 per cent, of the convicted; it is now 48. Thig , augmentation iB also taking place in Belgium, Austria and Wurtemberg. i The new French law, on solitary confinement, con-finement, is at best but hoped to j rpmMlv thf trrmi-rti Af ih',a nlu..v,l.n evil. Upwards of 36 per cent of the accused were completely illiterate, and 43 per cent, knew the elements of only reading and writing; not 2 per cent, were really instructed. For the fulure, the schools, where the partially instructed criminals graduate, gradu-ate, will be named, so that we can see if moral education in such estab-1 lishmenta be deficient. It has been oltim assumed that the class without fixed domicile furnished the largest coutingtjul of criminals, and the populations of the towns more so than the rural districts. Well, only 10 per cent, of the accused had no fixed residence, and the agricultural districts supplied 35 per cent, of the total criminuls, against 31 per cent, from thy towna; the "liberal profession" profes-sion" furnished 6 percent, of the accused. Infraction of the law respecting re-specting attacks ou tho authorities and religion, are largely on the increase, in-crease, but these outrages very much reflect the elastic oondilion of home politics, which ure conducted morbin-a morbin-a provoking than a conciliatory spirit. theatricals, art objects. People do not complain that autumn au-tumn has arrived this yoar before summer; indeed any thing is a change from the recent raine. rhe harvest not being compromised, and the vintage promising to be remarkably large, people are reconciled to their last summer. The theatrical managers man-agers are like the agricultural community, com-munity, over complaining; the broken weather has contributed to keep their house fairly filled, yet this does not prevent hoiiui of them from becomming bankrupt, with deficiencies de-ficiencies generally equivalent to the poors' tax 10 per cunt, luvied on receipts. Financially, Parisian theatres are not paying concerns, because be-cause managers will not adopt rational prices and seek to please the public with a little of the feast of reason rea-son and the flow of soul, rather than with scenery and extravaganza. This is a good time for any persons with leioure and money to pick up furniture curiosities, not in Paris, but in tho provinces. ObjeU d'ar( when not imported from London to obtaiu a French mark, are, so far as antiquities are concerned, largoly manufactured in Paris. It is necessary neces-sary to travel through the provinces to discover tho genuine article; to attend at-tend an auction at somn chateau, where death has led to the dispersion of penales. In the court yard, pending pend-ing a sale, the furniture is ranged, some ol which has not seen the sun since fifty years; the copper utensils shine, but the tapestries are full of varnished shades, the roses have no more buds, tho branches want leaves, and the cupids and shepherdesses have no more smiles, their eyes are dim. Louis XV, tables and chairs appear astonished to feel the gravel under their gilt feet, instead of velvet and carpets, and over head the open air, rather than a ceiling painted and garlanded, and where the perfumed drawers quickly lose their odor. A country sale, such as this, is the exact spot to pick up a dessert service ser-vice in old Rouen, a time piece of the first empire, or Louis XVI. mantlo-piece mantlo-piece ornaments. It is mostly innkeepers inn-keepers who purchase these classes of articles, ready to re-sell them to any traveler who admires them. Arobstk. |