The New York herald. [volume], March 01, 1873, Page 4, Image 4

About The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920

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MIMPffl.
The Lost Remnant of the Republican
Israel.
THE AMERICAN COLONY IN FRANCE.
W hat. Onr Daat Tt^AflivAn Da in
WW ?>?*w V VVMA VM V AM
Foreign Lands.
Iving Washburn? and His
Colonial Court.
COLONISTS WHO MAKE COLLECTIONS.
THE WAIFS OF THE COLONY.
literary and Artistic Life and Paris
as a Historical Study.
The Circus as an Established
Institution.
The Perils of Husbands and Fathers with
Ladies in Their Train.
THE CONGRESS AT THE GRAND HOTEL.
The Last American of
the Season.
What an Average American Brother
Thinks of France.
American Hegiras to France from tbc Bise of
Shoddy to the Fall of Tammany.
"A Hundred Thousand Francs
at a Sitting."
JDoes Foreign Life Ever Become
Home Life P
A CYNICAL VIEW OF THE COLONY.
"True Hearts are More than Coronets, and
Simple Faith than Norman Blood."
TIIE INTERDICTED COMEDY.
Eow Victorion Sard on Satirizes Cur
Country in "Uncle Sam."
MR. WASHBURNE AS CENSOR.
Was the Prohibition of the Play Only a
Cunning Advertisement \
Paris, Feb. 9, 1878.
I do not know that 1 shall succeed in carrying
out fully your Instructions tn reference to the
American colony In Paris. And yet I see tall well
that there can be no theme more interesting to the
affectionate American mind than tidings of this
lost remnant of our republican Israel?to know
bow "America In Paris" lives and flourishes; what
Its men and women do; what, above all things,
they find to compensate for exile from dear, dear
Amertea. Shall I make a report that win fall upon
the colony like one of the cunningly-devised hand
grenades which Orslni threw under the Imperial
carriager Orslni killed and woundod Innocent persons
only. Shall 1 Incur that responsibility f Shall
I tell you all the gossip that comes to a Herald
correspondent In a colony where nearly every
lumber spends his time in discussing the other
members t That, I am afraid, would do harm to
many and kindness to none?something the
Herald would never do. But "America In Paris"
has phases that will Interest frlcnd9 at home
without offence to friends abroad. And of this let
me write as answering fully the spirit of my instructions.
GENERAL ASrECTS OF TOE COLONY.
In numbers I have hear J that the coloay will
muster as a minimum, In winter, from two thousand
to three thousand sonls. In Hummer It will
go as high as ten thousand?twenty, perhaps,
when there Is an Exhibition. There Is the American
quarter, which Is the gandiest, most expensive
and most pretentious part of Paris. This quarter
includes the Champs KlyBAcs, the Boulevard llautsmann
and the radios of wide, magnificent streets
sweeping around the Arch of Triumph. It Is noted
that In the American quarter tradesmen charge
twenty-flvo or thirty per cent additional for their
goods, and In compensation paint the American
coat-of-arms on their windows, it is turther
noted that tavern keepers make a point of consulting
American tastes, and aunounce, as an allurement
to the American mind, Ishballs and
buckwheat cakes for breakfast ana pampkln pies
for dinner. Furthermore It bas been oboerved
as a colonial enstom that the longer the colonist
resides here the move he craves the centre of the
city?the narrow, qoslnt streets near the Palais
Royal. While the resident section Is around the !
Arch, the business sectlsn Is en the Rue Scribe, the )
Rue de la Pals and the streets nronnd the new j
opere house. Here are the banking houses where
you receive year money, and "American taffeta,"
where you may spend R lor Boarton whiskey and
"mixed drinks." There are American clergymen
who will minuter to the sonl, and American physicians
who win care lor yonr body, and a small,
reserved class of superior beings engaged m den'puiarly
believed to be worti many
* ana to be in confidential rslat
crowned heads of Enrope. There
Hots who win decorate the body In
in and save you from the pulpy,
or the Pr?nch taiisrs. There ere
ing rooms, where yen |mj gather 1
rom the E*it and the West.-" The
is also to be round on the French
ea that day by paying $5 ,ot can
.he celebration and hear the great
coleny proclaim liberty to all the
land had all the Inhabitant* thereof. lr ao moved
yon can make a apeeeh yourself.
thi alio of ma colony.
The hehd Ot the colony la the Mlnlater. That dlsUngnlshsd
officer hah thi OtnoiBl ousted 7 of the star pangled
banner and the eagle, atwf he must see
that not a a tar of the banner la tarnlabed nor a
feather ruffled In our blrd'a glorious tall. The
Minister Is our king, and tb* reigning sovereign is
?Uhu B. Waahburue. He holdg lus court out la the
NEW Y<
Avenue L'Impm trice, beyond the Arch of Triumph,
living la a hotel of hie own. He bu uu
legation la the Roe do Oballlot, on the 'Mill of
Challiot" as it was called on the old naps. This
was the most famoas spot In Parts daring the
siege, for while Lord Lyons and his llritiBh lion,
and the other Ministers with their birds and beasts
of national glory, harried away, Washburne remained,
having in charge not only his own noble
eagle with one hoad and one Mil, but the eagle of
Prussia, with its two heads aud two tall3. Greatly
haa he been honored lor this by every one but
Jules Favro. A sturdy, prompt, kindly, brave,
gifted man is Kllbu n. Washburne, and as king of
tlie colony is held in respect. His vice-regent is
Colonel Wlckham IIolTinan, a man honorably
known la New York before tbe war as a
citizen, during It as a soldier, aud sinco It
as a diplomatist. Colonel Hoffman came hero
with General L>ix, and tho enly thing that stands
In his way Is that, boinn extremely useful, no Minister
will consent to his promotion to a mission.
He is one of the most competent men cow serving
the country abroad; foil of Information, which ho
docs not squander upon gentlemen of the press,
attentive, courteous, always at his post, and certain
to have a mission when we come to have a
civil service In diplomacy. In addition to the
Colonel, we have in this court Mr. Waahnurne's
son, Gratiot, whom the dowagers with daughters on
their hands will be glad to learn Is In single life
yet?a bright-eyod, prompt, amiable and Intelligent
Secretary,iand popular In the colony. As aU monarchies
hate two oonrts?as In England there Is
Buckingham Palace and Marlborough House, and
as in Paris there was the Tullcrlea and the Palais
Royal?so In the colony there Is a prtnoe apparent
In the Consulate. The Consul General for France
and Algeria, and the prince apparent or Prince of
Wales or the colony, Is General John Meredith Head,
Jr., of Albany, the son of J. M. Read, now Chief Justice
of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, and
descendant from George Read who, signed tho
Declaration of Independence. Althongh a young
man, Goneral Road has gained literary distinction,
and is a member of many scientific and literary
societies. The General has his Palalso Royal near
the Champs Elyslcs, and dispenses hlB hospitalities
with a lavish band. He is also very popular
in tho colony, more especially as he docs not,
like many other Consuls Oeneral In former
times, set up a palace in opposition to
the Minister, nor does he, like many of our
present Consuls, entertain his American Mends
with reflections upon the government because Congress
does not raise the salary of their ofllce.
Around these separate centres?the Ministry and
the consulate?the colony revolves In harmony. A
reception at the Ministry and a dinner with the
Central are among the comforts of life, unless you
add a paragraph In the personal column of the
American Register; for the colony has its press
likewise, being American In that respect truly.
There Is a Journal In London called the AngloAmerican,
given to American nefra; another, called
the Swiss Times, Is published in Geneva, but this
Is American and English In Its news. Gallgnanl's
tanvnal la nvlnfarl iIaIIv and allSnn/vh I?nnlUh fnr
juutuili to piiuivu UUIIJl ?UVI, ISHVHQU 4'U?,??WU aw*
nearly hair a century, la becoming American In lta
old days and has our Yankee coat of arms painted
on lta window Bide by side with the roaring British
lion. The Register is the colonial organ, and In its
columns colonial public opinion Is generated. Over
the Register presides John J. Ryan, a gentleman
well known to the Herald, who spent twenty
yoars under the eye of its founder, and Bhows the
effects or that masterly training In his new, delicate
and Independent station.
rilASES OF COLONIAL CHARACTER.
Yon pass beyond theso spheres, and the colonial
harmony ceases. The colony breaks Into Its little
zones or worlds, each a different world, and one,
generally sneaking, In great contempt of another.
There is a Washington Club, a kind of Upper
House or House of Lords In Its way, which many
seek, while few are chosen, and where members
may discuss Baccarat for loo,ooor? or the Athanasian
creed, as they please, for the deliberations
are secret. There is the Congress, which holds its
sessions in the courtyard of the Grand Hotel?a
talking If net a deliberative body (of which I shall
speak again), access to which Is open to any one
uho will buy a bottle of champagne. There are
general distinctions, but our colony has many, many
others. There are the old resident and the new resident,
the American in trade and the American who
has nothing to do, the one who can speak French
and the one who cannot, but Insists upon buying a
French newspaper and reading it in a
dazed condition, as he sits at his cifi,
In the belief that the attempt somehow j
Improves hie position in society; the resident
who has his family and the one who baa no visible
relations or a family character?the American who
has the red ribbon of the Legion or Honor and his
fellow countryman who denounces the custom as
disloyal, but would give twenty per cent of bis fortune
to have a similar decoration. And so on In
distinctions even more minute If one cared to follow
them.
COLONI8T8 wno "make COLLECTIONS."
Bnt before following tbcm there 1b a class that
we might rudely, and scarcely with accuracy, call
the "Virtuoso" colony. This Is composed of people
who "collect"' things. But even this requires a
division. There Is the virtuoso who Is a kind of
pawnbroker or Chatham street Hebrew of the
Original Jacobs tendency, and wbo rnns from one
Oric-a-brac and curiosity Bhop to another buying
all that Is curious and odd, to be resold to American
customers in the Summer. I do not now refer
to this class?although there are some In the
colony who follow the trade who will sell
you anything from a chin* Jng of Louis XIV.'s
time to a stolen fragment of the Column VendOme,
and falling to make live hundred per cent profit
will take live. Your true virtuoso is a man of taste
and culture, who makes a "collection." There is
one well known to the writer of these lines, whose
hobby is the French Revolution. A picture, prtut or
book on the French Revolution Is asonrceofjoy
to him. He Is quite moony on the subject, and will
spend an afternoon on the quays among the old
book stores, and tf ho cau flud a new print of
Hlrabcau or a colored caricature ef Robespierre
or an edition or rero nucnesne, goes home in trluiapn
and nuked himself a blessing to his family.
If he has one rare print and sees another be will
buy It, not because he needs It, but to prevent
some one else from possessing It. I know another,
a most respected member of the colony,
though neither one of the lords In the club, nor
an attendant at the Grand Hotel Congress, nor
to an-alarming extent a courtier of onr reigning
Powers, whose taste is for books and print* illustrating
the American Kevolution. There was a
time, too, when Paris was a mine for those who
had fancies in this way. America and France were
so closely connected during the Revolution that a
great part of the literature of the country waa
tinted with events In the Jerseys and Virginia,
and the achievements of the famous General Washington.
Franklin resided in Paris "several years,
was of Preach sympathies, and was honored by
the French people. I do not knew how many portraits
of Franklin were made here, but I have heard
hundreds assigned as the flgnre. To collect these
Wankltafl to author mi naartrfmont r\t them
have copies ol the peculiar prints, those with a torn
to the nose or au extra barton to the garuiejit, or
rudely engraved and with no more reeembianee to
the philosopher than to an; conspicuous figure in
that history?an; odd, quaint or nnosual
Franklin la a rare, great treasure, can
you lmagtae thte feeling? Do you know what, it is
to yearn for something?to root and search it out?
Have yon felt the exquisite sense of possession?
Have you citmbcd the beatlihg crag under gun fire
and with heating heart wrested the colors? iiare
you stood in the cricket or base ball field tip toe #n
the springy grass and seen the ball flying from the
driven bat, and felt K In yoor hand, your flagera
tingling with pain aa your heart beat higher to the
cheers of thousands? If these seasatlens have
ccme to yon, then, oh, friends, you may know what
It is to be a and virtuoso grub among the shops for
Franklins and Washlugtons and colored caricatures
or Robespierre in the Rue Richelieu and on
the Qual Voltaire.
COLONISTS WITH BOBBIN.
Nor do our virtuosos end with theae plain,
genuine delights. Oramercy, not There Is one
who had an admiration for Napoleon tho First. Ho
he searched and incurred aad purchased until ho
JKK HEKAL1), SATUKDA
tad "a coileoilon." One day be waa ti
tbe Latin Quarter discussing hta fancy wit!
a dealer in prints. "Bow many differen
prints or Napoleon are there?" "Three thousand,'
waa the answer. Think of that, you who coutein
plate collecting In raris. Napoleon waa an item ii
the period known aa the French Revolution, an<
yet of him alone, to have a complete colleotion, yen
must buy 3,000 prlnta. There Is another o
the colony whose specialty la the Commune. Tlw
came and flourished and fell two years ago. Ou<
would think that It would be an easy matter t<
gather the records of that brief and recent time
Rut there are necessary documents and copies o
proclamations and newspapers of tho Commune ai
difficult to buy as those of tho French Revolution
80 truly do wc learn that the history of each da]
has its own web and woof. Onoe snap asunder the
threads, and weary is tho work of again wcavlnj
them together. Another of my virtuoso friendshm
a fancy for Horace. Let It come In any shape, an]
translation or style, so It is unlike another tn his
keeping, and tho day that brings it is calendared
among tho rcd-lcttcr annals. Another finds life t<
consist of the painter Velasquez. You know Ve
lasquez as the olucf of tho BpauUh school -dead,
how many years ago? Well, my friend spends his
time in going from place to plaoe, wherever
there is a reputed work of Velasquez,
to look at it, and dwell upon the
color and the movement, and the clear life and
light that oornc from the marvellous canvass, like
the life that ono sees under the light of the blessed
sun, and to write full notes, meaning ultimately a
book. I confess this seems a pleasing fancy?this
hunting the creations or a God-lnsptrcd master
like Vclusquez?from capital to capital?from
Stockholm to Seville and from 8t. Petersburg to
London; and when my (riend, with bis young,
rapturous face, began to glow as ho talked of hie
hobby, I thought there was a kind of knighterrantry
in his mission. Others collect old china
and porcelain. Of this I know little?my fanclet
in tho cup and plato line being easily satisfied,
Hut I am told that no fascination grows upon the
collector with more power than this for oluna, and
that some of our countrymen have been known tt
experience emotions of an agitating nature upor
(uncovering a piaiu oi inu time oi i,ouis ai v
Thore are collectors, too, whoso designs In the col
lectlng line are neither quuint nor high nor patri<
otlo, hut who have grossly diseased fancies foi
things forbidden to men. Of sach one writes with
pain and anger, as though we stamped them down
Into the dust.
COLONIAL WAIF8.
There are here In our colony types not daises o!
an original character. There is the stout old
dowager, who has three daughters Bhe wants to
marry otr her hands, and trulls from Paris to the
Springs, and from the Springs to Paris, and to Ituly
and the Pyrenees. And you always encounter her
jo*t when you don't want to be bothered; and
there comes the ripple of talk about the Kicklebys
and the Dlcklebys, and that horrid beast in yellow
whiskers, who came so near marrying Matilda; but
he was not a count or a Prussian oillcer?only an
adventurer from Wiesbaden. Then comes youi
friend the British officer, who was once in the
Guards, with baggy trousers, and plays billiards
and likes Americans so much that he will not con
sort with Englishmen, and Is a relative of the Duke
of Bethnal Green, whose colors he wears. Well, out
British friend has troubles with his family, who do
not like his fondness for Americans, and resent II
by limiting tils allowance; but when he
becomes thirty he will have his money, and
a little loan until that time would be sc
jolly?and if you would llice to know tho Duke be al
Chantllly on Sunday. Then we have our friend the
Count, who speaks English with such a clear ac<
cent, and nas been all over America, and will be
come a director In your company and place shares
for his noble family for ?5,000; and yon will not be
Ucve he gambled on the Mississippi long ago. Then
you have your Irish friend, whose French?barring
the Tlpperary accent?Is nuent, who Is a graduate
of Trinity College and was punished for his devO'
tlon to the true cause, and found times bad enough
even In New York, and wo: id like to travel with
you, and pay his Rharo of the sponscs, If you could
advance him a little until ho 1. ars from his bankers,
who, sorrow upon them, for ' blackgyards that pretiud
to be bankers," have not answered his drafts.
Then yon have your lrlend who chews tobacco and
sees nothing In Paris to compare with America,
and has an invention, and wants to ascertain how
he can invito the whole Paris press to a OAjeuncr;
UVTV1 IM1AIU VIIU VApvUOU?? WW? W4W VI V/Ituui'
pa^no oo^ cacti aide of_ each plate^ U
necessary. Then' yon have""*your friend Wrh* is
in the Church, and haa a cough, and travels on a
parse made up by his congregation, and means
when he reaches Rome to deliver a lecture against
the Catholics; and would not mind seeing the Pope
ir he could have an hour with him on theological
questions; who cata an early breakfast, Is always
on the run from one palace to another, aud carries
a carpet-bag with him, which In time turns out to
be bis clothes, that he will not leave to the mercy
of dishonest French servants. Then comes your
exceedingly sharp young man, who crosses the
ocean Blx times a year?as purchaser of goods lor
wholesale houses In New York, and knows the best
hotels for table (Vhbt?, and has high amusement in
telling English travellers of the horrors of American
lire, and bow no prudent man would walk up
Broadway without carrying a loaded pistol in hii
hands, and how Amerlcuns are dying for u monarchy,
and would like one of the Queen's sons.
Then you have yourlrlend who is always iu trouble,
whom no ono treats well, who suffers from a succession
of unappeasable wrongs ; aud you leud him
a hundred francs to pay the landlady who Is actually
In possession, and have your own thoughts
when yon see him beaming with smiles, riding In
the Hois de Boulogne in the afternoon with a
woman at his side, w ho is neither his grandmother
nor his landlady.
ARTIST I.IFB IN TUB COLONY.
You And these types constantly appearing and
disappearing. They float over the surface of our
colonial life like tho weeds and strange growths
which one sees In the brackish streams of the forest.
These, however, arc not representative of the
colony. There are colonists that one docs not
meet at the Grand Hotel or on tbe Boulevards.
One who knows told me that during tbe siege
Americans came to light or whose existence tho
Legation was not aware. There are those who
come here for study and rest?literary people and
artists?who slip down to Fontalnebleau during
the Summer aud In the Winter do their work in
quiet, out ol the way studios, over near the Luxembourg.
When Mr. Lowell came here he took an
apartment id vne uunn yuanier, near the book
shops, aid was never seen in hotel or banking
house. Here he entertained Mr. Kmerson, and I
question 11 one eolonist out of twenty knew that
two of the most famous Americans or the day
were dwelling with them. Art life in Paris weuld
make a letter by itself. As an art centre Tarls is
not as pretentious as Florence or Rome. There if
no sech gallery here as In Madrid or Dresden. But
good work has a perpetual market, and around
Paris there are endless opportunities for study and
bservatloo. Art lile in Rome is a good deal like
painting pictures or making statues on the housetops.
There art has a society and social grades,
and there you have what is called "the brotherhood
ef art," which has a stifling effect upon
the Independence and growth of the artist. In
Paris It Is so easy to burrow into the deep earth and
hide away with no care for society or kid gloves.
And so in literature. Paris Is a charming place for
true literary work. Writing people?especially
those with means?who suffer from the damp, depressing
fogs of London and the roar and fever of
New York We, say that Paris has a tranquility and
sunshine that they do not And elsewhere. And
when the mind becomes Jaded and will not obey
the spur, there are the outlying forests and long
walks in the Bots, and little runs to Sceaus to dine
under the chestnut trees, or a day at Versailles to
see the fountains play.
HISTORICAL STrniFH IK PARIS.
If the colonist Is literary and historical in his
tastes he will And Inspiration In the associations ol
the wonderful city. You may walk miles and miles
along the Paris streets and almost at every step
meet a historical association. You see all manner
or palaces and palace ruins, rrom the wall of the
baths where the Roman Emperor Jnllan bathed
down to the ^hatred wau of the TuUeries built dj
Y, MARCH 1, 1878.?TRIPLE
i Napoleon IIL Tills, however, belongs to the guide- I
a book history, which Galignani will tell |
t you for five irancs. But under this Is n history <
' which comes with study and going out to see. <
Here, for instance, lived Robespierre. It Is a plain, t
l dingy house, on the Rue St. Uonord?a house ol his 4
1 time, nil tlie nrp.lilt.eet.urn allows, hat UOW OCCUplOd <1
i l>y a tradesman. Duplay, the carpenter, and the t
t daughter, and Itobesolerre, wltu his dog, have van- v
i tailed like shadows; and this narrow gateway, d
5 wnleh looks so dark now, and through which passed h
> and repawned the first men of Prance in the anx- t
ious days of terror, is given over to workmen, who 8
f pad In and out, and tradesmen who chaffer with o
i you over a bargain. And vou have only to take a o
small walk along the route paced daily iu those h
r days by Maximilian himself and you come to the c
s site of the Jacoblu Club, where Mother Jacobin d
C ruled until the crushing days of Thermidor. But
i club and club house and all the men and women
r who were wont to gather there have gono the dark
i road into the realms of silence, and now you see a
I oommodtous market houBe, and burly women cry
> you to buy flsli on the spot where Danton
once thundcrod. Nor Is it far to the old
, Church of St. Roch, which has this momi
ory?that ono Napoleon Bonaparte found the
beginning of his career here?lor St. Roch is the
church which was held by the insurrectionists
i when he, as General of the Convention, opened
I upon them with real powder and baU, and so, in a
i whiff, ended the French Revolution. And, speaki
ing of Napoleon, you may cross the river and see
the top garret room which he and Juuot occupied,
i at Ave francs a month?the darkest shadows
ahead?nothing to do b.ut to sit brooding aud looki
ing out at the Tuilerles, sweeping so majestically
i before them and mocking their fate with Its Irony
of grandeur. And you may return and cross the
i boulevard and walk a little way towards Montmartre
and see the house where N&poleou lived when
i he returned from Egypt. It Is on the Rue ia Vlci
tolre. W hen ho went to live there with Josephine a
it was called Rue Chauterelne, but In his honor It I
was named the Street of Victory, and la so named t
until this day, and you may see Ills home, where
was planned the Eighteenth of Brumalre, with Its
open courtyard, which nas a goneral appearance of
Uluginess and looks like the courtyard or a livery
stable. While In this vicinity you may see where
Mlrabeau lived and died in the rosy hours of his
fame, and in the room underneath you may now
suit yourself with hats and cupb or any kind of
head gear; or you may continue your Inquiries and
discover the house where John Paul Marat, "tho
irlend of the people," was taking bis bath one day,
f When Charlotte Corday stabbed iilm.
established institutions in tui colony.
The two Institutions around which our colony
centres harmoniously, after the Ministry and the
Consulate, are the Circus and the Bon Marchd. I
have never heard of the circus as a conservative
or a harmonizing Institution except among the
nursery maids, nor is It, according to the best
authorities, largely sought by the Americans at
home. But in the colony the circns is an Institution.
Saturday Is the evening given to fashion, and
upon every Saturday evening you will find the
high benches and uncomlortable seats crammed
with the American colony. Mere all distinctions
arc lost. The colonist who has the red ribbon
looks blandly down upon his compatriot who
despises the decoration. Here the lords of the
Washington Club and the commoners of the Congress,
in the Grand Hotel, assemble in strength.
One of the mysteries of colonial lire is this passion
for the circus, and I suppose it Is because, nnder
i the French gloss and the glitter of foreign life,
> there lingers the home feelings which well
i up at the sight of the well-remembered
. clown and the athlete who does snch marvellous
foats, and the fair maiden with the wavy golden
i hair, who Kneels and jumps and breaks through
the hoops, while the steed gallops beneath her, and
i you wish One so comely were well settled in life,
p And the colonial mind goes back to earlier days,
. when the circus caravan and Its retinue meandering
Into the village was a sight to remember in
i dreams?more gorgeous thau the Queen of Sheba
i lu all her majesty. Bo the circus, which at home
I Is a wearisome performance, aud by no means a
, criterion of the highest tasto, becomes a soothing
and home-recalling and heart-uniting influence in
these strange, foreign lands. Next to the circus,
I as an institution in the colony, is "Au Bon March*!.''
If there are any fond husbands who have visited s
Paris and read these words I know well what t
bitter memories they recall. Oh, fellow countrymen,
who love and honor and have sworn to protect
and cherish^ when yon come to Paris avoid <j
i Bon Mafche cujers here with a fuU r
purse, and wife and daughter in train, musTTei?V6 1
all hope behind, at least while the money holds out.
"Au Boa Marchti" is a vast magazine for the sale
of everything that woman can need or crave.
When you compass what Is meant by this
definition you will know the danger and the
temptations of "Au Bou Marcne." I mention It as
one of a class?a vast class. You run against
stores of this character all over Paris. They are
named like the cafCa and the taverns, bat with a
wider and more poetical sweep of fancy. "The
Scottish.Mountains," "The Carnival of Venice,"
"The Spring," "The Great House of Peace," "The
Good Devil," "The Infant Jesus," "Old Eugland,"
"A Thousaud and One Nights," "The Ilouse?is It
Not ?" These are some of the names given to the
dry goods stores, or rather shops, containing, as I
remarked, all that woman can need or crave, and
where Americans are expected to come and squander
their lortunes. In these great stores the
colonists sink all rank, all social pretensions, all
claim to be more than plain Americans in a foreign
land eager to win a bargain. The colonists differ
on many points, and walk their own ways with
high mcln. But they are Americana after all, and
suffer Uke the rest of mankind when they go with
their wives aud daughters to "Au Bon Marchl."
TOE CONGRESS AT THE GRAND HOTEL,
rtnv* ftAiintrvmftn wlion hA pAnina horf> tint oa a *
colonist, bat as a sojourner, finds a fascination In
Paris, lie plans his Continental trip?the Rhine,
Cologne, Maycnce and the German route?and you
bid him farewell at the railway station and see
him disappear in his van, with hat-box, cane,
shawl, umbrella, Bolt felt hat, meerschaum pipe,
large ilarper or Appleton guide book, and say
again "Goodbye," ?8 though yon would not see
lilm for a season. In a week or two you run
against him on the Boulevards, most probably
wearing a new style of hat, and learn that be has
"done" the Continent and means to have another
"go" at Paris. Ills life here Is at best monotonous.
Be calls the waiters "John" and gives them a
franc. And If a waiter Is shrewd?as some aream!
address him as "My Lord," in wretched English,
ho will receive five franos another time. He
likes the courtyard of the Grand Hotel. In this
wide, open place, the sun shining through the
glass skylights, seated around small iron tables,
late in the afternoon, yon win any pleasant Summer
day see that congress of onr beloved fellow c
900Utrymen to which 1 have referred in continuous
session, all talking at the same time, encouraging
their eloquence with champagne. The subjects of
their deliberation are generally American politics
and the Immorality of the French nation. Yoor
Presidential campaign was fonght with more 0
ferocity m Paris than tn America. We had nothing t
else to do bot to wager our money on one candi- 0
date or another. During the few weeks when the
Issue was tn doabt party fever ran to Its highest
point, and those of unr American friends holding
office were tn an anxious, undecided state of Mind.
1 remember one venerable representative of our
starry ftag who had served several administrations,
and would serve several more If the conntry
so demanded, who gave his views during this uncertain
perled In this fashioni*I support Orant.
You know Orant Is our President. But remember,
I have nothing against Greeiey. for whom I have
groat respect." lint In time Pennsylvania voted
for Uartranft, and the minds oi these gentlemon
became easier and did not even show "respect"
for poor Mr. Greeley.
TflB LAST AMERICA* OP TBI SEASON.
During the Midsummer months the congress In
the Grand Hotel Is well attended, and the homei
sick American will have his heart gladdoned by
the sharp cockatoo accent In which he hears the
English language spoken, reminding him so nolsUy
i and sweetly of home. This congress is easy of
I access. There Is no trouble In gaining admission
> to this body, boclal disUhcUoas-so btrowr at
1 SHEET.
bom*?are overlooked bore. > here mob the eoojress
u> full session, attended by a gambler, a
loctor of divinity, two or tkroe bankers, a general
dicer of the army and one or two (taadulent
>ankrupts. The members were harmonious and
liscoursed In company, and (all bnt the dlrtne>
Irank out of the same wine bottle and talked at
he top of their roloea, and almost quarrelled as to
rho should pap at the end. But as the Hummer
lies awaj the congress thins out. Some hurry
onie; others go to the south, and whoever enters
ho high and stately hall towards November will
ce a painful speotacle. The last American
f the season, deserted by his companions, sits
vcr his third bottle of wine, vainly looktig
for a familiar race, smoking a mammoth
Igar, bis feet spread over a chair, his eye looking
lismally at the carving and the decorations ana
he equipages that come and go. The familiar
aces have fled. There Is no one to whom he can
xpress his oontempt for the French nation?no one
o whom he can Impart his Information as to what
llsmarck will do. He Is dreadfully alone. He may
'lslt the Legation, and talk to the black-eyed
'oung Washburne, or be entertained with the most
ibsolute politeness by Colonel Hoffman; but he discovers
that the Legation people have "views" and
lo not express them. Ho may go down to the Ooninlate
and see General Read; but the General, who
s politeness and official courtesy embodied, has
ilso a habit of listening, and of confining his visitors
to their business, whioh soon exhausts a vacant
American who has "views" and desires to
llscuss them. Even the circus has closed,
iowles, Brothers A Co., famous as a conversation
aloon, has closed alBo. He Is stranded and alone. On
nail days he has his New York IIekai.d as a comort,
and tho eagerness with which he reads that
amons journal would delight its editors. Down to
he last, the very last Items, marriages and deaths
ind ship news and advertisements, beginning with
he personal column, he ruminates and reads again
ind again, until nature summons him to his cham>agne.
viiat tits average american thinks or france.
As I bavo said, our average wandering couutrynan
In these lands has positive views on one point,
he utter worthlessness of the French nation. The
sen are all cowards. The womea are all?what
ihall we say ? Of course the French would be whlpled
by the Germans l Why, a regiment of Amerl:ans,
well-drilled, and under the command of
iherldan, could march through France from Nice
o Lille. Under Napoleon It was different, because
le was a great man. But when he died all
ralor died with him. In addition to being
cowards, tho French will steal. No one
rill deny that, and If you did our
:ompatriot would utterly confound you by producng
a series of hotel bills, every one of which bad
lome exorbitant charge for candles. The narralvcs
of the rapacity of hotel keepers would make
in Iliad, and the conclusion reached is that Frenchnen
are made to rob and Americans to be robbed;
ind there is no help for it, except by a system of
txternilnation or general deputation. In addition
.0 this, there are other ovlls. lie ilnds the Frenchnan
vastly overrated in the accomplishments
vhich all the world assigns to him. No Frenchnan,
strange to say, can cook. lie may make a
tultlcss little salad, or some inefficient sauce, but
ora "square meal" give our American friend a
food old-fashioned Virginia negro grandmamma,
vho understands how to make hoo-cake. There
ire no oysters in France, and the few "Amerlsans"
that may be had for their weight in
lard money are a poor consolation for the
>ody accustomed to Saddle Rocks and lime Points.
)ur friend will confound you on this cookery quesion
by showing that there is not an oyster stow to
>e found in ail this great city. Another luxury ho
nlsses is green corn. The absence or green corn
s an Indication of the worthlessness of the French
aste. There is champagne, to be sure, so dear to
he heart of the American abroad as well as at
tome; but champagne, according to his theory, is
nade by Germans and German capital. Cheese is
i grievance to him. Bow any human being can
'at French cheese, and why every French waiter
will insist upon offering oar compatriot cheese at
rarlons stations of the meal is something he canlot
understand, unless there be some hidden intuit
to all the world in the composition of the
thecse?a circumstance he is disposed to believe,
ind as to the women, his opinions on this matter
ire opinions upon which this writer would rather
lot dwoll. . -?i
jarpin harilli.
But while passing hurriedly over the woman
[uestlon and the views entertained by oar average
ellow countrymen upon the ladles of France, why
s Yt that he believes that, as a general thing,
French ladles are In the habit or dancing at the
fardln Mabllle f Dave I described Mabllle f I am
lalf afraid or that shrine. Well, MablUe Is a garlen
just off the Champs ElysCes, where you pay an
inusually large ree for entrance. There are one
>r two small fountains, wooded walks, a shooting
pillery, little alooves, where you may sip coffee or
vhat not, and a profusion or colored lanterns blaziverywhere,
and painted canvas, that looks like
mdless forests, and Innumerable mirrors
lashing the light to and fro. In the
icntre is a band of musicians and a
>oardcd dancing floor. This is the Jardln
dabllle?Mabllle himself at the door, with his keen,
>riental face, taking in the money. It Is a Summer
farden, and the music and dancing are under the
iters. Well, Mabllle has In his employ several
roung women, with bard, leering faces, and sev*
>ral young men, with shiny hats, who mingle
iround in the crowd as though they had paid to
some in and are really visitors. When the music
sommences (generally the music of that harmollous
Imp of Satan musician Offenbach) these
roung men and women, evidently In the easiest
ind last stages of virtue, rush upon the bcTarded
loor and dance peculiar dances?tue "can can,"
imong others?not much more Indecently, how>ver,
than I have seen It on the New York stage.
)ur Paris-American Congress, assembled in a
ilrcle, believes that It sees the ladles of Paris
it a common evening entertainment. I could
lever see the Jardln Mabllle except as a humbug
>r the most transparent and dazzling kind, and
vhy our American friends should visit It and give
t lame I cannot imagine, except that Mabllle is
laid to be a very bad place, and they attend exacting
that something outrageous will certainly
tappen. Then, as I remarked, In studying the initiations
of the country and the habits and cusoms
of a nation Mabllle Is a line lesson. I do not
maglne that it occur* to one out of ten of our
observing countrymen that Mabllle la simply an
natltution kept by a Frenchman for English and
imerlcan* to visit. During the first season the
Imerlcan frequents Mabllle. If he prolongs his
tay, and becomes a colonist, he takes this garden
it its value and never visits it at all.
Till DAJrCING HALLS IN THS LATIN QPARTKll.
A new Instructive exhibition to those of onr
ountrymen who are curious aoont the "manners
nd customs" of the nation will be found over In
ne Latin quarter, In the dancing hall near the
.uxesiborg. There Is a low entrance, generally
narded by genedarmes. A circular sun of bioseg
red light Indicates the way. If you are carina
and pause a moment, yon will see In the tight
brown lato the night by the lanterns the figure
i a soldier In bronze on a pedestal, In tie attiude
of command, hie band pointing to some imghiary
foe. This brotrae figure represents the fasous
Marshal Ney, and on this spot, where yoi muy
tand and hear the fiddling and the dancing, Mar^
hat Ney was shot by French soldiers under Louis
[VIII. for having commanded French soldiers
mder Napoleon. This dancing hall on sunlay
evening, when the clerks are in
,bundance, or on Thursday evontag, when the
tudents come In numbers, Is net without Its atractlons
to the observing Amertcan mind. You
mter under the radiating lights and go down a
>air of greasy stairs, asd see on the floor of the
tall between two and three thousand people,
nalnly young men, who are "stsdying" at the
ichools In the Latin quarter. The romp and noise
ind clatter, the buza and hum of loud converseion,
song and repartee, smoking and drinking
sontinuea, until the music strikes up and the mulltude
dissolves Into a mass of dancing humanity,
ts to tht dancing, I cannot say more than that It
s very wild, with a tendency to the can can and
tther Improper manifestations, and I have heard
nj American brethren oqndsmn u in strong terms.
There are otasr dancing aaustfrcotsiae nocuous,
?&d one especially M (ke Rao St. Honort. much
frequented by our countryman, aimcst opposite
where Robespierre Uvea with Du;?Ur. t,ie carpenter,
nod ruled France from t gtrwt with no
oarpet on the door.
punch raws or ram colon r.
Tou can understand, perhaps, how the average
American abroad, Itia observations limited to the
Luxembourg and Mabble, will have original and not
over-comp'.lmontarjr notions as to the morals T>f
Prance. The French are like Abe Chinese. They
do not welcome the foreigner. They have made
Paris the most beautiful city In the world, beoituse
they are artiste by nature, and could not have
made an ugly and forbidding city bad they tried.
Whether you see Paris in detail as you go roaming
along the boulevards, or see it by day from the top
el the Arch of Triumph, er by night from the
heights of Montmartre, you are Impressed with Its
marvellous beauty, llut this Paris was made by
Frenchmen for Frenchmen, and If the foreigner
comes?well, he could do no better elsewhere,
thinks Monsieur Crapaud?do better at all, and
so he comes to Paris. But there Is ?
hearty welcome. A Freuohmau wiH never ask
bow you like his city. Of oourse, you like It, and
know and feel and are glad to admit that for
beauty and taate and all the resources of clvlliaa
tlon there is nothing In the world like Paris. But
that American Instinct for oommendation which
I InoHa fhft Vonl/an -* ? ?
vwuo *uw * uttu cvury punt Yuuiffe ? "oivj"
and ever/ Alderman *- "celebrated" man Is not
found among tbe French. There Is no welcome in
the French character towards the foreigner, none
of the going Into society which greets the foreigner
In America. The American colony Is regarded
very much by Parts In general as New York
would regard a German oolony in floboken or
colony of Poles near the Bowery. There is a story of
a famous Senator who came to this city some time
ago. He know nothing about foreign customs.
He had known honor and wus resolved to be
true to tho dignity of bis station. He would
have his apartments In the best hotel and
one of them should be a splondtd parlor In
which he could receive his callers. But no one
called, none ol the nobility; none of the splendid
names of the Empire; no one, in fact, except the
representatives of the Legation and the consulate.
The eminent Senator Bat alone in hts parlors for a
day or two, and then took to the boulevards; and
since then, I am told, he has the opinion that the
French are no more sociable tban the English.
But, in truth, a Senator of the United States In the
Grand Hotel, sitting alone In a vast parlor, waiting
for visitors, would make no more Impression upon
the mind of a Frenchman than a Senator from
Mexico or Brazil. In fact, the average Frenchman,
when he thinks of America, Is apt to oonround the
United States with Brazil and Paraguay?to think
or It all as one country, inhabited by an extrav?
gant, expensive and, in some respects, a wild
people, who, strange to say, are white. Noi
is this surprising when one considers the charactei
of the representatives of our country who come te
Pans. There is, of course, the class accustomed t<
foreign life; studious men, who seek the Latin
Quarter; business men, who keep In trading circles)
tbe American gentleman, with bis "European
habit" upon him, who knows Paris and avoids hit
fellow countrymen, and lives down In the narrow
streets towards the Palais Royal. But ever}
Bummer there comes the shoal or sight seers froa
England and America. The English traveller is a
typo in himself. Yon see him In the comedies, la
the pictorial satirical papers, in tlie shape or a top.
The one eyeglass, the small billycock bat, tha
plalded coat and striped trousers, the brows
hanging Dundreary beard, the opera glass swnng
over his shoulder and the Inseparable umbrella.
This Is the Englishman as French lancy paints hlna
So he was to our lathers. But the typical Amen
can changes with every senson.
TUB AMERICAN'S WHO DAVE COME ABROAD.
There was the hegira or "war Americans" during
the Rebellion, when there were a Southern and a
Northern colony, who used to frown on each othei
as they passed along the boulevards. The French
police bad their own time to prevent these Montagges
and Capulets from doing more than bits
their thumbs at each other. I remember a comic
print or the time, entitled "North and South
Americans Discuss Politics." The sceuo was an
omnibus on a boulevard, filled with passengers,
seated on the top. At one end was a Northerner
with a pistol draw, firing at a Southerner at the
other end, who bad a pistol drawn also, the
alarmed passengers striving, in every attitude, to
avoid the sbotB. French reeling was much with
the South, upon whose supporters the Emperor
was wont to smile his gloomy, Inscrutable smile.
After the cottou loan was sold and money ran
short our "erring countrymen" found Parle
a hard place and were reduced to many
shifts. But with the war came the
shoddy lords. Daring the closing years
of the war the shoddy class foamed over Parle
and amazed the frugal French mind by extravagance
and want or culture. This was the harvest
time of the cooks, and the concierges, and waiter*
at the cajCa, and more especially the dealers in
pictures aud imitation jewelry. The shoddy lords
were followed by the petroleum aristocracy?an
astonishing class, who generally came In groups,
under a competent courier, wjio spoke all lan*
gnages and robbod his clients. Then came the
Tammany hegira. First we had Mr. Sweeny and
some of the chiefs, who came to study Paris, so
that they might gain hints for beautifying New York.
The example became contagious, and all the Americus
boys came, wearing dazzling diamond pins and
gaudy scarrs, and drove around In carriages and
drauk champagne before breakfast, and smoked
amazing cigarB, and gave the waiters a napoleon
for drink-money, and spent their time In honses
where the female society, it Is said, was more
amiable than exclusive. As most of these astonlshing
young men weru known as colonels, or
generals, or judges, or Senators In Albany, and aa
In their Interviews with Frenchmen they took n?
pains to diminish their Importance at home,
Frenchmen began to have their own Ideas as to
the ruling classes of our dear native land, Bat
this happy hegira came to an cud. We have had
Tammany men since, but they came like birds In
a moulting state. Their diamonds are gone. They
no longer boast of their consequence in New York.
They spend their time considering extradition
treaties, and, notwithstanding the Cat list troubles,
sho iv a singular ailectlou lor Spaia.
TUB OUTSIDER AM) TUB INSIDER.
Detween the summer-corners and tne residents
of the colony there are no relations of enthusiasm.
The colony, for Instance, has Its club, with superb
apartments, In the Place de l'Oplra, looking down
at the Column VendOme. It looks down also upon
the Grand Hotel, and while our average American
brother who is doing his Parts Tor the first time
sits at the ca/C and drinks his champagne, wonderlng
whether he will be seasick returning home, the
colonists sit at the clnb windows and wonder what
brings Americans over to Paris, anyhow?Americana,
at least, who do not have a hundred thousand
a year. Between these two classes a fierce fend
rages. Your correspondent recalls some conversations
that came to htm during his Investigations,
which, with due reserve and generous
pruning, he wlU reproduce. One was an
outsider giving his views about the
club and the oolsny. 'We belong to theclubl"
said Jonathan, the outsider, "we ueiuu# to i.m
cinb?ne?er I I want to choose my own company.
When 1 gamble I go to Baden-Baden and don't
win 100,000 francs from my friends at baccarat,
and that's what they do at the club every night.
Why, If It were not for Meredith Road they would
all be In the Conclergerle or breaking atones on
the roads. 1 don't see why they should not break
tones. Any man that would win 100,000 franca
from hla mends at a sitting and in a elub is not a
gentleman?no, he is not, by God!" "But,"
said your correspondent, "If men choose to play
for 100,000 francs at baccarat, wnoee business Is
it, and where is there more sin In playing lor a
hundred thousand francs than for a hundred?" ]
know," aaid Jonathan, the outsider, "but you are
a journalist, and If you do your duty you win expose
the club." "Go on," was the response; "that
la my trade." "Weil," aaid Jonathan, "the members
of that cIud arc a disgrace to tbo colony. Nc
one will admit them into society, and so the)
make a society of their own, Meredith Read tea
gchtieuAu. Ue asked mo to il^ner when 1 cam*