A LADY'S LETTER FROM PARIS. (FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.) Paris, May 12.

North Otago Times, Volume XXVI, Issue 1626, 6 July 1877, Page 2

A LADY'S LETTER FROM PARIS. (FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.) Paris, May 12.

Although we have swallows, roses, lilac, strawberries, and green peas, wo have neither spring nor summer. One of the many head astronomers that France now possesses, for, being in a Republic, all men are equal, lately discovered a terrible black spot on the sun, to which unauthorised astronomers attribute the topsyturvy character of the seasons. As a compensation for the aeven months wet winter that we ha f 'e had to endure, another class of philosophers, meteorogists, console us that the winter of 1880 will be the coldest ever known in France, so that the oldest inhabitant's memory will be worthless. On the contrary, it may, like droams, turn out the reverse, as people will be occupied in the warm work of electing Marshal Mao Mahon's successor, provided France be not in the interim eaten up ty civil wars between Republicans and Ultramontanes, to say nothing of a possible visit from neighbors near the Rhine, when they see the house divided again«t itself. Of course ladies feel the effects of the war. First the mot d'ordre has gone forth that pin money must be reduced, and that, instead of commanding new toilette*, it would be more prudent for us to indulgo in a few head-aches finding out how old ones could be made as good as new. Not much money will be expended on paddings to the sea-side, and even a villa outside Paris comesf under the head of unnecessary luxuries. It is useless for ladioi arranging waat maladies ought to be fashionable this summer, in order to compel the mineral water doctor* to prescribe the desired spa. Affectionate husbands and loving papas explain, our incomes have been terribly cut down, in consequence of Turkey failing to pay interest on the money we lent her to ameliorate her Christians, and our other debtor, Russia, may at any moment suspend cash payments also, as wo subscribed to the Czar's loans to bonefit his Christians also. l A very bad sign of the times, some ten of the sixty journals devoted to the latest fashions have died a natural doath since New Year** Day ; only judge how difficult it is for ladies to act in presence of a plethora of knowledge. Nearly all these special journals are the organs of milliners, dressmakers, and drapers, and their originality is not to be questioned, since, each dictates a code of fashion of its own, that no one here appttrently ever follows. Strangers, it is said, correct this want of respect, affording thus stronger proof, that prophets have no honor in their own country. French mothers are proverbial for their love for their children. If not tent to the country to be nursed, that operation once performed at home, and the children arrived at A B C age, the boys are sent to school, and the girls to the convent, the latter are reminded that if they are sage, learn well their scales, be able to define the tenses of English irregular verbs, and recognise the difference between yes and no in German, they will be rewarded with a husband and home of their own when leaving school at sweet sixteen. This method of bringing up has the advantage of allowing mammas more libertr to see life. Another system of private education coming into vogue, in what may be called boarding-school sets. A few families of equal social standing arrange to oonficU

their girls to a lady, who will derote herself to them oxclusivoly, lodging, eduoating, and veneering them, according to fixed term* and modern principle! . Big folks have tjjeir conferences, where quite a class of male and female lecturers hold forth on everything, and very frequently on nothing. Children have their special miniature theatres — independent of the Qrugnols, their concerto and fancy ball* ; but they lacked their conferences. This; want is now supplied ; a theatre opens iti doors once a week, for one hour and a half' in the afternoon, whore a gentleman and lady hold forth on nursery tales, more or less advanced and now, with magio lantern illustrations or Chinese shadows. I confess I found new laughter in these old tales illustrated, and more entaininent than in tho severe and solemn common-places of tho lecturers A la mode. Tho only requirement babies stand in need of is to arrango to give tnom a voyage round the world, say in nine days. Society and the papers of a certain party allege that sinco the advent of the Republic, high, that is extravagant, life, has oeased to exist, to thd dotrimont of trade ; while in the stmo breath, they accuse tho same Republic as developing a condition of things to bo only equalled by Roman corruption and Orion' J_H__| minacy. The truth is, that ParisiuT^nt^ is pretty much about what it has ever been. Resident strangers who take only tho Olpmpian view of French politic*, keep on tho even tonor of their way, indulge in good eating and drinking, patronise amusements, and enjoy that calm and coky independence and freedom from the boredom of button-holoing acquaintances and misohief making relatives, not to be found at home. A walk or a seat in tho Avenue dos Champs Elysees, on a Sunday afternoon, will attest tho proofs of material wealth and show under tho Republic Take an iron chair, on tho righc-hand side of the Avenue when going towards tho Arc do Triomphc. The citizons hero have no connection with the people over the way, who are eld, frowsy, sickly, quarrelsome, dressed in gnrmonts s iggostivo of the light of other days, and smelling strongly of camphor or other horrible anti-inseot powders. The carriages roll up and down, three or four abreast, filled with rlogantly dressed peop'o. There is tho joint-stock carriage, where the whole turn-out — powdered coachmen and footmon, in blue, scarlet, and gold, with necks as stiff as the bust on a cenotaph — is the produot of a subscription hetwoen two or throe suocossful trading families. There are alto ambassadors, attache's, bankers, and an inevitable Chinese or Japanese embassy. Equestrians aro rare ; French ladies, nearly as a rule, know nothing about horsemanship, and French goutlemou in the saddle recall, not a little, tho post mortem ride of tho Cid. Horseback is not the proper milieu for an intrigue, but a brougham supplies all the conditions. Tho picture show is, as usual, a godsond. Whatever the salon may do for tho promotion of art, it k certainly a magnificent lounge, and a capital bazaar for the sale of paintings ; only the plums of the pudding are generally sold before they are served. The artists middle- man has gonerally the painter deep m his books, and he must work out his liquidation hkeaDumas pbro or a Balzac, The ohofs d'amvre ape few and far between, so a roliof to the memory. The " Doath of Mercoau," is voted excellent ; the portrait of " Thiors" is a success ; Meiraonier's "Dumas'" is a half ditto; Republicans friend, " Gambetta's," portrait perfection; Royalists declare it course and detestable There is a canvas representing the " inundation of Toulouse," which is so truo to nature that it will faithfully represent a flood in any of tho live ports of the world ; and Gustavo Dorti, as usual, paints as he is said to soil — by the squaro yard. _________________