A FRENCH SCANDAL.

Wellington Independent, Volume XXVI, Issue 3101, 18 January 1871, Page 3

A FRENCH SCANDAL.

~« Paris 29th October. " Figaro" yesterday came out with an article which proves once more that some per* 1 sons will not wash their dirty linen at home, i I hesitate to follow the " Figaro" through the i revelations which that journal makes concerning the spy system organised in France by Count Bismarck. I will endeavor to pick my way through the article as best I can, avoid- , ing what is positively too revolting for print. This unblushing papor informs us that at the death of the Duke de Morny, of gallant memory, a dozen ladies of the elevated imi perial circle, suddenly saw themselves deprired of the greater portion of their resources. , Count Bismarck learned the names of these ladies, and then began that serious game of ! Prussian espionage in the midst of which a careless Franco laughed and danced to the 1 musio of Herv6 and Offenbach. Before that . the friend of the King of Prussia had no , trouble to find devoted agents, for since the commencement of the Empire one half of France spied the other half. But these spies i belonged to tbe lower regions, and for a long time Bismarck had been watching for an op- | portunity for getting at the intimate secrets of the State. Before the ashes of the Duke 1 de Morney were cold, each of his old friends ' blessed [Providence, for they received German : gold liberally given, and the Duke was soon i forgotten. " Figaro" then explains how the , new lovers were not jealous so long as the [ ladies whose extravagance they supported ! furnished them with the means of forwarding ' useful intelligence to Count Bismarck. A i crowd of beautiful foreign women suddenly settled in Paris, and betrayed the secrets of i the alcove and supper table. They dived into the innnermost thoughts of the senile 1 Ministers, who, intoxicated with unhoped-for preference, endeavored to disguise their physical infirmities by the charms of their conversation, and the siren always knew how to r exact any information required by King | William. When the war broke out the bevy fled, carrying to Berlin the latest intelligence ' concerning the French army, etc. " Figaro" ' then gets very broad in an account of a certain i regiment raised by Count Bismarck for the purpose of worming secrets from the suscepti- , ble hearts of washerwomenand other females in the lower ranks of sooiety, who appear to be as sasily captivated by the blandishments and ■ silver, as the ladies of the Empire were with ; gold.—" Pall Mall Correspondent."