Parisian Notes.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XVI, Issue 11, 6 July 1888, Page 3

Parisian No tes.

A okbtain M. Boulangier, who has been travelling in Russia and Central Asia, has returned, deeply impressed by what he has seen. The progress of the railway, aod the transformation of the wild tribei of the desert into faithful subjects of the Czar have won his especial admiration, lhe line wants but comparatively little to complete it that wou'd bring Paris within ten or twelve days of Calcutta. Bat until either England or Russia is the undisputed mistress of the East its completion must be deferred. M. Boulangier insists that no one can travel through the Russian Empire without becoming convinced that with it lies the mastery of the world. The time, however, is elapsed at which Napoleon predicted that Europe wonld be either Cossack or Republican, and perhaps the beginning of the end makes itself manifest.

It; is a curious fact that as the centenary of the Revolution approaches, the memory of its great forerunner, Voltaire, by being brought fully into the light has become contemptible beyond all suspicion. M. Nicolardot, who, in his Etudes sur let grand* hommes, had published some details that gave offence to the philosopher'! admirers, betook himself in defence to a more exhaustive study. The consequence has been a book in which Voltaire's character is thoroughly exposed as that of the meanest and most dishonest of mankind. There was no form of baseness with which he was not familiar, even descending to petty theft and beggary. But in our own days also we hare seen that fine writing gives ao proof of nobility of mind.

The worth of fine writing has a living example in M. de Renan whose admirable style but ill disguises the intolerable folly, not to •peak of the blasphemy , of his ideas. He has now published a beautiful description of the hymns sung antiphonally by the men and women of a congregation in the cathedral at Quimper. The description serves, nevertheless, only as a mask for a farrago of rubbish, spiced with suggestiveness. in which the sage argues as to the different quality of the prayers, of men and women. The generation that can hang on the words of such a writer as M. de Renan is, indeed, corrupt, and his glory arises rather from its corruption than from any merit of his own. Could De Renan realise this how great a blow, but how well deserved a one, would he not receive to that intolerable conceit which is his chief characteristic.

An exhibition which includes a pood deal of interest is now open of the manuscripts and draw ngs of Victor Hugo. The hand writing of the poet shows a good deal of variation. The drawings, in black and white, art those of a true artist, and display an imagination weird, and wild, aid grotesque. If there be any who harbour doabis of Hugo'i genius, they need but come here to be convinced .

The League of Patriots, under the presidency of M. Fery d'Esclands, having split on th 3 Boulangist question, has heen reconstructed on extreme Bjulangist principles, with M. Pml Derou'ede reappointed as President. It is gaii ing rapidly in adherents, and Bonapaitists and Royalists are uum rously giving in their allegiance to it. Tbe B'»ulangists lay all their hopes on the elections of 1889. which they look forward to as resulting in their comple'e triumph, and, with the monopoly of the Chamber which they expect, they will be in a position to carry out their intentions to extremes. A chief plank in their programme is the substitution of the General for M Carnot as President of the Republic. Ihe General, meantime, is accredited with tbe authorship of a book named L' lnvasion Allemande, which is being distributed broad-cast over the face of the conntry, and tends to louse the warlike spirit, while at the same time its motto is tbat Bpecious one th*t no hostile steps are to be taken unless the country is attacked. But, as everyone knows, the nature uf an attack is capable of various interpretations.

The dangers of hypnotism have just had an exemplification in the case of a youth who was one night, when under the in flue i oe of a hypnotist, commanded to commit a murder. He scrupulously obeyed, subjecting to the most violent treatment, and stabbing repeatedly with a knife, a figure prepared for the purpose. A few evenings afterwards he ran wildly from his home, and was found, in a distant part of the city, by the police, bewailing himßelf bitterly, and declaring that h« had killed his mother. He was taken into custody, and brought back to his parents' residence, where be came to himself — with a complete forgetfulness of the escapade in which be had been engaged. His astonishment was extreme when the policemen told him what be had just been doing and saying. But anything which is capable of throwing a human being into suoh a state as this must be dangerous to meddle with.

Mr, Stead, of the Pall Mall Gazette, who is now making a tour of the Continent, hap given great cfEence to the French. After spending four or five days in Paris, he proceeded to Btrlin, whence be has written to say tbat Rothschild is 'he true king of France, and that meney is all powerful with the French people. There is no spirit of revtnge among them, or any warlike or manly thought of the confiscated territory, but gain is their only object. Naturally, great .indignation is felt at so gros- an accusation, and England, as well as Mr. Stead himself, comes in for a good share of tbe arguments urged in exculpation. But, corsidering that General Boulanger has denounced tbe Jews, it is hardly fair to accuse the whole nation of being thus bound in golden bonds to their chariot wheel.

Sporting circles have been interested ia a bet made by M. Paul d«la Plante that one of bis horses would travel from Nantes to Paris in less than 75 hours. — About the expiration of the appoii ted time on the day named, or at the end of 70 hours 35 minutos, the borne, lidden by M. Adam Bouche", a breeder from La Vendee, arrived on the Place de la Concorde, where it was welcomed by a rejoicing crowd. The distance of Nantes from Paris is three hundred milea.

M. Auguste| Lalance, a Member from Alsace-Lorraine in the German Parliament, has written a letter to M. Castelar gratefully acknowledging the efforts made by that statesman for the restitution of the conquered territory. He complains that a rampart has has been made of provinces that nature had destined to be a bond of union between two great nations. Prior to 1870 the intention of nature, he says, was complied with by men of letters and artists who made each nation acquainted with tbe works produced by genius in the other. All history teaches he argues, that there was never a point of national difference between the French and Germans, but that every quancl between them had originated in the will of princes. It could be understood, he adds, that while Prince Bismarck was engaged in consolidating the new empire, ho should desire to retain his conquest as a pledge of safety, but once that task had been accomplished, no further reason could exist. Has the hour come, therefore, for the wise and generous surrender ? It is to be feared, however, tbat M. Lalance, as well as M. Castelar, argues in vain.

Another illustration of tbe education of the day has occurred in the suicide of a student at the Lycie Henri IV. His body was found early in tbe morning hung from a pillar of one of the classrooms. He had stolen down from the dormitory during the night to commit the fatal deed — for which no motives can be discovered. But a distaste for life is a natural consequence of the theories of the day.

A good priest of the diocese of Bayonne, named Quevedo, was recently left an inheritance of 2,000,000 francs. Not having ary worldly ambitions, and distrustful of his own powers of making use of the money, he presented it straightway, as a jubilee gift, to the Holy " Father. This is an example such as we read of only in the lives of the saints. The Abbe Quevtdo consistently shuns the publicity into which his munificence has brought him, and avoids the inevitable interviewer.

The Boulangist craze has also its tragic incidents. A drunken orator, for example, holds forth, with hiccoughs, on the brink of a canal. Borne away by his eloquence he topples over and falls into the water. A little boy pokes out hia head to see the result, and himself in tnrn falls in. Boatmen, near at hand, rescue the drunkard, but the boy is drowned. — A young countryman visits Paris, where the riots turn his brain, Ht retmaa hone a raving maniac, and has to be Mnt

to an asylum — insisting that the General has stolen all his money, and thit he is starving.— But the riots have been fast and furious— students against the General and the General's partisans against the student a. The wits, moreover, have taken the matter up, and a letter written to a newspaper by the boys of one of the lyceis, complaining tbat, on their demonstrating unfavourably against the pretender of the day and in favour of their country's freedom, partisan policemen had handled them roughly, has been followed by others of a satirical strain. The little bjys, for example, who play in one of che squares, complain that their opposition to Boulanger has brought upon them th^ xn?er of the care-taker, wbo has broken some of thuir toys. And, finally, the nursemaids state their grievance as to the manner in which their charges have been treated by certain public functionaries for anti-BouUngist prattle. The affair has also its comic side — and there is decidedly someihing ridiculous about the General besides bis wig, if he wears one— as common report has it.