Foreign Correspondence

Paris, M;iy 20, 1873. Fkiend Pond: It is not intended to givo you my minuto descripiion of this great city, for it is iuipossiblo ; but without much niet hoc some of the sights and appearances wil be noted down as we have seen and observed thom. Whichever way Paris is approached the traveler is made conscious that it is a city of grand proportions Finely situated on the Seine, which divides it into two equal parts, it occupies and filis apparently an immense basin bordered by bilis of no great elevation, f rom whieh, and fromseveral of the domes and towers in the city itself, the whole wide extent can be taken in at a single view - an unbroken wilderness of buildings, 60 miles in circuit, extending in some places quite to the horizon's verge, and amid the mass, towering &bovo them all are always readily recognized the splendid Arch of Triumph, the golden dome of the Invalides, the Pantheon, the towers of Notre Dame, and other wellknown structures. The population 'of this great expanse is not much less than two millions. Our entranoe was by the road from Lyons, the great route through to Italy by the Mt. Genis tunnel, and we were thus set down in the eastern part of the city, not far from the Column of July, a fine monument of iron erected over the victims of the revolution of 18.Í0. It is erected upon the site of the. memorable prison of the Btistile, and is now mude 'urther historical as the place where the so-called héroes of Pebruary, 1848, were also interred ; and still further by the reception of many of the victims of the terrible Commune insuirection of May 1871. This open space was the scène of tho most determined efforts of these madmen to defend themselves after they had attempted the burning of the finest buildings and treasures of the city, and many evidences yet remain in the marks left by shot and ball upon the buildings of this vicinity. The Bridge of Austerlitz is crossed in going from the depot over to the right bank of the Seine where we secured lodgings. And in near vicinity, ako, on an island, is the oelebratcd Cathedral of Notre Diiae, whilo directly opposite the depot, across the river, is the Jarden des Plantes, one of the most perfect and extensive collections of the kind on the continent. Thus you see we are at once surrounded by objects of interest not quite unknown, and after a respite oí a single day the woik of sceing Paris began. Our rooms are on the Rue des Ecoles, socalled because of the educational institutions on this street, among them the famous " Sorbonne" but a few blocks trom us. We found no difficulty in securing comfortable lodgings, but it is not so easy to find them upon satisfactory terms. There are a great number of the hotel and private pensions, of which something was said when writing about Genova, so that regular hotel bilis at least may be avoided and good, comfortable apartments, and board may be secured at from one to one dollar and half per day, gold. Of course, if greater luxury is desired a greater expenditure will secure it. Our first look was somewhat general. Crossing the river we went directly to the Place Bastile, and from thence made the tourof that grand somicircle of streets reaching round to the Madeline, and called by way of distinction tte Boulevards (uow thought to be better spolled Boulevarts). Other streots by this name stretch in tnany directions, sorne of them of great splendor ; but those of the Capucins, Italiens, Mont Martre, St. Denis, Du Temple, und others in the line referred to, combine almost everything in the way of splendid buildings, shops, fashion, and animation that can be imagined, and no other capital in Europe oxhibits a spectacle couibining greator attractions along their business thoroughfares. The distance is about three miles, and as we proceed the " plot thickens." The streets, resembling Broadway in spaciousness, are crowded with all kinds of vehicles moving in seemingly inextricable confusión but quietness over the smooth asphalt pave, chief among which are the omnibus carriages, packed with their two stories of living fi-oight, those inside paying 30 centimes (6 cents), those on the top only three cents. To the stranger it appears as if nearly half the shops are pither cafes or for pastry dealers, and spaco along the sidewalk is gonerously conceded to these popular resorts of the Parisians. In addition to these stationary conveuioncos foreatingand drinking, we see great numbors of dealers in sugared water and othor beverages walking about with reservoirs of variouscaliberstrapped upon their backs, and provided with convenient faucets coming forward between the arm and side. Then there are occasionally, also, beautiful drinking fountains and very frequently ornamental little rotundas, fivo or six foet in diameter, wherc seltzer water, etc, is sold. In fact those latter, and the newspaper kiosques and other similar small structures for public convenience, are liberally distributed along all the principal stroets, and being tastefally constructed are not an unpleasant feature beneath the shade trees with which so many stroets are also supplied. Diverging a little to the luft froni the Bastile we took a survey of the Place Koyal. This place occupies the site of the Palace Tournelles, where Henry II. was accidentally killed in a tournament, and whose wife, the somewhat famous Catharine de Medecis, caused the palace to be taken down and the present buildings to be erectod. The square presents a very neat appearance, with fine shade Vrees and fountains and an equestrian statue of Louis XIII. ; but it is very quiet and exhibits but little of the holiday and stirring aspect of most of the city parks and gardens. In one of tho buildings Richelieu once residod, and Víctor Hugo and Rachel also occupied rooms on this square. But this is not the fashionable quarter and therefore not so gay with promenaders aud fine turnouts. The fnubourg St. Antoine has never been ao noted for its style a8 tor its republicanisin. And this recalls the faot everywhere visible, of this obstinate, theoretical adherence of the French people to their fainous revolutionary war cry - Liberte, Egalite, Fraternite. All public buildings, palaces even, and somewhat oddly ehurches also, bear upon their facades thoso cabalistic and high sounding words, in large letters, as if furnishing souie talismanic protection. lt seems a sad burlesque upon the sincerity and depth of this public " profession of Faitjj " to see this saine creed dimly legible amid the blackenod walls which and insano Commune, just two years ago, left as memorials of their regard for this pompous sentiment. Leaving this región and its more common aspect of serious business and cheap entertainments, we roach the Boulevart du Temple with a constan tly increasing display of street attractioiis and bustling activity. It was on this street that the memorable attack upon the life of Louis Philippe was made by Fieschi, with his infernal machine, in 1835. The Place Chateau d'Eau is a very large, irregular, open space, formed of the intersection of the Boulevarts Temple, St. Martin, Magenta, and Prince Eugene (recently changed to Voltaire who was not in any way related to the Napoleonic dynasty). Here, notwithstanding the rivpid work of restoration, are yet to be seen some of the memorials of 1871, for every street was here barricade'd by the Commune and a desperate effort made to defend their position. Innumerable white patches upon the immense Caserno on the north side indicate the impact of shot and shell, and the new Theater and other buildings, just erected, cover the site of those burned down. On Mondays and Tuesdays this open space is made beautiful by the flower markets regularly held there upon those days. There is a prevailing f'onddess for flowers among this people, and ust now the display is extremely fine everywhere- at the stands, in the shop windows, in the avenues, public grounds, and private yards - and on all the byways and lanes carts, with flowers for sale, are being pushed about by those who make this their only occupation. Boulevart St. Martin here diverges nearly west, and there is the same growïng increaso of numbers and of display as we proceed. Where the Itue du Faubourg St. Martin crosses the Boulevart is the Porte St. Martin, a triumphal Arch erected in 1G74, in comiuemoration of the several events in the life of Louis XIV. as representad in the reliëfs and insoripti ons. In 1814 the allied arinies passed beneath this Arch and that a little farther on, called the Porte St. Denis (erected two years before the other, in commemoration of the earlier victories of the same Louis 1' Grand), on their march to the Place du Concord, a pleasant turn " in the progress of human eveuts " to the Germans whose defeated armies were embleniatically seing trodden under foot by the Grand Monarch - a compensation realized on a much grander and in more complaisant style by the Germán entirance in 1870. At this Porte St. Martin were also terrino scènes in the eventful days of May, 1871. Just between these two arches we crossed ;he Boulevart Sebastopol, which with lts continuations by the Boulevarts St. Miohel and Strasbourg forras the longest and most magnificent street, in a per'ectly straight direction, of which Paris can boast, and though passing north and south through the very heart of the city, one of those new works whose grand accomplishment forms but one of the niany similar undertakings which signalized the reign of the last Emperor and kept the jeople from hatching revolutions, though jossibly in the end making his downfall sure. Beyond these Arches we pass krough the Boulevart Bonne Nouvelle, ;he Poissonniere whoso bazaars, cafes, and show windows are a constant iinpediment to rapid progress, and by their varous attractions affoid an untiring gratiication, as well as nearly irresistible emptation to prove the soundnoss of the old adage about parting with one's money. It becomes very apparent that war, foreign and intestine, has not and cannot repress the natural vivacity and iveliness of the French people, for as we go down Montraartre and the Italiens, a jerfect maze of vehicles and pedestrians, and a Babel of all imaginable cries and noises, distract the attention, and all that can gratify the refined taste in objects of art, delicacies for the table and luxuries 'or the toilette, are displayed in that endless profusión whioh indicates a fixed demand, and gorgeous theaters and ;housauds of listless promenaders testify bat there are irrepressible fountains of agreeable enjoyment in the Frenchman's nature which survive all political changes and pi e vent prostration and even desDondency. So faras our superficial observation extends Paris is as buoyant and ïopeful, if not proud, as in other years, ;hough as many think a volcanoe's throes are even now threatening another political upheaval. Boulovarts des Italiens and Capucins are probably the most fashionable aud stirring of all the great business streets, and the influence of wealth and its luxurious requirements are noticeable in the ;rand hotels, splendid cafes, and gorgeous show windows. The Grand Opera edifice s quito new and one of the largest and inest edifices of the kind in Europe. We sometimes hear of tho great difficulty of 3ustaining the regular opera in New York city, and so also would it be here wore it not that the government makes annual grants which cover about two-thirds of its expenses. Bankers and capitalists have ;heir edifices upon the streets converging near this point.and the Bourse is upon the Rué Vivienne, quite near. A'few minutes now brings us to the Maileline, one of the finest ehurches of Paris. It occupies an isolatod position and is upon an elevated basement of ■ 20 feot in height ; otherwise it would have presen ted an appearance of flatness, in consequence of its fono and size. It ia surroundod by fine Corinthian columns ó.'i feot in heiglit, and reseiablesa Greecian. temple. The niches are filled with statues ofSaints revered in France, and the pediinent contains a liigh relief representaron of the last Judgment, some of the figures being injured by the missiles fired during the troubles of May 1871. In forcing a barricade across Rue Royale, quite near, the national troops drovo .'500 of the insurgents into the church and suffered not one of them to e9capoalive - a merciless vengeance truly, yet it is difficult to feel much sympathy for victims in such a cause. The lighting is trom cupolas above, and though suöicient for purposeH of worship doesnot seeiu enougli for the proper display of the various works of sculpture and painting by some of the best modern French artista. The high altar has a very fine work, by Marochetti, in marble, representing the Virgin, borne to Paradise by angela ; and the coiling of the Tribuno has a good fresco, by Ziegler, represonting the progresa of Christianity, being of a somewhat Imtori ■ cal character in which several important personages are introduced. - Godfrey de Bouillon, the Venitian Doge Dándolo, Charlemagne, Richelieu, Napoleon, and others. Returning to our rooms, we went down Rue Royale diroctly in front of the ohuroh, to Place de la Concord, the most extensivo and interesting of' the maiiy square in the city. Occupying the central position in that long line of palaces aud gardens which stretch along the Seine for more than a inile it is left comparatively open. Two noble fountains adorn this Place, each consisting of thr'ee basins, one above the other, and respectively 53, 21, and 13 feet in diameter - the lower one being surmounted by Tritons and Nereids holding dolphius which spout water into the second basin, into which the water from the upper also falls. Around the Place stand eight marble figures, emblematic of the principal cities of France and 20 rostral columns supporting candelabra for lighting it at night. In the center stands the ancient Egyptian obelisk presented by the Pacha of Egypt and transported to its present location in 1833. It formerly stood before the great temple of ancient Thebes, and from the hieroglyphics which have been deciphered it ia supposed to date from the time ft f Sesostris the Great, about 1500 years before the Christian era It is a monolith of reddish granite and nearly as perfect as it was 3,000 years ago. But of the historical associations of the memorable Place it would require a a volume to give an account. After having first been used at the Place de Greve near the Hotel de Ville guilotine was in 1793 erected in Place de la Concord and for its first victiin had the king Louis XVI., and it is said to be historically true that between this date and May 179Ó nearly 3,000 persons were here beheaded. Among the illustrious victims were Charlotte Corday, the queen Marie Antcinêtte, the Duke of Orleans, the king's sister Elizabeth, and and many others ; while, less to be regretted, here, too, justice at last reached the heads of Danton, Robespiere, Ut. Just, and many of their partisans. All is now changed. A place of Coucord truly, it appearB as we look upon these thousands of happy faces and innocent children who daily congrégate here every pleasant afteruoon. Of all the sights in this wonderful city none possesses inore varied and constantly fresh interest than that which here presents itself. Standing near the iniddle of the wide avenue, de Champa Elysees, which ia opened through the trees and shrubbery, giving an uninterrupted view, we see far up the gentle slope and crowning the western extremity, nearly a mile distant, the majestic Arch of Triumph de Etoile, spanning the the way, with the moving niyriads of people and carriages animating the whole distance. Toward the east we look directly through the splendid garden of the Tuileries, and through the unglazed window openings of the burned palace itself, and aee that other Arch of Triumph, placed in 1806 in the Place du Carousel, surmounted by its chariot of horses, and beyond it the Palace of the Louvre. Northward, up Rue Royale, is the fine tacarte of the Madeline, and across the rivor, aouth, is the Palace of the Corps Legislatif, above and beyoud which towers the gilded dume of the Invalides. This is a spot always animated, beiug in the heart of the great city and so ampie and so pleasant amid the shady groves, while at the sanietime what we see recalls so much of that memorable Past, in which Paris and France h"avo played such a busy part. Of all the beautiful parks and gardens none are more delightful, though at first it strikes one as he walks through the Champa Elysees that the entire absence of grass and green lawns gives it a somewhat bare appearance ; but this impression soon disappears as we notic! the invaluable advantages of having it all tbr real uso, by the thousands who resort there for the promenade and social intercourse, and especially by the numberless cbildren who are thus allowed an unreetricted range for their gambols and and games. It is kept in the best possible condition, and hundreds of bootha and enchanted tents and kiosks afford entertainment for those who are hungry or athirst, and in all directions are to be seen wooden riding horses and swings, tiny carriages drawn by goats or zebras', trundling hoops and colored balloons,' and thebright faces of the yet unsaddened' children. This favorite resort was originally laid out by Marie de Mediéis, and is about half a mile in length with a varying width as it follows the river upon one aide, being at tbe Place da Concord about 100 yards wide, the most narrow place. The wide avenues referred to, with its parallel side paths, constitute the most fashionable drive and promenade of the city, and for the accommodation of those who wish to be seated to tako notes or to listen to the rausic thore are thousands of chairs to be rented at a few centimes each all about the most frequented and eligible places. Sorae of the trees here are a foot or more in diameter and the shade is complete. As all classes are to be seen about the various points of attraction here, it affords one of the best opportunities to observe Parisian lite in its relaxation and ease and is one of those scènes which uevnr ceases to interest the stranger. Ever yours,