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Feb. 25, I860.j The Leader tmd Sa^ierday...
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FOREIGN CORRESPONDENCE. (special.) . Pae...
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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Miscellaneous Books.* ; \ Convenience, W...
twenty years has been most wonderfully displayed in her magnificent colonies ; the gigantic strides vrhich in particular have been made , by Canada are forcibly brought before us by the Report of Mr . Blackwell , Vice-President anl Manager ofihe Grand Trunk Railway , relative to the position and prospects of that line . The document is one of the most full and elaborate ever issued by a railway company . It is accompanied by a large number of maps , plans , and tabular statements vvhichvvill supply the proprietors with an amount of information not to be surpassed except by careful personal inspection . In the year 1849 , Canada possessed one railway , of sixteen miles in length-there are now in complete operation upwards ° f 1 , 750 miles , of wh . ch the main centre ^ the Grand Trunk line ; nor is this the only means of communication by which progress and commerce have been assisted—the canal system for perfecting the navigation of the St . Lawrence has been completed . Within the last tea years the whole municipal system has been thoroughly organized , and is how the most perfect probably in the world . Education is universal , and conducted upon the most approved principles . The feudal tenure in Lower Canada has been abolished ; the civil and criminal laws have been revised and amended , and the statutes
consolidated into a simple code ; while to crown all , an example has been set to the mother country by a reform and extension of Parliamentary representation the Upper House also , being now based upon the elective principle . With such great facts accomplished , the Canadians may well count upon a glorious future ; , and a very few years at this rate will render "England in the New World" a reality as well as an aspiration .
Feb. 25, I860.J The Leader Tmd Sa^Ierday...
Feb . 25 , I 860 . j The Leader tmd Sa ^ ierday Aiial ^ si . 189
Foreign Correspondence. (Special.) . Pae...
FOREIGN CORRESPONDENCE . ( special . ) . Paeis , February 22 nd ; , 1860 . THE Carnival has come to an end , and Lent fairly begun . It must by no means be supposed that the next forty days . area season of austerity and seclusion from the pomps and vanities of this wicked . world :. there is not a ball the less , not a whit more fasting 1 , no modific ation of amorous intrigues , no more churchg-oingi no closing of theatres—all goes on just in the ordinai-y way , so that really the extravagances of the Carnival have not the same excuse as they had in bygone days , when they were regarded as the outlet of all the animal exuberance , which was to be closely confined for the next six weeks . There can be little doiibt , however , that at
the present time , religion , even in the observance of its ceremonial part , and in its formalism , is at a lower ebb than it has ever been in France since the g-i'eatiiftvolution . In 1790 the Clrarch was abhorred and the priests an object of loathing ; in 1860 the one is despised and the other regarded with pity and contempt . The last state is worse than the first , and Catholicism had move to hope from tlie violence of the eighteenth century , than it lias from the quiet ileglcet of the nineteenth .. "Hypocrisy , " saj's Fuixjek , in one of his wise saws , "is the homage that vice pays to virtue . " Well , in France infidelity has ceased to pay even an apparent homatro to religion , and few Frenchmen are religious hypocrites , because such hypocrisy would not be worth the trouble . An alarming majority of the welLto-do classes , so far as my own observation extends , frankly and openly profess to believe in
nothing beyond wliat they caii see and enjoy , and follow to the letter Teijjence ' s injunction , Carpe diem , if , however , the observances of the church can be inside at any time or in any- way a pretext for inore than ordinary enjoyment , they are carefully maintained and scrupulously respected . Here is the Carnival for instance , " As we are going to mortify the flesh for sis weeks to come ; give up ' bails , never go to a theatre , fast on'Wednesdays and Fridays , ami do so ' many other good works , why it is only fair that we should give ourselves a little extra , amusement beforehand . " A very good argument in itself , but unfortunately based on a fact which is not a fact . Contrary to n great natural law , tine beyond the narrow liin-its of confectionery , the French both eat their cake and lmvo ib ; for after they have ( concentrated the enjoyment of six weeks into as many clays , they have still their six weeks' enjoyment iivtaot , and they lose no time in seizing it .
Tho olmyaotev of a nation can never bo move clearly discerned than in their observance of tho national holidays . Take an Englishman . His great festival in Christmas ; and ho keeps it b , y a jfanuly gathering round tho family firofcide . Is not tho chief chanioteriMtio of the Knglish the strength of the domestic element ? So , in Franco , tho gran < l holiday is tho Carnival , and the poopje celebrate it in crowded midnight balls , in overflowing theatres , in dazzling cards , with extravagant costumes , childinh pageants , and © very other accessory of universal tomfoolery . The true character of tho people is fully brought out : gaiety and pleasure uro tho ends which ovory Parisian puts before himself ; how to socuro tho most cntii'iiimmunity from thinking-, and at the same time tho groutost possible amount of light excitement . Tho pleasures of tlie Puritfiimfl , 1
after nil , areof a sort which you in Iliugland would consider undignified and trifling . As I stroll along , tho Boulevards , I cannot help smiling as I think with what profound contempt tho grave London Cil would regard the light-hearted Parisian ns . hu sits in a unt' 6 , drinkiiur wator and autfur , and placing dominoes with hit * wifo , or nmvbo r .. ) t his wifo , You may walk from the liurikillo to the Muiloh'i ' uo , that . is , from . pno ond of the Jioulovards to tho other , and in ovory ono of the throo huudrod " and sixty cufdH which aro said to oxirt ' t in that lino of strqutu , you will find a score of people thus qnipluvod ; and this mild uinufloiuoivt is oven moro common tw yon fyoli . lower down in tho social Hualo . The work pun of the Faubourg St . Antonio may be found doing in tho dingy onbnrot precirttily what his master doou la tho brilliant oaf < 5 at the " Wust 42 nd . " ¦ Tho conversation is in general us light-hearted an everything 1 else . Politico we never mentioned , ivnd if you approach n
little knot of smokers in a cafe , it is ten to one that you will find them talking about the last new piece at the \ Bouffes ; or ; of the weight of the prize ox , Soiferino , who has been paraded about Paris for tlie last three days with a great deal of silly trurnpetings and military processions ; or of Lord Seymour ' s , cigars and pictures ; or retailing , very doubtful anecdotes , about some favourite actress . An Englishman would be discussing with judicial gravity the prospects of trade ,: criticising the details of ' "the Budget , or invei ghing against Lord PAiiMERSTON . I do not believe that the French will be a self-governing people for a very long , time to comer they have not time for government , and the majority of them seem to feel very much obliged to the Emperor for saving them the trouble . Let them have their amusements and they are content ;
they would not greatly concern themselves if every newspaper in Paris ( excepting the . JSritr ' acte ) . were suppressed to-morrow ; but if the Louvre or the Hotel de Gluny were closed on a Sunday , or if the Emperor were to prevent the admission of the public to the garden of the Tuileries , almost under his own dining-room window , why there would be a revolution in twenty-four hours . At the same time as the stranger walks along- the crowded streets he soon sees that Hapoi / eon III . is no exception to the general rule- — " Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown . " First you stumble against an unshaven , grim-looking ouvrier , in his--blouse , and who , yo ' it fancy , would be a capital hand at a barricade ; then you meet a wild Zouave , or Chasseur deVincennes , or Garde Imperiale , who must have employment somewhere ; next , in contrast with the red
trousers and bright facings of the son of Mars , you light upon the sable petticoats and shovel hats of the men of peace . These are the three classes whom the Emperor is obliged to restrain , tlie workmen , tile soldiers , rmd the priests ; the- 'first urged on . by physical hunger , tlie second by thirst for glory , and the last by the desire to recover their lost influence and avenge the wrongs of Pio No ? fo—all three together constitute a formidable triumvirate , which will require all the Imperial ingenuity to resist , and which probably , in spite of all , will one day again overthrow the Napoleonic dynasty . At present , to all outward appearance , things are smooth enough . The superb streets and " magnificent buildings , which now are rising on every side , and the corresponding demolition of old and narrow alleysj of dilapidated , dingy houses , attest , the vigour with which the Emperor is gratifying the pride of the Parisians in the beauty of their city , and at the same time giving employment to thousands of labourers ,
who would otherwise be giving him a very unpleasant employ went . Of coiirse if these wide streets are more commodious for the passage of cannon and the operations of the soldiers than their predecessors . were—^ well , perhaps there is not much harm in that , thinks his Imperial Majesty : ' in : fact , evil-: minded persons think that this is his Imperial Majesty ' s chief object . As for the soldiers , they are tolerably satisfied with the Italian campaign , a satisfaction which , it is to be hoped rather than expected , will continue for some years to come . With the third class , the priests , Napoleon has pursued the policy which will probably be less successful than just ; and as one looks upon the sullen , crafty a-s ' p . cut of the ecclesiastics as they glide along the streets , it is not difficult . to discern the malevolent purposes concealed beneath the priestly garment , and one is reminded that I ? AA Ai ci ,. \ cy the assassin of Hen'u y TV ., was a priest . As Madame Jouudain said , " The sight of them makes me feel as if I had had niy dinner . "
I think that , on the whole , the feeling of the country is in-favour of the Commercial ' Treaty . All intelligent Frenchmen see more clearly every day that it is for the in tores fc of either nation that [ France and England should be on friendly terms with one another , and tiioy believe that this treaty will strengthen the entente vordi ' ale , to use a cui . it expression very popular about three years ago , and which ' is now interpreted by tho equally popular " Itifle Corps Movement . " With reference to competition , tho French are of opinion that for a time tho English will be gainers but to a slight extent , and that as soon ns matters have taken a position of equilibrium , even " Ut nation boutuji $ il > re , " the shopkeeper nation itself will bo boatdn on its own ground . Tjioy have superior ingenuity and skill ; they think that they have hitherto lmd insufficient
material , which will henceforth bo . furnished in abundance . Tlie old joke , that the French cooks would bu the best in the world if they liar ] any meiit , may contain a doepor significance ' , and the French will perhaps show that thoy aro tliobont machinists , and the best manufacturers of fabrics in tho world , when they cnu p'ronuro iron and wool . Well , at all events they think ho . Tho doclrine of Jfroo Trade , in common with most of tho fwiontilio truths of political economy , is not at all comprehended by the majority of popplo in . Franco , and though M . Cmkvali . iicu has done much to promote this most important branch of woionoo , ib will bo many years before his teaching will have porrnontod tho national uudor-Htnnding , or brought forth much fruit . Porhnps an extension of oonvncroittl sub than
rolntiourt may contribute more to oorrdot v ! o \ vh on thin jocfc volumes of theory , nnd -such nn oxl . « i ) Hion would bo secured by tho working of tho treaty , nnd by opemintf to Fieuoh tratio an » iiilirnited fluid . Thoy do not seem to have any notion Hint the HiiHlish parliament muy throw tho treaty ovorbonrd ; in fa < rt , tliey have the most confiiHOd ' notions ponnihlo aH to what tho working ol Qm Ifixooutivo i « , and , they , with Lhnir oxtnnnoly nhvnla rtfgiinu , find it diilioult to approciato tho compliimiions which surround nn liJnglinJv ministor . Thin boing t , ho oiiho , it in quilt * iinportniblo to prodlof wiiat would bo tho odbot of th ' o ntjuotion of tho treaty . This much i « quite ourtain , tluifc ovory JiVoiiolnnan you moot , however reasonable and paoiHc in hirt viown , will not attempt to comical Ui » t . tho moHt popular thing with tho nrmy would bo a war with EiiKlund j « n < i it m u question how iiw tlio dwtui'Uunoo ol lna intenMon
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Feb. 25, 1860, page 17, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_25021860/page/17/
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