The Express.
London, England, 1866-11-17 00:00:00

LONDON, SATURDAY EVENING, NOVEMBER 17, 1866.

EXPRESS FROM PARIS.

(mica OUR OWN COI

PARIS, FRIDAY EVIDIING.
K. Emile de Girardin continues valiantly to fight
in the Libert4 against the project of increased
armaments, which is now generally understood to
be the real meaning of that " reorganisation of the
army," which at first might be supposed to refer
only to an improved mode of recruiting and the

introduction of the needle-gun. He expresses
astonishment that the Praise, now the property of
the bold speculator Mires, the founder of the
Caine des Chemins de Fer, the promoter of the
Ports de Marseille, the Roman railways, itc.,

should be so far carried away under its new manage-

ment by the ruling passion of the hour in govern-
ment circles as to preach the " danger of too many
public works" only as an auxiliary to arguments
in favour of an augmentation of the army. France
has only half the mileage of railway lines which
England has, and five times less than that of the
United States. Her ordinary roads, canals, and
ports are far from sufficient. To raise more sol-
diers is to take away the hands wanted to complete
necessary public works. When the Prease cries,

"Beware of public works," it says in reality,
" Beware of plenty of work ; beware of prosperity."
Whereas it would do better service to say,
" Beware of commercial crises ; beware of revo-
lutions."

The Liberii daily cites opinions of the provincial
press against levies of more soldiers. The Consti-
tution ceduzerre, quoted to-day, says the very same
obvious thing which the Courser Francais repro-
duced from my correspondence three months ago,
namely, that France was perfectly secure from any
aggression, and could only require an augmenta-
tion of her already very large army with a view to
a war of her own initiating.
The surprise felt at the warm, not to say enthu-
siastic, reception given to Victor Emmanuel in
Venice by the patriarch, Archbishop Trevisanto, is
dispelled by the news that he only acted under the
express orders of the Popo. His Holiness, shortly

before Victor Enuu;nuers triumphal entry ,
into Venice, intimated to the Venetian
bishops that inasmuch as all powers I
that be are ordained of God, and that the rule of
Victor Emmanuel in Venetia was manifestly attri-
butable
to the " impenetrable decrees of Pro-
vidence," it was their duty to receive him with the I
respect due to a lawful sovereign. This precedent
comes very apropos for the solution of the impend-
ing difficulty in Rome. There are no limits to
miracles, and it will obviously be easy for the Pope '
to say, when the proper time comes, that impene-
trable decrees of Providence make it fit and proper
for him to admit a state of things hitherto held to
be within the non postumus.
No less than one hundred and fifty packing cases
of flowers were sent by railway to Compi;igne to be
presented to the Empress on her fête day (Nov.
15) by the guests now staying at the Chateau.
What a fatiguing task for her Majesty to appear
agreeably " surprised" at the presentation of each
bouquet!
The Patrie announces that General Dix, the
newly appointed envoy of the United States to the
Tuileries, has arrived in Paris. Ido not think he
was expected so soon,Tiiid-r-a-wait confirmation of
the news. _ _ .

The half-monthly settlement at the Bourse ter-
mivated with considerable heaviness. Bente fell
10c. for cash and 121 c. for account, closing at
69fr. 50c., and 69fr. 31. c. ; Italian fell 65c. ;
Mobilier, llfr. 75c. ; and Credit Foncier, 3fr. 25c.
An impression prevails that the Credit Foncier and
Societe Immobiliere, which have been notoriously
buying Ilente in order to produce a fictitious rise
in the market to favour their own combinations,
have gone as far in that direction as they can, and
that a reaction must come. It is very doubtful
whether any of the recent projects of the great
companies will succeed.

THE RUSSIAN NATIONAL DRESS.—A walk on this
cold day through the streets of St. Petersburg allonled a
good opportunity of viewing the Russians in their national
dress. Of course I mean their winter costume—the summer
being too short and too capricious to affect the habits of
the people. The upper Mance wear the costume of western
countries. The only exception is a round, low, fur
oap, frequently seen on the heads of ladies as well as
gentlemen. in its rough shaggiuess it charmingly seta
off the delicate features of the sex. Tu protect the
head is also the purpose of a sort of cowl or hood,
similar to those on the bournous of the Bedouin and not
unlike a diwiuutive specimen of the same genus occa-
sionally fastened to opens cloaks. Its merit consists in
that it forms a light and continuous protection to the
hail and neck alike. This piece of raiment, in other
countries more elegant than useful, is so indispensable
here that no little ingenuity is expended upon it by
tailors and modistes. I have seen them in all colours
and with all manner of trimming. lied cowls copiously
adorned, black ones with elaborate patterns sewed
upon them in green cord, and white ones the most
luxurious of all, are met with at every pace in the
fashionable quarters. Hata leaving the greater part of
the head uncovered are comparatively rare, and at a dis-
count even among gentlemen. There is no trilling with
this climate, and caps are the natural and appropriate gear
in a country where one must always be prepared to en-
velope the whole upper part of the person iu the ample
folds of a shawl, cowl, mantle, or the like. The over-
coats and cloaks of the ladies and gentlemen are of
the ordinary cut, but mostly lined with fur.
The fox and bear collars they exhibit are beauti-
ful enough to excite the envy of a Siberian prince.
Strange to any, they are mostly imported from
America, it being cheaper to convey the hi^es from New
York and Montreal than from Irkutsk and Tobolsk to St.
Petersburg. The lower classes, being unable to import
their daily garments from over the sea, make shift with
sheepskins, which, with the wool turned in, are worn by
bath sexes, and form a long smooth foldlese casing for the
body, causing men and women to look wonderfully alike.
There is not much scope for variety either in dress
or in occupation, with the thermometer habitually
down to a frightful number of degrees below zero.
A man in sheepskin and felts is one of the most
unattractive sights imaginable. Not only are the
proportions and symmetry of the human form
utterly bidden from view, but worse still. the graceful
flow of outline is buried in a shell as stiff as if turned in a
lathe. There are other objections to the pastoral cha-
racter of this dress, not connected with zesthetical taste.
A fur is dear, must last many years, and can be neither
washed nor cleansed. Its leathery outside is apt to
assume very different hues without the assistance of the
dyer, but who can blame the poor people for adopting tLe
only expedient for keeping warm The class worst off are
those townspeople too citified to don sheepskin and too
poor to wear more expensive furs. Of the women espe-
cially a great many seem to be in this troublesome dilemma
between poverty and pride, and they prefer freezing to
lowering themselves by apparel which would duce them
to the level of the peasantry.—Letter from tnbr
Nov. 13.
A MURDER AND SUICIDE IN PARIS.—An extra-
ordinary murder and subside was committed in Paris yes-
terday. A stranger, carrying • rather voluminous parcel,
entered a bath establishment in the Rue Racine, at about
half-past Bin the evening, and, having remained for a con-
siderable timeinone of the private cabinets, the proprietor,
fearing an accident, ordered the door to be opened, when
the man was found to have opened a vein in his arm and
to have bled to death in the water. The packet on being
opened proved to contain the corpse of a male child about
three months old, which had been suffocated. The man
was a German tailor named Springer, residing in the Rue
St. Honore; he lived is common with a young woman by
whom he had the child in question, but for which he had
always manifested a great aversion, in consequence of
some doubts as to its paternity. He had murdered the
infant at home during the absence of the mother, and then
carried it to the bath where he committed suicide.