The Sun.
London, England, 1862-05-12 00:00:00

TILE FRENCH PRESS AND THE
EXHIBMON.

Among the persons appointed to give n account I
of the Great Exhibition in the Parisian press is M.
Alfred Assolant. He acts on this occa3 nas special
correspondent for the Courrier du I imunehe, to
which he has been for some time a contributor. M.
Assolant no doubt performs his duties to the com-
plete satisfaction of his principals, for we find the
same tendency to caricature which marks his ordi-
nary lucubrations in the same journal. As it is to
all appearance the first time M. Assolant has visited
London, one must make allowance for the views he
takes of men and thin4s-,;,
As for the absence of any
valuable information. " Decidedly," he begins,—

" The opening of the Exhibition was very badly
conducted. Such is the opinion of every one. The
English understand every thing except organization.
The art of administering brought to such perfection
among us (a little too much so), is absolutely
unknown to them. Every one goes on wildly, lives
as he can, works where he can, and spends prodi-
gious force with very little result. Though I was
by chance and by my own exertions one of the
best placed for seeing the cortege and the whole
ceremony, I hardly heard any of the music, and the
speaking not at all. I did not even see the speakers.
A mass of trophies and ornaments, very much out
of place on such an occasion, concealed from every
eye half the gallery, There remained, it is true,
the spectacle of the assembly, which interested me
more than the official speeches. This is not the way
things are done in Paris, and, in my opinion, we
succeed much better. In Paris, at least, the whole
of the spectators can hear and see the principal
personage."
M. Assolant has a very mean opinion of Lon•
don :

"It is far inferior to Paris or New York. Lon
don is not even a capital. It is an immense
and monstrous assemblage of big towns, which
chance and the requirements of trade have brought
together. As there was a river, people gathered on
its banks, As the river was navigable, seamen
from all countries met there. As there were no
natural limits of mountains or hills, people spread
out in all directions. As the inhabitants on the
banks were Anglo-Saxons—that is to say,naturally
laborious, intrepid, intelligent, and voracious, they
hungered for other people's property, and went to
seek their fortune in foreign countries. As an
entrepot was wanted to contain the wealth which
they acquired, by force or by labour, they pitched
upon London, which was near enough to the sea to
have a port, and inland enough to be easily pro-
tected from invasion. As they were rich, they
wished to be free—for liberty is an advantage in-
dispensable to the man who possesses all other
advantages, and the rich man is always prouder
than the poor man. They have had freedom. As
the King was an inconvenience to them, they cut
his head off. As they like old things, old traditions,
old rubbish, and all that reminds them of their
ancestors, they keep to the name of Royalty, but
have kept to themselves its real power. As their
country is full of fogs and wet (at least so it is pre-
tended, but for the last three days the sun is as
bright in London as in Paris), they go to breathe
fresh air in Jamaica, Canada, India, the Cape, Aus-
tralia, Malta, Gibraltar, the lonian Islands, and
Ceylon, which has given them occasion to found a
great empire, and to levy everywhere great tribute,
the primary cause of every war and of every domi-
nation. As they are masters of a great empire, and
intermeddle in all the affairs of the terrestrial globe,
they think they are gods ; they give their unasked-
for advice on the conduct of Peter and Paul, of
James and Philip. King Otho is a driveller, who
violates the constitution, and will get himself
turned out of the city of Pericles. Francis Joseph
displeases the Venetians, and does not please the
Hungarians. Alexander charges the Poles with
his Cossacks, and sends too many people to Siberia.
William wants to handle Prussia as he would a re-
giment, and will get himself into trouble- our
Holy Father the Pope ought to put himself at
board and lodging at Victor Emmanuel's. The
English being quite safe in their island, encircled
with ships, from the 20,000 portholes of which issue
as many Armstrong guns, they now and then defy
some invisible enemy, and promise to grind them
to powder. As the invisible enemy answers them
in a friendly manner, they go through the military
exercise, and proudly march past before the Queen.
As the military uniform has ever been dear to the
ladies, they are greatly applauded ; and, finally,
as they are all heretics, except a few Irish, who
piously read t'le works of M. Coquelle, they will go
one day to the Devil—at least I firmly hope so."
M. Assolant sass he rather likes English society
when once the " cold envelope" it is wrapped in is
thrown off. He must, however, be greatly bewil-
dered when he walks abroad :
" London is tco big ; it is an immense defect,
which people have already begun to perceive. The
distances are twice or thrice those of Paris. The
communications are very difficult. The streets of
the city are encumbered with carriages, foot pas-
sengers, and merchandise. It is a wonder that there
are not more accidents, Is it not dangerous fur a
country that its capital should be so large, and so
prodigiously peopled ? Three millions of men for
a nation of 30 millions! It is the teP.th part,
or three times too much. So big a head on a
body relativey so little crushes it. All the ideas,
all the sentiments, all the wealth of a nation
crowd to the centre, and the rest of the country
looks a desert. Hence the languor of the provinces,
the want of hands in the country, the low tone of
the mind, the disgust of public affairs, and gradu-
ally the reduction cf the nation to servitude. Be but
master of the capital, and you are master of all."
The English ,M. Assolant thinks, will be so struck
ith. the bec,uty nod rc of PswrS t "the y
will have in their turn in 10 years—in 20 years,
perhaps—a Prefect of London of their own, who
w
' cut through, and build
justill likerg athe Prefecta
administer,
of
Paris. That day every nati-
minirst pera
nicipal liberty will be in pearl. May Heaven keep
ni7'
our friends the English from it, for they would re-
pent of it for ever."
M. Assolant has seen but one fine thing in Lon-
don, though he adds that he has as yet hardly seen
one-fourth of it, and that is the parks.
"The Luxembourg and the Tuilleries do not ap-
proach them. They are vast prairies, where you
see flocks of sheep browsing pall mall among women
and children, who are lying down on the grass, or
playingonit; In this consists the real superiority
of London, andl must admit that Paris has nothing
like it."

He is not so satisfied with the large squires,
which it seems nobody but
things; the entrance is
allowed to enter ! The said their inhabitants is
squares—
" Ara very sad looking
tance quite worthy
forbidden to the public—a circuras
of an aristocratic nation, where each individual eats
apart, shut up in his box!at the eating -house, like
vicious horses in a stable. The proprietors near
the square alone have the right to walk in them,
and to all appearance do not much use the right.
At least, I have seen no one there."
M. Assolant then alludes to the public amuse.
meats in London, such as music hall, concert cafes,
&c., all of which, " excepting the great playhouses,
which I have not yet seen," he prenuuces
" miserable."
You. will be surprised to learn how hard-hearted
you all are, for M. Assolant affirms that "gentle-
ness and sympathy towards each other are virtues
which seem to be unknown in this country." He
forthwith quotes an instance of which it seems he
WCS an eye-witness :--
" This morning I met a mountebank who, with
his face all painted, attracted the public with his
jokes and tumbled in the middle of the street. While
tumbling he perceived a young girl, poorly but
decently clad, going along the
pathway without
paying him vn a .
attention 0 . II gave her a hard
kick, which made about a hundred people who were
standing by laugh. The young woman,
surprised
and frightened, tried to run away weeping, but the
mountebank, ent aura ged by the applause of the
crowd, and laughing at what he did, redoubled his
tumbling, and pursued her with more kicks. The
public kept on lagghing
and applauding. I don't
know whether such things arc common in London,