The Sun.
London, England, 1869-04-01 00:00:00

CORRESP

P ARO.

( FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDtNT:)

PARIS, WEDNESDAY, March 31
There is an abundance of rumours in circulation here
to-day—in fact, there always is—but nothing worth men-
tioning. Perhaps lam in error. I ought probably to
mention the extraordinary statement respecting Count
Bismarck, which has just got into circulation. It is
reported that the Prussian Chancellor projected, not the
incorporation of the Southern States in the North-German
Confederation, but the abrogation of the treaties already
existing ! Count Bismarck has considered the matter
very carefully, we are told, and he has come to the deci-
sion that the help of the Southern States in case of war
would be more than counterbalanced by the greatly-
extended frontier which would then be open to attack.
The whole frontier of North and South Germany would
be much more difficult to defend than the line of the Main.
Hence the astute Prussian has resolved to " cut " the
South. I mention this extravagant conception, not because
there is the slightest trace of probability in it, but simply
as a curiosity.

There are likewise some war reports, but I shall trouble
you with none of them. The Parisians appear to be ter-
ribly afraid of war, and there can be no hesitation in
affirming that the vast majority of them sincerely desire
peace. This may appear a strange statement to make of
the most bellicose nation in Europe, but it is undoubtedly-
accurate. I have already mentioned the unanimity of
the election addresses on the subject of peace. Speakers
and writers, except M. Emile de Girardin amongst the
latter category, are equally in accord. Let an
orator but take up the theme of universal peace
at a Paris public meeting, and he is sure of a hearing, even
if he be the vilest elocutionist that ever mistook his calling.
The word " peace" touches a chord of sympathy in any
French audience. The phenomenon has been too often re-
peated to be at all doubtful. The clergymen, too, preach
peace with inexhaustible energy. This is, perhaps, only
natural, but they return to the subject so persistently that
the only rational explanation is the sympathy with
which pacific sermons are greeted. During this week two
of the leading Parisian divines have delivered sermons,
not merely pacific, but directly and specially hostile to
war. Truly, if the French people want war, I have been
unable to detect any indication of such predilection.
A rather neat career of swindling by a man named
Rollet has just been terminated by a sentence of
ten years' imprisonment and £2O fine. This individual
seems to have practised a new line of business for a period
of about sixeeen years, varied only by occasional visits
to prison. His system was to travel about from parish
to parish, calling with a grave demeanour on the clergy,
and expressing a desire to confess. He presented
himself as a fresco painter, and under the pretence that
he had broken his leg by a fall from a scaffolding'
and was unable to kneel, he induced the priests to
hear the avowal of his sins at their residences,
which places he found more convenient for his
ultimate purpose. His dress of a decayed gentleman,
his apparent penitence, and the superior language in
which he expressed himself, rarely failed to make an im-
pression on his hearer ; and then a plausible story of his
distress and his want of a temporary loan of £1
followed. In most cases his appeal was not made
in vain. At length, however, this traffic on the
sympathy of priests came to an end. One curs who had
advanced the usual loan suspected that he had been im-
posed upon, and Rollet was arrested just as he had been
successful with another priest. His hypocrisy was such
that he had rarely failed, but his genius must be suspended
for the next decade.

The population of Paris is rapidly increasing. It had
risen to 1,830,000 in 1866, and must doubtless be getting
very near two millions by this time. But though Paris
contains nearly two-thirds as many people as London, it is
observable that it barely covers one-fourth as much ground.
The area of London is about 79,000 acres, that of Paris
only 19,500. This gives a population of 100 to the acre
in London, but of not less than 233 to the acre in Paris.
The number of inhabitants to each dwelling is from seven
to eight in the English capital, but it is from 40 to 50 in
Paris. In spite of its vast open spaces, Paris is, there-
fore, the most thickly populated city in the world.
The annual report on crime in France shews an increase
of offences. During the year 1867 there was a marked
decrease in the offences against public morals, indecent
assaults, &c., which fell from 1,064 to 954 ; on the
other hand, there was an increase in nearly every species
of the graver accusations ; murder, 191 to 226 ;
poisoning, 23 to 27 ; parricide, 6to 10. The cases of man-
slaughter, infanticide, and abortion were almost unvaried.
The educational statistics are the most interesting. Of
the whole number of accused 36 per cent. could neither
read nor write, 45 per cent. could do so imperfectly, 14
per cent. well, and 5 per cent. had received a superior
education. A singular fact is, that while there was in the
last ten years a decrease in crime in the two extremes, in
4.-- cent., ;Intl ha taili euuteiy ignorant.
of 7 per cent., among the intermediary classes there
was an augmentation among those who read and write
a little of about 2,i, per cent., and of those who write well of
more than ,q per cent. Nevertheless, the mt,..her of
educated persons accused of crime still remains very small.
For the entire total of murders, parricides, &c., only 25
persons were sentenced to death, and of these eight were
reprieved.