The Sun.
London, England, 1867-08-10 00:00:00

Miscellaneous Foreign News•

O 3 going into Committee on the Fortifications Bill a
short discussion oa the coast fortifications took place, Mr.
O'Thirne and Lord Elcho complaining that sufficient pre.
cautions had not been taken to ascertain tho best system
of building forts, and suggesting that fresh experiments
should be made before further progress was made with

these work =.
Sir J. PAKINGTON explained the intentions of the
War-ofilce, and the bill passed through committee.
Souse othor orders were disposed of, and the house ad-
journed at ten minutes past two o'clock,

:From Correspondents of the Anglo-American Times.)
PARIS, August 8.

"Nell met by moonlight, proud Titania."
I am apt to think the quotation pertinent, inas
much as the brilliancy of the harvest moon has by
no means waned by nine o'clock on a summer
morning in Paris, and also as I probably play the
part of Bottom in thus perpetually roaring out hints
possibly undesired and unappreciated ; however, as
I have as yet heard of no active proceedings, such
for instance, as the stopping of a few papers having
been taken, I will venture to resume, with the
reader, our interrupted promenade, taking as our
point of depart the palace of all the world, backed
by the Seine, with its shady boulevards and
glittering shop-fronts, in which are displayed
the treasures and fabrications of east, west, north,
and south, and we enjoy a spectacle which I
can only represent to your imagination by
asking you, gentle reader, to picture to yourself
the aforesaid Seine running through the finest
streets of London, or rather of the splendid Broad-
way. But we do not pass shop fronts only ; from
time to time on the right and left tower the public
buildings ; churches, &c., rise in view ; we are pass-
ing the Louvre, with its architectural restorations
and embellishments ; in the vast square of the
Palace yard are drawn up a battalion of infantry,
they are the Zouaves of the Imperial Guard, in their
magnificent oriental costume, the picked soldiers of
the Empire, whose bronzed, manly features play
the deuce with the hearts of many a dame and
damsel fair of La Belle Paris. On a sudden three
cavaliers ride forward, clad simply in black, and
as the foremost approaches, the bayonets of the
square flash in the sun, as if moved, not by
the hands of living men, but as if by the
action of machinery, for that plainly dressed
gentleman, mounted on that magnificent light
chestnut, is no other than his most gracious and
puissant Majesty Napoleon the Third, Emperor of
France. Various evolutions follow with the same
automatic precision, the Emperor and his Staff fol-
lowing ou horseback the movements of the Brigade.
At last, however, the Review is finished, and we
again move on. We pass the Hotel de Vibe, the
Institut Francais, the immense Casernes or Bar-
racks of the Troops and Gendarmerie. We reach
the Pont Neuf, long ago celebrated in the Paris
annals of crime, with its Grand Equestrian Statue
of Henri Quatre, hero of many a French Le-
gend, whose white-plumed helmet served for the
Oriflamme, the ancient standard of France, in the
Great Battle of the League. Further on we arrive
opposite the ancient and celebrated cathedral
of Notre Dame, with its exquisite architecture
immortalised by the fertile pen of Victor Hugo
in the " Hunchback ;" but as iu the case of the Exhi-
bition we must content ourselves with only a pass-
ing glance at present. In front of the cathedral, on
the opposite side of the river, lies moored a long
line of barges, from which large panniers of fruit,
apples, pears, or grapes are continually passing to
the shore, or lie exposed for sale upon the quays,
for these are the market-boats which come up from
Fontainebleau and its vicinity ; whilst above, on
the Boulevard, the attractions of the Seine are
heightened by the varied hues and perfume of an
open-air flower market. On, still on, though we
feel that we could linger a little longer were it only
to masticate a few of those tempting purple clusters
lying so neatly in their little willow-baskets. But
our moral policemen exhorts us to move on, and
we obey the mandate. What building are we passing
now with its double entrance and constant stream
of visitors. We enter, and we find the Morgue, the
Seine has been fertile in accidents, and three corpses
lie exposed for recognition on stone benches, behind
a thick glass screen which divides them from the
public ; the room is full of anxious relatives eagerly
scanning the pale faces of the departed, in most in-
stances, however, without recognition. Two in-
scriptions on each wall invite the visitor to afford
whatever information may be in his power, and
acqUaint him at the same time that he will incur no
expense thereby. But the view of the Morgue is too
saddening to invite a long delay, and we pass on
along by the Wine Hall until we reach the Jardin
des Plantes, which we may more properly term
the Paris Zoological Gardens with its rare col-
lection of animated nature. The entry is free,
and the gardens are seldom without a crowd,
the majority being composed generally of young
soldiers of the line, whose spending allowance of one
sou, or halfpenny, per day does not warrant them in
indulging in too expensive pleasures. The collec-
tion of birds and beasts is rare and extensive, and
the warmer climate of France has accomplished the
preservation of some choice specimens, which the
more humid climate of England has failed to effect.
The gardens, mixed with groves, are extensive, and
most artistically laid out, and studded throughout
with museums, lecture rooms, &c. A cup of exqui-
site coffee here, worthy reader, in front of the
quaint little cafe adjoining the gardens, and in an-
other quarter of an hour we reach Bercy, the scene
of the tournament—(for we must post-date that in-
teresting event, and come at once upon the spec-
tack.) A large parallelogram of water is enclosed by
barges moored together, the fourth side of the paral-
lelogram being formed by the quay itself, on which is
erected a large enclosed tent and tribune filled with
the elite of the fort. Ladies, naval officers, judges,
visitors, &c., for the water jousts of Bercy are no
ordinary event there, and although I made repeated
inquiries I found no one sufficiently well informed
as to be acquainted with the period of their origin.
the scene is a very animated one, for the Seine
here, of considerable width, i 3 covered with pleasure
boats of all descriptions—steamers are passing up
and whilst
,atay little lower down
the a
trrnsn incessantly,
oftlte Lyons
a thunder ever and
anon over one of the many bridges which span the
river ; ou the broad quays are ranged long rows of
casks frequently arranged under camp tents, for
Bercy has been colonised, as it were, by wine and
brandy merchants, and as such seems their special
habitation and resort. In the enclosed space of
water two quaintly-shape 1 boats, made so a;
to pull either way, are advancing a,gainsi
each other, each impelled by two
paddles, two or three others of the respective crews
lying about in the boats at their ease, the helmsman
standing erect and steering with a cu lously shaped

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