The Sun.
London, England, 1867-02-12 00:00:00

CORRESPONDENCE FROM PARIS.

(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)
PARTS, Monday Evening.

The German papers state that the plan for the re-
organisation of the army drawn up by the Bavarian
Government, and which is to he proposed as an
example to the other States of Southern Germany,
lays down the principle of obligatory military ser-
vice by all Bavarian subjects. The number of young
men capable of bearing arms who have entered their
20th year is an average of from 24,000 to 25,000
men. Hitherto about 12,000 men were incorporated
with the army, and 4,000 were left without arms,
although inscribed upon the army lists. The army
will be now organised in such a manner as to pre-
sent in time of peace an effective force of at least
72,000 men out of a population of five millions.
The duration of active service will be five years,
three of which are to be in the service. Then there
will be a service of five years in the Legion or
Laudwehr, or first class susceptible of being drafted
into the regular army at the first call, and then to
serve five years in the Landwehr of the second class.
The same as in Prussia, the ) oung men inscribed on
the lists will only be forced to active service for a
year if they consent to serve at their own expense.
The Wurtemberg Moniteur announces that the
deliberations which have taken place at Stuttgardt,
under the presidency of Bavaria, between the repre-
sentatives of the States of Southern Germany, have
resulted in a perfect understanding between the
Governments of Bavaria, Wurtemberg, Baden, and
Hesse Darmstadt respecting the subject of military
union and organisation.
The steamer Sentinelle, whose departure from
Toulon for the waters of Greece was announced a
few days ago, arrived on the 2d inst. at Corfu to
replace the aviso Promethee, which left on the 3d
to rejoin the squadron of Admiral Simon in the
Piralus.

The Minister of Agriculture and Commerce, i❑
consequence of the intensity of the cattle plague in
Belgium, has issued a decree extending the previous
prohibitions against the entrance of animals into
France to the whole line of the French frontier from
Dunkerque to the Rhine near Lanterbourg. Similar
interdictions have been issued by the Belgian Go-
vernment.

The Imperial Commission of the Universal Exhi-
bition have just authorised another entrance, mak-
ing the third, to the site of the Exhibition. Persons
wishin to inspect the building have to pay a franc
at either of these turnstiles. Four small but perfect.
models of French ships of war are about to be sent
to the Exhibition. They are models of the war-
clad frigate la Flandre, the Imperial yacht l'Aigle,
the trans?ort le Cher, and the steam aviso d'Estr6e.
The models will be armed, and will in every respect
be imitations of the vessels in all their details.
A despatch has been received in Paris from
Mexico, which confirms the report of the arrest of
Ortega, the competitor of Juarez, for the Presidency.
He was made prisoner by the Governor of Zaca-
teras.

The municipality of Venice recently sent an invi-
tation to Garibaldi to visit that city. The General
has sent a letter in answer to the invitation, in
which he says he hopes " that the day is not far
distant when he shall be able to come to the glorious
Queen of the Adriatic." After referring to some
historical recollections connected with Venice, Gari-
baldi thus concludes his letter :—" The deliverance
of the mother has urged the daughter to break her
chains. Venice suffers still, I know, but are not
those who suffer more compassionate for the suffer-
ings of others? You will, lam sure, remember the
poor families of Candia.—With gratitude, yours for
life, " G. GARIBALDI."

The exciting event in the musical world of Paris
is the production at the theatre Lyrique of Sardan-
apalus, an opera in three acts, by M. Victorin Jon-
cieres, words by M. henry Becque. This young
composer is but 27. He was a pupil of Elwart,
and is the son of M. Joncieres, a man distinguished
in literature. A self-sufficient and conceited critic
of the Moniteur, M. Xavier Aubryst, informs his
readers that the subject is taken from the poem of
Lord Byron, " the dandy litterateur." Upon the
whole, according to the other critics, this opera holds
out good promise that the young composer will at-
tain a distinguished rank in his profession. The
first two acts are pronounced to he superior to the
third. .The music of the former is described to be
graceful and pure, but it does not seem to be con,
sidered as remarkable for very striking beauty or
originality. There is a still younger candidate for
literary honours, M. Henri Houssaye, who is not
quite nineteen, having been born on the 24th of
February, 1848. His production is a history of
Apelles, the painter. Some may suppose that there
is nothing very romantic or exciting in the career of
an artist ; but this work, while preserving the
gravity due to history, has all the attraction and
highly coloured events of romance ; and Apelles,
for the first time perhaps, is delineated as the hero
of many interesting adventures "by flood and
field." M. Houssaye is the son of a distinguished
writer, author of the portraits of the 18th century,
and of other estimable productions.
An authentic list just published of the immense
sums of money expended by the Emperor for use-
ful and philanthropic purposes exhibits the
generosity of the head of the State in a very strong
light. He causes the circulation of money for the
general good. The amount devoted by Um last
year was no less than 3,794,000 f. Among the
items was a sum of 1,200,000 f. for " assistance to
individuals" large sums for co-operative associations
of workmen, for building houses for workmen, for
repairs of churches and sanitary measures. Besides
this, the Emperor pays for the expenses of the
Empress, the Prince Imperial, and officers of the
household, 9,300,000 f. ; for the encouragement of
arts and letters, various publications and horse
racing, a sum of 600,000 f., and for "private gifts
and assistance," 1,200,000 f.
It is stated from Florence that the Commission
charged by the Ministry with the compilation of a
new penal code, have definitively urged the neces-
sity of the abolition of the punishment of death.

One of the gentlemen connected with the Paris
Observatory states that an eclipse of the sun, the
most beautiful of the present century, will take
place on the 6th of March next. The moon will
cover nearly eight-tenths of the diameter of the
sun. At Paris the eclipse will begin at Bh. 23in. in
the morning, and finish at 11h. 3m. The instant
of the greatest obscurity will be 9h. 40m. The
quantity of light and solar heat which we shall re-
ceive at that time will be less than that which will
then be enjoyed by the inhabitants of the planet
Mars.

The French call a fib a lie, or something difficult of
belief, a canard a duck. Here is the most authentic
version of the origin of the word which I have seen.
A farmer of a rural district, St. John the Baptist,
was the happy possessor of 21 ducks. On a fine
morning one of them died. He cut it into small
pieces, and the remaining 19 ducks swallowed them
with great enjoyment. The farmer, wishing to see
how far the gluttonous taste of his ducks would carry
them, killed another,which was as speedily devoured
as the first. He continued the experiment until
only two ducks remained. He killed one of them,
cut it up, and gave themorsels to the last surviving
duck, which despatched them all in the course of
the day. Thus, between the morning and the
evening, this duck bad eaten his nineteen com-
panions. Yes, it swallowed them all, more easily
perl►aps than the reader will swallow the account of
the feat.

The tranquil weather has come to a sudden termi-
nation. Early this morning the storm returned with
almost as much violence as ever, and the rain fell
more abundantly than agreeably. To-day has,
upon the whole, been fine, but there was little
abatement in the violence of the wind. The weather
predictions of M. Nich, to which I have alluded,
have, up to this time, been completely fulfilled.
Yesterday was the last day for the sale of game
in the Paris markets, and now not a head of game
is to be had for love or money. On Saturday, at
the Halle, there were hundreds of tons of itares, and
on Sunday not a dozen remained. A fine hare of
some nine or ten pounds weight could be bought
for six francs and a half.

About 2000 season tickets for the Exhibition have
been subscribed for. On Suuday week the receipts