Ponola [sic] weekly register. (Ponola [sic], Miss.) 1843-1843, 1843-04-12
A Partisan sabbath.

from NO. 10, nue. De dlVOIi, when nv
ears were saluied by the heating OF
! drums, and the music of a martial band.
A thousand soldiers were following these
sounds into the place Carrousel. A re-
view was about TO take place. / had wit
messed many similar reviews before on
the, same spot, but never before on the
Sabbath. WELL said l, so far as the
military are concerned, Paris does not,
according to my notion, seem TO be raj
lied about the banners Of the Prince of
! Peace
Watching The nanGuvring OF several
companies Of the National Guards, |
soon lost in laughter all recollection of
the sanctity Of the time. There can be
no wider chasm between the physical
! appearance OF men than that which
separates the National Guards from the
Troops Of the Line. How pitiful seem
the latter, in those long gray coats aDd
red pantaloons! How villanously d.
minutive is their stature! What good
for nothing expressions look blank on
their yisages! And yet they handle
their muskets with precision, harmo-
ny aud dexterity that proclaim in every
| instant the omnipotence Of the drill
But at their sides is ranged a battalion
Of National Guards.
!. Behold their portly stomachs, their
massive frames, their fine compilations,
their plump checks, their eyes full of OK
! preston, and their tout-ensemble aboun-
| ding in consequential citizenship. They
are your martial personification Of the
embonpoint, the idea of that word in an
other vehicle the Falstaf Il la Franchise.
These are the men unto whom, by lis
sixty-sixth article, is confded the protec-
I ton of the charter Of 1880. They are
men of business. They have pecuniary
interests in society, and Of course are
interested in the preservation of public
tranquility. They are the peculiar Sc
curity ofPhilppe and his throne. Still
! do they look any thing out martial; and
as for their bearing, it is altogether I'M
solderlike. Your National Guard mar
ches along behind a pair Of spectacles,
caring little for his gait, sill less for
| his musket; laughing with his comrnde,
jokeing with his captain, or muttering TO
himself; installing shut pam for shout
der arms and apparently requiring for
the correspondence OF his step with
time, the benefit of legs yisibiy clialked
| -feft,' right w fIUII duIy, hc IS MIR
the time laughed at by others, and the
remaining half by himself He knows
that he cuts Il laughable figure, that he
is each night burlesqued upon the stage,
and caricaIured in every print shop un-
! der the words, 'Tribulations of the Ma
tional Guards Hence has he no par
! ticuIar ambition 10 look or walk the
soldier. Sometimes he parades in u
| huge cloak; sometimes he marches smo-
| king cigar; sometimes he orders arms
to take snuff; and always is he talking,
always does he laugh at his awkward
blunders in tactics, and always does he
look fat. Indeed, slenderness and an
gularity are no longer national features.
The age of beau marquessess has gone
by. The French men are fat, the French
women are fat, and, so far as fairness is
concerned, the French children are fol-
lowing in the footsteps Of their parents.
| Leaving the military parade, direc-
ted my steps towards the Musee Royale.
! perceived its huge doors swung wide
! ly open, while hundreds were rushing
through them, and thousands were wan
dering within, among its works of art
in marble and on canvass. Pray said
| |, to crlmsoned liveried huiSsIer al
the portal. lis the Louvre open on the
Sabbath Certainly, SIR replied he,
'thls is the only public day. The Royal
Family visit it on Monday; On other
week days it is open to those who have
permission, or passports, but all the
world arc free to enjoy it on the Sab.
BATH took turn through the Il
partments. They were thronged with
The middle and lower classes; with res.
pectable gentlemen in the red riband-
with countrymen in wooden shoes; and
grizetts in clean white caps. Sympa'
pathy with art, thought |, is indeed wide
in this metropolis. 1t thriyes under
dirty Jacket as beneath an embroder-
ed mantle, but Paris artistical is any
thing but Paris evangelical.
Quitting the Louvre, | walked up
through the Garden of the Tuilleries,
and here the scene was far more stir
ring, and ten thousand times more brill
liant that | had just left. Some hun
dreds were reading newspapers, other
hundreds were loungng listlessly upon
the seats; hundreds of bucks were sport
ing their canes, and an elegant gait
through the promenades; hundreds oil
ladies' wandered in magnificent attire a
round the fountains; a thousand children
jumped the rope, or drove their hoops