The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1853-06-19

most all respects in conformity with the treaty given
to Sir G. Hotham by the noble Earl (Malmesbury)
opposite.
subject dropped.
Curious Dovel0pemenrs In Paris Life.
| Correspondence Of the OHIO State Jourasll
PARIS May Is, 1853.
One Of the most remarkable facts to stranger in
France, is the security of life and property which he
enjoys This immunity is no doubt partly due to
the unequalled police system of the country for the
ingenuity of the French people in the matter of
der and OF thievng is notorious whenever they have
had chance to indulge their talents. I recollect
| well my establishment when first arrived in Paris
and demanding Of the housekeeper, when going out
what should do with my key, received in reply,
Leave it in the door, or hang it up on that nail.
We have never lost anything here, and if anything
| is stolen will be responsible for it," The door
opened on private stairway where twenty or thirty
persons, entirely strangers, and constantly changing,
passed and repassed every minute to the upper part
| OF the house. Thefts are almost as rare fires.
Yet in SO large city as Paris and SO densey crowd
| ed and where, from the manner of living, so few
persons are acquainted with each other, it would in
deed be curious if there were not infringemenss Of
the criminal law. The great mass Of the French peo
pie are, however, eminenty honest and kindhearted
This is particularly true Of the poorer classes The
promiscuous mingling of the sexes in an unlawful
| way, seems not to exert any influence on their
morals in other respects, as 1t does In our country.
It is only OF the places where foreigners deal that
dishonesty is found to prevail to any extent. To go
always to stores and other places Of business patro.
nized by French people only, and one will rarely
| make bad bargain.
French policemen generally are no more literally
endowed with detective acuteness taan policemen OF
other countries In fact the great body Of the guard
Of Paris being derived from the conscption and by
volunteers never selected, and poorly paid, is CON-
posed Of men Of the smallest capacity,at only for
the very mechanical kind Of duty which they are
called upon to perform All the principal arrests in
Paris made through the agency Of two bodies Of
men, unknown to the public by any badge or public
r.l..k l1
pected person, and then ordering him arrested
by the guard. 1t is these secret bodies which form
the detective police of Paris. One of these bodies,
called the detective police, searches for offenders
police dogs the steps from day to day OF political
offenders These two bodies Of men are intelligent,
speak, in many instances, several languages and
to be found in all public places, unknown to the per-
sons with whom they converse. Among people so
frank as the French, these bodies perform useful
labor to the State.
But there is romance in the heart of French So
ciety, exhibiting itself in every action which they
perform, a vein of admiration for exciting deeds
running deep into the French character, which,
when directed by intelligence and ambition leads
them into the most startling adventures and exciting
conspiracies. The novelist who SO often seeks
French society for exciting incidents, has no need
| to exercise the imagination; to Alexandra Dumas,
who knows intimately French society to its last fibre,
there is no need to search further for exciting ia
beaux than the real life occurrences Of which he is
cognizant; his imagination need not be called into
requisition neither is it, the every day incidents of
life in the deep undercurrent of the metropolis fur
nish him the parallels of his personages and his plots
Novelists are beginning to understand, more
than one remarkable instance has recently proved,
that their productions meet with much more SYM
phasn ana are e9g mG ihe more poGah
human heart. The peculiar constitution OF French
society as it exists in Paris, as well as the
manner in which the people live, aids the
prosecution of all such enterprises, matter
how bold, as are based on the passions and
the habits of the people, There is no public
opinion to exercise healthy restraining influence
mans conduct because it is all vast wilderness of
strangers, completely independent the one of the
other; there is no scandal no caves choppers, no
personal surveillance exercised over any man by any
body unless he be suspected criminal or politician.
sonal liberty, be entirely free from curious eyes,
and betraying tongues, as in Paris, so long as he
keeps clear from the suspicious just mentioned. His
immunity is perfect
A certain club of most dangerous character has
been known to exist in Paris for some time past but
which, owing to the character Of the men composing
its members, has managed to elude arrest. This So
ciey has existed for many years. and the truth of
certain revelations recently made can be relied its
unpublished deeds Of horrors and wicked ingenuity
would amply fill volume as startling as the memo.
rable memoirs of Vidocq. 1t numbers twelve men,
bers, to which it is limited, the club wisely suppos
ing that any greater number Of Frenchmen in pos
session Of their secret would much weaken the Sc
curity Of the whole. 1t is composed OF men who
move in the very first ranks OF society and who are
distinguished for their ability Persons watched,
scrutiniZed and kept in training for months and
years, by this club, unknown to themselves In order
to have suitable candidates for admission when
member dies. All the members are necessarily men
OF the first order of intellect for none others adj
mitteG; some of them are already very wealthy and
have succeeded in gaining titles.
The objects this society are political preferment,
the amassng Of wealth, and seduction. They are all
men who in the first circles. are one or more
present at every gay assembly in the capital, belong
to every club or coterie OF Importance have all the
information and all the appliances necessary to place
themselves at In connection with any person
persons whom they wish to victnize, and they al
ways play into each others hands and then divide
the spells equally Each member belongs to differ
eut profession in life in order to further their designs
From the lawyer, doctor and minister, they become
possessed Of secrets by which they levy black mail
from bankers brokers and merchants they keep
cognizant of the condition of certain persons whom
they may wish to pick, either by stock oobing, gam
bling, forging or house breaking operations; while
from other members, they derive other useful inform
alton. They are men who have sold themselves,
soul and body, tothe devil and they do not hesitate
to shed blood when it is necessary to further their
ends. The river Seine, gorged as 1t is at all times
with human bodies doubt carries on many OF their
victims to the sea.
One of the most curious operations of this society,
was the which it adopted to gain possession
of the persons of females. An office was opened in
fashionable quarter of the city for the ostensbe pur
pose of making marriage contracts-a marriage bro
kerage-but in reality it was conducted for the pur
pose of making money out of male applicants and
something worse out of female applicants. Persons
especially who have lived here and know the consti
Triton of French society," will seize at glance the
nature Of the operations Of this Office SO conducted
and 10y such dictatorship. Two weeks ago, q gen.
teman who had been thoroughly feeced in this
place, both Of money and in spurious article for
wife, took such forcibe measures against them that
the police saw fit to make descent on the estab-
lishment when horrors were brought TO light which
surpass even the Imagination The names OF hun
dreds of women were found registered on the books
| as applicants for marriage, from every rank in
society, even as high up as Senators and Ministers
daughters! Evidences were brought to light that al
most every applicant at least all such as were at
tractive had become the victims OF the band instead
of finding husband, and that in some instances pri-
Of false had been resorfed