New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1859-05-09
THE CRISIS IN FRANCE.
Correspondence Of The N. Y Tribune.

MARsEILLEs, April 90, 1859.
At this time Marsees is one Of the busiest
places in Europe. In the great and terrible war
into which this country is drifting with frightiul
rapidiiy Marseiles must be the great entrepot for
troops end stores, and already the note Of prep
aration' is continually sounding in its crowded
streets. Ship after ship Of the Imperial navy
arrives here, bringing regiments of trained soldiers
Zouaves, chasseurs, infantry of the line, from
Algeria, and returns freighted with recruits, whom
the service Of that colony is to shape into disci-
plined troops. As the African legOns arrive, they
are hurried off to the great camp at Lyons, where
more than 100, 600 men are gathered, in readiness
TO make descent upon Piedmont in case Of
Austrian attack, or to the camps of Culoz and
near GrenOble where many thousands of troops
with great Accommodations OF stores and munitions
Of war are collected, within twelve hours march
Of Turin. At the same time, there is iDccssant
actyity in all the departments of the cOmmssarlaf,
military c, cheering and artillery here while at
Toulon naval preparations are pressed forward
with equal urgency. OF the external relations OF
France II were useless TO write, as your London and
Paris correspondents (who, besides, will be able to
give you several days later intelligence than cam
will furnish you with all the latest rumOrs, reports
and gossip; but have the advantage, in being an
eyewitness of the armng that is carried IN this
quarter. The city, in fact, as older residents
inform NE, begins again to assume the appearance
that it held during the Crimean war; and one
almost locks for feet of American versels hurry
ing from New-YOrk and Boston in search Of EN-
pigment as transports again. There is not now
single representative Of our shipping In port,
while the qusys of the new barbOr are lined with
British craft
hon nd fba
fest, as openly as they dare and more openly, per-
haps, TO foreigners than among themselves, rooted
DISLIKE TO the behgereDt dlspos ton Of their En-
peror. Que diaJie enrouions. nous dune noureHe
gutrre? is the universal exclamation and the swag-
germ soldiers who met at every step are looked
upon with ill-coDcealed disfavor. Perhaps. if the
truth were known, they are not regarded with
much warmer liking by their sovereign and their
chiefs. IL ia but day or two since one OF the
principal Imperial functiOnaries here undlsgulsedly
expressed 10 me his conviction that war iDevita-
ble if only Of satisfy ing an army clamor-
Gus for employment; aud quoted remark addressed
to himself by Marshal Pelisser, whom he repre-
scented as exceedingly dissatisfied with the Pamper-
ing Of the African troops The Zouaves, said the
Marshal "are intoleraby arrogant; one of them,
"uho Fix months ago stood at the plOw- handle,
expecs to be six years in advance OF soldiers of the
" line; and infantry soldier jumps out OF first
" floor window, you may be sure that IL uave Will
prisiDg thousands Of the most reckless scoundrels
ia Europe may well inspire leaders as well as ad-
yersaries with terror
Just at present, however with their picturesque
and sOldierly costumes, their brown-burnt faces
glowing beneath white turbaDs or red Moorish fez-
yes, and their assured, almost desperate bearing,
they add greatly to the diversified beauty of Mar
settles street-scene. For city OF 26O, 600 inhabit-
an,s there is little enough in the way of art, at
nj IN a
eternal sunshine the famous blue shy, and the va
rious aspects Of human nature are sufficient t0 pre-
vent ennui. In i'll hour one might see natives Of
every Mediterranean country-Greeks lostng
Moors, Spsniards ann in with Turks Ameri-
CARS staring at Albanans, and British tourists
pushing their way through groups of Levantines-
If one were possessed with desire to study char.
acter and costume. Or the stranger may stroll up
ard down the Boulevards, lined with market We
men, and wonder at the sight of green peas and
new potatoes and straw berries exposed for sale in
mid April or bestOw an admiTlng glance or two at
the Genoese porteresses whose immense strengths
testified no less by the weights which they balance
on their heads than by the thickness Of their necks
and the breadth Of their shoulders while, strange
10 say, the masculine character Of their employ
ment does not in the slightest degree interfere with
the delicacy of their features or the extraordinary
beauty of their feet and ankles The curious in
architecture must wait few years for qualification.
With all It's . 800 years of history Msrseilles has
few or no relics to exhibit. A ruinOus church of
the 18th century, an ugly Hotel de Vile, and tn
umpbal arch built in 1877, are all it can show at
present; but since 1852, when the Emperor visited
the city, the erection ofa stately Exchange, aCathe-
DIAL Palas de Justice, and an Imperial palace has
been c, mmeDced All these woI kssre in active prog
ress now, aud furnish employment to thousands of
workpen who otherwise might be dangerously
idle. Greater than all put together, however Is
the construction of new haroor-tbe Port of the
Toilette, corruption of Jul, Static the station or
landing place Of julius Cesar The old port OF
MaEseilles is nothing but gigantic dock, scoopet
out of the rock, and covering hundreds of ao<ss. in
which the shipping lie contusedly, sccesrAo oaly
BY boats The new barbOr lies 10 the right u the
town, and has been formed by the construction OF
a great sea wal, inclosug vast extent Of anchor
age and Wharfage, intersec,ed by piers and quays.
Scarcely ten years have elapsed since the works
were commenced here, and already the harbor has
been made the most convenient and safest OF any
in France To an American, the sight of il is
pecisy astonishing, from the number of sea-gong
steamers that il contains. They lie IN long lines,
putting quite TO the blush all our own displays of
that description sssagsTieS imptraits for every
part Of the Mediterranean; Peninsusr and Orien-
tal steamers for Malta and Alexandria; British
freightiDg steamers from Liverpool and Glasgow
forming intermnsble aisles OF many -colOred fun
nels, and short, upgainly nasts. There are preba-
bly, more steamships at this moment in the toilette
than in all our own ports put together.
A great number of well known Americans leit on
MondSy night Qsth), by the French steamer, for
Ciyits Necchis and Rome. Among them were
Bishop Potter of peuusylvsnia, Senator Chngman,
Mr., Francis Il. Hayes of Boston, the Rev. Mr..
Clements of Trenton, n. J and number of others.
Mr.. Clinemsn, who arrived in England by the Ara
bia on the I'd instant, suffered So much from Sea-
HI H. L.