New Orleans daily crescent. [volume] ([New Orleans, La.]) 1851-1866, 1861-03-02
VOLUME XIII.
LETTER FROM PARIS.

ST
PARIS, Jan. 2B 1861.
mr. EdH0r-Not the least remarkable among the
changes that have taken place in Paris within a few
years, Is That to be seen in the tone in which public
affairs are discussed by the press and people. 1t
always had been said under Charles X and Louis
PhlIippc-and know not how long before-that
there were no such things as cabinet secrets, and
that every beautiful and clever dame was the ga
zctte OF her $0bcc, because she was regarded as a
power behind the pDrte,tt,tMe and moreover, be-
cause it was ncfcr supposed that a French Minister
could keep secret; or, if he kept it, could help
talking about It'll such a way as to make it the
easiest thing in the world to guess what it was.
Now, all this is altered; or, permit me to say, has
changed placesif may judge by the dispatches
which see in your American journals, from which
| should infer thatyOur cabinet councils at Wash
ngtOn might as well be held in the rotunda Of the
capitol as at the White House or in the Offices OF
the State department. And with at! this, have the
French people changed? Looking upon them
again after an absence Of nearly twenty years y
seems to nc as if they had Or, is it that B9sszs
changed? Both, possibly. | DO not say thatfhr |
change is radical Or permanCLt-alloWlng+L +Lat |
there is a change. Certainly there is cha vi" in
the cost ut living in Paris, as my banker s8csonnt
5OrrowiuiIy proves. But it appears to y. hat NV
old friend come to me with more comp9%d facn and
Jat,- ~ .,rt.a ~ ~ mUue Il { dft- |
J4SSe Pu', "LteL al, IL lt@S no odncy; because
i lv'Gi n"t @ aetc 1lLn IlI ite"s of finding some
sHSI ,lEoI ~ - -outtocu sAbual rctinenCe of
lir0 "a some call the sphinx
~ - 'tE hlticI :" 5te court manner effects
SI , .i i, ~ H. 1fi,E u great men Impress them
selves upon tLe o!s SOUS and ideas Of the peo
H. @Rie. ~! ttdf man does more by his silence
ii eiah Wy ms %0s Speech it is said is silver; but
~ ~Sileu.S l25f0Id How well has he reduced this
": 'i"NH n practice let the past show. 1t is this
WI mt Y makes hiu the ruler Of Europe at the pres
lttT9 moment There is not cabinet or a crowned
head which i. not waiting to hear what he says be-
fore it can calculate the future. Everybody
studies-and studies in vain-those cold, grey eyes,
and watches the movements of those compressed
lips Is he great because he is silent? because
he Donders, Donders over his subject and like the
oracles of old, congresses its expression into the
fcwest and most pregnant words? Not indeed
altogether: for it first requires a man 10 be wise
to know when to be silent. We all love to hear
the sound Of our own voices. How much more he
whose words may change the fate Of empires and to
whose utterances 50 many are ready to award the
tribute of praise Surely, then, this silence Is not
only wise. II bespeahs a Aefeic sen Hehia:, Md9
it Louis XIV who said " Le!ai cest nt0iE' Ma
poeOn III never SIiI so, but what else Is lie he
assemblies his ministers; he asks their oplMol, hut
seldom delivers his own. Even NJ. lh"nVcMl
knows no more about the imperial determination
than anybody else, except in regard to what re
late5 to present and immediate affairs.
OF course all this affects pUOic journaSm' Inc
press cannot be silent. That would be to Issue a
blank sheet and condemn the cutcS to cnnuI, II not
to desertOn. The press therefore must talk; ana
lF