, 1866-11-11

.lways full; so that II Is generally necessary |
10 secure scats In advance, in order to
.vold place fn the long queu, which forms |
1t the box Office como time before the open !
ng Of the doors. This qteu il often as dan
3erous to the pocket as It Is tedious to the
physical system. We once saw curious in
ciaent Of French noHehatdnct. not At all IL
keeping with French character. A gentle
man felt a hand In bis pocket, whicl, he was
sure did not belong to him. Turning to bis
ncighbor, he said: Monsieur,
) our hand is In my pocket.' "Par5seu, so It
l., replied the other. II thought II was
singular that l could not find my port
,nonnax' No arrest Was made. and
the qaeu moved slowly on. At least once
= year, the poor themselves are Grati-
fed with yisit to the theatre. On the
fete day OF the Emperor, all the theatres,
operas, circuses and other places Of amuse-
mcut are thrown open for afternoon per-
formances free 10 ali. It is hardly necessary
to add that the poorer class, SO fDud of
change and excitement as they nre in Paris,
avail themselves unanimously Of the priyl-
lcge.
1t Is not at first quite so apparent how the
Government Is benefited by this eystem of
endowment, but it will be readily under
stood when it Is taken Into consideration
that the support Of the paupera Of Paris de-
wolves upon the Government In any event.
There is q law In Paris that either work
shall be given ercry INDECENT inhabitaut Of
the city or TINT, In absence of work, he ahall
be supported By the public funds. This Law
il intended and indeed operates as q SAFE
guard against revolution, which most al
ways takes Its rise In the city OF Paris and
begins with cry for bread.
As a result partly Of this mnn1fceut sys-
ten, and partly Of the inherent lore which
the French hare for a1l dirertisse,aens, and
partly Of the CONTINUAL coming Of strangers,
the theatres arc more numerous, even In
proportion to the number Of Inhabitants,
than In any other city. Each edlace Is de-
voted to tie production Of some peculiar
class o! dramatic or opctatic entertainment,
md scarcely ever goes outside thc confines of
Its own peculiar sphere. First, the Theatre
Franeais, which stands at the head Of all,
whose actors are peusloned for life, after
making their way to 1t through the proyIn-
cial and lower order Of Parisian theatrcs.
It is the ambition OF every French actor to
tread the boards OF the Theatre Firdacats,
upon which he has reached the highest
round in the professional ladder. This
theatre Is usually reserved for the production
OF the old French standard drama, the plays
Of Racine, Molltege and others, whose
dramatic works have taken a
place in tho llterature Of tho
country. On one or two occasions
It has been attempted to introduce modern
dramas, whose merits were considered wor-
thy Of representation there by the govern
mental censor, under whose Inspection all
new pieces must pass before license Of pro-
ducttou Il granted. But these innovations
have In almost every instance been cffectu.
ally resisted, the people Kissing, hootIng,
stamping, eondemniug the play in the most
demonstratiye manner, without any reference
to It's real merit and without any regard foz
the actual presence of royalty and aristocsn.
cy, but merely because they considered II a,
IN innovation. Here, as Indeed at ali tht
theatres where the drama alone Is given, nt
orchestra is employed, and L'Eatrt'aste Ii
generally taken up By visit to the Buffet, al
no French or German entertainment Il con
eidered complete without something to cal
| or drink.
Next In prominence comes the 0lton, TIL
theatre par excellence Of the Latin Or Students
! quarter. The boards Of this theatre are re
; served for the modern legitimate drama, =
ontra-dlsttnsnIshed from the scnsationA
school, which finds local habttatlou In al
the other ihectres Of Paris. The student
have assumed the dlct,e!orship Of the 0dto
and Its rlays. The Imperial censos, tn
t7itiques of the press, the fame Of the author
all to the contrary notwithstanding, no neE
! play can succeed which docs not meet tn
approval Of the mass Of the students, VIII
usually club together on suc!l occasions ant
| support or condemn the candidate for favor
II Is true thnt the Students Of the diifercn
departments in the University OF Pa.l
would be the best qualified I,
judge and criticise, ii their opinion
were always based upon the merits Of tn
play; but II is oftencr the case that the
arc Influenced By predjulsccs in favor Of th
author or opposed to him, aud sometimes Il
direct opposition to the established censor
rhip, which authorizes the production Of tn
play. The police, although the NOS
thorough organization Of the kind In III
world, are not always able to control thes
demonstrations, and indeed oftcu modit
their vigor and strcnuousncss when the
| tNAC ~ LAAAk tOA&4Ek hAtA %AC 6tAAGuASs
class who are almost unit In opposition t.
the Imperial usurpst,on, and a very daugc.
| Gus organization Of themselves In case of a
tMeufe.
There is another and smaller theatre
tho Qndrtter Latin, which is still more tn
domain Of the French student The Odko
Is rather heavy and dull for the PArisia
griad1<, and although she never actuall
tires of her concerts aud balls, she some
times enjoys, By way Of variety, a glimps
Of the theatre It Is to this uttl
theatre, In the rernotcr part Of th
quarter, that the student tAkea he
The prices arc made with reference to tb
students means, which are always more {
less contracted, and not SO much attention
given to fine setting, comfortable audiie
rum or legitimate drama, as to general b
lAfity. The pieces are half operatlc, hA
dramatic, with an orchestra Of half n dozt1
gocd-oaturr1 old fellows, who arc accu:
toncd to students ways, aud a chorus {
yonng women, chosen rather With Tcfc1enc
| to good looks than good Voices Jtn de mo
are frequent, and chastity Of EXPIRE ssion
not always strictly adhered to.
The Toyiest Is one OF those theatres whe'
src have the modern French drama OF tt
sensational eaus. VIC can form ~ idea
the character Of the plays produced bel
from =. La Fanaazs Beno3on." There arc Sc
, cral theatres whose rqorteirss arc con1ns
to this class Of plays, one Or two new on,
being produced every year, aud suiIieiug
. keep the houses crowded during that time
thus demonstrating by their popularity It
tone Of public sentiment. As Is. As th&s
concerned, the effect is not confined to Pari
but extends largely to England, still 100
; largely to this country, and to some cxtc'
to phloeophic and phlegmatic German
: sensation Il word which, within
few years, has acquired meanit
: : certainly foreign to in origin,
i. sense Ita Significance Is general
. understood and the rab'ic mindl, in itcratu
: and the drama, is drifting toward 1t. In II
8 SENSATIONAL irama the French have taken u
4 lead Mnny Of our most popular plsys a
5 translatlons from the French aud sometitn
VIC claim certain originality BY being Il
, the trnt to make adaptations from Freus
:, novels. While this popular sentfneut Is n
perhaps In every way commeadable, tbs f.
thAt II e1ista remains uudenIaole.
The Porte 81. Ad.tia theatre AGosds still A