Bradford reporter. [volume] (Towanda, Pa.) 1844-1884, 1867-05-16
MisfelIa,leoms.
Correspondence of the Boston Journal.
Partisan Life and Character.
PARIS, March a. 1867


Partisan Life and Character.
PARIS, March "a, 1867.
A RAMBLE IN THE STREETS OF PARIS.
propose to take ramble through
the streets of this wonderful city.
the heart and soul of France-the
capital of luxury, where fashion holds
her imperial court and where plea
sure sets up her saturnalia. 1t is
Vanity Fair, where you may pur-
chase anything, where you may
dance away the golden hours, for
getful of the flight of time where
balls, masquerades, grand parties
and receptions are nightly held
And yet here, if seriously or stpdi-
ously inclined, you may find rich
stores of learning and exhaustless
treasures of art. You may stroll by
the hour through the long drawn gal
leries of the Louxembourg and Lou
vre, or attend without expense the
great schools of art and medicine
In this city th,re is full scope for
wisdom or wickedness. No Sabbath
interrupts the hurly-burIy. In the
churches masses are said. A few
thousand of the two millions of peo-
pie enter the churches, dip their fin
gers in the marble-fountains contain
ing holy water, make the sign of the
cross, say a prayer, and then HE
away for a jolly time in the Champ
Elysee, or the Bois de Boulogne, or
at the race course. Sunday night is
the grandest of all nights at the the
atre. Week in and week out, day
and night, the hurly-burly goes on.
But we shall obtain a truer idea of
the life of the inhabitants by taking
stroll the city than by dwelling
upon general statements. We can
even read the character of the French
as people in the signs along the
Rues-their passion for sentiment
Take the names of the streets.
STREET SIGNS.
Paris takes takes good care of her
military renown. The soldiers of
France, and the citizens also, are
perpetually reminded of the deeds of
valor won by the armies of the En-
pire. The room in which | write
fronts on the Rue de Rivoli, a name
emblazoned on the flags of Napole-
on's battalions. 1t was at Rivoli in
his first Italian campaign, where he
overthrow the Austrians. Leading
from the Rue de Rivoli, is the Rue
Castiglione, another Italian battle
field. So also Wagram, Austerlitz,
Eylau, Moscow, and other battleields
won by the troops of the first Napo-
leon are kept in remembrance. Nor
are the deeds of valor of the troops
of the present Emperor forgotten,
but their record of glory is kept be-
fore the people in the boulevard Sc
bastopol, Inkerman, the point d. AL
ma, and point d Solferino.
One would think, Judging from
street signs alone, that the people of
Paris were very religious, and so
they are in the matter of signs
There are nearly 200 streets which
are name after the Saints. What an
array of sanity names the street di-
rectory presents Besides those
commonly known we have Saint E.
loi, Saint Andrew Of the Arts, Saint
Good, and Saint Opportunity. In ad-
dition to these streets of the Saints
we may walk through the Road of
the Cross of the Evangelist" the
"Cross of the Little Camp" the
"Cross of the Wooden Wainscot-
ting" or the street of David's Small
Tower" Names most sacred and
profane are indiscriminately used
names which it is almost sacrilege
to mention-the Street of the Holy
Spirit" and the Street of He'll |"
Not only are such names given to
the streets, but looking from my win
dow l can see a sign over a store
door with this inscription 1.-THE
shop of the Child Jesus" Farther
up the street the proprietor throws
out in glaring letters the name of his
eetablishment-"T The Good Devil -
and to impress it upon you he has
pictured representation of his
guardian spirit-an imp with a horn
ed head carrying a carpet bag p
Another proprietor has put up the
sign of the "Poor Devil" 1t would
require much space to give the curl
Gus nomenclature adopted by the Pa
risian shop-keepers the above will
suffice for examples.
But in our ramblings we may pass
through the "Street of Ancient Com
edy," "Street of the Beautiful
Girls" Street of the Little Shelf"
the "Boquet of the Camps" Basin
of Copernicus," Good News of the
Miracles" Street of St. Genevieve's
Almond Trees" Street of the Wo-
man Without Head"
But with all this and much more of
the sentimentality, we come upon
streets which bear such honored
names as these "Rue Beethoven"
" Rue Bellini," Rue Auber," " Rue
Rossini," "Rue Beranger," Rue
Franklin" "Rue Petrarch," "Rue
Laplace" Generals, statesmen, po-
cts, painters-great names in science
literature, art and jurisprudence
not only in France, but of all lands,
are thus honored.
1t is thus that we see along the
streets, in the very signs which have
been put up, the peculiar features of
French characters-sense and non
sense, wisdom and wit, seriousness
and soberness-a strange mixture
which defies analysis.