New-York tribune., 1870-10-15
VAR TOPICS.

The lively melodramatic vein of the French
character is continually breaking ont in uneX-
pected places; the worries of war serve 0cca-
sionally as the somber background for tdbleGur
riuantS which to us wear a semi-ludicrous air.
A rather STACEY incident is elaborated in Or
! leans-one which rivals that ever-pleasing story
of wounded sweetheart and devoted nurse
with a talent for beef-tea and tears. Read :
A graceful, beautiful peasant girl of seventeen
rushes wildly into the church of Sainte-Croix,
and passiOnately implores the priest instantly to
bless the crown of pearls she carries. He re-
fuses, but she begs with such touching emo
ton in her lovely face that he forthwith re-
lents like a sensible man. Whereupon the
damsel tragcally proceeds to the marie, and
entreats of the Mayor permission to mount a
ladder and place the crown upon the
head of the statue of Jeanne DArc
in the square. Surprise Firmncss on
the part of the pretty girl: Final consent
and long ladder carefully placed against
the statue: Regardless of the immense crowd
which gathers unanimously, regardless Of her
dangerous elevation, the young girl ascends
and crowns the statue: Applause and tears
by the crowd Dance of triumph by small
boys: Girl descends and announces her in
tention to proceed Immediately to Paris to
put herself on a horse at the head of the
army, at the post of danger and of hope.
"Jeanne Dare" she observes, "has appeared
" to me and commanded me to save France. l
Gam going to save Francem The most skepti-
cal do not dare to smile; brave men become
pale with emotion. TO all interrogations she
responds simply, Jeanne D'Arc has COM
"manded me to save Francem and off she starts
for Paris by the extremely prosaic and unin-
spring conveyance of a railroad carriage,
leaving everybody in an ecstasy of admiration
and credulty.
M. Thiers, as special Envoy of the French
Provisional Government has now visited the
Courts of London, Vienna, st. Petersburg, and
Florence. We have had no trustworthy re-
ports of the result of his negotiations; but we
know that no nation has made any movement
whatever to assist France i'll any way. We
can hardly imagine how NJ. Theirs had the au-
dacity to make his appearance in the presence
of Victor Emanuel, with whom, it seems, he
had an audience on Thursday. He has been
the bitter and persistent adversary and assail-
ant of Italian unity during the twelve years In
which Italy has been making progress toward
It's cOnsummatiOn. He has opposed 1t at every
STEP and by every means in his power. He
opposed the part France took in 1t, the part
Prussia took in it, and all the movements of
Italy herself toward it. He opposed the Sar-
dinian union with Naples and Tuscany, op-
posed the annexation of Lombardy, and subse-
quently the annexation of Neneta. From the
first to the last he opposed the absorption of
Rome, with the greatest pertinacity and earn
estness. Now, just at the hour when Italy has
succeeded in accomplishing her uniiicatlon, he
appears at the Italian Court, and implores the
Government to come to the assistance of
France. We should suppose that M Thiers
must have "felt rather cheap"
Now as so often before in the experience of
nations, pestilence and famine follow in the
wake of war We have the most terrible ac-
counts of the destitution that already prevails
in the popul0us districts of Northern and East
ern France, over which the German armies
have been operating during the last three
months. The crops gathered were very light,
the enemys acquisitions have been very heavy,
and the demands of the French authorities,
under military necessity, have been no less