Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1873-04-25
National Assembly, at Versailles

The Assembly meets in the theater OF
the palace of Versailles. Still one is
not prepared somehow to see parlia-
mentarY assembly arranged so com.
pletely after the fashion Of theatrical
audience. The theater has undergone
hardly any alteration in its arrange
ment. The tiers Of boxes are just as
they might have been when Due de
Richelieu or de Choiseul sat there. The
dress circle, as we should call tin Lon
don, is principally occupied by the Off
cials, the diplomatists, and their friends.
On the second range are the journalists
and the more favored class of the gen.
eral public. The higher you go the less
is your favor, until you reach the loges
grillees, or little barred pigeon-holes of
round shape, just where the ceiling begins
to slope outward, and which were orig
inaly intended for persons who wished
to see the performance in the royal
theatre without beingiseen, or whom per-
haps some of the audience did not desire
to see. The pit and the stalls are occu-
pied by the members Of the Assembly;
the President sits on the stage with a
huge bell on the table close to his hand.
The ministers sit in front of him, but
beneath, facing the audience. Between
him and the audience, and little to his
right, is the tribune-a sort OF pulpit
from which the orators address the AS
sembly. At first the idea conveyed to
the mind of the unaccustomed visitor is
entirely that of an ordinary theater dur
ing morning performance. He can
hardly, for time. bring himself to be-
lieye that this is a great National As
sembly charged with the regeneration OF
q crushed and conquered country. de
seems rather to be assisting at the
representation Of some comedy.
tits not easy to obtain admission to
one of these galleries. To begin with,
there are some seven hundred and fifty
members to be accommodated with
seats. Then there are the diplomatists
of the various nations and the officials OF
all sorts, who are entitled to be provided
with places. Then there are the wives
of the members and the wives of the di-
plomatists and officials. Then the public
may be taken into consideration. Every
member has in his turn two tickets to
give away; but his turn does not come
very often, and he can hardly sccommo-
date during session one-fourth OF his
friends. Each day the questor a solemn
and dread official, M. de Baze, much de-
tested by the journalists--has a few
tickets to give sEay-proyided there be
vacant Slaces, or that those to whom
he ciyes the tickets will wait until some
wesried spectators shall leave their seats
to return no more, aud so make way Tor
others. Then thsre are the loges
grilles, of which ] spoke, sad which
are dreadful little dens just under the
roof from which people with keen sight
NAV POSSIBLY, by straining their eyes,
distinguish II. ThieFs from NJ Gambetta.
Under such circumstances ( was glad,
indeed, to have kind friend in the ass
sembly. a man OF influence and celeb.
ritv. whom | had known in his exile, and
who may at any turn OF the wheel pc
one Of the leading ministers OF republl-
can France. Ny friend contrived that
| should hear the debates more often
than is usually the good fortune ofstran,
gers during the same period of time. l
heard some passionate and stormy dis
cussions and saw some brilliant passages
of arms. But it was soEe time before
the notion of a theatrical performance
wore away. The galleries were full OF
ladies, of officers in uniform, OF elegantly
dressed lawyers, end-but these last GER
tainly rather disturbed the theatrlc
idea-of priests in their PecgliqF garb.
II was net easy to bring the mind seri-
ouSly to regard the persons in the pit
and stslls as the assembled legislators
of France.
Yet the debates are bot and angry and
earnest enough sometimes to banisb FROM
the mind of the spectator any thought Of
light comedy. / was in the House Of
Commons on the famous night Of the
debate on Sir Charles Dilke's motion,
and have seen many another Stormy
seene in the same House, not to speak
of some rather noisy discussions in the
Capitol at Washington, and scenes in the
Paiais Bourbon, Paris, when the lmpe-
rial Corps Legislstif sat there, and the
historical FIVE were doing the whole
work Of opposition. But /, at least, never
heard such vshament persistent and
passionate elamor as in the theater OF
Versailles during the sitting Of this pres.
eut A assembly. The whole seven hundred
and fifty odd members seem at times TO
he yelling vita one throat. Halt are
irving to scream down the sPsak keri half
the other moiety are shouting in bis de-
fease, The rest are baWlng out appeals
for silence. The orEtor in the tribune
shr;eks defiance 70 his enemies, and
sbakes bis fists at them, and banGs ika
'front.' Of his rosirum, sometimes with
botb hands together. Nov and then
sosse ipterrupii0s, shriller or nearer
than the rest, catches hls ssfi fna
be goes of into an episod'cal alter
..Ll-- LII lL.t narllluIar enemy. each