The Democratic press. [volume] (Ravenna, O. [Ohio]) 1868-1901, 1874-02-19
nrrEnEsrIao roEEIeN LETTEEs.
10.



and arrived I'm this city the Following
evening. Before close my obserFa-
tiOns upan our visit 70 Paris allow me
20 extract 4 few more items from ms
journal.
The religion Of France is princIpa y
Roman Catholic. The Reformed Cal
whistle, the Lutheran, and Jewish
churches, are recognised and sustain.
ed by the State, The masses of the
people, however, profess the Catholic
religion, which is sminenfly the ae-
sknoWIedged religion Of the Govern
ment. The principal festivals Of the
Catholics are observed as public hOli-
days, when public prayers are order
ed, the authorities are supposed 70 DC
Catholics, and are expected to attend
these ceremonies, yet no PROFESSIONS
are allowed outside the walls OF g
Catholic church, in towns where there
are churches Of 8 different order Of
worship.
Marriage Is made a civil contract,
and no religious celebration of mar
riage Is allowed until the civil contract
has been entered into before the Nays
or. The registers OF baptismss mar
riages and bDriaIs, kept BY the church
are not received as evidence in lieu OF
the like registers, kept by the Mayor
The NConcordat,D which Was arrang-
with the Pope, By Napol eonBo BonapArfe
on the restoration OF the Christian
worship, still regulates the. Govern
ment Of the church. Its main object
is to place the church entirely under
control Of the state. The government
nominates the srchbishops and bish-
ops, the Pope then eoniers the canon
ical honors. The bishops appoint the
priests, subject to the approval of the
government. No communication
from the Papal court, no doctrinal de-
cision or formuls can be published or
taught, no council held, no change in
the discipline introduced, unless sane
toned BY the government. The
Lutheran, like the Catholic churches,
are under the control of the state. The
appointment and removal Of pastors
must be confirmed by the government
The same also In respect to al protest.
ant churches in France--the State ex-
ercisee more or less influence and con-
troll.
In Paris there are over thirty con-
vents, principally Of nuns. ostensibiy
engaged in the education of young
ladies, In the relief of the sick and in-
digent persons, besides other useful
employments. We saw them attend
ing the sick in hospitals, in private
dwellings, and engaged in superin-
tending schools for the poor, which
impressed US faFOrably in their be-
half.
The National schools are also m
der the control Of the government, and
are divided into three classes or gem
ieure,g ssInslruction Sec0ndaife, and
obstruction Primaire." These de-
partments are governed by Supreme
Council Of Public Instruction, COM
posed Of Eve bishops or archbishops,
three senators, three cOunselors of
State. three members of the court Of
stCassation," three ministers belong
ing to the Lutheran Reformed and
Jewish creeds, five members of the
Institute, eight inspector generals and
instruction. ALI the members of this
Council are nominated by the govern
ment for one year.
About seven thousand students are
now attending in the superior depart
ment. In the primary department the
total number of pupils is nearly two
1AuuUECA LAQA46AAs BoAa IA-AADL w
fained an introduction to the tPrefec-
teur General of the Department Of the
Seine, who cOurteously accorded Us
the privilege of visiting and inspect
ing these national Institutions. We
were conducted by the secretary and
public inspector, Mr.. Charles Barbour,
into several departments, and examin-
ed minutely the course Of studies and
discipline, methods Of teaching, ar
rangement of desks, seats, &c, and
lastly their gymnastic exercises. Every
explanation and facility " ere afforded
that we required for obtaining statis-
tics and the information we sought.
The government is very strict, ap-
preaching to that or military disci-
plino. We admired the industry an
general neatness conspicuous in every
department.
One of these primary schools con-
sisted of four hundred and fifty boys,
from ten to fourteen years of age, di-
Vided into branches, each numbering
from seventy to one hundred, occupy
ing separate rooms in the same build
ing. We noticed that the seats and
desks exhibited no signs of whiting
prepensities in the occupants. / re-
marked to the superintendent that /
supposed his young students were
prohibited penkhiVes, upon which he
ordered the school TO hold up their
kniyes when, to our great an1usement,
two thirds Of the boys presented to
view this article of pocket furniture
this experiment was repeated in two
other departments with like results.
These seats snd desks had been oc-
cupied seven years without mark or
blemish, high eneOmium on school
discipline.
On intimating our wishes to witness
their gymnastics, the perintendent
ordered his school of eighty boys TO
retire to a capacious hall, where they
performed, in q mastealy manner,
several cSuraes of exercise, consisting
of military evolutions. A sentiment
expressed on the occasion, by Presi-
dent Smith, that these young gentle
men, aE some future period, might be
able to ssput the Prussians through"
was highly relished BY the superin-
tendent. In all the national schools,
I think these gymnastie exercises
throughout are characteristically mill
tary, giving tone to the martial spirit
and military ambition of tee French
nation.
After spending several hours in
these public schools, we returned to
our hotel fully satisfied with our visit.
"A few items of social statistics might
be interesting. In 1869, the last CEN
sus returns show the number of births
in the capital 10 be some above $1,000,
still-born children A. 500, deaths 1882,
marriages 18948. OF The children
born 1886 were illegitimate, of these
3,059 were acknowledged by their
parents.
About one half of the population OF
Paris are working people, 1900 are
paupers, q, 900 patients are always IN
hospitals, and four times az many pass
through them in the course of the |
year. The population of the prisons
is about 5000. It is a remarkable [
fact, that families constantly residing
in Paris, after awhile become extinct |