The New York herald., 1875-12-26


pose Of giving appropriate New Years pres
ents to the charity children of the various
benehcent institutions Of Paris A large
sum has already been received for this
worthy object.
THE RELIGIOUS FETEs.
In noticing the religious ceremonies which
took place it may be scarcely necessary to re-
call that in Catholic countries the great dis
tinctive ceremonial Of Christmas is
THE MIDNIGHT MASS.
1 need not in these dispatches enlarge
upon the mysteries it synbolizes or the
mighty Christian event it celebrates in all
the pomp Of the Roman ritual In all the
leading churches, with the exception of
Notre Dame, the mass was held and the SER
vices were attended by great crowds Of both
sexes At the Madeleine, the Pantheon and
ST. Etienne du Mont the altar decorations
were magnificent, and in each a representa-
tion of the manger at Bethlehem attracted
the attention of the pious and the curious.
AN ABLE PREACHER.
The services to-day were equally well at
tended, the principal attraction being the
celebrated preacher, Pere Olivier. He is a
young, energetic and eloquent cleric, who
lashes the fashionable sins and common fol-
lies of the day with keen, polished and un-
sparing satire - s:A.
THE THEATRES
From the church to the theatre is one step
with the Frenchman; that is if he ever steps
into church at all Christian or infidel,
however, he is as fond of his theatre as
the Roman rabble were of the circus, and on
Christmas eve the places of amusement here
were all crammed
REVIEWS OF THE YEAR.
According to the custom which has grown
up of late years of presenting the events of
the year in stage setting, or exhibiting the
face during the twelvemonth in tableaux
linked together by satirical doggerel, Revues
of 1875 were given at the Alcazar and the
Theatre Dejazet last night. There were
some good hits in each, but found one of
them wearisome in spite of dazzling mise
en- scene.
MYERS CIRCUS.
The great American circus opened by Mr..
Myers at the Magasins Reunis has proved a
great success. The receipts have averaged
$4,000 nightly, and the management expects
to see this sum increased during the holiday
season, which is now fairly under way. In
the huge exhibition is taken into account, it
will be seen that only great returns at the
doors. and long continued, can make this
undertaking financially what it has been
artistically-a success.
THE AMERICAN LEvEE.
On New Years Day the honors of the re-
ception at the American Legation will be
done by Consul General Torbert in the alb
sence of Minister Washburne.
FRENCH POLITICS
Turning to things political, may remark
that the ill-timed motion of the radical
Deputy Naquet for extending an amnesty to
the exiled and imprisoned Communists
which was so overwhelmingly defeated this
week, is producing important results The
liberal constituencies have begun to pour in
INDIGNANT INCONSISTENCIES
upon their republican representatives who
voted in the negative, much to the annoy
ance of the latter, who find it difficult to ex-
plain their polite action to the uncompro-
missing reds who blame them SO bitterly
There is no doubt that it was Naquets inten-
ton to bring about such state of affairs,
for the extreme radicals are desirous Of
marking their lines as rigidly as Gideon ap-
piled the tests that narrowed down his band
to the proper proportions for performing his
memorably successful ruSe de guerre.
REPUBLICAN DIsSENsIoN.
Thiers, Gambetta and Louis Blanc, repre-
senting three grades of republicanism are
equally opposed to Naquet on this question
The republican party, indeed, is as badly
dsunited as its enemies could wish.
PUSH THINGS
Premier Buffet has issued instructions to
the projects of oil the departments to sup
port the conservative candidates of every
shade in the coming elections against those
put forward by the republicans, hoping to