New-York tribune., 1876-05-13
PARTISAN FESTIVlTY.
LETTER FROM HENRY JAMES. JR,

ICAL AElISlS-M. MbtML- =" ~''
pARC-EECENT BOOKS.
-, 80, CORRESPONDENT oP TIiB TBIBUNE.l
p,p,s Anril 22-'To say there has been nothing al
oil IN see tn hear OF to talk about during any gwen
fortnjpht in Paris is doubtless never perfectly eA-
act st,tement: but / may satsiy say tAat ior
couple of weeks past the objects of interest nave
been rather Of tAe minor order. Holy Week has
cone and goue. aud the Easter holidays are now
,upnjpp their course. During the former buei perod
the spirit of profanity was exercised much more Ell
feetualy than | had supposed possible IN THIS epi-
cnreau city. For "a week Palis was palpaby dull
a seemed Ike a scene mt the play when the gas
lights haze been lowerelb The impression WAS lil-
creased by sudden visitation of cold and see. and
Good Friday was really almost ausiere. Peopc IN
search Of amusement ueclel sharp eyes 80 lid II,
and the walters at the restaurants were almost as-
pressye in their offers of fish. A3 regards LaNtfr'
what we are having is much more an knghSh
than a French holiday. Early on Moi-
day morning the British tourist made MS
appearance on the Boucyarls. and he has beer V7i-
bic at every turn ever since. lie has tnriy tlkcn
possession of the city, and If hls presence Is I'enS
it is 80 to speak Intense You recognize him further
oil than you do an American; be nakesa more vivid
spot i'm the picture. He is always and everywhere
the same--carryng with him, IN his cos umc and
pbysiosomy that indefnable expression of not con-
siderng anything out OF England worth maNIn''
physically or morally a toilet for. The unaliinity
with which Englishmen abroad uudreSs is indeed
something surprising and. say what we wili' 1t
seems to me in certain way 10 DO sort OF PROOF oi
that element Of the still uniamo1 and barbaroGs
which some Observers profess TO find IN the national
character. am sure NJ. Taine, for instance, lever
meets If an evening faunel-Shirteh. ptajacketco'
ofi-hattcd son Of Albion, followed by hs robust
feminine shadow, all blonde cLiguon and hnsry-
wO0lsey, without murnuring to himself tnat the
"VikingsD and "Berserkers," the offspring OF tho
norhwind and the sea-foc, are not extinct Cyi!za-
ton has modified them. he must shy, but II has not
really altered them No carries heavier e%ter-
nal load of propre;eS and conventional oberVahceS'
but they are all on tho snrilce they have not booh
absorbed and ON tho slightest pretcXt the natural
man rcasserts himself. good pretext Is found in
visit 10 this brilliant and exquisite Paris, tine mothcr
of arts and craccs. What better proof Of the under
current of barbarism in the British temperament can
there be 1--WE may still imagine the foreign critic III
ouirinC) than the simple fact Of the whole BRUSH
nation going into dishabille in this ~Sheticaiiy
sacred spotl This has been beautiful day, aud
have hal occasion to walk aboutn much in the streets
Every few moments have encountered an Eugiish
family-papa mamma. and Misunderstanding intoa
shop-window, inquirng the way of the prpprctress
of a newspaper kiosk, or climbing into or ont Oi
cab. | came bone WlIl Il lNtty Itutttipt ulici-
most in my mind-what a godsend is the British
tourist 20 the French caricaturst! The Frenc! are
an ugly race if you will thena;ionaliype lacks die-
nity. The English are a handsome race; they have
nobler lines and a graDder mold than their ne IL
bors: and yet given the British phys0gnolny as yon
see IT, Mt the end of protrucd neckS, the Boulc-
wards and the Rue de Riyoi, and given the
subtle the acute, the diaDOlcal Fronch perception
of external facts, and 1t is not hard to decide ~
whose shoes for the moment, We would rather stand
My own fingers. as ! walked along, itched for the
pencil Of "Cham" or of DlnAicr.
This is only the time of the English, il IS also
the time of ne Exhibitions. There have been two or
three already at the Palais de lIndnstre, and 'he
series is to eliminate in ten days in tho opening Of
the Salon Of 1876. The last tho great ANIMAL
borse-fair-an entertainment known here by the
more elegant designation OF Conconrs lipP'que."
II lasted fortnight but ] shall not attempt to
recite it's glories being straHg to the mysteries
of horse-nesh. was present the last day. however,
at a spectacle which il took particular initiation
TO enjoy. The Concours terminates every year IN
what ia here called CaTTou,el-a display Of purely
fantastic and picturesque horse nanship. I1e Car
rousel was held this year by ts cadets of the cav
airy school Of Saumur end was in every way high
festival The whole vost nave OF the Palas de
PIndus.ric was converted into IN obong arena, and
thoug the price Of admission had been made high.
TO exclude the populace, the crowd was mighty.
ADart from it, under das, sat the President o. the
Republic and Nine MacMahon, like medieval
king and queen presiding at a tournament. IL was
simply the circus dellized-or rather more cor
rectly, realized. The knights and cavaliers who
rode at the Saracens heads and hurled their lances
lths last not very feicitously, by the way) at the
great mask of the blackamoor, were real young
knights with trapping ys not Of tinse and holding
- tt..fr Ia,T t.rgu
all very graceful aud gorgeous and eiioctivefor
those amiabe minds at least that linger over the
picturesque wherever they ird it, and are ashamed
10 ask il mpeTtineut questions. Such minds,
at such a spectacle, may here aad thero have
found themselves excusahle for rejecting on
the exclusively brilliant side of military pre-
tensions. Standing armies are aboininabo
things the necessity of maintaining upward Of a
million OF Den for pure destruction is an ispporta-
BILE burden to a country and the armed suspense in
which all Europe is living is roproaeh 70 cyilza-
tion--all that is most uncOntestaDie. ANA yet
horrible as tho statement may sound-the contem-
platye American often finds himself wishing, or
hall wishing, that his native land had, regular
thing somo knowledge OF the military incubus.
Don. call him too rudey 10 accounthis reasons are
purely sentimental be is willing TO admit even that
they are immoral lie only say, III bis irespou-
sible deprayity that living in q country where the
army is a greet fact has opened bis perceptions to
some of the good effects Of having the military ylr-
tues and the military spectacle constantly before
oues eyos. They arc expensive Injury, GER
tany; but il Is proper after all top high Tor the
maintenance in an honorable style, OF such quali-
ties AZ galantry and bravery. The French, IN spce
Of their humiliation and defeats are to my cx-
tromely fond cf their army they love it, thoy enjoy
r. and admire il; they watch ID and Judge it with
Lind Of rlnantic tendernass. I felt this the other