The Donaldsonville chief. [volume] (Donaldsonville, La.) 1871-current, 1878-08-17

On the opposite side of the rive
from where the dark towers of Notrt
| Dame frown down upon the Seine, i.
Il network of little narrow streets ant
lanes which have remained unaltereG
! for ages. The Ieonoclast has been al
work all around them grand boule-
wards have been laid out in their vi.
einity; stately buildings have been
erected on every side; all Paris has
experienced more or less the rage ot
public improvements; but, in the Sec
ton OF which | speak, things remain
substantially as they were hundreds
of years ago. Many of the streets are
so narrow that the sun never shines in
them even at high noon. All the doors
are clampel and bolted with iron,
and the windows are heavily barred.
In. the narrowest streets the air is
damp and humid and smells musty
| and clammy, as if you were entering
sepulchre. 1t is not a pleasant place
to wander in after nightfall, for most
OF the streets are destitute of lamps
and this quarter is the paradise of
thieves and receivers Of stolen goods.
All the houses have high pointed roofs
with deep over. hanging gables which.
from the dingy little shops beneath,
almost shut out the light of day.
Candy looking ball dresses and arti-
cles of faded tinery hang for sale at
many of the doors, and watches, rings
and bIeastpins, the proceeds of many
a robbery, are temptingly displayed
Ill the windows. Slatternlyt looking
women and fierce looking men of no
particular occupation, sit along the
narrow sidewalks, conversing in IL
pdtoiS scarcely understood outside the
limits of their ancient guild, and dis
cusslng with evident relish their sour
wine and black bread, garnished with
garllcs and Swiss cheese. From many
OF the windows weak little vines and
clusters of sickly little flowers look
lmploringly. up to the SUM- The cas-
ual visitor making his rounds in broad
daylight is curiously scanned aud
cautiously watched as If he was an
intruder. Historically the ,place is
beyond all estimate interesting. Only
little distance off is the C0nciergerie,
the terrible prison of the Revolution,
from which so many gallant and noble
men and women were carried to the
gMtt0tiRe upon the Place de Ia Con-
corde. Close by is st. Gernains des
Pres, the Oldest church in Paris.
Among its crumbling towers lies the
dust gilmore than eight hundred years,
and beneath its time worn roof are
the ashes Of James, the Great Duke of
D.'Hslas, and Casimir, the priestly
King OF Poland who renowned a
crown for cloister, and many others
whose names will be remembered in
history till time shall be no more.
This may be called the picket line of
the Latin Quarter. Within sight, on
the opposite side of the river, is the
church of st. Germain PAuxe1rois,
from the little belfry of which the
fatal signal was given for the dreadful
massacre of the Huguenots on the
night of the 23d Of August, 1879.
Within rife shot is the College OF |
France in whose time-wOrn chapel re-
poses all that is mortal of the great
Armand, due de Richelieu and a lit
tie beyond rises the mighty dome of |
the Pantheon, where, in the DAYS of /
the revolution, naked courtesan was
wolshipped rs a goddess. The bas-
relief above the door was the work of /
the great sculptor David, who sat as
president of tho convention which.
sent Louis the Sixteenth to the scaf-
fold Mirabeau and Marat were buried
here, and monuments were erected to
Voltaire and Jean Jacques Rousseau.
1t is only thirty years ago last Jun Q
since, its altars and its porch were
covered with blood, and that the
great square around it was filed with
the carcasses of the slain.
On every side are dusty book stores
and cheap stands, where second hand
literature is retailed and where the
seeker after knowledge may find any
thing suited to his needs, from trans
ations of the Had to Fasquelles
French grammar. 1t is i'm this quar-
Ter that the students dwell, and those
having sons to educate would do well
% see how they live. They come
here from every quarter of the world;
,he boor who has been lucky in the
diamond fields of South Africa sends
lis son here the planter of Cuba,
he grandee of Spain, the fortunate
miner of California. The idea has
been industrioqsly circulated that the
schools of Paris are so superior that
ike advantages can not be found
elsewhere. Perhaps this Is SO. The
power of the nation
which has enriched the worlds treas
ny with the marvellous knowledge of
Arago, Leyerrier, Gay-Lussac, Gu
1ier and thousands upon thousands of
others can not be over estimated; but
II ninety nine cases out of a hundred,
t is purchased at price that no
ather or mother wonld be willing to
Day. Science is here, deep and pro-
ounf Here, in the late hours of the
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