The Irish standard., 1891-07-25
COLONY OF PARIS.
What It Was During the Period
of the Second
Empire.

Empire.
lit WAS A POLITICAL BOHEMIA,
Honored Men Like John Mitchell and
James Stephens, and What
They Did.
The Irish colony Of Paris, during the
period Of the second Empire, was in
itself literary, artistic, and political
Bohemia Some Of its members were
permanent residents Of the French cap
ital, having married into French faml-
lies and gwen hostages to fortune in
the land of their adoption; others were
denizens of the city for the time being,
birds OF passage, not a few OF whom
had, like the wild geese, to preen their
wings for foreign parts, in the troubled
| years of '48-49, and subsequently in
1867.
In the opening years Of the Empire,
'9S and 48, so to speak, walked the
boulevards hand-in-hand. in the per-
sons of Miles Byrne and General Ar
thur O'Connor, who represented the
former movement, and John Mitchell
and James Stephens, who represented
the latter. Mitchell was, during his
residence in Paris, the correspondent
Of the New York Daily News, while
Stephens Was earning his bread by
translating "David Uopperfield" and
other of Dickens novels into French,
for the Monlteur and other periodicals,
Another Irish Partisan Of that period
was the weli~known Francis MahoDy,
"Father Prout,'' who used to write his
daily letter for the London Globe every
afternoon In the cozy reading room of
Ga]ignani, in the Rue de Rivo]i.
Among the other Irishmen Of note
then residing in Paris were the late
O'Gornaan Mahon, a tire~eater of the
old type, who fought sundrY duels in
the Bois de Boulogne, and was ranked
among the crack shots and best swords
men of the city; The O'Donoghue of
the glens, then in the hot flush Of man
hood, who lived like a Grand Mogul in
palace in the Heavenly Fields, and
who got himself into trouble with the
police on one occasion by driving
through Paris in gorgeous equi2age
drawn by six horses mounted by half a,
dozen equerries arrayed in purple
plushes-a heinous offence against the
majesty of Imperialism, which never
allowed it's subjects to parade in a car
riage to which were yoked more than
four such quadrupeds. O'Donoghue
resented this interference in the press
at the time, by openly declaring that
the Bonapartes were a mere pack Of
whipper -snappers, who bad no right to
shear him of his privileges.
Where were the Corsicans, those
parvenus OF an hour,' asked the Chief
tain OF the Glens. when my ancestors
were the kings of Ireland?"
Napoleon Ill. responded to this piece
of edrontery by giving the chieftain,
through the detectives, quiet hint
that he might find himself in the lock-
up il he remained much longer on
French territory. So, thinking Droba-
bly, that discretion was the better part
of valor. the rol]icking Irishman folded
his tent, like an Arab, and silently
stole away.
The Irismen who walked the asphalt
of Paris, throughout the closing years
of the Second Empire had even more Of
Murger's Bohemianism in them than
their predecessors. They lived for the
most part in attics in the heart of the
Latin quarter, and had very little Of
the worlds wealth at their disposal; yat
they enjoyed life as only Bohemians
can IN this miserable valley of tears and
tares They used to meet almost every
evening IN cafe on the Boulevard ST.
Michael, where, sitting around a few
marble tables, and quafing their beer
VI LllCy VOO4O A1SOu00 OVCA y 6uU"
ject under the sun. from an elephant
to needle.
They formed motley group enough
as they sat there; for among them were
professors from Cork and dublin,
''French" guides from Tipperars, com
posi5ors from Galignani, enjoying their
'.of" hours, Journalists and special cor
respondents who had served their ap-
premiership in the old land; s'niggers"
from the Galtees who had the word
artistic on their cards. ard who used TO
astonlsh the natives during the season
in the singing halls; and fair Sphinx
ling OF painters and political refugees.
Some of the leading lights in that
group have since made their mark in
the literary world. such as John Angus
tns O'Shea, the Irish Bohemian. =
whuse : Iron Bound City, and 'sTrav-
els in Spain have ensured him a wide
reputation as an author, and whose