Morning journal and courier., 1893-01-09

pathetic services of this kind, and AZ one
would form a true iiea of the extreme
lengths TO which the French people go in
the observance of this custom, he must
visit the grsveysrds, as we did, and wit
ness this deeply impressive spectacle for
himself To see the profusion of flowers
the day after All Souls is something one
can never forget, and really. what one
Sees in our own cemeteries after Deeora-
ton day is hardly Circumstance to the
way In which the French attend 10 such
mstters
Christmas is another national holiday
but the nation for some reason has no.
made of this fets anything like the great
occasion which il is either in Germany or
in countries where English is spoken
The churches observe IL, as a matter Of
course, with the pomp usual in Roman
Catholic stroDRholds, and with some e1-
trss as tribute to the French love for re-
slistic art. The midnight mass Is a great
function, and the government, by the way.
seems SO bent upon making IL exclusively
a French affair, that the few foreign
churches in Paris which observe IL have TO
pay an eIorbitant tax for the privilege
Another striking feature Is the rsproduc-
tion before one of the altars of the fsmil-
isr birth scene. Nearly all the churches
furnish Christmas attraction Of this kind.
but the church which generally excels In
Spectacular effects is ST. Rochs's, In the
Rue ST. HoIoEe. Joseph and Mary are
there, life s.ze, and modelled after the best
portraits So sTe the patient COWS. and
the besst of burden which had brought
the holy mother to Beihlshem. To help
the Illusion there IS also q maDger with
plenty OF straw scattered about, but the
central and most interesting figure lie a wax
model of the holy child
Until very recently the French have
taken no stock in Santa Claus, In Christ
mas trees. in what the English call ''Christ-
mas boxes, or even in our own American
craze for the pretty cards fashionable at
that season. But the country In these
latter days Is being favored, or afflicted
which the reader plesses-by an invasion
of ideas and customs from the other side
of the channel. In other words the bon
ton Of French society Is becoming eng.
lish, you know" To dress after the Eng
lish fashion is quite the swell thing now
with men in the upper circles. Not only
have English trousers coms over, but the
fashion of turning them up at the boots
has captured the French mind, and among
the numerous other habits which the
French are contracting from the English
is that OF observing Christmas This,
however, Ia only In Paris and the larger
towns In the provinces. Elsewhere the
day is scarcely marked at sll by the feat
ures which signsliIs il in the United
States. In fact, in every respect, except
ing a bank holiday and fesst of the
church, 1t sesms to be passed by unnoticed
in the wild anticipation with which every
body just then is looking forward to the
new year.
To show at a fash how much Is made
of New Years day in France We men
ton a single circumstance Tho com
ment of some of the papers upon the
new ministry which has come into power
is this: That sbout the only thing which
can save IL from summary overthrow is
the near approach of that French holi-
day which Is sscredly set apart by all
classes to the cultivation and expression
of good fellowship. In its social aspects
this day Is everything TO the Frenohmsn
that Christmas and Thanksgiving are to
the American, aud even more. The grand
Parisisn shops, instead of putting out 8
Christmas display, announce in blazing
characters their Exposition dea Etrenues," !"
which mesns display of the most costly
and tempting New Years gifts. Costly
is the true word for some Of these gifts,
for how else can yOu speak Of elaborate
boxes of bon-bOns st from fifty TO q
hundred france each, or Of rsvishing dolls,
which, If you bought them, would make
as big a vacuum in your pocketbook as an
ordinary bridal trcussesu.
In this city the coming of this great hol-
idsy is indicated by q transformation on
the great boulevards. From the Made
leine to the end of the Boulevard des Ital-
lens the broad sidewalks are skirted with
booths. Bsrrsques du jour de Ian is their
French cosnomen. In thes@ all sorts Of
g. Il L.
too, at prices which appeal TO the masses.
Every year some new toy comes ont on
New Years day, and so great is Paris on
following the fashions that this novelty,
be 1t pretty or ugly, useful or superhu-
ous, becoras- she rage of the hour and.
in consequ.uce, the fnsl possession of
every child an the town This. more
over, is smother season when florists do
q big business, for wherever = gentle
man may have taken dinner occasionally,
he must ssnd at New Years some token
of grateful remembrance Otherwise hos
pitality ia likely to be withdrawn; and
these tributes, as q rule, take the form
of an exquisite bouquet, or perhaps, If
there is q mademoiselle in the house. the
gift is a dainty assortment of s~eets.
These. however, A-s triaIng matters,
which. In ths sum total Of New Years
customs, make scarcely any figure In
addition to the universal exchange of
presents between friends, th-re are your
servants and dependents to be looked af-
ter. None of thee can be slighted, II
you value either your standing or your
peace of mind, and to SONS the gifts
must be of substantial value Such 9
wishing of Bonne AnDes SIS there is all
around at this season would do ones
heart good, were IL not for the knowl-
edge you have that almost every one who
wishes you coed year wishes slsn to be
remembered by good pres-nt Every
body who mas served you. or VINO has been
ready TO serve you, wishes you well-the
butchers boy, the bakers boy, the street
sweeper, the milkmsn, the lsmplighter,
and in fact all sorts and conditions of
people, some of whom you will never have
seen before and Will not see again perhaps
for another twelve months In fact 1t Ia
Just as IL is at Christmas time In America,
only hundred times more SO.
here as In Eoglsnd the pOstmsn comes
In for one of your largest bounties, and
we only wish that the French postal sys-
tenn rendered its representatives ss worthy
as the English of what 10 annually meted
out to them at this season. But IL the
system is not q very deserving one, the
letter carriers themselves are worthy
| enough, aud when one thinks of the enor-
nous amount of extra work the New Year
entails, ons can hardly be2rudse the Ave
! OF ten francs they expect Ia the form Of a
New Years lsrgess. Which reminds us
Of another French custom-that Of eI-