It is not here alone one finds Paris changing.A railway is being brought along the quais with its depot at the Invalides.Another is to find its terminus opposite the Louvre, where the picturesque ruin of the Cour des Comptes has stood half-hidden by the trees since 1870.A line of electric cars crosses the Rond Point, in spite of the opposition of all the neighborhood, anxious to keep, at least that fine perspective free from such desecration.And, last but not least, there is every prospect of an immense system of elevated railways being inaugurated in connection with the coming world's fair.The direction of this kind of improvement is entirely in the hands of the Municipal Council, and that body has become (here in Paris) extremely radical, not to say communistic;and takes pleasure in annoying the inhabitants of the richer quarters of the city, under pretext of improvements and facilities of circulation.
It is easy to see how strong the feeling is against the aristocratic class.Nor is it much to be wondered at! The aristocracy seem to try to make themselves unpopular.They detest the republic, which has shorn them of their splendor, and do everything in their power (socially and diplomatically their power is still great) to interfere with and frustrate the plans of the government.Only last year they seized an opportunity at the funerals of the Duchesse d'Alencon and the Duc d'Aumale to make a royalist manifestation of the most pronounced character.The young Duchesse d'Orleans was publicly spoken of and treated as the "Queen of France;" at the private receptions given during her stay in Paris the same ceremonial was observed as if she had been really on the throne.The young Duke, her husband, was not present, being in exile as a pretender, but armorial bearings of the "reigning family," as their followers insist on calling them, were hung around the Madeleine and on the funeral-cars of both the illustrious dead.
The government is singularly lenient to the aristocrats.If a poor man cries "Long live the Commune!" in the street, he is arrested.
The police, however, stood quietly by and let a group of the old nobility shout "Long live the Queen!" as the train containing the young Duchesse d'Orleans moved out of the station.The secret of this leniency toward the "pretenders" to the throne, is that they are very little feared.If it amuses a set of wealthy people to play at holding a court, the strong government of the republic cares not one jot.The Orleans family have never been popular in France, and the young pretender's marriage to an Austrian Archduchess last year has not improved matters.
It is the fashion in the conservative Faubourg St.Germain, to ridicule the President, his wife and their bourgeois surroundings, as forty years ago the parents of these aristocrats affected to despise the imperial PARVENUS.The swells amused themselves during the official visit of the Emperor and Empress of Russia last year (which was gall and wormwood to them) by exaggerating and repeating all the small slips in etiquette that the President, an intelligent, but simple-mannered gentleman, was supposed to have made during the sojourn of his imperial guests.
Both M.and Mme.Faure are extremely popular with the people, and are heartily cheered whenever they are seen in public.The President is the despair of the lovers of routine and etiquette, walking in and out of his Palais of the Elysee, like a private individual, and breaking all rules and regulations.He is fond of riding, and jogs off to the Bois of a morning with no escort, and often of an evening drops in at the theatres in a casual way.The other night at the Francais he suddenly appeared in the FOYER DESARTISTES (A beautiful greenroom, hung with historical portraits of great actors and actresses, one of the prides of the theatre) in this informal manner.Mme.Bartet, who happened to be there alone at the time, was so impressed at such an unprecedented event that she fainted, and the President had to run for water and help revive her.The next day he sent the great actress a beautiful vase of Sevres china, full of water, in souvenir.
To a lover of old things and old ways any changes in the Paris he has known and loved are a sad trial.Henri Drumont, in his delightful MON VIEUX PARIS, deplores this modern mania for reform which has done such good work in the new quarters but should, he thinks, respect the historic streets and shady squares.
One naturally feels that the sights familiar in youth lose by being transformed and doubts the necessity of such improvements.
The Rome of my childhood is no more! Half of Cairo was ruthlessly transformed in sixty-five into a hideous caricature of modern Paris.Milan has been remodelled, each city losing in charm as it gained in convenience.
So far Paris has held her own.The spirit of the city has not been lost, as in the other capitals.The fair metropolis of France, in spite of many transformations, still holds her admirers with a dominating sway.She pours out for them a strong elixir that once tasted takes the flavor out of existence in other cities and makes her adorers, when in exile, thirst for another draught of the subtle nectar.
