the Examinations would not in any way interfere with a woman's ordinary domestic life.* It is, therefore, hoped that the Senate may be willing to give the widest interpretation to the words of their Charter, and to 'hold forth to all classes and denominations. of Her Majesty's subjects, not excluding women, an encouragement for pursuing a regular and liberal course of education.'”

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XXIII.-OUR FRENCH CORRESPONDENT.

LADIES,

Paris, March 19th, 1862.

Nothing is now more fashionable in Paris than to patronize charitable institutions. The Empress sets the example, in being nominated to the head of all those in France specially set apart for women and children. Her Imperial Majesty has a large and very efficient staff of vice-presidents, secretaries, treasurers, and councillors, composed exclusively of ladies having some particular talent or virtue which qualifies them for their important posts, their appointment to which is duly gazetted in the Moniteur. Meetings are held fortnightly by them, during the fashionable season, at the Tuileries; and once a year a grand conclave assembles to discuss the actual condition and prospects of Crèches, Salles d'Asyles, and Sociétés d'Assistance Maternelle. This important assembly is composed of twentyfour Vice-Presidents and the Imperial President, who lately subscribed to the last-named society a handsome sum, and exerted her influence with the Minister of State to procure a much larger one for it from the Minister of Finance. Reports are published of the results accomplished, which do honor to the ladies who administer the funds placed in their hands by the one who is supposed to represent the wretchedness of the country as much as she does its greatness. The example of the Empress is followed in many of the most fashionable hôtels, and the principal salons of the capital. A short time ago the Princess de Beauvais did so in a very striking and a very efficacious manner. Some of the patrons of an orphan asylum complained to her of their want of funds, and expressed their despair about obtaining even sufficient to support it for three months longer. "But," returned Madame de Beauvais, "I am determined that your sad forebodings or calculations shall fall through; and, my dear friend, you know the proverb, Quand la femme le veut, Dieu le veut.'" She accordingly set to work with the energy of a true French woman, and in so doing showed no small degree of feminine resource. The first step taken towards effecting her excellent designs, was to beg from Madame Mayendorff the loan of her charming

*The Examinations of the Society of Arts are open to women; no inconvenience has arisen, and the number of female candidates increases yearly.

hotel in the Rue Barbet for a fête dramatique. The request was no sooner made than granted; and tickets of admission made out and disposed of with such astonishing rapidity, that, although they sold to gentlemen, or to ladies desiring a reserved seat, for twenty-five francs, and to all ladies choosing a more uncomfortable or less conspicuous place fifteen francs, it was judged necessary to have three representations in the course of the same week. The scenic arrangements were confided to the Prince de Beauvais; and the distribution of rôles to a sister of General Goyon and Prince Albert de Broglie. Under their auspices, Princesses, Countesses, and the reigning belles of the Quartier St. Germains were transformed into grisettes, dairymaids, confidants, or afflicted heroines, and a vast salon on the groundfloor, generally used as a reception-room, into a salle de spectacle.

This room is usually called la grande nef, on account of its vaulted ceiling and great painted window of stained glass resembling the window of a Cathedral. A curtain of blue velvet, and a line of reflectors partly concealed under a grove of flowers, separated the stage from three or four rows of fauteuils covered with blue embroidered velvet; they were reserved for the ladies who had paid the twenty-five francs a piece. A temporary gallery ran behind this parterre, which was resplendent with the bouquets, diamonds, and precious stones of its occupants. In the gallery, the ladies who did not contribute more than fifteen francs sat on tabourets or forms, while the gentlemen stood behind—no matter what sum they might have given at the door. They also were placed upon a spiral Gothic staircase, which connects the grand salon of Madame Mayendorff's rez de Chaussée with a billiard-room above, which was for the occasion converted into a refreshment-room, where ices were sold for ten francs each. The plays selected for the first evening were three short comedies. The precedence was given to L'Ermitage, by Octave Feuillet; Une Distraction, by Jules Barbier, succeeded; and L'Honneur est satisfait, by Alexandre Dumas, was the third. actors and actresses, although amateurs, played their parts with as much cleverness and vivacity as the same roles are acted by M. Samson, or Mdlle. Brohan of the Théâtre Français. Among them were the Princess of Beauvais, the Duchess of Istria, the Countess de Löwenthal, Baroness Assailly, a magnificent beauty of the Creole type, the Marquis de Calvière, Count Lawoestine, Count Henri de Fleurien, M. de Montesquieu, and several other celebrities of the "gay capital." The orchestra was directed by Prince Poniatowski; and the chorus, composed of the children who sing in the Russian church, under the direction of that genius in the art of imparting musical instruction, M. Armand Chevé. The series of theatrical representations in the Hôtel Mayendorff commenced on a Sunday evening; the lady who got them up probably thinking, that "the better the day the better the deed." The second was on the night of the following Tuesday. It commenced at nine o'clock, and did not terminate till half-past twelve; and the number demanding

VOL. IX.

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admittance was so great, that about one-half were sent away without obtaining it.

About 16,000 francs were the net returns of the Princess de Beauvais' enterprise; to it was added another, produced by a bazaar held in the Hôtel de Luynes, amounting to 22,000 francs, which more than sufficed to provide all things necessary for the orphan asylum for a longer time than the discouraged patrons needed. Madame Bethesy, the patroness of a society for supplying work to distressed seamstresses, tried, a few days ago, the Princess Beauvais' method of raising funds with an equal amount of success; and Count de Morny found time from the noisy debates of the Corps Legislatif to act for her the part of stage manager and general busybody. Within the last two months another promenade has been added to the many agreeable ones around Paris. It differs from all the others in being a café, reading-room, museum of natural history, and garden, at the same time. It is formed by the large greenhouses of the Jardin d'acclimatation, and supplants in public favor the lacs, the Cascades, the Boulevards, and the Grand Allée of the Tuileries. During the worst weather, fine flowers and fine toilettes delight the eyes of French loungers, who are exquisite connoisseurs in everything pertaining to practical art. During the variable days of March and April the "grand salon vitré" of the Bois de Boulogne affords a delicious refuge from sudden showers or boisterous and biting north-easterly winds. With its usual insight into French nature, the Government arranged these much frequented greenhouses in such a manner that at every step are to be found subjects highly suggestive of conversation. The curved line everywhere prevails; and birds, in the midst of plants covered with flowers, sing or fly about; rivulets gurgle under rustic bridges, and terminate in pools, from which fountains bubble and sparkle as they give freshness to the atmosphere. Beneath groves of camelias, tuberoses, and dreary palms, are tables provided with newspapers, periodicals, and refreshments of a more material kind. Farther on are swinging poles for children, and a salon for consumptive people, in which the temperature is always soft and equable, and where sweetly-scented flowers are perpetually blooming.

Public education has also taken a more vigorous development this year than it did during the last, whether among the liberal aristocracy, the intelligent bourgeoisie, or the youth of the College of France and the Sorbonne; but most of all among the élite of the classe ouvrière. At Paris and in the great towns cours are being organized, open both to boys and girls, men and women; and "literary entertainments," conferences, and associations to increase scientific knowledge, are founded by individuals, and authorized by Government. Fashion also reflects or imitates this growing thirst for knowledge; and during the Lent season there is nothing more à la mode than to attend what is called by the Parisians the "Petit Carême Scientifique et Littéraire" that is preached at the

Rue de la Paix. Lectures on the works of Shakespeare are this season the greatest novelty. M. Emile Deschanel is the bold Frenchman who undertakes to familiarize his Parisian auditory with the beauties of our greatest poet, and to make them understand the spirit of his great tragedies, as well as appreciate the variety which seems to the Gallic race generally to be nothing more than want of unity. The lecturer in question has well fulfilled his task, which the different genius of the English people, and of the English language from the French, rendered one of great difficulty.

Mdlle. Royer has not made her appearance this season among the talented lecturers at the Rue de la Paix, but she has come before the public in company just as illustrious.

In several of to-day's papers an article from her pen is announced, on economic subjects, as one of the leading features in this month's number of the Journal des Economistes, to which MM. Michel Chevalier, Walowski of the Institute, Louis Reybaud, a member of the same body, and some other equally distinguished men, have also contributed.

In the musical world the début of the Sisters Delapierre has been the great event of the month. They are almost in their infancy, the eldest not yet having entered her eighth year, and the youngest being still in her sixth. They are plain-featured little girls, with full, square foreheads, straight, well-marked eyebrows, and for their age, very strong features, to which, however, an intelligent exprestion, and large black eyes, deep and thoughtful, give more attractive power than the mere beauty of line and complexion. The youngest has in her all that constitutes genius of the highest order, and the eldest is at least a musical genius. They perform at the "Variétés" and the "Théâtre Lyrique," on violins little larger than a man's hand of medium size. Juliette, the youngest, played a few evenings since, with inimitable sentiment and execution, selections from the most brilliant and difficult masters, amongst which were Allard's fantasia from Il Trovatore, Sainton's Lucretia, and the grand concerto in D major by Beriot. Julie, the eldest, acquitted herself with success in several other equally difficult operatic selections; but she failed to awaken as much astonishment as Juliette, who is a remarkably small little girl, even for one who is only six years of age.

E. G.

XXIV.-NOTICES OF BOOKS.

Vanity Church, 2 Vols. Saunders, Otley, and Co., London; Bell and Bradfute, Edinburgh.

"VANITY CHURCH" is another effort in the right direction; its aim and object the defence of the poor, the aged, and the weak against oppression; denouncing in strong terms those who, under

The

"the form of godliness, deny its power." No theological disputations or mystic theories disturb the mind of the reader, no argumentative doctors of divinity are to be seen or heard. Divine law of charity overlies the whole, and is sought to be inculcated by representations of its opposite. Justice is upheld with steady hand, never weighed down by golden ingots, by rank, by influential position, or by any of those adventitious circumstances which often turn the scales in favor of the rich man, leaving the keen sense of wrong to rankle in the breast of some poorer brother. The scene is a parish called Kirkham; the minister and his staff of elders are the personages introduced. Dr. Tarbet, whose church and manse (as the house of the clergyman is called in Scotland, where we are to suppose the events took place) were both in a miserable state of dilapidation. "The church was so saturated with damp, that all in and about it was damp-cushions, Bibles, walls, woodwork, floor, the very ground on which it stood, and from which as much water, that should have been carried off by drainage, rose in the course of a year, in the form of raw, reeking exhalation, as would have served to have washed the hands and faces of those who sat in it twice over. As a whole, it was a fitter place for spiders to lodge in, or the dead to be buried, or a granary, or a manufactory, than a Christian temple." Worship in such was of course somewhat difficult, says our author, in consequence of the tempest of coughs caused by the damp walls and reeking floors, as well as the noise of feet made by the heavy hob-nailed shoes of the rustic part of the congregation. Matting was voted too expensive a luxury, as also were stools; a few panes of glass to prevent the snow and rain from drifting in, and other small improvements, all were refused on the plea of economy by the rich guardians of the structure, who, nevertheless, took care of their own comfort and that of their dogs and horses, regardless of expense. Dr. Tarbet, round whom the others circle, is a simple-minded, warm-hearted bachelor, who is grieved beyond measure, after so many years of preaching, to find that little or no impression has been made on his hearers, that the spirit of religion is still unfelt by them.

Mr. Rochester comes next, "who never seemed to forget, and was determined that no other person should forget, that he was the proprietor of Gayfield Hall, and the lineal descendant of a family which had come into notice three hundred years ago."

Dr. Griffith, stern and stately, a most rapacious and disagreeable M.D., whose character we think is rather overdrawn.

"Munro, in his threadbare suit of black, and yet in that old suit having more of true glory about him, than a robe embroidered with pearls and gold could have given him." This good, pious old man is a beautiful character, at all times and in every action testifying that religion with him is a reality.

Side by side may be placed Mrs. Walters and the beautiful, saintly Lady Rochester. The picture of the Baptist Minister and