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waiters as at their place near the Madeleine church. Should we have another great affair of the kind, some of our restaurant-keepers may learn a lesson from their exactness in keeping accounts. As you enter, a person hands you a list of their establishments and of what they furnish. Afterwards the waiter takes the list, and makes little pencil marks opposite to the things you order; or, if the article be not on the printed list, she sets her mark beside another of the same price. When done, you go and hand this to a woman-cashier, who quickly sums up the account; you pay her, she stamps the list, and as you go out you hand it to a man in waiting.

At the Exposition, one of my countrymen says to me, "Have you seen the gospel-distribution stands, where the English are distributing gospels and tracts? The French are quite eager to receive them."

May 4th.-I am going to leave Lenoir's before the week expires. My room, small as it is, is taken by a man and woman. I see her, and am pleased with her looks. I ask Lenoir whether they can cook there. No, although there is indeed a pipe-hole for a stove in winter.

"And where will they get their meals?" I ask.

With a gesture, he answers, "Every one is free," to eat with him or elsewhere.

This is Saturday, and I have not got over the impression that I must buy things to-day, because to-morrow is Sunday. On the street, I see nice-looking boys trooping out from a door; they wear a slightly-marked dress, with showy buttons; some of them seem to be in charge of young A gentleman kisses one of the boys. Near the close of the troop two ecclesiastics appear, and then two or

women.

three men in citizen's dress. Of one of them, carrying a portfolio, I ask what the place is, and am told that it is the College St. Ignatius, conducted by the Jesuits. I go round to try to find the front of the building; but upon another street I see another long building from which scholars are coming out, not so much dressed, it seems to me, as our public school-children; for almost none of the girls wear bonnets. Above the first story of the building is cut in large letters, "Liberty, Equality, Fraternity. Communal school of young boys. Primary instruction." From the building floats the tricolored banner. On a board over one door is painted, "City of Paris," with the number of the ward and the words, "Communal Laic. School for Young Girls." The other door is for the boys, and on a neat board at the door is a notice of the hours of evening school. This is a public school, not under the care of the clergy, and in grade similar to our grammar-schools. No yard is in front of the school-house, nor is one seen at either end; there is no effort at elegant architecture, and none of the pride of naming the school for a public citizen; little or none of the distinguished appearance which marks some of our schools at home. So I surmise that distinction is for the military man, and remember, too, the great Trocadero upon the Exposition grounds, which, I hear, is built at the expense of the city for festivals. It is, indeed, however, used for a part of the Exposition.

I enter the boys' end of the school-house, before mentioned, and find a neat hall paved with stone. Between this and the girls' department is a room, labelled "Concierge.

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Hanging in the school-hall is a handsomely-framed blue paper, a tablet of honor, and on white slips are introduced the names of the pupils distinguished. Thus runs the list of subjects, each followed by pupils' names: Religious in

struction, reading, good behavior, writing, orthography, arithmetic, duties, history and geography, assiduity, recitation, gymnastics, application. Singing has only one name, and drawing four. Duties or devoirs I understand to be such exercises as compositions, and examples in arithmetic, attended to out of regular school-hours. The scholars enter at nine and remain till twelve, and again from one to four. Thursday is the holiday instead of Saturday. Going up stairs I find the principal in one of the school-rooms; he, with his family, living in the school-building, as is customary. He tells me that religious instruction in these schools includes the catechism. I learn, too, from him that I cannot visit the public schools without permission, and that I should apply to the Prefect of the Seine, or to Mr. Gréard, who is at the head of primary instruction in this department. I tell the teacher that such religious instruction would never do in our country; that we have had trouble enough between Protestants and Catholics about reading the Scriptures in the schools. It seems to me that he is uneasy; perhaps because two of the boys are within hearing.*

This is the day that I am to remove to my new lodgings. I hear that there is a commissaire or porter at Lenoir's, and I appoint a time for him to come, and the poor little man seems to make a note of it, but the hour comes, and not the Down stairs I go, out of the court-yard, and to the

man.

* According to report, the number of schools of this grade―or primary, as they are called in France-was, in 1877, 71,547, of which 9352 were entirely gratuitous. The number of these schools under charge of the clergy, or congreganiste, was about 20,000, employing 9468 men and 37,216 women. Instruction by the laity employs about 24,000 men and 22,000 women.

street-corner, where, at Lenoir's door, he sits looking so clean in his striped cotton trousers.

Then he takes his croche, or the little wooden thing that he puts upon his back, and putting the larger and smaller trunks upon it, carries them down, and, when at his journey's end, up three flights of stairs. The charge is a franc and a half, but I add a trifle. Poor little man! I understand him that he is from near Switzerland, " from that great lake which runs into the Rhone."

My new boarding-house pleases me, for I am placed in a French private family, at the moderate rate of forty francs a week. Victor Leblanc and his wife are young married people. He is lame, but very industrious in the house, keeping no servant. Their apartment is somewhat showy, with a piano and bronzes, but it is small, and they have put a bed for me into their little parlor or salon. Victor is a book-keeper. He seems, too, to have adaptability, savoir faire. He has tools, and if he wants a closet can run up a partition himself. I will take the liberty of adding what an elderly French gentleman told me,-that Victor wished to be sage; he married young; and that madame is pregnant; she is going to take her bed. After my arrival, or about seven in the evening, we dine on a ragout or stew of potatoes and meat, sardines, wine of two kinds, and, for dessert, a bit of cream cheese, quite delicate. They have, too, at this meal, houblon, a drink made of hops, but not fermented. It is said to be purgative, and good for the health, but I cannot praise its taste. My hosts tell me that their best meal is in the middle of the day,―the breakfast. Victor is the protégé of a gentleman to whom I brought a letter of introduction. Victor is a very ardent republican. In the dining-room is a bust of Voltaire, of whom he speaks as the forerunner of their Revolution. I laugh, and ask

"The John Baptist?" but I am not sure that he understands me. He says that they do not regard Mirabeau with the same veneration as Voltaire.

This Saturday evening, I am again at Mr. Carpentier's. The Swiss young gentleman, on entering, goes up to our host and kisses him on one cheek and then on the other. I am fresh from my call on the school-master, and we discuss the public schools. Our host, though a warm republican, does not consider it desirable for every one who wishes to be allowed to visit these schools. I speak about the catechism, the religious teaching, and some one says that the Senate would not listen to a proposition to abolish it. I thought, judging from my own country, that if there were three men sufficiently opposed to it, they could get up petitions and force the Chambers to discuss the subject. This education is allowed in the schools, while at the same time there is talk about the clericals being the enemies of republicanism, which seemed to me like building with one hand and tearing down with the other. They tell me that in the higher-the professional-schools there is no religious instruction. About nine-tenths of the people of this country are Catholic.

Among the guests present this evening is a distinguished gentleman from southeastern Europe who takes snuff. Another person present is Madame Latour, said to be living. upon her rentes, or the interest of money, though doubtless the expression generally includes rent of houses and lands. This seems to be considered a desirable thing here, and is not despised in other countries. She is a widow, quiet and unpretending. This is the second anniversary of her husband's death, and on Sunday she will visit the cemetery.

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