umber of Americans present in
Paris. It only proved what I long had heard, that Americans take more
naturally to the French than to the sturdy, self-sufficient Englishman.
As it is in the matter of fashions, so it is regarding almost everything
else, save morals, and I doubt if the tone of fashionable society in New
York is any better than in Paris.

I was heartily rejoiced to take an American newspaper in my hand again.
There were the clear open face of the plain-spoken _Tribune_, the
sprightly columns of the _Times_, and the more dignified columns of the
Washington journals. There were also many other familiar papers on the
table, and they were all touched before I left. It was like a cool
spring in the wide desert. For I confess that I love the newspaper, if
it only be of the right sort. From early habit, I cannot live without
it. Let any man pursue the vocation of an editor for a few years, and he
will find it difficult, after, to live without a good supply of
newspapers, and they must be of the old-fashioned home kind.

I did not easily accustom myself to the Paris journals. Cheap enough
some of them were, but still the strange language was an obstacle. They
are worse printed than ours, and are by no means equal to such journals
as the _Times_ and _Tribune_. They publish continued stories, or novels,
and racy criticisms of music, art, and literature. The political
department of the French newspaper at the present day is the weakest
part of the sheet. It is lifeless. A few meager facts are recorded, and
there is a little tame comment, and that is all. There was a time when
the political department of a French newspaper was its most brilliant
feature. During the exciting times which presaged the downfall of Louis
Philippe, and also during the early days of the republic, the Paris
press was in the full tide of success, and was exceedingly brilliant.
The daily journals abounded, and their subscription lists were enormous.
Where there is freedom, men and women _will_ read--and where there is
unmitigated despotism, the people care little to read the sickly
journals which are permitted to drag out an existence.

There is one journal published in Paris in the English language,
"_Galignani's Messenger_." It is old, and in its way is very useful, but
it is principally made up of extracts from the English journals. It has
no editorial ability or originality, and of course never advances any
opinion upon a political question