The Press.
London, England, 1855-10-27 00:00:00

THE PRESS.

Our horses from Africa have admirably supported the
rigours of the winter, privations and fatigue. It was be-
lieved that they could not endure either odd, or snow, or
frost, and yet they have vicutriourly passed through all
these and other trials, which God knows were not wanting
to us—and this they did without any other protection
than a simple covering. They are an admirable race of
horses!

The English offer us fabulous prices for the Arab horses
we have hare ; but, as you will suppose, we sell but
rarely. We want them ourselves, and keep them. 1 have
still the horse which you knew me to possess in 1842. lie
was with me in all my campaigns in Algeria with the
'Marshal Duke d'lsly (Ilugeaud), in all the expeditions
undertaken after his departure, in all my embarkations and
disembarkations, and he is still so vigorous and so hand-
some that the English pester me every day to sell him.
.Bat that is impossible; my old companion shall die with
me, and I will place him on the retired-list as soon as
can.

In addition to the above testimonials, all of
which are dated from " Before Sebastopol "
a date which speaks volumes—General
Datums quotes the authority of General
Lowtestine, a distinguished cavalry officer of
the First Empire, as to the superiority in
every respect of Arab horses in war ; and he
states a fact which is but little known—that
the Arab horses of Napoleon and his suite
were almost the only ones which survived the
dreadful sufferings of the campaign in Russia.
The General also cites the late Captain Nolan,
who was killed at Balakiava, in support of his
views.

It is, then, a demonstrated fact that the war
horse of Arab race is better than the war
horse of English, French, or any other breed :
to question it, after such testimony as we
have quoted, would be foolish. Now, all the
world knows that the horses of our cavalry are
not Arab. They cannot, as General I)aunias
tells us the Arab does, live on eight pounds of
barley a day, without hay or straw ; they can-
not, ae the Arab does, pass a whole day with-
out eating at all, and two or three days
without drinking; they cannot, as he does,
bear extremes of heat and cold ; they cannot,
like him, brave rain and drought, the storm
and the hurricane ; they cannot, like him,
carry heavy burdens during marches of
fearful length ; they cannot be, as he fre-
quently is, on their logs, in mud or sand, for
the greater part of the twenty four hours, day
after day, for three or four months at a time.
No ! They are noble animals to look at—
make a goodly parade down Regent•street—
dance proudly at a review—run fleetly for an
hour or two—hut they have been reared with
such care, are watched over so tenderly, and
are accustomed to so little work, that a few
days' fatigue knocks them up, and a few days'
hunger and cold cause them to perish. This
we saw by what took place in the Crimea in
the winter.

Behold, then, our prospects ! The Govern-
ment is about to undertake a cavalry cam-
paign on the vast steppes of Russia, where
necessarily the marching and fatigue will be
excessive—the forage and water scarce—the
climate trying in the extreme ; and it is about
to do so with horses manifestly unfit for their
work, and which must in a short space of time
be knocked up or killed off.
We expect, in fact, to hear of similar disasters
befalling our cavalry to those which befel the
army on the heights of Sebastopol last winter ;
or, at the very least, that they—the cavalry—
will have to fight without horses, just as big
ships of the line were expected in the Baltic
to fight in water in which they could not
swim.

The Life of Bernard Palissy, of Saintes. By
Henry Morley. London : Chapman and
Hall.

Is this volume Mr. Morley has collected all
that is authentically known coueeining the
life of Bernard Palissy the Potter, and to each
division of his life there is added "illustra-
tions " from his works, giving his own account
of his labours. These illustrations are the
most valuable part of the book, as they con-
stitute a tolerably complete autobiography of
the diligent, persevering artist. The Palissy
ware deserves its repute for its beauty, but a
still higher value is given to the rare specimens
of it which remain, from the extreme pains
taken by the inventor to bring his work to
perfection. Never did man labour harder to
achieve success than did the humble " worker

" in earth and inventor of rustic figulines " to
discover his white enamel.
It is believed that he was born in 1859, in
the province of Perigord. He was bled to
the honourable craft of glass-painting, and
spent his youth in travel. Subsequently he
settled down at Saintes, took to himself a wife
when about thirty, and thenceforward followed
for a time his occupation as a glass painter,
though often his employment was scanty, and
his increasing family caused him some care.
Au acciileut seems to have turned his mind
to the pursuit which for a time proved ruinous
to him, but at last brought him competence
and fame. He was shown an elegant enamelled

cup of Italian manufacture, and thenceforward
only considered how he could discover the
secret of enamelling pottery. His own narra-
tive is charming for its simplicity :

Learn that it is more than five and twenty years since
there was shown to me an earthen cup, turned and
enamelled with so much beauty, that, from that time, i
entered into controversy with my own thoughts, recalling
to mind several suggestions that some people had made
to me in fun when I was painting portraits. Then, see-
ing that these were falling out of request in the country
where I dwelt, and that glass•painting was also little
patronised, I began to think that if I should diso3ver how
to make enamels, 1 could make earthen vessels and other
things very prettily, because God had gifted me with some
knowledge of drawing; and thereafter, regardless of the
fact that i had no knowledge of clays, I began to seek fur
the enamels, as a man gropes in the dark. Without
having heard of what materials the said enamels were cam-
osed, I pounded, in those days, all the substances which
I could suppose likely to make anything ; and, having
pounded and ground them, I bought a quantity of earthen
pots, and, after having broken them in pieces, 1 put some
of the materials that I had ground upon them, and, having
marked them, I set apart in writing what drugs I had put
upon each, as a memorandum ; then, having made a fur-
nace to my fancy, I set the tragments down to bake, that
I might see whether my drugs were able to produce some
whitish colour, for 1 sought only after white enamel, be-
cause I had heard it said that white enamel was the basis

of all others. Then, because I had never seen earth
baked, nor could I tell by what degree of heat the said
enamel should be melted, it was impossible for me to get
any result in this way, though my chemicals should have
been right; because, at one time, the mass might have
been heated too much, at another time too little ; and when
the said materials were baked too little or burnt, I could
not at all tell the reason why I had met with no success,
but would throw blame on the materials, which annietimes,
perhaps, were the right °ties, or at least could have afforded
me some hint for the accomplishment of my intentions, if
I had been able to manage the fire in the way that my
materials required. But again, in working thus, I com-
mitted a fault still grosser than that above named ; for, in
putting my trial-pieces in the furnace. 1 arranged them
without consideration ; so that if the materials had been
the best in the world, and the tire also the fittest, it was
impossible for any good result to follow. Thus, having
blundered several times at a great expense, and through
much labour, I was every day pounding and grinding new
materials, and constructing new furnaces, which cost much
money, and consumed my wood and my time.
When I had fooled away several years thus imprudently
with sorrow and sighs, because I could not at all arrive at
my intention, and remembering the money spent, I re-
solved, in order to avoid such large expenditure, to mud
the chemicals that I would test to the kiln of some potter;
and having settled this within my mind, 1 purchased
afresh several earthern vessels, and having broken them
in pieces, as was my custom, I covered three or four hun-
dred of the fragments with enamel, and sent them to a
pottery distant a league and a half from my dwelling, with a
request to the potters that they would pleinie to permit
those trials to be baked within some of their vessels : this
they did willingly; but when they had baked their batch,
and came to take out my triadpieces, I received nothing
but shame and loss, because they turned out good for
nothing ; for the fire used by those potters was nut hot
enough, and my trials were not put into the furnace) in the
required manner and according to my science. And be-
cause I had at that time no knowledge of the reason why
my experiments had not succeeded, 1 threw the blame (as
I before raid,) on my materials; and beginning afresh, I
made a number of new compounds, and sent them to the
same potters, to do with as before ; so I ouotinued to
several times, always with great cost, loss of time, confu-
sion, and sorrow.
We make this long extract as a sample of
the entertainment to be found in the volume.
No more interesting autobiographical fragment
is extant.
Palissy goes on to relate how, to sustain his
family, he was compelled to abandon his pur-
suit for a time. He was employed by the
Government to map the lands of his district,
and with the little money thus received he
began his experiments anew, broke about three
dozen earthen pots, and covering the pieces with
his compounds, sent them to a glass furnace.
To his great joy he found that on one of his
three hundred pieces his compounds had
melted ; but this only brought him greater
trials and labours :
There was one among those pieces which. was melted
within four hours after it bad been plead in the furnace,

1
1

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which trial turned out white and polished in a way that
caused me such joy as made me think I was become a new
creature ; and I thought that from that time I had the full
perfection of the white enamel, but I was very far from
having what I thought. This trial was a very happy one
in one sense, but very unhappy in another—happy, be-
cause it gave me entrance upon the ground which I have
since gained ; but unhappy, because it was not made with
substances in the right measure or proportion. I was so
great an ass in those days, that directly I had made the
said enamel, which was singularly beautiful, I set myself
to make vessels of earth, although I had never understood
earths ; and having employed the space of seven or eight
months in making the said vessels, I began to erect for myself
a furnace like that of the glass-workers, which I built with
more labour than I can tell ; for it was requisite that I
should be the mason to myself, that I should temper my
own mortar, that 1 should draw the water with which it
was tempered ; also it was requisite that I should go
myself to seek the bricks and carry them upon my back,
because I had no means to pay a single man for aid in this
affair. I succeeded with my pots in the first baking, but
when it came to the second baking, I endured suffering
and labour such as no man would believe. For,
instead of reposing after my past toil, I was obliged
to work for the space of more than a month, night and
day, to grind the materials of which I had made that beau-
tiful enamel at the glass furnace ; and when 1 had ground
them, I covered therewith the vessels that I had made.
This done, I put the fire into my furnace by two mouths,
as I had seen done at the glass-houses ; I also put my
vessels into the furnace to bake and melt the enamel which
I had spread over them ; but it was an unhappy thing for
me, for though I spent six days and six nights before the
said furnace, feeding it with wood incessantly through its
two mouths, it was not possible to make the said enamel
melt, and I was like a man in desperation. And although
quite stupified with labour I cuuncilled to myself, that in
my enamel there might be too little of the substance which
should make the others melt, and, seeing this, I began
once more to pound and grind the before-named materials,
all the time without letting my furnace cool In this way
1 had double labour, to pound, grind, and maintain the
fire. When I had thus compounded my enamel, I was
forced to go again and purchase pots, in order to prove the
said compound, seeing that I had lost all the vessels which
I had made myself. And having covered the new pieces
with the said enamel, I put them into the furnace, keep-
ing the fire still at its height ; but thereupon occurred to
me a new misfortune, which caused great mortification—
namely, that the wood having failed me, I was forced to
burn the palings which maintained the boundaries of my
garden, which being burnt also, I was forced to burn the
tables and the flooring of my house to cause the melting of
the second composition. I suffered an anguish that I
cannot speak, for I was quite exhausted and dried up by
the heat of the furnace. It was more than a month since
my shirt had been dry upon me. Further to console me
I was the object of mockery, and even those from whom
solace was due ran crying through the town that I was
burning my floors! And in this way my credit was taken
from me, and I was regarded as a madman.
For years he continued his labours with littl e
success :

---- -
While labouring at such affairs, I was, for the space of
ten years, so wasted in my person, that there was no form
nor prominence of muscle on my arms or legs : also the
said legs were throughout of one size, so that the garters
with which I tied my stockings were at once, when I
walked, down upon my heels, with the stockings too. I
often walked about the fields of Xaintes considering my
miseries and weariness, and, above all things, that in my
owu house I could have no peace, nor do anything that
was considered good. I was despised and mocked by all.
But at length, with incredible pains, he sue-
ceededin bringing his work to perfection. His
ware was patronised by many noble and
wealthy persons, by the Constable Montmo
renci, among others ; and subsequently he
removed to Paris to superintend some works
in the gardens of the Tuileries, leaving his
pottery at Saintes to the care of his sons.
They wanted the artistic skill of their father,
however, and the manufacture soon perished.
At Paris Palissy gained great reputation,
and for several years lectured on natural his-
tory to distinguished audiences. Mr. Morley,
in his narrative, quoting from contemporary
authority, says :
The philosopher, vigorous of mind and body, at the age
of sixty-six exhibited no trace of bodily decay ; he was still
noted, nine years afterwards, for his remarkably acute and
ready wit ; and his age, when it was seventy•tive, seemed
little more than sixty. The vigorous old man, passing
from the furnace and the chamber in which shelves and
tables were resplendent with the rich creations of his fancy,
went into his cabinet, and poured out the lessons he had
learned by the roadsides, by the seashore, and among the
mountains, before a grave assemblage of men, paled by
study, or grown grey with years
The motto prefixed to this volume explains
the nature of Palissy's teaching, and shows
the character of the man :
Je n'ai point en d'autre liure le ciel et la terre, lequel est
conneu de tour, et est donne a tons de connoistre et lire ce
beau litire.--PAussy.
As a natural philosopher he bears some re-
semblance to Lord Bacon. Like him, he based
all his teaching on observation and experi-
ment ; and, like him, had a great fancy for
magnificent gardens.