The Sun.
London, England, 1867-07-29 00:00:00

The ancient mythology opens up so large a field
of illustration and comparison that one is frequently
tempted to draw upon its stores, at the risk of being
considered pedantic. As fast as Hercules cut off
the heads of the hydra, a number of others sprung
up in its place, and in like manner, though the Tzar
has gone back to his icebound territories, and the
fez of the True Believer no longer enlivens the Rue
Faubourg St. Hononi, nor flutters the hearts of its
fair inhabitants, a myriad other attractions supply
their place. The evening of Sunday last was so
tempting in its refreshing coolness and beauty after
the burning heat and dust of the day that I strolled
out beyond the Barrier of Clichy with the view of
reaching the Seine at a point where it leaves behind
the hum of the mighty city, and wanders away plea-
santly into the green fields and vineyards beyond.
Long ere I reached the river-side, however, I found
myself borne on in the midst of a continuous stream
of people to what, think you, reader ? A village
fete, not, however, one of the rural fetes of the
olden time, rejoicing in sheperdesses and blue rib-
bons, but the Fete Patronale of Clichy. The dis-
trict of Clichy, like many of the districts of London,
has extended far beyond its original limits, and thus
presents in one the attractions of bothl town and
country. The palmy days of Greenwich fete or Fair,
as well as those of nearly all such similar institutions
in England, have taken boots to themselves, and
their attractions have fallen into the sere and yellow
leaf. Not so, however, in France, where the muni-
cipal and other authorities mix up with and aid in the
entertainment, the inhabitants of the district being
requested in the bills of the fete published by the
'Mayor to do everything in their power to further
the affair, even to decorating their houses with
the never-failing chapeau of France ; and in
consequence, such spectacles, instead of gradually
falling into decay, have reached a greater pitch of
splendour and prosperity than ever—the various ac-
cessories of the decorations, illuminations, feu cr ar-
tifice, the splendid tent of the Ville de Paris ar-
ranged for a gigantic ball (the profits to be directed
towards the support of the poor of the district),
coupled with the duration of the fete—which lasts
upwards of a fortnight induce the presence
of a better class of tradesmen and exhibitors.
The ingenuity and taste of the French cha-
racter, redeem these fetes or fairs from the low
character which has crept on them in England. As
I have said, the little town of Clichy, though still
beyond the barriers of Paris, has gradually become
one of its suburbs, the Grand Rue of the Batignolles
extending to it in a right line, which immediately
after forms the broad road leading into the open
country beyond. In speaking of the barriers of
Paris, the reader must know that there is what
is termed a barrier on each side of the city
made by iron gates erected across the main
roads uniting the ancient fortifications and now
empty moat which still surrounds its walls. These
barriers are guarded by the Customs' officers, who
levy a duty on all articles of a certain class coming
into or going out of Paris. Here also a rigorous search
takes place of all vehicles, a process interfering
considerably with traffic and public comfort, for
even a private cab is examined as scrupulously by
the officers as a vehicle adapted for trade purposes.
But to resume. For more than half a mile after
passing the barrier, the distance between it and the
square, or grande place of the town, the visitor
walked under what appeared to be a ccntinued
arch of fire, an effect produced by a countless
number of illuminated lamps suspended in arch-
shaped festoons to two poles erected on either side
of the road, a large cluster of lamps hanging also
from the apex, the poles decorated with escutcheons,
bearing the- initials of the Emperor and a number
of tricolored banners ; the whole of these
decorations, as well as the tent of the Ville de
Paris, being the property of the authorities, and
erected at their expense. On each side of the
road, or rather boulevard, extended a long row of
baraques, or covered woolen stalls, fitted up with
circular revolving tables, filled, in most instances,
with porcelain, Bohemian glass, packets of Dijon
bonbons, huge heaps of pain d'epice, and the
never-failing live rabbit, adorned with its red
ribbon, which oftener than anything else
forms one of the principal prizes of such
exhibitions. The adventurer who tries his fortune
administers an impetus to the table on something
like the spirit-rapping principle, and when it stops
his hopes of anything like a valuable prize generally
stops too. One of these baraques, however, was
fitted up in a grand scale, the prizes consisting of
Sevres porcelain ; the affair was conducted upon
the lottery principle, a number of cards, each con-
taining three rows of figures, being banded to each
speculator, and a machine composed of three large
ornamented wheels, being set in motion by the pro-
prietor ; the person on whose card was found con-
secutively the three numbers indicated by the
machine in question became the fortunate possessor
of the prize, whatever that might happen to be.
Another stall was devoted entirely to the produc-
tion and sale of the cake so renowned in France,
the palette, the cakes being made on the spot, and
baked in two enormous black-looking machines,
baying the appearance of shipwrecked steam en-
gines, whilst in a third the process of making the
bonbon was exhibited in a similar manner. The Tir,
also, was extensively patronised, not, however,
practised as in England, by means of iron funnels,
fitted with a circular target at the extremity, but
on a far more varied and extensive scale, with busts
of the youthful hero of Austrian brutality, his eyes
bandaged, and a very diminutive stone apple on his
bead, with revolving pipes ; and, above all, with a
wooden mark elevated on the top of a high pole,
between two lighted lanterns, something like
the ancient Scottish popinjay, and so constructed
as when struck to discharge a small rocket.
A host of small swindles filled up the interstices
of the booths. One interesting gentleman attired
in a Prussian uniform, and armed with a long jockey
whip, particularly attracted my attention. This
hero was exhausting his natural eloquence in en-
deavouring to persuade the bystanders of the facility
with which it was possible to remove from a basin
by means of the whip in question a candlestick with
a halfpenny fixed on the top ; his influence, how-
ever, did not appear greatly to influence the crowd,
where ears like those of the crew of Ulysses seemed
to have been fortified against his sirenic seduc-
tions. A little further on, and I arrived at the
public square, which was tenanted by a considerable
number of exhibitors of every description, in the
middle of which were two immense swings. The
reader will probably smile when I speak of swings,
but as it is more than probable that he never s:sv,
mechanism so curious and powerful as that exhi-
bited at the fete of Clichy, I will venture a short
description. Fancy somethinc, like a royal tent
decorated with crimson hangings and panelled
mirrors, the effect increased by a large number of
Chinese paper lanterns placed in the middle of a
circular squadron of wooden horses five abreast, the
whole revolving to the sound of music concealed, as
well as the machinery, beneath the hangings of the
tent, and giving the beholder the idea of an Indian
army escorting the palanquin of some native prince
or rajah. The other, though of quite a different
character, was equally curious as regarded its
mechanism, being composed of a series of gigan-
tic iron wheels arranged with great apparent
lightness, between which revolved with extraor-
dinary rapidity some eight open carriages. An idea
may be formed of the height of this structure when
I mention that it required a very long ladder to
ascend to a small platform placed by each nave of
the wheel for the purpose of working the machine: y.
There was also the Princess Colibrf, the smallest
female dwarf in the world, who had had the honour
of being served up in a pie, like the celebrated
Geoffrey Hudson of old before the King of the Bel-
gians. There was also—but I am exceeding my
limits on one especial subject, and therefore 1 shall
not pause to describe either the very curious mecha-
nical exhibition of all the various fabrications of
Valenciennes, or the various and manifold spec-
tacles, waxwork,
appeared to &c., even down to that which
Possess great attractions for the fair
sex, and which was no less than the exhibition of
five twin children, whose parents had selected this
improving method of indemnifying themselves for