The Sun.
London, England, 1867-03-02 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, SATURDAY EVENING, MARCH 2, 1867.

which will excite astonishment and admiration. In
the eye of an architect, or perhaps even to that of
the general public, the chief building may appear
mean or even ugly; but the idea, I believe, was not
to erect an imposing monument, but to form a con-
struction sufficiently capacious and convenient for
the reception of the wonders of art, taste, and in-
dustry for most of the countries of the world. This
idea will, I think, be fully developed and carried out.
It must not be forgotten that only about ten months
have been occupied in this marvellous undertaking,
which, during that time, has engaged many thou-
sands of workmen, to say nothing of the labour of
those who have been employed in producing the
articles which the buildings are to contain. The
building or gasometer—if you and the 2 imes and
the public will Lave it so—occupies the whole
superficies of the Champ de Mars. This gasometer
alone occupies a space of 140,184 square metres—
more than that nui.iber of yards. It measures
round no less than 1,400 metres. Its form is that
of a parallelogram, terminated at the two extremi-
ties by two circles, having for diameter the breadth
of the parallelogram. Such a building in itself may
well excite wonder, but the spectator is not merely
struck with this piece de resistance, but he must be
fairly bewildered by the annexes, the odd-looking
constructions, the gardens, the arbours, the foun-
tains, the plants, the shrubs, and the tasteful mar-
vels of all sorts out of doors, to say nothing of the
beautiful or surprising article's which will dazzle
and perplex him within. The 'nations of the four
parts of the world will be represented in the Palace
—I forgot—the gasometer. Here is a complete list
of the nations which will compete for the world's
admiration : England, France, Belgium, the Nethe-
rlands, Prussia, Southern Germany, Austria, Swit-
zerland, Spain, Portugal, Greece, Denmark,
Sweden and Norway, Russia, Italy, Rome, and the i
Danubian Principalities, Turkey, Egypt, China,
Japan, the kingdom of Siam, Persia, Morocco,
Tunis, the United States, Brazil, the American
Republics, and the kingdom of Hawaii. As to the
space allotted to each country for its products,
England will have a good lion's share. The English
articles will occupy a space of 21,653 square metres.
France has appropriated to herself 61,000 square
metres. The United States of America will have
2,900 metres. Within a week some 7,000 or 8,000
persons have paid their francs at the gates for ad-
mission to the locality. if not a Babel, it is a
picture of animation, excitement, and wonder, but
languages and dialects of various nations are heard
all directions. The Exhibition, when completed,
will be a city within a city. It will comprise
everything for comfort, necessity, and business.
There will be its church, its hotels, its clubs, its
restaurants, cafes, post-office, electric telegraph,
theatre, and, in short, everything that can be
wanted without going off the precincts of the Exhi-
tion. On a fine day the park and the approaches
to the building present a very picturesque and ani-
mated appearance. There are promenaders in the
costumes of almost all the countries iu the world,
and all the living languages vibrate upon the ear.
The workmen begin their labours at sunrise, and
proceed with them'till dark.
The exhibition of the paintings by the deceased
Ingres will open on the Ist of April. His latest
works were, in 1855, " Joan of Arc holding the
Oriflamme at the Coronation of Charles the Seventh
in the Cathedral at Rheims." In 1858, "Moliere
invited to the Table of Louis XIV.," which was pur-
chased by the Emperor in 1861. There is a copy
of this picture in the saloon of the Theatre Francais.
" The Source," which was at the Exhibition on the
Boulevard des Italiens in 1861. In 1859, portrait
of the artist himself at the age of 79, painted for the
Gallery of Phinters at Florence. In 1864, "An
Interior of an Harem and Turkish Bath." This
painting was ordered by Prince Napoleon Jerome,
and is now in the possession of Khalil-Bey. In
1865, the " Portrait of Julius Caesar," placed at
the head of the first volume of the " Life of Caesar,"
by the Emperor Napoleon.
The last musical novelty is "Le Fils du Briga-
dier," an opera in three acts, produced at the Opera
Comique, music by M. Victor Masse, words by
Messrs. Eugene Labiche and Delacour. The plot is
rather dramatic, and some of the morceaux were
encored. Upon the whole, however, there is no-
thing very striking in the music, which may be
rather described as common-place. It was, how-
ever, received with great favour.
It was a severe frost this morning, and there was
thick ice in the vicinity of Paris. The water left
by the late heavy rains was all frozen. During the
day it was bitterly cold, and there was snow from
time to time, but not in much abundance. As I
close my letter the, temperature is now at freezing
point. Thus we come upon the Ides of March in
full winter.