New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1855-12-03
FRANCE.
ii. j..

From Our ow, Correspondent
PARIS, Thursday, Nov 10, 1855.
The preoccupatitn," as we French say, Of the
dsy is the ceremony of the closing of the Universal
Exposition perhaps, on the whole, as nero
spectacle the finest fete that has been seen in this
city Of fetes for years do not speak of it, moral
bearing as an industrial display by virtue of that
quality alone making itself unique, and surpsss-
ing in grandeur all feasts of Eagles, and marriage
ceremonies, and Royal receptions. Simply as aspec.
tace there has been hardly any thing to equal
least not indoor. Imagine first the grand proper.
tons of the hall, then its decorations, the trophies
of the worlds best skill-prePared not by any
ordinary or extraordinary scene painters and
macbinists, but by the cunningest workmen in
industrial art and the best inspired creators in
fine arts. Then the assistiDgpublic; the Emperor
and his house, aud lesser "principalities and
powers" and magistrates aud men Of war, sll in
costumes specially calculated for scenic effect;
then, rising above them tier over tier, more than
twenty thousand spectators, dressed in their
Sundays best-the men looking as ugly as
1os.ibe in the ugliest of all possible
babiments, neither comfoI table nor picturesque,
TO wit: black coats and white "chokery"-the
women adding to and enhancing such beauty as
kind nature has allotted them by the most grace.
full fancies and richest extravaganza OF the modern
female toilette-itsel striking instance of the al
most creative power of industrial art After this
for the eye, conceive in your ears the music of
Der iozs Orcht stra whose sweet tones relieve at
intervals the duller s0lemBites Of the OCCASION
remember that it is composed Of 250 wind instru-
ments, 100 violips, so altos, 40 vi,loncellos,
40 contIebasses and 35 harps, the accOmpsni-
mept to q choir of 240 men, 22O women and 20
CHILDREN. Imagine, conceive, mentally construct,
calculate guets at, divine consider and ponder all
this-read in thus connection" 90 the clergy say
Of obscure texts, - much OF the details with
which the newspapers will to morrow DO iull as
you can digest, aid the chances are that your no
tions of the ete will not be more imperfect and in
complete than if ! should endeavOr t. write down
here description oft. As convenient auxsries
and stimulsnts to Your Imagination, / give you
The 1901 900 metres Of green cloth which barely
ers the ascending steps or degrees of the Amphthea
ter and the ten thousand meters of green carpet
ing that covers the scafOlding or stage beet by
the constituted authorities Of the State; and the
twenty thousand meters of red velvet and the
twenty two thousand metres of crimson stuff con-
sumed in decoration. am swa,e that no. all
your readers will approve Of these details as
helps to the imagination. And therein is the
disadvantage of being correspondent Of paper
with such an extravsgantly long list, of sub
scribers az appears on the books of The
TRIBUNE. In writing for 500 900 resders it
10 folly to hope to hit tho taste Of all; and il
they will permit me it is injustice for any 100000
that may be relished by the odd ten thousand
Now, said to myself, that so many as this last
mentioned number only one in ifty-might be
helped on by these cloth measures. / have the
fortune to know an ingenious clergyman who once
reeled off q more than ordinarily interesting
screed" of discourse on the text: Golden bell
and q pomegranate, golden bell and pome
grapate."
The Emperor's little speech, which is shrewd,
and masterpiece Of rhetoric in ts kind, all his
speeches have been, % complete collection Of
them, with contemporary hi.tory, giving a more
correct end, must confess il, higher idea
of the man than anything that hes yet been
written) and the Prince Nspoleon's discourse,
you will receive resdy translated through your
Engiih correspondents l shsuld say here,
in passing, that the Prince has shown himself
more of 9 man than he was supposed to be,
in the performance of his functions az head Of the
Exposition Committee / do not mean at all to
say that be has done as well in that respect ~
some thousands of other Frenchmen would have
done in similar position but he has greatly i'm
proved on his past reputation for wortolessnes.;
has really studied his duties and lstterly per-
formed them passably Well, and has al ways shown
bimsef toward foreign exhibitors, the courteous
Frenchmsn. may well add in this place, that
al foreign exhibitors, and none more than those
from America, must admit, and should be free
to acknowledge the very liberal spirit with which
they have been treated throughout BY the Manage
neIt of the Exposition. 1 am glad to know that
q handsome acknowledgment, as manly and SELF I
as it is courteous has been made by the
American Commissioner in the form Of letter
addressed BY them TO the Prince.
When the comparatively small number of
American exhibitors lie considered, think that |
the list Of prizes awarded to them, which will be |
found below, will be admitted BY oil but disap- |
pointed candidates for medals to be testimony, |
equally satisfactory, of American inventive talent
md OF French lbeJ atty. believe that sensible
Ease in hand, pretends that any great injustice has
or national Jealousy has hsd any Sdue influence
Even the English are mainly satisfied Individuals
suffer in advance from the "0dorous
they dread from an undiscerning
public, who may say, You were not elected,
therefore you were rejected" This, however, Is
essentially non seqxitur; for the juries rejected
10 one AMI did not 1t all mean to say thas your
Washing machine, for example, was not admirable
when they decreed an honorable mention to John
IONS washing machine The rank of the prizes il
Is follows: 1st and fewest, are the grand medals
u honor; I'd, and stu sparsely given, are the
Medals Of honor, which, though allotted only 10
'ery high merit, DO not Indicate In the Same de-