New-York tribune., 1869-04-10

the more FOOLISH and violent half dozen speaAeiS
who appear in turn at all the meetings and profess
Communist doctrines admiration for Marat' OF ike
extravaganza. These, extracted from the report
of the Projects jealous stenograph, wrehoheu
from their context like carOus TOOTH thelr
foul and bloody horror enhanced by the setting the
ocous editors give them, held alott at the nead
of their columns by these sem-offical organ grind
ers as faithful and frghtful sample ends OF all the
law of the public meetings. LO ye property holders,
| and all ye who have respectable heads ON your
shoulders would We conserve your dry goods ana
| fields, and six per cent your pockets ana your
| cephalic bulbs7 Vote for the Government candl-
dates! Else it will be 1913 come again! Horrors OF
| ST. Domingo and Horace Greeley, dyed redl Do you
imagine that exaggeratef Read for your SINS the
Constitutional and lie Pays and be sadly pursuaded
that my compressed report of their voences is less
distorted from the truth than their reports Of the
coarser but not greater extravagances Of few not
moro foolish orators in the popular public meetings
of Paris.
There are yet two other varieties of meetings made
possible by last years legislation which your re-
porter has to write about but that must be for an
other letter. Only, here as well anywhere let me
note that all four varieties Of public meetings
tribute largely proofs of that proposition, stated IN
former letters that is, the
old legendary Napoleonism, that grew rank from the
and more up to 1s4s tended and watered by the op-
position of all shades under the Elder Bourbons and
side-grafted as it were on the younger branch of
Louis Philippe himself-is in its decadence Refer
ences to the glories of fhe Imperial meet re-
sponse condemnaory illusions to their terrible waste
and cost" the fields of Germany manured with
French corpses p-do
The idol is broken. The blndly y-faithful are old
and dying out, The spirit of tho ago has reached
France Skeptcism rationalism, realism have passed
from the State religion and God on to the national
religion and [the First Napoleon The generation
of hero worshipers gives place to the new generation
of believers in Man. The French are partially con-
valescng from their chronic disease of Glore, and
beginning to feel that they suffered bitterly, more
than they profted by those twenty years Of imperial
phlebotomy patent cause Orrather occasion,
of the decline and fall of Napoleonism presents itself
in the fact that the high however TRANSIENT luck of
the family in its third dynaSc representative, since
1852, has, if may so express myself land should
say Imay), pncked the bladder Of commseration
that sweled with windy sentiment over the desOlate
disaster of the first of the name. The coup d6tdt
abolished, in q sort, ST. Helena. AS bhlesian
might say the actual imperial throne in so far as it
Is supported by sentiment, rests on the foundations
il removed.
But IN this very visible and real decline of Napo-
Napoleonism-your reporter has less to do with ex.
plantations than record of its phenomena. These are
visible everywhere revealed in lectures, speeches,
books newspapers stage plays, blythe booksellers
sales and in the manifestations Of applausiye
audiences A significant, and on other accounts re-
markable, one Of these is the new pay-what we
should call tragedy-the Patie. by Victoren
Sardou hOnorably ncknamed since this greatest and
most legitimate of his many stage triumphs, "Yic-
torien the Victorious" Two days manuscript is
already too long, and time between this and post
ing hour too short, that should write now the two
or three paragraphs-not in analysis or criticism
this notable drama and its reception by tho public
but about IT, Very imperfect in ali ways, but posi-
bly, not without interest even so far away FROM the
Porte St. Martin as your side of the water, let me
post them next week.
Our grandest sale of pictures this season. not nearly
as fertile as the last in great sales has been that Of
the choice collection Of NJ Deessert, some time Pre-
feet of Police, under Louis Philippe, and eminent
anatenrs connoisseurs and shrewd purchasers OF
fine arts. Sentimental Entussymussy, and sham
Rnskiuesdue dissertation about pictures that the
reader has not seen, equally dull and useleSs
note the sale for the humber sake OF comparison
of prices illustrating the curious growth in CONNER
cial value of good pictures Among other beautiful
canvasses we're : Marine, by Backhuyser, knocked
down at 1920 francs bought in 1901 for 800 francs
Marine by Van der Welde bought at the same time
for 500 sold for 155OO Wynants landscape, bought
for 250O sold for 80 500; the Vgin and Child real
Raphael, bought at the Aguado sale, in 1913, for
300 sold for 10000 francs The moral OF tins tale,
of which have unfolded only these three or four
of its many comparative kinks is that money spent
on really good pictures is safely invested, SINH
lar comparison of the prices which pictures of in
trinsc worth have brought at the sales of good col
,leetions any time the last few years, with those
prices that their last owners bought them, offers con-
slant confirmation of the moral. .'" .
The sale of Berryers effects did not begin so bril-
lantly, but ended fairly well. There was little OF
worth in the way of art Tie unique copy of Bossuet
oratons presented to him by the compostors as the
only fee he would accept for his defense OF them
before the tribunals, was sold for little over oo
francs Its material cost, counting their willing
labor of love- was more than that. when they
brought il to him, he noticed the legbe beauty of
lie evtra large type and was much touched to learn
that his clients had been delicately thoughtful In
that respect of his fading eyesight Thanking them
he said IL shall not live long TO enjoy the reading
Of H. nv friends but il will be precious legacy 10
my orandsoaD It was bid off BY stranger the lam
ily not interfering. :,
The Rossipi sale is of week or so older date 1t
broueht out no enthusiasm, but some queer revela-
tons Among the rest, surprisingly low tarii ior
complimentary snuff-boxes presented by royal and
other high parties. 1t seems that they are inirnsi
cally worth on average, about s25, gold. Inc
article that excited most interest and brought
nearly the highest price, was an ivory--me
iyory-what shall call lti-nstrument Let us say
paraphrastically, sotospeak ant-costfye lrrgator'
II was an old and frequent subject OF joke with the
waggish old composer, and of all sorts OF LEGENDS
among his acquaintance. believe his disconsolate
widow-a yery slightly admired person-had the