The New York herald., 1870-09-05
THE FINE ARTS.
Pictorial Sketches in Paris in Time OF
War-Art Progress-POpular Inn
pediments-The 'sPhant0m OF
the Rhinc'' - Life and
Hope and Light.

have as yet Deeh uiSpfreu ny Tue war WIN rus
sis are Gustave Dore's phantom army rising by
moonlight ON the borders of the Rhine to en-.
courage the successors Of the republic on their
road towards gloomy Ehrenbreitstein, and Car
peaux's statuette, representing warlike female
"La Patrie"-in the act Of calling patriots around
her, while she bounds forward, weapon in hand,
after the savage contemplation OF a defeat, from
the top Of q battery belching forth q torrent Of
deadly fire. But there are tableaux everywhere in
real life and unto artist il it given TO repro
duce them on canvas as rapidly as they pass be-
fore his observing eye. The grand, the ideal,
the hideous and sublime are blended inharno
niously on the stage Of life in France and on the
fields of death around us.
Then there are scenes and sensations which the
brush and pencil are inadequate to express. The
humble pen alone can tell oil the vague dreariness
Of detection and anxiety of the latter days; tho
subdued hum among thousands moving forward
no one knew whittier, but all under the pressure
Of suspense; the breathless expectation and mute
inquiry from all eyes addressed to every passer by.
Social forms have all been forgotten, everything
like etiquette banished from the family of citizens
exchanging their impressions without prior intro
duction or consideration Of rank. At length
General Palikao cautiously made it known that
things looked better and yet no one durst utter
Che word victory" That announcement came
nom the English papers. The French, they said,
had gained victory while retreating, and this
was followed soon by the publicity of Marshal
Bazaine's telegram to his young wife-a line only,
but, in its concise brevty, poem:-"I and my
aephews are debout (up on our legs); battle
gained"
soNBRE AND soRRowFUL.
Not a shout Of Joy has yet welcomed this and
subsequent intelligence equally comforting to
Parsians; for the invaders marching ever for
wards, and all the nerve, muscle, senses and spirit
Of the capital are swarming round the belt Of Lu
bece, the bulky goodly matron now letting out her
bulwarks emblazoned by brilliant zone Of
Ihund ering cannons which will proclaim her
motto-Fiuctudt nee mergttur; floating but not
sunk" Fluctudt, though blown by storms within:
Guctudt, though held at bay the keenest brains in
the Old World those of Otto Leopold de
Bismarck Schoenhausen; t5uetsdt, though it takes
every one Of her men in arms 10 defend her
falctudt, because the pilots have slept so long
fuctuat, because the steersman no longer holds
the helm, but not Tnergttur until every stone has
given way, every wall been shaken to atoms; every
man, woman and child have darted the last
missile on her invaders, and all the thrones of
EuSope have been mined by that picrate of po-
tassipm called republic, the last explosion kept
by Paris in reserve.
II il picture in itself to behold visitors mixing
with workmen among the earthworks; ladies', in
silk aud velvet, passing their gloved hands over
the muzzles OF heavy Founders, and looking
through the tubes as if they were only amplfed
opera glasses.
These Notifications are melancholy towards the
Bos de Boulogne, where the gilt gates have been
torn up and plantations around rooted from the
ground. This is the place for wholesale detcc-
ton Of Prussan spies. One or two, dressed as
French officers in the navy succeeded yesterday
in srresting the progress of the works by assur-
ing the men that they could rest for marine troops
gained by the enemy has in proportion all
now nov stand. The supposed officers were were
betrayed, however, and walked off to
prison. II cannot be denied that the system of
scouting is very perfect organization as carried
on in Prussia, and unto this is due the rare and
almost unexampled bOldness Of the march Of the
enemy as far as they have now advanced On
French territory. The general opinion Of Prus-
siaD is that his foe must be watched surprised
and crushed; totally opposite is that Of the
Frenchman, whose opinions are never in his head,
but located somewhere in bis bosom, q part that
ever faces the enemy in full daylight.
This divergence OF convictions led the Prussian
on to victory at Wissembourg and, Froschweiller
and the French to total defeat there; loss, how
ever, which looks SO much like the Thermopyla
that MacMah0n's troops who have survived are
contributing fifty centime pieces for the purchase
memorial OF his hef0ism on that fatal day.
v5BJECTs FOR PICTURES.
The few cIjrassiers left to tell the tragic story
relate that one after the other their regiments
vere e1gulfed, fresh comers, who knew they were
going to certain slaughter (for MacMahOn had
embraced them in one supreme adieu), were
forced to gallop over the bodies of their own
dying and wounded. Instead Of gr0ans, these
men, even while being thus crushed under the
horses feet of their brothers, rose as well
ss fainting strength would let them, and
cried out to the last breath, "Vive Ia France!"
One youth, who had caught riderless horse,
managed to escape and join few, who had been
equally fortunate in small village. woman,
struck by his torn, wasted condition and assumed
devilmay-care appearance, asked him if he and
his friends were all that was left of bis regiment
He bowed in the Affirmative.
"And is that all you know ~ she again inquired
NO." replied the lad; 1--WE know the flag is not
Some of the doings and sayings in the Lives
of Putarch' are not grander than many which
have been reported to me; but what does the new
cry pOrtendy IL is no longer "Vive rEmpereur!"
II is "Vive Ia Nation Armee!' (''Livc the Nation in
Armsr'
AT cHALoNs.
Political considerations shall not arrest ME
VIII go on sketchIng the Soul-stirrng scenes that
yOnr artistic readers would most delight in. Those
seen at Chalons are very interesting among the
Garde Mobile. 1t appears the youth of France
turn out splendid campaigners now. They are
steadied down by necessity and discipline. The
sons Of dukes and counts could not be expected
TO know how to concoct an eatable soup until
hunger called for any kind Of soup; but since
they have discovered they have not only to
eat it, but make it, they have applied them
selves TO the choice of onions and cabbage
with proper discernment. The fun now is
who will season the mixture best. Some of
my old friends, whose sons and nephews are mob
lots ~ the term goes, have received sketches Of
dinner party" Nothing in the Tuileries hue.
Some of the attitudes round gayaele are lu-
dicrous in the extreme. The camp is divided into
streets, each with Partisan name. There ia a
Naison Doree and a Boulevard des Italiens, while
good bumor prevails everywhere, even on the
drill ground. Capoul, the tenor, is among the
~ DRAMA AND THE OPERA.
There are but seven theatres now open in Paris
on Opcra nights; consequently dramatic news can