Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1874-07-05
The Etruscans and their Pottery Manu-.
factories-Saint Marguerite and
the Man with the Iron Mask.
rom our occasIonnl Correspondents

in msny dark page Of European his
tory. Besides this ruined chateau there
is another cutie as interesting, relic Of
the past, only a few yards distant-the
ruins of temple Of Jupiter-the his
tory of which and its present existence
was brought to modern notice by Napo-
leon the Third in his collections Of facts
Tor his Life Of julius Cesar.
At the little town of Antilles,
about q mile distant from Nice,
Augustus Cesar was born to eummemo-
rate this event, the uncle of Augustus
had this temple built to Justice. Napo-
leon wishing some views OF the temple
for his book, sent here to the prefecture
Of police to have some drawings made
Of it for him. The prefecture after vain
ly searching over the mountain wrote
back that no such temple or ruins ex-
isted there. Napoleon insisted that
there must be some debris or founda-
tons to show that such q temple did
once exist, for Tacitus speaks of it ex-
pIicitIy. An order was then sent to dig
for it. Choosing the only consistent
site for such an edifice, they were not
long in unearthing the remains Of what
once had been a grand offering to a
heather god. The masonry Of the
foundation is as perfect as the day it
left the builders hands. Broken col
umns and capitals are in sufficient pro-
fusion to show the extent and artistic
Workmanship-some of them with
Latin inscriptions-whi leave not
doubt as to the date and origin OF this
famous temple. Here seems to be an
other in granite-a protest against the
permanent establishment Of any faith
or opinion. 1t only becomes question
OF time to change any religion, and
leave the monuments of their ereeds to
coming generations. External" alone
belongs to the great beyond, where flesh
and blood cannot enter. Earthly ideas
bring no exception to this infinite tat.
In studying the beauty of architecture
and scientific proportions that char
acterize the work of the ancients, one
cannot help asking, "WhO are The
heRthen?p The associations and land
marks of the far past are so strong and
interesting all around in this vicinity
that the more modern history seems
tame and scarcely worthy Of attention.
One hours ride from Nice along the sea-
coast brings you 70 Came, another in
valide fashionable resort. Back of that
aoOut three miles Is the little town of
ValIerais, situated in a little basin Of
valley with high, towering Alps all round
it, and seems isolated from all modern
innovation. Here the old Etruseans
manufactured those celebrated vases
and pottery, three thousand years ago,
that have been the wonder of the world
from that time to the present. At this
same place, the same identical kind of
pottery has been made and still is being
made, the same In former style and
vryfft,Dr,f orrNy ryioi
or alteration. There is q peculiar kind
of clay found there that cannot be OBJ
tained at any other place, and the peas
ants have no other stock in trade OF
revenue. Here this beautiful Etruscan
workmanship has shown up the higher
types of its genius, long before the Ro-
man or Greek arts had an existence.
The numerous changes Of government,
and necessarily changes Of language,
have never seriously disturbed this
unique art. At present they speak a
mOngrel kind of patOis, mix
ture of French and Italian, that
s almost impossible to understand.
On the old Cornice road, from Mel to
Turin, are many very interesting relics
of long past, il one takes the trouble to
look them up. For instance, st the time
that Julius Cesar conquered Gaul, and
annexed all this part of France to Italy,
he set up as boundary line triumpha!
arch or monument, and sent the people,
as a great compliment, block OF Car
rara marble, with suitable inscriptions
on it, which was placed on the arch. In
after wears, when the Gauls recovered
and took back their lost territory, they
destroyed this monument, as far as pos
sihle, reserving the block of marble for
the useful purpose of pl3clng it at the
top Of aOeu, where it still remains, with
the inscription perfectly plain to be seen
after doing menisl duty in a well-curb
for long centuries, and has an appear
ance Of solidity that might last for CEN
turies to come. At Grasse, on the same
route you are shown the house where
Napoleon stayed short time after he
landed from Corsica. / was told that
the island could be seen from here on a
bright day. Although the sun was out
in all its strongest force, my sight was
far too short to make it out, but / was
willing to believe that it was somewhere
there, and to turn my attention to an
island that l could see and reach
Saint Msrgueritel A small row-boat
from. Antilles takes you there. The
great interest centered in the island
now is that it is the place of Marsha
Bazaine's confinement. No visitors are
allowed to see him, and for the past two
months he has been kept under more
strict surveillance on account Of the ru-
mored attempt to rescue him. When
they were placing more guards and ex-
ira precautions around him, be told the
officer in command that if every door
Was thrown open for him to escape he
would not leave, in honor TO the tribu-
nal which had convicted him. It is evil
dent that he holds rather higher esti-
mate of that court than the balance of
his countrymen. Madame Bazaine,
with her two little children, followed
her husband here in this solitary exile,
being granted the privilege by the gov
ernment of little house on the island,
and TO see him once or twice a week.
What q miserable crust to be thrown at
30 much dog devotiOn-a her0ism not to
be comprehended when only read about
and the surroundings not understood.
In the fortress prison you are shown the
room where the mysterious Iron Mask
was incarcerated a portion OF the twenty
years OF his prison life. Here he died,
and with him every possible evidence Of
his identity. However, a celebrated
French savan has Just completed an ex-
tensive work on the Iron Mask, on
which he has been engaged for
over twenty years attempting to
prove who he was. Napoleon III gave
this writer access to all the old manu-
scripts in the Louvre, dating from the
time Of Louis XIV, still nothing could
be obtained as proof positive who this
remarkable prisoner might have been.
For lack OF testimony the author has
applied logical reasoning, taking up
some fifteen different persons known in
the courts of Europe at that time, and
who have each been suspected Of being
the "Iron Mask" In taking up the
history of each Of these persons, he dis
poses of them one after the other, show
ing the impossibility of either Of them
being the right man, until be narrows it
down TO the three last in the catalogue
as being the only probable persons to se-
lect from. He finally settles on one of
the three, which he thinks has the
strongest claim-a young Polish count
who was sent TO the court of Louis XIV,
getting into an intrigue with one Of the
kings favorite mistresses. He suddenly
sdisappeared. The Edinburgh RevSesg
scatiers all these conclusions 10 The
winds. That critic sees no good reason
for the king to treat his prisoner as a
person of high rank, even to his being
served by person Of noble blood and
distinction, If he was no other than the
Polish count, who could have been dis.
posed Of more easily. AS for the suppo-
sitlon that the Iron Mask was the
twin brother Of the king, ali Dsrfies
seem TO discard that idea as absurd and
not worthy OF attention. On ibis Island
and fortress Dumas places the scene OF
the Imprisonment Of the count Of Monte
CristO. IL certainly was not as far for
the count 70 swim to the mainland as
for Byron to swim across the Heilespent,
making the fiction to come within the
realm Of probability. The weather is
getting too blisseringlyl hot for me 70 re-
main ID these latitudes, SO ] leave here
to-norEoE for Paris.
a ac-----4 NARY V. a0L NEs9 II Me1ani,is
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